Step back week for the team… 8 miles on the agenda. We were running on an out-and-back course that parallels a freeway. It’s nice to be off city streets and away from cars, but this course does require people to cross a few busy intersections and it’s wide open to the blazing sun. It’s an alright path, but whenever we’ve run it people seem far more rundown than they do on other courses. I don’t know what it is about this path that wears people down, but it really does seem to have that effect.
I’ve discovered on out-and-back courses I really have the chance to increase my daily mileage. I ran with the front of the pack out to the turn around point, then I turned to ran back to the turn around with a few others. Then I started running back with a middle-packer. Once I was nearly to the end of the path, I turned back to find the back of the pack. I covered a little more than 11 miles total. I love that aspect of this gig!
We seemed to have a lot of difficulties with our team on this run though. One gal had heavy, lead legs… a guy had a hurt hamstring… one gal ended up with GI issues and ran home since she lived nearby… another girl was developing blisters all over her feet… a gal was overheating. It seemed pretty rough on many of them today. But I’m really proud of the way most of them handled it, they either listened to their bodies and called it a day when they needed to or they pushed through when it was appropriate!
I am coaching a group of runners for the organization Team Challenge. They are fundraising for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America while training to run the Napa to Sonoma half marathon in July.
Jill Will Run 
Great job in getting your team through a tough day out there!
I’m guessing people have problems with this course because of the sun exposure? That always does it to me.
I think the direct sun exposure definitely rubs people the wrong way. And this route since it parallels a freeway, kind of smells like cars and in some places like hot garbage. Yech…
I realized the issue with this course about 5 miles in the first time we ran it. A great deal of the path has quite a steep side to side slope to it. It is like trying to run straight around the top of turn #4 at the LV Motor Speedway. It is silently brutal on the energy level of those who don’t quite have their form locked in yet. Combine that with the sun beating down on you, and the game of Frogger you play while sucking down exhaust from the freeway/road traffic and you have an evil trio of misery working on you that you don’t even realize is there until somewhere around mile 4. I’m thinking that the path is better served as a biking path than a running path.
The Guy That Pulled A Hammy
I was reading your blog and noticed the comment about the runner with the heavy, tired legs. I was wondering if anyone on your team had tried to the SIGVARIS Athletic Recovery Sock. If not, you guys should check it out. I think it would really help! The sock uses true graduated compression. The site that explains how the socks work is at http://www.AthleticRecoverySock.com
Most of them are very new runners, so they haven’t tried compression socks. For most of them, buying regular socks specifically for running is a whole new world! And truthfully, I haven’t even tried compression socks yet, but I have tried compression sleeves after a run and really liked the effects!