Love a Training Route P.R.!

When we moved to Santa Rosa two years back, I started doing out & back runs on the Santa Rosa Creek Trail. It's pretty, it's flat and there's a lot of shade. Perfect flat & fast course for tempo runs!

I like to relax on the way out, cross the bridge to the other side of the trail, and run a negative split on the way back. With the various bridges and street crossings, I can run loops totaling 7 miles, 10.4 and 15 miles. Sometimes I run 6.55 miles out, and turn on a dime to cover the 13.1 mile half marathon distance.

Last winter, soon after turning 61, I set a workout P.R. of 1:19:54 on the 10.4 loop. A bit more than six months later, all indications are that I was set to go faster on this route. I felt relaxed on the way out this a.m. and figured I'd give it a shot.

 "Ouch!"

Cruisin' through the turnaround bridge at 41:15, I was pretty sure I had it in the tank to do it. I relaxed and stayed focused on the moment, not worrying about the distance left to run, and came back in 1:18:52. It was not easy! Hmmmmm... we did stay out dancing until past 1 a.m. three days back, I seem to recall, but only had 1.5 margaritas each. No prob! I love a workout P.R.!

Of course, it's not lost on me that in the late 70s I could run a 60 mile week at a substantially faster pace without too much sweat. But in truth, I am thrilled with running today, as I was then!

Oaxaca Running Tours - Menu Choices

Greetings, Steve Lafler here, the "Grumpy Runner". I lead running tours in and around the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. Let me know when you'll be in town and we can schedule a run. Just zip me an email and we'll set it up.

Oaxaca Run Menu

1. Runs in the hills to the north of the city. Enjoy vistas of the Oaxaca valley from the ridges of San Felipe Del Agua and Ejido Guadalupe Victoria. We start on the "Libramiento", a paved road (mostly) closed to traffic. We continue on mountain trails. These runs can be as short as 3 miles, or as long as two hours.

2. Flat-lander runs at Parque Tequio, south of the city center near the airport. Parque Tequio is a green oasis in the city, with a flat 5Kish loop. Good for those who want to avoid hills! Run as short or as far as you want, in 5K increments.

3. Interval training. If you want to train hard and fast, let's do it. There is a 400 meter track near the airport, or better yet there is a great flat stretch of road with no traffic in the hills, about 600 meters. We can run intervals as per your needs, and I can time you & call splits.

4. Interval training in the hills. If you're a glutton for punishment, we can do hill repeats until you drop.

My running tour fee is $250 pesos per hour, including driving. Drop me an email to book!

Best regards,
Steve Lafler

Finishing a 10K just before Xmas 2015. Yup, I ran too hard in the middle of the race again!