Jeff Banks

Hike with Cara ...

I really need my new shoes!!

Red bridge loop ...

Foothill loop. My shoes are definitely to blame for my knees. I've run in Hurricanes for years and always try to find the cheap ones. My last pair were Hurricane 7 and they really hurt my knees. I've had probably 15 other pairs of Hurricanes and no problems before. Anyone else had this issue? 

Freeway loop with Cara.

Short loop with Cara.

Red bridge ... feeling good but can't wait for new shoes.

Nice run on the ridge. Found a new trail and a nice overlook of the city.

2.5 hours on the bike with Bill on the windmill loop. Then a red bridge loop with Cara at a nice slow pace.

Red bridge loop pretty fast. Legs feel good.

short loop with Cara.

Freeway loop ... 

freeway loop with Cara

Red bridge loop at a nice consistent pace. My legs are starting to feel OK and pretty soon I'll have to start thinking about pace work.

Ran on the ridge with Jason. 12 is probably generous but thats what is going in the list.

Long ride with Bill (3hrs). This should really help around mile 18 or so I hope. 

Ran up Longview, then up the trails for a while and then home. Pretty tired from the last two days but I made it home.

It was nice to go a little shorter today ... my legs were tired but felt good once they loosened up a little bit.

Man ... I had a good week going and then I got sick!!

Sick again. Tomorrow will be better.

Freeway. Feeling a bit better but still stuffy and tired.

I must have bumped my knee yesterday because it is swollen and hurts pretty good. Still got in my run though.

After a few days off to deal with my knee but today went 7 with Cara. Felt pretty good but sad that I missed a few days of training.

Red bridge and my knee felt fine. A few days of rest and some ice seem to have cleared up whatever it was in no time.

My knee was kind of bothering me all day so I decided to ride. About an hour sprinting, mostly out of the saddle, and my calves were cramping ... felt pretty good but I was sorry to not run again.

Stuck with the bike today and explored some new roads. Kind of nice really.

Long ride with Bill and then freeway loop with Cara after that. Feeling OK but I'm going to have to do some regular icing on my knees.

Short loop at a good pace. Just wanted to let the legs move for a while and get the soreness out.

Ran with the Amador Valley kids ... they are pretty quick but need a few more base miles. It was really good to have someone to run with though.

Worked with the new pole vaulters and had a pretty good time. Then ran a modified freeway loop and finished on the track to check pacing.

A few mile with Cara to get the legs moving.

Red bridge with a twist. The rain felt great but now its cold and I've got to get into the shower. 

Time trial this morning with the pole vaulters. There are a few of them that could be really good. Then I ran a foothill loop. Shins hurt a bit so I'll have to do some ice later. 

Took Longview road up to the lookout over foothill and then added on a bit at the end to bring me up to 20. I felt pretty good all the way through about 2:10 and then started to fall off a bit. All in all a pretty good run.

Freeway loop ...

Worked with the vaulters for a few minutes and then ran a freeway loop. I felt really bad the whole way with tired legs and stomach problems. I guess those long runs take a few days to really hit you.

Foothill loop ... miserable.

Vaulters and then a freeway loop with Cara. We are going to have some good jumpers this year.

Did a bit of vaulting with the team this morning and it felt OK. Along the creek up to the interchange in the afternoon.

Out along the creek in the rain. It was kind of miserable but of course we need the water so let it rain.

Out along the creek and then experimented on some new paths. Got kind of lost and stuck in the rain again so I was soaked. Finished off with a mile on the track to check pacing. 

man that three miserably wet runs in a row!! Anyway I found some new trails, got in some very good mileage, and got muddy all at the same time ... thats a good day if I've seen one.

Short run with Cara. My legs are feeling really good these days.

Out along the creek after watching the vaulters lift.

A few jumps with the vaulters and then some nice slow mileage with Cara along the creek.

The vaulters had a inter-squad meet this morning and we had a few good surprises. They are going to be OK. I ran a modified foothill loop that took me out about 12 on a nice cloudy evening.

Freeway loop with Cara and then 4 x mile on the track. It was windy and wet but my legs felt pretty good even when running a little bit into deficit.

Red bridge with an extension.

Foothill loop with extension. Legs feeling really good and pacing seems to be falling into place quite nicely.

Red bridge. My legs felt really good and I am starting to be able to stretch out my stride and still stay comfortable. However, I need new shoes already.

Foothill loop with extension to bring it up to 12. My legs are feeling good but I definitely know I've been running more miles.

Red bridge. I started out with Cara and we broke off half way. Felt OK but I've got to put some ice on my shins for a few minutes later.

Longview loop ... man that hill is an absolute killer!!

I started out only wanting to do about 15 but things got a little out of hand :). My legs felt good all the way through and I even managed to stretch my stride out for the last 2 miles or so. It was raining pretty good so I was a muddy, cold, wet mess by the time I got home.

Just the red-bridge loop. My right calf was incredibly tight today ... probably didn't have enough water today.

I tried to run but after about 400 meters it was clear that my calf was not going to let me today. I sure hope this isn't some kind of pull ... we will see tomorrow I guess.

Tried to run again today but just about 1.5 miles into it my calf started knotting up again. It was a lot better than yesterday but not good. It should get better though with some work. In the meantime I finished my workout on the hotel stationary bike which was an interesting change from the usual. Hope this doesn't last too long!

I spoke to a trainer about my calf and she told me to wait a week before I tried anything. Its been a week and I finally got back on my feet. My calf felt fine but I ran pretty slow and I;m definitely going to keep icing it for a few weeks.

I wanted to run 10 but was worried about my calf still. It never hurt the whole run but I'm still really worried. Besides that my legs felt heavy but what can you expect after almost a week off.

Back into it. My calf felt fine and my legs were not as brick-like as yesterday. I think Boston will be OK still.

Managed to get in a freeway loop before the distance fest at AV. We had almost 20 heats of the guys mile to run ... what a meet!

Ran the pit for the girls vault and then did 6 or 7 vaults myself. I think I could still clear 14' with a bit of practice :). My run was not good though after sitting in the sun and wind for a few hours at the track meet. Oh well ... I got in my miles.

Getting back into it now. My legs felt OK but there was some funny business in my hip. Still I think I will be OK for Boston as long as I can find some airfare.

Did a few vaults with the guys at practice and then put in my ten. I ran the last mile on the track to check pacing and came across in 6:06. 

Managed to get in 12 today ... tomorrow is going to be tough to run at all but we will see how work goes. Today my legs felt OK but kind of tired from yesterday.

Just about a freeway loop. My hip hurt some but not too bad.

My hip is pretty messed up and I have no idea what I did to it. Anyway I got in a few miles on the bike but I'm starting to worry about Boston. My mileage for the last few weeks has been really sub standard and that is going to come back to bite me in a race. I haven't got airline tickets yet so this year may just me a loss ... we will see.

Managed 12 slow miles with only a mild tenderness in my hip. Perhaps if I keep the pace slow I can keep putting in some miles and not do too badly.

Still with the tender hip but it seems to be manageable as long as I keep the pace slower than about 6:45. Obviously I'll have to figure that out before race day but there is time for that.

Got in another 10 today. My hip is still really tender but it does seem to be getting progressively better. 

Only had time for a short run before heading over to give a talk to the Amador math team. The hip is still getting better so thats good. Hopefully the shorter run will help that along even more.

Feeling OK around the foothill loop with some extensions at the end. The hip is still sore but still getting better too. A few more days of building mileage and then I've got some travel to do so it will be tough to get in any good runs.

Made kind of a different freeway loop today. Legs felt great and my hip only bothered me a little near the end. I tried to run closer to race pace and things seem to be OK.

Went for a long ride today (call it 18 worth of running) trying to keep high intensity the whole time. Then a 4 mile run with Cara just to make sure my legs know how it feels. All in all a pretty good workout but we will see how the legs feel tomorrow.

Managed some pretty good mileage today. New shoes and my hip felt fine the whole time.

A few miles in the morning before I go catch a plane. Lets hope there really are places to run in Tokyo ...

Ran around the Imperial Palace. I don't think the air is too nice here but its only a few days so hopefully it isn't too bad.

Imperial palace again. I don't really know too many other place to run so that will probably have to do.

Imperial palace. I ran down a Japanese running team of sorts and that made for a few pretty good pacing miles. In the end it was probably more trouble than it was worth, but since I've been running fewer miles it is probably good to get a little pacing work under my belt.

One last day around the palace. My hip hurt pretty good which I think is largely the result of running on the pavement. Tomorrow I will be back home though!!

Red bridge ... I am glad to be back home but boy was I tired!!

Really long ride and then a three mile run with Cara. Felt good but I'm a bit worried about pushing it at Boston because I just didn't have great mileage in the month of March. I guess we will see what happens between now and then.

Short freeway loop to get the legs moving. Legs felt really pretty good and my hip only twinged once.

Looped along the creek today and felt OK. I'm still pretty tired from this weekend and still jet lagged from Tokyo, but things are coming into place. There is still the worry about my lack of milage during March but whats done is done.

Just a few miles. Hip felt OK and my legs are feeling really strong.

After taking yesterday off my legs felt great. My hip barely hurt at all and it took ~6 miles before I even felt it. All in all a good run but I am still mad that I had to miss yesterday.

Nice slow run in the desert outside Phoenix. My legs felt great and the hip didn't hurt at all. All in all I was pretty happy with the workout.

Again in the desert up Squaw peak. My legs felt great, my hip didn't hurt, and it was quite a nice view from up there.

Just a freeway loop. I'm trying to prepare for Boston now.

Short loop in the rain. I can't believe it rained today!

Freeway loop and it was windy! This was the last moderate run before next Monday ... I hope I'm ready.

Nice slow easy miles. Feeling pretty good and feeling the energy start to pile up in my legs.

Short loop ... legs feel really good!

Getting the legs loose.

Well I made it again and in PR time. THe wind was pretty bad after about 15 and I feel like in ideal conditions my time would have been 2-3 minutes faster. All in all I'm quite satisfied ... I'll write more later when I get home from work and pull my splits off my watch.

Here are my splits:

1- 6:26

2- 6:06

3- 5:59

4- 5:54

5- 6:06

6- 6:03

7- 6:06 

8- 6:08

9- 6:03

10- 6:08

11- 6:12

12- 6:02

13- 6:06

14- 6:03

15- 6:13

16-18 19:01  (6:20 pace but I didn't hit my watch)

19- 6:25

20- 6:45

21- 7:01

22- 6:27

23- 6:40

24- 6:31

25- 6:51

finish- 2:45:52

My pace slowed considerably when I hit the hills at mile 16 as expected. The wind really picked up at around the same time and the combination really did a  number on my mental state. Even so I didn't really explode until the 7:01 at mile 21 when things really went south a little bit. My training in the last month has not been consistent enough to support that kind of pace for the whole thing and it seems like 20 miles was about the limit for the effort. None the less I was happy that I lasted that long and managed to limp it home for a PR. Interestingly I recovered really fast after the finish and was jogging to try to cool down a bit in only about 10 minutes. I'll take that as a good sign and set my sights on the next race. More consistent preparation should help the last few miles and hopefully I can push down into the low 2:40s! 

Recovery run to get warm and stretch out. I feel pretty good but obviously pretty tight.

Slow recovery run. My calves started to loosen up but my knee has a bit of a tight spot on it. I don't think there will be time to run tomorrow though so it should be just fine.

I took a few days off and today ventured back a little bit. My legs are pretty tired still and my knee kind of hurts but it felt good to run again.

I biked to work today and the ride home was horribly windy!

Rode to work again. Tomorrow I will try running again.

Ran today. My knee hurt but not overly so. Tomorrow will be a ride again I think.

My knee is messed up again. After running yesterday I felt fine but this morning it was no good. I rode to work and had to ride home in the rain ... kind of fun and refreshing really.

Rode with Carol today up Valecitos road. Unfortunately Carol took a spill on the railroad tracks but seems to be OK now. 

Rode to work again today. I actually vaulted a little bit as well and had a pretty good time of it. My knee didn't hurt for that but I'm still going to take it easy for a few days to make sure things are all cleared up.

Ride to work.

Ride to work. I'm beginning to like riding to work ...

Rode to work and then a little extra. I think I should ice my knee and see if it will get better so I can start running again.

Biked to work. On the way home I hooked up with someone else from the lab and we had a pretty healthy ride until our paths parted. All in all a pretty good workout for not being able to run quite yet.

Rode Palomares canyon with Bill and then tried a 30 minute run with Cara. My knee help up OK but started to hurt near the end. We will see how it feels tomorrow before any conclusions can be made.

Rode to work ...

Short loop ... knee felt OK but still something there.

Biked to work. I've been vaulting a bit lately but am itching to start running again ... perhaps this next week!!

Nice slow bike ride with Mark. We met up with the cyclepath group and had a pretty nice ride of it.

no knee pain to speak of ... this is good!

Out with Cara and no knee pain again!

Out with Cara again. My knee didn't feel perfect but it didn't hurt either.

Same out and back again with Cara.

Freeway loop. My knee was sore toward the end but the pain was not sharp. I think I'm on the road to recovery and that is very nice to know.

Along the creek.

On the beach at Bodega Bay.

On the beach at Bodega Bay.

A few miles over to Shadow Cliffs and then ran with the cross country team. I'm not used to running a bit faster but it was fun nonetheless.

Ran with the cross country team today.

Rode the windmill with Bill.

mini tarantula with the cross team. Garret came out too and left us in the dust. After that Kellen and I had a pretty nice run but the heat was pretty killer.

Freeway loop plus a little. My knee is definitely getting better now!

Down the hollow ...

Down the hollow.

Down the hollow

Ran vault practice and then ran the short loop pretty fast. I felt good and I'm pretty sure that my knee is getting fixed quite well.

Freeway loop with an extension.

Red bridge loop and feeling relatively good. The legs are a bit tired as I move the mileage up slightly while not getting enough sleep ...

Freeway loop with an extension. Oddly my shins have some pain which I think means I have to stop fooling around on the pole vault runway.

Red bridge loop and my knee gave me a bit of trouble. Back to the ice pack ...

OK I've decided to get back into it slowly and have been terrible about recording mileage (I've probably put in about 75-100 miles over the last month). I ran a few today and felt OK but I'm in Georgia and the heat/humidity/jet lag made me pretty sluggish. 

Another brief run in Athens ... hot and humid!

Up the Pleasanton ridge with the cross country team.

Freeway loop.

Freeway loop starting from the track. Knee still delicate but I think it will hold now as long as I ice every night. Hopefully it will really heal in the next few months and I can stop messing with it so much.

Holy cow it was HOT today ... absolutely miserable!!

Running around getting splits for a cross country time trial we ran. The kids are out of shape and the first meet is only 2 weeks away!

Red bridge loop. Felt pretty good and managed to stride out a bit near the end.

Freeway loop. Legs felt pretty sluggish but I made it :).

Freeway loop again. Still sluggish but definitely on the recovery side. On the plus side I'm starting to get enough milage to loose a few pounds and stay hungry all day ... down to ~141.

Too stinking hot outside!!

Freeway with a little extension.

Red bridge loop.

Red bridge but warming up with the team first.

Long hike with Cara up Finley road.

5 x 1000 meters with the team. Felt OK but my legs really aren't ready for speed.

Just short with Ozzie and then a little bit on my own.

Freeway loop with Ozzie and a little extra on my own.

Ran freeway with Luke and a little bit on my own. He could be good but we have to get some mileage under his belt before he tries to do too much speed.

Forty some minutes with Luke. He is going to be fine if we can get a few miles in him by November.

Ran an ~2 mile coaches race on a whim and did better than I thought I would. Still, 11:40 shows just how far I've got to go before I race for real.

I took a few days off to deal with some chores like singing up with the district to coach. Ran the freeway loop with Ozzie today and felt OK and also a little bit on my own.

Freeway loop ...

Took a new freeway loop today but it was hot and I wanted to get in fast. This weekend is supposed to be brutally hot and of course I have to move!

Ran with the kids today ... 6x1000 and it was really hot. 

Hills at Del Valle with the team. 

Freeway loop. Finally it cooled off and running in it felt really good!!

Shaking out the legs a bit. My knees have been a bit sore lately so don't want to hurt that. 

Freeway loop and some extra. Most of it with Ozzie but ~2 miles on my own too.

Finally getting over the flu ... still running was pretty hard.

Did a really hard hill workout with the kids at the ridge. My breathing was still hurting from being sick and my legs were absolutely spent ... that is a really steep hill!

Looped along the freeway. Feeling better but my cough is still there and my nose is still fairly stuffy.

Running in Madison. It is cold here and I had to wear tights and long sleeves, but the trials are actually quite nice.

Freeway loop mostly with Ozzie ...

Freeway loop with some extras to get to Luke's house for a pasta feed. The kiddos have a meet tomorrow and it looks like their training is starting to pay off ... we will see.

Hills with the kids. Its a pretty hard workout but nowhere near 6 actual miles. Anyway I wasn't really ready for it so I was pretty exhausted.

Red bridge and my legs felt OK. I was pretty tired but my knees never really hurt so that is a good sign. 

A few on my own and then 30 minutes with Ozzie. Pretty nice calm run all in all.

Along the creek with Ozzie and a bit more on my own. This is like 4 days in a row and my knee feels pretty good!!

Kind of an odd route today but eventually I ended up along the creek and around the freeway loop. My legs still feels OK but definitely perfect.

A short loop with Ozzie and a little extra.

Strange outer loop with Ozzie. Felt OK but nit great. 

Ran 8x200 with the kids on the track. I'm amazed but I still have some actual speed in my legs from a few years ago. In the end it was a pretty easy workout but probably a good thing to stretch my legs out a bit.

Freeway loop nice and slow. It was incredible weather today and I got to run with no shirt in NOVEMBER!!

Red bridge and an additional loop.

Started with Ozzie but finished on my own. I am not a big fan of running in the dark but apparently I should get used to it.

Red bridge with Ozzie and a little add on at the end.

Through shadow cliffs, a few loops in there, and then on to the Infald's where the kids had a pasta feed. Their league meet is on Saturday and we are excited to see how it pans out.

Made two freeway loops which was probably too much. After the first I ran into Ozzie and figured I'd do another. In the end it felt pretty good but we will see tomorrow.

Call it five for running around cheering on the kids at EBAL's this weekend. They did pretty well! The guys had a great day and every scoring girl set a PR! I think it was our fault that they went out a bit too conservatively and then ran out of room to catch up. NCS is a few weeks away and we will have all the kinks worked out ... I think if they put everything together over the next 2 weeks they could make states.

Took yesterday off and today my shins and knees felt great. Ran a couple freeway loops, half with Ozzie, and put in some odd connections between them.

A freeway loop with Ozzie and then found my way back home through some city streets. 

Long freeway loop on my own. I ran way too fast but oh well.

A freeway loop with a bit of extra at the end on the way home. Call it 11 but it was probably a bit less.

Ran some new loops in Shadow Cliffs. On the way home I got to racing a bike commuter and probably ran too fast.

Got out for a nice slow run around the creek. Made my way all the way around on the longest pure loop I know and added a bit to the end to bring me up.

Almost the same loop as yesterday but I cut it a bit short at one point. Added a little extra at the end and then had to run to the store for mozzarella so we could make eggplant parm.

Freeway loop with Ozzie and back via Amador.

My legs were really tired today. Ran one short loop alone and then a business park loop with Ozzie. Hopefully my legs have a bit more energy tomorrow.

Freeway loop and back via Valley.

Out with Ozzie and then on my own. Call it ten at the end of the day.

A vanilla freeway loop all alone in the dark. Actually it was a really nice run but probably a bit to fast on the pace.

An outside loop with Ozzie.

Got lost in Utah and had a much harder run than I wanted ... oh well tomorrow I will be sure to run flat!!

Found a much flatter route today and got a much better run in today.

Longer than I wanted but probably a good thing. All in all a pretty good wee except for the couple days off.

Nice easy run on a bit of snow. Felt good but my legs were definitely tired from the past few days.

Back in Pleasanton and loving the oxygen! 

A few quick miles before the cross country banquet. Probably too fast on the pace but I wanted to get in something.

My legs were quite tired today and it was cold so my motivation ran out after 8. 

Outside freeway loop with extension. California is really a pretty nice in terms of weather! This was just about as miserable as it gets (without rain) and I was comfortable the whole way through.

Set out to run 11 or 12 but felt terrible. My stomach hurt right from the start and I was happy to make it home in 8.

Met up with Ozzie and put in a few on the creek.

Great day for a long one but I just ran out of time ... still it was nice to get out quick.

Freeway with Ozzie. 

Again out with Ozzie.

Freeway with Ozzie. Great day for a run, its too bad the sun sets so early!!

Managed to get it in today. My legs are feeling pretty good and finally things are loosening up getting used to more running.

Managed to get in a few. I had to run to a Christmas party and home to find the time but what else can you do?

Great run with Ozzie. Felt kind of heavy at the start and worried a bit but it never got any worse. In the end if was a great run!!

A short run with Cara to recover. Felt pretty good but definitely really tired.

Long loop with Ozzie. A pretty good run even though it rained a bit toward the end.

Another long loop with Ozzie. Faster than yesterday and my cold is worse ... figure that one out.

Long loop with Ozzie and Cara. The cold has caught up with me now and I felt pretty bad the whole way through.

Freeway loop and some hiking earlier.

Easy long loop with extension. Great day for a run!!

Horrible run today but it got done.

Loop with Ozzie and Cara for a little while.

Out in the rain with Ozzie. Probably wasn't 13 but I'm going to count that.

Slow loop with Cara and Ozzie. It was a really nice day for a run!!

Only a little bit of time today so I decided to turn it into a tempo.

Long loop and also around the sports park. Probably a little too fast but it was a glorious day so I felt quite good. Legs were a bit low on energy after a tempo yesterday but all in all a pretty good end to the year.