Walnut Creek Turkey Trot - 11/26/09

I woke up Thanksgiving morning at 6am while everyone else was still asleep to get ready for my last race of the year. I checked the outside temperature to see that it was 43 degrees, it was going to be a cold run. I met Ashley in downtown Orinda only to find the temperature was 37 degrees there. We parked and walked over to Civic Park to pick up our race packets only to find a huge line of people. There were 1600 people racing and only 4 people distributing packets. It was 7:35am when we got in line and we guessed that the race would not start on time based on how long the lines were. Once we got our race packets we walked back to the car to drop off our shirts and ran back to the park in an effort to try and stay warm and warm up for the run. It was almost race time, but it didn't look we would start on time. Sure enough the 10k started about 25 minutes late and than we waited another 10 minutes before the 5k runners could start. Once they gave us the start it was slow moving to the start line, we crossed the start line about 30 seconds after the start of the race, not as bad as the Devil Mountain Run earlier in the year where it took an entire minute to reach the start line. After we hit the one mile marker I was strangely feeling really good, I was expecting a tough run as I had not run in three weeks with both kids being sick and then a week in Mexico. So, I was pleased to be feeling good and had found a nice pace. I was amazed to see how crowded the path was. At no point in the race did it ever seem to thin out, I guess that's what you get with 1600 people running. There were lots of turn-arounds and the paths were narrow and people were jumping out into our direction to try and pass people in their direction. Thankfully most of the strollers were behind me, I don't even know how anyone managed a double stroller on this course. I caught a sneak peek at the 6 mile marker for the 10k runners and knew we were in the home stretch. I picked up the pace and tried to really maintain a nice pace knowing how close we were to the finish line. I had to quickly jump left as I saw the signs pointing to the 5k finish. Phew, I had made it! And according to my watch I had finished at 32:08, a PR for me. I was amazed and not really sure I had made a PR, because I was certainly not expecting to. There was no large clock, so I had no idea what my official time was. I kept hearing 5k left and 10k right, and there were 2 lines to take our race bibs, since it wasn't chip timed. I saw Ashley in the right lane and worried that I was in the wrong line, so I jumper over to her line. Apparently there were two 5k lines and I should have stayed where I was, because my official time now shows as 1 minute faster than my watch time. So, I'm going with my watch time, which should be more accurate and still a PR.

The last race of the year turned out great! As I look back on the year, I am amazed that I finished 9 events. I started the year off with my first race post-baby with the Mermaid Run. My worst time ever, running in cold and wind, but I finished and went on to do 8 other events. I'm thankful to all of my friends who joined me on so many of these runs and to my family for being supportive and watching the girls so I could get my run on!

Next up is the Brazen NY's Run!

Lafayette Reservoir Run

Thankfully, the 5k didn't actually run around the reservoir, that may have done me in.

This was my first race after injuring my knee from the trail run in August. My knee did fine, but this was a tough race for me. I had to take several walk breaks to get my hr down and finally at about the last mile I found a nice pace where I was able to maintain a decent heart rate. This was the first time I have a done a race with my i-pod, I'm not sure that I noticed any difference it having it, except I guess it helped to keep me distracted from the "are we there yet?" mindset. I had a couple of friends who saw a cheering group with bells and pom-poms and they thought that was finish line, and than realized it was further ahead. Funny, I didn't even notice them. I could see the red timer and was just focused on getting to the timer, so I didn't get distracted thinking I was done earlier than I really was.

This was a really fun race and very well organized. I'm not sure how I haven't done this one in the past, it's a huge community event. I think they were expecting over 2000 people between the 10k, 5k and 2 mile. And since it was all downtown it was awesome to have people lining the streets and cheering you on.

Hoping to get one maybe or two more runs in this year. Next up, race planning for 2010!

slow but steady

Feeling improvement this week, but the real test will be at the hospital on Tuesday. I actually ran for 2 minutes on the treadmill yesterday as part of my 25 minutes of walking and the knee did ok. I'm riding the bike for 20 minutes 3x a week and walking for 20-25 minutes 2x a week on top of my daily strength exercises for the knee. I'm hoping I'll be able to start running again by the beginning of October since I have a 5k at the end of October.

Overall I feel like things are coming together, but it would be nice to run again and watch my food intake so I can focus on losing the rest of this baby weight!

Resting

As soon as I finished the race I started experiencing knee pain. I had been having knee pain on and off since I started riding the stationary bike at the gym, I chalked it up to bad form on the bike and have been experimenting with the settings on the bike. Well, the trail run made me face the knee pain a little more seriously. The pain I experience comes and goes and only with certain movements.

On Monday after the race I did my usual work-out at the gym. I rode the bike and moved onto weights. I was able to do everything except for the seated leg press, yikes, that was painful so I moved on after one set. After I finished up my weight training, I hit the treadmill for 15 minutes, I decided not to push and just walked at a brisk pace, the knee seemed to be ok.

Tuesday arrives and I head to the hospital for my volunteer shift. My knee seems to be tolerating being on my feet and I try to take the elevator more than the stairs just to be on the safe side. Later that evening the pain is really bad. I think I've been blowing it off because the pain comes and goes but man, when it's there, it's excruciating. Before bed I ice the knee and around midnight take an Excedrin pm since I've been tossing and turning and can't fall asleep.

Wednesday morning and this time I'm off to volunteer at a car seat inspection, another 3 hours on my feet. Again, no real problems through out the day. But, evening arrives and man oh man, this is not cool. Another night of ice and Excedrin pm.

Thursday, I decide to be intelligent and stay off my feet. Sat in bed for about 2 hours while the baby napped and kept the knee up. Wow, this resting thing seems to be a good idea. Pain was still there but no where near as intense as the past couple of nights. Iced the knee and fell asleep on my own.

I see my sports medicine doc on Tuesday just to be sure I'm ok and doing the correct things. I think it's ITBS, it makes sense to me. That 5k was all up and down. The plan is to avoid running until I see my doc on Tuesday. I haven't planned on any races for September. October is going to be a busy month, so I would like to spend this month taking care of my knee and running just for fun. Lets hope I'm on the right path!

Bear Creek Trail Run - Briones Regional Park

Um, that was hard. Really, really hard.

The alarm went off at 5:50am, as usual, I wondered what the hell I was doing getting up so early to go running, and a trail run? Really, what had I been thinking. As I rolled out of bed and checked the outside temperature it said 68 degrees. What? 68 degrees at 6am, I didn't even want to think about how hot it would be at 8:20am when the 5k started.

Arrived at the park around 7:30am and promptly found mt running friends Myla and Mary Sue. We were all nervous about the run and then I looked at the elevation chart on the map, what? Had I really signed up for this? Again, what had I been thinking. I tried to put it out of mind and not think about the hills. But as the horn went off it was hard to ignore the hills as the first 3/4 miles were uphill. I ran, I ran slow, but I ran all the way up the hill, I slowed to a walk when we got to a level service to catch my breath. It seems like a weird strategy, run the hills and walk the flat part. Well, I would be walking the entire course if I only ran the flat parts. It was hot and dusty, no shade to speak of. I found myself passing some folks, which felt good, even though I was barely running. As we came to the top of the hill and it leveled out I could see the turn-around! Awesome, I thought, until the photographer at the turnaround told me I had almost reached the one mile marker. What? That's it? Good thing he said that after he snapped my photo. The awesome part, was the rest was downhill, I ran most of the downhill portion trying to gain some momentum.

We than came to a turn and I could see the trail looked shady, finally! I asked the guy, hey, this part looks shady. He told me it was his favorite part of the course. I could see why, it was downhill and nice and shady. We were still on gravel fire road and so far I was having no problems with the trail itself. Than, all of a sudden, all I saw in front of me was uphill. and steep uphill. Seriously? Damn, this must be the halfway point uphill that I saw on the elevation chart. It seems like it went forever and ever.

As we came up to a flat portion I was never so relieved to see an aide station. I don't normally take water on a 5k, but I was dying. I took a cup of water and a cup of gu and went on my way. Just as I was catching my breath and had started running again, we entered the single track portion of the track. I noticed the flags indicating that all runners, 1/2 marathon, 10k and 5k runners were now on the same trail. Single track is hard, especially singe track downhill with leaves. I nearly lost it on the first steep downhill portion as I took it a little to fast, that was scary. I slowed down and made sure there would be no tumbles or injuries on the course. I had been by myself mostly along the single track but about halfway in I could hear runners coming up behind me. I tried to stop and pull t the side to let folks pass. But on my right was a steep ravine, and since most people pass on the left, pulling to the right would send me over the edge. This was one of the reasons I didn't bring my i-pod, I wanted to hear people coming up behind me so I would have enough time to find a safe spot to pass. I had one jerk who yelled "on your left" and then "your other left" as I tried to find a good place to stop. I refrained from yelling any obscenities and my desire to not fall over the edge as he passed me. I bit my tongue and called him names under my breath, I do know my left from right. Other than every other 10k runner said "thank you" as they passed. The single track kicked my butt. The downhill was hard and when I hit the uphills I felt my legs burning. I knew I was getting close when I saw the 13 mile marker and 6 mile marker for the other runners. I could hear the announcer at the finish line, but we weren't there yet. I still had to navigate stairs, yeah, trail stairs. down the stairs than up the stairs, it seems endless. Finally I saw people and someone calling out numbers to the announcers as we rounded the corner. I booked it, we were so close to the finish line and it was finally flat!

I'm not going to lie, I was dripping in sweat, it was the most difficult run and most difficult workout I have ever done. But I got a nice finishers medal and technical shirt and now I can say I've done my first trail run. The jury is still out on whether there will be another trail run in my future. Maybe I should make the decision tomorrow when I see how much pain I'm in.

Biking!

We just got back from Lake Tahoe. While I brought my running shoes and gear there was no running taking place, it was all about the bike.

We started out our first day with what we thought was going to be a short ride from our campground to Fallen Leaf Lake. The sign as you exited the campground said 1/4 mile. Well, we must have missed the unmarked turn off because I looked down and realized we had gone a mile. So we figured we would just ride Fallen Leaf Road to the other end of the lake, of course we had no idea how far that would be. It was lots of uphill at the start, so I realized that meant the return would be downhill, which pleased me. As we continued more uphill we came to a sign that said Fallen Leaf Lake 2.5 miles, we were already 2 miles in to the ride. At this point we had been riding mostly flat with some rolling hills. I could tell from here on out it was all uphill and the road narrowed so much that we had to slow and pull over to let vehicles pass us. As we approached the other end of the lake it was one more brutal hill climb and then a quick right and downhill to get to the small sandy beach. I was feeling good, but glad to get off the bike for a rest. We let the girls play in the sand and water for about 45 minutes before we made our journey back. I knew it was going to be brutal and I was getting worried ad the traffic coming in was now growing and folks were not driving as slowly as they should be for a one lane road with lots of blind corners.

Getting up and out of the parking lot, nearly killed me it was so steep, thankfully there was the steep uphill that I now got to go down once I made it out of the parking lot. We continued back towards the campground with lots more walkers and vehicles on the road. We had to pull over many times until the road widened. I thought about all of my tri-athlete friends and thought to myself "there is no way in hell I could go run after getting off this bike". I was ecstatic when I looked down and saw that we only had 1.5 to go, that meant it was all downhill from this point. We reached speeds up to 19 mph (which scared the crap out of me) before having to slow down as the vehicle traffic picked up again. As we made it back to our campground we had logged 8.5 miles, for sure the longest ride I've done post babies. I worried about how my legs would be feeling later in the evening and the next day. I was pretty sure that I would not be able to make the same ride the following day.

After lunch and naps for the kids. We decided to take the girls to Baldwin Beach at Lake Tahoe. It seemed like the best option was to bike it. Really? Was I getting back on my bike again? It looked that way, this time I was in a bathing suit and a beachy dress cover-up. It was another 2.25 miles to the beach, but well worth it since it was $7 to park at the beach. We hung out for awhile before riding back to our campsite.

Total miles logged for the day - 13. Really? Who am I?

So, my legs ended up doing fine, it was my butt that was not a happy camper. We rode the next day only about 2.5 miles and yeah, I really couldn't have done any more than that.

I'm excited to have done so much riding because it has reminded me how much I love my bike and riding. I wish it were easier to get out and ride around my house. Will have to figure out a way to get more bike time into my routine.

Jail Break Run

What a great way to spend a Sunday morning. We headed out to the Santa Rita Jail and the Alameda County Sheriff's Training Facility. As we stood at the start line listening to instructions I got a little worried as I heard a lot of turn left, turn right, see where my hand is pointing. Um, no I can't see where you are pointing. Then I heard "there are deputies and flour marking the course", ok I should be ok. And then we were off.

Having the jogging stroller I had stayed in the back as i had only seen about 3 other strollers at this particular event and I didn't want to be in anyone's way. Of course as we took off and were all bunched up, I found it difficult to navigate the stroller and not give anyone a flat tire. We made our way through the gates and made our first left turn to run the path above the jail. I felt surprisingly good considering it was already warm at 8am. Sydney was her usual chatterbox, wanting to know why people had slowed to a walk. I told her they were resting and that it's ok to walk if you are tired. We made another left and turned down to run the path in front of the jail. We passed the 1 mile marker and I tried not to think about the fact that I still had 2.2 miles to go. At this point we were running into the sun and it was beating down on my face. I ran another quarter mile and prepped Sydney for the fact that I was going to walk for a little bit, she seemed ok with that. Once we got running back again we were approaching the split for the 5k/10k routes. We took a right and headed down to the next street where we approached the water station. Sydney was horrified that people were littering and throwing their water cups int he street. I explained that this was the only time that it was ok, because the volunteers would help clean up the cups. As we ran by a Deputy, he commented that getting a ride looked nice, I told him we were about to switch soon and Sydney was going to push me, Syd thought that was pretty funny. I was still feeling good, I was keeping up conversation with Sydney and to the Deputies along the course. We made a left to run down Arnold, at which point there would be a turn around. This was really the only part of the course where we experienced traffic that was being monitored by the deputies. I ran down to the turnaround, which was really tight and challenging with a stroller. Once I passed the turnaround and headed back up Arnold, I slowed to a walk again. I walked for just a brief time ans then started running to catch up to the runner in front of me. We were approaching the intersection and I figured it would be easier for the Deputy and traffic if we crossed it together. As the deputy halted traffic for us he said "you guys have the right of way", I smiled and said "thank you", to which Sydney belted out a huge "THANK YOU!" the Deputy seemed pretty pleased that he got such a huge thank you and said "you're welcome!". I pushed up the street and took another short walking break. I was pretty sure we were getting close, but wasn't really sure. I started up running again through what looked like a mile marker, but it was covered. I then saw what must have been the lead 10k runner being escorted by a motor officer. He looked strong, but i really had no idea where he was on his course. at this point I had slowed to a walk and I saw more volunteers at the corner where we would turn left. I knew the final part would be uphill and even though they were saying "you're almost there", I didn't believe them. Then I rounded the corner and saw the finish sign, so I started sprinting and yelled back "I had to see it to believe it!" There was a family cheering us on and laughing, I think Sydney must have looked super excited to cross the finish line. Then I heard "Here comes the first 10k runner!", i heard the sound of the motor officer behind me and laughed, wow the first 10k runner is coming in right behind me. At this point the clock was right under 35 minutes. I was thinking that the time had to be wrong, could that really be right? While I am caught up in all of my thoughts I see at the last minute the photographer and try to break out a smile for the camera. We pass through the chute which drastically narrows and I can barely fit the stroller through it and am trying not to run into the girl in front of me who is barely even walking after crossing the finish line. I wanted to yell "Come on, Move it!" but I bit my tongue. As we struggled through the cones, and I commented that the chute wasn't wide enough for us a nice Deputy moved the last cone so we could get through. And then we were done!

It was a great race and while pushing Sydney was hard work, she also distracted me and made the time go by fast. Sydney ran a 1/2 mile after the 5k and totally rocked it. I am super proud of my little girl. Official time 35:22

Taking the next leap

I've been sitting here all morning doing lots of Internet research on what I want to do next, I know I need to keep up on a training program of some sort to keep me motivated and interested in running and exercise in general. I found this really cool super-sprint tri that sounds like something I could maybe do, but I also don't want to be naive in the fact that no matter what the distance putting it all together is a challenge, and I suck at swimming! Oh and I have a mountain bike and not a road bike, oh and that super-sprint tri is in 4 weeks. Ok, back to reality.

I think the next logical step for me is increase my running distances. So thanks to Kirsten who sent me Hal Higdon's 10k plan, who apparently received it from Molly (bunch of pushers I tell ya!), I will be embarking on a 10k training program. This seems to be the most logical step, with the plan I can incorporate swimming and biking on my non-running days and maybe once I tackle this feat, than I can focus on a super-sprint tri.

Don't get too excited, I haven't signed up for a 10k yet. I'm going to continue with my schedule of 5k's (assuming I can still find appropriate child care) and once I have completed training than will search out that perfect first 10k race.

Happy 4th of July

Today was the Moraga 4th of July Run. This was my first time doing the run that supports Campolindo High School's Track Team. We arrived just before 8am so that I could get Sydney signed up for the kids run. Scott had done much briefing the night before about racing and no pushing and being a good sport, so Sydney was ready to go. She lines up and patiently waited her turn, and then they were off! My parents were a little further down the course and than I swooped over the end of the course to watch her finish. As I saw her running towards me I was s impressed with how focused she was, I took a few photos and jumped in to run the last stretch with her. She said to me "Mommy, I'm really tired" but I told her to keep running as she was almost to the finish line! She was so pleased to get a medal for running "with all of her friends". I was so proud of her, that was a pretty long for her and I'm certain the longest stretch she has probably ever run, she did awesome!

Next up was Mommy's race. We got lined up and waited. It was nice to be in the crowd, because it was warm standing amongst all of the other runners. I found a nice spot on the inside line and waited for the gun. Bang, and we were off! I was glad I had kept to the outside, because my parents and the girl were there on the sidewalk shortly after we took off, I gave a big wave and smile as they cheered me on. We ran down Moraga Road headed towards Canyon. They had one lane of traffic closed for us and one lane open to vehicles. As we were running a young boy appeared to be looking for whoever he was running with, spun around and out of the cones into the lane of vehicle traffic and nearly was hit by a car, I think we all gasped at the same time, scary. While I love that there were so many young children running this race, it was clear that there should have been some briefing about running and staying on the course. As we approached Camino Pablo, the 5 milers split off to run up Camino Pablo and we continued on heading towards the bike trail. There was a slight incline at the start of the bike trail, but I powered up it. all I kept thinking was of Sydney and how she powered through her race, so I wasn't going to stop and walk. At about the 1 mile mark I started to get a side cramp, so I focused on my breathing and told myself that I only had 10 more minutes of running. Focus on my pace and breathing and just keep going. I hadn't been on this part of the trail in years, I think Scott and I rode our bikes on it once, so I kept trying to figure out where we were and how much further we had to go. As we came out of the bike trail and made a left I knew we were hitting school street and the end was near. They had traffic stopped at the intersection so we could easily run past. As I ran up School Street and towards Safeway, I could see my parents and the girls. I waived and than heard my Mom say "There she is!". They cheered me on and Sydney yelled "Mommy, go get your gold medal!" I practiced my best Molly smile and hope they got a nice photo out of it. From here, I knew I was close, but I couldn't actually see the finish line, which was a bummer, because I didn't know i I should start sprinting or conserve. By the time I saw the line, I picked up my pace but there wasn't much time left and it was single file through the finish line, so I could have passed the woman in front of me, but instead just tailgated her in. I was quite shocked to hear him yell 20 minutes as we passed through, really? I just ran a 10 minute pace? That's my best pace ever!

Feeling really great post race and super pleased with my results. So pleased I think I'm going to go ahead and sign up for the Jail Break Run in 2 weeks. Although, that race may indeed be a kid haul, unless grandparents decided to come out and watch again!

I'm doing this for fun, right?

This is what I keep telling myself. It's okay to run/walk the Moraga 4th of July Run, this is also what I keep telling myself.

Kylie and I went out for a run this morning since we hit the gym yesterday. We did the 1 mile loop only once. I did my usual warm up walk up the hill, hit the flat portion and started running, pushed up the small hill and continued to the flat portion. Than came the downhill, I have started to realize that I'm not taking advantage of the downhill portion, so I'm working on taking greater strides to try and gain momentum and time. As we came down the giant hill, we pushed forward and rounded the corner to the entire uphill portion of the way home. Usually when on my own I do this loop twice and I can make it uphill two blocks before I walk the rest and start my run again at the flat portion. Today we made it up one block before we started walking. And by the time I hit the driveway I was dripping in sweat and my lung capacity was pretty diminished, so we called it a day. It felt much warmer this morning than I think it really was. And than I kept reminding myself that I would be running on Saturday at 8:30am and not 9:30am and maybe that will make a difference???

I'm still trying to decide what to do about the Jail Break Run, I'd really like to do it, but if I do, it may be another kid haul, and I'm not sure I'm up for a 5k kid haul in August... but we shall see. S working on weekends is really cramping my racing style!

Kid Haul Training Day 1

Well, I only had one kid to trail with this morning since the other one is at school. So Ky, myself and the Bob headed out just after 9am to try and beat the heat. Instead of ding my 1 mile loop twice, I figured I would go down my street and back up, which is 2 miles round trip. And it is literally all downhill and than all uphill on the way back. I ran down the street, my favorite part! turned around at the end and had to negotiate this poor woman twice as she was trying to back into her driveway and doing a very poor job of it and using both lanes of traffic to attempt it. We than ran about 2 blocks back up the street before I decided I would walk the remainder of the way. The lungs were feeling much better today in comparison to Monday's run. And it must have been a nice jaunt since Ky feel asleep on the way back home.

Whooping Cough really makes it hard to run

Yes, I'm 34 and have whooping cough or pertussis, since I should be using my medical terminolgy. I had it when I was 19 and honestly have probably had it several times in between but went undiagnosed. I have sensitive lungs according to my doc.

Even though I have estentially taking time off since completing the battle, I have been trying to stay active. I rode my bike for the first time in two years this past week. We hit the trails at Boca, and while it was only 3 miles of riding, there was lots of hills and plenty of rocky paths to navigate. I think it was a great first ride. And the little Yox girls had a blast. Following behind Daddy in the double trailer you could hear them squeal with delight as he went down hills and over bumps, what a great ride for the entire family. And did Imentuion the sore butt... two days of sore butt, yes it's been awhile.

Today, our first day home, Ky was too sick to go to kids club at the gym, so I put her in the Bob and took off for the neighborhood loop. On my own I typically do the 1 mile loop twice and run all of the flat and downhill portions and portions of the uphill and walk the rest of the uphill. Today I found I could only do the loop once and couldn't run as much of the uphill as I normally do. Between the cough and warmer weather , I was "put a fork in me, I'm done". Despite whooping cough, I must continue as I have the Moraga 4th of July run in less than 2 weeks, and as my friend Kirsten calls it "the kid haul". Yes, I'll be pushing at least 80 pounds of kid and stroller for the two mile run. So must preapre as much as I can.

BR VIII Awards Dinner

Last night was the awards dinner. We arrived a little late just as Gary was getting ready to hand out the first awards. We squeezed into a table with Tami (MD Trainer), her husband and a few other people I had never met before. Scott was a good sport and thankfully because there were only about 40 participants this year the awards were not ridiculously long. It was amazing to hear what some folks accomplished during the 8 weeks and makes me want to do it again next year to see what further accomplishments I can achieve. We happened to be sitting next to a team member of Huck the Fuskies, pleased to know that he was a U of O Graduate, he and Scott had lots to talk about. He also happened to rake up lots of awards! He had knee surgery during the battle and days after surgery came in and did final testing on the leg curl and increased his weight by 40 pounds, earning him an Iron Man Award. For the second year I received an Ultra Elite Award in Body Composition. An Ultra Elite is awarded to anyone who achieves 8% or more body fat loss, I achieved 9.03% body fat loss. As always, it was an exciting a fun night. I may even have convinced Scott to compete next year, it is hard to believe I'll have to wait an entire year to do it again!

Scott finishes 1st place in his division at Hit the Road Jack!

We woke up around 5am Sunday morning to get ready for the drive to Sonoma. Scott's Mom arrived at 6am to watch the girls for us, who much to my dismay were awake at 5:30 and 6:00 am. We made the drive to Sonoma and had planned on parking at the hotel and walking to the plaza, however after passing our hotel and not realizing it we found ourselves at the Plaza and found that there were no parking restrictions on Sunday's. We parked directly across the street from the Plaza and wandered over. We had received our bibs ad chips in the mail so we were all set. We got ready, stretched did a short jog and stretched some more. We made our way over to the start line and waited. I wanted to be sure to be at the start of the line, after the Devil Mountain Run and not crossing the start line until almost a minute into the race, I wasn't going to d that again and have an extra minute added to my race time, I need all of the help I can get! We had two 14 year old boys in front of us who were talking times I could only dream of. And at the last minute some parents through their young kids (probably around 10) in front of the crowd. Many of us wondered if this was a good idea. As we got the "Go" I got caught up with all of the front runners and the really fast take-off. Less than a block into the run I witnessed the first casualty (probably the one one) where a young boy was knocked down, I knew that throwing all of those kids in the front was a bad idea. Very quickly I realized I was nuts if I thought that I could keep up that pace, I used up a lot of energy at the start line, I guess I was afraid I might be trampled as well, but I knew there would be a lot of walkers and I didn't want to be behind them negotiating my way around them. I struggled trying to find a pace that was working for me. We quickly veered onto the bike path and after a short stretch on the bike path the course navigated back onto the streets. Up ahead there was a stop sign for vehicles and apparently a truck was pretty pissed off at having to wait for the runners. Thy promptly laid on the horn and burned rubber out of there. Which then prompted several runners ahead of me to yell obscenities. Would have been nice if we had some race officials or one of the motor officers at that point. As we moved into a residential neighborhood, we started a slow ascent (okay, I'm a fast and flat girl and was not ready for even this mild hill) this about killed me. Between my lungs and the side cramp I was developing I had to slow to walk and walked through the first water station. Why is at water stations people feel the need to jump right in front of you and stop for water??? Granted, I was only walking, but I was walking and grabbing and going. This is why I don't typically take water, but I did anyway. I started running again as we had a small downhill section where I thought I might gain some momentum. In my mind I kept thinking mile markers would be nice... I must be halfway right? I saw a second water station ahead and grabbed more water because it was a kids baseball team and they looked sad because most people weren't grabbing water. After that I slowed to walk again. What is wrong with me, it's only 2.2 miles and I just ran a 5k. Feeling like a slacker I noticed the photographer ahead, seeing as I am still bitter about no photo from my Devil Mountain Run's I started running and there were only a few people around me so I'm pretty sure he got a photo of me. After that I could see the finish line, although it still looked pretty darn far away. I thought about walking again, but there were some people this far out cheering out folks in, so I figured it wasn't an option when there were spectators that could see me to walk. I was starting to pass a Mom who was pushing a double stroller but both kids were walking (apparently they had cut through the course somewhere... why hadn't I thought of that?) Her son wanted to get back in the stroller but Mom said he could make it to the finish line, so I cheered him on and he started running. As I came into the final stretch I could see Scott who had finished about 8-9 minutes ahead of me, he was telling me to pick up the pace. I normally don't have much at the end of a run to sprint or pick up the pace. But there were these two kids in front of me who had been like me and walked/jogged much of the course. I was going to be damned if they beat me. Somewhere I dug down deep, I saw the clock was fast approaching 23 minutes and my goal had been a sub 23 minute run. I must of dug really deep, I don't think I have ever run that fast on pavement I ended up passing at least three people and came in at 23:01.

Maybe the battle helped me in pulling out that last sprint or maybe it was just pride that I wasn't going to let those teenagers beat me. It sure felt good afterwards. After Scott and I reconnected he mentioned that he thought he may have come in 2nd in his age division. We stuck around and watched people finish up the 2.2 miler and than cheered the 10k folks in. It was exciting to watch the top men and women come in, I was in utter amazement of their athleticism. Maybe one day I will be able to run a 10k. We enjoyed the post race food. Lots of fresh fruit and muffins, but the best part... baguette's and an array of jack cheese. Some of the best cheese I have ever had... yummy!

We stuck around for the awards since we thought Scott had gotten 2nd place. I was amazed at some of these kids. Scott laughed and said "yep, she passed me at the end and oh she passed in the beginning!" We talked about how Sydney will love to do that run when she is a little older. They did have a 5-7 age division, so maybe even next year. I had a sneaking suspicion that Scott may have gotten first place in his division after listening to some of the times in the other age groups. Sure enough, he was awarded first place. How exciting! I knew I should have grabbed the real camera, but all I had was the camera phone. At least I know there will be professional photos of him receiving the award.

After that we enjoyed a wonderful day and night in Sonoma complete with spa treatments and great food. I'm hoping we can make the Hit the Road Jack event an annual one, it was great fun and really well run. I would love to go back next year and shave some time off of my run.

One day to go

We will be getting up bright and early so we can get up to Sonoma by 7:30am for an 8am start time. Packing today and getting everything ready for Grandma Barb to come and stay withe kids overnight.

Hit the gym this morning for a mellow workout of 30 minutes on the bike, weight training, followed by 20+ minutes of walking on the treadmill. I'm still trying to set a goal for tomorrow's run but I've never run a 2.2 miler before s I guess I'll have to do some math and my average speeds from 5k's.

Speaking of 5k's I'm researching my next races. I'm looking at doing the Jail Run Break in Dublin next month. It's hosted by the Alameda County Sheriff's SWAT Team and benefits Special Olympics. It's a flat figure 8 course.... sounds right up my alley. Then I was looking at the Bear Creek Trail Run, close to home... but I've never done a trial run and it sounds like it is uphill and then downhill, nothing too severe they tell me. Um, this girl runs flat courses so any trail running will prove to be severe for me. If anyone has any feedback on either of these two runs, I would love to hear more.

Otherwise, wish us luck for tomorrow!

Cardio, cardio and more cardio

Today was a cardio only day since I did my weight training yesterday. Scott said "you were on the treadmill for over an hour!". I actually enjoyed running on the treadmill today since I knew it was just a workout and not how fast I could run for 12 minutes. I cruised for 25 minutes for running and 35 minutes of walking. Since I know Scott was still working out I decided to hop on the bike for the remainder of his workout. That turned out to be only 10 minutes before Kids Club paged us for a dirty diaper. Despite the dirty diaper I was able to get 70 minutes of cardio in today, surely that makes up for the Mike's that I am currently consuming.

Did I mention that I have decided not to weigh myself this week? Since I'm taking a week off from my dieting/healthy eating habits post the Battle, I've decided it is in my best interest not to weigh myself. I'm giving it a week before jumping back on that wagon to lose the remaining weight. And that Mr. Pibb sure did taste good today after 12 weeks of no soda. I know, it sounds like I am being terrible, but I'm really not. I'm still making decent choices when it comes to food, but I'm not counting calories. And I did decline the fully loaded bake potato at Outback and opted only for sour cream and chives... skipping the bacon and butter is a good choice right? I ate my veggies as well!

Trying this blogging thing

I obviously have too much time on my hands if I think I have time to blog. After following some of my friends blogs I was thinking it might be a fun way to document my adventures of late. And who knows, maybe someone is even interested in reading them.

I just finished the Battle Royal VIII. 11 pounds lost, 9.07% body fat lost, 3.37 inches lost and 2 dress sizes lost in 8 weeks. I'm pretty pleased with myself. I achieved an overall 102% fitness rating. I still have about 8 pounds left to lose in order to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, but I'm at a lower body fat percentage than I was pre-pregancy, so I'm pretty excited about my accomplishments in that area. Awards dinner is scheduled for June 11th, should be a fun evening.

Next up on the agenda is "Hit the Road Jack" a 2.2 mile run in Sonoma followed by music and wine. My mother-in-law has graciously volunteered to watch the girls overnight so that Scott and I can enjoy a fun filled overnight trip to the wine country and not strain ourselves too much in the short distance run.

Oh and thanks to everyone who suggested the ipod touch. Scott got it for me for my birthday and I am loving it. My 1st generation ipod had a great run, but it was time to retire it, lots of good memories together. Now I need a case for the new one, any suggestions?