CPOA Memorial Run

This is the first time I have ever done two 5k's back to back. I passed up this run last year because it's a trail run and at the time I had never done a trail run. Thanks to a few races with Brazen I felt confident. And since Scott was on vacation and the run benefits the California Peace Officers Association, it was a must for us.

It started out with some confusion over start times. CPOA was advertising a 9am start for both the 5k and 10k but On Your Mark was advertising 9am for the 10k and 9:45am for the 5k. Much to my disappointment the 5k started at 9:45am. I am not accustomed to starting a race that late in the morning, so at about 9:30am my stomach was grumbling and it was getting warm at Shadow Cliffs. Although it was fun to get to see the first 10k runners coming in before our start. Before we knew it we were off. Two minutes into the run you face the largest hill on the course, um, way to wear me out before I even get started. I sucked it up and ran up the entire hill. The course was a series of rolling hills with some flat stretches. I was able to run up about half of the hills and was sure to take advantage of the downhill portions by running all of those. There were about 3 other woman that I played cat and mouse with through out the course. The course looped around quite a bit, so it was difficult for me to get an idea of how much further I had. As we approached what I was guessing was the last hill, one of the women I had been playing cat and mouse with was at my side, she looked like she was going to run up the entire hill (which was about the equivalent of the first hill), I said to myself if she runs up it, so am I! And we did, we even managed a conversation as we ran up the hill (that was a first for me!) I felt a huge sigh of relief as we reached the top and then saw the finish line and the large downhill. Once again, I took advantage of the downhill and left my buddy behind. All of a sudden I hit pavement, my body has never been so relieved to hit pavement. As we came around the bathrooms a husband dropped into the run his wife in, this was another woman I had been back and forth with. Damn, they passed me. As we reached the grass, I knew it was now or never, I sprinted like I have never sprinted before, I passed her and her husband and crossed the finish line strong. This is evidenced in the photo that On Your Mark captured of me crossing the finish line, I obviously did not care about what I looked like as I crossed, so I will spare myself the humiliation, you'll just have to take my word for it.

28/74 in my age group. Scott came in 4th in his AG, so close to the podium! I'm going with my time of 36:17 as OYM doesn't chip time, and I don't think their time is accurate :)

We finished up the race with BBQ from Outback, which tasted so good! And it was a great day of networking for my own upcoming event.

Devil Mountain Run 5k

Running a 5k the morning after your daughter's 2nd Birthday Party seems a bit ambitious and that's exactly how I was feeling this morning. Luckily, they mailed us our race bibs and timing chips so we were able to roll in about 30 minutes prior to the start and we were fine.

What we love about the Devil Mountain Run is that it is family oriented, well run, supports Children's Hospital and oh yeah, it's FAST and FLAT! This is our third year running the race and I'll admit it, I love it because it was my very first ever 5k.

With over 700 runners and the 5k and 10k starting together, the start line is a little crazy and most people don't pay attention to the sign markers guiding you where to start based on your speed. Scott had the disadvantage of the double stroller, while I was able to to maneuver through the crowd, I crossed the start line 30 seconds after the gun went off and Scott a full minute after the gun went off. We run for about a block before we hit the split, the 5k runners make a left, as we made this turn I look over to my right and see Scott running at a ridiculous speed pushing the stroller trying to get past all of us slow folks. The looks on the face of the two Search and Rescue guys was priceless. I'm sure they thought they would peeling him off the pavement about a mile down the road.

I found a nice pace and was able to keep my heart rate at a nice easy level. I knew I would be running slower than in past years, but I had to just get over the fact my life as a working Mom these days was not allowing the running time I would really like to be able to get in. As we hit the turn-around point, I felt good and was happy with the pace I had found. I took a cup of water at the aid station and walked briefly to drink it, I'm just not skilled at running and drinking, even at a walk I managed to spill water all over my watch. No time to waste since I was running a slow pace,  I ditched my cup ( I feel so guilty every time I throw a cup on the ground at race) and started running again. At this point we are running on the Iron Horse Trail and I see the 2 mile marker, that's good news! I work on just maintaining my pace and hope that I have something left for the finish line. Before I know it we cross an intersection and I can hear the finish line. By this point lots of people have filled the sides of the chute as we come in. there really is no one behind me or in front of me to help give me that final inspiration at the finish line, but I suck it up and sprint across the finish line anyway!

Crossing the finish line

41/87 in my age group, top half of the group

Mom and Sydney waiting for the kids run to start

Dad and his girls.

I am so proud of Scott who finished 5th in his AG while doing the Kid Haul, a PR from last years kids haul!

We very much encourage the every child is a winner attitude, but um yeah... Sydney came in first in her heat!

very pleased with herself.

Next up, CPOA Memorial Run next Saturday!

Mermaid Run

I got up at 6am yesterday morning to get ready for the Mermaid Run in Mountain View. Last year was my first time participating in this race. What I like about it is that it's an all woman's race and the Mermaid folks promote women and young girls to get out and be active. Oh and they give out good loot too!

It was evident that there were more runners this year by the long line of cars to get into the parking lot. Of course, maybe it had something to do with it not being rainy and cold and windy this year. At any rate, I found Mary Sue and Molly McNamara and family. Molly's Mom and Sister were racing and Molly came to watch before participating in Vineman Showdown.

After a long wait in line for the bathrooms (that's what happens when you have 1200 women racing) it was time for the 5k start, and we were off. My goal was to not push and monitor my heart rate closely. My allergies have been causing some funky stuff to take place during my workouts and I needed to be careful after an incident earlier this week at the gym. The 5k course was crowded and there were lots of mini-mermaids running. I love seeing the young girls out running but the only bummer about that is they don't really know race etiquette.  And if you know anything about how kids run, they give it everything they have and then just stop and then as you go to pass them, give it everything they have again. So you just have to be a little more alert on the course for obstacles. I told my self there would be no walking until the turn-around. When I reached the turn-around I still felt good,  I decided to keep going. At this point I realized that if I stopped running, my walk pace would be about the same as my run pace, so I might as well just keep running at my very slow pace. I knew the final stretch would be hard, because there is a small uphill and then you can see the finish line, but it is still pretty far away. As I approached, I worked on keeping my pace and maintaining my hear rate. I was excited to see that Melissa was there as well. It's always way cool to have people cheering you on, and the smofitters never you let down. I crossed the finish line with a huge sense of relief. Even though it was not a great time for me, this was the first race of the year where I ran the entire race with no walking.

33/74 in my age group and 167/411 overall. I still have my work cut out for me as all of my race times this year have been slower than last year. Hopefully my body will start to cooperate with me.

Next up, my favorite race - The Devil Mountain Run benefiting Children's Hospital.

Walk like MADD

As most of you know, I am walking in June to support Mothers Against Drunk Driving. I am at 75% of my goal, I'm so close and hope I can reach 100% this year! Please check out my fundraising page, a $10 donation will go a long way!

Maybe you have June 5th free and you are interested in joining us. We will be walking Lake Merritt in Oakland, not only will it be a beautiful day with lots of fun activities but you will be supporting a great cause. Sign up today!

Benicia Run for Education

Hmmm, it's been a month since my last post, what I have been up to you ponder. I've been sick, pretty much since January. As I look back after completing my third race for the year, I have been ill pretty much for every run I have raced this year. It all started with back to back sinus infections and was follwed by the worst case of strep throat, ever. I basically started today's race as my first run in a month.

As you can imagine, I was not looking forward to the carnage that would be my body left somewhere on the course. I'm still not 100% but I'm going with the "I have allergies" bit, because there is just no way I'm really still sick. I arrived in Benicia got my bib and t-shirt and had time to run back to the car to ditch the t-shirt. I still had not spotted Molly or Ashley and Chris. I wondered around, did some stretching and finally found Ashley and Chris. As we headed to the start line I spotted Molly (not hard to miss in her super cute Lululemon orange top) and gave her a quick "go get e'm tiger" before moving back to my start place. And after lots of announcements I couldn't hear, we were off!

Running through downtown Benicia was cool and there people on the streets cheering us on. I didn't have any expectations for the day because I thought I might have to walk the entire race. As we hit the 5k/10k split I took my first walk break, I was monitoring my heart rate and trying to keep it in a nice range, which proved to be difficult when my monitor stopped transmitting. Oh well, we'll go with my best guess. I was not prepared for the rolling hills that just seemed to keep coming and coming. There were some kids keeping the same pace as I was and I overheard one of them say "you said that was the last hill!!!" Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I continued with my run/walk pace running all of the downhills to try and make up some time and power walking as much as I could. I was paying close attention to the street signs to see how close we were, and was never so excited to see the final turn. Once we made the turn it was a little bit of a bummer because you couldn't see the start/finish line, but I knew it was there and I promised myself no more walking.

The one thing about all of the hills, it pretty much I had nothing left at the finish line. I like to have something left to sprint at the end, and I would have loved to pass the women in front of me, but I really had nothing left. As I got closer I started to hear mad cheers and on my right side this guy came booking past me as I realized he was the first 10k runner coming in, I mustered up the energy to cheer for him as he passed me.

And much love to Molly who had a big PR today and came in 2nd in our AG, for snapping photos of me as I crossed the finish line.

She taught me to always smile as you cross the finish line!

Post race happiness!

Even though today was not a great time for me, I am so pleased that I got it done. I spent all of yesterday on my feet, first volunteering at the Diablo Trails Challenge hosted by Brazen Racing and then at my pool's Annual work day. Needless to say, i was dead tired last nigh and my legs and feet hurt. Not the best plan ever, but hey, I was trying to fill my weekend with cool activities. The one big positive that came out of today, is I'm ready. I'm ready to start running again and leave behind all of this winter illness!

Next up The Mermaid Run in April. Very excited to come back for my 2nd race with the mermaids.

Bay Breeze 5k

I woke yesterday morning not feeling quite right, somehow off. Maybe it had to do with the lack of sleep the night before. It must be my race karma that the girls never sleep through the night on the eve of a race. 

I headed out to meet a friend from High School who was also running the race so we could carpool to the San Leandro Marina Park. We got there about 8:30am to check in and get our bibs and timing chips. As always Brazen Racing was well organized and we didn't have to wait in line very long. We watched the half marathoners start, I was amazed, there were so many of them - 171 as reported on the results list. As we got ready for our start it was nice that I had some other friends running as well. We're all varying levels of runners so we all started in different spots, which works well for me since I like to be a loner when running.

We were off! We ran out through the grass, which is much more challenging than it sounds, especially soggy grass. It felt much better once we hit the trail. The course was awesome, the bay was to my right and a golf course to my left, the scenery was fantastic. I found my pace and was chugging along, there were many times that I felt like walking, but I promised myself no walking until at least the aid station/turn around point.

Once I arrived at the aid station I grabbed the sports drink rather than the water because there was a back-up for the water. I didn't want to stop because getting started again requires so much more effort than just running through the aid station. I was proud of myself for running through the aid station and kept trotting along. Although I now noticed that we were running into the wind and we were running at an ever so slight incline. No wonder I felt so good on the way out. Shortly after the aid station it hit me, side cramps. Really? I never get cramps when running. The cramps caused me to walk and lower my heart rate and then I started running again. Every time I was pretty sure I had hydrated well enough the day before, I had a good breakfast. I'm blaming it on the gu or whatever the sports drink was that they had at the aid station. Note to self, stick with water at the aid station next time.

The last mile was really painful for me, filled with way more walking than I would have liked. As we neared the end there was a volunteer at the end of the gate who was directing us to the left to the finish line. Past him I could see the rear bumper of a patrol car, hmmm Highway Patrol car, I can only think of one chippy who would find the need to be parked here at Marina Park while we come running in. I waived and then saw the rear lights on the squad car go on, yep it was Scott! I got so excited I probably started running a little faster than I should have and then I remembered the grass and that I had to save some leg for the finish line. I slowed to a walk (which Scott saw and gave me grief over) and when I felt I was in safe distance started running again. I really didn't have much left to sprint to the finish line, especially given how much work it was to run through the grass. As I aprroached the finish line, I felt two woman coming up on either side about to pass me. Oh no you don't, I dug down deep and put into high gear, and so did they! I was pretty sure I beat them. Final results show one woman and I crossed at the same time and the third was behind us, I'll take that.

Overall, not my best race. I had hoped to have a nice time at this course since it was Brazen's only flat course. Oh well, you can't win them all. I have much work to do before the Benicia Run for Education next month.

I think I'll be running in the rain

It's been a difficult week for me, between the sinus infection and being sore from Pilates, for a few days I wasn't getting in the exercise I really need to be getting in. Yesterday was a gym day, but I couldn't muster the energy in the morning to get there. While I'm starting to feel better, I did have a low fever and I think my body just said enough, you need to rest. By the afternoon I was feeling better and Scott took the girls to the gym so I had some free time and decided to get out and run like I knew I needed to. Note to self: do not run the neighboprhood at 3:30pm when school is getting out. I nearly got creamed by a bus that had a stop sign but appeared she was going to California stop through it, luckily she stopped instead of hitting me. Did anyone notice that it was 75 degrees yesterday? Damn, running in warm weather is so much more difficult than running in the cold.

That brings me to the upcoming Bay Breeze 5k on Saturday. It's going to rain, so I guess I don't need to worry about how to dress. I'll be bundled up for sure. And I suppose I would rather run in the rain than in the heat.

So today is a rest day as I let my body heal from the hilly run yesterday but I did make a trip to my Chiropractor and it lokos like I'm back in shape and can go back into maintence mode, good news! Tomorrow will be a gym day but I'll be hitting the bike to make sure my running legs are in god shape for Saturday.