Trying to find a routine

The week started off god with two short runs on Monday and Tuesday along the Alameda Shoreline. Although, what I realized on Monday was that I am not condition to run in warm weather at all. I ran 1.15 miles to map out a possible walk route for my event in October, it was about 70 degree's out, and that short run just about wiped me out. I started thinking I may be in trouble in three weeks when I fly to San Diego for the Inaugural Finish Chelsea's Run 5k.  I'm guessing it will be warm in San Diego and I'm thinking I might just melt since I have become accustomed to running in the cold and rain.

Since I was not able to get in any other workouts this week until today and since rain is on the horizon for next week, I thought today might be my only chance to get some warm weather running in before San Diego. Wrong, it was 38 degree's when I reached Moraga Commons and the Lafayette-Moraga Regional trail. The 1st mile of the trail is mostly in the shade and really very cold. My lungs immediately started to protest the cold and this little tickle of a cough that I have had almost all winter started to be more productive. All of a sudden my thought completely shut down and made it nearly impossible to swallow or to breathe. I'm starting to wonder how I ever 13 miles. Finally on my turn around I'm starting to feel somewhat better but still not awesome. And just as I'm starting to realize that I am warming up and my throat is opening up a bit I realize I only 1/2 mile a to go and I'm entering the densely tree covered portion of the trail and the temperature drops.

Not exactly the run I had hoped for today, but I have a million things to do today and I had to get it done early, otherwise I would have found an excuse to not get it done. And now, of course, it's a lovely 70 degree's.

Brazen Coyote Hills 5k

Because we love Brazen Racing so much, Mary Sue and I signed up for the Coyote Hills 5k. This race sold out and we had the luxury of shuttle buses to get us to the start finish line from the overflow parking lots. Lets just say, we contemplated riding the shuttle all morning because it was so much warmer on the bus!! We had plenty of time to go through the usual "what were we thinking?" and I told Mary Sue I would hold it against her if the day went bad since she picked the race, and than I was reminded that I talked her into 13.1 miles... I kept my mouth shut after that.

It seemed like we waited forever in the cold wind to start. 1 minute after the gun went off we crossed the start line (this would prove to be a problem later). There were so many people and we had a lot of walkers to navigate through. Another huge frustration of mine, if you are walking, start in the back! We hopped up on the grass along the paved path because people were walking 2-3 wide and we literally just could not get past people. Eventually we had to move back down and just deal with. I had a guy running at my pace with his dog on a retractable leash! Really, I decided to keep my mouth shut this early in the race. We navigated across the boardwalk, which was awesome and so pretty. At this point I had more room to pass people that I needed to pass and had time to enjoy the scenery.

Less than a mile into the race we hit single track and came to a stop and than a walk. "Well this sucks!" I said out loud, oops I guess biting my tongue didn't last that long. Some of you know that I have an issue with my heart rate and blood pressure when I came to screeching halt, it results in nearly passing out. Luckily, I have yet to actually pass out, but I came pretty close a few weeks ago. Needless to say, the abrupt stop had me panic a little bit. Once we got through that I was able to get back to a nice pace. I will say, there were clearly lots of newbies out of there with no race or trail etiquette. On an uphill portion, two women decided to walk and they were joking around, as I tried to pass them the one girl shoved her other friend and I knocked into her as I passed "excuse me!" I managed in my most annoyed voice, to which they started speaking to each other in another language. And then there was the couple who was running and holding hands, passed me and then pulled right in front of me and slowed to walk! Really? It's totally cute that you are holding hands and all but I nearly ran into you jerks. Don't even get me started on the poor etiquette at the aid station, I was tempted to through my cup of water at the girl standing in the path next to the trash.

Did I mention the course was long? We were told in advance that the 5k was actually 3.5 so I was mentally prepared for it and didn't seem to have a problem with the extra distance, Mary Sue's gps came back with 3.65 miles.

Even though I have listed a lot of complaints here, it was a great and beautiful race. As usual, Brazen put on a great event, I can't hold it against them if their participants are boneheads.

Some photos to share from the day.

Start/Finish Line

crossing the boardwalk

you can almost see me in this shot

one of the many kids that I played leapfrog with

This is the single track where we were forced to walk

I came in 16/55 for my age group, thanks to all of the walkers who made that number look good! Official time 41:45 for somewhere between 3.5 - 3.65 miles.

2011 Brazen New Years Run

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love Sam and Jasmine of Brazen Racing,every race I have participated in has been awesome. This one was even better because it was a free race after volunteering at the Diablo Trails Challenge Race last year.

I will admit, the alarm went off and I was totally unmotivated to get up and go out and run, especially when I heard the rain outside. I got out of bed anyway and donned my warmest running gear and hit the road. I had already picked up my bib earlier in the week, so I didn't need to get there super early, but it's also better to leave the house before the kids wake up so they aren't sad when I leave. Needless to say, I arrived at the park at 7:30am for a 9:05 start time. I sat in the car for about as long as I could stand my boredom, trying to stay dry.

I grabbed my timing chip and tried to find the driest spot I could to wait it out, which turned out to be under a tree by the food tent. Turns out there was a very bad crash on 580 and they shut the freeway down, they delayed each race for 10 minutes to allow for folk to try and get into the park. While this is very considerate, it meant 10 more minutes in the cold for me.

View of the start/finish line

They had an amazing New Orleans Jazz band playing since there is no amplified sound allowed at the park, I must say, they were way better than any amplified sound they could have possibly had.

I watched the 1/2 Marathoner's take off, then the 10ker's before it was finally our turn to line up. Normally, I would be irritated with folks who don't actually start running until they cross the mat, today I was relieved. The grass was so soggy and muddy and by the time we started it was just a big slippery mess. Walking to the mat meant avoiding mad splatter early in the race.

I ran with my hood on for about the first mile, it was that cold.

 

Just a glimpse of me as I run by incognito

Overall, I felt really good during the race. Although the way out is mostly downhill that means the return is mostly uphill. The turnaround point seemed to come quickly and I was pleased to be making my way back. I think there were only 2 hills that I had to walk up, other than that I trudged up the others at a slow run pace. I was thrilled to see the 3 mile marker, but than I saw the finish line and realized either the course was long or they misplaced the 3 mile marker, cause it was for sure more than. .1 miles back to the finish.

Happy to be so close to the finish

Approaching the finish line was interesting, I had enough in me to sprint, but I was pretty nervous to sprint and slip and fall in the muddy conditions. I didn't want to be that person, who falls flat on their face or butt before they cross the line. So I kept a reserved pace assuring that I would stay upright.

It felt great to be done, it felt great to have those running endorphin's again. No matter how much I complain in the morning getting out of bed, this is a great way to start the New Year!

Official time 37:25. I shaved 3:25 off of last year's time. 1/2 marathon training and running in the Lamorinda hills really helped me beat last year's sucky time. I also came in 9/30 in my age group. All in all, a great day!

Goodbye 2010, hello 2011

2010 has been filled with lots of laughter and lots of tears. No question, it has been a difficult year but it is awesome to be ending it on the high note of having finished my first half marathon and proving to myself that any goal is attainable if you want it bad enough!


2011 is off to a slow start as I try to determine what events I can manage while being a full time working Mom. I'll start 2011 off with a 5k on Sunday and move onward from there. I'd like to hope that there will be room for another 1/2 Marathon sometime in the new year, but I'm going to test the waters the first few months of the year and try to find a balance of Mom, Wife, career and running.

Looking forward to ringing in the New Year with my husband and friend's while the kiddos have a slumber party with Grandma and Papa. 

Thank you to all that have made 2010 such an inspiring year!

New challenges

I think it is safe to say that I have recovered from the 1/2 marathon. Immediately after my return from Las Vegas, I started a new job. Going back to work full-time has been challenging and I'm trying to find a way to balance work-outs and the family and work. So far, that means I've only been able to work out on the weekends. I work in Oakland off of Hegenberger, so it's not the safest neighborhoods and there really is no gym that is close enough to the office to make that work, so I'm just going to keep trying.

Today was my first run since the 1/2. I headed to the gym to just do an easy 2 mile run, it would have been awesome except for the pain in my left leg that finally went around 1.75 miles. I guess I'm still pretty tight. After some strength training I decided to try the Stair Master since I  need to climb 52 flights of stairs in March. I lasted 5 minutes and managed 18 flights, I think I have my work cut out for me.

I am pleased to report that my employer has closed for the two weeks until the end of the year and I can at least get some good workouts in during the next two weeks.

Las Vegas Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon

I'm not even sure where to start, what an amazing weekend.

I'll start with race morning. I woke up tired and sore at 5:15am. Even though I hit the expo on Friday and tried to save my legs on Saturday there is just no way to not walk in Vegas. I knew I I should be worried when the bottom of my feet were still sore on Sunday morning but I tried not to think about it too much. I tried to eat, which didn't go over very well so I opted for a banana and water. As I got dressed as I was pretty mellow and when I put my running shoes I was surprised at how good they felt, or maybe my feet were relieved to be in something supportive. At some point I realized that I actually had to leave the room and that is when my heart rate started to pick-up. I was ready, I had everything I needed so that meant I really had to leave the room.

It had been a huge stressor about what to wear race day. Morning temps were going to be in the high 40's low 50's so should I wear short sleeve or long sleeves. I knew a jacket was out of the question, I opted to for short sleeves and would check my jacket at the gear check. As I made my way out of the hotel to the race area, I really became overwhelmed with how large this race was. 29,000 runners and I couldn't even find the gear check area. I did walk by my starting corral but couldn't actually see the start line. Once I found the gear check it was time to give up my jacket which I wasn't too thrilled about. I looked at the time, it was 7:30am and I my corral wouldn't be sent off until at least 7:40am if not later. I knew I had to do it because I was not running with it, so off it came.

After gear check I was able to meet up with Mary Sue and after a stop at the port-a-potties we headed over to our corral. We couldn't even get into our corral it was so full so we lined up outside just like every other corral. Honestly, people could have moved forward and made room for us but they didn't. We watched on the big screen of the Mandalay Bay as the first runners headed out at 7am. It was crazy because it took forever for our corral to move up. Once the line started to move we squeezed in but not before corral 31 jumped in front of us, so all of a sudden we were one corral back. I could have changed my corral at the expo. When I signed up for the race I had no idea how long it would take me to run a 1/2 marathon since I had never run more than 3 miles, so I guessed 3:30. By the time race week came around I was confident that I could get it done in 3 hours, but I didn't want to change because I wanted to start the race with Mary Sue and I figured it would be a good confidence booster to pass people and not be passed. I tried not to worry that I now was starting three corrals back than what I really should have, it's chipped time, so it doesn't matter I kept telling myself. All of a sudden the line really started moving and before I knew it (or 45 minutes later) we were off. I have to say it was cool, a band was playing over the start line and you couldn't help but be excited. As the gun went off and we crossed the start line I felt great and exhilarated.

Shortly after the race started I moved over to run on the left side by the center divide of the road, there seemed to be more room and it was easier to pass people. I'm so glad I did because that is probably the only reason I spotted my friend Kirsten who snapped a photo as I ran by.

Once we got on the strip I noticed that we were running at a very slight downhill which meant on the way back it would be a very slight uphill. I did my best to take advantage of the downhill while I had it. Next came the biggest mental challenge of the course, port-a-potties. Out of sight, out of mind, but when you see them it sends this trigger of "gee, maybe I  need to go".  I was shocked that this early in the course I felt like I had to go, I normally don't have to go until about mile 8. Although normal doesn't include waiting 45 minutes to start my run either. The lines was too long at the first set so when I came to the first aid station with a short line I stopped. It felt horrible to sop so early when I had such a nice momentum going, I mean really I think I was at mile 2. But I went and got it over with and the line wasn't too bad.

feeling good as I head down the strip

Back on the strip and I must say it's pretty awesome to run on the strip when there are no cars and hardly anyone out on the street, with the exception of 29,000 other runners. The strip was almost serene and I thought about all the party crowds that were probably nice and cozy passed out in their hotel rooms. This is what I signed up for, to see the Las Vegas strip and take it all in. We came up to the first band on the course and it was so incredible, you wanted to stay and rock out with them, but sorry guys, I still have a lot of miles to cover. I had been trying to ignore the obvious pressure on my bladder and couldn't believe I had to go again, I evaluated every set of port-a-potties as I approached them and none of them seemed good. I finally stopped and analyzed each line and picked one, which if course turned out to be the wrong line. I'm not even kidding when I say 10 minutes easy. I was so angry that after this I decided there would be no more breaks at all, my mind was playing tricks on me and I didn't really have to go that bad. I knew there was no way I would come in under 3 hours if I made another stop.

As we made our way down the strip we started to detour what I would call the "dive" area of Las Vegas. I actually ran past two young girls doing the walk of the shame! Oh, how I wished I had a camera, how embarrassing to be doing the walk of the shame on the morning that 29,000 runners are going to see you! This was the most scenicly (okay probably not a word) challenged part of the course. It was dirty and kind of sleazy and I was pleased to be running through it instead of leisurely strolling through it. At one point there was a dive bar that was out handing out cups of free beer to runners... thanks but no thanks. By this point my feet hurt bad, I would try to walk but the pace I wanted to keep at even a walk was actually more painful than running. Seeing how this part of the course was fairly unmotivating and the pain I was in I really struggled on this part of the course. I did a lot of walking intervals and cheered on a Duck and Griz fan along the course, hey, I needed to stay entertained.

As we made our through neighborhoods and I could finally see us getting back on the strip I felt a huge sense of relief. I was literally counting down the miles. At this point the pain was pretty bad, I remember thinking if I could have an epidural everything would be awesome, but then I wouldn't be able to run. I thought of lots of things to keep me amused and entertained. I was walking a lot at this point. All through training on a tough day I would tell myself if you walk the entire run it's okay, as long you get the miles in it's okay if you walk the entire time. This is what I told myself when I hit mile 10, if you have to walk the next 3 miles you will! My best motivation is the camera, I don't want to be caught walking in my race photos, so every time I saw a photographer I tried my best to look really strong.

I focused a lot on a story the local news ran that morning. It was a young girl who was competing on her high school cross country team, she collapsed feet from the finish line. If her coach or anyone touched her she would be disqualified, so her coach was standing next to her asking her what she needed if she could make it or not. I watched this young girl slowly get up and her hands and knees as she literally crawled to the finish line was swept up by paramedics. Her determination to get across that finish line sent her team to the state championships. I thought of her in mile 10-12 as the pain radiated through the lower half of my body, if I had to crawl across the finish line I would. While not a flattering photo by any means, I am posting this one, because I think it is the only one that shows the pain in my face.

this says it all

I can't tell you the joy that I felt when I saw the mile 12 sign. Based on my estimations I was pretty sure I would make it in under 3 hours. The question was if I could run the entire last mile, I wasn't sure. But as we got closer the crowds grew and you could feel the excitement of being so close. This is what I trained for as I would near the end of a training run I would imagine the finish line and people cheering me in, it always got me through that last 1/4 mile of my runs. But here it was real, you could feel and hear the excitement. I started running and found a nice even pace that didn't hurt too much. I was passing a lot of people, this is when I realized that most of the walkers didn't actually start in appropriate corrals. As the course met up with the full marathoners the adrenaline kicked in, I couldn't see the finish line yet but we were so close and I was so happy to be running and realizing that I was about to accomplish the largest goal I had ever set for myself. As I rounded the corner I could see the finish line, I picked up the pace even more, this was my moment! I heard them yell at us to throw our arms up in the air as we crossed the line and you can bet I did, I've never been so happy in my entire life! I did it! OMG, I actually did it!

I got teary eyed as I crossed the line and really understood how momentous this occasion was for me. I  never really thought about actually finishing or how it would feel to finish because I was so focused on just getting through one day at a time and one mile at a time. I still get emotional just thinking about it.

Once they gave me that medal, I didn't want to take it off, it was my badge of honor, proof to myself that I really had done it and hadn't imagined all of it! And of course, one must have an honorary photo with a Vegas Showgirl!

And finally I am reunited with Stephanie and Mary Sue, my partners in crime!

Smofit Crew
 

I almost forgot. My goal was to finish in under 3 hours, which I did! My next goal was to finish in 2:45 which would have been totally possible if I had not stopped for that second potty break! Lesson learned! Official time 2:50:10.

I am so thankful for this experience. I would like to think I will do another 1/2 marathon, but I obviously had the luxury of being unemployed to train for this event. Now that I'm back at work full time we'll have to see if there is any extra time for training. For now, I know I accomplished something that I once thought was impossible.

Many thanks to all of my friends who cheered me on and gave me endless amounts of advice. I was so touched by the never ending facebook posts of support an encouragement, you all helped me achieve this goal!

Training Summary

18 weeks ago I decided that I needed a goal. I wasn't working and I the classes I wanted to take were full, so how I was going to spend the fall? As fate would have it I received a flier in the mail from the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation about the Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon in Las Vegas. Hmmm.... that be a goal I could to work towards. It didn't take me very long to decide that yes, that is how I would spend the Fall of 2010, training for a 1/2 marathon.

It's been a long road and not an easy one, but I first half of training sure seemed easy in comparison to the last half.  I have learned so much along the way and I am so thankful for so many great friends who have given me endless amounts of advice and cheered me on along the way. I should be ready, I've followed the plan so I guess I'll go with "I'm ready".

Training Totals:

Run: 195.7 miles
Bike: 236.50 miles