I raced myself and won!

Since I shelled out the big bucks on the Forerunner 610, I figured I better start using some of it's fancy features. I added a couple of my usual paths as courses in the Forerunner so that I could race myself. It's silly, but I think that the motivation of a visual timeline pushes you to push harder than just going out and running.

After a particularly bad evening last night, I knew I wanted to hit the pavement work out my frustrations. As I've mentioned many times my out and back course from my house consists of 160 feet of elevation loss in the first one mile, wheeee! Of course that means that last mile is all uphill. In the past when I was training I would run out further so that I could use the uphill last half mile as a cool down. I have now decided that's a cop-out and even if I have to walk it, it's part of mileage for the day. So I've been working on charging the hill with run/walk intervals. Which also means I've had some seriously sore legs. Anyway, so I try not do exert to much energy on the downhill so that I have something for the return trip but I still managed to keep my average pace at 9:33. It is excellent motivation that the Forerunner buzzes you every time you are ahead or drop behind your pace. Overall I was able to really push it hard on the return trip uphill and managed to shave 50 seconds off of Tuesday's run.

On the downside I felt the extreme need to pass out or vomit once I got back, but that's all been worked out now as I finish my Chocolate Coconut Water.

Running Club starts Wednesday, so I'm kicking my ass now so that it's not so obvious when these 6 and 7 year old girl's kick my ass on the track!

Does this mean I need to thank the person who pissed me off.... nah!

Run to Break the Silence 5k

Last year around the time I found out a friend was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer I also discovered that another good friend has a history of Ovarian Cancer in her family. Having lost her Grandmother to the silent disease and having her Mom who is a survivor of it, Julianne introduced me to NOCC's Run to Break the Silence 5k. Last year this was my 5k training race as part of my 1/2 marathon training. By this point I was running 3x a week and running a 5k was a nice short distance in my increasing mileage. I remember feeling confident going into the race only to have my ass handed to me in what was 96 degree temps and a start of 5:30pm in Sacramento. It was a tough run and I really discovered how heat really makes a difference in your game plan.

Fast forward to this year and due to various germ infestations from my two lovely daughters my summer running has not been exactly what I had hoped for. As I'm getting ready to head out on my drive to Sacramento, Scott asks if I'm excited. "No, I have a headache and my shoulders and back are killing me". Okay, not the world's best attitude but I've been having some shoulder and neck issues that Dr. Bill and I are working out. Scott gave me a pep talk and I headed out. Of course once you get on site it's hard not to get excited. When I arrived I found Julianne and her family. Julianne makes a sign every year and carries it as she walks the course with her family.

 I'll admit I got a little choked up that she thought to add my friend to her sign. It was pretty inspirational to be here and hear all of the stories of all the survivors and to see all the different teams in their teal colors. I'm so excited to be a part of this great event and hope to do it every year!

As we approached go time Eric (Julianne's fiance) and I lined up to get ready to run. We were pleased that it was only about 86 this year, although standing there in the sun I still felt sweat trickling down my back. He asked what my time was last year which of course I had looked up before I left the house and it was 36:05. He asked if I had been running a lot lately. Hmm, well I ran 2 miles on Sunday and 1.5 on Wednesday. Then Eric asked when the last time was that I had run this distance... um... July. And then we were off! As I fiddled with all my devices, and crossed the start line I actually passed a girl on a Razor Scooter... um, really??? Are those actually allowed on the course? I eased my way into finding a nice pace and promised myself that I would not look at my watch to worry about the distance I had covered etc. About 1/2 mile in I experienced something I have never experienced before... dry mouth! I have never had this happen before, it literally felt like I had a mouth full of cotton balls in my mouth! I had hydrated really well all day and was just stumped as to why this was happening. I kept telling myself just get to the 1 mile mark and there should be an aid station shortly after it. I was a mess, this phenomenon was high;y distracting and definitely affecting me. I nearly sobbed when I ran past the place where the aid station had been last year to find nothing! This meant there was probably only one aid station on the course this year and I'd have to make it another 1/2 mile before getting to water.

I spent the next part of the course doing walk/run intervals to combat the dry mouth issue and the rising heart rate. I know from experience that I can actually overall be faster if I do intervals rather than trying to find a pace where I can run the entire course. I have never been so relieved to see an aid station, as I drank my cup of warm water it was nice to have some temporary relief from the cotton ball mouth. I continued my run/walk intervals which allowed my to actually run sub 10 minute paces during my run intervals. I was also working very hard to run the shortest part of the course. Even though it was 10 degrees cooler than last year it was still hot and I didn't want to have to run long, I did my best to run the shortest part of the course and seemed to be doing pretty well comparing it to the mile marker signs.

As I rounded the corner with about .40 miles to go I was pleased to see that the sprinklers were on again this year! I took the opportunity to run through them agai9n to cool off, maybe I should have tried to drink some of it as well, but I was learning how to survive with the dry mouth. You know all of the things you say to your self to get through your run? I always tell myself that that I can run for x amount more that's only this many minutes of running. I'm keeping a very close eye on my watch at this point and how much more I have to go because deep down I really want to beat last year's time, since it sucked so bad. Granted, I know I'm not running as much as I was then, but I'm a little smarter in my strategy and I know I can beat it. But damn I'm not sure I can push it anymore, I've been monitoring my heart rate and it's around 185 so I know I'm pretty much redlining it. With .25 miles left I can always run that to the finish line and I can usually pick up my pace. Which I try to do but crap my cardiovascular system is disagreeing with me. Back to intervals. Okay .10 miles, I think I can run this but it visually seems so far away even though I know it's not. So if I pass out or puke as I cross the finish line at least I know someone will be there to help me. They call my name as I'm coming in and they get it right this year! I cross the finish line at 34:46 and 1:19 improvement from last year.

After the feeling of wanting to puke passes and I drink a bottle of water I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. I am sure the 10 degree temperature difference helped me out quite a bit but I'm just so please that I found a way to keep one foot in front of the other and beat my time from last year. This course just boggles me, it's totally flat, but every year it kicks my ass. Racing in the evening and in higher temps for sure has an impact on my abilities. After it was all done I looked back at the data my Garmin had collected and found my max heart rate was 188. Yikes! The Garmin site also rates your activity with a training effect, this one was a 5 - Overreaching. LOL, that's a good representation of how I felt.

My friend Mary Sue was right, it did feel good to get back out there!

Official time 34:46
21/63 AG

Busy, busy, busy

With the start of school around our home it's been pretty crazy. Then add to the fact that I'm a total PTA Mom and getting ready to coach a girl's running club, well, lets just say I barely have a moment to even think!

The summer has ended with all sorts of distraction and as the school year starts I'm fighting hard to find a routine that will allow me to meet all of my obligations and still work out. Then I looked at the calendar and realized I have a 5k in one week! So not ready for it, but it certainly won't be the first time that has happened.

I am super excited about Coaching a Team of Mini-Mermaids. So far I have five girls for sure maybe a sixth, which I think is a great number for my first run at this. I need to raise $68 more to get my entire program funded, so I'm really close! The really nice part all of this is that I will ensure I get at least 2 running days a week with this program, no excuses when you have a bunch of girls to inspire!

On the go

This girl has been on the go for sure! Friday was unusual trip to the gym for me as my husband normally takes the kids to the gym and it's usually my day off. He had some other issues to tend to in regards to his father's estate so I got a nice Friday work out in. The Fifth Disease has been coming and going in random appearances. Most recently the rash has reappeared and is accompanied by swelling of my hands and feet, reminiscent of being pregnant. I wasn't feeling up to a run but I did manage a 60 minute bike ride and followed it wit a really nice strength training session which I really needed.

The girls were spending the night at Grandma's so I had planed as much possible adult activity in our 24 hours of freedom as I could. It started with a movie (we haven't been to one together in years), we choose to see Captain America, which was really quite good. I didn't really know the premise so I didn't have any expectations, but we both enjoyed it. After our early movie we were trying to decide on somewhere for dinner, so many choices in Walnut Creek and without the kids we could really go anywhere. We decided on Flemming's they couldn't get us in for about 45 minutes and there bar was packed so we walked over to Tiki Tom's for drinks. It was a nice surprise that they had a live music which we enjoyed as I had a Key Lime Pie Martini. Once we headed back to Flemming's for our reservation was when the extreme indulgence began, I had a Porcini Rubbed Filet with creamed jalapeno corn and bleu cheese mashed potatoes. For dessert I had my favorite creme brulee. Let's just say I made Scott walk around downtown Walnut Creek fir about 20 minutes before even getting into the car I was so grossly full. I had this vague feeling of understanding the need to purge after a meal. While I haven't been dieting I have been trying to eat healthier and eat smaller portions and this meal pretty much did me in. I can't even begin to explain the amount of pain I was in the rest of the evening as my body protested the high fat content food. I have told Scott that I am now a "cheap date" and there is no need to take me to really nice expensive steak house.

Thankfully I was starting to recover by the next morning as we had a day of wine tasting scheduled with some very friends. We hit several wineries in the Livermore Valley, one being Ryhan Winery, that we discovered several years ago during the wine tour that takes place once a year in Livermore. In between wineries we stopped at the Underdog Wine Bar for lunch. While it was tempting to try some of the wines there with lunch we all stuck with water which was a sensible decision before heading to a couple of more wineries. I kept it light and enjoyed some wonderful crab cakes and Scott had these amazing pulled pork sliders. Small portions, small menu but the food was excellent and after the night before we really didn't need a large meal.

It was so great to have an awesome 24 hours to ourselves, it doesn't happen often and we crammed as much as we could in that time. I followed up my weekend of gluttony with a two mile run this morning. It's evident that I still have a long way to go to get back to where I was before I got sick, but it felt really nice to get out and hit the trail today.

Plenty of time to become a Diva

This morning was a good indication that I absolutely have made the right decision to not do a 1/2 in October and instead wait until May to do the Divas Half Marathon in San Francisco. Almost everyone who knows me knows that I have been plagued over the last year with health issues. For the most part I have been able to deal with it and continue my activities but never feeling 100% just starts to take it's toll mentally. As I was sent off to see another specialist I was the lucky winner of getting Fifth Disease. The kids had it first, each about 10 days apart and it showed up for me with the worst possible timing just as I was going to see my urologist for the first time. Thankfully I figured out what I had and was able to separate those symptoms from the other ones. After much poking and prodding and tears of pain we think I have Intersitital Cystits, whee, another fun thing to have! I'm trying some meds and we;re hopeful this will help and I can get back to be a normal person again. In all honesty the IC is pretty bothersome and sometimes painful but it's really the Fifth Disease that really took me out.

So, it's been two weeks since I have run, and my goal had been to give it a shot today. I headed to my favorite 2 mile portion of the trail and thought I would give it a try. I really wasn't feeling it and could tell I wasn't hydrated enough to even attempt 2 miles. So I though, I'll walk the first mile out and run the second mile back in which is slightly downhill and my favorite part. Yeah, not so much. The first indication was my fingers started to swell immediately, now whether this is from the Fifth Disease still in my body or the lack of proper hydration who knows, it was probably a combination of both. I attempted to run for a short period of time only to find that my knees really hurt (this was the first joint that experienced major pain with the fifth disease). Okay, so we're just walking today.

It's obviously going to be baby steps to start running again as I test my body to see what it's capable of. I am super glad I have so much time to train for my next 1/2 and just get healthy!

Unexpected Surprise

I had been expecting an Age Group Award for Scott n the mail from Run to the Lake, what I wasn't expecting was my own award as well!

It turns out there was a special First Responders Category. Yes, I know, technically I'm not a first responder but they sent coupon codes to Scott's office for the race so I got listed in the first responder category. I was 4th out of 6 in the category and Scott was 1st out of 6. There was only one other woman in the category besides myself so I'm guessing that's why I ended up with a win. So technically I was 1st out 2 in the female category... I'll take that!

I think this last medal will fill up my rack, I may need another!

Run to the Lake - 5k

Run to the Lake benefits Eden Medical Center's Trauma Center. They extended discounts to Law Enforcement and First Responders and they had a kids race, so it seemed like a no-brainer for us to sign up for it. Thankfully, the weather today was much cooler than last week's run. I should start by saying that they advertise this run as Flat and Fast.... um, it's uphill (okay not a huge hill) on the way out, I think it was about 122 feet of ascent on the way out but then mostly downhill or flat on the way back. Luckily for me, I knew this already so I was prepared for it.

I did actually have a plan going into the race (that's a new one!) that I tried my best to execute but didn't turn out exactly the way I had hoped for many reasons. Remember last week when I mentioned I had a nervous stomach, more so than usual... I now know that I can blames this on my family. There are always some nerves on race day, but most of the time I get up while the rest of the family is sleeping and sneak out before they wake up, so I'm just responsible for myself. Imagine this morning, my husband wakes up sore as hell from wrenching on his truck for weeks to try and get it running again, one child who doesn't want to get up and another who is actually eager to get dressed. I felt like leaving them all at home and just going myself. Thanks to our unmotivated runners and Mom having to do everything to get everyone and everything out the door we left 15 minutes later than our goal time. When we finally arrived we have to assemble the double stroller since we have to take it apart to get it into my car. They are already asking people to line up to do warm-up and Scott takes off to use the bathroom leaving me at the car with the kids. Gee, thanks for asking if I have to go! I loudly pronounce that I will just hold it for the entire run to make my point. As we head down the hill, there is hardly a line since everyone is already at the start line and I tell him I'll see him later... like maybe at the end of the race. Anyway, by the time I get down to the start line we are in the back of the line. I look around clearly get the idea that a lot of these people are clearly walking, awesome. When the horn goes off there is absolutely no movement where we are at... none. I give Scott a look and sort of feel sorry for him as I start pushing my way through people who are barely moving so I can cross the start line... good luck with that double stroller I think. Once I finally got a point where I had some breathing room it appeared that I was now at the back of the running pack and I wondered how long it would take Scott to pass me, we were at the .25 mile mark when he finally made his past me. So far, so good, my plan was to maintain a nice easy pace on the way out and take advantage of the downhill on the way back and hopefully maintain a 10 minute mile. Ha, not sure what I was thinking. Mile 1 was actually pretty decent at a 10:48 pace but Mile 2 basically shot my plan to hell with an 11:18 pace. At some point I tired of the slow and slight uphill section. After the water station we got a little downhill portion before the turn-around so I knew I had a little more uphill to navigate before I would have more downhill for the return. I remember thinking at one point that I wasn't even listening to my music, it wasn't inspiring me, this sucked, and why I had I been so worried about changing out some of the tunes last night. I was unfocused and just didn't care, I was getting a side cramp and took several short walk breaks, but it just seemed like it would all be over faster if I ran instead of walking. At the end a lot of people passed me, people I had passed on the out section were passing me coming in. The downhill was nice but than we would reach a flat section and it just seemed like so much work to keep moving forward. It was super nice to see Scott and the girls at the finish line cheering me on, instead of booking it in I ran over to get high-fives and then I sprinted to the finish line.

Glad to be done, I was actually pretty pleased with my time, despite my miserable experience on the course I think there is a trend occurring, I am getting faster, this race was pretty close to my Finish Chelsea's Run time which is my best time in 2 years. I have been disappointed to watch my 5k times getting slower and slower so, it's been really nice to see me increase my speed in these last couple of races.

I guess something went amiss with timing, I'm not entirely sure but they didn't hand out Age Group awards because of it, which is cool because it looks like Scott came in 3rd in his age group! They are actually mailing out awards because of whatever timing issue there was. He came in at 24 minutes, a 7:45 mile.

Trying to get some love from the family!

Coming into the finish

Kylie loving every minute of it

Sydney taking it very seriously

As long as their current reports are correct I finished at 33:39 and came in 18/55 in my AG.