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Jul 31

Save(d) me, San Francisco

See that face? That’s a happy face.

I had a good run. No, maybe a great run. Was it a PR time? No, but I did better on the tougher 1st Half of the San Francisco Marathon than I did on the more gently rolling 2nd Half last year.

And I ran the Golden Gate Bridge and got soaked by the fog. My hair was heavy and wet as I ventured to Golden Gate Park and the finish. The hills were killer, but I got through them.

My official time: 2:32:45

I felt strong afterward. I even walked for more than an hour, maybe even two, around the San Francisco Botanical Garden with my husband. No pain, no cramping.

I’m stoked. I’m even more stoked to run another one this weekend (but trying to temper my enthusiasm in case I don’t do as well as I did this weekend). Full race recap coming soon.

Jul 28

Prepping for the streets of San Francisco

About a year ago this time, I was toying with the idea of starting a blog. I kept thinking to myself that I should write about all the races I do and the expos I attend. I didn’t want to because I wanted to brag. I did so because I kept wondering, when I was going to all these things, what I should expect. I wanted to know how long waits at expos were. I wanted to know if certain races were worth he money. I wanted to know how difficult courses were from honest people, as opposed to race organizations.

I found all those things on blogs. I started reading more and more running blogs over the past year. I remember walking through the San Francisco Marathon expo, picking up my bib and shirt for the second half marathon, thinking it was time. By September, I had started a blog. That half marathon would the last I’d run without “documenting” it.

So today I found myself coming full circle as I waited in line at the expo for the 1st Half Marathon that I’ll be running. I immediately started taking photos of everything, as I’ve done for the past year or so.

I was near the beginning of the line as the expo opened at noon. My husband went in to work in Richmond, across the bay, today so I took a ride on BART over and did a little shopping before doing the 1.1 mile walk to the expo. It’s kind of off the beaten path, accessible by public transportation, but just as easy to get to by walking.

In the line, I was in front of a guy complaining about the line being long and a “six-hour wait.” The expo wasn’t even open yet. Dramatic much dude? Yes, yes he was. More annoying was that he was talking about topics that just seemed like he was bragging to everyone around him.

After only about twenty minutes waiting, including about 10 when the expo wasn’t open, I was within the first three batches of people to go inside.

This expo is held in probably the biggest location of all expos I’ve been too. The SF Design Center is a long hall, which makes it easy to navigate through if people don’t stop right in front of you. (That happens. A lot.)

The first thing was bib pickup. Because the expo had just opened, I forgave the girl who told me I was in the wrong line when I wasn’t. She fumbled through the bibs and took awhile to finally get mine. No big deal. Then I headed over to the shirts.

I hate to say this, but shirts are always a point of contention. They can often be the reason people don’t sign up for a race the next year. I’m not even kidding. I’ve seen people post comments on Facebook pages saying they wouldn’t be back the following year because the race shirt had “cheapened” the experience. Do those people follow through? I don’t know. But they sure make a fuss.

I’ll be honest: I’m not in love with this year’s shirt.

That’s what I saw when I first walked up to the shirt table. The shirt is a nice blue color, but has huge writing on the front. It also has the lead sponsor’s logo, big, on the sleeve.

You can really see the deep blue color of the shirt in the above photo. The “13.1 miles” is printed on the back, right-hand side. I don’t have a qualm with that, not at all. I also like the wraparound graphic with the Golden Gate Bridge, which I’ll be running this year for the first time ever.

But it’s kind of busy. I’m a fan of simple lines, something well-designed and not an overt advertisement for a specific race. That said, I was a HUGE fan of the 2011 design.

I still wear it all the time. I’m actually planning on wearing it as an upper layer for the race since we’ll be starting before dawn. I liked it because the print was simple. Plus, the race organization’s imprint was small on the back while also being specific to the 13.1.

My phone is obviously showing the colors a little off. The orange shirt is more like the color of the first than the close-up shot. In any case, I love that shirt. I love the color. I love the print. I’m probably in the minority here, though. A lot of people commented immediately after the race last year that they hated the shirt.

When voting opened this year, people actually said they wanted blue or something closer to the previous colors. They also complained about the long-sleeved aspect.

The biggest difference this year is branding. Last year’s marathon and half marathons didn’t have a sponsor until nearly the end. That’s likely the reason for the increased sponsor-name everywhere. In any case, I likely won’t be ordering a second shirt this year. Does that mean I won’t sign up next year? Of course not. Race shirts are hit and miss. You can’t please everyone. And I’ll wear it. It just won’t be my go-to shirt during the winter.

I walked around the expo after picking up my reusable race bag. This year, organizers made a good change by moving the official race merchandise to the end of the level with bibs and race shirts. Last year, it was incredibly close to the rest of the goods. It made for a cramped, uncomfortable experience.

The problem with all the “official” merchandise is that there’s not a lot of half specific stuff. I don’t like wearing a race shirt if I didn’t actually “run” what it says on it. Even my Brazen shirts that say 5K/10K/half marathon are a little weird to wear. I often feel the need to tell people which I actually ran. (I do this ALL the time with my Nike Women’s Half zip up, which I still want to get embroidered to say “13.1.”)

I did pick up a pricey, but nice water bottle.

I then walked the concourse a little bit, but didn’t really go crazy. I tried some Clif Bar samples. I chatted up some race officials from various races. I was tempted to sign up for Oakland Half Marathon on the spot, but there’s also a code to do it in the virtual race bag. I’ll likely sign up using that over the next couple weeks.

I stopped by the Sweaty Bands booth and picked up two new ones: a sparkly black one and a light green one.

I really like the ones I bought last year, even though I don’t wear them often.

Then I came across a booth for a product I’d seen reviewed on some blogs lately. The Clean Bottle is a cool concept. Both the top and bottom screw off. I scored four today for $20. (Compare that to the $24 I paid for the official race water bottle that I can’t even run with and will likely be bottle for work.)

One of the bottles is the “in hand” model that I can put my iPhone in and hold while I run. Like my Amphipod bottles, the bottles can be used interchangeably with the others. I’m looking forward to trying it out on a run next week. I won’t be using it for the half marathon, if only because I don’t want to try something new on race day.

I know one thing: It’s likely this will be my treadmill running bottle.

I didn’t spend a lot of time at the expo this year. I looked at some Nike clothes. I was tempted to try on some shoes, but after what my feet went through with the Sauconys earlier this year, I didn’t want to go there.

Overall it was a quick trip in and out of San Francisco. The lines weren’t long, only because I went early. I wasn’t easily tempted to buy anything. The things I bought I needed. I head back the the Market Street area and the BART station to meet my husband back in the East Bay.

But not without stopping for some pre-race fueling with cupcakes.

I think it’s a little dangerous to have a cupcake stand right next to the entrance to the BART station. I was doing so well and then I saw that. And they had S’more cupcakes. And ones with sprinkles.

At least I’ll burn it off (kind of) at the race, right?

I’m a little scared of the hills, but have been doing resistance training this time around. I’m more scared of running across the bridge because of my fear of heights (yep, even on a bridge), but I’m ready to get up and get going for this one. I’m even more ready to be done running before it’s even 9:30 a.m.

Here’s hoping for a good race.

Jul 26

1 Comment

Last-minute improvising

Ever think you packed everything in your gym bag and you realize, a little too late, that you forgot something important?

Yes. It’s happened to all of us.

I usually double and triple check things to make sure I have everything. But I’ve forgotten by Garmin multiple times. I’ve left my sports bra at home and ended up having to run back and get it before a run after work. I’ve forgotten Gu in my hotel room too, leaving me running on an empty stomach.

Today, I forgot my Amphipod handheld in Tracy. I didn’t realize it until my running buddy was already in Mountain House and we were ready to start our run.

Great. Six miles on a mildly warm day without water. Then I saw a disposable bottle in my care, full.

And I had an idea.

I actually shoved the top band down around the bottle, bending it a little. The bottom band only stayed because of its rubbery material.

But it worked. And well too.

I ran six miles with it. It wasn’t a burden. It wasn’t annoying. And it didn’t slip.

The only bothersome thing was having to screw the cap off when I wanted to drink, especially since we were picking up the pace and trying to run faster than usual. A win for last-minute improvising.

Jul 25

My first ‘heavy medal’

I had to stop by my parent’s house on Monday to help my brother figure out some financial aid paperwork for school. He’ll be going into his third year at University of the Pacific in Stockton, my alma mater. Each year funding cuts have meant more “figuring out” when it comes to how we can afford to make college work for him.

So I told him I’d stop by and look over his paperwork. When I did, my mom motioned toward a cabinet next to the door.

“You have something there,” she said.

I looked down to the small little package from Competitor Group and I immediately knew it could only be one thing.

My first heavy medal.

Everything I’ve ever been told about these heavy medals is so true. Yes, it is really “heavy.” Yes, it’s beautiful. And yes, it felt awesome to get it in the mail. I can’t even describe how excited I was to get it in the mail.

I’m on track to earn a Triple Crown with if I finish the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon in October.

To earn the Rock Encore medal, I completed the half marathon in Pasadena (not my best race experience) and the full 26.2 miles of misery I ran in San Diego. The latter event was only on June 3. I kind of feel like that’s a nice turnaround.

The original medals from those events weren’t too shabby either.

I love the Pasadena one because it has the bridge we ran across (said to be haunted even). I love the San Diego one because I earned it. That day, I really earned it. It was a tough, tough run.

A lot of races offer incentives such as extra medals to bring people back. Some runners compete as many of these events as possible to earn the biggest bling. I’m often not lured in by extras like this, if only because I’ve spent the past year figuring out what “my” events would be. I’ve tried a lot, not liked some, decided to go back to others.

The Oakland Half Marathon is one of the races I consider “mine.” No extra glam needed.

I was up in the air, though, about registering again for one of the San Francisco Marathon half events immediately after I finished it last year. (Now San Francisco is one of my favorite running destinations despite the killer hills.)

But then I was sent a notice about the Half it All Challenge.

Runners completing the 1st Half Marathon and the 2nd Half Marathon within a two year period, no matter the order, will get an awesome
“spinner” medal.

The medal is as big as the regular marathon medal, but has color added in and a nice ribbon. You get that on top of the key-chain medal participants get for running a half marathon.

It’s a pretty sweet piece of bling.

Last year, I ran the 2nd Half Marathon because I was utterly afraid of the 1st Half elevations. Then I ran the Nike Women’s Half in October. I was told the hills for the 1st Half aren’t nearly as bad as that. I can only hope that’s true.

So, rather than sign up to run the 2nd Half again, which I’m not sure I would have done. This Sunday, I’ll be waking up and getting a very early start (think 6:12 a.m.) in the dark on the Embarcedero in San Francisco for the 1st Half. I’m excited to be running across the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time ever.

But I’m also nervous about starting with so many runners at the beginning. Last year’s 2nd Half didn’t join the rest of the pack until later, and even then the bathroom lines were crazy. Let’s be real: I always worry about going to the bathroom before a race. It’s simple fact. I don’t want to start without going. There. I said it. This is a problem for me. I get very anxious about it.

I digress.

Did I sign up for the race because of the bling? No, there were other reasons. But the medal is a nice addition. And earning it (hopefully this half, my first since March, will be better than what I’d been doing, if not by time, then by experience) will be a nice cherry on top of the already sweetened deal of running across an iconic bridge.

 

Jul 22

A second chance, a second try, another marathon

I hate it when bloggers make signing up for races a big deal. There’s a bit of the “I-just-signed-up-for-a-race-and-have-to-make-a-big-deal-out-of-it” moments when you come to a blog and the title of the post is “an announcement.”

So this is not an announcement. Not even close. It’s a mere statement of fact.

I signed up to run the California International Marathon on Dec. 2.

A second year of it. The 30th anniversary. Another marathon to try to bring down my time. I failed miserably in San Diego, despite months and months of extra training.

I “accidentally” ran a marathon at the Brazen six-hour endurance run in early July. But it wasn’t based on time and with the heat, I struggled at the end.

CIM presents a perfect opportunity to run a net-downhill course and revisit the route that, let’s face it, I don’t remember much of after mile 18. I’m hoping to remember it all this year. I’m also hoping to run better, both in how I feel and in how fast I run. So I signed up. I’m excited, but also nervous. I’m lining up races until then, especially since I’ll be training for the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon and the Nike Women’s Half, both in October.

I also, because I’m crazy, signed up for a half marathon the weekend after the San Francisco 1st Half Marathon. The Brazen Summer Breeze race is “flat and fast.” And I did it because I’m taking the week off of work. What a better way to take a vacation, right?

I didn’t think this year would be full of races, but life, and some other stuff has kind of changed things for me. So I’m looking forward to running hard and long into the next couple months. I’m looking forward to getting to the start, and finish, lines at CIM in December too.

And so the training begins…

 

Jul 18

Another chance at Nike with Team Somersaults

Last year, I was devastated when I didn’t earn a spot in the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in San Francisco. It was close to home. It was for a fabulous cause. It was in one of my favorite places to run.

After the April drawing, I basically gave up any hope for running Nike.

Until a blog referred me to a contest on the Somersault Snack Company’s Facebook page.

The Sausalit0-based snack company was sponsoring a contest to win free entry into the Nike Women’s Half Marathon. I’d tried the company’s snacks before at other events. The sunflower-based treats were delicious. (I’m really in love with the newest flavor, cinnamon.)

Entry was simple: I basically wrote a little manifesto following the prompt of the race.

“I run to be healthy…” was my statement and I talked about beating diabetes one mile at a time.

I was excited when, a couple weeks later, I was sent an email telling me I’d earned a spot on Team Somersaults.

The whole experience was amazing. I was invited on a run in Sausalito, which has amazing views of San Francisco. It included a pretty significant hill, but was an overall great experience. I was given an awesome jersey, which I still have. And I love wearing it because it has cute little sunflowers on it. Plus, the snacks are great, so I really don’t mind representing on my runs in Tracy. I also have cute little clips and rocking sweat bands (which my brother even borrowed for this year’s Bay to Breakers race).

I also loved running into other members during the race and cheering them on. It was a very positive experience.

Why is all this important? Somersault Snacks is yet again offering those who didn’t make it in the race the first time around to win an entry into the sold-out, highly coveted race.

That’s right, you can head over to the Somersault Snack Company’s Facebook page and enter to win a chance to run 13.1 or 26.2. All you have to do is “like” the entry, fill out the entry form and create a running mantra with the writing prompt provided. That’s it. Somersaults makes it pretty easy to win.

Then you could possibly get the opportunity to be one of the 25,000 women (and men) running in the Nike Women’s Half Marathon or even in the full marathon. Plus, you’ll have the chance to meet and interact with a really excellent group of women. (I should add in that the company didn’t ask me to write this blog post, I feel compelled to because of my great experience last year.)

I’m not entering, but not because I don’t want to run with this amazing team again. I was fortunate enough to get an entry in the random draw earlier this year.

But I encourage anyone who wants to run Nike to head over to the Somersault Snacks page and enter to win. If you win a spot, you won’t regret the chance to hang with new friends and likely get some amazing snacks in the process (seriously, yum). Good luck!

Jul 17

Cropped confessions

This is a confession, but one I don’t feel bad about and one that people might think I’m crazy for admitting: I wear cropped or capri pants for my summer runs. I vary between longer and shorter versions. I rarely, if ever, wear shorts. I own one running skirt that I also rarely wear.

I love crops. I have about 10 pairs. This summer I’m particularly favoring longer ones, the ones that hit around the ankle. I don’t live in a particularly cool place during the summer either. It’s been hitting the 100-plus temperatures here lately. That makes for some miserable running at certain points of the day.

Surprisingly, though, I don’t get too hot in my crops. If I’m not wearing a tank top, though, I feel like I’m burning up. (That’s for another post, though.)

There’s another really important reason, though, that I wear crops.

Despite more than two years of running, calorie counting and eating (mostly) well, my thighs touch.

You can kind of see my conundrum here. My thighs are in the same area code all the time. To be fair, when I weighed 135 pounds in high school I still had pretty significant chafing. My legs are much more toned now too.

So when I wear shorts, I chafe. No matter how much Glide I apply, I still chafe.

That means I’ve come to love capris to the point that I’ve tried multiple different pairs.

As I mentioned before, I’m favoring longer ones this summer. The pair I’m wearing today (above) are Nike Relay running capris. I purchased them from Nike.com earlier this year. At the time, my running pants were getting too warm to wear, but it still wasn’t nice enough for my short capris.

At $58, they weren’t as pricey as some of my other ones, but they fit the purpose. They are just black, tight pants basically. No frills outside of the Swoosh symbol. They are lightweight too.

The Nike capris were also my first pair of long capris since actually moving to running clothes at the beginning of 2011. I’m not even kidding. I used to run in cotton tights, basically, all the time. Then I finally moved into better clothes when I started doing half marathons (just the right time).

That led to more capris, I’m kind of embarrassed to confess.

I found the Lululemon Run: In the Sun Crop soon after. A photo of the side mesh areas is at the top of this blog.

These crops, at a whopping $88, are basically ten steps above the Nike ones. They are made of Lululemon’s Power Luxtreme. They have Circle Mesh in places were a lady is prone to sweating too. And they are smooth to the touch. I kind of fell in love in a way that I didn’t with the Nike capris.

I loved these so much, I purchased a second pair after getting some cash for my birthday.

In this photo, the crops appear more black than gray. But they are gray, with a wide waistband. The inner is more of a black color. The color here is called “deep coal.”

There’s a closeup of the waistband detail. These pants, as I mentioned before, are smooth and comfortable. I especially like the mesh sides that really breathe when I run. In fact, on the hottest days of the year, I prefer these crops. I wore them for the marathon in San Diego and the endurance run.

When I run, I literally feel as if the wind is coming through the mesh.

There’s another close-up of the mesh sides. The best part of these pants is that the mesh crunching doesn’t spread out where it’s straight. It actually looks pretty cute when worn.

I also recently purchased another pair of Lululemon crops which I’m kind of on the fence about still.

The Run: Inspire Crop II are beautiful in design. They are more basic than the Run in the Sun crops, not nearly as fancy on the sides. And they are a little bit longer as well.

The Inspire Crop II’s are basic at the top. You can see at this point that I have a bit of a love for basic black. I’m not big on branching out to new colors. The only area I am is in my shirt selections, which explains why I am big on buying bright colors lately, especially for running. Case in point are more Lululemon shirts.

Love the “ray” color from Lululemon.

The Inspire Crop II’s are also detailed near the bottom of the crop. They aren’t cheap, though, at $86.

The biggest difference between the Lululemon crops and the Nike capris come in the stitching. Lululemon pays close attention to detail when it comes to the stitching. The Nike ones seem to rise a little more than the Lululemon ones. It’s not a huge difference, but it’s enough that I notice more when I’m running in the Nike capris.

Plus, the Lululemon ones seem to “whish” in the thigh area a little bit better. (That’s really important. I may have fat little thighs, but I really don’t want sweat accumulation down there. I know, too much information.)

For me, crops are the only ways to go. Even if it’s warm outside, one of these pairs has become a go-to all seasons.

Jul 15

Milestones

I had some computer issues this week, or at least I thought I did. I thought I had a virus that wouldn’t let me connect to the Internet, but it was actually an issue with our wireless router not connecting to both my computer and Netflix on our television. Lame.

So I’ve kind of taken a week off from the Internet. But I’ve been running. Just not as far or long as I’d like.

I did get in an eight miler on Saturday, but my legs felt heavy most of it. That’s a huge change from the past couple weeks when I’ve felt like I could run miles and miles and not stop.

I think my legs still need to recover from the Brazen endurance run last weekend. So I’m giving them a chance.

On another note, I reached a pretty awesome non-running milestone this week. My 2002 Camaro, which I purchased new, hit 150,000 miles. It’s been a faithful car for me for nearly 10 years, so I was excited to get to that point. I didn’t get “the” moment, because I was driving back from an unscheduled but necessary work assignment, but I got the mileage shortly after.

I remember the milestones in my car much the way I remember my first 5K, 10K, half and marathon. You get to that point and ponder what’s next. You wonder if it’s an end, or just a beginning.

Then you plan another milestone. Or at least I do.

For me it usually also means planning another race. My calendar on this blog only lists races through the Big Sur Half Marathon. Those are just the races I’ve registered for. I’m considering some additions to that schedule in the coming weeks. (By the way, registration for the Big Sur Marathon opened today and the organization has already listed it as more than 70 percent full. That’s exciting and all, but the 21-miler was brutal to me this past year, so I don’t think I’m quite ready to tackle the marathon. Maybe the 21-miler again, but that doesn’t sell out nearly as fast as the marathon.)

Another milestone? I’m taking my first vacation of the year in two weeks. Six whole work days off. I’m also preparing lessons plans for my third year as a community college journalism instructor. I’m excited to be starting again, but I’m also worried because I know it’s a lot of work in addition to my full-time job and I’m exhausted by the end of the semester.

More running in my future too…if only to help keep me sane while doing all of what I just mentioned.

 

Jul 9

Going long at the Brazen Dirty (Half) Dozen

I want to say I didn’t set out to run a marathon during the Brazen Dirty (Half) Dozen six-hour endurance run. But I knew it was a possibility. I knew I could run a marathon in six hours. I had before, even though my last experience in San Diego wasn’t pretty. I also knew I’d never attempted such a distance on trails, which in many cases tend to increase my time thanks to not-so-secure footing and rolling hills.

But I was confident in my ability for this one.

I’ve had some really good runs lately. Those were mostly on flatter ground or on the treadmill, but I felt strong going into the run. My goals were pretty simple. I wanted to attempt eight laps. And I wanted to run the entire time.

I wanted to run the entire time even if it meant slowing down on certain areas and not pushing myself super hard on others. There was one specific hill that I power walked up every time and I was really glad I did by final two passes around.

I’m happy to report that I made both goals basically. I made it eight times around the 3.37-mile course. And I ran 5:52:21. I probably could have made the .7 loop around too once more, but figured I didn’t want to chance it, since they were starting to countdown and I was pretty tired.

My morning started out at 4 a.m. when I woke up to get ready to make the trek to Point Pinole Regional Park. We arrived at about 6:22 a.m.

It was a beautiful, foggy morning.

The bathroom lines were nonexistent. And with two bathroom locations on the course, I didn’t have to worry about ever needing to wait in line. Though two or three bathroom stops during the run added to my time. My brother came too and we tried to get his packet early. No go. They weren’t giving them out for a couple more hours.

Danny went back to the car and fell asleep. Thomas also took a nap. (Important note for later.)

The race got started right on time after some announcements. I should note that there were probably less than 200 people in total racing the six and twelve hour runs. I think there were more for the six than the twelve, definitely.

There’s another photo from the start. We all stared together. By the second loop, we were all pretty spaced out, which was one of the appealing features of this race for me. I wanted to do a race without a lot of pressure. I wanted to be relaxed after the experience in San Diego. This was perfect.

I started out strong. I found my pace pretty quickly and I just kept moving. And moving. And moving.

My splits were all across the board. I ran all over. From 11:22 to just under 16 minutes.

There’s more detail of it here. I don’t think I was inconsistent though. It’s a timed race where individual laps are counted. That includes pit stops, like water bottle refills and stopping to look at results. I also stopped at the aid stations. My average moving time, according to Garmin, was 12:40, which isn’t bad at all, especially since I kept repeating the course. There was a A LOT of course fatigue for me at the end because of that.

My shirt here says “Run Happy.” I kind of feel like that was what I was doing all day.

This was at the top of the last hill on the loop. I ran up it nearly every time. In fact, I was doing pretty good running up nearly every hill. I paced down as I went uphill, with small steps to make it through. I was also incredibly conservative with the downhills, including a fairly steep one on a single track near the point of Point Pinole (also the best view).

I wore my long-sleeve shirt the first three laps. I wanted to take it off sooner, but Thomas was still sleeping. He didn’t show up with a new bottle until I was finishing my fourth lap. And he didn’t bring my back. I was a little upset. It had everything I needed it in, including sunscreen, which would come in handy later.

He kept refilling my bottle, so every two go rounds I would refill it.

Each time we’d pass under the Brazen arch. Later a second arch would go up for the 5K/10K. I ran the 10K last year and thought the endurance runners were crazy. And then I became one.

And there were great, changing signs throughout the course. Fat cells burning? You bet. According to Garmin, I burned 2,855 calories. I did five Gu in Vanilla Bean flavor. I also had Thomas constantly refilling my 20-ounce Amphipod water bottle. I brought my own Gatorade, because I knew it wouldn’t be available on the course.

I wish I would have taken a photo of an aid station, specifically the one at the arch where volunteers had everything from mini peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to oranges to chocolate candy. The other aid station, at 1.7 miles from the arch, was staffed by Mountain House runners who encouraged me on each go round. I looked forward to getting to that aid station every time.

All the volunteers were so encouraging. Including the “woo” guy taking photos. In the six hours, he showed up three places along the course.

The second time I saw him, I told him I was glad he moved because he was so encouraging.

That’s me saying “hey, you moved!” and telling him I was glad to see him. He then said he’d be moving again and I thanked him for the support. He caught that too.

Notice that these photos are vastly different from the ones I posted for the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathon a couple weeks back. I wasn’t miserable during this run. I wasn’t in pain. I was having a really good time. I was taking my time. And I was loving every minute of the nearly six hours I was running. It was awesome. It was probably the best run I’ve had in a long time.

And I think it had a little something to do with my shoes.

My shoes that are now covered in dust. Check out my legs post run. I was sunburned during the last marathon, covered in dirt for this one.

And yes, I ended up at the end running a marathon. Slow and steady, finishing, according to my Garmin, with 26.7 miles. I’m still waiting for final results to post on the Brazen site to see what the timing company has recorded.

Another one with my jiggly arms. I’ve slimmed down everywhere on my body except my arms. Swimming was helping that, but I haven’t picked it up again since my swimming school shut down. So my arms just flab around when I run. Gross, I know. Look how slim my legs are though! Silver lining I guess.

It was during the lap that I’m photographed in above that my brother Danny whipped the competition during the noon 5K. I’m not even kidding. He finished fifth overall. He also was first in his age group. I’ve only ever twice finished in the top three in my age group and that was during incredibly small races.

Danny was wicked fast.

So he was waiting at the end with Thomas when I finally came in on my last go round. It took him 23:58 to run one lap. It took me much, much longer, but I was trying to pace myself to get through all six hours. (Not making up excuses at all, I was slow and steady.)

At the end, Danny was presented an awesome medal that the announcer referred to as a “piece of poop.”

Is that not the coolest medal ever for a 5K or 10K? I would have been kind of jealous if I hadn’t also earned a pretty awesome medal that also doubled as a coaster and bottle opener.

It even has backing on it so it won’t scratch the table. That on top of the awesome hoodie I received instead of a shirt and I think this is the best distance run I’ve ran so far. I know I felt great after I finished. And that was really important to me after the disaster in San Diego.

Plus I got to spend the day with my husband (who wasn’t all that great at crewing, so much so he said next time Danny could crew for me and he’d go to the nearby shooting range) and my little brother, who got a second age-group medal that I didn’t take a photo of.

I sent my mom that photo as a “proof of life” for my brother. Danny ran his first half marathon with me in 2011. After we ate and got back to my house, he had an accelerated heart rate. He ended up in the emergency room in the hospital down the street. I felt horrible, so I didn’t ask him to run with me again until Bay to Breakers. I sent her a “proof of life” photo after that too.

You can tell I changed shirts here. I had to. As it became hotter (probably why I slowed a lot near the end), I became more and more sweaty. I smelled so bad after I finished. I immediately took off my tank top and put on another shirt. Yeah, it was that bad.

We hung around a little, mostly so I could regain my bearings. Running for that long kind of wears the legs down. Surprisingly I’m not feeling half bad a day later. As we left, the 12-hour runners were still going strong.

I admire that. I honestly don’t think I could have gone six more hours. My toes were starting to blister (just from repeated pounding), and my right hip was starting to feel a little pain. But I had no IT band issues. My shoes were wide enough to not push my feet into a curve. I was happy the entire way through.

A good day? Yes. A good run? Yes.

It’s funny that taking longer to go a similar distance than I did just over a month ago came make me feel better, but this run wasn’t about the distance as much as it was covering all six hours. It was about finding my stride and sticking to it. It was also about finally meeting a goal I set for myself.

And I did. Success. Finally.

Jul 6

Prepping for a long run

A couple months ago I signed up for a six-hour Brazen endurance run thinking to myself “six hours doesn’t sound so bad.” That was before the horrible marathon in San Diego. That was also before I started hitting my stride a couple weeks ago and ran nearly 40 miles in one week. Some good. Some bad. All running.

Saturday is the day. The six-hour endurance run begins at 7 a.m. My brother will run a 5K at noon as part of it. I’m hoping for over 20 miles. Each pass around is 3.37 miles, which means I need to at least do that six times (for a little over 20 miles). My second goal is to, maybe, go the marathon distance again. I’m not completely sure I’ll get there, but I am going to try.

Today, Matt from the Mountain House Runners was nice enough to pick up my race packet for me. I was super stoked to get it early since we always tend to run late on race day. I’ll say, it’s a pretty sweet deal for the entry fee that I was given an awesome zip up hoodie with this year’s logo and all.

The back has the clock that made up last year’s medal. I ran the 10K last year as part of this event because it was at 11 a.m., which meant I could sleep in and go. So I have one of last year’s 10K medals, but I also saw the endurance medal, which was pretty awesome. That’s not what made me sign up. I haven’t run a Brazen race in awhile. I wanted to do something with them again.

The endurance run seemed like a good idea. (I laugh now.)

The front has the logo that’s on the Brazen website for this specific run. The zip up is high quality too. I think I’ll get a lot of use out of it.

As I gather my race items, though, I’m trying to think about all I need to get me through six hours of running. I know some things for sure.

There will be two aid stations, each stocked with all the conveniences that I’m accustomed to at Brazen races. That means fruit, gummy bears, oranges, water and, likely, a sport drink. I know the stations will be well manned, if only because there will be people out running a 12-hour race too. I also know there are bathrooms along the course. I remember last year there being three, one near the start, one about a mile in and one closer to the end.

So there’s not a lot of questions about that.

But I wonder, too, what I’ll need to make it through.

I’ve started gathering items to pack away for my husband and brother to provide to me while they “crew.”

The first is sunscreen. A second is body lubricant/glide.

I’ll likely need to reapply the sunscreen numerous times. The spray bottles are great because you don’t have to worry about missing certain areas. I can just have someone spray me all over. It will be quick too.

The lube/glide will be for those areas that need reapplying after awhile. This includes my fat little right arm, which always seems to chafe. I don’t need anything for my legs because I’ll be wearing capris. I also have some powdered Glide for in between my toes.

I don’t typically run in a hat, but I figured I’d pack my visor that I picked up at the Big Sur Half Marathon last year so I wouldn’t be too hot. This is also about sun protection. Most of the trail is covered and nice, but we do hit the sun here and there.

I’m also planning on taking a stock pile of my Gu supply.

True story: I usually keep that much Gu in a bag in my closest. I once realized I ran out of Gu the night before a run. That run happened to be the Big Sur Half. It was too late to go buy any new Gu. I had no options. So I ran without. And it was a horrible, horrible run. I was miserable the entire time. And hungry. Finally, at about mile seven, the volunteers were handing out Gu on the course. But they didn’t seem to have any Vanilla Bean, which is kind of my favorite.

So I stock up. All the time.

I know, though, that Gu wouldn’t get me through six hours.

I’m also bringing something more substantial. I’ll pack some natural fruit rolls. Some chocolate covered raisins. And my favorite type of Luna bar.

Love those.

I’m nervous about this run, but excited at the same time. I think it will be a nice, low key way to get in some distance. I also think it will be a fun time.

Six hours seems like a really long time, though.

I hope I can make it.

 

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