Author: Tara Cuslidge

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An early present

After careful consideration and a lot of thought, today, I did it: I registered for my second Bay to Breakers.

It’s a little special this year because it’s on my 28th birthday. My friends don’t want to do it. So I’m running it with my brother.

And my husband is leaving town that weekend to watch a solar eclipse. (On my birthday, yes.)

So I’m not even sure how we’ll be getting to San Francisco quite yet, but we will get there. I’m thinking of dressing up like Audrey Hepburn’s Holly Golightly character in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I already have the Ray Ban Wayfarer sunglasses and a Nike running skirt, so I’m well on my way.

My brother ran a half marathon with me for my birthday last year. Then he ended up in the hospital with stress-induced heart issues. I thought maybe I shouldn’t make him run another half marathon. And Bay to Breakers is kind of a nice, noncompetitive environment.

So we’re all set…kind of. We’ll figure out the logistics later.

But we’re registered. For Corral C. (Also my corral last year.) And I’ll be going back for a crazy year two.

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Meet me Monday: Keep it all in perspective

I’m allowed to diverge from running every once in awhile on this blog. After all, it’s kind of about all aspects of my life, but mainly focusing on running.

Yesterday, after a morning five-mile run and a long blog post about staying warm and keeping safe, I ditched my Nike Equalons and running capris and put on a satin blue dress, nylons and patent black leather shoes. I put in contacts and did my makeup. All of these thing are incredibly rare for me.

I “got pretty” because my husband and I were heading to San Francisco for a three-hour dinner/dance cruise aboard the Hornblower California. I had booked the cruise as a Christmas present for Thomas. It was to celebrate our 10-year anniversary of being together.

We have a different wedding anniversary. But we’ve continued to celebrate our “other” anniversary for the past four times it’s come up. I consider it our real “anniversary.”

It was an amazing night. We arrived to spectacular views of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

We boarded and were seated at our private table. I’d upgraded us to a “celebration package” with a bottle of champagne, two beautiful blue commemorative champagne flutes and a couple boxes of truffles.

We had a beautiful four-course meal. Both of us had chicken.

We spent some time on the decks to take in views of Angel Island and the Golden Gate Bridge. We ate dessert as we passed under the Bay Bridge before heading back to port.

Except it was the “ort of San Francisco” on Saturday night when we cruised.

We had an amazing time.

But, it also served to remind me that there is much more to life than running. There is more than marathon training. There is more than cross training. I wanted to lose the weight partially for my husband. He deserved a slimmer wife. But he never cared either way.

He’s stayed by my side for 10 years, through thick and thin. I’ve only been running for two years.

He takes me to most of my races. He’s there at the finish line. He doesn’t see my failures if I don’t make it all the way on a long training run. He rejoices in my successful moments.

He helps me stay balanced. He keeps everything in perspective. He’s good like that. And, for one night we enjoyed dinner without thinking about the calories or how it would effect my morning run. I’m not even bother that I decided not to run at all today. He had a good time. We had a good time. Sometimes that’s more important than a run.

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Staying warm and being cautious

It’s been a little crazy here with the weather in the past couple days.

I’ve been relegated to the treadmill as of last night and this morning. I don’t mind running in the rain, usually. However, the wind is a little annoying and I woke up this morning with a killer headache.

I went out for a five-mile run around Mountain House on Wednesday with Jennie. And I was cold. Really cold. I’m used to running at night. I tend to warm up a little later than I want, usually at about the end of my shorter runs. But on Wednesday, my body didn’t seem to want to warm up. I got to mile four of the run and was still a little cold.

I was wearing a pair of long Nike tech running tights and my newish Lululemon Run: Your Heart Out long sleeve pullover. I had a short-sleeve Nike Dri-Fit shirt on underneath the long sleeve.

None of the gear had a thermal layer.

I thought a lot about this, especially since I knew there would be bad weather this weekend.

On Wednesday, I also noticed that, despite the headlamp I wear, sometimes people driving ridiculously fast through Mountain House don’t see us. I saw lights before I saw the car on one intersection, but I knew to slow down. We had the right of way in the cross walk, but that never means I should trust that a car will stop.

In many cases they don’t.

So I ventured to my local Fleet Feet store in Stockton with some goals in mind: I needed better layering for the cold and I needed to find something to make me more visible to cars, other people, etc.

The worker at the store directed me to some standard Nike pants, but the first thing he grabbed was a pair of Mizuno Breath Thermo tights. I was looking around a little more. The store had all jackets on sale for the rain, but I have a couple nice running jackets for rainy conditions.

I came across a beautiful purple Nike pullover with a weave design on it. The worker came over and told me that was an excellent choice, especially considering the Nike pullover was made of wool. Wool is a natural insulator. It’s incredibly thin, but really warm. I’m wearing it right now as I type this, if only because it is really, really comfortable.

I bought a size medium, which will be great for runs because I like my clothes skin tight as to not get in my way.

Plus, did I mention it’s gorgeous? The purple is beautiful.

Here are product screen shots from online retailers. I wore the pants on my treadmill run this morning because my legs were feeling a little fatigued. The Mizuno Breath Thermo material responds to sweat (does that sound gross? Maybe a little?) and warm in return. By the end of my five-mile run my legs were feeling rather toasty.

I think these will be a nice combination when I run a trail 10K next week in Fremont. I’m hoping, though, that I get an outdoor run or two next week in Mountain House as well.

So warmth was taken care of. I nearly forgot about the safety aspect of my visit until I saw a gift basket behind the worker who was cashing me out. In it was a pair of Brooks Nightlife Arm and Leg Bands.

I hate that when people take pictures of florescent items, they always seem to leave a little something to be desired. These bands are bright. The reflective tape is awesome. I’m really looking forward to trying them out.

As I was trying to finish the one purchase, the worker asked me if I’d seen the flashing strobe lights they had for runners to. I hadn’t. He brought one over. For $7 it was a steal, so I picked one of those up too.

The regular lighted mode is really bright. But the strobes will make people notice us more as we run. I shot a quick video of the strobe types, which didn’t exactly show up very well, but you get the idea. (And I apologize for the background sound, I was watching an episode of Cheers on Netflix. Don’t ask me why, I just decided to turn it on.)

So now I’m cold weather and safety ready. I’m excited for more bad weather runs, just not the wind-prone type.

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The non-wrap up for 2011

I’ve been avoiding writing a “year-end wrap up” report. I kind of don’t feel a need to on many levels. I’ve only been blogging for about four months. I’ve only been running for a little more than two years. Last year wasn’t a huge year for me, but it was a banner year for my running.

Still, why write a sentimental “all the things I did this year defined me” report?

Of all things, though, my dailymile account has been one of the most consistent things about 2011 for me. Prior to Jan. 2011, I never bothered to track my runs.

I didn’t care about weekly mileage. I didn’t care about fitting a run in here or there to make a quota.

But I knew I’d be running my first half marathon in 2011. So I signed up to track my mileage on dailymile. I was immediately hooked. The website is easy to use. It sent me weekly mileage reports. And knowing about many miles I had ran during the week helped me gauge my training.

A positive end result was I also knew how many miles I ran in 2011: 930.

And, so far, in 2012, I’ve run 60 miles.

That puts me on track for a month over 100 miles. I hope that turns out to be the case.

Dailymile last week sent me a link to my 2011 report. I’ve been staring at the data for months, so nothing was surprising.

I had a very low month when I went on vacation to New York City for a week. I only ran 38 miles in June.

I had three over 100 months leading into the marathon. I want to run further in November, but taper for the marathon killed it for me. I only logged 68 miles in December because I sincerely underestimated my recovery time from the marathon. Now that my “legs are back” I’ve been running my heart out to start logging some major mileage going into a Feb. 18 half marathon.

I have a trail 10K, a prep run for the half, coming up on Jan. 29 too.

So…about 2011.

How do I feel about it? Blah, blah…blah.

Great. I probably ran half of the 930 the year before as I prepped for 5Ks and 10Ks. With an increase in distance came an increase in mileage. That was a given. This year, with the fact I’m registered for another marathon in June, I’ll be running even more at the beginning of the year. I’m not sure yet what the end of the year holds, but we’ll see if a winter marathon is in the cards for me.

So, hopefully, 2012 will see me cut back on the number of races (21) and entry into longer races. And a mileage increase. And more running.

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Getting dirty

I’m not sure if this makes me crazy. It probably does.

I’ve never done a “themed” race. I’ve never ran a race in costume (though I really want to). I’m typically not into that sort of thing.

But I was too tempted when I head about a mud run within five miles of my house. My running buddies and I wanted to do a Warrior Dash race about two and a half hours a way in late October. We just never got organized.

But the Mountain House Running Club mentioned, possibly doing it together in April. I didn’t sign up fast enough for that, but I finally did sign up, albeit one day after the price went up (UGH), but I’m now ready to go.

My wave start is 2:15 p.m. I even have time to sleep in that morning (woo!!).

The course goes over a 3.47-mile area at Dell’Osso Family Farm in Lathrop. There are 16 obstacles spread throughout the course.

The obstacles range walls to climb over to tires to run through to mud…and more mud. Lots and lots of mud.

I’m pretty excited. I have no idea what to wear. Definitely throwaway clothes. But since I’ve never done one of these before I’m a little timid about it. I’m running the Big Sur 21-miler the following weekend. I’m kind of hoping just not to get injured.

The most exciting part about this is that a couple days ago I could swear the mud run was only on one day.

I signed up yesterday to make sure I could even get a spot, any spot.

Today, they are advertising for the Sunday in addition to the Saturday. It’s pretty cool that many people want to do something like this. That makes me really want to do it even more.

So my next step is training. How do you get in shape for something like this? Do I need to find some monkey bars somewhere? Or a jungle gym to climb? Maybe lay down some tires and run through?

Or just keep running?

Maybe all of the above. Or, perhaps, just run it for fun. And have fun. That sounds like a plan.

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A Sunday trail run

Every now and then I need a change in scenery. I get that when I go away to do races. I often don’t get that a lot at home.

So when Jennie asked if I wanted to head 40+ miles away to do a run at Lake Chabot, where I had just done the Brazen 10K last weekend, I jumped at the chance. The plan was for nine miles on a course that Jennie had done with a friend before.

We ended up with six on a completely altered path from what she had done.

In fact, it was six miles along the 10K path I’d recently done. (I’m a little late posting this. I spent Monday at home with a massive headache. No nose bleed this time. But I basically couldn’t handle light again and my head was pounding for most of the day.)

So Jennie and I got to Castro Valley around 9 a.m. and headed down the paved path. Lake Chabot has miles and miles of trails, some into the hills surrounding the lake, some surrounding the lake in general.

The first two miles are rolling hills. My right calf locked up, as it is want to do. It killed for the first mile. I was starting to hit my stride when we hit the one-mile straight up incline.

It took us forever, near 20 minutes to do one mile. Jennie realized that wasn’t the path she’d taken before. So we decided to do an out and back.

We got to the top of the incline for some amazing views of the Bay Area.

I’ll admit, I turned off my Garmin here as we sat down and ate some Gu Chomps on a bench. I loved that there was a bench way up there on the hill. It made me want to, maybe, go for a hike at Lake Chabot at some point. Jennie and I are both envious that Oakland has a great place like that for hiking/running and we have basically nothing within miles.

But I digress.

After seeing some other people taking advantage of the nice day and the paths, including a lady walking a dog up those hills, we decided to head back down.

You can see the trail there. I ran this same trail in January 2011 when it was covered in mud. It made it a little harder to get up. I’m glad it’s been nice here (meaning no rain) the last few months. That said, I know we need some water too.

At this point last year, we were dodging monsoon-style weather as we ran in Mountain House with high winds.

I told Jennie we should make these trail runs a regular thing. I’d like to work them into my training (hill repeats anyone?). I think running hills will be especially good for San Francisco Marathon training. I’ll be running the First Half Marathon in July. Plus…I hear there are hills in the San Diego marathon. Good training all around.

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Meet me Monday: Gear freak

I’m one to trade one vice for another. This happens more than I’d like. And I’m not talking about bad vices.

I don’t smoke. I rarely drink. I’m not into drugs or anything like that.

Instead, I have a huge 13 by 9-foot walk in closet and more clothes than I need to fill it.

At the beginning of 2011, I was still relatively new to running. (To be fair, I still am. I’ve only been running regularly for two years.) But the biggest difference between now and then, outside of the fact I need to shed a couple of pounds, is  that I’m a lot more knowledgeable about the clothes I should be running in.

My greatest lesson? Cotton is bad. Very, very bad.

Except, in my case, if it’s Nike Dri-Fit Cotton t-shirts. I love those. I have a ton of those. They are really comfortable. I rarely worry about arm chafing. (I have fat little arms.)

Tangents aside, I’ve become a bit of a gear freak. I’m obsessed with trying new things out. I started out buying all Nike gear. My first running pants were Nike tech tights. I’ve realized I’m most comfortable running in tech capris.

I’m not a fan of tank tops.

My favorite socks are of the Nike Dri-Fit variety. Finding what I like to run in and what I’m most comfortable going the distance took some trial and error.

Over the summer I experimented with shorts (gasp!!!). If you knew me, you’d know I’m not big on shorts. But we had a rather warm summer. So I grabbed a pair of Nike running shorts at my local Fleet Feet store in Stockton.

Lately, though, I’ve been trying to be smarter about my gear. I notice a couple things in my pursuit.

I like items that can be multi-use. And I’d rather spent some money to find something great than buy cheap item after cheap item hoping that the shorts/shirt/socks will last until I can buy the next.

That brings me to some of my most recent purchases. Before the California International Marathon, I picked up a Nike thermal black long-sleeve to wear during the VERY cold morning run. It was cold enough for me to wear it for the first half of the marathon.

I love it. I’ve worn it as a base layer for long runs.

But I only had the option of buying it in black. This weekend, I found a pink one. It’s bright. Great for night running. The good news is that during the three months I’ve had the other one, the fleece inner (yes, warmth, yay!) hasn’t pilled at all.

I’ve also discovered Lululemon.

See the cute little pin stripes? They are the run: Speed short.

They aren’t adorable detail, even though they are. They are incredibly reflective in the dark when any sort of light hits them. I found a recommendation for these on a blog. Again on my quest to find items that are more reflective at night. I actually wore these while running the Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay in November.

I love them, but the length seems a little short on me. I still wear them, usually with another layer underneath.

Then I discovered the run: Turbo short.

These are a little longer. The pair pictured above are a special edition pair. The reflective detail is a ruffle. They aren’t all that special compared to a regular pair (to account for the more than $10 pay bump), but they are cute nonetheless.

I’ve ordered some more things from Lululemon lately. I even now own of the company’s gym essential bags. I’m planning to review that at some point here too.

In any case, I’m a gear freak. I feel kind of like a test dummy. I have some items that have worked. Others haven’t.

So I am still feeling my way a little bit. And it’s kind of burning  a hole in my wallet. Just a little.

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Back to (somewhat) normal

I have to admit, after the California International Marathon I wondered if I’d ever have the desire to run again. I spent a lot of time on my couch, in the pool and getting steady on my bicycle.

And I ate. A lot. Lots of Chinese food. Specifically sweet and sour chicken. So good.

Immediately after the marathon, my treadmill decided to fail. I had to wait a week to get it fixed. Then I hopped back on and didn’t want to run.

My first run outside in a nearly two-week period was a four-miler with Thomas following on my bike.

I like to keep my “typical” runs between six and eight miles. My long runs while training for a half marathon are 10. I worked up to the long 20-miler when training for the marathon. My goal, typically, is to run about 25-miles a week. But I struggled through the month of December.

I didn’t want to run. I didn’t make it to 1,000 miles for the entire year. I contemplated why I even bothered booking more races into 2012.

This week I’ve seem to have found my mojo again. So far, 24 miles. I’m planning a trail run tomorrow with Jennie. Even if that doesn’t happen, I’ll probably at least get in six on the treadmill, maybe eight. Either way, I found my stride, in the bigger picture again.

And I’ve developed my training plan for the San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on June 3. I’ve even factored in some longer races to keep me motivated.

My first official race of the year with be the Brazen Racing Coyote Hills 10K on Jan. 29.

I signed up for the race via snail mail because I had a Brazen credit because of an injury in August where I couldn’t run the company’s Summer Breeze race. So I signed up for this race (and even got a tech shirt upgrade!) for $26. I loved this race last year, despite the fact that it’s the only race so far where I’ve thrown up at the end. Sorry, probably TMI. I ran myself silly with that one. It was a solid race. I had a good time in general.

It was a nice, intimate setting too. So I’m stoked for it.

The rest of my race schedule so far:

Feb. 18: Rock ‘n’ Roll Pasadena Inaugural Half Marathon

March 25: Oakland Half Marathon (This holds a special place in my heart because it was my first. It will be my ninth overall.)

April 29: Big Sur 21-miler (I loved the half so much, I’m trying this one. Plus it’s a great addition for marathon training.)

May 12: Mermaid Series East Bay Sirena 18

June 3: Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathon

July 29: San Francisco Marathon First Half Marathon (To complete the Half it All Challenge.)

And then…who knows. Last year I hit an injury in August from upping my mileage too much that basically took me out of racing for August and September. I didn’t race again until my half marathon PR at the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon.

I’m glad to be back to a somewhat normal running routine. I’m glad to have some of my race schedule figured out so far. I’m still hoping to knock off some pounds with increased training. And I still want to increase my speed. I have so many goals for 2012.

We’ll see what happens.

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Brazen bookends

I ran my second 10K on Jan. 2. It had a huge hill. I vowed to NEVER, EVER do it again. That day, though, I fell in love with the racing company.

Despite the fact that I had another runner grab my back and nearly pull me down (nice running etiquette lady) and there was mud everywhere, I managed to finish in 1:34:18. I literally got to the finish line, ate only half of an It’s It and told my husband to take me home. Brazen Racing, though, found a place in my heart.

The race director and his wife are good people. They are prompt in replying to email. They are responsive to every question. They make each and every racer feel as if they are a winner. I’m not kidding. This race was the first race I’d ever received a finisher’s medal at. I ran a 10K and got a beautiful medal (pictured above, left).

But I hated the run. With a passion.

I put the Lake Chabot route, with it’s 600+ rise in elevation over one mile, on my “no go” list.

Then midway through the fall I decided to run a half marathon on New Year’s Eve, which put me out of consideration for any Brazen New Year’s runs. Unfortunately, the half was canceled.

I haven’t been in top shape to run over the past month. I was told to expect that as a first-time marathoner. Confession: My legs were thrashed for three weeks post marathon. I’m just getting my running form and want to run back. I knew Brazen was offering back to back days of racing. I also knew that after the past year of putting down an average of $70 a race, I didn’t want to do two back to back right after Christmas (I forgot I had a credit from the race I couldn’t do in August because of the strained Achilles).

So I hemmed and hawed about signing up for even one. Finally I saw on the Brazen Facebook page that there were only 41 spots left for the 10K on New Year’s Eve. I signed up.

I knew what I was in for.

Yep. All uphill between mile two and three. And it burned.

And so it began.

Mile 1: 10:48 — Oh hey legs, remember when I told you we’d never do this again? Apparently I lied, don’t worry, let’s just get going.

Mile 2: 12:54 — Where did the hills come from? I’m not even warmed up yet. Oh and a backup at the single-file bridge. “This is totally going to mess up my time!” said one woman. Eh, whatever.

I don’t even look like I’m running here. Plus, there’s pain on my face already. To be fair, I don’t even remember this photo being shot, but it was before the bridge, so somewhere going into mile two.

Mile 3: 18:57 — OH. MY. GOD. WHY. AM. I. DOING. THIS? Yes, I said that over and over again. I’m surprised it didn’t take me longer.

Mile 4: 13:22 — Uphill continues, congestion at aid station. Lots of people finally turning around.

Mile 5: 12:12 — Down, down, down. I’m being careful because I don’t want to topple to my death.

Mile 6: 12:33 — Keep it classy rolling hills, make me work for it. My legs are completely dead at this point. I just want to see the finish line. COME ON FINISH LINE.

Mile .36: 9:49 — Seriously? Why did this take so long? What was I doing? I have no explanation for my slowness here. I was whipped.

Chip time: 1:24:04

I was more than 10 minutes faster than my previous time. Go me. Seriously. That is awesome.

Cross the finish line, grab five cups of water. I’m not kidding. I run 10Ks without my Amphipod bottles. I didn’t even have my iFitness belt. I was crazy thirsty.

I was handed my medal with an old man on it, part of the “out with the old, in with the new theme” and was done. I had no cell phone reception to call the fine gentleman I call my husband.

Instead, I ran into this fine group of folks.

The Mountain House Runners were out in force at this event. (Though I’m pretty sure we missed one or two here?) I live in Tracy, but run out in Mountain House more than I do in my own city limits. I like it better out there. And these folks are really nice. I’m glad they haven’t kicked me out or anything for living in Tracy.

Corey let me borrow his phone. Thomas didn’t answer. But we could send texts. He was actually still waiting for me on the trail. He thought I was slower than I had been. I finally found him.

I think that’s his excited face. He’s really thrilled to be up at the crack of dawn waiting for me to finish a run. He does because he loves me. Plus I’m really at driving with other people. I always freak out a little bit. Then have to go to the bathroom. It’s just better if he takes me.

Brazen is also hosting New Year’s Day races. I’m not heading back. I like my 2011 Brazen bookends, as I call them. Plus I’ve learned enough about this racing company to know I always want to spend a couple extra bucks getting an awesome tech shirt.

When I finished the race, I thought I’d finished my 20th race this year. Turns out I forgot about my Turkey Trot 10K PR. Oops. The last Brazen race of the year marks my 21st run of the year. And because it’s Dec. 31, I figured I should tally it all out in this blog post as well before the New Year happens.

Total miles: 930

5Ks: 1

5-miler: 1

10Ks: 9

12K: 1

Half marathons: 7

Marathon: 1

Team events: 1

All for a total of 21 races.

I started out 2011 with hopes of running a half marathon. Running a full 26.2 was never on the agenda. I’m glad, too. I think I would have psyched myself out a bit too much.

So, with that knowledge I make no projections for my running in 2012. I hope to make it over 1,000 miles this year. I ran probably closer to 400-500 in 2010, so this year’s progress is huge. I also want to get back on track for losing some weight. I need to eat better. I need to cross train. And, at some point, I’m planning a sprint triathlon.

We’ll see how far the feet take me next year.

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A runner’s Christmas

I’m posting this five days later than I wanted to. That’s mainly because I’m tired. I’ve been swamped at work most of the week. And I have a 10K tomorrow morning I’ve been thinking about a little too much. (As in, am I ready for a 10K less than 30 days after a marathon? I’m crazy.)

Christmas was awesome, though.

Consider my presents started collecting earlier in the month with these beauties:

No, not running shoes. I do need a new pair of those, but that will have to wait. These are bicycle shoes. Score one that they match the bike. Score two that now I can clip in and get going.

I also got a wonderful trainer for the bicycle from my husband.

I didn’t think I needed this. I do. My butt hurts nearly immediately when I start riding. I can’t go for more than a couple minutes. This baby will be my cross-training device starting next week. Running every other day with an alternating swimming + biking day here and there. To accomplish this, I’m going to need a cadence sensor for the bicycle too.

My husband got it together for me and got it mounted. I think he may have enjoyed it too. Just a little.

And now I’m ready to go. This is good for several reasons.

I’m having a hard time getting going on the bicycle. I’m blaming fatigue and the fact that I’ve been overindulging on EVERYTHING food related lately. Why? I’m in a slump. I’ve come to the conclusion that there are a lot of things I’m not happy with about my life/professional/personal situations right now.

I’m making an effort to change those things in 2012.

I also am still experiencing some fear when it comes to the bicycle. It’s fast. Ridiculously fast. I’m scared of it. There, I said it.

So while I’m making changes to my life in 2012, I’m hoping to also be less afraid of my bicycle.

Maybe it I name it, we’ll develop a greater kinship? That helped with the uber-intimidating Garmin, who is now Gertrude II or Gert-II.

We’ll see.

I’m going through a bit of a frustrating patch with an injury from shooting video as well. I’m planning to blog more about that soon. I just don’t want to rehash it because it’s really bothering me. It’s a tendon strain in my right thumb. It hurts. A lot. I can’t even begin to describe how much pain something so small can be to someone.

Which brings me to another one of my favorite gifts:

Oh yeah, I’m a 27-year-old woman who got Legos from her husband and parents for Christmas. Why? Playing with them helps me increase dexterity in my bad thumb.

I don’t care if when I get better they won’t be nearly as useful. Legos are awesome.