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Posts from the ‘Training’ Category

Jan 12

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.

Jan 11

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.

Jan 8

1 Comment

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.

Dec 31

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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.

Dec 30

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.

Dec 24

Like the first time

On Wednesday, the treadmill repair guy came. I expressed some hesitations about my dealings with the warranty company before.

How can you diagnosis a problem without, first, seeing the treadmill?

What if the fix isn’t as simple as you think?

Turns out, at least in this case, my fears were unwarranted. The repairman was highly knowledgeable, cordial and funny. He didn’t take too long. And the best part? He got my machine back up and running.

The culprit behind the nasty belt slip wasn’t the “walking belt” as they call it. (Serious? It’s a “running belt” in my house. I NEVER walk on my treadmill. Ever. The idea is ridiculous.)

The problem was the drive belt and tension coil holding on to it. Turns out I actually did run my treadmill into the ground, via a very worn, but not mangled, drive belt. The repair company also sent lubricant for the deck. Apparently I needed that too.

The fix was quick, but I didn’t get to take my treadmill on a “maiden voyage” per se until my Friday off from work. I’ve been really busy with the holidays. To be fair, I wasn’t even sure I could make six miles.

I’d only run two and four since the marathon (recovery took more time for me than most people). Nonetheless, I hopped on Friday morning. And set the speed for a slow 12-minute pace. That’s my most common beginning setting since my shin splints earlier this year.

And I ran. And ran. Six miles later I’d reached my goal for the day.

Today I hopped on for an eight mile run.

Oh treadmill, I missed you so. I stared at my frozen duck pool outside and said: “This is why people buy treadmills. So they don’t have to run in that.”

I should mention the ride is smoother than I remember too. I had no pain. The belt was running good. It was like a new treadmill. Like the first time all over again.

I’ve run a total of 18 miles this week so far. I’m considering a four or six mile run for Christmas morning on the treadmill. Why? I’m considering it a Christmas miracle that I WANT to run again. I WANT to run far. No “I’ll do three.” I want a 10-mile run sometime soon.

Two weeks ago I was wondering if I’d ever run again. That thought did cross my mind.

Now I do. I even signed up for one last 10K for 2011. More on that later.

Fixed treadmill and 18 miles so far this week. A minor Christmas miracle for this runner and her tired legs.

 

Dec 22

I (heart) sweat

I’ve done some Christmas shopping for myself in addition to others this year. Why? Because not everyone understands my love of the sport. I didn’t want to make a “running wish list,” though I’ve had one for awhile.

So I’ve been dropping hints for myself lately and picking up some much wanted items.

One came today.

I read a great blog called Ali on the Run. The author is based in New York City and has Crohn’s disease. She ran a marathon earlier this year and raised money for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America while working toward her 26.2. She ended up raising more than $20,000.

Now I’m really bad at fundraising. I remember the typical elementary school walk-a-thon. I only asked my parents, grandparents, etc. And I raised just enough to earn a T-shirt. (Wooooo!)

Ali is impressive because she had a great idea. Insert shirt above.

She came up with the “I (heart) sweat” shirts. I started seeing them all over running blogs. I wanted one.

But they were nowhere to be found. I even Googled “I (heart) sweat” to track one down. I saw some generic knock offs of the shirt, but they definitely weren’t the Ali versions. AND, none of them were benefiting her awesome cause.

I got lucky then when I saw her blog mentioning she had more shirts. The post was several hours old. I saw comments that said “you’re already sold out!” and quickly went to the T-shirt website.

The site was out of a lot of colors. But they had a long-sleeve version in rouge red.

Score!

And she still had some larges in the Brooks shirt left.

It came today, like promised, before Christmas.

It’s actually the same feathered red color as my Brooks “Run Happy” shirt.

It came with a cute little “I (heart) sweat” label on the package too.

I’m excited to wear it for one of my next runs. It’s been cold here. Not as cold as the on the East Coast or anything, but it’s cold enough that I can see my breath more than 30 minutes into a run.

So I’ve been layering. And this is the perfect addition to my now many layers.

The shirt is pretty cool, if I can say so. I’m glad I locked one in before they all sold out.

 

Dec 18

Treadmill troubles

I have a confession to make: I love my treadmill.

It’s something of a sin as a runner to say that, though. I’m supposed to love running outdoors. Feeling the breeze through my hair. Enjoying the sun beating down on me. Blah, blah, blah.

The truth is, running outside is sometimes not very glamorous. I’ve had guys yell at me from cars. I’ve nearly been hit by cars. I’ve had to make unexpected pit stops at not-too-pleasant park bathrooms.

I only really like running outside in Mountain  House. My long runs in Tracy have a tendency to be incredibly painful at times.

So I turn to my treadmill.

I do it often. Sometimes it’s a mid-length eight-mile run. I’ve done as much as 15 miles on my treadmill before.

Why? Because, unfortunately, my treadmill is always ready. It gets dark and my running buddies are unavailable. I don’t want to run alone, for the reasons I mentioned above.

And I love my treadmill. I can put on Netflix on my iPad and watch crazy programs such as Destination Truth or Ghost Adventures. I just kind of go on automatic and push through. I’m admitting now, much of my marathon training was done on the treadmill.

So when it started acting up about four weeks ago, I panicked a little, but didn’t overreact too much. My treadmill is four years old. I’ve never had is serviced.

And it needs to be serviced. But I kept going on it. Why? The marathon was only weeks away. And it’s been getting cold here.

I know “cold” is a wussy reason to not want to go running outside, but my last long run before the marathon was a 10-miler through Tracy and I was cold and tired all 10 miles of it.

I took a week off after the marathon.

To be fair, my legs are still tired. But they are also itching to run. And I’m overeating. Bad combination.

So I readied myself to hop on the treadmill earlier this week.

The belt was slipping before. When I hopped on this time, it WOULD NOT MOVE.

Yep. It was stuck. And I haven’t gained THAT much weight not running since the marathon (I’m still swimming and I’ve gone to another fitness class with Sam twice).

I turned it off. And on.

Started with a walk (rare for me).

Go. Go. STOP. Go. STOP. STOP.

Well there goes that.

One of my running club buddies wrote on my Facebook wall that it was pretty badass to run down my treadmill.

And that’s essentially what I had done. I’ve run a ridiculous amount on my treadmill this year staring down this marathon. It fits in with the two-jobs, multiple responsibility work environment I’m in. It fits in with my lifestyle.

So I placed a call to the treadmill repair folks who hold my warranty. They said they’d send a kit out to my house. Then I’d have to call another number.

This is a dumb process to say the least. Shouldn’t the repair person come BEFORE to diagnosis the problem? I’m so glad they take my word for it.

I was expecting a large package (maybe a new belt?), but instead, I got a small brown envelope with two items:

In this bag is a new drive belt. I’m not 100 percent sure the guy knew what I meant when I said my belt was “slipping.” He should have. But I got this nonetheless. I’m a little confused by this.

Oh, and they sent me lube. I thought this was kind of funny. It even came with a “lubrication pattern” diagram to make sure the person who eventually comes to fix my treadmill knows what he or she is doing.

I called the number back for treadmill repair and was told someone would be calling me within 48 hours to schedule an appointment. That was Friday afternoon. I haven’t heard yet and it’s Sunday night.

I’m assuming I’ll get a call at some point Monday. I better. I’m a little annoyed by this not-happening-quickly repair so far.

And I’m worried that once someone comes, it still won’t be right.

I just want to run again. I know I can open my door and move outside, but right now my treadmill feels comfortable to me. Maybe it’s post-marathon anxiety, but my treadmill is where I want to be.

I can’t wait to have it back functioning.

Nov 30

Turkey Trot 10K PR

It’s fair to say I struggle with the 10K distance. I think that’s one of the reasons I “got over” it pretty quickly. I’m pretty sure at this point I’ve run more half marathons as I have 10Ks. Or, at least, they are pretty close. I’m not a fan of the 6.2, though.

I think it’s because I always felt as if I was starting to “warm up” at the end of the run. 5Ks have a tendency to be fast. I’ve never ran a 5K over 30 minutes. That’s a quick run. I’m out and done,

10Ks are more of a struggle. When I ran a couple, I suddenly realized that the difference between 6.2 miles and 10 miles (a nice training distance for the half marathon) was pretty insignificant. It’s not surprising it took me 11-months to move from 5Ks to 10Ks, but only five months to more up to half marathons.

The marathon distance is still daunting. Even after a 20-mile run, it’s intimidating. I’m ridiculously scared of my first marathon this weekend, no kidding.

The point is I struggle with getting going, getting comfortable and then stopping. My joints thank me. My legs do too. But my mind tells me to keep going.

I ran my first 10K on Thanksgiving Day 2010. I finished in 1:03:18.

And my PR stuck for a year. I tried to regain the momentum. I tried to push harder. But the truth was, my 10K experience quickly moved to trails for something more challenging. I’ve really only run two “flat and fast” ones. My second fastest was somewhere around 1:05, which was because I had a bathroom break mid-run. I couldn’t avoid it.

So I had low hopes going into the Thanksgiving run in Stockton. The Run Against Hunger attracts a diverse range of people. Most compete in the 5K. Only about 200 do the 10K. I did the 5K in 2008 before I took running as seriously as I do now.

I was nearly thinking about now going to the run. Big Sur hadn’t gone as planned. I was tired. My stomach hurt.

And yet, Thomas dropped me off and I started the run.

One mile in, I couldn’t tell how I’d do. In fact, I didn’t look at my Garmin until I hit the turnaround point to repeat the course. By then the field thins out tremendously.

Mile 1: 10:02

Mile 2: 10:03

Mile 3: 10:01

I was feeling good. I started to see the field way ahead of me. That doesn’t bother me anymore really. People will finish before me. People will finish after me. I walked through a water station.

Mile 4: 10:15 — Still feeling good, but still not too sure about this run.

Mile 5: 10:40 — A stomach cramp got me at about mile 5.5. I slowed but stayed steady.

Mile 6: 10:07 — Looked at the Garmin here and realized I could come in under my time from last year if I pushed. So I pushed. It’s easier to push in a 10K than it is in a half marathon. So much easier.

Mile .19: 1.41 — I ran the tangents good on this course, definitely. I don’t typically come in under, but I hugged close everywhere.

Final time: 1:02:52

An incremental PR, but still a PR.

I was pretty stoked about this, despite the fact that I had to wait until Monday for official times to be posted. (This company often doesn’t have streaming results. And we didn’t have chip timing this year. We did last year. I have a feeling I would have shaved some seconds off with chip timing.)

It was a good run. I felt good.

Oh and it had started raining at some point during the last half of the run. Not even a big deal, outside of the fact that I finished with my glasses on my head. I’m going to run the marathon in contacts I think.

I’m happy this race happened. It redeemed two not too great race performances – Nike Women’s Half and Big Sur – but scared at the same time too. I usually run good, then bad, then good. I’m hoping a good 10K doesn’t translate into a bad marathon.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, four days and counting.

 

Nov 24

On the edge of the Western World: Part II

And back to the race report: I started out strong enough in Monterey. I was averaging under 11-minute miles the first two miles. Then things literally went downhill. And uphill. And downhill.

Lots of back and forth on this run. The “flat” course turned out to have lots of rolling hills. It’s not that I didn’t train for rolling hills. I’ve been doing some hill work to prepare for the California International Marathon. But I wasn’t expecting it.

And so, my own ups and down began.

Mile 1: 10:48  — Started out strong, moving along kind of moving my way through the crowd. Felt good.

Mile 2: 10:51 — Still feeling good, think I’m finding my race pace for the day.

Mile 3:  11:20 — The first significant downhill, which marked the first significant uphill. I slowed down quite a bit. Starting to get a little warm.

Mile 4: 12 — Getting really warm. I slide down my Zensah arm warmers. Take a couple sips from my waterbottle. Suddenly feel as if I’m getting a little tired. The one significant uphill is here.

That’s a photo of me starting to head up the fairly significant hill. By midway through, I was walking. It was a sight to see, going into beautiful Pacific Grove. I passed by a movie theater where Thomas and I went on our first vacation together when we went to Morro Bay and Monterey for a week.

It was a quick uphill and slower downhill after that.

Mile 5: 11:06 — Going strong, but feeling as if I’m not going to make it through 13.1 miles. My legs feel like jello. I don’t know why, but suddenly I was more winded than I wanted to be.

Mile 6: 12:04 — Jello legs definitely slowing me down. I’m usually in a grove at this point. It’s not happening today. I feel it. But I continue to push.

Mile 7: 13:02 — My wall. And I hit it hard. I usually get into the later miles before I get winded, tired and feel as if I can’t go on. I’m barely keeping it together. I’m getting tired. I walk. I start to run. Then I walk more. I keep repeating that pattern.

Mile 8: 12:23 — Trying to pick it back up before and after the turnaround back to the finish area. I suddenly see Jamie. We stop to hug. That lifts my spirits tremendously. It was so nice to see a familiar face and hear a friendly voice. Jamie said something encouraging to me and it lifted me. I picked it up a little bit.

Mile 9: 12:09 — Still on a high from seeing Jamie, I kept pushing. I wasn’t moving as fast as I wanted to, but I was moving. One foot in front of the other, one foot in front of the other.

That is what a happy runner looks like. At this point, though, my feet were feeling the pain. My shoes kept moving back and forth. I wasn’t doing too well this race, especially considering my PR in San Jose in October. This was not my race.

Mile 10: 12:11 — Slow, but moving. Thinking about my mom seeing me at the finish line. This was the first time she accompanied me to a race. I was super stoked she’d be able to see me finish. I kept thinking about that.

Mile 11: 12:21 — This was one of my favorite miles, if only because we moved to the trails and we would soon be seeing Monterey again. A giant penguin jumped out near Monterey Bay Aquarium. I also knew Cannery Row would be coming up, which meant this race was almost over. I was starting to feel a little better.

Mile 12: 12:24 — Cannery Row! I loved the mile marker showing John Steinbeck.

The official photographer captured a great shot of me right before it starting raining pretty good. I almost look as if I’m not running, more so because my arms aren’t moving. I can’t remember what I was doing specifically right here. I have a feeling I was slowing down to put my visor, that I purchased at the expo from the awesome Asics booth, on because of the rain.

Mile 13: 12:04 — At this point my Garmin was covered because of the rain. I didn’t want it to get too wet, especially since it was new. I kept pushing, despite another hill.

Mile .3: 3 — Again, I suck at running the tangents. This course was supposed to measure 13.1. Oh well. My mom yelled my name right after I crossed the finish line. Then I got lost in a sea of other runs.

I was handed an awesome medal.

The sea lion on it reminded me of my dog Beau. I wanted to wear it the whole day. But after I grabbed my heat sheet and some food (the first of the day, which may explain my general fatigue), it started pouring. My mom drove us back to the hotel, which was awesome, and I quickly jumped in the shower.

It was the first half marathon I’ve run that I’ve been able to quick jump in the shower.

We sat down for about an hour and I tried to rest my feet.

Then we ventured to Monterey Bay Aquarium. My mom hadn’t been there since I was a child. The last time I went was in 2002 with Thomas.

We spent nearly five hours there AFTER I ran a half marathon. My mom said her feet hurt at the end and that she could only imagine what I felt like.

The deep sea area was one of my favorites. That’s where the seahorses where. And the larger fish. There was a lot to see. We stayed and watched the tank for awhile.

This gigantic whale sits above the main hall where the bathrooms and gift shops are. It was awesome from below, but from the top it looks as if it is staring right at you.

The birds were great too, but there were a ton of people checking them out. They had these crazy revolving doors too that made it hard to get through without hurting someone.

This was a type of leaf sea dragon. There were a lot of cool seahorses in the exhibit. That was one of the last things we saw at the aquarium. Overall it wasn’t too crowded, which was nice. It could be because it was a Sunday.

I visited the gift shop and bought a Puffin to take home with me. He’s now sitting on my television stand. The Puffins were one of the coolest exhibits. The Puffins reminded me of my ducks.

My mom and I got back to the hotel around 5 p.m. and rested until we went to dinner. We had a spectacular dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. We turned in early after watching some television. I woke up at 6 a.m. because I went to bed so early.

My mom and I ventured to breakfast where we had a great view of the golf course on the property.

And the food wasn’t bad to look at either.

We packed up and started toward home after breakfast.

I want to call the trip and the run a success for various reasons. It was the first time I ran away from home. The next time will be for the California International Marathon in less than two weeks. It went OK, but I learned I need to be prepared and get going quickly in the morning. It was also a nice weekend with my mom. We had a good time.

But the run was hard. That’s OK. I heard someone once say that the bad runs make the good ones all that much better.

That’s the truth.

I’d like to make this an annual thing, particularly the going away with my mom for the weekend part. The Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay offered a good escape from reality for a couple days too.

 

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