9/22/12: Girls on the Go 10K

I am thankful to have participated in my second 10K today! My right shin is still not 100% but I rested it all week and it does feel a lot better. I was hesitant to run this race since it was inside of Frank G. Bonelli Park in San Dimas which is very hilly for me. I have ran here before on a good day and it works me out! I made the decision to run this 10K at 6am this morning when I woke up because I was not feeling any pain.

My friend Shawna was also registered for the race and is just coming back from a foot injury so we were both on the fence about running it. Shawna suggested that we run it together and see what happens. Shawna's sister, her mom and a friend ran the 5K which started 15 minutes after the 10K. 

Bib pick up was only offered the day of the event which was nice. I live about 20 minutes from the event but it was nice not having to make the trip twice.

The parking was $10 which was not a plus but worked out since I was able to park close to  the finish. This was very convenient for me to get back to my car and ice my shin after I finished. I am learning that not every race has to be a PR or anything spectacular. It is always a great feeling when you have a great race but today it felt good just to run. This was an inaugural race and was not a very big event. It was aimed towards women so there was lots and lots of pink runners out on the course!!! Shawna and I joined in on the fun and wore our pink too!!

The 10K started at 8am and the course had lots of small hills so it was not easy. It did not help that I haven't ran in over a week. The uphill climb came right in the beginning of the course so it was challenging for us from the start. The last half was more downhill so it kind of made up for the first half.

Around mile 2.5 there was a small stream that you have to cross over to get to a dirt path so I took my time stepping on rocks to avoid stepping into the water.  This seemed a little dangerous to me but most of the runners were just running through it since the water level was very low. I did not want to run in wet shoes so I took my time!

At Mile 4 we took a short walking break and then finished it off. My official time was 56:39 (9:06 pace) and I was happy with that. I finished 24th out of 211 10K participants and 5th in my age group. 

Definitely not a PR but I did not monitor my pace at all today. I did wear my Garmin but time was not my focus today. My focus was to finish and not earn a DNF due to shin pain.

The event was very small and pretty well organized for being an inaugural race. The medals were not handed out at the finish and you had to go to another location to pick them up which I though was kind of strange. The medal is cute and very "Girlicous" as they call it!

Love my Chill Towel after a race!

Do you want to stay cool during and after a race/workout? Then enter my Giveaway! You can find it here!

Look What I Found!

For those of you who do not know this about me by now, I am a sucker for animals.  I have a soft spot for strays and been known rescue any that cross my path.  This sweet little girl followed my son home from the park on Friday and spent the weekend with us.  I think she is a Chihuahua. Correct?

I just found a stray back in November, Buster, and ended up keeping him because there was no response to the flyer I posted. The stray dog loves my son and he already named her "Sugar."  I swear I am not going to keep her!!  She is a good dog and is even potty trained but I can't keep three dogs. I am going to put some posters up tomorrow and keep my fingers crossed that her owner comes forward.  I don't want to take her to the shelter because I know that she will be euthanized if she is not adopted within a few days.

I was able to run 6.67 miles on Saturday morning.  It was warm out there!!  I actually stepped off of the treadmill for this one and it felt kind of nice. I took several walk breaks since I didn't want to take a chance running the stretches of my route that were slightly hilly. I tried to keep my pace around 10:00 and that felt pretty comfortable. I took today off from running in hopes of getting a longer run in tomorrow.

Congratulations to my co-workers Shawna and Hershal who ran the Angels 5K today.  They had a great time but I wish I could have been out there running it with them. I guess there is always next time :)

How was your weekend?  Did you race or get a long run in?

Holiday Half Marathon Race Photos

I am so incredibly happy in all of my race photos from Brightroom and I wish I knew why.  I think the lack of stress and running this half mary strictly for fun would be the only explanation. Shawna on the other hand is not looking as happy as me.  She had a great race so her photos are very misleading yet very entertaining!

Is part of my tutu missing?

What was I thinking about..a BQ?

This is my favorite pic of Shawna!

Riverdance move?

Is that a black wing on my back?

Holiday Half Marathon: 12/11/11

There are a few good reasons why I chose to run the Holiday Half Marathon: it was close to home, I wanted the cute Snowflake medal, and I wanted to dress up in a cute Christmas outfit and have fun...and that's exactly what I did!!

Weather Report: 43 degrees at the start..brrrrrrr!!

The Elevation Chart of the Course not only looked like an EKG Chart but was a little intimidating at first.  I usually get excited when I see that the course is somewhat flat but if you look closely the inclines are really small and there is a lot of downhill action going on too. The course what not as bad as I thought it was going to be so that was a bit of a relief.

Shawna and I received so many nice compliments on our outfits.  Neither one of us had ever ran in a tutu before and they didn't bother us at all just in case you were wondering.  I didn't even notice that I had it on but then again I am used to carrying a million things with me when I run. I have no idea where the tank tops are from because they were Christmas gifts so I felt bad having to tell people who asked that I honestly didn't know where they could buy one.

We started in the back of the crowd so we spend the first two to three miles weaving and that was not fun. There were a ton of walkers and they were in the middle of the course walking like it was no big deal. After mile three, the crowd started to break up and that's when the up and down hilly pattern began. So many runners were dressed up in Christmas attire so it was a really, really fun race. Everyone was super friendly and I think we even got called Candy Canes a couple of times! I spotted other runners dressed up as Gumby and the Grinch. I also noticed lots of colorful tutus and Santa outfits.

Miles 4 through 6 went pretty smoothly and we were both feeling pretty good.  Right before Mile 7, Shawna's driver's license, which she made a special call to her Mom to bring to her so she could have her beer at the finish, fell out of her belt and she had to stop and wait for tons of people to pass so she could sneak in and pick it up.  We lost a little bit of time there.  We picked up the pace to recover some time in Mile 8 and then we hit a major issue at Mile 9... I won't provide the gory details of this issue because Shawna will kill me.  Let's just say that Shawna now knows that kettle corn, Wahoo's, pasta and a giant cookie is not the proper way to fuel before a race!!

Miles 10-13 were pretty strong and our last mile was our best mile at 8:09. We grabbed our post race goodies, took some pictures together and then headed over to get our free beer.  I am not a drinker so Shawna really wanted to watch me drink a beer. Yes, I gave into the peer pressure and drank the beer with her. I actually finished mine before she did.

We headed over to IHOP to have some breakfast and looked at the race photos that my husband took of the two of us and laughed at the crazy expressions on our faces.  My son kept Shawna entertained with his iPad and his newly acquired dance moves.  I think I even  caught a glimpse of Shawna doing the "Dougie" with him at the table.

Here are the official race results in case you are interested.  Congratulations to Shawna on earning a PR!!  She beat her time by two minutes which is great! I am so happy for her!! She actually snuck up on me in the end and beat me too! This was my last race for 2011 but 2012 is going to be a busy year with lots of races on the schedule!  I can hardly wait!!

Tu Tu Much!!

The Holiday Half Marathon was my fun run for the year and indeed it was! The official results are not out yet but I think we finished in right under two hours.  I wasn't looking for a PR and I felt great the entire time. Sometimes it just feels good to get out there and run with no pressure for time and it went a little something like this....

Full race recap of the Holiday Half Marathon to come....

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things with Hills and My Favorite Holiday Goodies!

It's feels good to be getting back on track in terms of training. The previous week was pretty unproductive so I had to get myself back on track this past week.  I managed to get all of my workouts in but being sick caused me to cut one of my runs short.  I was finding it a bit difficult to run and cough like crazy at the same time.  I was also out of energy and pushed myself to do as much as I possibly could before calling it quits.  Here is what last week looked like: 

Monday: XT Day#1: Spin Class 

Tuesday: 5.25 miles (Should have been 8 but too sick to finish) 

Wednesday: REST DAY

Thursday: 6 Mile Speed Workout on Treadmill (Seemed much easier on the treadmill) 

Friday: REST DAY (Went to the movies to see Jack and Jill..pretty funny!)

Saturday: 13 Mile Run @8:42 (We finished the last three miles strong!) 

Sunday: XT Day#2: 45 minutes on Life Cycle  

Total Miles for the Week: 24.25 

Holiday Half Marathon:

Shawna and I will be running the Holiday Half Marathon this Sunday so we did a mock run on part of the course this past Saturday.  We were not able to cover the entire course since we did not have access to all of it but we ran a good portion of it.  It is a pretty hilly course so I am not expecting to PR on this course by no means. My quads were feeling it after the mock run on Saturday! I guess they warned us by using the word "HILLS" on the Elevation Chart.

Shawna and I have decided to dress up and look very festive for this race so I don't know how comfortable we will be. I am in it strictly for fun this time but I am not so sure about Shawna! This is the last race of 2011 for me so I will spend the remainder of the year enjoying the holidays but will continue to stick to my training plan.

My Favorite Holiday Goodies:
All of the Christmas decorating is done at home and it is already starting to feel like Christmas at work.  I added some lights on my monitor and all the goodies are starting to show up at work too.  

I can resist most of the junk food at work but there is one thing that I wait for every year and it showed up today!

Linda's Homemade Toffee!!

A co-workers wife sends us a huge can of homemade toffee every year that just melts in your mouth.  I absolutely love it!!!  Is it rude that I took half of the can for myself?

While I am on the subject of my favorite holiday foods, have you heard about the 12 Days of Yuletide Yumminess at Yogurtland?  Don't miss out on these flavors!!  I haven't been!!

Source

What are some of your favorite goodies that only come around during Christmas time? How do you resist all of the goodies at work?  Or do you not??

Claremont Sunrise Rotary Turkey Trot 5K: 11/24/11

Instead of waking up early to cook a Thanksgiving feast, I was up early to run a 5K with Shawna and her sister Kristy.  I took Wednesday off so I decided to pick up my bib and timing chip the day before so I could sleep in.  The race was located about 20 minutes from my house so it was not a far drive at all.

It was a bit chilly out there but we warmed up pretty quickly once the race started.  I drove the course a few days before just to see if it was something that I should even attempt with the sore leg problem.  It was not a flat course but most of the first two miles were at a gradual incline.  Prior to this race, I had done absolutely nothing in the exercise department since last Sunday when my leg starting hurting. I was feeling bummed all week just hoping that I would be able to run.  I was feeling much better on race day and most of the pain was gone but still a little sensitive to the touch.

I started out pretty slow and the plan was to pick it up in the end if my leg was able to tolerate it.  The last mile was pretty much downhill so I figured that I could catch up in the end and finish strong.

This Turkey Trot went exactly as planned as you can tell by my splits:

My official time was 23:17 which is a 59 second PR for me!!  I placed fourth in my age group but no medal this time since I did not place in the top three. I will take my PR and be very happy with just that. The pain in the back of my right leg has kind of reappeared again so I am not sure how well my second Turkey Trot will go tomorrow.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!  Was anybody brave enough to battle the Black Friday crowds? 

Long Beach International City Bank Marathon: 10/9/11

Weather Report: 58 at the Start and 75 at the Finish 

The Course: The course was pretty flat and Miles 17-18 within the Cal State Long Beach campus are a little hilly but not that bad at all. They just sneak up on you when you are starting to feel the pain!

Race Report

The day had finally come and I was ready for it but a little worried about the Achilles tendinitis that had struck me one week before the race.  I decided that I would run the marathon regardless of the pain because it was not bad enough to stop me.  I got my carbs loaded in at Olive Garden the night before and took advantage of the never ending pasta bowl for $8.95!  I also visited Whole Foods for the first time and realized that a small box of hot food can cost you $10.00 if you aren't paying attention!

I had all of my stuff laid out the night before so I wouldn't be all stressed out looking for things in the morning.  I wore something nice and bright so that my husband/photographer and my son/biggest fan could easily spot me.  This outfit looks like something from the collection of Neon Blonde Runner! 

I ate a banana and half of a bagel and headed to the start which was a hop skip and a jump from our hotel. The weather was beautiful at the start at 6:00am but come 7:00am that sun was out and it warmed up quick!  I attempted to put my headphones into my iphone before the start and to my luck my head phones were not working..bummer! Not a good sign since I use my music to carry me through the rough times! Note to self: try out headphones prior to race day! I was feeling pretty good at the start..nervous but ready!

The Long Beach Hyatt

6:00AM

7:00AM: Hello Sunshine!

The course was great and very scenic.  I really enjoyed it! My favorite parts of the course were running by the Queen Mary and the bike path next to the  ocean/beach. There was a really cool breeze and it was very refreshing.  There were some really young kids running the half marathon and I thought it was pretty cool to see them running such a long distance.  The uncool part was watching them breeze right past me!!

My favorite picture even though I am not in it!

Easy Runner here must be 11-12 years old!

My husband/photographer and my son/biggest fan were there with me at the Start, and also waiting for me at Miles 5-6 and the Finish.  They made me another awesome sign too!  My son made good use of the chair he insisted that I buy him from REI! He hopes that one day I can pick up the pace so he won't have to cart that chair around with him anymore!

My achilles stopped me from even setting any real goal for the day, but in the back of my mind my goal was to run even splits of 9:09 and pick it up in the second half if needed, or should I say if I was still able.  

Although I started to feel a little discomfort in my leg at Mile 15, the first 18 miles were great. I GU'd at Miles 6 and 13 without really feeling that I needed to. I wasn't feeling tired at Mile 18 and I still had the energy to keep going. strong. It was definitely getting warm and I was keeping myself cool by dumping water over my head at the water stops. The volunteers were nice enough to throw water all over me too and then my shorts were glued to my rear!  That didn't feel real comfortable!

I knew that the fatigue would start to hit me around Mile 20 so I was prepared for that to happen but I was not prepared for the pain in my Achilles to hit me so suddenly and unexpectedly when things were going so well!  Shawna/Bandit was waiting for me at Mile 20 but as I was approaching Mile 17 I saw her and yelled out her name and she ran across the street and joined me.  She had no idea that she was joining me three miles too soon!  She thought I was doing great and had already reached Mile 20!  I wish!! Just to clarify, Shawna did pay her registration fees but had to pull out at the last minute due to an injury which caused her to miss too much of our training so she's not really a true Bandit. She does have a bib number!

I'm still smiling here as we leave CSULB!

Miles 1 through 18-The good...

The course was really flat for the most part and the elevation at Mile 17-18 was not as bad as I thought it would be. Those minor inclines changed things for me and were just enough to aggravate my Achilles! I GU'd again at Mile 20 and it didn't kick in! Shawna was being really supportive and hung in there with me. I was able to somewhat keep my composure up until Mile 21 and then I quickly fell apart! 

That would be me!

Miles 19 to 26.2-The bad and the ugly!

The crowd was great but I was so off focus that I wasn't able to  use their energy to push me to the finish line. The crowd in Cal State Long Beach was the best ever and I think I heard my name about 25 times while I was running through the campus.

The 4:00 pace group passed right by us at Mile 24 and it was tough watching them head to the finish when I had been ahead of them the entire race!! I did the best that I could to keep moving the last two miles and thank God that the last couple of miles were down hill!  I sucked it up and  headed to the Finish with my tail between my legs!  It just was not my race and I am still trying to process all of this today! I was on track for a sub four finish and didn't deliver! Shawna was a great support system for me and tried her best to keep me focused in spite of the issues that I was having.  Shawna told me that she uses profanity, gets really mean and cries when she hits the WALL so if I ever run a race with her, I will be running off the course when she starts cussing me out and hitting me!

Why is Shawna smiling while I am dying a slow death behind her?

Shawna exited to the left as I approached the Finish Line. When I looked up and saw the clock at 4:05:35 I wasn't a happy camper.  My watch was showing 4:02:20 so I am not quite sure what happened to my watch during the mess of those last 5.2 miles. My current PR is 4:05:16 and it was pretty painful to miss a PR by 20 seconds.  Even one second would have made me feel better after struggling like I did! I would have powered through it had I not screwed up the time on my Garmin and been aware of what my time really was! My watch had either lost connection or lost it's mind along with me!  It was more than three minutes slower than the official time and I didn't know that until I was crossing the finish line! I have not participated in too many races but the previous two races that I did run have the time posted at each mile marker and I usually compare to make sure that we are on the same page. In any case, I screwed up big time with the whole timing thing!

The look of defeat!

Getting my Medal!

In spite of having a less than perfect race and earning a PW, I didn't let that stop me from making up excuses to eat!  I was in the mood for an In and Out cheeseburger, fries and a vanilla shake. 

I couldn't wait to take a bite before I took the picture!

My son and my husband managed to drink 80% of my vanilla shake for me so I decided to make up for the loss of sugar with these! I only ate two..not all three!

Most people don't even think of running a marathon the day after they finish one, but I did!!  I wanted to go back and fix what happened and make it right but I know that I can't do that and I have to accept defeat when it happens.  I don't like to fail and it's hard for me to swallow!!  All of the elements of a good race seemed to be present for me on Sunday. I can't blame the warm weather, the minor hills of the course, the pain, the nasty blister on my toe, my malfunctioning head phones or anything but myself. It wasn't my race and it wasn't my day!

 

So what did I learn from this race? I learned that I need to stay focused on the race and my goal. I could have handled this race so many different ways and I think my way of dealing with it was not the best way. I know that Boston is a long ways away for me and I must train harder and push myself harder!  I also need to realize that every race that I run will not always be my best race.  Running a marathon is tough and if you can finish one, you have accomplished something that most people will not experience in their lifetime! I admire Shawna for always bringing me back down to earth and reminding me of these things.

Shawna and Me! Why does she look so refreshed and I look a hot mess??

Family Photo compliments of Shawna!

So, unlike this guy, I will be taking it easy this week...

 

and spending a lot of time with these three guys...

I have been doing a lot of this too...with Buster. We still have Buster hanging around the house and nobody has claimed him since he ran all the way home with me last Tuesday! He seems to like it at our place if you haven't noticed!

No marathons on the Race Schedule for the remainder of 2011.  I am going to try to enjoy the holidays and run a few small races just for fun! Congratulations to everyone who ran Long Beach and Chicago on Sunday.  We are all winners!!

I've got three words for you Long Beach...I'll be back!!