Category: gear

Dune sand sucks….literally

Thursday and Friday were planned rest days, even if Thursday was far from restful. Work was crazy and I had my first class that night. I got good news at work but I was too tired to muster up much enthusiasm. Thankfully, Friday was better. I finished the day with some lovely carb heavy French toast and getting my things together for today’s race. I was excited!

I woke this morning with my usual nervous stomach. Since my goal today was to just have fun, what did I have to be nervous about? Nothing but try telling that to my tummy. I have trouble eating food before any race, even my half marathons; I tried a Belvita cracker today. Not a lot but it was still better than usual, I ate 2! Since my race photographer (aka mom) has been complaining that I run every race in all black, she claims it makes it hard to find me in a crowd, I picked out some of the brightest clothes I own.

The race was about 45 minutes away, so I set out with enough time to meet up with my friends about 30 minutes to the starting whistle. Yea for race buddies!!!! My friend, C and her husband are the ones that have run the most races with in the past but it’s been since a Turkey Trot debacle last November that we have made our schedules work. Hopefully we are back on track now!

This race claimed to be in its 25^th year but it need some better organization. The starting line was a chalk line and there was no electronic timing. Yea for the Nike+ app! When picking up your race bib, you were told to fill out the bottom portion. Not being told why, I figured it was for a raffle and didn’t bother since I never win anyways. There were no race shirts or finishing medals. About 15 minutes to go time, my friends and I were catching up when a very perky announcer and friends held an impromptu jazzercise class as a race warm-up! Definitely a race first for me.

The horn sounded and we were off! I wore the wrong belt so the Nike app had 13 seconds on it before the race officially started, oops. Told myself to remember to subtract that off later. We started out on the street headed for the beach and the boardwalk. About 2/3 a mile in, we cut across a parking lot to get to the boardwalk. I saw some painted arrows on the outside of the lot so I followed those while everyone else cut across. I was thinking that everyone was trying to cut a little mileage off along the way, but nope, think I followed the 10k line. Both races merged at the boardwalk so I was back on track. Just in time for Nike to say my mile 1 stats. Mile 1- 8:38, hell yeah, a new mile record for me!

Running the boardwalk my music crapped out. I think I am done with particular music app. I debated if I wanted to fix it or just run without but eventually slowed down to start another playlist and snap a picture or two. Like I said, today’s goal was to have fun. Still I felt I was maintaining a decent pace. That all ended when we hit the dunes.

Running on hard pack sand at the ocean line is kind of nice. Running on soft loose dune sand? That sucks, literally and figuratively. I felt like every time I tried to lift my foot, the sand pulled it back. Plus the trail narrowed to single file and it was almost impossible to pass anyone. It turned into a bottleneck, not fun. Once out of the dunes, we had to cross more soft sand to get to the hard pack. Once there the 5k runners went right and the 10k went left to the pier. I went right across the beach to the next left which brought us to more soft sand. Once we crossed that, we went up the ramp and were then back on the street. I felt like I had 2 pounds of sand in my shoes.

Running past the last water station, I felt tired. That sand had taken a lot out of me and the weather was muggy. Because of the race the traffic was backed up on the street, but instead of the drivers yelling angrily, they were giving shout outs and encouragements to the runners! It was great, you would start to drag a little and then someone would yell out “keep going, you look awesome”! Can I hire people to do that at every race?

Can you tell when I was taking pictures?

I rounded the corner to the end and crossed the finish line at 30:03. Turns out bottom portion of my bib was needed to staple to the card that said I finished 15^th. Oops, nobody told me that! After a little lecture by the lady at the finish line, they just wrote my name and age on the card and placed it in a little bin. Met up with my mom and waited for my friends to come across. They came in a few minutes behind me. 🙂 Awesome! As we were chatting, we figured I went a little too far in the beginning. Nike had me at 3.2, so I didn’t get really lost. We did a head count and C and I figured out we were some of the first women to cross the finish line. So did that mean we made age division leaders? The awards ceremony wasn’t supposed to start until 10:15, did we want to wait that long?

We also figured out that the race clock was a little off. My mom said that it had stopped working at some point while we were running, and their solution was to bang on it. Umm, ok then. So Nike had me at 30:11 for 3.2 miles. Take off the first 13 seconds and that is 29:58. Hmmm, I like that number better. Hehe, either works but oh well it was still fun.

My friends had to leave before the awards ceremony since 10:15 turned into 10:45. It was so cold waiting around. Again, the race could have been better organized. They finally started announcing the age groups. I was waiting for the 30-39. Starting with 3^rd place and it was C! Luckily they let me pick up her medal. I placed 2^nd for our age group. Woo hoo!!! This is an upside to smaller, local races.

2nd Place!!!! Shiny silver :) — 2nd Place!!!! Shiny silver 🙂

My mom and I finished the day with a yummy lunch and a little shopping. I picked up 2 more pairs of bright shorts. I am really liking these Nike Dash shorts. Also, I really should not be allowed anywhere near a Dick’s, so many pretty things.

All in all would have been a great day if it wasn’t for how sick I got when I got home. I am calling it food poisoning because I do not have the time to be sick. So now that I have taken all your time with this post, I am going to curl into a ball and get some rest. I will run again Monday.

I hope everyone has a truly amazing weekend!!!!

Cinnamon rolls, new clothes and paddle boarding!

So, amazing customers struck again on Friday and a local diner brought us a little treat, fresh made cinnamon rolls. Of course, I ate one or more, just don’t ask how many! So even though it was Friday and a long day, I felt like I had to do a couple miles when I got home. Just to try and compensate for the yummy cinnamon rolls. So I met up with my mother and we did 4.5 miles. It was an easy run but it felt pretty good. Probably needed another 10 miles to make up for the cinnamon rolls but oh well.

Saturday involved a little shopping with a yummy lunch. I should not be allowed near a sporting goods store with a credit card. However, considering I was at Sports Authority, The Running Warehouse, and Dick’s, I think I restrained myself pretty well 🙂 Can’t wait to test out the new shirt.

I ended the day with a good 3.5 miles at the track with a decent pace. But it was the track and that is my happy place. I did not complete any ladders, I was tired. I came home with the intention of posting this update but fell asleep in the comfy chair instead. What a slacker!

Awhile back at work, there was a competition between all the branches. The winning branch received a $500.00 gift card to have a branch party. We won!!!! So then we had to decide what to do. My new branch has an adventurous nature and instead of old stand byes of bowling or the melodrama, we went with Stand Up Paddle boarding!!! Well, some chose kayaking.

I had never even been kayaking so I very nervous about Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP). I am not the biggest fan of the ocean, sharks and all, you know. Driving there this morning, I passed so many people out for a morning run; driving up the road to the paddle board shop, I had to have passed at least 10. It was making me feel lazy!

So the morning’s adventure started with a lovely lecture by the paddleboard people. Don’t go around the pier, don’t wander too far and if the wind starts to take you, sit your butt on the board and try to grab on to something, like a boat or a buoy or a kelp bed. Apparently they have had to rescue a few people this last week. Yikes!

After that confidence inspiring moment, we were off! You start on your knees before standing up. Standing up in open water is not so easy, but I did it! The weather was perfect, lots of sun and little wind. Of course I got myself stuck in a kelp bed right off the bat but I managed to pull myself out. Our group had 4 paddle boarders and 6 people in double kayaks. We went around the harbor, under the pier and over to a little cove below the lighthouse. Along the way, there were pelicans and seagulls, otters and seals! I had my phone in my running belt, inside plastic bags. I really wanted pictures so I chanced it. Unfortunately, the pictures didn’t turn out so well 😦 We were so close to the otters and seals. One seal followed us for a while. So cute!!!!

At the light house, we pulled up on shore and walked up to look at the view. There was a sea lion floundering at the shore line, he didn’t look well. We called the marine mammal rescue for him, so I am hoping that they were able to help him.

After we paddled back, we had a nice picnic lunch on the beach before doing some more paddling. After all that paddling, I no longer feel guilty about not running. That was a total core workout! I am wondering if I will be sore tomorrow.

I do know that I got way too much sun!!! Came home and crashed. And I burned the tops of my feet; that should make running fun!

Ahhh, the runner's tan :) — Ahhh, the runner’s tan 🙂

Anyone else have any adventures this weekend?

Wardrobe oops!

Sunday marked 10 weeks to my next half marathon and 8 weeks to my next 10K! If I didn’t have such high PR hopes (goals) this might not be so nerve wracking. I have a 5K planned as well, but that is just for fun 🙂 I finally have some friends running with me!!!

Sunday I headed to the track to get in a few miles. I ran a pretty good 5K and decided to try some quarter mile sprints. Ha ha, that was funny. So on the first one after I restarted the Nike app, it said that I completed it in 1:42, so that would break down into a pace of 6:48 per mile. Yeah, ummm, no. I almost started crawling after that, I was breathing so hard. I completed another one but not at that pace. All in all, I ran 4 miles.

Then I went and helped my mother clean up and get the tennis courts ready for the new school year and season. There was a crank (holds the net up) that tried to kick my butt, however, I had a hacksaw and I won!! I then completed some really slow ladders. I managed to do them right this time but very slowly, I had to count out the foot work! But perhaps, I got a little more sun than I had anticipated, oops.

After work, I hit the park to get in a few miles. Having run Saturday and Sunday, I normally may have taken today off, but I am having a girls night tomorrow, and I am planning on Eating 🙂 So had to get a few preemptive miles in.

Ever have one of those days where everything fits all wrong? Yeah that was me today. I set out from the car with the belt that I have been trying to break in. Yeah, no thanks! It was either riding up my waist or down below my but but managing to pull my shorts up at the same time. What? I began the run in perfectly respectable shorts that tried to turn into racing briefs. Umm, Shalane Flanagan I am not. So to anyone on the path tonight who saw way too much of my upper thighs, I apologize. The belt was driving me so crazy, I actually stopped at my car at the first pass and switched to an armband. Luckily, I keep lots of spare gear in my car 🙂

I pulled a nice 3.5 miles at a good pace actually. Which was all I could take, the sports bra was so not friends with my sunburn.

So Monday run done! And good times planned for tomorrow, hope everyone else has something to look forward to this week!

Anyone else ever have wardrobe issues while running?

Ahh, the joy of a good run :)

Sadly, my Saturday began with work. My commute though different than usual was still pretty. However today, it was so freakin’ foggy which made the fact that the hill drops off just past the road side even creepier. I couldn’t see the drop off 😦 You couldn’t see oncoming traffic until it was already at you which made the cyclists that randomly appeared out of the mist extra fun. I know that everyone is supposed to share the road, especially considering I run roads, but why would a biker ride in that kind of fog? Without any of those lovely flashing red lights? Really? It’s like running at night wearing all black.

I came home to a late lunch, yummy pizza, and some errands before heading out for a run. The weather was in the mid-eighties, and I took water and remembered my gum! The plan was to do a couple easy miles, maybe a hill or two, test out my new belt and some new tunes.

I maintained a similar pace to Thursday but since I walked parts of it I was ok with today’s pace. Plus the music was great so it made the miles fly. It felt hotter than it was but that’s ok. Had some glitchy moments where the music just stopped, and I had to go even slower while trying to figure out why it died. Not cool 😦 Of course, I usually accidentally paused the Nike+ app and had troubles getting it going again. But even with those issues, I completed 5.5 miles. Since I ran from home, I was able to get in a nice stretch on our wall. All in all, a good effort.

Pretty sure I heard something over there, eek!

Now I have a new issue of Runner’s World to finish 🙂

Hope everyone had a good Saturday!!!

Run, Run, Run!!!!!

So Sundays planned day of rest turned into a 4.5 mile trail run/walk. This was after a yummy lunch and a little shopping 🙂 While shopping I picked up a pair Yurbuds. I could never find a pair of earbuds that didn’t hurt in some way, so I thought I would step up the money and see if it was worth it. Worn them twice so far, and have to say, pretty nice.

I told myself I was going to take it easy on the trail run, and I did half the time, I ran the other half. It was a very pretty trail. Could have done without the snake that decided to say hi, I think we equally scared each other! I may have to do this again sometime.

After running on Saturday and the trail on Sunday, I really should have taken a rest day today but I was so close! After the trail, I noticed that my Nike+ app said 997.1 miles. I was almost at 1000!!! I wanted to hit that number so bad, so I went for a run after work. Figured I would force myself to go easy for 3 laps of the park. The weather was good except for the backside of the lake, the wind was ridiculous! And of course, I was running into it 😦

So my ankle was not feeling so great and I was tired, so I was actually taking it easy. As I’m running, I’m telling myself that my slow today is still faster than when I first started running and this time last year and at least I was getting in a workout. Of course, while I’m trying some motivational self-talk, what happens? A freakin’ turbo comes flying past me, leaving me in the dust. Gee, thanks dude, did you miss my inner pep talk?! Seriously, he was fast, and more power to him, I was just envious.

But Turbo-Man aside, I hit 1000 miles!!! Hell Yeah, Little happy dance.
🙂

Now if only the average pace was more reflective of the past year, hehe.

Tomorrow is definitely going to be a rest day and since I work later than usual on Wednesday; that will probably be a slacker day. I’ll get running again on Thursday.

Anyone else have any turbos on their runs?