Category: Recap

Adios October

How is it November already? I should not be writing an October recap yet. Oh and those Christmas commercials just need to stop!In keeping with my stepping back plan, October turned in fewer miles than before. Only 54.2 miles. I also ran zero races. That 54.2 miles were a mix of road and trails which is kind of cool. I also realize that my little 2.5-3 mile jaunts the last 2 weeks added to the decreased mileage. But I refused to give up the daylight until I absolutely had too, so I am ok with that. Overall, I would say that it was a good month of running. Yes I had some rough runs, but there were was an amazing one too. 🙂

October was kind of a giant stress mess and I maybe made a few poor food choices. I admit to stress eating especially since I was actively trying to run less. Couldn’t run the stress out so I ate yummy food. I took a day trip to LA for a doctor’s appointment at USC followed a week later by a day trip to Santa Barbara for notary renewal. I actually ate well both those days but both trips stressed me out. My stomach is still being a pain in the ass but I’ve adjusted, sort of. My doctor’s office called to set up a colonoscopy in December and I think I surprised them by how eager I was. 🙂 I just want answers.

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Friday was Halloween and I did good candy wise. I only ate a few of little boxes of Nerds. For work, we did a CSI theme for costumes. Complete with a duct tape body outline on the floor. However I have seen some pics on Facebook from co workers at other locations, so I know that there is no way we won the contest. It started pouring rain a few hours before I left which while great (rain!!!) meant I was even colder than I was before. I just wanted to go home and snuggle up in my chair. But my friend was having a Halloween party so I changed into my second costume of the day and headed out.

You know that part in Bridget Jones where she’s shows up dressed for a Tarts and Vicars party but didn’t get the memo that the dress code had changed? Ummm, yeah that happened. I had texted my friend a time or two to check about costumes, I was so not feeling the festive spirit. So I made an attempt. I had an old button up shirt of my grandpa’s that I have been hanging on to for years. It was pink, that plus a pair of boxers and my pink ProCompression socks gave me a lazy girl version of that scene from Risky Business. The shirt and shorts combo actually covered more than most of my running gear so other than being cold, I felt ok. That was until I walked in and was one of the very few adults in costume. Ummmm, boo. If it hadn’t been so wet and cold I would have just let it be but after about 20 minutes, I went and got my jeans from my car. I had to work the next day so I did not stay long before heading home.

I decided to check where I was mile wise with my 2014 goal of 750. My speed goals are not going to happen and with the last 2 months of cutting back I was wondering what kind of damage I had done. So I pulled out a calculator. Ok not really, I used the app on my computer. 721.7 miles ?!! What? How did that happen already? Woo hoo!!! I can do this!!

So long October, time for November. Time for hitting the treadmill 2x a week. 😦 But I do have a race next weekend!

How was your Halloween? Ever show up somewhere under dressed?

How are you doing on your 2014 goals?

Anyone else annoyed by the early Christmas commercials?

Walk for a Purpose

Saturday started a little rougher planned.

I had set an early alarm because I was heading down to SLO to take part in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. I dragged myself out of my nice, comfy bed before heading out to work town to pick up T before continuing to SLO. It was that drive that turned rough. I saw something that I know happens but have never seen happen and never want to again. Let’s just say it involved a deer and a car. I learned that I must have a soft heart because I literally cried for the next 10 miles.

Yeah, I had to put an epic filter on it- it deserved it

Once picking up T, I had to laugh. She hadn’t wanted to get up anymore than I had and was wearing a nice comfy maxi skirt and flip-flops. And she rocked them both for the whole 5K. Thanks for the smiles T! We met up with R and L and headed over to the park. There was a good size group of people walking at the event. Some in regular clothes, others in exercise gear. Checking in and getting our shirts was a breeze. Then we headed to a table to pick up a promise flower. The flowers were different colors representing different things. I was torn between yellow- you know someone who has dementia or Alzheimer’s- and orange- you support the cause to end Alzheimer’s. Both applied, but in the end I went for orange. We could write names on the flowers to honor those we knew. As we crossed the starting line, we handed them to volunteer. They were going to make a promise garden for when we returned.

I ran a race in this park years ago so I should have knownn better. 2/3 of it was trail. I was thankful I had worn running gear. However I think they should have put this on the website, people might have dressed a little differently. One older gentleman fell. It was also freakishly warm with little shade. However they did have the Grizzly Academy handing out water bottles along the course. There was also a 3K option if you didn’t want to do the 5K. Along the course, they had signs of people with Alzheimer’s as a way to honor them. It was great to see so many families out there. I also know that a good amount of money was raised as well. After completing the walk, we could view the promise garden. There was also a breakfast booth and various vendors and live music. Over all it was well put together event. Just next year, they should warn about the lack of paved course.Following the walk, we headed to the Madonna Inn. The original intention was for Bloody Mary’s but it turned into breakfast. A little truth- I drink so rarely you could say I don’t drink. All I wanted was a Diet Coke. They ordered the Bloody’s and food and I ordered the french toast. I did try T’s drink, apparently my face was hilarious. I should have asked what was in it first. 🙂 But the Diet Coke was awesome. The food was good too.

From there I headed home for the usual errands. Later in the afternoon I decided that it had been too long since I had taken the puppy for a walk. So once I wrangled her into her harness, we headed out for an easy 3 miles. She kept a good pace and never once laid down.

How was your weekend?

Bloody Mary’s- yay or nay?

Ever participated in a walk for charity?

Sayonara September

September was synonymous with stress. Anyone else have that feeling? I didn’t even have to deal with the biggest stressor- back to school. Starting with the last 2 weekends of August, I had something going on every weekend since. Either work events or work, races or the festival. I call myself Slacker for a reason; I like a weekend where the only thing I need to plan is if I want to run before or after lunch. I am so looking forward to this weekend, I swear I am sleeping until after 9 on Saturday.

But all whining aside, let’s talk numbers. I said I needed to step back and have a few more rest days and I followed through. September is my lowest mileage month yet. But that’s ok because I am finally listening to my body, it only had to shout for a while. 🙂

Miles-61
Races-3

Ventura Half Marathon –
HOB Fun Run 10K
HOB Fun Run 5k Going forward into October (how is it October?!) I will continue to take it easy. Running only 3 days a week and hopefully cross training 2. I am trying to work on slowing down my paces until I figure out this asthma thing. That’s actually a lot harder than it sounds. Sometimes I feel like I am crawling but running a 9:00 minute pace, other times I feel like I am really pushing and look at my watch to see an 11:00 minute pace. Time to focus on trying to run by feel, fingers crossed.
Me these days.

I also want to have fun. Health issues aside, the 5k last weekend was fun. I wouldn’t mind a few more of those. At this moment, my race calendar is completely clear. I had wanted to run 2 half marathons in October and 1 in November, so now I am looking for fun 5k’s. I was also hoping to run a trail race in November with my mom again but it’s been pushed to January for some reason. However that actually works better. 🙂

Funny thing about my 62 miles? On Tuesday I was super tired but wanted to hit 60 miles for the month. I was at 57.5, so I told myself I only needed 3.5 miles to hit 60. See a problem there? While running I wanted to quit at mile 2.5 but my lack of math skills were still in full force. It wasn’t until I added the run into Nike+ that I realized my error. Seriously?! Basic addition and I mess it up.

Happy October! Happy Friday!

Anyone else add wrong running?

Any awesome October plans?

HOB Fun Run Recap

91/94 would be a pretty good test grade, right? It’s less awesome however when it is your race standing. But let’s backup.

I worked the packet pickup- late registration table for the race on Saturday. It went really smooth, mostly pickups for the 10k. It seemed like most of the 5k runners were going to pick up on race day. It also looked like there were more runners this year. It’s kind of cool watching things go up from the other side. And seriously how cute is this?

Race day dawned gray and early. Gray–clouds and fog–bringing humidity. Ugh. I honestly can’t think of the last time this race didn’t happen in perfect sunshine. I used my inhaler and told myself not to think about it. I was the only one of my group running the 10k so it was just me and my nerves at the starting line. Knowing so many people at this race always stresses me out, and that was before I saw the Aggie’s show up.

The Aggies are a run club based in northern California and they have some serious talent. They show up en masse, all in black and just run. They usually do multiple loops of the course outside of the races. They have zero body fat and hardly ever look winded. This course is flat and fast and used to be a USATF certified race. There used to be 2 10k’s and 5k’s, one for the Open/Masters runners and one for the rest of us. Even without the certification and extra races, the HOB fun run stills does one rare thing for small races- cash. Prize money is rewarded to the top finishers. Spoiler alert- Aggie’s won both races. Seriously fast and intimidating.

Then it was go time and we were off! My only goal for the 10K was to run a solid race. I wanted to maintain a 10:00 pace. I set my Garmin for intervals- 6:30 run and :30 walk. I felt pretty good in mile 1 so I was hopeful for the next 5. Mile 2 I was hit with the worst side stitch ever. I don’t get side stitches, I think I have had maybe 3 in 5 years of running. Those 3 were all up under my right ribcage, this one was low on my right side. It hurt so damn bad I briefly wondered if that was what an appendix bursting felt like. I am used to stomach pain but this hurt. What gives?

The pain finally eased as I hit mile 3. Before I could breathe a sigh of relief, I noticed that breathing was getting harder. Oh come on! Out came the inhaler again and the rest of the race was walking interspersed with bits of running. I was lapped by the lead runners (Aggies!!) on my first lap. Ouch. I kind of wanted to hitch on a ride on the police motorcycle leading them. As I kept trucking I decided that my new realistic goal was to just not be last, I thought I might be able to pull that off. 91 out of 94- not last! Time- 1:08:03.

doesn't everyone do this? — doesn’t everyone do this?

I crossed the finish line as a pale, shaky mess. My inhaler helps loosen my chest but my heart was racing and I could not stop shaking. I drank some gatorade and grabbed my bib for the 5k. This pissed off my mother. She wanted me to quit but I know that standing still and sitting make the shakiness worse. The more I think about it, the more anxious I get and that just makes it worse. Walking helps so I figured I would walk it out in the 5k. R hadn’t been feeling well so I figured we could walk it together. I had trouble getting the new bib on but managed just before the whistle.

I’m not completely crazy, a little over a mile in I felt a little better. We just kept walking. From mile 2.5 on, other racers are coming back on the other side of the road. R and I got to wave to C and her husband as they ran by, they broke 30! Right behind them was T and her husband. She roped him into running it at the last-minute and it was their first race. They rocked it, finishing under 30 too! I was able to take action shots of them running. 🙂 It was R’s first race as well and I felt bad for slowing her down but it was fun walking it together. Then we crossed the finish line and we were done! Time- 42:37.

Other than the requisite lingering tightness in my chest, I felt better. The walking did help. We hung and chatted a bit and took a bunch of pictures. T and R really had fun so hopefully I can get them to run more races with me in the future. Insert evil genius laugh. 🙂 I was also looking for my mother; turns out she was so mad at me that she walked home. Oops.

The kids half mile race was up after the 5K. As time was getting closer to start, more kids were coming to the start/ finish area. The DJ changed to Gangham Style and 90% of the kids started busting a move. It both hilarious and adorable at the same time. Some of those kids had moves! I actually headed out before the race began, I felt better but I knew I needed rest. No pancake breakfast for me!

Neither race went how I had hoped but I had a fun morning. Friends really can turn around a rough morning. Especially when we are all wearing the same shirt. 🙂 I was also able to catch up with another SLO ambassador who ran the race as well. This is still one of my favorite races. Next year I will conquer the Fun Run… and have fun. 🙂 But T? No tutus.

I’ll leave with my new medal model- Kimi-

Ventura Marathon-Half- Recap

I had a feeling this post may border on wordy which is why most of the pictures were uploaded in the last post. Now for what those photos didn’t show.

The Weekend-

I was able to get off work a couple hours early on Friday, so I headed straight home to finish packing and preparing. I felt like I was both taking too much and not enough at the same time. My mother and I headed out early Saturday morning, we planned on spending some time at the Ventura Mall before heading to packet pick up and the hotel. I haven’t been in a mall in years and well it was kind of a let down. The only upside was a Hot Topic for my inner nerd and I may have spent a little too much at Macy’s (damn Dooney!). From there it was on to the hotel.

When I booked the hotel I looked for one that advertised as being near to the pier. It didn’t occur to me to compare the addresses until 2 weeks ago. Oops. But I lucked out, the hotel was 1.2 miles from the pier on the same street and right next door to an In n Out, and I was able to get chocolate milk from the 7-11 across the street. Sweet! Dinner was at BJ’s Restaurant, where I indulged in a pretty good burger and fries. That was followed by a 3.5 mile walk down to and around the pier to get my legs moving before trying to get some sleep.

Once checking out of the hotel on Sunday, we headed back to Santa Barbara for a little more shopping. I was looking forward to a real Lululemon and just some window shopping. The weather in Santa Barbara was amazing. After that it was north to SLO for dinner and then finally home. We were tired.

The Expo-

Not much to say here. Packet pickup was a breeze, both easy and super windy. Instead of a bunch of useless samples in the bag, they had a table or 2 of samples. I only took a sample of KT tape. The website looked like there would be a lot of vendors but most seemed more like local crafts and things. Kind of like a farmer’s market minus the food. I stopped by the ProCompression booth but there was no one working it? There was live music playing and a little listening area as well. A very nice (cute) police officer took a picture for us, but my mother deleted it- so there’s a selfie instead. 🙂

The Race-

Race morning dawned and I had no need of an alarm. I hadn’t slept well the night before and had been awake off and on from about 3 on. I wasn’t feeling so great but that wasn’t too surprising to me. I had packed some candy corns for race fuel but they sounded nasty so I did not even take them. I got ready and headed out the door, I had planned on walking to starting line. While I was walking there the marathon runners were running up the other side. They looked so ready to go, to the point that 3 were bouncing basketballs while running. Seriously? It’s all I can do to run a half marathon and you are going to bounce a basketball (or 2!) while running 26.2!!!

Anywho, I made my way up to the starting line in time to jump into the first wave. A few announcements and count down and we were off! I had issues getting both my Garmin and my Nike+ app started but managed to get them going not too far from the starting line. I was aiming for a 10:00 average so when mile 1 came in at 9:50, I was ok with that. Mile 2 seemed a little tougher and fell to 10:17. I was using intervals of 8:30 run and 1:00 walk as I knew going in I wasn’t 100%. Even with this I was tiring quickly. The weather felt way warmer than I would have liked. The course went through a nice housing area before going back to the main street. It turned off towards the harbor for a quick out and back to add mileage before heading back down the main street into Oxnard and out into some fields before turning around and going back the way we came. Mile 5- I took 2 walk breaks, I was having trouble getting my breathing under control. I had already used my inhaler 3 times. Which was odd because I hadn’t used it on any run since my last half marathon in July. I kept trucking along until my next walk break at mile 6.5. Which is where I had to get real.

I only ran once in taper week leading up to the race. It was 3.5 miles and it was the hardest run I have ever done. I mentioned briefly that I had finally started my antibiotics. Between those and my lovely stomach I was thisclose to deferring Ventura. I was feeling so crappy. I told myself I was being a big baby and would be fine. In reality I had no business running a half marathon at this time. Mile 6.5 was the beginning of this epiphany (and others but more about that later).

I walked it in from there. I called my mom at mile 7.5 and told her she had more time to relax at the hotel because I wasn’t going to be near 2:10:00. I just kept walking. I was so hot, my hamstrings were cramping, and my left shin felt super angry. I took 2 cups of water at every aid station. One to drink and one to dump over my head. I alternated my Gatorade and their water to stay hydrated. I had Honey Stingers in my belt but the very idea of those made me ill. I grabbed a Cliff Shot around mile 9 and carried it for a while. I eventually ripped it open around mile 11. I had somehow managed to grab one with caffeine and I was hoping it would help the lungs. I know it didn’t have enough caffeine to do anything but one can hope right. I jogged a tiny bit each mile both to keep the pace below 14:00 and to loosen up my stiff legs. The volunteers and the crowd support was pretty awesome. Around mile 11.5, there was a little boy dressed as the Flash giving high fives. He was cool. 🙂

The last 2.5 miles or so I was keeping pace with a women who was race walking and a guy who would run ahead and then walk. I always caught him on the walking portions. I couldn’t tell if he was doing intervals or if he was as spent as I was. I never saw the 13 mile marker but did see the 26 one. I figured I could run the last .2. Ha! That was the longest .2 of my life. I thought the finish line was never going to arrive. I did leave race walker and interval guy behind. Finally there was the finish line and I was done. Half marathon #9 complete, not my best, not my slowest but probably the most walking. I won’t lie, I did get a little teary eyed at the finish. Thank goodness for sunglasses.

Since I had finished later than planned, I barely had time to limp back to the hotel to shower and check out. I hurt badly. I don’t think I have been that sore after a race since my very first half marathon. I gimped the 1.2 miles back to the hotel, stopping to stretch along the way. The chocolate milk in the mini fridge was the best thing ever. After checking out, we hit In n Out for food. I was suddenly hungry. Finding out that they still sold extra large drinks was the second best thing ever- that Diet Coke tasted amazing. I did feel bad for my mom though, she had to be seen in public with me- jean shorts, teal tank and bright purple compression socks. I was styling, ha!

So no, this race did not go according to plan but it was still a good weekend. Shopping was fun, the food was yummy. I also learned that I have serious problems tolerating humidity (74% WTH?!). I got a few compliments during the race about my use of neon and I got a shout out from a fellow SLO ambassador when she ran by me. So while I am rethinking some things, I still call this weekend a win. 🙂

How do some of you deal with humidity on a regular basis? Seriously, anything over 25% is rough for me. Maybe I am spoiled?

What’s your post race reward?