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. 🙂
HOB Fun Run 5kGoing 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.
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?
Diaper Dash Time
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?
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.
C and I
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.
R and I
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.
Now, I normally pride myself on freakish memory. Particularly for numbers and things like that, sometimes I scare people. This week though, my memory has checked out. On Tuesday I was all set to run after work. I felt like I needed a run, the morning had been a little odd. I often take my clothes into work to change but leave my shoes in the car. This sometimes means I walk to my car in running clothes and flats or heels. I changed and walked to my car. When I went to throw my gym bag on the floor of the passenger seat, I notice something missing.
I forgot my damn shoes. Seriously. As I drove back to town, I was irritated and debating what to do. I could go home and get my shoes but I knew that once I was home, I was less likely to get back and run. I keep a box of shoes in my trunk with a pair of flip-flops, some flats, a pair of heels and 2 old pairs of running shoes. I like to be prepared. 🙂 So I decided to try running in one of those pairs. I put on my old Wave Riders and set out. I kept it slow and easy because I wasn’t sure how the shoes were going to feel. No lies, my feet were angry, it’s time to retire those shoes completely, they cannot be run anymore. I took a complete break at mile 3 to try to calm my feet down. Once again, I looked up and NikeC was coming my way. We chatted for a bit before I ran on and back to my car. If it wasn’t for my shoes making my feet angry, I would say that it was a pretty good run. Instead of passing each other, NikeC and I decided to just run together tonight. I made sure to pack my shoes; in fact, I packed both my current Wave Riders and Sayonaras. 🙂 But I forgot my Garmin and a decent sports bra. Ugh!!! I had one in my bag as a backup but I wasn’t sure how it would be for 5 miles. We ran one of her usual routes. Right away I just felt tired. I was having troubles catching my breath- stupid humidity! I felt bad, we would run and then I would have to take a walking break. Granted, neither of us are used to running and talking so that was probably hindering us as well. 🙂 It may have been slower than planned but it was still a good run. Plus being able to watch the sun set from different angles was cool. My Nike+ app has been crashing but it said that we did 4.87 miles while hers was closer to 5. I choose to go with the 5. 🙂 I missed my Garmin.As of right now, I am signed up for the 10K on Sunday. This may well be my last chance to run a 10K until next year. 10K’s are sparse around here. I hoping that one will pop up around Thanksgiving but no luck yet- all 5K’s and half marathons. When it comes to the 5K- well I am also signed up for that. I have yet to decide if I am running it. I will figure that out as it gets closer. Actually right now I am more concerned about chafing. I am wearing a team tank for the first time on race day, yikes! I can’t test it out because I won’t even get it until Saturday. My arms are very particular about what kind shirts they lake. Which is why I have the same tank in 11 different colors. Fingers crossed!
Happy Friday!!
Ever forget your shoes? Or something else equally important?
My next race is now less than 5 days away. It’s actually the very first race I ran and one of my favorite races- the HOB Fun Run. Also a little nerve wracking because it’s one race where I see a lot of people I know. Performance anxiety!! This will be my fifth year running it. The first 3 years I ran the 5k and last year I was a little crazy. I ran the 10k… and then the 5k. The 10k was a PR (55:57) at the time and the 5k was run with C and her husband.
Throwback to my very first race
Originally my plan was to warm up for a mile, run the 10k, run the 5k. That would bring me to 10 miles and I was going to treat that as the last double digit run before the City to the Sea half. This year with my lovely GI issues (and no City to the Sea), I am torn on what to run. I want to be just as crazy as I was last year. Question is can I reign myself in, take it easy and still have fun? The way I see it I have three options-
A- Run the 10k-easy, spectate the 5k
B- Skip the 10k, run the 5k-moderatly
C- Run both and practice pacing and breathing
Thing is, the 10k has an unofficial time limit of 1:15:00. Both races have a loop course, the 5k is one loop and the 10k is two loops. The 5k starts at 9:15 and the 10k at 8:00. If I take it easy on the 10k, I am hoping that would be around 1:01-1:03 ish. Which would give me 10 minutes to stretch and hydrate. I know I can finish the miles, the question is how well and will it be fun. I have friends running the 5k as well. If I run with C and her husband, it’ll be around a 30 minute 5k- last year was 30:22- assuming I can stay with them. I also have one friend running a little slower than that, and a couple more that will be run/ walking with a stroller. So I have plenty of people to run the 5k with no matter the pace.
Mom and I between races last year
I am working the late registration/ packet pick up table on Saturday so I have until then to decide. So help me out!
I was originally planning on running the Buzz 1/2 marathon today but scaled back to a 10K in SLO for a few reasons. Now, I am completely bummed because I just saw that Run Eat Repeat ran it and I could have tried to track her down, except I am slow, hehe.
Anyways, on to the race. After my great run on Wednesday, I was super pumped but I also knew I had pushed harder than planned, so I ended up taking Thursday and Friday as rest days. Friday was also a vacation day for me, so woo hoo! I made sure to spend some time stretching and working with my foam roller yesterday so this morning I felt pretty good and ready to go.
A little chalk art
Heart and Soles is a series of races put on by the Cal Poly Triathlon team. It works as a fundraiser for them and the local food bank. The race takes place entirely on the college campus. They offer a 5K, 10K, and 15K and a kids race. I was a little concerned about hills as the campus is pretty much on the side of a big hill, but there weren’t any big ones thankfully. I really wanted to do the 15K but thought the 10K was a smarter choice. 😦 This turned out to be a good choice, because I would not have finished a 15K, at least not running. Maybe crawling.
Pre-race shot
The race had 9:00 AM start so I didn’t have to leave until after 7:30. My race photographer (thanks mom!) and I headed out. Getting there was easy, finding parking was a little trickier, luckily runners tend to move in herds! Check in was fairly quick, picked up the bib and goody bag and headed back to the car since it was a bit cold. While not required, a Valentine’s themed costume contest was suggested. My mother had fun laughing at some of them, including the pace bikers. The 2 males were dressed in diapers and wings…and that’s it. Just like Cupid. One thing about a college race, I felt old. I won’t deny stalking last years race results to make sure I wasn’t the oldest one. As it was I was running solo in a couples race. Luckily it was mostly other solos as well. 🙂
All 3 races started at the same time so the start line was a little congested. A guy stopped to play with his girlfriends iPod, I went left to avoid them, and 2 people behind me ran into me and I into the first couple. Oops! Maybe that was when the problem started or I just hadn’t noticed because I just started running. A quarter mile into the race, my left lower calf was so damn tight it was painful. I figured I would run it out around mile 1. No such luck. I actually considered turning around at the 5K mark. But I kept going. I was so happy to hit the first 10K turnaround. The course had two out and backs. I kept running but the pain was turning into my couples partner for the race. I told myself if the pain ever got above a 4 to take a walk break. The first came at just shy of 3 miles. Mile 4 was the roughest, not only did I take a walk break, I stopped completely and tried to stretch it out. The end of this out and back had a little loop on a dirt path and my leg felt better there. After that if I could run on dirt by the side of the road I did. While we were in the Ag section this was possible but once we were back in the center of the school, it was all roads and sidewalk. 😦
I felt like mile 6 had the steepest section of road but my Garmin disagrees. It was a little past mile 5.5 that my leg finally loosened up. Seriously? Now? But there was no way I was sprinting to the finish, I was just trying to maintain. I hadn’t really been paying attention to my time because I was more focused on breathing through the pain. All in all, I took 4 walk moments plus that stretch. I was so thankful to see that finish line. I was done. Apparently it showed too, because my mom said I looked gimpy coming up to the line.
Is that a grimace or a smile?
Once I caught my breath, I let my mother know how close I was to texting her that I was chucking it and walking the damn thing. Then I checked my Garmin, 55:44. I’m sorry, what?!!? I flippin’ PR’d on what may or may not have been my worst feeling race?! I checked Nike to verify (Yeah I used both), and it agreed. I was a little shocked. Once I processed that, I was super stoked, still hurting but excited!! I was brought a little back down to earth by the first 15K finisher crossing the finish line 4 minutes later.
Other than my stupid leg, it was a good race. With all three races starting at the same time, I was concerned that it might be easy to be confused by the route. But they had people at every corner and turn around who made things very clear. The finish line was clearly marked as well. All in all, I would run it again, maybe the 15 next year?
I stretched as best as I could before leaving the campus. After changing and eating a yummy lunch, we did a little shopping around town. I kept my compression socks on and hoped that the walking would help ease the tightness. It helped a little but most of the evening has been spent RICE’ing. Tomorrow will probably be a day off as well, I have to see how it feels in the morning. I am not sure what set it off, if it was tennis practice yesterday or maybe the fact that I sat cross-legged on the floor for most of last night. I just want it to go away.
And as per usual, I was unable to leave SLO without purchasing some new running gear, now if only my legs weren’t so pale!
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.
Slacker Runner 