Tag: 5k

Giant Race- San Jose

Disclaimer: I received an entry into Giant Race- San Jose as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

I was so pumped to run this race this year.

Then came COVID and with it a complete lack of motivation to run or work out on my part. Which hasn’t been helpful for me at all. But that’s not the point.

I had orginally registerd for the 5 mile but come race day, I knew I was not there. Which is sad but true. So I dropped to the 5k. I would like to think I would have done the same if the race had still taken placed as planned but we all know I don’t make the best choices.

On race day of June 6, I laced up, geared up and headed out. The advantage to a virtual race is that you can pick a good route- i.e one with a downhill finish. And if you count my warm up and cool down, I did do 5 miles.

Ok, back to the “race”. I decided to attempt to run it at a race effort. Yeah, downhill didn’t help.

11:49, 12:32, 12:12 for splits and 38:00 flat for the 5k.

Slower then my very first 5K back in 2010 and I felt like I worked much harder. However seeing it on the tiny watch screen was a little depressing.

I am looking forward to receiving my race swag in the mail soon though. Based on what I got with the Sacramento race, I know I will actually wear this race shirts again.

That said I was glad I made myself make the effort. And this marks race 2 of the Giant’s series for me- I “ran” Sacramento in April. We’ll see what happens in September with San Francisco.

Rambling On- 56

And I finally looked up the number. 😉

Happy Friday!

Have you seen the Old Glory shoes from Brooks? Someone tell me I don’t need these. It’s so hard to resist!

I don’t talk about work much other than to say it was busy, but it has seriously been insane the last few weeks. Like full moon crazy for weeks. What?!?! Why?!?

Do we want to place bets on if I will get up early to run on Saturday? You’d think I would learn but clearly I don’t. I wouldn’t even bet on me at this point.

I recently started rewatching Warehouse 13. I miss cheesy, awesome sci fi shows like that. Where did they all go?

I was social! Well, kind of. Networking is not my strongest skill. Socially awkward over here. But I went to the monthly mixer and was moderately social. It helps that it was small and at a very pretty location.

I was torn between 2 local 5K’s in the next week and then time passed for registration for the first. Oops. But seriously, how is it almost July??? I think I am in such denial about how fast time in flying these days.

Anyone else feel like running has lowered their standards on what is acceptable to wear in public post run??? I used to be pretty put together and now I’ll go around in just run in clothes with sweaty hair, looking haggard. Which might not be so bad if people from high school or elementary school didn’t suddenly decide to be everywhere lately. I’ve be recognized at the random-est times by people I don’t always remember lately. What?? People, I was recognized by someone from the office staff of my elementary school. How??? It’s been decades. Literally.

What are you watching?

Ever get recognized when you least expect it?

Guess Who’s Back

Guess who’s back, back again?

Disclaimer: I received an entry to Rock N Roll San Diego as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Going back to RnR San Diego that is!

I am so excited. I love this race, really do. It was my first Rock n Roll race ever back in 2017 and I couldn’t have picked a better way to introduce myself to Rock n Roll.

The course is great, has the right amount of hills and flat. The city neighborhoods really come out for the runners. I mean, there’s a full bar at mile 4! I love the crowds and know that once I hit the Big Guitar guy in the park at mile 10, there’s a lot of downhill to the finish. And on clear days- planes!! You can see airplanes flying overhead as they a head for San Diego Airport. I still need a picture of that.

I had fun at the expo, enjoyed a few sights in San Diego and met up with some other BibRave Pro’s. I ran a pretty good race too. I went back in 2018 for another round. Same awesome course, same amazing crowd support AND I talked Kate into coming out from Texas. Downside was the crazy humidity we dealt with on race day.

I am looking forward to round 3 on June 2. Maybe with a little less humidity. I was planning on set a big goal for this race but certain things are changing for me in a big way and I am not sure how it will effect my running but more on that later.

So right now, I am just planning on enjoying the party.

Want to party with me? Use code 19RNRBRP16 to save $16 on the half or full. Or code 19RNRBRP6 for $6 off the 5K.

SLO Ultra 5K Recap

A part of me almost upgraded to the half during the week leading up to this race. Now, I’m so glad I didn’t.

Race morning came and my stomach was being a total asshat. Not too unusual so I just got ready like normal and hit the road. While I drove, I had some ginger mints hoping to calm my stomach. I thought it helped.

The race was held in a combo of El Chorro Regional Park and Dairy Creek Golf Course, parking was across the highway at the community college. It was stressed heavily that we either had to pay for parking during registration or have cash on hand on race morning. I paid during registration. Yet on race morning there no sign of anyone to take cash, so half the runners didn’t pay. Grrr. I ended up talking about it with with a couple. I spoke with a volunteer as I left the lot, chatted with another as we waited to cross the highway. Actually, this was the most I’ve ever talked at a race and some of the friendliest people throughout.

The start was about a mile away and I arrived in time to see the delayed start of the half marathon. Turns out the inflatable arch had a little issue. The 50K had started at 6:30. I got in line to use the port-a-potties which is when I had my sad sunglasses incident. Boo. After some announcements and the National Anthem, we were off and running.

Mile 1-11:07

Oh, god, I’m nauseous, why am nauseous? Where did that come from? And I’m breathing like I’m sprinting but I’m not. What is going on?? The first mile wound up a back road away from the park towards a ranch. It was paved but in poor condition and you were dodging cow dung along the way. It was a tiny incline but all of this would have been fine had I not been feeling like I needed to find a bush to throw up in. I slowed to a walk about 3/4 a mile in and tried to walk it out. I wasn’t upchucking in public!

Mile 2-10:48

More walking. Still nauseated. The road had switched to dirt and the incline picked up a bit. Part way up the road was blocked by a gate- it wasn’t open. We had to climb over it. Single file. Surprise! I think the complete stop I came to while I waited for my turn helped a bit because I picked up the pace on the other side and ran a bit. Then walked a bit, then ran. We had a little downhill and I was able to pass a few of the people who had passed me previously. Truthfully at this point, I didn’t care.

Mile 3-10:46

I’m still not feeling right but I just want to be done. I take water at the one aid station and hustle on. The next 1/4 mile was the “trail-iest” section of the whole race. We climbed a small hill and could see the finish line a ways off- across the golf course. My watch was already at 3 miles. Grrr. I ran past a few people (even sick, I’ll take advantage of any tiny downhill) then it was sidewalk and golf course running to the finish line.

A little boy and I had been playing leap frog for 2 miles- he’d pass me every time I’d walk. We were both powering to the finish and it’s sad that instinct is telling you to win. 😂 I pulled up and let him cross first.

Finish-36.23 Garmin Pace-10:49*3.4 miles Official pace- 11:44

For once in the numerous times I’ve run races by this organization, water and snacks were easy to find at the finish. Yay! I grabbed a bag of salty chips thinking they might help with nausea. I chatted with some other runners and we helped each other take finisher pics. Then I started the trek back to the car.

*I am normally never one to say the course ran long; I know I suck at tangents. However, I really couldn’t go wrong during the first 2 miles and mile 3 was more of a follow the leader with no course markings. Plus, thanks to Strava I know that I am not the only one who measured it long. All the public users did- so I am going to call the course long. Doesn’t change the official pace though, it is what it is.

This wasn’t a bad race. I really wouldn’t call it a “trail” race, I know the other distances were. It wasn’t the great views of last year and I missed those. The organization was better than previous races and the medal is a good one. Bling makes everything better right?😀

Week 35:Upcoming Races-Rock n Roll San Jose Training Week 7

Upcoming Races-

SLO ULTRA 5K-9/2
Rock n Roll San Jose 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)-10/8
City to the Sea 13.1-10/14
Rock n Roll Los Angeles 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)- 10/29
Monterey Bay Half Marathon (Thank you Bibrave!)- 11/12

So, I’m finally on the right week. Did anyone notice that I posted “week 32” 3 times? Haha, I really need to pay more attention when I copy and paste.

Last week was fairly uneventful outside of running which is fine by me. Plus this week is shaping up to be crazy so I needed a calm one.

This was a surprisingly solid training week. It had it’s ups and downs but when it came to sticking to the plan, it was pretty solid.

The plan called for a step back week with a 5K race instead of a long run. So it should have looked something like this- 4 mile run, 3 mile run, 5K race, maybe an extra easy run if I was feeling it and 4 Liift4 workouts.

Monday-3.1 miles
My legs do not like running the day after a long run. Not even a recovery run, my right leg and hip protest but running on Monday was fit my schedule. I kept it slow and easy and a little shorter than plan called for but I knew there was only so much my leg was going to put up with. That said, it was a decent few miles.

Tuesday- Liift4
I really meant to do this in the morning but nope. Another late night work out. We’re in the final 2 weeks of the challenge and my arms were shaking.

Wednesday- Rest
Oops. I meant to run but was easily distracted on the way home.

Thursday- 4.2 miles/ Liift4 legs
My hip was so stinkin’ sore. I’ve been trying to use my chair this week and I just can’t, it hurt my hip. Or aggravates my IT band. Whatever. By Thursday, my hip was pissed by 3 days of trying to make do. I had to stop and stretch it out various times throughout the run. I didn’t feel like things really loosened up until the middle of mile 3. By then I was done. Then at home I did the Liift4 leg workout not knowing what a sweat fest I was in for. 😛

Friday-Rest
After the brutal leg workout the day before and having a race the next day, I thought rest was the best choice. If you read Friday’s post, you know I wasn’t exactly stoked on the race but one of the upsides of the new location was that it was a 10 minute drive from work. So I hustled down on my lunch break to pick up my bib and shirt. Funny thing- a local runner I’ve met before was working packet pick up so I chatted for a moment but could tell that he had no idea who I was. Ha!

Saturday- SLO Ultra 5K
Race recap to come. I’ll just leave you with this-

Sunday- Liift4
I had hoped to add in that extra easy run but without giving away race details, I still wasn’t feeling quite right. I decided to just play by ear and see how things went and that ended up being the Liift4 workout late in the evening. I am fine with that.

10.7 miles for the week. Low but I did all the required workouts for the week. I missed a Liift4 workout but that was also deliberate- I tend to pass on the ones that are entirely HIIT because I end up breaking myself. Seriously. I cannot do a mountain climber without hurting myself- no matter how many modifications I make.

How was your week?