Tag: 5k

Central Coast Cancer Challenge 5K- Recap

My first time running the Central Coast Cancer Challenge was 3 or 4 years ago. It was an entirely different beast then. It was smaller and 2/3 on trails with no warning about that on the website. Actually, I am not even sure it had a website. I ended up running into a friend on race morning and we ran it together. At the time it was the closest I had ever come to running a sub 30 5K. Well, until we realized the course was short. By a lot- we all registered around 2.6 miles. Turns out some course signage had fallen over and was not corrected prior to the race start. Oops. The past few years it has been part of the RaceSLO group so I had been wanting to check it out. Schedule conflicts prevented that until this year.

The race raises money for cancer research and a local charity. Cancer survivors can race for free and get a special race shirt with “Survivor” on the back. In memory/ In honor of bibs are free and participants can write names on them and wear them while running. I love the shirts for survivors but I think there needs to be another category. There needs to be a “Fighter” category for those who are still fighting their way to be a survivor.

As the race got closer I wondered what the hell I had been thinking. I haven’t raced a 5K in over a year, and my speed work has been more hit than miss and speed held for any length of time is problematic for my stupid stomach. So yeah. I had originally planned on trying to PR (current PR -27:48) this race but the closer race day got, the more I was leaning towards just holding on. If I could even break 30, I was going to throw a party. Then I saw the course and just laughed. The race has moved to the center of SLO over the past years and they shut down multiple busy streets for it. Having run some of these streets during the SLO half, I knew partially what I was in for. The course loops downtown and starts with a little less than half a mile sloped down, then you make a left and it’s pretty much uphill for the next 1.5 miles. It’s the kind of hill that you don’t notice driving but kicks your ass running. Ahh, crap. So new plan was to try pull off the following splits- moderate speed, slower speed, fast finish. Pretty simple right? 😃

Having picked up my race bib the day before may have made me too relaxed. Per usual my mom was along for the ride and we didn’t even get to the start line area until 7:45. I ended up bailing out of the car while she found a parking spot. Then I needed a restroom stop and there was a line. Another woman in line and I joked that at least races never seem to start on time. 😏 Took care of business and headed to the start. I hopped into the starting line chute at 7:54. I figured I could use the 6 minutes left until the 8:00AM start time to move my way forward in the crowd and get my Garmin situated. Maybe stretch a bit. Best laid plans right?The race whistle blew at 7:55.

5 minutes early!?!

Mile 1- 9:00

My Garmin was on but didn’t have a satellite yet. I just pushed start and figured I would deal with it later. I got hung up in a crowd crossing the starting line but managed to break free after a few blocks. A little too fast since my Garmin buzzed that I was running a 7:30 pace. Oops, slow it down there. Then we turned up the next street and that was taken care of for me. 😊 I passed the mile marker and checked my watch. I knew the mileage was going to be off but I wanted an idea of my overall time. Except the display was on some funky screen only showing the time lapsed in run/walk intervals. Ok then, guess I was running blind.

Mile 2- 9:42

This felt like the longest mile ever. I kept wanting to take a walk break but was arguing with myself that it was all in my head. I felt like we were climbing forever and it’s not even that steep! We only gained 133 ft. I felt like everyone and their brother were passing me. A woman came running up behind me pushing a stroller- uphill- looking fresh as a daisy. I instantly felt out of shape. I told myself I could walk at the water stop. But knowing that there was only one on the way up I had brought my own just in case. So I kept running. Seriously I felt like I was almost at the freeway on ramp, where the hell was the turn around? Oh there, thank you lord. My watch buzzed for it’s mile 2 a little before that and said 9:42. Ouch, definitely not PR pace. It was the only mile I had seen so I wasn’t even sure I was going to break 30. Grrr.

Mile 3- 8:17

I had hoped the downhill was going to help my pace but my stomach had started protesting around mile 1.5. I wasn’t sure how that was going to play out. I drew level with another woman and we had a little chat. She was surprised at just how much of a hill that had been. She said she hadn’t known. I said I had known but that didn’t make it any easier. 😖 We separated, I think I pulled ahead but I can’t remember! I picked up the pace and started reeling people in. I didn’t really feel like I was pushing the pace fitness wise but my stomach was telling a different story. I ran as fast as it was letting me and figured that was the best I could do right then. I could finally hear the announcer and people cheering. Yay, I was almost done! I could see the clock but it was far away and I thought it said 29:something. Then I realized it read 26:something. Holy crap- run!

Finish- 27:10 New PR!!!

Hell yeah! How I took 38 seconds off of my previous time, I have no idea. I felt like I was crawling up that hill. Now I am left thinking that if I had pushed a little harder on the hill, I could have been sub 27. Fitness wise, I didn’t feel like I gave it my all. I know part of that was due to some serious cramping in the last half but part of that was also due to my pre-race doubts. Or maybe me deciding to just hang on and not stress about the race was what got me that shiny new PR. Who knows. I do know I was happy about the race. I ran according to my plan and managed to pull off a fast time for myself. Maybe next time I will push a little harder. Now I just need another 5k. 😃

Oh and the women with the stroller was rocking the 10K. So fast!

What’s you favorite distance to race? Least favorite?

Week 13 Recap- Hell Yeah

13 out of 17 done! Hmm, my math seems off, I may have to check race day again. Not that I would complain about an extra week right now, though. 🙂

Monday- 9.35 miles bike

My neck was still feeling sore and stiff from Friday’s run in so I opted to not run that day. Instead I headed home and got on the bike. I’ve been testing out the resistance workouts on the bike and so far I like them. I was also thankful that I bought a recumbent- it made things easier on my neck. 🙂

Tuesday- Rest

My stomach was a total asshat all day so I ended up taking a rest day. The night before I had indulged in some candy and while I knew I was probably going to regret it, I didn’t think it would be that bad. Did you know sour straws were made of wheat? I had no idea! While I don’t necessarily have a wheat sensitivity, my stomach has never been too fond of it. Combine that with sugar and ouch. Don’t think I will crave candy for a while though.Wednesday- 3.2 miles

This run was thisclose to not happening. After a rough run on Sunday and 2 days off, I left work looking forward to running. Somehow, I drove past the lake without realizing it. Oops. Ok, I would head to home town. I stopped at Target along the way to pick up some prescriptions. Since I was getting a later start, I bypassed the river path and figured I would run from my old work spot again. Except there was road construction everywhere. Seriously?! It was almost 7pm and a primarily resident area. I was so close to just bailing but I had said I needed to get out of my own way, right? So I ended up parking at the bottom of my driveway and squeezing in a few miles before dark. I even saw one mile in the 9 min range. Sweet.

Thursday- Rest

Since I had a race on Sunday, I had a crazy idea of getting my long run done today. However, work had other plans. We were 45 minutes late getting out of work. By the time I would have changed and headed back to town, I wouldn’t have enough daylight even for 3 miles. Seriously, when did the days get shorter? I thought about the gym but Thursdays are pretty busy and I didn’t think hogging a treadmill for 2 hours would go over so well. Plus I wasn’t too fond of the idea of 2 hours on a treadmill. 😝

Friday- 10.1 Miles- Hell Yeah!

Confession- I ate a donut. 🍩 And it was awesome. Curious thing- so was my run. I worked the early shift so I was optimistic for a long run after work. Being Friday and a busy day at work though, I was doubtful of my follow through. I didn’t even think about the Labor Day traffic until I was on my way to the river path to run. Crap. I wanted 10 but decided 8 would be fine to if traffic was too crazy.I had woken the night before with a horrible charlie horse and I had felt it all day. I walked the first 3/4 of a mile just to make sure it wasn’t going to be a problem. Things felt good when I started running, better than they have in months. I told myself not to get cocky, I was only in mile 2! My goal was just run a nice comfortable pace and maintain it as long as I could. Which, let’s be honest, these days that is about 3 minutes. However, I just kept running, my legs felt good, my breathing wasn’t labored at all and things felt great! I had a lollipop route planned that I thought would put me around 8 miles when done. My math was so wrong. I figured it out around 4.5 when I hit a point in the route that I thought would have been 6.5. Oops. I had to decide if I wanted to go back up for another loop and hit 10 or head down and circle the river bed trail until I hit 8. I was still feeling good so I headed back up the hill for another loop.

I never really looked at my pace on my Garmin, I only recall seeing it once during mile 5 and it showing my ave pace in the 9’s. Slow down! Things were going well, I didn’t want to mess things up! 10 miles completed just as the sun was fading. 10 awesome miles. I ran the whole damn thing not counting the warm up and it felt awesome! I only started to feel sore for miles 9 and 10. Which was to be expected as this was my longest run in over a month but I still managed to pick up the pace a bit there too. In full disclosure- I admit that while I never walked or intentionally took a break, I did hit 5 or 6 stop lights. I was so freakin’ excited by this run. I was still smiling about it on Saturday. That one run will get me through another 2-3 months of crap runs. 😃😃

Saturday- 6 miles bike

I didn’t want to run since I had a race the next morning so I hopped on the bike. I kept things easy as I was a little sore from the previous day’s run. I also headed down to SLO to pick up my race packet so I would have one less thing to worry about on race morning. I missed the shirt deadline so this was a very small packet. I was kind of really worried about this race. I haven’t raced a 5K since July 2014 and I wasn’t sure I was even in 5K shape.Sunday- Central Coast Cancer Challenge 5K

Argh, nerves. After all you can’t have 2 good runs in a week right? Recap in next post. Spoilers on Instagram. 😃Overall, this was the best training week I’ve had in a long time. Like since April. While my mileage didn’t increase I finally feel like I put in 3 quality work outs, oh wait, I cross trained too- 5 work outs! Woo hoo!!! I also followed through with a plan and pulled off my long run before the weekend. Which for September I may have to do more often. Unfortunately, Fridays won’t be an option going forward. With my boss gone, I will be working open to close, so that will fill up most of Friday. So time to do some thinking!

Paleo- B

Overall I made better choices last week, candy and doughnut aside. I have zero guilt about that doughnut though, I give it partial credit for my run on Friday. 😊 My weakness right now is these chips-

Since I won’t be able to leave the building while my boss is gone I am hoping to use that time as a way to make me stop eating them. I still need healthier dinners though. I did enjoy my pizza cheat on Wednesday and it was awesome. 😉

This week will be tight, with work and the Avocado Margarita Festival but I am hoping to get a solid week of work outs in. The heat wave coming in is concerning. Triple digits are predicted for all week. Last week’s cooler weather was just a tease. I may have to be a little Thomas this week- ” I think I can, I think I can”.

How was your week? Is the weather cooling down in your neck of the woods?

How was your Labor Day? Anyone else race?

Do you have a snack food you just can’t stop eating?

2015 Firehouse 5K -Recap

After 3 years of running this race, I can say with absolute certainty that moving my long run to Thursday was the best decision ever. Not just because it turned out to be a great run but because per usual, I feel a little broken after this race. Yesterday’s easy, hoped for 6 turned into a slow, limping crawl for 4 miles. But I still love this race! 🙂The race touts itself as the toughest 5K in the county. Not sure if that’s true but it’s the toughest 5K I have run. So of course that means I have had to run it 3 years in a row. The course starts at the firehouse then runs .5 mile on the street before hitting the trails and heading up for 2 miles before heading back to the street and returning to the firehouse.

My mom and I were planning on spending the day in SLO afterwards so we headed out in the morning. I had picked up my packet the day before and parking was a breeze. We’ve parked in the same spot the last 3 years. 🙂 She stayed in the car where it was warm and I headed to the start line. The morning was kind of chilly so I wore a long sleeved layer over my tank. I would later regret that. A lot. I ran into an old coworker so we chatted for a bit. The starting line is under a large flag hanging from the ladder truck and the mayor blows the truck horn to start the race. I was super relaxed going into this race and that may have given me some problems. I started way too far back in the pack and had trouble getting out of a cluster in the beginning. The mountain starts with a series of switchbacks on the trail that usually slows to a single file walk. I was prepared for this but not for how crowded it was farther back. I passed people when I could but was hung up a few times. Once out of the switchbacks we had more single file climbing to do. The top is kind of a false summit so after reaching the top, there was still a little more up. I finally got past a few people and was looking forward to cranking it on the way down. I love running down a mountain. 🙂

But I got hung up again! I had to bob and weave to get around people and it just took longer. 😦 I ran past a teenage boy who I thought was going to fall off the side of the trail, he was wobbling so much. I started to wonder if I was gonna have to help him. Once past him, I ran on down to the bottom and back up another hill. Once again, I was stuck. I was behind another teenage boy who had no concept of pacing himself. He would haul ass for 30 feet and then just stop. Every time I got past him, he would sprint to pass me and then just stop. Finally I just sprinted past him and kept going. We had one last trail downhill and I was able to pass a few more people. I was sucking air, seriously thirsty and so hot. I pushed for the last .5 mile and crossed back under the big flag. First 5K of the year done!Apparently I should have pushed a little harder, I finished in 33:56. My slowest time on this course. Waah. I said I was relaxed but that still stung a bit. Oh well, I still love this course and careening downhill so it was an awesome morning! Starting so far back and getting hung up a few times probably contributed to the extra time but in reality it was only a minute off my best outing on that course. The race is always well staffed and has volunteers at every point making sure no one makes a wrong turn. Other than some interesting trail etiquette I observed, I only had one issue with the race this year. Water. Or lack thereof. In the past 2 years, there was a water station at the junction where the road meets the trail. You would pass it on the way in and on the way back out. It wasn’t there this year and it hadn’t been mentioned anywhere. I ran without water since I thought it would be there. Boo.

All in all, I still love this race. Even though, it still hurts to move today. My calves are pissed. There was no way I was able to do my long run yesterday. Knowing that I had already done it was kind of awesome. 🙂

Ever run a trail race? Or a race without aid stations?

How do you get past people who just don’t want to move?

GREW From the Vines 5K- Recap

A top 20 finish! I got lost! Have I peaked your interest? 🙂

Having been feeling under the weather for a week, hearing the alarm go off on Saturday morning was rough. It was cold outside, I was tired and my bed was so warm. What was I thinking? Oh I know, it was my pride. I wanted to prove to myself that even feeling crappy all the time, I could still pull a 30 minute 5K in a race. Stupid, I know. Since it was a cold morning and I was fearing asthma issues, I layered up in clothing. Yes, I know it’s cold air I breathe in that causes my issues but I just felt like the layers helped me be mentally prepared. As I still wasn’t feeling great I told myself 31 minutes would be a good adjustment. Like that made a huge difference. Head games, much?It was a smaller local race so I headed out around 8:15 for a 9:00 start time. My mom and the puppy were with me as well. I knew what winery it was at and its general location. Driving out I never saw any signs that said Villa 46, we came up on another winery that I had a run a race at and I knew that we had gone to far. We turned around and headed back the other way, this time paying attention to the street numbers. We find what we are looking for but it says Villa Toscana… and we couldn’t pull in the main drive. Continuing on a little farther we found a delivery driveway with yet another name but same street numbers. We pulled in there and parked next to some trucks that had already parked. Seeing the number of cars parked and then seeing the page of pre-registered runners confirmed that this was going to be the smallest race I have ever run. Only 17 people pre-registered. I think we barely hit 20 by start time. After a little announcement, a race volunteer told us there would be kids guiding us at each turn so we wouldn’t get lost. He also mentioned staying inside the fence. Then we were off! The first mile started on a dirt road but it fairly flat and wide so it was easy to run on. The kids directed us right and we headed out towards the street. As we got to the street I saw an arrow pointing right again but it kind of looked like it was telling us to run on the uneven grass. That didn’t seem right and everyone was running on the street so I followed. Let me clarify that the grass was on the inside of the fence.

As we ran down the street, we passed the delivery driveway. Some people turned up it only to turn around and run back to the street. A volunteer was yelling something towards us but we couldn’t hear him. A group of us chatted, figured they told us to stay on the street and all kept running towards the main driveway. Turned in there, headed back across the start line and back to the first Y. This time the kids sent us left. Mile 1- 9:22. I was feeling good so I was very happy with that time.

Then mile 2 came. Going left this time sent us down into the vineyard. Gorgeous views but I have run trails up mountains that had better maintained paths than that. I should have worn my trail shoes. By now I had decided to try to pace a tall guy wearing red in front of me and a woman in front of him. Then the inclines started. Ok, all were less than 100 ft but all were short and steep and on loose ground riddled with divets. I know I have maintained an average base lately but I don’t have it in me to run hills right now. However, I can power walk them faster than I can run them. So that is what I did. I lost red shirt here but was able to pass the woman who was struggling with the climb too. From there it was another small climb and out on a grassy section. Mile 2- 10:54. Ouch.

Mile 3 led us around another set of vines and through the actual vines. Have you ever tried to run between vines? It’s hard! Then a little down hill section that I flew down before heading back to the first set of vines. This is where I passed a woman in blue, caught up to red shirt and passed him too. I could have sworn we were going right and up that hill again but the kids waved us left. Wait, what? We should be close to done not running the opposite way of the start line!

I was also way too damn hot. Capri’s and long sleeves were way too much for high 50’s. I passed a guy in white shirt before rounding a corner and another little incline. Red shirt caught back up. No! I sped up. Another trek between two vines and it was up the last biggest hill and back towards the start. I briefly checked my watch because I knew I had to be close to 30. 32:something, ugh.Then I noticed the mileage. 3.2 miles and I still had more to go. What?! Rounded a corner to the start and a woman waved me on through another gate and up the main drive way and finally to the finish. Finaltime- around 34:4? It took me a moment to stop my Garmin. Finalmileage- 3.44. My mileage was echoed by other runners watches as well. According to my mother I was the second woman across the finish line.

So no, I did not hit the arbitrary time goal that I had set myself. But I felt good throughout the race, my lungs and my stomach behaved for the entire thing. And I passed people!!!! It has been so long since I have done that, it felt kind of awesome. Childish, I know, but still awesome. 🙂 The finish line was kind of gorgeous so we took enjoyed the scenery for a while before heading home. There was a man who ran the race with his chocolate lab so we let Zoey and her meet. Zoey was so excited to meet a dog that wanted to play and not attack her. The lab was small for the breed and super sweet. She put up with Zoey’s hyper level well. So it was a good morning all around! 🙂

Can you guess where we all got lost? The kids did a good job directing us which way to go. However there were no kids at the corner where we went on to the street. When we were supposed to stay inside the fence. Yeah. Oops. Poor listening skills aside, getting lost driving there as well, it was still a good race. I felt a little bad for the poor turn out. I hope they try it again next year. This time, I’ll wear my trail shoes. Oh and blogger fail, I didn’t go back down into the vineyard to get pictures of the course.

Ever get lost at a race? This makes my 3rd time.

Ever run a super tiny race?

A Week of Whine

Well, November is off to a roaring start. Please read that with the heavy sarcasm intended.

I started to feel a little under the weather last week so I took Saturday off. My stomach has decided to be a littlecrankier this week. I must have jinxed myself. Sunday’s planned 6 turned into a slower 3.5. However on the cooler side, I ran in pants and a short sleeve shirt. I couldn’t tell you the last time I did that, it was odd. But 3.5 is better than none, right?

And none is how the rest of this week has played out so far. I was looking forward to getting going on my training plan. Particularly now that I put my crazy plan out there in print. Since daylight savings means I will be treadmill running during the week I decided that Mondays would be rest days. The gym is always super busy on those days and since I would like to run trails every other weekend I figured Monday would make for a good rest day. Of course that’s the only day I felt good. Hindsight really is 20/20.

Tuesday and Wednesday were out due to my little bugger of a stomach. Today I was gung ho, the gym was going to happen. Then I got super dizzy at work, felt like I was running a fever and just felt wrong. I didn’t even want to eat, which is odd for me, because I love eating. I ended up going to lunch early and napped the entire time. Once off work, it was home bound for me. My poor gym bag has come into work everyday since Tuesday but never used. 😦 Well, I did pull out my long sleeve layer to use as a blanket while I napped but that doesn’t count.

A coworker thought this was amusing... and I had no running pictures. :( — A coworker thought this was amusing… and I had no running pictures. 😦

I am trying a whole mind over matter thing right now. Work has been crazy busy this week with the emphasis on crazy. I have never been one to believe in the “lunar effect” but the way people have been acting this week make me doubt my doubt. Driving home seeing the almost full moon yesterday was like a light bulb moment. Either that or I am grasping at straws. My boss is going on vacation so sick is not really an option. Oh and I have a 5k on Saturday. “Rested” legs are a good thing right? Oh well, at least it is for a good cause.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for listening to me whine. 🙂

Ok, how was your week?

Anyone racing this weekend?

Do you believe in the lunar effect?