It seems like this is the ultimate race weekend. Chicago, Long Beach, Brooklyn, Hartford, Steamtown, Tyler Rose- and those are just the ones I know of from reading your blogs. I am sure there are numerous more. Congratulations to everyone who ran today and good luck to everyone racing tomorrow!
Then there’s City to the Sea. I’ve run this race twice before, both times were a PR. A pretty big PR each time- around 10 minutes each time. My current half marathon PR was set at City to the Sea in 2013- 2:05:53. No pressure, right?
PR smiles..and trying to hide my shaking legs-2013
Being real though, I am not in PR shape. And then there’s the course. I aim to positive split this course. Intentionally.
That was my plan 2 years ago and it worked. However this year also brings a change in course. The race starts in SLO and ends in Pismo- 2 towns over. The former course had you running down the main drag, under the freeway, up a frontage road then over the freeway, up a frontage road then under the freeway again before heading up another main drag. And roads weren’t closed. This year the course deviates after mile 5. The previous hill towards the end grew in size.
At the start 2012
I didn’t run this race last year due some health issues so I am looking forward to this year. That said, I am going in with minimal goals. They are as follows-
Goal A– No pressure, have fun running what was one of my favorites races. Enjoy the new scenery. Part of the course covers the Bob Jones trail. I’m told it’s a lovely paved trail with great scenery in a nearby beach town but I’ve never run it. Now I get to with a couple thousand runner friends. 😃
Goal B- Sub 2:10 This should be doable. Maybe not comfortable but doable. That said, you never know how race day will go. I think my biggest obstacle with this is new medication I started a week ago that turns me into a walking zombie. If that happens, then I will just be the fastest walking zombie ever. Why is there not a zombie emoji?!!?!
Goal C- Sub 2:05- New PR Highly unlikely but stranger things have happened. I think every starting line brings visions of a PR. Which is fine. I set myself a goal breaking 2:00 someday and every run and every race will bring me closer to that. Even if it takes a little longer. 😏
Did I mention that SLO hit 105* on Friday? Go home weather, you’re drunk. I am suddenly looking forward to the 7AM start time. Well sort of. I am a slacker after all.
Who raced/ races this weekend?
Ever meet a social media friend in real life?
Do you have fall weather?Seriously jealous right now.
This was my 9th year participating in the HOB Fun Run. It was my 8th time volunteering and my 6th time running. Breaking it down even further- this would be my 6th time running the 5K and 3rd time running the 10K. Also the 3rd time running both races. As much fun as I have at this race, it’s also one of the most stressful. So many people I know! It kind of freaks me out. Throw in team shirts and you can’t even blend in anymore. 🙂
The Scene-
The race starts and ends downtown. I could walk to the start if I wanted to. I have yet to do that though. The course is a loop around the city park and down the main drag. The 10K is 2 loops and the 5K is one. It’s one of the few races I’ve ever run that is a completely closed course. A kids 1/2 mile race, a 75 yard dash and a diaper dash are also offered. It’s a race known for being flat, fast and still offers prize money. The baby who wins the diaper dash wins a washer and dryer.
The 10K started at 8, so I arrived a little before 7:45. I knew we were attempting a group photo with whoever was there before the 10k. C and C-hub were there- race buddies!!! I haven’t run a race with them since last year’s fun run. I miss my buddies. 😞 There were 6 of us for the first shots. After the standard shot, the race photographer decided he wanted one of the back of our shirts. It was the most awkward picture ever. It’s a total butt shot and I was thankful I was wearing a skirt. 😏 The plan was to race the 10K and just have fun running the 5k. I was still feeling my running funk so I had very basic goals for the 10K-
A- Sub 55- PR- I knew it wasn’t happening but I could dream right?
B- Sub 60
C- Better than last year’s blow up
10K- The one where I was beat by a 30lb dog.
30 seconds to the start I realized I left my water in my bag with my bib change for the 5k. Crap! C rocks, I texted her and she grabbed it and tossed it my way when I ran past. I felt like I started out too fast but I really didn’t. However it was my fastest mile of the race. My stupid headphones refused to play and then wouldn’t stay in my ears so I ran the first loop with them wrapped in my hand. I stayed steady and tried to increase my turn over but it wasn’t happening. I rounded the corner to finish lap 1 and was able to toss my headphones to C-hub. I also saw my time at the 5K mark- 28:something- ouch. Miles 1-3: 9:08, 9:23, 9:23
I tried to pick it up on the second loop but I just couldn’t find another gear. I never felt like I was running hard but I didn’t feel like I could run any faster either. It was odd but I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be a banner day so I was ok with how I was running. Seeing a less than 30lb dog with little legs outrun me was a little disheartening though. 😃 Seriously, the dog ran the entire 10K with his owner and didn’t even seem phased. Miles 3-6: 9:13, 9:40, 9:31
Finish- 58:54
Goal B successfully accomplished. Time for a quick bib change and the main group shot before the 5K.
C, C-hub and their daughter E were planning on run/ walking the 5K and I was going to join them. C and E bolted from the starting line leaving C-hub and I in the dust. We eventually caught up around .5 mile in when E need a walk break. I could tell C just wanted to bolt so I suggested she and C-hub dash off and E and I would follow along behind. I didn’t have to twist her arm. 😄
It was E’s first race so I let her set the pace. We ran when she wanted to and walked when she needed. There are 3 water stations along the course and you pass 2 of them twice so that means there are 5 water points for a 5K. This was needed as it was very warm morning. I made sure that E got water at each stop. At the second stop, I hung on to my water cup for some reason. That station didn’t have a trash can and I didn’t want to toss onto the clean street so I hung onto it. I’ve never done that before but it turned out to be a good thing. As we were coming up on the third water station I saw that no on was manning it anymore. Where did they go? There were about 100 runners behind us! Once at the table, I realized there were no cups but there was still water in the 5 gallon jugs. Good thing I held onto my cup! I had E hold the cup while I hefted the water. We were able to get water this way here and on the way back. We continued run/ walking until 1 block before the finish and then it was a sprint to the end. E hauled ass and finished strong! Woo hoo!
Finish- E-37:37/ Me- 37:39
We got our medals and headed for water. We also met back up with C and C-hub. They finished just over 30 minutes. Awesome! We chatted a bit while waiting for the kids races. Seriously the kids are so stinking cute when they run. Some of them were so enthusiastic they were literally kicking themselves in the butt. The 75 yard dash was broken into 3 heats since there were so many kids. Unfortunately I had to leave before I could see the diaper dash. 😦
Overall, it was a fun morning and a great way to see a bunch of people I don’t see on a regular basis. I miss my running buddies, hopefully it’s not another year until we race together again. 😃 Water station 3 snafu aside, it was a great race, and always runs smoothly. I’m looking forward to next year.
June come back!! It should not be July right now. It just can’t be. I was in the doctor’s office yesterday and it boggled my mind that my 6 month follow-up was January…2016. Umm, wait, what? Then someone made it worse by saying that Christmas is now only 5 months away. Slow down!!!
While June felt more consistent than May, the overall mileage doesn’t show much of an improvement. I guess I embraced my Slacker-ness in May and June.
So yeah, more miles than May but just barely. Also disappointing because I thought I had 65 miles. I am a little neurotic on the way that I track my miles with my Garmin, and Nike+ and SmashRun. Nike+ had me at 65 on June 30 and I had no reason to doubt it. Until I uploaded my miles to SmashRun last night and it had me at 59.4. What? I pull up Garmin Connect and it agreed with Smash. Everything syncs from my Garmin so I was confused and started double checking all my runs. One uploaded twice to Nike and I didn’t catch it. Grrrr.
Oh and June saw my 2 year Blog-versary!
Mid Year Check In
Already!? Ok, brief goal recap. For 2015, I wanted to –
Run 1000 miles– Hmmm, at the end of June, I was at 423 miles. Only about 80 miles short of where I needed to be. I don’t want to give up on this goal but I would have to average 97 miles a month for the rest of year to hit 1000. Honestly, I don’t know if I can do that. Would I love to- hell yes, but I need to be smart about what I can accomplish.
Break 2:00 in a half- I managed a 2:06:08 at Wine Country which was thisclose to my PR. I was optimistic for SLO but between my stomach issues and my fall, that was off the table. Which is fine because I am still damn proud of how I managed to finish that race. 🙂 Even though I am currently training to break 2 in October, I still just want to have fun with running.
Non-Running- Read 15 books- I was behind on this until yesterday. 🙂 I started a book in the waiting room of my doctor’s office and since I waited a while, I got through 100 pages. I had intended for this post to go up yesterday but when I sat down to type, I just wanted to read. So I finished that book. It was book 2 of 3 so I decided to just start the third. Then I finished that one. Yeah it was a late night. So 7 books finished so far. Man, I remember when that number would have been much bigger.
Blog Redesign– partially done. I am still working out a few kinks. And I still can’t figure out Dropbox, ugh.
So moving forward? Right now my goals are to keep running, reading and living! Oh and did I mention I am running (not racing) a half marathon in 10 days?! On my birthday. 🙂
Did you make goals for 2015/ June? How are you doing so far?
Read any good books lately? I need a new one now. 🙂
And just like that, May is moving on. In one way I am not ready for the year to be halfway over (almost) but I am ready for June. A new month and a clean slate. 🙂 So without further ado, here’s May-
My SmashRun tells me that I ran 12 days and rested on 19. Hmm, a little uneven. So May was not my best month but I’ve already alluded to that on numerous posts so let’s just move on. 🙂 I made it out for 3 runs last week, so I am holding consistent there at least. Wednesday was a bit sad and I only ran 2.25 miles. My stomach was a big butt head at the beginning of last week so I got a late start. I wasted a perfectly good non work day on Monday by not running. I love running on holidays but I just wasn’t up to it. Thursday, I got out for a decent 4 miles followed by a .6 mile cool down. While the pace was decent, it felt hard. That could have been partly due the temperature warm up we had late this week. While the mid 70’s felt awesome, it’s been over a month since I ran in those temps. But I was so glad to warm, I didn’t even mind that it felt hard. 🙂Then Saturday’s run was in the mid 80’s. It started as a slow run, turned into a jog and then became a walk. I had planned on doing the usual run/ walk I sometimes do with my mother but 2.5 miles in I was just walking with her. It was warm and my left leg was feeling off so I decided that walking was just fine. Truthfully, my left foot and leg have felt a little off since I tried to break in those Inspires. Hmmm, I am telling myself that it is mostly in my head and just to take it easy. I still have 2 weeks before I start training for my fall half’s, so this is the best time to figure out what is making it cranky.
I feel like I should have run more on Saturday as I ate way too much movie popcorn that night. We went and saw San Andreas. I admit that I have an odd fascination for earthquakes. One of my favorite subjects in college was Geology and I briefly considered taking it further. The movie was essentially a Syfy movie but since it had the Rock, it made it to the big screen. I thought it was pretty good. My mom and S laughed multiple times throughout it though. I have to admit it got a little surreal when we decided to walk across the park after the movie to get some frozen yogurt. Part of downtown was leveled by an earthquake 12 years ago and seeing the new buildings after the leaving the movie brought a lot of that back. The town suffered heavy damage and loss and it took a long time to rebuild. It brought reality back into some of the far fetched scenes in the movie.
I planned on getting in a few miles today but ended up taking a nap instead. I really got to stop doing that! 🙂 But I did do a bit of unplanned shopping and picked up some new shirts to run in. I’ve started running in my Lululemon shorts and they are a little more form-fitting than my other stuff. Apparently I feel the need to compensate with looser shirts. 🙂 Plus, I’ve worn the same shirt just in various colors for the past 2 years, it’s time to branch out. Just like I decided that saving the Lulu for a special day was kind of silly, they are super comfy.
So, onto June and getting back on track! I already know I am not running tomorrow but I am doing something running related. But more on that later. 🙂 Oh and in May I was nominated for the One Lovely Blog Award by MostlyHealthyLiving so that will be my next post. 🙂 Thank you! You should go check her out!
I wish that my miles were higher but with the dietary changes during the month, I am still pretty happy with that number. The first couple of weeks were a little rough. A full post on what changes I made… or was supposed to make will be up this weekend. I still feel proud of how I handled everything thrown at me during me SLO. I feel like using an actual training plan and following through 85% of the time gave me the confidence I needed in myself. The last half of last year kind of kicked my pride and confidence in the gut. I know I can and will break 2 and when it happens, it happens. 🙂 Plus those hills at SLO didn’t seem very big this year. 🙂
My body seems confused this week. SLO was my last big race for a while and though it’s only been a few days, I feel a little lost. I am sure the Slacker in me will kick in sooner or later and embrace the laziness but this week I just wanted to run. Monday, I was sore from the fall. My legs felt great after the race but my knees hurt and I suddenly knew how hard I had landed on my right shoulder so I rested. I had Monday and Tuesday off and I indulged by being lazy. On Tuesday, I set out for a slow recovery jog. Ha ha! 3.5 miles in 47:51. It was in the high 80’s and I loved it. I wore my new Wave Inspires since I am still trying to break them in. I just can’t, I’ve never met a pair of Mizuno’s that I didn’t like but these are leaning towards hate. They still feel huge and I can feel the insole on the inside of my right foot. I’ve tried moving it around but no luck so far. A coworker described it perfectly- it’s like when you are wearing boots and short socks and your sock keeps slipping down inside the shoe. I finally just gave up and walked most of it. I figured I didn’t make it through 4 months of training and 5 races to hurt myself on a short recovery jog. I am planning on trying the shoes one more time but I am afraid that we may have to break up. 😦
Today’s run was a farce. My head is in the game but my body is not. I did one lap of the lake. One lap. 1.2 miles. And the Garmin registered it short so it doesn’t even show as that long. My mother called part way through the lap asking if I wanted to meet her and a tennis player at Chipotle. It didn’t take too much convincing. So, that brought me to 79.3 miles for the month. Yes, a tiny part of me considered running up and down my driveway to hit 80 but I didn’t.
On to May. I have decided to pass on one of the 10k’s but I would like to up my training. I want to bring my base mileage up so that I when I start training for fall races, I feel stronger. Also with temps hitting the 90’s again, I would like to transition to running 3x a week after work and a long run on the weekends. That would mean a little less heat and sun exposure, plus an entire weekend day off. That sounds kind of nice. 🙂 Or who knows, this could be the start of me transitioning to running 5x a week. Ok, let’s not get that crazy yet… I’m still a Slacker. I also want to get back out on the trails, I miss them. I should also add cross training. Or at least try.
Oh and I finally figured out what to do with my medals!! –Non running goals for May are a little up in the air. I would like to read more, and hang out with friends. There are some movie nights coming up too. I need to focus on the diet a little more as well. And I really need to start that project for the craft swap I signed up for. Oops!! Running may also turn into stress relief because work is about get insane for a month or two.
How was your April? Goals/ plans for May?
Anyone racing this weekend?
Ever been unable to break in a pair of shoes? Any suggestions?
Slacker Runner 