Tag: half marathon

BibRave, Race Day, Recap, Run!

Salinas Valley Half Marathon Recap

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Salinas Valley Half Marathon 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!

The morning dawned dark and early.  With the race starting at the Soledad Mission, I was up early and heading north.  After getting a little turned around (all my fault- it was literally straight up the freeway) I arrived early enough to pick up my bib, debate what pack to use and use the port a potties.    I had woken to a very angry stomach and had to use the facilities a few times before the race.  Lovely.     I headed to the start line to the beat of an ipod and an upbeat announcer.   The weather had been predicted to start in the 70’s and be in the high 80’s by race end so I was very excited to see a heavy cloud cover that kept the temps about 10* cooler.


Miles 1-3- 10:01, 10:07, 11:04

The course started off nice and flat.  Which I appreciated for about 1/2 a mile.  My legs were already fussy so by mile 2, I was running in the dirt on the side of the road.   If there’s dirt, I will find it. 🙂    My shoelaces on my right shoe came untied in mile 2 as well.   I was moving surprisingly faster than I thought I was going to be though.    Mile 3 saw my first walk break as well as my shoelaces coming untied again.  What gives?!  I was enjoying the scenery.  We ran past crop fields of Cauliflower and Peas.   I was taking pictures while running.


Miles 4-6- 10:44, 11:01, 10:45

Here’s my main gripe- the first water station wasn’t until mile 3.3.    For a race in CA in August, I thought that was too far in.  I carried a larger bottle of BeachBody with me but I still like water at each station.   We started into a little rolling section of the course which was giving me slight downhills which was slightly helping my pace.  This was cool because the walk breaks were becoming more regular.   My legs were starting to get super stiff though.   My brain may have seen the road as slightly rolling but legs were telling me it was flat.  I needed a hill!


Miles 7-9-  12:47, 11:59, 10:48

A hill!  My legs were thankful, the rest of me not so much.  I walked all of it.  No shame, I knew this was going to be a slower race so there was no point in making my heart rate go crazy.  🙂   That climb started in 7 into 8 and partly into 9.  Honestly it wasn’t even a big one, I just took it easy.   The sun had also come out and temp instantly jumped 10*.  Yikes!  Water!   I was still taking in the sights of the course and enjoying the music stations along the course.  Then in mile 9, I got a little downhill to enjoy.


Miles 10-12- 11:58, 11:49, 11:36

The sun was shining in full force which made the scenery awesome but did no favors for my pace.   I started rocking out.   Literally.  We came upon a hill the race calls the “Beast of Eden” and I ran up it playing an air guitar the whole way.  It was also the only hill I ran up.  😛   I then sang and played an air guitar or drums for the next 3 miles.  I gave thumbs up to race photographers (which actually turned out to be a terrible picture).   There was a strawberry station at mile 10.2 and while they looked amazing, my stomach was starting to cramp up and I passed on them in fear of a repeat of the morning.

Mile 13- 11:42

Ok, I was done.  I felt like this mile took 20 minutes.  The finish line was never getting closer.   I was hot, thirsty and tired.   We ran past the buses to take us back to the start and man they looked tempting.  I was walking so much.  We turned left but still no finish line.   Just an uphill.  Waah.   I was walking towards the last little turn to the finish and the announcer called me out!  Seriously!    Just make it obvious when I start running.    Thanks dude.

Finish 2:28:44


Considering how I thought this race was going to go, hell yeah!  If the sun had stayed away, I think I may have been about 5 minutes speedier.    It warmed up really fast once the sun came out and I wish there had been another water station or 2.    I drank water at every station and had my bottle.  Once across the finish line, I downed a chocolate milk and a bottle of water.  Normally drinking that much that fast would have me feeling very ill but I felt fine.   Like I said, it was kind of warm those last miles.

Overall, I really enjoyed the race.   It was kind of nice to go into a race mostly relaxed and barely even glance at my watch.   I enjoyed the backroads, and the crop signs and Steinbeck were an added touch,  The only thing I would change is more water stations.

Half marathon #27 done.  😀

BibRave, Race Day, Run!

Running for Salinas

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Salinas Valley Half Marathon 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!

It’s race weekend!

Man, that one came up fast!  Well, actually, how is it August?  😛

It’s time to head on up to Salinas and meander my way through back roads enjoying the sites of crops, check another Mission off the list, and enjoy half marathon #27 in Steinbeck country.

My training has been ummm, a little absent this month.  With work going through a conversion, I tried but my running took a hit.   As did my sleeping.


So with that in mind, I have zero goals for this weekend other than to have a good time.  I plan to just go out there and enjoy the views and the course.   I know I will be slower than normal and that’s fine.  More time to enjoy the course, right?   I here there’s a great BBQ at the finish- I think I’ll finish just around the time a BBQ craving hits.  😛

I am hoping this odd heat wave with mugginess breaks though.   The weather stalking has commenced and right now it’s looking like a warm morning.   I will be drinking lots of water.

What are you do this weekend?

 

 

BibRave, Run!

Summer Racing

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Disclaimer: I received an entry into Salinas Valley Half Marathon 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!

Summer running- happened so fast, summer runnin’- had me an asthma attack.

Haha, couldn’t help myself.  😛

Every summer for the past few years, I’ve run a half marathon in July.  Always near the beach, sometimes on the beach.  Last year the heavy marine layer and my asthma conspired together to make me want to swear that off.  😛   Combine that with what is shaping up to be a crazy busy July and it seemed like a good idea to pass on running a half next month.

Instead, I’m taking it inland.   I’ll be running the Salinas Valley Half Marathon on August 5.  Salinas isn’t that far away so it will an early morning drive up to run the race before driving back home.  This is actually a race that has been on my radar for a few years.   The course is through vineyards and crop fields which is my favorite and it seems to be the perfect size crowd for me.    Last year’s race was actually canceled due to the smoke from the Soberanes fire, we were on fire for what seemed like forever last summer.   😢

Ok back to some fun stuff-

  13.1-mile course along the agricultural fields and vineyards of Salinas Valley

  • –       Begins at historic Soledad Mission, ends at Pessagno Winery

    –       Travels along River Road Wine Trail, passing several wineries and tasting rooms

    –       Post-race wine tasting, music, awards, bbq lunch and more

    –       This is in the heart of “Steinbeck County” where many of Nobel Prize winning author John Steinbeck set his novels and short stories.  (A humorous sign placed at one of the hills calls it “Beast of Eden;” a play on words to Steinbeck’s novel, East of Eden.)

    –       Crops are identified along the route

Beast of Eden- how awesomely punny is that?  Plus, it starts at a Mission.  Fun fact- California has 21 Spanish Missions.  I’ve been to 3- used to sing in the choir at one actually- so this will be #4 for me.    And it will be half #27.  😛

As for that beach race in July?  I may run the 10k.  We shall see.  😛

BibRave, Race Day, Recap, Run!

Rock n Roll San Diego 13.1 Recap

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Disclaimer: I received an entry into 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!

I love Rock n Roll.

This race made a liar out of me in so many ways.  Ok, maybe just changed my mind about some things.  😛

Going into this race, I wasn’t a fan of large crowded races, preferred rural views and hated humidity and flat made me cry.  But I had heard great things about the Rock n Roll races, San Diego in particular, and always wanted to run one but never made it work.   Until now.  And now?  Well I still hate humidity.


The odd thing was that going into this race I wasn’t stressed at all.  I wasn’t worried about the miles or how long it would take me.   I was mildly concerned about the humidity I knew I was coming but even at the Bibrave meet up I was just joking that I should probably run with my inhaler in my hand.    I still wasn’t sure what shoes I was going to wear and I was mostly irritated that I had to run with a portable charger because I didn’t think my phone was going to last the race.   I was also taking a race shuttle for the first time ever but I managed to sleep better than I did for my previous 2 races.

Race morning-

I woke up and knew that my food choices the day before were not going to sit well.   Well yay.  I dressed, decided on wearing the UltraBoostX, bibbed up and headed for the shuttle bus.    They were charter buses not school buses- sweet!  I checked the weather, saw 86% humidity and then tried not to think about it again.

Once at the starting line outside of Balboa Park I just followed the crowd.  We came upon about 6 port-a-potties and I was confused.  Ummm, 6?  For 30,000 runners?  As I got further in I found more scattered around in lines.  There were probably between 50-100 around.   I ended up parking myself near the solutions tent and just runner watching.  People were everywhere!  They even had a fitness warm up going on- I thought only small town races did that!  I met up with Mai and after hitting the baggage trucks we ended up sprinting across the grass to the We Run Social picture meet up by corral 3.    We just barely made it!


After meeting some more IG people in real life, listening to the National Anthem and ditching my top layer, I headed for my corral.   I was in corral 19.  Of 37.   They were releasing the corrals at a steady pace so once I found an opening in the fence I stopped and just waited for the corral to get to me.   I hopped in and pulled my phone out to take a pic only to realize it was almost dead.   Grrrr.    I plugged in my portable charger and turned off anything in the phone that was non essential.   The race announcers were doing a great job of keeping everyone pumped up and things were very organized.  I suddenly found myself at the very front of my corral on the start line and it was go time.

Miles 1-3 9:41, 10:22, 10:48

Haha, ok starting at the front apparently put wings on my feet.   Slow your roll, Slacker.  There was a guy on a megaphone shouting inspiration at us as we ran by.      It was crowded but I was ok with it, I had to dodge people sometimes but I knew I wasn’t breaking any records so it wasn’t a big deal.


The first music distraction was a DJ on a bridge or was it a band? I should have written notes!    The first aid station was well stocked with plenty of water and Gatorade and awesome volunteers.  The gloomy clouds and some of the buildings I was running by made me feel like I was more in San Francisco than San Diego but I was enjoying the sights.  And sounds- to save battery life- I hadn’t turned on my headphones.   There were college kids handing out beer around mile 2 as well.  There was a selfie/ picture station too but it may been in the next set of miles.


Miles 4-6 10:28, 10:31, 10:44

Oddly, I hadn’t really slowed down yet, I was walking the water stations but that was it.  The streets were still crowded, water stops were every 2 miles, live music was every few miles.  Around mile 4 we headed into more residential area but I notices that the cheering increased.  Yeah, we were near an aid station but this was too loud.   Turns out I was coming up on Harriet!  I passed her and told her she was awesome.    I mean, 94!   Geicko had a full on bar on mile 4.5.  You name it, they had it.  😛

My legs were feeling good and surprisingly so were my lungs.  I was beginning to feel optimistic.  Then at mile 5.3, my stomach cramped in a rather unpleasant way.  Oh come on!  I took a walk break and deep breaths to try and calm it down but I was a little ticked.   And I would be nauseous for the remainder of the race.


Miles 7-9 10:57, 10:35, 10:28

6 and 7 slowed me down while I tried to get myself under control.  We passed the relay exchange a little past 6 and once again I thought I really need to do a relay.   There was a man handing out tequila shots at one point saying that while we may think it was too early for tequila, he thought it was too early to be running so why not meet in the middle?   😛  We had entered Normal Heights and I thought it was an awesome name so I had to take a pic.    At mile 8.4 the marathoner’s split off from the pack and the crowd thinned up a bit.   I was still feeling nauseous but I was trying to ignore it, I wasn’t going to let my stomach win.  I was listening to the on course entertainment and truthfully some interesting conversations from the runners around me.    My legs were feeling ok but by my standards this course was flat and I knew I would eventually be sore if I didn’t get a hill somewhere.


Miles 10-11 10:58, 11:06

We were coming into Balboa Park and I could hear drums and see the big inflatable guitar guy and I knew I was almost to mile 10.    Yay!  Except, around mile 9.5 the battle my lungs had been fighting the humidity got harder.  And my lungs started to lose.  I had to walk again and use my inhaler.  Grrr,  Of course, just past mile 10 was the first real hill of the course and my lungs were being whiny.  I walked it.  I also had a moment where I thought I was going to lose my cookies and may have mentally swore off pizza.   😛  I turned on my music just to drown out my breathing.

Miles 12-13- 9:45, 11:14

So, yeah coming out of the park lead to a decent downhill and I flew.   I was still taking walk breaks due to the humidity and my lungs.  The last mile was a struggle.  I thought I had kissed a sub 2:20 goodbye and I was pissed.   I haven’t seen that in 2 years and that I had gotten so close, I almost cried.  But I sucked it up and kept going.   The crowds were cheering, runners were walking away with medals and I was still taking walk breaks.  Grrr.   The finish line was in sight and I decided enough was enough and just ran for it.

Finish- 2:19:56

I crossed the line and bent over wheezing.  Medical was on me in seconds.  Damn, you’re fast!   I felt embarrassed but said I was ok, I just needed a moment.    It wasn’t until I got a hold of myself and received my medal that I looked at my watch.  I did it!   It’s been so long since I’ve seen I’ve been below 2:20 even if it is by the skin of my teeth.


I made my way through the picture station and then the food goodies before attempting to find my mother.  It was crowded!   We met up and hung out for a bit before I realized I needed to return to the hotel.  So much for the finish line festival.  That nausea and cramping I had been fighting reared it’s head I was very glad that my hotel was 2 blocks from the finish.  I could hear Micheal Franti though and he sounded great.

Overall, this was an awesome race.  I would recommend it to anyone.    The course and the crowd support was great.  The aid stations were on point.  As was medical.  😛    Now I want to run another one.  😁

Run!, Slacker, Stomach, Training

Week 22- June?!?

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Upcoming Races:

  • Rock N Roll San Diego 13.1-June 4

Wait, it’s June?  And race week?  Someone really needs to slow the clock down.   Or I’ll take a Time Turner, wouldn’t it be nice if those were real?  😛

I suffered from vacation brain and just burn out this week.  Everything seemed so much harder than it should have been.  Seriously, I had troubles counting.  That’s not a good thing in my line of work.   I had to count things multiple times.    While I love 4 day work weeks, there is still 5 days worth of work to fit into those 4 days.  Years ago I had a coworker tell me she hated 3 day weekends because she spent all of Monday stressing about the increased workload on Tuesday.   I won’t complain about 3 days off but I am beginning to see her point.


I mentioned in my last post that I may have ordered myself a new Garmin.  It’s here!!  It’s so pretty, now I am just trying to figure out the bells and whistles.


Monday- 2.74 miles  Ugly.  I decide to try the Roga’s again and once again it was a bad idea.  I eventually gave up attempting to run and just walked it back to my house.  It felt a waste of the extra time off work.      I did take the dog out for a short walk later but it was super short and slow.

Tuesday- Rest With work typically being crazy busy and now being down a person ( my coworker had the baby!) I didn’t even try to run.  I thought about riding the bike when I got home but thinking is as far as it got.

Wednesday- Rest  Oh hey, I have a race in 4 days.   I started to do the math and realized that if ran today and Thursday like planned, I would have more miles than previous weeks.   That didn’t seem like the best idea.  Granted my miles have been so low that a taper seems silly but it still didn’t seem smart to suddenly increase them on race week.    Then my brother decided to take the family to dinner so I figured it all worked out, right?


Thursday- 3.22 miles   Ok dinner was a bad idea, it made me sick.  At first I thought it was just my stomach being an asshat but I later found out that my dad was kind of sick too and we ate the same thing.   There was a point I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to run at all.  Yet, I changed and headed for home town.  Once I got there I realized it was 85 degrees and I had somehow forgotten a water bottle.  Lovely.  Then somehow this run kicked ass.   I decided to keep it shorter and slower than planned due to lack of hydration and heat and managed to stick to one of those. 😛   I ended up running my fastest 5K in the last 6 months.  Still slow as I made sure to take walk breaks every 2 minutes but my legs felt great!   Where did that come from?!

Friday- Rest Total vacation brain, stress ball.  I was trying to get everything done so no one had to worry about anything while I was gone and I was stressing out.  I love vacations but the type A in me hates not being there.

📷:azsungoddess

Saturday- Road trip!!  Oh good lord, it took 7 hours to get to San Diego.   Traffic, you suck.  Once we were finally there we headed straight for the Convention Center and the Expo.  Bib pickup and shirt pick up was a cinch then it was into the crowd.  I figured we were so late most people would have already picked up their stuff…nope!  People everywhere!   I was able to meet up with Mai of Once Upon A Run and Chelsea of The Dancing Runner, which was awesome!  Then it was of to Seaport Village for a Bibrave Pro meetup with Mai and Emily of azSunGoddess.   


 Finally we checked into our hotel- literally across the street from the finish line festival- before heading out for some food.    I tried to go sleep early as I knew I had a really early wake up call but I was realizing that you really could eat too much pizza.  Food and I did not get along this week.  😭

Sunday- Rock n Roll San Diego 13.1  Recap to come.  But for the first time, I took a race shuttle to the start.  Look at me being all runner like.  😛

19.2 miles for the week.  I meant to ride the bike but it just never happened.  I wasn’t too busy I just didn’t make it a priority.  Next week.

Speaking of next week, I have the week off!! Woo hoo!  I have so many things I need and should get done but I also kind of want to spend a day or 2 doing nothing.  Which one will win?

How was your week?

Do anything fun this weekend?

What do you do on Stay-cations?