Tag: race day

2015 Bands on the Run 10K- Recap

Saturday I ran the third annual Bands on the Run 10k. This race did nothing to disabuse me of the notion that 10K’s are hard. Maybe reinforced it; that said it was a fun race.I managed to run away from work for a few minutes on Friday afternoon for packet pickup. For a small local race, they are very organized. I was impressed last year and this year was more of the same. Last year, I though it was really cool that the volunteer shirts all said “I’m with the band” instead of just the usual “volunteer”. So this year I was very excited to see that the race shirts said “I ran with the band” on the back. I also like that for a smaller race, only in their 3rd year, they design their own bibs. There’s nothing wrong with the Road ID ones, I just like the extra touch that the personalized bibs gives. The race is a fundraiser for the high school music department. Start and finish are the high school track and a band performs through out race morning. They also have a bag drop table which for a small race is virtually unheard of.

The weather here has been very odd for May and with the race being predominantly on the beach, I knew it was likely to be cold, windy and more humid than I would like. I wore pants, a tank and a long sleeve layer for the race and I was still cold. My 25K in January was run in shorts and a tank and it hit 80. Get it together, California! Race start for the 10K and half marathon was 9:00 with the 5K starting at 9:15. Some of the local races like to have a warm up/ fitness routine before them. This was like a full on Zumba class. I don’t think I could pull off those moves on a normal day let alone right before a race!! I just observed. 🙂 Following the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem, we headed to the start line. Having been so far back in the pack at my last 2 races, I made sure to move up to the front this time. I had placed 2nd in my Age Group in 2014 but the crowd looked bigger this year and I felt out of shape so I was just aiming for a steady race. After some confusion about the starting horn, we were off!

The course is very scenic for this race. It starts on the high school track before heading through the parking lot to a paved walking path before turning in the Cypress Tunnel. The tunnel is a dirt trail that comes out a street before turning right and heading across the dunes and down to the shoreline. That’s all in the first 1.2 miles. From there to mile 3.1 you run along the water then turn around to go back the way you came. It’s one of the few out and back races I like. A half mile in, I felt like I was huffing and puffing already and that wasn’t a good sign. I had used my inhaler 3 times over the course of the morning, so I thought that would help. Then I checked my pace- 8:15. Oh yeah, that explains it. Oops! I knew I was hitting a dune sand patch – in the tunnel- and would slow down so I just kept running. Then we hit 20-30 yards of sand and we all slowed. The upside though is that this is where the drum line was and it’s kind of awesome running past a drum line. 🙂

I lied to myself after last years’ race. I really believed there was only about 20 yards of soft, dune sand total through out the race. Yeah, no. There was 20-30 yards in the tunnel and then a freakin’ football field worth to get to the water line. I tried to run it, but knew walking was more efficient. Now that my pace had been reigned in, I was breathing much better too. 🙂 From there I just kept a steady pace to the turn around and back. There were hula dancers at the right before the water line and 2 guitar players along the beach providing the on course entertainment. Once turning around, I notice that the clouds, the beach, the rock and the stacks at the old plant looked kind of awesome but I wouldn’t let myself stop to take a picture. Particularly when I had to pause to tie my shoe that had come undone. I was beginning think I had a good shot at breaking an hour and didn’t want to miss it. I had forgotten how hard beach running is but I thought I would be close.

I finally made it back to the hula dancers and had that dang football field of sand to deal with again. I tried running it once more but my calves and quads were feeling the burn. So walking again. A woman came running up next to me and mentioned that I was zig-zagging. Oops, but I was just trying to get through it. We paced each other for the remainder of the dunes discussing how much we hate sand. Once through that, I felt exhausted and all I wanted to do was walk but I could hear the drums so I pushed on. Past the drum line again, through the tunnel one more time and back into the parking lot towards the track. I knew I might just miss an hour. Once hitting the track, I tried to push it but I felt like I had nothing left. Rounding the last corner, I could see the clock and knew I just had to hang on. Finish- 59:37. This was one of those cross the finish line gasping kind of races. Some of the pictures my mother took are hilarious, I look beat, like I am going to fall over. I stretched a bit and then began the process of getting the 5+ pounds of sand out of my shoes. I was very happy that I finished under an hour. It was about the only real goal I had for this race. I also realized just how tough this course is, maybe I hadn’t phoned it in last year after all. I felt like I was passed by more than a few people on the way out and only managed to pass a few on the way back so I figured an age group place was unlikely. I wanted to check my finishing time though, so once we figured out where the board was this year, we headed over. Times hadn’t been updated yet so we waited a short moment while a volunteer hung new pages. At which point I laughed out loud. I’d finished 1st in my age group. How? Sweet! Last year, my only complaint about the race was the lack of communication about how the awards were going to happen. Even when they did start, things were announced in an order I still don’t understand. This year, there was little fan fare- you just walked over to the awards table, gave them your name and they handed you your ribbon. So much smoother than last year. And since I was cold, the ease of it was awesome.

Overall, I am still impressed with this race. It is very organized and the volunteers are great. The course is tough but pretty and I look forward to running it next year. When it is sunny and hopefully a little warmer. 🙂

Do you like smaller races? Or larger ones?

Ever run a race with a drum line?

2015 SLO Marathon Recap

I ain’t even mad, bro.😀. Actually my new motto might be “just hang on”. But before we get into that, let’s talk about the expo real quick.

The Expo-

Expo haul- love the ambassador shirts this year!

Saturday dawned rainy and windy. Those running the 5k ran in the rain. The rain had cleared by the time I arrived to pick up my packet and attend the ambassador meet and greet. Picking up my packet was super easy and I wandered around the expo before heading out to the meet. I was there less than 10 minutes before I spent money at the Lorna Jane booth. Oops, but since that was the only thing I bought, I think I showed restraint!

raceSLO Ambassadors!!

The meet up was outside and it was so damn windy, I thought we were going to blow away. It was nice catching up with the repeat ambassadors from last year and meeting the new ones. A few of them I had been trying to meet since the Ventura half. It was so windy and cold that after chatting, getting our shirts and taking some pics, we all scattered to do our own thing. I headed home to rest a bit and figure out food. I had been having a mental struggle all week, going back and forth between following my new diet rules or following conventional running wisdom. Spoiler- I chose wrong.

The Race-

Sunday was supposed to dawn cold and windy, so I tried to prepare for that. I didn’t feel like I got enough sleep and my stomach was cranky but neither of those are new things on race morning so I didn’t pay too much attention. My mom was dropping me off so I didn’t have to catch the 4am bus to the start. I got to the start with 15 minutes to spare so I figured I would hit the port-a-potty line just to be sure. The lines were huge. By the time I got out of there, they had moved the corrals up to the start line, oops.

Miles 1-5- 9:25, 9:14, 9:20, 9:36, 8:31

The whistle blew and we were off- sort of. I ended up starting behind the 2:45 pacer. Rutro. My fault but the first mile and a half were spent bobbing and weaving. I dropped the 2:45, 2:30, and 2:15 pace groups when I decided I just needed to run my own race and not worry about catching the 2:00 pace group. In one way it was freeing not having to worry about keeping them in sight. It meant I had to pace myself and while I knew breaking 2:00 was unlikely, I was feeling strong and thought I could PR- sub 2:05.

We hit the first of the long hills and I still felt good going up. Last year at this time I was already sucking air and tiring out. Thanks to all the weaving I did at the start, my Garmin and the mile markers didn’t match so I just checked my total time at each of the course markers. I was feeling pretty good as we the flat section before turning up another long climb.

Miles 6-8- 9:36, 11:25, 9:29

About a 1/4 mile into 6, my stomach started to make itself known. I began to wonder if I was going to have an issue. But wasn’t even the biggest thing to happen that mile. Maybe it’s because I was focused intently on telling myself I was fine and not paying attention to much else, but the next thing I knew, I was airborne.

It’s still kind of blur but I remember hitting the ground and rolling. My water bottle ended up about 10 feet down the course. WTF?! About 5 different runners stopped their race to come help me. Some helped me up while one chased down my bottle. A bike medic was there in seconds. I was kind of in shock/ denial, so I honestly don’t remember if I thanked all of them. I posted a big shout out to them on my Facebook page but I feel bad if I didn’t say it right then. 😔 I assured the medic I was ok and kept running. It was few yards later that it all set in and then I was trying to talk myself out of hyperventilating myself into an asthma attack.

Eventually I calmed down and I was still on track to PR. Halfway through mile 6, my stomach let me know that I needed a bathroom and I needed it now. There were no bathrooms at that point. I had to start walking because it was either walk or embarrass myself. I walked the rest of 7 just taking deep breaths. I felt a little better by the turn around so I picked up the pace. I said goodbye to the PR hope but knew I could still beat last years course time even with the fall and the walking. At mile 8, I was 4 minutes ahead of a last year.

Miles 9-11- 13:01, 9:48, 9:54

Around 8.5, my stomach reared again. I was near an aid station so I looked for bathrooms. I finally found them off to side and back away and bolted for them. Not sure if I looked urgent or if he did this the whole race but there was a volunteer who directed me to which port-a-potty was open. Thank you!

After that snafu, I was back running but had slowed a bit. Shockingly enough I was still on track to beat last year’s time. I just had to stay under a 10:00 pace the last few miles. My legs felt strong; bruised and bleeding but strong. My mental game still felt on point as well. Despite the morning so far, I wasn’t defeated and I wasn’t giving up. We had a nice decline portion before we went from the roads to the railroad trail. I knew there was the suspension bridge and a few streets left before the finish line and I was still hopeful.

Miles 12-13.1- 10:37, 12:49, 2:17

Mile 12 slowed some towards the end thanks to my stomach again but I thought if I could a 9:00 for the last mile and sprint the .1, I could still pull this off. I shouldn’t have gotten cocky. My stomach threw a fit in the last mile. Why are there no bathrooms at mile 12.5?! Ha! There were 2 times I had to get myself completely off the road, out of the way and just stand still, focusing on deep breathing and calming my stomach. My fastest pace was now a jog but I was mostly walking.

It felt like more than 100 people passed me in that last mile. Including the 2:15 pace group. The last .25 mile is a paved path that goes around the pavilion at the Madonna Inn and I had been looking forward to sprinting it. I walked 90% of it before jogging across the finish line. Half marathon#12 done.

Finish- 2:15:07

Where I wanted to sprint

Once I crossed the finish line and got my medal- which I feel like I fought for!- I was looking for a bathroom. I had wanted a finishers picture but the line had about 50 people in it and that was just not going to happen. I also should have stopped at the medical tent but I had other priorities. Plus, my arm warmers had done a pretty good job of drying the blood.

My mother found me fairly quickly and we headed for the back of the pavilion where the port-a-potties and UPS trucks (bag check) were. After that, I made it as far as the grass by the trucks and just tried to calm my rolling stomach. I wanted to try to find some of the ambassadors and see how they did but was just not up to moving. I had eaten nothing and had drank very little throughout the race as I knew my stomach was just not up to it. I let myself have a bit of the chocolate strawberry protein smoothie that Jamba Juice made for the finishers. It tasted like a Frosty. 🙂 We ended up leaving not long after that, I was feeling rough again and couldn’t handle another port-a-potty, so we headed to the McDonald’s down the street. Real bathrooms and I got an ice-cold Diet Coke. Oh the magical healing properties. 🙂

Like I said at the beginning, I am not mad or even sad. There were quite a few times throughout the race where I could have said screw it and bailed or phoned it in (see Ventura) but I knew I was stronger than that. My legs were feeling fresh, tumble not withstanding, my head was in the game and I was determined. I think that’s one thing that came out of my McMillan training plan that I wasn’t anticipating- the confidence. I knew I could I do it, and I still honestly believe that if it hadn’t been for my stupid stomach, I would have PR’d, hills, fall, headwind and all. Yes, the wind had picked up and was pretty bad but by that point it was the least of my concerns. 🙂 So with everything that race morning threw at me, I am damn proud of that 2:15.I love this race. I love the course and the crowds. The expo is still my favorite and the volunteers and staff are amazing. Seriously, I think the bike medic was there before I stopped rolling. I am already looking forward to next year.

Ever fallen while running? This was my first time.

What race/ run are you really proud of?

Wine Country Half- Recap

Otherwise known as the tale of 8 seconds.

I registered for Wine Country knowing that it might not be the best idea given my recent hamstring issues. But, it being the very first half marathon I ran, I really do love this race, hills and all. I wanted to run it partially because of that and partially because it was year number 5 for me and you can’t break that streak right? That said, I was going into it with low expectations. I had a rough week with troubles sleeping. I pushed too hard on Thursday’s run and was feeling it in left leg. Plus the weather was predicted to be hot and cloudy. I was ok with the hot forecast but not so much with the cloudy. Clouds = moisture = asthma. So, very low expectations. Which I was ok with as I have been having some thought battles with myself while running lately. But more on that next time.

Race swag

She claimed it.

Saturday- So not a restful day before the race. I worked in the morning and had a full afternoon of errands and tire rotations. Lunch was mostly skipped due to that- smoothie for the win! In fact I ate less on Friday and Saturday then I have in weeks, let alone leading up to a race. I tried to catch part of the tennis team’s match but it was seriously over 90 and there was no shade at the courts so I only lasted 20 minutes. I picked up my bib and swag and did manage to drive the course. Yes, I know it well but I wanted to make sure there were no surprises. The plan was to update my playlist and go to bed early that night. Ha! I have been having troubles with my phone and it crapped out on me. It took me 2 hours to get it running again and by then it was late. So no new playlist. I ran to a mix of Fall Out Boy, Set It Off and Papa Roach.

Race morning came all to soon. Since it was so close, I slept as long as possible before heading out. The lane to the grass lot where we park always backs up so I briefly thought about parking in a little lot about 1/4 of mile from the start line. I figured that wouldn’t be a horrible warm up but nah. I parked in the grass lot and wound up a stones throw from the start line. Literally, I could have thrown a rock and hit it. I ate nothing prior to the race and when I could have gotten out and warmed up a bit I stayed in my warm car. The morning had dawned a little cooler than expected. I was just feeling meh. It was kind of nice not being nervous. 🙂 While I had low expectations, I had told my mother I was aiming for 2:15, but really thought it would be more like 2:20. The plan was to text her at mile 10. I headed to the start about 3 minutes til. I met up with H real quick to say hi and then we were off!

Smiles at the end. :) — Smiles at the end. 🙂

Miles 1-3- 9:36, 9:13, 9:15

And I went out of the gate too fast, what else is new? There is fairly large hill at the end of this race so I always intentionally positive split this race. A slightly fast start is one thing but this was ridiculous. There was no way I was maintaining that. Annoyingly enough, I had to stop and tie my shoe during mile 1. Ugh. The hills start in mile 2. I kept telling myself to slow down but my legs would just not listen. I even went so far as to try and bottleneck myself. I tried to intentionally run behind groups of people in an effort to slow down. No luck, but first hill done.

Miles 4-6- 9:19, 9:27, 9:28

Still too fast. I caught up to H around mile 3, it was a nice little check in. I admitted that I was going way too fast for my current fitness but had decided to just go with it. I figured I would hang on as long as I could but knew I was probably going to hit the wall hard at some point. But I was enjoying the views, the vineyards and the clouds and the morning sun and was having fun so I decided to go with it. My breathing was on point, so I figured why not? Just past mile 4, we turn onto the airport road. The road is Trashed. It makes the pic I posted the other day look like a walk in the park. After running this race so many times, I had a plan. I hopped onto the dirt shoulder and ran there for the next 3 miles. It was shale and slightly uneven but it was awesome. I lost H around mile 5. Miles 7-9- 9:25, 9:05, 9:03

Miles 6-9 are a series of rolling hills, I guess all my hills are finally paying off. Where the heck did those splits come from?! I was still feeling good but lost all math computing skills. I hit mile 8 at 1:15. Looking at my watch, I quickly did the math and knew that if I maintained a 10 minute pace I would hit the finish line around 2:07. However that didn’t take into account the big hill at the end so my math told me there was no way I was PR’ing or beating last year’s course time. I was really ok with that. I felt great and was having fun running and rocking out to music and that was the point. Do you see the problem with my math?

Just one of the on course spectators. (taken Saturday)

Miles 10-12- 9:44, 10:09, 9:34

Oh hello wall, nice of you to join me. My breathing had gone from nice and easy to labored. My left leg was feeling tighter as well. Both in my hamstring and my IT band. I took a walk break, texted my mother, and used my inhaler and then pushed on. I also used that walk break to restart a particular song. I have developed a weird fascination with Why Worry by Set It Off, I deliberately started the race with it and used that break to start it over. Guess it helped because look at mile 12.

Mile 13- 11:01

Damn hill. I walk this hill every year. If my math is right (ha!) the hill has an elevation grade of 10+%. It kicks my ass just walking. My heart rate usually increases so I end up walking more at the top too. But I know that going in so seeing an 11 minute split was fine by me. A girl ran past me on the way up, telling me not to give up and just keep running. Nope, I knew what I was doing worked for me. She started walking about 10 feet later. See, the hill is just a beast. I started running again but I was tired and it was so much harder than before. I pushed on though because I was so close to the finish. I really should have paid more attention to my watch. It didn’t occur to me until I was crossing the line what time it was. I crossed the finish line at 2:06:05.

Are you FREAKIN’ kidding me?! My PR is 2:05:57. 8 seconds. 8 seconds.

This race gives you a medal and a wine glass and a bottle of water at the finish. I always feel like I am going to drop something. My mother usually ends up rescuing the wine glass. 🙂 I had seen H a little ways behind me during the tiny out and back so I knew she wasn’t too far behind me, so we waited for her to cross. After chatting a bit, she headed off to find her co-workers and I headed off to stretch in the grass. I can think of 2-3 places where I could have shaved off 8 seconds. My math had been so off from mile 8 on and I just didn’t pay enough attention to my watch after that to know how close I was to my PR. Partly because I hadn’t thought I had a shot in hell of getting anywhere near that time. It honestly hadn’t occurred to me. That said, I am damn proud of how I ran this race. Yes, I started too fast but for the most part, I managed to maintain that. I ran the hills smart and I think running in the dirt for so long was a huge help. I also finally ran the freaking tangents! Which for the windy part meant running along the center yellow line. I just had to dodge a car every now and again. 🙂

Hills, hills, and more hills, I still love this race. Great set up, great views and always a good crowd. Did I mention that the male/ female winner gets their weight in wine? I will be back for another Wine Country.

Scenes from Ventura

Things didn’t go according to plan. Recap will be up in a day or 2 but here are the bright parts-

Choose My Next Race

Before we move on to the main event, this happened on Thursday and I almost missed it!

If you want to read my very first newbie post, you can here.

I am a person who likes to register as close to race date as possible. That way I know that I am going to follow though and not just throw my money away. Yes, 90% of the races I run benefit some form of charity but still I like to actually run them. This time I have left it even later than normal so I am calling on you to help me out. 🙂

I have 2 options for a 5k on July 4th-

**Neither race offers finisher medals and I have left it so late that I doubt I will get a shirt either, but both do benefit a charity.

Option 1– Pozo 5K- my original choice

Touted as a flat and picturesque out and back course, this is its 22nd year. It also has the steeper price and farthest drive. Small field about 200 runners. It offers raffles prizes and breakfast. Packets have to be picked up on race day. It benefits a local charity that helps family with sick or injured children.

I had originally planned on trying for a PR at this race but I don’t feel like I am in the shape to do so. According to last years race results, the slowest time was 40 minutes. Slowest. Fastest was 14 minutes. Well crap, I don’t want to embarrass myself. Yes, that’s my ego talking.

Option 2– Wild Run 5K

Somewhat flat and only 15 minutes away. Less expensive but not by much. Again, small field. This race benefits the local zoo. Which I run past every time I run at the lake path. Added bonus- part of this race is on the lake path so I am familiar with it. This offers packet pick up the day before, which is nice.

Downside to this is that is put on by a local gym. Why does this make me nervous? I have run 2 races put on by them in years past and was less than impressed with the organization. However that was years ago and a different location. They could be better now. I feel like this is more my speed right now but feel like I am wimping out of the other. In a completely girly, unimportant way, I have the perfect shirt to wear for this race. 🙂

So help me choose! I have to register by tomorrow for Pozo but have a little time for the Wild Run.

What do you think?

Hope you are having a good weekend!