Tag: race day

2016 Surf City Recap

Race- Surf City 13.1

Location- Huntington Beach, CA

Saturday-

After the hotel snafu of Saturday and once I accepted that I would not have a nice, leisurely race morning- after my mother and I had mapped out a long, circuitous route to the race start- I realized the even bigger mistake I had made. I hadn’t packed any water. What? How?! I had a bottle of Gatorade and my Skratch Labs but no water outside of what I had drank on the drive down. Face palm. So after a yummy dinner at Red Robin- water, lettuce wrapped burger and a few fries for me- we stopped at a Walgreen’s. Where I bought 8 bottles of water. 🙂 Then it was back to the hotel for a little downtime before I headed to bed early. And proceeded to wake up every hour on the hour. Grrr.

Race day-

Luckily, I have my pre-race ritual down, so I don’t have to get up too early. As of right now, I am still racing on an empty stomach and it has been working out. The race had a 7:45 start but I wasn’t planning on being there super early, I knew it would be a while before my corral crossed the start line. My mom was able to drop me off a few blocks from the start line a little before 7:30. Another bonus about arriving “late”? No line at the port-a-potties. Except the damn thing almost blew over with me in it!

Ok, the corrals. Serious cluster-f***. What is the point of asking a participant their projected finish time if it’s not used for corral placement? More than a few people in my corral were in a similar position. I put down a projected 2:10 finish time. The 3:30 pacers were about 2000 people ahead of me. Seriously. I considering jumping corrals but at that point it was already so late. Grrrr. My corral crossed the start line around 8:15.

Miles 1-3 10:09, 10:14, 10:09

My plan was to treat this like a well supported long run and hopefully maintain around a 10:00 min pace. Mile 1 started out ok. My legs felt good and my pace felt good. Mile 2 required more dodging. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with people walking at races- however if you are walking 6 people across in the first 2 miles of a race- we have an issue! This happened more than once. Then the first water station was a crowded mess but I had learned from last year that this was the case and just avoided it all. I also a music snafu in mile 2. I had started my playlist in the starting corrals and paused it. When I pushed start around mile 2, Christmas music started playing. What?!

Miles 4-6 10:30, 10:54, 11:08

By my standards, this course is flat, the only real hill is in mile 4. I was excited to see it as I had an ankle ache that I needed to run out. And I did but I was starting to realize that I was having troubles catching my breath. I didn’t feel like I was pushing hard but I was starting to wheeze. I took a quick walk break to try and get things under control. It didn’t really help. There was a little down hill coming up and I was hoping to make up some speed but I just kept slowing down. My inhaler wasn’t helping either. Mile 6 is where I got real. This breathing issue is not new. I have been having troubles since I was sick in January. It’s more than my usual asthma, it comes with some odd chest pain, but I was hoping that denial would make it all go away. Because that works so well, right? Yeah no. I called my mom during mile 6 and let her know I was having some issues but was going to tough out. I didn’t need her getting the real time runner alerts and wondering what the hell was going on. 🙂

Miles 7-9 11:50, 11:35, 11:37

New game plan was a run/ walk plan. 4:30 of running and 1:00 of walking. The running was slow so I was hoping that these intervals would keep me moving but not gasping for breath. I changed my watch face to just show the interval times so I had no idea what my overall time was. This was a long section of out and back so I was able to see Ashley of RatherbeRunnin’ coming back on the other side of the highway looking strong. Luckily the course is scenic so I was able to enjoy the view. I also had time to people watch. PSA here, a fabric may be black but that does not mean that it is opaque! If I can see the moles on your butt- wear underwear!! Ok, PSA over.

Mile 10- 13:04

This was a struggle. Even 4:30 seemed like way too long to run. I was wheezing and the inhaler was useless. We ran through the Cliff shot zone in mile 10 and I grabbed a citrus and a mocha one. Both have caffeine and I was hoping for a Hail Mary pass and that one would help. I walked a lot. The finish line seemed so very far away.

Miles 11-13 12:17, 11:50, 11:36

I was beginning to think this was going to be my slowest half yet. And it was getting so hot. I had been drinking water at each station but now I was dumping it down my back too. The volunteers were also having troubles keeping up with the demand for water. There were some stations out of cups. I am hoping more were on the way as there were thousands of people behind me still. I was trying to stick to my intervals but the walking sections were getting longer. It was getting more crowded on the course as well. I accidentally smacked a guy in the crotch when he came up on my right. Oops!!! Sorry! I just kept moving towards the finish line, the increased crowd support was helping. I walked the beginning of mile 13 and then ran the rest in. I crossed the finish line gasping and wheezing and promptly burst into tears.

Finish- 2:28:24

Not my slowest!!! I collected my medal and avoided all the photographers. I heard my mom and thought I was losing it but then realized she was on the other side of the fence. I made my way through the recovery stations and then out of the chute into the crowd. I met with my mom and headed to a curb to sit. My legs felt good but I was so tired from fighting my lungs for so long. It gave me time to admire my medal though- it’s huge!!!! And was fought for. But it was also a lesson in something I should already know- you can’t ignore things and hope they go away. It doesn’t work like that. Was this race I wanted? No. But every rough race is a lesson learned, right? I still got to run with thousands of other crazies like me. 🙂 And for the record- I have a doctor’s appointment next week.

They were some things I didn’t like about the race this year but overall it is a good race. The weather is gorgeous- just bare in mind that temps hit the high 70’s. Perfect beach weather post race. 🙂

The day was finished out resting in the hotel watching the Super Bowl- yay Broncos!! I needed some time off my feet—I had big plans for Monday—-Disneyland!!!!! But I’ll save those adventures for next post. 🙂

Castle to the Coast Recap

First race of the year is in the books!

Castle to Coast is an 8.2 mile road race that starts at WR Hearst State Beach and runs along the highway to Moonstone Beach. It’s a no frills race with scenic views. It starts across from Hearst Castle. Granted the Castle is way up on the hill but on a clear day you can see it. I have wanted to run it for the past few years but they cap it around 300 runners each time and it always sold out before I registered. This year, well last November, I literally registered at 2 minutes past midnight the day registration opened. I was looking forward to finally running it but then slacker December happened followed by sick January. Oh and let’s not forget the sudden blister issue.

As I laid out my clothes on Friday night I was feeling very “meh” about it all. Between my blister issues and the fact that I have put on a few pounds, I knew my usual race outfit of knee high Pro Compression socks and a skirt was off the table. With temps predicted in the high 50’s I figured a tank and capris would be fine. Just in case, I added my arm warmers. Race morning dawned way too early but with one last weather check, I was out the door. I had already mentally moved this from a “race” to a very public long run. 8 miles with ocean views- piece of cake right?

Pre-race-

Rain!!! That was not in the forecast. I kept hoping it would clear up as we drove but no luck. It was so foggy and overcast I started to wonder if I had driven past the starting point. Then I saw a pack of Aggies warming up along the highway- we must be close. Once parked I headed to the epically long bathroom line and my mom headed to check me in. Benefits of small races right? She was back with my shirt and wristband and I still hadn’t moved forward in the bathroom line. 😂 I struck up a conversation with the women behind me. She is my new favorite person- she said I looked 24! I also saw Ashley before the race start. 😃 I grabbed my rain jacket from my gym bag at the last minute, it wasn’t raining hard but it was enough to get you wet and cold. The start line was about 1/4 up the road so we all headed that way. This is very low key event- no bibs, no timing chips, just a starter pistol at the start. I started towards the back of pack which might not be the best idea for a gun timed race but I was just aiming for a steady run.

Miles 1-4 9:54, 10:06, 10:03, 10:08

And we were off! We ran past the cutest little general store right at the start. It was so overcast that the castle was completely covered up. We went up a side street and then we were on the highway. I should mention that the roads were not closed so we were running along the highway. In the rain. With cars. My hood fell back by mile .5 and I decided to just leave it down. I was about a mile in when I noticed something odd with my right foot. The Vaseline was doing its job but my toes felt weird. My shoe was full of water! I could literally scrunch my toes and it felt like I was wringing out a towel and not my sock. My watch was covered by my jacket sleeve so I just tried to keep what felt like a steady pace. I started to get hot so I unzipped my jacket. Miles 2 and 3 felt rougher than I would have liked and are kind of a blur. I just kept my eyes forward and kept putting one foot in front of the other. I knew there was a water station at mile 4 so seeing that meant I was halfway there. Woo hoo!

Miles 4-8- 10:15, 10:09, 10:06, 9:56

By now I was super warm and there was a small hill in sight. I knew I was going to slow down running up it so I used that mile to take off my jacket and tie it around my waist. Which meant I could now see my watch and my pace. I did my best to ignore it and just kept running. Left foot then right, then curl my toes to try and move the water around. A little past mile 6 we turned off the highway onto a side street and headed for the finish. This street was longer than I thought and I started to worry that my mom might not have found the finish line. I hadn’t really given her directions and while running I realized I had given her the wrong street name. Oops! I was tiring and just wanted to be done. I was so happy to see the finish line. First race done!

Finish- 8.28 miles- 1:23:11

So yeah, that was about 7 minutes slower than my last 8 mile race. But 8.2 mile races are an automatic PR right? Official results aren’t posted yet but I think my Garmin is pretty accurate. I started way back in the pack and it was gun timed. This was not the race I would have liked to run but in reality it went exactly like I expected. I know I am out of shape right now but haven’t done a whole lot to fix it. I think the reality of this race will give me the kick in the ass I needed. As far as long runs go, it was a great pace. As for race pace? Umm, not so much. However I am pretty impressed with the consistency of my splits. I don’t think I’ve ever run a steadier race. I love how you can tell the hill was in mile 5. 😝 Something else that I am happy about? I did not take a single walk break, I ran the entire damn thing. I can’t even tell you the last time that happened.

The finish line area was a little disorganized. There were giveaways but I’m not sure how it was working. I met up with my mom and then later Ashley and we chatted a bit before heading out. Not only had my mother found the park but she beat everyone else there. She literally parked my car next to the finish line. 😝

The ocean view was pretty in a stormy, cloudy kind of way but I wish I could have run this race in the sun. And not just because I was soaking wet. I may consider running it again next year but not sure. The cost is great-$30- but I am still on the fence. We’ll see.

Ever run on an open highway?

Race in the rain?

Big Sur Half Marathon Recap

Going into this race I had very few expectations and more than a few concerns. In an effort to keep things light and fun (and help my indecision) I took to Instagram with a race day outfit vote. The outfit I was leaning towards got zero votes. Oops. 😢

I only ran 2.5 very slow treadmill miles in the week leading up to the race. My left foot was bothering me and my left knee has been aching for a week or so. What I was not expecting was the sharp stabbing pain in my right ankle that I woke up with on Monday. It even hurt lying down. WTF? My left leg is the problem child never the right. Taper crazies, maybe? Who am I kidding I don’t run enough to need to taper but I was holding on to that thought all week. Better a phantom pain than a real injury. My attempt at running on Tuesday didn’t end well and I tend to run oddly on the treadmill so I just rested the rest of the week.

I was so worried about my weird aches and pains I somehow forgot about the one thing that can really mess up my running- my stomach. Saturday morning was not a good one. I was taking all the emergency medications my doctor has prescribed in hopes that I would be fine on race morning. Grr, but let’s move on. Monterey is a little over 2 hours away but the drive didn’t seem that long. We stumbled upon the expo as soon as we hit town- sweet! The expo was medium size and well-organized. I think it hit a new record for distance between bib pickup and shirt pickup though. I picked up a few things- 2 shirts, a Sweaty Band (my first!) and some Gu gummy things. I don’t know why I buy fuel when I never use while running but it’s better to be prepared right? We then wandered around Monterey on foot before checking into the hotel. Dinner was decided by proximity to the hotel and was California Pizza Kitchen. Gluten free pizza for the win! Not that I have a gluten problem but my stomach was so jacked up already I wasn’t taking any chances. Then it was back to the hotel to get some rest. I was super tired and my left foot was starting to hurt. I was in bed by 9.

Race day!

The rain they had been predicting was coming in later than they thought and that made me happy. I got to the starting line around 6 for a 6:55 start. Seriously this was the chillest start I’ve ever seen. Over 8000 runners and there was no wait for the port-a-potties. What? No one even got into the corrals until about 5 minutes to the start. I also met Heather of wholehearted wife while loitering around the start line- Hi Heather! The announcer was upbeat and very clear about the course and race directions. I had my headphones but I was going to try to run without them. There was supposed to various types of music played throughout the course so I figured I would try to go with just that.

I kind of look like I am stumbling home from a party not heading out for a race.

I was in corral D which was for a 2:00 hour finish prediction. Apparently I was feeling optimistic when I registered 6 months ago. 😉 I put myself in the very back of it. While I said my only goal was to have fun, I did have a time goal in mind. I was hoping for a 2:15 finish. If I could do that under trained and tired than maybe I have improved a little this year. I tossed my sweater to the side just as the first wave went off. My corral crossed the starting line a little after 7:00am, sooner than I had anticipated. The start was that smooth.

Miles 1-2 – 9:51, 9:36

We were running back up into the city. I noticed there were still runners walking to starting corrals. I know it’s chip timed but really? There was also a woman in front of me running barefoot. Really? Ouch. I also got the first shout out about my socks. 😃 The first course music was a keyboardist playing the Rocky theme song- sweet! Mile 2 led us into the Cannery Row tunnel. Never having run through a tunnel, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The far end of the tunnel was manned by a DJ and had a light show rigged up. It was kind of awesome. But the way Gangham Style was reverberating around the tunnel made me glad when I was out of it. I had expected my Garmin to lose signal in the tunnel but somehow it picked up distance. From there out, my Garmin was about 2/10th’s ahead of the mile marked. It stayed consistent so I am fairly comfortable with my mile splits.

Miles 3-5- 9:56, 10:30, 9:41

Ocean views, Cannery Row, dancing jelly fish outside the aquarium? This race rocks! Then there was the elementary cheerleaders and a drum line. I love drum lines. I was keeping the pace I wanted and feeling pretty good. And I was still taking pictures as I ran. Which came in handy during the first out and back section. The elites!! I noticed the course marshals and lead cyclists coming so I had my phone ready. They are so damn fast! Kara Goucher snuck up on me and she was the lead female! Sarah Kiptoo passed by a few people later- she didn’t look like she was having a good day. I was also surprised to see a man running in a loin cloth carrying a spear running the race. What?!

Miles 6-9- 10:03, 10:23, 10:47, 11:00

I was feeling a little tired but was still holding onto a 2:15 finish. Seriously the ocean views were awesome. Aid stations were well stocked and run well. Water, gatorade, Gu’s, Vaseline and sunblock. Seriously awesome. And people were loving my socks- spectators were actually shouting it out to me. 😉 More DJ stations, a blues band and a jazz band. Then a Tonga drum line. Did you know they hold a squat while drumming? Holy burning legs, batman. The turn around came at mile 7.7. Mile 8 is always my favorite mile- home stretch baby!

Mile 9.4

I was feeling pretty good and loving the race until…stupid stomach. I cramped, badly, I felt like I had been stabbed in the middle of stomach. Come on! I was so close. First walk break. I wish I could say only walk break.

Miles 10-13.1- 12:37, 11:51, 12:01, 11:40

Riding the struggle bus. It was run-cramp-walk-breathe repeat for the next 4 miles. I never felt like I needed a restroom break but it just kept hurting. To add to the pain, both quads and IT bands started protesting the walking portions. Come on legs- don’t fail me now! A woman I had been near in the starting corral came up behind me during mile 12. I was walking. She encouraged me to keep pushing and I ran it in the rest of the way. Finish line- yay!! I lost 8 minutes over those 4 miles.

Finish- 2:23:26

The otter was worth it, though. I also learned how very breakable the medals are when another runner dropped his. From there on out through the staging area, I was cradling it. 😄 I almost didn’t take one of the silver sheets since it had warmed up a lot but I was glad I did. I cooled off very quickly. The finish area was my only gripe about the race- It wound around and round and I just wanted out. I grabbed a cup of water and skipped the finisher photos. The post race food won points for the tiny bag of Fritos and pineapple juice. As I was leaving the food tent a volunteer was coming back with boxes of something. He offered one to me- chocolate milk!!! I told him that he had just made my day. I finally sat down by an ambulance while waiting for mom to find me. My knees and quads were pissed but that random ankle pain never made its presence known.

This race was awesome. It is definitely on my list of races to run again. It is a very PR friendly course, it has the right amount of flat, incline and descent for most people. The last 4 miles are some of the flatter miles so negative splits are likely. That might have been what aggravated my legs though as I am not a fan of flat. I need to work on that. Back to the race, the course is amazing and the crowd support was pretty awesome, and I’m not saying that just because they liked my outfit. 😎 Did it go like I had hoped? No but that’s not the races’ fault. That’s all on me and some things I need to work on. However, this was half marathon #6 of 2015- the most I’ve ever run in a year before. That’s something all by itself. It’s number I’m proud of. My last race of the year may have been my slowest but it was still worth it. And now I have something to beat next year. 😜

Big Sur Half in Pictures

If you’ve read my posts before, you know they can get kind of wordy. 😉 And heavy on the photos so I am breaking this weekend into 2 posts. Here we go!

First male elite! He was out-kicked later. — Second male elite! He out-kicked the lead later.

2015 City to the Sea 13.1 Recap

Sunday morning saw the completion of half marathon #14. If I am doing my counting right that is. 😃

Pre-race

I headed down to SLO for packet pickup on Saturday. Pickup was in the Running Warehouse parking lot and super easy. I spent the day wandering around SLO and probably spent too much time on my feet. I actually cleared my step goal that day without running. Oops. I had a general idea of what I was wearing for the race and had created a new playlist on Thursday. Plenty of Shinedown, Linkin Park, AFI, Papa Roach with some Kip Moore thrown in. My mother heard it being played in my car and asked if I had made an angry playlist. 😜I laid everything out for the next morning and set my alarm. I made an effort to be in bed before 11. Which was a moot point as I tossed and turned all night long. If I got 2 hours of sleep I would be surprised. I could not fall asleep. My head hurt, my neck hurt, my arms felt kind of tingly. What the hell? It’s not like this was my first race, why was I having such issues? I was so tired by 1 AM, I even considered a DNS. But eventually I dozed off.

Race Day-

I was up, prepped and on the road by 6. Where I proceeded to have some road-rage-aholic tailgate me on an empty freeway flashing his brights because I wasn’t driving fast enough. Dude, seriously? Once in SLO, I stopped at the same Chevron station I have in years past to use the bathroom. Nice, bright, clean and not a port-a-pottie? Score. I parked 2 blocks from the start line and got ready. This is when I realized that while I made a nice and shiny new playlist, I never actually put it on my phone. #slackerfail

We’ve been in the middle of a heatwave and I knew it was going to warm up fast but I was actually chilled at the start line. I have a habit of going out too fast, so I deliberately put myself behind the 2:15 pacer. I was aiming for 2:10 or faster and didn’t even want to see the 2:00 pacer, I knew I would want to try to catch them.

Miles 1-3 9:13, 9:03, 9:02

These were an eventful 3 miles. I was feeling pretty good but I was also confused. I was running a sub 9:30 pace and the 2:15 pacer was still in front of me. Ummm, what gives? Dude, you should be behind me now. Then there was butt cheeks. I admit I sometimes people watch while racing as a way to distract myself and help me keep my pace. Plus I can check out race shirts and look for new races to run. 😄 But I noticed this girl whose shorts were so short, seriously I have underwear that covers more. Maggie Vessey’s racing outfits cover more. Then I started to feel bad because I could see other people noticing and making comments about her shorts. But then I recognized a pair of socks in front of me- it was Heather of @sloluckystyle. I pulled up along side to say hi. Granted it was 1.5 miles into a 13 mile race but it was nice getting to meet someone I interact with on social media in real life.

Miles 4-6: 9:06, 9:23, 9:24

I was still feeling pretty good and I was pleased with the numbers I saw on my watch. Mile 6 was the first uphill and I held onto a 9:24. That number made me smile because I knew a 9:23 average pace would be a PR of 2:03. I wasn’t banking on that though as I knew I had a big hill at mile 10 and another new hill around mile 12. I was just focusing on how I felt and enjoying the scenery of a good race. I also knew I was about to hit the course change.

Miles 7-9: 10:45, 9:23, 10:02

Right after those good thoughts, I had an inhaler moment. I still haven’t mastered running and using my inhaler so it required a walk break. That’s something that’s hard to practice since I only want to use my inhaler as a last resort. The temp was rising and so was the humidity but I was still feeling ok. I knew I had lost a PR but I was fine with that as it hadn’t been my primary goal of the day. There was also a little more of an incline in mile 7 than I had anticipated. Followed by a dead skunk which made things real fragrant for half a mile. 😖 Mile 8-9 brought us onto the Bob Jones trail which is very nice. Well paved and surrounded by trees which meant shade!!! The irksome part to these 3 miles was the guy shouting out that we only had 5 miles to go…at the 10K mark. Grrrr.

Mile 10: 12:38

I slowed towards the end of mile 9 as I needed my inhaler again. We came out of the Bob Jones trails and were headed to the main drag in Avila. Which I have driven on numerous times and would have bet you money that it was downhill to the freeway. I had been looking forward to that downhill before the hill at mile 10. That downhill didn’t exist. We across a bridge and across traffic before making a left- up a hill. It looked like a freakin’ mountain. The wheels came off hard. The only thing consoling me was just how many people went to a walk on this damn hill. Then we hit the freeway and made a left for the original hill I had been worried about. And another spectator telling us it was last hill. No it’s not! Stop giving me false hope!!

Miles 11-13: 11:02, 10:54, 10:55

I never recovered from mile 10. From there on out, I was in survival mode. I walked way too much. The temp had hit the high 70’s and the humidity had jumped. I was almost out of Gatorade in my hand-held which is rare for me. I tend to run races under hydrated because I found it works for me. I carry a 10oz handheld of Gatorade and usually have half left at the end of the race. I grab water at aid stations starting around mile 5. I made myself sick drinking too much water at more than one race when I first started running. To have an almost empty bottle with 2 miles to go was not a good thing. I kept my head down and just kept trucking. I knew I was in the home stretch and the crowds were picking up. I could see the ocean and I was also starting to see people walking around with their medals and I wanted that medal. 😜

13.1- 2:12:40

The thing I forget about this race, that last .1 seems like it takes forever. I think it’s because of the way the street curves. From the mile 13 marker, you can’t even see the finish line, the road curves 2 more times. But I finally saw it and crossed the line so happy to be done. After being funneled through the shoot and receiving my medal- woo hoo, it’s seriously cool- I just wanted water and needed to find my parents. They were both coming to this finish line. For a local race, this finish area is the most congested I’ve seen. I eventually found my mom and the puppy but not my dad or water. I finally found water and refilled my water bottle then we headed for an empty space where my dad eventually found us. I was hot and sweaty and while I felt pretty good, I ended up going back for more water. We hung out a bit before we headed for their car. They were my ride back to my car. 😏

It was during the ride back to SLO that I knew I had made a rookie mistake. Those 2 bottles of water were a miscalculation. After they dropped me off at my car, I spent the next 30 minutes sitting on the curb by my car trying not to be sick. #slackerfail2

Overall, I didn’t meet either of my pace goals but realistically I am ok with that. I returned to run one of my favorite races and the course change actually made it better. I now know to be prepared for that damn hill in the future. I also have a few things I know I need to work on but we’ll leave that for another post. I do wonder how I might have fared if the temps had stayed down but it is what is. Gorgeous finish line though right?