Tag: Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa Half Marathon -2022

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Santa Rosa 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!

After last year’s race where I cramped for 4-5 miles I felt like I needed redemption. Plus I do really like the course. And it gives great swag. Bonus! I stayed in a cute little hotel near the start and was able to walk to the start on race morning. Left the hotel a little later than planned but still made it so the start with time for a port-a-potty stop and meeting up with another BibRave Pro- Autumn.

We lined up in our corral a few minutes before the race and then it was go time. I tried to film my brother crossing the start line, I am lucky I didn’t fall on my face, ha! The first mile or 2 loops around downtown and we run passed the coolest Barnes & Noble. I ran into another Pro- Stephanie just before mile 1. She was pacing the 2:50 half. My calves and ankles were super sore so I knew I couldn’t hang with the pace group very long, even with run/walk intervals.

From then on, I was on my own. I was moving slower than I had hoped but I also knew I was moving at a realistic pace. The bulk of the miles of the race are on the River path so I was curious if I was going to be passed by my brother on the way back before the path split. I knew he was trying to see if he could break 2:00 for his first road race. I didn’t end up seeing him before we crossed the river and headed down the dirt path. Not gonna lie, the dirt path portion is my favorite part of the course.

I turned on my headphones around mile 7, needed a little kick in the pants. A little after the mile 8 marker, I heard the footsteps of a pace group behind me. I turned to see the 3 hours pacer behind me. I growled and told him “no offense but I really didn’t want to see you today”. He laughed.

I then spent the next 5 miles trying to outrun him. It was harder than it should have been. Even though I had told myself any finish time was good as long as I crossed the finish line without leg cramps I was irritated that I couldn’t move any faster. I zero pep in my step. Zero.

Oh! At the 2 hour mark on my watch I texted my brother to see how he finished. A couple minutes later, he texted back- 1:41. Holy sh**!!!! I also may have shouted that out loud as I was running… I may have gotten some funny looks from other runners. I am here to entertain, haha.

Mile 12 brought us back into town and I was ready to be done. I walked a longer stretch here than planned. I saw my brother about a block away from the finish line. Even though I was a couple minutes slower than 2021, I was able to run across the finish line this year as opposed to hobbling.

Finish- 2:59:28

This may be my favorite flat course. Maybe one day I will even be speedy at it.

Racing to (Santa) Rosa

It’s race week, say what???

Not only is it race week, the weekend is upon us! That snuck up on me. Well, let’s be honest, the past few months have snuck up on me. And then dropped me like Kipchoge rounding the corner on Boylston.

At the mid point of the year I realized I was somehow behind on my miles from 2021, which is so not good. However, July and August improved as I attempted to tighten my belt and train for Santa Rosa. I felt like I needed redemption for 2021.

See, I know I am not fast. I know I’ve been walking more than running. But now I know the course- which is scenic and I really like- and my goal is to not cramp. The leg cramps from last year still color my view of the last few miles, ha! I really would like to run across the finish this year instead of hobble.

Also, somehow, Santa Rosa will my brother’s first road race! And the mountain hiker/climber that he is- he is aiming for sub 2 for his very first road half. I specify half because I still need to tell you about Saturday but that’s for another day.

All right, Santa Rosa, let’s do this!!

Countdown

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Santa Rosa Half Marathon to review 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 am at the point of fitness where sometimes a rest day is smarter than pushing it before a race. But that also makes it way too easy to remain a Slacker.

Last week wasn’t horrible and I did get out for 2 days of runs. They weren’t bad either. Both were short but both were decent. Slower than crap but decent. The only downside was the humidity during Saturday’s run. What was that all about??? We don’t do humidity here! 100 degrees, sure but humidity, no. Yuck.

Then I rationalized that a long run on Sunday wouldn’t help me for the race but could possibly hurt it. I was feeling an odd ache in my left leg and was freaky tired. Nap time!

I still had a shoe dilemma though. The farther I had run in the Torin’s was 6 ish miles and that makes me nervous for Santa Rosa. So I figured I would try a short in the Wave Riders even though Idaho made me want to burn them. Nope, no change. In fact, I took my shoes off and finished my run barefoot. Well, let’s be real- I was walking. Only crazy people run barefoot on concrete. Or people with stronger feet than me.

Then the week ran away from me and now Santa Rosa race weekend is here. What????

Don’t get me wrong, I am looking forward to it but I have some concerns. First is obviously my fitness level, well lack there of. Next is smoke. It’s hard to find somewhere in Ca that isn’t affected by smoke at the moment. Worse is the fires causing the smoke.

So, Santa Rosa, here I come!

8 Days

2020 was not what any of us had expected. Instead of training and running my third marathon, I was a lazy layabout for most of the year when not at work. Oops.

So when my Santa Rosa medal and swag arrived in the mail in early December I was a little stumped. Oh yeah, I was supposed to run that. Huh. What do I do now? There was no way I could run or walk 26.2 miles in one day. Was I supposed to bury it a drawer? Save it for next year? Hmmmm.

Yes, hmmm. I couldn’t do 26 miles in a day but could I do it in a week? 7 days?

I know running that in a week is nothing like running a marathon in reality but also truth moment- I logged 33 miles in November. All of November. And November was a good month for me in 2020. 26.2 miles in a week was asking quite a lot of my body actually. But I was on PTO for a week so why not try it?

I even made a teeny tiny Google sheet to track my miles and times.

I notched just under 4 miles on Monday with that numb foot mess of my Hot Chocolate 5K. Great start to the plan right?

Tuesday, I dragged the old spin bike out of the back shed and down to the garage. Dropped it on my foot and managed a 20 minute ride after cleaning the hell out of the bike. Spiders, eek! But also, a ride doesn’t count.

Wednesday saw me turning in 4 miles that were actually ok. I read a something on Twitter that actually reframed my thought process a bit and it really helped. Shocking, I know.

Thursday, I hit up the lake path for the first time in months and ran 4 laps. That added another 4.62 miles to my total. Yes, I was being that precise. Everything helped. I was also ensuring to keep plenty of walking in my miles. I mean, let’s be real- both of my real marathons contained a lot of walking and I am not a complete idiot. I know how out of shape I am.

Which was made apparent Friday, when I was feeling pretty crappy and never made it out for my run. Crap.

Saturday saw a spendy trip to REI with my brother as well as hike up Three Bridges. Good god, I cannot keep up with him. Another 3.62 miles added on. And steep ones at that.

Sunday, I headed out for 4 and then 5. But then thought, well, I do need to run a 10K for the Holiday Running Festival so why not? It’s been a long time since I went for a run and then decided to add on miles. It was a good feeling. 10K done and around 6.5 miles added.

But, that was day 7 and I hadn’t hit 26.2 miles. Crap. Whatever, it’s 2020, who needs rules?

Monday was my last day of PTO and out I went for my last push. 3.45 miles that I pretty much crawled as yes, I was feeling it in my legs and I was tired. 26.45 miles in 8 consecutive days.

I know most people wouldn’t count it, hell a lot runners run 26 miles on their weekend runs- but this was a lot for me, right now. Both physically and mentally. I feel like I did something to earn that medal though.

I also may have found something I was missing out there during those miles. Haven’t felt that in a long, long while, so yes, I will hold this medal proudly.