Tag: SLO

2017 City to the Sea 13.1 Recap

What do you do when need to run a long run and need the motivation to get up early? Sign up for a race!

Let’s count the things that did not go like planned-

  • Had stomach issues on Saturday but hoped they would go away by race morning.
  • It didn’t, it was even worse.  To the point where I had a complete change in wardrobe plans.  If I could have run in a dress I would have.  I needed the least amount of pressure possible.
  • Ran in a skirt I haven’t worn in 2 years, probably qualified as something new on race day.  Ditto to the Camelbak I decided to use.
  • I was late leaving the house, then spent too much time at a Chevron station using the facilities due to above mentioned GI issue.
  • Lost one of the zip ties for the timing chip.  Found it again after tearing apart car.
  • Strolled up to the start with 3 minutes to spare.
  • Ran the race on Zero calories.
  • With my back issues, I was thinking this would be slower than long run pace.  My parents were meeting me at the finish line- I told them over a 2:30 finish.

And yet-

Miles 1-4 9:38, 9:39, 9:44, 9:58


The race starts off downhill so I figured the first few miles would be my fastest but I had been thinking high 10’s.  Mile 1 clocked in and I remember thinking “what the hell legs? We can’t maintain that”.  Then mile 2 took freakin’ forever.  I’ve run this course 5 times and I couldn’t figure why the hell it was taking so long so I finally looked at my watch.  Mile 2.86.  Oh I missed the mile marker, good to know I am not crazy.   I was trying to not look at my watch but I knew my legs were still running a pace they had no business running.  My friend Bix came up behind a little after mile 3.  We chatted a bit before she pulled ahead a little after mile 4.  I had to crash soon right?

Miles 5-8 10:20, 10:44, 11:13, 9:34

Mile 5 starts a long slow climb which I like as it loosens up any leg tightness I may have.  I also took my first walk break as my back gave a tiny twinge.   Mile 6 saw lots of walking as those stupid stomach issues came rearing back.  Are you kidding me?!?!  The last aid station at mile 4 and the next one wasn’t until past mile 7.     I also was suddenly surrounded by people.  What the hell?   It was the 2:15 pace group.  Wait, I was in front of the 2:15 pace group for 6 miles?  What year is this? 2015? 😛   They pulled ahead but I kept them in my sights until the bigger hill on mile 7- more walking thanks to a cranky back.  I wasn’t worried as I knew there was a downhill coming and I love downhills.  As you can see by that mile 8 up there.

The Garmin makes it look scary😂

Miles 9-11 10:48, 12:34, 10:26

Catching up to the pace group was short lived.  I lost them on the Bob Jones Trail.  I was slowing down but what else do you expect when your longest run in 2 months has been 8 miles?  I ran on the dirt on the side of the trail hoping it would lessen some of the pavement pounding but by mile 10- the biggest hill- my back was very not happy.  I walked a lot and it shows in my mile time.   I tried to stretch it out as I walked.   Mile 11 was pretty good actually but I felt like I was crawling.


Miles 12-13.1 10:51, 11:40

Come on back, I’m so close!  2 miles to go! Run til I feel a twinge, walk it out, repeat.  Ran alongside a woman for a bit, we commiserated over pains.  She was having Plantar issues.  She pulled ahead.   Finally I hit mile 13 and all I had left was the longest .1 ever.  Seriously- I swear this .1 is longer than any other race I have other run.

Finish- 2:18:59


How, now?  Under trained, messed up back, hot mess of a morning and I finish my fastest race in 2 years?  In fact, my fastest race since City to the Sea 2015?   How does that even make sense?   I just decided to let my legs and back fight it out.  I took my head out of the equation.

Maybe I need to try that more often? 😛🙂

2017 SLO Half Marathon Recap

Oh boy, I don’t know where to start with this.   I’ve sat on it for a bit so I don’t sound totally cranky, so here we go!

This was my 4th time running SLO and it used to be one of my favorites.    I adored it in 2014 and 2015.  2015 is still one of my proudest races even with a face plant at mile 5 and some major GI drama.   In 2016, there were some changes to the expo, shirts and pictures that I wasn’t so fond of but I still loved the course and the way the crowd support was at certain points.  Bring in 2017 and there was a course overhaul- big time.  I would say only 2-3 miles were the same but other than the finish line they were now all at different points in the course.  They advertised the course as being faster than years past.   Thing about SLO is that it is not flat- the new half course was just shy of 600 elevation gain and the full just over 1200.    But I liked the old course- freakishly long Johnson hills and all.  Fine, I’ll reserve judgement.  The other thing I was concerned about was the start time- it was starting at 7 AM.  Every other time I’ve run it, it started at 6:30 or 6:45.   The temps were predicted to hit the 80’s on race day and 70’s by 10.  I was concerned.


The expo–  Packet pickup as always was at the Madonna Inn.  It seemed smaller this year.  Then I’ve thought that of most the expo’s I’ve been to lately.  Bib and shirt pickup was simple.  There was a shirt I wanted to buy at one booth but the price was too steep.  What was not cool was the un-mown grass with tall roots sticking out.  I tripped in a gopher hole once and on the roots 3 times.   While I was there I saw 3 other people trip on the roots.   The blame for this likely lies on the Madonna Inn not the race but you’d think they would mow the expo lawn?   By the time I left I had multiple scratches and was bleeding in 3 spots.


Race morning-   Chaos.   The original course was a point to point, in years past my mom would drop me off at the start and drive to the finish, park and watch Netflix.  Easy.   This year parking was a nightmare.   Start and finish was the Madonna Inn but getting into the Inn was next to impossible.  After waiting on the freeway for 10 minutes and moving 10 feet, my mother and I switched places- jumped out and ran around the car so she was now driving and I finished getting ready in the passenger seat.  Then I jumped out of the car- still on the freeway– and found a place to hop the fence to the race.   Only to arrive and hear they were delaying the start 10 minutes.  Ok- port a potty time.  The damn port a potty almost blew over.  It wasn’t bolted down all the way.  Grrr!!!!  Ok, head to the corrals.  Or so I thought.   Marathon runners and half marathon runners were starting at the same time.


  We all lined up near the pacers and waited.   And waited.  Then announcements started and we were told we were going to walk to the starting line. Umm, what? Weren’t we there?  So en masse, we leave the Inn and round the corner and down the street to starting arch.  It was like a block but it was odd, from behind me I heard on guy yell out “the race hasn’t even started and I’m over 2500 steps, this is whack”.   Everyone within hearing distance laughed.   Then more announcements and the National Anthem.  I will never be irritated at the National Anthem and I get that traffic was backed up ridiculously, but all I could think was that it was getting warmer and warmer while we were waiting.  We finally started just before 7:30.

This race falls into 2 distinct sections- the good and the “oh hell”- so here we go.

Miles 1-3 10:04, 10:11, 10:29

Well, hey these miles are coming faster than I thought they would be.  My calves were a little tight but that’s typical in the beginning of runs, I figured they would loosen up.  The first mile and half were through the southern part of town and not the most scenic.   I just kept trucking.  It was warm and getting warmer though so I decided to get water at the first aid except it wasn’t at mile 2 like I thought it would be.    It was 1/2 a mile later, ok, walk through the station get water and run on.  Right hand turn and we were running up Foothill.


Miles 4-6 10:55, 11:23, 10:19

Running between 2 mountains, though smallish, this was my favorite section to run.   I slowed a little going uphill but I was fine with that.  I was trying to ignore how warm it was and just keep moving.  The 2:15 pacers passed me- had no idea they were behind me- but I paid very little attention and turned on my music. I walked if I needed a moment and just kept moving.  Another aid station and more water.  I was hydrating with my Beachbody Hydrate in between stations.    We also ran a street I’d never seen before in SLO- well parts of it.  It was pretty.

Mile 7-8 10:20, 11:20 

My legs were feeling good and my breathing was under control.  We had a little downhill before we started what would be the longest climb of the course- not steep just long.  We ran over a timing mat at 7.8 miles and my average pace was 10:37.  I was on track for possibly my strongest half in over a year.  Who knew? We were running through downtown and I always think that’s kind of fun.

Then it went to hell.

Miles 9-10 12:31, 12:57

Something was not right, I was not ok.  It was warm, too warm and I wasn’t handling it well.  My legs started to cramp, my stomach started to cramp, my hands were swelling and I felt like I was going to throw up. I started walking more and more.  I was pissed and just trying to keep the pace. We rounded a corner and I saw a steep, short hill and I let some colorful words fly. 


Then the aid station at mile 9 was out of cups.   Finally in mile 10, I told myself to get my head out of my ass, this wasn’t a PR race, I was using it as training rain; there was no point in killing myself for a finishing time.  I came to a complete stop and tried to stretch out some of the cramping.    Thankfully there was another aid station at mile 10, water!  There were also kids with spray bottles and Iphone be damned, I had them spray water my way.

Miles 11-13 10:43, 11:35, 11:49

A downhill and the water helped me have a slightly faster mile 11 but the there was no going back.  I cramped the rest of the way and felt nauseated the entire time.    I was also letting my anger get to me- why did we start so late?!  Grrr, just keep moving forward.  The men’s marathon winner cruised past me around mile 11.5.    I kept getting water at every station and sprayed down by any kids with bottles.   I was thankful that the aid stations figured out it freakin’ hot and all the later ones had spray bottles and squirt guns.

Under the freeway, up a little a bump and then it was down the path to the finish line.  I got hung up behind a guy and I kind of growled.  I thought I did it quietly- I did not.  I scared him.  I’m sorry!   Somehow in my irritation and readiness to be done, I ran that last .20 ( my watch read 13.2 miles) at a 7:40 pace.   I don’t remember doing that but I was so beyond ready to be done.

Finish- 2:26:09


I was so done.  There was water at the finish line but just little cups.   I didn’t feel dehydrated just hot.  I had water at every station and my entire 25 oz’s of Beachbody while running.     I know I am not acclimated to the heat yet but I just don’t get the later start this year.  Combine that with delayed start and it was recipe for a hot mess.  From what I’ve seen on social media I was not alone in my blow up that day.  The heat and hills got to a lot of people.  I liked the hills!  Well except for the one just after mile 9, that felt like a dirty trick.   I was just grrr about the whole thing.   Still am a bit.  Ok time to move on.  What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger right?

It wasn’t all bad- I chatted with nice guy prior to the start. I chatted with a nice older man around mile 6- his friends told him the race was flat.  😬. A nice guy helped me around mile 8 when I was struggling to get my water bottle back into my pack.  All the volunteers were amazing and I love the enthusiasm of the Grizzlies.  The running community is awesome.  

Half marathon #24 done.

Do you run well in heat?

How do you deal when races go south?

Week 41 Training Recap

Training for:

  • City to the Sea 13.1 ✅
  • Harvest Marathon 13.1
  • Golden Gate Half

I wish I could I could be all sunshine and daisy’s about last week but I can’t.  I am looking really hard for the shiny because I know it’s there somewhere.  It has to be.

Work has been stressful, we are still down an employee and haven’t been able to replace them yet.   Also, the shift back to being an hourly employee is affecting me more than I thought it would but I’ll keep trucking along.

My sleep is still crap.  I used to be the type person who while being a night owl, once asleep I was dead to the world.  Seriously, you could throw things at me and I would sleep through it.   I would fall asleep in one position and stay that way all night.  Lately I can’t fall asleep and when I do I wake up repeatedly and I toss and turn.  Toss and turn to the point that my quilt and top sheet are usually on the floor in the morning.  😞   This weekend I went shopping for new pillows and I’ve ordered some essential oils to see if they help.  Fingers crossed!

Loss.  I was somehow lucky enough to get this far in life without having to deal with loss often.  This year has been different and last week was more bad news.   I really need to work on being less of stress eater.


Monday- 2 miles This was supposed to be a rest day but with all weekend off due to my stupid leg, I wanted get in a few test miles.   We got out of work late so by the time I made to home town I was racing the dying daylight.  2 miles is what I was able to fit in.  I was a little achy but nothing hurt more than that.

Tuesday- Rest.  Something came up and I didn’t get off work until almost 7.     I didn’t even attempt to run that day.

Wednesday- Rest  2 days off in a row seemed like a good idea.  Plus it fit perfectly in my training plan from Ekiden Coaching.  😛


Thursday- 3.5 miles Another chance to test the leg and see if I would be racing this weekend.  The plan called for 5 x400 but I knew I wasn’t getting up to 5k pace.  I stuck to the 400’s but kept them around a 9:30 pace and walked the recoveries.   My calves were super tight per usual and I stopped at one point to completely re-lace both Hoka’s but other than that it was ok.  I realized that I will be on the treadmill much sooner than I would like though.  It is getting dark so fast!

seawinner

Friday- Rough day.    But I did win my entry in City to Sea from a Facebook contest so there’s that right?!    Thank you to everyone I badgered into voting for me!  I registered for Sunday’s race on Friday morning.


Saturday- Rest day.  Went to SLO for packet pickup and wandered around doing some shopping.  Shopping and food make great distractions from life right?  The race shirt was tiny, like Stitch size tiny.

Sunday- City to the Sea 13.1 To be continued…😛
How was your week?

Have any sleeping tips for me?

The SF Marathon Training Week 15

I have no witty opening for this one.  That’s also assuming anything I’ve ever opened with before was witty.  Hmmm, maybe that was a reach.

Like I said in my Friday post last week, I am tired.  Just tired.  Running wise, the week was actually pretty good.   Work wise, I think my brain went into vacation mode way too early.    Oops.  That wasn’t great considering my boss was on vacation Thursday and Friday.   I needed to be firing on all cylinders.  I believe I completed most of my piles but I can’t shake the feeling that I forgot something.


Monday- 6.7 miles.  4th of July!! I met with Ashley and Heather for a very patriotic themed run down at Avila Beach.  The plan was to do 8 miles but it was my third day of running in a row and my shins and knee were pissed.   I ended up falling behind taking walk breaks but I eventually just sat on a bench 2 miles from the beach and waited for them to come back my way.  Truthfully, I wanted to swing on the swings while I waited but they were occupied by children.  Once they were back, I was able to run the whole back with them.  I was fine with fewer miles.  Then we went for a super yummy breakfast – churro french toast for the win!  It was a great way to spend the morning.

Tuesday- Rest.  Yeah, there was no way I was running a 4th day in a row.  Rest was awesome.   Plus work is always insane the day after a 3 day weekend so it was nice being able to just go home and crash.  I think I did something else but I can’t remember.


Wednesday-2.3 miles.  My legs still felt wonky.  Seriously one 20 miler less than 2 weeks ago and I’m broken for days.   I did 2 laps of the lake and called it.  They were a slow, crawling 2 laps but that’s better than no miles right?


Thursday- 3.75 miles.  Uh oh, 2 days in a row again?  However, this was the day that finally felt more normal.   I kept it short and sweet though as I didn’t want to push it.  Not only is the marathon super close but I had a half marathon on Saturday.  But I really wanted to try out my new shorts.


Friday- Rest.   My boss is on vacation so it was an open to close kind of day.  I did manage to sneak away for 10 minutes and grab my packet for Saturday’s race.    And a Diet Coke because by that time I needed one.  😛


Saturday- 13.1 miles.  Rock’n Around the Pier Half.   My hope was to run the race in the morning and do another 7 in the evening to complete a disjointed 20.   Yeah, that didn’t happen.  The race was rough and I had some problems, but more on that next post.    I did however get in a few miles of walking around SLO with some post race shopping.

Sunday- Rest.  Unless miles of walking around Santa Barbara shopping count as exercise.  😛   My mom, S and I headed to Santa Barbara for a day of birthday shopping, S has hers on Monday and mine is Tuesday.  It was fun but it made me realize how much I prefer SLO.  However I am jealous they have a PizzaRev, that place was awesome.  It was a long and tiring day and my legs/feet were fried by the end.    By the time I was home I was too tired to even finish this post in time for it go up on Monday.   On the upshot- I may have found my marathon outfit.  Priorities right?

Overall, it was a good running week, I was just exhausted.   I know that time frame wise I am at the point in training that I should be exhausted but I don’t feel like I’ve really trained enough for that.  Life has been a little crazy for a few months as well but it doesn’t usually affect me like this.    Maybe my upcoming birthday is just making me moody?  That’s a thing right?

Going forward, this week would start a traditional taper period for the marathon.  However I feel like the past few months have been a taper.  So we will see.  I know I still need to figure out water.   My handheld is not enough and my pack is crap.  Hey I rhymed!    Non running life- I have 2 vacation days!!  Happy dance, happy dance.  😃😃  I have nothing planned- it sounds awesome.

How as your weekend?

When was you last vacation? What did you do?

 

Friday, Finally

Friday– oh you are so pretty.

It’s been a coffee and soda kind of week.  This week has me like-

  
Tuesday for example- You know it’s going to be a rough day when you drop your brand new foundation bottle on the floor.  The glass bottle.  On a tile floor.   I felt like I watched it in slow motion as it shattered.   Yeah, that was fun.

Considering how stressed and hormonal crappy I’ve felt this week, I haven’t gone completely crazy with the food.  But it’s cookie Friday and it’s the new bakery.  I can’t decide if that is going to an uh-oh or a good thing.  

Running has only been so so this week but I got it done.    My right ankle is a little achy. Not cool.    I think another pair of shoes and I need to break up.   This is getting ridiculous.    Odd aches aside, I’ve had some great scenery to enjoy.⬆️  

I have a 5K on Saturday.  I haven’t run a race in 2 months.  I think I forgot how.   I haven’t raced a 5k since September.  I’m gonna hurt.  Did I mention it’s up a mountain?  And the forecast calls for rain? Rain on the mountain.   Yay.   Now I am glad it’s only 3 miles.    But, in all honesty I love this race.   This will be my 4th time running it.    I need to remind myself of that when I can’t walk on Sunday.  Or Monday.  Maybe Tuesday.

How was your week?

Ever had the day where you should have just stayed in bed?

Bets on my ability to not eat all the cookies?