Tag: Surf City

Third Try’s the Charm?

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You could say that Surf City was my spring board into half marathons.

It wasn’t my first half marathon, not even close. It wasn’t even my first travel race. However it was the first time I spectated an event that didn’t involve working any water stations. Prior to Surf City 2011, I had volunteered numerous times at water stations for the local fun run and even the Master Elites didn’t inspire me to run. They also never wanted my water but that’s not the point.

I drove NikeC down to Huntington Beach to run Surf City back in 2011. I remember standing on a corner with her aunt and now uncle and watching all the runners run past feeling a little lazy. I thought to myself- I can do this. So I started training (sort of) for my first half and ran a local one a few months later.

It took me years to get myself back to Surf City. I ran it for the first time in 2015 and then again in 2016. Now, full disclosure, I love Surf City but it doesn’t love me. The course is fairly flat and the humidity runs pretty high. To some that is PR ready and the first two times I ran it, I attempted to run it fast and my lungs pitched a fit by mile 8ish. This has always colored my view of the later miles which bites because you run along PCH and the beach is right next to you!

Which is why I am looking forward to going back in 2019! Time to live it up!

So this time, I plan to have no plan. Well, that’s not true. I still remember the really good breakfast place we all went to after NikeC’s race years ago so I want to run the race leisurely, enjoy the party atmosphere, the beach and then walk all over until I find it again! #goals

Want to join me? Use code SCMBR10 to save 10%!

Ever run Surf City?

February Recap- Realizations

Well, that didn’t go according to plan.

Miles– 59.8 run
29 Miles Stationary bike

Races– Surf City 13.1- 2:28:24

Originally I was planning to ramp up training for SLO post Surf City. Speed work was going to make its first appearance this year and I was going to force myself to be a grown up and go run on the treadmill. But, my lungs had other plans. With 5 rest days leading up to Surf City and the 6 days following it, I missed out on a lot of running time. And bike time, somehow I kind of forgot about the bike. I see it on a daily basis but I only rode it 3 times. Umm, oops?

So back to those pesky lungs. I closed out February with a follow up at my doctor. My chest x-ray came back clear. So the current theory is to blame El Nino. No, seriously. The El Nino weather systems have wreaked havoc on those with seasonal allergies. So we haven’t yet seen the buckets of rain that were promised but hay fever and other assorted issues are in overdrive for everyone. So, I have a shiny new rescue inhaler and still have to use a heavy duty, daily inhaler twice a day. My thyroid is also messed up, so I have a new medication there as well. Seriously, I am beginning to think I need one of those AM/PM pill containers just to keep it all straight. Stupid stomach, whiny lungs and a lazy thyroid? Grrr.

I also had some realizations in February. I don’t remember exactly when I started running but my first race was in September of 2010. So 5+ years of running and 16 half marathons later and I only just now realized that I suck at long runs. For once I am not referring to the pace or the number of walk breaks, I mean doing the runs themselves. If you had asked me I would have sworn up and down that I did a few 10 milers each training cycle and some 11 milers. Ha!! Remember in January when I ran what I said was my slowest 10 miler ever? Something about that statistic on Smash Run made me do some research. It claimed that it was my slowest 10 miler coming in at #13. 13? That didn’t seem right. So after Sunday’s more successful 10 miler I looked into my stats on the Garmin. Then Nike+.

Holy crap, in 5 years of running I’ve only run 15 10 milers? 2 11 milers and 2 12 mile runs. And I call myself a runner? A few years ago I know I used to split my long runs up but I really doubt they would make those numbers look any better. Well, that was a wake up call. I didn’t think I was that bad of a Slacker. #facepalm Do people still do that?

So, I am chalking February up as a learning experience. Or the clearing of the fog of denial I was living in. Moving into March I would like to work on making the run a consistent occurrence. Which is necessary as I have a 16 mile run on the training plan for the beginning of April. I conveniently ignored that box on the plan during last years SLO race prep. March also brings the start of daylight savings. Which means the lake path is back in play and speed work may actually happen on a somewhat consistent basis. We’ll see how the lungs hold up. Fingers crossed!

How was your February? Any plans for March?

Am I just a huge Slacker?

Ever faced a sad running realization?

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. 🙂

Week 4 Training Recap

Upcoming Races- Surf City 13.1

Focus this week- Long Run

4 weeks in and I already lost count. Oops. But I was just doing the numbers and this week was intense for a Slacker. 😃

Monday- 4 Miles Ugly, ugly run. It was the kind of run of that makes me feel like an imposter. I could not get it together. My head and body were in 2 entirely different worlds. I felt the beginnings of one of those weird asthma/ panic attacks. Maybe it’s a Monday thing? There’s a reason I usually take Mondays off. The last 2 weeks had rough Monday runs but how can I pass on running on a day off?

Tuesday- 11 miles Stationary bike- A recent obsession with Z Nation has been making these bike miles fly by. Who knew zombies would help me cross train?😀

Wednesday- Rest I had packed my gear to hit the gym and run but things went weird partway through the day. I just odd, just very not right for lack of a better description. I’m transitioning back to a lower carb diet and trying a new medication for my stomach issues. I think things just combined in a less than great way on Wednesday.

Thursday -12 miles Stationary bike- I was feeling better but just could not stomach the idea of heading to the gym and running on the treadmill. It was the last thing I felt like doing. I knew I had big plans for my long run this weekend so I figured an extra day off of the feet wouldn’t be horrible.😛

Friday- Rest Cookie Friday also won. #lowcarbfail

Saturday -12.4 mile long run!!!! 3.8 mile puppy jog Who got up and ran 12 miles in the morning?! This Slacker did! 12 miles is like my white whale. I chase it but never hit it. I think I have run maybe 2 or 3 12 milers tops since I started running. Maybe. And they were all miserable. With Surf City 2 weeks away, I really wanted to get a 12 miler under my belt. Both for training purposes and just to say I could do it. I had mapped out a route that was incessant loops or hills the night before. The plan was to meet up with my mom halfway and she would join me for a bit. My route would then double back to where she parked and we would head to lunch. Except when I texted her at mile 3, she said wasn’t meeting me. Well, crap. I had planned on getting more water from her plus now I had to change my route mid-run. Mid-run math always make my brain hurt. I knew I had to make it home so I was either going to end up short of 12 or over but I wasn’t sure which way it was going to fall. I tried to keep my pace as steady as possible aiming for between 10:45-11:15. My overall average pace was around 11:03 but my miles were all over the place. Mile 5 saw a 9:20 and mile 7 an 11:55. Oops. Mile 5 had me running across the bridge and hate the bridge so much that I usually speed up. Mile 7 had a long slow climb and I started having odd feelings in my toes. I also knew there was no way I was going to have enough water. Grr. Mile 9 had some drama with loose dogs too. It was one of the busiest streets in town and chocolate lab and wiener dog were running lose. A lady was trying to catch so I stayed with her for a bit. She then went on to follow them in her car and I ran on. I hope she was able to help them.

Ok, total #firstworldrunnerproblem moment. I was looking forward to seeing 12 miles on my watch, I needed to see it. Except my battery started to die. Seriously?! Finally I decided I didn’t want to risk losing my data so I stopped it at 10.2 miles, saved it and then started it over. It ended up lasting the whole run and I am glad I didn’t chance but I missed seeing that 12. 10.20 and 2.2 just doesn’t have the same ring to it. Plus I still ended up half a mile from my house when I stopped my watch the second time.

Sunday- 5 miles Stationary bike– All right, first 20 mile week in a long time had me feeling sore. I chose the bike over running as I didn’t want to push my legs too hard after a 16 mile Saturday. Plus I wore the wrong shoes on the puppy jog, so I was feeling familiar aches in my knee. 5 steady miles were freakin’ hard. But better than nothing right? Oh and I took a nap. 🙂

I am kind of proud of this week turned out. Running, cross training and I only had pizza once, I’m calling it a winning week! ✅👍🏽👏🏽 Question is, can I do it again?? Luckily I am only aiming for a 10 miler next weekend so I am hoping for 3 days running and 3 cross training. Which means I will have to go to the gym and use the treadmills. Grrr. I am counting down to the time change.

How was your week?

Do anything fun this weekend?

Do you have a white whale?

Surf City Half Marathon Recap

The type A personality in me was torn between posting this first or my January Recap- this won.

I first thought of running Surf City back in 2011 when I drove NikeC down so she could run it. I have thought about running it ever since but the timing was never right. It still wasn’t the best timing this year but I decided screw it, I’m gonna run it anyways. Even spectating it that once, from the finish line and mile 4ish, did not prepare me for the size of this thing. I knew going in that it was touted as 20,000 runners but I didn’t completely comprehend that until Sunday morning. My mother and I made a road tip of it and headed to Huntington Beach on Saturday. Other than parking packet pickup was fairly simple. Parking made it kind of nightmare-ish. I was less than impressed with the expo. For such a big race I was honestly expecting something better. But at least I got out of there cheap since all I bought was a new Fitletic belt.

That day we planned that my mom was going to drop me as close to the start as she could then go back to the overflow parking and kill some time before heading to the finish line. That worked out great as she got me within a half mile and we wouldn’t get stuck in the parking lot trying to leave after the race. It just meant I had a 2+ mile walk after the race. We got to the start so much quicker than planned so I had about a little over an hour to go. After some unfortunate experiences with Apple maps and the freeways the day before, we didn’t take any chance. After walking to the start line, most of my time was spent waiting in the bathroom lines. The race start was 7:45 but I knew my wave wasn’t scheduled to start until 7:55. Even so I headed over around 7:30 because this was my first experience with a wave start. This may have been my first time but even I know corrals only work if the guidelines were followed and I saw so many of the wrong bibs in my wave. At one point I was shoved out of the way by some spectators making their way through the corral- really? Thanks for stepping on my feet too. I crossed the start line at 8:01.

Miles 1-3 9:48, 9:55, 9:46

The goal for this race was to treat it like a long run not a race. I had been concerned that I would try to push it too hard at the start like I do most races. Luckily there were so many people, I don’t think I could have run any faster. What was concerning to me was that I hurt. My shins, calves and knees hurt right from the start and that is not normal. I’m not sure if it was because of waiting in the bathroom lines so long or the short beach walk the day before or hey the 25K the weekend before but I was hurting. The two hours of sleep I got the night before probably didn’t help. My goal was to keep the 2:10 pacer in sight.

Miles 3-6 10:11, 9:59, 10:12

Holy crap, the water stations were a cluster f***. There was just so many people and most just came to a completer stop mid run. And who flings their arms out at water stations? I am surprised I don’t have bruises from how many times I was pegged. But there were plenty of aid stations and volunteers on the course, so that was huge. My legs were still hurting but I was determined to keep the pacers in my sights.Miles 7-9 10:23, 10:38, 11:13

I lost the pacers around 6.5 when my lungs protested the humidity. Honestly I knew it was coming at some point I was just hoping it held off longer. When I had checked the weather that morning, I saw a scary number next to humidity- 95%. By the end of the race it had dropped to 70% and the temp was mid 60’s but by then my asthma was cranky. So from then on it was intervals of run til I wheeze, walk it out. I also felt like a disgusting mess thanks to the humidity. My arm warmers, which were unneeded, worked great at wiping down my face. I also started dumping water down my back at aid stations.

Miles 10-13 11:22, 11:49, 11:04, 11:09

I slowed down more but managed to pick it up a bit by the end. I was still surprised at how crowded it was even then. I am used to it thinning out but it never did. I underestimated how much the bobbing and weaving was going to take out of me and I was ready to be done.

Finish- 2:19:00 Pace 10:37Once crossing the line and receiving the medal, there were a few photographers taking pics there so we bottle necked. Then there we went through little stations about 20 feet apart- water bottles, space blankets, bag of snacks, bananas. Then there was a row of finishing pictures before walking through the medical tents. I felt so nasty from sweating that I didn’t even put on my medal, I didn’t want it be all nasty. I just held it up for the finisher pictures.

Then we were finally turned loose into the crowd of spectators. I had no idea where my mom was and texts weren’t going through but I finally got a call through. The lifeguard stations worked as great landmarks. 🙂 I so wanted to just go sit in the ocean but wasn’t going to walk the 2 miles back to car barefoot nor was I going to put wet feet into my running shoes so I passed.

I'd dried off a bit by then :) — I’d dried off a bit by then 🙂

My overall pace was actually right where it was supposed to be for a long run according to the McMillan calculator. My pride would have preferred to be under 2:15 but considering the humidity and how unused to that many people I was, I am actually fine with my time. First half of the year complete and I finally got my surfboard!! Yay!