Not-So-Lean and Kinda-Mean Fifteen (K)

Saturday morning started with an almost "Disney early" wake-up at 4:15 am, and then my friends Lindsey and Jennifer and I headed down to Fair Park for the Dallas Hot Chocolate 15K at 5:15am.  Lindsey really wanted to run this race, and since she and I are running the Princess Half together in two weeks, the 15K fit perfectly into our taper plan of 8-10 miles this weekend.  Jennifer is a fairly new runner who had never gone as far as 15K before, but Lindsey convinced her to run with us, so together we were quite the motley crew.

The race had a 15 min/mi maximum pace requirement, which, to be truthful, I was kinda nervous about.  I've been concentrating so much the last 18 months on distance and endurance for my marathon training that my speed has suffered.  Even on our most recent "long" runs (fewer than 10 miles) we've only been averaging 14:30-15 min/miles.  Because of that I already had some pre-race jitters going, it turns out that we were in the LAST corral, and it certainly didn't help that we had to wait about 2.5 hours before our race started to add to the freak-out factor.

I had quite a few other friends that were running the 5K, and another friend running the 15K.  Somehow we missed meeting up with ALL of them!!!  Craziness.  Finally at 8:30 we were in our corral and taking off.  I wanted to start us off with a good pace to build in a bit of a buffer, knowing that we'd have to walk up a couple of the hills that Lindsey said she saw on the elevation plan (I really had not been paying attention to the race - I just signed up and showed up), and that we'd probably slow down towards the end of the race.

Our first few miles we averaged a 13:20 pace, and were feeling good - and then the hills hit.  I still don't think of Dallas as being particularly hilly, but man oh man, I think they found every one in the vicinity of Fair Park and made us run up it.  Fortunately they were in the middle miles of the race, and Lindsey knew that once we finally finished with the hills it was mostly either flat or downhill the rest of the way.  So we slogged on through those hard hilly miles, and at the end of the hills I did some quick math, and amazingly we were still well under a 14 min/mi pace!  Wow!  It was a great feeling to know that even if we slowed down significantly we still should be under the 15 min pace requirement.

And after that 6 mile mark, every step took Jennifer further than she'd ever gone before, so that was a huge motivator for all three of us.  After pushing ourselves at that pace for the early miles, we were all getting tired, but just kept going.  We just kept up the intervals and ticked off the miles.

As we hit the 8 mile marker and had Fair Park in sight, we were ... not struggling ... but flagging, definitely.  I just kept pushing us, though, and if looks could kill I'm pretty sure the ones I was getting from Lindsey's direction would've had me falling dead right there on the course, lol.  The 9 mile marker we'd seen earlier that morning while walking from the car was a very welcome sight - just 0.3 miles to go, which meant only 4 or 5 more run intervals - wuhoo!  And then we saw the 3 mile marker for the 5K - just 0.1 miles!  We came up with our game plan for crossing the finish line - hands clasped together and raised over our heads.  Right after we crossed, I checked my Garmin - and it showed a 13:43 average pace!!!  AWESOME!!!

Our official time was 2:08:08, for an average pace of 13:45.  I was so excited that we did that great and Lindsey and Jennifer were equally as happy!

Post-race euphoria!

So after a quick pic it was time for the post-race goodies.  I'm not a big chocolate fan, but I did enjoy dipping the pretzels and marshmallows in the chocolate fondue (unfortunately they'd run out of bananas), and since it was cool and windy the cup of hot chocolate was wonderfully warm and pleasantly yummy!  

Post-race goodies.

We got home, and after Lindsey and Jennifer left and I showered, I was still feeling so great.  It felt a little silly to be proud of a time that was "normal" for me just a couple years ago, but still - I felt GREAT!  And, as an added bonus, it turns out that my finish time was a default PR because (who'd've guessed) I'd never run a 15K before!  YAY!

I feel like this shines a giant ray of hope on my secondary goal for the year - which is to get faster as a result of "finding the fun" and concentrating on shorter distances.  I'm loving that old feeling of working hard and pushing myself for this kind of breakthrough, and as a result I am looking even more forward to running Princess in a couple weeks than I already was!

Q4U:  What was your most recent fitness breakthrough/revelation?  Have you had a great success recently? Is there a "moment"/goal that you're still trying to reach?

Race Report: Run for the Dream

Earlier this year I found myself getting talked into signing up for a race in Williamsburg, Virginia, that quite a few of my running friends were doing (granted, it didn't take a lot of convincing on their part). The race is called Run for the Dream and benefits a local school for disadvantaged kids and supports wounded warriors.  Then, as if the lure of running with friends through a historic place wasn't enough, the race director announced the Patriot's Challenge - where if you run both the 8K on Saturday and the Half of Sunday, you get a third medal!  And, since it's the year of bonus bling for many of us, you better believe we were on board!

Knowing I was under-trained for undertaking the challenge (longest run to date since RnR Dallas was 7 miles), and knowing that both courses were very hilly, my plan for the weekend was just to survive both races and get my bonus bling.  So Thursday evening after work, I hopped on a plane to Baltimore where I was meeting up with most of the group.  Friday morning we all carpooled down to Williamsburg.  After first stopping at Cracker Barrel for lunch, we went to the race expo where we got our bibs, shirts, backpacks, and complementary Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens tickets - the schwag for this race was incredible!  After we signed up for the runner shuttles for Saturday and Sunday morning, we headed to the resort where we were staying for the weekend - J found a 3-bedroom condo that was perfect for the six of us girls!  We made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for some "necessities" and had an early dinner at Pizzeria Uno.  Before we knew it, it was time to organize our stuff for the 8K the next morning and hit the hay.

Saturday morning started out early, but not too early.  We got on our assigned shuttle and were at the starting line with plenty of time to spare.  In fact, as we were standing around looking fabulous in our SparkleSkirts, we attracted the attention of a video crew and they asked to interview us and tape a quick blurb about why we were there.  We were all in the same corral, so we lined up together and took off.  K & J took off early in the race, working for a PR for K for the 8K distance.   The rest of us leapfrogged each other for the first few miles, then eventually split out as we settled into our paces.  M and I were running together, taking it easy and trying to keep some in the tank for the half the next day.  As we were running down the main street of Colonial Williamsburg, we saw one of the women competing in the 80-85 division of the masters championship go down and hit her head - literally right in front of us.  A group of us stopped to help her, but the medical team arrived very swiftly, and we left them to do their thing and take care of her. (We were pleased to see her finishing later - she had a bandage on her head, but seemed to be in good spirits!)

The course continued through both Colonial Williamsburg and surrounding neighborhoods and into the campus of the College of William and Mary - it really was a pretty course.  The finish line was located inside the stadium on campus.  As we entered the stadium and started our lap around the track, volunteers handed us small American flags to carry as we finished - what a cool idea!  We completed the 8K in a respectable 1:13:15.

Post-race bash

It's nothing to write home about, but since this was my first 8K ever, I can say it was a PR!  After we got our medals, we headed to the post-race bash, where we got pulled pork sandwiches and beer!  Then back on the shuttle so we could go to the condo and get cleaned up.

After showering, eating, and resting for a little bit, we left the condo again - this time to wander around Colonial Williamsburg - using the passes included in our race registration.  While this was really

fun and interesting, we realized very quickly that being on our feet for hours on end was definitely not the best idea before a half.  Dinner that evening included a second trip to Cracker Barrel (another not-so-great idea...anyone else noticing a trend here?).  After dinner it was back to the condo to organize our stuff for the half the next day.

Sunday morning came too early and we were all dragging.  Due to our poor race prep and over-extending ourselves doing other activities, no one was really "feeling it."  Motto of the morning was just to get it done and get our bonus bling.  Thank goodness it had a 4 hour time limit - I had a feeling we

 might need every second of it.  After one of the best renditions of The Star Spangled Banner I've ever heard pre-race (sung by a kindergartener - yes, a kindergartener, every race should do that), we were off.  L wasn't doing the half, but had volunteered to be a course monitor on her bike (so we still got to see her a few times), and J was feeling pretty good, so she was actually going to try to run it like a normal race.  That left the other four of us, whose plan was, as M put it, "to start slow then back off."  And that's exactly what we did.

 

We started out with our run/walk intervals and a nice easy pace for the first 6 miles or so.  After that, the hills, humidity, and our poor race prep really caught up with us.  The intention was to walk for a bit and then re-start the intervals.  Ummm...yeah.  We

never re-started the intervals.  There was an out-and back section that took us out to an inlet with gorgeous scenery, but as we were going out, it was a little disheartening to know we'd have to traverse the same rolling hills on the way back.  However, we kept up pretty good attitudes and were having a good time just hanging out with each other and talking, and we also got to make some new friends!  We even survived the two named hills - now, for someone who comes from a relatively flat area of the country, named hills scare me - they're so bad someone actually gave them a NAME!!!

At some point (around mile 10 or 11), K and I pulled just the tiniest bit ahead of the others.  It definitely wasn't intentional - we had just found a comfortable pace and stride and knew that if we kept that up that we could make it to the finish ok.  As we neared the William & Mary campus again, churches were just letting out.  There was one small group outside a methodist church, dressed in their Sunday best, manning their own personal aid station.  There was a little boy handing out orange slices, which I didn't particularly need or want, but he was too cute to pass up, so I got one.  After another

quick tour through campus, finally we were getting close to the stadium, which was the finish line again.  I'd just like to point out that it's a sign of exactly how worn out I was that there's a picture of me walking - normally I'm super-OCD about making sure I'm running when I see a race photographer.  Not so much this race - it just wasn't happening for either of us.  We had to laugh as we turned the last corner on the track - we were so far behind the other runners that the finish line photographer had to pull his camera out of his bag to shoot us.  We were literally in the last dozen people to finish the race.  Another funny moment at the finish was when the announcer got a little confused with last names and announced that K and I were newlyweds!  Ummmm....no?  But it was literally a LOL moment that gave us that last little kick of energy for the finish line.

It's raining!

And we all did finish!!!  And that's all we could have hoped for with the way we were feeling.  Unfortunately, there was some kind of snafu with the bonus bling, and they didn't have enough of the Patriot's Challenge medals for all the finishers.  But they've assured us that they'll be sending us our third medals as soon as they get them in.  We grabbed more sandwiches and beer at the post-race bash and barely finished eating before the skies opened up on us and it started raining.  That lovely cloud cover we'd had for the last hour or so of the race had finally turned into something.  Fortunately it had held off until after the race, so it wasn't too bad.

When we first arrived at the condo, we had made big plans for the giant corner spa tub in the master bathroom - it was perfect for an ice bath!!!  And of course, ice baths are better with friends.  And alcohol.  Although the plan for the afternoon was to head over to Busch Gardens to ride a couple of rides and take advantage of the free meal voucher, between the continuing rain and being pooped after two races, it just didn't happen.  We ended up hanging out around the condo and reminiscing about our race weekend.  Not a bad way to spend a rainy afternoon and evening.  Eventually we managed to leave the condo and had our first relatively healthy meal of the weekend - we totally did that backwards - oops.

Monday morning we were back on the road to D.C/Baltimore, and I caught my flight back to Texas that evening.  What an insanely awesome weekend.  I set a new 8K PR, and a new PW (Personal Worst) for the half.  Even with the personally not-so-great races, the wonderful opportunities to race with friends and get some new bling far outweighed the minor negatives!  The Run for the Dream race is a great one - I highly recommend doing it if you ever get the chance.  It is well-organized and well supported, and it has a great course.

Race Report: San Francisco First Half Marathon

Pre-Race:

We arrived in San Francisco mid-day on Friday, and after getting a quick bite of lunch, we headed out for a little exploring.  My mom is a native Californian, and we took many family vacations out there when I was growing up, so we're all pretty

View from Point Lobos

familiar with the area, and we each had certain things we wanted to see and do.  We drove past my great-great-aunt's old house and the house where my grandfather lived as a teenager.  We walked through Golden Gate Park, then headed over to Point Lobos and took a short and easy hike along the coastal part of the Land's End Trail.  We rounded out the day by driving south

Dinner with old friends on Friday.

of the city to meet up with some friends of mine, who recently moved to Redwood City, for dinner.  We had a yummy meal and a great time catching up!  Unfortunately, the long day of traveling and the time change also caught up with us pretty early, so we headed back to the hotel to crash.

"The Race Even Marathoners Fear."

Saturday morning we got up early and headed to the Expo and were waiting in line when the doors opened at 9am.  We quickly got our bibs, shirts, and goody bags, snapped a quick photo in front of the "The Race Even Marathoners Fear" sign, and started browsing the rest of the Expo.  I really

Mom making signs.

wanted to get a tech shirt, but wasn't happy with the options being offered for the Half distance, so I didn't get anything.  It was a smaller Expo than I'm used to seeing at Disney, but the upside was that most of the booths were giving away some pretty good schwag - lots of good samples and freebies to be had!  The highlight of the Expo for me was getting to meet up with a message board friend from Georgia who was running the Full - she and I had never met in person, but by texting we were able to meet up - so much fun!

Seafood lunch at Fisherman's Wharf

We spent the rest of the day Saturday bumming around the city - driving the race course and stopping several times along the way.  We had lunch at Fisherman's Wharf,

Walt & me

did a little shopping in the Presidio at Sports Basement with our coupons from the Expo, and enjoyed a few hours exploring the Walt Disney Family Museum in the shadow of The Golden Gate Bridge.  After a quick stop at Trader Joe's for some snacks for Sunday, we stopped for an early pasta dinner at a small italian restaurant close to our hotel.  After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to do all of our race prep and turn in for another early night - race day means an early wake up call!

The Race:

4:45am. @ Ferry Building

We were up at 3 am to be out the door by 4 (for some reason, even though I'm always excited/nervous, I move super-slow on race mornings - so I have to allow some extra time).  And, even though I'd very carefully laid out all my race gear the night before, I somehow managed to forget to put sports shield on my feet - but more on that later.  We made it to the Embarcadero Center parking garage by 4:30, where some very nice security guards let us use the building's bathrooms before leaving the complex, then we headed down to the wharf, the Ferry Building, and the start line, which is where things got a little hectic...

At the start line.

Some of the UPS trucks that were "delivering" the gear bags to the finish lines hadn't shown up yet (not the best way to advertise, guys), including the one designated for my bib number, so I had to leave it with a volunteer at a table and hope for the best!  After hanging around for a bit, and a not-so-quick port-o-potty stop (the lines!), we all split up - Mom left to get on the spectator

View of the Bay Bridge from my corral.

shuttle and Dad and I entered our corrals.  Being in Corral 7 (8 total), I was positioned back towards the Bay Bridge, so as the sun was coming up I had a great view!  Dad was in Corral 5, and he started at 6:02.  After Corral 6 left, they let us move up to the start line, and at 6:22 I was off and running, too (pardon the pun)!

1st Half Elevation Chart

Being in San Francisco, the course had plenty of hills, but they start you off nice and flat - running along the waterfront past the piers and, of course, Fisherman's Wharf.  Even though they'd announced that at 58 degrees it was the warmest race start in 10 years, this leg was almost idyllic.  Compared to the 100+ temps in Dallas all summer, 58 felt amazing, and there was a good breeze off the water.  I did a good job of sticking to my intervals here and not starting off too fast - the first few miles I was right at a 13 min/mi - just where I wanted to be!  The first hill was right about the 2.5 mile point, and, with an 80 foot elevation gain in just over a tenth of a mile, it was a doozy!  I'd

Crissy Field - approx. 4.5 miles

already decided that I would walk the hills, so up I walked!  With a corresponding downhill portion just after, we were quickly back down to sea level and another 2 miles or so of flatness.  Mom's first spectator stop was at Crissy Field, just past 4.5 miles, where she snapped this shot of me (no, I'm not running backwards, mom yelled at me to turn around for the pic).

Mile 5: Bridge approach

The next leg of the race was: THE BRIDGE!  Even though there is a serious uphill section leading up to the bridge approach (150 ft in about half a mile), I was really looking forward to this.  After all, running over the bridge was the whole reason I was running the race in the first place! So after trudging up the hill, and quickly stopping for a picture, there I was - at the entrance to the bridge.  Awesome.  This race is the only one in San Francisco where they actually close lanes of traffic and let the runners on the road deck, so it's really special.  The Golden Gate Bridge is LONG - you just don't realize how long it really is when you're in a car!  The bridge is actually an out-and-back, so in total, we were on it for
about 3.5 miles!  The turnaround was at Vista Point where there was a GU/water stop & a gorgeous view of San Francisco.  There were also "real" bathrooms here, but I was feeling good and didn't want to waste time - I knew I had very little to spare!  [Funny side note: I was so wrapped up in experiencing the bridge that I kept forgetting to take my gel!  I'd tell myself that at my next walk break I was going to pull it out of my belt and take it, but then I'd get distracted and all of a sudden it would be time to run again.  I went through quite a few cycles of this before I made the concerted effort as soon as I stopped for a walk break to pull out the pouch and take it.  Guess that's one downside to such beautiful scenery!]

Leaving the bridge.

Coming off the bridge, there was another steep hill (again about 150 foot elevation gain in 0.5 mile).  Even though I was expecting it, this hill really took it out of me .  I ended up flipping around and walking up it backwards for short stretches (I had read somewhere that this uses different muscles than forward walking or running, so it's a nice break for your legs).  Finally, Mile 10 was the top of the hill and the point in the course I had been looking forward to the second most: a mile-long downhill stretch.  And when I say downhill, I mean it - this baby just shot down - it even had a couple of small switchbacks!  I ran almost the entire mile, taking advantage of the downhill momentum and practically flying (for me).  I was able to regain some of the time I'd lost by walking the hills, and even built up a decent time cushion (about 4 minutes by Mile 11).  I was a little worried about my knees here, so I was careful with each step to make sure I wasn't putting too much pressure on them.  Also at this point I started feeling a little bit of calf cramping - I guess I'd been going uphill so much, my calves were complaining at the downward motion - but nothing that I wasn't able to work out by keeping moving, fortunately!

Entering Golden Gate Park - Mile 12.5

And then, finally, was the last homeward stretch - coming up the Avenues towards Golden Gate Park.  I don't know if I hadn't registered the incline up 26th/27th Ave when we were driving it, or if I'd just blocked it out, but looking up from the bottom of that street, I knew I was in trouble.  With the exception of the intersections that flattened out for cross traffic, it was pretty much uphill the whole way.  Not steep like some of the other hills, but most definitely a pretty decent grade up.  I knew I had a cushion of a few minutes, so I ran where I could and walked when I needed to (definitely more walking

Nearing the Finish!

than running, with some backwards walking up the hills in there, too).  Over the the span between miles 11 and 12.5, I let my time cushion slowly erode away to almost nothing.  After finally reaching the top of the hill and turning onto the street adjacent to the park, I knew I needed to keep up my pace to finish in under 3 hours and be an official finisher - my real goal for this race!  As I turned the corner into Golden Gate Park, I waved at mom, and was so glad that it was mostly downhill from there to the finish.  Keeping a close eye on my Garmin, and my overall time, I stayed with my intervals, and at the 13 mile marker kicked it into gear and finished strong!  Yes!!!

My new medal!

My chip time was 2:59:36.  What a huge sigh of relief - I made it!  Then it hit me - not only was I an official finisher, but at almost 6 minutes faster than my fastest half, I'd also set a new P.R.!!!   Wow!!!  After grabbing a water, I got my medal (yay!) and a mylar blanket, which was most welcome since I was cooling off fast.  Getting my checked bag out of the pickup area was a little bit of a nightmare, but at least it was there.  Knowing that they'd said the last bus back to the full marathon finish line was

The finishers

going to leave at 10:15, I grabbed a post-race goody bag with food (banana, plum, Panera Bread scones), and briefly looked for the promised Irish Coffee, but didn't see any - darn it.  The line for the buses was outrageous, but they kept assuring us that more buses were coming and they wouldn't leave anybody behind.  Finally on the bus, I headed back to the Embarcadero to meet up with Mom & Dad.  After taking some pictures and relaxing a bit at the finish line, we got in the car and headed back to the hotel to clean up.

Post-Race:
After showering, we spent the afternoon relaxing and reviewing our Garmin data and pictures from the race.  I also had to treat matching blisters on each foot - thanks to me forgetting to apply the Sports Shield earlier that morning - ugh.

The 3 of us with Great Aunt Carol.

We'd gotten in touch with the extended family earlier in the week and planned to get together for dinner that evening further inland in Danville, CA, which is where my great aunt lives.  We met up with everyone about 5pm, and enjoyed a nice dinner with the family.  (I hadn't seen these cousins in over 25 years, and they kept remarking that the last time they'd seen me I was only "this high..." and holding their hands about two feet off the ground).  It was nice to catch up, but we were all pooped from our early morning and the race, so we left about 8pm.  Back to the hotel to pack, and then lights out because we all had early flights out of SFO the next morning.  And that was the trip!

All in all, I can truly say this race was, as billed, "Worth the Hurt."  I have such a feeling of accomplishment that has lasted days and still feels fresh to me, even now, when I think about completing this one.  So what do I do now?  Why, sign up for the 2nd Half in 2012, of course!  After all, I've got my eye on that "Half It All Challenge" medal!!!

The "Half it All Challenge" Medal - my goal for 2012.

I Did It!

Well, the cutoff time for the San Francisco First Half Marathon was three hours.

My official chip time was 2:59:36.  Wow.

Yes, I could have run harder the last couple miles and had a little more cushion in there, but my only goal was to be an official finisher.  AND - even though it was cutting it close to the 3-hr mark, it's still a new P.R. for me!

I'll do a real race report later this week, but thought I'd let y'all know that...

I DID IT!!!

 

The full report will have lots of pics, but I wanted to share this shot from Mile 5 - at the top of one of the major hills, and just before getting on the road deck of the Golden Gate Bridge.  This could be my new all-time favorite race pic.

Green 6.2: Triply Amazing!

Three amazing things about Saturday's Conn's Green 6.2 5K race:

1. I set a new P.R. for the 5K distance.
2. We ran to/from the race venue.
3. I fell in love with my new skirt.

1.  I shaved 6 seconds off my old 5K P.R.!  The truly amazing thing about it is that it was really hot and humid Saturday morning - high 70's and sunny, with very high humidity.  However, there was some wind to cool us off (is it possible that it was always a head wind?). But, it was a flat course, so that obviously worked to my advantage.  Plus, the race went through my parent's neighborhood, so it was on streets that I know!

2.  Since the race was through my parents neighborhood, and we knew that there would be limited parking near the start/finish line, we decided to run up there before the race and back afterward.  Since I needed to get 5 miles in on Saturday, we measured it out, and, by adding in the distance to/from the house to the race venue to the 3.1 miles from the 5K, it was exactly 5 miles - perfect!  And it worked out great, because it also meant we both had ample opportunity to warm-up/cool-down (maybe that 1.16 mi warm-up helped with the P.R.!)

3.  I've been dipping my toes into the pool of running in skirts.  I bought an "athletic style" Running Skirt brand skirt, have run in that several times, and like it.  I had a small problem with the shorts underneath rolling up a tiny bit, but figured, hey, it happens.  And

there was a little drooping in the back waistband, but I chalked that up to my body type (big hips, smaller waist).  At the Dallas R'n'R expo, Luke's Locker had a Skirt Sports brand "Happy Girl Skirt" on sale.  I tried it on, and bought it, but hadn't really had a chance to run in it.  I decided to wear it for the race on Saturday morning because it was going to be so warm that I felt like even my capris would be too hot.  I LOVED this skirt.  Not liked, LOVED.  It was so comfortable, and I didn't have any of the (albeit small) issues I had with my RS skirt.  I will definitely be buying more of these!  I'm not giving up on RS, but...I might be a SS girl for now.

Saturday's stats:

• 1.16 mi run; 0:14:14 min; 12:16 min/mi avg pace;
• 5K (3.11 mi) race; 0:37:39 min; 12:07 min/mi avg pace;
• 0.76 mi run; 0:09:31 min; 12:31 min/mi avg pace

Leaping Leprechauns!

Wow, it has been a busy, busy, week.  I never did manage to get any of my normal runs in during the week, so my first chance to move my legs in any running-type-fashion was with my family and friends in this Saturday's Leaping Leprechauns 5K & 15K.  I only did the 5K, but my dad and my friend Jessica did the 15K.  I ended up having a great time, especially considering this was my first run in a week; Jessica was the 2nd overall female finisher, and my dad finished 2nd in his age group - they are both like Speedy Gonzales compared to me!  We had a great time running our respective races, and wore lots of green with some goofy St. Patrick's Day accessories: 

 Even Jessica's hubby and kids got in the St. Patty's Day spirit and dressed up:

  

Saturday's Race Stats (per Garmin):

• 5K (3.14mi); 0:37:45 min; 12:01 min/mi avg page
• A NEW P.R. for the 5K for me!!!