Tuesday Training (2)

Well, it's time for my monthly training post. The post about training week 1-4 can be found here. For those of you who get bored by these training posts, feel free to check out some posts that are more interesting but little read, due to the fact that I wrote these back when I was but a wee blogger, like a post I wrote about The Latte Factor, or maybe you would prefer one where I ask, "Why Weight?"

Training is still going strong. I have had fun exploring new places as well as getting to run in a coastal city in the summer, which beats running in Missouri in the summer (which is what I did last year)! 

Week 5: May 21 - 28: 41 miles

For week five I ran a couple of fast and flat runs around the lake and then I did the group trail run, where I got to wear test the Brooks Connect. After that, I decided to explore the BA Ridge Trail and ended up doing a 17 mile trail run just for fun. I saw a few snakes, stopped and took dozens of photos, got lost, got rained on and had a great time! I wish all long runs were like that. I experimented with fuel: I tried Nuun (on the uphills) and a mocha Gu, which I took half at 1 hr and half at 2 hrs and they both seemed to settle pretty well.

Week 6: May 29 - June 3: 42 miles

In keeping with my exploration of the BA Ridge trail, for week six, I decided to run on the trail to meet a friend for a walk and I got lost again, so this one became an 11 mile trail run. I really didn't mind, except the next day's 3 mile run was pretty lead legged! I also did some 800s with an average pace of 7:40 for the entire run. My long run (13.1 miles at 7:26 pace)for the week was the See Jane Half Marathon. I did not use any fuel for the race.

Week 7: June 4 - June 10: 45 miles

Week seven was the week of the broken down car, and therefore I was stuck without my Garmin for a few days. I actually enjoyed not knowing what my pace was, although I missed having the data to analyze later. My average pace was around an 8:30 without it. My long run this week (16 miles at 8:52 pace) was in Santa Cruz along the West cliffs. The highlight was a snake eating a mouse. I also experimented with Gu Chomps, which are okay, but not great.

Week 8: June 11 - June 17: 47.5 miles

I was sick for the majority of week 8, which was a bummer. It's hard to run and breathe through your mouth the whole time. It's also a pain to have any extra reason to spit. However, I rested for the first couple of days and then made myself get back outside (it was beautiful in Santa Cruz this week -- weather in the 60s and low 70s) and just do it. I did a quick tempo run in the Kinvaras, which was like running on air. I also did a hill run, which was a 10 mile trail run uphill most of the way (I took the bus back down the hill). My long run (17 miles at 8:51 pace) was on the East Cliffs. I got a little lost but had another beautiful view (albeit a bit foggy).

Aside from the running, I have been walking approximately 2 miles (or more) a day, just to do normal things like walk to the bus stop, the grocery store, or just a leisurely after dinner photo walk. I have not done any strength/cross training, aside from carrying boxes, moving things, gardening and cleaning the house.

Are you training for any races? Do you do any strength training? How do you feel about working out in the summer time? (**Do you like to mess around with Excel?)

Tuesday Training

I have not really talked about this lately, because I feel like it's not as big of a deal, but I signed up for another marathon. It's in August. So, I am already a few weeks into my marathon training for the race. I have to admit, like everyone (I guess) I would like to qualify for Boston. But I am not sure if I have it in me. I am not doubting my ability to get faster, but I have recently been distracted by trail racing, which I love, and am contemplating signing up for a 30k in June and a 50k in August.

Am I crazy? Maybe. Can I do it all? I don't know. Can I try? Yes.

I am not going to bore you every week with my training details, but this week (and probably every few if I remember) I am going to! You know I hate it when people say, "I blog for myself" but in this case, I do want to get my training miles, fuel woes, and notes down on paper so I can look back later and see what I did wrong, needed to change or where I went right! And if it helps someone else, that is great too. So it's for me, and for you, if you want it. If you get bored reading post after post about mileage and taper and Gu, you may want to skip this one.

The Marathon: Santa Rosa Marathon

The Training "Plan" (loosely followed so far!): Hal Higdon's Advanced Plan. I wanted to run at least two 20 mile runs before the race. This advanced plan actually calls for 3. This plan also suggests alternating (on Thursday) hill, speed and tempo runs. Some of the other plans did not have any speed work, but I NEED to get faster in order to get the (new and "improved") 3:35 BQ time required for my age group. And I would LIKE to get more like a 3:30.

WEEK ONE: Goal: 27.5 miles / Actual: 27.5 miles / Long Run: 10 miles

Week one went exactly as planned. I did two easy runs, a hill run, a pace run and a long run. The plan calls for 6 days of running per week, which I find a bit excessive, so I put two of them together and still got the mileage with 5 runs instead. I was surprised by how hard the pace run was. I ran it at an average of 7:55/mi, with my fastest mile at 7:10/mi.

WEEK TWO: Goal: 31 miles / Actual 31 miles / Long Run: 7 miles**

Week two was the weekend of The Relay, so I ran 16 miles total on Sunday, but it was run in 4 separate legs (7 mi, 2 mi, 6.2 mi, 1.2 mi), so I guess my actual long run was only 7 miles. I also skipped the tempo run on Thursday but ran my 1st leg (7 miles) of the Relay near tempo pace (7:43 according to the McMillan Pace Calculator).

WEEK THREE: Goal: 31 miles / Actual: 32 miles / Long Run: 13 miles

As you can see, I lowered week three to 5 days a week as well, and added a bit of extra mileage in the form of a trail race. I love adding races to my training plan as long runs, as they are so fun! However, I maybe should have dialed it back a little and spread it out over 6 days, since I was pretty sore from the Relay. This week’s Thursday run was 4x800 intervals, which I ran at an average of 7:52. The fastest 800 was 6:36. In order to get a 3:30 marathon according to Bart Yasso, I should be running my 800s at about 7 minutes. I wouldn’t mind being faster than that though.

WEEK FOUR: Goal: 33 miles / Actual 28 miles / Long Run: 19 miles

This also includes 4 mi walk on Mon and 5 mile hike on Fri.

Week 4 was hard because I was still a bit fatigued from the Relay/Half, and then I went to my parents house and my 6 mile run became a 1 mile run because of snakes and poison oak. I also knew that I was going to be running a pretty long run on Sunday and did not want to be as tired on Sunday as I was last Saturday. So I took it easy this week. I am glad that I did because Sunday’s run was pretty hot and VERY hilly and I went through a lot of water and a lot of wear and tear on the ol’ quads. And thank goodness, because I feel great now because of it! I also "skipped" Thursday's hill run because the run on Sunday had about a 7000 ft climb. I think that warrants a skip! Wednesday I moved heavy boxes and gardened and washed cars. I am calling that cross training.

So, a few questions for you guys: Have you ever run an Ultra race? Do you think I can fit in a 30k, an ultra and a marathon in a two month period? I am planning on running a flat half marathon at the start of June just so I can analyze my road racing fitness level a bit, but other than that, much of my running/training will be on trails. Have any of you run the Santa Rosa Marathon? Do any of you hate training recaps? Go ahead and say it; I won’t be mad.

California International Marathon: Race Recap

As I said before, this was a great race. The course was beautiful and although there were rolling hills, there were no incredibly steep ones. And, like the sign on my back said, this was my first marathon. But, I am getting ahead of myself.

The expo was great. As I said in my Pros and Cons post, there were plenty of things to buy, there were discounts and there were samples. It was set up well and easy to find.

The race started at 7 am. I was ready! I struggled with what to wear. I was posing in front of the mirror for hours! Just kidding, I always have problems figuring out how to not wear too much and still avoid turning into a Popsicle. It was in the 30s in the morning. I wore shorts, a t-shirt, arm sleeves, a beanie, gloves and a fleece. I opted to not leave my fleece at the sweat check because I was still cold 20 minutes before the race. I actually did not end up warming up until about mile 8, so I am glad I decided to keep it. My goal was about a 4:20, so I started between the 4:10 and the 4:25 pace groups.

Obligatory blurry camera phone photo

The first few miles were fine. I felt great. I was running at about a 9:00 - 9:15 pace. I was a little unsure whether I should slow down and try to keep my energy or just keep going at this pace and see what happened. My fastest race pace is about an 8:11, so this would not be "all out" but it was a faster pace than I had been doing my training at (more like a 9:50 for long runs). I kept it up until mile 6, when I finally had to stop to pee, even though I really did not want to because there was a line. I lost a few minutes there, but it gave me a chance to take off my sweatshirt and readjust a little.

The best thing about this race is that since I am from California (and usually NEVER run races IN California) many of my family and friend came to watch me. They made signs and wore Santa hats and shook cow bells! I felt so loved! Here is my favorite one.

My biggest fan, Mom.

The plan was that they would be at the 13.5 mile marker, then once I passed, they would get in the car and drive to the 20, then once I passed, they would go to the end. I almost missed them at the first stop. Remember the Relay I was complaining about? My family and friends were mixed in with all the relay runners and spectators. But I did get a chance to give them a high five and hand over my jacket.

But back to the race. After the pee stop at mile 6, I maintained about a 9:10 pace. I still felt great. I had to stop (again!) and wait in line (again!) but except for the stops, my pace was pretty steady. I took my first chew at mile 5 and then pretty much took one roughly every two or three miles after that. There were a few hills which kicked my butt but I really did feel good. Miles 11 - 13 kind of dragged by, because I was antsy about seeing my fans (!!) and I also had the San Juan hills to contend with. There was a nice point right around mile 10 where you run through old town Fair Oaks, which is really cute! You also have to dodge chickens.

At the Half Marathon point, my time said 2:05 (but it took me about three minutes to get over the start line). I felt good about this, since my goal was 4:20 and if I could keep up my pace, that would be easy to achieve. I actually kept up my pace until about mile 20. I passed my family again, gave them another wave and a smile and I remember thinking, "what wall?" Right around mile 21, my knee started hurting and I slowed down and I felt pretty darn tired. I had to pee again and after that, I couldn't get back up to speed. My pace was around a 9:50.

Around Mile 23, as I was struggling to keep my pace under 10 minutes, the 4:10 pace group caught up to me. I thought to myself, "I will just run with them until the end". The pace leader said, "How is your first marathon treating you!?" I told her that my knee was hurting but my spirit felt good. She told me that it would all be worth it, that you only have your first marathon once, and that when I got to the finish line, I needed to make sure I raised my hands in the air and smiled at the camera.

I am not sure why, but that was exactly what I needed to hear. I quit telling myself that I would settle for hanging with the 4:10 group, and I picked up my pace a little.  The rest of the race was run at about a 9:20 pace.

Running down L street - Mile 26

I ended up beating the 4:10 group by two minutes. And Oprah, of course. My knees were a bit stiff but I felt good overall. I took the advice of John and drank a chocolate milk and two waters in rapid succession. 

Finally earned that sticker

Capitol Mall, downtown Sacramento

Final time (still as of yet unofficial) 4:08:27
Pace overall: 9:27 (gosh darn potty stops!)
Potty stops: 4
Family and friends cheering me on: 20 +/-
My first marathon: Priceless

It was pretty good. I was pretty tired for a little while, but felt good physically and mentally overall. Will I do it again? I think so. Afterwards I walked 18 blocks (I needed to walk out the stiffness in my knee) to brunch, where I met up with my family at Cafe Bernardos and we gorged ourselves on Amaretto French Toast with Almonds. Okay, maybe it was only me.

To hear about other people's fitness journeys, stop by Jills for Fitness Friday!

Have you run a marathon? How was it? Have you ever set a crazy goal and accomplished it? What should I do next?

California International Marathon: Pros and Cons

First off, let me say that I did what I set out to do…I beat Oprah! Hurray! 

source

Now, let’s talk about race pros and cons. The California International Marathon, held in Sacramento, starts at Folsom Lake and ends at the Capitol Mall downtown. It is a net elevation decline; however, this does not mean that it does not have hills! In fact, according to my Garmin, the total ascent was 3600 ft. and the total descent was about 3900 ft., which pretty much matches up to the course profile. 

The course itself is a beautiful course. There is still fall foliage. It runs mostly down Fair Oaks Blvd, which is a tree lined and sometimes winding road. The weather started out in the high 30s/low 40s and got up into the high 50s/low 60s by the end of the race. The race started at 7 am and although you could not drive to the start, there were free bus shuttles from several areas nearby. You could also pay to get the bus from several hotels. If you paid, you got to sit on the bus until the start of the race; if you took the free shuttle, you had to get off and wait in the cold. 

PROS:

Plenty of port-a-potties at the start of the race. In fact, there were probably near to 300 of them. This is a huge pro for me, since I have a bladder the size of a pea, especially on race day, when I am nervous and hyper hydrated.

Plenty of aid stations (17 total). There was an aid station pretty much every one and a half miles serving both water and Ultima Replenisher. There were three places where they were handing out Gu as well (miles 13, 20 and 23). They had the Gu stations right before the water stations, so you could take your Gu and then have a nice swig of water to wash it down, which I have found is critical. I carried my own water (24 oz) because I like to have more control over when I can drink, but I would have been fine without it.

Great race swag. The t-shirt for this race was a long sleeved technical tee. It came in both women’s and men’s sizes, which is great because the men’s shirts just don’t fit me quite as well. It’s light blue (the men’s were dark blue…what the heck), which is not that exciting, but at least it’s not white.

The Expo. The expo was huge. There were tons of vendors there, both selling and giving away things. There was a lot of information about other races in the area. REI was there, giving away money (I still don’t know if I won anything…fingers crossed!) It was well organized and easy to manipulate. I did not buy anything, since I pretty much have everything I need right now, but if I needed anything, this would have been the place to get it!

CONS:

The Relay. This race was not only a marathon, but also a marathon relay. What I did not quite understand is that they don’t split up the four legs evenly; it’s 5.9, 13.1, 20 and the end. Strange. Anyway, I wish that they had this as a separate race. The areas where the relay runners had to swap over was so congested. I think there were something like 1000 teams, so hundreds of people were lined up, ready for the exchange at the transfer points. At each transfer point, there were corrals and the relay people went one way while the marathoners went another. It was just a bit confusing and was a little too much hubbub for me.

Bivvys on the course. As I mentioned before, this is a very personal con for me, since I use the bathroom a lot. I had to go 4 times during this race. Each time I waited as long as I could, because all of the port-a-potties had long lines. At each aid station there were only 4 or 5 potties, therefore making this a con in my book. I think that without the bathroom lines, I may have been able to shave 5 minutes off of my time, maybe more! Or maybe I just need to learn to pee on myself, like the pros.

Walkers. This may be of no fault of the CIM, but what is up with the people walking in front of me when I was corralled in the 4:10 – 4:25 area? Shouldn’t they have started farther back? The race start was not corralled per se. There were only signs telling you what pace should be starting here, but no actual cordoning off of people (like when I ran in NY). I am not fast enough that it really made a difference to my time, but it is still annoying that people slower than me must have started way up at the 3 hour pace mark, when they are obviously not going to finish in three hours. I admit to sometimes corralling myself in a 30 second per mile faster than I normally run, but not HOURS!

SOME STATS:

Before the race started I asked a lady at the port-a-potty line how many people had signed up. She said 25,000. I remember thinking, “Holy &^%$”. Once the race started and I had been running in a pretty thick pack of people for about 2 hours, I assumed she must have been right. The crowd barely thinned; even by the end I was still running alongside a lot of people. Afterwards, we checked online. Here are the official numbers.

Marathoners signed up: 7909

Marathoners finished: 5900 (not official)

Relay Teams signed up: 1056 (x 4 people)

Course Record: 2:10:06, Jerry Lawson, USA, 1993

This Year’s Winner: 2:11:50 Erick Monyenye, USA

All in all it was a great race. I was pretty tired at the end, but I made it. I finished. Stay tuned for the race recap on Friday!  

Have you ever been to Sacramento? What did you do this weekend?

26 Miles, 26 People, 260 Minutes

In two days, I run my first marathon. I have been training for a long time for this, both mentally and physically. Most of my time spent training has been by myself. But that doesn’t mean that I have not had a lot of help and support along the way. As I run my marathon on Sunday, I plan to have a person every mile to inspire me. Some of them have inspired me physically, some have inspired me mentally and some are just inspiring in general.

Mile 1: Mira, who was my first running buddy. She was the one who helped me get through my first long run. We used to run along the levee in New Orleans, from work back to our room, which was a 10 mile run. She was great company and a fabulous running partner. I ran my first Half Marathon with her by my side the entire time. 

Mira and I at the Newburyport Green Stride Half in October

Mile 2: Dad. My father was my first fan, and is still my greatest fan. He has sacrificed many a Sunday morning to not only cheer me on but to take photos, run the 5k races and even sometimes jump in to finish the last quarter mile with me. He even brought water and Gatorade for Mira and I when we ran our first long run. 

Dad came in 3rd in his age group in the City of Roses 5k!

Mile 3: Granddad. There have only been two people in my family who have run a marathon. One of them was my Granddad. He died when I was a teenager, but I always remember thinking he was crazy, because he would tell me how he got up at 5 am to get his runs in. Now I know what he was talking about (it is still crazy though!) 

Mile 4: Craig. My uncle was the second person to run a marathon in our family. Even better is the fact that he ran the same marathon I am running. When he ran it, he was also about my age. This is very special to me that we have this in common.

Mile 5: Lea, my friend who always tells me that I inspire her. What she doesn’t know is that she inspires ME every day, by believing in me and being there for me no matter what.

Mile 6: Jack is another CIM alumni and my friend who will be keeping tabs on me and promised “not to make fun of me” if I run really slow. He ran this marathon last year, but got hurt around mile 20. He walked the rest of the way but still ended up finishing. Not finishing fast, but finishing all the same! I can finish this too!

Mile 7: Hal Higdon. He doesn’t even know me, but I used his training schedule for both my half marathon and this marathon and I have felt great the entire time. I may be a little premature in thanking him, but even so, I do.

Mile 8: Bloggers who run are great people. Everyone is always so encouraging, whether you are running a mile or a marathon, whether you run a 20 minute mile or a 5 minute mile. People have given me advice on everything from what to wear, what to eat or where to run. When I express nervousness about a race or have questions about a run, the running bloggers are there for me. For a taste of some of the bloggers who inspire me, go to Jill's Fitness Friday page! 

Mile 9: Bloggers who don’t run are also great! They still are encouraging, even if they don’t know exactly what I am always talking about or going through. They are still there for me when I feel scared, excited or nervous and when I am having either a good day or a bad one. You can see some of my favorites over on my right sidebar under "Some Blogs I Follow".

Mile 10: Lisa, my friend from Minneapolis, who has been a wealth of running advice and support. She introduced me to the Yasso; she has suggested nutrition and hydration methods and products. I met up with her earlier this year to run a 10 mile race in MN, so mile 10 is for her.

Mile 11: Chris and Alan, my second set of parents, who have not only put up with my stupid, crazy, idiotic antics for years, but are letting me stay at their house AND driving me to the start line early (the race starts at 7!) in the morning on Sunday. They will be cheering me on from somewhere near mile 11, so this one is for them.

Mile 12: Bart Yasso. He doesn’t know it, but he helped me realize that I could be faster. His program for intervals helped me become faster, but more importantly, gave me confidence in myself. I was running at a certain pace, which was “good enough for me” but then I pushed myself a little and realized that I can be faster if I just work a little harder.

Mile 13: Grandma S, who always keeps up with what I am doing and is very supportive. Here is what she said recently via email: “Think of you a lot as you practice and then run those horrendous marathons! I admire your stamina!”  So, as I am reaching the halfway point of this “horrendous marathon” I will be thinking of HER a lot!  Also, hopefully I still HAVE stamina at this point!

Mile 14: My East Coast Family, who I got to spend Thanksgiving with this year. We had a great time, as always, and it was great to catch up with them, to eat, drink and be merry and to remember how great times with family really are. My Cousin and Aunt have also both lost weight recently and are getting out more, walking around and eating healthier and I am so proud of them!

Mile 15: All my friends in New Orleans. NOLA was the first place I really ran seriously. It was where I ran my first half marathon and where I did the majority of my “firsts” (first 8 mile run, first 10 mile run…) There were a lot of people there who I was hanging out with in those days (you know who you are). They were my family away from home. They were there when I was taking my baby steps. 

My first Half Marathon: Mardi Gras Marathon

Mile 16: The Race Volunteers. These people are tireless and friendly and sometimes not even runners! They do it out of the goodness of their hearts. Without the volunteers, there would be no races, or the fees would be much higher! They give us water, Gu and directions! Without them we would literally be lost.

Mile 17: My West Coast Family. Many of them will be cheering me on from the sidelines on Sunday. They are great to be around and I always have a good time with them. I can’t wait to see them and am glad that an event like this is bringing us together, even though it’s not a holiday! I just hope I don’t fall asleep at the table during lunch.

Mile 18: My San Francisco friends. I actually got to see many of them last weekend when I visited the city. I miss them and it was great to see them, although I did not get a chance to see everybody. I had a great visit with some of them though and will be thinking of all of them (and dreaming about buying a house in the city someday) as I run mile 18.

Dinner in North Beach. Bad photo, but good people!

Mile 19: Karen and Nadine, my other “mother” and her daughter, who is my oldest friend. You know those people who you don’t see for years and when you meet up, it’s like no time has passed? They are like that. They are family. And they make a darn good coffeecake! As I am eating a Gu at mile 19, I will pretend it’s Nadine’s coffeecake.

Mile 20: When I hit the wall (and feel like crying) at mile 20, I will think of my Mom. She is always encouraging me no matter what I am doing and I will remember her kind words in my head, and she will help me through my struggle. I usually don’t run races near home, so she watched me for the first time only last month and will be here on Sunday to support me once again. Thanks Ma! 

Mom and I at Almond Bowl Half in November

Mile 21: Kara, my friend who has an energy that I can never match. She recently got married, had a baby, bought a house, moved and got a new job. In between that she does about 4 million other things. Hopefully during the race I will have her energy to get me through the wall and to the end.

Mile 22: My honorary nieces and nephews. They are little bundles of energy. They are full of life. As the miles start to drag, I will keep them in mind, knowing that they believe in their Aunty and that I can do it for them. This mile is for the children!

Mile 23: My Uncle Jay, who died of Cancer last year. He fought it and fought it and was very positive about things until the very end. He didn’t let anything get him down. I will fight these last few miles like (and FOR) Uncle Jay! 

Uncle Jay, Christmas '09

Mile 24: My Brother, who is a huge pain in the butt, so, when I am getting my butt kicked by mile 24, I will think of my brother and I will kick the butt of mile 24. I will not let it beat me. I will beat it, just like I still  used to beat up my brother ;)

Mile 25: Mr. Lovely, who has put up with my running, racing, sweating, smelling bad, telling him repeatedly how many calories are in things, talking about running blogs, nagging him, making him drive me places, making him wait for me, making him be the event photographer, boring him to death with talks about running, running shoes, running pants, Gu, the newest fad and the fact that I am hungry (again) and I need my bunions feet massaged. To top it off, all my races are on Sundays (football days). Since I was a difficult pain in the butt to him for the last several months, I will think of him on this most difficult mile. 

Yes, it's a Lovely Mustache. It may look ridiculous, but it won 100 bucks in a contest!

Mile 26: Myself. This one is all for me. I will finish this race for myself. I am going to cross the finish line. I may not be fast, but I will finish. For all the work I have put into this. For setting goals and attaining them. For proving to myself that I am strong enough. The last mile (point two!!) is all mine. I am going to own it.

My goal is 260 minutes, or 4 hours and 20 minutes, which is a 10 minute mile. I don’t know if I will make it, but that is what I am shooting for. If I don't attain that, I will still be happy. I just want to finish. 

“To finish the moment, to find the journey's end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom” Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Who is your greatest supporter? Your most inspirational friend? What do you do to get through tough times, physical ones or mental ones?