November: 58.80 miles

Ouch. You'd never guess I'm in the middle of marathon training with such low miles... :(

October: 106.57 miles

September: 100.40 miles

Carlsbad Marathon

Twenty-six point two!

Sweat, smiles and great fun -- whoo hoo!

I signed up today!

August: 80.40 miles

America's Finest City

The AFC Half Marathon in San Diego was yesterday. I knew it'd be a challenge given the last few weeks of icky runs, two weeks away from home and the course itself. It was tough. The course is a point-to-point, beginning at Cabrillo Monument out on Point Loma and ending in Balboa Park. The 7am start meant everyone had to be shuttled to the start which meant I woke up at 3:30am and carpooled with friends to the start since we live 35 miles away. It made for a tough morning and one I was not familiar with in terms of when to eat, drink, how much, etc. But the course itself is a good one. The first mile is scenic... then you run downhill for about 3 miles... miles 4 to about 11 are pretty flat and all around the Harbor Island/airport area... then you start climbing from downtown to Balboa Park... the last .5 miles or so are downhill again to the finish. We were fortunate the sun stayed away for much of the race or it would have been pretty warm out there. I was ill-prepared and not focused at all. I didn't even get across the finish line in under 2 hours. !!!

.

I would love to try this one again, but only to prove to myself that I can run it much better than I did yesterday but that early start with the shuttle is tough. I'm thinking my races are going to be more local and definitely not require a shuttle at the start.

July: 118.07 miles

Goal was 120 miles -- pretty close!

Orange County Mud Run & Eco Fest. 2009

during the race ~ after rinsing off

.

A woman I met last month hurt her back this week so she offered me her race bib for today's 10K Mud Run. I had wanted to run the Camp Pendleton Mud Run last month, but the event was full within two days of opening registration. Today's event had all the good mud run obstacles like water bodies you wade through, hills to run up, short walls to climb over, tires to high step through, mud pits to crawl through, tunnels with sand and it was a great first experience, but I'm still thinking that Pendleton has to be on my race schedule next year. I need to mark my calendar now to ensure I have a spot when registration opens in January.

.

Time today looked to be about 54:30. I'm pleased because it's actually quite a bit better than I had expected. Getting out early towards the front of the pack was key since some of the tighter spots like the tunnels got really bogged down for folks who got there later than I did. It was also a very warm morning in Irvine, Calif.

.

I won't do this specific event again because I thought it was so poorly organized, but I'm definitely up for another Mud Run challenge!

Coronado 15K

Finish today was 1:20 for this pancake flat 15K. I had hoped for a little faster pace but it just wasn't the day for it. My finish was still a personal best by almost 4 minutes. Today I learned many things...

• Running with a tummy issue is not good or fun. The pharmacist two days prior had told me when she gave me my prescription that it might cause diarrhea. It did.
• I've become too dependent on my Garmin. A low battery today meant the thing didn't work. Grrrr.
• The pockets in my running skirt don't really hold things, they only pull the skirt down when filled. I ended up carrying my cell phone in my hand today. Ugh.
• The core exercises I've been doing are definitely paying off.

June: 107 miles

May: 100.02 miles

It has been THREE years since I've had a monthly mileage total this high. Wow!

April: 59.70 miles

Carlsbad 5000

Ran the Carlsbad 5000 this morning. Actually, my race started at 10:20am. !! It was weird to wake up lazily, eat breakfast, drink a grande Starbucks coffee, play with the kids, shower... and then drive over to the race with the whole family. Very strange, but something worked despite the warm weather and I improved my time from the Turkey Trot 5K in November. That one was my first 5K and today's event was my second -- today's time was about 1.5 minutes less. I finished in just under 24 minutes! Setting a goal like that and achieving it felt really, really good.
.
Official results:
#107 out of 1228 and a chip time of 23:53

March: 75.65 miles

February: 64.54 miles

Started March with a nice 6.3 mile run... you know, one of those really good ones where you lose yourself and completely forget about time, pace, etc... yeah, I had one of those today.

thinkin', thinkin', thinkin'...

I've driven this course, but mostly in the opposite direction from La Jolla to Del Mar. And I've driven up the hill in Torrey Pines State Park that makes the quick 420' climb in approximately half a mile. Just thinkin'...

January: 78.42 miles

Carlsbad Half Marathon

Earlier this week I began to doubt whether or not the half marathon would happen for me today. I was hit with a nasty bug that was relentless. I finally conceded and went to a doctor Thursday afternoon. The lovely doctor gave me two prescriptions, some advise and promised I'd be running this morning. He was right!

Carlsbad puts on a pretty nice little marathon and half marathon event. They are both out and back courses that begin inland at the mall, but make a beeline for the coast. The bulk of it is down and back up the Coast Hwy which is glorious in Carlsbad. You're as close to the ocean as you can be and the cooling breezes off the Pacific are wonderful.

Temperature this morning started around 55* and only warmed to 60* by the end of my race. The sun eventually came out but not until nearly all the participants had finished. It was a perfect morning for running!

Not my best time, but a good time for me. Garmin finish of 1:58. I'm very pleased with this race. I started out really strong and ran the first several around an 8:30 pace, sometimes faster but never slower. At the halfway point I began to tire (the route is like a roller coaster and the hills were beginning to wear me down), but managed to run the entire route at a slower pace. It was especially nice to see my husband and kids around the 12.85 mark. I was really tired at that point and to see them there really sparked up my running and pushed me to the finish.

Next up: "the world's fastest 5K" in April ~ the Carslbad 5000. I watched it last year and have been looking forward to participating all year long. My goal is to better my time at the Turkey Trot and run sub-8 minute miles.

December: 59.25 miles