Wednesday, February 01, 2012
January: 107.83 miles
Ouch. Not nearly enough miles this month to be on track for my 2012 goal. The first 10 days of January were tough to get runs in since my kids were on their holiday break. Hoping to pick it up in February. I already started today with a great long-ish run!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Carlsbad Half Marathon 2012
pre-race: no nervous energy, just excitement!
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I love the Carlsbad Marathon and all of its events. We moved here in February '08 so I had just missed it that year but swore I would participate in this awesome hometown event every year that we are here. I almost missed it this year due to timing of other races, but I'm glad I found a way to participate at the last minute! This year, I ran the Half Marathon event. It was my second time and, as always, it proved again to be my favorite race distance. The day before I had run the Kids Marathon Mile through Legoland with my children. I love that it's a fun, family weekend of running!I felt comfortable going into the race and knew it would be a solid effort but definitely not a PR race for me. The course is primarily up and down Pacific Coast Highway which is just that - up and down. The hills aren't terrible but there are enough of them that a PR was not in the books for today. However, I knew that going in and had my goal set on beating my previous time at the Carlsbad Half (1:52:30 in 2009).
The day before the race it poured. It also poured the day after the race. For Southern California, these were "stormy" days and it really was quite heavy at times. Yet, by the luck of the draw, race day for Carlsbad was absolutely perfect. It didn't rain, the sun stayed away for most of the race and there was no wind worth mentioning.
I was in Wave 2 for the Half Marathon and ended up starting in the back of that wave due to getting to the corrals late. The first few miles were a bit congested and I had to do a lot of passing. It forced me to start at a slower pace; the first few miles were run at an 8:30-8:45 pace. Miles 3 to about 10 were picked up and kept steady at a 7:50 to 8:00 pace. I felt pretty good, not working terribly hard but pushing it a little. The last few miles felt harder than my pace reflects. I knew I was starting to tire and the course at that point was climbing to get over the 5. The finish was as fast as I could muster. It's a little deceiving because once over the 5 you begin to descend and people will often push it. However, you're still more than 3/4 of a mile away so it's way too soon for me to push. If I do, the flat finish feels extra hard. I waited until the last turn (under 1/2 a mile) to give it all I had. It felt great to finish having met my goal for this race!
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
2011 mileage: 1505.50 miles!
Whew. I was a little concerned making the 1500 goal would be difficult with these last two weeks of December being such a busy time. Fortunately the weather in Portland was cool but dry so I could get in some great runs. It sure feels good to set a goal, work towards it all year long, and then actually see myself achieve it.
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
LB finisher photos
I always look so dorky in race photos. These finisher photos actually aren't all that bad. The Long Beach Marathon/Half Marathon event handed out mylar blankets -- even for the half marathon finishers and we didn't even need them given the warm day. What a great event to treat its runners so well. Seriously, this event is top notch.
Sunday, October 09, 2011
Long Beach International Marathon (HALF MARATHON)
I've learned over the years that I'm just not a warm weather runner. If it's over 60 or 65 degrees, it's simply too warm for me. I sweat excessively. I cramp if I'm not religiously taking in fluids and popping sodium tablets. I love the sunshine but not during a race. I didn't know what the weather would be like for today's Long Beach Marathon events when I threw my name into a contest for a free bib. I hadn't even considered running LB but when I saw an opportunity to get a completely comped bib... well, I couldn't NOT TRY. And I got it. So today I ran the Half Marathon event. It's a gorgeous course and very well-supported, but the 1.5 to 2 hour drive (each way) and the warm day are tough to deny. I was glad to be done when I finished today. I wish I could have remained strong to the end, but overall I'm happy with today's run. New age group, new category (I'm now a "Masters") and a good solid effort today...
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Saturday, October 01, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
the Lemon Run
Distance: 4.6 miles
Time: doesn't matter
Fun factor: 10+
Thursday, September 01, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
America's Finest City Half Marathon
America's Finest City Half Marathon ~ San Diego, Calif.
post-race photo with my running pals
America's Finest City Half Marathon (AFC) was this past weekend. Not my favorite half marathon event, but one that I ran two years ago and one that I've wanted to run again, only because I knew I could run it better. Two years ago I started much too fast and totally ran out of gas at the bottom of the hill. At that point, I was about halfway through the race so the second half was incredibly long and slow. I didn't make it under 2 hours that year. I knew I could run it better (smarter on those hills!) so I ran it again this year. A little better on the hills and flat portion of the course, but the hill at the end still kicked my butt. It's a long, slow climb for 1.5 miles at the very end of this race. For a half marathon, this event requires a lot of effort with its shuttle to the start, early race start, and event location. I do not plan to run this one again because of that (too much work for a half!). It would have been great to finish in under 1:50 at this race but the course is a tough one. I'm happy with my 1:53 finish! Race Results
Overall: 1508 out of 6753
Women: 456 out of 3543
F 35-39: 84 out of 603
Finish: 1:53:46
Pace: 8:41
Why can't these race photos ever be good??
Monday, August 01, 2011
July: 98.89 miles
Yes, the 1.11 miles that I'm shy of an even 100 miles kills me. It makes me absolutely, positively, certifiably nuts...
Monday, July 11, 2011
Foot Traffic Flat 2011
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| finisher's medal -- unique, fun, and totally Portland |
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| Why can't race photos ever be good? |
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| post race with my husband who ran a blistering 1:33 today (new PR for him, too) |
Overall: 261 out of 1641
Women: 77 out of 1070
F 35-39: 10 out of 148
Finish: 1:44:57
Pace: 8:00
Friday, July 01, 2011
Monday, June 06, 2011
Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Half Marathon
This morning I ran the Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Half Marathon. Three days ago I had no desire to run this race. I'm not a fan of this race series -- that's a whole other post, but basically the "circus" environment I imagined is very, very real -- and never gave it a second thought. However, my friend called me Thursday evening to say, "I think I can get us bibs for this weekend's race. Are you in?" The more I thought it over, the more I liked the idea. Friday I thought it might be iffy and I actually felt disappointed -- I really did want to run this race! Saturday morning, she texted me around 11am to let me know that she had two bibs in her hands and that we were all set to run. So this morning I woke at 3am (couldn't sleep) and we headed downtown for the 6:15am race start.
Our bibs were for the full marathon but we agreed that doing the full today wouldn't be prudent. I'd only run one 11 miler since the OC Marathon and she hadn't run much at all since Boston due to tight hamstrings. So we decided to run the half marathon. The first four miles we weaved around slower runners and walkers. Around this point we became separated and didn't see each other again the whole race. I continued to weave around people pretty much the whole race but it did ease up a bit after mile 6. Around mile 8 the guy in front of me came to a dead stop and I totally nailed him. Again around mile 12 a female on the side also wanted to weave around the same 4 slower runners that I was weaving around and we collided. Had I not held her arm up, she totally would have bit it. She apologized (it was her fault) but it still felt pretty good to take off at that point and leave her and her white tutu behind. The crowd support was amazing and I was able to pick it up to a 7:40 pace as I headed into the finish. It was a new PR for the half marathon distance (took off almost 3 minutes to finish in 1:49 -- woot!) but it isn't official since it wasn't my bib. I'm not the 32 year old female I pretended to be today. Nor is my friend the 26 year old female she pretended to be today.
Usually the races we enter are planned so far in advance. It was a different experience to "jump in at the last minute" and really a fun way to do it. We were planning to run 12 miles this weekend anyway and with the gorgeous weekend weather and bibs for 1/3 of their original prices, well... how could we possibly pass that up!?
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 02, 2011
OC Marathon
Overall: 507 out of 1657
Women: 145 out of 675
F 35-39: 28 out of 103
Finish: 4:13:01
Pace: 9:40
Split Times
5k: 27:15 (8:47)
10m 1:28:06 (8:49)
Half: 1:54:12 (8:43)
15.5: 2:14:13 (8:40)
18.6: 2:44:49 (8:52)
Yesterday I ran the OC Marathon. The race is interesting in that it actually goes through 4 Orange County cities - Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Irvine and Santa Ana. It was my 3rd marathon in less than 7 months and my 5th marathon total. Not my best finish time yesterday, but my best effort in a marathon to date.
Waking at 3am and driving up made for an early morning but the OC Fairground parking was easy and the shuttle was pretty uneventful. I overheard one man complain about the shuttles but after St. George, all other shuttles seem extremely well-organized and run very smoothly. The shuttle ride is relatively short in distance, but the bus seemed to be moving in slow motion. It took about 35 minutes to make the 6.5 mile drive -- crazy! The race itself started out great. I like their corral system because I ended up being right at the start line when the race began for Corral B.
For the first several miles I took my friend Clare's advice (she ran it last year) and kept it slow and controlled because of the hills. Not only are there hills (both up and down), but there are also a lot of twists and turns in the first half of the race. Around mile 7.5 there is a bigger hill so I basically kept my pace around 9:00 until after that hill.
Once we were on the bike path, I picked it up to an 8:45 and figured I would keep it there until the half marathoners split. After the split, I picked it up again and kept it between 8:30 and 8:45 until mile 22. I felt awesome, steady and totally in control.
The second half is not scenic unless you like business parks and running around the Costa Mesa Mall (?). There weren't many runners and very few crowd support. But it was comfortable and I was running with a few different people. The pace felt great and at one point I saw that if I continued, I could finish in 3:50 which would be a fantastic new PR for me. But it was a warm day and very windy in the second half. Blown up arches for the event that spanned the road were being blown over -- that's pretty windy! And regardless of direction that we turned, it was always a strong headwind. How is that possible??
I had taken a salt tablet before the race and was drinking fluids up until the start. I continued drinking Gatorade during the race, taking GU, and swallowing a salt tablet every hour. It didn't add up to be enough though and in the last 4.2 miles I felt it. I didn't realize I was dehydrated until an hour after the race when I went into the restroom to clean myself up and change for the drive home. I was covered in salt -- on my skin, my face, my clothes. It's no wonder I cramped up badly. The last 4 miles were torture. It took me an hour to cover that distance (15 min. miles!?!?!?!). I would try to shuffle along but every time I would cramp up in my calves, my butt, thighs, everywhere. The last 1.5 miles my right ankle gave me grief and was painful to apply much pressure to. So, a bummer ending to what was shaping up to be a fantastic for me. I'm not disappointed because the first 22 were so awesome and I'm really happy with that. I can see how much I've improved over the last year.
The short story: Great first 22 miles, sucky last 4.2 miles to end the race in 4:13. Dehydration was the culprit. It was hot and windy. A guy passed me at mile 1 dripping in sweat. I was pretty warm by mile 1 also. Overall, I'm very pleased with my effort and proud of how I ran the race.
Sunday, May 01, 2011
Saturday, April 02, 2011
March: 169.48 miles
Just when I think I couldn't possibly run more miles in a single month, I do! Highest month yet and I feel great. Whoo hoo!
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