3 weeks to NY!!

With the NY Marathon just 3 weeks away (eeekkk!!!) this last weekend was scheduled to be our 20 miler. Since everyone's schedules were a little crazy, none of the teams were doing that high of mileage this weekend, and 20 miles is way too hard to do on your own, most of us decided to split out 20 miler up into 2 days. I was going to do 10 miles on Saturday with the team (they had a Mentor Led Run) and then on Sunday do Primo's Half Marathon in Danville-- that way I'd have people to run with both days, and have a supported run with water stops on Sunday.

Saturday morning I was up and out of the house a little after 7:00. I met Raji and the Summer/Fall Diablo Valley Teams out at the Berkeley Marina. It was a great day for running... the rain from Friday was gone, the skies were clear but it was still nice and cool. Raji and I started out together and stayed together until about mile 3. She ran into one of her mentees and ran back with her to give her the packet she needed for Nike. The team was only doing up to 9 miles so I went out .5 past where their turn around was. I was pretty much on my own until I saw Rocky on his bike around mile 6. He kept me company (THANK YOU!!) for a few miles and then went to check on one of his mentees. I finished 10 miles in exactly 2 hours. Not the best time but it had started to warm up a little and I was feeling a little sluggish-- I also wanted to take it easy knowing that I had to do 13 miles the next day.

After the run I went to Danville to pick up my race bib and shirt (a very nice long sleeve tech shirt), went home, ate, napped and then got ready for the evening's festivities! Claudia, Rocky and I were going out to BFE... oh sorry, Antioch, to watch our favorite band East Bay Mudd play a concert at the El Campanil Theatre. Before we left for Antioch we went to dinner at Pasta Primavera so I could do a little last minute carbo loading. The concert was a lot of fun... EBMUDD did a 2+ hour concert that took us all on a musical journey from the beginning of R&B, to Motown, across the border for some Santana, through the era of Soul and Funk and then settled in the East Bay with some Tower of Power!

Although I got home pretty late, I could NOT go to sleep. Even though the race the next day was meant to be a training run for me, I was REALLY nervous about it. I wasn't worried that I wouldn't be able to finish the race, but since it was a very SMALL race, I was really worried that I was going to be the last to cross the finish line. I finally got to sleep, but didn't sleep very well. :( When I got up to get ready for the race I was still nervous and could hardly eat. All I could manage was a banana and a little water... I took a Gu with me hoping that would give me some energy before the start. Once in Danville at Primo's Pizza (race central) I got my chip (which was on a strip of wet suit material that velcroed on our ankle) checked in my sweatshirt and chatted with a couple of TNT people I ran into. At 7:30 we were off!

The race itself was pretty uneventful. We wound around the streets of Danville, and up and down a few little hills. It was actually kind of fun to see these neighborhoods that I've never been in. I saw A LOT of Halloween decorations too! I went out a little too fast... I was afraid that I was going to be left behind by the pack. After I saw that I was NOT going to be the last one in, I slowed down a little bit. According to the official times, my pace for the first 6 miles was 11:48 and my pace for the last 7.1 miles was 12.55. Whoops :( One reason I was having a hard time pacing myself was that my usually oh so reliable Garmin never did find the satellites and so couldn't keep track of my mileage, or compute my pace. I had intended to keep an eye on my pace and not let myself get above a 12 minute mile. That didn't work. :(

After we wound around the streets of Danville, we did a few miles on the Iron Horse Trail. This was a little boring but I knew I was getting closer to the finish line. Once we got to Bishop Ranch, we turned right off the trail and made a big loop around the Bishop Ranch office buildings. I had been feeling a little sluggish from miles 6-11 (I think the miles from the day before were catching up to me) but I got a second wind during the last two miles. I think it helped that a few people around me were pooping out and I was starting to pass them. :) I finished with a final time of 2:42:32. Not my best time, but definitely not my worst, especially considering that I had done 10 miles the day before. And I am proud to note that there were 14 people who finished behind me!! WOO HOO!!

I was definitely beat after the race so I picked up my medal (not as impressive as the shirts), my goodie bag (a bottle of water, a bottle of CytoMax, a Clif Bar and a chocolate chip cookie) and caught the shuttle back to Danville. After some food, a shower and a nap, I got up to make some appetizers before heading over to Claudia and Rocky's for dinner. Claudia and I read this blog everyday called The Pioneer Woman and she also has a blog with a bunch of yummy cooking recipes. Our dinner was made up almost entirely of recipes from her blog. I made these Jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. Claudia made Ree's (the Pioneer Woman) slow cooked brisket and twice baked potatoes. YUMMMM!!! Just what my belly wanted after a weekend of running. Of course we had some yummy wine and ice cream for dessert. I was a happy girl!

This week I'll be preparing for our last "long" run before NY... the Nike Half Marathon on this Sunday! Tiffany's necklace, here I come!!