Recovery

I've been such a bum lately-- you'd never guess that I have yet another race coming up in a little over a week! We got back from Dinseyland on Tuesday so I didn't make it to the Buddy Run. That Thursday I skipped track, telling myself that I was still recovering from the half marathon. This last weekend I ended up going home to visit my grandmother who was not doing well. She passed away last Friday night, just a few short hours after I had seen her :( After that, I didn't really feel like doing any running that weekend, even though I brought all my running gear with me to YC. Running seemed low on my priority list.

Figuring that I really needed to get my butt in gear and stop making excuses, I did go to the Buddy Run on Tuesday night. I'm so glad I went! I felt like crap at first but I ended up running with Meenu (who was recovering from a cold) and that really helped make the time fly by! By the time we had turned around at the 2 mile mark, I think we both felt better than we had when we first set out! Thanks Meenu for the company!!

Track tonight was canceled due to the long run this weekend in SF but I wasn't going to be able to make it anyway. Tonight I'm off again to the YC for my grandmother's funeral tomorrow. :( I am bringing my running gear though and am telling myself that I AM going to get a run in. I'd like to at least get a 6-8 miler in before the race. It's so hard for me to run by myself and YC doesn't have any nice trails like we do here so I'm stuck running on the street, which sucks. Maybe the fact that my brother is running the Portland Marathon this Sunday will motivate me to stop lazing around!

BTW... check out the side bar under my races. Yep, that's another race you see listed there. There were some extra spots that opened up for Nike, which had been sold out for months, and the pull of the Tiffany's necklace was too strong! So 2 weeks after RNR San Jose, it's off to SF for the Nike Half Marathon!

The Happiest Race on Earth

Once race down, three more to go! We got back on Tuesday from out trip down to Southern California for the half marathon and I feel like I'm still recovering! The race went very well and the trip was a lot of fun... here's the breakdown:

SATURDAY: Up at the BCo'D (Butt Crack o' Dawn) for the long drive down south. Phil, Rocky, Karen and Lindsay met Claudia and I at our place at 5:00 and we arrived in Anaheim around noon. Not too bad, considering that we stopped to pee/refuel the car/refuel our bellies a few times! Once we got there we decided to grab some lunch before it got too late. Then it was off to the EXPO to pick up our packets. The EXPO was a little smaller than expected which was good... we got in, got our packets, shopped a little and got out! Just one of the cool things about this race, our bibs were personalized! The shirts weren't bad either but they are long sleeve and a little on the big side--who gives away a long sleeve shirt for a summer race?! Once we checked into the hotel, we relaxed, unpacked and then went for a yummy dinner across the street. Good thing we headed over there early because the wait was super long. The food was well worth it though :D Once we got back to our room, it was time to get ready for bed so we could get enough sleep before our alarms went off the next morning at 3:00AM!!! It ended up being a good thing that we woke up so early on Saturday morning because we were all able to get to sleep around 8:30. That should be the end of the story for Saturday but unfortunately it wasn't... about 9:20 Karen, Linsday and I were woken up by Lael, calling to wish us luck. Right after he called I thought I had been transported to Beirut... the fireworks show at Disneyland was just starting so we got to listen to about 30 minutes of extremely loud fireworks... not so fun for all us runners! At 12:30 AM came a text from Jeanette wishing us all good luck!

The Suburban all decorated for our road trip!

After picking up our packets we couldn't resist checking out the 50th Anniversary Disney stuff


Our bibs even had our names printed on them!!

SUNDAY: Alarms went off at 3:00... BCo'D again :( We shoved some food in our mouths, got ready and headed to the lobby to catch the 4:00 shuttle. The shuttle ride wasn't too long and we made it to the "holding" area around 4:30. There wasn't much to do besides sit around in the semi-cold listening to some obnoxious Disney character yelling out stretches and checking out all the people decked out in disney gear-- mickey mouse ears, Pirates , Snow White, and quite a few Tinkerbells! Then it was off to our corral where we hung around some more waiting for the race to start. I was very impressed with the amount of porta-potties at the start and during the race. I think I went to the bathroom about three times and never had to wait in line too long! Kudos to Disney for some good planning! At 6:00 a pyrotechnic show at the start signaled that we were officially OFF! I was probably one of the coolest starts that I've had... a bunch of Disney characters were at the start cheering us on!

The race itself went pretty well... it wasn't my best but I definitely can't complain! It was VERY well run for being an inaugural event-- lots of potties, BOTTLED water at the water stops and lots of cheering stations along the way! Phil, Claudia and I started out together since we're pretty much the same pace. Running through the park was so cool... they had both Disneyland and California Adventure lit up with all the lights, some of the rides where going and Disney employees and characters lines the streets cheering for us! Partway through the parks, Phil and I got separated from Claudia so it was just the two of us.

Once out of the park, it got a little boring... Anaheim really isn't a pretty town. I needed a potty break around mile 5 so we made a quick stop-- the line was moving quickly so it was only a short detour. Miles 5-9 were uneventful... we were running along the streets in Anaheim, sometimes directly into the rising sun :( The only thing notable along that section was the 24 hour Mexican restaurant (hmmm, maybe Phil and I should have stopped in for some breakfast:D), quite a few liquor stores, some Polynesian dancers at one cheering station and Hispanic musicians/dancers at another. Somewhere along this stretch of the course I saw Claudia in front of us and yelled her name so our little group was back together again :D A little before the 9 mile marker, we reached Arrowhead Pond, where the Mighty Ducks hockey team plays, and the Santa Ana Trail (supposedly where the car racing scene from Grease was filmed but it looked completely different). About a mile later we reach Angel Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Angels and the hated rally monkey! Claudia stopped off to go to the bathroom but Phil and I continued on. The run through Angel stadium was very cool... it's not everyday that you get to be on the field of a major league stadium :D Phil and I are major A's fans though so of course we had to show Oakland some love!

When Phil and I left the stadium (Mile 10) we were definitely feeling the heat and were starting to feel drained so we took a 2 minute walk break. My internal thermometer was telling me it was around 90 degrees but I think it was actually in the high 70's. Soon after we started to run again, Phil's calf started to cramp. He's had problems with calf cramps before and we knew it was probably due to the heat and not enough electrolytes. We pulled over for a couple minutes so he could stretch it out (we were bad runners and never stretched at the start of the race...whoops) and then we were off again. Those last two miles were definitely the hardest... it was really starting to warm up and the heat was beating down on us. But we soldiered on and made it through California Adventure and back to Downtown Disney were the race ended. Phil got excited once we hit the 13 mile mark and started to sprint... I told him that we still had .1 to go (which feels like an entire mile after you've already run 13) and that we could start sprinting when we saw the finish line. I knew I didn't have enough in me to sprint the entire way! Around the corner we finally saw the finish line and sprinted our way across the finish line!!! Final time: 2:34:55

After we stumbled across the finish line and got our HUGE medal :D we grabbed some snacks and met up with Claudia, Rocky and Lindsay to get our picture taken. Karen came in not too much later and we headed back to the hotel. After some pizza and beer by the pool (instead of an ice bath) we all took a nap and then headed back to California Adventure around 2:00. We decided to spend Sunday there since we heard it wasn't as big is Disneyland and we wouldn't feel rushed trying to see everything. It was fun but I don't think worth the cost of the ticket... less rides, and one of the major ones wasn't even running :( But I did get the corn dog I had been craving... I spotted the Corn Dog shack during the run :D I loved the Tower of Terror though... that one was so much fun :D For dinner we went to a yummy Mexican restaurant in Downtown Disney and then off to bed for the sleepy pandas :D

MONDAY: Monday we actually got to sleep in a litte since our reservation at Goofy's Kitchen for breakfast wasn't until after 10:00. We stuffed ourselves with the food at the buffet... my favorite was the creme brulee french toast! By the time we made it to Disneyland it was around noon and we spent the rest of the day going on rides and eating :D Even though the park seemed crowded, it lines for the rides really weren't bad... and since most of the lines are inside, we weren't standing in the heat all day.

TUESDAY: Back home for us. :( After a half marathon and 2 days of walking, sitting in the back seat of a cramped Suburban wasn't very fun. But we played some car games to take our minds off the boring trip! A little after 2:00 we made it home... all tired and sore but happy that we went. :D

My next half marathon is Rock N'Roll San Jose in three weeks so after taking the week off, it's back to training on Saturday! I also just signed up for Nike (thanks to some spots that opened up last minutes) so two weeks after San Jose I'll be running that. You don't have to say it... I think I'm crazy too!

I'll update with some pictures later :D

The Countdown to Disney begins!!!

Only 3 more days until we're running through Disneyland, California Adventure Park and around the bases at Angel Stadium!!! Am I excited? YEP! Am I ready? Umm, maybe not so much :P

The last week or so has been insanely crazy for me. I had to go to Vegas for work (I know, lukcy me) for a tradeshow on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday so last week I was busy getting ready for that. I skipped out on track practive Thursday night to spend the evening doing laundry so no running that night. Saturday I needed to cover the waterstop for our coach's run in San Leandro so instead I wasn't able to get a full run in. I did however run out TO the waterstop (a little under 2 miles) and then back after we were done (another 2 miles) so I did get about a 3.5 mile run in, although there were about 3 hours in between both legs!

After the run and lunch we rushed home and I got ready for the Dave Matthews Band concert at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mt. View! The concert was fantastic (THANK YOU Amy for bringing me along!!!). We had some good seats which, thanks to the people sitting next to us, we got to upgrade to GREAT seats right in the center! It was a long day and a late night but WELL worth it! Dave and the whole band are fantastic live and always put on a great show!

Sunday it was off to Vegas for three days with my boss and co-worker. The whole trip was a lot of hard work but we managed to have some fun as well. Monday night my boss treated us to the new Cirque du Soleil show at the Mirage, The Beatles LOVE. It was the most impressive and amazing thing I've ever seen! Granted, this is the only Cirque du Soleil show I've ever seen so I can't compare it to the other but the combination of the Beatles music (re-mixed studio masters with surround sound speakers in our chairs), the costumes, the acrobatics and dancing were awe inspiring! I highly recommend if you are in Vegas that you see the show!

Now I'm back in the WC and starting to feel a little nervous about Sunday's race. Not so much about finishing, because I know that I'll finish the race, but about the race itself. I've been eating badly, had too many cocktails in Las Vegas (all these tradeshow people do is work then drink!!), hardly any running since the 10 miler and not enough sleep. We're getting up at the butt crack of dawn to drive down at 5 AM on Saturday, then we'll have to be up SUPER early again on Sunday because the race starts at 6AM and then two days of Disneyland before we leave early Tues. to head back. Sigh... I'm pooped already. I'm a girl who loves her sleep and there ain't going to be much of that going on over the next few days! Oh well, it'll be a great trip!

Too hot :(

Man, the Buddy Run last night sucked! The heat + too much crappy food and beer over the weekend + a 10 mile run on Sat. + a 5 mile hike on Sunday= crappy run. Last week we froze and this week is was way too hot... I was still sweating when I got home at 8:00 :( I went out thinking I'd do about 40 minutes... I ended up turning around a little after the 1.5 mile mark and walking a little bit on the way back. BUT I did get to see Brenda, Julie and Sarah so that was a good thing :D

Mission Accomplished!

Yes, we FINALLY did our 10 miles! Phil and I met at the Alameda Ferry on Saturday at 7:00am to run a few miles before some of his mentees showed up. Since I was a little late, we only did 3 miles instead of 4. It was super overcast and chilly... perfect for a run! At 8:00 we met up with three of Phil's mentees and headed back out on the trail. Phil and I were planning on going out to the 3 mile mark but decided to do an extra half mile so we could get our full 10 miles in. Two of Phil's mentees went all the way with is which means they did 7 miles instead of the 4 they intended to do! I think that everyone felt great afterwards... a little stiff but very happy with how well we did! I love running at Alameda and I always have a great run there... those last two miles are the hardest mentally though... you think the ferry terminal is going to be around every corner!

And if doing 10 miles wasn't enough, the next day I went with Linsday and Karen to Angel Island and we walked 5+ miles around the perimeter of the island. After our hike we tried to enjoy a nice lunch at the cafe there but were attacked by bees trying to eat our food and drink. :( A bunch of other TNT people were also out there-- our TNT manager Monica and her hubby, who biked around the island; Brenda with her hubby Jim and two boys, Glenn, Emma, Carol Ann and Paul who hiked up to the top of Mt. Livermore. We met up with them right before we caught the ferry back to Oakland. It was a gorgeous day although started out a little overcast-- there are some amazing views of the whole bay from every part of the island! Angel Island is full of history and there are plenty of old buildings to wander around in. I had never been before but it's definately something I'd love to do again!

Me, Lindsay and Karen at Angel Island with the Golden Gate Bridge behind us. This was before the sun decided to come out!

Me and Lindsay at the A's game on Monday... A's lost :(

Circuit drills kick my butt :(

Last night at track we started circuit training. Well, they actually started last week but because I was being lazy at home this is the first time I've done them this season. I have a love/hate relationship with circuit drills. I love them because it's a nice change from running around the track umpteenth times. I hate them because they hurt :(

For those of you who don't know, here is what our circuit drills consist of:

Run 2 laps warm up
Stretch
Run 1 lap
Various embarrassing-to-be-seen-doing-in-public leg exercises: Toe walks, heel walks, skipping, lunges, etc.
Run 1 lap

Set #1:
15 squats,
25 crunches,
10 push ups,
15 squats
Run 1 lap

Set #2:
12 bench dips,
15 back extensions ("Supermans"),
12 bench dips,
10 push ups,
15 squats
Run 1 lap

Repeat Set #1
Run 1 lap

Repeat Set #2
Run 1 hard lap (Coach Gary says "hard", I feel like I'm running "hard", yet people walking aren't moving much slower than I am)

Intermix that with Coach Gary yelling "Always finish with push ups and squats!", the hot sun beating down on us and me feeling like I'm going to throw up, and there you have my Thursday track experience. THAT is why my limbs feel like jello!

Tomorrow it's 10 miles... Let's hope the third time is the charm and we can finally do our 10 miler!