Running is a mental sport and we're all insane!

That was a caption that I saw on the t-shirt of a girl running the Rock N'Roll Arizona Half Marathon. When I saw it I had to crack up... it's funny because it's true :D Here's a recap of my Half Marathon weekend in frigid Arizona:

Saturday Jan. 13:
Up and out of the house before the sun was up-- off to the SF airport to catch the team flight to Phoenix. It's funny how runners will tend to find eachother-- while waiting for our flight to board, Mama Lisa and I ran into a guy who was making a detour on the way home from a work conference to run the marathon in AZ. He and Mama Lisa chatted about ultra-marathons, I headed to the bathroom to pee for the gazillionth time.

Once we got to AZ we were shuttled to the Hyatt in downtown Phoenix, our hotel for the weekend. The hotel was really nice, but even nicer was that I got my own room! After putting my stuff in the room I headed downstairs to grab a sandwich and MORE water and then it was off to the Expo. The Expo was HUGE, which I expected, and CROWDED, which I expected too. After grabbing my packet, t-shirt and making a lap around the Expo, I headed back to the hotel to lay out all my gear for the next day.

Our pasta party that night was at the Convention Center which was thankfully right across the street from the hotel. After going through the "gauntlet" of cheering TNT staff and coaches, I sat at a table with Chris, our other EB runner, and some SF run people. Is was your typical Pasta Party... not-too-great pasta, too many speakers, and of course tears and laughter. The laughter came during a pep talk given by the Penguin, aka John Bingham. Even though I've heard John talk many time before, and even though he covers some of the same topics, he always cracks me up. He like a runner's comic... no one gets the jokes but us :D He did a shout out to Mama Lisa-- I wish the whole team could have been there to show her the love, instead of the cheers coming from just Chris and I! The tears came from our Honoree speaker. Her daughter had cancer and passed away not too long ago. She talked a lot about how all of us in the room were Heroes for doing what we were doing-- for making the choice to train on behalf of and raise money for people like her daughter. Man, where were the Kleenexes when I need them!

Sunday Jan. 14:
Ahhh, race day :D I didn't sleep well the night before... the room was too hot and I was too paranoid about not getting up on time. I got up at about 5:00 AM, did all my pre-race prep, put on the warmest running clothes I brought since I knew it was going to be a cool day, opened the door to head downstairs and found this outside my door:

Thanks Abby :D I met up with Mama Lisa, Chris and the SF team down in the lobby at 6:00 AM. Mama Lisa, Chris and I decided to write CANCER on the bottom of our shoes so that with each step, we would know we were doing what we could to stamp out Cancer (I wish we could take credit for that idea but we stole it from our Honoree speaker the night before). Because the bottom of our shoes aren't smooth you couldn't really read it, but we knew it was there. At about 6:30 we decided to head over to the shuttle that was going to take us to the start. Standing in line, we got the first feel of what the temperature outside was... downright arctic. It was FREEZING, well technically it was BELOW freezing, 27 degrees to be exact. And here I am in my running capris, singlet, long sleeve shirt and another thin shirt on top of that. No gloves, no long pants, no ear warmers. I was in big trouble.

We got to the start around 7:00, a good half hour before the marathon was set to start and and hour and a half before my race, the half marathon, would start. Anyone who knows me well know that coffee doesn't always agree with my tummy or my digestive system. And on race day, you don't want to mess with anything that's going to wreak havoc on your system. Well I was so freezing cold, I actually got a hot, steaming cup of heaven (aka Coffee) to hold in my hands... I even drank the whole cup hoping that a warm tummy would mean warm fingers and toes :D I watched the marathon start and then walked around a little trying to keep the blood circulating before I checked my bag about 15 minutes before the half marathon start. By the time I made it to my corral (#14 of 27) the sun was starting to come out and when you stood in a the sun it wasn't quite as cold. My back was already starting to tighten up though from all the shivering. 8:30 rolls around, no starting gun. 8:35, no starting gun. 8:40, no starting gun. OH COME ON PEOPLE, I'm freezing my hiney off! FINALLY at 8:45 the gun goes off and by 9:00 I'm across the starting line!!

My game plan going into the race is to keep it nice and slow for the first 10 miles and after that, depending on how I feel, I can speed up. I know that I won't be PRing here so my goal is to finish feeling less crappy than I did after San Jose and Nike. Thanks to my awesome Garmin 205 GPS watch, I can see my current pace and try to stay around a 12 minute mile. (I know, a snail's pace but I've embraced my slowness :D) Within the first mile I see some portapotties lined up along the street... even though I don't really have to pee, I can't pass up a line of porta potties with no lines! For the first mile and a half, I literally can not feel my feet. At first I'm afraid that something is seriously wrong but then it sinks in that they're just very, very cold. I start to see gloves, sweatshirts and sweatpants strewn across the road as people start to warm up and strip off their extra layers. Two things come to mind: 1) I could have used these cast offs a mile and a half ago and 2) Mama Lisa's going to have a field day with all these discarded gloves-- they'll be great additions to her collection :D

Around mile 3 a bead of sweat actually breaks out on my face. I must be starting to warm up a little-- YIPEE!! I'm feeling pretty good so I run through the first water stop and just drink a little gatorade. I think the problem I've had with my last races is that I drink too much water and not enough gatorade, leaving me feeling nauseous and light headed. So this time I've decided to drink all gatorday and save the water for when I take a Gu.

The half marathon course isn't all that exciting. It's flat, which is good, but not particularly pretty. A lot of businesses, some apartment complexes, and flat, barren land, with the occasional cactus, for miles. I see a lot of interesting people along the course, one man singing to himself quite loudly, people with very clever t-shirts, a LOT of Team In Training people and of course lots of live music! The TNT support was great... lots of people yelling "Go Olivia", and "Go Team"! Once we got into Scottsdale it was a little prettier-- we passed by the field where the A's play during Spring Training. It was funny to be all the way in Arizona and run by a place that is actually familiar!

By mile 11 I was feeling really good and felt like I had plenty of energy left for the last two miles so I increased my pace a little bit. After mile 12, I reached THE ZONE, that point where everything feels right. You get chills and this euphoric feeling. You feel like you could run forever and never get tired. You feel like a rockstar! Thanks to my handy dandy watch I knew that I had only .5 miles until the start so I kicked it into high gear. I was passing all these walkers and people who just looked beat-- didn't they know the finish line was so close?! I crossed the finish line, remembered to smile and NOT look at my watch (so my head wouldn't be down in my picture :D) Final time: 2:41:49. Not my best but damn I felt good :D I picked up my medal, got my picture taken, picked up my bag and headed to the TNT tent to check out. They had some PT people there stretching people so I waited in line (chowing down on peanut butter crackers and guzzling my past race electrolyte drink-- no water yet for me!) to have my back stretched.

Back at the hotel I took a cold water bath, ate the chips I took from the TNT tent and took a well deserved nap. I got up in time to make it to the Victory party but I didn't stay long after I finished eating. I just wanted to veg out, knit and watch some TV.

Monday Jan. 15:
I woke up the next morning with no muscle soreness and just a few stiff joints :D I slept MUCH better than I did on Saturday night! Sunday night I had decided that I was going to treat myself to room service for breakfast so I filled out the form, hung it on my door and then just like magic, my cinnamon Bun French Toast appeared at door at 9:30 :D Yummmm

After a morning of relaxing, it was time to pack up and head to the airport for the plane ride home! So long Arizona! I'm just so happy that my last race of the season is finished... Arizona turned out to be a great race for me but the idea of training for another run just doesn't appeal to me at all. We just started a new season and although I'm captaining again, I'm not training for any races right now. Who knows what my next race will be!

Finally... my last race of the season!

In the future, if anyone hears me say that I'm going to sign up for 4 races in one season, please stop me. Tie my hands behind my back, sit on me, what ever it takes. My initial feeling that 4 races in one season would motivate me to keep running was wrong. Instead, I stayed completely unmotivated in the running department and have three crappy races so far to show for it. Ok, Disneyland wasn't that crappy... It went much better than I anticipated only because I expected to be debilitated by the heat. Since then, everything went downhill. San Jose was very hard for me, Nike was tough (as usual) and now I have Arizona coming up this weekend! ACKK!!! Funny thing is, even though I've felt progresively worse in each race (and especially AFTER each race) my times are all fairly close.

Since Thanksgiving my training has been really lax. I've made it out to a couple of Buddy Runs and no track workouts. We've only had a few Coached Runs because of the holidays and on the off weekends I really haven't run. I did get in one run over the Christmas break, mainly because 1) Since I hauled all my running crap out there I had to run at least once and 2) I wanted to try out my fun new Xmas present, the Garmin Forerunner 205 :D This watch is awesome... it pretty much does everything but run for you!


Tomorrow I am off to Arizona with the team (me, one participant who I don't know, Chris, who isn't officially on the team, and Mama Lisa). Our flight leaves early so when we get to Arizona there will be time to check in, hit the Expo, relax and get everything laid out for the race before we head off to the Pasta Party. Sunday is race day. It should be a very interesting experience because this will be the first time where I don't know anyone out of the course with me! I know a few poeple doing the full marathon, but no one doing the half. I'll be all alone :( well, me plus the thousands of other people out there pounding the pavement in the dry Arizona air! This is also the first time that I've traveled with the team for a race too. Usually I stick with local races so it's just a matter of driving to where the race is.

I'll post an update and some pictures once I'm back!

Welcome to 2007!

Wow, I can't believe how quickly 2006 came and went! Especially December, which was a blur of activities! First there was the big 3-0 which I survived :D

Yummm... chocolate fondue :D

Then it was off to Hawaii with the family. As usual, we had an incredible time. The weather was gorgeous and I managed to not get a sunburn, just more freckles :D We did a few more activities this trip than we usually do... we went on a couple of boat trips (my fave thing to do since I can enjoy the water without getting IN it with the fishies), drove through the upcountry and to the top of Haleakala, hit a few beaches and of course, ATE ourselves silly. Basically every activity we did was planned around which of our favorite restaurants we wanted to hit!

My brother and I, making breakfast for our parents... we do get along, really.

Where we spent Christmas Day... Call Box Beach (so named by us because it's the only landmark we could find to mark the location)

Family Christmas portrait

Me and my brother on one of our boat trips, before I pushed him overboard ;P

Sun going down, or coming up... I can't remember

On our Sunset cruise... free cocktails make for a happy family!

Then it was on to New Year's Eve and our 007 themed party at the Gift Center in SF. SO much fun, especially because we got to hang out with all the cool peeps in the BIP section (thanks to Claudia's hookup!). We had our own seating area with bottle service and appetizers! Everyone was totally dressed up and looked great and it was a very fun evening... even the BART ride back home at 2:30 AM wasn't so bad... there were plenty of crazy people on the train to keep me entertained :D HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Getting ready to head out... and yes, I am crouching down so that I don't look like the tall amazon I usually do in pictures!

Tis the Season...

Merry Christmas everyone!!! For some reason it doesn't really feel that Christmas is just 3 days away. Maybe it's because for the last few days, I've been packing up tank tops, shorts and flip flops. :D I also haven't seen a huge number of decorations or heard a lot of Christmas carols. Maybe it'll feel more like Christmas when I start wrapping gifts while listening to Mele Kalikimaka being played over and over again on the radio :D

I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year!!!

OH MY GOD I'M 30!

Yes it's true... I'm 30 :( But although I was completely dreading turning the big 3-0, I had a fantastic birthday! Saturday I did my 10 miler with Phil, a true trooper who, even though he hasn't run more than 5 miles since our last race, came out to do 10 miles with me! Even though it was literally freezing and I never completely warmed up, I felt great. We started in Danville and ran 2.5 miles out and back towards Walnut Creek and then 2.5 out and back towards San Ramon. While we were out there we ran into two TNT alums who are training for the Arizona full and were doing their 20 miler. I was never happier to "only" be doing 10 miles :D

Saturday night it was off to Fondue Fred's in Berkeley for my birthday dinner. The food wasn't bad, the wine wasn't great but the best thing about them both was that they were unlimited! After dinner, with a cheese child growing in my full belly and my cheecks sore from laughing so much we headed out for some more fun in Walnut Creek. Sunday, my actual birthday, it was off to Phil's for a housewarming party, YUMMY food and trashy tv :D Some lumpia and carrot cake was all I needed to make my birthday complete :D Thank you to everyone for making my 30th so much fun!!

Now this week it's back to business-- I've got a lot to do at work and home before I leave on Sat. for Hawaii!!

ACHOOO!

Has anyone heard of having allergies in the winter? I never had until this winter. Ever since Thanksgiving I've been sneezing up a storm. I initially thought it was from my parents new little doggie but when I kept sneezing long after I left after Thanksgiving, I had to abandon that theory :( So last week I got this awful, couldn't-sleep-because-I-kept-dreaming-I-was-choking sore throat :( At Stitch N' Bitch last Wed. night Amy told me that yes, people do get allergies in the winter from all the particle matter in the air. GREAT :( After that things went from bad to worse-- sore glands, runny nose, sneezing, coughing and then on Sunday I started losing my voice :( Today I'm feeling much better although I'm still congested and producing more snot than I thought humanly possible.

Because of this, I haven't run since the 2nd of Dec. I had a great run at Heather Farms in the freezing cold. I did 8 miles all by myself (I was out doing a water stop and snuck my run in before the long runners came through) and felt really good! After the run, the Winter Team had their honoree potluck so I got to see Brenda too! She came out with her son and a couple of friends. It was so nice to see her out there with the team again!

Tuesday we had the Send Off for all the Honolulu Marathoners so I didn't go to the Buddy Run. Sat. I was out of town and not feeling well so now he were are again at Tuesday and I'm not going to the run. :( I figure I'll wait until I can breathe properly before I go out there to run in the cold :) I will definitely be running this weekend though at our Coached Run since it's my only chance to get in my 10 miler-- the next two weekends I will be away in Hawaii... WOO HOO!

Back in the saddle!

I've been feeling a little burnt out of the running lately, and therefore my blog has suffered :( But now it's time to get back into things-- after all, I do have another half marathon coming up in a little over a month. I seriously need to get my butt in gear!

Here's a quick update:
Sat. Nov. 18 we had a coached run at the Berkeley Marina. After getting the water stop people off I headed out with a few girls. They were all doing longer mileages so I turned around at the water stop at mile 3.5. I felt good although got a little lonely on the way back with no one to run with :(

Skip to the Tuesday Nov. 28 Buddy Run. I know, 10 days without running isn't good but the holiday through everything a little off. I had good intentions when I went home to YC but of course good intentions didn't get my butt out of bed and out for a run! I felt really good at the Buddy Run, even though it was literally freezing (well, at least it felt like it!). I started out with a faster girl and Gary (man they kicked my butt... and I'm sure they were holding back too!) but they wanted to keep going so I turned around and ran back with one of the Winter team participants.

I have doggie duty until Mommy Claudia comes back from New York so instead of being out in the cold at track on Thursday, I'll be with Patch at his doggie class :D This weekend we have another coached run at Heather Farms and my goal is to run about 8 miles. We'll see how I do :D

It feels like winter

I woke up VERY early Saturday morning to the sound of pouring rain. After about three weeks off after Nike, I had decided that Saturday I needed to start running again and training for my next half marathon in Arizona. I admit... when I heard that rain I was more than a little happy that I may have an excuse to miss the Mentor Led Run that morning. No such luck. The rain died down so off I went to Lafayette/Moraga trail for a run.

We had a good number of people there-- the Winter team just started and some of the local participants came out for their first run with us. Since I haven't done anything since Nike and had been eating like a pig, I decided that I'd run about 4 miles or so. I love the Lafayette/Moraga trail but I hate the slight incline on the way out. On the first two miles out I was definately feeling the Chinese food I ate the night before, the incline and my lack of training. No fun. The way back was much easier and I felt better by the time I got back to the start. :D

Tonight I'm off to the Buddy Run... I'm just hoping it doesn't start raining on us! :D

Bad, bad blogger

I've been such a lazy blogger... Here it is the beginning of November and I am just now writing about Nike! I guess after three half marathons in a row I just wanted to forget about running for a few weeks. Thankfully I only have one more to go!!!

Wow, Nike is one of the most beautiful courses but it kicks my butt every year! I get so used to what San Francisco looks like that I forget what an amazing city it is. Running through the streets of SF with people from all over the US made me look at the city through their eyes and realize how lucky we are to be able to run in the Bay Area on a regular basis! Nike takes you through so many picturesque areas: Union Square, the Embarcadero, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Fort Mason, Marina Green and Chrissy Field with gorgeous views of the Golden Gate Bridge smothered in fog. Then we leave the flat part of the course behind and we climb into the foggy hills of the Presidio, run above Baker Beach where I can hear the ocean but not see it, by the palatial homes of Sea Cliff (Robin Williams' included), down by the Cliff House and along Ocean Beach, up into Golden Gate Park with the Bison, "Chocolate Mile" and then finally to the finish line along the Ocean.

I started out running with Phil although he ditched me around mile 1 to pursue his PR. :( I felt really good until we got into the Presidio and the second, hilly section of the course. I ran up the short first hill but walked all the rest, which really feels more like a series of long, drawn out inclines. Karen and Rocky were out there providing support so seeing them gave me something to look forward to. I knew that Brenda was suppossed to be in Golden Gate Park somewhere so I spent those last miles looking for her and reminding myself that when I did see her, NOT to run up and give her a hug. :D Her Dr. gave her the okay to come out and cheer us on but since she recently had her stem cell transplant, hugs and other close contact was a no no. I never did see Brenda but I did run into a family friend, Deni, who was out there cheering on her daughter who was doing the marathon.

The last part of the course is slightly downhill and that gave me just enough of a boost to sprint into the finish line. Final time: 2:45:50. Not my personal best for a half but it was my personal best for the Nike course. After I crossed the finish line I look to my left and who do I see? Phil! It took me 12.1 miles but I caught back up to him! We picked up our "Ran Like a Girl" shirts (the boy's shirts say that too) and Tiffany necklaces and headed to the TNT tent where they had mounds of food waiting. The food looked good but my tummy was not feeling it-- I think I drank too much water and not enough electrolyte on the course. Same thing happened after Disney and San Jose but this time I felt much worse. For Arizona I really need to work on my hydration so I don't end up feeling so nauseous at the end :(

The sign outside Niketown, where we picked up our packets on Saturday afternoon.

They had the names of all the runners up on the windows outside Niketown.

Caroline (Lindsay's mom), Linds, Claudia, BK, me and Jeanette at the start.

View from the course of the runners and Golden Gate Bridge.

Water stop help from Karen, Rocky and Patch around mile 9.

I ran into Deni in Golden Gate Park around mile 12.5... that's the only reason I'm smiling!

TNT finisher's tent with Lael, Claudia and Lael's sister.

Walking back to the car with our space blankets and Tiffany's bags :D

More Disney pics

Here are some more Disney pics that I took with a disposable camera along the course. As you can see in some of them, I'm not too good at running and taking pictures at the same time!

Phil, Rocky, Claudia, Lindsay, Me, Julie and Sarah at the start.

Running into Angel Stadium.

Phil, showing Angel Stadium some Oakland love :D

Waiting at the finish.

Our "ice bath" after the race in the hotel pool... followed by some pizza and beer :D

Countdown to race #3

I'm getting a sense of deja vu... AND wondering if I haven't gone a little crazy! Why oh why did I decide to sign up for another half marathon?! Oh that's right... it was the pull of the Tiffany's finisher necklace!

Nike is coming up and just a few days and I have to admit that I'm excited about it. It's a beautiful course, although challenging, and the weather is always perfect for running. After feeling overheated during the last two races, I'm ready for the cooler weather! I'm also looking forward to beating my last two Nike times (knock on wood). The first year I did Nike, I hadn't trained at all and had only done a couple of very short runs since my previous half marathon 8 months before. I just did it to do it and really took it easy, walking on and off. Last year I was in the middle of training for my second marathon so I was in much better shape but since I got stuck in a potty line around mile 1, I spent the whole race trying to run through the walkers and catch up to where I was before. Needless to say, neither of my times were very good so this year I'm hoping to beat them both.

The other thing I love (but my bank account hates) is all the cool Nike Marathon gear! Claudia and I went to a girls night out party at Niketown last Thursday and got to check out a lot of the stuff for this year. I was happy for a chance to get there before race weekend since a lot of stuff usually sells out beforehand. I did pretty good though and came away with just a shirt and totally cute bag!! Oh that Nike is so evil!!

Saturday night we had the 2nd Annual Art for Charity! It was a lot of fun, even though not as many poeple showed up as we expected to. I think everyone had a good time though checking out the beautiful art, listening to great live music (THANKS ROCKY and OLLIE!!!) and enjoying yummy wine and food. Thanks to everyone who came and helped us raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

Rock N Roll San Jose Half Marathon

Race #2 is now completed... thank GOD! At 2:00 on Saturday Phil, Karen, Rocky, Claudia, Patch and I met up at Karen's house to start our mini road trip down to San Jose. Even with a bunch of traffic, we got there fairly quickly and went straight to the hotel to check into our digs for the night. Next we were off to the EXPO to grab our race stuff. The EXPO was pretty cool... this being a Rock N Roll event, they had A LOT of RNR SJ merchandise, which we couldn't resist. It's cool to have something that says you were a part of the inaugural event! After the EXPO we headed around the corner for a pasta dinner at Ill Fornaio. Even though we found out that I had made the reservation for the wrong weekend (way to go!), the manager was able to fit us in :D

Sunday morning was got up around 5:45 to start getting ready. Claudia (our cheerleader for the day with Patch) drove us down to the start line. I had anticipated San Jose being a fairly cool race since it was the beginning of October and the weather had started cooling down. But already at 7:00 it was starting to warm up. Waiting around to get corralled, we ran into a bunch of other TNT people who were also doing the race. Around 7:45 we headed to our corral-- Rocky, Phil and I decided to stick together and all went to corral 10. The three of us planned to stick together for about a mile, then stop and stretch before Rocky took off. Once we started, I had to go pee (I need to stop bringing water with me to the start... I keep needing to pee after the race starts, now matter how much I go before!) so we decided to run to the next set of porta-potties (around mile 2) and pee/stretch there. Because we were running with speedy Rocky, Phil and I ran those first two miles a little too quickly-- I was drenched by the time we got to mile 2!

The rest of the race was pretty uneventful. The course isn't ugly (we actually ran by some gorgeous houses) there just isn't really anything exciting to look at. The bands along the course were great but in between the bands we didn't see many spectators. We saw Claudia and Patch a couple of times along the course-- they were our cheerleaders and race support! They were a welcome sight, especially around mile 9 when I needed my bottles refilled! THANK YOU CLAUDIA!! The dreaded hydrant water that is used at all RNR races wasn't as bad as we had anticipated but our nice bottled water was much better!

Mentally this was such a hard race for me... even with the misters along the course the heat totally sapped my energy and it was so hard to keep running. Towards the end I was stopping more and more for short walking breaks. Phil was a champ and stuck with me, even though I kept telling him he could go ahead without me! And thankfully he did stay... I think I would have walked much more if I were by myself. The last mile was probably the hardest one I've ever run in a half marathon... I didn't even have enough juice in me to sprint the last .1 mile to the finish line! Our final time was 2:41:39... only 7 minutes more than Disney. When you factor in the potty stop and bottle refilling stops with Claudia, the times were about the same... SJ just seemed so much harder! Afterwards I felt ill-- nauseous, chilled and light headed... I think I just neede more sodium because once I had some gatorade I felt much better. :D

The medal we got at the end was nice... we also got a comfy pair of SPENCO sandals, and ice water drenched towels to cool us off. After we all showered and checked out, we rewarded ourselves with a yummy lunch at In N Out :D Next race is in two weeks... the weather should be much more runner-friendly so I'm hoping to beat my past two half marathon times!

Countdown to race #2

Wow... the passed three weeks have passed way too quickly! It feels like Disneyland was only a few days ago but here I am getting ready for the Rock N Roll San Jose Half Marathon on Sunday!

I don't feel too prepared for this race... With my grandmother passing away, being out of town, and me being the lazy bum I am, I haven't done much running at all since Disneyland. Even though this would technically be the taper period, I don't think that "taper" means "only run twice"! I managed to make it to the Buddy Run on Tuesday and I actually squeezed out 5 miles. I felt really good on the way out so I pushed it a little bit, on the way back I definitely slowed down a little bit.

The weather has cooled down quite a bit-- we even had some rain last night and today. On one hand I'm sad because that means it's almost time to put the flip flops away for good (I wore boots for the first time to work today and my feet were not happy about being squashed into them :(). On the other hand I'm glad because that means that our runs will be much nicer! I think the weather this weekend is supposed to stay cool so I'm hoping that compensates for my lack of training!

Check back next week for an update on how the race went!

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!

Chilly Buddy Run

Last night was a fairly uneventful Buddy Run, which is good. :D Claudia, Cynthia and I ran about 3 miles and we did it in a little over 30 minutes so we were running at a pretty good pace, for us at least! It was actually a little chilly out, which was nice for the run but not so nice while we were standing around afterwards! On a side note, I really like how the summer people and fall people at our buddy runs have become one big group... we warm up together, stretch together and most all of the fall people wait around for the summer people to finish, even though they're running twice as long as we are!