Race Schedule Additions…

Yesterday afternoon, I was putzing around on the internet looking for a race this weekend.  Hubby may or may not be out-of-town this weekend and I was looking for a 5k or 10k just as something to do.  I did not count on deciding to add a major race to my docket for this weekend.

Race Schedule as of 3:58pm yesterday:

04/06 – Running of the Elks Half Marathon
04/27 – Capital City Classic

Race Schedule as of 4pm yesterday:

03/23 – Modesto Marathon – Half
04/06 – Running of the Elks Half Marathon
04/27 – Capital City Classic

Yep, thanks to the influence of my friends and family, I’m going to run the Modesto Marathon – Half this sunday.  I was scheduled to run 12 miles anyway, so what’s an additional 1.1 miles?

The only draw back to this is that Modesto is an hour away from the house and it’s a 7am start; which means that I will have to be up between 4 & 4:30 to be on the road by 5am.  I’m not complaining though, the 7am start is wonderful.  I generally start my long runs at 7am anyway so no biggie.  Hubbs was a bit worried about me driving an hour but since I drove 45 minutes for the Lucky Run, it’s not that big of a deal.

I’m planning to drive down on Saturday morning to pick up my race packet and check out the expo.  I haven’t attended a race that had an expo before so I’m interested in checking it out.  I’m hoping that I will be able to exchange my shirt because somehow I requested an extra-large women’s technical and I really need a medium or a large.  Fingers crossed.  I’m hoping that they will update their list of registered runners so that I can request the change before I go down but if not, it’s a shirt and I have tons of them so it’s not really a big deal.  But it’s also a tech shirt and I do wear them.  I never buy tech shirts anymore since I have them from races.

Looks like the weather is going to be perfect.  Low’s in the upper 40’s and high in the mid 70’s.  Hopefully by the time it’s in the 70’s I’ll be done.  I’m going to be shooting for a 2:20 – 2:25 finish.  I don’t know if they are having pacers or not but if they are, I’m going to try to sick to the 2:20 like glue.  I finished my 11 mile long run last week in 2 hours flat so I think that it’s realistic to want to finish in 2:20 – 2:25.

I guess I’m going to be doing some serious carb loading Friday and Saturday night.  I see pasta and bread in my future in a big way.  Since I love pasta and garlic bread, I don’t see this as a problem.

I don’t normally dedicate my races or specific miles to people.  But yesterday one of my favorite cousins had to have emergency surgery.  He’s doing fine but it was very unexpected.  He’s a personal trainer, fellow runner, police officer, father, husband and all around good guy.  He’s a great guy and I admire him.  We keep in touch via Facebook and he’s always encouraging me in my running.  He recently started training to run the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon in South Dakota but due to this surgery he won’t be running for a while.  So mile 13 is for Jimmy; I’m totally blaming you if this doesn’t go well!

Have you ever added a last minute race to your schedule?

What’s your favorite way to pre-fuel for a long race?

Monday, Monday, So Good to me

It’s another beautiful day in sunny California.  It’s a bit colder than it has been, 55 degrees on my way in this morning but still a gorgeous start to the day.  Yesterday was beautiful that I was really grateful that my work day ends at 4pm and leaves me plenty of time to spend outside before it gets too dark.

Hubbs and I have been working on the landscaping in our back yard for over a year now and about a week and half ago the new lawn went in.  And it has made such a difference in our yard.  It’s actually livable out there now.

Only half of our back yard is grass, the other half I have a garden area with 3 – 12′ x 3′ raised beds and 1 – 6′ x 3′ raised bed.  The little bed has my herbs in it, one big bed is all flowers and the other two beds I plant veggies in.  But since we’ve been working on the other half of the yard my garden has gone to pot a bit.  The weeds were so tall that the dogs were getting lost in them and I never knew if the dogs were going to come back.

Yesterday after work was so nice that instead of walking the dogs, I pulled out the shovels, hoes, rakes and the yard waste can and started working on pulling all the weeds up.  Hubs came home right after I got started and helped.  We worked for about an hour and a half and got most of the garden cleaned up.  The plan is to put decomposed granite in between the beds so that we don’t have a weed problem anymore.  We still have a bit more work to do but the weather was perfect for working in the garden.

After we quit in the garden I changed and got my run in.  It was a four mile run but the wind was really blowing so I expected it to be a horrible pain.  But it wasn’t.  Any time the wind blows, I run faster than I intend to.

4 miles in 38:53?!  Oh baby, I was flying.  BTW, I hope you like my mid run selfie.  I was cracking up the whole time.

Splits:

Mile 1: 10:11
Mile 2: 9:46
Mile 3: 9:34
Mile 4: 9:20

Negative splits, baby!!!  I could tell I was pushing it but I didn’t expect it to be that fast.  Usually I only get that low in the 9’s when it’s really cold and I’m just running to stay warm.  Despite the winds, the run was great.  The sun was shining, the birds were singing, it was perfect.

The professional shots from the Lucky Run were out last week and I actually bought them.  They offered a deal, $25 for all the pictures of you in digital format.  I never buy the pictures because they want to dang much but for $25 I sprung for it.  The only picture that was decent was my finish picture.  So now you know, I am not pretty when I run.  I’m red, sweaty and my hair is frizzy.  But I’m a happy girl so I’m willing to let the rest of it go.

Happy Tuesday, people!  I hope the weather where you are is as beautiful as it is here in Northern California!

Race Recap & Long Run

  Lucky Run was a sucess.  I ran into a friend from high school that’s now a teacher and a triathlete.  She was there with some students to run their first half marathon.   It was so nice to see her. The race was great over all but at the start somehow I ended up behind walkers and a guy running with a double wide running stroller.  All that despite the fact that I started at the 10:00 minut mile mark.  The field didn’t thin out until about a  mile 1.  Much of the course was run on bike paths with just a bit on the street. Due to the size of the field it was a very slow first mile but after that the 7 milers split off from the 7k folks and at that point I started picking off people and trying to move towards the front of the field.  I like to make a game of it by nicknaming people as I pick people to try and pass.  There was “the shaker” who would shake out his hands every 30 seconds.  There was “grunter” for obvious reasons, “perfect stride twins”, “stick twins”,  & a few others.

Over all, the race was fun and I’m really happy with my results.   I finished 185th in the 7k & 11th female in my age category.   So close to the top ten.

Last night was also Black tie & Boots fundraiser.   We had a very fun time.  I got to see people that I dearly love but don’t get to see often enough.  Plus getting dressed up is really fun.

However staying out too late, improper hydration and improper fueling lead to a very tough long run this morning.  I struggled from the go this morning.  It was ok until about mile 4 when I had to go up and over a steep overpass.  By mile 7 I was walking occasionally and by 10 I was just glad to be done.  My stomach never felt well and I just felt dry, not thirsty but dry.  It was very weird.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s shake out run.

What’s your favorite race?

How do you prefuel for your long runs?

 

Race Packet Pick Up Day…

Race packet pick up day is my favorite day.  I love getting my bib and my shirt and any other goodies the race is offering.  It’s so exciting, the prospect of it all.  I spend the day wondering how I’m going to run, how big is the field, is it going to be too hot, too cold…all the things that could go wrong (but likely won’t) like parking, being late, will I have to use the porta potty (yes).  So many possibilities.

I’ve done the prep work for this race.  I’m prepared.  It’s only a 7k, not a half.  I got this.  My best 7k at home was done in 42 minutes and some change.  I’m under no delusion that I will finish this race in that time just because of things like getting stuck behind slower runners who like to run 3 a breast on a narrow trail or people who like to suddenly walk right in front of you.  But I know that I will do fine.  I’m aiming to keep about a 10:30 pace and not go out like a crazed dog.  Since this is my first race in two years, I just want it to be a fun one, an enjoyable one.

A while back I signed up for the NorCal Tour de FIT series.  It’s a series of races designed to help people keep active.  I agreed to sign up and run three races between February and July 2014.  I had already signed up for The Lucky Race and Running of the Elks and I need one more race.  I had two to choose from two as part of the series, one at the end of April (two weeks after Running of the Elks) and one in the middle of July.  I don’t like to race that far into summer so I signed up for the Capital City Classic at the end of April.  The race offers a 5k, a 10k & a 10 miler.  I signed up for the 10 mile race.  I thought it would be a great way to keep my mileage up after Running of the Elks half marathon.

For right now my race schedule looks like this:

03/08 – Lucky Run 7K

04/06 – Running of the Elks Half Marathon

04/27 – Capital City Classic 10 Miler

I’m hoping to add something in May too but right now I haven’t found anything that fits my schedule that isn’t crazy far away.  Or right when Hubby and I are going to have a get away to the Central Coast.  I’d like to add an additional Half some time this year but it might have to wait until later in the year, say a fall race to early winter.

On a side note not related to racing/running…I got my first gel manicure last night.  I loved it.  So cool that it was dry before I left the salon and I didn’t have to worry about messing it up.  I also got a pedicure so that my toes look nice for the open toed heels I’m wearing for the fund-raiser tomorrow night.  Hopefully I don’t mess it up between now and the party.

Also on a non-racing side note but related to Running, if you like Brooks shoes and running clothes, Zulily has a great deal on right now.  I picked up a pair Tile Blue & Lime Punch Pure Cadence 2 Running Shoes, two tank tops, a long sleeve shirt & a pair of Capris pretty cheap this morning.

I’ve been wanting to try Brooks for a while but was having trouble locally finding them in my weird shoe size.  So getting a deal on them is awesome.

Are you racing this weekend?

What are your favorite brands of running shoes/gear?

When Life Throws You a Curve Ball…

This week has been so crazy and it’s only Wednesday.  Hubby and I are going to a Fund Raiser this weekend and it’s a formal event.  Of course I don’t own anything that is formal unless you count black running capris.  So Monday instead of getting my run in I had to go dress shopping.  I did manage to buy a dress that everyone else loves but I’m not so sure about.

Tuesday was shoe shopping becuase I don’t wear, much less own fancy shoes.  Thankfully I did find a pair at DSW and it wasn’t too much of a pain in the rear to find.

Sparkly!

After all the shopping I needed a treat so Hubby and I went to PinkBerry.  Neither of us had been before so after doing a taste test, I chose Salted Carmel with brownie bites.

Oh my gosh, it was soooo good.  But I was so full from eating it that I didn’t need dinner.

I did manage to get a run in last night.  Monday’s run was scheduled to be a 5 miler but I couldn’t remember how long it was supposed to be after I left so I just ran 4.  It wasn’t a great run but I was glad that I did it.

I tend to be a person that likes  structure.  I want to know what I’m doing.  Changes to my schedule cause me stress and I’ve been off my game for about 4 days.  The worst part about this is that it tends to make my depression much worse even with the medication.  I’ve really been feeling down for the last couple of days.  I was ok on the weekend becuase I did get my runs in before I spent the rest of the day running errands.  But Monday and Tuesday have been really tough.  There’s no real reason for me feeling so down, it just is and I keep trying to pull myself up by my boot straps and get in the mood.  But I have a feeling that this is going to last until after the fund raiser on Saturday.

But the Lucky Run is Saturday too and I am really looking forward to that.  Friday I’m taking part of the day off from work to go pick up my race packet.  I love race packet pick up day.  It’s so exciting.  I’m not running the half, I’m running the 7k.  When I originally signed up for this race I was just getting back to running and figured a 7k would be doable.  But now I’m wishing that I had registered for the half.  Not that that would be the best since the fund raiser is the same day.  The 7k will take the place of my scheduled training run for that day.

I can’t wait to race.  It will be my first one in 2 years.  I’m nervous/excited.  I can’t wait!

One Training Week at a Time

Half Marathon:  Running of the Elks in Elk Grove, CA

When:  April 6, 2014

Remaining Weeks to train: 5 Week

Current Week of Training:  Week 3

Let’s start with the back story and I’ll make it quick becuase it can turn into a bit of a long one if I let it.  I love to talk about my running, both sucesses and fail so it tends to drag on.

2 years ago I trained for and ran the Sacramento Shamrockin’ Half (2012) in 2:29:30, 30 seconds faster than my goal of 2:30.  I wasn’t really satisfied with my time and joined a training group through my local Fleet Feet to train for the Parkway Half in April of 2012.  Training went well but the week before the Half, I stopped to pet the dog and then promptly tripped over him spraining my ankle badly enough that I was on crutches for about a week thus missing the Half.  I took time off from running to heal and that time off went for 2 years.

In November of 2013, I changed jobs and no longer had a 2 hour daily commute.  I had more time to take care of myself and started walking a lot, I joined a crossfit gym and by January 2013 I was running again.  I signed up for a 7k in March and for my birthday at the begining of February i signed up to run The Running of Elks.  I love training, both for races and X-training.  My body loves it and so does my mind.  I feel clearer and more awake than I have in a long time.  But it also leaves me with a need to “talk” about running and thus this new blog.  I’ve blogged before at One Dropped Stitch but I don’t want my training to run over on to that, plus I haven’t been knitting much (too much training to do).

Week 3 of Training:

This week is a bit off because I have other obligations (read that as getting my hair done) and I have to rearrange my schedule a bit to fit it all in.  Normally Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday are training days and I do crossfit on Tuesdays and Thursday.  This week I will have to do crossfit and a run today.  Not ideal, but since it’s an easy 4 I think I can make it happen.  I just hope it’s not leg day at the gym.

Otherwise training is on schedule.  I didn’t even let yesterdays windy and rainy conditions deter me from getting my training run done.  Actually I ran it even faster than I normally do.  4.51 miles in 45 minutes, average pace: 9:59.  And it felt good.

My goal for the Running of the Elks is to finish in about 2:21:04…at least that’s what my Endomando app seems to think I can do it in.  I just want anything that will beat my Shamrockin’ time.