10 Miles

It's Sunday and beautiful outside. It's past noon and only 77-degrees. A wonderful change from the past several days when temps were already in the high 80s by 8:00 a.m. I ran 10 miles today with my hubby and toddler on the bike alongside. My older kids are with their step mom this weekend.

The first 6 miles were at an easy pace of about 8:20-8:25/mile.
Mile 7 was "ins and outs": alternating 30 seconds at mile race pace followed by 30 seconds of the above easy pace, avg. 7:26.
MIle 8 was back to the easy pace, but I averaged 7:48.
Mile 9 was supposed to be between 6:50-7:00, and I ran it in 6:47.
Mile 10 was a cool down mile.

I drank a lot of fluid out there. I'm hoping that my cold is completely gone. I still feel a scratchy throat, but overall I think I'm back to good health. No pains detected, but I definitely felt fatigue and soreness especially in my hamstrings. I'm sure this was from the 5K race yesterday. My breathing felt much better today.

Tonight we go to our friends' son's birthday party. I'm definitely going to have a nice, cold beer! And cake and ice cream, too.

Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

My Last 5K for a while

It's been an interesting week. Last weekend I did not run because I was down for the count with a sinus infection and cold, complete with chest congestion. I was feeling better earlier in the week so I did some easy miles and then did some 800s on Wednesday. Felt pretty good! The average for the 4 800s was 3:09. Thursday I was feeling okay, Friday I was feeling sick again and today... today I used my brains (said with a boat load of sarcasm) and I raced the last of the Turlock 5K Summer Series.

I decided to not wear the Garmin and just wear the sports watch. I decided to not look at my splits, which was a good thing (I'll tell you why in a second), and I decided to just go with the flow, hang on as long as I could and try to not collapse at the end.

I felt great in the first mile, smooth. In the middle of the 2nd mile I started to feel some overall body fatigue and started to feel the remnants of the cold in my chest. By the third mile, I was ready to walk. I wanted to throw in the towel and quit. But because Cross Country season starts next week for the local high schools, we had about a hundred kids out there with us. I just didn't want to quit and have all of those kids witness it. So, I pressed on and finished in 2nd place for the women and 13th overall. I'm so glad I had won the first 2 races in the series because I ended up being the overall female series winner. :) The race director is sending me a nice plaque for it!

I looked at my splits with my coach's wife after the race and boy, did we laugh! My first mile was 6:08 (yes, way, way too fast). It felt so good while I was doing it though. My second mile was 6:44 (and this was when I was feeling tired). My last mile.1 was 7:38. Hahahaha, crash and burn! I just could not wait to get the race over with! My overall time was 20:30. I'll take it, especially after having been sick for a good part of the week leading up to the race. It felt good to race though, even if it wasn't a PR.

I still haven't broken 20:00 for the 5K, but I will! Anyway, my times for the series were 21:00, 20:44, 20:30. At least I improved on the course each time. I just don't think I'm made for short distance speed. But that might change when marathon training gets under way... MONDAY!

Have a good week!!!

What I find inspiring

Andre Phillips ran the 400 meter hurdles in the Seoul Olympics in 1988. He dethroned the king of the 400 hurdles, who sat on that throne for a decade, at the Olympics that year by winning the Gold. The 'king' was Edwin Moses. Andre Phillips was just a guy raised on the east side of San Jose, California who at the age of 18 was 'on his own' as he said. He lived in his car for 3 months before finding a place to call home. But while he lived in his car, he worked at a restaurant and he eventually went to school at UCLA. He did not give up on himself. He did not take a path that could've ended his life. He made the best out of what he had at the time. He made his dream a reality when he became an Olympian, and he lived beyond his wildest dreams for that moment when he won the Gold and beat Edwin Moses. He's #1120 on the left, Moses #1114 is on the right.

He's still living the American dream as a Vice Principal at a Stockton high school where the kids just love him, and where he imparts his wisdom and kindness on the kids. He plans on returning to track competition as a Masters competitor next year at the Modesto Relays. I cannot wait to see him! I'll definitely be rooting for him with every step and every hurdle. I want to be like him when I grow up.

I also find my daughter inspiring in the way that she can't wait to take violin lessons because she loves the way the violin sounds. And who can draw a damn good rendition of a Picasso painting, freehand. And I am inspired by my son who is teaching himself to play the guitar, with the help of his granddad, too. But he can already play several chords of the song, More Than Words. He taught himself by watching it on You Tube! And I'm inspired by my youngest son who insists on doing things by himself, and who is talking up a storm.

Life sure is beautiful if you look in the right places. :)

The Calm Before "The Storm"

The Storm of which I speak is marathon training, of course. ;)

I've been running, nice and easy and no more than 50 minutes at a time. I stopped pool running last week, although I have to admit it's a good way to get that heart pumping when cross training. Definitely throw intervals in there when pool running, otherwise the point is moot. I'll be loosening up a little more this week and doing a few 800s tomorrow and some more short turnover sessions next week along with getting the miles back up. September 1 is just around the corner and then it'll be time to get serious. And I am serious about this fall training cycle! I really don't know what kind of workouts are in store and I can't wait to find out. I do know that my mileage will be up there (compared to where I was before Boston). I don't foresee a 100 mile week anytime this cycle, but I'll get up to around 90 (God willing).

I'll be a real stickler about core strengthening as well. My goal is 3 core routines per week, at minimum. I did the CrossFit workout of the day on Monday and I am SO sore today, two days later. Shows how much I've been slacking with those. But my heart was pumping good in that 16 minute workout, and I love this kind of muscle soreness (well, at least when I don't have to do a hard training run or race). But all of the core stuff combined with the running will just keep the strength level high. That's good!

On the home front, my husband received a job offer at his former fire department. If all goes well with his medical (and I'm sure it will), he'll start in mid-September. He'll be a Battalion Chief... a huge change from working on the line, but he's ready. He's been a line firefighter for 16 years now so I think he's ready for this change. I am so proud of him and know he'll be a good leader.

The kids started school on August 18. The morning air is cooler, crisper. The sun takes longer to rise now and early morning runs will be dark when I get back to them. I can't believe how fast time goes by. It's been almost 2-1/2 years since I worked full time at the police department. I've been working an average of one to two patrol shifts per month since. At first I really, really missed everything about my career. I still miss so much about it when I'm there doing it, but when I'm far removed from it and doing everything else, it doesn't tug at my heart so much anymore. I do enjoy being out there in the community, a community so different from the one where I live.

Working patrol opens my eyes and mind to everything that I usually shut out when I'm at home. Being out there reminds me of all I have to be thankful for! The simplest things: love, family, food, shelter, health.

Since I no longer work full time, I've been blessed to have been able to pursue my hobby of running in earnest. Something I was not able to do when I worked at least 10 hour days and commuted about 4 hours a day to and from work. I've definitely been blessed to be able to be here for the kids! They asked me to not go back to full time yet. Their dad is in Iraq and I think they'd miss having me gone most of the day, too, on top of their dad being gone until next Spring. Not that they don't love and trust their step parents because they completely do, but I think you all know what I mean. Being home has been a gift! I have so many options to consider regarding career, but full time will have to wait a while longer.

Well, time to enjoy some coffee while the toddler plays with his toys. We'll watch a little Olympics (GO USA). I'll run later today after the kids are done with homework.

Hope all is well with you!!!

A Week of REST

This week has been nice as far as any kind of training. I've taken it easy all week with some cross training via pool running (although those workouts are hard), and just plain rest. I haven't run since Saturday and I feel really good. In fact, I can't wait to get back to running and I know this little bit of rest is what I needed both mentally and physically.

The downside is that I've been eating everything I want (aka JUNK). I seem to eat better when I'm running more and running hard. I also get better sleep, etc., etc. But this week I told myself I'd enjoy whatever I feel like. Sometimes ya' just gotta not be so rigid about things. Okay... sometimes I just need not be so rigid about things. ;)

No big injuries to speak of, just minor aches and soreness here and there. Same old stuff that comes with the territory. I hope you are all enjoying AUGUST. My kids start school next week. I can't believe how fast the summer break has gone by.

The THRILL of Victory!

Wow, wow, wow, wow! One Wow for each member of the U.S. Men's Swimming 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay. I love to see efforts like theirs. It was an amazing, heart tugging, tear producing (from joy) effort! Talk about a RACE. That was one of the best races I've ever seen! Here it is on nbcolympics-dot-com.
Congratulations gentlemen! Well earned, well deserved.
To the french who unfortunately talked smack about the U.S. team... sorry about the agony of defeat. :(

Dreams (and not the Goals kind)

It's been a tiring week after the SF Half Marathon. I did 3 recovery runs from Monday through Wednesday, but I did strides at the end of Wednesday's recovery run and everything felt very tight and uncomfortable instead of loose. Thursday I did a tempo run and it took all I had just to run 4 miles at my tempo pace. I just PHYSICALLY wasn't feeling good. I knew I was not yet recovered from the half.

So I told Miguel and God bless him, he said, "DO NOT push the pace if you feel tight. Just run your miles at easy pace and if you throw in a strider and things feel tight, immediately stop and go back to easy paced running. We don't want you injured before we start marathon training September 1." So I did an easy run on Friday and Saturday and today I'm going to do a 12 miler and if I feel good after the first pick up (fartlek), I'll keep proceeding with the run as planned... fartlek in the middle and then progressively faster for the last 4 miles, ending at a 6:40 pace. If I feel tightness in my hamstring insertion points (or sit bones), I'll keep it at easy pace.

Anyway, on to DREAMS. I had such sad dreams last night that the crying in my sleep woke me up. :( The first dream was about how my oldest son was exposed to anthrax, of all things! And I was too, but somehow it did not make me ill, but I was rushing around trying to tell my family so that I could get back to my son and be with him. But all my siblings and their families were busy preparing for a trip with my parents and I couldn't get them to sit still and listen and I kept yelling louder and louder, "Come ON! Come ON! Come ON!" I kept trying to get them to listen and I was crying so hard because I just wanted to get back to my son and I never did get to tell them because the crying woke me up.

When I woke up I looked around the room and thanked God it was just a dream.

The next dream was about me driving a bunch of women around in my car with my toddler and daughter on their laps. The women kept saying that my son was anemic and that he had "that look." ??? I looked at my son and he looked really, really pale, but he was still smiling and playing. Then my husband was in the car (all of the sudden) and he said, "Just park here and I'll be right back." So I parked the car at the stop sign in the middle of the road like he said. A driver came up behind me and yelled at me to move my car and I said I couldn't. He then got on his car radio (like in a police squad car) and said, "Send patrol over." Oops! I still didn't move my car for a minute or so.

Then I finally moved the car across the intersection which turned out to be the city where I work. I thought I'd better get out and look for my husband. I left the women and my kids in the car and just got out and started walking, barefoot. My feet were getting wet. I started yelling my husband's name over and over. And I saw many cops that I work with also yelling his name over and over. I kept walking, aimlessly, through town, barefoot, yelling his name. And the cops kept repeating it. There were hundreds of other people walking around but I did not recognize their faces and they were all wearing dark clothing.

As I kept walking, the scene in my dream changed back to my room where I was asleep and then I heard my husband say quietly, "Here I am, here I am." And in my dream I woke up and told him I had a bad dream and he said, "Yes, your left shoulder is bleeding (and in my dream it was cut and bleeding) and you did something so weird." I said, "What did I do?" He said, "You licked your feet!" In my dream I was grossed out, and then I said, "In my dream I was walking barefoot around the city looking for you, and my feet felt wet." And then he said, "We need to take care of this cut." And then I actually woke up. So it was weird, but I was having a dream within a dream! I've only done that once or twice before.

I looked over at my husband who was zonked out and I went back to sleep, praying that I'd have no more bad dreams. The alarm went off at 0500 and I told myself, "I'm not running until the baby's nap time." And turned the alarm off and crashed out until 0730.

I actually feel kind of disturbed and a little saddened by my dreams, although I know they are not real. I also feel tired and a little run down. I think it's because I worked yesterday and being outside in the sun in full uniform (roasting) just tuckered me out. And I did have lots of jalapenos with dinner last night... I bet the spicy food made me have funky dreams!

Ya' ever say, "That's it, no more, I'm done racing," after a race?

That's what I said at the finish line of the San Francisco Half Marathon today. I ran the 2nd half of the full course and I don't know why, but I was expecting it to be flat and easy. There were some flat part and some easy parts, but that was most definitely not like the half I ran in Sacramento in March (real flat), or the San Jose RocknRoll course (also real flat). Today's course was just downright hard, but take that for what it's worth from a runner who hasn't run hills since May. More to come on the race in a few.

DAY BEFORE THE RACE:
Anyway, Saturday was a great day! I worked at the Runningskirts.com booth all day with Christy (co-owner and twin sister of Cindy). It was so, so great to meet her in person and I had a real blast working with her. She is not only very kind and personable, but gorgeous. Those expos are busy, and tough on the body. I don't know how they do so many.

It was really cool to meet so many different runners who enjoy running in skirts. The skirts and bras were selling like hot cakes, like they were going out of style or something. I think I sat down for maybe 5 or 10 minutes the entire day, that is how busy we were! Have I ever mentioned how much I love their skirts? ;) Christy and Cindy, anytime you need a hand at one of the expos and I am available, I would love to work with you again. I really enjoyed it. Thank you very much for the fun opportunity and for your generosity! Christy, can't wait to read a little report on the first half. I saw your finish time and you did GREAT, especially for the first half of that course. I can only imagine the hills.

Many people came by the booth to say hello and it was great to meet a lot of the other runners who use the Runnersworld.com forums. After talking running so long with these people, you sometimes feel like they're your training partners when you finally do meet them in person. Fellow blogger, and ultra runner extraordinaire Rick Gaston came by to say hi and update me on his life. Rick, I'm so happy that things are going well for you!!! :) Now let that thigh/knee of yours heal!

On Saturday night after the expo I met up with a lot of runners from the California Running and Racing Forum on Runnersworld.com at Buca di Beppo. It was so hard to get a chance to talk with everybody because it was very crowded in there and quite loud, but it was nice to put more faces to names. Runners really are so friendly and supportive of one another, in many aspects of life and not just running. I really enjoyed talking with Lori and Gundy. Gundy just finished running the Badwater Ultra Marathon through Death Valley and finishing up Mt. Whitney. Talk about a super knowledgeable, dedicated, talented yet very humble man. And Lori was just a sweetheart! She made her goal in the full marathon in SF running a sub-3:30 by 2 minutes. Go girl!

RACE MORNING:
Nothing too eventful. Woke up about 3 hours before gun time and choked down more fluids, sports drink, coffee and half a bagel with butter. My tummy was nervous, I was nervous. Met Larry, aka Mosquito, our running store general manager at the shuttle buses at 6:30 and off we went to the 2nd half starting line at Golden Gate Park. Made use of the port o potties once, and then made use of the dense trees and shrubs several times. Saw BUFFALO grazing in a field at the park and I had to stop and stare.

Warmed up for 1.5 miles, including long strides at goal pace. Changed into racing flats, checked the gear bag and fell into line in wave 1. I had gotten a voice mail from Miguel the night before and he said to go out at 6:45-6:50 for the first 3 miles, and then after the little hill at 3 miles, let it loose and be aggressive. Just go for it. He said not to be afraid and to push myself. He said to visualize seeing the clock at the finish line saying sub 1:25 (hahhahahaha, right), and that I was ready. And you know what, I know I was ready (but the course has to be pretty damn flat for me to get that time, at least right now).

Followed his instructions pretty much to the letter, but I live in flat land and the hills were longer and more challenging than I thought they'd be. I thought they'd be little rollers like CIM's course, but no, to me these were actual hills. Enough so that my pace slowed significantly on them. The downhills in Mile 6 were THE BOMB though. I FLEW down those things and had a blast doing so. What I did was monitor my Garmin for the first 3 miles to make sure I wasn't going too fast, and then I just stopped looking at it completely until I got to the finish line. I ran the last 10 miles completely by feel, and let me tell you, I felt it.

Looking at the Garmin AFTER the race, I realized that I ran .38 miles longer than I had to. I did not run the tangents which added on a significant amount to the race. I ran 13.48 miles at 1:30:03, which was a 6:41/mile average. But since that's not official, I have to go with running 13.1 in 1:29:09 (6:49/mile average). Not much of a PR at all, but I have to cut myself some slack because this course was so different from the last half marathon I ran in March.

My splits were:
6:44
7:03
7:14
6:49 (first 4 miles had some hills, in Golden Gate Park)
6:22
6:40 (several rollers)
6:40
6:05 (can you tell there were a couple down hills in this mile?)
6:33 (aah, flat)
6:31
6:46 (feeling fatigue and feeling headwinds)
6:40 (see above)
6:45 (barely, barely hanging on... in fact, gasping at the end)
3:15 (for . 48)
2.08 mile cool down a little while later

As soon as I crossed the finish line, Larry and David (another RW forum user) asked me if I was all right. I must've not looked too good. I didn't feel too good either. I saw my husband and ALMOST said, "Never again," out loud. Instead, I just said the words silently to myself. Of course that won't last long.

Afterward I went through waves of feeling decent, and then feeling just plain ill, exhausted, wanting to lay down and curl up into a ball and sleep. I still feel pretty crappy at 8:15 p.m., but I'll get over it.

I talked to Miguel after the race and he said he knew the course was tougher than he let on, but didn't want to psyche me out before the race. He was happy with what I did today because he said I was still very strong on high volume/low intensity (which is what I've done through the summer). He feels that the high volume, high intensity workouts that will come for marathon training will really help me improve by a lot, and not by just seconds.

To Larry (Mosquito Mosquito) & David (Golden State Runner): You guys completely rocked that 2nd half! Larry ran a 1:12 & change and David ran a new PR of 1:23 & change. As I mentioned earlier, the course was not easy. My hat is off to these two because they went twice as fast as me and felt twice the pain! ;)

I wanted to give a shout out to Billy & Paul, two other RW forum users that I met at the expo on Saturday. SF was Paul's FIRST MARATHON and he did great! Paul, you're a nut to pick that one for your first, but it shows how much gumption you've got. And Billy PR'd AND broke 4 hours by 8 minutes. He wanted to break 4 at the San Diego Rock N Roll in June but didn't, and I know SF's course is much harder than SD's, and he not only broke 4 but he broke it by a ton of time! Great job guys!

I have a few weeks of easy running and cross training to do. I'm looking forward to the down time. I'm sure it's all I need to get my race mojo back. Thanks so much for reading and for all the good wishes prior to the race. :)

Nerves Are Good

I'm nervous! I haven't felt nervous like this for a race since the CIM last year. It's been a LOVELY week of tapering. I cannot even tell you how happy I've been with the cut backs this week. I did run a short quality workout on Wednesday, more to loosen up the legs and lungs than to gain any fitness. It was 1 x 1 mile at 6:26, 3 minutes recovery, 4 x 400 with 1 minute recoveries: 1:27, 1:30, 1:32, 1:31, sandwiched between 2 miles warm up and 2 cool down. The rest of the days have been nice, easy, short runs and lots of stretching.

I'm running 2 easy miles today, and 20 minutes tomorrow, and that's it until Sunday morning. I'll be talking to Miguel tomorrow about my race strategy, but when I talked with him today he said, "Don't be afraid to be aggressive after the first 2-3 miles. Just let it go and do it." I've put in some good training and good miles during this summer's mini-season, and I'm ready to 'let it go and do it.'

I think that's why I'm nervous!

Okay, time to get some grub. Have a GREAT weekend! I'll be thinking about all the kind stuff you wrote in the comments of my last entry, and I'll carry those good vibes with me over the course. Thank you!!!