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Race Report: ING NYC Marathon - Part 2 (Saturday/Race Eve)

2011-11-17T15:00:00.000-08:00

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In case you missed it, this post continues on from Race Report: ING NYC Marathon - Part 1 (Friday).

The day before the marathon was packed with lots of fun activities! First up was the expo which was held at the Jacob Javits center. I had wanted to get there right when it opened at 9AM, but had a late start that morning due to me wanting to get more sleep in. The expo was about a mile away from my hotel, so technically I could have walked there but I felt like I did enough walking the night before and wanted to try to rest as much as possible.

Luckily, the marathon arranged a shuttle service between the midtown hotels and the expo. The closest pickup location was at the hotel one block over. Once I got there, there weren't too many people waiting, but thirty minutes later, there were tons. I was worried that all of us would not fit on the bus once it finally arrived since one had already passed us fully packed. Thankfully, the bus stopped right where was I standing so I was able to be one of the first ones to get on.

Right as I was about to step on, I quickly realized that I had forgotten my printed registration form back at the hotel! *headdesk* The form that they very clearly stated MUST be printed ahead of time and brought to the expo as they would not accept any versions on your phones or have places for you to print there. Ugh!

Had to jump out of line and speed walk back to my hotel to get my form. At this point, it was almost 11AM and I already had a tight schedule that day (Broadway matinee at 2PM!) so I took a cab directly to the expo.

Finally at the expo! One of the main things I love about the NYC marathon, oops I mean the ING NYC Marathon, is how international it is! You really do feel like you're part of the Olympics.

Considering how large the race is - reportedly over 47,000 participants, of which over 20,000 were from outside the US (yes, I'm full of stats today!) - bib pick up was pretty quick and straightforward. Although, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it's a well oiled machine by now.

You first go through a checkpoint where they check your ID and registration form. From there, you head to your booth to get your bib, goody bag, and race shirt. I noticed my bib listed my name and underneath, "UNITED STATES" which I thought was fun since it's normally your city. I was also excited to see that the race shirt was super cute - a long sleeve teal tech T with a graphic of the five boroughs. (In fact, I had almost purchased the short sleeve version of the shirt the night before at the parade - glad I waited!)

Now normally you're stuck with the size that you listed when you registered but here you can request what size you want. Gah - decisions!!! Luckily, they had volunteers by the booths holding the shirts in all the different sizes. You couldn't try them on, just hold them up to your body. I couldn't decide between sizes and was getting all frazzled about it until the volunteer pointed out that I really shouldn't be stressing out about this. But it's a big decision!!! I finally went with what two of the volunteers suggested and I was on my way.

The expo itself was pretty large but about the same as other big races like Disney, Chicago, etc. The first half you enter is what I like to call Asics-ville. I was hoping to find all the cute race gear highlighted in the many, many emails sent prior to the race but they were nowhere to be found! I was worried that maybe some of the good stuff had been sold out since I was there the last day of the expo but then I remembered they still had this "Marathon Monday" store so I was hoping they would be found there.

ASICs did have a ton of race merchandise but nothing was really that cute. Actually, there were some cute stuff but they were all in the men's section. Hmph. But I couldn't walk away empty handed so I did get a fleece hat and arm warmers that I thought might come in handy the next morning on Staten Island.

While wandering around, I stumbled across the brightroom booth that were not only taking pics but also videos, too!

I chuckled and thought why not! I probably won't be here again and if there's a time to cheese out, this is it! I got my picture taken:

And maybe I did a video, too. A really embarrassing, cringe-y video that if I could figure out the embed code I would post here, too. Thankfully, I could not. (But it's not hard to find if you really want to see it and laugh.)

Did you know that there is a Mount Kilimanjaro marathon? I didn't until I saw them at the expo. Of course, I'm not surprised (and I bet there are some crazies that read this, and thought, "Ooh, I'd like to run that!" You know who you are.) I was also amused to see booths like the one below - pretty sure I didn't see them at the Akron expo.

Oh, another fun surprise - this year I've been busting out my magic bullet to make my smoothies and I'm a big fan. Well check it out - they have one especially designed for the marathon!!!

Besides having a different design, they also added larger cups. I'll be honest, I was tempted! But there's nothing wrong with my current "bullet" and I didn't want to have to worry about how to get it back home. Looks like you could still buy it online but with shipping, it would be almost $60 and I think it was $32 at the show. *sigh*

Moving on!

Mmmm... cheese...

On to my ~celeb spotting... It was super fun to see some familiar runner faces at the expo like Lolo Jones:

... and Dean Karnazes...

... as well as Ryan Hall.

Speaking of Ryan Hall, check out this cool promotion he did with Asics. Wish I could have checked this out in person!

Finally, there was one person while I was there that attracted a whole lot of hub bub. Not Apolo Ohno, but Mr. AC Slater himself... Mario Lopez!

I was totally cracking up when I kept overhearing, "Who's Mario Lopez?" I didn't have time to wait in his line but that's OK because it seemed to be all business. No posed pictures, just autographs. And if you wanted him to sign it to you, you had to have your name on a post-it prior to handing it over. Reminded me of the time I waited in line to get 98 Degrees' autographs. Wait, what...

Right before I left, I spotted these two bloggers, Emily from Sweat Once a Day and Lauren from Health on the Run, and introduced myself. I had fun chatting with them for a bit and discussing the race. They were spectating but planned to run NYC next year.

I didn't plan my day very well because I didn't get a chance to grab lunch before quickly heading back to the theater district to meet my parents for the matinee showing of Billy Elliot.

I wasn't sure what to expect since I hadn't seen the movie version but I have to say, I really really enjoyed it! The lead was so adorable and such an incredible dancer. Even better, my dad managed to stay awake for the whole show :)

From there, we took the scenic route to our next stop...

... which was St. Patrick's Cathedral for what I have now heard is called the Runner's Mass.

Now I've been to mass here many times and I've never seen it as packed as it was that evening. Looking around, you can tell it's definitely the marathon crowd but I wasn't expecting any kind of special mass or anything. Probably because of the time I attempted the Chicago marathon, we attended a similar kind of "marathon mass" at the church super close to all the marathon hotels. It was also packed with runners (you can tell by all the running shoes and race shirts) and I remember my sister observing that they didn't do any kind of special blessing / shout out for the runners.

So I figured it would be the same thing for this big city as well. Boy, was I wrong!

First, I noticed in the program that the presiding priest (Father Joe) was also running the marathon the next day! And this is a guy about my dad's age so how awesome is that?

Father Joe also made a point to relate the entire homily (or sermon, if you will) to the marathon. At one point, he asked the marathoners who expected to finish in over five hours to stand up. I was sitting to the far left and immediately stood up just as he continued with, "I bet you guys don't want to admit that." Doh! Well I was already standing at that point so after he acknowledged me, I sat down all embarrassed. My mom leaned over and whispered to me, "You're so humble." I busted out laughing.

Now I probably won't get this right but I think what he wanted to point out was that as runners, we provide people with hope. People can see runners finish marathons in three or four hours and think, "Oh, I could never do that." But when you hear of runners that take five or more hours, it gives them hope and they think, "Hey maybe I can do that, too." Well, I'm happy to provide anybody with hope when it comes to running! (There was definitely more to the homily and I am doing a horrible job capturing it here but I encourage you to read Molly's take as she described it much more eloquently.)

It was also a nice moment when he had everyone running the marathon to stand and there was applause. But even better when he then asked everyone that was there to support a marathoner to stand. Of course, the cheers were even louder! Love my mom and dad! :)

It was a really nice homily and I know I don't go that often, but that may have been the first time I actually paid attention to the whole thing, haha.

But it didn't end there. At the very end of mass, he asked all the marathoners to join him at the altar for a special blessing.

My Parents' View

It took us awhile for all of us to get up there. We all formed into this big circle easily five people deep. I guessed it was at least 200 people total from all over the world. Of course, everyone whipped out their cameras and their phones and I was so bummed that I left mine at the pews. Luckily, I found a picture online:

Source

The Father said a special prayer and then sprinkled us all with holy water - it was really sweet! And I totally chuckled that someone on the other side of the circle had raised up his "Go Father Joe" spectator sign.

Now comes for the funny moment. Mass was now over and all of us runners are slowly working our way off the altar. As soon as I turn around, I see my mom and dad had left their seats and were now standing right up front waving at me with their camera saying "Wait! Wait, we'll take your picture!" Suddenly, I was having flashbacks to my first grade Christmas pageant days.

I knew this would not go well but I humored them for a bit. So I'm standing there at the altar with all these people trying to get by around me, feeling super awkward as my mom is standing there pressing the camera button for what seems like forever. I'm not surprised. I was at least 20ft away, there was dim lighting, and my mom doesn't know how to do the "press half way to focus" thing on her camera yet. So of course when the flash would finally go off would be the exact moment that someone decides to walk in front of me. Which is how we ended up with these beauties (can you spot me?)...

Take 1 - FAIL:

Take 2 - FAIL:

By now, I'm laughing hysterically as I gave up and rejoined my parents. They still insisted on taking this one:

Good grief, that was taxing! I had mentioned on Twitter that there were two consecutive embarrassing incidents with my parents while in NYC and that was one of them. I'll spare you the details on the second one, but in short, my parents tried to marry me off to the son of a fellow Filipino couple they had met - THAT DAY.

Oy.

On to dinner... I'm glad I had made my reservations earlier that week. I tried to get a spot at Patsy's which was recommended by Roadbunner's BF but they were completely booked. So I went to Yelp and decided on Fresco which had good reviews and was located close to the church.

I was starving by this point and definitely had my fill of yummy carby deliciousness.

But of course I couldn't resist one more NYC staple to tide me over for the night. Carbs... salt... this should be part of every pre-marathon diet!

After a long and busy busy day, it was finally time to rest up at the hotel. I was excited to go through my goody bag and get all my race gear ready to go!

The cute race shirt:

And some of my fave freebies...

First up, we got another one of those bandanna tube-y things... now I have one to go with my Akron Marathon one. It's still in its packaging but I did see lots of people wear this around their neck and face to stay warm the next morning.

I *love* this!!! It's a big magnet with little stickers you peel off to reveal your final finish time. You can see my finished product here.

I thought this was cute! Almost used it too but then I was worried I would lose it.

Gotta have the race tattoo! Which I did use - stay tuned for that...

And I am always needing more lens cloths! (No really, I am!)

Time to finally lay out all my gear! Isn't it crazy how much we have to pack? It's like we're going camping!

Nighty-night... thank goodness we had a time change that night and *gained* an hour. (Although to be honest, even if the time change was in our favor, it still made me stress out about my alarms going off at the right time.)

Next post will be Race Day! :)

Race Report: ING NYC Marathon - Part 1 (Friday) *

2011-11-14T17:23:00.001-08:00

* In celebration of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 opening on Friday, I tried to make this blog title extra long.

OK, are you guys ready??? I'm so excited to finally tell you all about my awesome ING NYC Marathon weekend! (Is it weird that I have to always include ING in the marathon name? NYC Marathon just doesn't sound as grand and special to me.)

This one's going to be a bit different. I'll be doing a series of posts and they will read more like a trip report vs a race report so I hope you enjoy hearing about all my little random adventures during my too-short weekend in the Big Apple.

*****

I started off the trip in style by splurging on miles for a first class ticket to NYC. Sooooooo worth it. This definitely had some awesome perks that I usually only see on international flights: fully reclining seats with footrests, personal entertainment center loaded with tons of movies and TV shows, Bose headphones (never used them before - they are AMAZING!), hot meals, and more! I was planning to sleep during this flight but ended up staying awake so I could take full advantage of all the benefits!

Breakfast while watching Midnight in Paris - pic taken before the bread basket arrived, hence the empty plate on top :P

Why yes, I would like a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk while watching Horrible Bosses

The flight flew by (pun intended) and the next thing I know, I'm looking at the Manhattan skyline.

I should mention my trip to NYC was fairly short - arrived Friday afternoon, left Monday afternoon. I wanted to squeeze in as much as possible so I had planned a pretty tight itinerary.

The main thing I wanted to do on Friday night was to check out the marathon's Parade of Nations and fireworks display at Central Park. My plane landed at JFK at 4PM and the parade started on the upper west side around 6PM. I was worried about missing some of it so my goal was to get into Manhattan as quickly as possible. I have to give a big shout out to my NYC resident blogger/twitter buddies The Running Laminator and Absolut(ly) Fit/50by25/Laura for all their helpful advice while I was in town. Turns out the quickest way to get from JFK to Times Square (one of my FAVORITE places in the world and my home for the weekend) was the train. Specifically, you'd take AirTrain to the Jamaica Station and from there, hop on the E to Manhattan. The whole thing will cost you $7.25 compared to $40 fare + tip, so it's a heck of a lot cheaper, too. (Note: I'm providing this level of detail in case any future NYCM runners find this post and need some travel tips, heehee)

I made sure to not check anything on my flight so I could get out of the airport quickly. I'd say I probably walked off my plane at 4PM and walked into my hotel room in Times Square by 5:15PM. Not bad!

Love this place!!!

We stayed right in the heart of Times Square at the W Hotel. Now as you know, hotels in NYC are not cheap and it just gets worst when you are staying at a prime location during a huge event weekend. But I will say we saved a lot of money by booking our room through the official travel agency, Anthony Travel. Their rates are locked well in advance and are posted on the race website. I can confirm they were over $100/night cheaper than if I had tried to book directly from the hotel website, expedia, or other travel sites.

Let me take you on a tour!

Sadly the view was so so

Love the bliss products

I really appreciated the special touches that the W hotel added for us marathoners. When I checked in, they gave me a little gift bag and a special handout with marathon info (pretty much the same info on the website, but I still appreciated it).

Here is what was inside! :)

After getting settled in, I hopped back onto the E to head to the marathon festivities which were being held at the marathon Finish Line. (That should be capitalized, right???)

Here we go... finally starting to feel real!!!

GAH!!! There it is!!! Usually, I'd rather not spoil the finish line surprise but I couldn't really avoid it in this case. It was just so exciting to see it in person since I normally see it on TV. :P

Once I wandered around a bit, I went to check out the parade. I did get there a little bit late so I was worried I wouldn't be able to find a seat. (Event was free, by the way.) No reason to worry as there were tons of seats at the tops of the bleachers.

I got there just in time to see the Philippines (my peeps! lol). Each country was announced as they walked by... I felt like I was at the Olympics!!! (I would continue to feel like this for the rest of the weekend, by the way.)

At the end, everyone came out at once and it was wonderful to see all the different flags on the marathon course.

I am so clueless sometimes - I originally thought all these bleachers were set up *just* for the parade and the fireworks. It wasn't until later that I realized, oh, these are actually the main finish line viewing seats for Sunday. Oops! hahaha. Same seats that my parents had tickets for.

After the parade, there were some speeches as Fred Lebow and Grete Waitz were inducted into the NYRR Hall of Fame.

Then all the lights dimmed and the race course was lit up as they had a "ceremonial first finish" with some surprise guests who turned out to be Meb Keflezighi and Edison Pena (aka the Chilean miner runner). My bad photo is below but there's a better one here.

Once they crossed the finish line, there was a burst of fireworks!

And that was just the beginning because now it was time for the fireworks show! The first song they played was "New York, New York" and it was just perfect!

The fireworks went on for a quite a bit. They had a DJ there that was playing some really fun "Audrey music" - you know, stuff that would make you hit the dance floor. Next thing you know, it was turning into a PAR-TAY!

People had emptied out onto the race course and some were just standing around or trying to exit, but there was definitely a big pack of people down there getting their groove on. And I would almost guarantee it was mostly people from other countries because you know how they can be way more fun than we are. ;)

There would be no dancing with my pre-marathon feet so I later departed to Queens to hang out with an old buddy from my Hoboken days.

Once I finally returned to Times Square late that evening, I remembered another item on my "to do" list - Shake Shack! I had seen the movie "Something Borrowed" and I swear the main thing I got out of that movie (besides cute John Krasinski) was what is this Shake Shack and how do I get some?

Thankfully, there was one near the theater district and I couldn't wait to try it out! For some reason I wasn't in a burger mood, so I got a hot dog and a peanut butter shake. The shake was delicious! The hot dog was so-so, so I definitely should have gone the burger route. (This will be remedied, don't you worry.)

I just love Times Square at night. It makes me happy.

And so ends day 1... time to rest up to tackle the expo and other race-eve activities!

Race Report: Nike Women's Half Marathon

2011-11-13T23:26:00.000-08:00

Fifth Nike event - fourth time doing the half. It was not quite the fun experience I remember having in past races and I realized it's because I ran the race as a "VIP" runner the other four times which completely changes your whole perspective. Special start area tent, special gear check, start corral right behind the elites, private post-race tent in the finish area with a hot brunch, changing rooms, etc. Those were the days!

But this year definitely had its fun moments since many of my friends were either running it or spectating it - I was glad I was able to partake in the festivities!

Expo

Only a ~women's marathon would have a Paul Mitchell salon in the middle of the expo

Foot massage without the foot spa and pedicure seems odd to me.

Another fun female-friendly exhibit - get a skin consultation from Neutrogena!

Sadly, my name did not make it to the wall this year.

Free breakfast buffet at Niketown! Didn't buy anything but thanks for the grub, suckas ;)

This is the first year I didn't buy a NWM hoodie. But if I had, it would be this one. I think Jeri would approve.

Race Day

Race morning did not go very smoothly. Moving on!

Naomi and I in our start corral :)

How I knew we were in the wrong corral

The race kicked off with Beyonce's "Run the World" (which I would later hear at least two more times during the race - quite the girl power song!). As we approached the start line, we were excited to see Kerry along the sidelines and she quickly joined us as we started the race! Very fun!

It was crazy at the start trying to dodge other runners and avoid the walkers. I eventually lost both Naomi and Kerry and just settled into my own comfortable pace. There was something comforting about running such a familiar course. I knew where all the hills were and I am proud to say I ran (ok, slowly jogged) up all of them up to mile 6. By the way, I really loved the drum corp at the top of that hill.

Once we got to mile 7, I was a lot more lenient with my walking breaks - um, I mean, pauses to take some scenic photos.

I didn't really need this pic. I just needed a break from the hills.

Oh, by the way, this is my first race running with my new iPhone 4S so yay for easy self portraits!

I had heard that Katie and crew would be cheering around mile 8. My first thought was, "Aw, man, that's right in the middle of the hills. They're gonna catch me being all wimpy!" But then I realized it was really a good location for a pick me up. So once I got close to mile 8, I forced myself to keep running until I saw them because I did not want to be caught walking!

Finally, I heard it. The beautiful sound of our friend, the cowbell. I looked in the direction of the cowbell and saw this sign:

Pic stolen from Jana

From the sign, I looked down and sure enough, there was Katie along with Page, Jessica, and Dennis! I was so excited to see friends on the race course! And then as soon as I got a good distance past them, I was FINALLY able to take my walk break. Heehee.

The rest of the race was pretty much the same old stuff.

Jazz hands / sashay pic - Check!

My new pet peeve with races is when spectators think it's OK to cut across a race course. If they're able to time it so no runner is affected, then fine. But there were people cutting across the course right before we turned right onto the Great Highway to the finish line stretch. I had to pull a Naomi and angrily bark out a "STOP!!!!!" so people would stay out of my way. It worked. I still wanted to club them though.

zoom zoom out of my way

Official Results

Chip Time: 2:31:15
Pace: 11:32 min/mi
Overall Place: 6144 out of 16444
AG Place: 605 out of 1831

I was pretty proud of myself with this time considering how challenging the course is. Woot woot!

Post race area was pretty fun - Neutrogena was back again and it was nice to have their products on hand to clean up a bit.

Afterward, I wandered around a bit and stumbled upon Aron and Kristin at the sand dunes.

Thanks to Alisyn for the pic!

Later, a bunch of us met up for a tasty lunch at Beach Chalet conveniently located right by the finish line. It was a great place to get away from the crowds.

With Courtney and Kerry

gulp gulp

Monte Cristo, yum yum!

While there, I finally took a good look at my new Tiffany necklace! It's cute. (But I still think the 2010 one is my favorite.)

We also got cute race shirts. I am a fan of the color, cut, and material... maybe not so much the design (compared to previous years - they usually have such cute designs!)

Another nice surprise of this year's event was not having to deal with the dreaded shuttle from Great Highway back to Union Square. In previous years, I had to wait for over an hour just to get on the bus! This year, we were spoiled with private car service from Roadbunner and her BF. Thanks, guys!!!

oops. bet they got a lot of sweaty parking tickets that day.

And in case you're curious, here are all my Nike necklaces to date:

2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011

I'm good on Nike races now... don't think I need to experience that again. And of course, I realize by my passing on future NWM races, the Tiffany necklaces are just going to get cuter and cuter. *sigh*

If you want to read more about this year's half, check out some race reports from my awesome running friends:

If I missed yours, let me know!

Race Report: San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon

2011-11-11T19:08:00.000-08:00

Time for the San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon race report! I ran this race in 2008 and didn't have any plans to run this event again anytime soon but this year it happened to fall on my BIRTHDAY. Sure it was also eight days after the Akron marathon but Roadbunner convinced me to register by reminding me that birthday races don't happen that often. (Obviously, she is able to convince me to register for a lot of stuff, haha.)

And I figure if I could run a full marathon the day after a half marathon (see: Goofy Challenge), surely I could run a half marathon a week after a full marathon, right???

So now fast forward to race week. Akron had come and gone and three days later I was having those curious foot pains mentioned in my previous posts. I didn't want to rush into any decisions but I really did not think it would be possible to run SJ. Thankfully things started turning around but when discussing the race with friends, it didn't seem like anyone was too keen on the idea. Many reminded me not to risk anything with the NYC marathon coming up, especially considering how long I had been waiting to run it.

I was so torn! I definitely agreed with their concerns but I still really wanted to do it for a few reasons:

I already paid for it. (Frugal part of me)
I really wanted a birthday medal! (Plus, I had seen it already and it was super cute!)
Even if I didn't run it, I would still be meeting up with peeps afterward for a post race birthday brunch organized by the awesome Naomi and I would feel sad to be surrounded by peeps with their post-race stories and medals if I didn't have them, too.

So I decided to go for it - but conservatively. I looked up previous race times and saw that tons of people finished in over four hours so I knew it was walker friendly. My plan was to walk the bulk of the race with the only goal time being to make it in time for our 11:30 brunch reservation. :P

Expo

haha

I liked the design of the race shirt and was happy to see it was a tech shirt. I think we got cotton T's in 2008. But it was still a men's cut which meant the small still had sleeves that went down to my elbows. Oh well! Maybe I'll tailor it as a rainy day activity (read: will add to stack of unwearable shirts).

Race Eve

The other reason I wanted to take it easy with this race was because I had planned to celebrate my birthday with my friends the night before.

Taken around midnight - not my usual pre-race protocol

Race Day

Race morning was ROUGH. I didn't go to bed until around 1AM. My parents were in town for the weekend and because they had just arrived the day before, their jet lag got them up around 4AM which woke me up and I had a hard time going back to sleep after that. I finally got up around 6AM and I was feeling not-so-great. Definitely could not eat my usual pre-race toast and just tried to at least get a lot of water in my system.

I did have a nice perk that my dad was able to drop me off at the race start (although his driving may or may not have made me a bit more queasy. :P)

I forced down one of those e-gels at the race start just to have something in my stomach but I figured since I wasn't really running, I should be OK. I got to my corral and was kind of laughing to myself about how ridiculous I felt. I definitely still felt queasy but would just think, oh well, you can just get sick in the portopotty's along the course! I played on Twitter for a bit while I waited for the race to start and was able to meet up with the lovely Courtney.

The race start was really fun! I can't remember what song they had playing but it felt like people were practically dancing to it and waving their arms in the air. Really fun vibe. This was my first time running since Akron so I ran the first mile pretty conservatively. I made sure not to take any painkillers so I would be aware if anything felt off at all. I had no problems with leaving the race, if needed.

First mile went fine so then I stopped to stretch my legs for a bit (something I never do during races anymore) while everyone ran past me. Not so fun. I walked the second mile. I think I ran/walk the third mile and decided I felt good enough that I would just run and take walk breaks whenever I felt like they were needed. I also stopped a bunch of times to stretch, especially my calves because I was starting to feel the pinched nerves in the bottom of my foot again. I also was texting back my friends who were out with me the night before and were checking up on me. They were pretty impressed that I made it out! :P

During the race, I kept leapfrogging the 2:45 pace group and I thought if I could at least finish before them, it would still be a decent race for me, haha.

1 - 11:10
2 - 14:57
3 - 12:51
4 - 10:56
5 - 12:43
6 - 10:46
7 - 12:56
8 - 12:12
9 - 13:48
10 - 13:44
11 - 11:41
12 - 10:55
13 - 11:26
0.26 - 10:32 pace

happy birthday girl

Chip Time: 2:42:45
Pace: 12:25

Overall: 7380 out of 9854
Division: 648 out of 951
Gender: 3534 out of 5422

I was pretty pleased with how I did, all things considered. Definitely NOT a new personal worst! :) And, yay, had plenty of time to meet up with friends for a post race brunch. Even better, my appetite was back!

Here are some pics of the super fun medal (and also a nice comparison of iPhone camera technology, haha):

Taken with my old iPhone 3G

New image with my beloved iPhone 4S

I decided to celebrate my birthday with bottomless mimosas which was really dumb because I probably only drank one full glass. Doh.

With my supa-fly Akron race jacket, in case you were wondering

And I was SO happy to celebrate it with some of my favorite running friends and my parents. It was extra awesome that some fun peeps came by who didn't even run the race.

So all in all, I'm really glad I ran this race. It's definitely a great way to start your birthday off right so if a race happens to land on your birthday, I say go for it!!!

"THIS AIN'T A MARATHON, IT'S A BIG PARTY!"

2011-11-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

- One of the many, many enthusiastic spectators along 4th Ave in Brooklyn.

Word.

*****

Almost four years ago, I posted this:

Well, persistence was definitely rewarded.

This past weekend, I *finally* got to run the ING NYC Marathon with over 47,000 runners from all over the world. Seriously, I felt like I was at the Olympics!

It was everything I hoped it would be and more. I was there primarily for the experience and had no goal time set. A lot of people told me that "racing" New York would be tough with the crowds and the challenging course so I just wanted to go out there and run for fun.

And I did!

But if you're curious...

And hadn't heard yet...

I also managed to finish in under 5 hours!!!

One of my fave items from the goody bag - it's a big magnet!

So yeah, I'd say I had an AWESOME time!!!

I am planning a series of posts to really document the amazingness of the whole weekend. Before I post those, I want to wrap up the San Jose Rock n Roll and Nike race reports first. I'll try to get those out this week so that next week can be all about NYC!!!

Stay tuned :D

Race Report: Akron Marathon

2011-11-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

OK, peeps, here we go... time for my race report from the Akron Marathon!

Akron is about an hour away from where my family lives so it was yet another super early race morning for me. I think I got up around 4AM that day (which is technically 1AM my time). Wasn't so bad since I had all that pre-race excitement going on.

Just like Roadbunner had said, this race is very well organized. The website was full of helpful info with directions and suggested parking garages. Even when you got off the highway, there were helpful signs pointing you in the right direction. I arrived around 5:45AM and had lots of time to kill before the 7AM start time.

Through the power of twitter, I was able to meet up with the super cute Kimi who was running the marathon as part of a 5 person relay team. I later figured out that the relay was a huge portion of this race. There were about 10,000 runners total and of that:

~1,500 ran the marathon
~3,500 ran the half marathon
~5,000 ran the relay (aka ~1,000 teams)

We're pretty cheery for 6AM!

I later went to my start corral and was feeling pretty good. The weather was just how I like it - cold! :) I found the 5 hour pace group and decided to start with them. Even if I didn't stick with them, I could at least use them as my pace bunny to gauge how I'm doing. There were two pace leaders, one was named Jim and was actually the owner of the pacing company. I forgot the other guy's name, so let's call him Bob.

In addition to the national anthem, they also had someone start off the race with a prayer. Is this common? I know I've done lots of races, but can't recall this happening before. Anyway, it's fine with me just thought it was curious.

Time to follow the blue line (marked through almost the entire course) - off we go! There was actually quite a large pack of us running with the 5 hour pace group and it was kind of fun. The two pace leaders ran on different sides of the pack and were shouting out really corny jokes to each other. They were the kind of lame jokes that my dad would tell me so I kind of appreciated it. Anything to keep us entertained for the long haul, right?

The one problem is that they were running rather slow. And I don't think it was because of any congestion at the start of the race or anything. To finish in 5 hours, you have to maintain an 11:27 pace and we were running way slower than that (which admittedly, is already pretty slow).

Now in my head, I had practically memorized the elevation chart. You know, the one I freaked out over in my previous post.

I knew the second half was going to be much more challenging than the first half so even splits (or whatever they were planning) weren't going to work for me. I was hoping to log better splits earlier in the race to give me some room to deal with the hills at the end of the race.

(Side note: Found this interesting quote in an article Naomi sent me about the NYC marathon.

"I have a little saying: Bank = Bonk. That is, if I try to "bank" time early in the race, I give it all (and more) back late in the race when I "bonk." Best to stick to your pace." - Jeff Dengate.

Is this a bit of foreshadowing? Maybe. Maybe not.)

Anyway, I ditched the group and just ran my own comfortable pace.

Mile 1 - 12:03
Mile 2 - 10:54
Mile 3 - 10:58

I had my phone send me (and my family) little tracking updates. I didn't look at these while I was running of course but added them here. Updates were tracked at all the relay exchanges.

So far, so good.

There were actually quite a few smaller hills in the first part and I was proud of myself for running up them. My big concern was that I walked almost all the major hills in my training - it was practically programmed into me.

As for the course... well, I can't really remember much of it. This would be a good time for me to point out that Roadbunner's race report would be an excellent source of that information. I do remember that we started downtown and looped back again around mile 10.

Mile 4 - 10:48
Mile 5 - 11:03
Mile 6 - 10:33
Mile 7 - 10:46
Mile 8 - 11:35
Mile 9 - 10:57

I would guess around mile 10 was when I had a feeling this wasn't going to be my race. The weather still felt nice and cool and the course hadn't been too bad, but I just didn't feel like I was in race mode. I felt tired, my legs felt tired, and I wasn't even at the halfway point yet. I was definitely concerned. But I tried not to dwell on it and kept trucking along.

It was nice to have some pockets of cheering stations here and there, especially as we ran through the University of Akron because I think I really needed it at that point.

Around mile 12, we hit the big drop that I had noted from the elevation chart. It wasn't as downhill as I had hoped, but it still helped.

At that point, we entered the Towpath Trail. I remembered Roadbunner discussing how much she liked it. I have to agree, it was a nice change of scenery. We also had lost the half marathoners at this point, so it definitely felt more quiet and peaceful. I ended up turning off my iPod during this part of the course because it was nice to just embrace nature and hear the birds chirping, yadda yadda yadda.

Mile 10 - 11:10
Mile 11 - 10:59
Mile 12 - 10:12
Mile 13 - 11:00
Mile 14 - 11:00
Mile 15 - 11:34

Still hanging on.

And then it started to get kind of ugly. There were a few things going on:

1) We hit the first of many hills that I knew would continue for most of the remainder of the race.
2) The sun was peeking out. (It is known energy drainer for me.)
3) I was starting to feel queasy.

The last part is something that has plagued me in several marathons. I think one issue is that I took Gatorade from the aid stations during the race. I never train with Gatorade - just water and Gu. Hello, rookie mistake! (I won't be doing that in NYC, trust me.) I'm OK with taking Gatorade during half marathons but I'm thinking it's because I'm not out there as long. Or I wonder if it's just the heat combined with the effort that messes me up. I didn't feel so queasy during CIM or Goofy, which were run in 30 degree freezing temps.

In any case, I was feeling pooped. I totally struggled with that hill and walked a lot of it. And once I break the seal on walking, I do a lot more of it.

Around mile 17, I hear a big group of runners approaching and I see that it's my 5 hour pace group led by Jim and Bob! I'm thinking, maybe it's a sign - they're here to pick you up. Just follow them and you'll be OK. So I tagged along with the back of pack and tried to follow them and not worry about anything else.

By this time, the group had thinned out by quite a bit and was mostly just dudes save for one girl in the back that I remembered seeing at the start. And guess what - Jim and Bob were still exchanging corny jokes back and forth. I missed one of them but I could tell by the way Bob groaned that maybe Jim's joke was not so PC. I definitely heard the next one and it basically went like this:

Jim: A guy comes home from work and sees his wife packing up her things. He asks what she's doing and she responds, "I'm leaving you! You're sick! You're a pedophile!" He responds, "Pedophile? That's an awfully big word for a thirteen year old!"

*crickets*

So yeah, I was definitely NOT in the mood to listen to 9 more miles of that so I dropped off the pack and I was on my own again.

At this part of the Towpath Trail, there were a LOT of people walking around me - even the relay runners!!! (They were easily identifiable as they had pink bibs and also wore Relay bibs on their backs.) I mean, couldn't they have tried to motivate me at all??? (heehee) It's a lot more justifiable to walk at mile 17 when you see people who couldn't have been running more than 5 miles also walking. But that's probably just me.

Mile 16 - 13:01
Mile 17 - 12:26
Mile 18 - 13:08

Doh.

You know, I really wish I could give you this amazingly inspirational race report where I overcame these obstacles and challenges and came out victorious.

But I can't. 'Cause I didn't.

It was kind of a Charlie Brown "wah wah wah" theme for the rest of the race. I went back to my old ways and walked each and every single hill. And there were a lot of them. If it was flat, I would trot along for a bit.

We hit a lot of neighborhoods and it was definitely nice to see them set up these really great cheering stations. It still felt like a death march to me though.

At the expo, I became aware that there is a hill called "Heart Rate Hill". Well I found it at mile 22. Mile 22!!! Again, wah....

But afterward, we hit the Stan Hywet Estate which was a really nice area. A gorgeous property with a big garden and mansion (somewhat like Filoli Gardens) and was all decorated for the fall. I remember thinking that I wished I was in a better mood to appreciate this. Haha.

I jogged just for this photo.

I still felt queasy and was struggling with taking any more Gu. I actually thought I would feel better if I did make myself sick and even tried once I found a portopotty! You would think looking straight down at a pile of feces from strangers would make anyone hurl, but alas, it did not work. Sorry for being gross, btw.

Mile 19 - 13:24
Mile 20 - 13:42
Mile 21 - 14:33
Mile 22 - 14:49

Not once did I feel you're in the final stretch, you're almost there! Mostly because there were just so many GD hills. I was so beat down at this point that I could only manage to run if there was a downhill and there were a couple toward the end. But it was totally frustrating that there were still uphill climbs, even in the last mile.

FINALLY - we started making our way back downtown to the finish. There were tons more spectators lined up toward the end and a lot of them were other runners (who had already finished) cheering us on.

OK, I know this sounds crazy but for some reason, I felt like these spectators really got what we had gone through - their cheers felt more supportive and encouraging and maybe even sympathetic? Or maybe I just appreciated them more because the finish line was literally in sight? Whatever it was, I got really emotional at this point and started tearing up and then uh oh, my breathing was getting messed up and I was almost hyperventilating (but not really).

Fake smiling.

Thankfully, I passed the mile 26 marker and turned the corner to enter Canal Park stadium where I knew I would be immediately greeted with the finish line. I do love when races have you finish inside a stadium (first time was the Giant Race).

You want to see this from another angle? Ok, here you go!

Mile 23 - 13:46
Mile 24 - 17:17
Mile 25 - 13:54
Mile 26 - 10:52 pace

Yet, not a new PW! :)

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I heard my name being called out. I look up at the stands and see my mom and my sister waving down at me. I walked over and as soon as got to them, I just broke down in tears. Because, you know, you can do that with family. Of course, they tell me they were worried about me since they had been getting my tracking updates, too, and as of mile 18, I was supposed to finish in 5 hours. I told them that I was fine, just that it was so hard. And they kind of smiled and laughed at me saying, of course it was hard - you ran a marathon! Heehee, oh yeah.

Let me out!!! :P

So I wiped away the tears and carried on with the rest of the finish line journey. They had this little maze set up where you would get your water, collect your medal, take a picture, and grab a food bag. I love that they made it so easy to get your food and go. I can't remember the specifics, but there was a bunch of food inside: a bagel, banana, chips, and other stuff. I had no appetite for it, but it was nice not to have to deal with the balancing act.

The rest of the pics are from my now retired iPhone 3G - sorry for the poor quality!

Another view of the finish line

It's not a big deal, but I think there should be a bigger difference between the medals - like different color straps and stuff so it's more obvious who did the full vs relay, etc. (Yes, I want my props! lol)

I can see why the relay is so popular though... you can get a pretty nice medal and a tech shirt just for running a few miles!

The one drawback to finishing inside a stadium is having to exit up the stairs on some beat down legs. Wasn't too bad though. Here's another view of the set up. They even had a band to entertain the spectators.

I rejoined my family and sat down to watch some of the other finishers. I'm glad that at least my mom and sis could sit comfortably while they waited for me.

By the way, I ran alongside this guy for a bit. Understandably, he got a lot more cheers than me.

I didn't realize this beforehand but this race has a 6 hour time limit and they definitely started shutting things down then. Glad I came in when I did!

I checked my super fancy schmancy race jacket so I was able to finally put it on after the race.

Real smiling.

And my stats, in case you are interested:


Clock Time	5:27:41
Chip Time	5:20:55
Overall Place	1247 / 1389
Gender Place	411 / 488
Division Place	64 / 74
3 5M	00:38:51
9 25M	01:42:54
15 5	02:53:11
18 3	03:30:12
Divtotal	74
Sextotal	488
Pace	12:15

This time, I really was back of the pack! It kind of goes with my theory that midwest runners as a whole are more hardcore than what you find here in Cali. I just don't think the weather there lends itself to "jolly joggers" (peeps like me, heehee). As a result, I always feel like it's a more competitive field in Ohio. Then again, a 6 hour time limit may have scared away runners more my pace. Feel free to discuss.

Oh, here are some extra pics. (Taken with my way more awesome iPhone 4S.)

Close up of my medal, already added to the others

Some extra goodies. Not sure what I'll do with the bandana-tube thingy.

This was definitely a nicely organized event and I absolutely love my race jacket but I would never run this course again. Just too many hills. I'm OK with how I did though since I clearly was not trained to handle this course.

And it's not that I hate hills. I've done Nike five times and that has tons of hills. But I like hills when you climb to the top, have a view of something really cool, and then immediately go downhill. Not climb a bit, suburb, climb a bit, suburb, climb a bit, suburb, and so on and so on until you end up where you started. Where was my cool view??? Where was my immediate downhill??? But I've always been a picky runner.

I'm glad I have this under my belt though. I hear the NYC Marathon has some hills so at least I know I'll be somewhat prepared for them :)

Foot update and Blogger Meetup

2011-10-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

Our fun Bay Area Bloggers Meet Up in SF for Fleet Week!!!

OK, I'm now behind THREE race reports but before I get to those, I wanted to do an update about my foot since my last blog post (in case you're not following me on Twitter or well, in real life, haha) and share some fun pics from a meet up organized by Courtney. Yes, this post is sooooooooo out of date now, it's not even funny, but oh well, I'm just gonna throw it out there.

Foot Update

After all my fussing and worrying, it turned out to be nothing. Well, it was definitely something... but nothing serious like a stress fracture or anything like that. (Thanks for freaking me out, Dad!!!)

Immediately after Akron, my foot started hurting and I came down with a bad cold. (Forgot to take my marathoner friend's advice to double up on Vitamin C three weeks before and after the marathon.) When I finally returned home back in Cali, I took it easy and mostly rested. And started tweeting and blogging about my foot issue since what else was I going to do? Everyone was super helpful with their advice, suggesting painkillers and icing to reduce inflammation (right? I can't remember, haha) I made an appointment with a podiatrist just to make sure things were OK. Then my PT-in-training buddy, Kerry, asked more about where my foot was hurting. After I described it to her, she tweeted me this: "There are a couple nerves that from our calves, wrap around the arch. With those nerves are tendons anchoring the calf muscles. I'd take a tennis ball to the arch of my foot and calf to see if any of those tendons are pinching those nerves."

Now other people had suggested a tennis ball, too, but I didn't really understand why but after Kerry's explanation, I totally got it. I don't play tennis (no hand eye coordination) but thankfully, I received a tennis ball from Safeway last year at the Nike Women's Marathon. I immediately started rolling my foot on it and I could tell that she nailed the issue. I spent the rest of the day rolling my foot and icing it while watching TV. Good times. :P

Within a day, I didn't notice any pain at all. I still went to the podiatrist and she did a pretty thorough examination on my foot. She applied pressure to certain areas and since I didn't feel any pain, she also thought I was in good shape. She took some X rays as well (since my other ones were um, unofficial) and everything looked good there, too. She did recommend orthotics just to be safe. I keep forgetting to check if my insurance covers it - did you know that they're around $500? For some reason, I thought they would be pretty intense but they just look like plain slip ins. I'll save that for a rainy day.

Anyway, I wish I had known that I just had some pinched nerves because I could have nipped it in the bud immediately after the race and skipped the whole freak out. But it was a good wake up call. Since then, I've acquired some new shoes with more support and have tried to do more stretching, especially with the calves.

So the key take-away is that it always pays to whine about your physical ailments on Twitter, FB, blogger, etc. (But, of course, see a professional, too, right?)

Bay Area Blogger Meetup

Earlier this month, Courtney organized a lovely blogger meet up in San Francisco. She did a fantastic job with this as she was able to enlist the support of Sports Basement (love!) to help host it during Fleet Week! This meant lots of snacks and drinks (Blue Moon, yum!!) and front row seats to the Blue Angels show.

"Make new friends, but keep the old..."

Here's the crew that came out to play that day:

Top Row: Alyssa, Jana, Cate
Bottom Row: Courtney, Teresa, Naomi, moi, Courtney, Annelies

It was a potluck so everyone brought something to share and Sports Basement supplied lots of treats, too:

It was a nice afternoon chatting with friends.

Hi Chews - whoever could have brought that???

And then afterward, we all headed outside to Crissy Field to watch the Blue Angels do fancy tricks for us.

Super fun day hanging out with our awesome running / blogging crew! Thanks again for organizing this, Courtney, and thanks also to Sports Basement for hosting us!

Off on the Wrong Foot!

2011-09-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

So here's one perk of being home... I've got access to my own personal radiologist! (aka my pops)

*sigh*

Yes, there will be a marathon race report coming... Good news - I finished! Bad news - I have had an issue with my left foot since the race and it seems to be getting worse each day.

Thankfully, I didn't feel anything during the marathon. It was definitely sore later that day when I was walking around but I'm used to be a limpy person on marathon day.

The following day, it still felt off so I limped around walking with more pressure on my right foot. It was more of a dull pain in the bottom of my left foot on the front of my heel by my arch. I could get around OK but by the end of the day, I started feeling some shooting pains and I began to get really worried.

To be safe, my dad brought me to his work that evening to have some X-rays done. He didn't see any signs of anything (stress fractures, heel spurs, etc) - thank goodness! He did tell me that it could show up later, so if it doesn't improve by next week, I should have X-rays taken again.

Anyway, since then, I've just been laying low. But the pain is definitely getting worse - I couldn't walk at all this morning without sharp pains and the pain seems to have spread throughout my arch area. Painkillers definitely help but I'm worried it won't go away on its own.

I'm trying not to freak out but...

1 week to the San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon
3 weeks to the Nike Women's Half Marathon
6 weeks to the NYC MARATHON!!!

And clearly, the last item is the one I'm most concerned about.

But I'm trying not to get ahead of myself here. Maybe it's nothing! I'm just not used to feeling any kind of pain from running.

If you've ever experienced anything similar or have any suggestions, please let me know!

Expo Time at the Akron Marathon

2011-09-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Ohio! Just thought I'd post some pics from today's expo...

See the blue line on the floor... there's one throughout the entire marathon course. (Learned that from Roadbunner.) Look - they're already training us to follow the blue line... this one led us to our fancy schmancy Brooks running jackets (and conveniently past each and every single exhibitor booth).

Got my pic taken at their "Social Media Lounge"... it's posted on their Facebook fan page.

Some of the official race merchandise... kinda clever, but that typo just makes you look like a dummy.

Normally I try to stay away from races with ~infamous hills but I guess it's too late for that now.

Hey, it's me and Hal Higdon! I kind of treated him like Mickey Mouse... got my pic with him and then scampered away. :P Hey Hal, if you see this, thanks for your very helpful training plans and tips that got me through my first half and full marathons!


On the way out of Akron... already spotting the blue lines of the marathon course!!! (Don't worry, I was stopped at a red light.)

Well, I'm going to try to catch some zzzzzz's and hopefully not sleep past my 4AM wake up call!

And now the anxiety begins...

2011-09-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

I ran my 20 miler this past weekend! It went well... ran around Golden Gate Park with some jaunts along the Great Highway and into the Panhandle. It took me three hours and forty-two minutes with an average 11:08 pace.

20 miles done!!! Enjoying my post-run chocolate milk.

Afterward, I met up with the Sunday Runday crew for brunch at Q for some mac & cheesy plus a mimosa. Which, sadly, I was not able to enjoy until much later (and for the mimosa, not at all). There must be some distance threshold where you completely lose your appetite because I'm pretty sure I could have chowed all that down after a half marathon. But after 20 miles? Bleh.

It tasted just as good five hours later.

Sunday Runday crew with new friends Sarah and Renee!

It is now three weeks until the Akron Marathon. With my peak run behind me, I've finally allowed myself to start thinking about my race goals and expectations. My main goal with the marathon had always been to finish sub-5 which I finally was able to do with the 2009 CIM Marathon. And that was with really sporadic training.

To hit sub-5, I would need an 11:26 pace or better. To get a PR, I'd have to beat 4:55, 11:15 pace. My 14 to 20 mi long runs had an average pace ranging from 10:50 to 11:10 so I seem to be in good shape. Plus this year is the first time since 2007 that I've followed a real training plan for a marathon so surely I should be able to hit sub-5 and maybe even beat my previous time, right???

Well, I don't know... and I'm not trying to be a Pessimistic Peggy or anything, I'm just trying to be honest about what I should expect.

Last night, I started reading Akron race reports, reviewing the course map, and checking out the elevation charts. Oh, the elevation charts! The thing is that I knew my two upcoming marathons were hilly. That's one of the reasons I liked Akron was because I knew it would be a good preparation for NYC. But I'm not gonna lie - I would also love to get a new PR and normally people pick fast and flat courses for PRs, right??? Every race report I've read about Akron included the word "challenging". Not that I couldn't PR on a "challenging" course, it's just not an ideal scenario.

So let's check out some elevation charts, shall we?

CIM (Ran in December 2009 in 4:54:49, 11:15 pace for a PR)

The funny thing is that this elevation chart makes it look all downhill and super easy, right? But it didn't seem that way at all when I was actually running it. It just felt like a lot of rolling hills. The other big thing that CIM had going for it that year was that it was FREEZING! I mean, literally, it was around 32 degrees that day. And if anything is going to motivate me to keep running, it's the fear of freezing to death if I slowed down at all.

Akron Marathon (Running on September 24th)

That's a pretty big difference, right? What kind of crazy person signs up for a full marathon whose challenging uphill climbs start at mile 17??? Did I mention that I thought my legs were going to fall off at mile 17 of my 20 mi long run on Sunday? Egads. At least there are a lot of downhills as well so I can try to compensate for my uphill pace there. (But that one at mile 11 looks potentially painful if it's anything like Nike.) I've tried to add some hills in my long runs by running across the Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Mason, and Golden Gate Park but I'm not sure if they were enough since the elevation climbs on those routes were never more than 200ft. Oh boy...

I will be harassing Roadbunner to give me the honest scoop on this course since she's the one that sold me on this race. (But in all fairness, the race is located less than an hour from my family so I'm sure I would have run it anyway. Maybe. She did push it pretty hard - if you read her race report, you'd think she was on the Akron Marathon payroll.)

NYC Marathon (Running on November 6th)

Not as bad as Akron so at least the harder one is out of the way first. I think I will be on an adrenaline rush for this race with being surrounded by 45,000 other runners, the spectator support, and just the fact that I will be running through one of my all time favorite cities.

Nike Women's Marathon (Ran in October 2007 in 5:33:58, 12:44 pace)

I just added this in for comparison's sake since I consider this to be the most challenging full marathon course I've run. It looks like the Akron climbs are a lot more gradual than these so at least I know it won't be worse than this course. (Thank goodness!!! As Roadbunner always says, "Friends don't let friends run the Nike Full.")

Anyway, feel free to chime in with your thoughts. Meanwhile, I'll still be here staring at elevation charts and weather forecasts.

Race Report: The Giant Race Half Marathon

2011-08-30T22:54:00.000-07:00

What's this? I ran an unplanned half marathon? Yep! How fun is that!

It all started with my post when I mentioned that I had an 18mi run coming up. Naomi kindly suggested that I run the Giant Race half marathon with her that weekend (as bandit) to log some of the miles. I looked up the course and it seemed like a good idea since it was just an out and back along the Embarcadero where tons of people run anyway. And even if I couldn't exactly run with her, it would still make it more fun to run with a bunch of people. So that was the plan!

And then miraculously, my two lovely friends, Aron and Alyssa, both had giveaways on their blogs for a FREE entry to this sold out race that were sponsored by the Got Milk Refuel with Chocolate Milk campaign. (BTW - we were given chocolate milks after the Cleveland Half Marathon and it was like heaven! So I fully support this.) I'm sure you know what I'm going to say next, right? I WON A FREE ENTRY!!!! Thank you, Alyssa! I was super duper excited because now I got to be a legit runner and use the aid stations and the portapotties and finish inside the ballpark and get the medal and the T-shirt and most importantly, get the Tim Lincecum bobblehead!!!!!! Wheeeeeee :) :) :) I'm not even a baseball fan but that is some serious loot.

Race Morning

My plan was to run 5 miles before the half marathon to get my 18 mile long run in. Then I would be free to enjoy all the post race fun. The race started at 8AM so I figured if I planned to run at 6AM (but most likely a bit later - I always have to give myself buffer time, haha), I would have plenty of time to run at a comfortable pace (11-11:30min/mi) and still have time for bib pick up, potty stop, etc.

As I was driving up, I noticed a problem - it's still dark at 6AM! Ay yay yay... thankfully all the volunteers were there so I decided to go ahead and get my bib, which was a smart move because the lines were really long by 7:15ish. I tweeted for a bit and then eventually it was light enough that I felt OK to start my run.

I mapped out an out and back 5mi run south of the ballpark. Originally I didn't want to run the usual Embarcadero route because I wanted to save it for the race. Well it only took me about a half mile along my route when I realized that um, this might not be the safest option for me considering I don't know the area and nobody was around. Plus I had been watching too many Law & Orders that week and I didn't want to end up being the body that some other more fortunate runner discovered. (Yes, these are the morbid thoughts that go through my head when I run.)

So I changed course a little bit and ran up and down 3rd St and then for the last couple of miles I did do an out and back past the ballpark to more familiar territory. I ended the run at 4.9 miles.

Distance: 4.9mi
Time: 52:57
Pace: 10:48 min/mi

I was so glad I had arrived early because as I was finishing my run around 7AM, there were looooooooong lines of cars in both directions heading to Lot A and as I mentioned before, the lines at bib pickup were also long (and still long during the race start!) So if you do this race in the future, arrive early!

Gear check was pretty convenient. I normally don't use them anymore but since I was warm and they were right there, I decided to check my jacket which went into purple Fedex canvas drawstring bags. (I don't know why I get excited by these bags vs normal plastic ones, I already have plenty.)

I then got in line for my second portapotty visit and that's when I ran into Naomi, Courtney, and Aron. Here's a cute pic of us pre-race... Aron and I had both done pre-runs which is why we look a bit warmer than the other two ;)

Source

Eventually it was time to head to the race start which was outside the ballpark. Here's a pic of us runners getting ready to line up in our corrals. You can see the ballpark on the left of the photo.

Luckily, I found Naomi in the start corral (we got separated when she went to check in her stuff) - definitely fun to chat with her before the race!

The Race

And off we went! I tried to keep up with Naomi for a little bit at the start but once I glanced at my Garmin and saw that I was running in the 9s, I had to back off and stay with my more comfortable ~10:50 pace. Maybe if I was running just the half, I might have tried to hang on for a bit longer but I wasn't going to mess around with an 18mi training run.

Even though I am super familiar with this course, I still really enjoy it (same could not be said for say, the LG creek trail). The weather felt great so I was having a nice run.

Around mile 4 was the Fort Mason hill which is where I planned to take my Gu. I walked the whole thing like I did in my 16 miler.

A little before mile 5, I spotted a crowd of runners all taking pics with someone. He looked like a young Santa Claus with a dark beard. I didn't get why all these people were taking pics with him... I mean, it's not like he was Mickey Mouse or something.

OK I'M JUST KIDDING! It was that "Fear the Beard" guy (in Audrey speak). Or was it? I did see a runner earlier on the course that was wearing a fake Brian Wilson beard so I was immediately suspicious. But sure enough, it was him!

I briefly considering joining the mess for a pic but 1) I'm not really a baseball fan, 2) I was in my groove and didn't want to lose any momentum, and 3) I'd hate to irritate any REAL Giants fans with such a photo. I could just hear it now - "Audrey got a pic with Brian Wilson? She's not even a Giants fan!!!" It would be like someone I know being nonchalant about getting a pic with Kristen Stewart or Andy Cohen.

But I knew SOMEONE would be all over this opportunity and sure enough she was:

Source

Pretty cute pic, dontcha think? I think this should be her Christmas card photo this year.

And I guess if you were part of the faster crew, you actually got high fives from him!

Source

Now that's pretty awesome. I still can't decide if he planned to be part of The Giant Race course entertainment or if it was just a coincidence since I've been informed by others that he actually lives in the Marina. Either way, it's pretty cool because he had to have been out there for at least half an hour.

A little bit further down, I spotted my old roommate Pete on the side of the course. I guess it's not that big of a surprise since he lives in the area and his running club runs there on Saturdays but still, this is the third time I've run into him at a race. The last time was out in Castro Valley! As I shouted out a greeting to him, I yelled out, "That Wilson guy is back there!" As soon as the words left my mouth, I immediately shut up and hoped no diehard Giants fan heard me... I don't think they'd appreciate him being called That Wilson guy. Haha!

Eventually we got to the turnaround at Crissy Field and headed back. At each mile marker, I reminded myself that I logged five more so it was fun to see all the miles click by. I walked up Fort Mason again and took my other Gu. Speaking of Gu, I don't recall spotting any on the course until past mile 9 when we were over the hill (literally, not figuratively). Doesn't really seem like the best spot for them in my opinion. I was already Gu'd up but I kept hearing a conversation I had with Layla in my head when we discussed that if a Gu is offered, you take it. "That's $1.25, sure I'll take one!" I ended up taking two.

Once I got to mile 10, I changed my Garmin setting to show the average pace instead of current pace. I didn't want to have any real race goals since it was a training run but I did think it would be nice if my half pace was sub-11:00 min/mi. And not Garmin pace, but "on the record" chip time pace. And at mile 10, I was a little over 11:00 and since I knew I would be logging more miles on my Garmin compared to the race distance, I knew I would have to add some seconds on top of that.

I was 15 total miles in and I really wasn't sure if I could push harder but I tried my best. At least I knew the course was flat for the rest of the way.

I must have really been in the back of the pack because at this point there weren't that many runners around me. Until we got to mile 13... ay yay yay. I guess having to merge with the Kids Run at the See Jane Run half in the last mile was good practice because in the last mile at The Giant Race, I got to dodge the 5K walkers... with strollers!

RACE DIRECTORS: PLEASE STOP MERGING WALKERS WITH RUNNERS IN THEIR FINAL STRETCH! Or at least have some volunteers to help clear the path, good grief. At least I knew to stay out of the way of the elites running in the opposite direction of the main pack of runners.

Eventually the AT&T ballpark was in my sight... so exciting! The course led us right inside the ballpark and the finish line was right there! Of course, there were still plenty of walkers taking over the whole path. Once I'm in the finish line stretch, polite (most of the time, anyway) Audrey goes out the window - I'm on a mission and nobody is getting in my way! Thankfully, I didn't have to elbow anyone but did have to bark at someone to step aside. This would have been an ideal place for race volunteers to separate the walkers from the runners. But I really didn't have it that bad. I encourage you to check out Courtney's artistic rendition of her finish line experience (just come back here when you're done, ok?).

Official Results

Split Times:

5 Km:	33:41 Pace: 10:51
10 Km:	1:07:55 Pace: 10:56
Turn Around:	1:14:48 Pace: 11:00
10 Mi:	1:50:17 Pace: 11:02

Finish time: 2:23:41
Pace: 10:58

YAY!!! I got my sub-11 pace!!!

And if you're curious...

Garmin distance: 13.21 mi
Garmin time: 2:23:44
Garmin pace: 10:53min/mi

Post Race

There was some great energy inside as the stands had a bunch of peeps cheering on their loved ones. It was just fun being inside the ballpark - reminded me of getting to run through Anaheim Stadium during the Disneyland Half. It definitely made it easier to deal with the post-race congestion that first started with collecting the medal.

Me and my medal! Woo hoo!

As soon as I crossed the finish line, I got a text from Naomi who was still on the field so I was able to get a pic with her and our medals too.

Source

Now here is the part that concerned me. I read about this in the race instructions so at least I was prepared. After running the half marathon, you had to walk around the field, and then immediately go UP THE STEPS to the concourse level to get the rest of the goodies (as shown in the left of the photo below). Say what now?

Naomi is to the right of the balloon arch... do you see her? :P

Once you're on the concourse level, the congestion continues as you work away around the entire level to get your goodie bag, the race shirt, and the bobblehead. Egads.

Source

I got CRAZY excited when I saw the bobbleheads! For some reason, I thought they would be these little doo-dads in a plastic bag or something. But no, they were legit fancy schmancy souvenir items in a box! Wheeeee....

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FINALLY we got out of there. On our way out, we spotted the Got Milk? booth. We didn't check them out (looks like they were offering free massages) but I had to take a pic (or well, ask Naomi to take it) since technically, they did sponsor my participation in the race. Thanks Got Milk! :)

The Fed Ex gear check trucks were conveniently located right outside so after we picked up our stuff, we were free to get our lunch on! Courtney was nice enough to wait for us so we met up with her there.

We ended up having lunch at MoMo's - my first time there! That's a super nice place and I felt kind of bad for dining there in my sweaty state but it looked like it was all runners there so it seemed OK.

While we were there, I had to yank the bobblehead out of the box and check it out! Isn't it so fun?

Source

Naomi was kind enough to inform me that Tim Lincecum is half filipino. My mom will be happy! :P

On our way back to our cars, we passed all the peeps waiting in line for the 6PM Giants game. The bobblehead is the giveaway for the game attendees so I heard people had been waiting in line at 10AM to make sure they got theirs. Here they are around 1PM that day.

I think running a half is a more fun way to secure the giveaway :D

Here's a closeup shot of the medal. I kept the plastic wrap on until I got home. :P Not really intentionally and I actually dislike when they give us our medal still in its wrapping. Guess I was too lazy to take it off earlier.

And here's a pic of all of our loot! I stole Courtney's photo because it looked a lot nicer than the one I originally took.

Source

All in all, it was a super fun morning! And a FABULOUS way to log 18 miles.

Total for the day...

Distance: 18.12 mi
Time: 3:16:41
Pace: 10:51 pace

Pretty darn cool! :D

Some Fun Song Suggestions for Running

2011-08-26T11:43:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you guys but I almost always create a new playlist for every race I run. Usually it's with the most recent songs I've downloaded but lately I've been listening to some of my old running mixes, mainly just to make my runs a little more interesting. It's been fun re-discovering some fun tunes!

Here are some that have helped me pick up my pace a little - maybe you might want to add these to your playlist!

Pink - Trouble

My old spinning teacher would play this a lot. This is a good song for speed drills because it's kind of a mellow pace but then the refrain works well for speeding up.

The next two have a nice quick tempo.

Plain White T's - Our Time Now

The Fratellis - Flathead

Prodigy - Smack My B*tch Up

Many years ago when I lived in Dallas, I used to take this fun hip hop dance class. The teacher would teach us a routine that we would then dance over and over again to different songs that would increase in tempo. We'd always do it the last time to this song and I just remember there would be lots of flailing limbs! :P

Me First and The Gimme Gimmes - Over the Rainbow

This last one I got from my friend a long time ago and I honestly forgot I had it. It popped up on shuffle during my miserable 6mi run in the sun yesterday and it somehow managed to get me from an 11+ pace to around 9:30! The song is super short though (1:30) so don't expect it to push you for too long.

What are some good songs that help you put the pedal to the metal?

Marathon Training Update - 5 weeks to Akron!

2011-08-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

I thought this might be a good time for a little update on my marathon training that I first mentioned here. I've now completed 8 weeks of my plan with five weeks to go - EEK!!!

I'm actually pretty pleased with how it's been going so far! I've definitely seen improvements in my pace and definitely the distances. I started the year forcing myself to do 3 or 4 mile runs with sometimes a 13:xx average pace (I love walking!) to now having just completed a 16 mile run with a 10:50 pace (which I'm still so thrilled with! To the point I don't care how I do in my 18 and 20 mile runs, haha) And I don't beat myself up if my heart's not into it and it shows in the run. I've only missed a couple of runs so far but they were both during recovery weeks so no biggie.

I really like running 3x a week - I realize that's probably not enough for most people, especially since I don't do additional cross training, but it works pretty well for me. I don't dread running like I used to. My mentality has changed a lot. When I first started running again this year, my heart was not into it at all and I had no idea how I was going to log enough miles to prepare for my upcoming marathons. I won't say I absolutely love it now, but I like it a lot more - enough to actually reconsider my whole "retiring from marathons after NYC" thing. For special occasions ONLY - ones that Roadbunner and Alisa know about.

These next two weeks should be interesting. My speed workouts bump up from 4-5 miles to 6 miles. I have my 18 mile long run this weekend and 20 miles next weekend *_* I've only done a 20 mile training run ONCE for the four marathons I've run. So clearly I have no pace expectations for those two long runs, I just need to cover the distance and I will be happy.

I'm actually looking forward to running Akron now! Just bought my plane ticket this week. Okay, maybe I am more excited about seeing my niece and nephew (and the rest of my family of course) but I'm starting to feel a bit more confident about the marathon too!

Have a great week!

Running with Friends - Pictures Galore!

2011-07-28T01:04:00.000-07:00

Do you like this gif? Because there are more coming! If not, um... sorry.

So this post is loooooong overdue. I have all these cute pictures that I've been wanting to show even though they've been posted on umpteen different blogs already. (But I bet my dear friend in Santa Fe hasn't seen them yet - hello, Amanda!!!)

Earlier this year, I had been struggling with getting back into running but you know what makes it so much easier? Running with friends! I've been so fortunate that these early weeks of my official marathon training plan have coincided with so many fun group runs. The trick is to make sure there are awesome peeps there (check) and that there is some type of drink/food activity afterward (check).

Blogger Meet Up

The first one was a blogger meet up organized by Aron from Runner's Rambles. This was a super fun one as I only knew a handful of the girls there prior to the run. Met a lot of cool and really interesting people that morning!

Photo from Aron at Runners Rambles

They all have some amazing blogs and I encourage you to check them out!

Top row (L-R): Alisyn, Naomi, Page, Kristen, Caitlin, Kerry, Layla, Beth, Courtney
Bottom row (L-R): Alyssa, Tara, moi, Jana, Katie, Megan and Aron
Missing: Cate

I ran with Naomi during the actual run which helped me a lot because she pushed me to run faster than I had been doing on my own.

Afterward, we hung out at Peet's for coffee and chitchat. We all hit it off! At one point, I was just sitting there listening to all the conversations going on and I kind of looked around our area and realized, wow, we are REALLY squeal-ly loud. Not as a bad thing, more of a "I'm pretty impressed" thing. (That's because I've been known to be particularly loud and squeal-ly myself on occasion.)

Photo from Aron at Runners Rambles

During our coffee chat session, Naomi invited me to another fun group run that was going on the following weekend...

Ramen Run

Ah, yes, Ramen. Can you believe I've never had this before? (with the exception of the stuff you eat in college, of course) Well, it turns out that Alyssa from Diary of an Average Runner (which, by the way, she is so *not* average, but whatev) is a HUGE Ramen fan so she organized a super fun meet up called the Ramen Run. We met at the Conservatory of Flowers, ran around Golden Gate Park, and then chowed down at Genki Ramen afterward.

Photo from Alyssa at Diary of an Average Runner

From left to right: Naomi, Layla, Karin, Sandra, moi, Kerry, Alyssa, Jana, and Kristen

Photo from Alyssa at Diary of an Average Runner

I have to thank Alyssa because I think the Conservatory of Flowers is my new favorite meeting spot for running in Golden Gate Park. It's fun to sit on the steps and people watch (there was an awesome and very spirited singing roller skater that morning) and you can't beat the view with the spectacular flower gardens. Plus you've got easy access to a restroom, water fountain, and a snack stand.

Photo from Alyssa at Diary of an Average Runner

Here's our little pack running to the buffalo patch along JFK. I kept up with them up to that point but it was pushing my pace just a bit past my comfort level so I ran the rest on my own and met them all back at the Conservatory.

Photo from Alyssa at Diary of an Average Runner

Then we all headed to Genki Ramen!!! Now I'll be honest, I'm not really a noodle person. I recently had my first experience with pho and wasn't impressed so I wasn't sure how this would turn out but I actually liked it! The noodles are a bit more hearty and it had just enough soup for me. It was a pretty satisfying post run treat.

Veggie Curry Ramen with a side of Gyoza

While enjoying our Ramen, you would never believe what happened - we discussed yet *another* group run for the following weekend!

DSE 6 Hour Distance Classic

As I understand it, Alyssa was once again the mastermind of this super fun social run. Her local running club had organized a 6 hour run where people would run around this one mile loop at Crissy Field as many times as they wanted. It was pretty convenient - easy access to a fully supported aid station (and I mean, supported - peanut M&Ms, gummi bears, watermelon, cookies, etc) *and* a restroom. And I loved the idea that you could kind of feel like you were running with your friends even if they were way faster than you. At some point you'd see each other during the many loops.

I had to do 9 miles that day so this was perfect for me. The loop was pretty flat and it was nice and chilly so I actually finished with a 10:45 pace which is really good for me these days. Because I started late (Naomi and I spectated the Jungle Run half marathon that morning down in the south bay), everyone finished before me and were hanging out by the aid station. Knowing I would see them every mile kept me on my toes. :)

OK, now get ready for animated gif overload... I honestly can't help myself!

Photos from RoadBunner's BF

Did I mention we had professional photographers during this run? Or at least friends with professional cameras? :P

Photos from RoadBunner's BF

Listen, if people are going to cheer so enthusiastically for you *and* take pics - of course, I'm going to ham it up!

Photos from Aron

Aron took some pics of all of us, too!

I was the last one to finish and it was super nice of everyone to hang out until then. (I *hate* making people wait for me.) I'm sure everyone was just having fun hanging with friends and chilling on the lawn on a lovely Sunday afternoon. :)

We all got ribbons!!!

Later on...

Photo from Alyssa

... well, of course, we ended up back at Genki Ramen!!!

(Note: Since then, I've done two more long runs up in SF and both times, we followed up with ramen. It's like a Pavlovian response now - do long run, must have ramen. :P)

I get to see the running crew again this weekend! I'll be spectating the SF Marathon on Sunday - should be fun to bust out the cowbell again!

Changing things up

2011-07-24T23:20:00.000-07:00

Don't worry - you're not on the wrong site! I've been wanting to get rid of the dated style of my blog (old one shown below) for awhile now.

So I'm trying something new here. I'm not 100% in love with it so I might keep tweaking things but I like it enough for now.

In the meantime, are you on DailyMile? I've been posting all my runs there starting with this training cycle. You can add me here.

Have a great week!

Marathon Training is ON

2011-07-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

So guess what? I am officially IN MARATHON TRAINING!!!

Yep, it is now 12 weeks to the Akron Marathon which I'm only running so I won't die during the NYC marathon 6 weeks later. (Same thing I did with CIM and the Goofy Challenge - odd, I know, but it works for me.)

These will be my 5th and 6th marathons, respectively, but I've really only properly trained for the first one and that's primarily because I was taking advantage of the Nike Club Run SF training runs.

Since then, I sort of just "wing it" when it comes to races. I never really have a set training plan that I follow and the only runs I make sure to get in are the weekend long runs. Everything else is sort of a crapshoot. I know - it makes no sense!

When I first got into running, I was really into it. I always was trying to push myself to go faster or further in distance. I wasn't into reading running blogs / magazines / books yet so eventually I started having knee pains and other issues. I took a break and then got back into it to train for my first half marathon and I was hooked! Again, I was obsessed with seeing how I could improve so I ran another one just two weeks later and shaved 5 minutes off my time (which is about 30 minutes faster than I am capable of today, lol).

But now - lots and lots of races later, I've been more into the experience of the race (and the related swag), and not so much into how I performed. I mean, in my head, you get the same schnazzy medal if you finish in 5:30 or 4:30. (Of course, the related runner's high is not the same, won't argue that.)

I'm still kind of more into the experience, but I won't lie - it is a bit disheartening to see my race times get slower and slower over the years... so while I'm not aiming for a new personal best, I wouldn't mind avoiding a new personal worst. :)

So I'm trying something ~new, I'd going to actually follow a training plan this time. I picked the Runner's World moderate plan with a base mileage of 16-21mi/week. I think this plan would be laughable for most of you but I think it is perfect for someone that had been used to running 1-2x a week.

This plan is based on 3 runs per week:

An easy run *aka, classic Audrey run
Speedwork/Tempo run *Excited, because I haven't done too much of these, other than running with friends who are much faster
Long run *Will probably need to head to SF for these to escape the HEAT

I might re-evaluate the plan at the halfway point but I think this is a good start! And by announcing it here, maybe this time I'll actually follow it! :)

I do feel like such a n00b these days... like I need to re-learn all my fueling strategies. I couldn't even remember if I can do a short run first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. (I polled some girls over the weekend, I think I can and will test it this week.) I'm also slowly incorporating some strength training here and there. Just old school stuff like push ups, crunches, lunges, squats, etc - things I can do while watching TV. :)

Anyway, I am excited to be out there and running again! Especially since there are so many fun group runs going on - more about that in my next post!

Race Report: See Jane Run Half Marathon

2011-06-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

Normally, I like to release these in order but since the See Jane Run Half is fresh in my mind (ran it Sunday) - I'm gonna go with that. But if you're dying to hear how Bay to Breakers went, you are welcome to check out some awesome race reports from my super fun run buddies, Roadbunner and Naomi.

So... back to the See Jane Run Half Marathon... it's a girly race (tagline is "I Run for Chocolate and Champagne") and I like girly races and this is the first year I've been able to do it.

To be perfectly honest, I was not properly trained to run a half (due to my typical procrastination) but just went for it because this is sort of a milestone / checkpoint for me on my way to the NYC Marathon after taking almost a year off from running. The race is walker friendly so I knew I didn't have to worry about time.

I skipped the expo and took advantage of their in-store bib and goody bag pick up at their Oakland store earlier in the week as I was already in the area. The race shirt is pretty cute! It's a little bit on the shiny side and when I tried it on, I swear it looked like satin jammies on me (keep in mind I don't actually own any of those). But that might also be because it was a size too big because once I exchanged it for a smaller size, it looked less like sleepwear and more like an actual running shirt.

So cue race morning... race started at 8AM. Race website recommended getting to the start at 6:30AM as the suggested parking lot only had 500 spots and would be closed off early. So being the nerd I am, I got there right at 6:30AM. There were maybe 10 other cars there at the time. No worries, better safe than sorry and I always had my iPhone to entertain me.

From here, it was a little confusing because there were separate start and finish areas but they were located fairly close to each other. So a bunch of us went to the finish area first. Oops! Once I got to the correct area, I picked up my timing chip which was an ankle bracelet. I think the only other time I had to wear one of these was the US Half Marathon. It's a little odd because I thought everyone used D-tags by now, but it was fine. It didn't bother me at all.

I'm on house arrest!

Now I still had over an hour to kill, so I parked myself on a bench and just people watched and played on my iPhone. As I was watching everyone warm up and stretch and stuff, I started cracking up and how unprepared I was for this. I didn't even have any kind of hydration or fuel on me. Definitely winging it!

The one thing I thought I was prepared for was the weather. I had been checking the forecast daily and the night before, it told me to expect this:

But it didn't rain at all that morning. In fact, something weird happened. The sun started peeking out! GAHHH!!! MY NEMESIS!!!

Luckily, I had thrown this in my bag totally last minute. I think I got these from a previous goody bag - I save everything!

Luckily, it did stay overcast for most of the race with just a little bit of sun here and there. Phew! I had heard the race was a real scorcher in previous years.

Right before the race start, they did some group warmup exercises. This reminded me of Nike.

Sun, sun, go away, come again another day (when I'm not running)

Then we all lined up at the start. I realized this might just be the smallest half marathon I've ever done - I mean, this is the view from the *back* of the start corral:

I'm not sure what they used to signify the start of the race because I didn't hear anything, I just saw everyone start running.

Here's the course:

It reminded me a little bit of the last 10 miles of the Nike full course. You do a long stretch, then a big old loop, and then repeat the first stretch back. Luckily, you couldn't visualize how big the loop was (like you could with seeing Lake Merced) so it wasn't annoying.

The course was mostly flat and had some nice scenery here and there. Apologies for the poor iPhone 3G photos... below pic was taken from the bridge around mile 3 - there's a line of runners in the middle of the photo.

We passed what I *think* is the headquarters for the Oakland Raiders - that's football, right? (KIDDING!!!)

The course got a little more interesting at mile 7:

We got a nice view of SF:

Headed back on the bridge:

With about a mile left to go, I noticed a bunch of little kids running our way. For some reason, I thought they were coming to cheer us on. Uh, no... it was the kids' race merging with the half marathon runners toward the same finish line! Listen, I love kids (I adore my nieces and nephews) and I love kids' races (they're hilarious!) but I really question if this is a good idea. Good thing I wasn't aiming for a PR because some of these kids were all over the place! Not to mention they're not exactly in my line of vision and I was already kind of wobbly legged at this point. Thankfully, their parents tried to keep them in line (haha, ok, not really, but I appreciated their effort).

Finally the scenic finish line!

Chip Time: 2:40:47
Pace: 12:16 min/mi

I know for most people, this is slow as molasses but I actually was pretty pleased with myself! Based on my training run paces, I was expecting a new personal worst (currently ~3 hours). I think it helped that everyone around me was doing the run/walk thing, too, so it encouraged me to keep my walk breaks brief and get back to running. As expected, my legs were dead after mile 10 but I just focused on my playlist music (especially with all my new fun tunes from Alicia!) to keep going.

Once I crossed the finish line, I got my medal, handed my ankle strap to a volunteer (actually someone just grabbed it from me - hope he was a volunteer! lol), and then... well, it was a bit of chaos (but maybe I was too tired to figure it out). I'm used to people handing you water as soon as you finished but I didn't see it anywhere. I actually was completely confused on where to go for anything. After asking a bunch of other runners, I finally figured out where to get water, where to get the food, where to get my gear bag, where to get the champagne glass plus chocolate, and where to get the champagne. There was a super long line to the water and food table so thankfully, there were volunteers handing them out to us as we waited in line.

My friend came out to meet me at the race which was super nice of her since it was about an hour from where we live. I gave her the impression that I would be closer to 3 hours so she just missed my finish. But that's OK, because I had someone to hang with while I stretched and stuff. Here's a pic she took of me chillaxing while she headed over to meet me. For some reason, I think this is funny. This is actually how I am at most of the races I do since I usually do them by myself. (cue wah wah wahhhhhhhhh music, haha)

Side note: I love iPhone autocorrect. I asked my friend where she was and she texted back, "by the porta porgies". LOL!

Here are the goodies:

I didn't really need the actual champagne but I had to get some, right? I asked for just a little but got a bit more than I needed (I have the tolerance of a 5 year old). I had to drive right afterward! *whispers* I pitched most of it. :-O

Cheers!

Afterward (much much later), my friend and I celebrated with some In N Out. Even got a milkshake, too - yummy!

Once I got home, I realized how teeny tiny the medal is. Here it is compared to my smallest medals:

All in all, it was a fun day. If you're looking for a small, casual race to do with your girlfriends - I would recommend. I think once was enough for me though.

Finally - I have to give a special shout out to my friend who actually WON the See Jane Run Half Marathon with a 1 FRICKIN 25 time! I'm not sure if this is viewable to the public but she has a very interesting race report posted on dailymile. All I will say is that if you are a man running a woman targeted race and then catch up to the lead woman just to draft off her, YOU ARE A DOUCHEBAG. But maybe that's just me.

Unless you're doing it like this, because then it's just funny.

2011 Race Calendar!

2011-03-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

Well I guess it's finally time to officially announce my race calendar for the year :)

Let's start with the biggest and the most important:

Yep, that's right. I *finally* got in. Longtime blog readers know that I have consistently tried to get into this race ever since I ran my first marathon in 2007. For three years in a row, I was rejected in their lottery.

Well, luckily for me - NYC Marathon rules dictate that in these situations, you are automatically accepted in the fourth year of entering the lottery. YAY FOR ME!!! See, persistence does pay off :)

I am so excited about running this race since I absolutely love New York City. I often would take trips there with my mom and my sister mostly so we could see Broadway shows and of course, sight see, shop, eat, etc. And then for about two years, I lived in Hoboken, NJ which is just across the river from lower Manhattan so I got to spend a lot of time in NYC then. I think the highlights of those days were getting to be in the audience for some events at the MTV studios :) (hint: think heyday of Britney Spears, haha)

This is going to be a once in a lifetime experience since I'll probably never get the chance to run this marathon again and to be perfectly honest, I'm not quite sure I'll want to run another marathon again after this. (Half marathons are more my thing, if anything.)

So I don't want to blow it. As some of you know, my running has sort of tapered off after the Goofy Challenge and I pretty much need to start rebuilding my running base. I'm probably doing my own version of the "couch to 5K" program right now.

I have until November to get into marathon shape. To make sure I stay on track, I've scheduled some other race events throughout the year...

... such as the See Jane Run half marathon. I've been wanting to run this race for awhile but could never fit it into my race calendar. The tagline is "I run for chocolate and champagne." Do I really need to say anything else?

With a race date of early June, it's a perfect milestone for marathon training.

This next one is more of a fun one. Bay to Breakers has always had a special spot in my heart because it was one of the first events I did when I first moved to California in 2001 (from Hoboken actually). I just remember thinking how fun and crazy this place was! For six years in a row, my friends and I paraded down the streets of SF in our group costumes - fun trip down memory lane here. In 2008, I decided to actually run it since you know, it is an actual race after all with real elite runners and all that. (My friends were shocked that people actually ran it, believe it or not. They just assumed it was a party for everyone!)

I figured once was enough for me (that Hayes Street Hill is no joke, man) but this year, Bay to Breakers is celebrating its 100th year anniversary!!! 100 YEARS!!! How crazy is that? So to commemorate the special occasion, all runners get a special finisher's medal! People that know me know that I'm a total medal whore, especially a unique medal that will only happen this year! Of course, I was in. And it's a 12K in mid-May so it should also help me stay on track for the See Jane Run half the following month.

This last one is a kind of random one but I'm excited for it. I'm kind of a weird runner because I believe the best way to have confidence and to be fully prepared for an important marathon is to... well, basically run another marathon before it.

It worked really well for me when I ran the Goofy Challenge. For those that aren't familiar, the Goofy Challenge is the Disney event where you run a half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon the next day. Well, I was worried I wouldn't be properly prepared for such a feat, so I decided to run another marathon (California International Marathon) about 5-6 weeks before it. Used it as a long run of sorts (I did another one in between the events). Well, it worked out great because I ended up setting a PR at CIM!

Timing-wise, the Akron marathon fits in well as it's 6 weeks before NYC. Akron is also an hour away from my hometown where my parents and my sister and her family live. (Did I mention my sister has a 3 year old and 2 month old that I miss terribly?) And what cinched the deal is that my dear friend Roadbunner could not stop raving about the race and its awesome swag.

So to summarize, here is my 2011 Race Calendar:

May 15th: Bay to Breakers 12K
June 5th: See Jane Run Half Marathon
September 24th: Akron Marathon
November 6th: NYC Marathon

Race Report: Disneyland Half

2010-11-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

Over Labor Day weekend, I ran the Disneyland Half Marathon. I ran the race before in 2008 - here's the race report, if you're interested. It's Disney so of course it's a fun race. But is it an amazing one that everyone should run year after year? No, not really. Once is plenty, if you ask me. However, I needed to run this race again this year for one reason only:

Note: This is the one from 2008. You'll see my new one later down the post.

Ah, yes, that would be the elusive Disney Coast-to-Coast Challenge medal. In order to obtain this special prize, you have to run either a Walt Disney World half or full marathon (or in my case this year - both) in Orlando, Florida AND run the Disneyland Half Marathon in Anaheim, CA in the same calendar year.

So basically, it's for the super awesome runners... you know, just like how doing Goofy was for the super awesome as well. My goal during race weekends is to one-up as many people as possible (in a way that does not involve speed). "Oh, you're doing just the full? Not me, I'm doing Goofy." *smirk* "Just getting the half marathon medal today, huh? Not me, I get the awesome Coast to Coast one, too. See my special wristband???" *double smirk*

I'm just kidding about that part. Well, kind of. But it's no fun to have your accomplishment overshadowed by something bigger. Right? OK, whatever, so yeah it's ~~probably~~ definitely just another way for Disney to take more money from suckers like me yet still make me feel good about it.

Disney: 234078329857329573987
Audrey: 0

(I don't know what those numbers represent specifically... not dollars, although sometimes it feels like it.)

Anyway, to be honest, I really wasn't looking forward to this race since I have pretty much been on a running hiatus since the Goofy Challenge in January. But I needed to get that medal plus it's Disney so it's not like I need to worry about my time so off I went.

This was another one of those "wham bam thank you ma'am" kind of trips. I flew down to Anaheim Saturday afternoon and flew back Sunday afternoon. Unlike 2008, I didn't even get a park ticket.

I will say this about the Disneyland Half - it is a very convenient race in terms of getting around. You don't need a car, I just took the Disneyland Resort Express to the hotel, which by the way, can be quite affordable. If you want to be as close to the race start as possible, you could definitely stay at one of the official Disney hotels. Otherwise, they have tons of less expensive motels that are still nice enough that are right on the perimeter of Disneyland so it's still walking distance to expo and race start (I would guess 20 minutes vs. 5 minutes.) I stayed at the Anaheim Camelot Inn both years, mostly because it's cute and is not far from the main entrance to the Disney parks. Save more money and grab a runner to stay with you - that's how I got Roadbunner to be my roommate. :)

EXPO

I got there a little toward the end of closing. When I first arrived, there were all these signs about previewing some of ABC's new fall lineup. In case you didn't know, I'm a TV junkie and I'm all over stupid things like getting early access to new TV shows. I did one in Vegas with my sister where we got to preview this medical drama called Three Rivers and then answer this 45 min questionnaire afterward. I'll be honest... I thought that was fun! One of the main things I remembered was that the show didn't have that "processed" look yet so instead of a primetime drama, it looked like a daytime soap opera and it was really hard for me to get over how cheesy that looked. HA! I'm sure that was helpful info to the production team.

ANYWAY... I was tempted to ditch to watch TV shows but knew I didn't have the time for that nonsense. So I went straight to packet pick up to collect my stuff. As usual, the shirts were a unisex style and ran large so I would be swimming in the one I got. I noticed a bunch of peeps were waiting in the "Size S" line. I guess they would allow you to start swapping sizes at 5PM (a couple of hours from that point).

This is very boyish.

I walked around the expo for a bit but surprisingly didn't see anything I liked. Not even at the official merchandise booth... I don't know if it's a Disney issue or a Champion issue but somebody is dropping the ball because they rarely have cute stuff. Not like the cute stuff that Nike delivers.

By the time I finished my rounds, I decided to go ahead and wait in line for the shirt exchange as well since I had time to kill. The line eventually got really long and once we finally moved, a lady cut in line. Now I believe it's possible that she just got confused where the line ends since it was really crowded in that area, but I was completely amused at how quickly the other women ahead of me were all "I don't think so!". I guess there were only 20-something size S shirts left and there were at least double that in line. So, you know, it was a DIRE issue.

After that, I shopped around Downtown Disney, making sure to text my Disney-loving sister images of where I was at to make her jealous. Bwa-ha-ha-ha... It's OK, I got her and her little boy some souvenirs so she didn't hate me.

Then I went back to the hotel to wait for Roadbunner to arrive. We later had a late dinner with my favorite Glee crew member, Penny. This was my first time meeting her so it was nice to actually hang out with a good Twitter buddy. Sadly, we forgot to take any pics at dinner.

RACE DAY

Race start was at 6AM. I have this thing where I like to consume all my pre-race liquids and fuel as close to 2 hours before the race as possible so I was up at 4AM. Bleh.

Roadbunner and I later headed to the race start. Neither of us had gear check bags which was nice. After the potty stops, we wished each other good luck and goodbye at the start corrals. She had an early airport shuttle pickup right after the race so I was certain I wouldn't see her then. Once in my corral, I realized I had lost one of my yurbuds - so sad.

I had no time goals for this race. All I wanted to do was take lots of pictures and cross that finish line, no matter how long it took. And boy did I take my time!

The course was pretty similar to when I ran it in 2008 - except for a big part that I will get to later. You start down Disneyland Drive and the course is pretty ho hum for the first mile and a half. Then you enter California Adventures! From there, it's about two miles of sightseeing through the parks with tons of characters to take pics with. And since I wouldn't actually be going to the parks separately, I decided to make the most of it. During those two miles, I had a blast! I was truly happy to be a runner and to be participating in this event. It didn't feel like I was running a half, it was more like a scavenger hunt where I was going from character to character collecting pictures. I was mostly successful, well except for Woody and his gang from Toy Story. So rebellious, that crew! Toward the end of the parks I ran into Penny and her running posse who were sporting the cutest tutus! (And I hate to brag, but me and Julianne did the tutu thing early on - are we trendsetters or what??? *snort*)

Here are just some of the highlights through the Disney parks:

Arriving at California Adventures

Moving on to Disneyland

Walt and Mickey - just like on our medal!

Approaching Cinderella's Home

Storming the Castle

Hanging with my fellow princesses - we went for tea later

What kind of chafing do you think this costume causes?

Once I got out of the parks, I was hit by the brutal realization that oh yes, I really am supposed to do a half marathon here. The middle of the race (miles 5-8) was pretty dull as we were just going up and down the streets of Anaheim. They tried to make it interesting with school bands and cheering squads which I appreciated, but they were definitely nowhere near as fun as going through the parks.

Again, I have to wonder about the chafing

After running past the Honda Center and along the Santa Ana trail - things got pretty exciting once again around mile 9. At this point, the course is slightly different from the one we had in 2008. This year, instead of running by it, we got to run *through* Angel Stadium. I had this weird idea that we would actually be running the bases, which we didn't because that would be dumb, but instead we ran along the outside while peeps were cheering from the seats plus cheerleaders on the field so it was still an amazing experience.

Oh did I mention we were also on the jumbotron? Like any good picture whore, I immediately tried to determine where that camera was angled at... I had to ask one of the lovely cheerleaders for assistance although to be honest, all I had to do was look for the line of runners (same thing with all the characters in the park). While waiting in line, I watched to see what the other runners were doing in order to capture the jumbotron shot. I pointed my camera at the jumbotron and then when I was ready, I looked into the big camera while clicking my point and shoot.

Ta-da!

I was sad to leave the stadium because that was such a fun rush. Plus it was nice to experience something new from my previous Disneyland Half.

After that it was another 3 miles to the finish on nothing but boring streets. That was another part of the course they changed but not for the better. Last time, our last mile was through Downtown Disney which was fun because there usually would be a lot of people cheering at that point. But that's OK, I'll gladly sacrifice Downtown Disney for Angels Stadium.

I wasn't surprised by my finish time which is once again, a new personal worst for the half. Although I do find it funny that I missed a sub-3 finish by mere seconds.

At the finish area, I saw Penny again and this time we got a picture!

Check out the bling!

We got a special medal for the half because it was the 5th anniversary of the race. Now I know some people have some strong feelings about this (something to do with the 5 making it look like a 5K medal and celebrating a 5th anniversary is like "celebrating mediocrity" LOL) but I don't mind it. Actually, I *prefer* anniversary years at Disney races. Why? Because your medal is unique, no one else from any other year will have a medal like yours. Otherwise they use the same medal for at least four years in a row but just change the year and the strap. Like my Coast-to-Coast medal, it's pretty much identical to the one I already have. Makes me wonder why I went to all the trouble to get something I already own. :P I actually really like the castle medal this year... it's extra "blingy" which I like. And I also like that it has some color in it, too.

Official Results

Chip Time	3:00:07
Overall Place	9268 / 12372
Gender Place	5447 / 7857
Division Place	943 / 1311
Age Grade	36.9%
5K	44:53
10K	1:33:09
15K	2:13:56

Afterward, I picked up this post-race treat in Downtown Disney. A candy and chocolate coated caramel apple. It was delish!!! Although, admittedly, it took me days to finish... that would be a lot of sugar in one sitting.

So that's about it for Disney races. I won't say "never again" but I will say definitely not in 2011. I've already got plans to spend my race $$$ elsewhere next year.

Race Report: Goofy Challenge Part 3 - The Full Marathon

2010-09-20T16:04:00.000-07:00

...and this finally wraps up the Goofy race report series. Part 1: The Expo can be found here and Part 2: The Half Marathon can be found here.

This race report will be mostly pictures because I really don't remember that many details of a race I ran 8 months ago, lol. Bad Audrey for being so delayed in getting this together.

But if you're really interested in the nitty gritty of the WDW full, feel free to check out my much more detailed 2008 WDW race report.

Here is the course for the full marathon - there were still a lot of expressways but at least we got to go through all four of the parks this time. The weather was slightly better - still freezing cold (high 20s/low 30s, I think) but at least it didn't rain on us.


Hitting all four parks this time!

I had fun hanging out with Roadbunner at the start of the race. We were both bundled in sweatshirts and our heat sheets. I've never been so grateful for overpacking. It took a long time to walk from the staging area to the actual start corrals. I ended up missing the start of my corral wave so I was one of the stragglers. I was actually sad to start because that meant I had to get rid of my extra layers... so I kept my big hoodie on for the first mile or so.

Obligatory Cinderella's Castle Photo

For the full, I didn't really stop to take pics with characters as much as I did with the half. It was already going to take at least five hours and I really didn't want to add that much more time in the freezing cold.

But once I saw Mickey outside Animal Kingdom, I had to stop! I love how quick the picture taking guys (not the race photographers, but the character "escorts") are... they usually had two of them so while one runner was having their picture taken, the other guy was already grabbing the camera of the next runner so they would be ready to go. These guys are seasoned pro's!

Of course I had to stop for Mickey!

Then later on at Hollywood Studios, I was thrilled to see the guys from Up! I think this was around mile 23 or something. It was perfect timing because I told myself, after this - no more stopping until the finish. (Keep in mind that I'm the kind of runner that likes to take quick walk breaks on every mile! *Especially* at the end because I'm usually so exhausted and slightly delirious.)

I was so excited to see Russell and Carl! New additions to Disney!

And guess what - I did just that! Sure, I was running super slow but I was proud of myself for sticking to it :)

Headed out of Hollywood Studios

Judging by the smile on my face, I must be close to the finish.

How could you not love a race that has adorable characters high fiving you on your way to the finish?

Whee!!!

V is for Victory :P

Sharing all my medal loot with Daisy

Medal Mania: Donald for the half, Goofy for both, Mickey for the full

This race was pretty interesting... the freezing weather was one issue. Hazardous aid stations were another! All the water that was thrown on the ground would freeze creating ice patches. Luckily, the volunteers were really good with giving us warnings so I didn't have any slip ups. The other funny thing was that some of the water cups were frozen! Not frozen solid, just the top layer so I would have to crack it to get the water out. Such a crazy experience!

I know this will be no surprise to anyone, but I am a big fan of the WDW marathon. I like how the different parks break up the course. Kind of like with the Nike marathon, where instead of thinking 12 miles to go, 11 miles to go, 10 miles to go and so on... it's more: OK around mile 4 there's a hill and then it's flat... but then get ready at mile 7 when the the big hills start, etc.

Same thing here... instead of thinking how far to the finish line, my mind instead wonders how long until we hit the next park. It is pure joy running through the Disney parks especially with all the characters around. And once you hit Hollywood studios around mile 22, it's all downhill because it's pretty scenic from there to the finish.

Official Results

Chip Time 5:18:48

Overall Place 9368 / 16906
Gender Place 3699 / 8160
Division Place 630 / 1288

5 Mile 56:06
10 Mile 1:54:31
Half Split 2:31:49
20 Mile 4:00:14

This is a bit of an improvement from my 5:25 time in the 2008 WDW marathon but considering it was 30 degrees vs 80, it was to be expected.

Showing off my prized Goofy medal to Goofy

One last anecodote... I had a great time wearing my Goofy medal around the parks on the following Monday and Tuesday. (No way was I wearing all three - 1) it would be way too heavy and 2) I wouldn't be able to deal with all the clinging and clanging!) When I flew home the following Wednesday, I got stopped by airport security and he asked if they could go through my bag. He then asked if I had a bag of coins or something and I was at first pretty confused. And then I realized it must have been my medals which I had in my carry-on so I pulled that out to show it to him. I asked if he had seen other runners with their medals and he said yes, but with only one medal, not three! Then before I knew it, this came flying out of my mouth, "Well, they must have not been as awesome as me."

Seriously! So embarrassed... :-/

Running Belt Deals from Disneyland Half

2010-09-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Had a great time at the Disneyland Half last weekend... race report will be coming soon, but not until I post the WDW Full Marathon race report, heh heh.

Until then... I saw a couple cool deals on running belts from the expo that hopefully, you can take advantage of as well.

iFitness

This is the belt I have - love it!!!

Get a 15% discount when ordering online by using code: MagicRun

More info at http://www.ifitnessinc.com

SPIbelt

FREE SPIbelt with any other race pocket belt trade-in
50% off any new SPIbelt when you trade in your old SPIbelt
15% off online purchases by using code: disney10. Free USPS shipping by using code: ship10.

More info at http://www.spibelt.com/disney

Race Report: Goofy Challenge Part 2 - The Half Marathon

2010-09-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

Side note: I *started* this race report months ago, but in typical fashion, I never finished it. With the Disneyland Half coming up this weekend, I wanted to get the Goofy race reports out there. I attempted to fill in the blanks below, but apologies for any missing details. Enjoy!

OK, I'm back with the next segment of the Goofy Race Report series. Part 1: The Expo can be found here.

It's now race time and first up is the WDW Half Marathon - a course that routes you from Epcot to Magic Kingdom and back.

As I mentioned in my last post, we were treated to freakishly cold weather for marathon weekend. All of us runners were checking weather forecasts religiously leading up to the race. For the half, not only was it freezing cold (high 20's / low 30's) but we also got some rain (sleet?) as well! Oh joy!

Luckily, I was well-trained for running in this weather. CIM had similar weather (if not slightly "warmer") plus my peak training runs were in 30-40 degree weather in the snow back home in Ohio during the holidays.

I always say I want cold weather for race day so it's just like they say "Be careful what you wish for!"

On to the pictures...

Disney gang greets us at the start!

This was my first time running the half and let me just tell you, other than the short stint through Magic Kingdom, this course is BORING. Seriously. You start outside Epcot but don't actually run through it until the end. It's basically 5 miles of just boring WDW expressways and then you hit Magic Kingdom. That part is fun but once you leave, you're back to the boring expressways.

Below: Once again, guilty of jazz hands. It's like this weird reflex action that comes over me whenever I see a race photographer on the course.

The fun thing about Disney is they know people are running it mostly for the picture opportunities. And just in case the race photographers didn't get a good picture of you running out of Cinderella's castle, they set up a special location to the side to take a posed one for good measure. Of course, I had to take advantage of that!

And since I was obviously not in a rush, I made sure to take lots of pictures with the characters...

I especially admire the runners that ran in full costume!

ARGH! :)

This was a photo spot outside Magic Kingdom on the way back to Epcot. This captures the beauty of Disney races... no one is concerned about their time! I waited several minutes for this one but for Minnie and Goofy, totally worth it!

Finally crossing the finish line! Bet you haven't seen that time on the clock for a half marathon before, huh? ;)

All in all, it was an OK race. Definitely not one I would do on its own but that's just me. The worst part came after the race. It had rained on us during the race, but it doesn't really bother you while you're running. But once you're done with the race, standing in a very slow moving line waiting for food while shivering cold, you become quite miserable. I may have cried a little. OK, maybe not but I was very unhappy.

Normally, I would have skipped the food line altogether but I knew I didn't have anything in my gear check bag and I wasn't sure what food would be available in the meet and greet area. Knowing I had to run a full marathon the next day, I was especially concerned with getting some recovery food back in my system ASAP.

The nice thing was that my family was waiting for me so at least once I got through all of that, I got some much needed TLC :) [Although it did take some time to find them as well - one drawback to big races.]

I wised up for the full and packed post-race food and drinks in my gear bag and left that with my family to bring with them. The gear bag pickup line could be slow moving as well so I didn't want to take any chances.

Official Results

Chip Time 2:46:27

Overall Place 10346 / 17127
Gender Place 4989 / 9688
Division Place 799 / 1444

Age Grade 39.9%

5K Split 34:36
10K Split 1:17:02
15K Split 2:00:37

This ended up being my slowest half marathon time to date (ah, but stay tuned for this weekend!) but if you look at my rankings, it was actually pretty average for the Disney runners. This is why I love Disney races!!! WHEEEEE!!!

Next up, Goofy Challenge Part 3 - The Full Marathon!

Medals Galore!

2010-08-11T08:39:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to do this post for awhile, especially after seeing this on the blogs of both Roadbunner and Aron.

What the heck do you do with your medals?

Most people know that I do races mostly for the medals. So you would think I would actually do something cool with them. Sadly, no. I don't exactly shove them in a shoebox, but I don't have them as part of my wall decor either. I don't know why.

For now, I have them haphazardly draped across a bulletin board on my desk.

I kind of like them there for now. They're displayed but in a subtle manner. I think at some point, I will pin them in a more organized fashion so that you can actually see all of them.

My #1 favorite medal: Disney Coast to Coast 2008

(Bonus medal for doing both the Walt Disney World marathon in Orlando in January and the Disneyland Half in Anaheim in August)

My #2 favorite medal: Walt Disney World marathon in 2008

It was an anniversary year so we got an extra special one :)

My #3 favorite medal: Cleveland Half Marathon in 2009

This was a toughie since I love all my Disney medals but this medal was one of the main reasons why I signed up for this race. I mean, it has a spinning guitar!!!

What are your favorite medals?

On a separate note... in case you don't already know, I have another blog, Pop Culture / Makeup Addict. It would be awesome if you could add it to your reader or subscriptions because it gets no love. :P That one is updated a bit more regularly. Thank you!

Hitting the Road!

2010-08-09T11:59:00.000-07:00

Alright, readers, I finally had a breakthrough in my running this weekend. Not only did I extend my run to 6 miles, I did it on both Friday AND Sunday.

It would have been very difficult to do this on my own so I took my runs on the road and enlisted the help of friends.

I first dragged Roadbunner to help me on Friday with a run around Golden Gate park. I think she had 16 miles or something crazy like that on her plan so I was going to join her for the last 6 for her cooldown (and my sprint, lol). But I chickened out since I'm still doing my run/walk thing so I decided to do 2 on my own first and then meet up for the last 4. It worked out really well! Roadbunner was awesome at letting us run at my pace and I only requested one walk break at the halfway point. (You don't want to know how often I normally take walk breaks on my own.) I was extremely pleased with myself for finally having a 6 miler under my belt - first time since January!

It also helped a lot to have a change in scenery and Golden Gate park is awesome for people watching. Not to mention the critical point - weather! It was nice and cool in the 50s, something I rarely find in my 'hood.

Then on Sunday, I met up with a bunch of awesome gals for Maritza's going away run, organized by Aron. I was excited to join them even though I couldn't really run with any of them. They all had double digit runs planned and are much faster than me. It was nice just to have a reason to drag myself out of bed and have a productive Sunday morning.

I decided to go for another six. I was still planning on taking walk breaks but instead of just walking whenever I felt like it, I stuck to the plan of walking for 0.1 mile of every mile. It worked out really well despite the break being a bit shorter than what I usually do. It helped me to not lose too much momentum. I'm proud to say I stuck to my plan and ended up cutting a minute off my pace from my run on Friday.

We all ran an out-and-back path on the trail so it was fun that I got to pass by everyone at some point. I think that was another reason I did so well sticking to my plan - I didn't want to get caught walking by the girls, LOL!

Since everyone was finishing at different times, we all reconvened at Peet's, which apparently is THE hot spot for runners and bikers on a Sunday morning. It was fun to see everyone trickle back in and see how their runs went.

Here's the gang at Peet's - met two runners, Page and Layla!

Page, Tara, Kristin, Aron, Layla
Moi, Sandra, Maritza
Picture courtesy of Aron

Afterward, we headed to brunch where we were later joined by Julianne and her hubby, who were celebrating their 2nd anniversary :)

Picture courtesy of Aron

Very fun morning for this back-on-track runner!

I'm super pleased with myself... including my wimpy 3mi run from earlier in the week, I ended up with a 15mile week. That's pretty good for me, believe it or not. Now I just have to keep it up. Plan to hit 8 miles sometime this weekend. Perhaps that will include a little jaunt across the Golden Gate bridge.

Do you find it easier to run on your own or with friends?

By the way, I signed up to volunteer at the Nike Women's Marathon this year! I ran it for the last four years but I didn't get in the lottery this year. I think volunteering will be a very fun alternative. Let me know if you're going to be there!

Spectator Report: Skyline 50K

2010-08-04T22:42:00.001-07:00

Great comments on my last "Real Runners Don't..." post! I think the highlight was hearing (reading?) Roadbunner use the term "douche". :P

I met up with Sandra and Alisa on Sunday to spectate the Skyline 50K. I really need to do this more often because I get a big kick out of ringing my cowbell. Plus I think it's always good to "return the favor" since I love when people come out and cheer for the races I'm in. (Especially when I feel like dying!)

Alisa and her hubby were in town from Portland for a major race weekend. Alisa had just completed her first half ironman the day before at Vineman and her hubby was doing the Skyline 50K. I don't understand these kind of crazy people ;)

Here's me with Sandra and Alisa :)

This was a super small race... just around 200 runners. I guess there aren't that many people dying to run over 30 miles across hilly dirt trails. (Yeah, I say "no thanks" myself but "rock on" to the people that do!)

We parked ourselves by the finish line. Sandra pointed out that this was actually a good race to spectate since there wasn't exactly a steady stream of runners coming in, so you didn't have to be constantly cheering and ringing the cowbell. And the cool thing is we could spot them coming down a hill ahead of time so it was easy to keep an eye out for Alisa'a hubby.

The first runner finished in well under 4 hours. What? The first pack of them didn't even seem fatigued when they finished. We liked the ones that were hunched over huffing and puffing because that's how we are when we finish a race! That's all we can relate to!

Eventually, Alisa and her family spot her hubby coming down the hill. Now I know what he looks like from Alisa's blog but mind you, he has no idea who I am. But regardless, I decide to run on up to cheer him on before he makes the last turn to the short stretch toward the finish line. Well apparently he is much faster than me (duh) because we pretty much hit that corner around the same time. So basically I turn onto the path, immediately see him so I just haphazardly cheer his name and ring my cowbell in his face (not literally)! I think I may have startled him a bit but hey he was approaching the finish so I don't think he cared. Meanwhile, I really cracked myself up.

We hung out for a bit longer to cheer on some additional runners. Suddenly, this dude approaches the finish with a big smile on his face. While I ring my cowbell, I realize he looks really familiar. Well, surprise surprise, it was my old roommate who I hadn't seen in at least a year! So that was fun to catch up with him for a bit since I had no idea he would be there.

All in all, it was a really fun morning! Got to spend it in gorgeous weather in a scenic park, catching up with lots of friends :)

Next thing on my list is to volunteer at a race - I've yet to do that and I think that would be a lot of fun as well.

Have you ever volunteered or spectated at a race? Which ones and what was it like?

A Real Runner Doesn't...

2010-07-27T22:41:00.000-07:00

Today a Facebook friend posted the following question:

Which running shoes do you have and would you recommend it?

And as expected, someone commented to stay away from Nike, because although they are cute, they are not good running shoes.

So of course I had to comment... because I have been wearing Nike Vomeros for the last four years. (I also reiterated the other comments that she should get properly fitted at a running store.)

Anyway, the Nike comment just makes me roll my eyes. A friend once told me that the place I bought my running shoes from must not have been a "real" running store because "real" runners don't wear Nikes. I'll admit it - I was totally offended! Because hello, *I* chose the Nikes after trying on numerous brands. So am I not a "real" runner then?

According to some people, nope! Which makes me think of the other rules I break.

For example,

Real Runners Don't...

1. Wear Nike running shoes.
2. Wear running skirts.
3. Take more than 5 (4?) hours to finish a marathon.

What else am I missing?

And if you're one of those people that think any of the above, well then shame on you! ;)

(Yes, I am one of those peeps that are not really a fan of the Pearl Izumi "We are not joggers" ads. Hmmph!)

Listen, some of us are more light-hearted than the "hardcore". Don't judge me if I run a double-digit pace or wear tutus or take pics when I run.

***

In other news, I am up to 4 miles now. Woo-hoo!!! :D

At the gym: Signs of an Awesome Class Instructor

2010-07-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Great feedback, everyone! Looks like everyone has their own reason for getting hot and sweaty ;)

To be able to eat and drink guilt-free
Maintain sanity / therapy
Stay healthy
Setting a good example for daughter (very admirable!)
Just in general feel good and avoid the crappy feeling

I lied, I do have other reasons for working out again besides improving my ability to run...

Get my $$$'s worth out of my gym membership (I will no longer be a sucker!)
Justify new cute workout clothes
Not feeling guilty for watching trashy TV on the cardio machines
My gym is located next to Kara's Cupcakes and Starbucks... muah-ha-ha-ha!

*************

So I headed back to the gym today. I cheated and only did 2 miles again. It's OK - my heart rate was still pretty high so I felt like it was a good workout. This time I watched Independence Day. Great movie, right? I love Judd Hirsch's character. And dude, I also loved the size of their cell phones in that movie - they're like a brick! Who's walking around with that?

I got overzealous for a second and almost headed to a spinning class afterward. But when I glanced in the window and saw someone other than my favorite spinning teacher leading the class, I walked away.

I'll admit it, I'm picky when it comes to instructors! I definitely have my favorites. I need someone that can make the class enjoyable and challenging so that I don't even think about sneaking out.

I really recognized the value of a good instructor recently when I dropped into a kickboxing class at my cousin's gym. I used to take kickboxing all the time at my gym so I'm not completely clueless (but no expert either). Well I definitely felt clueless at this class! I was literally in "Huh?" mode the entire time. I just couldn't follow her.

So here is my wish list in a gym class instructor:

Must play Audrey-friendly music, i.e. anything that would make me want to shake my booty. I once had a sub for spinning class that kept playing this mellow country music - it was not motivating me to push it all! So I did something I almost never do - I walked out halfway through class. I just couldn't deal with it anymore so I headed to a cardio machine where I could do my own thing.
Must be able to cater to both newbie students and the regulars. My problem with my cousin's instructor was that she wasn't breaking down anything! Just calling out terms that I didn't recognize but everyone else did. Plus she kept disappearing into the equipment room for some reason so I couldn't even look at her to see what I was supposed to be doing.
Must keep routines fun and interesting - mix it up! I like how my spin teacher is always breaking up the class with different drills - whether it's endurance, sprint, etc. Don't just tell me to put it on a hard level and we're gonna stay there for 10 minutes. Boring! I also like my step teacher - she does fun choreography. And I love the strength training classes where we use different "props" each time - feels like gym class from elementary school days! But I never like seeing those purple slider discs. Ugh...
A little barking is OK. I like passionate teachers. I don't mind when we're in an intense part of the class and they start barking at us - it definitely pushes me more!
Set clear expectations. I like when they give clear instructions on how long we'll be doing something. For example, 2 reps of 12, 30 sec in a sprint drill, or a certain combo 4 times. I hate when you're doing bicep curls and you have no idea how many we have to do. Or I hate when they tell you 2 sets of 12 and you do them and then they say, I lied, one more! Grrr... that makes me cranky.
Get into it! I like when teachers give their 100% because it makes me want to follow their lead. If you look wishy washy, I probably will be, too.

That's all I can think of for now... what do you like about your gym class instructors?

Why do you exercise?

2010-07-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

Yay!!! So excited to see people chiming in on my recent post :) Thanks for still reading :D

So last week I did some elliptical at the gym while watching Kourtney and Khloe take Miami. In this episode, Khloe stuck quarters down Kourtney's butt crack and then kissed one of her *ss cheeks. Seriously. I love my own sister dearly but I can assure, I would never do *that*.

Afterward, I indulged in a big order of sweet potato fries. Now some people might question eating such a fatty snack after exercise but it's all good with me. I'm not exercising to lose weight - honestly, the only reason I am trying to consistently exercise these days is to improve my running ability. And that's pretty much it.

As most of my friends know, I am completely unmotivated to work out if I don't have a race on a calendar. And with the Disneyland Half being 7 weeks away, guess who's working out again?

It's weird but after six months of not working out and not watching what I eat, you would think I would have gained some weight or my clothes would be more snug. But nope, everything's all the same. Good on one hand but bad as well.

So my long run of *3* miles (not a typo) did not happen this weekend. I had it scheduled for Sunday but I got hit with this random case of vertigo all day long. I don't know how it came about but I had this case of dizziness and nausea that would not go away.

Some friends suggested it was related to allergies, which I've never had before but maybe it's something new I've developed.

I feel much better today and hope to have a successful return to the gym tomorrow.

Starting from scratch

2010-07-16T07:59:00.000-07:00

So... since the Goofy challenge, there hasn't been much running lately. At least not on any consistent basis.

But now I've got a half marathon coming up. In 7 weeks. And I have no running base. Oops.

Luckily for me (or unfortunately for me?), this is nothing new. I tend to be a procrastinator in life and this is definitely one of those examples.

And it's not just that I haven't been running, I haven't been doing much exercise in general lately - so my overall fitness level is definitely not in its prime. I didn't mention it here but I had an impromptu personal training session a few months ago and it was so intense that I nearly blacked out from it! (Instead, I just sat in the trainer's office while he waited for my face to return to its normal color and the clamminess to go away. Oh I may have dry heaved as well.) I will take some blame for that incident as well since I did have a Kara's Cupcake as pre-workout fuel. See? I have been out of it so long that I can't even remember proper workout nutrition!

Anyway, I digress. I finally realized that I had to stop dilly-dallying and get back out there.

And for those of you still out there still reading this, you need to hold me accountable! :P Just kidding. Well, maybe.

Did I mention I'm a picky runner? Ideal running temp for me is 55 degrees. Especially when I'm out of shape. Because if it's cold, I'll just force myself to keep running to at least stay warm.

Well, there is no 55 degrees to be found where I live. Well unless I go to SF which I definitely plan to do once I can comfortably run 6 miles. But 2 miles is definitely not worth 2 hours of driving.

So off to the gym I go! I can't stand the dreadmill but I can't stand running in sunny heat even more.

Since it's been months since I've tried running, I kept it simple - 2 miles was all I wanted. So I played with the speeds. Started at 12:00 min/miles, then 11:30, then 11:00, and finally ended with 10:30 with a little bit of 10:00 in the end.

Now back when I used to run regularly, 10-10:30 would be my easy pace. Yesterday? It felt like I was sprinting! Even my heart rate monitor reflected that - it hit around 180 during those paces.

According to my polar HRM, my aerobic cardio zone (or whatever it's called) is between 121 and 158. Obviously 180 is not a comfortable zone for me. From what I recall, 180 is where I would be during a 5K back in the day. 10-10:30 would be more like 160.

I love data - it's so fun to compare!

Anyway, the run was fine - I'll probably aim for 3 this weekend. Yep, 3 is now my long run, haha.

I'll be doing other things at the gym other than running to keep things interesting. Hopefully, I'll be able to get my little fit self out of hiding soon :D

Tagged - Six Random Things

2010-04-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

I was pleasantly surprised (well, shocked would be more accurate) when the lovely Alisa tagged me with a Gorgeous Blogger Award.

So now I'm supposed to list six things about me... and these are pretty random...

1) I am still on a running hiatus from the Goofy Challenge (back in January). I expect to get back on track in the summer in time for the Disneyland Half.

2) In the meantime, I am trying to get reacquainted with my gym. It's hard but I did manage to take a couple of classes this morning - Step and Core Fusion. I probably should have been more nervous to take Step since it has been well over a year since I took a class but muscle memory kicked in and I was fine for the most part. It was a little clumsy at first with remembering just the basic warm up moves... basic step, shuffle, stomp, knee curls, corner knee, L-step, etc... but I made sure to position myself close to the teacher so I could follow as easily as possible. It was a pretty good workout for me... my heart rate went sky high during the class, similar to my running levels.

3) I have recently become addicted to word games on my iPhone. It started with Words with Friends, and then while I waited for my friends' plays, I discovered other games I could play solo like Word Warp, Scramble 2, and my new favorite, Word Pops. They frustrate the heck out of me but I keep coming back for more.

4) I'm currently using Anbesol for the first time in my life. I had a filling put in a couple of months ago for what apparently was a very deep cavity. My dentist told me it would be sensitive for the next three months if I drank anything too cold... which it has been but since yesterday, it has just been painful throughout the day without a trigger. It comes and goes but when it's there, it suuuuuucks. I tried painkillers which somewhat helped but I'm hoping this Anbesol provides better relief. So far it's OK... (the numbing sensation is weird!)

5) I'm not a fan of two floor Targets. I know the cart escalator thing is pretty easy to use but I don't like having to bounce between two different floors - especially when different Targets have different floor layouts. For example, greeting cards could be on the 1st floor in one Target but on the second in another. Too confusing! OK, that one was really random... can you guess where I was this morning?

6) Often times when I visit Starbucks (which is at least once a week), I can't resist picking up a packet of those Madeline cookies. I just love those things! They're so light and airy and a perfect compliment to my coffee drink.

OK, that's it... I would tag people but I'm assuming everyone's done this by now. But feel free to tag yourself if you haven't yet! And leave me a note to let me know to look for it :)

Race Report: Cherry Blossom 5K Walk

2010-04-15T14:10:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was in DC and participated in their Cherry Blossom 5K walk with my brother and sister-in-law along with her mom and brother. My sister also traveled to DC with me but decided that the comfy hotel bed was a much more enjoyable option than spectating. Lame-o! (She doesn't read this, so it's OK.)

Now if you a regular reader of this blog (which I doubt since I don't exactly regularly update this), you may recall that I had actually planned to run the 10 miler which is the big event. But as the race got closer, it felt weird to be doing the 10 miler when everyone else in my family was doing the 5K. And it's not like I get to see them that often so it would be cool to actually walk with them, especially since my brother and sister-in-law were there to see me finish the Disney marathon (and thus, the Goofy Challenge) this past January.

And of course, if I'm being really honest, I just didn't want to run 10 miles. Running hasn't exactly been one of my priorities since Goofy.

So really it was a win win! ;)

The Cherry Blossom 10 miler/5K is a really popular event so you have to get in through the lottery. My family and I all registered under the same team name and I was pleasantly surprised that we actually got in since normally I completely fail at race lotteries. (Case in point: I was once again denied an entry for the 2010 NYC marathon, marking my third year in a row. 2011, it is!)

The expo was held at the National Building Museum which as you can see is pretty nice inside. Definitely the fanciest expo location I've been to. The usual suspects were there and I was pretty pleased when I left with only one purchase. A chocolate chip cookie.

The race tee - both the 5K and 10M got the same one.

As I got my race gear all ready the night before, I briefly scanned through the race instructions and had to snicker at this: "Please do not even think of fouling the Washington Monument Grounds or the National Mall." Felt like I was 5 years old being reprimanded by the school teacher. Not that I ever needed to be reprimanded. Well, now that I think about it, there was that one time in first grade when we were all playing on the lawn outside my church and...

*snicker*

Oh, sorry, I digress. Anyway, back to race morning... we headed to the race start which was located right by the Washington Monument. Pretty cool, right?

The 10 mile run started an hour before the 5K so they were just getting started when we arrived (again, another solid reason to switch to the 5K). It was a pretty big race so they started in waves.

My pre-race fuel. No, not the best idea but I always hated when I saw people with their Starbucks when I was getting ready to run a race. So now I could be the annoying one with their tasty coffee treat!

Here's my brother doing some pre-race hip stretches. I told him I'd block out his face before posting. (He doesn't read this either, so this is also OK.) And no, I don't think those are proper workout pants and now I've got the perfect present idea for him for his upcoming birthday!

While waiting for the 5K to start, I watched the kids race which as usual is just the cutest thing in the world! And you can't tell from the pic, but all of their bib numbers had the number "1" on them. LOL!

And now it's our turn - off we go!

Although our course wasn't nearly as scenic as the 10 miler (which includes passing the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, the WW2 memorial, the reflecting pond, tidal basin, etc), it was still quite pretty and it was a beautiful day out. Here we are about to cross the Memorial Bridge.

And if you turn around, you see this. You know, the sweep vehicle. Poor thing - followed us for the entire walk waiting for us to finish. My brother cracked me up at the start of the race by saying, "Hope you like the view - of my butt. You're going to be seeing this for awhile."

Here are some of the runners we got to see on their way back.

The finish line in sight!

My finish line photo - happily clutching my baby, aka my iPhone. (As you can see, I wasn't kidding about the sweep vehicle.) My bro is right behind me.

And because I know you're dying for it, here are my race stats:

Official chip time: 1:01:24

Pace: 19:46

Gender place: 1242/1246

Division place: 243/243 (HA!)

All in all, it was a fun morning. My sister-in-law finished the 5K walk almost 20 minutes faster than the Turkey Trot she did last Thanksgiving which is a HUGE achievement and we were all so proud of her. Hopefully, we can do more events like these.

After the race, I was able to briefly catch up with an old college friend, D, who I hadn't seen in years! D ran the 10 miler with her friend and I had originally planned to try to run with them but they did such a great job, I don't think I would have been able to keep up anyway. It was really funny talking about the old days though. D told her friend how I was the one that was pretty much allergic to the gym back in college (only went once and that was just during the orientation tour) and now I'm doing marathons and stuff. We also laughed about how I barely wore makeup then too and now look what I've been doing.

Anyway, I'd definitely recommend this race if you can get in, especially if you're from out of town. It's very scenic and fun seeing all the DC landmarks.

P.S. In case you're curious, yes, I still plan to post race reports from the Goofy Challenge - eventually. ;)

What She Said

2010-03-02T23:01:00.000-08:00

Please Run Safely from Marathon Maritza

Be safe out there!

Something to ponder...

2010-02-07T23:28:00.000-08:00

How odd that just four weeks ago, the idea of running 13 miles was no big deal.

Huh.

I'm sooooo tired!!!

2010-02-01T18:54:00.000-08:00

Do not fret, my pets, I am still working on those Goofy race reports. BUT in the meantime... here's a random topic.

It has now officially been three weeks since the Goofy challenge. From an exercise perspective, I've done NOTHING since then. And to be honest, it's been quite nice. I hope I don't alienate you guys, but I'm just not one of those people that need to run or work out all the time. I'm quite content being a couch potato. I'll be out there again soon enough but for now I'm just enjoying activities other than spending hours pounding the payment.

But here's the thing... lately, I have been soooooo tired. Ridiculously tired. I typically don't nap but there have been times recently when I've desperately wanted one. I'm ashamed to say I missed out on hanging out with friends one evening because I literally slept through it. And I was in a deep sleep, too - when I woke up, I could barely move. I sleep the same hours so what's the deal?

Well my friend pointed out that it's probably because I haven't been working out. And initially I thought that was weird since I know I get tired from working out. But then I read somewhere that you have a better quality of sleep when you exercise, i.e. deeper sleep, etc and that's why you end up being more well-rested.

Which means I better get out there again because Starbucks is just not doing the trick for this sleepy-head.

Anyone else have a similar experience?

P.S. I also suspect some of my sleepiness can be due to excessive cupcake consumption. ;)

Race Report: Goofy Challenge Part 1 - The Expo

2010-01-21T19:00:00.000-08:00

OK, for those that don't follow me on Twitter, I successfully survived the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge! It was both an amazing and super fun experience. As well as a freakishly cold one!!!

And I hate to leave you all in suspense, but I'm not going to get to the actual race reports just yet in this post. I'm sorry!

First, I will hit on the expo which I attended Friday morning. It was at Disney's Wide World of Sports and it was huge! I love the Disney expo. When I ran the full in 2008, I wasn't able to spend much time there because my whole family was with me and waiting so I had to speed up the browsing. This time, I checked it out solo so I took my sweet old time.

After I picked up my two race bibs and got the Goofy wristband slapped on my wrist, I hit the expo which was in a different building (different from 2008 when it was all in the same place). I then got a cute little mesh bag filled with my three awesome race shirts. That's right - THREE!!! I love the Goofy Challenge.

First, we got a navy blue long sleeve tech shirt for the Goofy Challenge - the 5 is because it's the 5th anniversary of the race.

And then we also got two long sleeve white tech shirts - one for the full (with Mickey) and one for the half (with Donald). Notice how they list the parks from the respective courses on the sleeves of the shirts.

I really love these shirts and I think they fit better than my 2008 shirt (which ran a little big).

Now time for shopping!

I already had an idea of things I wanted to pick up based on tweets I had seen from other Goofy runners. I first hit the "official race merchandise" section and although there were lots of cute stuff, I didn't really see anything that I loved. (And when a T-shirt is $35, I better love it, you know?) I was hoping to get a track jacket like the one I got in 2008, but guess what? They were already sold out of all of their track jackets! Keep in mind, the expo opened Thursday afternoon and ended Saturday evening. And they were already sold out of merchandise by Friday morning? Poor planning, Disney. But that's OK, I probably didn't need the jacket since I hardly wear my 2008 one. And hello, I just got three awesome race shirts! So I didn't really feel a need to add more to my collection, especially since I was running out of room to store all my running gear at home, anyway.

But I still felt a need to get at least one additional souvenir, so I settled on a Goofy race hat which I am proudly modeling here (taken after the races were run, of course!)

Next, I bought some yurbuds - definitely because I heard about them on Twitter. These things are great. I am constantly having problems with keeping my earbuds in and even experimented with different styles but they would always slip out. Well I got "fitted" for a pair of these while at the expo and they felt nice and snug. A little pricey at $20 but hey since they work, I can't complain.

I also heard about my next purchase on Twitter - the iFitness belt. I didn't really need this product as I already have a running belt to hold crap but this one had more bells and whistles so I figured why not! The iFitness guy said the one I bought was brand new which must be the case because I can't seem to find it on their website. It's like a super version of their neoprene mini-sport belt but this one comes with six external slots on the elastic band for gels (three on each side) and little lace lock thingies to hold your race bib. I got this for $28.

My final expo purchase is something I've always eyed at expos - The Stick! I never felt the need for one since I've got my trusty foam roller at home. However, that thing is not exactly travel-friendly. (Although, believe it or not, I did pack it in my suitcase for the 2007 Chicago marathon!) And since I wanted to make sure I was in tip top shape for the marathon, I got the stick to help work/stretch my leg muscles after the half-marathon. I think this one was around $35.

And as long as I'm discussing running products, there is one other thing I purchased right before I left for Disney. I decided to get a new hydration belt. I had been using the Fuel Belt Helium 4 which hold two bottles in front and two in the back. Well, I never wear bottles in the front because I feel like my arm always bump into them plus I don't like carrying that much liquid on me. I decided to just get a new fuel belt that only has bottle holders in the back so I got the Nathan Speed 2 belt.

I'm so glad I got this as I like it a lot better!

OK, that's it for the product reviews... up next is the WDW Half Marathon race report!

2010 Race Targets

2010-01-06T10:25:00.000-08:00

OK, so now it's time to talk about my 2010 race targets.

January 9-10th: Goofy Race and a Half Challenge
A half and a full in one weekend? In freezing cold temps? (again) Sounds fun to me! No, seriously, I'm actually looking forward to heading to Florida this weekend for the ultimate running challenge!

April 11th: Cherry Blossom 10 miler (DC)
I've always heard great things about this race. It's tough to get in but luckily I got selected in the lottery (a first!) What's even more special is that my brother and sister-in-law are walking the 5K that day as well.

September 5th: Disneyland Half
I ran this in 2008 and it's fun but really the only reason I'm running it this year is to get the Coast-to-Coast medal which you get for running both the WDW full and Disneyland half the same year.

October 17th: Nike Women's Half Marathon (if I get in)
It's tradition for me now and I really love the course. Also a lottery but as long as I continue running with the Nike Club Run SF, I should be able to earn a spot.

November 7th: NYC Marathon (if I get in)
Right now, this is the only other marathon I want to run! I would love to run NYC :) I've been entering the lottery for awhile so if it doesn't happen this year, I should be locked in for 2011.

Finally, some kind of biking event - I've been neglecting Gigi for too long. Maybe a century??? That would be something new for me!

I'm sure I will squeeze in other races here and there but for now, this is all I have planned for now. Wow, I just realized most of these are destination races. Yay for my pocketbook! :)

Let me know if you have any of these on your race calendar!

A Review of 2009 in Pictures!

2010-01-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

I thought it would be fun to do a little recap of the races I did in 2009. It was definitely a fun mix!

1) Mermaid Run 10K: First race of the year! I love Mermaid events - a wonderful supportive all-women crowd plus you get a nice necklace and a pancake breakfast!

2) Big Sur Mud Run: Oh boy, what a crazy, hilarious race! I joined four other lovely ladies to be the "Dirty Divas" for a 5 mile trail race that included obstacles and mud pits. It was a fun experience but if I ever do this race again (and that's a big IF), I think I'm better off finding a team that doesn't include BQ qualifiers. :P

3) Cinderella Classic: My longest bike ride to date - a metric century (i.e. 65miles/100km). It was so much fun to ride in a massive bike ride with women all dressed up in costumes. Highly recommend this to any female road biker in the bay area, no matter what your skill level is!

4) Rite Aid Cleveland Half Marathon: Hometown race - cheered on by mom and dad :)

5) Muddy Buddy - San Jose: I guess Julianne and I were itching to get muddy again! This time we combined running AND mountain biking AND costumes! Team "Tutu Hot to Handle" got down and dirty. Again. :)

6) Napa-to-Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon: Friends, running, wine... need I say more?

7) Nike Women's Half Marathon: Still my all-time favorite half despite having the hardest course. This year was special because I ran with my cuz.

8) Dean Karnazes Silicon Valley Half Marathon: Nothing too special here but it was nice to run a local race even if the course was not too exciting for me.

9) Cleveland 5Mi Turkey Trot: Third time running this race. I love running races on days you know you're going to eat a lot. Makes the eating much more enjoyable!

10) California International Marathon: Well in case you missed the news, 2009 wasn't all about having fun and getting muddy (ha). That's right, I finally PR'd. In the MARATHON! Woot woot for hitting sub-5:00 :)

All in all, I had some very memorable races in 2009. And with the Goofy Challenge just around the corner, I know 2010 will be just as awesome!

Mini Race Reports: Napa-to-Sonoma, Nike, & Silicon Valley Half Marathons

2009-12-31T15:17:00.000-08:00

I'm going to cheat a little here and do mini race reports for my last three half marathons to close out the year. Here we go!

July 19th - Napa-to-Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon

Race Recap: My friend Pam flew out from Chicago to run this with me. Who wouldn't want to run a half through wine country with wine tasting at the end? We both ran this for "fun" but it wasn't too fun for me at the end with all the rolling hills and the hot sunshine. The wine afterward helped :) As did the later stop at the Bouchon bakery for some sweets. Also nice as I got to see a bunch of the ROHOs.

Official chip time: 2:36:28

October 18th - Nike Women's Half Marathon

Race Recap: My fourth year running Nike, third time running the half. This time I got to run it with my cousin who first introduced me to the event in 2006. We had a blast and took lots of pictures along the way. Saw lots of familiar faces at this race - Tara and Aron at the pre-race VIP tent, Alisa and Kristen several times along the course, and Roadbunner cheering us on!

Official chip time: 2:39:16 (A new personal worst, heehee!)

October 25th - The Dean Karnazes Silicon Valley Half Marathon

Race Recap: Nothing too special to report about this one. It was a week after Nike and I had a 14 miler scheduled for CIM. Found out this half was taking over my local running trail so I figured I might as well join it. Definitely a lot easier to get the miles in with all the other runners! Ran the Human Race 10K the day before so legs weren't feeling so fresh but were able to get the job done.

Official chip time: 2:30:31

Happy New Year everyone! Coming up... 2009 review and goals for 2010 :)

Race Report: California International Marathon

2009-12-28T14:48:00.000-08:00

Hello? Hello? Is anyone still out there?

OK, I know I have been a bad blogger. This might actually be my longest gap between posts. Well, let me catch you up. I ran a marathon!

A Little Background

A year ago, I listed my 2009 race targets and I specifically stated that I would try to hit my sub-5:00 marathon goal (a PR of 25 minutes) at the California International Marathon. So easy to make such goals when they're a year away, right?

And what a year it was... I spent most of 2009 purely doing races for FUN. No time goals at all and wow, did it show. I got muddy a couple of times and then spent the summer and fall doing a bunch of half marathons where I repeatedly hit new personal worsts. But again, most of them were for fun so I wasn't surprised by the outcomes. At the same time, I realized PRs of any kind were not very likely.

The "Training"

I basically was in denial about CIM and anything related to training for a full marathon (which I had not done for almost two years). I spent the summer training for the Nike Women's Half Marathon which was held in mid-October. After that, I knew I couldn't ignore it any longer - I had only 7 weeks to train for CIM!

I whipped together a Runners World-based training plan and I tried to follow it... OK, who am I kidding? I totally blew it off. I averaged about two runs a week. I literally walked almost half of my 16 miler. My 20 miler turned into a 14 miler. My paces were not my best. I was definitely doing the bare minimum. And thus, I had such low expectations for CIM, assuming I would once again hit a new personal worst.

In my last week of training, things surprisingly started to turn around because yay, it got cold! And maybe those long runs were finally starting to kick in, too. The week before the marathon, I was home for Thanksgiving and did the 5 mile Turkey Trot. And surprisingly, I did better than I did in 2007 when I was fresh off from training for the Chicago and Nike marathons! It had been awhile since I ran with a sub-10:00 pace so I was happy. And then my last long run was a 7 miler (also at home) where I took it easy and had my usual walking breaks. But I was surprised to see my overall pace was still pretty decent (for me, anyway). I guess my running pace was faster than it normally was.

Because of this, I decided to go for it and try to hit sub-5:00 for CIM.

Race Day Eve

I was starting to get a little bit more excited about the marathon once I made the 2 hour drive up to Sacramento. Upon my arrival, I immediately hit the expo. Thanks to Twitter and texting, I was able to meet up with Danica, Maritza, Nicole, and Tara. It was really nice to see some familiar faces, especially since it was the first time I got to meet Nicole :) Awesome group of girls!

Afterward, I checked into my luxurious hotel and relaxed. I totally wanted to nap but I fought it off and instead worked on my marathon playlist while I watched Harry Potter. I also got all my race day gear ready to go. That evening, I loaded on carbs with RoadBunner and her BF. FYI - Pizza is always my carb of choice before race day.

After dinner, I immediately got ready for bed and was finally able to pass out just after 10PM. This never happens as I'm typically a late owl. I guess fighting off that nap worked out well for me!

Race Day

Race morning started at 4AM (I'm still shocked I've never overslept on race day - knock on wood!). Got myself ready to go and met RoadBunner by the lobby a little before 5AM. We had to board a shuttle bus to take us to the start in Folsom and lucky for us, our bus stop was just across the street. We squeezed onto the first bus and were on our way!

As a lot of other runners had mentioned, it was a loooooong bus ride. I'm guessing it took us about 40 minutes on the highway. We arrived at the race start a little before 6AM. RoadBunner and I were not in a rush at all to deal with the freezing weather (literally freezing - I think it was 32 out there) so we just hung out on the bus and figured out our clothing strategy. I think we finally ventured out there at 6:30AM - we hit the potties, checked our bags and then separated to find our pace groups.

I quickly found the 5:00 pace group and met the leader, Barb. I asked her about her pacing style (even splits) and her plans regarding aid stations (on our own because she doesn't stop). I am quite fascinated by Barb - I only ran alongside her for half the race, but I'm pretty sure she did not eat or drink anything during the entire race. She's like a freakish camel of some sort! Apparently, she's also the female recordholder for most ultramarathons under her belt so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

Off We Go!

I don't know what happened at the race start but I seemed to have missed the whole thing. One second we were standing there getting ready to go, next second it was all "Oh look, they're already running!". Was there a national anthem? A gun? I have no idea. Regardless, off we went!

The first 10 miles or so were pretty uneventful. I was doing OK with staying with my pace group and we were running at a pretty consistent pace. I wasn't sure how long I could keep it up though because I'm one of those runners that likes to take short walk breaks every now and then, especially if I'm going to be out there for a long time. I also managed to skip most of the aid stations and just drank from my fuel belt as we ran. As Barb had advised me, I actually didn't need too much water but I did make sure to take my Gu's every 4 miles or so.

I think it was around mile 11 when I was surprised to hear someone say my name. Sure enough, there was Maritza! It was nice to see her and chat with her for a little bit.

Not too much later, I decided to split from the pace group and go back to Audrey style running. I basically would run at a slightly faster pace than the pace group (which was more comfortable for me) and then take a short walk break at the mile markers. I usually would walk until I could see my pace group and then pick it up again. It worked really well for keeping me on track while still allowing for those walk breaks, which were helpful during the fueling and stuff.

Yeah, I always look out for the race photographers! Here's me "flashing" the photographer to show my bib number.

Too bad I wasn't still smiling when I was right in their focal spot. Oops!

I was very amused that the halfway marker was sponsored by TNT who was promoting their new show, "Men of a Certain Age". I think the banner read "You've Reached the Mid-point" or something like that. Get it??? I was excited because when I crossed the halfway marker, the clock read 2:29 which was a better time than my last three half marathons! And considering I started at least three minutes after the gun start, I was feeling somewhat good about meeting my goal time.

So I did my run/walk thing and it was working pretty well for the next several miles. I was curious how long I could keep it up. I checked my pace from time to time and so far I was OK. Until... I glanced down and my watch was off!!! Grrrr... I had been having problems with my Garmin spontaneously turning off during my training but it had been working OK in my last few long runs so I thought I was OK. Apparently not. I found someone in my pace group that I started with and asked what his watch said and used that to figure out how long my watch had been off. Not an exact science but it would have to do.

Unfortunately, my Garmin was in full flaky mode and turned off at least 5 times during the marathon. Luckily, they had timers at each mile marker that would announce the clock time and the related average pace. I only had that and my position with the 5:00 pace group to check my pace.

Once I got to mile 18, I could tell my legs were losing some steam. I wasn't able to run much faster than the pace group, thus my walk breaks were getting shorter and shorter. I never ran more than 23 miles in a week during training so I knew I would be feeling it in the latter part of the marathon. I tried to hang on but then it all fell apart at what I like to call the...

Debacle at Mile 21

It was freezing cold for most of the marathon but at mile 21, the sun finally started to appear and I felt it was time to shed my long sleeve shirt. I decided to do this at my next walk break. I was wearing a half zip shirt which was my first mistake (always full zip! always!) I'm not sure why I didn't just stop to take it off but for some reason I thought I could easily slip it off over my hat, over my ear buds, over my fat Garmin while walking with no problems at all. WRONG! First it got stuck on the rim of my hat. So my hat came off as did my ponytail. And even though my ear buds were under the long sleeve shirt, they still somehow got tangled up and got unplugged from my iPod which was tucked deep into the built in pocket of my running capris. When I finally managed to get the shirt off, I realized my Garmin had turned off. AGAIN. I, basically, was a mess. So I eventually pulled over to the side to put myself back together again :P Meanwhile, guess who passed me by? Yep, the 5:00 pace group. Drats!

I finally got going again but it was a huge bummer to be trailing the group that I had been staying ahead of for most of the race. I kept trying to catch them but it was just too hard at that stage of the game. I still had them in sight for a little bit, which was somewhat comforting.

Post costume change:

Eventually, I lost sight of my pace group and with that, I had assumed my chance of hitting sub-5:00 was gone. My legs were getting more and more tired so I took a few extra walking breaks. Even though I was bummed about not hitting my goal, I was still pretty happy that I would be getting a PR anyway. It's been awhile since I've had that feeling!

Around mile 25, I once again heard someone say my name. Sure enough, there was Roadbunner and her BF on the sidelines! It was so nice to see them (although I was slightly jealous that she was already done, haha!) and I really think it helped me push through the last 1.2 miles. Here are the pics they took:

Once I made that last turn, the finish line was right in sight and I was completely shocked that the clock still started with a 4!!! I seriously was all, "What the what???" As I "sprinted" to cross that finish line, I saw good ole Barb standing to the side slapping hands with us runners. I don't know if she remembered me, but I was so excited to see her, yelling "Hey Barb! I did it!!!"

(I knew she had been banking time, I just didn't realize how much! I am dying to know when she actually did hit that finish line. I'm guessing around 4:50.)

Crossing the finish line! So happy that even my clock time is sub-5:00 :)

Ta-daaaaaa!

Official chip time: 4:54:49
(Just as a reminder, that would be, ahem, a 30 minute PR!!!)

While I was stretching, I started checking out Twitter to see how everyone else had done. And I don't know if it was because I was already so exhausted, but I practically started tearing up at seeing tweets like this:

I've never been so touched to be "stalked" before. Thank you girls!!!

Right before I left, I made sure to get a pic with the capitol. Happy Holidays!

On the way out, I ran into Maritza, Nicole, and Tara again. It was nice to see them and chat about the race for a bit before I headed back to my hotel. The manager was so nice to allow me a late late checkout so that I could shower before my 2 hour drive home.

Overall, I liked CIM and would definitely recommend to a fellow runner. You're pretty much guaranteed perfect running temps which is very important to me. The scenery isn't awesome but I kind of liked the small-ish, hometown feel of the race. And don't let the website fool you, this did not feel like a fast, downhill course. There are lots and lots of hills. Maybe not Nike hills, but they are there.

Final Thoughts

I am thrilled to finally hit my sub-5:00 goal. I really couldn't care less how I do in future marathons. But I'll admit that I hit my goal mostly by luck. Who knows how well I could have done if I actually followed a real training plan? (Something also brought to my attention by Roadbunner, heehee) And sure, I probably am capable of something much faster than 4:55 BUT if I'm being honest with myself, I am not a fan of training. (I just like the thrill of the actual race day!) So with that, I'm happy with what I have accomplished.

Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday and thank you so much to those that actually read my entire blog post :D Hopefully, it won't be three months until the next one!

The winner of the Nike lottery is...

2009-10-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

Kristen from It's not the Destination . . . It is the Journey.

Loved all the suggestions for the PowerSongs! I only had some of them so I can't wait to add more tunes to my running mix :)

Kristen - hope to meet you at the Nike race!

Thanks to all for participating!

Do you want to run the Nike Women's Marathon?

2009-09-28T21:47:00.000-07:00

So I have a dilemma... because of my participation with the Nike club runs in SF, I am now in possession of one entry code that will get you access to a highly coveted spot in the sold out Nike Women's Marathon being held in San Francisco on October 18th. What should I do with this? Does anyone want this?

NOTE: You still have to pay the registration fee ($100 for the half, not sure what it is for the full) - I can only offer the registration code that will allow you to purchase the race entry and secure your spot. Yes, it's pricey but I definitely think it's worth it!

You can run either the half or the full. I will be running the half. The half is walker friendly as well. I love this event and this will be my fourth year running it. You can read last year's race report here.

So if you want to run a beautiful course and be given a Tiffany necklace by a handsome fireman at the finish line, here's what you should do:

Post a comment below and in the spirit of Nike, tell me your current favorite PowerSong. I'll then use those random number selector things to pick a winner.

I will accept entries until Wed, September 30th, 11:59PM PST. I will contact the winner by Thursday morning. Winner must register using the code by Sunday, October 4th (last day for registrations!)

Good luck!

Runs in the family...

2009-09-14T23:24:00.000-07:00

Did I tell you my 2yr old nephew is also a runner? Check it out:

Running in Hawaii

2009-09-04T00:15:00.001-07:00

So after NYC, I was home for a little bit and then I joined my cousin, Lizette, and her family for a little trip to Hawaii!!! Oahu, specifically, and it was a blast! I had gone there before in 1998 and did a lot of the "touristy" stuff but this time I got the "local" experience as my cousin and her hubby used to live there.

Lizette and I are planning to run the Nike Women's Half marathon together so technically, we are in training. Thus, she was able to convince me to go running with her one morning. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of running in Hawaii. I'm just not so crazy about running in 80 degree sunny weather.

But it ended up being a lot of fun! I brought my camera along so I could take some pictures along the way.

We started at Waikiki beach.

Where they had lots of pretty palm trees.

We ran along Diamond Head road and passed the Real World Hawaii house.

This was taken at a lookout point where you could see lots of surfers.

Running down Kahala road...

Finally reaching the Kahala Resort at the end! We treated ourselves to a fancy schmancy beachside lunch.

We ended up doing almost 5 miles. Luckily I didn't know the distance of the route before we started :) I drank practically my entire water bottle during the run. The sun and heat were killing me! But I'm really glad we did it, it was fun girl time plus lots of good sightseeing.

Quick Update

2009-08-26T17:31:00.001-07:00

I was in NYC last week with my mom and it was lovely! I squeezed in a short Central Park run while there.

It was raining that morning if you couldn't tell. I've never seen Bethesda Fountain so bare.

*****

If you're interested in entering a raffle for an iFitness belt, please check out Chic Runner's review.

*****

I am officially registered for the Nike Women's Half Marathon on October 18th. I didn't get in through the lottery but I did manage to get a spot through the Nike runner's club. This will be my fourth time running in this event, third time doing the half.

*****

Follow me on twitter!

My new funky running shoes!

2009-08-12T07:08:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel like I am in a constant state of shopping, whether I want to be or not. For example, if I see a makeup tutorial online and the person raves about some black eyeliner, I feel the need to go purchase that eyeliner (even though I have half a dozen other brands at home.) If someone posts a picture of a cupcake on Facebook, I have this sudden urge to visit Kara's or Sprinkles. Maybe I'm just a person that always covets.

Well it happened again this past weekend during one of my Nike training runs. (Oh did you hear? I'm in training again! For real this time. No more wimpy 2-4 week cramming sessions. I don't have a race until October and I'm already training. Yay for me!) I usually run with the same pace leaders and I noticed a couple of them were wearing some flashy new shoes that I had never seen before. I usually am pretty quiet during these runs but I had to know, so I asked one of the pace leaders what she was wearing.

Behold - the new Nike LunarGlide+ running shoe:

Funky, right? They don't even look like running shoes to me. She told me they were brand new shoes that have a good combination of cushioning and support. (Click the link for the actual technical description, because I was really more interested in the look, haha.) She previously wore the Vomeros (which is what I currently wear) but was really liking the LunarGlides. So I became very intrigued because I actually needed to get new shoes.

I headed to my local running store yesterday and I was so excited to see they were carrying them. In fact, the lady working there (who is an elite runner around these parts) was sporting them as well. It's a sign, I tell you! So I tried them on and went for a little run outside and they felt pretty good. The sales lady also had me wear them with the Nike Vomero4 for comparison and yes, the Vomero is definitely more cushiony which I normally like but I have to say, I kind of liked the sturdy/cushiony combo of the LunarGlide+. Plus it was cheaper than the Vomeros ($100 vs $130).

So I decided to go for it and got the LunarGlide+! I'll let you guys know how they work out.

Question for Nike Plus users

2009-08-02T23:35:00.000-07:00

My question - does your Nike plus online profile simply mirror the data that's on your receiver/iPod?

Here's my problem.

I originally had about ~460 miles stored in my profile and they all used to be reflected on the Nike plus receiver/iPod as well. But during a recent workout, my iPod said it couldn't detect a receiver so I took it out and plugged it back in. I then did a workout and only found afterward that all the previous data had been erased. So now it only shows the workouts that I did in the past week.

I'm worried that if I sync it with my laptop, it will overwrite all the existing data in my profile. Or will it just add to what's already there?

Hopefully this makes sense. If you have any inputs, please let me know.

By the way, I also had to recently replace my sensor - does adjusting to a new sensor replace your previous history mileage as well?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Race Report: Muddy Buddy with Julianne

2009-07-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

In honor of all those SFM runners that have their race reports posted just mere days after the race, I have decided to post my race report as well... of a race I ran almost two months ago. Oh well, better late than never! (And no, I haven't forgotten the Napa-to-Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon report. Who knows, maybe that will come out in the same month? Maybe not.)

In early June, Julianne and I partnered up to tackle the Muddy Buddy challenge. I guess we just couldn't wait to get down and dirty again after taking on the Big Sur Mud Run in March.

This race is a little different as it involves both running and biking which we do separately. There are five legs and between each leg, there is an obstacle. So I biked first while Julianne ran and then at the obstacles, we switched off. The total course was about 6 miles so each leg was pretty short.

There is a costume contest for the race so of course we had to dress up! Our team name was Tutu Hot 2 Handle.

Aren't these tutu's fun?

(They were so easy to make, too. Probably only cost $6 each and required no sewing - instructions here if you want to make your own for yourself or your little one.)

We decorated the bike a little bit too to help us find it better in the transition areas. Some people had balloons which worked a lot better. I lucked out because mountain bikes were required for this race and my friend gave me hers last year. I think this was her college bike so I thought it would be perfect for this race.

Here's us during the costume contest pre-race. Unflattering photo angle, but still entertaining. Sadly we did not make the "finals". A girl/guy duo dressed as the wolf and little Red Riding Hood ended up winning. I personally liked the two guys in life sized crab costumes.

So let's talk about the race. You'd think I'd learn after the Big Sur Mud Run, but apparently I have short term memory. Just because a race involves costumes and getting dirty and has a really fun atmosphere, does not mean it is easy! This race had a lot of hills and as usual, I was not prepared for it. I hadn't run since the Cleveland Half Marathon three weeks earlier and hadn't biked since the Cinderella Classic in April. (I had been traveling for pretty much a month and a half prior to the race.)

The nice thing was that Julianne was fresh from the San Diego marathon the weekend before so she was totally cool with just having fun with this one. She was a real champ too because she hadn't been on a bike in a long time.

It took awhile for us to get going because they had about a dozen different waves for the start and we were wave 11. The bikers would go first and then the runners would follow. I had heard the first leg was pretty much a mile uphill so I decided to take that one since Julianne was not too familiar with the gearing on the bike. (Not that it helped me much, anyway.)

So we watched the other waves take off and you could tell the bike part would be tough as the announcer kept trying to help them out by making sure they were in their lowest gear. I was starting to get nervous.

Now it was our turn so I was gathered with all the other bikers in my wave. I hopped on and managed to get going a bit, while I fiddled with my gears making sure I was on the easiest one. And then a biker stopped in front of me. With bikers passing me on either side, I ended up having to stop too.

Do you have any idea how hard is to get going on a bike when you're on an incline on a dirt trail? Especially when you don't have the granny gears that you have been spoiled with on your much more $$$ road bike? Um, for me, it was pretty much impossible. But I tried anyway - and ended up going nowhere. Seriously I felt like I was in quicksand.

I would have been mortified if I hadn't been surrounded by bikers facing the same challenge as me. As in literally, women were falling off their bikes left and right. (Obviously, we were not in the elite wave.) There was a dad and his kid sitting on the sidelines spectating and I heard him tell his kid, "Well, this is just a mess." I had to start chuckling at that.

I then heard one of the nearby women say "F this" (or something to that effect) and started running her bike up the hill. I figured that was better than what I had been doing so I did the same. Well I tried to run the bike up the hill but it's not light so I resorted to walking it up the hill. And then the pack of runners show up and Julianne found me and helped me push that sucker up the hill.

OK, I know, this sounds fun, right? Really - the worst part is that first mile, it all gets better after that. Once the hill leveled off, I hopped on the bike and took off.

I got to the first obstacle and dropped the bike off. I think we had to run under netting or something. I really like races with obstacle courses - it breaks things up and keeps it fun. We also had to climb a rock climbing wall, a really tall wall with netting and then go down a big slide which was really fun as you can tell by Julianne's expression:

We also had to walk across some balance beams:

And finally at the very end, we all met up with our buddies and went through the final obstacle together - THE MUD PIT:

Since we had to go through several mud pits in the Big Sur Mud Run, I figured I got this down. Um, no. Big Sur Mud Run was more like muddy water, this was serious M-U-D. It was thick! There were tons of people cheering at the mud pit (surprise, surprise) and it was funny that people were yelling at you that you're not getting muddy enough!

YAY, we're done!

Seriously, look at our legs and our shoes! That stuff was caked on. Luckily, they had showers (well, hoses, anyway) to rinse ourselves off.

All in all, it was yet another crazy fun race. I loved our costumes - the tutus were a big hit. Runners and bikers would often shout out fun things during the race like "Way to go, Tutu!" or "Good job, Tutu!" It was like my new nickname on the course. Plus it was just fun to wear. Yes, it got destroyed during the race but it was so cheap and easy to make that I'm sure I will be making myself another one soon. You know, to wear around the house and stuff.

Plus, despite that initial leg, the rest of the race was a lot of fun. Each leg was so short so you were constantly doing something new. I will say that this race does confirm that I am not a mountain biker. One leg of the race was really steep and bumpy that I got some nasty bruises on my knees from banging into the handle bars. Regardless, I would definitely recommend this race to others, provided you have a decent mountain bike. (On a side note, your bike will not get muddy on this race, unless you decide to ride it afterward which I saw some people do.)

RIP Socks + Shoes (I kept the bib)

I forgot to take some closeup pics of our T-shirts when we were still clean so here they are after they've been through the wash. (Yes, these are actually clean.)

I used Julianne's running girl icon on the front with Muddy Buddies written underneath.

With our team name on the back.

And here's our race shirt:

And not that it matters, here is our official stats for the race:

Chip time: 1:11:32
Place: 40/59 in our division

Thanks Julianne! You were an awesome MUDDY BUDDY! ;)

Spectator Report: SF Marathon

2009-07-26T22:47:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to do a quick post to congratulate my blogging friends that participated in the SF marathon today.

Tara, Roadbunner, and Julianne all kicked butt in the full marathon and Aron, Maritza, and Chic Runner rocked the half marathon.

They all had special victories but it's not my place to spoil the news so all I will say is CONGRATS again!

I'll admit, I was *thisclose* to almost signing up for the half (despite doing a half last weekend) since everyone was doing it and I'm very weak when it comes to peer pressure.

But ultimately, I decided my legs were not up to it and also my wallet preferred to keep the $100, thank you very much.

So instead, I joined the Nike run in Danville for a recovery 6 miler, first run since the half. I knew I made the right decision because as soon as I started running, my legs felt pretty heavy.

I didn't want to completely miss out on the SFM experience, so I headed over to SF after my run. I was able to catch up with Chic Runner (first time meeting her!) and Maritza at mile 26 to cheer on Julianne who was a first time pace leader for the 4:45 group. They (along with Tara) had made some really hilarious cheer signs which definitely got a lot of attention, especially from the opposite sex, heehee.

Later we all headed to Gordon Biersch for a post celebration lunch which ended up being a really fun blogger meet up. I got to meet a bunch of people that I had only seen in pictures (like ROHO Kristin, Aron's husband, Tara's roommmate, haha...) Plus Kristin brought cupcakes for Tara's birthday! (And not just any cupcake, Kara's Cupcakes, yum!!!)

All in all, it was a very fun Sunday.

UPDATE:

Here's a pic of some of us that was shamelessly stolen from Julianne. (Thanks Julianne!)

(Left to right): Me, Kristin, Tara, Maritza, Aron, Danica (Chic Runner), and Julianne

Heehee... I made myself a Nike+ mini!

2009-07-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

What do you guys think? :)

You can go to nikeplus.com to make your own.

Race Report: Cleveland Half Marathon

2009-06-05T13:33:00.000-07:00

Without further ado, here is the "long awaited" race report for the Cleveland Half Marathon that I ran in mid-May. This was a last minute addition to my race calendar. I was planning to visit my family in Ohio so I thought it would be fun to run this while there as I've always wanted to do a big hometown race.

Training

OK, let me just confess upfront: This is NOT how anyone should train for a half marathon. In fact, I use the term "train" very loosely here. After the three consecutive weekends of running and biking events (Mermaid 10K, Big Sur Mud Run, Cinderella Classic), I had about two weeks of doing nothing. I mean, I was doing stuff (traveling home for Easter one weekend, being a bridesmaid in a wedding the following weekend) but any kind of training definitely came to a halt.

Eventually, I had about four weeks to squeeze in some runs. I knew this wasn't enough to really do much but at the same time I wasn't planning to shoot for a PR or anything. I just didn't want to die out there.

So first week of training went well but then I got sick. And then went to Yosemite. And then went to Vegas. Basically, I averaged about 2 runs/week with my longest running being a 10 mile run two weeks before the race that was actually two 5 mile runs with a 3 hour break on my couch in between. (It made sense at the time...)

As a result, I wasn't expecting much come race day (well, other than a new personal worst.)

Expo

The nice thing about doing a hometown race is really being able to milk the parental support. The expo was in downtown Cleveland at the Convention Center. I had no problems with going there on my own but for some reason, my mom insisted that she drive me there, drop me off, and wait for me to get my stuff. How nice is that!

The expo was pretty decent sized and some of the race gear was actually pretty cute but I didn't get anything. I did pick up some things that I had forgotten at home (a wristband to wipe the sweat off my face and some sports beans which I didn't end up using). The goody bag had some nice freebies as shown below. (But did we really need a dozen packets of Splenda?)

Race Day

Once again, my parents were awesome support on race day and dropped me off at the race start. I thought they would go home and come back for the finish but they ended up staying for the whole entire morning. Luckily they dressed warm as it was pretty chilly that morning - but perfect weather for running!

The race was actually pretty small even with both the full and half marathoners starting together (there was also a 10K that started a bit later). It only took me about 4 minutes to cross the start line. We set off toward the water listening to the city's anthem "Cleveland Rocks". The weather was awesome and even though I wasn't ready for this race, I knew it would at least be fun.

I tried to stay with the 4:30 marathon group for a 2:15 finish but as usual, I couldn't keep up with them. So far, I've yet to keep up with a pace group - haha.

The course took us west closer to my hometown and then looped back to the start. The nice thing was that my parents saw me off and then my sister and her 2 year old son were waiting to cheer me on around the halfway point at a park. Luckily she found me otherwise I would have definitely passed by them. I loved seeing them out there as it really kept me going for the first part of the race. The funny thing is that my adorable nephew was totally unaware that there was a race going on. I think in his mind, he just thought he was having a nice day in the park with his mommy and that his auntie just suddenly appeared.

Anyway, the race so far had been going well. I wasn't trying to push it but felt comfortable with maintaining around a 10:00 min/mi pace for the first half of the race. And for me, that's pretty good. But then around mile 8, it all started to change. My body was finally starting to realize, hey, we're not used to doing this! And soon each step became more and more difficult. By mile 11, I literally felt like I had two dead weights hanging off my legs. This coincided with the part of the course that had a slight but long incline. Greeaaaaattttttt. I took a few more stops, walked a little bit, and then finally just told myself to get my butt in gear and get to that finish line.

It helped me once we got to the mile 12 marker as we were seeing more spectators and you could feel the energy of getting closer and closer to the finish.

I liked that when I turned the last corner, the finish line was pretty much right there and I sprinted as fast as I could. I managed to hear my dad cheer for me so I waved to him. A little bit later, I heard my mom and waved to her. My mom was actually able to take these two pics as well:

I'm so glad she did because believe it or not, this just might be my first race where I had no official race pics taken! Granted, I don't even remember seeing any photographers on the course but at the same time I wasn't looking for them. Mostly because I was primarily focused on staying in the game and getting my dead legs across that finish line.

And amazingly, I did OK! Official time: 2:16:59. Totally due to the cool running weather and relatively flat course.

Here's what Garmin spit out... my early splits were actually better than I thought:

1: 10:02
2: 9:50
3: 9:55
4: 9:59
5: 9:56
6: 9:47
7: 10:24
8: 10:12
9: 10:39
10: 10:26
11: 11:57
12: 11:35
13: 10:19
0.23: 9:05 pace

13.23 mi
2:17:02
Avg pace: 10:22 min/mi
Avg hr: 173bpm

Official Results

Chip Time: 2:16:59
Pace: 10:27 min/mi
Overall Place: 2924 / 3900
Gender Place: 1440 / 2394
Division Place: 262 / 367

It seems like 2:17 is the magic number for me these days when it comes to half marathons. How freakish is this?

2:17:20 - 8/31/08 Disneyland Half Marathon
2:17:08 - 10/5/08 San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon
2:17:03 - 10/19/08 Nike Women's Half Marathon
2:16:59 - 5/17/09 Cleveland Half Marathon

All with varying course elevations and weather. Weird. Too bad 2:17 is practically 10 minutes slower than my current PR. I'll get there... someday!

Me after the race:

I was so excited to see this offered in the finish chute:

My bling and race shirt, which I like alot. It's an ASICS technical shirt and we all got different colors. Men got maroon for the full and white for the half. Women got lime green for the full and light blue for the half. A lot of people wore them on race day so it was fun for me to know which events people in front of me were doing.

Back of the shirt (very groovy!):

Close up of the medal with the spinning guitar:

Final thoughts on the race

It was definitely nice to do a race so close to home but overall, I don't know if I would recommend it to non-local runners. There really wasn't that much for on-course entertainment especially since they make such a big deal with the whole Rock n Roll Hall of Fame association. I think there were just a handful of music stops. There was some live music as well but not much. (Although I was amused to see the marching band of my brother's old high school.) The course had a nice start with seeing the Cleveland Browns stadium, the Science Center, and the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame but otherwise the half goes through a lot of residential areas and a good portion was on a highway. They did seem to have a nice post-race party setup (beer!) but unfortunately I didn't get a chance to check it out as my poor parents were tired and cold from waiting for me that whole time. (They did get to spend some time hanging out a local shopping mall while I was running, so they didn't have to stand around the whole time.)

Anyway, half marathon #9 is in the books. HM #10 will be in wine country next month.

And on a separate side note, I was once again rejected in the NYC marathon lottery this year. Still on track for 2011 :)

Happy Memorial Day

2009-05-25T18:28:00.000-07:00

Greetings all! Hope you all enjoyed your holiday today. Normally, I just view Memorial Day as another Monday to sleep in, watch daytime TV, hang with friends, go shopping, etc, BUT this year, I am spending the holiday weekend in our nation's capital. As a result, Memorial Day is a little more special this year as I really got to spend some time to honor those that have served and are serving for us.

It's been awhile since I played tourist in DC so on Saturday, my mom and I braved the sunny heat to explore the National Mall. Holy crap - that place is huge! I mean, I knew it was BIG, but I really had no idea how friggin' long the mall is. Here's a pic for your reference (click to view the large version):

At one end is the US Capitol and at the other end is Lincoln Memorial - they are ~2 miles apart!!! We entered at the metro stop which is at about the halfway point and worked our way to old Abe.

We first stopped at the Washington Monument. It's pretty tall (ha).

Then we spent some time at the World War II Memorial which was actually quite nice because there were a lot of veterans there and a lot of people were taking the time to shake their hands and thank them for what they did.

We walked all the way past the reflecting pool (where I kept thinking about Forrest Gump yelling out to Jenny) and finally made our way to the Lincoln Memorial.

Hello Abe!

Here's a view of the Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Far, huh?

We also viewed the Vietnam Memorial... sad to see how many names were listed.

All in all, it was a nice afternoon to remember those that we have lost and to appreciate the wonderful country that we live in.

On a running-related note (as this is a running blog, right?), I was really impressed with the number of runners I saw out there battling both the heat and the number of tourists as they ran around the mall. It was at least in the mid-80s with large sections with no shade at all! While we were walking around, I actually overheard a lady behind me complain about the runners interfering with the tourist paths. Which I thought was really funny because right before I heard her say that, I, myself, was thinking wow - what a great place to run! This is a perfect four mile loop with lots of great people watching! Ah well, obviously she wasn't a runner.

Anyway, we headed back to DC again today to watch the Memorial Day parade. And wow, that was a long-*ss parade - two hours to be exact! But it was nice because at the halfway point, we all took a moment of silence to honor those that we have lost. It was also nice because we got to honor and thank those that are currently serving. Here are some picture highlights that hopefully you will enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: Even after spending a good amount of time on Wikipedia and Google, I'm still kind of confused about all the armed forces. So if I messed up any of the titles below, please let me know and I'll correct them. Also, if anyone has a simple explanation of the difference between the army and the marines, please let me know that, too. :)

ARMY

AIR FORCE

MARINES

NAVY

Oh, and look, Gary Sinise was one of the honorary marshalls!

Well, that's all for now. Cleveland Half Marathon race report coming soon... (quick teaser: I did NOT get a personal worst. YAY FOR ME!)

Hope you all had a good holiday weekend!