Saturday, May 18, 2013

It's Worth A Shot!

I placed and entry into the ING NYC Marathon and on 06/03/2013 will try to get into the Run Nike Women's San Fransisco Marathon 2013. It's it weird to begin training for races you're not even guarantee entry? Yes! But I'll do it anyway and try to have a plan B.
My odds for the NYC Marathon are at best  zero, zip, zilch: http://espn.go.com/new-york/olympics/story/_/id/9029665/nyc-marathon-hold-lottery-again-2013 .  That means I have a 1 in a Baaaaajillion shot of getting in!
*shrugs* I understand the ways to get in into the NYC Marathon are by Charity fund raising, a 9+1 program, lottery, or finally going pro and become an elite runner. Well, the people I know don't have a few hundred to dish out. So charity is out. For the 9+1 program, made me giggle reading about it. I might as well become an elite runner! After being denied 3 times, the 4th entry in is guaranteed. So, the question now is will I still be running in 4 years? Rules are always changing. Who know what they will be in 4 years. As far as becoming an elite runner...not in this life. 

As for the the Run Nike Women's series, I might have better chance, but the fat lady hasn't sung "I Ran"
This guys are rooting for me!
Hahaha! I've even booked a hotel in San Fransisco that is close to the starting line! Such madness. I must have jiggled some residual runner's high left over from my last race. 
I'm digging round for my plan B. Who knows? It's worth a shot!







Sunday, May 12, 2013

Girls on the Go Half Marathon San Diego 2013

Happy Mother's day!  Huge plant from my daughter stationed in Japan. Thank you Erin and love you!
Yesterday I ran the Girls on the Go Half Marathon to benefit Rachel's Women's Center: http://www.ccdsd.org/homelesswomen.php
Girls on the Go offered four types of distances of 400 meter dash, 5k, 15k, and half marathon. The race courses took runners from Mission Bay across and around Fiesta Island.
Most races I have run where on a Sunday. Since this race was on Saturday, the bib pick up was held only on a Friday from 3:00pm to 7:00pm at the Sports Authority in San Diego. Hahaha, I found myself making tons of plans to do Friday after work because I kept forgetting I had to go get bib. I had jotted a note on my arm to remind myself to head down south after work!  A 15 mile trip took me over 45 minutes to get there because of Friday traffic. Gotta love San Diego!  Once there, I was in and out in less than 8 minutes.  The expo also took donations of ball gowns for the Marine Corps Family Team Building and shoes for Patrick Henry High School "Shoes with a Heart" program.  I love the idea of reusing items. 
After my emergency surgery, I had not planned on running the La Jolla Half Marathon. I can still remember signing up for it while crying about not being able to run the La Jolla. Luckily, I did run the La Jolla without problems and decided to use this run to do a tempo workout.
Leaving early, I arrived at Mission Bay near Sea World, and instructed to park in a dirt lot. The parking lot was about one mile away from the race. At 0610, the race was still being set up. This race offered an aerobic warm up by Bally Fitness. Many women joined in while I stood leaning against a palm tree texting and facebooking :)~

The half marathon started 0700, no wind, and about 60 degrees. It was smaller than I'd expected with about 300+ runners. The course is flat and fast throughout this entire race. There are no hills and the only challenge was the heat. 
At mile 2, I begin tempo training through mile 6. My pace was about 10:14 to 10:44.  The Water stations were about every 2 miles. By mile 6, the sun was up and the temperature went up to 80 degree with a slight breeze.  After mile 6, there wasn't another water station until mile 11. 
Mile 9, the 15k runners finish and a guy standing there tells half marathons to keep going. I had to take my cap off to try to cool off more. 
The final 4 miles were on the bike/walk paths around Mission Bay park. I had to stop at times and wait for an opening on the walk way or run in the grass to get round the non-runners, bicycles, and lots of dogs in the park for the day. Through my experience, it pays to be nice and have patience. My pace dropped down to 10:44 to 11:00 minute. 
The water station at mile 11 was not soon enough.  I was already thirsty and had some cramps in my right calf. Mile 11 was also the turn around to head back to the finish line. I tried to get my pace up, but the heat was getting to me. Blah! My pace was 11:05 to 11:22.  There was this guy, who throughout the race would be cheering on half marathoners. I saw him at miles 3, 5, and 13. This guy really brought up my spirits. Thank you who ever you are!
The race was small and nice. The weather this week was cold up to that day when the Santa Ana winds kicked in. It was pleasant route to practice tempo training. 
Time 2:23:00
Pace: 10:55/M 
Overall Place: 204/386 : 52.8%  
Age Group Place: 182/355 : 51.3% 







                                                                     

Monday, May 6, 2013

Stride Box May 2013

Yippee my box of goodies arrive. I chant..."please no strawberries or melon flavors" as I open the box. The box wasn't white this time and had this note inside telling saying it's now %100 reusable and recyclable.

Inside there's are tons of produtcts which I'll be gifting out to my running friends. Stride Box sent tons of energy brands such asV Fuel- Endurance Gel, Sport Beans-Energizing Jelly Beans Assorted flavor, and Honey Stinger Energy Chews-Cherry Cola. From protein, I received Betty Lou's-Just Great Stuff Bar and Perfect Fit Protein by Tone It Up-Vanilla. Very cool. It's like eating cereal with a toy inside! The larger item was The Klitch-Footwear Clip. Kinda corny but a perfect stocking stuffer for the runner in your family. There are also things I've never think of getting: Clean Ethic Bottle Bright-Water Bottle Cleaner Tablet and Pro-Tec Athletics Blister Bands-1 large and 1 small. Whew!

Saturday, May 4, 2013

La Jolla Half Marathon 2013

This is the 32nd annual La Jolla Half Marathon 2013 recap. It's my first time running this race and my first race after my surgery.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bHrcy1MRAM&feature=youtu.be .  Thank you themarathonshow for the video. Residents of Boston stay STRONG!
 


 

I want to take some time to really show my appreciation to the volunteers. The La Jolla Half Marathon volunteers give their time to help organize, sit for hours passing out bibs, answer questions,  sit up/pass out water, direct traffic, provide assistance/first aide, smile, cheer, and place medals around sweaty our necks to name only a handful of things they do! Thank you thank you thank you!!!






The La Jolla Half Marathon expo was held on Friday and Saturday at Road Runner Sports. It's easy to get to with a lot of parking in the back. On Saturday, I met my running pal, Ann, to gather bib and race tech shirt. We did some additional retail therapy inside and I caught up with a fast runner....hehehe the first time I've ever been up to catch up!





Sunday morning, we left Ann's house at 0600 to make our way to the start line at the Del Mar Fair ground. I always prep my gear the night before.
 There is plenty of parking once you get into the fair grounds. When there's thousands of runners trying to park, it can take a little time getting in.

This race is the shizzle with race day set up. There are shuttles that will take you from the finishing line to the start line and visa versa at the end of the race! The race coordinators did listen to the comments I read about last year's race. Kiwanis Club provided pacer groups and waves. We're in the 2nd to the last wave cuz I run slooooow! The weather was cool but no need for sleeves, base layers, or jackets. It misted a little. There was no wind either. My folks always make fun of us Californians for wearing jackets and coats outside when it's 58 degrees! We do love our warm temperatures!

Race start lines always have characters. We saw a Spider man with Spider woman and monkeys with their bananas. How in the world do you keep from dying in those costumes?  They must run really fast so they can get out of them at the finish!


To stay with tradition we mac cheese a mug shot before the race.




The race is on time as the waves move up to the start line. The announcer pumps up the crowd as they blast music.
I am excited but as always get a crazy pit in my stomach. Never fails! My smile isn't of joy it's a sheer nerves! My goal is to finish.
The first 4 miles takes you around Del Mar fair grounds up into a residential area. Surprising enough, there's no bunching up through here. The Del Mar fire department came out to cheer us on around mile 3. Some yelled, "your almost finished".  Hahaha fuuuuuuuny! It's a little hilly but there's not one runner who cares about these miniature hills. All of us are focus on the one that has a 1,185 elevation gain. As you head into mile 5, it takes out onto Torrey Pines road down into a beautiful morning beach view before veering off to the right, into a park and recreational parking lot onto the trail path up Torrey Pine hill. Beware, there are guys taking photos of runners  here. Act like this is a piece of cake and smile!
Heading up the trail, about 5.2 mile marker,  it winds around and around steeper and steeper. Lots of runners are walking. My running pal, GAZELLE, takes off in a speed that always amazes me. I hunker in a slow pace start at 13:51 ending at 12:24. The trail goes up for approximately 2.3 miles. The hill sorta peaks but keeps going through mile 6 and 7 but the incline is a lot less.
 Although the weather is cool, there's no breeze and I'm sweating buckets. The water stations seem to be everywhere. Careful here because the path is uneven with a lot of  open pot holes. I almost bit it after a water station. I did some sorta Superman pose and came out of it alive and uninjured! Heading out of mile 7, I have to run across a grassy area, onto a sidewalk, then onto the main road. Crazy! There are more spectators here. Thank goodness, but I'm tired and for a few seconds wonder if I'll be able to finish. I lost site of my running pal a long time ago. For miles 8/9 are rolling hills and pretty boring.  As the runners turn right to continue on Torrey Pine road, I see my running pal Ann! It has taken me about 3 miles to catch up to her! We run together miles 9 and part of mile 10. We chat a bit.  At mile 11, we turn onto La Jolla Shore Dr.  Ann's knee is hurting her again. Dang knee! I leave her here and will see her at the finish. 
Part of mile 10 and all of mile 11 is extremely down hill and my favorite. My pace through is nuts at 9:26.  It opens up to the shore line again at El Paseo Grande at the bottom. Very pretty and crowded! I run along the beach and try to avoid beach goers who didn't see the large orange cones marking the race. Silly people!  A quick left turn on Avenida de la Playa at mile 12 takes up another steady hill on Spindrift Dr over to Coast Blvd I slow down to a 12:23 pace.
There are a lot of spectators here. Thanks to guy with his hose out creating a water fountain of water for runners to cool off and the girls passing out OTTER POPS!! Yummy! Wow what a surprise and boost of energy! The top of the hill goes down very steep made up of some type of white slick rock. Careful! The finish lines ends up onto a grass lawn of Ellen Scripps Browning park. I see the awesome Pacific Ocean crossing the finish line. 
 
Overal : 4151 out of 5390
Women: 1837 out 2697
F 45-49: 179 out of 275
Age/Grade: 47:51% Place: 3452
Finish: 2:28:43 Pace: 11:21
Tag Time: 2:28:23
Gun Time: 2:41:19