Race Report & Life Update

On Sunday (one day late due to a Boy Scout Winter Camp Out), Daniel and I ran the Freeze Your Thorns Off Virtual 5K. I had no business "racing", but thought it might be a good start for two runners that haven't run once in three months. It was the first sunny day in Salt Lake in about a week due to the "inversion" (the Utah word for "smog"). Sunny, but 21 degrees when we left around 1pm. Since it was a 1st run back, my expectations were low and my fear of residual soreness was high. I guessed right! I ran the 3.1 miles in 37:57.42 (slow for me) and Daniel ran his in 34:25.01. It was good to get back out there and hopefully it'll provide some motivation to get back out there! ******************************************************************************************************************************** ******************************************************************************************************************************* ******************************************************************************************************************************* Otherwise, I've been singularly possessed since August with my PhD program. It has been the hardest thing I have ever attempted. I made it through the first semester with three As and an A-, some grey hair and a general lack of awareness that five months passed! Hopefully more posting and more running will happen in the new year!

Race Report Times Two!

Since my last post, I've raced twice. On June 19, I ran the Steamworks Brewing Half Marathon and June 27, I ran the Cherry Garcia 10-K. I can enthusiastically report that I scored a PR at both races. I'm still in the turtle slow / run-walk category, but a PR is a PR. ************************************************************************************* Race #1 - Steamworks Half - 2:29:09 (11:38 Pace) - I really enjoyed this race last year and this year was no exception. Similar to my November Turkey Trot experience, I had a wee bit too much fun connecting with old friends the night before and my "just one beer and in bed by 10" turned into "just three beers and in bed by midnight." Henceforth, I felt a little like vomiting when I woke up at 6am the next morning and that feeling continued all day. BONUS! I was able to hang in there and was right on track to crush my sub-2:30 goal until I hit mile 11. I forgot that the last two miles are all hills and between being exhausted from pushing really hard, feeling sick to my stomach and tough-ass hills, I did shed a tear or two in mile 13. Thank God I didn't see my parents around then, I probably would have asked them to drive me to the finish line and screwed up my record. None of that mattered though when I realized I was still going to break 2:30. I crossed the finish line and then in a new and fun way to celebrate (remember last time I tripped over the finish line) I promptly threw up. That was a running first for me. At the finish line, a nice lady leisurely offered to remove my timing chip and in a demon possessed voice I said, "Lady, you better hurry." We made up later when she brought me a glass of water, I said sorry for the demonic possession and almost vomiting on her and all was well. The post-race party was great, they have fantastic microbrew beer. Despite my inability to eat anything, I did manage to put back a couple amber ales. Good race all-in-all. ************************************************************************************* Race #2 - Cherry Garcia 10-K 1:08:33 (11:05 Pace) - Since my husband and I are "Race Medal Whores," meaning we'll do just about anything to get a race medal, we quickly signed up for the first event of the "Chunky Challenge." There is some loose affiliation with Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, which is served after both races. If you complete this race and the Chunky Monkey 10-K, you get a special medal. Well, it's funny how a week can change your perspective. Up to this point, I hadn't run a 10-K below 70 minutes. I was really hoping to break that mark and did so pretty easily. The funny thing was that I was really down on myself during this race for being an 11-minute miler. Only 106 people ran the 10-K, which means it's lonely at the back. Since it was a two loop course and we shared the course with the 5-K folks, I just felt like I was getting continuously lapped. I also lived in complete fear of my worst running nightmare, being the last person to cross the finish line, since I didn't see many other people near the end. Last week I was pretty thrilled with my overall 11:38 pace and this week, I just couldn't help but focus on how much I hate being slow. So, I'm working on that. (Both the slowness and being overly critical of myself for the slowness.) I guess my favorites parts were a) the number of times people asked me why I was running for "Jerry Garcia" and b) the fact that I kept the winner of the race from lapping me three times. This guy appeared to be of Kenyan heritage and I picked him out as the winner long before we started. We ran two laps on a track to start and he naturally lapped me there. Then, on the two-loop course, he lapped me again. Then, as I was running into the finishing area, I noticed he was about to beat me to the gate and so I picked it up and made sure I got in there first. (Mind you, he had been finished with the race for over 30 minutes, but was coming back for more pizza or something...) ************************************************************************************* My goal for next month's 10-K is to increase my running and decrease my walking. I'd really like to run 100% of a 10-K sometime this year. My problem is that when I run, I run about an 8:30 pace. I am then so exhausted I need to walk. I really struggle to slow my legs own and will have to learn how to truly run a consistent 11:00 pace.

Here We Go - Weeks 6 - 11

Well, I have arrived at race week. This coming Saturday Daniel and I will run the Steamworks Brewing Half Marathon. Training over the last few weeks has been primarily good. Highlights: 7-miler in Park City, Utah (see picture of part of the route below), solid 10-miler this past weekend where I was able to beat my goal race pace, 4-miler in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Lowlights: 8-miler on narrow road in Taos, New Mexico (mainly because there was no shoulder and I had to jump in the bushes to not get hit), 1-mile long hill on my 4-miler in Pagosa (BRUTAL – my dad does this hill almost daily and I don’t know how). Nolights: week 6 in which I logged a stunning 2 miles. All in all, my highlights out number my low lights and I’ve felt pretty good about my training. I LOVED this race and the afterparty last year, plus it’s our last visit to Durango before we move. It should be an awesome weekend and a great race. ************************************************************************************** So, my race goals are (in order): 1) Don’t trip at the finish line 2) Enjoy the scenery of my favorite place in the world 3) Don’t miss the start due to waiting in the port-a-john line and 4) Run the race in under 2:30. I think these are mostly doable (#3 does look a little shaky). I ran this race last year in 2:32 and ran my last half in 2:42 (although there was a 7 minute bathroom delay in there). I think sub-2:30 is possible, but I’ll report back post race! **************************************************************************************

Weeks 3, 4 and 5

The amount of blogging I’ve done in the last three weeks has a direct correlation to the amount of running I’ve done. I suppose I could just say I’ve been too busy to do both, but that would be…well…a lie. Week 3 was pretty bad. I should have run three times for a total of ten miles. I ran once for a total of five miles. (I can blame at least one missed run on the fact that New Mexico has 50-60 mph winds, but even that’s a little wimpy.) Week 4 was also pretty ugly. I should have run three times for a total of 12 miles. I ran twice for a total of four miles. (That week my excuse was semi-legit. I had the worst shin pain on my first run of the week, so much so that I was barely able to walk home. I decided to take a day off and then shorten my next run just in case I was really hurt.) The x-training was even more abysmal. ************************************************************************************** I can proudly say that I went six for six in Week 5. I x-trained three days and then ran three days for a total of 12 miles. Last week’s runs were tough, but bearable and I feel pretty good about the progress I am making all things considered. It’s frustrating as hell that I quit running for three months, gained about ten pounds, lost the ability to run for any prolonged period of time and lost a ton of fitness. I guess there’s only one way to get it back! Our half marathon is less than six weeks away and only time will tell if I’m really ready to do that again. ************************************************************************************* We’re now less than three months away from our big move to Salt Lake City. I just moved up my last day at work to July 9, which hopefully means that watching the show “Wipeout” will be the most mentally challenging thing I do between July 9 and August 11, when “Math Camp” starts. (No, that’s not a TV show, it’s my life as a doctoral student.) One of my runs from Week 4 was during our trip to Ruidoso, NM as part of our farewell to New Mexico tour. I have lived in this state for four years and really haven’t seen much. I would think that Southern NM would be a desert wasteland (no offsense to my Phoenix friends), but Ruidoso is this beautiful mountain town and it was a really fun visit. (Despite our visit to a “western style chuckwagon dinner show”, which is another story entirely.) On the way home, we stopped by White Sands National Monument and a gigantic pistachio. Lucky for you, I’ve included a picture or two.

Week 2 - The Math Don't Work

Week two down. Three training runs of 2, 3 and 4 miles. Two cross training days and two rest days (should have been one rest day, but Monday sucked). Honestly, the 2 mile and 3 mile runs made me seriously reconsider whether I wanted to run a half marathon in June. My legs felt dead. I did both runs at over an 11 minute pace, which is sort of a bummer. Then this morning I ran my four mile run and felt fantastic. Weather was perfect, legs felt strong. I ran my 4 miles in 42:50, a 10:43 pace. It's sort of odd to me that I run faster when I run longer. Obviously, I have many miles to go before this is a scientifically proven fact. Regardless, I'll take a good 4 miler over a good 2 miler any day. I bought some new running clothes this weekend, so maybe that made me faster. (P.S. I have to blog now since my alternative is watching a show called "Ninja Warriors" with my husband. So far, it appears to be American Gladiators in Japanese, but the losers fall into a pit of murky sewer water. I hope this is a channel we only get for a temporary trial...)

Training Week #1

Well, week one of eleven is down. (Granted, I didn't really start the "training" officially until Wednesday...) To show for this week's efforts, I have three cross training sessions (elliptical x 2, random wii exercises x 1) and two runs (2 & 4 Miles). All that and the wii says I've gained weight. Good times. The wii also says, "It takes time for your hard work to pay off." I'll believe it when I see it Mr. Wii. After watching the last seven holes of the Masters today (Love you, Lefty), I went out for my "long run" of four miles. I feel like quotes are necessary since up until recently, four miles has been a "short run." Anyhow, it's my first run of longer than two miles since January, so it means more than nothing and it means I'm back out there doing something I really love / love to hate. I finished in 43:19, which was 41 seconds better than my goal. (10:55, 11:06, 10:44, 10:34) Overall, I am happy with today's run and week #1. Just like the Wii says, I'm sure my hard work will show results soon! (The wii also said my adjusted age was 52 today. I asked Daniel if that makes me a cougar since his wii age was 33.)

Is This a Good Idea?

I've been posting less lately and my posts have been noticeably absent of one topic...running. Post my roly-poly adventure in the Rock n Roll Phoenix half, I basically stopped running. I could make loads of excuses, but it doesn't seem worth the effort. It was never really my intention to quit running, but without a motivating race I just didn't make the running happen. That changes today, I plan to register for the Steamworks Brewing Half Marathon in Durango, Colorado. The race is in less than 11 weeks. In the last 11 weeks I've run 6 miles. In order to get (semi) ready for the June 19th race, I'll need to run 134 miles in the same amount of time... I probably should have started preparing earlier, but here we are! So, to keep me accountable, I am going to start posting on here about my training again. So, tonight: 2 Miles in 21:57 (10:59 Pace). Run felt harder than a 2 mile run should feel for someone who ran hundreds of miles last year, never mind. Beautiful day, perfect conditions, took the dog for a walk to cool down. She was really happy.