Race Recap - San Diego!

So, I've been slacking on the blog a little bit the past week or so, but I feel like I have an excuse - I've been recovering from running the Rock and Roll San Diego half marathon on June 3!

The trip to San Diego was uneventful.  We got to check in to the hotel early, which was really nice, and then we had lunch at a nearby cafe.  Afterward we visited the expo and picked up our race packets - the shirt was the correct size, which is always a plus.  I was also happy to note it wasn't a dark color - in the past my RNR shirts have been black or navy, making them pretty much useless as training shirts, since they are too hot for sunny workouts and too dark for running at night.  This shirt is a nice light blue color. :)

My roommate for the trip ended up with a slight case of food poisoning, so I stayed in the room with her Friday night and Saturday during the day, taking the opportunity to rest, watch some TV, and read.  In retrospect I'm really glad I did this, even though I didn't get to see many of the sights in SD - my foot was trying to get sore from the small(ish) amount of walking that we did on Friday and Saturday.

Sunday we had to wake up at 3:30AM to make the 4:15 shuttle to the start line.  I am so not a morning person, but I managed to do OK, lol.  We went through the port-a-potty line a couple times, and then lounged in the grass while waiting for the start, which was at 6:15.  We lined up in the corrals after the start gun was fired and waited nearly an hour to cross the start line.

I ran with my friend for the first couple of intervals, and after that I took off on my own.  I've never raced a half marathon solo before (The Husband has always been with me in the past, barring Nike, when I had 3 teammates with me instead).  My intervals were kind of all over the place since I basically decided after the first couple of miles to just run and walk when I felt like it.  I kept up a pretty good pace, with a few faster miles here and there.

The worst part of the race was the highway on/off ramp section - there was nowhere level to run, even on the shoulders, so you were running at a slight angle.  Lots of people complained that their knees were bothering them because of this, and I was no exception.

Around mile 8 I caught my friend again and we did ~2 miles together before I had to peel off for a port-a-potty stop.  There was a good band where I stopped - Danny and the Tramp, which made the waiting in line more enjoyable.  Once I exited the "rest area"  I was ready to get to the finish.  I had about 3 or 4 miles left at that point, and this is where I started getting tired.  Mile 10 felt like the longest mile of my life, and by mile 11 my whole body was just sore and tired - especially my low back/sacrum area.

As I approached the finish line I started to feel a great sense of accomplishment - I did it!  I ran a half marathon (mostly) solo, and I didn't die, outpace myself, or anything!  It was pretty exciting.  I got my finish line photo made, grabbed some Cuties clementines, TruMoo chocolate milk, and headed for the Team in Training tent to get checked in.  Then I got a half of a PB&J and a chocolate chip cookie and got on the bus back to the hotel.

My watch time (I stopped it for my 2 port-a-potty breaks and 1 short stop where I was mixing some Gatorade with water because it wasn't dilute enough) was 3:10:49, which is about average for me.

I just registered for my 7th half marathon yesterday, which will be October 7 in Lawton, OK.  I'm taking some time to do other workouts right now, and training for that race starts in mid-July. :)

Last "long run"

Saturday I did my last "long" run before the San Diego Rock N Roll half this coming Sunday, June 3.  I was on my own for the first half of my workout, as The Husband decided to do a longer trail run instead.  I did pretty well keeping my normal pace and intervals going (my Garmin 110 doesn't have the built-in interval timer, so I look at my watch A LOT when not running with The Husband, who has our intervals set on his 305).

I spent the second half of my 5 miler walking with a teammate, who will also be my room mate in San Diego.  I noticed afterward that my back was pretty stiff, and the bottom of my two smallest toes on the right foot were a bit sore, but not blistered.  I noticed these ailments following the Cowtown half in February as well, and I think it has to do with walking more than running during a workout.  Strange!

This week I'm just hoping to get in 2 short runs, probably 2 and 3 miles.  I also want to ride my bike, but we'll see about that.  I've decided to nix the weight lifting routine until after I return from my race, because I want my legs (and the rest of me!) to be fresh and not experience lingering soreness during my travels and race.

Mid-week update

So, Saturday we did a 6 mile "long" run.  I'm tapering for San Diego (June 3!), so I'm not too worried about mileage at this point.  It was a pretty good run, nothing special.

Monday The Husband and I went for our second trail run.  This time we did 3 miles around dusk (it was just getting dark as we finished up).  It was a pretty good run, except it was pretty warm and the humidity increased throughout the time we were running.  There were also some black buzzy insects that kept following us and buzzing really close to our ears, which is annoying.  And, there is this flowering shrub/vine thing, apparently ubiquitous around these parts, that is in bloom and the smell is AWFUL.  I'm sure someone would probably like it, but it's too strong and cloying, and it dries out my throat.  I think I may be mildly allergic. :-/

The evil plant looks something like this:

Abelia chinensis, courtesy of Kurt Stueber, under Creative Commons Attribution - Share Alike 3.0

And can be found lining the trails and sidewalks in many areas, often right alongside the much nicer smelling honeysuckle plants.  The ones I'm seeing now aren't quite in full bloom like this, but they are already VERY fragrant.

As we were heading back to our car after the trail run we spotted a large snake.  It was dark in color, about 3' long, and 3" in diameter at the largest part.  Not sure what kind it was since it was getting dark (and, to be honest, I didn't want to get any closer!), but it was kind of creepy, haha.

Today I'm doing my first weight-lifting workout and then doing another brick.  Hope I can still move tomorrow!

10 miles - DONE!

Finally, I got my ten-miler in.  I went into the run knowing that I had to get the miles in no matter what happened.  I made sure and ate something beforehand.  I wore shorts I knew wouldn't ride up.  I used Body Glide on my armpit where my sports bra likes to rub.

And, it went really well!  We took a slightly different course than usual, which was kind of nice.  Around mile 7 we got totally drenched by a sudden (though not unexpected) downpour, which left me squishing in my shoes for the last 3 miles.  It was the perfect temperature for running in the rain, though, so it was kind of nice!

I didn't have any foot pain during my run, which was pretty exciting!  I only took one longer-than-usual walk break, and stopped to walk for ~30 seconds a few times in the middle of a run interval, but that's pretty much par for the course when I do 10+ miles, so I'm OK with it.  Our overall pace was about 14:45/mile, which is about 40 seconds slower per mile than my last few long runs.

I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll do OK in San Diego.  I will probably be running alone (The Husband isn't coming, and I don't have another running partner on the team), which will be a first.  I'm hoping I can stay motivated and pace myself OK!  I should probably have practiced running alone more, though.

I'm planning on doing a couple of short runs this week, and then probably do 8 or so on Saturday. :)

Slacking Off

So that 10 mile run that was supposed to happen Saturday while we were out of town?  Got pushed to Sunday morning, and then got skipped altogether.  *sigh*  Oh well, I still have time for 10 this weekend, and it absolutely must get done, since I need to taper (from what, I don't know, since my running has been practically non-existent lately!) after that for the race on June 3.

I did finally manage to go running yesterday morning, after a 1.5 week hiatus.  I only did 2 miles, but it felt like quite the accomplishment because I actually dragged myself out of bed at 6AM to get it done.  I had been having some hip discomfort on the left side, which happens when I've been inactive for a long period of time (usually this happens on the right side, though).  That, coupled with the fact that I hadn't worn my orthotics since Friday morning made my run pretty mediocre, and my feet burned pretty badly for a while during the run.  That'll teach me to ignore my PF, huh??

I'm planning to run 2-3 miles tonight, and then I have my 10 miles to do on Saturday morning.  Luckily I'll be with my team, and the marathoners are doing 20 this weekend, so there'll be plenty of support.  I'm also getting excited about my duathlon training, which will probably start next week.  I'm planning to participate in my first duathlon on July 22, in celebration of my 26th birthday (July 21).  It is a 2 mile run, 9.5 mile bike, 2 mile run.  After that I'm also planning on a 15k in September and a half in October, so I'm really hoping to get back in the swing of regular training.  Hopefully adding in some crosstraining and cycling will keep me motivated and injury-free!

Vacation Run

Last week I traveled to Las Vegas, NV to visit my mom during my spring break. I brought 2 sets of running clothes so that I could do a bit of training while I was away, and on my first morning after arrival, I set out to run around their neighborhood.

I did 2 loops of their gated community, which totaled about 1.6 miles. Not a very long run, but better than nothing (especially after an evening of wine tasting and beer drinking the evening before). It felt pretty good, and the best part of all: NO foot pain! I guess I'm getting used to the orthotics, which is a relief.

I didn't manage to get in my second run, and I haven't run since I returned, but I'm planning to go out tonight for a few miles.

In other news, I've decided to switch events for the summer. I was originally planning to run the full distance in Anchorage on June 23. That got changed to the half after my PF diagnosis, just so I wouldn't aggravate things. Now, after looking at my class schedule for the summer (and considering my fund raising minimum), I have decided it would really be best to switch to the Rock n Roll San Diego half marathon, June 3. This way the event will occur during my 3 week break from classes, so I won't have to do homework (or end up behind in class) while I'm away. I'm a little sad about missing out on Anchorage, but I know it'll be there in years to come. On the bright side, I will get to meet one of my friends from the Interwebz while I'm in San Diego, and it will be my first visit to southern California!