2014 Goals

Lately, I have been enjoying some down time on the running front. In December I spent some time just running for fun following my marathon, and I wasn't ready to set any next goals following the race. Since mid-December, I have also been dealing with some nagging quad pain, as I mentioned the other day. I'm hoping it all clears up soon because I'm finally starting to feel more ready to make some 2014 goals!

Here are some of the things I hope to accomplish this year:

Complete my first half iron distance triathlon. I'm targeting the Folsom Triathlon in June. I haven't signed up yet (hopefully soon!), but I'm pretty excited to try a new race distance.

Read more.  I love reading and this got lost in the shuffle of life and my dissertation in 2013, so I'm excited to read some new books for fun. Right now I'm in the middle of Daring Greatly.

PR the half marathon. I don't have a goal race in mind yet, but I'm eying the Zooma Napa Half marathon. I've heard so many awesome things about Zooma races, and would love to run a race in Napa!

Volunteer for some races. I have been fortunate to be able to run many events the past few years, and I am always appreciative of the volunteers. This year, I want to give back a little! I'd like to volunteer for at least 2 events.

Consider a trail race. In December, I ran a couple short trail runs just to mix things up, and I kind of loved running on the dirt instead of the pavement. I think it could be fun to try a trail race at some point this year.

Be present. Lately I have been trying harder to notice the beauty in my surroundings, and be grateful for the little moments in each day that make me smile. For 2014, I want to make sure to be present and appreciate these little things in life.

What are your goals for 2014? I'd love to hear about them!

Have any good books to recommend for me? 

My Year of Running (and Triathlon)

Miss Zippy has a linkup going on right now asking, "How was your year of running?" I have seen a few responses from other bloggers, and I kind of love this idea, so I decided to join in.

Best race experience?
Hands down, for me this year it was running Hood to Coast. Running my first relay and making new friends from all across the country was an incredible experience. Nuun Hydration really brought together some amazing individuals, and I couldn't be more thankful.

Best run?
I truely had an amazing year with big PRs at every race distance -- taking 8 minutes off my half marathon PR, and 17 off my full marathon PR. I also took 8 minutes off my sprint triathlon time and raced my first olympic distance triathlon, so it makes this very hard to choose. However, I think my best run this year is tied between the Oakland half marathon and my august sprint distance triathlon. The Oakland half was just a great race environment with a huge amount of crowd support, and fun at the finish with friends. The sprint triathlon was great because I think I worked hard to push myself. I didn't slow down and felt fierce! (Which I think is always great on a race day.)

Best new piece of gear?
So, my husband actually purchased this for himself, but I may be "borrowing" it for him often -- best piece of gear this year would have to go to the SPIbelt. I feel behind the times on this purchase. I don't usually run with a water bottle or other belt because I always thought I would hate the bouncing of it. But seriously, the SPIbelt holds my phone and whatever else I may need and I totally forget it's even there! I'd highly recommend it.

Best piece of running advice you received?
I feel like I have had a lot of advice around believing in myself, and confidence this year. I am working on the mental aspects of training and seeing the fun in it. Sometimes this is an area that is easy to forget about, but it is incredibly important!

Most inspirational runner/triathlete?
So many fellow bloggers have been inspirational to me this year that this is hard to choose. This year I have been much more immersed into the blogging world and have "met" many amazing people! I hope 2014 will continue to connect me with more wonderful people. You can check out some of a list of blogs I follow here, to find some of these inspirational runners and triathletes.

If you could sum up your year in a couple words, what would they be?
Strong. Confident. Happy.

How was your year? What was your best run or race of 2013?

Passed!

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I did officially pass my PhD defense this week! Very exciting!  Things went mostly smoothly during my presentation (with only a brief computer automatic restart shaking things up in the first few minutes). And I handed in all my final paperwork on Friday morning. It is so strange to be finished with my degree. But, I'm also excited to see wherever life will take me next.

This weekend we had some friends in town visiting, so it has been nice to relax and enjoy some quality time with friends. Plus, soon we'll be traveling home for the holidays too!

Of course, I couldn't miss my weekend run, so I made sure to get up on Saturday morning for a long run (seriously, I think long run Saturday is one of my favorite things ever). My knee has been bothering me a bit this week, so I was taking things easy. So while Ryan went out for a 19-miler, I aimed for something shorter, and then walked for a few miles. I ended up doing some running on trails rather than just the pavement, which was awesome! Total, I ran 9.5 miles, then walked almost 3.25. It made for a solid morning -- plus, how can you not enjoy a beautiful sunrise like this?!

So, how was your weekend? 

By the way, to celebrate the holidays, if you need to stock up on Nuun (a great stocking stuffer!!), you can get the friends and family discount for 20% off one order using the code HOLIDAY13 now through Dec 31!

Ups and downs of the past two weeks

I started to write this post about how my training has been very up and down the last two weeks. And, while it kind of has, starting to write it out made me realize that right now I think things are going alright, and I'm feeling excited about my marathon in less than two weeks. 

After my confidence boosting 20-miler a couple weeks ago, I ran a strong progression run and short marathon pace run before running the Nike Women's half. 

Following Nike, my lower leg (which I have been dealing with since rolling my ankle nearly two months ago) was really bothering me for a couple days. I was feeling defeated since I had felt great during the half and the week before. Looking back, I think it was mostly some delayed soreness from running the hills. I haven't done any major hill training lately, so I'm sure my legs weren't used to it. 

After taking a few days off running to cross train, I felt good for an easy 6 last Thursday, and a strong marathon pace 15 miler on Saturday morning. 

What makes me more excited is that the past two days I have been feeling great. My soreness isn't excessive, and I am solidly into my taper now. 

So while the last couple weeks didn't quite go as planned (or the last couple months for that matter), I have been hanging on and getting in some solid long runs. After thinking about it, I realized that even though I missed a few run days and some quality speed sessions, I didn't have to just sit and do nothing. I've enjoyed doing cross training with spin and yoga. I'm coming out of this fairly healthy and ready to run the marathon I've been training for so long! I guess sometimes when you're in the midst of it, the frustration can bring you down mentally. Smart training and listening to my body have helped me get through it.

Now that you know how things have been going I'm going to just forget about those frustrating days and focus on the strong long runs I have had. My right leg is still not 100%, but in the next 11 days, I will be stretching, and rolling as much as I can. I am ready.

Nike Women's Half Marathon: Race Recap

On Sunday I ran the Nike Women's half marathon in San Francisco. This was my second year running it. You can see my recap from last year's race here.

This year, I decided not to really race it....it was going to be more about having fun and enjoying a big race with lots of women! Plus, Leslie and Kara were also going to be running, so I thought it would be fun to catch up with them.

I didn't attend the expo, since I picked up my packet in Sacramento the previous week.

From last year, I knew that the streets before the race were going to be packed with people!! 30,000 runners is a lot! If you are in the faster pace corrals, they seem to be a little less crowded...at least comparing the back of the 8-8:59 pace to the 9-9:59 pace...but maybe the others are too if you are toward the back. I met up with Kara and Leslie about 45 minutes before race start. Bag check and bathrooms were easy to get through and pretty well organized. I didn't check anything, but the other girls did.

{Thanks Leslie for the pre-race pic!}

We started right on time at 6:30am! Check out this photos from Nike of the start of the race. I love seeing images like this!

{Image from Nike Facebook Page}

Leslie and I planned to run together as long as we could. Kara's goal was to run a sub-2 hour half, but she started out by running easy with me and Leslie. It was nice to chat and catch up -- I don't usually get to talk to people while I'm out on a run. It really made the miles fly by! Kara sped up and went on her way somewhere around 1.5 miles. Leslie and I chatted about all sorts of things along our way.

We stayed together through the first few hills, but lost one another around mile 8.5. We had already discussed that if we got separated at some point and couldn't meet back up, we would just run on our own the rest of the way and meet up afterward.

Quick side note: I kind of love running the hills early in the morning in SF during this race. Everyone who was previously talking gets quiet. There aren't really any spectators in this area in the Presido, so it is really quiet. Both last year and this year it was very foggy. It makes for a really cool experience....running with many other people trying to make the same goal of getting up a steep incline....listening to only the breathing of yourself and the other runners around you.

{image from Nike Facebook Page}

Once Leslie and I got separated, I decided to pick up the pace and make the last 4.5 miles a little faster than marathon pace. We averaged the first 8.5 miles at 10:05/mile. For the last few miles, I think I averaged close to an 8:30/mile pace. Another nice thing is this part of the race is also mostly down hill. I had so much fun this entire race! I mean, check out the smiles in my race photos!! LOVE!

After the finish, I met back up with Leslie and Kara, and we picked up our necklaces and shirts. They are pretty!

{Nuun in the background!}

This was a fun way to get in some hilly training and enjoy the race environment with some friends, even if I didn't actually race it. So much fun!

4 weeks to go!

I am down to less than 4 weeks before the OBX marathon, and I am getting pretty excited! This week I unfortunately didn't get in as much running as I wanted, but I did fit in some cross training instead. Early in the week my ankle was sore following the Rock n Roll San Jose half marathon. Then later in the week I had a few busy days at work so a run didn't work out.

Here's how the week went down:

Monday: rest.
I needed a day off following last Sunday's race.

Tuesday: 35 minute sweat-soaking spin
We bought a spin bike to allow us some more time in the saddle over the winter time without having to go to the gym -- plus it will be good for run cross training. So since my ankle was feeling sore, I did some time on the spin bike instead. It felt great and I watched some Chopped on the Food Network as I went along.

Wednesday: walk + stretch
Instead of our usual leg routine, Ryan and I decided to go for a walk. It is nice to get out and enjoy the beautiful evening weather on a sunny fall day sometimes.

Thursday: AM spin
I had a busy day at work, and I knew I wasn't going to be home until almost 9pm -- nixing my usual afternoon run plans. So instead of a rest day, I opted to utilize the new spin bike again for a quick 30 minute hard spin. I closed myself up in our office and really worked up a sweat while listening to some podcasts.

Friday: rest
On Friday I found out that I had qualified (from my August Olympic distance triathlon) for the 2014 USA Age Group National Championships. I don't think that I will go this year , but I hope that I can qualify and attend again in the future.

Saturday: 20 mile run!!
I was sooooo nervous before this run. I really wasn't sure how my ankle would feel since my last 20 mile attempt I cut short at 16 miles. I decided to just take it slow and steady. My most recent long runs had been at a little faster pace (by about 10-15 seconds per mile), but I decided it would feel much more confident about the marathon if I could finish this run at a little slower pace than not complete it.

In the end, it worked out great. My legs were definitely tired after, and I've been working on recovery / foam rolling / stretching a little extra.

Later in the day, I went to early packet pickup in Sacramento for the Nike Women's half marathon next weekend! Even though there was still an hour long line, it seemed to move along pretty quickly, and was a gorgeous day! I'm excited to run next weekend, and see a few girls from HTC (Kara + Leslie!)

Sunday: walk + rest
After a busy Saturday, we took the day easy. We went to the movies and did our usual Sunday grocery trip. We went for a brisk walk in the afternoon and fit in a little bit of stretching.

Do you go to the grocery store once a week? Or more often? We try to get everything on our Sunday trips, but sometimes we have to go buy some veggies on Friday if we are eating at home since they are usually all gone by then.
Anyone else running NWM next weekend in SF?

OBX Marathon Training Week 13: Getting back in the game

Week 13 was a mix of rest and getting back into running. My ankle and lower leg has been starting to feel more back to normal, so I was hoping to get in my long run on Saturday. I still rested a little more than usual, and skipped my Tuesday run. Throughout the week, I also really focused in on ankle strengthening exercises. I think these have been instrumental to my recovery and gaining strength back in my lower leg muscles to support my ankle.

Monday: stretch

Tuesday: 2 mile walk + stretch

Wednesday: P90x legs

Thursday: run 3.1 miles easy

Friday: rest

Saturday: 16 mile long run
On my training plan, I had a 20 mile long run scheduled for Saturday. Honestly, I wasn't really sure how far I would be able to go, or whether my ankle would give me a hard time. After taking two weeks with hardly any running, I was hoping for something good.

Usually for my long runs, I run on a paved bike path. I like to run half the distance in one direction, and then turn around and come back. On Saturday, I decided to aim for a 10 mile out and back first (5 miles in each direction), then see how I felt to do another. After 11 miles when I took a quick bathroom & water break, I noticed that my ankle was feeling tired, but it didn't hurt. At that point I knew I wasn't going to make it 20 miles, but would shoot for 17-18. When I was 3 miles from my start point (13 miles in), I saw Ryan and he encouraged me to just turn around now and cut it to 16. I agreed -- no reason to push it.

Afterward, I actually felt pretty good. My ankle was tired, but still not hurting. It just felt like I had done a hard run. After some legs up the wall and relaxing, I was feeling pretty good. In the evening, Ryan and I went to San Francisco to visit a friend. We probably walked about 2-3 miles over the course of the evening around town. Good to move the legs around for some recovery.

Sunday: 3 mile walk + stretch
Legs felt pretty good, but it was nice to take a walk for extra recovery. It was also beautiful outside, so we had to get out and take advantage of it!

This coming week I am going to try to get back on my official schedule with 3 days of running, some yoga, and strength...and fewer rest days. I will also be running the San Jose Rock n Roll half marathon on Sunday!

OBX Marathon Training: Week 12

So, remember last week how I mentioned that I rolled my ankle during my long run, but it was feeling a little better? Well, this week it never really seemed to get back to normal, so I spent the week working on rehab and a little bit of cross training instead of my usual running schedule. I only ran 2 miles this week! 

Today it still isn't quite 100% (but getting closer). I think some leg muscles are working extra to keep my ankle stable so I'm having some tightness in my peroneal muscles, hip flexor, and IT band. I am trying to stay positive about it, but I am getting a little frustrated. I am hoping to let go of this week of injury and get back into things this week -- slowly of course to keep that injury away. I have a 20-miler planned for next weekend, so hopefully I can be ready.

Monday: 30 mins light yoga

Tuesday: 45 minute spin on the bike trainer plus a few core exercises

Wednesday: rest
Spent the evening celebrating my friend Matt finishing his PhD!

Thursday: 2-mile run to pick up my bike at an easy pace and 2 mile bike home. Did a few leg exercises at home to keep up my hip strength.

Friday: a little stretching, but mostly rest

Saturday: walked a few miles doing trail cleanup in the area I do a lot of long runs. Then went to the gym and swam 1250 yards. 

Sunday: 30 mile bike ride instead of a long run. 
Since my ankle was still feeling a bit funny, I subbed out my long run for a bike ride of similar time. It was a bit chilly, but a beautiful morning. I had to stop a couple times to take photos because it was so awesome. My ankle and lower leg felt good on this ride. I think I am getting close to being ready to run again. **fingers crossed**

As a reminder, there is still time to enter my giveaway for an Endorphin warrior bracelet! Go check it out and enter!

I also just realized that last Friday was my 1- year blogiversary! :) Happy blogiversary to me! Thank you so much for reading and supporting me and keep working to defy your limitations!

OBX Marathon Training: Week 11

I'm so happy with how training went this week. I really tried to stay on track, like last week and have good quality training days.

Monday: 1 hour of yoga using the Yoga Studio app.
Just found this app thanks to Starbuck's pick of the week. It's awesome. Quite a few preset workouts, and you can even make your own! Really enjoyed this as a good stretch.

Tuesday: Speed day -- 5 x 1000m with 400m rest on treadmill for total of 5.5 miles.
The last time I tried this workout, my calf cramped before I could finish. I was due for redemption on this workout! I started conservatively, and ramped up the speed each interval. Ended feeling really good!

Wednesday: The usual -- P90x legs workout. Gotta get in the strength training!

Thursday: 4.4 miles steady state run

Friday: rest day

Saturday: 18 mile long run
This run went really well. I felt stronger and kept almost the same pace as my last long run two weeks ago. My shoes felt pretty good too. I was just so happy to be out there, feeling strong and enjoying the day.

At mile 10.5 I stepped on a big rock and rolled my ankle, but it didn't really hurt badly and did not seem to affect my pace. Later in the day it felt a little stiff, but ok for the 5k on Sunday. I didn't really think too much of this until Sunday afternoon.

Sunday: Lets ROC 5k.
You can see my full recap here. I hadn't run a 5k in almost 2 years, so I was due for a good hard run and a new 5k PR. I'm excited by my time since I ran an 18 mile long run the day before!

Sunday afternoon I spent a lot of time lounging. My ankle felt a little stiff again, so I rested for the day after the race, watching football. Starting out this week, I have been keeping things easy, because I think this rolled ankle actually pulled a little muscle on the side of my leg, so I won't do a track workout this week. (The 5k should count for that, right?!?) It is already starting to feel a little better, so I think in a few more days I'll be back to normal. Gotta watch out for rocks now!

PS. I know this mileage is nothing to some people, but this was my highest weekly mileage ever!! Exciting!

Lets ROC 5k: Race Recap

This week I found out there was going to be a 5k held super close to my house! I thought it would be really fun to do, but wasn't sure how I would feel after running an 18 mile long run on Saturday, so it was a last minute decision to register. Even last night, I wasn't positive -- although I was pretty certain I would give a it a try. When I woke up, my legs felt pretty good...definitely some tightness, but I thought that with a short warmup and some dynamic stretches before the race, I would be OK. I ended up running about 1.25 miles for my warmup. I think I would have done more if I hadn't had a long run the previous day.

The last time I ran a 5k was in October 2011! I know that my speed has improved quite a bit since then. Unless something really bad happened, I should have a PR. My initial goal was hopefully finish in at least 10k pace, but I would have to see how my legs felt.

The race was about 1000 people, with a lot of first time runners and walkers aiming to raise funds for ovarian cancer. It was a well put together event, and their biggest of the 6 years it has been run. After the kids run, the race started right on time at 8:15am.

I started out a little bit too fast, but tried to settle into a good maintainable pace.

Mile 1: 7:23

In mile 2, my legs started to feel more tired, but I just tried to keep pushing as much as I could and keep it hard but maintainable.

Mile 2: 7:29

Mile 3 was tough. My legs were feeling pretty dead by this point, but I tried as hard as I could to keep up with the girl ahead of me. I tried to focus on keeping my leg turnover quick.

Mile 3: 7:31

In the last tenth of a mile I was racing right with two women. I kicked just a bit too early, and they finished ahead of me by only a second or two. I had a lot of fun though. It is fun to work on running faster sometimes!!

To finish: 7:11 pace

Official finish time was 23:19.

I'm pretty excited about my time! I think I'll have to do another 5k at some point when I haven't done an intense long run the day before. But now I have a new PR that is more accurate to my current fitness level!!

My effort was good enough for a 2nd place finish in my age group. The girl I was chasing for most of the run ended up being the first place finisher in the 25-29 age group, and finished ahead of me by only 8 seconds. So close!

Now my legs are pretty exhausted, so I'll be spending the rest of the day relaxing, stretching and foam rolling. And tomorrow will probably be an easy recovery day too.

Anyone else race this weekend? Any new PRs?

What is your favorite race distance?

A shoe update

It has been a little over a month since I got my shoe fit, so I wanted to give you a quick update on how I'm feeling about my Brooks Ghost 6's.

In general, I am enjoying running in them. However, sometimes I think the size feels a little big -- especially when I first put them on -- and I occasionally struggle to tie them right to fit comfortably on the first try. After a couple re-ties they feel good though. The sizing thing seems day to day. Once I get running, I don't really seem to notice...so maybe it's ok!

I think I'm also still getting used to the difference between them and the Ravenna. I have been alternating between the two pairs for the last six weeks. Ravennas have been my running shoe for 3 years, so maybe running in a less supported shoe could take a little bit to get used to. What do you think?

This weekend I will be trying them out for my long run (18 miles!), so I'll have a better idea about how I would like them for running the marathon.

If I'm still unsure after this weekend, I'll probably buy a second pair of shoes for the marathon because my old shoes are really getting worn. I think they have close to 450 miles on them!

Have you always stuck with the same brand/style shoes? Or do you switch it up?

What are your weekend plans? nothing major here besides my long run. I'm kind of looking forward to having a quiet weekend. 

OBX Training Week 10

Woo hoo! I'm officially over halfway through my training for the Outer Banks Marathon! This week was a step back week in terms of running mileage, but after a few crazy weeks of running and recovering from Hood to Coast, I really wanted to get back on my regular schedule!

Monday: light yoga

Tuesday: Yasso 800s. Completed 8 x 800 for a total of 7.25 miles.
I felt so much stronger than the last time I did this workout a few weeks ago. I will probably try doing it again in a few weeks and get up to 10 repeats.

Wednesday: P90x legs workout
I had an overwhelming and frustrating work day, but still fit in this workout to get some pent up energy out.

Fun side note: My tomatoes are starting to ripen in my garden. Many many more to come! I picked the first ones this week.

Thursday: 3 miles + core
Hot and sweaty 3 miles after work. My legs started out feeling sore from the last two days. After a mile though, they warmed up and I sped up! Paces were: 9:57, 9:07, 8:11. After letting myself cool down for a few minutes, I did a short core workout.

Friday: yoga
Calves were feeling tight, so I made sure to fit in a little more yoga to keep them loose.

Saturday: 5.25 miles with ~3.5 at marathon pace
I squeezed a few miles in in the morning before Ryan and I went out to celebrate our anniversary by going to Santa Rosa, CA for the day. We checked out Russian River Brewery, took a couple mile walk in a pretty local park, did some champagne tasting at Korbel, and went out for a lovely Italian dinner.

{shared a beer sampler because there were so many to taste!}

Sunday: 1650 yd swim
Straight and easy swim for recovery. I hadn't been to the pool in a few weeks, so it was great to be in the water for a little while.

How did your training go last week? Do you like Yasso 800s? Have you used them to predict your marathon time?

OBX Training Week 9

Week 9 was about getting back into the routine after Hood to Coast (see my recaps Pt I & Pt II), and a little rest/recovery. I ended up taking some extra rest time for some fun events later in the week, so I missed a workout Thursday, but I know I will be back at it this week.

Monday: return from HTC. 45 mins of yoga for recovery

Tuesday: easy 4 miles. Legs were still feeling sore and sluggish. I didn't want to push it too much. But it felt good to get my legs moving.

Wednesday: P90x legs
I also noticed some knee pain, but didn't feel it while lifting. I decided maybe more recovery was still needed post HTC. Not used to so many hard runs in a row, maybe?

Thursday: rest
Knee still acting up, so more rest. I wanted to make sure I could do my weekend long run on Saturday!
I also went out to a concert -- Casey Abrams who was in American Idol season 10. He was a little quirky as usual, but it was fun and a small venue.

Friday: rest while watching lots of Modern Family.

Saturday: 16 mile long run.
I feel like 16 milers officially mean marathon training. I know that probably some people train to 16 for half marathons or other shorter races, but I never have. So now that I've hit 16, I think I feel like I'm finally into marathon zone! YES!

This run went ok. I actually did a good job of keeping my pace consistent throughout the run. The biggest slow downs were a few water breaks. My calves were getting really tight in the last two miles, and I was just ready to be done. No issues with my knee though -- thank goodness for rest days! My calves were tight for most of the rest of the day too, so I did some legs up the wall and compression socks for recovery. Time to re-focus on calf stretching!!!

I think what really got me through the end of this run though was thinking of these awesome teammates! #virtualpowerarch to the rescue!

Sunday: rest
We wanted to make the most of the long weekend, so Ryan, a couple friends and I went wine tasting for the day. We have all been working hard lately so it was good to take a break.

What do you like to do on your rest days? 

Hood to Coast with Nuun, Part II: Race Recap

Awesome. Incredible. Perfect. Fantastic. Beautiful. Unforgettable.

These are just some of the words that come to mind when I think about my Hood to Coast experience. I wouldn't change a thing about how it all went.

My teammates: Lauren, Leslie, Lisa, Jolene, and Dre were such great teammates.We were always there to cheer each other on, and to share stories. Thank you for motivating me and showing so much caring and heart, and providing countless hours of smiles and laughter. You all have such positive attitudes, which I LOVE. I feel like we all clicked right away. I am so glad that I have you all as new friends! xoxo.

And Jay -- we couldn't have done it without you! Thanks for putting up with all of us, driving 200 miles, keeping track of our times, cheering us on, and helping us get whatever we needed... like lots of chocolate milk!

The running: Each of time I ran was just so much fun. I nearly exactly hit my predicted paces! It was hard to wait to be the last runner to go in my van, but cheering for them kept me busy and helped quiet my pre-race nerves

Leg #6 -- 6.7 miles 52:44 (7:53/mi) starting at 5:10pm
For this run, I really just wanted to focus on having fun, not pushing it too hard, but finish strong. My awesome teammates cheered me up the one big hill I had (they are awesome!) with a power arch. Seriously, that dropped my pace a ton and really revved me up! I powered into the exchange and handed off to Kim.

{Dre gave me water but had to chase after me to get it back! Also, I officially LOVE power arches!}

At the end of this leg, my Mom was there to cheer me in to the exchange!! She had never seen me running a race before, so this was very exciting! I don't get to see her very often since we live across the country from each other. I was so happy to give her a big hug!

{Love you Mom! So exited you were there!}

Leg #18 -- 5.25 miles. 44:14 (8:30/mi) starting at 3:15am
I'm not much of a stay up all night kind of girl, so I wasn't sure what to expect with my energy level at this time of night. But I think I was just still so excited and having fun with my teammates, that the adrenaline was keeping me going. This run was 5.25 miles of gradual up hill. It was partially on a highway, and partially through a neighborhood. It was hard to decide if I should run in the road or on the sidewalk in the neighborhood. The sidewalk had lots of little juts up and down, but the road wasn't very good either, so I kept changing it up. This leg was pretty quiet -- I only saw and passed 4 people! There was a little bit of light mist happening during this leg, which I thought was kind of awesome. It was the perfect temperature for running!

Also, the start of this run was at a high school, where they had a pancake breakfast as a fundraiser. Jolene, Lauren and Leslie got a breakfast. I had to make myself stay outside because the smell of the breakfast at that moment was so incredibly tempting, but I knew there would be some bad things happening to my GI system if I ate any of that stuff right before running.  Luckily for me, I didn't have any issues during my middle of the night run!


Leg #30 --5.35 miles. 42:00 (7:52/mi) starting at 12:45pm
This was probably my favorite run of the relay as far as scenery -- I was running through winding back country roads surrounded by big beautiful trees. It was getting cooler as we neared the ocean, but the sun was shining. Gorgeous!

My legs were starting to feel the accumulating mileage, but I was so excited to say that I finished running my first relay and Hood to Coast! I wanted to really put out there everything I had left! I expected this run to be almost entirely downhill, with some of it being pretty steep. While this was true, it also had many short and steep uphill sections, gradual climbs, and sharp banked curves that made it a fairly difficult run. My team stopped one more time to give me a power arch as I was flying during one of the downhills. I was seriously just so happy! Thanks again for keeping me going ladies!

Finish line fun: After I finished running, we drove to Seaside to await van 2! When they arrived around 6pm, we all got to walk through the finish line together! We celebrated our accomplishments with drinks and ice cream along with enjoying the post-race concert and fireworks. Perfect ending to an amazing relay experience.

  
The support: None of this would have been possible without Nuun and its great employees. Everyone was so welcoming and positive, making us all feel at home and part of the family. Thanks for making everything run so smoothly, and for providing all of us with the experience of a lifetime. I am so glad to be a part of your team. I love how supportive you are of endurance athletes of every level.

Big thanks also to all the other companies who helped keep us moving including Oiselle, Naawk, Tigertail, Endorphin Warrior, Sparkle Athletic, Amphipod, and Swiftwick. Check them out -- some seriously awesome products!

The incredible women I met on this trip: (Too many to name, but you can find a list of everyone from Lindsay, here) Thank you for the motivation you provided, and the brief chance to get to know you for real rather than just what we see on your blog. Thank you for showing me how unbelievably supportive the running community is, and for giving me so many memories. For showing me that hard work and dedication can lead to something magical when combined with happiness and laughter. For reminding me how much fun it is to race your heart out and love what you are doing. I am so glad to have met many of you and I can't wait until we can have a reunion!



What has been one of your most favorite adventures?

OBX Marathon Training Week 8

OK, I know you were probably hoping to see a Hood to Coast recap already, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything I want to write about! But, in case you were wondering -- it was amazing. From getting to know so many wonderful women from all across the country, to running my first relay, I loved every second of it. I expect I should have a more complete recap up in the next couple days. For now though, here is just a taste of the adventure....

Monday: swim 1250 yds. Kept this swim easy for recovery from last week's long run

Tuesday: total body strength workout. Also kept this fairly light so I didn't stress my legs too much, but I knew I would have a few day to recover so I wasn't worried. But, I didn't want to do a hard intervals day like my typical Tuesdays.

Wednesday: rest.
I traveled to Seattle, and did lots of walking. Checked out the Public Market for lunch. In the evening, we all went to a bar/bowling alley called the Garage for some time to get to know each other, and have some food and drinks.

Thursday: 3 mi run, easy
We visiting Oiselle in the morning and went for a run around Greenlake. It was an absolutely gorgeous day! In the afternoon we went on a duck boat tour. Then there was dinner and van decorating at Nuun!

Friday: Run HTC!!!
We started at 1:15pm, so I had one run on Friday afternoon, one overnight, and one Saturday morning. Like you saw in my previous post, this run was 6.7 miles with some rolling hills and a long downhill.

Saturday: Run HTC!!
My second run was at about 3:15am -- 5.25 miles mostly uphill. And the third run was about 12:30pm for another 5.35 miles of rolling hills and some winding downhill. We had really great weather the whole time (a few sprinkles over night, but the temperatures were awesome). Post race festivities were also fun including pizza, a beach concert, and ice cream. And never wanting the weekend to end!

Sunday: Hang in Oregon.
My Mom made it out to Oregon to visit her friend, so they picked me up and we toured around the Oregon shore before heading back to Portland to relax. Somehow with dead legs I climbed up this huge tower (164 steps of a spiral staircase) in Astoria, OR (home of the Goonies) -- but at least I was greeted with an incredible view.

I'm now back in Sacramento -- looking through as many photos as I can. I had an amazing time and I look forward to sharing more about it with you this week!

What were you up to this weekend?

Also, reminder that there is still time to save 15% on your Nuun Hydration order using code hydrateHTC at checkout through the end of September!