Run Like A Woman
Had a wonderful time at the Nike Women’s Half marathon on Sunday and it had nothing to do with speed. I finished the race in 2:50—definitely not my fastest time, but with the NYC Marathon two weeks away, I wasn’t trying to be speedy.
Several of us SLO Runners drove to San Francisco for the event. SD and I went up on Friday and stayed in S. San Francisco, thinking It would be quieter and we could get some sleep. When I lived in Minneapolis, cars and voices were part of the night environment and I slept right through them, but now that I’m a country girl, I wake up at the slightest sound.
M.A. drove up with her husband and they camped in a mobile park at the beach, so SD and I were on our own Friday night. I went to the expo to get my race packet in order to avoid crowds on Saturday. It was plenty crowded when I got there, but no waiting at packet pick-up. I wandered around at the expo, and as I was starting to leave I heard them announce that Joan Benoit Samuelson and Kara Goucher were going to be on-stage in 15 minutes! SD and I headed over and waited. It was really exciting to see them, and afterwards I got an autographed picture of Joanie and Kara autographed my race bib.
Headed back to the expo on Saturday morning and hooked up with M.A. and her husband. Mine bailed—hanging around a race expo is not his idea of time well-spent in San Francisco. He preferred the Farmers Market and sight seeing. M.A. got her race packet and then we waited in line to try out the Nike Lunaglide shoe. We tried on the shoe and ran on the treadmill while being videotaped, the Nike rep analyzed our gait. It was good for me, because she told me that I supinate (I knew I did on my left foot.) But she said I also do on my right foot and that I should wear neutral cushioned shoes. I always wore stability shoes because I thought they kept my foot straight, but she said that could cause damage in the future. She recommended Vomero's and I bought a pair at Nike Town.
M.A. also bought a pair of shoes and then her husband had enough, so they left. Meanwhile, our runner friends arrived, including Bunny. They went to the expo then got lunch and we were going to see Joanie and Kara again, but they all had to go back to check in at their hotel so I went to see the elites by myself. This time I had my camera and a front row seat. And this time Adam Goucher was also there! He was standing off to the side being generally ignored, so I went up and asked if I could take my picture with him.
That night, we all went out to carbo-load at Il Fornaio and then I headed back to the hotel to obsess prepare for the race. I laid out everything I would need in the morning, pinned my race bib to my top and tied the chip to my shoelaces. After a hot bath, I set the alarm for 4:30 and was in bed by 9.
SD drove me to the hotel where my friends were staying and then we all walked to the start. It was really crowded, but we all managed to stay together. I even saw Danielle! It was the first time we met, after all these years. She's very nice and really cute. We all dropped off our gear bags, used the bathroom at Jack in the Box, then lined up in our respective corrals.
We were wrapped around Union Square and, fittingly enough, the starting line was in front of Tiffany's. I crossed the starting line with five of my running friends, then they took off and I slowed down because I wanted to run 12:30 mpm.
We ran through the Financial District, then turned down the Embarcadero, past Fisherman's Wharf and Ghiradelli Square. Daylight emerged and the Golden Gate bridge was in the distance, partially covered by fog. We hit our first hill, a small one but I walked it anyway. My marathon is in two weeks and I was saving my legs for that.
The next hill was at Fort Mason; I've run up it before but not this time. Then down to the Marina district to run along the bay. I had my iPod on, and wore my water belt, so didn't stop at the aid stations. I think that saved me time and plan to do that at the marathon.
The scenery was familiar and I remembered running the route two years ago when I ran the marathon here. Just before the GG bridge, we turned and climbed a mother of a hill. I walked that one too, but ran up similar hills on my training runs. Then we ran through a neighborhood that I'm not familiar with. What I remember most about that was signs posted with reasons to run. I can't remember all the reasons, but one of them was the Tiffany necklace. That's why I was there!
Then we had a big downhill to get to the Great Highway (the beach). From the top we had a great view. Again, I remembered this from two years ago, but that day is was sunny and the ocean was deep blue. Today it was overcast and not as pretty; better weather to run in, though.
One of my goals was to run the entire race without stopping for a porta potty. Well, my bladder had other ideas and I started looking around for one that didn't have a line, no small feat in a race with 20,000 women! But you know, I like to think positive. As I was running down the Great Highway I saw a man carrying a "Jesus Loves You" sign. "Would Jesus find me a porta potty that didn't have a line?" I thought. Well, yes he did! As I was running through GG Park, I saw a solitary porta potty and headed in. There was a sign on the door that said "only", but I didn't read the top line. For all I know, it said, "For Dori Only." ;-)
Feeling much lighter, and with only two miles to go, I pressed on. SD wanted me to call him when I reached MP 12, so I did. Then I picked up the pace and ran without stopping. I looked for SD, but didn't see him, so just focused on the finish line. Crossed it and there were all the SF Firemen, in their Penguin suits, holding silver trays stacked with beribboned blue Tiffany boxes. What a lovely sight!
My sister Deni walked the half-marathon for the third year in a row. This time she had to race alone because her walking partner is pregnant and was too sick to train. Deni's time was 3:01, a HUGE PR for her!
I felt a little guilty running a half when there was a marathon going on. I wasn't even tired! I got some food, then regrouped with my friends and family. There are a few annoying things about that race, but really, it's a great race to run. The design for the silver Tiffany necklace changes every year and I really like this one. I haven't taken it off since I put it on! The finisher's shirt is nice, too.
Labels: Nike Women's Marathon, race report
I Didn't Feel Lucky
But luck was on my side today for the Heritage Oaks Family Fun Day. I decided to run the 5K, cuz my running friend had to leave town unexpectedly so I offered to buy her number. I have never done that before, since I'm used to the big races where they'll arrest you for that. But I did and it came back to bite me (sort of.)
I thought this was just a fun run, but it turned out to be chip timed. I don't have my official chip time, but my clock time was 0:29:24.4. This is the first 5K I have ever run under 30 minutes. I don't know what my best 5K time is, but I think it was 36:03 at the Marsh Turkey Trot in 2005. One of my running goals is was to run a sub-30 5K, so this is a HUGE PR for me! Not only that, but I came in third for the 50-59 AG! Only I don't get the credit cuz I ran under another runner's number. Waaah!
The race started at 8:45 and I took a gel about 5 minutes prior. I stepped on the mat and started my Garmin. Keeping my eye on the pace, I didn't think the watch was on, so I pressed the power button and turned it off. Oops! I turned it back on.
The marines were far behind and I could here them chanting a cadence. We ran down Park St., then turned up 4th. I've run this hill before, only today it didn't seem like much of a hill. As the marines were passing me, I told them we could use a cadence. They laughed, but didn't comply.
We turned down Spring St., the main drag of Paso Robles. It was cool to have the whole road to ourselves, but I didn't even dwell on that. I was just watching my pace and trying to keep it under 10 for as long as I could. There were water stations set up, but I wasn't stopping. At mile 2, I was breathing hard and my legs were starting to feel as limp as cooked pasta. I wanted to take a walking break so badly, but wouldn't give in. I just slowed my pace, still trying to keep it under 10.
At 24th Street, the course turned and headed the other way on Spring St., so I could see everybody who was ahead of me. I cheered the front runners, and yelled out good job to running buds Bunny, Ja., and M.A. as they went past. Bunny was going for sub-24, and I think she probably made it, chip time. She was over it by gun time, but still, it's dang fast. Her son, Jack, who I've mentioned before, was pacing her.
As I made the turn at 24th, I saw that I wasn't the last, not by a long shot. Whoo hoo! I kept running and sending encouragement to the runners on the other side of the street. I could see M.A. in front of me, but I couldn't catch her. I started to count down the streets: 18th Street, 6 blocks to go. Too soon to pick up the pace. Seventeenth St., steady... And on until 14th St. Ok, now. I straightened my back, pulled back my shoulders and went for it. Turning down 12th, I caught up with M.A. We held hands as we crossed over the finish line together.
We regrouped with Bunny and her kids, then waited for the results. I stepped on the mat .1 second before M.A., so I got third and she got fourth in our AG. SD had dropped me off and gone walking while I was racing and he got back after my triumphant finish. He didn't know I could run so fast. :-)
The awards ceremony wasn't until 11:45 and SD wanted to leave. But I convinced him to stay because I thought I'd get a different medal for placing. It's not every day a girl places in her AG. It turned out that they didn't have AG awards, but they did have a raffle and winner must be present to win.
As they were pulling names out, I kept saying my name out loud. A lot of people weren't there, so they missed out on some good prizes. At one point, the MC pulled out a card and was staring at it. Talking trash, I said, "Dori. It's pronouced Dori." Just after I said that, he called my name. The people around me were staring in disbelief. My prize? A black Giant Suede DX cruising bike. Just what I didn't need! But still, pretty cool. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it. I might sell it or I might donate it to charity, since I already own a road bike.
It's great to win a prize, but it doesn't taste as sweet as a PR. :-)
Labels: Heritage Oaks 5K, race report
Hey there! Where on earth did the summer go? It's been almost three months since I've posted anything; it wasn't an intentional hiatus. I "talk" to you on my runs, but when I get back feel like I don't have anything to say. I feel like I'm always running around and never catching up.
My summer was spent training for New York. I was doing pretty well for a while, following the Bart Yasso training plan published in the July Runner's World. Got strong running some incredibly steep hills (see elevation chart). Then my training went, ahh... downhill. I had a few trips come up and wanting to keep my weekly mileage up, I moved some workouts around. That resulted in jumping one week from 29 miles to 39 miles, with two long runs and two hill workouts. Of course I knew better, but I was feeling so fit.
One morning I stepped out of bed and felt some slight heel pain. Fearing the worst, I took a week off from running. The heel pain lessened, but didn't disappear completely. I think it was from some older sandals, so I got rid of them. I've also been dealing with some hip pain, just behind my right hip bone. I attribute it to overuse. I turned 56 in July and I guess the old body can't do what it did at 50. I was actually becoming afraid to run.
Between traveling and resting, I kind of lost the fitness I had. New York is in 6 weeks and my longest run was 16 miles. This seems to always happen--I start out training strong and then midway my training falls apart. I was planning to run two 20 milers and a 22, now I'll be lucky to run two of them. I'm going to try to run 18 miles on Wednesday, then 20 the following week.
Last weekend I was in Minnesota for a women's weekend. We stayed up in the Brainerd Lakes area, a place I've been to six times in as many years and always ran while there. Saturday I put in 12 miles, though I had to break it up into 7 and 5 miles. It was nice to be running in such familiar surroundings. Then SD picked me up at the airport on Monday and we spent the night in Monterey. The next morning I ran on the Monterey trail, which I've told you before is one of my favorite places to run. I only ran 5 miles, from Fisherman's Wharf to Lover's Point, but it was great.
Today marks a new training week, and Bunny and I put in an enjoyable 9 miler through wine country. The grapes are filling the vines and the birds are happy. To keep the birds from eating the fruit, vineyard managers employ a variety of tactics. One is a cannon which booms whenever a bird lands on a vine. It sounds like a shotgun--you can imagine how pleasant that is. A less obnoxious technique is to play recorded music of birds chirping. The idea is they sound like predators and the birds stay away. I'm not sure how effective that is, but it sounds nice when you're running by.
Adieu for now. I'll stop by your blogs and say hi. Hope to report on an excellent 18 miler later in the week.
Seattle Slew
The Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon and Half-marathon sold out at twenty-five thousand. Of the marathon, there were 5633 finishers: 2564 male and 3069 females. I'm proud to say I was one of them! Official time 6:10:59. Not my best time, and certainly not what I had hoped, but it's not my worst marathon time either.
This was my fifth marathon finish (!) and I hope I'm learning from them. One of the things I will do differently for my next marathon is mile repeats during training. And I really need to add more weekly miles, with three twenty milers and maybe even a twenty-two miler. I just get too fatigued during the race. The best I did in training for the Seattle marathon is one twenty miler, with a maximum of 40 miles for the week. I'm not planning any vacations between now and November, so hopefully I'll stick to my plan.
But let me tell you about RnR Seattle. It was great! Well organized and Seattle is a fun city to be in. SD and I stayed at the Westin, which is downtown and happened to be the official hotel. We were riding in the elevator when I noticed a man wearing a cap with a penguin on it. Then I noticed that he looked familiar. Yep, it was none other than John Bingham, the most famous penguin of them all. I told him how much I enjoy his articles and he politely asked my name. He wasn't running the race, but said he'd be at the start, "so wear something distinctive." I told him I'd be wearing a yellow top. :-) I didn't have the nerve to ask if I could take his picture for my blog, but I got an opportunity the next day at the expo.
The expo had a lot of exhibitors and I spent money like I had it. I got a pair of recovery socks, only I bought two pairs cuz they offered a special price and included two pairs of running socks. The recovery socks were WONDERFUL and I wore them as soon as I paid for them and didn't even want to take them off when I went to bed. I bought a souvenir running cap with the RnR Seattle logo. It was overpriced, but cost less than a jacket. I also bought a new pair of custom orthodics. But perhaps the best thing I got was a DVD on Chi Running. They were having a special on the book and DVD combined, so I bought them both. The promise of running long distances pain-free was too good to pass up.
Seattle has really good restaurants, so carbo-loading was no problem! Pasta, gnocchi, and rice all went well with salmon. My sister Debi lives in the area, so we had dinner together the night before the race and then I went back to the hotel for an early bedtime. Everything was laid out, with my race number pinned to my shirt and chip attached to my shoe. The race started in Tukwila at 7 a.m. and buses were shuttling the runners from 4 a.m. til 6.
Of course, I couldn't sleep and got up around 3:30 in the morning. The shuttle buses left from my hotel and I walked right on at 4:15, no waiting. At the start, there were very few people and I entered the 24-hour Starbucks (hey, this is Seattle) and had a bowl of oatmeal and a latte. I don't normally drink coffee before a race, but I needed to wake up.
Afterwards, I wandered around. I had planned to meet-up with Michele, but she wasn't there yet. There were tons of portapottys and I actually was the first to use the one I was in. I don't think that's ever happened before. Then I warmed up and stretched, then visited another portapotty. Why does nervousness result in an over-active bladder?
It was getting close to start time, so I took off my jacket and sweat pants and deposited my gear bag with UPS. One last trip to the portapotty, but there was still a long line minutes before the scheduled start, so I got out of line and found Michele.
Because of the slew of participants, start times were staggered a minute apart depending on what corral you were in. Michele and I were in corral 28, which meant about a half-hour wait before we crossed the starting line. I think it was more like an hour in actuality--I shouldn't have left the portapotty line! The staggered start made the course less congested though.
Finally we were running. I had a loose goal of running 5:40, which I thought was realistic. My plan was to run conservatively and save my strength. Michele and I took walking breaks every four minutes; so far so good. At mile 2 I stood in line for the only portapotty. I would have gladly gone in the bushes, but there were police directing traffic and I was afraid of getting arrested. So I practiced my Kegels until I could finally get relief.
Michele was running with a girl from her running group and a friend of that girl's. I caught up with them after they stopped for the portapotty. We ran/walked and I seemed to be on pace for that 5:40 finish. We ran along Lake Washington and somewhere around mile 6 we saw an eagle sitting on a tree limb watching the proceedings. It was incredibly close and a real treat to see.
The marathoners and half-marathoners ran together until mile 9, when we split off to run across the Lake Washington floating bridge. We were in the express lane, which is in the center so we didn't have the "on the water" sensation. It was more an "on the freeway" sensation, because cars were driving in both directions alongside of us. I was concerned that the drivers would have their eyes on us and get in an accident, but to my knowledge there weren't any problems. To our right we could see snow-capped Mount Rainier. Michele explained that locals say, "The mountain is out" when it's visible. She's even closer to it in Tukwila.
It was fun to run with Michele; I feel like I know her so well from reading her blog these past three years. I remember when she ran her first marathon. Today she was wearing her water backpack and I remember when she bought it. Now that's she's a Marathon Maniac I've lost track of how many marathons she's run, but I figured I could learn from her. Around mile 18 we ran across a bridge and she would pick a seam in the road and run to it, then walk to the next seam. She wasn't tired yet, but wanted to rest before she needed to. The sun was shining relentlessly and my muscles were tiring. It was too hard for me to start running again, so I just continued to run.
There were a lot of bands and they were good, but you really only hear them when you're right there. In between it's just you and your thoughts so I turned on my iPod. Occasionally I'd get text messages from one of my running friends here in Paso and that was nice. She was tracking my progress online. SD was also, but he stopped getting reports after mile 9 and called me occasionally to find out where I was. He caught up with me at mile 13 and took my picture. Michele wasn't too far behind me and I asked him to take her picture, too.
There were three u-turns on this course and the cruelest one was mile 23 when we went past the finish at Qwest field. We were on the Alaskan Viaduct, which just looked like another ugly freeway to me. Michele was ahead of me at that point and I was just trying to keep one foot in front of the other. I stopped once to put on some Biofreeze, which my bro-in-law snagged from the nurses office at work. My right knee was starting to ache, so I took a Tylenol at mile 24 as a precaution. I saw Michele as she was heading the other direction, towards mile 25. She asked how I was and I told her I was delirious, which caused the woman behind her to smiile.
Finally I was heading back to Qwest field. It was uphill, so I continued to walk. Then I saw a Team in Training coach pacing a small group. I fell in step with them and when they stopped to walk, I ran past them. I should have taken that Tylenol sooner. Then my phone rang. Oh for Pete's sake! I knew it was SD and I curtly told him I was on the bridge, about to head down the hill to the finish line. I didn't know that he wasn't able to track me any more. It was a steep downhill toward mile 26 and so I walked, but at the bottom I picked up the pace. There was a woman ahead of me and I sprinted past her, then past the man in front of her. You can see them in the picture below. That sprint made the difference between under 6:11 and over it. Every second counts!
Something dropped from my water belt, but I wasn't going to stop to get it. Probably a water bottle; I could replace it. I crossed the finish line and raised my arms in victory. I walked on and got my medal, then looked for SD. I reached for my phone and realized that I had dropped it in the finisher's chute! I told a volunteer and she laughed and let me retrieve it. There were still runner's coming in and I had to be careful not to ruin their finisher's picture. I edged along and picked up my phone in the middle of the lane. I crossed the finish line a second time and the announcer said, "I think she was here already."
I found SD, then callled Michele. I found her and Eric and we said goodbye. I was exhausted and headed back to the hotel for a much-needed nap. Then SD took me out to dinner at Cafe Juanita, his favorite restaurant in Seattle. It was a great way to end the day.
Labels: race report, Rock 'n' Roll Seattle
