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. :-)

Sixteen by Six Feet

I was reading my latest copy of Runner's World this morning when I came across an ad for Road ID. You know the one's I'm talking about--"Warning. Driver cut himself shaving, 500 feet" or "Warning. Teenage Driver Ahead making out with girl friend while texting with his toes." It made me think of yesterday's long run, where a car passed by and I got a lung full of second-hand reefer. "Warning: Stoned Driver Ahead. Run for Cover."

Fortunately, I wasn't in any danger; maybe only the passengers were stoned. I was running down Hwy. 1 yesterday which is the gateway to Big Sur, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. M.A. ran with me while Bunny was running up ahead of us--she has a coach now and he wanted her heartrate to stay in 135 bpm. That was too fast for me, especially since I was running 16 miles. I needed to keep something in reserve so that I could make it that far. I haven't run 16 miles in a month, and that's the farthest I've run since the Seattle marathon.

At first I was going to try to run 18 miles, but reconsidered when my running group decided to move next week's 20 miler back a week. I'll go for 18 next week and then 20 the following week. I don't want to risk injury.

There's a heat wave going on right now in the North County, so we three headed to the beach early in the morning. Cambria was under fog which made the temperature a litle cool when we started running at 7:45. It didn't last long and we headed north up to San Simeon. I like this route for a few reasons: there is a town along the way so we can use the bathroom and refill our water bottles; there's another bathroom at the State Park where we turn around; the shoulders are wide, so cars don't get too close; and the road is reasonably flat. Plus the scenery is drop-dead gorgeous.

So the run was challenging, but not impossible. We stayed hydrated and Gu'd and ran strong to the end. I might have been able to run a little farther, but was happy to stop when we did. We stopped for coffee in town and then I went home and took a nap.

I've logged 32 miles so far this week. Tomorrow I run 4 miles then have a race on Sunday. I haven't signed up yet, cuz I can't decide whether to run the 1 mile, 5K, or 10K. My friends are running the 5K, but since it's a regular training day for me, I'm thinking I should run the 10K and call it a speed workout. The one mile appeals to me, but I'm a little shy to do it because I'm thinking it will be full of high school and college track stars. M.A. and I were talking about the race with the owner of our gym and he asked me what I would run the mile in--"Around 5 minutes?" Sheesh! I looked at him and said, "Just under 4." It took him a moment to get it.

I took a hot bath this morning and my muscles don't ache anymore. I also got a pedicure and my feet really liked that. The color I chose was "Orange You Glad It's Summer." It may be the second day of autumn, but with the temperature in the triple digits, it feels like summer to me. And I'm glad.

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.