Catching Up

The past few months have been a blur of travel and races. What would have been probably seven separate blog posts in the past will now be one, filled mostly with pictures. Here’s an update on what I have been up to since May.

 

GOTR 5K
Twice a year Girls on the Run San Diego hosts a 5K to celebrate the end of the season for the girls. Although Tara and I are no longer coaching, I am still on the Board of Directors and we attend the 5K both to support the organization and also to exhibit at the expo for Glam Runner. The race is always fun but this year’s race was extra special because we were brought up on the stage (with a red carpet entrance!) to be thanked for our fundraising of $8000 for the organization through the whole Tutugate ordeal.

 

 

Girls on the Run San Diego 5K

 

 

Even Our Husbands Know #tutusrock

 

 

Self Magazine Visit
Speaking of Tutugate, a few weeks after the GOTR 5K our Executive Director Amy and I had a meeting with the new Editor in Chief and the Director of PR at Self Magazine. Back when the whole media storm was going on, the previous editor and I had made plans to meet up the next time I was in NY. Soon after we planned that though she was replaced by a new editor and I thought the meeting probably wouldn’t happen. I reached out to the new editor though and told her I’d be in NY for work later that month and asked if she would she still like to honor the meeting and she said yes. Great! I invited Amy to join me for the meeting and we met with her to talk about GOTR, what the organization is about and how it was started, what the impact of the program is locally and nationally, and suggested some ways that GOTR and Self could work together. Not sure what if anything will come of that, but hopefully something will.

 

 

Selfie at the Self Magazine Office

 Posing With "My" Issue

 

 

Feature in Self Magazine

 

 

 

San Diego Century Ride
Hot on the heels of my NY trip (aka I actually had to leave a day early to make the race) I was back in San Diego for the San Diego Century Ride. This would be my second time completing the metric century distance (67 miles) and I committed to this race to keep myself accountable with bike training for my big triathlon in July. My friend Shannon and my cousin Giselle joined me for the ride and we had a great time. Just like the last time I did this race, somewhere around mile 20 or 30 I thought “I should do the real century distance (100 miles) sometime!” BUT … about 20 miles later I was pretty much over it and the ride couldn’t end fast enough. Distance riding doesn’t seem as physically exhausting as marathon running, but you are on the bike for SO long. SO SO long. Ugh.

 

 

San Diego Century Metric Course

Halfway Done With The Ride

Best Part Of The Day

 

 

GOTR OC
The day after the San Diego Century I slept in – nope, no I didn’t. I was up at the crack of dawn again to drive up to Orange County with Tara to attend the inaugural GOTR OC 5K. We had been asked to come up on behalf of GOTRSD and Glam Runner and it was hard to say no. The event was great and we ended up having fun and were happy we came. So glad we were able to support our sister chapter!

 

 

With The GOTROC Leaders

 

 

Maui
The weekend following the GOTR OC 5K though I finally got some rest. David and I went to Maui for a week to celebrate my birthday and our one year anniversary (a month early). We had an extremely low key week which was exactly what I needed. Aside from going to the beach, shopping, eating, and relaxing, the only big adventure we went on was ziplining. No road to Hana, no sunrise at Haleakala. Those are fun but are pretty tiring since they involve so many hours in the car, and we’ll save doing those things again for a future trip.

 

 

View From Our Condo

One Of Many Gorgeous Beaches

Dinner at Mama's Fish House For My Birthday

 

Vegas
What would my life be if it wasn’t going from one trip directly to another? A couple days after getting back from Maui I was headed to Vegas to work a tradeshow. Why yes, this would be my fourth time in Vegas this year. That's about three times too many!

 

 

Appetizer At Michael Minna - Seriously?

 

 

San Diego International Triathlon (SDIT)
The weekend after I came back from Vegas I had my second triathlon of the year. I had competed in SDIT three years ago and liked the course and thought it would be a nice intermediate length race between the Spring Sprint in May and Barb’s Race in July. Fortunately, in this race I didn’t freak out in the swim as much as I did in the Spring Sprint, and I made it back to the shore without a near panic attack. My dad was also visiting for the weekend and the night before the race we went to the Padres game. Pre-race carbo loading with garlic fries? Sure, why not!

 

 

San Diego International Triathlon

(1000m swim, 30K bike, 10K run)

Twinsies! We're So Cute ;o)

Getting OUT Of The Water

 

 

Selfie With My Dad At The Padres Game

 

 

Coronado 15K
The next weekend after SDIT was 4th of July weekend and Christina came to visit and we ran the Coronado 15K. This would be my 6th time running this race in the 7 years I have spent in San Diego. (I was up in the Bay Area one 4th of July and ran a race up there instead.) I love the 15K distance because it’s long enough to feel more challenging than a training run, but short enough that it doesn’t warrant any stress like a half marathon.

 

 

Showing Off Our American Pride

Padres vs Giants Game

 

 

Next Up
This coming weekend I’ll be heading up to the Bay Area for Barb’s Race – a women’s only 70.3 distance triathlon aka a half-Ironman. To say I’m nervous about the race would be an understatement.  I feel completely undertrained and have probably only put in about half as many workouts as most training plans recommend. A lot of this has to do with the fact that I’ve been out of own NINE times in the past four months and I can’t swim or bike on the road and often don’t have time for longer runs when I'm traveling. With my 12 ½ hour day thanks to my commute I also don’t have time to workout morning and night which is pretty common for triathletes. I’ve done what I can though and hope that I’m in good enough shape to get to the finish line. If you want to track me on Saturday you can do so here. Wish me luck!

 

 

My Bare Bones Training Schedule
That I only completed about 75% of

Green = out of town!

 

 

 

 

 

Coronado 15K - Red, White, & Tutu

This past 4th of July I ran the Coronado 15K for the 4th time since I've moved to San Diego. It was my first San Diego race in 2008, and I came back to run it again in 2009 and 2010. I would've run last year as well but I was up in San Francisco for the NKOTBSB concert (OH YEAH!!) for the 4th. (More on the concert here.)

Creative Parking 

Pre-Race with Tara

To show our patriotic pride Tara and I ran the race together in our Miss American Pie style Glam Runner tutus. What better way to show your love for your country? 

 We Made Tutu Friends!

I love the 15K race distance because it is more challenging than a 10K and you feel like you're working, but its not quite so hard as a half-marathon.

Deaf,  Blind Runner in the Yellow Shirt - Wow

How Do I Look So Sexy While Running? Magic.

Rockstar Hands for the Finish

Approaching the Finish Line

After the race we bumped into some of our fellow GOTR coaches and chit chatted for a while before parting ways and heading home. 

Go Girls on the Run!

If you live in San Diego and you've never run this race, you should check it out! Its a lot of fun and a great way to kick off the 4th of July.

I’m Over the Marathon

Maybe … I moped over my last marathon performance for weeks. I was really sad and really upset about it. And then – I read this article in Running Times that I felt was talking to my soul! And then – I got really busy with work and life and weeks passed and I didn’t run as much and then you know what? I just didn’t care anymore. I still liked to run and race and challenge myself, but suddenly the next three half marathons I had planned seemed just good enough. Ahh … peace. :o) 

Running Times Article

The article I read in Running Times is called “A Race Too Far”. There were so many lines in this article that struck a chord with me! Some excerpts:

"Is it time to get over the marathon? The marathon is an inspiring challenge that few have accomplished (even now, when thousands do it every year, it’s still a select few), and training to finish it, at whatever pace, is a worthy goal. … Standing on a starting line and not knowing if you can finish this, and then accomplishing it, is an awesome experience. The people I’m talking to here are those like me: serious runners who have completed the distance many times and have no doubt they can complete it again: people whose times have reached a plateau after the initial huge improvement in their second and third marathons, and are unable, for whatever reason, to take their training to the level necessary to make the marathon truly a race rather than a survival test.”

Wow. That’s me.

For me, its life and will that are my enemies. On the life side, I work and travel a lot, and staying on a challenging schedule is hard. On the will side, I’m just tired. I put forth a lot more effort into marathon training than I would to exercise, yet I know it’s not enough, yet I just don’t have the will to give it any more. Defeatist? Who knows.

Why we run

I know why I ran my first marathon. It’s because I ran my first half (which prior was an unimaginable goal, and I still felt good, and thought WOW, I bet I could go farther!). Then I ran my first full, and second, and third, and I have to admit I liked the accolades it drew. After having run a few marathons I felt that it was the product of an equation that wasn’t SO hard to unravel. Set a goal, create a plan, plug away, commit, adjust for setbacks, and BAM! You can do it! In some ways I think a marathon is easy. I believe anyone can run one if they commit the time and effort. The time and effort though seem to be the issue. I’m sure I could run a faster marathon if I gave more time and effort.. Yet I can’t. Or won’t most honestly.

My First Half Marathon

 

I’m not a great athlete, anyone who knows me will agree with that. I’m not known to be sporty, I’m afraid of sports and getting hurt. I’m strong willed but in certain situations give in easily. I’m determined at many times, but totally not at others. For me, sports just aren’t my thing. I enjoyed gymnastics and cheerleading growing up because they were fun. I was flexible and powerful and spirited. Those traits fared well in gymnastics and cheerleading. Peeling the onion back a bit farther though, you’ll notice that both “sports” require short burst of all out energy. That’s me! Here I am! Okay, now I’m tired. :oP Marathon running is the total opposite of what I grew up with. Steady strong effort for a long period of time? Sheesh…

My First Full Marathon

 

It’s interesting though, in the article, the author calls out similar reasons that people are attracted to the marathon.

“As early as grade schools, however, those of us who aren’t quite an athletic but want to be good in sports discover that we can excel by being tenacious. So we go longer and longer at whatever pace we can manger, and earn admiration by our ability to keep going.”

Hmm.. is that me? Wow, I guess it is. The article then makes a point about the admiration of non-runners. They can’t appreciate a 5 minute 5 mile run, but you say you’ve run 10 miles and you get wows. I read this and felt somewhat sheepish. Was that all I cared about? People being amazed by the distance I ran regardless of the pace? Yes, sadly, I do like that. I really do. But is it because I’ve never had any prior athletic accomplishments? Maybe.

The article continues on with making a case for working harder to run faster shorter races, and to give up plodding on in longer races. A month after a poor showing at my twelfth marathon, I think I’m going to take that advice.

Running Faster

Although I’ve done track workouts and hill repeats in the past, part of me hasn’t been as focused on improving my speed as it should be. I realize that if you run faster short distances you’ll probably run faster longer distances, but I’ve been so focused on the distance that I’ve given up the speed.

I’ve seen local 5K’s and 10K’s in my neighborhood in the past few years and have almost scoffed at them. Pay $20 to run 3 miles? PFFT! I run 3 miles everyday! For free! What I was overlooking though was the challenge of the course. I’ll run those 3 miles in a race faster than any 3 miles I’d ever run alone!

With that mentality I ran a non-competitive 3K last month, and did great! I was the first to finish among the females which really made me feel good! Granted there were probably only 10 women even running versus walking, it was still a small achievement.

Improving Over Time

One thing that I like about running is the metrics involved. If you’re timed over a certain distance and course, and run that course multiple times, you can easily track improvements. I’m proud to say that aside from my last marathon, I’ve improved year over year.

Latest example? I ran a 15K this past weekend which I’ve run the past two years since I’ve been in San Diego.

2008: 1:21:41

2009: 1:17:48

2010: 1:16:23

A minute and some change may not seem like a lot over 9+ miles to some of you, but for me, it is! According to my GPS watch I actually ran 9.47 miles versus 9.3, so my pace went from 8:13 to 8:04. For not having trained for speed in a long time, I was happy.

Coronado 15K - 2010

 

Prior to moving to San Diego I had never run a 15K. It’s an odd but nice race. It’s far enough to weed out the casual runners, but short enough that you don’t need serious recovery time afterwards.

After the Race

Due to the fact that I got to the race with only moments to spare, I missed out with meeting up with my fellow Rock Runners before the race, but saw several along the course, and saw them after as well. We waited around to watch the award ceremony since a couple of our runners won places in the 5K race, and then we all headed out to meet for breakfast afterwards.

Rock Runners at the Tractor Room

 

We met at the Tractor Room in Hillcrest (my old neighborhood) with the intentions of chowing down! I have to give the disclaimer that I’m not big on large breakfast meals, and in general I’m turned off by food in mass. OH MY. The servings here were GINORMOUS! I mean, I was hungry and ate a ton, but WOW, I had enough leftovers that I was able to eat those for dinner, and nothing else! Basically all I ate all day was my Tractor Room breakfast!

Me & My Breakfast

 

I ordered the “health scramble” which was egg whites, potatoes, turkey sausage, and cornbread. I don’t have a picture of it, but the cornbread was its own skillet, the size of a salad plate! WOW. The Rock Runner sitting next to me (oh no! can’t remember his name!) ordered the French toast. Umm… each slice was literally over an inch thick. Maybe 1 1/2 “? The plate had three slices of bread which really made up a half loaf of bread. Well .. he finished it! AND the plate of bacon. Wowsers!

The HUGE Health Scramble

Moving ON

I was starting to forget about the marathon last week, and then after this past weekend with my PR at the 15K, I’m officially over it! I’m still bummed at heart that I haven’t broken 4 hours in a marathon (best time 4 hours and … 32 seconds! Argh!!), and even more bummed that I didn’t do that .. AND THEN run a 3:40 marathon which would qualify me for Boston, but hey, maybe that’s not what I’m meant for. I do enjoy the shorter races and see improvements in those times. Maybe I’m meant to focus on shorter races where I just get faster and faster.

For now, training for short races fits better in my life. And the improvements are seen more quickly, and are more noticeable.

SO .. for now? Goodbye full marathon! I’ll see you again someday. For now, I’m going to appreciate running the “short” distances. Next up - San Francisco Half Marathon July 25th!

Keep on running. Its fun.

15K for the 4th of J

This 4th of July I did what I did last year - I ran the Coronado Independence Day 15k!

I think the 15K is my new favorite race distance! Its a long enough run that it fits smoothly into my training schedule if I'm in the process of training for a marathon, but its also not so far that I end up sore from running harder at a pace much faster than I would normally train at.

I looked up last year's race results and my "official" race time last year was 1:21:48. I say "official" in parenthesis because this race doesn't use timing chips, so your time is only loosely accurate. I wanted to improve my finish time this year compared to last year, so I decided to set a goal for myself of a 1:15 finish. (That works out to a 8:04 minute/mile.) A six minute improvement over 9.3 miles is fairly significant, but its also realistic, so I was feeling good going into the race knowing that I had a good chance at an improved finish time this year thanks to the speedwork I had been doing preparing for my last marathon.

I arrived in Coronado with only 15 minutes to spare before race time and managed to find legal parking not too far from the start. I was pretty lucky with my parking spot. Last year I ended up parking illegally somewhere and I'm glad I didn't this year because when I came back to my car after the race I saw them towing several cars across the street from me! Yikes!

Anyways, I started off the race feeling pretty good and noticed that I finished the first two miles around a 7:48 pace. I knew I needed to average at least a 8:10 pace for the race to finish in under 1:16 so I slowed down a bit. I paced myself with various runners throughout the race who were running close to my goal time. I guess you can say I was a drafter! The miles ticked away and I felt good mile after mile, and towards the end of the race I stopped looking at my watch (obsessively) and focused on how I was feeling and pushed myself based on that.

As I approached the finish line I was so excited to see that my strategy had worked, I was going to finish in 1:15! According to my GPS watch I finished in 1:15:32. Unfortunately, according to the "official" race results I finished in 1:17:48. HMPH! I feel cheated! Oh well. I'm still happy with the results!

I think I can attribute my improvement in time to experience with the course, another year of experience with racing in general, and possibly the fact that I raced with my new Bite Tech mouthguard for the first time. I'm beginning to like the way it feels and have been wearing it to sleep each night in the place of my oringal big, rubber mouthguard.

As I ran the race I thought back to racing on 4th of July weekends in the past. Last year I ran this same race and really enjoyed the race becuase it was the first one I had run as a San Diego resident since moving to the area 5 months prior. Unfortunately, after running this race last year though I came home to do laundry, tripped and missed a step coming down the stairs, and severly sprained my left ankle! It was a pretty bad sprain and since it was a long, holiday weekend I didn't have my ankle looked at right away. I actually waited almost two months before I went to see a doctor when it finally got to the point that I realized that my ankle probably wasn't going to heal on its own. A number of xrays and MRI's later, my ankle was cleared of any possible bone damage, and I was sent off to physical therapy for a month.

I also raced another time on the 4th of July, back in 2002. Wow that was a long time ago! On July 4, 2002 I ran my second 10K and second road race ever. Its amazing to think of how many races of various lengths I've run since then. It feels good looking back on how far I've come with racing the past seven years. And run, literally. Ha ha.

After the race I went home, showered, did not make eye-contact with my evil laundry basket that tripped me down the stairs last year, packed a few things for the day including my dogs, and headed up to LA to spend the day with my cousin Donna and her family.

My Cousin's Family

We hung out at her house, went to two different playgrounds, watched Wipeout on TV, enjoyed a great homecooked meal from her husband, and then the dogs and I headed back South to San Diego late that night. There must be a lot of locations that sell fireworks in LA, because as I drove down the 5 freeway on my way home, I saw dozens of locations shooting off fireworks along the way. I wish I could have taken pictures, getting a long range view like that was really pretty. It felt like my own personal fireworks show!

The hands down cutest moment of the whole day was when my cousin decided that we were going to move from one park to another, and her daughter came up to me and said "Monika, we are going to the Washington Street park now. Do you want to come with us?" Awww, so sweet. I was going to be coming along anyways, but it was still cute to get a personal invite from an adorable 4 year old.

My Cousin's Daughter w/Kona
(Yep, she's dressed as a hot dog for the 4th!)

Overall this 4th of July was a sucess. I ran a race, hit my goal finish time, didn't sprain my ankle, got to spend time with some family, and was able to enjoy a beautiful fireworks show from the comfort of my car.