Race History

Here's a look back on my previous marathon performances over the years. There have been ups and downs, and I'm hoping for one big UP this weekend!

#1 - Rock N Roll Marathon (San Diego, CA) – 06/05/05 – 4:30:20

I was shooting for a 4:00-4:30 finish and JUST made it!

#2 - Nike Women’s Marathon (San Francisco, CA) – 10/23/05 – 4:30:15

I trained harder for this race and did weekly group track workouts. I felt stronger and was convinced I’d improve my time. Instead I was whipped by the hills and only improved by five seconds! Ahh!

# 3 - Rock N Roll Marathon (Phoenix, AZ) – 1/15/06 – 4:35:04

Long story, but I got lost and ran two extra miles. Amazingly though, I ran 28.2 miles in only 5 minutes more time than I had previously run 26.2. Sigh.

#4 - LA Marathon (Los Angeles, CA) – 3/19/06 – 4:11:12

I felt great in this race and cruised along the whole time. A 19 minute improvement in 9 months? I’ll take it!

#5 - SF Marathon (San Francisco, CA) – 7/30/06 – 4:24:17

I unwisely made the decision to return to San Francisco to run a race. Why? Not like I’d get my best time on a hilly course. It’s a great course though and I loved it being a SF native. Running across the Golden Gate Bridge was AWESOME! (But freezing…)

#6 - Long Beach Marathon (Long Beach, CA) – 10/15/06 – 4:11:27

Determined to not be beat by San Francisco, I jumped right into another training program and ran Long Beach. Another great course, but sadly a slower time by 15 seconds than LA. Sigh.

And now an interlude between races of …… eight months! I was training for the Rock N Roll in Phoenix Jan ’07 when I got sidelined for three months with tendonitis. Physical therapy did its magic and I was back to normal again after a couple months, but not running for three months almost drove me crazy!!

#7 - Rock N Roll Marathon (San Diego, CA) – 6/3/07 – 4:03:27

Back to where it all started! After not running and then slowly rehabbing I was ready! I felt great though this race and KNEW this would be the year I’d break four hours! Unfortunately though I had to stop at mile 10 to unload my bladder, and waited in line for three minutes. I timed it. Darn those three minutes!

#8 - Chicago Marathon (Chicago, IL) – 10/7/07 – 4:24:59

After missing 4 hours by just a few minutes, I was determined to achieve my goal in my next race. I set my sight on Chicago which was famed to be a flat, easy course. I managed to get in by fundraising for the American Cancer Society and was excited to finally beat 4 hours. Well, know what happened? There was a massive heat wave that weekend and race temperatures tipped past 100 degrees at some point in the course. Because of the heat thousands of people who registered for the race didn’t even start. And then .. because of the heat and the race organizers inability to accommodate racing needs for a wildy hot climate, the race was CALLED OFF :-O after about 4 hours. I was lucky enough to have passed the point where they were stopping people, and I did get to finish the race. But with a slow time. What a disappointment. Luckily (or unluckily) I was living in Arizona at the time so I had been training in 80-100F heat. It’s not ideal, but I knew how to handle it. Many others weren’t so lucky. Two people died and hundreds were hospitalized. I saw people dropping on the street like flies. Literally. What a crazy day.

#9 - Rock N Roll Marathon (San Antonio, TX) – 11/16/08 – 4:06:07

Since I love the Rock N Roll series I thought I’d try one of their other races. San Antonio was supposed to be a pleasant flat course. It was for the most part and I have no real excuse for not finishing faster. Hmm.. well there was a freak chill that came through and a freeze alert the night before and the race started in the 30’s instead of the normal 60’s, but I won’t blame that. I blame me.

#10 - Rock N Roll Marathon (San Diego, CA) – 5/31/09 – 4:00:32

Back to the homeland. I ran this race last year with the Foot Locker Challenge team. We were going so fast at first that I PR’d in my half marathon! But then I cramped severely from mile 16 on and walked walked walked. I still managed to not completely ruin my time overall and look at that finish time. Just SECONDS from a sub-4. Oh the agony!

#11 - Marine Corps Marathon (Washington, DC) - 10/25/09 – 4:17:24

David and I ran this race together which makes this one of my most special races. We stayed together the whole time and had a pretty good pace going. David started cramping really badly around mile 22 though and we walked a lot towards the end. It was still a decent finish and a wonderful experience. (more details)  Training with David all of those months and getting to race with him was like a dream come true. His family was the best support squad ever on the course and really helped keep us going.

#12 - Rock N Roll Marathon (San Diego, CA) – 6/3/10

Well here we go again, 4th time on this course, 12th marathon overall. I’m shooting for 3:55, but 3:59:59 and I’ll be happy. Fingers crossed, laces tied, and a heart full of energy and hope.

Here’s hoping the 12th time’s a charm. I’m tired of being what Einstein considers to be insane!

Even My Feet Are Elite!

WARNING: Boring blog post about running -  Running SHOES actually!

Feet - Meet Stability

Several years ago when I started training for my first marathon I was fitted with a pair of stability shoes, specifically the Nike Air Structure Triax. I tend to overpronate when I run so a shoe with a firm midsole was recommended to control this. I liked the support that the shoes provided and over the past five years I have bought nothing but Nike Air Structure Triax shoes. I have probably gone through a dozen pairs of these shoes in the various styles that have come out over the years. The shoes are firm and provide great support, but one downfall is that they are pretty heavy.

Nike Air Structure Triax Shoes

Running "Barefoot"

When the Nike Free's came out several years ago the idea of running almost barefoot and "free" sounded appealing and like a natural way to run. Last year after I read the book "Born To Run", the idea sounded even more appealing. I never tried on the shoes though since I instantly dismissed them as not having enough support for my overpronating needs.

Nike Free Shoes in Motion

A couple years ago when Nike then came out with the Lunar shoe line, my interest was again peaked at the idea of a lightweight shoe, but I was still wary of allowing my feet out of the safety provided by my stiff, protective stability shoes. Its crossed my mind that maybe a lightweight shoe would be okay for me to run in once or twice a week to try to build up new strength in my foot, but those thoughts were usually fleeting and never amounted to anything.

Feet - Meet Lunar Elite

Until .... this past weekend when I was going through the clearance racks at Road Runner Sports and came across a hot pink pair of the women's Nike Lunar Elite shoes in my size ... for $30!! I was already buying another pair of shoes (a new pair of Nike Structure Triax's of course!) and with the 2nd pair discount that RRS was offering, the Nike Lunar Elite's would actually come to only $20! SOLD!

Here's a video about the Nike Lunar Elite's if you are interested:

http://vid.runningwarehouse.com/video/sneak/SNEAK133.mp4

I was really excited to have a new pair of lightweight speed/race shoes and decided to wear them this past Sunday for a 5K race that David and I did through the San Diego Zoo. How did the shoes perform? Great! The shoes felt lightweight but strangely supportive. It was as if the soles were made of Kevlar or something! Due to the small and non-competitive nature of the 5K Walk/Run crowd, I'm proud to say that I came in 7th overall in the race and was the 1st female to cross the finish line! Impressive! Well, okay, not THAT impressive considering we didn't have numbers and the race wasn't even timed. But still, I'll take my small accomplishments when I can.

The Pink Lunar Elites Get a Mate

Since Road Runner Sports is near my office, I headed back during my lunchbreak a few days ago to rifle through their clearance section again. When we were there over the weekend David had said that he looked through the men's clearance shoe section and didn't see any shoes that he liked in his size. For the hell of it, I thought I'd take a look one more time to see if there was anything he missed. I went over to his size's section and what did I see on the first shelf? A brand new pair of men's Nike Lunar Elite's in his size ... for $30! I had to buy them! Now we could both run like the wind!

Nike Lunar Elite - His & Hers

I bought the shoes and the next day David tried them out for a run. He also noticed immediately that they were lightweight, but did provide solid support. What a great shoe! I want to run more in these shoes but need to be conservative since my next marathon is next weekend on June 6th. Introducing something new to your running routine is NEVER a good idea late in the game and as your race day approaches. For now I'll stick to breaking in my new Nike Structure Triax's, but in the mean time as I walk by my new hot pink Lunar Elite's each morning, I hate to admit they make me smile a little. Who knew a cool new pair of racing shoes could be so exciting? I feel like such a running geek. :o)

Ready To Race

I was planning on yesterday being my last running day before the marathon this Sunday, but I'm at a total of 398 training miles and I just want to get past the 400 mile mark, so I'm going to hit the gym for one more quick run.

I've been logging my training on the Daily Mile website (www.dailymile.com) which has been a fun way to log my training and to keep tabs on the activities of my friends. I just looked at the chart of my overall training for this race and was excited and proud to see the total miles I've logged over the past 18 weeks. I haven't been able to stay on schedule as much as I'd would have liked due to work, travel, and life, but I think I've logged enough quality miles to have a good race.

My training summary:

• 18 weeks of training
• 398 miles covered
• 154:32 spent running
• 124,503 calories burned

One more quick run right now and then I'm off tomorrow ... and then the big day is Sunday!

Updates will follow the race of course. :o)

The Lone Runner

David and I will be running the Marine Corps Marathon this coming Sunday October 25, 2009 in Washington, DC. This will be my 11^th and David’s 1^st full marathon! We have previously run two halfs together and are looking forward to our first full together!

For me, running marathons has been many things good (increased self-confidence and improved physical ability to name a couple) and some things bad (my feet are hideous and my quads are freakishly huge), but one thing that comes to mind as we approach this race is that in these past 5 years that I have been training, running marathons has really been lonely. Aww, come here and give me a hug. You know you want to!

I started out training for my first full marathon with a local running group in Phoenix called Racelab. I’m pretty sure that without them I never would have made it through the months or training or even made it through the race. I’m immensely grateful to that group and everything that they taught me. While running with this group I also gained a group of running friends who I felt a sense of community with. I did speed workouts at a track with the group on Tuesdays, and sometimes did my long runs with a partner or group on Saturdays. Meeting up with the group was a bit inconvenient because of the location and as my job became more demanding it was easier for me to just train alone. So from marathon two through ten, I have trained alone.

Speed Workouts At The Track

I don’t mind running alone and many of my long runs have allowed me to take time to reflect on my life, myself, my friends and family, and my goals. I enjoy the time with myself most of the time and running has been an outlet for me to think, vent, plan, and regroup.

Going through training for a marathon alone though is what is lonely. Being the only one you know who is getting up early to run five days a week for 3-4 months is a bit isolating. Being the only one of your friends who can’t go have fun on a Friday night because she has to get up at the crack of the dawn is just downright sad at times. Aside from a few other runners that I know, there weren't people in my immediate circle who knew what I was going through and who I could discuss the ins and outs of my training with without making their eyes roll back into their heads. I think that training for a marathon is like having a second job, and if you had no one to talk to about the daily ups and downs of you job, wouldn't you be a bit sad?

Enter David Allen into my running life!

David had never run a road race before I talked him into the Run and Stride With Pride 5K in my neighborhood last June. He talked a big game before the race and was completely convinced that he’d beat me because A – he’s a guy (guys just run faster than girls), and B – he’s always been an athlete. (And probably C – I’m pretty clumsy and uncoordinated and the word athlete doesn't exactly come to mind when you look at me.) Sure, he knew that I had been racing for years and had run short and long races with decent times, but still, he was convinced he’d beat me. Guess what? I kicked his butt!

David After The 5K (Not Happy!)

He ran off and on casually after that but it was several months later that he said that he’d like to train for a half-marathon. I was so excited and quickly made him a schedule, we picked a race, and started and crossed the finish line together! (Technically my foot hit the mat first, but with my non-chip shoe, so he came in before me in the official race results. Darn!)

Austin Half Marathon Finish

After running his first half he had the bug for a full, but it wasn't until after he came to watch my last marathon (Rock N Roll San Diego – June 2009) that he was ready to go for it. We looked around for a while to pick a race and finally decided on the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC in October. At the time that we had decided to run, registration for the race wasn't open yet. We put the date on our calendars and on the second day that registration was open we registered for the race. Good thing we did, it sold out all 30,000 spots by the fourth day! Wow, talk about a popular race. The Marine Corps Marathon is totally the new pink!

The Marine Corps Marathon

Vermont Teddy Bear

I put together an 18-week training schedule for us and off we went on our training! It has been a lot of fun over the past few months to train together and talk endlessly about running. We discuss our morning runs, our strategy for our long runs, what we ate before and after, what we wore, what the weather was like, what interesting running news we saw that week online, what cool new running shoes are coming out, what the difference is between the various colors, flavors, and mixtures of sports drinks, etc. Bet you’re sure glad now that I’m not boring you to tears with these topics! (In case you want to read my thoughts on various running fuels, check out this entry: Fueling For The Long Run)

We are now on our last week of training and I’m really looking forward to putting all of our training to the test. One of the things I love and hate about the marathon is that no matter how much you prepare for the race, race day can throw something at you’re that you’re totally not prepared for and make your race wonderful or miserable. I’m really hoping for “wonderful” for this race and I’m pretty confident that it will be since we will be running together. I finally have a marathon partner after all these years and this lone runner will no longer be racing the 26.2 miles alone.

Thanks David! I can’t wait for our race on Sunday.

Sharing My Obsession

I am very excited to announce that David's brother Ken is now the fourth person to complete my world famous half-marathon training program! Okay, so its not really world famous or even famous at all ... but Ken did just successfully complete his first distance race this past weekend in Baltimore, MD - the Baltimore Half Marathon!

Ken - Half-Marathon Conqueror!

I put together a 12-week training plan for Ken that he actually started two weeks early. What an overachiever! The schedule was loosely based on Hal Higdon's Half Marathon training program which I also used for my first half marathon in Phoenix in January 2005. Variations of this schedule are also what I gave my three other running protegees David, Kris, and Jenna!

Ken's Half - Baltimore Half-Marathon - Oct '09

Several months ago David and I were talking about distance running and I told him that I had a feeling that his brother Ken would want to do a half-marathon at some point. Ken had never expressed an interest in racing to David so he dismissed the idea immediately as crazy talk! Much like many of my other predictions to David though, this one came true! Only a week or two after we had this conversation Ken told David that he'd signed up for the Baltimore Half-Marathon along with a few friends. Ken immediately turned to the mother of marathon training for a schedule ... me! ;o)

There are many half-marathon training plans out there but I think its hard for a newbie to choose one that will fit their fitness level, training availability, and life scheduling without some help. I found out how many days a week Ken wanted to run, what days he wanted to run, and made a simple schedule. His schedule had him running 4 days a week with a long run on Saturday starting at 4 miles and progressing to to 10 miles. I also looked up a few local 5Ks and 10Ks to try to work into his schedule to get him experienced at "racing". In the end those races didn't work out so he just stuck to his regular training run.

About six weeks ago when I was in Maryland David and I took Ken to a local running store to get him fitted for running shoes. He'd been complaining about knee pain and my first thought was that the culprit was his shoes. When we got to the store a shoe expert had him walk about 15 feet out and back and immediately noticed that from the overpronation of his left foot, his right knee probably hurt. Bingo! She was right! She fitted him with a pair of stability shoes which he thought felt better almost immediately, and which then helped him continue on with his training.

Ken logged his miles on dailymile.com (which I'm also a member of) so I got to see his training progression along with commentary throughout his training plan. He did really great with staying on schedule and steadily logged his miles. By the time he did his 9 and then 10 mile run I knew he'd do great.

Congrats again K-dog! Looking forward to running a full marathon with you in the future! :o)

My Other Three Protegees

David - Austin Half-Marathon - Feb '09

The next most recent person I've trained to a half-marathon was David. We ran our first half back in February of this year in Austin, TX. Not long after finishing that race David had the running bug and had his sights set on a full marathon!

Before the Austin Half-Marathon

We looked at races on both the east and west coast and decided upon the Marine Corps Marathon which we are training for now. 13 days to go! Along the way with our training we also ran a second half-marathon together in Plymouth, MA. On this weekend we were actually scheduled for 20 miles, so we ran the half-marathon (in the rain) and then chugged on for 7 more miles. Now THAT is dedication! (More details here in my last blog post.)

After the Plymouth Half-Marathon
(before the last 7 miles to get to 20)

Kris - America's Finest City Half-Marathon - Aug' 06

My dear friend Kris was the second person I talked into racing with me. Kris had always been a workout buff and a casual runner (2-3 miles regularly), but had never raced further than a 5k or 10k turkey trot. I can't remember how it was that I got Kris to agree to run a half-marathon, but I'm glad I did! I think I enticed him with the idea of a weekend in sunny San Diego! (Don't be confused, this was years before I even lived here, and a bunch of us from CA/AZ were planning on meeting in San Diego for a weekend getaway.)

I sent a copy of my half-marathon training schedule to Kris and he started doing his training in Michigan while I ran in Arizona. It was ironic when we'd get together and compare training notes. I was running through the miserable desert heat of a Phoenix summer while Kris went through fluctuating Mid-West temperature swings from nice, to hot and humid, to rainy.

I was a little worried about running with Kris since the few times in the past we've tried to run together it didn't go well. I run about a minute pace slower than him and it was taxing for both of us to slow down or speed up. For the race though we decided that we'd try to stick together and for some cheesy reason we even decided to high-five at every mile.

High Five Kris!

The high-fiving for all its silliness and simplicity actually made the race a lot of run. We managed to high-five at every mile marker up until mile 12 (the big hill up to Balboa Park). After mile 12 Kris charged on up the hill and I slowed down to a walk. Ironically by the time I got to the top of the hill I was recharged and plowed towards the finish line. Kris on the other hand was fairly taxed and slowed down a bit.. and we ended up finishing only 10 seconds apart! Unfortunately we didn't get to high-five across the finish line, but the race was still a lot of fun.

Jenna - PF Chang's Rock N Roll Half-Marathon - Jan '06

Jenna and I ran our first race together not too long after we started working together. Our first race was the Susan G. Komen 5K in Phoenix. We ended up arriving late to the start, not being able to find parking, and having to run through the second wave of walkers to break through to the running pack. We were so late for the race that our finish time wasn't even recorded because we started so late! Oh well, it was still a lot of fun and the start of our tardy racing career!

We next ran the Lost Dutchman 10K in Apache Junction, AZ and we both placed in our divisions! And there were hundreds in each division! Ha ha, okay, there weren't, but we still beat out a number of slower chicks in each of our age groups. We then ran the Cave Creek Luminaria run which is a cool night race through hills where the path is lit up by Luminarias. By this race Jenna was hooked and she wanted to go for a half-marathon! I gave her a copy of my previous year's training schedule and she started training for the half while I trained for the full. We unfortunately didn't get to see each other the day of the race but it was still fun to do the run together in spirit.

Cave Creek Luminaria Run

Gnomer Simpson & Gnomeo Watching the Race

We ran the Lost Dutchman and the Cave Creek runs the following year, along with the New Times 10K, Iron Girl 10 Miler, and the Pat Tillman run a couple times. Throughout my my years in AZ Jenna was my constant racing buddy! I kept hoping that she'd get the marathon bug and want to train for a full with me, but I guess insanity doesn't bite all of us. :o)

New Times 10K - Phoenix

Over the years it has been so much fun for me to see my friends start to get into distance running the way I have. Running (and racing specifically) is one of the things that I enjoy most in life, and I'm so happy to share that joy with other people.

Next Up - Christina - Nike Women's Half-Marathon - Oct'09

Another good friend of mine is actually about to run her first half-marathon this coming weekend. Christina started training with a group in San Francisco (she missed out on my world famous plan!) and is preparing to run the Nike Women's Half-Marathon on October 18th!

Good luck Christina!

For anyone else who has ever thought about training for a half-marathon, I totally encourage it! Before I started training for my first race I had never run more than a few miles. Running even 10 miles seemed crazy to me. Running 13 seemed even crazier, and running a full marathon was beyond my comprehension. With the right training plan and support though, I think its possible for anyone who dedicates themselves to be able to complete a full or half marathon. The training is long and takes a lot of dedication, but when you cross the finish line the first time (or second, or third), its really an amazing feeling and I truly think it changes your life.