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.

26 Girls On The Run!

This week is my third week coaching Girls On The Run! It has been so much fun and I'm really glad I got involved in the program. I originally signed up to be a coach in Balboa Park near my apartment (and 45 minutes from work), but the week before we started the coaching director asked if I'd consider coaching at a location closer to my work since they had two of us who wanted to be head coach in Balboa Park, but no one who could do it in Carmel Valley. I figured it would probably be safer to have a location closer to work since my drive home varies in duration (thanks to the unpredictable traffic) so I agreed to become the head coach for Carmel Valley!

Registration The First Day

Prior to starting our season, the director had mentioned that Carmel Valley ended up with a significantly higher number of participants than the other locations. They usually get 10-15 girls per location, but this year 24 girls had signed up! By the our fourth session that number actually crept up to 26 girls! Wow, that's a lot of girls. (A lot of energy too in a group ages 8-12!) Luckily there are also eight of us coaching so we seem to have things under control. Some coaches come on Tuesdays, some come on Thursdays, and a couple others come both days as their schedule permits. This leaves us with 4 or 5 coaches per session. As head coach I'm there for every session. (Well minus two sessions that I have to miss due to travel for work.)

Lesson 1 - Getting To Know Each Other

Our first lesson was all about getting to know each other! The great thing about the Girls On The Run (GOTR) program is that it incorporates running into a number of fun learning exercises. During the "Getting To Know Each Other" lesson, one of the games that we played was a name tag tag game! Each girl had a sheet of labels with every other girl's name on it. We then started running laps and each time a girl passed another girl, they'd stick the correct name tag on her back. (Each girl was wearing a name tag on the front to prevent the name from being totally impossible.) The girls ran several laps playing this game and by the end everyone was giggling, covered in stickers, and trying to help each other peel stickers off their backs and the ends of their ponytails for the longer haired girls.

Getting The Girls Ready For An Exercise

Lesson 2 - Being A Girl Of Your Word

In the second lesson we learned about making important, positive promises and expectations such as being healthy, completing homework assignments, and listening to our parents. This time as we started running laps and playing games we started handing out small plastic beads to each girl as she came around the field and finished a lap. The girls carried a little plastic bag with them as they ran, would get their bead, put it in the bag, and go on for the next lap. Not only is this a great way to keep them motivated, but its also a great way for Coach Monika to keep track of their laps each week!

Lesson 3 - Making Important Changes

With two lessons a week we started our second week with Lesson 3 which focused on "Making Important Changes". We had the girls identify negative behaviors, and then positive behaviors in contrast to them. Each girl wrote down four negative behaviors on index cards, and when they started running their laps they'd come up to us and slam their negative behavior card into the scary SENOR HIDEOUS BOX, collect a bead, and then keep going for the next lap.

Senor Hideous

During our discussion of negative behaviors a number of funny things were revealed:

1. Apparently all kids fight with/are mean to/bite their siblings (how would I know, I'm an only child)
2. Tipping your chair back in class is a popular, rebellious activity for 8-12 year old girls
3. Almost all kids have eaten cat or dog food, play-doh, or sand (seriously??)

We were encouraging the discussion of negative behaviors when one girl raised her hand and said "I've eaten dog food!" (OMG!) I laughed and said "Okay, but let's focus more on behaviors that you know are bad in the way that they make someone else feel bad." Another hand shoots up.

"I've eaten cat food!" Another hand - "ME too!" "So have I!"

HAHA! Okay, so while trying not to laugh too much, I tried to direct the conversation back to our topic, but made a joke that in my day kids used to eat play-doh and not pet food. A hand goes up. "I've eaten play-doh!" "Me too!" Omg.. okay... so we pretty much derailed on that exercise after a while, but were able to move on to the next game. Too funny!

Lesson 4 - Taking Care Of Our Physical Health

In lesson 4 we talked about healthy habits (brushing your teeth, eating fruits and vegetables, getting enough sleep, etc) and also discussed the food pyramid, the food groups, and examples of foods that went into each food group.

Food Type Artwork From The Girls

The trick question of the day? What food group does peanut butter fit into? Meats and proteins or fats and oils?? I'm leaning mostly towards meats and proteins.... but still, hmm..

So far the group of girls has completed 258 laps (that's a lot of beads) and 65 miles! On average each girl is running about a mile each session. By the end of the program (12 weeks, 24 lessons) the girls will be prepared to run a 5k! (3.1 miles)

Getting through all of the games and exercises in the 1 hour 15 minute time slot is pretty challenging. Organizing and preparing for the sessions for the coaches and sending out updates after each session to the parents is becoming a bit time consuming. I'm starting to feel like I have a second job! Make that third job actually, marathon training is my second job right now! Its all worth it though and its been a lot of fun.

We have 18 more sessions to go! I'm sure you'll hear more from me about it throughout the season.

20 Miles In The Rain

Last week I headed to Boston for a six day trip for work. This trip coincided with a 20 mile run in my marathon training schedule. Luckily, I only had to work Thursday - Friday and Sunday - Tuesday, but had Saturday off. Perfect! That's my regular long run day!

David flew in for the weekend and we planned on doing our long run together. This would be his first 20 mile run! (As some of you might know, 20 miles is the longest you usually run when training for a marathon. Its usually scheduled 3 weeks before the race. In our training schedule we are going to run 20 miles twice. Once 6 weeks out and another time 3 weeks out. )

I googled around looking for a good place to do our 20 mile run. Local running clubs usually post popular long run routes, and I was hoping to come across a site with this information. I found one website that recommended an area called the "Emerald Necklace" which was made up by a chain of lakes. There was a 20 mile route posted which looped around certain parts of the "necklace" a few times. This seemed somewhat complicated and I was hoping to find a simpler out and back or two times around course.

Emerald Necklace

I then realized I knew two distance runners in the area: Meredith and Martin! I emailed them both asking for route suggestions. I was hoping that they would actually be interested in running the first 10 miles with us, and then we would do the second 10 miles alone once we were familiar with the course. As it turned out Meredith wasn't up to that mileage yet due to an injury, and Martin told us he was scheduled for a half-marathon that morning. He immediately invited us to join him for the race, but we both initially dismissed that as an option since it seemed crazy to race a half-marathon, and to then continue on to run 7 miles. But as you know, we're both crazy! We signed up for the race and planned to double back on the course to get the miles in. With that plan set, I left sunny San Diego to head towards the Northeast!

Run to the Rock Half Marathon

A few days before leaving for Boston I checked the weather and was horrified to see that it was going to be sunny all week, but raining on the weekend! No! Rain?? I hate rain! I hate running in rain! Wait.. I DON'T run in rain! I have a membership to 24 Hour Fitness that I keep just for days that its raining and I need some place to run. Obviously in San Diego I almost never need to go there.

I arrived in Boston on Thursday with just enough time to drive down to Rhode Island to attend an evening program for work. The next day I worked from home in my hotel room for most of the day but went out at lunch time to meet Meredith for lunch. This was the first time we'd seen each other in about 15 years! Crazy! We met at a cute place in Cambridge called Algiers Cafe.

Lunch With Meredith in Cambridge

The food was great! After having lunch there we walked around to a few places in Harvard Square. We went to the Harvard bookstore where I got a nice technical running shirt, we checked out a cute little children's bookstore with a Curious George theme, and then we hunted down a little poetry bookstore tucked down a side street where I found a nice gift for my dad. (Haven't gotten around to mailing it yet, so if you're reading this Dad, guess I just ruined the surprise! Oops!)

Curious George Bookstore

Grolier Poetry Bookstore

At some point during the visit to Harvard Square it started to sprinkle, and by dinner time that night it was pouring. POURING!! The chances of the rain passing by race time the next morning were looking slimmer and slimmer. :o( I crossed my fingers that night that the rain would pass by the morning, but didn't have high hopes. The next morning I woke up and was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't pouring anymore! It was only raining. HA! As if that was much better. The drive from Boston to the race in Plymouth was about 25 miles, so there was one last glimmer of hope that the rain in Boston wasn't an issue in Plymouth. About a half hour drive later that hope was dashed as well.

Excited & Apprehensive Before the Race

So we arrive in Plymouth and parked at the finish line and got on the shuttle to the start line where registration was. Upon getting to the start line we jumped into the registration line ... and as we stood there, the rain really started to get heavy. Luckily there was a guy standing behind us with an umbrella ... whose friend quickly jumped under to stay dry too ... and then he immediately asked us if we wanted to join as well. SURE! Hey, it was a big golf umbrella, why not? (Actually, he made quite a funny joke that we had to join them under the umbrella since two guys sharing one just by themselves was a bit weird. Haha, so true.)

Registration at the Start Line

As soon as we got into the building where we were to pick up our race numbers I saw Martin. It was great to meet him in person after months of sharing racing and training stories online. (Martin is a friend of Meredith's and Meredith used to work with my dad when I was in high school. And now we're all running friends! Are you keeping up with all of this?) Anyways, we chatted for a bit and then got on the shuttle to the start line. By the time we got there we only had about 10 minutes before start time. We checked our gear and got in line for the bathroom. Somewhere along these lines we lost Martin. :o( I was hoping to get a picture of all of us before the race started, but figured since it was a small race we'd find him afterwards. Unfortunately this did not happen.

The race got off to a rushed start and we joined the group of runners plodding through the rain. David and I were immediately startled to find that we were running down a narrow, windy road ... with no lane blocked off for the runners! We were running down the right side of a two lane road with one lane of traffic going each way. And there were cars going in both directions! Scary! We dodged puddles and tried to stay as far as possible to one side of the road and plodded through mile after soggy mile. Somewhere around mile 5 my iPod accidentally turned off a couple times (weird) and then at mile 6 it turned off completely and I couldn't turn it back on. OMG... it died!!

At this point I started to freak out. I was already worried about racing for 13 miles and then running 7 more. Add in the rain which I hate and things looked a bit more iffy. Take away my music?!?! Now we're talking about 14 more miles of torture! I kept hoping that my iPod would come back to life at some point in my run, but nope! No such luck. I got to listen to shoes hitting the wet pavement and cars splashing through puddles for the next 3 hours. Fun right? Okay, enough of that pity party. Back to the race.

So David and I kept up a pretty good pace considering the face that it was raining, the course was really really hilly, and I had NO MUSIC! AHH! (I know sorry, last mention of my dead iPod.) Our goal was to run between a 8:30 and 9:00 pace and we stuck to that mile after mile. We ended up finishing the race in 1:56! That was the same time that we took to run our first half marathon together in February. This course in Plymouth was much hillier and it was raining, so I was pleased to have completed the race with the same finish time. Playing the "what if" game, I kept thinking about how we'd do on a flat, dry course. I think we could have run in 1:50! Okay, we'll table that goal until next time.

So we finished the half marathon, grabbed some water and bananas and headed back to the car to drop off our stuff. We stopped and ate/drank/chatted for about 10 minutes by the car before deciding to head back out to bust out the next 7 miles. Unfortunately, after racing and then stopping for a while, starting to run again really does not feel good. Each step hurt for a bit until we finally got back into the groove. I'm not going to lie, that 7 mile run was no fun. We ran 3 1/2 miles out and back. Well, more like ran/walked it. But we got through it! We made it through 20 miles that day! We were both beat after the run and looking forward to getting back to the hotel to shower, change into dry clothes, and to eat eat eat!

After the Half-Marathon!

But Before the Next Seven Miles...

After 13 Miles, David Has Conquered the Rain!

As timing would have it, we didn't end up eating for about 3 hours. The drive back to Boston was bout 1/2 hour, then we had to shower, pack, and check out of that hotel, drive over to the next hotel I was staying in for work, check-in, and then go back to the airport to return the rental car. The only thing we had with us were two tiny bags of potato chips. Oh well, better than nothing. So 3 hours later when we finally got to eat we both ordered big burgers .. and they were the best burgers ever! Well, I think anything we ate by that time could have tasted like the best food ever. I might even have been tempted by a chunk of cheese at that point. I was totally starving!

The next day the tradeshow that I was in town for started. Let me just tell you, there is nothing better than standing in heels all day at a tradeshow the day after running 20 miles in the rain. Yep! That sucked. I was sore and had a couple blisters on my feet. That first day was rough. The second was better though, and by the third I was back to normal. And guess what? As soon as the tradeshow started the weather cleared up and it became a beautiful sunny week in Boston. Yeah, the two days I was out and about and running it was raining. As soon as I was locked inside all day it was sunny. Funny how that happens.

So the trip to Boston was long, wet and dreary at times, but fun overall. It was great to catch up with Meredith, so nice to finally meet Martin in person, and it was a total "experience" to get to run 20 miles with David for the first time. Our next 20 miler is lined up for two weeks from now. Let's keep our fingers crossed for blue skies and sunny days!

Girls On The Run

Next week I will start as head coach for Girls On The Run Carmel Valley! I'm so excited!

I first heard about Girls On The Run a few years ago when I saw a group of girls wearing Girls On The Run shirts at a 5K race in Phoenix. I was curious about the organization but never really looked into it until last year when I was looking online for volunteer opportunities in San Diego. As life would have it, my schedule last year was way too crazy to commit to a regular volunteer position. I kind of forgot about the organization and my desires to volunteer until about a month ago. I was looking up local running events online on active.com when I came across an event for Girls On The Run. A few clicks later and I was on the local San Diego website.(http://www.gotrsd.org) As luck would have it this time ... on the front page of the website was a call for volunteer coaches!

About Girls On The Run:

Mission To educate and prepare girls for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living. About Girls on the Run is a life-changing, experiential learning programs for girls age eight to thirteen years old. The programs combine training for a 3.1 mile running event with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting workouts. The goals of the programs are to encourage positive emotional, social, mental, spiritual and physical development. Objectives The Girls on the Run objective is to reduce the potential display of at-risk activities among its participants. The goal is fewer adolescent pregnancies and eating disorders, less depression and suicide attempts, as well as fewer substance/alcohol abuse problems and confrontations with the juvenile justice system.

I applied immediately and kept my fingers crossed that I would be chosen to coach. I'm not sure if they contact everyone who applies or not, but I got an email a couple weeks ago inviting me to a meet & greet happy hour event to meet other volunteers. I went and met with a number of the ladies involved and was even more interested in joining the group. Next up was coaches training which luckily occurred on a weekend I was in town! Last weekend I attended the 4-hour coaches training and learned more about what coaching entailed, what each session with the girls would be like, and what types of exercises and lessons we'd cover.

I was surprised to learn that the focus of the program was more about personal development for the girls than it was about running. Learning to run seemed to happen as a side effect of playing the various games and exercises that were planned for each session.

For example, one exercise we looked at was understanding what types of foods belonged in each food group. The girls are given a card with a food group on it. They have to take the card, run it across a certain distance to a coach and give her an example of a food that falls into that food group, and then run back to the start. How fun! I wish I could have learned things that way as a kid!

So next Tuesday is the first session! Luckily I'm getting back from my trip to Boston on Tuesday with just enough time to make it. There are 24 sessions (2/week) in the program leading up to a final 5K in December. Amazingly enough, I will only miss 2 of the 24 sessions due to work travel! (Luckily for me, or should I say UN-luckily for me, the majority of my travel for work spans a weekend and I'll be back in time for the Tuesday/Thursday sessions I've committed to. )

I'm excited and a bit nervous! I haven't worked with kids before and I'm nervous to be leading the group of girls and the 6 other assistant coaches. Hopefully things will come naturally and go smoothly and we will all have fun. Two of the assistant coaches have coached before and should make things a lot easier.

I'll report back after the first session. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Running For A Reason

I am training with David (virtually via DailyMile) for the Marine Corps Marathon which will be on October 25, 2009 in Washington DC. David and I have decided to make this race more meaningful to us by fundraising for an organization called Back On My Feet which helps homeless people put their lives back together by engaging them in running and providing them with a support group that teaches them skills to help rebuild their lives.

I first read about Back On My Feet in an issue of Runner's World (click here for article) and was really moved by the efforts of the woman who started the organization, and I was amazed by how something as simple as running could bring strangers together and help those who are struggling find a way back to a better life.

We have 10 weeks of training left before the marathon and have given ourselves a goal of raising $150/week for a total of $1500. If you are interested in helping with our fundraising effots, please check out our fundraising page at:

http://www.active.com/donate/backonmyfeet/davidandmonika

Also, if you want to learn more about the organization that we are fundraising for you can check out their website at: http://www.backonmyfeet.org/

Fueling for the Long Run

David and I completed our long run together last weekend when I was in Maryland and we both tried a new racing fuel to get us through our 16 miles of fun in the blazing sun. We tried an energy gel called eGel.

I’d received samples of this gel a while back but hadn’t gotten high enough in my mileage to need it until last weekend. We both really liked the gel and noticed how different it was from our staple Gu. As I thought about this new gel I thought back to all of the other gels and chews and bars and beans and drinks I’ve tried in the past.

Learning about Fueling & Hydration

Back when I was training for my first half marathon I didn’t know what you were supposed to eat during your long distance runs. Actually, I didn’t know that you were even supposed to eat during your long distance runs! My training plan for my first half had me scheduled to run up to 11 miles as my longest distance. When the day came to do that longest training run, I endured it in total misery and came home feeling a bit sick. I took a shower, had some water and almonds, and then laid down. Soon after the room was spinning and not too long after that I was throwing up almonds. (So gross... so so gross.) I was somewhat alarmed and started looking online for an answer to my sudden illness. I posted a question on the fitness section of the craiglist message board asking if anyone knew why I would feel sick after such a long run.

The responses came in quickly.

How much did you hydrate and eat during your run?

How often did you do so?

Huh?

Drink and eat while running? How would that have happened? I was training out in my “desert preserve” community in Cave Creek, Arizona. Where would I have stopped for water and food? I responded back to the helpful message boarders with my answer of “nothing” and was immediately admonished on the boards. It was obvious to everyone except me that I was dehydrated and underfueled, and it was totally not surprising that I got sick!

Monika Meets Gu (ewe)

I talked to a friend of mine who had run marathons in the past and she recommended Gu to me. I had never heard of this product and her description of the chocolate Gu tasting like chocolate pudding sounded appealing. I tried one out during the actual half marathon and agreed in my head that chocolate pudding was probably the closest thing you could compare chocolate Gu to, but the distinction between chocolate pudding (which I like) and chocolate Gu (which tasted a bit off and had a thick, hard to swallow texture) was obvious.

After my first half marathon I was hooked on distance running and quickly set my sights on a full marathon. The idea of running twice as far was so daunting to me, and I felt that I needed more guidance than just downloading a schedule from the internet like I did with the half marathon. I searched around online and found a local training group that trained mostly marathoners and triathletes. In this group I finally learned about hydration and nutrition for distance running. What to eat before a race, during, and after. How often to drink, when to drink, and when to choose water or Gatorade.

Bringing the Fanny Pack Back

But sadly not Sexy Back...

I found out about Fuel Belts, these great waist belts that hold 2-6 small water bottles to help you bring your water with you on long runs. Over the years I’ve bought many variations of these belts. I’ve had a 2 bottle + pouch belt, a 4 bottle belt (soo heavy when full), a 3 bottle + 1 gel flask belt, and now my favorite a 2 bottle + puch belt. (Great to keep keys, chapstick, tissues, etc.) Wearing a Fuel Belt on my long runs solved my hydration problem, but I still struggled with the various fueling options.

The problem was that as much as I looooooove to eat, eating while running or right after running is the last thing in the world I wanted to do. I tried the various race foods and found that energy gels were the most palatable.

Foods I’ve Tried That Didn’t Work

Power Bars
I first tried carrying a power bar with me and eating it at two points in my long run.

Pros: I like power bars!

Cons: They take some work to chew and are hard to chew while running. Walking while eating a whole Power Bar wastes too much time.

Sports Beans
The idea of eating Jelly Belly jelly beans which include electrolytes sounds like a great treat! Until you try popping a few while you’re running.

Pros: I like jelly beans!

Cons: Can I just say choking hazard?! They also get stuck in your teeth which bothers me.

Higher Calorie Sports Drinks

Pros: Drinks go down easily and you don’t have to worry about chewing.

Cons: I don’t know what they put in those drinks to add carbs, but they taste terrible. I’ve tried a few variations and don’t really like anything but plain old sports drink.

Foods I’ve Tried That Did Work

Energy Chews/Gummies
Clif Shot Bloks were the first gummy chews that I came across. They were chewy cubes that tasted like gummy candy. Recently Gu has come out with their own chews called Gu Comps. (Cute name!)

Pros: Taste good, easy to chew.

Cons: Its hard to carry more than one or two of the packs on a long run due to their bulk.

Energy Gels
Something about eating goop out of a packet has always bothered me a bit, but energy gels by far are the winner in the fuel category as far as I’m concerned.

Pros: You can easily carry multiple packets with you, the gels go down easily and can be consumed while running, there are a variety of flavors available.

Cons: The consistency of the gel is hard to swallow (har har) sometimes. The gels are usually fairly thick and sometimes I feel like I have to drink sooo much water to wash it all down and clear the pasty goop out of my mouth!

I discovered a new energy gel recently that has solved the consistency problem! eGel!

A month or so ago I received a sample pack of eGel. Two samples of each of the four flavors. Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to try them (due to the low miles I've been running) until last weekend. Prior to trying the gel I read a comparison online of how eGel stacks up to the other energy gels and it really looked like a clear winner. Taste, consistency and portability would be how I would rate the gel compared to others and I was curious to see how the eGel would compare.

Pros: The “thin consistency” was great! The eGel went down so much easier than all of the others I’ve tried. (And I’ve tried them all!) The flavors were unexpected but after getting past the initial surprise I really liked them. Most energy gels are flavored like pudding. Vanilla, chocolate, berry, kiwi-strawberry, etc. eGels on the other hand came in mysterious flavors such as Mountain Rush and Tropical Blast. What does that mean? I soon found out it aligned with similarly named products and flavors … eGel tasted like sports drink! It was a bit tangy and had a tart fruity flavor like Gatorade and Powerade.

Cons: The gel packs were bigger than most other energy gels, but each pack contained 1.5 times as many calories so technically carrying 4 eGels would be the equivalent of 6 Gus. I was afraid that the packs wouldn’t fit into my Race Ready shorts but they actually did! They just barely peeked out the top which was great!

So net Cons = None!

I have two packets of eGel left which should be great for my long run tomorrow. After this I'll probably have to place a bulk order to have enough gels to get David and I through the next 10 weeks of our training up to our first marathon together the Marine Corps Marathon on October 25th. 70 more days left!

Anyways, if you’re looking for an energy gel, you should try out eGel! I've tried many products over the years and this is by far my favorite energy gel.
http://www.cranksports.com/products/eGel/

Also, if you too want to look like a running nerd with a fanny pack and are looking for a way to carry your water with you while on the run check out Fuel Belt. These belts are awesome and I can't do a long run without one. http://www.fuelbelt.com/

Life Comes Full Circle in August

As I flipped from July to August on my wall calendar at work I stopped and thought (for the 100th time) about how quickly this past year has gone. Especially since the prior year seemed to drag on at a snail's pace. As I was looking at my calendar and what I had planned for this month I thought oh wow, its been a year this week since I sold my house! And then thought hmm, actually it has been five years this week since I bought it! And then I tracked back in my mind to Augusts in between and further back and realized a lot of significant events have happened in my life in August.

Ten Years Ago - August 1999

Ten years ago in August of 1999 I started my first "real job" out of college. Wow - its hard to believe that it's been ten years since I finished my undergrad! I actually graduated in April but didn't find a job until August. In those months in between I was a receptionist at Standford Home Care and Hospice. The people there were nice, I only worked Monday - Thursday which gave me Fridays to look for a job and interview, but something about having an engineering degree and no job to use it at yet was somewhat unsettling. So, needless to say, when I started my job in August I was extremely excited! I remember my boss at the time calling me when I was on the way to 24 Hour Fitness with my best friend Garley and him letting me know I got the job as we were walking across the parking lot. I wonder if Garley remembers?

Curious about what I did? Well its something that takes about two seconds to cause someone's eyes glaze over with boredom. I was an Applications Engineer at a software company who made off-line CMM programming software. This company was a division of an industrial robot manufacturing company. Sounds exciting right? :o) Actually it really was. I loved that job, what we did, the customers we worked with, and everything I learned while I was there.

Proud Engineer in a Cube

If you look closely you can see me working on a
3D drawing of a 6-axis robot. Nerdarific cool!

Something else that came about that first week when I started that job was that I met my now BFF Kris who worked in our Farmington Hills office in Michigan. He and a few other AE's (that's the cool way to refer to Application Engineers you know) were in our office for the week for training. It was a fun week getting acquainted in the job and getting to know new people, and it was fun because that week was the birthday of the same year "birthday twins" Kris and Tamara!

Happy Birthday to you guys next week by the way!

And Happy Friend Anniversary Kris, you've been a great friend to me all these years and have been with me through good times and bad. Luckily mostly good, and I thank you for always making me laugh. Well, except for when you're trying to make me laugh by practicing your stand-up on me and then I don't laugh and then you get offended and rush off the phone with me... sorry!

Me & Kris

Five Years Ago - August 2004

So fast forward five years and now we're up to August 2004. What happened in between 1999 and 2004? Well, I moved to Arizona to go to grad school, working as an IT Project Manager at a mold lab (so random, I know), left to go work at a start-up MMORPG game company (yes, even more random), and was about to do something I had never thought possible at that age having grown up in San Francisco... I bought a house!

Working Hard at the Video Game Company

Wondering what MMORPG stands for?
Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game!

Me & My Parents at My MBA Graduation

So back to the house, wow that was a hug event for me! I closed on the house on August 16th. It was a really exciting time and I felt proud to have reached that next level of "adulthood". Growing up in San Francisco meant that the dream of becoming a young home owner never even crossed my mind. Houses were going for close to a million dollars in the bad neighborhoods, and I never could have afforded a house or even a condo in a decent neighborhood. In Arizona though things were very different, and buying a small house or condo was something very normal for people in their mid-20s.

My Little House in Cave Creek

Soon after buying the house I also got my second dog Kona the Pekepoo. Can't say my first dog Mika (who was 1 1/2 at the time) was too excited to get a younger sister, but after a couple YEARS she finally warmed up to her and now they're a close little ying-yang pair. A week after buying Kona I then started my first job in Marketing at a dental company in Phoenix. And so my life in the world of dentistry began! I hear from many people there is only entry into the dental industry, no exit. I'm still not sure if people say that with warmth or fear. Hmm.... undecided.

Kona My Pekepoo (Pekingese/Poodle)

One Year Ago - August 2008

So after working at the dental company in Phoenix for 3 1/2 years it was time to move on and I took a job at a larger dental company and moved out to San Diego where I currently live. A couple months after I moved out here and after many trips back to Phoenix to have my house painted, yard relandscaped, and miscellaneous things fixed, I finally listed the house in April.

Well, in April of last year the housing slump was already sliding belly first down the slip and slide mat, and my chances of getting out of my house and breaking even were slim. Many months of stress piled upon more stress, I was able to sell the house! I truly think it was an act of God that everything happened the way they did on the timeline that they did. While it felt like eons were passing as I paid the mortgage on an empty house while also paying to live the California lifestyle out here in San Diego, the whole listing and sale process actually went pretty quickly in comparison to what was happening on the market.

I closed on the house sale on August 1st almost exactly five years after I bought the house. Kind of crazy how that happened! That was one of the first things I thought of when I flipped to the August page of my calendar this week when I thought about what I was doing this time last year. And then I thought about what I was doing in August the year before, and the year before that. And then I thought, its time for another blog! To the computer! Haha. So here I've been.