2 Runs + Some Fun

This past weekend marked the end of my two week recovery period from the OC Marathon. (Race recap on my blog 26 Point Tutu) There wasn't too much time to lounge around though because next up I have the San Francisco Marathon on July 31st! I haven't done much running over the past two weeks since the OC Marathon and have felt super lazy, but realize that I do need time to recover. Recovery time makes me so antsy! Luckily a trip for work ate up 5 days in the past two weeks (more on my blog Domo Does Boston), and with the Spring season of Girls on the Run wrapping up this weekend, I have been super busy!

 To commemorate the end of my 'rest' period and the start of some high mileage, I planned on doing two short races this past weekend. On Saturday I was running the Liver Life Walk 5K for the 2nd time, and on Sunday I ran the Bay Bridge Run (4 Mile) Run for the 1st time.

Liver Life Walk

Last year David and I ran this race after a long break in racing together. The Zoo is only a mile from my house and the race was "free" with a donation to the Liver Foundation! When we got to the race I was surprised that it was so small and unofficial and appeared to be made up mostly as walkers. David and I started out  towards the front of the pack and maintained that position through most of the race. I actually ended up coming in as the first female last year and received high fives from a liver mascot AND the Padres friar along with an announcement from the MC. Hey, that felt good!

High Five from the Liver

(Photo courtesy of ALF Pacific Coast Division)

Going into this year I had joked to David that I was out to defend my title. But honestly, who is joking?

I'm competitive and love to win. Must be because I'm an only child and I'm ALWAYS number one. haha I noticed that there were more people than last year at this race, but it appeared to be mostly a walking race. There was a start and finish line but no race bibs or a timing clock. No pressure! I set a goal on my Garmin for a 7:00 pace which would come out to  21:45 finish over 3.1 miles.

The Padres Friar!

(Photo courtesy of ALF Pacific Coast Division)

I started the race at the front of the pack and was pleased to see that I was able to hang with the front 5 guys for the first one .. wow wait, TWO miles! The course wound through the deserted zoo and we passed a lot of animals, many of who looked up in surprise as a group of runners charged by. The giraffes who perked up and then started running around in circles made me smile. :o) The course was poorly marshaled like last year and with several route options per turn it really felt like a crap shoot each time we hit an intersection. There were a lot of volunteers but they seemed bunched up. 6 people standing by one intersection but no one by another? I get it, kids want to hang out together. Still, it made navigation challenging.

At a couple points we all had to stop and decide which way to go, and towards the very end when we hit an intersection we'd been at before, the marshalls said "short way this way,  long way that way". The lead pack immediately headed towards the long way. Um wait, we were at like mile 2.5. I figured it was time for us to exit the zoo not redo a loop. I stopped and said wait, we're ready to finish. Long way like first lap? Short way to the finish? They said yes, okay go that way. I noticed the lead pack was disappearing off towards the wrong way and suddenly it was me and one other guy heading towards the exit. We looked at each other, shrugged, and kept running towards the finish. As we kept pushing at a pretty good pace (I was exhausted from running so hard at this point) the guy said to me "Hey, you know you have a chance to take this. There's no one in front of us." I looked at him like he was crazy and thought, ME? Win a race? I said um, I don't think so. About when I said that a couple guys passed us, and then the original lead pack corrected their course and darted back in front of us. (Um, cutting!)

As we approached the finish line I noticed with excitement that there were no women ahead of me. I could be first female again! And wow, not bad overall! As we held on strong through to the finish, I felt truly accomplished! I had run hard, beat the hills, and finished strong! As it turns out, I came in 1st female overall again! And 5th overall. Not too shabby! Granted the race field wasn't huge (maybe 100-200?), but I still felt great about my finish. The course came up shorter than 3.1 on my Garmin and measured at 2.87 miles. My total time was 20:56 (on an 2.87 vs 3.1 mile course) meaning I missed my goal of a 7:00 pace, but finishing with a 7:18 pace on a hilly (incline down, then up) course was just fine with me!

Mile 1: 6:49 pace
Mile 2: 7:14 pace
Mile 3: 7:55 pace

Course Elevation Profile vs Pace

Bay Bridge Run

The next day I was racing again. On Sunday I ran the Bay Bridge Run which starts downtown and goes over the Coronado Bridge. It seems like almost all of my San Diego running friends did this race last year and loved it! In addition to the coolness of running over the Coronado Bridge, each runner who completes the race also gets a free ticket to a Padres game the following weekend. What a great deal!

Bay Bridge Run Start

My goal for this race was to stick to a 7:30 pace and finish in 30:00 even. I figured that even with the slow incline up and over the bridge I'd be okay holding this pace since the course was only 4 miles long. I started out towards the front of the 10,00 person pack thinking that I was up front enough to be running with the 'serious' competitors. Wrong! I spent the first two miles dodging walkers and  baby strollers. 

Yet Another Sexy Race Photo

It was really cool to run up and over the bridge (but not as cool as running over the Golden Gate Bridge in the San Francisco Marathon!) and tons of people were stopping along the bridge to take pictures. There was a navy band playing at one point on the bridge which was pretty cool. I didn't have too much trouble pushing on the way up the incline of the bridge, and loved flying down on the other side. I totally love running downhill! I know some people complain that its hard on their knees but for some reason it doesn't bother me at all. I ended up finishing the race in 30:28 which is a 7:37 pace. Only 7 seconds off per mile? I'll take it! Maybe if I had started closer to the front and didn't have to dodge people so much I could have made my 30:00 goal. I smell a challenge for next year!

Bay Bridge Run Profile vs Pace

Mile 1: 7:46 pace

Mile 2: 8:31 pace

Mile 3: 6:59 pace

Mile 4: 7:14 pace

I looked up my results after the race and was shocked to see that I came in 10th in my division out of 900+! Granted there were a lot of walkers, I still did amazing! (Funny, but 2nd and 4th in my division were two other former GOTR coaches.) Overall I came in 233 out of 10,000. Wow!

If you are local to San Diego and are considering this race I totally recommend it. The course is great, there's a big family expo event at the finish in Coronado, getting a free Padres ticket is a total plus, there is ample parking at the convention center at the start line, and there were plenty of shuttle buses back from the finish to the start.

Cool Collapsible Water Bottle Gift

I was worried about the logistics of getting back to my car quickly (I had to be somewhere right after!) and did something I rarely did .. I ran with my phone. My big Blackberry is not my ideal running friend (how do people run with an iPhone??) but I wanted to have my phone with me at the finish just in case I was going to be really late. I put my phone, car keys, and some cash in my Spibelt (which claims to not bounce) and was impressed that this time it actually didn't bounce! I had worn it once prior in a race and put my gloves in it and that ball of contents seemed to bounce around the whole time. Maybe you need something flat inside to keep it close and tight to your body.

Spibelt with Blackberry Inside

Shoe Dog

Soon after the Bridge Run I had to jet home, shower, and then get up to Road Runner Sports for a Girls on the Run event. RR Sports was nice enough to host us in their back room and support a "Shopping Party" to help participants in our Sparkle and Shine 5K "Gear up for the 5K". Attendees of the event were given 10% off all merchandise (20% if you were VIP) and were entered into a drawing for a free pair of shoes. In addition to this we had a table with information about the GOTR program  and ..... a couple of us got to dress up as their mascot Shoe Dog!!

Shoe Dogs on the Run

Stylin' as Shoe Dog

I have always wanted to dress up as a character! (Wait, is that weird?) My first choices of course are Hello Kitty or Minnie Mouse, but a cute spotted dog is quite alright too!  

Oh No! Not my head!

Christine & Todd Came by to Conga

The costumes weren't too hot if you were just sitting around, but once we started jumping around to take pictures it became an oven inside. Fake fur doesn't breath! :oP

Hurray for Girls on the Run!

(I'm in the middle showing off my cheerleading skills. Still got them!)

Having Fun with Girls on the Run

Overall the weekend was packed with fun, new things, and I can't wait for this coming weekend! On Sunday Girls on the Run San Diego will be having their Spring 5K, the Sparkle and Shine 5K! Want to see 180 girls ages 8-13 run their hearts out in a 5K race? Details on how you can join us can be found here. Have a great weekend!

One of our Girls on the Run

(Proudly wearing a Glam Runner tutu)

GOTR Community Projects

As another season of Girls on the Run approaches its finish, its time once again for our community project. This is my fourth time coaching Girls on the Run and in my first season we made cards for Make a Child Smile and Holiday Mail for Heroes (more on my blog GOTR Community Service Project), in my second season we had a bake sale with proceeds benefiting the Helen Woodward Animal Center, (more on my blog Another Season Ends), in my third season we again made cards for the military through the Holiday Mail for Heroes program (more on my blog GOTR Gives Back), and now in my fourth season the girls decided to do a toy/book drive for the Polinsky Center for Children and to also make cards for the kids there.

Holiday Mail for Heroes

The Polinsky Center is an emergency shelter for abused and neglected kids, and it turns out that one of my GOTR girls stayed there prior to joining her new family who has now adopted her. The girls had an easy time bringing books and toys to donate, but then struggled a bit coming up with cards to write for kids at the center. I suggested that they keep the cards light and upbeat, with general phrases like "Hope you have a good summer" and "Thinking about you". At one point the girl who had stayed at the center said to me "I just don't know what to write". I didn't want to make her uncomfortable by letting her know that another coach had told me she had confided in them about having stayed there herself, so I said "Well, what is a nice thing you can say that someone there might want to hear? Maybe something general?"  She said something that broke my heart for a second and made me just want to hug her (I restrained myself) ... she said "Um I don't know ...  'It gets better'?) Aww. :o( Tear. I hope that's the case for most of the kids!

Cards for the Polinsky Center

The girls ended up making some cute cards and brought a nice pile of their own toys and books to donate.  In addition to my site, there are 14 other groups of Girls on the Run in San Diego county! I reached out to the other coaches to see what their girls came up with. It was heartwarming to see the variety of projects that the kids had decided on. Some of the other projects were:

• Carving soap for a nursing home
• Picking up trash and recyclables at a school
• Collecting donations for an animal shelter
• Creating a lemonade stand with proceeds to benefit an animal shelter
• Making signs for the police, fire department, and border patrol
• Making bracelets and cards for Make a Child Smile and Love Letters
• Trash pickup and signs to encourage recycling

Cards for Make A Child Smile & Love Letters

Donation Drive for the Rancho Coastal Humane Society

Carving Soap for a Nursing Home

Appreciation Signs for the Police, Fire Department, & Border Patrol

Cards for the Polinsky Center

Help the World - Recycle!

Lemonade Stand/Bake Sale with Proceeds Towards the Humane Society

Track Pickup at a Community Center

I love this part of the Girls of the Run curriculum and it seems that the girls really enjoy it too. Is it ever too early to learn to give back? I don't think so! Philanthropy should begin at an early age to not only help us appreciate what it is that we have, but to put in perspective what we  and others don't have, and to help us find joy in the simple ways we can help others.  As far as Girls on the Run goes, I joined so I could give back to girls in my community, but by way of volunteering I have found that the program has enriched my own life  as well. Funny how that happens right? Give back and you'll get so much more back in return. :o)

Domo Does Boston

Have you missed Domo? Domo has missed you! Domo hasn't had a chance to blog since January when Domo went to Arizona. (More on Domo's blog "Domo Does the Desert") Domo has been dying to write about his travels! You know you miss Domo's writing. Monika only blogs about running. Blah, blah, blah. Domo blogs about FUN!

This past week Domo flew out to Boston for a tradeshow. Considering Domo hasn't flown since February, Domo was really surprised that he was upgraded on 3 out of 5 flights for the trip. Usually Domo's upgrade rate is around 40%. While 60% may not seem like a huge increase, it really is! I mean its 50% more than 40% ... but Domo won't bore you with the math. On the flight out Domo flew from San Diego to Phoenix, Phoenix to Boston. Boston to Philly, and Philly to Denver to San Diego. Domo was in a lot of airports.

Boston Trip

Domo was in Boston from Saturday through Tuesday. Just like most of the other times Domo has been to Boston, Domo only saw the airport, his hotel, the convention center, other hotels, and restaurants on his trip. Domo isn't complaining - he likes the free trips, but wishes that one of these days he can visit Boston for fun. On Domo's first night in Boston he got in late in the day, set-up his tradeshow booth, had dinner solo in the hotel lobby bar, and then went to bed by 10pm EST. Yes, Domo went to bed at 7pm on his timezone. Hey, don't judge - Domo wanted to get up early to run!

 Chips & Onion Dip in the Hotel Lobby

Domo Likes Sleeping

The next morning Domo enjoyed some room service, hit the gym for a few miles on the treadmill, and then spent the day (9am - 8pm ..... seriously??) at the tradeshow before going out to dinner with some coworkers.

Domo Loves Marriott Room Service Breakfast

Domo and friends ended up at the Barking Crab restaurant which was a few minutes away from the convention center. The place looked pretty casual but had a great menu of fresh seafood. Hey, when in Boston, Domo eats nothing but seafood!

Overcast Day in Boston by the Convention Center

 

Inside the Convention - All About Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

The next day Domo got up early again and this time headed to the pool instead of the treadmill. The Renaissance Boston Waterfront where Domo was staying had a really weird but cool pool. Single lane lap pool that's only three feet deep? Perfect for Domo's lap swimming!

Domo's Solo Lap Pool

After Domo swam some laps he spent another day at the tradeshow and went out for a group dinner at Villa Francesca with his coworkers and some other people from his industry.

Being Silly with the Compression Wear Mannequins

The next day at the tradeshow wasn't much else of note (aside from scoring on some great skincare items!), and before Domo knew it he was leaving Boston and headed to Philly.

Domo Loves His Job (And Free Skincare!)

 Journee Bio-Restorative Day Cream from NeoCutis
NeoCleanse Cleanser from NeoCutis
Pressed Mineral Foundation from Colorscience

Philly for the Day

Domo had plans to spend the day with the MidAtlantic rep on Wednesday before finally heading back to San Diego. After leaving the tradeshow Tuesday night Domo hoped on a plane to Philly and dragged his tired body and sore feet to his hotel room. Domo was staying at the PHL airport Residence Inn (one of SIX hotel choices in the Marriott brand family) and was pleased but alarmed when he was upgraded to a two bedroom suite. This hotel room (suite) was bigger than Domo's apartment! Domo was instantly unnerved and had to check the bathroom shower stall and closets in both bedrooms for murderers. Yes, Domo is a crazy paranoid person.

Domo and a Philly Pretzel

Upon checking in Domo was pleased when the girl at  the front desk said with excitement "As an Elite member we have a special gift for you!" Domo got so excited wondering what would be pulled out of the special drawer! "Here's a Philadelphia pretzel for you!" .. huh? What's a Philadelphia pretzel? It looked like a small soft pretzel ... wrapped cutely in plastic with ribbons. Hey, Domo will take it. Thanks Residence Inn!

Domo Loves Residence Inn Breakfast!
(Okay, looks gross -  but scrambled eggs, oatmeal, and ham is perfect!)

Domo spent the next day out in Pennsylvania and New Jersey with the local rep visiting customers and prospects. The day flew by and before Domo knew it he was ready to head to the airport to fly back to San Diego. Before taking Domo to the airport the rep stopped for gas in NJ. Domo forgot that it was mandatory full service in New Jersey ... and then Domo almost experienced cardiac arrest when he saw how much gas was .....$3.89?!?!?! Do you know how much Domo has been paying to get gas in San Diego? $4.23! And Domo has to pump hit himself! ARGH!

New Jersey Gas

Heading Home

Domo was flying home from Philly through Denver to San Diego. Domo usually tries to avoid connecting in Denver due to all of the turbulence in that area, but this was the best flight option Domo had going home. Domo was pretty tired from his long trip and was hoping to sleep most of the way from Philly to Denver and Denver to Philly.  Domo wasn't able to sleep much on the first plane and stared out the window during the whole descent. Domo was confused by the thick white clouds that they descending through for a long time ... until suddenly they landed! Whoah, was that snow? It looked like there was a blizzard in Denver! Wasn't it just 70F in Philly?

Blizzard in May?

Thanks to the snow in Denver (in unison - "Thanks Denver ... ") Domo's flight was delayed about two hours. Instead of getting home at 11pm PST (um, 1am EST), Domo ended up getting home around 1:30am PST. Sigh ... Domo was hanging out at the gate in Denver when what do you know, Domo bumped into a former coworker from his current job. This person had just left recently and Domo was surprised that he was not only on Domo's flight, but seated next to him! Small world!  A few miserable hours later and Domo was finally home, in his own bed, and dreaming away into the night. Domo decided to set his alarm for 7:30am to let him sleep in. Guess what? Domo woke up at 5:30am before his alarm. ARGH. 3 1/2 hours of sleep? Sigh.

Thursday was a REALLY long day (no sleep, rushed day, long meeting, coaching Girls on the Run, etc), but Domo was glad to be home and ready for the weekend. Domo is super excited that his next trip is  not for work but is for vacation! Guess where Domo is headed? Paris!! For details of Domo's trip to Paris last year, check out Domo's blog "5 Days of Family Fun in France". 

On the Road Again

As you might know, my special travel correspondent Domo writes my travel blogs. :o) But where has Domo been? Sabbatical? The last we heard from Domo was when he posted his blog "Domo Does the Desert" back in January!

Amazingly I have gone all the way through the months of February, March, and April without getting on a plane for work! I think this is the longest stretch I have gone in the past seven years. Its been really nice to be home for so long and have my weekends to myself since work travel usually means standing around in a suit on a weekend at a tradeshow talking to doctors.

To make up for these three months off though I have a LOT of trips planned in the coming three months. My line-up for May through July is:

• Boston (work)
• Philadelphia (work)
• Paris & London (vacation)
• Vegas (work)
• Vegas again (work)
• San Francisco ( NKOTB/BSB concert. Yes, seriously.)
• San Francisco (Marathon time!!!!!)

Some of the trips are close and short, others are farther and longer, and luckily there is a good mix of personal and work trips coming up. 

For a recap of Domo's trips from last year, you can check them out here:

Trip to Disney World in Florida: Domo Does Disney

Trip to San Francisco for Thanksgiving: Domo Does Turkey

Trip to Paris: Five Days of Family Fun in France

Trip to Vegas: Viva La Domo

Trip to Colorado Springs: Domo Does the Springs

Trip to DC: Domo Does DC

Trip to Chicago: Domo Does Chicago

Wow, Domo traveled a lot last year! That isn't even counting a trip to Aruba last March compliments of a couple years worth of frequent flyer miles and hotel points. More on my blog: Aruba: 4 Days & 4 nights.

Time to pack my bags tomorrow and on Saturday I'm off to Boston! If you are traveling soon yourself, check out my blog with my Top 10 Travel Tips. These tips might help make your next trip go a little more smoothly. Happy travels!

26 Point Tutu

This past weekend I ran my 13th full marathon! I haven't run a full marathon since June of last year and was a bit nervous going into the race. I had such a terrible #12 and the feeling of disappointment from that race has haunted me for almost a year. I knew going into this race that I needed to go easy on myself and just have fun, so I set several goals prior to this race.
 

1. Complete the race without getting injured
2. Complete the race without a total emotional meltdown like last time
3. Complete the race with a smile
4. Complete the race feeling like I've pushed myself as much as I could
5. And as always... complete the race under 4 hours!

I managed to accomplish goals 1-3, but sadly not 4 and 5. Well hey, as I learned while getting my engineering degree, 60% counts as passing. Haha!

Race Expo

Christina and I planned on meeting at the race expo around 3pm, so at 1pm I kissed my dogs goodbye, told them not to have a party, and hid all of the good liquor that they usually get into with their friends. and drove up to Orange County. (Their mom #2 came over to watch them. Don't think you can rob me when I travel! My dogs and petsitter will get you!) The expo was held at the OC County Fair grounds and was a good size and not massively crowded like expos often are. (Maybe because we got there so late.) I arrived at the expo hungry and tasted about 6 different kinds of protein bars. Oink. I managed to hold back my inner shopaholic and only bought a pair of inexpensive polycarbonate sunglasses to wear when I bike.

 

Super Cute OC Marathon Race Shirt

Pre-Race Dinner

Christina and I were staying at a Residence Inn about 2 miles from the race finish and when I searched for restaurants in the neighborhood it looked like 85% of the restaurants were Japanese. While I love sushi and all Asian food, we actually had Japanese together the night before the Rock N Roll last June. I jokingly told Christina that I didn't want to do anything this time that I did last time, and she admitted that she had been thinking something similar. We ended up going to the same California Pizza Kitchen that we went to before the Surf City Half Marathon, had our usual soup and salad, and then headed off in search of a grocery store so we could stock up on food for breakfast. Let me just say I LOVE Residence Inns for trips like this! Their rooms are like little studio apartments and have a kitchen with a full sized fridge, stove, and microwave. Perfect for cooking up breakfast!

Race Morning

The marathon was set to start at 6am and since I was in Wave 1 I was assigned to a 4:15am shuttle from the finish (where we'd park) to the start. Um ... 4:15am?? Christina was assigned to a later wave with a 4:45am shuttle time so we decided to just go with her wave. I'm not into getting to a start-line super early and milling around. I like to eat within an hour of starting to run and didn't want to eat my full breakfast in the dark outside. We parked at the fairground around 4:30am, got in line for the shuttle, and and before you knew it we were over at the start line waiting in the dark with a sea of other runners.

 

Smiling at 4am

 

I'm always amazed how you can bump into someone you know in a sea of tens of thousands of runners at a race. When I ran the Rock N Roll in San Diego in 2006 and 2007 I bumped into my college friend AJ at the start line both times. What are the chances?? Anyways, as I was standing in line waiting for this race to start I looked ahead of me a bit and caught site of my friend and former carpool mate Suneel from my last job! This was going to be his first full marathon! We wished each other luck .. and then we were off! I didn't want to stress about my finish time so I set my Virtual Trainer on my watch to a distance/pace combo of 26.2 miles and 9:00 minute miles, but then switched the view to a mileage countdown and current pace.

 

The First Half

I tried to take the first few miles easy and realized that miles 1, 2 and 3 just flew by! Before I knew it I was up to mile 8 and feeling great! This was a mental win for me since my failure at the Rock N Roll last year started at mile 6. Every mile past 6 felt like victory! Soon we were coming up on mile 10, 11, 12... wow! I still felt great! The course for the first half was absolutely beautiful! We went along the ocean, passed countless beautiful houses, ran through neighborhoods with houses on little lakes/canals. I had never really been in Newport Beach before and with each street we turned down I thought man, I want to live here!

Feeling Good

 

The course was advertised as being "net downhill" and from the course profile it looked relatively flat. Um, it actually didn't feel relatively flat and had a LOT of rolling hills. Overall my Garmin said we covered a total elevation gain of 3118 and elevation loss of 3300. The crowd support was great and the first half really flew by. We split from the half marathoners at mile 12, and then .... hey wait, where did everybody go?

 

Pushing On a Small Hill

 

The Second Half

Almost immediately after splitting off from the half marathoners I noticed that there were very few people running the full marathon. The next few people were 50-100 yards ahead of me, there was a distinct drop off in crowd support, and suddenly we were running in an industrial office park area. The course went through the office parks around John Wayne airport, around the sidewalk of the South Coast Plaza mall, along the riverbed (think of the big flood ditch where they drag race in Grease), and then through a trail behind a neighborhood. 

 

Crossing a Bridge in an Office Park

At some point around mile 15 I got tired, and at mile 17 I succumbed to running and walking. I physically felt okay (nothing hurt or was cramping), I think I had my nutrition okay because my stomach felt fine (I had a 600 calorie breakfast and ate 6 gels on the course), but I just didn't have the will to keep running without stopping. I ran walked for the remainder of the race and tried to just be happy I made it this far without really hurting, and I resisted the urge to flip the display on my watch to start predicting when I'd finish. I had no idea if I was over or under a 4:00 projected finish time until mile 22 when someone came up behind me and said "You can do it! Let's go!" I turned around and saw the 4:00 pace leader and gasped OH NO! really loudly without thinking.  A guy behind me said "Yeah, I just said the same thing". I picked it up again and figured I could hold onto him for 4 miles, but a few minutes later I succumbed to my next walk break.

 

Floating in My Tutu

Girl Power

As you've noticed from the pictures I ran this race in a big pink tutu. I've never even worn a running skirt before, and made a bold jump to a more flamboyant outfit. I decided to run in the tutu to make the race more fun and to help me not take myself so seriously. Guess what? Running in a tutu is AWESOME! (BTW a friend and I are selling these handmade tutus as a fundraiser for Girls on the Run. Like us on facebook to see other styles and pricing!)

 

 Christina - aka Blue Tutu

I can't even count how many women yelled out "GIRL POWER" to me and pumped their fist. Dozens of people on the sidelines shouted out "I love your tutu", and the girls at the water stations and several of the friendly police officers manning the course gave words of encouragement as well. Every time someone cheered me on, it made me smile. In addition to support from the crowd I also had the support of fellow runners. A couple times on the trail when I started to walk I had people behind me shout "Come on tutu girl! You can do it!"
 

Approaching the Finish

A Small World

Somewhere around mile 23 (?) when I was walking, a girl just ahead of me turned around and said "Hey Monika, its Jenny". It was my dailymile friend Jenny who I knew would be doing this race and I had told her to keep an eye out for me in my big tutu. I am SO SO glad I bumped into her since we chatted and ran/walked the last few miles together and kept each other company. It turns out she works with one of my cousins and knows another. How crazy is that? We stuck together to the very end and crossed side by side.  

 

Finally Finishing

 

Blue Tutu

Christina had originally told me that she wanted to go to mile 22 to cheer me on, but as miles 22 and 23 passed and I didn't see her, I figured she'd be at the finish line instead. She actually had a spot right around mile 26 and when she saw me coming she started madly waving her two signs and jumping up and down and cheering. :o) It was a nice welcome to the finish of a long race and it really made me smile. 

 

Blue Tutu's Got the Spirit!

Soon after crossing the finish line I almost walked into Danica  from Chicrunner who gave me a well-appreciated congratulations hug. Luckily it was so hot out that I probably just had a nice salt mustache not wasn't channeling my inner banana slug like I usually am after a race. I went over to bag check and got my stuff and my phone and then managed to find Christina about 20 minutes later. We bumped into two guys in skirts (well, one was actually wearing a loincloth) who turned out to be from the San Diego Hash House Harriers who put on the San Dieguito Half Marathon which I ran earlier in the year.

 

Running in Costume is FUN

Post Race

After the race Christina and I went back and showered and then went to get lunch  ... where else? At a Mexican restaurant! Nothing hits the spot after a long run the way a burrito does! We had a nice relaxing lunch and then both hit the road to head home. I was soooo tired on the drive and felt even worse for Christina who had to drive all the way back up to San Francisco.

 

 Dog Tired

When I got home I thought about taking a nap, but instead I managed to motivate to head off to church to share my thanks for a successful race. At several points in the race when I was walking and running and trying to push myself but listen to my body, my mantra was "God, please guide me". I think that worked. :o)

Humbled and Grateful Crossing the Finish

Race Stats

For my running nerd friends out there who love looking at splits, here are my official stats for the race. You'll notice that I kept a nice 8:30 pace average through mile 16, but with constant walk breaks for the next 10 miles I ended up averaging a 9:30. Not my best race but not my worst. Notice how there were only 1658 people doing the full marathon! I think there were ~15,000 racers total, meaning 90% did the half!

 

Official Finish Time 4:09:26

Mile Splits

 

Later in the afternoon after I had finished the race my dad had emailed me my race stats from the website. He pointed out that of the three 32 year old women from San Diego, I had come in first. He ended his email with "YOU ARE A CHAMPION!!"  Aww... so cute.

 

Next Up

I have two shorter races planned for May, a triathlon in June, and then the San Francisco Marathon in July! Eek! I haven't put my training schedule together yet but will do so this weekend. I'm going to need to blend in some biking and running in the first half of this training round to prepare for an International distance tri, and I'm going to try to start going to the Tri Club's Tuesday night track workouts to work on my speed.  I also have a groupon for Bikram Yoga that I need to use to help work on my core. Overall this race was a huge success for me. Regardless of my finish time I finally believe in my marathon abilities again. I can do this! And I can do it with a smile.
 

Bending like Bikram After the Race