Race Reports

October 2015: Healdsburg Wine Country Half-Marathon
I ran a half-marathon. Did I just say that? Yeah, well, other than this and a couple other runs, I've hardly broken a sweat in the past few months. More on that in a bit. But it's true, I ran 13.1 miles on almost no training (NOT something I recommend, I paid for it for days after). It helped that the Healdsburg Wine Country Half-Marathon has actual wine during the race. Really! 3 wine tables in all and I had a sip at each one. I ran the whole race. But with almost no training it was my slowest, with a 12:46 per mile average. I might write a real race report for it soon just to log it but for now, this is it. I'm planning to do this race again next year, and really enjoy it next time! Gorgeous day, amazing course...and wine! I ran the race with a group of triathlete and runner types from Marin. What a time we had, so fun!!


April 2015: SF Rock n Roll Half-Marathon
Paid for this pic, haven't scanned it in yet
Wow! What a day. I can't wait to tell you about it. I'll start with the Friday before. I had planned to go to the gym but the day got hectic and I decided since I was running the half on Sunday, it's fine to just rest. Saturday I indulged in some treats, carb-loading is always a great time to indulge. I started the dinner hour by having two cream puffs, one vanilla and one chocolate. I couldn't finish them both but I gave it my best effort.

I headed over to the expo to pick up my bib and check out all the vendors.

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November 2014: US Half-Marathon San Francisco

So running a half-marathon might have fueled some of my candy-related choices... You probably know my training for this race never really got going and I considered flaking on the run altogether. But then I remembered that 1, I like running, 2, I paid $75 for this and 3, I really liked the medal. Besides, if I pace myself I'll probably be fine but if not, I can always walk.

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May 2014: Guest Post - Jackie's Race Report from the Urban Escape Half-Marathon 
I woke up early to participate in the Inaugural Urban Escape Half Marathon in Novato. My running clothes and gear were laid out the night before, so I quietly got myself together and made my way to the kitchen. I sat down for my typical pre-run meal; two packets of instant oatmeal and a couple cups of coffee. I probably should have loaded up on water as well but was more concerned about pit-stops than dehydration. Then I successfully made my way out of the house without waking the kids.

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April 2014: Guest Post - Mira's Race Report from The Hapalua, Hawaii's Half-Marathon
Back in November of 2013, before I had even run my first half-marathon, I received a notice of a half-marathon happening in April in Honolulu. My husband and I always take a trip around our anniversary so I texted him “how about heading to Hawaii for our trip and I can do a half-marathon on the same trip?” Naturally he agreed to go to Hawaii for pretty much any reason. After I struggled my way through the Berkeley half-marathon in November 2012, I decided to hire a running coach. I was really catching this running bug and even though I was still slow and feeling like it was a lot of work, I was starting to find the joy in it. 

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March 2014: Across the Bay 12k
Up at the crack of dawn to drive into the city. I parked near Ghiradelli Square (where the race ended) and caught the shuttle over to the Sausalito start. Some of my mom/runner friends crew were also doing the event but I couldn't find them before the race got underway.

I'd done all my morning stuff right, took an allergy pill, used my inhaler, no GI problems. The day was off to a promising start.

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October 2013: Nike Women's Half-Marathon San Francisco
I'd planned to drive in the morning of the race. Which is no easy decision given the race begins at everyone, and I was lucky enough to have my friend Irene offer me the floor of her hotel room. Whew! I met Irene some 8 years ago on the Body for Life California chat forum.

6:30 in the morning and there are 30,000 runners. Add organizers/volunteers/spectators and the massive number of people was intimidating. But when BART (local transit) went on strike I started to panic. So I reached out to everyone I knew running the race and/or living in San Francisco, and I do mean

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September 2013: Santa Cruz Olympic Triathlon
An alternate title for this post could be: A Fat Girl Picked Me Up. Read on, you'll get it.

What: Santa Cruz Triathlon, Olympic Distance


SWIM (1.5K) A brisk ocean swim around the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. Water temperature is usually in the mid 50’s, so wetsuits are strongly recommended.
BIKE (40K) A challenging out-and-back ride via city streets and coastal Highway 1. The turnaround is located in the historic coastal town of Davenport.
RUN (10K) A flat and fast out-and-back course along the ocean on beautiful West Cliff Drive
When: Sunday, September 29th, 2013
Where: Santa Cruz, Ca

The alarm went off bright and early at 5:30am.

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July 2013: 4 on the 4th, Fourth of July 4 miler
Up and at 'em and ready to face the miles.  I wasn't quite sure how the run would go, given that I'd barely run even 1.5 miles in the last few weeks.  But I reminded myself it was a "fun" run and to just enjoy myself.  As soon as I got there I ran into a slew of mommy friends also doing the run.  Now we're really talking fun!

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June 2013:  See Jane Run San Francisco Half-Marathon
This week has been what I hope is an anomaly.  Prior to the half-marathon yesterday the only exercise I got was the 4.5 mile run I did on Tuesday.  You might recall that I was sick last weekend and I basically parlayed that with the upcoming half-marathon into a week of doing almost nothing exercise-wise.  Food-wise I really cut back on my eating to compensate for the non-exercise.  LYING!  I ate as any good carbo-loading excuse making girl would given the circumstances.  I'll spare you all the calorie-laden details but trust me when I say the 1 pound loss I posted on Friday was not as a result of my hard work and focus.  In fact, it's one of those the-scale-lies weights.  But I won't pretend I wasn't happy to see a lower number.  Despite the scale's lying ways, I'm still inclined to take it as a good thing when it tells me what I want to hear.

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April 2013:  The Guardsmen San Francisco Presidio 10 Race Report
Race report?!  What race, you might wonder.  Weeeeee!!  I feel like I'm on a fun roller coaster these days.  A little scared, but enjoying the ride nonetheless.  Thursday was a gym day.  I started with a 25 minute ride on the upright bike on level 8.  This is my first time doing my full bike since the pneumonia and it was plenty tough.  Fortunately there was a fellow triathlete on the bike next to me and he kept me distracted from the suffering by telling stories of races gone by.  After the bike I did chest/triceps/core.  Pushups and the whole routine and while it was a challenge, I met it with a smile on my face.

And on Thursday evening a friend posted on my FB page about a bib for a 10k this Sunday that her friend couldn't use (Thanks Danielle!).  Did I want to take it?  The bib was for the Presidio 10k in San Francisco (put on by The Guardsmen, an organization that raises funds for kids to go on adventures - so cool).  I did a quick review of the race, noted the route includes a trot over the Golden Gate Bridge and I was in!  Here's the course.  They don't show the bridge on this map for some reason.

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April 2013:  Rock n Roll San Francisco Half-Marathon Race Report
I debated going to the gym on Friday but in the end I decided that since I planned to run 13.1 miles in a couple days with almost no training, best to get some rest.  Saturday night I got all my gear out and prepped.  It's amazing how much stuff you need!  Run clothes, body glide, hat, sunglasses, bib, safety pins, Garmin watch, heart strap, race belt, music, energy bloks/gels - and that's just the stuff for the actual race.  Then there's a change of clothes, pre-race water, etc, etc, etc.  I tried to go to bed early but I couldn't sleep.  And then Marek woke up at midnight with a nightmare and I was up for a while longer.  I think in the end I got about 4 hours of sleep.  Not ideal.

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March 2013:  Escape from Alcatraz *Volunteer* Report
What a day!  I volunteered at my first event, the Escape from Alcatraz international distance triathlon.  I had an amazing time!  Seriously, I had so much fun I'd almost pay to do it.  My day started at 3am when I rallied myself out of bed to get ready for my 4am shift start in San Francisco's Marina Green.  I didn't allow for walk-time from my car and ended up arriving closer to 4:30am but I didn't miss anything.

I was shown to my area in transition and told we'd be running a hydration station.  So we got busy setting up water cups and mixing the Cytomax.  It was pleasant out when I arrived but a couple hours later, as daylight broke, we were freezing our butts off.  Normally this event is held in June but due to conflicts with the America's Cup they held it early this year.  Next year it's going back to June.  I had four layers of tops on plus a light jacket and my teeth were still chattering (people who live in the snow, I'm sorry, I know we Californians are soft). 
I was in a bad mood on Saturday night, I think in part due to my now dashed expectations for the Kaiser half-marathon.  I had been so excited about my goal pace, to run an average of 09:30 minute miles and finish under 2hr, 4min, 27sec, something I felt was really attainable before I got sick.  I ate a bunch of crap all day, partly due to my bad mood and partly due to the carbo loading excuse.  There was a ray of hope in that my stomach actually felt pretty normal most of the day.  Anyway, being in a bad mood always makes me tired so I packed my gear for the race and was in bed by 8:30pm, if you can believe it.  I fell asleep with my fingers crossed that my stomach problems would not prevent me from at least finishing the race.

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November 2012:  Marin County Turkey Trot 10k
I got up around 6am and started getting my stuff ready for the run.  I hadn't prepped my gear at all.  I had breakfast and some coffee and hit the road.  The run was barely a 5 minute drive from my house, which was nice.  I got there way earlier than I needed to but didn't have to stand in any lines.  Got my bib and timing chip and then sat in my car reading the news on my phone waiting for the time to pass.  It was a little chilly but I could see it was going to be a gorgeous day for a run.  Clear, blue skies, no wind...perfect.

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November 2012:  Marin County Triathlon Sprint
I kept my week fairly normal in terms of exercise, hitting the gym on Sun, Mon, Tue and Thur.  After the 1/2 marathon from two weeks prior, I just wasn't in the mood to taper again.  So I decided to exercise as if nothing was happening, other than taking the day before the race (Friday) off from exercise.  I also did a fair amount of eating on Friday in the name of carb loading.  That's almost too good of an excuse to eat for me. 
I'd had a lot of reservations doing this triathlon on nothing but run training and in the back of my mind I was considering not doing it altogether, though I didn't say that out loud to anyone.  By mid-week I hadn't rented a wetsuit.  I tried on a friend's and I could get it on but it didn't feel right.  So at the last minute I ran to Sports Basement to rent one, unless they had a deal I couldn't turn down to buy my own.  Turns out they did!  They had a Women's TYR Hurricane Category 1 wetsuit for...wait for it... 

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October 2012:  Livermore Grape Stomp Half-Marathon
Woo-hoo!  I exceeded even my most hopeful expectations!  But let's start at the beginning. Rise and shine runners!  I was up early, but not early enough.  We had a communication snafu and I thought I had more time to get ready.  Good thing I'd packed my bag the night before so all I had to do was grab some coffee, dump some cereal and milk in a big cup, and scoot out the door.  I was doing the race with a couple mommy friends, Laurie and Deb.  Laurie and I have been doing a bunch of events together this year but this was my first event with Deb.  I ate my cereal on the way and we chatted about our hopes for the race.  I'd set an ideal average pace of 11:00 minute miles, for a roughly 2 hours, 24 minute finish time.

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July 2012:  4th of July Fun Run
So 4th of July was Wednesday (yesterday).  I registered, along with a couple mom friends, for a local 4 mile race in the morning.  I went to bed way too late the night before and knew nothing about the course - though I was assuming the route would be laid back (as in, flat), this is a holiday run after all.  My mom was over and could watch the kids so Miguel decided to run it too.  Fun!

I had my normal Kashi GoLean and coffee/creamer for breakfast.  I debated eating an AccelGel but in the end decided I didn't need it for such a short event.  Anyway, here I am with my mom friends pre-race.
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June 2012:  Tri for Fun sprint
I had a plan to rest all week to let my calf heal but by Wednesday evening I was itching to burn some energy at the gym.  Miguel and I worked out that I would go after dinner.  I decided that I could ride the bike without giving my calf much grief and that as long as I didn't do leg exercises I should be fine.  Add to that, it's a recovery/taper week anyway so I'm doing an easier level on the bike.  It felt good to be exercising as I pedaled away on the upright bike.  After the bike I did chest/triceps/core work for weight training.  The core work felt harder than usual for some reason.  I finished with a lot of stretching.

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May 2012:  Mud Factor Obstacle Course 5k
It was a gorgeous day at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma County.  Laurie and I met up at her house at 8:30 for the short drive.  Our wave wasn't until 10:30 but we wanted arrive plenty early in case there were long registration lines.  The lines weren't too long, we got our stuff and put on our Mud Factor bandannas to get in the spirit.  In line we met a woman who'd just moved from New York (Hi Shae!) - and she's lost 100 pounds!  We swapped some weight loss stories and cheered each other on.  I wore my Marin 10k shirt with running shorts.  For shoes I wore my first real running shoes.  I felt a little sentimental about letting them go (we donated our shoes after the event) but it was a nice send-off for them and

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April 2012:  Marin Marathon 10k Race Report
Friday was fairly uneventful.  I did my morning weigh-in and was up 2 pounds.  The WW meeting was nice, the discussion topic was anchoring.  This blog has become my biggest anchor.  I couldn't quit now, I have a blog to keep up!

I wasn't sure if I should go to the gym given that I had a 10k to run the next day but in the end I decided to just go for it.  I did a 25 minute run at what felt like an easy-ish pace.  Then I did chest/triceps/core for weight training.  When I got home Marek was in a VERY bad mood.  He'd missed his nap (too excited having grandma over to visit) and he was screaming/crying at the drop of a hat.  Not his usual self.  So to distract him and give Miguel and my mother some peace I took him to Costco.  The two of us had hot dogs for dinner and shared a very-berry sundae (ff frozen yogurt with strawberry topping) for desert.  I figured I'd just call it carb loading.  Bad carb loading though.

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March 2012:  Cinderella Classic Ride Report
Up at 5am and packing to go.  My dear husband had prepped my bike and put it in the car.  I'd packed my bag the night before.  Speaking of the night before, I'd had dinner with some mom friends, ate A TON (and called it carb loading), got home around 10pm.  After packing and fighting sleep I think I drifted off at around 11:30pm.  Five hours sleep, not the best start to the day but I hear it's normal for you to get a bad night sleep before a big event.  I had my coffee, a bigger-than-normal bowl of Special K, and hit the road to Melissa's.  I got to her house and opted to take my car because I have a bike rack on the top of my car.  Bit of a mistake.

We were driving along, pointing out how the sky looked pretty good and manifesting all the positivity we could muster about the weather when - clack, boom, bang! - something happened on the roof of the car.  Oh no, a bike must have flown off!  Please God, no!!!

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February 2012:  Kaiser Half-Marathon Race Report
The last few days have been a blur.  It's like my life was on fast-forward and it hasn't slowed down.   I am looking forward to tomorrow when I will get a chance to relax.

On Friday morning Miguel, the kids and I flew down to southern California.  We spent the day getting ready for the funeral and I had a bit of respite while getting a pedicure.  I was supposed to go with my mom but we were too late so I went solo.  There was food everywhere I ate like a starving girl.  I just didn't care.  Friday evening was the viewing; I went first and then Miguel went - I didn't think it was a good idea to take the kids.  Come bedtime I was exhausted.

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November 2011:  Marin County Triathlon Sprint

What a day!  I finished in around 1 hour, 41 minutes, give or take.  I got a little teary at the finish line, which I was not expecting, I was definitely challenged but I had fun facing up to it and felt very grateful for my health and my body.

And now, for more details than are necessary.

I got up at 5:30am, a little later than I wanted (I didn't hear the alarm) but still with plenty of time to get there.  I only had a few things to do before I left - get some coffee, eat breakfast, get dressed, grab my phone, grab my bag, put my bike on the car - I remembered most of them.

I did it again! The Pleasanton Tri for Fun was once again great fun. And this time I did it with a friend, which just added to the fun. We finished in 1 hour 59 minutes (good thing we ran that last 1/4 mile!), a time I can be happy with. I did this race last summer when in better shape and finished in 1 hour 35 minutes.  When 3 months pregnant I did it again and finished in 1 hour 53 minutes. Now, 5 months post baby and I still finished in under 2 hours. But the most important thing is, I did it!

I had my triathlon today. This was the olympic distance Marin Triathlon. My husband's boss did the swim, a colleague of mine did the bike and I did the run. 

And they're off! Even though I haven't done that many triathlons it was still a bit strange watching the swimmers go off without me.

My second tri was great fun. I can't really compare it to my first one despite the fact that they are the same exact triathlons. Reasons are related to the health type issues I'm in the midst of right now. I didn't focus on my finish time and in fact won't post my time here. All I wanted to do was finish...and I did! Miguel was with me to cheer me on so this report will be chock full of pictures. And I took my Garmin along this time so I'll post the maps too!

Summary...
I DID IT!! 1 hr 35 min!! I AM A TRIATHLETE!! I cried at the finish line.

Details...
That's the text message I sent out right after the race. Wow, the adrenaline and excitement at the end were just too much. But let's back up a bit...

I had been keeping a secret for a couple days. This past Wednesday I started getting a sore throat and it got worse every day. I woke up on race day and it was worse, swollen and hurting. But I did what I'd been doing up to that point - ignored it. A sore throat by itself is nothing, right? It didn't seem to be affecting my energy level or anything. Still, after the alarm went off I laid in bed thinking, "Why did I sign up for this? Maybe I'll just sleep in."