Just Like That

When I signed up for the San Francisco Marathon back in October, July 26th 2009 seemed so far away!!! Now I am only three short runs away from running my first full marathon. This process has been very educational not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally. After I cross the finish line next Sunday, I will have over 875 miles of running for the year. That is equivalent to running from Denver to Tucson, Arizona!!

After trying to schedule long runs for so many Sunday mornings, it seemed odd this week to only have 8 miles. I am a big believer in visualizing success beforehand, so with each run I keep re-enacting what I think it will feel like to run the race and cross the finish line. I have come up with different aspects to focus on for different parts of the race. This is my plan so far:

Miles 1-6: Have fun, enjoy the crowd, excitement, and adrenaline
Miles 7-11: Focus on finding a comfortable pace and stride
Miles 12-16: Focus on consistency in fueling and pacing, zone out
Miles 17-21: Focus on form - arms down, elbows in
Miles 22-26.2: Run with passion, think about the journey leading up to this moment

During the past two weeks, I have definitely experienced taper madness. Most people say it is caused by the cut back in mileage, but that is not the case for me. What worries me the most is just minor aches and pains that I have been having. They say that during your taper, you can't enhance anything you have done for your marathon, but you can undo what you have done. So basically, don't do anything stupid the weeks leading up to the race!

Runner's World has an awesome article about what to do during the last three weeks. I am really going to try hard to eat well and drink lots of water this week. I am also trying to add an extra half hour of sleep each night.

The great thing about this race is that I get to look forward to a vacation after it is done. We will be spending two nights in Napa and then back to San Francisco for some more sightseeing once the legs have recovered. So worse comes to worse, I can always distract myself at the end with thoughts of wine, cheese and chocolate! :)

I hope I can post one more time before we leave on Thursday. If not, I will have a full race report when we get back!

Chi-Town and Updates

I'm back!!! I can't believe it is already the middle of July. Where did the summer go? Hubs and I have had a jam packed schedule since we got back from Chicago, and I am just now starting to feel like I have a handle on things. Does everyone else struggle getting back into the real world after vacation? I always feel like it takes me at least a week to get caught up.

Before we left for Chicago, I did my long run on Thursday morning. This is the first time I have ever done a long run in the middle of the week, and it was my last long run before the marathon. My legs were definitely tired for this run since I had done a 14 mile trail run on Sunday and I had a make-up tennis match on Wednesday night that lasted over 3 hours!!! Not exactly an ideal situation, but running 20 miles during my vacation in Chicago didn't sound like a smart idea. Good thing since I didn't even manage to run my 10 mile run I had scheduled.

Even with tired legs, this run was pretty uneventful. My friend Jess joined me out on the highline canal again and the miles ticked away fast since we were talking so much. During training, the long runs have always been my favorite. It is the mid-long runs (9-12) during the week that I haven't really enjoyed.

After we finished, I hurried home to shower, pack and head to the airport. Chicago was absolutely fantastic. I can see why so many young professionals choose to live in Chicago. I could never live there because of the miserable winters and I would miss the mountains too much. I never realized how FLAT Chicago is. Since pictures are much more fun I will let them tell the story of our trip! :)

Dinner and drinks at Moe's in Wrigleyville

Cubs Game (They won in the 10th inning!)

Watching the fireworks at Navy Pier

The top floor of the Hancock building after shopping on Michigan Ave.

Dinner at Japonais on the Chicago River

I'm in Chicago!

At the Bean in Millennium Park

North St. Beach

At the beach with the Chicago skyline

Architectural Boat Cruise

Sears Tower

My two favorite buildings are the ones on the right

Grant Park

We definitely had a great trip, and can't wait to plan another visit to Chicago. I still can't believe how much we did in 3 1/2 days. I think we got a good feel of the city. Another part of the trip that I really enjoyed was walking around Bucktown. It has a bunch of cute boutiques and restaurants and I thought it was a really cool part of the city. Less than two weeks till our next vacation....San Fran!!!

Long Run Sunday and Travel Update

Last weeks long run was a cut back week, which meant I only had to run 14 miles. It still amazes me how much I look forward to ONLY having to run 14 miles. It seems so much shorter! I decided to head up to Boulder for something different this weekend. I ran the Teller Farms Trail/East Boulder Trail out and back. This is a fairly difficult route because it very hilly. The nice part is it has rolling hills instead of just one giant hill like so many other trails. I started at 7:30 to try and beat the heat, but this trail has little to no sun cover and I was out of water by mile 12. :( My legs were much more sore from this run than my 20 mile run last weekend. I hope those hills pay off in San Fran in 3 weeks.

Travel Upate

The hubs and I and two friends are headed here for the 4th of July weekend!

That's right, we are headed to the great city of Chicago. I am so excited to visit our friends out there. I have never been to Chicago so we have lots of touristy stuff planned. Here is the list so far:

• Cubs game
• Watch the fireworks at Navy Pier
• Architecture boat tour
• Shopping on Michigan Avenue (Must stop at H&M!)
• Dinner at their favorite sushi restaurant
• Visit Sears Tower, Millennium and Lincoln Park
• Spend time along the beach

If you have any other must see suggesstions, send them my way!

La La's Wine Bar and Pizzeria

Last weekend, I met some of my best girl friends at a wine bar/pizzeria in town called Lala's Wine Bar and Pizzeria. We decided to meet at 6 pm since their happy hour goes until seven. To start off the night I ordered the Y3 Chardonnay from Napa. Since I will be in Napa in a month, I have been trying to order different wines from that region. It was delicious, but defintely full bodied and would have been probably better suited for my second glass and not my first. The other wine I tried was the King Estate Pinot Gris from Oregon. It was delicious, and I am definitely a fan of the sweeter wines!

For dinner I split the Lala’s Pollo Salad (Herb grilled chicken, seasonal apples, spring greens, candied walnuts, Gorgonzola Dolce and organic cider vinaigrette) and the Il David (Naked (of course) three cheeses, herb grilled chicken,artichokes, oven dried tomatoes, roasted garlic and Peppadew peppers) Both were absolutely fantastic! The manager on duty came over and asked if it was our first time here. When we said yes, she offered us FREE dessert. We decided on the Chocolate Giovanni (Housemade chocolate ganache with a Frangelico hazelnut anglaise and raspberry puree). It was a perfect dish to split and a great way to end the night!

Me, Kristin, Darcy, Pam, Becca

For those of you that just started a blog and for those that have had one for awhile. How long did it take you before you told your friends about it? I have told some people, but definitely not everyone. I am curious how people responded when you told them!

Peak Week and Long Run Sunday

This weekend wrapped up peak week for my San Francisco training schedule. I finished the weekend with over 47 miles total and a long run of 20 miles. I was very happy to get in all my runs this week. It feels so great to have a new record for mileage in one week. I still have one 20 miler to go the week of the 4th of July.

For this long run, I headed back to Highline Canal with my friend Pam. After the Rocky Mountain 1/2 Marathon Race, I had some pain in my shin splints and joints from pounding the roads and concrete. My plan is to do my next 20 miler on concrete so I get used to the pounding, but for this one soft gravel felt absolutely fantastic!

With the temps expected to be in the mid 80's, we decided a 6:30-7:00 start was necessary. I think I officially get up earlier on the weekends than I do during the week for work. I'm very glad we got started early because it did get very hot towards the end. Everything went really well on this run. Pam only had to do 19 and we run different paces, but we were able to get in around eight miles together which was really nice. i drank around seven waterbottles (re-filled 1/2 way) and ate a whole sleeve of Cherry Shot Blocks with Caffeine.

I wrapped up the weekend, with some much needed pool time and then a BBQ at my parent's house where we got to meet my newest nephew! He is only a 4 days old!

The Hubs is passed out in the background!

Dinner for Lunch

Everybody's heard of eating breakfast for lunch, but what about dinner for lunch? Sometimes the Hubs and I really don't feel like eating a big meal for dinner, but we still really want to cook. Enter dinner for lunch. Our most recent dinner for lunch was sesame crusted tilapia with steamed broccoli. I really enjoy eating a bigger meal for lunch because it helps me cut back on all the mindless snacking later in the afterrnoon.

Rocky Mountain Half Marathon Race Report

On Sunday, I ran the fifth annual Rocky Mountain Half Marathon. This was my very first half marathon race so it is very special to me, and a race I hope to run every year. I was really skeptical Saturday night about my ability to really run fast at this race. Andrew's Grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Friday and Saturday night so we had been going non-stop all weekend and of course, eating really delicious food (aka not good for running).

I woke up Sunday morning still feeling apprehensive. I went through my usual pre-race routine (oatmeal, water, check the weather, stretch, peppermint pill, etc.) Dave, Pam and I met at 6:30 to walk over to the race start. We made a few porti-poty stops and did a lot of stretching and warming up. Finally, the race was ready to begin. We lined up in our corrals, and then proceeded to stand for another ten minutes! The race was suppose to start at 7:30, but the gun didn't go off until after 7:35.

I went out way too fast, but this was part of my strategy. I knew the latter miles were going to be really HOT and really HILLY so I decided to make up some time in the beginning while it was still cool. Dave and I stuck together for the first 3-4 miles. We tackled the first big hill and then winded our way back through Downtown Denver and onto the Cherry Creek Bike Path. After about mile 5, I knew I was starting to slow down into a more comfortable race pace. The weather was very hot for racing and I think I stopped at 8 out of the 10 water stations. Usually, I run right through them but this race I decided to let myself stop and walk to really get a lot of water down. I took some Cherry Blossom Honey Stinger Chews at mile 5 and again at mile 10. The worst hill of this race is between mile 5 and 6. I try to train here regularly, but it still gets me every time!!!

Andrew found me a few times between miles 7 through 10 and then again at 12.5. This year they changed the course around so the last 3/4 of a mile is ALL uphill! I knew I was close so I charged as fast as I could up that damn hill.

With the finish line in sight, the clock was at 1:46:30 so I sprinted to get in under 1:47. Final stats are:

1:46:41/AP 8:08
196/1497 Overall
51/912 Overall Women
6/111 Age Division

Pam, Me

Me, Andrew

I can't believe I was sixth in my age division! This is closest I have ever been to receiving an award! What is even more exciting for me is I was able to shave 17 minutes off my time last year which was 2:03:30. It is absolutely amazing what your body can do with a lot of hard work in a short amount of time.

My mom and Pam's mom joined us at the finish line to cheer us on. It it always so great to have their support! After loading up on samples of Granola and Lara Bars, we headed to Dixon's for a post-race breakfast celebration. I ordered the Eggs Mazatlan( Three scrambled eggs and guacamole rolled into a warm flour tortilla. Topped with green chile and white cheddar cheese. I changed it up a little by adding in spinach.)

Pam and I also ordered a peach blossom (champagne, peach schnapps and orange juice).

Pam, Dave, Me, Andrew

This was such a fantastic race for me. It still had some challenging parts and it really made me question how I should approach "racing" San Fran.