Run Through the Colors!

This race report is two months tardy.  That's pretty tardy.  But onward....

E and I traveled to the beautiful town of Nevada City in the sierra foothills at the end of October with plans for me to join my sister in the Sierra Club's Run Through the Colors 10k and 5k.

photo credit onthenarrowroad.com

The colors weren't quite as spectacular as in the photo above, but you get the sense that the race is well named nonetheless.  The course was beautiful and hilly.  The air was crisp and chilly.  The breakfast afterwards at Ike's Quarter Cafe was to die for.

We didn't get a lot of awesome photos from the race, but the pre-race photos are out of this world (?).  Apparently, I think I am way too cool for school.  And my sister.

The line-up

I placed third in my Age Group - first placing ever!  No medals, but the wonderful mountain scenery, challenging hilly course, and delicious "Plain Jane" breakfast special and multiple cups of coffee afterwards were all worth it!

5k run/race

Last Wednesday I did a practice 5k with my seester for the 30th birthday Virtual Race.

She + other seester are running the 5k Giant's Race in SF in two weeks, while I run the 1/2. We took it soooo slow. We walked several times. I would hardly call it a race (for me) but it was outstanding to be running with my sedentary seester, who I know is just doing this running thing because she appreciates me and wants to spend time with me. She'd much rather be watching a movie and baking cupcakes, but I try to convince myself that she enjoyed her time on the run.

I told her we would just try & make it to the 1 mile mark, which she did with no problems. I could tell she would have gone out much faster if I hadn't held her back. I reminded her to drop her arms below 90 degrees to help relax. We walked for 1/2 a mile, and then turned around. When we were back at the 1 mile mark we ran with only one quick walking stop about 1/2 mile from the finish. Overall she was super, and we celebrated by jumping in the Snake River to cool our legs and refresh our faces.

So, this was hardly a race, but many many people enter 5 and 10k's (even marathons!) with the intention of walking, and simply doing the best they can. I'm proud of her for running with me, and appreciate that she goes WAY out of her comfort zone to run with me, Because I Love It!

Registration

Holy what!

I just registered for the Half Moon Bay International Marathon. I hope it was a good idea, and I hope I can make it. Paying $150 for something like that really means I have to get myself to the starting line healthy. No refunds!
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I have 12 miles on the plan for today and it seems insurmountable. I am trying to stay positive and hydrate a lot. I will try out some Cliff gel shots and shot bloks on this run.
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Last night I met two local marathoners at a friend's birthday party! I've known about this couple for a while, but finally got to meet them and talk running. It was great. They've run Oakland and Chicago together, training together all the while. It seems like they're three or four years into their running career and had some interesting advise, especially him. They recommended 'Born to Run', which I have on audio book and need to listen to! I also have "Marathon Man" the movie at home for this weekend - possibly on 'recovery Saturday'! Yippie!

Plans

I've used runner's world training program creator in the past to figure out how far and how often I should be running while I pretend to train for races. Ahem. With the Whale Run coming up I was again inspired to enter my single race time, & add my desire to train moderately hard over 4 weeks, to receive general guidance on my schedule. However, I was not impressed with the resulting plan. I believe it may have inspired me to create a custom plan. Custom. For me only.

Also add to this the fact that I'm constantly being asked to run with Jill and Blair! They seem to run willy nilly - 4 miles really fast whenever they want to! Hmmm. Not my style. I'm excited to incorporate runs with them to increase my speed, but not regularly. I need to up my distance if I've any hope of completing a 1/2 marathon this year.

And.... on to THE STICK. I mentioned this torture device at xmas and am reminded yet again that every run I do is made possible by THE STICK. When the ITB flares up, I roll it post-run with THE STICK until I can't breathe. I remain, mostly, pain free. I do still feel like I'm precariously balanced on the ridge between health and injury, so I appreciate each run to the utmost and use THE STICK regularly.

March madness

Yahoo. Running again, this time with .... buddies! Yes, I ran for the first time since college with a new group of folks. New running buddies are named Jill and Blair, and boy do they -cook-. That might have been my fastest 4 mile run - ever.

And February. I think I completely took February off of running. I had two major backcountry hiking/ski/snowboard trips planned back to back and didn't want to risk my knee flaring up (or other injury) right before my snow time. Between trips I logged about 20 miles of intense uphill, snowy hiking, including major vertical (we won't talk about the search and rescue operation it took to get us out on day three of trip two after 6' of fresh in 48 hours. Holy Shit.).

So march will be good to me, I'm sure. We're coming up on the 1 year anniversary of my running, as the Whale Run approaches. I am surely planning on running the 10k but don't have a lot of hope of beating last year's time due to my "rest month".

41 Mile Month

Super excited that I ran 41 miles in January. This stacks up as my third highest monthly mileage, per my Daily Mile stats (and month #1, August, included 18 miles of backpacking, which coincidentally got me into this whole ITB mess in the first place).

This bring me to entertain thoughts of ... TRAINING. Hmmm. Firstly, training would be very good for me because it limits the amount of "long runs" I do. If there isn't a training plan staring me in the face telling me to go run 3 miles, I will run 6. It's just how I am. Secondly, training gets you to run distances that you previously deemed impossible (hello 13.1 miles) in a hopefully safe timeframe.

I have two upcoming back-to-back snow trips planned, both to a Sierra Club winter cabin which necessitates 5 miles of uphill hiking with a 40 pound pack and snowshoes on my feet. Awesome. Plus add to that multiple hikes straight up powdery slopes with my snowboard tied to my back (free ride down, wheeee!). I hope and pray that my little ITB holds up solidly through all this. If it does, I will start running shorter distances interspersed with my long runs, ie; training.

In other buddy-news, I may or may not have found a running buddy(ies). Two friends have been running for months on the same River trail road that I run on. The only conceivable reason why we have not yet crossed paths before is that they are AM runners. Damn. I'm considering changing my habits just to have someone to run with. Updates to follow.

And lastly, I did P90X legs&back this evening before our employee dinner. Oh the burn.

So, a few runs have happened

Actually, just one. Friday found Meghan and I out on the Haul Road. Again, I was totally rocking it at a super-slow pace. My knee felt .... actually, it didn't feel. I couldn't feel anything, which means I was pain free. I tried not to think about it, or get excited, or even notice it at all. At 1.7 miles I had a faint shimmer of pain and we turned around immediately. I'd say we made it another .5 miles before I had to stop and stretch. I busted out a very measured, controlled .5 miles before declaring "Damnit Shit" and walking the last .6 back to the car.

I rewarded our pathetic efforts with a carton of cool coconut water each, and we stretched our IT bands in the sun while discussing my future running career. Turns out, I've officially bagged my 1/2 Marathon due to conflict of more important plans and the obvious outcome of me not finishing said 1/2 marathon. Let me just say that again to be clear:

I've officially dropped out of my October 17 Humbolt Redwoods 1/2 Marathon

This is both good news and bad news - a mixed bag, let's call it. On one hand, I can stop stressing about (not)training and pain. I can stop wondering what it's going to be like to run 2.5 miles and then walk 10.6. I can focus on my future as a runner, this fall and beyond. On the other hand, this is wholly depressing and anti-climactic, and I face a pretty constant challenge of not thinking I'm a stupid loser for having such a stupid loser IT Band. Also, it was to be my first real race. With real aid stations, tons of people and super-human achievement.

So, back to my future. I am now going to be a 2 mile girl. I will run 2 miles, 3 times per week. This is a very short distance, but it tends to lately be a pain-free distance. I am going to be a roll-the-shit-out-of-my-ITB girl as well. And I'm going to just have fun. I am also going to take some serious time off from running while it rains, storms and shits on us all winter, and will become a second-round P90X'er as well. This is the plan, anyway.

I so desperately desire to run a Half or a Full, and sincerely hope that my next year of life will be the year when I can accomplish this.