Race Report: Brazen New Year's Eve Half Marathon

Why did I sign up to run this race? 

The story of how I ended up running this race is a bit silly. To be honest I was sort of thinking of it as a kind of New Year's Eve turkey trot, i.e., the rest of the day is going to be busy & involve a bunch of socializing and celebrating, and it will be nice to have a nice, solid plan in place for getting a long-ish run in early in the day. Originally, I just started googling for local Dec. 31 half marathons, but unless I missed something, this was the only half marathon within a reasonable driving distance of home. I hadn't really been planning on making my trail half debut at this time but figured, "Eh, trail races, that's just, like, a kind of long cross country race? And I'm not even trying to run fast, just get in the miles, so who cares. Hills, pshhhh, whatever."

And then what happened?

WELL, I went to Dubai for 1.5 weeks during which time I wasn't able to run at all thanks to work scheduling, travel logistics, and jet lag. I got one good run in after I got home and then promptly got sick and spent most of my holiday travel feeling terrible (as well as jet lagged). By the 26th I was starting to feel a bit better so went for a short four-mile run, then six miles a couple days later, and six miles when we got home on the 30th. I was definitely not feeling 100% and went back and forth on whether running a trail half was smart or not (vs. just going out for an easy 6-10 miles or so at home). Partly because I had looked at the elevation profile for this race, and because the first trail race I EVER ran back in 2011 was in this park, I knew *exactly* what that second big hill was like. 🤣

In the end, though, I thought, "Eh, how bad can it be, it's only a 35 minute drive," and went for it. #famouslastwords

Race Day:

I Bought A Car!

Heads Up: This is not about running. It's about the very very annoying and frustrating process of buying a car. Mainly I felt like I wanted to document the process and also thought maybe some of the info would help someone out in the future, so, enjoy! Or don't! I'll get back to run-blogging soon enough, promise. :)

Let us journey back in time to spring 2005: Snoop Dogg and Kelly Clarkson on our first-generation iPods, pseudo-useless internet on our dumb phones, and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" playing on endless repeat on the radio. We watched How I Met Your Mother and Bones on the actual TV at the actual times they aired; The 40-Year Old Virgin made us laugh, Brokeback Mountain made us cry, and Elektra made us question Jennifer Garner's judgment in hairstyles (just say no to the bangs, Jen).

I had also just finished grad school and secured my first grown-up job making real grown-up money (sort of), and the first thing I did once I got that offer letter was ride my bike to the local Honda dealership to buy a 2005 Civic Hybrid. I'd hoped to buy a used one but hybrids were still pretty new then and I couldn't find one near me, so I ended up buying a new one. I had a lot of environmental guilt and since driving daily was not going to be optional, that 43-48 mpg seemed like a solid way to do make at least some kind of effort.

Here is how buying that car went down:

Car salesman: Hello, how can we help you?
Me: I would like to buy a Civic Hybrid.
Car salesman: Excellent choice! That will be $xx,xxx.
Me: GREAT where do I sign.
Car salesman: *blinkblink* Oh...Ohkay then!

I even paid for the extra warranty and the car alarm because, well, those things sounded important and I was young and dumb and knew nothing about buying cars. Palo Alto Honda dealership, you are welcome.

Boston 2 Big Sur: Should You Or Shouldn't You?

I don't remember where I first heard about Boston 2 Big Sur; it just seems like one of those things that's sort of been in the water since I started running distance races ten or so years ago. I'm sure I first read about it on someone else's blog back in the day, or one of my very earliest Bay Area running buddies mentioned it in passing. Who knows. But for about as long as I've wanted to try to qualify for & run Boston, I've always known that if I did, I would try to complete the Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge as well.

Part of this has to do with wanting to run Big Sur, but not wanting to devote an entire training cycle to it since it's pretty much guaranteed not to be a fast race. So Boston 2 Big Sur kind of let me do a two-for-one: Train for and run a "for-serious" marathon (Boston), then run another casually while I'm still in shape to finish the distance reasonably well.

There was also the issue of getting in; the race is popular enough that there's a lottery, so you can't just assume you'll be able to run it whenever you want. (See this post for more details about the Big Sur Lottery.) Boston 2 Big Sur was the closest I'd ever come to being guaranteed a spot.

Of course, I'd never tried to run two marathons just 13 days apart, let alone running one of the toughest road marathons around just days after running what is on its own not necessarily the easiest marathon around. When I first started running marathons, I never would have dreamed of attempting such a thing, but October 2017 rolled around and I was feeling a bit nervy, so I figured, "Ehhhhh, what the heck? It's not a challenge if you're sure you can do it!"

(At least 2018 was one of the 13-day gap years; some years the two are only 6 days apart & I'm not 100% sure I'm *quite* that crazy.)

When I was first thinking about doing Boston 2 Big Sur, I had a lot of questions. I'm grateful for everyone on the internet who wrote race reports and shared their experience, so I thought I'd pay it forward & add to the collective bank of information that's out there. Obviously these are all just my personal opinions, and they're extremely colored by my experiences & background, so, as always, YMMV.

Race Report Spoilers: BOSTON 2 BIG SUR COMPLETE!

So, again, just thought I'd post a quick little check-in so that no one dies of suspense. I finished Big Sur! (And with only a little sobbing at the end.)

Definitely my slowest marathon ever (except for Oakland which I ran as a long run) for probably obvious reasons, but not abominable, and I actually felt really good & strong all the way to the end.

I have a ton more to say about this entire experience, once I finally have the time to sit down & write something. Which, given that I'm now planning on a good, long break from even remotely training for anything, might be something that actually happens over the next few weeks.

(Er, once I get out of bed. The Big Sur course is absolutely gorgeous, but man, it really beats the ever-loving SHIT out of you. :/ )

Talk to you soon!

Boston Marathon Week 6 of 18: Winter Running: Take 2

Friends, we are officially a third of a way through this training cycle and I'm not exactly sure how that happened.

There's something about hitting 50 miles a week for the first time in a training cycle that makes it start to feel real. All through training for RNR San Jose and even through November and December running in the low to mid 40s felt physically terrible, as if I were training much much harder than I actually was, and it was hard to imagine getting back into that 50-60 mpw marathon training zone. Thankfully in the past few weeks something seems to have shifted and longer, harder workouts are finally--FINALLY!--starting to feel good again.

{proceeds to cross alllll the phalanges & knock on alllll the wood...}

~*~*~ Boston Marathon: Week 6 of 18 ~*~*~

Race Report: California International Marathon 2016 (My Race)

Sooooo it turns out that if you get your act together and actually, like, train hard for stuff, pretty amazing things can happen.

WHO KNEW besides everyone?

On the plus side (at least as far as CIM was concerned), my talk in Monterey on Saturday was cancelled, which meant I was actually able to get some good sleep Friday night and get to Sacramento before dinner time. Don & I got to the expo on Saturday around 4pm, a little later than intended due to bad traffic, but still in plenty of time for me to grab my bib & shirt & hunt around for a pair of sunglasses (having left mine in Palm Springs a few weeks back).

Evolution of a Distance Runner: Systems & Process Goals

I wrote a few weeks back about how I'm not really hitching myself to a particular time goal in this race. I've done that lots of times in the past because it's a very bloggerly thing to do ("My A/B/C/D goals for xx race next week are this/that/the other thing!") and because if you're not setting goals how will you ever make any progress ("goals are dreams with deadlines" or some such). Regardless of whether I achieved the goal or not, though, something about defining things that way always felt kind of...off.

There could be a lot of reasons for that. This research, for example, that found that stating a goal publicly can actually make you less likely to achieve it, because "announcing your plans to others satisfies your self-identity just enough that you’re less motivated to do the hard work needed." And if you set a goal and then don't achieve it, how do you understand that? Or this bit from Scott Adams' Secret of Success: Failure:

"If your goal is to [accomplish x], you will spend every moment until you reach the goal—if you reach it at all—feeling as if you were short of your goal. In other words, goal-oriented people exist in a state of nearly continuous failure that they hope will be temporary. If you achieve your goal, you celebrate and feel terrific, but only until you realize that you just lost the thing that gave you purpose and direction. Your options are to feel empty and useless, perhaps enjoying the spoils of your success until they bore you, or to set new goals and re-enter the cycle of permanent presuccess failure."

Tempo run distance PR?

So Friday's tempo run (for very loose definitions of 'tempo,' can we all just roll with it) was 2.5 warm up, 6 x 2K @ half marathon pace / 1:15 jog, 2.5 cool down. My watch can auto lap 1.25 miles a lot easier than 1.24, so I just rounded up to that.

This was another workout I've been sort of intimidated by all week because my legs are tired and half marathon pace is even faster than marathon pace, but it turns out that after 61 miles in 7 days, if you think "10K pace!," you can just manage to eek out HM pace.

I am nothing if not consistent.

I was still a good quarter mile from home after the prescribed 2.5 cool down, so I kept running & made it a nice round 13.5 for the day.

Also, I think this might be the longest tempo/threshold/whatever workout (including the warm/up cool down) that I've ever done in my life.

This Sunday is also my first 20 miler of the cycle (with fast finish), including Healdsburg Half Marathon with these ladies:

Healdsburg 2012. Memories! Look how young & fresh-faced we were!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have go put myself to bed before I pass out on the couch.

* * *

GOOD LUCK, ALL YOU AWESOME PEOPLE RUNNING CHICAGO & TWIN CITIES & KONA & LOUISEVILLE & ALL THE OTHER THINGS THIS WEEKEND!!!! SHINE WITH THE WHITE-HOT LIGHT OF TEN THOUSAND BEYONCÉS!!!

EUGENE WEEKS 6 & 7 OF 17: a race, a climb, & some lovely beach art

I feel like all my time these last couple of weeks somehow got sucked into a black hole. I swear I've been, like, running and doing stuff! You can tell because I typed it on the internet in neat little bullet points or whatever, which is basically the most accountable thing a human can possibly do.

In other news, it is my 35th birthday & I am spending it in a hotel room in LA for work.

So excited I can hardly stand it.

~*~*~EUGENE MARATHON WEEK 6 OF 17~*~*~

Things went well! It was a good week! Accomplishments were accomplished!

Some Numbers:

* 26 miles
* 2:00:00 strength work
* 50:00 stretch & roll

Monday: a.m. strength work / p.m. karate

Tuesday: 1.5 warm up, 2x1600m @ 7:10ish, 2x800m @ 6:45ish, 1.5 cool down = 6.5 total, 20:00 stretch/roll. First track workout in months, and it was glorious. :)

Wednesday: a.m. strength work / afternoon 4 easy / p.m. karate. Skipped leg work since I was racing Saturday but did everything else.

Thursday: 6 easy. Felt a bit tired on this run & wondered if it was Tuesday catching up to me.

Friday: 2 easy. Since I was racing the next day I opted for extra sleep instead of strength work.

Saturday: 1.5 warm up, 6.2 RACE!! (+ 30:00 stretch/roll)

Notice how I am, like, actually running a race
and not sitting around injured. #winning #okayiwasthird #still

You can read my grumbly race report if you want, but one of my big takeaways was that I felt for most of the race like I was red-lining and running really hard for most of the race, but I realized as I got closer to the end that it was just my out-of-racing-practice coward brain playing tricks on me and in reality I had definitely not run as hard as I could have. Seriously, five minutes post-race I felt completely fine. It was a really weird feeling.

Sunday: GO ROCK CLIMBING!! Isn't that what you do the day after you race?

In case you needed more evidence that I definitely did not wear myself out at Bay Breeze, I finally conquered a 5.10a, which I've been working on since December.

~*~*~EUGENE MARATHON WEEK 7 OF 17~*~*~

The big story this past week was my long run. My schedule called for 160 minutes, but a 60% increase over the 100 minutes from a couple weeks back seemed like a bad idea, so I capped it at 140 for a grand total of 14.3 miles.

This was one of those days that just never happens for me when it comes to long runs. I felt like I could run and run and run and, although my right hip still felt a little tight (and probably always will), it felt not effortless but still really good. 14.3 felt great and if I were really stupid I could have gone further.

Out and back to Cliff House, which affords gorgeous views of Ocean Beach.

Also, just total mileage in general. For some reason mentally I was feeling like I didn't run all that much last week, but apparently it was 30 miles, which is another post-injury weekly mileage record and also quietly inching backs towards something that feels like normalcy.

Some Numbers:

* 30 miles
* 2:00:00 strength work
* 20:00 stretch & roll

Monday: Karate. Honestly, I could have run Monday & been 100% fine. Actually I probably could have run Sunday. My body just honestly did not feel like it ran a race on Saturday.

Tuesday: 8 easy. My longest week-day run post injury, and faster & easier than usual. Yeah; totally did not race as hard as I could have on Saturday. Bah.

Wednesday: Afternoon 1 to gym, strength work, 1 home / p.m. karate. Super early work meeting so strength work got shifted to after work.

Thursday: Nothing. This day was 100% packed start to finish and I knew going in that I wasn't going to get any running in.

Friday: a.m. strength work / 6 easy. I'd planned for 8 again but got caught short on time.

Saturday: Rest.

Sunday: 14 long + 20:00 stretch/roll

Less than a month to go until Oakland Running Festival & my first start in the 35-39 age bracket!!!

Hell Yeah Mellow March

So like I mentioned before, in the days immediately following NVM, I had all these grand plans about getting back to srsbzns training sooner rather than later, because what is a non-race pace marathon besides a glorified long run?

Of course I quickly accepted that, DERP, clearly according to my body, a marathon is still a marathon, even if you don't attempt to actively blow the doors off the thing.

So my March weekly mileage has looked like this:

• Week 1: 0 miles
• Week 2: 23 miles
• Week 3: 15 miles
• Week 4: 16 miles

In some cases I would have run more had I not been traveling for work or out of town for the weekend, but since my body has been *quite* clearly communicating sentiments along the lines of "Six miles is plenty at once, plzthnx" and "Maybe not so much with the two days in a row for now," that's actually kind of been good timing.

Other things I have been doing shall we say less-than-much of include 1) eating like any kind of remotely serious athlete and 2) strength work. I did have a session with AT this month (where we worked on deadlifts, HELL YEAH DEADLIFTS) but other than that I've been to the gym maybe 4-5 times. Probably 4. (Though I would be remiss if I didn't mention that on one of those visits, I straight-up DEADLIFTED MY BODY WEIGHT for the first time since probably high school. And since I definitely weigh more now than then, deadlift PR FTW.)

It was pretty much like this.

But otherwise I have been mostly embracing Matt Fitzgerald's very reasonable-sounding philosophy that no one can eat like a serious athlete 100% of the time (not even serious athletes) & that, much like having a relaxed recovery period after a training cycle, letting yourself have a bit of time where you eat more or less whatever you want, whenever you want (and knowing you'll let yourself do that for a while after a goal race) can help give you the resolve you need to eat well when you're in the middle of training for something you seriously care about.

Seriously all the Trader Joe's snack dips.

I'd originally planned to start some easy hill workouts in the last week or two of March, but with "easy" runs still not quite feeling easy enough yet for my taste, I decided to push it off until April, which seemed to make a lot of sense given that we'll be in Colorado skiing (or hiking, or maybe swimming?? Only the weather will tell) this weekend.

But after that, it is ON.

Hill sprints, get your game face on, because I am coming for you on April 7.

(Er....assuming I don't break myself skiing. :-/ )