The pain is gone. I only have a 10k to train for. What shall I ever do with myself?!
Go to Mexico of course! I am leaving on Tuesday evening. I am bringing my running shoes, in case you were wondering. I would like to do some running down there, but I know I will feel strange. Only tourists run in Mexico. I am sure I will get some looks. That is okay though. I am already feeling antsy, having not done much of anything since Sunday. I would have gone running yesterday, but I got some really nasty blisters from a new pair of shoes. Bummer.
Oh, and did I mention I will be turning 41 soon?!! Wow. Times flies. I feel like I just had my 40th birthday party a couple months ago! The running and training can only get better with age, like a good wine!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
I HEART PAIN
There is a painting in Cody's studio made by a kid for him which says, "I heart pain." That is exactly how I am feeling right now. Every time I go down some stairs or get up out of a chair, my legs cry out in pain. And I love it. It reminds me that I am alive, that I just ran 13.1 miles two days ago, that I am able to run, walk, sit, stand and feel pain. I have such gratitude for these simple pleasures. Love the pain. Getting ready for some more running!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Official Times
Well, the official times are posted!
The link is listed on the right side of the blog, so you can see the results yourself.
My official time was 2:41:31. I did an average of 12:19 per mile. This is where I wanted to be. With plenty of room for improvement over the next year. Those hills are really a killer.
The splits show that in the first 5k I did 11:31/mile. And I got slower as the race went on. Funny how that works, seeing as I got more and more tired AND the hills started getting crazy at about mile 7.
I am getting excited for the next runs I have scheduled:
Run Wild for a Child in SF (see links) and another race TBA in December.
Come join Maeve for her first race!!
The link is listed on the right side of the blog, so you can see the results yourself.
My official time was 2:41:31. I did an average of 12:19 per mile. This is where I wanted to be. With plenty of room for improvement over the next year. Those hills are really a killer.
The splits show that in the first 5k I did 11:31/mile. And I got slower as the race went on. Funny how that works, seeing as I got more and more tired AND the hills started getting crazy at about mile 7.
I am getting excited for the next runs I have scheduled:
Run Wild for a Child in SF (see links) and another race TBA in December.
Come join Maeve for her first race!!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
FINISHER!!! Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon!!!
October 19th, 7 am.
Although I can't check the official results for a few days, unofficially I did about 12.5 minute miles!!
I am so happy! Happy to have it behind me, happy I finished, just happy all around. It was a really fun race. The weather was perfect - cold and cloudy. For the first 6 to 7 miles my neighbor, Winnie, and I ran together. She was a trooper. And we did between 10 and 11 minute miles. I will know better when I can see the results which have quite a few splits recorded as well. At some point I passed her on a hill. I was really focused on finishing in under 3 hours. The hills on the course are a bitch. Well, duh. San Francisco, what do you expect?
I was really craving seeing my friends and thought I might have missed them when I passed mile 9 and hadn't seen them yet. But, there they were... very close to where my grandparents lived on 36th Ave. I was so happy to see them. And Vinay joined me for the last 4 miles. Before I reached mile 11, but a bit after 10, I really hit a wall (as they call it). I was really starting to hurt and it seemed hard to breath. I felt like the littlest effort was making me hyperventilate. At mile 13 Vinay split off and I took off for the run into the chutes. It was very exciting. So exciting, actually, that I totally forgot to turn off my stop watch. But, I believe I made it at about 2:40 or so. And I got the "medal" handed to me by a really nice looking fireman in a tux - a Tiffany necklace - well worth the pain and suffering!
Thanks everyone who supported me! I am looking forward to next year. Hopefully some of you will join me next time.
Love, Elisabeth
Although I can't check the official results for a few days, unofficially I did about 12.5 minute miles!!
I am so happy! Happy to have it behind me, happy I finished, just happy all around. It was a really fun race. The weather was perfect - cold and cloudy. For the first 6 to 7 miles my neighbor, Winnie, and I ran together. She was a trooper. And we did between 10 and 11 minute miles. I will know better when I can see the results which have quite a few splits recorded as well. At some point I passed her on a hill. I was really focused on finishing in under 3 hours. The hills on the course are a bitch. Well, duh. San Francisco, what do you expect?
I was really craving seeing my friends and thought I might have missed them when I passed mile 9 and hadn't seen them yet. But, there they were... very close to where my grandparents lived on 36th Ave. I was so happy to see them. And Vinay joined me for the last 4 miles. Before I reached mile 11, but a bit after 10, I really hit a wall (as they call it). I was really starting to hurt and it seemed hard to breath. I felt like the littlest effort was making me hyperventilate. At mile 13 Vinay split off and I took off for the run into the chutes. It was very exciting. So exciting, actually, that I totally forgot to turn off my stop watch. But, I believe I made it at about 2:40 or so. And I got the "medal" handed to me by a really nice looking fireman in a tux - a Tiffany necklace - well worth the pain and suffering!
Thanks everyone who supported me! I am looking forward to next year. Hopefully some of you will join me next time.
Love, Elisabeth
Thursday, October 16, 2008
RACE DAY DETAILS
I have just posted the "Race Day Details" from Nike.
Check it out. It looks like it is going to be a great day!
I am really looking forward to the hot firemen with my Tiffany necklace!
See you out there!
Check it out. It looks like it is going to be a great day!
I am really looking forward to the hot firemen with my Tiffany necklace!
See you out there!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Hungrier than Hungry
Ok, there is that time of month and then there is THAT time of month. You know?! I am so darn hungry it is out of control. I want to eat everything in sight and then some. I just cleaned out a bag of popcorn in about 10 minutes. I guess this is due to hormones, but I think there is part due to the anxiety about Sunday. EEK.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Less than a WEEK!!
Well, I am less than a week away from the Nike 1/2 Marathon in SF! It is happening on Sunday 10/19 at 7am! EEK. But really, I am as ready as I am going to be this time around. I feel pretty good about it and all the training that I have done.
My goal is to run 12 minute miles on average and finish the race in about 2.5 hours. This will be a significant improvement over the last times I ran this race. So, send out good vibes for me on Sunday morning, 10/19. Or even better...
Come see me out there on the course! A link to a map of the course is at the top of the Links section on the right side of the blog. Check it out and hopefully you can pick a place to see me run by and cheer at me! But I probably won't stop to hug you...even though I will want to... I have to keep going if I want to reach my goal (2.5 hrs)...The last two times I have done this race I have gone alone and done it completely alone, so it is a new experience having so many supporters... and I really like it!
Thank you all so much for your support!
I have to put a specific shout out to CODY who has been the best trainer ever! I could never have gotten to this point, both physically and psychologically, without him. A link to his website is also in the list of links. Check it out. He is the best!
My goal is to run 12 minute miles on average and finish the race in about 2.5 hours. This will be a significant improvement over the last times I ran this race. So, send out good vibes for me on Sunday morning, 10/19. Or even better...
Come see me out there on the course! A link to a map of the course is at the top of the Links section on the right side of the blog. Check it out and hopefully you can pick a place to see me run by and cheer at me! But I probably won't stop to hug you...even though I will want to... I have to keep going if I want to reach my goal (2.5 hrs)...The last two times I have done this race I have gone alone and done it completely alone, so it is a new experience having so many supporters... and I really like it!
Thank you all so much for your support!
I have to put a specific shout out to CODY who has been the best trainer ever! I could never have gotten to this point, both physically and psychologically, without him. A link to his website is also in the list of links. Check it out. He is the best!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Feeling Faint and Frustrated
Well, I have been running the last two evenings at Lake Merritt. Both times I had to walk a bit because I felt a bit faint toward the end of the run. I don't really know why. It isn't like I haven't been eating. I even took a Gu before going out tonight. I think I lasted longer before stopping to walk than last night, but still didn't make it all the way around without stopping. I am wondering if getting my period has anything to do with it. Also, I am worried. If I can't even make it 3 miles, how the hell am I going to do 13?!? Yikes. Well, my period should be over by then. I plan to do a longish run over the weekend. So, I will have to see how that goes. I plan to take water and at least one extra Gu with me. If anyone has any advice or comments, I would love to hear what you know, think, etc. Thanks.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Spur of the moment 12k - Bridge to Bridge Run
Well, I am currently recovering from my 12k (7.46 miles) run this morning. It was good training for the Nike in two weeks (eek.. two weeks!!). So, I wasn't planning to do this run until Thursday I think. I was driving home from work and heard an ad for the Bridge to Bridge, to support the Special Olympics. I thought, "what a perfect training run." Unfortunately Becca wasn't able to join me, but I was joined by Vinay (who ran past me in the first mile) and Maeve and Caroline who were perfect cheerleaders.
We arrived at about 8am to register, drink copious amounts of water, use the port-a -potty, and stretch before the race.
Ok, so don't ever underestimate the joy of a good poop before taking off on a long run. Really it is essential and if you can't go, it can really screw things up out there! Lucky for me I have been eating lots of green veggies and good fiber which passes through very well. Actually, I had a beautiful, very healthy dinner at Allyssa & Andy's last night and it was a perfect pre-race meal with a balance of carbs and protein. And I controlled myself with the wine.
I drank a ton of water. I had to pee a couple times before we started and I had to pee the first 4 miles of the race. This is probably not the best tactic. It's good to hydrate the entire week before a race and some in the morning of. But, I think in the future I will bring my water bottle as I have been during training. Today I thought I would try something new: a race belt with a pocket for gels and my phone and two little bottles for water, gel or sport drink. I used the later. This wasn't a good plan, so it's good I tested it out. It was bouncing around too much which was really bugging me. Also, I was really thirsty (Did I mention how freakin' hot it was out there?! It was blazing which must have something to do with how thirsty I got.) and the sport drink wasn't cutting it. I was also unable to eat a gel or shot block because I didn't have enough water to wash it down. At the Nike I will bring my hand held water bottle with water only and try to go pee right before the start.
VInay and I took the time to stretch and warm up with the group before the start. It is always good to do and I am delinquent during most of my training runs. I am glad I took the time. I need to remember to stretch and warm up a bit in 2 weeks.
The route was good and flat: along the Embarcadero at the Bay Bridge, through Fisherman's Warf, Aquatic Park, up a short steep hill that comes out just above Fort Mason, then along the Marina and out almost to the edge of the water and finally up to the Golden Gate Bridge. Then the course tracks back to a street right by the Sports Basement and up, up, up a hill to the finish line. The last hills were killer. I would have been happier if I had known ahead of time exactly how far it was going to be to the finish line. At one point I thought I was almost there and then the course turned and I actually had another 70 yards or so to go. Once I was finally in the chutes at the finish line I was behind a bunch of people who suddenly stopped. I wanted to really run across the finish line, but they were definitely in my way.
The clock read 1:32:08 when I crossed the finish line. That makes my pace about 12:20 minutes per mile. If I subtract the 4 minutes I spent in the bathroom, it would have been 11:48/mile. I was happy with that pace. I was working toward a 12 minute mile or less, so I pretty much hit it. Now, the trick is to be able to do something similar in two weeks... with an added 6 miles!! I am feeling confident.
Thanks everyone for all of your incredible support! I really appreciate it!
HAPPY TRAINING!
We arrived at about 8am to register, drink copious amounts of water, use the port-a -potty, and stretch before the race.
Ok, so don't ever underestimate the joy of a good poop before taking off on a long run. Really it is essential and if you can't go, it can really screw things up out there! Lucky for me I have been eating lots of green veggies and good fiber which passes through very well. Actually, I had a beautiful, very healthy dinner at Allyssa & Andy's last night and it was a perfect pre-race meal with a balance of carbs and protein. And I controlled myself with the wine.
I drank a ton of water. I had to pee a couple times before we started and I had to pee the first 4 miles of the race. This is probably not the best tactic. It's good to hydrate the entire week before a race and some in the morning of. But, I think in the future I will bring my water bottle as I have been during training. Today I thought I would try something new: a race belt with a pocket for gels and my phone and two little bottles for water, gel or sport drink. I used the later. This wasn't a good plan, so it's good I tested it out. It was bouncing around too much which was really bugging me. Also, I was really thirsty (Did I mention how freakin' hot it was out there?! It was blazing which must have something to do with how thirsty I got.) and the sport drink wasn't cutting it. I was also unable to eat a gel or shot block because I didn't have enough water to wash it down. At the Nike I will bring my hand held water bottle with water only and try to go pee right before the start.
VInay and I took the time to stretch and warm up with the group before the start. It is always good to do and I am delinquent during most of my training runs. I am glad I took the time. I need to remember to stretch and warm up a bit in 2 weeks.
The route was good and flat: along the Embarcadero at the Bay Bridge, through Fisherman's Warf, Aquatic Park, up a short steep hill that comes out just above Fort Mason, then along the Marina and out almost to the edge of the water and finally up to the Golden Gate Bridge. Then the course tracks back to a street right by the Sports Basement and up, up, up a hill to the finish line. The last hills were killer. I would have been happier if I had known ahead of time exactly how far it was going to be to the finish line. At one point I thought I was almost there and then the course turned and I actually had another 70 yards or so to go. Once I was finally in the chutes at the finish line I was behind a bunch of people who suddenly stopped. I wanted to really run across the finish line, but they were definitely in my way.
The clock read 1:32:08 when I crossed the finish line. That makes my pace about 12:20 minutes per mile. If I subtract the 4 minutes I spent in the bathroom, it would have been 11:48/mile. I was happy with that pace. I was working toward a 12 minute mile or less, so I pretty much hit it. Now, the trick is to be able to do something similar in two weeks... with an added 6 miles!! I am feeling confident.
Thanks everyone for all of your incredible support! I really appreciate it!
HAPPY TRAINING!
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