Malibu International Marathon - Running Along the Pacific Coastal Highway

The Start

Packet Pickup

There a places that take your breath away and there are things that take your breath away.  Sometimes you are lucky enough to find both in the same place.  I was fortunate enough to run the Malibu International Marathon on November 11, 2012.  What could be better than running through beautiful country side to the Pacifical Coastal Highway, seeing dolphins swimming along side the course and collapsing on the beach at the finish?  In my world, it doesn't get much better than that.  

Mile 8 - Beautiful view of the farms

Mile 1 - Watching the sun rise 

Mile 12 - PCH

I would recommend this race to anyone that doesn't mind a challenging course with great views.  The marathon started in Ventura County at a local school.  The start was much colder than I expected (around F 40) so I decided to wear a light jacket (not so smart).  After a delay waiting on busses to bring the runners to the start, we got going.  We ran along county roads surrounded by green fields with Santa Monica Mountains in the background.  The sun was beginning to rise behind the mountains creating views I can't describe.  Which is exactly why I ran with my GoPro strapped to my hand.  This part of the course was flat and I felt great.  By the time I hit the first mile maker, I regretted wearing the jacket.  Lesson learned, suffer a bit at the start to be happy during the race.  I happily trotted along for the next 8 miles, enjoying the view.  I even started looking forward to a few hills, after all, I was using this race as a training run and had no expectations for a PR.  Little did I know how crazy that would sound at mile 23.  

Mile 12 - Another great view

The race curved around and finally hit the PHC around mile 13.  I was still feeling good and averaging 8:30/mile, then the first hill hit.  I was getting hot, so I stopped to take off my jacket and take a few pictures.  I realized how much CRAP I run with.  I had a jacket, gloves, ear warmer, GU, iPhone, GoPro and Camelpak.  GRRRR, I had to tie the jacket around my waist and put the CRAP in my Camelpak.  Oh well, at least the view was great.  I was back in business until I saw the next hill and this wasn't even the "big" one.  I decided to walk up it (which would be my new strategy during the race).  I was just in awe of the coast line and the dolphins swimming near the shore.  I also was amazed at the beautiful houses in the hills.  I love the California coast, it has become one of my favorite places to visit.  

Midway point

The second half of the race was much slower than the first.  I think I averaged 11:00/mile.  Partly because I walked up a few hills and partly because I just wanted to enjoy the area.  We entered the city of Malibu and I was near the end.  The finish was small, but great.  There was not much of a crowd.  After I received my medal and finishers beach towel, I walked to the sand and laid in the sun.  I have to say, that is the best way I have ever ended a race.  Warm weather, sound of waves and sand.  

The dolphins are out there!!

I couldn't leave the area without visiting a few tasting rooms.  After every marathon, I get one treat.  This time I went wine tasting and bought a nice bottle to enjoy.

I have posted a few pictures from the race to show what I couldn't describe.  

Almost done :)

Still happily running along

Malibu, CA

Number :)

Pre Race Pic

Driving the course

Along the course

Done!!

I'll take it :)

Very nice alternative to a shirt

Santa Monica Mountains

Above is my finish video.  Beware, it is very bouncy.  

Wichita Prairie Fire Marathon - Not Everything Goes as Planned



Overall time

Months ago I registered for the Wichita Prairie Fire Marathon with hopes of a PR.  I started with a good training plan, 50 mile per week base and great training partners to keep me on track.  I ran all summer in the 100 F temperatures hoping to get stronger.  When race day finally arrived, I was feeling great.  I tapered, got plenty of sleep and ate well; I even avoided wine and spicy food.  So what happened, where did I go wrong?  Sometimes things just don't go as planned.  Sometimes you fall short of your expectations, by a lot.

 

Great company for a road trip



Back in late June my plan was simple, I started speed work on Tuesdays, tempo runs on Thursdays and long runs on Saturdays with short easy runs on the other days.  I also cross trained several days a week.  I was diligent about keeping up with the Tuesday and Thursday runs and was getting faster.  But, as I look back at my training logs, I can now see I fell short on a few of the long runs.  I managed three runs at over 20 miles, but only two of them were within six weeks of the race.  I also skipped the last 20 mile run to race in the Redman 70.3 triathlon.  This is problem # 1, don't skip long runs.   

Training partner Justin





Problem # 2 is one of those hand to the forehead moments, douhhh.  At the start of the race I took a five hour energy.  I have taken these at races before and not had any problems, but on this day, it was a mistake.  Unfortunately at mile seven, I started having gastrointestinal issues..... and all runners know that is not a good sign so early in a marathon.  I started to drop back and walked through the next water station.  At mile nine, I spotted a few porta potties, but they were occupied.  GRRRR.  At mile 11, I finally found an empty one and was back in business.  I started happily running along, feeling much better. 



Ouch, Ouch, Ouch

While my body was feeling better, my foot wasn't doing as well.  I recently bought new shoes that gave me problems during Redman.  I switched back to my old shoes a few weeks before the race, but this may have contributed to my foot pain.  Problem # 3, take care of your feet.  By mile 21, I was walking.  My foot hurt so bad that I couldn't start back at even a trot.  At one point I was hopping along on the good foot.  Toward the end, the crowds were cheering for me to run the last few miles, but I couldn't.  It was so frustrating to have my body feel good, but my foot hurt.  I did manage to trot the last 10-20 steps across the finish line.  Two things I could not let happen were a DNF and walking across the finish line.    

 

BEST GROUP EVER

At the start line walking was far from my mind.  My training partners and I decided to run with the 3:45 pace group a few days before.  The pace group leader planned on starting out slow and progressively get faster.  I stuck with a pace group even though I did not feel comfortable going out so slow.  My normal strategy is to go out slightly faster than the goal time to compensate for feeling tired the last few miles.  Every time I've done that, I've PR'ed.  Once I fell behind the pace group and realized how far off I was, I gave up too easily.  I think having a specific goal time and focusing so hard on reaching it was a bad idea.  I need to be more flexible so I don't get discouraged and slow down.  So, lets add problem # 4 to the list, pace groups aren't a good idea.  

 

Jen and Lisa!

Finally, I could be suffering from burnout, I've done a lot of races the last few months, problem # 5.  This was my 14th race (5K, 10K, Tri, ect.) in four months and 28th is year.  By this time, I wanted a break.  The last five miles were pretty depressing, I even updated my facebook status to distract me from the reality of walking.  I've never felt so disappointed during a race.  Even when races aren't going as planned, I usually love the atmosphere and being part of the event.  All the problems started rushing around in my head.  How could this be going so bad.....walking five miles takes a really long time, I've never actually walked five miles before.  I had plenty of time to reflect and think about what was going wrong.  I guess there is a first time for everything.  

Hobbling to the end

When the finish was in sight, I saw my friends cheering for me!  This reminded me why I run, the friends I have made along the way are great!  I had a fabulous time in Wichita despite my poor performance.  I run for the love of it, I run for the friendships, I don't run to win.  Sometimes I forget to relax and have fun.  If this isn't fun, I shouldn't be out there.  The weekend was a blast, I spend time getting to know other runners and enjoyed a great post run meal at the brewhouse.  I also finished my 9th marathon and eight of those nine marathons were in the last 12 months.  That's an accomplishment on it's own.  Sometimes things don't go as planned and you learn something unexpected, sometimes you need to have things put in perspective.  Each race teaches you something and hopefully I can use what I've learned.  One bad race won't discourage me from racing again or keep me from getting back to training hard.   





Bling

 

I'm so excited



Post race reloading

Redman 70.3 Half Iron Triathlon



LOL, I'm sure everyone
took this advice



First I want to say thank you to everyone that sent messages, texts and cheered me on during the race.  The Landrunners did a great job at the water stop, I felt like a rock star every time I ran (ok....walked) through the aid station.  It was last year when I was passing out water at the Landrunner's stop that I decided to participate in 2012.  At the time, I didn't know what to expect, but as race day approached, I set a few goals to keep me on track.  I wanted to finish (with a smile and injury free), complete the 1.2 mile swim in 40 minutes, the 56 mile bike ride in 3 hours 30 minutes and the 13.1 run in 2 hours with and overall time of about 6 hours 30 minutes, but no longer than 7 hours.  I didn't have a specific training plan and didn't want to back off marathon training, so my workouts were heavily focused on running.  My weekly mileage peaked at 2 miles swimming, 60-80 miles biking and 50 miles running.  I also lifted weights 2 days a week, kayaked and played indoor soccer.  Altogether, I was working out about 12-15 hours a week.  At times the commitment seemed overwhelming, but race day made all the hard work worth it.  Crossing the finish line was one of the best experiences and my results exceeded my expectations. 



At the start with Katie, Bill
Stacy



The morning of the race, I arrived early to set up my transition.  I've never done a triathlon this long, so I was nervous about fueling.  I wanted to make sure I took in everything I needed on the bike, so I taped 4 GU's and 2 salt tablets to my frame along with 40oz of water and 20oz of Gatorade.  I set up my cycling shoes, running shoes, number, etc. and headed for the start area.  The air was chilly at the start, so I put on my wetsuit to keep warm.  Unfortunately, the cool temperatures didn't last long, it was over 90F when I finished.



Landrunners water stop



I was in start wave 6 with about 150 other women.  The water was shallow and when we started, the red clay on the lakebed was turned up making the water cloudy.  Despite this, Lake Hefner is the cleanest lake I've swam in (or at least it looked that way).  I started up front, but out to the side because I don't like the "washing machine" affect near the crowd.  Luckily, I was able to make it through most of the swim without being kicked too many times.  The water temperature was perfect for a wetsuit.  I relaxed during the swim, maybe too much, because my time was 4 minutes slower than practice.  Oh well, I survived and made my way to transition. 



At the finish with Cat



If you ask people I train with they'll tell you I was most worried about the bike portion of the race.  My training rides were between 30-50 miles and at about 12.5 mph.  I was very worried I'd be the last person off the bike.  Turns out, I rode faster than I thought and should have been more worried about the condition of the roads, not my pace.  Waterloo was full of small holes that made the ride bumpy.  A lot of people were losing water bottles and I passed 3 people with flats.  After a long ride, I made the final turn toward Lake Hefner and have never been more excited to see the dam.  My lower back was killing me and butt hurt.  I crossed the line in 3:12 (17.5 mph average) for the 56 mile ride, far faster than I expected.  

Results



By the time I started running, it was hot.  My plan was to start at 8:45 minute pace, but 2 miles into the race, I realized that wasn't going to happen.  The sun was out in full force and the 56 mile ride took more energy out of me than I expected.  The course was a 2 loop run on the east side of Lake Hefner.  It was nice running at such a familiar place.  The run seemed to go by so fast (despite my pace) and when I started the 2nd loop, I couldn't believe the race was almost over.  The experience was so incredible that I almost wanted to keep going.  Almost that is....I was very happy to see the finish line.  I crossed the line 20th out of 33 in my age group and 86th out of 203 in the female division.  I can't wait for next year; I'm crazy enough to be considering the full distance!



Finishers Medal



After the race, I walked back to the Landrunners water station and relaxed with wine, blue cupcakes and a burger.  After a long race, I can't eat right away, but a few hours later I was starving and the food never tasted better.  Actually, I was starving for days.  I burned about 4000 calories throughout the race, that's a big deficit to overcome.  I was basically a human eating machine for the next 3 days.  Almost a week after the race, I'm feeling good.  To my surprise, I wasn't sore, but I am tired.  I've been trotting around the last few days and can't run faster than a 10 minute pace.  70.3 miles defiantly takes it out of you.  I'm now looking forward to my next marathon in a few weeks.  With a few days of recovery and a little luck, maybe I'll PR :)

 



Overall time: 6:13:14 Final Results

Swim time 44 minutes 1.2 Mile Swim

Bike time 3:12 Part 1....opps, my watch stopped, Part 2

Run time 2:10 13.1 mile run

 

San Francisco 26.2

Whahoo!  I finished my 8th marathon in San Francisco in 4:11:27, which far exceeded my expectations of this being my all time slowest race.  Not that I'm under trained or injured, I just expected the beautiful sights, large packs of runners and hills would slow my pace.  I also made the trip solo, so I didn't have my normal support system around to push me through the hard bits.  Overall, the travel, sight seeing and race made this a trip to remember.

I planned this trip after my dad gave me his AA frequent flyer miles and hotel points that expired at the end of the month (free travel always makes running a destination marathon better).  I stayed at the Holiday Inn on Market and 7th street (just a few blocks off Union Square and the Tenderloin area).  It was an interesting area with high end shops mixed with homeless people.  I was easily able to walk to cafes, the BART and cable cars.  I walked from the hotel to the expo on Friday, I wanted to beat the long lines and get my packet early.  The expo was smaller than I expected and most of the vendors had natural/vegan products to try.  The most interesting thing I ate was the Chia shots talked about in the book Born to Run.  It wasn't bad, once you get past the strange gummy consistency.  I brought back a few samples and do plan on ordering a few packs of it soon.  It may just be another running fad, but it is a nice alternative to the quinoa and rice in my diet.  After I left the expo, I made my way down to Union Square for dinner (lamb meat balls with wine) and a few pictures.  The weather was cool and I'm glad the race shirt was long sleeve, or I might have frozen (not really, but after 100+F weather in OKC, 55F felt like winter). 

I started Saturday out early with my GoPro strapped to my shoulder.  I still needed to test out the battery life and mounting options for the race.  I jumped on the Powell-Hyde cable car and rode it up to Lombard St.  The ride was no where near as exciting as I expected, I was crammed in the middle of the car and could not see much, but I can at least check that off the bucket list now.

I walked down, then back up Lombard St before catching the cable car down to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch.  I love fresh seafood, so I was in food heaven when I saw seafood pasta!  Carbs and fish with no dairy, the best!  

I couldn't leave the area without getting a few pictures of Alcatraz and a Hard Rock pin for my collection, oh and coffee.  Now that I'm fueled and fed, it was time to see the city.  

I got on the red tourist bus without the top (I didn't want to do a lot of walking the day before the race) and was able to see most of the top sights.  One of the highlights was riding across the Golden Gate Bridge.  I also got to see most of the marathon course.  I got off the tour bus in Chinatown for a quick snack (Sushi...not exactly Chinese food) before doing a bit of shopping.  

I got back on the bus and we headed toward Haight/Ashbury.  The tourist in me had to take a picture of the classic hippy sign.  This is also about mile 21 on the marathon course, all downhill.  
Of course, no trip to San Francisco is complete without a protest.  The occupy  San Francisco folks were camped out in front of the federal bank.  It looks like the movement has lost steam, very few people and not so pleasant smell.  One of the highlights of the city is "city art" on the side of buildings.  I was starting to get tired and needed to get out of the sun, so I took the tour bus to a stop near my hotel, ate dinner and went to bed.  

Because I registered late, I was assigned corral 5 and my start time was about 6 AM.  I wanted to arrive to see the start of the race at 5:30, I've never seen the race start, so the assigned start time was nice.  I also needed to drop by bag off and use the porta potty (2 very important things for runners).  The start was packed and the pace started slower that I would have liked, but I was here for the experience, not a PR.

We started off by following Embarcadero toward Fisherman's Wharf.  It was still a bit dark and foggy, so I couldn't get a great view of the area.  The crowd thinned out as we went past Marina area, but quickly backed up again as we approached the first major hill up to the Golden Gate Bridge.  

Running across the bridge was the highlight of the race.  The conditions were less than ideal, there were so many people that it was hard to pass anyone and the fog made it impossible to see the bay.  But, it was still awesome, looking up and seeing the bridge was so neat.  

After the bridge, there was another large hill which quickly reminded to check my watch and see what mile I was at.  To my surprise, I was at 10.  As I entered Golden Gate Park, the first half of the race was over and the half marathoners finished up.  At the SF Marathon, they also have a 2nd Half Marathon that started about 8:15.  I passed the start of the 2nd half about 8AM and was soon passed by the elite runners.  It was very strange being passed by someone running a 5 minute pace between miles 14 and 15.  I'm sure they were not happy to deal with slower runners.  So, I need to pause to explain another "only in SF" sight.  The guy pictured below was running in tight leather speedo underwear, bondage stuff and a dog collar.  Hmmmm, I can't imagine that was comfortable.  

By this point I had resisted walking, but saw a hill and decided this was a good time to refuel.  My stomach was a bit upset, so I ate a ginger tablet, which helped.  I also ate another pack of stingers.  The race snaked around Golden Gate Park until about mile 19.  

As the race course left Golden Gate Park, I was relieved to be done with the uphill portion of the race.  I was excited to run down Haight St for a few miles, I felt energized as small groups of people cheered the runners on.  Miles 20-23 were uneventful with little to look at.  


The race approached Giants Stadium about mile 24 and I got a great view of the ballpark.  There were a few tailgates in the parking lot getting ready for the game, they seemed excited to see the runners.  I actually felt good at this point, I managed to keep my pace very even and easy.  I love races that pass by famous landmarks, I think running is the best way to experience all a city has to offer.  From the stadium, I ran toward the Bay Bridge and remembered seeing it at the start (I'm getting close to the end).  As I approached the finish, I felt great and a rush of adrenaline as I crossed the line.  Another successful 26.2 :)  I once again pulled out the camera to capture the excitement of the end.  

I was able to walk the 2 miles back to the hotel (with a stop at Starbucks) and take a long nap.  Later that afternoon, I made my way back to the wharf and drank wine.  I also ate a huge dinner, steak and yummy treat to the left.  I know, it has dairy, but I get whatever I want to eat after a marathon, and that is what I wanted!