long(ish) run ...

In case you failed to notice, I'm running the San Francisco Half Marathon in 41 days. It's a race I have been looking forward to for almost a year, ever since G and I decided it would be our "Girls' Weekend" for 2011 (In 2010, we ran the Bermuda Half Marathon). Anyway, the goal for this race was always "to have fun", but when I was training for National, G and I realized that I should be able to pace her to a sub-2.

But then, I crashed. And my base basically went back to zero.

Oops.

Now with just about 6 weeks left before the race, I am starting to feel like we can get G that sub-2. I'm feeling stronger. I'm running more. And I am ignoring the fact that the last time I ran a double digit run was a 10 miler on April 21. Who cares? That's such a minor detail.

As of Saturday, my longest run since my surgery was 6 miles and about 58 minutes. And every time I had run that distance, it kicked my butt. So, you can probably understand why I was apprehensive about my Sunday long run this week.

8 miles - I was going to have to run for over an hour.

Thankfully, I was with about 300 other MTT runners and had S (who always keeps me entertained) by my side, every step of the way.

Was it the best run?

Well, no.
It was brutally hot.
Miles 4-5.25 was straight uphill.
Auto-pause on my Garmin was a total fail.

BUT ...

We finished the 8 miles, my longest run in two months, in 1:15.
We looked wicked cute while doing it.
I wasn't totally wiped afterward. In fact, I am confident that I could have held that pace for a few more miles.
I finished the week with 28.1 miles - almost twice as many miles as I ran in May.

All in all, I'm calling it a success ...

road trip revelations ...

Yesterday, I braved the open road. Just me and my SUV and 300 miles. Oh, and the girls were there too. I knew that the trip would be a challenge, simply because I was outnumbered 3 to 1. But, I never considered all that I would learn. Our six hour trip opened my eyes to so many things.

I am now aware that ... it only takes my children 23 minutes to ask, "Are we there yet?" And they will continually ask that same question (with slight variations) every two and a half minutes. After 30 minutes, I totally remembered why I so rarely take my daughters on long road trips.

I am now aware that ... it is pointless to try to answer any questions about how long a certain amount of time is. There is no right answer. Whether my children want to know how long five minutes is or five hours, the answer will only evoke crying.

I am now aware that ... it takes less than an hour for my children to request a bathroom break. I know that children have small bladders, but really, AN HOUR?

I am now aware that ... Doodle thinks that needing to go to the bathroom will save her from EVERYTHING. Seriously. She saw a bug which caused her to scream and scream that she was going to pee her pants immediately. Then the bug disappeared. And suddenly she no longer needed to go. Interesting. Then when I called her on it, she looked at me like I had two heads.

I am now aware that ... going to a public restroom with three children aged five and under is absolutely NO FUN. Dilly has a tendency to stick her hands in the toilet. Knowing this, I was forced to wear her in a carrier on my back. While I peed. Challenging to say the least. Add that to the fact that Dizzle and Doodle were constantly fighting about who got to pee first and I'm sure you can imagine how enjoyable our three bathroom breaks were.

I am now aware that ... I have the only children who will not sleep (even for 10 minutes) during a six hour car ride. Not even Dilly. What's up with that?

I am now aware that ... you can get an ungodly amount of food at Taco Bell for $10. We ordered four cheese roll ups, two fresco bean burritos, three milks, and a diet coke. And had I let the girls order the lemonade instead of milk, we would have saved $3.

I am now aware that ... I am a port-o-john magnet. At one point, I was boxed in by three trucks carrying port-o-johns. The weird thing was that they all entered the highway at different locations.

I am now aware that ... Garmin traffic reports are 100% inaccurate. I had a traffic warning on my screen for the entire duration of my trip. The road was even highlighted to indicate a current delay, yet I didn't hit traffic at all during the "delay areas." But, a car explodes and shuts down all lanes bringing traffic to a standstill and I get zero warning. Why does that happen?

Needless to say, our road trip was an adventure. I can only imagine what kind of revelations I'll have on the ride back ...

Autism 5K recap ...

I heart 5Ks. I don't often race in them (since they don't seem to fit well into a half or marathon training schedule), but really, I heart them.

This morning was the Autism 5K. My first non-virtual 5K in a year. In fact, the last time I ran one was the 2009 Autism 5K. Last year, when I ran, I remember gunning it and just praying that I had enough in me to make it to the finish. I did and I finished the 3.15 miles (yup, this course is long) in 25:19. I was so excited.

Fast forward to today. I really wanted to go sub 25. I had accomplished this on my treadmill (but that is pace controlled). I needed to do it on my own. So, I arrived nice and early and met up with G, SpeeDee (who paced G's oldest), and V.

Oh, and a special thanks to Teamarcia, who hooked me up with the sweet socks I am sporting.

After a quick warm-up jog, G, V and I headed to the start line. And after MANY announcements to stay tight through the start as to not trip on the curb, we were off. I had decided I was going to shoot for sub eight minute splits and try to stay consistent. I heard my watch beep at mile one at 7:40. WOW! I was shocked and I was still feeling really good. It was also at that point that my Garmin started beeping every two seconds. The lap counter was full and it was asking me to clear it. Not really possible while running. So I ran the next two miles "blind." I just tried to keep up with the people around me. At the two mile mark, I was amazed by how quickly the first miles had gone by. Apparently, the faster you run the shorter the course feels. Crazy concept, right?

I really started feeling drained with about seven-tenths of the course left. But I knew I was super close to the finish. And when I came around the final corner and could see that the race clock was still under 24 minutes, I kicked with all I had. When I crossed the line, my Garmin read 24:08 for 3.15 miles (7:39 pace). A 1:08 PR! (official results are not up yet) Can I tell you how pumped I am? And can I also mention how annoyed I am that the race was long? I was so under 24 for 3.1 miles. But it's all good. I'll show that course next year.

And because I know you love them, here are some post - race pictures ...

Virtual 3 High Fives 5K ...

So, the last time Tall Mom hosted a virtual race, I had one of my proudest running moments. I ran a 5K PR of 24:09 AND I won the 5K division of the race. It's probably the ONLY time I am ever going to win a race. So, I am going to brag about it.


This time around, I knew things were going to go a little differently. To begin with, the race was scheduled for Wednesday, May 5th. A whopping three days before the MAC Half Marathon, which I am attempting to PR at. So, that meant no "hard effort" for me. (I know I'll be thankful for this on Saturday.)


Another hitch came when I woke up to run. Apparently, the outlet in my bedroom isn't working. Which means that my Garmin didn't charge. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until I had already left the house (without my other watch). So, I was going to have to run blind (KT did step up and track our distance and time.) But not everything was a fail. I did manage to put together one snazzy outfit. Head to toe pink in honor of our cause.



Cute, right? And you can kind of see my P90X abs poking through if you look close enough ...


So, at 6:15 a.m., KT and I headed out for a 3.1 mile out and back. The run itself was rather uneventful. Except for the very end where there was a MONSTER climb. We hit the base of the hill and I realized that KT had mentioned that we were going to run part of the course for our upcoming half (the one that is partnered with my virtual race). And at that moment, I wanted to hit her. Because that monster climb will be at mile 12.9 of our race. Fun times!


Back to my point, the run was an easy one and we finished in 30:52. Not exactly racing for me. But I am super proud that I was able to hold back. Especially knowing it was a race, albeit virtual. Because, as you probably know, I am not exactly known for my ability to "race for fun." Until now ...

and the completely random ...

Back on my 300th post, I asked you to comment with any question you wanted me to answer. The response was huge. Way too much for one entry. So, I have decided to categorize the questions and reply in a series of posts over the next few weeks. Today, I answer all of those questions that didn't really fit anywhere, the completely random ones ...


Paige asked: "What is one new food you have tried that you cannot live without?"

OK, this one is kind of hard. My mom is a caterer, so growing up, we tried a lot of different foods and I have always been one to eat almost anything. As a kid, two of my favorite foods were escargot (snails, in case you didn't know) and frog legs. Seriously.

Although, for a long time, I did not like stinky cheese. Then the summer before college, that all changed. I was working as a waitress and the restaurant I worked at made this Buffalo Chicken Pizza with huge chunks of blue cheese. It was fantastic. I ate it almost every time I went to work. And ever since then I have been obsessed with stinky cheeses (the stronger the better). I can't get enough.

Kerrie T asked: "When are you just going to move to Seattle already?"

Yeah. I expected this question. I don't think we are moving any time soon. However, I have told J that if we EVER move, it's only going to be to the Pacific Northwest. I've never even visited, but there is something about that part of the country that intrigues me. OK, so I'm not moving there, but I am coming out there next year to race. All I need to do is find the race to run and book my flight. Any suggestions?

Stephanie asked: "What is your favorite running website ever?"

Easy. McMillan Running. I am always on there plugging in my times. Finding my training zones. I love that site. DailyMile and Runner's World don't suck either.

Jameson asked: "If you were an animal, which one and why?"

Again, this is another easy one. I'd be a cheetah. And here's why. First of all, I look super hot in cheetah print. Second, cheetahs are beyond fast. And that is exactly how I want to be. And lastly, cheetahs are stunning and powerful animals. I like to think of myself as both of those things.

MCM Mama asked: "When are you coming up here to run a race with me? You know you want to. ;o) I'll even take you out for a beer afterwards."

Soon. My fall race schedule is on the light side and I'd be up for the trip. Did you have a race in mind?

Allie asked: "Is there some secret technique for taking awesome running photos? Because you always looks so cute and I always look like death."

I'm sure you do not look like death. My number one secret is SUNGLASSES. Not only do they keep the sun out of your eyes, but they hide the agony in your photos. It also helps if you perk up when you see a photographer. If you are light on your feet and stand tall as you run past, I promise your pictures will look better. Oh, and posing never hurts.

Judi asked: "I would love to have my own Garmin but I know very little about what is a good one to buy. They vary in prices . . ."

I have the 305 and love it. I purchased mine on Amazon, where I believe you can currently find them in the range of $150-200. Many of my friends have the 405, but have had issues with using their watches during the run (switching screens and the like) and also problems with their watches freezing. All I can say is that the 305 has been great to me. And I'm sure that no matter which model you choose, you will find that it is money well spent.