Lodoga/Leesville Road Race 2017

This race was in July and it is now 5-6 weeks later... so I'll keep it short. The TLDR is I won second place and it was pretty cool but I also strained a foot tendon and that super sucked.

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It was unexpected, but I placed 2nd out of 7 in the W4/5 field of Lodoga's long and brutal road race. A wide margin between me and the person in front of me but still pretty cool nonetheless!

While women's cycling is still catching fire, it's a bit easier to snag podium spots with smaller fields and a high barrier to entry (i.e. expensive bikes and expensive gear) than it is with, say, running. However, this race was no joke. With temperatures spiking above 100 degrees Farenheit during a 3 mile 8% climb and major headwinds on the flat return trip, this was a challenging race - maybe even more than Pescadero! There was less climbing but more miles and a wider spread of riders. Plus, the headwinds were DEFINITELY felt. 

The feed zone was not far from the bottom of the Sites-Lodoga climb and there were not many people helping the women out going up. Luckily, my boyfriend made it to give me my cold water bottle and was also there when I was all alone on the return. Bringing water in a cooler and a boyfriend who supported me was... a... good idea...

As I was left all alone on the final flat 15 miles into headwinds, I definitely felt pretty demoralized. I had no inkling on where I was place-wise and I didn't care. Unfortunately, during the return, I was also experiencing some intense right foot pain, to a higher degree than I had experienced before. I thought I might have heard something snap - but I kept forging through. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that Marvin would be there at the end and that the pain would be over soon and I'd be out of the heat. It was hard because normally on flats, I could push 19-20mph, but into the headwinds, all by myself, I was hitting 16. Each mile that ticked by was the longest that I'd ever biked.

Finally, with about 25 minutes to go (or about 5 miles), I told myself: okay, this is like running a really hard 5K effort. Just go for it! It will be over soon! With two miles left, and at the final turn, I looked behind me and saw someone behind me! That freaked me out because I thought I had generated a lot of distance between me and the next person. Looking back, I realized that it was hard to judge distance on these endless flats (and in the heat), but I must have thought in the moment that the person was less than half a mile away. So I gunned it as hard as I could and told myself this is like running a really hard one-mile effort. The minutes ticked by. I kept looking back for the person behind me but never saw her. At that point, I was thinking that I might've been delirious and imagined that person... I honestly thought I might've been crazy because of the pain from my foot and the heat getting to my head.

Finally. I crossed the finished line and nodded at the person writing down our bib numbers.

It was then I finally felt the pain in my foot full throttle. It hurt like hell. And I began pedaling with only one leg because of the pain. There was still about 2 miles of spinning to Williams High School where the race was staged. I honestly thought I might not be able to make it. But I got back somehow and collapsed on the grass and yelled at Marvin to get me water and cold things and gatorade. 

Sigh, biking turns me into a crazy person. And also someone who hurts herself for race efforts.

But... 2nd place! First podium! Yay?!

Pescadero Coastal Classic 2017 // My First Cycling Road Race

Cycling has opened the way to triathlon. Cycling has given me many adventures in the Bay Area. I have met so many awesome, like-minded friends through cycling. So.. when did I fall in love with cycling? It's hard to say. And when did I think bike racing would be a good idea? Still hard to say... but I nonetheless decided to sign up for a road race: the Pescadero Coastal Classic.

The women's 3/4/5/35+ field at the Pescadero RR raced 1.7 laps of a beautiful 28 mile course, featuring three major climbs: 1.1-mile at 4%, 0.7-mile at 7%, and a brutal 1.5 mile climb at 7% known as Haskins Hill. Coastal dunes and redwood forests are the special hallmarks of this race and I loved the course! However, I experienced a little deja vu after finishing when someone said "You picked a hard course for your first one! At least everything after this will be easy." I literally heard those exact words being said to me when I was running Big Sur. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Pre-Race

My initial research going into this was tough to gather. But it would have been nonexistent if it weren't for a friend, Clara, who was actively racing in New York. She'd been through a season while in law school on the east coast and had a few races under her belt with a team (NYCC/CRCA).

While a lot of women are getting into cycling now, the resources, information, and support for women interested in racing are still extremely limited. Unless you know someone that races, it feels like there's a HUGE barrier to entry and it's hard to navigate your first steps. And with the Bay Area being so spread out and having to drive to every training ride or race, it's hard to "try it out and see if it's for you" without committing all of your free time to racing.

At least, as one of Clara's friends put it, the people are nice - "a little hard to break into but thick as thieves once you do." If you're new to women's cycling and you happen to read this, please don't be too shy to reach out to me or anyone you might know. I don't know very much, but the very little I do know, I will try to make sure you do, too! Safety, fun, and of course shared sufferfests on the bike are the main concerns of women cyclists. Women cyclists, at least in the 3/4/5 field, are not as intimidating as I thought they'd be and, more importantly, they are extremely supportive!

Clara gave me a very thorough checklist which helped eliminate a lot of pre-race anxiety involving thoughts like "WHAT DO I DO/BRING?" My basic nutrition plan was just Gu, at least every 45 minutes but usually a few minutes before a climb, one water bottle with Skratch, and two other water bottles. I made sure to pack post-race food as well.

Race Morning

The organizers were taking payments for race-day registration in cash only. This might be a standard and well-known thing, so bring cash just in case if you're doing race-day registration! Luckily, I paid for my one-day license and race fees all together all on the same form with my credit card number.

After registering, I did a short 2 mile warm-up just to get my legs going (it's recommended that you spend longer, but IDK...) and then lined up during the pre-race briefing. Being inexperienced, I told myself that the race was basically a really hard training ride with other people involved and made sure I told the folks around me that I was completely new.

Race

Before Pescadero, I had never ridden in a big group before, let alone that close to other cyclists. I knew what to expect and Clara had given me some pointers, but the feeling of being in a peloton is a very unique one. I felt pretty bad for some of the folks around me who might have had to brake suddenly because my nerves were making me tap my brakes harder than I intended. Luckily, I didn't cause any major problems and I was only softly chided once to "hold [my] line" but it still would have been a lot better if I had gone to a group riding clinic beforehand.

In the women's 3/4/5/35+ field, we broke apart fairly early on the first climb. I lost the majority of the first group after the second climb on stage road and found myself left alone with one other person. I wasn't sure what cycling etiquette was but I think we took turns pulling (at least, that's what I wanted to do). When we conversed, she apologized for being slow and I was like "No way! You're not slow!"

Eventually a pair of cyclists from the JLVelo team caught up with us and they taught me how to pull and I eventually caught on to what riding in an paceline was like. My very first experience in an echelon! So big big big thanks to Serenity and Ivy for working with me and giving me so much advice! It really really really meant a lot to me :') and I hope to one day pay it forward to another budding cyclist.

I worked with the JLVelo girls through the first lap and through the second climb on Stage Road. During fast descents, I would barrel down ahead quickly but Serenity was amazing technically on the descents so she would pass me and I would eventually catch up with her and follow her line. It was always a lot easier to follow her since she knew where to go!

With about 8 miles to go, I lost the JLVelo girls while I was trying to catch up to two riders on a descent: a Cat 3 and a speedy Cat 4. But they were so so speedy, I couldn't keep up or do my work on the pull. At most, I thought I wouldn't be able to sustain their pace so I let them drop me and I went at my own pace for a while until one of the JLVelo girls caught up with me again.

Later, I would pass the speedy Cat 4 who had been sidelined with a mechanical (ugh! sucks so much!) and I eventually pushed ahead all alone on the final climb up Haskins (after promptly tossing my water bottles at my boyfriend in the neutral feed zone - thank my lucky stars he was there!!).

My early pacing seemed to be perfect because the final climb up Haskins Hill was only 4 seconds slower than during the first lap. Of course, I was struggling A LOT more to get up and I was breathing like a maniac but I just wanted the suffering to be over so I just pushed pushed pushed for 11 miserable minutes... Several riders in the men's field were gliding past me with seeming ease while I felt like my legs were on fire. Finally, when I reached the finish, I pulled to the side and felt like my lungs were going to explode. I'd never felt that sensation before... but the feeling of finishing was pretty dang amazing!!

So yeah. Pretty proud and happy about my first race! I never knew I could go that fast for so long.... 16.9 mph, 3,800+ ft of climbing, 47 miles.

Results-wise, I thought I did pretty well. I probably landed in the third quartile of the field (W 3/4/5, 35+) but it's hard to tell since the results were picked from separate categories. I placed fourth among five other category 5 racers but I finished before half of the category 4 field, so there's that to be proud of. :)

I wish I had more pictures from the event but this one from the race start will have to do:

P.S. I LOVE MY NEW BIKE. Money well spent!!!! Will try to post a review on the Cervelo S5 in the future. :)

Yosemite Half Marathon // It's all downhill from here!

"Maybe the more experienced you are and the more you learn about yourself, the more you allow yourself to ascend to your maximum potential."

I don't know why or how it happened, but I ended up signing up for the Yosemite Half Marathon with a bunch of friends... with complete knowledge that I would have run Big Sur just 13 days prior. I joked that this was my introduction to Boston 2 Big Sur, since I've determined I will run it someday. For overall recovery, however, it might not have been the best idea...

Chip time: 1:41:39 (7:46/mi)

10th F 25-29 / 398

52nd F / 1640

178th OA / 2537

Course logged short by 0.11 so I jogged 0.1 to get the HM on my Garmin :P

The Course

Yosemite Half is what I'd call an extreme downhill course hosted by Vacation Races. Their series hosts a half marathon every month near 12 different national parks in the U.S. May is reserved for Yosemite National Park -- where the race starts south of the park, runs southward, and finishes at Bass Lake. The elevation gain/loss was 344 ft / 2,360 ft (net loss ~2,000 ft). Overall, the course was fun and beautiful and aid stations were plentiful.. however, pacers and organization could have been better.

The 2017 course can be divided up into 3 parts:
a) The first four miles of pleasant, undulating trail running which gave your joints and quads a little warmup before
b) ... tearing it up for six miles on a paved downhill road called "Beasore Road" which lived up to its name. This descent was a -6% overall with some parts getting up to -10%. As you can imagine, this part has you FLYING. Remember to keep that cadence up and your steps as light as possible!
c) Finally, you run the last 5K trying to regain some sense of pace on an undulating paved road around the lake to the finish.

Aid Stations:

The starting line had a raffle in the early morning (not sure how the runners brought their prizes down the mountain...???), instant coffee, hot chocolate (say whaat!), hot water, bananas, and porta potties galore (no need to wait in line - just walk past all of the lines to the very, very end and you get the porta potty of your choosing).
Aid station support during the 13.1 was very frequent (every 2 miles) and were well-stocked with water and gels.

A Fast but Short Course:

While this was a fast course, conducive to PRs, I also feel the course was short. The mile markers were early compared to the mile splits I was clocking on my GPS watch. It's not a USATF course, so I'm not super keen on calling this a PR, but it was nice to get a fast official chip time!

Pacers:

Race organizers hired a pace team to run times starting at 1:40 to 10 minute increments. My soft time goal was 1:45 so I just placed myself in between 1:40-1:50. But for some reason, I was following 1:50 for nearly three quarters of the race. Hue... talk about going out too fast. Wasn't too thrilled because I know how annoying that must've been for anyone hoping to run 1:50... I'm left to wonder how much faster the 1:40 group must have been running since my official time was 1:41:39... I had the sense that the pacers were not super experienced (unlike the AWESOME Clif pace team at Big Sur).

Shuttles:

There were two heats for this race in order to divert too much traffic leaving out of Oakhurst. Heat 1 started at 6:00am and Heat 2 started at 7:30am. While the faster predicted times were recommended to run in Heat 1, it seemed that people could just go into whatever heat they liked since they did not police it this year.

My boyfriend, and two friends, jumped in Heat 1... we had a positive experience on the shuttles because we arrived on a side of the school that did not have a lot of incoming traffic and we hopped on the bus early due to a miscommunication. Just be smart about it for future races, arrive early, wear warm clothes. They let you drop off your bags at the start line.

At mile 3, you could drop your jacket off and those clothes would be shuttled down to the finish line... however, I lost my nice long sleeved shirt at the dropoff because they weren't able to deliver the clothes drop bags before I left. That really annoyed me. And I tried to reach out to the race organizers by e-mail and haven't gotten a response yet! (It's been TWO DAYS!)

The Race

I started this race very conservatively at 8:30ish pace and found myself breathing harder than usual at that heart rate, perhaps due to the elevation (5,000ft at the start). Once the pounding downhill started, I stayed conservative until a porta potty break at the halfway mark. After which, I quickened the pace so I could catch up to a woman I was keeping my eye on throughout the race. It felt good so I kept on going. I told myself that I would be able to get a sub-8:00 average pace as long as I was able to clock 8:00 miles in the last few miles of flat and undulating road. Once we hit mile 10, we encountered our first uphill in 6 miles and my legs were thankful. It was hard, but my legs were happy for the break.

One thing that surprised me in the last 5K is how "easily" I was able to push pace. I didn't look at my watch very much, I just tried to push as best as I could, knowing I had only 3.1 miles left. The experience took me back to when I ran the Berkeley Half, where I started out too fast, crashed, and gave up mentally by the last 4 miles. My mind wandered to a difficult 17-mile progressive training run 7 weeks prior, where the last 5K was at a tempo pace (but hard effort by that point). And finally, I recalled Big Sur where I surprised myself with a 9K push of pace that led to a -3:00 negative split finish. Somehow those three experiences gave me the confidence to push with whatever pace my legs were giving me. When I would review my race on Garmin Connect and Strava later, I surprised myself with sub-8:00 paces (7:43, 7:50, 7:45) in 10-13.

These experiences really speak to how important it is for runners to learn from your racing and training and apply any lessons learned in your future races. I read too many race reports of runners who start off too fast every single race, lament it in their race reports, but rarely alter their race strategies thereafter.

I remember watching "4 Minute Mile" on Netflix (a low-budget 2014 film about a high school runner and his track coach) where the coach says:

You got somethin' in here. It's so deep in there, and you gotta beat it. You gotta face that fear. You GOT to, because if you don't, you're gonna be me, and, buddy, you don't want that. But if you do - and I don't care if you never run another race in your life - because if you DO face that fear, it'll change your life. I promise you. It's the hardest thing you'll ever have to do, but you gotta do it. [...] And then you'll be able to push right through the pain. You'll go right through the door. And when you're about ready to pass out and your legs can't move and your lungs can't breathe and your eyes can't see, you'll know that it's just the beginning, and it's so beautiful. It's beautiful. That's all I've been tryin' to teach you.

"Beating" that fear or that wall (or whatever it was) was a key motif in the film, one I was skeptical about. In the film, the runner, with all the weight of the world on his shoulders, stressed, and nearly broken from the tragedies and the circumstances around him, runs until he collapses... past the point of mental barrier and past physical fortitude. I wondered if such a thing actually existed and if such a thing could be applied to all runners. But after running Big Sur, I believe that with the right training, you can break through that voice in your head that screams "STOP. STOP. YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS. OR YOU KNOW WHAT - JUST. SLOW. DOWN. NO MORE SUFFERING. PLEASE."

I don't know if I've ever truly "face[d] that fear" but maybe there are different levels of it... y'know?

Maybe the more experienced you are and the more you learn about yourself, the more you allow yourself to ascend to your maximum potential.

His Race

Marvin's race also went very well given his training! His IT band problems were pretty much on the verge of returning - and he had gotten sick about two weeks out - so he took the race very conservatively and foam-rolled routinely pre- and post-race. His longest run never broke double digits so I'm super happy he was able to finish! After achieving a very respectable 2:08:56, he, like all of us, suffered from sore muscles and a temporary waddly gait. So proud and happy for him!

Post-Race

I AM SO SORE. Also, my knee hurts. :( (That is all.)

What's Next?

May - June 2017 | Cycling (w/ mostly easy and trail running)

July 8, 2017 | Golden Gate Coastal Trail 30K (18-mile)

July - August 2017 | Cycling and Running

September 25, 2017 | Santa Cruz Triathlon (olympic)

October - December 2017 | Running (base building)

Big Sur International Marathon // FIRST MARATHON COMPLETE!

People always say finishing a marathon is a big accomplishment. I am so so happy that my first marathon was Big Sur and that I finished strong, under four hours.

I don't feel that I can do a proper race report so I'm just going to spill out a summary of all my thoughts here.

Official chip time - 3:56:57
Pace - 9:02/mi
Elevation gain - 1,461ft (Garmin's GPS tracking is getting better year to year!)



The Race Strategies and Execution:

• Strategy #1: Run withe Pacer. The week before, I was dead set on running with a pacer, just because I was dealing with all sorts of misfortune in the three weeks leading up to the race (bruised ribs, getting sick with a nasty cough, pain and difficulty breathing from said cough+bruised rib combo, and a skin infection). Also, I wanted a group of people to enjoy the race with (and draft off of in the headwinds :P). I flip flopped between a decision to run with the 3:45 pacer or the 4:00 pacer, since that's all that was available (I wish they had had 3:55!!!!). In the end, since I had dealt with so much and didn't taper as well as I'd hoped, I chose to run with the 4:00 Clif Bar Pace Team Pacer (George). Per George's suggestion, I planned to keep with him until around mile 22 then push until the end if I was feeling good.
• I ended up learning quite a lot from the pacer. It turns out his favorite way to race marathons is via heart rate, which I personally think might be the way I race future marathons as well. He was also very good about making sure we took the early downhills in a very relaxed manner. He reminded us to keep our shoulders rolled back and relaxed with chin up, and had us mind our form several times throughout the race. This was very new to me but I found this was the perfect way to keep me focused on my goals. I will be implementing this technique in future races!
• I ended up gradually building up speed starting at mile 21. The last 5 miles was completely uncharted territory for me, with my biggest distance being a 21-mile trail race 6 1weeks out. But given I felt fine after Folsom, and that during the Big Sur marathon, I ran at only a slightly higher intensity in the precursor 21-miles, I felt like I was at liberty to push the pace. 
• It's said that the last 10K of the marathon is where the marathon truly starts. And where your several weeks of training shine through.  When I first started to pick up speed away from the pace group, I began by thinking about how much I didn't want them to catch me. I could still hear George's voice behind me for about a half a mile or so. It was an interesting feeling - being chased - but it helped me pick up my paces! Then, when I couldn't hear George anymore, I started focusing inward again and remembered that I had to eat. I was worried because I had run out of Gu at this point. Fortunately, the aid stations were plentiful with food options. I was able to scarf down a banana and forge ahead. 
• With four miles left to go, I kept telling myself that I'd done four miles easy-peasy SO MANY TIMES on friggin' tired legs, in the middle of 50-mile training weeks. This was nothing short of a tempo run in the middle of that. I kept telling myself that there was no such thing as the wall. "WALL? WHAT WALL? THERE IS NO WALL." NOT WITH THE TRAINING YOU DID. And certainly not with the conservative start you had.
• At two miles, I was still not sure whether or not I could keep this effort. I told myself: I'd done 2 mile runs at a bare minimum every day for 128 days straight. I CAN DO TWO MILES. It wasn't just the thought of that which carried me: it was the fact that I actually did the training. The fact that I consistently ran on tired legs no matter what. My training gave me the mental confidence I needed to carry me through.
• Strategy #2. Stay Inspired & Run With Your Heart. Think of my friends and the people who inspire me during the last few miles of the race.
• At the last hill at mile 25, I heard the voices tempting me to walk like a few other people I saw going up the hill. "If I walk, I can finish strong at the end." It was during those few hundred meters that I thought of my friends and my family and my boyfriend who were waiting for me at the finish line. I wanted to make them proud. Proud of who I am. And happy that they inspired me to get to the finish line strong. So I didn't walk. I pushed through and passed several other runners (of various race distances). I knew the rest was downhill or flat so I ran strong at the end! 

Goals:

• Smile and have fun! [check!]
• B Goal: Under 4 hr [check!]
• A Goal: Under 9:00/mi pace [so close, maybe could have left the pacer earlier but was unsure of myself]

Nutrition:

• Pre-Race @ BSIM starting line
• Coffee (~45min before)
• 1/2 banana (provided)
• 3/4 cup Toasted Shredded Wheats (TJs)
• Gu Energy Gel: Vanilla Bean (~5min before)
• During Race
• 4 x Gu Energy Gels --> 1@45min, 1@right before Hurricane Point, then as needed, approx 45min between
• 1/2 banana (aid station)
• 3 x 1/2 strawberries (aid station)

Aid Stations:

• 1 porta potty break: dashed to a porta potty that someone was just exiting so avoided a wait time! (score one for Andrea!)
• several water refills at BYOB stations (5?) due to it being a hot day

Finish:

The best part of finishing was hearing my boyfriend and parents call my name as I ran through the chute towards the finish. I even heard the MC say my name! (Ok, I let ONE girl pass me - I probably wasn't sprinting the hardest I could have. I don't know what race she was running but maybe if I had known she was sneaking up on me, I would have sprinted harder huehue - next time I'll look behind me before I make the final sprint :P)

When I got to the end, I didn't care what my time was. I knew I didn't reach my A goal but I was still THRILLED to reach my B goal, which I knew I crushed by several minutes. (Side note: I learned that I should set tiered goals from the Berkeley Half last November). 

Then, after chatting with my family and appeasing their need to take photos, Marvin looked up my finish time and read out 3:56:57. Woah! I broke 3:57! Imagine if I had walked any part of that last hill.... dang. That was certainly the icing on the cake for me.

It's true that I might have been able to break off from the pacer earlier for an A goal finish. But given the circumstances, I got so much more enjoyment/fun out of the experience than if I had tried to run a minute+ faster. The A goal pace was only 2-3 seconds per mile faster but I imagine that running with the pace group for most of the way made it much more fun than if I had ran alone. In addition, I took away a great lesson in focus and control from the Clif team pacer which I will apply in future races.

Post-race pains:

Any race is going to do a number on you. But add hills and road camber? The hills definitely beat my body up significantly. Road camber from the Big Sur was not as bad as I thought it would be. However, I think over time it was significant enough for my knees and feet to feel it afterwards. Same-day pain shifted between achey shins, painful extensor tendons on my feet, tweaked knees, hip soreness, and general soreness/tightness of my leg muscles (quads, glutes). I felt like a penguin afterwards!!

All in all, an amazing first marathon! I'm not sure I'll ever do a challenging course like this with a specific performance goal in mind again. My plan is to return to Big Sur one day as a Boston 2 Big Sur finisher, though. :)

At the very least, Big Sur will not be my last marathon. I've got a few more bucketlist marathons to check off first:

• Big Sur International Marathon [check!]
• Boston Marathon
• Great Wall Marathon

Folsom South Side Trail Run - Race Recap // First Trail Race!

TLDR; "Inwardly, I was so happy to 'win' my distance - and overall to boot, despite it being a smaller field. But most of all, I was happy that I lasted the full distance while feeling like I could have gone longer. I was happy that I could maintain 160bpm for nearly 3 and a half hours. I was happy to be confident that I could, with almost 100% certainty, break 4 hours at Big Sur in 6 weeks. I was happy that all of my training so far has not been in vain and that my endurance has definitely improved over the past 6 months."

The numbers game:

Longest run before race: 19mi
Number of miles ran: 21mi (course distance), 20.7mi (GPS)
Number of steps taken: 34282
Number of bugs inhaled: 4
Number of bugs consumed: 1
Number of aid stations stopped at: 3
Number of times I refilled my 8oz handheld water bottle: 4
Number of gels consumed: 4

The race:

Folsom Lake South Side Trail Run is hosted by Troy's California Trail Runs and is an out and back course for the 10K, half marathon, 21 mile, 50K, and 38 mile distance. It runs along the south side of Folsom Lake on 95% single track dirt roads and 5% gravel. The views can be quite wonderful. The trails are peaceful, wooded, and varied! $50 for the 21 mile race, less for shorter, and more for longer. Sign up for more TCT Runs at: http://www.tctruns.com/

Out (miles 1-10):

Since this was a training run, I hoped to take the first few miles as a warm-up so I would not go out too hard as I tend to do. I found my place behind Gordy Ainsleigh for the first half mile, shuffling along, trying to keep my heart rate down. After he let some of us runners pass, I tried to keep it easy again and tried to make conversation with another red-bibbed lady (red bibs meant longer distances: 13.1, 21, 50k, and 38mi). It was her first half marathon distance ever! We knew today would be a gorgeous trail - green, along the lakeside, in wooded areas.... I was more and more convinced that this was going to be an amazing first trail race experience.

After a while, we took to the single-track trails and just kind of found a groove. The first aid station was at the 10K turnaround point and aid station, at which point I decided it might be smart to take some electrolytes (Gu hydration drink mix provided by TCT). At this point, I was following two men and the red-bib lady. I didn't want to lose the men I was following, so I quickly downed the Gu and took off (after thanking the volunteer of course). The race was feeling easy up to this point and I felt like I was cruising. My heart rate was settling at about 160bpm the entire time and I tried to make sure I never went past 165bpm. In order to keep myself relaxed, I recited my running mantra to myself over and over:

Quick, Smooth, Relaxed.

Quick, Smooth, Relaxed.

At some point, the half-marathon girl dropped her pace behind me and I made it a point to make sure I didn't lose the two men in front of me. Finally, I ended up passing one of the guys, and then it was just me and Bionic Shorts. I refused to let him leave my line of sight so I didn't have to worry too much about staying on course. Interestingly, I really think that staying behind Bionic really helped me keep in a perfect "push but pace" zone.

Still cruising, and occasionally power-hiking up very steep sections, we reached the half marathon turn around point and aid station where Bionic stopped to greet Troy and for aid. I took one of my own gels and decided I was ok so I forged on ahead with only about 4 miles to go until the 21 mile turnaround (and water jug!). Bionic followed closely. After some time, we came across a tree completely blocking the path and had to climb around it - which opened the door for conversation between us. He was doing the 50K and he had just done another one 2-3 weeks ago (What a beast.)! I wanted him to take the trail but I think he was perfectly content with letting me pace him - and then I felt kind of pressured to stay in my "push but pace" zone.... Mid-run, I changed my mantra to:

Strong, Smooth, Relaxed.

Strong, Smooth, Relaxed.

...which really helped me get up some of the hills. There was never really a significant hill out there... it was mostly rolling terrain with very easy creek hopping, mud/puddle jumping, and rock dodging. It wasn't like I could just motor through the whole time, but I would say it was ever slightly more technical than the marin headlands/ninja loop (the ninja loop being a more challenging elevation profile).


Back (10.4-21):

Finally, we reached my turnaround point, I refilled my water, and bid goodbye to Bionic Shorts and wished him a good run. I wasn't looking forward to the loneliness of the next 10.5 miles but I was looking forward to finishing!

While taking a gel shortly after the turnaround, I could feel the fatigue creeping in on my legs so I decided to take the next 5 miles relatively easy. My heart rate kept the same (~160bpm), but my pacing slowed down a bit and I allowed myself more power-walking. After all, there was no one to chase and I wasn't sure how far back anyone else was...

At about mile 11.4, I saw another red-bibbed lady on her way to the turnaround point. At this point, it occurred to me, that no other 21-milers had passed me on my way to the turnaround point... which meant... I might be in first place?! Overall?? I was kind of miffed. I didn't want to let the thought of that ruin my pacing though, so I tried to tell myself that she was > 2 miles back and I would be okay as long as I unleash myself in the last 5 miles.

I returned to the half marathon turnaround point and decided to refill my water and eat some of the food provided: I took a banana slice and a slice of cantaloupe. Refreshing! I was drinking a lot more than I usually do on my runs, which was important because I was also sweating a lot more and working a lot harder than I usually do (I usually run at a 150bpm effort). I also found it helpful to drink water while I was sucking on the shot bloks since it helped dilute the carb density in my stomach.

I started on my way down and then it occurred to me to yell back a question to the aid station volunteer: "Am I first?!" to which he promptly said "Yep! You are!!" and I continued to barrel down the hill away. Holy crap. Less than 7 miles to go. 4 miles to the next aid station.

I still wanted to control my pace up until five miles to go. At five miles to go, I was feeling tired and knowing I had built a safe lead gave me no impetus to push harder. So I told myself that I would push harder after I hit the final aid station. I took two more gels between then. At this point, I was just chugging along. Strong, smooth, relaxed. Quick, smooth, relaxed. And starting to pass some of the straggling half marathoners.

I kept looking back. Maybe somebody was chasing me? Nope.

It seemed to take forever until I hit the next aid station.

And then finally, I was there. A little over 5K to go! Woohoo! It was time to give myself a little push up the mini-hills.

Chug, chug, chug....

And then finally. I saw the dike, which meant the 1-mile home stretch to the finish! I was still pushing past half-marathoners till the very end... and I ran the last mile at about 8:30-8:40 pace.

What. A. Run.

I think there was some confusion when I ran across the finish because I was finishing with a lot of other half marathoners. They had no idea that I was the 21-mile winner... which was kind of hilarious, actually. And I had no idea that I was supposed to get an award certificate. But in the end, I got one!

Inwardly, I was so happy to "win" my distance - and overall to boot, despite it being a smaller field. But most of all, I was happy that I lasted the full distance while feeling like I could have gone longer. I was happy that I could maintain 160bpm for nearly 3 and a half hours. I was happy to be confident that I could, with almost 100% certainty, break 4 hours at Big Sur in 6 weeks. I was happy that all of my training so far has not been in vain and that my endurance has definitely improved over the past 6 months.

This was a very nice confidence boost for me.

And an amazing first trail race experience!


Important takeaways:

• Mantras work.
• Pacing works.
• Shot Blok gels and Gu drink mix sit well with my stomach. No stomach issues.
• Might need to experiment with a bigger handheld water bottle. (Current one is 8oz and I refilled it 4 times.)

2 year ACL surgery anniversary! @ UCSF 5K Holiday Classic

It's December already. And that means it's 2 years since ACL reconstruction surgery on my left knee (Dec 17, 2014). These past few years have been a rollercoaster, career-wise, relationship-wise, and in my running journey. This blog has sort of evolved as an outlet for my dreams and thoughts, but most predominantly, things related to an "active lifestyle."

It's crazy to think that I was in crutches two years ago and now people have said I'm "so in shape" or that I'm a "fitness junkie." I don't try to get these labels.. rather, I actively try to avoid them. But I'm fortunate, nonetheless, that my "obsession" (preferably, read: passion) emanates that way.

It's been an interesting fitness/running journey this past two years. A lot of downs... but a lot of ups as well. Let's focus on how amazing the ups have been:

• a job I enjoy that allows me to be flexible with my hours for training
• first road bike
• my first double digit training run, and then the second, and then a weekly thing!
• finishing my first half marathon, a sprint triathlon, and then a second half marathon
• PRing the 5K and 10K distance

But the biggest lessons I learned?

• Consistency is key.
• You don't have to go goal pace all the time!! In fact, you're likely to get injured if you do...

The year ended with an awesome 5K race for the UCSF Diabetes Center (all proceeds go to the Diabetes Center and is completely run by volunteers). The course was USATF certified which is pretty nice, since I know this is an official distance (unlike those Berkeley Half shenanigans!).

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect for this race because I'd done all of my training at MAF intensities up to this point (besides racing).

I did WAY better than expected and felt stronger than I thought I should have by the end. You guys, this is a HUGE personal record, beating my high school cross country time by 30 seconds. At 22:44 (7:19/mi pace), I think it spoke volumes to what LHRT/MAF has done for me. I went out to fast again, but honestly, I also think I could have pushed harder in that second mile. The second mile of a 5K, as it turns out, is a highly mental game. It was even more challenging given that the course has a few gentle hills going around Stow Lake. According to my Garmin/Strava, I blasted through the first mile split at 6:59 then slowed down to 7:31 in the second. I think... I just got lazy. For a 5K, you have to be mentally present for all 20+minutes of the game. Your legs have to be moving fast and your willpower has to be tough. I saw some females pass me and just thought... well, I'm not as fit as her, so I don't need to push myself so hard and ANYWAY, I still have 1.5 miles left to go! I know, WEAK. But despite having raced quite a few races this year, I still feel quite inexperienced, especially in the mental toughness department. In my opinion, LHRT definitely did not prepare me mentally for the second mile, but it did physiologically prepare me for the last. I found a kick in the end and finished strong.

Anyways. DESPITE THAT. Like I said, I blew away my high school PR (formerly 23:15 and even then, I'm not sure if that was a legit time... since there is no record of it online, as hard as I've searched) and the adult PR I set at the Giant Race earlier this year (23:36 @ 7:35/mi). I came in 2nd in my age group (F20-29) and I think 6th(?) overall female in a field of about 106 (22 out of 174 overall M/F). Results posted here: http://www.synergyracetiming.com/ucsf-diabetes-center-miracle-mile-5k/.

All that without intervals or high intensity work. I averaged about 25-30 miles per week with all of my training paces at 9:00+ minutes/mile (many closer to 10:00/mi)! The time is about where I think my road surface MAF was at the time... which was about 9:30/mi. The best part is: NO INJURIES!

I think it's enough proof for me to trust this method for another few weeks. Some day soon, I hope to break the 5K 7:00/mi average pace barrier (21:38)... but there's still 2 months of low intensity miles and base building left! Maybe I'll do a 5K as an official reintroduction to higher intensity work when the time comes.

P.S. I've run 1000km so far in 2016. Isn't that insane???

P.S.S. ALSO, my boyfriend ran his first 5K coming back from clavicle surgery. While the surgery didn't affect his legs, it was his first invasive surgery and it's been taking a lot mentally to get back into a health and fitness regime. He ran it at 8:08 pace which is pretty awesome for only running once a week leading up to it! I'm just glad to have my life partner back on his feet again :).

Berkeley Half Marathon 2016: lessons in rain and pain

So, I didn't reach my sub-1:45 goal. It was a PR but I didn't even break 1:47, which I think I was completely capable of. And that really sucked.

I think that I'm okay with the results, though, because I've never had a really "bad" race before and I think all distance runners need to have bad races before they really figure out what works for them and what doesn't. Here are a few big things I learned yesterday:

1) I tend to start out very fast. And the problem is that it feels. so. good. Especially after a taper... you just have that spring in your step! I'd read SO many articles about how you're not supposed to start out too fast for endurance races and I honestly thought I was holding myself back. But the first half of Berkeley is insanely hilly and puts you at risk for anaerobic burnout. Going out fast for a 10K or 5K works great but endurance races are a no, no. On the other hand, I PR'd the 10K distance (in a race setting) with a sub-8 pace (official time 47:48, 7:42 pace), which I'd been trying to achieve for a long time. And I ran myself into an unofficial sub-8 paced 10-miler as well!

2) The other problem I had was it was mentally very difficult to dig deep despite the fatigue from starting out too fast. Again, I'd read that the last 5 miles is where the 13.1 distance really becomes a race, and I thought I really had it in me. With my LHRT (low heart rate training) regimen, I practiced a fast finish only once and a semi-brick tempo 5K off of a 30mi ride on the bike. This, and the fact that I had raced often in the past gave me the confidence that I had the mental fortitude necessary to pull out a reach goal.

But reach goals are difficult. PRs are difficult. On a challenging course (550ft elevation gain) in tough conditions (cold and rainy), you've got yourself one hell of a race. And when the 1:45 pacer passed me near mile 10, I felt extremely discouraged. I really wanted a good time. I tried to dig deep. I tried to move faster by quickening my stride rate but all my legs could give me was an 8:30-9:00 pace. It didn't help at all that the last 3 miles are very slightly uphill. Making my efforts for pace seem a LOT more grueling.

Discouraged, I decided to walk a couple of times in mental defeat. I didn't need to walk but I ended up doing so, thinking that it would be enough to regain my composure. Re-composure never happened and, post-race, I hated myself for walking at all.

If I couldn't get 1:45, I could have at least tried for 1:46:xx. Alas... this is why you should have B goals and C goals. If I had believed in a B or C goal, I would not have walked and I would have gotten an even better PR. If I had believed in a B or C goal, I would have realized that some things like weather are just out of your control and you have to give yourself the best that you can. It's especially difficult to prepare for inexperience, which was probably the biggest obstacle I had this race.

It isn't all bad, though, because I believe that a race like this will give me the extra push I need in the final minutes of a race, regardless of whether or not I'm close to my goal time.

3) Finally, a note on the month of training I did at low heart rates:

LHRT gave me the ability and the spirit to train more consistently. On that alone, I was able to run a 5K only 4 seconds slower than the Giant Race I did in September AND I ran my fastest 10K to date, without it hurting at all. I can only imagine how much faster I've gotten at those distances.

In all, I think 4 weeks of LHRT was not enough training to build up my endurance for the full half marathon. The ramp up in weekly miles was great but I didn't stay at a high mileage for very long before the race, which meant, frankly, there wasn't enough aerobic conditioning past the 1 hour mark.

My plan for the Big Sur International Marathon is to make sure all my runs go a minimum 60-75 minutes during base building phase in addition to the Sunday long run and a mid-week, mid-long run (>90 minutes).

4) Other notes I made for myself:
* more aerobic strength and vLT training needed
* be prepared for sudden course changes (I have no idea why they changed the course but it was not what I was expecting so my race strategy got a bit thrown off. As a result, I think the course ended up being maybe 0.1-0.2 miles short, which contributed to my official PR... but I'll take it since I'm confident I can beat it the next time I run a half.)
* practice running in the rain and various different weather conditions (this will come with consistency)
* could still stand to lose a few lbs (at 123-124 now)

All in all, a humbling race and one that will keep me focused for the many months to come before Big Sur. Here I go!

ALSO. I am getting better at taking race photos!!

   

Santa Cruz Triathlon (Sprint Distance) Recap!

I survived! And what an fun experience!

Packet pickup was a breeze and Spokesman Bicycles even offered a free safety inspection of my bike. I had just installed some new wheels on my Specialized Ruby and so I was relieved that someone was there to tighten it and make sure she was alright.

There were plenty of first timers at the sprint distance. I was told it was a rather casual triathlon so I'm not sure if the procedures were quite as official as bigger named races. But everyone was very nice and willing to explain things to first timers.

SWIM

My suspicions about my abysmal swim fitness were correct. I am in the bottom percentiles of swimming speed... after all, I was afraid of the water for most of my adult life. I took a swimming class in 2010 and avoided it as much as possible thereafter. There were 112 finishing times on the results page.... and I clocked the 95th slowest swim, 20th fastest bike, and 18th fastest run of all women.

My form is inefficient. And I desperately need a swim coach. I had done a few pool workouts before the race and two practices in the open water in the SF bay. I never swam the 700yd distance in the ocean but was able to do it once in the pool. I knew I had the endurance for it but I always found the workouts unpleasant and cumbersome.

Overall, however, the swim portion was fun! Although I took a dip and warmup in the waves beforehand, it felt like I was dipping my face in ice water for about 5 minutes but I quickly got used to it.

I ran through the timing chute at 22:01 minutes.

After the swim, there was a quarter mile run/jog to transition where triathletes chose their racks. It was easy to remember where my bike was because it was a small parking lot but it still would have been helpful to have some kind of easy marker. I happened to choose a transition area close to the bike out/bike in, which I found advantageous because I didn't have to run very long with my cleats.

BIKE

The bike ride was a brisk one and very beautiful--my favorite part of the triathlon. I kept wondering if I should have been pushing myself harder but held myself back knowing that there was a 5K afterwards. On Strava, I achieved a good 19.2mph bike ride (not including mount and dismount areas) along a relatively flat route on West Cliff Drive. The most difficult incline was about 1% grade, which felt like nothing compared to our regular 5-7% grades in San Francisco.

Next time, I would try to do more brick workouts with all-out bike efforts (to test my limits). I could easily have exceeded 20mph average. Official split with the mount and dismount was 37:38 on a 12 mile course.


RUN

Finally, the transition from bike to run was relatively easy but I was unsure of myself and dilly dallied for a bit. I paced at 8:13/mile (25:32) which is much slower than my 23:36 (7:35 pace) at the Giant Race two weeks prior. Not too bad off the bike though! Glad I added a handful of brick workouts before the race. Again, I held myself back to make sure I finished but next time, I'd like to leave it all out on the course.

CONCLUSION

Would I do it again?

Yes! Once I become a more efficient swimmer.... For now, it'll be nonprofit races only, just like this one. Maybe Olympic distance at the Santa Cruz Triathlon next year?

The Giant Race 2016 Recap!

I ran my first 5K race since high school...

Another good training race on my way to finishing the San Francisco Originals Series.

For me, the coolest thing about the Giant Race is that you finish in the Giants stadium (AT&T Park) where you can literally kiss the ground that the Giants have  played on. Pretty special. I mean, I'm not a baseball type of woman but the Giants do hold a special place in my heart because SF was amazing on the night they won the 2014 World Series. It was the same night Marvin and I first kissed. So happy faces to that :).

A few things I could've done better: Mainly, I need to work on maintaining my starting pace which is typically ~7:00/mi. The pace slowly increases to ~7:30/mi until the final quarter mile or so. With a bit more endurance training and intervals, I'm sure I can improve in time for Bridge to Bridge (signed up for 5km). I lost a few seconds weaving between people and running to the very side of the course but overall, I just need to build better endurance at that intensity.

I finished in the top 10 women for the 5K and top 3 in the F25-29 category. Pretty cool even though I know all the fast people are running the 10K and HM instead! Some of these girls are running mad impressive times!! Sheesh.

In other news, I completed my first half century one week before the 5K! It was really difficult for me to focus during the last 5-6 miles due to hunger, fatigue, and desperation. I wanted to get home and EAT and I may have been delirious at one point. Gotta bring more food or buy a few energy gels for these types of things...

Upcoming Events

9/25/2016 | Santa Cruz Sprint Triathlon (700yd, 12mi bike, 3.1mi run)

10/2/2016 | Bridge to Bridge 5km

11/20/2016 | Berkeley Half Marathon

4/30/2017 | Big Sur International Marathon

SF Half Marathon Post-Race Recap

Boo. I really haven't been keeping up with this blog.

So the SF Half Marathon rolled around a lot quicker than I expected. This was my first time running 13.1 and, honestly, I slacked on the training and the mileage. I had been travelling a for work the month before, dealt with a foot injury, and was cycling instead of running.

Needless to say, I was a bit anxious about the race in the week leading up to it, given that my longest run was nine weeks prior, at 12.34 miles. At my best training efforts nine weeks before race day, I was ~4 or 5 pounds lighter (and I can honestly feel the difference in perceived effort/time based on weight). At my best training efforts, I was running my >5 mile runs at sub-8 paces.

On race day, I was heavier and nowhere near my best training efforts. I hadn't done any hard-effort runs in a month and I was getting in a measly 6-10 miles per week. I definitely was not running this fast and it was unrealistic to still aim for the sub-1:45 time I had wanted.

Still, all the biking to fatigued state was a savior to my cardio endurance and, as a result, I powered through the half at a fairly consistent pace. I surprised myself with the cadence I was able to maintain up to mile 10.

There are two different races you can run at the half marathon distance at the SF race. The first half and the second half. The first half is beautiful and you get to run across the bridge but it is also notoriously harder and hillier. The second half is the half you run if you're looking for a PR. It is still difficult and challenging but easier to run than the first half. I ran the second half because I wanted a good time but I had to throw that idea out the window and run what felt good.

I began in wave 2 this time after the "competitive" group and I'm so glad I did given my traumatic experience at Bay to Breakers in May. I was definitely able to control my tempo and pace in this group.

I have to say that the hill at the beginning of the second half was not as difficult as I thought it would be - perhaps as a result of all the biking I'd been doing. I was able to maintain a quick, fresh pace on adrenaline. One thing that helped in the first four miles was not to stress about times: at this point, you should want a controlled pace, not going out too hard but still fast enough to match what you've trained for. You want to be able to have enough energy in your muscles for the flat section of the race and the last 3.1 miles.

The downhill part was exhilarating, although I could have pushed harder. I felt fast, fresh, and kept being surprised that I made it to mile 5,6,7,8,9 and so on without hitting some sort of mental block or meeting some sort of physical adversity.

Running the SF Half was rather therapeutic at this point. I wasn't racing the clock. I was going by how I felt. I listened to my phone which gave me paces at every half mile and thought, "oh that's nice" but never changed pace because of it. I even chose to stop for water and that is VERY unusual for me. I usually see water stops as a waste of time at shorter distances (10km, 5km, 7-miler). Hydration, in the past, always felt unnecessary. But I was smart this time - and opted for hydration.

At mile 10, I got extremely hungry. And I learned where my "limit" was from a "stored energy" perspective. I'm not sure if I was supposed to eat more for breakfast or more for lunch the day before - but my stomach never agrees with too much mucking around in my digestive system during a race. So I may have to subscribe to that energy gel school of thought.... I'll try it with my long cycling rides first and see where that gets me.

In the end, I surprised myself with a sub-1:50. And I think that spoke volumes to my base fitness. I can't say that was a "max effort run" but I did run it wisely given where I was at that time.

Imagine what I might've run if I had been at my training peak, gave a max effort, avoided injury, had more long runs under my belt, and was closer to my ideal racing weight (which I calculated to be 115lb vs my current setpoint 125lb - for a roughly 5'2" woman).

Race Results

Overall: 724/4491

Women: 221/2460

F 25-29: 60/609

Age/Grade: 59.48% Place: 616

Finish: 1:49:38 Pace: 8:22

Upcoming events:
9/11/2016 | Giant Race 5km
9/25/2016 | Santa Cruz Sprint Triathlon (700yd, 12mi bike, 3.1mi run)
10/2/2016 | Bridge to Bridge 5km
11/20/2016 | Berkeley Half Marathon
4/30/2017 | Big Sur International Marathon

YES THAT'S RIGHT I SIGNED UP FOR A FULL... dun dun dun

Urgh, I hate official race photos. This was my only good one!

And I'm never wearing those sunglasses again...

B2B: Race Week

Woops! A month and a half went by since Bay to Breakers and I never wrote a recap! Belated entry commence:

Unfortunately, I did not hit my goal time but I did end up beating my time from two years ago by a few seconds. Here's the statline:

5/18/14 place: 1844   sex pl: 317   div pl: 42   time: 1:01:55
5/15/16 place: 1677   sex pl: 314   div pl: 90   time: 1:01:39

Running the race, I did feel like I slowed down a lot after Hayes Hill. I never walked but I was definitely very tired from weaving early in the race. I was stressed about time so I probably ended up going way too fast, too early. My pace in the beginning was about 7:35 and map my run gave me about 7.8 miles of actual distance ran. Oh well! We started in Corral B because Marvin had been suffering an IT band injury and we didn't know how fast he could run or if he could even make the whole distance. Luckily he got through the entire race! It's the longest foot race he's run before.

Note to self: If you're serious about your time, ALWAYS choose to start in Corral A despite what you think your pace will be (as there will be walkers in every corral).

Despite the unfortunate amount of weaving I had to do in the beginning, I had a ton of fun this race. The costume made a difference and I received a ton of compliments and got to take pictures with a few people:

I'm most proud of the fact that I ran this race for a cause I believed in. Fundraising is always a challenge for me because I never want to bother people for donations. Since this experience, however, I'm more willing to give to others who are fundraising for their own causes. Especially if it helps children.

I still have to give away that yoga mat that I promised! Gotta randomly select!

The San Francisco HM is at the end of this month. Phew time flew by fast and I've been slacking on training and nutrition. It's been a rough and fun month of travel but I am so so happy that I can settle back into a routine.

I'm pretty slow still but I at least I am enjoying myself... and the health (and confidence) benefits are amazing! My baseline fitness is a lot higher than before and I am confident I can get back into the groove of things.