It’s finally beginning to look like spring around here.. the sun shines in the morning.. and for most of the afternoon.. the cold is not as biting… the wind has died down a bit.. The sun is shining as I write this!
When I first started running, back in 2008, I was training for my first half marathon, the Disneyland Half Marathon. I hated running, but had given myself a goal of completing a full marathon before turning 25, so I strapped on a new pair of sneakers and got to it. I trained hard for that first half marathon, running 5-6 times per week, but without any real training methodology. My training methodology was go out and run.. no speed drills, no hill repeats, no tempo runs. Sadly enough.. even after a few years of training and racing, I still haven’t learned to really incorporate good training into my schedule. And as you’ve heard me say again and again.. I’m pretty lazy when it comes to training and motivation, and my races lately have been greatly below where I would like to be. The first half marathon was my best, and it’s only been downhill from there. Here’s a list of my half marathon times up to 2012 (NOTE: I completed a few half-iron distance triathlons, which include half marathons for the run, and full marathons during this time, but I’m not including those times here).
To start off 2013, I ran the Inaugural New Year’s Half Marathon in Los Angeles over the weekend. This was a night run to kick-off the new year, and of course I had very little training leading up to it. Oddly enough, I completed it in better time than I had my previous half marathon (even if only by five minutes… ), and it was a more difficult course (with more hills than expected). I was happy with my finishing time, considering that the last run I did was a over two months ago and was only a little over 2 miles.. but hopefully this will motivate me to do better. If this is what I can do without any training.. what can I do if I actually focus my training?
Check out my makeshift duffle made from the post-race mylar blanket! Styling!
The course was not my favorite… rolling hills throughout the entire course, which was unexpected. I heard someone at about Mile 7 say, “It’s all downhill from here”… but he was wrong. We did get to run around and through Dodger stadium, which was pretty nice, and we got a nice tour of Downtown LA at night, so at least the course wasn’t boring.
Welcome to Dodger Stadium (parking lot)!
Pretty nice.. even if the entire bottom of the stadium and dugouts are all gutted..
So.. I realize that it’s been a LONG TIME (over three months!) since this race, but I’ve only just now decided to put together a race report. The number one lesson out of this race (as it has been for nearly ALL of my races this year) is a lesson in PREPARATION (or lack, thereof). I’ve been really BAD about race prep and training this season. It’s a mix of a lack of motivation, of wanting to do other things, of wanting to “have fun” rather than train… I know it’s a bad excuse for poor performance… but in reality, I don’t think I did THAT poorly. I’ll just blame it on the fact that I had very strong competitors.
Getting transition area set up...
Swim went off without any surprises. A swim is a swim to me, and I’m usually just happy to get it over with.
Done with the swim!
The usual routine for T1.. blow nose.. spend 5 minutes trying to get wetsuit off..
Coming out of T1
The biking leg was another thing altogether. Minh and I had previewed the course, and decided that the best place to make up time would be on the “road”. If I could tuck down and haul-it on the road section, then I would be able to close a significant gap between me and the girl who swims faster than me. Pretty good advice, and I think it worked pretty well… only the girl who swims faster than me also bikes faster than me… I ended up throwing up on the bike (that took up at least five minutes.. probably more).. on the first lap, about half way up on the first big climb (not the walking one). That almost took me out of the race, but I was able to recover reasonably on the rest of the lap and decided to power through it.
First Lap... My typical riding position.. hunched over and head down.. :-/
Pretty butterfly Minh saw while waiting for me to finish riding..
End of the second lap on the bike... head up this time..
I felt decent getting off the bike, but I knew that the run would be PAINFUL. Honestly, before this race, I hadn’t REALLY run since December (XTERRA Crystal Cove 21k) – what with shin splints and laziness and all… So the run was mostly a walk and a slow jog. I tried to keep a decent enough pace, and tried to finish pretty strong, but I finished knowing that I probably didn’t podium (and I didn’t).
Last turn for the run.. homestretch...
Smiling because I know the race is almost over... (note Minh all the way in the back...)
Overall, I enjoyed this race. The course didn’t change too much from the year before, and I had a pretty good time. Granted, I wasn’t completely prepared for it, but they run a good race (Renegade Racing). And.. of course… I had a great time rocking my new Run Team Sparkle Skirt:
Yes.. I’m still alive. Work has been crazy busy lately, and I have a lot of things to blog about, but not much time to actually get around to writing the posts and selecting/formatting pictures. I’ll try to get back on track with the posts because I’ve… let’s start off with the last time I ran…
I haven’t really been following my planned 2011 race schedule. Mostly because I’m just not prepared.. the second reason is because my shins have been KILLING me. I went to see an orthopedist, who told me that I DO NOT have a stress fracture (YIPPEE!!!), but I do need to lay off the running for a while until the shin splints go away. So, I haven’t ran (at all) since the Fountain Valley Fit to be Square 5K on February 19. I had signed up for this race on a whim… Minh told me about it only a few days before, and I thought it’d be a good way to support my local community.
Me and Minh before th race (Picture from the OC Register)
I went into the race having not ran for about a week because of the shin splints.. But I told myself that I’d give it my all since it was only a 5k. The goal was to finish in under 25 minutes. I didn’t have high hopes about placing since there were A LOT of high schoolers out there racing (to raise money for their school teams) and those kids are ALWAYS faster than me.
... and they're OFF!!!
I started off at a pretty good pace, and kept it up for most of the race. I had to stop once to walk for a little bit, but overall I felt pretty good. I ended up finishing in just under 25 minutes which was AWESOME!! (Although… the race course was just shy of a full 5k, but not by much).
Pushing myself for a strong finish...
To my surprise.. I ended up in SECOND PLACE in my age group – Females 19 – 39. Pretty awesome for not being prepared, right?
I love watching movies.. and all kinds, too. Dramas, documentaries, comedies, suspense thriller, horror, independent, etc etc.. I’ll watch them all. Minh doesn’t LOVE movies as much as I do.. actually, I often think that he only watches movies because I want to watch movies. He gets sleepy/lazy afterwards, which does not make for a fun Minh.
Some of my favorite movies to watch are the ones that inspire me to go out and do something… and when I say “do something”, I’m not talking about saving the world or making a difference. I’m talking about going out to climb a mountain, sign up for a ridiculous race, run the “Best Race Ever” , bike hundred of miles across the state/country/continent…. you get the picture. So.. here’s a quick list of some of those movies that make me want to go out and do something… Maybe it’ll inspire you to go out and do something this year!
No surprise that this movie would make the cut of inspirational films. The Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race is on EVERY mountain bikers’ bucket list. I like watching the pro/elite race just like everyone else, but the real inspiration comes from the “normal” people riding that grueling 100 miles. The ones that have been doing it for years on the same bike with the same helmet and the same outfit.. or the ones that bounced back from something terrible only to make the 12 hour cut-off for that coveted belt buckle. Whoever you’re cheering for, watching the movie will either make you want to go out and ride or make you think people are CRAZY for putting themselves through that kind of hell. Me? It definitely makes me want to go out and RIDE!
The Great Divide Race usually solicits a response along the lines of: “Are you CRAZY? Do you want to DIE?!?!?” No, I’m not crazy.. and YES.. someday I would like to die.. but until then, I want to have fun and go on adventures. This is one of those adventures that I want to go on. Maybe not the entire race (which is completely solo and self-sufficient), but accomplish chunks of the race over time. How fun would it be to say that you rode your bike through the middle of the country.. BY YOURSELF!!! Best part about this race (if I ever do muster up enough gumption to actually do it) is that you can take AS LONG AS YOU WANT (I think within reason).
Another documentary about a race that traverses a LONG LONG LONG distance… but this time instead of dividing the country from north to south.. you set off from Coast to Coast… 3000 MILES!! This movie follows the epic journey that is the Race Across America (originally known as the Great American Bike Race, started in 1982).. across the dessert, over the mountains, traversing the Great Plains, grinding up seemingly un-ending switchbacks…. seeing America as few have seen it before. Another film that makes me want to go out and ride.
I had never even heard of Hood to Coast until I watched a trailer for a documentary about it before the 2010 Race Across the Sky showing. But.. like the spirit of the Ragnar Relay, which is really all about the experience and camaraderie and not about the race, Hood to Coast is one of those experiences that lasts a lifetime. From the base of Mount Hood to Seaside Beach, this race traverses all the beauties of Oregon that some people so rarely see. And the race draws all kinds of participants, from the elites and seasoned veterans out to win to the newbies just out for a challenge and a good time. The movie is not only enjoyable for hardcore runners who want to be inspired for their next challenge, but also non-runners who will gain a little more understanding on the craziness that drives someone to run a 5k, 10k, marathon, or ultra.
Steering away from the documentaries… here’s a HILARIOUS movie about a normal guy (Simon Pegg) who’s just trying to get his ex (Thandie Newton) back before she makes the mistake of her life by marrying a complete JERK (Hank Azaria). If you’ve ever hit “the WALL”, then you’ll totally relate to this film.. and by the end I wanted to sign up for my first marathon (DONE!).
Speaking of marathons… how about a documentary about one of the BIGGEST marathons in the world? From what I’ve read/heard, THE big marathons to run (and qualify for) are Boston, New York, London and Chicago. This documentary follows the story of six runners (of varying levels of competitiveness) competing in the 2005 Chicago Marathon. It’s not just their story during the marathon itself, but how they prepared, what they’re motivation is, and all the struggles along the way. Having run two marathons (woefully unprepared) myself, I know what it’s like to hit the wall, want to give up, deal with injury, and finding the little bit of strength/will-power left to just keep going. Available on Hulu.
Steering away from races, biking and running, for a moment…. here’s a great story about the will to live and having to make life-or-death decisions in perilous situations. I first watch Touching the Void with my friend Karen. Based on the 1988 book by Joe Simpson, this is a great story about two climbers (Joe Simpson and Simon Yates) and the sacrifices they made during their journey in the Peruvian Andes. I don’t want to give anything away, but tough decisions are made (and nobody dies). Part documentary/interview, part reenactment.
Based on the New York Times Bestseller Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston, this wonderfully filmed movie recounts the life of Aron Ralston and his entrapment in a canyon for… wait for it… 127 hours (go figure). James Franco does an amazing job portraying Aron Ralston and his mental struggle during this ordeal. Another great movie about the will to live.
Not Movies.. but Inspirational Nonetheless
NBC Sports coverage of Ironman World Championships (every year)
Every year, around December, NBC airs a special on the Ironman World Championships. Minh downloaded pretty much every single one that he could find, and I’ve watched all of them since they started doing this special, even the 25th anniversary special (which is the best). I love watching this every year because it reinforces my love for racing. It also makes me feel like a horrible person… I either want to (1) quit my job and train full time so that I can aspire to become a pro (not happening in my lifetime) or (2) hope for a life-altering struggle in which I come back to do something incredible (lose a leg, get a horrible, incurable disease, or the like).. which no one should ever hope for anyone, let alone oneself. But.. seriously.. have you watched this thing.. it’s all about the pros and then the stories of overcoming personal struggle or life’s curveballs. It’s amazing.
I had the privilege of seeing Molly Sheridan speak last year… which made me want to run the Badwater Ultramarathon… SOMEDAY!!! To go from non-runner, to marathoner, to ultramarathoner in such a short time and so late in life…. it’s reminiscent of Michelle Barton (the most kick-ass ultramarathoner out there). Her journey and race was documented in a great short by Justin Yurkanin.
As much as I’m not very good at it, I do in fact love running. Trail running, to be more specific.
Sunday marked the 3rd race in the Xterra SoCal Trail Run Series. This one was held at Crystal Cove (YAY! for local races) and at the not too early time of 8AM. It’s still a little bit of a drive from home, so we got up around 6:15AM (or so) to make sure we had plenty of time to grab breakfast, find parking, and get checked-in. Met up with Elise and Skyler, who were also running the 17k.
Race started a little after 8AM, and I made sure to stay at the front. Even though I’m a slower runner and should probably start in the middle somewhere, I like to start near the front because it’s a more accurate race time for events that don’t have timing chips (like most trail races).
I'm not ahead of Elise for very long.. that girl is A LOT faster than me..
The course was a little different from what I was expecting, but I had run most of it before during my training runs. I did feel extremely out of shape, more so during the race than I did during the previous weekend. It was a bit of a bummer not being strong, but I did my best. Tried to run/jog when I could (especially up the hills), but my quads and glutes just felt like jello. Ended up walking quite a bit more than I was expecting to, but finished strong on a long downhill.
Overall winner.. James Walsh
Female winner and 3rd overall.. Michelle Barton.. missed the female course record by less than a minute..
Smiling on a nice long downhill to the finish..
I’ve decided that this is an AWESOME course for hill-training, since there are so many rolling hills that you don’t have to keep doing just one, you can still do a loop. Plus, Crystal Cove has some nice single track for running along the Fenceline at the top (not part of the race course, but I wish it was).
Overall, I’m satisfied with my results. Finished in 2 hours and 4 minutes, 6th in my age group out of 14. I’m a little bit bummed for Elise and Skyler, who had to “jump” age groups for this race since race age is based on your age at the end of 2011 (lame). But they both still did really well: Elise getting 4th, and Skyler getting 7th.
Didn't feel so great afterwards.. but was happy to have finished!
And with that.. racing is OFFICIALLY OVER for 2010! Now I REALLY REALLY need to get back to training.
Minh made me sit down last week and plan out my 2011 race schedule.. as best as I could. It seriously took me about a week to figure out what events I really wanted to do and what events I could skip so that I got good training in rather than racing all the time… And also make sure that I didn’t get burned out on racing or signed up for races spontaneously all year…
I tried to mix things up a bit in terms of events, but generally it’s a lot of off-road events and A LOT of mountain biking. I would LOVE to qualify for Xterra Worlds in Maui, but we’ll see. Should be a good year, though.. better than 2010 maybe?
FINALLY getting around to posting up my race report for Silverman. I had the text all typed up, but hadn’t sifted through the pictures yet. There were hundreds, and I somehow managed to whittle them down to the ones included here…
After an EXTRA LONG night’s sleep (went to bed early + end of daylight savings).. Minh and I woke up to the pleasant sounds of race announcements outside our window…
Part TWO – Race Day
I thought we should wake up early to make sure we had plenty of time to get ready. Full distance was off at 7AM, Half distance off at 8:30AM… and we woke up at 6AM… why? I don’t know.. but that’s the time I picked. I should have slept in longer, since I had more than an hour of down time before the race started, but it was nice to be up and eat and be completely ready.
T1 set-up.. perhaps not the most efficient way for this race...
The swim was a MASS START at 8:30AM. Over 1000 swimmers all starting at the same time… it was a little intimidating. I stayed off to the left and near the middle since I’m not a fast swimmer. I ended up making an EXTRA big loop around the buoys, which probably increased my swim distance and time, but kept me away from elbows, feet, black eyes, and punches in the gut. The swim felt like it lasted forever… I was definitely happy to be done with it.
I'm amazed the Minh was able to find me in that crowd of swimmers (Green cap in the middle)
A sea of swimmers... so that's what a mass start looks like...
Here’s a quick look at how to T1 like a World Champion… Macca-style…
Macca shows us how to T1 like a World Champion...
My T1 (in comparison) was much slower and not as graceful…
First time getting my wetsuit ripped off me... was... different...
Here I am putting on socks.. because I STILL cannot ride without them..
Somehow I managed to drop my bike (twice) on the way out of T1... ::what a clutz::
Heading out onto the bike course.. I had a rock stuck in my left cleat, so it tooke me FOREVER to clip in...
The bike course was killer… by far the toughest bike course I’ve ever had to ride. The first half of the course through Lake Mead National Recreational Area wasn’t so bad. There were some nice long hills, followed by some long descents for recovery. I was pushing hard up the hills and flying down the descents as fast as I was comfortable (sometimes faster than I was comfortable with). I got passed by a lot of athletes, but I also passed a lot of athletes, so I was feeling confident in my pace. That was until we left the Lake Mead NRA.
Beautiful winding/rolling hills through the dessert...
Athletes facing a mild (by this race's standards) hill about 20-miles into the bike course..
Here I am going up that same hill.. First time I saw Minh all day.. ::thumbs up::
Last climb out before leaving Lake Mead NRA
Riding through Lake Mead NRA was more difficult than riding through Santiago Canyon, and more difficult than the second half of the River Mountain Trail Loop and then through Henderson to T2. What made the second half of the course so difficult was a few things compounding on eachother:
fatigue from the first half of the course with the hills and descents
a long, seemingly never-ending gradual climb
head winds or cross winds the whole time
three very steep “sisters” in the middle of the long, seemingly never-ending gradual climb
very little downhill recovery time
The second half of the course seemed to last FOREVER… and I seemed to be going SOOOOOO S-L-O-W-L-Y that it was incredibly frustrating. It was a much harder bike course than I was prepared for, but I also had a great time riding it. It definitely makes you PUSH yourself, even if you weren’t in a race.
FINALLY got to T2 and handed my bike off to one of the lovely volunteers who disposed of it as necessary. By this time, I was ready to be rid of the thing and get my run on. Unfortunately, my body wasn’t exactly ready to get my run on. I didn’t eat much while on the bike (three gels, two bottles of HEED, one packet of Clif Bloks, some Gatorade), so I figured I’d start fueling at the beginning of the run. First stop I took half a banana and some water. Second stop I took a gel and some water and Gatorade. Third stop I took a handful of pretzels and water…. and then my stomach started to church and ache and running became nearly impossible.. so I had to slow to a walk. For the next few miles I only took in water and had to walk.. A LOT… which made my run a lot slower than I wanted. I would alternate between walking and jogging, but the jogging was very difficult. Overall.. my legs were fine… it was my stomach that didn’t want me running..
I think this is around Mile 6..
What also made it difficult were the HILLS on the course. Some of those hills seemed never-ending.. just like on the bike. Who would have thought a desert city had so many hills??? I never would have guessed. I also am always so surprised at how long a half-marathon actually is. There were times during the run when I thought I was getting close to the finish and there’d still be 3 miles left.. and those three miles seemed to last FOREVER. I don’t know if my head could handle the crazy mind-games… luckily I survived.
Tried to muster up a "sprint" through the finish..
After getting through the finishline and getting my medal and t-shirt.. I went straight for the food tent. I was STARVING. I barely ate anything all day on the course, so I was happy to see all the food they had available for us. Two different pastas from Macaroni Grill, pizza (the local pizza store actual had to close down to support the race), chili, milk, sodas, water, cookies, pretzels, bananas, etc. etc. etc… I grabbed a plate-full of pasta, a Coke, and a bowl of chili. It was the most delicious post-race meal I’ve ever eaten. By-passed the massage tent and headed out to meet Minh.
Silverman "SURVIVOR"!!!
I was definitely a lot MORE SORE after the race than I was after Oceanside… but I survived.. and I had a GREAT time. Still debating whether to come back. It was a great race and an awesome, challenging course. It was also one of the most well-organized races I’d ever been to, with nearly as many volunteers as there were athletes. If I ever DO decide to compete in this race again.. I’ll definitely need to be better prepared.
RESULTS
SWIM – 0:50:24
T1 – 0:05:45
BIKE – 3:55:19
T2 – 0:03:07
RUN – 2:35:30 OVERALL – 7:30:03
Silverman… They don’t call it the “World’s Toughest Triathlon” for nothing…. trust me.
Nice shot of the Las Vegas skyline.. GOODNIGHT, Henderson!
The Silverman Triathlon was a bit of a last minute addition to my triathlon season. It wasn’t on the original season schedule, but I decided to sign up for it around July as one last “hurrah” for my year. I’m really glad I did, because it was such a GREAT race.
Part ONE – Pre-Race
Minh and I packed up the car and headed out Friday evening after work. Minh built this new bike rack thing so that we could put the bikes INSIDE the car. It was pretty cool. We were ablet o fit his cross bike and my tri bike, plus all our other gear and travel things, and snacks, for the trip. Much better than having to leave the bikes outside while we drove four hours across the desert with the howling winds.
LEFT: Just the bikes... RIGHT: All packed up...
We opted to NOT get a room Friday night because we would be getting to the Las Vegas area pretty late. Instead, we made plans to pull an “all-nighter”. We got to Vegas around 11PM.. so we parked the car at Bellagio and walked down to MGM Grand to watch Saw 3D – I’ve been wanting to see this movie since Minh first showed me the trailer.. if you like the Saw movies, then you’ll definitely like it. But don’t go to see it until you’ve seen the ENTIRE series. After the movie, we headed back to the Bellagio to walk through the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. I thought it would be bigger and take more of our time.. but it was still pretty cool.
Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Garden
By now it was probably 3AM… we didn’t know what else to do and we’re not much of gamblers… so we went to sleep in the car. We got kicked out of the parking structure around 5AM by a security guard.. hehe.. it was a good nap though. By that time, we decided to head out to Henderson and find breakfast. Made a quick stop at the Las Vegas Welcome Sign for a photo-op.
Ahh.. Las Vegas.. Where else can you get "internet beer"?
The drive to Henderson wasn’t very long, and thus, did not kill very much time. We found a place to get breakfast that opens at 6AM.. so we only had to chill in the car for about half an hour before eating. The restaurant is called The Cracked Egg. It was OK for a breakfast place.. nothing special.
Breakfast from the Cracked Egg
After we finished eating, we still had about an hour to kill before the Race Packet Pick-Up opened… so we went to Whole Foods and walked around looking at groceries. I had forgotten that their was a Pancake Breakfast going on at the Expo, or else we would have gone to that. Eventually we got to the Expo and Race Packet Pick-up and Mandatory Athlete Meeting and all that other good stuff.
Silverman Finish-line.. I'll see you TOMORROW!!
Coffee and Kahlua to keep us awake during Mandatory Athlete Meeting
After leaving the expo, we headed out to the Race Start/T1 area (which was next to our hotel) to drop off my bike, bike gear, and run gear. I got a pretty good spot in my aisle since no one else had showed up to drop off their bike.
Bike Checked IN!! Best spot in my row!
Once all my gear was dropped off, we headed to the hotel to see if we could check-in early…. and we DID!!! YAY!!! The room was really nice and spacious and RIGHT NEXT TO the race start. There was also a nice small kitchen area with stove, dishwasher, sink, mini fridge, pots, pans, plates, silverware, cooking utensils, etc.. so we could make food.
I was hoping for a nap once we were all checked in, but Minh said “NO!”. His thinking was that if we napped, then we wouldn’t get a good night’s rest that night… so.. We went to go find lunch and things to make for dinner. Then we ate.. watched TV.. walked around a little bit.. pre=drove parts of the course.. made dinner.. and went to bed.
First… Silverman Half Triathlon race report forthcoming.. just need to sift through pictures and actually put together a write-up.
FINALLY… the 2010 season is officially over.. I’m celebrating with a breakfast of four cupcakes my sister picked up from Cupcake Camp IE over the weekend.
CUPCAKES!! - clockwise from top left: lemon, banana, something with lemon frosting, coconut pineapple
I’m a little sad races are over for the year (true.. I’ve got two more races before we ring in the new year, but I’m not REALLY counting those… especially since they’re technically in the 2011 Xterra SoCal Trail Run Series), but I’m also relieved to get a little break to rebuid a good base for next year. It’s been a tough year for me.. racing, motivation, training, etc.. but it was definitely a good year: 2 marathons, 6 trail runs (+ 2 more this year), 13 bike races (all but one on the mountain bike), 7 triathlons (2 70.3 distance, 2 olympic, 1 off-road, 2 sprint), and 1 mud run. I’m not sure if I’ve improved much, considering my relaxed approach to training and lack of focus, but I did learn a lot of lessons on how to attack the 2011 season.
Lessons Learned
Quality not Quantitiy – Focused and quality (speed work, intervals, hills) short workouts will benefit me more than half-assed long workouts.
Nutrition is KEY – I really need to figure out race-day nutrition for better performance. I noticed that it isn’t physical fatigue or inability that slows me down during the races, it’s debilitating stomach aches from not paying attention to what I’m eating at the aid stations.
Minh is usually RIGHT – As much as I hate to admit it, this is true when it comes to working out, nutrition, race strategy and focus, and generally what’s good for me. This is not true when it comes to directions, random trivial knowledge, or scheduling… among other things not related to training and competing.
The year was fun and I’m definitely looking forward to next year. Hoping I improve more with more focused training and better plans.
