Upcoming Races

I've just spend the last 30 minutes planning out my practice races leading up to my next Half Marathon! Can you believe that it is only 13.5 weeks away?! I plan to do short runs for the next week and a half and then I'm going to GET SERIOUS 12 weeks out. I plan to follow the Hal Higdon Intermediate plan this time, but modified because running 5 days a week is a bit much for me! I want to fit in more cross-training and yoga, so I'll be shooting for 3-4 days a week of running. Also, I don't think I blogged about this yet, but I signed up for my 3rd Half Marathon before even starting training for my 2nd. Kind of crazy, but I wanted to get the early bird special discount. My 3rd half will be 12 weeks after my 2nd, which should be NO problem! {fingers crossed!} So here is a list of my planned races:

Sunday, August 28th- 8am- 4 mile End of Summer Fire Run- My plan called for a 5K, but what's an extra .9 miles?!
Sunday, September 25th- 8am- AIDS 10K Run
Sunday, October 30th- Rock N Roll LA 1/2 Marathon

Sunday, January 22nd- 7:30am- Carlsbad 1/2 Marathon

I want to check out Holiday races between my 2nd and 3rd half, but will probably wait until my 2nd half is over to figure that out! I love having things planned, so I can look forward to them and now I am excited for these new race distances (4 miler and 10K) coming up!

Summer heat

I just ran for the first time since the half! It's kind of crazy how long it has been! I've been busy with bootcamp, yoga and pilates; but I have noticed an increase in my anxiety! Running releases stress and anxiety for me! I planned to go to bootcamp today, but somehow got to work with only one shoe! Instead of driving an hour roundtrip to get it, I just decided that I'll go to bootcamp tomorrow and celebrate tonight! We are celebrating the fact that we got approved for a used car loan for my fiancé at 2.49% interest! Yay! So I ran a whopping 1.25 miles to 7 eleven to return a movie to the Redbox! It is sooo hot out I look like a ran 5 miles! Here's a sweaty pic!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A to Z

 

hey! I haven’t blogged in forever because I haven’t ran once since the half marathon. I made this blog to document my {slow} times and with the lack of running, I haven’t felt the need to come here and document my other workouts. Here's a quick rundown though:

Week ending 6/18:

Tuesday: Boot Camp

Wednesday: Hot Yoga

Saturday: Boot Camp

 

Week ending 6/25:

Tuesday: Pilates

Wednesday: Hot Yoga

Thursday: Boot Camp

Saturday: I plan to go to Boot Camp again!

I found this fun little A to Z survey that I thought would be something fun for my imaginary readers to learn a little more about me!

A - Age: 25.

B - Bed size: Queen- Would LOVE a KING!

C - Chore you hate: Dishes and the worst is that my fiance hates them too!

D - Dad’s Name: Dallas

E - Essential start to your day: Breakfast. I always wake up hungry

F - Favorite actress and actor: none? I really don’t care about celebrities- is that weird?

G - Gold or Silver: White Gold

H - Height: 5’7″

I - Instruments you play(ed): none

J – Job title: Collections Lead

K - Kid(s): Let’s get married first

L - Living arrangements: tiny 1 bedroom, 1 bath apartment with an amazing view!

M - Mom’s name: Alison

N - Nicknames: Critle, Babe- Crystal is pretty hard to turn into a nickname

O - Overnight hospital stays other than birth: July 2009- worst night ever

P - Pet Peeves: sucking and teeth clanking noises

Q - Quotes you like: There is a pretty long one that is my desktop picture right now. It says “This is your life. Do what you love, and do it often. If you don’t like something, change it. If you don’t have enough time, stop watching TV. If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; They will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love. Stop over analyzing, life is simple. All emotions are beautiful. When you eat, appreciate every last bite. Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people, we are united in our differences. Ask the next person you see what their passion is, and share your inspiring dream with them. Travel Often; getting lost will help you find yourself. Some opportunities only come once, seize them. Life is about the people you meet, and the things you create with them so go out and start creating. Life is short. Live your dream, and wear your passion.”

R - Right or left-handed: Right

S - Siblings: Younger brother, DJ and Younger sister, Chante

T - Time you wake up: Usually between 5:30 and 6:30

V - Vegetable you dislike: Celery

W - Ways you run late: My finace- haha!

X - X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, Back, Hand

Y - Yummy food you make: Simple things! Usually sides, when he BBQs

Z - Zodiac: Libra

Recovery Week

Alternately Titled: LAZY WEEK!

I was pretty sore on Monday and more sore on Tuesday. I finally attempted to stretch and foam roll on Tuesday night. I also took Wednesday off. On Thursday I tried Pilates for the first time ever! It was really hard- in at not sweaty at all kind of way. It was similar to lifting weights, but different. I was sore on Friday and Saturday. I felt like I should’ve ran this weekend, but took off because my fiance was off. He works 2 Saturdays and then gets one off, so it is pretty much one Saturday a month that he gets off. We spent the day checking out 3 different wedding venues and enjoying both lunch and dinner out. We tried El Indio (seen on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives) because we saw that they offering catering at one of the places that we are interested in. The food was good, but I feel like it is similar to the Mexican food in our neighborhood and probably not wedding good. Saturday night we went to the Padres game because I got a free ticket for any game in June from the Rock and Roll- and his ticket was 25% off- so including fees it was $13.75! Cheaper than a movie date! The best part was that it was free hat night! Here are two pictures from my NEW iphone!

Rally Caps- Unfortunately we lost!

I’m hoping to get off the lazy train next week and back on track with 4-5 workouts a week. I’m planning to use some Groupons that I have for bootcamp, pilates and yoga in the next 2 months before starting my next training plan for my 2nd half marathon which is the LA RnR on October 30th!!

Rock and Roll SD- My First Half Marathon

I set the alarm for 4:30 and left the house just before 5, so I took my breakfast in the car with me. 2 slices of wheat bread with White Chocolate Wonderful Peanut Butter and banana. I actually only ate about half of the second slice because of pre-race nerves!

Pre race smile- I wanted to put on mascara, but my fiance talked me out of it!

Getting to the start line was a fiasco! The freeway was the worst traffic that I have ever seen at 5:30 in the morning!! We missed the exit off the 5 freeway for being dropped off, which was Kettner/ Laurel. We went to the next exit, Sassafras, and basically weren’t moving at all. Everyone was jumping out of the car to just walk to the start line, so we decided to do the same. Laurel was a HUGE hill to hike up just to get to the start line. We got to Balboa park around 6:05 and got in line for the porta potties.

The porta potty lines were RIDICULOUS! At one point, they came to us in line and tried to convince us just to get out of line and start the race because they were already on coral 20! We suffered through because we really had to go. Of course there was NO toilet paper when we finally got to the front! After the almost hour long line- we ran to the start line and started with coral 30, just after 7am!

Finally at the start!

Megan and I – both sportin the blue!

Tried to get the start in the background- NICE- I hid my double chin!

I loved this sign RIGHT when we started “ONLY 26 MORE MILES TO GO”. Megan is much faster than me, but I managed to stay with her for the first mile!

It was so cool to see the waves of people!

First Band!

Here are my splits:

Mile 1- 11:01

Mile 2- 11:42

Mile 3- 11:27

Mile 4- 11:07

Mile 5- 12:28

Mile 6- 12:27

Mile 7- 11:08- down hill!

Mile 8- 12:10

Mile 9- 13:06- hit the wall hard

Mile 10- 13:19

Mile 11- 13:08

Mile 12- 14:10

Mile 13- 13:35

.32- 11:53

Total of 13:32- 2:44:44- 12:21 average pace

I really hit the wall hard at mile 9. I  had no motivation to keep running and consistently took way too many walking breaks. It was hot with little wind and my face got really sun burnt. I regret not wearing a hat and/or sunscreen. I was really hoping for a marine layer and there was nothing! The sun was beating down on me from the very start! Overall everything was a learning lesson and I’m happy that I at least finished! I know next time that I have to get their earlier because I could’ve really benefited from running with a pace group (my original plan). All lessons learned!

I did it!!!! First Medal EVER!

Me with good friend Buket and Lauren

With my Momma- I was very happy that she found me right away post race! Especially since my phone was acting up!

With My Fiance- He’s proud of my medal!

LOVE!

Rock and Roll San Diego Race Expo

 

Here is a quick recap on the Race Expo and I’ll be back tomorrow night to recap the race in full detail. The SD RnR Race Expo was hosted at the SD Convention Center. They recommended that locals come to the event on Friday to avoid the crowds.

I went to the Expo with my friend Megan- who also ran her first half marathon! The person that took this picture cut off the countdown, so we asked her to take another and my eyes are shut!

hello?! open your eyeballs!

I didn’t end up buying at anything at the expo, but enjoyed a few of the free samples! I love having the samples in my desk at work for snacks! I should’ve taken a picture of my loot. I got 2 mini Lara bars- Carrot Cake and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough; 2 packs of  Sport Beans; a sample of Laura Scudders Peanut Butter; Degree motionSENSE deodorant; full size Odwalla Chocolate Chip Peanut; Cascadian Farm Organic dark chocolate almond granola; Nutrilite ROC20. I think that’s it—not too many!

Megan bought me this beer for $1, since I didn’t have any cash! I was supposed to get one of these at the finish line too- but never made it over. I heard that the line was atrociously long!

Overall the expo was really fun and I loved seeing many of the brands that I have bought through blog reading. I saw Mission (love their sweat proof sunscreen), SPIbelt (and they gave me free toggles for my bib number), and Sweaty Bands (I asked why my super mini skinny one won’t stay on my head). I also sampled a ton of products there which ruined my dinner appetite!

1st Half Marathon

Quick post- I just finished my first half marathon! I think this might have been one of the hardest things that I have ever done! I am not very proud of my time, but I am happy to say that there is a lot of room for improvement! I finished in 2:45:05. The size of the event was HUGE- I heard 32,000 people! Is this normal for all Rock and Rolls? I'll be back to write more soon, but just wanted to pop in to say that I FINISHED!

Happy National Running Day

I'm all about taking advantage of a great deal- so I thought that I would pop in to let ya'll know that if you sign up for a Rock N Roll Race today there are some great savings for National Running Day!! I signed up for the Rock N Roll Los Angeles Half Marathon- which is on October 30th!! The day before Halloween! I'm a little nervous, since I haven't even run my first half marathon yet and I'm already diving head first into my second one! whoo hoo! Also, LA was about $37 less than SD! That's a pretty big savings right there! Oh and the best part?! I've convinced my bestie to do it with me!!! She lives in LA, so I'll get to stay with her and I'm so excited that she is willing to try out my new favorite thing- racing! :)

Last Long Run Before Race Day

I ran another 10 miles this morning! I did a few things different compared to my last 10 miler and I’m really happy with my results.  First of all, I bought some new workout clothes last week at Costco and I tried them out today- LOVED them! I got Adidas brand Bermuda shorts and Kirkland brand racer back yoga tops. I got two colors of each and I tried out one outfit today. I loved the length of the yoga top (nice and long) and the sweat wicking material in addition to the seamless feel. Also, I got a new nozzle for my wanna-be Camelbak and it made the world of difference. A few years ago I bought a Sierra Nevada brand hydration pouch at Costco {um do you see a trend here?} for $19.99. I mainly only used it when we would hike Cowles Mountain (3 miles round trip) but had recently started using it for my long runs. The nozzle started dripping on me and was consistently getting worse with each run. Last weekend I ran out of water at mile 7 because it dripped out with every step I took and all over me too. So long story short, I was going to buy a Camelbak at REI this week because they are 25% off and my fiancé convinced me to just try to buy the Camebak brand nozzle and bite piece for less than $10. I was totally Negative Nancy and told him that we’ll probably have to go back the next night to return it if it doesn’t work because I HAVE to have it for my long run today. Welll…. Negative Nancy was wrong and it worked AMAZING! That was a nice $40 savings for me! Lastly, I finally bought some real running fuel and loved the two that I tried today. At 40 minutes, I took a Gu brand Espresso Love flavor and it had 2X caffeine, which I feel really made a difference. At 1 hour 20 minutes (40 minutes later) I tried a Honey Stinger brand Gold (no caffeine). The Honey Stinger was much thinner consistency than the Gu brand and A LOT sweeter, so I’m not sure that I like it as much, but it was not horrible and I didn’t even have an upset stomach- so that’s a win! Now on with my splits:

Mile 1- 11:09

Mile 2- 11:49

Mile 3- 11:41

Mile 4- 12:30- took my first Gu

Mile 5- 12:06- caffeine kicking in

Mile 6- 12:04

Mile 7- 12:04

Mile 8- 12:42- took my second one

Mile 9- 12:20

Mile 10- 12:16

Total Time- 2:00:43- Average Pace: 12:04

I’m really hoping that I can sustain an average pace of 12 minute miles for race day- that would put me at around 2 hours and 37 minutes. My stretch goal would be to run with the 2 hour and 30 minute pace group! I’m slightly nervous because my hips have been giving me some problems and really started hurting around mile 7.5 today. That is pretty much the halfway point for the half (or 1 mile past the halfway- haha!), so if I have to run the entire second half with excruciating hip pain, I’m not sure that I’d be able to maintain my goal pace. I’m going to make it an extra point to hydrate this week and stretch + foam roll EVERY day! Must not be lazy with stretching and hydrating this week because I know that it will make a big difference come race day!

Sparkle and Shine 5K—PR

Get excited for my first post with pictures- I downloaded Windows Live Writer and I’m loving it!!

Last Sunday I ran the end of the season race with Girls on the Run San Diego- It was called the Sparkle and Shine 5k and the race started at Embarcadero South here in San Diego.

Pre Race Smile

4 coaches from each group got to be running buddies for the girls and I was so excited to get to be a running buddy! We had 11 girls from our site who planned to run the 5K on race day and many of the parents were running with the girls as their running buddy. There were 4 girls who needed running buddies and 4 coaches available. One girl didn’t show and another girl’s mom joined last minute- so there were 4 coaches and only 2 girls that actually need running buddies. Lizzie lucked out with 3 coaches as her running buddies.

          

Pre Race Face Painting

Pt Loma Group

During mile 1, I was chasing after her at a pace that was a bit fast for me. Around mile 2 she was wanting a few walking breaks, but my muscles were starting to cramp because I had just ran 10 miles 2 days prior. I tried to stay with her and motivate her, but eventually I decided to run ahead and figured that she had two other coaches to run with.

Lizzie with her other two coaches

I ran most of the third mile on my own- with hope for a last minute PR. Negative split- whoo hoo!
Mile 1- 10:22
Mile 2- 11:40
Mile 3- 11:33
Last .11- 1:09- 10:35 pace
Total- 34:44- Average pace: 11:10
My {previous} best 5K race time was 35:18, so it’s really not a huge improvement and I honestly think I could’ve done even better, but I didn’t go into this race planning to set a PR.

I’m actually slightly mortified that I’m posting this finish line picture on the web- and yes my face is ALWAYS that red!

I can’t believe that the season is over already- I had a great time volunteering with GOTR and I wish that programs like this were available when I was a kid. Out of 24 lessons I only missed one and I loved getting to know each of the girls on our team. I look forward to volunteering again next season!

Longest Distance to Date- 10 miles

I wish I would've wrote this post on Friday after my long run, so I could've described how I felt in the moment. In the past 4 days I've forgotten how much I struggled. This run was night and day from my 9 mile run. During my 9 miles last weekend I felt over the moon, proud, like I would DEFINITELY rock 13.1 miles no problem and I LOVED the new route I ran. Friday's 10 miles was the polar opposite. At mile 2, I wanted to quit and had so much self doubt. I was having a lot of negative thoughts and telling myself that I'm too fat to run, and never should've signed up for this race. I think the biggest difference between the 2 runs was also the weather. On Friday I had the sun beating down on me and was worried about the sun from the second that I woke up. I think I struggled more with pacing as well. I'm wondering if I might have started off too fast? Here are my splits:
Mile 1- 11:22
Mile 2- 11:47
Mile 3- 11:29
Mile 4- 12:22- I walked to put my ipod in my knock off camel back thingy and never got my pace back up.
Mile 5- 12:22
Mile 6- 12:20
Mile 7- 12:25
Mile 8- 12:35
Mile 9- 12:27
Mile 10- 12:24
Total Time- 2:01:39; Average Pace- 12:09

This was 23 seconds more per mile on the average pace compared to last week's long run. I had stomach issues and feel like I have not tried enough different fueling methods. I split Cliff Shot Blocks during my 9 miler long run and 10 miler long run. Ideally, I think the entire package should've been consumed in one long run, but it was upsetting my stomach both times. I loved Gu the two different times that I tried it, but haven't gone back to Road Runner to buy more. I bought the Shot Blocks at my local health foods store, Windmill Farms, and unfortunately they don't sell Gus there. :( It's slightly embarrassing to post these {slow} split times, but my goal right now is to increase distance and worry about speed later. I've never done speedwork and know that I will definitely need to do some in the future- especially if I plan to do more Half Marathons! I was already looking at my options for future halfs in San Diego for this year today!! My fiance recommended that I wait to see how this one goes first.. good idea, but I've been bit by the racing bug!

100 lb bricks

My legs felt like 100 lb bricks today. I could not run for the life of me. I really regret not stretching on my rest days (Sunday and Tuesday). Since my 9 miles on Saturday I have only ran a short 1.58 miles on Monday at Girls on the Run. My Smart Coach plan directed me to do a tempo run today. It was supposed to be 5 miles total- starting with a warm up, 3 miles at 12:10 and then a cool down mile. Going into the run I thought to myself that 12:10 was slow- especially compared to my long run times- and that I was going to set a goal of 11:30. This whole tempo thing just did not happen. I think I need to read up more on the whole process because I'm so clueless and mentally just couldn't push my legs to work today.

Lap 1- 12:24
Lap 2- 12:16
Lap 3- 12:59
Lap 4- 16:47- walked this entire mile

I turned around at mile 2 instead of pushing to mile 2.5 for a total of 5. 3 running and 1 walking is better than nothing, right? My thought process today was that I need to save my legs to do a good 10 miles on Friday and my GOTR 5k on Sunday. I would much rather report back to you that I had excellent runs for each of these rather than saying that I pushed myself too hard for a random midweek tempo run. I just spent some time stretching and foam rolling and I'm considering a yoga for runners class tomorrow night. I've really got to be more diligent with stretching and foam rolling because my muscles were SO tight today!

9 miles

Just finished my longest run to date- 9 miles! I ran a new route and absolutely LOVED it! I started near the airport at Spanish Landing and ran 4.5 miles to Embarcadero South and turned around back to the car for another 4.5. The weather was nice and cool, which was awesome. I actually hate running with the sun beating on me! Around mile 6.5 it started to sprinkle, but had stopped by the time I got back to the car. I was not expecting the sprinkles at all, so I felt a little caught off guard at first, but after looking at my splits, it actually looks like the rain helped me!

Mile 1- 10:45
Mile 2- 11:45-- really needed to go to the bathroom
Mile 3- 12:00
Mile 4- 12:07
Mile 5- 12:03
Mile 6- 12:01
Mile 7- 11:19-- rain
Mile 8- 12:02
Mile 9- 11:54
Total Time- 1:46:04- Average pace of 11:46

At the halfway point, I looked at my average pace and it was at 11:40, so the second half was slightly slower than the first half. I wish I could go into full detail about the bathroom experience, but let's just say that I almost wished I was in a porta potty. There were no doors on either of the two toilets and I just thank God that nobody walked in while I was in there. THAT would've been a sight!

There are some things I want to say about my pace. First of all, I know I am slow. But I was actually surprised that I ran faster than Smart Coach recommended for the half marathon. I entered my best 5k time on their website and they recommended a 12:27 average pace for the half. Maybe I shouldn't be comparing today's long run to the half- because who knows how much harder those additional 4 miles will be- but I was happy to see that my pace today was half a minute faster per mile compared to Smart Coach's recommendation. I can't wait for next weekend's long run of 10 miles, so I can compare it to this run! I actually am planning to do the long run on Friday because my fiance's parents are coming into town on Friday night for the weekend! Oh and I have my Girls on the Run 5k on Sunday- so I'll have a day of rest before the race!

Ready, Set, Go

I am a very analytical person who is a horrible writer. I've loved reading blogs for the past two years, but never dreamed of creating one because let's face it- I'm just not a writer. I have always struggled with putting my thoughts down on paper. I decided to finally create this blog for help with accountability. Maybe if I'm posting about running and eating then I will be more motivated to stay committed? I've titled this blog Sandy Eggo Runner because I live in sunny San Diego! The runner part is kind of a joke. I ran three 5ks in 2010 and signed up for the Rock and Roll San Diego Half Marathon in January, which is in 3 short weeks!! I have failed to follow my training plan and I am definitely worried about the upcoming race! 13.1 miles seems nearly impossible! So far for my long runs, my longest distance has been 8 miles. Last weekend I set out to do my second 8 mile long run, but I had a dead Garmin (can you say newbie runner?!) and realize now that I probably ran closer to 7 miles. I'm shooting for 9 miles tomorrow and 10 the following weekend. I'll be back to update on how those go!