Saturday, May 28, 2011

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 fiancĂ© 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 Smile

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!

Friday, May 27, 2011

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.
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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.

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Pre Race Face Painting
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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.
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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.
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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!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

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!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

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!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

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!

Friday, May 13, 2011

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!