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Virtual Brea 8K 2021 Race Recap

Posted in Race, Race reports, Racing, Running, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 28, 2021| 2 Comments »

The 8K is an unusual but delightful race distance. At 4.97 miles, it has some key advantages: (1) It’s long enough that you feel like you get your money’s worth. (2) For those of us who hit our stride at 2 miles in, it makes more sense than a 5K/3.1 miles. (3) It can be raced at a comfortably hard pace (if there is such a thing), rather than a punishingly speedy 5K pace. (4) The 8K/4.97 mile distance is not particularly punishing either, compared to the 10K/6.2 miles or of course the half or full marathon.

The Brea 8K Classic benefits the students and programs of Brea Olinda High School. The 2020 race last February was the last in-person race I did before the pandemic shut down races! That was my 5th Brea 8K, and people who know me know that that is a huge compliment to the race — I rarely run a particular race/course more than once. It’s a great local race for a great cause, and so when the 2021 race went virtual, I wanted to support the organizers and the high school. At least, I did when I signed up, haha! When the day actually dawned to run my virtual race on the last day possible, February 28, I wasn’t too keen. I’m still recovering — in mind and body — from the virtual marathon on February 6. I have been enjoying the post-marathon recovery by changing up my workouts a lot, ranging from taking an impromptu barre class taught by my 16-year-old ballerina, to riding mountain bikes with my 12-year-old in Chino Hills State Park. That means I haven’t done a heck of a lot of running.

I leisurely sipped two cups of coffee, and lingered over my peanut butter toast. I loaded the dishwasher and got it going. I talked my husband’s ear off. And then I finally got out the door to run 8K. The virtual race used a new-to-me app called RaceJoy to let participants time and run their virtual race anywhere. The setup on my iPhone was easy and I had no problem hitting “start” on the tracking as I crossed the virtual starting line in my neighborhood. I could even listen to my audiobook on my phone at the same time my phone tracked my race. The app chimed in with my mile splits and told me my average split pace and predicted finish time (a nice touch). I should have also worn my Garmin so I could see my current distance and not just mile splits, but it was probably a good thing for me to run by feel and not think about my current pace or distance. I ran down to the local track and finished the race there. The high winds today helped me at my back in one direction and challenged me as I rounded the track into the wind.

I’m pleased with that time (43:15, 8:42 average pace) for a virtual race I didn’t train for specifically. And while I won’t get the race medal or t-shirt until next month, I got the best post-race reward as I walked off the track. Another runner called out to me, “Do you compete?” I nodded and smiled and pointed to my phone. “Yes! I was doing a virtual race today!” And he said, “You looked great! You inspired me!” That has to be one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. I hope he knows how pleased I was to hear that, and how much he brightened my day.

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Miles for Meals Virtual Marathon Recap

Posted in Marathon, Race reports, Racing, Running, tagged , , , , , , , on February 11, 2021| 1 Comment »

I learned many lessons from the virtual marathon last Saturday, February 6:

  1. Waking up at 4 a.m. for a virtual marathon felt silly and ridiculous and foolish. I had to keep reminding myself that I had chosen to proceed with a virtual race to raise funds for the food bank when the Death Valley Marathon got canceled.
  2. Fundraising is hard. It’s easy to ask people for money, but it’s a very vulnerable feeling to put yourself out there to say, “This cause is important to me. I hope to raise X amount of funds. Please support me and the cause.”
  3. People are generous and kind. Donations trickled in slowly at first, but as of today, 21 people donated for a total of $1,434.70, enough to provide over 4,300 meals to the hungry. That blows my mind. I’m still waiting for the total to update and I am leaving the fundraiser open until the end of February in case anyone else would like to contribute and/or create their own fundraising teams for the virtual Brea 8K (sign up and run any day in February!), so donate here if you want to push the total over $1,500!
  4. Running a virtual marathon is hard. Any marathon is hard of course, and I knew a virtual one would be difficult, but I didn’t know just how difficult. I had run a virtual half, and that was challenging but manageable. The full 26.2 was torture. I didn’t realize how much I would miss the support of volunteers and spectators. Thank goodness for the random people who saw me struggling and called out “Good job!” or “You got this!” The Santa Ana River Trail follows a gentle, overall downhill grade as the river runs to the Pacific Ocean, but it has several underpasses (which means a lot of mini hills along the way) and some bridges.
  5. My family is the best. My husband Mike woke up at 5 to drive me to the start, and later brought two of my girls to the finish to meet me and go for gelato to celebrate.

Here are some photos with a brief description of how it went.

Blurry photo of my supportive partner, riding next to me at dawn

Mike and I arrived at the start around 5:50, but the gas station we were counting on being open was closed. With no porta potties or gas station bathrooms in sight, we had to drive all the way to another gas station. We ended up starting at 6:30 (technically the trail is not open until 7 a.m. — shh! It was all for a good cause!)

Beautiful morning, intimidating hill coming up

It was chilly at sunrise and Mike was freezing on the bike in spite of his gloves. I warmed up quite quickly running at a 9 minute per mile pace.

Sunrise

Even after the sun came up it remained chilly. Lucky for me, not so much for Mike.

Angel Stadium on the horizon and a preview of the fog I was about to enter

Just before the 9-mile mark, Mike handed off some extra Gatorade to me and he turned back to go to the car. I felt great at this point and continued to feel good until the half marathon point. That’s when it got hard, as it usually does in any marathon. You’ve put in a lot of miles by then and still have that same distance remaining. It got harder to keep up the pace.

Perfect running conditions in the fog

I enjoyed running through the fog as I listened to podcasts. Many cyclists shared the trail with me, and I saw a few other runners and some dog walkers.

One of the bridges crossing the Santa Ana River

I love the artistry of this bridge! The trail is beautiful and there was plenty to entertain me along the way. I spied many birds — pelicans, egrets, herons, and turkey vultures!

I started to struggle around mile 18, and by mile 20 it was a full struggle-fest. While I tried to fuel properly along the way, I suspect the beginner marathon training plan I had chosen (because who wants to train harder than that during a pandemic?) simply did not put enough miles on my legs to sustain me at the pace I had attempted. My legs turned to lead, and I walked for a bit while I tried to get some more calories in.

Full sun again as I approached the beach

I managed to pick the pace back up into the 12-minute mile range when I told myself the faster I ran, the faster I would be done, haha! Plus, my family was on the way to meet me at the end and I didn’t want them to have to wait. I also reminded myself (again) of all the people who had donated to the food bank, and how I had committed to run for the cause.

The palm trees on the horizon mark the finish line!

I felt better at mile 25 than at mile 20, so that was good news! I could see the finish, and knew I was going to make it if I simply kept on trucking.

Huntington Beach – the finish line

And this was the view at the end! After 4 hours 31 minutes, I was so happy to be standing on a bridge over the river, looking at the ocean as my kids and Mike ran to hug me. They helped me walk to the car, and whisked me away to Fashion Island for gelato.

I felt really great for the rest of the afternoon. As usual it was hard to get walking after any rest (sore quads and hamstrings) but Mike said I looked better than I had after many other races. And I ended up being a lot less sore than usual (which only makes me wish I would have been able to push a little harder on the course).

So, marathon #10 is in the books! I’m glad I did it and I’m glad it’s done. I have a credit that I can apply toward the 2022 (!) Death Valley Marathon, but at this point I am not sure I want to run another marathon. I do need to get on some sort of training plan soon for another adventure — trail race, century ride, hiking trip — because it’s the training I enjoy and that keeps me sane.

One last reminder: donate to Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County here!

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Fontana Days Run Half Marathon Virtual Race

Posted in Family life, Half marathon, Health, Race, Race goals, Race reports, Racing, Running, tagged , , , , , , on June 15, 2020| 2 Comments »

When the Fontana Days Run Half Marathon got canceled due to the pandemic, I chose the virtual run option as a way to stay motivated and keep up the exercise. I feel a million times better physically and mentally when I am on a training plan and working out about six days per week (three days of running, two of biking, and one strength training only, plus an extra strength workout on one of the biking days). I switched a lot of my training to indoors on the treadmill and spin bike and I started using the free trial of the Peloton app to do guided strength workouts in my bedroom with hand weights.

Race day on Saturday June 6, 2020, quickly approached at the end of 14 weeks of training. It surprised me how real this “virtual” race felt. I had major race jitters the day before the race and the morning of, just like any other race. I had worked hard on the training and I wanted to push myself on the race course. I went to bed early at 9:30 p.m. the night before, and woke up with my alarm at 3:45 a.m. to have a banana, whole wheat peanut butter toast, and coffee. I packed a bottle of UCAN to drink on the hour-long drive. My husband and two of my kids got up at 4:45 to take me to the race start in Fontana. They were so awesome to support me that way. I couldn’t have done it without them and their presence at the start, water drop at the half way mark, and pick up at the finish, all made the day extra special.

The race normally starts on Lytle Creek Road near Applewhite Campground. We arrived around 6:20 a.m. and one of my kids hopped out of the car into the sprinkling rain to take a photo of me.

Fontana race before

I walked around the entrance to the campground to “warm up” — I put that in quotes because it was in the low 50s and windy and rainy, as you can see from this photo they took of me from inside the car:

Fontana race warm up

After a short jog, I decided it was better to simply get going and warm up on the course. Race day adrenaline felt exactly the same — I couldn’t help going out too fast, even without anyone else around me! I consciously worked to slow my pace to my goal pace of 7:43 or so. The course is downhill and those first miles felt easy. It sprinkled lightly for the first three miles or so, and my race bib disintegrated in the wind and rain. I stuffed it in my fanny pack and kept going. Here is a video clip of me somewhere around mile three or four I think? It’s not riveting stuff but I think it’s fun to demonstrate what the weather was like, what it felt like to be out on the course alone, and how great my cheering section was (“Let’s go Mama!”):

The rain had stopped by then but the wind kept blustering until I left the San Bernardino National Forest around the 6-6.5 mile point and started approaching the town on Sierra Avenue. Then it was perfect racing weather (low 50s to 60s and overcast). I ate a Trader Joe’s organic fruit strip, my new favorite race fuel. My family met me just after that so I passed them my water bottle and trash and got a new water bottle. It was getting harder to keep up the pace at that point. I worried about dealing with traffic in town. In the hills there were many cars on the road but they were very respectful of me and most pulled into the center of the road to give me room. In town, I would have to cross major roadways including freeway on ramps. At the first one, I held up my hand to ask cars to stop, and they did! I was so grateful. I didn’t want to have to stop my Garmin and deal with the ethics of that. I mean, it’s a virtual race, and we’re on our honor, and it doesn’t really matter, but it mattered to me. Luckily I never did have to stop my Garmin. I hit one red light and turned left for a short out-and-back until the light changed. And I waited three seconds (my Garmin tells my “moving time”) at another light. Other than that I kept right on trucking until I hit 13.1 on my watch. My pace had slowed to the low 8s by the last miles and I ended up averaging 7:50 pace for a finish time of 1:42:43.

Screen Shot 2020-06-15 at 12.01.57 PM

I love to geek out on the numbers after a race. I find that cadence and stride information particularly interesting.

My family met me in downtown Fontana with an open single-serving size of Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough ice cream.

post race cookie dough ice cream Fontana

How did they know that was the perfect post-race food?! It truly was. I was sweaty but happy, and relieved and proud.

Post race face Fontana

I had finished in a time 45 seconds slower than my half marathon PR from six years ago at the old (no longer in existence) REVEL Canyon City Half Marathon. I am happy with the result. (Fun fact: my unofficial half marathon PR is somewhere around 1:37:09 when I ran the first half of the REVEL Canyon City Marathon at 7:25 average pace — no wonder I hit the wall at that race! That’s a super downhill course but there’s no way anyone should hit their half marathon PR in the first half of a marathon. Oops. I’ll take it though!)

It took me a week to write up this recap because — full disclosure and too much information — I woke up the day after the race with a kidney infection. Ladies, change out of your sweaty running clothes immediately after a race! And hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Nothing like going to urgent care in a coronavirus pandemic (actually, it was eerily deserted). Later in the week I broke out in a rash from the antibiotic (not hives, not an allergic reaction, just my body’s way of saying, “You idiot, stop poisoning me with bacteria and extra-strength antibiotics”).

On a happier note, I have settled on my next challenge! Anyone, anywhere in the US, want to join me in the virtual Run Across California (my referral link)? You get to count all running, walking, biking, swimming and paddling miles toward the 1,000 miles from San Diego to the Oregon border (or there are 150, 260 and 345 mile options) from now through December 31, 2020. The event is put on by a long-time, reputable SoCal race organizer so you know you’ll get your t-shirt and medal if you complete the race, and it is fun to log your miles each day and see your progress on the map. I ran 6 miles on the treadmill plus walked 0.5 miles for a warm-up and cool-down, so I am a whole 0.7% of the way done, haha!

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Ready to (Virtual) Race

Posted in Half marathon, Race goals, Racing, Running, tagged , , , , , on June 4, 2020| Leave a Comment »

I hope any readers of this post understand that in this crazy world of racial injustice, political unrest, and the COVID-19 pandemic, running remains one of the things that helps my mental and physical health, and that’s why I am writing about such a seemingly trivial thing as a canceled race and my plans to run a virtual race instead. I mean it when I say Black Lives Matter. Please vote. Wear a mask or face shield where appropriate, socially distance, and wash your hands. And in general, make good choices that support your own mental and physical health and the health and safety of others.

I raced in the Brea 8K on Sunday, February 28, 2020, probably one of the last handful of races to proceed in person before such events shut down due to coronavirus.

IMG_5050

The race was hard — it felt uphill the entire five miles even though it wasn’t — but it went well. I immediately looked for the next challenge (and registered that afternoon! Runner’s high at work!) I debated whether to go for full marathon #10, but couldn’t see myself committing to the training just quite yet. In retrospect, thank goodness for that! Instead, I signed up for the Fontana Days Run Half Marathon, scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 6. I had enjoyed this race when I ran it with my husband and eldest daughter in 2016.

Three weeks into training in mid-March, as all the local schools in Southern California went to distance learning, it became clear there was a chance the race would be canceled or postponed. I had to make a decision whether or not to continue with the training. I enjoy being on a training plan. It keeps me accountable and helps me commit to exercise when I might not feel like it some days. I was seeing results and feeling good, and decided to stick to it. That’s why, when the race organizers e-mailed the cancellation announcement on April 20, I had just completed a 10-mile tempo run on my treadmill at home. Yes, a 10-mile tempo run. On the treadmill. I had never done such a long tempo run before (I am following a training plan that calls for three runs a week – a tempo run, a speed workout, and a long run – along with two days of 20-30 mile bike rides, plus two days of core work).

The race organizers generously offered three options: (1) run a virtual race, (2) defer entry to the 2021 race, or (3) get a full refund. I sat on the decision for a week. In general, I don’t run races for the bling. I treasure a few of my medals for the memories they represent, but I would rather organizers put that money into ice-cold chocolate milk and warm cookies and potato chips and trail mix at the finish line, ha ha! In the end, though, I decided that I wanted to support the organizers by choosing the virtual race option. They get the money, and I get a chance to challenge myself with a virtual race. And as it turns out, the medal and other swag they mailed to me in a box turned out to be pretty fabulous!

IMG_1141

I love the socks especially, and the lapel pin, and the stretchy workout band. I am glad I chose the virtual race option, even as my race jitters are starting to kick in two days before the race. Participants can run the virtual race anytime from June 6-21, but my plan has primed me (so to speak) to run on June 6 and there’s no reason for me not to do it that day. The weather is looking relatively good for SoCal with starting temperatures in the mid-50s and a high of 73 for the day (given that we’ve had a day in the 90s recently, that’s pretty darn nice). My husband has agreed to be my support crew. I have a race plan and goals but I have no idea how it will be out there. I am a little worried about crossing roads that are open to traffic (both for safety reasons and for having to stop. Question: Pause the Garmin at stops? Keep it running? I think pause it.)

Were you signed up for a race that was canceled? If you had the option of a virtual race, did you choose that? How did it go? And did you pause your running watch at any forced stops?

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REVEL Big Bear Marathon 2019 Recap and Review

Posted in Marathon, Race, Race reports, Racing, Running, tagged , , , , , , , on January 7, 2020| 3 Comments »

It’s been nearly two months since I ran the REVEL Big Bear Marathon on November 9, 2019! Usually after I race I can hardly wait to summarize it and capture the memories in a blog post. This time though, I felt a need to savor the experience and keep it to myself for a while. The race felt surreal the second I finished it.

Going into the race I had the usual A, B and C goals. C was to arrive at the starting line healthy and finish uninjured. Check! B was to beat my 4:28 time from the Death Valley Marathon, which I unknowingly ran while deficient in vitamin D, B12 and iron. Yeah, I definitely did not want a repeat of that. I had the all-clear from my doctor, and check! I managed to break 4:28. My A goal was to break 4 hours. That’s never easy (for most of us anyway) and it gets harder the older I get (I’m 48 now). But check! I did it! And the best part is I even met an A+ goal — I finally negative split a marathon, on my 9th try! Three things helped me run the second half of the race faster than the first: (1) I went out slow at the start and resisted the urge to “bank” time while I had fresh legs. This time I was invested in saving my energy for the final miles, and I didn’t get carried away in the excitement of the race. A lot of people passed me in the first half of the race, and I just stuck to my plan, thinking I would pass them back in the second half (which did not turn out to be true, by the way – Big Bear is a “fast” downhill course and a lot of runners choose to run hard to go for a BQ or PR — so when people passed me I rarely saw them again! Good for them! But I’m glad I stuck to my plan of going out slower than my goal race pace). (2) I wrote out a pace band for myself using the negative split pace band feature for Big Bear from FindMyMarathon. And (3) REVEL Big Bear is a course that is set up perfectly for a negative split. I highly recommend this race. It’s well-organized, it’s a pretty course (until the last few miles) and it’s got a great course profile with some gentle rolling hills in the first half followed by an advantageous elevation decline from mile 9 on. And it’s not so downhill that it kills your quads or calves (if you’ve put in some downhill training and/or done strength training). This course replaced the old REVEL Canyon City (which I liked but it killed my calves) and I like this one better.

I had paid extra to pick up my bib on race day so I didn’t have to drive out to the expo. On race morning my husband got up early and drove me to the bus pickup. I wrote this note on the bus, which is a good thing because I don’t remember it:

2:25 up

2:30 out of bed

2:50 on road

3:40 arrive

3:50 porta potty

4 packet pick-up

4:12 on bus

It was about an hour drive to the staging area on the 38 highway south of Big Bear so I arrived about 45 minutes before the 6 a.m. start. It was cold at that elevation but not uncomfortable. Ideal really – somewhere in the 40s at the start (warming up to the low 80s by the time I finished). There were plenty of porta potties and not a long wait. I went through the line once, bagged my warm throw-away clothes, and got in place between the 3:50 and 4 hour flags. I kept my gloves and hand warmers (genius if I do say so myself). I ended up ditching them around mile 8 (mistake – I should have kept them until the half-marathon point – it was still cold at times until then!)

I had tried out UCAN for fueling during training and used it for the race. I took a scoop before the race and carried another small bottle with me for the first 6 miles or so. It worked great until about mile 11 when I felt the need for a quick boost – whether that was physical and/or mental I don’t know, but I ate a Trader Joe’s fruit strip – 80 calories, easy to carry in the pocket of my running pants, easy to open on the run, and delicious to consume.  I drank Powerade at the aid stops. I also took a Clif Shot Energy gel with a small amount of caffeine at mile 18 (hoping not to hit the wall at mile 20, and I didn’t). I ate two more fruit strips as needed toward the end of the race. It all worked out great! Those last 6.2 miles were really hard (both due to racing hard and due to the mild heat) but I stayed strong and focused and kept doing the mental math to stay on pace to come in under 4 hours. On the long straight-away at the end I saw my husband and two youngest girls. The girls ran along the side of the course as I ran down the finish chute. I was so focused on finishing strong that I forgot all about smiling for a finish line photo! So here is a photo from earlier in the race, when I was still smiling!

Screen Shot 2020-01-07 at 9.45.04 PM

It was a good thing the girls met me right away at the finish and I could lean on them for support. Crazy how you can go from running faster than 6.5 miles an hour to barely being able to walk. As we all know, the mind is a powerful thing. My mind convinced my body to run across that finishing mat and the second I crossed it, my mind said, “Okay, my work here is done.” And that’s when everything felt surreal.

Mike joined me and the girls and they helped me pick up my results: 3:57:52, for an average pace of 9:04. It wasn’t an overall PR but it was a PR for me in the 45-49 age group, and I am so pleased to have negative split the race. When I try to think of a word to sum up the race for me, the word that comes to mind is “validating.” That finishing time and negative split validated that I had trained hard and raced smart. This wasn’t an easy year for me to stick with a marathon training plan (the college application process for my oldest, and getting her settled in for her first semester, and having her living away from home — all of those put an emotional strain on me that made me extra proud that I didn’t get side-tracked from training). So, after the race I just reveled (ha ha, pun intended) in my personal, positive experience at REVEL Big Bear.

Now the big question in my mind is, do I go for marathon number 10? Marathons are hard (duh) and I don’t take the training or racing lightly. We’ll see!

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I Registered for Marathon #9

Posted in Family life, Marathon, Racing, Running, tagged , , , , , , on June 12, 2019| 5 Comments »

It’s been over two years since I ran the Death Valley Marathon, which is a lovely race on a spectacular course but was a very difficult race for me. I later discovered I had low levels of iron, vitamin D, and vitamin B12. Once those levels got back to normal, I finally felt like I wasn’t running into a constant headwind. I managed to train up for the Yosemite Half Marathon in May 2018, and climbed Mt. Whitney in August 2018. Then that fall got swallowed up by life outside of running, which included helping my oldest daughter, who decided to skip her junior year of high school and homeschool for a year while she applied early to college. I continued to run and exercise five days a week, but didn’t have the energy or desire to put a race on my calendar. I’m happy to report that my daughter got into UC Berkeley and will be heading off in August to study biology there! And now that that’s settled I finally feel ready to get another race on my calendar for the fall of 2019. In fact, I feel more than ready. I love having a race on the horizon to motivate me and give me a goal to focus on.

How did I choose which race to run for marathon #9, you ask? I ran my half marathon PR (1:41:58, for the curious) at the 2014 REVEL Canyon City Half Marathon. I liked that course so much I ran the REVEL Canyon City Full Marathon in 2015 (in 3:39:08). That was a tougher race with all of the downhill running in the first half (but I learned a lot in that race and feel better prepared to train for a downhill course). Shortly after I ran that race though, REVEL discontinued Canyon City for its Southern California race and switched to REVEL Big Bear instead! I heard great things about that race from another runner, and all the reviews I read online said it’s a gorgeous course, so that will be marathon #9 for me! I have driven the marathon route on CA-38 in a car and am really looking forward to the privilege of running it on Saturday, November 9, 2019!

Of course, on the day I hit “Register” on my computer, the temperature in Southern California jumped from the low 70s to the high 90s! Training through the summer in SoCal for a fall marathon can be a challenge. But it’s what works for my schedule and it keeps me on track (no pun intended!) during the summer heat.

Which do you enjoy more: training for a race or running the race? I’m one of the oddballs that actually enjoys the training more than the race itself. But as I said, I do like the motivation and focus that having a race on the calendar gives me.

What’s your favorite marathon course? I liked the Phoenix Marathon and Santa Rosa Marathon quite a bit. Of course the Boston Marathon is amazing for its history and spectator support, but it wasn’t my favorite course (I’m a fan of smaller races in less urban places). Death Valley Marathon (link to the 2020 race information) was the most spectacular, and I wouldn’t mind running it again someday to redeem myself on that course.

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Yosemite Half Marathon 2018 Recap and Review

Posted in Bike trails, Biking, Family life, Half marathon, Hotel and Campground Reviews, Kids, Race, Race reports, Racing, Running, tagged , , , , , , , on May 17, 2018| 4 Comments »

Did you ever sign up for a race months in advance, and then those months flew by and you wondered what you were thinking when you signed up for that race? That happened to me when I signed up for the Yosemite Half Marathon.

Yosemite Half Marathon 2018 logo

Had I known months ago that May was going to be so busy for me, I wouldn’t have signed up. And yet, I’m so glad I did, because I loved the race and I loved spending Mother’s Day weekend with my husband and three daughters in Yosemite National Park!

On Friday afternoon we drove seven hours up to the historic Big Trees Lodge (formerly the Wawona Hotel) inside the park. We used our fourth grade “Every Kid in a Park” national park pass to get into the park for free, saving $30, hooray!

Wawona Hotel Big Trees Lodge porch view

After sitting out on the 2nd floor porch and admiring the night sky, we got to bed by 10:30 p.m. and got a whole 4.5 hours of sleep before our race day alarm went off at 2:50 a.m.! I was running the race with my husband Mike and oldest daughter, 16-year-old Shannon. We needed to leave by 3:20 a.m. to make the 35-minute drive to the shuttle bus parking lot at Sierra Star in Oakhurst by 4 a.m. There wasn’t a coffee maker in our hotel room but thankfully the Big Trees Lodge staff agreed to have the night manager make us some coffee at 3 a.m.! He insisted that we take a whole thermos and a cup of cream! I was so appreciative. We ate muffins and bananas in the car on the drive.

We arrived at Sierra Star by 4 a.m. but faced a line of cars waiting to park in the field. It took 15 minutes or so for us to get parked. I was happy to see a row of porta potties set up in the field, along with very nice buses equipped with toilets. We got on a bus by 4:20 a.m. for the ride to the starting line. Unfortunately, our bus driver got lost, we took a 25-minute detour out of our way, and the ride ended up taking 1 hour 20 minutes total. I didn’t mind waiting on a warm bus (and Mike and Shannon both slept), but we got to the starting area around 5:40 a.m. and still had to pick up our bibs and drop our gear before the 6 a.m. start! (Can you hear my famous last words on Friday night, “Oh, we don’t need to go to the expo at Bass Lake Recreation Area; we’ll have an hour at the starting line to pick up our bibs”?) I waited in line to pick up our bibs while Mike hit the porta potties, then he grabbed a gear bag for drop-off at the starting line and we rushed over there with literally 45 seconds to spare. The race was chip timed so it would have been absolutely fine to miss the 6 a.m. start for the first heat (unless you were competing to be a top finisher and wanted an overall award based on your gun time — that wasn’t us!), but we were eager to go.

Race day weather could not have been better with clear sunny skies and temperatures in the low 40s at the start and warming up as the time progressed and the course descended in elevation to the finish at Bass Lake Recreation Area. I think the temperature must have been in the high 60s when we finished just after 8 a.m. I wore long pants and a long-sleeved shirt and wish I would have worn some gloves but my husband and daughter were perfectly fine in shorts and a short-sleeved t-shirt (go figure).

The course runs outside the national park itself but has its own spectacular scenery. I loved running through the woods on the dirt fire road for the first five miles of the course. It’s not an “easy” course by any means — the road was rutted and rocky in places but I thought that made it interesting and fun and the miles clicked by faster than any other race I’ve done. The mountain dogwoods were in full bloom and were so beautiful scattered among the pine trees. The only problem (and it wasn’t really a problem) was that my Garmin lost reception for about 0.4 miles among the trees so it wasn’t recording my mileage or split times accurately, saying we were running a slower pace than we actually were. Then we hit a downhill section from miles 6-10 on a paved road. My daughter and I both loved that section best. We cranked out mile splits in the low 8s and it felt easy. Then we hit the flat and rolling section from miles 10-13.1 and it got tough, as any half marathon gets tough at that point. The race director had warned us that we would hear the finish line across Bass Lake when we still had a ways to go, so we were prepared for that. I loved running in to the finish at the lake. Shannon and I crossed the finish line together at 2:04:50 and 2:04:51, earning her 2nd place in her 15-19 age group out of 9 runners! Unfortunately, in the rush at the starting line to get my bib, use the porta potties, and drop my gear bag, I had pinned on my husband’s bib instead of mine! So as I crossed the finish line, a very confused announcer read out, “And here are Shannon White and, um, Michael White, from La Habra!” Yeah. Oops. Thank goodness I had not run fast enough to qualify for an age group award and the correction of my time did not mess up the awards for the first five to finish in the 45-49 age group. Mike finished a few minutes later after a couple of porta potty stops along the course.

At the finish we received a huge, really nice medal with an image of Yosemite on it, along with a cold protein shake (choice of three flavors) and a box of post-run and hiking snacks.

Yosemite Half Marathon 2018 finishers medals

Me, Mike and Shannon in line for the shuttle bus back to the parking area. You can see Bass Lake behind us. Mike has on the technical shirt given out at the race. And yes, Shannon is wearing my Kappa Kappa Gamma sweatshirt from 1989!

If you wanted to make the weekend even more challenging you could participate in one or more of the official race “club hikes” and earn an extra medallion for taking those hikes and sending in photos. Instead, we rented bikes and road around the park with our younger children.

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Mike and my younger daughters even braved the 45-degree water in the river.

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We also drove up to Glacier Point, stopping at this lookout for my 13-year-old ballerina to pose in an arabesque.

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It was sunny and gorgeous in the valley but cold with even a few snow flurries at Glacier Point! The cool thing is that Mike and I cross-country skied to Glacier Point in 1998 before we had any children. It felt surreal to re-visit that spot 20 years later with our three daughters.

I usually do not do the same race twice, but I’d do the Yosemite Half again for sure. If you want to do it, sign up early enough to decide if you want to reserve a spot to camp at the finish line at Bass Lake, and then train on some trails and downhill runs to get ready for the course. Decide if you’re going to run it for fun or run it to race, and adjust your expectations accordingly.

Have you visited Yosemite? Have you run this or any other Vacation Races half marathons?

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Turkey Trot 5K 2016 Race Recap

Posted in ElliptiGO, Race goals, Race reports, Racing, Running, tagged , , , , , , , on November 6, 2016| 1 Comment »

Five years ago I first ran the local school district’s Turkey Trot 5K. (Five years ago? How can that be?!) I couldn’t run it again until now because the date always conflicted with my fall marathon training. But it fit in nicely this year since my next marathon is not until February 4, the Death Valley Marathon. I didn’t train specifically for a 5K and I only tapered two days for this race, so I didn’t have a great idea of what I should set for my race goal. It’s a hilly course so I knew I couldn’t expect to come close to my 5K PR of 22:19 set at the Downtown Anaheim 5K over a year ago, but I at least wanted to beat my time from the 2011 Turkey Trot, 24:37, and I hoped to come in under 24 minutes.

It was a gorgeous morning for racing. Cool but not cold, sunny but not blinding.

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292 finishers participated in this lovely neighborhood race.

The junior high choir sang a beautiful rendition of the national anthem, and then promptly at 8 a.m. we set off with the sound of the blow horn. So many youngsters took off at a blistering pace and my job in the beginning was not to trample any little kids. You would think I would learn not to get swept up in the excitement and go out too fast with them, but when I first checked my Garmin the pace said something in the 6 minute mile range! Oops. I reined it in over the rest of the mile and the mile splits for the race ended up being 7:39, 8:02, and 7:57. Maybe someday I’ll master 5K pacing and not suffer so much in the 2nd and 3rd miles!

I raced the big finish line clock down the home stretch to come in just under 24 minutes as I hoped. My Garmin said 23:56. But then I checked the official race results and my time said 24:07. So unsatisfying! That’s the problem with races that are not chip timed, I guess. I shouldn’t care so much, but I do, so I ended up writing the timing company to ask why my result didn’t match the finish line clock (I don’t expect my result to match my Garmin, but I do expect it to come within a few seconds of what the finish line clock said). At any rate, I was happy with my effort in the race and pleased to win 1st in my age group out of 20 women ages 40-49 (I am 45).

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The first place medal came with $15 in gift certificates to A Snail’s Pace running shop in Brea.

Saturday is my long run day and my plan called for a long bike ride (this plan from Smart Marathon Training sometimes substitutes long rides for long runs, which I find very refreshing). So after the race I drove to a paved path and rode the ElliptiGO for an hour and 40 minutes.

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Oh how I love a dedicated bike path!

That hour and 40 minutes on the ElliptiGO was truly easier and more fun than running a race for 24 minutes, let me tell you! I listened to running podcasts (Another Mother Runner had on Dean Karnazes and The Runner’s World Show talked about Running While Female) and enjoyed all the thumbs-up I got for the ElliptiGO, which remains a curiosity on the trails.

Are you watching the NYC Marathon today? Because I don’t have cable I’ve had to content myself with following the live coverage on Twitter. Hooray for American Molly Huddle coming in 3rd for the women in her marathon debut with a time of 2:28:13!

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The Big Reveal: Marathon #8 Will Be….

Posted in Family life, Marathon, Race, Race goals, Racing, Running, tagged , , , , on September 18, 2016| Leave a Comment »

My seventh marathon was the Boston Marathon in April 2016. I find it pretty funny that five months later — just as people are submitting their applications for Boston 2017 — here I am signing up for my eighth marathon, and it isn’t Boston (I qualified at Revel Canyon City but I won’t be going back to Boston next year — that was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me). Instead of a race with 30,000 entrants, I’ll be going for one that has just 350 entrants. Can you guess which one? Here’s a clue in the form of the book that’s on my bedside table:

Ground Afire: The Story of the Death Valley National Monument

Ground Afire: The Story of the Death Valley National Monument

Yes, I’ll be running the Death Valley Marathon on February 4, 2017! I figure it’s the closest I’ll ever get to the Badwater 135. Just like the Badwater ultramarathon, this race runs along Highway 190 through the heart of Death Valley National Park. I’ve wanted to visit the park for a long time now. It’s just 4.5 hours from my home in Southern California but I’ve never made it out there. Now I get to go for a quick weekend trip during one of the nicest times of year to visit the park.

I know this race isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. No spectators are allowed on the course aside from the volunteers. You cannot wear headphones or otherwise listen to music on the course (I never do anyway). It’s not a closed course. You get a cotton t-shirt, not a tech tee. But I hope I don’t have to spell out the appeal of the race. How awesome is it to get the privilege of running in one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world? Add in the bonuses of race day packet pickup, lodging in the park next to the race start, and practically a guarantee of an age group podium finish if I merely complete the race (only two women in the 45-49 age group ran the race last year).

So, let the countdown to marathon #8 begin! 4 months and 17 days until Death Valley Marathon 2017!

Have you ever been to Death Valley National Park? Do you have any recommendations for must-see sights or must-do activities in the park? Have you ever run the Death Valley Marathon? (If so, please tell me all about it!)

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Fontana Days Run Half Marathon 2016 Recap and Review

Posted in Family life, Race, Race goals, Race reports, Racing, Running, tagged , , , , , , , on June 10, 2016| 6 Comments »

Imagine the satisfaction of completing your first half marathon. Then imagine the satisfaction of beating that finishing time and setting a new personal record. Then double all that satisfaction and you just might get to the level of satisfaction I felt as I watched my 14-year-old and my husband complete their first half marathons at the Fontana Days Run last weekend!

About five months ago I encouraged Mike and Shannon to start training for a half marathon. I chose the race, the Fontana Days Run, because it offered a gentle downhill profile, the timing was right with the race taking place on June 4 a week after Shannon graduated from 8th grade, it was inexpensive for a half marathon, it was just a 45-minute drive from our house, and we could pick up our race packets on race morning.

I wrote out a training plan for Mike and Shannon to incorporate into their busy tennis schedule. They play 10-15 hours of tennis per week, so I figured they could get by with three runs per week: two shorter runs of 4-5 miles (one easy, one with some hills or informal speed work) and one long run on the weekend that gradually built to a 13.1 mile training run and tapered to an 11.7-miler and a 6-miler in the two weeks before the race. Everything seemed to go well in training, although I had no idea what pace they should target for the race. Shannon set the pace for the long training runs, and that generally averaged out to about 11 minutes per mile. I knew Mike and Shannon wanted to break 2 hours for their finish time, and that would require a pace of about 9 minutes per mile. Could they really run two whole minutes per mile faster in the race than they ran in training? I encouraged them to go out at a comfortable pace and not let their legs fly too fast on the initial downhill (the race has a drop of 2,125 feet from start to finish).

Unfortunately, a heat wave hit Southern California in the week leading up to the race. The race day high was 100 degrees in Fontana. The temperature in the mountains at the 7:30 a.m. race start was about 68 degrees F and the temperature at the finish in Fontana at 9:30 a.m. was 82 degrees. That further muddied the waters as to what pace Shannon and Mike could be expected to run. Here’s a chart from Runner Academy that estimates the impact of hot weather on running pace:

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So I expected them to run about 30 seconds per mile slower in the heat than they could have if we’d had ideal race day temperatures.

 

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As you can see in this photo of me it was quite sunny at the start.

Without fanfare or much warning at all, really, the starting gun went off and Mike and Shannon set out at a comfortable pace. I carried my iPhone and used the MapMyRun app to keep track of our pace, but I kept the data pretty much to myself the whole race. The first few miles of the course run down the road through the San Bernardino National Forest and it’s simply gorgeous!

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After the first few miles though we were in full sun and by mile 5, I really started to feel it. There were adequate aid stations but some just had water and not Gatorade. Thank goodness I brought my own sports bottle and could refill it at the aid stations every 3-4 miles. Given the unusual heat that day, the volunteers drove around in a golf cart and handed out wet washcloths which I appreciated. I coached Shannon to run through the aid stations and just grab a cup of water and dump it on her head. Then I handed her my bottle of Gatorade to drink every mile or so. This worked very well.

 

Mike ran just slightly ahead of Shannon and me, and he seemed to have an internal, innate sense of pace. I mean, just look at the consistency of these splits!

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The course is downhill but it’s so gradual that it never feels taxing. The last seven miles are a straight shot into the town of Fontana, which means you don’t have to worry about running the tangents. It’s not the most scenic, but it’s fantastic for a PR attempt or a first-time race.

 

By about mile 10 I knew that Mike and Shannon could come in under 2 hours, and I started encouraging Shannon to keep up the pace and not let off. She had the best attitude the entire race and never complained. We caught up to Mike around mile 12 just as his calves started cramping due to not taking in enough Gatorade. I passed him my bottle and he was able to revive and keep running. Shannon sprinted to the finish to come in at 1:54:21. I was one second behind her with a huge grin on my face! Mike clocked 1:54:49.

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A happy Mike at the finish line (and some random guy’s rear end. My photography skills can use some work). 

I could not have been more proud of Mike and Shannon. They blew away my best hopes for them and did not seem at all affected by the heat. And for the icing on the race cake, Shannon came in first in her age group!

 

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Later in the week, I interviewed Mike and Shannon separately about their experiences. I probably should not have picked the day of their peak soreness (delayed onset muscle soreness peaks about two days after the race). They didn’t have much to say, but what they said warmed my heart.

Me: Are you glad you did the race?

Shannon: Uh-huh.

Mike: Yup.

Me: Did you meet your goals?

Shannon: Yeah.

Mike: Yes.

Me: Would you do another half marathon?

Shannon: Yup.

Mike:  Maybe.

Me: How did I do as your coach?

Shannon: [Thumbs-up.]

Mike: You were A+. It made it easy. It made it so we could not fail. We were going to meet our goals no matter what. I give you 99% credit.

 

Ahhhh! What a relief. They had a great race, came out of it uninjured, and were happy with the results. And for those wondering about whether or not it was a good idea for a 14-year-old girl to run a half marathon, I can say in our experience it was a very positive, safe, healthy experience for her. She had a checkup with her pediatrician this week including blood work done, and everything came back normal. And today, only 6 days after running the half marathon, Shannon won the Girls 14 and under division of the 18th Annual Laguna Niguel Junior Open Tennis Tournament!

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