Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘California’

San Diego Tourist Run

Posted in Running, tagged , , , , on August 28, 2017| 2 Comments »

First things first — happy 46th birthday to me! My day started off right with coffee brought to me by my husband at 6:30 this morning — French press with a splash of almond milk, just how I like it! I’ve snuggled my dog Roxy and now I’ve got one of my three cats — Willow — helping me type this post. Mainly the day will involve school drop offs and pickups (with a bonus “hey Mama I forgot my math homework on the counter, can you please drop it off for me?” drive to the junior high school. I know there are people who refuse to drop off forgotten homework because they believe kids need to learn things the hard way, but I’m one of those people who is happy to drop off the homework if I have time to do so, with one little catch — it will cost my kid an equivalent amount of time in chores around the house. If it takes me 30 minutes to drop off your homework, you owe me 30 minutes of unloading the dishwasher and emptying all the trash cans in the house! Frankly I think I’m getting the better end of the deal!)

What I really wanted to tell you about though is my quick trip to San Diego this weekend to see my brother-in-law and his family. I got to meet my 7-month-old niece for the first time and play with my two-and-a-half year old nephew. And of course while I was there, I took advantage of my favorite way to explore a city — I went for an hour-long run around Point Loma out to Shelter Island and back.

IMG_5596

I happened upon a short section of trail on Point Loma with beautiful views of San Diego Bay.

I loved that I was out for a run at 10 a.m. and yet it was overcast and cool with a slight breeze! I wish I were there now, given that it’s going to be over 100 degrees for several days this week in Southern California.

I ran without a watch and just meandered around town, enjoying the sights like these gorgeous ruffly blossoms on a tree:

FullSizeRender-3

Anyone know what kind of tree this is? I want to grow one!

And here’s a sight you don’t see every day — two women setting up for belly dancing lessons under this awesome concrete sculpture:

IMG_5602

While I enjoyed the overcast skies on my run, I was glad the sun came out so we could enjoy sailing on a boat on San Diego Bay.

IMG_5603

Hello, gorgeous! The view of downtown San Diego and the bay from the balcony of the house where we stayed on Point Loma.

We saw many sea lions and seals hanging out on the buoys in the bay, and got a front row seat to an impromptu air show as fighter jets took off one after the other from the naval air station.

It was a whirlwind trip, driving down Saturday night, running and sailing on Sunday during the day, and driving home late Sunday night, that makes the whole weekend seem surreal. Good thing I’ve got the pictures to prove it happened. I sure am lucky and feeling blessed on my birthday this year!

Do you run when you are on vacation or do you take a “vacation” from running when you travel? 

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

The Santa Rosa Marathon 2014 Recap – Part 2

Posted in Marathon, Race, Race reports, Racing, Running, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 26, 2014| 9 Comments »

We interrupt this Santa Rosa Marathon recap with the least original thing said after a marathon, ever: I am so sore. It’s been 48 hours since the race ended. I feel pretty good if I keep walking around, but as soon as I sit down for any length of time, or worse yet, sleep? I can barely get moving again. My quads are so sore that it took me three tries to get up off the couch this morning. Finally I succeeded by doing a newborn giraffe move involving spreading my legs wide and using my arms to press myself up to standing.

If you missed the thrilling first installment of the race recap — Earthquake! Axe murderer! — you can read Part 1 here. I left off at the starting line.

Start: 6:03 a.m.

You might recall that one of my goals was to go out slow, up to as much as 40 seconds slower than marathon goal pace, in the hopes it would help me keep from bonking later in the race like I did at Mountains2Beach when I went out too fast. I had written up a marathon pace band starting at 9:10 for mile 1, 8:50 for mile 2, 8:40 for mile 3, 8:30 for mile 4, and 8:25 for every mile after that. Assuming I could run the tangents well enough to run 26.4 miles total (just 0.2 over the plotted course), that would bring me in at the finish line at exactly 3 hours 44 minutes. The night before the race I decided I couldn’t quite bear going out 40 seconds slower, but I would try to go 15-20 seconds slower for that first mile, and then ease into marathon goal pace over the next three miles.

Miles 1 to 3 (8:43, 8:33, 8:32)

I loved starting out at an average 8:43 pace for the first mile. My legs felt fresh from taper but I didn’t make the mistake of going out too fast because of that. I found that I wasn’t huffing and puffing, and the first mile felt like a nice warmup. The whole field of runners set off in harmony and I easily settled in without having to dodge around other runners as is often the case at larger races.

The first 2.5 miles of the race wound through the city streets of downtown Santa Rosa. It seemed like a lot of turns but it went by quickly as I focused on running the tangents (running the most direct route possible). I knew that those 2.5 miles would help spread out the field of runners so that when we hit the narrower greenway path at 2.5 miles it would not bottleneck and back up. Thank goodness that was indeed the case. It didn’t feel crowded on the greenway and I didn’t feel any frustration with my position in the trail of runners. I did worry that at some point I would want to pass the 3:45 pacer and the pack of runners clustered around him, but — spoiler alert — that didn’t happen until mile 15 when we were out on the road.

The greenway is just that: green and beautiful and mostly flat. Note that for safety reasons, runners are only allowed to have one earbud in while they are running on the greenway (that was the 2014 rule anyway). I choose not to listen to music while I race. I can listen to an audiobook during training runs, but during a race I like to focus on my surroundings, on how my body feels, and on my pace and form. I don’t mind if others listen to music as long as they are aware of others around them.

Miles 4 to 6 (8:30, 8:27, 8:24)

Aid stations popped up every 2 miles or so on the course. They were well stocked with Gatorade Endurance and water. (Only once did I suspect my cup of Gatorade had been watered down a bit. The lemon-lime flavor that tastes like liquid gold when I need it tasted more like Gatorade-flavored water that time. Overall though the aid stations and volunteers get a big thumbs-up from me). The best stations were the ones that had water on the left side of the course and Gatorade on the right. That made it easy to grab the correct cup from the volunteers. I also saw volunteers handing out oranges, bananas, and gels at aid stations later on the course. I did not carry any fuel with me and I relied solely on the course aid stations. I had practiced this at the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon in May and on interval workouts during training. I knew I needed to get 6-8 ounces of sports drink at each aid station, which meant asking for two cups and taking about 8 gulps as I walked. I burn over 3,000 calories during a full marathon and I wanted to take in at least 1,000 calories on the course. Ten minutes before the race I had gulped 16 ounces of Gatorade (enough to prime the system, taken in close enough to the race start that it did not make me have to stop at a porta potty along the course. There were plenty of those but I’m grateful I didn’t need one).

Miles 7 to 9 (8:24, 8:22, 8:28)

Just after mile 8 the course leaves the greenway path and hits the road. There are some rolling hills, never more than 30 feet of elevation gain and loss. Any potholes were marked with yellow spray paint around them. The course was marked in green sticker arrows and white chalk (blue arrows for the half marathon). I never had any problem navigating the course.

Miles 10 to 12 (8:23, 8:25, 8:27)

Around mile 10 the course veers into beautiful DeLoach Vineyards, one of the sponsors of the race. That’s the one hiccup on the course — you have to run on a very short section of dirt road, just a few hundred feet. I wouldn’t have minded it but the runners ahead of me kicked up a lot of dust. The reward for running over that stretch though is getting to run through the barrel room at the winery. Watch out for runners stopping to take photos at this point and of course if you are one of those stopping to take a selfie, remember to be considerate and step all the way to the right to stop. The course heads back out past the rows of grapevines. The vines were dripping with full clusters of grapes at this time of year. Some of the trees on the course were already starting to blush with fall color even though it was only the end of August.

Mile 13 and 0.1 – The Half Marathon Point (8:30)

At the half marathon point by the distance shown on my Garmin, my time said 1:51:05. The race timing mat at the actual half marathon point registered my chip time as 1:51:48. That was just 3 seconds slower than the target time I had written on my pace bracelet: 1:51:45. Things were looking good, but I knew from experience that the race really starts for me around mile 18. Only then would I know if I could break through the proverbial wall and run on pace to qualify for Boston with a 3:45 or less. And now, Part 3, the thrilling conclusion!

Read Full Post »

Vacation Doesn’t Have to Mean a Break from Exercise

Posted in Family life, Running, Trails, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 28, 2014| 6 Comments »

Each summer for the past three years, my family has gone to family camp for a week at Lair of the Golden Bear.

Pinecrest Lake

Pinecrest Lake

It is hands-down the best family vacation for the dollar (let’s put it this way: not cheap but worth every penny). The tiny town of Pinecrest, California is nestled in the Sierras in Northern California. At an elevation of 5,700 feet, it’s just a smidge higher than Boulder, Colorado. The air is clear and the oxygen is thin compared to sea level where I live in Southern California. Training at elevation is not easy but it’s oh-so-rewarding (according to Runner’s World there are a lot of Benefits of Altitude Training for Non-Pro Runners). I definitely had to adjust my expectations and run according to time and effort rather than according to mileage (i.e., I ran slower than I’d like but I put in the same effort and ran for the same amount of time as usual).

During that week at camp, I exercised every day:

Running: 3 runs for a total of 20.25 miles
Biking: 2 bike rides for a total of 21.17 miles
Yoga: 2 sessions for 45 minutes each
Kayaking: 1 session for 45 minutes
Horseback riding: 1 session for 45 minutes
Stand-up paddle boarding (LOVE): 1 session for 45 minutes
Strength training: 1 session (on the beach!) for 20 minutes

That means that I packed in 10 hours of exercise for the week and had a ton of fun in the process! I even got to exercise with my husband and kids for several of those activities (my 12-year-old accompanied me to yoga class, kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding, and my 9-year-old went kayaking and horseback riding with my husband and me).

I went for two trail runs and on the second run around Pinecrest Lake I stopped several times to take photos:

The dirt trail bordering Pinecrest Lake

The dirt trail bordering Pinecrest Lake

Dam, that’s a nice dam!

Pinecrest Lake Dam

(Full disclosure: right after I crossed that bridge and hit the dirt trail again, I literally hit the dirt trail. I did a “Superman” when my trailing foot clipped a rock and I went flying through the air, landing on my right shoulder and right hip. I wasn’t hurt so much as my pride was injured).

I hung in there though and was rewarded when the trail looked like this:

Pinecrest Recreational Trail marker

Pinecrest Recreational Trail marker

Here’s the marker close up:

Love it when a trail requires these markers pounded into the rock face.

Love it when a trail requires these markers pounded into the rock face.

So, the fact that I went on vacation with my family for a week did not mean that I slacked on marathon training. I kept up the training plan and had a great time in the process!

Where’s the most interesting place you’ve exercised in the past few months? Pinecrest is the best but I’m looking forward to a 20th wedding anniversary trip to Napa Valley soon and I expect to get in a run and maybe a bike ride too!

Read Full Post »

La Habra 10K 2014 Race Recap and Review

Posted in Race, Race reports, Racing, Running, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 22, 2014| 13 Comments »

In an unusual form of race report, I’m going to take you through my thoughts about the day and the 2014 La Habra 10K as it unfolded for me.

Midnight: Darn it, why can’t I sleep? I must still be winding down from seeing Divergent. Dang that movie was tense. Good thing I slept nine hours last night.

5:30 a.m.: I see Mike is up for his zombie run. I’m glad I don’t have to get up yet. I hope my oldest girl isn’t too mad about getting up that early! I hope she has fun!

6:00 a.m.: Wasn’t it just 5:30 a.m.? Time to get up. It’s still dark out. I hope the younger girls aren’t mad.

6:05 a.m.: Thank goodness the 9-year-old woke up the 5-year-old for me. I love having older kids. Oh look, she even got her dressed! Bonus! Man, I should have shaved my legs last night. Do I care enough to shave them now? No, and besides, it hurts when you sweat on newly-shaven legs.

6:15 a.m.: Coffee with cacao powder. Yum. Oatmeal all around. The oatmeal tastes good, not like cardboard, I must not be too nervous.

6:45 a.m.: Sunscreen? Water? Garmin? Race belt? Timing bib? Sunglasses? Bathroom trip number 4? We should be out the door by now.

7:00 a.m.: Darn it, Mike took my car. Back inside for his keys. Let’s go girls! The race starts at 7:30!

7:10 a.m.: How awesome is it that this race has child care for the kids while the adults race? Oh look, they get to make Rainbow Loom bracelets! And bounce in the bounce house! They’ll be fine without me. Gear check. Easy peasy. Time to warm up with a slow jog and a few strides. Now I’m really feeling those race jitters!

7:20 a.m.: The diaper dash is done and it’s time for the Kids 1K. Oh look, a girl won the race, just like at the Encinitas Mile! Love it! These kids are so cute!

7:30 a.m.: National anthem. I promise to put my hand back over my heart after I check that my Garmin is working and ready for the race start!

7:35 a.m.: Lining up by mile times. How cool is it that I know my mile time is 6:34?! I love that I ran that Encinitas Mile. Okay, that lady cannot run a 6:34. I love a local, small race but I wish people would follow race etiquette! Just chill, don’t say anything.

7:36 a.m.: We’re off! Don’t get trampled in the first turn at the end of the parking lot! Here comes the first steep hill! If there ever was an incentive to go out slow and steady, this is it! Round the corner and up another, more gradual hill.

Running Mile 1: I knew this race was hilly — I did the La Habra 10K before back in 2012 — but dang it’s hard to pace myself correctly with these hills! I need to keep the pace under 8:06 to PR, and under 8:02 to break 50 minutes. The race calculator said that based on my mile time I could race a 10K at 7:37, but that assumes a flat course, and this ain’t flat! Just keep it under 8:00. Well, under 8:00 average.

Running Mile 2: You can go over 8 on the hills. But not by much! Book it on the downhill! Relax your shoulders! Remember how it looked like your shoulders were hunched up by your ears in your Encinitas Mile photos?! Relax your shoulders again! Unclench your fists! This is the hardest mile on the 5K loop. Don’t burn out, just pay attention to your form. Watch out for the kid who keeps sprinting and then walking. How cool that that guy behind me just started coaching that kid! THAT is why I love a small, hometown race.

Running Mile 3: Okay, this is better. Plus the crowd is thinning out. Hey, that lady just complimented me! We’re keeping pace. Yes, I can tell you our pace! It’s 7:27. Yay for the downhill! Are you running the 5K or the 10K, ’cause I’m running the 10K and if you’re running the 5K, you’d better book it, don’t stay with me because I’m running an even pace for the 10K! We’re almost there, good luck!

3.1 Miles, End of First Loop: Hey, I think I just got a PR in the 5K! [Yes, chip time 24:08, a one second PR! Every second counts!] I hope I didn’t go out too fast. Oops. But I feel good. Now let’s see how I handle the hills on round 2.

Running Mile 4: Breathe. Keep a quick turnover on your feet on the hills. Even effort, not even pace on the uphills. Let your legs go on the downhills. My legs feel great, it’s my lungs that are dictating the pace!

Running Mile 5: Darn mile 5. Good thing I remember from mile 2 how hilly this is. Just keep it as close to 8 as possible without burning out.

Running Mile 6: Shoot, that lady passed me! And I don’t think I can pass her back. I hope she’s not in my age group. I don’t think so. [Nope, she’s in 30-34 and I’m in 40-44]. I’ll try to stay as close as possible but run my own race. I know I’m doing my best. Maybe I can pass that older guy who keeps walking on the hills. I’m not gaining ground on him though.

Last 0.2 Miles: I can see the finish line! It’s a straightaway here through the parking lot. Don’t trip on the speed bumps! It would be so awful to face plant on the asphalt! Sprint! Don’t throw up! Does the clock say 49 minutes? Yes it does! You’re going to break 50 minutes! RUN! There’s that lady who was running the 5K! How sweet of her to say “There’s my friend!” and cheer me on!

Finish: My Garmin says 49:02 for 6.35 miles. Way to run the tangents there, NOT! An extra .15 miles. It didn’t help that you ran into a wall of 5K walkers at the 5-6 mile mark. Oh well! You got a PR! Hey, there’s that guy you tried to catch. Fist bump! Good race! Nice to meet you, Ming! Ooh, banana and oranges and water! Cookies from Corner Bakery — better save those for the girls. I should say hi to that lady, too. Nice to meet you, Julie! How’d you do? Good job! Let’s check our times. The 5K split is posted. I did PR in the 5K! Oh they’re announcing the 10K awards. I wonder if I won an award in my age group. There’s the medal table. The lady says my name’s not in the top 5? Bummer!! Oh wait, that was the 5K list, I got first in my age group in the 10K! No matter that there were only four of us 40-44 year olds in the race, I got me a “golden medal” as my youngest would say. Plus 6th place female overall. And my official chip time is 49:03 for a big fat PR by 1 minute, 23 seconds. That’s a 7:53 pace. Man, I wonder what I could do with a flat course? I want to run another 10K! And a 5K! I bet I could break 49 minutes in the 10K. Just 4 seconds to shave off, I could do it!

Photo compliments of my 5-year-old.

Photo compliments of my 5-year-old.

Overall Race Review: The La Habra Races (Diaper Dash, 1K, 5K and 10K) are great hometown races that benefit some wonderful local causes: The Children’s Museum at La Habra, The City of La Habra summer concert series, and the La Habra High School Cheerleaders. Packet pick up is easy the night before and also available on race morning. I paid an extra $12 for the tech shirt upgrade and it’s a really nice, black long-sleeved tech shirt, plus I still got the regular, white cotton race shirt. The race volunteers and police support on the course were great. I could not have been more impressed by the timing company. I’ve never seen results posted more quickly at a race and especially online. By the time I got home at 10:30, all the results from the 5K and 10K races were up. Nice work, Gemini Timing! I have also never been to another race that offers a Kids Club while the adults race. My kids loved it — both the activities they got to do and seeing the runners race. This is a hilly course, a challenging course, but a fun and well-organized race!

Read Full Post »

Peters Canyon Regional Park Trails

Posted in Running, Trails, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 5, 2013| 1 Comment »

Guess who is a happy happy girl when she gets to run on new-to-her trails! Last week I had to go to the dentist to get shiny clean teeth. A while back my dentist had the nerve to move his office away so it’s half an hour from my house. That drive is a giant pain in the patoot, but it presented an opportunity to try out some nearby trails at Peters Canyon Regional Park in Orange, California.

Peek-a-boo view of the lake on the Lake View Loop Trail

Peek-a-boo view of the lake on the Lake View Loop Trail

The wide dirt trails at Peters Canyon make for excellent beginner trail runs. I started out with the easy Lake View Trail, which provides nice views of both the lake and the mountains.

I just love the contrast of the palm tree with the view of snow on top of Mt. Baldy in the background!

I just love the contrast of the palm tree with the view of snow on top of Mt. Baldy in the background!

Soon I veered off onto Peters Canyon Trail and then linked up with the East Ridge View Trail and the Gnatcatcher Trail. “Easy” became “difficult” in a hurry!

You call that a hill? Just wait until to get to the top of the East View Ridge Trail!

You call that a hill? Just wait until you near the top of the East View Ridge Trail! Photo by OCParks_CA.

By the end of my meandering I had run 6.2 miles in 1:07. I love how hill work is another form of speed work, even when you’re not going very fast! Some of the hills along the East View Ridge Trail were so steep that I could walk up faster than I could run.

I would definitely go back to Peters Canyon Regional Park. Enough people utilize the trails on the middle of a weekday that I never felt unsafe. The beautiful lake and mountain views alternate with interesting views of the surrounding homes — I mean, mansions. Wow there are some spectacular estates tucked into Peters Canyon! Tip #1: bring double the amount of water you think you’ll need! The park entrance features two drinking fountains but the rest of the park does not have any water. With the exposed trail in sunny conditions, you can become dehydrated very quickly even in winter. I took 20 ounces of water in my bottle and should have carried another bottle. Tip #2: grab a park map at the entrance as the trails get a little confusing in spite of the trail signs. I took a nice unintentional detour on the Basin Trail. Tip #3: Parking costs $3 at the main entrance at the north end of the park, but if you park at the south end you can park for free on the street. Tip #4: bathrooms are located at the main park entrance and porta potties are available out on Peters Canyon Trail.

Do you run on trails? I haven’t done many trails but I find I love it when I get the chance! Question: At what point should I invest in trail running shoes? Do you have a brand that you recommend?

Read Full Post »