Los Angeles Marathon Mamas

We finally did it!  It's been months of training, endless miles, several meltdowns, countless Power Gels, too many Advils to count, a couple of different pairs of shoes, couple of post recovery In-N-Out Burger meals,  too many pasta meals, several disagreements, more than several swear words, and endless amounts of stories, but we started this journey together as friends and finished as friends.
*
This was my second marathon and I honestly can't remember the first one being as painful as this last one, but maybe it's like childbirth, one forgets the pain and only remembers the joy.  Ya right!  Thank goodness for the shots, courtesy of Patty, which quickly helped numb the pain.  We will each take something different away from our experience, but I couldn't help think how organized and helpful the Angelenos were along the entire course. 
*
One thing I noticed when I had past the 20 mile mark was that there were a lot of young men in the prime of their life running around me and also stopped along the way cramping up.  I'm thinking "wow, I must doing okay for an old girl".  Then I see a much heavier and older lady in front of me, which helped keep my ego in check.  I had to laugh though when I overheard two Students Run LA boys talking about their friend and how slow he was running and that he was running a "moms pace".  I wanted to look over at them and say "hey, this mom is going to beat you to the finish!"
*
I am so proud of my friends for completing this journey.  Congratulations to Bonnie and Marisol for running in their first marathon.  We missed Caryn, but she was a real trooper and supported us on many of our long training runs even when she didn't need to.  I don't think I will ever run another marathon again, but if I ever change my mind, I know my friends will be there with me.

Nike Women's Marathon & Half

We came, we ran, we conquered the Nike Women's Half-Marathon.  By we, I mean Patty,Marisol, Megan, Caryn and myself.  I think I would be safe in saying that we all had a fantastic time.  Most of us had never been in a race of this size and the energy from all the participants, not to mention the amount of estrogen, was really something to witness.  Our fears about the hills were never realized and in fact, it seemed our training prepared us well.  I guess that's one of the benefits of training in a hilly valley.  The only thing we were unprepared for was the number of people, particularly the number of walkers.  Dodging the walkers was the hardest part, other than that, it was one of the easiest races we've ever done.  Maybe it was because we didn't run it particularly fast, running for the experience and to remember the sights along the way.  But for whatever reason, I remember coming down toward the last half mile as I looked over at Patty and remarked how this was probably the best I've ever felt in a half-marathon.  She admitted feeling the same but didn't want to jinx it by saying so.

The weather also was perfect.  Although typically San Francisco wet and foggy, it also kept the weather really cool, a welcome relief from running all summer in the heat of the Santa Clarita Valley.  And of course, there's the Tiffany Necklace.  We were all so worried that we wouldn't like it, but it really is perfect.  I think we're all hoping that we'll be lucky again next year and will get picked in the lottery again.  Hopefully it wasn't just beginner's luck.

Are We There Yet?

Today's run was our last "long" run before the race. We are tapering down and attempted to do somewhere around seven miles. Depending on which GPS device we decide to go by we either exceeded our goal or fell just short. Personally I think we fell just short because the Garmin is usually pretty accurate whereas the Nike+ app on my iPhone has been very spotty. The last two times I used it, it shorted me a mile for every three I ran. Today it gave me an extra 3/4 mile. Maybe it's trying to make up for the last couple of miles it shorted me? Today, it read that we ran 7.44 miles while the Garmin read 6.61. Marisol's Garmin was about the same as mine so I think we only ran 6.6 miles. We were debating on whether to go back around the train bridge to get the additional miles, but at this point in our training, it was probably wiser to go shorter than run too far and tire out the legs close to the race. Either way, we were really moving today with an average pace of 9.3/mi.

That being said, I am getting super excited about our trip. It's weird to think that we won't see Bonnie for almost 3 weeks between our different trips. Also weird to think the next time we see Marisol will be in San Francisco at the Nike Women's Marathon.

Almost There!

We finished up our second to longest training run before our race this past Sunday and the feelings were mixed. Two of us felt great, the other two weren't feeling it. Unfortunately, Bonnie's mishap with the dog and sidewalk might have had something to do with it. All in all though, aside from the brief setback from my injury, I don't ever remember my friends and I having such an easy transition into training for a half. In fact, it's been so pleasant, I think some of us will be signing up for another one soon after. Poor Caryn missed all this fun and still doesn't know that we're signing up for another race! Marisol's GPS registered 11.7 miles and under 10 minute pace, while mine is below. Interesting how different products measure differently. We all agreed that we liked Marisol's better.

I'm back!

I purposely stayed away from posting for a while because I was quite depressed about getting injured and also rather scared that I might not get better in time to train for the Nike Half Marathon in 5 weeks.  My family and friends also noticed that I'm a lot grumpier when I can't run.  I think everyone is happy that I am back to running again.  Pool workouts at 9 PM are not fun, no matter how hot it is outside.

Today was my first day back on a real long run with all the girls and it felt great.  While the earlier start time did a number on our stomachs, it sure saved us from the heat.  I forgot my GPS watch, but I  think I actually run faster without it, because I'm not always checking it, or maybe it's the fact that we all carried water and didn't need as frequent water breaks.  It was a good thing we had two other backups with GPS.  In either case, we were blazing the trails at an average 9.5 min pace for almost 9.5 miles.  In this heat, I would say that was pretty good.

To top off the great run, I was able to celebrate another year of getting older with four amazing ladies, who are willing to brave the elements in search of a Tiffany's necklace.

Get Better Kwan!!

It's been two weeks since we all ran together, an almost 8 miler through the Heritage Trail, and the paseos behind Helmers! It was a hot day, and I remember feeling queasy afterward from the heat, but all in all it was a pleasant run. Not so for Kwan, who has been out of commission ever since:( She doesn't remember specifically injuring her ankle, but has been unable to join us on a run, because it has been sore and swollen!! Her doctor mentioned "perineal tendinitis", I truly hope that is not the diagnosis:( I am hoping she can join us for part of our run tomorrow, or at least coffee! We miss you, and need you to navigate (I have a Garmin, but am directionally challenged!) I speak for everyone, when I say "Get Better Kwan, we miss you!"

Heat Exhaustion

It had been almost two weeks since I ran due to a rather hectic schedule so I was a bit nervous about today's run. Not knowing how I would feel, I didn't know how far we were going to run. We did the same hilly long run as last time through the paseos of Northpark and Northbridge, but started instead at Peets Coffee and headed toward the train bridge. I think this route was a little closer to 9 miles. It had been so long since I ran that I got out of the habit of bringing my Garmin so we weren't totally sure about the miles, but I'm pretty sure it was further than when we started at Lowes and that was 8.8 miles. I wasn't feeling all that great during the run, but I attributed it to the lack of running the last week or so. I now think it was not drinking enough water the last couple of days, coupled with the fact that we had just come back from Vegas on Monday after several days laying in water, but not drinking it. When our run was done, I felt really terrible and nauseated. I also felt my heart rate increasing even though we had stopped. I have been feeling rather terrible today and have had a mild headache and had a nagging suspicion that it was heat exhaustion. After reading up on the symptoms, I'm now convinced. I guess even those of us who have been running a long time forget how dangerous it is to run in this heat,especially with the humidity. I have to say, this is the worst I have felt after a run in a long time. I will definitely have to prepare better for a run in the heat next time. Hopefully my friends have fared better than me today :)

Web MD Heat Exhaustion

They Liked It!

I thought we needed to start adding hills into our long runs to get ready for the Nike Women's Half Marathon in October, so I thought of a route that might do the trick. I wanted to add the hills toward the mid to later part of our run, just like what we'll be facing in San Francisco. I just wasn't sure how Bonnie and Caryn were going to feel about. I have to say, when I told them this morning we were going to add hills this morning to our long run, the look on Bonnie's face was priceless. Her jaw literally dropped. We started from Lowes because I was sick of running the back side of the river trail from Peets, off of the train bridge because it is brutally hot there with no shade. We headed toward Copperhill and cut toward Cheseborough Park through the dirt trail where we hit our first set of hills. We took a quick sip of water at the park and then headed into the neighborhoods of Northpark, which gave us more hills. When we finally reached the paseos, the trail gave us alternating ups and downs until we finally came back out at Bridgeport Park. From there, we finished as usual along the Lowes trail. Caryn and Bonnie did quite well and didn't complain once and in fact were commenting on how shady the paseos were and how nice it was to run without having to dodge the cyclist. The only drawback with the paesos is the concrete. It's a little harder on the feet. All in all it was a good run and longer than I expected to get out with 8.8 miles total. Poor Patty was on the road again, but I'm sure what was waiting for her was well worth it.

Still Running

We have been busy....

The Detour

We started out earlier than usual this morning not knowing how hot it was going to be and also not knowing exactly how far we were running. Based upon our last run together at Central Park on Thursday night, we weren't very hopeful. Patty had a busy schedule so she opted out of our run. However, we think she really just ditched us to run with her hubby at the beach and who would blame her. It is promising to be a scorcher all week, but the earlier start time really kept our run rather cool and shadier along the route. We decided to start our run the same as last week from Lowes and headed towards the Iron Horse Train Bridge. We figured we would adjust our route based upon how we were feeling. After we crossed the train bridge, curiosity got the better of us so we decided to check out how far the trails goes west under the 5 freeway. There were a lot of cyclist coming from that direction that we had not passed already so we began to wonder where they were coming from. As it turns out, the paved portion of the trail stops under the freeway as before, but there is a nice leveled dirt trail that actually continues next to the water treatment plant all the way along the Old Road under shady trees up to about where the Del Taco is. The view wasn't the greatest, but it was shady and the dirt was a welcomed change. We think it goes even further, but decided to head back since we had already hit 4 miles out and didn't know how much further we wanted to venture. We needed water on the way back so we decided to head to Heritage Park before heading back to Lowes. I knew we would be close to 9 miles, but it turned out to be exactly that. I don't think any of us planned on running that far, but the detour was a nice distraction that we really didn't notice the miles.