Reindeer Run Half Marathon

In keeping up with the tradition of running a half marathon in California while wearing my Oscar the Grouch "Humbug" shirt, I signed up for the Reindeer Run Half Marathon in Van Nuys.  Better yet, my brother joined me and ran the 10K.  I ran this with the objective to have fun and burn some calories... and maybe break 2:00.  Sure enough, I was below the 2-hour mark with some room to spare. 

Unfortunately the race was 5 months ago and I got behind on my blogging!  But here is a mini race report:

My time was 1:57:11.  I was 12th overall out of 48 participants, and I was the 4th female overall.  I ran a consistent race (pace wise) and I pushed myself pretty hard in my Wendy Davis filibuster shoes.  My brother ran the 10K in 1:08:54.  He walked some of it since his knee had been bothering him. 

The accomplished siblings (and a photobomber with a hairy back):

La Canada Thanksgiving Day 5K

We did our first family walk/run together this morning.  It was an out-and-back course, and the first mile was mostly uphill and the last mile was mostly downhill.  I split 8:51, 8:26, and 7:33, and my official time was 25:36.  I placed 6th in my age group and 692nd overall.  My brother went 25:56, Cliff went 37:22, mom went 49:38, and Esther went 57:00.  It was a close call with my brother 20 seconds behind me... I had no idea.  I duked it out with a 9 year-old girl during quite a bit of the race and she ended up beating me by 5 seconds.  At least she was limping after and looked like she gave it a good fight. 

Group photo:



Peach Pedal 48-Mile Ride

Yesterday Stacy and I rode the 48-mile route at the Peach Pedal in Weatherford.  I did this bike rally back in 2006 when I was training for Ironman Wisconsin and I enjoyed it.  My previous long ride this summer was 28 or 29 miles, so this was a bit of an increase for me.  However, I'm a little nuts and for a brief period of time I thought I could do the 70-miler.  Stacy and I started at 7:30 with the 70-mile folks and waited for most of the crowd to go through the start line since it was pretty nuts.  We kept a consistent pace (minus all of the dodging/passing involved).  We passed the first aid station and waited to stop at the second one (24 miles).  At that point we had an 18 mph average, which was great for me.  The second half hurt a lot more.  There seemed to be a lot more uphills, and it started getting toasty outside.  We stopped again at the rest stop at the 39 mile mark.  The rest stops were pretty good.  I enjoyed some slices of peaches, pickles, and bananas and a PB&J triangle and downed quite a bit of ice water.  My total time was 2:56 for 47.86 miles (16.3 mph).  After the ride we enjoyed some Bloody Marys and some grub at the Chili's down the road.  I was definitely tuckered out, and I enjoyed a little afternoon nap after I got home and showered.  I am really enjoying being back in the saddle (although my girl parts had different thoughts) and I'm looking forward to the next bike rally!

At the start line:



Kahakuloa Coast Half Marathon

I found this race on the internet before we left for Hawaii, but figuring out the location of the start line was a bit of a challenge.  The race information said the race started at Fleming Park, but the GPS address was in Kahakuloa/Wailuku (which was actually the finish line).  I called the race director and posted on the Facebook site before the race and got some clarification that the start line was at Fleming Beach, about 6 miles north of Kannapali Beach where we are staying.  Score... I didn't have to drive on the scary one-lane road on the cliff with no guard rail!

The race was very small.  There were only about 100 participants and there were two different events, a half marathon and a two-person relay.  The race director warned us before we started that we wouldn't be setting any world record times.  He suggested enjoying the scenery, taking some pictures, etc.  Everything was very informal, with an imaginary start line and a loud "aloha" to signal the beginning of the race. 

My first five miles were pretty consistent.  I figured that with a net uphill, I could probably sustain about a 10-minute mile pace.  Then I got to the crazy mountain hill on mile 6 (my slowest mile).  It was one of those steep hills where it's actually faster to walk than run.  So then I changed up my strategy a bit and ran when it was downhill, flat, or just a little uphill and I walked on the steeper uphills.  That seemed to work pretty well, because my quads definitely took a pounding.  Plus I wanted to stay in a good mood and enjoy the amazing views.

Splits: 9:31, 9:32, 9:20, 9:41, 9:56, 12:31, 9:45, 10:10, 11:45, 11:27, 11:26, 11:47, 10:30
GPS: 2:17:21, 12:99 miles

After the race, we took a group picture in front of the church and then gathered around picnic tables and listened to Hawaiian music and ate breakfast.  I was there solo, and everyone was super friendly... so I stuffed my piehole and talked to random runners. 

A photo of the finish line



The bling

Aerial photo of the Kahakuloa are

 

Beatiful cliffs and scenery

 

Proceeds went to refurbish this historical church

 

Richard Ho'opi'i, a Hawaiian musician native to the Kahakuoa Village, sang us some tunes.  What a sweet man!

 



Hibiscus Half Marathon

We stayed at a VRBO (Vacation Rental by Owner) at the Diamond Head Beach Hotel while on Oahu.  At first I tried running along the path in Waikiki, but there were way too many pedestrians "walking with(out) a purpose."  Then I tried running around the 1.8-mile loop at Kapiolani Park, which was conveniently located right outside our room.  About a day or two before the race, I happened to see some signs indicating the roads would be closed for the Hibiscus Half Marathon.  I looked up the race on Facebook and they confirmed I could register on race day morning.  It was only a $60 entry fee, and the proceeds went to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  What a deal!

The day before the race, we had an amazing lunch.  The sushi restaurant we were going to was closed, so we tried the restaurant next door called Shochan.  The menu was mostly in Japanese, and our nice waitress suggested we try the Okonomiyaki served Hiroshima style.  It was a very reasonably priced meal ($8), and it was a fun experience (we watched the chef cook our meals on the grill).  Plus the food was mighty tasty.  So we went back for dinner (and got double veggies, double noodles, and double egg), and I was definitely fueled for the half marathon.

Lunch, before it got in my belly

I woke up at 4:00 am on Sunday morning and walked a half mile to the finish line/registration booth.  The race started at 5:30 am and I was home by 7:45 am.  I couldn't have asked for better logistics.  The course was pretty tough.  It was around the Diamond Head Crater neighborhood, so there were lots of hills.  Plus I was pretty sore from running a lot (7 miles, 7.7 miles, and 3.6 miles the three days prior to the race) and walking/hiking Diamond Head (6.67 miles the day before the race).  I figured that with the hills and humidity, I would be in the 2:00-2:15 range, but I had a sub-2:00 finish in the back of my mind.

I tried to keep a controlled, sustainable pace.  Of course there was some variance because of the hills.  Miles 11 and 12 were net uphill, and I knew I had to haul bootie on mile 13 to break 2:00.  The course was very well supported. I drank water or Gatorade at every stop. I should have brought a gel or something, but it's hard to be super prepared on vacation.
 
Mile Splits: 8:52, 9:25, 9:07, 9:05, 8:55, 9:05, 9:10, 9:10, 9:13, 8:50, 9:20, 9:12, and 8:20

Chip Time: 1:59:35 (9:08 pace)
Garmin Stats: 13.22 miles, 1:59:37
Overall Place: 412 out of 1,713
Gender Place: 123 out of 760
Category Place: 32 out of 176

I had Cliff take my "finisher photo" on our balcony.

 

This was my favorite photo on the race's Facebook page.

1-Hour Postal Swim

I'm a little late in blogging about this considering the event was on Saturday, January 19.  It was a nice set-up.  We swam at the Mansfield ISD pool and had two folks per lane (and split the lane).  After swimming mostly at Texas Wesleyan, it was a treat to use a nicer facility.  Plus the water temperature was a little cooler... much more conducive to distance swimming.  Cliff took my 50 splits and did a great job.  I swam on my own, but I had two guys next to me that were going faster and then a girl in my lane who I lapped about every 1,000.  So I tried to use the folks around me to gauge my progress and push myself.  For some reason I was thinking that 4,000 yards was 1:15 per 100 instead of 1:30 per 100.  So when I hit 4,000 and kept going, I was super confused and even looked up at the clock in front of the lanes.  Bad Saturday morning math skills!  I finished 4,430 yards in one hour, and my 1,000 splits were consistent - 13:15, 13:37, 13:41, and 13:39.  Fortunately my pulled adductor/groin injury went relatively unnoticed until after this event.  I paid the $7 to USMS to make it official, so I'll wait and see where I place in my age group.  My friend tried this swim yesterday and went 4,465 yards... throwing the gauntlet down on me. 

Cliff and I treated ourselves to breakfast at Yogi's Bagel Cafe afterwards.  Cliff had never been there before and was pleasantly surprised.

Unfortunately I had to withdraw from the Rocky Raccoon 50-Mile Run.  I haven't been able to run for nearly a month now.  For awhile it seemed like my adductor injury kept getting worse (especially at swim practice), but now it's starting to feel better than it did the past week or two.  I know I need to lay off anything that hurts, but it's super frustrating.  In the meantime, I'm swimming, riding the stationary bike, lifting (upper body only), and doing ab work.  I bought a 10-day pass at Bikram Yoga that expires on February 28.  I went one time and realized how bad my injury was (when it hurt to put my leg down) and I haven't been back since.  Maybe they'll let me extend the expiration date.