My Most Embarassing Race

Race Notes: Rock N Roll San Antonio Half Marathon

My calves were sore the day before the race. When that happens, I use Sportscreme or Aspercreme or Flexall the morning of the run. Brand doesn't matter to me as long as it doesn't smell. The store didn't have any brands that I'd used before, but they had Capzasin. It was odorless and came in a roll-on. Fine.

What I didn't know is that Capzasin is made of the stuff that makes chili peppers hot and makes pepper spray burn. I was fine before the race. Then I started running and sweating and the Capzasin started burning. By mile 2, it was scorching. I looked at my calves because I was sure they'd be bleeding; they hurt that badly. No blood, but I had raised welts where the roll-on went over my skin.

I stopped at the first medical assistance team. I sat on the bumper of the ambulance and put my water bottle and race pack down. They looked at my calves and started to rinse them with a bag of saline solution - that's salt water. Ouch. Then people started running up saying that someone was having a seizure on the course. The EMTs grabbed the gurney and bolted off. A few minutes later, they were back and yelling about full cardiac arrest. Two runners who were doctors or nurses had started doing CPR on the course. They tossed the guy in the wagon and sped off to the hospital.

Said a prayer for the guy and went back to running. I spent the next 3/4 mile alternating between praying and trying to block the memory of the guy on the gurney. I went to take a sip of my water and realized that my bottle and race pack were gone. They were in the ambulance when it sped off. My race pack had my credit card and my ID that I need to get on my flight home.

I turned around and ran back, hoping they had tossed the stuff out when they put the guy in the ambulance. I was asking if anyone had seen my stuff and a very nice young woman offered to drive to the hospital and find the EMTs and get it. I don't know how she did it, but she managed to weave through the marathon's closed streets, get to the hospital, find the EMTs, convince them to give her my pack and drive back to the same spot to return my race pack to me. Bless you! I don't know your name, but you are the most awesome of awesome people. I hope the whole world treats you as kindly as you treated me.

This whole adventure took well over an hour and I still had searing, burning calves. I might have given up, but this is race 6 of a 7 race series. I've been running this series since January - literally hundreds training miles and airplane miles. At this point, I will complete this series no matter what the pain or problem. Burning skin or not, I'm finishing this race.

When I passed the timing clock at Mile 3 it said 1 hour 47 minutes. Depressing. By mile 5, I was nearly in tears because every time the hem of my running capri touched my calf it was searing hot. At every water station I'd pour water on my calves, but it was making it worse.

Ding! Idea!

I remembered that water doesn't quench chili pepper, but there is something in sour cream that neutralizes the hot in chili peppers.* That's why they serve sour cream at Mexican restaurants. I bolted into the next quickmart, bought at 32oz. Diet Dr. Pepper (don't judge me!) and a tub of sour cream. I slathered sour cream all over my calves. It didn't work immediately, but within a mile the heat wasn't tear inducing. Within 2 miles I was okay.

Chili peppers, sour cream...you might as well serve me with a side of refried beans. I'm a running burrito.

But I'm a running burrito who finished that race.


*Milk has the protein casein which cools the capsaicin.

Disneyland Half Marathon "The Most Stressed Out Race on Earth"

Yesterday I wrapped up the Disney Coast-to-Coast Half Marathon duo. In spring, I did the Disney Princess Half Marathon; yesterday was the Disneyland Half.

I love Disney. Some of my happiest memories are family vacations to Disney World with my cousins and nieces. Growing up I thought the Polynesian Village was the greatest place in the whole world.

Disney bills the Disneyland Half Marathon as the "Happiest Race on Earth". Wrong, it was the "Most Stressed Out Race on Earth". There were lots of weird things that made the whole event more high-strung than it had to be. For example, they decided to close the starting corrals about 30 minutes before the race. Anyone who was stretching or making a port-o-let visit couldn't get back to their spot and had to go to the back of 18,000 runners. The first part of the race was a mess of faster runners trying to weave through the pack. It was an odd choice by Disney, since runners who've been hydrating for a hot race day are going to need to pee before an event.

I had a nice run and felt strong all day. It didn't get hot until mile 11 and I pretty much walked it in from there. It was a disappointing event, because I expected it to be super-fun and it just wasn't. I did dig running through Angels Stadium. The most amusing thing all day was a sign on the course, "Run faster. Mickey just raised admission prices again."

She Ran Calling Wildfire

Again with the equation of wildfire+race= problem. Not a problem that's nearly on the scale of losing your home to the fires, but still annoying.

This weekend, I'm supposed to run the Disneyland Half Marathon. With the wildfires burning, the air quality in Anaheim is veering toward sucky. Last year I was planning to run the Pasadena Marathon when wildfires forced it to be rescheduled.

Between my race calendar, Steve's calendar and work, there's not a free weekend for a Disney reschedule. Here's hoping for clean air on Sunday.

Race Notes: Country Music Half Marathon and Avenue of the Giants.

Two races, eight days.

Country Music Half Marathon - The race was hot and hilly. Not steep hills, but constant rolling hills. The entire race was going up or down; there were no flats. My nutrition was a mess. Sometimes the heat gives me nausea and I can't eat, then I bonk. Other times, the heat makes me ravenous. That's what happened here. I was through my entire stash of Gu's and trail mix by mile 7. Thankfully, Nashvillians were giving nibbles along the course (including a yummy, ice cold beer at mile 9).

Overall, this was a very sloppy race for me. I never really got tired, but I wasn't putting in much effort. It was great to go slowly through my old neighborhoods. No regrets.

Avenue of the Giants - I planned to walk this entire course since I was doing it with TNT walk alumni including Steve. My absolute favorite race ever - the California redwoods are magnificent and you have a few hours to simply enjoy the peace and beauty of the forest. Dear Heavens, I want to do this race every year.

Also, the Avenue is surely the recipient of the most improved finishers medal. Last years was sort of lame - that part in the center is a sticker. This years is lovely - also, great tee shirts.

Vacation - Destination 1, Nashville

Steve and I are on a vacation with the oddest itinerary. The destinations were picked because I had back to back races which required travel. We decided to simply take the week off and go from one race to the next without going home between.

First stop, Nashville, Tennessee for the Country Music Marathon. I lived in Nashville for a few years, but I haven't been back in over a decade. This is an ambitious town, but it remains absolutely Southern and charming. When I lived here, I interned briefly with Nashville Sports Council. Of course, there weren't many sports in Nashville then, just an triple A ball club and college sports, but no big events or pro teams. Setting up a non-profit to bring big time sports to twang town was dreaming big. A decade later, Nashville has an NFL team and its new stadium downtown, an NHL team and its new downtown arena, a marathon with 30,000 participants and it was picked to host the Women's Final Four. The economic impact to Nashville - over $340 million dollars over 14 years.

While I've been gone Nashville has also built the Country Music Hall of Fame and one of the premier Symphony venues in the country. Everything they are building is downtown within walking distance of each other. That's Nashville, growing, ambitious but still very charming.

We've had a wonderful couple of days here. We've been busy, but not overwhelmed. Steve got here late on Friday night, we had a quick dinner from the Bar-Be-Cutie then went to sleep. On Saturday, I did the race in the morning. Typical to Nashville's partyin' style, neighborhoods turned the race into a big cookout / breakfast cocktail party. After the race, we hung out at Bongo Java for coffee and a view of the Nun Bun, visited the Parthenon, then sat on the lawn at Centennial Park and listened to the Dave Matthews concert going on across the street at Vanderbilt's Football stadium. On Sunday we visited Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Museum of Art, had a fabulous dinner downtown and capped the night honkytonking at Tootsies Orchid Lounge. Monday we had breakfast at the Loveless Cafe (oh, how I had missed those biscuits) and then hiking woods at Percy Warner park. Then we went to see that AAA club, the Nashville Sounds, who have completely redone their stadium. Before heading in for the night we walked to the Tennessee State Capitol and then on the see the grandeur of the Hermitage Hotel.

We'd still like to squeeze in visits to the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Ryman, the Center for Visual Arts, dinner on the riverboat, listening to songwriters' night at the Bluebird Cafe, stops at Belmont and Belle Meade Mansions, a visit to the "other" Hermitage, a drive to Lynchburg to visit Jack Daniels and meals at about 5 barbecue places that I've missed.

Alas, we leave tomorrow.

2009 Races

Steve and I have been working on the 2009 race calendar for weeks. I want to do the full Rock Star series. I've already purchased entries to the Avenue of the Giants and Disney Princess races. Steve also wants to do 4 or 5 century rides and a triathlon. I'm mentoring the Peak Performance team through January (at least). He's mentoring the cycle team from February until June. If we aren't careful, then every single weekend will be filled with endurance training or races. A solid year of non-stop endurance activities - now that's exhausting!

Here are the races I'll finally settled on for 2009. I'll probably drop Napa-to-Sonoma just so we can get a rest during July.

Wish me luck!



P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon & 1/2 Marathon
Sunday, January 18 - Phoenix, AZ

Carlsbad Marathon & Half-Marathon
Sunday, January 25 - Carlsbad, CA

Surf City USA Marathon
Sunday, February 1 - Huntington Beach, CA

Disney Princess Half Marathon
Sunday, March 8 - Disney World, FL

Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Marathon
Saturday, April 25 - Nashville, TN

Avenue of the Giants Marathon
Sunday, May 4 - Humboldt, CA

San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon & 1/2 Marathon
Sunday, May 31 - San Diego, CA

Rock N Roll Seattle
Saturday, June 27 - Seattle, WA

Napa-to-Sonoma Wine Country Half
Sunday, July 20 - Sonoma, CA

Rock N Roll Chicago
Sunday, August 2 - Chicago, Il

America's Finest City Half Marathon
Sunday, August 16 - San Diego, CA

Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Virginia Beach
Sunday, September 6 - Virginia Beach, VA

ING Philadelphia Distance Run
Sunday, September 20 - Philadelphia, PA

Rock 'n' Roll San Jose 1/2 Marathon
Sunday, October 4 - San Jose San Jose, CA

Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon & 1/2 Marathon
Sunday, November 15 -San Antonio, TX

Finisher - Long Beach Half Marathon

Nice race. Not my best day, but it was a fun race. That's 2 of the California Dreamin' series complete with 1 more.

Thanks go to these people -

The lady at the expo who used The Stick to work out most of a cramp in my calf yesterday. Thanks to her today was a lot better than I hoped.

The person spraying KOOL ‘N FIT on tired and cramped muscles at mile 10. I was a doubter, but your product is awesome. Sorry I pulled up my running skirt and asked you to spray my hip too. Be grateful I didn't pull off my skirt and ask you to spray my butt.

The drummers at mile 12.5. You are awesome. Especially when you stopped drumming for a sec and pointed at me with your drumsticks. You totally, absolutely lifted me to the finish line.

The people on mile 9 who gave out free beer. I love you. No, I mean I Love You. You are my bestest friends.

Where Will They Rock Next?

The Rock N Roll Marathons are on a roll. They are taking over the running world and I love them for it. For 2009, they are already adding Seattle and it looks like they're adding another one too.

http://www.wherewilltheyrocknext.com/

Woo Hoo. Register a guess now and they'll send you an awesome promo for the race. (For Seattle it was half off the cost of registration (which I missed due to a hotmail snafu).

A Good Day and Two Medals For Me

Ran America's Finest City Half Marathon today; the final race of the Half Marathon Triple Crown. It was a beautiful course starting at the most Southwestern point in the continental United States, the Cabrillo National Monument. I'd been there before, but it always impresses me. The views across the bay to San Diego and to Mexico are postcard perfect.

The race didn't start until 7 a.m. and there was no marine layer to keep things cool. It was hot out there. The race started at 7, but we had to be a Balboa Park to catch the bus to Cabrillo a 5 a.m. Cabrillo is part of that National Parks Service and there simply isn't room for 8,000 people and their cars. Every single runner must take a bus from Balboa Park. That said, I really wish that they'd start this race at 6 am and have us get to the buses at 4. I hate the early morning, but I hate running in the heat more.

The first two miles are a gentle uphill that's followed by 2 perfect miles of downhill running through the Point Loma neighborhoods. Oh, I lurve me some downhill. This was the only part of the course that I had never run before and it was lovely. Tons of families and kids were out to cheer on the runners. I love that. It makes running so much fun.

Then it was on to the familiar territory of Harbor Island, the Embarcadero, downtown San Diego and the (dreaded) 6th Ave. hill. Amusingly, 6th Ave was nothing. All those Monday nights running up and down that hill and it was just nothing on race day (even at mile 12 of the run).

At the end of the race I got my America's Finest City Half Marathon Finisher's Medal. It is a lovely medal. A nice medal is normally is very pleasing to me. However, I what really wanted my Triple Crown finisher medal. This was race three; I did them all. Give Me My Medal. I had to walk another mile to get it and I was ridiculously stressed out about it. Joanne and I finally found the tent for Triple Crown Finishers. The volunteer gave me the medal and asked me if it was worth it. I knew the answer - after months of work starting in January at the Carlsbad Half Marathon, to the steamy, pukefest that was the La Jolla Half, through the training doldrums of the summer getting ready for today - yes.


Yes, it was totally, completely and absolutely worth it.

Race Notes: San Francisco Marathon

A good day, even if my overall pace wasn't as fast as I'd hoped.

• I executed well against my plan until the final half mile or so. My plan was 7 minutes running followed by 1 minute recovery walking. On the most brutal hills, I planned to walk up the hill when needed and run on the decline. I was mostly okay with 7:1
• The Hills Were Alive With The Sound of Complaining. On the last hill I had some cramping in my hip rotators. However, all the miles of hill work really paid out in this race.
  
• I woke up with a knot in my left calf, started the race with a knot in my left calf, ran with a knot in my left calf, and then finished with a knot in my left calf. It never loosened up and it annoyed me all day.
• Pre-race prep was suboptimal. On Saturday, I spent the day walking about 6-7 miles around Berkeley, then had Indian food for dinner. When will I learn to take it easy that day before a race?
• I loved the race start - wave starts with all runners on the marathon course on the road by 6am. I shot out at 5:30 and it was heavenly to run in the cool air and see the sun rise.
  
• I had a lllloooonnnnngggg bathroom stop at mile 7.5. Generally, I do not stop on a half marathon because I've got a camel-like bladder. I spent about 20 minutes waiting for a port-o-let. This is really the fault of course organizers. Six port-o-lets for 17,000 runners is not sufficient. This bathroom stop was jammed because it was the turnaround to go back across the Golden Gate Bridge. No runner had been able to stop for un besoin naturel for the last 2 miles going across the bridge and no one could stop for the next two miles returning across the bridge. That meant most runners needed to stop here, me included. Nothing to change in my race prep, but it did kill my pace by adding a minute and a half per mile.
  

This Just In... San Francisco Is Hilly

I don't know why, but every time I looked at the elevation map for the San Francisco Marathon, I thought it didn't look too hilly. It looked more like low, rolling hills. Uh, no. There were some challenging climbs and the headwind was stiff at times, but overall a good effort.

Race report to follow.

AFC Half Marathon Preview Run

Tonight we ran the 6th Street hill that is mile 11-12 the America's Finest City Half Marathon. Considering all the miles I've covered around Balboa Park, it's amazing that I missed the 6th Street climb. It's a bugger even though it's only a mile with about 300 feet of elevation.

There are some real corkers in the middle of the climb - spots where it shoots up quickly. It's not nearly the beatdown that mile 6 of the La Jolla Half Marathon, but still tough. Of course, the hill in AFC comes at the end of the run. Hopefully, the long downhill and flat will give me plenty of easy miles before the long climb toward the finish line.


It was hard, but I made it without stopping. I was "running" pretty slowly in parts. Guess what I'll be doing every Monday between now and August 17?

Calendar Management Skills Fail

I somehow managed to get behind on my training calendar and I haven't been doing enough running mileage to be fully prepared for San Francisco. Normally, I like to increase my long run by a mile a week. If I follow that plan, I'll have only run 10 miles before San Francisco. That's actually enough to do the race, but I really want to have 12 miles of running under my belt.

That means I need a more aggressive plan than bumping it up by a mile a week. Here's the new long run plan through the AFC Half Marathon in mid-August:
July 12 -9 miles (+2),
July 19 -10.5 miles (+1.5),
July 26 -12 miles (+1.5).
August 3 - 13.1 mile (+1.1). San Francisco Half Marathon
August 9 - 14.5 (+1.4)
August 17 - 13.1 (-1.1) America's Finest City Half Marathon

Of course, this is silliness. I can walk a full marathon. If I can't do the full distance running, I can always fall back on my walking to finish the race.

But I'll be really, really disappointed if I can't run the whole way.

Bonus - Extra Triple Crown

When I sent in my registration for the San Francisco Half Marathon I got some good news. There's a new Triple Crown - The California Dreamin'.


California Dreamin' Racing Series - The San Francisco Marathon has partnered with Surf City USA Marathon and Long Beach International Marathon to form the California Dreamin' Racing Series. Runners who complete the full or half marathon in all three events in two years will receive a special medal and Racing Series jacket.


The best part is I'm already scheduled to do all three of these events. It's a bonus medal! And did you see the part about a Racing Series jacket? That will rock my sneakers!

I'm such a marathon/medals dork.

Race Notes: La Jolla Half Marathon

Hot. It was so very hot. In fact, today was record setting heat. Bless Noel's heart. As we got out of the car this morning, she pointed off into the distance and said, "I think I see the marine layer!" It wasn't the cooling marine layer; it was heat squiggles. Some people do well in the heat. I am not one of them. If I was supposed be in direct sun and hot weather, then I wouldn't be so pale skinned. Given the choice of a full marathon in the cold or a half marathon in the heat, I'd take the cold every single time.

Here is the picture of the race for me using the brutal course elevation map.



A: Feel great. I'm hot, but I'm fast - just banking minutes for when the heat kicks it up a notch and I have to slow.

B: This is where I stopped to heave on the side of the path along with a lot of other runners in the middle of "The Hill". Before I got unwell, I knew it was going to happen. For a few minutes, I had black spots swimming in front of my eyes and my stomach was churning. Honestly, I couldn't wait to get sick so I'd feel better. It didn't work. Afterwards, I still felt puny.

C: What I'll call the "shocker vomit." I felt sick and got sick within seconds. No warning. I was sure I wouldn't finish at this point. Luckily I was close to the side of the road. About a minute later someone showered the runners with a garden hose. I love this person with my whole heart.

D: Someone who I won't name, but her initials are Lynne, met me here with ice cold beer. There is a place in Heaven for her, I'm sure. Normally, I'd pass on beer on the course. However, I was already sick and the beer was cold and wet. Plus, my stomach was completely empty. I've never enjoyed a beer more.

E: Steve and one of the cycle mentors rode up on his bike to check on me. I was in the full-on Bite-Me mode. Bite-Me mode is awful and it happens to everyone eventually. Steve has done enough endurance events to recognize the Bite-Me's. He checked on me, cheered me on for a minute and then rode away on his bike.

F: Stomach stabilizes. Damn if that beer didn't help! I started to feel good and strong. This is when I knew I'd finish. There is a special spot in Heaven for the people along the course who hosed down participants. I don't think I could have made it without a relief from the heat.

G: Flying. I'm flying. Here I start to be me again, cheering on other runners and walkers. I start having fun.

H: Princess St. hill - why? Why another hill? Why?

I: Go, go, go! Passing on your left. I'm sure a few people wanted to slap me when I passed them and I'm not talking about giving me a high five.

I'm sunburned and blistered, but I came home with this.

After the race we hung out in the shade of the post race beer garden. Traffic made it impossible to get out of La Jolla Cove and we decided to simply hang out there instead of getting in the car. We finally headed out after about hour. On our way out of La Jolla, we saw (what I hope) were the last few finishers turning onto the last mile. We cheered for them, but they were in the throes of complete Bite-Me. I doubt that they heard us.

Bend to My Will!

Why won't the weather cooperate with me? I need to have Sunday be a cold, cold day. Everyone is faster when the weather is chilly.

The forecast?

San Diego, Sunday April 27, 2008

85° F | 58° F
Average High Temperature: 69° F
Record High Temperature: 86° F

Yep, that 1 meager degree off the record high temp. Please, let there be wind.

Oh - and I just think this is so cool - there are always two cyclists who lead the pack of runners. The cyclists show the path of the course so that the lead runners don't get lost. Trust me, the pack would simply follow the leaders. It would be Moses in the desert out there. Any way, Steve is going to be one of the two cyclists this year. We may be the first couple in La Jolla Half Marathon history to have both the first and last finisher.

La Jolla - The Prep Work Continues

I'm starting to get a little worried about not completing the La Jolla Half Marathon within the required time frame for a medal. It's a hilly course and I haven't been training hard enough particularly on hills. Since this is the second race of the triple crown if I can't make it within the time frame, I'll be tanking on both the La Jolla medal and the Triple medal. That would be sucky.

The obstacle is that I have two more weeks of travel before the race. That always throws a wrench into my training schedule.

Really, I know that I can't get any stronger in the next 25 days. Also, I know I'm more than strong enough to complete the event. I'm worried that I may miss the finish time by a few minutes.

Race Notes: Carlsbad Half Marathon

Not a bad day, but not the race I was hoping to have. My goal was to break 3 hours, which for a walker is pretty darn good. Our training has been spotty for the last few weeks - we haven't really been doing long mileage. Other than last week's 10 mile training, I haven't done a training longer than 5 miles since the Pasadena event in December. To break 3 hours, I needed to maintain a pace of 13:43. That was certainly optimistic, but not unrealistic.

I think my race finish was about 3:05. Not horrible, but not what I wanted. I was nearly 25 seconds per mile over my target pace. Grrr.

However, it's good to remember that less the 8 months ago I had never done an event longer than 10K. That's a scant 6.2 miles, and to be honest my 5K and 10K days were long, long ago. To have come from where I was a year ago and to be able to crank out a half marathon with minimal training is quite an accomplishment.

Race Notes:

• Please, please, please learn to hydrate better the day before events. I was thirsty all day yesterday.
• Parking always takes forever at these events. Steve and I barely got there in time to go to the bathroom and queue for the start. We didn't really get to stretch. I did some high steps and some leg circles as we walked toward that start. That was not really enough stretching.
• Oatmeal is the perfect pre-event meal, particularly my beloved Coach's Oats.
• Until the final mile, never go faster than my optimal race pace. I've heard this a bunch of times. On Friday, I listened to a talk given by one of the "pace team" leaders and it really sunk in for me. Essentially for every minute you go faster than your optimal pace, your body is going to take that minute back and 3 more as a surtax later in the race.
• If I want to break 3 hours, I need to lose weight. Every extra pound forces me to work harder or go slower.
• Get a decent night of sleep. Going to bed at midnight and waking at 5:30 is no way to go into a race.