Santa to the Sea Half Marathon Recap

For once, a timely race review.  I’m sure I’ve left something out.

Speaking of leaving something out…

My Race

I did nothing for 2 days before the race despite wanting to do some kind of easy run on Friday or Saturday.  I actually had a pretty lazy week leading up to the half. One final shorter night of track;  a short and easy bike ride; and a really short and easy run with a hill.  After I re-checked the course elevation, looked at my pacing from last year, and determined a rough goal pace for this year, I tried to stop obsessing about race details.

Actually, let’s back things up a week.  I had been running in these lightweight lower drop shoes that I was growing very fond of.  I was wearing them for track, wearing them for some faster runs, and had a great 12 miler in them. Then following my 10 mile run in them the Sunday before the race, I was surprised to see several rips.  

           
This shoe tried to disguise itself due to embarrassment from falling apart at 105 miles.

Commence freak out. I was unable to find this same style online in my size, which was a good thing, because I didn’t really want to buy another pair of defective shoes. But I also didn’t want to wear another pair of shoes that was a totally different type of shoe than I had been training in (heavier, bigger drop, more support).  Note: I notified the brand and they responded quickly and offered to make it right. Just not in time for my race. 

So I  broke one of the cardinal racing rules: DON’T DO ANYTHING NEW FOR RACE DAY and ordered another pair of shoes described as having a similar feel- minimal cushioning, firm ride. (Old pair – 4.9 oz, 3mm drop.  New pair – 4.8 oz, 4mm drop) . New shoes came on Friday, I didn’t get to break them in on a run, but I did wear them around the house and we instantly bonded.

Sunglasses sold separately.
Noodle hugger sold here.

   Do these sleeves make my calves look fat?

Back to Race day.

I slept decently, only waking up once at 4:15 to freak out and confirm that I hadn’t yet overslept. I went back to sleep and got up at 5:05, met friends at 5:45 and we were on our way. We parked by 6:40 and had plenty of time to feel the air and make last minute adjustments to what layers we were wearing. We got on the shuttles around 7:15, unloaded at the start line by 7:30, and still had 30 minutes to kill.

I found the banner for the 1:45-1:49 line up, just ahead of the 1:50 pacers.  The race started pretty close to on time at 8:02am next to a giant Santa. 

 
No, I didn’t bring a camera with me. Thank you Google Street View.

My plan was to start comfortably, which was necessary with the crowd. Beyond that, I intended to see how I felt, and go from there.  It did not end up being a perfectly orchestrated negative splits kind of race.

I felt pretty good after running the first mile in 8:34, and the friend I started with encouraged me to take off, reminding me I wasn’t supposed to stay with her.  So I did. And after another mile, I looked down to see that I had run the second mile in 8:11. Whaa? I thought about slowing down a bit, closer to 8:20, but the pace felt sustainable.  The next mile was 8:15. Awesome.  Coming up on mile 3, I started to hear the 1:50 pacers behind me.  They were kind of annoying so I hoped I could just stay ahead of them (“And up at this stop sign, you’re going to turn right!”).  No thanks.  Unfortunately, they were averaging a good 10-15 seconds faster than goal pace and had banked an extra minute+ by the 6 mile mark, so I couldn’t shake them. 

Miles 4, 5, and 6 were 8:11, 8:08, 8:08. It again crossed my mind that maybe this was too fast.  It felt comfortably hard, but I didn’t at all feel tired yet.  I was just a hair over 51 minutes at the 10k point (incidentally, a new 10k PR for me by a minute). At the half way point I was at 54 minutes (3 minutes faster than last year’s first split).

I took my beloved Salted Caramel Gu from about mile 6.5 to 7.5. I take my time.

My current favorite fake food for running

The 1:50 pace group passed me somewhere around mile 8 after the pace leaders announced they were going to pick up the pace a bit. For the record, I was around a 1:06 at this point which translated to still being  more than a minute below goal time.  So this again annoyed me, but I let them go and hoped they would just get out of earshot. I didn’t need encouragement in the form of, “Look, everyone’s standing and cheering because they think you’re the president!”
 
I did start to lag a bit, with miles 9-11 at 8:28, 8:24, 8:26.Karma. 

Soon after that that first slower mile, my friend caught up with me.  My initial thought was, “ahh, sh*t,” because as she said, I was supposed to be ahead of her (turns out she was having a much better race than she expected!).  Really, though, I was glad for the company and the mid-race motivation.
Around mile 11 I mustered up the energy to pick up the pace a bit.  I managed an 8:17 then an 8:10 and the last little nubbin at a 7:13 pace despite a U-turn a quarter mile from the finish.  



Chip time: 1:48:48.  New PR by 6 minutes!
17/136 in my age group  -  125/1054 women  - 358/1750 overall



So I guess my splits were about 54:00/54:48 53:40/55:07.  I may make more of an effort to run negative splits for my next half, but I don’t regret running miles 2-6 the way I did. Initially I thought those paces were too fast, and maybe they were, but I ended the race without a ton of energy leftover.  If I didn’t feel whooped at the end, I would have kicked myself for not pushing more.

Race Logistics

I carpooled to the race with friends.  We parked at The Collection, a new shopping area in Oxnard, about a 5 minute drive from the start, where we caught school buses to the start line.  There were plenty of school buses so there wasn’t a need for assigned shuttle times. Port-a-potties were available near the parking lot shuttle stop and at the race start.

From where we were dropped off, we had maybe a quarter to half mile walk to the actual starting area.  Estimated finish times were listed on banners to help with the line-up, and there were pace groups as well.  Along the side of the race line up was the bag drop and the donated toy collection area. This was a little cramped and chaotic.  Gift drop could have been closer to the bus drop off, but I understand they probably want a photo with all the gifts below the giant Santa, which is at the start line.

UPS managed bag drop which was necessary since it was just above freezing at the start, and because it was a point-to-point course with our cars waiting close to the start line. It was in the mid 40s but sunny at the finish.  Post-race bag drop pick-up took way longer than it should have. I was easily standing in line for 15-20 minutes and it took them several minutes to locate my bag once I gave them my bib number.  They sort of had bags sorted by number, but organization was lacking or there weren’t enough volunteers in the truck looking for bags once a bib number was called out to them.

Cheering sections along the way were fantastic, as were the volunteers and police officers helping with traffic control along the course.  The course was flat/downhill.  The only inclines were two overpasses, one at about .5 mile and the other around mile 6.  The course goes through fields, an industrial center, neighborhoods, the historic district (nice Christmas decorations by the way), more fields, then along the ocean.  Visibility was amazing and you could see the Channel Islands so clearly toward the end.

This is where your strawberries come from.

Finish line food was great, there was Powerade, Water, and Pineapple juice.  There were Powerbars, fruit cups and bowls made up with different combinations of orange slices, strawberries, raspberries, bananas, pretzels, and cookies.

As for the pacers? I will be curious to see the official time for the 1:50 pacers.  One of the 1:50 pacers dropped back and was WALKING against race traffic when I had about 3/4 of a mile to go. This annoys me because I took my pacing job seriously and these dudes were clearly several minutes ahead.  I’ll let it go now.

We stuck around for awards at 11 because there were some age group awards for people in my running group.  There were several buses waiting to take people back to their cars when we were finally ready at 11:30 and there was no waiting. It was probably a good 15 minute drive back toward the cars.

Post Race

Back where we parked, we grabbed lunch and beer at the conveniently located Yard House before driving home.  Well, riding home, for me. Which is good because this is a strong beer.

My PR-celebratory Old Rasputin.

Gaining Speed and Half Marathon Goal

After several months of hit-or-miss speed work this spring and summer, I made more of an effort to get to the track this fall.

400s:
June 11: 
Two sets of 5x400m with 400m recovery and 400m between sets.
First set ranged from 1:46-1:53/average 1:51
Second set ranged from 1:43-1:53/average 1:47

October 29: 10x400m with a 200m recovery
Ranged from 1:38-1:45/average 1:42

December 3: 6x400m with 200m recovery
Ranged from 1:37-1:40/average 1:38

800s:
Last September:
7x800m, 90 sec recovery
Ranged from 3:39-3:42/average 3:41

October 15:
8x800m, 2 min recovery
Ranged from 3:22-3:39/average 3:30

November 19:
6x800m, 90 second recovery
Ranged from 3:24-3:29/average 3:26

1000s:
October 1:
5x1000m, 200m recovery
Ranged from 4:34-4:43/average 4:38

October 22:
5x1000m, 200m recovery
Ranged from 4:33-4:37/average 4:35

November 26:
5x1000m, 200m recovery
Ranged from 4:23-4:27/average 4:24

Basically I am listing all of this out to boost my confidence in my ability to run a solid half marathon this Sunday.  My current PR from last year is 1:54:48 (8:45 pace). I beat that on my 12 mile run two weekends ago, averaging 8:35 with a 7:50 final mile and talking most of the run- except for the last mile. 

I have noted that I again avoided long tempo runs.  I did a few mid-distance runs involving 3-4 miles in the middle around a 5k pace, many solid long runs, consistent speed work, plenty of hills, some trail runs, and cross-training in the form of cycling.

Let’s put up some goals.

A Goal: Sub-1:50 (<8:23 pace)
B Goal:  Better than my second to last long run (<8:35 pace, <1:52:30)

For easy math-on-the-run purposes,  an 8:20 pace would be nice. Each 3 miles would be 25 minutes and it would mean a 1:49 and change.

Weather will be fantastic for running but borderline cold for standing around before the 8am start. It’s a point-to-point course, so I may have to actually plan out throwaway clothes or a drop bag for the first time ever.

Now the trick is to turn off my brain which has a tendency to tell me my goal paces are too fast.

In Case You Don’t Follow Me on Daily Mile

Pardon me while I regurgitate some runs from the past few weeks.

October stats: 114 miles of running, 83 miles of cycling

I got in some good track workouts and had some solid 8-12 mile runs.  I think I was most proud of a 8x800m workout averaging 3:30. Also had two 10x400s two weeks apart averaging 1:42 and 1:41.  These paces are at the low end or below my target training paces based on my summer 10k.

November so far:

Nov 1-10: After 5 consecutive days of exercise, I took off the 1st & 2nd before pacing a half marathon on the 3rd. Would have felt really dumb if squeezing in one more run meant not pacing well. 
4: I was surprisingly sore the day after the half marathon.  Maybe because I tacked on 2+ extra miles after, after standing around for 80 minutes, or maybe my gait was off in running a pace slower than I’m used to. I took that Monday off from running/biking and got a massage for the first time in over a year.
5: Easy 2 mile run
6: Easy intervals… 2 mile warm up, 6x[3 min @ 7:30-7:40 pace, 2 min recovery], 2 mile cool down
7: Forced rest. Arrived in NY at 9am for a wedding.
8: Cold 8 mile run. 1.5 mi with my husband then headed back out on my own.  It was in the 30s but once I warmed up I felt great and ran some faster miles: 8:25, 7:46, 7:45, 7:51, 9:00, 8:11.  That’s an unofficial 5k PR in there.
9: Forced rest, friend’s wedding
10: Forced rest, morning after friend’s wedding then flight back to CA.

Nov 11-17
11: 4 mile trail run (+368’)
12: Ugh, foiled track workout; we were kicked off the track due to a community college soccer game. Got in a 2:33 600m and a 1:40 400m. Followed by slow running around the campus in pitch black. Total of 5.6 miles.
13: Rest
14: 8.4 miles, just under a 9 min/mi average pace with a few consecutive faster miles thrown in (7:50, 7:46, 8:21)
15: Rest to save up energy for the next day’s trail run adventure
16: Just under 13 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail (+2134’)
17: 22 mile bike ride with Dan

Pictures from the PCT:

465 Miles from Mexico

Nearby reservoir; Looked prettier through my own eyes.

There was a lot of this

Water stop courtesy of the Andersons who run Casa de Luna for through-hikers

The only time I expect to be on the LD 50 mile course unless I volunteer again.  Didn’t realize Scott Jurek had run (and won!) LD50.

Finished my run that started at Bouquet Canyon (too bad about that typo).

This elevation map doesn’t do that thousand foot climb justice.  Run was pretty awesome after mile 4, though the climb was still noticeable from 10-11.5.

Pacing Success!

Sunday I was tasked with pacing the 2:10 group for our local half marathon.  My running group provided pacers for the half from 1:30-2:10 and for the full from 3:30-4:20. 

My duties included running close to-- but not over-- a 2:10 half marathon based on my chip time, and carrying this sign:

Since my PR from last year is a 1:54, I think the 2:10 was a good choice.  I probably could have done 2:05 if we offered it, but 2:00 was too close to my PR that if I had been feeling off on race day it could have been tough, especially since I was pacing alone.  On the plus side, pacing the 2:10 left me with enough energy to spectate at the finish line for a while then run back out on the course to find a friend running the marathon.

For being my first time pacing, I'm glad I was familiar with the course from running this race last year, running parts of the course in my daily running and when we featured a "preview run" of the course a few weeks ago.

Prior to the race, I played around with this pace calculator.  If I ran the course exactly and my Garmin read 13.1 miles, my pace on my Garmin should read 9:50-9:54 to finish in 2:09-2:10.

Looking at my Garmin data from running this race last year, I had about 13.19 miles.  To run that slightly longer distance between a 2:09 and 2:10 would mean more like a 9:46-9:51 average pace.

I decided to go with 9:50, right in the middle, so that I'd still be under 2:10 with a slightly long course.  I printed up a pace band from the pace calculator site, made it sweat/Gatorade-proof with clear packing tape, and pinned it behind my bib for backup.

I very much worried about running the "right" pace. I remembered hearing Kari's horror story with a pace group for her first marathon where the pacer ran :20+ below goal pace and last month a friend started a half with a 2 hour pace group (9:01) but found they ran the first mile in 7:45.  I did not want to be that kind of pacer!

I placed myself at the starting line-up based on the other pacers, but I think I could have started a little further up because it took me 1 minute and 40 seconds after the gun to cross the timing mats and there were people ahead of me who were walking by the quarter mile mark.  Maybe if the race continues to grow, there should be mini corrals to guide the line up.  Regardless, I planned to be slower on the first mile since there's a bit of an uphill and I knew it would be crowded.

It was difficult not to pick up the pace during the second mile while we were heading downhill.  Still, the first two miles averaged out to my goal pace.  After that point, I was able to keep my pace fairly steady for the rest of the race.

The other challenge was having people I knew in my group.  A couple friends started with me and it was hard to not slow down or speed up with them because that's what I'd typically do when running with them.  I just had to remind myself to keep my pace.

Here are my splits and the course elevation:

While I am used to running with a handheld water bottle, running with a sign for 2 hours was a first.  I had been advised by previous pacers not to grip the thin dowel too tightly to prevent fatigue.  If I had more time, I might have wrapped tape around the part of the stick I would carry to allow a more comfortable grip.  I just switched hands often so that I wasn't tensing up, sometimes carrying it with the same hand that was holding my water bottle which prevented a tight grip. 

Also, it turns out there's more wind two feet above my head.  The sign whipped around less if I kept it closer to my head.

I didn't so much have a solid group the entire time as I had people who came and went.  People would check in on my pace then say they would try to keep up with me or tell me they wanted to try to stay ahead of me.  A couple people approached me at the finish and thanked me and I didn't realize they had been running with me.

My chip time was 2:09:16.  In the end, my watch showed 13.15 miles, and since I was relying on my Garmin, I'm glad I did use a slightly faster average pace to be sure I erred on the faster side of 2:10.

I really enjoyed pacing and would do it again.  It was a different kind of challenge and hopefully I helped some people along the way.

PS, While googling tips for pacing, I found this wiki helpful.

Have you ever paced a race?
Ever run a race with a pace group?

Long time runner, first time pacer

I started writing a recap of my trip to Yosemite in mid-September, then apparently got distracted looking through my pictures deciding which ones to include in my post.

Aaaand a month later, here I am.

Let’s recap some running and biking.  Since July, when  got a road bike, I’ve been riding my bike more.

July:
94 miles of running, 36 miles of cycling

August:
104 miles of running, 77 miles of cycling

September:
71 miles of running, 34 miles of hiking, 59 miles of cycling

At the end of September I was asked about being a pacer for the local half marathon.  After giving it some thought, I agreed.  I’ll be pacing the 2:10 group at the half marathon this Sunday.  It will be my first time being a pacer, but I am familiar with the course.  I’m a little nervous, but my long runs lately have averaged between upper 8s and mid 9s pace, so I will be able to comfortably run a ~9:50 pace while holding a sign/balloons/etc.  It will be a nice change to hopefully help some other runners meet their race goals.

Since getting back from our trip last month, the weather cooled off significantly and I am trying to run more like 4-5 times a week, with 1-2 bike rides/week.  I’ve been making more of an effort to get to track every week, I’ve thrown in a short mid-week trail run, and a tempo run or a route with a long, good-sized hill.  I notice I tend to avoid tempo runs…so I need to make myself do them more.

Once I knew I wouldn’t be “racing” the Santa Clarita half, I signed up for the Santa to the Sea half marathon December 8th.  My training has been going fairly well: my long run pace and my track work splits have dropped, so I’m looking forward to attempting a PR in December.

Yosemite Valley Floor Hike

Hello from Yosemite! I'm attempting a mobile post here.

Sunday we made the 5 hour drive up, stopping at the Nelder Sequoia grove on the way up.

Yesterday we hiked a counter-clockwise loop along the Valley Floor which ended up being around 14.25 miles of hiking along the Merced River. We went past the crazies who were rock climbing El Capitan. Most of the falls were dry but it is still gorgeous up here.

Today we're off to Mirror Lake, Sentinel Dome, and Taft point.

Races I Could Run

I missed out on a PR-potential half marathon this spring, so I’d like to go for sub 1:54 this fall.  Really, since I’ve been pretty light on racing this year, I’d be ok with running a few races this fall: a couple road halfs for a PR and some fun on trails.

So far this year I’ve run the Bandit 30k, the Great Race of Agoura Hills Chesebro Half Marathon, a July 4th 10k, and a few 3 mile XC races this summer.

Here’s a few I’m considering for the fall:

September 8: Ventura Half Marathon

• Flat.  Cool, by the coast.
• Would be my 2nd of 3 races needed for the Gold Coast Run Series.

October 5: Agoura RAD 10 Miler

• Run starts from Paramount Ranch
• A different distance.
• Last year they gave out pint glasses instead of medals which is a plus in my book.

October 26: Haunted Trails of the Night 10k

• Night time Trail race from Paramount ranch.
• New race put on by a great trail race director.

November 3: Santa Clarita Half Marathon

• Cheap. $59 – minus another 20% through my running group.
• Need to redeem myself on this course after last year.

November 23: Griffith Park Trail Half Marathon

• Hard course, but a fun and well-organized race.
• Ran it last year.
• On the Cons list, it’s pricey.

December 1: High Desert 30k (Ridgecrest)

• Another attempt at a 30k?
• Running friends ran it last year. Quirky homemade “medals.”
• Trail races are just awesome in general.

December 7: Paramount Ranch Trail Half Marathon

• This is the third race in consideration starting from Paramount Ranch. Weird.

December 8: Santa to the Sea Half Marathon

• PR Course from last year
• Would be my 3rd race of the Gold Coast Series, earning me a jacket.
• Mostly flat course, good support, but Point-to-Point is a PITA if you don’t have someone to drop you off at the start.

 

What races are you running this fall?
What are you fall racing goals?

SoCal folks- run any of these before? Any others I should put on my list?

End of July Running + Sierra Pelona Hike

Not sure how this started happening, but this now makes for the second consecutive 2-week cycle where I do a lot during Week 1, then have an easier Week 2.

Week of July 22:
Monday: 6 miles, +391’/avg pace 9:02

Tuesday: Easy 7.26 mi bike ride/12.6 mph

Wednesday: AM: 5.46 mi, +213’/avg pace 9:16
Wednesday PM:  6.73 mi bike/12.5 mph. Tooling around on the new bike.

Thursday: XC Summer Series, Week 3.  3 miles in 24:30 (8:10 pace) + 2.1 mi cool down (10:33 pace)
*There were almost 800 runners this week! I it about :40 seconds faster than Week 1, yet moved back about 130 places.

Friday: 2 mi shakeout run/avg pace 8:27

Saturday: 8.63 mi run/avg pace 8:49

Sunday: 11.77 mi hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. I had previously run this section back in October but wanted to bring Dan back.

^Yep, we came up that ‘Z’ on the far mountain. And the trail you can see on the mountain behind that.

It was warm. Dan hoped we were closer to the top than we actually were.

^To the north. Crispy from May’s Powerhouse Fire

^Firebreak from a fire that happened here 6 years ago.

The amazing pastrami pizza that followed our hike.

Week of July 29
Tuesday: 4.94 miles: 2x1200m in 6:26, 5:48, 4x800m in 3:41, 3:39, 3:41, 3:42

Wednesday: 2.3 mi easy, with 4 sprints in the middle (4x.08 mi in :27, :25, :25, :25)

Friday: 3.25 mi, +327’/avg pace of 9:44

Sunday: 14.14 mi, +761’/avg pace of 9:50.

Olded.

or “How I turned 30.”

My last run as a 29 year old involved waking up at 4:35am on Monday to run 6 miles with some running group people.

 

When I got home I realized what my note to Dan (written in the dark, on paper that had apparently already been used) looked like.

While my dream birthday would involve running-- and preferably trail running-- my actual birthday, last Tuesday, involved working, and starting early.  I treated myself to a lunch time birthday cupcake.  No coffee buttercream frosting, but this one was some kind of mocha/caramel combo.

I worked some more. I took a break for a 35-minute late afternoon bike ride in the sweltering heat and high winds, showered, then worked for a couple more hours.

This arrived on my doorstep

We ordered Thai take-out and thanks to Dan’s handy-work, the contents of that big box later became this:

Looking forward to riding a bike that weighs less than half my current hybrid bike and will allow me to keep up with Dan on his road bike!

Then I called it a night and set my alarm to meet different running friends to run 5ish miles at 5ish the next morning.

Mt Pinos Hike & Biweekly Running Recap

Week of July 8th: A.K.A. 7 days of moving-- but not much running.
Monday:  12 mile bike ride/14.1 mph

Tuesday: 3.32 mile hilly run. +542’, 10:01 avg pace.

Wednesday: 2 mile easy run w/Dan.

Thursday: 3 mile XC Summer Series, Week 1. I ran this last year. Course is slightly different than last year to accommodate the track re-build, but it is still half road/half dirt and hilly.  Ran it in 25:08 which placed me at approximately 339/~573 runners.  +~181’, 8:22 pace. First place runner finished in 15:52.

Friday: 1.58 mile run down the hill and back up. +321’.

Saturday:  9.8 mile hike in Los Padres National Forest. +2263’. Elevation was noticeable and ranged between 8300’ and 8829’. 

Temperatures were near 100 degrees at home, but was probably about 20 degrees cooler up here with shade from the tall pines and a nice cool breeze.  Fun fact: Mt Pinos is the highest point in the Los Padres National Forest.  We had nice views of the Central Valley and other parts of the National Forest.

Mount Pinos  & Sawmill Mountain:

^Final ascent

Sunday: 9.6 mile easy bike ride/11.9 mph. Needed to shake out the legs.

Week of July 15th:

Monday: I don’t normally count dog walks, but… 30 minute dog walk?

Tuesday AM: 3.6 miles/avg pace 9:29
Tuesday PM: Speed work… on a real track! 6x[600m, 200m rest] in: 2:47, 2:47, 2:47, 2:40, 2:48, 2:48 . Total of 4.7 miles with warm up and cool down.

Wednesday: 50 minute dog walk

Friday: 4 miles. +715’, avg pace 9:52

Saturday night.  This is how I prepared for my Sunday long run:

Sunday: 12 miles. +622’, avg pace 9:40.

One of these was going on over the weekend:

All shoes were $40 on Friday (and got down to $25 on Sunday), but I exercised restraint.  Besides, they didn’t have my beloved Tempo in my size…and I recently got a new pair.  I did, however, pick up a $15 tank (one that I was about to buy on Running Warehouse!) and a $7 hat. Folks from my running group found some Bostons and Adios(es?) in their sizes…good deal.

  

That’s all I’ve got. 
This concludes my last post as a 29 year old. Tuesday I turn 30. Yikes.