#DoublePRWeekend, Part 2 - Holiday Half Marathon Recap

For the tl;dr version: This was a really hard race for me, the course kicked my ass, and I kept running until I finished, and PR'ed. 

On Sunday, I ran Holiday Half Marathon in Pomona. Margot, Monica and I drove up together, so I got to sit back and enjoy the pretty drive...

The race has an 8am start at the LA County Fairplex in Pomona.

It's a little hilly. The website notes, "The Pomona Valley is a naturally hilly landscape and while certain inclines could not be avoided, this course was designed to be as friendly to runners as possible."

So, I knew it was hilly. I was hopeful that the nice weather would come back, but alas, it was warm and SUNNY. Since these are my 3 least favorite things - hills, sun, and heat - I was not super optimistic when we got there. On top of that, my legs felt.... kind of flat. I felt okay, but I sure wasn't feeling very peppy. I had cut back on my longer speed work over the last 4 weeks, to focus on shorter 5k efforts, so I wasn't sure my previous 2:05 goal was still reasonable.

After a last-second bathroom excursion (real bathrooms!), Monica and I squeezed into the corrals as the national anthem was finishing up. I stuck to my spot between the 2:00-2:10 pacers....

Goal A: 2:05, 9:32 pace. This was kind of an arbitrary goal that I picked back in September.
Goal B: PR, sub-2:11, 9:59 or under
Goal C: Eh. If I felt just DEAD DEAD DEAD, I planned to circle back to a friend of mine that was running a slower pace, and run/walk with her and take pictures, pretending I was at Disney.

When the race started, I tried sticking with the 2 hour pacer (WHY WOULD I DO THAT??) for a bit, but I thought she was just going too fast for me to sustain, so I dropped back before the end of the first mile.

I realized pretty much right away that my legs just felt heavy. However, I also realized that they felt just as crappy running uphill as they did running downhill, so... pretty much, I just ran. I know that's a simplistic and ridiculous thing to even say, but since I was uncomfortable either way, I just went with it. 

I tried to run a consistent effort, and while I was checking in with my Garmin fairly regularly, I was trying to not let what I saw change how I was running. If it felt okay, I kept going. If I felt like it was a lot of effort, I eased up and let it happen.

Pretty much the ENTIRE time, I was thinking:
This is really hard.
Keep moving your feet.
This is REALLY HARD.
Holy crap, this is so hard.

I know I keep saying this, but for real, even the downhills I felt like it was all just so hard, because my legs were D E A D.

The course loops around the fairplex, out into a park, back through some the fairplex, then loops through Bonelli park and around a lake from miles 3-11. You guys, I remember NONE of the lake, at all, and that's crazy, because... I ran around a lake for 7 miles. I don't even know what was happening around me.

and yet, there it is. a lake. 

Anyway. I feel like the miles ticked by pretty quickly, and when I got to mile 8, I started doing some brain math to figure out how much cushion I had to still hit a PR. I knew 2:05 was out, but that was fine - I really didn't think that was in the cards in the heat/with the hills. I was feeling pretty tired, but it was no different than before, so.... I kept going. I was certainly slowing down, and my legs were even MORE dead, which I was surprised about, because I didn't know it was even possible.

I knew at some point, there was a downhill to the finish, but I couldn't remember if it started at mile 11 or 12, so I was pretty sad when mile 11 felt HARD. Joke's on me, downhill started at mile 12.

Margot - my running fairy godmother - jumped in with me around 12.5, and tried to run fast, but I had negative-zero kick left, and shuffled along behind her.

Man. It was one hard-earned medal for me.

Splits: 9:18, 9:51, 10:06, 9:25, 9:36, 9:33, 9:50, 10:12, 9:31, 10:08, 10:13, 10:03, 9:27. .2 8:49. 

 2:08:56 - Garmin measured 13.2mi, and 9:46 pace.

 After the race, I met back up with Monica, SR, and SR's friend Reese while Margot ran a few more miles, because she's an overachiever.

And then we did the blogger-required things, like stopping at Starbucks and taking pictures of our food.

Epilogue:

I am really, really, really pleased with this race. I am still kind of surprised that it even happened. I didn't expect a PR, honestly, and I spent so much time thinking that I was REALLY uncomfortable, and being surprised I wasn't stopping. I was one walk break away from missing a PR, but I never really considered walking? Like, it didn't really cross my mind.  the 2:10 pacer passed me at one point going up a hill in mile 10, and I just let her go, then caught and passed her on the downhill. I don't know. Maybe this is some "mental fortitude" I have been missing in previous races?

I've been having some issues on my recent long runs with - I'm guessing - my salt/dehydration/something like that. I am a reallllly salty sweat-er, and on my last 3 or 4 runs over 13ish miles, I've ended up with raging headaches for the rest of the day. I am a living-on-the-edge type of girl, so I tried a different fueling plan Sunday - margarita shot blocks every mile, starting at mile 3, and a salted caramel GU around mile 10-11. It was... okay. I don't know, I still felt on the verge of leg-cramping a few times, but I'm not sure if it was the salt/electrolytes, tired legs, or just hills. Anyway, the headache didn't happen, so I guess it's some improvement.

There were supposed to be aid stations every mile after mile 5, but that wasn't really the case, and it was kind of frustrating for me to NOT have aid stations where I expected them to be, because I was timing my fuel. I mean, I am an obsessive type, and checked the website so I could be prepared, so it's annoying to not have the stations where they're advertised. Whatever.

It's really a lame complaint, because there were PLENTY of stations, I just wanted them in specific spots I guess? lol.

The shirts are really great - I LOVE it.

I am lame and didn't take a better picture - this print is on the left side/bottom of the shirt. 

It was hot hot hot hot hot. I think mid-70's at finish? With an 8am start, it was pretty rough on me - I wilt in the heat. If the race had started an hour earlier, it would have been much better. A lot of the course is exposed, so with the bright burning sun, it was pretty horrendous. I really don't like hot/sun.

Overall, it's a good race, and well organized. However, IMO, it's over-priced unless you register for early-bird pricing. A few years ago, I want to say I registered for this event for, like, $60 (and ended up DNS'ing). This year, when I thought about registering last month, I think it was $90? Thank goodness for a last-minute giveaway.

The course is HARD. I know I went in with tired legs, but it is constant rolling hills. There are no flats.

Monday, my legs felt pretty beat up - my quads, hamstrings, and glutes were UNIMPRESSED with all the things I did to them this weekend. But.... I'm curious what I could do on a friendlier course, so.... maybe a do-over is in order? Maybe.

Or I could just retire now.

#DoublePRWeekend, Part 1 - Renegade Santa Run 5k

Renegade's Santa Run is one of my favorites - fun crowd, well organized community event. Yeah, there are a lot of kids, but they are really well behaved and play nicely. This event is home to my current 10k PR, and (spoiler!) my new 5k PR.

This year, #1 ran with me, instead of The H. We headed out at 7am for the 8am start, and parked down the street. This ended up being not quite enough time for us - we still had to pick up our bibs, and then hit the restrooms, and it just didn't give me time to warm up like I would have liked. Note to self, next year get there a bit earlier.

I anticipated cool weather. HOWEVER, about 20 minutes before the start, it got freakishly HOT, and windy. The wind was hot. I don't know how else to explain it. It was not my most favorite, really. 

Anyway, the 5k course runs in kind of a figure-8 shape down the Peters Canyon trail...

Like I sad last week, I had some goals for this race:
A: 25:45ish, 8:18 pace

B: PR - 27:38, 8:55 pace

C: Don't puke and/or die

Because I'm dumb, I did a long run last Sunday (15 miles), followed by a hard hard HARD speed workout on Tuesday, and nothing else. So that was pretty great and relaxing on the legs. 

The race started right on time, but because I was running late, I snuck in somewhere towards the front-ish, and hoped that it wasn't in the mix of kids running super fast. 

Mile 1 - 8:22. This mile felt good. I tried not to be overly concerned with my garmin numbers, and run on feel, and I felt like I could certainly sustain this pace.

Mile 2 - 8:30. Well. That didn't last very long. This was at the turn around, and suddenly we were running into the hottest wind in the universe. 

Mile 3 - 8:54. This was terrible. Lol. 

Last .1 - 7:50. Out of the wind, THANK GOD. 

26:27, 8:32 pace. Not too shabby, good enough for 5/60 in my age group!

Look, it's me dying!

for real, why do I do that with my head?!

 Anyway. It was hard, and hot, and hard, and windy. And hard. Running fast is hard.

#1 also ran a PR, so it was a good day to be us. (Not so much to be Gabby, who melted down and couldn't wait to bail out of that race.).

The race is really great, and we have really enjoyed the event the last two years. I was hopeful for an AG placing this year, but it was a bit of a faster field than last year - I think because the race is just growing a bit? The course is a little congested right at the start, before the turn onto the trail, but after that it cleared up a bit - this could just be where I ended up in the 5k, but I didn't have any trouble navigating. The course is a nice mix of mostly pavement, with some dirt trail the first half. I love dirt, so that's great for me. 

Registration prices start at just $25 for the 5k, $35 for the 10k, and $15 for the kids run - this includes a great medal and long sleeve cotton tee.

so cute and sparkly!

They have awards 3 deep in each age group, plus a costume contest - the costume was a big source of stress for me. I originally wanted to be a Christmas tree. After I constructed it, it was NOISY and JANGLY and would have made me insane. On my second trip to Target, I found some foam snowflakes, and a new costume was born. I spent Friday night sewing snowflakes onto my tank and Team Sparkle skirt, and was the hottest snowflake EVER. 

It was tons of fun, can't wait to tackle it again next year!

Troutman Sanders Renegade Santa Run - 10K Recap

The Troutman Sanders Renegade Santa Run has been on my radar for a few years - it's put on by Renegade Racing, which is one of my favorite local race companies. Jonathan Pauley, the owner and RD, puts on some damn fine races -  they also organize the Reaching for the Cure Half in May, benefiting PCRF.

There are 10k, 5k, and 1k kids' runs available. Registration started at $25 for th 5k, and $35 for the 10k - SUPER reasonable. I lucked into an extra discount at an event they were doing, and I think I ended up paying $27 for the 10k. It was such a good deal, the H decided to run with me.

I mean, not WITH me, because he's way faster than I am.

We needed to pick up our bibs on race day, and left our house around 7am for an 8am start. Parking was a little crazy - the race starts in a residential area, near a park, and there is limited parking available at the start, some down the street, and additional parking a bit further away, with a bus avaialble. We REALLY lucked out on the weather - a few days earlier, it was showing rain in the forecast (AGAIN). But, it ended up blowing through earlier than expected, and it was dry and cool for the race.

After parking, getting our stuff together, and bibbing up, we made our way to the start corrals about 15 min before the start. They have a LOT of kids running this race (it's a WeROCK event). There were some announcements about how to line up at the start - there were pace groups set up, by signs, and they even emphasized that walkers should stay towards the back (I LOVE THAT).

Angry Julie snuck up on me with a few minutes to go, and because she's a better blogger than I am, took a picture of us. I'm lame, and didn't even bring a camera. Oops.

BUT this is what I wore. Spoiler, sparkles make you faaaaaaaast.

The race started right on time, and it was TIGHT. The 5k and 10k start together, and it's on a bike path, and there's just not a ton of room to maneuver. We were warned that it would be a little tight, and it wasn't a joke. It spread out a bit more once we got about a mile in, so it wasn't awful.

My goal going into the race was to PR - my PR of 59:34 was set back in February at Race on the Base, and I really wanted to obliterate it. I was shooting for a 9:15 overall pace (for a 57:28 time), but kind of wanted to beat the H's RotB time of 56:13. No real reason, I just felt like it.

I got zero pictures of anything. The course was nice enough, all run on bike trails - a lot of dirt trail for the 10k. There were no hills, per se, BUT there is a lot of gradual uphill that lasts kind of a long time.

In general, everything heading to the west and north is a gentle uphill. It wasn't too bad until around mile 5, when I tried pushing the pace a little, and I definitely felt it.

There were a few aid stations, and they all had plenty of water from what I saw (I didn't stop for any). There were volunteers at all of the turn arounds, directing traffic. It was a really well supported race.

Because of the out and backs, I was able to see The H twice - once at mile 3ish, and once around mile 5.5ish. He was gliding along all fancy like it was effortless. I see where #1 gets it....

The ONLY complaint I have, is crossing the bridge just after mile 5, there were a LOT of people leaving the race, meandering along, and taking up a lot of the narrow path. There was just not a ton of room to accomodate that. And, running in the last .2, it was the same - a lot of people, and a lot of KIDS darting across the course. I probably lost a little bit of time there, but it is what it is. It's not a closed course, so you can't really stop people from walking home, I GUESS.

The H KILLED his race, coming in at 50:44 with a 5.5 minute PR.

Me?

55:55.

I KNOW.

Average 9:01 pace, and a 3+ minute PR.

Splits: 9:15, 9:08, 9:10, 8:58, 9:16, 8:58, 8:13.


THE END, maybe I should just retire now.

Race on the Base Recap, and PFTW

So, remember Friday when I was whiiiiiining about all the ishtty runs last week? And how I said I originally wanted to put sub-60 out there for goal, but nixed it because I was lame, and fell back to 1:01?

Spoiler, I'm awesomer than I thought I was.

Also, this is really longer than a 10K race report usually deserves, but I want to remember how that one time, I ran a really smart race, so it's overly detailed. Sorry in advance.


So, Race on the Base is newly-managed by Run Racing, the masterminds behind Long Beach Marathon/Half Marathon, and Holiday Half. In addition to the 10K, there's a 5K, some inline skate thing, a reverse tri, some kids races.... it's like a party pack of race events.

The race started at 7:30, but we needed to register the H, so we got there around 6:30. It was cold, but not freezing, and overcast... perfect running weather! Registered the H, picked up my bib, and headed back to the car to stay warm - parking was super easy, and SUPER close.

Headed over to the start area around 7:20, jogged a little bit to a helicopter parked next to the course (helicopter!!), and back, cycled through the port-o-potty line again, and back to the start. And then there was a delay. Something about traffic? No idea. Back to port-o-potty, just because. Then the national anthem started, and the in-line skate group was off.

Neither the H nor I realized that in-line skating was such a Thing - these people were all spandexed up with these crazy aerodynamic helmets. I had no idea.

Anyway. A bit later the 10K started... I want to say we started closer to 7:50? But honestly not sure. It was definitely a pretty significant delay, though.

I decided after my super short warm up jog that I felt okay... My legs were FINALLY not super-dead from that "Conditioning" class Wednesday. I decided I'd try to stick to sub-10 pace the entire way, and see how that went. That became my A goal.

Almost immediately, I start way, way too fast. Like, sub-8 fast. God bless the man who invented Garmin, so I knew that I was way too fast, and could slow down.

Mile .7-ish, water stop. Really? That's weird.... But thanks?

About here, I was kind of struggling to keep sub-10 pace, at all. But I also know that for me, the first 2 miles are always going to suck, so if I can suck it up and just hold sub-10 until then, I *might* be okay to push it after that.

Mile 1 - 9:50
Mile 2 - 9:55

{see? struggling}

Another water station before mile 2. Ran waaaaaaaaaaaaay down to one end of a runway, turned, ran waaaaaaaaaaay down to the far end, turned, and ran back. Did you know runways are REALLY long?? I had no idea. Also, they're rutted concrete, which is not the easiest surface in the world to run on.

I started to feel a bit better a bit before mile 3, so I tried to pick it up, and just concentrated on sticking around 9:40-9:45. I saw my pace dip down sub-9, and knew it was too early.... and compromised with myself around 9:30.

Mile 3 - 9:40
Mile 4 - 9:37

Normally, I feel stellar around mile 3-4, but I wanted to make sure I didn't burn out too early, so I held back, and figured I would focus on negative splits now, and just see what happened.

Mile 5 - 9:26
Mile 6 - 9:06 (?!?!?!)

And I was dying. .23 8:33. Two chicks beat me in the final sprint, and turns out they were BOTH in my age group. Oh wells.

59:35.4, 17/51 in age group.

The H finished in 56:13, which is an 11 minute PR for him. Plus, he beat me, so he's pleased.

Lessons learned:

• I think I could have maintained a bit of a faster pace for mile 5, and held it longer than I gave myself credit for.
• I decided at the last 400 to run my normal 400 pace, and although I felt like it was absolutely totally completely all I could possibly do right then, it's DEAD ON my 400 pace... I wonder if I just stuck with what's comfortable, because I'm used to it, or if that was really all I had? Not sure.
• Fascinating how much easier it is to race when you KNOW your body and how it tries to trick you into feeling great and pushing when you really need to be more conservative.

So, yeah. I PR'ed. I sub-60'ed. It was pretty grand.

The race was well-managed, plenty of bathrooms, small expo, course was well marked. I thought the water stations were placed strangely - two before mile 2, and then none until mile 3.5-ish. I was fine, it just seemed weird. The shirt is rad.

Long sleeve, super light, women's cut, tech fabric. All the best things.

Ummmm, and I'm super lame and didn't get a picture of my outfit. That's, like, the BEST part of racing, right?

This is the best I can do. Obnoxious purple and turquoise on the right. That's meeee.

Lame.

And then we went home and I ate all the things. And I went an played bingo with Margot, Sarah, and Pam.

Chalk THIS up to more things I didn't know... but did you KNOW there are different ways to win BINGO?

Fascinating.

Oh, and then yesterday I wandered into a TJMaxx, and tried on ridiculous $700 Gucci dresses.

Normal day in the OC.

**************************************************

Last week:
Tuesday: 6 miles, easy, sucked.
Thursday: 4.3 miles, cut short from 6, sucked.
Saturday: 6.2 miles, hard, it was awesome.

This week:
Monday: Suck Less
Tuesday: 7 miles easy
Wednesday: Conditioning, Suck Less
Thursday: 7 miles, speeeeeed
Friday: Suck Less
Saturday/Sunday: 10 miles