Week in Review (May 3 - May 9)

Tuesday (17,646 steps) - A had student council early in the morning, so I did a quick run by the lake after dinner. Tuesdays are clearly the most boring day of the week, which is totally fine. I was still exhausted after the Avenue of the Giants weekend, so we went to bed really early.

Wednesday (18,529 steps) - Slept in because we went to run club after work/school. Maureen ended up coming, so we ran about 3 miles with her. They ordered in pizza for Heather's birthday, so we decided not to go and get dinner. Because, free pizza.

When we got home we had Batman Sour's birthday paw-ty. Two years old!

Thursday (21,108 steps) - Finally managed to drag myself out of bed. Did 4ish miles near the lake. Temps were good, and I'm loving the sunshine!

Friday (14,343 steps) - Rest day!! Was hoping to get out of work early. Never quite works out that way and it was pure chaos and stress going to pick up A at school and then driving back down to Denver to drop her off at Heather's for a sleepover before driving out to Grand Junction. My friend and teammate, Kate, had graciously offered to let me stay at her house (since I had forgotten to book a hotel), and I was super stressed about my impending late arrival. Quick stop at Garbanzo's on the way out, and didn't get to Kate's until 10:45!! Thank you, Kate, and sorry for the late arrival. You're awesome!! Was woken up a few times in the night due to crazy thunderstorms.

Saturday (28,635 steps) - Rabbit Valley half marathon. The drive back to Denver was fairly uneventful, with the exception of on and off rain. Bee Rad got a PR with number of miles on a tank (566.7!) of gas.

Stopped in Silverthorne hoping to get food, but there was only fast food. I did, however, stop at the Banana Republic outlet store and got a super cute dress and sweater for $26!! I finally had to stop in Idaho Springs to gas up, and made a quick stop at Tommyknocker's for a beer and a bowl of chili to tide me over until dinner. While I was running Rabbit Valley and driving back to Denver, A was running Girls on the Run with Heather.

Arrived at Heather's around 3:30, giving me plenty of time to shower and get pretty for our dinner at The Palm, celebrating Heather's birthday with her family and other friends. Had an amazing time! Tons and tons of food, and always fun to get dressed up.

Sunday (10,067 steps) - I was DETERMINED to sleep in. I have so few opportunities for it! I kept waking up, but I managed to stay in bed until 9 am. 9!!! Batman Sour assisted in waking me up by sitting by my head and purring. A sneaked downstairs, making me coffee, eggs and pancakes! She also did all the dishes, making this the perfect Mother's Day breakfast. We sat on the couch and watched HOURS of TV. Around 1 we went over to the library to renew A's library books. We went for a 2 mile run along Little Dry Creek - love our runs together!

More TV. We went to lunch/dinner (not sure what meal you eat at 4 pm) at Old Chicago's. We ordered #allthefood - an appetizer sampler of pizza rolls, Italian nachos and cheesy garlic bread, A got a turkey/bacon sandwich, and I got the fancy mac & cheese.

Spent the remainder of the day on the couch in a food coma. BEST MOTHER'S DAY EVER!
Monday (15,848 steps) - I had my alarm set early with plans of running the big loop around my neighborhood. Turns out, I'm still recovering from my awesome Mother's Day of doing nothing. I barely had time to get 1.5 miles in. But the weather was perfect and the sun was shining. Yay spring!

We left the house a few minutes early so I could stop and get my depo shot. Wasn't as quick as usual, so A was a few minutes late to school. After work I did a video(!!!) while making dinner. Time to get back on track with building up my puny strength!

Stats:

• 126,176 steps
• 23 miles run (taking a few low mileage weeks before building back up)
• 32 minutes of cross training
• No strength/stretching

Everything Else:

• Blah. So I haven't been paying much attention to what I've been eating (obviously) and slowly but surely, the weight has crept back on. It's easy to pretend that running 40-60 miles a week means you can eat whatever you want, but that is obviously not true. Not planning on tracking calories or anything, but cutting back on all those things I can't seem to stop eating. Womp. I'm pretty much back to the weight I was on three years ago when I did the #noteatingallthethings - apparently maintaining hasn't gone that well.
• Nothing much else going on, just planning an out of town Memorial Day weekend with A and locking in the remainder of plans for the summer. HOW ARE THERE ONLY TWO WEEKS LEFT OF SCHOOL?

Rabbit Valley "half" marathon (race recap)

Saturday, May 7
Fruita(ish), CO
Half Marathon #fail
Weather - overcast, perfect

The Rabbit Valley half marathon was an inaugural race, put on by Gemini Adventures, the same group that organized my stage race last summer. As soon as I heard it announced, I signed up. I was pretty excited to run the same section of course - NOT in 100 degree weather.

Left Kate's house around 5:45. Drove into Grand Junction to get coffee and a diet Pepsi, then headed west on I-70 to the race start. The Rabbit Valley exit is only two miles from the Utah border. There was no traffic and I arrived with an hour to spare.

I picked up my bib and chatted with Kyla. There was also a mountain bike event that started at 7, so while that was happening I cycled through the bathroom line and got my stuff ready. My teammate and friend, Laura, was also running the half, so we talked and took a pre-race picture.

Me and Laura at the start

We were not starting initially on the Kokopelli trail, we would instead be on "trail 2" for the beginning part of the race. I was feeling pretty good, but I couldn't remember how hilly the course was. I made sure to take some pictures on the uphills since I was walking anyway. I hadn't even looked at the course, so I didn't know where the aid stations were going to be. The first one was right after we moved onto the Kokopelli, around mile 2.5. I grabbed only a small cup of coke. I had heard in the pre-race meeting that there would be a total of 4 aid stations, hitting each one twice. I assumed it would be another 2-3 miles before we saw it. I was surprised when it was only 1.5 miles out. And I wasn't even sure that it was the right aid station as there was flagging for some other organization.

Around mile 4 was when we first started seeing the leaders heading back. Sure seemed early. Then started seeing the bulk of the people another half mile or so later. What the heck? Did I miss something? Maybe there was another out and back at the end? Or a loop? Did we miss a turn? Keep running until we got to  the cone with the deck of playing cards. I had been chasing a couple and asked them if we had missed a turn and they said no. Huh. Views at the turnaround were amazing!

I was feeling really good at this point. There was a slight breeze and the temperature was perfect. There were some nasty clouds looming over the horizon so I was in the mood to move quickly. Hit the aid station and noticed the sign said "7.5 miles" - only I was only at like mile 5. Ok.

I completely skipped the last aid station because I didn't feel that I needed it. When we were only a mile or so out from the finish, I noticed some people coming towards us. Uh, were we doing a section twice? I asked one of the guys "is the finish not where I think it is?" He said it was "right over there." I looked at my watch, about 9 miles. WTF. So when I crossed the finish, my watch said 9.79 miles.

Got my dog tag, and grabbed some watermelon and a grilled cheese. Once I had stopped running it was a lot cooler, and I put on my sweatshirt. Chatted with Laura for a few minutes, and stuck around for awards. The race director admitted the course was short - they aren't really sure what happened, although whoever they had marking the course clearly didn't mark it correctly, and they said they didn't double check after it was marked. Kind of a bummer!

Garmin time - 2:05:16
Garmin distance - 9.79 miles
Garmin pace - 12:48 (totally pleased with this for trails)
Mile 1 - 12:08
Mile 2 - 13:04
Mile 3 - 12:59
Mile 4 - 14:09
Mile 5 - 14:01
Mile 6 - 11:55
Mile 7 - 10:59
Mile 8 - 12:18
Mile 9 - 14:12
Mile 9.79 - 12:05

Thoughts:

• Bummer about the short course. It WAS well-marked, just not correctly. It was marked very well, and there was no way to get lost, that I can think of.
• Well stocked, cup-free aid stations (although I did get a cup for my one partial cup of coke). I actually didn't take food of any kind from the aid stations. The had gels and some snacks, I just didn't want any.
• The cards at the turn around served two purposed - to make sure that you hit the full course, AND there were a few winners - $20 for certain cards. That was fun!
• Like the shirt, it's a soft cotton shirt.
• Dog tag in lieu of a medal, but better than nothing.
• I will run this event again, and have already been promised the course would measure correctly next time. Everyone makes mistakes. 

Avenue of the Giants Marathon (Race Recap)

Weott, California
Sunday, May 1
Marathon #28
Weather - Sunny, perfect

Heather picked the Avenue of the Giants marathon as her birthday race. Since my birthday is only a few weeks after hers, I invited myself along, registering right away. Then, of course, people asked... "how are you getting there." I assumed, by plane. Until I started looking at the logistics. The Avenue of the Giants is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and there is no such thing as a direct flight from Denver. Not such a big deal, but flying into the Eurkea airport (about 45 minutes north), was a lot more expensive. We determined that it was worth it to pay a bit more and not have to drive 5 HOURS from San Francisco.

Anyway.

We had already scoped out where the race was starting, so we planned on leaving the hotel at 6, giving us 45 minutes for the drive and then an hour to use the bathrooms, park, etc. Timing ending up working out really well. The marathon starts at 7:45, an hour before the half. It is also the smallest of the three events, so we were able to park with ease. By the time we parked, we weren't sure that we would have time to use the bathroom and then head back to the car, so we put on our throwaways and grabbed all our stuff and headed towards the start.

First time we went through the bathroom lines there was virtually no wait. We took some pictures and cycled through the line one more time before the start. It was REALLY foggy at the start, but we were sure that it would burn off later.

At the start line

Heather got a stress fracture in mid March. She had literally run less than 20 miles in the last 6 weeks. Up until the trip out, we were unsure what distance we were even going to attempt. That was settled when the race director told us that although she could stop at the half marathon point, she would get a DNF. Against better judgment, she wanted to go for the marathon. I, on the other hand, had put in my first ever marathon training cycle and run just about all my scheduled runs. (Well, until the whole lasik thing, then I had to cut some out). Kinda bummed not to see what my training could do for me (if anything), but I was committed to running with Heather. So the goal was "slow and low, that is the tempo" and not to screw up her injury any worse.

With that said, we lined up towards the back. I was still wearing my throwaway as it was a tad chilly in the midst of all the trees. The road we were on was pretty torn up, but very runnable. We chatted and the time was flying by. We were maintaining a slower pace than I even train at, but Heather was feeling good, so we didn't want to push the pace. The course was marked at every mile, and we had been warned that due to the giant trees, we might lose satellite on our watches, so I liked that there were markings. I hadn't really memorized where the aid stations were, but I had thought the first one would be around 2 miles in, and it wasn't until closer to 3. Not a big deal as it was still pretty chilly. Both of us got rid of our throwaways though.

The aid stations all had gatorade (the icky lemon-lime flavor) and water, as well as oranges. On the website, it said that there would be gels at "select" aid stations, which turned out to only be on the marathon course at mile 13, fyi, make sure you have enough for the whole race.

Anyway, we were stopping to take a lot of pictures. I had to stop every hour or so to put drops in my eyes. We walked all the aid stations and had to stop twice on the course to use the bathroom. The course is a double out and back, and the way out of the first out and back, it seemed downhill. However, it didn't seem that uphill on the way back (with the exception of a short climb around mile 11 or so).

At the half way point we joined the half marathon and 10k runners on a wider, two lane road. This road was MUCH easier to run on, as it was very smooth. We were definitely the back of the pack for the marathon, but I don't mind out and backs as I can see other people. I think the most interesting person on the course was a woman doing the half marathon CARRYING A BABY IN A BJORN. What. And she wasn't even last, or even close to last. Around mile 18 my garmin lost satellite. It would take over a half hour to recover it, so I was lost on our pace, and kind of where we were. (Not really, because there were markings every mile).
Heather finally started to have some issues around mile 20. Not where her stress fracture was (right tibia), but hip/glut and IT band on her left side. I'm guessing that she was favoring her left leg, trying to avoid hurting her right. By that point, spirits were definitely down and the chatter lessened, as she was in no mood for goofy chit chat. Did my best to keep her spirits high, but she was struggling. It was also getting really warm. The forecast had the high around 73, and considering I have been running in 40 degree weather, that seemed HOT. Most of the people at our pace were walking, so we actually passed quite a few people in the back half.

The sections in the sun were so warm!

We took a few short walk breaks, but I was really amazing at how much Heather was able to run! She is crazy/a rock star. I had thought the last aid station was about 3/4 of a mile from the finish, and was getting kind a discouraged when it seemed to be taking so long to get there. Turns out, it was like .3 from the finish. Both of us had some kick left and we sprinted past two people in the chute (one of which was behind us in line at the airport and remembered us).

Heather was pretty bummed with our "slow" finish. Since I'm slower anyway, I didn't care. PLUS, SHE HAD NOT RUN IN 6 WEEKS!

Official Time - 5:29:51 (not even my slowest road marathon)
Official Pace - 12:35
Overall Place - 444/522
Gender Place - 197/256
Division Place - 29/36
Garmin Time - 5:30:18
Mile 1 - 11:23
Mile 2 - 11:48
Mile 3 - 11:43
Mile 4 - 11:14
Mile 5 - 12:33
Mile 6 - 12:01
Mile 7 - 14:07
Mile 8 - 11:50
Mile 9 - 11:51
Mile 10 - 13:23
Mile 11 - 13:58
Mile 12 - 11:25
Mile 13 - 12:02
Mile 14 - 11:53
Mile 15 - 11:52
Mile 16 - 14:05
Mile 17 - 14:09
Mile 18 - 14:23
Mile 19 - 33:52 (this is where my garmin lost satellite, pretty sure this was almost 3 miles)
Mile 20 - 12:50
Mile 21 - 12:29
Mile 22 - 12:31
Mile 23 - 13:35
Mile 24 - 12:42
Mile 25 - 11:06

Overall, my watch only measured 24.59 miles, so I lost about 1.6 miles due to the whole big trees / satellite issue.

Collected our medals and headed up to the finish area. I was hungry and wanted beer. SADLY, the "food" SUCKED. A bag of stale chips and peanut butter and jelly wraps were IT. Urg!!! We were in the middle of nowhere, so it's not like we could just drive down the street and get food. As for the beer, apparently only some special "club" was able to get beer. They had a big sign for Eel River brewery, but not everyone was able to get a beer. SO DISAPPOINTING. They did, however, have a food truck where you could BUY food, but our car was a ten minute walk away.

Thoughts:

• Course is beautiful. Hands down, one of the prettiest road races I have run. I LOVE TREES AND GREEN THINGS SO MUCH!!
• Race was pretty well organized, and I liked that there were plenty of aid stations and potties located on the course. Lots of friendly volunteers, the aid stations were never out of supplies and it didn't seem like they were overwhelmed.
• Do not love that the race shirt is a cotton tee. I won't wear it. They did have lots of other options of tops and merchandise to BUY at packet pick up. Maybe if this was a first marathon, or I didn't have a bazillion other x,y,z.
• Cute medal. We think it is a bobcat on it. We did not see any on the course, nor do I know if they live in the area. But cute.
• BUMMER BUMMER BUMMER about the finish area. It SUCKED having to drive back to Eurkea (well over 40 minutes away, just to get food). Was not pleased with that.
• So, if the question is, would I run again? I probably would not, but more because of the expense in getting there. I don't think anyone would be disappointed with the course, and the lack of food and beer could certainly be solved - if you knew about it in advance.

Week in Review (April 26 - May 2)

Holy crap. How on earth is it MAY????

Tuesday (15,231 steps) - Didn't get up early. Again. I planned to run during my lunch hour. However, I left my special eye drops at home, so I had to run to Walgreen's to buy some. I went "the long way" so I could get a semi-decent run in. This was one of the best runs I have had in ages. It was "fast" and cool, and I didn't want to die.

I work only a few blocks from the state capital

Wednesday (14,529 steps) - Had my "one week" follow up for my lasik. Can start cutting back on the prescription drops, and everything is looking good. Run club after work with A! A struggled a bit as she has soccer practice after school and she was tired.

We went to Garbanzo's for dinner after. Haven't been there in ages, it was so delicious. Started packing for this weekend.
Thursday (18,916 steps) - Mainly because the forecast was looking bleak, I actually got up early and did a run. 4ish miles along the lake at sunrise... really, nothing can beat that!

Clouds, they are a-rollin' in.

Gymnastics and Tokyo Joe's. Finished packing.
Friday (12,174 steps) - Rest day! A had a dentist appointment, and then I took her over to our friend's house where she would be spending the weekend. She had the day off from school, but I still had to go to work. Womp. Our flight out of Denver was at 7:30, but because it had been snowing all day, I left work a tad early to meet Heather at her house and drive over to the airport. Traffic wasn't bad, parking was easy. We grabbed a drink and got Mexican food to go. Our flight was on time. OH WAIT, JUST KIDDING. Long story short, we sat at the gate for ALMOST TWO HOURS. Why? First class catering effed up and their food wasn't on the plane. Finally, after the passengers started to revolt and were asking to get off the plane, the pilot made the executive decision to depart. We were pretty sure we wouldn't make our connection. Bought TV, tried to watch "Joy," but it was so hard to hear, that I pretty much know nothing about what happened, other than she invented a new mop. We landed in San Francisco with about 15 minutes to make our connection. We did make it to the gate, and were told "due to weather in Eureka, we may have to turn around and come back." Luckily, that didn't happen. Landed on time, airport shuttle picked us up. By the time we got to our hotel it was after 1 am. Eesh.
Saturday (20,166 steps) - Got up fairly early and had breakfast at the hotel. Pretty decent buffet style with eggs, bacon/sausage, potatoes and french toast. And THEN we went for a short, easy run by the water.

Quick showers, then took the shuttle back to the airport so we could pick up our rental car. We drove up to Trinidad, took pictures and went for a short walk.

We stopped at Lost Coast brewery in Eureka for a beer and lunch.

We then took an incredibly scenic drive down to the Avenue of the Giants to pick up our packets. Fun afternoon!

One of the best pictures I think I have ever taken

Spent some time relaxing at the hotel and then went to get pizza for dinner. Because, carb loading. In bed not quite as early as planned, around 10:30.

Sunday (60,099 steps) - Avenue of the Giants marathon, recap to follow.

We ended up having burgers and beers at Lost Coast again. Why mess with a good thing? And no, we didn't bother stopping at the hotel to shower first. Spent the remainder of the evening watching tv (we watched Mean Girls, lol). We were too lazy to go out for dinner, so we just ate in the hotel restaurant (grilled cheese, fries and cheesecake).
Monday (14,115 steps) - Last day in California. I wanted to do a short shake out run, so got up about 20 minutes before Heather for a 15 minute jog. Kinda painful, but I knew I would be sitting most of the day. After breakfast we drove up to the "Trees of Mystery." Sounds cheesy, but it was pretty neat! Took tons of pictures, went on a nature walk, and rode a gondola.

View from the top of the Sky Ride

This tree started growing DURING THE CRUSADES???

Stopped in Trinidad on the way to the airport to get food (and had a mimosa while we were waiting). The Eureka airport is so small there is not a gift shop, or food, with the exception of a vending machine. A ONE GATE AIRPORT. Flight to San Fran was fine, uneventful. Landed a few minutes early in Denver. Went to Heather's to get my car, then picked up A right around 10 pm. Stopped at Old Chicago for take out mac & cheese because I was staving and knew there was no food at home. Phew.

Stats:

• 155,230 steps
• 40 miles run
• No cross training, except our nature hike, lol
• No strength/stretching

Everything Else:

• It was "staff appreciation week" at my job this week. We had special "meals/treats" every day, which was nice! I got a Target gift card from the firm, flowers and an Amazon gift card from my attorneys, won a day off with pay, AND, I also found out I won the quarterly "perfect attendance" award, good for $100 Visa gift card. Pretty exciting!

• Nothing else....