OC Fair 5k - August 4, 2013

The OC Fair 5k is one of my favorite summer races.  It runs in and around the Orange County Fairgrounds.  It's a relatively flat course and they give out awesome bling every year.

OC Fair 5k Finisher's Medal 2013

It was a bit on the humid side this morning but other than that I had a good race.  I seem to recall overheating in this race last year.

My only complaint would be that they need to do a better job at corralling the runners with strollers.  I think it's wonderful that folks with babies get out and run, but lordy I am tired of dodging them on course.  They need to start the strollers five minutes behind the runners and walkers.

My and my Disco Sparkle Skirt after the race.

Today's race marked the racing debut of my "Disco" Sparkle Skirt.  I can't say enough how much I love this skirt.  I saw another lady on course wearing the "Diva Grey" skirt.  One lady stopped me and asked about my skirt.  I'm pretty sure I convinced her to buy one.  She thought it was a great running skirt and she loved the colors.

I'm pretty happy with my effort today.  Despite the humidity I put up a decent time.  This was my third fastest race of the year and I've done sixteen races this year so far.

I finished in 36:46 not bad for an old lady LOL.  I finished 34th in my age division out of 95 runners.

Rockin' the OC Fair in my Disco Sparkle Skirt!

Pulled muscle or bruised/cracked rib?

Painfully slow run today.  It was painful because I was in pain.  

Thursday I bent over a tall trash can to retrieve a plastic bottle (I'm recycling to help fund my Princess Half Marathon trip) and I felt and heard a crunching sound in my ribs/side.  I was a little sore and tender but didn’t give it much thought.  I woke up Friday feeling fine. In fact it never crossed my mind.  While I was running I thought I had a side stitch.  It seemed kind of odd because I haven’t gotten a side stich while running in a long time.  It wasn’t until I was near the end of my run that I put two and two together and realized the discomfort was from Thursday’s trash can grab. Depending on how I moved or sat I was a little uncomfortable Friday.  I did a little research on the internet and figured I had pulled a muscle or maybe bruised a rib.  Since the prognosis and recovery for either of them was the same (rest) I didn’t worry too much about it.  I had kind of hoped that resting it over the weekend would take care of it.  It gave me some discomfort over the weekend.  Again it seemed to depend on how I sat or moved.

Today I was uncomfortable during my warm-up walk.  I was a wee bit concerned.  As soon as I pushed off to start my run I knew I was in trouble.  It was somewhat painful to run.  I wasn’t able to stride out well.  I had to do little baby steps.  I had to run slowly.  I finished my run, 3.11 miles and walked home to cool down.  My side still hurt.  It really hurt when I sat down to take my shoes off.  At this point I figured maybe I should see a doctor. I called Kaiser and then called off work.

I’m not sure what I expected a doctor do to.  I guess I just wanted a doctor to tell me if this was a pulled muscle or a bruised/cracked rib.  I knew from my research on the internet that there was a good chance I wouldn’t get a definitive answer.  Well, I was right.  All the doctor could tell me was that my pain was located at the base of my rib cage.  I either pulled a muscle or cracked a rib (duh).  The treatment for either of them is the same.  Rest, take it easy, and take an anti-inflammatory.  I told him I would have thought if I had cracked a rib I’d be in more pain, but he said that’s not always the case.  His advice was to take it easy for a week and he gave me a prescription for an anti-inflammatory. (Which I didn’t fill).  

I guess only time will tell.  If it’s a pulled muscle it should improve in about a week.  If it’s a cracked rib it will take closer to a month to get better.  Grr!

Sparkle Skirts review and other ramblings.

I used to love the heat.  I always seemed to be cold.  If the temperature dropped much past 75 degrees I was cold.  Than came menopause and hot flashes.  Now I long to be cold.  Anyway, I digress.

Last week I went out for a run.  I was trying to up my weekly mileage so I decided to stretch my run out a little and run 3.1 miles.  Not really a big deal since I frequently run 5k races.  It was a somewhat warm day (but not hot) and it was bright and sunny.

My neck cooler from the fair.

Early on I was struggling with my run.  I pushed on and completed my planned run.  Thankfully my run ended in a local park right under the shade of a tree.  I quickly sat down on a rock and kept telling myself "don't throw up, don't throw up".  I also felt a wee bit woozy.  I had a mild case of heat illness.  Not fun.

This got me to thinking of what I can do to stay cooler while I run.  I already use a neck cooler I got at the L.A. County Fair years ago,  but clearly I needed to do more.

Finishing the L.A. Marathon in my CW-X pants.

 I started to wonder if my trusty CW-X Stabilyx compression pants might be working against me.  I've had them since 2005.  I wore them on my long runs while training for the Los Angeles Marathon.  I wore them in the marathon.  They've been my go-to running pants for a long time. I know they're made with coolmax that is supposed to help you stay cool, but I was beginning to wonder if they were actually holding heat in.

Perhaps I'd be cooler if I ran, gasp, bare legged.  Let me just say, I hate my legs.  I was born from German peasant stock and I have sturdy, tree trunk, like legs.  It doesn't matter how much or how little I weigh my legs are ALWAYS disproportionally large and I ALWAYS have had the dreaded runners 'chub rub' at the top of my thighs.  So I have (almost) always run in some kind of running tights/pants. I'm just not comfortable exposing my legs to the world.  I hate they way they look.

"Disco" Sparkle Skirt (from their Website)

In an effort to not over heat again this summer I decided to give Sparkle Skirts a try.  I've been looking at them off and on for a while. (Ever since I saw them at the Tinkerbell Half Marathon expo in January).  They are a bit expensive, so I always decided against buying one.  Well, my mild episode of heat illness has changed my mind.  I need something I can run in that will allow heat to dissipate off more of my body while I run. I looked at a lot of other options but in the end I went with Sparkle Skirt.  They are really cute and they have great pockets on them.  Plus they have built in running shorts that are guaranteed not to ride up that will (hopefully) prevent 'chub rub.'  I bought the "Disco" skirt.  I figured it will go with any of my running shirts.

The skirt arrived and I have now had two runs in my new skirt.  I love, love, love it.  It is cool, comfortable and cute.  The shorts are fabulous, and as promised they don't ride up.  They protect my tender inner thighs from 'chub rub'  The pockets in them are great.  I was concerned that my inhaler and keys would jiggle or feel bulky when I ran.  Not a problem at all.  In fact I forgot I had them with me.  The front pocket is just the right size to hold my iPhone 5.  If I could afford to own one in every color I would.   Ladies do yourself a favor, indulge a little and treat yourself to s Sparkle Tech Skirt!

It's here!  My first Sparkle Tech Skirt.

Fun Run in the Park Griffith Park 5k - July 13, 2013

At first I was quite pissy about this race.  I plugged the address given on the website into my GPS.  My GPS took me to that address.  Lo and behold no sign of a race. Hummm.  I saw lots of runners so I followed a few of them hoping I'd find the race.  No such luck.  As I was walking back to my car and woman asked me if I was there for the race.  I said I was.  She was lost and confused as well.  She called a friend and found out the race site was further down the road.  I got in my car and kept driving until I found the correct spot.  Signage people! 

I looked up my bib number and proceeded to get my bib and t-shirt.  As I was getting my shirt I heard the volunteers tell someone they were out of small and medium shirts.  How do you not have enough shirts?!  I'm pretty sure I was asked my shirt size when I registered.  I didn't get to work up over this since I wanted a large shirt.  But really?  As a race organizer how do you not have enough shirts?!

This was a small race with about 500 runners.  The course was on part of the equestrian path around Griffith Park.  It was a lovely dirt/sand path with lots of shade.  The path was relatively level with a slight incline at the beginning, a lot of the course felt as if we were going slightly downhill (not a bad thing).

About half way through the race I ended up running along side another woman.  We ran side by side for most of the race, but she out kicked me at the finish.  After the race she thanked me for pacing her.

At home after the race.

As I was walking to my car two girls stopped me and asked if they could take a picture with me.  LOL. I was the only runner in a tutu and they loved my tutu.   I guess I put the "fun" in the Fun Run.

All in all this was a nice little race.  I really enjoyed it and I would do it again.

My time was 36:21 with a pace of 11:41.  I finished in 300th place (oddly enough my bib # was 300) out of 488 runners, and I was 15th of 23 in my age division.This is my second fastest 5k time for the year and my 3rd fastest overall 5k time.  I'm pretty happy with it.

Finisher's Medal

Costume Party Run Half Marathon - July 7, 2013

While I was still in the after glow of completing the Safari Park Half Marathon I signed up for the Costume Party Run Half Marathon.  It sounded like fun and well, you know me, I love to dress up for races.

Then I signed up for a bunch of runDisney races and had a trip to Florida to plan and pay for and quite frankly I didn't want to spend the money to do a weekend in San Diego.  Those darn run Disney races are SO expensive!!  I was going to skip the Costume Run.  But I just couldn't get past wanting that awesome finisher's medal for the Costume Run.

I must be crazy.  At the last minute I decided to go ahead and do the race.

On race day I got up at 2:00 a.m. and left my house at 3:00 a.m. to drive down to San Diego so I could be at the start line at 6:00 a.m.

The drive down was nice. There's not much traffic at that time in the morning.  I somehow managed to miss the turn into Qualcomm Stadium and had to drive a ways before I could turn around.  Some signage might have been nice.  At least once I got there parking was quick and easy.

I found the bib pick-up, got my numbers and my hat.  Hat?  Usually you get a shirt. Humph. Dumb hat that I'll never wear. Walked back to my car and put said hat in the trunk.

Dumb hat that I'll never wear.

I walked back to the start hoping to find some of my fellow Bling Whores (it's a Facebook group I'm in). We were going to meet for a group photo.  One of the ladies recognized my costume and stopppd me.  Her name was Sharon she was there with her brothers Scott and Bruce and her sister-in-law whose name I don't remember. Nathan also showed up and we all took a photo together.

Bling Whores photo (Sharon right, me center, Nathan left)

Finally it was time for the race.  I lined up towards the back and off I went.  I had a few issues with my phone early on but the race was going well. I knew I could run the first three miles without a problem.  It was the last 10.1 that worried me. LOL.

My plan was to run as far as I could then  run/walk the rest of the race.  I made sure to stop at every water station so I could stay hydrated.  They had water stations at nearly every mile.

I was chugging along pretty well running and walking.  I made one pit stop around mile 7.  Round about mile 10 I was starting to run out of gas.  The last three miles of the race weren't pretty.  I was spent.  I did a lot of walking those last 3 miles.  Thankfully the last half mile was downhill to the finish line. I ran to the finish.  It's amazing how your energy kicks back up when you see the finish line.

I crossed the finish line in 3:02.12. Whoo hoo.  I beat my previous half marathon time by nine minutes and 28 seconds.

I got my fabulous finisher's medal and headed home.

Finisher's Medal

This was the inaugural running of this race.  I thought it went pretty well for a first time race.  That said, I'm not sure I would do it again.  The course was a snooze fest, very boring.  First we ran around the parking lot of the stadium. Then we ran an out and back course down Friars Road.  Blah, boring.  The road was only partially closed so we had cars zipping past us. Thankfully it was  cloudy & cool today.  That course would have been brutal had it been warm & sunny.  No shade and hot asphalt would have been awful. The last three miles were around the parking lot again.  The course through the parking lot was poorly marked.  A lot of people, myself included, ended up cutting corners because it was hard to tell where we were supposed to be. (This could account for my good finish time).

There were lots of cute and creative costumes. It was fun seeing what everyone wore.

All in all it wasn't a bad race.  Goodness knows I've run worse.  It was just boring and tedious.  It was a long drive to get there and get back home. A four hour round trip.   The medal is really cool.  If they move it to Los Angeles next year and if they offer an awesome medal again I might reconsider and do it again.

At home after the race.

Official results: I finished 1,436th  of 1,809 runners and I was 95th of 120 runners in my age division.

Village Runner 4th of July 5k - July 4, 2013

Village Runner 4th of July 5k.

This is the race that started it all.  I first ran this race back in 2004.  Today was my fourth time doing this race.

This once was a nice small local race.  It seems to have out grown itself.  I had a hell of a time finding a place to park today.  In the past I never had any trouble.  To be fair, in the past I might have arrived earlier.

Lots of people there this year.  Funny thing is, every time I do this race I run into a fellow co-worker, Greg.  All those people there and I ran in to him right off the bat.  On the other hand another fellow co-worker, Kathleen, and I were going to run together and we NEVER ran into each other before the race.  She did spot me while we were running. But we were in different stages of the race.  I looked for her after the race and never saw her, but I ran into Greg again.  Go figure.

Village Runner 4th of July 5k

I had a good training run yesterday and I was hoping to have a good run today.  Today's run wasn't awful but it wasn't quite what I was hoping for.  I had hoped to ran a 12:00 minute mile pace or less.  I hit the first mile in 12:00 minutes and was on track but I ended up slowing down considerably towards the end.  Unlike my last race, this course was a bit hilly and by the end they had taken a toll on me.  I ended up finishing it 37:52 with a pace of 12:11.  Not too far off the pace I had hoped for.

I finished 2,101 out of 3,003 runners and I was 111 of 190 runners in my age division.

No bling in this race.  It's one of the few races I'll do that doesn't offer a finisher's medal.

At home after the race.

 

2013 Road Races thus far, January 5 - June 16 (12 races)

2013 road races so far January 5 - June 16 (12)

So I came out of my last race in 2012 with a stress fracture.   I was told not to run for 10-12 weeks.  Ugh!  I wanted to cry I already had a bunch of races lined up (and paid for) for 2013.  One of which was the Never Land 5k at Disneyland, a race I had been anticipating from the day I signed up for it. Not one to let a stress fracture hold me back I decided I'd walk my races until I was cleared to run again.

The first race of 2013 was the Resolution Run 5k.  It was run as part of the New Year's Half Marathon.  It was run at night through the streets of downtown Los Angeles.  This was a fun race.  I really enjoyed it.  I walked this one.  I even walked it in real shoes.  My stress fracture did better with shoes with a thick stiff sole.  Time 46:27 with a pace of 14:57.  My goal for this race was to do this in a 15:00 pace.  Goal!

Resolution Run 5k

Never Land 5k

 Next up was the Never Land 5k.  Okay, let me just say this right up front.  This was the most fun I've ever had doing a 5k.  I have never been so disappointed to see a finish line.  The RunDisney races are expensive but they are worth it.  Disney knows how to do it right.  I walked this race, and I did it in my Vibrams.  My foot felt fine.  My time was 46:10 by my timer. Disney bills this race as a 'fun run' so they don't time it.
 
By February I was good to start running again.  So, can you guess....I turned to the Couch to 5k program to ease back into running.

My first walk/run race was the L.A. Chinatown Firecracker 5k.  I was a little disappointed in this race.  I expected more of it to be in Chinatown.  It started and ended in Chinatown, but the majority of it was not in Chinatown.  Oh well.  It got me up and going that day.  I don't think I'd do this race again. That's me in the back in the red tutu.  Couch to 5k week 3. Time 42:47 pace 13:45

LA Chinatown Firecracker 5k

Dairy Aire 5k

Next was the Dairy Aire 5k.  I think I only did this race because I liked the name.  It was a bit of a drive to get out to this race, so I'm not sure I'd do it again. Couch to 5k week 4. Time 40:19 pace 13:08.

March brought the Coaster Run 5k.  This year the race actually went through Knott's Berry Farm.  It was a much better race than last year.  I really enjoyed it this year. I even indulged in the boysenberry pie at the finish. Couch to 5k week 5. Time 39:13 pace 12:39

Coaster Run 5k

The next weekend I did the LA Big 5k.  This race was part of the LA Marathon weekend.  It started and ended at Dodger Stadium in the parking lot.  Lots of hills in this one.  Nice race, but another one I'm not sure I'd do again. Couch to 5k week 6. Time 41:07 pace 13:13.

LA Big 5k

The following weekend I ran two 5k's on the same morning. I was going to skip the Santa Anita Derby Day 5k because they didn't offer a finisher's medal. I signed up for the Walk of Fame 5k instead.  They offered a cool medal.  About a month out from the race the Santa Anita Derby Day 5k announces they'll have a finisher's medal this year. WTF! I wanted to do both.  I  quickly checked the start times and bingo! this might work.  The Walk of Fame 5k started at 6:00 a.m. and the Santa Anita Derby Day 5k started at 8:00 a.m.  The races weren't too far apart travel wise. I figured I could make this work.  I got up at the crack of dawn to be in Hollywood for the Walk of Fame 5k.  This was week 9 of Couch to 5k (the last week of the program). I was hoping to run the entire race, but my legs ran out of gas.  I finished in 39:41 with a pace of 12:48.  I got my picture taken and jumped in my car and sped off to Santa Anita.  I made it with time to spare. I was a little worn out at this point so I ended up walking more than running.  I finished this one in 43:08 with a pace of 13:52.  Yea me.  Two 5k's on the same morning.

Walk of Fame 5k

Santa Anita Derby Day 5k

Earlier in the year I lost my mind.  Even before I was cleared to run I registered for the Safari Park Half Marathon.  After I signed up I realized the race had a 3 hour time limit.  Good grief how was I going to pull this off. I knew trying to run the entire 13.1 miles was out of the question.  That would be just asking to get injured again.  I wanted to avoid that at all costs. I turned to the Penguin again (John Bingham) and used a slightly modified run/walk training program in "Marathoning for Mortals". My plan was to run the first 3 miles of the race, then I'd walk until I reached a mile maker then I'd run for 5 minutes, then walk again until the next mile marker.  I'd repeat that for the whole race.  If I walked fast enough during the walking segments I could do it in 3 hours.

The race was the day after the Kentucky Derby. May 5.  I drove down to San Diego and spent the weekend. It was a good race.  It didn't quite go as planned.  My digestive system worked against me.  (nerves?) and it seemed like forever before I reached the first port-a-potty stop.  And since it was the first stop it had a long line.  Up to that point I was a head of pace.  I lost a lot of time waiting in line.

Safari Park Half Marathon

Things were going well after that and I was actually getting back on pace when BAM! sand hill.  OMG that hill was nearly a mile.  That pushed me back on my time.  I was having a good time and enjoying the race. In the end I finished in 3:11.41 with a pace of 13:52.  Most importantly I finished. I was so worried I'd get swept off the course and wouldn't be allowed to finish.  If I hadn't needed to make that potty stop I probably would have finished in 3 hours.

After doing the half marathon I wanted the next couple of races to be fun run races so I signed up for The Color Run and the Bubble Run.

First up was The Color Run.  It was way down in Orange County.  I selected the later start time so I could sleep in that weekend.  Big mistake.  By the time of the race it was hotter than the hinges of hell.  The race was on an air field, on a hot black tarmac.   It was fun, but a little uncomfortable because of the heat.  If I do another Color Run I'll choose one closer to home and the earlier start time.  Because these are non-competitive races they aren't timed.  I had my timer with me but I forgot to start it right away so I didn't log my time for this race.  It was in the 40 minute range.

The Color Run Orange County 5k

The Bubble Run 5k

The Bubble Run was a better race. It was also in Orange County.  It was on the campus of UC Irvine.  It's a lovely campus.  I enjoyed this race.  The weather was certainly better.  I liked running through the bubbles much more than running through colored corn starch.  This was another non-competitive untimed race.  I didn't time it because I didn't want to risk damaging my Garmin watch timer.

After these two races I realized that training exclusively on my treadmill was doing me no favors.  I bit the bullet and started running outside.  I live in a very hilly little town.  Every street/block in this town has some kind of hill.  Some are gentle inclines and others, well, they suck.  As much as I hate them I also secretly like them because I know in the end they will make me a better runner.  It's been a slow go adjusting to running outside.  On my treadmill I can chug along at at 12:00 minute pace pretty comfortably.  I'm still trying to reach that on the streets.  I can do it if I run on the high school track, but it's eluded me on the hilly sidewalks.

Which brings me to my latest race.  I ran the Culver City 5k two weeks ago. I knew this was going to be a flat fast course and I was hoping to beat my best 5k time from last year.  I had hoped all my training on the streets would help me achieve my goal. This was a good race.  I really enjoyed it.  I pushed pretty hard in this race and I was totally gassed at the end.  But I did it. I beat my best time from last year.  Last year's best time was 36:41 (set in the Plymouth Rock 'n Run 5k). I ran this race in 35:28. Just missing my PR from 2005's Santa Anita Derby 5k by 24 seconds and shaving well over a minute off last year's time!  Whoo hoo. 

Culver City 5k

Okay that brings me up to date with the races I've run so far, all 40 of them.

Coaster Run 5k

Here's the bling I've collected so far this year....

Dairy Aire 5k

Culver City 5k

LA Chinatown Firecracker 5k

LA Big 5k

Never Land 5k

Resolution Run5k

Safari Park Half Marathon

Santa Anita Derby Day 5k

Walk of Fame 5k