Win Some, Lose Some (Shoreline 10K)

"Will you look back on life and say, 'I wish I had,' or 'I'm glad I did?'" -- Zig Ziglar

Another month, another race. I can't believe I have participated in six races in seven months. This time last year, I had completed... zero. Who am I? Haha.  

The race started early on Sunday morning. It was gorgeous outside - cool, but not uncomfortable. The marine layer was lifting early, and the race crowd was light. And the smell of the sea... oh, to be so lucky to start every day with the smell of the sea!

The course was an out and back similar to the trail I train on at home. I'll be honest with y'all... I didn't plan on a fast pace or running much in general. This race was much more for my soul than my ego, and I wanted to keep it that way. Unfortunately, the 10K was the race that the most competitive of runners decided to run. (Seriously... the 5K was mostly walkers, and the half marathoners seemed to have the full gambit - elite and slow runners like me. The 10K? All the fast runners!). Alas, we took it easy and enjoyed the sights along the coast and the 2 miles of wetlands. Ego be damned!

The ego took a bit of a hit, however, when we hit the 10K turnaround and realized we were at the back of the pack. We weren't last, but it was close! My friend and I picked up the pace considerably for the last 4.5 miles. I'm glad we did. The marine layer lifted unseasonably early, and the sun was starting to beat on our faces. 

The last three miles were not my favorite. All three races ran the same course (with the only difference being the start time and turnaround points). As I mentioned before, the 5Kers had a lot of walkers, and there were some beastly half marathoners who easily lapped some of the slower 10Kers like me. Our paths collided around these last few miles, making the already tight and narrow course even more crowded. Additionally, the trail we were on was not closed to the public, so the guests from the nearby hotels were also crowding the trail as we neared the finish. 

Alas, we waded through the crowds and we finished! My favorite race MC was there to congratulate us by name at the finish line. (I can't believe I typed that... who has a favorite race MC? Apparently, I do! Thanks, @TheRunMC!) The after party was a bit busy but cool. Our relatively inexpensive race got us coupons for a beer (good beer - Firestone Brewery!), tacos, açai bowls, and organic açai energy drinks... all free! My friend and I opted for the açai bowls, and I grabbed an energy drink for later. As tempting as a free beer is... 9am is a bit too early for me to start drinking something so heavy!

So to answer the question a lot of you have asked... how'd it go? I loved it. I didn't put myself under pressure to do well, and it gave me time to just enjoy being there... with my friend... enjoying the morning. I love racing. I really do Focusing on racing and pacing, however, has been less fun. The recent "streak" taught me that if you force me to do it, I won't enjoy it. The Disney races, while fun, have so much pressure on pacing that it makes me nervous. I know I can do it, but I start to doubt myself every time. These smaller races are better fit for me, I think... We'll see. 

If you find yourself in Southern California, I highly recommend the events hosted by Elite Sports California. The races are small, but fairly well run. I know I'll look for more in the future. I have another race in the Ventura/Oxnard area in December, and I can't wait. Maybe I'll run into you there? :) Have a healthy week, y'all!

Cheers!

Becky

Fall Seven Times, Get up... Late?

"If you're bored with life - you don't get up every morning with a burning desire

to do things - you don't have enough goals." -- Lou Holtz

We finished it. Kaitlyn and I finished our 30 day streak of running and walking at least one consecutive mile each day as part of the "Streaking with the Cool Kids" challenge. I'm so proud of her. Kaitlyn managed to rack up an impressive 50+ miles over her 30 day streak during long, hot summer days, and yet she rarely complained about it. Seriously proud of the kid. I'm going to miss her!

Me? Well, I'm another story. During our 30 day streak, I managed to "only" get 54 miles in. This wasn't Kaitlyn's fault. It was I that was more likely to suggest a shorter route or complain about the journey. My pace was out of whack. I'm slow as it is, but the last 30 days were terrible. I'm slower than ever, tighter than ever, and I feel more out of shape than I have in a very long time. And we won't even talk about my diet... yikes!

I have no one to blame but myself,  you know. I made excuse after excuse for sleeping in when I should have been up early for a run. I skipped workouts after work. I bought dinners out when I should have cooked, using my niece as my excuse to treat myself. I drank soda (gasp) after two months of abstinence. BAH!

My mom and my sister picked up my niece over the weekend, and I'm an empty nester once again. It's time for me to get back on track - I have literally no excuses to fail. I have a 10K this weekend, and I'm not looking forward to it (ok, ok... I might be looking forward to my hotel on the beach). I hope to get a respectable time, but it's not looking good!

Why is it that one change can throw me off so severely? What am I doing wrong? Ugh - truly a work in progress here, folks. There are a few people who I look to as inspiration on this journey. I don't tell them that, but maybe I should. I feel bad if/when others tell me that I have inspired their own fitness journeys. I'm so not worthy of that... but I'd like to be. Here's hoping that the next four months before my big race in November go better than the last four. Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me!

Until next time...

Becky

Fiddy

"Only one who wonders finds new paths." -- Norwegian proverb

Hola, amigos! Well, only 3 short days remain in our Streaking challenge! AND we are almost to the halfway point of our Century Run summer challenge! What better time to provide an update on my progress so far. In short? I'm exhausted! I can't remember the last time I was this deliriously tired... maybe last summer? Regardless... I'm tired, cranky, and ready to go back to my regular routine. 

The streak has been fun - my niece and I continue to find new ways to get our miles in, whether it be a short jog around the neighborhood or a challenging hike in the heat. A couple of weekends ago, we did a nearly 5 mile hike at Vasquez Rocks with some girls I met through Girls Who Hike LA (a team of which I am a moderator). While I hope to find time to blog about it later, it was a moderately strenuous hike - slightly under 5 miles (I forgot to turn the app on, so that's why it's only reflecting 3.99) and an elevation gain of roughly 1,000'. AND... we did it in 90+ degree heat! Whew!

We've been trying to mix things up during the work week too - whether it's testing new neighborhood routes in the dark to beat the heat, or walking the various trails at the park near my house, we try to forge a different path every single day! (Confession: There have been many days that doing just a mile has been hard lately. I don't know if it's work stress, personal stress, or heat exhaustion, but I am dog tired these days! But... we haven't skipped a day yet! Yay!)

We kicked off the last week of the Streak by visiting Pinnacles National Park for a hike. We had planned a longer hike than we ended up doing, but we were pretty proud with what we did! All in all, I have reached over 50 miles of walking, jogging, running, and hiking on this streak. I'm halfway to my century goal (which I now fully expect to exceed), and feeling stronger every day. 

But it hasn't been all wins, folks. Personal training sessions aside, I have not been fully committed to weight lifting. It sucks because I enjoy it, but I feel so guilty leaving my niece alone all day that I end up talking myself into skipping it after work so that I can spend my time with her. My runs have also suffered. I have been "streaking" with my niece, but she's not a runner. When I do run, it's usually short and not very fast. I really need to work on pace and endurance in the months ahead. Sigh.

My next race is coming up on July 10th in Ventura, and I hope to find time in the next two weeks to somewhat train for that accordingly. If not, it will be a lesson learned. (as if I am learning from any of these errors... sheesh). 

Are you streaking with the cool kids? Or did you join our century run? Neither? I don't blame you... my occasionally lazy behind wishes she didn't commit to so much too! But I do hope you're taking advantage of the warmer weather! Get outside! Explore! And tell me about it so I can live vicariously when I read about your adventures during breaks between my meetings on my iPhone! :)

In the meantime, it's bedtime for this girl... another marathon day of meetings awaits me in the morning! Hope you are happy and healthy, my friends!

Cheers!

Becky