I'm back

This month has flown by in a whirl. To sum things up, I've been working from home, traveling to the east coast, planning my wedding and had a wonderful girls weekend in Stinson Beach. What I haven't been doing is running. I did run once or twice in the last few weeks, and I have been walking a ton, but I really dropped the ball on my running. This seems to happen to me after a marathon.

Today I went out for an easy 5 mile run down Presidio to Chrissy Field and back. This is one of my favorite routes so it was a good way to say hello to running again.

I am getting married (!) in 5 weeks so I will be running and doing other fat shredding things in the next few weeks. Will keep you posted!

First weekend after a marathon - now what?

Woke up this morning without a plan - a running plan that is. This is the first weekend after the marathon, the first weekend in a very long time that I don't have a long run planned with Sarah or anyone. I woke up feeling a bit lost and tried to come up with a plan.

My favorite Saturday long run substitute is for some crazy reason, heading to the farmers market. Most Farmer's Markets take place on Saturday mornings when I'm usually out running. My favorites are the Oakland and the Mountain View farmer's markets. But now that I live back in San Francisco, I really haven't been going. The Ferry Building Farmer's Market is beautiful but crowded and overpriced so I decided to go to the Filmore Farmer's Market - they had cherries! They had cheese with sage! I spent about $40 mostly on the cheese, fruit, one or two veggies and salmon for Dan. Of course I saw lots of runners about and about and felt like a slacker. I think I'm going to head out for a run a little bit later with Dan, but for now, I'm going to go snack on some sage cheddar.

I was reading through my blog and saw my New Year's resolutions (running ones that is). And it looks like I've achieved two of them so far! I pr'ed in a 1/2 and a full marathon! Still haven't added any weight training to my workout schedule yet but I think I must this week. I'm down to less than two months before my wedding and I have a few pounds I want to shed. Sarah and I are going to do the sit up challenge and I want to get back into doing the 30 Day Shred. I'll give a report in a few days - hopefully I'll be inspired to do it.

Running Buns

I couple of weeks ago I bought these:

 Sarah and I have been obsessed with buns ever since we read the Runner's World issue with Kara Goucher preparing for the Olympics. She was wearing buns in those pictures and for some reason, we thought it was a good idea. We'll never be trained Olympians, but we can dress like them!

What are "buns" you may ask? They are very short running shorts, sometimes called compression shorts or boy shorts - they cover your "buns" and not much else. If you google buns, you'll find some interesting results. Some buns look like bikini bottoms but we didn't want to go that far.

So for the Avenue of the Giants marathon, we got buns to wear. I also thought I'd be in excellent, getting ready to get married shape. Which is sort of the case, although I am still eating loads of cheese and not quite doing any other type of exercise besides run. But still, I was determined.

Here's what buns look like on an 130ish pound, 5 foot 2 runner, at the beginning of a race:

Here's the end of the race:

My overall thoughts on these particular buns:

I found them to be pretty comfortable and somewhat flattering from most angles. They did ride up pretty quickly and by the end of the marathon I was far too tired to pick the wedgie, and they looked like bikini bottoms (it's good to know these things, right?). As Sarah said, "If I had a treadmill I'd run in them again." They are probably good for yoga, but not for running long distances. I may wear them for shorter runs or to the gym.

When I looked back at the product description, it doesn't say good for running, but all of the other ones I tried on that are supposedly good for running, rode up in the fitting room when I jogged in place. This one at least made it to the road test.

I think I may try and wear a running skirt at my next marathon.

Running Keen for Green

As runners, we make an impact on the environment (let's face it). Whether it's buying running gear made of bad things (or even just buying too much), participating in marathons that leave a trace, or leaving lots of old gear in our closets (when we could be donating them), we are making a difference, and it's not always good. I just wrote an article on Keen For Green, an informational/community site of bloggers writing about environmental issues, technologies, people  and political issues.

Check it out and run green.

Avenue of the Giants Racing Report!

Last year, Runner's World featured the Avenue of the Giants Marathon, a series of events that features a marathon, half marathon and a 10K in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park in northern California. I read the article, saw the photos and was hooked! Sarah, of course, was quickly on board as well!

On May 1st, we drove up to Weott with Dan (he ran the half) and stayed at the Best Western Humbolt House Inn and carbo loaded at Sicilittos (a combination Mexican and Italian Restaurant). The hotel was great and the restaurant was slow to serve but the food was pretty good.

Sunday morning we woke up and headed up to the park - we made sure we went extra early because the closest parking fills up quickly and the last thing you want to do is walk a long distance after a marathon. Then at 8am we were on our way!

First 5 miles

The starting line was a little bit hectic. It's located on a narrow road and cars were trying to use the road even a few minutes before the start. The first half of the marathon is an out and back (this is also the course for the 1/2 marathon, which starts an hour later). I lined up with Sarah and once the race started we both went on our own pace. I had planned on trying to start out at around 10:15. But, the course had a bit of a downhill in the beginning and many people passed me, so I ended up finishing faster at 9:58. The next 4 miles were between 10 and 10:30. There were more hills than I thought so I was slower with the uphills of course and faster with the downs. I felt some pressure in my lungs maybe due to the slight elevation or the cold but that went away after the 5th mile. The trees were lovely and I enjoyed seeing all the different types of runners in the race. Also, I got to see the faster runners whiz by as they were heading back for the second half - I'll admit, it charged me up to see them and I quickened my pace for a bit.

Miles 6 - 13 1/2
At this point I was finally warmed up and the during the breaks in shade, it really started to fell hot. I saw Sarah coming back from the first turn around point and it was great to see her during the race. I still kept up running under 10:30. Luckily the way back had more downhills so it was like a little break. At this point, I saw all of the half marathoners on their first half coming out. It was great to see Dan heading out and also gave me a kick in my pace.

Miles 14 - 20
I was pretty much cruising at this point, keeping up my pace. I even ran a few miles with one woman who'd run over 35 marathons. She was great and kept me on pace. I saw Sarah before the turn around when she was coming back (mile 21 for her) and she said to dump water on my head. It was indeed hot out. This portion of the race was really pretty as well and a little more flat. I didn't hit a mental wall at all and made sure I ate orange slices. Normally at this point, I'm starting to feel really out if it, and wondering if a nap should be in order. I never got to that point.

Miles 20-26.2
Ok, so mile 20 I did not hit a mental wall but I did start to feel like it was hard to keep up a good pace. My legs just didn't want to keep going that fast. I did the math, and figured that if I kept up under 12:00 I could still PR. Sad, but true. Looking back, I guess it was like hitting a wall, and I was ok with letting the wall slow me down. Many people say that a marathon doesn't really start until mile 20, and it feels true. That's when you have to dig deep and see what you are made of. I knew if I ran 10 minute miles I could PR at the time I planned (4:34), but I just decided that I only had 11:30 ish in me for the rest of the run.

Right before I hit 26, I saw Dan walking toward me. He had finished the 1/2 at a great time and was coming to cheer me to the finish. I ran fast the last .2 to finish at 4:48, 3 minutes faster than before. I wish I had that kick in me a little bit sooner in the race - somehow my legs felt fine knowing the finish line was just a little bit away.

When I finished, I felt like I hardly stopped during the race, so I laid down once I got my cool Bigfoot metal. The sun felt great and I was sooo glad to be done.

It was probably the prettiest marathon I've done and I'm glad I PR'ed. It was also the toughest training plan. I think the extra miles helped ward off hitting a wall, but I think I still need to maintain a faster pace on most runs and maybe even see a running coach about my posture. Weight training would also help. I'm also thinking that if I run the NYC marathon next year (which I won the lottery for), I will try and run with a pace group.

All in all, it was a great marathon and I'd do it again!