The Diva Half

It is official - I'm a Diva! When I fist started training for the half, it seemed like it was a long way away, but race day came much faster than I expected. Nonetheless, I was ready! I flew out to CA the day before the race. My sister picked me up at the airport, and we went directly to the race expo to pick up our race packets. This was the start of a very pink weekend!

Back at my sister's house, I had to let my brother-in-law model the very pink technical shirt. I think it suits him!

The race start time was 7:30. We had heard horror stories about how terrible parking was expected to be, so we left my sister's house at 4:00 AM to ensure we would get a spot. We got a prime parking spot and hung out in one of the nearby hotel lobbies for a while, waiting for the start and watching pink-clad women getting ready for the race. About 30 minutes after we got there, we heard word that the parking garage where we parked had filled up! Good thing we got there early...

Around 6:30, we headed over to the event area, where I met up with a bunch of friends who were also running. We socialized for a bit, then headed over to the starting area. Here are me and Denise - all smiles, waiting for the start.

We lined up at the 10 minute/mile marker, even though we knew that we would be going a bit slower than that. We noticed that people were just not really paying attention to the corral markers, and we didn't want to be having to dodge people at the start. It turns out that this starting position worked well for us. We worked very hard to pace ourselves at the start so that we wouldn't tire out too early. We kept our pace at about 11-11:30 minutes/mile through the first half of the race. I was feeling great through mile 7, then I started to feel some fatigue.

Around mile 9, I began to really wish the race would just end already. My hips were pretty tight, my feet were starting to hurt, and I was having to really talk my legs into continuing to run. Although my pace was getting slower, I pushed on. Seeing the 12 mile marker gave me the push I needed - only 1.1 mile left! The last mile went by quickly, and I even found some extra gas in my legs to sprint in to the finish and smile for a post-race picture.

It was really great to have a group of friends to meet up with at the end of the race. We all congratulated each other and celebrated our accomplishment together.

We posed for a picture with the nice transvestite DJ who was spinning on the main stage. Afterward, about 20 of us went out for a post-race lunch at Max's Opera Cafe, where we were told by management that we were being too loud, and people kept coming over to our table to take pictures of the table full of Divas.

It was a great day. I finished the race almost 20 minutes faster than my goal (goal was under 3 hours, race time was 2:40:55). It was so much fun being there with an amazing group of women who encouraged each other and celebrated together from training through completion. And, at the end of the race, I got this nifty (extremely heavy) medal!

During lunch, we discussed upcoming races that the group might want to run - maybe Rock 'n Roll New Orleans in February? We'll see!

Where has the time gone??

I know I have been an absolutely terrible blogger, but I've been so busy with work, boot camp, running, and life, I've had little time to write about it all! Unbelievably, my first half marathon is in just three short days! Today, I did my final training run (a two mile run in the lovely 80+ degree heat we enjoyed this evening). My taper consisted of boot camp on Sunday-Wednesday and running on Tuesday and today... I feel strong! I feel as ready as I can be for the race.

More than anything, I just want to have a good time out there and finish up feeling strong. I'm also looking forward to visiting with my friends out in the SF Bay area, and have plans to visit with as many as I can while I'm there. Add that I'll be staying with my sister (who is also doing the half marathon), and I know it will be a great trip!

Ive signed up for a few more races through the summer. On May 16th, my work is holding a 5k on campus, and I've signed up to run that; on June 16, I'm running the Baltimore 10 miler (which is, apparently, similar to purgatory, with unpredictable weather and a two mile uphill clime at the end of the race); on June 24, I'm running the Baltimore Women's Classic - which is the first 5k I ever ran! The Color Run is coming to DC on September 22, and if I can get a spot in that race, I'll run it. My big concern is being able to keep up my running through the summer - the heat just kills me, and makes running no. fun. at. all. I figure that if I have some races to train for, I'll have incentive to keep it up, no matter how hot and miserable it is out there :).

Anyway, I will try to post a more interesting post with pictures and everything next time. I'm also still planning on getting my old computer to a computer doctor to see if I can get my pictures and files off of it, because I know you are all dying to see my pictures from Belize!

Wish me luck, and think thoughts of speed, strength, and endurance for me on Sunday!

Cupcake 5k

This morning, I ran my first 5k of the season. I can really see the impact of my training in these shorter runs. The race was ok - they put one water stop on the course, at around the half mile mark, which seems like a mistake to me. Most people ran right past it, expecting that there would be a second water stop later in the course. I grabbed a cup, but didn't want to slow my run, so most of the water ended up on my face and chest. By mile three, the lack of water was really having an effect on my run, and I had to take a couple of walk breaks. Nonetheless, I managed to knock 1:33 off my last 5k time, coming in at 32:10! I was pretty happy with that, but I think I would have been able to knock off at least a minute more if I wasn't so darned thirsty during that last mile.

I joked about choosing this race because they give each runner a cupcake at the end of the race. Truth be told, I am not even a fan of cupcakes, and I opted for a granola bar and a bottle of water at the finish line. It was fun to see grown men dressed up as cupcakes, though.

I even saw one of these guys running the race in his cupcake garb.

The course itself was a really nice run. There were a couple of slight hills, and we went through some really pretty neighborhoods - I do love Frederick. The weather was a bit warm and quite humid, which I need to get used to, as I've signed up to run the Baltimore 10 Miler in June. From what I hear, that course is pretty brutal, with the final two miles being completely uphill - and end of June weather is pretty hot and humid in Baltimore.

My next race is the Diva Half in San Francisco! I don't feel ready yet, but I have three more weeks of training to go. I've been pretty consistent with my training (save this last week, when I was dealing with some painful hip flexor issues), so I'm sure I'll be ready! I'll need to remind myself not to go out too fast, which is my biggest problem lately - I'm really terrible at estimating my pace, and I pay for it as the miles accumulate! That gives me a good focus for the next three weeks.

Belize!

This was going to be a post about my recent trip to Belize, complete with beautiful pictures of beaches, blue waters, and yummy dinners... Alas, right after I loaded my pictures onto my computer, the darned thing died! I'll have to see if someone can get into my hard drive and retrieve my pictures. If not, I guess I'll just have to go back to Belize and take all of the pictures over again! In other news, my half marathon training is going well. I'm up to 17 miles per week, with my long run being 8 miles this weekend. I've been pretty consistent with my training, with the exception of the week I was in Belize. I had planned two four mile short runs and a six mile long run while I was there. I ran the first four miler, no problem... I went out to run my second short run two days later but ran into a slight problem: I was being swarmed by Mosquitos!! I decided to take the remainder of the week off from running. I caught up the next week, which was supposed to be a less intense one, so I'm right where my training schedule tells me I should be this week. While running seven miles last weekend, I thought to myself "Holy crap! I'm going to have to run almost double this distance in a little over a month!" Before I freaked, I reminded myself that not very long ago, my long runs were three miles long, and I can do that pretty easily now. Progress - feels pretty great! Stay tuned. I'll try to get my Belize pictures up here somehow!

Birthday in Vegas, Part Two

On Saturday afternoon, Vanessa and Dawn showed up in Vegas. Vanessa was kind enough to bring embarrassing headwear for me to sport so that everyone would know it was my birthday. (Un)fortunately, the headband was digging in to my head, so we gave it to a girl who was celebrating her 21st birthday. She was thrilled to wear it!

Dawn was there to shop, so the rest of us whisked away to casino hop for a few hours. Of course, we had to have our picture taken in the Cosmopolitan shoe...

That evening, we went to Bouchon for dinner. I highly recommend Bouchon if you are looking for a place with great food, excellent service, and tasty drinks! The bread they brought at the start of the meal was fabulous.

We ordered a couple of starters: A potato salad that was topped with a fresh egg yolk.

And a mixture of mushrooms.

Each of us ordered a different entree so that we could all enjoy a taste of each other's food. Amy had the Coquilles St. Jacques - pan seared day boat scallops with roasted winter squash, glazed parsnips, confit chestnuts, and sauce Maltaise.

Denise had the Saumon Poele - Scottish salmon with new crop potatoes, baby leeks, salsify and red beet veloute.

Vanessa had the Poulet Roti - roasted chicken with caramelized Savoy cabbage, forest mushrooms, and whole grain mustard jous.

Dawn had the Gnocchi a la Parisienne - sauteed gnocchi with a fricassee of garden vegetables and brown butter sauce.

I had the Moules au Safran - Maine bouchot mussels steamed with white wine, Dijon mustard, and saffron, served with french fries.

David had a lamb dish... I didn't get a picture of it (or a taste - I don't eat lamb), but he assured me that it was delicious - as were all of the dishes. We were too full after dinner to even try any of the desserts, but there were some very tasty sounding ones available.

Strangely, the only picture I have on my camera or my phone that was taken after dinner is one of my friend George at The Red Square...

We met up there after dinner and then went clubbing. George got us VIP access to LAX in the Luxor, which was extremely packed. I'm not sure how long we stayed there, but we were there for long enough to see some storm troopers come in and do some type of performance on the club stage. I know this not only because I recall seeing them (sort of), but also because the next day, on the elevator heading down to the lobby to head to the airport, my brother and I had the following conversation:

Brother: Um... were there storm troopers in that club last night?
Me: Yes. Why?
Brother: Thank god... I was afraid I had imagined them!

We went to a few other clubs, landing back at our hotel at 5:30 AM, leaving us just enough time to pack and head to the airport to return to reality. Once again, I had a great birthday. I hope you enjoyed reading all about it.

Another Vegas Birthday in the Books... Part One

I spent last weekend in Vegas - my annual pilgrimage that has morphed into my annual birthday trip over the years. I got there on Thursday afternoon, and received a huge surprise. My brother and sister-in-law secretly planned to come spend the weekend out there, too!

Immediately after checking in, I took them to The Red Square to introduce them to the famed Chernobyl! My brother seemed to enjoy his.

Later, we met up for dinner with some coworkers of mine who happened to be in town for a conference. We went to The Burger Bar, where I enjoyed a most fabulous salted caramel martini with my turkey burger and sweet potato fries. Although we stayed out late gambling and visiting, I woke up early in the morning. I took advantage of the beautiful weather and took a walk from Mandalay Bay to Cosmopolitan.

 The mostly empty sidewalks gave me an opportunity to take some pictures along the way.

 I love these buildings at City Center. It is hard to tell from the picture, but each building leans in an opposite direction.

That evening, my friends Amy and David arrived. Of course, we headed to Red Square once again...

 David had never been introduced to the Chernobyl before. He was happy to meet his new friend.

 Amy had been looking forward to her annual visit with the Chernobyl for weeks!

We spent the evening and late into the night visiting, gambling, and people watching. We stayed up way too late, even though Denise and I were signed up to run a 5k in the morning! So, Saturday morning, Denise and I got up really early and headed downtown for The Color Run. Here is the start line before all the runners lined up.

And here is a shot of the runners assembling to go. There were thousands of people participating in the race.

The fun thing about The Color Run is that they throw powdered color at the runners as they get to each kilometer mark. Here's Denise at kilometer one.

By the end of the race, all of the runners are multi-colored. Here we are after crossing the finish line.

To add to the fun, Amy and David met us at the finish line and Silly Stringed us! We had a great time at the run, and despite the fact that we had been up drinking late into the night before, we managed a pretty decent time of 34:34.

After the race, we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up and have some brunch. We brunched at the buffet in Mandalay Bay because we had scored comps for everyone the night before. Free brunch for all!

Next up: Vanessa and Dawn join the fun, dinner at Bouchon, and clubbing with George and Tina...

Snuggling up for Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day, I decided to cozy up with about 1,500 other people in Virginia, who were crazy enough to run a 5k race in the freezing cold weather. It was by far the coldest day of the winter - with the wind chill, we had single digits! But each of us got a nice blanket for our commitment.

It was a really fun morning, despite the cold weather. The course was an out an back that started with a short, somewhat steep, upward climb, followed by a slightly declining route to the turn-around. That means that the second half of the race was a slight incline with a downhill run at the end. The second half was definitely more difficult than the first!

We didn't have a warm-up before the race, but I started off at a good pace (for me). My first mile pace was 10:39. Mile two was a bit faster, with the first half of that mile being on a slight downward slope - 10:24 pace. The third mile was hard! After the turnaround, it was pretty much uphill from there, so my pace slowed to 11:15. The final 1/10th of a mile, when I had the finish line in sight, I picked it up to 9:21. How do I know all of my splits? Because I got the best training aid in the universe - a Garmin! Not only can I see how I'm doing as I run, but I can also review and analyze my performance once I upload my watch data. You can see how I did here: My race stats.

My total time was 33:43, which is almost a 4 minute PR for me, and is 11 minutes faster than my first 5k in June of last year! Here I am running down that final hill to toward the last stretch.

As you can see, I really do look like the bottom portion of the running picture that I shared a few weeks ago. But I've been keeping up with my half marathon training, running three days a week, doing short runs on Tuesday and Thursday, and long runs on Saturday. Currently, my long runs are 5 miles and my shorts are 3.5 miles. I'll be moving up to 6 long/4 short in two weeks!

And here is the crazy thing - I'm going to Vegas for my birthday next week, and I signed up for a 5k out there on the morning of my birthday. It is a fun run, not chip timed, but if someone told me last year that I would be running a 5k on my birthday this year, I would have laughed. A lot. I'm looking forward to it, though!