Woodbridge 4th of July 10K

On May 28th I met my brother in law, Alex, and co-worker, Doug, for a nice 10 miler at A Runners Zone in Anaheim. I had only done a few recovery runs since the half. It sure does take a long time for my 37 year old body to recover, doesn't it?


Fast forward three weeks when I find myself in the association office signing up for the Woodbridge 4th of July 10K. Did I mention that I had not run since the aforementioned run? I knew I was going to do this race long ago, but I kept thinking.....4th of July is sooooo far away...I have plenty of time. Anyways, as I am signing up, I am telling myself that I would just get a run in that day or the next as a little warm up. That didn't happen. Well, yesterday at 7:15am, I proceeded to venture out on what used to be a nice little trot for me. 6.2 miles never seemed so far. I felt hot, I could feel my heartbeat in my face, my legs felt heavy and I never caught my breath. I would like to blame this on being sick, but I can't. It was straight up lack of training. There was only three good things about yesterday - Mark ran with me; I burned 684 calories; I never want to feel that winded on a 6.2 mile run again.

New tires

If you call tires on your car "shoes", then I suppose I can call my shoes, "tires". Well, I got myself some new tires (a Mother's Day gift from my mom and dad). As I did with my last pair, I went to A Snail's Pace in Laguna to get fitted. Last time I went, I was told I had an overpronation problem. That was six months ago. This time, when I ran up and down the sidewalk for the sales guy, I found out that I gained some strength in my legs and feet and I no longer pronate like I did before, only a teeny tiny bit. I didn't even know it was possible to fix such a thing. Also, since I am now training for a full marathon, it was recommended I get a whole size and a half larger than my normal size. Last time was only a size larger. That being said, meet my new Brooke's:

Today I broke them in and they were great!

When life gets in the way

Hi, my name is Leanne and it has been 8 days since my last run. :::Hi Leanne:::

Ugh....I feel like I need to go to some sort of meeting for falling off the running wagon. But I just haven't felt up to running!! My body hurt and my mind was just on other things. I kept looking at my running spreadsheet and seeing the training runs that I should be doing just slip away. I wish there was a chart that had some sort of "Life Adjusting" feature. Like how many kids do you have? How many days did you have to sit in a teeny tiny room for Jury Duty? How are you feeling after the passing of a loved one? What is your attitude towards running right now? Is the rapture really going to happen on May 21st? (haha..what a joke that guy is) Then BAM! Out comes this magical revised running spreadsheet. Needless to say, I gave into my emotions and pushed running to the side......again. However, today I was sitting on the couch watching Pregnant in Heels (lame, I know) and all of a sudden, I felt the urge to run. So, I did just that. I threw on my running shoes and off I went. While it was a short run, it was a great run. I ran because I wanted to run, not because the spreadsheet said so. I guess you can call me a yo-yo runner right now. It hurts, then it feels great, I want to run, but then I don't want to, I hate it, I love it! AAAHHHHHH! I am confident I will get my groove back and it will all make sense again. Today was a good start.

I sure missed this

Last Monday I decided to take a little run with Brooke. I used to always take her in the stroller with me but stopped doing it when my runs began getting longer and faster. I figured this would be a great opportunity to take my little pumpkin since it was going to be a nice little recovery run from my 9 miler the previous Saturday. She was very excited to go, so I got her ready and packed her sports bottle, just like mommy. We took off running and I would frequently peek at her through the little plastic window on the cover of her stroller. She pointed out every puppy and bird she saw. I am so blessed to have a smart little girl who loves to be outside just as much as her mommy and daddy. Josh even joined us for about a mile of our run. I love my kids!

Are you a runner or a jogger?

This morning I met a co-worker for a training run. We are both training for the Long Beach Marathon and seem to be around the same pace. Today's run was scheduled to be 9 miles and at an 11.40 pace. We started out quite a bit faster than that, more like a 10 minute pace. At the time, it seemed like it would be difficult to run slower than that. Silly me! Considering I have only done the walk/jog last week and 4 miles this week, 11.40 was soon where I would end up. We got to that around mile 4 and stayed there for the remainder of our run. I blame this on me as I am sure Doug could have stayed at the 10 minute pace. I learned that the Back Bay loop is about 5 miles from my house. That, plus the loop, then back home will be perfect for my 20 mile runs (which is coming up faster than I actually want them to). Another thing I learned today is the difference between a runner and a jogger. Along our run, I mentioned I wasn't sure if you could consider our pace a run or a jog. Doug said that he once read, if you actually care about the difference between the two, you are a runner. I guess I'm a runner!

Every finish line is the beginning of a new race

On October 9, 2011, I will become part of the 1% of the population to run a Marathon. Crazy huh? I guess that means that tonight's run starts my long journey of training. I am not quite sure what I am doing yet, but I'll figure it out. As I did with the half marathon, I will just follow my training program and see were it takes me. I read the quote "Every finish line is the beginning of a new race" on the back of a running groups shirt last Sunday. I really didn't take in the full meaning until tonight. Crossing that finish line on May 1st was really just the beginning. Who would have thought that Lil Wayne could teach me something about running?

OC Half Marathon 2011

Two years ago, if you would have told me that one day, I was going to wake up at 4am and run 13.1 miles, I would have bet you one million dollars that I wasn't. I used to despise running (just ask my old soccer and basketball coach) and I never have and never will enjoy waking up early. The morning of May 1st felt different. Even though my alarm went off and it was still the middle of the night/4am, I was actually excited to wake up. All the months of training and pulling out my calculator to figure out what pace I should be at was finally going to pay off. I jumped in the shower, not to get all dolled up, but simply to wake up. I had laid out everything the night before. It basically took up the whole top of our dresser. Shoes, bib, timing chip, chapstick, GU, ipod, garmin, shirt, sports bra, Capri's, visor, directions on where to get dropped off, fave running socks, compression socks and flip flops for after, sweatshirt (in case I am cold after the run) and my sparkle skirt. After my shower, I went down the row of items and started prepping for my big morning. Mark and I left the house by 4:45am. The kids all stayed sleeping and Mark would come back for them after dropping me off. He dropped me off at Fashion Island. There were all kinds of runners, some in costumes, some in sweats, some even with balloons tied to their waist. I started questioning whether or not I was dressed appropriately. My tank top wasn't quite warming me up. Oh well, I'll probably wish I was cold in about an hour. I followed the crowd to the start line. People were holding up signs saying Corral A, Corral B and Corral D. WAIT! I was Corral C! There was no C. Being the smart person I am, I plopped myself in between B and D. All I could smell was sunscreen and Eucalyptus. By the time I got to this point, it was about 5:20. That gave me about 40 minutes to kill. I sat on the curb and people watched for about 10 minutes. Groups of women were laughing. Husband and wives holding each other to keep warm. Groups of friends taking pictures. Then, I saw the sweetest thing ever. An elderly man, maybe in his 60 or early 70's was standing in front of me with his son. The way his son was dressed lead me to believe he wasn't running. The son was helping his dad with his camel back, making sure he had easy access to his water tube and strategically placing his Gu and snacks for during the run. He kept saying "does that feel okay, dad?" The dad would just nod...I never heard words come out of the dad. Makes me wonder how many races they have been doing this for. As the sun started coming up, I figured it was time to stretch. I did some lunges and few other things I don't know the names of, but they felt good. I also spelled out the entire alphabet with each foot in the air, one at a time. I read somewhere that this helps stretch out your shins. Try it...it really does! I started chatting with a couple of ladies who were also there alone. This definitely helped kill time. The anticipation was starting to get to me. Finally...6am! I closed my eyes, bowed my head and asked God for the strength and energy to make it through this. Someone sang the National Anthem (not very well). All of a sudden, the sunscreen and Eucalyptus smell turned into fart smell. I guess everyone was nervous. They did a count down....oh, I was so excited. We started to move, slowly. The we stopped. Then another count down. I am guessing for Corral B. We moved, then stopped. By this time, I had to pee...really bad. Too late now! Finally, a third count down. This had to be me. Yup..it was! I made my way over the start line. I glanced at my garmin and saw 10.25 pace. This is what I was hoping to finish in,so I figured I would just chill at this pace. We made our way to MacArthur and holy ocean view! I probably had a smile on my face for the whole second mile! Where were the photographers then?? it was down hill for awhile, which brought my pace up to 9.30. The rest of my journey went as follows:

Mile 2 - Feeling great, still at a 9.3 pace. Saw two guys coming out of the bushes. Hmmm..
Mile 3 - Found Team Sparkle (Kelly, Elise and Carrie) on Ocean Ave. It was great to see some familiar faces. Still feeling good...still at a 9.3 pace.
Mile 4 - Wondering what I got myself into - In my head I said "I still have 9.1 more miles to go."
Mile 5 - Mile 7 - Felt wonderful. I was enjoying myself and felt no pain. I stopped for some water. At one point I heard "wheelchair coming through". I moved over and saw a team of people pushing a handicapped gentleman in a wheelchair. This would be the only time that day that I cried. I felt so proud of his team members and so thankful that I was healthy enough to run on my own. We just take so many things for granted.
Mile 8 - Just finished going up Dover. That wasn't so bad. Still at a 9.3 pace. Beginning to feel a little pain, but I know that Mark and the kids are right around the corner. So excited to see them and have a quick little break
Mile 8.75 - There they are!!!! I saw Carlie first, then Mark. Brooke was sleeping in her stroller. :( Mark had the Gu ready. I ran up to him...he handed me the Gu and said..."keep going". WHAT??? I was supposed to stop and rest for a few! UGH! So I kept going.
Mile 9 - I starting feeling a little heavy. I needed water to wash down my Gu. It was all stuck to my teeth, so I wiped it off with my shirt. I was also staring to feel really salty. My pace was now at about 9.45
Mile 9.5ish - found water. AWESOME! I've never loved water so much
Mile 10 - saw some guy spraying down people with what looked like a insect repellent sprayer. I ran up to him and said...can you get my hands? He looked at me funny but sprayed my hands. Turns out, it wasn't water...it was some cool and fit crap that made my hands tingle and smell like mint.YUK
Mile 10.5 - Some residents were outside of their homes on their driveways spraying their garden hose water in the air so the runners could run under it. I can finally wash that crap off my hands.
Mile 11ish - Another hill? OUCH! My pace is now about a 10 minute mile. :( However, I am now on borrowed time. I have never ran this far, EVER!
Mile 12 - Saw these girls, which gave me enough laughter to get to mile 13

Mile 13 - I was so excited to see this mile marker. It was almost over and I didn't feel awful. I saw the finish line and was so excited! I DID IT! I ACTUALLY DID IT!! I crossed the finish and within seconds, I saw my mom, dad and sister. They threw water over the fence for me.

I had to double check my time.

YUP! I did it...I made my goal. I wanted between 2:15 and 2:30.

The competitive side of me is wishing they could subtract the extra .12 miles I somehow ran. Oh well..I made my goal for my very first half marathon ever. Mark and the kids were still in the parking lot, trying to park after meeting me at mile 9. It was that crazy out there. He caught up with us within a few minutes. I was so happy and thankful that my whole family was there.


I immediately new I wanted to do it all over again. Not that day, but soon, very very soon.