2010 race season: the tentative commitment.

here is what I'm looking forward to next season. am hoping the foot cooperates!

salt lake city marathon 5K - this time with the little pj man on the outside of me, in the running stroller. we will have come full circle, one year later, my little training partner and I.
saturday, april 17, 2010

camp pendleton mud run - we didn't end up doing this last year because of pregnancy and injury and it was really sad. so I vow to do it this year. it's my favorite race ever and it's a great excuse to play in the sand + surf in SoCal.
saturday, june 5 (or 12), 2010

hobble creek half marathon - I'm trying to talk my mother into walking this. she's pretty hardcore, even though she doesn't believe she is. she does at least half this distance on a daily basis, so training for the full 13.1 wouldn't really be that big of a stretch. everyone who knows her should tell her to do it.
saturday, august 22, 2010

atlanta marathon - if we can swing it, I really want to do this with my sister + brother inlaw. what better excuse to eat your heart out on thanksgiving than having run 26.2 that morning? free pass for sure! plus I just want to go out and see them and their cute kids in georgia. it would be a win, win, win.
thursday, november 25, 2010

I know I want to do at least one triathlon somewhere in there, but not really sure which one(s). at this point I'm not even sure if it would be sprint or olympic (probably olympic). may and july don't have anything, so that might be something to look at. decisions, decisions! oh how I love planning out the future races. it does my heart good.

{post script}

I love this picture because it shows my support team in action. in every marathon I've done with pete in my life, he's been on his bike riding the course. he's there to cheer me on. he's there to give me anything I need. he's the bright spot up ahead. it makes me happy. now if only I could get him to run one with me!

I have a lot of big dreams these days. and it's funny, I don't think I would have been as likely to accomplish them before peter came into my life. I truly believe that. he is my motivation + my bedrock of support. I feel like I can do anything with him by my side.

{for more official race photos, please click HERE.}

14 on the schedule, 26.2 under foot: the valley of fire marathon race report

I've only really done it once before; run a marathon without actually training for it.

sometime the week before the race I had the crazy idea. why not just do it? my game plan: run it slow and not care about anything. it was a training run with a little bit extra thrown in for good measure. it was another state. no big deal, right?

it's funny how the experience is completely different when you've put in months and months of work specifically for one race. the anticipation. the excitement. the dread. you dream of doing amazing things; of PR's, of BQ's. this was not that. the fact that I was just about to run 26.2 miles without putting in that work didn't even sink in until about one minute before the gun went off. I freaked out slightly then, but quickly composed myself and joined the crowd. I was going to run a marathon without training. I have done it before, I could do it again.

the valley of fire marathon isn't exactly for the faint of heart. it's a small race and a hard course. in fact, they don't even claim you'll PR.

right there situated in mile one is a big, huge, fatty hill. and after that? more hills. the whole course was a series of rollers. some steep, some not as steep. oh, and did I mention that the course was comprised of two out and backs? so every hill you conquered, on the way down all you could think about was running back UP on the return trip. see why it's not a PR course? it was just plain hard. but it was so beautiful it kind of took your mind off the hills. at least a little bit. {if you've never been to the valley of fire state park, you should take a trip out there someday. it turns out november is the perfect time to do it. I couldn't have asked for better weather. especially for running.}

I stuck to my game-plan and just took things as they came. I told myself I was allowed to walk any hills to save the legs. I felt surprisingly good throughout the whole run. I ended up walking the steep hills, but mostly trudging up the others. I never felt the need to walk because I just wanted to give up and quit (like in fargo); I was just out there havin' a good time.

I tried to break the run up into sections in my mind. the distance seemed easier to tackle that way. if I can just get to the first turn-around... once I get to the half marathon split... when I get to mile 20, I'll just have a 10K left... I knew that if I could get to mile 20.5--the second turn-around--I would make it. it was a steady climb up until that point, and I knew that the last 10K would be all downhill. I'm not sure I could have made it otherwise.

I was getting tight, but was still able to keep running at a pretty good pace. I was passing people. I just had to keep my feet moving. and the miles flew slowly by.

I'm not sure I'd recommend this race. as is, I'd say run the half. that's definitely the prettiest part of the course. if you're not looking for a fast time or a lot of crowd support, and maybe if they improved a few things, then I'd say go for the full. for starters if you say you're going to have gatorade {and then say a few days before you're going to have heed instead} you should have at least some sort of sports drink on the course. there was nothing for the first half of the marathon. the second half did have the heed, but I had never even heard of that stuff let alone used it in training. yikes! and definitely put out better mile markers. yeah, there were some out there (and I loved the corresponding american flag set out by each of them. very patriotic.) but I never really seemed to know quite where I was. a little frustrating, but maybe in this case it was a good thing. and if you talk to peter {this is his biggest pet peeves in race organization} have better traffic control. he saw people almost get hit by cars at the finish line area. and it's always scary as you're running on the shoulder of the road and there are big motor homes and cars passing in both directions at the same time. yikes! at least close one lane of traffic and dedicate it to runners!

but with all that being said, it was a beautiful course and I really did have a fun time running it. especially since I can say that I did it without training. after the race I was hanging around the food table {by the way, they did have donuts not only at the end but at aid stations as well. if only I could have better taken advantage of that!} talking to other runners. some guys--now these are guys that had run 60+ and 100+ marathons. experts, if you will--were saying this was one of the hardest courses they've ever run. {I agree; it was akin to the lake tahoe marathon} that you need to take your normal finishing time and add one hour to it, then you will have your valley of fire marathon finish time. I kinda liked that. with their logic if you take my 4:40:55 and run it through the reverse of that idea, I'd have a 3:40:55 boston qualifying time. I'll take it!

top left: look! a tarantula! posing mid-race for a photo shoot with a spider
top right: running through the redrock formations
bottom right: the hardware

another update

t: I might have taken an involuntary rest day. . . I didn't want to run, but our gym membership still needed to be renewed. . . I might have had good intentions to do yoga or something, but I think I just ended up doing errands and stuff all day. can't really remember.

w: I really can't remember what I did any of these days {with the major exception of saturday!} but I'm pretty sure I did some sort of short run. probably around three miles.

h: I did a short run? maybe something like two miles?

f: rest

s: 26.2 miles. yep. coming soon: valley of fire marathon race report.

s: rest {aka sit in a car for five and one half hours} + short walk with the husband

m: walked about three miles

fargo marathon, the report

I started this post yesterday, but couldn't finish writing it. I feel it was too negative. I was being too hard on myself. let me start over.

* * *

I am extremely blessed. with nothing short of a miracle {thank you all for sending your good vibes + prayers} I had no pain in my foot on race day. not even with one foot strike. nothing. I was pain free.

as for the rest of my body? I'm not sure my muscles were quite ready for the pounding. hey, where's the water?! they kept asking.

I woke up at 6am on race day, showered, ate my PB toast, did the whole routine. due to high traffic (peter did some pretty sweet illegal maneuvers on the way--hey, we're from out of town, I kept telling the other cars) we rolled up to the fargo dome a little later than I had ideally wanted. my warm up was sparse. maybe five minutes. probably less than that. I was not stretched out at all. but o' canada was being sung and then the national anthem -- it was time to line up.

if this race gets any bigger, I suggest to you dear fargo marathon organizers a split in the half and full starts. it was just way too crowded in there. especially when you're trying to follow bobby, your pace team guy. especially when bobby doesn't even slow down at the aid stations, you just have to catch up. catch up?! it was hard enough negotiating my little running self over to the water/powerade peeps and then seeing my pace team already so far ahead. it was a little discouraging + frustrating.

from the onset I was not running my own race. I was trying to keep up. after not having run in a month the pace was probably slightly too fast from the onset and this was only compounded by the fact that since I didn't really warm up and didn't even have the chance to stretch out a little at aid stations my muscles were pretty tight already. especially my hip flexors. (thankfully my IT band and hamstring didn't really bother me at all -- again, a miracle!)

I was able to stay with the group until about mile ten. then the game of catch-up was just too much for me. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up the pace if I already felt like I did that early on. I couldn't run someone else's race; I had to run my own.

so the pace started gradually slowing. I started stopping to stretch out the legs. things changed. I was losing my mental toughness. I should have spotted it right away, but I let it all slip away from me. I let the people slip by, the time, my dream of qualifying for boston this go around.

I haven't really mentioned the fact that it was unexpectedly hot in fargo, north dakota. the previous afternoon was spent walking around downtown fargo in 80+ degree weather. I had brought some mini gloves to wear at the start until things warmed up. . . I never even took them out of my bag.

oh, and 20 - 30 mile an hour winds were on the schedule too. perfect.

so I spent the next miles pouring water all over myself at aid stations. stopping for no apparent reason. and cursing all the hills on this "flat" course. okay, okay. so the course is pretty flat. the hills were mostly just overpasses and underpasses. but when coupled with a fierce headwind, it was just a little more than I could bear in the moment.

and it was a headwind. for the entire second half of the marathon. and a strong headwind at that. at one time I was almost stopped dead in my tracks, and another I was almost blown sideways. for about five seconds there was a blessed tailwind, and then right back into fighting against it. no relief.

but what did I expect? I knew there was a likely chance for wind. maybe if I had raced with the nutrition plan I trained with things would have been a little better. I was going longer in between gu's. note to self: food gives you energy. and for the sake of this argument, gu's are being considered as food. eat them as often as you did in training. thank you, self, for listening--oh, and run your own race next time.

the last miles were hard just because by this time I was stopping for no reason a lot more than I would have ever done normally. my muscles were tight, sure. and I had the expected pains of running for a long time. but it wasn't that bad. it wasn't like last year. I was just mentally kaput.

and that is why I have been so hard on myself. I gave up. I was fine with not qualifying for boston--in fact I know it's not the right time for that; it's hopefully time to start focusing on another marathon of sorts--but that does not mean I had the right to completely give up on myself. to stop. especially for no apparent reason.

maybe I should've hopped on another pace group's bandwagon. had the moral support to keep myself running. these are the lessons I learn. next time it will be different.

and again, I feel I really have no reason for disappointment. I finished a marathon after an injury sidelined me from running for a month. I could've given up the hope long before. I have to remember that the sheer fact of finishing is a huge accomplishment in itself. I had people all over the country supporting me and cheering me on. my injury was pain free. I am truly blessed.

so thank you fargo-moorhead, for the friendly little run through your neighborhoods. I will never forget my fargo dome finish. I was like a rock star on that jumbotron.

and most importantly thank you peter -- you are my biggest cheerleader in life. I feel I can do anything with you by my side. and thank you dad for your continued support + love as well. and mom, that goes for you too--you were there in spirit via the signs (that unfortunately I only got to see once!) and thank you bloggy-peeps who are even interested in this little kenyan's running. it means the world.

it's official

so I guess I'm committed. my snail mail registration finally went through. fargo, north dakota here I come!

just so you know

QUALIFYING STANDARDS*
Age Group	Men	Women
18-34	3hrs 10min	3hrs 40min
35-39	3hrs 15min	3hrs 45min
40-44	3hrs 20min	3hrs 50min
45-49	3hrs 30min	4hrs 00min
50-54	3hrs 35min	4hrs 05min
55-59	3hrs 45min	4hrs 15min
60-64	4hrs 00min	4hrs 30min
65-69	4hrs 15min	4hrs 45min
70-74	4hrs 30min	5hrs 00min
75-79	4hrs 45min	5hrs 15min
80 and older	5hrs 00min	5hrs 30min

*qualifying times for the Boston Marathon; any qualifying race must be USATF certified

the rundown

2009|the marathon of life!

2008|Valley of Fire Marathon|Valley of Fire State Park, NV

2008|Fargo Marathon|Fargo, ND

2007|Famous Idaho Potato Marathon|Boise, ID

2006|the marathon of love!

2005|St George Marathon|St George, UT

2005|Salt Lake City Marathon|Salt Lake City, UT

2004|St George Marathon|St George, UT

2004|Salt Lake City Marathon|Salt Lake City, UT

2003|Lake Tahoe Marathon|Lake Tahoe, CA

2002|Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon|Anchorage, AK

the race: a visual account

potatoes!

marathon number seven/state number four: the famous potato marathon in boise, idaho.

we drove up friday afternoon. we got to boise with plenty of time to pick up my race packet which included my race bib and timing chip(I was thrilled to see the prison style ankle bracelet of a timing chip--that thing was huge!), cheesy idaho potato pin, and various coupons and brochures for random things. you gotta love the race packet. we had a carbo-loading extravaganza at macaroni grill, I ordered the twice baked lasagna with meat balls. perfect blend of carbs and protein. afterwards we headed up to nampa to stay with my aunt and uncle.

we woke up early saturday morning to drop me off at the start line. the race started up at lucky peak state park, where we hopped on the green belt and ran our hearts out!

it was hard at first to adhere to this run/walk thing I had set my mind on. the first few miles I didn't really walk that much at all. then every eight minutes or so I'd walk for either a minute or a minute and a half. I was fairly diligent with that until the later miles.

my legs didn't feel tight at all for the first six or eight miles. it was like a dream! even in training they'd feel tight from mile one most of the time. I was still feeling pretty good through mile 13, then on through mile 20 or so. after mile 21 (and the short loop around the riverside elementary parking lot--they weren't kidding! you should've seen this thing! it was a few cones set out in a very small semi-circle that you just had to run around. it was barely past the entrance to the parking lot. it made me laugh.) I had a complete breakdown. imagine the whole lower half of your body cramping up. then imagine trying to run (or even walk!) like that. it was miserable. my legs were done. finished. dead.

I pushed past those remaining miles. I ended up doing a lot more walking after that. seriously, it hurt to run but it also hurt to walk. I couldn't decide which was the lesser of the two evils. the interesting thing was, though, I never once had the thought "why in the crap am I doing this? I'm never doing this again!" (I usually have that thought at least once during that last 10K) I knew I would finish eventually, and that it hurt, but it wasn't really that bad.

I did eventually finish. {thank you peter, for pushing me along.} and once I stopped running my legs completely seized up on me! they were so tight! I did go sit in the boise river for some 'ice bath' fun. I lasted about one minute. it was really cold.

I was also very pleasantly surprised with how pretty boise, idaho is. at least on the marathon route. the green belt along the river is beautiful. it reminds me of the jordan river parkway trail, but so much better! (I wasn't worried about finding any dead bodies or being attacked by a homeless person) it runs for a very long time too--I think someone said at least 25 miles.

and I had the best support crew out there. pete on the bike (and running along side me the last few miles) and my mom and dad with the flip-chart signs. all the other runners were jealous. if there had been an award for best spectators/cheerleaders these three would have gotten it, hands down. so many people appreciated it so much--mom, you were popular at this event!

I would definitely recommend this marathon. if you're not expecting a big race (thousands of people) and you're okay with running alone for half of it (after the half and the full marathon split, it's basically just you out there for miles.) and you don't mind really watered down gatorade, then I think you'd love this. it's a beautiful course with friendly volunteers. if I wasn't on the run for the fifty states, maybe I'd even consider doing it again one year.

my time was around 4:44. definitely not even close to my best time, but I'm okay with that. I didn't expect to PR or anything, just finish. and I did finish. plus there were potatoes at the end. so I'm happy.

ps: I'm not even all that sore! it's a potato miracle!!!

Famous Potatoes.

I should be running a marathon this weekend, but I'm not.

St George

It's funny to compare my two St George Marathon experiences.

Last year I found out about a week before the race that I would be able to run. I had not been training at all, though I was in pretty good shape overall. I started out very slowly and must have gotten into a good pace because I finished at around 4:20. This was my first and only race where I felt really good at the finish line--I felt as though I could keep going right on to Vegas! Hey, why stop there? Why not keep running right to the coast?

*Sigh*

This year was different. I had been training. Or doing my best to train, at any rate. I was trying to work through chronic injuries. I had visions of qualifying for Boston. But I guess it wasn't the right time for me, and my body knew that. The week of the marathon I got sick. It was hard to hydrate adequately. I had also been living in Lubbock, TX for the past month, and as many of you know there are no hills in the high plains of West Texas.

In Paulo Coelho's book, The Alchemist, he writes "When you want something the whole universe conspires for you to achieve it." I believe that. But as I said before this just wasn't the right time. For starters, I was expecting and counting on pace groups during the race. I panicked at the starting line when I realized they really weren't having any that year (they had them the year before because that's how I gauged my progress since my watch died at mile 1) and I had no real back-up plan. I started out too fast. I burned myself out in my already weakened condition. The race was hard both mentally and physically.

The two races are such polar opposites. This year I came in at 4:17 chip time, which is practically what I ran it in the year before. But I felt totally different. My legs hurt, my feet ached, but I was surprisingly not as disappointed as I thought I might be. Will I run St George next year? I guess we'll have to see. Maybe I'll throw my name in the lottery and see if I get in. I am, however, refocusing on my goal of the fifty states club. I can't keep running the same two Utah marathons year after year! I'm thinking of Yakima River Canyon next April in Washington state. . .