getting to the finish line one inch at a time.

I'm not the only crazy running person...Fake Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon Race Report

Do you remember Andrea from the Semi Marathon du Provence? She was the one who wasn't running like a maniac, and stopped along the way to take some lovely photos. Photos I absconded with to share with you.

Our little group happened upon Andrea in the teeny tiny village of Pertuis in the South of France. Andrea had flown out all the way from L.A. She was there all by herself. She was there to run the Marathon du Provence. Aren't you impressed with her already? We immediately adopted her as one of our own. By adopting her, it also meant that we've been harassing her to join us in our travels to other races. Most recently we had invited her to Las Vegas for the Rock N' Roll 1/2 Marathon. Work and schedules got in the way and they were unable to come.

However...these girls are not to be trifled with. They decided to stage (on the very same day as the actual race) their very own "Fake Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon" in sunny Southern California. I was SO entertained by the whole idea, and again impressed by the photographic documentation of the race, that I asked them if they'd like to write up a race report. Much to my delight and glee they complied.

So I bring you the "Fake Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon Race Report"!

It was a dark and stormy morning, which matched our moods, and so we brought along a cadre of clichés to keep things light. In our world, you have two types of runners: those that run in the pain lane, and those in the cocktail lane, we are cocktail runners. Please serve our Gatorade shaken, not stirred, as we do not want our electrolytes bruised.

Since we were unable to join the “in crowd” running the Las Vegas Half Marathon, we decided to dedicate our Saturday run to them and call it the “Fake Las Vegas Half Marathon”.  Amongst the runners were Pam, “Abs of Steel” (please limit your compliments, we are trying to bring her ego back down to earth),   Andrea “Go Green”, and Hasmik, “Jackson Pollack”. Apparently, this was a formal event as we noted Pam wore gloves.  

To ensure that we documented our run as accurately as possible, we stopped at various points during our run to take pictures. We chose backgrounds that we hoped would make us the envy of the “in crowd” in Vegas, and if it had been a typical Southern California sunny morning, this might have worked.  We started our “race” near the shuffleboards in Santa Monica. Our run starts smoothly as mosey along the gentle downhill grade to the world famous Santa Monica Pier. Cirque de Soleil Circus came to town but it was still asleep, we were beginning to think they had the right idea.

We stopped for a photo at the “V” of Venice, which is also a nice rest stop as there are restrooms and water fountains. We flexed our muscles as we passed “Muscle Beach” and mimed serving an ace as we wandered past the paddle tennis courts. Today the message of our outfits is the brighter the better; no wonder that along the Venice Boardwalk, we received quite a bit of attention. We looked so good we did not need Vegas Show Girls. We even received an invitation to a Rock & Roll party that was still going on from the night before…can you say Excedrin head ache. We passed on running the jetty, as some of our team members were a bit skittish around arthropods, aka bugs.

To enliven our run on our way back, Andrea decided that we should run the canals of Venice Beach. These work the same as the ones in Venice, Italy, you must get lost amongst them to enjoy them fully and we had the FULL experience. This caused a bit of a scandal on two fronts, first since we did not have a Garmin Foreruuner with us, the official mileage remains hotly contested. Some feel we ran about 14 miles, others say 40+miles. The second scandal revolved around mid-run food as, apparently, one runner’s body was fueled only for 13.1 miles and did not have a stomach for the gels offered. Needless to say, the rundown Speedway Street was silent, just an opportunity for a little meditation, right? All was forgiven on the food front by the end of the story, but no peeking ahead!

Meanwhile, back at the canals, we chatted with many folks out walking dogs and appreciated the unique surroundings. We stopped to appreciate the unique architecture along the Grand Canal and found a house to match our outfits. We also paused to gaze at the Pointe Vecchio…okay, use your imagination and squint…there you go!

We noted that running up and over the arched bridges in Venice, California feels the same to your thighs as the ones in Venice, Italy...Ouch! After running through the canals, we returned to the strand to run along the beach. We looked over at a collection of beach chairs and umbrellas and realized Andrea matches them. Uhhhh, where did she go? Anyone see her?

At last, we see the finish line at the Totem Pole and kick it up a notch for a strong finish. We gave thanks and celebrated. To commemorate these momentous occasion, we posed for some photos on the Totem Pole, taking care to only touch above the urine zone.

There was a touching and emotional medal ceremony at the end of the run, we are sure our medals must be from Tiffany’s. It is always a perfect running day when we top it off with a breakfast at our favorite haunt, Urth Café in Santa Monica, California http://www.urthcaffe.com/.  While certainly not as strenuous a venture as a true race, we did enjoy a healthy, organic breakfast and finished every single bite.  We also shared a slice of coconut cream pie, which we assume Mary Anne and Lovey made the pie during their 3-hour tour. We hope the “in crowd” in Vegas had as much fun as we did that day…

Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon Race Report: Icy Temps = slow Jo Jo but that's just the bad news.

This is the second time starting this race report. The first time I started I got about half way through and realized all I was doing was whining about how cold I was (it was) and how I had to get up at the butt crack of dawn (I did) and how I didn’t run a great race (I didn’t ). It was depressing and even I didn’t want to read it. So why torture you?

The funny thing is, I actually had a blast in Vegas and am really glad I went. What was magical about the race had nothing to do with me. It was a friend who came with me, he was the reason I was shivering but thrilled by the end of the weekend.

It all started a couple of months ago when my friend Tom posted that he’d completed a 10 mile run on Facebook. I’d been bugging him for several years to start running more regularly. I (like I do with all of you) had been expounding on the fabulousness of destination races, and how he should come and join the fun. With a 10 mile run under his belt I had my in. I immediately jumped at the chance and waved the idea of the Las Vegas ½ Marathon in front of his face. “I’ll help you! You can do it!” I kept telling him. I was jumping up and down excited like a little girl. Then the 2^nd best thing happened, Tom said yes. Yes, there’s a 1^st best thing…the story gets even better.

Now I knew that based on his current distances a 13.1 mile run (while challenging) would be totally doable.  The goals set for his training were to keep up is base conditioning, and get his head ready for the idea of running that far. I set Tom a training schedule, incrementing up a mile or two each week until race day. Of course being a tad competitive, he overshot every one of my training runs and had actually completed the 13.1 distance before race day. My protégée was ready.

We arrived in Vegas the Friday before the race. As a good coach I met my runner at the convention to walk him through the registration process and be there to encourage and answer any of the questions he might have. 

We started by discussing his race number. Part of the process of registering for the race is you have to estimate your finish time. The race officials then use that information to determine which starting group you should be in so that they can line us all up by speed – the faster runners getting to be up front.  Tom had put down a 3:30:00 finish time which meant he was way at the back of the pack. Knowing that he and I were running at a similar pace on our training runs I started the work to convince him that he’d easily finish under the 2:30:00 time and that we needed to change his start group. He wasn’t so sure. Then the best thing happened….

I’ll never forget it; we were standing in the line. I was yabbering on about his running time with my cheerleader self coming out in spades. Tom turned to me and said “You know… this was a great training experience. I think I’d like to run a marathon.” My heart stopped. Actually I think I threw my arms in the air and cheered with glee. I think I was more excited about the prospect of getting a friend to go for the challenge of running a marathon than I was by running my first. My excitement dampened a little when I realized that he still needed to actually run the race and all sorts of things could change his mind. However I was a woman on a mission, operation Marathon went into overdrive.

On race day Tom and his lovely wife got up with the rest of the group dressed in the multiple layers of clothes we needed to run in the frigid Las Vegas temperatures. We started in a little pack. There were 4 of us, the usual suspects….Fro Fro, Chickey, Jo Jo and now Tom. We all stayed together for probably the first mile and as we do we all spread out to run our own race. I ran with Tom for a little while, but as I mentioned I wasn’t having my best running day so he quickly vanished into the crowd in front of me. While I was cold and miserable watching my pace dwindle from the stellar speeds I’d posted in San Francisco a month earlier, I kept an eagle eye for Tom.  I was watching for him but praying that I’d never see him again on the course. I knew that if I didn’t pass him that he’d run the 2:30:00 I’d promised earlier in the weekend. By running a faster pace than he expected, he’d be excited and motivated to continue on this journey.

Tom’s race was stellar. He totally rode the energy wave and excitement of running in a race with 26,000+ other runners. He finished in 2:22:00. I couldn’t have been happier.

Tom keeps telling me that he had a good time in Las Vegas and is signing up again for next year. And I’m pretty sure I can convince him to join me on another ½ marathon race sooner than December 2010. What makes me chuckle is that he’s already starting to worry about the training plan for a full marathon. But I know something he doesn’t. I know he’ll be able to do it, and I’ll be as proud as I can be when he crosses the finish line for that race, wherever it may be. Heck, I’m even tearing up a tiny bit writing this.

So I’m off to put my coaching hat on again and pull out the pom-poms to be his cheerleader again. And by doing this it will motivate me to train harder and meet my goals head on. I always knew deep down that all this running wasn’t just about me. Tom has me even more excited about what I’m doing. Now I may have totally scared him off by writing this slightly crazy post, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.

So, how about it folks? Are you up for joining Team Jo Jo? I’m accepting new applications. Oh and a new team name too.

 

PS. Congratulations to all the friends who joined us out on the arctic Las Vegas ½ Marathon course. Go Papa, Chickey and Fro Fro!

 

Running in your backyard makes you run faster: Nike Women’s Marathon Race Report

A couple of weeks after the Semi Marathon du Luberon I ran the ½ Marathon at the Nike Women’s Marathon. I have a love hate relationship with this particular race. Let me tell you why

I’ll be sweet and start out with the love part…

1.    It was the first marathon I ever ran! Back in 2005, yes the full course.

2.    I can roll out of my own bed and head to the start / roll back into bed at the end as it’s based in San Francisco.

3.    They hand out chocolate during the race– hello, we’ve already talked about what a fan of chocolate I am.

4.    It’s a total chick fest, only about 2% of the runners are men.

5.    As it’s a women’s marathon and “chick fest” the finisher’s shirt is usually cute and something I might actually wear.

6.    I’m not distracted by things like the ocean, or Golden Gate Bridge, or the AMAZING homes on the course because I live here and get to see it pretty much every day. Therefore I can focus on RUNNING.

7.    Best of all…A Tiffany’s necklace as the finisher’s medal. Fabulous bling!

Here’s the not so much love part…

1.    Word has got out about the jewelry so every woman on the planet seems to want to run this particular race. Now you can only get in (unless you raise funds – see below) through a lottery.

2.    The only other way to get into the race is to raise money through Team in Training. Now don’t get me wrong here, Team in Training is an amazing organization and they coached me through my first marathon. But what if I wanted to raise money for some other deserving charity? I’d love to raise money for a cause I had chosen.  Equality for charities I say.

3.    Because it’s a destination race and the Team in Training factor there are a TON of newbies on the course. Normally this is not a problem as I’m a fan of new folks getting on the race participation bandwagon. However, in this case, these folks don’t seem to understand that if you’re planning on walking the whole way; it’s polite to start after all the runners have gone so we don’t spend the first 5-6 miles trying to get around you.

4.    Have you been to San Francisco? One word: Hills. Big ones.

Phew. Now that little tirade is over I feel much better.

Yes, I got to sleep in my own bed the night before the race which was a novel concept. The race starts at Union Square in downtown San Francisco. It’s quite the noisy affair as there are some 20,000 or so women chatting like chickens. As you can tell from my little rant above the first couple of miles where challenging. Not physically but more because I had to run around several large groups of walkers and people who stopped to gawp at the amazing views. The course wound down towards the waterfront and (while I wasn’t dodging bodies) meant I managed to push myself to a pretty fast clip along the Embarcadero. Around mile 6 the serious running began. We started to go uphill, and we went uphill for what seemed to be forever. So I know I mentioned earlier that running the Nike is great because you know what to expect, well I had forgotten about the Lincoln Blvd. hill, and the  El Camino Del Mar hill, and just to kick your ass one more time…the Clement St hill. All in all, the course had just shy of a 2000 ft elevation change. This course is not for sissies.

Now because I actually knew there were going to be some crazy hills on the course (I knew, I just didn’t remember how quite crazy they were going to be) I had no expectations that I was going to beat my Luberon time. So how surprised was I when I crested the final hill overlooking Golden Gate Park and realized that by tapping into the downhill in front of me I had a real chance of beating my time?  Again and I was familiar with the route I knew I had a good long downhill stretch to the ocean. I took off and ignored the spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.  I breezed by the Ghirardelli Chocolate Mile to finish the race in a record breaking (for me) 2 hours 22 mins and 29 seconds! Take a look at the post below and you’ll see I’ve posted the readings from my Garmin watch. It’s almost like running the race with me.

The bar has been set again and on a course that went up and down like a yo-yo. I’m off to Las Vegas in December to run the Rock N’Roll Vegas ½ marathon. The course is as flat as a pancake. I’ll take bets now on my finishing time. Do I hear under 2:20?

Cheese, chocolate, wine and 13.1 Miles: Semi Marathon du Provence Race Report

So you know from my previous post that I was a tad worked up about running this race. I hadn’t participated in a ½ marathon in a little over a year and here I was in a foreign country warming up in a soccer field with the race officials making announcements that were completely incomprehensible. What an awesome start.

There could have been a countdown to when I was supposed to go, I have no idea. All of a sudden the masses were heading towards the balloon arch that marked the start of the race.

From talking with friends who’d run the race before I knew that I’d lap the field and head into the village. Off we went…Almost immediately we were on a single track lane running through the countryside. Now I have to tell you, there wasn’t a stretch of the race that we weren’t surrounded by little cottages, vineyards and rolling fields. If you’ve been to the south of France you’ll know what I’m talking about. Everywhere looks like it’s been pulled out of some period movie.

As much as I was oohing and ahhing over the scenery I was also keeping an eye on the clock. I’m armed these days with a GPS watch that gives me up to the minute pace and timing information. I knew I needed to maintain an 11:28 pace to finish the course in under the 2:30:00 goal I had set for myself. Even on a dirt path I was clocking somewhere between 10:45 and 11:15 so I was feeling good and encouraged.

Then I came up to the first aid station at the 2 mile mark. While I certainly wasn’t planning on stopping, I run at a slow enough pace to be able to pay attention to what was going on. Let me paint the picture. There were a couple of 8’ tables covered with – can you guess? – wine and cheese! Oh yes, they had the odd cup of water but that didn’t seem like the point. A group of about 20 or so people from a running club (they were all wearing the same outfit so I’m making a fairly safe assumption) were dancing around the tables sipping the wine and munching while their fellow team mates joined the fun. I stayed with these guys for about 7 miles. They were all much faster runners than me, but stopped at each “aid” station to sample whatever was out. The tables would always be covered in the required wine and cheese but would sometimes include pate, chocolate and soup! Now you have to understand, these stops came about every 2 miles. I just couldn’t imagine what kind of shape the running group was in by the end of the race.

In preparing for this event I had checked to see if there was an elevation map of the course. Hills, for me, are the killers of speed. “Rolling “ was the word the organizers used to describe the course. Yes, I’d have to agree. I was “rolling” but for every 10 minutes up a hill there seemed to be only 2 mins down. At about 7 miles we were still generally heading up and my pace had slowed to around 12:00 and I began to realize that a 2 ½ hour marathon was just not in the cards.

So I blame the fabulous countryside and hilarious antics around me for snapping me out of my funk. Normally I would have become more and more depressed about my lagging speed. I just looked around and said to myself  “Well, we’re running towards the mountains so it figures we’d be going up more. Therefore eventually we’ll turn around and start heading back and that will be mostly downhill. Also, who cares, this is fabulous and at a 12 minute pace you’ll still beat your best ½ marathon time so just have fun.” So I did.

The rest of the race consisted of running around a lake on what can only be described as a trail. Lucky for me they had spray painted all the exposed roots hot pink so I didn’t trip over anything – usually a big liability for me. We ran between vines and along tiny roads. Delicious.

Somewhere around mile 11 I realized I had picked up the pace significantly. I started to do some quick calculations in my head and figured that if I pushed a little harder the 2:30 I was aiming for was within my grasp. I found that surge of energy you get when you know the finish line is close and pushed on. Soon I was running into La Tour-D’Aigues towards the castle that marked the finish line. Cheered on by the crowds I crossed at 2:28:34 Rah!

Now don’t forget the wine and cheese. It was no surprise that the “medal” for crossing the finish line was a bottle of wine. It was also no surprise that the party in the square afterwards offered more wine and cheese. I think I ate and drank every calorie I’d burned running through the morning. It was well worth it.

 

 

 

Lest I forget, I wasn’t there alone. A big shout out to my fellow ½ marathoners Colleen and Andrea, and an extra special shout out to Trang, Celia and Paul who all conquered distances new to them all. While the race was great, having fun with my friends was even better. Here’s to the Semi Marathon du Luberon 2010 because I’m going again. Anyone want to join me?

 

Special thanks to Andrea who took a the time to take some awesome pics while running her ½ marathon.

Danskin Triathlon Race Report 2009

I’m sure you’ve all been holding your breath for the Danskin Triathlon Race (Danskin) report. So sorry for making you all turn blue.  You can breathe out now.

Let me start by setting the stage a little. Participating in the Danskin not only requires preparation of one’s physical state, but also organization and coordination over the whole race weekend. The good news is Laura (my fellow racer) and I have the process down pat.  We arrive in Austin late Friday and head directly over to the Bicycle Sport Shop to pick the fancy schmancy bikes we rent MONTHS before. Saturday morning we head out to the race location to register and pick up our numbers - for ourselves, our bikes, and our helmets.  Then off to the transition area (the transition area sits between the swim end, bike start/end and run start where we’re assigned a spot the size of a dishtowel to keep all our stuff) to drop off our bikes. This whole process only takes a couple of hours so we get most of Saturday to play.

Swim: 0.5 Miles

According to the race officials we have to be on the swim start boat ramp ready to go before 7am. This early start requires a 4am wakeup call. Me? I woke up at 3.30am. Keyed up was an understatement.

I was scheduled to enter the water 7.21am, so I had some time to watch some of the earlier waves go out. Like others on the shore, I was surprised to see that many of the earlier groups almost immediately headed off course and away from the first buoy marker. I couldn’t understand why people were swimming in the WRONG direction especially as it made the swim longer. My confusion vanished the second I walked into the water. You couldn’t SEE the first marker, the sun was rising directly in front of us and we could see nothing. Uh Oh.  Not a great start.

The only word to describe my swim leg was “scrum”. There were bodies everywhere. I kept running into people either swimming on their back (in open water???) or with a noodles (isn’t this a triathlon? Shouldn’t you be able to swim?) Or worse, stopped entirely! Needless to say I was irritated as I pulled myself out of the water. I knew my time wasn’t good.

I was frustrated by my performance in the water. I knew that there was no way I’d beat my best time. Instead of dwelling on the bad I shrugged, ran up the hill towards my spot in transition and decided to enjoy myself for the rest of the race.

Official Time 24 Mins 40 sec (Best time 17:22 in 2005)

Transition 1:

  I was fortunate this year as some fellow participant had tied a very ugly scarf to the end of the rack where my bike rack was stashed so I quickly found it. (There are about 2000 bikes in the transition area, losing your bike can happen.) My mega organizational skills in the prep area meant that I was able to speed through the first transition. I jammed my helmet and sun glasses on my head, yanked on my shoes and headed out to the bike start. Whoosh!

Official Time 3mins 19 sec (Previous best 4:27 in 2007)

Bike: 12 Miles

I jumped on my bike and started pedaling like a maniac. Surprisingly, the Austin course is known for being very hilly and in places quite challenging. The “Hill” part of the Texas Hill Country moniker comes into play in this area of the state. All was going well until I had to head down a steep grade and make a sharp right turn and immediately head straight up. Every year folks come off their bikes (or head into the bushes, equally bad) on this corner so the race officials are there waving frantically at us to SLOW DOWN. I never want to slow down.  The next bit is up, and I want momentum. So there I was, heading into the corner of death when my fingers (yes fingers...ok brain) decided to forget how to change gears. This hand-finger coordination breakdown resulted in a complete stop…at the bottom of the hill. Yuck.  I had to get off the bike to fix the gears before I could get back on and move on. Maniac pedaling aside, I thought I had messed up the bike leg too.

Who knew? I was so wrong. Look at my time.

Official Time 39 mins 56 sec Avg Speed 18MPH (Previous best 44:11 in 2007)

Transition 2:

At the time, I didn’t know I’d had such a successful bike. I was still hopeful for a decent finish time so I didn’t mess around getting back to my transition area to start the run. Whoosh again.

Official Time 1min 17sec (Previous best 1:32 in 2008)

Run: 3.1 Miles

Did you know that the run portion of the Austin course is almost entirely run on grass? No bouncy asphalt for these ladies. To add to the energy suck of grass, and in Texas fashion, it’s hot, very hot. The run portion of this course is hard and there’s no other way to describe it. You’re on a narrow grass course heading up and down hills (yes, more hills) and dodging the blazing sun by trying to stay in as much shade as possible.

As I started the run I still felt pretty good. I knew however, that the last ½ mile of the race was going to require a long uphill slog to the finish line. In preparation for the final push I’d asked my sister Lucy (who did the race with me in 2007 and knew what I was in for) to wait for me at the bottom of that last hill. I told her she had free reign to say anything to me that would keep me running. Conquering that hill was the last mental and physical obstacle I had to overcome.

As I started running I was worried as I hadn’t seen Lucy earlier on the course. I didn’t think she’d made it. My fortitude was waning. I turned the a corner around mile 2 and heard a faint “Go Jo Jo!” behind me. I quickly looked back and saw Lucy waving frantically at me. “See you at the hill!” I yelled and kept running.

I can still see the hill in front of me when I close my eyes. You can’t see the top when you’re at the bottom. Everyone around you is walking and moaning. I had a secret weapon, Lucy was there. She started yelling at me and didn’t stop. Ahh…sisterly love was at an all time high at that moment.

Official Time 32 mins 15 sec (Previous best 34:59 in 2005)

Finish Time: 1 hour 41mins 28 sec (Previous best 1:48:08 in 2005)

Yes! I beat my best time by 6 ½ minutes. What excites me more is I did this with several major issues on the course. Next year I plan to beat this number again. I’ve set myself a goal of finishing in the top 25 women in my age group. Can I call myself an athlete then? Stay tuned to find out…