Race Report: OC Marathon

On Sunday, I ran the 2013 Orange County Marathon, which was my fourth full marathon.  I did what I said I was going to do and ran 26.2 miles just 26 (+ 2) weeks after having Nathan.  And I ran a huge stinking PR.  Happy dance!

Mischief managed. 

I have a million things to write about this particular race and training cycle, including what it was like training for, and running a marathon 6 1/2 months post-partum, the race itself, and finally running within striking distance of a BQ (4 minutes and 46 seconds to shave off . . . but who's counting?).  But in the interest of not writing a novel, I'll keep this post about the race itself and save things like the baby/pregnancy post for later (for any guys who are reading this, you're welcome).

Pre-Race/Expo
Marathon weekend started on Friday afternoon with a very trafficky drive down to the Expo at the Orange County Fairgrounds. It was the kind of traffic that makes people who live in places like Bend, Oregon, absolutely loathe LA and never want to come here.  It was fairly annoying.  The Expo itself was just okay.  Maybe I was just tired from the car ride, or maybe it was because it was too hot outside, but the booths did not interest me at all and the whole place smelled like horse poop.  So we got my bib and left, but not before an obligatory Mama/Nathan/Race bib picture.

That is one super excited baby.

From there, we headed to Newport Beach to the race hotel, which was a whole different experience.  For anyone who is ever interested in running the OC Marathon and wants to stay overnight, then I highly recommend the Newport Beach Marriott, which is the official race hotel.  For starters, the start line is literally downstairs from the hotel, which is beyond convenient since the marathon starts at 5:30 a.m.  It is also located across the street from Fashion Island mall and a ridiculously posh Whole Foods.  Oh, and it has a pretty sweet ocean view.  Observe, Exhibit A:

After checking in, we headed out to dinner at Mama D's Italian Kitchen.  We were having a splendid carb load dinner until Nathan lost his marbles and we had to scarf down our food and go home.  To his credit, he was a sleeping angel the whole car ride down, so the little guy deserved a free pass at that point.  On Saturday, Ken headed down to San Diego all day for some interviews so Nathan and I just chilled out at the hotel and had a lovely lunch at the mall with my friend Michelle.  After a pre-race dinner at the True Food Kitchen in the mall, I hopped into bed early for my 4 a.m. (yee haw!) wake up call.

The Race
In my opinion, one of the biggest pluses of this marathon is that it is super small.  There were only about 2000 full marathoners, compared to the boat load of half marathoners (which makes sense, since the half marathon course > the full marathon course).  Since the half marathon didn't start until 6:15 a.m., it seemed practically empty in the morning by the start line.  There were no lines for the bathrooms inside the hotel lobby, and Katie and I were able to hop into corral 1 about 15 minutes before the gun and creep up pretty close to the front.  When the gun went off, it was the most un-congested marathon start that I've ever experienced.  We had no trouble hitting our opening mile in exactly 8:50 per Adrian's race plan.

I should back up a bit.  Originally, when I signed up for the race, my "A" goal was a 3:55.  I had no idea how my body would respond to training after having Nathan, and how much time I could really devote to running, especially after I went back to work.  But I responded better to training than I thought, and I was able to figure out how to fit in running with everything else that was going on.  I gained a lot of confidence after my half marathon PR at Pasadena, and it became evident that I needed to re-think my goals.  3:40 became the new "A" goal, and I even toyed with the idea of shooting for 3:35 before I got the flu two weeks before the race.  On race morning, I set my sights on the 3:40.  To hit that time, Adrian had written up a race strategy that had me running the opening half marathon in 1:51:xx and speeding up the second half to hit my goal time.

The first half of the OC marathon was definitely the more scenic half, with views of the harbor, boats owned by rich people, houses owned by rich people, the ocean, and this cool ecological reserve.  Although the course was definitely the flattest course that I've ever run, I wouldn't necessarily describe it as flat, because both halves (and the first half especially) had a number of rolling (but relatively non-intimidating) hills that definitely took a toll on your legs.  The biggest "hills" were at mile 7 (which really wasn't bad at all - more like a steady grade) and again somewhere around mile 11 (that one was not so fun - a short but steep big bump).  The first half also had a lot of turns.  Like, a lot.    At one point, I remember getting frustrated and saying something out loud about all of the U-turns we were making, which both slow you down and add distance to the course.  (Luckily, you run straight for a lot of the second half so I was able to minimize over-running the course)  The course also significantly narrows in parts (around mile 6.5 and again around mile 8), which led to some annoying bottle-necking.

Flat, but not as flat as it seems. 

I took a while to warm up during the first few miles, and had two miles that I ran too fast, but was able to stick pretty closely to Adrian's plan and my half marathon split was 1:51:39.  Highlight of the first half:  unexpected Marissa sighting just before mile 10.  Marissa was planning on meeting me for the last miles of the race, but she happened to be stationed right after the mile 9.5 Clif Shot station because she was waiting for her brother, who was running the half marathon.  We had a nice little chat about the race while she ran with me for about 100 meters while holding what appeared to be a venti-sized Starbucks coffee.  For the record, I saw zero drops of coffee spilled.  Major skills there.

After mile 11, the course makes its way out of Newport Beach into Irvine and Santa Ana and the shift in scenery and demographics is quite, um, obvious.  We ran over two freeways - first was the 73, which was empty.  Just after mile 14, we had to run over the 405 overpass which was a short, but steep, loud hill (since the 405 is never empty) that I just didn't appreciate at that point.  On a happy note, I caught up with the 3:45 pacers after the hill, who, for some reason, were only about 30-40 seconds behind the 3:40 pacers.  Based on my half marathon splits, I guessed that the 3:45 pacers were a bit fast and the 3:40 pacers were a bit slow at that point.  Around mile 15, the course flattened out significantly until the last 10K or so, which allowed me to catch up to, and pass the 3:40 pacers around the time we were running next to this random farm.  I had an oddly slow mile around mile 17-18, which zig-zagged through a performing arts center, some office buildings, and the South Coast Plaza parking lot, but otherwise was keeping up with the 8:10-8:15 pace that I was supposed to be running at that point.

I hit mile 20 before the 2 hour, 50 minute mark, and remember trying to do a quick calculation of how fast I'd need to run the last 10K in order to BQ.  After figuring out that I would need to run a 10K PR, which was not going to happen, I scrapped the idea and just focused on coming in at under 3:40.  When I hit the Santa Ana River Trail just after mile 20 (which, by the way, had no river in it), we were all greeted by a pretty nasty headwind. The weather up until then had been pretty ideal (overcast the whole way), so I really couldn't complain too much about the headwind, but it definitely took a lot out of me.  I was pretty toasted approaching mile 23, so when I saw what was, and felt like, a decent sized incline, my legs were not happy.  But, luckily, at the top of the hill, I spotted Marissa, who had managed to recruit a bunch of awesome spectators to cheer for me as I came by.  After I made Marissa confirm for me that I was indeed way ahead of the 3:40 pacer, the goal was just to gut it out the last 5K and not keel over.  At that point, my legs weren't managing anything faster than an 8:30-ish mile and I'm pretty sure I started to see splotches after the mile 25 mark. I did my best to keep up with Marissa, who did a splendid job pacing me, getting me water, keeping me from stopping, and listening to me tell her how I couldn't run any faster and how boring the course was.

When we finally got to the mile 26 marker, Marissa took my water bottle and I sprinted to the line.  As I approached the clock, I saw it ticking in the 3:39:40s so I knew that I had to pick it up if I wanted to squeak in under 3:40.  I crossed the line with 3:39:52 on the clock, which translated into a net time of 3:39:46.

I hobbled through the finish area, grabbed a food bag that had some orange coconut water and fig newtons (really?? who eats fig newtons anymore?) and found Marissa at the family reunion area.  Ken and Nathan, who unfortunately fell victim to the horrid, and disorganized road closure system (OC Marathon definitely loses points for that), met us a few minutes later.  If they had been ten minutes earlier (or I had been ten minutes slower), they could have seen me finish, but unfortunately missed it.  I was definitely sad, as was Ken (we're pretty sure Nathan didn't care one way or another), but there will be other, better races.

Post-race
While a tiny, tiny part of me wondered if I could have made some adjustments during the race to chase down a BQ, 99% of me was extremely satisfied with how the race went.  There was absolutely no way that I could have run any faster during those last few miles of the race, so rather than second guess myself, I'm just going to be happy.  This was a tough training cycle, and at times I was convinced that Coach Adrian was crazy, but so far he's trained  me to 2 marathon PRs (one when I was pregnant) and a half marathon PR, so his methods work.  It is kind of crazy to think that this race was almost exactly 25 minutes faster than my first marathon. I'm excited for what's next.

For now, though, I'm enjoying my recovery, and am going to focus on working strength training back  into my routine, getting acclimated to the jogging stroller, and eating delicious meals like this one:

Post-race meal at 25 Degrees. Burgers and beer. Perfection. 

Thanks for reading!

Race stats:
Garmin time: 3:39:53/26.3 miles/ 8:21 min/mile average
Official time: 3:39:46/26.2 miles/ 8:23 min/mile average
Overall place: 213th/1875
Gender place: 36th/725
Age group: 7th/110

Splits:
Mile 1 - 8:51Mile 2 - 8:23Mile 3 - 8:39Mile 4 - 8:38Mile 5 - 8:32Mile 6 - 8:31Mile 7 - 8:37Mile 8 - 8:30Mile 9 - 8:20Mile 10 - 8:17Mile 11 - 7:59Mile 12 - 8:07Mile 13 - 8:26 (half marathon split 1:51:39)Mile 14 - 8:09Mile 15 - 8:13Mile 16 - 8:09Mile 17 - 8:30Mile 18 - 8:06Mile 19 - 8:03Mile 20 - 8:13Mile 21 - 8:17Mile 22 - 8:12Mile 23 - 8:24Mile 24 - 8:26Mile 25 - 8:25Mile 26 - 8:34
Last 0.3 - 2:21 (7:49 min/mile average) (second half marathon split 1:48:07)

Race Report: Leslie Cohen Law 5K

Hands down best T-shirt from a  5K. Ever. 

Last Saturday I ran a 5K, which is totally unlike me.  I generally don't run 5Ks for a variety of reasons, the top two being: (1) when there is a 5K, there is usually a 10K, and somehow I feel like I get more bang for my buck with the 10K; and (2) I am generally terrible at running 5Ks.  The last two times I ran 5Ks, my mile splits were slower than my 10K splits, which seemed to go against science and was very frustrating for me.  So, I am not a fan of the 5K distance.

But, earlier in the week, Adrian said that I should run the 5K.  It was 10 blocks from my house and benefited Public Counsel, which a great organization (and for which I've done pro bono work), so I signed up.  I'm glad I did.  For starters, I came down with the nastiest flu ever at the end of my last build week before taper, so I had to skip 5 whole days of running (the horror!), including my final long run (double horror!).  That pretty much killed me mentally since I had no idea how I would run post-flu (still don't, actually).  The 5K would at least give me something with which to measure my physical abilities so I could manage expectations accordingly.  Second, the t-shirt is awesome (see above).  In fact, it is the best t-shirt I have ever gotten for a race shorter than a half marathon.  Way to go Leslie Cohen law!

The race itself was fantastic.  Small, but extremely well run.  Since it was so close to home, I was able to run to the start line as a warm up, where I met everyone from Adrian's group who was running.  The course went down California to Ocean, then up Ocean to San Vicente, then cut into the north of Montana neighborhood where it eventually took you down 4th street to California, before turning left to the finish.  I didn't really have goals for this race, other than to just go for it after the first mile and see how that went.  I started out conservatively with the 7:30 pacers (these two kids from Santa Monica high school who were just strolling along like it was nothing) through the first mile.  After the one mile mark, I felt pretty good so I sped up.  I knew the last mile was a slight downhill the whole way, so when I got there, I decided to just go all out.  Although I didn't PR, I came pretty close and, for the first time in years, feel like I could come close to beating my 25-year old 5K legs.  I might just have to run another 5K this year.

A 5K is nothing compared to a marathon, but turning in a good time was exactly what I needed heading into this weekend.  OC or bust!

Official results: 22:18/7:12 min/mile/ 5th place AG/ 10th place female overall
Garmin stats: 22:22/ 3.17 miles/ 7:03 average min/mile
Garmin splits:
Mile 1 - 7:27
Mile 1 - 7:06
Mile 3 - 6:39
Last 0.17 - 6:42 average

Run for Boston

I debated whether to write this post.  Then I debated whether to publish it.  Is it appropriate?  Is it too soon?  I don't know.  I have been thinking nonstop about Boston since yesterday and, like many of us, am looking to find a way to process it all.

Yesterday morning I was so excited for my friends who were running their first Boston Marathons.  I woke up to pictures of them in the athletes village before the race, freezing cold but giddy with anticipation and sporting their new Boston Athletic Association jackets.  I signed up to get athlete alerts for all of them, and anxiously awaited each text message as they made their way - one 5K at a time - through the streets of Boston.  Sitting 3000 miles away, I was happy that I could still cheer for them in some way.  They crossed the 40K mark, one by one, and I knew that they had only 1.4 miles left to go before they became Boston Marathon Finishers.  But as I was waiting for my last friend to cross the line, I remember thinking that her finish time should have popped up already, and maybe the timing system was just overloaded.  And then I got a text from my sister-in-law asking if I had heard what just happened in Boston, and my heart sank.

Thankfully, over the next few hours, I found out that all of my friends running and watching the race were safe, albeit very scared, confused, and shaken up.  Unfortunately, that was not the case for everyone else.  The news was heartbreaking and, after a while, I just couldn't look anymore.  Later that night, one of the girls that I run with told our group that she had seven friends in the hospital.  That is seven too many.

I'm sad, heartbroken and angry for what happened.  My heart goes out to the victims and their families.  I'm sad for all of the runners who prepared so hard for Boston, and that what should have been an amazing, celebratory day will be marred with memories of this horrific event.  I am sad for those runners who  never got to cross the finish line.  And I'm angry.  I'm angry that someone did this. And I'm scared.  I'm scared of the world that Nathan will grow up in.  Yesterday I told Ken that I didn't want him and Nathan waiting for me at the finish line anymore.  I didn't want them at races.  I couldn't bear the thought of them risking their safety just because I wanted someone to cheer for me.  It seemed too selfish.

But we can't live in fear.  We can't stop doing things we love because of some awful person's senseless acts of violence.  Maybe we have to live more cautiously, but life must go on.  I keep reminding myself that everyone at Boston was there because something about the marathon led them there.  People who love running.  People who love being there to cheer on their friends and families as they achieve something amazing.  People who love feeling the energy of a fantastic running community.  People who love the City of Boston.

I think that those people would want us to keep on running.  So when I toe the start line at the Orange County Marathon in May, I will do it for Boston.  I will run for everyone who lost their lives yesterday.  I will run for those who are still fighting for theirs, and for those who have a long road of recovery ahead.  I will  run for all of the runners who never crossed the finish line.  I will run for everyone that did cross the finish line, because their accomplishments should be honored.  I will run for everyone who supported Boston and all of the people affected by the tragedy, no matter where they were that day.

And I ask everyone else to do the same.  Lace up your shoes, and run for Boston.  If you are local, let me know, and I will race alongside you.  If you aren't, still let me know, and I'll be cheering you on from here.  Let's let our feet do the talking.

OC Marathon Training: Weeks 9 through 13

This blog has received absolutely no love for the past couple of weeks  . . er, month. Month plus, actually.

The last time I updated, I had done a lazy recap of weeks 6,7, and 8, and was looking forward to cheering my friends on at the LA Marathon.  Well, now the LA Marathon is like a distant memory, my race is less than a month away, I'm finished with both of my 20-milers, and I have one more hard week until taper.  For a moment, I considered scrapping the training recaps altogether since I've been such a slacker, but then I reminded myself how much of a geek I am and will want all of my numbers from this training cycle in one neat place for when I go back and analyze it later (that happens. it really does).

In a nutshell, except for one day when I had to skip a run (the horror!), and few altered workouts, all courtesy of some nasty day care germs that Nathan so kindly brought home with him, things have been going well.  I had a blast cheering people on at the LA Marathon, and got to run with my cousin for a brief 3.5-ish mile stretch (from 19.5 through 23) of the race before I pooped out.  I would have loved to run longer but he was on his way to finishing in 3:10 (read: faster than my 5K pace).  While a small part of me wished I was racing too, I enjoyed being a spectator this year.

Winner of the womens' race and the "Battle of the Sexes" challenge

Mile 22 of the LA Marathon

The backsides of LARR Group 4 as they head down the home stretch

As far as my own training is going, I've somehow managed to fit it all in, with minor adjustments here and there for life events like teething, during which no one is allowed to sleep for more than three hours at a time (Nathan's teething, that is - thankfully, Ken and I have all of our teeth).  Most weekday runs now start at 5:30 a.m., which is fairly miserable, but not an entirely terrible thing because that is the gun time for the marathon.  Intensity-wise, Adrian has been throwing some really hard mid-week runs into the schedule.  Sometimes I look at the workout that he has written for me and I think he has lost his mind.  But there is a method to his madness because I'm getting way better at running tempo miles at a 6% incline on a treadmill, and yesterday I ran the fastest 20 miles that I have ever run - training or race - and it felt great.

We have one more intense week of training, and then it is taper time!  Wheeeeee!

Weekly mileage recap:

Week 9 - 31.5 miles total (long run =  13 12 miles (broken up into pieces) @ 8:45 average)

Week 10 -45 miles total (long run = 20 miles @ 3:09/9:27 average)

Week 11 - 17.84 miles total (no long run - recovery!)

Week 12 - 42 miles total (long run= 17 miles @ 2:35:33/9:08 average, with last 7 miles at tempo)

Week 13 - 47 miles total (long run = 20 miles @ 2:54/8:44 ave pace, with last 10 miles at marathon race pace)

And for some extra fun, here are some pictures of my solo 17-miler in Palos Verdes. If I had to endure 17 miles all by myself, at least I had some good scenery!

And for anyone who has gotten this far, can you believe how big my nearly 6-month old baby is now?