San Jose Rock & Roll Half Marathon - DONE!!

Well I better write about this now or I'll forget or I won't end up doing it. I've never done any of the Rock and Roll races and after having a great race in San Francisco I got super excited and decided to sign up for San Jose Rock & Roll to try to PR again since it was a flat fast course. Oh boy, did the race gods have something else in store for me. I know that every race is not going to be a great race but it's so hard not to beat myself up. I finished in 2:28:16 which is not a bad time for me but I was still a little sad to not beat my 2:18 PR time. There is always next time :)


My original strategy was to start out with the 2:20 pace group and stay with them and then speed up after the half way mark but that pace group was in the corral behind me in 10 and I was in corral 9 :( so I lined up in my appropriate corral and figured I'd just keep a 10:30 pace and speed it up later on. So I did and I actually was able to keep that pace until mile 8 and I was happy because things were looking good in the time department and if I kept the pace I would finish in 2:17.


In the meantime though the weather had gotten pretty muggy. In fact I had started to sprinkle at the start of the race which was a bit odd but that didn't last too long. It just got muggy and I started sweating like a piggy. At the San Francisco Half I had decided not to carry water and I would just use the race water and gatorade because it was spaced out perfectly that I didn't need to carry my own and San Jose was the same. I got the first water stop which I think was either right before or right after the 2 mile marker and at that point I was already pretty hot so I needed the water. I took a cup, I took a sip and OMG it tasted so gross :( I looked over at where the water was being poured, it was water from a HOSE and it tasted like hose water. I spit it out and went for the Cytomax, blech!!! that was nasty also. I think I could have tolerated the Cytomax but if that stuff was mixed with the hose water than it's probably why it tasted so bad. Well there goes my drinking water from the race and I'm in trouble because I'm not carrying any. Most races have bottled water especially because some water company sponsors them. I have no idea what happened at San Jose but you'd think with the amount of money they charge and make off these races they'd provide decent water for the runners.


Rocky, Olivia and Lindsay were going to be at the right side of mile 4 so I knew I'd be seeing them and I knew that Rocky had brought some gatorade for himself so I thought I'd just drink that and tell him to pick up some water for me and I'd just get it from him when I saw him again That never happened. I guess they couldn't get to the right side and they were on the left so I never saw them. I would not see them again until mile 12 :( plan b wasn't gonna pan out for me. **Update 3pm - I just looked up the water sponser and it was Arrowhead, where did the arrowhead bottled water go? cause it sure wasn't out on the course**


Okay, I guess I'll just have to suck it up and drink the nasty water. I took a Power Gel around mile 6 and drank some water with it at the next water stop, probably not enough though. At mile 8 I was starting to feel a bit icky. I knew I was dehydrated, I was sweating quite a bit and I could feel my belly rumbling from the icky water so I took two packets of salt. That seemed to help me a little but by this point I couldn't keep the 10:30 pace so I slowed it down a bit. Around this time the 2:20 pace group finally came up behind me and I was going to try to stay with them but I couldn't. I just got slower. I was starting to get a little anxiouse and worried about being dehydrated so I decided to take off my shirt and just run in my sports bra which I NEVER do but I needed to cool off. I took off my shirt and that seemed to help.


At mile 12 I saw Rocky, Olivia, Lindsay and Leslie and I smiled a very forced smile at them and kept on going, I didn't stop. I was grumpy and since I was so close I just wanted to keep on going. I didn't realize it but Rocky was running to catch me and when he finally did and I saw he had his gatorade I guzzled quite a bit of it down like I hadn't had water in years! It tasted so good and it really seemed to help out. I walked a little, ran a little, walked a little and then ran it in at the finish line! Hubby right next to me :) thank god he caught up to me because I needed that push and that gatorade :)


I feel super sore today and I think a lot of it was that I pushed myself pretty hard in those first 8 miles and then afterwards I think I was tense so my upper body is pretty sore too.


I've learned my lesson on not carrying my own water or at least in finding out before the race what type of water a race will have. Phil said RNR is known for using hose water. Wish I had known that before :( next time I'll investigate more. This race though is probably not one I'll do again. If I'm paying $100 for a race I expect better. The expo was very small. The race gear sponsor was Brooks but the stuff fit funny and they didn't even have the logos on straight. I'm not paying $50 for a shirt that fits funny and has a crooked logo. I was not impressed with the gear. The race shirt they gave us was also Brooks and it was HUGE!! a shirt I will never wear, I think it fits Rocky so maybe he'll use it and of course the hose water. Boo!!


On a good note. This is a race that a lot of TNT people do so it was fun being out there with a lot of our friends. Quite a few people were also out there just to cheer and it's always nice to have that at a race. It gives you and extra boost to see your friends/family cheering.


2010 brought me 3 new half marathon's I'd never done before and 1 PR :) I've had a great year and a lot of that is thanks to my personal trainer who's gotten me in great shape. Losing the extra weight and having a stronger body has made me love running again and being faster is just an extra bonus :) I am also glad with my decision to stick to doin half marathons and not full marathons. My body appreciates it and I just enjoy it so much more. I don't miss running those 18 and 20 milers. I'm happy with how this year turned out. I'm already looking at races for next year and I'm hoping to throw in 3 more new ones. My races will also depend on hubby's schedule for Ironteam 2011. I'll keep you posted on where me and my running shoes will be next year :)

Still Plugging Along

I'm still here and I'm still as busy as ever. WE are still as busy as ever. I've been enjoying having the hubby home and spending time with him. The nice thing that has happened is that as a result of all my training with my personal trainer and the weight loss I have gotten faster and can now actually keep up and train with Rocky. That has been a lot of fun.

We cleaned up my bike and took it out for a nice 25 mile bike ride two weekends ago. I was pretty tired and out of breath for the first 10 miles but the rest of the ride was really nice and I actually enjoyed it. I plan on getting on my bike as much as I can before winter. I'm really hoping to get an Olympic or Half Ironman done soon but that will all depend on the hubby's upcoming schedule :)

On Labor Day we ran a 5K at Lake Merritt which was a fundraiser for the East Bay Walk Team. They did a great job on setting it up and hubby even won 1st place. After the race we headed out to Shadow Cliffs and did a half mile swim. I felt pretty pooped on the first two loops but after that I got in a groove and felt pretty good.

So I've decided to keep it up and add the swimming and the biking to my running as much as I can til winter hits.

This week I also joined a spin class that's being tought by Rocky's Ironteam Coach at Sports Basement in Walnut Creek. He'll be doing it for 7 weeks and I plan to join them for the entire time. I wanted to puke on Tuesday during and after but it was a great spin and although I'm sore today I felt good doing it. Something new to throw into the mix.

Rocky has signed up for another race, Iromman Coeur dalene in June 2011. We are very excited and look forward to him racing there next year. So the fun of training will start for him soon and so will my cooking, laundry and support :) I'm really excited though and can't wait for him to get started.

This Sunday we are doing a short "training" Tri. It's 700 yards swim, 18 mile bike and 4 mile run. It nice and short and it'll be fun to get out there.

Next on the running race books is San Jose Rock and Roll Half for me and Nike for Rocky. I am really hoping to PR at San Jose since it's a nice flat and fast course. We shall see though how that goes.

San Francisco Half Marathon

I ran the 2nd half of the San Francisco Marathon on Sunday.

The 2nd Half Marathon covers the second half of The San Francisco Marathon™ course with a slight deviation at Mile 2. The race starts in at Spreckel's Lake in Golden Gate Park and finishes on the Embarcadero (near the Ferry Building). It passes through Haight/Ashbury, the Mission District, into Mission Bay, and passes AT&T Park, finishing just before the Ferry Building.

and for the first time since 2003 I managed to have a great and fast (for me) race :o) My final time was 2:18:19 which was a PR. My last best time was in 2003 at the Avenue of the Giants Race and it was 2:19:28. YIPEEE!!! The races after that have been 2:20, 2:30 and 2:40ish time frame. I somehow progressively got worse instead of better :o(

I fully believe that the cross training with my trainer is what paid off and what has made me a much stronger runner because honestly I did not train as well as I should have for this race. I was suppose to be running Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and that did NOT happen, I was mostly just running on Saturday's and going to the gym twice a week.

I loved the race although I think because there were 3 different races doing on (2 half marathons and a full) it probably wasn't the most easiest race to spectate, I'm not sure, it seemed like there were many parts where no one was cheering and it got quiet out there. The race itself was well supported with water, cytomax and GU. I'm also very thankful that Olivia convinced me to do the second half and not the first. It was a lot less hilly although there were a lot of gradual inclines and it also started at 8:30 :o) I didn't have to get up til 6am which was very nice. Hubby dropped us off at the start line and then him and my parents went to mile 6. It was really nice to see them there but I was feeling so good that I didn't want to stop. I waved hello at them and threw my long sleeve shirt at Rocky and then kept going.

I believe they tried to see us at 9 but missed us so we just saw them again at the finish line. We got lots and lots of goodies at the finish although next time they need to give us a bag to put them all in. I could barely carry it all. I'm very happy I did this race, it's one I hadn't done before and I'm so happy with the way I performed :o) YAY for a good race.

Next......well, next might be San Jose Rock and Roll which I have a few more days to decide on before the price goes up or I may just wait to do Nike in October. I would love to do San Jose because it's a flatter course and maybe I could even get a better time but we shall see.

THANK YOU!!! to my hubby for skipping out his bike ride to come cheer me on and to my parents for getting up at the crack of dawn to join them.

WHOA stop the time!!

When did it become July, weren't we just celebrating Christmas? GEESH!!

Life at Casa de Reyes continues to be busy as usual. My hubby is doing AMAZING with his training (read here). I can't believe he started this back in November and now his race is only a month away. I"m already getting excited and nervous and I'm not the one doing the race, haa, haa. I am incredibly proud of him and what he has done so far.

I also continue to do well with my training although I did fall off the wagon a bit after we went on vacation at the end of April. It ended up being a month of going to the gym by the time I went back but the good news is that I managed to maintain my weight. I am only doing 2 days a week this time instead of 3 because working out on Friday's before a run is tough. I don't end up getting enough time to recove for my Saturday runs.

I am not running as much this season but luckily all the hard work from the gym has paid off on the road and I'm feeling great during the days I do run which are mainly on Saturday. I am signed up to do San Francisco Half in July with Olivia and I'm looking forwad to it.

Other than that I've been keeping really busy with stuff around the house and having some fun in the sun (now that it's finally sunny and warm out) with the BFF. We did manage to go to Hawaii in April and we'll be taking a small trip in July for our family reunion but until hubby is done at the end of July we won't be doing much traveling.

Hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July weekend :o)

The Yard - AFTER :o)

If you are facing the house to the left we had Succulents put in. Our neighbor, Ingrid, has succulents and we figured it would look nice to keep it all looking the same and she's done a great job over there already.

In the middle right in front of the house we put a Japanese Maple Tree (Fireglow)

3 Astilbe right behind the tree which look like this now

but will hopefully look like this

and towards the front of the tree we put 3 African Daisy's

and on the right side we put

3 Salvia Plants

5 Variegated Hebe which will have purple flowers that attract butterflies :o)

and 2 Golden Euonymus

I love our yard and can't wait to continue in the back yard :o)

The Yard - Before

I think I mentioned last year when we bought the house that I am NOT a gardner at all. I know nothing about plants and the few that I've tried to plant inside in pots and outside I've managed to kill :o( So there was no way that I was going to take on the challenge of making the yard look nice on my own. I actually attempted to plant a few things last year and I did not enjoy it but then you have my neighbor who's out there all summer and see's it as a stress reliever. I think I got more stressed, haa, haa.

Anyway, last year we did the kitchen and this year we'll focus on the yards. The backyard is going to be done in stages because I"m sure it won't be cheap so we'll take it a little bit at a time. The front yard is much smaller and we aren't putting too much out there so hired a gardner and he started last weekend. We initially hired him to clean out the weeds in both the back and the front but then he told me if I just went and picked up all the plants at Home Depot he'd put them in the ground for us. YAY!!! They finished doing the work last night and we love it. It makes our house look so much prettier. The challenge now will be not to kill the plants but I think I can handle watering. I'm so happy with the way it looks that that's motiviation enough to get me out there with the hose.

Here is what it looked like before and later today I'll take pictures of the after.

Bad Hair Day

I don't typically have Patch groomed at the groomers because he's always been easy to deal with at home but his fur has gotten a little out of control recently and since he needed his nails trimmed I decided to take him and Daisy in today. I don't like Daisy's hair short but it tends to get too wild especially around her face if it's too long so I have her done every few months. At one point we attempted to do it and that didn't go so well, it's not as easy at it looks.

Daisy looks cute

BUT

I'm not so happy about Patch :o( I was hoping he'd look like this. Short hair on the body and long hair on his ears and tail.

but instead he looks like this

They took his ear hair off :o(

Proud Oakland Resident

March 28th was the Inaugural Oakland Marathon/Half Marathon and I was part of the festivities. We heard about this race last year and since I am now a resident of Oakland and since the race is local and FLAT :o) I decided right away that I would do it. At some point last October my neighbor and I had been talking and she mentioned that she'd be interested in doing a half marathon for her 40th birthday (her bday was at the beginning of March) so this was perfect for her and I was her mentor/coach.

Ingrid did awesome this entire season considering she only ran on Saturday's and that her mom passed away at the end of January so she missed out on 3 weeks of training :o( She didn't let that stop her though and week after week she got out there and did her mileage and did great. I was gone at Wildflower with the hubby for the last short run before the race and for some reason Ingrid started having knee issues, issues that would become a problem on race day.

Saturday morning Ingrid and I headed over to the Marriott for the race expo. We quickly found out that it was not the expo that I am used to and really it was just a race number/shirt pick up location with a few booths advertising other races. They did have race shirts, hats and mugs so I picked up a shirt for myself although when I got home I realized it was 26.2 and not 13.1, boo. I also got hubby a sweatshirt. I guess the good thing about it not really being a place to shop is that my wallet stayed full :o) We left the expo and had a nice breakfast at Lynn & Lu's off Grand Avenue and then headed back home. I had cleaned the house on Friday and done grocery shopping early Saturday morning so that I could rest most of Saturday which is what I did til around 4pm I started preparing dinner for our "pasta party". Our little running group this season was Onweena, Sandra, Ingrid and myself so hubby and I invited everyone over for a little carbo loading. I decided to make salad, baked shrimp/feta over pasta and bread. Oweena was also spending the night since she lives in Fremont and darn that girl, she brought over cream puffs for dessert which I refrained from having til after the race. Gosh those things are yummy.

It was a nice evening which included a few gifts for the ladies :o) We did not get bags to check into gear check like most races so I made some for each of us.

but I also made this shirt for Ingrid

It made Ingrid cry and then Onweena and then Sandra and then me :o) but Ingrid loved it and it's what she wore on Sunday.

My hubby and his band played on the main stage and he was super lucky and scored a VIP parking pass which is funny because after all the worrying we did about how packed it'd be and where we would park it ended up not being a problem for anyone who got there around 8:00 (race start was 9am) but it was nice to be able to park super close.

My dad also joined us which is always a nice treat, he likes coming out to the races. I guess he couldn't convince my mom though to get up early, lol and join him. I don't blame her. It tends to be an early and of course long day.



Race started at 9am and I managed to finish in 2:41. I have to admit I really don't like the 9am start it's just too late to start a race. Of course it ended up being a warm weekend so it got a little too warm for us out there and we've been training in winter conditions. I still managed to have a good race though and I felt great at the end.



Ingrid also finished although not as great as she had hoped and a little injured :o( at 8 we separated because she had to slow down but around mile 9 she started to have some major knee pain and couldn't run so she walked from 9 to the finish. The good news is she completed her first half marathon and her hubby and daughter were there to see it :o) the bad news is she is still having some knee issues and will have to go through physical therapy. I am really proud of her and what she accomplished. YAY INGRID!!


The rest of our little group did great as well. Onween and Phil both PR'd :O) and Onweena now on her way to training for her first full marathon.

I think th race organizers did a great job in putting this race together and I'm happy that they will return next year. Oakland really needed this and I've read that Oakland brought in almost $2 million that weekend. The people of Oakland were also amazing in coming out and cheering. It was funny that so many people especially volunteers kept thanking us for "doing this for Oakland". I kept telling them NO THANK YOU for being out here for us runners.

I'm talking a little break and still seeing my trainer which continues to go well. I am most likely going to do the San Francisco Half but I'm still trying to decide since July is a very busy month for us and the race is one week before hubby's Ironman. We shall see. I did sign up for Nike Half again as a legacy runner and will be doing that in October. It has now become a tradition and it's the only race I'll keep doing over and over.

Ironteam Wildflower Training Weekend

He Swam (1.2 miles)

He Rode (56 miles)

He Ran (13.1 miles)

He Completed his First Half Ironman Distance Triathlon (70.3 miles)

We Volunteered and We Cheered

I am proud of him

**********************************************************

I think we are still trying to recover from the weekend, we are pooped but life goes on. Hubby's schedule had no rest time since they rested on Sunday (we drove back home from Wildflower) and I'm go go go with getting ready for the Oakland Half Marathon this weekend. Hubby's band is playing on the mainstage and I'll be running the race with a few friends including my neighbor. This is her first half marathon so my plan is to stay with her for the race.

For some reason I have really enjoyed running this season more than usual. I think part of it is that having my trainer has helped me so much and I don't feel like I'm struggling like I used to. It probably also helps that I've now lost 15lbs and I'm not carrying all that weight around. All the hard work has really paid off.

Still Here

Still here, still training with my trainer, still training with my neighbor for Oakland Half and still trying to keep up with the laundry and food that my husband is requiring...LOL!!! Hubby is doing awesome with his training and I'm very proud of him.

I am still doing great at the gym which makes me happy. I'm also doing good with my running and feel like the training with the trainer has really helped my running. I'm looking foward to running the Oakland Half.

Other than that life's just plugging along. I took a trip with my hubby to Florida a few weeks ago which was a nice break from work. Well, a break for me not so much for him since he was going there for work but it was nice to get away for a little bit. Thing are quickly going to get busy in the next few weeks for us. We've got hubby's Half Ironman Triathlon in 2 weeks, our annual April Vacation, Easter and then of course all the fun summer stuff is quickly approaching. Looking forward to it all and mainly for winter/cold/rainy season to be over.

Last night I had a Stitch-n-Bitch at our house which turned out very nice. It's been a very long time since we've all gotten together to knit although it's been even longer probably since I picked up my knitting needles :o( my poor yarn is growing cob webs on it. NO knitting got done but we did a lot of chatting and it was so nice to see the ladies and catch up with them. Looking foward to doing it again soon.

Oakland Half Training

Happy Monday! Things continue well and after being measured and weighed today I am down 12 lbs and 9% fat loss...WOOHOO!!! I am still 5 lbs from my ideal weight ant 10 from my goal weight but I have to admit that I feel great. It's the first time in many many years that I have felt this good. Yes, I have been quite active for the past 7 years so at least I haven't been sitting on my rear but I wasn't making a huge effort to lose weight. I had started WW 3 years ago and lost 14 pounds and then 2 years ago I really didn't put much effort into it and at the beginning of last year I really hit it hard. I'm very happy with my progress :o)

Training for the Oakland Half Marathon is going although I must admit I'm not pushing myself very hard. I've only been running on Saturday's or Sunday's and nothing during the week. It's till too dark at night after work and that creeps me out so I won't run alone. I had been helping my neighbor with training, it's her first half, so I had been mainly running with her and not going at my full speed but her mom died :o( so she's been out of town for 2 weeks. The last 2 weeks I've run with my friend/co-worker and she runs a bit faster so we've been sticking together for most of the Saturday runs. I have felt really good during those runs so I really think the loss of weight and strengthening of my core has made a huge difference.

Things at home are good although as usual very hectic. Hubby has been doing amazing with his training and I've been trying to keep up with his laundry and feedings...LOL!!! I though the amount of laundry I produced during tri training was bad!! geesh, this is crazy!. I also finally got a Costco card because the amount of food he's eating is crazy! But it's been fun because I'm getting to try out lots of new recipes. GO IRONHUBBY :o)

Continued Progress

This are good around here just really busy. Busy at work and busy at home so not much time for updating :o(

I continue to make great progress with my goal to lose weight and be healthy. I've cut down my food portions quite a bit and due to the constant headaches, which I'm still having :o(, I have cut out the alcohol which means no useless calories :o) I've dropped 10 lbs and 5% body fat. The fat is coming off faster than the weight but it's great. For the first time in a very long time I am feeling really good about my body and I'm happy. I'm done with the dieting and obsessing over the weight. I can still eat the things I love I just need to do it in moderation. Now that I'm going to the gym on a regular basis I'm really starting to enjoy it. I have to admit getting up at 5am isn't always easy but I'm doing it and loving the workouts. Now I need to go shopping in the smaller section of my own closet for clothes cause my fat clothes are falling off :o)

I noticed in this picture taken on January 16th that you can really tell in my face that I'm slimmer. No more chipmunk cheeks..lol

Hubby is also slimming down which is not such a great thing, he's going to disappear. He eats like a machine but with all the working out he is still losing weight and getting slimmer. YIKES!! He doesn't have smaller clothes so we may need to go shopping for him.

He is doing great with his training though and I'm very proud of him. He had a fundraiser this past weekend and raised lots of money for LLS.


He also completed his first Olympic Triathlon which you can read about here. Despite only having 4 hours of sleep he did a great job. GO IRONHUBBY!

Results

Things are going well at the gym. I still have my trainer and let me just say that she is kicking my rear into gear :o)

I managed to get in 11 sessions before the holidays and although I hadn't seen a huge drop in weight I did notice my clothes were looser. The good news was when she measured me and measured my fat I had dropped quite a bit. I was a happy camper. I decided to take the week of christmas off and new years because I've been having some bad headaches. I was only working a few days each week because of the holidays so I decided to just take it easy in every aspect. I managed to be very good during those two weeks and even managed to lose more weight. I've been cutting my food portions in half and because of the headaches the drinking has gone bye bye and that has helped quite a bit. My trainer measured me again yesterday and again my measurements were all down :o) YIPEE!! I have lost a total of 7 lbs since starting and quite a bit of fat. The biggest thing for me at this point is to be healthy. I of course love that I'm skinnier but the main goal is health. Diabetes and high cholesterol run in both hubby's and mine's family so it'd be nice to prevent that with just diet and excercise. The fact that the hubby is training so much and has to eat healthy has also helped us change our eating and consumption of alchohol.

Training for the Oakland Half Marathon starts next week so that will add 3 more days of workouts for me and that should help out even more.

We are both feeling pretty good.

Hello 2010!

Well we are 3 days into the new year and so far it's been pretty relaxing. It's also come with a bit of bad news but also a bit of great news.

The sad news....Our beloved Coach Mama Lisa who we love dearly and has been a huge inspiration, supporter and mentor to us has been diagnosed with breast cancer and will start her journey on this icky cancer battle :O( Lots of prayers for her.

The good news....our friends Trish and Steve got engaged and I am so excited for them to start their new journey in life together :o) Congratulations to them.

Hubby and I have had a pretty mellow few days. Well, I guess I can say that my days have been more mellow than my hubby's. There is no such thing as mellow in the Ironteam world. ICK!!

We spent New Year's Eve at home together. I made Chicken Pot Pie and we just watched tv and relaxed. It was very nice. Relaxing at home is not something we do often. Friday morning we got up and headed out to Mama Lisa's Annual New Year's Day Run. Although I've been working out quite a bit and have dropped quite a few pounds I'm in no shape to be running crazy hills at Lake Chabot so I decided to meet Meenu and go on a nice walk. Our friend Sandra joined us and we did a nice 4 mile hilly walk. It felt good to be out there and also see everyone.

While hubby's away I try to clean up, do laundry and get all the house stuff done and when he's home and he's not napping..LOL..we try to hang out together and just relax. Tomorrow it's back to work and back to the daily grind of life.