Nike Women's ...

It's kind of awful to say that this race was really an afterthought in my trip to San Francisco. But, it really was. Amid dinners, long chats, driving, shopping, photographing, shopping, (did I say shopping?) the thought was "Oh yeah, Nike on Sunday." Nonetheless when Sunday came around and Lindsey knocked on my door because my stupid cell phone alarm didn't go off, I was totally excited to take on the 13.1 miles ahead of me.

This will have been my fifth year running this race, and there is a reason I keep going back. I love it. For some reason this race gives me a hard time and for the past three years I haven't really "rocked" it per say. But the chance that I might, the challenge that the race presents keeps me coming back year after year. On a random side note, I just got an email from Nike yesterday letting me know a Legacy T-shirt will be on its way. Woot, woot!

The first 5-6 miles felt fine. Easy. Relaxed. Maybe too relaxed. I always feel like I need to go out conservatively in the first miles to save energy for later, but perhaps I could have been more aggressive. The hills between mile 6-9 absolutely posed a challenge. My brain wasn't quite in gear to pound up them. With a little therapy from Liz, I survived.

Around mile 10 Liz dropped off the course to use the facilities. She told me to go ahead and that she would catch up. So I popped in the iPod, got in the zone, and went, not knowing that Maren and Kaylynn had stopped to wait for me. I completely missed them. They waited, and waited.

I crossed the finish line, anxiously looking for my friends, who I assumed had crossed the finish line hours ago. :) They were behind me because they had waited. I felt awful!! I have amazing friends to say the least.

In hindsight, I'd like to look at Nike as a nice training run for New York on Sunday and take with me the following lessons:

• Don't stress about the hills until they come. The anticipation makes the actual experience 10X worse. To stress about something that hasn't happened yet is unneeded.
• Get in the zone. Don't think. Just let go and run.

I'm very much looking forward to this weekend in New York City. I'm a NYC virgin. Never been. Can't wait. This week will be full of relaxing, drinking water and lots o' sleep. Wait, and letting go. Just let the race happen, right Julia? We'll see ............

marathon runners

So I was doing a 20-minute cardio yoga workout in my living room this morning, and this is how it went:

Instructor: You should be feeling pretty out of breath by now.
Me (thinking): Um, not really.
Instructor: Unless you're a marathon runner.

Awesome.

first lady of the marathon

Check out Paula Radcliffe's impressive record:

• World record for the marathon: 2:15:25
• World record for the 10K: 30:21
• Half Marathon: 1:05:40
• 17 Olympic medals, 9 gold medals

The rest can be found here. Her races are so inspirational, and her perseverance despite her injuries keep me motivated.

I will be thinking of her running ahead of me on race day in New York on November 2nd. If that's not inspiration, to be able run the same course as her, then I don't know what is. Now if I could only meet her ... :)

20 (20) miler report

HA. i didn't get lost, no worries.

i woke up at the ungodly hour of 6am and looked out the window only to see it was pitch dark outside. where have i been the last few weeks? in bed, of course. maggie even thought it was early. she didn't even bother to look at me when i got out of bed. so i ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and went back to bed to wait for the sunrise.

around 7 i hit the pavement. there's always that moment right when you start when you think "holy crap, i've got 20 miles to run" ... "1/2 mile down, 19 1/2 to go" ... "geeeeez, that's a long way". and let's not lie here, it is a long way. shoot, in cali that's like running from sunnyvale to san carlos; in utah, salt lake city to draper; and in nc, cary to chapel hill. my problem is that i've let that thought run away from me. (ha). in my past races and long runs, i have felt so overwhelmed by the effort, and then have consequently broken down. it's been very frustrating.

today, like my 22 miler a few weeks ago, felt so different and i can't explain why. perhaps it's the audiobook on my ipod, or literally saying out loud "you CAN do this" or the new song i HAVE to listen to while i'm chugging up a long hill. nonetheless, i finished and i'm feeling so dang good about it.

what's next? 13.1 next weekend in san francisco at the nike women's marathon, an 8 miler, and then the new york marathon. geez. i can't wait.

this running thing has really changed my life. what i did this morning, though hard, gives me a huge sense of accomplishment and pride. i highly recommend it.

bring it on

one more time ... 20 miles ... tomorrow morning. i'm ready. bring it on.

toot toot

http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/v1/html/milestones/print_certif.html?id=1022944584&region=us&language=en&locale=en_us&dateFormat=MM/DD/YY

Nike+ just told me I hit the 500 mile mark...and that's just the runs I use Nike+ for. Go me! :)

strategies for success

we all live very busy lives and have many things that demand our precious time. and yet, we still choose to run, despite the busyness and chaos.

for the past two weeks i have had a problem "choosing to run". gasp. with new demands on my schedule i've found myself sleeping less, and feeling more stressed, which results in missed morning runs. and forget trying to run after work. i feel like a zombie after staring at a computer for ten hours a day.

i know this is a choice. i choose not to run even though i'm tired. this is the part that drives me nuts. why can't i get my butt out of bed in the morning? why can't i lace up my running shoes after work and go out for a quick run?

so i'd like to know how you do it. i'm in an adjustment period right now (and being a total wimp) and need a little pep talk.