Favorite Things AND a couple of giveaways!

2011 was a good year. Here is a list of some of the things that got me through the last year in running.  I originally planned to post this as a Christmas list, but my December hiatus postponed this post.
Some of my favorite things are the same as last year, but I have a few new ones as well.

1. Nuun.—I am a new Nuun convert (a “Nuunie”). I had tried it in the past, but didn’t become loyal until this year. They have lots of yummy flavors, so I will never get bored. I am so spoiled now that I don’t even use water. My kids are hooked as well. They drink it during hockey and soccer practices. It seems to really keep me hydrated—no more calf cramps. Keep reading for giveaway below!

2. iFitness Double Neoprene Pouch—I have already written about this one, but it remains my favorite accessory. I use it for nearly every run. I honestly don’t know what I would do without this accessory. It fits my phone (an HTC Incredible 2, which is not a small phone), camera, cash, lip balm…whatever.  Keep reading for giveaway below!

3. Knee Socks. Fellow Hood to Coast Nuun Plattuuner Tonia (from Racing with Babes) got me hooked on knee socks.  They make a fashion statement AND when they are compression socks, they help my muscles feel better after a run.  In fact, I have enjoyed running in compression socks so much that I ran St. George in my hot pink Recovery Socks. I also have compression socks from Zensah and Bauer (they came free with my husband’s hockey gear).

4. Arbonne Lip Saver lip balm. This little lip balm is awesome. It has SPF 30 and stays on for a long time. It smells nice, but isn't overpowering. It is smoother than chapstick and other lip balms, but stays on longer than most smooth or creamy lip stuff.  You can buy it HERE.

5. Sugoi Versa jacket—I received this for Christmas last year and I love it. The sleeves come off to leave a vest.  The bolero style sleeves stash neatly in the back pocket. I t is great to wear on a chilly morning, especially one that is a little breezy.

6. Arm Warmers—I love my arm warmers. I have four pair and enjoy all of them. They are different brands. The weather around here can get pretty crazy. We have had runs where it is 40 degrees when we start and 70 when we end.  This is when arm warmers really come in handy. When it warms up, I just pull them off and tie them around my iFitness belt.

7. Garmin—This little gadget continues to be a staple in my running. Pacing and split management was key in my success in St. George. I still need to find ways to use it to its fullest potential. I rarely use the heart rate monitor and haven’t learned how to use the virtual partner.

8. Rockmyrun.com—My new source for running music can’t be beat. Have you discovered this site yet? Do yourself a favor while it is still in Beta. Their running mixes are FREE right now!  And they are awesome. They have worked with runners to find some great mixes with the perfect beats per minute.

9. Jamba Juice—I still love my Jamba. I love the smoothies, I love the oatmeal, I love just about everything. I am trying to add more greens to my diet and have recently started having a wheat grass shot every time I go in.  My kids beg me for the frozen yogurt.  Did you know they had frozen yogurt?  disclosure: http://cmp.ly/2/lHtGGa

OK…now the part you were looking for!  The GIVEAWAY!  I am giving away FOUR of my favorite things!  I am giving away one iFitness Double Neoprene Pouch, one tube of Nuun (and a bpa-free plastic bottle to drink it from), a $5 Jamba Juice gift card, and a tube of Arbonne Lip Saver!!!!! I will have a total of four winners--one for each prize.

You must be a follower to win, but other than that, all the entries are optional. You get an entry for leaving a comment saying which prize you want to win, if you have a preference. It is optional, but if you don’t leave a comment, I won't know what you want, so you get what you get. ;-)  If you tweet, please use @momtomarathon so I know you tweeted.  Also, if you like a Facebook page (mine, iFitness or Nuun), can you stop by and leave a comment so I know?  Thanks!

 Please make sure you enter using the Rafflecopter entry form below.  I will use Rafflecopter to pick a winner on January 23.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hood to Coast Race Report Part 6—party on the beach AND a thanks to our sponsors

Ah yes… you thought you were done with Hood to Coast recaps.  Well, almost.  I would be remiss if I didn’t finish the story.

Once I was done running, we hopped into the van and headed toward the beach. We all had thought we would shower, nap etc., but we were too excited. This was the “biggest beach party on the West Coast.”

 
The beach was slightly cool and breezy. It was nice.


We stalked famous people.  The above picture is the Heart –n- Sole team from the Hood to Coast Movie.  Below is Bob Foote, the founder of Hood to Coast. I really enjoyed talking with him! He is a runner’s runner.


Then it was time for a little revelry!  I think we earned those beers!

After a few beers, it was time to head to the finish line to cheer on our teams.  Unfortunately, the rest of Nuun Platuun hadn’t made it to the beach due to crazy traffic. It was up to us to give XLMIC a huge welcome.

As usual, she was giving it all she had.  You can read her own version HERE. She ran that last leg as fast as she possibly could.  She anchored our team beautifully.

Nuun Platuun did better than anyone expected.  While we did great on the first two legs, each one of us dug deeper for that last leg.  Our team finished 200 grueling miles in 27:59:17!!!   We finished 7th in the Women’s Open Division!  That was an hour faster than our 10K PRs predicted.  We were all more than thrilled at our stellar finish.

Thirteen minutes later, Megan finished.  She was injured and hurting, but she finished strong with a huge smile on her face (pictured above).  You can read about her runs HERE.

There were a lot of emotions.  Hood to Coast was over and both teams had highs and lows and did GREAT.


Van 2 finally made it to the beach.  We received our medals, took some pictures, then there was more partying. The entire team had a fun time. It was everything I had hoped it would be. It was more than a race, more than a blogger meetup. It was something hard to put into words (yet I used thousands of words to try). I would do it again in a heartbeat!





Here is a video that briefly portrays the Hood to Coast experience:




And now a word about our incredibly generous sponsors…


Of course, the number one sponsor to thank goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway). Nuun was FANTASTIC in putting this entire thing together.  I still pinch myself when I think about how lucky I was to have been involved.

Running Skirts generously donated some awesome camo running skirts to the team. How great do we look?

Road ID gave us some killer dog tags. I love mine and wore it the entire time during HTC. 


Moving Comfort was kind enough to give us some bras. I LOVE my Juno bra.
Looking back, I should have run in just my bra during HTC.  Jess did that and looked awesome.


Tommie Copper sent us a bunch of compression gear. I have worn the ankle sleeves several times (to help with some tendonitis I get on the top of my foot), the knee sleeve (after my first leg when my IT band got a bit angry) and the calf sleeves.  They are all super comfortable!


Buildasign.com provided signs for our vans. They did a great job! Not only did the magnets look good, but they stayed on the vans.  Four vans, multiple signs and no sign loss.

2Toms provided some great Sport Shield to keep us from chafing.  I am taking this stuff with me to St. George! It goes on like roll-on deodorant and dries so you don’t even know it is there.


Jack Black cosmetics supplied us with a great sample pack of lotions, sunscreens and lip balms. This is another product I will be taking with me to St. George. They have an SPF 45 sunscreen that I really like and the lip balm saved me!

We spent a day and a half in a van and snack foods were important. Jamba Juice provided the team with some coconut water juice.  They were a hit!

Jenny Craig also sent us some Oatmeal Breakfast Squares. They really hit the spot at odd times during the day.  They were perfect as a breakfast snack even when breakfast was at 2 in the morning.

And we also were given some Gu, a key ingredient of any race. While the flavors weren’t my personal favorite, Gu is my gel of choice. It will be fueling me on Saturday during the marathon.

It was wonderful for all these companies to support our adventure in such a big way. It just shows how admired all the women are and how they conduct themselves out in the blogosphere. Everyone represented these sponsors well and appreciated all the products more than the sponsors will know. It was just the added touch that made the entire experience a bit surreal.

Thanks again to everyone for all your support.

Happy Running…

Don’t forget to enter my giveaways for free Gymboss Interval Timers.  Today is the last day.  You can find the blog giveaway HERE. And my Facebook giveaway HERE.

Jamba Juice anyone?

Check out these great coupons! Just in time for the new fall flavors like Pumpkin Smash! Click on the picture for a printable coupon!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for an iFitness Hydration Belt!!!  http://lisasepiphany.blogspot.com/2011/09/review-and-giveawayifitness-hydration.html

Ambassador of WOW!

If you have been following me for a while, you might remember that I ran for Team Jamba over the summer.  I was chosen through Active Ambassadors.  Of the 100 Jamba Juice Ambassadors, several of us were called and asked if we would be interested in taking the ambassador program one step further.  I drove up to Santa Monica to interview with a PR/advertising agency.  Three of us were chosen to be the Ambassadors of Wow!  The coolest thing is that Nadine and I became friends through Team Jamba and are super excited about working with each other.  We met the third Ambassador, Felipe, at the LA Eco Mud Run and he is a really nice guy.

We recently had a photo shoot up in Beverly Hills.  Other than battling gruesome traffic in LA, it was a great experience.  I have never done anything like that.  There was hair, makeup and wardrobe.  There was even a food stylist.  We had a couple of wardrobe changes and I posed with both oatmeal (my personal Jamba Juice favorite) and a probiotic smoothie (they let me drink it afterwards--yummy!)

Today was the launch of Jamba Juice’s Ambassador of Wow campaign.  I checked the website several times during the day.  When it finally went live, I was so excited.  

Check out JambaJuice.com’s newest campaign! 

Recognize anyone?

Over the next several months Nadine, Felipe and I will be Jamba Juice spokespeople.  I don’t have a lot of details yet, but I am looking forward to it. Nadine and I joke that we are the Jareds of Jamba Juice.  I do know that there will be smoothies and oatmeal in my future and that makes me happy.

A carcass, a long run and a small world…

I had a long run planned for Saturday.  It was the first really long run in a while.  Ironically, even though I have been putting in a lot of miles lately, I haven’t run anything longer than thirteen miles in months.  In fact, since my last half marathon on June 5, the longest run I have done is ten miles.  So sixteen miles was a big jump for me. I was actually a little nervous.

I had a very fitful night’s sleep.  I was alone in the house as my husband was out of town and my kids were spending the night with their cousin, so I could run early.  I can’t remember the last time, if ever, I was alone in the house at night.  Around 1:30 a.m. the cat started meowing loudly.  I woke up to check on her.  This meow sounded like her hunting triumph and I expected to see her with her prey.  She was just looking at me….no prey in her claws.  I checked her bowl and it was empty, so I assumed that she was just hungry.  Feeling guilty for letting it run out, I opened up a special can for her and went back to bed.

A few hours later, I woke up without my alarm (which I had set incorrectly) about 20 minutes later than I would have liked.  As I walked into the living room, I saw what I should have seen earlier—a dead RAT.   Arrrrgggghhhhh.  Damn cat!  What is worse is that she brought that thing through the dog/cat door IN.MY.ROOM.  Ack.  The worst thing is that when I didn’t see it in the middle of the night, I rewarded her with some canned food!!!   She thinks she brought me a prize.  One thing you have to know about me is I. HATE. DEAD. CRITTERS.  I can deal with poop, puke etc.  I can unclog a stopped up toilet and clean up after a sick kid.  I cannot deal with the carcass of a dead rodent.  It gives me chills just writing this.  So here I am, alone in the house with my husband five hours away.  I HAD to deal with this before leaving for my run.  If I left it a) the cat would eat it (shudder) or b) it would start to smell.  I grabbed the pooper scooper from the back yard and psyched myself up enough to roll the thing onto the poop shovel and heave it over the back wall into the common area where a vulture or something would take care of it (or the HOA gardeners…LOL).  That threw my pre-run routine out the window.  I didn’t get to eat my English muffin with peanut butter.  I think that affected me later.

We finally made it down to the Huntington Beach pier around 6:20 (Kelly had issues in the morning, as well).  I was really tired and not feeling great, but I was looking forward to the run along the ocean.  As we started out, I felt great.  It was an absolutely gorgeous morning.  We ran south along the beach toward Newport.  We were running around a 9:30 pace for quite a ways.  After a while (around six or seven miles, I think) I noticed that Kelly was having a harder time talking.  I knew that keeping up that pace would wear her out sooner than she wanted.   I was getting a bit tired, so I decided to slow a bit.  We let the guys go on ahead while we slowed down.

We turned around at eight miles, which meant going into the neighborhoods of Newport/Balboa after the boardwalk had ended.  Kelly wanted to make sure we went that far instead of trying to make up the rest at the end after the pier.  She knew that once we got back to the pier, she would be done.  It turns out, running out to eight miles out is the only way I would have run sixteen as well.  I would have stopped well short of that point had I reached the pier before sixteen miles.
   
I had run out of Gu and grabbed random fuel from a box in my pantry where I keep samples etc. for the run that morning.  I ate an Accel Gel around 5 miles, which did not taste particularly good.  It is way too sweet and I had to gag it down.  Around ten miles, I needed something else.  I had a pack of Clif Shot Bloks that I had received in a race bag.  It was pina colada flavored.  According to Kelly, it was the color of urine.  Mmmm….appetizing.  And it tasted like sunscreen!  I choked down two or three bloks and couldn’t eat any more.  YUCK!


Around mile 14, I was starting to drag and really just wanted to be done.  Kelly was feeling the same way.  She kept falling behind a little bit more.  I would slow down or stop and wait.  Finally, when we got on the path along PCH, she told me to go ahead.  She was fine, but she wanted to take it easy and she wanted me to finish strong.  I admit, I was wanting to push my pace a little to see if my legs could pick it up while feeling so tired.  The bike path was teeming with beach goers by this point, so it wasn’t like I was leaving her alone.  I decided to go ahead and run the last two miles at or near my marathon goal pace.  I was able to run under 9:00 miles and finished with the last part being closer to 8:30.  I am glad that I can push it even when I am under-fueled and over-tired.

Kelly came in a little bit later and we all went to Jamba Juice for post-run smoothies.  I added a protein boost to help me recover.  The rest of the group stayed at the beach for a bit, but I needed to get back to my kids.  My brother only has one child, so I know that three is a big change in their house and I didn’t want to take advantage.

Later that afternoon, I realized that, while I finished the run strong, it may have been my limit for that day.  I was worthless for the rest of the day.  I couldn’t get anything done.  I was exhausted.  My kids watched movies and vegged with me (I didn’t earn the Mother of the Year award that day). I laid down and took a nap.  I did manage to cook some dinner for all of us and then went to bed early.  I tell my clients that if you feel wasted and tired several hours after a workout, you did too much.  Hmmm…. maybe I did too much?  Luckily, I felt back to normal Sunday and had a great recovery run on Monday.  No harm done.

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

So the day before my long run, I had one of the most incredible small world stories happen to me*.  I went to the beach with the kids along with Kelly and her kids.  We all piled in one car and drove to Corona del Mar, a great little beach with a nice easy surf for the kids. 

Because of a ridiculous amount of traffic caused by opening day of the fair, we didn’t get down there until well past noon.  The beach was already pretty crowded.  We found an empty spot, right in front of a man and his kids.  After spreading the blanket and getting some food from the cooler, I did a double take after glancing at the man.  He looked exactly like one of my blog buddies, LB from Muddy Runner!

I’ve seen plenty of pictures of him and know him through his blog.  I was 90% sure it was him.  Once he put on his Mud Run t-shirt, I was convinced.  I said to him, “excuse me, do you have a blog called Muddy Runner?”  He looked at me incredulously.  I said, “I’m Lisa from Discovering the Meaning of Stonehenge.**  He said something like, “what are the odds??!!”  Seriously.  There were thousands of people down at the beach that day.  What ARE the odds?

It was cool to see him and talk to him and put a voice with the blog.  I saw his little girls that he writes about, although they were playing in the ocean the entire time I was there.   We had waved to each other at Surf City, but have not crossed paths again, even though we live and run relatively close to one another (especially when I consider how far away some of my blog friends are).

Check out the pictures to get a picture of how crowded the beach was.  To put my blanket down right next to LB's is unbelievable.  I love fun coincidences!

 It was a fun and crowded day at the beach.

Happy Running....

*however, nothing will ever top my best small world story.  Read it here.
**I am really thinking about changing the name of this blog.  It is quite a mouthful.

Coronado Independence Day 15K Race Report

On July 4 I ran a 15K in Coronado (San Diego).  We were staying the weekend with our friends Jason and Tracy.  Tracy was running the 15K and I thought it would be fun to run it as well.  And as you know… I just can’t seem to say no to a race right now*

The race started at 7, so we thought we would get there around 6 in order to find a decent parking spot and have time before the race.  I ran this race two years ago and was able to park super close to the race area.  I must have arrived much earlier that year because when Tracy and I got there, parking was an issue.  We finally found a spot in the neighborhoods of Coronado, which was probably 3/4 mile from the park.

We picked up our race packet and were pleased to see that they had tech shirts and chips this year.  No more white cotton t-shirts and elbows at the starting line!  We made it back to the car to put our stuff in it and back to the park with plenty of time to spare.

I had run a 10k the day before and it hurt**.  I have come to the conclusion that 10ks are HARD.  I was really looking forward to this race.  I have decided that I enjoy the longer races where you can get into a groove and really feel the pace.  The shorter races seem like you have to push it the entire time.  In a 5K, if you aren’t at the puke threshold the entire time, you aren’t going to have a good time.  No thank you.

We lined up near the start.  Tracy seemed excited too.  She had run this race the previous year and really wanted to PR.  She had recently upped her mileage and was feeling good about her running.  I knew that she would run a strong race.

As they played the National Anthem, I was struck by the silence.  The song was a recording (Carrie Underwood from the Superbowl—a popular choice at these races), so it wasn’t out of respect for the singer.  All the runners, amped up for a race, were silent out of respect for our country and the flag on Independence Day.  It was amazing.  Toward the end of the song, I started hearing the familiar chatting that you often hear before a race.  But for a few moments, we heard only the song and saw the flag billowing in the slight breeze.  It was pretty cool.

I wasn’t too sure what my goal was.  It had been a whirlwind weekend with races Saturday morning then packing up to head to San Diego for an afternoon with friends.  I didn’t get a chance to research what my goal would be.  In my head, my 15K PR was 1:24.  But somewhere in the back of my mind, I kept thinking about 1:21.  It turns out that I ran the Coronado 15k back in 2008 in 1:24, but ran the Resolution Run 15k in January 2009 in 1:21.  How does someone forget their PR?  Since the 15K is never a key race for me, I have never really focused on hitting a certain time.  I decided as I was waiting for the race to start, to try to finish under 1:20.  I did some quick math and calculated that an 8:30 pace should do it.  Ironically, that is slower than my half marathon pace for a shorter race.  However, I had run hard the previous day and hadn’t had much sleep in the days prior, so I didn’t want to push too hard.

Then we were off.  The race starts on the field and merges onto a narrow bike path.  I had run this race in 2008 and knew that the first part was a bit slow, but that it opened up after getting off the bike path.  Even with the bottleneck and weaving through other runners, my first mile was 8:34.  Not bad.
There isn’t really anything special about the course.  While Coronado is a beautiful place, much of the course is not.  We run by the bay briefly and then along the golf course.  It heads down the strand, only to turn into the Navy Amphibious Base where we run through a maze of concrete.  It isn’t very scenic, but I was able to hear Reveille as the colors were raised at 8 a.m.  That was kind of cool on Independence Day.  The other significant feature of the course is that it is FLAT.  Many races tout a “pancake flat” course as a good thing.  Honestly, by the fifth mile, I was yearning for a hill, just a little hill.  Rolling hills are much more enjoyable for me than a flat course.  I LOVE running downhill and the only way to get it is to run up a few.  Flat=boring.

The course was an out-and-back.  I know a lot of runners who hate out-and-backs, but I am starting to really like them, especially when I know other runners in the field.  Before the turnaround, I saw the frontrunners.  I love cheering for them.  The first woman was WAY back, however.  I think she came in around 29th.  The group of runners around me started telling the next three or four women where they were (“you’re the third woman!!  way to go!).  I saw a fast guy running with the early pack.  He was dressed just like me!  Another member of Team Jamba!!!  He was looking really good, like he had superpowers like his shirt said.  We waved at each other and cheered.  I was bummed that I didn’t find him after the race to introduce myself.  We are on the same team, afterall.  After the turnaround, I saw my friend Tracy not too far behind me.  She looked strong and had a smile on her face.  She was having a good race.  I also saw another member of Team Jamba.  We had briefly spoken before the race, but, sadly, I forgot her name.

Even though I wasn’t pushing myself particularly hard (relative to other races I have run), by the turnaround, I was feeling pretty tired.  I have been pretty successful at my pacing lately.  I have been able to start races out at the right pace in order to speed up at the end with negative splits.  I knew by the half-way point that negative splits weren’t going to happen***.  I just wanted to maintain my pace and keep it so I could finish well under 1:20.  I had a brief chat with a couple of runners around mile 8 where we determined that we were on target for sub-1:20.

As I hit the bike path, I just wanted the race to be done.  I was done.  I was tired and quickly running out of steam.  Finally, we went onto the grass.  The announcer said, “if you can hear my voice, you are only a couple hundred yards from the finish!”  I sprinted on the grass and was happy to see 1:18 on the clock.  Overall, here are the results:
Overall:  377 out of 1163
Women: 116 out of 605
F 40-44: 17 out of 89
Age/Grade: 62.68% Place: 246
Finish: 1:18:07 Pace: 8:23
Tag Time: 1:18:07
Gun Time: 1:18:30


Tracy came in a few minutes after me and PR’d by seven minutes!  She looked very strong coming in.  She ran the race in 1:26 and kept even splits throughout.  I’m so proud of her!!  She’s another mom who has started running late in life.  Go us!
 
It was a nice race with nearly perfect weather.  We both felt really good afterward.  We went back to the car, back to her house and then to a friend’s pool party a few hours later.  We sat and ate barbecue food throughout the afternoon, knowing we had run over nine miles before the day really began for everyone else.  A great way to spend the 4th of July!

Happy Running.


*more on that in a future post.
**The 5K was run at a slower pace and was more of a cool down, so I enjoyed it more.
***mile 1—8:34
mile 2—8:08
mile 3—8:13
mile 4—8:06
mile 5—8:25
mile 6—8:24
mile 7—8:20
mile 8—8:19
mile 9—8:18
.44—7:39 pace (that weaving at the beginning gets me every time!)

Mary Castle Firecracker 10K/5K Race Report

On July 3, the community where I live had an Independence Day celebration.  They had a pancake breakfast, a dog show and fireworks.  They also had a 10K and 5K race.  The start and finish was at the high school, which is so close to my house, I can hear the class bells during the day.  I can hear the marching band practicing and see the lights on the field during sporting events.   How could I not run this race?

The race started early.  It was called the “10K Dawn Run” and began at 8 a.m.  My friend, Marci came and parked at my house at 5:30 and we jogged to the race area for a nice little warm-up.  I had picked up my packet, but Marci had to register.

 

We didn’t wait long before we were ushered to the starting area.  The race was chip-timed, which was a pleasant surprise, considering that this is a relatively small local race.  If a little race like this can afford to do chip timing, there is no excuse for any bigger races not to do it.

Marci asked what my goal was and I wasn’t exactly sure.  I had only done three other 10k’s and one of them was the Nike+ Human Race.  My PR was from that Nike+ race (55 minutes and change) that was pretty much on the honor system, so it never really felt real.  I knew that I could PR with relative ease, since those races were in 2007 (my first race ever) and 2008.  I told her that I would like to run it at around an 8 minute pace, if possible.  She was good with that.  Before we knew it, we were off.

We started off running on the track and then out on a road I drive or run on all the time.  There were some rolling hills in the first few miles, which I love.  I haven’t run with a friend in a race in a very long time.  It was strange to run next to someone you run and chat with and not say a word.  I made some editorial comments hear and there.  I thanked volunteers and spectators.  At the first water station, it was obvious that the volunteers were pretty new at this.  They had some water poured, but they chatted with each other and didn’t hold the cups out at all.  It was only around mile 1, so no one seemed to mind.  I didn’t.  I did notice that the same girls were handing them out on the way back.  They must have figured it out by then.  The first two miles were 7:47 and 8:04—we were off to a good start.

After the second mile, the course started uphill.  The name of our community is Anaheim Hills, so it was no surprise.  I had run this road before and knew what to expect.  What I didn’t expect was that it turned up yet another, steeper, road before turning around.  There was a water stop at that turn and we grabbed water and stopped to walk while we drank it.  Marci said breathlessly, “I’m dying.”  We kept up that steepest part of the course toward the turnaround.  The only redeeming fact about that incline was that I knew that we got to run down it in a few minutes.  That third mile of the race was our slowest, by far: 8:47.

There was a very athletic blonde girl running ahead of us most of the race.  In my head, I wanted to pass her.  I knew she was younger than me, but she looked strong and I wanted to pass her.  As Marci and I flew down the hills in the fourth mile after the turn-around, we passed her.  I didn’t know whether or not Marci was competitive like me during races or I would have high-fived her.  But then I thought that might be rude.  It would have been premature, too.  When we reached the flatter terrain, she passed us again.  I’m glad I hadn’t been cocky.  The fourth mile, which is mostly downhill was 7:33.  The fifth mile was 8:08, just slightly slower than the same stretch of road in the beginning.

As we turned onto the track for the final stretch, I knew I had a bit more left.  I could see the tall blonde ahead of me.  Marci and I had run the entire race together, but I really wanted to sprint it in.  I picked it up and sprinted the final 200 meters.  I passed the blond!!  I ran across the finish line and saw 50:XX.  I was THRILLED.  That was five minutes off my previous PR.  The last mile was 8:01 and the final few hundred yards were run at a 7:03 pace!

Marci came in about fifteen seconds behind me.  She congratulated me for my strong finish and I was relieved that she wasn’t upset that I took off.  She told me that if she could have talked, she would have yelled, “Go, Lisa!!”  She also thanked me for passing the blonde.  LOL.  I knew she and I were good running mates!

Marci had to leave, but I stayed around to run the 5K with my sister-in-law, Kristi.  I had promised her to run next to her, to help her meet her goal for her second 5K.  She is very new to running and was pretty nervous.  I was looking forward to a nice cool down after the really tough 10K we had just run.

We started out the first mile a bit faster than I thought was wise for her goal, but she was all smiles and felt great.  I thought that maybe her goal (under 35 minutes) was too conservative for the extra running she had done.  I didn’t slow her down, but I did let her know what her pace was. 

By the time we hit the end of the second mile, I knew she was hurting a bit.  She stopped for a moment to walk and when her iPod froze, I thought for a moment, she was going to cry.  Luckily, that had happened to me before and I was able to reset it so she could continue to listen to her music.

We continued and I occasionally told her about the terrain or how much further we had.  When I told her that we were feet from turning into the track for the finish, she lit up.  She turned on the steam and really started going.  I am so proud that her last few hundred yards were run at the fastest pace of the day.  She really dug deep.  We crossed the finish line in 34:30!!!  She beat her goal by 30 seconds!!  She thanked me for pushing her, although she really just pushed herself.  I merely gave her information throughout the race to help her.
My family doesn’t usually come to my races.  It is tough to get the kids up that early and my husband gets stressed out trying to navigate all the logistics of finding Mommy.  He came down to my first two marathons and was totally bummed when he missed me at one of his viewing spots.  Since this one was so close, my husband brought the kids down to the race on their bikes. 

My biggest fans!

We waited for the awards because I had a feeling that I might win an age group award.  I had only counted four women in front of us and was pretty sure we both did pretty well.  I heard Marci’s name called as the winner of her age group.  Yippee!!  As they announced the winner for women 40-44, I thought I heard the winning time of 53:00!  What???  I had come in three minutes ahead of that.  I went and looked at the results, I wasn’t listed.  I was nearly in tears.

I went to the timing trailer to try to work it out.  There were a couple of other runners with the same problem.  There was a list that was posted right after the 10K that had me listed as the winner of my AG.  The timing official explained that when I stepped on the timing mat during the 5K, it erased my 10K time and gave me a new start time.  ACK!!!  Why didn’t I just take that dumb chip off and throw it away?  Luckily he was able to change my time based on what my Garmin said.  Unfortunately, he was only able give me my gun time instead of my chip time.  That changed my time from 50:23 to 50:42.  I was still the winner of my age group, but I went from 5th woman to 6th woman.  I didn’t care.  I won my very first division award!!!

Woo hoo!!  I’m the winner!

I was running for Team Jamba and there was a Jamba Juice tent.  I was so excited.  I was looking forward to helping to hand out samples, but the Jamba folks were selling smoothies instead of giving samples.  They were employees of the local store.  They also asked me to explain to people that they wouldn’t accept the coupons I was handing out.  It was a little bit of a letdown.  I still handed out a bunch of coupons and sent people to the Jamba Juice store across the street.



I was suppose to run around 15 miles on my training plan, but I was happy with 9 1/2 (with part of it a pretty tough tempo run).  I had another race on the schedule the next day…..  but that is another post.  ;-)   It was a great run and a great day!

Happy Running….