A Kitten Named Willow

Warning: This post is not about running. It is about our new kitten, Willow, who is sweet as can be. Everyone likes kitten pictures, right? Enjoy the photos!

New spot on the couch.

Big eyes.

Is this my pillow? Because I'm claiming it.

Does this pink feather toy make me look cuter?

Made it to the top on my first night here!

I love the fluffy down comforter.

Ok I'm done, but I had to share my exciting new kitten weekend with you all!

Marathon, check. What's Next?

I've been asked quite a few times this week - what's next? Well, it didn't take me long to decide. As hard as I fought the mental battle to wait a couple of weeks before deciding on another marathon, I failed. I signed up for the California International Marathon yesterday!

My initial walking-back-to-hotel-in-the-rain reaction from Seattle RnR was that I'd wait until next spring for another one. By the time I had showered, I was already thinking maybe this year. And by the time I arrived home from Seattle, I was attached to the idea of CIM. After all, hubby is running it so I'm going anyway...I worked out the training plan, realized it fits well with other races, and decided to go for it.

The race is December 2 so I have plenty of rest time in between. The next few months include a few fun half marathons (SF, Chicago, San Jose RnR) and the Napa Ragnar Relay, which I'm super excited about! I'll get back into marathon training around the end of August and look forward to challenging myself again. I'm gunning for that sub-5 goal, CIM here I come!

And for this weekend, I'll be relaxing with short runs and enjoying the arrival of our new kitten, Willow! The cuddly little gal comes to us tomorrow after work and I couldn't be more thrilled to bring her into our little family.

A Willow preview. More cuteness to come.

Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Race Report

I finished my second marathon! I'm really happy with my training and race day, although I didn't quite meet my main goal of finishing under 5 hours with a finish of 5:11:15. Sometimes things aren't ideal, as I have learned at many other races, and I wasn't going to let that part ruin the day. Because I still finished a marathon - with a 37 minute PR over Chicago!

This race report is later than usual because Kevin and I headed to Mt. Rainier National Park for a couple of days after the race. It was a great trip, a little active recovery hiking and lots of relaxing. We were completely unplugged, no wireless access and no cell phone service. It's crazy how strange that feels in today's world, but I know it was good for me.

The weather for Seattle RnR was good, the forecast saying a high of 60 degrees with a chance of rain. I decided to wear my Oiselle team singlet with capris and arm warmers since it was fairly cool, plus I felt safer from chafing in capris if it actually were to rain. Technically I wore something brand new for the marathon by wearing my Oiselle team singlet, but it felt GREAT when I tried it on and I have yet to find something from the company that I wouldn't run a marathon in. As I expected, it was crazy comfortable and I had no issues at all.

It was about 50 degrees at the start, cloudy but not raining, and I was quite happy with that outcome. Our hotel was about a 10 minute walk from the start area, so we headed out around 6:20 for the 7 am start. There were plenty of porta-potties near my start corral (number 25) and I didn't have to wait in line long. After that Kev and I stretched a little until it was time for him to go to his own start corral.

Before, feeling strong and ready in my Oiselle team singlet!

The gun went off and the race started at 7 am, but my way-in-the-back corral didn't move for a long time. I chatted with a guy next to me, it was his first marathon and he was excited but worried about his training not being good enough. I hope it went well for him, but sadly I didn't see him after we started. The corrals went off one by one, reaching mine at 7:39 am. Finally, we were off and running!

I started out at my target pace, which was 11 minutes per mile. I needed to be under an 11:30 average pace to meet my sub-5 hour goal, and I really thought that would be easy based on my recent runs. I've been running shorter runs in the low-mid 9s, the half just under 10s, and I felt good about the marathon between 11 and 11:30. For the first 8 miles, this was no problem.

Mile 1 - 11:00
Mile 2 - 10:58
Mile 3 - 11:15
Mile 4 - 10:58
Mile 5 - 11:00
Mile 6 - 11:05
Mile 7 - 10:54
Mile 8 - 10:54

I'd been feeling a very slight side cramp coming on from mile 1, and by this point it was making itself known in a bad way. I kept ignoring it and telling myself it'd go away, running with my arms over my head every now and then. At mile 5 we went up a steep but short hill that made everyone sad, but I powered through remembering how much harder Hurricane Point was during Big Sur.

Shortly after the hill we split from the half marathon and began making a nice loop around Seward Park. I passed Kevin during the out and back section and gave him a high five along the way. The scenery was fabulous and we were along the water, definitely my kind of run. I especially loved the Alaska Airlines water stop in this section of the race - they all wore inflatable airplane hats!

Unfortunately, I was slowing down and starting to struggle with the cramp situation as the miles ticked by.

Mile 9 - 11:15
Mile 10 - 11:18
Mile 11 - 11:13
Mile 12 - 11:27
Mile 13 - 11:25

We reunited with the half marathon just after the mile 12 marker, although now I was alongside the walkers from later corrals. I don't remember much of this next section except that I wasn't feeling awesome, and the next thing I knew were were going up a short super steep hill to the highway. The half went left and the marathon went right to continue over the longest bridge ever to Mercer Island.

Mile 14 - 11:37
Mile 15 - 11:39
Mile 16 - 12:37
Mile 17 - 14:05
Mile 18 - 12:39
Mile 19 - 13:33
Mile 20 - 13:08
Mile 21 - 14:19

There it is, mile 16 and my downward spiral. I'm not proud of it, but I gave into the cramp and started to walk/run. At the time I was sure I needed to do it because I felt awful. Did I really need it? In hindsight I feel I should have been mentally stronger than I was, but I really don't know. It's so unusual for me to even get side cramps that I was at a loss for handling it.

The bridge to Mercer Island was an out and back, and this was by far the most mentally challenging part of the course. It was exposed to sun and you could see the whole highway bridge extending out in front of you. There was only one water stop on the bridge and no bands or music. Even more, this section had lots of tunnels.

I passed Kevin during this section, and he looked really good at his mile 18. After my turnaround I passed Maureen and her running partner, and I was SO happy to see a familiar face in a time of mental struggle! Also during mile 20, I found ladies that I'd met at the blogger meet up the day before (including Heather) and chatted with them for a few minutes. Again, yay for familiar faces.

Finally, somewhere mid mile 20, I was feeling somewhat better and ran up the hill to mile 21. The cramp never went away entirely and by this point I was getting really frustrated with it, but some of my later splits were a bit better.

Mile 22 - 11:29
Mile 23 - 11:50
Mile 24 - 13:17
Mile 25 - 12:30

Around the time I hit mile 25, it started raining pretty hard and it was so cold. By this point I didn't really care, I knew that I had a mile to go and I needed to keep moving! My muscles felt strangely good, no leg tightness or intense fatigue like I have experienced in the past, but I was still stuck with that pesky side cramp.

Mile 26 - 11:38
Finish Time - 5:11:15

The end of the course brought a short, steep uphill finish but alas it was the end. I was done! They handed me a medal and a water and I was on my merry way. My awesome husband was there waiting for me even though he had finished over an hour earlier (4:13:08, also a PR for him!) He could have gone back to the hotel and stayed dry, but instead he met me in the pouring rain to walk back together. We skipped the beer tent in favor of our dry hotel room and showers, but really the festivities seemed to be closing up anyway as everyone scattered to find cover.

Finisher Bling!

That's how Seattle RnR went for me, here a few race details for anyone considering the event.

The course. The course was harder than I anticipated, definitely hilly. Only a couple of the hills are steep, but there are quite a few long, slow grades throughout the race. The section in Seward Park was beautiful, by far my favorite section. The highway bridge out-and-back section to Mercer Island was brutal, both mentally and physically due to the grade and exposure. There were quite a few tunnels too, so if you aren't a fan you might not like this course. 

The race staff made the splits for the half/full marathon super easy to see using both signs and ropes. I can't imagine anyone missing the split because it was so well marked each time. Even more, there were a lot of people cheering where the first split was and I felt so excited to go the marathon direction.

The support. Volunteer support along the course was great, and most water stations had a good rhythm down. They had long stretches of people to hand out both Gatorade and water and it wasn't congested at all, a nice plus. I carried my bottle with Nuun but took water sometimes in addition. There was a station with Gu, but there was no fruit along the course as I've seen in other marathons like Chicago and Big Sur. 

Finish line food didn't seem plentiful, but I believe it's because they started packing up when it rained. I was handed water right after but had to ask for the Gatorade from a bucket they were covering. My husband said he had bananas, bagels, a fruit cup, and chocolate milk but I didn't see any of those items. I did however get a Jamba Juice smoothie which was wonderful! I'm so glad Jamba Juice didn't pack up early.

General Organization. The race was well-organized with respect to managing a large number of runners. The start corrals kept the course flowing, prevented crowds, and made it easy to line up. They had plenty of porta potties at the start and along the course, aid stations were often enough aside from the Mercer Island bridge, and the half/full splits were easy. 

The only organizational issue I found is that they really focused on the half and not the full. There were less bands when we weren't with the half, and a few of the bands I did see on the full course were not playing when we ran by. The finish line food was being packed up when I went through, and I know there were lots of people behind me. The headliner bands were all finished playing by the time most people finished the marathon, again focused on the half. That said, I'm glad we chose this race to visit Seattle and to experience the RnR race.

Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Race Expo

Day one in Seattle was a fun time! The morning started off with a visit from Kristin, who hand-delivered my Oiselle Team Ambassador welcome kit to the hotel. It was fantastic to meet her in person and to chat for a few minutes. So happy I was in Seattle at the right time to meet up! 

Oiselle goodies, including a new color of my fave Distance Short & the racing singlet!

Next we headed out for brunch and the race expo. We took the monorail from Seattle Center to downtown - the first ever commercial monorail. Pretty cool.

Monorail time, reminded me of Disney World...

We arrived at the expo around 1 pm and it wasn't crowded yet at all. We grabbed the race swag and took our time walking around. 

Nice shirt design, but really large bibs

We found a friendly mirror in the Brooks apparel section.

Good mirror. Can I take you home?

I managed to shop a lot more than usual at this expo, not sure how that happened. New SweatyBands (buy 3 get a Run Seattle band free!), CEP Compression Socks, and Nuun + Nuun water bottle. Good stuff.

I headed to the blogger meet up at 3 pm, where I had the opportunity to meet bloggers I follow (like Maureen of Buttoning my Jeans) and to find new ones. It's so awesome to meet new people and to find new inspiration, I absolutely loved it.

Nice looking group of bloggers, huh?

Now, time to rest and eat good carb heavy food for dinner. See you post-marathon!

Bia - A Rockin' GPS Sport Watch To-Be

In the last few days, I came across the new GPS sport watch from Bia and became super excited about it. The catch? It's not on the market yet and needs OUR help to get there! The company has set up a campaign through Kickstarter, and it will only be funded if their backers pledge a total of $400K by July 13 at 11:59 pm Pacific. You can back the product by pledging as little as $1. Check out the Bia Kickstarter site and the FAQ for lots of details.

Now for the big question - why back this product? I'll tell you why I am and (hopefully) convince you to do the same. I have no ties to the company but love the concept and want it to be successful. Even more, they are based in SF so it's supporting a local company!

Design. First and foremost, the watch is designed for both style and function. It's smaller than other GPS devices, will come in fun colors, and has different size bands for arm size (like men vs. women.) Even more, the neoprene band is completely adjustable to guarantee comfort. The watch is rectangular and fits so it's slanted on your wrist, missing the wrist bone and making it easier to read when being active.

Photo from Bia Kickstarter site. Note how it fits the wrist.

Photo from Bia Kickstarter site. Look at the color options! I'm craving the teal one.

Function. Bia has a large display to make it easy to see, and it has only one button plus the touch screen to keep it simple. You shake it to light up the backlight (I love that.) It is water resistant to 100M, so you can swim in it, and Bia GPS even tracks distance while swimming. The GPS is quick connect, meaning you don't have to wait to find satellites (i.e. no standing on the sidewalk looking like a weirdo staring at your watch forever...we've all been there.) The sport watch itself runs on a normal watch battery so it doesn't need charged all of the time, and the coordinating GPS Go stick only gets charged every 17 hours of use. You can buy the sport watch with or without the GPS Go stick depending on your needs.

Safety. Now for one of the most important parts - Bia has a safety alert that will contact someone in your time of need. This is huge. I hate running with my phone and avoid it almost always (unless I think I might get lost in a new place,) but I've wondered what I would do before if I needed help when alone on a run. This is a great answer to that question!

Bia is targeting production for consumers in April 2013 if they get the necessary funding. For now, you can go to the Kickstarter site and pledge as little as $1 to back the product. Every little bit helps! The pledge itself is charged through Amazon, and you only get charged if they meet the goal by July 13. Personally, I went for the early bird special award level because I'm targeting that teal design.

If you like it, help Bia out and share their idea on Facebook, Twitter, DailyMile, or with your sport groups. Let's get this thing to market!

Weekly Recap - June Week 2

My next marathon is on Saturday - it's race week baby! I'm so pumped to go to Seattle, to meet up with bloggers and Twitter friends, and to run my second marathon. It's hard to believe the day is almost here because it feels like I've been waiting forever. Hubby and I head out after work on Thursday evening, so we'll be at the expo on Friday and then have rest time. I love that this is a Saturday race. We'll have Sunday to sleep in and chill, then we head to Mt. Rainier National Park for a bit of relaxation. Vacation here we come.

Here's to the last 'long' run before Seattle RnR. We made it through training!

Now for the week. I had a good taper week and took it pretty easy.

Sunday, June 10
Planned: Rest
Completed: 20 minutes Elliptical + Abs
I took 4 days off from running in a row, this day being number 4, and I was going stir crazy. I did an easy 20 minutes on the Elliptical and some Ab work to perk myself up. The 4 day break from running was very good for my right-foot stuff though, so I suppose it was worth the mental struggle.

Monday, June 11
Planned: 3 mile run
Completed: 3.3 mile run + Abs
Went out for an easy 3, but calves were super tight so I stopped at a bench to stretch a little after mile 1. Things improved, but still not a fantastic one. Apparently my calves didn't like that 4 day run break either!

Tuesday, June 12
Planned: 3 mile run
Completed: 3.1 mile run
Hubby and I met up with the Running Revolution group and ran the Los Gatos Creek trail from Rock Bottom Brewery. This is a great group - after the run, everyone gets together at a big table outside and shares pitchers of beer and appetizers. I've already met a lot of cool people and I've only gone a couple of times! The run felt good too, no tightness and kept the pace around 9:45 while feeling comfortable.

Wednesday, June 13
Planned: Core Chaos Class
Completed: Core Chaos Class
Good class with Liza as always! I'm not getting nearly as sore as I did when I first started attending, which is either good because I'm getting stronger or bad because I'm not pushing enough. I'm not sure which. However, I still feel like I'm working hard and am exhausted after class.

Thursday, June 14
Rest

Friday, June 15
Rest

Saturday, June 16
Planned: 8 miles
Completed: 7.8 miles
Boy was this a hot one! Temps in the South Bay were a ton higher than normal and we felt it big time. We ran along Los Gatos Creek trail again from the elementary school, and everyone we saw looked like they were having a rough time in the heat. It's usually so mild here that we are all spoiled, and I seem to have adjusted to the mildness in the last year too. It was still a good run, we took it slow and drank lots of Nuun along the way. The thermometer on the car, which was sitting in the sun, said 93 degrees when we got back!

After the run, we headed to SF for beer at Monk's Kettle and American Idiot the Musical. Monk's Kettle has a fantastic beer list - here I am with my Denogginizer from Drake's Brewing, a double IPA. Yum.

We had a cute photo op with the American Idiot backdrop on the way into the theater. I first saw the show on Broadway and loved it (I'm a huge Green Day fan.) I had to take the husband back to see it when it came to SF.

With that, it's time to focus on RACE WEEK. Here we go...

Ten Day Countdown

Ten days until the Seattle RnR Marathon, and you know what that means. It's time to obsess about the weather! When I eagerly checked the weather this morning, June 23rd looked like this.

Of course as I write this post I had to look again. Now it looks like this.

I'm sure it'll change every day until the race and I'll continue to check it out. So how do I feel about the current forecast? Actually, quite good! Considering that my first marathon in Chicago was super hot and humid and heat is not my friend, I'm ok with the idea of rain. I've run many a half marathon in the rain - I have good luck like that. And 66 degrees? Yes please! I can only hope this sticks or goes down in temperature.

Now for the second item I begin to obsess about pre-race, what am I wearing? I haven't completely decided yet but I have a couple of good ideas. This decision also depends on when the Oiselle Team kit arrives. If I get it before Seattle, the Oiselle singlet will be my top (don't worry, I'll run in it first to check it out. Nothing new on race day...) paired with my orange distance short. If it doesn't arrive, I'm thinking I'll wear the heathered-crush Aero tank (sleeveless top) and crush distance short. It's super cute together and the colors are perfect.

What is your favorite temperature for a race? If you have to have one or the other, do you prefer heat or rain?

A Review: BodyGlide WarmFX

BodyGlide sent out a tweet asking bloggers to review their new product a couple of weeks ago, and I'm excited to have been selected to help out. I absolutely can't live without the BodyGlide anti-chafe stick and have been a fan of the company for years. Note: I received the WarmFX product from BodyGlide, but I was not otherwise compensated for this review and all opinions are my own.

Here are my thoughts.

The Product: BodyGlide WarmFX anti-pain balm
The Goal at-a-glance: Heat therapy to jumpstart activity and to recover faster

BodyGlide recommends using the product for minor pain and soreness from tired, achy, strained muscles and joints. As an endurance athlete it's not unusual for me to have a sore muscle somewhere in my body at any given time, so I have had plenty of opportunities to test this product.

First impression: The product comes in an easy to open plastic package just like other BodyGlide products. The lid on this one is red, so no mistaking WarmFX for your regular BodyGlide. (Good thing, because I'd imagine having heat in your chafing spots is less than ideal...) It has a distinctive scent, but it's much less potent than other products I've tried. The scent went away quickly after I applied it too.

Application: I love how easy it is to apply all BodyGlide products, and WarmFX is no different. It comes in the nice deodorant-type packaging that allows you to put it on without getting your hands sticky. This is a HUGE bonus. The more you apply, the hotter it gets, although I never felt like it was too hot to handle.

During the Run: I applied WarmFX pre-run to my left knee, where I have been fighting tendonitis off an on since a bike injury last August. The knee isn't super painful, but I tend to feel soreness there when I've been increasing mileage. It often feels better once I begin running and get warmed up, although that can take a couple of miles.

I applied WarmFX to the sore area pre-run, and it really did help my knee to warm up more quickly. I realized around the end of mile one that it hadn't been bothering me, and I completely forgot I'd applied WarmFX until then. I love that it's not sticky and strong smelling - there are many product out there that don't let you forget you applied it.

After sitting down for drinks with the running group after the run, I did start to feel soreness again. I'm not sure how long it is supposed to last overall, but at that point I'd had it on for about 1.5 hours. Then again, it did what I needed to warm my knee up for the run and that's what counts.

Recovery: I tested WarmFX in the same spot on my knee for post-run soreness as well. Again, I'm thrilled that it is not sticky and strong smelling because I could wear it out and about with normal clothing. I could feel the warmth as before, but I don't believe it was quite as helpful to my knee for recovery. As a side note, I've been using heat on that spot at the recommendation of a sports rehab therapist, but the heating pad works better for this particular case.

That said, I also used it for recovery on normal calf soreness/tightness (as opposed to the knee, which stems from an injury.) On my calf muscles, I felt the warm effect much more and it began to help my calves after a just a few minutes. I didn't stop feeling it in this case either. I put it on around 9 pm and wore it overnight, and I truly did feel a difference in the calf tightness in the morning. Yay! I'll keep using it for this purpose.

Overall: I find WarmFX to be helpful and plan to continue using it before the run to help warm up muscles and for recovery on my tight calves. I love the easy of application, the non-stickiness, and the easy-on-the-nose scent. I like that it doesn't get too hot to handle, which I've had happen in the past with other products.

Thanks for this opportunity BodyGlide, and keep making great products!

Weekly Recap - June Week 1 Taper

Seattle RnR is only 13 days away! It's getting so close. This was my first taper week after my 20 miler last Saturday. I had two great runs, but I took extra time to rest so the weekly recap looks pretty lazy. It was so hard not to run for three days in a row, but I managed. Now that the longest runs are over, I'm being cautious with the right foot that was sore after the 10K on May 27.

Sunday, June 3
Rest after Saturday's 20 Miler

Monday, June 4
Rest

Tuesday, June 5
Planned: 10K
Completed: 10K
We had a 10K Fun Run at work, with race bibs and all. The fitness center staff planned the event and set up the course for us around the corporate campus. I had a lot of fun! I was targeting a 10 minute per mile pace, not as fast as I know I can go for a 10K because I wanted an easy run day.

My friend Krystal joined me at the event, as did a number of my Ragnar team buddies and other people I know. I love the running community at work and seeing everyone at the event. I even had quite a few people cheering for me by name at the finish, something that doesn't happen too often!

Krystal and I pre-race

The course was a little longer than 10K, which the staff told us ahead of time. It also depended if you ran the sidewalks or the bike paths along the road, and I did a little of both. The coure looped the same area four times. It was set up so people could run it as a 4 person relay team if they preferred, a good way to get more employees involved that aren't already runners. I love that idea and tons of people came out for the relay event as well as the 10K. 

My Garmin read 6.46 miles at the end and I finished in 1:03:07, so my average pace was 9:52. That is not far off my target of 10:00, I'll take it! 

Post-Race, on the way to lunch

Wednesday, June 6
Planned: 3 mile run
Completed: 4 mile run
Happy National Running Day! I went to a National Running Day celebration at Running Revolution in Campbell, and we did a group run. I wrote a blog post about how great it was, check it out! The run itself felt good, although most of the group went just over 2 miles. Another girl and I missed the turn off while chatting away and did some extra. I was feeling the calf and foot tightness big time after the Tuesday run and this one, hence the next three days saying rest. I'm not taking any chances going into Seattle.

Thursday, June 7
Rest

Friday, June 8
Rest

Saturday, June 9
Rest

That was my easy workout week. Going into this week, I plan to run 3 days and to do my strength class so it'll be slightly more normal. I'd like to do a mid-distance run next weekend, hopefully about 10 miles. I have another sports massage session this week to work on the tightness, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed it continues to improve like it has so far.

The countdown to Seattle is ON!

A Big Oiselle Announcement

Today, I received the most amazing news.

I am now an Ambassador for Oiselle! 

I've included my love for Oiselle running apparel in many a post over the past few months, and I'm thrilled to have this opportunity. I can't wait to represent the company in races wearing the Oiselle singlet, to get even more fun Oiselle outfits, and most of all to be part of this fantastic team of ladies.

When I first learned about Oiselle, I immediately loved the enthusiastic attitude and supportiveness of the company and team on Twitter. The more I followed and read, the more inspired I was. My first Oiselle order arrived from Running Warehouse and I was hooked. Quality, cuteness, function, a great company, and a good price too? Oiselle became my new go-to apparel brand.

Check out a few of my recent outfits...they've been on the blog!

Simplicity Tank and Arm Warmers

Big Run Tee and Arm Warmers

Simplicity Tank and Distance Short

You'll be seeing even more Oiselle outfits and fun in the near future. I'll keep you updated on the people I meet and how inspirational they are. Ask me your questions and I'll tell you what I love about Oiselle. And if you haven't yet, check out their awesome site and Twitter goodness too!

Happy National Running Day

Happy National Running Day to all! I had a fabulous run today. A friend invited me to her recently found running group at Running Revolution in Campbell, and they were having a party complete with pizza and t-shirts for the event.

We met at the store and headed out for a short run along the Los Gatos Creek trail. At first I didn't recognize it from where we entered, and I told someone I'd never run there and asked what trail it was. When she told me, I realized I had indeed run there before, most recently 20 miles on Saturday.

I ran with my friend for a bit and then backed off my pace, where I met a fun new person to run and chat with. We followed the trail and the group, talking and running, and soon realized we didn't see anyone from the group anymore. Yep, we took a wrong turn, missed the bridge to the park and went about a mile more down the trail. Call us the overachievers. We totally meant to go farther.

As it turns out, the planned run was only about 2.3 miles anyway. We ended up doing slightly over 4 miles and had a great time. I'm so happy to meet a new group of runners in the area, which I really didn't make a priority when I moved to California. I'll be going back to the group for their normal Tuesday runs starting next week. They run from Rockbottom Brewery and finish with beer. Now that's my kind of group!

Last but not least, we received these awesome Brooks long sleeve t-shirts for the event!

Now that National Running Day is over, I need to get on the taper train for Seattle. I've been very bad about reducing mileage this week so far, but it's been so much fun!

Training Recap - It's Taper Time

Yesterday's long run was the last long run of Seattle Marathon training. You know what that means - it's taper time! Even though I know I get anxious and bored during the taper, this has been a long time coming and I'm ready for a break in long run mileage. Adding the Big Sur 21-miler on April 29 means I ramped up mileage sooner than I otherwise would have for Seattle and kept it there until now. Here was my week.

Sunday, May 27
Planned: 10K Race
Completed: 2.25 mile run warm up + 10K Race
I ran the Earthquakes Challenge 10K and have a new PR of 56:39. I've already gone on and on about my excitement for this one, but if you want to know more check out the race report!

Monday, May 28
Rest

Tuesday, May 29
Planned: 4 mile run
Completed: Rest
A few spots in my foot and ankle were very tight and slightly sore after the 10K, so I forced myself to rest extra before this weekend's long run. I really wanted to join a friend at a new-to-us running club this day, and even had clothes with me at work to meet her, but I didn't go. Sad.

Wednesday, May 30
Planned: Core Chaos Class
Completed: Core Chaos Class
This was a tough one, much more challenging than last week. Highlights included lots of walking lunges with weight, going forward and backwards. Bridges, hamstring curls on the stability ball. We ended with a round the instructor called the 'Pyramid of Pain.' It began with one exercise, then kept building until we did all 4 exercises. It looked like this:

Round 1 - 50 seconds push ups
Round 2 - 40 seconds push ups, 50 seconds plank
Round 3 - 30 seconds push ups, 40 seconds plank, 50 seconds squats
Round 4 - 20 seconds push ups, 30 seconds plank, 40 seconds squats, 50 seconds jumping jacks
Round 5 - 10 seconds push ups, 20 seconds plank, 30 seconds squats, 40 seconds jumping jacks, 50 seconds burpees

It didn't sound that hard at first, but I definitely felt it by the end. Very tiring, especially after everything else we'd already done earlier in class!

Thursday, May 31
Planned: 4 mile run
Completed: 3 mile run
The soreness and tightness in my foot had not gone away, so I kept it short and easy at 3 miles. I did some running, some walking to try to loosen it up. I was so happy to get out there because I hadn't run since Sunday, so I didn't even care that I was moving so slowly. Beautiful day.

Friday, June 1
Rest

Saturday, June 2
Planned: 20 mile long run
Completed: 20 mile long run
This was it, the last 20 miler before Seattle! I had a rough run and never found my happy pace, but I pushed through. I can't even place why I felt so crappy. My calves and foot felt like they loosened up after a couple of miles, I had Nuun and plenty of Clif Shot Blocks, and it was 80ish but I didn't feel overheated. I didn't change anything in my food and hydration routine. This is actually very similar to how I felt during the Chicago Marathon in 2010 when I had such a hard time. But what can you do, right? Let's hope that rough 20 miler was the bad one, and the marathon is the good one!

We took a new route along the Los Gatos Creek Trail, starting at Blackburn School in San Jose. We headed along the trail toward Los Gatos, and when we reached a fork around mile 7 we took the no bikes part of the trail to the left. That turned out to be the hard choice. The path took us along a trail run through trees and then to a steep and long uphill. There were plenty of amazing vistas to keep us occupied, but I'm feeling that segment in the legs today! We took a steep downhill into a park, where we found the main trail and took it back to San Jose. It was a great choice for our long run, a new route with lots of bathroom and water support along the way and many other people out being active.

Pre-run at Los Gatos Creek Trail

Today, I spent a lot of time resting and recovering. Nothing like a little elevation, compression via my new ProCompression marathon socks, and Ben Affleck.

Fantastic Friday

My work week started out rough but today made up for it. I had a fantastic Friday and want to share my excitement with you! These are all little things in the grand scheme of life, but isn't it the little things that count? I think so.

First, I woke up early to the anxiously awaited email invite to the Oiselle Secret Sale. You may know that I'm a Oiselle lover, so much that I even had this event on my calendar. Call me a run nerd, I can take it. I ordered the Boise Bra in black, the Base Runner Tee in Alder, and another pair of arm warmers in Orange. Technically, the arm warmers are not on the sale, but if I'm paying shipping I might as well add them in (I've wanted this color for a while.) Boy did my arm warmers come in handy for last weekend's 10K.

Second, I had a massage today to work on my lower leg tightness. I've had some weird tightness, slight pain I suppose, in my right foot and ankle that has been off and on the last month or so. Honestly, I think the brunt of it was from running the slanted parts of the road in Big Sur. It comes and goes so I haven't been too worried, but it was definitely back after the 10K. The massage therapist found a couple of super tight areas that are causing the trouble. It's feeling quite a bit better already and my ankle isn't popping so much when I do a circle. She showed me a couple of good stretches and exercises to keep working on it too.

Next, my very first purchase from ProCompression arrived in the mail! Marathon socks in baby blue, purchased using the 40% off and free shipping #runchat deal. I'll be happy to check them out for tomorrow's long run recovery. I have a pair of Sugoi compression socks that I use now, and these seem better already.

Baby Blue, love the color.

Last and most exciting - the SF Marathon sent me one of their logo SweatyBands! They contacted me on Twitter after I tweeted about how much I wanted one, and now here it is. The SF 1st Half was my very first half marathon ever in 2009 so it's a long time favorite. I'm thrilled to have it be my first repeat half this year in July. It's hard to believe I haven't repeated a race until now, but I haven't. It seems appropriate that this is the one. If you want to run it, sign up now because the 1st half (which runs over the Golden Gate Bridge) is over 90% sold out as of this week.

Look I have an SF Marathon SweatyBand! Big smile.

That's all for my fantastic Friday. Tomorrow is my last 20 miler before the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and I'm excited about it. It's hard to believe training for my next marathon is basically over. Only 22 days left until the race!