Coach? Check. Motivation? Check. Let the Ironman Training Begin!

Ok, Ok, so I have not been great about keeping up with this blog.  Ok fine, I suck at it.  But you'll be happy (and possibly slightly worried) to know that I honestly haven't done jack since my last last-minute race, the Safari Park Half Marathon, on May 6th.  I got a free bib 3 days before so I recruited my awesome friend George and we pulled it out of our butts and got it done.

I also found a coach for my Ironman training!!  I'm so excited!  We met up at a coffee shop and if it weren't for a job interview I would have sat all morning talking to him!  He's super nice, actually cares about non-podium finishers, is very affordable, offers free group runs and group rides if you live in the North County area, and he just fits with what I am looking for.  YAY!!!!  Tripower Multisport Coaching

So yeah, quick update, getting back into the game after a crazy shit-hitting-the-fan spring and summer.  Can't wait to get the 18-month train moving.

Stay tuned for more reliable and fun updates on the journey to Ironman New Zealand 2014.

Little Rock, LONG race, BIG Bling!!!

26.2....SQUARED!!  Here's how it all went down.  It was a blustery day landing in Little Rock on Friday March 2, 2012 and the plane let us know such by suddenly swaying violently side to side and then dropping.  Thankfully, maybe more "obviously," I made it safe and sound although I got my heart rate up higher than any run could!!

My Mom was there waiting for me and we headed over (yes, within 5 minutes of being off the plane, I was in the car....Yay for carry-on baggage, pre-printed boarding passes, and small airports!) to my Dad's work on the other side of the airport.  Said hello and was STARVING so we headed to downtown to grab a bite to eat and hit up the Expo!!  Giggity Giggity, I love Expo's!!!


Grub was grabbed at the Flying Saucer, a cool little pub right on the main street with lots of beer and decent food.  Can you see where it gets its name?


Ok, on to the expo!  Being as I was in the land of Clinton, I figured I'd share with you the "Wall O' Clinton" that is a permanent fixture at the Convention Center.


The whole entire process of this marathon was smooth and user friendly.  Seriously, I was actually suppose to run this marathon last year as my first marathon and got seriously ill a few days before hand flying home from Australia and couldn't run.  I was able to defer my entry, without paying a single penny more, to this year's race.  (Thank goodness I ran this years and not last cause just wait until you see this medal!!!)

The theme was "disco" and they had the whole expo set up like it was a disco, complete with a GIANT disco ball in the middle of the ceiling...and I mean GIANT!!  The registration table, besides offering packet pick up and "I forgot my confirmation sheet" services, also offered miracles.  Yes, miracles.  Anyone who runs will know just how important this service is:)

I got my packet, my shirt, checked out the free samples and the booths, and even got a free 45 minute massage that really seemed to help.  I had been having the cramping, numbing issue with the bottom of my feet for a few weeks now and it definitely stems from my hips, glutes, and IT band.  I think this did the trick cause I did a 2.1 mile shake it out run around the lake my parents apartment is on later that night and it felt great!!!

Alright, so now it's race day.  Sunday March 4, 2012, 6:45am.  We leave the apartment to make sure we don't get stuck in any downtown race traffic due to runners getting dropped off, roads being closed, early starters, etc... Not even an issue.  Not even the teensiest bit of an issue.  Except I forgot to put on deodorant.  OOPS.  Not the biggest issue in terms of things that could have gone wrong but since it was suppose to be 70 degrees by the time I finished, deodorant would be nice to have.  Thankfully the people of Little Rock, and all the local businesses, were so happy to have us there in their town that the folks at the Marriott right in front of the starting line had their little shop open for "forgotten toiletries" and I was able to get deodorant no problem.  They were even welcoming non-guests to sit in their lobby to stay warm while we waited for the bewitching hour and were helping facilitate the bathroom lines.  THAT won't happen anywhere else, guaranteed.

Starting corrals were as follows: A (or "I'm Kenyan/Kenyan on the inside"), B (or "Almost Kenyan"), C (or "Some other non westernized countryman") and Open (or "The rest of us slow-ass white folk).  Guess which one I was in? :)

I stuck with the 4:55 pacers for most of the race, however their idea of "bagging time" seriously hurt at the end and I wound up 6 minutes behind them.  They were running 10:00-10:30's most of the race.

Courtesy of Dan's Marathon blog

The first 10 miles went by really easily, as they usually do in this sort of race, and I got to see my parents at the start, 3, 8, 10, and 13, mile markers as we wound through the streets of downtown Little Rock starting by the River Market District, then making our way to the Governor's Mansion (who was outside waving and cheering us on...Mayor too at mile 6!!!  I'm telling you, these people LOVED having us there!).

We then made our way by the Little Rock Central High School where the Little Rock 9 became infamous with the desegregation of our nation's schools.  Mile 13.1 was right at the capitol building.  Beautiful building but also the point where you know it's about to get serious.  The half way point marked the beginning of the long 2+ mile serpentine hill climb to the Heights district of Little Rock (or the "old money" as my Dad says).  It wasn't really that bad of a climb.  Fairly gradual, with one or two places where it flattened out before starting to climb again.  I ran the whole thing with no problem.  At that point, going up, anything besides flat, felt good on my legs!  The people cheering on the hill were great and one guy even told me I had the "best shirt out there" (which I totally did:))

Mile 16 began the downhill portion of this course and I gotta tell you, as I'm sure you know, it hurt just a bit.  Parts of it were REALLY steep and the knees were not appreciating it.  I made it, improved a bit on my pace for obvious reasons, passed the 8:00 and 7:45 pace groups (who started at 6am warming up the course for us:)) and then made a left onto the Cantrell/Riverside Drive out and back portion of the race.

At this point, things are starting to hurt and the out and back has no breeze anymore and it's getting pretty warm.  Mile 20 welcomed us to "the wall" under a giant blown up archway.  This race was awesome for another reason: at Mile 20.5 on the start of the return to town and the last 10k, there is a sheet drawn like a wall and it has sharpies for anyone who wants to sign it to do so:)  Little touches make the biggest difference!

The Final Climb
Courtesy of the Little Rock Democrat-Gazette

I walked and ran this bit, and then decided I'm gonna hurt no matter what so suck it up buttercup and get your ass in gear (yes, that is verbatim from my brain).  We, however, had one more hill to conquer after the 25 mile marker.  It was a little bit tough at that point but I saw my time, that I could possibly hit the under 5 hour mark, and knew that 1.2 miles was it.  That was all that was left to this race.  It hurt less to run so I picked it up a bit (this was NOT something I could do at the Marine Corps Marathon in DC so go me!!!).  I managed to run the last 1.2 miles at a 9:30 pace (amazing for me that far in) and it actually really barely hurt to run that fast.  It felt BETTER, in fact.

I powered through that last 1.2 and felt like a rock star!  I didn't meet the under 5 hour mark but I DID manage to PR the race and shave over THREE minutes off of my marathon time.  Final score? 5:01:48.  Not shabby for me at all!!!  Now here's the best part:

And to give the most fitting description of this medal, one that I could never come up with on my own, I introduce Dan of Dan's Marathon blog:
"I knew it was going to be big, loud and ostentatious.  But it was something else entirely to actually behold it and wear it.  A cheery volunteer lifted an obnoxiously large explosion of purple and grey glitter, a dinner plate sized hunk of tacky that is impossible not to love, and rested it on my weary shoulders.  They definitely delivered on size.  The zero in “2012” in the middle is the size of most large finisher’s medals, so we could spy other marathoners from a mile away." 
(http://dansmarathon.wordpress.com) 


My parents took me to a nice steak dinner that night, we finished off the "wacky cake" my Mom made a few days prior, and we watched a movie.  All in all, a fitting end to a long, but wonderful day.  I have to say it is a race worth doing.  The organization, the volunteers, the course, the weather, the extremely welcoming people of Little Rock, and of course, the mammoth sized medal make this a must on anyone's "To-Do" list.


Oh, and that zero in the middle?  Yeah, it spins....Now if only it had LED lights...But that is another year, another race, and another 26.2.

Carlsbad Half Marathon

Well, this half marathon was way better than Las Vegas.  It was also warmer and on the ocean but we won't get into that:)

It was mid 50's during the run, a couple thousand people, but super well organized and tons of space so the lateral movement was non-existent!  Everyone was super polite, the volunteers were great, the views were incredible, and getting to run with the Ford Family is always cool!


Running on the ocean in January in shorts and a t-shirt...ok I can't get over it!!  Heather Jackson blew by on her way to her 3rd place finish so that as fun to see as well.

Alright, I really don't have much to report on this race, even though time-wise it was my worst half marathon yet....I had food poisoning two days before so I'm going to go with that.  Was having leftover digestive tract issues from that during the race:( NOT COOL

Oh, and to cap it off?  Got to watch the Pats beat the Ravens after the race and sit on my butt the rest of the day:)

SURF.SUN.RUN....LOVE IT!

Las Vegas Rock N' Roll Half Marathon (Or as I like to call it, my first and last of this series)

ROCK N' ROLL!!!!!! Or not....I guess the long and the short of it is that it was a fun weekend with some girlfriends, it was fun to run the strip at night with no vehicular traffic, but that it felt like it was put on by people who have NEVER put on a race before was a little much for me.  Especially when you consider the price tag on these suckers!!!


Ok, so complaints included, first and foremost, the number of people running and the fact that this course CANNOT deal with that many people, unless you like to run, walk, run, walk, jog, jog a little faster, slow down, stop, jog, run, all while dodging people left and right.  I started in the CORRECT corral and I was passing people, by the hundreds and I'm not even exaggerating....and for those who know me, I'm not FAST....I can do it, but I'm NOT quick!  44,000 people....enough said

Second, third, fourth, and so forth: Rumors of water stop water being from a hydrant????!!!!  One of the biggest names in road races and you couldn't find a water sponsor???  Or even just take it out of the tap???  It's definitely not great but it's better than the hydrant!  Also rumor that the marathoners didn't even get water until they walked out and around to the half-marathoners finish section?

Running out of medals???  YOU capped the race!!!  YOU knew BEFOREHAND how many medals you would need!  And you've put on races before!!!  THIS SHOULD NOT BE HARD!!!!  It also shouldn't be hard to keep people from taking extra medals!  What kind of person takes more than one for crying out loud!!!???

Optional photos that you forced the rest of us to wait in line for while everyone got theirs individually taken immediately after finishing.  I'm pretty sure that everyone saw the size of that parking lot and it could have been ANYWHERE else....Some of us would've liked to have the option to bypass that and NOT wait so we could get food first, see family, leave, find booze, etc....

BIGGEST PEEVE: The bands weren't even playing when I ran by!!!!  All 5 times or whatever it was!!!!  I thought my expensive ticket paid for these great bands.  All I did was see them drink and talk about how they're glad they weren't running....Next time just have someone's iPod playlist going....Would've been better.

Overall, I give this race a big, fat -2 and these thoughts:

But at least it was Vegas and there was copious amounts of booze afterwards at a fantastic dueling piano bar..... C'est la vie.

The Turkey vs. The 'Roosta'

 It was the morning of my first Turkey Trot (and my first holiday completely by myself, but I digress).

Thankfully, this Turkey Trot was in Boulder City, NV, just southeast of Las Vegas, so the weather was perfect and we didn't even have to deal with any car traffic as the 12K race (7.46 miles for those of you wondering about this strange distance) took place on one of the trails from the up-and-coming "Rails to Trails" network where they take old railroads that are no longer in use, remove the rails, and keep the dirt "trail" that used to support the weight of a freight train...literally.  OK, so we weren't as fast as said freight trains but who is?

6 Tunnels carved out of the mountain side, panoramic vistas of most of the entirety of Lake Mead, and a turn-around with a view overlooking the Hoover Dam.  It could've been worse, I suppose.

Now, as luck would have it, the hotel that I am calling home at the moment "The Hacienda" was about 700 yards from the race start.  Only other time that happens is when I'm in Portsmouth and running the Seacoast Half Marathon!  That's 60% of the battle right there!  It was a small crowd and everyone seemed to have someone there with them...except a woman with an Ironman 70.3 hat on.  Of course we're the only two without someone there supporting us.  We are everywhere!!!

The last mile and a half I ran with a nice guy named Brandon who was up visiting family for the holiday from Tucson.  He made the last bit go by quickly and I was happy to have someone to talk to.  We wove our way through the tiny-ass gauntlet (think speedwork!) that was the trail at the finish and made it safely past a double wide stroller man with a harem of walking females, some EMT's, and two "downed" runners.  Not to worry though, I think they only tripped and landed on their faces as each had a nasty nose bleed going on.

Where does a Roosta fit into all of this you might ask?  In Spain, they are a symbol of good luck.  In Italy, it is tradition to give a ceramic Rooster pitcher
to friends or relatives as housewarming or wedding gifts as a good luck or good fortune blessing on the family and home.  It can also be a symbol of prosperity, strength, and fertility (guess which two I'd prefer over the other:)), chasing away bad spirits by crowing when everyone is still sleeping.

As interesting as this all is, it is not why I like the Roosta.  My reasons are for other matters, although strength might actually be pretty close.  The Roosta I know is loyal, compassionate, empathetic, and truly one that I am lucky to call a friend.  His most recent message to me (yep, they talk!!) came at a time when it did a world of good mentally with everything that has gone on in my life in the last 2 weeks....Lots of game changers.  It is SO nice to know that I am so lucky to have the friends I have.  To know that they are there for me and think so highly of me even when I don't think the same of myself.  Knowing this helped me get through Thanksgiving day alone, with only a few tears, and a lot to be thankful for.

You know, there just may be something behind a Roosta being a source of good fortune and good luck.

Have you hugged your Roosta today?

You can reverse CANCER by cutting out animal products???

Well this is something I never thought I'd write...I'm actually considering going vegetarian.  Or mostly vegetarian.  Or whatever it is you call people that eat a plant-based whole food diet most of the time.

I just finished watching the documentary "Forks Over Knives" as part of my on-going self-education about pursuing a healthy lifestyle and making sure I really do consider that I AM WHAT I EAT.

What a powerful film!!  I mean, I know that what you eat has a large impact on your health, but seeing it again and again, this time in a very well-put and OBVIOUS manner is truly thought provoking.  Reversing things such as heart disease and diabetes is something we all have probably heard about, but reversing breast cancer??!  Being able to turn on and off cancer cell production just by tweaking the amount of casein that is inputed into a diet?  That, to me, is actually pretty incredible and may be the first time I have heard of those "scary" diseases being able to be treated almost exclusively by diet.  

This is something that the world has known for thousands of years, but the western medicine giant has overclouded it in our day-to-day lives with prescriptions for just about everything so that half of us can't even tell what's wrong anymore, let alone are able to decipher what our bodies are telling us. 

The answer is NOT more pills!!  EAT BETTER, LIVE BETTER!!!!

To blog or not to blog....

Well, I've been thinking about this for a while now.  I was never really into blogs or blogging until Facebook exposed me to some of the most interesting, thought-provoking, really-hits-home entries I've ever read.  They have made me re-think things, contemplate new things, laugh out loud, and yep, sign up for races I hadn't heard about.  
I figure that a blog on my workouts, let's call them "Sanity Sessions," was pretty much all I'd be talking about on an "everyday life of me" blog anyways....I'm also not sure how much of my everyday besides my active lifestyle I'd want on the internet.  Maybe travel is next? Maybe I'll combine the two here?
Ok, Ok, you got me...There will be lots of talk about food too, cause, well, I loves me some good food...["I eat to train not train to eat"...always gotta remind myself of that].
Either way, it should be an interesting venture and I hope you'll come by every now and then and see what my two cents is on the latest exercise debaucles in my life:)