Benchmark Run #2

On Tuesday we ran 2 miles at the Diablo Valley College track to see if we've improved from our last 2 mile benchmark run 8 weeks ago. Last time I ran the 2 miles in a little over 18 minutes - so a nice and steady 9 minute+ pace. And this time I ran the 2 miles in 16 minutes, which means that I took off over 2 minutes! It doesn't break any records, but it would qualify me for the Presidential Fitness award for the mile if I were still in grade school :).

I've noticed that even as I add more miles to my long Saturday runs, I've still been able to stay around a 9 mile pace. But our longest run has only been 11 miles so far, so we'll see if I can keep it up as we continue to add mileage.

We have to meet at 6 am this Saturday morning (so waking up at 5 am) to drive out to Livermore for our long run. It's brutal getting up that early on a Saturday morning, but it's supposed to be a pretty run through orchards and vineyards. I still don't think that it will make it any less painful when the alarm goes off on Saturday morning!

A vineyard in Livermore, CA:

ON THIS DAY

According to my fabulous Runners World calendar, on this day in 2007, Alan Webb shattered Steve Scott’s 25-year-old American record for the mile. He ran it in 3:46.91. That is crazy. We are repeating our 2 mile benchmarks next Tuesday to see how much we’ve (hopefully) improved in the last 6 weeks. I don’t think that I’ll be breaking any records, but a little improvement would be nice.

Bikram Yoga

As part of my cross-training for the marathon, I've started going to a 90 minute Bikram Yoga class every Wednesday evening. I've never been one of those girls you see running around with a yoga mat tucked into their bag, which is probably why I can't even touch my toes without bending my knees. I never feel like I'm getting a good workout in yoga because I'm not able to do 1/10 of the things that they want me to do. So I just sit there in downward dog for an hour. But with Bikram Yoga, the room is 105 degrees, so even if you just sit there you end up sweating off a couple of pounds. Plus the 26 moves are basic enough that anyone can at least attempt to do them. And they are the same every class, no matter who teaches it or where you go. So you can see little improvements week by week.

The 26 moves are listed in the chart below. They look easy enough, but doing them in extreme heat adds a little something "special" to it. Last week a girl in our class fainted and fell head first to the floor while doing #7.

Pink slip = PR

Despite the California state budget crisis, I haven’t (yet) been handed a pink slip. But if I do, I’ll have one thing to look forward to: a faster marathon time. I don’t think that having more time to train would be worth the stress of finding a new job or reduced cash flow (newsflash: California is expensive). My husband definitely wouldn’t think so. But chances are, I’ll be passed by more than a few unemployed runners during the Nike Women’s Marathon in October. According to this article in the Wall Street Journal, there has been a 39% increase this year in the number of runners whose run times have made them eligible for the grand daddy of all races – The Boston Marathon. People are finding that training for a race while unemployed is a great way to add structure and discipline to an otherwise hectic time. Plus, training for a marathon is time consuming. And now that they aren’t stuck behind a desk for 40+ hours a week, they have the time to properly train.

For now, I’ll just have to stick with squeezing in workouts before and after work. And as always, I need to remember to run my own race. It’s my first marathon, so no matter how fast (or slow) I run, it will be a PR.

My new running toy!

I have decided that it's finally time to retire my $10 timex ironman watch that I bought from Target 3 years ago and buy one of those fancy running watches with gps.  Most people in my Team in Training group own a Garmin Forerunner 305 and love it, so I've been on the lookout for a good sale on those.  I found one on costco.com for $149 (normally retail for $299), so I ordered it and it should be here in 7 - 10 days!  I'm so excited to finally be able to accurately track mileage, pace and calories.  I'll post a review once it comes and I have a chance to play with it a bit. 

 

4th of July in L.A.!

We just got back from a GREAT holiday weekend in Los Angeles. We stayed with a family friend (my west-coast mom) in Manhattan Beach. So on Saturday and Sunday morning I went for runs on the beach. On Saturday, I ran on pedestrian path on the Strand. There is a pedestrian path that was packed with runners and walkers. The bikers have their own separate path so you don't have to worry about getting run over. Because it was the 4th, there were tons of people setting up for parties on the beach so it was great people watching (even at 7 am). I ran about 6 and 1/2 miles before I had to get back home and shower for our beach party.

On Sunday morning, I somehow dragged myself out of bed early because I didn't want to waste an opportunity to run on the beach. I was exhausted from such a busy Saturday, and my legs were a little sore from Saturday's run on the concrete pedestrian path. So I decided to run on the sand, which always adds a little extra challenge. There were tons of surfers, volleyball players and triathlon teams out. But much less crowded than on Saturday. Most people were probably still passed out from the festivities.

Great weekend. Beautiful beaches and people. Perfect running conditions.

Here are some pics that I took during the weekend....

Manhattan beach and the running/biking path:

Surfers and volleyball players at Manhattan Beach:

View from the deck of our 4th of July party in Hermosa Beach:

The beautiful beach home where we stayed - I could only get a bit of it in the picture because it goes for an entire block!:

Hello Summer.

On Saturday morning, we met at 8 am in Concord to do a 4-8 mile run on the Iron Horse Trail. By 8 am it was already 80 degrees, and there is no shade on this section of the trail. So by the time we finished around 9 am, it felt like it was around 90 degrees in the sun. I decided to do 7 miles and was able to keep up a 8:51 pace despite the incredible heat. I guess summer has officially arrived.

Daily Mile

I just found a great website for tracking my workouts - dailymile. You create a profile and then track your workouts by entering the type of workout, amount of time, number of miles (it calculates your pace if you are running), and location. For runners, it's nice because it breaks out your weekly, total and average pace, miles, distance, calories burned, etc. You can also challenge your friends who sign up, look up running routes that other people in your area have posted, and get motivation and advice from other runners. It isn't the most user-friendly website, but it's pretty cool.

Here is a screenshot of the page where you post your workouts:

You can track my training progress here - http://www.dailymile.com/people/krothermel

We're not breaking up, we're just taking a break

Diet Coke has been my bff for many years and has gotten me through many late nights, early mornings, and sluggish afternoons. For at least the past 5 years, I have faithfully cracked open a can every day. In the back of my mind, I've always known that it isn't good for me, but I've always convinced myself that among all of the things in the world that I could be addicted to, Diet Coke isn't all that bad. It's not like I smoke a pack a day or anything (and mom, believe it or not, I have never even tried a cigarette. That should win me some kind of child-of-the-year award). But I do realize that it's just a bunch of chemicals, and those fizzy bubbles that I love so much continue to party long after they enter my mouth and sit in my stomach. And since I've already committed to a healthy lifestyle for the next 4 months while I train for a marathon, I guess now is as good of a time as ever to take a break from my intense relationship with Diet Coke. We're not breaking up, we will still be friends. We just won't see each other every single day.

While I might be taking a break from Diet Coke, I still need a little energy boost every now and then to help get me through the day. So in place of Diet Coke, I'm experimenting with other caffeine-laced goodies. I picked up a few packs of some yummy Jelly Belly sports beans with caffeine the other day while at my favorite store, The Sports Basement. I had a pack before my track workout on Tuesday night and I think that they did the trick. 1 pack has the same amount of caffeine as a diet coke and the Watermelon flavor was delish:

I will also, for the first time in my life, try drinking coffee. I am probably one of the only people out there who has never had coffee before. Ever. I think that it's because I grew up in a coffee-free house. Instead, my mom would have her morning coca-cola (can't imagine where my addiction to diet coke comes from). And yes, this will probably lead to me replacing one addiction with another, but I feel like coffee is probably better for me than diet coke because it's more natural. Plus, in the nutrition presentation by our running coach, coffee/caffeine was listed as something that can be beneficial for runners. In talking with coffee-drinking friends who understand my shall we say delicate palate, it has been recommended to me that I start with something that tastes as little like coffee as possible. So last weekend I got a skinny vanilla latte from the Starbucks stand in our local Target store. I had a few sips on the drive home, but then put it down and forgot about it as we were unloading the car. When I finally found it about an hour later it was definitely past its prime. I think that next time I will go to an actual Starbucks cafe and sit down with a latte and a yummy treat and get the full experience. Although, I doubt that our running coach meant for me to replace my diet coke habit with a 600 calorie muffin habit....

Today's Running Quote

"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp, or are you going to be strong today?'"

-Peter Maher, two-time Olympic marathoner

I'll keep that in mind as I'm running tomorrow morning's 7 mile coached run at the (hilly) Lafayette Reservoir:

New running shoes

After 6 months of running in my beloved Asics 2130s, it was finally time to trade them in for a new pair. It got to the point where running in the old shoes was causing my knees to hurt. Plus they smelled like a dead animal. Since I will be doing some serious training, I wanted to go to professionals and make sure that I pick the magic pair that will get my across the finish line.

I decided to go to Road Runner Sports in Concord, CA because they have a bunch of cool toys that will analyze your feet and stride and then the helpful workers will recommend shoes for you to try. The first thing that you do is walk across a mat on the floor that identifies your points of pressure, your arch, etc. Then they put you on a treadmill and video tape you running. From this, I learned that I run toe to heel, instead of heel to toe. Apparently that is what they teach sprinters to do. But I promise that I don't sprint anywhere. For me, it is more like a shuffle. Maybe it is because I grew up playing tennis, so for that sport, you are always taught to bounce around on your toes?

Based on my results, the shoe lady recommended a Stability Plus shoe for me. Stability based on my arch and pressure points, and the Plus because I run am such a severe toe-to-heal runner. After trying on a few pairs, I decided on the Asics Gel Kayano 15s - the most expensive pair of shoes there, of course. So now that I own the best, most expensive shoes out there, there is no reason why I can't run 26 miles!

My pretty new shoes (they have a pretty design on the inside too!):

Track Workout #1 - Benchmark

The first track workout was held on Tuesday evening at the Diablo Valley College track.  And as an extra treat, we had a little eye candy compliments of the DVC football team that was practicing on the field inside the track.  But back to the workout.  Because this was the first track workout, we didn't have to do the circuit training, which my body is thankful for.  Instead, we did a benchmark run so we can see how much we improve later in the season.  We had a choice of running 1 or 2 miles, so I ran 2.  I made sure to run a nice, steady 9 minute pace, so I have more room for improvement!  Now I've got 9 weeks of practice to get faster.  

Coach Gary teaching us about proper running form:

TNT Summer 2009!

I'm back! The Summer season for the Diable Valley Team in Training has officially started! The countdown to the Nike Women's Marathon in SF on October 18th is on! We had our Bay Area kick-off meeting 2 weeks ago and Marathon University last Saturday at the Clif Bar headquarters in Berkeley.

Kick-off was a great way to meet my teammates and get fired up for the season. Because most of the people in the summer season are training for the Nike Women's marathon, the majority of my teammates are women. But there are a few brave men who will be training with us. We were also introduced to some of our team's honorees. I'll be sharing their inspirational stories over the course of my training, but needless to say, it was a great reminder of why we shouldn't complain about giving up our Friday nights for early Saturday morning runs, or complain about the blister on our toe.

Here are 2 of our team's honorees (Bill and Maddie) who have battled, and are continuing to battle cancer:

Our first official group run was last Saturday. It was short and sweet. Only 4 miles. But afterwards we had about 3 hours of seminars on nutrition, injury prevention and gear. Marathon U was held at Clif Bar headquarters, which was fun to see. Plus there were free Clif Bars. Yum.

Here is crazy ultra-marathoner Coach Tim giving us a talk about nutrition. I was sad to learn that Diet Coke is not actually good for me...

Let the training and fundraising begin! GO TEAM!

The Ashlyn Dyer Foundation

One of the sponsors of the Presidio 10 Race is the Ashlyn Dyer Foundation. I didn't know about this foundation before running the race, but after learning about it I was compelled to research it and learn more.

Ashlyn Dyer:

On March 2, 2006, Ashlyn Dyer (27 years old) was the victim of a hit and run accident while running through the Presidio in San Francisco. Tragically, Ashlyn passed away 10 days later as a result of her severe Traumatic Brain Injury.

This is from an article on SFGate.com:

Sometime between 6:45 and 7 a.m., police say, a car sped southbound around a curve on Washington and struck Dyer, catapulting her over a fence and into a ditch. She lay there, face-down and unconscious, until a park worker found her around 7 a.m.

Although she was listening to her iPod, police believe she heard the car and turned around before she was hit. That's because even though the car approached from behind, she was struck on her right side, as if she had been facing the vehicle.

Police estimated that the driver was going faster than the 25 mph speed limit and said there were no skid marks or other evidence that the car had braked.

Ashlyn Dyer Foundation:

The foundation that has been established in her name has worked to improve the resources and research funding to support Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). You can learn more about the foundation here: http://www.ashlyndyer.com/

Here are 2 projects that are currently underway thanks to the Ashlyn Dyer Foundation:

As we approach the third year anniversary of her passing, we would like to make you aware of our new project, the Ashlyn Dyer Aquatic Center, a Neuro Rehabilitation Pool at Barrow Neurological Center in Phoenix, Arizona, in memory of Ashlyn. We have pledged $250,000 for this project, paid in installments over the next four years. We are proud and excited to have the naming rights for this aquatic center that will assist traumatic brain injury and spinal injury patients. We are hoping to break ground in March of next year.

We are also excited for the Ashlyn Dyer Memorial ICU Lounge and Conference Room remodel underway at San Francisco General Hospital. Jonathan Tsao, principal architect of Tsao Design Group in San Francisco, has generously donated his time and expertise for this project. Our goal is to make a family’s stay during a time of hardship more comforting through this remodel.

The foundation was also handing out orange shirts and hats at the race on Sunday in order to raise awareness of the foundation. I will definitely think of Ashlyn and the foundation every time I put it on and go for a run.

Presidio 10k Race Shirt

I almost forgot one of the most important parts of a race...the T-shirt! Here is a picture of the Presidio 10 race shirt. It is a white, short-sleeved cotton t-shirt. This is a picture of the back of the shirt. The front has a small logo on the top left. Pretty basic, but cute.

Presidio 10k Recap

Presidio 10k:
Sunday, March 29th was a beautiful day for a race - highs in the mid-60s and sunny. Kevin and I got up at 6 am to drive into San Francisco in time to pick up my race number and get to the start line by 8 am. We signed in right behind The Sports Basement at Crissy Field and went to the tents where sponsors were starting to set up. They already had a hot breakfast cooking for spectators and runners - breakfast burritos with mango salsa. There were thousands of runners competing in the 10k or 10 miler. But it never seemed overwhelmingly crowded. Much less hectic than some of the half marathons that I've ran in the past.

Race Course:
Basically an out and back from Crissy Field over the Golden Gate Bridge. Absolutely beautiful. Definitely on my list of favorite runs so far. The first 2 miles were on an uphill incline because you have to run up a hill to get to the Golden Gate Bridge and then the bridge itself isn't flat, so the first half of the bridge run has an incline. But the hills in the first half of the race means that the second half is mainly downhill, which made miles 4 and 5 very easy. The last mile ran down along Crissy Field again, right along the Bay. By that time the tourists had started coming out and Kevin said that a few tourists on rental bikes actually rode over the finish line by accident. The bike lane on the Golden Gate Bridge was closed for the run, so the first time you cross the bridge you have a beautiful view of the pacific ocean and on the way back you have the view of San Francisco and the Bay.


Putting on my official time tracker:



















Race Results:
6.1 miles - 55:13
349th out of 1269
35th in my age group
8:53 mile pace

Finished!



















Race Festival:
There were a lot of sponsors including: Sports Basement, Equinox Gym, Pop Chips, San Francisco Magazine....There was also a Bloody Mary booth, kegs of Sierra Nevada, and a live band. We headed back to Walnut Creek shortly after the race (to go back to bed), but it looked like people were taking advantage of all the free booze and the sunshine.

Presidio 10k Race

In order to keep up my momentum and stay in shape until the Summer TNT training season starts on May 30th, I'm going to try and run a handful of shorter races around San Francisco in the coming months.  The first one will be this Sunday in SF - The Presidio 10K or 10 miler.  I've chosen to run the 10K (a little over 6 miles) and work on speed rather than distance.  It's been a while since I've run any a race less than 13 miles, so I think that this will be a fun change for me.  It's supposed to be a beautiful course.  It starts down by Crissy field right on the bay and goes over the Golden Gate Bridge and back.  Plus there is a music festival that goes on during the running so Kevin will be entertained.  But hopefully I will be so fast that he won't be waiting too long.  I'll post pictures of the race on Sunday.

Here is the link to the race - http://www.presidio10.com/event/Presidio_10_Race.html

There is another race on April 26th that I'm thinking about doing at Big Sur.  The Big Sur Marathon is the main event, but there is also a 9 miler.  There is also a 3 miler that I would run with Kevin if I could get him to sign up.  We'd have to start training now, but he could do it.  The question is, will he? 

Nike Women's Marathon (San Francisco)

Hi everyone! Slight change of plans. I will now be running the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco on October 18, 2009. I'll still be running with Team in Training, but I'll just be running a different race with the Summer 2009 team, instead of the Spring 2009 team.

http://insidenikerunning.nike.com/category/events/nike-womens-marathon/

I'm switching my race for various reasons, but I'm so excited to have the Nike women's marathon be my first marathon! And don't worry, if you have already donated, all money will be rolled over to my new race. The Summer 2009 season starts in June or July, so if you haven't donated yet, you now have lots of time to save up :). 

I'll update everyone once my new training season begins. In the meantime, I'll be running various half-marathon and other races to keep me in running shape between now and the Summer 09 TNT season. 

Thanks again for your continued support! I really appreciate it!

Berkeley Fire Trails

Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays we have group workouts, but Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays we are on our own for training (Friday is a rest day).  Yesterday we had a really hard circuit training track workout that just about killed me.   So of course, rather than take it easy today, I decided to run the Berkeley Fire Trails. 

I love running the fire trail.  It is the best way to release the stress after a tough day at work.  It is right beside my office, so I just drop off my bag at my car and run right from there.  Plus it offers some fabulous views of Berkeley, the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge (on 

a clear day).  It is a 3-7 mile run depending on how far you go.  The way up is all uphill (you are running up a mountain), but that just makes the run back a little faster.  The way up definitely is a killer, and about 15 minutes into the run you hit the "connector."  It is a very steep, approximately 30 degree slope, 200 meter segment connecting the lower and upper fire trail. The other day I saw a crazy ROTC student running up it with a log on their shoulders.  Most people are generally gasping for air once they get to the top of the connector.  Even the toughest runners are gasping for air at the top of the connector.

Here are some pics from the Fire Trail (I borrowed them from yelp because I didn't have my camera with me).  It's an absolutely beautiful run.

Lesson Learned

Don't skip a coached long run while training for a race.  Yesterday I skipped a coached run, and I paid the price.  On coach runs with TNT you get coach support and water stops.  Today I had to run 12 miles on my own (with extremely sore legs).   It was cold and rainy.  And my iRun application on my iPhone that tracks my mileage lost it's signal around mile 6 1/2, so I thought that I was on mile 6 for about 40 minutes.  Not good for your mental state during a long run.  I finished, but it wasn't pretty.  Lesson learned.  

Playing Hooky

I was supposed to do a 12 mile run with Team in Training on Saturday, but Kevin and I decided to take a quick day trip up to Northstar @ Tahoe for a day of skiing/snowboarding.  After all, cross-training is an important component of training for a race!  Plus, we had free lift tickets and the weather was perfect for a day at the mountain.  I did have a (very real) fear that I would fall and break my leg and not be able to run in the race, but luckily I survived with no injuries - except for 2 extremely sore legs.  I skied and Kevin snowboarded.  I tried snowboarding the last time we were up at Northstar, but found out that I have zero balance required for snowboarding and switched back to skiing on day 2.  I think that my tailbone is still a little damaged and it's been over a month!  Here are a few pictures from the day.  You'll notice that there are only pictures of Kevin because he was snowboarding and I wouldn't trust a snowboarded with a camera - they fall too much!

The Whole 26!

Thank you Danielli for the fabulous new header for The Whole 26!  Such a cute sketch!  But if you saw me after the long Saturday runs, you would have known to draw me with buckets of sweat pouring off my face.  Not just cute little droplets.  Some girls glisten.  Some girls sweat.  

Night Run

Today's training run was at 6:30 pm at Heather's Farm Park, which is right by our house.  The trail doesn't have lights, so I finally gave in and bought a headlamp so I don't run into a ditch.  Now I'm the ultimate running nerd.  I bought the Petzl Tikka Plus after reading a few running discussion boards online.  It's pretty lightweight and is really bright.  I highly recommend it.  I bought mine at Sports Basement and got 10% off with my gym membership, so it was only about $32.

Today I ran with one of the Team in Training veterans who has run a ton of marathons.  He is much faster than me (runs a 4 hour marathon), so I had to push myself pretty hard.  We ran 5 miles in 40 minutes and had a huge hill right at the turnaround point.   I almost didn't make it because of a last minute work meeting, but I'm really glad that I did.  If I had missed it, I probably would have gone home and eaten Thin Mints instead (I love Girl Scout cookie season).  I'm very bad at self-motivation.  I need the team to keep me going.

My legs are still sore from Tuesday's hill sprints so I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's rest day!  Then we have a long run on Saturday.  I think that we are doing 11-12 miles, but hopefully it won't be as hilly as last Saturday!   And on Sunday I can FINALLY sleep in.

30% Off Banana Republic, Gap & Old Navy!

30% Off - 4 Days Only - March 12-15, 2009

Get 30% off during GAP, Inc.'s Friends & Family event. They're calling it Give & Get because for every purchase you make, they'll give 5% of the amount you spend to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society; and in thanks, you get a 30% discount on your total purchase.

Get Your Coupon Here: http://www.gapgiveandget.com/np/lls.html

The coupons can be used as many times as you choose to shop! It can be used at Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Piperline. Share it with all your friends, family and contacts - as widely as you can.

This little black shirtdress is on sale for only $74, and then you would get an additional 30% off of that! And you'd help stimulate the economy and save lives. Not bad. Even better, take the 30% that you saved and donate it to my fundraising drive! And just as a reminder, you can donate online by clicking on Krissie's Fundraising Page on the right, or just click here.

Rock n' Roll San Diego Marathon - May 31st, 2009

It's official!  I've finally made the leap and committed to running a full marathon....something that I've always said I would NEVER do.  I will be running the Rock n' Roll San Diego marathon on May 31st, 2009.  I've run 7 half-marathons over the past few years, and after every single one I have sworn that I would never run the whole 26.2 mile marathon.  Maybe that is because I never actually trained for my half-marathons.  This time is going to be different.  This time I am training with Team in Training and am raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  I actually signed up for the Spring 2009 team about three weeks into the season, so I am a little behind my teammates in terms of training and raising money.  But hopefully 3 months is enough time to raise $2,900 and train for a marathon!  

Here is the training schedule so far:

Mondays - Easy run

Tuesdays - Track workout or hills

Wednesdays - Cross-training

Thursdays - Trail run

Friday - Day off (best day of the week!)

Saturday - Long run

Sunday - Cross-training

Last Saturday we did a 9 mile run (very hilly!) in Martinez.  This Saturday is a 10 mile run in Walnut Creek.  Each Saturday we will add another 1-2 miles until we get to around 20 miles.  I've never run more than 13 miles and I'm afraid of what lies beyond 13.  Most of my teammates have never run more than 5-6 miles, but I think that I'd rather be in that position.  I know what 13 miles feels like (ouch), and I remember how tired I've been after every half-marathon.  I just can't wrap my head around how I am going to go another 13!  

****$2,385 dollars left to reach my goal.  Every dollar helps!  Click Here To Donate****