Newton Gravity Update

Just completed my first marathon in 3 years and I did them in some super cute shoes! Not only are they super cute but I never got the knee pains that would typically attack me by mile 20 or so in previous marathons.

Maybe its the training plan that I followed. Or maybe it was from learning how to run properly according to what I learned at a newton run clinic. But either way, I felt amazing! My feet, of course were tired by the end of the race. But while racing, they felt great! It took me about a month for my legs to adapt to the new type of technology that Newton uses but now I absolutely love how I feel in then and really can't wait to get a new pair as I start working with my high school cross country team!  Maybe I'll find a cuter pair - its its even possible :)

#NewtonRunning

Santa Rosa Marathon Recap

Sunday, August 24, 2014

     Last December I ended the year with a bang! I completed Ironman Cozumel with a time of 11 hours and 45 minutes. I was elated. It was an extremely long year (starting in January) with many half ironmans leading up to this race. But once the race was over, I was a little sad. What else did I want to accomplish? What would be my goal next year? I thought that my body and mind need a break from the long tri training days. So with a little persuasion from my coach, I decided to have a go at the marathon distance. 

     The last time that I did a marathon (without the swim and bike prior) was in 2011 at the NYC Marathon. My coach had this silly thought that I could qualify for Boston this year. I didn't let him know that my last marathon time was 4 hours and 23 minutes (almost an hour slower than a Boston Qualifying time for my age group). There was no way that it was possible. As I always do, I like to dream big though. I gave myself a realistic goal of sub-4 hours and a high hopes goal of 3:35 (the bare minimum for qualifying). I spoke with many people as the weeks approached on how they trained for their marathons. Most people said that they did their long runs at a really easy pace. For real?! I thought. How do you get faster then? At the NYC marathon, I kept my mind on keeping a steady pace and to finish strong, which I felt that I did. It wasn't the greatest time around but it was a personal best for me and I was ecstatic with it :) For the non-long distance runner that I am, it was as good as it gets. 

     The weeks leading up to the Santa Rosa Marathon, I was extremely conflicted. Six weeks before the race, I went on a long run - planned for about 18 miles. I went out running and I could barely get through 5 miles without feeling bad. I ran down the Embarcadero and made an early turn around due to my upset stomach. Fortunately, I was by the ferry building and hoped for an easy recovery from whatever was going on. I dreaded the run back home and felt terrible pains throughout. I decided to take a break and head home at mile 10 with the hopes of at least running an additional 5 miles when I felt better. Sadly, my stomach pains persisted! 10 miles was all my body would let me do.

     The following week, I competed in the San Francisco Half Marathon and again, stomach PAINS! Over 2 hours of upset stomach issues post race! I feared that I couldn't do well at Santa Rosa if this kept happening! I was turning 30 in a couple days and I thought my body was just breaking down on me. I was debating switching over to the Santa Rosa half marathon instead, at least I wouldn't die out there attempting 26.2 miles!

     The week after, I decided that I really needed to focus on my nutrition. I needed to stop thinking about my wedding weight and start thinking about what my body needs to compete at a high level. Carbs were my friend and they were going to get me through my 22 miler on the weekend. I decided to sign up for a Brazen Race Half Marathon and add on 8.5 miles to the front end. This was such a great decision! I was able to do 22 miles with an average 8:35 pace and felt so good that my last mile I ran a 7:15 pace! I felt GREAT! Maybe an 8:10 pace for the marathon was possible! I rode on that high for the remaining taper weeks before my big race.

____

The race!

     Patrick and I decided to forgo the high hotel rates for camping the night before the race. We have a fantastic car that allows us to camp easily and we could pick up and leave in the morning really quickly.

     After a delicious dinner at Olive Garden :), we headed to the campgrounds and set up camp. Throughout the night, it quickly became clear that camping in the car together before a big race might not be a great thing to do. We tried out a new sleeping configuration in the Honda Element which left us with little space for our legs to stretch out completely. Our air mattress was caved in and we both woke up feeling terrible. My right knee was sore and stiff from the awkward angle I slept in. To add to all the commotion, there was a strong earthquake that hit Napa! I woke up in the middle of the night thinking cows were attacking our car! It was pretty intense!

     Anyways, Patrick dropped me off about half a mile from the start and I began my slow calming meditation toward the start line. It was a bit lonely at the start as I didn't know any of the folks around me. But it might have been a good idea since I was able to continue to ease my mind for what I was about to attempt. At the start line, I found the 3:30 pace group and thought well, maybe I can try. If it doesn't workout, I can still find the 3:35 group during the race.

     The gun fired and we were off (at 6 in the morning!!). During the first mile, I felt pretty good. I tried my best to stay with my pace group. I had a fear that I would go out too hard and lose it during the second half (as others have mentioned happened to them during their marathon races). I was definitely running a faster pace than I thought that I could hold and was worried when I would begin to slow down. 

     By mile 2 or 3, we were running on a narrow road and I found myself passing the 3:30 group and saw the 3:25 group ahead. I was feeling good. My feathers were flaring and I just wanted to run with the boys! I was keeping up through mile 6! Then the miles kept coming and I would glance at my watch and see that I was holding a 7:35 - 7:45 pace! Cool... but running 6 miles fast is easy. Running 26.2 miles that fast? Insane!

     By mile 10, there as still pep in my legs! So i pushed a little harder and gained a couple yards ahead of the 3:25 pace group. By mile 13.1, I checked my watch and saw that I just PR'd my half marathon time... during a freakin marathon! WHAT?! I couldn't stop a tear from rolling down my face. But 13.1 is only halfway in a marathon haha. I had no idea how my body would hold up!

     I continued to keep my kick ass pace through mile 19 but I did start to have to slow down a bit through the aid stations. The prior rolling hills and the pace were starting to get to me. Could I really do this? This is too fast! Only one more hour. I can do this. STOP THINKING NEGATIVELY! YOU CAN DO THIS! It was a huge mental struggle but being a part of a pace group allowed me to stop my self talk and just focus on one step at a time. Unfortunately, by mile 21, the 3:25 group was growing a bigger gap from me. My heart sank a little. I couldn't tell if my legs could hold up. I forced myself to keep a 7:50 pace and stay strong. 4 miles is an easy training day! I could do 4 miles in my sleep! I truly had to focus on completing one mile at a time. By the time I got to mile 25.2, I knew I only had 1 more mile! My spirits lifted and I started to pick up my pace again. I cheered on my fellow competitors and half marathon runners as we made our way towards the finish. As I saw the 26 mile sign, a man on the side line yelled at me "You're a Boston Marathon qualifier!" Really?! I couldn't believe it! More tears, obviously! Those .2 miles were really long! I pushed other marathon runners to kick up our speed as we made our way down the final stretch and it felt great to sprint through the finish line!

    The announcer yelled my name on the loud speakers as I crossed the finish line and the first person I saw was my amazing fiancé who couldn't have looked any more proud of me. I cried. I couldn't believe I just ran that race the way that I did. Me. A non-fast long distance runner. I just qualified for Boston! FOR REAL?!? HOW?! I came in at 3 hours and 27 minutes. That's a 56 minute PR from my last marathon. I am still dumbfounded by it. I don't understand it but I won't question it. My coach believed that I could do this. He knew my potential and continually pushed me to be stronger. To never give up and sometimes feel the pain. During training, I stopped questioning myself and just followed my training plan and pushed myself to get stronger. There are 2 reasons why I think I got faster. 1) I trained really hard. I never went easy on myself (unless my training schedule told me to). 2) I stopped telling myself that I couldn't do it. Before, I believed that I wasn't a runner. I didn't have the build of a fast long distance runner. But this year, I said, shut up brain. You are fast. You trained your butt off. You better work!

---

    As I begin my opportunity to coach cross country this year at Balboa high school, I found myself thinking of how my determination can hopefully inspire other girls to strive for their best. I want them to know that their abilities are only defined by themselves. If they put in the heart and work, they can amaze themselves. They just need someone to believe in them. And I hope that I can be that person. 

*Boston registration begins in September and I truly hope that I get the opportunity to sign up for this race. I hope that I can use this opportunity to inspire my high school athletes to work hard and continue to dream big.

      

At the SR Expo. Free wine tastings, free bottle of "runner's red" wine and some awesome swag! Such a fantastic race! 

100 days of happiness

As my wedding approaches in less than a month, my full marathon is at the end of this week and students arrive back at the high school, I have found myself feeling stressed.

I feel that I tend to deal with all of these deadlines well but do fall occasionally. I'm learning how to manage my time to allow time for both professional needs as well as personal needs. But here and there, I do struggle with the fear of failure on any of these levels.

I think one thing I need to do firing this time is to remind myself of reasons why I should be happy with all that I have in life.  And to encourage this, I am going to complete the #100daysofhappiness challenge. If you want to follow me, I will be posting on Instagram @bgirlannemal

Take a moment in your busy day and remind yourself of what made you happy today :)

New Newtons!

Just picked up a new pair of newtons! PINK!!! If they are anywhere near as awesome as my last pair, I am looking forward to some great runs to come!

An update to come after my track workout tonight!

Sometimes life gets in the way...

This tri season, I've really struggled. I haven't been putting in the type of effort that I put in last season. I want to. I try to. But my mind is all over the place! 

I thought this summer was going to be all about training! At the end of my first year as a high school special education teacher, I was told to enjoy the summer. Don't work if you don't have to. Since I chose not to work, I thought I could train like a professional triathlete! I had the highest expectations!

Reality came when summer finally arrived. The first week, I was preparing for race weekend (Folsom Long Course). So I was trying to focus on race mode. While also trying to relax after a great, yet intense first year of teaching.

After that week, I was going into full on wedding planning! There was a whole lot that I didn't realize I would be thinking about. There are so many options, decisions, and once I thought I made the perfect decision, I began to second guess and worry about what I would think about those decisions in years to come. Decorations! Who would have thought that I would worry about decorations! I worry that what I like now would later look tacky when I look back at pictures.

On top of that, I am engaged! And I plan to only be engaged once in my lifetime. And I want to enjoy it with my wonderful fiancé. Which I have :) And I have been loving every moment of it! While we love enjoying brunch when we can, brunch is peak training time! Thus, training took the back seat. 

dancing in the street with my silly fiancé :)

But you know what? There's always next year's race season. Sometimes, you need to allow life to get in the way and enjoy it. I know this year is going to make me an even better athlete. If I don't allow it now, I may regret it later. And nothing is worse than regret! So, though I haven't been placing on many podiums this year, I know its not the end of the world. I'll get married. I'll enjoy every moment of it. And then, I'll get back in the game! :)

Challenges

Since completing Ironman Cozumel last December, I have been trying to find new ways to challenge myself. This year, I have decided to see how fast I could push myself to run a marathon. While I have done 3 marathons in the past, I never looked at my time (nor did I even wear a watch to run races) and focused on surviving whatever distance was ahead of me. This time around (3 years since my last marathon), I wanna see what these mighty legs could do!

But as that marathon approaches, I am looking beyond that and wanna see how else I can challenge my body. And I'm debating if I could do a 50k. Can my legs hold up for over 30 miles? Will the hills be too much to handle?

I think as I become a cross country coach this year for Balboa High School, I need to push myself as much as I need to push my athletes. As I race, I know I think about them (as well as my tennis team) and know I can't be a hypocrite. I push them to dig deep in themselves and become the best athlete that they can be. As I race, I need to do the same.

Here's to new adventures!

My AHA Moment!

My fiancé thought it would be nice to take some time and remember my "aha moment"... As in the moment when I realized that I really love what I am doing and I am not too shabby at it.

For years, I have dabbled in both triathlons and marathons. I never thought I was much competition to anyone, I just enjoyed being active and having something to train and look forward to. I was never the skinniest girl nor did I believe I was the most athletic. I grew up playing tennis but constantly found myself giving excuses why I wouldn't take it to the next level. I was complacent. I was healthy. I was having fun. I didn't need to be the best in the world.

The same goes for triathlons. I grew up seeing cross country runners sprint past our high school tennis courts and I would think that they were beautiful with their gorgeous long and lean bodies. They were fast because they were so trim. Since I didn't fit that physique, I never thought that I could be a competitor. But last year, while out on a training ride with my Pacwest triathlon team, I was having a conversation with my buddy Ian and we talked about how amazing one of our teammates was. Ian said that our teammate was built for triathlons. She had such strong legs that could help propel her to top speeds. That moment, I thought, wow, really? My body is kinda like that! Maybe my body was built for triathlons too! I've got muscular legs - these babies can probably build up some speed.

And crazy enough, once I changed this outlook on my figure, I started to be a really strong force in my triathlon field! I have a great coach who constantly pushes me to be a tougher and stronger athlete. I have a fabulous group of training friends who made tough rides and runs actually fun! And of course, I have Patrick, my fiancé, who believes that I can do absolutely anything that I put my mind to.

For years, I've allowed my silly thoughts to create this belief that I didn't have what it takes to be a strong competitor but with a quick conversation all of that changed! And now, I can't wait to see what I can really push my body to do! No more excuses!

Lady Thighs - my running shorts review

Its funny, as my long training day mileage increases, I'm realizing that my favorite go-to running shorts just aren't cutting it!

Personally, I LOVE booty shorts. I'm sorry, I just really love how comfortable they are. Well... sorry, not sorry :) My mama blessed me with some good leg genes and I can't help but show off my favorite asset.

But many of my booty shorts that I wear to boot camp and track just don't quite work for long runs. I'm constantly fighting against their tendencies to ride up... and you know when booty shorts ride up, they no longer look like shorts, gurl!

At track, I love wearing track shorts. I have a Pearl Izumi pair that has a high slit. As well as an adidas high slit short (which sadly I think they have discontinued them) and lululemon running shorts with a somewhat high slit. All of those that I mentioned are great for track workouts and my shorter runs during the week but when I started adding miles (16+ long runs), I also added chaffing scars :( I was sad cause I loved each one of those shorts but my non-gap thighs just kept scrapping and tearing at each other.

And so, I began my search for cute shorts that will accommodate my beautiful, lady thighs. And I came upon a pair of spandex running shorts at my beloved lululemon (you have to admit that they have got some way cute stuff!). I had high hopes. I love spandex shorts and they are lululemon... what could go wrong?

*Just ran 22 miles in these babies*

Well, so far, I have used these shorts for boot camp, track and a 22 mile long run. And for all of the events mentioned, these shorts have been WONDERFUL! I love them! I will definitely wear these for the Santa Rosa Marathon!

I didn't experience any chaffing, riding up, or crazy other actions that some other shorts like to do. These were absolutely perfect for me. They are long enough that my thighs won't rub against each other yet they are short enough to still be airy and cute.

Plus there are so many pockets! There is a zipper in the back, 2 pockets in the band for keys and such AND there are two side pockets - perfect for holding a gel or whatever nutritional item that you would need during your run.

I would highly recommend them :) I would put up a link to their site but lululemon isn't selling these specific shorts on their website. I purchased mine in store at their Union Street location (San Francisco). Hope you get a chance to check out a pair!