Tuesday, June 9, 2009

She's Running; She's Actually Running

CORONA DEL MAR 5K
I was running this race with my friend SZ. She walk/ran a 5k years ago, but this is her first race after getting back into running. She did the Cto5k program on her iPhone (walk/run combo plan). I picked her up at 7am and we talked about her race goals. She said she thinks she will be around 32-35 minutes. I asked her what her dream time would be and she said to break 30 mins. So I told her that I will run with her and get her to her dream goal. We got to the starting line and I talked with her about not going out too fast. The race started and we kept a nice easy pace. I talked to her the entire time. We stopped and walked twice, but I pushed her to start back running as soon as she caught her breath. I actually had so much fun pacing and coaching - almost more fun than running my own race. We got to about .5 miles left and I told her we had to keep that pace to reach her goal - and at the final stretch I said "Run like a banshee from hell!" Her final time was 30:14. I felt like a proud mama :)

There isn't much in regards to spectators or music, but the scenery is nice. The best part about this race is the food after. Finishers go thru a shoot called "restaurant row" and that's what it is - they have pizza, tacos, sushi, bagels, pastries, fruit, etc. I settled on an orange, yogurt parfait with berries and a bran muffin. Ok, I'll admit I had a creme brule, too. We grabbed our goodies and sat on the lawn looking at the ocean. I think she's hooked because now she wants me to help her with a half marathon plan!!!!

OFFICIAL MARATHON TRAINING RUN
Sunday morning marked my first official marathon training run. I haven't run 10 miles since February! I set out in my new hood - ran a warm up mile over to Back Bay. I have to say that I struggled mentally a little bit at the beginning, but the run over all went really well. There are a heck-of-a-lot more hills than I am used to (remember my beach path is as flat as I was in 7th grade). But I loved the challenge of the hills. What I struggled with was my own ego. For the life of me, I couldn't keep my old pace. I averaged a pace of about 9:38.

Once I let go of my expectations, I really enjoyed the run. It was warm & humid and was a sweaty betty. Here is the only other issue that I had with Back Bay: I brought my water bottle fanny pack - but I'm a big thirsty lady. I could have polished off that bottle in the first half. BUT there are no water fountains to refill. So I had to ration my water. I think for any longer distances I will have to go back to beach path just for water and potty purposes.

Besides that, I went on another fantastic date. It's such a fun story, but I'm not ready to share yet.

16 comments:

Amy - the gazelle said...

can't wait to hear the date stories! I totally skipped my first marathon training long run! too many mojitos. I am now in my weekend/special occasion only zone.....

Sounds like a fun 5K! And yay to be back to the running.

Anonymous said...

Nice job pacing. Way to start off marathon training!

Carolina John said...

boy that sounds like a lot of fun. pacing, a 10 miler, and a fantastic date? very nice.

i ran the oly on sunday, i think you'll like the pics i put on the race report.

Chic Runner said...

sounds like a fun place to run and spill on these freaking date details!

Julie D said...

Congrats on the fantastic date, and your comeback to marathon training!

Glenn Jones said...

If you are running the back bay - there are two places to refill water. Let's start at the YMCA (Irvine and University) and run south (on Irvine Ave.)

You'll turn left on Santiago, and then left again at Galaxy (look for the "4" in yellow paint in the road and then turn left at the *next* corner. Run along Galaxy there for just over a mile and there is a park overlooking the bay with a water fountain.

From there, follow Galaxy around to where it intersects with Santiago again. Turn left on Santiago. Continue south until Santiago makes a sharp left and goes down the hill. Continue straight on the little pathway. Turn left and run behind the houses at Castaways. (Follw the little yellow arrows painted on the ground). Run on down the hill and over the bridge on PCH. Turn left at Bayside and follow the "Back Bay Loop" signs painted on the ground. The path soon ducks behind Newport Dunes. At any point along this path you can duck into Newport Dunes and fill up at a water fountain.

Once you pop out from behind Newport Dunes, you turn left on Back Bay. It's about 5 miles back to the YMCA.

I have a pretty detailed description on my blog: http://therunningfatguy.blogspot.com/2008/05/test.html

And congrats on the date!

Aron said...

sooo fun about the 5k!!! honestly i had SO much fun running SD and helping to pace a couple friends and just keep them going. i was so happy after that race :)

yay for marathon training!!! just remember your pace will catch up, it just takes time.

Aron said...

ohhh and cannot wait to hear about the date :)

Amber said...

Nice job pacing! That sounds like fun!

Hills are tough, I hate them! Haha. Good job on getting the 10 miles in though!!

Heather said...

Nice start to the marathon training. I love seeing people finish their first race - way to pace a friend!

Kiki said...

I wish you could run with me, there is a 5K and then a longer marathon-y thing here on the East coast that I am considering, Cooper River Run, it takes us over an amazing bridge that I LURVE!!!

The girls, I am thinking, are coming next April 2010....I'll be 40.Years.Old.

If you want to contact me you can always e mail me at kikbee@yahoo.com. Let me know what I'm in for...

Midwest said...

Well done, Coach!

Jess said...

Glad you had fun pacing!

jen said...

Congrats to your friend on the 5k! How cool of you to pace her.

Expect your pace to be a bit slower on a hilly route, but it will make you faster on the flats. You are going to do awesome! Good luck with the training. :)

Unknown said...

In addition to the spots Glenn mentioned, you can get water AT the Y and there's another fountain on the mountains-to-sea trail about .5 toward uci (take the turn that goes under jamboree).

Anonymous said...

Excellent work on the runs!