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Thanksgiving Thankfulness & Running Lately…

December 2nd, 2012 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (2 Comments)

I know it’s a bit belated, but (obviously) I’m back from spending Thanksgiving in Santa Barbara, CA and still can’t get over how amazingly relaxing and fun it was. I turned off my work email the second I boarded the plane on Wednesday (at 6:30 a.m. OMG early) and didn’t turn it back on until Sunday night right before I took the redeye home. I didn’t set an alarm the entire vacation, and slept the best I’ve slept in… a long time. Feeling rested, tuning out and truly being ‘present’ really allowed me to destress and turn off my brain for a bit. It was lovely.

For the third year, we stayed at the Hotel Oceana which is located right on the beach. I began each morning with an easy run along the beach path, usually around 30 minutes, and ate a leisurely breakfast outside in the sun. I just wanted to kickstart my day with a little sweat, but mostly just to take advantage of these gorgeous views.

We’d then go over to my aunt and uncle’s house, spending some quality time hanging out with the whole family, and (regrettably) teaching my Grandma how to use Facebook and Instagram on her iPad. Yup, needed a few glasses of wine during and after that lesson…

The whole family

Now that my sister and cousins are over 21,we enjoyed a fun night out in Santa Barbara on Friday…followed by a tipsy walk home along the beach.

Yes, I am short. I also think I was the only one not in heels.

We had an incredible Thanksgiving, followed by 2 days of leftovers. Which basically meant a full Thanksgiving 3 days in a row…and it was amazing. I think I could eat turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie and drink wine 365 days a year and be perfectly happy.

But now I’m back to reality in chilly NYC, trying to get back into the routine of getting myself out the door to run most days. Since it’s been a while since I’ve followed any sort of ‘plan’, I’m kind of struggling with running 5-6 days a week again and getting my mileage up. Lately, I’ve been doing around 4-5 days a week but at least 1 or 2 of those days is something easy like 2 miles before I pretend to lift at the gym. Somehow I can’t even seem to get to 30 miles per week, a relatively low number that always has been pretty easy to exceed.

Quite honestly, it’s just so much nicer to sleep in or be lazy or let early mornings/late nights at work get in the way. I need to remind myself that generally, I feel better after starting my morning with a few miles. It’s true, I rarely regret getting up and out the door. I’m more awake and feel better throughout the day. But my runs have been really slow and drag on, and I sometimes wonder how I’ll get back to the point where hitting 50+ mpw with workouts and long runs ain’t no thang.

Most of my runs have been pretty unremarkable, hovering around a comfortable 8:00 min. pace (which I’d like to work on bringing down), but there have been a few good days here and there!

The day before I left for Thanksgiving, I worked from my house in NJ and went for a nice mid-afternoon run to break up the day. I ran one of my favorite routes through a few parks and started pushing the pace without realizing it. 8 miles later, I hit an average of 7:21 pace with the last 3 miles at 7:09, 7:08 and 6:55. It was hard, but in that awesomely-uncomfortable way that I haven’t felt in a while.

And on Thursday of this week, I decided to attempt a solo workout just to get my legs moving a bit. It was nothing special, I just did 2x 1 loop of the Central Park reservoir (~1.58 miles) with .5 jog between. I hovered around 6:45 and 6:40 pace, which is a bit depressing since I used to be able to maintain that for 8 mile tempos (lolz) and I wanted to die after just 1 loop, but any easily-digestible workout is good right now.

And today I did my longest run in quite a while! I started out with Veronica and Meredith, then hopped back on the bridle after they peeled off, running into Nicole and Sarah for a few more miles. The run ended up flying by, ending up at my apartment 11.25 miles later. Running with people will always beat running solo.

My goals for this upcoming week include:

  • Unpack my suitcase from last week (I know, I know…)
  • Get my couch delivered (Friday!) and find a coffee table
  • Buy a real Christmas tree and lights, and decorate my apartment
  • Run at least 30 miles and rest up before a busy weekend that includes not one but TWO! friends’ Christmas parties, Ely’s bridal shower, and volunteering as a running buddy at Girls on the Run 5K!

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The Game Plan

November 21st, 2012 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (5 Comments)

As I write this, I’m somewhere 30,000 feet above Newark and Phoenix, en route to sunny Santa Barbara, California for Thanksgiving. (edit: And now posting on my layover in Phoenix!) I booked my flights with a combination of frequent flier miles (all that work travel pays off, somehow!) and credit card rewards points, since Thanksgiving travel is outrageously pricey. It was an equal number of miles to book economy or business class for my outbound flight, so of course I chose business class and was pleasantly surprised upon check-in to have been upgraded to first class. What? Me?! It made the 6:30 am flight time (and 4:30 am wakeup call) slightly more bearable. Now I’m just waiting on my complimentary breakfast and booze…

Anyways, thanks so much for the kind welcome back to blogging. It always amazes me that anyone actually reads this, and actually cares about my ramblings of running mile after mile (or, more recently, not running). It’s awesome and I truly appreciate the support!

While I’m still in the stage where I’m running however long I want to, when I want to, I’ve been looking towards the future and mapping out a racing calendar to get motivated. In fact, I haven’t raced since Boston or Big Sur in April. Before my big goal race in March, most of these races below will serve as training workouts to get me back in the racing game, mentally more than physically.

January 5th: Joe Kleinerman 10K

  • Because I hate racing 10Ks and can’t think of a better way to torture myself after the holidays and New Years. Self-inflicted hazing?

January 19th: Sayville Running Company 10 Mile Run to the Brewery

  • My friend Veronica actually won it last year (badass!) and mentioned it’d be fun to do. My friend Terence lives in Sayville, so a few of us are going to go out to his house and make a weekend of it. A race that ends at a brewery with free beer…sign me up! (Says the girl who is supposed to be avoiding gluten, whoops.)

January 27th: Manhattan Half-Marathon

  • ‘Cause what’s more fun than paying to run 2 loops of hilly Central Park in the winter? I kinda bandited part of this race 2 years ago when it was 14 degrees as part of a long training run, willingly, because I was so crazy sick of running alone. Will probably be my first really ‘long’ tempo effort.

Something Awesome in February

  • I want to run the Cherry Tree 10 Miler again in Brooklyn, but I’m pretty sure it’ll fall on President’s Day weekend when my friend Ely is getting married back at Villanova (!!!!!), which is 10x more fun than any race. Open to suggestions for something else fun during this month!

March 17th: NYC Half-Marathon

  • Quite simply, I love this race. Haters can hate on NYRR and the ridiculously steep price tag (my bank account sure does), but I have such happy memories associated with this race and can’t wait to do it again, especially with a new (hopefully faster) course since I last did it in 2011. I didn’t run it last year because I got back from a work trip reallllllly late the night before, and was in the midst of Boston training. This will be my big Spring 2013 goal race. It just feels right. My story…
    • It was my very first post-collegiate race (and first half-marathon!) back in 2010. After 8 straight years of training and competing regularly in high school and college, I was still in that weird “kinda burnt out on racing and don’t know if I want to do this anymore” phase. I hadn’t raced in almost a year, and had never raced anything over a 6K in my life, so I didn’t do any workouts and went in with minimal pressure on myself. While I ran 1:29 and accomplished my goal of auto-qualifying for the NYC Marathon, more importantly, I found I really did love racing and competing again. Running was something I wanted to challenge myself with again.
    • In 2011, I had one marathon under my belt and had gotten more serious about training. I knew I could take down my 2010 time easily, but I totally underestimated myself and ran a 1:24:23, which still stands as my PR. I negative split that race and still remember how awesome it was to drop a sub-6 mile down 7th Ave and into Times Square, smiling and pushing my way down the West Side Highway. I can only hope I’ll be able to recreate that experience in March, this time a little faster.

While I haven’t signed up for the majority of these races (with exception of the NYC Half, booyah guaranteed entry), they’re on my radar and I plan to sign up as soon as registration opens, barring any work/personal plans that arise. Just mapping things out has already created some direction and re-sparked motivation that’s been lacking for quite some time. I’m not sure what’s on the horizon past mid-March, but I’ve got some ideas brewing depending on how the next few months go including (re)attempting Chicago in October if I’m feeling up to it.

While looking ahead to these races and how I’ll get fit again and train to PR, I’m trying very hard not to get frustrated with the health problems I’ve been having. I know my body and myself and can tell something has been off for a while. I had a good visit to an endocrinologist at NYU last week, and while it means multiple blood tests to look into a few things, I’m hopeful we’ll get a little closer to figuring it out once the results are back. I want to get back to competing at my best, but my body isn’t at its best right now. And honestly, it feels a bit out of my control to get it back to its best until I figure out what’s medically wrong. Until then, trying not to Google-diagnose myself with a billion different things…

No, but really.

Happy Thanksgiving, all! I’ll be enjoying a few well-deserved days off work with the family, eating turkey and drinking wine to my heart’s content. And you should, too!

What’s on your racing calendar? Any other fun NYC-area races you’d suggest I look into?

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Why I Didn’t Run the Chicago Marathon

November 8th, 2012 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (7 Comments)

Hello world, are you there? It’s me, Lindsay.

It’s been about 4.5 months since I’ve posted, which means a lot has passed and I’m not sure where to start.

Though the race happened a month ago, I guess it’s worth sharing that I didn’t run the Chicago Marathon. 

Guys, this summer was crazy. Crazy busy, crazy exciting, crazy stressful. I don’t know how else to really convey it. When I last updated, it was mid-June and I had spent the majority of that month and the one before traveling. And I was tired and slowly getting into shape, but that was just the start of the end. I spent the better parts of July and August traveling, including weekends. I was away more days in August than I was actually home. When I was in the midst of it, I knew it was crazy and I was all over the place, but I don’t think I fully wrapped my head around how intense it was until I looked back at it.

I’m used to having a lot on my plate. I tend to thrive on it, actually. But I don’t always handle stress well. When it gets too much, I internalize it instead of working through it. I feel like I stew in my own thoughts and get paralyzed to take action, which only makes things worse. I felt like I never had a solid night’s sleep because I was constantly having stress dreams. It’s a good problem to have when your company is growing so quickly, there’s SO much (too much!) to do and tackle– and I want to make it clear that I’m not trying to complain about that, because I 110% love my job and wouldn’t trade it for the world, I’m just stating that it was hectic. Most everyone at my company experienced the same whirlwind…that still continues.

To give you an idea of the crazy excitement: in the span of just one week we opened a retail store (Chobani SoHo–you must go!), debuted our Olympics commercial and put on a huge local community celebration in Central NY (yes, exactly like the Olympics commercial), hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony w/ elected officials at the store, and I left to go to London for 2 weeks…for the Olympics.

Oh yeah, I went to the Olympics for work and it was the most amazing experience and one I will never forget. Maybe more on that later…

Right. So why didn’t I run Chicago? I’ve always held a full-time job and marathon trained, NBD. My training log in June and July pretty much tells the story. “Tired” might be the most frequently used adjective to describe the bulk of my runs and “workouts.” There are some “terrible“s in there, too. I was doing OK at hitting my weekly mileage, but the time I left for London was when I needed to start bumping it up.

Before I left for London, I told friends and family I wasn’t sure how I felt about doing Chicago. At that point in time, my body needed the extra hours of sleeping, not hours of running. I wasn’t excited to lace up my sneakers and run, and that’s usually the biggest red flag for me. I decided I’d use London as a test: often times I actually enjoy running more when traveling more because I love running in different cities and schedules tend to be a bit more flexible out-of-office.

Well, you can see how that turned out. I had been getting weird knee/IT pain that wasn’t debilitating, but awkwardly affected my gait. I was staying up way too late to tackle work on NYC time, then waking up 4 or 5 hours later to get my run in before starting the day’s events on London time. I. was. exhausted. Something had to give, as I mentioned back in June, that something wouldn’t be my job.

I remember the moment I was walking on Knightsbridge going from one meeting to the next, rushing to make it. I had struggled through my planned 8 mile run that morning and could only do 4 miles at a ridiculously slow pace. I called my mom and said “I’m not running the Chicago Marathon” and simultaneously burst into tears and felt a wave of relief rush over me. I couldn’t help feel like I was giving up on myself, but I knew it was the right decision.

Yeah, I could have still done the race and finished. But for me, that’s not why I race marathons. I know myself, I know I’m competitive and I’m not going to toe the line for 26.2 unless I know I’m able to give my all. I signed up for Chicago to break 3:00, and it just wasn’t going to happen this year.

I accepted it, and I moved past it. This year wasn’t my year, and I can say that with equal parts heartbreak and acceptance. I still continued to run lightly when I got home from traveling. I was in such a funk from being away from home for 16 days, I felt like if I stopped running entirely, I’d dig myself deeper into a funk. For a good month or so, I only ran to meet up with other people since that was the only time I was excited to run. Weirdly, that ended up being workouts and long runs, not easy runs. Fine by me, I just needed to get back to the point where running wasn’t another stressor in my life and I looked forward to it again.

I had mixed feelings when October 7th rolled around. I was in Philadelphia for work as I tracked my friend and training partner Alex, who rocked her way with a slight negative split to 2:58:41. I was so excited and proud of her! A 5 minute PR! Once that sunk in, I was naturally bummed I wasn’t there racing alongside her like we planned, and then I got a bit hopeful because I know I’m capable of that too…one day.

It’s hard to describe, but for quite some time since early summer I just haven’t felt like myself. I attribute most of this to the travel and lack of routine. I can confidently say I severely underestimated the effects both stress and lack of sleep have on my body. I’ve gained a good 12 pounds from my normal weight, which is a lot for me since I’m only 5’3″ and my weight typically stays within the same ~5lb. fluctuation. I got bloodwork done and I have an extremely elevated cortisol level (which is a hormone released in response to stress), for which I’m going to see an endocrinologist next week to start to figure out. My primary care doctor said elevated cortisol can often lead to weight gain, among other things.

The blood test also showed a high intolerance to gluten. I don’t have Celiac disease, but I’ve since cut out gluten from my diet for about 1.5 months now, and I already notice a positive difference. I had been getting really terrible and unusual stomachaches, but assumed they were from weird or rich foods from traveling, and my thoughts were constantly foggy/not cohesive, which I assumed were from lack of sleep. Both of these things have pretty much subsided now. I’d also say part of the reason I’m feeling better is because I’m eating less processed foods/desserts (gluten is in everything), but I’m going to keep consistent at it anyways. It’s not too hard for me, and I do notice a positive difference so it makes it easy to continue.

So what’s next? Since the middle of August, I’ve just been running however much I want to, when I want to. Some weeks, that’s around 30 miles, and others, it’s around 10. I haven’t even been keeping a log. I’m working at losing the weight I’ve gained, which isn’t going too successfully because I’ve never tried to lose weight before. I’m running by myself more frequently. I’m even going to the gym to lift and do core work! And most importantly, I’m starting to get excited about lacing up my sneakers again, and that’s all I can ask for at this time. So thanks for continuing to read (if you’re still out there!). As I get back into blogging, I’ve got some exciting news to share next time about some winter/spring races I’ve registered for already…yay!

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Back At It, Slowly.

June 21st, 2012 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (14 Comments)

Last time I posted about the importance of taking a break, I suppose I needed one from blogging as well as running. Let’s be honest: without much running happening around these parts lately, I haven’t felt inclined to write, nor have I had the time. And if I don’t want to write it, trust me, you don’t want to read it.

But with <4 months until the Chicago Marathon, I’ve slowly but surely started easing back into training. I had been running on and off in late May, never more than 30 minutes or so. I gave myself until Memorial Day weekend to run only when I wanted to, and then started keeping track of my mileage and forcing myself out the door more diligently.

Running in Seattle. Easy to rise early with a view like this!

Getting back in shape is …humbling. It’s extremely frustrating to struggle through easy runs, and tempting to just sleep in when a few miles at a sluggishly slow pace doesn’t seem worth lacing up for. Most days, I don’t even bother to wear my Garmin because I don’t care to compare my pace or distance.

But I’m used to this period, and know that being diligent and getting in a base will pay off. Soon enough, runs will become easier and my pace will get faster. I’ll dive right back into workouts and feel strong instead of wiped out. Getting back into shape can be discouraging but I just try to push those thoughts aside and continue to put in the miles, no matter how slow. Consistency and working through this tough phase is key. I think this is where newer runners get discouraged and quit. And I totally get it, running really sucks when you’re not in shape!

I’ve started to build out my Chicago Marathon training plan loosely, but still need to work out a few details. Here are the nuts & bolts:

  • One rest day: Running 6 days a week, with 1 total rest day, works well to give my legs & mind a break
  • Cut-back weeks: I found that cut-back weeks every 3/4 weeks really help build up mileage without becoming too fatigued or overwhelmed. I am going to try to time these around busy work/travel weeks, if it’s possible to sync up.
  • Peaking at 75+ miles: Slowly but surely, I’m increasing my mileage loads. In college, it was 50-55 or so. For NYC 2010, I peaked at 66.5. For NYC 2011, I peaked at 70.5; For Boston, 72. I am hoping to get in a good solid weeks at 65-70 and then cap it out at 75. While this isn’t a lot compared to other marathoners, honestly, it comes down to not having enough time (& energy!) to do much more.
  • Structured Mon-Sun weeks: I used to always chart my weekly milage like a traditional calendar, Sun-Sat. This made swapping long runs between Saturday and Sunday each week tricky, as the weekly totals would be wacky. Adding my weeks Mon-Sun just makes it simpler. Rocket science.
  • Strength Training: I know I say this every training cycle, but I am going to make a more concentrated effort at strength training and core work. I know it makes me feel (and look!) better but it’s the first thing to go through the window when my mileage increases. I need to stop making excuses and just do it. Thanks, Nike.

Honestly, I’m a little nervous about squeezing in a solid block of marathon training amidst a busy summer. My weeks and weekends are just about booked up until mid-August. Whoa. Work is incredibly excitingly busy (thanks, Ali) and most days I’m extremely overwhelmed and overtired and stressed. But I’m finally doing something I love and am so passionate about, the long hours, insane travel, and demands are so worth it. I’m someone who does not function well on little sleep, and I’m already feeling the effects. Something has to give.

And that something can’t be my job. I recently got an exciting promotion (yay!) and will be slowly transitioning onto more of a PR role versus straight digital communications. Of course, the two will always be intertwined but I’m excited to start to handle more day to day media relations. There’s so much opportunity to grow in my role which is tremendously exciting and terribly overwhelming at the same time. I have faith that I’ll figure it out and still have time to pursue other goals of mine: like running and maintaining a good life balance.

So I hope you’ll keep coming back and checking in, even though posting might get a little less frequent. I barely have time to do laundry most weeks, let alone write a substantial post. But I enjoy writing as an outlet and way to track my training and connect with others, so I’ll still be here!

Next week, I’m headed to Houston for about 24 hours and then straight to Eugene the 27th-2nd– that’s right, a perk of my job is being lucky enough to get to work at the Track & Field Trials. A runnerds dream. I’m excited since it’s my first trip to Eugene, and while I’ll be tied up with work most days, I hope I can catch a race or two, or at least get to hang with some college friends who are racing. Stay tuned as I make it my goal to stalk some Olympians. Kidding. Kind of…

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The Importance of Taking A Break

May 15th, 2012 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (23 Comments)

I love running, but sometimes, I love not running even more. It’s hard to believe it’s been just about a month since the Boston “Speed Can Kill” Marathon, and about 2 weeks since I trudged through the Big Sur Marathon to complete the Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge. In effect, besides those two days of running 26.2 miles, I’ve run exactly 6 times, only 15-30 minutes each, in the last month. Yay!

Less running, more drinking with friends!

I am a strong believer in periodization of training cycles. Part of this has to do with competing through high school and college. The seasons were clearly defined: Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Outdoor Track. We always took about two weeks of rest in between, give or take depending on practices. Breaks were natural, built-in, and welcome after a hard season or race.

After my LAST college race. I took a whole 3 months of NO exercise after that, and it was glorious.

It’s a little more difficult in the ‘real’ world of running, where there are fun races just about every weekend to sign up for, and no coach setting your competition schedule or telling you when to work out and when to rest. Unfortunately, I think too many runners get caught up in racing and training year-round without a break in between cycles and no real concept of periodization, and ultimately end up burnt out or injured. I get it, there are so many awesome races and marathons to sign up for…it’s easy to want to do them all and do them all right now.

But that’s also the awesome thing about the ‘real’ world. YOU control your training! YOU control your rest! YOU control your goal races. I know everyone is different, so I’m not saying you’re doing it wrong if you don’t split your training into cycles. Everyone’s bodies handle training differently, and everyone has different motivations for running and racing.

However, I really don’t think most people benefit from racing week after week, almost entirely year round, never allowing themselves to peak for a smaller handful of goal races. Instead, it’s just a steady stream of mediocre races at less-than-your-full-potential. I don’t think it’s physiologically or psychologically possible to be in your prime racing shape year-round. Of course, the type of races you do will influence this: training cycles differ in duration if you’re running 5Ks versus running marathons. I do firmly believe that periodization allows me to perform at a high level, while keeping enjoyable and injury-free. I love to race, but I love to race fast more. That means being patient and having 1 or 2 kickass races a year, over dozens of mediocre races.

I’m not a coach, so I’m not going to tell you how to structure your training. Again, it depends on the timing and length of what you’re racing. Google “training periodization” for a better guide than I’d give you. But from my personal experience over the past 3 years of post-collegiate racing, I select a goal race and build my schedule leading up to that. For a marathon, I start to focus on building my base about 4+ months out from the race. As the weeks pass, I steadily increase my mileage. I might schedule in a few races during training, but I use these races as workouts or fitness indicators, not goal races. About ~3 weeks from the marathon, I begin to taper. After the goal race, I take as much time off as I feel I need to recover: physically and mentally. Entirely ‘off’ is key: no physical exercise of any type (besides walking, that’s kinda inevitable..) Sometimes I need a little less than two weeks, sometimes it’s a month.

If you’re not longing for a break after a really hard few months of training or an awesome PR in a race, you’re probably not training and racing hard enough. If you’re back rocking workouts and long runs a week or two after a goal race, I don’t understand you. I’ll be chilling on the couch, not lacing up my running shoes until I’m fully longing to run.

I wouldn’t still be head over heels in love with running after 11 years of competing, chasing PR after PR, if I didn’t rest. It’s one of the most important pieces of the puzzle, and an often neglected one. If I trained hard, all year round, I’d never be able to peak accordingly to run a 3:03 (and soon, sub-3:00) marathon.

Another great part about not running? You get to focus on other areas of your life that got a little less love during your hard training. Like friends, family, and work! Lucky for me, my busy work season just started to kick in after Big Sur. Between personal and work trips, I am traveling every. single. weekend. in May and June. Bring it on, and see ya never, friends!

Sun Valley, Idaho for the Idaho Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics Association Conference

Boulder, Colorado as a sponsor of the Blend Retreat. Gorgeous view from our hike!

After Boulder, I was lucky enough to hang out in Denver for about 2 hours with my college roomie Emily before jetting back home!

And then I went to Dallas for the Team USA Olympic Media Summit

...Where I got to meet Bernard Lagat and was a HUGE runnerd.

And get to hear the First Lady Michelle Obama speak!

Yeah, it’s been busy, and I’ve come to appreciate my bed at home more than ever, but I wouldn’t have it any other way right now. I’m in a very exciting place in my career, and though traveling to events primarily on the weekends isn’t the most awesome way to maintain a normal social life, I absolutely love my job. I’m working more than ever, traveling more than ever, and sometimes I can barely keep my head on straight, but it’s so rewarding to feel so challenged and get the opportunity to do some very cool things.

I’m traveling to San Francisco the next two weekend, but for FUN! This weekend is my sister’s college graduation (wahhhh how do they grow up so quickly?!), so I’m looking forward to a weekend of celebrating with the family. Then I’ll return to CA for Memorial Day Weekend with three friends for a little Napa Valley getaway. At least there’s a bit of fun squeezed into my schedule. And maybe some running, too….maybe.

What’s your viewpoint on periodization in your training? Do you like taking breaks after races, or are you more of a year-round racer? Favorite place you’ve been lately?

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Boston 2 Big Sur: Challenge Complete

May 6th, 2012 | Posted by Lindsay Runs in Blog Posts - (14 Comments)

I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve written, because it has, and it’s taken me a bit to get over the blahs post-Big Sur and because I’ve been traveling like a maniac. I took the red-eye back from San Francisco on Sunday night post-race, flew to Idaho on Wednesday morning for work and then straight to Boulder on Friday afternoon for work. I’m wiped but will make this hour count while I’m waiting for my flight here in Denver.

The Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge: I did it!

3:09 & 3:24. 2nd woman in the Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge (missed 1st by 3!!!!!! seconds)

And to be honest, it was one of the hardest things I’ve done. Combining a 85+ degree Boston marathon with 26.2 miles of crazy coastal hills and (reported) 40 mph headwinds only 13 days later was brutal. Duh, that’s why it’s a challenge and that’s why I signed up. I loved Boston and wanted to love Big Sur just as much– I wanted the Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge to be one of the most memorable things I’ve done.

Spoiler: it wasn’t. I hated it. Okay, maybe ‘hated’ is extreme, but it just wasn’t the blissful race I anticipated. I hate, hate, hate to say that about such a beautiful & well organized race..but here’s why:

After Boston, I took it extremely easy. I glowed, riding my runner’s high for as long as I could. I rested, slept, drank & celebrated with friends, and ran about 20 minutes (no more!) three times in before Big Sur. Slowly but surely, the soreness in my legs subsided and my running gait returned to normal. I felt kinda rested and ready to tackle the marathon! But, I also felt really out of shape when I ran- an easy 3 week taper followed by 2 weeks of next-to-nothing really isn’t conducive to maintaining fitness. Surprise!

Since I had no intentions of racing Big Sur, I took my pre-race prep far less seriously. Since I was visiting my sister in San Francisco before heading down to Monterey on Saturday, I took advantage of actually being able to go out with her on Friday night. We drank until after 2, and I woke up with a massive hangover. So bad, I had to make her stop and pull over to get sick in the car on the way to lunch…and after lunch. I couldn’t stomach food until dinner on Saturday night. Seems I can’t hang with the college kids, but I blame the shots.

And onto Big Sur!

I drove down to Monterey on Saturday afternoon, once my stomach settled, and met Alex & her fiancé Steve at the hotel– we went to the expo and out to dinner, and were in bed around 9:30. Party! We woke at 3:15 a.m. (!!!!) as the buses left at 4 to take us to the start. It was dark and cold, but at least I finally had a use for the throwaway sweats Ali originally gave me for Boston.

Once the sun rose, we headed to the start– the first “corral” was under 3:45…so we hopped right in towards the front. Loved how open it was!

And since I loved how Page and Aron did this for Boston 2 Big Sur last year, we pinned our Boston bibs on the back. What a great idea!

I felt great the first few miles– it was cool, shady, flat/downhill, and we were clicking off miles quite comfortably. I was happy and just felt like I was heading off for a nice long run– exactly what I wanted the day to be.

Yep– I brought my camera to take pictures during the “race”. It was sunny but crisp and cool, and we wandered through fields and the views were spectacular. It was so peaceful and I couldn’t wait until we neared the coast. Until around the 10K, a massive headwind hit as we started to go uphill. It got extremely foggy and dark– it was like we entered a totally different climate.

I can’t even begin to describe how strong the wind was as we worked up the hills. It was the type of wind that blows back/puffs up your jacket and turns your umbrellas upside down. I think I read it was up to 40 mph at points– of course always a headwind. And it only seemed to hit when we were going up the hills. It took so much energy out of me, and while we didn’t care about our time, it was a bit discouraging to see 8:30s start to click off.

Finally, we made it to the 13.1 mile mark- the famous Bixby Bridge- the gorgeous bridge that draw me into the race and that I was so looking forward to. However…the view was a bit obstructed.

I promise this is much more beautiful on a clear, sunny day.

Around this point, I started to feel my IT/Piriformis pain acting up…which really confused me as I hadn’t felt even the slightest twinge there all Boston training cycle. I’ve always had bouts of IT pain that usually flare up for a few weeks pretty intensely, but clears up after ART/Graston while rolling the shiz out of it with a baseball. It’s bothered me at some point while training for both NYC ’10 and ’11, but never while training for Boston this year.

While it started as a bit of tightness around mile 8, it turned into stabbing pain around mile 14 or so. It was the type of pain that would normally cause me to stop and cut a normal run short– the intensity of the pain wouldn’t be worth running through on a normal day, as I knew each mile was just re-aggravating it even further.

I tried to let the views distract me, but I was just in so much pain it was pretty miserable. Luckily (or not so luckily) Alex was having stomach pains and felt nauseous, so we were content to just take it easy. Around mile 17, I started wishing away the miles and wondering why I even signed up for this. I was frustrated that I wasn’t having a great time because this was supposed to be the culmination of such a great journey. I was frustrated that my leg hurt so badly that I was just about limping. I was on the verge of tears for most of the 2nd half of the race and had to continuously tell myself to pull it together.

This was supposed to be fun. Why was I so miserable?! Finally at mile 22, I told Alex I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to go 4 more miles. My body felt like it was going to break down and my right leg was going to fall off. This wasn’t normal “oh, of course my legs hurt, I’m running a marathon” pain. This was “you’re injured and your body is telling you to stop now” pain. But, since I’m stubborn, we kept on running. At least I’m happy we didn’t walk a single step.

I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to see a finish line. I wanted it to be over about 16 miles earlier.

Here’s how the race played out for a 3:24: finish.

At least our the Boston 2 Big Sur jacket and medal was pretty sweet. After all, wasn’t the swag what reeled me in in the first place?

Would I do this race ever again? Probably not. I think my first experience was just tarnished a bit by the ridiculous headwinds, the weird fog that made the views less-than-stellar, and the incredibly sharp piriformis pain that made me want to cry and die.

Boston 2 Big Sur, I’m glad I did you, but more glad that you’re over.