Tag Archives: PR

Superbowl 10k

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This past weekend I ran the local Super Bowl 10k for the 4th year in a row. This was my first race I ran after moving to Santa Cruz so it has a special place in my heart and I always look forward to it. This year was my first time running it as a member of Santa Cruz Endurance. After my recent training (see my last post), I was excited to see how I would do at the 10k distance. Well, I won’t leave you waiting… I did great and earned a new PR, 2 1/2 minutes off my previous best 10k time! Woot woot!

Fellow SCE member and SFM Ambassador, Elise, and I headed out together. We picked up our bibs and warmed up with a nice slow mile. This helped us also combat the cold weather! Brr. After that we ran into our friend Kelsey who also ran the race. We saw a few other SCE members (check out the recap here) and some other running friends and then it was go time!

Ready to go!

Ready to go!

I was ready for this race and started with a look of determination (Seriously look at my face in this photo!)
Screen Shot 2013-02-06 at 8.34.07 AMAlso, I was rocking Kevin’s 49ers beanie to send some good vibes to the team. Bummer they didn’t win.

West Cliff

who can complain with this running view??

who can complain with these running views??

Anyway, I started out a little too fast (6:38 first mile, whoops!). But I felt good and just couldn’t get myself to slow down. After that I settled into an average 7:14 pace (with my longest mile at 7:30). I felt pretty good the whole race, until about half into my 5th mile. I felt tired and my legs felt heavy.. then I looked at my Garmin and saw I was running a 6:30 pace, whoops!

Sprinting to the finish

Sprinting to the finish

I rounded the last corner and knew I was going to finish strong. The course seemed a little long by my watch (6.28 instead of 6.2) so at the 10k time (again by my watch) I was at 44:47. My finish time by my watch was 45:25 and official finish time was 45:28. This placed me as the 4th overall woman finisher and 2nd in my age group (finished 37th overall). I didn’t realize the next girl behind me was so close, she finished at 45:29. Wow I’m glad I didn’t hold back! Elise was not far behind, with a finishing time of 46:06.

Walking up to get my medal!

Walking up to get my medal!

Getting a medal is the best!

Getting a medal is the best!

2nd in my age group!

2nd in my age group!

This was a great race for our team! All of the runners took one of the top 5 spots in their age group, and two of our guys took 1st and 3rd overall!

SCE runners represent!

SCE runners represent!

Have you raced yet in 2013? How’d it go?

A Few Christmas 5ks

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Well, the racing year has pretty much come to a close. But CIM wasn’t my last race of the year. The second and third weekends of the year I ran in two Christmas 5k races.

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On December 9, I ran in my third Jingle Bell Rock 5k. I love this race because its small (although growing fast!), I have done well at it consistently, and they collect Toys for Tots. This year was the first year I ran it with friends around. Elise, Michelle, and Margaret all ran the race while my SCE gals Rebecca, Leslie, and Laura (and her daughter Agnes) volunteered.

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Elise & I at the start

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Me, Elise, Laura, Michelle, & Margaret post race

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The lovely volunteers, Leslie & Rebecca, with Elise & me

Elise and I stuck together for a little over the first half. She had a little lung difficultly (she has only been back running for a few weeks), so she slowed down but I kept my pace. I ended up finishing at 22:26, not a PR but still good only a week after the marathon. I took 4th in a highly competitive age group (I hate 10 year age groups!) I messed up my watch so I don’t have my splits, boo! Elise came in quickly after and secured 2nd place in her age group.

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A week later, Elise, Leslie, Gaylia, and I drove to San Jose to run in the 1st Annual Santa Run Silicon Valley 5k. We had one goal: get Elise a new PR!

When we arrived at the start, we found ourselves in a sea of green and red. I think we were the only runners not wearing a Santa suit or a green event shirt.

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Photo compliments of Santa Run facebook page

The first two miles were very strong: 6:52 and 6:58. Gaylia pulled ahead to block Elise from the wind and Leslie and I took either side of her. Leslie is such a great cheerleader, she kept Elise focused on her goal the whole race! Around mile 2, my day’s poor eating (a 4pm race is not ideal for me!) resulted in some phlegm issues that slowed me down. I waived the ladies to keep on and I slowed down (mile 3 was a whopping 7:25 pace!). But I knew Elise would get that PR. And she did! Elise finished at 21:52, 2nd in her age group. Leslie and Gaylia came in right by her, with 2nd and 1st places, respectively, in their groups. I finished about 20 seconds later, 22:13 taking 3rd in my age group and 13th woman overall. Watching Elise secure that PR after a year that included a painful injury that prevented her from running CIM made this race such an awesome end to a great running year!

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Did you run a Christmas/holiday race this year? How did it go?

My Shiney New PR from the Big Sur Half

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The Big Sur Half Marathon has topped my list of half marys since I ran it last year (read my recap of that race here). There are several reasons why this race is favored by many runners (not just myself). The course is stunningly beautiful, it has nice rolling hills rather than difficult steep hills or boring flat routes. And Big Sur is a great race organizer (there are only a few race organizations that I put in this category, the SF Marathon is another good example).

Last year when I ran the race I was smack in the middle of my running rut. I could not seem to run at my previous speed anymore. My official time at Big Sur was 2:04 and some change (granted I did have a bathroom break and the course according the GPS watches (acknowledging their flaws) seems a tad long). But I was still happy at that race as I knew without the bathroom break I would have had a slightly faster run and it was quicker than my previous half marathons.

This year was a whole difficult ballgame. I joined a running team (SC Endurance), was more consistent with my running, did more speed workouts & long runs, and Big Sur fell at the tail end of my marathon training plan. And well, let’s be honest, 2012 has been my personal year of the PR. Just to recap, in April I finally fell well below the 2 hour mark finish the US Half 2 (now Rock n Roll San Francisco) at 1:54 and then finally beat my 2-year-old PR at the Capitola Half with a finishing time of 1:45:44 (running a 1:45 half marathon was a huge goal of mine). After that I secured a new PR in the 5k and in the 6 mile distance as well as creating some new personal course records. In July, I created a new half PR at the SF Marathon (1:43:03).

After all this, I knew I could do well at Big Sur. It was my ideal course with its rolling hills. I also knew that I wanted to do well at this race to have it in my mind when I run my marathon in just under 2 weeks (wow, how did that happen??). So I decided I had two plans for this past Sunday. 1) Aim for a 7:38 pace which should get me to 1:40 finish time and a PR or 2) Run a marathon pace for this course. I decided I would go by feel to determine which goal I would pursue.

Pre race with the FIL

Corral A

It was a long weekend. I went to the expo on Friday to pick up my gear but I was back there Saturday to volunteer for the SF Marathon booth. I got to see several other SF ambassadors, including meeting Paulette for the first time! I was tired and cranky after the long Saturday and this was not made better while waiting for dinner. But after some delicious pasta I felt better. I drove down with my father-in-law, who is also a runner and raced Big Sur as well, and saw that the rain had subsided. Woohoo! When the race started, I felt strong and decided to go for goal 1. Every mile I ran was under 8 minutes, with the fastest at 7:22 and the slowest at 7:53. My last two miles were very consistent despite fatigue, clocking in at 7:45 each. I immediately knew after the first mile that course was a bit long but it was not abnormal (I also know that the course could be perfect but GPS tracks it a bit long). According to my watch, the course was 13:31 and I ran an average 7:36 pace. At the 13.1 mark by my watch I was at 1:39:40, but I ended up finishing at 1:41:19. A PR by nearly 2 minutes!! Woohoo! And 23 minutes better than last year. 23 minutes!!!

PR!

This race went exactly how I wanted it to. I felt strong the first 9-10 miles and fatigue in my legs set in around mile 10-11. My shoes felt a little off, even though I’ve worn them in a half marathon and some long runs before. This could have been due to wearing new socks. Anyway, for the first 8 miles or so I just smiled like crazy. I knew I was feeling good and no one can overstate the beauty of the Pacific Grove & Carmel coast. After the turn around I saw Alisyn and my father-in-law.  Miles 11 and 12 were tough and I knew that even if I slowed to a 8 minute pace, I would still meet my goal of a PR. But I pushed through. I saw Kevin and his mom right before the finish, gave them a big thumbs up, and sprinted to the end. What a great race!

Almost to the finish!

Love the Big Sur medals

Happy Meg

And now… CIM!

June is for 5ks!

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I ran two 5ks in the month of June this year. I had signed up for one of them a few months back with the hopes of a PR. But (spoiler alert) I did not reach that elusive PR so I signed up for one 2 weeks later and got it.

Running the Nisene Marks 5k

One June 2, I ran the Nisene Marks 5k for the second year in a row. Last year, I ran it with my friend Kathy and it was pouring down. It had only been about a month after my marathon and I was still a little slow. I came in 1st in my age group with an official time of 23:56. This year, I shaved off about 16 seconds. I wanted to do better, but this year also included a steep uphill climb immediately following the start. Also, the age groups were in 10 year ranges (30-39) so I took 3rd in my division (a little sad after I saw that in 30-35 I would have taken 1st). Plus I came in 4th overall woman, so I couldn’t really complain.

Post race

But the race was more fun because Alisyn and Elise ran it with me. We had discussed racing each other when we were volunteering for the Capitola Half Marathon & Surfer’s Path Marathon a few weeks prior to the Nisene 5k. Part of our plans was to enjoy post race beers. Unfortunately, Elise had to take a friend to the airport and I had to finish grading, so we didn’t get too hang out for too too long. But we did get those beers (in Starbucks Christmas cups no less). But we were all a little disappointed with our finishing times. Alisyn was heading off to Germany but Elise and I sought out another 5k to “redeem” ourselves.

race swag

Two weeks later, Elise and I ran Run in the Name of Love 5k (along with another runner, Michelle, from Santa Cruz Track Club). I had just gotten my official SC Endurance singlet, so Elise and I also represented for them as well. We went out with one goal in mind: PR! My PR was 23:13 so I was looking to end up somewhere in the 22 minute range. The race was a smaller group of runners than I expected, but definitely some speedsters were out there with us. Elise and I picked up bibs and then retreated to my car to be lazy bums pre-race. Right before the race started, a Lululemon rep gave Elise a free tank top because she was decked out in their gear (lucky girl!) and a few minutes later they gave me a head band (just wearing one piece of lulu clothing wasn’t enough for a tank I guess, haha). We positioned our self in the start and off we went.

Pre Race

Pre race stretching, haha

The course started with a significant downhill slope, nothing to steep but enough to get you moving fast. I immediately felt my legs. I had stupidly gone for a 26 mile ride on rolling hills the day before with one of my best friends (Elise had done a crazy 30 mile ride herself). But I pushed through, ignoring my legs’ plea to stop. Still together at mile 1, Elise and I ran our fastest mile yet at only 6 minutes and 11 seconds!! Soon after, Elise took a quick water break and I was on my own for the next two miles. The rest of the course was filled with small rolling hills and while very small, those uphills really worked me. I crossed the finish line besting my goal time at 21:56 (only 14 seconds from taking 3rd in my age group). Elise came in a little less than a minute later, also beating her PR by over a minute. She took 2nd in her age group. We met up with Michelle and found out she killed it, taking first woman overall! (And only 3 1/2 months after breaking her foot!) The three of us jogged a nice cool down mile and hung out for Michelle and Elise to receive their prizes.

Posing with winners!

Overall, these 5ks were major successes. Quality time with my newish running friends and at the end, a sweet PR. Run in the Name of Love 5k has a beautiful course that I will have to run again in the future.

Upcoming races: Wharf to Wharf and SF 2nd Half Marathon