Relay Recap

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Meg G.

This weekend I ran my first ever relay race at the Capitola Half Marathon, part of the Surfer’s Path Marathon. I ran the inaugural Capitola Half Marathon last year so I was excited to run the relay this year. While I didn’t really “race” this relay, it was still a great race for me and I met the goals I set for myself. And this ended up being even more fun because seven other members of Santa Cruz Endurance (SCE) also ran in the relay (spoiler: they all did AWESOME!)

The day before the race several SCE runners also volunteered at the Girls on the Run 5k in Los Gatos. Leslie and I carpooled and after a Starbucks pit stop and a little walk to our designated volunteer location, we were ready. Ok, not really. There was some serious confusion about the course and we didn’t get it cleared up until a few minutes before the first runners came through. Leslie and I gave out A LOT of high fives and it was so awesome to see all these girls (and their families) running their first 5ks. They were little troopers for sure! Following that, Leslie and I did some shopping, had some lunch, and headed back to Santa Cruz. I was pretty beat but luckily, my relay partner Hillary worked the expo and was able to pick up our bibs so I didn’t have to… score!

SCE Volunteers with GOTR Coach (& SCE speed demon) Jenn B.

Sunday morning I woke up a little before 6am, battled some small stomach aches, forced myself to eat a little peanut butter, and headed to the second leg of the relay start. I wanted to still have a long run this week and ran that by the coach, so I decided to run/jog to the start line about two and a half miles away. I arrived at the start just before 7am. The race started at 7am, so this gave me plenty of time. I ran into the other SCE 2nd leggers as well as the awesome Michelle (part of the M & M duo) who was racing for Fleet Feet Racing Santa Cruz. I did a little loop with Leslie and Michelle, took some photos with team (thanks Laura!), and before we knew it the first leggers were coming into the transition. The SCE men’s team, mixed team, and other women’s team all powered through. Before I knew it, Hillary’s number was called and I prepped to start my 6.64 mile leg. The race organizers had given us slap bracelets instead of batons and I think Hillary and I had way too much fun with this! Hillary came speeding into the transition, slap bracelet ready, and I had my arm extended, yelling “slap me!” Ha!

Ready to run!

Slap Bracelet!

The race went well. I really just wanted to see where I was in my training and if I could maintain a 7:30 pace for 6+ miles. I started out a little quick, but the course immediately takes up a decent climb so that sobered my pace. I was surrounded by guys and held my place. I could see a local Santa Cruz runner, Jose, a little ahead of me and decided to keep my eyes on him because I knew his marathon pace would be a good overall pace for me. Around mile 3, I caught up to him and we ran the rest of the race together. It was fun to have him to run next to and help me hold my pace. The course is full of good rollers so having someone to focus on rather than the ups & downs was very nice indeed. My miles were as follows:
Mile 1 – 7:27
Mile 2 – 7:27
Mile 3 – 7:38
Mile 4 – 7:39
Mile 5 – 7:34
Mile 6 – 7:22
Last 0.64 – 4:40

Coming up to the finish with my running buddy, Jose

I love this course because it’s where I always run. I know it really well and have a good idea of where to be conservative and where to push. The race finishes on the sand but thankfully it’s just a few steps. As soon as my foot hit the sand I could hear and see all my team members at the finish. But the best part was that Kevin surprised me by being at the finish! Love that! The medals were really cool and we got some nice snacks and a frisbee. I saw SCE & SFM ambassador Elise, who did major work volunteering for this event. Seriously, I don’t know if the race could have happened without her. And I also got to see fellow SFM ambassadors Alisyn and Paulette who also did some amazing volunteering (Alisyn also does a ton of work for this event). While waiting for the awards, the SCE women all got some nice chiropractic work and enjoyed the beach.

I checked the results and my team (SCE Chicks) finished with a time of 1:35:58. (I wish I ran that as a real half, ha!) Some Garmin watches read the race at 12.8 miles rather than 13.1 but it’s hard to know. The course is not USATF certified so it is possible it’s a smidge short. Anyway, the official results had the SCE men’s team in first place (mens & overall), the SCE mixed team in first place (mixed team, 3rd overall), the other SCE women’s team (Team Nice) in 2nd (women’s, 5th overall) and Hillary and I finished third (women’s, 8th overall). I am very happy with the results and, more importantly, I had so much fun!! (Results were updated May 21 and I’ve updated this paragraph accordingly.)

Team SCE Chicks!

Fleet Feet & SCE Finishers – Don’t those new SCE singlets look snazzy?

Hillary & I with our fave photographer & volunteer! (Laura & Elise)

Post race festivities

After the race, Leslie and I jogged back to my house for a cool down. Then Kevin, Hillary, Leslie, and I all me up at Greek Festival downtown for some delicious food and cold beers. A perfect way to reward ourselves after a good race!

*disclosure: I did volunteering for this race and received a free race entry, but this my honest appraisal of the event.*

Fun at the Big Sur 5k

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Meg G.

I know, this has been a sorry excuse for a blogging week. But such is life. However, hopefully my race recap will make up for that. As many of you know, I decided to downgrade from the Big Sur Marathon on April 28 to the 5k. And it was a good decision, even though I do want to run the full again one year.

The weekend began after I finished teaching my Women in American History course on Friday and headed down to the expo in Monterey. When I got to the Monterey Conference Center, I quickly picked up the bibs and t-shirts for Leslie and myself. Then I headed over to the San Francisco Marathon booth where I would work the rest of the afternoon with fellow SFM Ambassadors Elise and Chris. As I expected I had a great time hanging out with these two, even though Elise had to take off pretty soon after I arrived. Following the expo, I returned to Santa Cruz where Kevin and I had dinner with Elise and another SFM ambassador, Daniela. Such an SFM weekend!

Sunday morning rolled around and I headed to Leslie’s house. Since Leslie was bringing her German Pointer, Rosie, she had volunteered to drive. Before we knew it, Elise, Leslie, Rosie, and I were in Carmel. We found parking pretty quickly and headed toward the race area. I had a slightly odd plan for the day as my coach wanted me to use this race as an assessment of where I am and also get my long mileage in for the week. This meant a warm up of 2-3 miles, the race (3.1 miles) and a cool down of 3-4 miles. I planned to run two miles, pick up Leslie for her one mile warm up and then start the race. However, Leslie was worried the start would be packed and headed to the start line before I was done with my two miles (she was the smart one). I ran another half mile and then headed to the start. It wasn’t packed but the race ended up starting about 5 minutes early. I barely had stopped from the warm up when I was beginning the race and weaving through all the runners/walkers trying to get closer to the front.

I did not plan this race out well. The coach suggested I aim for my 10k PR pace (7:18-7:20) for the first two miles and then “race” the last 1.1 mile. Well, I started off good. Ok I was a little quick, but I was trying to get away from the pack. But within a few hundred feet (or so) we were climbing. I didn’t even both to check the course elevation – what was I thinking! The first mile was practically all up hill with a 7:26 pace. Hmm… not what I wanted but ok considering that climb. After that we dropped down to sea level on a short downhill and ran on a dirt path. It’s too bad it was foggy because it would have been a stunning view! But I couldn’t appreciate it because I knew we’d have to climb back out of sea level and sure enough, heading into mile 3 that’s just what we did! I finished mile 2 at 7:33 and mile 3 at 7:34. Neither mile was a pace I wanted to run. I probably could have pushed more, especially in that last mile but I didn’t have it mentally. I crossed the finish line at 23:40.

Coming up to the finish

Leslie and I handed off our medals to Elise, who happily traded them for Rosie, and we took off for our cool down. We ran part of it on the course and since we had such a pretty dog with us, everyone wanted to say hello. I ended up running a little over three miles for my cool down and it was time for coffee. Leslie had awesomely come in as the 2nd woman so after picking up our Starbucks we headed over to the awards. I thought I’d check to see how I did and found out I placed 2nd in my age group. We had missed our names being called but were able to pick up our additional medals. (Leslie also placed 1st in her age group!) We hung around for a bit and enjoyed a nice Shock Top from the Beer Tent.

My 2 medals, one for finishing and one for AG placing

Shock Top!

Overall, it was a fun morning and let’s face it, anytime I get to hang out with Elise and Leslie is good times in general. Big Sur always puts on a good event and while the course was harder than I expected, it was still a fun race!

Next up will be the relay at the Capitola Half Marathon (another assessment run and not real race).

My Boston Strong Weekend

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Meg G.

Wow! What a whirlwind weekend!

Friday I was glued to media coverage of the manhunt and was so relieved when the second suspect was apprehended alive. This was great news as I headed into the Padres-Giants game at AT&T with the hubs and a few friends. When I was a kid I was a Giants fan but later embraced my hometown San Diego Padres. So Padres-Giants games are always fun for because I’m happy no matter who wins (Kevin, the die-hard Padres fan, does not embrace this same attitude ). However, at this game, the best part was when the whole ballpark sang “Sweet Caroline” together with such celebration!

Saturday morning my running group, Santa Cruz Endurance, gathered a few runners together (about 20) for a long run dedicated to Boston. We broke the run into two halves letting runners run distances best suited to them and their training. We had a great turn out with lots of non-members joining us.

I am so proud to be a part of this running community and after this long hard week, I’m so proud to be a runner! We are Boston!

2012 Running Year in Review

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Meg G.

Inspired by running friends and fellow SFM ambassadors Paulette and Alisyn, I wanted to review my year in running using a Q&A style. So here goes!

1) Best Race Experience
Wow, I had so many races this year that were really great experiences. I think I can narrow it down to three races. Of course, the SFM (2nd half) was an amazing race experience. It proved to me that I am capable of the goal times I have created for myself (1:43:03 at that race) and I did that wearing a tutu! You can read my recap of that race here.

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My 2nd race experience was running NWM with fellow SCE runner, Leslie. NWM has always been a hard race for me but this year, it was pure fun! Running with Leslie made it a blast & it was still my fastest time on that course. You can read my recap of that race here.

My last race experience is, of course, CIM. It was the hardest race I have ever run. But it was great to share that day with so many of my new running friends (both SCE & SFM) and with my best friend and my husband. Read my recap of that race here.

2) Best Run
My best runs this year have included runs with my SCE runners. Between long runs and Friday 5am runs, these girls (and guys) have kept me motivated and dedicated, as well as helped me better reach my running potential. These runs as well as some awesome trail runs with SCE and SFM ambassadors (shout out to Alisyn here), have been soo much fun this year!

5am run with Elise!

And this was evidenced by my new half marathon PR secured at the Big Sur Half Marathon in November.

Almost to the finish!

3) Best Piece of New Gear
My new Garmin (a birthday present from the hubs). I love it! I try to really on pay attention to it for mileage and only for pace when I’m doing speed workouts. It’s a great tool and has helped me keep to my weekly mileage. I have to also give a out shout out to my shoes too (but since those are being discontinued I can’t say they are the best gear).

4) Best Piece of Running Advice Received
Hmmm… rest? Haha! I don’t know. I feel like I have received so much good advice this year and I have tried to implement it all. I guess that receiving encouragement to join a running team was the best piece of advice because joining my local running community changed my running world!

Running with SCE girls at Santa Run 2012

5) Most Inspirational Runner(s)
For sure this would be Elise! She faced a major injury in September forcing her to drop out of CIM. But she didn’t let this get her down. She kept her fitness up with modified cross fit cycles and aqua jogging. And she came back to running faster than ever! She even scored an amazing PR just a few weeks back! Talk about inspiration. Plus she’s a great friend!

6) If you could sum up your year of running in 3 words, what would they be?
Fast – this was my year of achieving new PRs (in the 5k, 6 mile, half marathon, & marathon). What a year!

Challenging – I have run more miles, with bigger challenges than I have ever run before. But it has made me a better runner and more confident in myself.

Social – I’ve always been active on dailymile and twitter when it comes to running, but this year I become a much more social runner. Most of my runs were with someone else. But besides joining SCE, I also have the privilege of serving as an San Francisco Marathon ambassador. I applied with the hope of encouraging other runners, but I have already learned so much and made so many new running friends – both online and in person. I can’t wait to meet the rest of the ambassadors in person in 2013! Did you see my first blog post as an SFM Ambassador? Check it out here.

How was your running year? What were your highlights?

A Few Christmas 5ks

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Meg G.

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.

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.

Elise & I at the start

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

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.

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.

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!

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

laugh.research.write.run

running my way through grad school

Tag Archives: SCE

Relay Recap

Fun at the Big Sur 5k

My Boston Strong Weekend

2012 Running Year in Review

A Few Christmas 5ks

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