Cinco De Mayo Half Recap

Hi! is this thing on? Ok, so, I was frozen in carbonite for a while, but now I'm back and it just happens to be Running Season again! So to get things started I signed up for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation Cinco de Mayo Half-Marathon which took place yesterday. Since I ran the OC Marathon last year, and both of these take place on the same day, I figured it would be good to try a new event while doing some good helping out the foundation.

Since I had work on Friday and Saturday I was not able to pick up my number until Sunday before the event. Thankfully the whole thing was very well organized and there were no lines at the pickup tables. After that, and a few minutes mentally preparing, we were off. The route follows a downhill causeway after mile 3 which I always dislike because it means we'll have to come back up at the latter part of the event, a thought that was made certain when across the way we saw groups of mariachis setting up. I put this thought aside and kept on going when to my surprised we passed right by the lake I used to sit around and write school papers while I attended UCI! and a few miles later the route went right by my old apartment in Irvine, which is kinda bittersweet, but fun nonetheless.

When we reached the 9-mile marker the clock read 1:22. After a few calculations I thought that if I kept my pace and didn't relent in those last 4 miles I would break 2 hours. My goal up to that point had only been to complete the course. I was expecting to end somewhere in the neighborhood of 2:10, but seeing that clock gave me a new goal. I maintained my pace and fought the last freeway overpass and the uphill causeway. after the last turn, (which I didn't know was the last turn) the wind was right on our faces, which slowed everyone down but nothing more than a few seconds I thought (cue foreshadowing). At the finish line I missed the clock, but asked the person next to me, who I had been running near by for the last 6 miles, what time he had on his watch. To my surprise he said 1:52. Here I was thinking that I had broken 2 and by a lot! Unfortunately, and rather comically, I missed breaking 2 by 14 seconds.

The more I think about this 14 second SNAFU, I was aiming for 2:10, so being that close to 2 is a big win for me. I'm very encouraged to PR this year.

Now I have a guitarron to go with my other medals.

In the horizon I'm eying the Laguna Hills Memorial Day Half. Here's to a good and successful Running Season for 2011.

Helping a Stranger While Out on a Run

Today something compelled me to run after work. I knew it was going to be dark when I got back home but it was just eating at me to get my shoes on and head out. This is what happened:

About a mile away from home, while driving from work, there was a large Dodge van on the opposite side of the road with its flashers on. I didn’t think much of it since there was a car parked behind it. I got home, played with the dog for a bit, got ready to run and headed out. I usually run on the same street that I take on my way back from work and, to my surprise the van was still on the side of the road. This is about 20 to 30 minutes after I had passed it on my way home! Now, I know this is suburbia and not many people are out and about on foot, so I was not very surprised that no one had walked by and helped. However, this was during rush hour. A lot of cars were driving by. Even more, the van was on the farthest right lane, which doesn’t have a shoulder. All cars were simply going around it. I stopped and asked the gentleman, about mid 50s, if he needed a hand. He said he needed to push it to the gas station about a block away. So that’s what we did. As we started, I noticed that the van was half full inside. Not an easy load to push. We did this for about a half block and he had to take a break. My quads were also starting to burn. After a minute or so we started pushing again When we were about 30 yards from the station a guy drove up with his mid 80s Honda Hatchback and offered to push the van. Unfortunately the bumpers of the vehicles didn’t reach each other so he parked and helped push. As we started to go onto the driveway of the gas station two other people, a college student age kid, and an older Hispanic gentleman came over and helped out. For a few minutes, there were four people helping out this single man who had found himself alone with a bit of car trouble. Finally, we parked it, the man with the van thanked us and we all went our separate ways.

For the rest of my run I keep thinking about this. Seeing everyone help out was great. We all have it in us. We need to learn how to reach out to those than need it even when they don't ask for it. We need to learn how to be good to one another. At least 20 minutes passed while the man was on the side of the road. How much longer would he have been there if I had decided to watch a movie or play video games with my roommate? I don’t know. Maybe until the guy with the car stopped by. But maybe not. Maybe it was seeing someone helping out that gave him the push to stop and give us a hand as well. Maybe sometimes we need to see someone doing the right thing for us to join them. “Someone else will help” is not the right attitude, but it happens often. So please, help someone out. Do it for them. Do it because it’s the right thing to do. If you don’t, maybe no one else will; but if you do, others will join you. There is so much we can do for one another. From the smallest little gestures to the biggest generosities, it all helps. Love is all we have, so share it with everyone because we all need it.

That was the best run I've ever been on.

Volunteering at the Long Beach ICB Marathon

Getting injured is really frustrating. However, sometimes you can get good things out of misfortunes. My goal was to run the Full Marathon at Long Beach but, since that went out the window with my injury, I decided to volunteer passing out medals to the finishers. I’ve done my share of volunteering at events, but they have mostly been museum related. Since this was my first time helping out at a running event, I had no idea what to expect.


Shiny!

The RunRacing website instructed us to arrive at 5am which is around an hour earlier than the runners. I knew there were other people working early but I didn’t know volunteers needed to be THAT early. So wake-up call was at 3:30am, drove down to Long Beach and found the Volunteer Tent. After signing in and getting a Race Crew t-shirt I waited to get instructions on where to go and what to do. Everyone on the RunRacing team seemed to know exactly what was going on. We received our directions and were taken to the finishing line where two pallets with about 80 boxes full of metals awaited us. We had to unwrap them, set up a plan to pass them out and make sure Half runners got the Half medals and the same for marathoners. The first part of the morning went really well. The group of people unwrapping were all really cool. Most of them were also runners who had done Long Beach in years prior. It was fun talking to them, taking pictures and generally having a good time getting all set up for the runners.


A shot of the crew

This is only about a quarter of the medals!

We organized ourselves to receive the runners and give them their medals the best we could. We had a couple of the RunRacing crew members giving us advice on how to do it but for the most part we knew the feeling you get when you finish a race so we had a good idea of what to do on our side. A bit before the 1:10 mark the first half marathoner crossed the finish line. He, along with the other top-three finishers were all RunRacing runners which I thought was pretty cool. Slowly more runners started to trickle in and we went about placing medals around their necks, but soon after the 1:45 mark the flood gates opened. It was an avalanche of runners finishing their race. We all worked hard to keep up and at times I saw other volunteers struggling a bit. I faltered a couple of times while placing the medals over the head of a few runners but they mostly seemed to be happy that they were done and didn’t really worried about having the medal hanging a bit off their hats or ponytails. For the most part, and this is about 99% of all of them, they were very grateful towards the volunteers, always saying thank you when we gave them the medals, and usually with a huge smile on their face. One half marathoner lady came up to me and, before I was able to give her the medal, said I was cute and asked for a hug. I readily obliged. How could I say no to that?! She was so excited and I was truly happy to be there for her and everyone else I gave a medal to.

I did my best to place the medals on everyone’s neck, while saying congratulations and, if I could, doing it by name as some runners had them written on their bibs. I truly believe that getting your medal after a race is the official seal of accomplishment, so I wanted to try to make the experience the best I could for every single person. Some of these runners looked like veterans who have ran dozens of races, but there were also those whom this was their first experience finishing a race, or just doing Long Beach, so I wanted them to truly remember the medal part. To share that moment with these complete strangers was truly an experience that cannot be duplicated anywhere else. Alas, at 10:30am, only 3 hours into the race, I had to pass my duties to another volunteer and head to my real job. However, during the 1:45 that I spent passing the medals out, I must have given at the very least about 300 of them. I like to think that most of those people will remember that moment for some time.

I have a newfound respect for race organization, and mostly for RunRacing. I knew a lot went into setting up a race, and sometimes as runners we take for granted the amount of work that for months leads up to those 2 to 8 hours people spend on the course. From the portapotties, to the bibs, to the entertainment, mylar blankets, water bottles, and medals, the work that goes behind the scenes of a race is astounding and the orchestration of all this has to be near perfect for runners to have a great experience. RunRacing did a great job in the small part that I was able to see, and I’m sure that this was the case for the rest of the hundreds of things needed for this Long Beach ICB Marathon to be the success it has been for years.


They also had this awesome sand sculpture. you can't beat that!

Lastly, if you have never volunteered for a race, take my word for it and please do it. You’ll have a deeper appreciation for all the effort everyone involved puts towards making the race go smoothly, and will make you feel even better the next time you get that medal placed on your neck.

Foiled

This week needed to be my Put Up or Shut Up Training week to be ready for Long Beach and what do I go and do? Twist my right ankle playing soccer. Worst.timing.ever. So now that my ankle is the size of an orange I have to hobble around and had to stop running. There is nothing more infuriating that wanting to go for a run and be thwarted by a soccer ball.

So what to do now? I'm not sure when I'll be able to get back out there. If by next Monday I can get at least a 5 mile run with no pain, then I'll do my best to get back on track. If this lasts longer than a week, then the LB Full is completely out of the question. Worse case scenario, I can still aim for the half.

This whole situation really ticks me since I feel I'm in my best running shape ever right now. ARGH. C'est la vie, I guess.

Long Beach

When I finished the first half of the San Francisco Marathon I felt great and thought I could have ran at least five more miles with no problem. So I decided I needed to run another marathon..... just like that.

Since the SF Marathon is part of the California Dreamin' Racing Series and I like medals (HAHA), I decided the Long Beach Marathon was the best choice for my next goal.

That race takes place Oct 17th giving me just about 2 months to train for it. At first I picked a training program created by Runner's World's SmartCoach and tried it for a week. However, I felt that it wasn't really set up for enough mileage so I went back to my trusty Marathon Rookie training plan that I successfully used to run LA.

So, I have about 8 more weeks before the big day and I need to get on running. Tomorrow there are 12 miles I want to finish before 9am since I'm going to be busy the rest of the day with this! Seriously, how awesome is that?!

I'll leave you with this video for now:



Nothing but a good time!

San Francisco 1st Half Marathon Recap

San Francisco is, by far, my favorite California city. I had so much fun during this trip, I had to write a separate post to recap the rest of the week. But running the 1st part of the marathon was why I was there, so here's my story.

Back in '09, unbeknownst to me, I ran part of this course while training for the LA marathon on a random visit to the city. That day I only made it to the foot of the bridge. So on Thursday, my friends and I drove part of the course to refresh my memory. My main goal was to run the whole thing without stopping. I was determined to attack the hills with all I got and never slow down my pace.

Sunday morning I woke up at 3:30am, that's the earliest I have ever been up for a race. As I approached the starting line I started feeling the electricity of the other runners. Everyone's excitement was palpable and its simply amazing to be in the middle of that.



I looked for other runners whom I have met over twitter and DailyMile but the separate waves and the throngs of people made it impossible to find anyone. Oh wells. Better luck next race.

At about 6:30am our wave got the go ahead and we were running. The first couple of miles of the race were fairly easy. We followed The Embarcadero along the piers and are treated to the colorful touristy part of the city. A bit after passing Pier 39 you can smell the bread being made at Boudin. It smelled delicious. But the fun ended at mile 2.5 where we encounter our first hill. This is exactly what you expect, almost a hundred feet of elevation in less than a quarter mile. I had a fairly good idea of how long that climb was so maintained my pace and got to the top rather quickly. After that, a slow downhill got us back to sea level to do a few easy miles along the Marina. Here the route curves towards the beach for a minute to give us a breathtaking view of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was really exciting to know that in a few minutes (maybe "few" is not the right word) we would be running across it! However, the closer I got to the bridge the more I noticed how high I was going to be climbing up to it.

The second hill comes when we reach the foot of the bridge. this one is steeper and longer than the previous hill but thankfully there were a lot of supporters at this point. Something I found interesting: there were lots of Harley Davidson riders volunteering along the course. It was rather amusing seeing them wearing their leather pants and jackets, while standing near their bikes, and also donning orange SFM volunteer hats. HAHA

And then there was the bridge. This structure is truly a marvel of engineering. Its hard to really get a feel of how big it is when you drive across it, so you can imagine the feel of actually standing under the pillars. It truly is humbling. I couldn't stop looking up to really get a sense of how tall they are. A few times while crossing, the fog would creep in and cover the top of the pillars. That was really an amazing sight. As soon as we reached the north end of the bridge we turned around and did it all over again. It is at this point where the curvature of the road is more visible and you can really gauge how much climbing the bridge actually makes you do. I had underestimated how convex its shape is, but I never once really noticed it. I think I was looking up way too much to notice it. Also, during this part of the run a girl and I kept passing each other. She mentioned that it was going to be her and I to the finish. We talked a bit while on the bridge and it was very nice to connect with someone while running. So Sarah, wherever you are, thanks for being awesome!

Crossing the bridge was great but its definitely not the hardest part of the course. That title is rightfully earned by the uphill into the Presidio which is immediately after we got back to the south side of the bridge. Two words: steep and long. That's really all I remember. I was truly set on not stopping or slowing down so I focused on anything else I could to not let my mind get tired.

Just as fast as we started climbing, the course turned into an insane downhill. Next thing I know, people were sprinting pass me. I thought this was funny because not much later I was passing all of them again haha.

By mile 11 I knew I was going to finish and accomplish my goal. I tried to push a bit harder pass the 8 blocks between us and the Golden Gate Park but these were at a slight uphill as well. I don't think the course let up after that. I continuously felt I was climbing. But the energy always comes back when I start seeing more spectators and other runners already wearing their medals and walking about.

I knew PRing in this course was out of the question for me. It was never a goal. So finishing at 2:13:25 didn't bother me. This was actually the slower half I've ran. Since I felt I could have done about 5 more miles after finishing I know I didn't give my all physically, but I'm truly content with just running this course and not worrying about the time. Maybe next year.

Five Days in SF

The City by the Bay is alluring. There's something about its neighborhoods, its people, and its bridges that draws me in. So Thursday morning I set out for the Frisco Bay looking forward to a few days of friends, running, and anything else the city had to offer. However, I greatly underestimated how great these days were going to be.

I flew Virgin America, and I must say, that airline is the most fun to travel in. They have a distinctive approach that makes you feel like a rock star from the moment you get your boarding pass to the moment you leave the plane. You can even play Doom while you fly!



I arrived at SFO and was picked up by my friend Ginny whom, along with her boyfriend Sufian, invited me to stay at their place while I was up there. We all had lunch in Palo Alto at Pluto's and then Ginny and I wandered around Stanford University. This school's architecture alone would make me study more. It truly feels like an university. Also, I was very surprised to find a church on campus that very much resembles medieval churches you can find in Europe.



The church had gorgeous stained glass windows, painfully detailed mosaic murals, and a very impressive organ which was being played while we were there. Sadly I didn't get a picture of the windows but here are the other two.





After that, we got together with Sufian and headed to the city. We had dinner at the Castro and then drove part of the course of the half marathon. I described how this went in this post which recaps my whole running experience.

On Friday, Ginny and I went for a short run, and then she showed me a few basic yoga moves. This turned out to be harder than I thought. Holding those poses really takes a toll on many different muscles that are not hit by running. Needless to say, I felt like a pansy haha. However, it was really fun and your muscles feel very relaxed after. I think I might start going to classes. We'll see.

At around 10am we headed back to the city to hang out with her friends and get a tour of the real San Francisco, none of this tourist stuff for me this time. We first stopped at Bi-Rite's creamery. I don't really toss the "Best" adjective very often, but this little place has the BEST vanilla ice cream I have ever eaten. Try it. Seriously. Ginny guaranteed me that a line forms around the corner for this place but since we were there at 11am there was no line and I was skeptical to her claims. We hang out in Dolores Park for a little bit and entertained ourselves people-watching. Some dude was playing guitar AND a didgeridoo at the same time. Too funny.

After, we meet with Ginny's posse. Since she is getting her Master's in Graphic Design they are all artsy people which made it very interesting and fun. We spent the afternoon getting drinks, changing venues, meeting more people, having more drinks, and just enjoying our day.

A few anecdotes of that day: One of Ginny's friends referred to Bear worship, a custom used to be done in her native Finland, as "The God of Bear" I don't know why I found this so funny, but she made me take a picture of her necklace:


Its ok if it doesn't make sense. I don't think it makes sense to me either haha.

At the Elbo Room we met a couple who was from Houston. I was shocked when I saw the dude cause he looked exactly like Jason Segel from How I Met Your Mother. Much to our entertainment, his name was also Marshall and he is a lawyer who used to work for non-profits but now works for an evil corporation. If you watch the show you're already smiling :-)

Ginny at one point of the night said "God doesn't taste like gummy bears" HAHA


Saturday we woke up early and went to the deYoung Museum to see their exhibit Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay. I have too much to say about this exhibit so I'll just leave it at that. Afterward we headed to the Expo for the race and I got my bib number and goody bag.

For lunch we stopped at Brenda's. This was, by far, the smallest restaurant I have ever been to, but don't let the size and location fool you (its in the Tenderloin), they serve great beignets, an outstanding bowl of jumbo, and a delicious shrimp po-boy. Another Must when you visit.

We took the rest of the day pretty easy by heading back home. One of my favorite things about my friends is that we can talk about anything for hours and we never run out of topics. They continue to baffle me on how intelligent they are. Great times.

On Sunday after the race, and after a hearty breakfast, we stopped at Bi-Rite again. This time I got TWO scoops of vanilla. I'm not kidding, it's that good. Then we went to Dolores Park where we found a giant stage being built. We were in for a great surprise, the San Francisco Symphony was going to play a free show later that afternoon. Seriously, how much better can this weekend have been? Since we arrived so early we were able to pick one of the best spots to hear the show and just had a great time. The performance was in celebration of the bicentennial of Mexico's independence and was conducted by Alondra de la Parra, Mexico's leading conductor.



The first set featured a variety of pieces by prominent Mexican composers. The second set included Antonín Dvořák's 9th Symphony. This was the first time I've heard a symphony played in its entirety and its really hard to describe how great that was. The last piece that was played was chosen by the listeners. We did this by texting during the performance and we could pick either Mozart or Bernstein. Mozart won and we were treated to The Marriage of Figaro's Overture. I really don't have anything more to say about this part. I simply can't get my head around how awesome this was.

For dinner we went to Chinatown and had authentic Chinese food. Ginny taught me how to eat dumplings correctly. I can add that along with my correct use of chopsticks to my Chinese Food Knowledge database. haha

Monday morning we all had breakfast at home. Ginny cooked dumplings just for me :-) They were delicious. Then I had to pack up and head back to reality. Back at the airport I met a couple of people that ran the 2nd half of the marathon and one that did the whole thing. It was really cool to talk to strangers about something that we both shared. Also, on the way into the plane, the pilot and I started talking about the race. He said that he would have ran it if he wasn't doing an Ironman this following weekend. I mentioned to him that I'm interested in training for a sprint tri and he suggested the Vineman Showdown as a good beginner's tri. Very cool.

To say I had a great time this trip is a ridiculous understatement. I can't recall having a more fun weekend in years and it was all thanks to Ginny and Sufian. I truly love being their friend. They are genuinely great people.