short and not super sweet

so...the nike women's 1/2 marathon was today. It was ok. It was my slowest half ever in my 2 1/2 year history. And that is OK. I think at mile 8 of a race I realized that this is not gonna be me PR and I had two choices: take walk breaks or keep trudging along.

I don't do walk breaks.

Here are my race lessons:
1) Don't assume that just because you have ran a 1/2 in 2:02, you can do it again without training. 31 year old bodies don't quite work that way.

2) Though the race was enjoyable, it was a little too Corporate America for my taste. Though Tiffany finisher necklaces wrapped in blue boxes with white bows, jamba juice smoothies and nike schwag are nice---it is rather off putting in these strange economic times. When I run because I am going to get all this "stuff," it overrides the true reason I run: it makes my soul feel good.
Props to the race organizers because it was well organized and efficient. I am glad I did this race because it is another one to check off.

A lot can happen over 7 months...

Sunday is the Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon. Yes, I was one of the very fortunate 20,000 women chosen at random by a lottery to participate. This is the 5th year of the marathon/1/2 marathon and it is definitely a "to do" race for Bay Area female athletes. This is the race where you get a tiffany finisher's necklace handed to you by SF firemen dressed in tuxedos. I actually have never done this race, but entered the lottery last March (about a month into my 1/2 iron training).

The problem with registering for a race seven months before the event is the fact that you don't know where you will be in the future. A lot can happen over 7 months. Take me, for example. Since March of 2008 I have: had a total career change into the non-profit world; trained for a crazy endurance event; found out what my core was and tortured it; bought my first house with the hubby; had a half marathon PR; raced another 1/2 a month later NINE minutes slower; became obsessed with Gossip Girl; swam to the Presidio from Alcatraz; went back to my (almost) natural hair color; completed 7 triathlons only to crash my bike at my BIG one and received a mild concussion mixed with my first DNF; and FINALLY finishing a half-ironman and now...

I am kinda tired.

Tired of moving. Tired of packing my tri-backpack and fretting over whether I packed the right shoes. Tired of eating weird food like chicken broth with sirachu sauce and peanut butter check mix the night before a race. I am wondering what the hack happened to my mojo.

Thursday I had my last workout of the year with coach Heidi and she (as usual) had very helpful words:

"I think you should take 6-8 weeks off from racing. And that includes training. You can do yoga, go for a bike ride...but you are raced out."

And she is so right.

Unfortunately...I have this Nike race on Sunday. And the Catalina triathlon in November. So, basically from November 8 to the end of the year I will be a race-free Jill.

At first I was doubtful. I always loved doing the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot. Would it be horrible to miss it this year?

The answer: of course not. Do I need ANOTHER turkey trot t-shirt? nah. If I really want to be a part of the race, I can always volunteer.

This Sunday's race, however, I have NO clue how it will go. My training has been either sporadic or non-existent. The last time I ran over 6 miles was at the Big Kahuna and that was more of moving my legs to avoid passing out then it was running. I have decided that this race will be my "casual attitude" race. I am not going to stress about it and just feel fortunate that my name was picked to run 13.1 miles for a tiffany necklace.

There are worse ways to spend a Sunday morning, right?

Have I become Mr. Big?

On Sunday I did the Mermaid Triathlon in Santa Cruz. I was looking forward to this event because it is put on by the group who helped me train for my 1st half-iron. Mermaid events are awesome because they are all women, super supportive and you get great race t-shirts and finisher necklaces.

This race, however, was not my best effort.

I don't know what the heck is going on with me---but my motivation is not as present as it has been in the past. Since the Big Kahuna 3 weeks ago, my training has been pretty non-existent. I just look at my bike and think, "ugh!" Isn't that terrible? I am like a bad boyfriend. I loved my bike when it was shiny and new and jazzed it up with pink handlebars and accessories. I worked hard to get better, but I didn't work as hard as I should have. I didn't take the time to get to know my bike, to know how to ride it safely. And once things got rough and I had a bad bike crash, my feelings for my bike started to fade.

Have I become Mr. Big and is my bike Carrie?

Anyways--back to Sunday's race. My coach suggested I sign up for the Mighty Mermaid which is the same course, but you do it twice. Of course I signed up for it because I am stupid and do things without thinking about them. That is how I found myself jumping off a ferry near Alcatraz.

Here are some highlights from this race:
1) Swim was good. I didn't maul any sea life this time. Doing the course the second time is kind of strange. I had to exit the ocean, run under the pier and then jump back in. I miscalculated the depth of the water and landed on the sand. ouch.

2) You have to run up a bunch of stairs to get to the bike transition after the swim. THAT SUCKED! It must have been 180 stairs. ugh!

3) The hills on the bike were tough but I powered through them. I still hate that feeling of finishing the bike and seeing all the other bikes on the rack. Oh well.

4) The run was ok---I just didn't have my fire. Where did my speed go?

Fortunately I didn't set unreasonable goals for this race. I wanted to have a good time, cheer my friends on and be inspired by women of all ages and sizes challenging themselves.


I have decided that my last triathlon of 2008 (Catalina in November) is going to be the race where I push myself. I am ready to finish strong and fast!

So...that pretty much means peeling myself off the couch. Rats.