Music Monday: Don't Wanna Fight No More

Artist: Alabama Shakes
Title: Don't Wanna Fight No More
Fave Line: "There ain't nobody left, why can't I catch my breath?"

Miles logged: 0.0

SLO Marathon Race Report: Loving the SLO life

To say it has been a busy weekend is an understatement. To give you a little perspective, it is barely 7pm on Sunday and I'm already in bed. I'm exhausted, but I couldn't have asked for a better weekend!

It started Friday with the SLO Marathon expo. My friend and I were running the half marathon distance of the race and my lunch break on Friday was the only option I had for packet pick-up. Thankfully, parking was easy, there were no lines for bibs or race shirts

Inside the expo tent. Wish I had time to shop the LeftLane sports booth.

I had a few minutes to stop by Clif Bar and try the Pizza Margherita goop. It wasn't bad for a salty snack. The Salted Sweet Potato was DISGUSTING.

The reason I had to go to the expo on Friday was because we moved into our new house on Saturday! Finally! After 4 months of living on the Central Coast, we finally made it to our forever home. The movers arrived in the rain at 9am and we weren't fully unloaded until 2:30pm. It was a long day, but I am so glad to be home.

Thankfully the rain subsided midway through truck loading.

I made sure to hand carry my running gear to the new house, for fear that I would never find it amid the move. Boy was I right. We had boxes everywhere, and most things we hadn't seen since we left Texas. We unpacked only the essentials yesterday. Then, my dear friend brought us dinner and spent the night so that we could get to the starting line together in the morning. Yep, less than 12 hours in the house and we had an overnight guest!

I think I had about 5 hours of sleep before the alarm went off. The race started bright and early, at 6:45, so there was no sleeping in for me. Thankfully, I slept really well for the few hours I was able to sleep.

The starting line about 30 minutes before the gun.

 

We were not planning on setting any land speed records or finishing with a PR, so we lined up with the 2:30 corral. My feet were already achy from being on my feet all day Saturday, so I was nervous about even being able to finish the race.

It was cold and windy, but we were in good spirits.

The dynamic duo pre-pain.

Only a few thousand people were running the half marathon distance, so the starting crowd thinned out pretty quickly. We ran through town and then made our way out to Edna Valley (wine grape growing country, or wine berry country as my Grandmother calls it).

The course was rural and scenic and I took almost no pictures!

It was a partial out and back course through the rolling hills of Edna Valley. It was quite pretty, but the streets had a severe camber and it was tough on the knees. I tried my best to stay near the middle of the road, but it was difficult on the out and back section. There were several challenging hills as well. I never looked at the course map in detail or the elevation map at all, so it was a bit unexpected. My friend and I ran the whole way together and it was nice to have someone to crack jokes with and point out interesting choices of running gear.

The finish line frenzy!

Happy to be done!

There were a few things that the race organizers performed really well, several not so well. The course was well marked and the volunteers were great. There were several flavors of Clif Bar sports gel at every aid station. Unfortunately not every aid station was well stocked with water, there was an extra $10/person charge to take a shuttle to the starting line (it was a point to point race), there was a MASSIVE line to get out of the finish area (turned out to be the official photo line, but we waited for several minutes before someone informed us that we could skip it), and there was no free beer. This was quite an expensive race, so overall, I am disappointed with it. It's a relatively new race, so hopefully they'll improve on the areas of runner feedback.

Miles logged: 13.1

Guilty

It was with mixed emotion that I followed the Boston Marathon bombing trial verdict today. I was not happy to hear guilty on all 30 charges. There was no joy in hearing the verdict, but relief. I believe many victims and their families needed this day to move forward in their healing process. I know the running community needed this closure. Unfortunately, having someone to blame for this tragedy will not bring back the 3 that were killed, nor regrow the lost limbs, nor heal the emotional wounds of those that were there on that disastrous day.

The sentencing phase has been hotly debated, with the majority of Boston residents in a recent poll favoring life in prison over the death penalty.  Whatever the outcome, I hope the victims and their families get the resolution they need.

Miles logged: 3.25

Music Monday: Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)

Artist: Awolnation
Title: Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf)
Fave Line: "I've been running from it all my lifetime"

Miles logged: 0.0

Random Musings for the Week

1. There's a right way and a wrong way to heckle a woman. 

Did you know that April 1 was National Walking Day? My company hosted an event to promote and encourage our employees to get out and walk, with prizes, healthy snacks, and walking trails. It was Wednesday, or as I like to call it, Run-at-lunch-day. As I was towards the end of my route, someone honked at me and I turned around to wave, nievely thinking that it was someone from the office, encouraging the participants. It was not. But a man yelled out the window, "Looking good!" Instead of interpreting this to mean that I was a piece of meat, I took this to mean that my form was still strong and that I was not heel striking. 

2. A massage can be too rough. 

I got a massage this week with a new masseuse and I learned that some techniques can be too rough. The masseuse was very diligent, spending time focused on my tight areas like my hips and IT band. My IT bands have been sore to the touch since Tuesday. I noticed last night that they are bruised too. I have about 10-12 small bruises up and down my thighs. It looks like I might be the victim of some freak accident. But I'll be going back!

3. Running outside isn't always hunky dory. 

Nothing's worse than staring at a wall while you knock out 10 miles on a treadmill. I ALWAYS prefer to get my mileage in while breathing fresh air. Unfortunately, it's not without it's problems. This week has been the windiest of my life. Not sure where it's coming from or where it's going, but damn it's been blowing hard. If I had a windmill, I could probably quit my day job. I actually got windburn last weekend during my long run from the 20mph winds that were blowing. Let's hope it calms down a bit!

Miles Logged: 2.5