Carlsbad Half and oh yeah I turned 49

The Carlsbad Half Marathon was my best yet.  It was amazing because everything down to the last detail went perfectly.  Pre run: a decent night sleep, a 5am wake up call with a banana and date smoothie and a half a piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter, evacuated the bowels (tmi but super important on a race day), carpooled with a good friend and left on time and arrived with a a perfect amount of time to wait, not too much not too little, quick line at the outhouses, weather a bit chilly but not freezing.  So far so good.  The race: It was full, thousands of people but didn't feel too crowded.  It started on time.  I felt good.  The whole entire time.  My newish shoes felt good.  My newly purchased spibelt to hold my phone and gels felt good.  My watch Kelly gave me for Christmas paced me perfectly.  My nutrition ( Vega pre run 8oz drink 20 minutes before and Vega gel at mile 6 and mile 11) didn't cause any nausea and gave me energy.  My support team of Kelly and Aiden cheered me on at mile 4 and 10 which I loved.  I ran harder the second half than the first.  And I finished strong.  I beat my Personal Record by 4 minutes.  Post race: Met up with my friends, sampled drinks and food at the expo, and then had my traditional veggie burger at the Habit (or Burger Lounge).  Nothing really hurt just a bit of soreness.  It was awesome!  

I feel so happy that my training has made me improve.  It is only a 4 minute improvement but I also feel strong and have no injuries.  So....  now for the big one?  I am nervous.  Should I just keep doing half marathons?  I enjoyed it!   I don't think a full will be enjoyable.  In fact it will probably be grueling and the risk of injury is much higher.  But still...  It pulls at me.  I feel the urge, the tug to go for it.  Perhaps I should wait until next year like I had originally planned, when I turn 50.  Two momentous events at once.  Ugghh.  I don't know.  I want to go for it and I don't want to. But,  I think I have to at some point or I will feel a sense of regret.  A missed chance.

One small thing I am super happy about are my new running shoes.  Running shoes are pretty key to running as you can imagine.  And I love my new ones.  They are Mizuno Wave Riders.  I have never had Mizunos before but they felt great.  They gave me support for my feet, knees, hips etc and no blisters despite that this was only my 4th run in these shoes and first long run.  So happy.

I haven't posted since my birthday.  A surprising theme came up during my birthday and guess what it was?  Running!   Kelly gave me a roller device to massage my feet which I have been using all morning today.  He also gave me compression socks for my calves (which I haven't tried yet as I didn't want to do anything new on the run) and most amazingly some sandals called Oofos.  Now these sandals are not exactly beautiful but they are the most comfortable things my feet have ever touched.  They are "therapeutic" for after running but I may never wear anything else.  They felt so good yesterday after the run.  My number one fan brought them for me to wear right after.  

For my birthday last weekend Kelly and I went to the Westin Hotel in San Diego using a voucher we bought at the Rolling Hills Foundation auction last year.  It was so nice to get away with just my hubby.  And on the morning of my birthday I got in a fun run along the harbor in San Diego.  It was almost 5 miles and a beautiful morning along the bay.  It was such a great way to start my last year in the 40's.  

A Bittersweet Holiday Season

 The holidays were bittersweet this year for me and our family.  It was the first season with out my Dad and the anniversary of losing my brother in law Frank.  My dad used to give us one special present when we were young and it was often shoes wrapped in brown packaging paper.  I always thought my Dad did the wrapping but recently found it out it was probably his secretary at work.  I liked that present, though.  It was special because it was from him.  Not that I didn't love everything else (shopping, wrapping, cooking etc) that my Mom did, of course.  It is that way in my immediate family now.  Is it in yours?

Thanksgiving with the Lynd Pugh Family

My brother Steve and his grandchildren 

The bitter was the absence of my Dad and Frank.  The sweetness was spending time with family and friends.  Kelly, Aiden, my Mom and I went to Yosemite for a few days before Thanksgiving and then spent the holiday with my brother Steve and his wife Dayna and her family.  It was different but nice to be a part of another family's traditions.  And Christmas eve brought us to my church, Chalice Unitarian Universalist Congregation.  We have a new minister and I enjoyed her homily that night.  The morning was the same as usual with gifts and breakfast, again we missed my Dad.  And dinner seemed more relaxed than ever before with a nice meal at my Mom's.

After Christmas we went to the desert for four nights with some good friends.  We had a lot of fun hiking, biking, shooting bb guns, launching rockets and more.  One special celebration we did was let off paper lanterns that were like mini hot air balloons.  We lit and sent off one each hour starting at 9pm and all made wishes for the new year.

AND another great thing about vacation was I ran a lot!!  I ran in Yosemite. I ran in the neighborhood. I ran in the rain.  I ran in the desert.  Uphill and downhill and around a lake.  Okay now I am sounding like Dr Seuss.  But really,  my running has been going great.  I am feeling strong and determined.  I haven't had any injuries and have been slowly increasing my mileage.  I have been pretty much faithfully following a plan that includes interval runs, tempo runs, core work outs (though I still need to do that more often), easy runs and long runs.  Friday I will run 10 miles with Alisa in PQ preserves.  Then I will do a few more short ones and on January 19th I have my 5th Half Marathon.  If that goes well then I am signing up for the real deal on May 4th.  I am super excited and scared to tackle this endeavor.