Run Your Own Race

Aiden had soccer today (he said this pic looked like he was doing the hokey pokey)

Run your own race.  You hear this from runners and see people write it in magazines.  In fact, I remember very clearly two guys running near me during the Silver Strand Half Marathon last year talking about just this.  One guy was pretty average looking wearing non specific running gear but the other guy was in hippie looking clothes.  I don't remember exactly what he was wearing and I am not sure what a hippie wears to run a race but he looked like one.  Anyway the non hippie guy was urging his girl friend to hurry up and run with him.  The Hippie guy then said, "hey, you gotta let her run her own race".  That stuck with me for some reason.

I was reminded of it the other day when I was out running once again at the Penasquitos Preserve. I love running there so much.  It is beautiful, quiet and not hilly (unless you run more than 6 miles then there are some pretty good hills).  Last week I ran what for me is now a short run of 4 miles.  When I know I am only going to run 4 miles I run faster than usual.  Likewise when I am going to run 8 or 10 I slow down.  So I was running a bit faster than normal and on my way back I passed a guy.  He was tall and thin and looked like he probably runs a bit.  As I ran by he said to me "I'm on a recovery run".  And I said"today is a short and fast day for me" as I left him in my dust.  Okay, not really in my dust but I did pass him and didn't see him again.  But the interesting part was how he had to let me know why he was going slow and I responded with why I was going fast.  I think these thoughts are so common among runners.  I know when I was injured and ran/walked around Lake Miramar when I walked I wanted to shout at every passing runner "my knee is injured!" Or when I am going around the lake twice for 10 miles and going slowly I want to tell runners that are going faster "I'm going twice that's why I am slow".  And this is not running our own races.  But it is so human.  And I like that.

Just some of the leftovers from juicing- what do you do with this besides compost??

I watched the movie Fat Sick and Nearly Dead yesterday and it inspired me to do a juice fast.  So, today I started and I feel really good.  I am meeting a good friend at one of my favorite restaurants tomorrow, Tender Greens.  And they have a great vegan mixed salad.  So, I probably won't officially start the juice fast until Monday.  Besides Kaylie and Kelly want to do it with me too and they are out of town this weekend.  But today felt good and I will probably juice most of tomorrow just skipping lunch.  I am a bit weird about food.  I like to try new things, always trying to improve my health.  The fast is supposed to be for 10 days.  We'll see.  I am not sure if I can do 10 days on juice alone.

Sienna's Playgarden Family 5K

Sunday morning my family and many other people from our neighborhood participated in a 5K to support Sienna's Playgarden.  It was fun to see so many people from our hood all gather together in Mission Bay De Anza Cove to run for a great cause.  I can't imagine the agony of losing one's child.  I refuse to even think about it because it is the worst pain I can imagine  And I so admire this woman, Jen, and her family for focusing on the positive in life and giving back after losing so much.  Some day when the funds are raised and the new playground equipment is installed I will think of this family on the many days I walk through Rolling Hills Park. 

I wish I had taken some photos of the event.  Photos of the families, the kids playing, all the Sienna t'shirts in action.  But no, instead I only took one photo.  Because I am a freak and selfish but what can I say?  The only picture I took was of the race results.  I came in 10th place in the women and 29th place overall.  My friend Cory came in 4th among the women!   Of course there were only about 300 participants or less and of course it was a local friendly race and not known among many runners and most people walked it.  But stilll!!  It may be the highest I ever place in a race.  So I think I will be proud and enjoy it.  I don't totally suck at this sport!  Yippee!

Check out the website for Sienna.

http://www.siennasplaygarden.isabellasgiraffeclub.org

so flippin hot

Sunrises and sunsets have been amazing all week

I haven't posted in a week because it is just too flippin hot to run.  My last run was on Tuesday and today is Saturday.  Every day it is about 85 degrees by 8 in the morning and 95 degrees by noon.  I just can't do it.  I also haven't been sleeping well because of the heat.  We have AC but it goes on and off all night and doesn't promote good sleep.  I know I am spoiled living in San Diego.  Once it goes out of the range of 65-75 degrees we all go crazy.

lethargic dog

The heat is also making the fleas on Max multiply.  So much so we called the vet about the new pill form of anti flea medicine.  Advantage hasn't been working well.  Before we gave him the pill we saw a bunch of fleas on him.  So hideous!  That was another reason I couldn't sleep well last night as I kept imagining the fleas jumping off him on to me when the fleas got a whiff of his new medicine.  It also didn't help that right after we gave him the pill Kelly and I decided to google it for side effects.  Note, we had already given the dog the pill and then we read about it.  Well, one post mentioned how her dog threw up 4 hours later (damn I should have given it in the morning not at 7pm at night) and another how her dog got lethargic and vomited.  I made him stop reading but he did add in a few positive remarks first.  As a doctor I should know better than google medicine side effects.  But anyway I kept waking up all night worrying about the dog vomiting on the carpet.  I am a bad person because I was only slightly worried about the dog and mostly worried about the carpet and having to clean it up at 3am.  The dog survived the night with no problem.  Though I must say he does seem a bit lethargic but no more so than any other of these ridiculously hot days!  The cats look pretty lethargic too!

 Kiko sleeping on Kelly's desk

Who knows when I will run again.  We do have a 5K fun run tomorrow to try to raise money for our neighborhood park.  But those fun runs with family and friends tend to have more walking then running involved.

Tuesday's run was 6 miles at Penasquitos Preserve.  The best part of it was that it was 6 miles and that felt quick and easy!

finished Run: Sep 3, 2013, 9:39:39 AM
Route: New Route
Run Link: http://runmeter.com/423448324b5fff63/Run-20130903-0829?r=e
Import Link: http://share.abvio.com/423448324b5fff63/Runmeter-Run-20130903-0829.kml
Run Time: 1:09:57
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 6.04 miles
Average: 11:35 /mile
Fastest Pace: 10:02 /mile
Ascent: 135 feet
Calories: 618

Run Max Run

Kelly mentioned to me after my last post that my recent writings have been on the negative side. That took me by surprise because I didn't really think or feel negatively. But that's not the first time that has come up for me and I suspect this is true for others. I remember years ago on vacation in Hawaii for a month with a girlfriend. We were staying with a high school friend. About half way through the trip she got really mad at me for complaining so much.  And I thought I was having a great time. It's definitely something I have to watch.

So let me just tell you, yesterday I had a great run.  We are camping for Labor day at Dos Picos park in Ramona.  I got up at about 8 and ran the Ernie Pantoja trail. It is a bit up and down with some rock stairs interspersed with rolling dirt trails.  It has pretty views of the local mountains. The entire trail is only a little over a half mile but all the way around the park is over one mile. Somehow I made it into a 5 mile run going around the trail 3 times along with some more of the park. The last mile and a half I picked up my dog, Max, to finish the run with me.  I love running with the dog even though he did make me trip over a rock and almost break my neck twice. He gets a bit excited and pulls me along the first half of the run. But, by the the last quarter of the run I am usually pulling him.  He has very little stamina.  It's too bad he can only run a mile or so because I would love to take him running more, for companionship and for protection. BUT, I am not complaining. It was a fun run. I felt excellent. The scenery was beautiful. The dog was an extra bonus. And I ended it at the pond where the boys were successfully catching fish!

Is it lack of motivation or just giving the body a rest

The family at the Color in Motion Run at Qualcomm Stadium 

I haven't posted for a few days because I haven't really done much running this week.  Since my long run last Thursday I have only done 2 runs (not counting the Color Run Saturday morning which was more like a Color walk).  One run was Monday morning before school/work for 3 miles and then another on Tuesday at the gym for 3 miles.  The run on Tuesday was especially disappointing since it was my day off and usually I get in a long run on those days.  With Aiden in school now my day off is a designated day for me to take care of myself. 

I bought a new computer a couple of weeks ago.  I am now completely Apple in my house.  I have an iphone, ipad and now a Mac computer.  Tuesday when I was supposed to run I was playing on my Mac.  Not really playing but trying to get my music set up and my documents transferred.  2 hours on the computer went by in an instant and before I knew it was 11am and waaaay to late to run outside in this heat.  So off to the gym I went.  I have a membership at 24 hour fitness that I keep paying and hardly use.  It costs me $30 a month so that run on Tuesday was a $30 run because I probably won't go back for at least a month.  I love to run on beautiful trails like Torrey Pines or Lake Hodges and I strongly dislike running on a treadmill in a crowded gym with stinky people running next to me.  Well, most don't stink but this one guy got on next to me and he was pretty offensive.

My question, though, is on these weeks when I run lightly am I lacking motivation i.e. being lazy or is it a good natural break for my body?  I do stress out when I go more than 2 days without a run and I worry I will slack more and more if I don't get out there whenever I have the chance.  I know many serious runners (am I a serious runner??) run 5-6 times per week.  I find I get resentful of the run if I do more than 4 a week.  I feel like it is work then.  But I do want to improve and when the time comes to really step it up for the Marathon, which I am thinking will be about 6 months prior to the race, I will probably have to run more often.  Will I be able to do this? 

What makes a good running partner?

 Icing my knee

As I write this I am icing my right knee.  I ran 10 miles this morning at Penasquitos Preserve.   My knee didn't hurt during the run but after and throughout the day it has been aching.  So I am icing it for the second time today. I think it may hurt more than usual because as I ran longer in this hideous heat my running form started to suffer. The 10 was hard as usual but the fringgin heat just about killed me.  I had to stop twice and walk up the hills and the last 2 miles I had to chant to myself " you can do it", " almost there" " just a little bit more" etc.  But I made it.  I think, though, I will wait until it cools down before I attempt more than 7 or 8 miles again.  

Self portrait at the 5 mile mark in Penasquitos, before the pain began

What makes a great running partner?  Well, let me tell you. First of all when they make plans to run with you they always show up.  Unless something huge comes up, they arrive.  They would never not show up just because they were tired or  didn't feel up to it.  This way you have to do the same.  And you can't skip a run when they don't show up because they always do.  Remember they are a great running partner.   Next, they run about the same speed as you.  Sometimes a bit faster which challenges you and sometimes a bit slower which makes you feel like you're an awesome runner.   But overall you're evenly matched.   And I like a talker.  I love a run that goes by quickly because I am happy listening to my partner.  However, I can't talk too much.  Some but not a lot, especially on hills and very long runs.  And it is especially nice when the talker is someone you like a lot.   

My water belt posing at a stream crossing in Penasquitos Preserve

Yesterday I ran at Torrey Pines with a pediatrician friend from work. She is all of the above in a running partner. Along with the fact that we, of course, have a lot in common.  And she may want to do a race with me too.. Icing on the cake.  

Silver Strand Runs

Kelly and I relaxing

I ran 3 out of the 4 days of our camping trip at Silver Strand, Coronado beach.  The first morning I did the 8 mile run which was smart because I felt just a little less inclined to run as the days went by.  The relaxation of the beach life was happily getting to me.  I rested on day 2 and then ran Saturday and Sunday mornings, 5 miles and 4 miles respectively.  On Saturday I ran with a friend, Shayna.  She has two young kids: an almost 3 year old and and almost one year old.  They came with us in the double stroller.  This worked well the first 2.5 miles but then the older one started to complain (though she was pretty easy to placate) and then the baby started crying and basically continued until we finished.  It wasn't a big deal. As the kids cried Shayna sped up and so I sped up and we ran the second half of the run a full minute per mile faster than the start.  God bless her with two little kids.  I am so glad to have a 9 year old that easily entertains himself much of the time. 

Shayna, my running partner and her son and her sweet dog, Pearl

I ate way too much on vacation like usual.  The problem (or not) with camping and RVing is the most social time is usually happy hour and that entails drinks and appetizers.  It's those appetizers that get me.  It's not a huge deal to eat more on vacation but I tend to get stomach aches easily and this was no exception.  Though it wasn't as bad as in Hawaii when I went crazy with food the first few days and ended up in agony with cramps and vomiting all day on the 4th of July.  Not my favorite way to spend our Independence Day or any day for that matter.  Anyway, this time I just ended up waking up at 4 am with a stomach ache and then feeling a bit off all weekend.   I want to be able to have the carrot cake and ice cream when the desires strikes without paying for it later.  But more than that I want to eat vegan and healthy the vast majority of the time. But, it seems like the more I do that the less able my body tolerates the times I don't. So, should I eat worse more often so I can tolerate it when I splurge or just finally learn to not splurge? 

 Aiden learning to surf

I didn't do enough strength building this week.  I will make sure to do it next week. 
Finished Run: Aug 17, 2013, 8:59:26 AM
Route: New Route
Run Link: http://runmeter.com/423448324b5fff63/Run-20130817-0806?r=e
Import Link: http://share.abvio.com/423448324b5fff63/Runmeter-Run-20130817-0806.kml
Run Time: 51:33
Stopped Time: 1:00
Distance: 5.10 miles
Average: 10:06/mile
Fastest Pace: 8:32/mile
Ascent: 98 feet
Calories: 520

Finished Run: Aug 18, 2013, 8:52:27 AM
Route: Silver Strand North
Run Link: http://runmeter.com/423448324b5fff63/Run-20130818-0810?r=e
Import Link: http://share.abvio.com/423448324b5fff63/Runmeter-Run-20130818-0810.kml
Run Time: 41:50
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 4.05 miles
Average: 10:20/mile
Fastest Pace:8:44/mile
Ahead of Best Run: 50:04
Ascent: 190 feet
Calories: 426

http://www.runmeter.com