Today is my last day of my 30s! I can’t believe I’m going to be a masters runner when I wake up tomorrow ha.
This week, we finally had some nice weather (well, at least at the times we wanted to run) and I got in some decent miles.
Monday, I ran 3.2 miles at a 9:15/mile average and then I went to a HIIT class at the gym.
Tuesday morning, I ran before work, 4 miles at a 9:03/mile average. In the evening, it wasn’t raining AND there wasn’t a game going on in the high school stadium, so we did a track workout for the first time in three weeks.
We did eight 400s. I screwed up my watch on the next-to-last one, but the seven I did manage to properly record were 1:46 (7:06/mile pace), 1:44 (7:03), 1:44 (6:59), 1:43 (7:02), 1:42 (6:53), 1:42 (6:55) and 1:39 (6:35.) With a couple warm up and cool down laps, we ran 3.4 miles total.
While I was there, Clark sent me this picture of the sunset from the bar he’d gone to for happy hour instead of running on the track haha:
Wednesday morning, I ran again before work, 3.1 miles at a 9:12/mile average.
It rained again later that morning into the afternoon, but it actually cleared up before run club for once. So Clark and I went to Glute Lab at the gym and then met the group in downtown Vista. Shawn and I ran an easy 3-miler at a 9:25/mile average.
Thursday, I didn’t get up in time to run before I had to start work, and then my brother arrived! He is here for a long weekend to celebrate my birthday and run the Carlsbad 5000. I wound up not running at all so it was a rest day.
I did get up early this morning and knock out my last run as a 39-year-old, an easy 5 miles at a 9:03/mile average. I saw several tri bikes along the coast, definitely athletes here for tomorrow’s Oceanside 70.3 doing one last shakeout before checking in their bikes. Looks like they will have a great day for it.
That brings me to the end of March, so it’s time to sum up the month.
Mileage:
Week 1 (March 1-4): 11.4 miles
Week 2 (March 5-11): 23.8
Week 3 (March 12-18): 26.4
Week 4 (March 19-25): 22.6
Week 5 (March 26-31): 33.3
Total: 117.5 miles
It was an OK month. I got in two double digit runs and I ran one race, a 10K in Encinitas. I made it to the gym for a good amount of cross training as well.
In April, I only have one race scheduled, the 5000 on Sunday. Other than that, I’ll just keep training for a couple more short-distance races I have planned for May, the 4-miler over the Coronado Bridge and another 5K in Vista.
This weekend should be fun! Tomorrow is, of course, my 40th birthday. I plan to meet the running group early as usual. I doubt we’ll go to the gym for Weekend Warriors though, because my brother wants to see the pro triathletes on the run course in Oceanside, and they’ll probably be finishing up too early for us to see that if we go the gym. Then we need to stop by packet pickup in the village for our own race. There’s also the San Diego State University Final Four game in the afternoon, and at some point, my old Runner’s World friend, Bangle, and his wife, Nancy, will get into town so he can do the 5000 as well. Big day!
Sunday is the race. I do think I can beat the 24:32 I ran in this one last year, but I’m not sure by how much. The 10K a couple weeks ago wasn’t much of a confidence boost, and who knows how I’m going to feel when I get up ha.
The advantage to getting old is that I get to run earlier! Last year, the women’s open (39 and under) race was at 10 a.m. This year, I’m in the women’s masters race at 8 a.m. And then it’s on to the beer garden!
Friday afternoon, Clark and I went into the village to watch San Diego State University knock out Alabama in the Sweet Sixteen round. This is the farthest they’ve ever made it in the NCAA tournament and people around here are pretty pumped!
Saturday morning, I met the run club early at the park. One of our group members is an SDSU alum and had to rep the team.
I ran 4.5 miles at a 9:40/mile average with Karen and Kathy. Later, Clark and I went to the gym for Weekend Warriors, and we kept having to do short runs. I think we did about another half mile of running altogether, so I’m calling it 5 miles total for the day.
We hung around Carlsbad the rest of the day. We see a lot of cool cars around here, but we spotted one of our favorites Saturday — a Ford GT!
It had a Florida NASCAR license plate!
Here is a picture of the worst part of not living on Delmarva anymore — the “crab cake” recipe:
I am offended. Claw meat? Shrimp? Bell pepper?!
Sunday, I did a long run, up and around the Flower Fields, which opened for the season March 1.
Once I got back to the coast, I ran a bit farther south before turning around to head home.
It was a decent run other than a few miles in the middle when I had to use the bathroom but was pretty far away from the public facilities along the coast! I had to walk a bit before I made it to the RV campground bathrooms.
In all, I ran 11.6 miles at a 9:51/mile average.
When I got home, Clark found a hummingbird nest in our backyard! They built it on top of a string of lights that stretches from the house to this tree.
My cousin was hoping for some more close-up pictures because she wants to paint them, but they were already gone this morning. I told Clark they probably didn’t like the creep taking their picture yesterday ha.
That afternoon, we went to a friend’s house to watch SDSU’s Elite Eight game. They won a very close game over Creighton and are now in the Final Four, this coming Saturday.
Today is the start of the last week of the challenge at the gym. I will likely go for a short run later and then we’ll go to the gym for a HIIT class.
Late Monday afternoon, I ran 3 miles at a 9:08/mile average, and then I went to the gym for a HIIT class.
Tuesday was another complete washout. It was pouring rain in the morning. There was a break in the afternoon (I got to see some jerk face runners enjoying the sunshine near the coast on my way back to my office after lunch) but then it started pouring again just in time to cancel the track workout, AGAIN. So Clark and I went to Swole Patrol at the gym.
Wednesday morning, it wasn’t raining! I ran 4 miles at an 8:39/mile average.
I was excited to see the road closure signs are out for the Carlsbad 5000!
Just a little more than a week until race day. And now less than a week until my brother gets here!
There weren’t any surfers out that morning. It was pretty choppy.
Wednesday evening, I went to the gym for Glute Lab, but guess what? It was raining after, so the run club didn’t even meet.
Thursday, I wanted to run before I started work for the day, but.. it was pouring rain in the morning. Then work got really busy and I wound up only having enough time to squeeze in a quick 3.2 miles at a 9:08/mile pace before we went to Black Plague for trivia night.
We managed to make it all the way through today without any rain, but I had to start work earlier than usual, and now Clark and I are going to go somewhere to watch some college basketball, so it looks like today is going to be a rest day.
This weekend, I’m planning on meeting the running group tomorrow morning and then going to Weekend Warriors, and Sunday, I want to get in a longer run. Other than that, we’ll probably just be doing some yard work now that the sun is finally out.
Yesterday, I ran the 10K at the inaugural Moonlight Beach race in Encinitas (there was also a half marathon and a 5K.) I wasn’t very impressed with it but the field was so small, I finished second in my age group despite blowing past the turnaround and running extra, and the award is a free entry into next year’s event. So if that shows up, I guess I’m running it again in 2024 ha.
Going back to Saturday. I got up early to meet the running group at the park at 6 a.m., and I ran with Karen and Kathy. Karen turned around early because she is recovering from some kind of bronchitis, I think, but Kathy and I did a total of 5.2 miles at a 9:23/mile average. Clark and I then went to the Weekend Warriors workout at the gym.
We spent the rest of Saturday morning and early afternoon in the village in Carlsbad. I finally got a picture of this “graffiti” on an art shop that closed over the winter and hasn’t been replaced yet haha:
Later that afternoon, Clark and I went to Road Runner Sports in Carlsbad to pick up our race bibs and T-shirts, and then we went to Oceanside to hang out and get some dinner.
Race morning was pretty relaxed. The 5K (which Clark was doing) and 10K didn’t start until 9 a.m. and was only a roughly 10-minute drive away, so we were not in a rush at all.
The race website suggested parking at a nearby high school and using a provided shuttle to get back and forth from the start/finish, but I heard one of the race organizers tell another runner at packet pick-up the day before that a lot fewer runners had signed up than anticipated, so they weren’t going to have the shuttle. There would be more than enough free parking available at the train station lots, which are free on the weekends, and the Encinitas library and city hall.
That proved true. There was no shortage of parking, and no traffic to get into the lots, so Clark and I were parked at the train station with about 40 minutes to spare. I did a slow warm-up mile there, and then Clark and I walked over to the race start in a parking lot near Moonlight Beach.
The set-up there was… minimal ha. There was an inflated arch over the start/finish timing mat and tents for the timing company next to it. Other than that, there were just a couple folding tables for packet pickup and water, and about five port-o-potties, which were plenty, as there were only about 320 runners in the 5K and 10K.
Oh the weather was good for running too, overcast and in the low 60s. Zero complaints there.
Around 8:50 a.m., the race director asked us all to gather kinda near the timing mat, but not too close, because the lead half marathon runner was going to finish soon. We all cheered for the winner, and then the 5K/10K got going a little early — because we all had to get across the same timing mat going in the other direction before second place got there. Seemed like poor planning, but I think it worked.
For once, I started close enough to the front that I didn’t get boxed in by a bunch of walkers at the start. After crossing the timing mat, we ran out of the parking lot onto C Street, then made a right onto Third Street, which we ran all the way to where it turns into K Street and meets up with the 101. We ran down the 101 until our turnaround, and then we ran back exactly the way we’d come.
At the start.
Third Street is kinda hilly. It just felt like small rollers at the beginning of the race, except the big downhill to the 101. I was already dreading running back up that hill on the way back!
At the bottom of the hill.
My Garmin beeped the end of the first mile on the 101 — 7:56. Dang, it really felt like I’d been running faster than just barely under 8:00!
Then we were on the 101, which runs right along the ocean. Between Encinitas and Cardiff, they had both sides of the 101 closed to traffic, so runners in each direction got an entire side of the highway to spread out. That was great, because the half marathon, which had started 90 minutes before, was basically two loops of the same course, so that kept it from getting too crowded as we got mixed in with those runners.
We passed the 5K turnaround and a few minutes later my watch beeped the end of the second mile — 8:05. Already over 8! Not good.
About that time, I got passed by another woman who had to have been in the 10K, so I latched onto her, and the third mile sped up to 7:52, my fastest of the race.
Past the main intersection in Cardiff, they reopened one side of the 101 to traffic, so the race course narrowed to just one side of the highway, each direction getting one half. It got a lot more crowded there.
Anyway, I was under the impression the 10K and the half marathon (which again, did two loops) turned around at the same place. So I completely missed the big flag that said “10K TURNAROUND” at the next water stop.
I grabbed some water at that stop and looked up the road and was surprised to see the orange cones marking the course stretching so far ahead, especially since my watch had beeped the end of the third mile a while ago. Was my watch really that off?
Then I noticed that woman I’d been following was nowhere to be seen. The penny finally dropped and I realized I was probably making this race a lot longer than it needed to be.
I asked a runner near me if we’d just passed the 10K turnaround, but he was running the half, so he just shrugged. I made a U-turn and headed back toward the water stop. Yep, that flag was definitely where I should’ve turned. Oh well.
I fell off quite a bit in the next couple of miles, heading back toward Encinitas. It felt way more uphill in that direction than it had downhill in the other, and I just ran out of gas. The fourth mile was 8:18 and fifth was 8:42. Yowza.
We turned off the 101 to go back up that hill on K Street. I really did not want to, but I managed to run up the whole thing, and then I even sped up again once that was behind me. Mile 6 was 8:12.
Pretty sure this at the top of the big hill on the way back.
As we came up on the last couple of quick turns onto C Street and then into the parking lot, some guy near me encouraged me to sprint it in with him. I officially finished the 10K in 51:41 — an 8:20/mile pace by the race distance, 8:08/mile by my “extra value” distance ha (6.4 miles according to my Garmin.)
The guy in the gray T-shirt is the one who told me to sprint.
Finish line.
I was handed a cheesy medal at the finish. I found Clark, who’d finished the 5K in 33:48, and then I hit the post-race refreshments — the same table with just some paper cups of water that had been there at the start ha. This race was pretty bare-bones for how much they charged to run it!
Clark and I went back to the car, where I changed into dry clothes, and then we had brunch at the Encinitas Biergarten. I looked up our results and was surprised to see I’d finished second — in the 40-44 age group, when I’m still 39. I guess they just went by year of birth, regardless of the day? I don’t know. Anyway, the race info says the top two finishers in every age group in the half, 10K and 5K will get a free race entry for next year, so we’ll see if that happens.
So to wrap this up, here are Clark’s and my race bibs, medals (they were supposed to hand out different ones for different distances, but there was no way to tell, looking at runners’ bibs, which one they’d just finished) and shirts (I just realized the white T-shirt has a single sponsor logo on it that the blue one does not.)
And here are my stats:
Moonlight Beach 10K
Chip time: 51:41
2nd/13 F 40-44
11th/109 female finishers
23rd/167 total finishers
I liked the 10K course and how easy parking was, but that was about it. I don’t think I’d pay $50 (with a discount code!) to run this one again, but I’ll probably do it for free if they send me that race entry I supposedly won.
Next up for me is the Carlsbad 5000, now less than two weeks away. The paces I was running yesterday really did not make me feel confident in my chances to beat my time there from last year but hopefully it was just an off day. Training continues today with a short easy run and then a HIIT class at the gym.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! It feels weird to not be in Virginia Beach this weekend about to run Shamrock, but it also feels nice to not have spent the entire day flying across the country and knowing I’m going to have to do it again in two days.
Anyway, it’s been another training week disrupted by crappy weather. I went to the HIIT class at the gym Monday evening and ran Tuesday morning, before work and before the rain, 4 miles at an 8:53/mile average.
At least we got a pretty sunrise before all the RAIN.
It started raining around lunchtime and wouldn’t quit, so we didn’t have a track workout. I did go to the gym for Swole Patrol though.
Wednesday morning, my alarm went off at 6 a.m. so I could run before work again. But it was pitch black outside, thanks to Daylight Saving Time, and I could hear the rain pounding on the window above the bed. So I said screw it and reset the alarm for 7.
That evening, I went to Glute Lab. The rain had mostly stopped but it was still drizzly and foggy so Jennie and I just met at Best Pizza for run club but skipped the run part haha.
Yesterday, it was finally nice again! I went for a tempo run in the late afternoon.
I got to try out the new shoes I’d gotten in the mail Tuesday afternoon, New Balance FuelCell TCs, a carbon fiber plated running shoe. They were released two years ago so I found some on clearance for $80 (the new ones now cost $230.)
I wasn’t that impressed honestly. I mean, they’re fine, and I’m going to keep them, but I didn’t feel that huge bounce that a lot of runners do in these “super shoes” every shoe company has been releasing since Nike’s Vapor Fly came out. I’ve read it doesn’t return as much energy if you land more toward your forefoot, like I do, so I don’t know if that’s it, or because they’re already old ha.
So I did a mile to warm up, and then ran three miles “comfortably hard” in 7:54, 7:55 and 7:44. I did another easy mile back to cool down, a total of 5 miles at an 8:21/mile overall average.
Finally, today, I ran another 6 miles easy at a 9:02/mile average in my regular old non-carbon fiber plated shoes.
And now I’m going to take a shower and we’re going to go find a green beer somewhere.
Clark’s friend wound up backing out of flying out here the day before he was supposed to, so we’re not entertaining him this weekend. I’m planning on meeting the running group first thing tomorrow and then going to Weekend Warriors at the gym, and then I’m running a 10K in Encinitas on Sunday morning. Clark said he’s doing the 5K but I don’t think he’s signed up yet.
This weekend was pretty lame as far as training went.
Saturday morning, I found out I’d set my alarm for 5:30 p.m. instead of a.m., when it was getting really light outside but the alarm hadn’t gone off. I still could’ve run on my own before Weekend Warriors, but I decided “I’ll just do it later” and stayed in bed.
We did at least make it to Weekend Warriors. I was hoping it’d be an easier workout but we started with “man makers” (burpees with dumbbells so you can add a row before or after the push-up and then a curl and press when you stand back up) and it just went downhill from there ha. We finished with a “game” some sadist made up, where you play “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC and do a burpee every time they sing “thunder” or “thunderstruck.” It’s a LOT.
After the gym, Clark and I made a bunch of stops to get ready to host dinner for a couple coworkers he’d invited over that night and then a trade show he was leaving for Sunday. It wound up being past noon when we got home, and we had to clean the house. I was just finishing that up when our first guest arrived. So I didn’t run after all.
Sunday morning, I didn’t run before Clark and his one coworker left for the trade show — but we did all ride bikes down to the beach and then through the village — and then when they left, it was time to call my parents, then watch the NASCAR race, then watch the Oscars… yeah, I didn’t run Sunday either.
But this morning I finally got up and ran BEFORE I had to start work for the day, 6.2 miles at a 9:15/mile average.
I was glad I had a pretty light day today so I had time to re-clean the guest bathroom and wash and dry the sheets on our spare bed, because I have to go in the office tomorrow and Wednesday and our next guest arrives that evening. The house is ready to go.
This evening, I’m going to the gym for an HIIT class.
Monday, I didn’t get a chance to run before the gym, but we did two classes there, a HIIT class followed by Fight Club. I haven’t done the second one in years. Boxing isn’t really my thing but it was fun.
Tuesday, I got up in the morning and ran before work, 4 miles at a 9:13/mile average.
And in the evening, I went to the high school for a track workout. It was just me with Shawn and Dominic, who are both faster, so I was bringing up the rear on every interval.
We did two sets of two 400s and one 800. I found out on the first 400 the chips and hot salsa I’d scarfed down after work was a bad pre-interval snack ha. Kinda heartburn-y.
We all ran the first 400 slower than usual; my split was 1:52, a 7:26/mile pace. We picked it up for the second one though; I ran it in 1:41, a 6:44 pace, and then I ran the first 800 in 3:31, a 7:04 pace.
We took a slightly longer rest and then did the second set. My splits were 1:42 (6:48 pace), 1:42 (6:40) and 3:26 (6:50.)
We did a couple cool down laps to bring the evening’s total to 3.1 miles.
Wednesday morning, I ran before work again, 3.1 miles at a 9:15/mile average.
In the evening, Clark and I went to the Glute Lab class and then we met the running group. I just ran another 3 miles with Shawn, very easy at a 10:04/mile average.
Thursday, I should’ve run before I started work for the day but I didn’t, and then I was really busy. I never ran, but Clark and I went to Swole Patrol at the gym that evening.
Today, I again didn’t run in the morning, and then it took me all day to finish up one last thing for work. It also started raining again in the afternoon, and it still is, so it looks like today is going to be a rest day.
The plan for the weekend is a run tomorrow morning followed by Weekend Warriors at the gym, and a long run Sunday.
Last Tuesday, I ran in the morning before work, 3.1 miles at a 9:09/mile average.
That evening, we got to do a track workout for the first time in a few weeks. We did four sets of two 200s and one 400, with a shorter rest between intervals and a longer rest between sets.
My splits for the first set were 48 and 49 seconds for the 200s (6:36 and 6:25 pace) and 1:41 for the 400 (6:47 pace.) The second set was 49 and 50 seconds (6:25 and 6:39) and 1:41 (6:47.) The third set was 49 and 49 seconds (6:27 and 6:30) and 1:40 (6:30.) And the last set was 49 and 47 seconds (6:20 and 6:11) and 1:35 (6:17.) With a warmup and cool down, I got in another 3.3 miles total.
That finished off February, so here’s a little recap of the month.
Mileage:
Week 1 (Feb. 1-4): 38.2 miles
Week 2 (Feb. 5-11): 19
Week 3 (Feb. 12-18): 26.5
Week 4 (Feb. 19-25): 16
Week 5 (Feb. 26-28): 11.4
Total: 111.1 miles
I ran one race in February, the Algonquin 50K on the first weekend. The rest of the month, I started a challenge at the gym and dealt with unusually crappy winter weather here in Southern California.
The crap weather continued into March, annoyingly. I woke up Wednesday morning and the wind was screaming as hard as it’d been the Wednesday before, when I got sandblasted. It was also pouring rain. I stayed in bed longer instead.
In the evening, Clark and I went to a Glute Lab class at the gym and then met the running group, but for the second week in a row, the group collectively decided to skip the running part of the evening due to the weather and go straight to the beer part.
Thursday, the weather was finally nice again, but I couldn’t get my butt out the door for a run all day. Glute Lab is still kicking my butt. But I did go to Swole Patrol.
Friday, I finally ran again, 5 miles at a 9:12/mile average.
Saturday, I met the running group early. It wasn’t raining but it was pretty cold.
I ran with Kathy, 6.4 miles at a 9:29/mile average, and then I went to the Weekend Warriors class at the gym.
After that class, Karen asked if I’d be interested in joining the Baltimore-based team she does Hood to Coast with every year (she lived in Baltimore for several years.) Hood to Coast is the 200-mile, 12-person team relay in Oregon I ran in 2014 and wasn’t very happy with when it was over. The main issues were the traffic jams in the final third of the race, and then the race organizers yelling at us in the second van for not already being at the finish line when our runner got there — because THEIR shitty shuttle service, which was supposed to bring us there from where we were told to park our van, was running 90 minutes behind and we all had to walk there instead.
Well, I guess the irritation has subsided enough in the nine years since, because I immediately accepted the invite. I’m officially a member of the Baltimore Pacemakers, in the Mixed Masters division.
Hopefully the traffic jams aren’t so bad and the shuttle service is running on time ha. But this is also a good excuse to go back to Portland and possibly Seattle, which Clark and I really liked and haven’t been back to since this relay in 2014.
Sunday morning, I ran 10.4 miles at a 9:18/mile pace. I ran north to the Oceanside Strand and back, which I fully regretted. By the time I got there, it was almost noon, so it was packed. I almost got speared in the ribs by a bike handlebar thanks to a dumbass kid not paying attention to anyone else. Remind me to either get up much earlier or stay in Carlsbad.
Bridge over Cassidy Street in Oceanside.
Other than that though, it was a decent run.
Today, Clark and I are going to a HIIT class and Fight Club at the gym, and I’m going to try to get in a short run before that.
A Simple Running Log 