Need to run

I don't always like running. I like the feeling of accomplishment I get from running. I like the way running makes me feel. But I don't always enjoy the act of running. There are times when I do--when I lose myself in the rhythm of my feet and the miles fly by. But sometimes I just run because I know I should, and I'm glad when it's over.

There are also other times--times that I need to run. I've written before about running as therapy, and last Sunday night it was exactly that.

The last few months have been hard. Moving to LA wasn't easy for me, and settling in has been a challenge. Adding to the stress are some health-related issues. I won't get into details, except to say that there's no cause for alarm--I'm fine. But I've been feeling frustrated, and sad, and angry, and helpless. Unable to control things that are hugely important to me. Things including my own body.

Sunday, I'd been having an especially tough day, for a number of reasons, and I realized I needed to run. I grabbed my phone, set it to a Pandora workout station, turned it up a bit too loud, and headed out.

It was a gorgeous evening, warm with the sun low in the sky, and the beach path was crowded. I ran hard, dodging slow-moving beach cruisers and rollerbladers on the bike path. I ran because I was angry, because I was frustrated, because it was one way I could force my body into submission. I expected tears to come, but they didn't.

A couple miles out, I stopped and sat on the beach to watch the sunset. And then I stood up and ran home, just as hard.

By the time I got home, I felt better. It wasn't a cure-all, but that half-hour on the path helped. And I'll be ok.

Wordless Wednesday - March 7, 2012

 

Gulp.

Tinker Bell Half Marathon 2012 - Race Report

OK, so it took me two weeks to get this written. But better late than never, right?

First things first: I met my A and C goals: I had a fabulous time, and it was not a personal worst. It was also nowhere near a personal best. But that wasn't the point. I wanted to enjoy myself, and run how I felt. As it turned out (probably due in large part to my generally lackadaisical approach to training this time around), how I felt wasn't what one would call "fast."

Anyhow ... the night before the race we had dinner at Outback with my parents and aunt, then headed back to the hotel to turn in early. While I was getting all my stuff set out, I realized I had forgotten one thing: breakfast. Thankfully, the hotel mini-mart came through with a great selection of bars, so crisis averted, I headed to bed--after a quick break to watch the Disneyland fireworks from the staircase outside our room.

The race had a (way-too-early) start time of 5:45, so I woke up at 4:15 and got ready. Our hotel room had a Keurig, so between that and my mini-mart Luna bar I was all set.

Breakfast of champions!

I got dressed in my Team Sparkle skirt and race legs, and after some last-minute waffling, decided against bringing my jacket or arm warmers. I'm glad I went without, because it was pretty warm, even before the sun came up.

If ever there was a race that called for sparkles, this was it!

The starting line was about a mile from our hotel, so I just walked down, and made my way to the A corral. I always love the energy in the starting corrals, and at this race it was even better than most. There were around 11,000 runners, 10,000 of which were women, and there was just so much excitement. (And so many fairy wings and sparkles!)

Waiting to start

While we were waiting, they announced that Sean Astin was running the race, and interviewed him for a couple minutes. So I can now say I've run a race with Samwise Gamgee!

The first few miles of the race were just so, so surreal, in a really wonderful way. We ran into Disneyland through a back entrance, and after some twists and turns, there we were--running through a nearly empty Disneyland, in the dark. There were lots of costumed characters out cheering us on (including tons of pirates--and even some Lost Boys on the carousel). It's hard to even describe how fun and magical the whole thing felt.

After a couple miles in Disneyland, it was out into the streets of Anaheim. This middle stretch of the race was ... well ... kind of boring, to be frank. There weren't many spectators, and there wasn't much scenery. We ran through a lot of industrial areas, and it was all just kind of gray. There were plenty of fun costumed runners, at least! My favorites were two girls dressed in matching Princess Leia costumes, and one dressed as Rufio from Hook.

In terms of pace, I started out pretty strong, but started lagging a bit a little over halfway through. It just wasn't an "on" day, and I wasn't looking to force it. By the last few miles, I even let myself walk a few times for 30 seconds or so. Toward the end of the race, we ran through California Adventure, and I finally stopped for a character photo, since I knew a PR wasn't happening anyway.

Totally worth the 30 seconds it added to my time! 

My parents and J were right around mile 13. I didn't see them until I heard my dad yell "Happy birthday, Rebekah!" I'm so glad my parents were able to come down and cheer me on (and hang out with me for a few days, too.)

I ended up finishing in 2:07 and change. Nowhere near a PR, but it was just such a wonderful experience that I don't care at all. I'm so glad I ran the race the way I did, having fun with it. 

Best medal ever!

I'd really recommend running a Disney race to those who have a chance to do so. It was really well-organized, and just such a cool, unique experience--definitely worth doing at least once. And I can't think of any better way I could have celebrated my 30th birthday! 

Tinker Bell Half Marathon Goals

I'm writing this from my hotel room (on my phone), just before I try to fall asleep nice and early for my 4:15 wake-up!

We drove to Anaheim this afternoon, and spent a little time at the expo. Packet pickup was nice and fast, and the long-sleeved race tee is cute.

Pre-race dinner was steak at Outback with J, my parents and my aunt. I've basically given up on "carb-loading," so meat and veggies it was. Then we came back to the hotel, at which point I realized I had nothing on-hand for breakfast. A quick dash to the hotel mini-mart (and a break to watch the Disneyland fireworks from the staircase!) later, I have a Luna bar and I'm ready to go.

So...goals. They're simple this time around.

A-Goal: Have lots of fun! The whole point of running a half at Disneyland on my (30th!) birthday was to have a ton of fun and celebrate starting a new decade. So that's really the No. 1 goal tomorrow--the one that really matters. I want to have fun out there!

B-Goal: Sub-2/around a 9:00/mile average pace. A PR would be great, but it's all dependent on the A-Goal. I'll run as fast as I can, but only as long as it's fun! So just keeping it around a 9-minute pace will make me happy.

C-Goal: Not to run a personal worst. :)

Alright, it's bedtime!

Werewolves, Birthdays & Words

No Wordless Wednesday for me today--I've done enough of the "wordless" thing the past week or so.

Last week was a roller coaster for me, involving some fantastic news and some really tough news, none of which I can really write about at this point (hopefully that will change in the future). Thankfully, it was followed by a fun and relaxing weekend, and after a few nice, normal days at work I'm feeling more like myself.

Friday night, I went with J and his coworkers to see Underworld: Awakening. It was a lot of fun to watch the movie surrounded by people who'd worked hard to make it, and exciting to see J's name in the credits.

Getting ready to see the movie, in our 4-Lycan Moon shirts. If you're not enough of an Internet geek to understand the reference, I both applaud you and recommend you Know Your Meme

Saturday, we "celebrated" our furbaby Caspian's 7th birthday with a trip to the vet for vaccines (poor pup--it's a good thing he didn't realize it was his birthday!), then spent the rest of the day hanging around the house.

Saturday night: beer, a good book and salmon with carrots & leeks. What more could a girl want?

And yes, I ran! Sunday morning was my last "long" run before Tinker Bell: a lovely 6-miler along the water. I'm feeling great, and excited to knock out my last workout tomorrow (just a short tempo) and race on Sunday! I'm so glad I decided to run this race. I was hoping it would feel like a really perfect way to ring in the big 3-0, and now, as I'm getting closer to it I'm convinced that was a good call. 

I'll close with the photo that would have been my Wordless Wednesday, had I not turned it into a wordy one: My fuzzy birthday boy.

Best. Dog. Ever.

Wordless Wednesday - Jan. 18, 2012

(Is it still wordless if there are lyrics? Because this is really the best way I can sum up my week without bunches and bunches of words.)

13.1 Los Angeles 2012

My first race of 2012 is in the books. This is the first time I've run a race on a whim, and certainly the first time I've run a half with such short notice. I don't think it will become a regular occurrence, but it was fun to be spontaneous!

The starting line for 13.1 LA was only a couple miles from home, so I just walked down to the start before the race. I was worried about it being too cold, since it was in the high 40s and I was wearing shorts, but I walked fast and it wasn't too bad. (The adorable little Cold Hands/Warm Heart "cuffins" on the Lululemon jacket J got me for Christmas helped!) While I was walking, the police were clearing homeless people from the Venice boardwalk where many of them sleep, so the race course would be clear. The interactions I observed were very kind, and I was glad to see the officers treating the people who live on the boardwalk respectfully. Well done, LAPD! (Or ... Santa Monica PD? I'm not actually sure which they were ...)

I got to the start line about 25 minutes before the race was set to start, and found a spot at the back of the 2:00 corral/front of the 2:20 corral. Since I was using this as a training run, I wanted to keep a 9:30-9:40 pace. As it turned out, the start was delayed by 15 minutes, so I was colder standing around waiting than I had been walking to the start.

Finally, we were off. The first couple miles were a bit slow as I made my way through the crowd and warmed up, but then I settled into a 9:30ish pace, and ran it fairly steadily throughout. I felt strong and fresh through most of the race. By the last couple miles I was feeling a bit tired, but I guess that's to be expected, right?

As you can see, my splits were fairly even, with the exception of Mile 9, when I spent a couple minutes on a bathroom stop, and and Mile 12, when I just plain lagged a bit. I finished strong, with an official time of 2:09:11, and I'm feeling nice and confident about Tinker Bell in two weeks!

In general, 13.1 LA was a decent race. It wasn't too big or too small, the route was beautiful--right along the ocean most of the way--and there were plenty of aid stations. A couple downsides were the delay at the start, a lack of crowd support (most of the race was pretty quiet, though there were a couple entertainment groups toward the end, including a Taiko drums group,which is my most-favorite racing music ever--I'd happily run a course with Taiko drums throughout), and no food at the finish (aside from stuff you could buy from food trucks.) I would do it again, just because it was so convenient (they even had shuttles from the finish line that took me within blocks of home), though I wouldn't pay $100 for it again (but that was just because I registered so late.)




Why can't this be the soundtrack to every race?

Oh--and the medal was pretty nice, too!

Not a bad start to 2012. It's going to be a good year!