I went in last week for an orthotics casting. What this means is that they apply cast-like material to your feet to make a mold, and turn this into very custom insoles.
Hopefully these will help with my injures. We’ll see in 3-5 weeks when they’re ready.
Now that the Disneyland 1/2 marathon is over, I’m hoping that I can start (and complete) a training plan for the Turkey Trot. I’m running the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot 5k, bright and early Thanksgiving morning. This is now a family tradition, and I will be joined by my husband (who hates to run, but has no choice on Thanksgiving), my mom, my step-dad, and one of my besties.
My training plan includes three runs per week. One “race pace” run, that is designed to practice running at the pace I want to run the race. I’m starting with 600m intervals and working up to 1000m. My second run each week is a speed workout. Most of these are sprint intervals with one or two tempo intervals in the mix. The last run for each week is an easy run. Conspicuously absent is a weekly long run.
Given my injuries, I made a decision to focus on speed and take a break from long runs for a while. The 5k mark is right about where I start feeling pain while running, and I think staying under that will be good.
Earlier this month, I asked to be an ambassador for Color Me Rad! What this means is in exchange for blogging about the race, I was given a free race entry and a discount code to share with my readers (you!). So sign up now through Wednesday July 31, and enter the code “radfun” for 20% off the registration fee. This code is good only for these three days, but is good for any race location!
Since Kari and Ashley already invited me to run with them, I thought this would be a cool opportunity. Normally, the races I sign up for are your typical road or trail run, and not themed or flashy. I did the Rave Run 5K earlier this year, and while fun, it was sort of disappointing. I am hoping this will turn out to be a blast and something that we’ll do every year. 🙂
You can learn more about Color Me Rad by following any of the links below.
The 1/2 marathon distance of 13.1 miles can be very daunting. Maybe not for everyone, but it sure is for me. Perhaps this is a sign that this is not the distance I should be running. 🙂
Last year, my co-workers convinced me to sign up for the San Jose Rock ‘n Roll 1/2 Marathon. At the time I signed up, I don’t think I’d ever run more than 4.5 miles. What was I thinking?! I started increasing my distance weekly and even signed up for a 10k race in August to prepare for the 1/2 in October. I did better than I expected in the 10k, so I started feeling better about running 13.1.
Unfortunately, for 2 weeks before the race, I was unable to run due to the flu and a nasty cold. I felt under prepared and was also still slightly sick on race day. In the end, I finished in under 3 hours, which was my main goal but overall, I wasn’t very happy with my performance.
This year, I faced similar challenges in my training for the Santa Cruz 1/2. The first obstacle was a two-week business trip with limited access and time to run. The second, and biggest, obstacle was laparoscopic surgery 6 weeks before the race.
I decided to stick with it anyway and just go run it for fun. I even convinced Kimmy to run with me. I am really glad I did – this is one of the most beautiful races I have ever run. Actually, stopping for photos probably didn’t help our time, but the photos were worth it.
Santa Cruz coastline
Santa Cruz coastline
Santa Cruz coastline
Santa Cruz coastline
Santa Cruz coastline
Me & Kimmy at the end of race!
Food overload @ Saturn Cafe
We started out strong and kept a good pace for the first mile. After that, I wanted to do 2/1 intervals. Unfortunately, parts of the course were hilly and I was having trouble. Then I started having some cramps…sometimes I think my body hates me. I mean, c’mon, why did I have to get serious menstrual cramps right in the middle of a 1/2 marathon??!
Towards the end I was feeling better, but by then my feet were killing me. I broke my left ankle 5 years ago (and have three screws to prove it!) and now, any distance > 7-8 miles really kills my feet. It’s one of those “the more you do it, the less it will hurt”, but I just don’t run that far often enough.
Kimmy was quite the cheerleader, and really kept me going when I wanted to die. I think other people would probably laugh at our conversations, but it was so enjoyable to me.
“Wow, we’ve done 4 miles! Isn’t that awesome?!”
“No, it means there’s still 9.1 more miles to go. Can I die now?”
We even ran through a horse farm, and right past a cute little goat. In the end, no one died, and Kimmy and I made it and got our medals.
But our day didn’t end there. After the race, Kimmy and I headed to Saturn Cafe, a neat vegetarian restaurant in Santa Cruz, where we ordered waaaaay too much food. But it was all so yummy!
