CA Classic Weekend Half Marathon- Race Review

The CA Classic Weekend is a two day event in Fresno, CA. On Saturday, the city hosts a 35 miles, 60 miles and 100 miles bike ride. The runs (Half Marathon, 5k and kids race) takes place on Sunday.

*** this is just a review of the Half Marathon***

The expo:
The packet pick up was on Thursday and Friday, which is kinda a hassle but they stayed late from 3- 7pm. The pickup itself was super easy. I went on Th at 6 and was in and out in 5 minutes. Seriously, it took me longer to find a parking spot.

The start:
The stadium bathrooms were open- which meant CLEAN Bathrooms with running water- Big Plus! There were also plenty of port-a-potties at the start line. There were a few pacers on the course. I noticed that they lined up really close to each other on the starting line. Also, there was no real corral with meant walkers lined up in the front and made it difficult for runners to get around.

The race:
The course was great. The first third was downtown, heading north towards the zoo. The 6th mile was in a very shady park around the zoo and then we ran into the zoo. We weren't there very long but it was cool to see the giraffes, sea lions and zebras. The last part of the race was back towards the stadium. The course was flat except for one or two on ramps.

There were tons of water stations. They were staffed with a few volunteers but I never felt like it was difficult to get water or gatorade. There were also tons of small local bands and small cheering sections.

The stretch was a very cool run into Chukchansi Park and down the baseball diamond. There was also a jumbotron capturing the finish line.

The after party:
The volunteers had ice cold water!! Best thing ever!! especially after a hot race. After collecting water and the finishers medal, runners have to walk up the stadium to get food or meet with family. I saw that there was a finishers breakfast with a pancake, eggs, banana. There was also a beer garden. I didn't fell like eating anything so I didn't grab anything. There was also a Coldstone Ice cream- I did grab one of those.

Overall, I think the race was well organized, the volunteers were awesome and the experience was a good one.

running on a bummed hip

Yesterday I ran the CA Classic Half Marathon. The CA Classic Weekend held in Fresno is a two day event. Saturday starts off with a bike ride (three different distances 35 miles, 60 miles or 100 miles) and Sunday is the run (5k, Half, Kids run). It's a great weekend for Fresno. I really want to learn how to ride and hopefully race once day. 

My day started off at 5 am. It took me a while to wake up. Coffee and oatmeal helped. It's about a 30 minute drive from Dinuba to Fresno. My parents drove with me and we got to Chukchansi Park (baseball stadium for the local Fresno Grizzlies) at 6:15. Parking was super easy, we found a spot about a block away from the stadium.

I like races that start at a venue because they have real bathrooms. They also had port-a-potties set up and it looked like there were plenty and the wait wasn't long. 

The race started a little after 7:00. It was already a little warm outside. 

I have been dealing with a little injury. My hip has been bugging me and so has the back of my knee. I was worried about the pain during this race and had told myself that I was just going to take it easy. 

Of course, once the race started and every one took off, I followed. I had to tell myself to slow down multiple times. i started off to fast and slowed down to an 8 min/mile pace. I also kept checking in with myself, making sure to ask "is this pace comfortable".. "is it too fast". I tried to keep an 8:30 min/mile for the first few miles. The first 5 miles were through downtown and some residential areas, as we made our way to the zoo. 

The course was great. I really enjoyed the zoo and wished I had a camera. We ran past sea lions, giraffe and zebras. Did you know it would take a giraffe 25 minutes to run a half marathon. 

After the zoo, I started to feel hot and dehydrated. I grabbed water at the aid station; drank half the cup and dumped one on my head. That helped but my pace started to slow down, 8:30-8:40 min/mile. 

After mile 10, my hip and thigh was cramping. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to keep moving as fast as I wanted to. It was really disheartening because the race was almost over, I had felt so great earlier and I couldn't keep it up. 

The last two miles were a 9:50 min/ mile. I couldn't lift my left leg high enough for a good stride. I felt like I was taking little bitty steps. 

AHHHHH! I was so upset with myself, and my leg. 

I told myself not to stop. It didn't matter if it took me an hour to run those last two mile, I was not going to walk. It was a conscience effort to put one leg in front of the other. But, I finally got there. When I saw the finish line, I tried to sprint but it was more like a painful jog. 

The good news is that I finished. And that I ran a lot of the race at a decent pace. I was really worried that I would be in pain after 3 miles. 

Scandal and an article

This week I've been taking it easy with just a few runs and hopefully I won't be in a lot of pain for the half marathon on Sunday. 

My only goal for this race is to run conservatively, listen to my body and stop if it starts to hurt. 

This morning I worked out on the stationary bike for an hour and then worked on my arms. I watched an episode of Scandal on my laptop during my workout. 

I know you have heard how great this show is, but in case you haven't…. it's so zoo sooo good. It's like "gasp!! oh my"- shocker all the time. I can't get enough. 

----------------

I was reading this article on line about 'Fat Talkers' and I thought it was really interesting and relevant. Fat talking is making comments about your self about being fat. I am totally guilty of doing this. Some days I feel a little bloated and I make comments about being fat. It's not that I AM fat, I just feel like I have put on a little weight or feel bad about myself. Doing this, however, does not make me feel better or the person who has to listen to me ramble on and on. On the contrary, I feel WORSE about myself and I'm sure the person who has to listen to me probably like me a whole lot less. 

cinco de mayo

Feliz cinco de mayo! Did you do anything special? I didn't, wooohooo!

Saturday morning long run was a hot 13 miles. I left my place at 7 am and was feeling the sun by 8. Summer in the central valley is not fun.

I kept the pace slow. It actually felt slow motion slow. I looked down at my watch a few times and was running a 9:30 min/mile pace. I felt slow, I wanted to run faster but my hip was hurting and I really don't want to hurt myself any more.

The pain began towards the end of the run (around mile 9) but was worse during the day. If I sit for too long, I feel a cramp on my hip and my leg tingles and hurts. I need to do some googling and try to find out what the problem could be.

May Day + Workout Wednesday

Welcome to May!

Were getting closer to summer and to the dreaded bikini season. In honor of that (and to keep myself consistent) I am going to start "Workout Wednesday" posts.  Each week I will post something and keep adding every week.

My favorite body part are my abs so….. Workout Wednesday #1 is all about the tummy

I am by no means an expert. I like to work out and I'm just posting some of those workouts in case anyone is interested.

Running update ****
I ran the same 3 miles again. I didn't feel any pain (!!!) I didn't want to do more than that and I will be keeping the miles low until I feel comfortable with adding miles.

3 miles and pain returns

I took a week off from running because my left leg was hurting (hip and back of knee area).  This morning I went for a 3 mile run and then worked out on the stationary bike for half an hour, followed by a short weight training session.

After the second mile, the pain in the back of my knee started up again. Not bad or painful, just uncomfortable. My hip feels fine. I'm not sure what could be wrong with my knee or what to do to speed up the healing process.

It's very frustrating because I really want to race and attempt a PR. I'm mentally ready to start training hard again and have already been planning a few races I want to run.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do next. Run less? Ice? Rest?

I have a race on May 19 (I really wanted to run hard for this race) and I'm not sure what's going to happen.

I guess in the mean time, I'll run less and ice/ stretch …. sad face

Real Salt Lake Roadtrip

I sent this last weekend in Utah. We were there for the LA Galaxy game against Real Salt Lake. 

One of my goals in life is to run a race in all 50 state. This trip was really last minute and I didn't have any time to look up anything. Saturday I noticed that there was a local half marathon that morning. I wish I could have known that a little earlier and could have checked utah off my list. Oh well, I guess I'll have to go back. 

Back to the trip: 

* Got to see a little of the beehive state

* And spend some time with my bf :)

* Catch up with friends I haven't seen in a few weeks and friends I haven't seen in more than a year

*Plus watch my boys in blue in gold

* LA wins 2-0.