This isn't sweat; my fat cells are crying.

It was a blistering 37 degrees when we started the race yesterday.  Mojo, I and ~27,000 other crazy souls watched the sun rise, tried desperately to keep warm (or rather, get warm) and wondered why it was taking so freaking long to get to the start line.

I officially started my fourth Las Vegas Half Marathon with less than 3 hours of sleep and a late night / early morning trying to find a missing friend, a $80 cab ride, calls to Las Vegas Highway Patrol and Las Vegas Police (both super nice, BTW) and finally, a found Jean. 

Mojo and I ran together early in the race.  By mile 2, I lost him as he stopped for a photo op and I stopped to shed a layer. 

The first 8 miles were great -- I was running a consistent pace and feeling good.  A bit after mile 8, my hips started to ache and I struggled to keep pace.  By mile 10, my hips were hurting and I had to slow down significantly.  By mile 11, I could see Mandalay Bay (finish line) and were being passed by walkers as I shuffled along.  I told myself that I was having an awesome race and I will finish by "running" it, even if I ran slower than most of the walkers.  :-)

I finished in a solid 2:41:53 / 12.21 mile pace!  I averaged ~11:50 mile for the first 10 miles and slowed down those last 3 painful miles.  Even with the slowdown, I averaged 30 seconds faster per mile than last year.  WOOT! 

Mojo finished his first half marathon (he's already thinking about his second one in Feb.) like a champ; check out his race writeup and pics at http://dennis.mojado.org/woot-123.  I am proud of him (I remember him whining about finishing 3 miles!) and am so glad we had the chance to train together this year. 

Lolita and Rich did the Half as well; both rocking it and had joined us for a post-race feeding.  Jean (finally found) graciously treated us to an amazing dinner at Shabuyi (at MGM Grand) Sunday night.  Leland booked us deliciously painful massages.  All in all, another fabulous end to the year.

There were a lot of great t-shirts on the course but this is my all-time favorite now:  This isn't sweat.  My fat cells are crying.

Enough said.

Easing into it

Cognizant of the moderate left heel pain, right calf pain and super sore hips, I made sure I eased into today's run very slowly. 

Heel pain wasn't an issue during the run but I feel it now. 

Calf pain ramped up sharply in the first mile and as usual, as I warmed up, dulled in the second mile.

Sore hips was constant and it's this problem that troubles me. 

On the upside, I booked it in mile 3 and especially in mile 4.  Once warmed up, my body is GOOD TO GO. 

Debating if I want to do one more short run tomorrow or start the veal-ing process.  

WOW...WHOA...WOW

The strongest body odor funk hit me when I walked into the gym today.  Since I encountered it, I can safely say 'it wasn't me'.  Damn, it was overwhelming.  Almost made me turn around and walk right back out.

For the sake of this weekend's race, I stopped breathing and race-walked to the dressing room to suit up for my run.

Was ready for a 4 or 5 miler today -- got the 'run' playlist and Self magazine ready.  A mile and half into it, I had to stop.  Right calf pain was agonizing.  Hips didn't hurt as much but were sore.  Bad, bad, bad news.

Had to work out to keep loose so decided to do an incline walk with hand weights.  Still got a workout.  Hope this helps me put in a good run tomorrow.

Running together

It was freezing, FREEZING, today when we started the run.  I half-kiddingly asked Mojo if he wanted to just head in for some bacon and breakfast instead -- he wanted in but our dutiful selves waddled off for a 7-miler.  True, low 50s temperature may not see cold to some (e.g. Minesotans who spend ~5 months in subzero tempatures) but it was FREEZING to me.

Back to the run -- crystal blue sky and gorgeous view of the city along the embarcadero and Marina Green made us appreciative of where we get to live and run.  My hips troubled me from almost the beginning; think the soreness was from the Great Highway run earlier in the week.  I did okay until around mile 5 or so when soreness settled deep in the hips and my quads and back took up the slack, tiring quickly. 

Mojo was kind enough to stop often those last two miles.  This helped me get through the 7 miles relatively pain-free.  Looking to get / stay loose this last week before race day.

Great training season!  Loved getting to know Mojo in a different way; our friendship has grown via our usual IM-based communiques these past 6 years but there's something about sweating, struggling, running together that just bring friends closer together (and it's not because I was leaning into him for support!).  :-)

No smoking while exercising

I missed the Turkey Trot run in the park with Kay this morning -- because I was in bed, snoring away, having disarmed the alarm (probably by slamming on it during one of my REM cycles).  Ever since my gum surgery last week, I've not run and have slept like a stone for 10 - 13 hours every night.  Recovery, it seems, takes time and a lot of sleeping. 

After slurping brunch (soft chicken pho is great for healing mouths) and building a new 'run' playlist, I tied on the shoes for my first run in over a week.  The Great Highway backdrop was sublime and diametric to the rap / hip hop music thumping through my headphones.  The headwind sucked; the tailwind rocked. 

The shins were fine today but the hips, especially the right one, were very tight.  Will need to put in a few runs this last week before the race to stay loose.  The six miles weren't painful nor hard, just not easy.  Good to see husband/waterboy on bike every so often; he makes me smile. 

To the gentleman who was taking a walk on the GH -- lighting up during your walk definitely diminishes any health benefit you might have gained.  But who am I to talk?  I'm about to snack on some fried chicken.  To each his own poison.  :-)

Sweat it out

It was a super long day at work -- all-day working session with an external partner that left me mentally and physically exhausted.  I only wanted to change into warm jammies and slurp ice cream on the couch.

I managed to drag my sorry self to the gym and as usual, felt great to sweat it ('it' = stress, stress, stress) on the treadmill. 

It was a painful first mile but the rest of the four miles felt good if not a tad long (think I need to start bringing in my own magazines). 

I'm staying away from the ice cream tonight but it's all I can think about right now.  :-)

Best husband ever

I have the best husband ever!

Mojo and I did our longest training for the Vegas Half today and Lee, the best husband ever, was our roving water station.  Armed with at least 4 books (how long did he think we'd take?!), he patiently waited at our 5 and 8 mile checkpoints with our water bottles. 

The day was overcast and misty when we started our run in the Marina but damn, it turned out to be one amazingly beautiful day by the time we crossed the Golden Gate bridge back into the Marina at mile 5.  See pics from Mojo's posting: http://dennis.mojado.org/105-miles-of-sf-grandeur. 

Miles 1 - 3 sucked: shins burned and burned and burned.
Miles 4 & 5 were FAST: freakin' Mojo and his downhill pace. 
Mile 5ish: awed by how beautiful the city looked with the Marina Green a deep emerald green in the foreground.
Mile 5 - 8: slower, chatty pace where Mojo and I...well, chatted.
Mile 9.8ish: started to book it with goal mileage in sight.
Mile 10ish: Mojo doesn't stop and keeps going.
Mile 10.1ish: cursing Mojo and spilling the Gatorade I was chugging, I keep running.
Mile 10.5ish: done running for the day!  Proud of us -- we did it and no one was limping, crying or both by the end of it.  Oh, and there was bacon.  Perfect.

5 in 64

I did 5 miles yesterday on the treadmill in 64 minuutes -- a 12.48 min / mile pace. 

Given how sore I am today, it certainly feels like I ran a lot faster than that.  I tried to keep at the 12 min / mile pace for most of the time with spikes of 10.5 min / mile and 11 min / mile stretches thrown in there. 

Am excited and anxious about the 10 miles we're doing tomorrow.  It's suppose to cold and sunny, great conditions for a loooooong run.  :-)

Intervals / booking it

Back on the treadmill today for intervals.  23 minutes into it, my stomach was growling and I was feeling faint.  38 minutes into it, I was booking it at a 10 min / mile pace and my right foot doing its weird heavy thumper step.  40 minutes into it, I was happy to ease into my cooldown.  A few hours later, I'm happily slurping ice cream on the couch. 

Grays

I did not want to go out for a run today.  I wanted to nap or watch tv or god forbid, work.  Anything but run.

But, Mojo flaunted how easy his run was today which meant that he actually ran.  I had to show off that show-off!  :-)

As reluctant as I was to be out there in the cold, I didn't miss how beautiful the various shades of gray were in the clouds, fog, mist from the waves, water hitting the sand, gravel on the running path. 

The scenery was alluring but I didn't finish up the scheduled 5 miles because daylight was fading fast and there were people out there on the path that I did not want to be with in the dark.  Happy with the 3+ miles and short walk breaks and beautiful run. 

Don't try this at home

I completed the scheduled 9-miler around the lake with Mojo today. 

I shouldn't have because I didn't run the whole week.  I shouldn't have, my shins told me for the first 3 or 4 miles. 

Even after the shin pain eased up, I was feeling really tired and struggled to stay loose.  The whole right side of my body was tight; my shoulder and back ached as my body compensated for the pained right shin. 

Mojo and I stayed together for most of the first 4.5-mile loop but I quickly lagged behind after we started the second loop.  I was having an off day and had to focus all my willpower just to finish so did not have any strength to keep up with Mojo as he chased spandex behinds (his true motivation today, I think!). 

No more long runs without weekday runs to keep the body loose and warmed up.  Dumb move on my part today.

Sore

Spent the last two days pacing and standing for hours at a work conference.  Am tight and sore in the lower back, hamstrings, calves and feet.  It's as if I put in a super long run rather than shuffle for 4 or 5 hours at a time. 

Have also been sucking down everything in sight and am sitting here debating how big of a piece of Barbara's birthday apple pie I should have.  :-) 

Do I do the right thing or do the right thing for now for my tummy?

A sunny, lonely run

Without my usual running buddies, I delayed my long run until Sunday.  It was a beautiful day -- sun, clear and warm.

I ran up the Great Highway and through the park and circled back a bit for the 8-miler.  Running in the park is just so soothing.  I loved all the shades of greens and browns.  I loved seeing other runners out there -- some zipping by while others shuffled along.  I loved letting all the random thoughts come in and out of my head without worrying about what I need to do about them.  It was a good running day...

Except that I felt like crap the first 3 miles and wanted to stop.  I missed my friends (I've always run along but Shannon, Grace and Mojo have now spoiled me) and had no one to chat with as I huffed and puffed. 

In the end, I had a good run.  A bit of hip soreness and back tightness but no pain to speak of.  Looking forward to this week's runs!

Fun Run

Had a great time with Mojo yesterday -- we tried our best to be a bad influence to each other ("let's just stop and eat now"; "okay!"; "shouldn't we run more than 10 steps before we eat?"; "grphm...fine").

It was suppose to be a 7-miler day but due to a combination of Mojo's aches and my miscalcalculation, we put in 5 good miles in beautiful sunny, clear weather.

We're both feeling like Vegas is achievable.  A fabu way to start the last phase of our training!

Hard

Put in 4 miles on the treadmill today -- begrudgingly. Was feeling very unmotivated to break a sweat but moved my stagnant butt out of the office chair and into the gym.

Like Mojo, it was hard to keep moving, even after the first few miles. It took a lot of self-bribery to go past 1.5 miles, when the right shin was burning from the inside out.

As usual, body warmed up right at the 2-mile mark and I ended up rocking the 3rd mile. YES! But struggled to keep motivated to finish up the 4th mile. NO!

It’s now time for that promised brownie…

Thanks, Alanis Morissette!

Spurred on by Mojo (who in turn was spurred on by Alanis Morissette) to try intervals today. 

Tied on the new shoes and did 2 minutes @ 5.5 mile / min. + 1 minute @ 3.5 mile / min. intervals.

Bored silly at first but once the right shin and foot loosened up and I got into the routine of it, it was great!

Learned today that I can manage the 11 minute / mile pace for a few minutes at a time.  Will try to target that pace for longer periods.  Very good running day. 

What a day

We did our 6-miler today (Mojo overachieved and did 7) with the gorgeous SF waterfront and hundreds of screaming toddlers 'playing' soccer as our backdrop.  Chatty Grace made the miles easy and Mojo's second wind put me to shame. 

Right calf was bugging the last few miles.  Will keep close attention to it since this is a new injury.  Hips are holding up!

I love the feeling of accomplishment and seeing Grace and Mojo on these Saturday runs but this picture attests to the fact that I love the post-run food too!

I swallowed a bug

The sun was setting over the lake.  The smell of eucalyptus was sweet and refreshing.  I was booking all the flat parts of the run (I was slogging through all hilly parts of the run).  I was feeling good...

I was running, and breathing with mouth open, and then I inhaled a bug.  

By the time I realized what happened, the bug was swallowed. 

Oh, I finished the 4-miler in 46 minutes!  Great time for me.  Looking forward to running with Boots and Mojo tomorrow.

139 lbs

I'm weighing at a chunky 139 lbs today.  This is actually on the light side for me but a dozen or so pounds away from my healthy weight.  A lot of work to do on that front -- I've struggled with the extra weight for years now but every day is a new opportunity, right?!  :-)

Completed a 4-miler on the treadmill tonight.  Only until the 2-mile mark did the achy shins and heavy feet loosen up. 

I was a sweaty mess by the end but I felt GOOD afterwards.

Long run

A good long run this morning with Mojo & Grace.  The company was great -- how does Grace run and chatter at the same time?! -- and so was the hot chocolate with sour cream (yes, try it!). 

I am not in fine form but loved that we were out there plugging along together.  My thighs were achy from the hill run yesterday.  My lower back was really tight towards the end.  Need to squeeze in more stretchening and maybe a yoga class or two.

Rest day tomorrow!

Pic of Grace & I today -- look at my stride -- I'm going so slowly, I'm barely picking up my feet. 

Unpleasant

After a pitiful week, I managed to get out for a 4-miler (according to Google Maps; 4.6 miles according to Nike+ -- I trust Google Maps) out by the ocean. 

I barely noticed the beautiful sunset and beach-scape during the first two miles.  They were not fun.  Not fun.  Reminded once again that I train because I don't like to be uncomfortable or in pain. 

The last two miles were better.  Proud that I slogged through the last mile home uphill without stopping.  Sure, a kid on a tricycle could have been faster but I didn't stop!  :-)

I have a running date with Mojo in about 8 hours.  Wish me luck and no muscle cramps.

Lost

Still no run this week.  Debated with myself and the devil with roast duck dinner won while the angel with the running shoes on lost. 

Holy crap

Just looked at the training plan and I'm really behind!  Time to get serious now.  9 weeks to go.

Powered by mom's chicken pho

It was 9:30pm and I had a difficult decision to make.  With my mom's pho still warm in my tummy, do I flop on the hotel bed and watch HBO (it's the best part of vacation, free HBO) or book it to the gym before the laziness took hold?

This is why I sign up for races -- little room for excuses.  Off I went to hit the fabu hotel gym to put in 3 good miles. 

Thanks, mom, for the perfect workout fuel!

Round and round

Went for the 3 miler on the track.  Slow going in the first mile and the third mile was the best.  It took almost 36 minutes -- a nice 12-minute / mile pace even though it felt so much faster / harder to this getting-back-to-it-runner. 

Liked the rebound of the track.  Loved the accomplished feeling.

Waiting

Sitting on couch in running clothes.  Working on resolving the latest work crisis and watching the sun go down through the living room window.  Will I be running today or will it be another runless day?

Dismal first week

I'm ending the first training week with nowhere to go but up -- just one run completed. 

I did manage to consume copious amounts of scrumptious abalone in a marathon 5-hour picnic yesterday.  But, it only managed to work out my tummy and not my running form. 

10 more weeks to go...

First 3-miler in over a month

Not the most pleasant run on the treadmill -- chest pains at 1.5 miles, wheezing by 2 miles and then just barely hanging on to make it to the 3rd mile. 

But dang, it felt great after the run ended.  Heart pounding, sweat dripping, lungs heaving.  My body and mind felt alive.

And after a week of stuffing myself with food and sleep in MC, I think I lost weight!  The honeymoon diet is awesome.

Day 1 = Sloth reigns

Today is the first day of my 11 week countdown to this year's Vegas Half and... instead of doing my planned 3-miler, I ate a delicious dinner made by the hub and catching up on Project Runway. 

I love these types of training days.  :-)