She Is Beautiful-Pinkest 10K Race

 Today I ran the The Pinkest 10K in Santa Cruz. I first heard about the race from my friends and when I heard about the "pinkest" I just assumed it was for breast cancer. However this race benefited the Walnut Avenue Women's Center (domestic abuse counseling). 

I had never done an all girls race before and really wasn't too excited about it. I never really have been drawn to the whole "pink", "girl power", etc. stuff. But I had a great time!! The website is pretty cliche about running so we can "eat more chocolate and drink more wine" (!?!?) and racing for the "cute shirts" or to "impress a cute guy". (Ick!!) So I wanted to run with my running buddies but the website almost made me not sign up after I read that nonsense. 

This morning I really was lagging due to a couple of bad nights of sleep but I picked up my friend Maribel ( and yes she DID sign up for CIM!!!) and we were on our way.

They had parking about 2 miles away with lots of shuttles to the start. ( Parking was a bit expensive at $12! ). We got there right as the sun was coming up. 

Gorgeous.

The start/finish was at the lighthouse.

They had lots of fun signs throughout the course and at the start. 

We took a quick pic when we got there.

The 10K started at 8 and the 5K started at 8:15. We did our bib pickup that morning but you could have done it early on Friday night or Saturday morning. 

Waiting to start.

The course was an out and back mostly along the water and was well marked. 

They had maybe 3 water stops with pottapottys.

My goal was to run the whole course without stopping ....and I did I! Yay for me:)

My time was 1:06 with a pace of 10:40. I would love, love love to run a 10K under an hour but I'm super happy with my time.  At the finish line we ran into our other running buddies. And we picked up our shirts (which I assumed would be pink but were white.  Interesting). And walked around the vendors before we grabbed a shuttle and went to breakfast. 

And took one more picture and you can barely see the surfers out there but they were all over the place.

I will definitely run this race again.  I really love running near the ocean and love running with my friends  so I will throw on the pink  and enjoy every  minute of it.  Today really was good for my soul.

Signed up for.......CIM!!!!!

 Well.....I did it. 

I signed up for my second marathon!!!! Not only that, but I talked my husband into signing up, too. I also have a couple of friends I'm working on (Maribel, Terese! I'm talking about you guys!) 

The whole time I was running CIM in December I knew I would try again. It was such a fiasco with the weather and my shin splints (you can read about it here). I knew I had to do it again. 

So that's the big news.   

I've also really been working on my diet this week. I'd like to lose 10 pounds. I have tried to not weigh myself much this past year for several reasons.  I found I was obsessing over my weight too much. The number itself was becoming too big of a deal. And last year I was doing Crossfit so I really just wanted to get fit. Toned. Awesome. Well....I didn't get that awesome so now I want to lose a few.  I'm kinda sick of just doing things half-assed so I'm putting it out there that this is my goal. 

So far this week went well. Monday and Tuesday I walked on my lunch hour with co workers 2 miles each day.   On Thursday I went on a great 4.5 mile trail run with the hubs, it was gorgeous!

It ended up being hotter than I would have liked. It was upper 70's when we left. And I should have brought some water. We had never been out here before and it was beautiful. Especially now with the hills all green. Enjoy these pictures now because this summer my California shots will be all brown and dry. 

Thursday evening I went to the gym for Pilates. She added some light weights and  it kinda tweaked my shoulder a bit. I got up at midnight for some frozen peas and Ibuprophen. Feels a little better this morning. 

Sunday morning I am running She.Is.Beautiful Pinkest 5k & 10 K

I will be running the 10K with my running buddy, Maribel. This is a girl only race. It benefits a local charity Walnut Avenue Women's Center which helps women with domestic violence counseling. 

The race is in Santa Cruz and the weather has been awesome so I'm looking forward to running along the water. They encourage the whole "wear pink, etc"but I was hoping to wear my Green CIM shirt.. Oh well....pink it is. 

(Seems weird not to wear green on St. Paddy's day)

I've also been working on my diet. Ugh. The dreaded diet. Last year I heard about the Paleo Diet for the first time and to be honest I just hated the idea. Seemed just like Atkins. Also wasn't too found of giving up all grains, and beans, etc. I hated the name as well. Gads....who wants to eat like a caveman? Anyway.. Now I see the benefit of giving up some gluten. I will probably never give up my morning cereal (with...yes...real cowsmilk! ) 

So this week I started cutting back on the gluten and cutting out the sweets. So far I'm ok. A little grumpy. And I noticed a headache at the start of the week. 

More on the dietary changes on a future post. Still trying to figure it all out. And to be honest I still struggle.Every. Day. 

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

 So I decided to run my age on my birthday like all the cool runners do. I just had to add a decimal point in there ;)

There was no way in hell I could do 46...so 4.6 was a nice little compromise. 

I actually ran with my husband and while he allowed me to stop the Garmin at 4.6 (for blogging purposes) he made me keep running to complete 5. He is a very strict coach. 

So let me fill you in on all the birthday details. I celebrated first on Wednesday at one office I work at and went to lunch with everyone. And then again on Thursday at my other office. There I got lunch and a new Coach purse! (It's our little tradition- everyone gets a new purse for their birthdays-love it!!)

On Friday- (my "real" birthday) I had the day off work and celebrated with the family.

Errands with Kid#3:

Cake made by Kid #2-completely made by scratch -no mixes!! The frosting had 3 

sticks of butter-yikes! But it was phenomenal!

After dinner with Kid#2 :

The next morning my husband and I headed for San Jose for the rest of the celebrating. 

We had a bunch of gift cards so we headed for the mall. If you know me at all you know I HATE shopping.   I hate looking, I hate trying stuff on, I hate all of it.  I had recently cleaned out my closet and it was really pathetic. Like only bare bones essentials in there  (which means scrubs and running gear ). 

My purchases were not very exciting and I'm afraid it did little to fill my closet but it was a start.  I think I bought 2 shirts and a pair of shoes for work. Eh. I guess I'll have to go back out again. 

Anyway, after the jaunt to the mall we headed over to  Burke Williams Day Spa for my 2:00 massage. Whoop!!! That's right....a little pampering was just what I needed to recover from all that shopping.

I love a good deep tissue massage. I love when they ask how the pressure is and I say fine...then they keep telling me to make sure I let them know if its too much. Ha! I will never cry uncle...ever. I may whimper, flinch, even cry, but I will never give in. I loved every second of it. 

I then walked over to  the Hotel Valencia right next door where the hubs had already checked us in and before his massage. 

Here's some pics of the room:

The view is out onto the patio where they have the bar to the left and restaurant to the right. Last time I stayed here for a girls weekend we watched a wedding out there. Very pretty.

Then it was time to get ready for dinner. We had 4 other couples joining us at 

Maggianos for dinner. 

I wore my new birthday shoes from my daughter:

(We took more pics of the group but I don't know if they all want to be plastered on the blog so you just get me and the hubs;)

We had the absolute best time. It was a great evening filled with great friends, good food and alot of laughter. Feeling very blessed to be surrounded by such great friends. 

Taji 100 -DONE!!

 Yesterday I completed the Taji 100. Basically, the challenge was to run/walk/elliptical 100 miles in the 28 days of February. It was a $20 donation to the Wounded Warrior Project and logging the miles with Daily Mile. 

First of all, I was so impressed with the incredible runners that logged more than 300 miles in the month. Very impressive. I am still such a novice runner that I am in awe when people are logging in 20-30 mile training runs. I muddled through the challenge with many miles of walking.  

Five days of the month I was sick so that left 23 to run/walk the miles. On Mondays andTuesdays  it is always harder for me to work out. My schedule is packed on those days with work and kids so I ended up walking 2 miles on my lunch hour those day. Thanks to my co-workers that (usaully) happily joined me. It was also a catalyst for them and they have started working out more. And one of their husbands has started working out as well. Interesting dominoe effect.  :)

So yesterday I needed to run 9 miles to finish the challenge. I was going to run some on Wednesday after work but watching a movie with my huscand won and I saved it all for the last day.  I had been picturing the month as a progessvie increase in miles and hoped that I would be up to 10 runs at the end but I never really increased passed 5 miles. So needing to run 9 was a bit of a jump for me. 

I talked my husband into joining me . Thank God because I love trail runs but I'm so scared of seeing a mountain lion that I love having him with me;)

We went to Coyote Lake-Harvey Bear County Park in south Santa Clara County. The weather here has been gorgeous with the highs in upper 60's to low 70's and I was really looking forward to going with the hills all green and beautiful. This park is 4500 acres with 35 mile miles of trails. It has a lake and camping. The trails are for hiking, bikes and horses. Very nice facilities. This is also where our local running club South Valley Running Club  runs on Saturday mornings. (I am not a member but I'm hoping to join this year----really! I am!)

So we dropped the little one off at school and hit the trails.

Coyote Lake

beautiful views of  the valley.

nice trails 

If you've never been to Northern California-most of it looks like this. Rolling hills with Oak trees. SoCal  has the palm trees :)

And here is my husband who always patiently waits for my slow ass to catch up with him. I 'm usually about a quarter of a mile behind him until I hear  something rustle in the bushes , get scared of a  possible mountain lion and then hurry up to catch up...where I find him standing like this waiting for me. ( And extra points to him for not rolling his eyes when I'm taking pictures. )

Had to wear my Taji shirt to finish!

Of course, after we were done we were starving and had to refuel  (and celebrate) with some tacos and beer:)

We ended up with 11 miles. 102 miles total for me for the month. I was pretty proud to jump in mileage at the end. My hip has been hurting lately and I was pretty sore at the end but today I feel pretty good. Now I am really motivated to sign up for a half . I also really , really need to work on cross training and strength training, in addition to the exercises the PT had given me for my hip. 

The Taji 100 was a really great experience for me. I will fill you in on the final stats when they send them out next week. It really helped me to stay on task and be consistent. I really learned to just fit in any miles I could at any spare time I found in my schedule. It reminds me that if it's important to us we will find the time for it. 

The Month in Pictures (and Oprah)

 Wow! The weeks have just been flying by. Where did we leave off? Oh, yes....

Taji 100

Taji 100 started February 1 and we are now on Day 19. 

So far this is how its going:

Pretty awesome:) If anyone would like to donate to the Wounded Warrior Project you can go here.

And how am I doing in the challenge? Glad you asked. Well, the first week I was doing ok and then a got a bit of a cold the second week. But now I'm back on track. I have done 60 miles so far. 40 miles to go. The hardest part is fitting it in around work and everything. It even seems harder than when I was training for the marathon. 

I did join a gym so most of the miles have been done like this:

On the treadmill watching Downton Abbey. I got all three seasons and now I'm completely addicted to it. 

I've also gone to Spin Class, Body Shred (like step aerobics), and Pilates. I think I like the Pilates the best :)   I live in such a tiny town the gym doesn't even have a Yoga class. Crazy, right? I joined this gym for three months and at the end  I might try a different gym . There are 2 others in town . I figure one of them should have a yoga class. 

I also tried to give up sugar for Lent. It  was the longest 15 hours of my life. Last year I gave up alcohol and sweets and was fine. This year I failed. :(

Here are a few pics to catch you up on the rest .

Skyped with my son and grandbaby. 

Rachel has her drivers permit. Yikes!

Walking to get my miles in. We've been having a beautiful weather. 

We did drive up to the snow for the day. Very fun :)

Beth got a bunny for her rabbit project with 4H. And we also got new baby chicks. 

I finally ordered my CIM jacket and I LOVE IT!!

We met this guy on our last walk. 

Ooh! I almost forgot!! So I recently joined Twitter. ( @SandeeK if you want to follow me). But I was watching the Super Bowl and when the Jeep commercial with Oprah came on we were all touched because it was saluting our military ( and I miss my son terribly). I just happened to check Twitter right when she mentioned the commercial so I just said thank you and guess what????? Yes!!! Oprah replied to my tweet!

I was so excited!!! 

Anyway. That's about it. I'll keep you posted in my final 40 miles. ( And my continued attempt at cutting out sugar.) 

PS- you can follow me on Instagram @midlifemarathoncrisis

Taji 100

 

So I finally signed up for something. 

Remember when I told you about the Chi Running Worksop I went to? Well the coach, Ed Malley, started a newsletter on running tips, events, etc. and in the last email he described the Taji100. 

Basically, in 2010 some troops in Afghanistan challenged themselves to run 100 miles during the month of February. (And it might have been Iraq but can't find it on their website...sorry).

Anyway, when their tour of duty was over they continued the challenge stateside. I think in 2011 they had 12 participants. Last year over 100. 

Now it is gaining in popularity. It is open to anyone and the rules are you can walk, run, jog, hike or elliptical  100 miles in 28 days.  Sign up is $20 donation to Wounded Warriors. You can participate as "non-competitor" for  free. You can also support the cause by either sponsoring or by a simple donation to Wounded Warriors. All miles are tracked through Daily Mile.

T-shirts are for sale for $25. All proceeds above cost go toward WWP. 

We ordered the shirts and we all recieved a pin, magnet, and sticker. 

According to the Wounded Warriors Bouchure beyond the hospital room they provide "Peer Mentoring, Combat Stress Recovery, and Warriors to Work to help serve the long-term needs of our dedicated servicemen and women.From educational opportunities to employment assistance programs."

As a military mama (my son Alex is proudly serving in the Army)  I do have a soft spot in my  heart for our troops that trully give so much  while they serve our country. I feel honored to help in any way possible.

Here is my son  reunited with Lacie and Abilene when he came home from Afghanistan

I'm also so grateful I was able to talk some of my favorite running pals into joining me. Thanks Maribel, Terese, Melissa, Brandi and my husband. 

If you'd  like to join the Taji100 please click on the link. 

(They don't have the sponsoring figured out quite yet but I will keep you posted. )

(PS-please feel free to share this link on any blog, Twitter, and Facebook)

A Year of Overcoming Fear

So, I've been reflecting on this past year and I realized I really did alot! Most importantly I did alot of things that really scared me. Last year was packed full of things things that challenged me and helped me grow, gain confidence and learn that I can do more than I realize.

February-Together WIth Love 

5K/10K to  benefit Monterey Rape Crisis Center

This is a beautiful course right along the ocean. Super fun race ( my second 5K ) and I loved it!

March -South Bay Duathlon

This was a huge , HUGE deal for me. It was a 2 mile run, 10 mile bike ride, 2 mile run. Training for this caused hip pain in my right hip so by the end it was really bothering me. It was also very intimidating  because a lot of the participants are triathletes training for bigger races.  However,  we did it! Kinda sucked we didn't even get a medal though:)

April-Wildflower Run 5K/10K

I had signed up for the 10K but stepped it down to the 5K due to my hip problem. Doc said it was bursitis/tendonitis and said "no running". To me this translated to cutting back to the 5K. It was super windy that day I I realized that I HATE WIND!!

April - Tierra Bella

This was a bike ride. My first real, organized ride. There was a 60K, 100K, 100 M, 200 K. We did the 100K. It was brutal. I was not as prepared as I would have liked and not confidant at all on my bike. I basically walked up the steepest hill and  the ride took me forever. This was when I realized I really preferred running :/

May -Ranch Romp- 5K mud run

This was quite interesting.  I think it had 13 obstacles and mud pits. This was the first year for this run so it needed some improvements.  The obstacles we clogged, so you had to wait which kinda screwed up the timing. Also, there was not enough water to hose off at the end. Too many people waiting for tiny little sprinklers. We decided not to wait, which meant we were in the parking lot with water bottles trying to clean up. Hopefully this year will be better. ( Not sure if I'll do mud again)

June -America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride-Tahoe

"The 72-mile America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride circumnavigates the highways clockwise around Lake Tahoe in both Nevada and California. It includes a challenging 800 foot climb to a rest stop overlooking Emerald Bay and a 1,000 foot climb to Spooner Junction. There are also many short rolling ascents and descents totaling over 4,000 vertical feet of elevation gain! The altitude ranges between 6,300 feet and 7,100 feet above sea level and the ride is recommended for conditioned recreational bicyclist, not for beginners"

This was probably more terrifying to me than running a marathon. I still was not confident on my bike, still scared of falling on hills. In fact, I did fall. I have a small scar on my left knee. and that was from a fall at Emerald Bay just getting on my bike and trying to clip in. 

It was a beautiful ride, but exhausting and terrifying. Did I mention the part of riding on Hwy 50 with traffic? Thank God my husband booked us double massages right afterwards. 

July- Wharf to Wharf-Santa Cruz

This race was amazing!! So, so much fun. It is 6 miles starting at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and ends at Capitola. It was the biggest race at that point I had been in with 15,000 racers. Very well organized and had tons of music/bands on every corner and lots of spectators  . I will definitely do this race again. I was also so happy my husband ran it with me (and he didn't ditch me-he is much faster than me:)

August-Salinas Valley Half Marathon 

Great race! my Half PR 2:20 and I loved every second. Click on the link to read my recap.

October -Morgan Hill Half Marathon  

No picture of this one. This was tough for me. I was hoping for 2:30 because but I had a hard time with my left IT band. When it started hurting I started freaking out because  I was training for CIM so I really didn't want it to set me back. Here's my recap.

November- Big Sur Half

Another great race. So beautiful and right along the water. We expected rain but the sun came out and it was gorgeous.  Not a great race to PR due to a lot of walkers and picture taking opportunities but it was an awesome race. Another race I will do again. I might try to get in a better corral as to get away from the walkers.  Big Sur has such great events and all so well organized. 

December-CIM

And the perfect end of my year was my marathon. it didn't go as planned with the weather and with my shin splints but  it was the perfect end to a year of me overcoming my fears. 

Looking back I can't believe I did so much this past year and I'm excited to see what else I can do.