Tag Archives: california international marathon 2012

Lead-up to CIM, in iPhone Photos

Posted on by

california international marathon alarm

I woke to this message on Friday, November 30th and smiled. I was just hours away from a weekend of fun with my younger brother. A weekend that would end with both of us running a marathon.

sleeping toddler

I looked at my little angel, gave her so many hugs and kisses as she slept, shed a few tears, and left the house.

empty airplane seats

I boarded my plane, from ROC–>ORD and was shocked to see people sitting in full rows all around me and the cabin doors closed with me in an empty row. How did I get so lucky? Beside me, across the aisle, was a tall dude who was sitting scrunched up by a mom, dad, and child-on-lap. I let him take the window seat in my row. I’m nice, but not nice enough to give him my aisle!

empty row on plane

On my flight from ORD–>SMF, another miracle. On this “completely full” flight, my row had an open middle seat. Can you even believe this luck?!

supershuttle pic

After some “moderate to severe turbulence” according to the captain, I was on the ground and reuniting with my brother, Jason! Supershuttle pic! We were laughing so hard in the shuttle, giddy to be together again, that we had the dude beside us cracking up, even though he had no idea what we were talking about. Good times!

old spaghetti Factory

Dinner the first night was carbtastic – The Old Spaghetti Factory. I was strictly cutting out dairy, heavily consuming my favorite thing in the world – carbs, and hydrating all day.

smiley face with water

That night, as I was brushing my teeth, I looked down into the sink. Do you see what I saw? I called Jason into the bathroom. He saw it right away too. Sign #1 this was going to be a great weekend!

We went to bed by 7pm (10pm for us!) and I slept around 10 hours. That hasn’t happened in… hmmm… ever? At least in my whole life as a parent, and my whole pregnancy…

We were up and at ’em around 5am and went for our pre-race run. We had some great sibling discussions!

black coffee and creamer coffee

After the run we enjoyed a $20 hotel buffet breakfast and we definitely got our money’s worth. Runners can EAT. We threw down plateful after plateful and stayed for quite some time. Jason took his coffee 1/3 cream, 1/3 sugar, 1/3 actual coffee (HA) and I took mine black as usual. A few funny things happened at breakfast, but for the sake of not embarrassing Jason or myself (anymore than I already do on this blog), my lips are sealed. More belly laughs.

After breakfast, Jason and I went to meet my friend Mason to talk marathon strategy and then hit up the expo. I had to take a mirror shot of us outside the elevator.

Sacramento

At the expo I was able to meet up with some Oiselle ladies who were also running! It was SO NICE to meet a few new teammates and see some who I haven’t seen for awhile! I didn’t bring my camera, so no picture but I wanted to mention it here. After the expo, I went to the elite suite to hang for awhile. This was the view of Sacramento from the suite on the 26th floor. 2622 to be exact.

elite marathoner food

We snacked a bit up in room 2622.

elite suite alcohol

We did not partake in the liquor, wine or case upon case of beer that was just waiting to be consumed.

special needs CIM

I dropped off my “special needs” or Nuun bottles to be placed on the “elite” tables. I can tell you that it’s really nice to have your fuel-of-choice waiting on a table for you on race day. I can also tell you it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. It’s much nicer, for me, to be able to grab fuel and fluids from a volunteer’s hand, than try to grab my bottle in the midst of 30+ others. Even if yours are unique (mine definitely were), the process of going to the table, searching for my own, and grabbing it without knocking over anyone else’s is somewhat stressful for me. Plus, I only take sips at a time so I feel wasteful. Big thanks to Nuun for the race day hydration!

Multifunctional gaiter

How sweet and innocent do I look here? This is the “microfiber, wicking and breathable, seamless, multifunctional headband/neck gaiter” (their words, not mine) given out to marathoners at packet pickup. I was going to wear this to the restaurant the night before the race, but Jason vetoed that one.

the old spaghetti factory

And we went back to The Old Spaghetti Factory for our pre-race dinner on Saturday night. It was really crowded already at 4:30pm so we ordered the food as takeout and enjoyed a nice dinner in the hotel room, on our beds, and watched some football. By 7:30pm it was lights out, and we fell asleep shortly after.

For all the curious minds out there, I think there will be another “iPhone photos” post showing race morning and another post where I tell you all the details about the race. Until then…

Tell me about some cool things that have happened to you before a race (the smiley face in my sink water is my favorite unexpected detail from the weekend). How often do people really get a whole row to themselves on an airplane these days? Do you like the window, middle, or aisle seat (who’s going to say middle, right?)

Sisters In Sport, 2nd Check-in + Marathon Snippet

Posted on by

Oh boy. What a weekend! In case you don’t know, I ran California International Marathon on Sunday. Every time I think about the race, I remember another thing I want to share with you all. For now, here’s a quick recap, more info in another post.

I raced my 8th marathon in drenching rain and heavy winds (against us on the point-to-point course the whole way) and finished in my 3rd fastest marathon time 2:54. I had a 7 week training cycle, with 4 races and 2 long runs along the way. I tried new things on race day, and they all worked out in my favor. I never hit the wall, fully enjoyed every minute, and came out hungry for more.

My speedy friend Mason and I were interviewed by the local CBS station immediately after I crossed the finish line. Watch below to see my strange facial expressions, how I looked when I crossed the finish line, and how my race-day french braids held up.

Before I post the full marathon recap (another day) I want to revisit my Sisters in Sport goals update for November. First, a little refresher. When I got my current Believe I Am Journal at the end of September, running a 2012 marathon was the LAST thing on my mind.

believe i am journal

Notice my end goal of successful LATE 2013 marathon? Turns out, I accomplished part of my huge goal, just a year early.

When I made my goals and started logging workouts in my journal on October 1st, I told you I was working to build my hip/glute/hamstring strength – just a little piece of the end goal puzzle. Then in mid-October, a crazy week led to a few crazy ideas and the next thing I knew, I was signed up for California International Marathon.

After signing up for the marathon, the end goal (successful late 2013 marathon with sub 2:43 time) remained the same. The little pieces of the puzzle along the way remained the same as well. I was just throwing extra running into the mix.

October hip/glute/hamstring goals were proudly met.  November goals of continuing the October routine and adding core, drills and additional hip exercises started out great for the first two weeks! Then, taper weeks came and strength stuff fell to the wayside, as appropriate!

Now we are in December, and while I don’t want to give up the incredible strength routine I’ve been following, I am in marathon recovery and think I need to switch focus for the month of December. I’m going to focus on an entirely separate part of my goals page, my sleep.

believe i am sleep goal

I really need this much to feel great and perform my best.

For the past 2 years, I’ve been running on empty, never getting enough sleep to feel rested. While I have enjoyed my extra cups of coffee, I know I really need to sleep more. And maybe it’s a little sad that I need to make this an official goal in my journal to get there, but that’s what I have to do. I’ve identified all the little obstacles to achieving the 8 hours of sleep a night goal, and I’m actually feeling good about getting there, even with the holidays approaching.

I want to end this post by sharing a few things the journal has helped me with this month, aside from the stated goals:

  • Visual cues – I have never been one to summon specific visual cues while racing. Since getting my Believe I Am Journal and reading fellow Sisters in Sport blogs, I used the Ninja Stars cues with great success. During my Turkey Trot, and a bit during my marathon, I focused on the words “Strength, Courage, Wisdom” in their ninja star glory and imagined throwing them right onto the shirt of the person ahead of me, pulling myself right up next to them, and then past them. I was in shock over how effective this tactic was! In the words of Yo Gabba Gabba “Try it, you’ll like it!”
believe i am ninja stars

Strength, Courage, Wisdom Ninja Stars

  • Positivity pages – That’s not what they are officially called, but that what it is to me. A large section of the back of the journal consists of totally blank, and lined blank pages where you can dream. It’s just extra jot-it-down room and I really enjoy this section. I love filling these pages with positive ideas that I want to revisit often, especially before tough workouts or races. The journal tends to live in my purse so I can write down a few quick words here and there that help me later.
So there you have it! November goal recap (not so hot), December goal plans (optimistic about it), and quick marathon recap (woohoo). Expect more details about California International Marathon in my next post!