Mission accomplished! Went sub 4hr for a Full in Napa 5wks ago, and finished sub 1h45min today in Santa Cruz!
All in memory of Dad, in honor of Mom, in memory and honor of many others who have battled cancer and who I have come to know, and thanks to my friends at Team in Training.
Stormy in Santa Cruz, but I was very fortunate to finish just minutes before the rain started.
Very satisfying race. I maintain that the best way to enjoy a Half is to train for a Full!!
What's next for me? Sub 3:45 for a Full (Nike SF in October) and sub 1:40 for a Half (SJ Rock 'n Roll in October). Continued training, a lot of fun runs and further fundraising for cancer research between now and then.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Toward Santa Cruz
Just a couple of weeks to the Santa Cruz Half Marathon.
On the heels of a sub-4hr marathon in Napa, I will attempt to achieve my other Spring running goal of going sub-1h45min for a Half Marathon. That means taking another 1min30s off of my PR Half time (achieved just a couple of weeks ago) - sustaining an 8:01min mile pace for 13mi. It's going to take everything I've got at this point!
On the heels of a sub-4hr marathon in Napa, I will attempt to achieve my other Spring running goal of going sub-1h45min for a Half Marathon. That means taking another 1min30s off of my PR Half time (achieved just a couple of weeks ago) - sustaining an 8:01min mile pace for 13mi. It's going to take everything I've got at this point!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
PR Marathon 3:55:45 !
Mission accomplished! Second marathon completed; first time under 4hrs.
Really hard - miles 21 through finish; could no longer sustain sub-9min pace. But I persevered and finished sub 4hrs.
What a great sense of satisfaction!
Really hard - miles 21 through finish; could no longer sustain sub-9min pace. But I persevered and finished sub 4hrs.
What a great sense of satisfaction!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Napa Valley Marathon Eve
Tomorrow is the main event!
I feel on top of the world - excited.
Thank you to my coaches, captains and all my friends at Team In Training for getting me to this place!
Siobhan will be in my thoughts tomorrow.
I feel on top of the world - excited.
Thank you to my coaches, captains and all my friends at Team In Training for getting me to this place!
Siobhan will be in my thoughts tomorrow.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
7d to Napa!
What a great winter season training!
My TNT participants were extraordinary - three of them completed half marathons for the first time ever, and the fourth completed her ninth!! All punched through their fundraising goals.
As for me - fundraising is done and the Napa Valley Marathon is just 1wk away. I've dropped a heap more weight this winter and recently set a personal best time over 13.1mi. But the most important result this winter has been confidence in the last miles of long runs. I learned to achieve "negative splits" - running each mile a little faster than the previous even over 18mi. I have a good combination of strength and endurance - can endure over the marathon distance, and can engage my legs to achieve fast final miles.
Sub-4hrs is within reach, and I'm excited!
My TNT participants were extraordinary - three of them completed half marathons for the first time ever, and the fourth completed her ninth!! All punched through their fundraising goals.
As for me - fundraising is done and the Napa Valley Marathon is just 1wk away. I've dropped a heap more weight this winter and recently set a personal best time over 13.1mi. But the most important result this winter has been confidence in the last miles of long runs. I learned to achieve "negative splits" - running each mile a little faster than the previous even over 18mi. I have a good combination of strength and endurance - can endure over the marathon distance, and can engage my legs to achieve fast final miles.
Sub-4hrs is within reach, and I'm excited!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
PR Half Marathon! 1:46:28
Since my TNT participants are all running a Half Marathon tomorrow in San Francisco, and since I'll be on the Great Highway cheering each of them on, I decided to run a Half myself today.
1:46:28 - that's a personal best time - takes 1min30s off of my previous personal best time. And I really didn't have this in mind this morning. It just felt good over the first half so I decided to bring it home strong and see what happens. That's half way to my winter season goal of taking 3min off of my previous personal best half marathon - going sub-1:45:00.
I'm signed-up for the Santa Cruz Half on April 11th. I WILL go sub-1:45:00 !!!
1:46:28 - that's a personal best time - takes 1min30s off of my previous personal best time. And I really didn't have this in mind this morning. It just felt good over the first half so I decided to bring it home strong and see what happens. That's half way to my winter season goal of taking 3min off of my previous personal best half marathon - going sub-1:45:00.
I'm signed-up for the Santa Cruz Half on April 11th. I WILL go sub-1:45:00 !!!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Confidence Building in Santa Cruz (18mi)
What a gorgeous morning running along the coast in Santa Cruz! Sun was splitting the rocks. Beautiful.
And my thanks to Rich Hahn, because I wasn't going to run that fast this morning. But Rich is a great running partner, a bit faster than me, and fortunately he started a little later than me so he caught up with me at ~ mile 4. Perfect. I'd run four slow miles to start and was nicely warmed-up. With Rich I picked-up the pace, but even more importantly, something Rich is very good at, we ran negative splits bringing in the last 3mi all under 8min pace!
That's a great confidence-builder for me. I now know I can cover a long distance (18mi) and yet have the strength to run fast at the end. This is critical because in last autumn's marathon I ran out of juice and had no strength left at the end. This season I've learned how to start steadily, manage my pace, and finish strong!
And my thanks to Rich Hahn, because I wasn't going to run that fast this morning. But Rich is a great running partner, a bit faster than me, and fortunately he started a little later than me so he caught up with me at ~ mile 4. Perfect. I'd run four slow miles to start and was nicely warmed-up. With Rich I picked-up the pace, but even more importantly, something Rich is very good at, we ran negative splits bringing in the last 3mi all under 8min pace!
That's a great confidence-builder for me. I now know I can cover a long distance (18mi) and yet have the strength to run fast at the end. This is critical because in last autumn's marathon I ran out of juice and had no strength left at the end. This season I've learned how to start steadily, manage my pace, and finish strong!
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