Ten Miles From Nowhere

How have you been
In the shape you were in
I'm surprised that you got where you're going...

Last Saturday morning, well before the crack of dawn, Diana came over to my house and we set out for what was supposed to be an early morning ten mile run. Two miles into it I almost threw myself in front of a BMW driven by a rich OC mom on her way to her early morning yoga class. I felt like crap. I was running so slow that I'm pretty sure I was actually going backward instead of forward. We ended up turning around and running/walking back to my house. I was so deflated. How am I going to run 13.1 miles next week when I was contemplating becoming road kill after just two miles?

Answer: I'll just do it. Like Nike.

My problems on Saturday morning were many, but mostly, they were mental. I was not excited about getting up at 5:30am and running in the dark and cold. In anticipation of this early morning run, I went to bed early on Friday night, but slept horrible because I was anxious about getting up so early. The chips were stacking up against me before I even got up to count them. Also, my brain has been telling my feet mean, nasty things about my running partners (how could it? I love my running partners!). This makes my feet want to shrivel up in my shoes like the Wicked Witch's. For some reason, lately, I have not been running well with others. Like I said, this is all mental, but as my race gets closer and closer, I cannot seem to break down these mental barricades. Instead, I'm building new ones. When I run, I rarely run with my iPod. I actually like to be alone on a run with my thoughts. I like to hear the sound of my own breathing and focus on the inhale, exhale, inhale. So, I think I need to take a break from running with others and get through this upcoming half marathon on my own (where, you know, I'll only be running with 10,000 other people!) and then I can get back into the groove of running with friends.

Even though the half marathon is going to be packed with people, I think I'll be okay because I don't plan on having conversations with the other runners and I'm only competing against myself and my goal time--no one else. My friend, Britt, is going to be there also, so we might run a little while together at the beginning, but since I'm afraid I won't be very fun to run with due to my current mental state, we probably won't stay together too long.

So, Saturday's run sucked.

Sunday, however, was much better! In between bands of heavy rain showers, I laced up my old running shoes (I didn't want to get my new ones all wet and dirty), and headed out on a ten mile loop through Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, and Laguna Hills. I felt great during the run and did well on all of the hills (and there were quite a few!). Once I get past mile four on any run, I get into a grove and just go and I was groovin' on Sunday. When I returned from the run I felt like I am ready for the half marathon on Sunday (yes, as in THIS Sunday).

This week's running schedule is light, of course. I went to a great yoga class last night. Tonight I will run four miles, tomorrow three miles, and Thursday two miles. Nine miles until 13.1 miles...

Two Things

1. I ran my second fastest three miles since high school on Wednesday: 24:56. I started out at an 8:57 minute/mile and got progressively faster until I was running a 7:30 minute/mile at the end.
2. For the first time ever, I ran five miles on the treadmill at the gym (last night). I have never run farther than four miles on the treadmill because I was pretty sure that I would pass out and have a heat stroke, or die of boredom, if I went beyond that. But, I'm alive and writing this now, so clearly that was a myth. I had to run the five miles at the gym last night because I didn't get home from my friend, Maria's, birthday happy hour until late, and, it was raining. I ran the five miles in about 44 minutes or so.

(Secret item #3: Last night when I was running, I was thinking that I want to run in the Nike Women's Marathon in October in San Francisco. I must be crazy. Or bored. Or both.)

Countdown to Race Day

Holy crap...my race is now 1 1/2 weeks away! I haven't prepared nearly as long and hard as I did for my full marathon last year. But then again, this is only a half.

On Sunday I met Sara for a run around UCI. We ran about 2.5 miles and then walked about 2.5 miles. I felt like crap--very sluggish. Also, I had rubbed my heel raw in my trail running shoes and ghetto old socks the day before and the wimpy Band-Aid I had put on did nothing to protect the new wound. I don't know if I just needed additional time to recover from my long run on Saturday or if I can just really suck it up sometimes, but I did not have a good workout. However...it was wonderful to see Sara and catch up with her. I hadn't seen her since before my sabbatical either.


On Monday I went to a great yoga class at the Mission Viejo 24 Hr. Fitness. The stretching was sooo good for my tight muscles.

Last night (Tuesday), I hit the road again and ran 5 miles around Aliso Viejo and Laguna Hills. I actually had a great run--I felt great, the moleskin on my heel was protecting my boo-boo, and I felt very energetic. So, maybe I don't suck so much after all.

Tonight I need to run 3 miles at the gym and then tomorrow night is another 5-miler outside. Then this weekend I'm putting in my last "long" run of 10 miles.

Coyotes attack from the rear and the flanks of their prey.

This morning I met Diana at 6am to go running in Aliso & Wood Canyons. I hadn't been running with her since before I went on my sabbatical, so it was really nice to chat and catch up. Diana is used to getting up before the crack of dawn, but I'm not, and I was surprised that it was still pitch black dark outside when we met. I saw a group of runners head into the canyon with headlamps on, but we didn't have lights and didn't want to be running in the wilderness when it was still dark out. So, we ran 2.5 miles on the roads and through Laguna Niguel Regional Park and then ran into the canyons once it was light out. We ran 7 miles on the main fire road in the canyons. Since it was still very early, we didn't see very many other people on the trail. When we were about 2 miles back in the canyons, Diana stopped all of a sudden and fearfully asked me "What is THAT?!" Both of our hearts stopped beating for a second. I was really, really hoping that we were not about to come face to face with a mountain lion. Diana quickly jumped behind me (which I thought was funny because I am about the biggest wimp ever and would certainly not be able to fight off a mountain lion and save the two of us!) and I just as quickly noticed an animal in the bushes next to the trail. It took a few seconds for me to realize that the animal was only a coyote. Despite my insistence that the coyote would not bother us, Diana didn't seem to be too convinced. But, there was no where to go but forward! The coyote crossed the trail and we ran by it and then it got on the trail and followed us for a little bit. A few miles later we were both spooked when another runner came up behind us but we were soon relieved to see that we had a human, not a coyote, following us.


I've seen many, many coyotes here in SoCal--I've even seen them on my street in my condo complex. It's kind of sad that we're invading their environment and then when we come upon them, we get all offended like they've invaded our space. After looking up coyotes on Wikipedia, I found this kinda scary information:

Coyote attacks on humans are uncommon and rarely cause serious injuries, due to the relatively small size of the coyote. However, coyote attacks on humans have increased within the past 5 years in the state of California. Data from USDA Wildlife Services, the California Department of Fish & Game, and other sources show that while 41 attacks occurred during the period of 1988-1997, 48 attacks were verified from 1998 through 2003. The majority of these incidents occurred in Southern California near the suburban-wildland interface.

Anyway, Diana and I had a great 9.5 mile run. By the time we got back to the start of the trailhead, there were tons of runners and bikers entering the canyon. But at 6:45am, it was just us and the coyotes.

Gym Review: Laguna Niguel 24 Hr. Fitness Agassi Super Sport

My running has been right on track this week--so far I've put in 16 miles and have run four nights in a row. Last night Sabina met me at the fancy new 24 Hr. Fitness Agassi Super Sport gym in Laguna Niguel. It's super expensive to have a membership there, but we wanted to check it out and they let us. This gym was super nice--granite counter tops in the bathrooms, beautiful outdoor pool and spa, large bathrooms, a stretching room, lots of equipment, TVs everywhere, etc. After scoping out the place, we found a treadmill and elliptical machine next to each other (which was nice also--Sabina could do her thing on the elliptical machine and I could run on the treadmill and we could still be side by side and chat through our workouts). Our machines had TVs on them, which really excited me at first, until I realized that there weren't very many channels and you have to have headphones to hear them and I didn't have any headphones with me. The treadmill I was running on was very soft to run on and it definitely felt like a step up from running on the old ghetto treadmills at the poor man's gyms I normally have to go to.

Sounds good so far (except for the expensive part), right? Well, as great as all of those things above are, this gym had one fatal flaw: It was HOT! The gym had a really high ceiling (it used to be an OSH hardware store), but no fans! Even though the other gyms I go to have fans caked in dust, some air does get through to you. This gym was just unbearably hot after working out in it for only five minutes. I ran much slower because of the heat--my first two miles were at a 9 minute/mile pace, then for 1/2 mile I slowed down to a 9:30 minute/mile pace, and then for the last 1/2 mile I slowed down to a 10 minute/mile pace (yikes!). I just cannot run when I'm super hot.

So, together Sabina and I agreed that this gym gets two thumbs down simply for being way too freakin' hot. Oh well, we couldn't afford the insane membership fees anyways!

I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.

Oy vey...less than three weeks until my race. And how much running have I done in the past three weeks? Hardly ANY! It was just way too cold to run in Ohio and Colorado. It wasn't too cold to ski though, or play with the super cute ski patrol dogs at A-Basin:


So, I've got a lot of work to do in the next three weeks to get ready for this race. And maybe some praying, chanting, meditating, hoping, knocking on wood, rain dancing, etc., to make sure that I not only survive, but succeed, in this race. I got right back into the running groove on Monday night when I ran a good five mile run outside in Aliso Viejo and Laguna Hills. Last night I ran 3 miles on the treadmill at the La Paz gym (I met Sabina there). The first two miles I ran at a 9 min./mile pace and then the last mile I ran at an 8:30 min./mile pace. Tonight is another five mile run outside and then tomorrow Sabina and I are going to check out the fancy new gym in Laguna Niguel and I'll run three miles there. Let's see if that gym is any cleaner and cooler than the ghetto "Active" gyms I have to go because I have the poor man's gym membership. I'll write back with a full report.

Excuse

This is my mom's road and why I haven't run in Ohio: