Sunday, October 7, 2018

its been a while.... Long Beach Half Marathon.


Water Display on the water at mile 5 .


 So YES I just did a 13.1 mile run at Long Beach... normally this is not a BIG of a deal BUT this is my first 13.1 mile run since May as I have suffered from Chronic Achilles Tendinitis even putting a halt to my cycling and mainly Hiking and swimming have maintained fitness.
So below is a quick account of my days leading up to the run...

1. Helped as I do every October with Kool N Fit booth spraying runners and educating them on the fantastic benefits of using Kool n Fit

2. After talking to my friend Lorraine and suggesting a heel lift in my right shoe I thought wow I could just walk and jog and have fun!! So on going home I went to the pharmacy and ended up putting a 1.5cm heel lift into my Brooks running shoe.

3. ALL day Saturday I was on the sofa with my foot in a boot or on ice,
3. Sunday morning arrived and I was not nervous .. I was going to have a great time with my new pink Turtle back pack I had bought to support Breast Cancer, I was going to dress in pink take photos and jog, Give out High 5s, and enjoy the views.

Hammer Nutrition

This is Pink Power,,, and my Pink Turtle Back Pack holding my precious Hammer gels and my Fully Charged before the event began..

SO I stood in wave 3 finally made it to the start line and began to jog.
It was a great day to run, I felt happy ... I felt like an athlete again!!!! I just love to run and do competitions my pink brooks leggings were soaked in Kool N Fit spray, I had my Hammer gels and was chugging along carefully as not to aggravate my tendon.

I saw so many friends out there some were running ,, some were cheering the views were great, I did get too hot and had to stop while I took off an extra layer but it did not matter,, I was having fun, I drank water at the aid stations washing down a Hammer gel, I loved the bike path on the beach, the last 3.5miles are on the road heading back to Long Beach convention center so many people cheering I just kept jogging and stopped a few times to say hi to friends and was sprayed down at mile 10 with Kool n Fit.. The finish line came up and I did get a call out not often I run with a pink Turtle...

I looked at my polar Monitor and a huge smile came across my face... an unexpected time of 1hour 56 mins not bad for no running! and an injured foot I will take that any day!!

A HUGE thank you to #koolnfit for their excellent sprays  and letting me represent them for 9 years at Long Beach!

I fueled on Hammer Nutrition the new Fully charged is amazing and I took Hammer gels and recovered with recoverite. I use an M600 Polar Monitor which kept my heart rate in check.

JUST SO HAPPY TO FEEL LIKE AN ATHLETE AGAIN AFTER SO MUCH HEART ACHE WITH MY ACHILLES TENDON>


Before the race all smiles with Kool n Fit


Annie and I at mile 9 looking for Steve.
Ramon Plascencia

HA HA I LOVE THIS PICTURE AND THE PHOTO BOMBING!!Thomas Zaide and crew
Selfie mile 5.

YES I found Steve Harvey!!


Claudia Plascencia
Saw Gary at Mile 3


 VERY GRATEFUL FOR HEALTH AND LOOK FORWARD TO A PAIN FREE 2019!!



All smiles before during and after the race



The Bling



Viet a finisher of Vietnams 70.3 !!

Just a great couple!! Kool n Fit. 

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

EPIC 5. Hawaii Pre Race madness

 The Dream Team

Epic 5 Crew and Athlete.

The Dream Team and Athlete for the Epic 5.



So how would you like to spend a few days in Hawaii.... mmm  may be.... Well here we are 4 women brought together by a common denomonator Athlete Michele Santilhano. 
Kauai is the first stop,  We are the only ALL woman team!




Help from fellow athletes to assure arrival at the airport

Texas remembered and honored at Alaska AIrlines.

Its take off and Hammer Time!
This toad I rescued from Lisa s pool,,, needed some energy....

Toad or from still needed saving

Wild Pigs! 
Nice Ocean life.

The athletes meet and greet

Guarded by a min pin... life is good!


#epic5 #Hawaii #howihammer #rudyproject #polarglobal #nutritionbyheidi #cannondale #thedreamteam #sbrsportsinc 

Monday, May 8, 2017

OC Marathon....when things do not go as planned...

Sometimes things do not go as planned....and yesterday my finish line experience was one of embarrassment and disappointment... nothing to do with the quality of the OC Marathon & Half marathon it was much more personal than that.

I am always able to smile at the negative ...here I am with my neoprene scuba clown fish hood....

So did I mention it rained on the parade of Marathoners and Half marathoners... the heavens opened it felt glorious it rained and pelted hail...quite liberating actually. I love to catch rain drops on my tongue! 
race ready....visualization....

I have not ran a full marathon since Boston 2 years ago due to medical and accident.... I am still dealing with Achilles Tendonitis which is a weird bird in its self. I get the best therapy and can run up to 5 miles with no pain and run on grass and off road terrain.... I am no stranger to long distance running and thought the OC Marathon would be a great place to begin my marathon journey again...

Here is how my pre race stacked up

1. I was extremely stressed out about how I was getting the the marathon and getting home.... UBER was put on my phone and I put it out to the universe....But I have great facebook friends and family and it happened.

2. Was healthy and had no pain in my Achilles Tendon I was wearing Brooks Launch which have a slightly higher heel lift and really comfortable. 

3. Arrived with an hour to spare was able to warm up and drop off my dry clothes bag to the UPS van to meet me at the finish line.

4. I had visualized how I would run the race... be conservative, run with the 3 hour and 45 minute pace group. Land lightly; keep the knees aligned, Use my arms, breathe relaxed....look at the wonderful scenery.. If I started to have pain the in the Achilles Tendon to walk it out and if not possible at mile 12 to opt to go to the half marathon instead.

.WHAT I HAD NOT PLANNED WAS THE EARLY START FOR THE MARATHON....AND THE 45 MINUTE LATER HALF MARATHON START. 

 The National anthem was sung by a heavenly voice and as the gun signaled the start of the event the rain came too!!

The Race

I set off I had Hammer gel and my Polar 400 running monitor, I was soaking wet but not cold, the first mile or so is round Fashion Island of Newport beach before views of the Ocean appear which is usually my happy place! Today there were no beach goers as I pattered through the seaside communities of beautiful homes the rain was torrential and I was soaked. The pacer was awesome..at .Mile 4 he barked out you all have a minute in the bank! at mile 7 he warned of a hill.. I think that is were I became undone... my leg had started to have a little pain at mile 5 I tried different running gait but it was definitely my tendon.... then the hill came and it hurt more.... then at mile 10 it was there to stay ..I tried to disassociate with all the snails all over the road from the landscape but nope I hurt and now the decision to be smart was finally in my face.... I had fallen off pace to cope with the pain but now there was a different problem....

The final mile...

I was passed by a cyclist who was leading the first male runners from the half marathon... I felt already depressed and a failure for having to finish at the half marathon so I waited for them to pass not wanting to steal their finish line experience... and I asked an official to call into the finish line I was changing to the half due to injury.... now I am just 600 meters from the finish I am MORTIFIED as no female runner has past yet I started with the marathoners but ending with the half marathoners...I tried to blend into the track finish I put my arms up to the race announcer not to mention my name.... they gave me a beautiful half marathon finisher medal but I was truly embarrassed at having to cut my race short and finish in front of a lot of spectators who must have thought how fast I was!!! Mortification doubled tripled quadrupled.. 
my finish line photo...

Finish line was the medical tent were the ice was applied grateful for the VIP pass to get hot coffee...but I felt a failure... when will I be able to return to the sport I love..... But I was at the OC Marathon and decided to paint a smile and help at the Kool N Fit tent to spray runners as they came with tired legs to the booth!
the bling 

starfish...




















CONCLUSION
Although I felt depressed and down I am a running coach and I know had I had a client running I would have advised to cut the race short and listen to your body. I did beat myself up but I also 
Finished 13.1 miles, collected a beach City medal for completing 3 half marathons including Surf City and Long Beach. Was able to see others finish in their jubilation and help Kool N Fit too. I was also able to walk after I had rested and iced the tendon. So now waiting for an MRI to find out why I am limited to only 5 miles to the 13 mile distance...feeling grateful.

Race Announcers

Privilege to cheer and meet again Adam Gorlitsky
Adam is pretty amazing read his story at about I Got Legs... 

Spraying Legs with Kool n  Fit.

The man that makes it all happen Gary the amazing Race Director.
A HUGE thank you to my friend Chris Boyer for taking me to collect my bib, to Cheyenne Wiscovitch for taking me at 3.30am and to April Hayes for taking me home.

Feeling grateful and blessed at least I can move forward...and can still swim and run 13 miles!

The OC Marathon & Half marathon weekend is jammed packed all week long from 5km and kids races to the 26.2 miles, What I truly love about the event is the charity organization Kids Run OC read more about this incredible program which gets pre adolescent kids running and maintaining a healthy life style here at Kids Run OC

Thanks to #brooksrunning #hammernutrition #polarglobal  #rudyproject #ocmarathon #koolnfit #covinahillssportsmedicine



Thursday, April 14, 2016

LA Marathon Olympic Trials

Although Hammer my Run Happy Min Pin could not go to help at the Trials he was at home watching on the big screen.
Well in the Month of February I ran Surf City Half in honor of my friend that past away.. the following week was LA Marathon and up until Surf City I had good training in for a good race..
Unfortunately I injured my left Antilles Tendon and after a whole week of rest ice elevation and therapy thought I would go any way...

Saturday musings
OLYMPIC MARATHON TRIALS
I volunteered to help with the Brooks Running Photo booth during the marathon trials so while the best marathoners in the World were duking it out down town I was supporting the cheering squads!
Police move in to get the course safe

So Cal Pacers get ready

Me all Brooked out with my friends.

Run Happy Folks

My Canadian Friend Ellis

Watching the race unfold with wide screens

Say Run Happy

Road to Rio

Brooks ID Coaches share a smile

Kona Running...

So Cal Pacer Family

#runtorio


Pre Olympic Trials ra ra ra

Enjoyed the day it was a long day on my feet I met some incredible athletes and loved seeing all the So Cal Pacers come by and join in the celebration and fun. It is rewarding to give back and I love Brooks Shoes and I am also a Brooks ID Coach and a certified RRCA Running Coach.

Run Happy Be Happy Run Smart.

The Olympic Trials in downtown LA were awesome to watch.




#socalpacers #runhappy #brooksrunning.