• July 12th, 2015
• Ventura, California
• Shoreline Half Marathon
• Sharon: 2:54:19
• Tim: 2:28:48

50 down only 2 to go!

Since my last couple posts have been whiny, bitch fests, I see no reason to change my tone now. Seriously – I was hoping my last 3 race reports would be positive, inspirational, and fun to read. But alas, it was not to be. This race was a mess.

The race was on Sunday so we got a hotel Saturday night planning to get a good nights sleep before the race. Alas, that was not to be, either. Around midnight a loud girl was fighting with someone and the cops came. Then, about 2am some people decided to have a party in the courtyard right outside our window. Tim asked them to keep it down and they did, for about 5 minutes. He called the front desk and someone kicked them out. We got up at 6am. Tim commented that we would have been better off if we had skipped the hotel and just got up at 3am (the usual) to drive to Ventura.

The area we stayed at in Ventura had lots of thrift stores. I love thrift stores! I bought 2 shirts (only $3 each) and helped an animal shelter.

No – I will not dress my age

The HM started out at 8am, which I think is a little late for a race in July. This was one of the most disorganized races we have done. I’m glad we didn’t opt for the day of race packet pickup. There was a long, slow moving line. The MC announced that the race started in 20 minutes and people should have gotten there earlier or picked up their packets the day before. Really? – Dont offer a service and then berate people for using it. They also said they had a bag check but no one knew where it was. A pacer who needed to get to her corral was frantically trying to find the bag check. We finally got our bags checked but some of the volunteers were downright rude.

The weather report said cool and cloudy

Standing in our corral we got talking to a guy name Dale who was doing a HM a month. He started running after beating cancer. This was his 26th HM. We talked to him and his wife after the race, as well.

Just an awesome dude kicking cancers ass

The weather report said cool and cloudy. It lied. This was the hottest race we have done this year. We have been really lucky this summer but this race was hot and I definitely got a case of heat exhaustion. I was really worried about Tim because one of his afib triggers is heat but he had a great race (yay).

I’m glad I wore my goofy looking Hoka shoes because my feet hurt more during this HM than any other race. In spite of my not running at all during the week for the last couple of weeks, my Achilles tendon started hurting almost immedieatly, as soon as I started to run. Also, a blister popped. Did I mention my black toenails. Poor feet – I promise to rest you after 2 more races.

Really – you had to show us that?

I did have some good conversations this race. I talked to a guy who was running with his son in the same way I run with Tim, meaning they were both way ahead of us. We ran together for about 3 miles. I also talked to a woman and her teenage daughter who were running together.

It was a beautiful course. At least they did that right. Unfortunately it was a popular path with agro guys on 10 speeds who appeared to be out for a training ride, very scary. You also had to watch out not to get clotheslined by dogs on leashes.

The views were the best thing about this HM

This race started out warm and got hot. No clouds. The last half of the race I was both sweating and had chills. I got to the point where I was walking every couple of minutes.

This race made the one unforgivable fuck up. They ran out of water. As a race director, even if you get everything else right (not something this race was guilty of) you have failed if you run out of water. The last 2 aid stations were out of water and one before it ran out of cups. I came in 380th out of 415, so there were a lot of people behind me who had a long way to go without water. The volunteers blamed the heat. I understand that people drank more because it was hot out but the heat made it even more dangerous for runners who now had no water. They had water at the end and someone could have taken water to an aid station. When I suggested it to a group of volunteers just hanging out (8 teenagers) they shrugged with a not my job attitude.

Weird running kit

They had tacos and beer after the race but the line was so long we didn’t even bother. I felt so awful I just wanted to take a shower and go home. This was one of the most demoralizing races of this project for me. I thought I had made a breakthrough and here I am back at my old race times. Everything hurt after this race. I practically crawled the 3 blocks back to the hotel.

Next week we are doing a repeat Charlie Alewine race. That’s the race I targeted for my last PR attempt. I may need to rethink that. I want to be able to run our last race. Even if I take it easy next weekend I will still be happy to be doing a familiar race that I know has a good running surface. Damn it feet – heal.

Cons

• Chaotic bag drop
• MC berates runners in line at packet pickup
• Very hot
• Agressive bicyclists
• Crowded course
• Uninformed volunteers
• Ugly t-shirt with lots of sponsor logos
• After finish you had to walk to the other side of expo for water
• Long line for tacos and beer
• Ran out of cups
• Ran out of water! Last 2 aid stations
• An overall lack of caring about runners

Pros

• Many very nice volunteers
• Nice beach views

But she did survive

I hated this race. Even if they hadn’t run out of cups and water this would have been a mediocre race at best. The combination of my body falling apart (sore feet and heat) and the one fuck up after another that this HM was, mentally defeated me. I do not recommend this race. I would never recommend a race that runs out of water with almost 100 runners still on the course. Shame on you, Shoreline HM. Even carrying my own water I got a nasty case of heat exhaustion that lasted about 9 hours. Come run the beach path but don’t bother with this race. It was a mess with a bad attitude.

Dinner

Oh no, what have we done? We signed up for our first full marathon. We are doing the Beat the Blerch marathon in November. I don’t think that is enough time to train for a marathon but it’s on Tim’s birthday weekend and that’s what he wants to do.

Please cheer Sharon up by leaving a comment. Come on – only 2 more chances to leave a comment.

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• July 4th, 2015
• Long Beach, California
• Summer 7 Day 7 Half Marathon
• Sharon: 2:18:27
• Tim: 2:37:37

49 down only 3 to go.

Just like last weeks race this was another, it’s the closest race to us, repeat race. We did this exact race only 4 races ago (#45 Rock The Ocean). At the end of that post I wrote, “Well damn – next month I have to run faster than 2:27:10.” At the time I did have this race pegged as my next PR attempt. I nixed that idea in a rare fit of common sense. I have been having a problem with my left Achilles tendon. It is sore even when I walk. Also, the 2 blisters on the pads of my feet, while almost gone, are still tender. Because I have been trying to let my Achilles tendon heal I haven’t been running during the week. I have also gained back 4-6 pounds (damn it). So while I did try to run most of this race I took it relatively easy, meaning I actually looked at the ocean more than I looked at my watch.

I love that Charlies races start at 6:30am. It helps beat the heat but also means that we have to get up at 3:00am to be there by 6ish.

Don’t we look patriotic

Although charlie has t-shirts we decided not to take one this race. We already have 3 of his shirts, any more and it will start to look like Charlie dresses us.

This was a special race because it was Hank Donigan’s 100th marathon! Charlie brought a cake.

Cake!

Once again my stomach was nauseous before and during the race. This time I can’t blame french fries or killer Mai Tais. Luckily, the course route had lots of bathrooms. I have had to duck into the facilities in a couple of races but this is the first time I had to use the restroom twice in one race. I’m so glad I didn’t target this race for a PR or I would have been sitting on the toilet pulling my hair out.

Did I forget to mention that my big toe hurts?

Even though I had tummy issues and my feet hurt, I enjoyed this run. This race is all run on a beautiful beach path. What’s not to love? My life is so awesome that I can choose to suffer for fun.

That girl has terrible running form

And she is really blurry

We wanted to dress a little patriotic for the 4th of July so I tried on my only pair of blue running shorts fully expecting them to cut off my circulation. They fit! These are the shorts I used to run in before I gained my Elkton weight. I am over the moon happy about fitting into my old running clothes, even if they are a little tight. I found a great shirt for Tim. I wasn’t sure he would wear it running because it’s cotton but he did. He said it gave him one chaffed nipple. Yes – just one. It’s not recommended to run in cotton. I think he looked awesome.

Damn – I’m good at shopping

This course was an out and back, done twice for the HM ( 4 times for the full marathon). I like seeing Tim. He always looks so happy to see me that I get an energy boost.

There was another, much larger, 4th of July race that started at 7:30am. I managed to time it just right. I was running towards their start line right before their race started, so the entire path was blocked. Again, I’m glad I wasn’t trying for a PR or I probably would have tried to barrel through the crowd. It wasn’t a big deal to go around them. The only reason I am even mentioning it is because it was a pretty uneventful race for me and this was one of the only out of the ordinary things that happened, except for my bathroom issues, which I am being vague about on purpose because I want readers next week.

Hah – Tim is usually the one doing the photo bombing

Tim knew

On a completely different topic I just started massage school and, so far, I love it. I’m very excited about starting a life in San Diego.

Cons

• No trophies this week (We both would have gotten one)
• Charlie’s website dosen’t work on my phone

Pros

• Another well organized race
• Close parking
• Cool medal featuring Hanks 100th marathon
• Beautiful course
• Great running surface
• Great food
• Interesting, friendly runners
• We are fond of Charlie, which make his races more enjoyable for us

I don’t think it will come as a surprise that I would indeed recommend this, or any of Charlie’s races. He puts on a well organized, fun event with great food. This is the 4th Charlie Alewine race we have run and at every race we have met some fascinating people. Being able to park next to the start/finish line is a big plus for a beginning runner, or anyone attempting a new distance. I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that this race is on a public beach path with plenty of bathrooms and water fountains, so anyone can just come out and run this course for free. That maybe true but being in a race is fun. We always enjoy Charlie’s races. And really, that’s what it’s all about.

In fact, we like this race so much that we are going to run it again in 2 weeks. OK – we’re doing it because it’s the closest race that weekend but we did have an option that was only about another hour away. We chose this race for a reason other than laziness, cost and the pleasure of Charlies company. I wanted to do this race again because I am going to make a last attempt at a PR. My A goal is 2:25 and my B goal is 2:27:09. Even if I fail I promise to run as hard as I can.

Only 3 more chances to leave a comment.

• June 27th, 2015
• Huntington Beach, California
• Summer Celebration Half Marathon
• Sharon: 2:46:28
• Tim: 2:26:26

48 down only 4 to go.

“I can tell you’re tired, and it sounds like you both are very ready for this to be something wonderful you did in the past.”, my friend, Marilyn, wrote in comments last week and I quoted her because I couldn’t have said it better myself. I hate to admit how much I did not want to run Saturday. This race was a low point both mentally and physically for me. Traveling is more exhausting than running.

After our race last weekend in Mammoth Lakes we had a long drive to San Francisco, where we ate and drank too much, then we had another long drive home. We were beat by the time we got back to San Diego. Thanks to Tim for doing all the driving (even if his driving scares me) as I hate to drive.

The last thing I need to discover is another fried food I love but that’s what happened in San Francisco. Fried pickles! We went out to eat (and drink) with Tim’s boss, Brandon and Brandon’s girlfriend. They ordered fried pickles as an appetizer. My first thought was WTF. I would never have ordered this but after trying them I had to stop myself eating the entire basket. Really – if you ever have a chance to try fried pickles, do it.

We woke up Saturday morning and both agreed that it felt like we had done a race only a couple of days ago, not 6 days ago.

This was the exact same race we did when Marilyn was visiting. It was the closest race that weekend and we wanted to do as little traveling as possible. Fortunately, no crazy guy tried to wash our car this time but unfortunately, Marilyn wasn’t there to take pictures and lift our spirits. I was glad we were doing a relatively close race on a familiar course. Given how tired I was, familiarity was comforting.

At least we remembered to take a before picture

This race was an out and back, done twice for the half marathon. I like out and backs because it makes me happy to see Tim. During this race it was nice to see him in front of me because I assumed that meant his afib wasn’t acting up.

Smile for the camera

Except for feeling more beat than usual this was a pretty uneventful run for me. I was able to pass 2 people in the last quarter of this race. At this point, I’ve had just a little practice pacing myself at races.

A welcome sign

I tried to pick it up when I saw Tim at the finish line aiming his camera at me. Someone yelled “Sprint in” and I yelled back, “I am.” I’m glad Tim got this picture because we forgot to take an after picture.

I am sprinting

After the race we talked to a woman who is doing a half marathon a month for a year. She started in January. I love hearing cool stuff like that. Good luck in San Francisco. Tim suggested that our next project should be a movie every weekend. Sounds like a plan.

Cons

• Parking lot opens at 7:00am for a 7:30am race
• No t-shirt

Pros

• Close, free parking
• Beautiful scenery
• Aid station every 3.3 miles
• Great volunteers
• Plenty of food, including salted watermelon Gu
• Free photos on Facebook
• Fun people watching


We should have brought our suits

I recommend this race if you are looking for an inexpensive, no bells and whistles kind of race. It has food, water, and a view. That’s my essentials for a race. A Better World Running puts on an event almost every weekend and they have it pretty dialed in. They don’t have a t-shirt or prizes so that is something to keep in mind if that is the sort of thing that matters to you.



NO!

I promise that this will be my shortest race report. I didn’t have a lot to say that I didn’t say last time so if you are interested in more details about this race check out #34 Spring Equinox Half Marathon.

Only 5 more chances to leave a comment or ask a question. I will answer all questions except math questions (I’m awful at math).

Totally unrelated to running: I start massage school Monday! While I have enjoyed the slacker life, I’m ready to start doing something useful again.



Tim’s best Miley Cyrus impression

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• June 21st, 2015
• Mammoth Lakes, California
• Mammoth Half Marathon
• Sharon: 2:37:23
• Tim: 2:47:04

47 down only 5 to go.

Only a month of races left! I know Tim is looking forward to not driving hundreds of miles every weekend. Besides the Auburn race (FOURmidable) this is the furthest we have traveled for a race since we moved to San Diego. I love the Mammoth Lakes area and wish we could have spent more time there. We stayed at the race hotel, The Village Lodge. It was one of the nicest rooms we have stayed at and I highly recommend it if you do this race, or are just visiting Mammoth. That said, even with the race discount, it was quite pricey.

Saturday night we ate at a Hawaiian themed restaurant whose name I can’t remember [Lakanuki – Tim]. I had the strongest Mai Tai I have ever had. So even though I planned on only having one drink, I’m pretty sure I had 3 or 4 in that one glass. I had Tim try it because he gave me the look he gives me when he thinks I am being too dramatic, and he said “Whoa!”, with raised eyebrows of agreement. In the past I have made the clear connection between eating fried food the night before a race and being nauseous during a race. I saw coconut shrimp on the menu. How does someone just forget that deep battered coconut shrimp is a fried food? I paid for it race morning.

Sharon does not approve of blond Sharon

The food was wonderful but it was the crazy surf art I really loved.

Except for packet pickup, which was a little chaotic, this race was extremely well organized. It was also incredibly beautiful with desert, lake, and forest views. Unfortunately, as we feared, the altitude set off Tim’s a-fib. It acted up even before he started running. We both woke up feeling headachey, tired, and nauseous. The problem with staying in a hotel with the most comfy bed ever is that we did not want to get up. Even though we were able to sleep in until 5am it was a hard bed to leave.

We caught the bus to the start almost right outside our door. It was really chilly Sunday morning. This race was handing out Mylar blankets before the race. Even though it was a fairly small race they had a drop bag option. Well done.

At least our before picture looks different this time

I both loved and hated this race. I hated it because it was hard to breath and run at altitude for the first half. Also, running 13.1 miles on the verge of puking (thanks fried shrimp and monster Mai Tai) is not fun. I loved everything else about this race. If I had been feeling better I think this would have been my favorite road race. The scenery was beyond incredible. I was grateful that this race was so well organized because I was in no mood for nonsense.

Yay – Pretty

I chatted with a couple who convinced me that the Las Vegas marathon would not be a good first marathon. Our next project is training for a marathon so if anyone has a suggestion for a good first marathon please leave it in the comments.

I started to walk much sooner than usual during this race. I was surprised that I had breathing/elevation problems because I used to run at 8000 feet on Mt Lemmon and wasn’t affected. In fact, I liked the thin crisp air.

Amazing – a sign I haven’t seen before

A nice thing about beating Tim is that I get to take a picture of him sprinting to the finish.

Go Tim – he beat her

Yep – that is a mammoth greeting incoming runners

Yay, they had chocolate milk and watermelon after the race. That race director must be a runner. We couldn’t stay for the after race party because we had to get back to our room so we could shower and check out of the room before hitting the road.

We are so good we got 2 medals

Cons

• Packet pickup was confusing and choatic
• Trolly information gave us wrong directions

Pros

• Very well organized with attention to details
• Mylar blanket at the start
• Plenty of port-o-pots at the start and along the course
• Awesome scenery
• Wonderful volunteers and plenty of aid stations
• A couple of aid stations had pretzels and cool wipes!
• Signs at the aid stations with mileage to next aid station
• Fire truck sprinkler to run through
• Chocolate milk and watermelon (as well as other food)
• Nice long sleeve tech shirt
• Huge cool medals with moving parts

I’d rather be swimming

Unless you have a major altitude problem, I would recommend this race for everyone. This has everythng I look for in a race. It was well organized with friendly volunteers. The course was beautiful and had a net downhill. The shirt is wearable. If you are into medals, there is a special medal (with moving parts) for runners who did both the San Diego and the Mammoth HM. Both medals are impressive. Even with his afib problem and upset tummy Tim liked this race almost as well as I did. We even talked about doing it next year.

Discovered we were sitting next to this

Short post this week because we didn’t get back from San Francisco until Wednesday night.

Only 6 more chances to leave a comment. Pretty please.

• June 14th, 2015
• Chula Vista, California
• Wild Horse Half Marathon
• Sharon: 3:00:16
• Tim: 2:23:56

46 down only 6 to go.

I have this weird idea that I love trail running. I have this unfounded belief that I am a better trail runner than road runner. I’m not sure where I got this belief as it is clearly not the case. All my epic fail, pain fest, races have been on trails. I hurt for 5 days after FOURmidable and I almost came in last at The Enchanted Forest Wine Run. Only 2 women (in fairy costumes) came in after me. As you probably guessed from this intro, this weeks race was another trail race. And it was not my best race of the year. I have noticed that I have more frequent and more intense asthma attacks during trail races. I think dust is a trigger.

I did something really stupid last weekend. After having a great race we came home and went for a walk on the beach. I wore my flip flops and carried them as we walked in the surf. After about a mile I noticed that my feet were hurting. It hurt even more when I put my flip flops back on. By the time we got home I had a huge blister on both pads of my feet. How stupid to get blisters after a race. I have been trying to run a couple times a week but needless to say I did no running leading up to this week.

Sunday morning we got to sleep in until 4am. This sounds like a bad joke but we have had to get up at 3am for almost all of our California races.

We had views of Otay Lake almost the whole race

This was actually a beautiful race. It was just an off day for me. I felt tired before I even started. This wasn’t an overly technical trail but I was in a clumsy mood. I kept tripping over rocks and roots. I wasted over 5 minutes trying to get sand out of my shoe. It would have made a good comedy skit. I took off my shoe to dump out the sand but I lost my balance and my foot landed in the sand, getting more sand in my shoe than I dumped out. I repeated this twice before I sat down rather than trying to balance one one foot. The trail was mostly single track with some out and backs and one small section of road. There were a couple sections of trail where runners were coming back on a single track trail that just didn’t fit two people. The bridges were really tricky with runners coming and going. I love bridges but these were a little in need of repair.

I like this series (it’s a Dirt Devil race) but I think they need chip timing. Gun timing makes us runners that start in the back seem even slower than we are. It also makes slow runners even less likely to make the cutoff. For really small races this isn’t an issue but for a mid sized race with age group prizes I think it is an issue. Just like the last Dirt Devil race we did (Foxy Half Marathon), I found this race well organized. I had a bit of a problem with a couple arrows that seemed to be pointing down 2 separate paths but Tim had no problems [except when I wasn’t paying attention and followed someone down the wrong path – Tim] so I think that is just my bad trail skills. At one point I actually waited for the person behind me to see which way they went. I had a pretty bad asthma attack and ended up walk/running the last half of the race. The weather app on my phone said the sun wouldn’t come out until 1pm, but it lied. The last 3 miles were in direct sun. Since living in Oregon I don’t deal well with heat.

Photography by Pat

We got another pint glass as swag after this race. We are getting quite a set. We also could have gotten a free beer but didn’t, Tim because he was driving and me because I just don’t want beer with breakfast. I sat in the shade and Tim got me water and a burrito. Tim is great – he always waits on me while I cool down and catch my breath. Burritos are great after race food.

Another after race picture in a parking lot

Hey! Who is that blond Tim’s kissing?

Cons

• Gun timing only
• Lots of dust
• Some 2 way traffic on single track
• I found some of the markers confusing (but I think it was just me)

Pros

• Race day packet pickup
• Parking near start/finish
• Beautiful sceanery
• Enthusiastic volunteers
• Pint glasses (as well as a t-shirt and medal)
• Burritos and beer
• Free photos

Photography by Pat
Tim Takes the high road

Photography by Pat
She looks tired

In spite of having a bad day I thought this was a well organized, beautiful race. There are a couple reasons that this might not be the best race for slower runners. They have a 3 hour cutoff but they didn’t enforce it, however they were taking down the start/finish line after 3 and a half hours with runners still on the course. Also, it isn’t pleasant to be a slow runner at a trail race because you end up eating the dust of those in front. This race only had one real climb and then rollers so it would be a good race to do if you wanted to try out trails but didn’t want to climb mountains. Aid stations were a bit sparse so bring your own water bottle and watch your footing on those wooden bridges.

I know that some people have had a problem with the comments link. If this is you, please try again – Tim made a fix. If you still have a problem commenting and you know my email address please leave a comment there. I really want to get this issue fixed so any feedback would be helpful. I’m sorry I can’t post my email address because my mailbox would be spammed.

Only 7 more chances to leave a comment.

Preview: Next week we are running in Mammoth Lakes on Sunday and then spending a couple days in San Francisco. Tim is there for a work conference and I’m there to shop.

• June 6th, 2015
• Long Beach, California
• Rock The Ocean
• Sharon: 2:27:10
• Tim: 2:21:28

45 down only 7 to go.

That was hard! Now I know how fast I can run when I try my hardest. Usually, when I start to hurt in a race, I slow down or walk. Not this race. Usually, I tell myself that I have to run next weekend, I’m not wimping out (right), I’m just being smart. I tell myself that all that matters is finishing, my time is not important. But this race time did matter. And I was determined to break 2:30. I ran as hard as I could. I’m so glad it’s over.

As always (it seems) that we had to get up at 3am to get to our race on time. I had my favorite race day breakfast of a banana with almond butter and a Mama Chia (apple flavor) as well as a large cup of coffee.

The Charlie Alewine (of Charlie Alewine Racing)

This is the exact same race course we did about a month ago (Beach Mania) where I got my HM project PR. Ever since then I have been targeting this race to break 2:30. Besides being a course I loved this was the closest race we could find. I like this course so much that we are doing it again next month. I know it might seem like it would be boring to do the same race more than once but I really like knowing what to expect. There’s a study which shows that if you are familiar with a course you will run it faster. I think I read that in Runners World. I recommend this as a way to gain an edge. Before my real PR (2:01:01) in Tucson I ran the course 3 times before race day. At this point, redoing a race is the only way for us to preview a course.

I’m a lumberjack (and I’m ok)

Saturday morning I was amped for this race. The weather was perfect and I felt good. Because the course was an out and back done twice it was easy to keep track of my splits. This course has the most perfect running surface. There is no dodging aggressive bicyclists because they have their own path. The running path has a slight elasticine feel. It’s like a track surface next to the beach.

Can we get something like this on the promenade in SD

I have 2 handheld water bottles so I came up with a plan that I hoped would cut a few seconds off my time. Hey, every second counts when you have a time goal. I left my second water bottle at the aid station so instead of stopping for water I just grabbed my full handheld at the halfway point. This was a beautiful run but I have to admit that I was looking at my watch and planning my walker evasive maneuvers more than looking at the scenery.

Tim takes a photo to show me what I missed

I waited until I was into the second half of the race to play my music. It helped. The last 4 miles were really hard. I had to keep reminding myself that it did matter. I repeated the mantra, “don’t walk” (sometimes out loud) rather frantically. With only two miles left I thought I was actually going to be able to run the whole race but a strange thing happened with just under a mile left. I came to a slight hill and my body just stopped running. There was no decision involved. I was actually surprised to find myself walking. It was the weirdest feeling. I only walked about 30 seconds. As soon as the tiny hill started trending downhill I forced myself to run again. It was not easy, everything hurt at that point. I was also feeling a bit nauseous. I had no end sprint in me. I ran across the finish line and collapsed on the curb while I waited for the darkness to stop swirling.

Usually after a HM I’m not hungry but after this one I was really hungry. One of the great things about Charlies races is the food. His aid station treats everyone like an ultrarunner. He has the perfect combination of sweet and salty foods. Never have pretzles and cookies tasted so good.

It took me about half an hour to stand up for this picture

We meet the most interesting people at Charlies races. Check out this girls story. (Blanca Ramirez) She holds the world record for being the youngest girl to run a marathon on all 7 continents. She was 12 when she achieved this. She said New Zealand (so on my bucket list) was her favorite. She ran the HM and her 6 year old brother ran the 10k.

You did what ?!

Completely off the topic of running: I’m sure everyone who knows me is thinking – WTF is up with that hair? Well my plan was to strip my hair then put a nice gold color on it. After stripping the color out my hair it was so dry that I decided to wait a week to put more color on it. I was afraid my hair would fall out. Hopefully next week I will be golden blond and not – a cotton ball and an orange mated on my head – blond.

Cons

• I had to cut around a couple groups of walkers

Pros

• We like the vibe of Charlies Races (friendly, low key)
• Parking right next to the start/finish
• Great running surface
• Scenic with no chance of getting lost
• Charlie keeps it inexpensive while still doing t-shirts, medals, trophies
• Fully stocked aid station
• Friendly interesting runners

I was very pleased with this race. And not just because I overnailed my goal and felt like the queen of willpower, but because Charlie puts on a good race. If you live anywhere near the LA area check out Charlie Alewine Racing. The only person I would not recommend charlies races for is someone who needs a lot of crowd support with aid stations every mile. Try one of Charlie’s races if you are looking for a more low key, personal race experience. This race was scenic, fun and I highly recommend it. Also being able to park next to the start/finish is a huge plus when you are exhausted and you just want to go home. See you next month Charlie.

Well damn – next month I have to run faster than 2:27:10.

Only 8 more chances to leave a comment (please).

• May 31st, 2015
• San Diego, California
• San Diego Rock’n’Roll Half
• Sharon: 2:35:15
• Tim: 2:18:09

44 down only 8 to go.

Well damn, even when we do a race in San Diego we have to get up at 3am. We had to be at the parking garage by 5am to catch the shuttle to the start by 5:30am. We had to be there early because many roads were closed.

The Saturday expo was pretty impressive. Tim got a new pair of Altra shoes on sale as well as a bluetooth headphone set at a deep discount. I got a new sunscreen that claims to be healthier than the average sunscreen. Tim did a big running no-no, he wore his new shoes for the first time on race day. Luckily his feet didn’t blow up. In fact, he loved them.

We saw 92 year old Harriett Thompson being interviewed on the main stage. She started running at the age of 76 and has run 16 marathons. She is a 2 time cancer survivor and runs to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She was very sharp.

The oldest woman to run a marathon
Also the fastest in her age group

We didn’t stick around to see Meb or Desi. Meb ran the HM and Desi was pacing the 2nd wave marathoners. There were some fast people in the HM. So fast that Meb came in second by seconds. We talked to a teacher who had one of Meb’s kids in her class. She said the whole family were the nicest people you could ever hope to meet.

I was amused by the fitting rooms

We walked by a booth with a jumping contest. I talked Tim into trying and he took the lead in the over 40 age group. I didn’t play but probably would have if I had noticed how lame the over 40 womens jump was.

They measure his reach

He jumps

The new over 40 high jumper

We had a lot of time to hang out before the race. Luckily there was music and quite a bit to look at. This is one of the only races we have done that had adequate port-o-pots. I have actually missed the start of a couple of races because I was still in line. Good investment, race director.

Tim’s new shoes match his shorts
(much to his dismay)

I was chilly even with my long sleeve shirt on so this guy must have been cold. He was also kind of creepy, not just because speedos are inherently creepy but because he was a little too touchy feely. On the other hand he was nice and did have great abs. Living by the beach I have seen men in speedos who make you want to yell, “put it on.” Men – never wear a speedo. Even if your body is perfect women will laugh at you.

Another picture of an almost nude man

The Haunting: For Jeannie

This was a huge race. We were in corral 20 of 25. Well, I was in corral 20. Tim was in 19 but came back and started the race with me.

Giant Meb head at the starting line

I made a conscious decision not to run this race too hard for a couple of reasons. I caught a mild version of what Tim had last week so I was feeling low energy, but mostly I wanted to focus on taking pictures and enjoying the run.

I didn’t think it was a particularly scenic course but it didn’t matter because the parade was great. These 3 were walking only a couple of miles into the race. And they did not look happy.

Princesses don’t run because sweat – Eww

The crowd support at this race was amazing. There were people playing music, lots of signs and cheering and yelling and costumes and even some bandit aid stations with tequila, mimosas, beer, and whisky. I had a small beer. There were also many chances to high 5 kids (not to be missed).

Ouch – I believe you

The high school cheerleaders were cool but these were my favorite

It’s a race, don’t shoot

My favorite t-shirt

I found this both impressive & disturbing
(just like the speedo flag guy)

A saxy banana

There was also some great musical entertainment on this course. I didn’t get a picture of the woman who sang the national anthem but she had a lovely voice. Over the course of this project we have heard some intense, off key screeching so it was a pleasure not to wish for earplugs during the opening ceremony.

I wish you could hear her voice
I had to stop and listen

Awesome. I’m so glad Tim got this picture

Speaking of earplug worthy

I did not like how crowded this race was. Usually a race with a lot of people thins out at some point but this race was crowded for my whole run. It was bottleknecked so bad in some places that we were walking. I was not able to run fast downhill, as I love to do, because I was dodging and route planning so there wouldn’t be any casualties.

There was a Dr. Suess themed aid station!

During this race I had the worst experience of our HM project. Around mile 10 I had to use the port-o-pot. This guy coming out as I was going in muttered something like – I swear, I didn’t do it. I don’t usually write in initials but OMG. Apparently running effects aim. I tried to clean up the seat a bit because air squatting after running 10 miles is not an option. At least they still had toilet paper.

I thought this race was well organized until the very end. Once through the chute and after getting my medal people started handing me food. Unfortunately, there were more people handing me stuff than I had hands. I had to abandon my banana for chocolate milk. A bag at the finish line and someone directing traffic away from the finish line would have solved this problem. Instead people were milling around trying to eat the food and dropping stuff all over the place. It was a challenge to get out of there.

My Hokas worked great (but they look so silly)

Cons

• Quite pricey (but you get a lot)
• Pricey Parking ($15 expo, $15 day of race)
• Not very scenic
• Way too crowded
• Beware of on course port-o-pots
• A bit of a mess at the end

Pros

• Great expo with free stuff, deals, and running celebraties
• Lots of port-o-pots
• Wonderful crowd support
• Fun costumes
• Music on course
• Great party vibe
• Bandit adult beverage aid stations
• enthusiastic volunteers
• Medal is also a beer opener
• Chocolate milk
• Well organized and executed (except at the end)
• Good after party

On the way back to the parking garage

I would recommend this race if you are looking for a party and have a large race budget. We have done races that were cheaper than the parking for this race. Do not do this race if you are claustrophobic, hate hills, or want to PR (too crowded). Do this race if you want a big fun party destination race. You will never get bored during this run. If you thrive on crowd support you will love this race. Because your name is on your bib people will cheer for you by name. I like races a little smaller and more personal but an upside to an overcrowded race is that there is no chance of getting lost. A big plus for me.

On the subject of smaller and more personal (Tim and Charlie are now facebook friends) races, we are doing a repeat Charlie Alewine race next week. My plan is to run as hard as I can and try to break 2:30, so there won’t be as many pictures. I’m hoping that writing this will motivate me to push harder when I want to quit. I hope I haven’t just jinxed myself.

Take that Michelob ULTRA

Only 9 more chances to make me happy by leaving a comment.

• May 23rd, 2015
• Fallbrook, California
• Avocado Half Marathon
• Sharon: 2:36:19
• Tim: 2:51:32

43 down only 9 to go.

Welcome to the final 10 countdown.

I’m a little worried about Tim. This is the third race in a row that his afib has slowed him down. I’m actually surprised that he ran at all because he was home from work sick for the 3 days leading up to this race. Monday he went to Urgent care and they gave him the Z-Pack.

Friday we drove to Fallbrook to pick up our packets and carb load at a Thai restaurant. Packet pickup was in a local brewery. It was quick but crowded.

Another early morning. At least the race was only an hour away.

Once this project is over I should burn this shirt

This race had some major water problems. It didn’t really affect me because I run with a handheld but after the race (in the forever bus line) I overheard quite a few complaints. First they ran out of cups. The volunteers did the best they could, even holding up giant jugs so people could cup their hands and get a drink. Then some of the aid stations ran out of water. They also ran out of water bottles at the finish. Oh dear. I think running out of water is the worst fail a race can have because it puts the runners health at risk.

The road at the start of the race was one of the most slanted we have run on. I hate slanted roads and tried to run in the middle. The run was pretty. Lots of trees and rural scenery. It was also very hilly. The race had two sections of out and back. Tim ran with me for a while so we were together on the first section. I got a high 5 from him on the second section out and back. I think this is the first time I have been ahead of him on the way back.

This guy ran 100 miles over the school year
(I thought he looked young to be an ultrarunner)

Towards the beginning of the race we had a cool encounter. A woman ran up to us and yelled, “Hey – 52 T-Shirts!”. I forget what race we first met her at but that was fun.

These 3 dancers were my favorite. They were singing and dancing their hearts out. On my way to the turnaround they were doing a rap and on my way back they were doing the hokey pokey.

You’re making me tired

I want to assure everyone that I am not a horrible wife who abandons Tim when he has an afib episode so I can beat him. We have talked about this and both of us agreed that it is best if we run our own races. When I stay with him during an afib I am a worrywart and drive him crazy asking if he is OK every 5 minutes. I’m more annoying than helpful. I know he knows how to take care of himself but I still fret.

This race ended with a long downhill. That’s my favorite way to end a race. Yay gravity.

There was a place close to the finish that had a good view of incoming runners. It’s not often that I get a chance to get a photo of Tim as he sprints the end of a race.

Here he comes

and he rounds the corner

Pretty sure he’s telling me to stop taking his photo

I usually don’t care that much about the medal but this one was impressive. Besides being a colored flag (memorial day) with an avocado, it was huge.

I’m thinking about turning my medal into a belt buckle

There was no problem getting the bus to the start but getting a bus back to the parking lot took a lot longer. The line snaked around the parking lot. We were waiting for a bus for about 45 minutes. We got a chance to talk to some of the people in the bus line. There was a lot of complaining.

Cons

• Ran out of cups at aid stations
• Music through speakers was all staticy
• Ran out of water at some aid stations
• Very slanted roads
• Long wait for bus back to car
• Volunteers yelling “last hill” when it wasn’t
• Ran out of after race bottles of water

Pros

• Scenic
• Great volunteers doing all they could for runners
• Downhill finish
• Huge cool medal
• Wearable tech shirt
• We got an avocado
• Bag check

I’m not sure I would know it was an avocado out of context

Oddly enough I really liked this race. It is only the second year and they definitely have some things to work out but everyone seemed to really care and that made all the difference. This race had a fun vibe even though so many things went wrong. I would mildly recommend it. I hope they get the water situation figured out next year. I think it had my favorite medal. If you do this race and you think you might be in the mid or back of the pack I recommend carrying your own water. Also be prepared for hills.

Fun fact: Fallbrook California is the avocado capital of the world.

 
Sharon’s Super Easy Guacamole
  1) Smoosh a ripe or overripe avocado with a fork
  2) Add your favorite salsa
  3) Mix
 

After

Only 10 more chances to leave a comment.

• May 16th, 2015
• Mojave, California
• Mojave Marathon
• Sharon: 2:59:00
• Tim: 3:00:00

Well I’m older now but still runnin’ against the wind
– Bob Seger
 

42 down only 10 to go.

Before I launch into this weeks windy race report I have some exciting news. Well it’s exciting news to me. And probably to Tim as well because I will be using his body for my homework. I’m starting massage school in July. This is something I have wanted to do for a while and will fit in nicely with my current skill set. “She has a skill set?”, you might be thinking. Yes, yes I do. I’m an ACE certified personal trainer, a certified Yoga instructor as well as a Reiki master. In Tucson, clients would sometimes ask me if I know a good massage therapist. Maybe next year I will actually start working again instead of spending all my time trying to beat the computer at Scrabble (expert level, thank you very much) and glaring at smokers on the promenade. I could offer personal training followed by a massage, packages. The message school is only 6 blocks from our apartment. It’s so nice to be back in civilization.

This race was in Mojave (4 hour drive) so we got a motel (Motel 6) Friday night. Thinking it would save time, I suggested that we eat at Del Taco. What is wrong with me? In my defense I have eaten at Del Taco before running in the past and been okay. Del Taco is my favorite fast food restaurant. I have discovered the common denominator in a fast food, bad tummy, run, is french fries. We have made a wise decision not to eat fast food before races anymore.

I was looking forward to this race because I love the desert but it had a few unexpected challenges. This race turned out to be harder than anticipated due to crazy wind. The first half of the race was run into a viscous headwind.

Just a bit of wind

This was a hard, dusty, dry, trail race on some annoying trails. The first trail was a jeep road which sounds great but was actually a weird rolling pitted surface. It took extra focus not to twist an ankle. This was my favorite part of the race because it looked so cool. We ran through a Joshua Tree/Windmill alien looking landscape. They sure had the windmills in the right place.

Joshua Tree, Windmill forest

I thought the course could have been better marked. At one intersection there were 3 possible routs and they had an arrow that appeared to me to be between 2 of the directions. I stopped to ponder this and took the path I thought I saw someone on in the distance. I ran for a while without seeing anyone or any markers. I was pretty sure I was going the wrong way (I wasn’t) so I ran back until I saw another woman. I ended up doing 13.8 not 13.1 miles. This section was next to the railroad tracks and was rocky. It was rocky and sandy.

In the distance I saw Tim. I was afraid that he was having an a-fib problem again but he wasn’t even walking. It looked like he was waiting for me. He was. There was a rattlesnake (in full rattlesnake mode) right next to the trail and Tim was worried about me because he knows how oblivious I can be towards the end of a race. My hero.

Look closely

While I was happy to see Tim, running with him can be a bit frustrating, especially towards the end of a race. If I’m running with someone I like to talk and run, Tim is a silent runner. I like to listen to my music for the last half of the race. After repeatedly trying to start a conversation I turned on my music. That always seems to be Tim’s cue to say something, so I turn off my music thinking we will have a conversation but no – he had only one sentence in him. This happened a couple of times. The last half of the race was run on a road. This intersection at least had volunteers to ask whether to take the road or trail.

Usually I have nothing but praise for the wonderful volunteers donating their time for runners but the volunteers at this race were a mixed bag. This race was a fund raider for the track team so a lot of the volunteers were students. There seemed to be no middle ground. About half of the volunteers were great and enthusiastic but the other half were teenagers who didn’t even pretend to want to be there. A note to race directors. Please do not force students to “volunteer”. Rude, sullen teenagers who make no secret that they resent having to do this does not make for a great race experience.

Because we were single file on the road I ended up jamming out to my music and pulling ahead of Tim. I didn’t realize that he was having an allergy problem. Tim is very allergic to the desert. [ I also had an a-fib issue the last few miles. – Tim ]

It was nice that they had an indoor hanger to sit in after the race but there were was a serious lack of food. They had sandwitches for sale ($7) that looked like they came from a gas station. Really – you need to feed runners after a race. Too rub it in they had free pizza for volunteers only so kids were sitting around eating pizza. We couldn’t get out of there soon enough.

Cons

• Crazy wind
• Hard to run on trail
• Some volunteers were so unhelpful they bordered on rude
• I thought the course was poorly marked (Tim thought it was OK)
• No food at the end unless you bought it
• No seconds on the timing (First time I have seen this)
• Cheap medal
• A general tired lame vibe

Pros

• Parking near start
• Day of race packet pickup
• Incredible views of windmills and Joshua Trees
• Many volunteers were eager and helpful
• Nice looking cotton t-shirt
• A jumping castle for kids

Sharon contemplates stealing pizza

I didn’t hate this race as much as this report would suggest but I don’t recommend it. I loved the views but overall this was a race that had too many negatives. There were just too many people who obviously didn’t want to be there or care. I got a real – lets get this over vibe. Even though they had a nice after race space it didn’t seem like anyone was hanging around. Still, running through Joshua trees and windmills is pretty cool. If you decide to do this race bring some food. And watch out for rattlesnakes.

There are no words to describe how much I love getting comments

• May 9th, 2015
• Long Beach, California
• Beachmania
• Sharon: 2:31:15
• Tim: 2:40:10

41 down only 11 to go.

I hope you are all sitting down for this next sentence. I won this race! This is the first time I have ever won a race. This is also the first time I have beaten Tim at a race (during this project). I also set a PR for this project. Unfortunately, I have to follow up my badass sentence, “I won this race” with the not so impressive details. This was the smallest HM we have ever done. There were only 4 people in this HM and 6 in the full marathon. So I beat Tim (who had to walk because of his afib) and 2 women who were running their first half. I’m still pleased with myself.

Last week I was so annoyed at missing my PR by seconds that the week leading up to this race I didn’t drink and the night before the race I made a yummy vegi curry. I never want to run on Jack in the Box fumes again. Charlie Alewine puts on small, low key events around the LA area. This is the second race of his that we have done. He is a great guy and within driving distance although we did have to get up at 3am. for the 6:30am. start.

I love flannel shirts (this is a new development)

At this race we met an amazing ultrarunner named Ed Ettinghausen, otherwise known as the Jester. At one point in time he had the record for the most marathons (135) in a year. He has the current record for the most 100 mile races in a year (40). Next weekend he is running his 100th 100 mile race! Even though it was next week he gave us a commerative wrist band. Thanks Ed.

Good luck on 100×100 – You’re awesome

He was a really nice guy and a great talker. He ran with me and Tim for the first half and with Tim for the second half. He was doing the full marathon, so this was just a short run for him. He was partially responsable for my PR because he ran just a bit faster than I usually would but he had such great stories and was so interesting to talk to that I didn’t want to let him get away.

Check out this guys story

This was the perfect race for me. The weather was cool and overcast. I find that I have a hard time running in direct sun. When I used to run in Tucson I thought 80° was perfect, now I prefer it around 60°. Most beaches, that have paths, have one multiuse path. This beach has a bike path and a pedestrian path for walkers and runners. The footpath had an elastopolymer base like a track. It was an amazing running surface. I was beyond impressed. There was a stunning ocean view as well as amusing people watching for this entire race. Charlie had an aid station set up at the start. This was an out and back course done twice for the HM so there was essentially only one aid station, however, the course had bathrooms and water fountains. Because I was talking with Ed the first loop went by really fast. The 3 of us pulled into the aid station. Ed hit the bathroom while Tim went to pay for parking. I filled my water bottle and took off because I was focused on getting a PR. I kept expecting them to catch me but they never did. I found out later that Tim had an afib episode and Ed walked with him, which I thought was really cool. I guess they had almost caught me when Tim’s heart started racing.

Not everything about this race was perfect. That would be boring. There was a bike race that started at 8am that morning. Because there are separate bike and running paths it wasn’t really a problem except at one intersection where I needed to cross and bikes just kept streaming past. I finally just went weaving around annoyed bikers. If I hadn’t I would have been standing there for 20 minutes.

I only stopped to walk once around mile 11, although I did stop for longer than I should have when I filled my water bottle at the aid station. I thought my distance was going to be a bit short but my Garmin hit 13.1 miles the exact moment I touched Charlies table.

Don’t I look proud

Cons

• Bike race made the road crossing dicey

Pros

• Fun, low key event
• Beautiful course
• Great to meet “the Jester”
• Reasonably priced
• Nice Shirt
• Nice medal (and trophy)
• Amazing running surface
• Free Photos

Smallest HM ever

I highly recommend checking out Charlie Alewine races, especially if you live in the LA area. All of his races are relatively inexpensive events with scenic courses, nice medals and a t-shirt without sponsor logos all over it. You might even win a trophy. Tim got 3rd place at the last race of his we did. We are having a hard time finding a race near us on the first week of June so I think we are going to this one again. The t-shirt isn’t even the same every time because he has different colors. Both times we have done a Charlie race the vibe has been great. He is a really nice guy putting on quality races every weekend.

See you next week

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