Oh gosh, I've been absent from this blog for almost a year now! Time to change that! I've been reading up other runner blogs lately and am feeling inspired by everyone who is out there training and working hard to reach their goals right now.
I don't even know where to begin though! So many things have happened since my last post. Let's recap.
May 2010:
I ran the OC Marathon and got my sub-four PR of 3:53...Yay! Best race ever!
June 2010:
I didn't post about it but I ran the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll marathon in 4:06...not a PR but I was feeling kind of burnt out and the heat definitely got to me during the last 6 miles. But the great thing about completing this race was that I became a MARATHON MANIAC! Woohoo!
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| Here is my baby Render modeling on top of my MM singlet :) |
Before San Diego RnR I told myself I would take a little break after because my body was feeling pretty tired. But then the marathon bug bit again immediately after and a group of us decided we would start rigorous training for the Camarillo marathon in October in order to attempt a BQ. So the workouts got more intense and the heat in California more and more unbearable :/
July 2010:
July actually started with my highest weekly mileage ever! 46 miles! But then quickly after I felt pretty burnt out and started experiencing shin splints which mega sucked. I took a couple of weeks off after than then resumed my training in August.
August 2010:
I struggled with dealing with shin splints and the heat and working crazy hours at night again when I returned to regular work.
September 2010:
I had pretty much given up on the training plan and my hopes for BQ'ing in October. At this point I was just trying to remain fit enough to be able to do the marathon in October and also complete my part of the mileage for Ragnar Las Vegas which my friends and I were going to be doing as an ULTRA team! The shins were still bad and my left knee started to give me problems around this time. I felt like such a letdown but tried to push forward.
October 2010:
CAMARILLO MARATHON
I knew I wasn't prepared to run a marathon on Oct. 3rd but I just could not see myself backing out :/ I felt like I would've felt like a failure if I did. I had never backed out or given up on a race before (even though there were plenty of times when I wanted to!) So I lined up at the starting line, unprepared, with bad shins and a funky knee...I ran with my friends Jen and Augi (2 of my Ragnar teammates) for the first 8 miles then told them to go ahead because my knee was beginning to act up. The rest of the race was miserable. I was pretty much alone on a boring race course where we ran through mostly deserted farmlands. I started walking pretty much at mile 15 and the last 10 miles were super painful and frustrating. It took everything I had mentally to not give up but I still felt defeated. I crossed the finish line in 4:45, a personal worst since I started marathoning again. But at least I finished it...and that was all I wanted to do.
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| Trying to smile for the camera even though I pretty much felt like hell and started cursing as soon as I turned the corner away from my friend Tracy who was taking the picture. lol |
Unfortunately, due to my bad knee and bad shins and having to run on the side of the road for the whole race on a slanted slope, I ended up overcompensating and injuring my right knee during this race. :/
RAGNAR RELAY LAS VEGAS ULTRA
6 of us from the SoCal Ragnar team got together sometime during the summer and decided we were going to do Ragnar Las Vegas as an ultra team. We were all positive we would be able to do it. We were doing it for fun anyway and not to break any records.
After Camarillo, my right knee was pretty messed up. The pain was on the outside of the knee cap and it was excruciating so that when it began to hurt I pretty much had to stop running right then and there. So I took a couple of weeks off to see if it would heal after the marathon but Ragnar was 3 weeks later! I only did a few short runs to test it out in between races. And going into Ragnar, I knew I wasn't 100% but I figured if I just ran slow and took walk breaks during the steep hills that I'd be okay. I wanted to finish this race so damn much...
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| After completing my first leg of 16 miles |
I ran my first 16 mile leg slow but the knee held up. But as a team we began to fall behind on the allotted time we were given due to some unfortunate circumstances. My knee gave up during my night leg and I could not run. We tried to push forward in a mad dash to try to not fall behind the clean up crew but we ended up calling it quits at around 4am :/ Halfway into the 200 mile race :( Not gonna lie, I hated this...I would've liked to walk or crawled or whatever and not DNF but it was a team race and the majority vote was to DNF. It was the right choice to make since were behind and we had multiple injured runners and still had a long way to go :/ ...but I felt so disappointed because I felt like I had let down my team and it was my first DNF ever :(
November and December 2010:
These two months were mostly spent taking time off to let the knee heal. I tried several times to run with a knee brace but it is so annoying. Not a great way to finish off a year which started off so great but at least I was very grateful to have made so many runner friends during the year. They really changed my life!
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| Janel, her bf, Dominic, Me, and Tracy at San Diego RnR |
