More Wholesome

That awesome, awesome day when you start working at a company you really, really like.

Now to make sure this temp job goes permanent!

Ack. Only a month later. Have only gone running once since this race. Yikes. 

But for now, let me just congratulate myself on finishing my first half marathon! 

Forgot to un-pause my watch after a porta-potty break around mile 6, and because of said break there is a huge discrepancy in the official results but they came in as follows:

Time: 2:38:26

Pace:  12:06

Place Overall: 7662 / 11071  (69%)

Place for Age Division: 784 / 1109 (71%)

Place for Gender: 4324 / 6946 (62%)

Things I was unprepared for: 

1. LONG ASS CORRAL WAIT. I went pee thirty minutes before the start time but didn’t account for the additional 45 minutes I’d be waiting in my starting corral. For shorter races there have always been less groupings and time in between so I kept thinking I’d run out of time or not be able to find my friend if I went again, but it just meant by the time I started running I already had to pee.

2. HYDRATION. I was running with a much more experienced friend who advocated waiting till we were at least at the halfway point before stopping for water or to pee. This sounded like a good idea but ultimately, I wish I had stopped for water earlier or brought my dorky belt. The BIGGEST issue was that there were no water stations between Mile 8 - 11 which seemed like a cruel, cruel joke -- especially given that the course for those miles consisted of ugly sun-parched freeway stretches. 

3. NUTRITION. A banana for breakfast was not enough. Next time, peanut butter toast for sure. 

4. MENTAL. Something I hadn’t really anticipated being tricky at all was doing my longest run with a friend. Don’t get me wrong. It was incredible to have one of my best friends cheering me on the whole way. She is a queen among queens and even though she could have done the race in half the time, she stuck to my pace, talked me through it, walked with me when I thought I was going to cry, and even ran ahead to the next water station when I started to lose my shit at Mile 11. Hero status. Still, I have spent the last year running solo. My inner dialogue is essential to my running experience. Yes, that sounds a bit lofty and self-centered but as a person who consistently finds reasons to feel guilty in my day-to-day life, I’ve learned to love running as a time when the quietness between myself and the road teaches me to push through the hard stuff with self-encouragement. While having a friend’s encouragement was a very welcome addition to my race, I hadn’t accounted for the reality that it might imbibe my own inner dialogue of “I am awesome. I can do this.” 

Looking ahead:

I’m continuing with my goal of running a race every month this year. Next up is a 5k in my new home base of Los Angeles. I’m going to stick with short distances for at least this month and August as I’ve become pretty out of shape since the half. 

STRENGTH TRAINING. I was super bummed that my knee was giving me grief two weeks before the race. It felt fine the day of (THANK YOU KT TAPE!) but I’d like to not have weak muscles and injury be such a fear and that means getting strong and being vigilant about those squats and sit-ups. 

TRAIL RUNNING AND RACES. There was a really pretty stretch of this race along the water in Seattle that made me feel like I could keep going all day. The long stretches of freeway? Not so much. While I am stoked to be living in a big, bad city once again -- I suspect my running life would benefit from sticking to the trails. Easier on the joints and a better view to push you through. This fall I want to prioritize racing trails over roads. 

GROUP TRAINING. I definitely want to find a way to marry the encouragement and company of others with my own inner dialogue and autonomy as a runner. There’s a few trail running groups I’m looking at in LA and I think it’d be a great way to try new spots, get to know people, while moving towards my individual goals of kicking ass in the dirt. 

There are many things to discuss. Since I last posted I have completed my first half marathon (!!!) and am at this very minute in the process of moving from Portland to Los Angeles. Goodbye trees, hello pavement. Looking forward to running you ragged, LA. 

But, but, but… Before I get into all that good stuff I just wanted to make sure I put a post up to encourage you all to support this Kickstarter page for the Robin Arzon documentary by Tara Darby, Run It Out. 

(Photo: shutupandrun.tumblr.com)

If you don’t know who she is already, you might start with this Rich Roll podcast episode, where I first heard about her. The girl is mad cool, mad tough, and really makes me appreciate the grit in life. Dig deep people. In your spirits, in your runs, and maybe in your pockets this week so we can all dig this awesome documentary together.