Erin Go Run

It’s a hard thing to get over. I went along as if everything would go smoothly. I didn’t plan ahead and I waited until the last minute to try and make it work. Many would say it’s my fault. But when I look back and think about the bib number that was supposed to be mine, I just feel empty and a large void in my heart fills with bitterness. Racing is that one relationship that you have where everything is somewhere between a happy comfortable and an obligatory love. On a day to day basis, you look ahead to the race with an eagerness to build as much strength and confidence in it, but once the process of going through it gets underway you begin to learn about those nagging little details that make it a little tough to handle at times.

I’ve never missed a road race that I signed up for. I’ve shown up slightly buzzed, with little or no sleep, and even found myself in a port-o-potty when the gun went off in more than one instance. But I’ve never missed a race, let alone made a decision not to go… until Seattle. And not running it feels like a bad breakup. Seeing results, reading blogs, and hearing about it ignite a deep tearing feeling deep in my gut making me angry at the world but even more at myself for effing it up and not putting more effort into it.

And then I begin to feel regret. If I had done just one thing different; purchased a plane ticket further than one week in advance, I might have had a better shot at going. And I can’t forget about the void that I had to try and fill all weekend; which failed miserably. I tried to go out and run a long 17 mile run to try and mimic the pain of the race, but instead I lied in bed and felt bad for myself. Finally, to make it all worse, I looked up the results of the race and saw that I might have placed in the top 25 females (assuming I at least tied my previous marathon time). If that wasn’t “just kick you in the crotch, spit on your neck fantastic,” I don’t know what is.

Today is Bike to work day, so being the athlete that I am (the kind looking for attention from others) I took the challenge to bike from Pacific Beach to Carlsbad; basically a 30 mile bike ride. The problem is, I had already committed to meet a friend to run in Carlsbad at 7:15am. In other words, it required me leaving by 5:15 if I had any chance of making it in time (I usually allow for the time I waste being paranoid about my tires and the times I stop to pump them up just in case). Leaving in the vicinity of on time, I started the trek to work (or to meet up for the run). Not within 1 mile from my house I flew down a hill without brakes and nearly lost my bike and life. Luckily I only lost my water bottle. I had to contemplate if I should continue risking my life or not. But my dedication to running forced me to tread on.

The bike ride was smooth. I only stopped for tire paranoia one time. The other many stops I had to take were to text back and forth between co workers and boyfriends trying to figure out a way to get a co worker a ride. Texting my co worker that I might be late for the run, he texts back that his car broke down and he won’t make it. So begins the back and forth calling and texting trying to set him up with a ride, meanwhile trying to get a hold of another co worker that will be riding in to work with me. Needless to say, it was a stop and go ride. All this after a night in LA, and only a couple hours of sleep; boy what a morning. My biggest fear of the morning was getting to work in one piece. Now that I am here, I can worry about the conversations that might have taken place between boyfriend and co worker.

After running the Carlsbad 5000 and doing a fairly decent job at it, I have rekindled a motivation for some shorter distance races. I finished the 5K in 20:02, almost breaking into the 19’s (which hasn’t happened since college).

That being said, my slight cockiness has driven me to sign up for the following races:

Run Through the Vineyards- May 9, 2009 Temecula, CA

San Diego Rock and Roll (Relay)- May 31, 2009 San Diego, CA

Camp Pendleton Mud Run- June 6, 2009 Oceanside, CA

Updates on performance will follow. It’s nice to know that I am running comparable times to my high school and college days, all with a few more pounds and a full-time job to add to it. But then again, damn it, Erin, what were you doing in college? Breaking out of my schnide (pronounce sh-nied) up to this point I imagine.

I am currently watching the Boston Marathon via the web (these are the times that I thank our technological advances). The men have split up and the lead women are still in a tight pack of about 7 women. With only miles to go, the women are at 2:19 and the men at 1:51. This is indeed a very fast race and exciting to watch. Missing the opportunity to sign up in time, I have to resort to living vicariously through the race. Thanks to Universal Sports, I am able to sit at work and still feel the nervousness and the adrenaline of these runners.

Ryan Hall, my former love (current eye candy), is holding up well. He held the lead for a good portion of the race, and though the lead pack got ahead, he was within eye shot of the leader, and gaining ground. He’s always been an amazing runner, ever since the days in High School when he sweat on me when breaking 9 minutes in the two mile.

As they passed Fenway Park and headed for the finish, the women took it down to the very last step. Passing Kara Goucher, Dire Tune and Salina Kosgei took turns passing one another until Salina gave one last push to win by a step. Dire Tune fell to the ground, hopefully she is doing well, and Kara Goucher finished in tears, and rightfully so. She held her ground for most of the race. For the men, it was decided about miles from the finish. Deriba Merga took the win in 2:08, with Ryan Hall within a minute from him finishing in 2:09. What a great race.

A little closer to home, my good friend and former USD teammate, Jessica Karlsson, finished the race in 3:27:47. She ran a sub-8 minute pace (7:56)! Her Husband, Andreas ran a 2:55:15, at a 6:41 pace! Great job guys!  What a day!

Sometimes getting into running can be hard. Often times when I try to coerce friends and colleagues into running with me, I get the “I can’t run more than a mile,” “I only run from the cops,” and the best one, “I don’t run for fun” at which point I call it their loss and go running.

This last week hasn’t been my proudest as far as building miles up. Battling with a knee possibly injury, I have opted to swim all week in order to save a useless trip to the doctor who will inevitably tell me to rest my knee and try swimming.

Because I am not running, it seems natural that my motivation would take it pretty hard. That was, until I came across this blog: Run Lindsay, Run. This is a blog about a girl who admits to being a couch potato and is determined to run an 18 mile race in October. It’s the triumphs in others that make me proud to be the runner I am. As far as not running, I’ll just have to wait it out and keep swimming.

Follow Lindsay’s blog and help her to succeed in the race.

After taking some blogging time off in the last couple of months, I am happy to report my return to Erin Go Run. Luckily, its just blogging that I’ve been lazy on. As for training, I have been running through the usual aches and pains, an injury or two, the rain, January San Diego heat, and taken up several extra-curricular activities to add some variety to my life.

I am also proud to report that I have taken up coaching in the smallest degree, helping my roommates train for the upcoming Mud Run this June. I haven’t been as stringent on the 6am wake up calls as of yet, but that is soon to start once I can get myself out of bed.

As for now, I am possibly going to run a half marathon this Sunday and a 5k in April. I suppose spontaneity is my goal as far as races this year; save for the Seattle Marathon I am already signed up for in late June.

Finally, as a quick update, I am looking to head to graduate school this fall, and most likely in a location that doesn’t have the same winters as San Diego. Therefore, I am looking for any type of advice on how to dress, how to stay motivated, and how to survive in winter weather while still keeping up with my intense running schedule. Which brings me to this post at Team Cross Runs. This post discusses how to survive a run in -21 degree weather…

… Sounds brutal.

I got this Brooks running video sent to me and wanted to share it with everyone. For every view these videos get, five cents is donated to Breast cancer research.

Do your part! Watch these videos.

Happy Halloween!!

Fumi, Foozeball player; Me, Erin eSurance; Eric, Scooby Doo

My running, like my blogging, has been down lately. In my attempt to find an excuse that explains the rut I have gotten into, I have only to blame myself. But at the end of the day, running is a roller coaster; you’ll get into and out of ruts, just like everything else in life. Shit happens. But just to give you a rundown of the excuses I have run (no pun intended) through, I hope that you will take these into consideration should you ever find yourself making the same excuses… (more…)

The day Faith Lighty signed up for team in training, vouching to raise money for the opportunity to change thousands of lives, she was making a commitment to help many people. Little did she know that in doing so, she would be facing one of the biggest changes of all- her own life. In just a few days, she will be participating in a triathlon that she not only trained for from scratch, but is also joining the thousands of people that are determined to find a cure for Leukemia. The participants fundraise in the months leading up to the race and make tens of thousands of dollars that will help the research to find a cure for several diseases and cancers. Thinking about it, this is helping many, many lives. But while the money will help to change the lives of those with Leukemia, I can’t help but think about the participants of the race, like Faith Lighty, that have come just as far in their training to make a difference in their own life.   

At day one, Faith couldn’t run more than just a couple of miles at a time. Having to walk (and sometimes sleep) she managed to work her way up into triathlete status. In four months, she worked hard, endured many aches and pains and has already completed in a couple of triathlons. It takes more than just practice to face up to a challenge like this. With determination and a promise, these few months have given Faith the chance to prove to herself that hard work pays off. And while she works day in and day out to help a good cause, she is taking one healthy step at a time towards reaching the change and accomplishment of a lifetime.

Thanks to people like Faith and those that participate in Team in Training, we have something to aspire to: determined athletes out to make change possible.  

Stay tuned to find out how Faith Lighty does this weekend in her triathlon!