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.
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!
“This is where people bring their out of town friends when it’s too cloudy for the beach.” The view from the top of Mt Soledad is one that is meant to be enjoyed by out of town friends and locals alike. The hardest part is running there and even more so, running back down from the mountain.
I went running with an ex-teammate, current friend, from my new place in Pacific Beach up to the Cross (that is still there). The run up to the mountain was a tough one, but an enjoyable one that might become a regular run for me. There were a few things that I had to keep in mind running with Dennis that would keep the stereotypes out of his head and the jokes from flying about after the run. It is kind of like when a girl plays basketball with the guys, she has to learn to catch the ball and not duck from it, run around the court instead of standing under the basket, and most importantly she has to make a basket when completely open (this does allow for two handed throws and granny shots). Likewise in running, the girl has to learn to not talk the entire run and she has to push on hills and not stop to walk when she gets a side stitch… more about this later.
We started up the hill and kept a good pace. The first couple of minutes I tried to chat a little bit, asking what he did the previous night, etc… and quickly shut the hell up when I remembered all of the stereotype jokes that were told about running with girls from back in the college days. So we went up the hill, steady pace. I weakened a little bit when we passed the location that I thought was the Cross. After making it up the hill to the top of Soledad, I immediately took to the view and swallowed my pride of being a girl and asked to walk around the hill to take in the view (of course I got the stereotypical male sigh that screams “oh, girls…” with rolling eyes). Anyone who is anyone that lives or has stepped foot in San Diego should at one point in their lives take in the view from the mountain. If you can’t run there, driving is acceptable. There are many views of every part of San Diego to enjoy. Dennis and I took the lap, enjoyed the view, and started down the hill again….
… cue side stitch.
In a nutshell, it was much more painful to run down the hill than up it. Whether I changed my stride, was breathing irregularly from the stop and go, or couldn’t control my breathing cause I couldn’t talk, my side cramped up so tightly that I began running as if I had a monkey on my back (in high school it would have been known as a bear). Somehow I made it down the hill and got to enjoy the aftermath of a great run.
I took the office (save for the smokers and salespeople) on a run today at the beach. It was a great experience and one worth blogging about. There were some that went out too fast, some that had to walk… But in the end, Team eVisibility did a run-and succeeded.
The preparation was alot of fun. Everyone heard someone else was going running and decided to join. Hearing how many people were coming got me pumped to run. We got to the beach and had a few moments to stretch…..
… and then we were off!
We ran together, single file when necessary, and watched Alex take the lead. Maybe it was the excitement to be away from his PPC’ing or just to be close to the waves; wonder how long this would last….
Running along our merry way, we all got a great view of the ocean, the sunny blue skies, and of the French man running (we-we- ze French can run- huh ho)…
Of course, in my excitement, I was running in and out of everyone, speeding up to take pictures, laughing at people’s strides, and encouraging all of the brave souls that were out there with me….
The regulars that run with me every Monday were having just as much fun, maybe even showing off a little Wearing muscle shirts and even taking them off…..
At the end of the run, the regulars had sprinted to the end, the brave were picked up, and salad was eaten. To Team eVisibility- Alex, Ricardo, George, Said, Tyler, and Mia: You have made my day and helped me get one step closer to getting the entire office into the running addiction I call health…..
…smokers, you are next!
