In 2008, I ran the last leg of a relay. In 2009, I did the whole thing myself. Last year I spectated. And this year I was the first relay leg!

My leg was the first 6 miles, and it’s rolling hills. It starts in Folsom and goes down Oak Avenue and turns on Fair Oaks Blvd. The next two legs are completely on Fair Oaks, which totally shuts the whole city’s street system down all morning. It’s quite the production. Here’s my Nike+ app screenshot of where I went:

I did okay. I took 3 walk breaks, planned. I’m still in that spot where it’s frustrating that what feels like “hard running” is so much slower than I used to be. But it was my strongest 6 miles since coming back from the back injury, an average 11:15 pace, so I did pretty well.

Nicole freaking ROCKED it. She had the longest section, the hilliest section, didn’t take any walk breaks, and averaged 10:39 pace. Amazing. Amanda also did great in her 7 miles, averaging a little slower than Nicole. Then Carol ran 8 minute miles or faster to the finish. Ha.

Our final time was 4:36 — a smoking marathon time to me! It’s about a 10:30 average pace — obviously Carol skewed that for us. Hahahah.

(Nicole, Me, Carol, and Amanda)

Apparently I only post when there’s a race report to give. But never fear — next up is the Oakland Half Marathon!

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And while I’m making this mini reappearance on the blogosphere, I’d like to mention that I REALLY want to win Kim’s fashion giveaway because I love that stuff! I can see those earrings going with half of my work outfits! ::fingers crossed::

But what did I do today?

Ran the Nike Women’s Half Marathon, of course.

There was no way I was missing it. Even having to walk more than normal wasn’t going to stop me. It took me three denied lottery entries and three years before finally scoring this entry, and there was no way in hell I was missing the race. Plus I was already registered and my name was on the wall..

And just as any run goes where it’s just about finishing and enjoying the experience and not the finisher’s time, a tutu was necessary:

(Dawn, Leslie, Me, Nicole, and Ashley at about 6 am)

We got to the start line:

And we were finally off and running at 7 am. We crossed about 12 minutes after the start. Nicole and I started with the above girls in the 11:00-12:59 corral, nice and slow. Unfortunately for the faster corrals, it seems they let our slow corral across the start line before the 9:00 and 10:00 groups left. They had to dodge slower runners/walkers a lot more than normal, which totally sucks. HOWEVER, it made it kind of awesome for Nicole and I because that meant our faster running group friends all passed us during the race and we got to see everyone! We even stopped for photos:

But it was very painful and hard for me. My back hurt, yes. Some motrin did help with that, and I was pulling my core in really tight to support my back the whole time. But it was also the deconditioning that had happened from not running all those weeks where my back was injured – muscle fatigue set in worse than anything else by the end. When I was running, it was technically still running, but at something like a 13:00 pace. It was kind of pathetic.

My final time was 3:08:00 — that is FIFTY ONE MINUTES slower than my half marathon PR. Yikes!

But look what I got at the finish:

ooooh… what could be in that little blue box?

That is some pretty bling. ♥

Overall though…I’m not sure I’d do this race again. I love the hype and the message, and of course the necklace, and I’m glad I finally got to do it. But it was SO crowded, SO hilly, So complicated to navigate race start/end, SO expensive….for me it might just be a once in a lifetime thing. I think I want to experience difference courses and different cities. Which is what Nicole and I plan to do next year – train together and pick out some half marathons we’ve never done. Sounds like a plan.

But the plan now is to keep going to the chiropractor, keep doing yoga and core strength, and back the running off to 3-6 miles only. Next race is the CIM relay on Dec 4th – my leg is 6 miles. Bring it.

I RUN TO BE….HAPPY.

Oh, and my fabulous running partners (who ALL finished before me – at least I was with them at the halfway point!)

Afterwards we went to yoga and just laid in the hot room and did moves that stretched us and ignored the hard moves. Hahah. Even doing just that was hard but I’m glad we did it – I should be less stiff tomorrow. Hopefully.

Last week’s 10 miler was awesome, so I think that means that next week’s 12 will be too.

Naptime.

This awesome rainbow was totally unplanned.

4 of us are coaches – Me, Nicole (orange), Christa (blue) and Julia (purple). When Rachel (green) got to the track we had a good laugh and said we just needed a yellow. Then Karina showed up a few minutes late in a yellow tank top to complete the rainbow! We were like, we HAVE to get a photo of this awesomeness.

Fleet Feet always makes running fun.

Step 1: pick a beautiful country road

Step 2: add in friends

Mix well.

Mondays are my rest days. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday I did my weekday runs (one being a track workout). Wednesday night and Friday morning I did hot yoga. Friday night I also tried rock climbing for the first time:

But if all of THAT wasn’t enough…today I did almost FIVE hours of exercise. First was our long run – 8 miles (it took me 1:40:00). Then a much needed latte and a bagel with peanut butter for some replenishment before round two.

This was the special yoga workshop that followed after about an hour break:

It was fantastic! And hot and sweaty and full of love. And it actually went a bit long…. 10:00 to 1:00! Yep, three solid hours of yoga.

So now all that is on the agenda is FOOD. Glorious, glorious food. I have some activity points to eat.

I had no idea this photo was being taken! One of the other coaches brought a camera to last week’s track practice and snapped me and Nicole goofing around during warm up. (I’m in the pink, she’s in the orange)

Tomorrow night we’re doing a pyramid workout: 400 – 600 – 800 – 600 – 400 with easy laps in between. I’m ready for it!

Running is still going well! 7 miles down yesterday. They felt a little tougher than last week, but the 5 hours sleep I got the night before probably didn’t help a whole lot. Still, it was steady running at a 12:15 pace and we finished strong.

Next week we’re up to 8, and me and my mini group that I’m coaching are going to switch to 9/1 intervals to make sure we hydrate and stay strong throughout.

Here’s how I know. Last week, we did a 6 mile run. Then on Thursday night we did a track workout (my first in…I don’t even know. Probably in 2011. I can’t find an actual speed workout done on the track in my blog in 2010, either. Whoa.) And then today we did another 6 mile run – the same route, in fact.

Thursday night — we did a mile warm up, 2 x 800, mile cool down. The two 800′s were 4:38 and 4:42 (9:00 and 9:13 avg pace, respectfully). I’m actually quite impressed with that. Because, the last time I did speedwork (on the road, last Feb), my FASTEST one was 4:53 (9:41 pace). Interesting.

And this is the 6 mile run we did twice. From the store to the lagoon and back. A great route, mostly flat with one freeway overpass and one water tower hill of death.

Last Sunday: average pace 12:29. walk breaks (according to the graph): 10. Difficulty: medium hard.

Today: average pace 11:45. walk breaks: none officially, but I did pause the watch at the halfway point to take a gu. Difficulty: medium.

It felt easier, I felt stronger, and it was at a significantly faster pace than last week. And that makes me a happy, happy Holly.

P.S. and the hip is hanging in there. It talks a little, but yoga and stretching are keeping it at bay.

Top secret though: my hip is starting to hurt a little bit. I’m icing! and yoga-ing! Hopefully I can nip this one in the bud.