Guest Blogger Goes Goofy

This is on my list of "must-do-races" and I'm hoping to run it in 2013… but for now, let's all live… er, run, vicariously through our guest blogger, @liz_smc.

If you are unfamiliar with the Goofy Challenge, here is a Brief Description:
Are you looking for the ultimate test of endurance? Then compete in Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge where you will run the Disney World Half Marathon on Saturday and then the Disney World Marathon on Sunday. If you finish both races in the time limit, you will be awarded the coveted Goofy medal.

Goofy and a half challenge plus another half Challenge

18 years ago as a very “know it all” teen I remember my mom and her friends running the Disney marathon. I also remember saying to them, hours after they had finished and were sore and beat up , "I am never going to run a marathon! Why would you put yourselves through this?” And here I am almost 20 years later running the Goofy Challenge and 6 days after that The AZ RnR half marathon.

I am not sure what possessed me to try a Goofy challenge. I have run quite a few half marathons but only two successful marathons up until the Goofy. I also managed to convince one friend to join me in this adventure. Two more friends ran the half marathon portion and another two ran the full marathon. Let me make it clear for those that don’t know me, I love Disney. So it seemed like a great idea to run a Goofy and go to all of the parks in the same weekend.

I must admit that getting up at 3 AM two days in a row was not fun. I also made certain I was on the very last shuttle to the starting line (4AM) both days. I learned from my 2010 experience not to get there too early especially if its cold. Although nothing like the sleet and wind of 2010, it was still cold this year. My strategy for the Goofy was to just do an easy run for the half in order to save my legs for the marathon. Since my friends and I all lived around the country, I decided I would start in their coral G versus my Coral C so I could hang with them and not take off too fast. This was a very bad decision on my part. I failed to realize how many non-runners actually participate in the half marathon. From the beginning it was elbow- to- elbow people and a lot of the time 5 people across walking! Needless to say I was very frustrated. The course itself for the half is very narrow. I don’t remember it being that narrow previously. So in order for me to actually jog (no chance of running at this point) I had to try and get to the outside of the pack which meant running on an incline in the dark with risk of twisting an ankle or falling. And it never opened up. I kept thinking, “ok, by mile 6 all these runners and walkers will spread out.” Nope. I still had fun. I still stopped for an occasional photo (not too many since I figured I could get some the next day). And after I finished in a record slow pace I quickly got back to my room and then hit the parks.

The Marathon portion was by far the better of the two races. It was not wall -to -wall people like the previous day. And it covered all 4 parks. I called it my back lot tour with no shuttle service. The only problem was that I got sick the previous night. At first I thought it was nerves. But when I spiked a fever I knew it was not going to be pretty. I didn’t tell my friends how sick I was. I went to the start shivering, nauseated and running a low- grade fever. By mile 9 my friend Diann looks over at me and says, “Are you ok Liz? You look awful.” At that point I fessed up. She replied “ no problem, we will just walk it in if we have to”. I responded, “How about we stop for every photo op and we run /walk?” So that was our plan. I have some great pictures. I had a lot of fun chatting with the other runners on the course and I finished. By mile 18 my fever had broke. I knew because I got my appetite back . I was starving. Thankfully a nice spectator was passing out pretzels right around mile 20. I managed to run the last 4 miles in with strong legs. And I can proudly say I finished a Goofy.

For those considering the half versus full , I would say run the full. Do not waste your money on the half marathon. It is just too crowded. But if you’re going to run the full you might as well go for a “Goofy.” It is well worth the sense of accomplishment you’ll have at the finish line. Oh, and the medals (all 3) are super cool. If you’re feeling overly ambitious then run the 5k on Friday and do an unofficial “Dopey.” Or be like me, and 6 days later, run another half marathon. I was not happy about being sick with the flu (yes that’s what I had) but it made my accomplishment that much sweeter. It also forced me to rest and that’s probably why I was able to run my fastest half marathon the following weekend. (that's right, she PR'd six days later at RnRAZ)

Next year is the 20th anniversary of the Walt Disney Marathon. I am hoping to make it back there to run. Only my goal is to help my mom participate in it. If you have read any of my previous guest blogs you will know she has dense hemiparesis (left sided paralysis) from a debilitating stroke. So if you see a “Goofy” girl running and pushing a wheelchair at the same time in 2013 chances are it’ll be me.

* * * * *

Thanks Liz. Excellent job on a back-to-back fabulous weekends. Feel free to give Liz a shout out in the comments below… she ran a full marathon and 2 halfs in 2 weeks with the final race a PR.

STELLAR!

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Oakland Marathon Giveaway Results

I'd like to thank everyone for participating in the Oakland Marathon giveaway. I'd also like to thank the race for offering not one, but two entries for the community.

Overall we had almost 146 entries spread out among almost 25 runners. Everyone deserved to win, but unfortunately, there could only be two. I listed all the entries on an excel spreadsheet and labeled each entry, wether it was a follow, a tweet, or a comment. Then through a random number generator, the winners were selected.


Congratulations Paulette, @paulettezf, you won the first entry.


Paulette also can be found through her blog at: SoJustKeepRunning.blogspot.com


Also, congratulations to Beth, @Boston2Berkeley, you won the second entry.


Beth can also be found through her blog at: boston2berkeley.wordpress.com

I'll be reaching out to you both via twitter and give you further instructions on claiming your prize.

As for all the other entrants, thank you again. I'm working with the Oakland Marathon to make sure that you don't go away empty handed. Please keep an eye on your twitter DM inbox, or FB message board for additional information.

I'm hoping to see you all out there on race weekend March 24-25, 2012. I know plenty of people that will also be running the event and there has been discussions of a massive tweetup happening, so stay tuned.

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Dear 1:55

Dear 1:55

I honestly didn't think I would be writing this letter so soon. It was just a few months ago in San Jose that I met your older sister 1:59. She was incredible, but sadly, the time to move on came rather quickly and unexpected.

It came out of nowhere and I'm going to be 100% honest with you... I've been flirting with you for some time on my training runs and I keep finding myself drawn towards you.

I have a race this weekend. The Walnut Creek Half Marathon and I'm anxiously waiting for the opportunity to meet you. I'm going to do my best to make your acquaintance this Saturday. My race plan is to maintain 8.5 min miles, which would draw me towards your much younger sister 1:51, but with some pretty significant elevation changes I'm factoring in four 9+ minute miles.

I'm not going to lie to you. If I have the opportunity to trim those 9+ minute miles, or find myself flying at low 8 minute miles, I may have to introduce myself to 1:53. It's the reality of the situation and I wouldn't be true to myself if I didn't say I was intrigued by that challenge.

But 1:55, I am looking forward to looking at my garmin and seeing your beautiful face. If you wait for me at the finish line, I'll do my best to get to you as quickly as possible.

See you soon?

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Win an entry to the Oakland Running Festival

What are you doing on March 25, 2012? Wanna experience the Oakland Running Festival?

I came across the Oakland Running Festival in 09, its inaugural year and the return of a full marathon to Oakland in 25 years. Compared to other Bay Area events the distances may be the same, the runners may also be the same, but what makes the Oakland Running Festival unique is the community and fans along the course. With a 97% saying they would recommend the race to a friend (from post-race surveys) there is clearly something going on with this growing event.

When I run other events I always notice people along the course cheering on specific runners: "Go Suzy!" or "Go Team in Training!" Such signs are popular and motivating. But what I noticed the past 2 years in Oakland is that although there are similar signs, there are also members of the community that aren't cheering on "specific" runners. Rather they are cheering on everyone. They are cheering for the city and happy to see thousands of people participating. It's people stepping out of their homes and business and clapping, simply because they were moved to do so.


The race has sold out each year in its existence, but I've squared away two complimentary entries for the 2012 (Full or Half Marathon) and want to share them with you! I'm running the event again and want YOU to join me!

I'll draw two names at random on December 15 at noon (PST). That gives you two weeks to enter. Here are several ways to throw your name in the proverbial hat:

1. Follow my blog. 1 entry per person


2. Follow @PavementRunner on twitter and/or "friend request" on FB. 1 entry per person — (let me know you've done this or already do this in the comments)


3. Follow @OaklandMarathon on twitter and/or "Like" on FB. 1 entry per person — (let me know you've done this or already do this in the comments)


4. Tweet out this contest (tagging @PavementRunner and @OaklandMarathon) and/or share on FB — tweet/share buttons at end of post. 1 entry per person — (let me know you've done this or already do this in the comments)


5. Leave a comment below telling me "Why you think you should win the entry." Also, if you've done any of the ABOVE, let me know here as well. This is the easiest way for me to keep a reliable count. 1 entry per person

That's a total of 5 entries per person, but here is the bonus part:

BONUS: Each day you can send out a tweet (tagging @PavementRunner and @OaklandMarathon) about anything. (Running related is encouraged. Negative tweets disqualify you entirely. Sorry, I am judge and jury on this.)

That's up to 15 additional entries. 1 per day, per person will be counted. If you @tag me, I'll see it, so no need to notify me on these daily tweets through the comments. Sorry, this *bonus* is a twitter only opportunity.

That's it! If you do it right, you can enter the contest 20 times. Wowzers. Good luck everyone. Any questions, let me know.

The entry forms will be mailed to the winners to be filled out and returned to the Oakland Marathon. Postage and a return envelope will be provided to each winner. Travel and hotel expenses will not be provided to or from the event. The entries can be transferred PRIOR to filling out the entry form. Once the form has been mailed to the Oakland Running Festival, all information is final. Entries must be filled out and received by the Oakland Marathon prior to 1/15/2012.

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Last Chance to Order

First off, I want to thank all of you for putting up with my tweets and Facebook posts about these shirts. I've had a lot of orders, which is fantastic. To be honest, I'm just real excited about making running shirts. I'm a graphic and web designer, so excuse the inner nerd.

Note: If you would like a cotton version, please let me know. They are not available on the store, but I can order you one for $15 (regular or v-neck).

Online store: http://pavementrunner.bigcartel.com/

Because I'm ordering these in bulk it benefits me to obviously have more orders, hence the frequent promotion. If I can get 20+ orders, then I should be able to keep the cost around $20 each. Not bad.

If you are wondering, they are costing me about $17 each, so I'm not in this for the profit, but for the thrill of making something for me (and us) to run in.

For future shirts, here is my plan:

• I'll design a unique running shirt every 2-3 months
• I'll take pre-orders during that time frame to (hopefully) get a decent quantity, keeping the price low.
• If I can consistently get 20+ orders, then I can afford to do this. If it looks like the demand is low, then the order might be cancelled and refunds issued.
• Luckily with these two, we came pretty close to what we needed. I'm also giving some out to friends as Xmas presents (and maybe a couple runner bloggers out there).

This seems to be the easiest way to help help keep the cost down and allow me to make one giant order and distribute after. If we had to print one at a time when ordered, these would be $30 shirts, and that ain't gonna happen.

That also means, this is your last chance to get these two designs. I'll end the sale Wednesday (11/23) morning, so I'll only print what has been ordered. It takes 2 weeks to print, which gives me a week to ship them to you, arriving just in time for the holidays.

Thanks again and I'll definitely plan on posting some photos of you awesome runners rocking the shirts. Thanks again.

Here is the link to go shopping: http://pavementrunner.bigcartel.com/

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US Half - a photo recap

Here are some photos from the US Half last weekend (11/6). Enjoy!

Me at the finish line! (Sorry, start with the good one, right?)

Ok, now we'll go chronologically… The start line (taken by FB friend Claudia)

The back (of the out and back) on the Golden Gate Bridge, somewhere between mile 8 and 9 …apparently there is a plane above me, what else would I be pointing at?

Coming off of the bridge, around mile 10 …that plane must be following me, I'm pointing at it again! Still have the arm sleeves on.

The look of relief crossing the finish line. Shaved off almost a minute and a half off my half marathon time. Sleeves have been rolled down. Think that happened around mile 12-13.

Me, post race with my earth friendly re-usable water bottle. Think of all the plastic water bottles not being used and not being thrown away. Nice job Project Sport. (photo taken again, by Claudia)

And finally, Claudia and I… finish line behind us.

Blogger reader and FB friend, Niko and I, post race.

Ana, Claudia and I with a group photo. As you can see, we don't have finisher medals due to an error with the company making them. Apparently they shipped April 2012's medals… oops. But it's okay, we all ran strong races and look happy! That's what counts.

* * * * * *

Thanks to everyone that wished congratulations on Twitter and Facebook… it was a tough race, but that makes the PR that much sweeter.

And am I the only one that likes making funny faces, opening their mouth and pointing at planes during photos?

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US Half 2012 Recap

Going into races it's always tough to handle expectations. Heading into this race a month after a PR at RNRSJ, I was hoping for a repeat performance. With RNRSJ my first official sub 2 hour finish my legs seem to have realized that they can fly at 9 min. miles for an extended period of time. Bonus.

The other leg realization is that they can fly FASTER than 9 min. miles for an extended period for time. Since Oct. 2, I've been running sub 9 min. miles on my training runs. At first I thought it was just a result of being lower mileage (2-5 mile runs). But then I started building mileage back up for race prep. 8 miles at a 8:36 pace. Then an 11 mile run at 8:50 pace. So, of course my brain starts racing (pun totally intended): "How fast can I go at the US Half Marathon?"

Let's find out!

The morning started with the typical rigamarole. Getting up early, packing my race supplies while the pup watches hoping to join me on a run. Sorry Mika, it's just me this time.

Once I found parking near the start of the race (which can be difficult at any race, more specifically a race in SF), I made my way to the start. A few days before the race, I thought it would be a great idea to organize a meet-up at the start line. It was late notice, so I was hoping a few people would be able to wish each other luck pre-race.

I was able to meet Facebook friends Niko, Brian (and his brother Keith), Claudia and Ana. Also, my training buddy Leo and his fellow running-friend Brian. Unfortunately, we weren't able to all organize for a pre-race photo, but it was great to meet everyone in "real life." I came across another training friend Diana, at Mile 3, we ran together for few seconds and met up post-race as well.

As the race started, I planned on going out with a 8:30-9 minute pace. The elevation climb was going to be an issue at staying within that range, but I figured what slowed me down going "up," I could make up going "down."

It was extremely congested most of the course, but I tried not to expel too much energy weaving in and out early on. It typically thins out as the race goes along, so I was anticipating that. First three miles were right on pace: 8:55, 8:46, 8:48.

Mile 4 had an incline heading up to the Golden Gate Bridge, 9:52. Miles 5 and 6 fell victim to runner-congestion on the Bridge. Due to construction we were restricted to one side of the bridge (going up and back). This segment seemed to have slowed most people down and trying to pass people on a walkway that fit 3, maybe 4 across posed a challenge in passing runners. Miles 5 and 6, 9:57, 9:12. At this point I thought my hopes for a PR were shot. The bottlenecks along the bridge slowed most runners down to a walk, plus we were about to make a 400 foot climb on the Marin Headlands (photo from mile 7 below) side of the bridge. Mile 7, 10:19

As I was heading down the climb, I decided to give it more than my all on the way back and hope not to crash and burn at the finish. I knew I could cruise the remainder of the course and come in around 2:05+ comfortably. OR, I could haul ass and try to see if I could PR this bad boy. The downside to the latter was if I burned out before the end, my finish could end up closer to 2:10. Can you guess what option I went with?

Coming down the mountain, I was able to pick up some time that was quickly lost at a major bottleneck on the bridge. I was slowed to a walk, then to a standstill as runners were funneled into two single lanes (those coming across and those heading back). I could tell based on the faces of other runners, that this was a huge issue. Some tried to make the best of it... the race does not have control over construction, keep that in mind. Mile 8, 9:04.

After that, there were some downhill portions that I tried to quickly take advantage of. Mile 9, 8:35, back on pace. Mile 10 and 11, I kicked it into a gear that I haven't seen in some time, 7:27, 8:01.

At this point, having home-field advantage, I knew exactly where I was and how far I had to go. Looking at my watch, I figured if I could keep sub-9 min miles, I had a chance. Doing math while running is always fun. "Okay, If I'm at 1 hour 36 minutes and have 2 miles to run at a pace of 9 minutes, carry the one, subtract the 5, x is equal to… look, a dog!"

Mile 12 was pretty solid, 8:26. Mile 13 had a minor climb (87 feet), quickly followed by a steep decline. The climb took a lot out of me mentally, but I was able to focus and nailed a 8:56. The final .1 miles, I knew I had the PR, it was just a matter of by how much.

I finished at 1:58:38, shaving almost a minute and a half off my RNRSJ time for a PR at the half distance.

Looking back, miles 4-7 is where my pace fell apart with the congestion and the incline. Coming off the mountain and back across the bridge, it was much easier to maneuver. Looking at my times, I was able to PR only because of miles 10 and 11. If my ideal pace was around 8:30, I shaved a minute off mile 10 (7:27) and 30 seconds off mile 11 (8:01) and that's the minute and half I PR'd by. No other mile split was lower than 8:30 (mile 12 was 8:26, but ya).

After the race, I was able to connect with Claudia and Ana who also ran strong races. This time, we were all about the photos (more to come)! I originally met Claudia a few years ago at this exact race.

I also met up with Niko again and snagged a post-race photo.

As more photos become available, I'll be sure to share them. I'm sure there are some great ones since it turned out to be such a beautiful day. Thank you to everyone that wish us luck on facebook and twitter. You all rock and inspire!

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US Half Meet Up

Hi everyone, this weekend is the US Half and what better way to start an amazing race than with a bunch of runners wishing each other luck and giving high-fives? Okay, I'm a fan of the high-five and am hoping it makes a come-back. It's way better than the fist bump and that exploding hand thing, I don't get the explode… did my hand blow up when it collided with yours? Why would I want that?. I digress.

There are several people I know across the social networks (FB and Twitter) that are running it, so I was hoping we could organize a start line meet up. I know 2 friends coming from Oregon that are planning on meeting up along with 3 others that I train with in San Francisco… I plan on being at the start line around 6 AM (with a race start time of 7 AM.) But, let's plan on meeting here around 6:30.

The meet up spot is really close to the start line. Here is a better shot so that you can see how close it is. It's about a 30 sec. to 1 min. walk away from the start line. Convenient. I'm hoping that we can grab a group photo… hopefully someone has a camera, if not, we can use my iPhone to grab a snap shot of a bunch of runners about to kick some tail across the Golden Gate Bridge! Yea!

It's an easily identifiable spot near the start line. It's essentially at the entry way to a couple docks. I'll plan on being there before 6:30, so if you see me, come over and say hi. This is what I'll be wearing (and here are some photos of what I look like).

Hope to see you all out there. This is a challenging course, so any extra good running mojo from fellow runners will always help. Have a great race!

Feel free to leave a comment if you will be joining us, that way I can keep an eye out for you. Cheers.

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DIY: Medal & Bib Holder

First things first: I have been looking for a way to display my running medals. I love training for them, earning them and getting them… unfortunately they sit on a shelf for awhile, then eventually get moved into a bag under the stairs. For all my hard work, this seems a rather unfitting resting place. I did a Google search for medal holders, or racks, or some search along this lines and found this. I thought: "What a wonderful solution for not only medals, but race bibs." I hold onto all of my race bibs and they sit in a shoe box. As you can see, I like holding onto things, but display them poorly.

I thought the idea was fairly simple and being a fan of HGTV (yep, I typed that), I figured I would try and make my own. A little DIY project that I thought I might appreciate on a personal level in the long run (pun totally intended). But to be upfront and honest, doing it myself: 1) Cost more than ordering it and 2) took a lot of trial and error to finish. Again, here is the link for my inspiration if you would like to save yourself some time and money.

But if you want to get all Tim "The Toolman" Taylor and build one yourself, here is how I made my rendition.

I purchased to pre-cut boards from a local craft store that cost me around $14.99/ea.

They have embossed edges, which was a nice touch. I then purchased some gray spray paint for $3.99 and covered both sides.

Once that was done, I purchased some stencils (around $4.99) and planned on using some leftover white paint I already had in the house. I decided to use "RACES" for the bibs, but it could really say anything.

I taped up the stencils where I wanted them and applied the white paint.

As you can see: FAIL. The paint just didn't work. This was some old paint, so it might have been too "watery" and just leaked through. I wiped down what I could while it was still wet, then simply covered the mistake up with another layer of gray spray paint. I essentially hit the "reset" button.

Since I was having success with the gray spray paint, I went back to the hardware store and bought some white spray paint ($3.99) and re-taped my letters.

As you can see, much better. (There was some white between the E and the S that leaked through, but I spray painted a Q-tip with gray and simply covered it up. (Easy-breezy.)

Next step was attaching the hanging hook for the back.

As for the front, I looked at my race bibs and there were 2 sizes. Big (NYCM, Rock n Roll Marathon size) and small (everything else). So I penciled in where the hooks needed to go and twisted the screws in. This was also the solution for the bibs on Etsy.

Once that was done, the bib project was finished.

I then repeated the same steps for the medal holder. I decided to go with RUNNING since my race distances vary, so I couldn't write MARATHONS. There are plenty of options that could be used, but I wanted to keep it simple.

After spray-painting both sides (above). I taped my letters.

As you can see, they only supplied one "N" in the box, so I had to create place holders. Spray it, then add the missing "N" where needed.

Then I measured where I wanted the hooks and screwed them into the board. I decided to go with various positions to have some medals hang at different lengths. Here is a sample of the front and back hooks for both. Packs of 4 cost me under $2. Make sure that the length of the screw isn't longer than the depth of your board.

I placed nine hooks, since I have a decent amount of medals, it needed to be able to hold quite a few at different lengths. I placed them about 3.5" apart from one another.

And that is pretty much it. Since it will hold a lot of medals, I placed 2 brackets on the back for support. I'm sure it would have been fine with one, but better safe than sorry.

Here is the final product. I only placed one medal on each hook for the photo, but I'm planning on each hook holding multiple medals.

As you can see, everything seems to have worked out. After a few missteps and multiple trips to the hardware store, they are up. I'm very happy with them and even though it cost me more in materials then it would have to simply have placed the order off Etsy, I'm glad it is something I was able to accomplish without injuring myself or cutting out the electricity in the neighborhood.

Here they are living happily together on the wall. Let me know what you think….

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Don't Pass Out, Don't Puke, Do PR

Originally I wasn't supposed to be running the San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon this year. Although it is one of my favorite local races, I have ran it the past 4 years and was not looking to repeat too many events. But when I saw that twitter friend @DiaryAvgRunner was hosting a raffle for a free entry, I entered my name and won. Yay me.

I arrived at the race fairly early, which isn't typical for me. I decided to duck into the Hilton (a block from the start line) to use the restroom. Trade secret: most hotels close to the event start line are typically filled with runners staying there and hanging out in the lobby. You can easily blend in and use their bathroom... it sure beats a porta-potty. Since I was so early, I also decided to get some stretching done there as well. Again, stretching on the carpet vs. a cold sidewalk or grass.

About a half-hour before the start, I made my way to the corral. I was aiming for coming in under 2hrs and felt pretty good about it. Prior to the gun @SarahStanley spotted me and we shared some PRE-race chatter, took a photo and rocked a high-five as we started. She's attempting to run all 2011 Rock n Roll Marathon Series races... yep, all of them. That's a lot of hardware.

I also ran with a buddy of mine, Drew, who I also train with. He's much faster, but similar to the Giants race he decided to pace me and help me reach for a sub-2 finish. We chatted most of the way and kept a 9-minute pace. I knew I could hold it until about 10 miles... after that I knew my legs would begin to tire. I typically train at a 9:30-10 min. pace, so I was "reaching" at a 9:09 pace.

Mile 10 came and legs started to feel fatigued. A friend of mine, Paige from FB, gave me some great PRE-race advice and told me to "run the mile you are in" and it really stuck. I kept that in mind and just thought "run this mile in 9 minutes" and deal with the next mile when I got there. It worked and definitely got me through miles 11 and 12.

When we got to mile 13, I asked Drew what our overall time was. He had us at 1:51 which meant I was exactly on pace and had 1.1 mile to see what I had in me. I threw on my iPod for the first time during the race and gave it all I had. When I crossed the finish line I thought I was either going to puke or pass out. Neither happened, but I did receive a medal. LOL. I much prefer the latter.

I always hope that a race will go as planned and they rarely do, but this one did. I ran at a very consistent pace and I have Drew to thank for that. I wouldn't have been able to hold that pace as long as I did without him.

At the finish line area I was able to meet fellow Twunner (her new word, Twitter + runner) @Janac, she had just finished with a PR herself. Luckily our conversation wasn't limited to 140 characters and it was fun to finally meet someone outside of the twitter universe.

I was happy to end my San Jose experiences on a positive note. I've dealt with injuries at this race before and to be able to run a successful 13.1 healthy, injury-free and set a PR was great. I now have an official sub 2-hr half marathon that I can point to and say "See, I did that."

Thank you to everyone on FB and twitter that gave me inspirational phrases and motivation to run strong. It was definitely needed in the later miles.

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