Missoula or Bust

I started the weekend by running three miles in 96 degree weather...because we'd been in the car for awhile and because I wanted the free beer.

Me, my free beer and my free Koozie.

It was worth it.

The day before the race, Christa and I hiked "The M," climbing over 1,230 ft in less than 3 miles.

From up here, you can see why they call it Big Sky Country.

It, too, was worth it.

I started the race on Sunday calm, cool and conservative, with the goal of running negative splits and getting anywhere close to sub 2:00:00.

The plan was not only worth it, it earned me a new personal record.

Altitude Adjustment? #tfw you PR at elevation

A post shared by Selina (@see.sel.run) on Jul 15, 2018 at 11:28am PDT

A personal record at 3,209 ft above sea level.

For a girl who runs at 0 ft above sea level, that's not too shabby at all.

Day 7️⃣ ☑️ I did the thing we came here to do ☑️ I PRd doing the thing we can here to do ☑️ We celebrated National Ice Cream Day

A post shared by @ selandthecity on Jul 15, 2018 at 7:26pm PDT

I did not intend to PR. I did not intend to come close. My last few half marathons I've stopped short of reaching the time again--of course that came with the caveat of having stopped to help people on two separate courses. This time I beat it by twenty seconds. Twenty seconds is a good amount of time in running. I've got my sights set on more goals as I finish out this year.

Running Missoula was the arc of the most epic road trip of my life.

The week before was spent traveling from San Francisco, to Shasta, Bend, Oregon, Walla Walla, Washington and Glacier National Park. The week after was spent in Yellowstone and The Grand Tetons (let's not mention the stop in Elko, Nevada).

I want to thank my head cheerleader Christa for agreeing to sit in the car with me for two weeks so that I could run in Montana for less than two hours. She tried her best to find me a donut and Diet Coke, but when you start to run at 6:00 and take 1:52:51 to finish, open stores in downtown Missoula is hard to come by. She did manage to get me some donuts at the finish line festival...and I regret none of them.

Warno: She's a very loud cheerleader. 

Also thanks to the fine folks at Run Wild Missoula for having Diet Coke at the finish line. An unexpected finish all around!

Stars and Stripes

I returned to Concord's Stars and Stripes 5k with the goal of beating last year's miserable time. 

Admittedly, at this time last year I was happy. I had zero focus on running--all of my effort was in a relationship and all of my energy was poured into making that relationship successful.  

This year, I find myself happy again, but in a different way. I am single but I am hardly lonely. I have assembled an incredible tribe of women who support me and my goals and celebrate my successes, every little one.

No more trusting strangers to take post-race photos.

As I crept towards the front of the corrals I had hesitation in my heart. Sure, I could beat last years time, but where should I put myself in these unmarked, unregulated corrals? Not too far forward, because I'm honest with myself. But certainly not behind the women whose idea of a pre-race pep talk (about twenty people back from the start line) was "well run whatever you can." 

The start gun went off and I weaved my way through crowds for about a mile. Well, that's 1/3 of the run done. Finally opened up and I was free to let loose. With just two little hills to push through, I felt great. I knew midway I would crush last year's goal, but had no idea where I was in relation to my age/gender. I pushed a little harder; perhaps this is the first time I truly "left it all on the course."

I saw the timer at the finish line and kicked it into high gear--I was gonna beat the :30 mark for sure. 

Some of the tribe.

Splits

Mile 1 7:54

Mile 2 7:35

Mile 3 7:47

End 7:17

2018 Finish 24:21

2017 Finish: 27:38

I ended up placing fifth in my division (strange because the post race results had me at fourth...) I missed third place by about forty seconds.

Life Lessons learned: Push your way to the front. Even if you think you can't win, surround yourself with the winners and you'll be closer than you thought possible.

Teach me how to tempo, teach me, teach me how to tempo

Technically, I've been in Marine Corps Marathon training for two weeks. I truly hope the way habits start aren't an indication of how they will end because the first week of training was interrupted by a trip to Dallas where (a) I had no access to hills or a track and (b) it was hot as hades.

And while I had packed running gear, that was two too many obstacles in my way.

I did manage to squeeze in one, very short, very slow "historical running tour" led by the Hyatt Running Concierge (amazing program, look it up!).

#tfw you’re at a sorority conference and went to bed at midnight but get offered a 6:00am group run through downtown Dallas. #yolo #imtired

A post shared by Selina (@see.sel.run) on Jun 28, 2018 at 7:51am PDT

And now I find myself at the start of some serious training plan. The plan has me running five days a week. Two days are speed, two days are recovery and one day is the long run. I'd like to be able to keep to my three times a week body pump class and two times a week yoga, but that sounds very aggressive.

via GIPHY

In any case, I am ADDICTED to track workouts. I have always been terrified of them, mostly because I've been afraid to fail. I've been scared of being able to maintain such fast paces without feeling like puking or burning out. I have found that the paces are great (if difficult to maintain) and while I am tired at the end, I'm never totally depleted (maybe that means I am still not running fast enough). Track workouts have been such an easy to way to get in high quality mileage.

The Workouts

Week 1

Tuesday
800 meters at 10k pace, 2 min recovery
(2x) 400 meters at 5k pace, 90 second recovery
(4x) 200 meters at 5k pace, 60 second recovery
(2x) 400 meters at 5k pace, 90 second recovery
800 meters at 10k pace
Sel's Take: A great intro to track work! I loved it!

Thursday (oops, I skipped it)

1.5 mile Tempo run, 7-minute recovery
Long hill at 10k pace
Shorter hill at 5k pace
Shortest hill at Mile pace
Repeat hill sequence 2x
Sel's Take: Not a hundred percent mad that I skipped hill work. I honestly don't know where I'd find hills of varying difficulty here in the Presidio. 

First track workout of the training season! Follow @see.sel.run for the #mcm #marinecorpsmarathon training shenanigans.

A post shared by @ selandthecity on Jun 26, 2018 at 3:45pm PDT

Week 2

Tuesday

600 meters at 10k pace 

500 meters at 10k pace 

400 meters at 5k pace 

300 meters at 5k pace 

200 meters at 5k pace 

100 meters as fast as you can

Repeat entire interval sequence in reverse order, 90-second recovery between each interval.

Sel's Take: Wow! Fun and hard! It was hard to keep to my 5k pace, I ended up running way faster than that and paid for it. By the second 500m, I was ready to die. I *did* run the 100m in around 16 seconds, and that's not Olympian ready but I can dream!

Thursday

1 mile at Tempo pace

(2x) 800 meters at 10k pace 

800 meters at 5k pace 

(2x) 800 meters at 10k pace 

90-second recovery in between each interval
Sel's Take: Ask me after today. Sounds terrible after Tuesday track and Wednesday race (see next post).

Renewing My Vows

I made a commitment to myself to write in this blog more frequently. I had heard from some great bloggers the suggestion to post daily--I don't think I'm up for that and I'm not trying to make this a money maker, so I had committed to post weekly. That was six months ago.

As the year is halfway done, I reviewed my list of goals for the year, and I'm achieving most of them...except for blogging and riding my bike more often. So we have things to do here.

Being that this week marks the start of marathon training and the day I take off for the road trip of a lifetime with my bestie, it seems appropriate to make a new commitment.

One post a week, summarizing my training, any races I'd run that week and my waxing poetic musings about running. Get ready--I'm mostly saying this to myself.

Oak Barrel Half

I PRd.

I PRd at a course which website boasts "this will NOT be a flat and fast personal record setting course."

A new Personal Record.

I ran 1:53:11 beating my last record by over four minutes.

I placed seventh in my age/gender group, 35th among all female finishers and 149th among all 1600 entrants.

The morning started off very cold, the wind chill had be in the 30s. I hemmed and hawed for awhile about wearing my jacket and I took off for the start line wearing the jacket. A wise decision--the wind on the ridgeline was downright brutal.

Brr! So cold!

Whiskey Hill is infamous. It has its own Facebook page. As a San Francisco Runner--a Presidio Trail Runner--Whiskey Hill has NOTHING on us. Sure, I was a bit breathless at the top and my pace dropped dramatically for that mile, but I never once thought "this is unbearable, I should walk." Thank you SF. You've got somethin' goin' for ya.

There is a timing mat at the bottom and top of the hill, allowing participants to see their place at the bottom of the hill and at the top. I moved up an entire six spots on that hill alone and held my place from then on out.

After the hill, was a blur. It was beautiful out in the backcountry roads of Lynchburg. Green pastures and spring blossomed trees enveloped the course. Around mile 6.5, I was under an hour and thought to myself that might be able to beat 2:00. I planned to hold steady until mile 10 when I could plan if I had a fast 5k in me to be able to beat 2:00. By the time mile 10 came around it was clear that I was WELL within striking distance of a PR and I let myself GO.

Split	Elevation Gain	Elev Loss	Avg Pace
1	0	39	0:08:28
2	0	7	0:08:35
3	72	59	0:08:45
4	79	0	0:08:56
5	279	0	0:10:25
6	30	66	0:08:36
7	82	43	0:09:28
8	0	23	0:08:43
9	46	164	0:08:16
10	0	95	0:07:58
11	0	72	0:08:03
12	0	33	0:08:07
13	7	26	0:07:52
14	7	0	0:07:46
Summary	600	627	0:08:37

I heard my name as I came close to the finish line. I heard the surprise in the announcers voice that I was from San Francisco. If only he could announce that this was also my best half marathon performance to date.

 Floating my way through the finish line.

I knew I had it a mile back.

Finishers items included a hat, socks and long sleeve cotton quarter zip. The post race party had grilled cheese sandwiches, pimento cheese sandwiches (with SO MUCH MAYO), hoe cakes (my new favorite) and Brunswick stew. Katy and I warmed up in the car before our tour of the Jack Daniel's Distillery (complete with tasting).

Ron, our amazing tour guide at the Distillery.

HUGE thanks to Katy for waking up early with me, driving to and from Nashville, taking some amazing race photos and celebrating my success. If you're in the Nashville area, check her out for your professional photography needs. She did a great job taking finish photos of me!

All that hair should earn me a handicap.

Done!

Run the Bluegrass

Let's start with the most horrific of all the things:

I overslept.

My alarm was on vibrate--typically okay for this light sleeper...that is until the phone is on a carpeted floor several feet away. I woke up at the time I was supposed to leave the hotel, and likely only because I'd been sleeping for a solid eight to nine hours by then. I would have NO time for a leisurely oatmeal breakfast and pre-race Team RWB photo.

I quickly changed into my race gear, eternally grateful to have built the habit of laying everything out step by step the night before. I grabbed my makeup bag (PRIORITIES) and headed for the door.

Flat runner coming in for the win on a hectic morning.

There was ice on the windshield of my rental car and I had NO IDEA what to do. I turned the heat on blast and scraped the ice off, no time to take my time. Traffic to Keeneland wasn't too bad, but I definitely missed the Team photo. It was a CHILLY 40 degrees at the start.

I always have time to draw in my eyebrows.

The race started with the National Anthem, moved on to the state song and finished with the Call to the Post, a true Kentucky race start.

The hills weren't brutal. It was mostly difficult to find a pace when it's clear that several participants weren't comfortable totally letting go (but maintaining control) on the downhills. I thanked my lucky stars I have some trail running in my back pocket to sail me through those hills.

Somewhere around Mile 8.

I played it conservatively--everyone the night before had mentioned being wary of "the hill at Mile 9." I heard people on the course say they planned on walking at Mile 9. Truth be told, I was scared.

IT WAS NOTHING. If anything, it was difficult because we had already finished 2/3 of the race, but the actual climb itself, was nothing--again, thank you SF trail running.

After that hill, I realized I could *maybe* squeak in a two hour finish. The goal was 2:15--I did have another half marathon in a week and I didn't want to go out too fast. I realized by Mile 10, I wasn't going to break 2:00. I had played it too conservatively at the start.

Then Mile 11 came with BEER from the local sponsor Ethereal Brewery. I'm not someone who encourages trying new things on race day, but today? Why the heck not?

Just after Mile 11.

I squeaked in at 2:01:11. Not terrible when I expected 2:15. And not terrible for nearly 1,000 ft of climbing. Other interesting stats:
First Half Split: 1:01:29
Second Half Split: 59:41
Final Mile: 8:38

I'm still wearing sunglasses because I am not wearing eyeliner.

Some pros for the race: Post race festivities included a free beer from the local sponsor. There were donuts at the end. Lots of room to hangout and take photos, like the REAL starting gates from Keeneland! Also, the race organizers hosted a few tours and tastings--a nice thing for out of towners. I'll write about those and my adventures in Kentucky on separate post.

On your mark, get set, GO!

Some of my least favorite things: The giveaway tee--it was cotton and unisex. A really cute color and logo, but terrible fit and I can't wear it anywhere outside of the house. Of course 2019 will have technical tees, men and womens sizing and a choice of long or short sleeve. OF COURSE.

 Heavy medal.

I had to ask what the significance of the horse and Rolex was...typical California girl.

It was a pretty race course, with opportunities to see the horse farms and the beautiful structures on and around them. I didn't get to take any pictures on the course, so I went back the next day and drove around the course. I got one good shot of a new friend.

Until next time Kentucky.

Let Me Break the Ice

It's been awhile.

I know.

I've heard it said, that the things which drive you nuts about other people, are the things you dislike most about yourself.

I can't stand wishy washy, half committed people.
I don't know if its worse for you to make commitment and break it.
Either way, I'm not the type that easily forgives.

(I'm working on that too.)

Yet here we are, staring at a forgotten blog.

I will be better at this in 2018.

I promise.

Speaking of 2018...

Here's where you can See Sel Run this year:

Lexington, Kentucky

Lynchburg, Tennessee

Missoula, Montana

And a few other local races with sisterfriends and teammates. 

2017 was a busy year for travel racecations and 2018 is shaping up to be even more epic than the last. I am looking forward to my spring and summer travel, as they bring me close to old friends and new friends alike. There's been a lot of planning lately--late night Google searches and early morning campsite reservations. I am more excited than ever to get out and see this beautiful country 

Lets. Go.