Scott and I ran a half marathon this past weekend in Monterey. Scott's mom came down from Oregon to watch the kids so we could go run. Scott and I run all the time but we've been doing longer runs over the last few months to train for this race. And its finally here. The run started at 7am (actually 6:50) so we had to leave the house pretty early. Here we are waiting at the starting line near fisherman's wharf. It was cold while we waited - California cold (50 degrees). But we survived.
The sun eventually came up.
Here we are ready for our corral to start. There were about 7000 runners.
The course was really pretty, right on the ocean for a lot of it. And you couldn't have ordered more beautiful weather. We started near fisherman's wharf, ran around Dennis the Menace park, through the tunnel by the wharf, on the running path, down cannery row, past the aquarium and along the road past Lover's Point. Then we jogged up a few blocks to go through downtown Pacific Grove (which is only one block or so long) and then back down to the ocean. We ran along the coast the rest of the way until the start of the Pebble Beach area and then turned around and came back by the water to the fisherman's wharf area to the finish line. The first 8 miles or so ticked by pretty fast. By mile 10 I was feeling pretty tired - mostly in my feet. So the last 5K or so was tough. Heavy legs.
We made it! I love running with Scott and Monterey is so beautiful! It was a great run, in spite of those last few painful miles. We even beat our last half marathon time by more than 6 minutes. At the finish line it became apparent I had not fueled enough and I started feeling really sick. That's a pretty common thing that can happen if you run a long time (over an hour) and don't take in enough food/fuel while running. Yes, you must eat while doing long runs. I had two GU packs (a packet of a thick syrup goo made for intense exercising to replace your lost fuel quickly). I HATE these things, they taste horrible and the consistency is really gross. I usually can barely get them down but they work really well for me, most of the time. So I took one at mile 4 and another at mile 8. In past races that has been enough. But I think I should have taken one more 'cause I was in a bad place at the finish line. I didn't throw up (hooray!!)...and just sat down for a while, forced down some chocolate milk and a bagel and eventually I started to feel a little better and could get up and make it to the car.
Scott was all smiles. No crashing for him at the finish line!
Here I am after starting to feel a little better. Chocolate milk is the recovery drink of choice for runners these days. They have it at the end of most long races I've seen. It has the right ratio of protein and carbs to help your body recover. Good stuff.
I'm so glad I could do the run but I did not feel right for the rest of the week. Just weak and depleted which is not normal for me after a long run. I had been fighting a cold before the race and it came back with a vengeance after the race. I felt sick all week and just couldn't get enough food down to get back to feeling normal. Not good. Maybe cold plus half marathon just wasn't a good combo. Next time I know I need three GU packs. Shudder.
By Thursday (the race was on Sunday) I felt a little better and decided to go out for a short run. It was raining buckets that morning. Suddenly I miss my treadmill a little more. I don't mind running in the rain that much but I do feel bad taking the kids out. I got a rain cover for the jogger stroller so we tried that out for the first time. The kids' shoes got wet but otherwise they stayed pretty dry. I don't have much rain running gear so I just got soaked. I don't mind that much 'cause its not a cold rain. You just get wet. It probably wasn't great for my lingering cold though.
Emma insisted on taking several of her stuffed animals on the run and I felt bad about the rain so I didn't object. When we got back to the house she informed me that she was no longer in possession of her favorite stuffed kitty. On a dry day I would have just retraced my steps on foot on the bike path to find the kitty but it was pouring and I was still feeling pretty depleted. So we drove in the car by the bike path. The bike path is not that close to the road in some parts and it was dark and raining heavily but by some miracle I spotted a tiny grey dot out on the path in one spot. I parked the car on the side of the road and ran over to the path and sure enough, it was Emma's very wet little kitty. It was the miracle of the day. It's the little things. We put kitty in the dryer and all was well.
I was very proud of myself for finding the kitty
Emma wasn't as impressed. She seemed to think it was my fault that the cat was now very wet. After all, it wasn't wet before I got it from the bike path. :(
Poor kitty
No more stuffed animal friends (or other toys) will be allowed on our runs.
And here are a few non-running pictures...
The day before the race we drove out to Monterey to pick up our race packets. Here we are by the Portola Hotel where packet pick up was.
Checking out the Pacific House in downtown Monterey
And here are our lovely children posing in the Pacific House in Monterey...
Matthew
Anna
Grant (not forced to do this against his will, just trying to look serious).
John
Emma
At Dennis the Menace park in Monterey
I got to go visit Grant's class this week to see some of the life science projects they have been working on. Grant was excited to have us!
Emma tries riding her bike with training wheels
Anna on her last soccer day.
She had a tremendous last day. She played goalie the whole game and stopped probably 20+ good goals shots. One was a miraculous mid air catch. In the last five minutes one got past her but her team still won 3-1. She felt terrible about letting that one by. When the other team scored the other coach shouted "FINALLY!" because they just couldn't get by our little Anna. That made her feel bad but the other coach came and told her what a great job she did. Not sure it made her feel better though but he was nice. Way to go Anna! Amazing goalkeeping!
Grant at his last game.
Anna's coaches giving her a medal
And Grant at his first day of basketball. He has never played before but he actually had a few breakaways and a lay up in the first game. Good job Grant!
It's all new to him but I think he's having fun
I love basketball so much!!
