2011 Bay to Breakers

This race pretty much went exactly as planned and not in a good way.


The husband and I met up with a couple friends at 6am and took muni downtown. We made a quick port-a-potty stop, there were like zero lines, and headed to our corral.  After getting hit in the head numerous times with tortillas, the race started. It took about 5 minutes to get to starting line.


I was feeling a bit anxious, like I knew I shouldn't be running seven miles, but the first few miles went OK. There were just way too many people! I felt like the whole race I was in a game of frogger, trying to get around the slow people in front of me. 


We saw some fun costumes, the salmon running the opposite way, and some naked people. Around mile 4.5, I started to feel pain in my hip. I tried to ignore it but i knew it wasn't a good sign. At this point I was also feeling a bit fatigued and it felt really hard to keep my pace, even though I finished with negative splits? Maybe it was just mental. My head was just not in it. I didn't want to be out there and, I just wanted my medal. Once we saw the ocean, I knew we were approaching the finish line and I was SO happy.  I finished with a time I was happy with, 1:13:59, like thirty seconds from a PR. IT might have helped if I had checked my 12K PR time before the race. I definitely PR'd on the course, since last time I ran B2B was 5 years ago and my time was 1:35:xx.  Of course, after we finished we had to walk forever to get our medals. Compared to the T-shirt, which we picked up at the expo, the medals were super nice. Since we already had our T-shirts, there was no reason to go to the footstock. So we headed out of the park to catch muni home. 


So now I know that the SF half is definitely out of the question. My hip pain is way out of control. This week I'm going to take the week off running, get in some cross training, and foam roll like crazy. I'm pretty bummed about this hip issue but luckily I was smart and didn't sign up for any summer races, so I can take it easy. Not sure the medal was worth it, oh well....

Cardio Time

After a fairly mellow weekend, I actually had a good Monday and felt very well rested. It helped that all my bosses were out of the office as well, and  I was able to fit in 30 minutes on the elliptical machine after work! I also did 3 sets of 10 of leg extensions with 20 pounds of weight. It felt really good. I will definitely be happy if I can fit in at least one day of elliptical cross training a week.

This week my plan is to do only one 3 miles run this week, since running Bay to Breakers on Sunday is really going to up my weekly mileage. I'm crossing my fingers I don't kill myself or my IT band on Sunday. Then take it easy the next few weeks and lower my mileage to prevent or heal any injuries.

Tuesday
It was yoga Tuesday again. I need to remember how good yoga makes me feel. The yoga room was warm, which helped loosen my muscles. I just felt like I had a really great practice. I need to work on turning every other Tuesday into every Tuesday. Plus, my piriformis muscle felt way better afterwards, almost pain free. It might have also been the tennis ball self-massage I gave myself.

Wednesday
Rest

Thursday
Woke up before work and ran 3 miles in under 30 minutes. All day afterwards I was exhausted and my legs felt super sore. It must've been the cardio, leg extensions, yoga and then this run. Time to rest my legs for a few days before Sunday's race.

Workout Recap

Last week was a good week running-wise, but not so much for my piriformis muscle. It has been acting up ever since the 5 mile run I did before my 10K and running seems to irritate it.  Sitting irritates it as well and lucky me sits about 10 hours a day, between work and my commute, le sigh.

Monday
I did an easy 2.5 mile run in the morning. Monday morning runs always make for a great start for the week.

Tuesday
Tuesday is supposed to be yoga, but I got my haircut and didn't want to mess it up. That was my excuse to be lazy and not go pretty much.

Wednesday
My new hair cut didn't keep me from going on a 3 mile run in the morning. This run felt better than Monday's run, which I was happy about.

Saturday
I did my "long run" of the week of 4 miles. It went really well and I felt great afterwards, which is a really good sign. No runners knee pain in my left knee, (yay!), which probably is due to the fact I bought new shoes. I had read online that the Lunarglide 2 fit differently than the original Lunarglide, which I love, but my pair is about a year old and has well over 350 miles on them I'm sure. So, I had a groupon for Lombardi Sports, which I used to buy these:

So in review, I need to fit in more crosstraining. Yoga is good, but I'd also like to get in some elliptical machine  to help balance out my muscles a bit to help with this piriformis issue I've been having. The research I've done seems promising, that it responds quickly to stretching and massage, so lets hope that works. I also am almost over my horrible cold, still a bit congested, ugh, but getting there. And trying to stay positive for my 12K next Sunday!.

Yoga tuesday

The consequences of going to Chicago last weekend, were that I caught a cold on the plane. So Monday I was feeling pretty tired and under the weather. Tuesday I felt a bit better and since I missed yoga last week, I was really in the mood to go and stretch out my muscles that still felt a but tight from last Sunday's 10K.

I almost used the "I'm sick" excuse and didn't go but in the end I knew I really wanted to go and would be sorry if I didn't. It was a rough day for me mentally at work and I just needed some yoga to clear my head. It definitely did and it felt great. For the first time, the instructor showed us "Birds of Paradise" pose, which I didn't attempt but can envision being a new yoga goal for me in the coming weeks. She also gave us time to practice inversions which reminded me I need to practice my headstands at home. Its a lot less embarrassing to fall over at home, than in class.

Wednesday, I continued to be sick, maybe yoga last night wasn't a good idea, I thought.

Thursday morning, my run didn't happen but I did make it out after work for a windy 3 miler down at Chrissy Field. 

I guess I overdid it during the week, because I had zero energy over the weekend for a run. I was pretty bummed out but I was still feeling way too congested and sick.

My plans for the SF half seem to be diminishing. I'm even worried about Bay to Breakers at this point. At least I was able to practice headstands and birds of paradise on Saturday.