I'm Ready!!!!

I just ran my last two miles of training today. Now it's rest for two days and then the race on Saturday! I can't believe it is here already! The time has flown by.
The husband and I are heading down to Santa Barbara on Friday morning and the mother and father-in law and sister-in-law and brother-in-law will be going down as well. It's about a 4 hour drive down. We will most likely check into our hotel and then I plan on heading over to the expo to pick up my race packet and look for any running-related goodies that I just have to have! I've never been to an expo before so I'm looking forward to learning more about all the available running-related products out there. Dinner on Friday night is going to be at the Hitching Post II, the same restaurant they ate at in the movie "Sideways". The race is on Saturday morning, my husband and I will be staying down in the area on Saturday and Saturday night and then heading back home on Sunday. I'm looking forward to visiting the Santa Barbara area as I have never been before.
I'm excited for a nice weekend and I'm happy to have so many people in my family cheering me on!! Now I have to figure out what I'm wearing and packing!!

Now it's getting easier....

Just did my first ever 11-miler yesterday and it felt much better than my 10 miler that I did last Monday. The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold and there was a slight breeze along the trail that I normally do my long runs on.
Only thing I wish for when I run 12 miles and when I attempt my first half, which is btw, only TWO weeks away, is for a much better pace. I just can't seem to get faster, the longer mileage I run at one time. I came in today at a 10:34 pace. I was hoping for more like a 9:40 or 9:50ish pace for the half, but I'm not sure if that is going to happen for my very first. I might have to work up to a quicker pace for the next race that I train for.

Wow! I hope it gets easier!

I just finished my first 10 miler and I felt way more tired than when I ran the 9 miles last week. I was pushing really hard when I got to 8 miles and felt like giving in and walking the rest, BUT I did stick it out, running the entire 10 miles. I just kept thinking to myself, gosh, I hope this gets easier in the future, the more miles I add on. I do have a high level of respect for those of you who already have several full marathons under your belts, I can't imagine what it will feel like when I can finally say that I have run 26.2 miles. I think I need to just focus on the half first and then worry about the full later on.
My pace was slow today, partly because I felt so exhausted. 10:54.
Have a great week everyone!!!

My first 10 Miler is upon me!!!

I'm getting so close to the race, only 28 days away!!! I can't believe that I am getting ready to turn the corner of my first half marathon.
This past Monday (sorry, I've been a little behind on blogging) I ran my longest run ever of 9 miles. I ran it very slow, with a pace of 10:20, Boo!!! BUT, the beauty of adding in extra weeks into my training schedule is that I can work to improve the times for my long runs before the big race. The goal that I am setting for myself is around a 9:30 to 9:40 pace.
Since my last blog, I ran a semi-long run with a new running buddy. She is running her first half in October and is taking it slow. She is up to 6 miles. We met up last Saturday and she mapped out a beautiful course for us to run in Golden Gate Park, we ended up running 6.6 miles together. I was in heaven!!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that park and always see something new every time I venture there. Last Saturday was no exception. I saw and experienced two new things that I never have before. The first, was a beautiful waterfall about half-way through our run. Talk about nature's way of reminding you how much you love running, just for the discovery of new things you might see on your run! The second, was after our run, but we had a wonderful light lunch at the Park Chalet. It is a restaurant right in Golden Gate Park next to the Dutch Tulip Garden. They do a fantastic BBQ on Saturdays and Sundays. There is a live band and you eat your lunch in the sunshine on adirondack chairs. I will most definitely be doing that again with my new running buddy!
I am preparing myself for my first ever 10 miler tomorrow morning. I hope the weather holds out tomorrow, so I don't have to do it in the rain. It's a big deal to me to be in the double digits!!!

10K Race Report/Weekend Report

Big weekend!!!
Friday night at around 9:00PM, we welcomed Ari Benjamin into the world, I am now a lucky aunt of three nephews. First was Solomon (my sister's first son), second Lionel (my sister's second son) and now Ari (my sister-in-law's first son). Very exciting time for the Chassy family!!
Sunday morning marked my first 10K race!!! The Morgan Hill Wildflower Run. My husband and I drove down from our place to Morgan Hill (about 45 minutes) to get there in time for the 10K start of 9:00AM. We had already registered, but picked up our t-shirts (really scary btw, a dark turquoise blue, oh well) and then I headed over to the start for the 10K, my husband didn't start the 5K until 15 minutes later.
Comparing the two races (my first being the San Francisco Kaiser Permanente 5K) with this race.
Here are the pluses to this race and my overall experience.
1. Less People!!!! No bobbing and weaving at the start and we ran on local roads that were blocked off from traffic, so I had PLENTY of room to spread out and enjoy the race and the scenery a lot more.
2. Mile Markers at every mile. This was a huge plus (I'll explain later). Plus at each mile there were volunteers cheering us on, a very nice touch.
3. Water stations at about every mile and a half.
4. Free Jamba Juice smoothies at the finish!!!
5. I was happy with my time!! I finished with a time of 58:40, not a bad pace!!

The Minuses were minimal:
1. I forgot to turn on my Garmin and realized it about 1 mile into the race! And, I didn't reset from my last run and didn't realize that until the race was over. I was so upset with myself. I was so excited to have the Garmin for this race to track my pace, etc. and I totally missed out!!
2. The crappy T-shirts....Oh well

Overall, I enjoyed the race and would be happy to run it again next year. I especially enjoyed the fact that it was a small race and there was plenty of room on the road.

New Shoes are on their way!!

Thanks to all of your advice on getting new shoes. I went with Run to the Border Blogger, Jesse's suggestion and videotaped myself running on the treadmill and sent it in to the Runningwarehouse.com for an analysis. Turns out that I was not a neutral runner anymore or maybe never? The running warehouse said that they notice over-pronation in my stride and that I needed a maximum support shoe. I ended up purchasing the Brooks Trance 9 and I'm anxiously awaiting their arrival. The running warehouse is a cool site with really good prices, and they offer free two-day shipping. I'm excited to try them out!!! Thanks to Jesse for the great tip! Maybe my knees will feel a little better!
I also put up a pic of me from St. Patty's Day, yes, that's a shot of Jamison, BUT I'm too chicken nowadays to drink it all at once, I usually sip it with my Guinness, I know I'm lame!!

The luck of the Irish to ye!!!

So, if you haven't already guessed, I'm totally into holdiays (hence my excited Valentine's Day Post)!! But as far as holidays go, St. Patrick's Day was never a big deal to me, until I met my husband. He takes this holiday seriously! So serious, he takes the day off work to celebrate. So serious that for the past 10 years (maybe more) he has gotten up at the crack of dawn to be one of the first ones at his favorite pub on St. Patty's Day. We are talking, 6:00AM!!! When we first started dating, I thought he was nuts. Then I joined him before work one year and I was hooked. It is kind of fun to have a holiday as an excuse to enjoy a few (maybe more) Guinness' at the bar. I'm now into it full force. I have my Flogging Molly tee and my green feather boa all ready to go for tomorrow morning. Needless to say, I don't see a run happening tomorrow.
Training is going OK. I ran another 8 miler on Sunday, but it was hell! The wind was whipping me like crazy, which made it so hard. Plus, I had a side-cramp the entire way. I still made it, though. Today I did a 5 mile treadmill run to relieve some of the pain that I've been feeling in my knees from running outside on the pavement.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! Anyone doing anything special tomorrow??