One Bad Ass Runner

Yesterday, I ran my first women only event.  The Women for Women 10K Run in Lake Worth, FL (near West Palm Beach). I did not have any expectations with respect to this race, apart from just running it to the best of my ability.  I had already heard it was hilly and the temps have been consistently going up to the 80s and the heat is on in Miami already.  This is also the week I feel the most lazy and tired, so I thought I would be surprised if I ran it well. Fortunately, the weather turned out to be good.  72-75F and 81% humidity.  Good enough. Since this race is an hour from home, I had to wake up at 4:40am and be out the door by 5.  I arranged to pick up a girl I know from Daily Mile on the way and we had a nice time waking each other up on the way to West Palm.  We made it at around 6:20am.  Race started at 7am. The race was really well organized.  It was a very small event celebrating women, so I never expected to receive a medal for finishing (pic below).  There w

I have not posted lately, except for a race here and there.  Life has been hectic and I am not really training for anything, so I felt I did not have much to say.  However, I would like to summarize the past 4 months. After marathon # 1 in December, I was sick, tired, and frustrated.  I was a size 6 and 125 lbs when I restarted running in 2008.  Withing 5 months of that, I ballooned to a size 12 and up to 170lbs.  I still don't know why.  I've always eaten a lot and I did not increase my intake.  I tried everything, from lowering my calories, to eating vegetarian, without success. But after that marathon, I decided to make a true change.  I started cutting on my pasta dishes and as of now, I barely eat pastas except for quinoa and some real pasta every two weeks.  Well, that worked.  I am now a Size 6 and although I weigh 148 lbs, I look thinner than when I was 125lbs.  It's amazing and at the same time confusing.  I think I even eat more than I did prior to December.  

I've been doing long runs for the past four months.  However, none of them have been like this one.  Typical Spring/Summer weather.  75-81F with 91-81% humidity.  It was tough but I can see how much I've improved since last Summer.  For example, last Summer I did a 15 miler in 3:15.  Today, I finished the 15 miler in 2:38:30!  Temps were as bad (although probably cooler than that 15 miler in August) but I was going close to 2 minutes faster than last year.  I cannot wait til I get another shot at a marathon. Split Time Distance Avg Pace Summary 02:38:38 15.00 10:34 1 00:11:33 1.00 11:33 2 00:10:54 1.00 10:54 3 00:10:37 1.00 10:37 4 00:10:39 1.00 10:39 5 00:10:31 1.00 10:31 6 00:10:27 1.00 10:27 7 00:10:25 1.00 10:25 8 00:10:33 1.00 10:33 9 00:10:33 1.00 10:33 10 00:10:29 1.00 10:29 11 00:10:31 1.00 10:31 12 00:10:32 1.00 10:32 13 00:10:28 1.00 10:28 14 00:10:24 1.00 10:24 15 00:09:54 1.00 09:55

And I got it! What I Knew: The course is hard It's hot in Miami already I always walk this course past Mile 3 It's hilly-ish What I Thought I Knew: My chest is tight and I cannot run fast I should be able to run well; after all, I run in the evenings and this is an evening race What I Did Not Know: The course ended up being 6.26 Whether a vegetarian burrito for lunch would give me enough energy - Answer YES That the race has a tech shirt instead of the usual white cotton shirt As I mentioned, this course is tough.  It is downhill for the first 2 miles, then miles 3-4 are the toughest.  I don't know why but everybody has problems here.  Maybe it's the fact that these 2 miles are shadeless and inside a neighborhood.  Maybe it's the fact that even though there are no hills on these two miles, the miles are not really flat either.  Maybe it's the fact that there are no water stations between Mile 1.5 and Mile 4.02.  Then, after Mile 4,

Today, I ran the 2nd Annual Pill Box Pharmacies Pines 5K in Pembroke Pines, FL.  I ran it very well and won first in my AG.  I didn't PR just because of the weather.  It was 5-7F hotter and 20% higher in humidity than my current PR last month.  So I'm happy to have come in at 25:41, 8 seconds off my PR. Now for the long version: I did not know what to do today.  I've been having some weird soreness in my right calf and I went to the chiro yesterday so he checked it.  He said it's mostly blood that's not leaving the area after movement (it's only sore when I don't move for a long period of time), he told me to move it when it happens and electrocuted the calves.  No more of the weird soreness; however, the electrocution left my mid calves very sore, similar to what you feel after a half marathon race or a marathon.  On top of that, my left calf cramped at 2am and I woke up with soreness in that calf. It was also going to be a hot day.  75-77F and

Short:  I ran a 10K race today with no tapering and over 55mpw done this week (I also had a streak of 12 days of running and 100mpw during that time that ended on Wednesday).  Last PR was in weather close to the 50s and today was HHH (Hot Humid Hilly) and I still PR'd by 3 minutes (54:03). Long: Today I ran the Gumbo Limbo Green Turtle Gallop 10K.  I swear that's the true name of the race (check active.com if you don't believe me).  The proceeds of the race are used for endangered species of turtles that hatch in and around the beachpark where the race started. I came up to the race not knowing what I'd do.  I did not want to race this because I've been running 6 days a week, 50+mpw and still doing the kickboxing workouts like crazy.  I did no tapering, and in fact, ran 9.28 miles yesterday morning, and did 55 minutes of kickboxing and 20 minutes of yoga late last night.  Also, one of my calves is very tight and I did not know whether it would cramp duri