Smoke from the Rim Fire is finally almost all gone and the weather is back down to the 80’s, so it was a good week for training. And thank goodness for my runs. With another hectic week at work and at home, my short little runs were my safe havens. My longest run this week was a 4 mile one, which I did in less than 43 minutes around Virginia Lake. I had forgotten about this little lake near Lakeside Drive, but I’m glad I went there this week: a loop around the lake is about one mile long and the repetition is sort of a meditation, especially with the sound of the water and the geese. Amazing how exercise and nature can change my mood in a heartbeat.

Virginia Lake

Hectic Week included a Dave Matthews Band Concert :p

I just had the busiest 10 days ever: planned 8 new classes for work,  went to a baseball game, a rib cook off festival, two concerts, a play, plus cooked and took care of my dad who is staying with me for a couple of months. It takes a lot of time management, but to make it all work you need to have priorities, and my training schedule is one of my top priorities for the next couple of months (well, besides my dad, and work, and my friends, and eating healthy, and sleeping well… Argh, I’ll try not to go crazy.) Thank goodness this week all the runs were still only 3 miles long. How am I going to find time for the 10 mile runs in a few weeks??

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This week the runs were still short: only 2-3 miles a day. The problem is that we’ve been having really bad air quality for the past week because of the Rim Fire near Yosemite. We’re getting a lot of smoke and there are days my eyes are so irritated I can’t even drive straight. So even though I hate treadmills, I had to do my Saturday long run at a gym. At least I got to push myself and finished the run in less than 29 minutes. Can’t wait for this smoke to go away! Although a sunset and some smoke is a pretty stunning combination…

Smokey Sunset

Slick was my running buddy today!

I signed up for the Rock-N-Roll Las Vegas Marathon on November 17th 2013, but let’s be real, it is August 17th today and I haven’t started training. Three months is just not enough time to train for a marathon (18-20 weeks would be ideal…), and since my dad will be living with me for the next three months as well, I just didn’t think it was fair to him if I was living and breathing marathon training while he’s visiting me, so I decided to adjust my goal and train for a Half-Marathon instead.

I am following a 14-week plan from the magazine “Women’s Running”. When I first looked at it, it just seemed too easy: this week I was just supposed to run 3 miles and walk for about 2 miles the rest of the days, but as the week developed, I learned that was just what I needed. After 10 weeks of vacation, it was hard to get back to work. I was so tired I could barely move, but I did walk to the beach in Tahoe after work a couple of times and today I ran my 3.25 miles in 35 minutes. It felt so good! But 3 miles was enough as my legs started to hurt. I think I’ll stick to this 14-week plan for the Half-Marathon and leave the marathon training for next year when I’m turning the big 3-0.

You know how I always say Lake Tahoe is the most beautiful place in the world? Well, Queenstown is a close second. Gorgeous blue lake, amazing blue skies, and stunning snowcapped mountains make for pretty great scenery, so it was not hard to get motivated to run there. The track goes along the lake from the Botanical Gardens to Frankton. At the park you can watch people playing disc golf and when you reach downtown there is always some entertainment like the Piano Man.

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As always, I’m very lucky when I fly. Last year, going to Asia on a 15-hour flight, a lady asked me if I wanted to have her first class seat… This time, to Australia, I had no one seating by me, so I could spread out and sleep for a full 8 hours. I got to Sydney early but refreshed, and when I saw joggers right outside my hotel, I knew what I had to do.

Blue skies, mild temperature, mid-afternoon: my perfect running scenario. From my hotel, all I had to do was take a flight of stairs to be at the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Central Park of Sydney. On my “jogging tour” I went past the Art Gallery and St. Mary’s Cathedral, but the best part was when I reached the harbour and there it was: the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Brigde. My 1 hour run was probably only 4 miles round-trip, but there was no way I wasn’t going to stop to marvel at the view and take some pictures.

The hardest part of my day? Running on the left side of the path and passing on the right. So confusing at first, I almost ran into other joggers a few times.

Wow, six months before I had done my first official 5k, and now I had just signed up for a half marathon! I had to go all out for it so I picked the Las Vegas Rock and Roll Half Marathon on 12/02/12. Besides being the most expensive race in the country, it is on the Las Vegas strip at night. I don’t even care how much money it cost me as long as I don’t have to wake up early for a race!

As part of my training, I subscribed to the magazine Women’s Running and started to follow a training plan from one of their issues. The half-marathon plan seemed too easy, with long runs of only 7 or 8 miles, so I decided to follow their full marathon plan up to the point where it got to 13 miles. I was training 3 or 4 times a week, increasing my mileage carefully, and doing yoga twice a week for cross-training. Everything was going really well and a run didn’t even seem like a workout anymore unless it was longer than 6 miles. Most of the times I would run in Reno, either at Iddlewild with M.H. or near my house, but sometimes I would go to Carson and jog with J.W. who was also signed up for the Las Vegas Half. After I reached 13 miles a couple of times, I was very confident and started to slow down.

Two days before the race, the days were getting too short and I went to a gym to run on a treadmill after the sun went down, something I hadn’t done in over a year. After mile 3, my right hip began to hurt so I stopped. I thought, “Hmm, a quick 3 mile jog can’t do any damage”. The next day, I could barely move my leg. My hip flexor was in excruciating pain and I had to lift my right leg with my arms to get up or get in or out of the car. I drove to Las Vegas like this, but I was in denial, pretending nothing was wrong.

The day of the race my leg was a little better, but I still had limited movement. I had gotten all the way there and nothing would stop me now. I ate tons of pizza and off I went. The race course begins at the Luxor and goes thru the strip, then to Freemont strip until it reaches a ghetto part of Vegas and turns around to finish near The Mirage. It’s a fun course with bands along the way and tons of people cheering for you. Over 20,000 people run this half-marathon, but I thought the race was very organized and everything just flowed. I ended up running my first half-marathon in 2h30m21s (11:29 min/mile). Crossing the finishing line was exhilarating and my runner’s high lasted all night long. I couldn’t stop eating, talking, or smiling.

My leg got worse again the next day, but by that time I didn’t care anymore. I went to the doctor’s and even to the chiropractor for months. I wouldn’t be able to run again for another 8 weeks. No problem at all: I had done something I never thought possible, and I didn’t mind the forced rest. Plus, my injury gave me an excuse to go to yoga every single day.

I totally understand why half-marathons are the fastest growing races in the US. It is very challenging, but not impossible, time-consuming yet fun. A marathon is too long and difficult to train for and a 10k most of the time doesn’t even require training or feel like a work-out. I can’t wait to do a half-marathon again, but it’s so difficult to find a race at night…

With J.W. before the race

Crossing the Finish Line

I did it!

And so I kept running… even when I was in Cambodia.

Running path in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Well, I did take July of 2012 off because it is just impossible to run in India with all that cow poop on the street, but when I came back, I jumped right into it and signed up for my first 10k. I had just bought a house and there was a race coming up in my brand new neighborhood that actually went right past my street. I thought it would be a great way to celebrate my new life and invite some friends for a pre-house warming party after the race. I wasn’t just going to be tired and smelly by myself though: I made them sign up for the race as well! S.L and B.S. did the 5k, I did the 10k with J.W., and M.H. did the half-marathon.

Of course I arrived only 2 minutes before the race started, but I made it on time. The first and the last miles were a little difficult because they were uphill, but everything in between was a blast. I was in the middle of the pack and after a while I got separated from the group and got a little lost. It was a small race and the signs were lacking on directions. I waited a couple of minutes for someone to pass me and then I just followed that person. If it wasn’t for that, I could’ve finished the race even faster than my 1h06m13s (10:40/mile).

With S.L. and B.S. before the race

With J.W. and Slick after the race

After, everybody came to my new home for breakfast: mimosas and banana-nut muffins. I guess morning races are not so bad after all.

Alright, here’s the story of my first official 5k. In 2012 I made two New Year’s resolutions: go to yoga at least 8 times a month and run a total of at least 26.2 miles a month. I am glad to inform you that not only I met my goals, but I’ve exceeded them totaling 101 yoga classes throughout the year (average of 8.4/month) and 448 miles (average of 37.3 miles/month).

It did take me 6 months to try another race again. Throughout that period I discovered new places to run in Carson City (the park by the river) while still driving to Reno to go to my favorite spot at Iddlewild Park. Slick was a great motivator for my 3-4 miles runs and once I reached the 10k mark (6.2 miles), I knew I was ready to try a 5k again.

Slick by the running path in Carson City

River by Iddlewild Park in Reno

I chose the 5^th Annual Rock-N-River Race in Reno on May 6^th, 2012 which begins under the Reno Arch downtown and runs through Iddlewild Park. Perfect! My brother’s girlfriend went there to hold my stuff and cheer me up and it actually made it very special to have sort of a family member there for me. At the end of the race I also saw two friends who had run the 10k and the half-marathon; it was fun to share my excitement with them as well. Since I had been running over 3 miles for a while, the race was relatively easy. I completed my run in 30 minutes 53 seconds, which is less than a 10 min/mile. For me, that’s pretty good since all I wanted to do is complete the race. The sense of accomplishment inspired me to keep running. The more you run, the easier it gets (as long as you don’t get an injury along the way.) However, I’m still not a morning person, so I never signed up for a 5k race ever again.

My brother’s girlfriend V.F. and I after my first official 5k in Reno

My friend J.W. who ran the 10k that same day. We finished almost at the same time even though his race was longer.