Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

Boston Marathon Drive Thru! January 3, 2010

Filed under: Marathons,Uncategorized — Kelocity @ 4:19 pm
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Since I was already in Boston for Christmas, I knew I really wanted to see the Boston Marathon course while I was there. A lot of my DFMC teammates run pieces of the course all year long, so they know what to expect, where the hills are, where the water stops are, etc.I wanted to ease some of my anxiety about heartbreak hill and the newton hills.

My mom and drove to Hopkinton, where the marathon starts. I found the BAA office and talked to a few of them there about the course and the start corrals. Right in front of the park was the official Start!! You can still see it painted on the street. Next time I see this, I’ll be with 20,000 other people!

We reset the odometer in the car, and we set out to drive the entire 26.2 route.  The first part of the course was rolling hills on a beautiful tree lined street. It had cute little shops and houses. I can’t wait to see it come to life with spectators and runners!

There were so many beautiful old buildings, schools, town halls and shops! I hope I get so distracted by the beauty of it all that I forget I’m running a race. Haha

I love all the suburban town centers along the way. So different from life in Los Angeles.

Most of the course in the beginning of the race is either downhill or flat, but there were a few teeny hills here and there that I’m sure I will be good to change it up.

I was so excited to come to Wellesley College at the half-marathon mark. Everyone tells me that the girls at the school line the streets and cheer loudly! Their campus is really beautiful too.

I can totally picture these streets packed with wall to wall runners!!

Next come the dreaded Newton hills!! I heard there are five hills that culminate with “Heartbreak Hill”. But these little guys didn’t look too bad…

When we got to Heartbreak Hill, I made my mom pull over so I could get out and run it!! It didn’t look that bad at first. I just didn’t want the actual race to be the first time I saw it.

Of course this week it was FREEZING, and it made breathing difficult, but I was so excited to be there.

Can you see me behind the snowbank?

Almost to the top!!

Whew!! The hill ends at mile 21…5 more to go after that!

Awe, the T! I love Boston. My college Apartment was right near here! I had no idea that I used to live so close to the marathon route!

We didn’t go all the way to the finish line because I had been there so many times in college. So we stopped to eat lunch. I was soooo excited to go to Wing-It with my mom, but it was closed!!!

I seriously almost cried! Instead, we found a cute Boston Diner and settled on grilled cheese sandwiches. It was pretty good, but I was so sad it wasn’t Wing-It. Oh well!

Now that I’ve seen the course, I am less anxious about race day. I just have to keep training, and do some hill workouts, and I’ll be fine. It’s so gorgeous, historical and quaint along the beginning…and nostalgic along the second half. Just about four more months until race day!!!!

Bring it on!

 

ACCEPTED!!! December 31, 2009

Filed under: Marathons — Kelocity @ 10:40 am
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Wow, I cant believe I’m seeing this email in my inbox!

Oh man, I’m SOOOOO excited! 2010 is going to be MY year!

 

Frustrated, Motivated and Humbled… December 13, 2009

Filed under: Marathons — Kelocity @ 12:06 pm
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I always think that training for a marathon just involves clocking milage, getting up early, and eating power bars, but it’s easy to forget that it also involves patience, mental clarity and the ability to see the bigger picture. Today was a lesson in all three. 

I walked out the door this morning with the intention of running 12 miles. My shins were screaming the minute I woke up this morning, but I tried to quiet them down by taping them up with athletic tape.

I ran the first mile with very sore shins until I realized that there was no way I was going to run 12 miles today. I have shin splits, and running 12 miles with them would only make them worse. 

So I had two choices… turn around and go home, or seek an alternative workout. So I turned the corner and headed to my gym and did a 5K on the elliptical (no impact training = happy shins). All in all, I did a 7 mile work out that consisted of this:

Mile 1: Run
Mile 2 – 2.5: Walk
Mile 2.5 – 5.5: Elliptical
Mile 5.5 – 7: Walk Home 

Let me tell you, those 3 miles on the elliptical were TORTURE! I hate the elliptical. It’s so boring. Plus I don’t have an ipod (hint hint) so all I do is watch the numbers slowly roll by. Plus it’s hot and steamy in there, and knowing it was 55 degrees outside made me mad I wasn’t out there instead.

But back to the other 3 silent factors of marathon training:

1.) Patience: Injuries need adequate time and space to heal, so in the meantime, I should keep walking, ellipticaling and weight lifting to help my legs get stronger.

2.) Mental Clarity: Appreciating the things my body still lets me do. I mean 7 miles is still a great workout no matter how you cut it. 

3) The Bigger Picture: If I pushed through these 12 miles, I probably would have done a lot of damage and/or pulled something in the process, and I still have 4 months of training left to do. I have to tend to this now to be able to push through when the milage matters most. My training wasn’t about this 12 mile run… it’s about crossing the Boston Marathon Finish Line happy and strong. 🙂 

Don’t forget that I’m running the Boston Marathon and curing cancer at the same time! Show your love and support here!! Your donations motivate me to keep on track!

Off to Ice my Legs!!

 

10-Miler at Balboa Park December 11, 2009

Filed under: Training,Uncategorized — Kelocity @ 11:14 am
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I ran my first double-digit training run last week at Balboa Park. I did the first 5 miles mostly by myself, and the second loop with my friend Peter.

I saw Chely at the start! They have awesome purple TNT fuel belts!

I started out good, and then my shins got super tight and I had to stop and lean up against a tree to stretch out my calves. I think with the cold weather, it took a while for my muscles to warm up. (Note the slower pace at mile 2 because of this stop).

But after that, i felt great! Sometimes I like to run solo. I swear I was running with a dumb grin on my face the whole time.

I had some Shot blocks in the middle (maybe 4 total?)

Yes, I can run, take pictures, and eat at the same time. haha

In the back of the park, they were shooting an episode of “Cold Case” I think. They set the whole thing up to look like a run down carnival. It was so cool!


My Splits:

Mile 1: 11:06 — 8:1 Intervals (run 8 minutes, walk 1 minute)
Mile 2: 12:12
Mile 3: 11:23
Mile 4: 11:59
Mile 5: 11:45

Mile 6: 12:31— 5:5 Intervals (run 5 minutes, power walk 5 minutes)
Mile 7: 11:34
Mile 8: 11:30
Mile 9: 12:01
Mile 10: 11:42

Isn’t it wierd how I went from 8:1 intervals to 5:5 intervals, and still maintained the same pace? I think it’s because our power walking was actually at a really fast pace, and our running was a little faster in between.

After the run, Peter, who is also on the Dana-Farber Marathon Team, presented me with this awesome shirt! I almost cried! That was so thoughtful!!!

I wore the shirt all day long!

Thanks Peter!!!!!!
After the run, I headed straight to the gym to do a few minutes in the ice bath! Sounds like torture, but my muscles were very grateful!!! Nothing like burning nearly 1,000 calories before 9am. 🙂

 

Thankful!! December 1, 2009

Filed under: Training — Kelocity @ 7:36 pm
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On Thanksgiving Day, I got up and decided to do my Speed Workout for the week. Irving even joined me (!!!!) I set my Garmin to do 100 Meter Strides (Sprinting 100 meters, then walking for 30 seconds). I was going to do it for as long as my body would let me. 

The weather was PERFECT for running… totally crisp and breezy. I started going and felt great. I was running like the wind! Irving was walking and I did a down and back route, so everytime I passed him, we high-fived. I kept looking at my watch totally impressed with how fast I was going…. at the end of my workout, I saw this:

In 52:45 I ran 6.6 Miles!!! A total record… right?

WRONG! hahaha I spent about 3 hours calling people telling them how fast I was running and how great I felt… blah blah blah….

But then I realized that when I set the Garmin to do 100 Meter strides…. I set the whole watch into METRIC! So while I thought I was running faster than EVER before…. i was actually just running pretty average. hahaha My 6.6 kilometers equals about 4.1 miles. 

Oh well… I still completed a 4.1 mile speed workout and I guess I have to be thankful and proud of that. (I’m still laughing about this 4 days later!)