Maggie Runs It

Race Recap - Safari Park Half Marathon

Sunday, May 6 was the 2nd annual Safari Park Half Marathon, produced by the San Diego Zoo Safari Park as a fundraiser for the Sumatran Tigers at the park who are in need of a new habitat. The event was successful in raising 50k to build the tigers a new home! Cool!

My husband and I went down to the expo on Saturday afternoon, which was held at Roadrunner Sports in SD. It was a small expo held outdoors at a GIANT RR store. I quickly got my shirt, bib, AND I found my fav running shoes on clearance for only $25! SCORE! My husband remarked it was the easiest expo he’d ever been to, so three cheers for that!

Sunday morning we were up bright and early and went to the Westfield Mall where the race started. Traffic was directed wonderfully and we all had a free place to park. Hubs took the spectator bus to the starting line and I chilled in the car until about 6am. That gave me enough time to wait in a giant port-a-jon line and head to the start. 

The race was a point to point course, ending at the Safari Park. There were pace groups up to 2:45 and they were dead on. I was looking for 2:30 but couldn’t find her so I jumped in behind 2:15. The first few miles wound through vineyards, farm yards etc. Very pretty and the weather was cool just right. 

I did not run with GPS, or a watch, but I did have my Galloway timer which I didn’t turn on until mile two. Even then, it was feeling like it was slowing me down, so I eventually turned it off. By Mile 6, we arrived at the Safari park to climb a GIANT hill. At the top, we were rewarded with great views and a downhill run.

Back out of the park to Mile 8 we saw a camel the keepers had brought out! The course looped around the back of the park, up another giant hill, and then the last mile was straight downhill into the park. A great way to finish. 

I was surprised by my time when I got to the finish, 2:35:07 official time. Not a PR, but not bad either considering those hills!

I got free entrance to the park with my bib and my husband got 50% off, so we walked around checked out some of the animals and had a really nice morning. When we were done, a free shuttle took us back to the mall parking lot and we were on our way. 

All in all, this was a fantastic race. Great shirt, medal, great support, lots of fun to be in the park and to finish there, and despite the hills, a pretty darn good time! I’m looking forward to a new PR at the Bayshore Half Marathon in a few weeks…. 

Tuesday Night Kickboxing

Every time I walk into that gym, I always hope in the back of my mind that Jose will take it easy on is… and he NEVER does. 

Last night was no exception. Our one hour class included - jumproping, running around the parking, running a mile down the street and back, lunges, lunges w/ 10lb weights, lunges w/ 10lb weights doing single arm raises (on each side) then doing a chest press while lunging w/ 10lb weights. (when I say lunging - it’s the length of the gym parking lot. I’m estimating 50 yards), followed by 20 minutes cardio kickboxing on heavy bags, followed by 50 squats and abs.

The hardest part?? The one mile run. Yes, this coming from me who runs marathons, half marathons and doesn’t think twice about running. BUT - in my defense, I didn’t realize we were going a mile and took off flying, trying to look cool. Plus I didn’t have my running bra, shoes OR my body glide (a must have for me…) Needless to say, I was feeling pretty spent by the end of that hour….

But the silver lining?? Stuck with my plan last night, and am already down two pounds this week! heyooooo!

Hollywood 1/2 Marathon in 3 days!

Hollywood 1/2 in Four Days!

This Saturday will be the inaugural Hollywood Half Marathon. I signed up for this back in September and will be running it with a group of my running buddies, including my mom, my brother’s Girlfriend, and my core group of runners. We made running skirts and cute tops to wear to the race, and we’re planning on pacing ourselves with Krystal (my brother’s gf). This will be her first half, and I’m not sure what her pace will be like (11-12/mile maybe?)

Anyways, I’m looking forward to a relaxing race and having some fun this weekend!!

First Swim!! (and no drowning…)

I may have signed up for the Nautica Classic Distance triathlon in September… I may or may not own a bike, nor have I actually swam anything serious in YEARS. Literally Years. Most of my pool time has been me, in a pool, holding a cocktail. So why I signed up for this, God only knows… But I did. 

Which brings me to last night… AFTER an hour of butt-kicking-kick-boxing, including a few bruises from boxing a partner… I went to the pool. 

I was only four laps away from my triathlon distance, but to be honest, I was SUPER tired and my calves were starting to cramp along the way. oops. But regardless, I did it. It’s going to need some practice to work up endurance, and to practice my breathing, but overall I was pretty impressed with my swimming skills. HOT DAMN!

Tonight is rest day… Tomorrow 7-ish miles, and only 7 days until the Inaugural Hollywood Half Marathon! Happy weekend!

Short Wednesday Night Run Club

Made it out to the lulu run club last night… Gotta say, it was difficult. I think I’m still in the process of recovering from the marathon, top that off with the gazillion weight lunges from Tuesday night and I was S-O-R-E. We ran up a HUGE set of stairs instead of running up a hill, and by the time we got back from this 2.5 mile run, I was whipped. Even today, my legs are super sore….

One more day of work outs (tonight) and then tomorrow I ressssssst. Ahhhhh. 

Tuesday Night Torture

I forced myself to go to kickboxing last night… even though it was 10 days post-marathon, I was really struggling through a gazillion lunges. Lunge alternate legs. Lunge right leg only. Lunge left leg only. Lunge both legs holding 15 pound weights. Now throw that weight over your head….

Needless to say, my legs felt like bricks and by the time we made it in to the heavy bags, I was dragging some ass. That’s what two weeks and no kickboxing will do to you - not to mention a marathon in there somewhere.. ugh. Thankful I went, but it was not easy.

This week, I started a “biggest loser” challenge with some of my girlfriends. $50 each, and compete for 12 weeks of weight loss. Hoping to see some progress…. 

LA Marathon Re-Cap

Last Sunday was the 27th running of the LA Marathon and it was great for so many reasons. Back in December at the RNR Las Vegas Half Expo, we talked my mom into joining us. She was pretty nervous, but she put in the miles, trained hard and was ready to go on race day.

The morning started out at 3:30am waking up for breakfast and the 4:30am shuttle to Dodgers stadium. We were lucky that we didn’t have any rain, but we did have cold temperatures (by LA Standards) of around 40 degrees at that time of the morning. We spent the first couple of hours huddled in a corner at dodgers under extra layers, ponchos etc. trying to keep warm.

The race started at 7:30 and by that time I was ready to run - if only to warm up. My biggest issue in running the Nike women’s marathon is that mentally I fell apart. For this race, I did everything I could possibly do to stay calm, relaxed, and not worry. I was going to run the course, stadium to the sea, and that was that. Plain and simple. I split the race up into 4ths in my mind. 6.5 miles each. At mile 13 we would see friends, at 18 my dad had flown to LA to surprise my mom and he was there with my bff, and then after that, we would just run to Santa Monica. 

Somehow, I managed to stay calm and collected the whole way. In fact, all the pics of me running, I’m smiling! :) 

The sun came our around mile 3 and we peeled off those extra layers and went for a run. At mile 13, we saw a bunch of our running buddies, and Maria - who oddly enough ran the first 13 miles of my very first Marathon with me in 2010. It was great to see those guys. Around 18, I broke away from a few friends to catch up with my mom, who I’ll add was kicking my ass at that point. I felt strong, fast, and relaxed. 

Caught mom at 18 and saw my colleague and his fiance who were kind enough to come watch us run! So great! Then mom saw dad who was standing there with a big sign for her and a huge smile. After quick hellos, away we went. 

Once at mile 21, I could break things down mentally. Back in HS I had a five mile route I ran all the time - I told mom, all we have to do is from that five mile route and we’re done. This was different from Nike where I got to twenty and thought holy hell six miles is so far (and broke down…)

At Mile 24, we only needed to run around our neighborhood. Easy peasy!

By mile 26, the wind was whipping off the ocean, and we had arrived!!! the most amazing feeling in the world:

New PR - 6:13. I was REALLY hoping to break six hours, but hey - another day. I finished strong, and felt GREAT, and I’m proud of my race that day.

The LA Marathon is an amazing race - the whole city of LA was out there, offering support, oranges, bananas and other goodies, great signs - my fav: “Your training lasted longer than Kim K’s marriage!” and all in all, great support, even for the slow folks like me. 

I love to run, and despite the chafing, the sweat, the fatigue, and the sore feet - nothing can compare to crossing that finish line.

I can do 26.2 (again!)

I will post a race update on the 2012 Honda LA Marathon as soon as I have some pics to share, but the good news is: 

1. I finished

2. Probably the strongest full marathon I’ve done (it was my fourth)

3. New PR! yay!

4. I finished with my MOM - her FIRST full marathon - DAMN, am I proud!!

5. Even though it was chilly/windy, it was perfect running weather and NO RAIN!