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Represent Running’s 2015 Let’s Go 510k race report

Represent Running’s 2015 Let’s Go 510k race report

I tend to repeat myself frequently here — hence the dearth of posts — and one of my more popular refrains of late has echoed the sheer necessity of more or less rollin’ with running postpartum. I can have the best laid plans — and believe me, I do — but similar to running while pregnant, running postpartum can look and feel very different day-to-day. You can only control so much, making rollin’ with things pretty imperative.

That said, I planned for Represent Running‘s Let’s Go 510k, a 10k in Berkeley that started and ended at the Golden Gate Fields horse racing track, to be my first race postpartum, but I was pretty sure it’d be a “race” in name only. I’ve been happy with my PP running and how things are beginning to click, but I’m focusing on volume — not speed — for the remainder of 2015, so I knew that the 510k would be more about perceived effort than anything else.

With all of this in mind, then, you can imagine my surprise and somewhat amusing headgames when I toed the line (kinda — more on that in a minute) on Sunday, after kinda unexpectedly having surgery 48 hours earlier.

I envisioned a lot of things for my first race postpartum, but, uh, having surgery wasn’t in that mix.

Nor was arriving to the starting area kinda on time, but needing to nurse Spike, and therefore starting a good 15 minutes after the gun went off — hello, myย  name is Erin, and I was the DFL starting runner at the 510k — in my mental imagery games … but hey, these things are all about the experience, right!? The only thing I could do was roll with it, so that’s what I did.

More than anything, I was stoked to make the haul up to the East Bay (and drag the entire family along, I love you husband!) because Big Sis would be running again for the first time since the spring, the last time the two of us did a race together (in Morgan Hill). Had she not been running, I most likely wouldn’t have run and instead, would have taken another rest day post-op. Knowing how excited she was for the race, though, it was a no-brainer to make the haul north and hope for the best.

A little sidenote: Represent Running puts on a good show with their races. The 510k is the last in their “Run the Bay” series of races, a series that gives both local and remote runners the opportunity to run races in each of the major area codes of the Bay Area — the 408 (an 8k in SJ), the 415 (a 5k and 15k in SF), and the 510 (a 5k and 10k in Berkeley). Each race gives runners a medal that showcases attractions unique to that area (the SJ Sharks, the GGB, the GS Warriors), and if you run the entire race series in one calendar year, you earn an additional “I Run the Bay” medal. Admittedly, I’m not into hardware, but I dig this concept.ย  Plus, I enjoy the staff at RR and have loved working with them over the past year as a social media ambassador, so surgery be damned, I wanted for my girl and me to run!

So — East Bay, Sunday, the last race of the calendar year to complete the “I Run the Bay” challenge. The family and I arrived to Golden Gate Fields at about 6:52 for a 7am start (oops), I nursed Spike in the car and chatted with the awesome Bernadette, another RR social media ambassador who parked next to us and who’d go on to walk the entire 5k course without her cane, nearly a year to the day after surviving a massive stroke, and before I knew it, whoops, it was about 7:15, and I needed to haul relative ass to run. Yikes. I haven’t had the pleasure of being the DFL runner at the start in a very long time, and I was *so* late to arrive to the start of the 510k that I couldn’t even run over the starting mats because RR had already switched things over to “finish” times. I couldn’t help but laugh about the comedy of errors on my part, so I just went with it and more or less began the race parallel to the starting line, yelling an “I’m sorry, JT!!” to the race founder/organizer/director as I began my 6.2. I felt like an ass and surely looked like a doofus.

The 5k and 10k runners and walkers started together, so within the first mile or so, I began to quickly catch-up to the rest of humanity and started seeing many 5k runners working their way home. Probably not even 2 minutes into my race, I saw my husband and the kiddos standing outside the car, yelling GO MOMMY!, necessitating a mid-run smooch for everyone, followed shortly thereafter by a quick photo of the awesomely-inspiring Bernadette and her husband walking.

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As is standard fare with me and races, I rarely looked at my watch and just relied on perceived effort. I knew things would be a little screwy because my adrenaline was SURGING due to the aforementioned comedy of errors, and I just hoped that I wouldn’t crash and burn somewhere. If I did, well, at least I had my phone with me. And yeah, I was hoping that the sutures and such from Friday’s double laparoscopic surgery held up (which, for fun: an IUD removal from my right pelvis … it had apparently perforated my uterus (!) four weeks earlier and migrated … and might have ended up causing a healthy dose of appendicitis, necessitating my appendix to also be removed, much to my surprise when I woke up and they told me it was gone (!!)). Again: I figured if I needed to stop, I would; if I needed to DNF, I would; and really, this was my first race postpartum, one that I was prepared for (the distance) and not prepared for (truly racing at 10k speed) simultaneously. My expectations were low for my performance but hella high for my enjoyment.

For some reason, I felt compelled to call (!) my husband at the halfway mark to tell him that I was halfway done and totally fine — he reminded me as I was exiting the car to race that running this soon post-op was dumb — and that I’d be finishing soon. Like I said, I’ve been the DFL starting runner before, but I’ve never a) taken a pic mid-race; b) smooched my family mid-race; or c) actually made a phone call mid-race (while running, no less), so suffice it to say that Sunday was just a little bit of “everything new on race day.” Why not.

As I continued along in my little trek, enjoying the run, the nice scenery, the views of the bay, and catching up to people, I very surprisingly to me felt fantastic. I didn’t experience any of the post-op tenderness and swelling that I had had in the preceding 48 hours — making me hope that it wouldn’t show up later — and so along I went, looking for people I knew and cheering on those who were already on the ‘back’ portion of the race. I was having a blast.

The 510k constantly kept me guessingย  — for a while, we were on pavement, then crushed limestone, then dirt, then actual limestone (like the little stones that were in my grandparents’ driveway, back in the day), and for a hot minute, we even had some sand — so while I didn’t think it was a fast course, it sure was fun. Because of the timing mat issue, my official time is significantly slower than my watch time (about a 47:47, probably closer to a 47:45, since I didn’t stop it right away at the finish line), but hey — for my first race PP, and for the ridiculous comedy of errors I had that morning, whatevs. I consistently ran sub-8s for the first time since having Spike 11 weeks prior.ย  I got to see many people I knew mid-race and after. And — most importantly — I had so much fun.

I’ve taken a good 1,500 words by this point to talk about a race that wasn’t really about me as much as it was about my oldest daughter. Big Sis is quickly approaching 4.5 and in the past few weeks, has especially taken a liking to running with me at night, after C has gone to bed and after I’ve put the baby down. More often than not, Big Sis rides in the stroller for the run, but she’ll often run in the beginning and again at the very end of the run with me, jumping out of the stroller, proudly wearing a reflective safety vest (while sometimes also running with a flashlight or my headlamp). Surely you can imagine how proud it makes me to see her so happy doing something she loves so much — something that I’ve never once pushed her to do.

As we were standing in the starting area of the kids’ race, I recognized none other than Bay Area local, Olympian, and 2015 Western States winner (in her debut 100-miler) Magdalena Lewy Boulet with her son. If there’s a badass runner out there I’d ever want to emulate — who’s also a woman and who’s also a mother — it’s Magda. And if there’s ever an example of a tough, strong, humble, and accomplished human I’d ever want my daughters to meet, in the hopes that they, too, would emulate her — it’s Magda.

hopefully becoming fast and strong by osmosis
hopefully becoming fast and strong by osmosis. Cheesin’ so hard it looks like my carotid is about to pop!

I was beyond thrilled that she was so gracious to chat, take pics, and even do the goofy warm-up routines with the kids. She’s so *not* a running mortal, but for those 10 minutes of both of the big kids’ and little kids’ races, she was just another parent runner there to cheer on her kid and the other littles. It was just fuckin’ awesome and made me love this community even harder than I already do.

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Big Sis chatted up a storm with Magda (I die of pride) while her son danced on in the background to the DJ’s smooth jams, and once the race began, Big Sis even ran alongside her, at some points step for step. Again: I die of pride. Big Sis has absolutely no idea how awesome it was that she got to meet, talk, and run with such an accomplished runner, so I plan to remind her of this experience when she’s older and can appreciate it a tad more ๐Ÿ™‚

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And once Big Sis finished the race, she quickly said “let’s do it again!,” so back out we went to do the 400m big kids’ run, though after sprinting the little kids’ 200m run, she needed a few run/walk intervals. I get it, Big Sis. Pacing is tough. I’ve never finished a race distance only to go back out and run double the distance again, so hey, you’ve got one up on your mother already.

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After a fun morning of running, with no post-op complications arising or 4 year-old or 11 week-old meltdowns surfacing, the fam and I met up with Mere for brunch before heading back south. It was delicious and necessary and just a freakin’ lovely way to bookend the fun morning experiences.

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It definitely was a whirlwind of a morning that began before 5 and didn’t end until nearly 2, but for my first race postpartum, I couldn’t have asked for a richer experience. Running and racing has been teaching me time and again that the time matters only so much; it’s the times that make it all worthwhile. Deep, I know, but hey — I’m sure I’m not the only runner who can use this reminder periodically. Getting my first racing fix PP and seeing my oldest race again (while also meeting one of the best runners in the business) just made my weekend, and I can’t wait to do it all again.

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Thanks to Represent Running for the opportunity to Run the Bay this year and promote your races like hell. You guys do good work. Everyone should run a RR race (or three). They’re good times and wonderful people.

Esprit de She 10k recap

Esprit de She 10k recap

Spoiler alert: the 10k never happened.

Actually getting on a “real” computer (read: not my phone) is something of a big deal for me now in my current SAHM state, so I apologize for the delay on the recap. I know, I know… that I’ve made you lose sleep for the past week is so incredibly thoughtless and selfish of me. How heinous am I.

If you follow me on Twitter or Dailymile, you might have seen my somewhat quick-and-dirty rundown I posted that night, after the race. I’ll go into more detail here, as well as throw in some pics for good measure (and so as to avoid completely annihilating your precious eyesight).

As I wrote about before, the lovely staff at Esprit de She, or Athleta, the main sponsor of the event, comped my 10k race entry because I had signed on to be a social media ambassador (of sorts) for the race. For me, that just amounted to talking about the race a little bit in my blog and DM entries in the weeks leading up to the event, since I wasn’t training for the 10k per se.

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Going into the 10k, then, I was really itching to see where my fitness levels were, since I had been in full-on maintenance mode for the previous three weeks and was straddling the line of maintenance ending and marathon training commencing. Of course, if the stars aligned, and the weather cooperated, I was really wanting to see how close I could come to PRing because I was pretty sure I was in better shape now than I was when I ran my last 10k, in February, just a couple weeks after Houston (and in the snow, no less).

Well, that whole thing about the stars aligning and the weather cooperating? One of those things didn’t happen.

If you were in, well, probably anywhere in the midwest or east coast last week, you probably recall the steamy temps and super high heat indices. I really try quite hard to not bitch about the weather because, really? you’ve got the time and energy for that?, but last week was pretty rough. Every run I did, of the few I did leading up to the race (as part of a mini-taper), felt like a slog. The day of the race, the race directors for EdS made the wise call to nix the 10k entirely and drop everyone down to the 5k. I immediately felt like that took the pressure off me (the pressure that only I placed there, mind you), and I was glad that someone else had made that decision for me.

All I could think of that afternoon, though, was that I had a 5k ahead of me, and we all know how “true” 5ks are supposed to feel.

That made me begin to wonder if I wouldn’t have been better off in the 10k…

Anyway. A and I got to the race site, adjacent to the Nature Museum, around 6pm and met up with C. I did a warm-up mile and felt pretty good; by then, it was probably in the mid-80s, so it wasn’t completely as sauna-like as it had been earlier, but by no means was it 40s and overcast, either. Prior to my warm-up, I chatted with Erin, a former DePaul colleague of mine and fellow blogger, and as I was standing in the starting corral, I reconnected with Erica, a long-lost training buddy of mine from Boston Bound in 2010. It’s nice to see familiar faces on the lakefront and at races; statistically, it seems unlikely, which makes it all the more awesome when it happens ๐Ÿ™‚

I should also take a minute to talk about the EdS environment, what they billed as a pre- and post-race “party” for runners and their supporters. The race atmosphere was really different from the standard race circuit, since this was a women’s only event. EdS catered more to the “be empowered, have fun, take care of yourself, celebrate your victory” crowd than the “go break your soul in this race” stuff that you usually see at ultra-competitive races.

Don’t take that as a knock to EdS; it’s definitely not.

For as competitive as I am (and really, it’s just with myself), I find these types of race environs to be incredibly supportive and, more importantly,ย if it gets someone to toe the line for the first time, in an environment where she feels safe and like “a runner” for the first time in her life, then I am 110% for it.

EdS also had some premiums and giveaways that were unusual for a race–like manicure touch-ups, a hair braiding station, a “bubbly bar” with champagne and mimosas, and some catered food items from Pampered Chef (I think)–as well as the somewhat more typical Gatorade, water, and mini massages. Again, if having these types of amenities at a race is the impetus to get someone to take charge of her health and lead a healthy lifestyle to be able to participate in the event in the first place, then by all means, we should have more of these events.

Digression.

Erica and I quickly caught up on the past four years of running, talked about NYC in November, and decided that we should be at the front of the pack (scary) when the gun went off. The race began at 7pm, and by then, the temperatures hadn’t really dropped much from when I did my warm-up around 6:30: still sunny, still 90s+ heat index. The course announcer mentioned that the RD had set up additional misting fans and water on the course and stressed to everyone to just run “for fun” that night and not to expect any PRs. My goal wasn’t to PR, but I wanted to put in an honest effort to see where my fitness was. I also really wanted to run a 5k intelligently–something I consistently fail to do–so I pretty much promised myself not to leave the gate like I was on fire, something I am wont to do in these “go break your soul” races (my term of endearment for all 5ks, regardless of their level of competition).

I also recalled that the course was pretty messy and ugly, replete with some weirdo turns, out-and-backs, and the always crappy overshooting the finish line and then backtracking. Once the gun went off, Erica, two other women, and I were in the lead pack, and Erica and I were talking to each other–yes, talking, during a 5k–which internally, made me ridiculously happy because all I could think was “you’re doing it! you didn’t blaze out of the gate like an idiot! it’s all downhill from here, baby!!” Soon after going under the Fullerton bridge, Erica, another woman, and I broke away, and were in the lead. As we approached the south entrance of the zoo, near the Grant Statue, a little after mile 1 and change, the other women dropped back, so suddenly, and unexpectedly, I was in the lead of a race that I didn’t intend to run particularly hard or try to PR, especially to the backdrop of a hot and humid Chicago night.

We ascended the Grant statue hill and then quickly cross country-style ran through some brush to connect with the newly-redesigned south pond and boardwalk at the Lincoln Park zoo. By now, I was chasing the bicycling course marshalls, though I could still hear Erica pretty close behind me. As we ran through the boardwalk, we began the very hard turns on the course–so hard that I almost came to a complete stop, in the interest of not wiping out in the pond marsh–and I knew I’d be losing time in that mile because of it. Just as soon as we had entered the zoo’s southern campus, we exited, and ran around the baseball fields parallel to LaSalle and started making our way back north. I was still leading by now and feeling pretty well, so I began to crazily think that maybe I could pull off an unexpected PR that night and maybe even a first place OA, the latter being something I have only ever done once before.

As we ran north and passed by the fields, the North Avenue bridge that connects the inner and outer lakefront paths, and the zoo parking lot, many folks on the path not associated with the race were stopping in their tracks to cheer for the runners. I love it when that happens and always acknowledge them with some gesture of gratitude, like a thumbs-up, a wave, or whatever goofy remark I can conjure in that moment (depending on how much I am focusing or how tired I am). I think I even got a few “is she winning? SHE’S WINNING!” remarks as well by then ๐Ÿ˜‰ We hit mile 2 once we were parallel to the racers still heading south, and by then I was definitely getting tired–so much for my intelligent racing goal–and began cursing the 5k distance.

Note: don’t curse the race distance when you’re still doing the race or when you’re in the freakin’ lead.

For whatever reason, my watch had been wonky all week and unsurprisingly, wasn’t matching up to the mile markers. Not long after I had internally cursed this godforsaken race distance, probably around mile 2.25, another runner passed me, and not Erica, whom I thought was still very close to me. I wasn’t disappointed that I wouldn’t win, but I knew that the race still wasn’t over and that I had to really concentrate on locking in my pace and bringing it home, laying on the line whatever I had left in the tank, whatever that hadn’t evaporated in the heat.

Remember when I said that the course had that crappy feature of overshooting the finish line? Yeah, it’s crappy, and even when you know you’re going to do it, it’s still crappy. What I wasn’t expecting was to be running on the crushed asphalt path and then have to cut across, through the grass (again, cross country style), to the other side of the path so as to avoid running through the exit side of the finish line. This wasn’t a huge deal–mostly an annoyance–but I don’t think the RD realized that having runners cut across like that would also make them run parallel to the line of port-o-potties as well: problematic because if you were a spectator going to the bathroom at the wrong time, you’d kinda be stuck for a while…in a port-o-potty…in the heat and humidity. Ick.

Right before we made a hard left to go west before making another hard left to go south, back to the finish line, at the first driveway after the CARA water fountain (tedious details, but the Chicago runners will appreciate it), C and A were sitting on the bench and saw me in the #2 spot. He quickly yelled out “look, A! It’s Mommy!” to which she screamed, in her best toddler-sized Bloody Mary voice, “Moooooooooommmy!!” ๐Ÿ™ I felt pretty guilty running away from her like that, and Erica, who was behind me, even yelled something to her along the lines of “Mommy’s kicking butt!” I knew I’d see my A soon, once I finished, and C informed me that she had cried for me the entire race. It was a hard twenty minutes to be a toddler, apparently. ๐Ÿ™

The winner clocked in around a 20:30, +/- a few seconds, and I followed her shortly thereafter, at 20:43. Honestly, for as horrible as this race could have been, given the conditions, I am really pretty satisfied with it. My PR is from Mother’s Day 2012, a 20:31, and in May in Ohio, on a hilly course, I clocked a 20:40, and at EdS, in horrible conditions, just a few seconds slower. This makes me really optimistic that I can still lower my 5k, and if I actually do 5k specific training, instead of relying on my marathon fitness, I think it’s even more feasible. All told, EdS was a really enjoyable way to spend a Thursday night with C and A and an awesome (and gratifying) way to officially begin my Chicago and NYC training.

Shortly after I finished, I grabbed some food (more for C and A than myself, since my stomach was churning), an ice-cold and dripping wet towel, and headed for a 5 minute chair massage that was delightful. Not long after my cool-down mile, EdS held their awards ceremony, wherein the winner, Erica (who finished #3 and not that far behind me), and I were presented with our prizes: a voucher for a free pair of Skechers GoRun running shoes (retail at $80 and have some great reviews), a $10 gift card to Athleta, and a white EdS technical hat. And strangely, once I finished and reconnected with my family, A was happy again, and when I left to go do a cool-down, she didn’t seem to mind at all. How me doing a cool-down mile at a pace minutes slower than my 5k pace is worse than me racing 3.1, I will never know, but I also (usually) don’t have a toddler mentality ๐Ÿ˜‰

with the OA winner (center) and Erica (#3, right), and A. Her attention was had at the sight of the pink gift bag.
with the OA winner (center) and Erica (#3, right), and A. Her attention was had at the sight of the pink gift bag.

The EdS race is one that I’d recommend for the female runner set, but the 5k course, with its messy design, isn’t conducive to super swift times, even on the flatlands of the lakefront. It does, however, boast an extremely positive race environment and would be a wonderful “first race” for any woman interested in beginning running/walking, or some combination therein, or foraying into endurance events. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with EdS and am optimistic that future years’ races will be even better.

how this doesn't pull her arms out of their sockets, I will never know. She LOVES it, though.
how this doesn’t pull her arms out of their sockets, I will never know. She LOVES it, though.
with Erica and A afterward. See, everyone's happy :)
with Erica and A afterward. See, everyone’s happy ๐Ÿ™‚

While EdS comped my race entry, these opinions are my own. Promise.