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ZOOMA Napa 13.1: looking forward to bullshit-free running

ZOOMA Napa 13.1: looking forward to bullshit-free running

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When my family and I moved to the Bay Area from Chicago in December, a lot of things, obvious and not-so-obvious, changed. I will be the first to admit that I was a bit terrified about the move, and at the core, I was (probably) most anxious about essentially being the new kid at school for the first time in over a decade.

Yea, things look just a little different here.
Yea, things look just a little different here.

 

While I consider myself a pretty outgoing gal, and a fairly gregarious one at that, I also think I’m a bit goofy–as many of my people are–and wondered how the hell I’d meet people, make friends, and basically, figure shit out here in the absence of working outside the home and having lots of facetime with adults daily. Seriously, I have sometimes wondered if my being a SAHM has affected my abilities to seamlessly interact with other adults… but hey, being awkward can be kinda fun… the operative word here is “kinda”…

Anyway, shortly after we made the move, I began putting myself out there way more than I had in recent history in Chicago, again, in no small part because I felt like it was in my best interests to do so here in order to make friends. Of course, the easiest way for me to put myself out there, by being a stay-at-home mom, was through social media. I started writing more here and posting weekly training recaps for Oakland, stuff that I never thought anyone would have any interest in reading; I played on twitter more than I had been (but as usual, typically only during toddler downtime, or pre-predawn runs); I not only got on but also joined some groups on facebook (which, if you know me, is a BFD because I loathe facebook and deleted my account many years ago); and on a whim, I applied to be a social media ambassador for some Bay Area races, including TSFM, the 408k, and the ZOOMA Napa half marathon/10k.

When the various races (surprisingly) selected me to help promote their races, I immediately thought cool! Free race entry! Easy way to meet other runners in the area! followed by fuck! I’ve gotta come outta my cave! As I’ve written about elsewhere, it’s significantly easier to keep your (read: my) life and training and goals all clammed up in a space that you (me), and only you (me), is privy to; however, the challenge, and subsequent growth, I’d argue, lies in laying it all out there for people to take in for themselves–judgement be damned.

I’ve gotten to thinking about this stuff again recently because I’ve been thinking a bit more about the ZOOMA half marathon in Napa at the end of June. Though I don’t know for certain right now, it’s fairly probable that I’ll race it (!!!) and use it as a tune-up/gauge for TSFM a month later. I haven’t truly raced a half marathon all year (and really, in a long time… maybe since January ’12, if memory serves). I’m really excited about the ZOOMA race because I’m looking forward to seeing where my fitness is, post-Oakland and post-Newport (21 days from today, yeessh!), and more importantly, I’m also really looking forward to meeting the other Napa ambassadors with whom I’ve connected via social media over the past few months. These women seem awesome, and I’m excited to meet more social media buddies IRL…and yes, I went there with the internet acronyms.

logo_napa

Admittedly, I don’t often run women-focused or women-marketed races like ZOOMA, but when I do, I find them to be incredibly empowering and motivating. What stands out most to me about women-centered races is that, while they’re not necessarily a crazy-ass-competitive environment–and that’s cool, and really, totally a-okay–they’re quite supportive and downright celebratory of their participants and the work they’ve put in to get there. Every racer matters, regardless if she’s throwing down 6 or 16 minute miles. And personally, women’s races like ZOOMA are really awesome reminders for me to reflect on how far I’ve come in my running, as I witness so many women participating in their first endurance event, and I can get downright teary (no surprise) and giddy cheering for the other runners,  just about as much as I do running it, myself.

from Ragnar SoCal. Cheering for other runners brings me to my happy place, much as running does. (credit: Jordan)
from Ragnar SoCal ’14. Cheering for other runners brings me to my happy place, much as running does. (credit: Jordan)

For me, the running community is about so much more than just my racing; supporting and encouraging others is a big part of the puzzle as well.

Another distinguishing characteristic for me with all-women’s races, and probably the biggest selling factor, is the general lack of cattiness/stupid judgement/bullshit between female runners. I notice this shit all the time when I run and race. Rarely do I get a wave or an acknowledgement of my presence from other female runners while I’m running, regardless (especially) if I initiate the communication. Men, on the other hand, seem to have no problem whatsoever to reciprocate communication with me.  I’m not entirely sure what the root of this is, but I do know that, based on the all-women’s races I’ve run in the past, women are generally way more supportive and encouraging of each other in this environment than in others (and, sidenote: during Ragnar SoCal a couple months ago, I distinctly remember that it wasn’t until my final relay leg, when I was running against other women on the roads–women who weren’t running Ragnar but were just out for their morning runs–that they were suddenly encouraging and acknowledging of my presence and communication. During that final leg, I can’t tell you how many fistbumps, looking good, sister!, thumbs-up, and the like I got from these other, non-Ragnar women. In contrast, the women I passed, talked to, or ran near in Ragnar, the ones actually running the relay, couldn’t have given a damn about me or my efforts to connect with them. WTF, women. What. The. Fuck).

Anyway, suffice it to say that I’m getting excited for Napa. There are lots of cool sponsors who have been really great to the other ambassador ladies and me–thank you, Altra, Ultimate Direction, Cytomax/Muscle Milk, Ultima Replenisher, and more!–and I’ve since learned that RunningAddicts, one of the South Bay running groups to which I belong (and the folks responsible for my fun pacing gigs recently) will also be serving as the pacers at the race, so it’ll be fun to see some familiar faces up north. I’m expecting nothing less than a runnah love-fest.

just a handful of RA half and full pacers at Brazen Racing's Western Pacific races on 5/3/14. See me? :) (photo cred: Linh)
just a handful of RA half and full pacers at Brazen Racing’s Western Pacific races on 5/3/14. See me? 🙂 (photo cred: Linh)

 

More than anything, I’m looking forward to being in a community of (primarily, though not exclusively) female runners and being surrounded by a lot of “sisterhood-driven positivity” (that sounds horrendous, but I think you get what I mean) for a change, instead of the same ol’, same ol’ inter-lady bullshit negativity and cattiness.

Goes without saying that, while I’m an ambassador for ZOOMA Napa, these views are mine and mine alone.

During your training or races, have you observed any notable differences between how men/women interact with you?  What do you think accounts for the differences/similarities? Surely I can’t be the only one who experiences this…

And hey… join me in Napa. NAMB8 gets you 10% off the 10k or the half. As my three year-old says, it’ll be “like super fast” or “like super fun!”

Another catch-up: Home Run for the Homeless & Berlin Amish Country Half

Another catch-up: Home Run for the Homeless & Berlin Amish Country Half

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I’m beginning to realize I’m a horrible blogger.  I think it’s a problem of consistency.  If I blogged as often and as regularly as I ran, I’d be golden.  Alas…

Greetings from San Fran.  I’m here with C for his work (he works, I play, it’s a great thing we’ve got goin’), and this is coming off of two weeks we spent with the wee one in Ohio for Thanksgiving.  In the Buckeye State I raced twice– a Thanksgiving Day four-miler through a hilly cemetery, as I usually do if I’m in the state for Thanksgiving, and an inaugural half marathon through Amish Country in Berlin, Ohio.  Here’s a quick and dirty YT vid I did post-half marathon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPfgamtTfoA.

So… where to start?

Well, this was round three or four of doing the Home Run for the Homeless 4 miler in Akron.  It’s really a quite lovely and low-key race but really, pretty tough because the course is constant ascension and descension, from beginning to end.  The race is the organization’s one and only fundraiser all year, which is pretty impressive in and of itself, but even more so when you consider that the organization is completely volunteer-driven.

This year, the race got a bit abbreviated because of some work in the cemetery, so it ended up being 3.8 miles instead of 4; it doesn’t make a huge difference though because it was still a PR for me at the distance (3.8 miles or 4) and enough for me to net an age group award (3rd place I think– a ribbon, Santa coffee mug, and a frozen pumpkin pie!).

My time? 27:25, a 7:13 pace.

This race has really grown in the past few years, and I heard recently that it’s the second-largest race in Summit County, presumably second only to the Akron Marathon and Half Marathon.

What’s even cooler is that I got to meet and shake Butch Reynolds’ hand!  And if you don’t know who he is… well… read up on him.  Very cool and very TALL man.

Here’s a great lil race video about the 4-miler; check it out here.

While I was in Ohio from mid-to-late November, I streaked for about two solid weeks… surprising because even though I log my mileage every day, for some reason I didn’t catch on to it.  I felt well, though, aside from some minor tightness that comes with running hills in Ohio (because remember, there aren’t any to write home about in the city of wind).

Speaking of hills… let’s talk Berlin Amish Country Half Marathon.

Holy hell.

Holy HILLS!

My dad (not a runner), upon me telling him that I had signed up for this inaugural half marathon in Amish Country, in part because I had never been to Amish Country, kinda looked at me and said “really?  That’s really hilly there… ya know that, right?” Yea yea…I thought.

The next day, C and A and I went to a little hotel/inn there for packet pickup, so we got to drive through Amish Country and experience some of the hills for ourselves (from the comfort of a car)… and wow.

I knew my work was cut out for me.

One of the guys working at the packet pick-up said that on this course, times and PRs are completely irrelevant because it’s tough as nails.

My cocky self began to deteriorate rather quickly by that point and instead, some fear (but also a healthy dose of intrigue and “c’mon, try me”… I’m so damn competitive…) seeped in.

Well, come race day morning, circa 2am, my gastrointestinal system woke me up to give me a big F-U, so when I awoke later at 5:30 or 6 for the race (because I had a good 70 minute drive ahead of me), I debated whether I should take my earlier episode as a sign that I shouldn’t run.  I figured I was in the clear, but just like my episode at the women’s half in Chicago in June, I should learn to listen to my instincts more…

Yup, we went there again.

Four miles in, on the course, at an aid station.

It was awesome.

Fortunately, once my gastrointestinal system told me to fuck off for the second time on race day, I actually felt pretty well.  I lost a couple minutes in the porta-potty, and while I wasn’t able to recover my place in the race, I flew through the few flat sections there were, as well as some of the downhills, on a sub-8 pace.  By the end of the race, when it was clear that many other runners were dwindling on energy, I was passing folks pretty regularly on the hill climbs, of which there were PLENTY.

I really should have taken some pictures post-race of the hills, but I was pretty tired (because remember, by race’s end, I was running on empty, save for the few calories I had ingested from a small glass of orange juice a nice Amish lady gave me [why not??!] and some gels I had taken on the course) and cold because, oh yea… it snowed and/or wind-whipped us the whole time on the course.

Not bad for an inaugural race: snow, 30-degree temps, diarrhea, wind…

Talk about making some memories.

All told, though, I wanted to do a 1:35-1:45 at the race, expecting to do something closer to the 1:40s range, given the course difficulty, so I was happy with my 1:45 finish.  Had I not had my gastrointestinally-dictated pit stop, (which wasn’t an option, I couldn’t forgo it), it would have been a 1:43 for sure.  It was enough for a 5th woman OA finish and a 2nd or 3rd AG award, which is in the mail.

So, apparently, judging from this half and the one in June, I can start off running a half at a decent pace, get the big D, and still finish in a respectable mid-1:40s time.  Crazy how things change, seeing as how when I started running in 2007, mid-1:40s was the best I could do.  Now, it’s indicative of a shitty performance (horrible pun, I know, but I had to…).

The other, probably coolest, thing about the Berlin race was that I was running through very rural Ohio and actually ran alongside or got passed by horses and buggies!  You never see that in Chicago.

These guys in November will be my last races of 2012.  I wasn’t thrilled to end on a not-amazing note with the GI distress in the half, but I guess I gotta remember that I did the best I could with what was thrown at me that day, and ya never know, it could happen again, in a race or otherwise.  Just gotta roll with it, I suppose.