Run It Fast®

This is the medal the finishers of the Vancouver USA Marathon received on June 16, 2013 in Vancouver, Washington.

Congratulations to RIF #70 Chuck “MarathonJunkie” Engle who was 2nd Masters Overall in the marathon!

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[Medal photo submitted by RIF #70 Chuck “MarathonJunkie” Engle. Follow on Twitter @MarathonJunkie]

This is the finisher’s medal for the Millarville “Run to the Farmer’s Market” Half Marathon that was held on June 15, 2013 in Millarville, Alberta, Canada.

Congratulations to RIF #274 Brennan for completing his first half marathon there!

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[Medal photo submitted by RIF #274 Brennan Thompson. Follow on Twitter @bthompson_91]

RIF #27 Anthony Ohrey and RIF #169 Billy Cannon finishing strong at the Run Under The Stars 2013

Have you ever run a timed race? Did you even know they exist? All over the country, there are 6 Hour, 12 Hour, 24 Hour, etc. races. They are usually run on a loop and they are lots of fun. I know what you’re thinking….Probably the same thing the rental car agent thought this past weekend.

Rental Car Agent: What brings you to town?
Me: I’m doing a 10 Hour race on Saturday.
RCA: Wow, where do you run to?
Me: Um, we’ll be running in circles on a half mile track the whole time.
RCA: *silence*…Good luck? *cue the this girl is nuts look*
🙂

Okay, so it may seem a little crazy but here’s why you should consider running a timed race if you haven’t done one already:

• There is no DNF in a timed race. You show up and run whatever you want to run during your alloted time. Some people go in to them planning to run a certain distance and then calling it while others plan to run the whole time to see how many miles they can run. Whichever method you choose is entirely up to you.
• You can’t get lost! I’ve run on half mile loops, mile loops, and 5K loops in the ones I’ve done. You are never far away from the start and/or aid station so you don’t have to worry about them calling out search parties if you miss a course marking and end up in another state.
• You are never far from an aid station and food and water…like I stated in the previous point. This means you don’t have to carry multiple bottles or a hydration pack and you don’t have to carry a ton of food and gels on you.
• You get to see your friends multiple times on the course. Most of the time, I see my friends at the beginning of a race (and sometimes at the end if they’ve waited for me) but with a loop course, you get to see them over, and over…and over again. 🙂 And the great thing is that since the race ends at a specific time, you never have to worry about them waiting around for you because you all end at the same time.
• You get to make a lot of new friends. For the same reason above, you will see many of your fellow racers multiple times on the course and get to spend a lot of time with them.
• They allow the middle and back-of-the-packers a chance to see/watch the fast guys/women.
• You can usually set up your own little camp – with maybe a chair or blanket or sometimes even a tent – so all your stuff is there within easy access. No worrying about what to put in a drop bag for when. Night time…no problem, just grab your light. Need a change of shoes or socks…no problem, just grab them and change them.
• Your friends and family that come to see you at the race get to see you multiple times without have to drive to various places on the course. And if they are tired, they can take a nap.
• Hey, you can take a nap if you want to.
• You always know where your competition is.
• You will find yourself inspired by everyone, fast or slow, because you get to see their triumphs and their struggles.
• It’s fun to see the miles adding up as you finish each loop.
• You don’t have to worry about bears, mountain lions, and crazed cows…usually. Crazy runners, yes. Wild animals, no.
• Did I mention access to great food is never far away? I’ve had pizza and cheeseburgers and tri tip and ice cream at some of my timed races.

For all these reasons…and probably a lot I forgot…timed races are a great place to set a new PR for a distance or set a new PL (Personal Long). You will be amazed by what you can accomplish at one!

I’ve done 4 so far and had a blast at each one:

New Year’s One Day 6/12/24 in San Francisco, CA – run on a 1 mile loop around Crissy Field on New Year’s Eve/Day with amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Presidio, Alcatraz, and the city. Both the 6 Hour and the 12 Hour end at midnight on New Year’s Eve.

Nanny Goat 12/24/100 in Riverside, CA – great, fun 1 mile looping course on a horse farm that supports the Wounded Warrior Project. There’s a variety of surfaces to run on so you won’t get bored.

RIF #1 Joshua Holmes having fun at the Nanny Goat 2013

Run Under The Stars 10 Hour Endurance Run in Paducah, KY – run on a 1/2 mile horse track, the race starts at 8pm on Saturday and finishes at 6am on Sunday.

Rohring Round the Clock 6/12/24 in Chula Vista, CA – run on a 5K loop around Rohring park with lots to see.

These are just a few that I’ve done. I hope to run Across the Years 24HR/48HR/72HR one of these years and will definitely go back to the others. You can find more timed races by checking out Ultra Signup.

What are you waiting for? Go find one and sign up!

This is the finisher’s medal for the Run Under The Stars Endurance Run that was held on June 8-9 in Paducah, Kentucky.

Fun medal! And it glows in the dark!

This is a 10 Hour run that starts at 8 pm on Saturday night and ends at 6 am the next morning. It is a total blast. 70+ Run It Fast Club Members were there this year and 4 members earned spots in the Top 5 Men and Top 5 Women! Here is a photo of the fun 5th Place award earned by RIF #1 Joshua Holmes:

Congratulations to RIF #236 Jen Metcalf, RIF #160 Jennifer Whitley, RIF #221 Karl Studtmann, and Josh for earning Top 5 spots! In fact, all the club members did amazing there and we are so proud of them.

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[Medal submitted by RIF #5 Lisa Gonzales, follow her on on Twitter @runlikeacoyote and the award was submitted by RIF #1 Joshua Holmes, follow him on Twitter @bayou]

This is the medal the finishers of the Big Basin Marathon received on June 9, 2013 in Los Gatos, California.

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[Medal photo submitted by Mike Lowry. Follow on Twitter @MikeLowry40]

This is the finisher’s medal for the Laguna Phuket International Marathon that was held on June 9, 2013 in Thalang, Thailand.

This is a very pretty medal!

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[Medal photo submitted by Phillip Forsyth. Follow on Twitter @Phillip_In_HK]

Out Damn Negative Thoughts!

I’ve gotten into a very bad habit the past 6 months. I’ve become my own worst critic and I can’t seem to stop it.

When things go bad in a race, I start telling myself how slow I am, how much I suck, how I’m not trying hard enough, not working hard enough, giving up too easily.

When I don’t hit my times in the planned work outs that my coach set up for me, I find myself saying things like “He’s got to be frustrated with me.” Or “I bet he’ll be disappointed again.” Or “Maybe a coach is a waste of time.”

And when a friend teases me about running a 4 hour half marathon, I think “He knows me/my running better than most so I must really suck.”

I know I’m only making things worse. That it’s me who’s disappointed and frustrated (and embarrassed) and not my coach or my friends. I know that I’m not helping myself but…how do I stop it?

I’ve been in a funk ever since the DNF at Death Valley Trail Marathon. I haven’t raced well this year. I’ve been slow as molasses and my confidence is shattered. I doubt I can hit my workouts and I doubt I can keep a certain pace in a race and I think it causes me to live up…er, live down…to my expectations.

I’m tired of it. I want my confidence back. I want to be fast and feel fast.

I know that fast is relative and I know I’m not a 2:30 marathoner but I feel I have a sub 4 marathon in me. Actually, I don’t know what I’m capable of but I dream of going sub 3:55 and qualifying for Boston. I want to go sub 24 in a 5K and sub 50 in a 10K and 1:50 in a half. Or faster.

But to do that, I first have to quit telling myself I can’t.

On Saturday, I ran my 5th 5K. My 5K PR is 24:59 (set in 2011) but I honestly thought I would be lucky if I broke 30 minutes for the one on Saturday. I felt that 27 minutes would be a dream goal but I shouldn’t be disappointed if I didn’t hit it. I thought there was an outside chance of hitting 27 minutes. Maybe.

Then I’m not sure what happened but I got mad at myself. The night before the race I started thinking about what it would take to PR and I started telling myself that I could do it. On race morning as I warmed up I lectured myself over and over again to try. To not give up. To run as hard as I could and try to PR. That it wasn’t impossible. I could do it. But only if I tried. I started the race…determined.

I ran hard.

I finished the race in 25:15.

So…no PR but I ran so hard I thought I was going to puke at the end. I never told myself I couldn’t do it while I was running. I talked myself out of giving up and settling for the slower 27 min goal from earlier. I was happy with my effort. I had run it with my heart instead of my head and because of that, I got a surprise when the times were posted…3rd in my age group! Woo! This is my 5K medal on the left and my AG medal on the right:

🙂 If this were a Hollywood movie, that would be the end…the happy runner girl running off into the sunset with a new mind and a new determination to make her goals happen.

Well, this ain’t Hollywood….

On Sunday, I ran the Rock n’ Roll San Diego Half Marathon (my 24th half marathon) and I was back to my old ways. If you look at the McMillan pace calc based on my 5K time…

…I should be able to go sub 2 for the half. My PR for the half is 1:57:26 (also set in 2011) but I was telling myself to shoot for 2:10 and to be happy with 2:15. And when things went south during the race (I lost 6 minutes to hit the port-a-potty and then fell before mile 10), I started in with the negative talk: I suck, I should just stop racing, I shouldn’t have signed up for that marathon at the end of June because it might take me 5 or more hours to finish and my friends will have to wait for me. What was I thinking? I was frustrated and embarrassed again and beating myself up over it.

Sigh.

Bad habits are hard to break. I have GOT to figure out how to break this one permanently before I give up trying all together. I just don’t know how right now.

Any suggestions? How do you deal with the negative voices?

 
Here is the finisher’s medal from the Calgary Half Marathon that took place on May 26, 2013 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Happy belated birthday to RIF #270 Kevin! No better way to celebrate a birthday than to race! 🙂

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[Medal submitted by RIF #244 Susan Warcholak and RIF #270 Kevin Warcholak ]

This is the finisher’s medal for the Edinburgh Marathon that was held on May 26, 2013 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Much better version of the medal this year!

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[Medal photo submitted by Deirdre Donnelly. Follow her on Twitter @zomingtilly]

This is the finisher’s medal for the Round San Andres Island 32.5K that was held on May 26, 2013 on San Andres Island, Colombia.

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[Medal submitted by RIF #207 Jorge Angel. Follow on on Twitter @777jaah]