Double Turkey Trot

This past weekend I went home for Thanksgiving and ran not one, but two turkey trots! I was originally planning on just running the Nitro Turkey Trot like last year on Thursday in Pinole, but a month or so ago I got an email about the "Double Turkey Challenge" aka run the Nitro Turkey Trot Thursday and the Quarry Turkey Race Saturday and found out that  ..... drumroll ... you'd get a THIRD medal to join your two if you did both races. Being the bling-aholic I am, I registered for both! 10K on Thursday, Half Marathon on Saturday. Hey, I was scheduled to run those distances anyways, why not race them?

Kona Acting as Navigator

Driving North

I took Wednesday off and drove up to San Francisco from San Diego with my two dogs. I had learned my lesson from two years ago when I left at noon, and knew I had to leave early. I left by 6:45am (goal was 5-6am) and 10 hours and 5 stops later I made it! The 5 stops were a combination of my dogs needing to pee, me needing to pee, me needing to eat, and my car needing gas. Sheesh. I timed my stops so I'd have at least one in Santa Barbara, and made sure to stop at my college favorite Silver Greens along the way.

Silver Greens in Isla Vista

FREEBIRDS!

Thanksgiving Day

I had heard a few days before that there was rain and cold weather predicted for Thanksgiving day. BOO! I HATE bad weather! Cold and wet weather makes me want to cry. Seriously. I am a serious weather pansy and hate being wet or cold. (Insert princess judgment - whatever, so I'm delicate!)  Luckily on Thursday morning when I woke up it was wet, but not actively raining. I crossed my fingers and hoped that this would continue for the rest of the day.

Point Pinole Park

I had breakfast and the picked up Christina, and then we headed off to Pinole for the Turkey Trot. I had put the address of the race (from the confirmation email) in my calendar, but when I tried to put it in my Garmin it couldn't be found. Ahh! I then tried to Google the park on my Blackberry while Christina did the same on her iPhone. Um, neither device could find Point Pinole. W T H. I had GPS in my car and we both had smartphones yet we couldn't find where we were going. Absolute technology fail. Luckily we headed in the general direction of Pinole, and once we were closer my GPs was able to find the park.

Food Tents Everywhere!

SO San Francisco - It's It Ice Cream!

We got to the race only about 10 minutes before the start and all of the lots were full so we had to park in a neighborhood down the street and run about half a mile to the park. When we got there they had run out of safety pins (???) so I bummed one off a lady and Christina rubber banded hers to her waistband. Ghetto. I had realized on the drive up that I forgot my Walkman and was really upset that I'd have to run in silence. I have an iPod for my car and could've run with that, but I didn't have earphones. Luckily Christina had an extra pair which I used for the race. Whew!

Heading Out on the Trail

The race was on a trail with rolling hills and a beautiful view of the bay. I was trying to beat last year's time of 53:26 and possibly break my 10K PR from 2006. I know that a mucky trail with rolling hills isn't the best place to PR, but hey, why not go for it? I ended up finishing in 52:27 (8:27 pace) and was 8/33 in my Age Group, and 73/339 overall. Not too shabby.

Post-Race Pie

After the race I checked out the post-race feast and took a little piece of pumpkin pie. This race has the most incrdible food I've ever seen! Various pies, Its-It, hot chocolate, cookies, bagels, etc. PIE! Mmmm.

Here Comes Christina!

Posing With the Nitro Turkey

After shoving a piece of pie in my face I went back to cheer Christina on to the finish and snap a few pictures of her. When I got home my dad and I had lunch at Hanoi Bistro down the street and then went to see the new Muppets movie. For dinner we had reservations at McCormick & Kuleto's at Ghiradelli Square just like last year. I ordered the Thanksgiving dinner for a change and was happy to have some turkey knowing that I wouldn't be burdened with turkey leftovers for weeks to come.

Dinner with My Daddy

Black Friday

I challenged myself with the goal of avoiding Black Friday shopping at all costs that next day. I was not going to get up early to join the crazy people! I wasn't! I wasn't! I started off my day with a run around Lake Merced, went with my dad to a construction site to help him take land measurements (in the muck - ewe!),  we had lunch in Chinatown, and then made plans to meet up with my best friend to work on a quilt square for my cousin's wedding quilt. Garley was out shopping when I was headed to her house so to kill an hour I went to the mall. Weak!I was surprised that the mall wasn't too crowded and picked up a few gifts. I'm proud to say I also managed to avoid buying anything for myself. Willpower!

Golden Gate Bridge Off in the Fog Back There

Banana Slug by My Right Foot - EWE

Guy Mowing Down Lays Chips While Ordering??

That night at Garley's we spent probably four hours working on my quilt square. This included a quick run to the fabric store as well to get additional fabric to work with. I am proud to say I relearned how to use a sewing machine, and thanks to YouTube I also now know how to thread and change the bobbin! The square turned out much better than I had thought, but it ended up with a few technical problems. Hopefully my aunt can fix them. (It doesn't lay flat and I accidentally chopped a piece of a corner off when I was trimming the thread.)

Start of the Quilt Square

Quilt Square Complete!

Saturday

Saturday soon rolled around and it was time for my next race! I picked Christina up and we headed to Fremont. I was running a little late (no way!) and we ended up getting to the park at 8:05 am and the race started at 8:00. Unfortunately I was a bit um 'overhydrated' and needed to make a bathroom stop before getting to the startline. By the time I made it through the line it was 8:10, and when I got my bib and chip it was 8:13. The 10K (starting at 8:15) was already lined up! I asked the race officials what I should do and they said I could just start but I'd be marked against gun time. Whatever, so I went!

Starting the 10K Alone

About 10 feet in I realized I forgot my iPod from my car (AHHH!) and then 30 seconds later I heard the 10K start and a pack approaching behind me. I got to the first turn on the trail and turned left. The pack went right. Shoot. Right then and there I decided to just run the 10K. I didn't want to suffer through 13 miles in silence, I didn't want to get lost, and honestly I didn't mind a shorter run. I turned around and joined the 10K lead pack. I ended up running with a group that was going really fast, and found myself running like a maniac for the first two miles. I also had a guy pacing right behind me up until mile 2 (it sounded like he was 6 inches behind me!) who I was happy to lose at the first water stop when I stopped to walk as I took a drink. I picked back up and settled into a more comfortable pace, but still felt like I was hauling. 

This Guy Was My Shadow For 2 Miles

The course was gravel and had some small rolling hills, and I was surprised to see that I was keeping up a pretty good pace as each mile ticked by. Granted I was slowing down mile by mile, but as I passed mile 5 I thought wow - I have a chance of breaking my 2006 PR! (49:02) I pushed as hard as I could for the last mile and ended up crossing the finish at 49:54. I came in 5/31 in my Age Group (missed 3rd by 24 seconds! shoot!) and 36/284 Overall.

Double Turkey Challenge Complete!

After the race I talked to the race officials to get reassigned to the 10K group, and then headed over to get my extra medal. I have a million race medals and I don't need another one to validate myself, but hey, it is fun to collect more bling.

More Posing with the Turkey

Nitro Turkey & Quarry Turkey Race Medals

We got another picture with the Brazen turkey before heading back to San Francisco where we had a lunch date with some of our UCSB friends at Papalote. After lunch I was going to hit the road and head back to San Diego. I hate driving at night because I get sleepy on the road, but I figured that getting back Saturday night would give me Sunday to catch back up on life and get ready for the week ahead. It only took me 8 1/2 hours on the drive down and I only hit moderate traffic on the 5. Yay!

Lunch w/Lady Gauchos

This marked my 19th and 20th race for the year, with final race #21 coming up this weekend. I'll be running the California International Marathon in Sacramento. Its supposed to be fast race, and I'm going to make my millionth attempt to break 4 hours. I ran OC in May just to build my confidence back (recap here),  after "quitting" marathons last year, and then ran San Francisco (recap) and Marine Corps (recap) with David at an easy pace. (More about my quitting in Dealing With Disappointment and I'm Over the Marathon.)

In this race I want to RACE and hopefully PR. I haven't trained as hard as I wanted to (same old story) but hope that the confidence  I built back up this year helps me. A marathon is such a mental challenge and I think my mind is where I usually lose it in the last few miles. I'm hoping I can stay strong and positive this weekend. I can do it! I can do it! I can do it!

Celebrating the 4th

This weekend I enjoyed four days off in honor of the 4th of July! We had Monday off as a holiday and I was planning on taking Friday off so we could drive up to SF ... but since we hit our Q2 sales number we all got Friday off for free! Yay!

On Thursday night David and I went out to dinner at McCormick & Schmick's to celebrate the start of a long weekend. I'm a "Preferred Guest" member there and they had recently credited my account with a $30 dining credit for my birthday and a free dessert. Mc & Schmick's (as its called) isn't David's favorite restaurant, but I was able to talk him into going with me again. He ordered the lobster and I had the ahi dinner which we both thought were pretty good.

Dinner at McCormick & Schmick's

Driving up to SF

The next day we were planning on getting an early start (~6am) on driving up to San Francisco. Of course I am totally never able to leave on time so we didn't get on the road until about 9am. We hit some traffic going into LA, and since I've been stuck on the Grapevine wayyyy too many times, I decided to head over to the coast and drive up the 101. This route takes about 45 minutes longer but is much more predictable than going up the 5, and is my preferred way to head home. The drive took us about 10 hours total and we arrived in San Francisco just in time to go out to dinner with my dad.

Mika & Kona Checking out Traffic

Long Run Gone Wrong

The next morning David and I got up early to head over to Lake Merced to do our long runs. I'm training for the SF full marathon and David is training for the half. Lake Merced is about 4 1/5 miles in diameter which would allow me to do 3 long run loops while David did 1 or two. In the leading week I'd been having some soreness in my legs but hadn't thought much about it. The past weekend I had competed in the San Diego International Triathlon (more on my blog here) and had then done a couple easy runs and a hard track workout on Tuesday, but didn't think I had gone overboard in my training. 

About 2 minutes into my run around Lake Merced though I knew something was wrong. My legs had gone from sore to painful. I felt a stabbing pain in my right hamstring which was affecting my gait and making other parts of my legs hurt. I knew better to run through pain so I stopped running and sadly decided to call it quits on my long run. I was freaked out about having leg pain in my peak week of training for the marathon (I don't have time to just rest!!) so I called Massage Envy right away to see if I could get in somewhere for a massage. I was able to get an appointment in San Mateo so we headed down there later that day. 

The masseuse felt my hamstring and said it felt like a rock! He said I had a charley horse and wasn't surprised I couldn't run. Over the course of the hour he was able to loosen up the muscle a lot and I regained a lot more range of motion in that muscle, but my legs were still sore. And I was frustrated. I need to run! He told me to rest for a week and take it easy. Rest? Arghhhhhh...

NKOTBSB Concert

After the massage there was barely time to go get lunch, get ready, pick up Garley, and then head down to San Jose for the NKOTBSB concert! Yay!!!!

Before the Concert with Baby Greyson

Garley and I met up with two other high school friends from the concert and spent the remainder of the night screaming and dancing to our favorite 80s and 90s boy band songs. Wow that was fun!! (More on my blog here.)

NKOTBSB Concert!

Visiting Wine Country

On Sunday morning we planned to head further north into wine country. We were meeting Christina in Sonoma where we'd spend the rest of the weekend. The drive up was pretty easy and only took about an hour. We met Christina at her mom's vacation house in Santa Rosa, dropped off the dogs, went to Fleet Feet Sports to pick up our 10K bibs for the next morning (wait.. wasn't I injured? More later on that...), and then we headed to the Russian River to get some relief from the heat.

Dogs Sleeping on the Drive

Russian River

I had never been to the Russian River before and was curious to check out the area since Barb's Race (the 70.3/Half Ironman I want to complete next year) was taking place. I'm leery of swimming in any type of natural body of water and really wanted to see the water quality of the river. As it turns out the water looked pretty good and the area was really pretty. I think I'm going to sign up for that race next year!

We headed to Johnson's Beach to meet a couple more friends and were lucky enough to get parking right by the water and two free umbrellas to sit under! (You normally have to rent them but some people who were leaving let us use theirs.). The shade was a welcome escape from the blazing sun, and we spent the rest of the afternoon by the water. 

Johnson's Beach

The Russian River

I think the word beach is loosely used here ... it was more like a gravel parking lot that ran up to the river's edge. 

Me & David on the "Beach"

Enjoying a Book on My New Kindle!

After spending a few hours at the beach we headed to the grocery store to pick up supplies for our BBQ dinner cookout. We cooked chicken, steak, and corn, and also had a salad. I BBQ'd the corn with the husk on and am pretty sure I made some of the best corn anyone had ever tasted before. ;o)

Christina Showing Off Our Feast

Kenwood Footrace

In the past three years that I've lived in San Diego I've run the Coronado 15K on Coronado Island in San Diego. I love the 15K distance and the race is a really large and fun event. I was sad to miss this race since we were up north but was excited to hear that Christina was planning on running a 10K in Kenwood which was nearby. I haven't run many 10Ks lately and was looking forward to the race. (Especially since I had an awesome Miss American Pie Glam Runner tutu!! More info here.)

Kenwood Winery

After my failed run on Saturday though I was a bit apprehensive about running, but since my leg hadn't hurt walking since my massage I thought I'd be fine. WRONG! My leg started to hurt again about 1/2 mile into the race, and at the 1 mile marker I decided to quit and turn around. My first DNF! (Did not finish) Oh well, luckily I'm at the point where I've done so many races that I don't need to just finish a race, but I was disappointed not to be able to continue. I stood with some of the course marshals at mile 1 and watched the rest of the racers go by, then walked back to the start line where David was waiting. I'm pretty sure I looked like quite a site walking alone through the vineyards in a red, white, and blue tutu. Haha.

Kenwood Footrace 10K & 3K

Heading Back to San Diego

After the race we had breakfast and then packed up the car and hit the road with the dogs. We were taking the 5 back down to San Diego and hoped that we wouldn't hit too much traffic since we left pretty early. Amazingly it ended up only taking us 8 1/2 hours to get back home even though we started further north and had a longer drive.

Driving Back to SD ... Boring!

Upon arriving home (after way too many hours in the car) I was surprised to see a package waiting on my doorstep. When I got closer I saw that it was a cooler of meat from Omaha Steaks. Uh oh. OH yeah .... I had suspected that my company was sending us meat as a 4th of July gift based upon a message from the CEO. I figured it had come this past Friday after we had left, but I wasn't sure. I opened the freezer to find cool (not warm but not cold) meat, and empty dry ice bags. Uh oh.. ewe.

I called Omaha Steaks the next day to find out if the meat was still good if it was in the cooler, indoors, but sitting around for 4 days. Not surprisingly it needed to be thrown out ... BUT ... Omaha Steaks said they'd send me out a replacement shipment immediately. WOW! What great customer service! Its not like it was their fault that the shipment sat around all weekend! I was extremely pleased and can't wait to get my new order of meat. The box contained 4 top sirloin steaks, 4 pork chips, 2 pieces of sole stuffed with crab, 8 gourmet hot dogs, chicken breasts, and 4 baked potatoes. I smell a dinner party coming up!

Omaha Steaks Delivery