That about sums up my Boston marathon weekend!  And it was SOOO much more than the race itself.  I headed out there the Friday before with the best traveling running buddy ever - Rosaura Tennant!  We had so much fun together and met some of the most interesting people from all around the world.  Yes, Ralph... I guess we are running groupies!  We chatted with Bart Yasso, Meb Keflezighi, and one of my favorites, Tim Hicks - a 68 year old ultra runner from Altaville, CA doing his first Boston.  He was the sweetest, most interesting guy that kept us company on the bus ride to Hopkinton.  (He finished in 4:31... simply amazing!!!)The race was by far, one of the hardest events I've ever done, mentally and physically, due to the heat and the early downhills, and my stubborn insistence that I do Ironman in the summer; thus the heat…

  To my surprise the week before Oceanside the Pastor at church used running Marathons and Ironman racing in an analogy to your walk as a Christian.  Steve and I looked at each other in disbelief.  Did he just say Ironman?  He is not an athlete. Is he talking to me? I got tears in my eyes and listened with intent as he spoke. The Pastor asked: “Would you ever consider doing a marathon or an Ironman without training or preparing”?  He said “can you imagine trying to run 26.2 miles without having trained”? “Can you imagine getting in the water in Hawaii with that many people to swim 2.4 miles in the ocean without having practiced and prepared for that”? He described the steps it likely took to complete these events. Daily discipline of: proper training, eating well, proper rest, good coaching and basically living the life of an…

I have raced many Ironman and marathon races over the years and a few have gone down in history due to the conditions:IMWI 2005- now known as the Carnage Man- 96 degree heat. 20% DNF rate- IMCDA 2006- frigid waters with high temp of 96 on the runIMAZ 2007 - gale force winds and heat- it was brutalIMLP 2008 -torrential rain for the entire race!! I have never finished a race so clean :) IMSG 2010- frigid frigid water with hypothermia then trying to ride a bike while frozen. Brutally hard run course. All of those races built for me a strong mental six pack. I never count on the weather anymore. I don't stress about racing a certain time as that has proved futile in the past. I have had to learn to adapt to the situation at hand. I now look at racing as taking the fitness I have and driving it the best…

Easily suckered I am, and today was no exception.  I heard that Michael Stella and Tara Carreira were going to run the Brazen Racing Moutn Diablo Half marathon as a training run, and I needed some training miles.  I also heard that Brazen Racing puts on a good show, and I like good shows.  It was about 90 degrees out there, and I was tired of being cold too.  So off I went.   With my brand new racing kit on, the biggest question was carry a bottle or wear the Camel Bak – I ended up with the water bottle and Tara bummed one from Michael – good choice. The course is very similar to the Get Dirty half marathon series that has been run for years out of the Mt Diablo access at the end of Castle Rock so I knew what to expect - lots of climbing and…

Oh Boston.I recently discussed with my leadership class what it means to make a commitment. I ended it by saying, "Don't try out for a team, if all you want to do is sit the bench."So many times I see people sign up, "commit" to something but all that really means is they can add it to their resume. They don't put forth the effort to PLAY FOR THE TEAM. They want to look good so they sign up. I do not sign up for something unless I am willing to put forth the time to actually commit to it.Boston. I was committed. I went to bed early. Tried to eat right. Trained early in the morning. Trained in the evening. Did my workouts. Set a goal and wanted to achieve it. Every single day I thought about Boston. Every single day I looked forward to stepping to the line…

Oh Boston.I recently discussed with my leadership class what it means to make a commitment. I ended it by saying, "Don't try out for a team, if all you want to do is sit the bench."So many times I see people sign up, "commit" to something but all that really means is they can add it to their resume. They don't put forth the effort to PLAY FOR THE TEAM. They want to look good so they sign up. I do not sign up for something unless I am willing to put forth the time to actually commit to it.Boston. I was committed. I went to bed early. Tried to eat right. Trained early in the morning. Trained in the evening. Did my workouts. Set a goal and wanted to achieve it. Every single day I thought about Boston. Every single day I looked forward to stepping to the line…

I: TrainingI started to gear up for the Oakland Marathon in early December, ramping up my bi-weekly long runs and keeping my mileage fairly consistent over each two-week span. I stuck to my usual hilly route at Inspiration Point for most of my distance training, and put in a solid performance at the Davis Stampede half marathon as a speed test at the beginning of February. I felt that I struck a better balance in my level of training than I had for my previous couple marathons. I recovered quickly from hard runs and was getting more sleep and feeling less stress about the whole process. For the first time in years, I ran with company for several long training runs, reminding me how much of a mental boost it is to have someone to pace with and talk to over the course of a two-and-a-half-hour workout.The only thing looming…

I have enjoyed the Couples Relay at Lake Merritt each of the last three years that my wife, Marissa, and I have run it as a team. In terms of competition, we are nowhere near the front of the pack as a team, but I get a kiss at the relay exchange, which is better than any medal I have ever taken home. I’m glad that this race still has a place in the Challenge Series, as it exemplifies the spirit of participation and camaraderie that makethe Series and the Forward Motion Race Club worthwhile. The trouble I get into with this race is that, knowing I won’t be in contention to place, I don’t allow myself the rest and recovery I would for an “A” race. I still run as hard as I can, but the same level of effort returns a somewhat less satisfying result. I tried to…

St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays. Mostly because I grew up with a Father who LOVED St. Patty's Day. He would cook up his mustard drizzled corn beef and cabbage, set leprechaun traps and listen to Irish music all day. Though my dad is no longer here I still like to do something for him to celebrate being Irish. However, I do not cook, I don't really want to catch a leprechaun, therefore I run. This past Sunday, I entered my second 5k race of the year (which is new record for me). I am currently training for the Boston Marathon, so doing a 5k race was a good way to change it up and get some speed. I did. I tried to stay with Matt, but he crushed me. The start was the most confusing start I have yet to witness, but never the less we…

Yesterday, I returned to the South Bay for the 2nd running of the South Bay Duathlon.  I managed to talk a few friends into it also and now think I’ve found a few other duathlon lovers!  FoMo had a great crowd there, and we all suffered together with the common statement – “I thought I was riding a lot harder, but when I looked down at the computer, I was going so slow!”  A hard first run will do that to you!  I knew it was going to be a good day when the gentleman who body-marked me said “no, what’s your AGE?”  I was holding the race number 53, happen to be 53 (per USAT), and said “53”.  I promptly told him I loved him! On to the race… I had some expectations going into this, as I did the same race last year, although the first run was…

 " You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present." - Jan Glidewell I love to run long. Just yesterday Matt and I headed up to Auburn to run a memorial run for Robert and Linda Mathis who were two very kind and friendly race directors in both the ultra running and road running world. In memory of them, as they tragically died this past December, a group of over 100 runners met  to to run part of one of their races on the Western States Trail. A trail that holds so many memories for runners, including myself. It was a great day to reflect and realize the beauty of being able to be outside, running, with friends. I am someone who can caught up in the "NEXT" step that I forget to embrace the moment. I was…

What an incredible event! Though running for that distance/time length isn't anything new to me, doing it stationary, in one place, not progressing forward, on something as hard as concrete, sure is! 16.5 hours, and 78 miles later, my hips were looking to divorce me, along with my knees,ankles, earlobes, and every other body part that felt the impact of pounding on the treadmill for that long.Okay, now that the whining/complaining is over with, on to the POSITIVE. Such an inspiring event to be a part of.  People would walk up to me and tell me what I was doing was inspiring and amazing, though I think they had it completely backwards.  It was so inspiring for me to be in a room full of people who were committed to pushing their bodies, while having a fun time, all in the sake of raising money for ALS($18k!!!!!).  I would much…

Ya know, when it comes to running, I think there’s a lot of technical stuff that most people don’t notice. It’s the little things. Things that you dear reader may not waste more than but a second or two considering (or at least not consciously anyway), but for people like me are very important when it comes to measuring ourselves and others. Things like stride, breathing, form and various other technical aspects of running come into play all the time, and something I look at. This is part of why I always try to collect any photos of myself when the race is done, is addition to being able to post onto Facebook to share my exploits. Not to see how I look but rather how I look, if you understand the distinction. ‘A picture says a thousand words’ goes the cliche, and you’d be surprised what you can read…

The first weekend of February is the unofficial kickoff to the racing season each year, with major half marathons in San Francisco and Davis.  This year I elected to race the Davis Stampede Half since it is easier logistically to get to than the SF half.  The Forward Motion team was well represented at the start and the conditions were great, unlike last year when the trees were bending over on the drive up I-80.  I have been training for the Napa Marathon, but have had a new injury crop up in the last few weeks - an IT Band problem, so while my fitness is great, my mechanics aren't cooperating.  Clearly I wasn't sure how things were going to go, but I was really hoping I'd be able to get through 13.1 miles before the knee decided to act up.  At the starting line I decided to follow some…

This Sunday was my first time at the Davis Stampede, where I ran the half marathon as a field test for my upcoming marathon in Oakland toward the end of March. With the amount of long distance training I’ve been putting in, I have confidence that my endurance will be in place for the marathon, but I needed a progress report on my pace goal. The mostly flat course out in Davis was a good place to get a sense for how my speed has held up in the absence of a regular track routine. I started my day with a 4:18am alarm which, in addition to me, roused the cat out of bed and had her begging for breakfast for the next hour. Regardless of the hour, Ninja believes that whenever I get out of bed is the time for her to be fed. This impression is exacerbated when…

Davis Stampede 2012 - February 5th - 1/2 Marathon As part of my training for the upcoming Ironman 70.3 in Oceanside, 3/31, I was going to use this race to help simulate running after a hard bike.  I pushed myself on the Saturday Group ride route to Castro Valley and part way up Redwood Road, flipped it around and headed home.  We have been running this race for the last few years over the San Francisco 1/2 marathon.  The Race Organizers, A Change of Pace, has welcomed our club with a race entry discount and a spot to place the Club tent.  Club members had a choice of 5k, 10k, and the 1/2 Marathon.  We met at the tent and had a pre-race pep talk from Carrie.  She reminded us when we felt that we tired to dig deep and remember our Team Member Pete Zucker and that he would love…

Carrie Chavez- Davis Stampede Half Marathon 2/5/12   As I contemplated how to approach this race recap, the thought that kept coming to my mind was this: WHY DO I RACE?   I have been a runner for almost 30 years. In the span of all those years,my answer to the " WHY DO I RACE?" question has changed, evolved or as I would like to say matured.   As a teenager I really never thought about WHY I raced. I just did them with my parents and did them as part of the track and cross country teams. I was always making new friends and I enjoyed running fast.   In my 20's I wanted to win and to run as fast as my body would go. I pushed all limits but never stopped making lots of friends while I raced.   In my 30's I raced because it was…

 When I signed up for Boston, I knew that I wanted to take my training seriously. The most difficult challenge for me in my training is running more road runs and running faster. This time last year I was training for a 100 mile trail race. To survive that, you run for hours on end up and down mountains rarely caring what speed you are going. Fast Forward to 2012, I am training for a goal that needs speed. Therefore, a week ago, my boyfriend Matt and I talked and decided on the Davis Half. However, knowing that we were running a half today, Matt and I failed to decline an invitation to run in the Oakland Hills on Saturday. How could we? The weather so beautiful. No mud to slip on. We told one another we would go easy...but with the up and downs of trail...my quads felt no ease,…