What happened in Pasadena...official race report

On Saturday morning, I crawled out of bed as Travis was heading out to golf with his buddies. I had some chores to do before heading out of town with Nell to make it to the Expo in Pasadena for the inaugural Rock N Roll Half Marathon.

After a Walgreens and Starbucks run, it was smooth sailing west on I-210 and into the parking garage at the Pasadena Convention Center. Downtown Pasadena is just too cool; the buildings are gorgeous with pillars and scrolls, and much of the sidewalks have brick detail. Someone definitely cared about how they wanted the city to look when they built it.

The race expo was well organized, but fairly small. At the expo, Nell got new Brooks shoes (love them) and some headbands, including one for me to add horsepower to my race. Michelob beer garden wristbands and a few samples later, and we were out the door with our race numbers and tags.

We were off to lululemon athletica to shop. Love. Their. Clothes. I saw a running skirt online that I was bound and determined to run the race in, but once we got in there, I got wrapped up in the moment. I tried on a few outfits and was prepared to go waaaay over budget. Nell bought everything she tried on (three complete outfits) and was ahead of me at the cash register. I panicked. I put back the outfit I was about to purchase and just got the original skirt I wanted.

Nell and I met up with Karrie and Adrianne, a pair of MBFC girls, who were also running Pasadena's HM. We talked about our goals for the race and how we were all feeling pre-race.

Adrianne had made beaded bracelets with charm affirmations. Mine says BELIEVE in beads. The charm says IMAGINE. It's very thematic for all things in my life right now...including my horsemanship. There's much to be said about visualization for me. I really thought about visualizing making it in 2 hours.

Then Karrie told Genelle, Adrianne, and me an amazing story. (We first met Karrie at the Vegas Marathon. She was inspired by Jaylene's 105lb weightloss story that she had seen on AOL.com and she knew a bunch of girls were there to run the half or the full, so she showed up in Vegas to meet us and face her first HM.) So her story is that her car was enveloped in an avalanche last April in Lake Tahoe. All windows were crushed in. She was waiting for OnStar to call and get help for her, but the rear view mirror had crashed down into her car under the weight of the snow. She was able to knock a hole in the snow and saw the blue sky. Someone who saw that she was still alive in there called for help. She showed us unbelievable pictures of the aftermath. It was shocking. I found this online with an article about her ordeal.

She told us that thought she was going to die in there....and in her disorientation and fear, she thought she couldn't save herself because of her weight.

That day changed her life. She's now showing up at half marathons.

"If you can survive an avalanche, you can achieve your goal tomorrow!" I said when she told us she just wanted to beat her time from her previous two HMs (Vegas 2011 and Surf City).

We made a plan to meet Adrianne and Karrie in the morning and headed off to Studio City to spend the night at Moo's. We ate dinner at Lala's...a Peruvian restaurant with really good food. I was worried when she said Peruvian. I was thinking spicy food pre-race was not a good idea, but it was actually a little on the bland side and just what I needed. I ordered veggie skewers with rice and mashed potatoes. And water....lots of water. (Arizona: lesson learned.) Table talk consisted of everything from all-things religion to the most gratuitous TMI you've ever seen at dinner. We stayed up and set up our bibs on our race clothes, chatting with Moo and her boyfriend Shalom (name changed to protect the innocent), and Nell and Shalom bantered about everything from ethnicity to psychological problems.


We turned in on an aerobed, under the watchful eyebrows of Olive, the schnauzer.

I called Travis to tell him "good night and I love you", so he said good night and I love you to both me and Nell. Alarms will be ringing at 5:00. We needed to be at the Rose Bowl at 5:45am.


Race Day


At 4:45, Genelle got up.


"Are you OK?" I asked.


"I can't sleep. Can we go?"


"OK."


Olive didn't budge, but her eyebrows sure did. She couldn't understand what was so important at such an hour.

When we got to the Rose Bowl parking lot, we laid back and tried to sleep, but we could only eke out about 15 minutes of rest. Slowly but surely, we did last minute gear checks and forced down half a banana while we got ready. 

I don't normally write messages on my arm, but I did this morning. Inspired by the horsey headband Nell got for me, the two horses I have at home and the 2 hour goal, I wrote:

My phone buzzed at 6:46am. I thought it was an alarm. But it was a text. Yay! I love race-day texts.


Travis: I love you and am proud of you.


I called him immediately. "Are you awake?"


"No." He said. "I just wanted to let you know I am proud of you."


"Tell Coach I said good morning and thanks for the night-night love." Nell yelled. Travis laughed.


We met up with Karrie and Adrianne at the potties (a much better setup than I experienced in Arizona). They both were in brand new lululemon outfits. 

The dirty reality of races...

With Adrianne, Nell and Karrie

As we separated to go into our corrals, Genelle yelled "2HP, baby!" 


My phone buzzed again.


Moo: Good morning! Had fun last night. Have you started yet?


I responded with this picture.

Traditional self-portrait at the start line

The National Anthem was sung and they began letting the wheelchair athletes and the elite runners out. Then a minute at a time until my Corral 3 was released.

As we ran out of the Rose Bowl south on Arroyo, under the bridge and into a neighborhood of overhanging trees and craftsman-style homes, I began to fidget with my hip pouch. As I ran along at a 9:09 minute per mile pace, I decided to move my phone to the mid-back pocket of my new skirt. I wasn't going to be making phone calls today. I wanted to finish in as close to 2 hours as I could get. 


I felt someone tap my shoulder. I looked over. He handed me a folded $20 that had fallen out of my pocket while I was rearranging. "You're awesome!" I exclaimed. "Thank you!" He smiled and sped on past me. I never saw him again. I hope he got a PR (personal record).

The first of many hills crept up. Slow down but don't walk, I thought.

Miles 2 and 3 brought an additional 150 feet of elevation, but I maintained a 9:24 for each. I was rubbernecking the entire time. The homes provided outstanding scenery. Perfectly manicured lawns. The enormous Tournament of Roses mansion.

On Colorado Boulevard, the lululemon staff were out on the street bright and early. I waved and they screamed when they saw this runner in the skirt I bought from their store yesterday.

I was feeling good, but I need a downhill. I would need to pick up the pace if I wanted to meet my goal.

Finally, a little relief at mile 4, where I pulled out a 9:08. While heading to Mile 5, the elite athletes and wheelchair competitors were in the opposite lane burning pavement at mile 8. Wow, those people are impressive. Mile 5, downhill, I was über-happy with an 8:47. A slight downhill on mile 6 gave me an 9:04. Keep pushing, I told myself. This isn't going to cut it.

Uphill on mile 7, I screamed when I saw Adrianne, managed a hug-and-run with Nell and pulled off an 8:58. Shortly thereafter, I saw Karrie and I shouted "You survived an avalanche!" as we passed one another.

At mile 8, I ran past the lululemon staff again, who all stood for 20-high-fives-in-a-row cheering me on with my 9:05.


I rounded a corner and realized I was atop the gorgeous West Colorado Blvd. bridge. I looked over and could see the Rose Bowl in the distance. Where else can you see the finish line from 4 miles away? It was awesome! I wanted to take a picture, but I knew it was going to be too close to stop. I kept going.

On mile 10, there was a nasty climb into Brookside Park before a turnaround swept us back toward the Rose Bowl. We gained 108 feet, but I stuck to my guns and was rewarded with a 208 foot elevation loss. How does 8:39 sound? Woohoo! I might actually make this happen!!


The 75 foot gain in mile 11 burned a little, but still pulled off a 9:09. 


Another 74 foot gain in mile 12 and thirst had set in. I needed a drink and grabbed a Gatorade at the next water station. It was a bit congested and I didn't want to stop, but I slowed quite a bit there. I got a half a sip but it was too salty. I just wanted water. I chucked the cup and gave up. All that for nothing but lost seconds. Ouch! 9:51 caused some worry to kick in.

Thankfully, there was a slight downhill toward the finish line. OK Go's "This Too Shall Pass" came on my iPod. "Run like hell. When the morning comes."

Mile 13's split was an 8:44.

Nell's sister Jaylene, sister's husband Mike, and friend Analea were cheering at the mile 13 mark. They screamed my name as I passed them.

Mike & Jaylene (who has lost 105 lbs naturally)

I had nothing left. I pushed across the finish line with an official finish time of 2:00:49.

I guess my visualization worked. Not much more, but nothing less. I made it as close to 2 hours as you can get. It was also an 11 minute PR over my fastest 13.1 miles.

Another awesome medal from the RNR races

I limped over to the Michelob beer garden and sat in the grass. I cracked open my free race beer (it's known for being a good recovery drink) and called Travis. His approval and support is better than these medals I'm racking up. And they're nice medals. Surprisingly, I felt good enough to go find Jaylene, Mike and Analea after the beer.

I had check-in texts from Jason and Jenn. 

Then I saw the text from Nell that buzzed my phone after I saw her on the course: You look like 4 horse!!! You are far ahead of the 2 hour pace group. Dig deep Suz!! It's only a small moment in time. XO

So why was I ahead of the pace group, but didn't come in under 2 hours? They had a different start time. I'm glad I didn't see them. I might have panicked. I might have had a different race.

I've learned the difference between a run and a race. Yesterday, for me, I raced. It was a much better experience for me in the learning curve, because my training runs used to be all out efforts and I was burning out, wasn't completing training schedules, and had not much to give to my races. In the weeks since Arizona, when I decided I needed to focus on my training and not on my events, it made my event a much more rewarding experience.

Oh, Adrianne and Karrie beat their previous HM times! Nell eats half marathons for breakfast, so this was a good training run for her. She's planning a big PR at San Francisco this year.

Happy Birthday, Mom

Maybe it's our astrological signs...

Aquarius Mother of a Virgo Daughter

...or maybe it's the quintessential mother-daughter relationship. But sometimes I wish I had communicated with her more. Or better. 

It's my mother's birthday.

Sandra Lee Niven was born on February 12, 1947 to Archie and Ida Niven. She might not like me mentioning the year of her birth, but she is alive and well after having raised three kids to adulthood, and I am proud to say she is still married to my dad. She is also the grandmother to Hans's sweet daughter, Samantha.

When I was a little girl, my mother and my grandmother would give me dolls. With the exception of Sarah Jane, most dolls got tossed to the side. Horses were and have always been "my babies" and I have never felt differently about this topic. Even today....

If wishes were horses...

My mother is one of the most caring people you will ever meet. She has a completely open heart. She's sensitive and empathetic. If you're sick, she will send a card...or a care package. She encouraged my inherent love for animals that developed at a young age. We've got stories upon stories of the animals we had. Toby, our springer spaniel was a family member who went camping with us on our summer vacations. Chrissy, one of my mom's many cocker spaniels, who had a piddling problem. Tweenah, the great white killer kitty who singlehandedly kept the rabbit population at bay in Murrieta. We used to joke if we came back as an animal in another life that we wanted to be my mom's pet.

Anaheim pets: Chrissy, Toby, Tippy Toes

When we were young, boo-boos were healed with "monkey juice" and a kiss...and she made a healing chicken noodle soup when we stayed home from school with a cold. What I wouldn't do for her stuffed shells with marinara. 

And even better than her cooking is her baking. No one, but no one makes a chocolate chip cookie like my mother. I grabbed a cookie from the batch she recently sent for Travis's birthday and I was immediately flooded with memories of my parent's home in Murrieta...family and friends standing on the laminated kitchen floor...the oak cabinets, the nook, mauve carpet, looking out the kitchen window to the white iron fence and hill on the other side. Memories of holidays...hugs...pets...high school...laughter... parties...making bridesmaids dresses...... moving out.... 

Yes, my mom's cookies can do that.

I wonder what a slice of her pound cake could do to me today.

She was up with the sun making lunches for me and my brothers and she kept a clean house. She wrapped presents signed by Santa Claus and left baskets from the Easter Bunny. She tried in vain to teach me to cook...or sew. She encouraged my artistic side when I was in grade school and faithfully hung paintings around the house. She and my father worked hard so my brothers and I could go to private school. She loved entertaining and decorating, and sets a beautiful table.

I will never know if it bothered my mom when my friends spent the night and we would pull "all nighters" eating raw cookie dough and lip synching to Alanis Morrisette. She never came out to tell us to quiet down. She didn't blink an eye when she woke up one morning to discover that Moo and I moved a bed from the backyard shed into my bedroom so there was always room for her.

My mom and dad balanced each other out. At times, I would pit them against each other, because almost certainly my dad would cave into what I wanted when my mom had put her foot down on me. I knew what I was doing. But then my mom worked to soften the father-son rifts between Hans and dad, and she was referee to the squabbles between my brothers who shared a room in Anaheim.

Looking back, I know I blasted my insecurities at my mother. And she took it. She rarely battled me in my teen angst years (and when she did, it was deserved). Most of the time she would just hug me. She attempted to talk but I would often shut her out and try to deal with my problems on my own. When I would sleep after school, just feeling her presence in my room to check on me was all I needed. Sometimes she would sit on the edge of the bed and put her hands on my shoulders or feel my forehead for fever. She understood my migraines and went to great lengths to try to alleviate the pain.

I saw the worry in my mother that only a parent could feel. To hear her cry is heart-wrenching.

Travis used to leave my mom clipped roses from the neighborhood in the middle of the night. He knew what he was doing (but the neighbors probably wondered who the rose bandit was). I remember the day I told my mom that if Travis moved back to Florida, I would follow him. We were in the brown minivan. She nodded silently. Not long after that, he proposed, and my mom seemed to enjoy being involved in planning the wedding...from the arbor to the bridesmaids dresses and plenty of details in between.

I can remember crawling onto her lap when I was little. I can remember the scent of her skin. Sometimes I think my skin smells like hers, and when it does, the visual of me curled on her lap on the blue recliner in Anaheim comes back to me.

I don't think I gave my mother the relationship she wanted with the daughter she so wished for. She knew I was a daddy's girl from a very early age and at times I thought I could see her heart break. But her love was unconditional and endless. And I do love her.

I love you very much, mom.

Happy Birthday!

Treadmill Key Jacker

I've noticed for the past week the treadmill key is sometimes missing or on the floor in some random place. I wondered what was going on when I approached the treadmill on Tuesday.

This week, we had a little bit of chilly, snowy weather, so I had to put up a fight with the treadmill -- a machine I am convinced is created to defeat people, rather than provide an opportunity to run. I was about to let it get the best of me and quit my workout after 1.5 miles, but then I reminded myself that potential failure in future races would only be caused by my lack of training. I've recently been tapping into Everything you think, whether positive or negative is an affirmation. I choose to remain positive. I completed 4.5 miles.

On Wednesday, I joined Mindy at a private pilates class in Big Bear. She suggested it would be a better cross-training alternative to the crippling Bodyworks class I took at L.A. Fitness. She was right. And the instructor: super polite, super helpful on form and posture...a total doll. Actually, a celebrity. She starred opposite Nicolas Cage in the 1980s classic Valley Girl. And not just an extra. She had second billing on the movie. I discovered this only after I checked out her website, so I didn't make any lame, embarrassing comments to her. Looking forward to going back.

Thursday, I decided to run 8 miles on the treadmill after work. I was so confident after defeating the machine on Tuesday and motivated by a potential upcoming half-marathon that I was ready to run farther than I had ever attempted while never going anywhere.

The treadmill key was on the floor again. No sooner did I plug it in that the mystery was solved.

Cats are so easy...

So I turned the Food Channel on silent so I had something to look at, cranked up my running playlist and hit the mat, jogging the miles away. When I got bored, I bumped up the speed, and recovered at my reliable 6mph (I remember when 4.5 mph was my reliable pace). If I didn't bust out the start gate so fast in my marathons, I would have a better finish time. When I hit 5 miles, I began to negotiate with myself. 6 is enough. But when 6 arrived, I knew I could make it to 7. Once I was past 7, I bumped up the speed to see how quickly I could get to 8. A quarter mile left to go and my legs were pounding the mat. I was at 72:17 when the power on the treadmill surged. It shut down and I nearly ran my gut into the control panel.

"NO! Sh*tcrapg*dd*mnits*nofab*tch!"

I ripped my headphones out of my ears and stomped in to tell Travis what happened. Nose-deep in thesamba.com, I got a courtesy acknowledgment of my plight.

I will not be defeated...

I stormed back in the room and ran a 1/4 mile in 2 minutes.

That. Felt. Awesome.

Today is a scheduled rest day, but I actually feel pretty good. I am going to do a slow 12-14 this weekend. Nell got me to sign up for the Rock N Roll Half-Marathon in Pasadena next Sunday, February 19. I am going to run it and test myself to see if I can come in around or under 2 hours. I should be able to make it in 2 hours. It's a hilly course (there's a steep 200' climb early in the race). My 13.1 personal fastest is 2:11 so I am looking forward to reaping the benefits of running since my 26.2 in Arizona.

11 miles and some fencing

I got back on the wagon and made up for last week's lack of an 11 mile run. I took it slow, as is recommended for a long slow distance training run. Normally, I race out as quickly as I can, but lack the endurance to keep running as the miles slip away. This happens in my marathons as well. So I decided to take training recommendations seriously and gave it a shot. Guess what. I kept my pace the entire 11 miles, and I feel GREAT today. Usually, when I burn out my training runs, I end up crippled for a few days after. 

Huh, imagine that. I don't know everything!

My Garmin tells no lies...

Except it leaves out the part where a wiener dog almost got hit by a car
in order to try to attack me in my last mile. He almost got pepper sprayed...

Unfortunately, I didn't make it to the Surf City Marathon to cheer on my friends from MBFC and the Las Vegas Marathon, but I will tell you De'Anna got a PR (personal record) with 4:09:xx in the full marathon (oh, I am a wee bit jealous of that time) and Nell reported success for the girls running the half marathon, despite some sushi-colored blisters.

But staying home allowed me to continue to edit a DVD for Paul and help Travis put up more fence along the front of our property.

We might have gotten all eight sections up, but we had a lot of visitors, which is nice...except Travis was going to a Super Bowl party at his boss's house, so we had to cut the afternoon short. The nice thing about these larger sections of fence is they cover a lot of ground, so it seemingly goes up pretty quickly. I am very excited about it. Travis hated the old fence and it's nice to see his vision take shape.

I took a break from video editing to ride Drifter. Details at my horsemanship blog.

I hope everyone is doing well!

Off the Wagon

I fell off the wagon this week. I had lunch break runs on Wednesday & Thursday, but my training plan has been thwarted by none other than myself.

It's like when you're on a diet...and every day you promise to be good...and then you eat an entire bag of chips and a pint of Ben and Jerry's.

I hit the gym last Saturday with a bunch of Mind Body Fit Club girls at the L.A. Fitness in Highland for my first cross-training session of my marathon training schedule. I hadn't done a Bodyworks class since I worked at the magazine in Temecula. It's a freeweights-squatting, lactic-acid burning, triceps murdering class with a tiny instructor who has never had a desk job. It's the kind of class that if you squat one more time, you are certain tomorrow you will not be able to sit without falling...then the instructor calls out for another 32 repetitions.

My muscles were so paralyzed after the class, I got on the treadmill for a mile to loosen up. Then Jaylene (who has lost 105lbs by diet, exercise and mindset through MBFC) had the bright idea to get on a stairclimber, so I complained for 10 minutes until we could get in the pool and try to swim my muscles loose again.

After hugging all the girls and telling them I will be cheering/supporting them at the Surf City Marathon (on 2/5), I hightailed it back up the mountain to ride with Jenn, Kathy and Monica.

Jenn & Jake

Drifter didn't look like this the whole ride

Drifter is training for his own marathon of sorts. I will be taking him to Buck's clinic in March and those four days are going to be tough for him without much endurance. I will post about the trail ride(s) on my horsemanship blog soon.

I finished Sunday with what was supposed to be an 11 mile run according to my training schedule. I eked out 7.25 but not without every muscle in my muscles registering some angry complaints to the brain. Fine. I turned around at the Convention Center and trudged home, just in time to attempt to nurse my seized, cramped legs.

So cross-training + riding + running = A complete shut down of the muscular system

Every day, I'm learning...

I hold myself accountable to my Garmin...but maybe if I tell you dear readers when I am supposed to run, you can be my virtual partner who I cannot let down.

Tomorrow, I plan on making up that 11 mile SLD (slow long distance) I missed last weekend.

I will finish with an unrelated LOL Cat: