Santa Cruz 10K Summary

santacruz10K
Originally uploaded by quagga2007

First of all, I want to thank everyone who sponsored me. Your generosity means a great deal to me and to the animals via the work of Vegan Outreach. Team Vegan raised $41,000 in direct support pledged to each runner. An additional $45,000 was donated to Vegan Outreach for Team Vegan as a very generous match.

I must say, the run went perfectly for me. I was a little concerned that the weather and the course would be adverse, but that proved to be needless worrying.

Friday was my travel day and I was giddy with anticipation -- both for the upcoming race and for a plain old day off from my job. I checked the weather for Santa Cruz and found it was going going to be weather nearly identical to Chico, at which I rejoiced -- no rain or wind to contend with! We loaded up the GPS for the car and I packed up all my stuff, giving thanks for Alex's perfect packing checklist. My paraphernalia included:

• Garmin 205 wristwatch
• running pants
• running socks
• running shoes
• running t-shirt
• running jacket/windbreaker
• Road ID necklace
• sunscreen
• (can you tell what's missing from this list?)

We filled up the car with gas and pointed the GPS to Oakland, where we stopped to have lunch at my favorite little vegan spot -- the Golden Lotus. I ate a delicious bowl of wonton soup and shared some of Daniel's delicious caramelized chicken and fried rice. We took two pieces of their vegan chocolate mocha cake to go. Later, we checked into our little hotel room and met up with Team Vegan in Capitola at the Dharma Cafe for dinner. I got my super-cool Team Vegan runner's shirt and had a light dinner. Daniel and I headed back to our hotel, where I showered and then soaked in a delicious bubble bath. I don't think I've been so thoroughly exfoliated in a long time.

The 10K race started at 7:15am, and I had instructions to show up about 1 hour ahead, which meant a very early wakeup so I could eat breakfast and use the bathroom at the hotel before the race start. I set the alarm for 5:30am and went to bed early.

Saturday morning was dark, but not nearly as cold as I had feared. The weather said it was 52F, which was six degrees warmer than my coolest run in Chico. But alas, I had forgotten to pack shorts!!!! Oh noes! I didn't want to run in my long pants, because I have discovered that hot running is very fatiguing. Fortunately, Daniel had left his running gear in the back of the car, so I borrowed his shorts and ran in them. Hence, the skirt-like appearance of my shorts.



There were about 8,500 runners in both the 10K and Half Marathon, and the 10K group was much smaller than the HM group. It still seemed like a pretty large group to me. I warmed up by walking by myself on the pier and enjoying a quiet morning. It was wonderful. And, so, I lined up, first in the middle of the pack with a couple of other Team Vegan runners, but then I decided to move to the back of the pack. One of the other runners had reminded me of two things -- one, if you start from the back, you get to pass people as you find your pace, and two,
the uphill at the beginning becomes a downhill at the end. It took about a minute after the timer started for me to pass the gateway with the timing sensors.

I've written far too much...so I'll wrap up quickly. My run strategy was to do it completely in intervals of 5 minutes run / 1 minute walk, which is what I did. Except for the interval when I didn't hear the Garmin alarm because I was distracted by whales! That's right, I saw whales off the bluffs of Santa Cruz! And a lovely friendly little red long-haired kitty. I stopped for the cat--that's how much I love cats! I stayed with pretty much the same group of runners, gazing with awe at the other 10K runners who were coming back the other way before I was even halfway done. The Santa Cruz course has the lovely feature of a steady hill at the beginning...which turns into a fast downhill at the end (of course, fast is relative term...).

I finished and my sweetie was there to take pictures of me crossing the finish line. I wasn't out of breath and recovered really well. I wasn't even sore afterwards!

Santa Cruz Here I Come

My last week of training is behind me. The week ahead is taper week -- easier workouts preceding the big run (try as I might, I cannot call it a race).

Today I was scheduled for 3-mile run for the beginner 10K schedule, but I decided to see how I felt at 3 miles to see if I could go for 4 miles. At the 3-mile mark (I love my Garmin!), I asked my body to complete 4-miles, which it did, albeit grudgingly. Toward the last quarter-mile I had a nice chat with myself--to remind myself that in November I was officially a non-runner. In December I started with C25K again (I started with week 5), and just kept running. Until my lazy spell last month.

Now that I'm back on a pretty regular running schedule, I again feel that sense of well-being again. Why oh why do I keep forgetting about that feeling?

I timed my 4 miles to end at a house where a particularly nice yellow lab lives. He's just a goofy dog who comes barreling out with a bit of an intimidating woof, but I've learned to ignore that. We've had a couple of generous belly and ear rubbin' sessions, so now he kind of knows me. Well, today he fell in love with me. Even though I didn't even know his name.

After our scritchin' session, I guess he decided it was a Day for An Adventure. So, he followed me as I walked back home, about 3/4 mile away. He's followed me before, but I always thought he was kind of scared to leave his home turf (not that there are a lot of loose dogs around here), because he always stopped after about 100 yards and turned around. Not today!

Today he just kept following me. I was joking with him that he wanted to find out where I lived--a dog stalker, if you will. We passed by a beekeeper tending his hives (bee veil and all) and he was slightly tormented by the bees, but I don't think he was stung . (No yelping.) When that happened, I just figured he'd follow me home, I'd stick him in the car and drive him back. Even though he could probably find his way home, I didn't want that burden on my heart.

So, he trotted a hundred feet ahead of me, looking back to make sure I was still there, wandering off into the orchards every now and then. When we got to my house, I opened the back of the Jeep, but he didn't jump in. So I had to put his front legs up, then hoisted his hind legs up and then closed the hatch. Then I ran into the house and got the car keys and drove him back home.

When I got back to his house, his person, Marie, told me his name was Duke (is that a cute name or what??). Anyway, I explained what happened and let Duke out. She held onto his collar, and I drove off. BUT, he tore away from her and ran into the street. It's a good thing I was driving slowly, because he ran across the street. I'll be darned if he didn't run alongside my slow-moving Jeep. Well, seeing this, I figured I'd just speed up and see if I could leave him behind so he'd turn around and go home. No go! He turned into a yellow-lab greyhound, for goodness' sakes! He did that full leg extension run that you see on the side of a Greyhound bus!

So I stopped the Jeep in the middle of the road and hauled him into the back of the Jeep...again. I had to hoist him again, too, because I don't think he was too keen on going back to boring, safe old home. Today was his Big Adventure, you see.

Anyway, we went back home, where Marie was waiting for him. We tried to lead him out to his kennel, but he started doing these Gandhi passive resistance moves on me. When I tried to lead him to the back of their property, he just laid down in protest! Marie tried to tempt him with the call of treats, but since she didn't actually produce the goods, he literally didn't take the bait. Anyway, we finally got him into the garage. I told Marie to keep him in there for a while so he could mellow out a bit. When I got home I told Daniel to be on the lookout for a yellow lab named Duke who was looking for adventure.

Duke knows where we live. And I'm sure he'll be back.