So it's been a while but I haven't been completely inactive. After my last reported run, that evening, my back started to feel very stiff and tight and I thought about how I needed to get back to a yoga studio. By the time I went to sleep that night, I was having back spasms. Went to the doctor's office the next day and was given a prescription for body work (therapeutic massage) and physical therapy. The spasms continued that day/night and the next day. I did get in for a body work appointment and couldn't believe that they could work on my back without triggering the spasms. It was better that afternoon (still having the spasms but not as often) and then slept well that night and they didn't come back. So I took it easy that week and didn't run at all but I did make it to a Bikram yoga class on Friday. Then on Saturday was the Girls on the Run Lollipop 5K and it was so much fun. My running buddy was ready to race. Which was pretty funny because she was not at all competitive when I met her a few weeks before but she took off like a bullet when it was time for the race to begin. I told her that I would run as fast as she wanted to run but that we might want to make sure we save up energy to finish the race. But she ran strong for the first mile and then she would walk for about 10 seconds and then take off again. As we got to about 1 mile to the finish she started telling me stuff like "my legs are burning" and then she would say "let's go" and she'd take off again. Then "I can't believe how much I'm sweating, I never sweat this much when I run" and then she'd take off again. And "it burns when I breathe" and she's off. I asked if she felt dizzy and she didn't so we just kept on with the run hard for a few minutes then walk for 10-20 seconds then run hard again. She was amazing. And when we finished we found out that of the 20 or so girls from her school in the program, she finished first! Afterwards, she told me that she didn't want to be last so she ran fast. Oh I could hug her. And we did the 5K in 29 minutes which was a 9:20 pace. Not bad at all Yoanna!
That evening, the weather forecast got better for Bay to Breakers which was taking place at 7am the following morning. Originally they were predicting hail and heavy rain for the race but by Saturday night, they said that the worst of the storm will have passed over by the time the race began. And indeed that was true. It was a blue sky, gorgeous morning. I did the 12K/7.55 miles in 1:09:59 and my pace was 9:16 which was great. I was happy with that. And it gave me a better sense of what to expect for race paces. We'll see if I can hold that or improve on it for the SF Half.
I did Bikram yoga the next morning and then had to go to Salt Lake City for work so instead of a 3 mile run, I did a 3 mile...swing or slide? What do you call it when you go 3 miles on an elliptical machine? The kind where your legs slide up and down? Then on Thursday I was back with my 4 legged running buddy and we did 4.19 miles in 57:19 at an average pace of 13:40. Saturday I did 8 miles in the Open Space near my house in 1:30:20 at an average pace of 11:17 and then finally, today I did 6 miles in 1:02:17 at an average pace of 10:22. I went in a new direction for today's run. I went up and over a hill called Wolfe Grade and dropped down to the outskirts of a nearby town called Larkspur. It wasn't very pretty and was almost all on sidewalks next to busy roads which I don't like. I'm trying to scout out nice places to run for when I have the really long miles to cover but this sure isn't it. I'll find a better place. I'm thinking of starting in Sausalito and then going to the Golden Gate Bridge and into SF which is very pretty. But I don't need to worry about that just yet. I'm looking at 9 miles as my longest run for next weekend.
Photos are with both of my running buddies and the starting area at Bay to Breakers where one of the traditions is to throw tortillas in the air like frisbees. And oh yeah, yes, there were hilarious costumes and plenty of completely naked runners. I just wore normal running clothes.
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