All-women races and a dilemma

I am on a roll and have been looking up half marathons right and left to sign up for. I love the race atmosphere, the feeling of finishing, the medal, the post-race food, everything... I was tempted to sign up for this HM in May and that but I have this nagging feeling that if I continued to sign up for one every other weekend, I would
a) run out of money
b) never really improve or at least not improve as much as I could if only I trained properly

I know that with any activity the gains are more in the beginning (2:37 -> 2:20). I don't know if I should
- simply continue what I'm doing (two short runs during the week and a long(ish) weekend run)
- keep increasing mileage with no speed workouts
and see if I can still make significant progress ... Or, should I
- decide not to race again till I complete a full-fledged training plan to break, say, 2:10 or 2:05
- change focus and try to do well at a shorter distance?
I guess I can make that call after my fourth(!) HM. Nope, call made before HM and before post got published!

While I was looking for my next HM, I came across a couple of all-women races. It piqued my interest and I looked around for more such races. They seem kind of self-defeating at some level because while trying to empower women, they also stereotype (wrongly at that) and dumb down women unfortunately. For example...

Diva Half Marathon: This is probably the one that irked me the most. Admittedly, English is not my mother tongue but my good friend, Urban Dictionary confirms what I thought was the connotation of the word, 'diva'. Most women I know would not like to thought of as 'diva' or 'princess' since it most likely means you are an asshole who happens to be a woman. Next, all the pink and fluffy boas and tiaras... I don't know. I guess it takes all kinds but grown women think this is cute? Do they also wear pink on Wednesdays?

OK, I feel pretty mean now but I am not picking on just this one race/series, though the pink is definitely an eyesore. This is a rant targeted at any and all 'diva' named race.

See Jane Run: I am not a fan of this one simply because of the tagline - I run for chocolate and champagne - which is just not true for me. I run (races) because it gives me a sense of accomplishment (no matter how slow I am). Completing a race makes me feel good about myself. I run using a training place so I don't die on race day. As simple as that. I don't run for food and drink but if you were to twist my arm and make me choose, I would pick pizza (constant), iced coffee (if it were hot) and soup (if it were chilly), not sugar and fizz. Well, I sure hope they plan to have some salty post-race snack because I signed up for this one! The timing is right, so I am biting the bullet. At least, my bib won't read 'diva'.

Mermaid Series: I actually like this one; or maybe it is simply because there is not very much on the site to take issue with. The name, colors, website are all feminine and pleasing but not cringeworthy. This also seems reasonably priced compared to other races in the area. I would have loved to do the HM on May 10th but.... see a) and b) above. I am contemplating running the 10M on November 9th.

Impromptu half marathon (#2) and a wonderful weekend

I spent the weekend in my most favorite part of the country. Of course, when it comes to visiting another city, food is on top of my mind, so I knew I wanted to get a cheesecake (yes, a chain restaurant but it is not in Memphis, don't judge), Indian food (insert sentence in previous parentheses again) and this burger (which I stumbled upon long ago as I wandered around LA downtown starving). Win, lose, win. I am not bitter because we ended up having Indian food more than once which is always a welcome thing.

Coming off of my unexpected PR on Apr 6, I went a little crazy. I had signed up for a Bay area 5k to be held on Saturday. I browsed around for more races that weekend and found this one. I dithered for a few minutes between the 10k and the half and then decided if at all I am going to do one of the two, it has got to be the half (more bang for the registration fee buck and... I had this feeling that the 2:20 was not a real thing and I just stumbled upon it, so I wanted to test that theory out). Definitely felt guilty about wanting to do a HM during a weekend visit but the good doctor was super encouraging and supportive.

Saturday morning started off great - a trip to the farmer's market where we shared a tabbouleh - hummus platter and a box of super fresh strawberries. I also indulged in some iced Vietnamese coffee which turned out to be very similar to Indian filter coffee (the closest American coffee shop equivalent being a latte). Lunch with friends was at this Indian place - Amber India. I found it very underwhelming - the usual "safe" Indian buffet fare. Give me Saravana Bhavan over any chaat-paneer-alu-gobhi place any day. However, make no mistake, I overate just like I always do at Indian buffets.

We decided to make a short trip of my race weekend and started for Santa Cruz. Wandered around a bit and got dinner at Sitar Indian Restaurant because there was no promising Mexican place (and my pre-race dinner is usually Chipotle... and froyo). As I expected (and knew from eating at Sitar), it turned out to be better than the pricier place we had lunch at.

About the race (finally, you say?):
- the course is not all road or all trail. It is this unpaved non-technical trail-like.. (okay, I will stop)
- it is GORGEOUS. Seriously, google for Santa Cruz half marathon view images (I am not yet at a point where I stop and take pictures during a race)
- there were too few water stations and I noticed the port-a-potties were a little off the course. Thankfully, I didn't need to use one but I did see a girl take off into the bushes. Poor thing. I wonder if this stinginess with regard to number of fuel/toilet opportunities is typical of this event organizer - this other race course also seems to have fewer than average aid stations.
- tee-shirt and medal were very ordinary, not worth a mention.
- I have this gripe about Sunday races - I want my long run/race to be on Saturday so I can veg on the couch on Sunday!
- this is the first of the races I have run where there were pacers. I wanted to make use of their presence somehow but I didn't know how. I knew I didn't want to do much worse than HM-2 but I didn't hope to do better either, so I thought of sticking with the 2:20 pacer. Turns out they maintain a steady pace all through the race. I didn't feel comfortable starting out at that pace, so I just did my own thing. Eventually the 2:20 pacer went out of sight as did the 2:25... and the 2:30. I just kept the pace so that the 2:35 guy didn't pass me. My plan was to pass the 2:30 pacer around mile 6, 2:25 around mile 9 and eventually catch up with the 2:20. Turned out to be a not-too-bad strategy. I did pass the 2:30 guy around mile 6 but the 2:25 took longer - maybe around mile 10. Around mile 12, I saw the 2:20 pacer at a distance but could never catch up with him... ended up with 2:21:27.

Refueled with half of a Woodstock pizza (made a gaffe and ordered one that came with salami - oops) followed by Turkish coffee flavored ice cream (my new favorite flavor). Ended the day with a long awaited burger from the Counter and slept like a baby on my red eye. The end.

Impromptu half marathon and a deep reflection

Well, didn't think I was going to write any half recaps before April 26th! But, I got a promotional email for Whispering Woods half marathon on April 1st. I don't know if I was feeling a little low and needed something else to focus on... but I decided to sign up. The only problem was that it was scheduled for the same weekend.

Some thoughts on the race:
- Cheap(ish), if you sign early enough (I didn't, so doesn't apply to my case), small race, packet up, parking etc are a breeze.
- if you live in the Greater Memphis area, you are not exactly spoilt for choice when it comes to half marathons, so it is a race that you can drive to.
- there were enough water stations and definitely one (maybe, two) ClifShot stations though there were a couple of water stations that were kind of trying to provide to both the "out" and "back" runners and the volunteers had to keep running back and forth. It was weird.
- the course was super boring (not that I had an opinion at the time.... tell you why in my Impromptu half marathon - 2 post!), through some business centers, construction zones and the like. In addition, it measured 13.03 miles.
- for such a tiny race, I thought the race director was a little unhelpful. I got no reply for an email I sent her.
- the medal is very plain and the technical shirt is not of very good quality. I think I got spoilt by the very first shirt I ever got in 2012 for a 5k. It was a Brooks shirt. So, yeah. Impress me now.

How I did, what I did:
I didn't exactly do much training with a focus on increased speed (what I think is a tempo run, once a week) and the longest I had run after my half marathon was seven miles. So, I just wanted to finish and not do much worse than my first. I started out slow and was hitting an average of 11:30s-20s. As I knew from all my long runs, the third mile was the slowest. Luckily it was a chilly day and I had my phone (read: RunKeeper app) with me. Around mile 4, I kind of felt stupid. I am rambling along, not really breaking a sweat and "saving" my energy for.... what exactly?! I ramped up (for me, that is) and maintained a speed in the 10:xxs, finishing with 2:20:56. Totally unexpected and I was not really whipped!

A deep, deep reflection:
Making up 3-5 seconds >>>>>>> Losing 3-5 seconds >>>>> Gatorade up nose
I am never running again while trying to drink Gatorade.

MS Blues Half Marathon 2014 recap

Here's a recap of my first half marathon experience - Mississippi Blues Half Marathon in Jackson, MS on Jan 11, 2014. My only aim was to finish without dying... I had no real time goal and expected to finish in 2:40. 

About the race itself: 

Pros: I thought it was very well-organized. Packet pick-up was a breeze. Parking was ample and easy. There was a lot of fuel during and after the race. The medal is serious bling and they seem to have a reputation for pretty and nice medals. The volunteers were friendly and very helpful. They offered new race shirts to make up for some defective zippered ones (though I was an idiot and missed the time window to submit my claim form).

Cons: Honestly, I am just nit-picking. There was a bit of a line for the port-a-potty before the race. At some points during the race, there were not many spectators but perhaps that is to be expected in a small(ish) city on a Saturday morning? Also, this was not necessarily a con for me.

My run:

Mile 1 – it was easy and simple. I was happy to be running and when I hit Mile 1, I didn't feel overwhelmed that I had 12 more of this to go (from several blog posts, it seems like that’s a typical feeling). Jackson Univ cheerleaders were somewhere around 1.5 miles and I think they did a good job.

Mile 2 – I totally missed this marker after seeing the cheerleaders and had a qualm about the race for a few moments if mile 1.x was going to feel so long. But I was mostly confident that I had only missed it as half a mile (after Jackson Univ) could not possibly be that long.

Mile 3 – I was happy to see this especially going back through the start line. I started eating my first Gu (energy gel in chocolate outrage flavor - as good as candy!).

Mile 4 – I finished my Gu (ate slowly for one mile) and at this point, felt a little meh.

Mile 5 – I realized I had been running for close to an hour (Walgreens or CVS time display) and wondered if I was going to be quite slower than I intended to be but I convinced myself that I was going to negative split (this means you run the second half of the race faster than you run the first). I believe we split off from the marathoners somewhere here.

Mile 6 – I saw a booth set up by a couple of ladies called Michelle and Tina saying they were so glad the runners were there and it lifted my spirits – wow, they must really be into motivating people... or really bored on a Saturday morning! Just kidding, I was happy they were there too.

Mile 7 – I decided to eat my second Gu. This stretch was a bit weird as we were going near the freeway, I think we even took the ramp at this point. I saw this girl hunched over by the side of the ramp. There was a cop car and a medical crew car, so she had help but I hope she made it. How disappointing must that have felt! I saw some marathoners at this point going on a different loop though I have no idea what mile they were on.

Mile 8 – We crossed the freeway, under the frontage road etc weirdness and as mentioned in the website, the station had Clif shots. I didn’t think I would eat another but I just took one in case, just as I had planned. I took the Double espresso and mean to try it in the future. We were also on the last miles of the marathon (miles 21, 22, 23, etc) from this point.

Mile 9 – I believe I started drinking a bit of Gatorade at the aid stations at this point. I got some up my wind pipe; though I didn't choke, it was mildly uncomfortable for a few minutes. At this point, we were mostly going through neighborhoods, so there were some families out cheering us but oh my god, the hills. They were getting to me at this point. I remember one nice old lady saying – downhill coming up – and thankfully she was right.

Mile 10 – I knew I should really be picking up my pace but the rolling hills didn't help much at all. I was really ready to see mile 12 because that would be the farthest I had run yet.

Mile 11 – I geared up to bring it… but was faced with one of the steepest hills as soon as I crossed the marker. I got irrationally pissed for a moment – who plans a course with a hill right after mile 11? Then I laughed and remembered people saying this in blogs and thinking – um, you chose to run this half marathon…

Mile 12 – I really felt happy at this point. Already I had a distance PR (personal record). I really tried bringing it, probably a little sooner than I intended by way of a full-on run as I felt I was sagging a bit towards the end. I just kept envisioning the end and kept going.

Mile 13 – I vaguely remember seeing this. I think I took my headphones off at some point around this time.

Mile 13.1 – I grabbed a water bottle and a medal. Felt shaky for a bit. Then I refueled with pieces of cookies, tomato basil soup, a slice of pizza and more water.

I finished in 2:37 (the first five miles in 1:02), an overall 11:59 minute per mile pace. Over all, I had a great experience and cannot wait to do it all over again in April...!