Guadalupe River 5k 2015

Date: February 1, 2015

Author: astottler

Hey guys! Today I ran my first race of the year-the Super Guadalupe River Run. I did the 5k! If you’re interested, here’s last year’s recap.

First of all-I ran 2 5ks last winter. Guess how many times it rained in California last winter? 3. 2/3 were downpours on my race days. Go figure. It hasn’t rained here since early December, but earlier this week rained popped up in the forecast today. Seriously-what are the odds?? It ended up being the perfect day though-clear and cool. When I left campus, it was 38 but it warmed up a lot by the 9am start.

I had initially wanted to shoot for sub 26:00 for this race, but on race morning I had few expectations. I probably didn’t eat enough the night before, and since my caffeine incident earlier in the week I haven’t had much of a stomach for food in the mornings. I ate what I could and drank plenty of water.

Breakfast was a granola bar/oatmeal type of deal. I had it before my 5ks last year-it’s just mashed banana, cocoa powder, oats, and chia seeds.

Then, my mom picked me up and we made the drive down. I got there plenty early to pick up my race packet, so there was plenty of time to relax before the start.

By start time, I was actually feeling pretty strong, confident, and ready.

The game plan was to not go at death pace and to pace myself. This actually worked out really well! The race was fun, and over so quickly. Plus, I didn’t feel like I was really dying until the final push. There was another woman in just in front of me for the entire race, and I passed her right at the end.

My official time was 25:59 (although my Garmin measured a short course-I’m not complaining!) I ended up placing 4th in my division, 3 seconds from 3rd (the person I passed at the end must have started just after me). Overall, it was a good race. This is probably one of my favorite races. The fact that the t-shirts say “I earned my guacamole” (because it’s always on Super Bowl sunday) may have something to do with it!

And like I said, it was a good effort but never death. I’m looking forward to hopefully improving more for my 5k at the end of the month! I should do more 5ks!

Afterwards, my mom and I stopped at Panera for lunch(?). It was 10:30am and I had already had breakfast, so that totally counts as lunch, right?

I got a hummus chicken power bowl, which I added avocado to.

And also a blueberry scone. Yum!

I spent the rest of the day studying and watching the Super Bowl. What. A. Game. Go Patriots! That ending was just INSANE. My dorm had a little Super Bowl party and we were going crazy!

This may be bad after the fact but who were you rooting for?

Santa Run 2014

Date: December 15, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Happy Monday! Is anyone else done with finals and on winter break yet? It’s an amazing feeling! It’s been a rainy week here in California, although I was lucky to get some sun for my 5k!

Yesterday, I did the Silicon Valley Santa Run, which is in its 3rd year. This is also my 3rd year doing it! It’s a fun race that raises money for Christmas in the Park in San Jose, which is a fun holiday setup they do every year.

This year.

Last year.

2 years ago.

It’s turned into a fun holiday tradition for my family. There are lots of kids running the race, and tons of people dress up as Santa!

I knew I wasn’t in the best speed shape, and an afternoon race (3pm start) was not ideal for eating, so I didn’t have too many expectations for myself. I wanted to stay in the 8:3xs and ended with a pace of 8:40, so I’ll take it. Th run flew by! 5ks seem so short!

At the finish line, we were greeted by “snow” plus milk and cookies.

We then explored Christmas in the Park.

To start-a chocolate tamale! It was really good-sort of like a corny less sweet brownie?

I got a coin in the mouth!

It was a really festive way to kick off the season!

For dinner post-race, we made a teriyaki chicken salad from Cooking Light, served with brown rice/quinoa.

The red comes from heirloom spinach!

For dessert, I made gingerbread bars. I think I found the recipe on Buzzfeed?

They were supposed to separate and be custard on the bottom, cake on top. It only sort of did that, but that was fine! They sort of had the texture of pumpkin pie.

Since this post is long, I’ll save a food/what I’ve been doing recap for another time!

What have you done to get in the holiday spirit?

Preparations for Holiday Racing

Date: November 14, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Happy Friday! We made it! Yay! I actually was able to get my big assignment finished last night, which is a huge load off my shoulders!

This is what I made:

Luckily we didn’t have to do any graphics for this assignment, and I just had to work on game play. I have played enough Yahtzee now to last a lifetime.

Not going to lie, I like days better that include 3 straight meals. It seems simpler and more in order. Which is weird. Either way, yesterday was one of those days. My morning began with an hour of spin on my own, followed by breakfast.

I think the pancake was whole wheat cinnamon? Plus the typical yogurt bowl.

Then I settled in to a coffeeshop to work on the above assignment.

I had coffee Mon-Thurs this week and I think about half of those days it was unnecessary. This was way too strong and I was WIRED.

Lunch before lab was same old, same old. My last freezer meal :'(

After lab, I really wanted to go to Crossfit because it was squat day, and we’re following a specific program, but my feet were bothering me and I had a lot of work so I skipped it.

Dinner was a mix of a whole bunch of things-edamame, potstickers (chicken and veg), butternut squash, barley, and teriyaki chicken. For dessert, I had hot chocolate cake with fudge. With ice cream in a separate bowl so it wouldn’t melt.

I’ve gotten into the bad habit of having dessert at the dining hall more often than not, so something to work on. This was delicious though.

And those were my 3 meals!

Now onto running talk.

I feel like I’m not at all in speed shape, unfortunately. I’m doing a Turkey Trot 10k, and it definitely will not be a PR. On the plus side, I have been running 6 miles a lot lately, so the distance should be fine. In mid-December, I’m doing the Santa Run 5k that I’ve done the past 2 years. Last year I tried to PR this race (spoiler alert-didn’t happen), but this year I know I’m not going to be close because that’s in a month! That being said, some speed work is definitely in order. I’ve been doing Friday morning track workouts, although not super consistently. This morning was 10x400m, and I feel like in the last few repeats I was starting to get in the groove of running faster. I think next week’s track workout will be longer and not as fast, in preparation for the 10k. In addition, I think for now I’m going to make Monday afternoons (I only have 2 more of these of normal classes though) treadmill runs. These will vary somewhat, although for next week I’m thinking I’ll do 2 miles @ 8:00 pace, plus 10 2:00 intervals at 7:30. I did a shorter version of this last Monday, and I think after that I’m ready to kick it up a notch! To be honest, my main PR goal races will be in the winter-probably the same ones I did last year! So I have plenty of time. Right now, my running isn’t super focused, which I’m enjoying, but some speed workouts will be good for me!

What are your upcoming goals?

Running and the Future: Training for My 4th Half

Date: August 19, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

That’s quite the title, isn’t it?

Given I just finished the peak week of my half marathon training and now am in wonderful, wonderful taper mode, I wanted to discuss some of my experiences with this training cycle, as well as what’s next.

My training has been mixed. I thought I was going in at a good place because of my weekend Crossfit group runs, but I came to the DC heat+humidity and had my booty handed to me.

The first few weeks of training were not fun. The runs were really hard. It’s easy to consider yourself a half marathoner who can do anything because you’ve done several in the past. But to some extent, the past is the past.

To be honest,after my half in April, I didn’t run that much. I gained a little weight and that made running stink more so I ran less so it stunk even more.

But since training started, I’ve been putting the work in. I’ve worked on my speed at run club every week (aka the run of the week where I frantically try and keep up with my much speedier companions).

I’ve woken up at 5am. I’ve gotten faster each week. I’ve dropped what I gained. But part of me wonders if it is enough for a PR.

I feel so much better after my 12 lie run though! I’m putting it out there now-my goal for this race is 2:05 (my PR is 2:09). It’s a flatter course than my PR race, and I’ve done a half in between that was a MUCH harder course. Plus I’ve been training in the heat all summer in DC, and I will be running in San Francisco. Plus it’s my favorite race ever. So we shall see!

(Sidenote-I actually got a really amazing race photo that I can’t find right now-it’s me cheesing it up with the golden gate perfectly in the background!)

Post half marathon, I will throw myself into training for half marathon of fall #2, at the beginning of October. If I follow my same training schedule and jump in at the right time, it has me running 12 miles the weekend after my half. So we’ll see about that. I REALLY want to break 2:00 in that race. It’s completely flat. I’m a little worried about a couple of things though. 1. It will be warmer (not in SF) and 2. It’s not in SF and I’m scared the scenery will be too boring. But it can’t be that bad, right? Maybe I just love SF. I really want to do a half in DC…

Anyways, after October 4, what’s next? I think I’m going to work on speed work and try to PR again in the winter on a 5k, but I also want to log more miles than I have in non-half training in the past. I’m considering joining a running group back home.

I think in terms of week to week, I don’t want to necessarily to long runs, but instead do more mid-length runs. So, instead of small runs during the week and long on the weekends, do 6 mile runs a couple of times a week, plus speed work. At least that’s what I’m thinking for now!

(Also-my mom clearly rocks at awkward pre/post race stretching pics…Feast your eyes:)

And now I need to go because I have to wake up early to, surprise surprise, run.

Typical Mid-Quarter Crisis

Date: April 27, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Guys, I think I’m losing my mind again. I’m having my typical mid-quarter crisis. This is different than my usual one-normally it’s something like “I’m not good enough for this” and “I don’t know what I’m doing with my life.” This time, it’s more of “I don’t know what I’m doing with my time,” and “I need other non-academic goals.” So I spent a lot of time pondering my life and my free time, and deciding what I should be doing with my non-academic life. Suggestions would be welcome. So far all I’ve come up with is I need to think more and that maybe I should sign up for a 5k before I go to DC this summer to try and finally PR. I guess I just kind of feel lost-in high school, I played softball ALL THE TIME. I had goals, and I worked hard for them. And now…I don’t know what I have! I need something to work towards! Something with structure-something I can accomplish! Google suggested I learn web design. Maybe… In other, less delirious things, I FINALLY went to the Farmer’s Market today. I didn’t get that many things though. A few Asian pears, and dried persimmons. The oranges were also really good, but we get them in our CSA box, so I figured I would pass.

I did get this carrot cake muffin though. Whole wheat, and free of refined sugar! And more importantly-no nuts! Although I think I sort of freaked out the person giving out free samples. She handed me something with maybe a single nut in it, and asked if I could eat nuts. To which I responded, “Not in large quantities.” Probably not the best thing to tell someone…. My only other food picture of the day was taken at dinner.

Some type of spinach pastry thing, sweet potatoes, and cabbage salad. Over dinner with my friend, I discussed other potential goals for me to do with my life. We talked about trying to eat 300g of fiber everyday…or becoming a carrotarian, and eating nothing but mass quantities of roasted carrots. Somehow that idea didn’t win… Today ended up being a rest day on the workout front. I took a pretty intense nap-does that count? I think it was much needed! Now, however, it is time to return to studying for a Bio test tomorrow. Have a great Monday!