Nike Women’s Half Round 2

Date: October 18, 2015

Author: astottler

Hello! Guess what I did this morning? I ran a half marathon! WOOHOO!

This was my second time running the race. See my recap from a couple of years ago here. I didn’t LOVE it last time-quite honestly I felt it was overhyped. I decided to do it again this year though because I get automatic entry as a student, so this may be my last chance! #senior

A major change from when I did it 2 years ago was the route. They changed it up quite a bit, and I think the hills were a lot friendlier this way. Plus, last time I ran it I was trying to PR and this time I was trying to enjoy it, so that also helps!

I had zero expectations going into the race. I was still sick a fair amount of my training. I was too sick for my 11 miler. I didn’t want to push the pace too much also because I didn’t want to launch myself into a flare. The super good news is that it’s been over 3 weeks without a flare-the longest since I got sick many many months ago. I think there’s a good chance it’s gluten intolerance because I’ve been SUPER strict about avoiding it. Anyways, onto the race!

Since I needed to pick up my packet on Saturday, my parents and I headed up to the city Saturday afternoon. I found my name on the window!

We picked up my packet and visited some of the expo. I didn’t love the way the expo was set up-it was spread out through several different stores in Union Square.

We ended up coming across a food court in Macy’s (which I had no clue existed) and decided to eat dinner while watching the Cubs-Mets game on the TV there. I’ve missed almost all of post-season baseball this year! For dinner, we had Asian Box. I had a bowl with brown rice, Asian salad, pickled veggies, chicken, and a seasoning blend.

It was good to get some veggies and carbs in pre-race!

There was also a Ben and Jerry’s, and I got a small scoop of pretty much the only ice cream I could eat-triple chunk caramel.

We spent the evening watching TV, and I was in bed by 10:30.

The next morning, I was up bright and early! I actually felt pretty good. I think in some of my past halfs, I’ve woken up and was just not feeling a run. I think I was much better rested this time around! My current pre-long run breakfast is a Luna bar (Lemon Zest today) and a big banana. Then, it was time to run out the door!

I was armed with sleeves made from cut up tube socks, but unlike 2 years ago, it wasn’t too chilly!

I had a friend running the race today as well, and we planned to try and meet up if possible. We actually ended up finding each other at the start!

We started out pretty slow-there was quite the bottleneck at the start, and I also wasn’t willing to push the pace. I ran music-less the first half of the race, and we somewhat chatted, and enjoyed the views of the city!

I took my first gu around mile 6. I’ve ALWAYS used Cliff chocolate gu, but I currently have zero tolerance for caffeine, and the chocolate gu has been negatively affection gem lately, so I switched to raspberry for race day (which I had tried all of once before…) and it worked like a charm!

According to the elevation chart, there were 3 main hills. Honestly, it felt like a lot of up and down for the first 2/3, so I’m not sure which hills were specifically defined. The notable hill was the hill overlooking the Golden Gate, which came at mile 10. Thankfully, this led into a huge downhill and with the downhill, I didn’t lose much time on the hill.

One thing I have to give to Nike is the fact that this race ends flat-nothing worse than a hill in the death miles of a race!

One thing I will say-the last 2 halfs I’ve done, I never hit that mile 10 wall when my legs just won’t move, and I think this is a big function of going slower. When I make my next PR attempt, I need to keep better pacing in mind because dying at the end=lost time!

Before I knew it, I was on the final stretch, running towards the crowds and the marina.

And then it was over! I set a loose goal for myself in the middle of the race and I met it, which is good enough my me! It was my slowest half to date, but it was only 3 minutes slower than my previous slowest. That included a bathroom stop, so without that, it was probably only about 1 minute slower. I’ve run 6 halfs, and I’m nothing if not consistent on my times!

It ended up being such a beautiful morning! Couldn’t ask for anything better weather wise-plus it’s FINALLY starting to feel like fall around here!

I should probably also note that I ran with my flip belt. Given my illness issues, I carried all kinds of food-crackers, granola bar, gu. Gotta be prepared!

One thing I will note though-my watch clocked me in at 13.5 miles. I know you gain some distance with weaving, but there’s not way I gained .4, so I definitely think that course was long!

Overall, definitely a fun morning. Nothing is really hurting right now so I’m expecting recovery to go well! That, and I’ve eaten everything in sight today, which usually helps as well!

Have you ever run the Nike Half?

Nike Women’s Half SF Preview

Date: September 7, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hello! Today, I had my first “real” long run of half marathon training. By real, I mean above what I might do while not training for a particular race. 6 miles is routine. 8 is half marathon training. Since school hasn’t starting and my puppy was going to be at her playgroup all day, I thought I would take the opportunity to go up to San Francisco and train on some hills.

When I ran this race 2 years ago (Nike Women’s Half), the course was different. The course this year is sort of like a backwards version of how it used to be.

If I had to guess why they changed it, it would be to not have to close the Great Highway and to make the hills a little better. Do you see that big downhill around mile 12? That 300 feet of fast elevation gain used to be a pretty brutal hill in the past. Just based on the course map, my experience today, and my experience in previous races, the hills should be not nearly as bad as in the past! I wanted to get at least one hill in from the race in my run today, so I started in Golden Gate Park and worked my way over to the Golden Gate bridge, taking the following route (about miles 5-10 of the race).

Granted I’ve been training on worse hills this summer, but the hills during this portion were not bad-I think running the reverse of this portion actually was worse.

I haven’t spent much time in Golden Gate Park besides during races, so I took lots of pictures. I was able to park on a side street right at the Western edge of the park, by the windmill.

It was an absolutely beautiful day in the city-75 and sunny! What?? I actually got to see the amazing views that I missed running this race the previous time because it was super foggy and you couldn’t even see the beach/ocean!

Golden Gate Park is nice. I should spend more time there.

First view of the bridge!

I ended up stoping regularly to make sure I was staying on track. I didn’t think I was, but I think I actually stuck to it pretty well until I reached Lincoln Highway, which I was supposed to run up, but there was no sidewalk. Instead, I cut down into a parking lot and got some good views of the bridge!

The return trip was actually better than expected, and I was surprised by how strong my legs felt with the increasing distance. I’ll take it!

Also-compression socks are magic. I put them on immediately and my legs felt great the next day. I mistakenly thought I was near Dynamo Donuts, and was thinking about them the entire second half of the run, so I decided to make the 20 minute drive there, especially since it was right by the freeway!

This time, I got a gluten free lemon buttermilk donut and a decaf iced latte.

Since my entire post-run lunch was sugar, I decided to stop for a hummus and avocado sandwich at the place across the street.

After leaving the city, I went to pick my puppy up from her play group and she was tired!

After a relaxing afternoon, my evening ended on a delicious note when we went to the Greek Festival down the street (it happens every year during Labor Day weekend) and picked up some Greek food for dinner. Spanikopita, or pastry with spinach and feta, is my favorite, but we also had Greek salad (traditional Greek salad doesn’t have lettuce) and chicken kebabs.

For dessert, I had my favorite-Galaktoboureko-which is phyllo dough filled with custard and soaked in honey. Plus, this is one of the only non-nut desserts!

Have you ever run a Nike Women’s Race?

Sweater Weather

Date: October 9, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! It’s currently 9pm, and I’m camped out in the lounge blogging because my roommate is sleeping. I’m not sure if she’s asleep for the night or just napping, but I thought I’d give her some peace and quiet. I’m currently trying to burn off a sugar high-and if you know me at all, this likely means I won’t be sleeping for the next 3 days. Me+sugar=bad combo.

But let’s start from the top, shall we?

I woke up bright (well, dark) and early for a morning gym workout. The workout was 10 minutes working on snatches, followed by a WOD of 21-15-9-9-15 deadlifts and squat jumps. The workout originally called for burpees, but that would have taken me much more time than I had. The bar was SO ROUGH. My poor hands were getting torn up so badly! I looked around-and there’s only one bar out of like 8 like that at the gym, but they were all full. I then did 5 rounds of 250m row/7 rdls, and finished with some abs. This workout was nothing too crazy-just something to get my blood flowing!

When I walked out of the gym, I was greeted by this:

The weather is starting cool down a little too-it’s sunny but with fall skies and a little bit of bite in the air. I had a long day ahead of me, and it was chilly, so on the way back to the gym, I stopped for a cappuccino.

BEST. THING. EVER. So worth the extra trip-and I went before getting ready instead of on my way to class, so there was no line.

I seriously love this weather-Sweater Weather! Do you guys know the song Sweater Weather? I think that’s going to be stuck in my head any time I wear a sweater. What I wore today was basically the epitome of fall-boots, a sweater, and a scarf.

I’ve been feeling so put together lately in terms of my outfits (ok, technically I’m still wearing leggings…), and I really do think it makes a difference on my outlook of the world. Here’s a sunny selfie of yesterday’s scarf.

Yes, I live in California. Yes, 70 degrees is considered cold.

Today was just such a productive day, and I feel so much better about my classes. I love Mondays and Wednesdays because I have all afternoon to hole up in a library or cafe and just accomplish things. I actually am not minding problem sets-minus Physics. I don’t mind spending hours working things out-as long as I eventually get it. I’ve said it before, but this is really something I was missing last year.

After class, I tried this new to me yogurt.

I saw it on Beth‘s blog a while ago, and have not been able to find it anywhere! Needless to say, I was super excited.

It was delicious! I ended up throwing a couple of dates I had packed for snack on top, and those really complemented the flavors perfectly. Next time, I would throw chopped dates on top.

Here’s a shot of the cafe. Kind of a basement, but cozy and quiet. Several study snacks happened as well.

Like my placemat? I really need to stop eating ON my school things.

Pumpkin bread. Because we know I’m obsessed.

After finished most of my work, I headed back to my room for a run. Since it was in danger of getting dark, I threw on the only long sleeve neon shirt I had. Is it too soon? I don’t think so.

So I set out for 4 miles-I was really in the mood to run. The weather was perfect, I was feeling great…until like .2 miles in when my calf reminded me that I did 600 jump ropes yesterday…and doing that many after not jumping rope in a month will make me sore. I immediately turned back-with my history of calf issues, I was NOT going to push anything this close to the race. So not worth it. I switched gears and went to dinner instead-not a bad alternative!

A really delicious turkey burger, salad, polenta, and fruit. I love turkey burgers. I should seriously just get 2 turkey burgers and veggies and call it a day-and not mess around with the other suspect items.

Paella-it tasted really fishy, so not really my cup of tea. Oh well, can’t win them all.

Then, tonight I had a sorority recruitment event-cookie decorating. Hence the sugar high. It’s the worst kind too-store bought cookies and store bought icing=my body hates me. Eh, live and learn. Here’s my first creation. Not my best work.

And now let’s talk running. Let’s talk races. Let’s talk about the future. I (obviously) have my next half in ELEVEN DAYS. I am SO incredibly excited-and I feel strangely prepared. It helps I’m not injured (knock on wood) right before the race…But being the overeager person that I am, I’m starting to think about what comes next. Life after half marathon training? Huh? First off-I know if I’m not training for a race I’ll never run. It just won’t occur to me. I’m doing a 10k Turkey Trot in November (obviously), and then I’m doing a Santa Run in mid December. This one is a 5k, and I’m racing it to PR. To be fair, I’ve only done one 5k (last year’s Santa Run). And I hadn’t run in a long time-I was in really good shape from rowing, but there wasn’t a ton of running happening. After my half, I’ll be focusing a ton on running fast. I obviously want to PR, but I THINK if I work hard between now and then, I can break 24:00. We shall see.

So…then what? I want to do the Giant’s race….in August. Maybe the Nike women’s again if I like it. But before then? There’s an abyss! BUT. BUT. I think I found a race-and I’m this close to signing up. Rock n Roll San Francisco on April 6. It should be a fun one-it goes across the Golden Gate bridge! I think it would be a good warm up for the Giant’s race, which is a much flatter course and therefore a better one to run hard for a PR. The timing is pretty good too. So…thoughts? GAHH I’m so excited about everything right now!

It’s almost race day!

What’s the best race you’ve done? Suggestions? Favorite part of fall?

So Much Excitement

Date: August 5, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

I really should have waited to post again so I’d have more to show you guys, but I’m brimming with excitement. I’ve caught the running bug.

Why is it that we catch the running bug after a race-when we are physically incapable of running? I’m feeling way better now, but I am SORE. I was shuffling around like an old lady all morning. My hips-ouchhh. I guess this is what I get for racing way faster than my training runs…oops.

To further my old lady tendencies, I drank my breakfast through a straw….in the form of a chocolate green protein smoothie. And now the exciting news-what I spent my morning doing! GUESS WHAT? I’m now going to write a fitness blog for my hometown’s local online newspaper! I am so incredibly excited for this opportunity! I’ll share the links with you guys, and of course any fun workouts 🙂

However, I had so much trouble with the site today. I created the blog-it’s called Fitness 101. But man oh man did it make me miss WordPress. The site was not cooperating with me AT ALL. So I have my post sitting here on my computer, with no way to actually post it….

But still, I am extremely excited for this. I saw the ad for the position, and didn’t really think I’d actually get this opportunity. But hey, sometimes you just have to take a chance, right? I can’t wait to actually get some posts up! I’m thinking my next one will be First Half Training 101.

After some frustration, I broke for lunch. English muffin pizzas- pizza sauce (which for some crazy reason we had), spinach, and mozzarella on a whole wheat English muffin. As you can probably tell, all we had was string cheese.

Plus some celery and orange fleshed melon on the side. No, that is not cantaloupe; it’s better! I’m not exactly sure what kind of melon it was, but I think it was a cross between a cantaloupe and a honeydew. SO delicious-it was sweeter than plain old cantaloupe!

After lunch I started ~~plotting~~ planning. My next race is the Nike Women’s Marathon (the half) in October. My goal is to break 2:10. This race is known for being hilly, so I looked up as many reviews of the race as possible. Apparently it’s really poorly run, and the race etiquette is awful. A ton of people walk it, and don’t really move for runners. Even worse, a ton of people commented saying that walkers starting in the wrong race corals, like 9:00 pace. Given all that, it may be a frustrating race for me to try and PR, just because of all the traffic. I’m still going to train for it though!

I’m planning on doing training a little differently. After my race, I know I can run faster than I trained for. Now, to break 2:10, I think my goal is to be to maintain a 9:30 pace on my Garmin-for almost the entire run my Garmin read below 10:00 but I stopped a few seconds to stretch here or there, and walked through water and to take my goo. Plus, hills will definitely slow me down. If I stay below or at 9:30 (which now I really think I can do), I should break 2:10, taking into account the above factors.

Since I now have a half under my belt, I’m going to do training a little differently. I’m going to do speed runs, instead of just trying to get the mileage in. What does that mean? I’m going to mix in some intervals, some repeats, and some tempo runs. All my training will target a 9:30 pace.

But then I started thinking towards the future and getting even more race happy. I decided to make a Race page on the blog-check it out! It has all the races I’ve run, including PRs. Although I’ve only run each distance once, so everything is a PR….

So looking even farther into the future-after Nike, I think I’m going to take a break from halfs. I think maybe a late spring/early summer would be a good time for another one. The Giant Race was an awesome race, and might be a good one to try and PR on a half, but Im seriously considering doing the 10k….and racing to win. First place in my age group (for next year) was 47 minutes. If I ran an 8 minute pace, I’d place. And I think with training that’s definitely doable.

As for the slightly more near term: post-Nike I’m going to train to PR a 5k at the Santa Run. I’ve been dying to do a Turkey Trot, but I’m planning on doing the 10k for that (and probably not trying a PR). I actually looked up my Santa Run time from last year….and it’s a minute faster than I thought it was. I had an 8:01 pace, which means to PR I’d have to break 8 minutes. I do think that’s doable but it’ll take some work.

Here’s to some new PRs this fall!

How do you train for races? What’s your favorite distance? Do you like nerding out about running too? (I’m looking at you Beth.)

WIAW-College Edition

Date: June 5, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Aaaaand it is What I Ate Wednesday, once again! Thanks a ton Jenn!

As the quarter ends, I am getting down to the dregs of my food supply, so these pst few days have included more dining hall food and creativity. As a result, I’ll through some things from the past few days.

Yesterday night, I convinced myself I had strep throat. I have had allergies for a week, so my throat was a little scratchy. Plus, I was probably a bit dehydrated. In the afternoon I talked to someone in my dorm, who told me he had strep. That got me thinking…hmm maybe this isn’t allergies? Maybe I have strep? A few hours later, I was totally convinced that I was suffering from a severe case of strep throat. I was sitting in a meeting thinking, yeah, you know I AM kind of sore (yeah, that’s what lifting heavy things will do to you!). By the end of the meeting, I was burning up. Yeah, burning up at 98.6. So no, I’m not sick. I’m actually totally fine! (Physically, hah!) Phew! Since I was so sick a few months ago, the prospect of being sick again was kind of devastating. But never fear! I am fine!

Yesterday morning began with a great workout-weights plus a 4 mile run (training for my half). Weights included back squats, cleans to back lunges, push press, and assisted pull-ups. One set in to the push press/pull-up set, I realized how much I’ve been neglected my upper body lately. And now my armpits are sore. But on to the food!

I made something similar to my Dark Chocolate Blueberry smoothie. (It’s funny, the post with the recipe also talks about me thinking I am sick….I swear I don’t think that THAT often!) I can’t wait until I am home and can make this with better quality blueberries, and frozen bananas.

I packed a light lunch of hard boiled eggs and fruit. I realized halfway into my egg that I didn’t take picture. And then started to take a picture of a half-eaten egg, when I realized, this looks kind of gross, these people really don’t need to see this!

So here’s a sun picture!

After my lunch, I decided to go to a local cafe in search of my Mystery bread. I have no clue what is in it, but it is sooo good. Sadly, they were out, so I settled for Mystery Bread 2.0, which I think turned out to be zucchini bread (judging by the green pieces).

Awkward selfie while reading in the sun…

Dining hall dinner…I am counting the days until I can eat at home! This may not look bad, but when it is all there is every. single. day. It gets old.

Here is Sunday’s dinner.

Basically the same thing, but in sandwich form. And they put wayyy too much cheese on here for my taste…

And a late night freshly baked gluten free banana muffin. Oh how I love my roommate. We get along well. She likes to bake, and I like to eat 🙂

Breakfast after spin was basically a repeat. Leftover smoothie (the banana I made it with was HUGE) and another muffin.

For my 9 am class, it was the last class of the year, so my teacher brought breakfast. ANOTHER muffin, and some much needed coffee. I really liked the coffee. It seemed a lot blander than the kind at the dining hall, or my cappuccinos. Funny how that is a good thing for me. Coffee lover I am not.

Dining hall for lunch…meh. The salad had way too much dressing and was super soggy.

But in other news, I started packing today, and sent a carload of stuff home (yes, I have THAT much stuff in my room).

My mom stopped at Trader Joe’s and brought me some goodies.

These things are seriously the best. And it’s no secret I LOVE mango.

Also, today, I discovered the impossible. Given how many search terms I get for my blog relating to “healthy mug brownie” it seems like everyone is looking for the secret that is in itself a contradiction. Well guys, I think I may have stumbled upon the answer. Yes, the true meaning in life.

I wasn’t even trying to make a mug brownie. I was just trying to make a chocolate version of the microwave coconut macaroon I recently discovered. But we all know I am a bit heavy handed with cocoa powder. And apparently milk….This creation was a bit liquidy, but in the mix was milk, unsweetened coconut, chocolate protein powder, sweetener, and TONS of cocoa powder. Over break I’m going to play around with this a little bit and get back to you guys with a recipe. Expect a lot of deliciousness starting in one week! I have a TON of ideas. I think I’ll also do a review on said sweetener.

Also, guess what guys???

Ohhh yes. Half #2 here I come (yes I still have yet to do #1…).

What is the best thing you ate today? Any races or events coming up?