I *heart* SF

Days like this past Sunday remind me why I moved to San Francisco. On Sunday I ran in the Bay Area Track Club's inaugural Bay Area Cross Challenge (http://www.bayareatrackclub.com/page/BAXC-2011) and had an absolute blast! A competitive field, lots of spectators, fast course... all the ingredients for a great race!

Pre-race chat with my coach, aka Dad

The race reminded me why I chose to move to SF after college. I chose this city to pursue both my professional running and career goals, to be close to family and friends, and to train for the 2012 Olympic Trials in the 10k with like-minded athletes. San Francisco offered me the most opportunities... I'd pondered Washington DC (career goals/grad school), Flagstaff (running goals), and Cleveland (boyfriend). But at the end of the day, the Bay Area was the right place for me. It hasn't always been the easiest transition, but Sunday's race was an affirmation that I'm in the right place and doing the right thing with my life.

Thanks for coming to cheer, VJ, BA, and CT!

A huge part of what made the race so great was the PEOPLE! There's such a wonderful running community in the Bay Area, which I'm so glad to be a part of. The Bay Area Track Club did an awesome job of bringing together a stellar field -- the women's race boasted the American Record Holder in the 5k, an Olympic marathoner, and a number of other professional and emerging elite runners. It was an honor to race with such a talented group of women, but even more fun for me was getting to visit and catch up with so many fellow runners. Before the race, it was like Grand Central Station - you couldn't walk more than 10 yards without running into someone you knew. From seeing Cal and Stanford running friends to old UCD xc teammates to my family to old coaches to good friends who came out to cheer, I had a great time -- there's no place I'd have rather been on Sunday morning than the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park in SF :)


As I was cooling down through the park with my NBSV teammates, I couldn't help but feel incredibly lucky to train in this beautiful park in this vibrant city... to be able to run along the beach and watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean... to run under the Golden Gate Bridge and watch the fog roll across the bay...to live in the Bay Area where I'm surrounded by running friends and training partners... THIS is why I live in this city and why I heart San Francisco!

Now that I've professed my love for this city, let me give you a quick race recap:
I started the race out conservatively, ran the first 2K comfortably before moving up during the second 2K loop. I had to dig deep during the last 2K, but finished strong in 11th place overall (http://www.sml1.com/recordtiming/batc/baxc11/baxc11_wom_res.txt). In retrospect, I wish I'd worked harder with 1K to go and had been looking ahead to 9th and 10th place, instead of worrying about someone passing me... but hindsight is 20-20 and there's always something you can learn from a race. In San Diego in 2 1/2 weeks, I'll be focusing on racing the person in front of me, not behind me. Despite this critique, I'm really pleased with my effort -- it's a big step forward after a rough couple months. Things are looking up!


Wishing you lots of joyful running,
K

Home stretch

New season, new year. Plus belated updates

Oof, I've been a bad blogger... almost a month between posts! With the craziness of the holiday season, my blog fell by the wayside. But that doesn't mean my running was neglected as well! In fact, in the past month I think I've really turned a corner with my training and am feeling really good about things! Here's some updates from the past couple weeks...

First, USA XC Club Nationals... sorry to leave you hanging and never post a race recap. Long story short, I went out really hard and DIED big time... I got passed by about 50 people and 6K never felt so far. Club Nats definitely showed me that while I was in great aerobic shape, I certainly wasn't in race shape, and my fall training (drastically reduced in the wake of gallbladder surgery recovery, a big move to a new city, and a new job) left something to be desired. This fall was a lot like fall quarter of freshman year of college -- lots of change, upheavals, new challenges. In such a new environment, it's hard to be at your very best. Thankfully, fall has come and gone, it's a new season and a new year, and things are looking up!

Back to the race though -- while my individual performance was less than stellar, the team did quite well, finishing 13th out of 29 teams. We hope to significantly improve upon that next year, but for now, we'll take it. I had so much fun on the trip -- traveling with new teammates, exploring Charlotte, NC, freezing our butts off in 30 degree weather, sipping post-race peppermint mochas at Starbucks, dancing for hours at the post-race afterparty... fun times were had, new friends were made, and it was a wonderful trip :)

Back in CA, it was back to work. At my job, things were busy with our year-end appeal, and with running I upped my mileage and increased the intensity of workouts. December training highlights included:

     *3 X 10 minutes at tempo pace with 2:30 rest -- a challenging workout made much easier by the presence of teammates :)

     *14.5 mile long run in crazy SF wind and rain -- my longest run since track season -- the highlight of the day was a warm shower and delicious brunch following the run!

     *Hill repeats on Christmas Day (again in crazy cold and wet weather) -- Tempo mile, then 12 X 200 meter hill sprints with 200 jog recovery. Lucky me, my devoted boyfriend drove in the car alongside me while I ran :)

     *The last long run of 2010 -- a joyful 13-miler through Bidwell Park in Chico

A joyful Christmas runner!

I spent the holidays with family, celebrating with my mom's family in Quincy for a few days and then off to Chico for a second Christmas with my dad's family. Although Santa didn't bring me a car (hey, a girl can wish!), I did score some sweet running gear, including a much-needed new running watch. I rang in the new year on a rooftop in the Mission District of SF, watching fireworks explode over the San Francisco skyline, getting a new year's kiss from my wonderful boyfriend of 4+ years, and feeling incredibly thankful for all the good times in 2010.

NYE in San Francisco

As we counted down the seconds til 2011, I looked toward the new year with eager eyes. I'm excited for what this year will bring, both personally and professionally. Here's to fun times with friends and loved ones, good health, and fast running in 2011!