In case you didn’t read the title, my third goal is to get faster. I’ve always just accepted the fact that I’m a middle/back of the packer. Even in high school I wasn’t very fast. Some of my best cross-country times were at an 8 minute mile pace. I never did track either, which might have helped me speed up. Instead, I did diving. I mean, running sprints vs. chilling by the pool? Really. C’mon.

So goal #3 (and my last goal for now) is to get faster. I’m pretty sure it’s possible. I don’t expect to win any races, or speed up to a 5 minute mile or anything, but it would be nice maybe to qualify for the Boston Marathon some day. Speed might also help improve my ultra-distance times. I mean, I shuffle along in distances longer than 26 miles, but if I my natural, base speed was faster, then wouldn’t I shuffle faster too?

If you’ve been reading past posts, you know I don’t do well with structure, especially when it comes to training plans. I try to use them as guidelines, but I mostly just do my own thing. So although I am going to try harder to hit some specific mileage by attempting to follow a training plan for my next 50 miler, I don’t have any specific plan to increase my speed. I will, however, incorporate speed work with tempo runs, fartleks, and the occasional sprinting intervals that I kinda make up on the spot. The idea will be to do 2 days of some kind of speed work a week. I think that is something that I can stick to.

Since running my first 50 miler last Saturday, I’m taking a week off from running to just relax. I did a little gym workout today (walk 15 minutes, row 10, bike 30) and my muscles are feeling good. I wanted to run, but I know my knees are going to take awhile to recover and I want to play it safe.

I have no interesting pictures of my day, so I’ll leave you with 3 relaxing photos and one random cute kid pic.

Tony's nephew. Can you tell he dresses himself?

To all the runners out there: How do you recover/reward yourself after a big race?

I just started piling up some things I’m gonna pack for the race this Saturday. Just in case ya’ll want to know what I’m bringing…

Most importantly: SHOES!! I best not forget these babies

The Saucony Guide 5 (in the middle) is what I’ll wear for the first 20 or so miles, which take place on a paved bike path. Might wear them the whole race depending on how I’m feeling. Who knows?? The ones of the left, RocLite 268 (by a brand called Inov-8) are my favorite trail shoes, and might be worn during last 30ish miles, which are on trails. Again, it’s gonna be a race-day decision. The Komodo Sport LS (by Vibram) are gonna be used as walk-around shoes the day before. Might wear them on Easter Sunday too, but I don’t want to embarrass my family more than usual.

Although there are aid stations during the race, I’ll have a lot of miles to myself and have to make sure I eat. I’ve run three 50K trail races and during each race I’ve found myself lightheaded and dizzy. This is pretty darned dangerous since some of the trails are on big mountains. Weird thing is, during these races is the ONLY TIME IN MY LIFE that I don’t want to eat. So I’m hoping to force down GUs, maybe trail mix, and stock up on PB&J’s to eat before the race.

Excuse the blurry photo. Here’s my race day outfit. It’s supposed to be pretty warm so have to remember to load up on sunblock! I’ll probably wear a sweatshirt for the first few hours since the race starts at 6 a.m.

My modeling dreams went down the drain when I stopped growing at 5'5". And when I started weighing in 3 digits.

This vest is probably my favoritist thing ever. It’s from a new company called UltrAspire. If you ever have to run a longer race or a marathon on trails, this is handy to have because you can fit EVERYTHING in here: iphone, 10 or so GU’s, tissue, headphones, pills (there’s a special sweatproof pocket for salt tabs and pills), pepper spray, you name it. It is lightweight and hardly noticeable when you’re running. For people who carry their water (rather than wearing a hydration pack–backpack with a water bladder), it’s handy to have a vest to hold all your necessities.

Shout out to ZombieRunner, my former (and possibly future) employer. They’re located in Palo Alto and have an EXCELLENT supply of running shoes and gear. They specialize in trail shoes and cater to the ultrarunner. The owners, Gillian and Don, are both ultrarunners who have run some of the baddest races out there including Western States and Badwater. If you get a chance to visit the store, make sure you stop by the espresso bar–yes, espresso bar!!–and say hi to Courtney or Don if they’re there. They also have an online store that has free shipping to the continental US.

If anyone has any questions about the products I use, feel free to email me (runningaimlessly@yahoo.com) or comment below. I would talk about each product extensively, but that’s boring to most people (including my mom and boyfriend, who are the only people I know of who read by blog <3 Love you guys!!)

Happy running!

Sometimes it’s ok to just walk. Here that, runners? IT’S OK TO WALK. Since I’m freaked out about aggravating my knee before Saturday’s AR50 I decided to walk my favorite trail. It’s a park with rolling hills right along the East Bay; it’s beautiful and smelly at the same time.

Just wanted to share a few shots:

This guy ran past me and I actually wanted to chase him down. "I can run too, ya know!" But then I realized he probably didn't care I was just walking.

Windy!

OK, time to turn around!!

I ended up walking a little over 5 miles. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed taking it easy for once. When I run trails, I’m always staring at the ground (so I don’t trip and face plant), and I try not to run with music (I always want to change the song and I’m afraid if I do so while running, I’ll trip and face plant). Walking, however, I really got to enjoy the scenery and rock out to some good tunes on Pandora.

Some highlights from the Quick Mix:

-“Bohemian Rhapsody” Queen

-“All Right Now” The Free Story

-“Killing In The Name” Rage Against the Machine <– LOVE THEM! I was an angsty teen

-“Give It Away” Red Hot Chili Peppers

-“Miss You” Rolling Stones <–I just recently discovered how awesome they are. Who knew??

Most of these songs made me want to run, but I ended up just bopping my head and shaking my hips, and singing to myself like any other crazy lady going for a walk.