Napa-to-Sonoma Half Marathon 2009

Mad ROHO love to all our running buddies who also ran this race: Duane, Stanley, Conrad, Selena, Jessica, Melissa, Sarah, Ms. V (we didn't get a pic with you!) Holly, Erin, Audrey, & Amanda !

San Francisco Run

All the ROHOs met up for the first time since San Diego! We all had a long run scheduled between 12 and 18 miles, and somehow it finally worked out that we were all in town and available. We met at the Ferry Building around 7:30am Saturday and headed towards the Golden Gate Bridge along the Embarcadero.

It's always the best and so fun when we can run together. Time flies by, we catch up on our lives in person, and of course always come up with plans for more races and more fun things to do together.

I love these girls!! Can't wait for our many fun runs coming up this month!

Kristin, Tara, Maritza, Julianne and Aron

We will all be at the Sunset Run in San Francisco this Thursday... let us know if you plan to be there too!

we're still here!

where we've been....

bay to breakers
where we all matched

where we did a little drinking

san diego

where we got dressed up

we met a bunch of bloggers

we ran a marathon!

3 went with goals of PR's and those 3 left with PR's

maritza's race report

tara's race report

kristin's race report

aron's race report

where we're going...

july 19th - napa to sonoma half marathon

july 26th - san francisco full and half marathon

WINNER: Running the Sahara download

Congrats to Run to Finish! Send your name and email address to runningourheartsoutATgmailDOTcom and I'll get ya going on your free download of Running the Sahara.

We loved hearing about all your favorite running movies! It seems like Run, Fatboy, Run, Chariots of Fire, and Spirit of the Marathon topped the lists!

Thank you to everyone who participated. RTF - let us know how the movie is!!!!

Giveaway: Running the Sahara

***UPDATE: Word verification was being weird, so it has been removed for now. Comment away!***

The first ROHO giveaway is here! Thank you to the people at Press For Truth for hooking our friends up!

The giveaway is a free iTunes download of the film, Running the Sahara, a powerful film that chronicles an attempt by three ultra-marathoners to run across the entire length of Africa's Sahara Desert. Their goal is to run across six African countries, anticipating two marathon distances per day, for eighty days...without a day off.

Simply leave a comment in the comments section telling us one of your favorite running-themed movies! The winner will be chosen on Friday, Feb. 27th at 9am PST at random. You must be okay with giving up your email address to the prize source, who has in turn promised not to distribute or spam it.

If you are interested in downloading the film, it's available by HERE via iTunes for $9.99. It sounds AWESOME!

KP Half Marathon Race - Group Interview

- What did you eat the night before the race? Is this your standard pre-race meal?

A: I ate a big bowl of plain pasta. I always eat pasta the night before, but I wasn't full so I also had some toast AND a bowl of cereal :)

M: I tend to eat the same thing, including the brands. I ate a big bowl of Barrilla penne pasta (100% seminola, not that whole wheat crap on a race day) with Classico Four Cheese sauce on top.

K: I had whole wheat (sorry Maritza, I subscribe to the "whole wheat crap" lol!) spaghetti with ground turkey and basil tomato sauce and home made garlic bread...yum! This is typically what I eat before a race, pasta and bread, with some protein added in there.

T: I ate pasta plain with no sauce, just a little olive oil. I am not a pasta girl so it's rough for me to shovel this stuff down. I also ended up eating a Clif bar later in the night. This is what I typically eat, but since pasta is not a fav of mine I think I might make the switch to eating rice or some other carb heavy food before future races.

J: I had Chinese food. Lots of Hong Kong style Chow Mein… along with Peking Duck and General Chicken. And lots of rice. I don’t usually have Chinese food the night before but I was craving it!


- Do you have any mandatory pre-race rituals?

A: I always try to go to the porta potties 3 times. This race the lines were so long I made a trip to the bushes for trip #3 where I almost twisted my ankle and would have been done for the race... oops :)

M: I always put my shoe tag or shoe chip on my right shoe. I also leave my shoelaces untied (loosened enough so I don't trip in the meantime) until I actually get to the race start. I don't know why that's comforting to me, but it is.

K: Nothing mandatory, but I do visualize myself finishing and kicking butt - oh and eating afterwards. I just run better when I focus on the end before I've even begun.

T: I think of what outcome I want from the race....happy thoughts :) I also put my tag/chip on my left shoe. Cytomax goes on the leftside of my fuel-belt and water on the right :)

J: I try to go #2. It’s very important. I’m usually successful! ;-)



- What did you eat/consume during this race?

A: I drink gatorade/water at every mile (when my garmin beeps I take a sip), then I take gu every 4-5 miles, depending on the race, followed by plain water.

M: I carried lemon-lime Gatorade diluted with some water in my fuel belt. I also had 3 Gu Blueberry Roctanes. One 15 before the start, one at mile 5, one at mile 10. I think it was overkill. I might swap out a Roctane for a regular Gu.

K: I drank water and citrus Cytomax throughout the entire race, whenever I felt thirsty. I also reminded myself to drink anytime I passed a drink station. I had a regular Gu 45 minutes before race time and one at mile 5. I felt pretty good with that combo.

T: I drank grape Cytomax/water at ever mile or when thirsty. I also took a blueberry/pomegranite Roctane gu at miles 4.5 and 9.5 followed by water of course. Next time I would switch it up with one regular Gu cause I was having some major heartburn in my later miles!

J: I had a Roctane every 5 miles and lots of water. I always carry a 24 oz bottle of water during a race.

- How did you deal with any mental tough spots in this race?

A: I always play mental math games with myself. Counting down only having a certain # of miles to go helps towards the end, for example when I hit just over 11 miles in a half marathon i think less than 2 miles to go... once I pass a mile mark its always "less than __" and they just pass on by.

M: After Mile 7 it got kinda hot. I had to take my first walking break and kept yelling at myself in my head to toughen up and BTTW and ROWYCO. I made sure to not walk for more than 20 seconds. I picked someone in front of me and just paced with their shoes. I do this a lot - pick a pair of shoes and just focus on them, keeping my distance from them constant. It totally helps. I also turned up my music REALLY loudly.

K: Music for sure! Setting my iPod shuffle list before I began was mega smart. Mile 7 was a tough one for me too, it was super sunny and much warmer than I had anticipated, so I stopped looking at the pavement, and looked out to the Ocean. Running on such a beautiful day in such an amazing area definitely helped me to think how lucky I was to be a runner and how awesome I was going to feel after the race!

T: Mile 8 was a bit tough for me and I really had to think what was the best strategy to keep myself going strong for the next 5 miles. I told myself to slow down a bit and also to look out for the other girls since I knew I would be seeing them along the Great Highway. It was a good distraction trying to find those pink shirts in the crowd!

J: My biggest challenge during a race is self doubt and second guessing myself. I tried to focus putting one foot in front of the other and remember that this is a race against me. As for this half marathon, the worst time for me was around mile 9 thinking I still had 4 miles to go and was running to slow. I had to remind myself to enjoy the race… sometimes I forget to do that.


- What was your favorite part of the course?

A: I really liked the sections through Golden Gate Park, especially the downhills. I have a few bad memories of golden gate park but this was my favorite time I ran through it.

M: I loved the part where we exited Golden Gate Park by the windmill, and headed straight toward the ocean. (You make a left and then run along it for a while.) Coming out of the tree-lined park, to the openness of Ocean Beach, waves crashing, bright blue sky and the sun shining.....it was one of those moments where I just couldn't deny feeling happy to be healthy and alive.

K: The buffalo in Golden Gate Park!! Well, partly, but mainly I loved seeing the vast Pacific Ocean. It was just a solid statement to me that anything is possible. Seeing something as powerful and unrelenting as the Pacific will motivate anyone to take on a challenge!

T: The decline through GG Park that lead to the Great Highway since there was a lot of crowd support here and I was able to see all the RoHo's running strong!

J: I agree with Tara, the decline through the GGP was the best. Especially the crowd support! Of course, the END is always my favorite…




- What's the one thing you'll remember about this race?

A: All the people... I will remember seeing all my friends on the great highway, especially one of my best friends who was running her first long race. I was so excited to see her out there accomplishing this goal. It will also always be remembered as ROHO's first race together and pretty much the first race Chris and I raced together. Lots of people!!

M: It's the first ROHO group race!

K: How beautiful it was. It was a gorgeous day, very unlike San Francisco at this time, especially the Golden Gate Park area. Sunny, warm, people everywhere, and the ROHO's first race together!!!

T: That I PR'd by 6 min and 49 seconds!!!! Also that my knee/IT band did not hurt me once the entire race!!!!!!!!!!!!! and of course that it was the 1st RoHo group race :)

J: It’s our first official ROHO race together and it will always be very special to me. I love that we started together and all waited for each other. *sniff*


- If you could do one thing differently for this race, what would it be?

A: I would have started closer to the front. The first couple miles were such a pain to weave through people and my mile time really showed. I would have been even closer to a PR if I would have started that mile off where I wanted.

M: I'd definitely swap out a Roctane for a regular GU somewhere in there. I burped blueberry from miles 10 to the finish. :-/

K: Definitely train more! I was on vacation for most of November and December, and with the holidays I didn't get to train as much as I wanted too. My time was still fantastic and I'm super glad I did it, but I was definitely more nervous about it because I didn't feel that I had trained enough.

T: NOTHING!!!!!! lol kidding Even though this was a major PR for me I would have liked my miles to be more consistent that way I could really push it towards the end. I tend to crap out the last mile even though I know the finish is SO close!

J: I with I got more sleep the night before!!


- How did you treat yourself for a job well done post-race?

A: With a big sandwich and chips, plus lots of yummy super bowl food and a 40 :)

M: A big veggie burger with jack cheese and french fries. And then a few pints of Amstel Light at the bar while watching the Superbowl.

K: Cupcakes!

T: Veggie burger with fries followed by many pints of beer and enjoying the Superbowl!

J: Big fat juicy cheeseburger from Grubstake!! Oh and a nap after that.


- Would you do this race again? Why or why not?

A: Yes, even though I was not a fan of the last few miles on the Great Highway, it really was a beautiful course and a fast one. Plus it's an easy one for us bay area peeps to get to.

M: Definitely! It was scenic and local, and a pretty fast course through mile 8. Lots of downhills.

K: I am definitely doing this race again! It was such a great experience, great course and fun people. Even though it was crowded, people get me pumped so I felt like it helped me in the long run.

T: I would absolutely do it again! It's a fast course and close to home.

J: Oh yes! It’s local and well organized race!

- Use one word to describe this race.

A: Fabulous :)

M: Kickass!

K: Awesome!

T: Amazing!

J: ROHOriffic!

Julianne

After reading Maritza, Aron, Tara and Kristin's intros below... I'm so thankful to be part of this awesome group. It's not everyday you find a group of women who share the love of running also have so many common threads. We are really lucky to have each other!!

I will always remember my first marathon back in the summer of 2005. The San Francisco Marathon was a race that I signed up for with much fear and nervousness. I really didn't know what it took to run a marathon. I looked up "marathon training programs" on Google and came across the Hal Higdon novice training program. I tried to stick to it as much as I could but training alone (and using the internet as a guide) definitely has it's limitations. I told my friends to show up at the finish line at a certain time and ended up finishing an HOUR earlier than expected! I was surprised to find myself finishing the marathon at 4:14:42. I've run 3 more SFMs since and looking forward to my 5th SFM this year. I hope I can PR again this year but just thankful that I am able to participate again.

Running a marathon was on my bucket list of things to do for a long time. I just never thought I'd be running so many of them since my first one. I used to run cross country in high school but it was never because I was passionate about running. (There was a boy involved!) It wasn't until much later I really appreciated the art of running and the heart to finish a marathon. I first started running to lose excess weight. It first started out a mile here and there on the treadmill. When I was able to run a whole mile without stopping, I knew I wanted to run further. And that's how the story goes. 1 mile somehow led to 26+ miles! Running has given me more self confidence, love for exercise, great friends and an outlet for angst, stress, among other things! 40 lbs down, 6 marathons and 4 years later, I still love running and looking for more.

Honestly, I have never run so much but loving every minute of it so far. Running has led me to blogging, which led me to wonderful ladies of ROHO and other runners from all over the world! I am looking forward to more running, more races, more friends... and well, more personal records. Yay for our first race this weekend at Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon! I think we're expecting quite a few PRs!