Running in Switzerland

We've had the opportunity to travel to Europe four times now, but only this last trip was after the time when I'd started running. Like my other travels since taking it up, I was looking forward to running in a new, exciting place. That was how I felt about San Francisco, of course, but even to Long Island and Alabama. Just being in a new place is fun, and there's something about the act of running that lets me take in my surroundings in a special way (even when I'm listening to something in my earphones). Running through a historic town in central Switzerland was a real thrill, made even better by the BBC podcast in my ears about European history!

Our hotel was in a great location right in Luzern near the historic Kapellebrücke. I'd hoped to get in two runs during our week, but business and vacation took priority and I only had the chance once. It was early in the morning, still cool outside, and I went from the hotel down along the river Reuss, past several bridges in the nice part of town into the more modern, working part of the city. Then I crossed over and came back toward the remnants of the city wall & tower. For that part I had to walk since it was a steep hill & stairs. Once I'd regained my breath at the top I started up again along the wall, then down into the old town across to the lakeshore. From there I ran a little ways down, but then turned around and headed back to the hotel, finishing up across the famous wooden bridge! (3.5 miles)

Two more 5K's

After that last post I realize I'd neglected to describe two more 5K's I ran earlier in the year. The first was the Revlon Run/Walk for Women on May 9. The appeal of this event was that it was run all around USC, starting at Exposition Park and ending inside the Coliseum. Sweet! Not only that, but the finish was actually through the tunnel near the end zone that the USC Trojans football team enters through before each half of a game! Wow! Running around our old college apartments and whatnot was a lot of fun, too.

What it wasn't as great for was running fast. This is a huge fundraising event, and there were 10 times more people than I'd ever seen at a run. (The picture doesn't come close to giving you an idea of the crowds.) It didn't start on time, and for the first mile or so it was hard to keep running due to the crowds. Weaving in & out kind of worked, but I was also concerned about twisting an ankle on the roads/curbs/drains/planter boxes that we were navigating. Not such a big deal to take it slower, except that I'd committed to a goal of a 5K PR sometime this year. I know now that this wasn't going to be the race for that, but I didn't understand it then.

Just the same, it was a fun race. I had some good music in my ears to enjoy while reminiscing about the location. As I thought, running into the Coliseum at the end was a real thrill, and worth the price of admission right there. They had some sort of automated camera taking pictures of the crowds as they crossed the finish line, but I couldn't find myself in them later. My 33:08 time (10:40 pace) reflected the issue of the crowds, that's all. At the end I got to go up into the stands while waiting for Candy & Molly to finish. A great band was playing at the big party. The only weird thing was the skimpiness with snacks at the end. Quartered bagels were only for some private group?! We got corn chips instead?! As I said, weird.

I'd convinced my buddy Shawn at work to run this, too. He's a much better (faster & farther) runner than I am, but he hadn't been to any organized races before. As he's almost anti-social, that's not surprising. I'd convinced him to run a different 5K with me earlier in the spring, but then our vacation to Washington DC interfered with those plans. This was to be our make-up event. It's kind of too bad I picked this one, as I don't know if it was a good experience for him. As someone that's not fond of crowds, this could've been the worst. Nonetheless, he struggled through the traffic to get here & park. Then he did what I should've done--positioned himself near the start of the race as one of the few that cared about their time. As a result, he didn't encounter the same crowds I did while running. He finished fast, got his goodies and immediately left. Figures. We could've talked in the stands at the end, but instead we never saw each other.

The following week I ran another 5K. This was one right here in Santa Clarita for a local cancer charity, the Brenda Mehling Cancer Fund Fight It! 5K. Instead of getting up early and driving 40 minutes I would be able to almost sleep in and just drive 5 minutes to our Central Park. I wouldn't normally opt for two races on successive weekends, but this was too good of an opportunity to pass up (and it was too late to cancel the previous race). Since this was kind of a "bonus" race for me, I didn't take it super-seriously--I stayed up late the night before.

The race started at 8:30 or so, and unlike other races in cooler locations it was already hot & dusty at that time. I finished in 30:28, a 9:48 pace. There's nothing wrong with that but at the time I was disappointed with how overheated I was, how I needed to walk more than I wanted, and how I couldn't managed to finish within 30 minutes. With the benefit of hindsight, though, I think I did ok and I'm definitely glad I tried it.

Just keep running

I haven't written here for a LONG time. The main reason is not a great one--I got a little more busy at work (it's always busy, this was just a bit more), and things like blogging/journaling took a nose dive. Fortunately, running did NOT. As I'd already learned about myself, I do best when I have a specific training schedule. This time it was from Jeff Galloway instead of Hal Higdon, and building up to a 10K in mid-September instead of a half-marthon in November. Which means some of the time & distances required are similar to what I was doing last summer.

A goal I'd set for myself was to run a PR in a 5K this year, and I did that on August 2nd! It was at the Free To Breathe 5K in Playa del Rey. This was the same 5K I ran at the start of my training last year, which was my previous PR! (Not the first 5K I'd ever done, but the first since I became a runner.) It's a clichéd "flat, fast course" that even has a downhill near the end without having an uphill part! That's because you walk the uphill to get to the start, then during the race you get to run down at the end. Maybe that's why my times are best there. Certainly the ocean breeze & view helps, too. Or maybe they don't mark the distance correctly. :-) Whatever it is, I'll take it.

My time was 27:52, a 9:00 pace. My notes say I had 8:52/9:50/9:00ish for my splits. Too fast at the beginning, too slow in the middle, but at least I finished faster at the end. I feel very good about this run. It's fun to compare this run to last year's. Back then I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. I ran holding a small water bottle and my phone/MP3 player in a holder in my other hand. Though my time was pretty good, I didn't look like it in the photo. I've since learned to beam for the camera, but there wasn't one at this race. So I took my own photo at the end. I didn't bring my own water, and I didn't stop for any on this shorter distance. I didn't do any run-walk-run for this distance, either, but I definitely am on my training runs. I'd read about leaning into a downhill and taking advantage of it, something I'm sure I didn't do last year. I proudly took home the race t-shirt, but I ran in my own gear.

What's also incredible is how I see some of the same people in these races. Maybe they see me, too. These events are drawing me from 45 minutes away, and I run at pretty much the same pace, so perhaps it should be no surprise that we see each other. It's just that LA is so big, I'm always surprised when I see someone I recognize.