Race Report: 2015 Nike Women’s Half Marathon

The down side to running back-to-back races is that you have back-to-back race reports to write. I am, as usual, a bit behind in blogging. Way behind.

On October 18, 2015 I ran the Nike Women’s Half Marathon in San Francisco. I’ve run the full marathon here five times, but last year they changed it to a half, so this was my first time doing the shorter distance. Although some parts of the course were vaguely the same (it still started in Union Square), it was pretty much all new. Golden Gate Park was still in the race, but we ran in the opposite direction, so parts that used to be uphill were downhill and vice versa. It was familiar, but also totally different, if that makes sense.

This was also my first time doing the race on my own and not as part of Team In Training. I found a great place to stay at the San Francisco Downtown Hostel and managed to get a plane ticket with frequent flyer miles, so even though it was an expensive race in terms of the registration, the overall cost of the weekend was pretty reasonable.

The hostel was right around the corner from both the start line of the race as well as the race packet pick up, so I couldn’t have asked for anything more convenient. I had a room that was shared with three other women, two of whom were also running the race, so that was also good. The hostel is set up wonderfully for travelers. Our room had two sets of bunk beds and a private bathroom. Each bed had a box where you could lock up your luggage (bring your own lock). The headboard of each bed was also decked out for technology, with a light, a standard outlet, and two USB ports. They also served breakfast every morning, included in the price of the room–fresh bagels, fruit, oatmeal, etc. (I paid around $50/night for my shared room–for comparison, my total cost for three nights at the hostel was less than the cost for a single night at any of the hotels in the immediate vicinity. It was a real deal). I definitely recommend it if you are looking for a comfortable, clean budget option.

I flew in the Friday morning before the race. After I picked up my race packet I hoped on BART and rode out to Berkeley, where my friend Myong-Jae picked me up and took me to his house in the North Bay for the evening. I hadn’t seen him in many years and it was great to catch up and play a little music.

Nike always does this great display on the outside window of Niketown at Union Square with the names of all of the people racing.

Nike always does this great display on the outside window of Niketown at Union Square with the names of all of the people racing.

For the first time my name was down low enough that I could stand next to it.

For the first time my name was down low enough that I could stand next to it.

Saturday morning I got up early and walked around the corner to Union Square for a Nike-led shake out run. There was a huge group there–hundreds and hundreds of women. I didn’t know anyone but introduced myself to a few people in my corral (they had us organized by something–maybe pace? Not sure). We ran a couple of miles through the streets of San Francisco and it felt good to move a little bit after traveling the day before.

I had lots of plans to visit with friends, but all of the visits stacked up on Sunday, so I spent the rest of Saturday walking around San Francisco. According to Google maps, Fishermen’s Wharf was about a mile and half from the hostel. What I didn’t realize until I was about .5 miles into the walk was that it was all uphill for the first mile and then all downhill the rest of the way. My calves were not happy, and it was probably not the smartest thing to do the day before a half marathon, but there you have it.

I just walked up that.

I just walked up that.

A bit of birding at Fisherman's Wharf.

A view of Alcatraz.

I made it to the wharf and walked around slowly–I had my binoculars with me, so I did a bit of birding, looking towards the Golden Gate Bridge, ate some ice cream, and then decided to walk the long way home, along the water, so avoid those hills. I ended up walking more than 6 miles, but I think it was better than tackling the hills again.

The route I took back to the hostel was longer, but flat.

The route I took back to the hostel was longer, but flat.

I got some takeout for dinner and headed to bed. I’d finally started reading Born To Run a few days earlier and was down to the final couple of chapters. Even though I knew I needed to get to sleep, I couldn’t stop reading it and stayed up a little too late just so I could finish. In my defense, staying up too late reading an inspiring book about long distance running the night before a long distance race seems reasonable.

Flat Jennie, ready for the race.

Flat Jennie, ready for the race.

Sunday morning dawned bright and early. I got dressed, grabbed my banana and a bagel I’d bought the day before, and headed around the corner to the start. Holy moly–so many women! I found my start corral and got in line for the bathrooms. That’s my strategy, whether I have to go or not: get in line, go, and get in line again. With about fifteen minutes to the start time I checked my gear bag and made my way into my corral. As I was standing there I noticed another woman in a Oiselle singlet–I can’t remember her name anymore, but I think she said she was from Portland. We chatted for a few minutes as we waited for the race to start.

The start line

The start line

Randomly meeting a Oiselle teammate in my start corral: fantastic.

Randomly meeting a Oiselle teammate in my start corral: fantastic.

This race was way, way more crowded than I remember any other Nike race being. It was hard to settle into my pace. I found myself weaving around people left and right, jumping over trolley tracks, and hopping up and down curbs to try to find a little bit of clear room. There were also some early hills around mile 2 that got the old ticker pumping. These miles were slower than I was hoping, but at least I was warmed up.

Mile 1: 10:28
Mile 2: 9:53
Mile 3:10:18

By here things had thinned out some and I was finally able to settle in and run my race. It helped that these miles were either flat or downhill, but either way, I was able to make up for some lost time in those first few miles. This section of the race took us through Golden Gate Park. It was definitely a part of the park where I’d run in years past, but mostly going the other direction, so what had been uphill before was downhill instead. It was still beautiful and the wide roads let everything spread out even more.

Mile 4: 9:33
Mile 5: 9:30
Mile 6: 9:00
Mile 7: 9:09

Things got a little weird here, as the race organizers started shifting part of the runners around to an alternate course for a few blocks before meeting back up with the main group. I was at the front of the “alternate” group, so I had the weird sensation of feeling like I was in the front of the race for a few blocks. Basically they had us run around the other edges of the block, if that makes sense. I guess it helped thin things out a bit? Not sure, but it made it really hard to stick with my pace group, which got split up.

Mile 8: 9:49
Mile 9: 10:02

Around mile 9.5 we entered the Presidio. And Mile 10? Holy moly. I knew there was hill here, but damn! This was a long, steep 1 mile climb straight up. I was thanking my lucky stars for all of the times I’d run A-Mountain and done Via Entrada repeats. I went for it, though, passing lots of people who slowed down to walk. I remembered Coach Mark’s advice from way back in 2005, talking me through the hills at Sabino Canyon and giving me tips to keep my body moving. And it helped. It was a hard climb, but I never felt like I needed to stop and when I looked at my time, I was shocked to see that I’d run it in 10:19.

Climbing the hill.

Climbing the hill.

And at the top of the hill, my gosh, what a view! The Golden Gate Bridge was down below us, breathtakingly beautiful. It was a great reward after a tough climb. I couldn’t resist and stepped to the side to snap a quick picture and then quickly started running again–this time downhill.

Quick view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the top of the hill.

Quick view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the top of the hill.

Mile 10: 9:30
Mile 11: 10:19

My legs were eating up the downhill miles and I ran this in 8:56. I was feeling really strong and knew I had some kick left for the final push. When I hit the 20k mark I knew it was time to kick, and for once my legs responded. I ran the last mile in 8:47 and pushed to the finish, buoyed by the cheers.

Mile 12: 8:56
Mile 13: 8:47
Mile 13.1: 2:12

The only decent race photo of me in existence.

The only decent race photo of me in existence.

Finish time: 2:07:30. Nowhere near my PR, but I was just hoping to run under 2:15 so I was thrilled with this. More than that, I felt like this was my first long race where I had a strategy and it worked–my body didn’t crap out early and I had enough kick at the end to really run it in. My last two miles were the fastest. Ending a half marathon with your fastest mile is a good feeling. There’s strategy to training and racing, and I’m still working on figuring it out even after a lot of years of running.

Goldfish crackers: an excellent post-race snack.

Goldfish crackers: an excellent post-race snack.

It was weird to be on my own at the finish line–normally I’d go over to the Team In Training tent to check in and meet up with my teammates. I got some food, picked up my checked gear, and walked over to the shuttle to take me back to the hotel (aside: they had us walk probably three quarters of a mile to get to the shuttle–come on, Nike. You can do better).

There was a beautiful view of the Golden Gate from the finish line.

There was a beautiful view of the Golden Gate from the finish line.

Although I was feeling kind of alone at the finish line, almost as soon as I crossed I had a text from my running pal Sergio. He’d been tracking my progress all morning and sent me this awesome screen shot (below), along with some wonderfully kind words. Funny how a few texts can change your whole perspective.

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The rest of Sunday I spent visiting friends in the area–lunch in the East Bay and dinner down south with people I hadn’t seen in far too long.

Lunch and a wonderful visit with Jackie and Chris--too long since we'd seen each other.

Lunch and a wonderful visit with Jackie and Chris.

Bonus fantastic visit with Zobi and PJ, who had moved to the East Bay without me knowing it.

Bonus fantastic visit with Zobi and PJ, who had moved to the East Bay without me knowing it.

Dinner with Melissa and Sandy--it occurs to me that I have a lot of fantastic friends in the Bay area...hmmm.

Dinner with Melissa and Sandy–it occurs to me that I have a lot of fantastic friends in the Bay area…hmmm.

I spent Sunday night with friends in Oakland and Monday morning had time for a quick breakfast with a friend from my days in Kino. Then I got back on BART and headed to the airport and back to Tucson, just in time for another half marathon the following weekend. Race report in the works…

 

Race Report: 2015 Great Pumpkin Race 5k

Last Thursday evening I was faffing about on Gametiime, looking for some races to keep me motivated. I’ve been traveling so much this summer and fall that I seem to miss most local races, but I was in town this weekend, and I noticed there was a 5k on Sunday. I’d offered to drive a friend to the airport that morning, but after some quick calculations, I realized I could drop her off and still make it before the start. It only cost $15 and the race benefitted the Arizona Center for Autism. I figured that the worst case scenario would be that I didn’t make it in time to run and instead made a donation to a worthy cause.

So that’s a long-winded way of saying that on Thursday I signed up for a 5k at the last minute. I’ve mostly been getting in long miles the past month or so. I have done exactly NO speed work since…let’s see…since fall 2014. So I had no idea what I’d be able to do.

After the airport run I headed west. The race was at Buckelew Farm (west of Three Points, for those of you who know southern Arizona), so it was a bit of a haul to get there. I arrived about 30 minutes before gun time, feeling a little rushed. But I got my race number and even had time to warm up a little bit, jogging up and down the parking area.

The race started with a 1 mile kids’ run, so as that was ending the 5k runners started to make their way to the start line. I picked my way around folks to make my way closer to the front of the group so as not to have to dodge around walkers and people pushing strollers for the first mile.

500+ runners waiting for the start.

500+ runners waiting for the start. Note the corn maze on the right, which figures into the last part of this race.

We counted down from ten and were off. The route was mostly through the farm’s pumpkin fields, so it was a combination of dirt tractor roads and recently mowed areas. The dirt made for some dusty running at points, the newly mowed areas were a little slippy with all of the fresh cuttings, and the footing was a bit uneven, so you had to pay attention.

The first mile was mostly on the dirt tractor roads. Dusty, and a bit uneven, but relatively solid. I focused on not going out too fast and settling in, getting a good breathing pattern going.

On the Oiselle Team Facebook page the other day a woman asked for advice about the best way to mentally approach her upcoming 10k race. Someone gave the advice, “Just run the mile you’re in.” Boy, that resonated with me (in running, and in life, but I’ll stick to the running for the moment). So that became my mantra.

Just run…the mile…you’re in…Jennie.

Just run…the mile…you’re in…Jennie.

Just run…the mile…you’re in…Jennie.

I repeated it in my head (and maybe under my breath a few times) over and over again.

Just run (breath in) the mile (breath in) you’re in (breath in) Jennie (breath in).

Mile 1: 8.16

My Garmin beeped to let me know I’d finished the first mile. Wow! I was not expecting it to be that fast. I quickly put it out of my head, though, and focused on Mile 2–you know, the one I was in. I was pushing a bit, but I didn’t feel like I was overdoing it.

The first two-thirds of mile 2 were more dirt tractor roads. Then the route turned into the pumpkin patch, weaving back and forth between the rows. This section was hard because it felt like you just weren’t getting anywhere. Run up one long row, down the short side, and back down another long row, times five.

Just run…the mile…you’re in…Jennie.

This is where I started muttering it under my breath. Somewhere in there I passed the mile 2 sign and shortly after my Garmin beeped.

Mile 2: 8:29

All right! Slowing down a bit, but still feeling good. These are the fastest two miles I have run since…oh, probably since March.

Mile three continued through the pumpkin rows, down the long edge of the parking lot, and back down towards the start line. Then we curved to the west and entered…THE CORN MAZE. This was both cool and challenging–lots of twists and turns so you’d go a few strides and then need to take a sharp right turn for two more strides and then take a sharp left turn for two more strides. It was hard to maintain speed.

Just run…the mile…you’re in…Jennie.

I caught a glimpse of the heels of the man in front of me a few times, and could hear the breathing of the people behind me, but mostly it it felt like I was running on my own. I passed the mile 3 sign.

Mile 3: 9:12

I made a few more turns in the corn maze and popped out to a crowd of spectators shouting, “Kick! Kick!” The finish line was in front of me. I put my head down and gave it all I had left.

Finish time: 27:00

I went into this race with two goals, goals that I barely even whispered to myself because I was so unsure I could do either of them: 1) Finish in under 27 minutes; and 2) place in my age group.

When I saw my finish time I couldn’t believe it–SO close.  The lesson learned here is that you should never, never let up. One second! Then I realized that this was 17 seconds faster than my PR, and that I hadn’t been training for a 5k, and that I was actually pretty pleased with the result. I ran a 27 minute 5k–onward and upward! I finished 105/502 overall, the 29th woman, and first out of 22 in my age group. (You can see all of the results here).

I walked around for a minute or two until I caught my breath and then made my way over to the finishers tent, got some water, and went to sit down in the shade to wait for the official times and see if I had made my second goal. I hadn’t been there long when a woman came up and moved some people out of the way, saying, “I’m not sure she can walk that far.” I looked to where she was gesturing and there was a young woman sitting in golf cart who had collapsed on the course around mile 2. I walked over to the two of them and said, “Can I help? I’m an EMT.” We walked the runner into the shade of the tent and got her lying down with her feet elevated. Now, I have been an EMT since 1999 and used to work on an ambulance, but it has been a long time since I used my skills on a daily or even a weekly basis. I was grateful for my EMT instructors who drilled those skill sheets into my head year after year during refresher courses, and my WMI instructors who taught me how to improvise in the back country when you don’t have any actual first aid equipment. I snapped into EMT mode.

The long story short is that the woman had heat exhaustion. She was dehydrated, hot, and woozy. I had a willing crew of bystanders just waiting for something to do, so I sent one to ask for a t-shirt, another for water and sports drink, and a third to grab some flyers on a nearby table. I got the t-shirt wet and used it to cool her down, poured water over her head, and had three people fanning her with the flyers to get some evaporative cooling going. I didn’t want to get her so wet that she took a chill, but she needed to be cooled. It took about 30 minutes, but she started feeling better slowly. As I was working on her I heard the race director ask over the microphone, “Will the woman who is helping  [the patient] please come up?” I was confused, because I was still helping her, but he was insistent, so I walked up to the front of the tent, where he handed me a coupon for a free pumpkin and thanked me for my help.

I went back to what I was doing. Her pulse came down and pretty soon she was able to sit up, drink a bottle of sports drink, and eat something. As we were doing all of this they began to announce the overall winners, as well as the age group winners. I was pretty focused on what I was doing, so I didn’t really hear where they were but then I heard my name. What?! I walked back up to the front and the race director looked at me like, “Yes?” I said, “You just read my name, Jennie Duberstein.” He consulted his sheet and said, “Oh! You won your age group–congratulations!”

So in addition to my Good Samaritan pumpkin, I got a plastic milk bottle-looking cup with an orange straw. But holy cow, I won my age group!

The end of the story is happy: the runner had a peanut butter GU that someone had generously given her, she finished a 32 oz. bottle of Powerade, and felt much, much better. I got to pick out a lovely pumpkin to take home, got some strangers to take a picture of me in front of a giant chair, and drove home.

Next up: The Nike Women’s Half Marathon in San Francisco a week from today.

1st in Age Group!

1st in Age Group!

Race Report: Saguaro National Park Labor Day Run

August and September have morphed into one big blur of travel. I feel as though I have spent at least a solid week in transit at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. I returned home on Friday evening, and on the last leg of my flight my seat mate asked where I’d been. It took me a minute to remember.

I have about eight different blog posts partially composed, and another eight ideas in my head, but haven’t quite gotten around to finishing anything. All that is to say: writing about my race at the Saguaro National Park Labor Day Run is a little behind schedule.

I’d been sick for the couple of weeks leading up to the race and still wasn’t feeling 100% on race day. I hadn’t run in ten days, so my goals for the race was 1) finish and 2) try to finish in under 90 minutes. It’s a hilly course, so I didn’t have any expectations of a speedy time.

My friend and running partner Sergio runs this race every year. This year he finally talked me into doing it. Saguaro National Park is split up into two separate segments, one way the heck out on the west side of Tucson and the other way the heck out on the east side. The race was along the beautiful rolling 8 mile loop at Saguaro East.

Sergio picked me up bright and early and we got to the park around 5:30. Sergio, who is much speedier than I even when I am not recovering from being sick, was going for a PR, so I found some other friends and left him to warm up and get towards the front of the pack.

There is a 5K and an 8 miler at this race. The 5k goes off 15 minutes before the 8 miler and runs counter-clockwise on an out-and-back course, while the 8 miler does a clockwise loop around the park. Summary: there were a lot of people at the start. In spite of this, I kept seeing folks I knew, which was a lot of fun.

Lori, Elise, and me before the race.

Lori, Elise, and me before the race.

The race director welcomed us. Park Superintendent Darla Sidles welcomed us (she was running the 5k). Ross Zimmerman, father of Gabe, gave a lovely speech (this race is the second leg of the Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown). The national anthem played. And then the 5k runners were off. The 8 milers shuffled toward the start and before we knew it we were off, too.

Saguaro National Park Superintendent Darla Sidles welcomes racers.

Saguaro National Park Superintendent Darla Sidles welcomes racers.

The first three miles of the race are mostly downhill or flat. The sun was rising over the Sonoran Desert, and the scenery was stunning. At this point I was feeling really good.

  • Mile 1: 9:27
  • Mile 2: 9:20
  • Mile 3: 9:38

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and even snapped a few pictures of the people ahead of me as I ran along.

The light was breathtakingly beautiful. Early in the race it was cool enough and gorgeous enough that all I felt was lucky to be able to run in such a lovely spot.

The light was breathtakingly beautiful. Early in the race it was cool enough and gorgeous enough that all I felt was lucky to be able to run in such a lovely spot.

About halfway through mile 3 the big hills begin. At first I really thought I could hang. I made it through mile 4 in 11:37–definitely slowing way down, but still running. But by mile 5, which is basically all steep uphill, the two weeks of being sick and ten days with no running caught up to me and I found myself walking.

  • Mile 5: 15:40. Yikes.
The scenery was as breathtaking as the hills.

The scenery was as breathtaking as the hills.

At this point I changed my second goal. Pushing myself to finish in under 90 minutes just didn’t feel like any fun at all, so instead I decided to see how many species of birds I could spot or hear while running. That was a lot more fun.

  • Red-tailed Hawk (a pair, chasing each other)
  • Verdin
  • Curve-billed Thrasher
  • Cactus Wren
IMG_1200

Trying to power up the hills.

I think I can...finish this race...

I think I can…finish this race…

Runners behind me, coming up the hill.

Runners behind me, coming up the hill.

Mile 6: 11:18 (getting back into some downhill here). Mile 7 ticked away in 12:07 (rolling hills again).

  • Common Raven
  • Lesser Goldfinch
  • Anna’s Hummingbird
  • American Kestrel

As I eased into mile 8 I heard someone coming up from behind me saying, “I’ve been chasing you for the last three miles!” It was my friend Sean–so great to see his smiling face. We ran together for about a half a mile and then he pushed ahead towards the finish.

I was almost there. I put my head down and went for it, running Mile 8 in 11:21.

This was supposed to be an 8 mile course, but when my Garmin beeped for mile 8, I was interestingly not at the finish line. My watch measured out another .15 miles before I crossed the line. Hmmm.

According to my Garmin, I ran 8.15 miles in 1:31:42.

According to my timing chip, I finished the 8 mile race in 1:32:18. (The race website said they had some issues with the timing chips, so I am leaning in the direction of my Garmin).

You be the judge.

I walked over to the finishers’ area and quickly reunited with Sergio (who had run a PR–67 minutes, I think; way to go, Sergio!), as well as a handful of other friends who all work in my building. We ate pretzels, drank water, and found a tiny spot of shade to recuperate from the heat of the morning and the run.

Finishers!

Historic Y Finishers! Greta, Carolyn, Joey, Sergio, and Jennie.

One of the neater parts of the race is the medal, which is the second part of the puzzle for the Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown. Two races down, one to go (a half marathon in October).

Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown in progress.

Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown in progress.

I was surprised to be reasonably close to running the race in under 90 minutes given the amount of walking I did in the middle. I was even more surprised to see/hear just eight species of birds. But birding while running definitely helped take my mind off of the fact that this race was freaking hard. In fact, as I got to miles six and seven I even found myself wishing that there were a few extra miles in the race so I could see more birds. I really wanted a Gilded Flicker, guys.

Maybe next year.

A Birding Interview with Jennie Duberstein

The June 2015 issue of Birding Magazine was just published, which includes an interview with yours truly. I share the experiences that got me started in birding and bird conservation, the connections I see between birds, running, and music, talk about my work in Mexico (especially the wonderful Donate the Guia program), and get to introduce Oiselle to the birding world.

Click here to read the whole thing. As a special bonus, you get to see a picture of me from my very first bird job, back in 1994 at Moraine State Park. I still look exactly the same, right?

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2015 Meet Me Downtown Night Run or “Don’t forget about the .1”

Last Saturday night I ran the Meet Downtown Night Run 5k, the first leg in the Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown. The week before I’d been down in Bahia de Kino, on the central coast of Sonora, Mexico. Lo, these many years ago I used to live there, doing seabird and wading bird monitoring, as well as environmental education and community outreach work for Prescott College, who has a field station there. It was a wonderful week with some reunions with friends I hadn’t seen in four+ years, but the point of telling you that is to say that I spent all day Saturday driving home from Mexico, navigating Hermosillo traffic, waiting at the border crossing in Nogales, and making it back to Tucson in the late afternoon, just few hours before the race started. Ideal? No, but it was enough time, and enough is as good as a feast.

Ready to run? Why not?

I never know where to put my hands and always end up looking like a mannequin.

I was a little out of it after a week of early rises and all-day meetings, not to mention a full day of driving, but I quickly found my friends who were also running.

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Who needs a chin anyway?

It was a bigger race than I was expecting. My friends said they’d heard there were 3,000 people registered, and it was crowded. Although the sun was starting to think about going down, it was Tucson on May 30. It was hot. I was glad that I’d arrived close to the start time so I didn’t have to stand around waiting.

Before long we all moved over to course. My friend Claudia and I planned to run together. I told her I was hoping to go sub-27. She told me that she was just hoping to keep up with me. The announcer counted down from then and…we all started to shuffle forward. It took a couple of minutes at least to cross the start line, everyone jostling for room. (It was also awesome to see Tucson come out for this race, all ages, sizes, and ability levels.)

Waiting for the start.

Waiting for the start.

Mile 1: 8:43

There was a huge crush at the start. I’m not the zippiest runner, so I didn’t push my way to the front of the pack before the gun. Because of this I spent the first half a mile dodging around walkers and slower people. Claudia and I quickly got separated, but I just kept on going. It was hot and I was suddenly thirsty. I had taken a big slug of water before I left my car, not 30 minutes earlier. It was only a 5k, so I hadn’t brought any water but I was already thirsty. Not the best sign.

Mile 2: 8:41

I wasn’t looking at my watch. I felt thirsty and sluggish and slow and was just hoping to keep my miles under 9 minutes. I wanted some chapstick. I wanted some water. Spectators were taking pity on the runners and had pulled garden hoses to the street and were spraying us as we ran by. That helped. I grabbed a cup of water at an aid station, and that really helped. I drank some and poured the rest over my head. Somewhat refreshed, I pushed on.

Mile 3: 8:53

The last mile. Time to put my head down and go for it. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself. Alas, the body doesn’t always do what the mind tells it to do. I snagged another cup of water early in this mile and then with about three-quarters of a mile to go I heard someone come up behind me hollering, “Jennie!” It was Claudia, who’d somehow found me. She said, “Come on, let’s go! If we push we can still beat 27!” She pulled ahead slightly, and I did my best to keep up with her.

Mile .1: 1:00

I had been thinking in my head that three times 9 equals 27, so I just needed to keep each mile under 9 minutes to go sub 27. Funny how conveniently I forgot that a 5k is 3.1 miles, not 3 miles. The 27th minute ticked by. I crossed the finish line. My friend and coach Brian was waiting there, giving high fives. Claudia and I got some water and our medals.

I feel like the Sesame Street description of "tall" and "short" when I stand next to Claudia.

I feel like the Sesame Street description of “tall” and “short” when I stand next to Claudia.

The medals for this three-race series all fit together to form one larger medal. One down, two to go!

The medals for this three-race series all fit together to form one larger medal. One down, two to go!

The Epilogue

Finish time: 27:17, good for 15th out of 146 in my age group. I didn’t get under 27 minutes, but I did shave 20 seconds off of my time from my race last fall, so that was nice. (If Claudia hadn’t pushed me, I’m not sure that I would have done that). I have run 5k in under 27 minutes in practice, so I know I can do it. Now I just have to bring it to the race.

(Next up in this series is an 8-miler through the beautifully winding hills of Saguaro National Park in September, followed by the third and final race is in October, a half marathon through the streets of Tucson.)

On The Move

Well, true to form I entirely missed writing here in April and am on to May. I have three half-started posts and no all-finished posts. I am caught somewhere between accepting that I just don’t write here regularly and where I actually want to be (Anne Lamott’s instructions: Butt in chair. Just do it.) But binge watching M*A*S*H on Netflix every evening has won out lately. (Full disclosure: Moonstruck is streaming on my phone as I type this post on my computer, but I sort of feel like as long as I finish this, it is okay).

I am starting to feel more settled. In mid-April I finally moved my things out of storage and into my new house. Unpacking has been more than a little like seeing long-lost friends. A dear friend helped me pack back in January when I moved back to the city.  Unpacking all of the meticulously wrapped glasses and kitchen items, seeing all of the carefully labeled boxes so I could tell what was in each one, it made me realize how incredibly lucky I am to have a friend like that, someone who didn’t think twice about dropping everything and driving 100 miles with me to spend 18 hours packing up all of my worldly belongings and cleaning a house that wasn’t hers and then turning around to drive 100 miles back. I have learned a lot about friendship from her in the last few months.

It seems like every time I start to get in a groove with my running something happens to throw me off. March was going really, really well. Then one morning after a great 6 mile run I was in the shower. I reached for the shampoo. That’s all I did. My upper back was in exquisite pain for nearly two weeks. It was the kind of pain where I could only fall asleep for about ten minutes at a time and then would wake up because of the pain when I moved in my sleep and just cry because I couldn’t figure out anything at all to do to make it better or to be able to sleep and my god, all I wanted to do was get a good night’s sleep. It was not the most fun I have ever had. After about two weeks of this it slowly started to get better and now I am more or less back to normal, glory be. Grad school killed my upper back. (I want to call grad school a bad word, but I won’t.)

I almost always start a blog post with a bulleted list of things I want to include and then fill things out from there. As I was doing it this time, I realized that just about every single one of those bullets could be a blog post of its own. Butt in chair, J-Dubes. Come on, now.

For tonight, because I am also a firm believer that sometimes you just have to put something out there in the world even though you know it isn’t finished, I’m giving you some short bullets, along with pretty pictures.

So here is the abridged version what I have been up to in the last month and a half:

I’m a regular blogger over at the Leica Birding Blog. In early April I wrote a post about taking my nephews birding for the first time. I meant to share that back when it happened, but I procrastinated and then they published another post I wrote about local patch birding. So I guess that while I haven’t been writing for my own blog, at least I have been doing a little bit of writing somewhere.

I babysat my friend’s accordion for four years and finally was able to give it back to him. It was a beautiful instrument, but too big for me to play. I was really glad to be able to take care of it for him and give it back, even though he didn’t give it to me with any expectations of getting it back.

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We found out that we received a Heritage Fund grant from Arizona Game & Fish to put together a series of monthly field outings for young birders in southern Arizona. Here’s a picture of a trip we took to Pima Canyon last month–everything was in bloom. Amazing.

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I took a tile paver workshop at Santa Theresa Tileworks. Everyone was so complimentary when I shared the pictures that I feel compelled to explain: I didn’t make the individual tiles. I did do all of the design and…I don’t know what you call it–construction? Once I decided on the design I cemented it it all in place and did the grouting.

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I traveled to San Diego to the Trilateral Committee for Ecosystem and Wildlife Conservation in San Diego. I gave two presentations, including one to the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Director of the Canadian Wildlife Service, and the Director General for Wildlife for the Mexican Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources–more than a little nerve-wracking, but I think it went well. I also got to spend an afternoon/evening wandering around the San Diego Zoo–I have mixed feelings about zoos, but this one is pretty special. I got a little goofy with some of the statutes. #flystyle with an extinct prehistoric bird. Fun times!

Can you believe that something like this used to exist?

My management board met in San Diego right after the Trilateral.  There are some major changes on the horizon for my program, but I feel fortunate to get to work with a lot of really amazing people, doing a job that I love.

SJV Management Board

I took an incredible science communications short course from the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC). I definitely have a longer post coming about this experience. The workshop days were long and full, but we still had a bit of time for some evening and early morning birding.

Me, Danielle, and Alicia

NCTC has an Eagle Cam for the nesting pair of Bald Eagles on their property. My friend Danielle and I went birding one morning before class started and saw this guy (gal?) and it’s mate come into the nest with a fish, as well as an interloper young bird that this one chased away. Digiscoped with (Danielle’s) Leica APO-Televid 65 + iPhone 5s + Phone Skope Adapter.

Bald Eagle

I’ve been in a good place with running for the last month. I hit my monthly mileage goal for the first time this year in April. May is also off to a good start. My travel and field work schedule between now and September is ridiculous, but I’m looking around for some races to put on the calendar. I got in two runs while I was back east last week, including a gorgeous seven-miler along the trails and roads at NCTC. (I stopped for a quick picture with the Potomac River behind me.)

Mid-7 mile run, with the Potomac River behind me. Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

So that’s the medium-form version of what I’ve been up to lately. My goal for May? Butt in chair. Keep on running. More writing. Less Netflix. Bird by bird.

6.5 down, 993.5 to go

So it’s 2015. I was in bed and asleep by 9pm last night (although midnight fireworks did briefly wake me up). I decided the new year was going to come whether or not I was awake at midnight to usher it in and I needed a good night’s sleep.

Can I be honest? I hate New Year’s Eve. At least as an adult, they almost uniformly end up being a tremendous let down, although it was fun banging on pots and pans at midnight when I was a kid. Anne Lamott tweeted something today that summed things up for me:

So on Thursday morning I got up and I went for a run.

The last few days I haven’t been feeling the best, so I put absolutely no expectations on the run. I just wanted to get outside. And I ran (full disclosure: I walked part of it) the slowest 6.5 miles of my life, no exaggeration. But it was sunny and cool and the snow-covered Huachuca mountains were there in the distance and it felt important to start 2015 off doing something I wanted to keep on doing throughout the year: running.

I am still all over the place in terms of running goals. I know I want to run 1000 miles by the end of the year (only 993.5 more to go!) I’m doing weekly track workouts on Tuesdays with Sierra Running and I know that is going to help me get faster (hello, 8:10 mile this past Tuesday. Where did you come from?) I’ve got a few races on my radar, everything from 5Ks to half marathons. I have a few friends and relatives that I’d love to run races with this year (Susan, Danielle, and Portia, I’m looking at you). But mostly? I just want to love running.

I’m a fan of Krista Tippett’s wonderful podcast, On Being. Last week on her blog Parker Palmer wrote a post about “5 Questions for Crossing the Threshold.” (Spoiler: he meant the threshold for the new year, not death). I’ve been thinking about these five questions a lot over the past few days. My typical New Year’s “tradition” is to make a handful of resolutions that never, ever stick, usually because they are big and lofty and just not realistic (re-learn all of the French I forgot; learn to watercolor paint; learn to really play the banjo–you see where I’m going with this). So rather than think about specific things that I want to do in 2015, I am thinking about his five questions:

  1. How can I let go of my need for fixed answers in favor of aliveness?
  2. What is my next challenge in daring to be human?
  3. How can I open myself to the beauty of nature and human nature?
  4. Who or what do I need to learn to love next? And next? And next?
  5. What is the new creation that wants to be born in and through me?

There are all kinds of things I want to work on this year, but instead of making a list that I know I will never keep, I am going to think about these five questions. Being alive, human, open to beauty and love, and figuring out what new creation awaits…that’s what I’m looking ahead to in 2015. If I can learn french, painting, and banjo into the bargain, so much the better, but I’m not putting any expectations on things.

But one thing that I am definitely going to do is another #project365. I did this for the first time last year–took a picture each day for the entire year (if we’re connected on Flickr, check out my album, or you can see everything since late May on my Tumblr.) I can’t tell you how cool it is to scroll back through those pictures and remember some of the individual moments that made up my year.

So tell me: how do you greet the new year? What are your plans?

 

Thoughts on goals

The countdown to 2015 is on, and I’m working on setting some goals for coming year. The first and biggest: Run 1,000 miles. I’m aiming for 100 miles a month, knowing that my travel and summer bird camp schedule will make for some weeks when I just can’t get many miles in.

I’ve been using December as a test run, trying to get in a groove before January 1 comes around, and it’s been great, actually. This time of year, when the days get shorter and weather turns colder, has always been a hard time for me to get out and run, so I’m always trying to find things to keep me motivated.

Being part of the Oiselle flock has really helped (nothing like seeing the accomplishments of other people to get motivated). I’ve also started using my Garmin regularly on runs. I’ve had a Forerunner 305 for years. I’ve used it off and on, but the software it came with was a little clunky and for the past few years I’ve mostly been using my watch or running without keeping track of time at all. This month I dusted off the Garmin and found out that there is now a whole new system: Garmin Connect. It has all kinds of groovy features, including the ability to set and track progress on all kinds of goals–mileage goals (by week, month, year, etc.), distance goals, frequency goals, and even calorie goals for those who are so inclined. So I set weekly goals and monthly goals for December to try to get to 100 miles this month. And it turns out that seeing the progress bar shift to the right is a real motivation for me to run. The first thing I do when I get home is hook my Garmin up to the computer and upload my data.

I’ve also gotten back into listening to podcasts while running. I used to do this all the time. Then I began running with other people and started leaving my iPod at home. Fast forward to today, when I am mostly running on my own again. I struggled with motivation. Getting out to run on some mornings felt impossible. Then I remembered podcasts. Yesterday I went out on a run pretty much solely because I wanted to listen to the last episode of Serial. Current (and some perennial) favorites: This American Life, The Moth, Radiolab, Wiretap, Third Coast International Audio Festival, and 99% Invisible.

I also added a new widget to my website, over there in the upper right-hand side. I’m tracking my weekly/monthly/annual mileage and putting it out there for the world to see (well, I’m not that deluded–for the two of you who read this blog to see).

I’m working out a few more goals for the coming year, one of which is to write here regularly. But 1000 miles, watch out. I’m coming for you.

What are your goals for 2015?

Bird vs. Birder

For the first time in two weeks I woke up the other morning feeling, well, awake. I’ve been struggling with motivation to run the past few weeks and instead of waking up ready to start my day, I’ve been groggy more often than not, staying in bed for just a few minutes longer. I am a morning person, friends. This is not normal. A combination of a busy travel schedule and colder mornings just saps my will to get out the door, and sometimes my will to even wake up. This past Saturday I opened my eyes and knew I was going for a run. It’s so strange–some days I can’t wait to put on my shoes and head out; others I get completely dressed and end up faffing about on Facebook and Twitter (yes, yes, perhaps the lesson here is to not check social media before I run?)

I am most likely to get my run in if one of two things is true (and ideally both of them):

  1. I run with someone else.
  2. I run in the morning.

The running with others thing is a work in progress. Since moving in August I’m still trying connect with local runners. When I am in town I’ve been running with Sierra Running one or two days a week, and that’s been great. The days I’m on my own are a little bit harder to motivate. I’m doing okay, mostly, but some days are harder than others.

The running in the morning thing, well, especially on the weekends that conflicts with the other thing I love to do: birding. So this past Saturday when I woke up and wanted to do both, I thought: why the heck not? When I’m running I always keep my eyes and ears open for birds, but this time I put on my running clothes, put my binoculars and spotting scope in the car, and drove down to the San Pedro River National Conservation Area. There is a great trail system that runs along the river and into the grasslands. If you run south you’ll hit the U.S. Mexico Border in about ten miles. If you run north, you can just keep going and going. I’ve never followed the river that far, but I suspect you can go for about 30 miles, until you hit the confluence with the Gila River.

The San Pedro House

The San Pedro House

Birders had reported a Green Kingfisher just south of the San Pedro House, so I headed that direction. I don’t do a lot of trail running, so I was just in my regular road shoes. Fortunately the trail was fairly smooth and even; the worst sections were sandy, but even those were fine. I ran a 3 mile out-and-back section of the trail, opting to stay along the grasslands instead of dropping down to the river. It was a beautiful, cool morning. Although the leaves of many of the cottonwoods had already fallen, some of them were still hanging on with beautiful splashes of yellow and fall colors.

Heading down to the river.

Heading down to the river.

Heading down to the river.

The river in the distance.

I passed a few birders and photographers enjoying lots of White-crowned Sparrows as I made my way down to the river. Heading south along the river bank I came to a fork in the trail where I could either go low and run along the river or stay high in the grasslands. I decided to stay high, where the trail is wider and firmer.

The trail wound around an old oxbow, full of tall cottonwoods but without water. I passed Green Kingfisher Pond and kept heading south (this is the spot where Green Kingfishers have been found in the past, and the only spot in Arizona where I’ve seen them; until the sighting of this year’s bird, though, it had been a number of years since one was seen on the San Pedro).

Green Kingfisher Pond in the distance.

Green Kingfisher Pond in the distance.

Finally I hit Garden Wash and headed west. As I was running the clouds began to build and the wind began to blow, but it was still a great day to be out for a run. The wash, of course, was dry. Our idea of a river in southeastern Arizona is more like most folks’ idea of a creek, except during the summer monsoon, when our rivers transform seemingly instantly into raging torrents. This year’s monsoon is over, and although there was still water in the river, Garden Wash was long-since dry.

SPRNCA trail marker.

SPRNCA trail marker.

Garden Wash.

Garden Wash, dry for most of the year.

When I hit the 1.5 mile mark I turned back, retracing my steps, heading back north through the grasslands, and making my way back to the car. After swigging some sports drink, I grabbed my binoculars, scope, and field bag and retraced my steps down to the river. See if you can spot the difference between me as bird and me as birder in the next two pictures:

Did you catch it?

So I headed down the trail, but this time in no hurry at all, stopping, looking, and listening at every opportunity. White-crowned Sparrows still sang in the mesquite trees, along with a pair of Lark Sparrows and a lone Lincoln’s Sparrow. A Red-tailed Hawk flew overhead. Gila Woodpeckers called from the cottonwoods. It was a great morning.

When I came to the fork in the trail this time, I decided to go low and follow the river. I came across some birders who said they’d JUST seen the Green Kingfisher, as well as a Louisiana Waterthrush, another good bird for the area. They pointed in the direction the birds had flown, so I headed south again.

The weather turned more overcast and windy. There was no sign of the kingfisher or waterthrush, and even the common birds were becoming silent. I did spot a lone Black Phoebe foraging along the river and played around with some digiscoping.

Black Phoebe.

Black Phoebe, digiscoped with Leica APO Televid 65 + iPhone 5 + Phone Skope adapter

I got back to Green Kingfisher Pond, this time walking around it in search of, well, Green Kingfishers. This old quarry holds water year-round and can be a good spot for herons and sometimes ducks, but it was silent today.

Green Kingfisher Pond.

Green Kingfisher Pond.

The weather got even windier and more overcast. The sun disappeared. I had on a long sleever, but even so I was beginning to feel chilly after getting sweaty on a run. I turned around and walked along the grasslands back toward the San Pedro House.

Spectacular view of the Huachuca Mountains behind the San Pedro House.

Spectacular view of the Huachuca Mountains behind the San Pedro House. No filter!

A bird birding.

A bird birding.

It was a better day for running than birding, but even when the birding is slow it is nice just to be outside. I’m lucky to live in a spot as beautiful as southeastern Arizona–and good to remember that running and birding don’t need to be an either/or proposition.

Foot Pursuit 5k – UPDATED

This morning I ran the Foot Pursuit 5k, a race put on by the Sierra Vista Police Officers Association. I didn’t think too much about the name of the race or the sponsor until I got there and two helicopters were landing in the field, a police dog was walking around with its handler, and there was generally a strong law enforcement presence. Suddenly the pieces clicked. “Foot Pursuit!” I thought. “I get it!” It sometimes takes me awhile, but I usually get there.

The race was about ten minutes down the road from my house at a local elementary school. The church across the street offered up their parking lot, so it was really easy to get there and get set up. After getting my bib and timing chip I ran a few slow laps around the parking lot to warm up. I passed the time by looking at the costumes that some of the runners were wearing. There was a pair of inmates, some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a joker, and a tiny Power Ranger and his big sister, the Wicked Witch of the West. But my favorites?

Doughnuts!

Doughnuts! The other side of their inner tubes had sprinkles. When we were waiting for the start of the race they had two circular signs on each cheek that said “Jelly” and “Filled”. And they ran the whole race carrying those things. (Spoiler: they won the costume contest!) I am still trying to figure out the gold body suits.

The start was a little bit wonky. One of the helicopters took off. The DJ told us to line up, so everyone started walking down the road. We were still shuffling forward when he said, “Ready? Set? Go!” and suddenly everyone started running. It wasn’t totally clear if there was an actual start line or just a general start area (there was no timing mat at the start of the race), but either way: I settled in and tried to start with a nice, steady pace.

My goal was to run the race in under 27 minutes. My plan was to start steady for the first mile, pick it up a little for the second mile, and progressively give it everything I had left for the third mile.

In keeping with the theme of the race, the helicopter circled over us as we ran, as though the police were trying to chase us down. One man had a dog balloon tied to his waist, maybe to pretend he had a police dog chasing after him?

It wasn’t a huge race, so there wasn’t a lot of weaving and maneuvering for space, which was nice. I settled into what felt like a nice pace and was really surprised when my Garmin beeped at the first mile to see that I’d run it in 8:23, one of my fastest miles ever.

“Okay, maybe I should slow down just a little bit,” I thought.

I reined it in slightly, and mile 2 felt pretty good, too. I was breathing hard enough to know that I was running faster than my standard pace, but that was my plan and I felt solid. I passed a few folks but tried to just focus on running my own race. My mantra, repeated over and over in my head, was “mile two, mile two, mile two.” Not especially original or inspiring, but it worked. My Garmin beeped and I was really happy to see a pace of 8:41.

(Confession: guys, I wasn’t completely honest when I said that my goal was to run the race in 27 minutes. I wanted to place in my age group. I really, really did. About the only thing I’ve ever won in my life was thirty years ago in elementary school, when I got Bingo and won a punch pass to bring ten friends to the roller skating rink. After those first two splits, I thought it might just be a possibility. I had to clamp down on my excitement and focus on the road ahead of me, but I was feeling good.)

And then there was mile three. Oh, mile three, mile three, mile three. Curses upon you, mile three. The course, which until this point had been on roads, took a sharp, right-hand turn down a rocky dirt trail, which made up most of mile three. It wasn’t exactly hilly, but there were lots of winding ups and downs. I had to slow down and take care to keep my footing. I could hear someone behind me on the trail, and even though I was beginning to tire, that kept me pushing.

The trail climbed up a short incline to the road and we followed the road back for the last half mile or so. A woman that I had passed around mile two pulled around me and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t keep up. My Garmin beeped for mile three: 9:13. Definitely slowing down. At this point I had an internal dialogue with myself, telling myself not to give into the temptation to slow down, that the race was nearly over, and basically goading myself into continuing to run. A father was running with his elementary school-aged son and I could hear him encouraging him: ” Come on buddy, we’re almost there! You can do this!” I pretended he was talking to me as I passed them.

I got a little disoriented at this point. I could see a stoplight ahead and thought that the course went to the light and then turned left and headed back to the start/finish line. What I didn’t realize was that we were actually back on the main drag, where the race had begun, and that the finish was just up the road, before the stoplight. It wasn’t until I heard the announcer calling out finishers that I realized I was really almost done. I hit the gas and finished strong.

(Side note: that little boy that I passed? He turned on the gas, too, and whizzed by me just before I crossed the timing mat).

I crossed the line, gave the little stinker a high five and told him he did a great job, and that was it. The race was over.

I looked down at my watch: 27:37, unofficial time.

I hung around for the awards ceremony, you know–just in case. When they called out the third place person for my age group and it was my first name and a last name that started with the same two letters as my last name my heart jumped in my chest, but it wasn’t me. The second place woman in my AG? That woman who passed me when we came off the trail. Sigh.

So I didn’t place. The official results won’t be up until tomorrow, so I’m not sure where I’ll fall in the overall results. If I hadn’t psyched myself out by thinking the course was longer than it actually was, would I have started my final push sooner? Maybe. But I didn’t. And although I’m a little bit disappointed, I still had a decent race. Yes, it was slower than I’d hoped for, but I felt so much better than I did during the 5k trail run I did a few weeks back. I know I can get faster, and I’m excited about the work ahead.

Last side note, or maybe more of a P.S…this was my first race wearing my Oiselle Distance Shorts. They totally live up to the hype, really comfortable with two deep, zippered pockets for holding lots of stuff. This was a short race, so all I had was my car key in the back pocket, but when I do longer runs (like tomorrow’s 12-miler), I’ll be able to cram all sorts of food in there.

Oiselle Flock, ready to run.

Oiselle Flock, ready to run.

UPDATE: My Garmin was just as accurate as my race chip, and my official time was 27.37.313. I was sixth in my AG and the 16th overall woman (44th overall in the whole race).