Girls on the Run

Earlier this week, I signed up for something I'm pretty excited about. Yes, it is a race (or two), I guess. But it's not really a race for me... It's for Girls on the Run, and it looks really fun. Here's a description of the program from their website:

“Girls on the Run is a twelve week program, consisting of twenty-four ninety-minute sessions. The curriculum is taught by a team of two to three coaches. All Girls on the Run coaches have been screened, interviewed and trained by Girls on the Run of Portland Metro, and all Head Coaches are CPR and First Aid certified. Coaches are required to adhere to the prescribed curriculum for each lesson.

The girls meet twice a week to participate in fun running activities that develop team cooperation, goal setting and leadership skills. The sessions incorporate focused discussions about critical issues that will affect the girls as they reach adolescence.”

I signed up as a "Race Buddy", meaning I only have 2 time commitments:

1. Show up on April 29th to meet my little running buddy. And what better way to get to know someone then to jump in and run/walk a practice 5K?! :)
2. Show up on June 5th to run/walk a real 5K with my running buddy at the Starlight Run!

Sounds easy enough. My only hesitation in signing up was that I am running my first half marathon the weekend following the Starlight Run, but I signed up as a 10 min/mi pace runner, so I hopefully won't be running at full speed!

In any case, I love kids, and this looked like a really fun and worthwhile cause to be a part of. If anyone out there wants to find out more about being a "Race Buddy" check out their website. And if you're interested in participating, just follow their registration instructions, as if you're registering for any other race! There is a background check involved, but all I had to do was print out the form, fill it out, and fax it in. Not too difficult. If you're going to sign up, though, you have to do it by April 14th, so hurry up!

Busy Weekend

It was a great, but busy weekend!

Saturday:
5 miles on the Springwater Corridor (9:38 avg. pace)

Mile 1: 10:03
Mile 2: 9:26
Mile 3: 9:37
Mile 4: 9:34
Mile 5: 9:32

After warming-up for the first mile, our splits were pretty consistent. It didn’t feel like we were going all out, which I think is a good sign. When we were done, I felt like we could keep going, so that is encouraging. 6 miles next week, in California! Prediction: It’s gonna be warm outside… Heat training! :-/

After our run, we headed up toward the zoo for my Mom’s birthday. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the zoo was packed since it ended up being a gorgeous day outside. We ended up parking along the Wildwood Trail, and walking 2 miles to/from the Japanese Gardens. It was much more peaceful than the zoo would have been, so it worked out for the best. We ended up walking a lot that day, so we had some pretty tuckered legs when we finally made it home!

Sunday:
We volunteered at the Fort Vancouver Run. We woke up at 5am (yikes!) and got to the race by 6:45am. It was pouring outside when we first got there, but it tapered off slowly, and by 7:30-ish, the rain had pretty much stopped. The bag check wasn’t too busy, since there was a lot of parking available near the race. Since it wasn’t too busy, J and I were assigned to work the finish line. J was assigned to keep track of the bib numbers for the Top 10 Men’s and Women’s 10K finishers. I, on the other hand, got to input all the bib numbers I could for all the finishers, for all three races. All I can say is the 5K bibs were extremely hard to read; green on blue is a bad combo! But it was fun standing at the finish line, because I got to cheer for all the finishers. And I do mean all! :-)

When we were done, we went to The Rock for our free beer and enjoyed some pizza. The beer really helped prepare us for our nap when we got home. All in all, a successful weekend!

Here’s some pics I took at the race this morning. (I didn’t get any of J and I since my fingers were busy inputting bib numbers!)

The start of the 15K:

Check out the barefoot runner pulling his kids behind him. He was running the 15K. I’m 99% sure this is an article about him (he sat at the table next to us at lunch). That’s pretty awesome!

The start of the 5K/10K. (They had to wait around for at least 20 minutes waiting for the roads to get cleared of traffic; I was cold just looking at them!) So the 5K was actually a 5K + 1/2 mile. The little girl in pink is 10 years old. She finished 15th overall in 26:29 (avg. pace 7:21)! She was impressive!

Next week’s agenda:

Monday:
3 miles

Tuesday:
Rest Day/Pushups? (we’ll see…)

Wednesday:
3 miles with the Easter Fulton Pub Run (it looks like a lot of fun!)

Thursday:
Flying down to Southern California early in the morning! And somehow fitting in 3 miles, after a dentist appointment, hopefully!

Friday:
Rest Day/Hanging out with J’s family

Saturday:
6 miles along the beach. Prediction: Sun

Sunday:
Rest Day/Hopefully time to blog!

See you on the flip side!

Weekly Recap

Last I left you, my Garmin had just arrived in the mail. Well, we’ve gotten to try it out on a few runs, and so far, I’m loving it! I love seeing my pace while we’re running. No more of these conversations:

Me: “Hey J? How slow do you think I’m going?"

J: “Probably 14:00’s.”

Me (through loud, forceful breaths): “Thanks…[breathe]…Jerk!”

I also love that it keeps track of our distance. I like being able to see how far we’ve gone (and how far we have left…). It’s so nice not having to map new loops on the computer before, or after, the run!

So far, my Garmin = my new love. (Sorry J)

Anyway, here’s the recap of the week (including Garmin’s pace readings!)

Monday:
3 miles (pre-Garmin)

Tuesday:
Rest Day/Pushups

Wednesday:
3 miles (9:57 avg. pace)

Thursday:
3 miles (9:35 avg. pace)

Friday:
Rest Day/Pizza Binge

I already recapped Monday.

Tuesday we got back into Week 5 of the 100 Pushup Challenge, and subsequently failed to continue past Day 1. Oops! Well, we’ll (hopefully) continue next week…

Wednesday, we went out onto the Springwater Corridor. We were very excited to wander around on a different path than our normal waterfront loop. Well, it wasn’t all that great, but then again, we only went about 1.5 miles in before turning back around. Our first 2 miles were 9:53 and 9:45, but mile 3 was 10:10…stupid shoelaces… (I’ll try to explain my shoelace problems in an upcoming post…if I remember)

Thursday, we did our normal waterfront loop. Our splits were 9:50, 9:27, and 9:26 (double-knotted those laces!) and felt really comfortable. I think I might be getting quicker! Yay!

Friday (today), we ate pizza, and it was good!

Saturday (tomorrow), we’re planning a 5 mile run, and we’re gonna give the Springwater Corridor another try. Afterward, we’re headed to the zoo for my mom’s birthday. Yes, you read that right. ;)

Sunday, we’re working the bag check (and maybe the finish line) at the Fort Vancouver Run. I’m excited. It will be our first volunteering opportunity for a race, and should be a fun time. And, if nothing else, there’s free beer when we’re done! Win!

I’ll update after our adventures. Until then!

1st Long Run

Well, we did it! We completed our very first (baby) long run. A whole 4 miles! Woohoo!

We went up to Forest Park. We had planned to start from the Zoo, run two miles on the Wildwood Trail, and then run back. Luckily, we went too late in the day and the Zoo parking lot was full. (I’ll explain the “luckily” a little later.) We looped around and parked on Burnside instead, near the “6-mile” mark. Since we were only supposed to do 4-miles, this allowed us 1-mile to warm up our legs at the start, and 1-mile to cool down at the end.

Mile 1 went by without incident. Mile 2 was killer. All uphill. When all you usually run on is flat concrete, any hill is killer. What have we learned? We need to change up our runs a bit! Now, if all had gone according to plan, and we had parked at the zoo, Mile 2 would have been Mile 4. That means we would have ended with the killer hill. Yikes! That’s why we weren’t too upset with the change of plans! We turned around after Mile 2 and enjoyed a nice downhill for Mile 3, and finished Mile 4 very comfortably. When we finished, I felt like I could go farther. We didn’t, of course. We’re building mileage slowly (as impatient as we are) to hopefully prevent injuries! *fingers crossed* But it was encouraging to finish with some energy left. Next week’s 5-miler should go ok!

Total for the week: 10 miles (due to 3 miles skipped on Wednesday)

We started our 2nd week of “Pre-Half-Marathon Training Training” today with a 3-miler on Mt. Tabor. There are 3 marked trails on Mt. Tabor (very helpful when without a Garmin). One is 3 miles, one is 1.7, and one is 1.2 (not sure about the last one). The 3-miler is marked “Difficult, stairs”. I wanted to maybe do one of the other trails a couple of times, but J was insistent on running the 3-mile trail. Ok…

It wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t easy either. When we started on a downhill at the beginning, I was already getting antsy about having to go back uphill, most likely at the end. We went around several reservoirs and paused a few times due to lack of signage… There were also a large set of stairs about a mile in. I ran up 7 of them, but walked the rest. I knew more “difficulty” lay ahead. Then it came. The killer hill at the end. Much worse then the hill from Saturday’s “Long Run”. Oy. But I did it! And without walking! It was very slow, but I didn’t stop. Boy did I want to, though! When we reached the top, we were a bit delirious, and may have accidently skipped a small loop. When we checked the map at the end, we saw a loop that neither of us could remember going around, but I couldn’t tell you where it was. Oh well!

Here’s the plan for the rest of the week:

Monday: 3 miles (check)

Tuesday: Rest day, restart push-ups, other strength training?

Wednesday: 3 miles

Thursday: 3 miles, pushups

Friday: Rest day

Saturday: 5 miles (on Springwater Corridor?)

Sunday: Rest

Good news! Whilst writing this, the mail man came and delivered our new Garmin! Woohoo! It’s currently charging, but we’ll be fiddling with it later. We’ll have a few runs to try it out on before our long run on Saturday. I’m so excited!

Recap + Photo Friday

Well, you already know how Monday went…so lets move on:

Tuesday:
Rest Day

Wednesday:
Rest Day (skipped the run for the health of my shins)

Thursday:
3 miles

Friday:
Rest Day (exciting, wasn’t it!)

Thursday wasn’t too bad. My shins did kind of hurt during the day, but they always felt better after stretching, so I decided to see if running would calm them down. It did! My shin actually felt better after the run then they did before. Woohoo!

My shins felt a little better today then yesterday. I still experienced shin pain occasionally throughout the day, but stretching and icing always made it better. They feel pretty good now.

Tomorrow we’re planning on doing 4 miles on the trail in Forest Park. Its supposed to be really nice tomorrow (70° = super hot!) so it should be really fun. The Farmer’s Market by our house is opening tomorrow, too, so we’re gonna try to hit that up for some fresh goods!

Sunday is another rest day. I’m going to try to find some new summer running tops and buy a “Stick” for our trip down to Cali in a couple of weeks. I usually use a foam roller on my calves, but it would be a little easier to travel with The Stick, I think.

Monday, we (will hopefully) start Week 2 of Pre-Half-Marathon Training Training. I’m not sure where we will be running, but I have the day off, so that means: Waffles! :)

I have some pictures from this week. Most are from the Shamrock Run, and I took one while we were out running yesterday (Thursday), so enjoy!

Our “before” pic:

Start line:

Extreme Close Up (just after the start):

Me kicking J’s butt! “After” pic:My mom checking out the bagpipers :) I need to work on picking out the race photographers so I don’t look like this: J, Me, Mom Have a great weekend!

Noob Fail!

So after the AWESOME run that was Sunday, I decided to stick with my (until-yesterday) tentative plan for a "recovery run" the following day. BAD idea. I planned on doing 3 miles, but I started feeling some shin pain 2 miles in. This is where I should have started walking. When will I learn!!?

As you may have guessed, I didn't start walking; I kept running. I kept it slow, 11:35-ish pace slow. But I could still feel pain, which should have alerted me to a potential problem. But I was so focused on getting the 3 miles in, that I pushed it. Argh! It's not really feeling too bad today. But that's in comparison to how it felt way back when it was horrible! I'm planning on keeping an eye on it today and tomorrow. If it still feels...painful, I'll skip my planned Wednesday run. I'm hoping I'm fully recovered by then (wishful thinking, much?) If not, I'll wait for Thursday's planned run.

Which leads me to our new running schedule. We have begun a two week "conditioning" program in preparation for half marathon training. Pre-half-marathon training, I suppose. Here's what I had/have planned for this week:

Monday:
3 mile "recovery run" – completed at 11:35 pace. (And yet, still FAIL.)

Tuesday:
Rest Day (and praying for the health of my shins...)

Wednesday:
3 miles planned (unless I have lingering shin pain)

Thursday:
3 miles

Friday:
Rest Day

Saturday:
4 miles (Baby's First "Long Run")

Sunday:
Rest Day

This was to be our first official training week including 4 whole runs. Who knows! Maybe it still will be? If nothing else, at least I learned my limits. No running the day after awesome, all-out races!

Oh, and by the way, in case you didn't catch the major hint above (where I mentioned our new "Pre-half-marathon training" program) we may have, kinda, just maybe, signed up for the Helvetia Half Marathon on June 10th, you know, right after I broke my legs yesterday. Oops! But it's ok. We've already told each other, worse case scenario, that we can walk it. AND, we will definitely be getting a burger and beer at the end; how could we go wrong!! :/

Shamrock 5K Recap

Well let’s get into it, shall we?

Unofficial 5K Results...):

Watch time: 27:41 (Um, can we say, PR!!! by a lot…)

Official Time: 27:40 (8:55 average pace, what!?)

75/988 Age Group (25-29)

288/4450 Overall Females

992/6400 Overall

And now, the recap:

My mom wanted to watch us run, so she parked over by our house (to avoid the crowd that would inevitably be conglomerated near the race start/finish area) and we walked to the starting area. We arrived with about 10 minutes to spare, got a “before” pic taken by my mom, then separated from her to find our pace group. We decided to line up in the 9-10 min/mi pace group, since that fits our PR pace, but there were too many people. We couldn’t even line up in the street, we were standing in the grass behind rows of people in our “corral”. Luckily, we didn’t get stuck on the grass while people in slower pace groups passed us by toward the start. It did take us at least 8 minutes to cross the starting line, which I’m sure could have been worse, but it soon became evident that either we, or those grouped around us, were not lined up in the appropriate pace group…

Mile 1:

After crossing the starting line, it was again time to dodge, duck, dive and dodge. Maybe people were starting out slow, but why were some people walking? And why were some people (ok, one guy) stopping in the middle of the stampede to tie their shoes. I mean, come on! I almost took out a photographer early on, trying to get around the shuffling runners. It started to dawn on me that maybe, just maybe, many of these people haven’t run a running race before (not that that’s a bad thing), and that maybe they don’t know what a 9-10 min/mi really is…

Anyway, I’m sure it could have been worse, but I would rather use the energy I wasted dodging people, you know, on running. The first mile was spent mostly just jockeying for position. I’m fairly certain we were passing people in earlier pace groups…oops! I had written the cross streets for the mile markers on my wrist, so I was able to keep track of our pace throughout the run, although I had to use some mad math skillz to get it done. (Happy Pi day by the way!) Mile 1: 9:20 (stupid dodging)

Mile 2:

Mile 2 was definitely the most difficult. It is almost entirely a gradual uphill climb, for 1. whole. mile. We haven’t done much hill training, but I don’t think it will hurt us to start! This is where my lungs started talking back to me. I was definitely tempted to walk, especially seeing other people struggling, but I pushed through. J was with me the entire time. He kept looking back in such great spirits. His lungs didn’t hurt. Jerk. (J/k!) We continued passing people while going up hill. Let me tell you, dodging people while you’re struggling is even harder than when the road is flat! I could see our turn coming and couldn’t wait to get there. From there on out it was either downhill or flat, a very welcome relief. Mile 2: 9:10 (take that you stupid hill!)

Mile 3:

Finally we turned off Broadway, and my spirits rose; the worst was over! And what did I see coming up? A water station! The first one I’ve ever experienced in a race. Huzzah! I just had to try it (and I was thirsty before we had finished mile 1!) I was already running on the left side (where the water station was located). I slowed down, just slightly, to meet the pace of the other runners coming through the station. I grabbed the cup, some water splashed out of the cup and hit my hand, but most made it through the ascent to my lips. I took my sip, tossed toward the trash can (there’s a reason I’m not a basketball star ladies and gentlemen) and then someone stopped dead in front of me. I had no choice but to slow to a near halt to glide around. Another women, who I assume had been following me until this point, then ran into me me. Ahh, this must be the joys of the water station. Luckily everyone made it out alive. Sorry’s were exchanged. And the race continued.

After the water station, we found our way on to the most glorious downhill in all the land. It really wasn’t long, but we had definitely earned it! We took off, allowing the hill to help us back down to Naito, the final stretch of the race. There was definite crowd dodging to be had, and some sudden stops as people abruptly started walking. (Really?! It’s downhill, you’re almost to the end!) Alas, the hill ended far too soon, but as we turned I could see the finish line ahead. And let me tell you, it looked so far away!

I was definitely suffering during the last mile. But I knew I had to keep pushing because, looking at my watch, we were definitely on track to smother my sub-29:00 goal. My lungs were burning the most. I couldn’t feel any pain in my legs. But oddly enough, my right shoulder hurt, and my right arm was numb. I hypothesize that this is due to me using my right arm as my “shield arm” as I was dodging people, just in case someone took an unexpected turn while I was passing! Finally we were under the bridge. Only 0.1 mile to go! Mile 3: 8:30 (whoa! This might not be completely accurate as my brain was swimming by this time. But if it is inaccurate, it would have to be too slow, as you will see in our final 0.1 mile split).

Last 0.1 mile:

We were almost there, it just didn’t look like it to my eyes. My lungs were burning really bad by this point, but I wanted to finish as strong as I could. I set my legs into “final kick mode”. We were dodging people all the way through the finish chute, but we did it! I looked at my watch after I stopped it. 27:41! Holy moly! Now that would put our final 0.1 miles at 40 seconds which is a 6:40 pace. Accurate? Will never know. All I know is we were really flying at the end!

We removed our chips and exited the crowd. I was spent. I know I left it all out there on the road, as it should be. J on the other hand said he could have gone faster…Maybe that’s because I beat him by 1 sec ;). As we were exiting the chute, this older guy came up to us and told us he saw me taking good care of J. LOL. I guess all men need to be taken care of sometimes! ;)

We found my mom, miraculously! Found the beer, miraculously! (The race was sponsored by Widmer and there wasn’t any Drop Top?! FAIL!) We finished refueling/rehydrating, then headed home. A fairly successful outing if I do say so myself!

In other news (as promised in yesterday’s post): We are officially signed up for the Bridge to Brews 10K! Yay! I’m so excited. After we finished today, we realized we are totally ready to expand our racing repertoire! And to top it off, it takes place April 18, which just so happens to be our 1 Year Anniversary!! We are officially running dorks! Hopefully, since this race ends at Widmer’s frickin’ brewery, there will be some Drop Top to enjoy!! :)

Additionally, after all of my awesome, most likely slightly inaccurate, pace calculating today, we have decided to take the plunge and get a Garmin. I’ve been wanting one, but what with being injured and all, it didn’t seem worth the price. But I think I have mostly recovered (as long as I continue to take care of myself!) and we have now officially completed 4 runs this week, PAIN FREE!!!! We ordered it today, so hopefully we’ll have it up and running in a weeks time!

I know there’ll be some pictures of us at the race, so I'll post them once I get them!

Shamrock Prep!

Tomorrow is our first Shamrock Run and our second 5K. I'm pretty excited and of course I have some race goals, but first a recap of the week!

Monday:
3.94 miles (oops!)
10:37 min/mi

Wednesday:
2.85 miles
10:04 min/mi (oops, again!)

Friday:
3 miles
10:04 min/mi (not as big of an oops!)

For the past several weeks, instead of mapping our runs out before or after our runs, I had been using the (free) MapMyRun app on my iPhone to measure our running distance. At least I was until last Monday. When we finished our run, my phone said that we had completed 3.5 miles, which I was ok with. Later, when we returned home, I checked it out online, and it said that it was 3.36. I looked at the map and saw that it had skipped half a mile and had us swimming across the river. Hmm...something might not be working...

When I saw that, I mapped out our path manually and it said 3.94, or basically almost 4 miles! Oops! I wasn't sure I was ready to go that far yet, but luckily it turned out ok. No lingering pain or anything! No problem! We continued with ~3 miles for our remaining runs, and finished them at about 10 min/miles. Not bad, and no worse for the wear! I figured it would be best to keep the mileage low, what with a race on Sunday!

Speaking of which, tomorrow is race day! So, without further ado, race goals! For our first 5K, our main goal was to finish without walking. This time is different; we have a PR to beat! Therefore, our goal is to PR! Not too fancy, but we want to at least beat 29:16. I don't think we'll have a problem with it, although the whole second mile is a slight uphill which might hold us down a bit, but we're hoping for the best!

I'll post our results tomorrow, and I've got some additional news to share, so stay tuned!

Still holding on

So far so good. I successfully completed 3 runs last week, pain free!! We continued running along the grassy section of the Waterfront, to be safe, but upped our mileage to ~3 miles/run. Here’s a quick recap:

Monday
2.91 miles
10:52 min/mi

Tuesday
3.01 miles
11:28 min/mi (not sure about this one…outlier!)

Wednesday
3.15 miles
10:41 min/mi

As you can see, not only did the distance increase, but so did the pace! It didn’t even feel like I was pushing it too far or too fast, but I still tried to hold back, a little…kinda. I didn’t experience any calf cramping this week, but I did experience a tiny, itty-bitty bit of “sensitivity” in my shin yesterday during work, but before we even ran. It was weird. It didn’t hurt when I was weight bearing. It only hurt when I was sitting down. I hadn’t run since Wednesday (a day and a half previously), so it didn’t seem to be connected to my running. It wasn’t a full on “pain”, either, it was just a mini-ache. Weird. It didn’t bother me really at all during yesterday’s run. About halfway through I felt…something…in my shins, but it didn’t get any worse, and I don’t feel it today, so I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.

That’s what I’ve noticed. I’ve been benched for so long with this stupid self-inflicted injury, that I read into any little tweak as potential injury. I got shin splints from over-doing it and pushing through the pain for 2 weeks. I’m a very goal driven person. I was 2 weeks from finishing this 10-week-plan and 2 weeks from my very first official running race. I was so focused on finishing the ride, that I didn’t stop and take care of myself. It is infinitely more idiotic since I should know better. I mean I’m a PT for goodness sakes!

I am definitely going to try to be smarter now. Any real pain (“bad” pain) and it is an automatic 2 day rest and a prescription for ice. Random knee pain during the middle of the run that goes away after half-a-mile, yeah, not “bad” pain, just weird (random yesterday’s-run happenstance). I just need to be better about listening to my body, and not pushing myself beyond my own limits.

So, now that I have a plan…You (Who? J? I realize no one else is reading this. ;) may have noticed some additions to the race calendar. Next Sunday, is, of course, the Shamrock Run. Originally, I was planning on running the 8K race, increasing our distance, trying something new, but we all know I don’t have the base for that, so 5K it is!

One month after Shamrock, there is a local run that looks really fun. (aka Beer at the end, you will soon notice a trend!) Bridge to Brews can be either an 8K or a 10K. I will try to decide on the distance once I successfully complete the Shamrock run. Successful completion = Pain-free. Once that has been accomplished, we’ll sign up for our April race.

Yesterday, at dinner, J and I started eyeballing something a little bigger, and I’m not talking about our meal. I’m talking about a Half Marathon. Before my shin splint set-back, I had already been contemplating this possibility, with the same race actually. The Helvetia Half is scheduled in June. I found a 10 week plan (which I hope we can successfully complete) that would have us start our Half Marathon training on April 5th. The schedule seems do-able. (That’s what she said?) Of course it’s hard to estimate what will be or won’t be “do-able” in the future, but I really think we can do it. And worse case scenario, Helvetia Half is supposed to be a great marathon for walkers as well. And the Drop Top 10K is run right alongside the Half, and both races end with a nice brew (see!) and a burger. And to top it all off (enough with the “ands!”) Drop Top is our favorite beer! How could we not participate in some way!

Thus far, the half is still tentative. First and foremost, I have to be successful with the upcoming Shamrock 5K. Once that happens, we’ll start really planning on these races (i.e.. signing up!) Today we had our packet/shirt pick-up. (By signing up with a large team we each saved $5 on registration; WIN!) I’m really excited (and not just about the beer at the end! I <3 beer!)