Peak Week

This was our “Peak Week” in more ways than one! Not only did we complete 26 miles this week (our most EVER), we also stayed very busy, socially! Here’s the recap:

Monday:
4 miles (9:49 avg pace)
I was worried about my hip (see last weeks post…), so I tried to keep it pretty easy. Well, my pace doesn’t really reflect that, but I swear I was trying. Nothing too exciting to report, but I was feeling pretty good!

Tuesday:
Free Yoga at Lululemon!
This was so much fun! There were probably around 15 people there, so it wasn’t too crowded, and by the time we were done, I was feeling really good! The guest instructor was focused on having the more advanced part of our group do hand stands (I worked on other stuff). It was interesting to watch other people go for it, but I was scared... J didn’t want to come with me, since he was afraid he’d be the only male. But there were definitely a few guys there, so I think I’ve convinced him to come with me the next time! Hopefully we can get back there soon!

Wednesday:
5.71 miles (10:40 avg pace)
We were invited to participate in a Beer Mile, but we had 6 miles on the schedule (and I was too scared to even try it…) so we said we would just come and watch. We met up with a friend (who was participating) to run the first 3 miles. She then split off to do the Beer Mile, while we finished up. We watched the very start of the race, and the very end. (The rules are: Drink a beer, run a lap. Drink another beer, run a lap. Until you get to a mile and have finished 4 beers…I’m pretty sure I would puke during the first lap… :/) We didn’t quite complete the last mile of our planned 6, but it was close enough. Afterward, we went to eat with all the drunkies, which was fun! (We drank our beers, afterward ;)

Thursday:
4.3 miles (10:12 avg pace)
This was a nice easy run, although we were kinda sore from our run the day before. (We also finished the 0.3 miles we had missed on Wednesday!) Afterward, we went to a friends house for Game Night, and stayed up way too late! Who needs sleep when you’re in the midst of peak week?!

Friday:
Rest Day + Journey Cover Band (Stone in Love)
Again, we stayed up way too late, but I only had one beer because we had an epic run scheduled for the next day!

Saturday:
12 miles (10:19 avg pace)
Yeah. I finished. Woohoo!!! What a relief after last week! We ran south along the west bank of the Willamette River (from Downtown) for about 4 miles, then ran across the Sellwood Bridge and South/East along the Springwater Corridor, and then back North along the Springwater Corridor back to Downtown. It felt pretty good until about mile 8 when my hip started aching. I know that I had said I was going to work on my flexibility this week, but I totally slacked (especially during the middle to late portions of the week, when we were especially busy). It never hurt so bad that I had to stop (like last week), but I could definitely feel something brewing. Strangely enough, it felt better as I picked up the pace. We were slowly passed by a pair of runners at around mile 9 or 10, and I subconsciously held their pace. My breathing was a little heavier, but my hip felt a little relief. I tried to slow down again, but once I’m at a pace, it’s kinda hard to slow down again… :P Overall, I’m happy with the run. Only 1.1 miles more for our half! We got this!

I accidentally hit “Lap” on my Garmin midway through, so my splits are kinda wacky. But here’s what I got:

Mile 1: 10:56
Mile 2: 10:38
Mile 3: 10:02
Mile 3.41: 9:56 (avg pace)
Mile 4.41: 11:28 (stupid short steep hill = walking)
Mile 5-ish: 10:49 (avg pace)
Mile 6-ish: 10:39
Mile 7-ish: 10:18
Mile 8: 10:15
Mile 9: 9:58
Mile 10: 9:38 (following the group that passed us)
Mile 11: 9:47 (trying to slow back down)
Mile 12: 9:32 (to be fair, there was a downhill here)

Later, we went to go see Kooza. We have been bummed for awhile, because we didn’t think we would be able to afford it, but we got our hands on some 50% off tickets, and made a date night/afternoon out of it! So much fun, and very entertaining. Look how close to the stage we got!

Sunday:
Volunteer/Spectator at the Rum Run 10K/5K
We helped out at the Bag Check again, with one difference. J was also running a 5K, solo for the first time, and let me just say…he absolutely smoked it! First of all. Wow, the bag check was packed today! We actually had a line! Holy cow. I think we still did a good job, regardless, and everyone got their stuff back! Woohoo! While we were sorting the bags, I heard the call “5K runners are about 5 minutes away,” so I hurried over to the finish line. I watched as the top speedsters crossed the finish line. At about 21:00-ish, this quick little 12-year-old girl crossed, but I didn’t even have time to say “Wow, that little chick is fast!” because soon afterward, there was J!! He finished in 21:34. Holy schmoly, what a speedster. He blew his previous 5K out of the water! (27:41) He also got 10th for overall males and 1st in his age group. Yay for J’s first medal! He didn’t wear my Garmin, so we have no idea what his splits were, but I am so proud! What an amazing time, and that after running 12 miles the day before! I have a feeling he’ll totally go under 20:00 one of these days. Who knew he was so quick!? :)

Later tonight, we’re going to be sucked into hours of television, watching the Lost Series Finale extravaganza. Hopefully I can get some sleep beforehand, because I am exhausted!

Here’s our planned schedule for next week:

Monday:
4 miles

Tuesday:
Movie? (we got free passes)/Yoga?

Wednesday:
5 miles

Thursday:
4 miles

Friday:
Rest/Travel to Sunriver

Saturday:
9 miles

Sunday:
Vacay!

I’ll leave you with some pictures I took at the Rum Run:

J kicking it in to the finish!

J with his sweet new medal (1st in his age group!) My mojito. I think I worked hard enough for it! ;)