A Slight Change of Scenery

A bit of an update

2011-06-07T17:52:00.000-07:00

Oh boy.

I haven't written anything since just after the marathon. There wasn't much to report initially. I ran, probably about 4-5 times leading up to my next half marathon (9 months into my quest to run [at least] 1 half marathon every month for a year). Most of those runs did not feel very good; in fact I was starting to wonder if my quest might be over. It wasn't until the last run prior to my May half marathon (5/29) that I thought, "Maybe it won't be so bad!" AND I was going to be running with three of my girlfriends for a Girls Weekend, so at least I knew I'd have fun!

Happy Girls Half Marathon:

We drove down on Saturday, for the Sunday "all-girls" race, with a quick pit stop for two of my friends to run the Stoller Vineyards 5k in wine country. I opted to pass on this one, seeing as I was already worried about making through the half the next day. It was fun though, since everyone was allowed to wine taste after the race, including spectators.

After that fun, we made the 3-hour trek to Bend for packet pickup. It was snowing. At the end of MAY!! Oh boy! The weather reports seemed to indicate that Sunday would be a better day, but it still made us nervous. Turned out we had all packed several different choices since we weren't sure how the weather would really turn out.

It was a wet and cold outdoor packet pickup, but everything went pretty smoothly. We got our bibs, shirts, and goody bags (Lululemon bags stuffed with your usual race advertisements, Lara bars, as well as water bottles, candy, fruit strip, and other miscellaneous goodies). After we all retrieved our stuff, we quickly made our way back to the car to warm up, and head out to lunch. We wanted to eat at Bend Brewery, but the line was out the door, so we ended up at some nearby Mexican restaurant instead.

After lunch, we headed down to Sunriver, where we would be spending the next few nights at my Dad's house. My Dad and stepmom made us some pre-race Lasagna, and soon enough, it was time for bed (by 9pm we were all exhausted).

The race didn't start until 9am, so our wakeup call wasn't too early. I got to sleep in until 7am!! My pre-race meal was a donut (why not?!) and I scarfed it down easily in time to drive back up to Bend. We made it to the race start with about 30 minutes to spare. It was supposed to be 40-55°, so I opted to wear my capris with a short sleeve shirt, and a long sleeve shirt on top to keep me warm until I warmed up. I figured I might be cooler than normal since I wouldn't be "racing". Soon enough, we were lining up in the shoot, awaiting the start, then BAM we were off. Well, maybe not that fast.

We lined up with the 11:00 min/mi pacer, and stayed ahead of him, except when we would walk through aid stations. (The pacers were all male "Handsome Pacers" and they were all wearing sparkly skirts.) The first half of the course, was mostly uphill, meaning the second half would be mostly downhill. The course itself was really great! Concrete river trail, paved bike trail, dirt trail, and road. River bridge, forest, high desert-y area. The other participants were really great, too, and many participants had really awesome supporters! All in all, the course was really fun! And the day turned out to be beautiful!

I felt surprisingly great throughout the entire 13.1 miles, and we definitely stopped at the Deschutes Brewery "beer aid station" at about 11.8 miles. So Fun! Soon enough, we were making our "victory" lap at Riverbend Park on the way to the finish line.

Once we crossed the finish line, we were greeted by volunteers with necklaces. Yay! And then it was off to search for the beer. On the way there, however, we found the best thing I've ever found at the end of a race: BROWNIES!!! And not just any brownies, the most delicious brownies EVER!!! I want some more! We did eventually find the beer, and after putting on some warmer clothes (it's surprising how much warmer you feel when you're running!) we made our way to Bend Brewery for lunch. Much needed!

We headed back to Sunriver for a few hours relaxation (including a dip in the hot tub) before heading back to Bend to finish off the day at The Decemberists concert. Good times were had by all, and we were all ready to head back home the next day, Monday, after breakfast at my favorite Bend breakfast place, The Victorian Cafe, and a tasting at one more Bend brewery, 10 Barrel Brewing.

Overall, the Happy Girls Half Marathon was amazing. Everything seemed to happen flawlessly, with no hiccups from our perspective! I was amazed, since it was an inaugural race! I would do it again in a heartbeat, especially if I had friends along with me!

The Week After:

I was scheduled to have the Tuesday after Memorial Day off, so I planned to use it to relax after our busy weekend (and to clean my house!) Unfortunately, I started feeling odd at about noon. I was actually starting to feel like I had a temperature, but without any other symptoms, and by the time I went to bed, my temperature was 99.5°, so I planned to take the next day off of work. I didn't seem to have a temperature on Wednesday, and I didn't really have any other symptoms, but I just didn't feel "well". I didn't really eat anything on Wednesday, and I wasn't really hungry. I started experiencing a minor stomach ache at about 2pm, but overall, I thought I was actually feeling better, and very surprisingly excited to go to work on Thursday. I even went to Wednesday night Trivia with my friends! I went to bed, mentally prepared for the early wakeup call.

Unfortunately, stomach pain woke me up before my alarm did, at 1am. I tried to suffer through it for a bit, since it wasn't the first time I'd had stomach pain wake me up at night (from "ulcer" pain). Soon enough, my pain worried me enough to wake J and ask him whether I should go to the ER, especially since the pain was located in the right lower quadrant; location of appendicitis symptoms. We arrived at the ER at about 2am and after hours of waiting, numerous pokes and prods, and a CT scan (as well as a healthy couple doses of morphine...) we got the diagnosis: Ruptured Appendicitis!!

WHAT!!!???

But I hadn't had any pain until 1am that day. How do you catch it earlier than that?! Oh well...

Next up, a couple of hours waiting to find out if they were going to go ahead and do surgery, or discharge me with antibiotics to calm all the tissues, and then schedule me for surgery later. Soon enough, they told me they had decided on surgery, which would happen as soon as they could get me into an OR.

I had never had surgery before, but everything seemed to happen so fast, I didn't really have time to worry about it, and really...I don't think I had much of a choice to NOT have surgery.

I went in to surgery at 4pm, and came out (feeling freezing cold) about 1.5 hours later. I was back in my hospital room by 7pm. By 8pm, I finally got to slowly drink water!! (I was so thirsty, even though they'd been pumping me full of IV fluids all day!)

The good little Physical Therapist in me had J walk with me that night, and a few times on Friday (with my IV as needed). I had my last IV antibiotic Friday at 4pm, and they told me I could discharge if I wanted to, but I didn't think my pain was adequately controlled at that point, so I stayed another night. By Saturday morning, I was feeling well enough to discharge, so J took me home!

The first few days were rough, and I'm still not feeling 100%. I get tired very easily, but my pain is steadily improving and my walking is looking better (at least from my perspective). I took this week off from work, since I figured I probably wouldn't be feeling to well. I might need to take next week off as well, since I have a 2 week, 10lb lifting restriction, and I do end up lifting people at work... I also have orders for no "strenuous exercise" for 4 weeks, whatever that means.

BUT, this will affect some goals of mine. I was scheduled to run a half marathon the Saturday I was discharged, which would have been my 12th half marathon, and I would have completed it by the anniversary of my very 1st half marathon, which just so happens to be this upcoming weekend. But, that didn't happen. I'm also fairly certain I will not be running another half marathon this month...ending my streak. Oh, and that half marathon triple (3 in 3 days) I was planning over 4th of July weekend; doubt that's going to happen, either. What can you do?! That's the problem with making long term goals; things can come up!

Right now, I'm focused on healing. After that, I can focus on getting back into shape. One step at a time!

So...that's what's up with me. Probably no running recaps for awhile, but perhaps a "health" recap later on this month!

Eugene/FIRST Marathon Race Recap

2011-05-02T19:08:00.001-07:00

I've been a terrible blogger up to this point, but I know I should definitely write down all my thoughts from our very FIRST marathon, before I forget ALL the juicy details!! So here goes!

Saturday
Saturday we got up at a decent hour (8am) to pack our stuff and start on our journey down to Eugene. We got on the road at a decent time, and made it to the Race Expo at the Eugene Hilton by noon. We found the packet pickup where we picked up our bibs, timing chips, goodie bags, and shirts. Nothing looked too enticing as we passed by several booths, and it seemed a bit crowded for my taste, so we were in and out in no time.

We picked up a course map at the expo, and decided to drive the course as best we could, since much of it is on the path along the Willamette River. First stop was Historic Hayward Field, where the race start and finish are located!

As we were driving around the Mile 16 mark, we accidentally found out where Autzen Stadium (home of the Duck's Football team) was, AND that there was something going on there on Saturday, at about the time we decided to drive by. Oops!!

We made our way through most of the course, and then it was finally time to check into our B&B (The Secret Garden Inn), located only about 2 blocks away from Hayward Field. Our room was not "spacious" but it was perfect for us! Cute and cozy, and perfect for resting!

Cozy!

Our friends made it down later in the day, and we met up at Track Town Pizza, for a delicious pre-marathon meal. Many of our long runs were preceded by a delicious meal of pizza, and we didn't want to stray too far from that! :)

And of course, our pre-long run meals always include a delicious beer...Mmm...(J and I split a pint)
Finally we headed back to our room and got our gear ready to go for the next day.
After we were prepared for the next morning it was time for some relaxation in bed, including an awesome Timbers game. Although I slept through most of the second half, I woke up just in time to see them cinch the win! I slept really good marathon eve, for some reason, and woke up with my alarm, ready to go!

Sunday/Marathon Day!!
5:45am came not so bright but early. J and I ate our oatmeal, and suited up for our first full marathon. I knew it was going to be cool for the start (~40°), but that it would warm up in no time. It was actually quite reminiscent to our first half marathon a little less than a year ago. All our training, and even the week leading up to the race was cool and wet, and then come race day, the warmest day of the year thus far and no clouds in sight!! Not so nice when you can't handle running in heat...(We're the opposite of most fair-weather runners!)

I tried to go into the race without any time expectations, as I knew it was going to be tougher than any race we had ever done. I knew if I went in with certain expectations, I would probably be disappointed, but I also knew I wanted to do the best that I could. I know that I am capable of a sub-4 hour marathon, but I wasn't sure today was the day for it. We hadn't done any speed work in our training. In fact, we hadn't actually run at a sub-4 hour marathon pace at all during training. But I wanted to start out at a decent pace, and see how we felt!

We got to the race start with about 10 minutes to spare. The lines to the potties looked immense, and I was starting to get nervous, so I opted out of the lines, and we went to line up instead. We found the 4-hour pacer, and thought that was as good a place as any to line up. Little did we know the race would start 11 minutes late...

Miles 1-7:
After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, a little girl sang the national anthem, and then the gun went off. We shuffled across the starting line, and waited for the crowd to loosen up a bit. The first mile or so was a bit of a cluster, but we didn't try to push through it, or wind through too many people; we just took it easy, we still had a LONG way to go.

I knew my friend, K, was waiting for us at about 1.5 miles. We saw her and waved, and I handed off my handheld, as I wasn't expecting to need it until later on, and didn't want to cart it along with us the whole way. It was at about this point that the 4-hour pacer took off. And I mean TOOK OFF!! I know he was a bit behind the pace, but holy moly! There were plenty of miles to make up time! It was probably at this point that we let him go on ahead, and we didn't see much of him at all later on. Oh well!

The next few miles were fairly uneventful. For the first few miles, we could see the fasties on the other side of a green patch (through some tree branches) which was pretty cool. We looped down and around, and made our way back up toward the University, grabbing water or gatorade at every aid station along the way. This part of the race seemed to go by really fast, and we were able to keep a good pace going.

Mile 1: 9:49 (Thick crowd)
Mile 2: 9:13
Mile 3: 9:04
Mile 4: 9:10
Mile 5: 9:14
Mile 6: 9:00
Mile 7: 9:03

Miles 8-11:
Our friend K had planned to see us again in front of South Eugene High School, just before the "hill" at mile 8. I passed off my arm warmers (I was plenty warm at this point) and she told us to keep going. Then came the "hill", which wasn't much of a hill, really, and actually crested at our B&B, "See you later!"
We came back by Hayward Field again, and we decided to hit up the potties while we knew there would be no wait. I probably didn't *need* to use the potty; it was more mental than anything, but it didn't take us too long. Soon enough, we were crossing over the pedestrian bridge to the other side of the river, and parting ways with the half marathoners.

Mile 8: 9:12 ("hill"?)
Mile 9: 10:00 (pit stop)
Mile 10: 9:12
Mile 11: 9:23

Miles 12-16:
Definitely the most boring part, at least to me...Neighborhoods, and a long...boring...road. I kept waiting for Centennial Blvd to turn in to MKL, because I knew that meant we were almost to Autzen Stadium, and almost to the River Pathways. After what seemed like forever, we were finally there! My legs started to feel a bit tired during this stretch, but that could have been a bit due to the long boringness of it...I'm pretty sure this is when we decided to settle in to our 9:20 pace, since our bodies had already.

Mile 12: 9:25
Mile 13: 9:25
Mile 14: 9:12
Mile 15: 9:20
Mile 16: 9:20

Miles 17-21:
Although the scenery was better, all the pedestrian bridges leading to the other side of the river were dirty teases, as we had to continue on straight ahead. I was definitely getting more tired, but no more than I had expected. I was also started to feel warm, and more thirsty than the water stations were appearing. Luckily K, and our other friend M (who had just raced to a PR in her half marathon) were going to meet us at the mile 21 marker to run with us for a few miles!

Mile 17: 9:41
Mile 18: 9:39
Mile 19: 9:51
Mile 20: 9:53
Mile 21: 10:00

Miles 22-24:
K and M met us just in time. I was so thirsty, and needed a good distraction. M told us about her PR, and K told us about the other friends she'd seen out on the course. They told us how strong we looked (which I strongly doubted, as I felt anything but strong at that point...) I got my handheld and kept drinking at every aid station. Soon enough, though, our 2 miles with friends were over, and we continued on on our own.

Marathons are hard!!

Mile 24 was probably the most difficult, as we were so close, but not close enough to know the end was near. We were passing several people walking, and although I wanted to walk, I really just wanted to get it over with! And I knew I could finish if I just kept running!

Mile 22: 10:05
Mile 23: 10:05
Mile 24: 10:12

Miles 25-26.2:

Coming into the finish

When I saw the Mile 25 marker, I knew I could pick up the pace, and I knew we would be finished soon. I just kept running, and when I saw the final turn on the path, that would take us to Agate Street, through Franklin, and onto Hayward Field, I definitely picked up the pace. On we went, and then I saw the stadium, and really picked it up! It got closer and closer until it was finally there. We ran onto the track, around a curve, and booked it as best we could through the finish line!

Mile 25: 10:25
Mile 26: 9:46
Mile 26.2: 8:08 avg pace

Garmin Results: 4:10:50 (26.27 miles)

Official Results: 4:10:43 (26.2 miles)

After we crossed, we collected our race medals, and slowly/painfully made our way toward the exit to meet our friends. We were done! The legs were not working so well, though. We collected our congratulations from our friends, and slowly made our way back to the B&B to shower/change. (It took AWHILE!!) We made it out eventually and ate lunch with friends at Lucky Noodle, and then some gelato at The Sweet Life. Yum! Not walking so well:

From the back


From the front

Overall, I'm very happy with how we did. Yes, our pace dropped off, but I think we still finished strong. I think a lot of the difficulty (for me) in the last 10k or so was mental, and not knowing what to expected from myself in uncharted territory. But I think I was still able to remain strong, even during those tough times. Its kind of funny to look at our split times, compared to others running the race (check out our "rank" for our first few splits compared to the "last 10K" split, even though our pace dropped significantly, our rank improved!):

10k: 58:10 (pace: 9:22 , rank: 115)
Half (13.1 Mile): 2:02:09 (pace: 9:20 , rank: 116)
20 Mile: 3:07:41 (pace: 9:24 , rank: 105)
Last 10k: 1:03:03 (pace: 10:09 , rank: 102)

I think it was a solid first marathon, and although I'm suffering from quite a bit of soreness right now, and felt like I was suffering through most of the end of the race, I'll definitely run a marathon again (and I think J is up for it, too!) I now know I can make it the whole distance, now it's time to see how fast I can go!

Marathoners!!

27 Days + Wheatfield Half Marathon Recap

2011-04-04T18:44:00.001-07:00

until Eugene, and I am officially a terrible blogger! :) Oh well. I’ve been pretty busy with work, and you know, training for a marathon! I guess I can get a little lazy…

Since I last left you, we completed another 20-miler, which I think felt harder than the first one…Maybe it had something to do with moving the Mt Tabor loop closer to the end of the run. We got to the top and then had to keep going! Oy! My theory: If its hard, it just makes you stronger!

The following weekend, I completed my 8th half marathon in 7 months (with an additional 3 added miles to make it an even 16 mile long run) at the Wheatfield Half Marathon. I wrote a recap for the RunOregon blog about it.

It was a good event. Very small race, and only $5 pre-registered ($10 DOR). It was a bit of a drive (1.5 hours to The Dalles) but it didn’t start until 10am, so we didn’t have to wake up extra early! It was a beautiful out and back course, along wheatfields, green mossy rocks, and most of the course ran alongside a really pretty creek.

Since it was a small race, there were definitely times when J and I were running by ourselves (Good thing we enjoy each other’s company!) And we recognized a lot of people out there, and it was fun to cheer them on as they passed us on their way back to the finish line. We took the course pretty slow, since this was most of our long run. We had gotten to the race start about an hour early (score!) so we did most of our extra 3 miles prior to the race start, but when we came into the finish, we knew we had another extra mile to do.

After the race, our carpool friends took us to a few of their favorite breweries in Hood River: Double Mountain Brewery and Big Horse Brewery. Pizza and beer = delicious post-long run recovery food! :)

This past week was a recovery week, and we took our rest seriously!

Next weekend is the Vernonia Half Marathon, which will be my 9th half-marathon in 8 months. We’re going to use this is part of our last 20-miler (maybe 22-miler; we’ll see). After that…taper time! Wow, Eugene Marathon is coming up quick!!

So Busy

2011-03-07T19:46:00.001-08:00

And not just with running. We just finally had a “restful” weekend, but I still think I would have liked for it to be longer. Ah, well.

So I guess I last finished off by writing about Hagg Lake. We’ve definitely kept up the running since then, and have done some LONG runs!

Last weekend was our first ever 20-miler! And it wasn’t nearly as bad as I would have thought it would be way back when; just another progression in distance. We ran again with Coach Jim’s group, which brought us up to the top of Mount Tabor within the first 5 or so miles; not a bad way to start your first 20-miler! ;)

After Hagg Lake, those hills felt like nothing! The remainder of the run was along relatively flat neighborhoods, and we finished 18.5 miles with the group. J and I ran few more miles until we completed 20.5 total! Wow! That’s kind of a long way!

We’re planning on another two 20-milers before Eugene. And I’m thinking of just maybe making one of those 20’s a 22-miler…We’ll see.

So far, though, so good. No problems with my shins (or knees, calves, hips, or any other body parts!). I’m pretty excited about this. I think it was a good idea for me to stay away from super challenging workouts, like speedwork, in order to prevent any injuries while going into uncharted mileage territory.

Last week was another cut back week, and we finished all the pertinent miles on our schedule without difficulty, and managed to actually have a little fun, as well as a little rest over the weekend: including Sake Tasting, Wine Tasting, and dinner at Por qué no!

Next Sunday is the Shamrock Run. We’re doing the 15k + ~7 more miles for an even 16. It should be a fun time with friends, though!

55 more Days
until Eugene Marathon!!

Hagg Lake Trail 25k Recap + 10 weeks left!

2011-02-21T19:32:00.001-08:00

J and I spent last weekend out volunteering at Hagg Lake Trail (MUD!) 50k and 25k races. We spent all of Saturday volunteering at the finish line (which was also an aid station before the second loop) and then on Sunday, J volunteered at an aid station and the finish line, and I ran and volunteered at the finish line. (It was packed when I finished, and I jumped right into the same duties I did yesterday.) Volunteering was fun, and there were a lot of great runners out there this weekend. How they finished as fast as they did on those rough trail conditions just leaves me in awe!

Onto the 25k recap!

Mud. Mud. Mud. If you ever do this race, don’t let the first 8 or so miles deceive you. The last half-ish of the race is a big dirty, slippery mess. I don’t think I saw anyone finish the 50k who didn’t fall! My goal going into this race was to stay on my feet. And, as long as hand contact on the ground doesn’t count…I succeeded!!!

The first several miles entailed what I consider “average” dirt trail, much like the Wildwood Trail. This section was tough with the hills and and all, but overall not too bad. There was a section of washed out trail where you have to get through some mud. I didn’t mind since I knew what was to come. But others tried their best to get around it. I didn’t feel like hurting myself trying to do that, so through the mud I went!

I saw J at the aid station about 6 miles in, and quickly moved on after refilling my water bottle. A few more miles later, the muddiness began, and didn’t end until we crossed the finish line.

First up was the slick mud. Easy goes it with shuffling and trying to stay on my feet. This is where I pulled, what I refer to as a Spiderman pose. One foot out to the side and both hands on the ground. But I was still on my feet! This continued on for miles, with slick up hills, slick down hills, and slick flats. There were a few breaks in dry dirt and on the road, but the slipping really takes a toll on your legs.

I was counting down the miles, hoping for some glimpse of the finish as my legs were begging me to stop! And then I saw the boat ramp at the parking lot, and knew it was only a small bit of trail afterward to the finish line! But first, holy boggy mud!!! Mud up to mid-calf. This section went on longer than I expected it seemed like it could, and when I finished I only had to slug my 5-lbs blocks of shoes a little ways farther to the finish line.

3:14:13 – later, and the finish line was packed, and I could tell all the volunteers were scrambling to get things done, so I jumped in and started helping out. Which probably explains the extreme soreness I’m grappling with today! Ouch!Not the best picture of the mud, but pretty much knees and below = mud.

On the marathon training front, we are about 10 weeks away from the Eugene Marathon and everything is going well so far. I’ve decided against doing any speed training at least this go around because I want to avoid any injuries as we up our mileage. So far so good! Next weekend is our first 20-miler!! And it doesn’t seem nearly as daunting as it once did! I’m actually kinda looking forward to it! :)

Lazy Blogger

2011-02-07T19:00:00.001-08:00

Not much new to report.

We’ve kept up our training for the Eugene Marathon. Since we started our training, I’ve felt a little tenderness in the shin area, and since last week was a cut back week, I took it seriously and ran a total of 2 times, and made sure to massage and ice my shins as much as I could! They have definitely felt better the last few runs, so I think I made a good choice. When cutting back like that, it’s hard not to feel lazy, but I just had to keep telling myself: “It’s better to take a few lazy days now, than a few lazy months later!” And truthfully, my goal for this (my first) full marathon is just to finish! And I can’t finish if I injure myself during training!

So I don’t have anything too exciting to post. January was my highest mileage month ever, about 0.4 miles more than my only other month over 100 miles. Not too shabby. I’m expecting the next few months to be even higher; I just hope my shins hold out for me!

The weekend before last, we finished a 15-miler for our long run, our longest consecutive run ever. It felt pretty good, too, except for the last 0.5-0.75 miles. That’s when our legs started to feel heavy, but I expect that’s probably going to happen as we continue to increase our mileage; it’s kinda far to run!

We have 16 miles planned for next weekend, plus I have to work Saturday. I predict I will be tired next week! Oh the joys of marathon training!

Cascade Half Marathon Race Recap + Week 1 of Marathon Training

2011-01-17T17:07:00.001-08:00

When I initially signed up for this race, I thought that it looked like a nice flat course for a PR. Then the Holidays/Vacation came and went without much running, and I decided that I would just run it for “fun” and hope to finish! At some point I though I might try to break 2 hours, but I have been feeling pretty sluggish lately, and really just wanted to finish!

The weather wasn’t too terrific for the drive down to Turner, but the temperature reading seemed fairly warm for January. And it would have felt warm, too, if it weren’t for the driving rain! Oh well.

This race is a fundraiser for the Cascade High School Cross Country and Track and Field Teams, so the start and finish are located on school grounds. We made our way to the school gym to pick up our packets. Packet-pickup was a breeze, and we had plenty of time to kill before the start of the race at 9am. We wandered around the indoor school areas to get the lay of the land, including the cafeteria (which served warm soup after the race) and the locker rooms (which would allow us to take “warm” showers after the race.)

Now, my bib number was 909. As in the pace needed to break 2 hours. (Yes, I knew that off the top of my head.) This is when I started to think I might just break 2 hours after all…

Soon enough, it was time to head outside into the driving rain. But we didn’t have to wait too long. Finally, we were on our way!

The course takes place on flat country roads, taking several turns here and there as you weave through farms, cows and horses. A flat and fast course for sure, except for that darn sideways rain! As we made each turn, it was fun to discover which way the rain would be hitting you this time! It didn’t take long before we were all drenched, but we’re Oregon runners, and so, we continued on.

I was hoping to settle in to my “fun” pace right from the beginning, unfortunately I fell right into PR pace. Oops! So, I tried to fall back a bit, but it was hard to do with all the people surrounding me. I finally found a reasonable pace…for about 2 miles, until the leaders started passing us on their way back to the finish. So I picked it up again, and before I knew it, we were at the turn-around with several boisterous spectators, which definitely pushed me on.

When I saw the time on the clock at the turn-around, I figured I might as well continue on with my current pace! And so we wove back over familiar territory, counting down the miles left until the finish. Each time we turned a corner, I kept a lookout for the school, hoping I could dry off soon. Finally, there it was! So I picked up the pace for the last 1.1 miles, and pushed through the finish line.

Just for fun, here are my splits from the race (along with my thoughts at the time):
Mile 1: 8:23 (Oops! Way too fast.)
Mile 2: 8:46 (Better, but still too fast.)
Mile 3: 9:11 (Better, I could probably keep this going.)
Mile 4: 9:28 (That's more like it.)
Mile 5: 9:20 (Still comfortable.)
Mile 6: 8:52 (Look at those people coming back this way; they're fast!)
Mile 7: 8:56 (Ok, under 1 hour at the 1/2-way point, I should just go for it.)
Mile 8: 8:43 (Not sure I need to go this fast...)
Mile 9: 8:34 (Or this fast...)
Mile 10: 8:33 (Well, I'm nearly there now...)
Mile 11: 8:43 (A little tougher here.)
Mile 12: 8:29 (Almost there)
Mile 13: 8:12 (Push against that headwind! Push!!)
Mile 13.1: 1:23 (7:26 avg pace) (I just want to be dry again!)

Official Time: 1:55:32 (8:50 avg pace) My second fast half ever!

So much for the “fun” run I had planned! I was tired, but not as tired as I had been after EWEB. My competitive spirit definitely got the best of me! I collected my finisher’s medal, grabbed my dry clothes from J, then made my way to the locker room to get cleaned up. It was definitely nice to change into some warm/dry clothes!

It was a great end to a decent week of Marathon training. I got all my runs in, and finished the week with 28.7 miles. Not too shabby! I might have less mileage during this upcoming week, but that’s probably ok! :)

So far I have completed 5 months of 1 half-marathon/month for 1 year! AND, since I completed 6 half marathon within 5 months, I now have 2 moons as a Half Fanatic! Yay!

Until next time!

Sneaky Sneaky

2011-01-10T21:39:00.001-08:00

Well, Marathon training kinda, maybe, somewhat caught me off guard. We got lazy over winter break, and now it's time to jump right in! Whoa!

Luckily, we managed to squeeze in 22 miles last week, and we have 26 miles on the schedule for next week. I think we'll be ok, but going into my long run on Sunday, I was starting to worry about my half coming up next Sunday. But it looks like I'll be ok. I'm definitely not in "racing" shape, but I know I can complete the whole thing! Phew!

Also…I may have done a crazy thing. I'm a Half Fanatic, and noticed some of my Fanatic friends on Facebook were signing up for a few races on July 4th weekend. Three to be exact. So I signed up! For three half marathons in three days! Eep!

Actually, I'm kind of excited. I think it's going to be difficult, and definitely a challenge, but I really think I can do it! And when do you get the chance to run 3 halves in 3 days? A fellow Fanatic (and Maniac) is putting on the 2 weekend marathons/half marathons, and the 3rd one is the Foot Traffic Flat Marathon/Half Marathon. It's being billed as the Firecracker Triple, and you can find more information here. The 2 weekend races are capped at 100 participants each, and they will definitely fill soon! (Clearly, you can also do a triple of marathons, but c'mon now, that's just crazy :P)

Marathon training officially begins this week, so I guess it's time to get serious. My legs are starting to remember what running is, just in the nick of time!

Hopefully I'll have something fun to report next weekend!

Running Goals for 2011

2011-01-01T14:30:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone had a good time ringing in the new year. J and I hosted our own party, and had a lot of fun with friends and games. I haven’t run since Monday, and thus can officially say I ran 801.5 miles total in 2010. Not too shabby, but I want to think bigger next year, especially with marathon training officially starting on the 10th. Eek! :)

I made a few goals for 2011. I think they are realistic, and will give me something to work for. But I won’t hesitate to adjust them as necessary throughout the year, and hey, maybe add a few more! You never know!

1. Run 1200 miles in 2011. As I stated above, I ran 801.5 miles in 2010, my first full year of running. I know I can run more than that now, and I know we’ll be training for a marathon, and thus should definitely get more miles in.

2. Complete a Marathon. Currently planned as the Eugene Marathon! I’ll reassess whether I would like to run another one after I complete the first one. Best not to get ahead of myself, right?!

3. PR in the half marathon (and probably the 5k and 10k, and definitely the marathon…automatic PR!)

4. Complete running 1 half marathon every month to complete a full year (August being the last). I started in September 2010, so I am on my way!

I’ve added a 2011 Race Calendar to the sidebar (and moved the 2010 calendar to the “Races” tab). I’ll keep updating it when I “officially” confirm my plans for races. Until then, happy planning for 2011!

Recap of my first year of running

2010-12-28T14:41:00.001-08:00

I’m fairly certain 1-year-ago-Marya would not believe what current-Marya has accomplished this year. Several 5k’s, 10k’s, and SIX half-marathons! As of a few days before New Years, I have run 801.5 miles, and will probably add a few more on before rolling over into the new year.

Overall, I think it was a successful year! And I can’t wait to see what next year holds…including the Eugene Marathon! Here’s a run down of the past year:

January:
We ran our first running race, the First Run 5k at the strike of midnight. What a great way to ring in a great year of running! We finished in 29:16, and were ecstatic to finish under 30 minutes. Our times have improved, and we’ve certainly run further, but it was our first great running accomplishment, and I’m still proud of it!

Unfortunately, while I was finishing the Couch to 5k plan, I got a little too goal-oriented and injured myself. Too much running for my legs coupled with the wrong running shoes = injury in the form of shin splints and I was sidelined much of the rest of this month.

After purchasing some new shoes, I thought I had been magically cured, and attempted my first 1 mile race, the Be The Change Mile (pictures can be found here). I finished in about 9-ish minutes, but I'm fairly certain I can finish faster than that now… Looks like I need to find another miler to race!

The rest of the month was full of cross-training in the form of hiking and recumbent biking. Blah. I continued my shin splint self-care, and hoped February would be better.

February:
I continued my road back to recovery, with more hiking and more self-care, and I eventually got back on my feet. It was a slow, hesitant recovery, but I ended the month running nearly 3 miles, relatively pain free! And that’s all I could ask at that point.

March:
I continued my recovery this month, and made my triumphant return at the Shamrock Run, with a new 5k PR: 27:40! We also signed up for 2 races: Bridge to Brews 10k and the Helvetia Half Marathon! I must have been feeling better; I was getting ambitious!

In preparation for half marathon training, we completed our first “long” runs of 4 and 5 miles! Hey that was a big step back then! :)

We also did our first volunteer gig at the end of the month, at the Fort Vancouver Race, and we made a very important running friend!

April:
This marked our first opportunity to run on vacation, down in sunny so-cal! It was hot and I contracted allergies, which impacted my running for the rest of the week after I got home, but I still ran a successful 6 miler!

I eventually was able to breathe again, and was able to celebrate J and my one year anniversary, with our first 10k! (pictures can be viewed here) We finished in 56:07, good enough for a PR (you know, since it was our first one! :)

We finished out the month by volunteering again with friends at the Earth Day Races, and attempting a 7-miler on a difficult trail, on full stomachs, and trying Gu for the first time, and ultimately failing by completing only 5.3 miles. Oh well…

May:
We started the month with something new and fresh. Our first track workout! Later that week, I “ran” an almost-5k with my Girls on the Run buddy…Oy.

Our follow-up week included a second trip to sunny so-cal, where we failed on yet another long run, but came back the next day to complete 8 flat miles for the first time ever!

We completed our first “Tempo” workout the next week, and took part in our first of many First Thursday Runs. We finished out this very successful week with a 10-miler on Leif Erickson!

We followed up this “best week of training ever” with a very poor showing with a too-fast track workout and a terribly disappointing long run on the Banks-Vernonia trail.

We made up for it the next week with a passable 12-miler, and J totally smoked a 5k race, getting first in his age-group, and setting a new PR in 21:34! Holy smokes fasty! This also marked our 3rd volunteer gig, at the Rum Run. Overall, we completed this peak week with 26 miles, and were quickly closing in on our first half marathon!

The last week of May was devoted to tapering, and our long run was only 9 miles! Totally easy after a 12-miler! Only 1 more week until Helvetia!

June:
I started out the month with the Starlight Run with Girls on the Run…it only took us 55 minutes to complete the 5k, but hey, we beat the bus! :\

In preparation for our race, we adopted a new kitten. Hey, why not? But soon enough, it was time to get ourselves to the start line, and do this thing!

And then we did it. We completed our very first half marathon! I was slightly disappointed just after the finish, since we were so close to breaking 2 hours…but in retrospect, I think 2:01:46 is pretty respectable for our first 13.1 miles! I learned some lessons that I was able to take into my next goal race, about aid stations and fueling, as well as confidence that I could complete the distance! It was so great to complete that first half, and I think it gave me a bit of a bug for the distance, as we will see later in this recap.

After the race, I continued on with my new addiction, yoga. The week after the race was devoted to yoga only, 3 yoga classes in the first week, and I became more familiar with the types of yoga that suit me best.

We finished up a great month with the Epic Oregon Relay. It was a great fun time with running friends, and I can’t wait to do another one of these relays, maybe next summer. I still had a great time even after biting it on my last leg. I think you look pretty bad-ass with blood streaming down your leg as you cross the finish line!

July:
This month started the theme of running for fun and continuing with yoga. With no real “race” planned, we just ran/yoga’d when we wanted to, and it was really fun!

I started the month out by taking part in my friend’s Sleepover Marathon. I honorably completed my “half” as my friends struggled to complete 15-17 miles. It was a very hard endeavor; much harder than we had anticipated, but it was still fun to be with friends. We also volunteered at an aid station for the Flat Half/Full Marathon; fun with cowbell!

I continued on with fun running, finding new routes, and even getting lost sometimes. Then we decided to finally “race” again at the Bowerman AC 5k, where I got a new 5k PR (24:25) in the heat! (85° is hot to me) and got to meet Kara Goucher! Overall, a very fun month!

August:
We continued on the with the running theme of “fun”: First Thursdays, volunteering, track, all while still continuing with yoga.

And then I did it; I made plans! Well, first of all, we officially joined the Red Lizard Running Club. We’d been running with their group for awhile, so it seemed only right to make it official. And as for plans, I signed up for several half marathons, including a “goal” race for November: EWEB’s Run to Stay Warm…Soon enough I would be “training”, although I didn’t really end up following a “plan” as I did previously!

September:
I started out September by running a half marathon for fun (old Marya would say, “HUH?!”) The inaugural Oregon Wine Country Half Marathon. It was a fun time, except for that few miles of gravel…

Next up, a 10k race, and a new PR (49:47) at the Pints to Pasta 10k race. I left my old PR in the dust! Woot!

Continuing on with the shorter and shorter races, the next weekend I raced the Oktoberfest 5k, and ran yet another PR (23:28). Guess I got a bit faster than the beginning of the year!

We finished the month with a wedding, and just kept running!

October:
3 race reports, none actually “raced”.

First up: Fall Finale 5k, pacing a 30 min 5k. It was fun preparation for the next weekend’s activities, and I won free shoes! Not bad!

Next: Portland Marathon Pacing. So. Much. Fun. I ran 17 miles total with my pace group, and it was fun to see who was still with the group after a bit of a break at the aid station. I definitely want to do this again next year!

Finally: Nike Women’s Half Marathon + San Francisco Vacay. What a great way to sightsee, first walking around with J, then running a half marathon with thousands of my closest friends! I don’t think I would ever want to “race” a destination marathon, but we’ll see!

November:
The month of my new half PR. It started with a trail half marathon, our first ever race on a trail. Super difficult, but really fun! The perfect adventure for a camera! I got a lot of great pictures out of it.

I finished my last week before the race with lots of trail running. Excuse me. Lots of muddy trail runs. Super fun and super dirty. It’s what fall is all about!

And then it came, the race I've been running toward the last few months. I didn’t really stick to a “training plan”, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t train. I did track and long runs, plus other “easy” mileage throughout the week. I got my miles in, but I was still nervous! And then I ran what felt like a perfect race. Pretty even splits throughout, it wasn’t tough until the end, and I finished with a smile on my face; completely satisfied. A new PR of: 1:48:49; I’ll take it!

After this run, I officially became Half Fanatic #652, and fessed up to signing up for our first full marathon!

I also took it easy, but still managed a turkey trot, and paced a 30 minute 5k again. This race was packed, though, and I’m not sure too many people knew we were there. We still managed to get one kid across under 30 minutes, and he was definitely proud!

December:
Lastly, we have the Holiday Half; another fun run with friends. We got a great cowbell/finishers medal at the end, and I’m sure I’ll be able to use it to cheer on fellow runners at some point!

I’ve got some plans lined up for next year, but I need to get things somewhat more finalized. I’ll try to get a plan/goals post after the new year. Until then! Have a Safe & Happy New Years!

Holiday Half Run Report + Weekly Recap

2010-12-13T20:03:00.001-08:00

Another weekend, another half marathon! ;) But first, recap of the week:

Monday:
Day Off

Tuesday:
Back to Track
This week’s workout:

1 x 600 @ 2:48 (200 recovery)
1 x 800 @ 3:44 (200 recovery)
2 x 1000 @ 4:41 (400 recovery)
1 x 800 @ 3:44 (200 recovery)
1 x 600 @ 2:48

Here’s how it broke down:

600 @ 2:37 (a little speedy)
800 @ 3:37 (a little less speedy)
1000 @ 4:41 (dead on)
1000 @ 4:44 (oops)
800 @ 3:44 (dead on)
600 @ 2:42 (strong finish!)

It was a good, dark workout. Nice to run fast again. I was afraid that I forgot how! It was my first track workout in (probably) over a month; before my Achilles started to bother me. No pain afterward (well maybe a little sore…)

Wednesday:
Fulton Pub Run
5.22 miles (9:16 min/mi)
A tad bit speedy, but it felt pretty good. Nice run with friends, and trivia afterward! Good times!

Thursday:
3.1 miles (un-timed run, with a story)
We had a bit of rain just before rush hour, which caused traffic to be horrendous. Literally the second worst commute of all time, right behind the time it snowed right at evening rush hour. That night it took me 4 hours to drive 12 miles….yeah, it was awful!

To be fair, it only took me 1.5 hours to drive 10 miles (to NW Portland) where I was supposed to be taking part in Fit Right NW Light Up the Night Holiday Fun Run. When I finally arrived, everyone was just finishing up their 5k run, and I was so upset (I absolutely hate traffic, like it tops the list of everything I hate in the world…) so I decided to do my own 5k. I had no Garmin, no plan, and no watch, so I just took off. I know I was running fast, but I didn’t care, I just needed to run.

I looped down to the Pearl District and made my way back. I got a side cramp from running so fast unprepared, and had to walk just a bit. Now, while I was driving, there was hardly any rain, and the other runners had a fairly dry run. As I was walking, it started pouring, and I was so happy. It felt good, and I felt so much better finishing my run by getting drenched!

I arrived back to the store, drenched to the bone, the raffle long past completed. Luckily, J had won me a nice reflecty beanie, and saved me a beer. I don’t even know what kind it was!

Moral of the story: Best. Run. Ever!

Friday/Saturday: rest days

Sunday:
Holiday Half Run Recap
13.1 miles: 2:19.04 (10:37 avg pace)
Pretty good run for an inaugural event! The starting/finishing area was located at Adidas Headquarters, and there were a good group of people there when we arrived at 7:30am. We picked up our race bibs and shirts, then went to find the bathroom…line. Oy! What a line. We didn’t stick around for long, since we didn’t have to go too bad, and weren’t too worried about waiting in a shorter line along the race course. There were 3 porta-potties in the parking lot, and another few at the starting line. Needless to say, not enough potties for 1500 runners. I heard it took 30 minutes to get to the front of the line! Wow!

The race started just about right on time, and we all funneled through the starting line. We started on a bit of an incline, then wove through some neighborhoods surrounding the Adidas campus. I would definitely prefer to weave for extra mileage at the start of the race versus the end! As we wove back to Greeley, we continued on to Willamette Blvd. There are some nice houses that line this road. The Willamette River was towards our left side, just on the other side of an industrial area below the bluff we were on. What I remember most about this part? THE WIND!!! You had to fight to stay upright! I was certainly happy it wasn’t raining, as I thought it might be. I can handle the wind, as long as we don’t have sharp rain hitting us sideways, as well.

Eventually we passed by the St John’s Bridge, and ran through a few more neighborhoods, and turned around at about Mile 7.5. We looped back around the neighborhood we just traversed, and made our way back past the St. John’s Bridge. Soon enough, we were back on Willamette Blvd, honing in on the finish. We turned the last corner to a nice downhill through the finish line. After we finished, we received our finisher’s medal (a cow bell! for real!) I can foresee using this medal in the future for spectating. Very cool! It was also awesome that those who had already finished, and were walking back towards the race could use them to cheer on the rest of us runners!

All in all, a pretty good race. We spoke to the race director at the end, who knew about the bathroom situation, and also knew that many of the carolers that were supposed to be along the course didn’t show up. Oops! I was a bit disappointed that there were not as many carolers along the way, but I was really having too much fun to notice they were missing until the end!

I wore my Half Fanatics shirt for the first time during this race, and got a few cheers along the way because of it. I also got to meet a few fanatics at the after party, which was fun!

K and I before the race: Race swag:

One half marathon a month for a year:
So, since September, I’ve managed to run at least 1 half marathon each month, and I want to keep this streak going for 12 months. So far I have the Cascade Half Marathon in January, and the Hagg Lake 25k in February. I’m keeping my eye out for more each month through August! If you have any “must-do” halves, let me know, and I’ll see if I can squeeze them in!

Taking it easy

2010-12-05T09:47:00.001-08:00

My legs have been a bit tired since the race, which is to be expected, so I’ve been trying to take it a bit easy. But I’ve still gotten out for a few runs!

Thanksgiving Day:
Give N’ Gobble 5k
My friend K and I dusted off our fancy pacing skirts to pace another 30 minute 5k. A lot of people showed up to this race, and I’m not sure too many of the surrounding people knew what we were up to, but we tried to grab a few people in the last couple of miles so they could reach their goal. We even had one kid thank us at the end for pushing him through the finish! Very fun and rewarding!

I was a little nervous going into this “race” since my legs were still a little fatigued (especially noticeable the previous day for my first post-race run). But they actually felt a lot better on this day. Maybe it was the “race” atmosphere that helped! All around it was a good time! Instead of a Turkey Dinner later that day, we had pizza! Mmm!

Post-Thanksgiving Weekend:
Hot Buttered Run Volunteering (Bag Check!)
Although I didn’t run this race, I had a great time volunteering, and it looked like all those out there actually participating had a great time too. There was a 5k and a 12k, and everyone (of legal drinking age) got delicious Hot Buttered Rum at the end (hence the name). Before or after the race you could enjoy the Festival of Trees in the Pearson Air Museum. Overall, a great festive event!

Last week:
I ran a few times this week, and even did a long run yesterday. Group run from Lululemon! My legs were pretty tired the whole way through, but I made it, and feel fine today!

After the run, J and I attended the Holiday Ale Festival during the Civil War game (in order to avoid the crowd.) Good planning! My favorite of the day (got 3 tasters of it, it was so delicious!):
Hopworks Brewery Kentucky Christmas!!

Next week:
Next weekend my friend K and I will be running (for fun) the Holiday Half. It looks like a really festive fun time! (Carolers!) Until then!

EWEB’s Run to Stay Warm Half Marathon Race Report

2010-11-21T15:46:00.001-08:00

Freezing temps, wind, and rain. The weather forecasters could not have been more wrong! It turned out to be a beautiful, clear, sunny day! I was getting pretty nervous in the days leading up to my first goal race in a long time; I was really just hoping there wouldn’t be any ice or snow to slip me up! But I couldn’t have hoped for the weather to be any better than it was!

The race didn’t start until 9am. And, since we drove down the night before, that meant we got to “sleep in”! (Anything past 6am is sleeping in to me!) I ate some of a cinnamon roll (since the oatmeal included in the continental breakfast was inedible) and started feeling a bit nervous.

We got to the packet pickup area at a little after 8am, and waited in a brief line. The pickup was inside a heated building, which was nice, but the room was a bit small for all that was going on, and I think with the large turnout, it got a bit jumbled up in there. No worries, though. I got my bib number, picked up my chip, and stayed inside to be warm. Half an hour before the start time, I used the (real) facilities, and just counted down until it was start time. Soon enough, it was time to line up, so all the half-marathoners headed out to the start line.

The race started right on time, and there was plenty of room at the start for everyone to spread out. After we finished weaving through EWEB’s River Edge Plaza, we found ourselves on the bike paths that would make up most of the race course.

Just after the start (I’m in the green shirt!):

About a mile into the race, we crossed over the Willamette River for the first time, and went around a bit of an extra loop on the North side of the river. We came back around toward our initial river crossing near Mile 4, where we met up with the 10k and 5k’ers. At first, I thought this would throw me off my race, but it was actually a bit of a mental boost. Up until this point, I felt like there were a lot of people passing me (although I would eventually see many of them later), but it was pretty empowering to be able to pass people running a shorter race than me. It definitely made me feel fast.

I went into the race wanting to hold an 8:30 min/mi pace, but I definitely started out faster than that. I was just hoping I wouldn’t pay for it later.

Mile 1: 8:02
Mile 2: 8:20
Mile 3: 8:15
Mile 4: 8:31

My friend K was nice enough to jump in with me from Mile 4 to Mile 7, to keep me company, and make sure I was feeling good. I was definitely feeling good, and able to keep a little bit of a conversation up at this point. Everything felt nice and smooth, and really pretty easy! J cheered me on from Mile 4 and Mile 7 (he was helping drive K around, and also there to cheer me on!) so I had him grab my gloves and hat since it had warmed up so much!

Meeting K and J:

Running with K, still feeling good:

Mile 5: 8:33
Mile 6: 8:21
Mile 7: 8:16
Mile 8: 8:04

About a mile after K took off to meet me on the other side of the river, things started to feel not quite as easy. Mile 8 is also where we had about a 0.4 mile out-and-back, which felt a bit discouraging, but after we made it through that, we crossed the Mile 9 marker, and crossed over the river for the final stretch.

Mile 9 wove through some neighborhoods, but soon enough we found ourselves back onto the bike path system. Mile 10 is when it really started to get hard. I told myself “Only 5k to go!”, but really, 5k seemed like an awfully far way to go! I told myself just to keep going. Although I was feeling tired, I still sped up a bit during this section, which may be because I was passing a few familiar faces.

Mile 9: 8:09
Mile 10: 8:01
MIle 11: 7:54

I think my friend K and J saw me during Mile 11, so maybe that’s why it was so quick? But I know I saw K again about halfway into Mile 12. She ran with me to the finish, and I’m so glad she did. I was struggling, and mentally I just wanted to slow down a bit, but K kept me focused on my breathing and on keeping a smooth, even pace. I stayed strong, and the time just kept clicking away. Soon enough, K told me to charge ahead, so I did! One final turn and I could see the finish line. I totally didn’t catch up with the 2 girls in front of me, but that’s ok. My legs definitely gave all they had. Finally I crossed, with a smoking new PR!

Getting really tired! Can you tell?:

Me and J at the finish area:

Mile 12: 8:12
MIle 13: 8:13
Mile 13.1: 1:54 (6:48 avg pace)

Garmin Results:
13.28 miles: 1:48:44 (8:11 avg pace)

Official Results:
13.1 miles: 1:48:49 (8:19 avg pace)
Age Group: 6/44
Overall: 139/462

(Apparently, my chip didn’t work. But I’m not too worried about it. I was only a few seconds behind the start line, and those few seconds didn’t put me over into the next minute! ;)

I’m really proud of myself for this race. I ran it smartly, and really think I gave it everything I had in the moment. It was a great day to race a half marathon, and I definitely killed my time from Helvetia! Part of that is because the course was pretty flat, part of that is because I’ve learned to run smarter, and part of that is because I’m faster.

It was a great race, with a good course and good organization. And It was for a great cause! (From the website: “All proceeds benefit EWEB's Customer Care Program to help income-eligible customers who are having difficulty paying their utility bills.”) It was also a pretty great preview of a good portion of the Eugene Marathon! (Which J and I may ~~or may not~~ have signed up for…)

Since this was my 2nd half in 15 days (and also my 3rd or 4th within 90 days), I qualified to become a member of the Half Fanatics. Say hello to Fanatic #652! :)

I want to continue running half’s (hopefully 1/month for a year, if I can handle it in my schedule!) I really like them, and not all of them need to be races! :) We’ll see how I do!

In the meantime, it’s again time to run for fun! My next half is the Holiday Half on 12/12! And I have a turkey trot on Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Trails, trails, trails.

2010-11-15T22:15:00.001-08:00

One more week to go until the Run to Stay Warm (aka My Goal Race)! I’m feeling fairly strong, now, even after my two week cut back for Achilles issues. I haven’t had any further Achilles issues (*fingers crossed!*)

The past week has been chock full of trail runs. Trails are NOT easy.

I had Thursday off (Veteran’s Day) and made good use of the free time with some friends up in Forest Park. We ran an 8 mile out-and-back starting at the zoo along the Wildwood Trail. Can you say switchbacky hills!? We made it up to Pittock Mansion before heading back downhill again. I was definitely breathing heavy as we made our way up to the top. The trails, on this day, weren’t too muddy, but there were definite patches of mud. The rain didn’t end up starting until later that day!

Saturday morning, I made my way back up to Forest Park for a 12-miler. This time I started at Lower Macleay Park, before making my way onto the Wildwood Trail (it’s a long one!) and running along the trail from about the Mile 5.5 sign to the 10.5 sign. There was a pretty gnarly uphill section to start with, and then a gentle climb for most of the first half. (I planned it that way! ;) I wove through a new stretch of the Wildwood I haven’t been through before, and it was beautiful. There were a lot of other runners out there with me, and I’m pretty sure I spotted Zach (Jen’s husband). As I was running along, I passed by a parking area that I knew I’d like to remember so I could use it on a later trip (and I did!)

After the turn around, there were a lot of gentle (and not so gentle) down hill sections. The trail was pretty muddy from the rain over the previous few days, but it wasn’t too bad with my trail shoes. I was feeling pretty good, and proud that I hadn’t yet tripped or slipped in the mud. And then it happened. I had slowed a bit for a small uphill section, and noticed some girls running up ahead of me, going in the opposite direction. I knew I needed to get a snot rocket out of the way before they passed, and in the brief time it took me to turn my head in preparation for said rocket, my foot hit a root (probably) and I hit my entire front side (well mostly the right - front) into a big pile of mud.

Things I am thankful for: 1) I had slowed down in preparation for the snot rocket, 2) I was going uphill and the fall was pretty short, 3) I fell on a muddy section versus a rocky/hard section. Of course, the girls in front of me saw everything, but they didn’t make too big of a deal out of it. They joked that they were waiting for the same thing to happen to them. I popped up just about as quickly as I had fallen down, and I was soon back up on my feet and running again. My hip was a bit sore afterward, but I only had about 2 miles to go, so no biggie. I have a bit of a lingering bruise, but overall, not too bad. I have to say, falling on top of mud is actually kinda fun. And makes you look pretty badass! :) I had J take a picture of my muddy legs after the run. I’m sure they were pretty muddy before the fall, but afterward, I was getting funny looks from hikers.

I had tentatively planned a run for Sunday, but scrapped it since I was pretty tired after Saturday’s run, and I had already gotten a good amount of mileage in for the week (over 30!)

So I moved my third (and final until after RTSW) trail run in Forest Park to Monday. I found the parking area I scoped out on Saturday’s run, and decided to keep going along Wildwood for some new scenery. This run was a bit tougher than the previous two. Trail running is definitely more difficult than road running. But my legs warmed up eventually. I made my way along the trail until I hit a crossing, and mistakenly took the wrong trail. Overall, I think the trails in Forest Park are very well marked, but I didn’t see the correct continuation for this crossing. I ran almost a mile on the wrong trail, before deciding I was going the wrong way. I eventually found the right way, but it took me down a rather wicked downhill section, which I knew didn’t bode well for the return trip. I was definitely breathing heavy on the way back, but eventually the trail evened out, and I finished with a pretty good pace (especially for on the trail). I ended up with 6 miles; that’s 26 miles total for the weekend trail runs! :)

After today’s run, I went to a Thai Massage that I had won many months ago. It was a free 90-minute massage that I had finally found the time to book and go to. Wowzers, it felt good but painful, especially my calves. I should probably get those babies massaged more often. I know how knotty they get, and if I have any pain with running, it’s usually due to them being too tight.

I’m going to take it easy the rest of the week, and rest up for my race on Saturday. I’m not nervous yet, but I know I will be in the coming week. It has been awhile since I've actually “raced” a race, but I’m definitely looking forward to it!

Silver Falls Trail Half Marathon “Race” Recap

2010-11-07T20:27:00.001-08:00

Well, I haven’t blogged in awhile. I stopped for a bit when I was taking it easy due to some Achilles soreness, but I seem to be on the mend, and bouncing back ok. I got my mileage up to almost where it should be, and completed a really tough half marathon course on Saturday! (Recap coming soon!)

There’s only 2 weeks left until my “goal” race, the EWEB Run to Stay Warm, and I’m feeling pretty good about it at this point. I’m not sure it’s going to be as fast as I had initially hoped, what with my 2 weeks of recovery (stupid Achilles!) but I do think I have a pretty good shot at a PR!!

On to the race report:

This was an inaugural race, and as soon as I heard about it, I knew I wanted to sign up. With only 400 spots, I had a good feeling it would fill up fast, so I signed up within 24 hours of “thinking” about it. (That may be why I ended up with number 15! :)

What made me so excited about this course? I love Fall, I love waterfalls, and I love trees! And this had everything. The pictures I’d seen of Silver Falls were amazing, and I really wanted to be a part of it. Well, this race did not disappoint!

When I signed up for the race, I knew I wanted to use it as a “training run” rather than a “race”. When I saw the elevation chart, I knew I wouldn’t be going too fast… I still knew it would be perfect for a scenic jaunt through the forest with my camera. We carpooled down to the race with some friends, which was a great idea because it was a long drive. We got there with plenty of time to spare, hit up the restrooms, and picked up our packets. While waiting for our packets, we ran into Jen! and Zach Hi! After getting our packets, we went back to the car to keep warm before the start. Soon enough, though, it was time to line up, and off we went.

The first mile or so was on a wide paved section, which I’m sure allowed those out there racing to find their groove before hitting the trail section that followed. Soon enough, we were making our way through the trees and enjoying the fall scenery!

I’m so glad I recently got my hands on some trail shoes. They really do make trail running a little more enjoyable. I was definitely more comfortable climbing through mud and rocks! I don’t like slipping! There was one section that the line of runners in front of us stopped at. It was a short steep muddy decline, and without my trail shoes, I would have had to have J help me get down it, but with them, I felt a little more confident. (I’m a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to steep down hills, especially on trails, and especially when I’m running!)

Overall, the first few miles were relatively flat, and we were just soaking in the environment. We were in a relatively large group of people at this point, but it would clear up soon enough. Eventually, we made our way to the hills. But with the hills, came the beautiful waterfalls! Miles 6-8 were mostly downhill, and were followed by some nasty uphill, including a large amount of stairs! “House of Pain” was written at the bottom. I think that sums it up! I was feeling pretty good until about mile 9. A little sore, but I expected it since trail running is definitely a challenge, but this course was really challenging! It seemed the hills might just be over at Mile 12, when we could hear the cheers at the finish. But alas, the worst hill of them all was still to come. We walked that guy, and the subsequent downhill (holy steepness!) Although I had trail shoes, I have a huge fear of tripping and falling to my death. I probably just need to get out there and practice a bit, but with how heavy my legs were feeling, it was probably a safe choice to take it easy.

Soon enough, the downhill was over, and a few turns later, we were crossing the finish line! It wasn’t a PW (that still belongs to Nike Women’s Half :), but I like to think of it as a trail half marathon PR! Road races and trail races are definitely different beasts, after all!

Although this was a super challenging course, it was a lot of fun. We ran by 10 waterfalls, and behind 3 of the larger ones. Nothing beats running behind waterfalls! It was a beautiful course, and definitely worth all the soreness I had the rest of the day! (And maybe a little bit the next day…) The race was well organized, and the course was marked amazingly well; I never once wondered about a turn. There was no getting lost out there!

I would definitely recommend this race to anyone, and to get you excited, here’s some pictures I took while I was out there:

One of the many waterfalls:

The stairs we got to go DOWN:

Runner’s about to run behind a waterfall:

Leaves on the trail:

J and I in front of a waterfall:

“The House of Pain”:

Me behind one of the waterfalls:

2 more weeks until it’s actually “racing” time! :)

Nike Women’s Half Marathon Race Report

2010-10-19T21:43:00.001-07:00

After the awesomeness that was pacing the Portland Marathon last weekend, I was pretty excited about running. I had last Monday (aka the day after the marathon) off and needed to pick up my allergy meds at the pharmacy. I didn’t want to drive or take the streetcar, and I figured, “I’m just gonna run. It’s pretty close!” I got there, no problem, picked up my meds, and started making my way home. That’s when both my Achilles started to hurt. ARGH!! And they proceeded to hurt the rest of the week. I decided to hold off all running until Sunday (aka the day of the next race) and hope for the best. So, I was pretty nervous going into the race.

J and I drove down to the Bay Area on Friday. There, we met up with Alisa, and spent the night at her Father’s house. Saturday morning, we made our way to a BART station, and rode on into the city. Our hotel was just outside the station, and right near Union Square (aka the site of the Expo and Race Start). We checked into the hotel, and made our way down to the Expo.

The “Expotique”:
We managed to make it to the Expo before the crowds got too out of control. (An hour later, the line went around the block. We made our way through each station, got our bibs, corral bands, and then split up. While the girls went shopping, I took J out to see the sights, since he’d never really been to SF before. But first, we meandered over to Nike Town, and I found my name on the “wall”.

Sightseeing:
First, I took J down to the Embarcadaro. This is where my dad used to take my brother and I to get sticky buns on the weekends when I was younger. The sticky bun place was no longer there, but the fountain we used to hop around in was. There was also a Boudin Bakery there, so we enjoyed ourselves with some lunch!! Mmm.

My brother and I used to hop around in this fountain. P.S. I’m pretty sure they were doing construction on it the last time we were there….

Next up, we walked along the Embarcadero, and past Pier 39. We spotted the sea lions, and also Alcatraz, then made our way to Fisherman’s Wharf, and finally, to the Ghirardelli Factory! Double Mmmm!!

Alcatraz in the background

After we scarfed down our dessert, it was time to make our way back to the hotel. On they way, we passed by Lombard St (the crookedest street) and up some steep hills! (Probably not too great for the Achilles.)

Hills

Next, we ordered some takeout from the California Pizza Kitchen. That place was very convenient to our hotel, and therefore the race/expo area, and it was nearly empty when we went to pick up our food! Score! We finished the evening by lounging around in our pj’s, eating some pizza, and watching TV. With our race stuff laid out and ready to go, we hit they hay.

Race Time:
At 5:30am it was time to get ready. We got our gear on, scarfed down some bagels and cookies (mmm!) then made our way to the starting area. Holy moly that place was packed! I’d never been to a race this large before. (Alisa later told us it’s the 3rd largest half marathon in the WORLD! and I’m not surprised!) The race was a point-to-point race, and we wanted to have some warm gear at the finish line, so we maneuvered our way to the bag check area.

Alisa and I pre-race.

With our bags checked, we made our way to our starting corral. We lined up in the 10-11:30 min/mi corral for our leisurely journey! Eventually, we heard the gun go off, and we patiently awaited our turn to cross the mat. Soon enough, it was our turn, and we were off!

The first mile or so wove through the Financial District. Although the entire race, from our perspective (aka the slow, take your time and enjoy sightseeing area of the pack) was a cluster for pretty much the entirety of the race, it didn’t seem like we had to weave too much around runners just out of the chute. Although, I’m sure that could also be due to our leisurely pace…

Miles 2 and 3 ran along the Embarcadero and Fisherman’s Wharf and by the many piers lining the water, including the touristy Pier 39. From here, we could see the Bay Bridge and Alcatraz, and I made sure to snap a few pics. It was an average cloudy morning for San Francisco, at least from my memory as a youngster growing up in the area, but you could still see the sights pretty well. Mile 5 brought us by Fort Mason, and our first potty stop.

Now, I don’t know if anyone has ever told you this before, but San Francisco has a few hills, and after passing Fort Mason, we got a nice view of our first big one. I have to say, the hills on this course (at least the first half) are definite walking hills. I probably wouldn’t suggest this half as a “PR” course… Pretty much everyone around us, at this point, was walking. But we got some great views along this “280ft over a mile” climb, and we savored every moment of it (and took some nice pics of the Golden Gate Bridge.) There were even race signs pointing out the best scenic views for pictures!

The next few miles included some “rolling” hills, at least by San Francisco’s standard. But remember, hills = good views! Mile 9 took us through a neighborhood with a lot of really nice looking houses, and oranges from Kaiser. Yeah, I grabbed some. Another great part of this stretch was the encouraging signs along the route, saying things like, “Reason [to run] #8: Because I Can”.

With every hill, comes a downhill, and Mile 11 was a quad scorcher! We rounded a corner, and got a great view of some beaches, and what appeared to be a finish shoot…but that couldn’t be right… It wasn’t. There were two portions near the end of the course with blown up arches with encouraging words. Not sure I would appreciate those if I were racing. I usually associate those arches with the finish line, but it was a nice gesture!

All we had left was a short jaunt through Golden Gate Park. This is where we split from the full marathoners (Good luck, ladies!) and made our turn down the “Chocolate Mile”, because, really, what would a women’s race be without Chocolate?! I grabbed some Ghirardelli from the volunteers and stashed it for later (I’d already eaten some Clif Shot Bloks and Luna Bars from a previous aid station, so I was no longer hungry at this point.) Finally, we wove our way through the final stretch, and through the finish line!

Post Race:
What a hoard of people at the end! I managed to spot the tuxedo-clad fireman and got my necklace. Race officially complete. The finish line was a great use of the assembly line system. After making my way through the necklaces, and acquiring my space blanket, I was led into the “food area”. I was given a great re-usable shopping bag in which to stuff my goodies (including bananas, bagels, Kashi cereal, Luna bars, raisins, and Gatorade). I grabbed everything that was offered to me and stuffed it in my bag. Soon enough I was at the shirt station, grabbed my Pink Nike Tech Tee, and finally filtered out of the system. I collected my bag, and bundled up a bit to protect myself from the rain that had started just as we were finishing up.

Now, my absolute least favorite part of the race: Getting back to the hotel. Everyone in our group had purchased shuttle tickets for a ride back the start. Well, everyone but me…Oops! They ended up waiting in line for 45 minutes, but that was still better than what J and I ended up doing… We had the brilliant idea to take public transit. We ended up walking about 3.5 miles and getting passed up by 3 buses before finally getting picked up. We made it back to our hotel in just enough time for late check out. No shower for me. Bummer!

Luckily, I was able to get myself the largest Pumpkin Spice Latte I could, so that I could warm up a bit (rain+SF=cold). We made our way to the BART station, and rode back to our car. After a pit stop at Alisa’s in-laws (with very yummy dinner and breakfast! and a good night’s sleep) J and I made the long trek back up north on Monday.

It was a busy, but super fun weekend. And I got new bling! Both Achilles made it through the race ok; no pain really while we were running, a little achiness as we walked up those hills, but I made it through ok. My right heel gets sore when driving (from the pressure on the heel), and I’m definitely cutting back this week! I ran a bit today (Tuesday), but only about 2.5 miles. When it started hurting, I stopped. I’m gonna run just a bit again tomorrow, then take a few days off. Friday is my birthday, and, although I wish I could run on my Birthday, I think a massage is in order!

Here’s to a happy, restful, injury repairing birthday week!

Portland Marathon Pacer Recap

2010-10-11T19:09:00.001-07:00

This past Sunday, I took part in the Portland Marathon, as an official 4:45 pacer. Let me just say, I had an absolutely amazing time! Here’s the recap of the weekend:

Expo: I worked the Red Lizard Pacer Booth on Saturday afternoon, and actually had a really fun time answering questions from nervous/excited expectant Marathoners. We handed out pace bands, and answered many questions about corrals. Unfortunately, the Portland Marathon had decided to use the entrants “projected finish time” from their registration to assign them to a corral, without actually letting the runners know… So a lot of runners were upset that they were placed in separate corrals from their pacers, based upon a time they input 6-12 months ago…This probably wouldn’t be much of a problem if they would allow people to change corrals, or update their information a few months ago, but we hoped it would all work out the next day anyhow.

Race: We set our alarms for 5:45am, so that would could be dressed (in our “pacer uniforms”: see below picture) and make our way to the Pacer’s Meeting point at our assigned time of 6:15am. When I had looked outside while getting dressed, I didn’t see any rain, but dressed for the elements, anyway. When we finally made our way out the door, it was pouring, so we quickly headed back inside to grab some trash bags, as we knew we would be standing in the rain for awhile before the race actually started. When we stepped out the door for the second time, we noticed that it was 6:15, and we were late, so we ran the few blocks to our meeting site. We collected our “Lizard Pace Sign” and made sure we were ready to go. Soon enough, it was time to head to our assigned corral.

We both decided that we needed to use the portas, but the line was already a block long. We started by lining up in the line, but after the 5th person approached us and asked about being paced, we decided it would be best to try and cut the line, then line up appropriately for our pace group to meet us. Some nice girls understood, and let us sneak ahead, and soon enough we found our waiting place. Several runners approached us and said they wanted to run with us, but that they wanted to wait under cover, to avoid the large amount of moisture that was falling upon us. “No problem!”, we said. Eventually, we distantly heard the national anthem, and knew it would be time to take off soon.

Did I mention that it was absolutely pouring?! Because it was, and we were already soaked before we even started…

Eventually, we were directed toward the starting line. Garbage bags were strewn all across the road, and you had to be careful not to trip over them. (It doesn’t hurt to walk them over to the side, people!) One thing I didn’t like about the march to the starting line, was when we passed by the “fat lady” sign that said, “It’s almost over!” It later leads you to the finish line, but, really, we hadn’t even started yet!
That’s just mean… :(

Finally, we reached the starting line, I clicked “start” on my watch, and off we went! There is always great energy at the start of the race, and even though I wasn’t racing myself, I was still very excited. One of my favorite early moments was as we passed a Large Drum band (Portland Taiko). The sound they created was very dramatic, and definitely added to excitement of the first mile!

Even though we started in “waves” the first few miles were a definite challenge from a “pacer” standpoint. There were a lot of people in front of us, and we just hoped they were on pace. The first few miles we were actually a bit fast, and we continued to add a little bit to our “bank” until about Mile 5. This is when we started on the most scenic, the most awesomest, and just plain spectacular (sense any sarcasm, because these sentiments are layered with it…) out and back of all time. OMG. It definitely does not shine a great light upon Portland…

Anyway. These miles dragged on a bit. There were some nice bands, but it was pretty darn boring. One cool thing was that we were able to see a bunch of people going the opposite direction, including a lot of the other pace groups. Something I noticed was that this section became very overcrowded, especially during the aid stations. Not sure if this was because of the half-marathoners mixed in with the marathoners, or what? But it could become a bit of a mad house, what with people cutting across you trying to get to the water or other aid. Oh, and another awesome thing about this section: PUDDLES!!!! As if the pouring rain wasn’t enough, this road has pretty poor upkeep, and collected a lot of water in spots. We had no hope of keeping our tootsies even remotely dry…

Soon enough, we were done with this section, and we definitely cheered verbosely! And then before we knew it, we were at Mile 11. Only 3 to go before pacing buddy and I could put on some warm clothes and head over to the Mile 24 aid station! At Mile 12, the two pacers taking over for the second half joined in. We introduced them to our group, went over timing logistics, and settled in to the pace. They were happy that we had banked a little extra time, as the dreaded “Hill” (St. John’s Bridge) was still up ahead.

Mile 14 came and we hopped out and yelled some final support to our pacees, and told them we would see them again at Mile 24!

Wearing dry clothes never felt so good!! And warmI Ahhhhh…..Soon enough, we made our way to the Aid Station, and passed out Gummy Bears and Pretzels. And shivered. Brrr…it was cold. We kept our eyes out for all the pace groups coming through: 3:50, 4:00, 4:15, 4:30. Time to make sure we were run ready. A few more minutes, and we spotted our Lizard. (He was the one with flair!) We jumped in and looked around at a few familiar faces, although I guess a few had been lost after the bridge. Before we knew it, it was one last climb up onto the Broadway Bridge. This was a tough climb for all these marathoners. At this point, their legs were toast, so we gave as much encouragement as we could, and grabbed any stragglers we passed.

The Mile 25 marker passed, finally, and you could see everyone struggling, but you knew they were going to make it! They were going to be able to call themselves “Marathoners”! The final chute involved a right turn, followed by a left turn (which I think threw a few people off mentally). When we made the first turn, we told our group to take off and finish strong, and boy did they. We were all alone at this point, but there were some people a few yards behind us, so we yelled for them to pass us! When we finally crossed over the finish line (at 4:45:00 on the dot!) pacer buddy and I turned around to cheer in a few people behind us.

Eventually, we went back to the finish and got our space blankets, although the rain had finally stopped! This was apparently the wettest Portland Marathon in history (probably). It was a little emotional at the start line, and why not, a lot of these people finished their first marathon, and finally finished what they had been training so long for!

So, to sum it up, I can’t wait to do this again! It was a very rewarding experience, and it was so much fun to be a part of something so big for all these runners!

Now I didn’t bring my camera, because, in case you didn’t catch it, it was pouring!! So I borrowed some pictures from my friend! :)

Preparation

2010-10-04T10:28:00.001-07:00

This week really felt like preparation for next week’s Portland Marathon Extravaganza! I increased my mileage (to the most weekly mileage I’ve ever run!) and practiced pacing with my pacing buddy!.

Monday:
4.1 miles (9:51 avg pace)
My friend, who had gotten married over the weekend, had a lot of leftover cupcakes, so we made our way over to the weekly WAMR group run. We don’t usually head over to these runs, because they’re a bit of a drive from our house, but it was worth it for the cupcakes. I have every other Monday off from work, so I’m sure I could make my way out there again in the future.

The run takes place mostly on the Fanno Creek Trail. It was a nice little run through a “park”-like area. I’m really glad this run was with a group, though, because I’m sure I would have gotten lost without them! And, yes, the cupcakes were delicious!

Tuesday:
Rest Day

Wednesday:
5.6 miles (10:04 avg pace)
This was the week for group runs! I was supposed to meet up with Alisa for a hill workout, but work issues prevented her from coming out. :( (Don’t worry, we’ll make it work sometime!) Instead, we made our way over to the Fulton Pub Run, for one of their last weeks of the “summer route”, which includes 1-2 miles of (what seems to me) moderate-difficult trail. My pacing buddy and I used the last few miles to practice our 10:52 pace for our Portland Marathon pacing duties. Nice and easy.

Thursday:
Last Thursday
3.6 miles (9:36 avg pace, with stop and go)
The last “First” Thursday of the year. This one seemed to be shorter than the other “routes”, and we were able to hit up each and every stop. There also seemed to be less people, which upped our chances of winning. Neither J or I were successful, but our friend won twice! Plus, we got delicious Jubelale for our recovery drink!

Friday:
Rest Day

Saturday:
Fall Finale 5k Pacer Report
My pacing buddy for the Portland Marathon had decided awhile ago to pace this race for any participants who would like to break 30 minutes for the 5k. So we pulled out the best part of our pacing outfits (the tutus) and got to work. We tried to hold about a 9:35 min/mi pace, and I think we did this quite well, until the last mile, but at this point, I think we had already lost a few folks. As we neared the end, I continued on with the pace, to lead those still with us to the finish line. Then I told them to finish strong, then hung back to cheer on those just behind me. There were quite a few people that appeared to finish PRs, even if they didn’t quite surpass the 30-minute mark! It was a lot of fun to help people reach their goals, and we’re totally going to do it again. We’ve already picked our next race to pace: The Give N' Gobble 5k, in Sherwood. If you know anyone looking to break 30 minutes, send them out our way, and we’d be happy to cheer them on!

5k: 29:17
0.4 miles of warm-up/practice = 3.5 miles total for the day

There was also a raffle after the race, and I am happy to report: I won new shoes!!!

Sunday:
Long Run
13.1 miles (9:36 avg pace)
I started this run with J, but he left after about 2.5 miles, so I was mostly on my own. I headed up Terwilliger, because for some reason, I love doing that?! Then I made my way down those hundreds of stairs down to the Willamette, up and over the Sellwood bridge, then back up the Springwater to the Steel Bridge, and then home. It was a pretty nice run. It was a little misty to start out with, and the leaves had begun to fall. Yeah, I love fall!! The first few miles were about 10:00 pace, and I ended up (on the flatter sections) running a few 9:00 miles. Whoops! Oh well. I was a little sore afterward, but not too bad. And I definitely enjoyed my pizza lunch afterward! Yum!

Total miles for the week: 30!! Yay!!

Next weekend (10/10/10) is the Portland Marathon. I will be co-pacer for the first half of the 4:45 group! I’m really looking forward to helping people try to reach their goals. At this point, we’re planning on running a little past halfway, then going to help at the Mile 24 aid station. Then, we hope to join the 4:45 group when they come through the aid station, and run with them through the finish!

Good luck to all those who are running the Marathon! Hope to see you out there!!

And just as an aside: After a year and a half of unemployment, J has finally received a job offer. He starts work tomorrow, and will finally contribute to society once again! Good luck J! I love you!

That’s more like it.

2010-09-26T20:47:00.001-07:00

This week was much closer to where I want to be. My mileage is back up where it once was, and about where I want to be at this point in my training. Here’s a recap:

Monday:
4 miles (9:12 avg pace)
Just 4 miles, a little fast, along the normal route.

Tuesday:
Track – Whistle workout
This week’s track workout was another whistle workout. This time we would run at “L”-pace (a little faster than 5k pace) for the first 2/3rds of the workout and finish off the last 1/3rd at “S”-pace (short interval pace/fast). We were told we would be running about 20 minutes at quick speeds. It was a tough workout, but still pretty fun. It was also a long workout, and I definitely felt it through the rest of the week:

7 miles (8:42 avg pace)

Wednesday:
Rest Day

Thursday:
4 miles (8:59 avg pace)
Way too quick; guess I was excited, and in a hurry! (I had to make it to a pacer meeting that evening.) This run definitely added to the heaviness of my legs later on in the week.

Friday:
9.7 miles (10:53 avg pace)
I wanted to complete our long run on Friday after work, since we were going to be busy for most of Saturday due to a wedding, and there was no way I was going to plan a run on the Sunday after the wedding! We made it out a little before 6pm, and barely made it home before it got too dark. The first few miles were definitely tough for my legs, but they eventually warmed up. We still took it pretty slow, but that’s ok, I’ll just pretend it was practice for my upcoming pacing gig! ;)

Saturday:
Wedding Day

Wedding Day started with 2.5 “Matrimony Miles”. The friend that was getting married is “streaking” for 1 year, requiring her to run at least 1 mile every day for a year. She invited a bunch of friends out to join her for her last run as a single lady. It was a nice cool, foggy morning run. And we finished up with mimosas, mmm!

2.5 miles (10:46 avg pace)

The wedding itself was a ton of fun. It was fun celebrating our friends along with all their family and friends! Congrats guys!

Tired at the end of the night:

Sunday:
Real rest day. We needed to recuperate!

I’m hoping to keep on track with my training plan next week. Thursday is “Last” Thursday, and we’re planning to meet up with Alisa on Wednesday for a hill workout, so things are shaping up pretty good so far. Yay for running plans with friends!

Another slow running week + Oktoberfest 5k Race Report

2010-09-20T20:39:00.001-07:00

Kind of…

I didn’t log too many miles this week, and I haven’t been sticking to my training plan too harshly. In fact, I haven’t even really looked at it… Oops! What I need to do is type it up into a calendar so it’s easier to look at. I plan on doing that after I’m done with this blog entry! (*Fingers Crossed*)

Last week, I started by recuperating from Sunday’s 10k PR!

Monday:
2.5 miles (9:45 avg pace)
I used this recovery run to “run” some errands. I was on the lookout for a Bachelorette Party gift that included lots of bits and pieces. It was definitely fun to run with a purpose, and this would not be the last time I would “run” errands last week!

Tuesday:
Track
5.8 miles (with warm-up/cool down)

2x1200 (on chips) long interval pace
5:43, 5:43 (7:41 avg pace)

3 sets of 400-400 (400’s at short or medium interval pace with 100 float between each 400)
1:46-1:45 (7:07-7:04)
1:47-1:45 (7:09-7:02)
1:49-1:48 (7:19-7:16) Trying to hold on strong, but definitely tired!

Wednesday:
Rest

Thursday:
4.89 miles (10:15 avg pace)
Another night of “running” errands. This time planning for a bachelorette party. I ran at least 2 miles holding cupcakes! Mmm!

Friday:
Rest

Saturday:
Race Day - Oktoberfest 5k

This is a small race (about 724 total participants) in Mt. Angel, OR; famous for its Oktoberfest (hence the name). It was a pretty foggy morning, so the sights along the course were definitely hidden, but it looked like it would be a beautiful place to run! The weather here had been pretty great running weather, except for the humidity. (Believe it or not, we don’t get a whole lot of humidity here in the NW.) But it was a great morning to be racing! We arrived early to make sure we had no problem picking up our packets. (No problem at all!) And waited around (listening to some occasional German music) until the start of the race. I warmed up a bit about 20 minutes before the planned start time. My legs didn’t feel too terrific for some reason; like they never really warmed up, and were still pretty stiff. I hoped this wouldn’t affect the race. (I wanted a PR!)

Pretty soon, it was time to line up. I placed myself about 3 people behind the line, and soon enough, the gun went off! Holy smokes there were a lot of people quick off the starting line, but I resisted the urge to keep up, and immediately found my planned pace. I was hoping to hold 7:30’s, at least at first, and then give it all I had in the last 0.6 miles. There were a few turns soon after the start, and then we were out on open road. This mile held a lot of downhill, but I tried not to burn out my legs right at the start, especially with my legs feeling a bit rough!

Mile 1: 7:32 (Pretty dead on!)

Soon after the Mile 1 marker (which was pretty accurate according to my Garmin) the 5k’ers made their turn-around. It was pretty neat to be able to count the people in front of me. I only counted the females: 13 ahead of me at this point. Since the first mile was mostly downhill, this mile was mostly uphill. I was feeling a lot stronger at this point. Maybe it helps that I’ve gotten pretty strong with hills, and was able to get past quite a few people (2 girls, I believe). As we were nearing the end, I feared I had gone out too fast; I was pretty exhausted, and my breathing was definitely labored. Soon enough, we crested the hill, and made a turn into some neighborhood roads. Soon after landing on a flatter road, I was feeling fresh as a daisy, and ready to finish the last mile strong!

Mile 2: 7:52 (This could be better.)

The last mile wove through the neighborhood surrounding the park/start/finish area. I passed some more people here, including J (he’d been sick and wasn’t feeling very good on this last mile.) Finally we turned onto a familiar road; one I had seen on the way to the start area from where we’d parked our car. At this point, I had about 0.6 miles to go, and I was feeling it. I had pretty much followed my plan. My new mantra was “A 5k is supposed to hurt.” A couple more turns and we were onto the home stretch. I could see another girl in front of me, and really wanted to pass her so I could finish in the top 10. I couldn’t tell if she was in my age group, but I knew I could be in the running for a Top 3 Age Group finish (i.e. a ribbon!)

Mile 3: 7:12 (Almost over!)

The finish shoot is a little awkward, in that it is on a narrow stretch of sidewalk/trail going into the park. Because it was so narrow, and a guy had come and chased me and the girl in front of me down, I wasn’t able to shoot past the girl just in front of me, but I did manage to finish strong!

Mile 3.13: 0:52 (6:43 avg pace)

Official (non-chipped timed) Time:
23:28.40 (7:34 avg pace)

I finished just out of the Top 10 Females (11th) and just out of the Age Group awards (4th). That’s what you call rotten luck. At least I know the girl just ahead of me was out of my age group, and the girl who finished 3rd in my age group finished a full 40 seconds ahead of me, so there wasn’t really anything to do differently. And what else do I know? I totally PR’d!!! Woohoo! I’ll take it.

There was also a pretty neat raffle drawing post-race (which neither J, nor I won…ah well) which included things like tech shirts, tech socks, German flags, mustard (from the nearby Abbey), and Road ID (among other things).

Overall, it was a great and well organized race. I’d be interested in trying out the 10k course, too. It looks pretty similar to the 5k one, except it continues on the road after the 5k turnaround, and loops around the Abbey. Hopefully, if we do it again next year, the weather will be a little more cooperative, and we can actually see the Abbey.

Another reason to potentially do this race again next year: so that we can stick around and actually go to the Oktoberfest celebration that the town is famous for. We didn’t get a chance to this year, because I had a Bachelorette Party to finish up planning for/attend. What are you gonna do? ;)

Sunday:
Recuperate post-Bachelorette party

Not bad for a slow running week, but maybe I can start following my training plan, with a little more planning! Here’s hoping! :)

Pints to Pasta 10k Recap

2010-09-14T21:17:00.001-07:00

Well, last week wasn’t what I was anticipating going into the race. I had planned a slight cut back week, since I had been increasing mileage for several weeks leading up to the race. I figured a 6.2 “long run” was a good way to follow through with that plan. But that plan kinda changed when I awoke on Monday (Happy Labor Day) sick with a fever. Yuck!!

This made for a week of super cut back mileage. I only ran 3 times last week (including the race) for a grand total of 14 miles! C’est la vie!

I was a little worried about the decrease in mileage going into the race, even though I’ve been going steady for several weeks previous to that. But I definitely had some goals going in: The biggest goal being to PR.

This course is a point to point course from the Adidas campus to The Spaghetti Factory, and mostly downhill. The race organizers suggest everyone park at The Spaghetti Factory, and take the shuttle to the start line. Since we live somewhat close to the Finish Line, we didn’t really want to park there. We looked up public transportation to the starting line, and found out the light rail would take us about 0.8 miles away. Perfect! We made it there in plenty of time and waited in the huge line to drop off our bag. After a quick warmup we saw that people were lining up. We ended up somewhat in the middle of the pack (not exactly where I wanted to be…) and soon enough, we were off!

Mile 1:
This mile included a lot of dodging, of course, especially with the large downhill section just after the starting line. It was also pretty quick! I tried to hold back a little bit on the downhill, since I didn’t want to burn myself out, but I still wanted to take advantage of it. Overall, I think I did well!

7:50

Mile 2:
Mile 2 was more of the same (except a little less descent), I just tried to keep a tough but manageable pace. I was aiming for 8:00-8:15 min/mi paces. Nailed it!

8:11

Mile 3:
We crossed the Broadway Bridge during this mile, which included a slight uphill, but was followed by a nice downhill section. This was the opposite direction of when we crossed this bridge on the Bridge to Brews course, and it was much nicer in comparison!

8:14

Mile 4-5:
These miles were in familiar territory: The Waterfront path. It was kinda fun to be in a race along a familiar route! Mile 4 was easy, but I think I started to worry about holding my pace on Mile 5, which is why I think I kinda slowed down.

8:00
8:15

Along the good ole Waterfront:

Mile 6:
Again, we were in familiar territory. It was nice to be running in an area that I’m familiar with, running-wise. I was able to feel how much further we had to go.

8:05

Sprinting to the finish:

Mile 6.2:
I could see the finish line from really far away (~0.3 miles). I looked at my watched and notice that I could break 50:00, so I took off at a sprint and gave it all I had! I even caught up with Paula Harkin, of Run with Paula!! (I literally “Ran” with Paula! ;)

6:19 avg pace

Running with Paula (she’s in the front, I’m in the back):

Official Time:
49:47 (8:01 avg pace)
Massive PR by over 6 minutes!! Woohoo!

It was a great course, even though I’ve run through most of it habitually. (The net elevation loss can’t help!) I was hoping to be able to break 50 minutes, and I totally did. Not too bad after a sick week! :)

_________________________________________________________________________________

Next Saturday we’re racing a 5k. I’m hoping for another PR, since it shouldn’t be nearly as hot as my last one…We’re doing the Oktoberfest 5k in Mt. Angel. It’s a bit of a drive, but it looks fun! It’s one of our last short races of the year (at least for what’s on our schedule now…)

This is also my first week of training for my “goal” race: The Run to Stay Warm Half Marathon. This training cycle might not work out exactly as “planned” on paper, since I have a *few* half marathons placed in the mix… You think I might be addicted?

These include:
10/10: First half of the Portland Marathon.
I’m going to be pacing the first half of the Portland Marathon with my friend. We’re running the 4:45 group (about 10:52 pace) so it’ll be a nice easy run, and I’m really looking forward to it!

10/17: Nike Women’s Half Marathon
This is another “fun” run. No PR here, although I’m sure the hills will be a good workout!

11/6: Silver Falls Trail Half Marathon
Sure to be a beautiful course, also another “fun” run! (What’s wrong with that?!) I’ll definitely bring my camera!

11/20: EWEB Run to Stay Warm
*Goal Race!!

Here’s to some great runs!

Oregon Wine Country Half Marathon Recap + Recap of the rest of the week

2010-09-06T19:35:00.001-07:00

So this week culminated with the Oregon Wine Country Half Marathon, and so shall this blog post! :) But first, a recap of the other fun runs from this week:

Monday:
Rest Day

Tuesday:
Easy Run
6.97 miles (11:03 avg pace)
I joined in for the Tuesday Lululemon Group Run again. I got an extra couple of miles by running on the way to and from the run. It was definitely an easy run, but it’s fun to get together with a group of other runners. I skipped out on track again this week, but I definitely want to go back next week. I have a 10k to prepare for! :)

Wednesday:
Ran to/from yoga
1.7 miles (10:12 avg pace)
I participated in a new class “Yoga for Cyclists”. It was pretty fun, even though I was the only runner. We targeted very similar areas as a “Yoga for Runners” class would. I’m thinking of heading back next week, so we’ll see if it fits into my schedule.

Thursday:
First Thursday
3.8 miles (9:53 avg pace)
Another fun afternoon/evening of running, and maybe the last of the year! :( They aren’t sure if they’ll be having an October run since the Portland Marathon is so near to it, but I hope they do. These runs are so fun, and its great to see so many people out there hitting the streets. This months was kind of a short run; most of the stops were on 23rd, but we still logged a few fun miles.

Friday/Saturday:
Rest/Lazy days
Thought about running one of these days, but then I decided to be lazy instead!

Sunday:
Oregon Wine Country Half Marathon “Race” Recap
2:18:44 (10:36 avg pace)
This was a “fun/training” run rather than a race, which I did with my friend. We took lots of pictures, chatted with lots of other runners, and just had a fun time. This was the inaugural race, and the first race put on by Destination Races to take place outside of California. There were a lot of out-of-towners (runners from 46 states, Canada, and Singapore) which brought a lot of tourism to our local economy. The race itself was pretty well organized, especially for an inaugural race. Lucky for me, I didn’t have to go to the Race Expo/Packet Pickup, which took place near the race, or about 45-60 minutes away from where I live on Saturday, which definitely took some travel time out of my weekend. The race includes a pretty nice shirt and free wine tasting at the finish line. But onto the race itself:

We arrived about an hour before the start time (6am for the 7am start time) and had absolutely no problem finding parking. This was a point-to-point course, but J and my friend’s soon-to-be-husband drove us to the start line, and found us again at the finish. We lingered around the staging area, greeted other runner friends, and porto-d. Soon enough it was time to hit up the starting line. We lined up just in front of the 11-12 min pace line, since we were aiming for 10:50’s, in preparation for my friend (and maybe me) pacing the 4:45 Portland Marathon Pace Group. While we were lined up, we met a girl who had used this race as an excuse to come up from Santa Barbara and visit her friends in Portland. At about 7:10, the gun finally went off, and off we went.

I’m in the blue shirt and black skirt: And we’re off:

We started off in the large crowd, got passed by some grapes, hit a mile marker way late (12:00 for the first mile…?) and the second one too early (notice a theme here) then things quieted down. Part of the reason this run was so fun was probably because we were running at an easy pace, so it was fun to just chat along the way. The course didn’t seem too difficult (at least for the first 8 miles). There were some nice gentle rollers, nothing too over the top. About mile 6 we passed the relay exchange for the 2-person relay. It was nice to have so many spectators greet us at the mid-way point, especially since this race took place out in the country. In fact, there seemed to be a good amount of supporters along the course, mostly as we were travelling through neighborhoods, or past houses. A lot of people came out to spectate!

Grapes:
Pretty views:

After passing the 8 mile marker, we met the toughest part of the course: gravel. I hate gravel, and was just hoping it would be over soon. It wasn’t quite soon, in fact, it lingered far longer than I ever would have wanted… I don’t think it quite ended until after mile 11. That’s a lot of gravel. It wasn’t so bad for us, since we weren’t truly racing, but for some friends that were aiming for a PR, it was pretty rough.

So much gravel:

Other than the gravel, though, the race was pretty flat and scenic, and would probably be good for a PR course, but I’m not sure what 3.5+ miles of gravel does for other people legs…Soon enough, we were closing in on the finish. We got passed by a few people that were finishing strong, but no worries. We just glided into the finish, and collected our medals. Next up? Wine time. Yum!

Finish line:
Finishing at pace, no kick here:
Wine:

Next week is PR time. 10k PR that is. I’ll be racing the Pints to Pasta 10K next Sunday, and I’m pretty excited. I don’t think I’ll have a problem PR’ing. (It’s been awhile, and I feel much more in shape/speedier than I was when I raced this distance back in April.) This course is also known to be speedy and mostly downhill, so it should be fun!

After next weekends race, I’m going to finalize a training plan for my “goal race” in November: the EWEB Run to Stay Warm Half Marathon. Very exciting!

This is a long one! + Big news!

2010-08-28T17:37:00.001-07:00

I haven’t blogged in a bit because I’ve been a bit busy. Well, last week, my knees were talking to me, but they’re feeling great now. I’m getting better at taking care of my body! :)

Last Monday, I attended a yoga class with a new teacher. Our old teacher was off for maternity leave, but I was excited to see what the new teacher might bring. Well, unfortunately I don’t think I clicked really well with the new one. I’m not planning on going back to that class…I like to work hard in my yoga class, but this felt more like a drill sergeant class, with less focus on our practice. I’m sure there are people out there who like that, but it’s just not my cup of tea.

After the couple of hill runs the week before, and a few classes filled with lunge sequences, my quads were already pretty pooped from the week before. Bring in the sergeant, and my quads were fried! This lead to some sore knees, and me taking it easy for a couple of days. I held off on yoga for the rest of the week, and took my runs somewhat easy. By Friday, my legs were feeling recuperated, and I haven’t had any problems since!

Here’s the recap:

Monday:
Power Vinyasa, not my fav…

Tuesday:
Track, or not to track
3.2 miles (10:38 avg pace)
I went to the track, but decided to do a couple of easy miles instead. The knees were talking to me on the way to the track, so I think it was a smart move.

Wednesday:
Skipped the yoga, no runs = Rest Day!

Thursday:
Another lunch run.
3.8 miles (9:33 avg pace)
I really wanted to try to squeeze in 4 miles, but didn’t want to put too much pressure on the pace. I took it as easy as I could, and got 3.8 miles! Not quite 4, and I only had a few minutes to stuff my face with some food in order to make it on time to my meeting. But it was a good run, and I saw some more of Vancouver!

Friday:
Rest Day

Saturday:
Long Run
12.45 miles (10:46 avg pace)
Gathering outside before the start of the run:

My friend decided we should join the Lululemon Portland Marathon Training Clinic Group Run on Saturday. This is a free group long run, and you don’t have to complete the whole run, which we didn’t. They were doing 16, but the other friend we were running with is only at 8 miles for her long run, so we decided to run 4 out and 4 back, then head out for another 4 or so miles to complete our long run. I recognized a lot of people there, and there was a 15% discount offered to the runners at the end of the run. (Not a bad deal!) There were Lemons manning aid stations along the route, and pace leaders helping to make sure you don’t speed out of control. It’s definitely a nice set up, and would be a great group run to join if you dread doing long runs on your own. It’s also a great way to meet new friends, or meet up with current ones. Overall, great run! :)

Sunday:
Salmon Creek 6k
I kind of added this “race” at the last minute. I was able to run it since we were volunteering in the bag check, again! Since my knees were taking it easy, I didn’t want to go all out. (I may have thought twice about it if it had been a 5k…awkward). My friend said she wanted to jog too, so we lined up mid pack, and gave encouragement to the runners out there who were definitely giving it their all. I definitely got speedier as the run went on, and felt great at the end. My friend told me to go ahead, so I took off and finished the last 1.7 miles with an 8:00 min/mi pace. (Not bad considering we started at 9:35 :). So, now I have a random 6k PR: 33:04. Woot?

Now, to the real reason I haven’t been blogging. I was reading. Mockingjay was coming out on Tuesday, which is the third and final chapter of The Hunger Games Trilogy. I love this series, but was pretty much engrossed in it from Saturday night through Wednesday Evening. Needless to say, I didn’t get a whole lot of working out. But it was totally worth it! :)

So, this week wasn’t the most exciting, fitness-wise. In fact I only got 2 runs in this week (and plan on an easy 4 miles tomorrow):

Tuesday:
Run Oregon-Lululemon Group Run
5.55 miles (10:09 avg pace)
I decided to take a break from Track for the week, and join this run (especially since Megan had been bugging us to!) It was hot out (95° is HOT here!) so we took it easy. The run itself is 5 miles, but we ran a little bit before hand. I was initially planning on staying for yoga afterward, but I decided to go get my book, instead… :)

Saturday:
Long Run
11.5 miles (9:46 avg pace)
This run felt easy and fun. My knees talked to me just a bit about 5 miles in (pretty sure I need new shoes at this point), but just a little bit further in, I met up with the Brain Tumor Walk walkers. Wow. It was pretty amazing to see all those survivors, current fighters, and family members. So inspiring. I saw pictures of family members and friends that had passed on, as well as signs on the survivors. Friends walking with friends, and just a lot of love. I had to fight back some tears, and wait/walk a bit, but I didn’t mind. Sometimes it’s fun to run into unexpected events!

Ok, so I promised big news, so I hope it’s not disappointing! 2 big things:

First: We finally joined the Red Lizard Running Club. We’ve been joining their club for track workouts for a long time, and we’ve met quite a few people who are part of the club. The Lizards are a big club team in Portland. There are some super speedy people on the team, but also a lot of people at different levels. We’ve been to a few of their social events, too, and thought it was a fine time to make it official! As well as being a part of a group with our friends, we get a Red Lizard shirt and a discount at a local running store. Not a bad deal.

Second: I’ve got plans!! Well, I’m not exactly sure when I’ll start training, but I do have a goal race on the calendar! Here’s the break down of upcoming “races” (not all of them are for PRs):

September 5: Oregon Wine Country Half Marathon
This one I’m doing just for fun with a friend. I got a free entry from her (it was kinda pricey when we initially looked it up, but can’t pass up free!)

September 12: Pints to Pasta 10k
I’ll be going for a PR here!

September 18: Oktoberfest 10k
Just for fun again!

October 2: Fall Finale 5k
Not sure it’s a PR course, but I’m going to go for it anyway!

October 17: Nike Women’s Half Marathon
Another “just for fun” run! :)

November 6: Silver Falls Trail Half Marathon
I’m planning on using this as a training run/”just for fun” and stop and take lots of pictures. It looks absolutely gorgeous (and I love fall!) and it’s only $25. Not bad!!

November 20: EWEB Run to Stay Warm Half Marathon
GOAL RACE!! This looks flat and pretty fast. (Certainly flatter than our last half marathon!) The proceeds go to helping low income families pay their utility bills so the can “stay warm” during the winter months. So, a good fundraiser, a good price, and what looks to be a good course. I’m excited.

So, I think I’ll start “training” for the Goal Race after Pints to Pasta. I wanna get a good idea of my current fitness level (which I think a new PR at the 10k level would do), and then formulate a plan from there.

I’m pretty excited to see what I can do. I’m pretty sure I can beat my time from Helvetia, which was not ideal weather for me, and was definitely not “flat”. But I’m also excited for all the other “races” I have coming up. Most of them I am doing with friends, and I love feeling the race energy, even if I’m not using it to go fast.

It feels good to have a plan in place, but I’m definitely still having fun with running!

Big Running Week!

2010-08-15T18:07:00.001-07:00

This week was FULL of running, although it did not go exactly according to plan…But I’m definitely having fun with running right now, as well as with yoga. I’m feeling really good, overall, and I’m starting to find a nice groove in the schedule. I had 5 total running days this week (more than ever!) and I’m still feeling pretty good (my knees are a bit sore, but I think that’s more due to running on hills/having tight quads versus too much running, but I’ve been stretching them!) Here’s a recap for the week:

Monday:
Vinyasa class (awesome as always)
Recovery Run
I went out for an easy jaunt around the waterfront to shake my legs out from the weekend activities. I don’t usually run with music, as I’m usually running with someone else/J, but this time J was unable to run due to his knee pain, so I let myself jam out on the run. Unfortunately, music really makes me go, and I completed the run way too fast! It still felt good, but I need to try to slow down on these runs!

4.1 miles (9:02 avg pace) OOPS!

Tuesday:
Track
Tonight was a hill workout. It was kind of an interval workout on the hill, involving cones. First, we would sprint up to the first cone, then slowly run back down. Then, we would sprint up past the first cone, until we reached the second cone, then run back down for a recovery. We continued on until reaching the 5th cone, at which time we would start over again with the 1st cone. We continued on this way for 25 minutes or so. I think the recoveries down the hill were kind of hard on the old knees, but the uphills felt really good! I did 2 full sets, and ran for more than 3 miles total, at about 8:30 pace overall. I wasn’t sure what to record with my watch, but you get the idea!

Wednesday:
Power Vinyasa

Thursday:
Lunchtime run

3.2 miles (10:00 avg pace)

Vinyasa (the highlight of my otherwise horrible no good day…traffic + lost shoes + missing the streetcar = very sad Marya :( )

Friday:
Ok, so this was supposed to be the day of our next 5k race, The CATnip Friday 5k…First of all, it was the beginning of the heat wave here in Portland, so I was already kind of dreading another super hot race. But I was still determined to go, and try my hardest. Then I got home, said hello to the kitties, and knew that we wouldn’t be making it to the race… :( Our new addition, Bastian, had a super swollen eye, and just looked miserable, so we had to take him to the vet. The vet said it was probably just conjunctivitis, and we would just need to give him some eye drops for a couple of days. Bastian is much happier now, and he can open his eye all the way!! His stomach has been acting up recently, so we’ll continue to keep an eye on him, but I think he’s going to be ok! :) I am still sad that we weren’t able to at least hang out with some of our friends that were going to be there, but by the time we got home, it was definitely too late to make it all the way down to Sherwood… Oh well, here’s to next year!

We actually talked to the vet, as we were leaving, about running. I had gone to the vet in my running clothes, since I had been planning on just swinging by home to pick up J on the way to the race. Apparently, the vet used to run cross country in college, and ran with Frank Shorter and Prefontaine. He ran with all these super iconic runners, but thinks marathoners are crazy! Go figure!

Saturday:
Long Run
I knew it was going to be a hot weekend, so I tried to get out the door for my long run, before it got too hot. I didn’t quite make it out until 9am, which had me a little worried, but overall it was ok. I decided to run up the west-side of the Willamette, and try to find my way back up to Terwilliger, so that I could finish my run under the shade of` trees, by the time it would really start to heat up. The first 4.5 miles went along smoothly, then I hit the spot I had guessed would get me up onto Terwilliger. I found some signage pointing to the 4T Trail. I see these signs everywhere, but I knew it was pointing me in the right direction. Unfortunately, a half mile into the change of direction, I found the the way up contained a LOT of stairs. I didn’t count them, but I climbed about 350ft in about 1/8 of a mile. You better believe I walked up those stairs! I was pretty tired when I got to the top, and just hoped I could make my way to to Terwilliger somehow, because there was no way I was heading back down that way again…When I finally reached the top, the signage was a bit unclear, but after traipsing about the neighborhood for about 10 minutes, I finally found my way to Terwilliger. I checked Google maps on my iPhone to make sure I was heading in the right direction, and I was on my way! From here it was all smooth sailing back home (mostly downhill! :) I drank about 3 bottles of water on this run (the first with some electrolytes in it), but didn’t really experience that whole “it’s too hot and my head feels faint” kind of feeling, except briefly just before the stairs. I’ve been working on making it through hot runs in one piece, and I think the electrolytes really help. I made it home before it got too hot (although it did reach up to 85°!!) Overall, great long run!

10.1 miles (10:09 avg pace) I tried to take it easy (for long slow distance)

Sunday:
Recovery Run

Another recovery run, another waterfront loop adventure. I also tried to complete this run somewhat early, as the heat wave was continuing on! I had my music again, but tried very hard to mentally slow myself down. It worked, somewhat, but I think I was still a bit too fast…I guess I’ll keep trying!

4.1 miles (9:33 avg pace)

Weekly total: 25.9 miles

Here’s my tentative plan for the upcoming week:

Monday:
Power Vinyasa
Rest day from running/lunchtime run?

Tuesday:
Track!

Wednesday:
Power Vinyasa

Thursday:
Lunchtime Run
Vinyasa

Friday:
Rest Day?

Saturday/Sunday:
Long run/more yoga!

We’ll see what the week holds!

Someday I’d like to be on a structured training plan again, but I’m still enjoying the freedom of my schedule at the moment!

Helping hands

2010-08-09T16:18:00.001-07:00

My running mileage this week was a whopping 20.9 miles. Woot! And I was still able to attend 3 yoga sessions AND take a rest day! Go me! Here’s the recap:

Monday:
Lunchtime run
Power Vinyasa class
This was my first EVER lunchtime run. It was 73° out, so the weather wasn’t TOO bad, but I was still nervous about being hot the rest of the day. (I do work pretty closely to people in my job.) But it wasn’t too bad. I work in Vancouver, directly over the Columbia River from where I live. I don’t know much about the Vancouver area, except how to get to work, so it was kind of exciting to venture out to the surrounding area. I found a track (by a High School) and a couple of parks. Overall, it was a fun run, and I made it back in time to scarf down some lunch, and wasn’t too sweaty the rest of the day. Success!

3.2 miles (9:42 avg pace)

Later on, J and I attended the last class our (pregnant) instructor will be teaching on Monday nights. I’m kind of bummed she’s leaving, but I understand the reasons! It’ll be fun experiencing a new teacher; they’re all so different. But I’m definitely looking forward to our former teacher’s return in October/November! :)

Tuesday:
Track
My legs had definitely recovered from the Bowerman 5k, and track ran a lot more smoothly.
The workout:

2 sets 800 - 800 (300) @ L (3:54 [7:48 avg pace])
4 x 400 @ S (400) (1:48 [7:12 avg pace])

The outcome

800 - 3:42.00 (7:24 min/mi)
800 - 3:45.80 (7:29 min/mi)
800 - 3:49.74 (7:38 min/mi)
800 - 3:53.24 (7:45 min/mi) [Hey! It’s still under! ;)]

400 - 1:44.18 (6:55 min/mi)
400 - 1:48.44 (7:12 min/mi)
400 - 1:45.62 (7:05 min/mi)
400 - 1:44.82 (7:00 min/mi) [Last one!]

Overall, good workout! The dash between the 2 sets of 800’s are “floats” or just easy running (but not too easy) before getting back into the next 800. It’s like running a mile with an easy jog in the middle. I enjoyed myself, and ran with 2 other girls for the most part. I’m looking forward to this week’s track workout; should be more quick fun! :)

Wednesday:
Power Vinyasa
This instructor is also going to be leaving us for a few months. She’s going on sabbatical to India (jealous!), so we’ll have another sub; hope we like her!

Thursday:
First Thursday
I loooove First Thursdays. This month we had a few stops over in the Pearl (from NW Portland). It’s fun when there are new checkpoints/businesses to stop in. We had a few different ones this month that I might be interested in visiting one of these days. It was a warm day, and one of the checkpoints was a slip-n-slide. Sounded like fun, but I wasn’t sure I really wanted to get that into it; plus the line was ridiculous, so we skipped it ;). We made it back after our “fartlek”-type run, and enjoyed our delicious Widmer beers, only to strike out on the raffle, again! Oh well, maybe next month!

4.2 miles (10:43 avg pace…probably)

Do we look hot yet?

So cute during our “run” :P

Look how small my beer looks next to my massive head in this pic! (hopefully that’s due to the camera angle… :/

Friday:
REST DAY!!

Saturday:
Skirtchaser 5k Volunteering
I heeded the call for volunteers for this race earlier in the week. How could I say no to the promise of a free running skirt + 2 free beers!? There were a lot of ladies (at least 2/3rds of the race participants were ladies). If you don’t know about this race series, it’s put on by SkirtSports, and involves a “chase” of the women by the men. Women get a 3 minute headstart for the 5k, and the first individual (man or woman) to finish, gets $500. So far, women have won every event this year, and Vancouver was no exception. The winning women clocked in at 16:56!! Not too shabby! (I think she was running for charity, but either way, she was smoking!) The first man came in at 15:55, which, although quite speedy, was not enough to surpass 2 ladies. I think the cutest part of the race was that the first couple to cross the finish line together (ie holding hands) each won a free pair of shoes. Adorable!! The skirts they were giving out at the race were black with pink under shorts (and a slit in the skirt so you can see the shorts!) I like the skirt, and it will definitely be used in the future!

“Enforcing” at the beer garden. Do I look intimidating? The skirt probably helps!

Sunday:
Bridge Pedal Volunteer
9 mile long run
Those of you that are unfamiliar with Portland may not know this, but we have a lot of bridges! The annual Bridge Pedal is a bike ride that allows you to ride over 10 of them, including the freeways. I’m sure it’s a nightmare for cars, but it only happens once a year, and so many people are out there, I think it’s a sacrifice they can make! This year, my friend asked for people to help her hand out balloons at the finish line. I guess last year, her and her fiancé did it alone, and this year she had 4 friends to help her. We gave out so many balloons. We only had 2 helium tanks, and ran out early! Oops! My friend says she only used one tank last year, but this year she had a lot of help. Oh well! Kids of all ages were definitely appreciative of the balloons! We had a great time!

Afterward, my friend, J, and I headed out for a long-ish run of 9 miles around the un-closed bridges! My friend is a big proponent of long slow distance, so she helped me reign in the speed a little bit, and before we knew it, 9 miles were completed and it was (finally) time to eat! :) Unfortunately, J only made it to about 4.5 miles, then reported (at the furthest point from home) that his knee could take no more…Thanks for the heads-up dude! It all worked out in the end, but poor J and his knee. Sometimes injury recovery can take forever!

9 miles (11:20 avg pace, definitely negative split!)

So, a very successful week, in my opinion. First lunch run ever, yoga + run on the same day, great track workout, great long run, and lots of volunteering! Here’s hoping next week is just as great! Here’s the plan, thus far:

Monday:
Recovery Run + yoga

Tuesday:
Track!

Wednesday:
Yoga

Thursday:
Lunch run + yoga

Friday:
CATnip Friday 5k

Saturday/Sunday:
10 mile run, hopefully; to be reassessed after the 5k

**And, just as an aside, my friend is one of the race directors for the CATnip Friday 5k. So, if you’re in the Portland area and like cats, this is a run to benefit the CAT adoption center. This is a great no-kill shelter that takes in cats, and has a great adoption program for kitties. This is where we got our new kitty, and he fits in just great with our family! So, if you want to do an evening race, on a Friday, for a great cause, sign up and join in the fun!

Lazy Runners

2010-08-01T15:04:00.001-07:00

We ran only twice this week. Geez! I think we need to start getting some more runs in. We haven’t exactly been “lazy”, but I really feel like we should step up our running game! First the recap:

Monday:
J’s first Power Vinyasa
This class involved a lot of lunges. Our quads felt the burn, for sure!

Tuesday:
Track (workout at “L” pace)
1 x 1 mile on chips (400)
1 x 1200 (400)
1 x 1000 (400)
6 x 200 @S (200) (Low mileage runners might want to do fewer)

Well, I only completed the first 1 mile, and it was not even near target pace. My legs were talking to me, and they were saying, “Track tonight, not your best idea ever.” Guess my legs were still fatigued from the 5k on Sunday, go figure! I decided that nice easy running was the safer option for my legs. (No injuries for me, please!) I figure I ran about 4.18 miles total, including the .75 mi warmup run to the track. Meh.

Wednesday:
Power Vinyasa
This class involved a lot of Chair Pose/Squat motions. Our quads felt the burn, again!

Thursday:
Vinyasa
My day was pretty awful, from the moment I finally left work at 5:15, until our yoga class began. When I left work, traffic was pretty easy going, no problem! Then I hit the 405, and traffic was at a standstill (flashback to my worst commute ever: December 29, 2009, freak snowstorm hits right at rush hour, it takes me 4+ hours to drive 12 miles home, at least 1+ hour of that drive was spent on the 405…*shivers*). I decided to exit as early as I could, because I hate being stuck on that stupid bridge (there was an accident on my normal exit, which accounts for the standstill), then got stuck on NW 23rd. (I hate driving on 23rd…Walking on 23rd sure, but that is no place to drive!) Finally, I made it home, just in time to miss our streetcar ride… I quickly changed into my yoga gear and walked quickly toward the studio. We were kind of late (later than I like, anyhow) so I quickly made my way into the locker room to lock away our stuff. As I was gliding across the floor, I soon found that I was gliding toward the floor. Yes, I bit it (thank you shower takers for taking the time to wash the floor!) I picked up my bruised ego and made my way back out to meet J. We took our places onto the mat, and I pledged to myself to let everything go, and just enjoy the yoga; and I DID! Great class! I love yoga! Especially after a stupid day! (BTW, this class included a lot of lunges plus chair poses. Our poor, poor quads!!!)

Friday:
~4 mile run
J wanted to try another hilly run, so we went for it. (Gluttons for punishment!) We ran over to Sam Jackson Rd. Found the trailhead for Council Crest, ran up it for at least .5 mi, then decided to go back down. (I guess this section was half running/half climbing/walking/wheezing! ;) We made our way back to the trailhead and found another path toward Broadway (another uphill, wheezy, climby trail) then ran down Broadway and headed home. Garmin was only somewhat accurate, but trail markers and such lead me to believe we did about 4 miles.

Saturday:
Fun Day
We travelled down to Newport to visit my Grandfather for his 80th Birthday. We went to lunch at the Golf Course (his favorite place) then headed back to his place to enjoy the cake J spent all day Friday baking. (It was delicious.) After cake, we bade farewell to my Grandfather, and headed out to Rogue Brewery for a Brewery tour, and then the Rogue Distillery for the Distillery “tour” (ie. The Distillery “room”.) Later we went back to the Brewery to sample some beers, then over to the other side of the Bay for some delicious clam chowder at Mo’s. Mmm…(I lived in Newport for 5 years, ages 10-15, so I’m pretty familiar with the area.) We headed home pretty late, and quickly nodded off to sleep.

Rogue Brewery: Yummy Beers (Sig’s NW IRA: eh; Free Range Red: it’s ok; Hazelnut Brown Nectar: freaking delicious, I love Hazelnut!; St. Rogue’s Red: most favorite of the 4, really good!):Rogue Distillery: Mo’s Clam Chowder:

Sunday:
Lazy Day
We capped off our “Lazy Week” with a “Lazy Day”. And it was good. It’s been awhile since I haven’t done anything active for a full day, so it seems pretty worth it.

So I prefaced this post but saying how I wanted to increase the running. This week, I’m going to try experimenting with lunchtime runs. This way, I can increase the mileage, without sacrificing the yoga! I hope it works, because I love both running and yoga, and I don’t want to skimp on either one, if I don’t have to. Might as well give it a try, right?! So here’s the “plan”:

Monday:
Lunchtime Run
Evening Power Vinyasa

Tuesday:
Track

Wednesday:
Power Vinyasa

Thursday:
First Thursday (come join if you’re in the area, it’s super fun!)

Friday:
Run, probably

Saturday/Sunday
10 mile run (I hope!) one day
Yoga the other day

Ok, so only one day is an experimental “lunch run”, but you gotta start somewhere! ;) Here’s hoping it goes well! :)

Exciting Week + Bowerman AC 5k Race Report

2010-07-26T22:02:00.001-07:00

This was a pretty cool and fun week, but lets start from the beginning!

Monday:
Power Vinyasa.
We got lazy and didn’t run this day.

Tuesday:
Track: ”Whistle” workout.
This was a “fun” workout, and mostly a challenge for the mind versus the usual physical workout. It entailed running at “M” pace (about 15 seconds faster than your 5K min/mi pace), until coach blew the whistle. Than you would commence easy running, until the next whistle, at which point you would jump back into “M” pace. All we were told beforehand was that we would be running 20 minutes total of hard running, and that the longest hard running time would be 3.5 minutes. We never knew when a reprieve would come, or even when the workout would be over. At one point, we had been running easy for what seemed like an eon. All of us started dreading the “3.5 minute” whistle. When the whistle finally came, we picked up our pace, and prayed it would be a short 3.5 minutes. Well, it was! We found out later that coach had lost track of time during our easy run, and had let us go twice as long as he had planned. Also, I don’t think we ever ran a hard 3.5 minutes! Mind tricks!

I wasn’t really sure what to measure during this workout, so I started Garmin at the beginning, and stopped him at the end. Garmin measured 4.1 miles all together, with an 8:32 avg pace. I held 7:45 for all the hard runs, and was pretty consistent (according to Garmin) until the very last lap. My legs were toast! I finished out the day with a total of 6 miles (including warm up and cool down).

This was a super challenging workout for my mind. It reminded me so much of the later stages of a tough race, when it feels like there must be an eternity before you will reach the finish line! When the final whistle came, I was right in front of coach, and exclaimed a very battered “YAY!” I had seen several people drop out before the end, but I was determined to finish strong.

Wednesday:
Power Vinyasa

Thursday:
Vinyasa

Friday:
A friend of ours invited us for a run after work (followed by the Beer Fest). We ran for 4 miles around the waterfront, and through downtown. It was pretty warm out there, so we took it easy. While we were running along the East Bank, we ran into Julia Lucas!! (To quote J, “Of Ian And Julia?”, haha!) I love to read her (and her Husband, Ian Dobson’s) blog! She is super nice in person, and chatted with us for awhile. Who else loves living in Oregon?!

After our run, we headed over to the Oregon Brewer’s Fest and tasted some good beers for a few hours before closing.

Saturday:
Beer Fest (again, if you go when it opens, there aren’t any lines!), Brunch with J, and Vinyasa with J :)
J agreed to go to yoga with me! After it was over, he agreed that there were definitely some muscles that running doesn’t work! ;)

Sunday:
Bowerman AC 5k Recap
This race was unique for 2 reasons: 1) It started at 7PM, 2) It took place on the Nike Campus (in Beaverton). The course looped around the outskirts of the campus (on road) for 1.75 laps, and finished right in the middle. It was a great course, but unfortunately, super hot (85°). There were some super fast runners there (prize money!) We met one guy who was in town with his girlfriend, and decided to join in the race for fun. He ended up just outta the $$ at 4th, but 14:40 is nothing to be ashamed of! :)

I was planning on trying to start at an 8:00 min/mi pace, and go from there. I was pretty confident I could PR from my previous 5k (27:40 last March), but wanted to see how well I could do. We started with the usual large pack of runners, a little dodging, but not too bad. It didn’t feel too warm when we began, but that quickly changed. Much of the course seemed pretty shaded, which was helpful, but hot is hot. We made it to the 1 mile marker, and I felt like we may have gone out too fast.

Mile 1: 7:30

Oops! But I was hoping I could hold on. We rounded back through the start line (at about 1.5 miles), and I only noticed the water stop after I’d already passed it. I was so thirsty! (Water stops in 5k’s seem silly, until you’re delirious from the heat!!) Less than a lap to go, and I was hurting! I slowed down a bit. I wanted to finish, after all. And hit the 2nd mile marker.

Mile 2: 7:43

Soon after that second mile marker, everything was feeling pretty good, except for my head, which told me it wanted to pass out. I tried to keep going, I really wanted to, but I had to stop, and walked for probably at least 30 seconds (gar! in a 5k!!). It was a little frustrating, but I felt better after the walk. After I rounded my visual marker, I picked myself back up and continued on. No more walking. Just get it done!

Mile 3: 8:34 (Thanks walk break!) :(

Soon after the 3rd mile marker, we turned off the loop to close in on the finish. I was NOT feeling good (but who does at the end of a 5k?) But I knew it would be over soon! I booked it as fast as I could and crossed the finish line, drenched in sweat, ravenously thirsty, and very bleary eyed.

Mile 3.1: 0:35.24 (6:50 avg pace)

Final Time:
24:25 (New PR!) (7:52 avg pace)

Overall, I’m happy with my time, and I know I did as well as I could under weather circumstances. But I still curse that walk break! I’m hoping to break 24:00 on my next one, as long as the weather cooperates.

After I was done, I found J (who’s knee did ok during the race), and he got me water, and several more cups of water. I was so thirsty. We hung around after the race to catch up with friends, and watch the leaders collect their prizes. While we were waiting, who did we see? Kara Goucher! (What a week for elite-female-runner-spotting!) We snagged a photo with her, and chatted about her pregnancy and running. She was super nice, and didn’t mind all the attention we gave her. So exciting! While we were there, we also spotted Alan Webb, Amy Yoder Begley, and Adam Goucher.

Super sweaty, striking a pose with Kara Goucher! (P.S. Yay for green!)

Overall, super great week! And a new PR! We have another 5k planned Aug 13th. It’s another evening race, but hopefully the weather will be friendlier! My legs are already feeling great today, even after yesterday’s race. Every other race has left me super sore. Maybe my legs are getting used to this whole “running” thing?

Next up:

Monday:
Power Vinyasa (J’s first heated class! :)

Tuesday:
Track

Wednesday:
Power Vinyasa

Thursday:
Vinyasa

Friday:
Running

Saturday:
Long Run

Sunday:
?

I’m still on a Loosey Goosey schedule, but I’m still liking it, for now. I want to add more running to the schedule, but I’m loving the yoga too much to cut that back. Someday I’ll find the perfect balance.

Busy Bee

2010-07-18T18:08:00.001-07:00

I’ve been a bit busy over the past 2 weeks, which is kind of why I haven’t posted in awhile, but really, I think that’s just because I got lazy. Is that an oxymoron? Here comes the recap!

Weekly Recap for 7/5-7/11

Monday:
Power Vinyasa
2 miles (easy/untimed)

Tuesday:
3 miles (easy/untimed)
I was going to do a track workout on Tuesday; I even ran to the track and met up with everyone. But then my friend (the Sleepover Marathon organizer) and I decided to just do some easy jogging instead of the planned hill workout. My legs were toast, and this was probably a better idea than pushing through the leftover fatigue from the weekend. There’s always next week!

Wednesday:
Free Two-Step Lessons for a friend’s wedding at Bushwhacker’s. This was a lot of fun. It’s not too complicated of a dance, but getting all the footwork together with a partner is always difficult when you aren’t a dancer, and your partner has no rhythm (sorry J)!

Thursday:
Vinyasa

Friday:
Free West Coast Swing Lessons, again at Bushwhacker's. We had so much fun on Wednesday that we went back again on Friday for a different dance lesson. I think I liked this one better than the Two Step, but it was a little more difficult. The other dancers on the floor seemed to breeze through it, but I’m sure it wasn’t their first time. We need to practice, but may need to use YouTube for reminders on the steps!

Saturday:
Runner's Block Party
This event was setup to offer discounts on local races. During the event, we were able to run with our friend, who was working at the event, for a Saturday non-long run! It was super hot, but it was fun running in an unfamiliar area.

3 miles (9:40 avg pace) (That puts my mileage for the week at 8 miles, wow!)

We signed up for 4 races at the event (1 per month: July, August, September, and October). Three 5k’s and one 10k. Guess it’s time for some speedwork! Our first race is the Bowerman AC 5k on July 25th (next Sunday) and it takes place on the Nike campus. It’s an evening run, so it should be fun. J signed up as well, but his knee continues to be a little tweaked from our relay, so he may not be racing it. We’ll see. I’m looking forward to it, and really think I can get a new PR, even though some of the course is on cross-country like terrain. I think I might be just a bit faster! ;)

Weekly Recap for 7/12-7/18

Overall, this has been a GREAT week. J’s knee is still tweaked, but I have been having some great runs and some awesome yoga sessions, and I’m feeling stronger than I’ve probably ever been. Here’s the breakdown:

Monday:
Power Vinyasa
We were going to run later on during the day, but after we went wine tasting, we decided we would rather watch a movie than hit the pavement. Oh well!

Tuesday:
Track! (For real this time!)

The Workout (I figured I’d be safe using an 8:00 min/mi 5k pace to base my goal workout paces):

4 x 1000 @ L (400) (According to the pace chart, I wanted to be at about 4:56-59, or 7:53-58 min/mi pace)
5 x 200 @ S (200) (0:54-55, or 7:14-7:22 min/mi pace)

My breakdown:

1000m: 4:51 (7:48 avg pace) A little too fast…
1000m: 5:02 (8:06) Ok, now I'm too slow…
1000m: 4:46 (7:41) Oops! Again?
1000m: 4:46 (7:41) Well, at least I ended consistent!

200m: 0:47 (6:20) Whoa
200m: 0:48 (6:26) Whoa!
200m: 0:47 (6:16) Whoa!!
200m: 0:48 (6:29) Whoa!!!
200m: 0:46 (6:14) Whoa!!!!

I stayed with a group of girls that were about my speed. I was afraid I was going too fast, but it never felt like it was too much. Who knew I could run in the 6:00’s?!! (Although, it’s only 200m! :P)

Total for the evening (including warm-up and cool down):
6.71 miles (9:48 avg pace) Wow, and on a weeknight! ;)

Wednesday:
Power Vinyasa

Thursday:
Vinyasa

Friday:
3.6 miles (est 11:09 avg pace?)
”Where should we run?” J had no input, so I took us on a wild adventure, up into the hills *near* Terwilliger. Lots of switchbacks, and it never seemed like it would stop going up, but it was a GORGEOUS day, and they have the BEST views up there (Mt. St. Helens, Mt Rainier, AND Mt. Hood, plus all those rivers and stuff, too :)! I took some pictures with my iPhone and will add those at the end of this post. They’re not the best quality photos, but you get the idea. The houses up there were beautiful, too. I’d never been up there before, but I’m so glad that we made the trip. Yay for impromptu hill workouts! It was a little worrisome when it would seem like we would be at the top of the hill, and then we would turn the corner and find some more uphill…but we found the way back down, and took it easy. Poor J’s knee; hills probably weren’t the best choice for him.

Saturday:
Power Vinyasa
Beer ‘N” Burgers: So much fun, and soooooo filling. Those “sliders” were huge! We didn’t finish our food, or the beer for that matter, but what we did manage to get down was delicious! Great job chefs! And while we were waiting for our first course to digest, we hit up a sale at Lululemon. Thank you beer and your inhibiting factors, and J for imbibing so I could add to my collection of running/yoga clothes! I got a new running tank, that I could also use for yoga if I wanted to, that says “PUSH YOURSELF. RUN. DO IT NOW”. I wore it for my run on Sunday, and it was soooo comfortable. I love it! I also got another new tank (for yoga and running), running capris (the most comfortable I’ve ever worn!) and new yoga capris. I also got a new headband (love them)! Needless to say, we both lugged back a bunch of stuff (we also got a bunch of free stuff at the Beer ‘N’ Burgers event!) Yay new stuff!

After that excitement, we headed home to get ready for the Timbers vs. Manchester City Game. It was an awesome game to watch (and at field level). Those Manchester City boys are set to have an impressive season in England’s Premier League, and definitely dominated the game. The Timbers still played well, I thought, and definitely got some good experience for when they go to the MLS.

Sunday:
7.2 miles (11:35 avg pace, probably)
Garmin was very unreliable and mapmyrun is always a bit sketchy for trail sections, but we’ll go with it. This was my first solo long run (J’s still broken…) I decided to try something new (notice a trend?), and added a SECOND hilly run to the week! I started by heading up Terwilliger (aka HILL!) It didn’t feel too bad while I made my way up, and the road evened out somewhat after the first section. I continued on for a few miles until I hit George Himes Park. (Does anyone else read that as “Gregory Hines”? I kept wondering why they named a park after him, but I eventually figured it out…) You descend the hill while on a trail/stair section in George Himes Park, which I walked a lot of; too steep for me. Eventually, I made it back to a familiar section along the west-side of the Willamette, and finished up by running home. It was a challenging run, but super fun. Sometimes it was a bit sketchy, and I wished that my Boy Scout Husband had been there to ensure that I wasn’t running through poisonous shrubbery, but I made it back home alive, and ready to eat the Pecan Rolls J had baked while I was gone. Mmmm….

Total mileage for the week: 17.5, much more than the previous week! Woot!

Now for the upcoming week:

Monday:
Run 3 recovery miles or yoga, we’ll see how I'm feeling after today’s “long” run.

Tuesday:
Track

Wednesday:
Power Vinyasa

Thursday:
Vinyasa

Friday:
Run 4 miles

Saturday:
Long Run? or save myself for the 5k?

Sunday:
Bowerman AC 5k

Phew…I should never be blog lazy ever again. That was a lot to get through!

Here’s some photos, as promised:

Mt Hood in the distance:

Big house:

Mt. St. Helens and our awesome city:

“Slider” or full sized burger? P.S. This one was DELICIOUS! From Laurelwood Brewery.
This one is from Henry’s Tavern,. We couldn’t finish it…
We were seriously THIS CLOSE to the players!
The guy on the right, in the forefront of the picture, (in white) is Emmanuel Adebayor. He’s pretty awesome at what he gets paid millions to do.

See you next weekend, unless I get lazy again…(Never!) :P

Keeping Busy

2010-07-04T22:18:00.001-07:00

This week started with very minimal running, but ended up being a higher mileage week than last week. (Both weeks were still pretty minimal. We’re recovering!) Here’s a summary:

Monday:
Hatha Yoga Class
This was the last day of my 2 week unlimited introductory special. I wanted to try a class I hadn’t tried yet, and this one didn’t seem too intimidating. This was an ok class, and was definitely a step down in intensity from the Vinyasa classes I’ve most often attended. This was probably a good choice, anyway, since we were still recuperating from the Epic Oregon Relay. There was a little more movement than the Yin class, but not quite as vigorous as Vinyasa. At this point, I think I prefer the Vinyasa classes for my everyday yoga needs, and Yin for those days when I need a bit more meditation or a gentle day for my body. But hey! At least I know my preferences now! :)

After this class, I went ahead and bought the Summer Special, for unlimited yoga until mid-September. I don’t have any heavy training planned, and this will give me a good idea of how I can balance my yoga with my running, so I can keep it up when I am training! I’m excited!

Tuesday:
Vinyasa

Wednesday:
Power Vinyasa (including Yoga jumping jacks)
My legs were super tired after this class!

Thursday:
First Thursday!
5.31 miles “Fartlek” (11:18 avg pace, with stops for tickets thrown in, estimated without Garmin)
We found out during the day that one of the checkpoints was at the Widmer Gasthaus Pub, on the Eastside. Now, Fit Right NW is pretty solidly in NW Portland. We figured we’d probably skip it, as we usually do for the ridiculously faraway checkpoints, but when we found out most of the other checkpoints were within 1 mile of the Fit Right store, we figured, why not?! J was still hurting from the Relay, so he didn’t quite make it the whole way. (He turned back at the Broadway bridge :( ) We made it over the bridge (lovely), picked up our tickets, made our way to the Eastside Esplanade by the Steel Bridge pedestrian walkway (for a few more tickets) and noted we had only enough time to make it back to the store (with one additional stop) before the raffle would start! We made it back, and got some free beer (our real reason for participating?) and hung out with some friends. Overall, great night!

Friday:
Sleepover Marathon
One of my friends had a really neat idea: Sleepover Marathon. She has a 1.1 mile loop around her house and realized that if she did that 24 times, it would equal 26.2 miles. So she decided to have a Sleepover Marathon where were we would run 1.1 miles every hour, for 24 hours. I wasn’t sure if I could do the whole thing (I’m still a newbie) but I would aim for the half marathon, and see how my legs felt at that point.

There were 3 participants all together (2 marathon veterans, and me). J pretty much acted as our race volunteer (ie. I texted/called him when we needed stuff :). Here’s my progress throughout the race. My watch acted up during the first few miles, so my splits aren’t completely accurate, but they definitely show my progress as the night progressed. Note: We had to run 1.1 miles within the 60 minutes of each hour, so I will label each split according to the hour it was attached to, not the specific time it was run in.

6:00PM:
10:40 (9:42 avg pace)
Phew! I feel pretty good. I was worried that yesterday’s run might be too much for today. Also, I was very excited to eat the Red Robin takeout J was bringing to the house!

7:00PM:
10:15 (9:20 avg pace)
Still doing pretty good. Had to wake up the legs again, hmm… (I’m in the blue shirt in the pic below.)

8:00PM
10:02 (9:08 avg pace)
Finally starting to cool off a bit.

9:00PM
10:35 (9:38 avg pace)
Just taking it easy, I still got a ways to go.

10:00PM – 11:00PM
20:58 (9:32 avg pace) This is when we started our double laps about 15 minutes before the top of the hour, so our second lap would be completed during the first 15 minutes of the next hour, and we could have about 1 hour and 15 min of sleep.
Still taking it easy. Excited for some sleep.

12:00AM – 1:00AM
22:52 (10:24 avg pace)
I’m tired. I would like to stay sleeping. My legs are tired. And heavy. And it’s not getting better…

2:00AM – 3:00AM
24:17 (11:03 avg pace)
My legs are so freaking heavy. Holy smokes! This is hard! There is no way I can go past a half marathon. (Previous to this run, I couldn’t fall asleep for the longest time because my legs were tingling. Yikes!)

4:00AM
22:21 (10:10 avg pace)
OK. I’ve already committed to the half now. I need to finish strong. Then I can sleep and watch the Germans totally smother Argentina (Yay German Team! I’m so proud). It will be good!

Final Time
2:12 (10:00 avg pace for 13.2 miles = Ultra-Half-Marathon! ;)

Lessons learned:
1. It’s hard to run when you are warming up every mile.
2. Nutrition is important when your are running for any distance. We had dinner, and didn’t eat anything all night. Sleep was higher on our agenda at the time.
3. Water is also good.
4. It doesn’t matter if the distance is broken up; distance running is a challenge!

Saturday:
Rest Day, legs are still sore.

Sunday:
Volunteer at the Foot Traffic Flat Half and Full Marathon.
After waiting in traffic (with those poor runners) for 90 minutes (!) we got to our aid station. J decided to stay at the HEED station (gross!) and I decided to hand out some water along with some cowbell! We were only about a half mile from the finish line, so we offered the final encouragement to bring these runners back home! It was such a good time, hanging out with our fellow volunteers and offering encouragement to all these people on the final stretch of their run. It got windy and cold for the latter parts of our volunteering, hence my bundled-ness in the pic below.)

Since Helvetia, we haven’t really had a solid training plan. We still don’t have a “plan” at this point, but I do want to focus on some shorter races. I think we’ll be attending a Runner Block Party, where we can check out a bunch of local races, and get some good deals. Since I want to do these shorter races, I also want to get back to doing some track workouts, hopefully starting this week! Here’s my plan for the upcoming week:

Monday:
Power Vinyasa + 2-3 mile run

Tuesday:
Track

Wednesday:
Two Step Lessons for a friend’s wedding (I’m gonna count it as cross training. :)

Thursday:
Vinyasa and/or running, both if I have time! :)

Friday:
Run 3-4 Miles

Saturday:
Power Vinaysa, Long Run, Runner Block Party

Sunday:
Rest day?

Therefore, our training plan is pretty much malleable and will change week by week. We’ll see you it goes!

Epic Oregon Relay Race Report

2010-06-27T20:17:00.001-07:00

First a numbered recap of the previous week:

1. Running-wise, we ran 2 days total. About 3 miles on Monday and about 2 miles on Wednesday. I have no idea what our pace was, but I didn’t care. My legs felt ok, and I hoped they would hold up for the weekend!

2. Yoga-wise: I went Tuesday and Wednesday. I even made it to class AFTER running on Wednesday. It was power (hot) Vinyasa, too, and it was a VERY warm day! But I still felt great, and hoped the yoga wouldn’t affect my running over the weekend. (Spoiler alert: no problemo!)

With that out of the way, onto the relay!

First of all, I found out on Monday that I was assigned to the very first leg. I was cool with that, since that meant I would be the first one done. I was given the legs that were qualified as 8/12 difficulty (1 being hardest, 12 being the easiest) and capped out at 11.46 miles. Seemed do-able. We met most of our team members at a pasta party the night before. I knew everyone that was going to be in our van (including J!) but I was able to meet some of the people who were in Van 2.

Our Van was scheduled to begin in Lake Oswego at 11:30am; we parked near the starting line at 11:15am. Yeah. I think I’ll use the first mile to warm up… (BTW. You may notice, we were no where near super serious and competitive for this relay. We just wanted to have fun!) We got our packets, goodie bags, and I got my bib placed, then lined up at the starting line. Our group was starting along with, I think, 5 other teams? Anyway, once the gun went off, every single one of the other runners quickly outpaced me. Whatev’s, I still needed to warm up.

Leg 1:
My first leg was 3.8 miles and classified as “Mild”. It was through some pretty neighborhoods in Lake Oswego, and started with a slight incline. The incline was followed by a nice, smooth downhill and some nice flatness. I managed to catch one of the girls from my group on the flat section, and got a nice lead on her, until I made it in time for a stoplight. Sweet. Yeah, I was there for at least 4 minutes, and she totally caught back up with me again. But I was dead set on finishing before her, and once I figured out where I was supposed to go, I kicked up the speed, and finished with a nice kick.

3.8 miles (8:58 avg pace, including the stoplight…)
Mile 1 – 8:48 (Warm-up + incline)
Mile 2 – 8:30
Mile 3 – 8:50 (Not sure why I slowed down…)
Mile 3.8 – 9:52 (avg pace; Tapping my foot at the stoplight)

Van Exchange 2:
After our final runner passed of to Van 2 (that would be J), we headed off to the second Van Exchange to get some rest before starting our second leg. I was able to get about 2 hours of “half sleep” since so many other teams weren’t trying to sleep, and many groups were ahead of us. I learned later that earplugs really help out a lot!

Leg 13:
My second leg was 4.4 miles and took place at dusk. My leg was classified as “Hard” but was totally worth the price of admission. The lighting was beautiful, and so was the landscape. I passed vineyards and farmland and greatest of all, Christmas Trees! It smelled like Christmas!! All this beauty was almost enough to distract from the ass kicking I got. We started on a straightaway, where I caught up with one of the runners who had started a little ways before me. I think there were a few rollers after the flat start, and then I saw it, the first big hill. I knew there was a good hill at the end of the leg, but it was too early for that. There was a monster hill in front of me, but I saw the top, and managed to get through it without difficulty. Some super nice vans slowed down to cheer me on, which totally helped too. Finally, I reached the top. (Thank you Christina. I am a “Fighter” ;) No sooner had I reached the top, than I saw the start of the 2 mile climb that would take me up 200 feet. Thank goodness I had some music to push me through. I kept a pretty good pace, throughout this leg, and I’m really proud of myself for it. It was hard for me, but I really think I pushed through the leg quite well. I was slightly worried that the girl I passed at the beginning would pass me on the climb, but no worries! I think I even gained some ground on other runners in front of me! Booya! :)

4.4 miles (8:58 avg pace)
Mile 1 – 8:11
Mile 2 – 8:47
Mile 3 – 8:53 (I think this is where my pre-hill was)
Mile 4 – 9:57 (wee!)
Mile 4.4 – 9:05 (avg pace; I got a mini-downhill here)

Van Exchange 3:
We finished this section at about midnight. We were pretty exhausted. We made our way to my alma mater, Corvallis High School. As soon as my earplugs were in, I was out like a light. It didn’t seem long, though, when J woke me up at about 4am to tell me Van 2 would soon be coming our way. I changed my clothes to smell a bit fresher (nice try!) And got my night gear back on.

Leg 25:
My third leg was definitely my easiest, so I wanted to bring in some speed. I was pretty excited to be running through a town I lived in for 3 years of my life. (We moved around a bit when I was growing up.) It was kinda chilly when we were standing still, but I knew I would warm-up after I got going! When we saw our runner coming, I stripped down to my shorts and t-shirt, and took off! This section didn’t seem to be marked quite as well as I would have liked, so I hoped I was going the right way! I was making my way outta town, and was feeling really great. I was just noting to myself how lucky I was to be hitting all the stoplights just right, even though there wasn’t much traffic out at 4:45 in the morning, when all of the sudden, BAM!, gravity became my enemy. Yes, I knew it would happen sooner or later. I mean, I trip while walking on sidewalks, what did I expect when I was moving at a much quicker clip. Yeah, I fell, and it was really spectacular. Somehow I went down on my left elbow and knee, rolled onto my left hip, and finally onto my backside, where I skidded to a halt. I didn’t see any runners behind me, and there were only a few cars, who didn’t stop. Phew! That could have been more embarrassing! I assessed my body and nothing seemed too out of order, so I got back on my feet and continued on. There was a little stinging, but nothing too bad.

I crossed a bridge, but when the sidewalk ended, I was no longer sure I was going the right way, but I started along the shoulder of the road anyway. Luckily, a guy passed me soon after, and told me he was pretty sure we were going the right way. Phew! Soon enough, another guy caught up to me. He didn’t pass me, and chatted with me for the rest of the leg. It was kinda neat to have someone who distracted me from my pace, and how far we had left, and whether or not I was lost, but eventually, I wanted to pick up the pace. I felt bad about potentially leaving him behind; I didn’t want to be rude! Soon enough, I saw the exchange and picked up the pace, leaving chatty behind.

I was done! I may have been able to go faster, but I was definitely breathing HARD at the end! J was there to give me some water, and I muttered, “Is my elbow ok?” After the initial fall, my wounds weren’t feeling too bad (thank you adrenaline!) but I knew there was probably some blood, especially with my heart pumping so hard, and I was indeed correct! J was worried, but I told him it was ok. Luckily, we had been in charge of bringing the first aid kit; hopefully that wasn’t bad luck! My wounds cleaned up pretty nice, and aren’t hurting too bad today. (I’m just hoping my bruised hip, elbow and knee won’t affect my yoga! I’m addicted!) I’m just glad the fall didn’t happen until my last leg! :) (I’ll post a pic of the blood at the end, beware if you’re squeamish.)

When J was done (after a grueling 7+ mile run, 4 of which he had horrible ITB pain…) we headed to the finish line in Eugene, and took a glorious nap! We woke up in time to greet 5 of the runners from Van 2 and await our last runner. When she entered the park we all hobbled behind her (none of us was feeling up to running anymore at this point) and finished as a team. What fun! We had to wait around a bit for our epic medals, but then headed off for some Cafe Yum, which we enjoyed along with some beer and pizza (I was starving! We had subsisted on pretzels, animal cookies, and donuts until this point. Yeah, epic running food!) and watched the US vs. Ghana World Cup game (US played well, Ghana is a tough team! Trust me, I’m a Germany fan.) Finally we headed home, a little grungier, a little smellier, a lot more tired, but with some great memories of an awesome relay.

I think this was a great first relay, since the legs are pretty quick, not too difficult, and was over within a little over 24 hours. I can’t wait for the next one!

Mile 1 – 8:49 (This is when I bit it, aka “My EPIC fall”)
Mile 2 – 8:01
Mile 3 – 8:01 (No, seriously)
Mile 3.18 – 7:40 (avg pace; “see ya!”)

Here’s some pics of our good times:

The starting line (I’m in the bright blue with the white hat):

And, we’re off:

Running Leg 1:

Finishing Leg 1:

Handoff:

J and I looking cute at some point:

Starting Leg 13:

So pretty:

My favorite (and now my Facebook profile pic!) Finishing strong!:

My second handoff:

I don’t have any pics of my 3rd leg (which was during a beautiful sunrise, by the way. But I do have this):
That look says: “I might look like this, but I am done!”

J and I after a glorious nap and ravenously hungry. (We are beautiful):

Finish line:

Not sure what this next week will bring except for 3 things:
1. Sleepover Half Marathon (I’ll explain this in a later post some time this week.) on Friday night.

2. Germany vs. Argentina early Saturday morning after Sleepover Half Marathon. (Sleep deprivation is my new thing)

3. Flat Half/Full Marathon aid station volunteering on Sunday.

As for the remainder of the week, maybe some running, and definitely some yoga! See you soon!

Yoga Week Recap

2010-06-20T18:33:00.001-07:00

This week was void of running, which was completely planned. We just ran our first half marathon, so our legs deserved a rest!

But I didn’t take the week totally off (J on the other hand…) I got a 2-week pass to a nearby yoga studio and have been keeping myself busy! Here’s a recap and my thoughts on the different classes I tried out:

Monday:
Rest Day (Ok, I was lazy this day…;)

Tuesday/Wednesday:
Yin Yoga
This was a nice easy/smooth way to start my yoga program for the week, especially for my tired legs. This class focuses mostly on gentle, prolonged stretching, with some meditation thrown in the mix. It was a great class, and I think it would be a great way to gently calm yourself down after a long day (or a big workout, I’m sure). I always left much calmer and happier than when I came in. We did a little more meditation the second day and I found some stuff I didn’t know I was carrying around inside. It was nice to actually be able to acknowledge that, and to get it out of my system. I think I’ll definitely try to hit up some of these classes in the future, especially if I’m having a tough week (physically or emotionally).

Thursday:
Vinyasa
Well, I think I’m in love with Vinyasa. What a great workout for strength, balance, and flexibility. The focus of the class is on the “flow”, synchronized with breathing, through each pose. I like that the instructor gives you so many alternatives for each pose. This way you can get a workout that’s best suited for your own abilities, without pushing you into something you’re uncomfortable with. I was definitely sore the next day, especially in my hips and quads (perfect!) as well as my arms. Oy, those guys are weak! How embarrassing! :P

Friday/Saturday:
Rest Day
Unfortunately, the only class on Friday that I could make it to after work was too advanced for this beginner, and there were no classes available after work for me on Saturday. (Yes, I had to work this Saturday, but it was the last of my 3 Saturdays this year! :) So I had a few lazy days. I played with the idea of running, but decided to just take it easy, be good, and wait for Monday, just to play it safe.

Sunday:
Power Vinyasa (aka HOT yoga)
I was scared of this class. I don’t really like “heat”; at all. When it looks like its going to be hot out, I tell J we’re going to the coast, or to the movie theater. And basically, anything above 80°, well maybe 78°, is too “hot” for me. I’m a wuss! So the addition of heat (95°) as well as the word “challenging” in the description of the class, made me wonder if I was getting myself into something I might regret. But, I’m happy to say, it was actually kind of great. When you first enter the room, it’s definitely a little overwhelming! But after you enter and prepare yourself for the class, you don’t even really notice the heat too much. I never felt lightheaded or overheated, so it can’t have been that bad. You’ll definitely break a sweat in this class. I’m not sure if it was the class itself that was more challenging, or whether it was the different instructor, but I was definitely feeling the burn; in a good way! It was also cool to watch the others in the room do their “inversions”, but I know I’m nowhere near ready for that! Maybe someday?

Overall, it was a successful week of yoga, I think. At this point, I know I want to add Vinyasa to my running program. Next week, we’ll start running again, so I’ll have my first attempt at trying to find time after work for both activities. We won’t be running any long distances this week, just enough to shake out our legs a bit before the relay next weekend! We’re going to aim for 2-3 miles Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but that could always change. I have my 2 week pass for yoga through Monday (June 28), so we’ll see if I can try out any other different classes. I plan to continue after that, but just not as often, I’m not made of money! ;)

Helvetia Half Marathon Race Report

2010-06-13T11:43:00.001-07:00

Before I begin, I just have to say, last October, when we started running, I never would have imagined we would finish a half marathon. And, when I say “started running”, I really do mean from scratch. We started running with the Couch to 5k Plan, meaning we could only run up to 1 minute at a time in the beginning; that’s a long way from completing a half marathon! And, *spoiler alert*, yesterday we did, in fact, complete our very first half marathon ever! It was hard, but I think that’s kind of the point! ;)

One other thing. We started running last October, so we have only run in cold, wintery, and/or rainy, cloudy weather; none of this “warm sunshine” business. So yesterday was not something we may have been prepared for weather-wise, but we did our best guessing what we should do on a warm-weather day, but there are definitely some things we learned. But isn’t learning what first big races are for?

We arrived at Hillsboro Stadium bright and early at 6am. The race didn’t start until 8am, but we had heard about the horrible traffic jams you might face if you arrived closer to the start time. Since we arrived so early, we were able to walk around the area and figure out where the starting line, bathrooms (yes, real bathrooms), and the finish line were all located. We headed back out to the car for about 30 minutes, then got our bodyglide and sunscreen on, and headed for the starting line.

Since we were no longer “new” to this thing called the starting corral, I knew that I didn’t want to be stuck in the back behind all the walkers (and I new there were a lot in this race). So we hit up the bathroom about 30 minutes beforehand, then lined up about midway between the timing mats ahead, and the end of the roped off section. When we lined up, there weren’t too many people around, but as they started piling in, the same ole formula of “this looks like a good place to stand” began. There were 2 people with 3:30 pace bands (for the half marathon) just in front of us…Luckily, the start of this race was pretty wide, so it wasn’t a big issue for this race. Yay!

Just before the race started (do we look nervous, because we were!):And we’re off! Here’s a course map, if you are so inclined.

Miles 1-5

We started off at what felt like a reasonably comfortable pace. We weren’t having to do too much dodging, which was nice. We started off with a fairly flat stretch which took us toward the overpass we would cross at both the start and finish of the race. Mile 1 clocked in at 8:58…hmm. That’s not quite the 9:30 I was shooting for. Oh well. We kept running at what felt comfortable. We probably could have tried starting slower, but I’m not sure how much that would have helped in the end.

Our strategy for water was to carry our handhelds (20 oz. I think) and drink at every aid station (there were 9 on the course). This had worked fine on our previous runs (up to 12 miles) and may have worked better for the race if the weather had been a little friendlier! :)

Miles 2-4 clocked in at about 8:50, which was still faster than we were going for, but we went with it. We were feeling good, and were definitely working off the race energy surrounding us. These were mostly flat sections leading us into Mile 5; the big hill. We made the ascent with a little difficulty (it is a hill), but all in all, no worse for the wear. This mile was definitely slower, but we made it through without issue.

Mile 1: 8:58
Mile 2: 8:50
Mile 3: 8:50
Mile 4: 8:52
Mile 5: 9:42 (Big hill)

Miles 6-10

After the hill, there was a nice downhill (thank you!) followed by another, smaller hill (or two), but overall not too bad on the stretch that I think most runners would say is the most difficult section. Mile 7 and half of 8 were on an out and back stretch that shoots off from the rest of the square like loop. I tried to keep an eye out for Jen, but didn’t see her, although I saw some other runner friends, which was fun! We made the turn around and realized we had just come down a bit of a decline, who knew?! We made our way back toward the square loop, and quickly realized that there was to be no more shade for the race. :(

The next few miles seemed mostly downhill (reflected in our pace). This was definitely when I was ready to be done. I was looking ahead at the sea of runners wondering where the next turn was. Then it finally came, time for the gravel… (Yuck!)

Mile 6: 8:50
Mile 7: 8:59
Mile 8: 8:41
Mile 9: 8:45
Mile 10: 8:57

Miles 11-13.1

We passed the last aid station on the gravel portion. Lessons learned: Refill your bottle if it’s stupid hot out, your bottle is almost empty, and especially if your friend is manning that station! :P I was still of the mindset that I wanted to run the whole way. It wouldn’t take long for me to change my mind. When we finally made it off the gravel, I was hurting, mostly from being so thirsty. Than I realized I was nearly out of water. I kept thinking: “It’s ok, I have less than 3 miles left!” Surprisingly, that’s not as motivating as it may seem. It’s more like “I have 3 more miles??!! Oh, come on!” We were nearing the Mile 11 marker, and I had to walk. I told myself I could walk until the Mile 11 sign. As we passed the sign, we started running again, although probably slower than we had been.

I knew there was one more incline coming, to get over the overpass. I also knew that I needed to walk that, so we did. I told J several times that he could run ahead if he wanted to, but he wanted to stick with me so we could finish our first half together. (Stubborn, isn’t he?) That seemed cute, until after the race when he told me that now it would be easier for him to get a new PR! :P We reached the peak and began running again. We passed by the location of the first aid station, but it had been all packed up. I was soooo thirsty, and my head was starting to feel a little funny. This seemed like an endless stretch that would never end, then we finally made the final turn that would take us to the stadium (aka: The Finish Line). When we hit mile 12 I told myself: “Only a little over a mile to go! You can do this!” So I tried to pick up the pace. This again seemed like an endless stretch. Every time I saw a large building, I thought that must be the stadium; but no dice. Around the last corner, I had to walk one last time. I was so lightheaded, thirsty, and dehydrated at this point, I’m pretty sure I would have passed out if I hadn’t have walked. As soon as we saw the parking lot everyone was turning into for the final stretch, I started running again. Then we passed the Mile 13 marker. As we entered the stadium, I just ignored my body and gave it my all. (7:53 min/mi!)

Mile 11: 9:47 (first walk break)
Mile 12: 10:02 (walked up the last “hill”/overpass)
Mile 13: 10:49 (last walk)
Mile 13.21: 7:53 (Don’t give up!)

As we were coming toward the end of Mile 12, a few guys passed us and told us that we we only had about 1/3 of a mile left and 3 minutes to break 2 hours. I’m fairly confident that if I hadn’t been so freaking hot and dehydrated I could have found it in me to pull out a 10:00 min/mi, but today wasn’t that day. As J said after the finish, “I would rather miss the 2 hour mark and finish, then have you pass out and not be able to finish.” Touché! Secretly, I really wanted to break 2 hours, but I’m still so happy that we did so well for our first half. And hey, there’s always next time! Hopefully we can make it a cold one! ;)

Results:
Garmin:
2:01:42 (9:13 avg pace)

Official:
2:01:46 (9:17 avg pace)
Age Group 57/319

So, to recap. We did pretty awesome! And we learned a few things:

1) I need more water if it’s over 60°. (Maybe it’s because I used to be a swimmer? :P ) Maybe I’ll look into getting one of those belts for warmer races. The more I carry with me, the better I will feel. I don’t want to rely on aid stations.

2) It’s ok to walk through an aid station, stop, and refill your bottle! (D’oh!)

3) There’s no shame in walking! We were still on target to break 2 hours, even with a few walk breaks.

4) Let’s incorporate some hill training. It certainly can’t hurt!

I’m not sure about our starting pace. We may have gone out too fast, but I feel that if the weather had been more accommodating, it might not have been so bad at the end. I am fairly sure I was dehydrated at the end. I drank so much water at the finish line! And when we got home, my head was killing me, and my throat was so dry! We’ll just have to see what happens next time. I’m fairly certain we can break 2 hours. And by “we”, I mean J can for sure break 2 hours, and I’m fairly certain I can too. (Just maybe not by as much… :)

This week is probably going to be a non-running week, but I’m hoping to hit up some yoga classes! I’m hoping we can find some classes that we really like, and can incorporate into future training. I definitely noticed that my hips need some strengthening as well as some stretching, and I think yoga will help with that. (Plus, it’s fun!) I’ll let you know how it goes!

I’ll leave you with a pic of the starting line (taken from a helicopter!)

Hopefully I’ll have more pictures of *us* when they’re put up online (I was in no state to take pictures during or after the race!) I tried to give a smile to each of the race photogs, so we’ll see how that turns out!

Hope everyone else out there had a great weekend, too!

Helvetia Half Marathon Pre-Race Goals

2010-06-11T18:41:00.001-07:00

Less than 24 hours until our very first Half Marathon! I’m feeling excited, not nervous (well, not yet, anyway. I’m sure that will come tomorrow as we drive to the stadium.)

I took today off from work, so that we could “relax” before our race tomorrow. But we didn’t exactly lounge around the house as I had suspected we might. Instead, after sleeping in a few hours, we hit up Mother’s Bistro for some delicious breakfast. Afterward, we made our way out to Portland Running Company for packet pickup. We were in and out in no time! (Yay for painless packet pickups!) Instead of heading straight home, we made a quick pit stop at a pet store to pick up some items for a new cat that we had been thinking of adopting all week. Originally, I though it might be nice to adopt the cat after our race, but J got so excited that we dropped in to the Cat Adoption Team for a few hours, and walked out with a new kitten! Isn’t he cute!? (Sorry it’s blurry. He likes to play!)

His name is Desmond, or “Dez” for short. This might not have been our smartest move, since we have to keep him separated from our current cat (Charlotte), and we must sleep separately tonight! But we are so excited for our new family member! Hopefully he sleeps through the night, and we are rested enough for tomorrow… :P

Speaking of tomorrow, it is supposed to be the nicest day so far of the year, meaning a high of 82°! It has been raining and lingering around 60° for weeks now, and that is what we have been training in. I’m a little nervous about the heat, but hopefully we’re done quickly enough with the race that the heat won’t be a factor. Either way, as long as we finish (which I don’t think will be a problem) we will get a PR! Yay for free PRs! :)

As for our “goal time”, I’m trying not to keep anything specific in mind, since this is our first race at this distance, and the course is supposed to be a bit challenging. There are a few hills in the middle sections, and about a mile of gravel somewhat near the end. But I want to at least start with around 9:30 min/mi pace, and see where we go. I think that’s a safe enough pace to start with, and we shouldn’t burn ourselves out or anything, and we can always get faster! ;)

I’ll try to get a recap up as soon as I can tomorrow, after we chow down on our post-race food and drink (Helvetia Burger and Widmer Beer). Good luck to anyone else heading out tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll see you out there!

1 Week to go + Starlight “Run” Race Recap

2010-06-06T15:30:00.001-07:00

Only 1 more week to go before our very first half marathon! I’m really starting to get excited…and a little nervous. I’m not really worried about finishing it; I’m fairly certain that won’t be a problem…but I’m nervous nonetheless. Just adrenaline, I guess! Here’s the recap of the past week, and than the “race recap” of the Starlight Run which I completed yesterday with GOTR.

Monday:
3.05 miles (10:15 avg pace)
An easy run in Sunriver. A different “Waterfront Loop”. :)

Tuesday:
Travel/Yoga at home
After enjoying a delicious breakfast in Bend at The Victorian Cafe, (Tiramisu French Toast…Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds!) we made the 4 hour trek back home. When we finally arrived, we were pretty tired, and didn’t really want to head out again for Yoga at Lululemon, so we stayed home and did yoga from a DVD. It was definitely challenging, so we definitely didn’t feel lazy!

Wednesday:
We had planned to run this day, but I wasn’t feeling up to running for some reason, and J was having some lingering ankle soreness, so we skipped it. I felt pretty lazy and a bit guilty afterward, but it’s taper time, so no harm done!

Thursday:
3.3 miles (10:55 avg pace)
First Thursday! I can’t believe I almost forgot about it! Again, it was so much fun! There didn’t seem to be as many distant checkpoints this time. There was one down on Naito, but we purposely skipped it! There’s a lot of stop and go during this run, which is reflected in the pace. I think we were running closer to 9:30, but it still felt nice and easy. We enjoyed some beer afterward, and waited to hear one of our tickets read over the sound system, but no luck this time. Maybe next month!

Here we are after the run (it was another rainy day). I’m wearing my VIP shirt for shorter beer lines and extra tickets:

Friday:
Rest Day

Saturday:
8 miles (10:13 avg pace)
We steered clear of the Rose Festival crowds, and took it nice and easy. My legs felt tired throughout the run, which I think is mostly attributed to “Taper Madness” which I’ve read about so much on other blogs. I’m not too worried about it. That’s what adrenaline on race day is for!

Starlight Run Race Recap

Results (As a Girls on the Run Running Buddy):
5K: 55 minutes (17:42 avg pace) (Watch time. NOT chip timed)
We weren’t quite the last to finish (second to last!), but what a struggle! Luckily I wasn’t alone with my buddy. I had my own (adult) Running Buddy to help push us to the end. Since the Starlight Parade begins right after the Run, we had a certain pace we had to keep. (Not my little running buddy’s style…)

The race starts with an incline…”Perfect”, I thought. Little running buddy ran for about 10ft, and we encouraged her to power walk the rest of the way. By the time we reached the top (maybe 100ft into the race) we were at the tail end of the crowd. The rest of the race was a battle trying to try and keep up. Barely a quarter of a mile into the race, we were being told by the police that we would have to pick up our pace. As we weaved through the Pearl, we were a block behind the next nearest group of runners. After exiting the Pearl, the school bus pulled up behind us. “You need to get on if you can’t hurry up.” Great. This is when the endless Cheering began. Luckily we were soon entering the crowd along the parade route. Their cheers and kiddo high-fives gave a little extra energy to little running buddy. We managed to pull ahead of the bus, but it was right behind us the entire rest of the way.

Can I just say “Thank You” to all the “helpful” crowd participants who pointed the bus out to us. We were having a hard time remembering it was there with it constantly honking at us, and the constant police sirens close behind… After 2 miles, we picked up another little running buddy who was heavily struggling to stay ahead of the bus. I thought for sure I was going to lose my voice from all the encouragement I was yelling. Finally, we crossed the 405 onto the home stretch back to Lincoln High School. We descended the final hill and turned the corner. “We’re almost there!!!” And turned another corner. “We’re probably almost there!!!” And then there it was. The finish line! “We did it. We destroyed that bus!!” 1st little buddy crossed, and soon after new little buddy crossed, and it was over. After 55 minutes of constant peppiness. It was a looooong 55 minutes, and it was over. I’ll never look at a school bus the same way again…

I don’t want to be all negative. I think this is a great program, and I think most people have a great experience as a running buddy. (Most buddies seemed to keep themselves up near the other participants.) I’ll probably try to participate again next year. I want to give it another chance. This was definitely not easy, but I felt very accomplished that we got our buddy to the finish line. I also got to see the tail end of a race, which I’ve never done before, and I can say now that I’d really rather never experience it again! :)

In other news, only one more week to go until the big day! I plan to post again before the big day with my race goals (spoiler alert: #1 = to finish!) and my thoughts going into the race. We’ve got a nice easy week ahead of us:

Monday:
3 miles

Tuesday:
REST!

Wednesday:
3 miles

Thursday:
My plan says walk for 2 miles, we’ll see what happens.

Friday:
Day off from work. Packet Pickup.

Saturday:
Helvetia Half Marathon!!!! (13.1 miles of FUN!)

Sunday:
Bask in our glory!

2 Weeks Left

2010-05-31T12:15:00.001-07:00

Well, less than 2 weeks now, until our first half marathon! Which means we’re in taper mode. But don’t tell my legs that, because they won’t believe you! Here’s the recap of the last week:

Monday:
4 miles (9:16 avg pace)
Rare Solo Run. Since J had just run his heart out the day before, I went out on my own for a solo 4-miler. This was an “easy” run, but my pace doesn’t really reflect that… It felt really easy, though, so I was shocked to see that pace! Where’d that come from? Maybe I was just inspired by J’s super fast race? Or maybe it was Lady Gaga pumping through my head? Whatever it was, it made me feel good! :)

Tuesday:
Free Yoga at Lululemon
This class kicked my butt. And I could still feel that butt kicking the next day! Holy smokes! The class was run by Tiffany Cruikshank-Viehmann, who I think teaches others to be yoga instructors, and has written a book about yoga, so she didn’t take it easy on us! This was J’s first yoga experience ever, and I think it was a positive experience, although it was definitely a difficult session. Hopefully he’ll join me for yoga again in the future!

Wednesday:
5 miles (9:22 avg pace)
I thought it might be a good idea to try a run at Half Marathon Pace. I used the McMillan Running Calculator to calculate a “realistic” pace based upon our 10K PR (although, it seems that race ran a little long). This puts us at about 9:30, but for some reason I thought we’d try for 9:20? (I can’t remember my though process on that one…) Anyway, I figured we’d warm-up for the first mile, then get into the HMP for the next 4 miles. The first mile was a nice warm-up, then we tried to pick it up a little… 8:59. Whoops! Slow it down! The remaining miles were a little better, if I were trying for a 9:30 pace, but for some reason I was going for a 9:20 pace, so I was getting frustrated. Overall the average was what I was going for, but that hadn’t been the goal of this run…Oh well! At this point I think we’ll start with 9:30 pace for the race, and see what happens from there. I usually speed up as the race progresses, no matter what, so no harm in starting conservative!

Mile 1: 9:41
Mile 2: 8:59
Mile 3: 9:31
Mile 4: 9:29
Mile 5: 9:11

Thursday:
4 miles (10:13 avg pace)
Another waterfront loop. Nothing too excited about the run itself, but we did spot Alisa and Jen on their bikes. I love living in my little big city! :)

Friday:
Driving through Memorial Day traffic on the way to Sunriver/Rest Day

Saturday:
9 miles (10:17 avg pace)
We didn’t have any huge plans for this run. I mean, it’s only 9 miles ;) (Amazing how it doesn’t seem so long the weekend after you run 12 miles!) So we just ran from the front door of my Dad’s house, and let Garmin tell us when to turn around. I had seen that the whole of Sunriver was about 8 miles around the outer edges, so I figured we’d stick to that plan. Construction got in our way a little, but we made it back safe and sound, although we were a bit winded. Elevation training! I always have a hard time with the elevation up here.

It was neat to see the paths we had run back in December. I took some pictures as a comparison:

December: May: December: May:Sunday:
Rest Day

Overall, a successful week. Our total for May (after 3 miles on Monday), will be 98.4 miles, which is by far our most ever! (April was 55.7.) Next month probably won’t be as much since we’ll be recovering from Helvetia, but we’ve also got some new plans.

We’re going to be taking part in the Epic Oregon Relay (formerly the Prelay) on June 25-26. There will be 12 of us in the group, and I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve been wanting to try a relay out for awhile now, but didn’t think we were running enough to be an asset. But a lot of the legs on this relay aren’t too hardcore, and I’m pretty sure we’d be getting some of the “easier” legs. (Hopefully)

Also, I’ve been toying with the idea of adding a Marathon to our Race schedule in October. It would be the weekend after the Nike Women’s Half, which we are just running for fun. I don’t think it would be too much to run an easy (but hilly) half marathon the weekend before a full…but maybe someone out there has some good advice? I definitely won’t be signing up for anything right away. And I’m definitely not making any decisions until after Helvetia is over. I’ve just been milling it around this past week.

Anyway, here’s our schedule for next week:

Monday:
3 miles in Sunriver

Tuesday:
Drive back home/Yoga at Lululemon (maybe with Jen and Alisa?)

Wednesday:
4 miles

Thursday:
3 miles

Friday:
Rest

Saturday:
AM: 8 miles
PM: Starlight Run 5k with GOTR (most likely a slow walk, hopefully we make it!)

Sunday:
Rest

Peak Week

2010-05-23T15:01:00.001-07:00

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! ;)

Hmm…

2010-05-16T17:14:00.001-07:00

After the great week we had last week, this week had a lot to live up to. Unfortunately, it came nowhere near. In fact, it was a pretty poor week overall. Here’s a recap:

Monday:
Skipped a run because we were “sore” and basically lazy… I would regret this after Tuesday.

Tuesday:
Track. This is where it all went wrong. Here was our workout:

Start at L pace. 400-400-400-400 (500)
Then 2 sets: 400-400 (300) at M pace
Then 2 x 400 @ S pace (400)
Then 4 x 200 @ S pace (200)

5 miles (3 fast) (Add in our warm-up and cool down, we ran 6.71 miles.)

Looks easy enough, unless you aren’t sure what your pace is, and totally run too fast…for the whole thing. I was quite sore for the next few days, which I think was in part due to going too fast during the workout, as well as not having a recovery run after our long run.

Wednesday:
1.6 miles (10:44 avg pace)
This was a slow run which I had hoped would effectively work out whatever kinks were left over from Sunday and Tuesday’s runs. It did not work. My lower legs felt almost numb during the run. Maybe it was more of a “tingling”. It was enough to make me have to stop. (We’d only planned on running 2 miles since we were both feeling pretty worn out.) The weird “tingling” pain lingered for a few days. It felt better by Friday, but I didn’t want to chance anything, so we held off running again until Saturday (our planned long run for the week.)

Thursday:
Rest/recovery

Friday:
Rest/recovery

Saturday:
Planned- 11 miles
Actual- 9 miles (including 1.5 miles of walking; at least I was on my feet?!)

For this run, we decided to try out the Banks-Vernonia Trail. I’ve heard such great things about this trail from Jen, and we’ve been wanting to try it out for awhile now. It really is a great trail (regardless of how I felt that day…) We’ll definitely make the trip out there again! We might just try a different trail head (the paved portions were wonderful!) We parked in the empty parking lot of the Tophill trail head (which should have been a clue, I guess) which gives you access to a gravelly trail in both directions. We ran out of water on our 10-miler last weekend, so we were planning on running 3 out-and-back to refill our water bottles at the car, then 2.5 out-and-back in the opposite direction. The gravel only lasts for 1-2 miles in each direction, but I don’t think gravel was the best idea for the condition of my legs yesterday…

It took awhile once we got started, but my legs were somewhat warmed up a few miles into the run. We were sloooooow (11:00+ min/mi avg, more plus than anything…), and I never really felt that great. First, I was nervous about any sensation I felt in my lower legs. They were actually not a problem during the run (thank goodness!!), but I was still paranoid they were headed toward a lingering injury. Next came the hamstring cramp. I’ve noticed my hamstrings becoming more and more tight over the past couple of weeks. I have been stretching them, but I have definitely been giving much more attention to my trouble spots (aka my lower legs). I easily cramp up in this region, and really need to focus more on stretching these guys out (as well as strengthening their neighbors, my quads!) I was able to stretch my hamstrings out, which successful solved that problem (yay!), but another one was just around the corner.

So, as I mentioned above, I learned something this week. The best terrain for sore legs is not gravel. Gravel running is apparently my body’s worst nightmare… especially my hips! As soon as my hamstring problem subsided, a new pain slowly started creeping into my right hip. I tried to see if the pain would diminish if I continued running, but focused on my gait. Unfortunately, it only got worse. The pain became so bad 7.6 miles into the run that I had to stop. I tried stretching it out, which made it feel sooo much better, but only temporarily. As soon as I started running (or walking for that matter) the pain would start up again. It was very frustrating!

Since it was on the way home from our run, we decided to stop for lunch at the Helvetia Tavern. They will be serving the post-race food after our half marathon, so we thought a run-through was appropriate! The tavern is also located along the race course, so we drove the course after our stomachs were satiated. There are definitely some “rolling hills” but nothing I think we need to worry about, hopefully!

Last week was so great, and this week was, well, a bit of a disaster. Next week is our “peak week” (*fingers crossed*). My hip is definitely feeling better today, but it is in no way pain-free. I’ve been taking ibuprofen, icing, and stretching. I’m hopeful that this is just a cramp, and nothing more serious. I haven’t had any previous hip pain, so I can’t see how it could possibly be anything worse. Overall, my legs are a little sore, which I guess is to be expected after a long run (cut short) :’(. So, as long as my hip tolerates some running…. here’s our plan for the upcoming week:

Monday:
4 miles

Tuesday:
Yoga? (Must…get…limber ;)

Wednesday:
6 miles

Thursday:
4 miles

Friday:
Rest Day

Saturday:
12 miles (Total for the week: 26 miles!)

Sunday:
Me = Volunteering at the Rum Run
J = Running the 5k (without me!)

After last Tuesday, I’ve decided to hold off on Track workouts until after our Half. You have to have a good 5k/10k time to pace off of, and I don’t really have an accurate one, at the moment. I know that my current 5k/10k time would be faster than my current PRs, but I don’t want to break my body trying to find the right pace; at least not until we’ve successfully finished (and rocked!) the Half! :) At this point, I think it’s most important for us to get through our scheduled runs. We’re not (and should not) be aiming for a specific time, anyway. Our number 1 goal is to finish, and as long as we do that, we’ll PR! (Isn’t it great to be a newbie?)

I also want to make sure I keep up with my stretching. I can get quite focused on my “trouble spots”, but I wouldn’t have so many if I treated all my “spots” equally, now would I? I know of some free yoga classes nearby that I would like to try out. I’ve done yoga before, and really liked it. It could be a great way to cross train for increased flexibility and strength. Here’s hoping anyway!

And now for some pictures from the weekend:

Gravel…Cure for a lousy run? / Practice run for our post-race fuel! After a lousy run, before beer/food: Beer: Food: After beer/food:

Cheers to next week!

And…We’re back!

2010-05-09T20:45:00.001-07:00

This was a busy, but successful week! So, lets get right into it.

Monday:
Rest day in Cali. We took our rest seriously!

Tuesday:
We flew back home this day. J was too tired to run, so we skipped track and I ran on my own. Nothing too exciting to report. I felt good during the run, and held a decent pace.

3 miles (9:34 avg pace)

Wednesday:
Since we skipped Track on Tuesday, we tried out our first tempo run on Wednesday. I had 5 miles on the schedule and thought a 1 mile warm-up, 3 miles at tempo, and 1 mile cool-down would suit us just fine. The only question I had: “What is the most appropriate tempo pace?” Calculations based upon our 10k PR, would put our tempo pace at about 9:15-9:20. But since that race was probably “a bit” off, and we ran 8:00’s as our T pace at track, I figured somewhere between the two would be our best bet. I picked 8:30’s as our goal pace. Here’s how the run broke down:

Mile 1: 10:04 (Warm-up)
Mile 2: 8:23
Mile 3: 8:13 (We turned around during this mile.)
Mile 4: 8:24
Mile 5: 10:01 (Cool down)

5 miles (9:01 avg pace)

The next day, I was curious to know how a tempo pace should feel. (I wanted to make sure I hadn’t gone too fast.) I found this description on the Runner’s World website: "Talk Test: A question like "Pace okay?" should be possible, but conversation won't be.’” That’s pretty accurate, but it was more like, "Turn left...[heavy breathing]...$%&!!!" :P Curiously, the last cool down mile felt soooo slow, I was shocked that it wasn’t more like 13:00! ;)

Thursday:
First Thursday! This was a LOT of fun. At 6pm, they put up a map of several near(-ish)-by businesses that you can run to. When you reach one of the given destinations, you are given some raffle tickets (more tickets the further the you go). You are given one hour to collect as many raffle tickets as you can. You put your raffle tickets into the bin, and shortly after 7pm, they begin the drawing for several running related prizes!

When the map was released, we formulated a plan (and by we, I mean someone else in our group who is a veteran to these runs!) Now, you can run as far, and as fast as you would like on these runs, but we just went with the flow of our group. We started off by heading out to the Lower Macleay trail stop; 0.8 miles for 4 (?) tickets. Next up was the Leif Erikson Trail head up on Thurman; another 0.8 miles up a nice long hill. The hill didn’t actually seem too bad, I actually enjoyed running up a hill for once! :) Next we headed back to NW 23rd and hit up several of the businesses near to the finish location. We got a nice pile of tickets in the hour, and I kinda won some new socks! :) (And we got to enjoy some free beer!)

4 miles (avg pace 10:00?, probably)

Friday:
Rest day

Saturday:
Work :( And then BBQ :)

Sunday:
10 miles!! WOO! We decided to head over to the Leif Erikson trail this morning. Although it was mostly an uphill climb until the turn-around, it was nowhere near as bad as our last trail run attempt… I forgot to turn off my Garmin’s auto-pause until about half-way through, and since the signal is often “lost” when we’re up there, I do not have accurate splits. I didn’t even have an accurate overall time (auto-pause fail). So I took the time we had and added about a minute to get an estimated average pace. (There was probably about a 400ft elevation gain on the first half, and descent on the 2nd half, so the pace probably wasn’t “even” throughout, but the effort definitely was!)

10 miles in about 1hr34min (9:24 avg pace!)

Overall, it was a great running week! 22 quality miles on the books, and we continue to climb for another couple weeks! Only a little over a month until the big day! Here’s the plan for the upcoming week (completely subject to change, of course):

Monday:
4 miles? (Monday or Wednesday, we’ll see how we feel tomorrow.)

Tuesday:
Track?

Wednesday:
4 miles? (Monday or Wednesday, we’ll see how we feel tomorrow.)

Thursday:
4 miles

Friday:
Rest Day

Saturday:
11 miles (hopefully flat :) [24 total miles]

Sunday:
Rest Day

Here’s to another great training week! :)

All not according to plan, Part 2

2010-05-03T08:32:00.001-07:00

And now for Part 2:

Firstly, we flew down to California (again!) on Saturday for my final dental appointment (and of course to see family!) We needed to get 8 miles in sometime over the weekend, and I wanted to get it over with on Saturday, since we had a Birthday Party to go to on Sunday. (Birthday parties are important when you’re 4 and 6!) I was just planning on having us run along the beach, like we did the last time we were down here, but J wanted to try something new. So he talked his friend into driving us down to South Orange County (Aliso/Laguna area) to try out a trail. Not the best choice.

J thought the trail would start with an uphill climb, then level off when we got to the “top”. The trail started out friendly looking enough, but that didn’t last very long. It definitely took off with a very brutal climb. We didn’t run this first section. (I’m pretty sure I would have tripped and died, if we had.) So we waited for the summit, but it never came… Eventually we started running, but after 1 mile of climbing straight upward, we called it quits, and made our way back to the parking lot. I was kind of upset. I really wanted to get a quality 8 mile run in this week, since last week was such an utter failure. So we decided to wait and try again on Sunday.

After the party on Sunday (about 5pm), we finally headed out for our run. I was a little nervous to start so late in the day, especially down here. (It’s hot for us!) But it actually turned out pretty well! We took off straight from my mother-in-laws house, and made our way to the the mighty Santa Ana River (lol). There is a dirt/rock path that runs alongside the “river” with beautiful views of a playground, a plant nursery, and a sewage treatment plant! We even got to wind our way over to Costco, and run under the 405 freeway. What beautiful scenery! (Sense any sarcasm? We are definitely blessed in the NW!) The first half of the run was kind of rough with the sun on our backs, very little breeze, and minimal distractions in the form of scenery. But, when we turned around, the run got much better! There was a heavier (and very welcome) breeze that cooled us off immediately. We were also able to refuel with Espresso Love Gu. (Better than Mint Chocolate!) We somehow lost J’s Gu, either along the way, or in the house, so we ended up sharing. I definitely want to try other refueling sources during our next several long runs. I’m still not completely sold on Gu.

We made our way back feeling pretty good and very accomplished. We ran 8 miles today! That’s farther than we’ve ever run before! Here are our splits:

Mile 1: 9:55
Mile 2: 10:27
Mile 3: 10:23
Mile 4: 10:11
Mile 5: 10:14
Mile 6: 10:01
Mile 7: 10:15
Mile 8: 9:46

Maybe not our most consistent run ever, but we were still able to negative split it! (Thank you wonderful breeze!)

Sunday:
8 miles (10:09 avg pace)

I’ll leave you with some pics of our failed run on Saturday:

The very beginning of the trail, with nice shady trees and a flat path (this section was quite short):
Stupid Hill:
Pretty view:
More view:
J, after we quit, on the stupid hill:
Bunny:
Later that night

We fly back up to Portland on Tuesday. Here’s a rough schedule for our week:

Monday:
Rest Day in Cali

Tuesday:
Track (probably)

Wednesday:
Easy 3 miles

Thursday:
First Thursday

Friday:
Rest Day

Saturday:
Work :( / BBQ

Sunday:
10 miles (Double Digits!)

All not according to plan, Part 1

2010-05-02T09:22:00.001-07:00

I started this week by shifting some runs around early on, but really, the whole week was one big mish-mash, which is kind of disappointing, since we had a not so great finish to last week’s plan.

J really wanted to do a track workout on Tuesday, with some of the people we had met the previous weekend when we were volunteering. I had wanted to add in some speedwork this week anyway, so I acquiesced. This meant, however, that we would be running 3 days in a row (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) which would be our first time ever doing that. I was a little nervous about how my legs would handle 3 days in a row (the first day being a “long run” and the third being a track workout), but they performed beautifully.

Monday:
3 miles (10:07 avg pace)

Tuesday: (Track Workout)
This was planned as a 5 mile run, with some speedwork added into the mix. We decided to join a group at the track. This was our workout:

11x600’s with 20-25 sec rest at T pace

Here’s where it gets really good. J had checked out the sheet that was supposed to list our T pace for 600’s, based upon our 5k PR. It is clear that we are faster than our current 5k PR at this point, so we had used McMillan’s calculator to convert our 10k PR into a more “accurate” 5k time (27:01). J saw that we were supposed to finish each 600 in 2:56. Now, I am a Garmin newbie. I could not figure out at the right time, which buttons were supposed to be pushed when. Luckily, J had our “back-up” watch, and was keeping track of our splits, with which we were dead on. (I always held a very consistent pace when I was swimming; I think it’s rolling over into running, too!) The one time I think I had the Garmin doing what I wanted it to, it told me we were running at 8:00 avg pace.

Hmm… “J [heavy breathing] I think we’re going too fast… [heavy breathing]… aren’t we supposed to be holding 9’s…?” “No, we’re doing great!” Well, we later found out that the chart must have had a wee bit of a typo in it… Like, it told us to do each 600 in 2:56, when what it probably actually meant was 3:56. OOPS! So, that means were were holding 7:49 avg pace, which is probably why I kept telling J how much I hated him during each rest break… Truth be told, I didn’t know I could run that fast, so that’s exciting! And I was able to hold the same pace the whole way through; 4.1 miles! Looks like I’m going to have to push a bit harder in these 5k/10k races!

Summary:
1.71 mile warm-up
4.1 mile tempo @ 7:49
0.25 cool down (I’m thinking this should be more, next time)
Total: 6.06 miles (That’s longer than last week’s “Long Run”! :)

Wednesday:
Rest Day

Thursday:
GOTR 5k (Oh boy…)

So, it’s not that I didn’t have fun, but it’s not exactly what I had hoped for. I showed up on time and met my girl with plenty of time to spare. She was very hyper and energetic as we were waiting for the 5k to start. She was a bit clingy, which was a little weird, but J has 6 nieces and nephews, so it’s not my first time around the block. Soon enough, we all headed over to the “starting line”. My girl wanted to line up at the front, which I am always hesitant about, because I never start up there, and she didn’t seem to be in the best of shape… Well, I couldn’t deny her, since the leaders were telling everyone to move in. Before you knew it, we’d started. We started running, hand-in-hand. I was surprised; she was holding a decent pace, not sprinting with all her life (like some of the other girls). I heard my name called from behind me, just after the start, and it was Alisa. I wish we could have chatted, but my girl was still charging ahead, so I waved instead. Soon, we were at the hill, and that was when the running stopped…

My girl had a side cramp. I told her my tried and true solution for this (smell the roses, blow out the candles), and soon her cramp was gone. We were walking at a nice relaxed pace, made it up the hill; “water!” Our first water stop of the day, 1/2-way through the first of 8 3/4 laps. We continued walking and finally finished the first full loop. “How many more do we have to go?” “Only 7 and a little bit.” “7!!!!!?????????? We can’t do that!” [Insert super bubbly and motivational Marya] During the second lap, she had a calf cramp, but she was able to walk it off. The next few laps go by without much of a difference. More walking; slow walking. During the 5th lap (and the remaining laps) we have to take a standing rest break on the hill. Since we were at least 45 minutes into this thing, my motivational pep talks were needing their own motivational pep talks, and we were only halfway through!

Eventually, other volunteers jumped in (Hallelujah!) and tried to inspire her. We got nothing. She continually told us that she wanted to quit, but I kept telling her, “No way! We can do this! We’re gonna keep going until we’re finished!) Well, as we were nearing the finish line along the loop, and had but 1 lap to go, one of her coaches ran up and said “This is it! You’re almost done!!” I slyly replied, “We still have another lap to go.” You could see the defeat in the coaches eyes. “Well the van is leaving, so this has to be it.” So we finished our less-than-5k. Yes, we were the last to finish, but J says we were probably only 1 lap behind the next to last finisher.

Well, chances are I won’t have to worry about being physically drained the week before our Half. Emotionally? I hope we can finish the Starlight Run 5k! I was sad that my girl’s family wasn’t there, like some of the other girls’ families, but from what she told me about them, I’m not surprised. I would be surprised if they showed up at the Starlight Run… I guess that’s why she’s in this program!

It was a good experience, and I’m sure I’ll try to do it again next year. We’ll see what the Starlight brings!

Summary:
3-ish miles of walking (I’m counting it! I was definitely on my feet, emotionally drained, and I certainly wasn’t going to run after that!)

Friday:
Happy Hour :)

I’ll recap the weekend in a separate post, since this one is already so long (and the weekend is not yet over!)

Earth Day Run Volunteer Report + Long Run Lessons Learned

2010-04-25T20:07:00.001-07:00

We had a busy weekend!

Saturday, we volunteered at the bag check for the Earth Day Run in Tigard. We had a lot of fun, and got to talk to a lot of runners. We were also able to enjoy some delicious beer (specially brewed for the Earth Day Run) from Hopworks. I've never had Hopworks beer before, but I can now say it is delicious! Now I'm even more excited to stop by their restaurant after the Girls on the Run practice 5k this Thursday!

Arriving bright and early:

Checking a bag.

Letting J do all the work! ;)

It had rained for about 10 minutes randomly, but we were able to warm up with some beer:

Since we were “in the area”, we drove over to Dundee for some wine tasting. (Delicious, of course!) Then relaxed (and napped) for the rest of the day.

Since Saturday was so busy, we saved our long run for Sunday. I was looking forward to this run all morning. My legs were finally feeling fresh, but I would soon realize that we shouldn't have waited so long to start our run! (This would be our first mistake.) We ended up heading out after lunch (on full stomachs, our second mistake). We decided to try out the Maple Trail in Forest Park (our third mistake). This trail was much too hilly and difficult for me after the past week. All week my legs have felt like lead, and I decided to finish them off with a super tough run. Not a good idea. I was miserable. My legs were tired, my stomach was upset (ugh!), my Garmin was feeding me weird numbers, and I soon lost all desire to complete our planned 7 miles.

We each took a Gu somewhere in the middle. I was hoping it would make me feel better, but it only seemed to make me feel worse. I tried the chocolate mint flavor, and it felt like I was choking down thick frosting. Blech. I don't think I gave it a fair chance, since I was already feeling pretty terrible, so I'll give it another go sometime in the future.

After the Gu, we found ourselves on the Leif Erickson Trail. We decided to change our path, here, thank goodness. This trail seemed to be much more up my alley, today. By the end of the run, my legs actually felt pretty good, but I still felt like I was going to hurl. I didn't, but the feeling wouldn't go away. We ended up walking the remaining 1.5-2 miles back to the car, since my stomach was giving me so much trouble. This was not the best week for my digestive tract, and it was definitely not the best week for my running.

I'm not going to let this week of running get me down. It was kind of a “recovery” week after last Sundays 10k (which capped off a great week). Everyone has great and not-so-great weeks. You just gotta work with what your body gives you!

Sunday:
5.32 miles (measured out later with maps)
1:18:57 (this includes walking and stopping, at least my Garmin could still measure time...)

We also walked another 2-ish miles. Meh.

Anyway, this upcoming week is going to be great! At least, that's how I've planned it to be! ;) Here's the plan, as of right now.

Monday:
3 miles

Tuesday:
5 miles (We're going to try to make it to a track workout! :)

Wednesday:
Rest Day

Thursday:
5k with GOTR

Friday:
Rest Day

Saturday:
Flying down to SoCal (again!)
8 miles (on nothing but flat pavement!)

Sunday:
Rest Day/Kid's Bday party, so not much rest, I guess ;)

Here's to a better week!

Blah week + Bridge to Brews Photos

2010-04-22T20:47:00.001-07:00

This week has been a really “blah week” after our awesome 10K last weekend. Monday, I was unable to run due to a stomach ulcer flair up, which was probably for the best, because my legs have been really heavy this week. Here’s a recap of the week, thus far:

Monday:
MD visit :)

Tuesday:
Rest Day

Wednesday:
4 miles (10:55 pace)

Thursday:
3 miles (10:57 pace)

No, those paces are not typos (although they are consistent! :). My legs have been heavy as lead. I haven’t experienced any “bad” pain, and I have been able to complete the runs. But I’ve certainly felt better before! I am hoping my legs have recovered by this weekend for our next long run. We have 7 miles on the agenda. Here’s our weekend plans:

Friday:
Rest Day

Saturday:
Volunteer at the bag check for the Earth Day Run.
7 miles (may move it to Sunday)

Sunday:
Rest Day/7 miles (we’ll see)

That’s right! We’re volunteering again! It should be a good time, and I think we’re gonna be working with the same people. (And we might even get hooked up with some free “beverages” at the end! :) I’ll try to recap the race (from the volunteer perspective) at the end of the weekend.

I’ll leave you with some pictures from the Bridge to Brews 10K last Sunday.

Running over the bridge:

The bridge:

The other bridge (Why do I run with my thumbs up?):

The stupid little itty bitty hill, right before the end:

Some brews and our cute matching hats!

Bridge to Brews 10K Recap

2010-04-18T20:13:00.001-07:00

We had a great time today! The course was definitely tough, but we made it through. My Garmin was a little off (it counted 6.4 miles), but I’ll just use its paces for the recap, and report on the “official results” at the end.

Firstly, the packet pickup for this event was not very well organized. We stood in line for 30 minutes to look up our bib number. Then waited in another line (10K or 8K lines) for our bibs. As we picked up our bibs, they attached our timing chips. If we had ordered a shirt, we would have had to wait in another line. Oy! I can think of several things they could have done to make it more efficient, but oh well!

We made it to the starting area this morning without difficulty, about an hour before the start. We got our ID’s checked, and wrist bands applied. Then we waited. They had the kids race right before the start of the 10K, which had us all waiting on the wrong side of the starting area. We finally made it to the starting chute, but had to keep moving to the end on the wrong side of a barricade. We tried to work our way to the middle of the pack, but the gun went off before we’d even gotten past the barricade.

Mile 1: 9:16
The start was a little hectic, but we’ve seen worse. There were of course people to dodge (my mom said there were walkers lined up at the front…) but nothing like the Shamrock Run. This whole mile seemed to be a gradual uphill climb toward the bridge, but didn’t seem too bad. At this point, I thought we were going too fast, and tried to slow us down (to no avail).

Mile 2: 8:43
Yeah, we were going much faster than I had anticipated. This part had a nice long downhill section as we made our way to the freeway on ramp (to exit the bridge).

Miles 3/4/5: 8:44/8:45/8:41
After we exited the 405, we continued onto flat roads with a few turns. My legs and lungs were feeling really good and strong, until we started on Mile 5. Even then, I was feeling good, so we just kept pushing through.

Mile 6: 8:55
I had been dreading this part (the Broadway Bridge) ever since I first read about it. Who puts a hill at the end of a race!? :P I definitely struggled a bit, but just kept running and pushed through it. We got to the top and headed out onto the final stretch. I was feeling strong, so I started to push the pace a bit.

Mile 6-6.4: 7:54 avg pace
And then it came; a stupid little itty bitty hill, right before the end. My legs felt like lead, but I made it up, and we were definitely almost there. Who knows how accurate any of these paces are, but I know I kicked it into gear on the final stretch.

Final Garmin time: 56:16 (8:47 avg pace for 6.4 miles)
Official time: 56:07 (9:02 avg pace for 6.2 miles)

I think the extra 0.2 miles may have come from when we were on the lower part of the Fremont Bridge, which is why it seemed like we were going so fast (especially on the uphill section), but our pace was still much faster than we had anticipated! Yay us! :)

At the end of the race, we kept our eyes peeled for Jen while enjoying our brews. We were about to give up hope when I spotted Zach with my eerie recognition skills. I introduced myself to him and explained how I knew his name. (Yeah, I’m sure I was creepy. ;) We lost him in the crowd, but he found us again, and we got to meet Jen and Amy! Yay! So nice to meet you all!

On a separate note; I notice a lot of things out there as a Physical Therapist, especially other people’s gait. And boy did I see some crazy things! Several people didn’t have any hip extension (stretch your hip flexors people!). One girl had significantly limited hip extension in her right leg, which somehow caused her leg to circumduct? (Her right hip looked really painful!). And the worst of them all was a girl with the worst knee valgus I’ve ever seen. Her knees kept bumping into each other, and I’m sorry, but your knees aren’t supposed to bend that way. The worst part about it was that she was just in front of us for at least 4 miles; we never got past her, and it was brutal to watch! I don’t know how she can run like that, but it will most likely catch up with her sooner or later… :(

I haven’t been too sore today, but we’ll see what tomorrow brings. I haven’t decided if we’ll run tomorrow, but we’ll probably at least go for a walk! ;)

Good job to everyone on their runs today! Hope to see you again, soon!

Bouncing back

2010-04-16T22:03:00.001-07:00

This week was so much better than last week. It is so great to be able to breathe! :) My runs felt really great, and I definitely took advantage of my functional lungs! Here’s a recap of the week:

Monday:
3 miles (9:13 avg pace! what?! oops!)

Tuesday:
Restarted the pushups (and subsequently skipped the rest of the week. oops part 2!)

Wednesday:
4 miles (9:45 avg pace. J had a headache, but I felt great!) We had our first “bloggy meet-up” with Alisa. (I’m “borrowing” her picture.)

We didn’t get to “run” with her this week (husbands are so demanding! That’s why I just bring mine with me! ;) but I’m sure we’ll make it work soon!

Thursday:
Moved our run to attend Trivia Night. Had a lot of fun!

Friday:
3 miles (9:24 avg pace)

Some of those runs may have been pushing it, but my lungs felt great, and so did my legs, so we went for it!

Sunday, we’ll be running the Bridge to Brews 10K. It will be our first 10K and I'm really looking forward to it! I don’t have any set goals, so we’ll just see what the day brings. As long as we finish it, we are guaranteed a PR, which is always a great place to be! We have kept a pretty consistent and comfortable 9:30 min/mi pace, so if we can keep it there (or under) I’ll be happy.

Sunday not only marks our first 10K, it also brings us to our One Year Anniversary; and we couldn’t be happier! It has been a busy year, and I have loved every minute of it! We’ve done a lot together in the past year; a lot of things I know J never thought he would do. But I’m glad he decided to join me! :) Our wedding day was so much fun, and thus far, we’ve managed to keep the good times going! Here’s to many more years! :)

Good luck to all of you on your races, long runs, and other various activities!

SoCal Vacation, Part 2, and back again

2010-04-11T18:54:00.001-07:00

It has been a little while since my last blog entry, and I’d like to say “things have been just too crazy to blog!” But that would be a lie. Vacation didn’t go exactly as planned. Instead of having fun in the sun, I was assaulted by Southern California’s allergens.

Friday, during our vacation, I went to bed with a tiny bit of a sore throat, hoping it would go away. It did not. Saturday was our planned 6-miler, and we completed it as scheduled. I felt good during the run, and my sore throat disappeared (only to come back soon thereafter). Boo! And it only got worse from there. The sore throat vanished by the next day, but then the nose started running, and then the cough developed.

And the runny nose and the cough stayed with me until…well they’re still kinda with me. :(

We returned to Portland last Tuesday, and I was planning on returning to work on Wednesday, but I was still sick. So I planned to return on Thursday, but I was still sick. So I planned to return on Friday, but yeah, I was still sick.

But I’ve finally started to feel better. Finally!! And I think I can return to work tomorrow. *Fingers crossed*

So how did this affect my running. Blarg. Here’s a recap:

Saturday:
6 miles (9:35 avg pace)
The run itself was kind of fun. We ran along the HB path near the pier. Our pace was pretty even, and there were actually a lot of other runners out there. Some in long sleeves and TIGHTS! It was 60°+, and we were roasting! What a difference living in different climates makes!

Mile 1: 9:32
Mile 2: 9:28
Mile 3: 9:41
Mile 4: 9:33
Mile 5: 9:43
Mile 6: 9:33

Monday:
3 miles (9:41 avg pace)
This run was done in the rain. And not just wimpy rain. I think the same amount of rain fell during that 30-ish minutes then falls all day in Portland. :) This run did not feel good. I could not have run any further, that’s for sure.

Wednesday:
Cancelled

Thursday:
Cancelled

Saturday:
3 miles-ish (“Blech” avg pace)
I was starting to feel a bit better, and was hoping this run would make me feel better. Strangely enough, it did. Not during the run (“Blech”), but afterward I did feel better. And look at me today. I have enough energy to blog! (And go with J to Costco! Whoopee!)

It appears that I’m on the mend! Here’s hoping the mending continues. I have my 1st 10K on Sunday (which just so happens to be our Anniversary), so I have to be better by then!

Also on tap for this week:

Monday:
3 miles

Tuesday:
Cross training/stop being lazy

Wednesday:
4 miles/Meet up with Alisa (hopefully! :)

Thursday:
3 miles

Friday:
Cross training?

Saturday:
Rest

Sunday:
Bridge to Brews!

Here’s hoping all goes according to plan! :)

SoCal Vacation, Part 1

2010-04-02T12:32:00.001-07:00

Before I get into our trip, here’s a recap of the week, so far:

Monday:
3 miles (avg. pace 10:22)
This run took place around the city, i.e. around tall buildings. Therefore, I’m taking Garmin’s avg. pace with a grain of salt. Either way, I felt really good on this run, and it was fun taking a random path through town.

Tuesday:
Rest Day, and I mean it!

Wednesday:
3 miles (11:07)
We joined a running group for the Easter Fulton Pub Run. There were probably at least 50 people there, and I think everyone had a good time. J and I apparently are not very good at finding Easter eggs (we only found 1 each, and by “we” I mean J let me have one of his…), but we still managed to have fun! The first 1.5 miles were along a thin trail, and we were following a group in the back of the pack. We didn’t want to pass them for fear of getting lost, so our pace was a little slower than usual (12:13 and 10:57 for the first 2 miles). After we made it to the turn around for the second half of the loop, we picked it back up and brought it in at 9:48. All in all, we had a great time, and I hope we can join in for one of these group runs again sometime!

Thursday:
3 miles (9:35 avg. pace)
I’ll recap this run later on.

Friday:
Rest Day/Vacation Day!

Ok, now onto the vacation:

Obviously, we made it safe and sound! We started our voyage by waking up at 3am! Look how chipper we are waiting for the Max to take us to the airport:

We made it through all the various airport lines, got ourselves some coffee and breakfast snacks (mmm…coffee cake!), and finally made it on the plane.

We flew JetBlue, so I got to catch up on some trashy reality shows. This trip included America’s Next Top Model (reruns) and Sober House; good quality stuff!

We landed in Long Beach 30 minutes early to beautiful blue skies:

We made it to J’s mother’s house by 9:30am. Good Morning! We were fading fast. Nap time? Nah. Let’s just go for our scheduled run! I brought my Garmin and we took off in random directions, around various neighborhoods, for 3 total miles. J totally picked up the pace for the last mile, and we clocked in at 8:59. I didn’t even notice how quickly we were going! Here’s some pics we got along the way:

I like how this picture is all distorted from the combined movements of J an I running:

Self portrait:

Thumbs Up?

Later that day, I had a dentist appointment (our secret reason for coming down here). I’ve been going to this dentist for more than a year and a half for the same problem, but after yesterday, I only have 1 trip back in May, and I’ll be done! It has been nice to have a reason to come down and visit J’s family, so we’ll take it!

Today is reserved for relaxing and spending time with J’s family. Tomorrow, we will complete our long run (6 miles!) sometime around watching the nieces and nephews hunt for eggs. Sunday is reserved for family time! Happy Easter!

I hope everyone has a good weekend, and a good Easter! See you next week!

Girls on the Run

2010-03-30T18:30:00.001-07:00

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:

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?! :)
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

2010-03-28T17:24:00.001-07:00

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

2010-03-26T21:06:00.001-07:00

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

2010-03-22T16:46:00.001-07:00

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

2010-03-19T20:04:00.001-07:00

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!

2010-03-16T18:45:00.001-07:00

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

2010-03-14T18:31:00.001-07:00

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!

2010-03-13T20:01:00.001-08:00

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

2010-03-06T17:02:00.001-08:00

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!)

So far so good

2010-02-28T21:19:00.000-08:00

*fingers crossed*

I ran 3 days last week, all over 2 miles, and no worse for the wear! (YAY!) Here's a wrap-up:

Monday
2.2 miles
11:59 min/mi

Tuesday
2.19 miles
12:20 min/mi

Wednesday
2.52 miles
11:40 min/mi

The paces are pretty slow, but I'm trying to hold back a little, so I don't injure myself. I'm trying to build up the miles to at least 3 at a time, then I'll hopefully be able to pick up the pace. (I also like to blame the pace on the fact that we're running on muddy grass :P)

I've kept up with my post-run ritual (pictures to follow at the end of the post, please excuse my pastiness), and it seems to be holding me together, pretty well (*fingers crossed*).

Step 1: Stretch calves with a straight knee, towel roll to add more stretch.

Step 2: Arch supported soleus stretch (knee bent).

Step 3: Roll out my calves, one leg at a time.

Step 4: Roll out my inner-calves.

Slow progress

2010-02-22T14:03:00.000-08:00

Well, its been awhile. Ok, 1 week, but still, I've got some catching up to do...Let's see. Last I checked in was a week ago today, when I experienced only minimal pain during my run. Well I noticed on Tuesday that I had some lingering pain, so we took Wednesday off (which worked out ok, since we were fasting anyway) and started up again on Friday. Friday was even more pain-less than Monday. There may have been a few twinges, but overall, it was the least amount of pain I can remember having during a run. We managed 1.93 miles, at an unknown pace. (I forgot to stop my watch...Oops!) So, slowly, but surely I am upping the length of my runs!

The weather here has been amazing over the past week. There's been clear skies and it's been pretty warm (60° in February is warm!). It has been so nice, in fact, that trees have begun blossoming...It's only February guys! J and I took advantage of the weather on Saturday and went exploring further into Forest Park. There were a lot of people out enjoying the weather on the trails that day. It was kind of fun to people watch while climbing through the trees.

I completed my second relatively pain-free run today. I wouldn't say my calves/shins felt "painful", they just felt "tight". We've kept to the grass along the waterfront and today completed 2.20 miles at about a 12:00 min/mi pace. I've been purposely keeping it pretty slow to ease my lower legs into running again, hopefully a little better than I did before.

I've really been babying the lower legs after each run (and after the hike on Saturday). I start by going through my Yoga stretches. Since I've been having so much trouble with my shins, I have added some calf stretches to the end of this routine. I stretch 2x on each leg with a towel roll under my arch for at least 30 seconds. I stretch a little bit with the knee extended, but then focus on stretching with my knee bent as well. I am starting to believe that this muscle (namely the soleus muscle) is what has been giving me the most trouble. Since I've begun focusing on stretching this way, I've noticed a lot of improvement in pain. I've read out in the internet world that they believe the soleus is one of the muscles most culpable for shin splints, and thus far it appears to be the biggest troublemaker in my case.

The culprit. Soleus. Look at him, just sitting there behind the Gastroc all nonchalantly. "Who me?"

After I am all stretched out, I get the foam roller out and roll out my calves. I start by rolling on the back of each calve (one at a time) than turn my leg inward to roll out the innermost calf/shin, where I've had the most tightness and pain over the course of my injury.

After the foam roller, I rub out my shins (over the bone in front as well as the innermost portion) to try and keep my muscles from forming knots and causing pain. After all the torture, I reward my shins with ice (20 minutes for each leg). After the ice, I'm done. So far (you know...the last 4 days) it's been working pretty well for me. We'll see how my legs feel going into Wednesday's run. (I'm hoping I continue to be pain-free, and am able to complete the planned run!)

**After reading through all that, I notice that it may be easier to understand what I am doing if I post pictures vs. write out confusing directions. I'll try to have J take pics of my hot legs when I go through my routine next, so I can post them to lessen the confusing words...***

In other news, we have officially signed up for our second 5K, at the Shamrock Run! Originally, I had wanted to run the 8K, but since we haven't been able to up our mileage thus far, we're sticking with the 5K. Hopefully my legs continue to feel ok, and we can go for a PR! *Fingers crossed!*

Hesitant return

2010-02-15T17:40:00.000-08:00

Well (knock on wood!) I think I am easing back into the running game. Friday we started with an EASY run along the grass at the waterfront. We went 1.79 miles at a whopping 13:03 pace. It was slow, but my shins felt ok during the run, and more importantly, ok the day after the run. They didn't exactly feel great or even pain-free, but they do appear to be much better than they were before the hiatus.

We ran again today (Monday) with similar results, at a slightly quicker pace (1.84 miles, 11:21 pace). Again, not quite pain-free but pretty close, and we did a lot of walking afterward without any increase in pain, so I'm hopeful this will keep up! (*fingers crossed*)

I've formulated a new post-run ritual: 1) rub out my inner shin muscles (which always seem to bunch up terribly, but may actually be getting better...wishful thinking?) 2) ice! Thus far this has helped immensely, hopefully the results continue!

In other news, we had a 25% off coupon at a local running store (Fit Right NW), and we made good use out of it. (Well I did at least...) First, I got some new capri pants (Adidas Supernova Glide 3/4 Tights). I have a pair of running pants (they're probably more yoga pants, really) that I've used up until this point, but I wanted something tighter that would stop dragging along the ground behind me. I tried on some full running tights, but they seemed a bit too warm for the weather at this point, so I held off on purchasing them for now.

I also got 2 new pairs of shorts (Nike Tempo Track Shorts and Puma shorts in Kelly Green that I can't find anywhere online). I didn't previously own any "running" shorts, so I was wanting to stock up in preparation for warmer weather.

I tried to find a top to buy, too, but I couldn't find anything that drew my interest, so that will have to wait for another day.

I'm really looking forward to trying out my new gear on Wednesday, and I'm very hopeful that my shins will continue to hold out. I'm going to continue at this distance and pace through Friday, and if my shins continue to be symptoms free, we'll start increasing the distance next week. Here's hoping my plans work out!