Helping hands

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!