This is a long one! + Big news!

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!