Super Woman Blue

I painted my nails Super Woman Blue today, also called Surf City Blue.  For some reason it gave me a little mental boost and every time I look at them I smile.  I'm imagining they are radioactive and leeching super powers into my body through my fingernails.  haha.  I am a dork.

I've researched and queried the heck out of the 18 trying to figure out what went wrong and I've come to a few conclusions.  My number one guess for the primary problem is that I just plain wasn't well nourished or hydrated.  I think I hit a big, fat crash as a result.  Can someone tell me why I always seem to learn best by the crash and burn method?  Would a little common sense be a good idea, maybe?  Shaking my head at myself.  Hopefully I've got that under better control for this week.

I'm also nursing a sore left leg, which has been a bit worrisome.  Hopefully it will get some of those radioactive fingernail polish thingys in time for the run.

Tomorrow morning we hit the 20 and I'm feeling the excitement of it being my last official long run before the marathon.  I intend to run 22 in  two weeks, but that will be a split so it feels different.  I've been treating this run like a dress rehearsal ~ trying to do everything possible to have a successful last run.  We shall see how it goes.

Moving On

Julie and I ran 7.4 today ~ our short long run.  After three days of eating much more than I should of all the wrong things, it felt great to get out there.  I think it was a very successful run for both of us ~ we felt pretty good, had a good talk, finished strong.  After last week's miserable 18 it was nice to feel good about it again. 

I've come to the conclusion that my left leg is probably going to be at various stages of sore from now until the marathon.  It's just tight.  When I'm up and moving around a bit it feels almost fine and when I'm on ibuprofen it's 100%, but when I've been sitting awhile and stand up, I creak along for a bit.  My goal is to get through the next 6 weeks without an injury.  Sore muscles, okay.  Injury, no thanks. 

Planning has begun for the 20.  We're going to run it on New Years Eve morning.  20 miles on the last day of 2009.  If you'd told me I would do that at this time last year, I would never have believed you in a million years.  I'm working hard on my research and planning to improve this run.  I can only go up from that awful 18, so I have lots of room of for improvement.  I'm going to switch up my hydration and nutrition on the run, working on some mental help, and going to work hard this week to give myself every possible advantage in terms of taking care of myself.  I'll spell out the  plan another day, still tweaking as I plan. 

I've also started reviewing the marathon course more closely, beginning to mentally move through it and plan for how I'll feel and strategize how to succeed.  It's getting closer!

Eighteen Really Stunk

Geez Louise, eighteen really sucked.  There's honestly no other way to say it.  Well, actually, there are a few other ways that would adequately express how miserable that was, but I'll stick with sucked. 

I have never been that sore and miserable in my life.  I would rather give birth.  Or possibly chop off my thumb. 

In hindsight, I think I've hit the dreaded "Wall" right about 13 miles the last two long runs.  The difference between the two was that during the 16 mile run I only had a little bit of run left.  During the 18 mile run this week, I had a whole lot more.  It was worse this week.  I went from feeling pretty tired and sore to feeling like there was no way I could take another step.  Not one more.  There was nothing in me that even cared that I couldn't take another step.  I had no idea why I was doing this and only wanted to get home.  I think I scared Julie a little bit, for good reason.  I scared myself, too.  She told me later she considered suggesting a short cut home, but decided "no, we have to finish."  I'm so glad you made that decision, Julie.   

If Julie hadn't been with me, I would have plopped my rear down on the corner of Riddell Road and Monmouth Cut Off and cried.  Then I would have called George, said "Come get me" and dropped out of the marathon.  I'd have run the half.  Honestly.  But Julie has been a gift to me and she didn't let that happen.  She helped me keep on going when I didn't think I could and because of her I finished the 18. 

I was pretty deep in despair about the whole thing last night.  I attempted my first ice bath because I was hurting so badly, but I just couldn't do it.  My shower felt good, though, and thanks to Rachel the pharmacist I took 4 ibuprofen (I never take more than 2) and started to feel a bit better.  I woke up so thirsty in the night and got up to eat peanut butter in the wee morning hours because my stomach was growling madly, but this morning I was much less sore than I expected to be.  I took another round of 3 ibuprofen this morning and I've felt pretty decent all day.   

I'm not ready to think about the next long run yet, but I know there will be a 20.  I couldn't have said that yesterday. 

We had a couple of humorous moments on our run yesterday.  Once we were running along the highway toward Monmouth when a weird, metallic sound sort of "clinked" behind us.  For a split second I thought something metal had fallen from a tree and hit something metal on the ground.  Both Julie and I turned around to look over our shoulders at the same moment, and both of us jumped and screamed.  I think we scared the poor kid on the bicycle who was trying to pass us and had rung his bike bell at us.  lol 

A few miles later, out on Riddell Road, I sort of yelled, "Oh gosh!  Look!  It's a bald eagle!"  I got all excited and was feeling like this was about to be a beautiful moment when we got a little closer and I realized the bald eagle on the fence post was made of wood.  Not such a beautiful moment. 

I'm going to work on recovering a bit and then I'll start to think about the next one.  I'm going to be very, very glad to have this thing over with.

Twas the Night Before Eighteen and All Through the House...

Tomorrow is the big 18.  I must say, the longer the runs, the more I question my own sanity.  Why on earth am I going out to run 18 miles on a rainy, cold Saturday afternoon in December?  That wasn't a rhetorical question.  I really need to know the answer! 

Here's a couple of reasons off the top of my head in my very own Pep Talk To Self On The Eve of Eighteen:


1.  My calf muscles are now killer. 
2.  My quads are now killer.
3.  I  now have great hamstrings. (I see a pattern developing here.)
4. I think there might be muscles developing in my stomach.  Maybe.
5.  Ten pounds lost on the scale since September.
6. Eating Christmas candy with less guilt than usual.
7. New excuse for why my feet look so beat up.  Never mind that my feet have always looked beat up.  Now I have a reason.
8.  Making friends with Julie, who is strong and encouraging and determined.  So thankful for your roll in this journey, Julie!
9. No more skinny, sharp shin bones.  I used to think I was born with them.  Now I know they were just lacking muscle to fill them out.
10. Ninja outfits.  Oh yeah, baby,


I thought at least some of my reasons would be spiritual and enlightening, but there you have it ~ straight off the top. Shallow and passing.  lol  There are deeper reasons, of course, but we'll save that for another day. 

Wish me luck tomorrow. 

17 degrees

I am a mild temperatures girl.  I've lived all my life in the three west coast states where mild is the word of the day.  We've been in a cold snap all week and haven't been above freezing in what feels like forever, so today I finally gave up and ran in it anyway. 

Julie and I ran 7 miles, all bundled up like the woosey girls we probably are.  Gloves, ear wraps, cold gear, vests, jackets ~ Julie even had a scarf wrapped around her face.  I bet we looked pretty goofy out there.  Turns out it was a great day for a run, even at 17 degrees.  Took me a bit to get used to breathing that super frigid air, but after I adjusted I was good to go.  I eventually took my gloves off and unzipped my jacket, but other than that I felt perfectly dressed.  My Powerade got colder and colder as we ran, which I had forgotten would happen.  By the end it almost felt like it was a bit slushy.  If we'd been out there much longer I think it would've iced up a bit. 

Seven miles down, seriously enjoyed the run and the sunshine and the cold. 

Beaver Fun Run 2009

Beaver Fun Run 2008:  34:13 nearly killing myself.
Beaver Fun Run 2009:  31:01 running a nice easy pace.  YAY!

This was a very big day for me.  It's the one year anniversary of my first official running event and it's also the first time one of my family members has done a run with me.  My 10 year has set the bar for the rest of the family.  Pretty good day.  :)

Sixteen Candles. Nope, Sixteen Miles.

That's kind of how I start talking toward the end of a long run.  Think I better start salting. 

I just got home from my sixteen mile run with Julie and I don't think I've ever been this tired in my life.  Okay, maybe delivering babies, but that's it.  I told Julie I couldn't sit down before showering or I'd never get up, but I landed in this chair and now I'm in trouble.  Might as well write this down while I still can't feel my feet. 

Today is the most beautiful day for a long run ~ it's sunny and currently 47 degrees.  Perfect.  I met Julie at Whitworth and the plan was to run to Burgerville in the next town and back.  We were both feeling pretty confident, I think.  Nervous but excited and ready to roll.  The first few miles felt chilly, but we warmed up nicely as we headed out into the countryside.  Traffic was heavy today and about 3 miles out we passed a tree trimming crew set up with guys controlling traffic and a bucket truck.  Neither of the traffic guys paid us much notice. 

Our run to Burgerville went very well.  We felt strong and were discussing foolish things like how 26 miles is starting to seem attainable, and how it was so warm it almost felt like summer.  These were ignorant conversations, soon to be regretted. 

We ran into Burgerville at the halfway point and took a quick bathroom break, then back out onto the road.  Whoa! Seems we ran the first half with a pretty strong wind at our back as we were now running dead on into a good old headwind.  We had both choked and gagged down a Gu packet at the halfway point, so we had a little pep for a bit, but that wind really dragged us down fast.  We spent about the next 5 miles running slightly uphill and into the wind.  Everything got louder, colder, harder, slower.  Oh yes, we were having fun now. 

Before long things that never hurt were hurting.  Finally at around mile 12 or 13 we made a 90 degree turn out of the headwind and got a bit of relief from it.  The noise level dropped, the temperature felt warmer and thank the good Lord that wind wasn't in our faces.  Still, we had run through some tough stuff and were hurting more than normal at that point, so we struggled on.

With maybe 2.5 miles to go we were closing in on that tree trimming crew again.  As we ran toward the first traffic guy he yelled something like, "ARE YOU RUNNING ALL THE WAY TO TOWN???" and we hollered back at him.  After we passed by he was yelling and swearing, over and over, "HOT D*MN! LOOK AT YOU GO!"  etc.  We were fist pumping and hollering back and I'm telling you it was the first time I've ever been so happy to have someone swearing at me!  We were both so energized!  I think it lasted all of a quarter mile before we remembered how much pain we were in.  lol

We limped our last couple of miles back the cars.  This was certainly not a glory run.  In fact, the last half really kind of stunk.  I'm hobbling pretty bad right now and this is going to hurt for awhile.  It's done, though, and thankfully I don't have to think about facing the next one for awhile. We finished our sixteen in 3 hours, 16 minutes.  That includes between 4 - 6 minutes at Burgerville to use the bathrooms.  Not bad, considering. 

Long Run Leap Frog

My training plan has been loosely following Jeff Galloway's plan for running your first marathon.  I like what he has to say about not overtraining, taking walk breaks, and generally making it as easy on yourself as possible.  Anything to make this easier!  lol   Anyway, at around mile 14 or 15 his training plan stops adding a mile a week to the long run and starts playing leap frog.  It goes something like: 14 miles this week, 7 miles next week, 16 miles the week following. 

Julie and I have discussed trying that, but I think we were both afraid of losing momentum or losing endurance or something.  Last week I had a good chance to talk to both of my running sisters in law about it, and they both encouraged me to try it.  I needed that little confirmation that it would be okay, so we decided to go for it. 

This being Thanksgiving week, schedules were a little crazy so it seemed like the perfect opportunity.  Last week's 14 mile burrito run is behind us, so today instead of 15 we ran 7.  Talk about a relief!  It was so nice to back off a little today and run a shorter distance.  (Since when did 7 miles become a shorter distance, by the way? Craziness.) We upped our intervals to 10/1 and had a good run.  Finished in a nice comfortable 79 minutes (fast people, please pretend I just said 49 minutes) and we're done. 

Next week we'll jump to 16.  Hopefully that will be a good, strong run and not a day of reckoning for running 7 this week.

Fourteen

It seems that the story of my long runs usually begins a few days prior to the run.  The stories begin with things like "I got lots of sleep this week so I felt well rested on my run".  Or maybe "I should've had more water this week as I felt a bit dehydrated on my run."  Unfortunately, the story of my 14 mile run begins with, "I ate a giant burrito on Wednesday."

It was a delicious burrito ~ quite possibly the best I've ever had.  It was so good, in fact, that I ate the whole thing.  I bet it weighed 3 pounds.  Did I mention the rice and beans were to-die-for good, too?  Yep, I ate all of those, too.  It was heaven, but before the last bite urped its way down, I realized this could be a problem for Friday's run.  I shook off the nagging thought, unbuttoned my jeans (okay, not really, but I felt like it), and continued on my way.

Without getting too graphic let me tell you that I should not have eaten the whole thing.  Bad, bad idea.  A few miles into our 14 mile run I was knocking of the door of the Lavendar Farm out of the highway, hoping beyond hope they would let me in.  Thankfully, the office was open and they let us make a little pit stop. 

Lesson learned.  Giant burritos + Long runs = Bad, bad, bad

Uh huh, I'm Cool

I dressed in my favorite ninja outfit for my short run today, including all my new winter doodads.  Put on my UnderArmour cold gear top, my Nike Pro winter weight running tights, my new headwrap-because-I-hate-hats, gloves... the whole 9 yards.  Before adding the jacket I was Ninja Girl, ready to conquer the universe.  I was feeling mighty fine... even took a picture of myself.  Once I added the jacket and my iPod I was some serious bad mama. 

You know how they say you learn something new every day?  Well today I learned that when you drop enough weight from running, your pants will no longer stay up. Thank goodness I added my I'm-Bad jacket or I'd have been in serious trouble.  While I have certainly been losing weight and getting more fit from all this crazy running, my Four Babies in Six Years stomach does not ever again deserve to see the light of day.  As I was running along, I started noticing slippage of pants right away.  Another half mile and my not so tights were down around my hipbones, while my top was slowly traveling north.  I decided to ignore it, because my jacket would cover all, but another half mile and I knew I was going to have to do something, lest I become a penguin runner.  So now I'm running and hiking up pants, running and hiking up pants.  I'd give them a good tug, then put up with the slippage until I entered the danger zone, then tug again. 

This was all moderately tolerable until I started to warm up.  I ditched the gloves first and got them zipped into my pockets.  Next I unzipped my jacket as far as I could without exposing myself.  Meanwhile I'm running and hiking, running and hiking.  Imagine the graceful, Ninja image I presented as I hitched my gitalong down the road.  On the last hill back up to my house I finally decided to try wrapping the jacket around my waist because I was just plain hot by that point. First I tied it tight, but slippage was still at risky levels above and below the knot.  Next I tried loosening the jacket's knot, thinking it could ride a bit lower and cover the unacceptable stomach.  Nope.  Now my pants are slipping and so is my jacket. 

Finally I just plain gave up and walked the rest of the way up the hill.  Some things are just not meant to be. 

Half Marathon... halfway there!

May 3rd, 2009:  Eugene Half Marathon, my accidental and unintentional half, completed in 2:44.
Nov 10, 2009:  Training Half, this one intentional, completed in 2:26.  So maybe training really does make a difference.  haha! 

Julie and I ran our 13 miles yesterday just 3 days after our 12.  Not ideal, certainly, but necessary due to crazy schedules this week.   All in all, I think it went really well.  We both started out stiff and slow (well, actually we're always slow... so maybe we started out extra slow) and had sore muscles and achy things for the first 3 or 4 miles.  Once we left town and headed out into the countryside we finally started to find our groove.  Mental preparation is making a huge difference for me ~ I'm trying to be very conscious of what I'm saying to myself in my head about all of this.  I think it helped avoid the nasty wall I hit last time we ran this route. 

We were both very happy with our time.  I don't know yet whether I can sustain this pace for 26 miles, but if I could I would complete the marathon in around 5 hours.  I would be thrilled to finish with that time, so I'm feeling pretty good right now. 

The biggest difference I noticed with only a three day break between long runs is that I am incredibly stiff and sore today.  Hobbling along a little, but super pleased with yesterday.  I'm going to rest up for a few days before heading out for a short run. 

Bad Ideas

1. Running out of Shot Bloks and sports drinks before a 13 mile run.  No problem ~ quick trip to the bike shop which is the only place in town that carries sport products.  Discover they are closed Tuesdays.  Thank goodness for running partners who are well stocked and Safeway which is now carrying PowerAde Ion. 

2.  Trying to hem new winter weight running pants at the last second with double sided fabric tape and running out of tape halfway through.

3.  Pulling and tugging at the sports bra trying to figure out why it doesn't feel right, only to discover you are wearing it inside out.

4.  Scheduling your 13 mile run right up against dentist appointments for your kids and realizing you cannot take it slow and easy.  Must. Run. Fast.

This should be an interesting run. 

Velly Intellesting

I am not a fortune cookie follower.  Not.  That said, I opened this cookie on November 7th.  Guess what day I run my marathon?  Yep, February 7th.  Talk about weird coincidences!

Twelve

Julie and I have been doing our long runs as soon as the kids go to school ~ around 8:20.  We've been working on our attitudes about it all week ~ mini pep assembly for both of us.  Our 12 miler was scheduled for Friday morning, today.

Yesterday was a busy day for me (yes, I have a point, hang with me).  I got up, got the kids out the door, took Sarah to school, dropped off Booster Club stuff, took the cat to the vet, drove an hour north to return something at the outlet mall, waited for the mall to open, did a little shopping, drove to downtown Portland, found a parking garage, got my car settled, walked almost in the door of NikeTown when I got a text.  I stopped to read it and it was from Julie.  It read: "Good news.  We will be getting done at this time tomorrow. :-)"  Stopped me in my tracks.  I had done SO much that morning already and traveled pretty far from home.  To realize all that could be accomplished during my run today was very intimidating! 

So anyway... we met at 8:20 this morning at The Pill Box and ran down Miller, out to the highway, down the highway to the green Victorian farmhouse, and all the way back.  Figuring out how to dress was tricky.  The forecast was rain and cold, the ground was soaked, but the sky was partly blue.  First I dressed in all my cold gear, then I changed into lighter weight fare.  I finally ended up in running pants and a t-shirt with a long sleeved shirt over the top.  I packed Shot Bloks, a Clif Bar, and a big old jug of Gatorade.  Sure enough, it was pretty warm out there.  I ditched the long sleeves at the church where we made a pit stop and ran in short sleeves.  Oregon weather is so unpredictable. 

Our run was good... the fear of a very tough run like last week motivated lots of good behavior this week (except for the Candy Pumpkin Incident, but we won't dwell on that...).  We were well hydrated, better rested, good attitudes, ready to roll.  We have been doing 5/1 intervals for the long runs, but today tried out 6/1.  We popped Shot Bloks, hydrated, and ran hard.  (Please don't ask me to define that.  It was hard, trust me).  We spent a couple of miles running into a headwind which was tricky, but on the way home we also had the wind at our back for a few miles.  The sky was spectacular most of the way ~ blue sky, puffy white clouds with black clouds in the distance, autumn colors, a big flock of birds migrating overhead, and even a rainbow set against a black cloud.

The last two miles we finally ran into the rain.  The sky got black and opened up one heckuva cold, pounding wet on us.  Thank goodness it waited until the end and it was good motivation to hurry up and finish the last two miles without intervals.  We finished the 12 miles in 2 hours and 16 minutes and were extremely happy with that considering we ran the Terrible 11 in 2 hours and 13 minutes. 

Another one down! 

11 Down

Julie and I ran 11 miles on Thursday morning and man it was tough from the get go.  We had skipped a long run the week before due to illness but had run several shorter runs.  Still I was nervous about 11 ~ more nervous than I had been about 10 for some reason.  We were scheduled to meet at 8 a.m. and when I woke up it was pitch black outside, pouring rain and the wind was blowing.  So not good.  I whipped off a text that went something like "Are we seriously going to do this?!?"  After a bit of back and forth discussion about our options for rescheduling, we decided just to go for it. 

We had decided to mix up the route of our usual long runs, so we met at Julie's instead of the The Pill Box. I have a 6 mile loop mapped out through town from Julie's which turns around and heads back at one of the elementary schools, out past The Pill Box.  Our plan for mixing up the 11 miles was to run the 6 mile town loop, but at the turn around keep running out and then back another 2.5, giving us the 5 extra miles. 

I think the run was going pretty well until we got the the normal turn around spot.  Having to run another 5 miles there was mentally a kicker and suddenly things got harder.  The extra 5 also heads out into open farm land, where the wind was getting intense.  The last half mile before we turned around felt like we were laying forward into a headwind and pushing through.  Not fun!  The turn around was a relief, as was having that killer wind at our backs, but still the run felt tough.  We both popped a Shot Blok hoping for a little relief, but I'm not sure how much it offered.  Do stale Shot Bloks leftover from Portland to Coast last August still work?  lol

We pushed through, both believing things would get better once we had passed The Pill Box.  Getting past that was definitely tough as it's our normal ending point on long runs.  We made it past, though, and finally started to get a bit of a second wind in the last 3 miles.  We finished strong, both of us immensely relieved we had done the run and not put it off, and immensely relieved it was over.  I was fighting a bit of a panicky feeling about how much farther our long runs will take us in the near future, but tried hard to squash that down.

I am so thankful for Julie, who is crazy enough to be out there running these nutso runs with me, with no immediate training goals of her own.  I want a marathon plan for you, Julie!  You're so strong, you need to do one.

So, 11 behind me.  On to 12.   

Hood to Coast 2010!

We're in!  My team got a spot to run Hood to Coast ~ WOO HOO! 

Vaccine?

My kids have all been rotating through the flu this month, so when I was at Kaiser with one of them awhile back, I spontaneously got the flu mist vaccine.  I've never had the flu shot, which my husband swears by, but all those sick kids must've scared me into it.  I'm wondering, nearly 2 weeks later, if that could possibly be the reason I've been feeling so sluggish and bleh for the last two weeks?  Maybe not, I don't know.  I haven't ever been sick like shoot me now, but I've been sort of achy, sort of exhausted, sort of lethargic... and it just occured to me yesterday it may be the vaccine.  Right or wrong, I'm hopeful that's what it is because I should be bouncing out of that soon. 

Ran 3 miles yesterday ~ had to drag myself out the door in the early afternoon ~ and felt like every step was just hard.  I finished the run and did it pretty fast (for me), but it was tough.  Running again today with Julie, and then 11 miles on Thursday. 

Rough Week

As the title says, it's been a rough week.  We've had the flu around here, and my schedule has been upended for most of the month.  I haven't been fully sick myself, but I also haven't felt my best ~ probably a cycle that I just had a hard time escaping ~ not feeling great so I didn't run, didn't run so now I don't feel great.  Vicious!  I could go on about my woes, but blah blah blah, really.

So yesterday Julie and I ran 3 miles in the morning. We had planned 5, but I ended up with a doctor's appointment that crowded our time.  It was a good 3 miles ~ felt so good to be back out there after a bad week.  We discussed a *maybe* run for today.

Late last night I got a text from Julie asking me ~prepare yourself~ if I could run at 7:00 a.m. because her day was filling up fast.  I considered hyperventilating for a moment, then I considered a big fat ARE YOU NUTS?, but in the end I said yes.  Such a pushover.  lol

It was pitch black when I got up and left my sleeping family this morning, but thankfully not raining.  We met at Julie's and did a 6 mile loop through town, turning around at Whitworth and running back through the park. I'm really glad I said yes and got it done, but honestly it was  tough.  My body felt sluggish and heavy, like I had to really work for it.  I know that's a result of my sloppy week, so I'll be more focused this week.

Glad I did it, but glad this week is over.  Here's to a better week ahead.

10 miles - Big Day!

Double digits!  Julie and I ran 10 miles this morning and it felt great.  In the back of my mind I keep waiting for these long runs to be *too* hard, but so far they really feel good.  Of course there are moments out there where I'm pretty tired and moments when it's harder than others, but overall it's going great. 

This morning we slept in a bit and met at the Pill Box at 9.  Little did we know sleeping in was going to change the run completely.  lol  It was the perfect temperature this morning - cool, but not too cold, a little misty, but not too wet, a bit of a breeze, but not blowing hard.  It didn't stay that way, however. 

We took off running, right into the face of a storm.  We trotted along, chatting about The Biggest Loser and Tracy the psycho contestant, when the raindrops began.  Soon it wasn't just drops, it was a good old rain.  Around 4 miles we turned and were running south, straight into the wind which was no longer a nice breeze.  Headwind... not so good.  We only had about a mile on that road and then we were on our way back to town, now soaking wet.  Our shoes were starting to squish and water was running down our faces. 

Mile 6 brought the lightening and thunder.  The first few flashes were to the south of us with a few seconds between flashes and rolls of thunder, but before long the lightening would flash over our heads and the thunder would peal right behind it.  We joked about having to lie down in the ditch, but jumped out of our skins when the next one crashed.  I think we both forgot we were supposed to be tired from running ~ adrenaline, big time! 

By mile 8 the lightening and thunder had continued north while we ran to the west, but the rain kept pouring.  We ran back into town, soggy and dripping, but laughing and happy, too.  That 10 miler went by fast!  Our time was pretty good, too.  It was our longest run, but our time was better than some of our shorter runs.  I think every time the thunder rolled we ran faster!  lol

I got home and posed for a few pictures, but really you cannot tell how completely drenched we were.  I wrung out my socks on the front porch and it seemed like buckets of water came out.  By the time I made it to the shower there were rivers of water pouring down my legs.  I can't imagine how long it's going to take my shoes to dry out. 

That was seriously fun.  :)

10k this morning

I ran a 10k this morning - the Marion County Domestic Violence Awareness run. I learned a few things:

1. I can run alone and have a fabulous time.
2. I am stronger than I used to be. I shaved 8 minutes off my first 10k time from last January.
3. I might not need my intervals as much as I thought I did.
4. I am not very good at drinking out of dixie cups while running. I sloshed water down my chin, up my nose, onto my shirt, and got precious little into my mouth.

Any day you learn something is a good day.

9 miles and counting

Today was my long run - 9 miles this week. Other than my accidental half marathon, I'm way up into new distances. The 8 went well last week, so I wasn't really nervous until yesterday. There's something about knowing a big distance is looming out there in 24 hours that just creates tension!

I met Julie at the Pill Box down by the hospital with the plan of running down Miller, out to Highway 99 and back to the Pill Box. We spent the first mile with me messing with my new watch. I haven't gone the GPS route at this point, but I happily bought a Timex Ironman Triathlon because of the two interval timers. I tried to set it for the first time in a hurry this morning, apparently without success. Finally I had to just start watching the clock for intervals, got to fix that thing at home I guess.

I think we had a good, solid run all the way out to the highway, so 4.5 miles. At about mile 4 I was thinking I could just run forever. Funny, though, once we turned around and started back it all just seemed so hard. The very slight incline didn't help, but for about a mile and a half or two miles we slogged along just a bit. Around mile 6 both of us were feeling better and at mile 7.5 decided to run it all the way in without intervals. I love how that feels - like you're kicking those miles right in the rear with a good HA!

So now I'm trying not to think about 10.

foggy baby

This morning I was due for a short run and headed out alone. Up till now it's been sunny and mostly nice weather as I've been training... this morning was 38 degrees and foggy. Definitely not a let's go run morning in my book ~ more like a curl up on the couch and drink more coffee morning. I know I'm looking at 4 more months of this weather, though, so staying home was not an option. I pulled out long sleeves, long pants and my neon pink running gloves for the first time this fall and took off from my house. I ran down the long hill, over to the elementary school, then back around a couple of loops of neighborhoods before heading back up the long hill. By mile 2 I was no longer cold ~ neon pink had to go into my pockets. Discovered a couple of things this morning: 1. Dang, I breathe loud. I left my ipod behind this morning and all I could hear was me sucking wind. 2. Jumping onto the caps of acorns while running past them produces a very satisfying crunch.

So there you have it. Now, back to the couch...

8 miles

I've been doing my long runs on Saturday mornings up to this point, reluctantly. Of course that hasn't too many runs yet ~ I think I started at 5 miles, so I've done 6, 7 and this week 8. I decided to try the long run on Friday morning, hopeful that sleeping in on Saturday would feel like heaven. I was so right.

Julie ran 6 miles with me two weeks ago and we've been doing a once a week 3 miler together, too. We agreed to meet Friday morning to run 8. Our run started at the high school tennis courts where there is a conveniently placed port a potty. We stretched a little, chuckled nervously over the insanity of attempting to run 8 miles, walked a lap around the block, then took off running.

My 7 mile run the week before had been rough, so I wasn't sure how this would go. Of course prior to my 7 miler I had stayed up past midnight, eaten an enormous pile of cheese (who can resist smoked gouda?), and had about zero water to drink all day. Oh yes, I was in fine form to run 7 miles. The run was as good as my preparation, but I had a good time with Christi and was thankful to have that week behind me.

In an attempt to learn from my mistake, I got a lot more sleep for the 8 mile, hydrated more carefully and refrained from large piles of gouda the night before. I set my intervals for 5:1, thinking we could back off if we needed to.

I think to both Julie's and my surprise, the run went great! We ran down Miller, out past the railroad tracks, through the farm fields and all the way to Highway 99, our turn around point. The whole time we were chatting and occasionally snacking on little bites of the Clif Bar I had torn into chunks and tucked into the zipper pouch on my water belt. I'm not sure if the Clif Bars bites help, but at least they give me something to look forward to.

Julie and I turned around at the highway and headed back, both realizing we were feeling good. We continued our 5:1 run/walk intervals until about mile 6, when we decided to run the rest of the way in without the walk breaks. It was so great to realize we could not only accomplish the 8 miles, but finish strong! Such a high! I came home and used my energy to clean house.

Since I started marathon training the beginning of September I've been constantly squishing down the thought that I'm not really sure I'm capable of pulling this off. Out there around mile 7 this week I had the glorious thought that maybe I really AM capable of this. I feel an excitement about the weeks ahead ~ somebody remind me of that when I need it, please.

Shamrock Nerves

Just once I'd like to feel ready for a race. Unfortunately, I'm staring down the barrel of the Shamrock Run this Sunday wondering why on earth I talked myself into this!?! I've been on exactly two runs in a month. The first was my little two miler, the second was about 4 and involved a lot of huffing and puffing. The Shamrock is 4.9. WHY didn't I sign up for the 5k? Ack! In addition to my runs I've been doing a lot of walking in prep for walking the Eugene Half Marathon in May, but how much does walking really help for running a race? I'm guessing not much. I've been comforting myself with the idea that I can always walk part of the race if I really need to, but in looking over the website tonight I see that no walkers are allowed. I'm really hoping that doesn't mean the Leprechauns blow whistles at you and point if you need a breather, because if it does I might as well go straight to the Beer Garden and skip that pesky running altogether. I don't even like beer, but hey. Once again, I am so over my head. All I really wanted was the sweatshirt!

She's back

I feel like I lost an entire month of this year to sickness. One after the next we were sick in my house and this darn bug is hard to shake. This week I finally woke up and felt like I had the strength to go for a run. For most people this would result in putting on shoes, lacing them up, and having a nice little jog in the spring sunshine. Unfortunately, this is not how my disfunctional brain normally operates.

Even though I wanted to run, I didn't. Please don't ask me why. If I could figure that part of me out I would be fit, thin and my house would always be neat. My children would always put the lid on the toothpaste and I would have systematically taught them self discipline so that no one ever fails to clean up after themselves. The reality is that I'm a bit lazy and I struggle against it constantly. Well, actually that's not true. A lot of the time I just give in to it. haha!

So anyway, I spent all morning yesterday trying like mad to talk myself into going for a run. I had just about given up when *ding dong* the doorbell rang. It was Tricia, my running partner and great encouragement. She brought me a half marathon training plan, pulled from a magazine, and off she went. It was exactly what I needed. I stood there in my messy, oversized pajama pants and a giant t-shirt, hair every which way and zero makeup and thought, what the heck am I doing?!? So I threw on some running pants and my shoes, yanked my hair into a pony tail and hit the road. I ran 2 miles and felt like the queen of the world. 2 miles isn't much, but it was perfect for my first day out all month. I didn't have to walk, I found my groove, and I felt so darn good when I was finished.

Why do I fight myself so hard sometimes? It's like I have a self destruct mode or something, I don't know. I guess the important thing is that I keep picking myself up and dusting myself back off.

Winter is not so fun for running

I thought I was going to be the tough! one who ran outside all winter long, but it seems I'm the wimpy one who avoids going out there when it's wet and cold. I have these really cool running gloves that I've only worn twice, too. Bummer. Gotta break those babies in!

I've been walking some, once outdoors but mostly on the treadmill where it's warm and there are people to chat with. Today I schlepped along for an hour at a pretty good clip. I'm trying to figure out how to mix walking training into my running. I don't want to give up running to train for the Portland to Coast, but I definitely need to train for it. I need to come up with a plan, but for now I just keep going where the wind takes me. I have to really kind of get inside my own head when I walk ~ mind over matter type deal ~ as I find the walking a bit yawnish. I'm working at it, though.

So I'm signed up for several things, all of which are way over my head and I better get crackin' on the training. March 15 I'm running the Shamrock Run 8k in downtown Portland. Something about it just really appeals to me ~ looks like a party in the streets. The only problem with said party is the running 8k part. haha. I really need to be training for this because of that shin splint thing. I need a kick in the pants, though, as I keep thinking about training but not really doing it.

A quiz

What do you get when you combine steep hills, freezing temperatures, tippy parking spots and gorgeous views? The Zena Road Races!

I followed my friend Christi and her daughter out to the Spring Valley Community Center on Sunday morning in 32 degree temperatures. The skies were clear and blue, but baby it was coooold outside. Parking was along the road with not much shoulder before the gravel dropped off into ditches, so we pretty much parked at an uncomfortably steep angle. The good news is that my car did not roll over into the field below.

I went to this run with two goals: 1) to finish. and 2) to come home without shin splints. The finishing part I thought would be a breeze because I had elected to run the 3 mile race rather than the 6 or the 9. I knew it would be hilly, but I was pretty surprised by the reality of those hills. Not once did I wish I had done the 6 mile ~ 3 was just fine by me! Christi, Amanda and I stayed together through most of the race, although Amanda left us in the dust as she cheerfully zipped to the finish line without looking winded (little turkey).

I was pretty happy with my finish time. They clocked me at 33:11:3. 11:04/mile. Considering those hills, I'm perfectly happy with that. Out there mid-race and halfway up a hill I thought to myself, "You know, a 14 minute mile would be okay on this!" So obviously 11:04 was a happy surprise. :)

No shin splints ~ this is good, but the best part of the day for me was seeing my friend Annette and hanging out with her a little. It was a lot of fun ~ hope to do it again!

Portland to Coast

I just registered this morning for the Portland to Coast Relay and I'm partly very excited and partly very terrifed. If you had told me two years ago that I'd be doing this I'd have thought you were insane, but here I am.

Most PTC teams have 12 members. Ours has 8. Why? I'm convinced it's because we're nuts, that's why. Honestly, I don't know. Gluttons for punishment? As a result of the smaller group, we each walk 3 legs of the race rather than two. I've been given the go-easy-on-her legs of the race and I'm not complaining one bit about that.

My first leg is 5.69 miles and very flat and easy. My second leg is 3.75 miles and also easy. My last leg (why'd it have to be the last one?) is 7.72 miles and described as "hard". It's up and down the whole way, but no huge hills to climb, just lots of rolling stuff.

I've got a lot of training to do!

Shin Splints

I knew going into the 10k that I wasn't as prepared as I should be. I had only run 6 miles once before with considerable soreness afterward. My 10k went really well, but I was so sore that week! As the pain subsided I did a little research and I really think I have shin splints. Darn it. It's my own fault ~ I think I'm the classic "too much too soon" scenario. I tried to run about 5 days after the race, thinking I could work out the soreness, but it actually was pretty painful. Since then I've been sidelined, trying to let myself recover fully this time. I think I'm just about all better and I've come out the other side with a new commitment to stretching, not pushing myself quite so hard (don't like that one a bit), and hydrating more. I'm not going to beat myself up about this, just learn from it and move forward. I've been anxious to get back out on the road, so hopefully this week I can venture out a little.

I'm supposed to run a hilly 5k next weekend at the Zena Road Runs and I'm really hoping I'll be ready for that. I may have to force myself to walk parts of it, which really burns me, but I know I have to be smart. I'll see how this week goes.

Great Book

I'm not even remotely seriously considering a marathon at this point, but I picked up this book based on the reviews and really loved it. I'm not recommending it as a training guide ~ goodness knows I'm not qualified to do that ~ but it's a great read. You know how they say you ought to laugh so many minutes per day? This will help.

Cascade 10k

I was completely terrified yesterday morning, so nervous that I actually tossed my cookies before we left the house. I was so relieved to get to the race and find out Running Partner's friend had tossed hers as well. She was telling the story to a man at the race wearing a Boston Marathon jacket and he said that was good, he'd thrown up before his first 9 marathons. Oh boy.

My husband went with me to this event, which somehow scared me. It was like what I was doing suddenly became real and public, not hidden and private. Made me nervous, but I wanted him there. I met my RP and her friend at the race, but we weren't planning to run together. We hung out, though, excited and nervous. My sister in law and her friend also were there, but they were running the half marathon. Since I was on my own they invited me to run the first half of the 10k with them, an offer I gratefully accepted.

I was so happy with how this race turned out for me. I rested hard to prepare, drank a ton of water, ate my carbs like a good girl, and got a lot of sleep. I knew I was going to need every little help I could get after Monday's pretty disastrous 6 mile run. I'm not sure if any one thing paid off, or if all of my efforts combined made a difference, but I felt really strong at Cascade.

The first 3.2 miles I ran with my sister in law and her friend. They were running 5 minutes, walking 30 seconds, running 5 minutes. I knew that would be a smart move for me and that on my own I wouldn't do intervals. It turned out to be a good plan because by the time I turned around at the halfway mark and headed back without them, I was still feeling good and knew I could finish okay.

When I turned around and headed back on my own, I picked out RP's friend out of the crowd ahead of me. She was in bright blue and easy to spot, and she was also a long way ahead of me. I don't know if you'd call this a strength or a weakness, but I really hate to lose. At the 5k I was 3rd of the three of us running and I was determined not to be this time. My goal? Overtake RP's friend and soundly beat her. She was a long way off, so I just kept my eyes on her. Instead of periods where I'd slow down, I added hurry-it-up sections. I did walk for a few seconds a couple of times, but not because I was desperate to stop, just because I knew it would help me later.

It took me all the way to the last mile marker, but I caught up to her. I wasn't trying to run with her, I was trying to pass her, but she stayed with me all the way to the last 1/4 mile. I was trying to reconcile coming in behind her after all when she took off at a sprint I just didn't have in me. She only sprinted a few feet and then she dropped almost to a walk, at which point I took off with everything I had. I ended up beating her by 11 seconds. It's amazing how good 11 seconds can feel!

Hubby ran over, gave me a huge hug, and the first thing I said to him was, "I just beat RP's friend ~ did you see that? I beat her!" LOL Does that make me a real runner, or just sort of sad? :)

I finished the race in 1:07:49, a 10:56 mile. I was #139 out of 211 and I'm pretty darn happy. Today I can hardly walk, but I'm online looking for my races to run. How did this happen to me?

Backwards

That's how I feel with these races I seem to be getting myself into. I keep pinching myself to make sure it's really me doing this, and yep, it is. Actually the pinching isn't necessary today because I have enough aches and pains to prove it's really me.

I do feel like I'm doing things a bit backwards, though. I really, really wanted to run my first 5k last spring at the Keizer Iris Festival, but it just didn't work out. After that fell through I slacked off on my running, just focusing more on weight training and trying like heck not to put on poundage. That being quite unsuccessful, I really wasn't physically ready to be running yet when I found my running partner. I knew it was a good match, though, so I threw myself back into it, no doubt faster than I should have. In hindsight I'm lucky I didn't have a massive coronary on that first 3 mile run up and over the top of a very steep hill!

When I finally did run my first 5k, I hadn't ever actually run 3 miles without stopping. I'd done interval work up to 4 or 5 miles at that point, I think, but no straight 3 milers. The whole way into the race I really was feeling like I was way out of my league and totally unprepared. I did manage to meet my goal, which was to run the entire thing, no walking, but I didn't have a sense of being well trained.

So now I'm staring down the barrel of a 10k (ack!) wondering, once again, how the heck this happened! I feel completely unprepared. I haven't been training for a 10k ~ I was thinking a few more 5k's and I'd feel like a runner. I'm still hobbling from my first ever 6 mile run this week and wondering if I'll even be recovered enough by Sunday to run the race. I really feel way over my head.

I guess there's no point to this post, except to say that I don't feel ready. I'm mentally wading through the muck trying to get to the toughness.

My first 6-miler

Having been talked into running a 10k this Sunday with my running partner, and having never actually run that far in my life, I decided it was time. Today was the day. I honestly had no idea what to expect and my hopes were not high. Glass was not looking half full to me one bit. Gotta work on that. Up to today, the farthest I had ever run without stopping was 3 miles. I've done interval work up to 5 miles, but nothing over.

My RP (running partner) and I met at the hospital, fiddled with our Nike+ 's for a few, then set off running. We've discovered that running from the hospital is good, first because there are no log trucks trying to wipe us out as there were on our other route, plus if we pass out we're close to the hospital. Seriously.

RP ran a full 6 miles last Saturday without me, so she knew she could do it. I felt decently good until about the 2.5 mile mark, at which point I was struggling to keep up with RP. She was just booking today! I wanted to check our pace on my iPod, but it was tucked into a pocket on my rear and awkward to get out. I finally told her I really had to walk for a minute (note: at the farthest point from the hospital, not good). We walked for a few seconds and then tweaked our running ~ tried to slow our pace, but lengthen our stride. She always has to remind me to get my arms out of my armpits, too, as I tend to tuck them higher and higher as I run. So, arms down, close to body, longer stride, slower pace. This worked pretty well as we headed back toward town. Miles 4 and 5 were doable. We walked one more time because it was that or roll me off the edge of the road into the ditch, but when I tried to wimp out and walk again a half mile later, RP wouldn't let me. I started to focus on the next tree, then the next mailbox, then the blue truck, etc, until we finally made it.

All in all it was pretty successful, I think. I was miserable in the middle ~ miserable! I kept wondering why on earth I was doing this and how the heck did I ever get tricked into thinking I like to run? But the end... oh, it was so worth it! Even with the spurts of walking and the adjusted pace, I set a new mile record for myself of 10.39/mile AND I burned like 800 calories. Par-tay!