Running, Life, Learning and Growing

The ABC's of Kathy (yes, I'm a follower)

2011-03-10T13:37:00.000-08:00

(A) Age: 49 but the BIG 50 is right around the corner - bring it on!
(B) Bed Size: Queen
(C) Chore You Hate: Scrubbing bathrooms
(D) Dogs?: Three (don't ask), Sam, Dori and Jenna
(E) Essential Start Your Day Item: I can not do anything until I brush my teeth
(F) Favorite Color: Arrest me Red
(G) Gold or Silver?: Gold
(H) Height: 5'6" I can wear flats or heels and fit right in
(I) Instruments You Play: I played the flute in Junior High, but quickly gave it up; I'm not very musically inclined
(J) Job Title: IT Specialist
(K) Kids: Yes, we have four kids; 24, 23 , 21 & 20
(L) Live: Portland, Oregon but I was born and raised in Southern California (but I would NEVER go back)
(M) Mom's Name: Sheila
(N) Nicknames: none that I know of
(O) Overnight Hospital Stays? When I had my kids, so twice
(P) Pet Peeve: People who spoil TV shows or movies (i.e. guess the ending and share it with you)
(Q) Quote from a Movie: I like movies, but I don't remember quotes
(R) Right or Left Handed? Right
(S) Siblings: One awesome sister, who is one year younger. Although when we were kids we didn't get along so well
(T) Time You Wake Up? 5:30 on work days (or to run)
(U) Underwear: Well duh, I even wear them with running shorts that have liners
(V) Vegetable You Dislike: Brussell Sprouts
(W) What Makes You Run Late: I am virtually never late and if I am it is rarely my fault (traffic); it is my fault if I get lost though
(X) X-Rays You've Had Done: At the Dentist and ???
(Y) Yummy Food You Make: Lasagna
(Z) Zoo, Favorite Animal: Any kind of bear

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-23T09:11:00.000-08:00

Early morning runs through our Nation's Capitol, taken with my phone, while travelling for work.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-09T15:44:00.000-08:00

One of the white boards in my office....do you save and/or display your race bibs?

Vancouver Lake Half Marathon Race Report

2011-01-29T15:54:00.000-08:00

Run for the Bling of it!

My first race report, bullet style.............

This past Sunday I ran the Vancouver Lake Half marathon for the 3rd or 4th time, forgive me I can't remember; but it will be the last time I run this race.

On the positive side:

I PR'd (27 seconds, but a PR nonetheless)
It is dirt cheap; $30.00
It is pancake flat
I have tons of running peeps who also run this event
It was a perfect winter day this year which in OREGONEASE means - it didn't rain
It is a small event; less than 400 finishers
It is a FAST crowd
It's a well supported 1/2 marathon in January, in Oregon
My training has been totally and completely in the toilet; a PR has restored my confidence
There are tons and tons of homemade cookies at the finish, made by the members of the local running club who put on the race

On the negative side:

I've done the race multiple times, it is time to move on
It has too many out & backs; I saw the same stupid park, roads, etc. more times than I care to count
It is a FAST crowd
I didn't have any fuel with me and I started to feel it around mile 11; by mile 12 I was running on sheer will power, my energy stores were 100% depleted. I don't think I've ever been that hungry/out of fuel at an event before
A 10:00 a.m.start; killed the whole day


My Bling

Happy running; my February event is the Heartbreaker 1/2 marathon; a new event and looking at the course, a tough event.

Perspective

2011-01-09T09:15:00.000-08:00

I made an assumption yesterday and I am ashamed.........

I was out for a run with some of my wonderful running friends yesterday morning. It was cold and icy, but felt great to be running and spending the morning with these wonderful ladies. We were nearing the end of an 8-mile loop; with a couple of my friends refueling and heading out for 8 more. We stopped under one of the bridges along the Willamette River as a couple of folks needed to use the porta-potties; this is an area where there are almost always homeless people milling around. That being said, I always feel safe and it is a heavily travelled area. My friends were going in to the porta-potties and one by one they kept coming right back out and moving to the next porta-potty - there wasn't any toilet paper :-)

I was standing aside and heard a couple of homeless people trying to get our attention; I totally and completed ignored them - I assumed they were either pan handling or heckling us. After my friends had checked all four porta-potties and found no toilet paper one of the homeless guys came over with a roll of toilet paper for my friends to use; his name was Allen.

He explained to us that the company who maintains the porta-potties for the city always leaves extra toilet paper with him for this exact reason. He had been trying to get our attention to help us, not hurt us.

We spent the next 10 minutes or so talking with him. It turns out he is a vendor for Street Roots which is a non-profit, grassroots newspaper; they assist people experiencing homelessness or poverty by creating income opportunities for them. The vendors purchase the paper from Street Roots for .25 and sell the papers for $1.00; making .75 cents per copy. I have walked past these vendors a hundred times and never bought a paper.

As we continued to talk with Allen we learned that the current issue featured a story about Dave Dahl from Dave's Killer Bread; I'm sure most of us have heard of Dave's bread - it is awesome. I had no idea of his story though. We wrapped up our chat with Allen, thanked him for his kindness and compassion, & finished up our run.

When I got back to the car I found a dollar and ran back to buy a paper from Allen; I think he was surprised to see me. I read the paper last night and was surprised about how much I enjoyed it. I intend to pick up a Street Roots each time I see a vendor now.

My horizons have been expanded and my faith in human beings has been restored. I will look at people differently now; thank you Allen!

Random thoughts

2010-12-27T11:33:00.000-08:00

What a busy fun filled few days I've had. Here are some photos from my sister-in-law's annual Christmas Eve party.

On Christmas morning we headed back to my sister-in-laws for gifts and breakfast; I think everyone had a great time and was happy with their gifts. That afternoon we went to see Gulliver's Travels (so so movie) and then had Chinese Food to dinner; my husband is Jewish so we "blend" holiday traditions. We laughed about it and look forward to next year.

On Sunday, I participated in a Pacific Northwest Operation Jack run in Tigard, Oregon. This was also my run for Katye's 12k of Christmas virtual run. First off, I SUCK at pictures at races; please forgive me and I forgot my "virtual bib". The course was a loop, just shy of a mile and open for 6 hours; everyone was asked to run a minimum of 6.1 miles in honor of Sam's 61st marathon, a couple of folks did 30+ miles. These folks are my heroes. The conditions were terrible; it was 39 degrees, pouring and windy for the entire morning. Going into the event I decided I would shoot for half marathon distance, I started out by myself (it was a very small event) and I gutted out the first 7 laps. I was seriously thinking about stopping but I met two great gals & we kept each other company and got through my 15 laps (about 14.25 miles). It was the slowest miles I have done in months; I probably shouldn't be too hard on myself my training has been terrible.

I was reminded this morning that Boston is in 111 days; I must get serious about my training. Here's my plan for the next two weeks, it is fairly ambitious I hope I am up to it:

Monday - 6 miles

Tuesday - Rest

Wednesday - 6 - 8 miles

Thursday - 6 - 7 miles. Warm up 2 miles. Run 2 x 1 mile @ 8:25. 2 minute jog rest between the miles. Then 2 x 200, hard. 2 miles cool down.

Friday - Rest

Saturday - 6 miles

Sunday - 10 - 12 miles

I'm going to work on 2011 goals and a race schedule this week; stay tuned and have a Happy New Year!

Terrific Tuesday

2010-12-21T21:09:00.000-08:00

I'm working to get things sorted out and back to some sort of normal existence. I'm adjusting to the whole grandparent idea and I know it will be awesome to be a grandma. Here's a photo of the parents to be, they are very excited and looking forward to becoming parents:

I'm also keeping my perspective on the flood; it is an opportunity to do a little remodeling, get some fresh paint, do a little purging, etc. Here are some photos, it's hard to get a perspective of the water in the dark but you will get an idea:

This is our family room, looking from the kitchen

This is another view of the family room

One bathroom, minus the tile. We're still waiting to find out if the tub has to go

The view down the hall

What is left of the "Duck" room

You can now pass between the kids rooms, would have been cool when they were little :-)

The front of the house as the water was subsiding

The strength of the water pouring through the yard


The water was about 3 feet deep at the peak of the flooding; that is our mailbox

Another view of the Cul de Sac

I'm working to get back on track with working out; I went for a 4-mile really fun run last night to look at Christmas lights and then to dinner with friends.

On the 26th I will be participating in an event to support Operation Jack; it is 6 hour event, run a minimum of a 10k or as many miles as you can get in within a 6 hour window. I had been hoping to do 15-18 miles but I don't think I'm quite ready. My new goal is 13.1 but you never know what the day may hold. I'm really stepping out of my comfort zone for this event as non of my normal running buddies will be there; I sure hope to make some new friends and I know I am supporting an awesome cause.

Take care everyone!

Pure and utter chaos

2010-12-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

I am behind reading blogs, I am behind with holiday tasks, I am behind with work and my exercise routine is in the toilet and I may be getting sick........Right now I either need to laugh or I will cry........

To back-up.....I have been traveling a lot for work and it has taken its' toll on me in many, many ways. I generally really love to travel for work because that is the "fun" part of my job; working with customers, doing system implementations and integrations. etc. My normal time in the office is necessary, challenging but not the part of my job I like the best. I was in Chicago two weeks ago and Reno last week. I'll be heading back to Chicago in early January, Orlando near the end of January, Washington DC and New York in February - my husband HATES it so that makes it that much harder. As many of you know it can be difficult to maintain an exercise regimen on the road; my training is in the toilet and Boston is looming on the horizon.

Kick in the gut #1:

My step-son's girlfriend is pregnant; I haven't even met her. Meg has been through this situation and I hope I can muster all the support and courage that she did. This is not something ANY of our kids are ready for; we're heartsick, but will be as supportive as we can. I can't even begin to process all of the emotions I am feeling right now.

Kick in the gut #2:

Our home flooded last Thursday night; luckily we have flood insurance. We live adjacent to a "small" creek and it rained close to 2 inches in a little more than an hour; the creek just couldn't contain the volume of water. Parts of our home had 6 inches of standing water; other parts 2-4 inches. The entire first floor of our home is basically uninhabitable right now. We're STILL waiting for the insurance adjuster so come out, so we can't move things out, clean-up and try to settle in. We may be able to get displacement assistance, but it is not usually covered with flood insurance claims; it is covered with home owner's claims - isn't that weird? This flood could have been much, much worse; thankfully our family and pets are safe and sound, no one was injured. On a positive note, I had been wanting to replace the flooring in my bonus room; I will get to now :-) Unfortunately, we also will have to replace our less than one year old hardwood floors; along with four bedrooms of carpet; three tiled bathroom floors and I'm sure many more things that we don't even know about yet.

Both of these priceless little items happened during my business trip to Reno so my husband had to deal with most of it himself; he is a saint.

I had been registered for a half marathon yesterday; even though my life was in shambles and my training less than stellar I decided it would be good for me to go run the half. It turns out it was a great decision; I took it really easy, saw a million friends and got out of the house & away from reality for a few hours. I treated this a a long, slow weekend run and it felt really good to get a few miles in. Isn't this logo and medal cute? Don't you just love my race number too......

Have an awesome day everyone!

The Black Knight's Virtual race report

2010-11-29T18:37:00.000-08:00

What a great Thanksgiving weekend; we had a wonderful turkey dinner with family, friends and all the trimmings and I got to run in two very fun events.

The Black Knight has sponsored a Virtual Race and announced to his faithful follows that they should enter and submit a report for consideration of an award and the honor (I hope) of being inducted into the INFAMOUS Black Knight's Army...I humbly submit TWO races for consideration of this prestigious award.

On Thanksgiving Day we headed out to gather with 1200 other faithfuls to participate in the Give and Gobble Turkey Trot; I choose the 10k option and here is photographic evidence of my participation. This event was a fund raiser for one of the local Food Banks and it was great to see so many people out enjoying the spectacular day and helping those less fortunate. I ran with my friend Mark and we took it really easy and just had fun; it was actually a pretty tough course with more than a few hills.

I think the hat makes the entire outfit!

Saturday evening brought the Winter Wonderland 6 mile run; this was a great event and although there is no photographic evidence to support that I donned the appropriate clothing (which I did), there is evidence that I participated and took home 3rd Place in the Women's Masters category! This event also offered 2 & 4 mile options; it included a kids bike parade and was held at Portland International Raceway. The only bummer was for the 6 mile course I had to run three laps of the course. The really cool thing was that they have a spectacular display of Christmas lights and I got to enjoy them on each lap. When there aren't crazy runners on the course it is open to cars to drive through and enjoy the holiday light display!

1. Susan Hawkings Portland, OR 6259 F 49 00:41:54 00:06:59 1 / 20 10 / 201 2 / 142 00:43:08 00:07:12 00:01:14
2. Nicole Deering Portland, OR 6172 F 42 00:45:55 00:07:40 1 / 18 21 / 201 7 / 142 00:46:40 00:07:47 00:00:46
3. Kathleen Rafish Portland, OR 6032 F 49 00:49:23 00:08:14 2 / 20 33 / 201 12 / 142 00:50:00 00:08:20 00:00:37
4. Kristin Nagel Troutdale, OR 6052 F 42 00:49:29 00:08:15 2 / 18 35 / 201 13 / 142 00:49:48 00:08:18 00:00:20
5. Molly Williams Portland, OR 6083 F 43 00:50:09 00:08:22 3 / 18 43 / 201 18 / 142 00:52:20 00:08:44 00:02:11
6. Lisa Pronovost Milwaukie, OR 6022 F 48 00:50:25 00:08:25 3 / 20 48 / 201 21 / 142 00:50:44 00:08:28 00:00:20
7. Becky Owston Portland, OR 6120 F 44 00:51:02 00:08:31 4 / 18 52 / 201 22 / 142 00:51:50 00:08:39 00:00:49
8. Kathryn Crary Portland, OR 6234 F 42 00:51:04 00:08:31 5 / 18 55 / 201 24 / 142 00:52:00 00:08:40 00:00:56
9. Kimberly Bessette-Martinez Portland, OR 6096 F 46 00:52:42 00:08:47 4 / 20 61 / 201 28 / 142 00:52:54 00:08:49 00:00:13
10. Brenda Kerr Gresham, OR 6191 F 58 00:53:26 00:08:55 1 / 5 64 / 201 30 / 142 00:54:13 00:09:03 00:00:47

It was an honor to participate in these events and submit them for The Black Knights consideration. I am no longer a "Virtual Race" virgin......

Have a great week!

Thankful

2010-11-19T20:03:00.000-08:00

For the entire month of November I have been doing a daily Facebook status update starting with:

Today I am thankful for

I wish I could say it was an original idea, but alas I stole it from one of my Facebook friends. It's been an interesting exercise and while I do know that I have many, many things to be thankful for it is surprising that sometimes I really need to think about it. I want it to be somewhat meaningful, thought provoking and fun. Amanda at Run to the Finish Daily does a daily Gratitude Journal, go check it out. I know I need to spend more time expressing gratitude.

I'm sitting here tonight eating croutons out of the bag, making turkey soup from the carcass of the turkey I cooked for today's office potluck, trying to rebuild one of the kids laptops, reading blogs and stalking people on Facebook - what an exciting Friday night! My husband has been out of town all week and he flies in later tonight so I will be trekking to the airport in a few hours.

I have 13-14 miles on tap for tomorrow morning; it is predicted to be about 38 degrees and raining tomorrow morning; oh boy! But, it gets better; we'll be heading to Corvallis (about 80 miles South) for the Oregon State versus USC Football game, which starts at 5:00 p.m. another cold and wet outdoor activity.

On Wednesday evening I was fortunate to get the opportunity to hear Dean Karnazes speak; wow, what an inspiring individual and pretty much a total freak of nature in terms of what his body allows him to do. The next two items on his agenda are:

1. Running across the entire US on trails
2. Running a race (I forget if it was a marathon) in all 204 (two hundred and four) COUNTRIES

Can you believe it? I read his Ultramaraton Man book quite some time ago and would highly recommend it. Now I'm not quite a cool as Beth who actually got to run with Dean in Colorado, but I thoroughly enjoyed the evening anyway :-) If he comes to your area take the time and listen to him speak; he really is remarkable.

Have a great weekend!

Check out the Black Night Army's virtual race

2010-11-14T16:42:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited.....I'm going to participate in my first virtual race and it's INTERNATIONAL.....

If you don't already follow The Black Night go check Stefano out now; I am really loving his Italian escapades.

Here are the details:

1. Wear something black (shoes, socks, pants, shirt or whatever you want);
2. Run 10 km in the period Nov. 8 – Nov. 28 (the 10 km can be part of a longer distance);
3. Let Stefano know I sent you before Nov. 29th if you ran and if you wore something of black or if you mentioned it on your blog;
He will announce the winners in his Friday post (December 3rd) and will mail the gifts as soon as possible. The awards are 2 black long sleeves shirts random and 1 shirt for the less fast time.

My pity party is over

2010-11-12T14:16:00.000-08:00

After I pissed and moaned a while about my lack of motivation and the loss of my running mojo, I changed my clothes and went out for a run! I had an hour to kill before yoga on Monday so I took a nice 5.5 mile loop around the area I work; got back in time for yoga and felt like a million bucks - yeah for me! This was the first evening where it really felt like winter was on the way; thank heavens I had left a jacket and pair of gloves in my trunk (probably from last winter).

For the past week I ended up with 30.5 miles, two yoga sessions & two boot camp sessions and I feel so much better. We all know it can be difficult to get out the door for a run or to hit the gym, but we never regret it once we're pumping some iron or hitting the streets. Since we all know how good we feel when we exercise why is it ever a problem to get out there and do it?

I'm working on my 2011 race calendar and trying to pull together a Boston training schedule; I can't wait to see what 2011 brings!

I will leave you with this silly picture of my kids - have an awesome weekend!

Where has my motivation gone?

2010-11-08T15:15:00.000-08:00

I'm having a heck of a time getting back into a solid running routine, it's been more than a month since St. George but my mileage is virtually non-existent. I'm getting in maybe two runs per week and that is only if I can find someone to run with; I haven't been out by myself in weeks.

Am I still recovering?
Is the weather getting to me (RAIN)?
Do I just need a break?
Do I need to sign up for something?

I have some fun events coming up, a Turkey Trot and a Holiday Lights run between now and the end of the month. I know I will have a blast at these events and I can do the distance in my sleep; read between the lines UNTRAINED.

I'm signed up for a half in the middle of December; I hope I find my motivation by then.

I think I need a virtual "kick in the butt" or some kind, thoughtful words of motivation.......

You know, I never regret the run (or workout) once I am out the door; it is just so hard sometimes to get out the door - does anyone else ever feel like this?

It must be Monday :-)

Happy Friday

2010-11-05T10:04:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I love Fridays and I love fun, innovative ideas to stay fit! Go check out the latest challenge that Amanda has put together; I'm signed up - care to join me?

That's all for now; enjoy the weekend.

It's official!

2010-10-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Kathleen Rafish,

This is to notify you that your entry into the 115th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 18, 2011 has been accepted, provided that the information you submitted is accurate.

You can verify your acceptance into the field by searching the 115th Boston Marathon Entrants database on the B.A.A. web site. Additionally, a Confirmation of Acceptance card will be mailed to you via US Postal Service mail.

In early April 2011, an official Number Pick-up Card and Welcome Booklet regarding the B.A.A. Boston Marathon and related race week activities will be mailed to you via US Postal Service first class mail. If you do not receive your Number Pick-up Card (required to claim number) and brochure by April 9, please contact our Registration Office at registration@baa.org. Registration related inquiries may also be directed to 508-435-6905.

Note that bib numbers will not be distributed on Race Day. Your travel arrangements should take into account picking up your number at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center in Boston on Friday, April 15 from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., or Saturday, April 16 or Sunday, April 17 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m

Get the best hotel rates by using the Official Lodging form from Marathon Tours and Travel. For more information, email info@marathontours.com or call 617-242-7845.

JetBlue is proud to be the official airline of the Boston Marathon. When you book your flight to the 2011 Boston Marathon, make sure you fly with JetBlue Airways. You'll receive $10 off each way! Learn more here.

For additional tourist information, please visit www.bostonusa.com

We look forward to seeing you in April! Best of luck in your training!

Sincerely,

Boston Athletic Association

Race recaps

2010-10-26T18:24:00.000-07:00

I didn't let too much grass grow under my feet after St. George....since October 2nd I've run two 5k's and one 1/2 marathon and to make it even better - I PR'd in all three events! I'm thrilled because my training since St. George has been less than impressive to say the least.

On October 16 I participated in a very small 5k, put on by a local gym and my former running coach; the secret to placing in your age group is running small races. I don't recall the last 5k that I ran, it's been that long. I have been so focused on running half and full marathons I never even considered shorter events. I was the third female finisher; this earned me a medal and a pair of shoes. My time was 24:30, a 7:46 pace; I came in 13th overall (I told you it was a small race). The gym also has a Boot Camp program and they had set-up an obstacle course in the parking lot, I had never done anything like this so I gave it a try - wow, it was hard but really, really fun. Their goal of sucking new people in to the program was met, I signed up for a month trial of the Boot Camp.

On the 17th I ran in an all women's half marathon; I had to get on a plane to Chicago at 1:30 that afternoon and the race didn't start until 9:00 a.m. That meant my number one goal was to finish in less than 2 hours so I could have time to quickly clean-up & hit the airport. It was a spectacular morning, 37 degrees at the start but crystal clear; a perfect day! I ran with two friends and we thought we would start at an 8:30 pace and slow down if necessary. My half PR was 1:55 and I was two weeks post marathon; I thought 8:30's would be a reach but I was just running for run that morning. To my unbelievable surprise, I finished in 1:51 which is an 8:31 pace; a 4 minute PR. I was astounded; we had a fabulous run and it felt EASY. My new half goal is going to be 1:49; I'm running another half on December 12th and I think I will go for it!


Here we are post race, what a great group of ladies

I had to hustle off to the airport and didn't get to enjoy any of the marvelous post race festivities; chocolate, massages, etc. Women's races are the bomb!

This past Saturday I ran in another small 5k (not quite as small as the first) and again was the 3rd female to finish; another PR 24:11 This was after being out of town for a week and not running one inch during this time. I feel like I had more in me; my confidence is really improving, it was an area I needed to work on.

I need to get into a manageable schedule for running and cross training; it's been hard to get a handle on since St. George - any suggestions?

Have an awesome week.

St. George and the ensuing vacation, in photos

2010-10-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

Near, very near the finish

We were so happy to be done; like the tiara? Check out the medal, they were some sort of polished local stone and they were very cool; each one was unique

The marathon logo, pretty cool

Bryce Canyon

Wind and rain at Bryce

Coming down one of the trails in Zion

Zion

Bryce

St. George Marathon Race Report (minus the photos)

2010-10-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

I'm back to civilization, back to work and fully rested as I haven't run since the marathon (October 2nd).

The short version in list form:

No PR
No PW
Warmest start EVER for this race
High on marathon day - 93

The long(er) version.....

We flew into Vegas on Friday morning, rented a car and drove to St. George (about 2 hours). It was HOT, there was no getting around this fact. We hit up the Expo right away, picked up our packets and checked out all the goodies. The race shirt is awesome, I absolutely love it; it is a long sleeve dri-fit and has just the race logo on the front. It is not full of advertising; in fact, if you didn't know what the race logo looked like you would never know what event the shirt was from. A nice change from shirts that have way too many sponsors and graphics.

We checked into our hotel, which I would highly recommend, and went to see what the City had to offer.....now keep in mind that I was in Southern Utah, in a town of less than 50,000. Our first stop was the Mormon Temple and lightning did not strike me as we walked onto the grounds. It is an older building and the grounds are very well kept. I couldn't believe how much the Church influenced everything in the State; it is very different from what I am used to regarding the separation of Church and State.

We found a place to have all you can eat pasta for dinner and then walked from our hotel to check out the bus loading & finish areas. The buses began loading at 4:00 a.m. We decided we would try to catch the bus around 4:30 a.m. The bus loading was smooth that early and we got to the start by about 5:15 a.m.

They had Gatorade, hot chocolate, water and coffee at the start; there were bon fires lit to keep the runners warm while we waited. I didn't think it was that cold, but they normally have temps in the 30's at the start. My only issue at the start was that the porta potties ran out of toilet paper very early and they didn't seem to get re-stocked. I need to add that this is my only complaint about this event.

I was wearing two birthday tiaras; it was interesting how people responded to the tiaras. Some wished me Happy Birthday, some called me Princess but largely I got weird looks - oh well, I really didn't care what anybody else thought.

My goal was 3:53 and my friend Vicki was shooting for 4:15 so we said our goodbyes and jumped in with the respective pace groups. The first 7 miles were absolutely awesome, nice and easy downhill; I was already warm though and was having some GI distress. There is a decent hill at mile 7 and this is also where we started running into the sun FOR THE ENTIRE REST of the race. I hit the porta potty at the top of hill and hunkered down for gradual uphill until mile 14; I was pretty warm by this point and was realizing this course wasn't nearly as "easy" as I thought it would be. I think I hit the porta potties 3 times :-(

I slowed down and at mile 11 Vicki came up behind me; I had lost the 3:50 pace group during my potty stop but was still ahead of the 4:00 group at this point. Vicki's plan had been to get some time in the bank early and have reserves available as the miles grew and the temperatures went up. We were really glad to see each other at this point and settled in together. I was pretty darn sure at this point that a PR wasn't in the cards.

I don't have my splits with me right now, but the wheels kind of fell off on the hills and the heat was getting to me. Vicki was really feeling the affects of the heat as well so we decided to walk the hills and run the flats & downhills and just get to the finish together. This was the 20th marathon for each of us.

I dumped water over my head and down the back of my shirt at every aid station; I have never done this before.

The course was not a spectator friendly course at all; the road is closed and it is very difficult to get around so until about mile 22 or so there was hardly anyone on the course to cheer us on. When we got to town though the spectators were great; there was one neighborhood where the residents were handing out popsicles - a popsicle has never tasted so good.

I finished in 4:24, this is pretty far off what I had hoped to do, but I'm o.k. with it. My pace when I was running was decent, but the frequent walk breaks really dropped the average pace per mile. I have never seen so many people walk on a marathon course; the heat took its' toll on many, many runners that day.

The medal is very cool; it is a polished stone and every one is different - a very unique memento from the event.

Photos will follow........

Happy Friday!

7 days, 21 hours and counting

2010-09-24T09:26:00.000-07:00

That's how close my marathon is; it will be here before I know it. I really felt like I was ready and then......I went to weather.com and saw this:

Sat
Oct 2

Mostly Sunny

HIGH 95°
LOW 66°

0%

YUCK, with a 6:45 a.m. start it is going to warm for the entire 26.2 miles; at least they are mostly downhill miles.

Happy running this weekend.

22-miler is in the books!

2010-09-14T08:57:00.000-07:00

It is officially taper time; St. George is a mere 17 days away and I feel like I am ready, or at least as ready as I can be.

On Saturday morning I did a 4-mile pace run and am happy with the results:

1-1/2 mile warm-up
Mile 1: 8:04
Mile 2: 8:14
Mile 3: 8:10
Mile 4: 8:12
1/2 mile cool down

I was supposed to stay in the 8:20 - 8:25 range, which is about 20 seconds faster than my goal pace; obviously I didn't do too well in that respect. Maybe this means I am going to bust out an unbelievable marathon or maybe it means I need to work on my pacing......

On Sunday morning I was up & out the door bright and early to meet Vicki for our 22 miler; she mapped out a great course in the Wilsonville/Sherwood area, which is just a little South of Portland. It is a beautiful, more "pastoral", area and a very nice change from the city. Our friend Pat met us for the first 8-mile loop so we donned our safety vests & head lamps and headed out into the darkness; we enjoyed a nice and easy pace for this portion of the run. This part of the course was relatively flat, but I knew the hills were coming. We dropped Pat off at the car, grabbed our sunglasses, hit the restroom at Starbucks and took back off.

The next 18 miles clicked by as we chatted and enjoyed the beautiful countryside; it was a spectacular morning in the Northwest and just a pleasure to be outside. We climbed some pretty good hills and I found a nice little 12 acre piece of property, with a house, that could be mine for a mere 1.2 million :-)

We made it back to the cars (and Starbucks) with an average pace of 9:37 for the distance; we even ended up with negative splits, I don't think I have ever had negative splits on a long run before. I was tired when I finished but knew I could have gone 26.2

It was intentional that I did my pace run on Saturday and my long run on Sunday; I was supposed to be fatigued for Sunday's run. I was supposed to run on Monday, but I decided to take a rest day, I was tired and will run Tuesday instead.

It is all coming together; we will see how I fare on race day. I decided to run with the 3:50 pace group, my goal for St. George is 3:53. I think it is a realistic goal. Check out the elevation map of the course:

There is a 2,600 foot elevation loss over the length of the race; I think it is going to be a good PR course for me. I may not be able to walk on Sunday morning though; as this much downhill could take a toll on my knees and quads.

As an extra added bonus, the race is on my birthday - a birthday PR would be the best!

Hood to Coast Race Report

2010-09-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

Another Hood to Coast (HTC) has been completed; this was my 7th HTC and the 7th different leg I have run. My long term goal for HTC is to run every leg; I would then honestly be able to say I've experienced the entire race.

Here are some stats:

Fastest Team Finish:                 17:24
Slowest Team Finish:                33:19
"Our" Team Finish:                   28:54

Our team (Van 1) started at Timberline Lodge at noon on Friday, August 27th; I was in Van 2 and we took over from Van 1 around 5:00 p.m. Friday afternoon in beautiful Sandy, Oregon. I was running leg 10 so I had a while to wait for my first leg. There are 6 runners per van so Van 1 runs legs 1-6, 13-18, and 25-30; this leaves Van 2 to run legs 7-12, 19-24 and 31-36.

Rea and I waiting at one of the exchanges during our first set of legs

Rob rocked the pink safety vest; his manhood remained intact

My goal for HTC was to run all my legs at an 8:30 pace; you could argue either that I failed or that I succeeded. Here are the numbers:

Leg 10
6.18 miles
8:14 average pace

Leg 22
6.93 miles
8:20 average pace

Leg 34
4.11 miles
8:31 average pace

As you can see two of the three runs were less than an 8:30 pace, but one was very slightly over (8:31). So, they were not all 8:30 or better, but the average was better than 8:30 :-) I'm really mad at myself because on my third leg I walked a bit up one hill; had I not done this I would have gotten my sub-8:30's on all three legs. I was really tired by this point and while this leg was the shortest of my legs, there were three hills; one at the beginning, one in the middle and one at the end.

If you've never run a relay, you can't appreciate how important porta potties become to you and how much you love the guys that keep them clean for you along the course

Post race at the beach, this guy ran dressed like this - you see it all at HTC!

I never saw these gals on the course, but they rocked it at the finish line. By this time I had run 18+ miles, hadn't had any sleep and had consumed two beers; I was feeling no pain. Obviously Andrew and Mark (from my team) enjoyed these ladies

Seaside, Oregon

A team mate of the dude in the earlier photo

Great music and cold beer; what more could you ask for?

This was taken at the last major exchange and is one of the "sleeping" areas; although not much sleeping happened here.

I can't wait for next year........happy running!

Hood to Coast

2010-08-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

My Hood to Coast team starts at 12:00 (noon) tomorrow; the weather is supposed to be perfect for running, I'm really excited. My goal is to run an 8:30 average pace for my three legs; I think this is doable but we will see for sure.

Leg descriptions:
Leg 10                     6.19 miles Moderate
Begin at approximately 7:43 p.m. Friday evening
Long leg mostly along Springwater Trail then city streets over relatively rolling and flat terrain. Water will not
be provided. Plan ahead if needed.

Leg 22                     6.81 Hard
Begin at approximately 5:15 a.m. Saturday
Gradual up and downhills on paved but narrow back country roads.

Leg 34                     4.13 Moderate
Begin at approximately 2:20 p.m. Saturday
Very short leg in length with gently rolling hills along paved country roads.

We are projected to finish around 4:51 p.m. Saturday; of course, this implies that EVERYONE runs the EXACT pace they submitted. Yeah right...

I wish I could figure out how to paste in the elevation charts, but I can't - EPIC FAIL. I have a pretty good climb on my second leg, but is has an awesome and long downhill that follows the evil climb.

Hopefully I will have fun photos and a great race report next week. Have a great weekend.

My 15 minutes of fame

2010-08-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to do something really neat the other day; I was on the radio. I participated on a panel with two other runners; it was really pretty fun. I was so nervous, totally pitting out the whole time. We received the topics in advance; they were:

Why do you love your favorite training course? Why is it perfect for you? Is it convenient? Scenic? Combo of hilly and flat? Just the right distance?

What are two marathons you would run if money was no object? What do you know about them that makes you want to run them?

What food or treats do you crave after your race? Do you have a "go-to" post race basket of food? Do you eat the things they hand you after you get your medal or wait to get to your car for a picnic? How do you eat in the days after a race?

The last segment was called the 5k; we could pick any topic (about running please) that's on our mind - it might be a question you have, it could be an opinion you have, it could be an observation.

Go check it out; if you have an hour to spare :-) Also, go find "The Marathon Show" on Facebook; they are doing lots of great things within the running community and the topics are many & varied.

http://m.blogtalkradio.com/themarathonshow/2010/08/18/the-runners-chat-show

Have a great day!

Garmin question

2010-08-07T14:54:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know how to export or download data from a Garmin Forerunner 305 and save it in Excel? You just have to be able to do it, but I can't seem to figure it out.

Thanks and happy weekend!

3 weeks in the San Francisco area in photos

2010-08-04T19:18:00.000-07:00

I have been attending a training class in San Francisco, today is my 13th day of class and my 17th day in a hotel; to say that I am more than ready to go home would be an understatement. I've done an o.k. job with my running while here, but I haven't done such a great job on the eating component :( Oh well.

My husband flew down for the first weekend and we did a little sightseeing in Marin County; it was a great weekend and probably saved my sanity.........enjoy the photos!

Runing across the Golden Gate Bridge - pretty darn awesome

The gardens at our B&B first weekend

The fog rolling in...Point Reyes

Point Reyes National Seashore - Morgan Horse Ranch

Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes Light House

Tule Elk Preserve - Point Reyes National Seashore

Infamous Lombard Street

Muir Woods

Hood to Coast

2010-07-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

We're looking for two people for our Hood to Coast team; this is a fun team and not a terribly hard core group. Most expenses have been paid and the cost to you would be nominal; you could stay with us if you're from out of town.

If you are not familiar with the event, go check it out here:

Hood to Coast
August 27th & 28th

Let me know.

"Sobering" experience

2010-07-15T10:20:00.000-07:00

Preface: My kids are all o.k.

We have four kids; they are 20, 21, 23 & 24, needless to say they keep me busy and full of worry.....All of our kids like to party and in my humble opinion they party too much. I didn't have this kind of college experience but I know many folks did. I have preached and preached about binge drinking, drinking and driving, etc.; every time they walk out the door I tell them I love them, ask who the DD is and remind them to make good choices & every time I do this they roll their eyes at me; probably like I rolled my eyes at my parents many years ago.

Our youngest daughter called last night about 6:30 p.m.; she had been hanging out at the pool with friends all day and it was clear they had been drinking. She told me that she had 3 beers; I don't know if this was the truth or not. She put one of her friends (a boy) on the phone; I really like the kid, he took her to the Prom and I know they both really like each other but have never acted on it. He now has a girlfriend but he and Olivia are really good friends. He was obviously intoxicated; we chatted for a minute and he gave the phone back to Olivia. I had been talking to her for about a minute and she said she would call me right back, she had to go. She didn't call back......kids can flake out so I wasn't worried.

An hour or so later, I was hosting Bunco, it was a beautiful evening so we were outside in the back yard. I heard the phone ringing but ignored it; my husband was working in the garage so he didn't hear the phone ring. It rang again but I just let it go; for one, it is NEVER for me or it is a solicitor. After about an hour or so I went in the house to get something and noticed that we had a voice mail, it was Olivia and the message said she was at the hospital with this boy; he had fallen off the balcony. She sounded very upset but she stated that she didn't have her phone so there was no way I could call her back but she would call me back. I then put the phone in my pocket went back to Bunco and waited for another call. She didn't call back.

Fast forward a few hours, my friends were gone and still no call; at this point I was truly worried. I went to Facebook (information central) and looked for updates on her page or her friends pages; I found one friend and sent her a note to call the house because I knew the girls had been together. Finally at about 10:30 Olivia called, in tears......Tim was in the ICU at the hospital with a broken jaw, a broken arm, a crushed cheek and other unknown injuries. He had fallen from a third floor balcony; needless to say, alcohol was a factor in this tragic accident. He is in surgery this morning. Olivia said it was so horrible last night to see his mom holding his hand as they pushed him into the ICU on a stretcher.

She wrote this on her wall last night:
After today I have learned about drinking!

I think this really had an impact on her; I sure hope it had an impact on her, it had a big one on me. Olivia is a wreck and she feels responsible for this tragic accident; it is so hard to see your child in so much pain.

Such a sensless and tragic accident........

Missoula marathon race report and photos

2010-07-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a weekend; we had an absolute blast! I highly recommend the Missoula Marathon; it was well organized, well supported, the course was great (although a tad warm) and the people were AWESOME!

We opted to fly from Portland to Spokane, rent a car and drive to Missoula; it was prohibitively expensive to fly directly to Missoula. This really worked well though as we were able to see some sights along the way.

Our first stop was Haugen, Montana.....the 50,000 Silver Dollar Bar/Store/Restaurant for some carb loading.

We spent Saturday in Butte, Montana (my husband's home town) at the National Folk Festival; what a hoot!

Sunday morning came very, very early; the race had a 6:00 a.m. start and we needed to catch a bus to the start, the buses started running at 4:15 a.m. This meant I got to set the alarm for 3:45 a.m. UGH :-( We got to the start at 5:00 a.m. and had lots of time for visits to the porta potties. We met up with our other Portland friends and took off as the cannon sounded; I bet the neighbors loved that part.

Missoula is about 3300 feet and I was a little worried about the elevation; I never even noticed it. There is one significant hill on the course and it was at about mile 14; other than that I would consider it a relatively flat course. Montana is pretty darn rural and the first 14 miles or so were through the country; it was beautiful.

My running mate, Vicki, has been nursing an injury and was hoping to finish in about 4:30. I really didn't have any big goals, except to finish. Vicki and I have travelled to quite a few destination marathons together and we usually stick together on these races; it is more about the experience than the pace. Of course, if one of us really wanted to go for it; we would. Vicki has gotten me to the finish line a lot of times; it was my turn to get her to the finish line.

Mile 17, looking good and feeling strong

This is feet from the finish; I felt like a million bucks

We finished; 4:28!

We spent Sunday afternoon watching the World Cup and wandering through downtown Missoula; but first we had to have a greasy bacon cheeseburger and a beer. We joined friends for a celebratory dinner Sunday evening.

Great friends and running buddies all from the Portland Area and all Missoula finishers; celebrating Sunday evening

With Brad on the University of Montana Campus; his Alma Mater for both under grad and grad school

We're not sure what this was, but we found it on the University of Montana campus; it is made from "recycled" items.

Monday morning we had to head back to Spokane to catch our flight home. We made one pit stop though; we stopped in Wallace, Idaho.

Did you know that "The Center of the Universe" is in Wallace, Idaho? How much fun is this?

I survived 3 marathons in 70 days and I am no worse for the wear; I can't tell you how happy I am. On Monday morning there were no aches, no pains, absolutely nothing to indicate that I ran a marathon the day before. I did take it really easy and I know that, but I think this bodes really well for future events and for my training. It was so nice to just go and run; getting my BQ out of the way in Eugene took all the pressure off me for Newport and Missoula.

Up next......St. George, Utah on October 2!

It's official

2010-07-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

I am now Maniac #2731, Bronze Level

Race report and photos from Missoula will follow

Have an awesome day!

This is why I love Portland

2010-07-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

I came across this on my run this afternoon.....

Happy Friday and goal update

2010-07-02T08:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, where has the year gone; it is the 2nd of July, I can hardly believe it. It seems like a good time for a recap on my goals for the year; I have done "O.K." on meeting or working towards my 2010 goals.

• Read a minimum of one book per month; preferably two

SUCCESS: The list of books is long but I would highly recommend the Stieg Larsson series, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest - I absolutely loved all of these books

• Run an ultra marathon
FAIL: I have postponed this goal until 2011; I decided that my quest for maniac status trumped this goal. besides, I turn 50 in 2011 and what a great way to celebrate - a 50k!

• Be more accepting and understanding
SUCCESS: This is on-going but I think I am making good progress

• Qualify for the Boston Marathon, 2011
SUCCESS: I qualified for Boston at the Eugene Marathon on May 2, with a time of 3:56:23; yippee, the hotel reservations have been made

• Do strength training two times per week
PARTIAL SUCCESS: I have been doing Yoga twice per week and have incorporated an occasional strength session into my workout regime.

• Be a good friend
SUCCESS: I have the absolute BEST friends and I am so thankful for each and every one of them (blogging buddies as well)

• Swim at least once per week
FAIL: Times in the pool = 0

• Be more organized at home
SUCCESS: There are fewer people living at my house so this is easier by default

• Log 1,500 miles (this is an average of 29 miles per week)
PARTIAL SUCCESS: I have logged about 700 miles to date; that leaves 800 for the next 6 months - I think it is doable

• Be more fiscally responsible
WORK IN PROGRESS: Enough said

• Run a 1:55 half marathon
SUCCESS: I ran 1:55:21 at the Vancouver Lake Half Marathon on January 24th

• Expand my culinary horizons by preparing more new meals for my family
SUCCESS: I am loving cooking more and finding new recipes

• Be less wasteful
SUCCESS: This has been tough as people come and go at home, but I am definitely shopping smarter for groceries and planning much better

• Communicate more and better with my husband
PARTIAL SUCCESS: This is tough, but I am working on it

• Stay positive
SUCCESS: Sometimes success is achieved just by keeping my big, fat mouth shut

• Complete the 100 push-up challenge
FAIL: I hate push-ups

• Walk the dogs more often
FAIL: My poor dogs; I play lots of catch with them though

• Complete the 200 sit-up challenge
FAIL: I don't know why this has been so hard for me; I can do push-ups - I am still hopeful

• Enjoy life
SUCCESS: I am trying to chill out and not sweat the small stuff; I think it is working

• See two movies per month; at least one at the Theater
SUCCESS: I love NETFLIX! I have even gone to the Theater, but not once per month

• Try meditation
FAIL: I'm not that deep :-(

• Do 2 pull-ups
FAIL: I am still hopeful though

• Be a good human
SUCCESS: This ties into some of the above goals and I am working on all of them in concert.

If you are still reading at this point, I am headed to Missoula, Montana for the Missoula Marathon on July 11th - this will be my 19th marathon and will enter me into the hallowed halls of the MARATHON MANIACS - completing 3 marathons in 90 days; for me it will be 3 marathons in 70 days.

Lastly, I will be spending 3 WEEKS (yes, that is 19 nights) in a hotel in San Francisco for work July 18- August 6th - I would love to meet fellow bloggers, go for runs, etc. Let me know.

I am the parent of a college graduate

2010-06-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it; my son Patrick graduated from the University of Oregon Charles H. Lundquist School of Business Honors Program on Monday. I am so unbelievably proud of him and his accomplishments. Now he needs to find a job. School spirit runs deep with Patrick, as you can see form his "customized" gown.......Here are some photos from our day:

Newport Marathon race report

2010-06-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

As we last left off, I was bitterly complaining about the Oregon weather; well, things improved this is what I saw when we checked into our hotel:

I feel so much better now; how about you?

Newport is less than 2 hours from Portland and is a beautiful drive from the valley to the coast; the weather forecasters were smiling on me, Friday and Saturday (race day) were given the "two thumbs up" and I was very optimistic. My dear friend Vicki was with me and she was going back & forth about whether she would be running; she's been fighting a knee injury and really isn't in marathon shape. As we looked at this sunset (sadly without a nice glass of wine), Vicki decided she had better pass on Saturday's race to ensure she would be ready for Missoula in July:

Saturday morning dawned as an absolutely perfect day; not a cloud in the sky and about 50 degrees at the start. Newport is the 2nd of my three marathons in 90 days, which will earn me my maniac status. I had no race plan, no expectations, I really had no idea of how I would do. I felt really good and did wonder if I could break four hours again; it has only been a month since Eugene (read between the lines "bad idea").

I went out at a low 9:00 pace and felt great. The course is a short three+ mile loop through the Nye Beach area, then it heads down to the bay front area and along Youngs Bay until about mile 15 and then comes back the same way. It is a relatively flat course and is known as a great PR course. I realized by about mile 16 or 17 I wasn't going to break four hours and my legs were getting tired.

Around mile 18 I came across a gal who was really struggling; she was from Las Vegas, New Mexico and it was her first marathon. She really needed a friendly face and some company; to make a long story short I stuck with her for the rest of the race. I decided that I was going to do my darnedest to get her to the finish line. We did a walk/run for the rest of the race and she finished in tears. It was probably one of the best experiences of my life, helping her finish her first marathon. She called me her Marathon Angel; I almost cried.

The medals are glass and made by a local artist; they are very unique.

I have more photos, but I am in New Orleans, for work, and don't have my USB cable with me. I will post them when I get home.

I am a bit bummed that I feel so great today; even after 6 hours on airplanes with about 4 hours of sleep my legs are not sore. I know that means I had more in me, but it's o.k. I don't want to jeopardize Missoula or risk any sort of injury. All I needed to do was finish this race and I did. My official finish time was 4:33:48 and I am fine with it.

Enough already

2010-06-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Mother Nature;

Please, can you curtail the rain in the states of Oregon and Washington? Yes, we knew it rained when we moved here and yes it makes everything green; but for crying out loud - we've been more than patient this Spring. Enough is enough. Check out these facts:

May 2010 was the third wettest May since they started keeping numbers
They expect us to hit the AVERAGE rainfall for June THIS FRIDAY, June 4th - really?

I generally don't complain about the weather, but my patience is wearing thin this year; will we see the sun and temps above 60 before the 4th of July?

Yours truly,

The bulk of the States of Washington and Oregon

P.S. I know my friends Mel, Alisa, Amy, Marya and Lisa (just to name a few) are feeling the same pain I am - how about it; can we see some blue and yellow soon?

P.P.S. I know it will rain for the Rose Parade; that's o.k., it's tradition

Got it!

2010-05-23T20:36:00.000-07:00

Here are the Eugene photos:

This is Rea and I at the start:

Here's the start of the race:

This was taken care Mile 26, Rea had that big smile on her face THE ENTIRE 26 miles, can you tell I just wanted to be done?

This is my son and his girlfriend, they are both seniors at Uof O and were waiting at the finish line for me - what a nice surprise!

This is Rea and a really good friend who ran the half:

Here's the proof:

Very, very tardy Eugene Marathon Race Report

2010-05-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it has been three weeks since Eugene; time flies when you're having fun. I'm not sure what to even say about Eugene, except it ROCKED! It was a perfect day for a marathon and everything came together for me; I was ready to PR and I did. My confidence was high and I was well trained; it was not up to me.

I couldn't have done it without my good friend Rea; she is amazing and got me to the finish line in 3:56 - I had 4 minutes to spare. Rea had just done Boston 13 days earlier in 3:48 and used Eugene to become a Marathon Maniac she is unbelievable.

I felt great until about mile 17, I almost felt like I was going to toss my cookies, but felt better by mile 22. You can it see in my splits:

Split	Time	Distance	Elevation Gain	Elevation Loss	Avg Pace	Best Pace
1	0:09:58	1	28	109	9:58	8:31
2	0:09:03	1	55	129	9:03	8:05
3	0:09:06	1	38	27	9:06	8:01
4	0:08:58	1	21	0	8:58	8:10
5	0:08:56	1	123	0	8:56	7:37
6	0:08:35	1	140	208	8:35	7:27
7	0:08:44	1	0	63	8:44	7:25
8	0:08:48	1	19	8	8:48	8:14
9	0:09:02	1	87	55	9:02	7:49
10	0:08:48	1	36	62	8:48	7:43
11	0:08:50	1	50	33	8:50	8:04
12	0:08:50	1	33	13	8:50	8:01
13	0:08:52	1	46	17	8:52	7:55
14	0:08:54	1	0	85	8:54	7:51
15	0:09:07	1	28	0	9:07	8:23
16	0:08:54	1	33	32	8:54	8:28
17	0:09:17	1	57	77	9:17	8:31
18	0:09:12	1	43	82	9:12	7:34
19	0:09:09	1	41	0	9:09	7:39
20	0:09:00	1	0	16	9:00	6:42
21	0:09:12	1	65	95	9:12	7:25
22	0:08:56	1	44	36	8:56	6:30
23	0:08:52	1	112	87	8:52	7:07
24	0:08:50	1	0	0	8:50	7:30
25	0:09:14	1	79	80	9:14	7:17
26	0:08:52	1	62	57	8:52	7:38
27	0:02:12	0.28	0	0	7:57	6:06
Summary	3:56:23	26.28	1,240	1,370	8:59	6:06

The race finished on historic Hayward Field at the University of Oregon; I wish I could say that I appreciated the significance of this, but I was done by this point and was gutting it out to the finish.

~~Here are some photos, they tell the story.~~ Apparently I can't post photos right now :-( Reasons unknown. I will look into why and post them later.

Have a nice evening and I hope the weather is better where you are; it totally and complete SUCKS in Oregon right now.

Boston here I come

2010-05-02T18:22:00.000-07:00

I crossed the line at Eugene in 3:56 - a BQ baby! I am beat, I had to dig deep for this one. I have three really nice blisters to show for it; weird, because I usually don't get blisters.

Details to follow, I just had to share......

Marathon signage

2010-04-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

I'm stealing this from Alisa - she is sign #11. Go check out these FABULOUS signs of encouragement; guaranteed to put a smile on your face....

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/30-awesome-marathon-spectator-signs/

Have a great evening!

Thought for the day

2010-04-21T08:09:00.000-07:00

I saw this on Facebook this morning and it was just what I needed:

The only who can tell you "you can't" is you, and you don't have to listen

Weekly wrap-up and a plan for Eugene

2010-04-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

Whew, what a week or two have just passed and it's just going to get busier :-)

My training was terrible last week while I was in Chicago; I got in two measly treadmill runs of 4 miles each. Running improved though when I got home; I got in a BRUTAL 13 mile run Saturday morning, it felt like all 13 miles were uphill. Now, we all know that that can't possibly be true; but oh well. It was an awesome day for a long run in Portland; mild temperatures and no rain.

On Sunday I did the Brews to Bridges 10k; I finished in a respectable 56:49, definitely not a PR but I wasn't trying to PR. This was a cool race because we got to run over the Fremont Bridge, which is never open to pedestrian traffic. It's amazing how different things look when you are on foot; I drive over this bridge every day but running over it gives you a completely different perspective. Other than running over the bridge, pretty much everything about the event SUCKED - packet pick-up was chaos, the start was disorganized and the food & drink at the end was beyond chaotic.

Later in the afternoon I met with my new coach and we did pace work; yes, it is true I am not very bright. Scheduling is tough and this is when we could both fit it in and I figured that if I took it easy at the 10K I would be o.k. for pace work and I was right. I did a one mile warm-up; two one mile repeats; two 200 meter all out springs and a one mile cool down - yowza. I was supposed to run my mile repeats at 8:40, I ran one at 8:05 and one at 8:09.

I FEEL GREAT, even after some pretty significant miles/pace workouts over the weekend.; my legs were tired Sunday evening but that's about it - I am so happy.

After we finished the workout my coach was curious about why I hadn't broken the elusive 4:00 marathon mark; she indicated that with all the information I had provided her and with her observations of my running over the past two weeks - I SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO IT, so why hadn't I? She said I was totally there, what was holding me back? We talked for a while about this and I told her that I think it boils down to two things:

1. I really don't have a race pace versus a training pace; my pace is consistent
2. The 8 inches between my ears

I have gotten faster over the past year; I added in some intervals and hills into my workouts. I also think I have worked through some of the mental issues associated with running a marathon. What I still haven't been able to wrap my arms around is how I can train at one pace and race at another pace. So now she knows she has someone capable of busting four hours physically and she needs to work on the mental aspect of my training. She also indicated that she trains her athletes to cruise through the first 20 miles and then race a 10k - we will see how it goes. Bottom line; her comments went miles to help my confidence - hearing someone say that all the pieces are in place is really important and will carry me far. That being said, I also know that on any given day you might have it or you might not have it - but I'm feeling so much better that I am ready; the rest is up to race day.

Here is what she wants me to do for Eugene:

First third of the race        9:45 pace
Second third of the race   8:50 pace
Last third of the race        9:45 pace

The question is "Can I do it?"; can I step back from the race atmosphere and run those miles at 9:45 - I guess we will see come May 2nd. I have to be honest, if I feel really good on race day I am thinking of going for it. What do you guys think?

I am doing a great job on Amanda's Three challenges in 30 Days Challenge; I wanted to work on picking up the phone instead of using email - SUCCESS, I called two people that in the past I would have emailed. I also wanted to work on being more productive at work - SUCCESS, I'm having a great week at work & have made progress on some projects that have been languishing. And last, but not least, I am working on being less critical/judgmental - SUCCESS "mostly", I need to work harder on this but I am making progress.

Have a great week

I hate hotel treadmills

2010-04-13T19:02:00.000-07:00

I am in Chicago for work this week so I am forced to get my runs in on the hotel treadmill; now I shouldn't complain because I am getting my runs in while I travel, which can be very difficult but it has been so hot & stuffy in the hotel gym it is making me dread my runs.

I had my first bloggy meet up Sunday evening with the absolutely lovely Marcia from Running off at the Mouth I am stealing her blog photo as I forgot to pack my USB cable and can't upload the photo that I took; we can credit one of the teenagers that worked at Panera for this photo.

We had such a great time and we are such wild women that we closed Panera Bread - watch out! It was great to meet Marcia, chat about running, kids, and life. I hope this is the first of many bloggy meet-ups and I highly recommend it!

You absolutely have to go check out the cool challenge that Amanda at Run to the Finish is sponsoring; she asks us to select three changes that you can make over the next 30 days. I selected:

1. Picking up the phone to call instead of using email
2. Being less judgmental and more accepting
3. Increase my productivity at work

I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can handle.......have a great day

Success!

2010-04-10T17:40:00.000-07:00

I got my last long run for Eugene in this morning; I'm calling it 23 miles, but I really think it was closer to 24. We had "gadget/technology" problems; oh well. I think it is time for a new Garmin :-)

I did the first about 11 by myself; it was 36 degrees when I started, but it was dry and clear - yippee! I met my friend Vicki for the rest and we rocked it. It was about 55 degrees when we finished. Starbucks has never tasted so good. I hit the cold bath when I got home; I'm too much of a sissy for a true ice bath, but I am building up to it.

I'm off to Chicago tomorrow morning for work - have a great day!

Last long run

2010-04-09T07:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday, it sure seems that it has been a really long week....tomorrow is my last long run for Eugene; I will be hitting the streets for 22 miles. I'll be getting 12 miles in by myself and then meeting a friend for the last 10 or so; the weather is supposed to be decent this weekend and I am really looking forward to a dry weekend.

On Sunday morning I will be hopping on a plane for a visit to Chicago for work; it is always a challenge to get my runs in when I travel, but I am determined to be consistent with my training. The treadmill will become my new best friend. I'm always hesitant to run in areas that are unfamiliar to me; is this a concern for anyone else or do you guys just "got for it"?

I'm very excited because while I am in Chicago I am going to meet up with Marcia ; go check out her blog, and send her good thoughts about Boston, I can't wait to meet her.

I was bummed because my bloggy meet up with Alisa and Marya didn't work out last week; but that is o.k., we will get it rescheduled soon.

I did end up hiring the new coach, although I'm not sure the timing is really right; but it's done and that's o.k. I have selected the Newport Marathon (June 5th) as my goal race for my BQ, this will allow me to use Eugene (May 2nd) as another training run and gives me more time to work with my coach on pace work. Missoula (July 11) is probably just going to be survival, although we will see; at least I will be a maniac when I'm through.

I hit the gym Wednesday evening for the first time in months; my upper body is a little sore :-) My 19 year old daughter went with me and it is pretty weird to watch guys check out your daughter; kind of creepy. I have to do better about getting to the gym; it is the part of my exercise routine that is weakest.

I just finished the best book, The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo - go check it out, it is fabulous!

Have a great weekend.

My DNF story

2010-04-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

This post is a response to Christina's Running Challenge question: Have you had a DNF?

Go read her hilarious DNF story; here's my DNF story.

This is from March, 2007:

Last week I traveled to Los Angeles for the 22nd running of the Los Angeles Marathon; I was looking forward to my ninth marathon and a visit with my family (as I am originally from Southern California).

I knew I was in trouble when my plane landed on Thursday and it was 70 degrees at 11:30 a.m. The forecast for marathon day was 78 degrees. My sister greeted me at the airport and I immediately expressed my concern over the temperature. My concern over the temperature caught her completely by surprise as I am a sun and heat loving gal!

I spent Friday at the Expo, choosing to travel on the “Blue Line” from Long Beach; the Metro system is really quite good now in Los Angeles. I knew that I would be using the train on the morning of the marathon so I wanted to get an idea of what to expect so I wouldn’t have any surprises on marathon morning. The Expo was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center and seemed to be well organized. I picked up my “goodie” bag and made my way through the various exhibitors at the Expo. I was a bit disappointed in the t-shirt; it was a very simple cotton t-shirt and the marathon participants received the same t-shirt as the volunteers.

I eagerly looked forward to Sunday morning as I felt well prepared for the race (in spite of my concern about the temperature). I boarded the train at 5:00 a.m. to begin my trip to Universal Studios, which was were the race began. This year brought a new point to point course for the marathon, with a new start. I arrived at 6:30 a.m. which was nearly 2 hours before race time. There were approximately 25,000 participants in the marathon; and low and behold, I ended up in the corral and met a very nice gentleman from Tigard. We chatted as we waited for the race to begin.

The race began with a 1.25 mile uphill climb; followed by a nice 5 mile fairly gradual downhill. The course took us through some very interesting areas of Los Angeles and showed us the variety that is associated with LA. The rest of the course was not terribly difficult, they billed it as a “flat, fast course”.

I broke cardinal rule #1 of marathoning “NO NEW IS GOOD NEW” as I brought my iPod with me for the race. I had traveled to LA by myself for this race as Vicki, my usual running partner, was unable to join me; so I thought I would try out the iPod for some virtual company. I have used my iPod only sporadically and only when I run on the treadmill. Needless to say that by about mile 5 I was feeling a slight irritation on my arm and took the iPod off before I encountered any significant chafing, etc. Of course, this meant that I had to carry it with me.

I was wearing my heart rate monitor and my heart rate was higher than I hoped. I felt pretty good at this point, so I let that go. I stopped at every aid station and had either water or Gatorade. I wanted to make sure that I was properly hydrated.

My sister and nephew were scheduled to meet me at mile 13 where my nephew was going to run with me for approximately 6 miles. I encountered them at about mile 12-1/2 and when my sister saw me her first words were “Are you o.k.?” At this point I didn’t feel that good or that bad; but I guess I didn’t look very good. I said I was o.k. but that this was definitely not a PR race and that I would be happy just to finish. My nephew and I took off, the plan was that he would run with me to mile about 19 and my other nephew (they are 14 year old twins) would run with me from mile 19 to about mile 26. To make a long story short, we walked a lot during this 6 mile stretch as I just felt terrible. I was very warm, even walking I was having trouble keeping my heart rate in a semi safe zone and almost more concerning was that I wasn’t sweating very much. At about mile 18 I asked my nephew to call his folks and let them know that when we met at mile 19 I was going to stop. I didn’t know if this affected their plans logistically so I wanted to give them a heads up. However, he got voice mail and they never received the message so when they saw they had no idea. The high temperature that day ended up somewhere between 81 and 83 (depending on which newscast you watched).

The crowd support was less than I expected for a major city; there were a number of points (along the 19 miles I completed) that there were very few, if any, people cheering the runners on. The entertainment throughout the course was pretty good though.

My ego is somewhat bruised, but I decided that the potential negative consequences associated with continuing under these circumstances were just not worth it; I listened to my body and I’m glad I did.

Catching up

2010-03-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

Wow, time flies......

I've felt a little dis shelved, disorganized recently; my running has been o.k.; work has been o.k. but nothing has been great. Quite honestly, I think I was just plain old burnt out. I just got back from 4 nights in Sunriver (Central Oregon); no kids, no dogs, and nothing that we had to do - IT WAS AWESOME. We lingered over the newspaper with coffee; watched movies; I read and my husband watched basketball; we rode bikes; we sat in the hot tub and I got one short run in.

We spent all say Saturday doing the tourist thing and ended up putting almost 450 miles on the car - we ended up in California, it was wild! I'll post some photos in the next day or so. I feel energized and ready to take on the world.

I'm excited I'm going to have my first "bloggy meet up" tomorrow evening; I'm going to meet Alisa and hopefully Marya for a run down at the Portland Waterfront. It's so exciting to meet new people!

And for more good news.......I won Marcia's RunningSkirt Giveway over the weekend; I'll be traveling to Chicago for work in mid April and I am really hoping I can get together with Marcia for a run or glass of wine :-)

I did get a refund check from the failed coach experience and it seems to have cleared my bank so I can move on. It's funny how things happen; I had originally wanted to do some strength training and was hoping to participate in a Fitness Challenge at my gym. The Fitness Challenge never happened and so I went looking for other options to improve my general fitness and running & found the coach that didn't work out. I was browsing the gym web site the other day and was reading the bio's for their trainers; lo and behold, one of them is a gal who is a 2:48 marathoner who placed 50th in the 2000 Olympic trials! She was eligible to compete in 2004 as well, but choose to not participate in the trials. It could be fate, destiny or whatever you believe in - I'm going to call her this week, talk to her, see what her philsophy is & maybe give her program a try.

Life is good......

TGIF

2010-03-19T12:18:00.000-07:00

It is Friday and it is warm & sunny in Portland - yippee! I am one happy gal.

I had a great hill run last night; 7 miles and it felt really good. I haven't had the best running week in terms of number of days; I need to get my rear in gear, Eugene is in 6 weeks.

I am without a running coach; I am really bummed as I was just getting in the swing of his workouts, my schedule, etc. I got an email from him about a week ago and he stated that he had a family issue and had to move out of town (back home) unexpectedly. He was sorry and would be refunding my money......I haven't gotten my money back yet and when I first hired him he indicated that he could coach anyone, anywhere and didn't need to be in the same city. It really doesn't all add up and I sure hope that I get a refund check in the mail soon.

I do intend to follow part of his advice; more hill runs and more miles at a slower pace, but past this I'm not sure where my training is going. I need to figure it out soon, I have three marathons coming up. I dug out an old training schedule that I have followed in the past for long runs and my first 20 miler is this weekend; Sunday to be exact. I will do about 6-7 miles on my own & then meet two friends for the rest. As always, Starbucks at the finish.

Have a great weekend, whatever you do or wherever you go.

Monster PR

2010-03-14T17:51:00.000-07:00

I am so stoked; I ran the Shamrock 15k this morning and finished in 1:20:29 - this is a 9-1/2 minute PR for me at this event. I am feeling so good; my splits are here. I need to say that my pod tracked the course at 9.5 miles so this data is based on that distance:

9:02
8:50
8:56
8:40
8:34
8:22
7:54
7:40
8:16
4:12 (for the last .5)

Regardless, this is an awesome pace for me over this distance. The course is about 4-1/2 miles UP and 4-1/2 miles DOWN; with maybe .3 of flat mixed in. I was amazed when I saw my splits going up the hill; I didn't pay any attention at all when I was running and thought I was going much slower.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

I will take it any way I can get it

2010-03-08T19:56:00.000-08:00

I am so stoked - I got my FIRST EVER Age Group award this past Saturday; at the Oregon Road Runners Club 30k, 3rd Place Women 45-49. I present this for evidence!

This was especially cool, because I really didn't race the event; it was a training run for me. I was also a little worried as my training has been off a bit recently and I really wasn't sure I was ready to cover the distance.

It was a perfect day for running in Oregon; Champoeg is a State Park about 45 minutes South of Portland. The low in the morning was in the high 30's but the afternoon high hit 65 - unheard of this time of year. I carpooled down with 4 of my running mates and all 5 of us placed in our age groups; two of my friends won their age group. If I ever get the gratuitous photo of all of us posing with our ribbons I will share it.

The race was supposed to start at 9:00 a.m. but didn't start until almost 9:15; really no biggie to me. There was also a 10k event and both races started at the same time; small demerit here. The bummer about this event was that it was actually 3 - 10k's; i.e. 3 loops :-( When we turned the corner to start the third 10k loop I let out an audible UGH; I really wasn't looking forward to doing another loop; oh well, I gutted it out and finished feeling strong.

How was your weekend?

Catching up

2010-03-04T19:54:00.000-08:00

Wow, where has the time gone......It's been a heck of a few weeks. On a not so positive note my brother in law passed away recently. It's really a very sad story and I don't want to bore anyone or sadden them but I will say this; he was visiting from Montana for some surgery and was recovering at our home. We found him dead and think he had been dead about 5-6 hours; he was only 58 and while his health wasn't good, no one expected this. Needless to say this has occupied most of my life for the past few weeks. This is an experience I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy; there was a parade of people through our home, including the police who must "investigate" any deaths that are outside of a hospital or other care facility.

I am on Week 3 with my running coach; my running has suffered a bit because of my brother in law's passing. I've gotten in some of my runs, but have missed some as well. My coach wants me to run more miles, at a slower pace to build my stamina. I'm not sure yet how it's going. I am registered for a 30K this weekend so I guess that will give me an idea of how I am progressing. The plan is to run the first 10K nice and easy & open it up for the rest of the race. My BQ Goal race is going to be the Newport Marathon on June 5th, so I have plenty of time to get ready.

We did get up to Central Oregon for the weekend and to Mt. Bachelor for a day of skiing - we all really needed to get away.

Check out these really cool giveaways, but please don't enter either of them as I want to win ;-):

Marcia has a cool KettleWorx giveaway
Tricia has a nifty Running Skirts giveaway

I know there are tons more giveaways, but I am so far behind in my blog reading that I know I have missed some.

Happy Friday and have a great weekend - the sun is shining in Portland!

I hate push-ups (and I'm not that fond of my husband right now either)

2010-02-12T08:55:00.000-08:00

TGIF everyone

Here we are, the end of another week; it's been a busy one but they usually are. I'm feeling very fortunate that I have a three-day weekend as Monday is a Federal holiday :-)

I'm very frustrated with my push-up challenge and now I am letting my husband ruin it for me. For months he has been asking me why I always go upstairs to do my push-ups and sit-ups & he's curious why I won't do them in front of him. I have explained to him MULTIPLE times that I don't want him to tell me that I'm doing them wrong and that I feel self-conscious if I feel I'm being scrutinized.

I know that my push-ups aren't perfect and I am o.k. with that.

Well, I finally broke down the other day and started to do my Push-Up Fit Test in front of him; I had just finished Week 4 and this test was to determine if I was moving up to Week 5 or repeating Week 4 (again). My arms were a little sore and I wasn't really feeling it anyway; I should have known better..............

What was the FIRST thing out of his mouth? Keep your back straight.

What was the SECOND thing out of his mouth? Go lower.

At this point I tried, nicely, to ask him to leave me alone and not provide input into my push-up form; he then launched into a speech about if I was going to do them I should do them right and he was just trying to help. Didn't I want to do them right? I did not do enough to move on to Week 5 and I haven't done one push-up since then. Oh well..........

I am looking forward to a fun and hopefully relaxing weekend. Tonight I will be celebrating a dear friends 50th Birthday; tomorrow I am going to watch my son (who is a senior in college) coach his YMCA Youth Basketball Team; and on Monday I will be getting together with a few friends for scrapbooking and card making. I don't know yet what Valentine's Day will bring :-)

I have a 70 minute easy run scheduled for today; an 80 minute hill run (still easy pace) scheduled for tomorrow and a rest day on Sunday. I will get a full week's schedule from my new coach later this weekend and I'm excited to see what my running future holds. It will be interesting and challenging; right now he wants me to work on building my stamina, and trying to get me to be less fastidious about my pace, distance, etc. And what does this mean in the short term.........slow down, relax and listen to my body.

I'd like to start a "bloggy" mailing list; if you'd like to be included please send your Birthday and mailing address to kathyrafish@comcast.net

I did it!

2010-02-09T19:13:00.000-08:00

I jumped off the deep end and hired a coach; I'm committed for 6 months now. I really want to get my BQ this year and I think this kind of accountability will help me.

The guy has a 2:23 Marathon PR and thinks he can hit 2:20.....he is obviously doing something right. I wonder why he wants to coach a mere mortal like me; a 4:00 hour marathon isn't considered that fast to the purists, but I know I can reach that goal and I am looking forward to the extra motivation and shaking up my training regime. He will be incorporating strength training into my plan as well and I know this will help me; my core is weak.

My training plan will vary from week to week, based on the previous week's results so it definitely won't be stale.

We're going to start out going longer during the week, at a slower pace - everything at an easy effort, feeling like you could do more when you're finished. I'm supposed to go for minutes as opposed to miles. I just feel like I'm getting faster (for me) and now I will need to slow down; it feels a little counter productive but I am willing to give it a try.

I got two great hills runs in this week at a pace that I am very happy with; tomorrow I start the "Official" training plan..............Day 1 = 70 minutes for Wednesday.

Go check out this amazing giveaway that Beth has going on; the fine folks at Champion have sent her some really cool gear to share with her peeps. Plus, you will roll on the floor laughing at her poop stories.

Have a great evening

Random babbling

2010-02-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

Alisa pointed out to me that all the Oregon photos I posted were taken on nice, sunny days and she is right :-) We don't get as much sunshine as the rest of the world; but when it is sunny in Oregon, it is TO DIE FOR and nothing beats it. This is coming from a born and raised Southern California gal...........

Marcia talked about stalling the other day; about how hard it can be to get your rear in gear and out the door; I think we have all been there. I was there myself today; I had an hour to kill while I waited for my carpooler. It makes perfect sense for me to get a run in during this time, I've done it a few times, I had my gym bag with me, I didn't run yesterday, I probably can't run tomorrow - I fully intended to run. As the time got closer I did all the negative self-talk; it's windy, it's raining, I'm tired, I don't want to go - you all know the drill. Finally, push came to shove and I just forced myself out the door and got a decent 5.25 mile run in. I don't know about you guys, while sometimes it is hard to get out the door, I never regret getting the run in and I always feel so much better.

The Fitness Challenge that I was going to do at the gym was cancelled due to low participation; I'm really bummed. It was a great, affordable way to get in some personal training and a little friendly competition. I am now looking for Plan B. I'm considering hiring a coach, someone who incorporates strength training into a running regime; what do you guys think?

Julie has been doing this terrible thing recently ;-) She's posting about blogs she enjoys reading that she thinks others would enjoy; and she is right - they are all awesome. I can barely keep up reading all of these wonderful blogs, forget commenting on all of them. I'm a bad girl and read them at work most of the time (let's keep this as our little secret) but for some unknown technical reason I can't comment on all of them from my office. This is actually probably good as I might not ever get any work done.

I got a 4 mile treadmill run in on Monday evening; it sure seemed to me that it was much, much harder than running outside. In fact, I put the treadmill a full minute per mile slower than I would normally run. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

I had an awesome 7+mile hill workout on Tuesday night; it was brutal, but felt so good.

My long run this weekend will be on Sunday; we're planning on 13 miles. A good way to start the day before all of the Superbowl festivities kick off.

Have a great day.

Why I love Oregon, the visual version

2010-01-30T16:40:00.000-08:00

I love Wednesdays

2010-01-27T19:41:00.001-08:00

I got out of bed on the wrong side of the bed this morning; you know the feeling, just a little crabby - no particular reason at all.........the feeling persisted most of the day but when my work day was done I put on my running shoes and headed out for a 5-1/2 mile run around my office. It was a BEAUTIFUL day in Portland; the sun was shining and the birds were signing! Post-run I immediately headed to Yoga and this was all I needed to get out of my funk. A feel like a new person.

I arrived home to multiple surprises, there was the Progresso Soup package that I had won from Amand a at Run to the Finish; my wonderful weekly box of organic fruits & vegetables and new pendant lights over my kitchen counter.

You have to go check out the awesome giveaway that Tricia is doing; she's giving away a Nathan Hydration belt! This was on my list for Santa this year; a must have item for any runner.

I neglected to mention the other really cool item I got last Friday, a nifty hat from Ron over at Punk Rock Tri Guy. Ron graciously gave EVERYONE that had commented on his blog recently one of the new hats he's having made for PUNK ROCK RACING. You HAVE to go check him out; he is HILARIOUS and he is doing a ton of really cool events this year, including his first IronMan.

It should be noted that I was wearing my new hat when I PR'd on Sunday! It is now my good luck hat.

Happy Hump Day

It's a PR baby; PR!

2010-01-25T19:24:00.001-08:00

My half marathon this past Sunday was awesome! I finished in 1:55; which is a 4 minute PR for me - yeah me! It was cold for the entire race; and it pouring and windy for the last 4 miles, a PR in these conditions is even sweeter. While 40 degrees might not seem very cold to some of you you're pretty miserable when you're soaking wet.

We had plans to just go out and stay anywhere between an 8:45 and 9:15 pace; just have a nice run, well you know how plans go. Mind you, I really didn't think that an 8:45 pace for 13.1 miles would fall into the nice and easy category for me but WOW, I can't say it was hard for me.........My friend who wanted to take it easy didn't and she ended up taking off at a low 8:00 pace. Vicki and I didn't think we could sustain this pace for 13.1 so we let the others go at about mile 3 and just got into a groove and enjoyed the day. Just as we were commenting that the rain was staying away, it got very blustery and started to pour; maybe we jinxed it :-) We chatted the entire way and really enjoyed our time together; Vicki is a CPA so her life is just about over until April 15th so we know we won't have a ton of training runs together in the next 2-1/2 months. We kept saying we should slow down, but we never did. I was dead set on finishing in 1:58, which would have been a PR for me and I knew we were ahead of this pace for the entire race. I finished with some kick left and I feel great today; maybe I have a fast half in me......I'll get the opportunity to see on February 28th when I run the Max Muscle Half Marathon the next event on my race calendar.

I didn't get any photos and I am hopeful the race photographer got at least one decent one.

I "get" to repeat Week 4 of the 100 push-up challenge; I wasn't able to do the minimum number of psuh-ups to advance to Week 5. I'm o.k. with this though; in no way do I consider it a failure. I did 28 push-ups; when I started this challenge I couldn't even do 2!

I am moving on to Week 5 for the 200 sit-up challenge. The bummer is, now I am not the same schedule for both challenges; a little thing and I will get over it.

Lesson learned this week, when Lori says nice and easy - don't listen :-)

Busy week, sore arms and sunshine

2010-01-21T19:49:00.000-08:00

Wow, this push-up challenge is starting to take its' toll on me, it's getting harder and harder. I just (barely) finished Day 2 of Week 4 - let's just say that the form on the last 4-5 was pretty bad. But I did it! I also did Day 2 Week 4 of the 200 sit-up challenge this evening and got a 3-1/2 mile fairly hilly run in. I guess I deserve to be tired.

The Fitness Challenge at the gym begins February 1 and I am really looking forward to this; with the exception of the push-ups and sit-ups all I have been doing is running and have been very neglectful of everything else.

I'm going to be running in the Vancouver Lake Half Marathon this Sunday; I have done this event twice and while I am not a fan of the course it is a very well organized event and a good PR course as it is nice and flat. As a bonus, I think the weather is supposed to be good this weekend.

Oregon has nothing on California in regards to rain they have been having recently; have you seen the photos? I have family in Southern California and they are all o.k., albeit a little soggy.

The sun has been out at some point the last two days; it is amazing what seeing the sun does for you, least of all it gives you hope that the rain won't last forever.

Weekend update and more

2010-01-18T10:12:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful weekend and in fact, it is still the weekend for me because today is a holiday for me. I'm going to steal this from one of my Facebook friends as I couldn't sum it up better myself:

Dr King's day: serve, learn, make the world more human today.

Yesterday I had the honor and privilege of helping my dear friend Marion celebrate her 30th birthday; she is truly an amazing woman and decided to run 30 miles on her 30th birthday. You can find her story here I intended to run one 10-mile loop with her and then join the group for lunch later, here is the first group at the start.

It was a great day for run and the predicted rain was staying away. Just as we were finishing the first loop I decided I would go out for a total of about 15 miles as I felt so good and it was great to be supporting my friend in this tremendous accomplishment. Here's the group at the beginning of the 2nd loop.

We were running at a pace that is a little slower than my normal pace and it was a little difficult to keep the pace on track and stay with the group, but I felt so incredibly good it really didn't matter. We got the point where I was going to turn around and head back for my 15 miles and I realized that I had mis-calculated the distance, actually if I would have thought about it a little more it would have "clicked" in my brain that I had missed the turn around point. If I turned around here, I would have gone back to the starting point with 18.5 miles, 4.25 of if by myself; I decided just to finish the 2nd loop with my friends and I am so glad I did. The 2nd loop was about one minute per mile slower than the first, but Marion still had 10 miles to go so I just settled in and enjoyed the morning. It was lightly raining by this time, but relatively warm so it was very pleasant.

Here we are finishing the 2nd loop, Marion is in the blue vest.

At this point, I headed home to shower and to meet the group for a late lunch. Marion finished the 30 miles in tears; it was so great to be a part of this. So my 10 mile run turned into a 21 mile run, whoops; I have to tell you though, I have NEVER felt so good after a 21 mile run. The slower pace helped, but this is my longest run since Vegas and I am stoked about how my running is shaping up for this winter.

I won my first giveaway, thanks Amanda and I was also called out by Julie as a blog she likes read. Both of these are so cool; I'm a new blogger and I'm having such a great time.

I began Day 1, Week 4 of the 100 push-up and 200 sit-up challenges today; yippee! This is new territory, as previously I got derailed after week 3; yippee!

I'm off to run errands and head to a friends' house for scrapbooking and cardmaking.

Have an awesome day everyone.

I'm commited now

2010-01-16T19:40:00.000-08:00

I did it, I'm registered and am on my way to becoming a Marathon Maniac......Eugene, May 2; Newport, June 5 and Missoula, July 11.......this will be marathons 17, 18 & 19 respectively - wow.

There's no turning back, but I'm looking forward to the challenge. Training has never been more serious; no slacking off now :-)

Today I completed week 3 of the 100 push-up and 200 sit-up challenges; I'm still feeling pretty darn good, although the push-ups are tough.

Tomorrow morning I'll be hitting the streets for 10 miles and I am really looking forward to it.

The 7-day forecast calls for rain, showers and more rain - welcome to Oregon.

Pomegranates

2010-01-14T11:11:00.000-08:00

Two posts in one day, I don't know if I can continue at this frenzied pace.....

Have you had a pomegranate lately? There has been so much media buzz surrounding them lately that I thought I would give one a try and I love fruit. My last memories of pomegranates is from a really long time ago; all I can remember is that my mom wouldn't buy them because "they will stain your clothes". Well now that I am a "big girl" and do my own laundry I' decided to take the risk.

Here are the pros:

They are pretty darn yummy
They are full of antioxidants
Some studies suggest they could help with menopause symptoms (yes, I am almost that old)
They are high in fiber
Red is my favorite color

The cons:

They are a pain to open up & get ready for nooshing (kind of like crab legs)
I have little red spots of pomegranate juice all over my desk
I will probably find pomegranate seeds in my office for the next 6 months
I probably did stain my white t-shirt (I hate it when Mom is right)

And yes, I will buy one again and I will figure out a way to conquer the mess aspect!

Here is another cool giveaway that you should check out as it gives back. Katye is really active in the fight against cancer and has pulled together a ton of really neat items that you could win. Check it out, we've all been affected by cancer.

Near perfect day

2010-01-14T07:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was spectacular......

Work went great; I suffered from a severe lack of motivation at work over the holidays, but I'm back in the swing of things now
Got in 4 mile run after work (treadmill :-( but it was better than nothing)
Went to Yoga for the first time in a while; I love Yoga and will be going every Wednesday
Got home and my husband had made dinner
Had a nice glass of Pinot Gris
Sat in the hot tub
Read for a little while
Got a great nights' sleep

I am a happy gal this morning!

Go check out this AWESOME giveaway that Teamarcia has going on; she's hit the 100+ mark of followers and she is celebrating!

Have an awesome day.

Another first

2010-01-11T14:01:00.000-08:00

Well here goes nothing; my first link to a giveaway!

Please go check out Run to the Finish's Progresso Soup Giveaway

More to follow and have a great day.

P.S. I got out for a great 5 mile run this morning; I was able to work from home today and thus could get out for a morning run. It's rare that I get a morning run in on a weekday; but wow, when I do I LOVE IT.

My first tag

2010-01-09T17:12:00.000-08:00

I had a great 10-mile run this morning, the conditions were perfect; which in Oregon this time of year means DRY.

I'm totally conflicted about what to do for my marathons over the next six months; I have lots of things I want to do and I just can't decide which is more important.

I want to become a MANIAC I can do this by running the following marathons:

Eugene May 2
Newport June 5
Missoula July 11

This is the lowest level of entry into this "elite" group.

But......what is more important; becoming a maniac or qualifying for Boston? I know that I have to qualify for Boston at the first race, Eugene, otherwise the toll of three marathons in three months will take its' toll on me. I have 8:00 minutes to go to make my BQ; I am running faster, but is it fast enough and can I sustain it over 26.2 miles?

I want to run an ultra this year as well; if the lottery gods are good to me I will run the McKenzie River Trail Run the race is in mid-September. Finally, the plan is to run the Philadelphia Marathon in November. This is a lot of racing for one year; 4 marathons and one ultra. It is nice to have decisions like this to make.

Marcia asked me to share 10 things that make me happy so here goes:

1. My family
2. Reading
3. My dear Friends
4. Sore muscles after a great workout
5. Running
6. Accomplishing a goal
7. Helping others accomplish a goal
8. Random Acts of Kindness
9. Paying it Forward
10. The beauty of Oregon

I am now tagging:

Mel
Julie
Rea
Christina

It is Hump Day!

2010-01-06T07:49:00.001-08:00

I'm so excited to be participating in TWO 1000+ mile challenges this year. Check out the cool logo http://tallmomontherun.blogspot.com created for her challenge.

I have so much going on and I am so excited about the coming year......

I registered for the Missoula Marathon yesterday; it is being held July 11th. Here is my dilemma, I really want to run the Newport (Oregon) Marathon as well, the problem is that it is June 5th (6 weeks in between). I have no doubt I can run both races; as long as I don't race both races :-) I know that I will want to race Newport as I am seeking redemption from my last performance there; while it was not my personal worst, it was close. Newport is close to home and therefore not an expensive outing so it kind of makes sense to just do it.

My husband is from Montana and he is really excited about me running in Missoula; he did both his under grad and grad programs at the University of Montana. The marathon received high marks as the Best Overall Marathon through the Runners World Readers Choice Award. I am a little worried about the weather in Montana, it could be bitter cold or brutally hot; the first year they had this race (a couple of years ago) it was close to 100 degrees. I need to qualify for Boston at one of these races; I have 8 minutes to chew up and I think it is definitely doable on either course.

I think I will also be running the Philadelphia Marathon in November. Based on how quickly Boston filled up for 2010, this event is too late in the season to ensure that if I qualify I can run Boston in 2011.

It is so nice to have options, but I really don't know what to do. In a perfect world, I would like to get a 4-minute PR at each of the two races; I think this makes the goal a little more manageable and accomplishable.

Thoughts?

Monday madness; hope & optimism

2010-01-04T08:03:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday!

It's back to work and back to a fairly normal routine; it seems like I've been in holiday mode forever.

I'm feeling very encouraged about my relationship with my step-daughter this morning; she is 20 years old and I have been in her life for 11 years, 9-1/2 in the same house. Essentially, her mother abandoned her and her brother; she moved out of their family home and left the kids with their Dad (my current husband). It's been a tough 10 years and we have been 100% there for the kids (emotionally, financially, you name it). She made appearances over the years and spent a little bit of time with the kids (my step-son is now 23). She settled down & got re-married about 5-6 years ago and began fairly normal contact (if you call phone calls & not visits contact) with the kids. I need to add that this wasn't productive, constructive, or proper parental contact; but the kids were at least talking to their mom. Needless to say, the kids think their mom walks on water; every child wants to have a relationship with their mom. I think they see what's been going on and where her priorities are, but they just don't want to accept it or believe it. I have never been treated very well by my step kids (in my opinion); I still do everything I can for them. I drove the carpools, I made their lunches, I went to their events, I had to get their homework done - I'm sure you get the idea. I have been more of a mother to them than their mother has. We have NEVER said a bad word about her to the kids, although we have obviously said a few under our breath :-). Yesterday afternoon as my step daughter was loading her car to drive back to college I gave her a big hug, told her I would miss her and as my husband gave her a hug she said "love you guys". THIS. IS. HUGE. It absolutely made my day to hear those words; we might be turning the corner and I am very optimistic!

I have made progress on my 2010 goals as well:

Goal: Expand my culinary horizons by preparing more new meals for my family

Action: I signed up for a weekly fruit and vegetable delivery; my first delivery will be Wednesday, I am very excited.

http://www.organicstoyou.org/

Goal: Complete the 100 push-up challenge

Action: Completed Week 1 on January 1, 2010 and started Week 2 yesterday

Goal: Complete the 200 sit-up challenge
Action: Completed Week 1 on January 1, 2010 and started Week 2 yesterday

Goal: See two movies per month; at least one at the Theater

Action: Netflixed and watched "Dan in Real Life"; it was cute, not what I expected based on who recommended it to me (a guy) I enjoyed it. I also got conned into watching "American Pie 2" - wow, I'm a little too old for this type of movie; it did make me laugh though and I needed a mindless activity

Goal: Log 1,500 miles (this is an average of 29 miles per week)

Action: I ran 18 miles in the first three days of January
Action: Signed up to participate in TWO 1000+ mile challenges in 2010

http://runninaround.wordpress.com/1010-in-2010/
http://tallmomontherun.blogspot.com/2009/12/1-to-1000.html

This is not to say I have failed in my other goals (well maybe some of them), but I don't feel I've made significant enough progress to report!

The Rose Bowl didn't have the outcome we hoped for, but everyone who attended had a really great time.

I really need to get back to work now.......Have a great day.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

What a great way to start a new year and a new decade; 6 miles with good friends and post-run coffee. We totally lucked out with the weather as well; it was absolutely pouring just before we started. The rain stopped during our run and the sun even came out :-) The rain started again as we enjoyed our coffee and conversation. This is not best of photo of any of us; but that is o.k. I am in the back row, second from the right.

This is an awesome group of running mates; I am so thankful for them.

My running in December was worse than terrible and I really felt like I struggled this morning. I felt like I was fighting hard to run a 10:00 minute pace; I was so surprised to learn that we averaged 8:38 :-) I am thrilled. Especially since I didn't get a great nights sleep last night.

We are hosting an exchange student from Mexico and he had about 10 friends over for the evening. All in all they were very good and they tried to be quiet; I was just hyper vigilant, knowing there were other folks in the house and worried that everything was o.k. Also, my daughters were out for the evening; definitely giving me cause to be concerned.

My husband is out of town, attending the ROSE BOWL - GO DUCKS! so I never quite relax when he is gone.

2010 is going to rock!

What I look forward to in 2010

2009-12-28T10:51:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year where we reflect back on the past year and look forward to the new year (and a new decade). I am very fortunate to have a wonderful family, a great job, fabulous friends, & the means and ability to be able to do many things and while I may not always seems appreciative or grateful I truly am.

This is what I would like to give, to and of myself, and to my family & my friends during the coming year:

· Read a minimum of one book per month; preferably two
· Run an ultra marathon
· Be more accepting and understanding
· Qualify for the Boston Marathon, 2011
· Do strength training two times per week
· Be a good friend
· Swim at least once per week
· Be more organized at home
· Log 1,500 miles (this is an average of 29 miles per week)
· Be more fiscally responsible
· Run a 1:55 half marathon
· Expand my culinary horizons by preparing more new meals for my family
· Be less wasteful
· Communicate more and better with my husband
· Stay positive
· Complete the 100 push-up challenge
· Walk the dogs more often
· Complete the 200 sit-up challenge
· Enjoy life
· See two movies per month; at least one at the Theater
· Try meditation
· Do 2 pull-ups
· Be a good human

I love Saturdays

2009-12-26T10:52:00.001-08:00

I don't know what is better about Saturday mornings; the run or the coffee with good friends post-run. It is a beautiful morning in Portland; cold and crystal clear. It is a bit windy and I think with the wind chill it feels in the mid-twenties; this is cold for us.

I got out for a 7.8 mile run this morning and it felt AWESOME; our pace was just under 9:00's. I am thrilled, especially since I've had nearly three weeks off.

Santa brought me a new hat & gloves which served me really well this morning; the gloves are the warmest I've had yet.

I'm going to go hit the push-ups and sit-ups now; I decided to just start over at week 1 for both. I will prevail, nothing will stop me this time.

Have an awesome weekend.

P.S. I'm just wondering how everyone fits in writing blog posts, commenting on all the wonderful blogs, working, having a family, etc.? I need a few more hours in the day :-)

Has political correctness gone too far?

2009-12-24T10:15:00.000-08:00

I just received this from a co-worker; it made me both smile and think. I do appreciate the effort as I am no way near clever enough to craft something like this. For another holiday chuckle, go check this out from Cranky Fitness:

http://www.crankyfitness.com/2009/12/holiday-party-survival-guide-grinch.html

Please accept without obligation, express or implied, these best wishes for an environmentally safe, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, and gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday as practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice (but with respect for the religious or secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or for their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all) and further for a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated onset of the generally accepted calendar year (including, but not limited to, the Christian calendar, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures). The preceding wishes are extended without regard to the race, creed, age, physical ability, religious faith or lack thereof, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee(s).

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS:

Whereas, on or about the night prior to Christmas, there did occur at a certain improved piece of real property (hereinafter "the House") a general lack of stirring by all creatures therein, including, but not limited to a mouse.

A variety of foot apparel, e.g., stocking, socks, etc., had been affixed by and around the chimney in said House in the hope and/or belief that St. Nick a/k/a/ St. Nicholas a/k/a/ Santa Claus (hereinafter "Claus") would arrive at sometime thereafter. The minor residents, i.e. the children, of the aforementioned House were located in their individual beds and were engaged in nocturnal hallucinations, i.e. dreams, wherein vision of confectionery treats, including, but not limited to, candies, nuts and/or sugar plums, did dance, cavort and otherwise appear in said dreams.

Whereupon the party of the first part (sometimes hereinafter referred to as ("I"), being the joint-owner in fee simple of the House with the party of the second part (hereinafter "Mamma"), and said Mamma had retired for a sustained period of sleep. At such time, the parties were clad in various forms of headgear, e.g., kerchief and cap.

Suddenly, and without prior notice or warning, there did occur upon the unimproved real property adjacent and appurtenant to said House, i.e., the lawn, a certain disruption of unknown nature, cause and/or circumstance. The party of the first part did immediately rush to a window in the House to investigate the cause of such disturbance.

At that time, the party of the first part did observe, with some degree of wonder and/or disbelief, a miniature sleigh (hereinafter "the Vehicle") being pulled and/or drawn very rapidly through the air by approximately eight (8) reindeer. The driver of the Vehicle appeared to be and in fact was, the previously referenced Claus.

Said Claus was providing specific direction, instruction and guidance to the approximately eight (8) reindeer and specifically identified the animal co-conspirators by name: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen (hereinafter "the Deer"). (Upon information and belief, it is further asserted that an additional co- conspirator named "Rudolph" may have been involved.)

The party of the first part witnessed Claus, the Vehicle and the Deer intentionally and willfully trespass upon the roofs of several residences located adjacent to and in the vicinity of the House, and noted that the Vehicle was heavily laden with packages, toys and other items of unknown origin or nature. Suddenly, without prior invitation or permission, either express or implied, the Vehicle arrived at the House, and Claus entered said House via the chimney.

Said Claus was clad in a red fur suit, which was partially covered with residue from the chimney, and he carried a large sack containing a portion of the aforementioned packages, toys, and other unknown items.

He was smoking what appeared to be tobacco in a small pipe in blatant violation of local ordinances and health regulations.

Claus did not speak, but immediately began to fill the stocking of the minor children, which hung adjacent to the chimney, with toys and other small gifts. (Said items did not, however, constitute "gifts" to said minor pursuant to the applicable provisions of the U.S. Tax Code.)

Upon completion of such task, Claus touched the side of his nose and flew, rose and/or ascended up the chimney of the House to the roof where the Vehicle and Deer waited and/or served as "lookouts." Claus immediately departed for an unknown destination.

However, prior to the departure of the Vehicle, Deer and Claus from said House, the party of the first part did hear Claus state and/or exclaim: "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!" Or words to that effect.

Thought for the Day

2009-12-24T07:08:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Runners World:

We all have dreams. In order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort.

Jesse Owens

New ground in blog land

2009-12-23T19:57:00.000-08:00

It is cold and foggy in Oregon and I am warm & cozy at home; I am still fighting some sort of cold bug so I decided to rest this evening.

Have you checked out Shut Up and Run; if not, I know you will enjoy Beth's blog. She's having a giveaway, click here for details:

http://twentysixpointtwoormore.blogspot.com/2009/12/running-is-meaning-of-life-and-giveaway.html

Happy Holiday, Merry Christmas, Merry Festivus, or whatever you celebrate.

Back at it

2009-12-21T20:32:00.000-08:00

For a variety of reasons, none of them terribly good - I HAVEN'T RUN SINCE LAS VEGAS; for those of you keeping score that is 2 weeks + one day. That is until today, I got out with a friend for 4 nice & easy miles - it felt wonderful! To make matters worse, I haven't done any exercise since the marathon :-(

Push-ups and sit-ups will start again tomorrow (Tuesday); no excuses I will make it through the 6 weeks!

I am thinking about goals for 2010 and there are many; I'm not going to post them yet as I want to make sure they are reasonable and accomplishable.

I did however tally up my 2009 mileage and I have 1018 miles year to date; wow, I am stoked. There are probably 15-20 miles that were run "watchless" during the year. Who would have thought?

Talk about coincidence, I got my gift from the blogger gift exchange today; wonderful socks & fuel goodies, EXACTLY what I sent - what are the odds?

Have a great evening.

Post marathon let down?

2009-12-16T10:26:00.000-08:00

I haven't run since the marathon..........I intentionally took a week off post marathon to rest and recover (and to earn back some domestic points), but now I am having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. I have a run scheduled for Saturday morning and that might be all I get in over a two week period; yikes. I feel so much better when I exercise, I'm just amazed at how quickly I got out of the workout routine. I know the holidays are partially responsible; we have activities almost daily and the weather has been TERRIBLE either bitterly cold or massive rain fall.

One thing for sure, I need a goal - a scheduled race. The only things on the 2010 calendar at this time are a half marathon at the end of January and a half marathon Mother's Day weekend (May). I need to pick a spring marathon; any suggestions? I really, really, really want to qualify for Boston and run it in 2011; I will turn 50 in 2011 and I think it would be a great way to celebrate my birthday.

I have also fallen off the 100 push-up and 200-sit-up wagon; I made it to Week 3 Day 2 and then came my marathon and trip & NOTHING since then. I intend to start back up Saturday but I need to figure out where I should pick up the schedule; probably back to Week 2 Day 1.

Have an awesome day.

Las Vegas Marathon = PR

2009-12-09T10:35:00.000-08:00

Marathon #16 is complete; 4:08 which is a 3 minute PR, I'm very pleased. I ran 4 marathons over the past year and 3 were PR's!

The first PR came at California International Marathon December 7th, 2008 - 4:13, shattering my longstanding PR of 4:22 from the Portland Marathon in October 2003.

June, 2009 brought the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon; not a PR but a great time on a tough course; 4:22.

October 4, 2009 (Portland Marathon) presented me with a 4:11 finishing time; a 2 minute PR.

I liked the Vegas course a lot; the last 6 miles were essentially downhill and it was awesome. I thought the expo was terrible and the crowd support on parts of the course wasn't very good; but there were tons of aid stations and the race was well organized. The start was cold; about 34 degrees and it really didn't warm-up too terribly much.

The only bummer of the trip was the rain that fell on Monday; I get enough rain at home :-(

It was great to be with Vicki and Brittney as Brittney completed her first marathon in a very respectable 4:38 :-)

The craziness begins........

2009-12-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

The whirlwind of December madness starts tomorrow with "The Civil War"; the annual football match-up between the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. The stakes are high this year as the winner of the game will head to the Rose Bowl. We are University of Oregon season ticket holders and will be at the game; the hype is unreal. My son is a senior at Oregon and my step-daughter is a junior a OSU; so we already have our own, built-in Civil War! Football is very important at my house and quite honestly I'm very ready for football season to be over; I can't help but think that if we took all of the energy and money being focused on this particular football game we could solve alot of issues within our communities. I think I'm pretty much on my own for this one though; this comment made me pretty unpopular at home last night :-)

Saturday morning I hop on a plane for Vegas; the marathon starts at 6:15 a.m. Sunday, I AM READY! This is a girls trip and I am so looking forward to it; we'll be home on Tuesday afternoon.

We're having our hardwood floors refinished so we are living in chaos and will be displaced early next week for 3-4 nights. I can't wait for this project to be done, it has been a long time coming.

The flurry of events for the next 3 weeks include:

Hubby's Office party
Duck tailgating crew holiday party
Exchange program potluck (which we are hosting)
Greg Mortenson, Stones for Schools book event
Book club
Bunco
Christmas Ship outing
Fab 5 holiday happy hour
Good friend's birthday dinner

Still need to find time for:

Hanukkah dinner
Zoo Lights
Christmas shopping

I'm exhausted already...........

Happy Hump Day

Happy Monday

2009-11-30T07:07:00.000-08:00

It's Monday and I am back at work after a really nice 4-day weekend, but I have a nice short this week as we will be heading to Eugene for the "Civil War" on Thursday and then I will be getting on a plane for Las Vegas Saturday morning for the inaugural Las Vegas Rock and Roll Marathon! This will be marathon #16 for me and if things go really, really well I am hoping to qualify for Boston.

I successfully completed Week 2 of both the 100 push-up and 200 sit-up challenges - yay for me! I was able to do the minimum of 16 consecutive push-ups so I can move on to week 3; I will start tonight.

I worked on my Christmas cards and did a little scrapbooking this weekend as well.

Off to work now, have a great day,

Fun giveaway

2009-11-25T12:40:00.000-08:00

Happy day before Thanksgiving!

It is a beautiful and sunny day in the Pacific Northwest; rare this time of year so we are really enjoying it.

I am learning to navigate my way through blog land and I am having the best time! I'm following a handful of other bloggers and am starting to comment; I thoroughly enjoy every post I read, but I know there is no way I can comment on all of them.

Go check out Tall Mom on the Run; she is having an awesome giveaway, you can find her here:

My employer has granted an early dismissal today; so I will be able to get a short run in while the sun is still shining. After that it is off to make Pumpkin Pie and a try my hand at a new dessert - Apple Crunch Pie with Vanilla Sauce.

The kids will be home from college this afternoon and I am looking forward to spending the weekend with my family.

Saturday's long run

2009-11-21T16:03:00.000-08:00

We intended to do 22 miles today for our last long run for the Las Vegas Rock and Roll Marathon. It was a cool morning, but dry - this is unusual for this time of year; it always rains in Portland! The rain gods were smiling on us as we got the run in with only a couple of raindrops.

It became apparent early on that 22 probably wasn't going to happen; we all decided we would be happy with 20, we ended up with 19.7 which I am happy with. It wasn't my best long run, but neither was it my worst. It's now officially taper time; only 2 weeks but I think it will be o.k. I had been hoping to qualify for Boston at Vegas, although it was a long shot. But now that registration has closed for Boston some of the pressure if off; I think I definitely have a PR in me though.

Have a great weekend!

Week one - SUCCESS

2009-11-19T19:30:00.000-08:00

I have just completed week 1 of the 100 hundred push-up and 200 sit-up challenges. Yeah for me! You can get all the gory details on this challenge here:

www.hundredpushups.com

To get started you do an initial test to see how many push-ups you can do; let's just say I started at the very beginning, I started in column 1. You then do a total of 5 sets of push-ups, with a 60-second rest between sets. This is how I fared:

Day 1 11/14/09
3
5
3
3
5

Day 2 11/16/09 man was I sore from day 1
3
4
2
3
4

Day 3 11/19/09
4
5
4
4
7

www.twohundredsitups.com

On to sit-ups; I did really well with sit-ups for this week, doing more than the minimum for each set in most cases. I also performed an initial sit-up test to determine where I should begin. Based on my initial test results I could have started on week 3, column 3; I decided to start at week 1, column 3 - this would allow me to essentially stay on the same six week cycle as the push-ups:

Day 1 11/14/09
15
20
10
10
20

Day 2 11/16/09

20
20
15
15
25

Day 3 11/19/09
22
25
14
14
30

Have a great evening.............

This pretty much sums it up for me today...

2009-11-19T11:04:00.000-08:00

Cartoon: nataliedee.com

Thanks to www.crankyfitness.com for this little gem today.

Tuesday Track Night

2009-11-17T15:05:00.000-08:00

I'm off to the track in a little bit; my training schedule calls for mile repeats, but I think I'm going to pass and just do some easy 800's as I am going to be running 22 miles on Saturday and I want to have a strong run. Saturday's run will be my last long run in preparation for the Las Vegas Rock and Roll Marathon - and yes, I am a week off; giving myself only a 2-week taper. Sometimes life just gets in the way.

I re-started the 100 push-up and 200 sit-up challenges this past weekend; the sit-ups are easy, but the push-ups are killing me. This will be my third attempt to complete these challenges and I am determined to make it to the end this time.

Day one!

2009-11-13T12:07:00.000-08:00

Today I begin my journey into "Blog Land"; I've been following a variety of blogs for the past few months and I have decided to do more than stalk - I am participating!

I am not a writer; nor do I consider myself creative. I don't know that I will have much to say that folks will find interesting, but I am looking forward to using this to learn, grow, share and explore.

I consider this blog both christened and under construction so bear with me as I create my profile, add data, and learn the ropes of this strange new world.