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

(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

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

Wordless Wednesday

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

Vancouver Lake Half Marathon Race Report

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

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!