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.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
My DNF story
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.
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.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Catching up
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......
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......
Friday, March 19, 2010
TGIF
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.
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.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Monster PR
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!
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!
Monday, March 8, 2010
I will take it any way I can get it
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?
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?
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Catching up
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 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!
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