Happy Friday and goal update

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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......