Shamrock Weekend

Happy Monday! I'm back from a fun running weekend in Portland with my parents.

St. Patrick's Day is not a super significant holiday to me--I can't really get into a holiday that revolves around drinking and where the highlight is often a parade--but on the other hand, I love to wear green (all the time), and the Portland Shamrock Run is one of my favorite running events each year. So I do observe St. Patrick's Day, just not in the "traditional" fashion.

Portland is one of my favorite race travel destinations. I've gone there for the Shamrock Run six times (including this year), the Portland Marathon and Half Marathon twice, and Portland R 'n' R once (with another upcoming in May). I like to stay at the Benson, a grand old hotel in downtown Portland. Last year I wasn't able to get a room there (waiting to long to register), but I made early reservations for this year's Shamrock Run and R 'n' R!

I picked up my parents in the early afternoon on Friday to drive south. We couldn't leave until after 2:00 because my mother had a lunch, and we paid for our delay with horrible traffic all the way through Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia. I think it took three hours to get past Olympia (usually two hours is reasonable). After Olympia the traffic congestion disappeared, though, and the remaining drive to Portland was smooth. We got to the hotel just before 7:00.

Since it was sort of late already (and because we like room service), we ordered dinner from the room service menu. The Benson has always had tasty food on the menu, but they've really expanded the room service offerings and there were a ton of things to choose from. My dad had a brie and ham sandwich with fries, my mom had a grilled chicken sandwich with salad, and I decided to start carbing up and ordered pasta from their mix and match pasta menu (penne with tomato and basil, plus grilled chicken breast). I also got a spinach salad with dried cranberries and goat cheese (which don't show much in the photo, but there was a ton).

I thought I should start getting in some carbs early because I had been eating pretty low carb during the week, and actually felt like I was getting surprising tired early in my weekday runs (at about five miles). I think bonking at five miles is ridiculous, so I wanted to bump up my carb stores for the weekend. Not showing in the picture--two rolls, both of which I ate.

On Saturday morning I skipped my typical trip to Starbucks and drank free coffee from the hotel lobby. We had brought a couple of big mugs along, which was a much better option than their paper to-go cups!

We also skipped the usual modest Starbucks breakfast (which would have been a wrap for me, obviously), and ate at the Benson breakfast buffet. Oh, it was fabulous! I narrowed my focus and had waffles with maple syrup, bacon (amazing thick cut deliciousness), a scoop of their special potato casserole, and lots of blackberries, blueberries, and pineapple....twice. Other items on the buffet that I bypassed--sausage, roasted potatoes, oatmeal with tons of topping choices, a variety of cereals and cereal add-ins, muffins, and an omelet bar. There were also some other pastries that may or may not have left with me in a ziploc bag for an afternoon treat.

With full stomachs, we headed over to the Convention Center for the race expo. The MAX train was easy transportation, although it was cold in the wind waiting for our train to arrive! We spent about an hour at the expo. I got my bib and chip, and race shirt, then wandered through the vendor displays. I didn't buy anything, but did leave with a few Larabar samples, chips, and cereal.

The weather was cloudy and felt cold because of the wind, so we didn't really have any desire to get out and about. Back at the hotel we sat in the lobby and read for a while. The Benson has a beautiful lobby.

In the photo I am wearing a new shirt and scarf that I bought at Renee's (a local boutique) on Friday before leaving town. The green scarf above was also from Renee's.

We got so full from breakfast that we didn't really need lunch. But later in the afternoon I went over to Starbucks and bought some snack boxes (cheese and fruit, protein box) that we divided up for a heavy snack to sustain us until dinner. Afterwards there may have been naps....

We ate dinner at a restaurant just about a block away from the hotel, Pazzo in the Hotel Vintage Plaza. It's a pretty sophisticated Italian restaurant with very good food. I really wanted to order the butternut squash ravioli with truffle butter and hazelnuts, but I was afraid that might be too rich for a pre-race meal and went with pappardelle and bolognese sauce, and a Caesar-type salad. I also ate most of the brussels sprouts that my mother ordered as a side...living dangerously.

I really wanted to rest my legs on Saturday so it was a complete rest day except for walking to and from our various locations. I very rarely take a full rest day without cross-training, but I think it really helped. My legs had felt a little worked over during the week. Last Sunday I did a 20-mile run (which went really well), then about 7.5 miles on Monday (which also went really well). But both Wednesday and Friday my legs felt tired, and also I had that mini-wall-bonk thing going on. On Wednesday I did so-so speed work, six half mile intervals on the road. I didn't hit goal pace on any of them, but I don't know if I might have been a little faster on the track. I felt okay about it. Friday I kept it pretty easy with just 6.5 miles, the first two as warm-up, a couple sub-nine, and the rest easy (approximately marathon pace). I figured Friday's tempo run could be incorporated into Sunday's race.

The 15K started at 7:40 Sunday morning. I got up a little before 6:00 and got coffee from the lobby, then laid in bed and had coffee and my pre-race breakfast, a whole wheat English muffin with almond butter and chia seeds, until about 6:40. I put on my festive green running gear (which was subdued compared to some of the outfits out there!) and headed out around 7:10 to warm up and go to the start. I was a little late leaving the hotel so I didn't have time for a two mile warm-up as I had hoped. Instead I did about 1.35 miles then found my place in the start area. I squeezed myself into the 8-9 minute mile section.

I had multiple goals for this race. Not one involved a PR, as I know I'm not in PR-speed shape. My goals sound modest but keep in mind this is a pretty hard, hilly course! Goal A - sub-9 pace. Goal B - 9-9:09 pace (which would be the pace I'd need for a 2-hour half). Goal C - 9:14 pace (which I was supposed to do four miles at for my tempo run). Goal D - sub-9:30 pace. Goal E - sub-90 minutes for the 15K or DIE! (Spoiler alert--just so you don't think too highly of me in advance--I didn't manage goals A or B.)

I've done this Shamrock Run 15K about five times (this year makes six), and although they've changed the beginning of the course a few times due to road work, the basic course remains the same. The first two miles are relatively flat. Then on S.W. Broadway you start to go up, up, up to about five miles, where you hit some rolling hills (but are still climbing) through mile six. Then you go down, down, down for three miles and flatten out for the final .3 to the finish.

I cruised past my parents at the hotel just before we began our uphill stint.

It was pretty clear I wasn't going to be doing sub-9. My first mile was about 9:07 and then I think mile 2 was 9:22, even though we were still on relatively flat territory. Once we got into the hills I was doing around a 9:45ish pace steadily, I think (my slowest mile was 10:10). I felt okay, and I'm not unhappy with a mostly sub-10 pace on hills! Around mile 5 I managed to get my Gu out of my pocket (my shirt has a large back pocket which I stuffed with some money, jelly beans (which I didn't eat), a Gu, and my phone, making for a rather enhanced posterior). I wouldn't normally eat anything on a 15K but I wanted to avoid a 5-mile bonk and maybe give myself a kick for the finish. I took a few bits of it along the way. (I was still clutching it at the finish, and luckily I had taken off the glove on that hand because it was oozing onto my hand!)

The long downhill finish is, of course, what makes this race great. If I was disappointed in myself for anything, it was that I didn't take as much advantage of the downhills as I would have liked. I definitely ran faster...miles 7 and 8 were around 8:45. (But they should have been under 8:30, at least!) I did manage to pick it up in mile 9, for 8:24, and then the final .35 mile (on the flat!) was an 8:07 pace.

Total time 1:26:46, average Garmin pace 9:17, official average pace 9:19. Sooo...not quite goal C. But close. Although maybe not close, because I didn't have four single miles at 9:14...most were either significantly slower or significantly faster! Well, in any case, I rocked goals D and E.

Afterwards, I walked up to the area where the 5K was starting and worked my way to the back of the pack. It was supposed to start at 9:20. For some reason, though, it didn't start until at least 9:35 (with a staggered start, so more delays). I got pretty chilly in my sweaty clothes standing around...if I'd known it was going to take so long, I would have worked my way forward a little more, so I wasn't quite so surrounded by people who thought it was okay to walk in the middle of the road in the middle of a 5K (the 5K "walk" was supposed to have a separate start).

I know this was a huge crowd of people, and a "fun run," and I was just a hanger-on for this, so I'm not complaining (much) about having to weave around people for two miles. I only wanted to do a 10-minute pace, and it wasn't even really possible. My first mile was about 10:30, the second around 10, and I thought I could really pick it up in the third mile and finish in 30 minutes, or at least 31 for 5K. BUT by now the roads were more open to traffic, and we had to stop and wait for the MAX train to go by twice, and that ate up all my speed efforts. My third mile turned out around 10:15. but the final .15 was downhill, and I must have really booked, because my watch gives a pace of 6:24 for that segment! I frankly don't believe it. Maybe the satellites were really messed up and mile 3 was faster than the Garmin said, because I'm sure mile 3.15 was slower. However...every once in a while I say to myself...6:24.
Because of all the delays time was running out so I ran back to the hotel to get dressed (also to add a little additional mileage to the day). Before I changed my mom took a picture to really show my race outfit.

I showered and dressed really speedily and we had time for brunch at 11 a.m. before the noon checkout. I went with the same plan as Saturday, except they had french toast instead of waffles, and I forewent the potato dish in favor of more bacon. Yesssss.

Then we checked out and drove home. The end.

Liebster Award

So, I'm sure you've heard of the Liebster Award, a type of blog survey post that is "awarded" to bloggers that have a smaller following, by other bloggers who feel they deserve to be noticed. I was recently tagged by Cathy, of the blog Living the Dream (a Crazy and Convoluted Dream), and then Marie, a college friend who has a blog called Every Day is a Miracle.

 

I've sort of procrastinated over doing it, even though I love answering questions, because part of the survey is to list 11 random things about yourself. I was having trouble thinking up random things that weren't already a part of my profile...because I'm pretty boring, really. But with the two mentions, I figured I could combine them and only list the 11 things once, but answer all of their (22) questions. And it turns out, I could think of 11 random things...but they are still pretty boring things, I'm afraid.

 

So here are the rules:

 

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you, and link back to her blog. Thank you, ladies! And see links above.
2. List 11 random facts about yourself, and answer the 11 questions from the nominator.
3. Present the Liebster Award to 11 other bloggers, and create 11 questions for them to answer. (I'm skipping this one, because a lot of the blogs I read have already participated.)

 

11 Random Facts about Me
By the way, these really are random, not arranged chronologically or anything. Just how I thought of them.

1. When I was young (grade school, middle school, maybe into high school), I was a little obsessed with the Sound of Music...the true story (I read the book many times), the play (I read the script many times), and the music (I listened to the movie soundtrack many, many, many times.) This was before VCRs were common, so I only watched the movie once a year, when it came on around Easter. I knew all the words to all the songs, and sang them frequently.
2. Right before I graduated from law school (actually for a good part of my third year), I had bad eczema on my fingers and bad sinus headaches (might have been a sinus infection). Then when I was preparing for the bar exam, I sprained my ankle and spent a few weeks on crutches. In retrospect, I connect all these things with my unhappiness about law school and looking for a job at a law firm (which was really not my calling). (It actually took eight years before I found my niche, which is Juvenile Court!)
3. Starbucks introduced the egg white, spinach and feta wrap right before the Portland Marathon in October 2011.  I have had one for breakfast almost every weekday since then...and occasionally on a weekend day.
4. I have really, really big calves. It is my bête noire.
5. I don't often chew gum, but when I do, I go through the whole package (because I only like it while it tastes good, so I chain chew). Then I get gas and an upset stomach from the sugar alcohols (sweeteners). It is ridiculous..
6. My boyfriend and I have known each other since we were about four years old (Sunday School and church), went to the same high school and college (where we lived in the same dorm), and both went to law school (though different schools) but we didn't start seeing each other until our 25 year high school reunions. (And we weren't even close friends in school, just casual friends.)
7. In 1992 I went to Seattle to see presidential candidate Bill Clinton at a rally. I went really early and got to see him returning to the Westin Hotel from jogging (yes I said jogging, not running...it was the early 90s). I was so excited to take a close picture that a secret service agent told me to "please step back from the curb" (I don't remember if he added "ma'am", but probably). I got a good picture though! Unfortunately I don't where it is anymore.
8. In August 2011 my house was burglarized while I was at work. They messed stuff up (dumping drawers, etc.), but the only things taken (as far as I know) were a mini-stereo, the TV in my bedroom (the only really nice one I had), and pretty much all my DVDs. They also took the yard waste container to wheel everything away down the alley.
9. I am not a good singer, nor is anyone in my family, but throughout my childhood and youth we sang. Not just at church. We sang at home, we sang in the car (in fact my dad got a speeding ticket once for driving too fast during a particularly heartfelt chorus of something). My girlfriends and I sang camp songs and musical theater at the beach, in the car, in a boat. This continued through high school and I think sometimes in college...I seem to recall a road trip to Anacortes to go on a boat trip where we were singing along the way.
10. I had really long hair for a lot of years after law school. I stopped going to my fancy stylist and just let it grow. At some point I did start getting trims, but kept it long and wore it in a ponytail most all the time. I know, this is not very interesting without a picture.
11. I was a National Merit Scholar in high school. I got a scholarship out of it, but only $1000, not a full ride or anything.

11 Questions from Cathy

1. Are you a cat or a dog person? Definitely a cat person. I always say I like dogs on an individual basis, but I like all cats. I have one cat right now (I had three at one time, but two have passed on) and Rod has two. I am particularly not so much into dogs since the dogbite while running last summer! Also, cats are much more forgiving and adaptable to working long days and being away from home. Meaning me working and being away, not the cat.
2. What is your favorite workout? Obviously, I have to say running. I assume that counts. :) Everything else is just cross-training.
3. What do you do for "me" time? Well, since I don't have children, really all my time is "me" time, except for the third of my life that belongs to Juvenile Court. To decompress from work, I like to walk while listening to audiobooks on my phone, sit around and watch TV, and read. Sometimes running is "me time," and sometimes it is another obligation (that I enjoy and am committed to, but it is still an obligation). However, when I am spending a lot of time with Rod or my parents, leaving them all behind to go running is my "me" time! 
4. If you won the lottery (the really big one), who would be the first person you told? And why? Probably my mother. Because she would be so happy for me, and have similar ideas as me what to do with it (in the frivolous sense, as opposed to the investment, practical sense).
5. What is the strangest thing you can think about yourself? This is kind of a difficult question to figure out...I guess I will say that despite being an avid runner, and very committed to physical fitness, I think I am pretty lazy at heart (and in action). I like to park close to the door, and I don't like chores such as house cleaning.
6. If you could go back in time and change anything, would you? What would you change? There are many things I wish never happened (both in the world, and with me) but I am too afraid of the Butterfly Effect to want to make any big changes. I do wish I could go back and be less shy as a child and teenager. Even now I am very introverted...I am fine in a professional setting, but tend to cower in the corner in social environments. Unless I know everyone. Well.
7. What is your greatest accomplishment? I am not going to say anything related to school or education...even though I got very good grades, went to law school, etc., I don't consider that an accomplishment, that is just what was expected of me (and what I expected of myself). I think that my real greatest accomplishment was losing 100+ pounds about eight years ago, and then becoming a runner.
8. What was your favorite toy as a child? I always liked books best.
9. Are you close with your family? Why or why not? Yes, I am close with my parents and sister (and don't have any other nearby relatives; my grandparents are all deceased). There is no special reason why we have always been close, although the fact that we all live in the same area at least has allowed us to get together frequently.
10. Empty your purse...what is in it? Oh very dull. Credit cards, driver's license, passport card, Y card, Starbucks card (though I use my phone app), cash and change, a checkbook, a few groupons I've printed, some useless receipts, several tinted and plain lip balms, birth control pills, a few honey, sugar and splenda packets, a bandaid (need to remember that), one Kleenex (all that is left from a packet), and other random pieces of paper. My phone and keys travel in my hand or pocket.
11. How did you start blogging? I started writing a travel blog for one of my trips to England. I did it so I could post pictures and write about my travels without having to email everyone. (This was before Facebook was invented!) I've updated the travel blog a few times for subsequent England trips, but haven't been to England since 2009. Somewhere in there (I think 2007), I came back and wanted to keep writing so I started writing about running...then added this blog.

11 Questions from Marie

1. If you could get paid to do anything, what would you do? Oh, this is difficult. There are lots of things I would like to do, but figure it would be too hard to be successful and make a living...which I guess is the point of this question, right? You are "guaranteed" that you would be paid for your activities, even if you weren't good at them. Under those circumstances.... I have always wanted to have a tea room and serve afternoon tea and sell antiques and collectibles. This would of course require me to travel around to antiques shows and buy things and decorate the charming English tea room and create a menu. It would not require me to actually prepare and serve food, clean up and wash dishes, or do the bookkeeping...we have staff for that!
2. Who are your favorite actors? Male: Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, George Clooney, Colin Firth, Jude Law, Cary Grant. Female: Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet, Renee Zellweger, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler (I love Parks and Rec so much!), Grace Kelly.
3. When you were 10, what did you want to be when you grew up? A writer, maybe also a teacher (influenced by my parents, but I also liked "playing school" with my friends).
4. What is your guilty pleasure? I agonized over this, trying to find something that meets all the qualifications of "guilty pleasure." To me, that is something that you love and indulge in, but feel a little bit bad because it's not completely good for you. I thought about fish and chips...which I love but rarely have, and when I do I don't feel guilty about it! I thought about reality TV...sometimes I really like watching junk like Celebrity Wife Swap, but I can take it or leave it. Then...in the kitchen...I knew the answer...and it is jelly beans. I luuuurve jelly beans and can hardly pass through the kitchen without taking one or two...or three or four. I legitimately use them for long run fuel, but I do feel a little guilty about eating them otherwise. Not too much though. Easter is a great time because you can get all kinds of jelly beans that you can't find year round! Of the Easter jelly beans I think my favorite is the Starburst kind. I also like Sweettarts and Jolly Rancher (which I had wanted to find, but now I think that I like the Jolly Rancher hard candies better). I have heard there is a Swedish Fish kind of jelly beans but haven't seen them. For the off season I have discovered a brand called Gimbal's which makes all sorts of jelly bean like candies.  My favorite are the Gimbal's Cherry Lovers. (Nine different cherry flavors and vitamin C!) Yum!
5. How many pairs of shoes do you have? I have no idea. 50? 100? Too many, for sure. Especially since I hardly wear any of them! I love shoes but I tend to wear ones that are comfortable and protect my feet for running. As far as running shoes...I have about four pairs in the current rotation (worn but not worn out), another four brand new pairs for 2013 major runs and marathons, a good pair of trail running shoes, a new pair of biking/light hiking shoes, two newer pairs of running shoes that are not my usual model so I will wear them for things other than heavy running, and way too many old shoes that need to be discarded in some fashion. There's a limit to how many "beach running" shoes I need!
6. What made you start blogging? See above.
7. What is your most popular blog post? I don't know, I don't pay attention to such things!
8. What do you order at Starbucks (or whatever coffee/tea place you patronize)? It's Starbucks....grande Americano with light room. I add a couple tablespoons of half and half, and if I am going home I add additional fat free half and half. I also get a Spinach, Egg White & Feta wrap for breakfast almost every weekday. I have been doing this since they were introduced in October 2011 (right before the Portland Marathon).
9. What is your favorite memory of a grandparent? My Norwegian maternal grandmother ("Bestemor") lived with my family all my life until she died in 1996, so most of my childhood memories include her. She was cook, housekeeper, nanny, gardener, help-paint-the-house person, and everything else you could imagine.
10. If you could change two things in the world, what would you change? I would eliminate cancer and HIV.
11. What is your favorite song? I don't know if I can claim a favorite, but right now I'm loving All Dressed in Love by Jennifer Hudson (still), and Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys.

I'm not going to tag anyone, because so many of the blogs I read have already done this, but I will include 11 questions that I would ask, for fun! (And of course, my personal answers!)

1. What is your favorite movie? Bridget Jones's Diary.
2. What is your favorite ethnic cuisine? I am really loving local Hawaiian (lau lau, kalua pork, lomi salmon, etc). Also sushi....
3. Describe a fun day for you (cost, work obligations, child care not a factor). On a Saturday I would like to go to yoga in the morning, then go on a bike ride on the Centennial Trail and have pastrami sandwiches at the golf course for lunch. In the afternoon I would go antiques shopping and then out to dinner (maybe for sushi) and a movie. A chick flick. Any or all of this could either be done with someone, or by myself. (In my real life I might do one of those things on a Saturday....) Alternative nice weekend day...sleep in as long as I'd like, get up and go for a medium long run (maybe 12 miles), stop at Starbucks then go home, take a long shower, then lie around and read the rest of the day. Eat periodically. But I do that almost every weekend....
4. What was your favorite book (or books) as a child? I was a voracious reader, but my favorite series, which still stick with me today, were the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Anne of Green Gables (and the series) by L.M. Montgomery, and the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace.
5. What are your favorite scents? Sweet peas, roses, hyacinths, winter daphne, gardenias and other gardenia-like flower scents (e.g. plumeria), baking (or toasting) bread, coffee, grapefruit.
6. What is one (or more) food that you really like that others might think is strange? Pickled herring.
7. What is one thing that would be on your bucket list, if you had one? Running the London Marathon.
8. Where would you like to go that you have never been before? Provence, France.
9. What is your favorite genre of book? I used to say literary fiction, but now I prefer memoirs--such as personal memoirs of non-famous people (sometimes famous people also), travel memoirs, and running/athletic memoirs. (But I still read fiction as well!)
10. What is something you are really looking forward to? Staying at the Benson Hotel in Portland for the Shamrock Run this weekend!
11. Who is your celebrity doeppelganger? Or someone you wished you looked like? My only doeppelganger is Sylvia Plath, who I think at some points in her life looked like me at some points in my life.

This is Sylvia Plath.

As far as other celebrities, there are a few that I kind of think have a similar "look" as me (except they are more glamorous and stuff)...Felicity Huffman, Darryl Hannah, Uma Thurman (all Nordic-type blondes). When I use one of those celebrity doeppelganger websites, my "match" is always a man!

 

 

10K and a long run

I didn't really mean to get into posting just once a week...and I didn't really intend for each post to be a summary of my weekend running and training. But...that's what I got.

The Northwest weather gave us a little break last weekend, and both Saturday and Sunday were relatively dry and rainless (as much as I can recall). That was a blessing as I had running to do on both days!

Saturday I did the Smelt Run 10K up in LaConner for about the umpteenth time. It went...okay. In the spectrum of my Smelt Run history, my slowest was 2009 at 59:20* (eek, and mind you I had run many faster 10Ks prior to that) and my fastest was 2010, 50:36. This one fell about in the middle, 54:58. About a minute slower than I would have liked under the circumstances. But the wind was really horrible! Really!

At least I looked good in the beginning. Check out that midfoot strike! And yes, my race number was 123.

I always enjoy the Smelt Run in LaConner. You start out running through town and the only hill is a little one in town. Then it is out and back across the flats and it is always windy. This time it was much worse though, at least in the second half! (And usually the out part is worse.)

I do have a couple of complaints about race organization this year. The race is staged at LaConner Middle School, and this year one of the women's bathrooms was closed, so everyone had to line up for what I heard was a single stall bathroom in the gym! It didn't affect me, because I did a warm-up run (about two miles) and made ample use of the free public restrooms in town. But I would have died if I was stuck with waiting for one bathroom.

Also, there was hardly any food after the race! A bowl of pretzels and some oranges and bananas. And all that was almost gone by the time I got to the gym. Granted I finished the race and went to see my parents at the car, so it was more than an hour after the start, but there were still lots of people after me, it's ridiculous that they ran out. Open another bag of pretzels!

Usually we go out to breakfast or lunch after races (this one started at 10 a.m., so I guess it would be lunch), but I didn't really want to stick around any longer. I already spent quite a long time in the gym talking to race friend Becky (who I see at lots of races and is much faster than me, but also one age group older than me), and waiting for the awards. I knew I didn't win anything, but for some reason I stuck around. (That was a little messed up too; they announced the age group awards in a totally random fashion.)

I considered this to be my tempo run for the week--two miles warm-up plus 6.2 at 8:50 pace. (My plan actually called for a 9:44 pace, which was silly, why so slow in a tempo run? I guess that would have been a marathon pace run, actually.)

On Sunday I hit the streets again for my planned long run of 15 miles at 10:29 pace. This went really well. I actually managed to average 10:25 in the first four miles, which sounds like nothing special but that included my warm-up and my mile run up Ingraham Boulevard (hill). After that I picked up the pace for the next six miles (mostly on the Centennial Trail), and all those miles were around 10:00 or faster (at that point my overall average pace was 10:04). Finally, I had 5.5 miles to go and those were all around 10:10-10:15 (though mile 15 was sub-10). Final average pace was 10:07!

I listened to a variety of audio to entertain me during the run....

• First 1.5 miles (or so) - marathon playlist shuffle on iPhone.
• 10:05-11:00 a.m. Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, on NPR (KPLU).
• Sunday jazz on KPLU for about 30 minutes.
• The last 45 minutes of Running with the Kenyans on my phone. I really enjoyed this book! It's about an English runner who goes to Kenya to train. I listened to about an hour at a time on my phone while taking evening walks, and finished it off on the run.
• Then back to the marathon playlist shuffle for the rest of the run.

I like listening to audiobooks or radio on long runs and walks, but prefer music when I want to go faster and need a kick.


*In the winter of 2009, January-March, I got really, really slow. But then I made a comeback over the summer and got almost all of my current PRs in the late summer and fall of 2009! So there is always hope for improvement.

Birch Bay Half Marathon

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good: I performed within my expectations.
The Bad: I did not exceed my expectations.
The Ugly: It. Rained. The. Whole. Way. (At least the first 90 minutes; after that, who knows?)

Sunday was the Birch Bay Half Marathon (and Marathon, for those who wanted to double their suffering). Birch Bay is near Blaine (technically perhaps it is part of Blaine), which is a town pretty much right on the U.S. Canada border. It's about an hour and a half north of Marysville, where my parents live, but it's a pretty easy trip because it's a straight shot up I-5 and going north is usually more peaceful than going south. I would much rather drive to Birch Bay than Tacoma, even though they are about the same distance away.

Birch Bay was the February race on my 13 in 2013 half marathon schedule. (Maui was #1 and January, did I write about that yet? Maybe not....) It was also the "long run" on my training schedule for the week. According to the training schedule, I should run 13 miles at 10:14 pace...that definitely gave me a lot of leeway. I figured I could average under a 10-minute pace, though, since I had managed that in Maui (2:09:20-ish).

The weather during the week had been sporadic, but the forecast consistently projected a dry day on Sunday in Birch Bay. Did you hear that? Rain not expected. Ha!

As we drove north through Mount Vernon and Bellingham, we did get quite a bit of rainfall but north of Bellingham it actually appeared to be clearing. We got to Birch Bay before 8 a.m., allowing plenty of time for me to pick up my number, use the bathrooms a number of times, and warm up for a slow mile. At 10 minutes before the 9 a.m. start, I got into a porta-potty line again because I felt like I needed to go, even though I had gone several times already! It must have been the cold weather...I think it was in the upper 30s at that time.

Unfortunately I didn't make it to the front of the line, and at a minute or so before 9 I dropped out of line and headed to the start (a few feet away). I stationed myself sort of in the front third. I knew I wasn't going too fast, but I didn't want to be held back either. I think it was the perfect spot because I never felt delayed or like people were passing me. Of course, there weren't all that many runners...it was a good crowd, but no Rock 'n' Roll!

Because it was pretty cold (but not bitterly cold), I wore a half-zip over a base layer top, but started out with an extra jacket. I dropped that at my car when I passed it (about a quarter of a mile in).

The Birch Bay course is pretty flat, except for a major hill in the middle. I think the road starts out at a slight downhill slant, because I was running about a 9-minute pace in the beginning, which I knew wouldn't last. I soon slowed to about 9:45 (which ended up my overall average pace), and the first mile was a quick 9:30. After that I was steady around 9:45 for quite a while. Even though it hadn't been raining when we first began (maybe misting a little), the rain soon picked up to a steady medium-light rain and stayed that way for a long time. About halfway through I started stepping in a few puddles and from then on my feet were wet too.

Despite the grim skies, the course was pleasant. We ran along the water for a good part of the course, off and on at the beginning, middle, and end. After five miles I decided to use one of my little tricks to keep my pace up. I ran comfortably for 3/4 of a mile and then pushed it for the last quarter of the mile. That became a little challenging, though, when we started climbing the big hill at mile six or seven. The course was mostly uphill for more than a mile. I continued with my 3/4 and 1/4 plan but my overall pace was much slower on the hill, of course. That uphill mile was my slowest and the only one that was well over ten minutes (about 10:30 I think).

Happily, we got to go back downhill again as well! For the downhill I worked at pushing the pace most of the way. I needed to make up the 45 second deficit (over my informally planned 9:45 pace). Along the way in the second half I did have several 9:30 miles, which ended up saving my average pace.

At about mile 9.5 we turned back onto Birch Bay Drive and retraced our route back into the park. We entered Birch Bay park with one mile to go. Last year I was doing an 8:30 pace in the last mile, but sadly, not this year. I was working hard with a quarter mile to go! It had stopped raining but the sky was still very dark.

After I crossed the finish line (at 2:08:20), I walked back to my parents at the car. As I walked past the finishing runners I clapped and cheered them on. Hopefully I wasn't too obnoxious! I really shouted at a guy who was just about to finish under 2:10...I watched and he did, even though he looked like he was going to die and couldn't pick up his pace for anything. There were also a couple of young women (who I had passed about two miles before the finish) who just missed the 2:10 time...I really wished they had put on a burst at the end and made it under 2:10! (Not that it matters in the big picture.)

During the race I drank some from my handheld water bottle but I didn't need much since it was so cool and damp (even though I was sweating plenty). Instead of Gu, I had packed two small baggies of Gimbal's Cherry Lovers jelly beans, but I didn't ever take them out because I thought they would have been a mess in the rain. Probably should have just brought the Gu...although I didn't really feel fuel-deprived, so I guess it doesn't matter that much.

Just to touch on "not exceeding my expectations".... You always hope that some magic will strike your legs and you will amazingly run much faster than you thought you would. I find that rarely happens to me these days. To put a positive spin on things, I guess I have a pretty good idea of where my abilities are at, and I've been running for long enough that there aren't a lot of surprises left in me.

After we left the park I decided that we would go to lunch at Calico Cupboard in Anacortes. It might have been more practical to go to the one in Mount Vernon (less off-freeway travel), but I like the Anacortes restaurant. I ordered a giant cinnamon roll which we shared among the three of us, then I had a veggie scramble for lunch.

And so ended the first week of NODM training!

Let the training commence!

(Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!)

Day one (Monday): Rest day. Well, not quite, cross-training. It seems odd not to run on the first day of the training plan, but my legs are a little tired and achy from running on both Saturday and Sunday and I thought it was best to let up today in order to run better tomorrow. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

Last week I did my marathon training test runs. In the RLRF plan they set forth three "test" runs that you should be able to accomplish in order to train for a given marathon finish time. As with everything in RLRF, they are pretty challenging. Frankly, if I could have done them easily I would expect to be able to run a 4:15 marathon right now, rather than in 16 weeks.

So I planned them into my training last week. And I did them. Not easily, and not 100% successfully, but close enough that I feel pretty encouraged (and hopeful that the four months of training will in fact bring me up to where I want to be). I will say that I picked the easier end of the spectrum in the various options, which were....

Long run. 15-20 miles at 10:09 pace. As I wrote last week, on Saturday (February 2) I did a 16-mile run at 10:12 average pace. A little slower than optimal, but many of the miles were faster as well. Plus I overcame my slow warm-up to bring the average close to 10-minute pace. I'm calling that pretty good.

Speed work. This one was my worst, on many levels. Some would say I just failed. I would say...I didn't completely succeed. Of the various track distance options, I picked the shortest, which was six 800s (half miles) that were supposed to be 3:58 each (just under 8-minute miles). I knew this would be impossible a challenge because when I am at my fastest I can run sub-four-minute half miles but I am definitely not at my fastest right now.

So anyhow, I did a little over two miles of warm-up and then went to the track. I was later than I should have been, of course, and six intervals (with quarter-mile recoveries) just did not seem feasible. I was determined to do at least four, and after the first two I thought I might squeeze in five.

The first two were 4:15 each. Meh. The third one was 4:10. Okay.... I had a good start on the fourth, and thought I might beat the 4:10, but about half way through (that is at a quarter-mile), someone off the track gestured to me. I thought it was a wave, but no...he was telling me to stop. (Did I mention that I was running on the track by the middle school near my house?) So apparently this was some school official and he said I couldn't run on the track because school was in session and it was a "safety issue." He also gave me some B.S. about private property and I am going to research this to see who really owns this track. And let me say that the kids could not even access the track from the school grounds (as it is locked on the school side), you can only get in from the street. Plus the track was half flooded and no classes were going to be out there under those conditions.

But I guess I can see why they would frown on people using the track when school is in session (not really, but I'm trying to be reasonable), and so I'm going to have to really work to get there and finish my track work before school starts. Unless of course they manage to lock it from the street side and keep me out entired. Which would really tick me off.

Anyhow, I ran on to the exit, which put me at .39 miles and I couldn't really bring myself to try to finish the 800s in the street. So I did 3.8 x 800 at a pace slower than the plan called for. (Although based on Yasso 800 standards I was consistent with a 4:15 marathon pace, as "all" my 800s were at 4:15 or faster....) That morning I just ran another mile or so to finish my run with 6.35 miles overall.

Tempo. The final test workout was a tempo run with three miles in 26:10 (or five miles at a slightly slower pace or eight miles at a slightly slower pace than that). I decided to do my tempo miles at the Valentine's Day Dash 5K on Saturday. I suppose it wasn't quite kosher to use a race to accomplish tempo miles, but it's not like I was following any rules properly anyway!

So I headed down to Green Lake on Saturday morning (way early to allow for a long warm-up run), got my bib and shirt and took a run around the lake for a 3.1 mile warm-up. I had plenty of time for multiple bathroom stops, and even enough time to drop my jacket at the car and re-pin my bib onto my shirt. I could have run with the jacket on but I got plenty warmed up on the warm-up run and my outfit was cuter without the jacket (even though the jacket was red).

I lined up near the back of the 8-minute mile section because I didn't want to overestimate my abilities. In retrospect I wish I had gone to the front of that section, because the first half mile was a crowded cluster and I was really caught up in a mob of 9-minute milers (many of whom probably also felt they were being held back by the masses). I think if I had been further forward I might have been swept along with some 8-minute milers.... Anyhow, usually in a 5K my first mile is the fastest then I slow down a little. This time my first mile was the slowest, about 8:40. The other two miles were about 8:25 each. So, for purposes of my tempo run, the three-mile total was 25:30...rocked it! My total time for the 5K was 26:20. Not the greatest of 5K times, but not horrible either. By April I am hoping to do a 5K under 25 minutes again.

I really like the race shirt this year! I expect I will be wearing it a lot, for hanging out and stuff.

I started my actual training runs on Tuesday with a tempo run. Usually the first running day of the week would be an easy run, but looking at the schedule for the week to come, I decided it would be better to start with the slightly harder runs earlier in the week, and save my easy run for Friday, as I'm running a half marathon on Sunday. Anyhow, the plan called for two miles easy, two miles at 8:44, two miles easy. I actually started with about 2.25 miles warm-up, then pushed out two miles at 8:44 and 8:38, and finally cruised through the final two miles at about 9:55 and 9:40. My overall average pace was 9:55, which shows you just how slow those warm-up miles were! The tempo miles weren't exactly easy...I can't believe I've run many half marations at 8:44 pace, and a couple at 8:38 or faster!

Today, Thursday (Happy Valentine's Day!), I dressed up in a red jacket and red hat (but not the sparkle skirt) and headed out for "speed work," three one-miles at about 8:15, with one-minute (or so) recovery jogs. I started out slow, as usual--I don't even look at my pace during my warm-up, what's the point?--and turned around at 2.5 miles to start my mile intervals.

My warm-up miles are slightly uphill, so it is true that I get to do some of my faster miles on a slight decline. I'm okay with that, since part of the point of speed work for me is to improve my leg speed, and the easier downhill helps with that. I'll also admit that during each mile I had to stop at some point for an unavoidable stoplight (at a highly trafficked street, so I couldn't just jay-run across). I've always figured that the slight benefit I get from the short break (and I do stop my watch) is offset by the seconds I lose having to get up to speed again. But whatever, I can't help the lights.

Mile 1 - 8:16. Better than I expected, actually. Considering that my 5K on Saturday was about an 8:30 pace, I wasn't sure if I could go below 8:20 (at best).... I jogged about one block for recovery but also stopped and waited for a light.

Mile 2 - 8:13. Great! I was thrilled that I could still maintain the pace. I did another block (.1 mile) of recovery.

Mile 3 - ummm...8:30. Don't know what happened here. This mile involved turning around and heading back about a third of the way along, and yes there was a couple of uphills, but still this was about ten seconds slower than I would have liked (I was prepared to be a little slower because of the change of incline). I will say that this mile involved a section of road where I am always a bit slower than I think I should be based on my effort...I think this is one of those invisible hills, where you have an incline even though it seems flat. In the last quarter mile I felt like I was going to rip my lungs out and puke them up...so I must have been working hard at least for that segment.

I finished by running "easy" back to Starbucks, including a quarter mile sprint down a hill (2:01, I timed it), for a total morning distance of 6.5 miles. I think my overall average pace was about 9:34. Yeah, those first 2.5 miles were really slow.

Last night I made my contribution to Valentine's Day by baking a festive cherry pie. I had some extra pie crust and cherries so I also made two mini-pies for my parents.

Yeah, not a food photographer, but hopefully they will taste good! I used the best-ever piecrust recipe from the Anjou Bakery (I always make extra pie crust to accommodate deeper pie crusts and my inability to make the pie crust cover as much area as it should.) Also, I should add that this pie crust is pretty hard to handle because it has so much butter...but it patches easily when it tears and cracks. I usually do a regular rolled-out top but had fun with the cut-out hearts! (The recipe as-is, with marionberries, is obviously great as well.)

For the filling I used sweet cherries (from the freezer, obviously) and two recipes which are essentially the same. One is from Smitten Kitchen and the other is from Simply Recipes. They both use significantly less sugar than a traditional pie recipe...I used about 3/4 cup sugar for six cups of cherries. I also like homemade cooked cherry pie filling (made with sour pie cherries), though...it is so much more delicious than canned pie filling! (I tried to find a recipe to link to but couldn't find one where you cooked the cherries...mine is bookmarked on my iPad but that's at home.) My number one tip for all cherry pies is to be sure to put a little almond extract in your cherry mixture. It makes all the difference!

With that, I will just wish everyone a sweet, happy Valentine's Day!

I. Can't. Wait.

Foiled by the internets

I was just in the process of trying to write a quick blog post about the Maui Oceanfront Half Marathon, but I was not able to post my (rather expensively purchased) race photos, despite a couple of different efforts. What's up with that? I guess I'll try again tomorrow.

This is the last week before "real" marathon training begins. In preparation, I had a couple of good runs over the weekend. I had deliberately limited my running to two days last week, so that I could run both Saturday and Sunday and take advantage of slightly better whether and more time (without the interference of work!).

On Saturday we were supposed to get sun but instead had heavy fog in the morning that never really fully burned off. Still, it didn't rain. I started out at 7:30 a.m. to do 15-16 miles. About half a mile along, I couldn't remember for sure whether I locked my car door. I was (pretty) sure I did, but I kept picturing the scenario if someone opened the car and took my stuff...so I doubled back to check. It was locked, of course. The extra mile meant a 16-miler for sure.

My goal was to have an average pace of about 10:09 overall. That was pretty ambitious, but I got close! 10:12 in the end, with a very slow warm-up mile (11:18) and a mile up Ingraham (11:01) that doomed my average. I did the first five miles as warm-up...11:18, two at 10:30, 11:01, then 10:40 (that was the end of Ingraham and some rolling hills on Getchell).

I listened to music for the first five miles, then switched to an audiobook when I got to Centennial Trail (Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen). On the trail I did five miles alternating half a mile easy, then half a mile harder. I didn't hit the splits button at the half mile point, but each mile after the first was about 9:40 overall. Once I got off the trail and back on roads I changed to 3/4 mile easy, 1/4 harder. All those miles were about 10:10 or faster. My final full mile was 9:52, which was after I switched back to music on my phone. The total distance was 16.5 miles.

I followed up on Sunday with 10 miles. I really wanted to do 9 miles under 90 minutes, but ended up adding an extra mile and doing 10 miles in 98 minutes. This time my two warm-up miles were faster, 10:40 and 10:15 (or so), then I did mile 3 fast enough to get under 30 minutes for the first three miles (which hasn't happened for quite a while!). Then all I had to do was stay under 10-minute miles for the rest of the distance. Not quite easy-peasy, but it happened!

This left me with just over 39 miles for the week. If I had known in advance maybe I would have done another .7 miles...but maybe not.

We went to my parents' house for the Super Bowl. The food wasn't super crazy but I ate too much. I couldn't stay out of the chips during the game--I was craving salt and carbs! Dinner was a delicious healthy fish stew in a tomato based broth, with yummy brown & serve bread (ate too much of that too). Later we had marionberry pie and coconut cream pie for dessert...I had a little piece of each (as did pretty much everyone).

I'm really excited that I have leftover fish stew for dinner tonight. Luckily I didn't take any of the bread! Or pie!