Thursday, May 27, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Where is summer?
I cannot wait for it to be hot and sunny all the time!!
Exciting running update - I am going down to San Francisco to run the 1/2 Marathon on July 25! I am so excited to get to meet some DIVAs, go on a mini-vacation, and run across the Golden Gate Bridge!
I don't mind Monday as much this week because it's my birthday week - which also means the Sex and the City movie comes out on my birthday, it's a three-day weekend, and Folklife is this weekend!
I still think it is bittersweet that Lost is over... can't believe it!
As far as running, etc goes this week:
Monday - 3-4 mile run, 30 minute swim
Tuesday - 4 mile run, yoga
Wednesday - 6 mile run, 30 minute swim
Thursday - 4 mile run
Friday - Off
Saturday - 8 mile run, swim
Sunday - 1 1/2 hour bike ride, yoga
Exciting running update - I am going down to San Francisco to run the 1/2 Marathon on July 25! I am so excited to get to meet some DIVAs, go on a mini-vacation, and run across the Golden Gate Bridge!
I don't mind Monday as much this week because it's my birthday week - which also means the Sex and the City movie comes out on my birthday, it's a three-day weekend, and Folklife is this weekend!
I still think it is bittersweet that Lost is over... can't believe it!
As far as running, etc goes this week:
Monday - 3-4 mile run, 30 minute swim
Tuesday - 4 mile run, yoga
Wednesday - 6 mile run, 30 minute swim
Thursday - 4 mile run
Friday - Off
Saturday - 8 mile run, swim
Sunday - 1 1/2 hour bike ride, yoga
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Time flies
Wow, where has the past year gone? I can't believe it's almost summer already (YAY!). I can't believe I'm turning 23 next week. I can't believe it's been almost a year since I graduated from college!
In the past year, I've gotten three jobs, kept two of them, gotten a new car, a new apartment, a new cat, run two half marathons, done two triathlons, run two full marathons, dated and broke up with a guy, and am now dating a new one. Crazy!
I've also been listening to a TON of new music lately (thanks 107.7) - here is a list of some of my faves.
The XX's - Crystalized
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Home
Two Door Cinema Club - I Can Talk
Neon Trees - Animal
Broken Bells - The High Road
Muse - Neuron Star Collision
I've pretty much decided that if I had to pick a modern band to listen to for the rest of my life, it would totally be Muse. They are amazing live and they have this incredible ability to make any song epic and beautiful.
As far as running and tri-training go, I am just still trying to figure out a routine of fitting everything in. It takes 40 times to make something a habit, right? So... by the summer I should have it figured out! :)
In the past year, I've gotten three jobs, kept two of them, gotten a new car, a new apartment, a new cat, run two half marathons, done two triathlons, run two full marathons, dated and broke up with a guy, and am now dating a new one. Crazy!
I've also been listening to a TON of new music lately (thanks 107.7) - here is a list of some of my faves.
The XX's - Crystalized
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Home
Two Door Cinema Club - I Can Talk
Neon Trees - Animal
Broken Bells - The High Road
Muse - Neuron Star Collision
I've pretty much decided that if I had to pick a modern band to listen to for the rest of my life, it would totally be Muse. They are amazing live and they have this incredible ability to make any song epic and beautiful.
As far as running and tri-training go, I am just still trying to figure out a routine of fitting everything in. It takes 40 times to make something a habit, right? So... by the summer I should have it figured out! :)
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Time to Start Tri-ing!
Now that my legs have recovered from the surprise they got in Eugene this past weekend... it is time to start figuring out how to fit tri training into my life. We are now less than 5 months from the Black Diamond 1/2 Ironman!
Here is my first "official" week of training (next week):
Monday - Run 3 miles, swim 30 minutes, strength training
Tuesday - Run 4 miles (hills), bike 45 minutes
Wednesday - Run 3 miles, swim 30 minutes, strength training
Thursday - Run 5 miles, bike 45 minutes, yoga
Friday - Off
Saturday - Bike 1 hour
Sunday - Beat the Bridge 8K (4.9 mile tempo run), yoga
Running distance: 20 miles
Normally I'd do the long bike ride on Sunday and do a long run on Saturday, but I am tweaking next week so that I can run Beat the Bridge. Looks like I will have to become a morning runner (or a morning SOMETHING-er) in order to get this all figured out and fit in! I am focusing more on the running side of things until after the Seattle Rock N Roll 1/2, when I'll switch to focusing more on biking. If you have any comments/questions/suggestions feel free to let me know!
Here is my first "official" week of training (next week):
Monday - Run 3 miles, swim 30 minutes, strength training
Tuesday - Run 4 miles (hills), bike 45 minutes
Wednesday - Run 3 miles, swim 30 minutes, strength training
Thursday - Run 5 miles, bike 45 minutes, yoga
Friday - Off
Saturday - Bike 1 hour
Sunday - Beat the Bridge 8K (4.9 mile tempo run), yoga
Running distance: 20 miles
Normally I'd do the long bike ride on Sunday and do a long run on Saturday, but I am tweaking next week so that I can run Beat the Bridge. Looks like I will have to become a morning runner (or a morning SOMETHING-er) in order to get this all figured out and fit in! I am focusing more on the running side of things until after the Seattle Rock N Roll 1/2, when I'll switch to focusing more on biking. If you have any comments/questions/suggestions feel free to let me know!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Eugene 1/2 Marathon race report
Background/training - My last run of double-digit length was early February (the day of the Super Bowl). I ran an 8 miler at the end of February, and the St. Patrick's Day Dash (3.7ish) in March. I ran a 2 miler last Monday and a 3 miler last Wednesday. That's it. Mostly due to getting strep throat and being sick in some way or another for more than a month.
Goals - To survive. I knew that I could run a half on no training, but I assumed it probably wouldn't be too pretty!
The weekend - I drove down from Seattle on Saturday morning with an acquaintance from college. It was so nice to have someone to make the road trip with, and it's amazing how much you can learn about someone by spending so long in a car with them!! We made it down to Eugene in the early afternoon after a beautiful drive - I'd never really been south of Portland in the daylight. There were miles of green grassy fields with little baby lambs frolicking in them! After grabbing our packets and shirts at the expo, we realized that neither of us had a map of Eugene, or dinner reservations, or anything of that sort. We wandered around until we found Hayward Field and caught some of the Oregon Relays going on, and then lucked into getting a table at a nice Italian place in downtown Eugene. We had to be up super early on Sunday morning to catch the shuttle to the race start, and we left pretty much as soon as we finished. We stopped at Sherri's on the drive home and inhaled some pancakes, cinnamon french toast, bacon, eggs, and lots of water. There is something about post-race brunches that is just so delicious! I had such a great time just road tripping and exploring around that it'd be worth it even if I hadn't been running the race!
The race -
Miles 1-4 - I settled into a fairly steady pace for these first few miles, which were mostly downhill and on shady streets in Eugene. Ran them at around an 11:15 min/mile average and felt good. I wanted to go out a little slower, but it's hard to slow yourself down on a downhill! Saw my friend running with the lead group on an out and back - so awesome!
Miles 5-7 - These continued along that same out and back, which was mostly flat. The sun kept peeping out a little bit and it was getting warmer than I'd expected, so I chugged Gatorade at every water stop. Kept taking it just one mile at a time and still feeling good!
Mile 8/9 - This was probably my least favorite part of the race. It was a long uphill with no shade whatsoever, and the sun came out of the clouds full force. I was definitely overheating, so I walked most of the hill - which, unfortunately was where the race photographers chose to position themselves!! Those are definitely some race pics I won't be buying haha!
Mile 10-13 - This was the most up and down part of the course for me with regard to how I was feeling. I got a second wind after that long hill and ran strong, and then I'd have moments where I felt incredibly crappy, and more strong smooth moments, just back and forth. I just kept chugging along! A lot of these miles were on concrete trail that wound along next to the river, which felt kind of hard on my legs, but it was pretty (from what I noticed). There were a LOT of people walking by this point! My favorite part of the race was definitely when we came into Hayward Field and around the last curve of the track to the finish line. There were SO many spectators there and in the grandstands, and it was just really cool.
I finished in 2:36, and my friend finished the FULL in 2:30! Crazy!
Reflections - I am pretty pleased with my race and my time given my lack of training. It's a 13 minute PR from my other "untrained" half and only 10 minutes slower than Rock N Roll last year. It was definitely motivating because I just kept thinking what a fun course it'd be to RACE, so I want to get back into that kind of shape! I had a great time getting to know my friend better and am just super impressed by his race. All in all it was just a super fun trip and everything went as smoothly as I could have hoped for!
Next up - Beat the Bridge 8K on May 16 if I feel up to it, otherwise probably the Rock N Roll 1/2 on June 26.
Goals - To survive. I knew that I could run a half on no training, but I assumed it probably wouldn't be too pretty!
The weekend - I drove down from Seattle on Saturday morning with an acquaintance from college. It was so nice to have someone to make the road trip with, and it's amazing how much you can learn about someone by spending so long in a car with them!! We made it down to Eugene in the early afternoon after a beautiful drive - I'd never really been south of Portland in the daylight. There were miles of green grassy fields with little baby lambs frolicking in them! After grabbing our packets and shirts at the expo, we realized that neither of us had a map of Eugene, or dinner reservations, or anything of that sort. We wandered around until we found Hayward Field and caught some of the Oregon Relays going on, and then lucked into getting a table at a nice Italian place in downtown Eugene. We had to be up super early on Sunday morning to catch the shuttle to the race start, and we left pretty much as soon as we finished. We stopped at Sherri's on the drive home and inhaled some pancakes, cinnamon french toast, bacon, eggs, and lots of water. There is something about post-race brunches that is just so delicious! I had such a great time just road tripping and exploring around that it'd be worth it even if I hadn't been running the race!
The race -
Miles 1-4 - I settled into a fairly steady pace for these first few miles, which were mostly downhill and on shady streets in Eugene. Ran them at around an 11:15 min/mile average and felt good. I wanted to go out a little slower, but it's hard to slow yourself down on a downhill! Saw my friend running with the lead group on an out and back - so awesome!
Miles 5-7 - These continued along that same out and back, which was mostly flat. The sun kept peeping out a little bit and it was getting warmer than I'd expected, so I chugged Gatorade at every water stop. Kept taking it just one mile at a time and still feeling good!
Mile 8/9 - This was probably my least favorite part of the race. It was a long uphill with no shade whatsoever, and the sun came out of the clouds full force. I was definitely overheating, so I walked most of the hill - which, unfortunately was where the race photographers chose to position themselves!! Those are definitely some race pics I won't be buying haha!
Mile 10-13 - This was the most up and down part of the course for me with regard to how I was feeling. I got a second wind after that long hill and ran strong, and then I'd have moments where I felt incredibly crappy, and more strong smooth moments, just back and forth. I just kept chugging along! A lot of these miles were on concrete trail that wound along next to the river, which felt kind of hard on my legs, but it was pretty (from what I noticed). There were a LOT of people walking by this point! My favorite part of the race was definitely when we came into Hayward Field and around the last curve of the track to the finish line. There were SO many spectators there and in the grandstands, and it was just really cool.
I finished in 2:36, and my friend finished the FULL in 2:30! Crazy!
Reflections - I am pretty pleased with my race and my time given my lack of training. It's a 13 minute PR from my other "untrained" half and only 10 minutes slower than Rock N Roll last year. It was definitely motivating because I just kept thinking what a fun course it'd be to RACE, so I want to get back into that kind of shape! I had a great time getting to know my friend better and am just super impressed by his race. All in all it was just a super fun trip and everything went as smoothly as I could have hoped for!
Next up - Beat the Bridge 8K on May 16 if I feel up to it, otherwise probably the Rock N Roll 1/2 on June 26.
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