Background - So I wasn't really planning on doing this race given that Portland was only two weeks ago and I had a 10 mile "long run" scheduled for this weekend. But DBF and two of his friends were running it, I was going to go cheer, and then decided I'd feel left out (and it was only $15!) so I decided to run it anyways. My legs were tired from yesterday's run (which ended up being hillier than planned) and we were up late late late (and drinking!) last night for the Husky game.
The Race - Dawg Dash is a literal term! People were allowed to bring their dogs and there were so many different kinds!!! (There were around 1500 people there, mostly in the 5K, so that's a lot of dogs!)
I had planned on starting out slowly, but I started fast and just tried to stay in a rhythm until around mile 2.
Mile 1 was flat and then uphill (and upstairs) with only a little bit of flat the rest of the mile. There were some logjams on the narrower uphill parts, which slowed us down a bit. Around 10ish for this mile and it still felt fast. *sigh*
Mile 2 was still uphill the whole way, and involved all the stairs on campus (well not all of the stairs on campus, but you know...). I pushed through it but my knee started tightening up a little bit once I hit the 2 mile mark at 21:03.
Mile 3 was mostly downhill back to the stadium and a lot of it was gravel, which was nice. My knee gave out a little running down the stairs back towards the stadium, but once we came around the corner and actually when into the stadium I sprinted the rest of the way to the finish (passing about 20 people). Maybe not the smartest idea but my friends and dbf were all there (already done!) and I was a little frustrated at how slow my time was for the effort. Final time 33:21. *sigh*
Reflections - So yes, I'm a little frustrated with my time - I feel like running that slowly shouldn't be pushing it at all - it's 40 seconds a mile slower than my half marathon PR! I'm trying to give myself a break because a) it was a hilly/stair-ey course, b) I was tired, and c) the marathon was only two weeks ago. It is good motivation to get more speedwork done though!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Signed up for Seattle
Finally got around to it! Did my first post-Portland runs yesterday and today and everything feels great. Time to get back into the swing of things next week!!!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Life Update
Phew... Now that Portland is over with, it's back to the grind. I sent out 40 more resumes today (not joking), and I have yet another interview (my 8th in the last month or so) on Thursday. Apparently my resume is good and I interview really well, but guess what? Everyone wants someone with "experience" and with the economy the way it is, there are plenty of people with "experience" out there! I guess I'll just have to keep trying, somebody will like me eventually right? I certainly hope so (and so does my bank account!).
I started the second quarter of the paralegal program last week. Haven't done much yet but so far so good. The class is "Litigation Basics", so it's a lot of material to cover in 10 weeks - but very important!
As far as running goes, there are less than 8 weeks until the Seattle Marathon (November 29). My quads are still sore, but I can walk somewhat normally now and nothing specific is hurting/injured, so that's great! It's such great weather out, I want to go running again! However, it's supposed to stay nice for a while, so I'll take it easy for a few days.
Huskies play Arizona at home this weekend - looking for a good W!! Go Dawgs!
I started the second quarter of the paralegal program last week. Haven't done much yet but so far so good. The class is "Litigation Basics", so it's a lot of material to cover in 10 weeks - but very important!
As far as running goes, there are less than 8 weeks until the Seattle Marathon (November 29). My quads are still sore, but I can walk somewhat normally now and nothing specific is hurting/injured, so that's great! It's such great weather out, I want to go running again! However, it's supposed to stay nice for a while, so I'll take it easy for a few days.
Huskies play Arizona at home this weekend - looking for a good W!! Go Dawgs!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Portland Marathon Race Report
Short Version - Finished in 5:42, 30 minutes slower than Seattle last year - hamstrings started cramping at mile 8 but didn't slow down too much until I pulled one at mile 20ish and had to walk most of the last 5K.
Waiting for the race to start
This is my mile 25.5 shuffle!
This is kind of how I'm walking today....
I know you're not supposed to sit down, but I just couldn't resist!
Long Version - I wasn't trying to PR at Portland, was just using it as a long training run for Seattle in November. For various reasons my training wasn't very good - my longest long run was 3 1/2 hours, so additional motivation to take it easy.
Saturday night met up with a bunch of people from the forum for dinner @ Pastini's - yum! Hopefully someone got pictures of that!I was staying at my aunt's house just outside of Portland - it was handy because it was really close to the train, so we just took that everywhere. Saturday night she apparently decided to go out and not tell us, leaving us sitting in the car in her driveway until 10 PM... I wasn't very pleased with that!
Sunday morning I woke up and was glad that it stopped raining by the time we got on the train to downtown. We (and a bunch of other runners) got on the wrong train, but luckily made it downtown with plenty of time to spare. I met up with Brad (LuvPre) and his friend who luckily were nice enough to let us use their hotel bathroom instead of the porta potties!It was still dark when we started, but got light pretty quickly.
Here are my splits from the race:
10 Km:
1:14:27 Pace: 11:59
8.9 Mi:
1:47:11 Pace: 12:03
Half:
2:39:38 Pace: 12:11
17.5 Mi:
3:35:02 Pace: 12:18
20 Mi:
4:07:42 Pace: 12:24
21.1 Mi:
4:22:56 Pace: 12:28
10 Km:
1:14:27 Pace: 11:59
8.9 Mi:
1:47:11 Pace: 12:03
Half:
2:39:38 Pace: 12:11
17.5 Mi:
3:35:02 Pace: 12:18
20 Mi:
4:07:42 Pace: 12:24
21.1 Mi:
4:22:56 Pace: 12:28
26.2 Mi:
5:42:23 Pace: 13:04
My only real goal was to get under 6 hours, so I was fine with that... The first 8 miles went pretty smoothly, and then on the industrial out and back section my hamstrings started cramping up pretty badly. Needless to say, I was a little worried and wondering how I'd run 18 more miles if I was already cramping. Not sure why it happened, either, I didn't go out toooo fast and I was plenty hydrated. The weather was perfect, cool and overcast, so it definitely wasn't that.
I managed to push on and stay close to pace (despite taking walk breaks for two minutes out of every mile) until around mile 20, where I took a bad step and my right hamstring just completely locked up (thus the 15 min mile 20!).
I managed to shuffle to mile 22/23, and then ended up having to walk most of the last 5K. I think that last 3 miles was the hardest thing I've ever done, but I managed to walk/shuffle/drag myself to the finish line.
I'm a little disappointed with the way the last few miles went, but given the cramping and the not-as-good training I was glad to be able to run strongly until that point and then to be able to finish. Now it's time to rest up this week, get my hammy all healed up, and get back out on the roads to get ready for Seattle on Nov. 29!
Waiting for the race to start This is my mile 25.5 shuffle! This is kind of how I'm walking today.... I know you're not supposed to sit down, but I just couldn't resist!
Yay Starbucks! (+ medal, rose, and baby tree!)
Borrowing Grandma's walker for a stretch break on the drive home...
Friday, October 2, 2009
Late Cottage Lake Tri Race Report
Yes, yes, the triathlon was 2 weeks ago and I'm just now getting around to writing the report... Will add pictures next week when I get back from Portland!
Background/training - Signed up for the Danksin tri with my Mom because she wanted to do one. I wasn't super excited about it (especially since I hadn't biked since junior high), but I got a $5 garage sale bike, fixed it up for $100, and did the triathlon with her. It ended up being super fun - I really really love open water swimming, and I can tolerate the biking now - but I wanted to go faster, so I signed up for the Cottage Lake Super Sprint tri (1/4 mile swim, 9.6 mile bike, and 1.6 mile run) on September 19.
Swim - It was pouring rain when we got in the water for the swim. I started off a little rough just because it was so crowded and it took me a little bit to get into a rhythm, but then I settled down and started passing people throughout the rest of the course. I definitely didn't go all out, but it was a decent swim. Finished in 9:25.6 for 1/4 mile. Not really pleased with that time but it was second in my age group... *shrugs*
T1 - Went right by where my bike was racked (whoops) but found it again quick enough, put on my running stuff and ran out to the parking lot to get on the bike. T1 took me 2:07 despite losing the bike, first in my age group.
Bike - It was pouring even harder by the time I got on the bike - I didn't even use my towel after the swim part cuz everything (including the towel) was already soaked. The bike course was 2 loops around a mostly flat square with two big steep hills in the middle. I made it up the first steep hill uneventfully (although going super slowly and panting like crazy, haha), but on the second hill my chain slipped. Luckily, there was a super nice guy right behind me that stopped and helped me fix it, because I had no idea what to do with it otherwise! So that added a minute or two to my bike time, but it definitely could have been worse... The rest of the ride went uneventfully despite all the rain, thank goodness. Bike time was 38:56, third in my age group (which I'll take given the chain issue, but I still need to work on it!)
T2 - My mom somehow missed my bike finish even though she was standing 5 feet away... haha. Missed the rack AGAIN going in to drop my bike off, but then all I had to do was take off my helmet and run. T2 time was 42 seconds, second in my age group.
Run - The 1.6 mile run course was pretty flat for the most part, and luckily the rain had let up a little by then, although the damage was already done as I was soaked! My quads were super tight for the first half mile, but then gradually began to loosen up and I ran the whole run part just fine. I didn't push the pace at all (shakes head at self), and finished the run part in 15:09, with a pace of 9:29 per mile - not bad for not really feeling like I was pushing at all.
Total Time - 1:06:21, third in my age group. I wanted to get sub 1:00, but maybe next year when I have more training/less rain/no chain issues. It was super fun despite the wetness!
Background/training - Signed up for the Danksin tri with my Mom because she wanted to do one. I wasn't super excited about it (especially since I hadn't biked since junior high), but I got a $5 garage sale bike, fixed it up for $100, and did the triathlon with her. It ended up being super fun - I really really love open water swimming, and I can tolerate the biking now - but I wanted to go faster, so I signed up for the Cottage Lake Super Sprint tri (1/4 mile swim, 9.6 mile bike, and 1.6 mile run) on September 19.
Swim - It was pouring rain when we got in the water for the swim. I started off a little rough just because it was so crowded and it took me a little bit to get into a rhythm, but then I settled down and started passing people throughout the rest of the course. I definitely didn't go all out, but it was a decent swim. Finished in 9:25.6 for 1/4 mile. Not really pleased with that time but it was second in my age group... *shrugs*
T1 - Went right by where my bike was racked (whoops) but found it again quick enough, put on my running stuff and ran out to the parking lot to get on the bike. T1 took me 2:07 despite losing the bike, first in my age group.
Bike - It was pouring even harder by the time I got on the bike - I didn't even use my towel after the swim part cuz everything (including the towel) was already soaked. The bike course was 2 loops around a mostly flat square with two big steep hills in the middle. I made it up the first steep hill uneventfully (although going super slowly and panting like crazy, haha), but on the second hill my chain slipped. Luckily, there was a super nice guy right behind me that stopped and helped me fix it, because I had no idea what to do with it otherwise! So that added a minute or two to my bike time, but it definitely could have been worse... The rest of the ride went uneventfully despite all the rain, thank goodness. Bike time was 38:56, third in my age group (which I'll take given the chain issue, but I still need to work on it!)
T2 - My mom somehow missed my bike finish even though she was standing 5 feet away... haha. Missed the rack AGAIN going in to drop my bike off, but then all I had to do was take off my helmet and run. T2 time was 42 seconds, second in my age group.
Run - The 1.6 mile run course was pretty flat for the most part, and luckily the rain had let up a little by then, although the damage was already done as I was soaked! My quads were super tight for the first half mile, but then gradually began to loosen up and I ran the whole run part just fine. I didn't push the pace at all (shakes head at self), and finished the run part in 15:09, with a pace of 9:29 per mile - not bad for not really feeling like I was pushing at all.
Total Time - 1:06:21, third in my age group. I wanted to get sub 1:00, but maybe next year when I have more training/less rain/no chain issues. It was super fun despite the wetness!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
One week to Portland
I know it's been ages since I've posted anything on here, but what can I say... life has been pretty crazy.
Portland Marathon is in one week. I'm not tapering - I don't feel like I've run enough mileage to necessitate a taper, especially since I'm planning on taking the race nice and slowly.
Weather report looks good so far.
This is the plan for this week -
Sunday - Bike ride, easy 3 mile run
Monday - 15-18 miles
Tuesday - Swim
Wednesday - 4 miles easy
Thursday - Off
Friday - 3 miles easy
Saturday - Off
Sunday - Portland
Portland Marathon is in one week. I'm not tapering - I don't feel like I've run enough mileage to necessitate a taper, especially since I'm planning on taking the race nice and slowly.
Weather report looks good so far.
This is the plan for this week -
Sunday - Bike ride, easy 3 mile run
Monday - 15-18 miles
Tuesday - Swim
Wednesday - 4 miles easy
Thursday - Off
Friday - 3 miles easy
Saturday - Off
Sunday - Portland
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Panicked Portland update
Yikes, guys - the Portland Marathon was 5 weeks from Sunday! I am kind of overwhelmed by that right now, I've been focusing on other things so much that it just sort of snuck up on me. I still haven't even done a 20 miler yet! (Planning to fix that on Thursday). I think I'm going to do a 2 week taper and do it as a long training run, and then work to PR at Seattle. Still... eek! Time to get off the couch!
I also finally signed up for the Cottage Lake triathlon on September 19. That was pretty expensive also ($80ish) so that should give me some additional motivation for speedwork/cross-training/etc.
Will find out about the job situation on Friday... I'm not too optimistic at the moment, but keep your fingers crossed, and if neither of them worked out, at least it was good interviewing experience!
I'm starting to get settled in and unpacked down here in Federal Way... I miss my U District, but I am soooo thankful to have Sophie so I am not stuck down here all the time!
I also finally signed up for the Cottage Lake triathlon on September 19. That was pretty expensive also ($80ish) so that should give me some additional motivation for speedwork/cross-training/etc.
Will find out about the job situation on Friday... I'm not too optimistic at the moment, but keep your fingers crossed, and if neither of them worked out, at least it was good interviewing experience!
I'm starting to get settled in and unpacked down here in Federal Way... I miss my U District, but I am soooo thankful to have Sophie so I am not stuck down here all the time!
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