Yep, that's right... tomorrow is my last day of college (criminology final which I am putting off studying for!), and then I graduate on Wednesday. Where the **** did the last four years go??
I'm excited in some ways (mostly to be done with schoolwork in one piece), but at the same time, I'll miss it - I mean, WHAT? I have to go into the REAL WORLD? And WORK for the rest of my life? Eww... But hopefully the paralegal program this next year will go ok and will help me get a decent job when I'm done with it. I'm still sort of at a point of mixed feelings and disbelief about everything. Ahh!
Had a great long run after my organizations final this morning. Perfect running weather (sunny and 60s), and the Burke Gilman trail is so beautiful on sunny days. 14 miles total, legs felt tight but super strong, and I had a hard time holding myself back. I thought I ran the first half too fast, and then ended up running the second half even faster. My legs never really got tired/cramped or anything. Now that I am done running and have been sitting around all day, though... ouch! I could use a nice massage!
Ok... enough procrastinating for now! I'll be back later in the week with a graduation report, a RR from Lake Youngs, and a graduation party report (maybe! ;))
Monday, June 8, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Been a while...
My bad for not posting more recently, I've been pretty busy!
This time next week, I will be a University of Washington graduate! Woohoo! This week has been pretty crazy school-wise - I had a paper due on Tuesday, two more due Wednesday, a take-home final due Wednesday, and a music theory test on Wednesday. So much for it being dead week! But now I only have two finals left to study for (on Monday and Tuesday), and I am (knock on wood!) pretty much good to go grades-wise... :) I picked up my cap and gown and graduation tickets today too!
The "heat wave" in Seattle has been fun this week... up to 90 two days in a row! It's made for some interesting running - I did my midweek long run (8 miles) on Tuesday at around 4:30 (wanted to watch the softball game), and it was 85 and muggy... I have never been so sweaty on a run, and my legs were feeling it the next day! But I swam at the IMA last night, and the cold water felt great. Ran an easy 3 today at a more reasonable hour (8 PM) and my legs feel great. The heat should be good motivation for me to get up early on Saturday to do my long run...
In random news, Jake Heaps committed to BYWho (booo!) and the Husky ladies won the National Championship in softball! The games were super fun to watch :)
Next up on the race menu is the Lake Youngs Ultra (I'm doing the one lap 9.6 mile version as next week is sort of a cutback week) on June 13... great way to celebrate graduation!
This time next week, I will be a University of Washington graduate! Woohoo! This week has been pretty crazy school-wise - I had a paper due on Tuesday, two more due Wednesday, a take-home final due Wednesday, and a music theory test on Wednesday. So much for it being dead week! But now I only have two finals left to study for (on Monday and Tuesday), and I am (knock on wood!) pretty much good to go grades-wise... :) I picked up my cap and gown and graduation tickets today too!
The "heat wave" in Seattle has been fun this week... up to 90 two days in a row! It's made for some interesting running - I did my midweek long run (8 miles) on Tuesday at around 4:30 (wanted to watch the softball game), and it was 85 and muggy... I have never been so sweaty on a run, and my legs were feeling it the next day! But I swam at the IMA last night, and the cold water felt great. Ran an easy 3 today at a more reasonable hour (8 PM) and my legs feel great. The heat should be good motivation for me to get up early on Saturday to do my long run...
In random news, Jake Heaps committed to BYWho (booo!) and the Husky ladies won the National Championship in softball! The games were super fun to watch :)
Next up on the race menu is the Lake Youngs Ultra (I'm doing the one lap 9.6 mile version as next week is sort of a cutback week) on June 13... great way to celebrate graduation!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Hanging in there
I graduate from UW 3 weeks from today! Also, my birthday is a week from today... I'm gonna be OLD!
Hanging in there school-wise, I have a presentation tomorrow (eek) and a bunch of papers to get done in the next few weeks, plus finals... but at the moment, everything is manageable... that doesn't mean I should procrastinate though, right? ;)
I had a great run today, 6 miles at half marathon pace... I figured I'd run at whatever pace I felt like, and apparently I felt like running fast. It felt great, and the weather looks like it'll be nice for the next few days.
Not much else to say... next race is the Lake Youngs Ultra (though I'm only doing the 9.6 mile version). It'll be my first trail race! And will be fun because we ran there in high school... oh, the memories. And it'll be my first race as a college graduate! :O
Hanging in there school-wise, I have a presentation tomorrow (eek) and a bunch of papers to get done in the next few weeks, plus finals... but at the moment, everything is manageable... that doesn't mean I should procrastinate though, right? ;)
I had a great run today, 6 miles at half marathon pace... I figured I'd run at whatever pace I felt like, and apparently I felt like running fast. It felt great, and the weather looks like it'll be nice for the next few days.
Not much else to say... next race is the Lake Youngs Ultra (though I'm only doing the 9.6 mile version). It'll be my first trail race! And will be fun because we ran there in high school... oh, the memories. And it'll be my first race as a college graduate! :O
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Beat the Bridge 8K Race Report
The training - Not much. I had a few consistent weeks since Bloomsday, including a 12 mile run last weekend, but I took this past week off due to personal issues. Running felt good, so hopefully that'll motivate me to keep on with it despite the personal issues.
The race - I signed up to do this race with my friend Tim. He's been running for a while and is on a 10K training plan, and this was his first race. I was kind of skeptical about it at first, as a) I'm not exactly in the best shape right now, and b) my average easy pace is about 11:30 per mile, and his is around 9:30 per mile - but he said he wanted to run it with me, so I agreed.
It was a gorgeous day for running - sunny and 60 at the finish. There were 10,000 people there, some doing the 8K and some doing the walk or the mile fun run. The start was delayed a little bit because of technical difficulties, but finally we were off and running. It was crowded, but thankfully not Bloomsday crowded!
The first mile went by pretty quickly, and we ran it in 9:35. I felt like we were pushing it, but not too much. The second mile we picked up the pace and I was really starting to feel it in my legs - they were pretty tight from not running recently. I told Tim that we'd run his pace until we beat the bridge (at mile 2) and then run mine the rest of the way. We ran the second mile in 9:15, and beat the bridge with time to spare (we had 25 minutes to make it 2 miles).
After running across the bridge, we slowed into a pace that was still pushing it for me but that I thought would be easier to maintain. It was getting hot by this point, and my stomach was getting a little sick, so I pushed as much as I could without risking getting sick. The last few miles were pretty uneventful - we just stopped at all the water stations and kept on going. On this course, these miles are pretty much torture - you run by Husky stadium on Montlake, and then there is an out and back, and then it's through all the parking lots back to the finish. It was fun on the out and back part seeing all the people that were behind us, and I looked at my watch and noticed that if we didn't slack, we could make a sub 10:00 minute/mile finish. As we ran into the stadium, my competitiveness kicked in and we sprinted across the finish line.
Final time - 48:27, average pace 9:45/mile
Final thoughts - I'm glad I did this. Tim had a great time and said he definitely wants to do more races. I am pretty pleased with my performance given my lack of consistent running lately, and hopefully that will motivate me to keep back on track with the running in spite of the personal issues I've been dealing with. I know running makes things better, it's just hard to get out there sometimes!
The race - I signed up to do this race with my friend Tim. He's been running for a while and is on a 10K training plan, and this was his first race. I was kind of skeptical about it at first, as a) I'm not exactly in the best shape right now, and b) my average easy pace is about 11:30 per mile, and his is around 9:30 per mile - but he said he wanted to run it with me, so I agreed.
It was a gorgeous day for running - sunny and 60 at the finish. There were 10,000 people there, some doing the 8K and some doing the walk or the mile fun run. The start was delayed a little bit because of technical difficulties, but finally we were off and running. It was crowded, but thankfully not Bloomsday crowded!
The first mile went by pretty quickly, and we ran it in 9:35. I felt like we were pushing it, but not too much. The second mile we picked up the pace and I was really starting to feel it in my legs - they were pretty tight from not running recently. I told Tim that we'd run his pace until we beat the bridge (at mile 2) and then run mine the rest of the way. We ran the second mile in 9:15, and beat the bridge with time to spare (we had 25 minutes to make it 2 miles).
After running across the bridge, we slowed into a pace that was still pushing it for me but that I thought would be easier to maintain. It was getting hot by this point, and my stomach was getting a little sick, so I pushed as much as I could without risking getting sick. The last few miles were pretty uneventful - we just stopped at all the water stations and kept on going. On this course, these miles are pretty much torture - you run by Husky stadium on Montlake, and then there is an out and back, and then it's through all the parking lots back to the finish. It was fun on the out and back part seeing all the people that were behind us, and I looked at my watch and noticed that if we didn't slack, we could make a sub 10:00 minute/mile finish. As we ran into the stadium, my competitiveness kicked in and we sprinted across the finish line.
Final time - 48:27, average pace 9:45/mile
Final thoughts - I'm glad I did this. Tim had a great time and said he definitely wants to do more races. I am pretty pleased with my performance given my lack of consistent running lately, and hopefully that will motivate me to keep back on track with the running in spite of the personal issues I've been dealing with. I know running makes things better, it's just hard to get out there sometimes!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Next on the menu
Running-wise, there are a lot of races coming up!
Sunday, May 24 - Beat the Bridge 8K
Saturday, June 13 - Lake Youngs (9.6 mile version)
Saturday, June 27 - Seattle Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon
I finished my last midterm of the quarter today - only 5 more weeks of school plus finals!
Sunday, May 24 - Beat the Bridge 8K
Saturday, June 13 - Lake Youngs (9.6 mile version)
Saturday, June 27 - Seattle Rock N Roll 1/2 Marathon
I finished my last midterm of the quarter today - only 5 more weeks of school plus finals!
Bloomsday 12K Race Report
The training: Not as much as I would have liked, given that my training has been disrupted for various reasons since the Seattle Marathon (sickness, school, life, etc). But coming off of a few solid weeks of running, including a long run of 1:40 last weekend.
The weekend: Drove over to Spokane on Saturday with Mom - long drive! Checked into the Red Lion on the Spokane River, and then met up with my friend Tim from high school for a quick run on the river trail. I hadn't run with him since high school cross-country, so that was fun. We all had dinner at Geno's in downtown Spokane - apparently it was prom night too! I had a midterm on Monday so I spent the rest of the night studying - fun fun!
The race: Had gone to Bloomsday with the intention of meeting two fellow RW posters (drunningman and Tar), but somehow we got our wires crossed and ended up just missing each other before the race. The Porta Potty lines were SO long that I only had time to eat a piece of leftover french bread, use them, and go catch up to the orange wave, which was already starting.
The first few miles of the race were pretty uneventful, although hillier than I was expecting. It started off cool and overcast, but by the middle miles the sun was out and it was pretty toasty. Around mile 4, I ran by the water stop hoping to find some Gatorade, and was surprised (and annoyed) to find out that all they had was water!
Shortly after mile 4, we ran up Doomsday Hill. You could see it for a ways before you actually started up it, so it was fun watching the crowds of people making their way to the top. It wasn't a bad hill at all (at least not compared to some of the ones over here in Seattle), but it was made frustrating by the fact that people were walking all across the road, so those that were still running had to constantly swerve in and out and hit the brakes to avoid running into people.
Once we got to the top of Doomsday, the miles went by pretty quickly (with the exception of mile 6, which seemed to go on forever!). I'd given up on going fast (what with the crowds and walkers and the lack of Gatorade), but I was still pretty wiped by the time we made the final turn to the finish line. I had forgotten my watch, so had to wait until we got home and the results were posted to get my
Final time: 1:27:03, average 11:40 pace per mile.
Final thoughts: I'm glad I ran it, just to say I ran it. It was fun seeing 45,000 people out and running, and the weather was pretty decent. However, purely from a running perspective, I'm not sure it's worth the 5 hour drive each way if you actually want to RUN and not just have fun - too crowded, too many walkers, it was difficult to get into a rhythm, and no Gatorade. On the whole, though, it was a good weekend, and it was fun to run in a race again!
The weekend: Drove over to Spokane on Saturday with Mom - long drive! Checked into the Red Lion on the Spokane River, and then met up with my friend Tim from high school for a quick run on the river trail. I hadn't run with him since high school cross-country, so that was fun. We all had dinner at Geno's in downtown Spokane - apparently it was prom night too! I had a midterm on Monday so I spent the rest of the night studying - fun fun!
The race: Had gone to Bloomsday with the intention of meeting two fellow RW posters (drunningman and Tar), but somehow we got our wires crossed and ended up just missing each other before the race. The Porta Potty lines were SO long that I only had time to eat a piece of leftover french bread, use them, and go catch up to the orange wave, which was already starting.
The first few miles of the race were pretty uneventful, although hillier than I was expecting. It started off cool and overcast, but by the middle miles the sun was out and it was pretty toasty. Around mile 4, I ran by the water stop hoping to find some Gatorade, and was surprised (and annoyed) to find out that all they had was water!
Shortly after mile 4, we ran up Doomsday Hill. You could see it for a ways before you actually started up it, so it was fun watching the crowds of people making their way to the top. It wasn't a bad hill at all (at least not compared to some of the ones over here in Seattle), but it was made frustrating by the fact that people were walking all across the road, so those that were still running had to constantly swerve in and out and hit the brakes to avoid running into people.
Once we got to the top of Doomsday, the miles went by pretty quickly (with the exception of mile 6, which seemed to go on forever!). I'd given up on going fast (what with the crowds and walkers and the lack of Gatorade), but I was still pretty wiped by the time we made the final turn to the finish line. I had forgotten my watch, so had to wait until we got home and the results were posted to get my
Final time: 1:27:03, average 11:40 pace per mile.
Final thoughts: I'm glad I ran it, just to say I ran it. It was fun seeing 45,000 people out and running, and the weather was pretty decent. However, purely from a running perspective, I'm not sure it's worth the 5 hour drive each way if you actually want to RUN and not just have fun - too crowded, too many walkers, it was difficult to get into a rhythm, and no Gatorade. On the whole, though, it was a good weekend, and it was fun to run in a race again!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Sunny in Seattle
It's been a great few days here in the Pacific Northwest - sunny and 65-70, and I've definitely taken advantage of it!
Cherry blossoms in the quad ^^
Golden Gardens ^^
Matthews Beach ^^
Yesterday, I lounged around in the quad for an hour after class, enjoying the cherry blossoms, and then for another few hours at Ravenna Park, after the quad got too crowded.
Cherry blossoms in the quad ^^Then I went to Husky football practice, which was awesome - it was really fun to watch, and exciting to see how different the program already has now that TW is gone, gone, gone!
Went over to a friend's house and watch a bit of the UNC game - that has to be one of the most boring national championship games in the history of March Madness! On the bright side, I did pick UNC to win, so my bracket finished at 98%... not bad!
Then we went down to Golden Gardens after sunset and walked around on the beach, and built a little bonfire under the stars.
Golden Gardens ^^Today I skipped class (I only had one!) and went to Matthews Beach with a friend and hung out until it was almost dark, then squeezed in a quick run before the sun set. Love the weather, can't wait until summer!
Matthews Beach ^^
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