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
Sunday, September 27, 2009
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!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Quickie update
Back from vacations, which were fun/relaxing/mostly uneventful.
Mostly done with paralegal classes, just have one more assignment to turn in and then I'm free until September 30!
Have two job interviews tomorrow, one at an espresso bar and the other as an office assistant.
Getting back on track running-wise after vacation - skipping the SJ&J half as I'm broke, and doing Cottage Lake triathlon and Portland Marathon as my next two races.
More later!
Mostly done with paralegal classes, just have one more assignment to turn in and then I'm free until September 30!
Have two job interviews tomorrow, one at an espresso bar and the other as an office assistant.
Getting back on track running-wise after vacation - skipping the SJ&J half as I'm broke, and doing Cottage Lake triathlon and Portland Marathon as my next two races.
More later!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Baby's first car
That's right, I bought my first car yesterday!!! It's a 2002 gold Oldsmobile Alero, used but looks like new (only has 50K miles on it) and it's super fun to drive! I named her Sophie and I loooove her!
Danskin pictures!
There are tons of them on Facebook (and we haven't even gotten the offical ones yet!) but I thought I'd put some of my favorites on here anyways...
Me and my friend Emily before the swim start
Mom and I after we finished the swim
Mom and I heading for the finish line!
Mom and I after the race!
Training buddies... Joy, Mom, Beth, Emily and me before the swim
One of our practice swims at Seward Park... Lake Washington is pretty chilly on cloudy mornings! (I'm the one in the hot pink swimsuit!)
Joy is finishing the race, and I am right behind her cheering on Mom (who I think is behind Joy somewhere!)
Me and my friend Emily before the swim start
Mom and I after we finished the swim
Mom and I heading for the finish line!
Mom and I after the race!
Training buddies... Joy, Mom, Beth, Emily and me before the swim 
One of our practice swims at Seward Park... Lake Washington is pretty chilly on cloudy mornings! (I'm the one in the hot pink swimsuit!)
Joy is finishing the race, and I am right behind her cheering on Mom (who I think is behind Joy somewhere!)Monday, August 17, 2009
Almost time to hit the road...
The marathon vacation is about to begin! This Thursday we are driving over to McCall, Idaho (8 hour drive... yeesh!) for our family reunion. That should be fun - there is white-water rafting, hiking, etc (maybe even horseback riding???). That goes from Thursday to Sunday, and then on Sunday we are driving from McCall to our beach house on the Washington coast (another 8-10 hour drive). We're staying there for a week (yay!) and then driving back to Seattle, and then the next day my brother is going back to college in Spokane! It'll be fun, hopefully, but I probably won't have time to update this much (might not have internet!). Hopefully I'll have time to get some good miles in, though - Portland really isn't too far away!!
Danskin Sprint Tri report
Background - So Mom signed both of us up for the Danskin triathlon this spring. I had never done one before and while I'd considered it, it wasn't something that I was bouncing off the walls to do. But she was nervous and didn't want to do it by herself, so I said ok - hey, it got her to start running!!! I got a bike for $5 at a garage sale and eventually got it fixed up enough so it's super comfy (for pretty cheap, too). Mom and I went to a bunch of training practices with Team Survivor (a group of women cancer survivors that do triathlons/etc - Mom's friend from school is one and she invited us), which were really fun and really helpful. I discovered that I am pretty good at swimming and I actually love swimming in lakes - I think I spent most of the summer in Lake Washington.
The Race - We woke up at 4:30 in the morning and headed down to Genessee Park (where we'd already racked our bikes on Saturday). It was a beautiful morning, sunny but not hot. We hung out for a little bit and watched the first waves go, and eventually put on all of our swim stuff. Along with Mom's friend Beth, who is on Team Survivor, her coworker Joy was doing it, as well as Beth's daughter Emily. Beth and Emily went at their own pace, but I had promised to stick with Mom and Joy, so that's what I did.
Swim - I thought I was going to have to push Mom off the dock into the lake, because she was freaking out a little bit, but once she got in the water she was ok. There were about a hundred people in our "wave", and the swim never really got less crowded the whole way. I'm surprised I don't have bruises from getting kicked and run into! Seems like Danskin would be a hard swim to PR on just because it's so crowded. I took my goggles off halfway through and just did breaststroke so I could keep track of Mom and Joy (and scope out the cute lifeguards that were on paddleboards all along the course!). About halfway through, there were some big rolling waves coming in, which I love! We finished the swim without incident - the water was warm enough that I actually wanted to stay in instead of getting out and going on to the bike, haha.
Bike - I think the bike part was the most frustrating - when I bike, I like to go fast! So I'd keep going and getting ahead and having to either hit the brakes or get off my bike and wait. It was a pretty course, though, along Lake Washington Boulevard and over I-90. I've always thought biking was my weakest part (just because I haven't done it since like junior high, although I did a lot of it when I was little), but I didn't have a problem with the course at all, not even the hills.
Run - I decided to make myself earn the medal once we started the run portion, because I felt like I'd barely pushed myself all morning. I'd run a little ways, then turn around and run back to Mom and Joy, then run ahead again. Uncle Dan was there riding his bike along the sidewalk and keeping Mom and Joy company, so that was nice. There's only one short but steep hill on the course, and I ran it twice just for fun (didn't see anyone else run up the whole thing). Crossing the finish line was fun, and we met up with everyone in the finisher's area and went to go sign up for next year!
Times - SWIM = 30ish min, BIKE = 60ish min, RUN = 47ish min, total time 2:30:17
Reflections - I want to race one! I guess I underestimated how competitive I can be! The swim was ok because it was so crowded that it would have been difficult to go too far ahead anyways, but the bike and the run I just wanted to go go go! I'm glad I did it with Mom, and I'm super proud of her, but I'm also going to sign up for a super sprint in September and then hopefully some longer ones in the spring, to actually race. Apparently my swim times are really good and I'm sure I can improve biking and running!
Next up - Super Jock N Jill 1/2 Marathon, September 7
Cottage Lake Super Sprint Tri, September 19
Portland Marathon, October 4
Seattle Marathon, November 29
The Race - We woke up at 4:30 in the morning and headed down to Genessee Park (where we'd already racked our bikes on Saturday). It was a beautiful morning, sunny but not hot. We hung out for a little bit and watched the first waves go, and eventually put on all of our swim stuff. Along with Mom's friend Beth, who is on Team Survivor, her coworker Joy was doing it, as well as Beth's daughter Emily. Beth and Emily went at their own pace, but I had promised to stick with Mom and Joy, so that's what I did.
Swim - I thought I was going to have to push Mom off the dock into the lake, because she was freaking out a little bit, but once she got in the water she was ok. There were about a hundred people in our "wave", and the swim never really got less crowded the whole way. I'm surprised I don't have bruises from getting kicked and run into! Seems like Danskin would be a hard swim to PR on just because it's so crowded. I took my goggles off halfway through and just did breaststroke so I could keep track of Mom and Joy (and scope out the cute lifeguards that were on paddleboards all along the course!). About halfway through, there were some big rolling waves coming in, which I love! We finished the swim without incident - the water was warm enough that I actually wanted to stay in instead of getting out and going on to the bike, haha.
Bike - I think the bike part was the most frustrating - when I bike, I like to go fast! So I'd keep going and getting ahead and having to either hit the brakes or get off my bike and wait. It was a pretty course, though, along Lake Washington Boulevard and over I-90. I've always thought biking was my weakest part (just because I haven't done it since like junior high, although I did a lot of it when I was little), but I didn't have a problem with the course at all, not even the hills.
Run - I decided to make myself earn the medal once we started the run portion, because I felt like I'd barely pushed myself all morning. I'd run a little ways, then turn around and run back to Mom and Joy, then run ahead again. Uncle Dan was there riding his bike along the sidewalk and keeping Mom and Joy company, so that was nice. There's only one short but steep hill on the course, and I ran it twice just for fun (didn't see anyone else run up the whole thing). Crossing the finish line was fun, and we met up with everyone in the finisher's area and went to go sign up for next year!
Times - SWIM = 30ish min, BIKE = 60ish min, RUN = 47ish min, total time 2:30:17
Reflections - I want to race one! I guess I underestimated how competitive I can be! The swim was ok because it was so crowded that it would have been difficult to go too far ahead anyways, but the bike and the run I just wanted to go go go! I'm glad I did it with Mom, and I'm super proud of her, but I'm also going to sign up for a super sprint in September and then hopefully some longer ones in the spring, to actually race. Apparently my swim times are really good and I'm sure I can improve biking and running!
Next up - Super Jock N Jill 1/2 Marathon, September 7
Cottage Lake Super Sprint Tri, September 19
Portland Marathon, October 4
Seattle Marathon, November 29
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