And another two...

Okay, okay.....I have been another bad blogger lately. I SWEAR this time it was not just me being lazy. So much has happened in the past 2 weeks. Aside from starting a new position (and I am up for interviews this week AGAIN as well! Yay!) my grandmother also passed away. Urgent family get-togethers and frequent trips home in addition to 2 weddings have made things quite busy. I promise to be a better bloggy buddy in August!

To start things off in the right direction, I signed up for 2 more half marathons! I am going for a new Half Fanatic moon level as well. Currently I am a "Neptune" and I am going for "Uranus" (haha, seriously, it is not my choice of a name!)

Neptune (my current achievement):

2 Half Marathons in 16 days or

3 Half Marathons in 3 consecutive calendar months

Uranus (next goal):

3 Half Marathons in 16 days or

6 Half Marathons in 6 consecutive calendar months or

8-10 Half Marathons in 365 days

After these two races I will be at Uranus and will have completed 6 half marathons in 6 consecutive calendar months! (Mercer Half, Whidbey Half, Bainbridge Half, Kirkland Half, Seattle RnR Half, and the next two.) Pretty exciting stuff :) So here are the next two half marathons I signed up for:

Anacortes Art Dash Half Marathon (Saturday, July 31, 2010):

This half is located in Anacortes, WA, and also includes a 10K and 5K race. Races fees are $45 and include a race shirt, goodie bag and finishers ribbon (not medal?) This looks to be a smaller race, but should be enjoyable. The course runs along the water at Anacortes and along some sort or bridge. I am hoping for pretty scenery and hopefully not too many hills!

Tacoma Narrows Half Marthon (Saturday, August 7, 2010):

                                                             

This half is located in Tacoma, WA and runs across the famous Narrows Bridge, through Cheney Stadium and finishes in downtown Tacoma. The current race fee is $90 and includes a t-shirt, chip timer, goodie bag and commemorative finisher's glass. This race should be somewhat hilly, but probably and hopefully no more hilly than other races in the Puget Sound area. Should be another beautiful route.

I am really excited! Although I have not been blogging, I have been running, so I feel prepared for these races. I cant wait and a recap to come shortly! Are any of you running in these races?

Happy running racing!

2 years! ♥

Okay, this is only somewhat running related.....but today I am celebrating 2 years with my boyfriend :)

Ill skip most of the mushy stuff, but I am so happy with him (and to find someone that will put up with my running schedules, races, special meals, driving me to and from races, taking corny pictures of me while running....you get the picture)!

He even knew I wanted to run after work, so we have later dinner reservations! Yep, he's a keeper :)

Beat the Bridge 8k, May 2008: our first race

Post Seattle Marathon 2009: My first half and his first full marathon

4th of July, 2010 (after the Fun Run)

Thanks for running with me, and always supporting me too!

Happy 2 years! ♥

Running Randoms.....

A few random things about running that I encoutered in the past week:

A HUGE deer: while running over the weekend, I came upon a HUGE deer. Now I have seen deer before, but nothing like the size of this one. I am guessing that it was young because it didnt have antlers (or it was a large female) but it was gigantic. I mean, it was the size of a cow! Are they normally that big? It just stood there while I ran up to it on the road. I tried to make a lot of noise to scare it away (from me, and out of traffic) but it just stared. Good thing no one else was around to hear me!

 Similar to this, but larger!!

I ran into a tree: yep, you heard it right. On my early morning run last week, I ran into a tree. Well, I was running and there was a large, low branch in my path. I went to duck my head, but I didnt duck enough. I smacked the top of my head into the branch. Whoops!

A crazy mumbling runner: while walking to work this morning, I saw a runner approaching me. As she got closer, I could see she was talking to herself, saying "....almost there! I'm almost there!" It was so strange....I sure hope I don't mumble out loud while running! I'm pretty sure that I don't.....

This list goes right up there with the cat on the leash. Have you seen anything strange while running??

Wait, what??

Hmmm….two things:

First, I somehow woke up extra early today to run 5 miles before I went to work. Anyone who knows me this is somewhat impossible since I am NOT a morning person and a complete night owl. I don’t know what motivated me to actually get up and run (vs my normal hitting the snooze button multiple times) but I’ll take it!

 Somehow my run was more groggy than normal. I thought I would have been more awake since I wake up early for races, but it just wasn’t happening :)

Second, I JUST realized that my time in the BYS Fun Run on the 4th of July was only 3 seconds off my PR from 2009! Wow?! How did I not realize this? I was seriously thinking my PR was faster, and I wonder if I would have pushed it harder in the race if I had known. Hmm??

Looks like I need to sign up for a few more 5ks soon…..I am NOT running at my potential! Has anything strange happened to you lately??

4th of July Fun Run 5k Results

Location: Bainbridge Island, WA

Official time: 25:23

Chip time: 25:01

Pace/mile: 8:03/mile

Overall: 100/361

Gender Place: 22/177

Age Place: 3/19

On the 4th of July I decided to try to run in the annual Fun Run 5k on Bainbridge Island. I ran this race in 2008 and lets just say that it wasn't pretty. The course runs through downtown Winslow, has 2 major hills and is not for the out-of-shape. You can read my other recap here from 2008.

This is a rather small, local race, so I arrived about 15 minutes before the start of the race to register and get my t-shirt. The race was $25 and included a shirt, but no chip (they have never had chips). There was also an option to do the 1-mile Race as well for around $10. I registered and grabbed my shirt and headed to the start. 

While waiting for the gun, I noticed that there were around 400 runners already waiting. I weaved my way to the middle of the pack. There was one false start, but then the race started on-time at 9:15 am. As we started down the street, I realized that people with their dogs, small children and stroller were up at the front. Really? I ended up running through a few bushes and dodging people to get to where the runners where. Not what I was expecting. 

The first .2 of the race is downhill, then we start a slow decent until we reach the first mile. This is usually where people start dropping back. I was able to run and felt strong up the first long hill, and thankfully passed a lot of people too. We turned and went about .5 downhill. I used this as an excuse to run faster and try to get ahead of my normal pace. I was surprised again that most of the people around me were running slower on the downhill than on the uphill. Bad knees or something? I didn't get it...

There was a water station around mile 1.8 that was well stocked. At this point I was running at less than an 8:00 pace! I was pretty surprised...I was keeping pace with a girl who looked to be about 4-5 years older than me. Since there was few people in this race, it was awkward that we kept jockeying for position the rest of the race. More on her later...

We then started the dreaded HILL. Not only is this hill steep, but it is long and deceiving. You think you are at the top at one point, but really it is a false summit and you have to keep climbing. In 2008 I made it to the top but had to stop and catch my breath afterwards. It wasn't pretty! I just kept my head down and kept on going. It was nice to actually be the one who was passing others this time around! Unfortunately there was a little boy who was about 10 that flew by me....grr....

At the top of the hill there was a few people trying to catch their breath and sitting down! I even saw a guy puking at the top! I felt really bad for him, but it was pretty gross!! The last .5 was all downhill and I tried to catch my breath and go as fast as I could. I kept running back and forth with the girl that I saw earlier. I made my mind up that I would finish before her....no matter what it took. 

As we turned the last little corner we start to run through the downtown again. I was able to see the end in sight just as the girl passed me. I kicked it into high gear and sprinted past her at the very end of the race. Unfortunately that pesky 10 year old cut me off at the end as well (he must have had it in his head to beat me, haha). 

My Garmin said that I was about 25:01! This is fairly close to my 5k PR!! My goal was to get around 27:00 because it is such a difficult race, and I blew that out of the water! While walking through the end of the race, I noticed that I came in 101st....that pesky little kid robbed me of the top 100! Grr..... (UPDATE: I actually placed 100th! Yes! That little bugger took 99th......and he was under 14 years old!)

While grabbing a water and waiting for my friends to finish, I overheard the girl that was running with me during the race talking about ME! She was taking to a guy about how this girl "cut her off at the end".....um, no, I didn't do that and I just plain out beat her! Guess some people are sore losers  racers :)

Unfortunately there are no stats posted yet from the race. I was hoping to get this recap done earlier, but I was waiting on these results! Ill update if the results ever get posted.....I want to know my age group placing!

Also, on a side note, I went to a wedding later that day on the 4th of July. While talking with a group of people, one of my friends went around and introduced everyone. One of the girls looked at me and asked if I did the Fun Run earlier that day. I said yes, and she replied: 

 "you looked familiar....you beat me by one second in the race!"

Haha, whoops! It was really awkward talking to her. Apparently she does a lot of races and runs often. I don't think she was too fond of me though :) Overall, it was a great race and I took over 6 minutes off my time from 2008. I celebrated with a margarita or two afterward at the street parade :)

Hope everyone had fun on the 4th!!

UPDATE:

I placed 3rd in my age group! Woo Hoo!

www.bainbridgeyouthservices.org/funrun.php
Race Results Link

Benefits: Boys & Girls Club of Bainbridge Island

"You ran....on purpose??"

Holy heat wave Seattle!

Well, summer is here all right....we hit 94 degrees in Seattle! To be fair, it was 91 degrees when I went on my run. I was set on getting at least 5 miles in, and I really didnt think it would be that big of a deal while at work. Yeah, I was wrong.

That was one of the most difficult runs ever! I made it my 4 miles at a 10:00 pace, but it wasn't pretty with the hills. For kicks, I decided to run another mile, thinking I could run back through a few sprinklers on my way. Within FEET of reaching the sprinklers someone turned them off! So much for my cool down.....it must have been there to tempt me :)

Anyways, when I got back from my run (dazed and confused, haha) a woman was walking through the front doors. She looked at me and said:
 
"You ran? In this heat......on purpose?"

I smiled and said yes, and she looked at me like I was crazy. Getting a few miles in isnt that crazy, is it??

Happy heat stroke running!

Well, hello summer!

In true PacNW fashion, summer has finally arrived AFTER the 4th of July. Most of you who are from around Seattle know this, but for all of you who are not, we rarely, rarely get hot weather before July. Then BAM, summer arrives just in time! Literally, we might hit 95 degrees tomorrow! A week ago Monday, it was a lovely 60 degrees, and it might have dipped into the 50's during the day.  Im not kidding....

Check the time....its 10:00 PM!

I decided to finally get a good run in since the RnR half, yet the weather was not cooperating. I ran 6 miles at about a 9:30/mile pace. The heat just takes it out of me. I did pause a few times to take the follwing pictures:

Hello, Seattle!

Rat-cows on the loose....

Sunset over the Olympic Mts

Love the awesome sunset......and no, that wasn't enhanced! Ill spare you all the self portrait this time....85 degrees at night wasn't a pretty picture :) We'll see how many I can get in in tomorrow's heat! Here's hoping to more than 10 miles this week, why wont the weather cooperate?? Recaps to come...I didn't forget!

Happy hot running!

A good excuse this time....

Bad blogger again, but I have an excuse this time...

I just started a new job last week! :)

Needless to say, this past week was my worst running week so far. I only logged 10.1 miles, which is way below my usual 25-30. I guess starting a new position, going to a wedding, a bridal shower and having a certain vampire-related movie debut at midnight one day last week took up all of my time. My hip was a little sore after the Seattle RnR Half, so I think I might have needed the days off. Im hoping to get back into it tomorrow and log those miles! Also, a recap to come tomorrow too...

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July….it is always one of my favorite holidays!