Return of La Nina?

Nooooo!

So I was reading an article on King5.com (Seattle's local news) and apparently we are in for a lousy, wet and cold winter. Last winter we had La Nina, which meant it was warmer and dry. I was particularly a fan of 55 degree farenheight average in January! Not good news for local outdoor runners:

Seriously, I really prefer El Nino to La Nina!

A recap of last week's Anacortes Art Dash Half Marathon on the way!

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??

Back Blogging

Yet again, I was a bad blogger yesterday :( Yet, thanks to the wonders of Blogger, I can post this yet put a different time and date on it (sneaky, sneaky!)

 

Anyways, I went for a lovely 8 miler today (well, yesterday, but you get the hint!) I did a 4 mile loop twice that included several hills. It has been my regular loop now for the past 2 weeks, and it can be pretty challenging to get a sub-9 mile pace for the entirety of the run. I realized that the Seattle Rock N Roll Half is coming up in a few weeks, and I need to start running my longer training runs!

I ended up running an additional hill, but finishing 8 miles at a 9:15 pace. Not bad, and definitely an improvement over the last few longer runs, but not at my goal yet!! grr.....

It was also an extremely dark and stromy day again in Seattle, with periods of sunshine. My kind of run (but not tanning/summer weather!)

This picture doesnt do it justice!!

Why cant it just be sunny like this all the time??

B-E-A-utiful!

Alright, well I am a cheese-ball. Hope you all are enjoying summer weather somewhere and getting your longer runs in :) and not back-blogging like me!

Ahoy Runners! Cruising USA Picspam

First off....welcome new blogging buddies! I'm really excited and can't believe that there are 50 of you that read my random running rambles!! I promise to post more and hopefully keep you entertained :)

So as you might remember (since I posted a WEEK ago!) that I went on an awesome Holland America cruise through Alaska.  Here was our route:

The trip was amazing. I would recommend it to anyone....basically as soon as you are on the boat you don't have to worry about anything. Food and travel is planned for you (with many options!) so all you need to do is plan time to get to that pesky treadmill. I was usually the only one there, and managed to put in 22 miles on the boat (it was after the half, and I was getting sea-sick running on the moving treadmill!) Here are a few running related pictures before I go into the full blown cruise review picspam (You have been warned!):

Amazing and empty gym I had to myself

View from dreadmill

Notice there is nobody else there?!

One run...probably not the best idea since it was extremely rocky that day. I was holding on to the treadmill the entire time to NOT fall off. You know you're a runner when...... :)

Cooling off after a run....

The BF and I in Glacier Bay

Naturally I found the Alaskan Brewery in Juneau :) 

Alaskan White is the best!! Yep, it's a wheat beer.....

Red Dog Tavern in Juneau

Creek Street in Ketchikan

Finding the perfect gift for friends.....kidding. WTH is that? A furkini??

Yep, even finding SUN in Alaska. So what if it was 62 degrees!!

Overall it was a great week! Unfortunately I have been really busy after getting back (finding apartments is very time consuming!!) and I have barely had time to run let alone blog. I will have to find time next week after my weekend trip to Vegas this weekend. And to answer the questions now, yes, I will be bringing my shoes to the bachelorette party, and NO, it's not a party for me :) I have a feeling I might be the only one at the gym in Vegas as well.

Has anyone else been on a cruise or running while on a boat?? Hope everyone is having a great week! More blogging to come next week.....Happy running :)

Some pictures from HAL website

You know you're a runner when....

Workouts:

Monday, May : Ran 4 miles (8:40/pace on treadmill)
Wednesday, May 5: Ran 8 miles (9:06/pace) 
Thursday, May 6: Ran 5.5 (9:20/pace) & fast-walk 5.5 miles

Okay, so yesterday I went a little crazy and not only walked 5.5 miles to run an errand (don't ask, and yes, I'm sore from lugging my huge bag up hills!). I also went on a run with my awesome Step-Sis. Thanks for being my running buddy!! :) I unfortunately didn't take a picture on the run, but here is pictures of the 4 and 5-leaf clovers that I found on my extremely long walk Wednesday:

I am either going to have REALLY good luck this weekend, or I have an uncanny knack to find deformed clovers. I really find them all the time. (I'm crossing my fingers for an awesome tough half marathon in Kirkland on Sunday!!)

Now on to the story. On Wednesday I went for a nice 8-miler through the city. I was making a decent 9:00/mile pace without really trying. I was cruising along though the waterfront when I saw another woman running towards me. I didn't think anything about it until she got within 10 feet of me, stopped and turned abruptly and started running right in front of me! This wouldn't bother me, but they sped up and was going just slower than the pace I was going. I just thought that I would speed up and pass them so I wasn't going to run over her through the entire park.

I picked up the pace a bit and passed her. Within a few seconds, I realized that she was again right on my heels. I think she was trying to race me! The sun was shining and I could tell she was right behind me because of her heavy footsteps and her head's shadow bobbing on the path. What was she doing? I picked up the pace even more and she was still right behind me! We went for over a mile and a half at almost a 7:40/mile pace until the end of the park! Seriously, has anyone had this happen??

Let's just say that she never passed me and stopped just before the end of the park. Well, I hope she learned a lesson to not cut people off and try to race them through the park! Who does that? I don't think she knew who she was messing with :)

Do any of you have funny running stories??

Pacing & Product Review

Thursday, April 22: Run 7 in 72 minutes (10:18 pace)

Yesterday I went running with my Step-Sis again on some serious hills....and lets just say I wasn't really ready for that!! We went around her neighborhood, but in the opposite direction as before. Woah nelly, I wasn't ready for the hills! My immune system must be down still, because I wanted to stop at mile 3. By mile 6 I HAD to stop and was covered in goosebumps and thought I was going to fall over. I felt okay as soon as I stopped, but it was rough. Good thing she was pacing me, because we managed a 10:18 pace even though I was dragging. Thanks for getting my butt in gear Step-Sis :)

 Watch for bikers!

Part of the run was on the beautiful and flat Burke-Gilman Trail. I had heard about it before and that it looped through Seattle, but it was awesome! Wide paved paths, tons of trees and flowers and great views of the city and Cascade Mountains. Just watch out for the bikers, they seem to think they rule the trail.

Afterwards we celebrated our run with a delicious Deschutes Twilight beer. If you don't already know, I love beer and anything Twilight related. Pretty much, I can revert back to a 12 year old girl sometimes, and Im not ashamed to admit it. But I degress, that is another blog in and of itself. I think the seasonal brew is subconsciously channeling my favorite vampire because there are sparkles all over the bottle. Lets just say it was delicious and you should try it! If they could make a beer that was Twilight-inspired that you could drink while running I would be in heaven!

I know what you are thinking, and no, my product review was not for beer :) I might have to try that sometime though! For my birthday last month I received this awesome present:

Nike Poly Good Dry-FIT Jacket ($65 or sale for less)

With flattering flat-seam construction and extended ribbing at the hem, sleeve and neck, the Nike® Women's Dri-FIT Jacket is your perfect go-to gym cover-up. This jacket gives you a wider range of motion for extra comfort, while Dri-FIT fabric provides sweat defying power.

Features

• Dri-FIT: This high-performance, microfiber, polyester fabric wicks sweat away from the body and moves it to the fabric surface, where it evaporates. As a result, Dri-FIT fabric helps you stay dry and comfortable
• Full-zip
• Side-slit pockets
• Rib collar, cuffs and hem
• Fabric: Dri-FIT 95% cotton/5% spandex
• Machine wash
• Imported

This jacket is awesome and perfect to wear on cool days or for after long runs. The jacket is fitted but not snug, so it wont cling to you. The material is heavy enough that it drapes nicely and looks great. I got mine in black, but it also came in a bright teal and pink (among other colors Im sure). The jacket also has longer sleeves and longer through the torso, so it wont ride up on you. The neck is also high but larger (a cut Ive never seen before) and looks great while zipped up. See below:

Check out the neckline!

I should be a photographer, I know....

Anyways, its an awesome jacket. I'm having trouble finding it now online, but if you google "Nike Womens Poly Good Dry-Fit Jacket" you should find it. Thanks Little Bro for the present :)

Im off to run in the lovely Sea-town rain. Happy running :)

Nike Jacket image from here

St Pats Dash - Photobombed!

I'm not sure where I read the word "photobombed" in the past few weeks, but it is seriously my new favorite word! I have been waiting to use it and the day has finally arrived!

After searching (lets not discuss how long it took me) through the St Pats Dash photos I finally found the ones that I was in from the official site. I knew that I was in a few shots because I was with Little Bro and we specifically slowed down to get in the shot. Here is what I found:

Ha, if you cant tell, that's me in the green shorts and gray leggings, with my face hidden!

SERIOUSLY?? I slowed my pace and specifically got in the photogs way to get a shot of my color coordinate race outfit! GRR! You cant even see my face. I mean, just look at the pants on the guy who photobombed my bro and I! AHHH!

Side note: I looked up the guys time, and I ended up beating his time by almost 2 minutes, so I win in the end!

Eh, so frustrating that this was the only shot. Oh well, at least it was a PR! Little Bro had a few other good shots, but this was my shining moment with the photogs. I guess there will be other races, and hopefully no photobombing 17 year olds in crazy pants taking over my shot!

Mercer Half Review in the works......

Dreadmills and dogs

YES! I was finally able to put in a decent treadmill run last night. I might have mentioned this before, but I usually run in my tiny gym within my building. There are exactly one treadmill, elliptical and bike for everyone to use. Its a tight, cramped little room, but it has everything I need. The only thing is that its so small that it feels crowded if there are 2 people in it :( at least its free!!

I was quite annoyed with the fact that I had to wait awhile to actually get on the treadmill, which made the anticipation for the run that much worse. Luckily I had a great 5 mile run at a 9:00/mile pace.

 

 

The guy before me said that I could change the TV channel, which I quickly tuned to the E! channel. Fortunately for me, Keeping Up with the Kardashians show was on repeat. He tried to pretend that he didn't want to watch, but I knew he really enjoyed watching it. I'm looking forward to a 5-6 mile run tonight as well. Dreadmill we might meet again......

Also, be sure to check out Dorothy's awesome Saucony shoe giveaway over at Mile Posts!

Finally, I had to mention that my dachshund puppy dog Chloe just turned 2 years old! Not running related, but I had to share :)

 Chloe my "rat-cow"

Happy running!

11 miler.....WTH??

My schedule called for the longest run that I have done that wasn't a race....11 miles! I decided to have a few egg whites an hour before running so that I could keep my energy up. I put on my new pink Nike hat and set out to Alki.

 

In the first mile, I noticed that my legs were pretty tired, and I was low on energy. After the first 3 miles, I was ready to call it quits. I think the combination of too little carbs (even though I usually don't eat to many as is), being dehydrated as usual and a few hefeweizens last night were a bad call. I pushed through and decided that I wouldn't stop until I reached the 6 mile point. After reaching the 6 miles, I kept putting goals of not stopping until I passed the 9 mile point, or passing a certain bench or tree. I was ready to fall over!

Yeah, I was pooped at this point!

I ended up not stopping and had a time of 1 hour 55 minutes for my run (roughly 10:20/mile). It wasnt pretty, but at least I made it through the run! I will be sure to hydrate and eat a different meal before starting off for my 12 miler next weekend. I was pretty proud that I made it without stopping though. I know I can do this distance, but it seemed that everything was trying to work against me today. This just goes to show how much the mental aspect of running plays a part in your long runs. If my head wasn't into it, I would have surely stopped after mile 3. At least my head was in the game even though my body wasn't!!

On a side note, I saw the most random thing on my run: a cat on a leash! WHO PUTS A CAT ON A LEASH?? Has anyone seen this before? I'm NOT a fan of cats (I'm a dog person!!) and I couldn't help by laughing when I saw it. The cat looked extremely ticked off, and pretty rabid! The cat had long hair and looked somewhat like a bobcat. I wouldn't get too near that thing, it looked like it wanted to bite anyone who got near it! I had to take a picture:

 

On the sidewalk between the white poles!!

So I took the picture while running, and I couldnt get closer without the guy noticing I was taking a picture of his cat and laughing. I think this made my day. Who does that?? Its not the first time I have seen a cat on a leash! Below is picture worth a thousand words from Eastern Washington from 2 summers ago (while camping):

 

Hahaha, love it! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Bloggy help?

After being in the blog world for almost 2 months now, I have visited quite a few of your pages. I noticed that my background and layout are seriously lacking. Any suggestions on good websites for free blogger templates? My last green/blue pattern was free and I edited some of the code, but I am SERIOUSLY a beginner. Please send suggestions if you have any! I might even pay to have it done if I cant figure it out (I like the designs from this blog).

While visiting other blogs, I came across a design blog that linked to this page. When I saw this print I immediately thought of running:

I have to say that in the past few months, I have done just that. Im actually doing what I love, and really enjoying myself. Running has gone from a chore to something that I look forward to. I also love this little blogging community I've found online. I never knew this was here a few months ago, and I's so glad I found you guys! **Okay, enough with the sappy stuff!

I read a post from Kerrie over at Mom vs Marathon yesterday where she mentioned that a co-worker called her a runner (congrats!!). Since viewing her post, I had 2 people mention running to me as well. One was while I was walking through work catching up with another employee. I haven't seen him for awhile, and asked me how my running was going. I must have looked a bit confused, because then he mentioned that all he sees me post on Facebook are the many races I have signed up for, and my long runs on the weekends. He called me a "marathoner" but I quickly said I was only a "half marathoner." He said I was crazy for running that much but I just beamed.

The other time was last night. A friend stopped by while I was running on the dreadmill. I haven't seen him in a few months, but he quickly asked what I had been doing BESIDES running lately. He also said that I was running a ton of miles. Honestly, I don't think they know how happy that made me. I was always somewhat athletic growing up, but I was never acknowledged for any sports achievement. I was pretty proud :)

Has anyone called YOU a runner lately??

Last nights workout: 5 miles on the dreadmill @ 8.57/mile pace. Its getting easier!! :) TGIF!!

Weekend Recap

Whoa, where did the time go?! I had a fun, busy weekend and had no time to blog! Here is a long recap of the past few days/runs:

Workouts: 

2/18: 6 miles, 9:10/mile pace
2/19: 4 miles (dreadmill), 9:31/mile pace
2/20: 9.5 miles, 9:29/mile pace

This weeks total miles: 29 (wahoo!)

Thursday, Feb. 18th:

I wore extra layers for my 6 miler (including my new reversible Under Armour shirt, review to come!). I really didn't need the extra layers, as it was warmer than I expected (around 50 degrees). It was a clear and beautiful night. I ended up running the 6 miles in just over a 9:00 mile pace, and it didn't feel too fast. In fact, I felt like I could have gone a bit faster. I held back running additional miles as I didn't want to injure myself after the 9.5 miler last Monday. Great run though!

 I guess I like to do this same pose in every picture!

Friday, Feb. 19th:

Ahh, I feel like I'm starting to come down with a cold! Usually when I am working out on a normal schedule, I don't get sick. Hopefully this will not turn into anything and go away in a day or so. Head colds are just annoying **crosses fingers to make it go away!**

I ran a quick 4 miles at lunch on my treadmill. The first 2 miles went great at a 8:56/mile pace. Then, right after the 2 mile mark I felt dizzy and had to slow down to 10:00/mile pace. I figured this was okay to go slower, but then I was hit with a HORRIBLE sidearm! I don't think I have had one in the past year and a half! I didn't eat anything in the previous few hours leading up to the run, so I had no idea what was going on! I actually had to stop the treadmill and wait it out for a few minutes. Typically, I never EVER stop, so this was really not normal. I was able to continue at a 10:00/mile pace but it wasn't a good run. Ill blame it on the head cold! At least I got a run in....

Saturday, Feb. 20th:

Another beautiful day! I still wasn't feeling well, but I put my running shoes on and headed out for another 9.5 mile run through the city. It was so sunny and nice that I really didn't notice that I didn't have much energy and a raging head cold/headache. I somehow made a 9:31/mile pace for the entire run, which was better than I expected.

 

 Sunny skyline

 

 View from the Seattle Waterfront

There was also a great view of Mt. Rainier and the Olympics today. Us Washingtonians say that the "mountain is out" when it is visible from the city. Unfortunately, my iPhone doesn't really take great pictures of things in the distance, or I would post it here. 

On a side note, I went with some friends to the Ride the Ducks tour around Seattle. If you are not familiar with the Ducks, it is a land and water tour of Seattle in a vehicle that drives right into the water and floats around!  I always thought it was pretty cheesy, but it was more fun than I expected. Its a great tour to see the sights and for people who are not from the area/I could check out new routes to run on.

On the Duck in Lake Union, with our "quackers"

Sunday, Feb. 21st:

I took the day off today since I had a long run yesterday and already went past my weekly mileage goal (I hit 29 miles this week, yeah!!) I still am not feeling well, but I wanted to get out in the sun - so I took Chloe out for a walk in the park:

 

Chloe in her dog-bone fleece

 I really need a tan...

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Bro

Just a post to say Happy 21st Birthday to my Little Bro. I thought the best way to do this was through a little picspam of his many funny faces through the years:

This year celebrating 21

 

He is a cupcake man

  

 Action shot from the Dawg Dash

  

He got a little too excited! Haha

  

You can see the fear while he was tubing

 

 Awful, mandatory posed family portraits

Haha, Im sure I posed him that way!

Happy Birthday Little Bro! You're truly one of a kind :) Keep training for the Mercer Island Half Marathon!! 

Haha.....love the pictures. Im off to put a few in on the Dreadmill!