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!

And another one.....

Well, here goes....

I just signed up for the Kirkland Half Marathon on Sunday, May 9th!

 

I think I just might be crazy, but I felt like running another one this weekend. You can find out more about the course here. Apparently, its ANOTHER really hill course, so who knows about my sub 2-half:

 Wowsa! Elevation graph from here

Also, I have no idea if there is a finisher's medal or not. I know they had one in year's past, but I didnt see anything on the website for this one. Maybe I'll get lucky and not only receive a medal but also get my sub 2. By looking at the elevation, Im doubtful for both! At least its another one under my belt though!!

Hope everyone had a fun Cinco de Drinko Mayo yesterday. I celebrated by running 8 miles (story about that to come) and having pork carnitas with a hefeweisen and lime. The lime was to be festive, or course!!

Off to run a few miles with my Step-Sis. Happy running!

Signed up & off to Whidbey!

Workouts while sick:
Thursday, April: Ran 6 (8:51/pace)
Friday, April 9: Ran 5 (9:11/pace)

Packing and heading up to Whidbey Island today for the half marathon on Sunday! Even though I'm STILL sick, I'm excited to run this race with Little Bro and celebrate my Mom's birthday. I guess Ill have a new topic to post about - running while sick! Recap to come in the next few days...

Also, I signed up for the Bainbridge Island Half Marathon on April 25th!! Its going to be a killer, but then Ill qualify for Half Fanatic status :) Below is a short blurb that I wrote about the BIHM a few weeks ago:

The Bainbridge Island Half Marathon is located on Bainbridge Island, which is a scenic 35 minute ferry boat ride across from Seattle. The half marathon is being held on Sunday, April 25th and will benefit the local Boys & Girls Club. The fee is $50, which includes a t-shirt and chip timer (they are not sure about medals for everyone at this point).

This is looking to be a tough race. This is the inaugural year for the BIHM, and is replacing the 25+ year old Toe Jam Hill Half Marathon (that's a HUGE hill on the island). It is a slightly different course for the BIHM, but still goes up Toe Jam hill, and other hills throughout the Island. I'm thinking about signing up for this race, but because I know the island well, I'm not expecting a sub 2-hour half on this one! Ill be happy just to finish in one piece!

Exciting!! I didnt find any coupon codes, but this race is only $50 (no medal though, boo). Seriously, more medals need to be handed out (ahem, Mercer Half??) I will be sure to take plenty of pictures of my medal from the Whidbey half this weekend!

 

Happy running and a sniffly, achy, coughing, sore throaty Whidbey Half recap to come :/

Awesome Thursday!

Okay, lots to say and not much time. I was just given FREE (yes, FREE) Sounders tickets to their preseason game tonight against the Portland Timbers. For all of you who are not from the PNW, the Sounders are our new Major League Soccer team, and they did really, really well in their inaugural season last year. We went into the playoffs! If you are not familiar with Seattle sports, well that was really good for one of our new teams! If I would have had the tickets before right now, I would have done a giveaway for all of you local bloggers.....its amazing to see how long these guys can run for. Its all they do during the game. They literally give their full 90 out there!

I'm also headed to the premier of Remember Me afterward. I'm doubting I will get a chance to run between, but you never know! Its going to be an awesome night :) Yesterday I was able to get a quick 4 miler in on the dreadmill. I have to say, its getting a little easier each time! I was able to look at the screen and not panic while watching the seconds go by. I was even able to bump up my speed faster than 9:00/miles during the run! For a few weeks there I was struggling to even get through 9:00 flat consistently!

 Not bad, Ill take what I can get on the dreadmill!

Also, as promised, here is a new half marathon that I just found out about:

The Bainbridge Island Half Marathon is located on Bainbridge Island, which is a scenic 35 minute ferry boat ride across from Seattle. The half marathon is being held on Sunday, April 25th and will benefit the local Boys & Girls Club. The fee is $50, which includes a t-shirt and chip timer (they are not sure about medals for everyone at this point).

This is looking to be a tough race. This is the inaugural year for the BIHM, and is replacing the 25+ year old Toe Jam Hill Half Marathon (that's a HUGE hill on the island). It is a slightly different course for the BIHM, but still goes up Toe Jam hill, and other hills throughout the Island. I'm thinking about signing up for this race, but because I know the island well, I'm not expecting a sub 2-hour half on this one! Ill be happy just to finish in one piece!

This half and the Whidbey Half would be 14 days apart, which would qualify for Half Fanatic status. Hmm.....Ill keep you posted!

Happy Running!

And another one......

I don't think Mondays and Tuesdays are my days of the week. I get so exhausted that I just want to go home and sleep (cue someone saying "guess she has a case of the Mondays....") Yesterday was no different, I got home and wanted to take a nap. It was pretty cold on my way home, and I was chilled. I decided not to take a nap, but force myself to put my gear on and brave the wind and colder weather (45, but I swear it felt like 35 degrees!) I ended up doing 6 miles at LESS than a 9 minute mile pace!

Yet another standard blurred self portrait

Plus, I just registered for another half marathon:

As I mentioned before, the Whidbey Island Marathon and Half is located just north of Seattle in the Puget Sound on April 11, 2010. The race runs along the shores of Whidbey Island as well as through the fields and pastures. The course map does not have elevation, but smaller rolling hills throughout the race. Also noted that the full marathon is a certified Boston Qualifier.

The race fees for the half marathon are $70 if you sign up by March 31st, and go up to $85 if you sign up at the Expo. Details for the full marathon can be found here. Fee includes tech shirt, running chip, goodie bag and of course, a medal.

Woo hoo, I cant wait for another medal (Im starting to realize the medals DO mean something to me, haha)! I also heard about another exciting half marathon in April, but more details to come later.

Happy running! (PS I finally got my body font in the post to work correctly, yahoooo!)

Back at it!!

After an awesome week of running, I ended up getting a cold the past few days. Headaches, body aches and feeling dizzy/lightheaded really doesn't set the stage for running. If I tried, I probably would have fallen off the dreadmill!! Not the best idea. In short, I didn't run the past 3 days, so there wasn't much to talk about. Trust me, you wouldn't want to hear me blog about being sick :)

 

Nope, that isn't me! Image found here 

Anyways, I rallied and set out for a long run tonight. Even though I'm still pretty low on energy, I was itching to get back out running. I had a nice 7 miler at about 9:35/mile pace. Not bad for feeling sick. It was a really pretty night with the stars out. I could see a storm front move in from the West, with rain falling in cities across the Puget Sound. Luckily I finished my run before it started to rain! I guess I was literally being chased by the rain!

Scoreboard:

Sarah 1, Rain 0

I also received an email today about a new race that I had not heard of in the Pacific Northwest yet:

The Whidbey Island Marathon and Half is located just north of Seattle in the Puget Sound on April 11, 2010. The race runs along the shores of Whidbey Island as well as through the fields and pastures. The incline seems to be minimal and this will probably be a MUCH smaller race compared to the Seattle Half or the Rock N Roll series.

The race fees for the half marathon are $70 if you sign up by March 31st, and go up to $85 if you sign up at the Expo. Details for the full marathon can be found here. Fee includes tech shirt, running chip, goodie bag and of course, a medal. I'm not going to lie, I am consider signing up just so I can have another medal :) and to run the race of course....

I'm thinking I might just have to sign up for this. Its between the Mercer Half and the Seattle RnR Half, so I should be in shape, right?? And I do want another medal..... :)

Weekend Recap

Phew, what a weekend! My Little Bro was down for the weekend to celebrate his birthday. Lucky for me, this meant that I had a running buddy for the weekend! I was able to take him out a twice for some scenic runs.

Workouts:

Friday: 6.2 miles in 54 minutes 

Saturday: 4 miles in 40 minutes

Sunday: off, but signed up for a race (see below)

Here is a picture montage from the weekend:

 

Alki Beach at night with the Bro

  

Octopus sculpture along Alki

  

 Bro and I after the 6 mile run

  

 Pike Place Market (yes, we ran through here)

  

 I like this picture better though :)

  

Near the end of the 4 mile run 

 
 

 Of course, coffee at Top Pot when we finished

Overall, both of the runs were nice and easy. It was incredibly warm AGAIN on Friday night, so it didn't matter that it was after dark that we ran. I also happen to like the octopus sculpture along the way. There are bits of glass embedded into the cement around it as well. Anything with glass is my kind of art! :)

Saturday was a nice easy run through Downtown. It was a slower run due to traffic lights, crazy cars and insane amounts of people in Pike Place Market. I happen to LOVE the market, so people just had to deal with Bro and I running through. I would have stopped to take a picture, but the crowds were too much, and the pic above came out better anyways.

Sidenote: Wow, my pictures turned out REALLY bad this weekend! Blurry, dark...I might have to start bringing my real camera and not my iPhone! Haha. There goes my aspirations to be a photographer!!! Haha

I also signed up for the:

  

 Valentine's Day Love Em Or Leave Em 5k this Saturday at Greenlake!!

The event starts at 9:30 am on Saturday, February 15th and the $30 fee includes a t-shirt and timing chip. They had a higher than normal number of entrants, so make sure you sign up early if you want a t-shirt. You can also pick up your race packets early to avoid lines here. Even though this is a little 5k, I'm still signing up to get a t-shirt. I'm hoping it has a big cheesy heart on it that I can wear :)

Apparently this is supposed to be the largest Valentine's Dash in the US. I have no idea what this really means (largest number of people signed up for a 5k??) but it should be fun. The course is also on the outer loop road along Greenlake, and not the inner path. This will make things run MUCH smoother and not create a pileup of runners!

 

I just cant wait to get out there and race again. I haven't been in one since the Jingle Bell 5k last December. Its been too long!!

http://www.promotionevents.com/valentines/info.htm

Month Review: January 2010

Wow, I cannot believe it, I have been officially blogging about running for 1 month! Not only that, but I realized that it also is the end of the first month of the year. I thought it might be time for a little recap of January, and my first month blogging!

January 2010:

       Total Miles: 85.3
       Running Time: 13:43:02
       Average Pace: 9:38/mile
       Yearly Total: 85.3 miles
       Blog Posts: 19

Not only have I had an awesome injury free month of running, but I realized that without trying I am on my way to 1000+ miles for 2010! Yay! I had not planned on any specific mileage goal, but I decided that I might as well shoot for this to keep my running up all year long.

This month has really been amazing. I have always loved running, but it had been more of a sporadic hobby in the 10 years. After being inspired by Zoe (thank you!!) to start a blog, I have now realized how much I really love this sport. Not only am I REALLY excited to run everyday, but this little blogging community and you guys who have posted comments have really kept me going (you all are awesome!!). And I have learned a TON about running already. I think I'm officially addicted! Running is now on my mind 24/7! **Okay, enough with the sappy stuff....

Also, I'm sooo excited.....I just signed up for the Rock 'N" Roll Seattle Half Marathon on June 26, 2010!

 

I received an email from active.com and if you use the promo code Nirvana2010 you receive an extra $10 off your registration fee (expires Feb15th). That means if you sign up before February 15th and use the code your fee is only $75! The price jumps to $85 February 16-28th, then goes up to $100 on March 1st until it fills up. Make sure you register early to get the good discount! Races are expensive, y'all!!

I am sure most of you have already heard of this race and the discount code, but I thought I would post it anyways. It was the RNR inaugural race in Seattle last June, but the series has been in many other cities for years. The price includes a tech t-shirt, goodie bag, and timing chip. Unlike other races, the RNR has bands playing at each mile marker to pump you up along the way. The race fee also allows you access to the race expo the day before, plus the concert after the races with additional bands playing (bands TBA). For more information, go here.

Ahh, I cant wait! This will mean 2 half marathons before July! :) Woo hoo! Busy right now, but hopefully I can get a run in tonight.....fiscal year end work is never fun!

Image found here

REGISTERED : Mercer Island Half Marathon!

Exciting news....I signed up for the Mercer Island Half Marathon! The half marathon will be held on March 21st and the event series also includes a 10k and a 5k as well. I am so excited for my second half marathon!!

This event includes a technical t-shirt and will be chip timed. The race is $60 from now until March 19th, then the fee can go up to $70. This race does not have the same killer hills as the Seattle Half, but it does seem to have more hills with a higher elevation gain. It should also be much less crowded, as this event is expected to bring in around 4,000 runners, while the Seattle Half had over 12,000.

I'm SUPER excited! This time I will plan out my training in advance. **Crosses fingers for no further injuries!!** Now off to errands and run!!

http://www.mercerislandhalf.com/index.html

Benefits: Colon cancer prevention, Swedish Cancer Institute

Afternoon at Greenlake

Today was an unusually warm and bright day (55 degrees and some sunlight!!) so I packed up and headed out to Greenlake. It was easy to find parking away from the main part of the town (not near the Bar and Grill or Starbucks) so I headed down to the lake. Apparently everyone else in Seattle had the same idea of spending the afternoon at Greenlake! There are two courses that you can take around Greenlake, the inner or outer loops.

Greenlake map via Valentine's Dash

Inner Loop (blue) 2.8 miles

Outer Loop (purple) 3.1 miles

 The inner loops was COMPLETELY packed. There was no way that you could even walk through without getting in the path of others. Although this is the more paved, even and scenic route around the lake, it would have been HELL to try to run through the masses of walkers, dogs, strollers and people sipping their lattes.

I decided on running the outer loop, which was empty. Although it was muddy from the rain and had a few puddles, it was fairly flat and seems to be lit at night (a good thing to keep in mind for night running!) I was able to easily run the first outer loop once around, but quickly became tired from not eating beforehand. I ended up finishing just over 4.1 miles around in about 43 minutes (had some trouble with my radio app on the iPhone which made me stop TWICE!)

Also, after the run you can go to this Peet's Coffee for a latte (which is MUCH better than Starbucks!) and you can look through Super Jock n Jill sports which sponsors several local races including the Torchlight training runs around Greenlake every Thursday in July. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon!

http://www.superjocknjill.com/

Mind over matter....

After running errands after work, it was already 7:30 by the time I thought about running. Since it was so late and I didn't know what I was up to for the weekend, I could either take the night off or head down to the dreadmill. I decided it was time to face the enemy....

During my hour of procrastination before the run, I decided that I had to do 4 miles on the dreadmill and something had to change from my last run. This time I had the tv on in the gym, and I covered the display, so I could not easily calculate my time or distance. I also had my iPod ready to flip through the songs.

This time the run wasn't as bad as before, although I hated almost every minute of it. I was going to take the advice from Jill and change the pace during the run. But I just wanted to make sure that I could finish the full 4 without stopping. At least I did the 4 miles in under 40 minutes!

Scoreboard:

Sarah 2, Dreadmill 0

Also, I added a new run in June on the Upcoming Races link on the right hand side of the blog. The North Olympic Discovery run is on June 6th, and includes a marathon, half marathon, 10k and 5k. The course for the marathon is from Sequim to Port Angeles, WA. It looks like a beautiful course, but I plan on running the Rock N Roll Seattle half marathon on June 26th. Maybe Ill make it to the North Olympic for a 10k :)

http://www.nodm.com/

Starting it off right

Happy New Years! After having a little too much fun and staying up waaay to late, I took the day off from running. Since I had run the past 3 days, I thought that was okay to do (and I didn't want to injure myself by running too much again). I did accomplish one thing though, I signed up for the Henry Weinhard's St. Patrick's Day Dash

www.stpatsdash.com/

Sunday, March 14

3.8 Miles

Even thought this is a few months away, I thought it would keep me motivated and running in the meantime. I have wanted to do this run in the past, since the route used to go through Belltown (this year it goes on 99 and back) but it always falls the weekend or day before my birthday, which is March 15th. This year I plan on hopefully having people celebrate by running with me! Also, they serve green beer at the end of the race, which I think is excelent motivation for the run :)