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

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

Ugh, still sick....

Still sick, but alive :)

Lets just say that running while sick was NOT the best idea.....and now I've been even more sick the past 2 days (no running for me either). I have a lot more insight into running races though - at least I got through it!

Time to relax, recover and eat pea soup. Recap, insight and pictures to come tomorrow!

 Love it, yum!!

Pics below from the Tulip Festival last weekend in Mt. Vernon (on the way to Whidbey):

All colors you can think of and stretching as far as you could see....

Cheese!!

Changes In Latitudes & Attitudes

 "Changes in Latitudes, changes in Attitudes..."

**Bonus points for anyone who knows the song!! :) So much going on for me personally lately, that I havent had time to post. Luckily running is keeping me sane. Thanks for all the kind comments and regular posting should happen soon!


Wednesday, March 31st: 5.1 miles (9:36 pace)

This was my last evening in Oahu. I decided to head down to my favorite park, Ala Moana, located in downtown Waikiki. I made sure to go down to the park at sundown so that the heat wasnt overbearing.

Notice my tan burned forehead!

The park is roughly a 2.6 mile loop which runs along the water between two marinas and overlooks Waikiki Beach. The beautiful park is well lit and maintained, and has seemed to be safe to run. (Although, don't bring valuables to leave in your car, it might be broken into!!) The park has various fields, benches, beaches, trees and tennis courts to play in. It is really a beautiful park.

Running path along the water

This was the first time in Oahu that I actually felt like I was running normally. Although the 9:36/mile pace was slower than my regular pace, it felt great. Even though it was really humid, and difficult to breathe, I was able to hold a decent pace without stopping twice around the park. I just missed taking pictures of the sunset (I didnt want to stop!!) but the few pictures I snapped should show the beauty of the park.

Evening clouds and people walking the Ala Moana path. The beach in the distance is also part of the park. Clouds usually roll in during the evening. But its still around 80 degrees!

Thursday, April 1st: 4 miles (8:45 pace)

West Seattle and Downtown Seattle from the plane

I flew home on an early flight Thursday. Even though it was a long day, I was really wanting to get a quick run in. I went up to BHS and ran the track. It was a LOT colder in Seattle than when I left. Meaning it was about 45 degrees and it was over 65 degrees when I left for Hawaii. How does that even happen? Brr....

Anyways, it felt great to be able to run AND breathe again. I easily ran 4 miles in under 9:00/mile pace. I have to admit it was pretty chilly though...it took over a mile and a half to warm up! What happened to the nice 50-60 degree weather from March?

Friday, April 2nd: 5.1 miles (10:25 pace)

Little Bro and I went on one of his runs through the neighborhood on Bainbridge. We decided to run hills, so we were not running for time on this one. Good thing, because our pace was pretty slow :)

We took our time and talked through most of the run (which means that we were not working too hard, even though the hills were long and steep). While watching the Garmin through the run, I noticed that it wouldn't be 5 miles by the time we reached the house, so we decided to run through the golf course to get extra distance in. WHY DIDN"T I THINK OF THIS BEFORE?? Not only was the path paved and flat, but it had rolling hills and was very scenic. No, there were no golfers on the course that we interrupted. Ill have to keep this in mind for future runs......go on golf course paths!! :)

Image found here

Saturday, April 3rd: 9 miles (9:56 pace)


Since the Whidbey Half is next weekend, I needed to get a long run in beforehand. I went to Battle Point Park to attempt a 9 miler on Saturday. Battle Point is roughly 1.5 miles around, so I had to do 6 laps to get to 9 miles! That is a lot of circles....

Luckily the park has many trees and a pond so that you cannot see your entire path at a time. My dad joined me for 3.5 of the miles, which was great. He has been running for years and has inspired me to keep running and staying active while growing up. It was really nice to have the company while running too :)

While coming to the end of his run, it started to rain POUR. I mean, it was movie-style rain and I wasnt prepared. It took a full 2 miles to get warm again after stopping and I was still shivering at the end of the run. Even though it was a flat course and I got my miles in, it was a struggle because it was so cold, rainy and windy.

Yet another cheeseball photo

Guess it was a chilly welcome back to the PNW!!

Tuesday, April 6th: 5 miles (9:16 pace)

I was planning on a longer run today, but Im starting to feel sick :( I decided to go on a short 5 miler with hills - similar to the route with Little Bro a few days ago, but not on the golf course :) The run was short and hilly, but I think it was a good training run. Also, my time greatly improved by less than a minute per mile off my past time!

No running for me today, Im totally exhausted and have a HORRIBLE sore throat. Honestly, Ive never had one this bad :( Im hoping to get better by tomorrow and fit a long run in tomorrow. Probably lots of tylenol and cold medicine tonight.....boo. It was probably from the airplane air.


Happy running and hope everyone else isn't sick!

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......

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!