It's My Blogiversary.....

Today.....I have been writing all about my running adventures for one full year. My very first post was a recap of a 10K race that I had just done. And I just kept going....

When I started running, back in July 2011, I was training for my first half marathon. I completed that training cycle and ran across the finish line of that Half in November. At that point, I knew it was a done deal. I was in love with running and this was not going to be a one and done kind of thing. In order to keep myself motivated and accountable....and because I wanted to be just like this girl....I decided to start my little blog.

One year later, I am still going strong. Despite the fact that I've actually been out of commission for the past (nearly) 5 months. I actually feel pretty proud about that. I was determined to keep at it....even when I didn't have anything much to say...I didn't want to let my handful of readers down and I knew that if I kept writing, even just a bit here and there, that I would be glad that I did.

Because the day that I will get to run again is getting closer. Unfortunately, it's taking much longer than I thought it would. This is a stubborn injury....one that I'll probably have to deal with for the rest of my running career. But I am determined to have one....I just love it too much.

So thanks for bearing with me readers...I appreciate it! I'll be back in action, hopefully better than ever in the near future....and will be celebrating many more of these Blogiversaries.

A few of my favorite posts from the last year:

Luck of the Season -- This was my first experience grappling with a less than stellar training cycle. It was good to get out the frustration while simultaneously giving myself a break.

Mercer Island Half Recap -- My second half marathon was awesome. And I knocked nearly 10 minutes off my time.

Wear Blue: Run to Remember -- I joined Wear Blue last April....here's why I was inspired to join this amazing group.

Heroes Half Recap -- Half marathon #3....this was the day I met a really really cool runner chic. Who then invited me to be on her....

Ragnar Relay: NW Passages....It's ON! -- team...Little did I know.....

Long Run...In Pictures --  This was one of my favorite posts....a little hometown love and a long run...what's not to love?

Seattle Rock and Roll - Wear Blue Mile -- My first time running a race with the larger WB group. Amazing experience and still my favorite race to this day.

Sea of Blue -- I posted quite a few on this particular race...this picture post was also one of my favorites...along with my first post after the race....It was such a moving experience. Can't wait until next year!

Ragnar: Odds, Ends and Awesome Stuff -- I wrote many posts about Ragnar...but this one collected most of my favorite moments in photo form....

How Do People Do This? -- My first post where I start to realize that denial re: the injury wasn't going to get me anywhere......especially if I planned to run there.

The Results Are In -- Official diagnoses of a labral tear in my left hip and a wicked case of upper hamstring tendonitis. And just like that....it's temporarily game over.

Finisher - Marathon #1 Done -- Except for this. Ha. I got permission to walk some of this race that I'd registered for prior to said injury but ended up walking the entire thing. Fortunately, it didn't set me back on the injury...and I can say that I've now completed a full marathon. And since I walked the damn thing, I'll likely knock a couple hours off my time when I actually get to run one!!

The Show Must Go On -- Speculating on the NYC Marathon that was scheduled right after Hurricane Sandy battered the NJ and NY coastlines. Then it was cancelled.....

Progress....Real Progress -- The patience is starting to pay off....I am getting there. I plan to return better than before....but it's slow going.

Thanks for reading this year!!

Man Up Month - Halfway Point

Man Up Month check in time....Heroes Half is in the bag and I'm feeling pretty good. But I am tired for sure. This last race, the negative splits were super awesome...but I was more sore than I normally am after a race/run of that length. But nothing a little QT with the foam roller couldn't loosen up. I have a feeling that this is going to become a nightly routine. Since I finally figured out what to do with the thing, I've been pleasantly surprised how much it helps loosen tight muscles up.

Recovery from this one is a little different than what I've done before. I normally take two full rest days and keep it light and easy for the week. I took Monday off but hit the pavement today for a nice shakeout run. It actually felt pretty good, but I could tell my legs were tired. And the rest of the week will be a pretty much normal week. Long run on Saturday like usual and then a slight taper (one extra rest day) on race week. Post race, I plan to take a week of light mileage to give my body a chance to recover and then it's all about the Rock and Roll and tweaking the plan for Ragnar.

Man up Month--second half. Let's do this!

Heroes Half Race Recap

This is the face of an 8:10 pace.

 You have my permission to laugh at this picture all you want. I look like I am about to die...

The Heroes Half was HM number 3, fitting because this was the 3rd annual race, benefiting St. Jude's. The race, a 10K and Half Marathon, started and ended at the Port of Everett and ran along the Yellow Ribbon Highway up to Marysville and back. Very flat course, which was refreshing after MI last month.

This race partnered with Athletepath for a technology marriage made in heaven. Instant result, people! That's what I am talking about. You could register in advance for a text/email with your results, the race people had instant access so they could call out names of finishers as they crossed the line and they had this:

Instant results checker!

Granted, I just started my illustrious racing career,  but I've never seen this before! It was so cool....in the 'Registration Room' where they were announcing the winners, there were about a dozen of these little stations set up. You just typed in your Bib # in the little keypad and boom--results!

Happy to report two awesome things: another PR- an itty bitty one, but PR nonetheless -- finished in 2:11:33. The other was a huge first: negative splits! This was totally not on purpose at all, it just ended up happening that way.

See I met this other cool running chic-- and we talked up a storm until I had to stop for a brief Honeybucket visit and we split up, around mile 4. It made the first miles go by so quick! And I was so excited to meet another awesome superwoman running mama! We ended up having a lot in common and have done/are doing some of the same races! Hi Jess! I'll see you at Rock-n-Roll in June! 

After we split up, I was feeling pretty good and loving the pancake course so I went for it. Decided to see if I could best my MI time so towards the end, I just kicked it into gear....I kept myself going by picking off the ladies in front of me- one by one. About 6 people later, I was rounding the final loop into the finish, for a nice little PR and some killer negative splits.Thanks Speedwork! You are a bitch, but you make the kick at the end on tired legs so much easier.

This was also my first race in Blue. I was proud to honor Air Force Master Sgt. Tara Brown . I can't wait until the RnR when there is going to be a huge sea of Blue!

 Please excuse the I'm-already-home-race-pic. This was my first race with no pit crew and I haven't perfected the self timer/portrait thing quite yet.......

Overall this was an excellent, well run race. The course support was great and everything was very well organized. Favorites were the use of technology for instant results, PB & J sandwiches at the finish, and a group warm-up led by a very attractive runner dude. I don't know what it is exactly about the PB & J that just hit the spot, but it was the perfect post-race grub....I probably ate the equivalent of a sandwich and a half!

There were a few things that could have been a tiny bit better: there were a few loops at turnaround point where runners coming and going crossed paths and it got a little confusing which direction you were supposed to go. And there was very little water at the finish. Great fuel support on the course (h2o, Gatorade & Gels every 2 miles) but this is the first race I've been to where they didn't hand out bottles of water at the end. They just had the same coolers set up for self service...But aside from those two minor things, it was a great race that I'd definitely do again.

Splits:

Mile 1 - 10:54
Mile 2 - 11:24
Mile 3 - 10:48
Mile 4 - 10:24
Mile 5 - 9:03
Mile 6 - 9:31
Mile 7 - 9:29
*Avg Pace - 1st half: 10:01
Mile 8 - 9:20
Mile 9 - 9:25
Mile 10 - 10:06
Mile 11 - 9:45
Mile 12 - 9:18
Mile 13 - 9:05
Last bit - 8:10
*Avg Pace - 2nd Half 9:19

Overall 2:11:33; 10:02

Heroes Half -- 4.29.12 -- Running in Honor of

Air Force Master Sgt Tara R. Brown, who died April 27, 2011 serving in Operation Enduring Freedom. She was 33 years old and on her second deployment to Afghanistan when she died after an Afghan air force officer stormed a training meeting in Kabul and opened fire, killing nine Americans. It was the deadliest attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan since 2005. She was awarded several medals, including a Purple Heart and Bronz Star, as well as being promoted to the rank of Master Sgt posthumously.

 

Source

One of the things that is an important part of the weekly Wear Blue group runs is when they spend time calling out the names of the fallen soldiers who died during that week. They post this list online, so if you aren't able to make it to the Saturday run, you can choose someone from the list to honor during your own run. Tara was chosen from this list, for the week of April 27-28, 2001--2011. I chose to honor her, the only female soldier on this particular list.

I have never met this brave woman. But in reading about her, I was struck by how proud her father was of her and her service. She had two brothers who loved her very much. I am grateful for the opportunity to run in her honor and Wear Blue to remember her.

Rest Day--Nerves nerves go away.....

The pre-race nerves always get me, every time, no matter the length of the race. So I like to stay busy the day before so I'm not stewing in my own nerve soup by sitting around "resting"....

So busy day planned....errands! Goodwill load drop off (did a little spring cleaning), grocery store and then I'm coming home to make a few pans of brownies, AwesomeMomStyle, before heading out for my afternoon engagement. My kid is part of this amazing academic organization outside of school and for the first time in my life, I signed up to be on the Parent Advisory Group, basically their version of the PTA. We are hosting an event this afternoon, thus the mad brownie making that will be going on in my kitchen later today. Good times....

And tonight, I'll eat a good carby dinner, spend a little quality time with my foam roller and hit the sack early! Will be up and at em bright and early so I can leave by about 6am tomorrow morning for the race.....

More to come on that. It'll be my first race proudly wearing my Wear Blue shirt....and I think I've found the soldier to whom I'll be dedicating my run to. Stay tuned....

Week 16 in Review --7 Days until Heroes Half

It's here. One week away. And I'm nursing a weird foot injury. I honestly have no idea what I did to it. If I strained it somehow during my speed workout on Wednesday, it didn't start hurting right away, since I felt fine on my run Thursday. A mystery indeed.

I also got my Wear Blue shirt in the  mail this week. Just in time to wear on my run Saturday!

Monday
A nice and easy 4 miler to start off the week....
 4.15 mi; 41:30; 10:00

Tuesday 
A rainy 3 miler after work. Did the regular loop at an easy pace...
3.48 mi; 34:44; 9:59

Wednesday
Killer speed workout at the park near my house. Kept all three mile repeats at pace and it was a toughie....was sore for a couple days after this one.
6.2 mi; 59:58; 9:41

 View from my "track" tonight

Thursday

Easy 3 mile loop around the hood. Felt good the whole time and the foot didn't hurt at all....

3.48 mi; 35:16; 10:08

Friday

Rest day. Foot started to hurt for real....limped around until I could ice when I got home. Elevated it and did a few more ice treatments.

Saturday

Based on how the foot was feeling, I knew that I wasn't going to get the full 12 miles in. I set out to see how I felt and stuck close to home so it would be easy to get home if it started hurting too much. Made it 5 miles and decided to call it a day. No biggie...just starting the taper a bit early.

12 mile long run

5.11 mi; 55:18; 10:50 

Sunday

Ice, rest, elevate and more ice. We shall see how it feels. Fingers crossed it will be better soon.

Wear Blue: Run to Remember

I am a politics nerd. Besides running, it’s my other obsession….two very different things that don’t often collide. (Stop it. I know you are picturing Bill Clinton in those very short running shorts….or perhaps the more recent, wrong.on.so.many.levels Newsweek cover featuring Sarah Palin in her running shorts.) But over the last several months, I’ve had a growing awareness of few things that has inspired me to find a connection I never thought I would. Let’s start with the experience that got me thinking….and thanks in advance for bearing with me...this is a long post.

I got a new job last fall and traveled to NYC for training in September. I stayed in our corporate apartment, just blocks from Ground Zero and had the weekend to explore the city on my own. That Sunday morning, I wandered down to the construction zone that is the Ground Zero memorial and happened onto the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 5K Run. I found a good spot and hung out watching the race and cheering on the runners.

Stephen Siller had just finished his shift at his Brooklyn firehouse and was headed out to play golf with his brothers when he heard that the first Tower had been hit. He raced back to his firehouse to find his company had already left, so he suited up, grabbed his gear, and headed towards Manhattan on his own. He got to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and found it already closed to traffic so he abandoned his vehicle and hiked through the parking lot of cars with 60 pounds of gear strapped on his back. He made it to the Towers, where he ultimately lost his life doing the job that he loved. 

The Tunnel to Towers Run was started by Stephen’s siblings to honor his legacy. The 5K retraces his steps and as the runners exit the tunnel, they are greeted by Firefighters holding 343 flags honoring the NYC Firefighters that lost their lives that day. It was one of the most moving things I’ve ever witnessed. I wanted to be a part of the run so badly, but also felt really fortunate that I got to see it firsthand. Totally by accident.

Flash forward 6 months to the next thing…..I am a nightly, can’t.miss.it. viewer of The Rachel Maddow Show. Not only is she a super duper smarty-pants, she is incredibly sarcastic and funny, which is exactly how I like my journalist-pundits. Her book, Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power, was just released and I could not put it down; it’s currently #1 on the New York Times Nonfiction Bestsellers List for good reason. The premise that she argues, quite eloquently, is that there has been a steady and dramatic change in way the U.S. goes to war: that there has been an expansion of presidential power, a corresponding collapse of Congressional backbone and a tiny fraction of Americans that do the fighting while the rest of the country blithely carries on with their normal lives, permitting a majority to remain oblivious to its grisly human price.

The move towards absolute presidential power to bring our country to war, irrespective of Congressional or public debate has resulted in country that is completely disassociated from the shrinking number of Americans actually fighting this war. It used to be that when the country went to war, there was shared sacrifice; but since the Vietnam War, that has steadily changed to the point where we fought or are still fighting decades-long wars by the same exhausted military and you wouldn’t know it to look at us. "We've drifted away from America's original ideals and become a nation weirdly at peace with perpetual war, with all the financial and human costs that entails," Rachel writes.

This is very troubling to me. I didn’t grow up with much exposure to the military; my dad was in the Navy for a few years in the 60’s but he didn’t talk much about it and that was that. I have a teenage daughter who has never really known what it’s like not to be living in a country at war, since she was only 3 when 9/11 happened. That being said, her experience growing up during wartime is remarkably different than say, a girl who grew up during WWII or even Vietnam. That collective sacrifice is not only not happening, there isn’t even much general awareness of it.

I don’t think it’s right that the same number of rapidly shrinking military families are bearing the brunt of this exhausting, never-ending war. I don’t think it’s right that funding this never-ending war means that properly taking care of these brave men and women when they return home is less likely to happen. And I don’t think it’s right that the rest of America is so unaware of the sacrifices and toll this is taking on those that are fighting for our country over and over again. 

Here's where it circles back to running.

When I started my training last summer, I became aware of a group that wants to bridge that gap—the one between those fighting and the communities in which they come from. Wear Blue: Run to Remember is an organization that has three main goals:

• Act as a support network
• Create a living memorial
• And bridge the gap between the military and the community.

I have found runners to be a generous, supportive and inclusive community. This group is no exception. They provide support to the men, women and their families preparing for, living through, and recovering from deployment. The blue shirts they wear serve as a living memorial so that every step they run is a tribute to the Service Members who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for all of us. 

Source

Joining this community allows members to have a tangible way to show their appreciation and support for the Military; every Saturday local groups meet for a run together. Before setting off, they gather and call out the names of Fallen Heroes. The living memorial to the fallen is created by everyone who dons the Wear Blue shirt and a sea of blue can be found at local races honoring them by name or picture.

Source

A runner friend I met on Facebook (shoutout to Bill S!) is an active member in the Joint Base Lewis-McChord chapter and his posts inspired me to find out more and ultimately join this organization. I’ve ordered my shirt and it should arrive right before the Heroes Half Marathon on 4/29.

I hope to see some other runners out in Blue, since this race is about honoring the Heroes among us, from Military to civilian First Responders to the kids benefiting from St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. I plan to try to make it down to Dupont for one of the JBLM's Saturday runs sometime very soon. And will definitely Wear Blue in the upcoming Heroes race and the Seattle Rock and Roll, which the local chapter plans to have a big presence at. 

It feels good to find my own way to honor the shrinking number of families impacted by their loved ones serving multiple deployments, the individuals making daily sacrifices I can't even imagine, and those that have lost their lives in the fight. It's a small thing but connecting with that community will be my way of showing my support. 

Week 15 in Review --13 Days until Heroes Half

 

There was some serious plague-like germs around me this week....but I didn't get sick! Two co-workers had pneumonia, strep and influenza B in their homes; my kid was down and missed school for three days of cold complete with a fever. Knock on wood, I didn't/haven't yet gotten it.

Monday 
I felt kind of nasty and came home early to keep an eye on the Girl, since her fever was pretty high. Missed my run but was able to make up the mileage so all was not lost.
3 miles easy
Rest

Tuesday
Doubled up today to get nearly 6 in to make up for Monday's missed run. Felt better, although the Girl was not....she actually didn't have a fever all day until the late afternoon when it started creeping up again.
5.4 mi; 47:21; 8:46

Wednesday
Tempo run...nailed it. Felt good too. This week was muggy though. Went out in a tank every day.
5.86 mi; 57:05; 9:45

Thursday
Nice easy 3 miler to round out the week.
3.46mi; 33:08; 9:34

Friday
Rest day.

Saturday
Long run...got out early to enjoy the sunshine and was down to my tank top by mile 1.5. Beautiful day and a very nice run. Ice bath after felt good too.
11.01 mi; 1:55:47; 10:31

Sunday
Rest day....still pretty sore from yesterday. Two weeks until my next race! Got to stay healthy so I can keep up the training level...28 miles planned for next week!

Fast Forward-Week 14 in Review

 

Great week. I hit every day exactly as planned and the weather is starting to get more....spring-like. It's amazing the confidence I get from nailing a week. Got up early for two and ran after work for the other two. And Saturday's long run was....well I ended up stripping down to just my tank top. It was really clear and sunny out. And there were dozens and dozens of bikers and runners out enjoying it with me.

So clear....the Mountain even made a special appearance.

That was the end of the week....earlier in the week, Tuesday to be exact, it was a different story. It was a little sunny, a little cloudy and I was enjoying a nice after work run. In the middle, I started getting pelted by freezing rain, but I didn't mind too much since the final mile home looked like this:

Double rainbow!!

Monday

Last week was post MI half recovery week -- a nice and light 16 miles. This week bumped back up to normal--as I am now 3 weeks out from the Heroes Half Marathon on 4/29.

3.49 mi; 34:32: 9:54

Tuesday

Nice after work run that started off sunny, got a little freezy and wet in the middle and ended with a sparkly double rainbow. Not bad, mother nature, not bad.

4.29 mi; 55:39 (stopped to take pics more than once, forgot to pause); 12:58

Wednesday

Tempo run....really ran hard on this one and nailed my splits for the middle three miles (9:31; 9:50; 9:55). Felt really good afterwards but definitely a bit sore.

4.93; 48:48; 9:54

Thursday

Did back to backs for this one...yesterday's run was after work and this one was early a.m. Felt pretty good....

3.5 mi; 34:17; 9:49

Friday

Much needed rest day. Legs were a little sore from increasing mileage back up to the mid twenties after taking it easy last week. 

Saturday

Beautiful day...warm, sunny and in the 60's. Felt pretty good and made sure I kept hydrated. 

10.23mi; 1:49:29; 10:42

Total for Week 14: 26.44 miles

Officially two weeks into Training Cycle #3. Well, what I am calling all one cycle but it actually includes 3 half marathons. Details on that to come!