North Olympic Discovery half marathon 6/1/14

Well seeing as I’ve already run this year’s edition of NODM, I figured I should finally post some kind of report of last year’s race. I am the queen of punctuality. (Prepare for a deluge of last year’s race reports as I try to catch up…)

I went into this race with my main goal being to break 2 hours for the first time, though I’d missed my last long run doing an 8-mile straight-uphill hike with Jeff (priorities?), so that was making me a little paranoid. Hard to “trust the training” when you didn’t complete it 100%! But I did get two 10-milers in in the last three weeks before the race.

Jeff and I drove to my lovely hometown Port Angeles the day before the race and hit up the race expo downtown. As he had never been to PA in the summer, we did a bunch of touristy outdoor things – wandered around Salt Creek and then drove up to Hurricane Ridge, which I’d also forgotten is fairly terrifying to drive up toward the top of the mountain. (Who needs guard rails?) My folks took us out to carb-loading dinner where I had the “marathon special” pasta, which I remember was quite tasty.

Salt Creek!

Hurricane Ridge!

We stayed at my bff Laurel’s apartment the night before the race; Jeff was mystified that girls don’t seem to mind sharing beds with other girls, whereas guy friends would never want to share a bed with each other, or risk brushing against each other in any way. We laughed at him.

I was awake bright and surly around 6am and ate the toast w/nutty butter Laurel made for me. This isn’t something I normally eat before a race but I’ve never had issues with it other times so I figured it would be ok. (FORESHADOW WARNING) Jeff drove me to the start line and on the way I realized I’d taken the shuttles every year and didn’t really know how to get there in a car! That started a frantic spurt of googlemapping and searching the race website for the (somewhat rural) location of the starting line. Though we were a little late, we made it just in time and had time to stand around for a few minutes. I paranoidly started to fret about my missed long run and wondered if I was crazy to attempt to go sub-2.

Standing around nervously before the start of the race.

Hamming around with my beardy spectator

Jeff followed me along the course, which was so awesome – we high fived at every spectator spot and it was such a boost to see him!

Jeff caught me at nearly all of the spectator spots, it was a huge kick to see him

I was in front of 1:55 pacer for a brief bit so knew I was going too fast at first… but I was feeling pretty good so I went with it.

Skipping along (too fast) in the first few miles

The 1:55 pacer caught me on the rolling hills, as did the 2-hr pacer, but I could tell I was still on pace by my watch.. but ugh I always forget how hilly the middle of this race is! The creek beds are also a pain in the butt – it’s fun going down but coming back up out of them is such a slooooooog. I walked both of those monster hills….

There was a new section near the movie theater, toward the top of morse creek at Deer Park, a crappy out and back that was pretty much bleh slog sun gravel… slightly downhill out and then of course uphill on the way back. But I got to see Jeff twice here!

On one of the more annoying sections of the course, right before some construction

The next part, running down the Morse Creek curves, is a huge downhill which I always love to storm. I just barely saw Jeff at the bottom in the nick of time and ran to give him a hug before continuing on to the final 5 miles of the race, which angles downhill through the woods (probably the best part of the course) before busting out on the coast for the last 3.5 miles.

He was great at finding me!

As I emerged out on the coast for the final miles, I started to feel urge to poo rising, and decided I would stop at the next portapotty but was cruising on goal pace. But tragically there were NO portapotties along this final stretch. I kept waiting… and waiting… and waiting… all the while realllllllly hoping I could hold it together…

And finally, during mile 12 – poopocalypse! There was no stopping this train, it would not be denied. I didn’t know if it was “apparent” or not (I discovered later it wasn’t; thank you black shorts with built-in elastic undies) but I walked about a mile in shame watching my goal slip away on my watch and hoping all hopes that nothing streaked down my leg. A dude passing me tried to urge me on to run (“C,mon, you can do it, we’re so close!”) and I didn’t want to tell him I was only walking because I’d just pooed myself….

I did decide I didn’t want to walk across the finish line and ran in the final 2/10 of a mile, stopping the clock in a frustrating 2:03. Jeff was right there cheering me on, and I leaned over the barrier at him and said “the worst thing ever just happened to me!” And bless his heart he knew exactly what I was talking about….

Full of shame, and something else

It was so close to my goal! Take away the poopocalypse and I might have gone sub-2, agghhhh.

Even with the poopocalypse at the end I allllmost hit my goal..

I cleaned up a bit in portapotty afterward with about a gallon of hand sanitizer, then ran back to Laurel’s and took the most glorious shower of my life. The three of us went out for some delicious pizza and then Jeff and I did a very short “hike” (more like a stroll) to Marymere Falls out by Lake Crescent, which was about all my legs could handle. Afterwards we went to a pho place in town at my dad’s recommendation (and tried the weirdly good thai coffee), and then raced back to Seattle with Jeff driving my gokart car, making it to the ferry in the nick of time to be the last car on the 10:30 boat.

All in all it was a good weekend and a mostly good race… and I’ve finally endured the most extreme running embarrassment I think there is! I can tackle anything now!

The Green Lake Gobble 5k and a shiny new PR

It’s been awhile since I’ve set a 5k PR – almost a year, in fact. The 5k is such a weird distance – full of people just getting into running who are having a great time and just trying to finish, and then people trying to improve and shave seconds off their previous personal bests… which would be the category I fall into, so a 5k race is more an exercise in pain and HOW MUCH LONGER CAN I HOLD THIS PACE?!

My previous PR (set this February) was 28:18 and I distinctly remember feeling like death as I slogged along trying to maintain that 9-min-mile. ( I am not fast, clearly). But after my big half marathon PR last month, and all the consistent (if slightly halfhearted) speedwork I’ve been doing since around August/September, I thought I might have a shot at finally cracking under 28 minutes for 3.1 miles.

I met up with some friends around 7:30 – we’d all volunteered at packed pickup in exchange for a race entry. Can’t beat a free race for a few bone-chilling hours handing out bibs!

It was cooollllllllld at the start – though I should have ditched my race shirt; I ended up tying it around my waist… you’d think I’d learn…

Me, Laura, and Karene before the race – this was the 2nd 5k ever for both of them, yeaah ladies!

When the race started I remember deciding to go for it and took off at a challenging pace for me. That saying “it never gets easier, you just get better” is so true – it felt like a hard pace has felt for me in the past around a 9 min mile, but I was actually holding a sub-8-min pace for the first time ever.

Not sure why I look startled to be running…

I’d decided to try out a long-sleeve compression shirt I’ve had for awhile but never raced in, and while it was comfortable enough, it looked kind of ridiculous!

Ha ha, I look like a bandit in this getup… well aside from my fabulous pink shoes.

Even though it was like 30 degrees out I still got too warm and took off my gloves. I am my own sunshine factory. I mostly just tried to keep up the effort as hard as I could and felt shocked every time I glanced at Henry the Garmin and saw sub-9 min mile paces. I guess all that halfhearted speedwork paid off!

Zipping through the finishing chute… my gumby-leg back-kick is still a thing apparently…

As I crossed the finish line I knew I’d set a shocking new PR – nearly 2 min faster than my old one. I didn’t even feel like puking afterwards, which has been a staple of previous hard efforts for me – who am I?! I’m kind of curious now what I could do if I really applied myself to training instead of just going through it and completing it… like maybe actually doing 400m repeats at a pace that feels insane?

Whaaaaaaat? How did I do this?! I even forgot to stop my Garmin for a few seconds after the finish…

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And my official results were even 6 seconds faster. Uhhhh, I have no idea how I pulled that off.

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Considering I’ve never strung more than one sub-9-min-mile together in a row, I’m amazed I ran each mile faster than the last. Who am I?!

Women of Wonder 5k – 9/8/13

I’m only a month late on posting this, but I ran this inaugural 5k  earlier this month with my friend Laura, who ran it as her first 5k ever. Yay Laura! This race was created as a replacement for the very girly, very newbie-friendly Iron Girl 5k that has since become a triathlon (and which I ran as my own first 5k back in 2010). So everyone got a medal (I think this is the only 5k around here that gives out medals), you got a free brownie right after finishing the race (YESSSS), there was a wine garden, and plenty of girly vendors and free samples. It’s honestly a pretty fun race to run and due to the high percentage of new runners the average finishing time was around 40 minutes (meaning I somehow placed 10th in my age group even though there were around 1500 participants).

Since it’s such a lady-oriented race I broke out the ol’ running skirt I haven’t worn in about a year and which I feel kind of dumb running around my neighborhood in, but which I feel a little more comfortable in at a race like this. I also wore compression socks (which I normally wouldn’t for a 5k) because I hadn’t shaved in…. a little too long. Laura and I took a photo at the WOW backdrop that had been setup:

I tried out the Wave Sayonaras for this race (which I’ve only worn on the dreadmill thus far). I think I also need to get another running tank in a different color since I wear this one at practically EVERY RACE

The race actually went pretty well – I decided to go for it, and after the first mile of weaving around a thick mob of other runners and walkers (I’d started the race with Laura at the back of the field) I was able to let my feet fly a bit. I have kind of a problem holding a steady effort over the course of a 5k – I don’t know if it’s my own unwillingness to feel uncomfortable or a lack of training, or lack of speedwork, or all of the above – though I’m pretty sure 5ks (if you’re trying to race them) aren’t supposed to feel good, but are supposed to feel like PAIN and MISERY. Regardless I was definitely feeling all of those things since I rarely ever hold an effort-pace longer than about a half mile, and I tried to keep it going all the way through the finish.

The look of death. Also, I hate this photographer’s watermarks. Srsly, ugliest evar

I did end up running the fastest 3+ miles I’ve ever strung together in sequence, though it wasn’t a PR:

I need to work on speed, methinks

I want to get faster. It’s been 3 years since I started running, dangit – a 9 min mile should be my easy pace by now, right? (Maybe not if you’re a lazy bum like I am?) Guess I need to do a little research and maybe start running hills? (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO)

One of the photographers hailed us right after the race, in our sweaty, red-faced glory:

once again with the crap-crap-crappy watermarks. They could at least make them a little more transparent

Our friend Rachel caught up to us afterward (she’d come out to watch us run and juuuust caught sight us leaving the starting chute):

apparently when told to be silly I revert back to my days in Japan

And of course, what better way to celebrate your first 5k than BOOZE:

NOT BEER.

Afterward we moseyed to a Starbucks across the street (fully packed with ladies in running gear) and went up to the roof to hang out for a bit, and upon which I actually got SUNBURNED from sitting with my back to the sun for about 15 min. Clearly I need to drag my pasty white self out into the elements more often.

Next up for me is the Victoria BC half marathon on Oct 13th – and while I’m definitely training better for this race than I did last year, I’m a little worried that the 2-month cough I endured this summer took more out of my fitness than I wanted it to (since I had to cut mileage down and couldn’t train as hard). I’m hitting 90% of my training at this point but I’m going to have to face some rain this weekend on my first 10-miler of this training cycle (NOT RAIN! I’m such a wuss)… which may be a good test for how the race may or may not go, if this current weather holds up… though the forecast is looking a little promising!

My worst race photos

For every somewhat flattering photo I post in public, there at least 5 others in which I resemble a lumbering rhinoceros. Obviously running isn’t about looking good,but those race photographers have a way to catch me at my worst…

yeaah pretty much

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Busted! (Seattle RnR 2012)

ARE WE THERE YET (Seattle RnR 2013)

DYING (Green Lake Gobble 2012)

Herpa derp (Iron Girl 5k 2012)

I have a lot of stumpy-legged pics like this. (NODM 2011)

I get this look of death often, seems like (See Jane Run 5k 2012)

Bahahahahha. This pic is the reason I don’t wave at photographers anymore. I was also 30 pounds heavier here (See Jane Run half 2011)

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I looks like a dude in this one. An ugly dude. With floppy arms. (Victoria BC half 2012)

Yeesh, I feel like I need to go look at cute pictures of cats after all that fugliness!

They say it (was) my birthday

Geez, I haven’t updated in about 10 years. But I’ve been doing things!

– I turned 34 in late August! (GAH! and aside from contemplating mortality and the thought of 40 looming in front of me, it was a pretty good day.) My best friends and I went to a newish restaurant in ye ole hometown and ordered a bottle of wine for the table, which was a first for me. We polished it off in no time…

My friends and I on my birthday (top) and 10 years ago in Japan, before I discovered the wonders of bangs. Now you know I color my hair.

– I went on a real vacation (for the first time in what feels like eons) with my best buddies in Ocean Shores. It was mostly overcast and 60 degrees and I skipped 5 days of workouts, but at least I got to ride horses on the beach. (Butt was SO SORE afterward)

My assigned horse was named Silver and liked to be on the outside of the group away from the others. Fine by me, I got to ride right by the surf!

Laurel and her horse Chester who was super competitive and wanted to pass all the other horses.

On the one sunny day we got, we did the obligatory beach shadows:

Hooo rahhh! The creepy alien shadow to the right is my friend Maureen and her 1 year old.

– My friends and I met up with a girl we met in Japan almost 10 years ago on our missions trips – Chihiro, who happened to be in Seattle. It was so awesome to see her again. Amongst many other conversations we asked her what her least favorite food in America was and she said teriyaki, since we “make it so sweet!” Go figure!

the Japanese gardens in the arboretum are awesome!

– I saw Sir Paul McCartney in concert at Safeco Field!! I’m a huge Beatles fan so this was AWESOME. I’ve seen him a few times, and I swear he never seems to age… he has more energy than I do.

Sir Paul!!

– I also picked up an annoying cough sometime shortly after the 4th of July that lasted for about 2 frakking months. (Can you tell I’ve been watching Battlestar Galactica?) I’m even now just in the very final tiny throes of it, but for awhile I was like a phlegm machine and coughing up stuff out of my chest constantly. The weird thing was there was no pain or other symptoms associated with it, and when I ran (after the first few minutes clearing my lungs) I would feel great for a few hours afterward. Just when I was convinced I was DYING OF CANCER or something, it started to go away. I have no idea what caused it, but at least I’m getting over it!

During coughing-horrible-phlegm time, though, I ran the Lake Union 10k, and while I’d originally planned to try to PR in this race, the cough made that kind of impossible, and I ended up running my slowest 10k ever. Ah well, there’s always next year… though to be honest I kind of hate the course. (SO MANY HILLS) The Portage Bay Cafe catered breakfast afterward makes it worth it… almost.

Oo, thigh muscle definition, that’s a first. Also, I think I need to switch up my race outfits, I’ve worn kind of the same thing since NODM. heh

Tomorrow I’m running the new Women of Wonder 5k (kind of a replacement for the Iron Girl 5k which is now a triathlon) and I think I’ll bust out the old Running Skirt to switch things up a bit. I don’t plan on wearing anything with pink in it, though :P (save my shoes, but that can’t really be helped). I was always that girl that avoided the flaming pink Barbie toy aisle like the plague and went for the Breyer model horses instead. It’s true, I have never owned a Barbie, and that’s alright with me!

Back to the grind, and Firecracker 5000 5k recap

Midnight 5ks are kind of awesome. Tearing through the streets of Seattle under the cover of night with glowsticks and many, many costumed runners while drunk patrons stand outside bars to cheer you on is just kind of hilarious and surreal. I wore the foam Statue of Liberty crown-hat-thing I got in NYC back in 2009, which somehow managed to stay firmly on my head the entire time.

Unfortunately the course had to be altered this year due to road construction and it felt like it was about 75% uphill (including the same loathed death hill from the end of Seattle RnR… both ways!). In spite of that I managed to come within a second of my existing 5k PR, though I think the bit of a downhill during the last mile had something to do with that (I can’t help but shift into TURBO MODE on downhills… they are my favorite thing about running).

Ugliest watermark evar.

I was shooting for red white and blue with my shoes, socks, and shirt, but it didn’t really come off that way.

The next day I traveled back to my hometown to hang out with friends and family for the 4th and the ensuing weekend. I then proceeded to EAT ALL THE THINGS while I was there and packed on what I can only imagine was 5 pounds of bloat/sodium/water/carb weight (I’ve since dropped it since returning to a healthy diet this week). But the donuts/popcorn/meat and cheese platters/steak/corn on the cob/potato salad/flag cake were so delicious… so, so delicious *_*

Get in mah belleh.

I hung out with my 2 best friends and we looked through old photos from our summers spent in Japan in 2004 and 2005 (teaching English and working with a church over there) and had a lot of laughs. During the 2004 trip we went to a theme park in Yamagata called Lina World which was clearly not designed for giant gaijin (foreigners) such as ourselves. The rides were weirdly small and occasionally terrifying. There was a roller coaster that was comprised of one small car that would rocket around the track. It seated two people, one of whom was supposed to sit in front of the other and both of which were held in by one giant seatbelt that looped around them both. We immediately discovered that our huge gaijin arses would not fit on the seat together if two of us were in the cart, and the person in front ended up sitting on the other person’s lap. Due to the rules, however, we weren’t allowed to ride with only one person in a cart… so we had the death-defying experience of bouncing around the roller coaster track on the knees of each other, held in by one tiny seatbelt, which was both terrifying and exhilarating.

My friends Jeri and Laurel riding the most terrifying roller coaster (for big Americans anyway) known to man

So we looked at all the pictures from Lina World and of a bunch of the other ridiculous and awesome things we did while in Japan (that could be a post of its own!), and stayed up super late watching episodes of Sherlock and wolfing down popcorn (see: 5 pound weight gain mentioned above). All in all a great holiday weekend for me!

This week I’m officially starting training for the Victoria BC half marathon; I’m bumping up to Hal Higdon’s Intermediate plan and introducing real speedwork for the first time ever. My ankle (rolled during Seattle RnR) feels a lot better though still twinges at certain angles – thankfully not while I’m running, so I’m hoping for the best. I did 4 miles on the dreadmill last night (to another episode of Battlestar Galactica, which is both insanely frustrating and awesome) and felt pretty good… I’m ready to ramp it up again!

Half training week 9

Training’s been chugging along, even if I’ve been guilty of not keeping it updated on ye ole blog. Apologies to both of my readers! ;P

I was still emerging from the mucusy bowels of the sickness I had for around 3 and a half weeks, but finally felt like I got the better of it during this week of training. I think the missed workouts had an impact, though…

Sunday 4/21/13
Scheduled: Cross train
Actual: Did Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown DVD (35 min)

Monday 4/22/13
Scheduled: 5 miles
Actual: Ran 3 miles on the dreadmill with the middle mile at what was then my half goal pace of 9:25. Was still building mileage back from being sick and didn’t want to kill myself on the mill.

Tuesday 4/23/13
Scheduled: Cross train
Actual: Got home too late to do anything and ended up calling this a rest day.

Wednesday 4/24/13
Scheduled: 5 miles
Actual: Ran 4.35 miles outside, 40:56, 9:25 pace – my first run outdoors since 2/9. It was abundantly apparent that I’d been running on a treadmill at 0% incline for the last 2 and a half months… the hills on my old running route were killing me! Was kind of a humbling run – somehow I thought I’d be faster after so much treadmill running. HA HA

Thursday 4/25/13
Scheduled: Cross train
Actual: Jillian Michaels DVD – Level 4 of Ripped in 30.

Friday 4/26/13
Scheduled: Rest day
Actual: Rested!

Saturday 4/27/13
Scheduled: 8 miles
Actual: Ran 7 miles outside. I switched things up and ran about 3/4 of my normal loop, then diverted course and ran over to Discovery Park to run the loop trail. In hindsight it was a poor decision (especially considering I was running a 5k the next day) .. I’d forgotten how hilly the trail is, and the uneven terrain didn’t help my tiredness. I totally crawled up some of the hills and this ended up my slowest run in over a year. The important thing is, I got it done, but my confidence in my overall fitness is kind of shaky now… might have to re-evaluate my plans to try to PR at my half in June, and maybe just shoot for “finish and don’t die!”

My Garmin’s interpretation of the trail elevation. WEE

Needless to say, I was not prepared for that! I’m not sure if I should try to add hills/speedwork into my training plan this far into it, or just continue chugging along and hope for the best.

Sunday 4/28/13
Scheduled: Cross train
Actual: Ran the Top Pot Donut 5k (on tired legs!) and actually didn’t do horrible, but got preeeeettty tired. The free donut made it worthwhile, though!

Huffing and puffing to the finish. I hope I’m looking at my watch and not just wildly flailing my arms. Also, ugliest watermark evar

Valentine’s Day Dash 5k 2/9/13

I think my post on Dailymile (quickly hammered out via mobile phone) sums this one up pretty well:

This seems to be the only race that makes me feel like barfing afterward (maybe because it’s always been my first race of the year after slacking off all winter, ha ha). Aside from brief post-race mouth-clutching, I felt alright, if a little tired. A few friends came out to watch me finish, hurray!

I didn’t realize it at the time but I actually managed to pull off a PR in this race, which both reminds me how much faster I probably could go if I didn’t slack off when I start to feel tired, and also how slow I am in general (but oh well to that!)

My official time was 28:18, that extra second totally makes a difference you know ;) Also, yay Garmin Connect app!

note scratches from the time I biffed it.

Two of my friends came out in time to watch me finish (parking was CRAZY around Green Lake so I didn’t catch them beforehand) which was fun, though I didn’t get to poke through the expo (and I heard they were giving out CAKE) since they wanted to go get coffee – but the coffee was most welcome and I enjoyed having people there to watch me, that’s quite a rarity for me!

I also realized that if I want to be able to easily find myself in race photos, I need to NOT wear the same color that 90% of the other participants are wearing… Needless to say I only found one, and it’s a squatty-looking “hey that’s me in the background” shot (I’m to the left of the dude in the gray):

Yes that’s the same overshirt I’ve worn in like my last 5 races, clearly I need to mix it up a bit

This was also the first run outdoors in my new shoes – Brooks PureFlow2’s, my first pair of Brooks and first real lightweight pair of shoes. I loved them in the store but they felt pretty strange on their maiden voyage on my treadmill – weird and poundy and top-of-foot-achey. I was a bit dismayed, but knowing I’m a bit of a treadmill pounder anyway (it just sucks the life out of me) I decided to give them a go in the race, and they felt amaaaaaazing. Lightweight and cushioned and nary a bit of foot aching! Recommend!

I preferred the look of the PureFlows, but the PureFlow2 was a lot more comfy for my wide flat feet… I swear I descend from hobbits

The lost races of 2012 (race report catchup)

I apologize for the verbal diarrhea you’re about to experience, but since I was so terribly lazy and didn’t update on any of the races I ran for oh…. 6 months, there’s quite a few from 2012 I have to catch up on: the Seattle RnR half, the Lake Union 10k, the Victoria BC half marathon, the Green Lake Gobble 10k, the Jingle Bell 5k. Below are the brief race reports I posted on Dailymile after the races with a bit of extra detail and some photos!

The Seattle RnR half marathon 6/23/12 (2:21:17)

(there is a mini-writeup of this I did right afterward)

Wee! Glad this one is over. The undertraining started to show and I got pretty tired around mile 9, but chugged it to the finish. I did the same walk/run plan I used at NODM (taking a 1-2 min walk break at every mile marker and walking the hills if I felt like it), but I ended up walking quite a bit more in the last 3 miles. The new course also seemed a lot hillier than I remember from last year, and I ended up running almost 3/10 more than the measured course, ack! But it didn’t rain like it was supposed to (the sun actually came out at points) and I beat my time from last year, so I’m happy with that! Hopefully next year I can train a lot better!

heading to the finish!

I has a medal

The Lake Union 10k 8/19/12 (1:01:48)

My first 10k race! I was a little out of shape so I was just happy to go an overall sub-10-min-mile pace, though my next goal is to finish in under an hour… Just about biffed it during mile 5 on a steep downhill sidewalk but fortunately didn’t roll my ankle. Also allowed myself to walk some of the nasty steep uphill sections. Other than that I felt decent considering the shape I’m in, and though this was my first race in a running skirt and I felt a little ridiculous at first, I got over that pretty quickly. Was thankful for the overcast skies! The Portage Bay Cafe pancake breakfast afterward was well worth the price of admission.

derping across the finish line all skirted up

The Victoria BC half with Laurel 10/7/12 (2:35:14)

Laurel’s first half! She did awesome! We stuck to her pace and took a 2-min walk break every mile, and a total of 3 GUs. The course was beautiful and mild, though it was pretty sunny out so it did seem to get warm… I kept saying I was going to pull my overshirt off and switch my bib to my undershirt but never ended up doing so. Due to the slower pace I felt pretty good the whole time and probably talked a little too much for Laurel’s taste (I need to find a fast friend to do a half with, so I can see how she felt slogging along with me blabbing in her ear the whole time). About halfway through we saw a full marathoner in a business suit… Craziness! (We later found out he set a world record!) Foot got a bit sore but made it through.

Pre-race. I wasn’t trying to duckface, that was supposed to be game-face staaarre

perhaps the most flattering photo of either of us, ever

le fin! I was feeling pretty sprightly and Laurel was like “NO I DON’T WANT TO SPRINT” hehe

There’s also a wee brief video of us finishing!

Afterward, on the walk back to our hotel, we stopped and had breakfast at Wannawafel. TOTALLY worth it. If you’re ever in Victoria BC, you must stop here.

And we didn’t.

noms

The Green Lake Gobble 10k 11/18/12 (1:01:29)

When I showed up for this race it was POURING and I briefly contemplated downgrading to the 5k, but knowing I was undertrained, overweight, and not likely to run fast anyway, I decided to just chug out the 10k and have fun with it. Even so my competitive nature got the best of me a few times but the rain lightened to a drizzle and it was actually a nice, if tiring, run :) I had volunteered to help out with packet pickup early in the morning and wore a fleece since I would be standing around for a few hours. I kind of forgot that I would need to bag-check it, so I ended up running to the start line about 5 min before the gun with fleece still in tow… worst idea ever, I had to tie it around my waist and it was a lumpy, sweaty saddlebag the whole time x_x

apparently I wanted to punch myself in the face? Also it was the worst decision ever not to bag-check my fleece

The Jingle Bell 5k 12/9/12 (29:24)

I will admit I allowed myself to phone it in on the uphills in this race (and there were some doozys)! I’m still a lil’ undertrained and overweight so I’m just happy to go sub-30 min. I did like the downhill finish!

No photos from this one… somehow I expertly avoided all the photogs!

Here’s to keeping up better in 2013!

Iron Girl 5k recap – 9/9/12

I’ll be honest, my training has kind of sucked wet noodles the last few months. I would laze around week after week and think to myself ohh, maybe I should actually go for a run this week? And then get all angry when my performance wasn’t improving – why am I so tired?! Why am I not getting faster?! Hmmmmmmm I wonder!

Regardless of that, I did get a bit faster over the spring summer due to a little weight loss (hurray!) so I’ve managed to knock down my 5k PR in little bits and pieces in the last three races I’ve done, and this one was no exception – I clocked in at 28:31 for 3.18 miles (according to Henry the Garmin)!

I went an average sub-9-min-mile? o_O Chip time was 28:31, which I always go by for my actual time ;)

The race itself was mostly uneventful and pretty straightforward – I like racing around Green Lake since it’s pretty flat, but I do need to learn to push myself more and not back away from outright discomfort. My race photos were also all ridiculously bad and should not see the light of day, haha. I blame my bun falling out halfway through the race (I’d just bobby-pinned it up since I couldn’t find a hair tie in my tired morning rush), after which I tried to hastily/messily repin it as I was running along, so my hair was kind of all over the place like I had fallen directly out of bed onto the racecourse.

oh lordy.

Once again I also had to kick myself for not pushing harder as well – I need to learn to LOVE THE PAIN! EAT THE PAIN! PLOW THROUGH THE PAIN! 5ks aren’t supposed to feel like an easy stroll, darnit… pick up those feet!