That's How Every Weekend Should Be

This weekend was AMAZING.  A weekend for the record books.  Just positively lovely.  Every weekend should be so fabulous.  

On Friday night JMan and I went to see Iron Man 3.  Gotta get out to the movies while we still can!  It was pretty good, kind of long and I'm not a huge fan of those movies, but it was entertaining enough.  

On Saturday morning I headed out bright and early for another Skipping in Seattle Miles & Margs event in West Seattle!  Last year was the first time meeting many of these lovely ladies and I'm so lucky I've gotten to know them better!  The morning was GORGEOUS, just picture perfect views of the Space Needle and the Sound.  

I started off with a 5 mile run, mostly alone (the downfall of being a slow pregnant lady) but Rebecca entertained me for a bit.  Becky didn't waste any time pointing out that I was the "slow one" and that she didn't want to run with me.  Thanks Becky! 

We followed it up with margaritas (for those of us not "with child") and brunch at Cactus, and oh my gosh, though I wavered back and forth on what to get the french toast was THE BEST THING EVER.  Run, don't walk, there and eat it immediately.  

Of course the pregnant lady orders the only dish on the menu with "rum" in the description!

Karla & I: Preggo runners unite!

After some cleaning and chores, I then headed over to the gracious Becky's house for a slumber party with Robyn.  She made up for her earlier comment by being the best hostess ever - cooking us delicious chicken tacos and very impressive homemade nutella brownie bites; letting her adorable dog Ada smother us in doggie kisses (and bites!), and putting us up at her house.  The reason we stayed the night was because bright and early Sunday morning... we were volunteering at the Tacoma City Marathon!

 As you recall Becky and I volunteered at this race last year, but last year we became professional water-hander-outers.  This year we got assigned the "half marathon medal station" at the finish line.  It's always interesting to view a race from a different angle, and this was no different.  People are definitely "interesting" at the finish line and there's definitely an "art" to medaling people. Some like it draped, some just want to grab it, some walk right past and almost leave without it!  

Lindsay - demonstrating the "true" way to get a medal - draped of course!

 

The weather in Seattle the whole weekend was just plain AMAZING, it would be considered awesome by August's standards so for early May it's just phenomenal.  After working up a sweat all morning handing out medals I came home and did a ton of yardwork (definitely my workout for the day), and ended the weekend with a lovely BBQ with JMan, complete with virgin margaritas.  

As a side note, we also watched Silver Linings Playbook, and I can't even begin to describe to you how dissapointed with it I was.  I know everyone else loves it and it was nominated for best picture and blah blah blah, but having just read the book and LOVED the book, I really hated the changes they made to the plot and I really just thought the movie was SUPER BORING.  End rant. 

Seriously, best weekend EVER.  Love love love love love.  

What did you do?  How are you enjoying the sun??? 

Happy Blogiversary to Me!

So it's been exactly one year since I started my little blog. 

It's also been exactly one month since I blogged!

Coincidence?!?!

I honestly don't know why I've dropped off the face of the earth.  I blame the cold, dark, and SAD.  

There's so many things I need to catch you up on!  Don't you wish you could write blog posts directly from your brain?  Then I wouldn't be such a blog failure.  I swear I actually write posts, lots of them actually, but actually transferring them from my brain to the computer is a whole other story! 

 This about sums up what I've been up to!  :-)

There's my 2012 recap that still needs to be written, my 2013 resolutions, all about my lovely Christmas and winter break, the great books I've read lately, etc.  There's an update on my hamstring, which is better, but I also am rarely running except on the weekends thanks to the cold and dark and my hatred for the treadmill.  And maybe I will write these post at some point?!!?!  I sure hope so.  

Hope you had a lovely Christmas!

But in the meantime, I just wanted to say HIIII and that I haven't forgotten you all!  I hope everyone is well, running healthy, and staying warm!  

Now who's going to make me a blogiversary cake?!?!  Anyone??  Anyone?? 

The Seattle Inaugural Mustache Dache

On Saturday 1,200 of Seattle's finest took to Magnuson Park for the 1st inaugural Mustache Dache.  The dash is a 5k and it became a blogger festival of epic proportions.

We all got decked out in our very best mustaches for the event, which benefited men's health and celebrated Movember. 

Fearing next weekend's half marathon, which I have done everything BUT trained for, I really wanted to get in some decent mileage to build up my confidence that I could "run" a half.  I use the term "run" very loosely.  Speed is not my friend these days. 

So I got to the park early, did about 3 miles, then met Lindsay for another 3 before the race started.  And we were off! 

The mustache lasted approximately 10 minutes before it was super sweaty and falling off.  The race itself was pretty uneventful - Lauren, Lindsay, and I stuck together for most of the race until Lindsay "needed to slow down" which really meant staking out her spot behind me to blow by me in the last 5 seconds!  See that picture above?  That's her planning her move to speed past!  I forced Lauren ahead in the last quarter mile to make sure she got her PR - which she did!  GO LAUREN! 

I did a fairly good job of keeping myself at around 80% discomfort (unlike the 100% discomfort usually needed!).  It's definitely apparent how much speed I've lost since Hood to Coast in August, which is the last time I've run fast.  And, my hamstring didn't respond well to this minor speed effort either.  Oh well.

At least I didn't look like that girl to the left after???

And a 5k in 26:59 (average pace of 8:42) was over!  I ran a mile afterwards to get my daily total up to 10, so it's a win all around. 

I won my race entry from the awesome Jen, so I can't really complain about anything, but here's the nitty gritty on the race.  The race was either $30 or $35 though most people got a deal on groupon-like sites, but it didn't come with a t-shirt.  That's ridiculous in  my mind.  Too bad too, because the shirts were CUTE.  I also had major envy for the trucker hats, which were sadly sold out.  The atmosphere was great (there was a mechanical bull!), but the course was just okay.  No streets were closed and we ran through parking lots and such.  I had a blast though.

We ended the morning with what else?  Brunch, duh.  Runners looovvveee to eat.

The #1 Suckiest Blogger Award

Sorry team.  I know I'm sucking at blogging.  Even when I actually write a post (like yesterday, for example), it ends up being about 10 actual words and some very craptastic writing.  The normal award-winning (right?! ha) writing you're used to just isn't there.

It's not just that I'm busy.  I mean it is a little.  When I started this blog, I felt I had TONS of things to write about.  I was also kind of bored and I had lots of free time - there was a lull at work, it was winter, I was recovering from injury and not running much, there was a break for a bit with my school work, etc.  Then I became a Girls on the Run coach, started training for the marathon, school got crazier than ever, and now I've even gotten a harder more demanding job.

But I think it's more than just the time factor.  It's more like I just don't have anything to write about.  There's no long run or speedwork or races to discuss.  I'm not doing fun things every weekend like in the summer.  And unfortunately, most of what I do have to say seems to be negative and related to my hamstring, as Becky loves to point out.

source

This weekend my depression about my hamstring hit a new all-time low.  I kind of just felt like throwing in the towel.  There's no big races coming up, I'm not training for anything, it's dark, it's cold, yesterday was the worst day of the year (anyone else hate the time change with a passion?), etc.  So there could not be a better time to take a break from running.  I still feel skeptical about whether a break will even help my hamstring, since my 2-week break in September seemed to do little.  But it's worth a try.

Don't worry, I will still be running the Mustache Dache.  And probably the Seattle Half.  And likely any other fun blogger meet-ups I finagle an invite to.  So it won't be a total and complete rest.  But the majority of the time except for races / meet-ups - I'll rest.  

And I'll come back to blogging regularly someday.  Probably.  When I have something of interest to write about.

Seattle Bloggers Unite

You know what the #1 best thing about blogging is?  THE OTHER BLOGGERS!  They're all awesome.  It seems strange that of all the bloggers I've met so far, there is not even ONE that I don't like.  Apparently, we are all the same breed of crazy, and I love it. 

First we went running around Greenlake.

Then we went running around Greenlake again.

And 6 miles in 56 minutes were done!

Alma, Megan, Becky, Zoe, Julie, Lauren, Rebecca, Andrea, Meghan, Lindsay, & Sarah. Whew.

And then we drank coffee!

If you missed it - you MISSED OUT!  Let's do it again soon?

How was your weekend?  What did you do?

Finding Balance

You may have noticed my posts have been coming more and more infrequently.  It's not because I don't love you all, I swear.  I'm just struggling to find balance right now.  It's not even so much that I don't have anything to say - because when I'm out running I write full blog posts in my head!  But then I come home and am immediately busy and never write it down.  Someday I'll just be able to post with my mind... :-)

As you know, I've recently switched jobs, and while I LOVE my new job and everything it entails, I also find myself sometimes dreaming of "my old life of leisure".  Because, while my old job was far from a walk in the park, it was certainly comfortable.  I knew what I was doing, I could do it well, and I could definitely do it well within the confines of the working day.  While annoyance was a common occurrence, stress was not, and I really loved that.  That's definitely why I stayed there so long despite being long overdue for a challenge. 

But, back to the new job.  In the new job I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.  And it's terrifying.  In a good way though. So I'm struggling to find a balance of working normal hours, getting exercise in, actually cleaning the house and doing laundry, etc.  So far I haven't done much of any of the above.

 Instead of exercising or cleaning I just eat delicious chocolate that the wonderful and fabulous Corey sent me.  She is AWESOME, by the way.  That's an appropriate method of dealing with stress, right? 

In addition to all this, I'm still doing a small part of my old job, and doing ANOTHER part-time job as well this quarter.  Oh yeah, and there's also that tiny little project that is writing my dissertation.  So I'm a little overwhelmed.

 This weekend I got a TON of work done on all of the above - and it wasn't even that bad since I got to work out in the sunshine!

So, I'm whiney today.  But I just wanted to let you know - that I'm still around, and that I'm sure I'll be back more regularly once things settle down.  It's hard to write about running when you're not running that much!  :-) 

Ever feel overwhelmed?  Or like you don't have anything to blog about?  Or just that you don't have time to write it all down? 

These Bloggers Are Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

I'm just a littttllleeee behind in posting this, sorry peeps.  But we can't forget about it!

Last weekend Kerrie hosted and invited me (lucky me!) to a Dole Banana Party!  Oh, you've never heard of a banana party before?  Well that's just plain weird, what, have you been living under a rock?!

Anyway, being a huge fan of bananas myself, of course I jumped on board.  Dole made a fantastic decision in asking Kerrie to host this party.  She went ALL OUT.  I'm talking she made EVERY recipe they gave her (there were so many banana-themed foods to eat!), decorated her house, yard, and body in yellow, and even played BANANA songs (did you even know there was such a thing?!).  Seriously, how awesome is she? 

Kerrie making some delicious smoothies, and me enjoying them.

 

Look at all that delicious banana bread, banana sandwiches, banana protein bars, etc.!

After we chowed down on the delectable banana-themed food, we decided to burn some of those calories off on a little walk.  

Yep, we're "walking".  And working very hard I might add.  This is an intense workout.

We were told to "act like monkeys", but apparently we did it wrong.  I think we dominated it.
 

The whole banana-riffic crew: Zoe, Lauren, Chelsea, Tall Mom, Kerrie, yours truly.

We even freaking got gift baskets, complete with a banana bread pan, a sweet water bottle, and even a "banana saver".

Yeah, I clearly didn't know what it was either.  But hello, it keeps your banana from getting bruised when you're traveling.  Which is convenient, because I am VERY picky about how bruised my fruit is. 

Thanks Dole and Kerrie!  I had a blast. 

How do YOU feel like bananas?  Could I have possibly used the word 'banana' more in this post?  Doubtful.  What's your favorite banana-themed recipe?

So What's Next?

So I just ran a marathon!  So what's next for Ricole?  Well first, let's throw in a bunch of photos that have come trickling in during the week.

Megan, Megan, and I in Corral 11 before the race!

Second, do you want to see what it looks like when you throw away your PR?  Because this photographer thought it was definitely picture-worthy.

Yes this is during the race.  Yes to my right is Saint Robyn being like "uhhh, let's RUN!".  Why oh why did you think the barely moving girl with a look of death upon her face should be photographed?!

Now THIS is what a photo should actually look like:

If only it wasn't $40-freaking-dollars maybe I'd actually consider purchasing it.  $40?  SERIOUSLY!?

This photo's actually not that bad either, considering it was taken during the evil DEATH MARCH up the hill to the finish.  It doesn't really capture the miserableness I was apparently protruding.

Miserableness example: the lovely Becky came and spectated the race, and it made me laugh OUT LOUD to read her recap of seeing me on the course near the end: "Guys, she was moving well and looked strong, except her face. (Remember how at mile 2 she was happy and energetic? Not anymore). Her face made it clear that she was miserable. It honestly kind of terrified me seeing her agony, and I questioned my ability to finish a marathon in a few months. I shouted for her, but she didn’t hear me."  (go read the rest of her post about being awesome and handing out Nuun, and yes you will DOMINATE your marathon Becky!).  Anyway, I thought that was pretty funny.  

Another long-lost photo of Jill and I at the Diving Olympic Trials

Third, let's talk marathons.  As much as the race was agony-filled and despair-intense, by Tuesday I was already tweeting some pretty ridiculous thoughts.

Yes, it's official, I'm PR hungry.  I still WANT that PR, even though I had already determined this wasn't the race for it. 

 

One last long long photo of all of us bloggers at lunch.  

We've got Megan, Lindsay, Tasha, me, Lauren, Erika, Stacie, Adrian, Tri-Girl, & Megan 

Fourth and finally, so what's next for my summer goals?

1.  GET FATTER FASTER!  I want to be as fast as I can for the Nuun Hood to Coast (Go Team Morning!) team come August!  This means speedwork, this means two-a-days. 
2.   Triathlon training!  I have my very first triathlon coming up in August as well, and although it's only a sprint, I want to be READY.  So bring on the biking and swimming!
3.  Heart rate monitoring.  I think this is what needs to be done to take running to the next step.  I definitely seem to have a problem monitoring my pace by feel alone.
4.  Trail running!  Pt. Defiance anyone??
5.  I want to get new shoes.  While I've been through 3 pairs of the Saucony Mirage and they've served me well, I'm ready for something new, possibly something with "less" shoe. 
6.  I want to run more than 3 days a week!  This was an experiment, this "Run Less, Run Faster" business (except for the run faster part!), and it passed with flying colors.  I made it through this entire training cycle without injury, and for that I am eternally grateful!  But now I'm ready to try running more days a week (not running more miles mind you, just spreading them out over more days). 
7.  And, dare I say it, a fall marathon??  Preferably one in cooler temperatures, flatter terrain (possibly even "the fastest marathon in the West?!?!", and NO hills in the last 6 miles??!!!  I'm sure my parents and husband are just loving this statement. 

What are your summer goals?  How many days off do you normally take off of running after a marathon? 

Bloggers are AWESOME in Real Life

There has been so many ridiculously fun events going on lately that I could write 100 posts about them.  But I'll try to give you the Clif Notes version.  Basically the conclusion is that bloggers are awesome in real life, I highly recommend you meet some if you haven't already. 

1.  On Thursday night Lisa, Jordanne, and I checked out the Seattle Rock n Roll Expo.  Lisa couldn't do the race but her leg is feeling better - YAY!  We ate a million samples.

Okay, these ladies aren't bloggers (yet!) but they ARE awesome.  So maybe this post is just about hanging out with awesome people in general?

2.  After the expo we went to the Another Mother Runner event.  Sarah and Dimity write "Run Like a Mother" and their new book "Train Like a Mother" and we got to hang out with some awesome bloggers, hear the authors read some excerpts of their new book, and win some swag (I won some Body Glide!).

3.  On Friday I headed back to Seattle (I went 3 days in a row... CRAZY) for a lovely blogger lunch.  Bloggers are the best.  I met a bunch of them and not one of them disappointed me - they're all ridiculously AWESOME!

 Tasha and I at lunch at Elysian Fields

4.  After lunch we headed back to the expo for even MORE samples (gotta get your money's worth!). 

Lauren and I practicing how we're going to win the marathon

5.  After sampling free treats we meandered over to Tall Mom's blogger meet-up hosted by none other than Runner World's "The Penguin" John Bingham!  He seemed a little confused about this whole blogging business so we enlightened him.  :-) 

Fellow Mt. Si Relay teammate Lindsay and I

5.  Finally, I met even MORE bloggers before the race, during the race, and after the race!  

Sadly, I'm not in this photo!  The stupid port-a-potty line kept me away.  But I got to see TONS of these wonderful folks during and after the race.  Bloggers are AWESOME!

Saint Robyn pulling me through the last few miles.  Thanks Becky for the picture!

In conclusion, I should have started blogging years ago!

Have you met bloggers in real life?  Did they turn out to be awesome or scary?   

Seattle Rock 'n' Roll, I'm Coming For You

Blogger and I are on shaky, shaky ground.  You see, when I woke up on Tuesday morning, I looked at my phone, and realized my post about rocking 20 miles hadn't posted.  This is the THIRD, I repeat THIRD time this has happened in the past week.  I don't know what is going on with the scheduled publish function but it is not working.  So then I tried to publish it from my phone.  That's where I made my huge mistake I'll never make again.  Because when the post showed up, it was EMPTY.  EMPTY I TELL YOU.  All of my beautiful photos and prose had disappeared off into cyberspace, never to be heard from again.  And I'm pretty sure that post would have won a Pulitzer. 

As if the morning wasn't starting off badly enough,then I had to go to the dentist.  And now I'm telling you about my woes.  Blogger already has one strike against him, so this makes two.  Three strikes and you're out, Blogger.  You better watch your step.

Anyway, I don't really feel like rewriting all of my "YAY GO 20 MILES I'M SO HAPPY" nonsense, so here's the Debbie Downer version of my previously peppy post.

On Saturday I ran 20 miles.  My new shoes finally got to come out and play for this run:

I ran at Alki Beach, which is an okay place to run I guess, at least if you like lovely groomed paths, waterfront paths, fake Statue of Liberties, fake Washington monuments, Space Needle views, wildlife, etc.  Not sure if you're into that kind of thing.

Look - the Space Needle!

You can't really tell but that's a HUGE eagle that was flying and landed right next to us.  It's either a Golden Eagle or an immature Bald Eagle.  I'm no bird expert though, and my high quality photography isn't really doing you any favors

This run was broken into 4 mini segments, because I'm high maintenance like that.

Run #1 (7 miles): 9:08, 8:50, 8:43, 8:27, 8:26, 8:24, 8:30
I got to Alki around 8:20am and the first 7 miles were done alone, with the company of my Mom via cell phone for a bit (at least until she said "You're sounding a little out of breath, you better focus on running" - thanks for the confidence boost Mom!) and by Ke$ha radio.  I was feeling a bit ambitious during some of these miles - all hopped up on being thankful for running and for being able to train for a marathon, and I'm sure my legs paid for my exuberance later.  I ate a blackberry GU and refilled my citrus Nuun before round #2.

Run #2 (6 miles): 8:50, 8:55, 9:01, 9:29, 8:54, 8:57
I had conned Zoe into coming to the meet-up early to entertain me for a few extra miles, and she fell for it!  Zoe is amazing and entertained me through my 2nd hour of running - Thanks Zoe!  Ate a chocolate chip mint GU and refilled my bottle before round #3.

Run #3 (6 miles): 9:43, 10:15, 9:49, 9:25, 9:20, 9:26
Then the blogger meet-up started, and a lovely group of ladies formed.  We all started off together but eventually we broke into smaller and smaller groups until it was just Allison, Zoe, and I.  Thanks Allison and Zoe!  My stomach started growling at 18 but it seemed silly to eat another GU at that point with lunch so near.  I need to figure that out though before the marathon. 

Run #4 (1 mile): 9:01
Allison and Zoe headed to Cactus for lunch and I just had one lone mile left to pump out, so I put Ke$ha back on and rocked out for the last mile.

And whew, I was tired, but in 3:01:35 (Average Pace: 9:05) 20 miles were all done!  And I felt pretty good the whole time! 

You wanted to see a really unflattering picture of my chins, right?  I thought so.

Then we had a lovely blogger lunch at Cactus, where I finally got to meet many of the ladies I regularly stalk online. 

From right to left: Erika, Julie, Stacie, Rebecca, Allison, Zoe, me, Robyn, Pensive Pumpkin, & Emily.

Run Pretty Far also hooked us up with some sweet headbands and arm warmers.  The arm warmers I chose are a bit small (I definitely needed a medium!) but the allure of the zebra stripe won out over functionality.  Thanks Run Pretty Far!

The End.  Blogger, I still hate you.  If it wasn't so much work to go to WordPress, I would.  I apologize if I have left out important details that I have forgotten in my rage. 

I'm currently thinking about when I should do my last 20+ miler.  2 weeks out from the marathon or 3 weeks out.  What do you think?  What have you done in the past?  What works best for you and why?