A Running Funk & a Helvetia Half Giveaway!

1)  I'm in a running funk.  I'm not sure why.  

The weather has been bad (except for this week when it was AMAZING and I ran around telling every person in the WORLD that IT'S GOING TO BE 81 DEGREES ON THURSDAY!!!!!), but I don't think the weather is all it.  I've run through worse.  

I don't think it helps that my choices seem to be either running on the treadmill (unacceptable) or running with the stroller (not my favorite thing).  Running with the stroller is just so hard, that it kind of takes the fun out of running.  I love walking with Baby J though, and I find my "runs" becoming "run/walks" or even just plain "walks" more often than I'd like. 

But this isn't the case on the weekends, so that's not all it either.  

We've been so crazy busy, there's a lot of stuff going on right now, both at work and at home, and that certainly doesn't help.  For some reason I just have no motivation to get out there.  I'd rather hang out with JMan and Baby J than go running.  

Speaking of Baby J - we're finally getting teeth!

So anyway, I suck at running right now, which is a big problem (see #2 and #3). 

2)  There are races coming up!  It's almost summer!  There's a triathlon (the 5 Mile Lake Women's Triathlon - use RICOLERUNS to receive 10% off!) a mere 6 weeks away, and I haven't swam or biked ONE TIME since...????  Ragnar ULTRA style isn't much farther than that, so running 3 miles a week is kind of a problem if I want to run 30 miles in a WEEKEND.

 

3)  Did I tell you I got into CHICAGO?!  Did I even tell you I entered the lottery?  I kind of don't think so.  We've never been there before and it seems like a great fun little trip with a marathon on the side.  But um, that means I have to TRAIN for and actually RUN a freaking MARATHON.  At this point you might as well ask me to travel to the moon.  

 

4)  Speaking of races coming up, I've got the Hippie Chick Half Marathon next weekend and then another Better Series race, the Helvetia Half Marathon on June 7.  This is a race I've heard great things about for years and have always wanted to do but it never worked out, so I'm really excited to be running this race as part of my Nuun Ambassadorship.  Go to my previous post to read more about the awesome Better Series.  

 

 

And guess what?  One of YOU, my dear sparse lucky readers, will ALSO get to run the Helvetia Half with me!  That's right - I have a RACE ENTRY to give away!  Here's what you do to enter: You MUST: a) comment below with why you want to run Helvetia, and for bonus entries you CAN: b) follow Better Series on twitter (leave a comment saying you did so), c) like Better Series on facebook (leave a comment saying you did so).

 

I'll pick a winner on Wednesday, May 7, at 8:00pm.  Good luck!   

So who has ideas about how can I get out of this running funk???? 

Hippie Chick Quarter & Half Marathon GIVEAWAY!

As you all know Nuun dominates as the hydration-of-choice at my race-of-choice, Hood to Coast.  Well, in case you hadn't heard, they're also now partnering with the Better Series, which is a series of six races in the Portland area run from May-November each year.
 

 

The Better Series includes: 

1) Hippie Chick Quarter & Half Marathon May 10 (Hillsboro)

2) Helvetia Half Marathon & 10k June 7 (Hillsboro)

3) Red White and Blues 5k & 10k July 6 (downtown Portland)

4) Pints to Pasta 10k September 7 (runs from the Widmer Brewery to The Old Spaghetti Factory in Portland - what could be better?!)

5) Crawfish Crawl 5k, 10k, & Half Marathon August 2 (Tualatin)

6) Turkey Trot 5k November 27 (West Linn)

Well today's your lucky day, because thanks to Nuun, one lucky reader and I will be running the Hippie Chick Half Marathon!  Okay okay, you can choose the quarter marathon if you want.  But only if you can tell me how far that is.  And also you should probably dress like a hippie.

 

And just because I'm so nice, I'll also throw in a tube of Nuun's brand new energy product (#getelectrolit), which is part same old Nuun we know and love chock full with electrolytes plus now all souped up with caffeine and b vitamins.  You'll have to pick up your prize at the race though, because I'm lazy and going to the post office sounds way too hard for this Mama who's not getting much sleep (Baby J was up 3 times last night, WHYYYY??????).  

 He's still pretty cute though.

And to make it easy on you, there's just one way to enter.  Comment!  Tell me why you want to win, or what flavor Nuun is your favorite, or what other Better Series race you'd like to run, or how much sleep you got last night!   

A winner will be chosen using random.org in one week: on Thursday, April 10 at 8:00pm.  

COME JOIN ME!

Seattle Hot Chocolate 15k Race Report: HILLS, HILLS, HILLS!

This morning I ran the Seattle Hot Chocolate 15k.  Thank you thank you THANK YOU to Andrea for being an AMAZING Hot Chocolate Ambassador, hosting a race entry giveaway on her blog, and then picking me to win!  I'm so grateful and thankful.  I'm so glad I got to do this race and I'm sure I wouldn't have if I hadn't won an entry!

The weekend started off on Friday GORGEOUS with freaking 60 degree sunny days.  You can bet Baby J got out in the sun to enjoy it!

He loves to swing!

But by Saturday the weather had taken a complete 180.  But we still made the best of it by accidentally joining the March Forth 5k around Greenlake (Baby J's first race?!) and then a lovely (but sad!) going away party for Robyn at Patty's Egg Nest. 

 Baby J had a lovely time.  Lindsay is a good sport!

Don't leave us Robyn!

Lindsay, Andrea, Becky, Meghan, Lauren, Robyn, and I.

And by Sunday morning the forecast was downright terrifying:

38 degrees (with winds up to 10 mph making the feels like temperature closer to 30), 90% chance of precipitation, and this precipitation being rain and snow?!  EEK!  Considering the longest I've run in any recent history is 5 miles, I knew today's 9.3 wasn't going to feel grand.  So coupled with the weather forecast and I was kind of dreading the race.  But, since I'm also running a freaking half marathon in just two weeks, I knew that running this distance was also required. 

Luckily the weather (for the race... dom dom DOM - more on this later) was amazing.  It drizzled at most, and although the entire first mile I couldn't stop shouting I'M FREEZING I'M FREEZING with the wind and the ice rain droplets, after that the weather was pretty much perfect.  I even took my jacket off pretty quickly - in mile 3 or so.  AND since I had put the race bib over the front of the zipper, that sure made it annoying to remove.

Lessons I never seem to learn no matter how many times I learn them: 1) I ALWAYS overdress.  I need to get dressed, and then remove one layer on top before I run.  ALWAYS.  2) The bib goes on the BOTTOM!  That or I need to get a bib belt.  I never think I'll take my top layer off and then I always do and then the bib is gone.  This time it was especially bad since there was a full zipper involved.  3) ALWAYS bring a ziploc bag for your phone, even when you plan to carry it zipped into said jacket's pocket (that even though you swear you won't take off you do).

 The start

We got there bright and early, parked without much trouble, got in a corral, and off we went!  I was kind of poo-pooing the out-and-back set-up before we started the race, but it was actually kind of nice, especially because I did absolutely zero researching about this race's elevation, aid stations, port-a-potty's, etc.  After about two miles easy with Jordanne, I felt like this was a good opportunity for a test of my current fitness, and I decided to go pretty medium-hard effort wise for the rest of the time, until the last 2 miles or so when I went all out hard effort.  And I felt great!  I mean, I wanted to be done at 7 miles, but I really loved how most of the uphill was in the first half of the race, saving the lovely downhill for the second half.  It was pretty darn evil to have the last half mile be uphill though!

And that's the one word description of this race - HILLS!  I swear you were either climbing them or going down them, there was practically no flat parts.  Which I actually kind of liked, though I bet I will feel them tomorrow. 

 Can YOU spot a flat part?!?!  Total elevation gain 679 feet.

And then I was done!  And I was immediately FREEZING.  Like FREEZING FREEZING.  Like I've never been so cold before.  And we had an hour to wait or so and it was just miserable.  I also wasn't feeling very well, like so often happens to me after a hard effort in a race.  I didn't even eat any of the chocolate treats they gave us (the hot chocolate would have been wonderful to make me warmer if it hadn't been sooooo chocolatey.  Way too rich for my taste, or at least for after a race!).  I wasn't really a fan of the fondue either. 

Total Time: 1:24:47  (Average Pace: 9:06)
Splits: 10:03, 9:41, 8:57, 9:21, 9:00, 9:43, 8:46, 8:44, 8:32, 8:40
Can you spot the hills?!

This is getting long!  Final thoughts: I have never been more proud of myself for not walking once (NOT ONCE!) during all of those huge hills.  I'm seriously so proud.  I'm also impressed with my fitness.  I mean, I had a good day, there's no doubt in that.  I felt good and I gave a good effort and this time was much more than I hoped for.  But it does give me hope that maybe I'll be fast again someday?  I hope???

WAY TO GO TEAM!

I Can't Stop Clicking 'Register'!

Ever since I posted about my big goal of 2014 being a half ironman that idea has terrified me.  Biking for 3.5+ hours??  What am I thinking?  My longest bike ride EVER is something like 22 miles.  How do I think I can do 56????  And THEN still run a half marathon afterwards???  That's crazy.

Every post needs an adorable picture of Baby J, related or not!
Seahawks = PURE DOMINATION!

I also am not so sure about my Half Ironman > Marathon decision.  Maybe I want to run a marathon more?  The new lottery system at Chicago has thrown a wrench in that plan, but I still might throw my name in the hat?  Or there's always CIM?  Or Portland if I want to be boring and cheap, which I don't really.

So anyway, I guess I don't have a point, except I'm still not entirely decided about my #1 big goal of 2014 yet.  Which is okay, because I don't think anything would really be happening training wise until summer, besides building a good base (which I absolutely do NOT have right now with all the slacking I've been doing).  So that brings me to the point of this post (if there is one).  It's become clear that races are the best method for ensuring I DO have a base and I DO do some long runs.  Further, after missing out on so many races last year I've been going a little crazy with the "register" button.

Here's my line-up (just so far!) for 2014.  Will you be at any of these races?

March 2:  The Hot Chocolate 15k
I really wanted to do this race last year, but a 15k seemed a bit far and the price was a bit steep for pregnant me, and the 5k a bit early... so I didn't.  I wanted to do the race again this year but again, the price is just a bit steep for a non-half marathon in my mind.  But then sweet Andrea (a Hot Chocolate ambassador!) had a giveaway and... I WON!  I am seriously ecstatic.  THANK YOU THANK YOU ANDREA!  But seriously - this isn't very far away - I need to start training.  9+ miles is no joke.

 

 March 15:  The Tacoma St. Patty's Half Marathon
An opening day $25 bargain I couldn't pass up - but now... it's not very far away people!  Again - NEED to start training!

April 13:   The Seahawks 12k
I'm not signed up for this yet, and I'm not sure it'll work out date-wise, but I've done this race the last 2 years in a row and would love to continue the tradition.  I'd love for JMan and Baby J to join me this year!

GO SEAHAWKS!

May 4:  Tacoma City Half Marathon
Thanks to volunteering at this race last year (which was a blast!), I was able to register for this race for only $25.  SCORE!  It's the day after a wedding we're attending so we'll see how "up and at 'em" I am that morning!

June 14:  Dilettante Women's Triathlon (also called 5 Mile Lake Women's Triathlon)
I wanted to do this race last year SOOOO BAD.  I seriously asked JMan if I could do it (though at the time I was only like 3 months pregnant and had NO IDEA what it would be like to be 9 months pregnant).  But the race was not only on the same day as my graduation, but it was also when I was 9 months pregnant.  Not only a no-go, but I couldn't even cheer on all my buddies!  While I would like to do the Olympic distance, I think it's more realistic this early in the summer that I'll do the sprint.

COME DO THIS RACE WITH ME!  Use "RICOLERUNS" for a 10% off code!  

 

July 18-19:  Ragnar ULTRA Relay!!!
Last year I missed out on not one but TWO relays (both of which I was captaining, which made it extra painful!), one of which was an ULTRA.  This is definitely something I've been dying to cross off my bucket list, so when Lauren's team from last year had a vacancy, I jumped on it!  I'm both terrified and ecstatic about this race!

 

August 22-23:  HOOD TO COAST!
Woot.  Missing out on this race last year was rough, so I'm glad my team is in again this year so I get another chance.

Whew.  So that's a lot of races.  These are all races I am actually already signed up for, and that's a LOT.  7 races in the first 8 months of 2014??? 

On the one hand - this looks like a LOT.  On the other hand, I'm one that struggles to complete long runs.  I either need running buddies there with me, or I need a race.  So this schedule is guaranteed to keep me somewhat in shape.

But where does a half ironman fit into this, you ask?  I'm not sure.  The options for half ironmans are kind of slim around here.  There's Lake Stevens, which is an officially trademarked "Ironman" race, who's date change from July to August 17 is actually very convenient in my summer-only training plan.  But man it's expensive.  Then there's Black Diamond September 13.  This is not an "official" race, but I don't care about that, and though the price still makes me cringe, it's a lot cheaper.  I need to investigate the courses more.  And.... is that all?  Does anyone know of any other half ironman triathlons in the Pacific Northwest?

And what about a marathon?  If not Chicago, then what?  CIM seems too late, and I've already done Portland.  What's flat, fast, and sometime around October??

No matter what though, doing a half ironman or a marathon are up in the air until I'm sleeping.  Nothing can happen without more sleep, that's for sure.  That's why my big races need to involve summer training, because not only do I hope the sleeping will be better by then, can also sleep in a bit more, but also won't feel (as) guilty being away training since I'll be with Baby J all week.  Right now, I'd need to either train before work or after Baby J goes to bed, and I'm just waaaayyy too tired for either of those options.  Sleep is too precious at this point. 

Anyone doing any of these races???  Who??  SIGN UP!!!

2013: The Year of Baby J

2010 was the year of running and PR's (yes, that's how old my PR's are - sad), 2011 was the year of Singapore, 2012 was the year of the dissertation, and 2013 was the year of Baby J.  And that about sums it up.

But let's recap, shall we?  So many great things happened in 2013 - from holidays with family to out-of-state visitors to ginormous smores to the Puyallup Fair to volunteering at races to beach trips to roommate reunions.  It was impossible to narrow it down to just 10 events - but here they are - the top 10 events of 2013?

10) I was pregnant.  I started out the year about 10 weeks pregnant and stayed pregnant for the full first half of the year.  I'm sure you recall, since 95% of my posts talked about it.  I was sick, I got fat, running hurt.  But I did grow a human inside of me, so that was pretty cool.

Whoa.  January to June.

I did not end the year weighing the same as I started the year, which was my goal.  Oh well - what are you gonna do? 

9) I went running!  This is a running blog after all.  I ran until about 33 weeks pregnant, though there were weeks when "running" meant 2 miles... for the WEEK.  I ran 482 miles total (unless I go run 18 miles on New Years Eve so I can hit 500), which pales in comparison to previous years when I've hit the 1,000 mark.  Oh well.

May, June, and July don't look so hot.  Especially considering I ran a 10k in May - making up HALF of the mileage for the whole MONTH.

8) I celebrated the big 3-1 in - where else?  LEAVENWORTH!  While wine walks may not be as much fun without the wine, I still had a BLAST celebrating with some of my bestest friends - eating up the town's brats and pretzels and getting kicked out of pools.  It was the perfect last hurrah before Baby J arrived.

7)  I ran some races while pregnant.  First, I ran the Seahawks 12k.  Real Seahawks gave me water!  I was 27 weeks pregnant and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be.

Then I ran the Keizer Iris 10k.  I was 31 weeks pregnant and again, it wasn't bad at all, proving that all running should be done during races, since I felt terrible for all other pregnant runs.  Which, I guess, is why this race was HALF of my May mileage.

6) I made my triumphant return to running!  I ran the Leavenworth Half Marathon 3 months post-partum and it-was-AWESOME.  Seriously.  I felt amazing and blew my time goals out of the water.  Plus Leavenworth is, as always, a BLAST.  I think I already mentioned that.

 I can't believe how little Baby J used to be.  And that was after he got big.

I also ran the Salty Half Marathon and the Seattle Half Marathon, but neither were anywhere near as triumphant running-wise.

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5) RAGNAR VEGAS!  While it was so hard to leave Baby J, and pumping in the van wasn't the most fun thing ever, my vanmates were AMAZING and I had a BLAST.  I'm so lucky Nuun and Pro Compression gave me that opportunity!  I've already got two relays lined up for next summer and I can't WAIT.  Plus, I'll be done breastfeeding by then.  Yippee!

4) My baby shower.  While I admit I totally dreaded this (I hate being the center of attention) - and during the present opening part it WAS pretty bad and I got pretty anxious and sweaty, but having everyone come together to celebrate Baby J's arrival was pretty freaking awesome.  I was just plain blown away by everyone's generosity.  Plus my years of experience of eating candy makes me dominate at smelling candy bars melted into diapers. 

All pregnant women should always touch each other's bellies.  But NO ONE ELSE SHOULD.

3) We went to Europe!  London and Paris were a blast, even though a freak cold front made walking around pretty unbearable and obviously, it'd be a lot more fun to enjoy Paris if you could eat wine and soft cheeses.  Boo.  Just an excuse to go back for Wimbledon someday!

I want to go back.

2) I graduated!  After 4 years of undergrad, 2 years of Master's, and 5+ of PhD work, I FINALLY graduated and vowed to never-ever-ever-ever go back to school again.  Probably.  

That outfit sure wasn't slimming!

1) Duh - I had Baby J!  He finally arrived, and although the actual labor is an experience I will never (but would love to!) forget, his arrival has changed our lives forever (for the better, obviously!).

 

It's so hard to believe that this scrawny little nugget who never smiled despite my begging:

Is now this huge laughing 6 month old:

He's changed so much in the past 6 months - it's hard to imagine what he'll be like a year from now!

And that's a wrap!  I have so much to be thankful for.  But another year is gone just like that.  Time really does make fools of us all.

My Slowest Half Yet

The Seattle Half Marathon was Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend.  Sorry I'm so behind folks.  Baby J is going to be a year old before I get his 5 month update up too.

If you've been following along, you might know that I have completely fallen off the running bandwagon since Ragnar.  It's sad because I was truckin' along quite nicely with my eyes set on a sub 2 half marathon at this race and then somehow all of the motivation was gone.  The dark, cold, and fatigue have gotten to me.

So needless to say, I was actually kind of dreading Sunday.  The forecast was for 100% chance of rain, 20-25 mph winds, I had to set my alarm at 4:50 freaking a.m., and I knew it was going to HURT.  It just did not sound like a fun time, and I honestly thought about bailing and staying cozy and warm at home instead.

If these peeps weren't going to be there I DEFINITELY would have stayed home!

Go Seahawks!

But then the alarm went off (actually, I was already up at 4:00am feeding Baby J) and I really wasn't that tired, and it wasn't raining at that moment (and it never did rain!) and I actually felt pretty good during the race, considering!  It's funny how I felt so incredibly terrible-death-marchy at the Salty Half even though I was trained yet I felt waaaayy better today even though I hadn't run in 3 weeks and hadn't run more than 7 miles in 6 whopping weeks.  You really never know who is going to show up on race day. 

Anyway, there's not a lot to say about the race.  It was great to catch up with Lindsay and Jordanne - we ran together the entire way (well, until the last mile when Lindsay wanted to show off her downhill running skills), it never rained once despite the forecast, the wind wasn't even too terrible except for during the first 2-3 miles, it's much more fun to do races with friends than to run alone, and that's about it?

We were definitely treating this race in a LEISURELY fashion - oh you want to walk to test your blood sugar?  We'd LOVE to do that!  Oh you want to walk this hill?  YEP.  Oh should we stop and go to the bathroom?  DEFINITELY!  But when we hit the 13 mile marker my watch showed we had exactly 1 minute to get in under 2:20.  While I knew already this was going to be my slowest half yet I thought maybe we could try to keep it under 2:20?   So I convinced Jordanne to run as fast as we could to the finish, but when I stopped my Garmin I saw 2:20:01!  WHAT?!  It must have been longer than .1.   Jordanne had 2:19:59 so I'm going with her time...

Jordanne, Lindsay, Lauren, Becky, Meghan

Total time: 2:20:01    Average Pace: 10:41
Total elevation gain: 807 feet

Splits: 10:13, 9:52, 10:02, 14:31 (this is when we were in the tunnel and when the distance got behind), 9:26, 11:04, 9:49, 12:40 (this was not in a tunnel and is accurate!), 10:40, 11:28, 9:48, 10:06, 11:39

And just because I might want to remember what the elevation map looked like for next time:

And that's it!  Sorry folks, there's not much to say this time.  Half marathon #16 (? I think) is in the books.