Girls on the Run IS So Much Fun!

Well, Tuesday was my last day of Girls on the Run coaching.  And it's official.  I have found my calling in life.  Now I just need to find someone to pay me handsomely to be a Girls on the Run (GOTR) coach full-time.  Anyone?  Anyone??!!

Girls on the Run is an AMAZING organization that everyone should get involved with if they can.  Their mission is to:  "educate and empower girls at an early age in order to prevent the display of at-risk activities in the future."  It's an after school program, two days a week for 1.5 hours each time for 10 weeks.  It's a scripted program that includes warm-up activities, a lesson (topics included body image, fueling our healthy bodies, having a positive attitude, choosing good friends, etc.), and a running workout.  The workouts build up to the conclusion of the program, where the girls run a 5k! 

Which brings us to Saturday, the Girls on the Run 5k, otherwise known as the best day EVER.  

So although Sunday was horrible, since Saturday was truly one of the best days EVER, it all evens out. :-) 

About 400 girls ran in Saturday's race.

The day started with meeting at the school to ride the bus to the race.  Not all schools had buses - it was provided by the community partners since many of the girls would not have otherwise had transportation.  All but 1 girls showed up, which made me SO happy.  My worst fear was that after all their hard work, they wouldn't make it to the 5k.  The girls were a bundle of nerves and excitement, and we had a BLAST on the bus.  Did you know how hysterically funny it is to wave at cars on the freeway from the back of a school bus?  Try it sometime. 

 

Each girl at the race has a running buddy, who also comes to the Practice 5k which occurs at a practice a few weeks before the 5k.  The girls LOVE their running buddies, and a lot of them made capes or fun accessories for the girls to wear.  Some of them had spectators who had signs with the girls' names on them and it was overall so amazing to watch how excited the girls were to be with their buddy.  If you're female and at least 16 years old YOU too can be a running buddy!  The next 5k is December 1, mark your calendars now!

The start of the race in Seward Park

In this lesson we were practicing "relaxing".  I don't need to practice that, I'm already a pro at it. 

One of our last activities together involved designing and implementing a community impact project, which I already talked about (remember how they wanted to train police dogs?!).  We decided to make cupcakes (by "we", I mean "me" - they just decorated them :-) ) for their teachers and make cards for the kids at the local children's hospital. 

I know this post is all over the place, but the point is, GIRLS ON THE RUN IS AWESOME.  If you want to read a way better written post about Saturday's 5k go read Lauren's recap here.  

So how can you get involved?  Honestly, coaching was a huge commitment.  Although I'm going to miss my girls SO much and wish I could be a coach all year round / permanently, it was extremely difficult to leave work early twice a week for 10 weeks.  Practice was from 3:20-4:45 and not too close to my work, so I ended up usually leaving work at 2:40 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I'm lucky and have a very flexible job and am not working full-time right now because of school, so it worked out, but even with those pluses I'm still not sure if I'll coach in the fall.  It's a big undertaking.

 The girls were so incredibly excited to get their medals!  They wore them to school on Monday and Tuesday and were showing them off to their friends.  :-)

Despite this though - there are LOTS of other ways to get involved, and I will definitely be involved in one way or another.  Being a running buddy is a great way to truly make a difference in a young girl's life who might really need a role model.  Lauren was amazing and stepped up to pretty much run the entire 5k single-handedly.  Becky took some fabulous professional-caliber photos at the 5k, and JMan was a trooper and handed out water at the half-way point.  There's also sub coaches (I will probably do this as well), fundraising, etc.  Or you could just give them money.  GO GIVE THEM MONEY!

If you're still not convinced in forking over your time and money to Girls on the Run - just watch this video.  I seriously challenge you to watch this and NOT be inspired. 

Inspiring - RIGHT??!!

How will YOU get involved?  If you have any other questions about GOTR just ask!

Racing Plans & Blogger Meet-Ups!

So Half Marathon #12 - the Portland Rock 'n' Roll inaugural race - is TOMORROW!  Eek!  Where did the time go?!

But MORE IMPORTANTLY... TODAY is the Girls On the Run 5k!  I am way more excited for today than for tomorrow.  We have been working towards this for the last 10 weeks and I can't wait to see my girls meet their goals and feel so accomplished!  Being a Girls On the Run coach has been an amazing experience and I wish I could get paid the big bucks to do this full-time.

Second, thank you all SO much for all of your really helpful and insightful advice about my racing a half marathon vs. an extra 20 miler conundrum.  There were a few things I forgot to mention (or maybe meant to leave out, since I wanted your unbiased thoughts!).

1. I really really REALLY love to race half marathons.  It's pretty much my favorite thing to do, despite the inevitable pain.  And I REALLY wanted to race this one even though I still don't think a PR is likely, but I wanted to try. Plus, it would give me some good information about what my true goal time for the marathon should be (is a 3:45 really possible?) and help me hone in my pacing plan.  Not that I really know anything about any of that, I just pretend like I do. 
2. Logistical issues.  I'm pretty much 100% against tacking on the extra miles after the race (that seems like it defeats the purpose of making the long run "easier") and getting to the race with enough time to do an extra 7 miles before hand seems like a bit of a logistical problem, given my wonderful husband will probably drive us (oh, is this the first you're hearing about this JMan?!), and that Anya will be there as well and doesn't need to run 20.  Anyway, the logistics aren't perfect.
3. I didn't leave this out because it hadn't happened yet, but by now you're all familiar with the loss of my running mojo last week.  This is definitely a factor in the equation at this point.  

So what, you might ask?  Well many of you gave me the same piece of advice: See how you feel on race day morning.  And that's exactly what I'm going to do.  I'm not planning on running 20 miles though.  But I might add on some extra miles, I might just go at a leisurely pace, I might Marathon-Goal-Pace it, I might go all out.  We'll see how I feel and how my running mojo is fairing that morning.  Smart?

Finally - if you're going to Portland Rock n Roll, or live in the area, or are coming to cheer someone (or me!) on, please come to the BLOGGER MEET-UP!  You don't have to be a blogger.  :-)  It's easy - it's after the race at Voodoo Donuts at 22 Southwest 3rd Avenue, it's about 8 blocks from the finish, a nice little cool-down.  We'll plan to be there at about 11:00am.  That's assuming the corrals don't make us start long after 8:00am.

Best donut-of-all-time - how I've missed thee.  We shall be reunited and it will feel so good. 

Happy Weekend!  What fun things are you doing this weekend?  How far are you running?  Are you racing?  Are you coming to meet me at Voodoo Donuts?!  :-)

Random Random Random

First off - did you go enter my ShowerPill giveaway?!  GO DO IT! 

Second, there are so many random thoughts running through my head and you are so lucky to get to hear about them!  Aren't you?!

1.  I finished The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.  I LOVED it - go and read it.  It was confusing and I found it difficult to keep track of what was happening, but I blame myself this time (instead of the author).  I even went and looked up reviews on Wikipedia and a few other places to find out what others thought had happened!  But I think that just shows how invested I was in it.  You can't really describe it without giving a lot of it away, but basically Margaret Lea is asked to write the biography for a famous author, Vyda Winter, who is dying.  Vyda has always been extremely tight-lipped about her life and you find out why: it's kind of a mysterious story about twins.  Read it.

2.  I can't believe Girls On the Run is almost over!  Tuesday is our last practice.  :-(  I'm going to miss the girls so much - they are so hilarious!  For example: at the last practice we were planning our community impact project.  So the girls are supposed to come up with something they can do to help their community, but they have to bring all the supplies (if needed) and it has to be done within the practice, which is 90 minutes long.  So we were brainstorming things that we care about and I mentioned that I care about animals that don't have homes.  SO, one group decided that our project should be rescuing dogs from the animal shelter and teaching them how to be police dogs.  Yep, in a little over an hour, with my dog-training skills (Cooper STILL doesn't walk on a leash properly), it seems totally doable that we will rescue some dogs and teach them to be police dogs.  At least the girls are dreaming big? 

This is totally an appropriate activity for Girls On The Run practices.  source

This is the more feasible project that we did instead: cupcakes for their teachers and cards for the kids at the children's hospital.  

3.  In other dog-related news, on my run the other day I found a cute little dog who was practically in the middle of this busy street, and I went door-to-door trying to find his owners.  Finally this lady pulled up and she didn't seem a bit concerned to find her dog roaming free and when I told her he was nearly hit by a car she shrugged her shoulder nonchalantly and was like "oh, thanks".  GRRRRRRR.  WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE????  They don't care at ALL that their dog is in danger?  Major major PET peeve of mine. 

4.  DailyMile is so ridiculous.  You guys all remember how terrible my training was last week right?  Well apparently DailyMile is a bit confused.

Uh, Gnarly?  Really?  More like pathetic, DailyMile.  Don't try to sugarcoat it.  Just tell it like it is already.

5.  Why the heck are they canceling Make It or Break It before they get to the Olympics?!  They've been working their whole lives for this!  Ridiculous.  And whatever happened to the poor pizza girl Emily, anyway?  She had better things to do?

How convenient that they all made the Olympic team even though Lauren's heart might stop at any moment and Payson is probably pregnant.  And what the heck - there's no judges at the Olympic Trials and only 30 spectators go watch it?!?!?! 

6.  Speaking of bad TV, did you watch the season finale of The Vampire Diaries?  I totally don't watch that show, but IF I did, then my mind would have been blown and I would have called it the best episode of the whole series.  IF I watched that show that is...

source

Tell me something random about YOU!

A Plethora of Random Thoughts

Happy Saturday!  What fun things are you doing?  I have a ton of random thoughts (and photos!) that really make no sense but whatever.  Here they are. 

1.  As you read this I'm off attempting to run 20 miles.  I am TERRIFIED.  So nervous and scared.  What if it sucks?  What if I can't finish?  What if I keel over?  What if it's the worst 3+ hours of my life?  Likely.  The last time I ran this far was back in 2010.  Check back later to find out what happens.  I know you're on the edge of your seat...

This totally applies to running 20 miles.  source

2.  Remember how about half of the running buddies didn't show at the Girls On the Run Pracitce 5k?  Don't worry, I found out that there WAS a mix-up.  There's a Smith (school name changed to protect the innocent!) K-8 and a Smith Elementary and they went to the WRONG PLACE!  Oh no!  The fault kind of lies with all of us: the main office didn't tell them the exact address / school, we (the coaches) didn't tell them, and the running buddies didn't ask or call when they were at the wrong place.  Bummer.  

Again, completely relevant.  source

3.  I think you already know I'm a creamer lush.  International Delight Almond Joy creamer.  Get it.  That is all.

4.  Chris Harrison from The Bachelor fame is apparently getting a divorce.  WHAT?  I thought he was the normal one.  Now won't he feel a little hypocritical dishing out relationship advice?  NO ROSE FOR YOU!

source

5.  I recently finished Night Road by Kristin Hannah.  Go here to read the Amazon summary, but basically it's about young love and drunk driving.  I'd recommend it as a quick, entertaining read (or listen).  It's not the best book in the world but I was totally hooked on the plot and wanted to find out what happened.  I'm reading listening to The Thirteenth Tale right now though and am obsessed with it.  Look for a review soon (hopefully I'll finish it this weekend). 

6.  You guys have some strong feelings about Lululemon, that's clear.  Some of you love it and some of you agree it's a bit overpriced.  Now let's pretend I never mentioned anything about it so you guys like me again! 

7.  Hope you're having a great day!  Happy Saturday peeps!  Tell me about all the fun things you're doing!  Hopefully I live through the 20 miler to read your comments!  :-)   

Track Tuesday, a Girls On the Run Practice 5k, & a Triathlon. Whew.

So Track Tuesday happened.  And I did it!  I'm 2 for 2 on my planned workouts this week, and although Track Tuesday probably would have happened no matter what (probably being the key word here?) I definitely felt like I NEEDED to go to spin on Monday since I had publicly declared Monday to be a cycle class day on the blog.  I didn't want to let you guys down!  So there's that.  Thanks?

Anyway, Tuesday rolled around and I had 8 x 400's on the schedule.  EIGHT?  Really?  Well yeah that's only 2 miles I guess but EIGHT?!  Hmmm....

But BEFORE THAT I had the Girls On the Run Practice 5k!  I was really excited about this, we've been building this up all season (it's hard to believe the season is almost over already).  The real 5k is May 19th (GO SIGN UP HERE!), and each girl gets their very own running buddy to help them along (it's an awesome program overall, go give them all your money!).  Except half the running buddies didn't show up.  Which was a huge bummer, because like I said, we've been building up how awesome it was going to be with the girls and they were really excited.  I'd like to think there was some mix-up with the dates or places or SOMETHING and these people didn't just sign up and then not come.  Because that would be SO incredibly rude, 6 different people wouldn't do that.  Right? 

Girls on the Run Fall 5k

This is becoming quite the tangent, but anyway, I ran with two of the girls (poor them!  I mean, they like me, of course, but I'm not new and exciting, so they kind of got the bum end of the deal).  But "running" is a strong word.  We walked probably about 2/3 of it.  Am I still really talking about this?  Shouldn't I get on with the Track Tuesday part of it?!  Okay okay, I will.

So after the practice 5k Jordanne and I met up at the track and we were just chatting away and suddenly I had run 4 miles and she had run 5 (I was late, bad Ricole) and we hadn't done any speedwork yet.  So she decided to do 2 400's and I decided to do 4 but after I'd done 4 I thought about the incredibly inspiring Eugene Marathon posts I'd just read (ahem, like the huge PR's by Sweaty Emily and SarahOual) and that if I want to get fast too I need to put in the work.  That inspiration lasted for 2 more 400's, so I still didn't do all 8, but I had run 7 miles plus the 3 miles run/walk earlier so it seemed like enough for the day. 

7 miles in 59:18 (under an hour - you know I love it when that happens!)
Average Pace: 8:28

400 splits:
1:43 (6:42)
1:41 (6:40)
1:42 (6:52)
1:40 (6:34)
1:43 (6:49)
1:42 (6:49)

The last time I did this workout was March 24 and my average 400 split was 1:49.  The time before that was February 8 and my average 400 split was 1:44.  Now my average is 1:42.  Progress?  I hope so!  Did you do a speed workout this week?  Link it up with Denise and I!

AND remember how hard I was trying to win the Danskin Triathlon entry from Running, Loving, Living?  If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you probably saw my many entries!  WELL I WON!!! 

I am extremely ecstatic about it because doing a triathlon has been on my 'to-do' list for seriously YEARS, and I've somehow still never done one.  Probably because I've never bit the bullet and signed up.  And I wanted to do one this year, but given I've already signed up for several rather expensive races (oh, hello Disney Princess Half Marathon), I didn't think I should probably spend $100 on a triathlon entry (see JMan, I'm being smart!).  BUT NOW I'M GOING TO DO A TRIATHLON!  It's perfect: it's in Seattle, it's an all-women's one, and it's August 19th, which means I don't have to start training until after the marathon is over. Now I just need to convince everyone I know to sign up too.

Who wants to do the Danskin Triathlon with me?!  YOU?!  PLEASEEEE???  Who has done a triathlon?  I've never done one - please give me tips! 

I'm the Worst

In working out news, I am "Siriusly" sucking so far this week.  I had an extremely horrible run on Thursday that I'm not ready to talk about yet.  I've totally fallen off the cross-training wagon.  Basically I'm the worst.

But people who AREN'T the worst include my best bud Rachael, who has joined the blogging world!  Rachael is super crafty, an excellent chef and baker (I hope to assist her in her own bakery one day!), a fabulous runner, and is expecting her first adorable child in July!  Go give her a nice warm WELCOME and say Hi!

Rachael and I rocking the Coeur d'Alene Half Marathon.  Have you noticed that I like to wear that tank top in every race?

In other news, I'm "Siriusly" so sorry to do this to you, but I just couldn't help myself.  Someone found my blog by searching "harry potter valentine's people will think we're up to something" and I was like what?  What's that?  So I searched for it.  And when I found these, it was love at first sight.

  

  

  

  

source for all

In other, other news, did I tell you I'm going to be a GIRLS ON THE RUN coach?!  I am so excited.  So I'm off at the orientation / training all day.  Anyone have any experience with this organization?  I think it's FABULOUS so far.

Did you go tell Rachael hi?!  Do you have a 3 day weekend like me?  What are you up to this weekend?  Who has experience with Girls on the Run?   Been a GOTR coach?  HAPPY WEEKEND!