HUGE HUGE CHANGES!!!

My race plans for the year were tossed out the window. It was painful, but....I was offered a job to be a railroad conductor. A job I have dreamed about since I was a very young child. I couldn't turn it down.

There was 8 weeks of classes in a town in north Delaware. The homework was CRAZY and I literally studied most weekdays from 6am until maybe 9pm (including class time). I tried to squeeze in 6 to 9 miles a week. It was a challenge to do so. I am still running just 6 to 9 miles a week with the training schedule here.

It was lonely running those 8 weeks in Delaware. The trail near the hotel was asphalt and wrapped around a small lake. In my 8 weeks there, I saw maybe 4 others running it. TOTAL. No repeats. Also, no cyclists other than one I met at a intersection. She was on her way to work at Performance Bikes and explained the area there isn't very fit conscious. People who buy bikes typically buy cruisers for the shore areas.

My first day back at home (May 4th) I went and ran 3 miles on my favorite trail here. There was more runners at the Padden/Andressen intersection in ONE signal, than I saw in my 8 weeks back east. Lots of waves and smiles from runners, walkers and cyclists. It was so good to be home.

My job is amazing. Hard, but amazing.  Unfortunately, I work weekend mornings now. 

They don't offer many races on weekdays. 

I did get told I could have a weekend off in the next few months so I chose a Duathlon weekend in July. I hope I will be ready for it. You see, I am now a 5K runner all over again. I lost a lot of cardio fitness, although my legs and hips are stronger than ever.

Trust me - walking the full length of a moving and rocking two level train throughout 7 plus hours builds strength!

Next weekend I am going to a one time temporary two week training schedule that will KILL my running times. I will be in Seattle working 6pm - 6 am shifts. Knowing me, running after that shift won't be likely. :(

Good news is some bad news. I might be furloughed (temporarily laid off) around the first week of July through mid August. That would be ideal for my duathlon training and to regain my fitness. It will just really hurt the purse strings.

Still, it is all worth it. :)

1st race of 2013 - Woohoo!

It is a little 5K in Battle Ground, Washington put on by Get Bold Events, appropriately named the RESOLUTION RUN.

Weather was PERFECT for me since I always run hot - 38 degrees and dry. Overcast. No fog.  In fact, I was stripped down to just this thin T-shirt and carried my vest as other finished in the layers they started in. I can't do that. I get too hot. Must be all that extra insulation I have that they don't have.

I took 5 minutes and 15 seconds off my time from last years race!!! 

That made me very happy.

Funny, as I was only 4th place in my age group (50-54) of 13 women and it wasn't my fastest 5K pace to date. But, compared to this time last year, that is a HUGE difference and I am very proud.

DISTANCE: 3.09 miles
TIME: 32:47 minutes.
PACE: 10:35 minutes per mile
WEIGHT: 166.8 (yes, I gained 8 since October)

26.2 Ways You Know You Are A Runner

For all those people who know the true meaning of the number 26.2

1. You know how many miles there are in a marathon.
...
2. Your weekly mileage is how much you run, not your commute to work.

3. You know how many miles you get out of a pair of running shoes.

4. You can convert Kilometers to Miles in your head.

5. You measure your running route in your car to get the exact mileage.

6. When someone tells you their age, you automatically know their Boston qualifying time.

7. You know Grandma's as the route from Two Harbors to Duluth, not the person.

8. You can drink, blow your nose and pee on the run.

9. The problem with the treadmill is there's no place to spit.

10. You have less than ten toenails and that's normal for you.

11. Body Glide is your friend. (IMPORTANT for Clydesdale's!!)

12. Ibuprofen is affectionately known as "Vitamin I". 

13. Navigating walkers, dogs and baby strollers annoys you because it interrupts your pace.

14. When you participate in an organized event, you know not to run in your race t-shirt.

15. You have a favorite energy gel and flavor.

16. The "Picasso" above your fireplace is last year's TCM poster.

17. You have pre and post race rituals.

18. The journal you keep is in miles and pace not feelings or thoughts.

19. When you look at the weather conditions, you calculate how many layers to wear.

20. The pride you feel after a good run is worth the pain it took to get there.

21. You have more t-shirts than you could possibly wear.

22. When you hear the word "bib", you think of race numbers not babies and Gerber food.

23. The "no carbohydrate diet" does not apply to you.

24. You know that Fartlek is not vulgar terminology.

25. A hill is an opportunity just waiting to be challenged.

26. You know the phrase "you're almost there" only applies when the finish line is in sight.

.2 Your vacation destination is determined by your race schedule.

"...a marathon is twenty miles of hope, six miles of truth...."

anonymous??

Happy New Year!

2012 was fun and I did a lot of things I never thought possible. Trying to come up with a practical list of goals and hopes for 2013 wasn't easy.

Here they are: My 2013 Goals and Hopes

Note that I added not one but THREE half marathons for next year and added not just my first, but my first and second Duathlon's.

Why three half marathons? 

I am doing it for the shirt!

Other goals this year are to run about the same miles as this year, but to add 500 miles of cycling. I was told that cycling will help me with my hip strength and alignment. Things I need to combat my knee issues.

If all goes as planned, I will be adding another tattoo next year, after I finish my first Duathlon.  I might just add to the existing one. I might add a new one altogether. We'll see. First, I must finish one. The one in April looks very daunting and I truly fear I bit off more than I can realistically chew.

Albeit I am daunted by starting over, 
I am excited with this clean slate that is 2013. 

2012 Was A Good Year

2012 was a busy year. I learned and experienced a lot of neat things. I learned words I had never heard before and I did things I had only ever dreamed of doing.

NEW WORDS I LEARNED IN 2012:

• Fartleks (speed bursts/intervals in a run)
• 800’s (an interval of 2 laps around a track)
•  IT band (that awful hindrance on the outer leg that causes knee pain)
• Graston (very painful but rewarding physical therapy massage)
• DOMS (aka Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness – pain 2 days after a run)
• Snot Rocket (how to blow your nose while running without tissue)
• Periformis Syndrome (a real pain in the ass)
• Meniscus

THE 12 RACES I RAN IN 2012:

·            01/01/2012: Randy Earhardt Memorial Run (sunrise) – 5K

·         01/08/2012: Resolution Run – 5K

·         03/18/2012: Shamrock Run – 5K

·         05/27/2012: Rum Run – 10K

·         06/10/2012: Run Like A Girl – 5K

·         06/23/2012: Solstice Run – 6 miles

·         07/22/2012: Harvest Days – 8K

·         08/19/2012: Every Girls – 5K

·         09/29/2012: Color Run – 5K

·         10/14/2012: Girlfriends – Half Marathon

       11/17/12: Chicks Psuedo Fat Ass Relay - 4.3K *

·         11/25/2012: Hot Buttered Run – 15K

* 

*      * I was signed up to run a full leg but due to injury, I ran a partial leg and drove a relay van.

RACES I VOLUNTEERED AT IN 2012:

• Vancouver USA Marathon 
• Every Girls Half Marathon
• North County Wine Run
• Girlfriends Half Marathon (day prior to the race)

2012 NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS THAT I KEPT:

1: Complete the Get Fit Live Fit 20 Week Course. Not only did I finish it, I signed up for and completed the summer course as well!

2:  Weigh 169 by Valentine’s Day. Done!

3:  Run a 5K with a sub 11 pace. Done!

4: Run a 10K race.  Done! 

5:  To run at least 50% of the Girlfriends Half Marathon: Done!  Ran most of it and due to injury had to race-walk just under a quarter mile of it.

6:   Lose enough inches in my hips to fit into a Woman’s Brooks Running Jacket. Done!

7:  Run 500 Miles. Done! I ran 601.35 miles. 

OVERALL:

Running in 2012 kept me sane during some very crazy and challenging times.

But it was sometimes an added stressor in itself.  My ultimate goal for the year was the Half Marathon. I had run a beautiful and fast 12 miler just two weeks prior and then on race day I struggled in pain from mile 5 on just to finish it. That was both a source of pride, and disappointment. I made it, but it wasn't what it could have been if I hadn't had an injury.

The October MRI results showed ‘fissuring’ of the cartilage behind the right knee cap and a ‘slight tearing’ of the lateral right meniscus. 

The Sports Doctor prescribed a fancy knee brace which resulted in tearing the skin off my upper thigh in two places. The scars are still red and angry over a month later.  So, I tape the heck out of my knee and focus really hard on not letting my knee turn inward when I run. No more cutting and dodging through runners at races, and I walk on tight turns now.

Weight was an issue for me. I lost a lot of inches, but I ended the year still overweight and fluffy. Jiggly. The problem with running is that it is too easy to make excuses for that extra helping now. I still need to work on that.

I have learned a lot about myself, my weaknesses, and my strengths this year and I will be posting my 2013 Goals in a few days. HAPPY NEW YEARS, EVERYONE!!

Photos from 2012 races

 Me *after* the Color Run

 Solstice Run 

(made the podium!)

Every Girls Run

 Run Like A Girl

Me and the Captain at the RUM RUN!

Herd Of Turtles relay team
(I am third from the left)

Me and Christine at our first Half Marathon