Eugene pictures

Here are some long overdue pictures that were taken when me and the hubby were up in Oregon for the Eugene 1/2 Marathon back in May. We had a grand old time and leaving was definitely such sweet sorrow!

It's time to pick up our packets!

Expo crowd

In front of the famous Hayward Field

We snickered at there t-shirt statements. Very clever! haha

We walked over to the starting line from our hotel. It was only a 1/2 mile and super exciting to see the green balloons and all those people!

I am so happy to be here!

A quarter mile in.

Just one of many super supportive local people.

WE DID IT, BABY!!!!

All that while fighting a cold!

July 2008 has been super awesome

BAD BLOGGER! BAD BLOGGER!

That was me just getting mad at myself. Now we can carry on. hehe

I worked on getting my runs in consistently this month - aiming for at least 3 times a week. I've been doing great but have yet to push that to 4 times a week. I am hoping that this will happen with this week!

A few things I've accomplished this month:

• Hitting a PR on the treadmill for the year earlier this month - 32:21 for a 5k distance. This turns out to be 10:26 pace. Make like the Kool-Aid Man and give me an OH YEAH!!! While training for the failed attempt at the marathon earlier in the year my average for the 5k was around 34 - 35 minutes.
• After a summer of staying indoors to beat the heat, I finally ventured outside this morning. My goal for the morning was just to get to 1 mile and then I could walk home. You see, I'm trying to get accustomed to running in the heat so I can run the last ARR Summer Series #5 Run at South Mountain on August 10th. I have a good two weeks to make this happen. Anyway, I lasted 1.6 miles. Then I walked home but I think I need to bring water with me next time. I felt a heat related headache coming on as I walked home. Shoot, it was already 90 degrees when I went out at 6 am. WTF!

I've also added Beginner's Pilates to the mix. I bought a DVD when I last went to Tarzhay. Again, it was an WTF! moment when I first tried the movements. I think I almost farted like 10 times because of the straining. haha I know, I know. TMI.

Just like my runs, I will be updating my blog 3x a week, minimum.

In the middle of the night...

Man, I feel so beat these days. I totally feel like there are not enough hours or minutes in the day to really accomplish any of my personal goals. After work, I rest for a bit and before I know it it is already 7:30 or 8:00 pm! I've been exercising later and later. Maybe this is my problem. I exercise or run about two hours before I hit the hay. I'm trying to switch over to morning work outs starting next week.

Last night, I got to my complex's gym late so I only had 30 minutes to work with. I intended to do a tempo run up until the security guard kicked me out but my stretchy running capri kept riding down and started to annoy the heck out of me. I only managed 5 minutes of walking and 3 minutes of running before I angrily grabbed my gym key and jumped onto the elliptical. I stayed on for about 20 minutes before the security guard came a-knockin'.

Right before my workout, hubby and I went to Best Buy to look for new Apple earphones for my ishuffle since one side of my old one gives very weak audio output. Guess how much those stupid things are?! Freakin' 50 smelly dog bones!! And the incredulous thing is that people actually buy them! They're not the greatest little things in the world and I can't justify such an expenditure so I went back to my trusty Sony sport headphones...no fancy earbuds.

I feel like I'm getting stronger. I noticed this when I was doing crunches last night. In the beginning, my ab muscles were so weak that I actually shook when I pulled my head and shoulders off the ground!! HAHA Very little shaking, if any, last night.

Peeking Out From Behind My Curtain

Where has this girl gone for nearly two months? Holy moly!

I think I had reached a point where I was just too "blaaahhhhgg-ed out"...although, I did miss all of my running blog friends. I have been running here and there. Unfortunately, I did not run the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon earlier in the month. Lame excuses abound but really I didn't feel ready and finances had me strapped at the wallet. I do have my eyes on Portland or Seattle later this year though. Must do the 26.2 while I'm still 26! I turn 27 next January.

My goal for the summer was to quicken my pace. I tired of the marathon training...running at marathon pace almost all the time. I felt so sluggish and slow. My new quest for faster gazelle speeds has re-invigorated my workouts. Just in the course of two months, I've decreased my average pace from 12:00 to 11:00 min/mile. Right now, I think I'm running at somewhere between 10:45 to 10:50 a mile. My goal at the end of the summer is to get down to the 10:00 point. This is where I'm most comfortable. After the marathon, I'm going to push every further for those elusive 9:00s.

My other selfish goal for picking up the pace is to burn more fat. I need to slim down in time for my first wedding anniversary at the end of August. How fast that time has come around! We were going to run off to the Oregon Coast again...or even Las Vegas but we've reasoned to be practical and just enjoy a day at a local spa (maybe in Scottsdale) and have a really nice dinner. Saves on money and enables us to have a smaller carbon footprint.

I just came back from work-related travel to Billings, MT last week and had a chance to go to Yellowstone National Park. Wyoming is soooo beautiful!! I loved it! And this Arizona desert rat was able to walk atop snow and actually fall in!

Eugene

I've been really busy lately!

Lots of traveling for work had me in San Francisco and Denver recently. When I'm in the office, I've been pre-occupied with coordinating a training and getting ready to renew some grants that I hardly have a life.

One thing though...

I ran Eugene. Not the full. I did the 1/2. I had the best time in Oregon as the hubby and I made a 5-day journey out of the whole thing.

2:38:05

Not my best but I was a warrior because I ran the damn thing while fighting a bad sore throat just days before and enduring all 13.1 miles with bouts of coughing.

Hope to have a race report up within the week.

Tonight: 6-8 miles or bust.

On Tuesday, I managed to put in a 4.4 mile run on the treadmill. I averaged a 12:01 min/mile pace which is standard for me and normally I wouldn't whoop too much about it but I did this with some hill simulations. I'd run for about three minutes at 0.5% and then 1 min @ 2%, 1-2 min @ 4%, and then 1 min back at 2% before I returned to another 3 min at 0.5%.

I'm noticing that I am not as sore as I usually was after running. It was wonderful to walk up and down the stairs pain-free at work on Monday - the day after my long run. This never happened before. My legs are so bomb!

I was going to go on another buddy run with my co-worker this week but it's already Thursday and I already have tonight reserved for my mid-week long run. My plan has 8 miles in store for me but I'm going to run anywhere form 6-8 miles. I am somewhat in agreement with what Jeff Galloway touts about only having one high mileage run a week solely to prevent injury. Everything is working for me so far so I'm not going to change a thing.

I was bummed on Tuesday's run though. I found out that my new shoes are indeed snug at the toe for me and it's too late to exchange them so I've decided to either sell or just give the shoes to my sister. I'm hoping that it will inspire her to start exercising. She's been stagnant since giving birth to my niece 1.5 years ago.

I realized yesterday that me and the hubby's trip to the Oregon Coast and to Eugene for the 1/2 marathon is only a month away! I'm so freaking excited!! I get paid next week and I think this is when I'll be officially paying for my registration for the Rock n' Roll marathon in San Diego. Gosh, my hands all of a sudden got sweaty just thinking about it. haha

12 under my belt

Total Mileage: 12 miles
Average: 12:04 min/mile

I truly rock!!

I ran this morning's long run of 12 miles with little difficulty. And though some of it may be attributed to the fact that I woke up earlier and started at 7:00 am instead of 9:30 am, I definitely felt stronger and more positive.

The Arizona Dragon Boat Festival was in full swing this morning at Tempe Town Lake and added a bit more visual excitement to my running atmosphere. I even ran into my buddy who was also running 12 miles for the morning. She is a part of a relay team from the Salt River Maricopa Pima Indian Community that will be competing in the Ironman here in Arizona and she's doing the marathon portion. That's only two weeks away! We were running in different directions so I'd meet her twice around the lake. Nice having someone else there.

I have taken to running and walking for approximately 3 miles in the beginning of my runs to help with warming up my legs, particularly my calves. I THINK I may be developing medial shin splints on my left leg. It's a bit of a stinging sensation but not too much that it's annoying. After 3 miles, the pain goes away and I can run normally.

On Thursday evening, I ran at the lake with a friend/co-worker and asked her what her shin splints felt like as she was telling me she had them in high school when she ran cross country. I asked if her lower legs ever felt like they got weak as the miles dragged on in a run to the point that it felt like her legs were going to give way and cave in. She said she had felt that way so I think I definitely have a case of this on my hands.

I don't know what else to do other than icing, massaging, and strength training. So I've been doing the walking breaks a lot more. Not a bad thing at all because I'm able to get through my runs without needing a stretcher.

For 12 miles, Garmin says it took 2:25:00 but I stopped the clock during my long stretch breaks and water refueling breaks. There were only 3 of these. I'm more interested in seeing my mile times than my overall time since the whole goal of running the marathon is just to finish. But if I were to add these in - I'd have to add about 12 minutes to my time.

My Lap Times:
1 mi - 12:32
2 mi- 11:58
3 mi- 12:21
4 mi- 11:45
5 mi- 12:18
6 mi- 12:04
7 mi- 11:45
8 mi- 12:39
9 mi- 12:16
10 mi- 11:31
11 mi- 11:48
12 mi- 12:04

Week 7 of Marathon Training completed!

P.S. Finally bought a couple new iTunes.

1. An Honest Mistake - The Bravery (An old running favorite from 2005)
   
   
2. Holiday in Cambodia - The Dead Kennedys (From playing too much Guitar Hero 3)
   
   
3. I Feel It All - Feist (All about the steady melody)
   
   
4. Barracuda - Heart (Another GH3 favorite)
   
   
5. Touchdown, Turnaround - hellogoodbye (I needed something 'poppy' and guilty pleasure-ish! :P)
   
   
6. Alec Eiffel - Pixies (this is the jam!!!)
   
   
7. Send Me an Angel - Real Life (I'm an 80's music lush and my favorite hangout always plays this song.)
   
   
8. Anarchy in the U.K. - The Sex Pistols (I think GH3 is a problem. lol)
   
   
9. Someday - The Strokes (Hear this on the radio all the time.)