Mt. Si 50K

I have come to learn that there are three types of runners that enjoy competing. There may be more but I will describe the three in "my book". First, you have the elite or pro which are super fast people and you could never wrap your head around their finishing times and you are just amazed! Second, there are the people just under the elite and they are quite quick but not quick enough to be elite. Their finishing times are fast but within reason. Third, there are the recreational runners who enjoy registering for races but don't even think of staying after the race to see if they placed. They are just tickled to be there and finish without having to be carried out by volunteers or even the medical team.

I feel as though all three categories tend to go through the same emotions on race day. The anticipation of "how will I do?", "Will I be able to finish today without any injuries?" etc. As a runner you never know how good you are going to feel on race day. There are some days where I feel like I can't even run a 5K (3.1 Miles) and put in a 12 Miler. Other days I feel like I could run a marathon and come in after 30 minutes of running. You just never know what your body is in the mood for but that is where motivation comes in, to push ourselves past that comfort zone.

I am defiantly runner number three. I enjoy racing to 1. Have a great time, 2. Accomplish new personal records and distances. 3. Because I can! I never really considered myself a runner until last year when I broke my toe and was told I could not run. I felt as though someone just took my air away and I knew then, I was a runner.




This 50K was an awesome accomplishment for myself and I am very pleased with myself. I was worried about not being able to finish due to the lack of long distance running I had not been doing the last couple of months. Feb. 6Th I ran a marathon, end of Feb. I ran a half marathon (in TX), and a few weeks ago I ran 10 miles. All my other runs here and there were under 10 miles. Running is also a very mind over matter sport at times. If you tell yourself you can do it then you will be able to do it. Humans are built to run and run long distances, we have our own cooling system and the duration built within us, we just have to dig and find it because it is there. I was very fortunate to have one of my best friends with me while running my longest race ever. We do many runs together and is nice to know someone else is sharing the pain. "Misery loves company"! When we got to the race it was cold and wet. My friend was not feeling it and once we got our awesome shirts she was ready to hit the road and call it a day. She was kidding but really was not feeling it, me on the other hand was nervous and worried about how I would do. I had told many people that I was going to do this run so I was going to do it! The course was an out and back and uphill the first half. The climb was gradual and started at 400 feet and then reached 1,400 feet at the turn around point. After the turn around point it was a nice downhill which felt good on the different leg muscles.

Running 31 miles gives you alot of time to think, chit chat and just soak up the enjoyment of running. My friend and I ran side by side the entire way and there were many times we were silent. Even though we wouldn't talk at times it was nice knowing she was next to me doing the same 31 miles. The chit chat was helpful to get our minds off some of the pain and some good laughs were involved as well. I told her it was better to be laughing at ourselves than crying. We crossed the finish line together and had completed our 31 miles in 6 hours and 43 minutes. My husband, Brian was at the finish line taking pictures and then gave me a huge hug and said he was very proud of me. It means alot having him at the finish line and I really do appreciate his patience with all my races. Thanks baby! I am now a triathlete, marathoner and ultra (small end of the ultra) runner. If you would of asked me if any of this was possible years ago, I would have laughed and said you were crazy! Dream and it will come true!

Marathon 2 and 3!

It is now February and since my very first marathon I have completed two more. I got the marathon "bug" and went for it. I was told about Marathon Maniacs, in which you had many ways to join but the "easiest" is to do three marathons in three months so I stepped up to the challenge and did so. I did my second marathon in Bellingham, WA on New Year's Eve which was freezing the entire race. We actually ran mostly on a trail which I love rather than concrete. I did better on my time by just a few minutes finishing at 5:03. I was then on the hunt for marathon number 3 in January and could not find one in Washington. So a friend of mine and me decided to go visit her family outside the Bay Area, CA and do the Redding Marathon. This trip was a bit crazy but fun all in the same time. We took a late flight to Oakland on a Friday night and got in to her Father's around 1:00 am. We slept in a bit and had an awesome breakfast, blueberry pancakes! We drove around and enjoyed the Napa Valley area (we are doing a half iron man there in April) and then hit the hay around 9 pm. We woke up Sunday morning around 3:00 am and loaded the car and drove 2.5 hours to the marathon. We made it in plenty of time and we ran our race.

I was doing great in the beginning and the first 3-4 miles were all downhill. This downhill would have been nice at the end but oh well! There were some good hills right in the middle of the race. By mile 20 I started to crap up like I never have before. My friend took off which we do that if we are feeling great! I was cursing and praying all at the same time and just wanted to finish. The cramps in my legs would go away and then come right back. I fought this for the last 5.5 miles and as soon as I knew the finish line was near I had the burst of energy take over and sprinted across the finish line. I shaved 25 minutes off my last marathon which is huge and I cried due to the bitter sweet feelings I had. Bitter because I hurt so dam bad and sweet because I shaved so much time off.

After the race we climbed back into the car and drove the 2.5 hours back to her Father's house where we showered and ate some pizza. We had about an hour to rest and then off to the airport we went which was an hour drive and then a two hour flight back to Seattle. By the time I got home I had been up for 24 hours and a marathon under my belt.

Marathons are tough but so rewarding! I still believe a half iron man is easier than a marathon. There are so many thoughts that go through your head and the question of why do this to myself? Well in the end it is all clear and the feeling you have makes it all worth the pain and glory.

First Marathon-Seattle

My training for the marathon went better than I thought it would. Through the training I began to look forward to the longer runs each weekend. I had an awesome group of people to train with which helps so much! Everything was going so smooth until the night of Halloween, which was exactly four weeks before the marathon. I BROKE my freaking toe! How did I do that? Well let's just say I ran into my friend's sofa and the sofa won! I didn't run on it for exactly two weeks. So instead I did water jogging which sucked ass! I did do some swimming as well just to change it up a bit. I got up to 20 miles in training but missed the 21 mile training. I was a little worried but knew I had built up a great base. My body felt great and no other injuries to speak of.

Two weeks after my healing period I began to run "funny" on the treadmill. It didn't really hurt much but didn't want to push it. I was down to the last week and of course it was taper week which I didn't feel like I should be tapering due to me not running much at all. Taper week is when you begin to taper down the miles to give your body a rest.

Marathon day is here and I'm worried! My friend and i agreed to run the race together which we did. We supported one another and had a really good time. She had knee issues but we worked through it. I remember telling her " you know marathons are kind of hard!" She laughed and said "yeah, they are!" It was in the low 40's and I never got too hot or uncomfortable. We were near the last couple of miles and my legs began to feel sore. I pushed through and we ran through the finish line together with a time of 5:35. This is not the time I hoped for but was happy to finish and would not have changed it for the world. I teared up with such great feeling of accomplishment and congratulated all my running friends on their victory finish!

Marathon Training.....Odds & Ends

I've been pretty busy since the last time I wrote, it's now mid October. The training has been coming along nicely and I'm proud of the outcome thus far. I trained for the Honolulu marathon last year and couldn't get past 15 miles so I gave up! I thought running this far was just not in the cards for me. Well I have a goal, in two years I want to complete an Iron Man Triathlon. The Iron Man consists of a 2.1 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and finishing with a marathon of 26.2 miles. With this being said I wanted to complete a marathon by itself first to even know what that feels like.

I've been training for the Seattle Marathon since August. I have completed all my runs during the week and my long runs on Saturdays with the group. Last week was my biggest week and we ran 18 miles. I was worried how I would feel but pushed through it and actually felt really great once I finished. At mile 9 or so it began to rain and never stopped but hey, I live in Washington, enough said. This was good training because who knows what the weather will be like in November besides cold!

I've been on more hikes and have enjoyed the trails so much. The fall here is absolutely breath taking. The color change and the crisp cool air doesn't get any better than this.

I've made some great friends from my running and hiking group. They keep me going while Brian is away and I'm grateful for that. Not only are we active but food and cocktails following to celebrate our awesome accomplishments either summiting the top of a mountain or running our furthest runs.

Buddha

I've been so interested in Buddhism and have finally found a meet up group that teaches new beginners like myself and I have found it so fascinating thus far. I've been doing some reading and have attended my first meet up which meets every other Friday for lessons and mediation. I enjoy hearing and studying the philosophy of it all. I am a Christian but am always open to listen and understand other peoples way of thinking and believing.

I'm going to Thailand in December for 10 days and want to learn more about their culture and religion before I go. I don't know much yet but it definitely has my attention and I look forward to leaning much more.

Meditation! Wow, why haven't I been doing this a long time ago? I've been doing it but I guess I didn't realize it. Sometimes when I swim or run I lose myself and think of absolutely nothing! Now I know why I feel so refreshed and recharged afterwards! I know it has to do with the physical part but the mental is just as important as well. My first real sit down meditation was this past Friday with my new teacher and I did better than I thought. I did drift a few times but that is expected when learning how to meditate. If you have seen the movie or read the book "Eat, Pray, Love" then you will know what I'm talking about. The part where she is learning to meditate and her mind is all over the place, well I knew for sure that would be me. I never thought I could sit still for one much less think of nothing.

I had my meditation pillow and lit my candle this evening and did two sessions all on my own. The first session was 6 minutes long which I was shocked and the second was 5 minutes long. When I was done, I felt so relaxed, refreshed and very peaceful. This is a practice that will continue to grow with me along with my yoga practice. I encourage everyone to try and sit still for a few moments and try to think of absolutely nothing! Try it, quite challenging but so worth it! Oh and you don't need a special pillow either!

August 2010-September 2010

I can't believe it's almost two months since I have written. There have been many events in the past two months. I am still enjoying Washington very much and never thought I would see such beautiful trees. The trees here are huge and the mountains just leave me speechless. The weather in so nice and cool although coming from Hawaii after three years, 65 degrees is still chilly for me. I'm sure I will adjust!

Brian came home after a month long deployment August 15Th. He took some time off and we really enjoyed ourselves. We hiked Wallace Falls and saw some beautiful waterfalls that just took your breath away. We jumped on the ferry from Anacortes to Lopez island where we enjoyed an awesome bike ride of just over 30 miles. It was great riding with him again, it has been quite some time since our last ride which was in Hawaii, March to be exact. We really enjoyed our time being together because we new it would soon come to an end.



After about a week that Brian was home he reported back to the ship and Mom came into town for four days. She and I had a wonderful time together and crammed so many things into so little time. We drove to Leavenworth, German town 2 hours East of me and was such an awesome drive. The leaves were actually starting to change a bit and we drove along and through the mountains with a river running by. I too took her on the ferry from Anacortes but we went to San Juan instead. We had lunch first in Friday Harbor and then drove around the island seeing the lavender farm, sat and watched the ocean while the cool breeze blew in our face, stopped by a small little winery for some tastes and finally ended up back in Friday Harbor for dinner. We also went to Seattle and walked around Pike's Market, viewing all the beautiful flowers, fresh produce, fresh seafood and much much more. We also found a small park and sat there for a few moments and took in all the fresh air and the beautiful bright sunshine in our faces! All good things must come to an end and then she left back to Texas.






I signed up for a hot yoga, 10 sessions for 10 dollars. It wasn't a bad deal at all and has been a very interesting experience. The first day I went I had to sit down almost the entire time. The competitive self in me was not liking this at all but the yoga side of me said to just relax and stretch while I sat there. There is a good reason why it's called hot yoga, when entering the room it is 95 degrees in there. It feels like a sauna almost. Then you begin to do yoga poses, stretching and standing postures. It may sound easy but it really isn't unless you are really good in heat. My first visit was also at 9:30 in the morning so I was most likely a bit dehydrated. I've been back a total of five times and the last four I've gone to the evening class and have completed all the classes, well almost!

I've entered a few races such as the Cougar Mountain Half Marathon Trail Run and the Iron Girl 10K. The trail run was pretty tough but was a total blast. Yes, I'm sick that way. The harder it is the better I feel but to an extent. It took me 3.5 hours to complete it but the trail was challenging and fun the entire time well except for the up hill parts! The 10K was a nice run, it was around a nice lake near Seattle. It was overcast and we thought we were going to be soaked afterwards but not one drop! I was 42 seconds slower than my fasted 10K. That's okay because I like to run for fun and not to competitive as I am in triathlons.

High Hut Hike

I've been in WA for one month and six days. At one month and three days I did my first back packing trip after 10 plus years in the Hila National Forrest. I was a little rusty at my packing but the good thing about the trip is that we stayed in a hut rather than a tent. Staying in a tent means packing a stove, dishes, water purifier etc. This hut had many amenities such as: mats to sleep on (we packed our sleeping bags), shelter obviously, propane stove, a good source of water and many dishes and utensils for gourmet cooking.



I went with seven other women which I never had met before except one, Kari, I did one other hike with her. I met all these ladies through a meetup.com group called Outdoor Women 30's+. So far they have all been extremely kind and an awesome group of women.

We communicated through the website who was bring what so we didn't overlap food or bring to much. I brought homemade oatmeal bars, quinoa salad, tuna and of course, wine! Allot of discussions were mostly about coffee and wine so I knew I was in a good group. Buzz in the morning and buzz before bed! I packed my bag the night before and it felt really heavy but then again I hadn't done this in a very long time.

I pack up the truck and picked up three other women. We finally arrived to the trail head after about 3 hours of driving and a few stops. The trail head was near Mt. Rainier which our view from the hut looked right across it. We loaded our packs and began up the trail. The trail was about 4 miles and it was ALL UP HILL! There were no breaks of flatness and it was in the heat of the day which made it a bit hotter. I under estimated the hike and the load on my back (about 40-45 pounds) and right before the top I had to hydrate with electrolytes due to the weak feeling in my body. Once I had some fuel I was good to go and finished the hike in 2.5 hours. The total elevation gain was 2,500 feet in those 4 miles. Once I made it to the top the view was amazing and was all worth it. I was glad because I was wondering what in the heck I was doing while hiking up. We all made it and unloaded our gear. We had an awesome dinner that night which was tuna/chicken salad on a bed of lettuce, couscous, quinoa salad and of course wine! We sat around and chatted then hit the hay for more hiking the next day.



Day 2 we all woke to my phone alarm that I forgot to turn off from the day before. Some were already awake but others were not and didn't appreciate an alarm while camping but I was forgiven! It was a good thing because what we woke up to was absolutely amazing. There was a blanket of clouds below us and the sunrise was just breath taking. We all hurried out of our sacks and grabbed our cameras. It was going to be an awesome day.



One of the ladies even made fresh blueberry pancakes for breakfast and they were fabulous! Then around 9:15 three of us began our exploring and hiked about 8 miles. We hiked to a lake and then to another hut which was called the Snow Bowl but had burned down. The view from the Snow Bowl was nice but ours was so much better. He had a picnic at the Snow Bowl and hiked for about 3.5 hours with 4,250 elevation gain. We got back to our hut and I was pretty tired so I laid down and actually took a small cat nap. I woke up about 3:30 and asked if it was time to drink some wine. Everyone agreed that it was 5 o'clock somewhere and the pouring began. We had wraps for dinner which included: red beans and rice, chopped cucumber, tomatoes, olives, avocado, and broccoli salad. What a feast! To top it off we had brownies for dessert!



Day 3 we all got up around 6:30 and began to pack up and clean the hut. We all ate left over pancakes and had our morning java. It was sad to leave this beautiful place but were blessed to have gone there and enjoy the time spent. It took about 1.5 hours to hike down which was really easy because it was all down hill. We were then greeted by a cute brown bunny by our vehicles so we fed him our left over lettuce and fresh spinach. He was a happy bunny that day...I'm assuming!



All and all it was a wonderful trip with some amazing women. By the time we got close to home Nancy and I stopped for some Mexican food and enjoyed a nice cold margarita! That was a great way to end the trip.