St. Patrick's Day Dash Race Report

Happy Race-iversary to me!  Sunday marked my seventh St. Pat's Dash and the anniversary of my very first road race as an adult; I don't count the one when I was in sixth grade.  This is the race that got me hooked on running back in 2004.  I didn't start running other races until the next year, but I still count the 2004 race as the catalyst for my love of running and (no hyperbole at all) changing my life.  Needless to say this is race is a happy event for me and for approximately 14, 999 other people too.

Stretched back as far as the eye can see.

Race day was gorgeous, unlike last year's snow/sleet/rain misery.  The sun was shining, the mountain was out, blue skies abounded, just a beautiful morning.  Since all of my usual running friends were either unable or unwilling to run the race I was on my own this year.  Kevin, being the darling boyfriend he is, decided to get up with me and come to the race for encouragement and race photography.  Not necessary but very appreciated.

I had no big expectations for the race this year.  I truly was out to have fun and enjoy the un-O'fficial start of the "running season".  I haven't seen huge increases in my speed with my training so I was merely hoping I could beat last year's time and that would be enough to make me happy.  With that in mind I crossed the start line for an easy fun run. 

The first mile was a breeze.  Bouyed along by the energy of the crowd and the beautiful morning I ran faster than I would have if I had been thinking.  But it felt easy, so I didn't worry about what pace I was doing.

The second mile is where the long, slow, subtle hill begins and continues for over the next mile.  My pace slowed on the uphill but I still felt great and knew that an uphill on one side of this course means a beautiful, blissful downhill after the turn-around at the Aurora Bridge. 

Third mile felt like flying.  I felt stronger then I had in a really long time.  That, coupled with the previously mentioned downhill (o' how I love thee) made me realize I was on track to break a 10:00 minute mile pace.  Sweet!  That would make me happy because out of 35 races I have done I have only hit single first digits for pace a handful of times.  Kind of embarassing really.  Really, really embarassing. 

The last .88 (per Garmin) were more of the last mile with the exception of the off-ramp uphill towards the finish line by EMP.  I knew I was close but I was spent and seriously thought I might have to walk that close to the finish line.  I had to push myself hard to keep myself moving up that off-ramp.

Coming up to the finish line.  The uphill is done.

Here are the totals:

Mile 1        9:48 pace
Mile 2      10:20 pace
Mile 3        9:26 pace
Mile .88     9:13 pace

Total time:  37:45
O'fficial pace:  9:54
Pace per Garmin:  9:43

Since we were in a later wave last year and they posted results based on the first wave gun time I don't have anything but my Garmin stats from last year to truly compare to.  Based on Garmin I finished 2:38 faster and shaved 40 seconds off my per mile pace from last year.  Whee!  Huh, I guess training actually works.  Who knew? 

I could not have been happier with my time.  I really didn't think I had that in me and to have it happen was a huge boost knowing that my training is paying off.

Happy, happy, happy even with dorky running hair.

By the way, my Garmin pace for the race would have netted me a shiny new PR if the race were a 5K instead of the nebulous "approximately 3.7 miles" they claim the race is.  This means, knock wood, that I should have my 5K PR in the bag for this year.

10 Happy Reasons

This has been all running and sickness lately so I feel the need to bust out a list of small happy things that have happened in the immediate past or will happen in the immediate future.  Since I do truly believe that this really is a wonderful life here are 10 tiny recent reasons why in no particular order.

1. NECCO is bringing back their "classic" flavors of candy hearts next year in addition to their new craptacular flavors.  Woo-hoo!
2. I got a fabulous haircut that is the first one in a long time that I really love.  She threw on some highlights too.  A good haircut is almost as good as the knee-high, high-heeled, black boots feeling.
3. I ran across (but luckily not over) the cutest little lizard on my run in the woods on Saturday.  I wanted to pick him up and squeeze him and take him home but realized he would quickly be eviscerated by the kitties so I left him to wander the woods in peace. 
4. We now have a Tivo.  Tivo is good.
5. Kevin did not electrocute himself when he drilled through an electrical wire while installing garage shelves on Saturday.  Live boyfriend + more storage = awesome.
6. Dave Alvin (my favorite musician of all time) is coming to the The Tractor on Monday night.  It will be a great night of music, PBR and hanging out with the boys (Kevin, my bro, my friends Todd and Dan).
7. Sunday I am running my seventh St. Patrick's Day Dash.  This was the first race I ever ran and is kind of the unofficial kick-off to the "running season".  It is very festive, throngs of people all pepped up and everybody has a good time.  Bonus:  it shouldn't be snowing this year!
8. New sports bras.  I balk at spending good money on these but, man, what a difference quality makes.  No more permanent marks on my chest from chafing.  Also, they are bright and white and haven't taken on the grayish dinge of a thousand washes yet.
9. Flowers, flowers everywhere. 
10. Lady GaGa.  I am not ashamed.

The Telephone

Since last I wrote about my father's situation there have been two hospitalizations for some infection that they believe to be pneumonia.  Other than those two incidents and a recent decrease in appetite he doesn't seem much different.  Still, every time I see the caller ID with my parent's number I pause and take a deep breath because I dread what the call might be about.  Even though some of the calls are completely unrelated to death or cancer or illness the worst case scenario flashes through my mind right before I pick up the handset.  I am coming to dislike the phone because lately it never rings for good news. 

Weekly Training Log - Week 8

Woo-hoo!  This was my highest mileage week ever:  18 miles.  Now you can either look at this as a) Hooray, you ran more miles then ever before or b) Wow, all the years you have been running and this is seriously your biggest mileage week?  I choose option A 'cause it just is happier. 

Tuesday - 3 miles on the mill.  Thank you "Lost" for being so absorbing that I forget that I am exercising like a rodent.
Thursday - Yoga for one hour. 
Friday - Ran 4 miles; 1/2 mile warm-up, 3 miles tempo, 1/2 mile cool-down.  I still don't love my speedwork but this wasn't as dreadful as some past attempts.
Saturday - Ran 4 miles in beautiful, glorious 60 degree temps with blossoms bursting everywhere and the sweet smell of petals in the air.  The run wasn't so glorious but, man, what a beautiful day.
Sunday - 7 slow ones.  Nothing special but I wasn't feeling it and still ground them out which always feels good.

Monthly Weigh In

OK, I am weighing in weekly but I am only going to post the weight numbers once a month because I don't want to have to justify a week where there might be a gain or a smaller loss than I expected.  

Since my last blogged weigh-in on February 3 I have dropped another 3.6 pounds which brings my total weight to 171.2.  More significantly I didn't blow my progress out of the water the weekend in Vancouver.  I also discovered that my biggest trigger for eating poorly is lack of sleep.  When I am tired it is insanely hard to keep me from stuffing junk food in my face.  But I did resist this month.  My body desperately wanted me to pull through the Burger King drive-thru after work but I talked myself down.  Talked myself down the entire hour drive home.  The. Entire. Drive. Home. But I did resist.

Here are the happy totals:
Starting Weight (12/29/09): 185
Current Weight (03/03/10): 171.2
Pounds Lost: 13.8

I am setting my goal on earning the coveted Weight Watchers 10% key ring in March.  I need to work my ass off (ha!) but I think it is do-able this month. 

Weekly Training Log - Weeks 6 and 7

OK, I am a little behind with these but I have (mostly) been doing the work.

Week 6
Sunday - 3 uneventful miles
Monday - 5.6 strong miles at the lake.  These felt seriously good.
Wednesday - 3.5 on the treadmill.  There were some great Olympic moments on TV that night that made this much easier.  I also did 1/4 mile intervals which I had never done on the treadmill before.  I wasn't sure I was going fast enough for the intervals but by the end my legs were getting very rubbery so I figured I did alright.
Thursday - Yoga.  Didn't get into this one; just wasn't feeling it at all.
Total weekly mileage:  12.1

Week 7
Wednesday - 6 miles at the lake.  These are faster by about 22 second per mile then the same distances this time last year.  This was one of the best runs I have had in recent memory.  The kind where you find yourself breaking into smiles and you feel like you are floating and can run forever.  *sigh*  Sadly, these can be fleeting.
Thursday - Blew off yoga class to go home and run 3 sucky treadmill miles.
Friday - 4 sucky miles.  I forgot I was supposed to be doing speedwork but there was no way my legs were going to handle it. 
Saturday - 3 marginally less crappy miles on the treadmill.  I was supposed to go 4 but the idea of one more mile on that thing and one more minute in the garage was making my skin crawl so I called it a night.

Total weekly mileage:  16

I really need to get my running days spread out because I know that I am not as effective if I bunch them all together.  Besides, that just seems like an injury waiting to happen.  Hopefully after this week (where I overbooked myself again) I can get into a more reasonable running rhythm.  Also maybe start the cross-training I have been neglecting.

Week 8 should be a new weekly mileage record for me.  Woo-hoo!

I Am Biathlon Curious and Other Olympic Thoughts

Going to the Olympics last weekend was one of the highlights of my life. I have wanted to go to one as long as I have known there were Olympics and now I can cross that off my life list. Except that I would absolutely go again if it were even close to being a reasonably affordable trip. There is so much to say about it that trying to type it all out normally would lead to a more jumbled post than usual so I will do it with bullet points. Also, please excuse the random, out of order pictures. Blogger has become almost impossible to use when it comes to pictures anymore and I am tired of dealing with it.

• We got to see men's 1500m long-track speed skating, the men's 15km mass-start biathlon, and the women's 15km mass-start biathlon. We loved these events but would have been happy at any. I am particularly glad to have seen speed skating because that is the event out of all Olympic sports that I would most want to do. I feel a kinship to my large quaded brethren.
  
• Biathlon is awesome. I always thought this was kind of a silly sport but after seeing it live and seeing the legions of crazed European fans at the venue I have a new found respect for the sport. The tiny bit of cross country skiing I have done makes me appreciate their efforts even more. Someday when I am rolling in extra cash I plan on becoming a patron of biathlon. C'mon America, get behind this sport. It is right up our alley. It has guns!
  

The Dutch really are that crazy about speed skating. The Richmond Oval was filled to the rafters with rabid Dutch fans all wearing orange and cheering on their countrymen. We were rooting for Shani Davis to take the gold but if it couldn't be one of our guys then let it be someone from The Netherlands. Any people who love a sport that much deserve a gold medal.

• The reports that this is the worst Olympics ever and what colossal mistakes the Vancouver Organizing Committee have made were clearly talking about an entirely different event then what we were seeing. Everything from security screenings, concessions, transportation all went off without a hitch for us. There were volunteers EVERYWHERE telling you where you needed to go, answering questions and being unfailing enthusiastic and polite. We could not have asked for a better organized experience.
  
• There is a cowbell app for the iPhone.


• Ringing a cowbell at a sporting event is waaaaay more fun then it should be. I clanged and cheered for everybody. Every speed skater, every biathlete got cheers and some cowbell. Of course, when it came to the Americans or the Canadians they got MORE COWBELL. Do you think I can start bringing the cowbell to baseball games?


• Seeing the Olympic flame was a thrill. There is just something about the pageantry and the history; knowing this flame came all the way from Greece in a tradition that dates back thousands of years kind of gives you chills. Yes, they shouldn't have put it behind a chain-link fence but we waited the 45 minutes to get an unobstructed view and it was worth it. Absolutely beautiful.


• I am a patriotic person and I love my country very much but I am not much of an outwardly flag waving person. We just do it too much in this country for every occasion to the point that it seems cheap and insincere. That being said, I loved seeing the Canadians all dressed up in their red, white and maple leafs. People at the events and people just out in the city were dressed in their colors, waving their flag, proudly rooting for their country and showing the kind of unabashed patriotism Americans get slammed for. Again, if we just didn't do it so damn often...
  
  
• The Dutch brass band, Kleintje Pils, playing during breaks in the speed skating action at the Oval. They played a lot of tunes only the Dutch knew but they clearly spoke the international language: the language of Neil Diamond. The Neil-ness starts at about the 1:00 minute mark.
  
  
  
  
  
• You can't get a sense of the level of excitement that is going on at the events from watching it on TV. People were in great moods, the vibe was all cheerful, everyone was happy to be at such special events and to be able to cheer on their athletes. The sounds and sights of crazed fans is as much a part of the fun as the actual events.

The weekend exceeded my wildest expectations. It really was the best Christmas present ever.