Rainy Thirteen

Same old same old, I meant to wake up early and run but I didn't, blahblahblah. I swear I'm a broken record sometimes!

I ended up getting out of the house a little after 9 and getting on the trail about 40 minutes later. I had a banana, some prunes in a bit of Fage yogurt (my favorite snack nowadays), and finally bought some Gatorade Prime Energy Chews to eat during my run.

I think having actual chews makes all the difference in my training runs. For the last two long runs, I had been putting peanut butter between two prunes (a la Fannetastic Food) but it just hasn't been working. So I caved and bought these chews. (I guess I was trying to go the ~natural route? But fake sugary stuff always triumphs in the end...)

Of course, it hadn't been raining at 7am when I had intended to be outside and running instead of asleep in my warm bed.... but alas, it rained the entire run.

I admit, not as fast as I had hoped. I think I started out too fast. Looking back at my blog (or, "blog investigating), when I run 12+ miles, I have greater success in a  faster overall pace when my first mile is around 10'30" and above.

I felt really strong in the beginning - almost negative splits in the first half - and I had turned off the voice feedback so I had no idea how fast I was going. But then, around the 8th mile or so, my left hip started hurting. What is going on?? Usually it's my right hip, but I haven't been feeling any pain for the past few runs. I did some more blog investigating, and curiously, almost a year ago to the day of this run, I did a 12 mile run where my left hip acted up. I wonder if it's something to do with this specific trail or distance?

soaked.

"Blog investigating" is a tricky thing. Comparing myself to myself is hard. I was definitely faster last year (especially at the end of my runs), and I'm not really sure why. I was so busy last year - I was in a musical, teaching a summer camp, and planning a wedding. This year all I'm dealing with is moving into a new house and trying to figure out renovations. I guess I'm also doing yoga, but shouldn't that count as cross-training and be enhancing my runs, not hurting them?

Maybe it's my nutrition that's slowing me down? I haven't been carrying chews or eating any protein bars before my runs, save for this run. I admit JW and I haven't done the best job with eating lately- I guess we're both in a lazy funk. He usually works best while he's on a strength program from bodybuilding.com, but he hasn't decided what his next goal is. Plus all of our free time has been mostly devoted to thinking about the house and money matters... But really I'm just making excuses.

soaked ground and soaked shoes

Of course, I successfully avoided all the puddles on the trail - until I finished my run, wasn't paying attention while I was looking at my mile times, and stepped into a big ol' puddle right before I got into my car. Brilliant.

Le sigh! I try not to be so hard on myself and try to pat myself on the back for running 13 miles after not running double digits for 3 weeks, but it's hard to look back and see how successful you used to be, especially when your life was seemingly more complicated than it is at the present moment. Blah!

(Finally) Moving In and Adding Mileage

My last early morning run with Chelsey was last Thursday :( Sad day!!

look at those awesome negative splits!

at least it was a beautiful morning!

The moment finally arrived - move in day!! JW and I spent the rest of last weekend moving and unpacking. Helloooo, house! Here are a few pictures of the bare living room.

We still have a long way to go with painting and ripping up carpet, but it's nice knowing we won't be moving again for a very long time. Of course, we had to have cake to celebrate...

Happy birthday, house!! 

I wanted to run again last Saturday morning, but I could not get out of bed. We kind of forgot how awesome our own bed is and have really enjoyed being able to sleep in it again! We knew we were going to go see poodle puppies Saturday (!!!), so I wasn't even sure I was going to run at all. But, we got back early enough so I felt like I just needed to do it to get it out of the way.

One of the many puppies we met...

I tried the new trail by our new place, and ran the first double digits (11!) of the training cycle. It was okay - I ran past a few squatters which was unpleasant, and the rest of the trail was a massive, massive hill. I fared well but at 9 miles I really had to slow it down, as you can see.

Last Sunday, deviating from what is normally on my plan, it called for 6 more miles. JW had a gig an hour and a half away in Anacortes, so we had to leave at 9:10am- so I knew I had to get my run out of the way quickly if I was going to do it at all. Fortunately I'm still kind of used to getting up early to run!

I went down the main street that runs by our new place, and it was all good until I got to Mile 3, when I started going down this massive hill. It was awesome, until I had to turn around and go back up it. It was very reminiscent of the day before, when I felt like I kept running into hills. It's okay, though - I'm still getting used to our new place and figuring out where the trails are, and I know it'll take some time to find the really perfect routes for my runs.

kind of sick of hills.

In any case, I think this may have been the perfect route for a nice 4 miler.

I'm getting really frustrated with my lack of speed lately but I have to keep telling myself to take it easy, as it hasn't really been the easiest last couple of weeks. Also I dramatically increased my mileage (probably a little too quickly) so I just need to be thankful I haven't gotten injured so far. But still.. I'd like to be as fast as I was last fall with marathon training, checking off sub 9 minute miles like it was nothing. Ah, well.

I did a nice tempo run this morning that I'll chat about in my next post!

Feels Like Training Again

It's official! In addition to the 10K, I'm officially also training for the Bellingham Bay Half Marathon on September 28!

My training plan is following the half marathon, and I'm just kind of shoving the 10K race in there. It's in less than a month! Man, time really is flying.

Friday morning started off with a really perfect training run - 4 miles in the hills, all negative splits, with my friend Chelsey.

No pictures of us because I figured we looked like death at 5:15 in the morning.

I wanted to wake up early this morning to tackle my farthest distance in this training cycle yet: 9 Miles. I hadn't run that close to 10 miles in.. what feels like forever, and I just wanted to get it over with this morning, meaning around 6 or 7am. Well, I didn't get out of bed until about 7:45 (naturally), and didn't get to my destination until about 8, starting my run around 8:15am.

Another deer sighting! There were two, but I could only catch this one.

I tried out a new trail - the East Lake Sammamish Trail. This trail connects to Marymoor Connector, which is what I start on mostly, but I go the other way, towards the Sammamish River Trail. Sometimes I'd go towards the East Lake Sammamish Trail, but would only get a little ways before I turned around back to Marymoor.

I tried to go to this trail when I ran 7 Miles on Wednesday, but was thwarted by no free parking. Well this time, I figured it out! I just parked at the McDonalds across the street, and it turns out that tons of other runners/bikers do that as well.

The run was pretty good, but I was feeling kind of tired. I ate two prunes with peanut butter in the middle as my fuel around Mile 3- first time I've done that! It was pretty good, just kind of messy.

I'm doing really well with keeping my last mile my fastest, but man this was a mentally tough run. I stopped at Mile 1.5 to take a picture of the deer, and thought I was going to stop at the halfway point, but I made myself push through. I'm happy that there's so much green in my paces!

I feel like I've gotten slower though? I keep looking at my Seattle Half Marathon paces, all in the 8s, and wonder how the hell I did that. How did I get so fast? And I seemed to have gotten super fast by accident, too. So many of my posts are like "I was tired, but I still ran super fast!" without any kind of effort. Was it because I was training for the marathon, and was just ecstatic that I wasn't running 15+ miles? Hmm.

After my run, JW and I got brunch at Issaquah Cafe, which was DELICIOUS.

The pancakes are JW's (pumpkin! jealous!), but mine was the "Potato Burrito" and it was GLORIOUS. "Scrambled eggs, baby reds, ground sausage, Tillamook cheddar, diced tomatoes and green onion wrapped in a flour tortilla, drizzled with avocado cream sauce" With a side of fruit. YUMMM. JW also got the Eggs Benedict, which were delicious.

With a long, early run on Saturday, plus delicious brunch, plus officially registering for the half, it really does feel like I'm back in the thick of traditional training again. Woohoo!

Capital One Bank Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot 5K

On Thursday morning, I woke up around 7:15 to make sure to eat something small enough that it wouldn't weigh me down, but gave me enough energy to last through a 5K without feeling awful. I was doing okay, since I had delicious tacos and chocolate cake the previous night, but a 5K on fatty fuel probably wouldn't have been the best idea. I ate my normal Belvita with greek yogurt, and had some coffee to go along with it.

It was 30 degrees when I woke up, which I DON'T UNDERSTAND because isn't Texas supposed to be perpetually 20 degrees hotter than wherever you are in the US? Damn. Of course later that day it was near 60 degrees but that didn't matter - this race that morning would be cold. It had been a while since I ran in weather that cold, so I took every precaution I could to stay warm. I wore tights underneath my running pants, and had on three layers of shirts. I also had my ear warmers and gloves. That probably sounds like a lot of clothes, but I hate being cold. Ugh.

With the Peters clan

I basically just putzed around until my future in-laws picked me up at 8, and we drove downtown to where the race would start. We were cutting it pretty close, because they had a new system in place this year where they only let the timed runners into the front half of the race, where no dogs or strollers were allowed, but the corral would be closed at 8:40, 20 minutes before the race started. Of course there was traffic getting into downtown, and we waited to park in a lot but then two cars ahead of us, the teller told us it just filled up! 

Fortunately we found a lot not too far away and got out quickly. It was around 8:30, so we just jogged to the corrals and so began the waiting game. I stayed and chatted with them (there were 5 of us- JW, his parents, his sister, and me) until about 8:55 when I said bye and went to find a spot closer to the start line. 

The worst part about this 5K is that there are 40,000 people and not a lot of room to run. So, the first half of the race is typically dodging people and slowing down for walkers. I know that's the same for probably every single race in existence, but in a 5K it's much more disheartening when you're spending more than half the time dodging people and you're trying for speed.

I got up near the front, and before I knew it the countdown started and the race begun. I had set up a custom playlist that lasted for 26 minutes - my goal was under 25. I knew I had to finish once the last song came on, and I had some really upbeat ones at the beginning, with one slightly slower one in the middle in case I needed to cool down.

I really, really wanted to beat 25 minutes.

The start was crowded and I tried to start off conservatively, I had "Roar" playing and I was feeding off the song's energy. I could tell my feet were numb within about 5 minutes of running - I guess thin socks aren't the best choice when you're running in 40 degree weather?

My second song was "Thrift Shop" and that song ALWAYS increases my pace. I actually felt my body become warmer because my blood was already pumping - and I kept trying to tell myself, "Just have fun!" so I danced around to the song, made some (possibly) obscene hand gestures, made some grotesque faces, and lost myself in the song. It was kind of awesome. 

The third song was "Stockholm Syndrome" by Muse, which is my default power song. I just tried to keep up my pace because I cold tell I was slowing down a little bit. Usually I surge during this song but I thought I was doing fine, so I held back. I didn't want to look at my time yet. Somewhere during this song, I got the halfway point notification from my Nike Plus app - with an average pace of 7'20''. What!!!

Next was "Lose Yourself", which had a nice build to it and I think it helped just keep my pace. Then, "My Body" from Young the Giant, and I listened to the words: My body tells me no, but I won't quit... Running really is such a mental game. I knew I was in the second mile by this point and I just had a little bit to go. I didn't want to slow down but I kind of felt myself doing just that - but I figured if my average time was 7'20'' for the first half, then I only really needed anything near a 9 minute mile to get under 25 minutes. I was gonna achieve my goal, barring nothing terrible happening!!

My last song, "Don't Fail Me Now" by Melanie Amaro was my last song, and when I heard it, I knew the end was near and that I needed to kick it in gear to finish before the song ended. This is another one of those listen-to-the-lyrics songs - I've walked the longest road, so don't fail me now - feet, don't fail me now. Yeah, for real! Feet don't fail me now!!

I turned the corner, saw the finish line, and tried to surge. But I honestly couldn't - I was going the fastest that I could. I tried to see a clock - there wasn't any, so I figured I'd just go as fast as I could and look at it afterwards. I thought I was gonna die when I crossed that finish line - but I did it. I made it. I looked down at my watch and was AMAZED- 

23:53. BOOM. And that was only with my Nike Plus app- I wondered what my official time was!!

I can't believe those splits!! All within 7'30''! I never thought I was capable of that speed. 

:D :D :D :D - 23:31!! I can't even believe it!! That's an overall pace of 7'34''!

Finishers!

Snuggling for warmth :)

I feel so awesome about my results and the race experience was great. Not as much food as last year, but the new course was a great improvement and I enjoyed the small walk back to the finisher's area so I could slow down my heart rate. Not too crowded, and the timed runner's corral was a fantastic idea. My only complaint was that the 5K and 8 Miler splits were not marked as high as they could have been (to be seen from far away), so I was a little hesitant as I approached the split area. But that's literally the only thing!

It was a great race!!

Did you run on Thanksgiving?

Pre-Turkey Trot Shake-Out

Today started early - this morning we had our engagement pictures taken! Fortunately we only had to meet across town at 10 instead of 8:30 (it makes all the difference!) with the hopes of it being a bit warmer. It ended up still being pretty windy and cloudy. I think they'll turn out really well, and it was a lot of fun to boot! So cool to have someone follow you around with your fiancé and knowing you'll get awesome pictures out of it.

I came home and ran 2 miles with my dog while the sun peeked through the clouds (figures). It was so nice to feel the sun on my face, but it was still pretty cold outside. I was dressed like a bum in sweatpants and two t-shirts but I didn't care.

It's really nice to be back in my old running neighborhood - this is where I trained for my very first half marathon.

This will be the third year I've run the Turkey Trot 5K with my (now) future in-laws and I kind of love it.

2011 - Finished in 26:37

2012 - Finished in 25:08

I hope to get in under 25 minutes, but with my recent training I feel like that'll be a big stretch. I'll be happy to just get a workout in before I devour ALL THE FOOD for Thanksgiving.

I'm gonna sleep on it another day, but I think I'm gonna buy my wedding dress tomorrow y'all!! Eek!!

Hello from Dallas!

Helloooo blogging world! Why does it feel like, when I take just a smidgen of time off, it feels like it's been forever since I've been on here??

Oh well. I'm writing from Dallas. It's cold here.

 A lot has happened since I arrived, both positive and negative:

• We got here without a hitch (winter weather in Dallas, but no delays! Yay!)
• We met with our officiant
• My grandmother broke her hip :(
• I think I found my wedding dress??
• I've seen most of my family and had lottsssss of mexican food. Yesss.

It's been glorious, but I realized that I never posted about my run the other day- the last one before we left for Dallas.

It was hard but not too bad. I was supposed to run 8 miles on Sunday the morning that we left, but that just didn't happen. (What's new???) I feel sooo unprepared for the half on Sunday - and especially unprepared for the 5K on Thursday. Eek. I want to be fast but I know I haven't been training for it - I feel like I'm gonna go way too fast way too soon on both races and end up screwing them both.

I guess we'll just see what happens?

Some nice scenery pictures before I go - 

Taken from the plane

And finally, me and my dog, reunited again!!

<3

Tomorrow morning we're taking our engagement pictures, I'm getting my hair cut, and hopefully running 2 miles so I have some rest time before the Turkey Trot on Thursday.

Apparently I'm Fast Now...?

Well this morning sure was a surprise. I was getting kind of sick of my attitude about running lately so I decided to just get out there this morning and train for my Thanksgiving 5K. It's in less than a week and my goal is to get under 25 minutes, which would be a PR for me.

Granted, my 4 miler this morning started out downhill but it also ended uphill, so putting most of the effort on the back end of the run was good for my training. I suppose. I'm no expert here.

Not really sure why, in my chart, it says 33:51 for finishing 4 miles, but in my summary it gives me a time of 33:59. Where did those 8 seconds come from? Hmm.

I'm genuinely surprised by those numbers. I felt like I was pushing it, but not really pushing it to my limit. I guess this is good since it's just a training run, right...? Plus I'm gonna have to start tapering here if I'm gonna be nice and ready for the 5K next Thursday. But then I have the half on Sunday...

It's like I'm going back and forth between PRing for the 5K and PRing for the Half. I'm convinced I can't do both. If I PR on Thursday, surely my legs will be spent for the half on Sunday, right? Or should I just run both of them for fun? Technically the Turkey Trot will have so many people that it'll be hard to get to a PR. Unless I'm in the front.

In any case, it was another beautiful sunny day in Bellevue. :) Even though it was 41 degrees! Brrr. I don't do cold very well.

Not much running in the next few days - I'm sure it'll fly by!

I'm going to a Thanksgiving Sides party tomorrow and I kind of can't wait, but I've noticed that we've been eating out a lot lately because of our birthdays. Mine was last Friday and his was this Wednesday, and I swear we've been going to restaurants almost every night since. Thankfully I have running to counterbalance all the calories I'm consuming?? All in moderation, right??