Wordless Wednesday

Toenails are for sissies!

I have been waiting for that bad boy to fall off all week.  And yes- I need a pedicure. 
Any volunteers?  haha.

Playing Catch Up

Owen's Beach at Point Defiance Park.  Mt Rainier in the far background.

Life has gotten a tad bit busy lately, so here is a quick run down of a few happenings last week!  Since I had raced on Monday at the mud run, and we had some awesome sunshine on Tuesday (July 5th) I decided to take the kids down to Owen's Beach to run around while I absorbed some Vitamin D.  It was beautiful down there with tons of boats and an awesome view of Mt. Rainier!  I love being so close to parks like these.

Niko doing "boy" things

Fun activities happening out in the water!

Devan taking a stroll down the beach. 

On Thursday I was scheduled to do two separate 3 mile runs.  I really wanted to get one night time run in before the Ragnar Relay next week, so I decided to save one of the runs for after I got off of work at 10pm.  My hubby was a tad nervous about me running alone at night so I invited him along and he took me up on the offer.  His cousin has been staying at our house so he sat home with the kids (who were in bed) and we set off on our "running date".  It was a beautiful, although windy, night- the moon was out and I really enjoyed the dark, quiet of the evening.  And I was also glad he was geared up and ready to go when I got home from work, or else I may have decided to hit those 3 miles the next morning :)

Ready for a night time "run date" with my hubby!

That's all I have time for right now- next up:  a soccer tournament and "5K" report! 

JBLM Down and Dirty 8K Mud Run

Tennis anyone???   

Monday morning we headed out nice and early for the JBLM Down and Dirty 8K Mud Run held on Fort Lewis, which started at 9am.  We met up with Ray, Betsy, their daughter Kara and my BFF Jaime and got to the race starting area really early for a change!  So we were able to wander around, check out the course map, take some photos and use the restrooms.

Our course map- slightly altered from last year

This is a very family friendly event and there were lots of kids running, however I was still a bit nervous about how Devan would do.  She has been running a lot lately, especially when Will and I have been training down on the track.  She probably ran 3 miles at least last Wednesday when I did my 5 miler down there, so I was hoping she had the endurance built up. 

Me, Will, Jaime, Betsy, Kara and Devan.  Ray is the photographer and shadow person.

Either way, she was determined and extremely excited to be running the race, so who was I to discourage her???  Here is an example of her excitement pouring out before the race started-

Once the gun sounded we were off running.  The sun was out and the temperature felt great the entire way.  I ran with Will the whole race- although sometimes I made him chase me a bit!  He had this grand idea he could actually beat me and wanted to place a bet on it.  He finally admitted around mile 3 or so that he definitely would have lost that wager!  The obstacles were fun- we jumped over logs, through tires, climbed fences, army crawled under things and went up and down plenty of steep hills.  Finally with about 1/2 mile to go we hit the first mud pit, then waded through waist deep water.  As soon as we came out of the water I just sprinted towards the finish- I can't help but finish strong!  The very last obstacle is to army crawl through a long pit of mucky mud.  SO FUN!!!  I finished in 54 minutes and Will finished in 55.

After Will finished we walked back to the car to grab our camera so we could take pictures of the others finishing.  On our way we saw Ray, Devan and Kara coming down the hill- they only had about 1 mile left and they were all smiles!  That made me feel better, knowing they were having fun and had the best part of the race still ahead of them.  Will and I snapped a few photos of each other then went to watch the others crawl through the mud pit.

The best part was hearing how much fun everyone had.  Betsy had so much fun she was ready to run it again!  How awesome to have friends come run a race with you and actually enjoy themselves and possibly be inspired to start running and doing races? 

Devan, Ray and Kara in the last mud pit

Jaime sighting!

Love this picture of Betsy- she is having a blast!

And to see my daughters face so happy and proud of herself for such an awesome accomplishment is priceless.  She absolutely amazed me that day- she ran 5 miles of trails, hills and obstacles in 1:10 minutes.  She rocks!

Priceless

Jaime in the last mud pit.  Devan and Kara went through again!

Makes you want to go play in the mud right????  And guess what- my outfit washed up perfectly.  I could not believe my eyes, but that white skirt looks brand new. 

Boop-oop-a-doop!  What mud run???

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

Hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July!  We started off our day with the JBLM Down and Dirty 8K Mud Run out on Fort Lewis.  What a blast!

The crew before:

Me, Will, Jaime, Betsy, Kara and Devan (Ray taking the picture)

The crew after:

Will, Jaime, me, Betsy, Ray.  Devan and Kara in front.

Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon Recap

Our beautiful-and heavy-medal!

Wow!  Where to begin?  I guess I will start with Friday- the whole family (myself, the hubby and both kids) headed up to Qwest Field to check out the Seattle RnR race expo and meet up with the lady whose race bib I would be using.  We met Cynthia and Gene up there as well and wandered around in runner's paradise checking out all of the fabulous vendors.  It was honestly the best race expo I have ever been to- I could have stayed there all day long.  I ended up buying a sparkle headband, a tshirt and a spibelt.  We took some fun pictures, I got my race packet from the Craig's list lady and we headed to Pyramid to have some lunch.

Me in runner's paradise.  I will take one of everything please!

Cynthia and I- you know you want our autographs!

Already scoping out our next race!

After lunch Cynthia and I headed back to Tacoma so she could get her shirt from the group "wear blue-run to remember".  Traffic was a nightmare though so we had to immediately head straight back up to The Spaghetti Factory in Tukwila to attend a dinner organized by a local runner/blogger known as Tall Mom.  She invited bloggers near and far to come hang out, carb load and have a chance to get to know one another in person.  I had a really good time and it was nice to meet a lot of new people, especially local runners!  We each had a name tag and a little trading card with our name and blog title on it, and even got some little take home gifts compliments of online shoes, nuun, and Gu!  Thanks for a fun night Mel!

Our fun trading cards Zoe made!

By the time I got back home to Tacoma it was getting pretty late.  I hadn't really put too much thought into my outfit and still needed to organize all the race "stuff" so I ended up getting to bed around 11:30.  Oops!  The race started in Seattle at 7am!  Good training for the Ragnar Relay next month right- running while tired!!  Haha.  Anyways, I woke up at 4:45am and planned to be out the door at 5:45am.  I hopped in the shower, got dressed then ate a Cliff Bar with some peanut butter.  I was going to eat the banana on the way up to the race, and I decided to skip the coffee and just opt for energy chomps/gels with caffeine.  I had no clue what the port o potty situation was going to be and the less bathroom stops I required the better!

Getting my gear ready!

I decided to be colorful! 

I then had the rare yet fantastic opportunity to wake up my children.  Yes, its true- I enjoy waking them up since they so regularly do it to me!  It was extremely early for them but like true early risers it took all of about 60 seconds and they were both wide awake.  The entire household was ready to head out the door by 5:50am, some sort of miracle if you ask me!  I soon discovered that was not nearly enough time!  It takes about 25 minutes to get to Tukwila from our house, however traffic was backed up so badly that I ended up getting out of the car and walking a good mile to the starting line.  I stopped and used the bathroom inside Lucky Casino (they were sooo nice letting tons of runners use the facilities there!) and hustled to the starting line.  I knew that my corral had already been released before I arrived so I did not get a chance to run with Cynthia or even get any pre-race photos.  Bummer!

I walked right up to the starting line and joined the 25th wave of runners to be released (there were 40 corrals).  The only problem was that the pace of this group was quite a bit slower than I prefer and I had to do A LOT of dodging and fancy footwork to get myself into my racing pace!  I was carrying my own water and the only way I was stopping to take a bathroom break was if the alternative was to have an accident.  You know what I am talking about.  Anyways, I was hoping to get somewhere between 2:05 and 2:10 because I know I am more than capable of that if I pushed myself and eliminated the messing around at water stops and port o potties.  Here is the quick and dirty run down of my miles:

Mile 1- 9:42 -It is all a blur, literally, of me dodging around/between/through/on the side of the sea of people in front of me!
Mile 2- 9:07- Finally got through most of the crowds and found a good pace.  Apparently Will and the kids were near here but I had no idea so I didn't see them!  Darn!

I had no clue Will and the kids were here.  I was too focused on passing people on that hill!

Mile 3- 9:21- A bit of a hill here, otherwise I only remember crossing the 5K line!
Mile 4- 9:15- Saw a guy running barefoot.  He had a lot of band aids on his toes and Vibrams hooked onto his waist somehow.  My first official "barefoot" sighting in a race!
Mile 5- 9:34- Started to feel sluggish and like I wanted a gel- but I was trying to hold out for mile 7 where they were handing them out.
Mile 6- 9:29- Just taking in the sights.  And smells.  I have never had to move away from so many stinky people before during a race!  It's called deodorant runner friends.  Please use it!!!  I also was fascinated by the number of people wearing Vibram Five Fingers.  I saw 2 girls running together and the back of their shirts said "Call me a prude, but I am only going half way" and it made me giggle. 

My cheerleaders.  Devan made that sign for me, she is swesome.

Mile 7- 9:57- I couldn't wait any longer so I stepped off into the grass and grabbed my gel out of my spibelt right in the beginning of mile 7.  My phone was also in there so I didn't want to take a chance of it flinging out if I tried to do it while still running.  I need to get faster about taking gels while running!  I felt better after my gel and this was also the area dedicated to the group "wear blue-run to remember" that Cynthia was running with.  There were flags lining the course and a dedication to our fallen soldiers.  It was beautiful and made me tear up a bit.  Cynthia wrote a wonderful blog post with some fantastic pictures, you can read it here if you would like. 
Mile 8- 9:28- I remember thinking to myself "wow, only 5 more miles.  I am almost done!" and being very happy to only be running the half marathon. 
Mile 9- 9:56- I think this is the mile where we went through the tunnel.  I was not a fan of the tunnel, it was stinky, dark, echoey, hot and I could not get out of there fast enough!  My pace was slow because right at the very end of mile 9 I took my second gel and took a cup of accelerade from a station.
Mile 10- 9:19- Just running.  I have no memory of mile 10!
Mile 11- 9:50- I think this is the mile we went up a pretty steep little hill and everyone was all bunched up.  I tagged onto some guy zigzagging his way through and tried my best to keep my pace up.  I believe it was also around this point I realized we were suddenly downtown Seattle!
Mile 12- 9:08- I realized if I pushed it the last couple of miles I would beat my goal of 2:05!  All of a sudden I was surrounded by a sea of people wearing green aprons- Starbucks was volunteering at one water station!  I got really excited and felt like I was surrounded by "my people" for a minute.  I also turned my ipod completely off at this point, I wanted to take in the sounds of the finishing area.
Mile 13- 9:03- As we were running on the overpass suddenly I see a man sitting on the ground and two women are asking people if anyone has any water.  I had maybe an ounce or 2 in my water bottle so I start to slow down (kissing my 2:05 finish good bye) so I can offer it to them, but thankfully a guy right in front of me had a bottle nearly full and he stopped to help.  I hope that he was ok.  Anyways, I just kept pushing myself as fast as I could go.
Mile .1- 7:47- That's pretty fast!  I finally had the presence of mind to do a finish pose with my arms up AND stop my garmin right away.  It was 3 seconds off of my chip time.  Which was 2:04:18 by the way!  9 1/2 minutes faster than my previous PR for a half marathon!!!  

After crossing the finish line I got my awesome medal, grabbed some water, a banana, a bagel and a cytomax and wandered over to the family area.  My hands were completely full so I couldn't grab my phone out.  I stopped really quick to say hi to some of the blogger ladies, then headed to the letter H, assuming the family would be there waiting for me.  Nope.  So I set my stuff down and dug my phone out to give them a call.  They said they would be right there.  I ate my banana and about half of the bagel.  There was not a garbage can to be found- what was that all about?  Finally after about 10 minutes I couldn't stand it any more and go wander around to find a trash so I can free up my hands.  My spibelt turned out to be pretty handy, I fit my ipod in it and hooked my water bottle onto it.  Love that thing!

Done!  Not sure what is up with my hair! 

 BRF's together again!

Finally Will and the kids arrive, about 40 minutes after I crossed the finish line!  We went and sat down and waited for Cynthia to finish the full marathon.  Also they were presenting the awards to the winners and the band Everclear was playing.  It was a pretty cool atmosphere to hang out in.  After we met up with Cynthia we decided to go grab some lunch in Southcenter and headed to The Cheesecake Factory. 

Our tradition- DESSERT! 

Overall, I had a wonderful time at this race.  I don't remember too much of the course, but I think that is because I was too focused on my pace and staying in tune with my body.  I am super happy with my time, I kind of feel a bit of redemption after my marathon time.  I needed that boost, and I also think training for a full marathon makes running a half marathon feel easy.  I am fairly confident that I will be able to run a sub 2 hour half marathon this fall!  After all, a half marathon is just a 5K race with a 10 mile warm up (I saw that on a billboard at the race expo)!  Love it. 

Seattle RnR Half Marathon

Hi, my name is Tiffany and I am addicted to running races.  So yes, it is true-  I will be running the Seattle Rock and Roll half marathon in two days!!  This race was one that I was looking at for my first marathon but it just seemed too overwhelming to me.  There are 25,000 runners between the full and the half, and that just seemed a bit too much for me to take in while attempting my very first full marathon.  I thought it would be fun to run the half marathon, but the race filled up early and I was too unsure about how I would be feeling after running my marathon 3 weeks ago to take a chance and register.

Anyways, long story short I am going to use the race bib of somebody who actually registered for the race, then didn't train for it.  Who does that?  Apparently lots of people, take a gander at Craig's list if you don't believe me.  I know that some people are not able to run due to an injury as well, but if you want a last minute entry to the race and don't mind running under somebody else's name there is ample opportunity!  I guess this kind of thing is frowned on by the race officials, but I don't really see the harm.  I am racing in my correct age group and I am pretty sure I am not going to win any awards! 

Tomorrow morning I am heading up to the race expo to get all my awesome stuff and check out the fun gear.  I might be slightly addicted to running gear.  Ok fine.  Hi, my name is Tiffany and I am addicted to running gear and running races.  What is the harm in looking cute and sweaty at the same time? 

Then in the evening I am going to a dinner hosted by Tall Mom at The Spaghetti Factory in Tukwila.  She has organized this dinner for all of the blogger ladies who are either in the area or running the race this weekend.  I am going as Cynthia's date and I am actually a bit nervous to meet all of these fabulous ladies in real life!  I am kind of a quiet blogger- I read blogs but I don't leave a lot of comments.  I only have 19 followers (and I love you all!) although I know there are others who read and don't technically "follow"-hint, hint.  I don't participate in give aways because I don't have the patience for it.  But I do enjoy reading blogs of people who "get" running in the same way that I do. 

It's going to be a fun weekend!  And to top it all off I get to run with my long lost BRF (best running friend) Cynthia, even though she is running the full marathon.  I don't really have a goal time for this race, I just plan on giving it my all.  This will be a baseline for the many half marathons I have planned for the next few months, with the ultimate goal of running a sub 2 hour 1/2 marathon. 

I will leave you with one of my favorite sayings about running:

My sport is your sport's punishment

 

6 + 4 + 4

That about summarizes what I did on Saturday!

As I have mentioned before, I have signed up to run the Ragnar Relay Northwest Passage with team "How the West Was Run" which will take place on July 22nd and 23rd.  I have never been part of a relay team, but I am looking forward to trying something new!  Our team will be running 187 miles starting in Blaine, WA and ending on Whidbey Island.  There are 12 runners and 2 vans, so basically van 1 will start (that is my van) and each of the 6 runners inside will take a turn running their "leg" of the race, then van 2 will take over while we rest.  Then it will be our turn again, then van 2.  Then our van will run a third time and van 2 will finish it off!  So each person has 3 "legs" of the race to run.  Sounds FUN right???  Well, I think so anyways.  I am lucky runner number 6- my race portions are 6.5 miles, 6.6 miles and then 5.5 miles for a total of 18.6 miles all together.  I will be running the most miles in our van (runner number 1 is close with 18.5) and the second most for the whole team! 

Our Ragnar van! 

So my training plan for Saturday had me running 3 separate times throughout the day to get my body used to running several times in a short period of time.  I was scheduled to run 6 miles, 4 miles and then 4 more miles.  Sounded easy enough, except when I added the numbers together and realized I would be running 14 miles for the day.  Farther than a half marathon!  I knew I was more than capable of the mileage and was kind of excited to see how my body would handle it.
I woke up Saturday morning to our standard weather these days- grey, drizzly skies and chilly temperatures.  I ate a cliff bar really quick, drank some espresso and geared up for my first 6 miler.  It was really raining at that point so I threw my hat on and headed out the door.  I also wore my arm sleeves instead of a jacket- love those things!  I felt a bit sluggish during the entire run, and I also didn't want to go all out knowing I still had 2 more runs to complete for the day! 

Run #1= 6 miles, 59 minutes, pace of 9:45

When I got home I layed out all of my wet clothes hoping they would dry so I could wear them for the next run (don't judge) and had a protein drink, a gatorade and some chicken with rice.  Then I hopped in the shower which seemed kind of pointless but I do have some hygiene standards!  I ran to Target for a bit, then came home and relaxed for an hour or so before gearing up for run #2.  I ate a banana, put on my running clothes from earlier (which were still damp by the way, including my shoes) and headed out for run #2, about 4 hours after finishing the first run!  It was not raining this time and my legs felt really good for the first mile, not so good for miles 2 and 3, then pretty good for mile 4.  Not sure how to explain that!

Run #2= 4 miles, 38 minutes, pace of 9:32

This time when I got home I tossed my running clothes in the dirty hamper.  They were feeling kind of crunchy and there was no way I was going to wear them again!  Although I joked that people around town would start to wonder if I had been running non stop all day long if I didn't change.  I can just imagine "Honey, didn't that girl run by our house about 6 hours ago?"  Haha!

Yummy granola and coconut milk! 

This time I decided to have a bowl of granola with some coconut milk and a couple of hard boiled eggs.  It was kind of tricky eating at the right times and keeping hydrated with all of this crazy running!  I changed into some comfy clothes and entertained myself by playing some 'words with friends' on my phone and attempting to take some photos of myself.  I decided that my new favorite things in the world are my calf sleeves- they felt so good, like a hug for my leg.  Then I decided to lay down in the recliner with my blanket and read my book Once a Runner.  I don't think I ended up reading too much of it :)

Entertaining myself. 

I think I need to work on my self photography skills a bit

Reading my book.  Ok fine- I guess I took a little nap!!

After my power nap it was time to face the music.  I really didn't feel like gearing up AGAIN and heading out for those last four miles.  But I changed anyways and decided to eat some energy jelly beans to get me going.  Devan decided she wanted to ride her bike with me- yay for some company!  She is a good pacer and would help keep my mind busy making sure she didn't get run over.  Four hours after my second run we were out the door.  I was going to do the exact same route as before so I could compare my times.  I assumed I would be slower with each run, but I was wrong!  My energy level was great and I found myself able to push the pace pretty easily.  Devan did a great job and I was glad to have her along for my final 4 miles.

Run #3= 4 miles, 37 minutes, pace of 9:09

I was a tired girl after this last run!  I made myself some Nuun and stretched/foam rolled really well.  I fixed myself some chicken, rice, cucumbers and hummus for dinner.  We had been out to dinner with some friends at a place called Mediterranean Kitchen in Bellevue Friday night, and I ended up eating my meal 3 seperate times and never finished it all.  That is a large portion of food!   

Love nuun!  Tastes better out of a candy cane striped straw too! 

Dinner!  Leftovers from the Mediterranean Kitchen in Bellevue.  I was starving but there was no way I could finish it all.

I think the hardest part was mentally getting ready to run for a second and third time.  I am used to just going out for my run, then being done and free to enjoy the rest of the day!  This was very time consuming but I am glad I did it and I know that it will make my Ragnar experience more enjoyable.  At least now I am confident that I CAN run 3 times in one day!