Retired at the end of 2020. Been trying to find my way since then. Twenty-Six years at the same job is hard to get over! In the last few months in a new space doing non-farm life (a story for another time) I have re-discovered my love for sewing - more specifically quilts. Come back to see what might be hiding here. I may post a photo or two ;)
Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Nancy. I decided to retire early and my last day at the Fire District was December 31, 2020. My dream to do this pigs 'n poultry thing full time started on January 1, 2021. So far so good...
Another Independence run is DONE...I feel like that is all I can say each year post race day.
After getting my official time I was feeling like I was REALLY slow. Today, I decided to look back on my times and this one wasn't my slowest - YAY. Then I looked back on the website at my past times...and this one is wasn't nearly as bad as I first thought. This is the "fastest" of my slowest times...hehe.
With that, I can say that this year I felt pretty good on the hills, even though I still walked some of the course - I can also say, with confidence, that I actually did run up some of the first big ol' honkin' hill at around mile one...and part way up the hill leading up to the finish. The BEST part is coming from the turn around where it is down hill for quite a distance and I have been kind of working on continuing running downhill without stopping.
We looked for a old friend of ours from Federal Hwys, but I ended up seeing one of the guys from work along with his wife and son. It was fun to see him there! I'm hoping that Suzy & Jim will be able to join the fun next year...she's a good match for Tom ;)
Ridgefield's Independence Run #7 is in the books! Next year will be about at least getting closer to last year's time. Something to work toward!
a Polynesian woman or wife, especially in Hawaii or New Zealand.
Mary, Kristen, Me & Julie
Today was the day! Mary's first "real" running event put on by AA Sports. Technically, this one is her 3rd, but this is a biggie put on by AA Sports in Portland and they do a pretty nice job putting on a multisport event - I love coming to Blue Lake and haven't been since 2011 and now I'm itchin' to get back into all three sports.
BUT...this is about Wahine.
The power went off at our house right when we were getting ready to leave so it was perfect. Coffee, showers and breakfast all done so not a big deal. Off we went to pick up Mary...we ALMOST made it a quarter mile down the road from her house when I remembered that I didn't grab my watch. Dang! Back home we go!
We met up with Mary's co-worker right after we parked it and then we became a trio. As we were milling around Kristen arrived and we all got to hang out for a while before the Du and Tri races started. While we were getting our race bibs and timing chips on another woman came up to where we were and we eventually all were chillin' together waiting for the action to start.
The Duathlon started at 8 a.m. so we saw Kristen off before heading over to the lake to watch the different waves of swimmers get started. After watching several of the wave getting started, the first swimmer was getting ready to come through the finish chute to the transition area...then pretty soon the Duathletes were coming through and about 30 minutes into the race we saw Kristen come through...looking pretty fresh really.
Now it's 8:30 and us 5k'ers make our way to the start for our race. Oh, I had decided a few minutes before that since Mary and Julie would be run/walking together that I would try to race this morning...just for the fun of it.
The race started and I actually felt pretty good for about a half mile. Then we hit the ratty beat up bike trail and it was HOT. Holy Cow! I KNOW that it gets warm going out, but this morning had to be the warmest race yet! I'm thinkin' that I might want to train a little during the warmer part of the day...somehow. So, I ended up walking...A LOT! Kind of like the last time I was there with Robin (but I had to do the run twice then). It was slow going, but once we made it past the turn-around it wasn't that terribly anymore.
So, my race ended up being just over 44 minutes and I was probably 5 minutes ahead of Mary & Julie. So after getting some water Tom and I made our way down to the other side of the finish to look for Mary...I spot both of them while they were still a distance off and met them as they were coming up the last little hill getting ready to turn to the finish. Mary wasn't looking that happy at that point and she did a little running and a little walking and a little running and finally ran through the finish arch. She did it! She finished her first 5k race put on by a bonafide race organization!
Finally...done!
Seriously - why are you point that at me?
Yaay Julie and Mary!
Almost there!
For me it always take a few minutes to realize what just happened, but since I have a few races behind me, I know that what I'm doing is fun - even if I don't feel like it is. Well, this was true with Mary as well...after hydrating a bit and catching her breath she said she had fun! Yahoo!
I'm so proud of Mary - she worked toward this goal, it was a little scary and seemed a little out of reach, but with some encouragement and a couple of other opportunities to be in a race situation, she did it! One day she is going to be quite the athlete and I'll probably be trying to out stay ahead, but I'll be there cheering her on and celebrating too.
So, for next year I'm thinking that we should do the Duathlon as a team with me doing the first run and ride and Mary finishing us up!
The end of week 3 was not so great. I got out for about 15 minutes, if that long, and realized that a 5 mile run on my own was not going to happen. Before I even reached the main road, I decided to turn around and go back home. I'm getting better about my training runs though. If I don't feel that great I don't need to beat myself up if I want to turn around and go back home. At least I gave it a chance. As it turns out I didn't want to get out yesterday either. So, no long run in week 3.
Week 4 - well this week is all easy running. I'm SO excited!!! Mostly because I don't want to get all sore and tired before Saturday and have a bad experience with Mary...Wahine baby!
Okay, so I'm a little excited - it's almost Wahine time! It's been a 3 years since I have been to the All Women's event at Blue Lake and I'm really looking forward to getting back into this particular event/venue. Blue Lake is a favorite with us - Tom and I have done the Duathlon during the June event and then Robin and I teaming up to do the Duathlon at All Women's - oh and me doing a couple of Tri's there the last year that we were there. Man! It would be nice to get back into multisport, maybe see if I can get someone else to join the fun - perhaps Mary could run the 2nd 5k on her own while I do the first run and ride - THAT is a definite possibility for 2015.
Until then, Mary and I will be running the all new Hula Girl 5k together (there is also a 10K). She's been getting her running groove back and has been using those running shoes more often in the past few months. I'm so proud of her and the progress that she has made! In June we did the Marriage Team event together and my goodness when we are not running she is walking REALLY fast and I'm doing a bit of a fast shuffle run just to keep up with her. I was not blessed with the legs that go speedy while walking...it's almost like I'm a little kid trying to keep up with my mom at the grocery store or something. That's the great thing about Mary, she has a lot of get up and go when she wants to! So blessed to have a friend who is game enough to try new things!
Here's to an easy running week and a quick race on Saturday.
The 2014 Independence Run has come and gone and it was a good one! Not only did Tom get to run this year (he was out the last couple of years) our barista friend Suzy and a couple that we knew from our Federal Highways days also ran. Suzy's hubby was in attendance, but opted not to run.
Before the event started, there was a kids dash...which we got NO pictures of this year...the kids are so cute out running like crazy. Love that Ridgefield is a small town and that closing down main street is pretty easy!
Right after the kids dash we all got situated at the start. Since Tom runs his own race and would be "racing" Suzy he disappeared and was in the first half of people running. I stayed near the back so that there wouldn't be nearly as many people passing me - little miss poke-along...haha. The gun went off and then we were let loose.
About a half mile in I lost all sight of Tom and just settled into a pace that I could maintain until we started up the big hill. I felt pretty good for the first mile, but once the hill started getting a little steeper I was walking more than running, but still moving forward, because that is the goal. To keep moving! After about 15 minutes I saw Suzy and we high 5'd as we passed each other. I was a little surprised because Tom was so intent on trying to stay ahead of her. Then a short distance up the road I spied Tom coming around the corner...and I told him that I just passed Suzy and he was aware of that :(
The rest of the run from that point was pretty much how it always goes. To the turn around and then back down, down, down the hill and then one last climb to Main Street and then a half mile jaunt to the finish. The longest finish straight ever!
My goal was to finish with a faster time over last year's time. Which I did, by 36 seconds...I think. I'm not sure what the official time is, but my watch was telling me that I was about 37:59. We'll see what gets posted later.
While I may have taken time off of my last year's time...everyone else got 2nd place in their respective age divisions. I guess I'm going to have to get older if I am going to get 2nd in anything!
Tom is the only one paying attention!
The ribbons were a little cheap-o, but hey, bragging rights baby! Now that Tom is back at it...maybe we'll be doing this running thing together for a good long time!
It's been a couple of weeks since the Vancouver Half and we have been taking a bit of a break. Which is very refreshing. We have been getting out to run here and there and I'll get out as soon as I get home, no matter how warm it is (within reason).
The past few days I have had an issue with my allergies and that has REALLY slowed down my desire to run. I had hoped to run on Thursday last week, but with all the drips, watery eyes and a touch of congestion, I thought better of it and decided to just chill. I didn't chill for long and ended up getting out early yesterday morning. Yeah...can't keep a crazy person down! Today hasn't been too bad, still drippy, but I'm sure that a couple of miles won't kill me.
Late last week I sent off my registration for the Wahine All Women's event on August 2nd and today the registrations for the 4th of July run and the North County Wine Run both went out. I'M SO EXCITED!!! Even though the past few days have been iffy, I really am looking forward to starting the training plan for the North County Wine Run (half). There are a couple of other events that we are planning, but I wanted to make sure that I had these three sent in. The next closest one would be the Fairhaven 15k (Bellingham) on September 13. That will be our "destination run" hahaha. Fairhaven is so nice that it will be a nice break from SW Washington.
So, I haven't totally disappeared...just planning and plotting and getting ready to run again.
In search of sporty-sport women who want to try out a little multi-sport action at Blue Lake Park in Fairview, OR. The event is called the Wahine All Womens Triathlon, but it has more! There is a Duathlon, 5k and 10k run as well as a Hula Kids Triathlon.
It has been almost 3 years since I last was at Blue Lake and I'm itchin' to get out there again. It would be fun to have some of my more adventurous peeps come out and join the fun!
Go HERE for my 2009 Race Report and HERE for 2010 and HERE for 2011. As you can plainly see from the posts Robin & I were a team...and we had a BLAST!!
Think hula skirts and leis...and other island-y type items :)
I opted to wear last year's shirt - which was helpful for Tom.
I didn't blend into the crowd too much.
In the couple of days before this run, I had tried to convince myself that I wouldn't be running for time - I would be running this as a training run because my long run for this particular week was 3 miles. So I switched around my run days so that I would still have the right amount of no run days, blah blah blah.Well, silly me...I should know better by now. Every run is a race...whether it's training or an event. I can't help myself. It's TOO easy to start out fast...
Even with the steady climb and humidity - I did a decent run. I finished this run nearly a minute faster than last year and pretty much in the middle of my age division and overall. This running thing is starting to stick!
I've decided that I'm not really trying for any records...just going to keep moving for as long as my body will allow. So far so good!
This year's Independence Day run in Ridgefield was so FUN!
It's amazing what a little training can do - the hills haven't changed, but my attitude toward them did. I didn't train much on the hills, but I did do more than I ever have since we started doing this particular race. So, that is a good thing - straight away!
There really isn't a lot to elaborate on besides the fact that I felt better and really enjoyed my time on the road. I was hoping to run faster than my time from the first year we did this. But who am I trying to kid - I'm older and more tired now...Bahaha...but I did manage to cut more than 2 minutes off my 2012 time! So I'm totally stoked about that!
Oh, it seems that there was a change in the registration/line-up of the parade entries this year. Just getting started there were already parade entries lining up at one end of Main Street just before heading down the hill and out of town. Not a big deal right? Well, on the way back...there was minor chaos at the same spot with the 40 et 8 Loci passing and then stopping behind some other entries and some yahoo guy driving a red pick-up and getting very much in the way of the runners, but not so much that we couldn't pass by him. Not sure why there was a change, but at least they were not in town yet...so running down the middle of main street was fair game!
The one that that does mess me up year after year is the 4th of July banner that is strung across main street. You would think that once you see that banner that the finish would be right there...NOPE...that's at least another block away. The thing about this course is that you can see the banner and where the finish is from a 1/2 a mile away. And when you are hot and tired and just want to STOP, it's a little disconcerting to see the finish! It takes a while to get to the blocks where the businesses start too. The finish straight away has got to be the LONGEST of any of the runs that I have done - except for one of the Shamrock runs - but at least that finish was going down hill and there were people lining the route that made it a little more intersting.
Like with most of my runs, it feels so good to stop running, but keep moving. I had such a blast this time though...so much fun! I miss running with Tom and I'm hoping that he'll be cleared to run sooner than later. We'll find out at the end of the month. However, if he is cleared to run, we'll have to find someone else who is willing to rise at 5am and be our rolling support while we are running!
I was thinking about how this year I'm pretty much prepared for tomorrow...which is very unlike me for this particular event. The route for the Independence Day Run in Ridgefield is always the same - ALWAYS. There really isn't a way to change that, it's out and back - heading north out of town and then back to town. Even with the hills, it's a fairly quick run if you think running under 40 minutes is quick ;)
2009 was the first year that we ran this I was waaay unprepared for the hills. I should have known better that there would be hills, rural Clark County is like that. So, as surprising as that was I still managed to run the route in 38:19. For some crazy reason I did not record my time for the 2010 race. The following two years were 40:50 and 40:55.
I'm shooting for at least 38:19. Which would be awesome because that time was from 4 years ago and I wasn't terribly fast. However, in the last few months, I have been actually running pretty well. So I'm excited about that. In the big picture I do not want to post a time more than 40 minutes. That is my ultimate goal!
Today was the big day that I've been training for the past 4 weeks. The last 5k I did was last August - the Every Girls 5k in Ridgefield which I posted a 38:46 (12:29 pace) which for me was a huge deal because I hadn't run that pace in a while. The previous to that race was the 4th of July run which I did a 40 minute 5k, but to be honest...I hadn't trained much on hills and if you are going to run in Ridgefield, you're gonna run on the hills!
ANYWAY - today started out at 61 degrees at our house at 8 a.m. and I'm was already kinda psyching myself out because I am not much of a warm weather runner...and yes 61+ is warm when you consider that most of my runs occur in the very early hours of the morning and the temps are still in the high 40s to low 50s in June. Things will slowly creep upward...but today, after a week of cooler temps I was not feeling the already 60 degree morning.
Since Tom had to work this morning I made my way down to Esther Short park, found a fabulous place to park it and made my way around the venue waiting for the start of the race. I LOVE running events - there are so many different people who turn up for a 5k run - it's awesome! The skinny people...not so skinny people, old folks and kids...no one is left out! My favorite thing about these shorter races is that it's really family friendly and I absolutely LOVE watching parents coaching their little ones along the course - what a way to instill confidence in these kiddos!
The other really great thing that I was not expecting is that the event organizer opened up our time together with a word of prayer- this is the first time that I have encountered prayer at a public event! Praise God for those event organizers making time to ask Jesus for safety and strength for the runners! There also was a moment of silence for the Boston victims and then the Star Spangled Banner - all things that make me seriously weepy! I'm getting weepy again now...time to move on!
The first couple of blocks of the course is flat and then a turn up Broadway and it's a climb all the way to Evergreen where it kind of levels out. It's such a nice course too, once runners leave downtown we get to run through the Fort Vancouver Historic site along Officer's Row. So pretty through there! As we made our way through the park we cross over 5th Street and head to the path that goes to the Land Bridge - it's crazy to think that even though you are directly above Hwy 14 it just doesn't feel that way. Then there is a quick jaunt down Columbia before the turn around and back to Esther Short park.
My Goal time: 37:17 (11:57)
My Unofficial time: 37:53 (12:12)
I'll take it! I was hot and SO not ready for the hills. I should have known, but I rarely want to run hills in training. It's time to start though, and I keep saying that each year! The next couple of weeks will feature more hill work to get ready for the 4th of July run! I'm very happy with my 12:12 pace...I'm on my way to running my best year ever!
Oooh...the MC for the event (all weekend) is Bart Yasso!!!
(photo credit athleticsillustrated.com)
The only reason why I am familiar with his name is because of Runner's World magazine!!! I didn't know until this morning that he would be here for the entire event - SO COOL! I wish I could have gotten a picture of him and one with him :( Oh well, there is always next year!
Week Three of my 4 week training plan is HIS-TORY! In fact, as of today I only have one more training run and a couple of rest days this week before the big day on Saturday!!!
Today was a refreshingly short run of two miles. I managed my 5 miler on Saturday pretty well and felt good all the way to the end. I was also tired later in the morning and napped for a couple of hours after lunch!
Tomorrow will be yoga or pilates and then Speedwork on Wednesday (3 miles total, 2x800 with 400 recovery incl. warm up and cool down).
I'm looking forward to my 2nd event of the year and hope that the time goal will become a reality. I'm a little skeptical right now, but stranger things have happened and a 11:57 mile I suppose could be a possibility. Just trying to convince my short, slow, stubby legs of that idea - hee hee...
The plan is to do a fartlek session tomorrow. Last week I did a 3x800 training and did alright. Now I'm wondering if maybe I should do the training that I should have done last week this week...which is 2x1600 w/800s in-between (total 4 miles with warm up and cool down). I have yet to make friends with the fact that I would be running at not quite race pace for four laps in 12:05 - TWICE.
My "lightning" quick calculations tells me that I would have 3 minutes to complete each lap - which would be totally doable as last week my 800s allowed me 5:43 per 2 laps and I consistently came up with at least 20 seconds to spare with each interval.
"Coach" Tom (aka the hubby) will be at the track timing my laps - which is nice, but it could be a boring job for him. The good thing is that he'll be on his bike, so he could ride a lap or pace me while I'm running and then sprint ahead to call out times....hmmm...that could work!
I do have a little concern though, I haven't had a decent run since my last speedwork training and have been a little discouraged. Yesterday was miserable as my legs were tired and it was raining and windy - nothing to be discouraged about there...right?
So, last week I decided it was time to find an event, register and train for it. This week was week one of a 4 week training plan to run the Freedom 5k on June 15.
This week's training:
Sunday - Rest (gotta psyche myself up for the week)
Monday - Easy 3 miles run
Tuesday - Easy Pilates
Wednesday - Speedwork, Dist: 4 mi, inc Warm; 3x800 in 5:43 w/400 jogs; cool down.
Thursday - Rest (YAAAY)
Friday - Yoga
Saturday - Long run - 4 miles.
Probably the most comfortable run this week was my Monday run - 3 miles, easy-peasy!
Since I have not been good at doing speedwork in the past...because I'm pretty much a whimp...I was pretty proud of myself for doing the whole speedwork plan for this week. I'll tell you what, it HURT, but I did all three intervals in 5:20, 5:19 and 5:16. Also, I was informed by my "Coach" - Tom - that getting faster is not the norm. I should have been getting slower - I guess I'm a little motivated to keep within the time prescribed for each interval :)
Long run Saturday was a little rough. I had sore muscles and was feeling not so great about running. Legs felt a little heavy and my arms were sore (stupid downward dog). I'm hopeful that in a week I'll feel better and do better if I continue to follow my plan. There isn't a reason why I shouldn't.
Next week is pretty much the same, except Long Run will be 5 miles instead.
So, earlier this week I had mentioned that I needed an event to give all this running a sense of purpose.
Well, after some surfin' around yesterday I decided that I should register to do the Freedom 5k on June 15. I thought about doing this run last year, but I don't remember why I didn't. No matter, I'm good to go this year.
I have 4 weeks to get race ready - as in reach my runnersworld.com time goal of 37:10. I can't remember the last time I ran a 5k in a time close to that (although I think my first run at one of my Duathlons may have been an 11+ minute mile). The first two weeks I have speedwork sessions for my second run of the week and then a tempo run in the 3rd week and the final week before the event is SUPER easy and one last speedwork session. Long runs on Saturdays will be either 4 or 5 miles. For once I'm looking forward to Speedwork - go figure. Should be fun - trying to psyche myself into fun training mode.
Tom will be coming with me to the track at the middle school to time my intervals for me, that way I can will know how I'm doing right away and make adjustments as needed. The one thing I'm not terribly excited about is that the intervals are 800s and I will have to do 3 during those particular runs. We'll see how things go - I'm good at making some training days shorter than they should be. However, this morning I did a four mile tempo run (mostly) and managed to do the 4 miles. So really, anything is possible. Just gotta be mentally tough and not let my whimpy body take over, because I KNOW that I'm capable of so much more!
My goal is to keep to the training schedule and not sleep in on Monday because that's what I've been doing. I want the option to do some cross-training on my off days.
Besides the Freedom 5k I'm planning to run the 4th of July run in Ridgefield on the 4th of July (duh) and then I'm hoping to do the Run Girl Run in August. Nothing in September...yet. Run Like Hell in October and then the last run for the year Hot Buttered Run.
The disappointing thing for me is that Tom has not been released to run by his doctor yet so I've been doing a lot of running around the neighborhood by myself. It looks like I may be running a lot of these events by myself, unless he gets a green light before October and he might be able to do Run Like Hell...hoping and praying...
With all these possibilities in place I'm feeling a little more complete as far as what run events I have in mind. Now, if I could only get myself out on the time trial course with the bike club...that would be PERFECT!
This is as of today (May 16)
I'm ahead of pace bunny by 2 miles!
Had a fun day yesterday! Started off by running a 5k that started at the Amphitheater and basically went around and through the fairgrounds.
Have been working hard at sticking to my training plan and switched it up last week - changing it from a 1/2 marathon plan to a 10k plan. Had to make the training hard to get it to match where I was in the 1/2 plan...and also because the 10k that I'm planning to run is in October - so CHOP CHOP!
Tom likes to ask me if I am excited about whatever event I'm going to do. My usual response is "Not really" which I want to say is weird, but it's how I feel. I guess I just don't get hyped up like some people do. When I get to the event I look forward to things getting started, but excited? Not so much.
The race started shortly after 7am and off I went with more than 200 other ladies - various shapes, sizes and abilities. That's kind of a nice thing. It's one thing to run a coed event where I just get passed like crazy by a bunch of guys. I guess this is the nice thing about a women only event, I pass and get passed probably equally throughout the run. Kind cool.
So, here I am running by myself and can't wait until we get to the point where the 1/2 marathoners go their way and the 5k'ers go their way. It's at this point that I can figure out who exactly I'll be hanging with and probably finishing pretty close to and just enjoy the morning.The route went past the Public Safety Center and then down to Delfel road and into the fair - down the main alley way and out where Gate G is and back up to the Public Safety Center - and finally back to the finish at the amphitheater.
At about 1.5 miles from the finish there are a couple of gals that are running together and one of them made a comment about passing - again. I would run for a while, pass them and then hit a point that walking was the better thing to do and start walking. Then they would pass me and this went on for about .75 miles. At the water stop at 179th Street, I decided that I would take on some electrolytes and then start running back to the finish - which for the most part was downhill. After a while I encountered another woman who I was "leap-frogging" with and we went back and forth with passing. I finally had enough of all this back and forth stuff and decided to just go for it and started picking up the pace and passed the two gals and then the older woman, who by the way had a pretty good pace going.
In the end, I passed these ladies and kept going...finished strong AND beat my 4th of July run time by 2 minutes - my 2012 PR! My finish time actually calculated out to a 12:30 pace - which for me is pretty swift! With my shorty legs, I'm sure that won't run a sub-12 minute pace, but hey, at least I know I can do it! Even if it almost kills me!
I decided to add a gadget from the runningahead.com website where I log a lot of my workouts. It looks like I haven't been running a lot this year, but I think I have...really. Now that I'm in run mode - looking to do a half marathon before the end of the year, I think there will be recording more miles in my log.
Today was the Ridgefield Runner's 4th of July run. The course is out and back which seems to do nothing but climb after 3/4's of a mile. The good thing is that it's down hill from the turn-around - then another climb and flat all the way back. I walk most of the hills because there's no shame in walking! I did manage to run part of the hills, but only where it wasn't too steep. The chances that I'll run a good time at this particular race is pretty slim, but at least I get out there and do it!
Tom ran great this morning, completing the course in 25:50 (I think). Way to go Tom!
2011 PR - 37:43-ish. It's "ish" because we ended up having to stop at a railroad crossing - stupid trains, so my actual chip time was closer to 44:52...boooo...not my fault!
I THINK that this is the fastest I have run a 5K (event) in over a year. I haven't taken a look, but I'm pretty sure that I didn't run under 38:00 last year. So, my 2011 5K PR is set...maybe I can beat it a the Heart Breaker Half event next month.
Saturday morning we are heading to Downtown PDX to do the Twenty11 Resolution Run and I have done exactly one run that consisted of a 5k distance since the end of July. I'm good to go! It's not that I haven't been running, because I have, just not 3 miles...usually a mile and a half or two miles. Three miles might be pushing it on Saturday...but I felt pretty good last week when I ran my first 3 miles in months that I think it will be good!
I'm pretty sure that the cool temperatures will keep me moving because standing still for too long will result in frozen extremities...boooo...not good.
This is the first event that will hopefully be followed by many more...I'm really looking forward to the sporty-sport opportunities of 2011!
Today was the Ridgefield 4th of July fun run...I have not trained or anything since the Du and the fact that I could mostly run the whole thing is a huge accomplishment, especially since this was quite the hilly route. I forgot to stop my timer on my watch and I'm figuring that I probably did it in under 38 minutes...but we'll have to check and see later.
With all the hills I think I did pretty decent - and it was fun! I am used to running in the cooler hours of the morning (5 a.m.) so it was a little warm running at 8 a.m. It would be a wise thing to run a little bit later in the day on the days that are not 85+ for the summer runs. I am finding that I like to push myself more and more all the time. Now I know what I need to work on - speedwork and hills! Tom did well and came in under 30 minutes (he thinks). After maybe 3/4 of mile I told him to go and run his own race - I'm glad that he did. Then I could focus on doing my own race. I know that I will never do a super great run, but working at it and trying to improve over the last run is what I am interested in. Also, I know that we'll pass after he makes the turn around and I'm going to the 1/2 way mark. I also like having someone cheering me on at the finish...that's cool!
The next Du/Tri is less than a month away and I'm hoping to get my team together for a fun morning.
Or a Tri - as a team. Last week was a week off from serious running, riding and other things I should be doing to prepare for multi-sport events. I decided to ride to work today and make it a sprint, as much as I physically could. The ride was good and I feel a little tired still, but I can't stop completely. It's part of my obsessive nature. I really want to do the All Women's Du (or Tri relay) so I'll be ramping up the training again in the next couple of weeks. There is a 5K race in Ridgefield, so that will be a possibility, just to get out with a bunch of runners. Runners who are much faster than I am, but I need that so I know what I am capable of.
It is possible that I do a lot, but that's okay, I have all winter to rest ;)
.JPG)
