Week 11: What I think about when I think about running

This week's title is a spin on the popular memoir by Haruki Murakami called "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running." I keep meaning to pick up this book. Maybe I will after the marathon. I ran for a very long time this weekend - almost 4 1/2 hours - 18 miles - the furthest I have ever run in my life. I had Wacarra with me during the first 6 miles and we chatted away about everything from the election to Weight Watchers to future career goals and aspirations. It's true that whenever I'm not running all I talk to her about is running, and when we are running we talk about everything else :)

After mile 6 we had to say goodbye and I continued on to the next 12 miles alone. I decided to try a new trail this time and started just outside of Matthews Beach Park at 97th Ave NE and Sand Point Way and ran 9 miles up past Bothell Landing and back. The views were straight out of a Monet painting (if Monet painted fall foliage). The trail led me over rickety bridges and still water, through windy paths littered with golden yellow leaves and tall birch trees, past a wild rooster and a pair of bronzed running shoes. Throughout the entire run I was reminded how fortunate I was to live in an area of the country that not only has stunning natural beauty at every turn, but also a population of tax payers who financially support the infrastructure needed to maintain such beautiful trails and parks. Thank you, King County.

So while I was surrounded by all of this beauty, on a slightly chilly, clear autumn morning, I thought about all of the wonderful things that have come into my life from the moment I began running. I am more satisfied with my career than I have ever been; I've become a more supportive friend; and I am in the best relationship of my life. In a nutshell, I am the happiest I have ever been, and I trust that things will only get better. I believe there is a direct correlation between running and achieving and my level of happiness. I guess you could say I've hit the runner's high.

The 18-miles wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Miles 13-16 were still difficult but once again I made it. For the very first time, I looked at my Garmin watch, at the 17.95 miles staring back at me from the display, and I was really, really proud of myself. Eighteen miles is an awesome achievement. I did it. I'm a runner.

Link to the Garmin Report

Week 8: 26 reasons to celebrate

After logging 30 miles this week, my body is exhausted, my knee is still in pain, and I feel totally beat down and broken. The usual. There aren't really any words to describe Saturday's 14-mile run. That is, it's hard to articulate that kind of physical and mental anguish. I will say that Body Glide is a girl's best friend. And it wasn't until I slipped into the hot shower (that is, several hours after my initial "ice bath" which was every bit as thrilling as it sounds) that I identified instantly every inch of my skin where I neglected to apply the Body Glide. This includes, but was not limited to: my belly button, in between my big and second toes, a small spot under my right arm, under my breasts, and.... wincing with embarassment .... in between my butt cheeks. Let's just say I won't make that mistake again.

On Sunday, Raj and I hit the road at 2am, stopping at Northgate Starbucks to pick up some fuel before driving south to Portland to watch Wacarra run the marathon. I am neurotic about arriving everywhere early, and in this case it worked to our advantage because we had our pick of street parking once we rolled into downtown. We had tons of time to kill, so we wandered around in the dark, people watching, with me paying close attention to the what all the marathon runners were eating prior to the race start. After killing time at yet another Starbucks, we wandered up to the race start at 3rd and NW Salmon. There was quite a crowd of spectators!


We were able to see Wacarra start, in either the 5th or 6th wave, then caught her again at mile 2 and between miles 4 and 5. After than, Raj and I wandered around looking for a good breakfast spot, and settled on Kenny and Zukes across the street from Powell's. The food was awesome! After breakfast, we spent a few hours in Powell's and then headed back downtown to catch Wacarra around mile 26.

We found a good spot to take photos a few hundred yards from the finish line. There was opera music blasting and a huge sign with a lady viking that read "It's almost over!" The crowd support was very inspiring! It was pretty emotional to watch the runners come in. These were the 4 hour + marathoners, the mortals, people you could actually relate to (vs. the 2-3 hour marathoners, aka "freaks of nature").

We spotted Wacarra a few minutes behind the 5:00 pacer - wow! What a great time!!! I was amazed that she was able to maintain such a solid pace throughout the whole race. Not only that, but she looked fresh and pretty damn happy. I snapped these shots at the 26 mile mark, with only 300 yards or so to go:

And then it was over, just like that. Afterwards, I asked her how it went and she said much easier than the training runs (which gives me hope), and miraculously she experienced no joint or knee pain. This completely baffles me.

Tonight I am going to get fitted for a new pair of shoes at Super Jock and Jill. I can't continue to run long distances with my knee pain, and I'm hoping a different pair of shoes will correct the problem (the knee braces aren't working). Switching shoes did the trick in the spring, and when I bought a new pair to train for this race I just bought the same pair of shoes. Maybe my gait has changed in the last 6 months? I guess we'll wait and see what the shoe people say.

Congratulations, Wacarra!

Week 6: Ouch, my knees!

Saturday's run was the second longest distance I've ever completed: 11 miles. Thank god Wacarra ran with me this week, as I probably would have A) probably postponed the run until Sunday due to the pouring rain B) bitched and complained even more than I did and/or C) had a much harder time finishing. Once the rain let up, I was able to enjoy a beautiful and secluded area of West Seattle that I had never seen before. I'll definitely be back here in a few weeks.

Miles 6-7 were tough and 9-11 were borderline agonizing. Running in wet shoes and clothes didn't help. Wacarra took this photo of me at the finish: HAPPY to not be running (and yes, still raining)... I hope as these Saturday runs continue to increase in distance that I'm able to find the mental and physical stamina to complete them on my own.

Next weekend: Bellingham Bay half-marathon

UPDATE 9/22: Edited to add that, despite the pity party I threw in honor of myself last week, I officially registered for the Philadelphia Marathon on Friday. The hotel room is booked and the race is paid for.... now Raj and I just need to book our airfare and we're ready to go!

Week 4: Nicely done!

Ran my 8 miler this morning with Wacarra, who has lost nearly 100 lbs. in less than a year through running...

This was a tough week, both mentally (watched far too much political coverage) and physically (my knee was hurting like a mofo all week). I'm afraid the old "knee issue" has reared its ugly head again, despite running with new shoes and a knee brace. I think I've pinpointed the problem which is doing my short runs on the treadmill. I think there must be a problem with my small muscle fibers and tendons compensating for the movement of the running surface... honestly, I have no idea, but I'm going to stay off the treadmill for a few weeks and see if that helps the situation.

The bad news is I took a 4 day break from running and missed my Thursday run in order to ease the pain a bit. I was having difficulty climbing stairs at work and even pushing the clutch down in my car was causing me to wince. After icing my knee and taking the rest it was back to business this morning. Wacarra, who is in the process of tapering down in her last month of training for the Portland Marathon, ran with me this morning on my 8 mile run along Lake Washington in Leschi. We had a great time! I'm not sure if it was the jelly beans I ate beforehand, or just having someone to talk to for a change, but the hour and a half breezed by and I felt like I could have easily done a half marathon today. Some days are just like that I guess.

Next weekend I am off to Bellingham for the Fairhaven Runners Waterfront 15K and I'm pretty jazzed to #1 - look at something besides Lake Washington and #2 - run in an actual event with people cheering us on. Looks like I will be doing this alone, as Raj has to work and my other friends will be MIA. Saaad :(

More unfortunate news - we found out yesterday that we will not be able to stay with one of Raj's friends in Philadelphia as planned (long story), so we will have to book a hotel room, which will run around $200/night for 3 nights. And I was really looking forward to touring Philly with a local! Oh well....

Wacarra told me about a cool little gadget called the Garmin Forerunner 305 today which is a running watch that measures pace, distance (by GPS, so it's accurate), calories burned, and heart rate. I've already checked craigslist and there are several, so I might pick one up today. I do love my gadgets. Looking forward to trying it out and posting a review soon.

Blast from the past

I was digging through some old CD's tonight and found this cruise video from 2005! I shot this footage using my Sony digital camera, which takes 15-second video snippets. I used to love making these little digital films... Back when I worked for Holland America I could pretty much cruise anytime, anywhere, for free! Ah, the good old days! Here's a bit of the Mexican Riviera on board the MS Oosterdaam.