Last day of 2006....

It's New Year's Eve and we are happily home on the couch in our sweats...not exactly party animal central, but we have jetlag as an excuse this time (not sure what our excuse was the last 2 years when we were asleep by 10 p.m on New Year's, but this one seems slightly more credible? Maybe?). We got back from Georgia/Florida yesterday and had a great trip...in between my mom's famous Christmas cheesecake, her bottomless cookie plate, and the turkey dinner and piles of leftovers, we read tons, relaxed, and actually had a pretty decent week of training. The heat and humidity came back down by the end of the week and we got in another long run on Friday. I was supposed to do 15 miles, but had been sick on Wednesday (a stomach ache pretty well levelled me for almost 24 hours) and 13 miles felt awfully long (my avg. HR was 159 even though I was running a 10 min. mile pace), so I decided 13 miles was enough. Fortunately, we'd received Christmas gift certificates for massages at the local health club, so that was a nice reward for finishing the long run!

Today we started out the day with a short run around Greenlake and then, this afternoon, we decided to get re-aquainted with our bikes since it was sunny. I haven't done an outdoor ride in several weeks and a 26 mile ride was embarrassingly humbling. It was really fun to be out to finish 2006 with a bike ride, but it was honestly hard to believe that RAMROD actually happened in this calendar year...there were some serious cobwebs in my legs. I got a swanky new bike trainer for Christmas and it seems I need to start using it pronto.

Tomorrow we're hosting a New Year's Day brunch party and will attempt to send several of our closest friends into 2007 with full tummies.

Here's the summary of this week's training:

HO HO Hot, Humid, High Heartrate!!

Greetings from St. Simons Island, Georgia where Seujan and I are visiting my mom & stepdad...we arrived 2 days ago and have settled in well to being spoiled, eating well, and going to the beach periodically (it's less than a mile away). Yesterday, we did a spin class and lifted weights at the local health club and today was long run day. It's only about 70 degrees out, but it rained a lot last night and the humidity is over 70%...doesn't sound that bad, but our 12 mile run today was pretty painful---at least for me. SJ, at a good 20 bpm lower than me, strolled along easily while I tried to keep up, barely holding a 10 minute mile pace. Seujan said my breathing sounded pretty awful and it FELT pretty awful, especially in the last 2-3 miles. Fortunately, I survived (kept thinking this is probably a good simulation of how much I might not want to run during the Ironman) and we ended our run on the beach where we both hopped in the water up to our waist (regretted I didn't bring the wetsuit) and stood in the water for a while to cool down. THAT part and walking barefoot on the beach was blissful. I have a new heartrate monitor now and I'm afraid it's accurate...12 Mile run, 2:02, Avg. HR = 156. Both the half marathons I did this month were easier than this flat humidity fest run. Tomorrow is a REST day!

Recovered and re-loading...

We came back to Seattle this week just in time for the biggest wind storm in a decade and the most rainfall in a single day...good thing we didn't stay in Tucson or we'd have really missed out, huh? Winter sucks, winter sucks, winter sucks. Leaving Tucson and the 70 degrees + sunshine was a big bummer.

The recovery week went well...I was a bit sore for a couple of days, but was able to run Tuesday, Thursday, and did a 10 miler today...got in 2 spins, 2 swims, and 2 lifts, too. We also threw in some culture this week and Seujan took me on a last minute date to see "The Nutcracker." It was really fun---the sets were outstanding---and we noted that it was actually fun to be at an event without a start/finish line or porto-potties (although, fortunately, there was a halftime so I could visit the water stop). Later today, we're continuing the festive/cultural trend and are joining some friends to see "The Black Nativity," (http://www.intiman.org/plays/n_about.html), which should be great.

After the last few races, I'm starting to think about when and where I want---wait, I don't "want," but need---to do a marathon. The target timeline is March or April so I have enough time to recover and start biking again before the summer races. I was thinking about doing the Whidbey Island marathon in mid-April, but after watching how hard the marathon training, race, and recovery is every time for Seujan, I think I want to just get on with it and get through it. Today 10 miles felt good, but it was plenty. I ran my Lake Union + Howe St. stairs + Interlakken loop. Part of Interlakken was "closed" due to post storm damage, but I (and several other walkers and runners) went past the tape and signs anyway to continue through the obstacle course of branches and downed trees. When I ran past the hillside/overpass up Eastlake where usually there are several homeless people, their area looked abandoned and recently raked/cleaned. I wonder if they found a shelter or something when the winds and rain hit... hope so.

Long run today:
10 miles
1:34:26 (= 9:26 per mile avg. pace)
HR Monitor, continuing to be ridiculous, said HR Avg. = 165 (no way was that accurate, the stupid piece of crap)

Gravity is my friend!

Great race day for both Seujan and me today...she qualified for Boston (see her blog for her race resport)!! We were up at crazy o'clock to get to our shuttle busses and out to the start lines...of course, I was uber-early and we were both on the very first bus...I even was the first user of a porto-potty. My start line was basically in the middle of the road way out of town and the holding area was a freezing cold dusty vacant lot. Fortunately, there were propane heaters and porto-potties there for the race, although the lines for the porto's got so ridiculously long that I opted for tumbleweeds twice instead, as did several of my fellow runners...finally, after way too long of a wait in the dark, the race and daylight started at 7:00 a.m. and the mountains were in view the rest of the day. Gorgeous one way course into Tucson.

The idea of a "fast downhill and flat course," was something we had worried a little about (i.e. the potential for quads becoming hamburger), but actually, the course format saved my bacon. My goal time today was 10 minutes faster than 2 weeks ago on the hilly Seattle course and I definitely worked harder to hit it, but the course certainly helped. The first 4 - 5 miles were downhill (contrary to SJ's perceptions of her miles 13-17, they really were downhill) and I decided in that first chunk to simply accept the gifts of the course as much as possible today...I let gravity push me along and I worked a little harder to maintain a good pace on the flats. I had my own water and Clif Shots and ate 2 shots, starting at mile 8, and that was fine. My stomach was a little "off" here and there, and at the mile 10 marker, I got a freaking sideache...I was ahead of schedule, so I backed off a little (but refused to walk) and fought it off in less than a mile. By the end, I was definitely ready to be done and found myself wondering how the hell I'm going to do a full marathon in a few months, but I re-focused on what I had in front of me today and stayed pretty strong to the end. I worked hard today and it took a few hours to recover, especially my upset stomach...but I feel great now! We went to Canyon Ranch for spa and massage treatments, had a great dinner with Jill & May and life is GOOD!! Seujan thinks we should come back next year for me to do the full marathon and try to qualify for Boston '08, but I think she's a nutcase. We'll see...for now, I'm quite happy with this!

My splits from today's race:

Mile 1: 9:26
Mile 2: 8:38
Mile 3: 8:44
Mile 4: 8:30
Mile 5: 8:35
Mile 6: 8:44
Mile 7: 7:51
Mile 8: 8:20
Mile 9: 9:00
Mile 10: 8:22 (big downhill in this mile)
Mile 11: 9:03 (Side ache mile)
Mile 12: 8:35
Mile 13: 8:56 (the only uphill of the course, thanks for saving it till the end)
Last .1 mile: :50

Total time: 1:53:38
Goal was 1:55...NAILED IT! :) Whoo-Hoo!!

Race tomorrow...

We are in Tucson with the marathon (Seujan) and the half marathon (me) in the morning. It's been a hell of a week, but I managed to follow the workout part of my taper plan well (with the exception of one weight training workout that got scrapped). Sleep was reduced and stress was dramatically increased due to the dog...who, unfortunately, we have decided to return to the shelter. The separation anxiety resulted in a destroyed metal crate from which she escaped and trashed the house, multiple prescription drugs (unfortunately, the vet didn't give US any, and they didn't seem to work for the dog), 2 kinds of doggie phermones, a citronella collar, a lot of petsitting/training time, toys, and various other failed strategies...which fortunately, did not include the other residents of our condo kicking us out, but we were afraid we were pushing it. We are sad about taking her back, but it just wasn't the right fit...

Anyway, we have a race tomorrow and have, in the last 2 days, been able to focus on that again. I swam outdoors yesterday and today which I LOVE and am as ready as I can be-- after a week like we had-- for a good run. I'm following the same nutrition plan for tomorrow as I did 2 weeks ago, I will carry my water, and I will enjoy the scenery and sunshine. My race plan isn't as detailed as it was 2 weeks ago, but I think I'll try to follow a similar strategy: go out slow, especially since the first few miles are downhill...then maintain pace in the middle 5-6 miles, and let it go at the end, trying to hit the faster time goal. There is one hill in particular that is supposed to be steep and in the second half of the race, and I know I need to take small steps there and try to conserve the quads a bit...on the flats, I'll try to push it a bit more.

Race reports will be posted in the next day or 2!

Separation axiety woes

So Mocha, the sweetest cutest dog ever has definitely bonded with us, especially with Seujan. She also has proven that she really IS housetrained and the initial indications to the contrary were probably just the result of first day stress. This is all great...but now we're seeing that she's SO well bonded to us that there are some separation anxiety issues (those issues being loud whining and some freaking out which is not exactly "neighbor of the year" behavior in a condo). So...we're riding the learning curve...she in her new crate and we reading and googling "crate training" in between brief departure intervals to test the waters. Seujan is the top trainer of the household and had a way more difficult morning with the dog than I did on my long run...

Today's long run was really good and technologically enhanced. I went 8.5 miles and borrowed a friend's Garmin 201 GPS to test drive it, so I was gadgeted out...GPS on one wrist, regular watch on the other. I ditched the HR monitor again, as well as the water bottle. Loved the GPS (especially to verify the last mile for time) and am thinking about asking Santa for the Garmin 305 that has HR, GPS, stopwatch, etc. Nice cool sunny (!) morning and I had a nice run around Lake Union + Portage Bay.

Long Run:
8.5 Miles
1:17:41
Power burst at tempo pace for .6 miles from 4.67-5.27 miles
Last mile, fast mile: 7:44!!
No water, no nutrition

Dog Blog!!

Seujan and I became doggie parents yesterday...we met this cute chocolate lab mix, Mocha, on Sunday at a shelter and Seujan went back to spring her yesterday. She's about 3 years old, we think, and has a bit of an unknown past, although we know she's been around the block a bit. Fortunately, her maternal possiblilites were stopped at the shelter... Mocha has a few special needs including a fear of doorways and linoleum and she isn't exactly as housetrained as we anticipated, but she's sweet, sweet, sweet and we have high hopes for crate training which will commmence today.

Mocha and the snow were the big news this week...I observed several kids sledding on grass earlier this week (ok, there was some snow, but the hills were more green than white)...snow hype in Seattle is great.

Workouts have been good this week and I'm mostly recovered from the Half Marathon and thinking about the next one, although my quads got sore again the last couple of days. Did a few aerobic runs, 2 swims, 2x weight training, and a good interval workout yesterday on the treadmill. Haven't seen my bike or a spin class in over a week, though. And now, lots of dog walking is being added to the schedule!

Yesterday's interval workout:
10 min warmup at 10 min. mile pace
2 x .75 mile at 7:35 pace
2 x 1 mile at 7:35 pace
HR up to 158-162 on intervals...basically tempo pace
10 min cool down on the elliptical machine

Ran the plan, man!

So here I am today after my FIRST half marathon...which, I found out later, I happened to have run with Joan Samuelson!! OK, I didn't exactly run "with" her as there were something like 7,000 people out there and she apparently was the 4th female finisher and I was, well, 1,072nd... BUT I was running on the same course as she was for a small period of time!!! I wish I'd have known earlier that one of my all time heroes was doing the race...but oh, well, it's cool to know it now.

I wrote out my whole race plan earlier this week and am happy to report that I stuck to the plan pretty darn well, if I say so myself (there were some of those moments like the old snoopy cartoons where he has conversations with various body parts--see challenges section below-- and discusses their complaints, but mostly we all got along). My plan was to go out slowly, relax and settle in for about 4 miles...then "Keep it loose, keep it tight" and bring up the pace a little bit for the next 5 miles...then run how I felt the last 4 miles, just observing how the end would go more than trying to control the pace. My goal time was 2:05 and I ran a 2:03:58, negative splitting the course. I never felt like I was pushing super hard---none of it felt as fast/awful as tempo runs lately have, but I was definitely ready to be done by the end, that's for sure. I had a strong, consistent run and that was the goal. This was prep race for Tucson in 2 weeks and my first half marathon, so I gave myself a few breaks and didn't go out on a suicide mission.

Things that went well: taper and workout prep this week was great...I felt rested and not sluggish. Slept and ate well/lots the last few days (scale had me about 1.5 pounds heavier than usual this morning...oops, should've tapered on the pumpkin pie, too, I guess). Glycogen stores were up, for sure. Pre-race schedule and timing of coffee/breakfast was fine. I carried my water bottle and that was good, too...no screwing around and running into people at water stations. My only nutrition on the course was one Clif Shot Block that I put in my mouth at mile 9 that still hadn't dissolved at the finish...just didn't feel like I needed any calories. I got all my mile splits, but decided earlier this week not to use the HR monitor. It would be cool to have that data, too, but I know where I was on RPE and having the splits helps. It really helped to have several pieces of the course be familiar...I felt strong on those stretches in particular. I also had amazing race support from Seujan...chauffer, bag schlepper, food finder at the finish area, french toast maker post race, and "I'm proud of you" sayer. And she didn't even complain about getting up at 5:15 a.m. or hanging out in the cold rainy crap all morning the day after she ran 18 miles...

Challenges: Weather sucked. It was 37 degrees and raining/slushing for much of the race, with the occasional breeze. Puddle stomp-o-rama. Fortunately, we found rock star parking and I was able to stay warm in the car until shortly before the race started...took me 3 minutes to get to the start line, but once I got going, I was pretty warm. My numb toes checked in at about mile 3 and actually felt normal by mile 4 and after. Hills. None of them were as long/hard as the hill I regularly run home from Greenlake, but there were a damn lot of rollers. My quads let it be known at about mile 9 that they were starting to blow up and said loudly, "take note of where we are going to be really sore tomorrow..." Note taken...they are already sore now. Mental gymnastics. Mostly I stayed focused and my "my pace, my race" mantra prevailed. I had a couple of freakouts in the middle where I thought I was running a bit too slow and where I worried about whether I had enough reserves for hills and all the miles...but I let the doubts go in and back out and stayed pretty steady.

My splits are below. I averaged 9:27 and placed 1,072 of 3,458 women.

Mile 1: 10:36
Mile 2: 10:04

Mile 3: 9:53

Mile 4: 9:28

Mile 5: 10:06
Mile 6: 8:57

Mile 7: 9:25

Miles 8 and 9 together in one split: (where the hell was the "8" sign??) 19:09
Mile 10: 9:51

Mile 11: 7:45
Mile 12: 8:53
Mile 13.1: 9:45

Total Time: 2:03:58

Below is last week's workouts...just under 10 hours for the whole week.

Tryptophan happiness

We started Thanksgiving by sleeping in then running intervals...nothing like a turkey trot to start a good holiday! Fortunately for me, it's a taper week and I only had to do 6 x 400 at the track which was almost fun compared to recent interval workouts. Although my legs were a bit tired on my cooldown, it was a good workout and I held all of the 400's between 1:45 - 1:47, so I was happy with it. The next 2 days will be swimming only before the race on Sunday...will go to the Expo tomorrow to pick up my number and we'll probably take our little sister to see "Happy Feet."

With the exception of some dinner rolls that behaved as if I hadn't included yeast and got tossed and replaced by a last minute Safeway run by Seujan late in the game, Thanksgiving was a success...2 days of cooking produced a good mountain of food and lots of leftovers, so I can be lazy for a few days. The brined turkey turned out well, Seujan's cranberry martinis were a hit, Stacey helped us figure out gravy production, and I somehow managed to not eat(or drink) to the point of being stuffed and in pain. Seemed our guests were happy with the day, too. Good holiday!

Yesterday's workouts:
3000 yd. swim at swim team
30 min. Greenlake run
Lifted weights
(and cooked 3 pies, cranberry sauce, and sweet potato casserole!)

Today:
18 min warm up run
6 x 400 (1:45 - 1:47 for each)
18 min cool down run

win a few, lose a few...

This morning I decided to sleep in a little and flex my navigational skills by taking the bus to work. I won't expand on all the painful and embarrassing details, but let's just say I confidently set out for a 20 minute "express" trip downtown and 2 busses, 2 bus fares (because why would I ask for a transfer when I thought the first bus was going downtown), an hour and a half, 2 satsuma oranges and a banana (thank god I had snacks), a bathroom stop (good thing the first bus went the wrong direction near a Tullys coffee shop) and several ipod songs later...I arrived at the office. I now know to read the fine print on the Metro website and that busses 65, 66, and 67 are probably not interchangeable just because they might stop near my house with their nose pointed towards downtown. Whatever. I wasn't particularly excited to get to work, anyway, except for the fact that my cereal was there.

My midday luck was much better than my early luck today...I went for a nice aerobic run at lunchtime which included a small piece of the Seattle Half Marathon route (wanted to leave myself some good energy on the course for Sunday). I thought through my race plan for Sunday while I ran and, although it was a bit windy at the end, it was a nice, dry run with some actual sunshine at the beginning. About 30 minutes after I got back to work, a big thunder and hail storm hit the city...everyone in our office could hear the hail slamming on the windows. I'm glad my bad luck for the day (knock on wood, yes I do realize the day is not over) went into transportation and not weather.

Here's a good photo of the storm, along with stats about how this will probably be the rainiest month in Seattle history:

http://www.komotv.com/news/4711956.html

Anyway, mapmyrun.com says that I ran:

5.86 miles at a 9:13 pace. (54 minutes)

I didn't wear my HR monitor...we're not friends lately and I decided just to go on RPE.

To brine or not to brine...

I think I've decided to brine the Thanksgiving turkey this year...I've read and heard conflicting reviews of brined turkeys, but more seem to be positive than negative, so I'm going to try it. I've done at least one endurance grocery shop and am almost ready for Thanksgiving...the cook-a-thon will officially begin on Wednesday afternoon. We've located and test driven a really good cranberry martini recipe, so my goal is to have our guests somewhere between happily mellow and completely hammered by the time the turkey is done anyway, so it won't even matter whether it's good or not! Regardless, I'm looking forward to the holiday...and, of course, the half marathon calorie burn-off next Sunday.

Yesterday was my long run day and it was only 9 miles this week...went around Lake Union + Portage Bay with a little extra at the end. The weather was abnormally dry and really nice, so after my run, I biked out to Marymoor and met up with Seujan and Diana who had been biking already for a few hours. It was really fun to ride a comfortable pace on a completely flat route, with a tailwind at the end...didn't take my HR monitor or even a watch. As we got home, our friends Marci & Ann and their little one-year-old, Madison called and stopped by for a visit. After we sat around a while, I was starving, so we ordered pizza...fortuituously, one of our neighbors delivered a "welcome to the condo" chocolate cake (we've lived here since July, but her timing was excellent). So...a strong training day and week capped off with a nutritional bomb of 2 beers, 3 pieces of pizza, and chocolate cake. BOO-YEAH! Oh, well...moderation, right? I don't eat that crap every day...ok, the beer, but not the rest. Enough confessions.

The summary of yesterday's better behavior and the week's workouts below:
Long Run: 9.25 miles
Time: 1:27:00
Power surge up to 162 bpm from 46 - 51 min.
Power surge up to 166 bpm for one mile from 1:12 - 1:20
Avg. HR = 154, stupid-high...not sure if it was my faulty monitor, caffeine, or what.

Fun with numbers...

My friend, Erin, told me this week about this website: www.mapmyrun.com. I'm hooked. Not only will it map out running or cycling distances (already worth it to visit), but check out the cool calculator on the left...gives you avg. pace, mph, and calories burned. And the numbers it generates are more favorable than my HR monitor, making me like it even more. I mapped out my tempo run route today and was able to compare my pace for the last 6 weeks on the same course. Looks like my speed range for a 3.2 - 3.8 mile tempo run has ranged from an 8:03 to 8:29 minute mile...today's tempo torture run was at an 8:22 mile pace. This website will continue to bring hours of fun number crunching, I'm sure.

Today's tempo run was OK...felt my legs a bit from 2 spin classes this week, but survived.

Yesterday's workouts:
2950 yard swim at swim team
44 min. spin class at lunch (avg. HR 137)

Today's workouts:
Tempo run: 10:45 min. warm up, 31:45/3.8 miles hard (HR = 153 - 163), 14 min uphill home.
Total = 6.06 miles

Almost injured by soup

Yeah, that's right...soup. So last night I pulled out a soup recipe I'd made once a few months ago and thought it'd be an easy dinner...it was a chipotle', chicken thing with some great spices, potatoes, etc. Did I read past the ingredient list to assess the process? Of course not. As I started, I realized that the project would take longer and was more complicated than I remembered...various steps of broth prep, chicken boiling and shredding, off the heat, back on the heat...and an intermediate process where you have to take what's done so far and, in thirds, put it in the blender (the number of large pans by this point is at least 3 and we're barely halfway done), then back on the stove, add more stuff, simmer, etc. (sidebar: this is why people eat canned soup, yes, I know). So the first third, no probem...blend, into 2nd pan, repeat. The second batch, however, caused a bit of a hot, steaming, spicy eruption and I swear the goddam blender was aiming right for my left eye. It hit the mark with a nice sting from the chipotle pepper and adobo...and my sweatshirt was pretty well covered in soup debris...and the kitchen floor yelled for the Swiffer. Amazingly enough, Seujan, who was safely across the kitchen patiently enjoying a glass of wine, didn't even laugh at me and came to my rescue. I ended up somehow locking up the blender which we never fixed, but the soup was salvaged (don't worry, I didn't squeeze it out of my sweatshirt, I already had enough from the first round)...and it was damn good if I say so myself. Fortunately, there are even leftovers to continue savoring the experience. Other obstacles yesterday included there being no hot water at the gym, resulting in an arctic splash after spin class rather than a real shower. Thus, by the end of the day, I was probably a little sticky around the edges from residual unshowered spin class sweat complemented by soup debris. Happy Monday.

Despite the trials of my Monday, I did have 2 good workouts (swim and spin) and this morning I had a strong interval run...cold, DRY morning (whoo-hoo!).

11 min warm up
2 x 1200: 5:38, 5:33
1 x 1600: 7:25!!
18 min aerobic/cool down run

End of weekend...

Sunday was a nice rest day...we walked around Greenlake with "the kid" and lifted. Mellow day, but it went by way too fast and we're back to Monday already. Swam this morning...will probably to to spin class at lunchtime.

Here's last week's summary:

Longest run of my life...

I know, I say that almost every week...but it really is true. Today was long run day and I did 14 miles...ran from Madison Beach to Seward Park and back. No rain, some sun breaks, and a tail wind on the 2nd half...not bad at all for Seattle in November. As I was approaching Seward Park, I realized that my halfway/turn-around point was the same distance that I would've considered to be a complete "long run" just a few months ago. It's kind of fun to be building and hitting consistently longer distances. Of course, I now feel like I've been hit by a truck and will return to the couch soon with some Advil, but the run (ok, finishing the run) felt good! I also caved this week and bought an easy-to-carry amphipod water bottle...tried it out today and actually liked it, although I had a little bit of a knot in my shoulder when I was done running.

I have learned that I can eat about an hour and a half before a long run (bagel or equivalent) and it's fine...now that I've tested this a few times, I feel more confident about the pre-race food part of my race plan. I've also learned that I really do need to take one rest day per week...last weekend I did a recovery bike ride on Sunday and never totally rested...legs felt a little heavy by today, even though yesterday was a swim-only. I only did about 10 hours of training this week, but running is hard on a 40 year old body...the good news is that even with the fewer hours, I'm not gaining weight (knock on carbon fiber) and I'm still eating my normal amount (i.e. LOTS!).

Gritty details:
14 miles, 2:20:21
Avg. HR = 148 (too high, but the first 25 minutes the monitor was crazy high and I think it skewed things a little).
Nutrition: Drank about 15 oz. of water, had 2 Clif Shot Blocks, starting 1:20 in.
Felt good, but didn't rally for a fast mile in the middle or at the end...was a little anxious about just finishing that distance.

Haven't blogged since Wednesday...Thursday was Tempo run and lifting, yesterday was a swim-only day. I'll post the week's spreadsheet tomorrow when Seujan (queen of tech support) shows me how to do it :)

All coached up again...

Seujan and I went to meet with Cheryl, our coach, this morning. Seujan thought that we were "in trouble," but actually it was just a check-in and we're both pretty well on-track. I got in trouble for not having a better hydration strategy on long runs (and I thought my stop-at- drinking-fountains thing was working pretty well...busted), so I may actually carry some water on the long one this weekend.

The main result of the meeting is that I have goal times in writing for the Seattle Half marathon ("C") race and the Tucson Half Marathon ("A"). I guess this means I'm committed as writing things down somehow makes them real. The problem is that I prefer to under-promise and over-deliver (in training and in life). I think these are realistic, but I don't think I can over-deliver too much on them:

11/26/07: Seattle Half Marathon Goal = 2:05 (9:32 avg. mile pace)
12/10/07: Tucson Half Goal = 1:55 (8:47 min/mile pace)

I ran an easy Greenlake this morning (29 min.) and swam 2800m at lunch again. Had my own lane, got a good swim.

Hearty Seattle Puddle Stompers

As far as I'm concerned, there are 4 adverse running conditions (rain, cold, wind, darkness), and when any 3 of them happen simultaneously, a trifecta occurs whereby I won't play outside (or I pout and it's not pretty). This morning when I woke up, only 2 were present (rain and dark), so I went to Greenlake to do intervals. The track was a sloppy mess, but I splashed out the prescribed 5 x 800 and by the second one there was enough daylight to not only hear and feel the puddles, but also to see them...and my watch, too. When I got done, I decided to run a longer recovery since it was warm and I had the time, so I ran about 1.75 miles on the inner paved loop of the lake. Along the way, I realized that less than a trifecta might be the same criteria other Seattle residents use to determine whether to cancel their morning consitutionals, too. I saw a lot of people...walking dogs, running, walking with their coffee, chatting...most without umbrellas and in the pouring rain. And they didn't even look that grumpy. OK, there weren't as many out as there are on sunny days, but it still made me feel proud to be part of such a hearty and active city (or maybe it just gave me a feeling of solidarity with other wackos). My "dryfit" shirt was soaked when I was done and I needed a wet wipe to clean off my legs BEFORE I could event get into the shower, but it was a very successful workout, with my fastest 800 being the last:

Warm up: 11 minutes
5 x 800: 3:45, 3:42, 3:42, 3:41, 3:40
Cool down: 18 minutes

I also got in a 2800m swim at lunch today...pool at S.U. has been jacked up due to a broken filter, so I've had to swim on my own a bit.

Missed a few days on the blog, too:

Sunday, Nov. 5: 30 mile easy recovery bike ride...avg. HR 116 or so and 2 social chat breaks...nice.

Monday, Nov. 6: Morning Cardio smorgasbord (35 minutes of an awful spin class so I bailed + 10 minutes treadmill + 10 minutes elliptical). Lifted at lunchtime.

Growing flippers

I bought myself some new running shoes about 3 weeks ago, but have not yet used them...I keep waiting for a not-rainy day so I they don't look like crap already on their very first voyage. Yeah, right. I think I may have to just suck it up and get the new shoes dirty as there's no end in sight to the rain. I think we're all growing flippers.

Got in another short double yesterday (EZ 3 mile run a.m. around greenlake, swam at lunchtime) and due to a work-related event on Thursday night, work was over at noon yesterday, giving me all afternoon to leisurely buy groceries at Whole Foods and then cook while blasting my ipod for a few hours. My favorite kind of afternoon...I was happier than a pig in...um, a happy pig place.

Today was long run day...Seujan went out for 18 miles and I did 10ish (1:37:30). I decided to just enjoy the fall color and schlep through the (constant) rain and a few hills at a relaxed pace with no fast mile in the middle or at the end...I busted it enough this week and running should be fun on occasion, right? I did my Lake Union- up Eastlake and the Howe St. stairs- to 10th- through Interlakken- back on Boyer loop...I love running through Interlakken and it was an enjoyable, albeit soggy run. I felt good, kept the HR mostly in the 130's, and both SJ and I got our running in before the "wind and storm advisory" scheduled for this afternoon started kicking up. All those pretty leaves will be blown off the trees today, I think, and they may take some branches with 'em.

There might be a small window of opportunity for a bike ride in between storms tomorrow morning...but I'm not holding my breath.

Is it weekend yet?

Got in a double yesterday (swim a.m., spin class at lunch) and a tempo run this morning (barely daylight, 41 degrees, rain...blech)...and lifted at lunch time today. I've been sneezing a lot the last few days and feel pretty tired. If someone could change today from Thursday to Friday, I'd really appreciate it (hmm...calling in sick tomorrow sounds like a good idea...). It's supposed to rain from today until, I think, 2010. I'd like to fortify my training with some hours on the couch with Triathlete magazine and the stack of books I'm accumulating for inspiration. Oh, and also the "What It Takes" DVD that arrived last week, but has not yet been opened...can't wait to watch it, though.

Intervals are not for sissies!

This week's interval workout was 3 x one miles...and I wasn't looking forward to it (like anyone ever looks forward to intervals, I know, but still...that's a pretty harsh sentence dontcha think?). I swam this morning and had a meeting at lunch, so I didn't run until after work, my least favorite time of day to run. However, I had a good workout and the lights came on at the track so I could actually see my watch AND the track...nice feature that doesn't happen in the morning over there. Anyway....got it done and pretty respectably, if I say so myself:
11 minute warm up
3 x 1 Mile:
7:34
7:25
7:32
11 minute cool down.
HR maxed at about 161 on each interval, I think.

"That's why you train..."

Our friend, Penni, has a tried and true saying when people say things to her like, "I can't run a marathon." Simple, but right on, she says, "Of course you can't do it NOW, that's why you train." Completely obvious, but perspective-inducing nonetheless. That, along with another of my favorite phrases, "If it was easy, everyone would do it," were in my head today during my long run. I ran about 13 miles (2:15:30) and kept wondering how in the hell I'm going to do a marathon in April and an Ironman in August...2 hours and 15 minutes is a damn long time to be running, especially in the rain. But I kept thinking that's why we train and tried to just tackle what was in front of me without worrying about a marathon that's 6 months away. Future-oriented anxiety aside, I was quite happy with the run...I did a mile at tempo pace (158-160 bpm) halfway through and went an 8:10 mile (woo-hoo!), and tried to do last mile/fast mile at the end, but it was more like .75 because I didn't have much left. The rest of the run was around 10:10 minute mile pace, I think, and I kept the HR around 140 most of the time. I ran on Lake Washington to Seward Park and hit 4 water fountains, still commited to my plan of not carrying any water...had one and a half clif shot blocks toward the end of the run. Felt pretty depleted and beat up afterwards...was glad Seujan had run from home to the car to meet me so she could drive home. After lunch I was toast...had 3 advil and a nap on the couch before I could return to the land of the living.

This was my first half marathon distance run!!!!

Sun victorious over fog...

Today started out cold and foggy... the forecast was for "morning fog, turning sunny..." but the cold fog crap lasted till noon. My cranky meter was in the red danger zone for several hours as we waited for decent biking conditions...but finally my hero, the yellow orb, made its appearance, burning off the fog in the sky and the bad mood in my immediate radius. Seujan (still willing to ride with me despite my bad attitude all morning) and I headed to Marymoor with our bikes for a nice fall ride. We did the new Tour de Cure 44 mile route...2,270 ft. of elevation gain...in just under 3 hours. A perfect ride with some great fall color. Got in a good ride, but we didn't kill ourselves. Exactly what I needed...tomorrow is my long run day and the plan is to do 13 miles.

Haven't posted since Tuesday...quick week training re-cap:

Wednesday: Morning Swim Team (3300 yards), 30 minute easy Greenlake run after work
Thursday: Morning Torture, I mean Tempo Run, again in the dark: 10 min. warm up, 35 minutes hard (154-162 HR including one outer greenlake in 25:35 or so), 10 min. cool down
Friday: Swim team (3000 yards), lifted weights at lunch

Searching for daylight...

6:30 a.m., dark, raining, 45 degrees, did I mention DARK...perfect conditions to run intervals...NOT. I just couldn't face going to the track this morning and went to the gym for my run instead. My HR monitor continues to be possessed, the one on the treadmill was also way off and not in synch with mine, and my ipod went on strike completely. It was not my best interval workout, but despite the lame-ass technology (only closed captions on the stupid gym TV sets, too), I think I did something that loosely approximated what I was supposed to do. It was still barely daylight when I got done and it's probably good that I didn't slop around in the dark on the muddy track.

One mile warm up
2 x 400
2 x 800
2 x 1200 (treadmill speed said 6:58 min/mile pace, but I know the treadmill isn't as hard as real running and I was not really running that fast).
One mile cool down

Got in a good lift at lunch. I think the hamstrings are coming along slowly...

Iron Inspired

Our friend, Julie, did the Kona Ironman (as in THE "World Championship") Triathlon on Saturday...we kept checking the web site all day to see her splits and how she was doing...and she did great (rumor at the pool this morning was that she won her age group in the swim). She e-mailed her race report back to the mainland and Seujan read it to me on the couch yesterday...by the end we were both pretty much in tears. What a bunch of cheeseballs, I know. But inspired cheesballs, nonetheless. Looking forward to having Julie back in our lane at the pool once she's descended from cloud 9 and back to training with the mere mortals.

I ended last week with some good work outs...interval run last Thursday was 4 x 1200 and I managed them on 5:39, 5:41, 5:27, and 5:41. I got in one 20 mile bike ride on the same day and decided that 20 miles is a very enjoyable distance...it's a little scary just how much I'm liking short rides and how much my cycling has decreased. I'm a little worried about the build-back period next spring, but I'm also really liking the running focus these days and hoping the "off-season" everyone talks about is really a good idea.

I broke the 2 hour barrier on my long run this weekend...and made a little progress on the nutrition-while-running project. The boring details:

Night before: Crappy bar food and plenty of Mac 'N Jack's on Friday evening at Happy Hour...good to know I can run after almost anything, but I'd like to see how much better I could do with a better night-before nutrition plan that involves a little less beer, a little more water, and some "real" food. I plan to try the more sensible and responsible plan this coming week.

Saturday a.m.: Coffee and a bagel 1:45 before running...started run at 10:15 a.m. and that was good timing for pre-run food. Ran at Lake Washington Blvd. from Madrona to Seward Park, around, and back. My heartrate monitor was all over the place and took almost an hour to settle in. I was cranky about that, but tried just to go on RPE and pace...once HR monitor got accurate, it was a bit higher than it should have been for the pace I was running (my guess: dehydration). I was holding about a 10 minute mile pace and didn't do a middle or a last mile fast mile...just kept the same pace and ran 2:03, probably about 12.25 miles. I stopped at 4 water fountains, but didn't hide or carry water...could've used more. At 1:25 in, I started on Clif Shot Blocks and had 3 in the last 38 minutes of the run. No problems with them, just thirsty. I was a bit sore the rest of the day and on Sunday, but not horribly so.

Next weekend's long run bumps up to 13 miles...but I'll get an extra hour of sleep to recover with the time change :)

Took a rest day on Sunday and started the week today with a good swim...will do spin class at lunch.

What It Takes

So this new Ironman DVD just came out about 4 Ironman Champs called "What It Takes." http://www.witmovie.com/ I'd seen some ads for it and was waiting for it to come out...so as soon as the "alert" hit my Inbox, I speedily clicked to the web site to get my copy. Can't wait to see exactly what it takes (other than $30 on my Visa) and size up whether or not I'll have it in about 10 months from now. (I think there should be a Visa Ironman ad, by the way: Wetsuit: $500, running shoes: $100, Bike: Too many thousand dollars, 10 Powerbars a week: $15, Chamois butter: $10, Inspirational video: $30, Ironman Finisher T-Shirt: Priceless....).

Lately in our household "what it takes" is a damn lot of food...we've both been eating like horses and I think (hope!) it's the increased running mileage. I did a tempo run this morning, followed by the usual trough sized bowl of cereal...snack mid morning...then went to lift weights before lunch. I had to visit my gym locker midway through my workout for half a powerbar as I was so hungry I felt almost shaky. Long live metabolism (and I'm hoping that's what it is and not "pre- hibernation- winter's coming" appetite)!

Anyway...latest training details for the record:
Monday: Swam 3,050 at Swim Team, 45 minute spin class, Avg HR = 139

Today: Tempo run: 11 min warmup downhill to Greenlake, 32 minutes at 158-162 HR (did outer loop of Greenlake in 26:47), 12 minute walk/jog uphill cooldown. Total: 55 minutes.

Lifted: Regular upper body stuff...just added the hamstring stuff Erik prescribed on Friday after his assessment that my hamstring strength is pitiful (as I'd predicted).

R & R

Rain & Relaxation. As much as I prefer 80 degrees and sunny, rainy days make it easier to chill and re-charge the batteries. Clouds yesterday and rain today have made for some welcomed down time in our little household. Yesterday I was still feeling beat up from last week, so I took a mostly-rest day and only lifted weights...other than that, I didn't really do a damn thing but a a couple loads of laundry (with a nap in between!) and last night we went for a drink and to the Gay & Lesbian film festival. Seujan did an 18 mile run yesterday, so her rest day was today. Today was my long run, but a scaled back version this week of 9 miles. I hopped out of bed first thing this morning and drove down to Gasworks to run around Lake Union just as daylight was approaching...it was lightly raining, but it was great running weather and both the rain and the run were just fine with me--no inclination for whining at all this time! Plus, Seujan was cleaning the house like a tornado and I had a way more fun morning activity and got to come home to shower in a very shiny bathroom. When I got back to Gasworks, it was totally light and the trees looked like they are on fire...great fall color. I was able to procrastinate one more week on dealing with the during-run hydration/nutrition strategy as I didn't need anything for just a 90 minute run. I know, I know...I went into Jock 'N Jill yesterday to whine about the fuel belt situation and rather than coaching me to spend more money on another useless accessory, the nice guy (who did sell me $90 shoes, of course) recommended that I go with the "hide bottles on your running route" strategy. If it works for him, it might work for me and I think I'll give it a go next week.

Long run stuff: I had a really good, relaxed run...around Lake Union with an up-and-back added to get a little hill work: up Eastlake, past the little homeless colony, left over the freeway, to the base of the Howe St. stairs, then reversed back down (more homeless folks awake and shuffling around on the second pass-by) for the rest of the Lake Union loop. Kept my HR below 140 on the flats and the hills were pretty comfortable, too. I did the "last mile, fast mile" and pushed it up to about 158, hit the last mile at just about an 8 minute pace. I was almost disappointed that this week wasn't another week of adding more distance since I felt really good, but I understand the strategy and next week will continue the progression with a hop up to 12 miles.

9 miles, 1:30:27

Just the facts

Tempo run this morning as prescribed by the coach:

10 minute warm-up
One outer loop of Greenlake (3.2 miles): 26:06, HR 158-161. Fast time for me, but freakin' hard, sideache.
10 minute cool down

Tempo run = not fun.

TGIF. No more workouts today; happy hour on the schedule.

Good day at the office...

Because I wasn't there! Today after the morning swim team workout, I worked more on the Tour de Cure route...the best way possible, on my bike. I rode 60 miles of what might become the 70ish mile route and discovered that maps are nice, but they hide hills a little too well. I knew about a few of them, but the entire 60 miles ended up having 3,400 ft. of elevation gain and I got a good butt-kicking. I'm not sure we can charge people money to do this route! At one point, I saw a steep ugly hill coming up on 3 Lakes Road between Snohomish and Monroe (and I'm usually a big fan of hills) and said out loud, "Holy F$(#!" Actually, there was a good bit of swearing over the course of the day...however, I was MORE than happy to be out in the sun and working while getting in a great ride. The toughest day in the saddle is still better than the best day in the office! The fall weather has been beautiful and I'm maximizing it before the rain and dark take over all too soon.

Tatyana and I swam in the lake last night (October 11 in Lake Washington!!) at sundown and that was GREAT, too. We lasted 40 minutes and weren't even the only wackos out there...we saw 3 more swimmers at Madison Beach. I was good and cold afterwards, but god bless neoprene and the faithful water heater in our condo...hypothermia was averted and eventually I could feel my feet again.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a 5 mile tempo run and I'm also seeing my hero, Erik the PT, to talk about winter strength training and some knee issues I had this summer from my bad biking form...I'm pretty beat after 3 doubles days in a row, but I'll probably run in the morning before I'm awake enough to know what's happening.

A good accessory is hard to find....

The beauty of running, especially compared to the other 2/3 of triathlon components, is the simplicity...or so I thought. To run, one doesn't need a wetsuit and aqua accessories, one doesn't need a helmet (unless one is a very reckess runner), gloves, bike rack, tire irons, C02 cartridges, blah, blah, blah. Just point and shoot... Well, this distance crap, er, endeavoring has made it necessary to consider carrying water, nuun, Clif shots, etc. Running has become complicated (next, I'm sure will be the "when and where do I stop to pee?" problem). So I figured I'd get a super-cool hydration belt. I thought I found the perfect thing, an "Amphipod," belt with 2 very small bottles, velcro, pocket. The thing LOOKS great and seemed perfect for the task. Maybe it is on somebody else's body. I test drove it this morning to/from the track for intervals just to get a feel for it before my next long run...let's just say if the damn thing hadn't cost $30 or if I hadn't kept the receipt, I'd have flung it into Greenlake. What a pain in the butt...despite me trying to push it down to my hips every few seconds, it kept creeping up (fortunately, Seujan informed me when it took half of my shorts along --although the breeze on my butt should've alerted me)... the bottles travelled AROUND the belt, one bottle spontaneously jumped OFF the belt to the ground, and no matter how tight I velcroed it, we just could not make friends. Some accessory THAT turned out to be. So...I'm going to get my 30 bucks back and investigate other options. Possible strategies: hide disposable water bottles on my running routes, create running routes that figure-8 or out-and-back the car, try belts other than the Amphipod, or god forbid, get one of the stupid water bottles you have to carry (but then how do you eat the Clif Shots?). My shoulder is not in favor of the last idea, but it's winning at the moment.

Regardless of hydration belt hell during the warm-up and cool-down (threw the belt on the bleachers for the actual workout), Seujan and I slugged out some good intervals this morning. We each did 5 x 800's on the track. I went: 3:45, 3:42, 3:44, 3:41, 3:41. Works for me....and a nice morning...about 45 degrees and clear. Sun came up while we were out there...good start to the day.

Kid eats broccoli and other successes.

Seujan and I have a little sister who turned 13 on Friday. We had a little celebration for her yesterday which included introducing her and her new bike to the Burke Gilman trail, making dinner, and decorating cupcakes...oh, and we gave her some "Heelys." We are SO old and not hip that we had to do research on these things when she said she wanted them and thought they were called "wheelys," so we looked like total dorks asking for the wrong thing in the store last week...but anyway. Heelys are these little deathtrap shoes that have removable rollerskate wheels in the heels...kids can wear them as regular tennis shoes or put the skate wheels under the heels and skate around--the wheels pop in and out. I'm sure these things are not made in adult sizes and if they were I think it'd be a crime to sell them without helmets, wrist guards, and verification of health insurance...but I digress. The kid loved the heelys and I'm sure will be skating down the hallways of her school today rivaling the speed and athleticism of Apollo Ohno. So anyway, the most amazing occurence of the birthday celebration was that the kid ate broccoli. This is a kid who, as Seujan has described, eats only candy and beige food, preferably synthetic in nature (mac n cheese, bean burritos, corn dogs, fried chicken). Every time we have a meal with her, there are vegetables present, but she rarely touches them and says things like, "You're going to EAT that?" So, long story short, I was raving about how excited I was about broccoli with the spaghetti last night and she took the bait (Seujan says she imitates me sometimes). She actually asked for some and then asked for MORE. Granted, she dumped half a salt shaker's worth of salt on it, but I'm calling it a milestone.

Yesterday also included the longest run of my life to date. And I'm not even sore today(!), but am taking a rest/recovery day today. I got in an 11-miler and felt damn good about it. Below is the run report, boring to anyone but me probably, but I'm logging it for my own reference and because I know that I need to work on pre and during-run nutrition so I want to remember stuff.

Saturday: Biked 39 miles at HR Avg. of 116, but legs felt pretty lousy...had Seujan scoop me and needed a short nap and a lot of food that afternoon.

Saturday night: Ate a LOT of heavily garlic-ed hummus (ok, and 2 beers), later than usual dinner time (9 p.m. or so), at the Elysian. Thirsty during the night, felt the garlic.

Sunday a.m.: Up at 7:00....had one big cup of coffee with goop and an oatmeal raisin clif bar.

Run was from Seward Park to a turn-around 5.5 miles out...measured on bike and car for distance/accuracy.

Run: Started one hour after the Clif Bar, about 8:20 a.m.

First 2 miles very easy: 20 minutes, HR at 135 at mile 2

Took HR up to about 143-146; comfortable working pace.

Mile 4.25 - 5. 25 was about 9:40 at 143 bpm

Mile 5.75 - 6.75 took the HR up to 158 (AT) as instructed by Cheryl: Mile time 8:40

HR back to 143 -145 the rest of the run

Had one sip of water at mile 8

Stomach started feeling lousy between mile 8-9...

Finished 11 miles in 1:44:55. Avg. HR = 146

NOTES: Try something other than a Clif Bar prior to the run and/or eat it 90 minutes prior, not an hour. I'd intended to try Clif Blocks during the run, but stomach felt lousy...will be getting a fuel belt to experiment more with hydration and nutrition WHILE running. This was the 8th day in a row since the last rest day and I logged just under 15 hours of workouts in those 8 days (3 swim, 3 bike--one of which was VERY easy, 3 run, 2 weights).

All coached up and ready to roll...

Met with my coach this morning after a good swim team workout to start on my year training and race plan leading up to Ironman and I'm all charged up...since I received an extra helping of the "Planning Gene" at birth (when they gave me 2 left brain halves taped together and had me skip the right brain line at the checkout altogether), seeing a year's worth of concrete details and a neat-and-tidy plan on a piece of paper makes me quite happy. In addition, I have to/get to do a running AT (anaerobic threshold) test tomorrow...I know my AT for biking, but not for running, so this will fuel my detail and numbers fire for planning all kinds of structured workout activities that require minimal creativity/guesswork. Whoo-hoo! Numbers! Details! Chop- chop! I was telling Jeff yesterday on a nice bike ride (gorgeous sunny afternooon in Snohomish/Everett) that I really admire and respect creative-zen types (such as Tatyana, see her blog for definition of what I mean)...I like having those people in my life and really appreciate them...but I'm wired SO differently. It's interesting. Anyway...

Since my running is coming up, the Seattle half marathon (Nov. 26) is now on the radar as a possible "C" level race (i.e. do it dang slow and maybe even practice walking), with the Tucson half marathon remaining an "A" two weeks afterwards on Dec 10. I've always coveted the very-popular long sleeved dri-fit shirts they give out at the Seattle Half (Seujan has enough of them to have one for every day of the week, I think), so the idea is gaining appeal...will decide on that one within the next month.

In unrelated news, I caved and bought some new shoes for work/winter earlier this week...however, I can't bring myself to put on shoes requiring socks for anything other than biking and running yet. I'm holding on and wearing my chaco sandals for the gazillionth day in a row again today...long live visible pedicures and summer shoes. I am hanging on as long as possible!!

It's all relative

So this morning was my "long run day," and I'm almost to the point of considering that I might gradually be becoming an endurance athlete. Maybe. Mostly because I think my distances are getting long enough now that I'll have to stop doing long runs on Monday mornings due to 2 major things I can't control (grr): darkness and having to work for a living. Anyway, the distance thing is all relative, I guess...as Seujan ran 2 and a half hours yesterday and then had no trouble having more energy to burn and easily going shopping with me afterwards... I felt pretty dang wiped all morning after today's run and my right hamstring is still a little cranky. I think I went about 10 miles...around Lake Union with an add-on up Eastlake to the Howe Street stairs, through Interlakken, and back down Boyer: 1 hour, 36 minutes, 30 seconds. Despite going through some of my favorite routes, it felt like a damn long time and in the last 2 miles or so I was seriously questioning the whole Ironman idea. Good thing they already have my $500 and I really want the swag...and possibly the I.M. tatoo.

I generally think that running with an ipod is a bad idea...mostly for safety reasons...but I may reconsider.

I meet with my coach on Thursday to update training plans, and am guessing I'm ahead of the game for the half marathon on December 10 in Tucson...after which the really hard stuff starts and the next goal will be a full marathon in the spring.

Did I mention today was the first day for running gloves? Granted, I was the only one out there with them on, but it was 45 degrees and I think that's COLD! The second shirt was overkill, I'll admit, but the gloves were a good idea.

Global warming bliss

So global warming is apparently a bad thing...but if it's to "blame" (I'd say thank) for the current july impersonation that the weather is doing this week in Seattle, I have a really REALLY hard time thinking it can be bad--I'm just running around outdoors as much as possible and charging up my solar panels. Nothing like a good healthy drought to make me a happy camper!

This morning I got in one of several amazing sunrise swims in the lake...the water was glass, the mountain was clear, and several rowers and a water skier went by about 7:00 a.m. I watched the sun come up breathing every other stroke to my left...amazing how fast that thing breaks the horizon. My swim buddy, Tatyana, and I are savoring the last few of these morning swims we'll get to have this year...wetsuits are a brilliant invention! Every day we're out there it seems we're getting away with something since the calendar says it's 3 days till October and all of our teammates have already abandoned the lake for the pool. I also had a blissful bike ride last night around Mercer Island...no arm warmers or extra layers required there, either. SWEET!

Business meets pleasure...

Today I got to work on some route development for the event I manage, the Seattle Tour de Cure. This meant being AWAY from my desk to drive and bike some potential new routes in the sunshine. Score! After getting lost in my car in Woodinville (why the hell that happens every time I go there, I don't know...I swear, it's the devil's triangle of navigation...or odd fate that the only thing I can ever find there for sure is Red Hook Brewery), my car and I wound our way up to Snohomish to meet the always-prepared map toting Jeff at 10:00. I'd heard that the River Rd. was a "must-ride" and he'd mapped out a nice flat loop from Snohomish to Everett that included it. We had a nice sunny morning bike ride, easy pace, and 18 miles with a total of 434 feet of elevation gain (RAMROD seems ancient history at this point!). Definitely added a chunk to the eventual route and am still piecing together the rest (translation: more days out of the office on my bike, brilliant, right?). What I need most is a safe, scenic, direct route from Marymoor to Snohomish. Map creaters wanted!

Still not the last lake swim...

Beee-uuutiful weekend...Tatyana and I got in yet another lake swim today and it was perfect. We saw/met 2 other swimmers out in the cove who had 2 dogs with them and one was pushing quite a pace...very cool. I smacked arms with one of the humans as we were swimming opposite directions...acres and acres of water territory out there and I smacked her just like everyone (I swear, it's not just me) does in the pool over the lane lines. Anyway...great swim and we have vowed to get at least one more in this week...it almost feels like we're getting away with something by still going in the lake this late in the season. I'm SO not done with summer :) Seujan is currently on the couch swearing about how the "damn sun is making everything so damn hot..." The defintion of perfect weather is certainly not something we agree on. She is craving more rain and clouds (WHATever). I know all too soon I'll be the one occupying the swearing position on the couch and cursing the damn cold and rain; it's just a matter of time.

The annual Cheryl-fest was this afternoon...the annual birthday party/tribute to our coach. Way fun, great slide show, creative crack-up performance (The "Wizard of abs..." this year), and TONS of great pot luck food.

Almost Monday again, dangit...my bike would like another Saturday tomorrow, please...

FALL-in' in....

I went to the doctor yesterday for a check-up and we were both lamenting the end of the summer...I was griping about spin class vs. being outdoors and she said something to the effect of, "yeah, exercise indoors...I'd rather slit my wrists..." Someone understands me! She told me of her someday travel fantasy--to take a year and literally follow the summer around the globe...she'd be heading towards Australia about now... I am fortunate to have a doctor with such brilliance and inspriational vision. What a damn fine idea...chasing the sun around the world.

All of that being said, these first 2 days of fall have actually been far from painful. Yesterday morning I got in a lake swim with Tatyana (insulated cap and neoprene socks rock) and last night Seujan and I went to Oktoberfest in Fremont with some friends (and several hundred other beer afficianados). Oktoberfest is great...you get plastic tokens which are redeemed for (many, very many) tastes of beer in a mini mug. Thus, 2 valuable illusions are achieved: (1) you don't think you are spending actual money since it's plastic and (2) you don't think you're drinking nearly as much as you are since the mug looks like a shot glass. We more than sufficiently carbo-loaded and cash un-loaded and it was a blast.

Well fueled from Oktoberfest (forgot to mention the German sausage and pretzel that went with the beers) last night, Seujan and I did the Flying Wheels/Tour de Cure 70 mile route today. It was a gorgeous day...63-73 degrees over the day and nice, sunny, blue sky. We passed lots of flower fields, pumpkin patches, and a few trees starting to show some autumn color. Great day on the bike! Seujan got a flat, but we were only a mile from the finish, so I biked to the car and came back to scoop her...it'll be much nicer for her to change the flat in the living room than on the side of the road!

Ended the day by going out to dinner and went to the movies for the first time in months. We've been out-and-about past 9 p.m. three (count 'em 1-2-3) times in the last week...look out, we're behaving like NORMAL people! Post/off season is great.

"Quarter turn, add it!"

I hate spin class. "Quarter turn, add it!" is what they must teach every spin instructor to say at spin instructor 101 training. Many of them seem to learn almost nothing else, but I swear they all master the use of "Quarter turn, add it" to graduate. They can fail music selection, clothing sense, and creating classes that resemble cycling in any way, shape or form, but they must say the mantra. Today my silent response to the overused command was, "Nope, not today, dude...unless you're talking about the calendar, in which case I'd be happy to give you THREE quarter turns and bring us back to June where we belong..." I did an interval run this morning and decided that averaging exactly my AT for spin class and hanging out in the back would be just fine.

Regardless of my slacker behavior in the class, I'm not done venting. Being at spin class almost always means that either (a) I don't have enough time to do a "real" ride outdoors on my bike, (b) that the weather sucks, or (c) both. Any of these conditions render me cranky in the first place and then it just isn't fun...bottom line. Despite the fact that I have a strong appreciation for buff gay guys (today's instructor), I couldn't even get into his combo sing-along/dialogue with Aretha Franklin during "You make me feel like a natural woman..."

I think I'm just bummed that the summer is over.

Yesterday was a long run day...well, long for me. Got in about 8 miles yesterday morning with a bit of hill action and my legs are sore today. Just a bit scary to think that my "long" runs now are less than a third of a marthon...which is less than a third of an ironman. Actually, it's the marathon stat that's more scary than the ironman one. However, some of my perspective has shifted. A few months ago, a half marathon seemed daunting and a monkey I wanted to get off my back so that MAYBE I'd feel confident to do a half ironman next year. Since I registered for Ironman, the half marathon thing got a lot smaller in my head. And...strangely enough...I sort of look forward to the long runs these days. Also got in a lift yesterday.

This morning was a good swim team workout which will probably be the only workout of the day today.

Score = Ruth: 1, Weather: 1

Seujan and I got in a 50 mile ride around Lake Washington today...despite the forecast for rain, we had an entirely dry ride (score one for us). However, had a yucky headwind in the last 15 miles (score one for weather)...overall, a good day and we both felt good on our bikes today. Yesterday was a mandatory rest day since I had to work at the ADA Walk in Tacoma, but an evening with our friends, Stacey and Shane, at Pies and Pints (emphasis on the pints!) completely salvaged the day and we had a great time.

Today's inspirational story was that of our friend, Tatyana, who did the Grand Columbian Ironman distance triathlon yesterday in eastern washington...it was her first ironman and she gave us the full race report. She kicked serious butt and had a great time, despite it being a lonely sounding race (only 10 women total did it!). Thus, another person has become part of the Iron club I want to join!

What to call the blog...

So...day 2 of my blog and I've re-named it already. This summer, I fell in love with an Amos Lee song called, "Keep it loose, keep it tight." It's kind of a mellow song that, on first listen, wouldn't seem to be one you'd put on your ipod for hard workouts or use for racing inspiration, but I really love it. While doing the last 2 races of this season, that phrase just popped into my head, especially on the run, and it just stuck and felt like the perfect mantra. Thus, it appears I have a proper theme song and title for the coming year as I want to maintain some balance...keep it loose: have fun, perhaps actually learn about recovery, rest, and tapering other than just reading about it...and keep it tight: train hard, do the work, get through the long and hard stuff.

This morning was probably the last open water swim of the summer season which is damn depressing for me as I'd prefer to live in permanent summer...we started in almost dark at 6:15 a.m. (darkness worsened by tinted goggles), but it was still a nice 54 minutes in the open water our to the yellow house and back. Planning a spin class/treadmill brick at lunchtime...another slightly depressing prospect as I've managed to avoid the dreaded spin classes for a few months now.

Next Thursday is the first day of fall and I think I will wear all black and mourn. Sigh. Seujan, conversely, is coming alive and getting more and more happy about the fall weather and the beginning of running season. I know we are perfectly matched, but our weather/season preferences are directly opposed. Fortunately, there is some time before we retire for me to convince her that snowbirding will be the ideal lifestyle for us...

Back to blogging...

So I used to be a bike tour guide and I kept a pretty cool (if I say so myself) blog with lots of photos of the places and trips I did...then, I got a "real" job and figured that photos of a cubicle and stories about staff meetings would probably be less marketable in blog-land. So I quit paying for my old domain name, gave my little camera some rest, and stopped posting. Now, however, I'm bending to some peer pressure to climb back on the blog bandwagon as I've registered for Ironman Canada 2007. Apparently, it might be worthwhile to document the approximately (ok, not approximately, exactly) 347 training days between now and then. Worthwhile to whom remains to be seen, but I think it might be worthwhile to ME so off I go...

I ended (at least I'm pretty sure I'm done) this season with the Black Hills Tri last Saturday...


It was a blast and I placed 4th in my age group...which seems to be a recurring theme when I race. My very first tri (Danskin '04) I placed 2nd in my age group and since then have gotten progressively more fit, but have never finished as high. Maybe it's a small fish/bigger pond situation, at least that's what I choose to believe. ANYWAY, I felt great last Saturday and actually thought that now, at the end of my 2nd "real" triathlon-ing year, I am a triathlete. However, on the scale of aluminum to iron, I'm very much on the aluminum end of things...haven't done a race longer than Olympic distance and have never run more than 10 miles at once. Ironman in 347 days is a BIG goal, but I'm psyched.