I did it! Seattle Half Marathon

Well, today was the day I ran the Seattle Half Marathon, quite possibly the warmest one on record. It started at 7:30 am at 55 degrees. It was foggy and misting, but so warm!

Danielle and I started the race out at the back of the pack. This was intentional so I wouldn't run too fast at the beginning and it is always more fun to pass people than to be passed by others.

I started out strong, made it up the first hill reasonably well. I continued through the I-90 express tunnel with relative ease. As we headed out on Lake Washington Blvd, (Danielle pretty much left me at mile 3,) my right knee started to get a little sore. I kept thinking "My knee hurts but it doesn't matter." I slogged along until mile 6/7 pretty well. I was really happy to see the GU shot table and discovered the vanilla flavor goes down pretty well. I was more than happy to fuel up because I knew that the biggest hills were still to come.

Mile 7 was hard. It takes you up a large hill into Madison Park through Denny Blaine. Then, you get to go up this ridiculous hill called Galer Street. Then there is a crazy slow uphill until you FINALLY get to mile marker 8. Then, you get your last 'break', a slow descent into the arboretum.

Then, it is up, up, up to Capitol Hill through this magical wooded path that I had no idea that it even exsisted. It is so pretty, windy, woody and pretty. It eventually spits you out on Bolyston on Capitol Hill which made me really happy because I've ran the next section a bunch of times before.

Once we headed down the last major downhill, I really started to struggle. My pinky toe on my right foot started hurting at mile 10, so by mile 12, I was in so much pain. I was determined to keep going though. No walking!!

Once I finally reached the stadium, I was exhausted. I saw the finish line, but I got to tell you, I normally sprint the last 50 yards or so of each race but that was not the case today. I left it all out on the course.

I finished a little after half of the people in my age group, which is a pretty big improvement for me. My chip time? 2:16:35.

Nike Plus Runs

Pre-Race Update

Wow, time flies. So, I've put in the miles and put in the carbs, now I'm conserving energy until race time. I'm so excited and nervous. Tomorrow's Seattle Half Marathon will be the longest run of my life to date.

I'll be starting the race with my friend Danielle who is an amazing runner. I'm hoping she will stay with me for atleast 5 miles before she takes off for the finish line. I just hope I don't try to keep up with her because I'll be dead my mile 7 if I do.

My biggest concern today is the sudden heat wave. I know that 56 degrees may not seem warm, but when you are used to running in 40 degrees, it can throw you off. Long sleeves or short sleeves? What kind of layering? I'm really worrying about overheating.

Also, my dilemma today is ... to shop or not to shop? I'd like to do a little shopping since I had to work yesterday but I don't want to get too tired. Do you think it would be appropriate if I asked my husband to wheel me around in a wheelchair?

I'm excited to report back after the race! Wish me luck!

Dropped

So, it happened today and I knew it would eventually happen ... I got dropped from a team ride. Today's bike ride was both successful and humiliating at the same time. The email I received with the details around the ride stated that we would be traveling at 18-21 miles per hour on the flats and going up the hills easy for a final pace of 15 miles per hour. I thought I'd be fine. It would be far, but I've held that pace before.

15 miles per hour my foot. When the rest of the riders pulled away from me I had held an average pace of 18 miles per hour. I wasn't going to be able to keep up. So embarrasing. My second ride with the team and I already can't keep up.

This very nice man Tim escorted me on the lonely journey back to the park n' ride from which we started. My final average miles per mile was 17 for 30 miles. So that 's the good news. That's the farthest I've gone holding that pace. So I guess I have something to be proud of today!

Runner's Club for Non-Runners

Woo hoo! I finally have some people joining my running club at work. The only rule is that you can't be a fast runner. I'm talking sub-nine-minute miles for any lengthy period of time. I reserve the right to kick anyone out due to them maintaining an intimidating speed.

I'm pretty proud that I've inspired people at work to get into triathlons, run half-marathons, and dust off their biking skills. Now, if only I could convince my own husband ....

Nike+ Sportband

Today's training consisted of a 3-mile run at lunch. And how do I know I went 3 miles? Because of my Nike+ Sportband, that's how. I love it. I'm not a music listener when I run so the iPod nano deal was not an option. But, Nike recently came out with a watch that has some of the same basic functionality, tracking miles, calories, time and pace. It makes running so much more enjoyable and lucky me, Nike shoes actually fit me really well.

So, if Nike shoes fit you really well, I recommend you check it out. I must tell you though that it won't work for swimming and biking but I'm sure that you figured that out.

Baby Steps to Ironman 2010: Step One: Half-Marathon

So, I really want to do Ironman Coeur d' Alene in 2010. Do you know how long that is? 140.6 miles-2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and a marathon run.

That's a long way so I thought I'd start with a half-marathon. I'm registered to do the Seattle Half Marathon over Thanksgiving weekend.

The farthest I've ever ran in my life was 7.5 miles for Bloomsday so 13.1 will definitely be a challenge.

I just finished week 3 of my training and ran 7 miles around Lake Union yesterday for a total of
19.5 miles for the week.

This weekend, I need to run 8 miles which we be my longest run ever.

The Road to being a 'Try-athlete'

Last year, I was reading my free issue of Fitness Magazine (a great perk of my job) looking for something that would inspire me to get in shape for my upcoming wedding. What I found was an 8-week training program for a sprint triathlon.

I thought, "I like to swim and bike and I can tolerate running .... This can't be that bad!"

Luckily, I started to tell people about this idea and a girl on my floor at work tells me that she does them all the time. (She failed to mention at that time that she always brings home 1st, 2nd or 3rd in her age division.) She says I should check out Seafair, so I do.

The scene is crazy. Almost 2,000 people of all sizes and ages gearing up in their swim caps and wetsuits. The frenzy in the water reminds me of a shark attack out of Jaws. As people leave the water, I'm in awe at their ability to take of a wetsuit and run at the same time.

At the start of the bike, I am less impressed. A TON of people falling trying to get on their bikes and some fall trying to get off their bike (which over a year later, I did at Beaver Lake ...).

So, by the time I saw people finish the run, I decided to do one. Two weeks before my wedding at Mercer Island.

I had two goals: Finish and not finish last. I accomplished both. I beat a whole 4 people in my age division.

The next spring, I bought a new road bike, finished two more races (much better than the first), got new pedals from my husband for my birthday, and then finished my fourth race.

So ... what's next? Ironman 2010!!