{partners in crime}: April 2012

Portland 8K Race Day Recap

I think I'm finished running races in April. The weather is definitely too unreliable. YIKES! I would have to say I have never felt so miserable during a race as I did this one. Here's the recap.

We got to registration at 8:30 am. The temperature was 44 degrees at this point and insanely windy. I was not thrilled to be running in these conditions, but I told myself I would unless it rained.

I got my shirt... and hopped back into the car until the race started.... BRRRRRRRRRRR!

At 9:00 am everyone gathered and we had a moment of prayer. The race was in honor of Matt Aker, the Portland Fire Chief that was killed in an accident last year. I did not know him, but he was very loved by the community.

We lined up at the start line... it was where the police SUV is parked.

Here we were making our way to the start line...

The race started at around 9:15 am... at this point I was frozen to the bone and really having second thoughts about running, but I did anyways. My first mile was not too bad. I clocked in at a little over 9 minutes. I was feeling good. I thought to myself if I can keep this pace up I'll hit my goal!

After that first mile we started running straight into 20 mph winds. I ran with the wind blowing at me for the next 2 miles. It was brutal. My eyes were watering and my sinuses were burning because it was so freezing cold and windy. No matter how fast I tried to run I wasn't getting anywhere fast. I just kept praying to make it to my next turn so the wind wouldn't be blowing right in my face.

I hit 3.5 miles with a time of 38 minutes... dang, I was behind what I needed to be to hit my goal. I wasn't surprised however since the wind was not dying down. I had finally hit the turn so the wind was no longer blowing straight at me, but instead it was blowing on my left side. I was seriously leaning to my left just to keep upright the wind was blowing so hard. I didn't think I was even going to be able to run the whole thing at this point. I could not handle the wind!

Finally, at mile 4 the wind was at my back so it was blowing me to the finish line. I felt like I was sprinting the whole last mile since the wind seemed to push me forward. I was happy for some relief!!! However, it started raining at the beginning of my last mile. We're talking cold cold rain. So cold that it stung your face when it hit you. YUCK!

I finished at 54:32. Total bummer! I didn't even stop to get water or talk to anyone because at this point it had started pouring! I headed straight to the car...

I was not a happy camper and was glad I was finished. I felt bad for the people still running in the down pour. The temperature was now 40 degrees... HOLY COW!

And this is what I looked like when it was all said and done. Nice!

Even though I was totally miserable, I was happy I toughed it out and ran it. I'm now in training mode for a Half Marathon. That is my one goal I want to complete this summer/fall. I'm looking forward to some hot running weather!

Mileage Monday

Running stats for the week of April 23rd - April 29th... what can I say, my stats for this week sucked. I wanted to give my legs a few rest days after my last 8K... but also wanted to give them a rest before my second 8K. All those rest days combine kind of turned into a full week of not doing hardly any running at all. Hmmmmm... what can I say... I'm not losing sleep over it. However, now that my 8K's are over with it's time to get serious :)

Monday, April 23rd, 2012 - Stretch / Ab Ripper X / 50 push ups

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012 - REST DAY!

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012 - Stretch / Ab Ripper X / 50 push ups

Thursday, April 26th, 2012 - REST DAY!

Friday, April 27th, 2012 - REST DAY

Saturday, April 28th, 2012 - Portland 8k... 4.96 mile run

Sunday, April 29th, 2012 - Stretch / Stretch / Stretch

Total miles ran for the week : 4.96 miles
Total miles ran for the month of April : 36.17 miles

Photo a Day - Week #16

Week of April 23rd - April 29th

Monday

(this is Remi's couch)

Tuesday

(work to do list)

Wednesday

(where I wanna be)

Thursday

(tired bug)

Friday

(road trip)

Saturday

(deep thinker)

Sunday

(favorite spot)

Portland 8K Race Day Goals

My number one goal for this race is to run it in under 50 minutes... you know, the same goal I had for the last race and didn't achieve? I'm thinking this race will be different because...

1) I know this will be an all flat course.
2) I know the area.
3) My family will be there to cheer me on.

I am however a little skeptical about the race. It is the first year ever putting it on which could spell disaster. Also, like I have said before I'm guessing there won't be anything high tech about it... in other words, no chips to track my race time. I will just have to be extra vigilant about what is going on.

Here I go to do my second 8K!

Thankful Thursday (Freedom)

I am finally completely free of Phonathon and almost free of Grad School for a whole summer! I can't even begin to tell you what a weight will soon be lifted off my shoulders!

I no longer have to constantly worry about work, students, and the long hours... I'm free to go home after the day and enjoy my family :) In terms of school, no classes where offered during the summer that I needed, so I get a much needed break from tests, papers, and constantly reading text books! Thank you Lord!

I'm so looking forward to having a care free summer of doing whatever "I" want to do instead of what I have to do! Bring on the freedom!

Puppy Play Time

Remington may be 3 years old and 80 lbs... but he's still a puppy to us and shows this side of himself during play time. We usually take him to the school by our house to play in the big open area over there. We bring his kong Frisbee and all is right with the world :)

I love my giant puppy :)

Mileage Monday

Running stats for the week of April 16th - April 22nd... this was kind of a slow week for me since I was resting up for my race. I tried to do a little running and a lot of stretching. More of the same to come next week since I will be running my second 8K this upcoming weekend!

Monday, April 16th, 2012 - Stretch

Tuesday, April 17th, 2012 - Stretch / Ab Ripper X / 40 push ups

Wednesday, April 18th 2012 - 5.07 mile run

Thursday, April 19th, 2012 - Stretch / Ab Ripper X / 40 push ups

Friday, April 20th, 2012 - REST DAY!

Saturday, April 21st, 2012 - Carmel 8K... 4.96 mile run

Sunday, April 22nd, 2012 - Stretch / Stretch / Stretch

Total miles ran this week : 10.03 miles

Photo a Day - Week #15

Week of April 16th - April 22nd

Monday

(my little friends at work)

Tuesday

(perfect portioned ice cream)

Wednesday

(Cadbury Creme Egg)

Thursday

(snuggles)

Friday

(from our wedding)

Saturday

(giving Mom a massage after her race)

Sunday

(morning time reading)

Carmel 8K Race Day Recap

The Carmel 8K can be summed up in one word... COLD! It was misting, wind blowing, cloudy, and only hit about 45 degrees during the entire run.

We left the house at 6:15 in the morning to make it to Carmel by my race time. We parked and then walked 15 minutes to the start line of the race. The whole way I was shivering and complaining how cold it was. You could see our breath the whole morning. BRRRRR!

My race started right on time. According to the announcer there were 600 runners involved in the 8K. The Full Marathon and Half Marathon started a half hour before the 8K so it was nice and cleared out at the start line :)

I really wasn't sure what to expect for this race. Carmel is a really nice area so it was fun to run through town and on the Monon Trail most of the race. There was tons of support during the race. Many people stood outside their houses or apartments to cheer us on. Something I didn't expect was the hills. I of course train on a very flat course (this is something I need to change), and many of the races I have ran are hilly. This race was no exception... the hills weren't really steep, but there were a ton of them... I'm thinking probably 15 in all. Uhhhhhhgggg! I overheard several people saying that they hoped this was the last hill. I felt like I was keeping a perfect pace throughout the race. I tried to keep my pace going up a hill and enjoy a little faster pace going down the hills. However, there weren't many mile markers throughout the race so it was hard to tell if I was staying under a 10 minute mile like I wanted to.

As I approached the finish line I knew I wasn't going to make my goal time... I was already over 50 minutes, but I still decided to sprint to the finish. As I was running my hardest I ended up rolling my ankle in a crack in the road. I just about bit the dust, but saved myself just in time. The only thing injured was my pride, since I'm sure the guys taking pictures at the end of the race got a few shots of me almost face planting :)

I ended up finished the race at 52:48... I was a little disappointed, but taking into consideration the hills, the cold, and the windy conditions... I'm not surprised.

I made it!

And got my medal!

A huge thank you to my biggest fan and driver for the day... love ya Dan!

The rest of my day was spent relaxin' in my compression socks and tackling my next challenge... to finish a book for GERO class... YUCK!

Carmel 8K Race Day Goals

One of my co-workers asked me what my goals were for this race.........

Uhhhhh, goals? You're supposed to make those?? Oops...

My main goal to begin with was to run the entire 8K... but I've been doing that for several weeks now...

After thinking about it, I would say my one main goal for this race is any race time under 50 minutes. I know that is only a little less than a 10 minute mile, but for me that would be an accomplishment since I stay pretty consistant at exactly a 10 minute mile or a little over.

My other goal is to not freeze to death since the weather report is still saying it's going to be quite chilly!

Wish me luck!

Remi's New Crate!

We are taking a family vacation soon... and by family vacation that means Remi is joining us :) We wanted to bring Remington's crate with us so we knew he was safe when we weren't with him... but it is huge, metal and very heavy... we weren't even sure if it would fit in our car. Remington also has a cheap travel crate we got at Wal-mart when he was a puppy... but he is so big now that we hate to put him in it cause he doesn't have much room. So we researched "good" travel crates and finally ordered one so he would be safe and comfy on our vacation.

The first crate that was sent to us was damaged so we had them resend us a better one.

Assembly of the crate... I'm not sure if I could put this sucker together by myself? Notice Remington in the background... his interest in his new crate is way high as he eats something off the floor... sigh!

Remi in his new crate! He can't wait for vacation now!

Thankful Thursday (Technology)

Today I'm thankful for technology. For the first part of this week we have been dead in the water at work. There was a power outage on Sunday night and our backup system was drained which ended up killing our network at the University, we had no email usage, and worst of all... many of our shared drives were not accessible. For most of the day on Monday and Tuesday I sat at work pretty much twiddling my thumbs because there was nothing else I could do.

Now that the systems have been restored I am incredibly thankful for technology. You just don't realize how dependent you are on something until it isn't there anymore. I never thought I would be so happy to get back to work ;)

Pulled Muscle...

I pulled a muscle right behind my knee last night...

Doing what???

Getting out of bed...

Yeah... I'm a real athlete huh!

And right before my race...

Mileage Monday

Running stats for the week of April 9th - April 15th... I kind of felt all over the place with my runs this week. Never did I really "want" to run. My first run of the week I really tried to concentrate on speed. I did this on the treadmill so it wasn't too bad... plus my mother in-law was at the gym with me and I wanted to show off :) HAHA! The rest of the runs I had were focused on getting my distances in... I'm feeling confident where I am right now. Less than a week until my 8K! I've been watching the weather and it is supposed to way cold on Saturday! Like possible snow flurries cold! Let's hope my weather report is wrong cause I don't do running in the cold!

Monday, April 9th, 2012 - Stretch / REST DAY!

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 - 3 mile run / 1 mile walk

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 - Weights / Stretch

Thursday, April 12th, 2012 - REST DAY!

Friday, April 13th, 2012 - 4 mile run

Saturday, April 14th, 2012 - Stretch / Ab Ripper X / 40 push ups

Sunday, April 15th, 2012 - 5.09 mile run

Total miles ran for the week : 12.09 miles