Tag Archives: Seattle

Flywheel, Wicked, and a Change of Plans

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I had a really enthusiastic post planned for today in which I would detail how I wanted to focus on getting faster this winter and wanted to eventually go for a very ambitious half-marathon PR.

Those plans, thanks to the persuasive Nicole, are going to have to wait until after Christmas. Actually, maybe it’s just that I’m easily reeled in to doing crazy exciting things?

More details to come…but let’s just say that long distance and me aren’t going to call it quits for the season quite yet. I’m scared and excited.

So instead of telling you about all my grand plans to get faster in preparation for a spring marathon, I’m going to tell you about my weekend.

My beautiful and tall friend Anna came into town to play with ME, and play we did.

I really wanted to try Flywheel spinning, and since Anna had never been before, I figured we could both give it a shot.

Wait, that’s a lie. I actually really wanted to go to brunch at my new favorite breakfast spot in Seattle, and Flywheel happened to be down the block. I’ve had moderate interest in Flywheel, but since Anna said she wanted to do some kind of activity on Saturday…I figured why not.

I know what you’re thinking: “Robyn, you had a bad cold and you ran a marathon the week before, how did FlyWheel go?”

(You definitely weren’t thinking that, but you should be, so go with it.)

I might be *slightly* exaggerating, but miles 15-23 of the marathon felt EASIER than this class. I don’t know if it was the nasty cold I’ve got, lingering fatigue, or if it was really just that hard, but this class worked me over.

The real problem was that I grossly underestimated how hard it would actually be, and admittedly I walked in like a cocky little beezy. I’ve done hard spin classes, and there are times when I wish certain spin classes were a little more challenging.

But not like this. This was spinning on steroids, and it NEVER let up. It was only an hour, but I sweat more than I ever have in a spin class, and it’s safe to say that I literally had nothing left in me at the end. Anna agreed with how hard it was, which made me feel better, but I haven’t been so humbled by a workout in a long time.

On the good side, it was a great class, and I’m sure I would have loved it without the whole post-marathon and a cold thing going on. The place was also super swank with towels, water bottles, burly men ready to assist you on the spot, showers, and rental shoes. I’d never worn clip-in shoes before, and I could tell how much of a difference they make. Of course, now I really really want some. (BF, this is the time when you can start getting Christmas ideas via my blog innuendos.)

Afterwards, we made our way to my original intention for the outing, Portage Bay Cafe, to down some French toast and crab cake eggs benedict (you read that right).

That night, my sister Corey came down to Seattle and we went to see my all-time favorite show, Wicked. I originally saw Wicked in London when I was studying abroad, and there have been few performances that have had such a big impact on me. “Defying Gravity” remains my number one inspirational song, and it’s a staple on my race-day playlists.

Dark theater shot of the three of us.

Anna, will you come live in Seattle and play with me every day? Law school is lame.

The show was fantastic and I was so happy to get to see it with two of my favorite people.

Another dark theater self-portrait…with proof we were there.

I broke away from my ususal couch-and-10 pm-bedtime Saturday raging night routine and went out with some more friends after the show. Again…not the best idea with a cold, but I’ve heard that tequila and Robitussin essentially do the same thing. Right?

But, it was all in the name of seeing friends and having a grand ‘ole time—worth it. My cold might be worse today, but I bagged another great weekend to add to last week’s splendor.

After a very unintentional rest day yesterday, I went out for 9 miles this morning and felt tired but good. It was perfect out and surprisingly warm. I’ve recently foregone running with a watch, and it’s really helped keep me relaxed and moderately paced. = I’m admittedly a little scared to strap my Garmin back on because I don’t want to see slow numbers flashing back at me—so for now my competitive self will have to hold off. It’s all in the name of staying sane and healthy—which is what I currently care most about.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

By the way…if you haven’t heard Lindsay became an ultra-marathoner this weekend at the Pt. Defiance 50k! Congrats Lindsay 🙂

 

Chicago Marathon Training Week #6

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Hello friends, how’s everyone doing?

To start off, in terms of my decline in blogging, quite frankly I’ve been too busy all day, every day, to keep up on my normal frequency. I’m pretty positive no one is too distraught over this, I’d just thought I’d offer some explanation as to why I’ve been off the interwebs more so recently.

On the same note, I’ve been the best kind of busy. My days are flying by, I’m learning a lot, and although there’s a definite stress factor to my new job I’m really enjoying it.

But now, let’s talk about some running.

Here is how week #6 of Chicago Marathon training looked.

M: Rest

T: 10 m run @ 8:10ish

W: 7 m tempo run. 1 m warm up, then 5 starting at 7:45 and progressively going down, ending at 7:25, 1 m cool down. + BodyPump

T: 8 m easy run

F: 80 m swim

S: 15 m run for time—finished in 2:00

S: 2 hour spin, lifting

Total: 40 miles

I wanted this week to be a mini cutback week. I have one more cutback week scheduled before peak weeks/taper, and so I figured it would be good to get in an easier week before I start increasing to 50+.

I was debating my long run distance up until the night before. Technically, I should be ready for 20. I’ve done 16 and 18 twice, and 20 would be logical for this week. However, I’m realizing I started training a bit early, and since I want to peak at 22-23 and not do more than 4 20+ runs, I needed to do some rearranging. I also knew that I wanted to do some spinning on Sunday, which would not have been too awesome the day after a 20 miler.

So, instead, I decided to test out my new “Let’s run faster” theory with a shorter long run distance. The plan was to accomplish 2 things:

1) majority of miles @ marathon goal pace

2) practice running in some heat

The second goal wasn’t too hard to come by. I started the run around 9, later than normal, with the intention of running in the hotter weather. I know there is a decent likelihood of Chicago being hot on race day, as history has shown, and so I’m trying to help my mild Pacific Northwest climatized (go with that word) self get used to some more serious sweating. It wasn’t too bad (about 70 degrees) but relatively speaking I was feeling the heat. Good job, one goal achieved.

Now, the other goal was definitely achieved if you just look at the numbers involved. There were several miles in the sub 8 min zone, and I finished in 2 hours flat—averaging 8 minute miles. In fact, I ran a half marathon PR on this run.

However, those numbers are a little bit of a lie.

I stopped 4 or so times for a quick sip of water, and once to stretch. And quite honestly, I really didn’t feel awesome for the majority of the time. My legs were heavy, and they never really loosened up like they normally do. When I got home, there wasn’t much more I could do aside from lay horizontal on the floor and Tweet about my blister bff.

Seriously, that thing will not go away.

However, despite the stops, I’m happy with how it was run. While running, I was below where I wanted to be, and it felt good to push it during a long run as opposed to gingerly ticking the miles by. Sure, I love that style of long run running too, but sometimes it’s nice to not spend a ton of time on my feet.

Otherwise, training this week was good. Wednesdays are still my favorite workouts, and I’m really liking the relaxed runs on Thursdays. The swim on Friday was heavenly as well, especially since I hadn’t spent time in the pool for almost a month.

This week, I’m hoping to get to 55 miles—the highest mileage week I’ve ever had. It will cap with a 20 miler on Saturday, and with some luck, ice, and rolling—my legs won’t be too dead at the end of it all. I’m getting to a point where I’m really looking forward to my rest days—which is a good indication that I’m doing what I should be in my individual workouts.

In other news…

Did anyone watch the men’s marathon? If not…and you don’t want a spoiler…scroll down a bit, and ignore the next paragraph.

It was pretty shocking to see not one but TWO of the Americans drop out so early. I suppose it’s the nature of the sport, and the nature of the marathon…but man, really? I’m sure there was perfectly legitimate reasoning on both their parts, but I can’t even imagine how bad a DNF would feel at the Olympic marathon. It was an impressive finish though, and I was really happy for Meb with his 4th place victory. And I know watching the marathon is supposed to be inspiring and make everyone want to go out and run forever…but I really just felt tired watching them. I turned to BF and was like, “Tell me why I do this again?” because those guys looked so beat. Then again…I’m not averaging under 5 minute miles and running against the fastest dudes in the world.

Anyway, it was a lovely weekend in Seattle, and aside from the aforementioned sweaty activities, BF and I hung out downtown, relaxed, and went on a little water adventure yesterday. We went stand-up paddleboarding, which was super fun! I was pretty nervous about a number of things, namely cold water, falling, and sharks…but once we got comfortable all was good and we had a great time. One of us fell off more than the other…I’ll let you guess who it was.

An unrelated photo. But beautiful flowers from my man 🙂

I hope you all had lovely weekends! Happy Monday.

Chicago Marathon Training Week #2

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“What’s up with that chick who thinks she has a running blog but hasn’t posted in almost a week?”

That’s totally what you’re thinking, I know.

Sorry for my absence as of late. Actually, I’m not really sorry because I’ve been doing some fun things that have kept me away from the computer for nearly 4 days. And I’ve loved it.

So… sorry, I’m not sorry.

To give you the quick-and-dirty update, I left with BF on a jet plane last Friday morning for a lovely little vacation to our hometown of Colorado Springs. But more on that in a bit…

For now, Chi-town training week #2!

M: Rest

T: 10 m/8:30 avg. pace + lifting

W: Body pump class + spin

T: 7 m “tempo” run, 3m at <7:50 + yoga

F: Rest (lazy)

S: 13 m/8:45 avg. pace

S: 7.5 m recovery run/9:00 avg. pace

This was a cutback week (which correlated beautifully with the altitude in CO inhibiting my ability to breathe), and I ended with a total of 34.5 miles for the week. Not much down from last week, but I like not adding heavily back to back to back. Which means 18 is coming up this weekend…..yea…..

Now, back to the reason why I’ve been MIA.

I was in Colorado for 4 beautiful days, doing lots of fun things but mainly enjoying being home with my family. BF and I went to a wedding and an OAR concert at Redrocks, and if you know where that is you know it’s a good time. Basically, it’s an enormous outdoor amphitheater made up of really cool red rock. Like, obviously.

Here are some select photos from said Colorado vacation:

We are at a wedding! We are adults!  We are pros at self photos!

My puppy…and yes, she is in fact a “pure” lab.

OAR concert!

 

I always get nervous to run in Colorado. When you go from sea level to running at over 6,000 feet, scary things can happen to your lungs, heart rate, and muscles. Luckily, I was able to pump out a long run without too many issues, and I got reacquainted with the feeling of dripping with sweat after running. Both runs in CO were done in 80 degree morning heat, which added some pizzazz to the already compromising altitude conditions.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger I suppose. And plus, Chicago has been known to be hot in the past few years on marathon day…better to get used to it now.

In other news, I started a new job today! Which is definitely exciting, and I’ll give some details soon, however for now I just need to get used to a new daily schedule…including a significantly earlier running time. Which will get rough at some point, but with this as my wake up call, I think I’ll survive:

Hello Seattle, let’s be friends.

I hope your week is going great, and because I would love to hear from some of you out there…

Have you ever run at altitude? Are you training for anything right now? Running in the heat…love it or hate it? 

 

Chicago Marathon Training Week #1

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Hello! Welcome to Monday. I hope your weekend was stupendous and filled with rest, relaxation, and ice cream.

Here’s how my first “official” week of training for Chicago looked:

M: Rest

T: 10 m run/8:30 avg. page + yoga

W: 10k fun run!

T: Spin + 20 min stair stepper

F: Maximum sculpt class + 80 min swim

S: 16.2 m run/8:45 avg. page

S: Spin + 4.4 m run

Totally weekly running mileage: 36.8 m

I wasn’t going to run yesterday. I had planned on a recovery run from Saturday’s LR, but since my knee hurt a bit from the day before, I decided to opt for spin. However, around 5:30 (and after a lot of beach relaxation) I felt a weird urge to go run in the evening heat. I went with the urge, headed out watch-less for a quick little out-and-back, and wound up feeling better than I’ve felt since I started running again!

It also felt fast, which immediately made me regret not wearing a timing device. But have no fear, because I’m OCD and was determined to figure out just how fast I was going, I tallied up the songs I had listened to on the run and added up their times.

Creativity points?

Anyways, I figured out that I was averaging 7:30 miles, which is much lower than I’ve been clocking recently. It was a little surprising, because like I said—I felt so good on this run and my legs felt happy and pain-free. Looks like I might need to let the chains let loose a little bit more.

This was one of those runs where I decided to listen to my body (not a training plan, not my Garmin) and just GO. And the results were great! It truly is best sometimes to just run by feel. I knew I would have been fine without going yesterday, but something was telling me to head on out. I loved this run, and I loved feeling some speed under me after so much time without.

The rest of the weekend can pretty much be summed up in one word: SUN!

So much sun. So many sunshine filled activities—including the aforementioned one above:

The rain does go away sometimes!

I made friends with a jelly fish yesterday, although I don’t think he was as into following me as I was into following him.

Also, does your face look like this after long runs?

Salty face by way of emo MySpace picture

I was told during my time in the medical tent at the Tacoma Marathon that I’m a “salty sweater” and I was a little surprised because I thought everyone got this salty during long runs. Do you? Just me?

How was your weekend?? What kinds of things did you do in the heat? Did you have to adjust your plans according to the hot weather? Are you a salty sweater?

A Running and Zoo Filled Weekend

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Happy Monday!

I have nothing very specific to talk about today, but I am pretty pumped about the random musings I do have to deliver. I know what you’re thinking…”Robyn, everything you have to say is exciting! I totally love hearing about your injury whining and cookie addiction on a daily basis.”

You guys, stop making me blush.

No, I know I’m not very original. BUT, happenings such as those that went on this past weekend (super interesting grammar right there) ARE in fact exciting to me, therefore you get to hear about them.

This weekend involved a lot of running… …but not by me.

Which was fine! Because it was still great, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I spent a raging Friday night curled up on my couch watching the trials and crying for cheering on Amy and Dathan. It is SO amazing to me that all these athletes train for YEARS for just ONE race that will determine their Olympic future. Many of those races, mind you, are UNDER ten seconds. TEN SECONDS! All of which hold the fate of their Olympic dreams.

Crazy…and I admire that kind of determination. It takes some kind of guts to know that all your hard work will either make or break it in such a short time frame.

Anyway, I geeked out hard over the trials, and it reminded me so much of my old track days. I was a sprinter in high school, however my main event was the 400m hurdles. We short folk have a disadvantage in the 100m hurdlers, therefore my coach forced me into the longer race, which should also be known as, “Hold in your puke while jumping over 10 barriers and sprinting at full speed.”

That race is a beast, and I still have nightmares about it. But, I still loved it, and I could so clearly remember the butterflies that came with sprint races while watching the trials.

Oh! And the whole Western States thing that was going on this weekend, which was also fun to follow. The nice thing about a 100 mile race? You can check on it, go about your day, do whatever you want, then that night you can check on it again and the runners are STILL GOING. Just another weekend, right guys?

Onto Saturday. I think everyone with a Twitter account/everyone within a 100 mile radius of Seattle knows that Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll was on Saturday at 0700. I wasn’t doing it, but a ton of Seattle area bloggers were…which obviously meant I was a)jealous and b)determined to involve myself somehow.

So, when I asked Nicole (who was running the full) where she would like the most cheerleader support, she responded asking if I would run the last 6 miles with her.

Um, best question ever?? YES! I was psyched…partly because it would lessen my sadness about not running the race, but mainly because I am ready to jump at any opportunity to help someone to the finish line after over 20 miles of running. After the kind lady in Tacoma helped carry my feverish butt to the end of the race, I not only felt indebted to the universe to help someone myself…but I also realized how moral support can really be a clutch after that many miles of running.

Sign me up RicoleRuns, I was pumped.

However, despite my ample pre-planning (course studying, timing allowance, etc.) I quickly realized there was no way I would be able to join her at mile 20. You see, mile 20 was one of the miles along i-90, so in order to get on the course I would have to park on the side of the highway, dodge traffic, run the wrong way against thousands of people running a marathon, and causally hang out until I hopefully spotted Nicole. AKA, not happening.

When you’re in a panic to get to a race course, you obviously should Tweet about it.

So, I rerouted, meandered around Seattle, and found the closest spot I could get to that was off of i-90, which ended up being just before mile 23. So I cheered, I chatted up some super fast chick who was rooting for runners as well, and just like clockwork there was Nicole…right on time target!

She said she felt terrible, but you wouldn’t have guessed it. She looked great, and I did my best to distract, encourage, and move her along those hilly last three miles without her punching me in the face for being too chatty/energetic. It was funny because I think some of the aid stations thought I was running the marathon too—humorous, because if they saw what I really look like at mile 23 of a marathon, they would realize how false their assumptions were.

Anyways, Nicole killed it. And despite the normal “I hate everything” feelings that come at the end of a marathon, she finished strong and I was so honored to have been a part of it. 3:57 for her, 3 of those miles I got to spend along for the ride. Good times. Read her race report here!

Run Nicole Run!

Thanks to Becky for snapping this shot!

And how does one get back to one’s car after running along a race course to the other side of town? Why, by running back of course! Fortunately for me (and thanks to the fine organizers of Seattle RNR) the course ran right alongside downtown Seattle, so I was able to weave my way back to my car no trouble. In fact, I got to see many RNR runners that had finished their races along the way…so I congratulated every last one all while on my own run. It might have been weird, but whatever…I dug it. Although I would have liked to have been running the race, I felt like I had actively participated as much as I could otherwise.

Sunday, after a two hour spin class (also see: sweat, sweat, and a very slippery floor), BF and I headed to brunch and then the zoo. I don’t care how old you are, the zoo is crazy amounts of fun—and thanks to the lovely weather yesterday, all the animals were out and about and strutting all their wild stuff. BF and I are both big animal lovers (him probably more so) therefore we are unable to leave even one display unseen.

Flamingos!

The butt of a hippo.

Children, don’t you know I am trying to photograph the orangutan wearing a burlap sack as a cape WHILE drawing on the window in chalk for my blog/personal collection??? Rude.

More trials last night, more gawking at abs and quads, and all in all a very enjoyable weekend.

I’m getting my running groove back (please knock on your table/desk right now), I have some pretty sweet life changes happening, AND I have a sweet announcement for later this week. HINT: It involves running. Unpredictable, right?

Have yourself a lovely Monday friends…and because I enjoy hearing about people’s weekends/races: Did you run RNR? How did it go?! Any other neat weekend happenings? Did you want to do sit-ups after watching the women’s 10,000m too? Did you just go get fro-yo like me instead? What’s your favorite zoo animal?

A Little Sad, but More Happy

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Cheerio all you folks out there.

How’s it going?

I’m going to be straight and tell you I had an especially peppy and optimistic post planned for today, however that plan has derailed a bit. There will still be pep, and maybe even some pizzazz, but for now I am allowing myself 60 seconds of bitching. After that, I’ll be done…but I need to shake some anger, so be warned.

After the hardest race ever, and after VERY CAREFULLY resting and recuperating my IT band has decided to be a huge a-hole and all of a sudden develop ITBS in the form of bad knee pain. I can’t really run, I hate it, and it’s ALL I WANT TO DO. I currently want to throw rocks at everyone that can run in the perfect, ideal, OMG SO PRETTY Seattle sunshine, and I get jealous even seeing people in  running clothes.

Dramatic? Yes. I know I ran a marathon only 8 days ago, and some pain may be lingering. However, I am currently void of all residual race soreness and aches, and I’m unfortunately thinking that I’ve got a pissed-off IT band that’s here to stay for a while. AND running is literally the only thing that bothers it. Spinning? No problem. Swimming? Piece of cake. But one mile into a run, I’m crippled with knee pain and I have to turn around. I’m pissed, I’m trying to be hopeful, but I would really enjoy going at least a few months without a new injury. DAMN YOU running shoes/form/gods/whatever that is ailing me with issues.

Okay, done.

Can you tell how my morning started out? Yup…a solid 18 minute run in which more than half was spent walk/running. This was the first time I’ve attempted running since last Thursday(when I first felt the pain), and until this morning I have had no knee pain whatsoever. Booooooo.

Sorry, sort of went back to bitching there. Anyways, this is definitely a marathon-ripe injury and completely new to me. Anyone have ITB syndrome issues before? Care to share on your experiences/remedies? My foam roller has been feeling some hot lovin’ these past few days, but otherwise I’m not totally sure how to tackle this.

How about some happiness now?

Great.

I spent the weekend basking in the sun. Literally, that’s about all I did…and it was splendid. My skin doesn’t necessarily agree with the whole “splendid” part, but it will get over it once it cools off and accepts its new glow as opposed to its wintertime pasty horror.

After a double-spin class(my favorite!) on Saturday morning, there were few things I did the rest of the day that did not involve drinking a cold beverage, lying on the beach, reading a book, or eating. I wore a dress and everything. Part was spent with friends, part was spent alone, it was all-around a grand ole time.

Coffee! Book! Sun! Beach! Dress! Exclamatory single-word sentences!

Also, if you weren’t aware, the Lakers beat the Nuggets in GAME 7 on Saturday night, and while BF hated me for a while during the game, it was awesome and I will be reaping the bragging benefits for an indefinite period of time.

The sweet taste of victory is even better than a HUGE scoop of ice cream, which also happened this weekend.

Sunday was also spent in the sun, on a canoe! A good friend of mine works at a sleep-away YMCA camp, and she has access to Puget Sound boating galore. In celebration of her birthday, some of us took a massive “tribal” canoe to a tiny island out in the San Juans. Porpoise and bald eagle sightings, beer-on-board, and sunshine—I was one happy camper. And not to mention the scenery was absolutely fantastic.

Mountains and sea, I love you. Yes, this photo needed to be HUGE.

The paddling was about an hour each way, and my back is feeeeeeling it today. I love doing things that are out-of-the-ordinary, and yesterday was one of my favorite days in a long time.

On my drive to the canoe ride, I was traversing along the exact path of about miles 20-24 of the marathon from last week, and just seeing the path made my shudder. I feel like I might develop some PTSD from that race—like seriously—and while I cursed every last hill and turn while running the actual race, I can’t help but want redemption.

In due time though…all I want now is to run. Particularly, I want to do a long run; I’m already ready to rekindle my Saturday morning routine of sweaty miles, but for now…given the whole IT band asshole thing…I’ll settle for baby steps.

Drinking via your medal’s bottle opener counts for redemption, right? Or rebellion perhaps? TACOMA WHY DO YOU HATE ME?

I’m thankful that I can do the other things I enjoy in terms of exercise, and I’m certain—as always—that once this hiccup goes away it will make running all the more sweeter. Because at this point, the only thing that sounds sweeter than running is a pound or two of strawberry shortcake, which will likely happen once or ten times this week.

Now….Tell me what you did in the sun this weekend! Seattle friends, I know you all got your sun-on for sure. And if not, WHO ARE YOU?! Go away. Also, does anyone have advice for post-race IT band issues? Or just ITBS ailments in general? 

 

 

“Tri” Weekend and Celebrating the Earth

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Hello!

I hope you had a great weekend and I hope your week has started off swimmingly. I could be mistaken, but it seems as if everyone is a little bit high on a “it’s getting warmer and sunnier and therefore life is good” kind of mood, meaning there is general cheer in the air. The onset of summer is always an enjoyable time of year, and when you’ve been down-trodden with rain and gloom for several months as we have in the PNW, a little dose of sunshine can go a longgg way.

Case in point: This past weekend.

I normally have a generally good time on the weekend, based on the increase in food consumption, the decrease in computer time, and the amount of running I get to do. However, I can boldly say that I don’t know if I’ve had a better time overall on the weekend as I did this last Saturday and Sunday. Everything was generally perfect, therefore I am going to tell you about it.

Exercise-wise, I was able to do a “tri-series” of sorts over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Essentially, this means lots of swimming on Friday, lots of spinning of Saturday, and lots of running on Sunday. It was highly enjoyable to mix up my workouts, and I love being able to focus a lot of energy on one solo activity at a time.

I find that when I front load a heavy-exercise weekend with some swimming, everything feels better. As you know, I believe swimming is magic, and my body always seems to enjoy the time spent in the pool.

Although, I will admit, I have a difficult time not getting a tad paranoid when I’m doing laps and the “family area” is filled with 50 toddlers learning to dog paddle. I’m not an uber germ-a-phode or a clean freak, but the thought of swimming in tons of urine is really dampering to the whole experience. I think I’m going to tell my children that if you pee in the pool it comes out bright orange and everyone can see it. This should scare them out of it, right?

Anyways, I don’t normally do a heavy spin day before a long run, but since this week’s LR was only 16 miles, I decided to go for it. And despite my quads feeling a bit tired yesterday at the end of those 16 miles, overall I felt great, and I loved spreading my sweat through tons of different activities.

Also, who am I? I just said “only 16 miles.” Okay, 16 miles is still a long run. Fact. BUT, after 22 last weekend, 16 feels a lot more accessible…particularly when it’s done in 60 degree sunny weather on an all-flat course.

Which brings me to the vitamin-D filled glory that was this weekend.

People, I know we’re not supposed to talk about weather in blogging. But when you have not one, but TWO 70 degree days in Seattle, WA it is a BIG DEAL.

I took full advantage of the splendor, and it was nothing short of fantastic.

Aside from the aforementioned endorphin filled activities, allow me to show you some more highlights.

my backyard

While BF did man things on Saturday, I decided to take full advantage of this beautiful land I live in and took myself to the beach. I spent a solid 2 hours with an ice coffee, an Anne Lamott book, and the sun basking in water-front glory. I actually fell asleep laying against some driftwood, and it was heaven. There are few things more calming to me than being by the water, and given the fact that I was already in a post-spinning/caffeinated state of elation, this whole set up was my essence of perfection.

This also happened on Saturday, which is always a party.

See that “Now Open” sign? Yes, TJ’s has come to West Seattle, a mere 7 or so minute drive from my house. Do I talk too much about grocery stores? Yes. Positively. I will own every ounce of that statement. BUT any TJ’s fan out there will agree with me on the general happiness increase that goes hand-in-hand with your proximity to a store.

I think I could get an award for my excitement for the little things in life. I’m not sure if this is a good thing, or it means that I shoot too low in terms of my expectations, but no matter. I love you Trader Joe’s and your cheap almonds and whole wheat pizza dough.

Sunday had the promise of all-day sun, and BF and I were ready to take full advantage. Oh, and take it we did. Not only did we take it, but we took every single hour of the day and squeezed as much sunshine-filled activity out of them as we possibly could.

As I stated earlier, the day started with a 16 miler, completed averaging 8:20 miles (very happy about that) and the biggest blister I’ve ever gotten in my life. With two toenails on their death bed and now this beauty covering my entire pinky toe, I think it’s safe to say I’m ready to be done with training and get this marathon show on the road. I’m in a bit of a pickle because I think my old shoes are the reason for all my foot ailments, however my new shoes make my knee hurt, so it’s really just a debacle between which pain I’d prefer.

Post runs (BF did 10 miles), we walked to our typical bagel spot. Walking in shorts and flip-flops mind you. THIS IS A BIG DEAL.

Blueberry w/cream cheese and strawberry jam. Perfection.

Bagels should be an essential food group.

Afterwards, we decided to take on an endeavor we’ve only talked about hypothetically in the past: Planting a vegetable garden.

You see, we live in a big house that was turned into 5 separate units, and with the whole “living in a real neighborhood in a real house” scenario comes a 24 sq. ft patch of garden with which we can “do whatever we want,” according to our landlord. We both liked the idea of a vegetable garden, however it required not only the soil and the plants, but we needed to remove all the weeds and various shrubbery that had taken over our plot of garden.

As you can imagine, it was easy to procrastinate taking on this activity.

But not yesterday, when being outside was required, and we had a day to do whatever we chose.

So off to the hardware store it was, and we loaded up on all the things you need to be a green-thumb person. Okay, it was actually more like this:

Me: “Oh! Spinach!”

Me: “Ohhh!! Strawberries! Kale!”

BF: “How about….”

Me: “OHH!! PRETTY FLOWERS!”

Bf: “Check this out..”

Me: “Can we get a big chocolate cookie after this?”

Eventually, we made it out with a large variety of vegetables and a few flowers to plant.

Hooray gardening!! Also, those are my running clothes I'm still wearing. It's fine.

I got my cookie too, don’t worry. So did BF.

Also, in a very “we are a semi-adult couple who lives in a semi-adult home” move, we bought PATIO FURNITURE which was on sale. Again with the little things people. Until yesterday, when BF got all handy-man and set up our new table and chairs, the sole piece of furniture on our porch was a little, lone rocking chair. Now, we can do all kinds of fun things out there, including eat dinner, play cards, and make fun of all the people of segway tours that “drive” by our house.

Seriously. WALK.

Anyways, once arriving home and setting up our new sitting area, we got to work on the garden.

You pour the soil BF, I'll document.

After some pulling, clipping, digging, and planting, we had a final product!

Gardening!! Earth Day!! Not going to Safeway for vegetables every day!!

Into the newly poured soil went: spinach, snow peas, kale, strawberries, beets, chard, mint, basil, rosemary, radishes, and flowers. I’m PSYCHED. Now, let’s just see if this actually produces anything…

To celebrate our “manual labor” we headed to the park down the street to play some catch/whiffle ball. Note: It is not easy to play whiffle ball with two people, though it is highly entertaining, and perhaps more entertaining to the people watching.

It was actually after all these activities that I realized it was Earth Day, which made everything so highly appropriate.

I love the sun. I love running. I productive days. I love convincing BF to buy cookies with me.

Did you know these things?

I’m sorry if you’re tired of reading about me getting excited over and over about the exact same things all the time, but what can I say? I’m easy to please and I know what I like.

 

So, that’s all for now. If you made it all this way through my weekend recap, both thank you and I hope you had a great weekend as well. Today begins the less than two week countdown to marathon day, which will be on May 6. I’ve technically begun tapering, but as you can tell by my recap of exercise this past weekend, the real tapering is yet to come. I’m probably going to turn into a crazy, “I HAVE EVERY FEELING IN THE WORLD” person, and so I can almost guarantee some frightening/entertaining posts in these next couple of weeks.

NOW YOU! Tell me about your Earth Day, your weekend, your long run, your favorite grocery store, your simple pleasures, or ALL OF THESE THINGS! I enjoy comments.

Being Snarky and Sack Talk

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I learned yesterday that apparently it’s a blogging faux-pas to write about the weather. I mean, I realize weather chat is somewhat ho hum and a time filler in real life situations, but really? There are social rules for the internet?

This struck me because I mention the weather somewhat frequently, and it’s actually because it’s relevant…due to the whole running outside thing.

Well, I’ve never fit it much socially anyways. So let’s talk about Seattle’s current atmospheric decision-making, shall we?

To describe this week’s weather, I really don’t think there are two words more fitting than butt and hole.

Sorry, I live with a boy, and my already questionable manners/ladylike habits are going down the drain.

But seriously, this weather BLOWS, and the worst part is that the rest of the country is all, “Ohh! Spring is here!” “LOVE THE SUN” “70 DEGREES OF HEAVEN!”

Yea, I hate you all.

No… but like, a little. Fortunately for me, this is “Thou shalt not run” week, therefore I’m priding myself on my timing skills in getting hurt. Unfortunately, this weather is matching my mood a little too closely, and grumpy gimp-hood + miserable raindrops of sadness= the perfect setup for a depressing Bright Eyes music video.

I have already come up with the details: Me, staring longingly out the car window at my muddy, rain-soaked running path, while the camera zooms out to show Puget Sound, waves roaring and seagulls mercilessly fighting the wind. Next shot: me, rubbing large ice cube after large ice cube over my knee while chugging ibuprofen pills in a “I could be over-dosing on something serious” kind of melancholy way. A depressing song is playing the whole time.

WOW. Okay guys, it’s really not that bad. I’m being dramatic (so weird, right?!) and actually it’s probably a lot better that the rain is choosing this week to stick around 24/7. I can’t imagine how bad it would be if it were—gasp!—SUNNY here this week and I was isolated in an indoor RICE existence.

Pity party over, and can you say First World Problems?

Let’s focus on some positives.

So, I did get a very fast and easy diagnosis when I spoke with a PT the other night. I told her a bit about my mystery knee pangs, she pressed in one spot, I said ow, she said, “Well, I can tell you exactly what’s wrong.”

Which, by the way, is perhaps the best thing EVER to hear from a doctor, especially when you’re an anxious runner ready to get back on the road.

According to Dr. Lora, I have Pes anserine bursitis, which essentially means that it’s not my knee that’s jacked…it’s the little bursa sack where three of my major leg muscles come together. The bursa sack is there to absorb all the impact/tension that accumulates in that part of my knee, and currently mine is all hot and bothered and inflamed. She used much fancier terms than this, and all I really understood was “hamstring” and “you’re going to be fine.”

This bursitis could be due to a number of reasons, however through my incessant research, I’m fairly certain it’s due to one primary cause: Improper stretching/warmup/cool down routines associated with excessive repetitive activities.

Oh, you mean that I should have been stretching more and warming up and cooling down when logging 50 miles a week? GROUNDBREAKING. I am sure this is a case that would have sports scientists flabbergasted and pining to do lab tests on me.

NOT

What am I trying to say? In a nutshell, no shit my knee hurts. I admit, I’ve always been pretty fine without a warmup…or a cool down…or stretching very much. My body has always responded fine without these very basic athletic principles, or so I thought, and therefore I kind of carried along in my training without giving them a second thought.

Well, my body has come back to bite my in the butt. Or in the bursa sack. Sure, this might not be the reason for the pesky bursitis, however I would say it’s a safe bet due to my slacking of yoga for the past three weeks and my “post run stretching” consisting of two 10 second quad stretches and bending over to touch my toes once.

Remember when I gave myself a B+ in stretching?

Damn universe, you saw right through that lie. You got me. And I admit, I should have been stretching more…I’ll take back my B+ and give myself a C…okay fine! C-

So what does this mean? Well, I’m currently in an intense relationship with my ice trays, my bottle of pain killers, and my pillow. Why my pillow, you ask? Well, when I told the PT about the pain I was feeling in the morning, she advised I sleep with a pillow between my legs because I sleep on my side. I tried it two nights ago and woke up essentially void of any inflammation. Again, groundbreaking stuff over here: If you’re not jamming your bursa sack into your other leg for 8 hours of sleep, it won’t hurt!!!

But seriously, it is a quick fix that has a huge impact, I recommend it.

Also, doesn’t “bursa sack” sound inappropriate? I don’t think I’ve ever typed the word “sack” so many times at once, and it feels a little dirty.

Anyways, today is {hopefully} my final day off from running. I’m staying completely off my legs today, doing the whole RICE thing, and vying for some miles tomorrow morning. And yes I am planning on waking up around 4:30 am to pop some pain pills before I head out at 6:00 am. Lots of stretching/icing before and after as well, like a good injured bird. This is all very best-case-scenario, because I’m actually not sure how my bursa SACK is going react on the run, but I’m crossing my fingers…and you should too, please? 🙂

I’m feeling optimistic, although part of me is still very wary/afraid for my marathon future. Fortunately, this isn’t a serious ailment, and it can be aggressively treated/dealt with according to Dr. Lora. So here’s hoping that my resting has done some good work, and by continuing the recovery routine and actually doing the whole “stretching” thing, I can nip this thing in the bud.

Also, I would like to thank the people at the Eugene Marathon headquarters for posting this nice little Tweet today.

This didn't make my stomach lurch AT ALL

I like to imagine there is a “headquarters” for this event; full of race paraphernalia in the making, people on the phone with Nike and Gatorade, and Kara Goucher randomly stopping by to say “Hey.” This Tweet probably came from the college house of a social networking intern…but I prefer my headquarters theory.

44 days people. Not quite 7 weeks, a little more than 6 weeks. For now, I’m just going to focus on regaining the ability to run, then hopefully I can start to divulge my super-secret-not-so-secret plans for a finish time.

Hopefully this post wasn’t too overwhelming in terms of shark. Sometimes I can’t control my sarcasm and sass. I blame the sack and Girl Scout cookies.

Happy hump day! If you are in Seattle, stay dry…and to the rest of you, I don’t want to hear about your sun.

Tell me something fantastic about your week OR something you are out-of-control excited about for the near future. Spring break plans? Happy hour plans? St. Patty’s plans? I’m dying to hear some happy voices…so speak loud!

 

 

 

 

Branching Out, Angry Knee, and Minnie Pancakes

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This weekend, I did things a little differently.

And I liked it. A lot.

I’m the definition of “a creature of habit,” and it’s rare for me to switch up my routine, try anything new that I don’t already know I’ll love, or extend myself beyond a certain comfort zone. I like to think that I push my limits and that I challenge myself, and I definitely do, but there are certain areas of my life that I tend to keep very even-stevens in terms of their excitement. This is mostly due to the fact that I dedicate myself so wholly to running, that I get concerned with anything breaking up my consistent routine. While marathon training this is understandable, but there are other times when it simply gets in the way of the rest of life, which isn’t good. Therefore, I was very conscientious this weekend of incorporating more fun into my days other than just running.

And indeed I did. I spent all day Saturday with my dear friend Kawika, Saturday night with several old college friends at a bar/birthday gathering, and Sunday visiting for a bit with my friend Rose. Oh, and BF and I went bowling Friday night, which doesn’t sound extravagant, but for a couple who is normally so tired on Friday that even watching a full episode of a show sounds daunting, this was HUGE. Also, there was a bet made that whomever had the lowest total two-game score would pay for everything. I’m not saying who won or lost, but let’s just say I think the person who made the wager regretted their proposition by the end of the night…

Also, while all the normal bowling alley dwellers drank their beers, this is what my pre-22-mile-morning-run self was consuming.

LAME

….but perhaps this helped yield a certain final outcome?

Bowling and beer go hand-in-hand. Next time, no water bottle.

And speaking of, 22 miles was completed Saturday morning, done before 10:30 am! It was long, it was tiring, but it was absolutely great. Aside from one wrinkle in the run (which I’ll get to later), I couldn’t have asked for a more confidence-building, satisfying long run. Remember how I said on Friday that I was experimenting with some new long-run tools this time around? Well props to all—especially the new fuel that I tried.

liquid GOLD my friends

No stomach issues! AND I think the caffeine factor definitely helped with my energy overall. Also, I think my soreness was seriously lessened due to the enhanced electrolyte replacement. Good work PowerBar, I’m ready for my sponsorship now.

{Joke}

Moving on, another CRAZY thing about this run was what I did afterwards……

{insert moans of searing pain here}

I finally gave in and decided to give his whole “ice bath” thing a try.

YOU GUYS. THIS IS SO PAINFUL.

I knew it wasn’t going to be all relaxing and soothing, but I seriously was not prepared for just how intense this actually is. I used two whole bags of ice, kept my shorts on, and even bundled up on top like you’re supposed to. I cannot say that I ever really “got used to it” the whole 20 minutes that I was in there, and by the end I was literally counting down the seconds until I could get out. I immediately attempted to warm up in a way-too-hot shower, but after getting out it was clear that my core was still freezing cold. Despite the cranked heater and being bundled in a robe, I could not stop shaking and had to layer up and drink some hot water until I could finally manage to control my temperature.

I’m not sure if I did something wrong…or if my natural poor circulation just got the best of me, but hot damn ice bath, you got me good.

Okay, on the bright side, I need to credit my twenty minutes of Arctic conditions for my lack of soreness on Sunday, and I felt much less stiff after I got out and warmed up.

Overall, good times. And I was proud of myself for trying out some new running related things.

However, as mentioned, there was one hiccup.

My run felt great, however there was a twinge in my knee that I couldn’t seem to shake. My knee felt a little tweaked after a yoga class last week, but nothing too bad and I could run on it just fine. This was the same throughout the 22 miler, but I could definitely feel it. Not pain necessarily, but just an ache that couldn’t go away. The ice bath helped, but I was still feeling the ache throughout the whole day.

Yesterday, it had subsided a bit, and so I decided to go through with a shake-out run which actually made it feel even better. Last night it had all but gone away, which was encouraging, however this morning proved this little knee pang to be a bit more substantial than a tweak.

I was in actual pain when I woke up, and although walking around and getting blood flowing to it helped out, it’s still not feeling awesome.

And, I’ll admit it…it’s bothering me. Both physically and mentally.

I couldn’t help myself and did the whole Google-diagnosis for a while, and decided to quit because nothing was going to be encouraging or conclusive about doing that. See, I do learn things. Instead, I’m deciding to go against my natural instincts and—FINE—not run.

I’m going to give this knee pain a few days to hang out, relax, and hopefully get lost. Honestly, I’m far enough along with my training that a few days off won’t hurt, and it certainly will help if something is acting up from overuse. So while it burns a little bit inside me, I have learned enough and know enough to err on the side of caution.

I know it might feel better tomorrow, but I’m conclusively deciding to wait until at least Thursday to try out running. Running definitely doesn’t make it hurt worse, but I want to ensure that running isn’t taken out of the picture because of excess mileage.

And this is actually good timing, because West Seattle Runner is having a PT come in tomorrow night to do FREE injury consultation. You can show up, have a chat with her about your running ailments, and she’ll offer her expert advice. You can bet I’ll be there, with this knee pain at the top of my “what’s wrong with me?” list.

So, lots of different things happening around these parts—some good, some not so good, but all offering an interesting change of pace. I’m going to enjoy some sleep-in time this week, and honestly…with a weather report like this, running isn’t exactly super duper enticing:

Seattle says, "Oh, you thought it was spring? How silly of you!"

Here’s hoping this ailment goes away with some R and R. I’m doing my best to remain confident and calm (not an easy task, mind you)…and hopefully my new invention of shortbread GS cookies with Nutella on top will help.

Also, on one final note, BF often times reminds me of why we’re good together…but this reminder from yesterday is worth sharing:

 

While making pancakes for himself, BF delivered me this little beauty. A traditional Mickey pancake was too standard, therefore a bow of cranberries were added on top to emphasize the fact that it was Minnie. Creative touch BF, you’re the best!

Have a good Monday!

What’s your favorite pancake shape? Did you do a long run this weekend? A bike ride? A hike? Please share any fun/entertaining activities!

 

 

 

 

Friday Favorites, with a Thankful Twist.

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I am riding a wave of overall excitement heading into this weekend. There really isn’t anything particular that’s given me this merry kick-in-the-butt, but I’m loving it—and hopefully you aren’t scared off by my inevitable cheerful banter to come.

Sorry, but actually—I’m not sorry.

I’m generally feeling very thankful recently, and I am a firm believer that a little bit of gratitude goes a long way. Gratitude humbles us, it relieves the stresses of every day life, and it helps us realize that despite all else, we really do have it pretty good.

That’s why this week, for Friday Favorites—I’d like to do a little bit of a spin on my weekly round-up of wonderful things. As inspired by the weekly tradition of one of my favorite running bloggers, Ali on the Run, I’m going to recount some things I’m thankful for recently. It is kind of in the same light as my favorite things, but this week I’m vying to offer up some genuine thanks for some awesome things in my life.

On that note…

I’m thankful for faulty weather reports.

Inaccurate! Hooray!

Wednesday had the promise of rain written all over it throughout the entire day. I was pouty because I was planning on/needed to run that day, and although I have handled the rain before—many times in fact—I was resounding myself to the fate of the treadmill. Alas, no rain came.

And in fact, the weather forecast could not have been more wrong. Apparently “gusts of wind with a 90% chance of rain” actually means “50 degrees and a lovely, windless sunset.” I merrily covered 8 miles in 64 minutes and relished in the weather people’s incompetence for the day.

I’m thankful for the first signs of spring!

I am a liliac! And I smell good! And I'm not a cold, dead tree!

Last week I was on a really early morning run, and all of a sudden a waft of something glorious filled my nose. Because I’m used to the smells of the steel mill and exhaust from the ferries, this took me by surprise. Lo and behold, there were lilac blossoms making their way out of their winter cocoons!

It’s so exciting to see the first buds surfacing for springtime, and coupled with the daylight that has extended both in the morning and at night, I would say we are making our way out of winter folks! Yesterday morning, I was outside at 7 am and I could see everything! It was miraculous!! I think it’s funny how we forget just how light it gets in the summer when we’ve surrendered to the darkness of winter, and vice versa.

Welcome spring, I cordially welcome you to the Pacific Northwest.

I am thankful for homemade trail mix.

chocolate and coconut are totally good for you when you blend them with nuts and fruit

You are looking at the snack that I now have nearly every afternoon. Almonds, sunflower seeds, coconut, chocolate chips, cranberries, and raisins. I love trail mix, but I never buy it, and then I discovered this groundbreaking idea of combining ingredients I already have in my cabinet to form my own custom made trail mix! Innovation is the name of my game people.

Well okay, maybe not, but I am psyched to have welcomed this fantastic new snack friend into my culinary repertoire.

Note: I have no repertoire, which is why I find joy in simple, new food discoveries.

 

I am thankful for rest days.

This morning, I made the spur-of-the-moment, matter-of-fact decision that today was going to be a rest day. If you regularly read this blog (thanks for doing so, by the way!), you know that I love doing something active nearly every day, and rest days and I don’t normally get along. They stress me out, and I normally prolong having them as much as I can. (This is a fault, please don’t follow this lead.)

But, this morning I woke up at 5:30 am with the plan of going to spin, and my body simple said, “No.” I was feeling a little sore and achy, my head hurt, and due to the heavy exercise-filled weekend I have ahead, I decide to front load it all with a little R&R. I have 20 miler number two coming up tomorrow and a super fun but super long spin session on Sunday, therefore I felt it was best to sleep in, rest up, and focus on hydration.

Good decisions, Robyn. And although I know by the afternoon I’ll be vying to pound some pavement, I’m glad I made the decision to make today a sweat-free day.

I’m thankful for cute dogs. Particularly, golden doodles.

Hey little guy, I know I'm a creeper discreetly trying to photograph you while walking down the sidewalk so your owner won't see, but will you please let me pet you and give me your doodle-filled kisses?

Of this I am sure: I will own a golden doodle. I am quite frankly obsessed with them, and it’s gotten to a point where I will stop in my tracks if I see one so I can say hi (see photo above). There are the perfect combination of fluffiness, sportiness, and cuddliness (WOW, I am 7 years old), and I’ve never really wanted another dog more than these bundles of love.

For now though, I will enjoy walking up to strangers and asking them to pet their doggies. Or, stealthily photographing people’s dogs while they obliviously buy their coffee in Starbucks. That’s not weird, right? Oh ya, it is.

 

LOOK AT THAT HEAD!

Prepare to hear more about golden doodles. I can’t help it.

 

Lastly, I am thankful for blogging. I am so grateful to have a place to come to where I can write out my thoughts on running and life. I feel like my love for writing has heightened, and I can’t say I’ve learned more about myself as a runner as I have through writing down my progress, regressions, and goals. Thank you for allowing me to share this true love of mine with you. I am thankful for you, dear reader.

 

NOW YOU! What are you thankful for today? What are your favorite things?