I had a hard time draggin' myself outta bed yesterday. After the alarm went off I kept climbing deeper under the covers. I played that mental game I call 'Later'. I'll go run at the gym - I'll go this afternoon - I'll run before dinner. Somehow I got up and out the door. I took my music with me. It spoke to me out on the run. That happens sometimes - when the words just leap out and shake you, and the music reaches you on some emotional level below the surface. I could say the lyrics put to music are like poetry for my soul - but I'm sure someone has said that already. The music simply has some effect on your spirit or on that energy inside you. It makes you feel so alive. It's funny how different types of music can do the same thing for people. From the beginning of time with ritualist drumming and instinctive tapping of feet - to today when everyone has an ipod and music on their cell phone.
My songs today were a litlle bit about freedom and self. A little bit about being high on life and happy to be out experiencing it. I ran a comfortable 8 mile out and back along the beach. ( I was supposed to run 5, but I had to add my 3 from yesterday because the neighborhood BBQ took the place of my evening run.) I raced a ferry boat around the point. I think I beat it. I'd love to have a hand-held and radio the captain: "Hey buddy - I think I'm gaining on ya', you oughtta pick it up a bit." I chased a pigeon too. I swear those things wait until you're right on them before they fan their tail and take off in flight. My new shoes felt great on their inaugural run. I love that I can take them out for an 8 mile jaunt right out of the box and they feel like slippers. I got blue this time - my last pair was yellow. I think I like the blue ones.
Back on the music topic . . . we went to a concert last week - a date, even. We went to listen to Shawn Colvin at an outdoor venue. We last saw her on our first wedding anniversary in 1994, and she's still singing - even has a new album coming out. It was so awesome to sit outside and watch the trees and listen to her guitar.
I listen to an odd mix of music. I'd love to be cool and list the hit music I listen to, but that ain't gonna happen. A lot of the time it's what I consider old music, but because some of it is from the 80's, it's now hip and retro. I somehow really do have some sort of variety - a pretty wide diversity that I seem to have interest in - but it's not necessary 'cool' music, and I wouldn't classify it as running music by anyone's standards but my own. I have no idea how many songs I currently have on my ipod - maybe a hundred or so of that diverse mix - but yesterday the songs played out however which way they chose. They had their way with me. You know it's going to be a good run when you start out with the sky lightening up and the first song you hear is about walking on air. Here are the lyrics:
Look at what's happened to me,
I can't believe it myself.
Suddenly I'm up on top of the world,
It should've been somebody else.
Believe it or not,
I'm walking on air.
I never thought I could feel so free.
Flying away on a wing and a prayer.
Who could it be?
Believe it or not it's just me.
It's like a light of a new day,
It came from out of the blue.
Breaking me out of the spell I was in,
Making all of my wishes come true.
Believe it or not,I'm walking on air.
I never thought I could feel so free.
Flying away on a wing and a prayer.
Who could it be?
Believe it or not it's just me.
It's the theme song from a 1981 TV show called The Greatest American Hero. And a sampling of what came next, best I can recollect:
All I Need is a Miracle - Mike and the Mechanics
something by Rod Stewart
Alive and Kicking - Simple Minds
Free as a Bird - the Beattles
Redemption Song - Bob Marley
Runaway Train - Soul Asylum - saw them in concert too
Sugar, We're Goin' Down - Fallout Boy
Maybe I - Five for Fighting
Silver Rainbow - Genesis
Coming to America - Neil Diamond
Zoo Station - U2 -oooh, saw them in concert too
Come Sail Away - Styx
Okay, I'm done reminiscing. The ipod was on random, and I couldn't repeat the playlist if I tried - I know I'm missing several. I find it mildly ammusing that I run along the beach path with my head boppin' side to side and my hands drumming the air. Sometimes you just gotta live a little bit of life.
Hopefully somewhere in there I captured the essence of my run a little bit and delivered it in words to share with the world. It was a great run.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Monday, July 31, 2006
Happy Monday
Another Monday - where does the weekend always go? I had a great run yesterday. I went a direction I'd never gone before - to explore the unknown in the depths of the city. It was shocking to wake up to the temperature below 60 fahrenheit (that's be about what 15 or 16 celcius to the rest of the world), there was an ever so slight rain, and because of the cloud cover it was dark. I debated leaving later, but my whole day schedule hinged upon my leaving by 5:00. So out the door I went. This was to be a mystery morning. In order to get where I wanted to go, I needed to run through an industrial area, and get up the hill on the other side. But the two nearest roads that go up this hill are a mile to the north, or a mile and a half to the south - thus adding more than necessary distance to my run. My plan was to run straight up. I'd been told there were stairs. The guy who told me has never seen the said stairs, but said he knew others had. Okay. Imaginary stairs. Under the freeway where all the homeless people sleep. In the dark. Promising. But I found the stairs. I stood at the bottom looking at them. Looking up, it was a criss-cross of freeway interchanges, and it looked like the stairs went up to the freeway. Weird. I ventured up to that land of the unknown, and lo and behold, I was on the freeway. Sort of where the bridge/freeway merge and it flows into a main arterial. The builder's plan here was odd. I ran a little way on this sidewalk on the freeway while I contemplated whether or not other freeways had sidewalks. Then the sidewalk ended, some stairs went down, and back up to where the sidewalk continued. (Apparently so one could avoid being hit by cars traveling freeway speed.) There wasn't too much traffic so I braved the road and continued the rest of the way up the hill when I reached the sidewalk again. I imagined drivers going by wondering where the heck this runner had come from. I frequently drive this freeway portion and have never noticed the stairs.
The next 4 miles were through some neighborhoods I've never run along - a very diverse area - kinda fun. Then 7 or so miles of waterfront along the lake. Part of it was along a park trail on a little peninsula park, (complete with drinking fountain for water at miles 4 and 7.5) and some along a bike path on a major thoroughfare. The lake was opened for sockeye season for three days, which doesn't happen every year. It was phenomenal to witness the amount of boats out on the water. It was as if someone had taken a game board and dumped all the pieces, allowing them to scatter at random. The lake was literally littered with boats.
I added some extra mileage in there somewhere. The map I read showed the two beach parks connected end to end and I could get back out onto the road after running through them. After running through some woods in a park, and out into a neighborhood, I reached a dead end sign. I could see the second park about 100 yards in front of me. But between me and it were a chain link fence, and either a thick thicket of bushes or a swim through the water to the beach I was staring at. C'est lavie. I backtracked and made it around. The drinking fountain wasn't working when I got there. Bummer when you don't pack water. C'est lavie again. I had another park with a water fountain planned in a couple of miles. And it was actually working. The rest of my run was serene and happily uneventful 'til the end. A little hamstring soreness, but great otherwise. I had even been doing some cutdown pacing the last three miles.
I was about half a mile from the park in the city where my husband was to meet me. Before I continue, I must explain something. I live in the United States - a free country. But even so, there are some places that I don't usually enter - namely governmnent property, especially after 9/11. But being that, the only other property that one usually holds sacred in these parts would be Microsoft property or Boeing property - both largely due to security. (It's fun to be in a boat and go past Bill Gates' compound - you can see the security guys with binoculars on the lookout for anyone who dares come too close.) At this point in my run, however, I was in the city of Renton in Boeing territory. I ran right past the huge Detour signs, thinking they didn't apply to runners, and assuming there would be a sidewalk still available. No such hope. Just like my prior beach park deadend, I could see where I needed to get to, not more than 100 yards ahead - on the other side of a mammoth fence. I swore a few times, and turned around. I went around the block, and found only barricades, no fence. I got excited and went right through. I continued down the street and lost all hope. Another chain link fence. I could see some security building nearby and I was already trespassing. The thing was - I'd just run 18 and a half miles from a different city, and the only way I knew how to get from where I was standing to the other side, was the turn by turn directions I had written down and now carried in the small ziplock baggie in my hand. I stood and looked at the detour suggested and had no idea how far away it would take me. The last few miles of pace cutdown had taken it's emotional toil and I started to get upset. I felt myself start to hyperventilate and my tears start to well-up. Not only did my day hinge upon leaving at 5 am, but also on arriving at the park at a certain time so my husband could start and complete his long run, me pick him up in a different city, and arrive to pick up our child who'd been at an overnight - on time. Silly irrational thoughts that really weren't that big of a deal, became a big deal when I was tired. I noticed the end of the high chain link fence was tied to a barricade at the next fence connection. A barricade! I can do that! In fact it was two barricades tied together with about a mile of yellow caution tape. But it was a way through. My adrenaline was rushing at this point. Mentally I dared some security guard to mess with me as I imagined my explanation with my plastic baggie and my garmin that registered my mileage. And tears - that always helps, doesn't it? The poor damsel in distress? Does tired, dirty, sweaty, cranky runner in distress work? I made it over the barricade and no one even noticed. Good thing I'm not one of those dangerous runners.
I finished the run at the park at 19 miles. Felt really good. Had some chocolate soymilk, a lot of ultima, and ate a cliff bar. Life was just fine. Lots of swimmers coming out of the water, and bikes heading in and out of the parking lot. What a great morning for exercise. The sun was even coming out. My husband headed out for his run, and the munchkins and I headed to get a coffee and treat. Now it's Monday and the UPS guy just brought a box containing my new running shoes! Ahhhh . . . . . the little things in life that make me happy!
The next 4 miles were through some neighborhoods I've never run along - a very diverse area - kinda fun. Then 7 or so miles of waterfront along the lake. Part of it was along a park trail on a little peninsula park, (complete with drinking fountain for water at miles 4 and 7.5) and some along a bike path on a major thoroughfare. The lake was opened for sockeye season for three days, which doesn't happen every year. It was phenomenal to witness the amount of boats out on the water. It was as if someone had taken a game board and dumped all the pieces, allowing them to scatter at random. The lake was literally littered with boats.
I added some extra mileage in there somewhere. The map I read showed the two beach parks connected end to end and I could get back out onto the road after running through them. After running through some woods in a park, and out into a neighborhood, I reached a dead end sign. I could see the second park about 100 yards in front of me. But between me and it were a chain link fence, and either a thick thicket of bushes or a swim through the water to the beach I was staring at. C'est lavie. I backtracked and made it around. The drinking fountain wasn't working when I got there. Bummer when you don't pack water. C'est lavie again. I had another park with a water fountain planned in a couple of miles. And it was actually working. The rest of my run was serene and happily uneventful 'til the end. A little hamstring soreness, but great otherwise. I had even been doing some cutdown pacing the last three miles.
I was about half a mile from the park in the city where my husband was to meet me. Before I continue, I must explain something. I live in the United States - a free country. But even so, there are some places that I don't usually enter - namely governmnent property, especially after 9/11. But being that, the only other property that one usually holds sacred in these parts would be Microsoft property or Boeing property - both largely due to security. (It's fun to be in a boat and go past Bill Gates' compound - you can see the security guys with binoculars on the lookout for anyone who dares come too close.) At this point in my run, however, I was in the city of Renton in Boeing territory. I ran right past the huge Detour signs, thinking they didn't apply to runners, and assuming there would be a sidewalk still available. No such hope. Just like my prior beach park deadend, I could see where I needed to get to, not more than 100 yards ahead - on the other side of a mammoth fence. I swore a few times, and turned around. I went around the block, and found only barricades, no fence. I got excited and went right through. I continued down the street and lost all hope. Another chain link fence. I could see some security building nearby and I was already trespassing. The thing was - I'd just run 18 and a half miles from a different city, and the only way I knew how to get from where I was standing to the other side, was the turn by turn directions I had written down and now carried in the small ziplock baggie in my hand. I stood and looked at the detour suggested and had no idea how far away it would take me. The last few miles of pace cutdown had taken it's emotional toil and I started to get upset. I felt myself start to hyperventilate and my tears start to well-up. Not only did my day hinge upon leaving at 5 am, but also on arriving at the park at a certain time so my husband could start and complete his long run, me pick him up in a different city, and arrive to pick up our child who'd been at an overnight - on time. Silly irrational thoughts that really weren't that big of a deal, became a big deal when I was tired. I noticed the end of the high chain link fence was tied to a barricade at the next fence connection. A barricade! I can do that! In fact it was two barricades tied together with about a mile of yellow caution tape. But it was a way through. My adrenaline was rushing at this point. Mentally I dared some security guard to mess with me as I imagined my explanation with my plastic baggie and my garmin that registered my mileage. And tears - that always helps, doesn't it? The poor damsel in distress? Does tired, dirty, sweaty, cranky runner in distress work? I made it over the barricade and no one even noticed. Good thing I'm not one of those dangerous runners.
I finished the run at the park at 19 miles. Felt really good. Had some chocolate soymilk, a lot of ultima, and ate a cliff bar. Life was just fine. Lots of swimmers coming out of the water, and bikes heading in and out of the parking lot. What a great morning for exercise. The sun was even coming out. My husband headed out for his run, and the munchkins and I headed to get a coffee and treat. Now it's Monday and the UPS guy just brought a box containing my new running shoes! Ahhhh . . . . . the little things in life that make me happy!
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
A Look Into My World
Too many thoughts are on my mind - too many thoughts so intertwined . .
Over 90° fahrenheit for 4 days in a row. It hasn't happened in this city for 25 years - it said so on the news - and the news is always right, right? People here don't have A/C - maybe Bill Gates does - and people who live in fancy neighborhoods. But even most of them likely don't. Why would you in a city that's usually between 45° and 65° F all year round? When it's been 92° outside, it's also 92° inside. You try to open the doors and windows early to let a breeze through and then close up the house to keep it cool. Inevitably, when you have 3 active children, the door opens and closes all day long and it gets hot inside. It's hard to sleep - even with a fan on. And then you still wake up all night long. It's crazy.
I haven't typed a blog in a week and my fingernails have grown so long it's hard to type.
I mentioned in a previous post that my birthday was last week. We drove down the hill to have a picnic at the beach the night before to celebrate. I even made BBQ ribs - yummy. The kids and I picked blackberries the next day and made a pie. It's still a little early for blackberries - they're more plentiful in August. The kids were very diligent, though, and found some berries up behind the house. Blackberries are like weeds here - they grow everywhere. I don't like cake a whole lot so pie was a great birthday dessert. I think the most favorite part of my birthday was coming home from the gym. I took my 8-yr-old with me and we walked up to the gym to run on the indoor track. When we got home, my 5 & 10 yr. olds had decorated the house with ribbons, balloons, and hand-drawn banners. They were so excited - it was really cute. My 10-yr-old even opened up itunes, found a song I had just purchased from itunes, and added it to my playlist (Collide, by Howie Day), and had it playing when we walked in the door.
I've been running at the gym a lot since it's been so hot, and since I haven't been sleeping well, it's hard to get up and outside early when it's not so hot. Last Wednesday I got inspired reading about DGC's treadmill PR. I headed up to the gym and did a 10k workout. I can't really call it that 'cause I took a break in the middle. I did the first 5k @ 7:30 pace. Then I walked for a minute. I did the next 5k starting @ 7:20 pace and evenly cut it down to just below 7 minute pace by the end. I was sooo excited. It helped tremendously that Peter Gabriel's 'Salsbury Hill' came on my ipod right at the end - I was getting pretty tired. I remember telling Joe a week or two ago that the good thing about a treadmill is that you can't cheat on a workout - it forces the pace.
The next day was my birthday when I had my 8-yr-old at the indoor track. I intended to run easy. The track is something like 20 laps to a mile. The laps go by so fast, and the track is banked, so it's kinda fun. But you almost can't help going fast - especially when other people are on the track 'cause it's like roadkill during a race. However, I was sore from the day before, so I was planning on taking it easy. I forgot I brought the rabbit with me. The rabbit's name is 'Sydney' - named after the 2000 Sydney Olympics when they announced the city as the site several years prior to 2000. We should've known then and there that the child would love sports. Anyhow . . . she'd stop @ the drinking fountain on the track - when she'd see me approaching, she'd get a big grin on her face and bolt around the corner, taunting me to chase her. I'd try to catch her 'til she'd tire, take a water break, and repeat the process. It was a great 3 mile fartlek workout. I took Friday off, and ran an early and easy 5 on Saturday. I took the kids to the lake for several hours Thursday, Friday, and Saturday because it was so hot. Sunday I had a 12 mile run scheduled. I headed out just before 5 am. The first 6 miles were great - I even got to see one of the cruise ships come into the bay and run through the sprinklers in the park. At 6 miles I suddenly got tired. I stopped to stretch and walked a bit. I ran a little more, then decided I'd had enough. I walked a half mile home, and ended my run at only 8 miles. I brought in the Sunday paper and went to sleep. I spent the next day and a half with nausea, a BAD headache and sensitivity to light. I'm not sure if it was a minor migraine or just too much heat and sun. It was no fun.
I was able to lift weights and run an easy 4 on the treadmill again last night and then we took the kids to the pool and my husband snuck in a few laps while we played. The 2 mountain bike duathlons he had scheduled this summer were both canceled, so now I think he's training for a triathlon instead. I think I'm jealous. But truly I have more running goals that I need to meet before a tri. I just really want to swim more and I have a hard time with it. I think I need a coach. Maybe after our vacation next month.
After all this time on the treadmill, I've become fascinated by it as a tool for training. I've run on treadmills before - in fact my college degree is in exercise physiology and I'm a certified athletic trainer - just not doing anything with that knowledge to earn money right now. (It sure comes in handy sometimes for training, though.) But other than the fact that the treadmill has umpteen hundred functions and settings for use - I'm noticing other stuff. I never expected to have it help me with pacing - and I do much faster workouts than when I'm on the track or the road. I have the perfect opportunity to practice my chi running when I'm running in one place. (If you ever see the book, it's a great read.) I can stare at myself in the mirror and watch my form. When I set the treadmill on the lap program, I can focus on something different every lap - stride, posture, footstrike, etc - it makes it go by pretty fast. I never think about that stuff when I'm on the road. I don't think I'd survive if I didn't have my ipod, though. It amazes me the amount of multi-tasking that goes on there - running without falling off, listening to my ipod, watching the tv up ahead of me while still not falling off, reading the closed-caption while I'm watching the tv, and then focusing on my form and my pace and gawking at all the other people around me on the other treadmills as I stare into the mirror. It's really fascinating.
More life at my house . . . the Tour is over - great year . . . the Mesa Falls marathon has an updated website - I'm getting excited for it just reading the course description. I've enjoyed looking at the badwater webcast - thanks to Angie's link the other day - another year in the books. The temperature finally cooled off today - to 85°. Trail passes to Mt. St. Helens are a hot commodity. I just finished a challenging read - really made me think about society in a different way. And while I'm doling out trivial details - for dinner tonight . . . chicken breast cooked in minced garlic and olive oil, tilapia - marinated and pan fried in lime juice, garlic, salt, cilantro, and sugar, boiled purple cabbage, and gluten free spinach-rice pasta tossed with finely shredded sheep's milk cheese. Bon appetite!
Over 90° fahrenheit for 4 days in a row. It hasn't happened in this city for 25 years - it said so on the news - and the news is always right, right? People here don't have A/C - maybe Bill Gates does - and people who live in fancy neighborhoods. But even most of them likely don't. Why would you in a city that's usually between 45° and 65° F all year round? When it's been 92° outside, it's also 92° inside. You try to open the doors and windows early to let a breeze through and then close up the house to keep it cool. Inevitably, when you have 3 active children, the door opens and closes all day long and it gets hot inside. It's hard to sleep - even with a fan on. And then you still wake up all night long. It's crazy.
I haven't typed a blog in a week and my fingernails have grown so long it's hard to type.
I mentioned in a previous post that my birthday was last week. We drove down the hill to have a picnic at the beach the night before to celebrate. I even made BBQ ribs - yummy. The kids and I picked blackberries the next day and made a pie. It's still a little early for blackberries - they're more plentiful in August. The kids were very diligent, though, and found some berries up behind the house. Blackberries are like weeds here - they grow everywhere. I don't like cake a whole lot so pie was a great birthday dessert. I think the most favorite part of my birthday was coming home from the gym. I took my 8-yr-old with me and we walked up to the gym to run on the indoor track. When we got home, my 5 & 10 yr. olds had decorated the house with ribbons, balloons, and hand-drawn banners. They were so excited - it was really cute. My 10-yr-old even opened up itunes, found a song I had just purchased from itunes, and added it to my playlist (Collide, by Howie Day), and had it playing when we walked in the door.
I've been running at the gym a lot since it's been so hot, and since I haven't been sleeping well, it's hard to get up and outside early when it's not so hot. Last Wednesday I got inspired reading about DGC's treadmill PR. I headed up to the gym and did a 10k workout. I can't really call it that 'cause I took a break in the middle. I did the first 5k @ 7:30 pace. Then I walked for a minute. I did the next 5k starting @ 7:20 pace and evenly cut it down to just below 7 minute pace by the end. I was sooo excited. It helped tremendously that Peter Gabriel's 'Salsbury Hill' came on my ipod right at the end - I was getting pretty tired. I remember telling Joe a week or two ago that the good thing about a treadmill is that you can't cheat on a workout - it forces the pace.
The next day was my birthday when I had my 8-yr-old at the indoor track. I intended to run easy. The track is something like 20 laps to a mile. The laps go by so fast, and the track is banked, so it's kinda fun. But you almost can't help going fast - especially when other people are on the track 'cause it's like roadkill during a race. However, I was sore from the day before, so I was planning on taking it easy. I forgot I brought the rabbit with me. The rabbit's name is 'Sydney' - named after the 2000 Sydney Olympics when they announced the city as the site several years prior to 2000. We should've known then and there that the child would love sports. Anyhow . . . she'd stop @ the drinking fountain on the track - when she'd see me approaching, she'd get a big grin on her face and bolt around the corner, taunting me to chase her. I'd try to catch her 'til she'd tire, take a water break, and repeat the process. It was a great 3 mile fartlek workout. I took Friday off, and ran an early and easy 5 on Saturday. I took the kids to the lake for several hours Thursday, Friday, and Saturday because it was so hot. Sunday I had a 12 mile run scheduled. I headed out just before 5 am. The first 6 miles were great - I even got to see one of the cruise ships come into the bay and run through the sprinklers in the park. At 6 miles I suddenly got tired. I stopped to stretch and walked a bit. I ran a little more, then decided I'd had enough. I walked a half mile home, and ended my run at only 8 miles. I brought in the Sunday paper and went to sleep. I spent the next day and a half with nausea, a BAD headache and sensitivity to light. I'm not sure if it was a minor migraine or just too much heat and sun. It was no fun.
I was able to lift weights and run an easy 4 on the treadmill again last night and then we took the kids to the pool and my husband snuck in a few laps while we played. The 2 mountain bike duathlons he had scheduled this summer were both canceled, so now I think he's training for a triathlon instead. I think I'm jealous. But truly I have more running goals that I need to meet before a tri. I just really want to swim more and I have a hard time with it. I think I need a coach. Maybe after our vacation next month.
After all this time on the treadmill, I've become fascinated by it as a tool for training. I've run on treadmills before - in fact my college degree is in exercise physiology and I'm a certified athletic trainer - just not doing anything with that knowledge to earn money right now. (It sure comes in handy sometimes for training, though.) But other than the fact that the treadmill has umpteen hundred functions and settings for use - I'm noticing other stuff. I never expected to have it help me with pacing - and I do much faster workouts than when I'm on the track or the road. I have the perfect opportunity to practice my chi running when I'm running in one place. (If you ever see the book, it's a great read.) I can stare at myself in the mirror and watch my form. When I set the treadmill on the lap program, I can focus on something different every lap - stride, posture, footstrike, etc - it makes it go by pretty fast. I never think about that stuff when I'm on the road. I don't think I'd survive if I didn't have my ipod, though. It amazes me the amount of multi-tasking that goes on there - running without falling off, listening to my ipod, watching the tv up ahead of me while still not falling off, reading the closed-caption while I'm watching the tv, and then focusing on my form and my pace and gawking at all the other people around me on the other treadmills as I stare into the mirror. It's really fascinating.
More life at my house . . . the Tour is over - great year . . . the Mesa Falls marathon has an updated website - I'm getting excited for it just reading the course description. I've enjoyed looking at the badwater webcast - thanks to Angie's link the other day - another year in the books. The temperature finally cooled off today - to 85°. Trail passes to Mt. St. Helens are a hot commodity. I just finished a challenging read - really made me think about society in a different way. And while I'm doling out trivial details - for dinner tonight . . . chicken breast cooked in minced garlic and olive oil, tilapia - marinated and pan fried in lime juice, garlic, salt, cilantro, and sugar, boiled purple cabbage, and gluten free spinach-rice pasta tossed with finely shredded sheep's milk cheese. Bon appetite!
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Running 24/7
I think about this often as I wander through my day so I figure it deserves a random post. I've been running since I was 10. I'll be 36 - on Thursday to be exact, so - quick math - I've been running for 26 years. 26 out of 36 years means I've been a runner for 72% of my life. Dang. That's a lot. I didn't run all the way through three pregnancies, and I've taken bouts of time off for injuries, but more or less, 72% of my life I've been a runner. I've competed at distances from a 200m (4X200 relay in junior college) to the marathon. I've run on teams and I've run alone. What does all this mean? Running is constantly in my head. I find myself living every part of my life as if I'm running or racing.
Driving is the biggest one. Especially since we got our PT Cruiser, and I'm not only driving a minivan full of kids and gear. I drive like I'm running a race - sometimes on a track, sometimes a crowded road race. I find myself making sure I don't get boxed in, and feeling the need to put on surges to pass people. If I'm driving a long distance, I look to the pack of cars ahead, and try to rein them in. When I'm switching freeways, I use the onramps as if I'm beelining from point to point to shorten the distance. When I get tired driving at night, I hang with a group of cars and let them pull me along and break the wind.
I don't know how I'd exist without my stopwatch. I time everything. I time my laundry. I time my cooking. I have a separate timer to time my children's computer usage. I time how long my husband runs so I know when to expect him back. I time when I allow my children to play at a playground. I time how long I read and how long I write. I obviously time my runs. I time my splits even if I'm not doing a pace run.
I'm most comfortably dressed in running clothes. It doesn't make sense to wear much else, because inevitably I have to put them on anyway to go for a run. I wear sport sandals and running shoes. Someone I've known for 15 years told me the other day that she'd never seen my in any girl shoes. I wear shorts most of the year - 'cept for a few months when it gets too cold. Then I wear running pants and polar fleece. My closet is overflowing with race t-shirts, and the reason we do so much laundry is because of running clothes.
Sometimes if I can't sleep at night, I play this game. We have a smoke alarm on the ceiling above the bed. The red light blinks every 30 seconds. As soon as it blinks, I count - trying to maintain an even counting pace between blinks, so I get to the exact same number before it blinks again. Then I close my eyes, count, and try to resist opening them to check if I'm on pace until the last second. It's a pacing game, as if I'm running splits at the track. I do the same thing when I'm running 400's - I don't wanna let myself look at my watch until I'm done with the repeat. I'm convinced that somehow magically, avoiding peeking will make me a more successful pacer.
Everything I consume has to be considered for it's affect on running. I think that's a pretty normal runner thing. I used to have a Nike t-shirt that said, "Eat right, get lots of sleep, drink plenty of fluids" and on the back "and Go Like Hell!". Typical runner mentality.
When I walk anywhere I have to consider the course and the water stops (drinking fountains) along the way.
When I'm grocery shopping, I feel the need to weave between carts and not get passed by the same person down the next aisle.
Whether or not I do yardwork or any other form of exertion that requires lifting or muscle use depends on my training calendar. I don't want to be sore for a run.
I plan vacations with a race in mind or what kind of running routes there might be.
Sometimes I think I must be crazy. But it's so familiar to me, I don't remember any other way to be. I eat, sleep and breathe running. I love to run fast. I was so bummed the other day when I was doing a pace run that I couldn't maintain it for any longer. I love the feeling of flying when I'm running. I talk fast and eat fast too. I have all of my life. I wonder sometimes if I'm an anomaly, or if I'm the norm. It makes no difference. It's who I am. I love running. I do slow down sometimes. Like right now while I'm sitting and typing. What am I writing about? Running, of course.
Driving is the biggest one. Especially since we got our PT Cruiser, and I'm not only driving a minivan full of kids and gear. I drive like I'm running a race - sometimes on a track, sometimes a crowded road race. I find myself making sure I don't get boxed in, and feeling the need to put on surges to pass people. If I'm driving a long distance, I look to the pack of cars ahead, and try to rein them in. When I'm switching freeways, I use the onramps as if I'm beelining from point to point to shorten the distance. When I get tired driving at night, I hang with a group of cars and let them pull me along and break the wind.
I don't know how I'd exist without my stopwatch. I time everything. I time my laundry. I time my cooking. I have a separate timer to time my children's computer usage. I time how long my husband runs so I know when to expect him back. I time when I allow my children to play at a playground. I time how long I read and how long I write. I obviously time my runs. I time my splits even if I'm not doing a pace run.
I'm most comfortably dressed in running clothes. It doesn't make sense to wear much else, because inevitably I have to put them on anyway to go for a run. I wear sport sandals and running shoes. Someone I've known for 15 years told me the other day that she'd never seen my in any girl shoes. I wear shorts most of the year - 'cept for a few months when it gets too cold. Then I wear running pants and polar fleece. My closet is overflowing with race t-shirts, and the reason we do so much laundry is because of running clothes.
Sometimes if I can't sleep at night, I play this game. We have a smoke alarm on the ceiling above the bed. The red light blinks every 30 seconds. As soon as it blinks, I count - trying to maintain an even counting pace between blinks, so I get to the exact same number before it blinks again. Then I close my eyes, count, and try to resist opening them to check if I'm on pace until the last second. It's a pacing game, as if I'm running splits at the track. I do the same thing when I'm running 400's - I don't wanna let myself look at my watch until I'm done with the repeat. I'm convinced that somehow magically, avoiding peeking will make me a more successful pacer.
Everything I consume has to be considered for it's affect on running. I think that's a pretty normal runner thing. I used to have a Nike t-shirt that said, "Eat right, get lots of sleep, drink plenty of fluids" and on the back "and Go Like Hell!". Typical runner mentality.
When I walk anywhere I have to consider the course and the water stops (drinking fountains) along the way.
When I'm grocery shopping, I feel the need to weave between carts and not get passed by the same person down the next aisle.
Whether or not I do yardwork or any other form of exertion that requires lifting or muscle use depends on my training calendar. I don't want to be sore for a run.
I plan vacations with a race in mind or what kind of running routes there might be.
Sometimes I think I must be crazy. But it's so familiar to me, I don't remember any other way to be. I eat, sleep and breathe running. I love to run fast. I was so bummed the other day when I was doing a pace run that I couldn't maintain it for any longer. I love the feeling of flying when I'm running. I talk fast and eat fast too. I have all of my life. I wonder sometimes if I'm an anomaly, or if I'm the norm. It makes no difference. It's who I am. I love running. I do slow down sometimes. Like right now while I'm sitting and typing. What am I writing about? Running, of course.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Sunday
So, I could complain all about that hill on mile 5 - 300 ft in a mile, but really, it sorta worked some muscles that would've just been hangin' along for the long haul. And what goes up, must come down. Then my muscles got balanced out. What a beautiful morning. Panoramic views of the mountains and the Puget Sound all pink in the morning. My garmin said it was 16.42 - my Map Point software said about 16 - which do you think would be more fun to put in the running log . . and hey, my pace was pretty close to a 9 minute average - that's lickety split for a long run for me - and the hills n'all. So, another run down, on with my day . . .
The afternoon topped out with a trip to the street fair, a trip to the mediterranean fantasy festival, and a barbecue dinner with overnight company and hopefully a movie. And oh yeah, the triathlon. That was somewhere in the middle. I did realize, 4 hours after my run, and after the tri, that I hadn't eaten. Naughty. I had some good replacement fluids - chocolate soy, some ultima, and some espresso. You just get going with your day . . . but that barbecue dinner made up for it all. And that sushi last night at the japanese restaurant - dang, I've been eatin' good this weekend. I had chinese take-out on Friday too.
Okay, the tri. I didn't do it. I've never done one - not even a duathlon. The Seafair Triathlon was about 1900 this year. There were 300 in the kids tri that our munchkin participated in. A crazy lot of bikes everywhichwhere. We got there when most of the big people were through, and chatted with a veteran triathlon friend who somehow got spooked in the water - too many people in her wave and a little chaotic. All was well, though. Our little one found a friend over in the kids transition area and got set up nearby. Then they sorta hung out and played in the water until close to start time. It was beautiful out at the lake - sun sparkling over the water, mount rainier in the background. When it neared start time, they corralled the kids doing the longer of the two kid versions (100 yd swim, 2 mile bike, .4 mile run), and sent them out in waves.
The water is shallow enough to stand, and many lifeguards stand watch in the water. It all goes by pretty quickly. Grown-ups aren't allowed in the transition area, but volunteers are available to help if needed, and my husband was able to help loosen a tight bike helmet at the exit of the transition area. You get such a kick out of watching all the commotion, it all really does go by fast and your child is continually coming in or out of the transition area. Before you know it, they finish and it's all over.
The afternoon topped out with a trip to the street fair, a trip to the mediterranean fantasy festival, and a barbecue dinner with overnight company and hopefully a movie. And oh yeah, the triathlon. That was somewhere in the middle. I did realize, 4 hours after my run, and after the tri, that I hadn't eaten. Naughty. I had some good replacement fluids - chocolate soy, some ultima, and some espresso. You just get going with your day . . . but that barbecue dinner made up for it all. And that sushi last night at the japanese restaurant - dang, I've been eatin' good this weekend. I had chinese take-out on Friday too.
Okay, the tri. I didn't do it. I've never done one - not even a duathlon. The Seafair Triathlon was about 1900 this year. There were 300 in the kids tri that our munchkin participated in. A crazy lot of bikes everywhichwhere. We got there when most of the big people were through, and chatted with a veteran triathlon friend who somehow got spooked in the water - too many people in her wave and a little chaotic. All was well, though. Our little one found a friend over in the kids transition area and got set up nearby. Then they sorta hung out and played in the water until close to start time. It was beautiful out at the lake - sun sparkling over the water, mount rainier in the background. When it neared start time, they corralled the kids doing the longer of the two kid versions (100 yd swim, 2 mile bike, .4 mile run), and sent them out in waves.
The water is shallow enough to stand, and many lifeguards stand watch in the water. It all goes by pretty quickly. Grown-ups aren't allowed in the transition area, but volunteers are available to help if needed, and my husband was able to help loosen a tight bike helmet at the exit of the transition area. You get such a kick out of watching all the commotion, it all really does go by fast and your child is continually coming in or out of the transition area. Before you know it, they finish and it's all over.
Friday, July 14, 2006
The little things in life
My mind is whirring with all sorts of little things . . . I feel like I have all of these thoughts, and when I don't write about them, they float up into the air and 'poof' vanish as though they never existed. Writing them down is my way of validating them. Maybe that's why people write journals - to validate the existence of their inner selves. That's too deep for early morning for me.
The sprinklers were a tease this morning on my run. I took a different route and passed several homes with lawns being watered. I'm the type that typically uses the public sprinklers, but you can never be sure if they'll be on when you get there, and this one yard was ever so tempting . . . ah, but alas, the living room windows were too close and I passed by - ever so dry. I was ever so lucky to discover that many city sprinklers were spraying the grass along the beach trail down below. Sometimes I wonder what people think when they see me running through the sprinklers at 6 in the morning. Sorta like I wondered about the guy I saw exiting the tavern at 5:45 this morning. Interesting. To each his own, I suppose . . .
The cairn artist was in the paper this morning - interesting article about the guy. My daughter was in the paper on Wednesday - not in the PI like the artist, but in the Times. Okay, it wasn't all of her, but a photo of her hands holding a rock crab at low tide. No article, just a photo with a caption. Because it isn't an article, it isn't online, or I'd post a link. She was pretty excited. A journalist interviewed us while we were down at the beach. I was teasing the guy about his job. He spent the morning at the beach taking pictures, then was going to sit in a coffee shop and link up to office, send his work, and call it good for the day. He said he didn't even have to go in. My dream job.
I've had a few really nice runs the last couple of days. Wednesday night I ran when my husband came home from work, while he fed the kids dinner. Then we headed up to the gym to lift weights. By the time we headed home and got the kids settled it was 8:00. We stood in the kitchen eating bananas, then pulled out a couple of beers. We laughed at the prospect of simply having beer and bananas for dinner - sounds like something runners would do. It didn't seem like enough so we made some guacamole and had some corn tortilla chips with it. Carbs, fruit, vegetable, grain - I suppose all we missed was the protein. I was reluctant to run last night when he got home - just feeling lazy. He proceeded to take his sweaty running clothes out of his work bag from his run at lunch, and said, "Come on, you know you want this, you want that 'after run' feeling." I had to laugh at the effort and it got me out the door. I was scheduled to run 8 with a tempo in the middle. I skipped the warm up and cool down, and just did the tempo in the middle. Lazy runner. I clicked off four miles between 7:15 and 7:30 pace and came home with dinner made. Life is good. I got up and ran my scheduled 6 this morning. I'm trying to figure out my run for Sunday. It's tricky. I've got to get in about 2 and a half hours, come home, then my husband leaves for a 10 miler point to point to finish at the location of the triathlon our 8-yr-old is doing. In the meantime, I've got to help her get her gear all ready and head out with the munchkins. I guess it'll be an early morning.
Two other blogworthy things on my TV - We watched 'Shopgirl' the other night - great movie if you haven't seen it. Not at all what we thought it'd be, but thought provoking anyway. Interesting role for Steve Martin. I was watching Sesame Street Tuesday - remember Oscar the Grouch? He was inviting some bands down to his garbage cans for practice. Their names were hilarious, and I'm not sure of the spelling: 'N-Stink' & 'Phlegm 'n' M'. In case you haven't had any caffeine or green tea or fresh air and don't get it - 'N-Sync and Eminem'. The band member/muppet for Phlegm 'n' M kept clearing his throat, it was hilarious. Sesame Street never ceases to amaze me with it's ability to keep up with the times.
I suppose it's breakfast time. My youngest - who is 5 - just woke up and asked if she could have one of those fuzzy things that we bought at the produce market on the way home from the dog park yesterday. (That's how she said it.) She's just gone into the kitchen, gotten an apricot (one of those fuzzy things), and taken it back to bed with her. And she's woken up her sister on the top bunk to tell her all about the experience and ask again what that fuzzy thing is called. I can tell it's going to be a great day.
The sprinklers were a tease this morning on my run. I took a different route and passed several homes with lawns being watered. I'm the type that typically uses the public sprinklers, but you can never be sure if they'll be on when you get there, and this one yard was ever so tempting . . . ah, but alas, the living room windows were too close and I passed by - ever so dry. I was ever so lucky to discover that many city sprinklers were spraying the grass along the beach trail down below. Sometimes I wonder what people think when they see me running through the sprinklers at 6 in the morning. Sorta like I wondered about the guy I saw exiting the tavern at 5:45 this morning. Interesting. To each his own, I suppose . . .
The cairn artist was in the paper this morning - interesting article about the guy. My daughter was in the paper on Wednesday - not in the PI like the artist, but in the Times. Okay, it wasn't all of her, but a photo of her hands holding a rock crab at low tide. No article, just a photo with a caption. Because it isn't an article, it isn't online, or I'd post a link. She was pretty excited. A journalist interviewed us while we were down at the beach. I was teasing the guy about his job. He spent the morning at the beach taking pictures, then was going to sit in a coffee shop and link up to office, send his work, and call it good for the day. He said he didn't even have to go in. My dream job.
I've had a few really nice runs the last couple of days. Wednesday night I ran when my husband came home from work, while he fed the kids dinner. Then we headed up to the gym to lift weights. By the time we headed home and got the kids settled it was 8:00. We stood in the kitchen eating bananas, then pulled out a couple of beers. We laughed at the prospect of simply having beer and bananas for dinner - sounds like something runners would do. It didn't seem like enough so we made some guacamole and had some corn tortilla chips with it. Carbs, fruit, vegetable, grain - I suppose all we missed was the protein. I was reluctant to run last night when he got home - just feeling lazy. He proceeded to take his sweaty running clothes out of his work bag from his run at lunch, and said, "Come on, you know you want this, you want that 'after run' feeling." I had to laugh at the effort and it got me out the door. I was scheduled to run 8 with a tempo in the middle. I skipped the warm up and cool down, and just did the tempo in the middle. Lazy runner. I clicked off four miles between 7:15 and 7:30 pace and came home with dinner made. Life is good. I got up and ran my scheduled 6 this morning. I'm trying to figure out my run for Sunday. It's tricky. I've got to get in about 2 and a half hours, come home, then my husband leaves for a 10 miler point to point to finish at the location of the triathlon our 8-yr-old is doing. In the meantime, I've got to help her get her gear all ready and head out with the munchkins. I guess it'll be an early morning.
Two other blogworthy things on my TV - We watched 'Shopgirl' the other night - great movie if you haven't seen it. Not at all what we thought it'd be, but thought provoking anyway. Interesting role for Steve Martin. I was watching Sesame Street Tuesday - remember Oscar the Grouch? He was inviting some bands down to his garbage cans for practice. Their names were hilarious, and I'm not sure of the spelling: 'N-Stink' & 'Phlegm 'n' M'. In case you haven't had any caffeine or green tea or fresh air and don't get it - 'N-Sync and Eminem'. The band member/muppet for Phlegm 'n' M kept clearing his throat, it was hilarious. Sesame Street never ceases to amaze me with it's ability to keep up with the times.
I suppose it's breakfast time. My youngest - who is 5 - just woke up and asked if she could have one of those fuzzy things that we bought at the produce market on the way home from the dog park yesterday. (That's how she said it.) She's just gone into the kitchen, gotten an apricot (one of those fuzzy things), and taken it back to bed with her. And she's woken up her sister on the top bunk to tell her all about the experience and ask again what that fuzzy thing is called. I can tell it's going to be a great day.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Cairns
These are the cairns/inukshuks that I saw from my run on Sunday. I took the kids back with me to take a look. The two parks adjoin and are about 3/4 miles long from end to end. There are 268 cairns in total - my children counted. We even got to meet James, the artist, who is included in one of the photos. Some along the park by another artist are mere rock stacks, others are a form of art, and depict actual scenes or character representations. On a bench nearby, a friend of James told me it reminded him of Easter Island and said it was as if these statues were protecting the city from what might come 
in from the bay.
in from the bay. 
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Getnout
Getnout is the name of my husband's blog, and sort of our family motto. We're never home. I took Friday and Saturday off, but I did run on Thursday - on the treadmill at the gym. I usually don't like to do that when there's such a big world out there to run in, but it always kicks my speed into gear when I feel like I've been running slow. And it's a great place to do speedwork because you can't cheat. And going to the gym, inevitably means I'll end up lifting more.
I did a lot of walking on Friday. The kids and I took the water taxi downtown and spent the day at pike place. We then went up to westlake to listen to a band play at lunch time - Andy O - great Caribbean music.
I remember going out to clubs in college when the lead singer used to be in another band called Jumbalassy. The good ol' days. The band was great though. The city puts on an 'out to lunch' concert series at parks throughout the city all summer long. For free - free is always good. And they were giving away some sort of promotional ice-cream bars - free is good with my kids when it comes to ice-cream. After we'd hung out there long enough, we wandered down to the market. I don't mean any market - pike place is big - very very big. We wandered for 4 hours through the market, and you can never really see all of it. Pike Place is a legendary tourist attraction that everyone should see once in their lifetime. Most people come to see the guys throwing fish - it's highly entertaining. Pike place is fun any time of the year, but very busy in the summer. There are several levels and it continues across the street through all sorts of alleys and twists and turns. There is more international food in the market than anywhere I've ever seen. For lunch we had piroshky, egg rolls, and rainier cherries - and sat and people-watched while we ate. The kids are drawn to all sorts of things at the market - especially the street perfomers. There was one guy doing the hoola-hoop while he simultaneously played his guita
r and his harmonica. I never got a picture of that guy - but lots of others. The first ever Starbucks is out in front of pike place too. I don't usually venture in there - it's probably the busiest starbucks in a city that is highly saturated with them. You can actually see the heads of two of our children in the photo as they're standing there listening to the guys singing on the sidewalk. These guys sounded like they'd come from the Louisiana.
I was a long day - we had a blast. I'm worn out fighting with blogger, trying to download - upload (whichever) photos, and I haven't even talked about my run. Pike Place is such a blast, that I got sidetracked. Come to the city. Do the market thing - you'll love it.
But my run this morning was absolutely phenomenal!!!!!! I got up at 5:00 and headed out. (I wanted to do that yesterday, but too many margaritas friday night prevented that - but it was well-worth it - I really needed the margaritas. ) Okay, okay, my run. The sky was all pink when I opened the door - off to a good start. And as I headed down the street, still undecided of where I'd go, I saw the cruise ship and got all excited. I know I've said it before, but I love watching these things pull into port.
So, off I headed. I have to go over a waterway to get to the waterfront, if that makes sense - I live on sort of a penisula - not really, just sort of. But I go over this bridge and watch the tugs puttering around, the fishermen heading out, and mount rainier looming in the distance. Beautiful morning. As I got down to the pier, the cruise ship had actually turned out in the bay, and was backing in to the pier. I haven't a clue how they steer those things. It's funny with such a big boat that I didn't see that many people. There was security, not all that many crew milling about, and only a handful of people standing out on deck. I did see a guy that looked like he was out for his morning run or maybe a stroll. I wondered what his impression was of coming in to the port - does he live here? first time? It just seemed odd that there weren't that many curious cruisers out for a glimpse - I know it was early, but wouldn't you wanna wake up and look? So, I continued on my way. The first part of my run had been in a somewhat industrial area, and I always feel bad going by the homeless people. I was on a bike path, and when they pitch their tent for the night, they gotta know that people come by, but still - I always make sure I'm extra quiet so I don't disturb them. My next several miles cover the hub of the waterfront. I passed Coleman dock where a ferry was unloading from somewhere, and people were venturing off to tend to their day. There are always a mix of people around on the sidewalks. It ranges . . from the cab drivers all clustered with their slacks and crisp shirts, chatting away while they wait for passengers . . to people scurrying with a paper cup of coffee in hand, to people who've definitely been there all night . . People who were headed in to work for the day, and freshly watered hanging planters dripped along the sidewalks. Further along people were boarding the clipper boat en route to Victoria, BC. I finally reached the two parks that join end to end at the other side of town. Someone had taken rocks and make 'cairns' or as native alaskans call them 'inukshuks', all along the shore line. It was amazing - there must've been over a hundred of them. I need to go back and take a picture. The Olympic mountains loomed out across the water, and I could actually make out the lower foothills - all grassy like. It reminded me of the Sound of Music - like you could just run through the hills next to the snow-capped mountains. I finally make it to the drinking fountain at just under 7 miles, and turned around to reverse the route back home. Oh, and I ran through ALL o f the sprinklers in the park. I love running in the summer. And I really really love running through the sprinklers. I made it home with a sore hamstring and a couple of blisters - I wore the wrong socks. I was joking with my husband about seeing the chiropractor. The thing is - I wonder why just one hamstring is sore. It's not like I was running on a banked track or a burmed bike trail - I was running on the sidewalk and a paved bike trail. I'm thinking if I went to the chiropractor, he could even me out - you know, do some pushing and pulling on my legs to align things. But then I wondered . . . would I then have two sore hamstrings, or no sore hamstrings?
Reaching home, I grabbed yesterday's and today's newspaper - and yesterday's mail (we were busy yesterday). As I walked up the steps and surfed through the mail, I found something for Ginger Breadman. Hilarious. It's not my real name. That was obvious, wasn't it? Maybe not. But I do run races under that name. It's such a hoot. Especially to run races on Halloween in a gingerbread man costume, and go to pick up my number. I stand at the check-in table and say, "Breadman, Ginger?" They grab your packet, turn back around to hand it to you, and suddenly it all clicks for them. The moment is priceless.
I did a lot of walking on Friday. The kids and I took the water taxi downtown and spent the day at pike place. We then went up to westlake to listen to a band play at lunch time - Andy O - great Caribbean music.
I remember going out to clubs in college when the lead singer used to be in another band called Jumbalassy. The good ol' days. The band was great though. The city puts on an 'out to lunch' concert series at parks throughout the city all summer long. For free - free is always good. And they were giving away some sort of promotional ice-cream bars - free is good with my kids when it comes to ice-cream. After we'd hung out there long enough, we wandered down to the market. I don't mean any market - pike place is big - very very big. We wandered for 4 hours through the market, and you can never really see all of it. Pike Place is a legendary tourist attraction that everyone should see once in their lifetime. Most people come to see the guys throwing fish - it's highly entertaining. Pike place is fun any time of the year, but very busy in the summer. There are several levels and it continues across the street through all sorts of alleys and twists and turns. There is more international food in the market than anywhere I've ever seen. For lunch we had piroshky, egg rolls, and rainier cherries - and sat and people-watched while we ate. The kids are drawn to all sorts of things at the market - especially the street perfomers. There was one guy doing the hoola-hoop while he simultaneously played his guita
r and his harmonica. I never got a picture of that guy - but lots of others. The first ever Starbucks is out in front of pike place too. I don't usually venture in there - it's probably the busiest starbucks in a city that is highly saturated with them. You can actually see the heads of two of our children in the photo as they're standing there listening to the guys singing on the sidewalk. These guys sounded like they'd come from the Louisiana.
I was a long day - we had a blast. I'm worn out fighting with blogger, trying to download - upload (whichever) photos, and I haven't even talked about my run. Pike Place is such a blast, that I got sidetracked. Come to the city. Do the market thing - you'll love it.
But my run this morning was absolutely phenomenal!!!!!! I got up at 5:00 and headed out. (I wanted to do that yesterday, but too many margaritas friday night prevented that - but it was well-worth it - I really needed the margaritas. ) Okay, okay, my run. The sky was all pink when I opened the door - off to a good start. And as I headed down the street, still undecided of where I'd go, I saw the cruise ship and got all excited. I know I've said it before, but I love watching these things pull into port.
So, off I headed. I have to go over a waterway to get to the waterfront, if that makes sense - I live on sort of a penisula - not really, just sort of. But I go over this bridge and watch the tugs puttering around, the fishermen heading out, and mount rainier looming in the distance. Beautiful morning. As I got down to the pier, the cruise ship had actually turned out in the bay, and was backing in to the pier. I haven't a clue how they steer those things. It's funny with such a big boat that I didn't see that many people. There was security, not all that many crew milling about, and only a handful of people standing out on deck. I did see a guy that looked like he was out for his morning run or maybe a stroll. I wondered what his impression was of coming in to the port - does he live here? first time? It just seemed odd that there weren't that many curious cruisers out for a glimpse - I know it was early, but wouldn't you wanna wake up and look? So, I continued on my way. The first part of my run had been in a somewhat industrial area, and I always feel bad going by the homeless people. I was on a bike path, and when they pitch their tent for the night, they gotta know that people come by, but still - I always make sure I'm extra quiet so I don't disturb them. My next several miles cover the hub of the waterfront. I passed Coleman dock where a ferry was unloading from somewhere, and people were venturing off to tend to their day. There are always a mix of people around on the sidewalks. It ranges . . from the cab drivers all clustered with their slacks and crisp shirts, chatting away while they wait for passengers . . to people scurrying with a paper cup of coffee in hand, to people who've definitely been there all night . . People who were headed in to work for the day, and freshly watered hanging planters dripped along the sidewalks. Further along people were boarding the clipper boat en route to Victoria, BC. I finally reached the two parks that join end to end at the other side of town. Someone had taken rocks and make 'cairns' or as native alaskans call them 'inukshuks', all along the shore line. It was amazing - there must've been over a hundred of them. I need to go back and take a picture. The Olympic mountains loomed out across the water, and I could actually make out the lower foothills - all grassy like. It reminded me of the Sound of Music - like you could just run through the hills next to the snow-capped mountains. I finally make it to the drinking fountain at just under 7 miles, and turned around to reverse the route back home. Oh, and I ran through ALL o f the sprinklers in the park. I love running in the summer. And I really really love running through the sprinklers. I made it home with a sore hamstring and a couple of blisters - I wore the wrong socks. I was joking with my husband about seeing the chiropractor. The thing is - I wonder why just one hamstring is sore. It's not like I was running on a banked track or a burmed bike trail - I was running on the sidewalk and a paved bike trail. I'm thinking if I went to the chiropractor, he could even me out - you know, do some pushing and pulling on my legs to align things. But then I wondered . . . would I then have two sore hamstrings, or no sore hamstrings?
Reaching home, I grabbed yesterday's and today's newspaper - and yesterday's mail (we were busy yesterday). As I walked up the steps and surfed through the mail, I found something for Ginger Breadman. Hilarious. It's not my real name. That was obvious, wasn't it? Maybe not. But I do run races under that name. It's such a hoot. Especially to run races on Halloween in a gingerbread man costume, and go to pick up my number. I stand at the check-in table and say, "Breadman, Ginger?" They grab your packet, turn back around to hand it to you, and suddenly it all clicks for them. The moment is priceless.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
The Boomerang Effect
I've been reminded of something lately - you get out of life exactly what you put into it. Sometimes you have to stop and think about what you want to put in, and what you hope to get out. It's sort of like a boomerang - what you throw out there at life seems to come back to you. Sort of like karma. It can be like a transfer of energy. It can be like an interconnectedness of things in the universe. It's related to the phrase "do unto others . . "
It relates to my running. It relates to everything. It's very simple - like math. Almost black and white. When you study for an exam, you perform well. When you buy groceries you can eat. When you work at a job you get a paycheck.
Well, when you train, your body responds. Physiologically your muscles become toned, your heart rate lowers, your metabolism is more efficient, you have more energy. You can run faster and longer if you train to do that. That's a key point - if you train to do that. You have to put in the homework.
I then backtrack - what was my homework? In order to define the work, I need to define the goals. That's still black and white - or can be. But how much you really want to reach the goal becomes the grey area. Or if your goals or your homework aren't well-defined, that becomes another grey area. So what do I want out of my running? my summer? my life? my day to day existence?
I'd love to wake up at 4:30 everyday, go run for an hour, stretch, do yoga, drink herbal tea and read the paper. Have a smoothie or some muesli, then read a book or some blogs, do some writing, shower, and be on to an espresso by the time the kids roll out of bed. I could go on about what I'd love to do with my kids all day - how much we'd learn about the world and life and how hard we'd play. And by evening I'd cook amazing meals and drink wine by sunset with my husband.
So why doesn't it all happen? What happened to the black and white? There's the motivation and the discipline factors. Common sense says that if you have those, it'll all fall into place. I can pull out those attributes when I want, but for some reason I've been choosing not to.
Yesterday I woke up at 10:00, today @ 8:30, only because a friend called. I honestly think I've only run about 3 times in the last 10 days. Really weird. Especially considering that up until that point I was on track for the marathon that I had scheduled July 9th - this Sunday - 3 days away. Part of me wonders if somewhere internally I sabotaged my training becasue I really didn't want to run the marathon. Part of me knows that I lost nothing in 10 days and I'm totally capable of runing the marathon. Truly, I don't want to run the marathon, so I'm not going to . But I'm asking myself why I don't want to. I think somewhere I lost sight of what my goal was, or it wasn't important to me - not in my heart - so the homework didn' t matter. Instead I envied other 'homework' - all the others things I could be doing. I suppose I never realized how much I dream of that 4:30 am wake-up, and I thought I had to run a marathon to fulfill a goal.
Somewhere in all this - running became exactly what I've been calling it: homework. I haven't been enjoying it - it's a chore. The mere idea of having to fit my run in, gets in the way of what I want to do with my time, and spawns all sorts of guilt, lack of accomplishment, and low self-worth when I don't run. wow.
My early wake-up dream is thoughts of the homework - the journey - the process. I long for it. I don't want the goal. I don't want the destination just yet. I need desperately right now to enjoy the process before I can remember why I set the goals. Without remembering it, the goals have become empty and meaningless. I want to exist and just be.
Now I need to do some re-evaluating. I want to feel good. I want to lift weights more often to feel stronger. I want to swim and bike. I want to eat more fruits and vegetables and drink more water and tea. I'm not sure why this rude awakening. I think I'm sick of feeling tired and run down and I know it's going to take all that to perk up my energy.
So . . . marathon Sunday approaches. I told myself I could run the half. But I'm not going to. I could go watch the marathon and be so inspired by watching people struggle to meet their goals. I could go for a trail run with a croup of people I've been too busy to join. Or I could get up @ 4:30 and run from home and enjoy my morning.
I've had time to contemplate all this. We went out on a friend's boat on Friday afternoon into the evening - cruised the lake until sunset. We went camping in the woods and played by the canal. I did go for a run there in some foreign neighborhood and ran from the dog who chased me - "run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!" We watched the fireworks from a hill nearby our home - 3 shows in one, actually. From our location, we could see the ones out over the bay, and behind it see another show that's listed as one of the top 5 in the country. The real thrill came from the lightning show that was occurring behind and beside them - with the city lights as a backdrop. Truly, truly amazing. I finished two books - Dean Karnazes - Ultramarathon Man, and a book called, The Ha-Ha, by Dave King. Both very enlightening and encouraged my thoughts on life. We were in a small town on the 3rd of July at a holiday festival of sorts. I wandered into a store and had a spiritual experience. Kind of cool. No major event, but something that made me think the store was put there for me that day to help put things in perspective.
Now it's off to my day and my choices. I think the first order of business is a tea party with my little girls. Happy trails!
It relates to my running. It relates to everything. It's very simple - like math. Almost black and white. When you study for an exam, you perform well. When you buy groceries you can eat. When you work at a job you get a paycheck.
Well, when you train, your body responds. Physiologically your muscles become toned, your heart rate lowers, your metabolism is more efficient, you have more energy. You can run faster and longer if you train to do that. That's a key point - if you train to do that. You have to put in the homework.
I then backtrack - what was my homework? In order to define the work, I need to define the goals. That's still black and white - or can be. But how much you really want to reach the goal becomes the grey area. Or if your goals or your homework aren't well-defined, that becomes another grey area. So what do I want out of my running? my summer? my life? my day to day existence?
I'd love to wake up at 4:30 everyday, go run for an hour, stretch, do yoga, drink herbal tea and read the paper. Have a smoothie or some muesli, then read a book or some blogs, do some writing, shower, and be on to an espresso by the time the kids roll out of bed. I could go on about what I'd love to do with my kids all day - how much we'd learn about the world and life and how hard we'd play. And by evening I'd cook amazing meals and drink wine by sunset with my husband.
So why doesn't it all happen? What happened to the black and white? There's the motivation and the discipline factors. Common sense says that if you have those, it'll all fall into place. I can pull out those attributes when I want, but for some reason I've been choosing not to.
Yesterday I woke up at 10:00, today @ 8:30, only because a friend called. I honestly think I've only run about 3 times in the last 10 days. Really weird. Especially considering that up until that point I was on track for the marathon that I had scheduled July 9th - this Sunday - 3 days away. Part of me wonders if somewhere internally I sabotaged my training becasue I really didn't want to run the marathon. Part of me knows that I lost nothing in 10 days and I'm totally capable of runing the marathon. Truly, I don't want to run the marathon, so I'm not going to . But I'm asking myself why I don't want to. I think somewhere I lost sight of what my goal was, or it wasn't important to me - not in my heart - so the homework didn' t matter. Instead I envied other 'homework' - all the others things I could be doing. I suppose I never realized how much I dream of that 4:30 am wake-up, and I thought I had to run a marathon to fulfill a goal.
Somewhere in all this - running became exactly what I've been calling it: homework. I haven't been enjoying it - it's a chore. The mere idea of having to fit my run in, gets in the way of what I want to do with my time, and spawns all sorts of guilt, lack of accomplishment, and low self-worth when I don't run. wow.
My early wake-up dream is thoughts of the homework - the journey - the process. I long for it. I don't want the goal. I don't want the destination just yet. I need desperately right now to enjoy the process before I can remember why I set the goals. Without remembering it, the goals have become empty and meaningless. I want to exist and just be.
Now I need to do some re-evaluating. I want to feel good. I want to lift weights more often to feel stronger. I want to swim and bike. I want to eat more fruits and vegetables and drink more water and tea. I'm not sure why this rude awakening. I think I'm sick of feeling tired and run down and I know it's going to take all that to perk up my energy.
So . . . marathon Sunday approaches. I told myself I could run the half. But I'm not going to. I could go watch the marathon and be so inspired by watching people struggle to meet their goals. I could go for a trail run with a croup of people I've been too busy to join. Or I could get up @ 4:30 and run from home and enjoy my morning.
I've had time to contemplate all this. We went out on a friend's boat on Friday afternoon into the evening - cruised the lake until sunset. We went camping in the woods and played by the canal. I did go for a run there in some foreign neighborhood and ran from the dog who chased me - "run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!" We watched the fireworks from a hill nearby our home - 3 shows in one, actually. From our location, we could see the ones out over the bay, and behind it see another show that's listed as one of the top 5 in the country. The real thrill came from the lightning show that was occurring behind and beside them - with the city lights as a backdrop. Truly, truly amazing. I finished two books - Dean Karnazes - Ultramarathon Man, and a book called, The Ha-Ha, by Dave King. Both very enlightening and encouraged my thoughts on life. We were in a small town on the 3rd of July at a holiday festival of sorts. I wandered into a store and had a spiritual experience. Kind of cool. No major event, but something that made me think the store was put there for me that day to help put things in perspective.
Now it's off to my day and my choices. I think the first order of business is a tea party with my little girls. Happy trails!
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Strawberry Fields Forever . . .
My summer cycle has begun. I think I've crammed more summer in during the past week than is humanly possible. Before the kids were out of school I wondered how I'd adjust to having them home all day. This was the first year that all of my children were in school all day. I usually have lots of plans for us in the summer, but for a year, I've been able to run during the day, whenever I want, and work it into my own schedule. I have this cyclic problem this time of year. I'm not sure where it starts, as cycles seem to run continuously and it's hard to see the start of a circle. Let's just pick the morning. I inevitably wake up late, or turn off my alarm. It's too late to run. The excuses come streaming out. It's too warm already. My husband is leaving for work. The childcare at the gym isn't open much longer. I don't want to go to the track. I'm tired. I did too much yesterday. I'm sore. The funniest thing is, I convince myself that I'll go later. This is the bargain I use when I don't want to go in the morning. Later comes and later goes, and I still say, I'll go later. I'll go to the gym later with the kids - they can play. I'll take them to the track and they can run too. It's still too hot. I'll run when it cools off. Later. Later comes and later goes. I'll run when my husband comes home. Maybe we can go to the beach with the kids and take turns - maybe a picnic dinner. I'll run after dinner. I'll go to the gym later when the kids are in bed. Later. Eventually later is too late. Here at latitude 47 (side story - I actually have a wine glass with 'Latitude 47' printed on it from a race of the same name I did when I was 13 years old - it's currently our change jar for parking or whatever) - anyway - it stays light too long, and by the time the kids finally go to bed after the sun sets, and I chill for a necessary half hour - okay, hour - it's already past my bedtime. I then am exhausted from playing all day, and convince myself I should crash and go to bed. I tell myself I'll run in the morning. Morning comes, and I'm so tired that I convince myself I'll run later.Today is such a day. Sunday my husband and I drove up some logging road from the
lake by the cabin, and went for a 10 miler. That was my last run. And got the new car dirty. Yay! Monday was a designated day off. It was low tide at the beach, so I got a lot of sun. Made it hard to get up Tuesday - said I'd run later. Later came and went. I was gone for 9 hours, picking strawberries, having ice-cream, picking raspberries, then hiking down to Snoqualmie Falls, then letting the kids dip in the swimming holes, then hiking back. I swear I spent all night hulling strawberries, and still had lots more to do. When did I have time to run? I was much too busy playing. And then I was busy drinking some cold red wine. I didn't even bother to try to get up to run. I told myself I could run later - at the gym, at the track. It's almost 5:00. I spent the day hulling more strawberries, washing both cars, and washing the mattress covers from all the cushions in the camper. And reading the Dean Karnazes book - I'm almost done - amazing book. We're going camping this weekend, so the camper still needs some more work - I'll save that for tomorrow. I really ought to think about dinner. And when am I going to run? Bending over picking berries was some great hamstring work. Hulling them over the sink for hours was good back work. Hiking up and down to the falls was short but steep - gotta count for some calf and quad work. Somehow I still don't have any cardio in there. And I've got a hankerin' for an iced coffee right about now - so that puts my run out a little longer. I've already taken two days off this week, so this one really can't happen. Maybe about 8:00 - just an easy run. I'm supposed to run a marathon in - I don't know how many days - a week and a half maybe. My mileage is definitely not there - but maybe that's a good thing. I really wanted to do this one just for some pacing, and to notch another one in my belt for the experience. I'll have to mull it over the next couple of days and see if it's really on the radar.it's going around again - don't know who's done it or who hasn't or who could care less . . . so here's my answers with my tag list -
jessica from the trails of socal tagged me, so let me fill this out -
4 jobs I've had: (not sure if they were in this life or a past one) god, buddha, shiva, mom
4 movies I watch over and over: No Way Out, Sweet November, Spirit, Meet Joe Black
4 Places I have lived: I've lived within a 90 mile radius of my current location all my life, but moved 14 times
4 TV shows I watch: Law & Order every night of the week :)
4 Places I've been on Vacation: Camden, Maine - Canton, China - La Jolla, California - Michigan City, Indiana
4 Websites I visit everyday: Google, weather.com, blogger, marathonguide.com
4 Favorite Foods: popcorn, clam linguine, raspberries, doritos
4 Places I'd rather be right now: the beach down the street, the backyard, camping, running
4 Favorite Bands/Singers: Five for Fighting, Peter Gabriel, Lifehouse, Queen
4 Bloggers I'll tag: toastman, toasthater, josh, just12finish
Monday, June 26, 2006
on the go
School ended Wednesday, we took off Thursday. Typical family style for us - although sorta crazy. My mother has been hosting 'Grandma Camp' the last several summers for all of her grandchildren. We headed over the mountains to the cabin to spend some time with grandparents and cousins. My mom likes having a couple of extra grown-ups for back-up, but plans lots of activiites to spend time with the kids. It's sort of a mini-vacation for the grown-ups with a babysitter. Usually when we go to the cabin - a recreation mecca - we play hard all day, drink fine wine, crash hard, and get up to do it all again. We have a beautiful morning view of the valley, and the kids can ride bikes down the street to the cemetary and tease the lamas next door. We can walk into the small western town for window shopping, espresso and ice-cream, and the lake is a few miles up the hill. What more could you want?So, it was a real bummer when I had to get in those early morning sunrise runs out on the trails with panoric views of the mountains and lakes against a clear blue sky before blistering hot sunshine seared the land. My cross-training adventures continued as well. I came back from a hilly (uphill to see the view and back down) 8 miler, and switched to my biking gear to go for a ride with my father. Around home, I ride on flat, sea-level ground. Out at the cabin, there were no cars around, and the hilly route was calling. It was beautiful and a challenge to keep up with my father. He's the sort of 65 year old man who's run 50+ marathons in his time, many many ultras, and is now a crazy cyclist. He's doing some group ride later this summer - the RAW ride, touring several days with crazy mileage. Anyhow, we only went 15 miles - that was enough for me - then my dad continued to ride to the next town over - and if he wasn't tired, he was going to the town beyond that. I was just his warm-up ride. So, pretty tired I was. I had 20 minutes to shower and head up to the lake with the kids and grandma. They had a 9:00 scheduled community service time with Ranger Rick to shovel and rake sand at the beach. After an hour and a half of that, I was pretty wasted.
My husband deciced to buy a new car and drive it over Friday night to hang with us. The mountain bike trails were calling to him. We bought a mini-van a couple years ago, and have existed proudly with one car for this long. Our life is getting too busy with scheduling for 5 of us, so two cars it is. We went hiking early Saturday - I ended up just going partway with our 2 little ones, then heading back down to play at a nearby boat launch and watch the people coming and going from the lake. This one family of three were heading out in an old rowboat - I swear it was made of tin - with a big rock they hoisted in for an anchor - some sticks to prop the motor so it wouldn't drag - minimal fishing gear and a picnic cooler. They were cracking up at their makeshift adventure - said somebody had given them the boat. They put in and as they drifted out, the woman said, "We're leaking pretty good, I'll just put my foot over the hole." They all laughed at themselves, and the husband said he had a bail bucket on board. They assured me they wouldn't go too far from shore and make me come in for a rescue. I think they must've had the best time out of anyone on the lake that day.
I swam a bit at a different lake at some point during the weekend, but I can't really call it cross-training - mostly riding the waves. I think the best adventure was yesterday. My husband and our oldest had found a couple of geocaches on the Patterson Mountain hike, but we wanted one more. All of the cousins and my sisters had headed home. So, we drug my parents out with our kids for one last hurrah. We loaded up for a 'mountain bike' ride out a two-mile trail one way to find a geocache. A four-mile round trip ride seems pretty minimal, I know, but for one, consider that it was about 95 degrees - 35 celcius. Damn hot. And our 5-year old has training wheels, and I had my road bike, not a mtn. bike. Not too worry - it was a flat, soft trail along the river. Most of our little group mosied along. My husband and I took turns shadowing our little rider, then going ahead and tracking back. Our dog is part shepherd, so she feels the need to always be in the back - it's a herding mentality and she feels more secure bringing in the herd. The mosquitoes were horrible. Nasty horrible. The trail went through patches of sun and shade - almost damp in the shade. Our littlest had issues with her training wheels on the soft parts where her back wheel would just spin and she wouldn't go anywhere. It was tempting to push her, but she'd just hop off her bike, give it a push, and continue on. She stopped in one shady spot, and said it smelled like a rain forest. I though it was pretty astute for 5 yrs - and I don't think she's ever been in a rain forest. Then came the mosquitoes. They didn't land on you when you were moving. As soon as she stopped, they were all around her. She hopped off her bike, started running around and screaming. I said, "honey, hop back on and keep moving and they can't keep up with you." She got on and rode like a bat outta hell the rest of the way. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen. We got to the end of the trail by the river, and took turns taking the people mover across the river - sort of a hand-crank powered cage on a cable. A lot of work, but sort of refreshing over the river with the breeze. Our oldest munchkin found the geocache. The dog took a long dip in the water, and we headed back in the same fashion with my husband and I trailing the little one. He seemed fine with her, and our 8-year old was getting worn out from the heat, so I rode on ahead with her. I rode 'til the last half mile with her, gave her some water and words of encouragement to finish, then doubled back most of the route to find the little one. My husband and I watched together as her training wheel screws came out. We let her start to walk as we fussed with it - my husband reaching for his tools. Within moments, mosquitoes swarmed again. I said, bag it - lets just pull it. He dragged it a little ways to keep moving, but it was too slow for the skeeters and they were still nasty. He finally put it on his lap and rode that way in. I stayed with the little one, holding her helmet while she started to run - pacing herself - to keep ahead of the skeeters. Did I say they were evil skeeters - beyond belief? Her velcro viser had fallen off her helmet, and every time I tried to stop to put it on, the skeeters were there - we're talking like 50 at once. I asked her if she wanted a piggy back, and she refused. She hates them. She actually jogged about half a mile this way, stopping to rest, red in the face. Finally she got whiney - every time she stopped, her mosquito friends were there. So, helmet on, she climbed onto my bike, held on tight, and I balanced her on my back the last mile in. Way hilarious. My ten year-old was at the last quarter mile wanting to help. I asked her to wait for the dog, who had gotten so hot, was nowhere in sight. As soon as I came in, my husband headed back out, put our oldest on his handlebars, and called the dog back in. What a crack-up. It was all like some sort of freakish relay. All I know is that I was so mentally fried from the heat that I had to go hang-out downstairs back at the cabin. It's an older home that has concrete walls on half of the downstairs so it was nice and cool.
So, back at home I have no athletic endeavors for the day. Except that it's low tide, and forecast to be over 90 degrees - a rarity on the west side of the mountains - especially in June. So, I'm thinking a few hours in the breeze off the water sounds magnificent.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
First Day of Summer
To touch the earth is to have harmony with nature. - Oglala Sioux proverbWe framed this photo in a much larger version with the quote and gave it to a teacher as a gift today. It's a picture of the whole clan hiking on the camping trip. It made him cry - and he's not the cryin' type, really. Pretty cool for it to mean so much that it brought that emotion. Mushy, I know. But really cool. Today was the last day of school. Another year gone by. When I was in 8th grade I gave a speech at graduation. My ending sentence was, "and so, it's just a memory . . . some memories last forever . . ." It's so true. My kids asked why I wouldn't pay for school yearbooks - my reasoning (althought I didn't phrase it like this to them) is that they're too young, and it really won't mean a lot to them when they look back on it. I figure the high-school yearbooks will be more valuable and worth the money spent. And yet, these young years are what shape them as people in some ways. They learn how to be a person in society, how to get along with others, what they like and don't like, how to problem-solve and that they can fight any cause they feel is worthy. Perhaps I'm hoping photographs of this era will suffice for memories. By the time they're older it'll probably be some sort of memory chip implanted in their index finger.
Today really is the first day of summer - the solstice. I love the change of seasons. There are so many parallels to the seasons of life and change in the world. And really, I love summer. Around here, summer is the only really warm season, so it's when everyone camps, hikes, picnics, barbecues, runs, bikes, goes to outdoor concerts, festivals, farmer's markets. It's almost as if these things are nonexistent during the other three seasons, except for the die-hards. So now I feel like we have 2 and a half months until school starts again to cram in as much as possible. It goes by fast. And sometimes I feel like summer should be lazy with sleeping in and time to piddle away in the garden and at the beach. Such a quandary . . .
It was great to 'just run' today. I feel like I've been so busy plotting courses, measuring distances, planning my water stops, checking my splits, etc. Today I parked at my favorite spot and ran at the beach. I plugged into my ipod, but kept it on low so I could hear life around me. It was one of those days that I just wandered on, lost in my run, and somehow ended up back at the finish. (and treated myself to a bubble tea). When I stopped, my legs were still pretty sore from my long run Monday - lead legs I like to say. I took Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. Friday and Saturday 'cause I needed it after all the hiking, and Sunday 'cause it was Father's Day. So I did a long run on a Monday. Weird. Don't try it. Everything was off. I planned it to be 22 with my map software, and indeed according to my GPS download it was 21.95. Of course, I had to wait for the download because the GPS decided to blip off for 2+ miles somewhere around mile 7, so I had to estimate the rest of my run in progress. The whole run started off bad when I went to park at Greenlake. You can park there for free for 4 hours, as opposed to the metered street parking. Cool, I thought, since I needed to stop at one of the nearby running stores to purchase some gel. Except I ran into the cranky lady in the parking lot who I felt the need to have a confrontation with - the politics of fighting over a parking space. I decided it wasn't worth my time, paid for a meter while I ran in to by Gu, then parked at a different lot halfway around the lake. So, right off, this screwed up my mapping. And the lady in the running store tried really hard to find my some safety pins for my gels, but to no avail. I crammed as many as I could into my pockets, and used some other binder clip she loaned me for another - which politely slipped down my shorts with the gel at mile 5. Halfway out I turned off my ipod and shoved it in my gel pocket. I don't usually bring my ipod on my long runs, and for some reason felt the need. The whole run was just stale and slow. I was running 10 minute pace. And sure, that's not bad, but I usually run about 9:20 pace for my long runs, so when I ended up being out for 4 hours, which included 3 unscheduled walk breaks - something else I usually don't do - I was pretty dang sore and cranky. I guess I finished it. I got in the training. I didn't have any major issues. I didn't pass out when I got home - that trusty chocolate soy milk is still doing the trick. I'm just bummed that it was just so slow and boring. I even had a hard time figuring out where I wanted to go, and usually I get so excited about that. I guess if I really look hard and analyze the whole thing . . . there was this little old man I passed somewhere out there - must've been in his late 80's - with funky huge glasses on. He was all hunched over and truckin' along as slow as could be. When I approached, he smiled with a big grin, and made running motions with his arms. Take what you want out of it. No words were exchanged. Just two people out in the world - connecting in some way. People make the world go round.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Camping Trip
I'm back to civilization today after some camping time in the eastern half of the state. Civilization being - drinking real espresso while my husband and I meandered through the REI flagship store while he took a work break, and Air Force One was flying into town and likely causing havoc with freeway traffic.
Our children currently attend on alternative school within the public school district. It has a Native American/Cultural basis with an emphasis toward outdoor education. Curriculum is based partly on expedition learning in which a topic is chosen (struggle and resistance, mapping and orienteering, storytelling from around the world, etc.) and the children learn the basic educational concepts through these themes. All of the clans (they call them clans, not classes, and each one has an animal name - Eagle Clan, Fox Clan, Otter Clan, etc.) do lots of outdoor trips, and overnight camping is included - even down to the first graders.
This week I chaperoned a camping trip with 4th/5th grade students to Sun Lakes. It was an amazing and exhausting experience in so many ways. The area we camped in was surrounded by canyon walls due to the geological formation of the area. We could hear the echo of coyotes at night. We took the kids to see the Grand Coulee Dam (the 3rd largest dam in the world), and toured the inside. The security was pretty intense - like going through the airport. With the amount of cement it took to make the dam, you could actually pave a sidewalk all the way around the perimeter of the United States. Interesting trivia. We visited a nearby Colville Tribal museum, and took the kids hiking up Steamboat Rock nearby. We spent another day hiking through Dry Falls, which when it was an actual waterfall, was said to be about 5 times that of Niagara Falls. We hiked through Lenora Caves where apparently some native tribes still consider it sacred land and come to collect herbs. There are ancient petroglyphs in this area as well, though we didn't see any - unless you count grafitti. One of the kids made an interesting comment. Imagine hundreds of years from now, someone happening upon some current-day grafitti and considering it a valuable tool for historical language study, much like we consider petroglyphs. It makes you reconsider what petrogryphs really are. On our return trip home we took the kids through the Ironhorse tunnel - over two miles long on a rail trail, and about 99% pitch black in the center. We stopped midway, had the kids turn off all of their flashlights, stood in silence, and one of our chaperones played the didgeridoo he'd brought along. Pretty wild. I think if I'd heard that from the entrance to the tunnel, I'd have had second thoughts about going in.
The kids were such troopers on this trip. There were kids afraid to sleep in a tent away from parents, kids afraid of the cliffs we hiked up, down, and across, afraid of the steep glass elevator at the dam, afraid of rattlesnakes (yes, we did find one - also saw lots of deer, raccoons, marmots, bats, magpies . . ), afraid when they were so tired on our hikes that they wouldn't be able to make it back to camp, afraid to walk round trip in the dark for 2 hours through the tunnel. There were episodes of stress and tears on many different occasions. We had a 'thank-you' circle in the native american style before leaving camp, and I brought up these points. That I was thankful to be able to witness all of these kids have these fears, and be able to overcome them. Their teacher does a great job of showing the kids that it's okay to push the limits a little bit sometimes because the rewards are something you'll never regret. In four days, we actually accumulated about 20 miles of hiking/walking - pretty impressive for 10-yr-old kids.
I was actually able to go running all three mornings on the trip. When I first asked the teacher if that'd be okay, he jokingly told me he'd tie jingle bells to my shoes to alert the rattlesnakes. I chose to avoid the trails and run on the roads at that point. I got up between 4:30 and 5:00 so I could run and be showered before the sleepy campers crawled out of their tents, and that way my run didn't interfere with breakfast prep. Running along the canyon walls out to these lakes that appeared alongside was really beautiful and something I didn't expect to enjoy at all. I come from a land of lush green trees, and never suspected there was such beauty in dry areas. The canyon was really humbling in a way. I took some great photos of the sun coming up over the walls, and really enjoyed the quiet time to myself during the trip. My legs are pretty tired from the hikes and walks and running. I have no idea how these kids all got up and went to school today. I noticed 2 kids in my car asleep on the way home yesterday. And today is supposed to be field day at school. Crazy.
Our children currently attend on alternative school within the public school district. It has a Native American/Cultural basis with an emphasis toward outdoor education. Curriculum is based partly on expedition learning in which a topic is chosen (struggle and resistance, mapping and orienteering, storytelling from around the world, etc.) and the children learn the basic educational concepts through these themes. All of the clans (they call them clans, not classes, and each one has an animal name - Eagle Clan, Fox Clan, Otter Clan, etc.) do lots of outdoor trips, and overnight camping is included - even down to the first graders.
This week I chaperoned a camping trip with 4th/5th grade students to Sun Lakes. It was an amazing and exhausting experience in so many ways. The area we camped in was surrounded by canyon walls due to the geological formation of the area. We could hear the echo of coyotes at night. We took the kids to see the Grand Coulee Dam (the 3rd largest dam in the world), and toured the inside. The security was pretty intense - like going through the airport. With the amount of cement it took to make the dam, you could actually pave a sidewalk all the way around the perimeter of the United States. Interesting trivia. We visited a nearby Colville Tribal museum, and took the kids hiking up Steamboat Rock nearby. We spent another day hiking through Dry Falls, which when it was an actual waterfall, was said to be about 5 times that of Niagara Falls. We hiked through Lenora Caves where apparently some native tribes still consider it sacred land and come to collect herbs. There are ancient petroglyphs in this area as well, though we didn't see any - unless you count grafitti. One of the kids made an interesting comment. Imagine hundreds of years from now, someone happening upon some current-day grafitti and considering it a valuable tool for historical language study, much like we consider petroglyphs. It makes you reconsider what petrogryphs really are. On our return trip home we took the kids through the Ironhorse tunnel - over two miles long on a rail trail, and about 99% pitch black in the center. We stopped midway, had the kids turn off all of their flashlights, stood in silence, and one of our chaperones played the didgeridoo he'd brought along. Pretty wild. I think if I'd heard that from the entrance to the tunnel, I'd have had second thoughts about going in.
The kids were such troopers on this trip. There were kids afraid to sleep in a tent away from parents, kids afraid of the cliffs we hiked up, down, and across, afraid of the steep glass elevator at the dam, afraid of rattlesnakes (yes, we did find one - also saw lots of deer, raccoons, marmots, bats, magpies . . ), afraid when they were so tired on our hikes that they wouldn't be able to make it back to camp, afraid to walk round trip in the dark for 2 hours through the tunnel. There were episodes of stress and tears on many different occasions. We had a 'thank-you' circle in the native american style before leaving camp, and I brought up these points. That I was thankful to be able to witness all of these kids have these fears, and be able to overcome them. Their teacher does a great job of showing the kids that it's okay to push the limits a little bit sometimes because the rewards are something you'll never regret. In four days, we actually accumulated about 20 miles of hiking/walking - pretty impressive for 10-yr-old kids.
I was actually able to go running all three mornings on the trip. When I first asked the teacher if that'd be okay, he jokingly told me he'd tie jingle bells to my shoes to alert the rattlesnakes. I chose to avoid the trails and run on the roads at that point. I got up between 4:30 and 5:00 so I could run and be showered before the sleepy campers crawled out of their tents, and that way my run didn't interfere with breakfast prep. Running along the canyon walls out to these lakes that appeared alongside was really beautiful and something I didn't expect to enjoy at all. I come from a land of lush green trees, and never suspected there was such beauty in dry areas. The canyon was really humbling in a way. I took some great photos of the sun coming up over the walls, and really enjoyed the quiet time to myself during the trip. My legs are pretty tired from the hikes and walks and running. I have no idea how these kids all got up and went to school today. I noticed 2 kids in my car asleep on the way home yesterday. And today is supposed to be field day at school. Crazy.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Cross-training
My week started off with a 14 miler on Monday. Pretty good. It was supposed to be my Sunday run, but we had company that day. The hill at mile something seemed to go up and up, and when I thought I was done with it, it turned and went up some more. Tuesday I ran 6, and then rode my bike for an hour. The bike is a crazy thing. First I had to figure out which bike was mine, then try to pull the thing down off of the hook. That feat itself seemed a pretty good workout for the day. Upon discovering the bike rack was currently not on the car, I felt the need to shove the bike into the car. Another good challenge. When I finally got on my bike, and figured out which way my helmet when on, and how the gears work, I was off and running . . . no, biking, I guess. I think I averaged13 -15 miles an hour. Don't really know how that chalks up to Lance n'all, but it suited me fine. I was mostly on a flat paved bike path - one small hill at the half way that I forced myself to do so I could play with my gears. I forgot the path goes along the beach, and it's amazing how many beach-goers like to stand in the middle of the bike path. A while after I had come home, I found myself unable to move from the couch, and fell asleep for an hour. What's with that? I wasn't sore or anything, just wiped out. I think I must need to get on my bike more. Wednesday I went to the gym. I lifted weights, which produced the greatest amount of soreness in my body out of all the exercise I did this week - I have no idea how long it's been since I really lifted. Then I went into the pool. I'm afraid of the pool. I don't mind the water, I just can't swim. I've been procrastinating going there for eons. But I dawned the goggles and got in. After I'd grabbed a kickboard, and hopped in, I realized they moved the markers, and I was in the 'fast' lane. That seemed pretty hilarious. I let it go, and continued flayling around in the water. I use the term 'flayling', because that's how I envision I look. I attempt to swim - with my face in the water - I think you call it the crawl stroke, but I'm severely ineffecient at it. I tire quickly and can't get the form right to breathe. I did actually make it down and back - 2 lengths, swimming this way without stopping. I supplement that with my lovely side stroke. I'm sure there really is a stroke with this name, but I'm also sure that what I do isn't the same thing. I convince myself that I'm getting in some cardio and call it good. When I get tired of that I use the kickboard to give my upper body a rest. And then when I need a break, I float on my back. And I know I don't do a back stroke or the back float. I go from one end of the pool to the other on my back by simply wiggling my toes and my knees a little. At some point I was sure the lifeguard was up there laughing, thinking, "Oh, man - I'm actually gonna have to jump in and rescue this one." After twenty minutes of this, some more people had come into the lane. Rather than attempt to share the lane and worry that I'd crash into them all, I called it good for the day. Then I did a track workout. I'm not sure what to think of the whole 'Yasso 800's' idea, but I thought I'd give it a try. I went thinking I was going to do 4 of them at 3:30 pace. I did 6 @ 3:20, 3:25, 3:18, 3:17, 3:17, 3:17. That felt pretty good. But you're supposed to rest the same amount of time between and it seemed like too much. I'm still not sure what to think of how helpful the workout was, but it was fun. Next time I'll probably do longer repeats. I took Thursday off because there was no time in the day for exercise. I ran 6 on Friday, 7 on Saturday. Sunday I ran 18. It was a lot hillier than I thought. I could pull up the elevation profile from my garmin, but I don't really feel like it right now. It was hilly. I took a couple of gels with me, and stopped at some drinking fountains at parks along the way. My left hamstring and my lower back were really sore. Not from running, but from all of the dang yard work I did Saturday. I'd been avoiding it for a long time, not wanting soreness to interfere with my training, then I decide to do it before an 18 miler. Odd. I finished my 18 miler at a park where my husband and the kids met up with me so my husband could run his long run from the park. Little did we know there was a race going on there that day. It was a 5k that people run with their dogs. Hilarious. There were about 3000 runners and walkers, so you can imagine the amount of dogs hanging around. A few had fancy tutus, but most had a yellow bandanna - sort of like a racer symbol I think. Out on the course there were lots of plastic kiddy swimming pools filled with drinking water for the dogs. There were so many shapes and sizes of dogs, it was truly amazing to realize that some of those dogs could make it the whole 5k. It was even more entertaining to watch the finish. It was like watching a regular race finish - guys come flying in, except that they had a leash and a dog attached at the hip, and once they'd cross the line, the dog would be running around, all excited, thinking "what'd we stop for?". Some of the dogs decided the kiddy pools weren't for drinking and hopped in and laid down to cool off. Just like people like to take a dip after a long hard run. What a crazy week. I was exhausted by last night. I'm taking today off, then off to explore some more.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Running Has Shown Me The World
I've been very fortunate to have running be a part of my life for so many years. I ran my first 2 mile road race when I was 10. I ran my first 10k within the next couple of years. I've never been a national phenomenon or anything, but running has taken me places beyond my wildest dreams.
I remember being 14 and watching the first olympic marathon on television. The most amazing thing to me was watching a woman from Switzerland finish - Gabriele Andersen-Scheiss. She came into the finisher stadium barely able to walk. She desperately needed medical attention, but no one could touch her or she'd be disqualified. I watched as she slowly made her way around the track, her mind largely incapable of communicating with her body. I was so in awe that someone could willingly put themself in a situation like that. (You can read a description of this, and the women's first marathon in 1984 here.) I was a young runner, with an average amount of athletic ability, but a great amount of mental ability. It somehow inspired me to want to be able to do what she did - to run at such a level that you could block out pain and frustration and fatigue with nothing but the finish line in your head.
At age 15 I was invited to go to China as part of an athletic exchange program. We had stopovers in Tokyo, Japan, and Seoul, Korea. We spent time in Hong Kong, and time in mainland China. The race we ran was actually in Canton, and mainland China was under communist rule at the time. Being a parent now, I can't even fathom how scary it must have been for my parents to allow me that experience. When we got off the train at one location in the countryside, lots of children had come to see the train. Many of them had never seen caucasion people before. They were in awe of some of our runners with 'big muscles' - wanting the guys on the team to flex their biceps for them. They loved small american flags that we had brought for them. I remember seeing so many old-fashioned bikes on the dusty streets, and seeing guards, armed with machine guns, as our bus rounded street corners. One of my most memorable photographs was near a market - of two children playing in an alleyway while their parents were cleaning fish from the day's catch. There were shy, but intrigued by my camera. The way of life there was so different than anything I knew.
While in college, I remember being at a meet in some small town in rural Texas. Several of us hijacked the team van one day to go exploring. We happened upon the oldest Dr. Pepper Bottling Company in the US at the time. It was the only one actually still using sugar as a sweetener. A little old man in his 80's or 90's gave us a tour, and said they were getting ready for the upcoming 100th birthday celebration. He had worked there since he was a little boy. I couldn't even imagine what that would be like. It was fascinating to me to see all-white cows out in the fields - something we don't have back home. And espresso was extremely hard to find anywhere - odd for me, coming from the place where I can visit the first ever Starbuck's on a regular basis. On another college trip, we flew through Vancouver, Canada, and one of our athletes was whisked away by security as we went through customs. She had 'mace' spray on her keychain (something female runners often carried before pepper spray), which was apparently an illegal weapon in Canada.
My marathon PR is from my first marathon - Vancouver, BC in 1994. I was so nervous I cried at the drop of a pin. Most of my family had come to watch and support me. We went to tour the Capilano Suspension Bridge. I went half way out, panicked, cried, and froze with fear. I couldn't go further and I couldn't go back. Somehow I'm here, so I must've done one or the other. That marathon course is still my favorite - don't know if they've changed it. I got to run through Stanley Park and across the lion's gate bridge. The course had great views of the city.
I got a chance to see Boston, drive along the coast of Maine, and see the sun rise over the ocean - a long-wished dream. My coach at the time jokingly suggested I hook up and run with 'Joanie' - (Joan Benoit Samuelson) who lives in a town I went through. Plymouth, Massachusetts holds so much history of the beginning of this country, and Cape Cod is everything I always imagined - truly beautiful and peaceful with lots of little white cottages.
A few years ago, my husband and I were fortunate enough to go to Anchorage, Alaska. We ran a race there simply for the souvenir t-shirts, and had a blast mingling with the local runners when we arrived early to the race. We got to experience the Kincaid Park trails - well-known in the winter for world-class cross-county skiing. You can stand at the end of the trail and watch planes fly so close you can almost reach out and touch them. I loved watching the sun set over the mudflats of the Cook Inlet.
On our recent trip to Chicago, we took over 400 photographs. One of my husband's most favorite was the one of me I added in my 'Chicago' post when we finally arrived at the Old Plank Road Trail. He said it exemplifies how excited I was to simply be out running on a trail in another part of the country. Rail trails are such cool ways to re-use land. I think I mentioned the Chehalis Western Trail and the Ironhorse Trail near my home in an earlier post. The Ironhorse has a 2 mile long tunnel that when you're in the middle, it's truly pitch black and you need a headlamp or flashlights. The Foothills Trail I also mentioned - it has views of Mt Rainier up very close - although I'm lucky enough to see that out my living room window. It glows pink at sunset.
My latest issue of Running Times magazine had me drooling over a featured adventure race in Costa Rica. We keep getting magazines like Outdoors or National Geographic that feature places like the Paris Catacombs, Morocco, or untamed deserts in California. I have such an itch to run in all of these places it makes me crazy. Runtheplanet.com is a fun place to peruse where people run in far-away places. I think the two most fascinating marathons would be Safaricom in Kenya or the midnight sun marathon in Norway. We have a lot of family history from Norway. And Safaricom - well, to see the animals. And yet, there are so many interesting places to run in every city on every continent on the planet. The possiblities are endless. I guess races are a way to get a souvenir shirt while you're there. Typically marathons like to showcase the cities in which they're in. Smaller races help you get a feel for the climate of runners in the region.
I think if we could live anywhere besides where we live - which we wouldn't do, we love it - but if we could - we'd choose La Jolla, California for the atmosphere, the beaches, and the relaxed way of life, or San Francisco, simply so I could train in the hills on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. One of my marathons this summer, I chose for the beauty of the course - to see what I can see - out in the middle of nowhere. The Mesa Falls Marathon is probably the smallest marathon I've ever run, and I don't plan on running a fast time, but it's likely to be my most memorable just to enjoy the course.
I think - off the top of my head - if I could choose any foreign spot to run . . . today I'd have to say Pike's Peak, Colorado - run through Garden of the Gods. My next fascination would be Brazil. I don't know why yet. My husband mentioned it, and it just stuck. And yet, I'm so content to run nearly the same place everyday in the city in which I live. It changes every day. As the tide goes out, it seems to wash away the day, and each new breeze brings in a new tide teeming with new life to explore for another day. My husband brought home a new book for me the other day: 26.2 Marathon Stories, by Kathrine Switzer and her husband, Roger Robinson. It's the most inspiring running book I've ever opened. Here's a quote from within: "We run , not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves. It also does us good because it helps us to do other things better. It gives a man the chance to bring out power that might otherwise remain locked away inside himself. The urge to struggle lies latent in everyone." - Roger Bannister
To me, running is a metaphor for life. It's all about the journey - what you learn along the way, what you take with you, and what you leave behind. It's about the people you meet along the way, the mistakes you make and the challenges you overcome. Running gives you highs and lows, it gives you solitude and company, it gives you anxiety and a peace within yourself. Running gives back to you everything that you put into it. Running gives you a reason to wake up in the morning, and helps you fall asleep at night. Running opens your eyes to the world and takes you on a journey of self-discovery down every road and trail you set out to explore.
I remember being 14 and watching the first olympic marathon on television. The most amazing thing to me was watching a woman from Switzerland finish - Gabriele Andersen-Scheiss. She came into the finisher stadium barely able to walk. She desperately needed medical attention, but no one could touch her or she'd be disqualified. I watched as she slowly made her way around the track, her mind largely incapable of communicating with her body. I was so in awe that someone could willingly put themself in a situation like that. (You can read a description of this, and the women's first marathon in 1984 here.) I was a young runner, with an average amount of athletic ability, but a great amount of mental ability. It somehow inspired me to want to be able to do what she did - to run at such a level that you could block out pain and frustration and fatigue with nothing but the finish line in your head.
At age 15 I was invited to go to China as part of an athletic exchange program. We had stopovers in Tokyo, Japan, and Seoul, Korea. We spent time in Hong Kong, and time in mainland China. The race we ran was actually in Canton, and mainland China was under communist rule at the time. Being a parent now, I can't even fathom how scary it must have been for my parents to allow me that experience. When we got off the train at one location in the countryside, lots of children had come to see the train. Many of them had never seen caucasion people before. They were in awe of some of our runners with 'big muscles' - wanting the guys on the team to flex their biceps for them. They loved small american flags that we had brought for them. I remember seeing so many old-fashioned bikes on the dusty streets, and seeing guards, armed with machine guns, as our bus rounded street corners. One of my most memorable photographs was near a market - of two children playing in an alleyway while their parents were cleaning fish from the day's catch. There were shy, but intrigued by my camera. The way of life there was so different than anything I knew.
While in college, I remember being at a meet in some small town in rural Texas. Several of us hijacked the team van one day to go exploring. We happened upon the oldest Dr. Pepper Bottling Company in the US at the time. It was the only one actually still using sugar as a sweetener. A little old man in his 80's or 90's gave us a tour, and said they were getting ready for the upcoming 100th birthday celebration. He had worked there since he was a little boy. I couldn't even imagine what that would be like. It was fascinating to me to see all-white cows out in the fields - something we don't have back home. And espresso was extremely hard to find anywhere - odd for me, coming from the place where I can visit the first ever Starbuck's on a regular basis. On another college trip, we flew through Vancouver, Canada, and one of our athletes was whisked away by security as we went through customs. She had 'mace' spray on her keychain (something female runners often carried before pepper spray), which was apparently an illegal weapon in Canada.
My marathon PR is from my first marathon - Vancouver, BC in 1994. I was so nervous I cried at the drop of a pin. Most of my family had come to watch and support me. We went to tour the Capilano Suspension Bridge. I went half way out, panicked, cried, and froze with fear. I couldn't go further and I couldn't go back. Somehow I'm here, so I must've done one or the other. That marathon course is still my favorite - don't know if they've changed it. I got to run through Stanley Park and across the lion's gate bridge. The course had great views of the city.
I got a chance to see Boston, drive along the coast of Maine, and see the sun rise over the ocean - a long-wished dream. My coach at the time jokingly suggested I hook up and run with 'Joanie' - (Joan Benoit Samuelson) who lives in a town I went through. Plymouth, Massachusetts holds so much history of the beginning of this country, and Cape Cod is everything I always imagined - truly beautiful and peaceful with lots of little white cottages.
A few years ago, my husband and I were fortunate enough to go to Anchorage, Alaska. We ran a race there simply for the souvenir t-shirts, and had a blast mingling with the local runners when we arrived early to the race. We got to experience the Kincaid Park trails - well-known in the winter for world-class cross-county skiing. You can stand at the end of the trail and watch planes fly so close you can almost reach out and touch them. I loved watching the sun set over the mudflats of the Cook Inlet.
On our recent trip to Chicago, we took over 400 photographs. One of my husband's most favorite was the one of me I added in my 'Chicago' post when we finally arrived at the Old Plank Road Trail. He said it exemplifies how excited I was to simply be out running on a trail in another part of the country. Rail trails are such cool ways to re-use land. I think I mentioned the Chehalis Western Trail and the Ironhorse Trail near my home in an earlier post. The Ironhorse has a 2 mile long tunnel that when you're in the middle, it's truly pitch black and you need a headlamp or flashlights. The Foothills Trail I also mentioned - it has views of Mt Rainier up very close - although I'm lucky enough to see that out my living room window. It glows pink at sunset.
My latest issue of Running Times magazine had me drooling over a featured adventure race in Costa Rica. We keep getting magazines like Outdoors or National Geographic that feature places like the Paris Catacombs, Morocco, or untamed deserts in California. I have such an itch to run in all of these places it makes me crazy. Runtheplanet.com is a fun place to peruse where people run in far-away places. I think the two most fascinating marathons would be Safaricom in Kenya or the midnight sun marathon in Norway. We have a lot of family history from Norway. And Safaricom - well, to see the animals. And yet, there are so many interesting places to run in every city on every continent on the planet. The possiblities are endless. I guess races are a way to get a souvenir shirt while you're there. Typically marathons like to showcase the cities in which they're in. Smaller races help you get a feel for the climate of runners in the region.
I think if we could live anywhere besides where we live - which we wouldn't do, we love it - but if we could - we'd choose La Jolla, California for the atmosphere, the beaches, and the relaxed way of life, or San Francisco, simply so I could train in the hills on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge. One of my marathons this summer, I chose for the beauty of the course - to see what I can see - out in the middle of nowhere. The Mesa Falls Marathon is probably the smallest marathon I've ever run, and I don't plan on running a fast time, but it's likely to be my most memorable just to enjoy the course.
I think - off the top of my head - if I could choose any foreign spot to run . . . today I'd have to say Pike's Peak, Colorado - run through Garden of the Gods. My next fascination would be Brazil. I don't know why yet. My husband mentioned it, and it just stuck. And yet, I'm so content to run nearly the same place everyday in the city in which I live. It changes every day. As the tide goes out, it seems to wash away the day, and each new breeze brings in a new tide teeming with new life to explore for another day. My husband brought home a new book for me the other day: 26.2 Marathon Stories, by Kathrine Switzer and her husband, Roger Robinson. It's the most inspiring running book I've ever opened. Here's a quote from within: "We run , not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves. It also does us good because it helps us to do other things better. It gives a man the chance to bring out power that might otherwise remain locked away inside himself. The urge to struggle lies latent in everyone." - Roger Bannister
To me, running is a metaphor for life. It's all about the journey - what you learn along the way, what you take with you, and what you leave behind. It's about the people you meet along the way, the mistakes you make and the challenges you overcome. Running gives you highs and lows, it gives you solitude and company, it gives you anxiety and a peace within yourself. Running gives back to you everything that you put into it. Running gives you a reason to wake up in the morning, and helps you fall asleep at night. Running opens your eyes to the world and takes you on a journey of self-discovery down every road and trail you set out to explore.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Make A Wish
I have so many things I want to post - so many thoughts on running and blogging. I feel the need to do a whole post on why I like to travel and run. And an entirely separate post on running in the rain, and the rain just started to come down in a torrential pour and I'm done running for the day - so disappointing. And yet, I'll have to put those posts on hold, 'cause my unexpected run today deserves a post.
My kids have an amazing PE teacher. Because I'm a runner, and have a college degree in PE - Exercise Physiology, PE is a big deal to me. At the K-8 level, PE is often overlooked. But one has only to look at the obesity problem of children in our country and understand the need for fitness and activity. This PE teacher's name is Lou. He's 55 yrs. old. All year long he runs a unicycle program that perfoms city-wide. In the fall he gets kids ready for the Seattle Kids Marathon - in which the children have a couple of months to complete 25 miles on their own, and then run the last 1.2 miles all together in conjuction with the Seattle Marathon. The kids periodically have timed mile runs throughout the year, and have a 'hip to be fit' program where they can earn fitness points in different areas and get a t-shirt. In the spring he coaches the middle school track team. He's volunteered for the Make-A-Wish Foundation for many years.
Today is Lou's birthday. Every year on his birthday he puts together a run at school to benefit the Make A Wish Foundation. They have a loop course - 6 laps to a mile - and he commits to running as many laps as he has lived. Today it was the 55 lap run - a little over 9 miles. The entire school runs laps as well, and each of the kids running gets pledges per lap. The foundation doesn't like solicitation, and these kids are sponsored mostly by friends, family, and neighbors. Evening Magazine, a local TV crew, was out there today with a local TV celebrity to do some filming.
I put on my running clothes this morning, planning to take the kids to school, see them off on their run, and then head out for a 4-5 mile run myself. It was so inspirational to see how excited all these kids were, I stayed to watch a little. Then my youngest (5 yrs. old), asked if I would run with her. I figured maybe I'd jog a few laps. I gotta say, these kids are amazing. Several of the middle-school kids actually ran all 55 laps, and most of the teaching staff was out running and walking as well. My 10-yr-old paced herself, and cranked out the laps until she thought she was getting blisters. Then she walked a bit with some friends, then took off her shoes and walked a bit more. She completed 46 laps - a little over 7½ miles. My 8-yr-old was alotted a shorter time to run due to classroom requirements. And she was a little nervous to run too far because she and her older sister have one of those kid triathlons tomorrow. (they are gonna be so wasted, they have no idea). She ran with a friend - and I actually saw the friend adding more laps during her lunch recess. Our 8-yr-old ran 24 laps - 4 miles. My youngest is hilarious. She's like the energizer bunny. When she got tired, she'd walk a bit, then sprint some more, then jog, then walk. It was with this little one that I got my run in today - a little slower than I'd planned, but longer too. She completed 33 laps - 5½ miles. And I'm not one of those pushy parents - they're just crazy kids who love to run. It was me following her and the staff cracking up the whole time. All told, my kids got in 103 laps. I won't tell you how much we sponsored them for - but think about all those other kids in their school, and how much money this event raises - from a small K-8 school. After the money is sent in, and put to a specific child, the children are told during meeting time - all about the child, the wish, and how they helped it come true. Pretty cool. And the kids sang Happy Birthday to Lou.
My kids have an amazing PE teacher. Because I'm a runner, and have a college degree in PE - Exercise Physiology, PE is a big deal to me. At the K-8 level, PE is often overlooked. But one has only to look at the obesity problem of children in our country and understand the need for fitness and activity. This PE teacher's name is Lou. He's 55 yrs. old. All year long he runs a unicycle program that perfoms city-wide. In the fall he gets kids ready for the Seattle Kids Marathon - in which the children have a couple of months to complete 25 miles on their own, and then run the last 1.2 miles all together in conjuction with the Seattle Marathon. The kids periodically have timed mile runs throughout the year, and have a 'hip to be fit' program where they can earn fitness points in different areas and get a t-shirt. In the spring he coaches the middle school track team. He's volunteered for the Make-A-Wish Foundation for many years.
Today is Lou's birthday. Every year on his birthday he puts together a run at school to benefit the Make A Wish Foundation. They have a loop course - 6 laps to a mile - and he commits to running as many laps as he has lived. Today it was the 55 lap run - a little over 9 miles. The entire school runs laps as well, and each of the kids running gets pledges per lap. The foundation doesn't like solicitation, and these kids are sponsored mostly by friends, family, and neighbors. Evening Magazine, a local TV crew, was out there today with a local TV celebrity to do some filming.
I put on my running clothes this morning, planning to take the kids to school, see them off on their run, and then head out for a 4-5 mile run myself. It was so inspirational to see how excited all these kids were, I stayed to watch a little. Then my youngest (5 yrs. old), asked if I would run with her. I figured maybe I'd jog a few laps. I gotta say, these kids are amazing. Several of the middle-school kids actually ran all 55 laps, and most of the teaching staff was out running and walking as well. My 10-yr-old paced herself, and cranked out the laps until she thought she was getting blisters. Then she walked a bit with some friends, then took off her shoes and walked a bit more. She completed 46 laps - a little over 7½ miles. My 8-yr-old was alotted a shorter time to run due to classroom requirements. And she was a little nervous to run too far because she and her older sister have one of those kid triathlons tomorrow. (they are gonna be so wasted, they have no idea). She ran with a friend - and I actually saw the friend adding more laps during her lunch recess. Our 8-yr-old ran 24 laps - 4 miles. My youngest is hilarious. She's like the energizer bunny. When she got tired, she'd walk a bit, then sprint some more, then jog, then walk. It was with this little one that I got my run in today - a little slower than I'd planned, but longer too. She completed 33 laps - 5½ miles. And I'm not one of those pushy parents - they're just crazy kids who love to run. It was me following her and the staff cracking up the whole time. All told, my kids got in 103 laps. I won't tell you how much we sponsored them for - but think about all those other kids in their school, and how much money this event raises - from a small K-8 school. After the money is sent in, and put to a specific child, the children are told during meeting time - all about the child, the wish, and how they helped it come true. Pretty cool. And the kids sang Happy Birthday to Lou.
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