Finals Weeks!
Three Weeks to GO!
This long run SUCKED. I was dreading the run, and did a terrible job of psyching myself up. I couldn't find somewhere long enough to run that I didn't have to do an out and back, and once I decided on that, I didnt really get on board.

I planned on running out and back on the East Lake Sammamish trail, which is gravel and very flat, but unfortunately closed. I made it a mile and a half in only to see a "Trail Closed Ahead" sign. Some inappropriate loud words were had.

Luckily I parked at Marymoor, so I just ran the rest as an out and back along the Sammamish river trail. Not super pleasant, but I took the opposite side that I usually do, and was able to break it into sections in my head that made it go much faster. I also ran this with headphones (which I have yet to do on a long run). While I think that might have actually been helpful, my iPod decided it wouldn't switch songs, and I had a reminder very 2-3 minutes of how long it had been when i had to "skip" to the next song. I'm definitely a "sounds of nature only" person.

Anyways, this run sucked, I wanted to cry at the end, and the Seahawks lost while I was running.

Two Weeks to GO!
This week I got sick. Maybe why my 11 miler was so crappy. I ran my 3 mile run (12 min/mile pace!!) on Tuesday but skipped Thursday for fear of staying sick for the 12 miler.

I convinced Curtis to drop me off and pick me up, and was able to run a 12 mile section of the Iron Horse Trail out by North Bend. I vetoed the headphones this one, as they were terrible the last one.

Twelve went way better than eleven. This trail is gorgeous, fall is my favorite season, and there were just enough people out that I didn't think I was going to be eaten by a bear without anyone noticing. I was happy to be done by the end, but I am very sure now that I can run 13.1 no matter what. And I'm no longer sick!

One Week to GO!!!
Hoooray for tapers! Even though the plan didnt call for it, Stacy and I both decided a taper was well in order.
We spent the weekend wine tasting and running in Yakima. We found a lovely canyon trail that went through beautiful yellow and red fall trees, a gradual uphill then downhill, and great gravel trial.
We ended up running/walking (some offroading was in order) only 6 miles, but they felt wonderful. Amazing to me now that that can feel so short.

I have only five more miles (3 on Tuesday, 2 on Wednesday) until the half marathon, and I'm getting giddy with anticipation. If only the weather would stop dropping into the 40s...

Here come the sisters, Sisters!!

I guess I haven’t reviewed in a while. I’ve been skipping my Thursday run lately because I push back the Tuesday run and that pushed back the rest of the week. Other than that, the week day runs have been quite good. The longer runs on Tuesdays/Wednesday have been quite fast since I mainly do the berm or roads, but averaging 9 min/mile pace while I’m trying to go slow. Which makes me feel a little better about my pace.

Then comes the long run on the weekend. The 10 miler with Kelly felt great! Exactly like I would want to feel at 10 miles in the half. Then came then 11 and 12 mile runs. Much less great L Both runs had really really low points in the middle that I had to run/walk through, though the starts were pretty good.

For the 11 mile run, I knew it would be pretty bad because I hadn’t had a day off since Tuesday and ran fast the day before (and 5 miles). So I was expecting it to be back, but not as crushing as the middle was. Though, like most of my long runs, the end felt really great and made me forgetting about the terrible middle. I ended happily jogging along trying to forget that I was going back to a car which contained Maddie (who had rolled in fresh human throwup during her 3 miles of the 8 mile run). Needless to say, I didn’t get to recover for quite a while after the run since Maddie needed a bath before we could do anything.

Yesterday was the 12 miler in Hayward which was good and bad. I gave blood last Thursday and got a flu shot on Friday, so just like the 11 mile run, I had a very good excuse for my body wimping out. And wimp out it did. I ran the first 2 miles with Ian along the lake in the only flat part of the run (which was supposed to be all flat). This part felt great and for about a mile more until the good sized (2 nice 400 foot) hills showed up. I also am definitely not in shape for heat anymore and the wonderful 80 degree sunny California weather really got to me. The rest of the middle, again, felt like death and at half way I was ready to give up. Luckily it was a loop, so that just wasn’t an option. The loop ended up being only 9.5 miles instead of 12 so I had to add a nice 13 minute out and back to it which I was dreading at 6 miles, but was very nice at 9. Overall it felt good by the end, but I need to figure out how to get the middle to feel better than a forced trudge.

I am really looking forward to some good single track and trees and definitely hopeful for the downhill. I’m banking on that allowing me to maintain through the middle of the run. We shall see! Just a 7 miler in the way!

In other notes, my left ITB has been bugging my left knee, so I didn’t lift last week. But still at 75 lbs squats and 135 lbs deadlifts. 3 sets of 5. So I might have quads at some point! Still looking forward to some cycling, a little more swimming, and maybe some hot yoga through the winter! Just have to keep running too!

Well, Stacy and I obviously didn't need as much venting as we expected. I will recap the last four weeks of my training:
Week of Sept 8- Sept 14
I spent this weekend in Colorado hiking three fourteeneers (14,000' peaks) instead of doing an eight mile run. And it was great! I love and hate visiting Colorado, as I know when I visit I only see the good parts, but it really makes me want to move back. I went at my own pace while hiking, and felt good on all three peaks. We bagged them in the exact time I expected to take, which makes me happy that I can know my own pace that well. Running down the steep hills were not fun, but probably good training for what lies ahead. Nothing to brag about for the weekday runs.
Week of Sept 15- Sept 21
Curtis and I did a 5k race this Saturday, the Fremont Oktoberfest! It sucked. I was happy with my times, 25:55, but terribly unhappy with the whole running-fast-in-the-heat-no-water thing. Not a well supported race, and it was just too damn hot for the end of September (85!). Curtis learned lots about his ability though, and I remembered that I really do go faster when there's lots of people around. Random note- the dog didn't get overheated, unlike Curtis. Props for Apollo!
Week of Sep 22- 29
I did a 9 mile run this week. I ran 9 miles of the Burke Gilman/ Samammish river trail. It was fantastic! I managed to forget my headphones and music, and forget which way the river runs, so I was going up hill the whole time. But I ran all but the stop for water fill up, and kept a really solid pace most of the time. I'm always impressed with my ability to keep going, and actually felt way better at the end of the run than the beginning (until I stopped of course). It helped that I knew the area very well, and liked going back to somewhere I hadnt been in a few years.
Week of Sept 30- Oct Whatever
Ran a 10 mile run with Stacy in Forest Park in Portland. We didnt run the whole way, as there turned out to be a lot of hills. I managed to fall twice and really bang myself up. but surprisingly, we kept a just-over 10 min/mile pace, and i felt really really good at the end and no soreness the next day. this one has made me excited for my eleven miler this weekend!

WEEK FOUR

Tuesday

I took the dog with me for the first time after his hiking injury. Greenlake was pretty empty as we went right after I got back from work. Unfortunately, it was an incredibly windy day (right before a horribly rainy night) and he was distracted by all the things flying around. We went slowly with lots of stops for leave attacks, but I felt very good with the run overall, and felt comfortable at that distance.

Thursday

Thursday Apollo and I ran a 3 mile hills run. I was supposed to be doing a "pace" but I've started switching that up with slightly shorter hills, as it seems to work my legs and lungs just as much. Carkeek was pretty empty (except for the woman he jumped on and scared) and we had a good old time. Walked some uphills, but worked my ass off and was proud of the soreness on Friday.

Saturday

This was the longest run of my LIFE. Pretty crazy that we're already at that point. I kept reminding myself that eight miles is only one mile longer than seven, and seven felt pretty good last week. Luckily, eight felt even better! I ran at the Bridle Trails park in Redmond/Bellevue, where Ian, Stacy and I attempted to do a relay race last year. It was a beautiful morning, not too hot and not too cold, and the trails were very very empty. I ran with my shirt off and no music, and I felt absolutely great! Miles four through seven I felt like I was flying, and the last one was only hard due to my poor planning and having to decide really fast where I was going. My legs felt strong, nothing injury-wise was acting up, and even though my nutrition consisted of Starburst Gummies, I didn't bonk. I let myself walk the few longish uphills, and just felt free and great. Hopefully exactly what the Half will feel like!

Very happy to have done this run the morning of Jen's wedding, as it made the whole day so much better. Looking forward to my "bye" next weekend of climbing three 14ers!

*Kelly*

Testing at Nike

I was planning on doing a nice easy run in forest park this evening with Maddie, but Jeff and Ian asked me to come test something, who knows what, at the track. So I decided to do the 3 miles there instead. Bad idea.

They didn't have a set plan, so I just ran 3 miles around the track, which would have been fine but I didn't have a watch that I understood so I didn't know how fast I was going. I was trying to go slow and stayed in a range where I could have had a conversation, but turns out I went wayyy too fast. I averaged 8:40 min/mile pace over the 3 miles, which is not an "easy" run for me. I then went straight to swimming because I've promised myself I would go at least once a week and I hadn't gone yet.

So after an hour and a half of workout, the run which I wasn't planning and didn't bring food for, I was exhausted. I did the easier swim workout, but it still was 2800 in less than an hour. I did drink some chocolate milk afterwards and ate my bagel, but will probably feel some fatigue from this tomorrow...

Stacy

Last week went pretty well for most runs. Nothing super exciting to report.

I borrowed a pair of racing flats from Tyler at work so that I could do my 6 X 400 at the Nike track in actual Nike shoes, rather than my preferred Saucony A5s. The flats I borrow were great! I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out what they are, because like most of employee's shoes, they were samples with no labels. Turns out they're from Japan, which just got incorporated into US Nike, so not available for purchase :(. Tyler's letting me borrow them until November since he doesn't do track workouts anyways.

We were east of Mt Hood this weekend with Ian's fam bam for Labor day, so both Saturday's and Sunday's runs were at 4500 ft. Which I felt, a lot. 10 min/mile pace felt a lot closer to 7:30s than I would have liked. Saturday morning was spent biking 7 miles with the hoseks in the rain and less clothes than needed, so by the afternoon run, I was pretty pooped. Dad ran with me for the 3 miles, which ended up being 2.7 miles, but I figured that was fine since I was going much harder (though also slower) than the easy run that it was supposed to be. It was fun to run with Maddie and Riley, since Riley decided to come along without an invitation. I'm sure Maddie would enjoy another dog to run with. I think Dad also really enjoyed having the dogs to run with.

On Sunday I was hoping to run in the morning while everyone else hiked, but plans changed/got delayed, so I ran in the late afternoon around 4ish. I ended up running the same 7 mile loop that we biked the day before and was really impressed by how much of the train I remembered. I recognized more of the trail than I ever do, even when I've run it multiple times before. This made me realize that I want to fore-ride the half marathon course in sisters to get a good idea of what's going to happen on it. Ian and Dusty rode the loop ahead of me with Nellie and Riley, so I got to do the run all on my own. It went uphill for the first 4ish miles, then descended quickly after that. Eric said something to me right as we left that I dwelled on for the entire uphill portion, which kept my mind off of my pounding heart. I ran/fast hiked the uphill, aiming 13 min/miles on the hiking. I think I managed to achieve this, but really don't know since my watched couldn't keep gps connected for the life of it. The downhill showed up right when I needed it to and I flew down it.

I'm normally not much of a downhill runner, but I was so excited not to be hiking that I let all my normal worries go and just ran. I haven't check my watch, but I think I averaged between 6:30s and 7:00 min/mile miles during the downhill section. It felt great! and was a lot of fun! I ended up finishing the loop in just under 1:10, which was pretty amazing since it took be almost 50 minutes to do just the uphill.

I ended up sitting in the stream by the camp for 5 minutes afterwards because I was so scared of feeling the downhill on Monday. Turns out it worked because I was barely sore and Tuesday's run felt great.

I'm dealing with a little plantar fascia stuff on my right foot, but it doesn't seem to be getting any worse, so I'm just ignoring it for now and avoiding any squishy shoes during work.

I'm also missing biking a lot. Running's fun, but just not the same as road biking. I'm enjoying swimming once a week and am trying to stick with that, but more would be nice as well. Plus I'm missing climbing, once a week is not enough for that, but it's a sacrifice I'm just going to make.

Week 3: Long Run
Nutrition: half of clif shot at ~4 miles, chocolate milk for recovery
this run was supposed to be six miles, but i ended up doing seven. i joined two friends out at the Redmond Watershed, and we ran around there. It's got really nice barked and gravel trails in and out of trees, so we stayed pretty dry even though it was raining.
the run felt pretty good, for most of it. once i realized we were on track to go much further than planned (the route was supposed to be 5 and turned out to be 7) i got a little angry, but otherwise felt good. it was nice to have someone to talk to, even though i ended up doing ~ 4 miles on my own.
always good to run in new places with different people, and i thought i did well with the mini hills. felt really really good on the last flat stretch after 6 miles, so hopefully that's a good sign.
*kelly*

WEEK THREE
Tuesday (Written Wednesday)

Nutrition: None

Back when i was cycling excessively i found that, while most of the time i really liked what i was doing, that some rides were just terrible. either i was tired, it was too hot, my knee felt funny, or i almost got hit by someone, that ride dragged on until the last mile. 

By the time i was done with two years of consistent riding, i found that these days happened much too frequently. however, they were almost always followed by a blissfully awesome ride. if i somehow managed to get back on my bike after deciding i was quitting two days ago, i was reminded why i loved riding. i felt strong, alert, enjoyed my riding buddies, and loved the scenery. all i had to do was get back on the bike.

Hopefully, this is the same for running, because my run on Tuesday sucked. i ran around greenlake as always, but just wasn't feeling it. i'd had an overwhelming first day of work, and three miles was torture. heck, two miles was torture. my stomach felt funny, my calves felt tight, the knee pain i haven't had since cycling STP came back, and i felt like i couldn't breath.

Basically, just an awful run. i worked on my mental strength (with a lot of mental swear words) and managed to run the entire three miles without stopping. and i am very proud of that.

heres to the next run, may it be way better than the last!

Thursday

Nutrition: None

As expected, Thursday's run was much better. The first three miles went by easily, and the last was only difficult because I had to loop back on myself, and I hate seeing trails twice. I ran around Magnuson park, so there was lots of people watching to be had. Lots of little kids out playing soccer, frisbee and rugby.

The run felt good. My watch wouldn't link to GPS so I went on time alone, and may have ran a bit more than the four miles scheduled. I was able to keep my head in the game mostly, and my pace felt really comfortable. A fair amount of the run was on pavement, but my legs felt good and I stayed upright. My socks seem to be helping, though it takes my calves a lot longer to warm up, I haven't had any feet or calf issues yet.

It was surprising how much my mood was elevated after this run. I was really dreading it, as Tuesday's went  so badly, and was in a pretty bad mood leading up to it. But very happy afterwards! Looking forward to a long trail run this weekend WITH OTHER PEOPLE!!!

Triathlon

Getting antsy to swim and bike. I tested a triathlon bike last weekend on a trainer in the store, and will be taking it out for a test ride with my shoes this weekend. very excited for the time when i get to vary my workout!

*Kelly*

WEEK 2

All three of my runs this week felt pretty good, but I was especially glad the long run went so well. Running in the morning truly does help!

Tuesday
Nutrition: None

My first run was at Greenlake. The outside path is around 3.2 mi long, while the inside path is 2.8. I still haven't decided which I like better. The outside path goes next to the road, which is a bummer, but there are so many less people and it has good views of the lake.
I generally choose the outside path, to get a longer run in. This one felt really well. I tried to keep my pace up the whole time, and was happy with my finish. It always amazes me how quickly the human body can adapt to change- two weeks into training and my three milers seem like no big deal.

Thursday
Nutrition: None

Thursday was supposed to be another 3 miler, but at a fast pace. Instead, I ran less than two miles of hills at Curtis's pace. As this was my last day at work, it was pretty, and I'm going to give myself a pass on the distance. I was working very hard for the same amount of time as a fast 3 miler, so I think it counts (right...?)

Sunday
Nutrition: 1/2 Clif shot before run, a tiny bit at 4.5 miles

My long run fell on Sunday this week, as I did a 7 mile hike on Friday with the puppy. I felt pretty darn good on the hike, but he got injured and has a limp out of it. So no running buddy for me for a bit.

Sunday I chose to go to Discovery park and run. There were a surprising number of people at the park for a morning, but I usually go on Saturdays so it must just be different. I saw a beautiful golden retriever puppy, and the breeze of sea water and fog off of the Sound proved for a cool run.

My goal for the long runs on this training set are to have "Mental Toughness". I struggle a lot on long runs to keep myself motivated, especially if I'm having low iron, and my goal throughout the next few weeks is to keep my head in the game.

I felt like I did a very good job on this one. I had to add a couple of miles to the standard Loop trail to get up to 5 miles, and opted to do some hills at the beginning. This probably wasn't the best idea, but it helped with my Mental Toughness! I was able to complete the run, plus an extra half mile, with only walking on the really steep uphills. My brain was with me almost all the time (except when i had to take some sugar at 4.5 mi) and it felt really good. I saw a lot of people out on the trail, and everyone was very friendly. Always good to run in the city!

Very excited for my runs this week, but more excited for my NEW JOB!

*Kelly*

Second week of training: 

Though I wasn’t expecting it to, my five mile run with Maddie on Monday in forest park felt great! It went by quickly, I walked some of the steeper hills, but on purpose, not because I felt I had to. The 3 mile easy run on Tuesday also felt great in the evening with Maddie. She ran so great on leash as well! I had to leave her at the house early to finish because she’s been tired (especially from the 5 miler on Monday).

On Wednesday, I started out the tempo run too fast and ran the first mile in 8:15, then the second in 7:50. Then had to drop back quite a bit and ran the final mile in about 10:00. It felt great though! Cooler weather is definitely for me. I felt bad leaving Maddie at home but she wouldn’t have done the run happily. Iced and chocolate milk afterwards.

Thursday I wasn’t feeling as good and calves were definitely sore in the morning before my walk with Maddie. I also forgot to take iron in the morning (I’m trying to take it every 36 hours), so I was feeling a little fatigued in general. I lifted (below)  in the afternoon, which felt great and didn’t seem to affect my legs at all. By the time I made it home after Lillian’s going away party and Thirst Thursday, I wasn’t feeling up for a run. Luckily it was an easy day, and the 4^th in a row because of Calagary. So I didn’t feel too bad skipping it. I ran a little at the dog park with Maddie and felt pretty stiff in my calves, confirming my decision not to run.

Lift:        4 min row at level 6

                10 air squats

                10 back squats at 55#

                2 X 7 back squats at 65# - need to up weight next week

                8 deadlifts at 95#

                2 X 5 deadlifts at 115# - need to get stronger back, not feeling it really anywhere yet, just preventing injury

                Stretch and 3 sets of hip abduction exercises.

Pace and 6 miler this weekend!

Welcome to Stacy and Kelly's training blog!

This blog will be used as a place for Stacy and I to write down our thoughts, feelings, pictures and ideas while training for our first Half Marathon and Half Ironman.

We have our first Half Marathon on the books for November 2nd in Sisters, OR, and are planning on signing up for the Half Ironman in Victoria, BC on June 14th, 2015!

Thanks for reading and we're glad you're here!

*Kelly*