...and i ran...

TA DA!

stats:
10K/6.2 miles; finished in 1 hour 4 minutes. slightly over 10 minute miles. kenny, hai and i ran together for 4 miles, then kenny and hai took off to finish before me. kenny - i forgot to ask you what your finish time was! post it in a comment.

course and participants:
not an overly populous one, good for my first time out i think. and i think most people did the 5K. bloomsday will be another story altogether. it was a beautiful morning - blue sky, crisp spring air. the course started out through the bucolic bits of oregon state...barns, fields, sheep, horses, covered bridges, cows with holes in their sides held open by rubber gaskets...and then wound through campus. it was pretty, but kind of an annoying course at times. i thought the place where you had to turn around at the end of the trail was awkward, and felt that toward the end they kept swinging us toward and away from the stadium just to tack on the miles....like they didn't really consider the route and were just concerned with the distance. also, there should have been porta-potties along the way (right kenny?!?) as well as maybe one more water station.

performance:
pre-race - fair to midlin...i forgot my running shorts - who the hell forgets their running shorts? and then i forgot my phone in the rush to get on the road in the morning. so i was feeling more than the usual scattered heatherness.

during - good. not fantastic as i felt earlier in the week, but good. i found that the discomfort that i feel at the beginning of a run, the one that, once i push through it, gives way to a good pace and rhythm...that discomfort comes back after a while. usually as i'm starting to feel bored. running for an hour is a long time. A LONG TIME. and i get a little bored. and when i get a little bored...the discomfort sneaks back in. the key for me is not to think about what is next or even where i'm going...just to think about the very step i'm taking. my breath, my legs, my body, my mind right that very moment, the piece of pavement right under my feet. not the end of the block or the next mile. i just collect myself, go back inside myself and block out everything else.

injury report:
one minor blister on the "ring toe" of my right foot. popped on its own. one really weird blister underneath the toenail on the "index toe" which i drained this evening. very odd sensation, squeezing pink water from underneath my toenail. it still feels weird - the toe nail and the skin it is attached to still feel "detached" from my toe. ew. also, some slight ankle pain in my right ankle. very slight. tonight i soaked my feet in epsom salts, slathered them with smith's rosebud salve, threw on some socks and tucked them into bed.

outlook:
positive. i know i can run the thing. bloomsday. i'm still nervous about doomsday hill. i'm going to let my feet rest and repair through tomorrow, and hopefully run on tuesday and thursday. short ones...nothing too taxing.

thanks to julian for being the official fun run photographer.

wish(es)

i have a few wishes for this weekend...

~that i'm happy and comfortable as i run - no annoying itches, impending and urgent bodily functions, blisters, side and/or aches of any other sort to sully my stride.

~that i run the whole way.

~that i run a good even pace. at least 10 minute miles. at least.

~that kenny and i have fun. it is a fun run, is it not?! i'm thinking the fun part is as important (if not more) than the run part. it does come first, no?

~that i don't look like too much of a knob running into the football stadium.

~that julian takes me to a yummy breakfast afterward that includes beer. yes oh yes beer for breakfast.

~that i don't step in dog poop.

very simple, humble wishes really. from a simple, humble girl.

my run last night (a short one to loosen my legs which were tight from the longer run the night before) was another great one. perfect temperature outside. dusk to almost dark. friendly (or slutty, you decide) orange cat who flopped over and presented me with his belly, insisting i stop for a second to rub it. i high fived a few tree branches along the way, including this willow that usually catches me off guard and flicks me in the eye. i'm sure i look retarded (ooops, am i going to lose my endorsement for saying that??) slapping tree branches as i run. but i've gotten to know these trees over the past couple months. they are my support, my fans, cheering me on...out there every night i am. long run or short, there they are... the chestnut, the oak, the willow, the birch, the cedar, the fir... i have to tell you, trees give good support. unwavering, actually.

okay, i've officially stepped way to far into hippy-dippy land. i'm gonna go blow on my wish and spin in circles...see you in corn valley...

mom i hope you're feeling better today...

peepshow

first of all - BIG CONGRATULATIONS to sydney, chris and maggie higgins for welcoming (finally!) gabriel raymond higgins to their (and our) family. lil' gabe, if pictures are any indication, appears to have the large and loud higgins' mouth and is sure to fit right in.

the picture is for those anxiously awaiting my peep creations...

best run ever tonight!!! i could feel it coming, i was jonseing for it all day long. i ran a nice 5.35 mile loop, over to 33rd, up to prescott, back down to 15th, then down to fremont, over to 7th, down to hancock and back home. 33rd has a pretty killer hill up to fremont. i felt strong and confident. got up the hill no problem and just kept running. i'm thinking about bloomsday. i know the hill is at the end of the race. me? i like to get the hard part out of the way first. pisser.

i think i'll do a short run tomorrow, and then relax on friday in preparation for the 10K on saturday. i'm not about time, i'm just about completion. tonight's run - what turns out to be an 8.6K run, took a little less than an hour. i'm still hovering at 10 to 11 minute miles. but i'm not bothered. as i was running i felt intensely proud that i can now run. whenever and wherever i want.

readers' poll - an ouchy blister has developed on the inside of my second toe in from my big toe on my right foot (would this be the index toe??). it rubs against my big toe when i run, and this blister forms - this is the second one in the same spot. i have 3 days before this race. let it be and hope it goes down? gently pop and drain it and schmear it with antibiotic cream and wear a bandage? what say you, hoi polloi?

so, body mods...yeah, um...more on that later ;-)

a weekend of trillium

last sunday i was gonna write about running in a hail storm.

but i didn't.

and then i was going to write about pilates on monday, and stretching in general.

but i didn't.

and then i was going to write about my annoying spring cold that was hindering my running on tuesday and wednesday.

but i didn't.

so we'll skip all that. i have my first official "run" next saturday. i know i haven't put in the mileage i need, but i still think i can do it. this weekend julian and i got in one last snow-shoe outing at trillium lake that served as my cross training. the sky was cloudless and periwinkle blue. we saw three igloo-building lesbians. to be fair, so we can't confirm they were lesbians, but applying the logic of that militia dude up in murray, idaho, who hypothesized that ALL women from oregon were lesbians, i think we can safely assume they were. we left them to their igloo-building activities and moseyed on our way. we ended up circling the lake, stopping for a look across the ice, an apple and a bit of chocolate. as we rounded the lake near the dam, we spied a very plump otter out on the ice. he kept an alert eye on ringo, and at the first safe opportunity, in an instant he disappeared under the ice. we slushed out way back up to the car... quite a hike actually, and the slushy snow would give way under our feet every now and again as if we were walking in deep sand...

this morning we went for a walk in the sunshine, before we started the day - i snapped the pic of the purple trillium along the way. amazing how spring is in full bloom down here and up at the mountain it is still winter...

i did run today. not sure how far i went. i thought it would be fun to try forest park. but i'm not familiar with the trails. i'm interested in trail running, there is a 15K trail run in clackamas in july. i like the idea of being out in the woods. but man i was running up for a looooong time. the hills killed me, but i kept plugging away. shuffleshuffleshuffle. some wiry teenage boy loped past me chewing up the hill like a whitetail deer on a game trail. wippersnapper. whatever.

at the end of this, after bloomsday, i'm thinking of some sort of body modification. not sure what, not sure where (tho i have ideas). more on this later...

map it!

cool little website i found for mapping a running route and determining the mileage... i'll link it on my sidebar as well...

map my run

5

okay! i'm back.

today i ran 5 miles. it wasn't the best run i've had, i had a hard time getting started. i felt crappy, my ankle hurt a bit. as i was running up 7th i stopped and walked for 2 blocks. thought about what i was doing. thinking about the FIVE MILES. so i broke it down into pieces. run to knott. okay that wasn't bad, now run to irving park. i'm there, so keep going to fremont. done. a bunch of tiny, achievable goals. listened to my nano, mike doughty haughty melodic. btw - who needs an armband or a lanyard? MY nano fits inside my sportsbra, perfectly flat against my sternum between my nonexistent boobs! you know, where my cleavage would be... if i had any. just one more reason to love my little bitties!! maybe i should start calling them iBoobs.

the sun beamed a few times, in fact, i wished i'd had my sunglasses. i got hot. hotter than i've been. i don't like feeling overheated, and while i didn't get there today, i will at some point if i continue running into the summer. and spokane in may could be warm as well...as i topped the hill at 33rd and fremont, the sun was as its peak and my face felt HOT. am thinking next time of reversing the route and running up 33rd to fremont - the hill looks a little longer... a little more of a challenge...

i did notice something about running five miles. i'm slow. so it takes a long time. and to be honest, i get a little bored and impatient. i want to be DONE! i'm sure i won't have this problem during the race, because i'll be jacked up about doing it. but something to keep in mind for neighborhood runs in the future.

time to get a little more serious about this i think. be a little more "kenny" about my regimen from now until the day of the race. i feel like i've plateaued a little bit, and i need to push myself up and over...

hoping my brother's workload is lightening up and allowing him some sanity through sweat...

running the silos

these silos are at the end of julian's street. they are two of the last intact pieces of the broken carcass of a dairy farm that is being picked apart by "progess". a hospital will be going up in a few years, and the silos will probably go the way of the rest of the farm...scrap. memory.

as i've mentioned, we run up and down his street. sunday and monday. it is .5 mile from end to end, and includes two nice hills. low tech interval training. i like it. very rocky-esqe. cement stairs at the philadelphia museum of art or poorly paved hilly rural roads in clackamas. make more than do with what you have, what is right in front of you. i've been running around my 'hood for 5 weeks. nary a sore muscle (but much aerobic progress being made). a few times up and down these hills - owie mommy my glutes are barkin'.

i rode my friend stacey's cruiser bike after work today. down to the east side esplanade. it was nice, save for the sun-warmed stank rising off the willamette and the numerous "warning: raw sewage" signs i rode past. (did the dude fishing off the 'nade *not* see the signs??). perhaps because i'm not an experienced cyclist, i felt more vulnerable than i do when i run around my neighborhood. there were quite a few groups of men hanging out, making comments at me. a few young bmx-type biker-bois who enjoyed pretending to nearly run into me and skid to a stop just in time. ha ha ha - that never gets old! i enjoyed my ride, went all the way down to the hawthorne bridge and back, but i probably won't do it again by myself. not after work. maybe during the day on a weekend...

bloomsday t-shirts are in the works! kenny was able to get permission to use the official bloomsday logo. i'm going to rope someone at work into typesetting it for us. no doubt they'll be the smokin' hot, must-have shirt come race day...

itches are bitches

who am i? where have i been? why have i not been posting to my blog?

let me 'splain.

no, there is too much. let me sum up.

while i have been slacking on this blog, i haven't been slacking on training. since last i posted, i ran tuesday, thursday, friday, saturday and sunday. no big long runs, most in the 3-3.5 mile range. i seem to have gotten that down. in the run up (pun very much intended) to the 10K in april and bloomsday, i think i'm going to have to turn up the training. work in more hills, and next weekend run 5 miles.

today, julian and i ran up and down his street a couple times - ends up being about 2 miles, but he has a nice .25 mile of hill. it's hard, running up hill. i feel like i can run for miles on a relatively flat outdoor course - slight grades are fine. but hills are another thing altogether. when i'm running up hill, i feel like the ground is like the belt on a treadmill and i'm not making any forward progress. as long as i keep my eyes about 3' in front of me, and my feet moving, i just keep plugging away. eventually i'll get to the top. doesn't matter to me how long it takes.

things i've been thinking about while running this week...

butt itch while running sucks. all-consuming and distracting. once you feel it, that's it. it is all you can think about ITCH-ITCH-ITCH-ITCH. it is nigh onto impossible to give your butt a good and thorough scratching while running. you know when you properly scratch an itch... how you kind of go into that euphoric zen paralysis - when you *really* scratch that itch?? take my cat - when i scratch mookie's butt his eyes narrow, he cocks his head to one side and he starts frantically licking the air - i totally get this. itches anywhere on your body while you're running are annoying. but the butt itch is particularly annoying. and then there is the small issues of who wants to be going at their ass like a baboon while kindly folks are driving by - hey everyone, check it - my rear-end itches sumpin' fierce!!!

i feel small when i run. small and alone. not in a vulnerable way - in fact i don't feel very vulnerable at all. just small, tiny, within myself. it's just perspective. i'm this little dot moving about the earth... slowly... persistently...purposefully... there are people all around me, but i'm only aware of what is going on inside of me. i'm not verbalizing this well at all. it is a good feeling.

hope to be better about blogging this week...