family

Well, Michelle has asked where have I been? Well, I am working today on three hours of sleep after coming home from Anchorage last night. My Dad and I went to visit my brother for a long weekend (he is stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base for a three year stint). I have some cool photos to post – we have a great group of men and women serving us in the skies, everyone should be greatful that they have decided to serve our country.

Let’s go back to last week, I ran out of time to post but I had an awesome WW meeting last Wednesday night – I am down 17 pounds total !!!! I talked with my leader the week before and mentioned my lack of energy, especially when I’m running and she told me to eat more – yes, eat more (this is a diet? – no remember, a lifestyle change, healthy eating, a new world). So the ‘eating more’ really helped, I made sure to get my full points in for each day and try to use my flex points for the week. I also made sure to try and eat more meat for the protein. Anyway, it was a losing week, about 2+ pounds – I’m too tired to look in my book, maybe later.

Thursday I picked up Darby the dog from her full day at doggie daycare and we made our way to the local high school track to meet up with the Y-club, but I was running late so we did a few laps around the track and Brian picked her up so I could keep running. I ran out through the trail, passing by Linda who said she didn’t recognize me as she tapped on her hips – what a compliment and also a reminder that I need to be running with the group more. I ran for 48 minutes and completed 4 miles for a 12min/mile – which for me is 2min/mile faster than before I started losing weight. I didn’t feel like I was speeding up, my body must just be able to move faster with the same amount of effort and less weight to move – this is very encouraging for me, maybe I’ll be able to keep up with everyone now, and maybe after losing even more weight, get even faster!

Friday was a busy day, it was Alpaca shearing day at my parents farm. We had 14 animals to shear, collect wool, trim toe nails and wrangle in the pastures. The lady shearing was tough and weathered, but truly seemed to care for each animal as if it were her own. The weather was really warm and we were tired, dusty and just plain beat. After we finished (8am-5pm) my Dad and I headed off to the airport to catch our 8:30 flight to Anchorage – we were beat.

Saturday was the air show at Elmendorf – we even got to watch the Thunderbirds fly, my brother joined us (he had to work most of the day). Sunday, Monday and Tuesday we hung out with my brother – taking him grocery shopping, buying him a houseplant, sight-seeing, having a fun time just hanging out. He sure has grown up a lot – it’s weird to think that he has his own place, his own life, he is a grown up – a responsible one at that! I might get some photos up from our weekend later.

As far as running while in Anchorage – I took all of my running clothes and it was light out for 20+ hours a day and there was a trail very close to my brother’s house, but did I run, nope – I turned into the ‘bump-on-a-log-Jessica’ that I used to be. I really should have ran, but I was enjoying time with my Dad and brother, guess sometimes that is the important stuff. I did try to eat right while gone, but eating breakfast out is really hard – especially at greasy diners. I did fairly well at dinner – one night at Applebee’s I got a WW point meal and I got a turkey burger at Red Robin (only because they were out of Garden burgers). I did cave on Tuesday and had some Kraft Macaroni and cheese (hey I was in a bachelor’s house…), but I did only have half the box instead of the whole thing – and I balanced it out with a salad at Chili’s in the airport that was 11 points. I did realize that I am much happier, fuller, feel skinnier when I eat better, I was starting to feel sluggish and I was craving broccoli and grapes. Oh well, how often do I get to hang out with my ‘little’ brother and my Dad like that.

Tonight is a WW meeting and I will be going with Wendy, who has been doing the program online. I am glad she’ll be attending the meetings – maybe we can even run to them together. I am a little nervous though – it was a really heavy eating weekend (the first real time I know that I went over my points – how much are hashbrowns in oil anyway) and I have my ‘friend’ visiting, which usually puts be at a lower weight loss on its own. At least I know that I want to continue the weight loss journey and that the feelings of missing it was a great indicator that I didn’t ‘fall off the wagon’ but that I should have prepared for the vacation a lot better. Anyway, I bought a Runner’s World Magazine in the airport and here are a few highlights that kicked me into gear:

• Finalize my training schedule for the Portland Marathon – print it out and carry it with me.
  
• Work on my i-pod playlists – use the article as reference for additional songs.
  
• Look into marathon in Las Vegas in early December.
  
• Look into the Olympic Dualathon at Black Diamond in September (40k bike and 10k run).
  

Here is to family, friends and happy memories.
I’ll get photos and more info on here once I get more than 3 hrs of sleep….

Tagged

Ok, so I haven't found time to scan the photos or upload from the camera, but here is my response to Michelle's tag.

The Rules:Tagging is easy. Just copy the following onto your post. The rules of the game are posted at the start of your blog post. In this case, I'm asking you 5 questions about running. Each player answers the 5 questions on their own blog. At the end of your post you tag 5 other people and post their names. Go to their blogs and leave a comment on their blogs telling them they've been tagged and to look at your blog for details. When they've answered the questions on their own blog, they come back to yours to tell you. Got that?

1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago? 10 years ago I was applying for Architecture School and was trying to get through my second year of college. Working out was not something that I would do. Looking back, I did a lot of walking at school in Seattle. Lots of daily exercise washing cars for a living, but very little structured exercise. The last time I ‘ran’ was getting ready for 10th grade basketball – I would run down my childhood country road bouncing the basketball, I must have drove the neighbors crazy.
2. What is your best/worst running experience? Every time I run it seems like the best running experience. I like the fact that I can talk and run, so probably when I was doing my first 16 mile training run and I need a pep-talk I called my friend Lisa and her son Brandon gave me a pep talk – he is five! I talked to a lot of people on my cell phone that day, just out for a run. Oh yeah, the day in the winter when there were little snow flurries as I was running, that was fun, I felt like a kid chasing snowflakes. Oh yeah, the first day this spring when I smelled fresh cut grass. This list could go on for days, running has just opened my eyes, ears, heart, everything.
My worst running experience was during my first marathon. The hills were tough for me – I trained for the mileage on a flat trail, just to get the mileage in, not the hill training. So when I was at the 20 mile mark, my feet were like raw hamburger and I felt alone in the canyon (I really was alone), and I had a big hill in front of me, I felt like I was crazy for even trying to do this. Then I would think about all of the people at the end waiting for me, I got up those hills even if I had to power walk them. It was a mentally and physically challenging day. The next one will be better though, I know a little of what to expect now and I can train my body and my mind for the obstacles that I know will be out there.

3. Why do you run?
Because I can, and because I saw a flier in the YMCA last February (2007) advertising a Couch to 5k running program. I told my friend Elinor, I should do that… and here I am. The Y-Run-Club took me under their wing and kept me moving, giving me advice, cheering me on and just being out there running.
Why not, I have a lot of things that I want to do, the more someone makes it a challenge the more I want to do it. Because I can run, putting my own two feet in front of each other and move myself fast down the trail, road, sidewalk – it is amazing what your body can do!
As I heard a lady in my WW meeting say, she ‘walks away her mad’. Part of me runs to get away from pressures – pressures like work, family, spouse, housework, projects… the list could go on and on. I can think about what I want to when I’m running, although at times I wish I had a recorder to nab great ideas or at least be able to sketch while running (wait, that’s what I could be doing on my walk breaks).

4. What is the best or worst piece of running advice that you've been given about running? Best advice; Body Glide, Butt paste, proper clothing, proper socks, retiring shoes after mileage (even if they still look new). The Y-Run-club has been a wealth of information. I just figured out that I can use the body glide on the arches of my feet to combat the 2” blisters that are persistent.
Worst piece of running advice…. I don’t think I have gotten bad advice, I try out a lot of different things to see what works for me.
4a. My advice to others – you are never too old, too fat, not-built-for, too clumsy, etc., to start running. Just find a good beginner program and try it – you’ll find it addictive – and hey there are many more worse things to be addicted to.

5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know. hummm, I’m sure that there a lot of things…. Let’s see, I was a pretty rebellious teenager and I got suspended from school for TP’ing my basketball coach’s house. There were eight of us maybe that got caught…. My punishment was being home from school with my dad working around the house (which really wasn’t that bad, except that I knew he was disappointed with me). I still have the newspaper article somewhere and I still feel lame buying a case of TP at Costco. Let’s see, I am really a farm girl who needs a place in the city during the week and a farm with lots of animals and tractors and fields and chores for the weekend.
I am really a open book, I try to have people around me that support what I do and what I want. Someday I would love to have my own architecture firm in the city and my own farm in the country – and adopt some kids that need a good home along with a pack of ‘pound puppies’.
Now, I’m Tagging,
Michelle, Rob, Wendy, Emily, Jenny

I'll try to get some photos in later, but today is my active day, I rode my bike to the bus (1mi.), went to work and I am heading to step aerobics tonight after work and then a 5mi bike ride home. Hopefully it will get sunny later today!

Have a great day everyone!

Tag & Thin-Dependence

I’ve been tagged by Michelle regarding running – I will work on those (something to do during my lulls at work tomorrow.)

I had a great weigh-in last night, now I’m down 13.8 pounds (in 6 weeks)! Today I had a client tell me that my eyes looked really blue because of my nice purple shirt (I found the shirt with the tags still on it in the bag with the receipt in the bottom of the closet – an obvious purchase without trying it on last fall, and that it didn’t fit – I tried it on and now it fits and looks good). This client is about my age +/- and she is becoming a really great person to talk with, I floated all of the way back to the office – she had no idea what an impact that comment made.

Today I had a great moment(s). For all of you skinny people you can skip to the bottom of the post now, you just wouldn’t understand. I squatted while looking at roofing samples on the floor and when getting into a supply cabinet at work. You know, squatting when the back of your thighs touch the back of your calves – for me it hasn’t happened in a long time, I guess I didn’t even notice until I did it today. Yes, it is weird, but it was comfortable, it did not cut off the circulation, guess it’s a sign that all that I am doing is paying off. Well it’s not the only sign, I have moved in to the 4th belt buckle hole – that happened when I was feeling like I was getting a cold on Tuesday. I kept hiking up my pants all day and finally took the belt in a notch. Brian is going to get me suspenders soon if I don’t stop shimming my pants back up to the correct spot =).

Tonight I came straight home and Darby and I started out on a long walk – the sun is finally out (it has been in the 50’s and raining here). We walked down Sunrise, stopped at starbucks for an Iced Cinnamon Dolce Latte and headed back home. I just need to be out in the sunshine… We did 2.5 miles – a good afternoon walk. I am still optimistic that all the sleeping I did earlier this week has kept the cold away, but I don’t want to push it, otherwise I would have ran at the track with the Y-run-club. The Sound to Narrows 12k is this weekend. It will be my third year. My first year I was coming off of a broken toe and a sprained knee (don’t ask – it was only a fall down three freakin’ steps onto carpet). Last year, Brian and I ran it together in the rain. This year I’m running it solo – Brian has been having some knee troubles so he is out. I am going to park and ride my bike to the start line to avoid parking aggravation (it is at a park in the middle of a residential neighborhood). So I am excited to be running through the park, zoo and old neighborhood. I have also been putting together my training plan for the Portland Marathon – I will see if I can post my goals for that.

Overall my WW has been a really great experience, next is to see if I can convince my mom to join me…. My WW ‘coach - Candy’ (yes, her name really is Candy) gave us this inspiration for the upcoming summer season;

My Declaration of Thin-dependence:
I pledge allegiance to myself
In quest of my weight goal,
And to the healthy habits for which it stands.
One body…
Under control …
Indisputably,
With confidence and new clothes for fall.

Run, macha woman, run!

i'm here, just being a busy bee

My post is in response to Wendy’s question of where have I been lately …..
Let’s say I have taken some time off from running – I am still running, I am just making sure to get a lot of living in also. Spring is my favorite time of the year, I love waking up with the sun and going to bed when it gets dark, although I may be guilty of thinking that I could weed the garden with a headlamp on. Here is a long list of the past month or so…. I’ll get back to running soon, I have Portland to start training for after all….


My list:

• Accepting the fact that I am 30 and nearly every woman I know is pregnant – I’m not even kidding, I can ramble the list of ladies for days. I should invest in Babies-R-Us.



• My Surprise birthday party with my entire family at the local pizza place (just wished someone told me to wear a nice sweatshirt…)





• Mini-vacation to Cannon Beach; spa tub, warm weather, long hike, lots of walking/sightseeing, missing our puppy at home.



• My friend Elinor called us in Cannon Beach to tell us she is pregnant! She and her husband have been so patient, they are going to love this child so much. I am so excited to hear about all of the new steps in her journey. I saw photos of the baby’s leg yesterday!



• Ran the Tacoma Half Marathon with Wendy. I went slow with her (or so she thought, I was really trying to keep up) and she got me to finish the last couple of miles. We got lots of talking in and it was great to have someone to pass the time with. I still need to check to see if it was my best time or not.



• I planted my first vegetable garden. I have waited so many years to do this, now that I have most of the ‘flower’ beds planted, I wanted to have my own vegetables (the seeds are even poking out of the ground). I’m sure I’ll have enough vegetables to pass around, I went a little crazy with the lettuce seeds.



• Brian and I babysat my niece (1-1/2years) and nephew (2-1/2 years) for my sister’s birthday gift. She has baby #3 on the way this fall, so I thought I would make a grand gesture. Brian and I had fun, but were beat after we dropped them off – guess that answers that question.

• My dad and I finalized our trip to Anchorage to visit my brother over a long weekend at the end of June and see the Elmendorf Air Force Base Air Show. We haven’t seen him since he moved to Anchorage in March. We also get to see his shiny new car (that gets 4 times better gas mileage than the truck he had).



• Brian and I took the lawn back – over the long weekend we thatched, aerated and over-seeded, and the next day we put down 2 yards of bark! That got a good workout in.

• Brian and I also babysat my parents Alpaca Farm (they look like llamas, they are decedents of the camel, she raises them for their wool, which has all of the qualities of regular wool only it is really soft) while they went to a convention in Utah. Those animals can win your heart; I don’t think I can have one in my backyard though…. If anyone wants any fertilizer they produce a wheelbarrow full a day (did I mention that we had to scoop poop as one of our babysitting duties).











• Oh yeah, I joined a local weight watchers group after reading Michelle’s amazing journey. Since April 30th I have lost 10 pounds!!!! My goal is to be a lean mean, running machine in Portland in October.
  

So that is the long answer to where I’ve been lately…. I hope to get some running in with the Y-club, even if I am the slow guy out there. They are running Chambers Bay Golf Course on Sunday – that might be my run to start up again. It also means a trip to Trader Joes afterward!
Hope to see you all on the trail soon.

Portland here I come...

I did it - I signed up for the Portland Marathon today! I have been really thinking the past few weeks and I really need to finish another marathon that I am proud of - so I signed up for the Portland Marathon on October 5th. This gives me six months of training time, a fall run and some time to really get geared up and possibly drag one of my friends along. The Y-run group has said great things about Portland, and it was my father-in-laws first marathon, so something inside of me says to go for it. I'll start working on my training plan - yeah, I have a new project!

Oh yeah, they are i-pod friendly in Portland, I'll work on my playlists too!

Tonight is a run from the Y, around Bradely Lake (the baby bear has been relocated), a stop at the photo store to pick-up my photos and back to the Y to see what other trouble I can get into.

Today is the start of my second marathon training!

marathon report and memoir

Well, today is the day, I turn 30 at 12:12 pm (right mom?). I have been trying to write an entry about the Yakima Marathon and I feel like it will be inadequate, almost like I let myself and my cheering squad down. I started in Ellensburg and moved my 200lb frame to Yakima with my own two feet – so I did finish, just not like I had imagined.

Here is the story; I started out great, a little overdressed, but it was in the 30’s and windy in Ellensburg. I started with the Y-run group, Eric, Steve, Marco and Abi moved to the front of the back and at the back of the pack was Michelle B, Michelle S and Sydnee (it was her first marathon also, but being young and in shape I knew she would be fine). I guess I started my Garmin in the wrong program – my running .5mi, walking 1min. was off – not a good way to start. I fixed it at the first walk break and got my head into the run. All of the fast runners quickly moved ahead and this was hard, I could see everyone in front of me, moving further away, which was a very deflating feeling. I turned on the music at mile one and settled in for the day, the ‘back of the pack’ group moved ahead and I was glad to see them moving. After entering the canyon around mile 7 my left hamstring was starting to tighten a little, and I could feel what I thought might be a blister forming on my right arch. The canyon road was very twisty and turning (and beautiful), but I think it was taking a toll early on (I did all of my training on a ‘flat’ asphalt trail, this road was banked – like the kind that a fast convertible would love to drive). I was always encouraged when I got to an aid station – I did find that I somehow did not get all of my snacks from my drop bag into my backpack (guess that was part of my morning jitters) – so I started rationing snacks by mile 7. I was looking forward to the mid-point so that I could change my socks and get some more Aleve in me. Being out there for 6 hours is a long time, I was thinking a lot as I did my run/walk intervals – how great it would be to sit in a drift boat with my husband and our dog and do a full day of fishing – how it would be much quicker to ride a bike through this canyon - how I should start more lavender in the back yard to make soap – how crazy I was for trying to run for 26 miles – you know the usual stuff you think about when you are alone in a canyon running for 6+ hours. I made it to mile 13.5 or so and changed my socks, sat down for a minute and hit the wall (I thought about the people who were probably finishing right now – big mistake) – but, I made it to the half-way point in 3hrs- my goal. I checked out my massive blister, put my fresh socks on and kept moving. I took more walk breaks than scheduled through the second half, longer stops at the water stops, and more thinking about how crazy I was for thinking I could do this. Along the route I was able to talk to my friend Elinor on speaker phone and she gave me a surge of energy, she and her husband were going to come over to see me finish. I also talked to my husband and he got me moving again.

I ran into some hills in the last half (why didn’t I train on more hills?) and I ran out of energy and rice crispy treats. I started walking fast and drinking lots of water. This lovely lady and I kept leapfrogging each other, she would keep me moving if I was walking a lot. She must have been in her 60’s and she was speed walking the course – which doesn’t help my mojo when the walker and I are keeping pace, but were both out here doing it right! She used to live in Yakima and always wanted to walk this canyon, now that she lives in Issaquah she thought now would be a great time to do it. Anyway, she was about the only constant person I saw in the lonely canyon. I was really dragging and got emotional about mile 21 when I knew I would finish. I reached the top of the ‘hill’ above the dam and said to myself, get moving people don’t want to wait for you all day at the finish. So I picked myself up and got some more running in before the finish on the downhill portions.

I rounded the bend with about .3 miles to go and sitting on the side of the road were the ‘back of the pack’ runners that I started out with. Thankfully I had my sunglasses on and could shed a few tears without everyone seeing them. I ran into the finish area with Michelle and she peeled off as I ran through the finish. I heard the loudspeaker announcing me coming through and I had to correct him that it was my first marathon. After I crossed the line I was in a daze. My hands were swollen twice their normal size, I couldn’t get my shoes off fast enough (I couldn’t even bend down to reach them) and there were so many people there that I knew out of the few people that were left. Michelle handed me an S-cap to get my salt back (and yes I swallowed the most enormous pill ever), Steve was getting me pretzels, Eric handed me part of a banana. My husband gave me a hug, his parents made it over with their dog, some flowers and a sunshine garden art to remember my day. My friend Elinor and her husband drove their shinny new car over and I saw the nice lady that I was leapfrogging and we hugging in congratulations. I was tired, sore, hot, sweaty, overwhelmed and amazed at myself. I just ran from Ellensburg to Yakima – that is even a long drive in the car!

I showered at the local school and Elinor, Jack, Brian and I headed up to Ellensburg for some great burgers and fries at ‘the Tav’ a college bar/pub that had huge burgers and fries – I was really, really hungry.

Overall I was sore, tight and tired for the next few days, stairs were the hardest. But overall I did it, I had a medal, I finished my first marathon!

In writing this I have come to realize that I did do it, even if I had to slow down, I moved myself, with my own two feet from 8am to 2:30pm from Ellensburg to Yakima over 26.2 miles of beautiful canyon country. It was not my best run, but that leaves plenty of room for improvement. It leaves me with the do’s and don’ts for next time. It leaves me with the idea of ‘when will the next one be’. It leaves me with the sense of accomplishing the goal of completing a marathon in the body that I have, not the body that I want to have. It leaves me with the love and support of all of my friends and family, without them I would not have made it through that Canyon (or through all of my training runs)!

Now on to the fun stuff; Michelle tagged me
Here are the rules:

1) Write your own six word memoir

2) Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want

3) Link to the person that tagged you in your post, and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere

4) Tag at least five more blogs with links

5) Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

Here are some words that I wanted to use;
Live, laugh, goals, best, planner, projects, imagination, athlete, adventurer, explorer, color, growth, emergence, learner, teacher, smile, friend, family, wife, builder, baker.

Here is my six word memoir:
“Determined to succeed at my goals”
Here is to running slow and steady and smiling at the finish line!
P.S. I don’t know when the next marathon will be, guess I better get to planning!

I DID IT - I FINISHED MY 1st MARATHON!!!

I will expand on the details later, but I finished my first marathon on Saturday and I am still walking - well limping. More of a report and photos to come, but I wanted to thank everyone for coming over to support me at the finish and for all of the training runs I drug everyone through.

I have some reflecting to do, some do's and don'ts for next time - yes there will be another Marathon - I'm not sure where or when, but I have to try and beat my PR - what an adicting sport!

A special thank you to my husband who has been so patient through my hours of training. I'm looking forward to spending some time in the garden and going on a quick trip to the ocean without a run as the focus.

My next 'race' is the Tacoma City Half Marathon in about a month, so it will be a light month of training - this time I will get some hills in before hand!

Thanks again to everyone who has supported me!

Go MACHA!!!