Summertime Woes + Husky Running Club

Whew! Long hiatus from blogging. School has ended, and with it, my motivation to run long distances. Fortunately, summer is a great time to fit in speed work, strength training, and short 5k races. Our next ones are the Firecracker 5k and the Torchlight 5k/8k. In the distance, we have the Super Jock n Jill Half Marathon.

Also, for our readers involved with the UW community, there is a new message board for runners with a UW ID. Check it out here: https://catalysttools.washington.edu/gopost/board/phylly/11762/

Ok, time to go to bed. It's 2am and way past my bedtime. The problem with running at night is that you have too much energy to fall asleep!

--Phylly

I Love the Smell of a Marathon in the Morning!

As I awoke from my deep sleep, realizing I was squished between two other people in a tent, it hit me. Today I was running my second marathon. The Capital City Marathon in Olympia, WA. I got out of my bag, watching everyone else begin to awake, and meandered inside Prof Kennedy's house (we were camping in his backyard) to use the bathroom and prepare for what was to come. I pulled on my race clothes, ate my half banana and half bagel, helped take down our "circus tent" and off we went to the start line. As we pulled up to the downtown park start line, Camper says "I don't think we'll be able to find parking" to which Phylly almost agrees to, then realizes there is tons of parking out and that camper was being facetious. It was way too early in the morning for sarcasm.

As I thought to myself about my race plan, it dawned on me that if it wasn't to chilly at 7 am, it was going to be freaking hot by 10:30 or 11. Sunglasses were a must in my mind. At the start line we mentioned our goal paces, Camper's being to break the 4 hr barrier, and mine and Phylly's around 9:30 min/mi, to beat the Seattle marathon's time.

When the gun went off, we were off! Camper went up ahead, Phylly and I holding back not to get to carried away. But then, coming around a small inlet ofter 2 miles, I was feeling great. Not the sort of great that I would push to hard and then die later, but the sort of great like I could blow the doors off my pr. I began to push my pace a bit and was running next to another woman. She introduced herself as Connie, and I asked her what her goal pace was. She said this was her 17th marathon (she should be a marathon maniac!) and her goal was around 4 hrs, but that she runs for herself and for fun. I decide in my head that this pace is good, a bit faster than I had anticipated, but what the heck? Why not push myself and see what happens? I knew I wouldn't be doing a fall marathon since I'd be in Rome, so if I didn't pick a summer one, this was going to potentially be my last marathon for a year. We cruised for the next 18 miles at a solid 8:55-9:15 pace (our garmy's told us so). For a few miles inthe middle, where there were some short rolling hills (and glorious downhill) I could see Camper 300m ahead of me cruising along, and I thought of Phylly behind me, whom I had intended to run with. I hoped everyone was feeling well!

The heat started around mile 17, as we emerged from the countryside to head back into the city. Although there weren't many spectators (some people were upset, but I didn't mind since we'd bee doing trail runs with no spectators really) the ones who were on the course, Connie and I really appreciated. We took turns saying thanks to them, and a few who we saw multiple times learned our names and cheered us on! As we headed into the last 3 miles, I could feel how much I wanted to be done with the race. It was hot out, and the map had promised downhill, but really, there were some rollers. Luckily, people brought out their hoses and sprinklers for us tired and hot runners to cool ourselves off in. Also, with water stops every 2 miles, it was easy to cool off by dumping the rest of my water cup over my head. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the downhill came and I cruised into the finish, overjoyed to have completed another marathon. I came in at a 4:04 (about 20mins better than Seattle, to get 4th in our age) Connie hugged me and we parted ways to find food and water. I found Camper who had indeed broken the 4 hr with a 3:54 (3rd place in our age division!) and we waited for Phylly to come in at 4:19. All of us pr'd that day! Laury and Caryn were running the half and they got 1st and 4th in their age division too! It was a great day for all of us.

As we headed home, tired with tight muscles, I couldn't help but wish I had pushed harder in the last 3 miles, because then I might have broken the 4 hr marker. As I fell asleep that night, all i could think about was my next plot to run. I want to pr again, and as Connie said during our race, after the 2nd one, you're hooked. Even though I told myself I'd be switching to shorter distances, and work on my half marathon time, I find myself craving another marathon, despite the pain in my IT bands, and a few blisters on my feet, the first 23 miles were no problem. Maybe if I do a 24 miler as training the first 25 wont be bad since this time we did a 22 miler, and the first 23 weren't so bad. Am I crazy? I don't think so, but beating my time running was a way better high then when I was rowing and would beat my 2K time. Nothing compares so far to the joy and empowerment of finishing a full marathon, and I can't wait for more.

Happy running!!!

Soph

Have 10 minutes? Watch these videos.

1. A hilarious set of short video-ads by Brooks: http://www.runningsuperfans.com/#/videos

(I wish the Super Running Fans were in my life....)

2. A short animation from Nike on the wonders of running: http://www.onwards.tv/

Thanks to Sam and Teresa for passing these on to me!

--Phylly

A Relay Well Done

As my blaring alarm awoke me from my peaceful sleep at 4:40 Sunday morning, all I could think was, why do races start so early? As a sprung out of bed (yes a spring was required to get up in the darkeness) and began to make breakfast and wake up, I began getting excited for the day ahead. Finally, it was here again. The Mt. Si Relay.

Last year, our Husky Running Club women's relay team won our age division, and this year we were returning to defend our title. Last year we won with an average split around 8:45 min/mi, and our fast team this year wasn't to concerned about being able to set a new record.

The sun began rising as we drove out to North Bend, WA. The nerves in me were beginning to build. I was running the first leg (and the 6th), and needed to start the team off right. By the time we got to the race start, it was light out and was the perfect temperature in the PNW: just warm enough for shorts, but not to cool to need gloves.

When the gun went off, the mass of runners and I left the high school to begin our epic (7 hour!!) journey on the trails in Snoqualamie.

I set in behind to guys and fell into the perfect rythm, enjoying the forest scenery around me. I knew I was near the front of the pack, but since its a small race, the group was pretty spread out. One of the guys was playing obnoxious music so loud in his headphones that I could here it from at least 7 feet away. The other, slightly older, had the same watch as me (Garmin 305) and as I was running, I really appreciated him turning off his beep-beep-beep-beep at ever mile, seeing as we were doing 8 miles together.

The transition came swifty, as I passed off to Caryn, and I took note of race numbers whose members started their second leg. The race for First had begun.

We looked up who was leading our category, the Running Divas, and dubbed them the green team. Also, Moms in Motion (in light pink) was leading the women's relays.

We couldn't have asked for a better race. After pasing the Running Divas around leg 5, we looked to Moms in Motion as our next target, making each of our second legs stronger than the first. Laury was the lucky runner to pass the Pink team on the 8th leg. As we looked towards the finish, we were excited to be leading the pack.

After the last transistion, we meandered over to the finish area to wait for Shannon to come into the shute, and snack on a few delicious bagels from Panera Bakery, after all, I had been telling everyone on the team about how delicious they were since the start of the race. As we stood there talking and enjoying hte sunshine, Moms in Motion appraoched us and said "Did all 5 of your runners run the right legs? We're curious how you guys ran so fast in the second half and passed us." We looked at them funny and replied that we had in fact ran our race fair in square.They continued to ask us about each of our split times, repeated that it was weird/curious/interesting that we all ran our second legs faster than the first. After the Moms walked away, having essentially accused us of cheating, someone mentioned that maybe we ran faster becuase we ere each about 20 years younger than them, so we could recover better in the 4 hours between our legs then they could.

Soon after, Shannon came into the finish, after I began the race, 7 hours and 2 minutes before then. As we recived our custom made first place tiles, we marveled in the fact that not only did we win our age category, but we also were the first women's team to finish. period.

I think the Moms wanted the honor of saying they were the first to finish, and were in fact faster than everyone not only older than them, but younger as well. Alas, our fast collegiate legs were able to out run them.

Happy Trails!

Soph

impromptu

Today I told myself I wouldn’t go for a run. But then the sun came out. My homework was arduous. I put on my 2140’s anyway and ran out the door. I headed out on the Burke Gilman toward Fremont, enjoying a leisurely pace and the ample people-watching opportunities. As I was crossing the Fremont bridge, about to make my loop around Lake Union, a mid-30’s man said to me, “I guess I just should have followed you! You know where you are going!” He had passed me earlier, then I had passed him, and he was re-passing me…presumably because he didn’t know where he was going. I directed him down to the path, but we had fallen in stride despite the fact that his pace was quite a bit faster than mine. We started talking about running, and upcoming races, and our favorite routes in Seattle. I mentioned the Mt. Si relay (which is tomorrow!), and he is training for the Eugene half-marathon. I found out that he’s an attorney in Belltown, so I asked him, “How did you figure out that you wanted to be an attorney?” He replied with, “I didn’t.” He explained that he had no clue what he wanted to do with life post-graduation, so he took the LSAT on a whim, since many of his friends were taking it. ‘Phew’, I thought, ‘even if I don’t know what I want to do with my life now, something will work out!’ Toward the end of the conversation, he thanked me for the chat. He said, "I usually get bored about 30 minutes into a run and want to be sipping coffee and reading the paper instead." He turned off around Valley St., and I continued along the Lake Union loop, returning to my original pace.
I smiled broadly as I ate my chocolate GU. People can be so nice! Or maybe, runners can be so nice…? He was just a random guy out for a run, and I was just another random runner to chat with. It was pleasant surprise.

-Camper

Sun Mountain 1/10/25/50k - Winthrop, WA

I was awakened Saturday morning by the sound of light snoring and a beam of sunlight in my face. I lay there groggily, wondering why the hell my ass was so cold, and it hit me: I'm camping with 7 other people in a stranger's backyard in the middle of Methow Valley. Allow me to explain:

About two months ago, we (the TechnoRunner crowd) ran the Orcas Island Fat Ass 25k/50k directed by James Varner. This race could not have been more beautiful or fun; sunny skies, a varied and heavily forested trail, and an amazing post-race bash with food, beer, and live music. Needless to say, I jumped on the opportunity to register for Varner's newest race in Wintrhop, WA--the Sun Mountain 1k/10/25k/50k--when I heard about it, knowing that it would not dissappoint. By the time I registered for the 25k, a few of our other trail running friends had also registered, and it was only a matter of time before the whole crew signed up together. In the end, we had 7 runners registered for the 25k and 1 for the 50k.

True to college-student fashion, we managed to completely procrastinate on finding accommodations in Winthop until the week before, leaving us scrounging for a place to stay in Wenatchee, a 2 hour drive from the start line. We finally opted to camp 20 minutes away from Winthrop instead and avoid the drive from Wenatchee on Saturday. Lucky for us, our last minute decision to camp somewhere in Winthrop worked out, as Varner himself heard of our predicament and offered us a space in his yard to pitch a tent (or three!)...thanks!!! The night was a drafty one, to say the least, but race-day morning arrived with sunshine and clear skies. After fueling up on bagels, peanut butter, pop tarts, and nutella, we piled into our cars and headed over to the start.

The 25k and 50k were slated to start at 8am, right after the 1k kids' dash (we suspect that the winner of that race had been doping....ha ha....), and we stood in the starting queue awaiting our directions. Few of us knew what route we'd be running; last minute changes had been made due to the residual snow on the mountain. We were told that we'd be running a figure-8 course, with 50k-ers running it 3x, and 25k-ers doing 1.5x. As the race began and the runners plowed onto the narrow trails, I sent a silent thanks to the trail volunteers who cleared the first parts of the trail for us, as there were portions of the ice/snow-compact that were at least 6 inches thick.

The terrain and landscape of the course was beautiful, with a lot of low shrubs and a desert-y feel. Many of the trails were horse trails, and there were some barbed wire fences and dusty horse corrals along the way. Overall, the hills on the course were not incredibly difficult --mostly short hills--barring one behemoth around mile 6. This course ended up feeling much more painful to me than Orcas, despite the faster time. I blame my choice of shoes (Asics GT 2120 trail), which were too small and caused my toes to cramp up. The others did much better, with Camper getting a second wind about 3 miles from the finish and rocking her way to the end.

All of us runners were pretty much tired out after the race (accolades and accomplishments among our number include a 1st and 6th 25k finish, 5 25k PRs, and 1 "take-it easy" (his words, not mine) 50k at 4:48:30), so we loafed about and munched on pizza and gummy candies for the rest of the day. The 5 hour drive back to Seattle was cramped, but entertaining. There is nothing quite as fun as skippin' town to go trail running with your friends...now I just want to know, when's our next one?!?


Keep hittin' the trails,
Phylly

Take that ferritin levels!

Although this doesn’t directly pertain to running, it does pertain to females, who happen to abstain from consuming meat…and also like to run very long distances in their spare time. As a strict vegetarian of about a year, I recently discovered that my iron levels are lower than normal. It has been worrisome to say the least, and certain runs do seem excessively difficult. But today I ventured into the world of buffalo. I don’t mean that I wandered out into the prairie to kick it with the herd. I ATE buffalo. Not only did I feel a little badass, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that 1) I don’t get sick from consuming red meat all of a sudden and 2) My iron levels will be revived and I will feel fast and strong! According to the woman at Whole Foods today, buffalo is incredibly lean with very little cholesterol. They feed primary on grass as well!

More on running: yesterday I went on a 12.5 mile run. Alone. It felt soooooo long! It was unbelievable how different of an experience it was from the usual chatting and, “deedle-eedle-deet” of the Garmin. I was running the U-district-Golden Garden-Ballard-and-back loop, and by the time I reached Golden Gardens, I thought for sure I had been running for ages. I glanced down at my watch. ‘44:21’ glared back up at me. Oh. My. Gosh. I didn’t realize how quickly time passed when I was gabbing incessantly (haha). I finished my run much faster than normal, mostly because I was incredibly bored. Thank goodness for running buddies! -

Happy running,

Camper

The Taste of Spring

This spring break, I headed home to the Bay Area in California for some fun in the sun, before heading off to cold Michigan for my Grandma's birthday. The first day I got home, I planned to go with my uncle, but not run, since I'd been running a lot the whole week before. But, when we got to gym, I felt that itch, the trail was calling! I headed out for a run in the sun!

All the runners we saw on the way to gym had on longsleeves and shorts, it was a bit windy out, but at 68 degrees, I knew I'd be fine in my shorts and tank top. I put on my ipod, which was weird since I'm used to running with friends, or without music, and headed out of the parking lot. The first thing I noticed was the severe lack of trees along the road. Since California is more dry then Seattle, I expected this, but the sun was really beating down on me, making me so glad I left the long sleeve at home. As I headed up the one "hill" on my route, I realized how lucky I am to run in such a great beautiful green city (Seattle of course) with so many trails near by, rather than the desert like climate of my home (but it is alwasy nice to come home from Seattle in winter and be able to run in the sun).

Despite the lack of trees, the sun on my back felt fantastic and I cannot wait until it gets nice enough in Seattle to run in shorts and a tee shirt along the water and admire the view.

I hope its not freezing in MI, where I'm headed next to run, undoubabtly wishing I was still in the California sun!

~Soph

Ah yes, the third voice of the trio chiming in.

Today was a glorious day in the city of Seattle. After spending an entire day sitting inside and fitting people with running shoes, I was itching to get out into the setting sun and 50 degree fresh air of the evening to partake in a jaunt of my own. Despite mild sickness and lack of sleep (thank you, final exams), I laced up my running shoes anyway. I mean, it’s spring break! Why not?! So off I went down Ravenna blvd to make a loop around the outer perimeter of Greenlake. While tromping around the lake, it’s almost inevitable that I will see a few of the other runners twice during the circuit. As the type of runner that makes eye contact and smiles…shoot, the type of person that makes eye contact and smiles, it’s a secret goal of mine to smile at everyone who I cross paths with on a run. When I see a runner for the second time around the Greenlake loop, I hope that they return the favor and crack a smile. Some of them beam the first time, which makes life easy. I feel like that is the spirit of trail running. Be friendly, get people laughing and smiling, enjoy the fresh air, and run.

Happy running!,

Camper

How this all started.....

Although I've only been running for a little more than a year (I was a rower before then), I've quickly been sucked into the world of long distance and trail running. Today while sitting with one of my roommates I told her how excited i was that we started this blog. She looked at me and said "Oh Sophia, you've crossed the threshold to a runner." I was thinking about this today and looking back on the past year, all three have us have come a long way.

We all met at Husky Running Club last winter quarter. After running for a few weeks together, Allison and I were talking about how her New Year's Resolution was to run a marathon. We both though nothing of this for a bit, and in March she threw out the idea of the Seattle Marathon in November. Me being new to running and all hesitated, but the ambition and adventure inside me told me to go for it. A week later we signed up and Phylly joined us on our wild ride of training. They both had run before in college/high school, but me being the newbie, I had no idea what to except. We built up slowly, and before we knew it we were saying things like "We only ran 10 miles today, I really wanted to do more."

My parents were surprised with my running, but quickly grew accustomed to hearing about 2+ hour runs as though they were apart of my everyday existence. When school started, the marathon drew closer. Phylly didn'register for the Seattle Marathon, so she signed up for the Seattle Ghost (read: Marathon Maniac's way of getting back to back marathons) and as our race dates grew nearer, we become more excited and nervous to race. It was going to be the longest any of us had run. When the dates rolled around, Allison and I ventured out to watch and cheer for Phylly on the monotonous and repetive Ghost coarse consisting of laps from Seward Park to Madrona Park (boring I know), which was the day before the Seattle. The next mornign we found ourselves embarking on our journey to finish the race. All in all it was awesome, and the next few days we were all sore to say the least.

A few weeks later, I couldn't help but think, what's next. So that's what we're doing now. Going for the next big thing. We've kept the running up after some marathon recovery time, and ventured out to Orcas Island for the Fat Ass 25k in Moran State park (It was a "whale of a run" but SO much fun and SO beautiful). Since then, school picked up, finals came this week, but after all was said and done, we ventured out to good old Issy (we'd go more if the bus ride wasn't so long....) and ran through misted mossy green forests (aka awesomeness), where the idea arose to start a blog. The idea bloomed from there and so here we find ourselves now.
I hope you enjoy reading about our runs and training!

Happy Trails!
Soph