Week 12 - Day 35 - 07.31.10 - Saturday (15 Miles)

First of all I have to proclaim to the world….I RAN 15 MILES!!!!

I woke up this morning with some fear and in trepidation for some strange reason. The weather itself was also ominous with all the clouds and colder temps but later in my run I was thankful the sun was at bay.

Before our ran, I was given a chance to talk about my upcoming Karaoke and Potluck fundraiser for TNT set for 9/18/2010. There were some smiles in the crowd so it sounds like some possible interest.

Then it was the run. I pretty much stayed with my pace buddy Andrea the first leg of the miles which was about 7 miles. When we left for the second leg, I kept my pace to my marathon pace of between 10-11 minutes and glad I did. I felt great…amazingly! I also didn’t hurt anywhere and just kept trucking along. Prior to the run they advised we would be running past Costco where Diane would be manning the aid station. I literally thought we would be running past the Hillsboro Costco, which is a ways away, not the Jenkins Costco near Nike. Let me tell you that Costco and Diane were a sight for sore eyes when I immediately realized it was THAT Coscto instead. Here is a photo of my TNT buddies stopping at that Coscto aid station thanks to our team photog Diane:

I made my way back on Jenkins and took my right on 185th where I was met with mentor Tyler. It was awesome to feel good physically and to hold a conversation with Mentor Tyler. We then took our final right on Cornell to head back to the starting point at Sunset High School to be met with a cheering TNT crowd. Coach Darrell was the first to greet me on the sidewalk and asked how I was feeling. I shared that I felt great because I listened to his advice of staying with my race pace and could probably run another two miles, although I wasn’t going to, however I wanted to share how strong I was feeling at the end of my run.

Can’t wait to see how running 16 miles will be this coming Saturday. My body amazes me every week and today was no exception :D

Week 12 - Day 34 - 07.29.10 - Thursday (4.72 Miles with hills)

What a great morning for a run, overcast and a little cold but perfect once I started running. I felt a little tired because of the Yasso 800’s that we did last night during track but lo and behold my time from the now familiar Duniway Park sign to the Chart House sign on the top of Terwilliger Blvd. was better today than on Monday. I reached the Chart House sign at 26:45 versus Monday’s time of 27:44, almost a minute faster. I decided to drink some water next to the restaurant and even take a picture of their impressive totem pole.

My enthusiasm was topped even more when I reached the bottom of the hill at the Duniway Park sign and saw that my total roundtrip run this morning was 49:03 versus Monday’s 51:03. I even ran down the hill faster by 1 minute giving me an overall faster time of exactly 2 minutes.

Hills be damned, let’s see what next Monday, 8/2/10 holds…

Track Day - 07.28.10 - Wednesday (3.5 miles)

Coach Darrell introduced to me and the 20 other TNT runners the Yasso 800's and the theory behind them. The Yasso 800’s theory is this…if your marathon goal is 5 hours, you run a 800 in 5 minutes, then take a 5 minute recovery. Build yourself up to where you can do this 10 times. If you combine this with your long runs on the weekend the theory is that you will be able to make your goal.

We started last night with the half marathoners running 4 and the full marathoners running 6. Coach advised we are going to build up and attempt to get up to 10 for the full marathon respectively. Both my pace buddy Andrea and I were happy with ourselves. On average, our pace after 800 meters were in the 4:34 range and we were able to finish our 6th Yasso 800 pretty strongly.

Another good track night had by all!

Week 12 - Day 33 - 07.26.10 - Monday (4.72 Miles with hills)

It has been a crazy and fun weekend and now back to basics.. 

My rock band Detention Room rocked the Mad Greek Deli on Saturday so I was psyched to get up this morning and rock those hills!








I also loved that fact that when I ran from my usual starting point at the Duniway Park Sign to the Chart House Restaurant sign that I did so almost 2 minutes faster than last Tuesday, 7/20/2010.  My time Tuesday was 29:41 and today I reached the same sign at 27:44.  I am excited to see what this Thursday, 7/29/2010 time will be...awww the ant...i...ci....pation.

Total roundtrip from Duniway Sign to Chart House Restaurant sign back down hill to Duniway Sign was 0:51:03.

Week 11 - Day 32 - 07.24.10 - Saturday (14 Miles)

Sat

I am soo glad I decided to call Coach Heidi and Coach Darrell when I arrived at OMSI this morning.  I was there early at 6:30AM and there was no sign of TNT activity.  I mean at least someone is usually there to start setting up a table.

After I got a hold of Coach Darrell, he advised me the meeting spot was actually a couple blocks up from OMSI.

Made it just in time and ready for our 14 mile run today.

I am not going to lie, this one was the hardest one yet.  I stayed consistent with my race pace of 10 minutes or so and only stopped at every other aid station.

The hardest part was when we finished our 11 some miles and ended back at our stopping point under the bridge.  We had to do our 3 some more miles and luckily for me I was able to do it with our fabulous mentor Kat and TNT newbies like me Karissa and Candice.

There were times all three of us wanted to give up but thank goodness Mama Kat was watching her TNT ducklings.  There was one moment we realized after reflection later that we moaned when we saw Kat take a left instead of a right towards the end of our run.  After much exhaustion we all three did it.  Check out our pics of us coming in one at a time and the excitement to see that end!

We were able to celebrate our newest accomplishment at our TNT teammates fundraiser at the Green Dragon.  Don't we look fabulous?

Week 11 - Day 31 - 07.22.10 - Thursday (13.01 Miles)

I decided to do my run on the Springwater Corridor to get ready for the Saturday TNT run on that same course.  The bad part was I overslept this morning so wasn't able to do so in the cool of the morning.

I realized after the first 30 minutes why I do this running thing in the wee hours of the morning.  Less traffic/people and cooler weather.

Yikes, I finally did my 13 miles but had to dodge cyclists, cars, dogs, runners, etc and the smell of teriyaki wafting across from the Willamette at the Brewers Festival.  My body was tired and then had to get myself to band practice to get ready for our big band gig this Saturday.  Phew...

Track Day - 07.21.10 - Wednesday

Thank goodness I decided to check Facebook this morning because the location of our track day changed from the usual location at Sunset High school, instead to Foothills Park in Beaverton.  I had no idea that this place existed and will have to bring my husband back for a nice picnic.

We did a run around the lake in the park and then 10 hill repeats. It was hard but good because it will help me with my hills in San Francisco.  May have to come back here on my own during the week to just do hill repeats...hmm.....

Week 11 - Day 30 - 07.19.10 - Monday (6.36 Miles with hills)

This early Monday morning marks my 6th time doing this hilly course that starts at Duniway Park through Terwilliger Blvd and onto Barbur Blvd.

It must have been Abigail Scott Duniway herself that caused me to stop my run because my hair came out of the this half assed bun that I tried to quickly do for my run.  I stopped and set my cell phone on this rock and after putting my hair in a tight ponytail realized what the rock was that I was looking it.

It explained to me who was the individual who the park and the lilac garden was named after. I just assumed it would be another gentleman from othe 1800s and was surprised to find out it was indeed a woman by the name of Abigail Scott Duniway.  After reading her short bio I realized our paths were meant to cross.  Although my life story isn't as heroic and groundbreaking in the history sense, we had two things in common.....we were both women and both passionate about our mission.  Mine just happens to be learning to run a marathon at the age of 38.  After quickly reading this bio, I started my run with a renewed sense of confidence and respect for this amazing woman which happen to be the beginning and end of my run.  Thank you Abigail Scott Duniway!

I wanted to do my 14 miles today but knew it was not possible with a pending conference call from Corporate at 9AM so I did just a run at 1 hour, 11 minutes and 39 seconds.  I ran 6.36 with a pace of 11:16 which isn't bad with the incline of these hills. 

I also took note of what my time was from the bottom of the hill at the Duniway Park sign to the Chart House Restaurant sign which was 29:41.  I will take note of that distance for my future Terwilliger Blvd runs  to see if my time improves.  I have noted that my time from that same starting point to a street by the name of Chestnut improved from my last Thursdays run of 44 minutes to today's 39:51, so yeah me!

I tried something new today and decided to run back to downtown by way of Barbur.  Good news is that it is mostly downhill, the bad news is there is no sidewalks so a majority is running beside very fast and dangerous traffic. 

Note to self: Stick to running back up and down Terwilliger Blvd. for the future!

Week 10 - Day 29 - 07.17.10 - Saturday (10.3 Miles with hills)

I would say the theme for today's TNT group run was..."Pay It Forward."

I knew it was going to be a good day when I found a parking lot just kiddie corner to our meeting point and only had to pay $5 cash for an all day spot.  This was perfect especially since our run was two hours long and then the potluck and social aspect afterwards.  With my luck, I would forget to run back to feed the meter and find a lovely bright yellow parking ticket for me.

I was the second one there from our Westside running team and was met with a friendly grin from our half marathon coach Wendy.  We both agreed that it was such a chilly morning and hoped that sunshine would make it's appearance later during our run.  Eventually the rest of our team showed one by one, some with their potluck item in hand.  I decided to bring the easy "buy it at Winco" veggie tray and spinach dip tray.

To my surprise, our Eastside and Westside coaches announced our runs were hills and they were going to be at...yup you guessed it...at my weekly course on the Terwilliger Blvd.  I was so happy and thankful that Andrea showed me this course a couple weeks ago so I know I could do it.  I was starting to feel for my newbie teammates who did not know what was in store for them this AM.  The main purpose of today's run was to see how far we can run within 2 hours for the full marathoners and 1 hour for the half marathoners.  Now mind you, it wasn't the usual 2 hour run because we had these challenging hills to boot!  I felt good and even passed some folks up the hill that I never thought I would have passed.  I also met some new runners from the Eastside that were awed by my CardioTrainer device and kept asking me where to find it and by the way what the distance or time was since they were hovering around me during our runs. I really wanted to bring 12 miles today but it wasn't in the cards, and that's OK. 

I ran in strong and proud and was honored to see all the different bios of why we were doing this in the first place and the people who's lives we were touching one way or another with our training and of course fundraising.  Pay it forward indeed....

For some reason, this poster hit a chord with me and I was enamored on how beautiful this woman was and how young and vibrant she looked even fighting this deadly disease. Hills be damned, they were nothing with what this fine lady was going through.

We then ended our run with a fabulous potluck and I gorged myself with fruits, veggies, and lots and lots of chocolate milk.  We were treated with a hilarious fellow that was only introduced as the "Chemo Rapper" and boy did he ever.

Remember I told you the theme was "Pay It Forward"?  As I was leaving this joyous TNT event, I returned to my car to find the deserted parking lot filled to the brim.  I noticed a family in a van eyeing my coveted spot next to the entrance and they waited patiently until I backed out of the spot.  Before I drove off, I stopped my car and asked the father if he would like my parking pass since it seemed a shame to not share it since I was leaving.  He was both delighted and grateful for the gesture. I can only hope he too shared this and paid it forward to the next person too.

Week 10 - Day 28 - 07.15.10 - Thursday (7.07 Miles with hills)

I was able to leave my house early and start my run 15 minutes earlier than Monday's workout at 5:45AM. I needed all the time I can get since I wanted to get back to our office in time to greet our Bellevue guests.

As always it started a little chilly but knowing how many miles ahead on those hills I had to run, the chill factor was going to be nothing in a matter of minutes.

I felt good and seeing this was my 4th time doing this course, starting to feel more confident with my hill training.  Like I mentioned earlier, I am starting to see the same runners and they are probably remembering me with my bright yellow visor and a smile to start their morning.

I really wanted to get 13 miles down today but due to time restraints, it will not be happening today.  No worries, life is good and check out my video to see why:

 

Track Day - 07.14.10 - Wednesday

I have to admit I always dread Wednesdays because of track practice.  The reason being is we never know what Coach Darrell will dish up for us.  I know in the end it will help us with our endurance and speed but it's the not knowing that always scares me.

I am glad I went anyway because the main purpose of tonight's track practice was to find out our comfortable marathon pace.  My pace buddy Andrea and I started slow and in the end felt good and sped up.  I was surprised to hear that when we crossed the finish line our pace turned out to be a respectable 20:35 for two miles so roughly 10:17 a mile. 

From that knowledge we were asked to line up with fastest time one one end and the slowest the other.  Andrea and I were comfortably in the middle and then we were grouped in teams of 4.  We did another relay race and let me tell you this time, I didn't feel like I was going to throw up and felt stronger and faster.  I now am a believer with these track nights...I really am.

Here's a video of Andrea and I finishing track and with our excitement we said our race pace was 10:35 but really it should have been 10:17, details, details.

Week 10 - Day 27 - 07.12.10 - Monday (13 Miles with hills)

The hills are alive with the sound of music. Well not today because this is my second time running the Terwilliger Blvd/OHSU hills without music. I usually start my run at the bottom of the hill at Duniway Park.

I have to say I am starting to get used to hearing the pitter patter of my feet running and my breathing. I can tell when I hit my stride or the well known runners high because I can hardly hear my breathing.

It also may be just my third time doing this same course but I am noticing the hills are getting slightly easier to run on and I like this feeling especially since the first 10 miles of my marathon in San Francisco are all hills baby!
This is also the first time I woke up at the butt crack of dawn (4am) to get ready and downtown so I can start this training at 5:30AM. Because of the darkness and other last minute checklist items, I didn’t get to start until 6AM but that is still 30 minutes earlier than my earlier runs. I hope for this Thursday’s run that I can get everything ready to go to start at 5:30AM so I have more time to run and get maybe 13.50 miles in

I am also starting to see the same runners during my run up the hill and most are friendly and wave hello and others just look straight ahead in their own state of runners high. I also tackled that SW 3rd hill that I finally took a picture of.

I literally came from a 10-11 minute mile pace to 14-15 minute mile because of it’s steepness. I decided to slowly walked down it when I did my turnaround because I didn’t want to twist an ankle or do something to my knees.









Each time I do this course I am finding out new things about myself and running.

1. I love to run early in the morning to start my day

2. I love to get lost in my thoughts when I run alone on these long runs. I usually remember fond memories of my childhood and I marvel at how my body has grown to be acclimated to running.

I may not be the fastest runner out there but I actually enjoy it. I never thought I would when I started this journey two months ago but I do look forward to my runs and like a child on Christmas morning, can’t wait to see what new milestones I have met.

I really believe that this running thing is “the fountain of youth.” Everyone I know, including my younger brother and sister-in-law have transformed into these amazing, healthy looking creatures. There is also a new zest for life that if I can do this….what other fabulous things can I do?

Week 9 - Day 26 - 07.10.10 - Saturday (12 Miles)

First a quick shout out to my friend for 20 years Maddy for donating $25 to TNT and my marathon training! 

I also want to thank Coach Heidi for giving us the option to run an hour early this week at 6:30AM instead.  That was a fabulous choice, especially since I could already feel the humidity waking up this morning at 5AM.

Our eager 15 or so TNT runners made it early at Evelyn Schiffler Park to do our respective 6, 12, or 14 miles.  I felt good waking up since I had done my 12 miles on Wednesday on hills and was ready to take that challenge again today.  So we did our "Go Team" and starting running!

My thoughtful running/pace buddy Andrea called me Wednesday night to let me know she and her son were heading to the beach so I wouldn't see her today.  I do miss her and thought that was nice she cared to call :D  I just started with my usual steady pace and felt great.  At the first aid station where Kat was there to greet us off of Scholls Ferry Road at the Portland Running Walking Store, I stopped for just a minute to have one gummy bear and a two small Dixie cups of water and headed back to the course to get my first 7 miles under my belt.  Thank God I was following Lightning Linda because our directions said to turn right on Sorrento Ridge and there was no such sign but instead followed where Linda turned.  If I hadn't I would have been lost.

I finished my first 7.3 miles and was greeted by Coach Darrell (Coach Heidi's better half) back at the starting point at Schiffler Park.  I drank another cup of water and was on my way to my last leg of my run which is about another 4.7 miles.  I tell you what, I grew up in these parts and these runs are opening up new places that I never knew existed on the Westside.  All the while I would run into fellow TNT runners Karissa and Furmine (sp?).  They were great and very nice to connect with when we did our last left back on to Erickson to be greated by some of our TNT mentors for a job well done.  Here are some photos showing what we accomplished:

Week 9 - Day 25 - 07.07.10 - Wednesday (12 Miles with hills)

“Run to the hills….”
I have to say that is one song we haven’t done for our band Detention Room. Who knew that Iron Maiden would be the theme of my current marathon training. After learning quickly last Saturday that I need to get more hills and having Andrea show me where to go to get that great hill training, I decided I would venture out and do it today.

I knew that the rest of the day would be a scorcher so had my alarm set this morning for 5:30AM to get me downtown and ready to run this at 6:30AM. I am glad I did because man it was starting to warm up as early as 7AM. My body seem to remember the course and now I had my landmarks such as Chart House Restaurant, a neat child’s playground and lots and lots of hills to run on. I also wanted to try run the 12 miles without any music to get used to not having any due to some marathons who ban the use of iPods, etc.  I also knew I had to go further than my Monday, 7.4 miles because of the 12 mile pending group run for this Saturday. Doing so I found out that Terwilliger Hills connects to Capitol Highway and then dumps you right down to Barbur Boulevard where the Starbucks and Mexican Restaurant and A Boy are located. Needing the mileage I ran on Barbur for a bit until I decided to take a left on SW 3rd and it was the mother of hills with a incline of AT LEAST 35 degrees or more. I swear I must have looked like Tim Conway’s character slowly inching my way up that hill. My calves were burning so decided to slowly go down the SW 3rd Hill and rerun the course backward. After doing so I noticed I needed about a mile and half left to hit my required 12 miles so I decided to top my run on the YWCA track near Duniway Park. Once I hit my 12 miles, I walked another 400 meters and then walked all the way back to my office.

My legs are more sore than usual, probably because of the hills, but all in all I feel good. I can’t wait to tackle this same course probably as early as Monday the 12th but for now I must save my legs AND energy for Saturday’s run.

Week 9 - Day 24 - 07.05.10 - Monday (7.4 Miles with hills)

REDEMPTION


Boy was it ever. My running ego was a little bruised from the group Saturday run because the hills were a formidable opponent. Because my body wasn’t use to them I simply felt tired and sick to my stomach to even go further than my 8 miles already. The goal that day was 10 miles. Like everything in my life, I came away from that with a life lesson….MORE HILLS.

Thanks to my trusty race buddy Andrea we both decided to tackle the Terwilliger/OHSU hills on our holiday day off, that’s commitment. Andrea was nice enough to show me how to get there from my downtown office and what route to take up that steep hill. Although I was a little tired, my body started to get a rhythm on how to tackle the ascent. I know it’s taking mental notes on each curve and how to run it faster the next time.

Andrea and I were talking and our conversation fell on the great Nikki Rafie. If you don’t know her she is a local legend in the running circles and have won several races that I know of and maybe more. I have been playing email tag with her and were just mentioning how she would tackle the hills and where she gets her inner strength from. As soon as we started talking, she appeared, running of course, on our left and said hello and then realized she knew Andrea. Nikki then realized I was the same Mel Ortiz emailing her frantically and we exchanged pleasantries. I couldn’t help look at her small frame and how she effortlessly ran up the hill with us talking as if she was on a chaise lounge next to the pool. She gave us some positive reinforcement on our training and was happy to see we were adding more hills to our training and then as fast as she appeared, she ran off and disappeared within seconds. I had recently volunteered at the Helvetia Half Marathon and was able to see Nikki in all her race glory speed past our Aid Station on Mile 8. My guess was that her pace was a steady 5-6 minutes which just boggles my mind! I was happy to see that she was charming and friendly at first meet and that she was so encouraging.

When our run was all said and done we did 7.4 miles of hills for 1:22 at a steady pace of 11:08, not bad for being new to this hill running. Andrea had a good point to mention that this time/pace is a great starting point to base my future runs on this course.

After we did our barrage of stretches at Duniway Park, we decided to head to Tannesbourne for some great running clothes shopping and a smoothie to top off our day. I had to giggle because when we arrived at Jumba Juice we were welcomed with a cute quote on the wall that said something like…”What do laziness and coins have in common, both can be found in a couch.” We were definitely not lazy today.

Week 8 - Day 23 - 07.03.10 - Saturday (8.1 Miles with hills)

“Two steps forward, two steps back.” That Paula Abdul song was running in my head for today’s run along with the site of the cartoon character dancing with her. I can’t believe that was 20 years ago and that I still have the cassette tape to it but no device to play it on. You can start to see the theme of my Saturday group run.

My run with my running buddy Andrea started off strong but I made the first mistake in running a marathon….starting off too fast! My CardioTrainer was telling me that I was hovering the 8:00 pace/mile which is way too fast for me and held it there for at least a mile and half and that’s when it took from me the needed energy to finish the rest of the run. I did well on my second leg and finished that respectively until I had to finish the last 4 miles of the run that my calves said keep it minimal. The Hill Gods were relentless and this time won the race but not the battle!

Ok that’s enough feeling sorry for myself, there was also some new insights that I found out today like really watching my body. I am glad I didn’t push myself after seeing that our fellow TNT teammate Tim had injured himself and found out that was the reason why he was cheering us on today and not running with us. That was a great visual reminder to listen to my body and to push it but not push it to the point of injury.

One of our mentors Diane was on her bike capturing candid shots of our run throughout the day, God bless her. As always, I find myself enjoying getting to know my fellow TNT teammates week after week.

Check out Andrea and my commentary on hills: