Wow - has it really been THIS long since I've posted to my blog? I know I meant to blog more often - geez...
Well, here's to posting more frequently.
I'm engaging in a new journey folks, one that I thought I might as well take anyone along who cares to listen (or read). As I am immersing myself in a new organization and building a newcareer, I am also undertaking a personal challenge - I am training for Ironman Coeur d'Alene.
My triathlon "career", if you will, has barely just begun. My very first race, an Olympic distance, is this Sunday. My "A" race for this season, a 1/2 Ironman, is coming up at the end of October. I'm really, really enjoying my training, and I'm really wanting to take it to the next level. I've always been one to be up for a challenge, and Ironman was the next step.
So, I've hired a coach, and I'm ready to start the journey. Its going to be a long road over the next 9 months, but I'm so excited to see what I can do. And I'm LOVING how this makes me look, and more importantly, FEEL. I feel STRONG, I feel confident, I feel alive.
I hope you'll come along with me - I'll be using this space to chronicle my journey, my triumphs, my challenges and all the workouts along the way. Here we go - more coming soon!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Rediscovery
It's amazing how, when we haven't done something for a while, our bodies so accurately remind us. You know, like when you go for a run after a 6 month hiatus, or lift weights for the first time in a while. We remember quite clearly how it used to feel - and it didn't hurt quite like this!
The phenomenon I'm referring to is called cognitive dissonance, when what we remember doesn't match up with reality. We remember our level of skill, aptitude and capability at an earlier time, and (foolishly) believe that we still have that, despite the passage of time. Trust me, muscle memory only goes so far. Go ahead, try to do a cartwheel - I dare you. Something as simple as a cartwheel, a feat we could reel off in multiple successions as 10 year olds, becomes quite a daunting task as a 25 or (ahem) 33 year old. Hand stands? Climbing trees? Forget it!
The whole concept of returning to an activity I was formally adept at becomes for me a process of rediscovery. How does this work for me now? Can I return to my former state, or is the goal really to define a new state? I think this is the case, as I try to fit my passion for running, reading, work, friends and family into the constructs of the new space and time that I am in.
Rediscovering who I am, what I'm all about, and how to balance all that is important to me is an interesting process, now that I finally feel like I have the capacity to engage in those things. Of course, I am mere hours into a new job, a new career. My sense, my hope and my intention is that this new career will contribute to my life and my interests, rather than take from it.
Time will tell.
The phenomenon I'm referring to is called cognitive dissonance, when what we remember doesn't match up with reality. We remember our level of skill, aptitude and capability at an earlier time, and (foolishly) believe that we still have that, despite the passage of time. Trust me, muscle memory only goes so far. Go ahead, try to do a cartwheel - I dare you. Something as simple as a cartwheel, a feat we could reel off in multiple successions as 10 year olds, becomes quite a daunting task as a 25 or (ahem) 33 year old. Hand stands? Climbing trees? Forget it!
The whole concept of returning to an activity I was formally adept at becomes for me a process of rediscovery. How does this work for me now? Can I return to my former state, or is the goal really to define a new state? I think this is the case, as I try to fit my passion for running, reading, work, friends and family into the constructs of the new space and time that I am in.
Rediscovering who I am, what I'm all about, and how to balance all that is important to me is an interesting process, now that I finally feel like I have the capacity to engage in those things. Of course, I am mere hours into a new job, a new career. My sense, my hope and my intention is that this new career will contribute to my life and my interests, rather than take from it.
Time will tell.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
On returning to blogging
So you know you haven't blogged in a long, LONG time, when your friends drop you from their aggregator list. I know its been a long 6+ months since I posted (okay, 7 months) - so I can own up to the consequences. More posts will come to catch up on all (or at least some) of the changes that have transpired over the last half year, but this post is to explain the silence.
Have you ever had a time in your life when whatever it was you were doing required such a singular, all-consuming focus that it impacted your ability to participate in other areas of your life? Sometimes this all-consuming thing can be a positive - it could be training for a marathon, planning your own wedding, or going to graduate school. It becomes all that you talk about, you spend every moment thinking about it, and you take delight in the time and effort you put into it. Here the line between your ability and your desire to participate in other areas of your life becomes blurred - you take so much out of this thing that you are devoting yourself to, that you have less motivation (reason? need? and of course time) to engage in the other areas of your life.
Or this singular, all-consuming thing can be a negative. The time and effort put into it truly consume you - and rather than feeding your body, your intellect or your soul, it sucks you dry. Whatever remaining time you do have in your day is spent dreading doing the thing you must do, or recovering from it. This can be a relationship, an obligation, a job - perhaps the combination of all three.
For me, going to B-school was much like the former. I spent most (dare I say all?) my waking hours living and breathing the experience of b-school: classes, cases, teamwork, social events. I wanted to suck every experience there was to be had out of those 2 years. Yes, it inhibited my ability to participate in other areas of my life: workouts were sporadic at best, and the time I had to spend with my husband was often tinged with the b-school overtone. But those experiences fed me and sustained me through the long nights and hard work. I was learning, growing and changing. It was an exciting time, even on 3 hours sleep.
On the other hand, the last 6+ months have been more like the latter. When we returned to Seattle (more on that in a later post), I decided to try my hand at consulting, and joined the local office of a then national, now international, consultancy. Many people warned me about the challenges of transitioning from industry to consulting. I had no idea it would impact me on the level that it did. Sure, at the beginning things were fine - in fact it took a while to get ramped up just because of the holidays, etc. But once I finally was assigned a project and was out on the client site, the world as I knew it began to change. I quickly discovered that what I'd been advised by a good friend before I took the job was right - I don't suffer fools kindly, and I don't take well to having to execute an idea or solution with which I disagree. Yet that is often the role of the consultant.
Of course I've had many ups and downs - I tried my hardest to work through the learning curve, to mold myself into the consultant type: distance yourself from your work, don't invest too much of yourself in your product. But it was a losing battle. I was being sucked dry of every interesting, creative, positive thought. I all but stopped working out, partially because I was spending 15 hours a day working, and partially because when I did have time I had no motivation. I didn't have the energy to read, much less write. I had to make a change.
So that, dear readers, explains my silence. I am transitioning to a new job in the next few weeks, and working to regain my balance and my life. Look for more soon. Blog on!
Have you ever had a time in your life when whatever it was you were doing required such a singular, all-consuming focus that it impacted your ability to participate in other areas of your life? Sometimes this all-consuming thing can be a positive - it could be training for a marathon, planning your own wedding, or going to graduate school. It becomes all that you talk about, you spend every moment thinking about it, and you take delight in the time and effort you put into it. Here the line between your ability and your desire to participate in other areas of your life becomes blurred - you take so much out of this thing that you are devoting yourself to, that you have less motivation (reason? need? and of course time) to engage in the other areas of your life.
Or this singular, all-consuming thing can be a negative. The time and effort put into it truly consume you - and rather than feeding your body, your intellect or your soul, it sucks you dry. Whatever remaining time you do have in your day is spent dreading doing the thing you must do, or recovering from it. This can be a relationship, an obligation, a job - perhaps the combination of all three.
For me, going to B-school was much like the former. I spent most (dare I say all?) my waking hours living and breathing the experience of b-school: classes, cases, teamwork, social events. I wanted to suck every experience there was to be had out of those 2 years. Yes, it inhibited my ability to participate in other areas of my life: workouts were sporadic at best, and the time I had to spend with my husband was often tinged with the b-school overtone. But those experiences fed me and sustained me through the long nights and hard work. I was learning, growing and changing. It was an exciting time, even on 3 hours sleep.
On the other hand, the last 6+ months have been more like the latter. When we returned to Seattle (more on that in a later post), I decided to try my hand at consulting, and joined the local office of a then national, now international, consultancy. Many people warned me about the challenges of transitioning from industry to consulting. I had no idea it would impact me on the level that it did. Sure, at the beginning things were fine - in fact it took a while to get ramped up just because of the holidays, etc. But once I finally was assigned a project and was out on the client site, the world as I knew it began to change. I quickly discovered that what I'd been advised by a good friend before I took the job was right - I don't suffer fools kindly, and I don't take well to having to execute an idea or solution with which I disagree. Yet that is often the role of the consultant.
Of course I've had many ups and downs - I tried my hardest to work through the learning curve, to mold myself into the consultant type: distance yourself from your work, don't invest too much of yourself in your product. But it was a losing battle. I was being sucked dry of every interesting, creative, positive thought. I all but stopped working out, partially because I was spending 15 hours a day working, and partially because when I did have time I had no motivation. I didn't have the energy to read, much less write. I had to make a change.
So that, dear readers, explains my silence. I am transitioning to a new job in the next few weeks, and working to regain my balance and my life. Look for more soon. Blog on!
Friday, November 04, 2005
My Next Big Thing - Rewind
So back before the Marathon, I posted about My Next Big Thing. I talked about training goals and objectives, short term goals and long term goals, and specifically about Wildflower 2006. I even committed right then and there to doing Wildflower, perhaps one of, if not the toughest half-ironman distance triathlon.
Then of course, immediately after the Marathon I was all hung up on Marathons. When am I going to do my next one, spring? where? the states? LA? London? ooo - so many choices! London seemed like a fantastic idea - scheduled for the end of April, I could take it easy all of November and kick back into training mode in December / January. By going through a touring company, I could get guaranteed race entry & hotel for a fairly reasonable amount.
The best laid plans, they say.....
Then I got a phone call from my mom. "I'm engaged!"
Huh? You're what? Oh boy.... And the topper of it all is that she's set the date for her wedding for May 6, in Williamsburg, Virginia.
That pretty much kills London at the end of April, and definitely kills Wildflower. Oh well.
So I do believe that everything happens for a reason - clearly I wasn't meant to do either a spring marathon or Wildflower. I mean, I could still do a spring marathon, but I think we're going to dial back the training a tad, for now.
Tentatively, I would like to start doing Tris this summer. There's an Olympic distance tri in Moses Lake at the begining of June which should be a great place to start. And of course, the Pacific Crest Tri - with both Olympic distance and Half-Ironman distance is in Sun River, OR at the end of June. Both of those seem like viable options.
In the meantime, I've got my short term goals. And adding one more: to see how close to 1000 miles I can get for year. As of right now, I'm at 796.6 : just a little over 200 to go, with 7+ weeks remaining. We shall see....
It's Dead, Jim.
Note to self: you can drop-kick your Mini off the treadmill, but do not, I repeat, do not get it sweaty. You'll kill it.
At least, that's what I did. And it is dead, truly, inexorably dead.
So I have this arm-band thingy for my mini - theoretically it works great to affix your mini to your upper arm for such high-bounce activities like running. It's a far superior solution to the belt clip, which works fine, but doesn't keep your mini from moving all around should you be doing anything more strenuous than walking. Unfortunately, the arm-band bugs the shit out of me... something about it being tight enough to keep the Mini in place, but too tight to feel comfortable. It must be my massive biceps ... (yeah right...)
Anyway - my simple solution on the treadmill is just to clip my mini to the cup holder. Works like a chap. However, several weeks ago I decided it was a lovely fall evening that I should take advantage of. One problem: what to do with the mini? I had no pockets (it would bounce in there anyway) and couldn't even find my arm band if I did want to use it.
So smart me, I thought, "Why don't I just clip it inside my shorts - that way, the lycra from my shorts will help to hold it in place!" So I turned it around, and clipped the belt-clip inside my shorts, with the Mini facing my stomach. I didn't for a second think it would be a problem, and off I went for a gorgeous 45 minute run.
It worked like a champ! No bouncing, no problem.
That is, until I got home. I took my Mini off, and found as I set it on the counter, that only the forward & reverse buttons on the Click-wheel were working. "Hmmm" I thought, "maybe it got a little damp - I'm sure when it dries off, all the buttons will work fine again...". Except that when it dried off, NONE of the buttons worked. It won't charge, it won't be recognized when I plug it into my iTunes, nothing.
It's dead, Jim.
Chalk it up to a lesson learned. Good thing HP is fire-selling all their branded versions.....
At least, that's what I did. And it is dead, truly, inexorably dead.
So I have this arm-band thingy for my mini - theoretically it works great to affix your mini to your upper arm for such high-bounce activities like running. It's a far superior solution to the belt clip, which works fine, but doesn't keep your mini from moving all around should you be doing anything more strenuous than walking. Unfortunately, the arm-band bugs the shit out of me... something about it being tight enough to keep the Mini in place, but too tight to feel comfortable. It must be my massive biceps ... (yeah right...)
Anyway - my simple solution on the treadmill is just to clip my mini to the cup holder. Works like a chap. However, several weeks ago I decided it was a lovely fall evening that I should take advantage of. One problem: what to do with the mini? I had no pockets (it would bounce in there anyway) and couldn't even find my arm band if I did want to use it.
So smart me, I thought, "Why don't I just clip it inside my shorts - that way, the lycra from my shorts will help to hold it in place!" So I turned it around, and clipped the belt-clip inside my shorts, with the Mini facing my stomach. I didn't for a second think it would be a problem, and off I went for a gorgeous 45 minute run.
It worked like a champ! No bouncing, no problem.
That is, until I got home. I took my Mini off, and found as I set it on the counter, that only the forward & reverse buttons on the Click-wheel were working. "Hmmm" I thought, "maybe it got a little damp - I'm sure when it dries off, all the buttons will work fine again...". Except that when it dried off, NONE of the buttons worked. It won't charge, it won't be recognized when I plug it into my iTunes, nothing.
It's dead, Jim.
Chalk it up to a lesson learned. Good thing HP is fire-selling all their branded versions.....
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Women in Business
During my tenure in Business School, I was a member of a plethora of student clubs. Some I was more active in than others. One club that I was at first hesitant to join, but in which I became an active member was Women in Business.
When I first thought about joining Women in Business, I was reluctant. First off, I am not a "girly girl", though I'm not unfeminine. I wear dresses and makeup, but I also lift weights, move boxes, pick up dog poop, and generally anything else that needs to be done. I prefer NOT to distinguish myself on the basis of my gender, and for that primary reason I thought, "why would I want to be part of a club that focuses on gender?"
But the fact of the matter is that I am a woman, and I am in business. Therefore, being a part of the Women in Business club, where networks and shared stories of the challenges and triumphs unique to women in business were cultivated made sense. It was perhaps one of the best moves I made. In fact, I discovered that I did have women friends: women who were strong, intelligent, courageous, aggressive and passionate. Women who weren't afraid to break a nail to get the job done. This was the network of women that I had been looking for. WiB cultivated opportunities for the women in both the 1st and 2nd year class to escape the confines of the school, to share who we really were as women, rather than as the stereotypes we were trying to be, through quarterly "retreats" often involving hiking, running, snowshoeing, wine & cheese, and the inescapable homework.
These retreats, unfortunately, made some of the men in our class quite uncomfortable. Despite the fact that it was stated repeatedly that men were welcome and encouraged to join WiB, and welcome and encouraged to attend a retreat, no one ever took us up on the offer. Instead, they felt it necessary to form their own version, calling it MiB, for Men in Breakfast. They met every Friday before class for breakfast & bloody mary's at the local greasy spoon - an email invitation would go out each week. Not only was it exclusionary specifically to ALL women in the class (even those, myself included, who would have counted themselves among the close friends of the male attendees), but also to specific, less popular, less conformist men in the class.
It stunk of the Old Boys Network to high heaven, and one of the most alarming factors was that our Class President Elect was not only active participant, but a vociferous defendent of the breakast. He saw nothing wrong with it, asserted (falsely and weakly) that women could attend (even though none were ever invited or included on the email list) and saw little reason for a WiB club to begin with. After all, women were basically on equal footing now, in his eyes. Even after I, and a close friend, made our forays into attending, it was clear that it was uncomfortable, and even our friends at the table were uncomfortable: for us and with us. We very, very clearly weren't welcome there.
Ultimately the issue received enough attention that the Pres stopped attending, and the breakfasts went underground. Which perhaps is worse. They still very definitely happened (every once in a while something would slip out) but it was very hush hush.
Which brings me to today. Right now I'm reading Naked Truth: A Working Woman's Manifesto on Business and What Really Matters by Margaret Heffernan. I wish this were required reading in business school. Many of the points she makes clearly demonstrate why women, after becoming the majority in undergraduate universities, representing nearly half of all law and medical school students, STILL represent only 33% or less of business school attendees. I'm only 1/4 of the way through the book, but I want to run right out and buy it for all the women in business I care about and give it to them for Christmas. I still might.
And I want to beat our MBA Class President over the head with it. I wish I'd had it to give to him to read then. I had such a difficult time making the argument to him about why the breakfasts were wrong at the time: I just knew in the pit of my stomach that they were wrong. And I took it personally: which it wasn't about me personally, it was that because of my gender I didn't belong.
It points out to me that I have so much to learn in how to handle myself and my work, how to deal with adversity and hostile environments, and how to recognize my own behavior that may be reinforcing negative treatment from male coworkers.
Heffernan is careful to assert that not all men are sexist or discriminating towards women, but the frightening truth about how pervasive and subversive sexism in the workplace remains is there. And learning to see and understand our own behaviors (men and women), conscious and unconscious, that contribute to an unbalanced workplace, is perhaps one of the best takeaways of the book.
When I first thought about joining Women in Business, I was reluctant. First off, I am not a "girly girl", though I'm not unfeminine. I wear dresses and makeup, but I also lift weights, move boxes, pick up dog poop, and generally anything else that needs to be done. I prefer NOT to distinguish myself on the basis of my gender, and for that primary reason I thought, "why would I want to be part of a club that focuses on gender?"
But the fact of the matter is that I am a woman, and I am in business. Therefore, being a part of the Women in Business club, where networks and shared stories of the challenges and triumphs unique to women in business were cultivated made sense. It was perhaps one of the best moves I made. In fact, I discovered that I did have women friends: women who were strong, intelligent, courageous, aggressive and passionate. Women who weren't afraid to break a nail to get the job done. This was the network of women that I had been looking for. WiB cultivated opportunities for the women in both the 1st and 2nd year class to escape the confines of the school, to share who we really were as women, rather than as the stereotypes we were trying to be, through quarterly "retreats" often involving hiking, running, snowshoeing, wine & cheese, and the inescapable homework.
These retreats, unfortunately, made some of the men in our class quite uncomfortable. Despite the fact that it was stated repeatedly that men were welcome and encouraged to join WiB, and welcome and encouraged to attend a retreat, no one ever took us up on the offer. Instead, they felt it necessary to form their own version, calling it MiB, for Men in Breakfast. They met every Friday before class for breakfast & bloody mary's at the local greasy spoon - an email invitation would go out each week. Not only was it exclusionary specifically to ALL women in the class (even those, myself included, who would have counted themselves among the close friends of the male attendees), but also to specific, less popular, less conformist men in the class.
It stunk of the Old Boys Network to high heaven, and one of the most alarming factors was that our Class President Elect was not only active participant, but a vociferous defendent of the breakast. He saw nothing wrong with it, asserted (falsely and weakly) that women could attend (even though none were ever invited or included on the email list) and saw little reason for a WiB club to begin with. After all, women were basically on equal footing now, in his eyes. Even after I, and a close friend, made our forays into attending, it was clear that it was uncomfortable, and even our friends at the table were uncomfortable: for us and with us. We very, very clearly weren't welcome there.
Ultimately the issue received enough attention that the Pres stopped attending, and the breakfasts went underground. Which perhaps is worse. They still very definitely happened (every once in a while something would slip out) but it was very hush hush.
Which brings me to today. Right now I'm reading Naked Truth: A Working Woman's Manifesto on Business and What Really Matters by Margaret Heffernan. I wish this were required reading in business school. Many of the points she makes clearly demonstrate why women, after becoming the majority in undergraduate universities, representing nearly half of all law and medical school students, STILL represent only 33% or less of business school attendees. I'm only 1/4 of the way through the book, but I want to run right out and buy it for all the women in business I care about and give it to them for Christmas. I still might.
And I want to beat our MBA Class President over the head with it. I wish I'd had it to give to him to read then. I had such a difficult time making the argument to him about why the breakfasts were wrong at the time: I just knew in the pit of my stomach that they were wrong. And I took it personally: which it wasn't about me personally, it was that because of my gender I didn't belong.
It points out to me that I have so much to learn in how to handle myself and my work, how to deal with adversity and hostile environments, and how to recognize my own behavior that may be reinforcing negative treatment from male coworkers.
Heffernan is careful to assert that not all men are sexist or discriminating towards women, but the frightening truth about how pervasive and subversive sexism in the workplace remains is there. And learning to see and understand our own behaviors (men and women), conscious and unconscious, that contribute to an unbalanced workplace, is perhaps one of the best takeaways of the book.
Long Time, No Blog
So it's been a little over 2 weeks since my last blog. Not that life has suddenly become so hectic that I didn't have time to blog - just, I think, that there was so much uncertainty that I just didn't feel like putting pen to paper (or in this case, fingers to keyboard). I just didn't want to commit my thoughts to a public forum.
BUT, I'm back. I'll do my best to catch up on all that's relevant. Lots has changed, lots has not. Life rolls on, whether we blog or not. Thank goodness....
BUT, I'm back. I'll do my best to catch up on all that's relevant. Lots has changed, lots has not. Life rolls on, whether we blog or not. Thank goodness....
Monday, October 10, 2005
Marathon #2 or The Saga of Southwest Airlines Flight 1539
Who knew when Susan and Dean dropped us at the Southwest ticket counter on Sunday evening, that we would spend MORE time sitting in the Portland airport waiting to go home than we had spent out on the race course earlier that day?
Marathon #2 would begin at approximately 5:15 pm. We decided to check our bags so we didn't have to lug them through the airport (hey, we were really tired) and were pleasantly informed by the Southwest ticket agent that our 6:25 departing flight had been delayed an hour. Ugh.
Okay, no problem. Grab a beer and a snack in the airport bar, relax for a bit - no sweat. We caught up on some phone calls as we sipped our chilled Mirror Ponds and regaled our friends and families with tales from the marathon. After a couple of pints and a snack, it was time to head for the security line. We made it through at about 6:45 - perfect we thought for our 7:25 departure.
But it wasn't to be. Upon clearing Security, we check the departure boards. Flight 1539, departing out of Gate C15 now read departing at 8:05. Ugh again.
We sat down at a table to chat, rather than walking all the way to the gate, and put in a phone call to Susan. At this rate, she'd be back in Seattle before we even left Portland. And as I was talking to her on the cell phone, things got that much worse.
Jason checked the board again, and all of a sudden it seemed it went from 8:05 to a 10:15 departure. Ugh ugh ugh. Three and a half more hours sitting in the airport. When all we wanted to do was to take a hot bath and go to bed. We went down to the Gate to see if there were any other flights out. There was one Horizon flight leaving in 35 minutes - we could go check that one.
We boogied as fast as we could boogie at that point from Gate C15 to Gate A3 (oy!) to find that the flight was TOTALLY full, with a waiting list, and they wouldn't sell standby tickets anyway. Phooey. Our evening was destined to be spent waiting.
We hunkered down and did the best we could to get comfortable and get a little rest. I think I even snuck in a 45 minute nap - though it was hard to tell if I was really sleeping since I could still hear the kids screaming at the play area 50 feet away.
By the time it was all said and done, we didn't board an aircraft until 10:55 pm PST. We took off at 11:10 pm and landed in Boise (with the time change) at 1:10 am. As it turns out, the plane we were supposed to fly was delayed on take-off out of Las Vegas. When it landed in Reno, it had mechanical trouble - which they attempted to fix, but failed. Then it was a matter of waiting for a plane that was terminating in Reno that they could then send on to Boise. Those flights terminating didn't land until 8:30, then they had to be unloaded, cleaned and reloaded with the folks coming to Portland. And then the plane had to be turned again to head out to Boise.
I do feel bad for the flight crew. By the time they landed in Boise, they'd had a 12 hour day, and they were supposed to be back in the airport at 6:45am. Yuck. But I felt bad for us too - we were sore, still, and really, really tired. We got our bags and went home to our doggies. Luckily, Alana (the best housesitter in the world!) agreed to go back and hang with the pooches for a couple of hours in the evening upon hearing of our delay, so they weren't in their crates for too long.
By the time we said our hellos to the dogs and grabbed a quick soak in the tub (a definite necessity), lights out was 2:30 am. It was a very long day indeed.
Marathon #2 would begin at approximately 5:15 pm. We decided to check our bags so we didn't have to lug them through the airport (hey, we were really tired) and were pleasantly informed by the Southwest ticket agent that our 6:25 departing flight had been delayed an hour. Ugh.
Okay, no problem. Grab a beer and a snack in the airport bar, relax for a bit - no sweat. We caught up on some phone calls as we sipped our chilled Mirror Ponds and regaled our friends and families with tales from the marathon. After a couple of pints and a snack, it was time to head for the security line. We made it through at about 6:45 - perfect we thought for our 7:25 departure.
But it wasn't to be. Upon clearing Security, we check the departure boards. Flight 1539, departing out of Gate C15 now read departing at 8:05. Ugh again.
We sat down at a table to chat, rather than walking all the way to the gate, and put in a phone call to Susan. At this rate, she'd be back in Seattle before we even left Portland. And as I was talking to her on the cell phone, things got that much worse.
Jason checked the board again, and all of a sudden it seemed it went from 8:05 to a 10:15 departure. Ugh ugh ugh. Three and a half more hours sitting in the airport. When all we wanted to do was to take a hot bath and go to bed. We went down to the Gate to see if there were any other flights out. There was one Horizon flight leaving in 35 minutes - we could go check that one.
We boogied as fast as we could boogie at that point from Gate C15 to Gate A3 (oy!) to find that the flight was TOTALLY full, with a waiting list, and they wouldn't sell standby tickets anyway. Phooey. Our evening was destined to be spent waiting.
We hunkered down and did the best we could to get comfortable and get a little rest. I think I even snuck in a 45 minute nap - though it was hard to tell if I was really sleeping since I could still hear the kids screaming at the play area 50 feet away.
By the time it was all said and done, we didn't board an aircraft until 10:55 pm PST. We took off at 11:10 pm and landed in Boise (with the time change) at 1:10 am. As it turns out, the plane we were supposed to fly was delayed on take-off out of Las Vegas. When it landed in Reno, it had mechanical trouble - which they attempted to fix, but failed. Then it was a matter of waiting for a plane that was terminating in Reno that they could then send on to Boise. Those flights terminating didn't land until 8:30, then they had to be unloaded, cleaned and reloaded with the folks coming to Portland. And then the plane had to be turned again to head out to Boise.
I do feel bad for the flight crew. By the time they landed in Boise, they'd had a 12 hour day, and they were supposed to be back in the airport at 6:45am. Yuck. But I felt bad for us too - we were sore, still, and really, really tired. We got our bags and went home to our doggies. Luckily, Alana (the best housesitter in the world!) agreed to go back and hang with the pooches for a couple of hours in the evening upon hearing of our delay, so they weren't in their crates for too long.
By the time we said our hellos to the dogs and grabbed a quick soak in the tub (a definite necessity), lights out was 2:30 am. It was a very long day indeed.
Whew!
26.2, in the bag. 4:31:29. Whew!
Really - what an amazing experience. Fun. Awesome. Long. Challenging. Exhilerating. Inspiring. Fulfilling. Addicting.
When's the next one? I'll start training as soon as I can walk again without grimacing. :)
We arrived in Portland on Friday night and grabbed a taxi over to the Portland Hilton. The Hilton was both where we were staying as well as Race Headquarters, so after checkin, running our bags over to our room (we were actually in the Executive Tower, which was kitty-corner to the main Hilton & Race HQ), we had exactly 13 minutes to shoot down to the Expo for packet pickup. There was hardly anybody down there, except for the 2 dozen or so volunteers (wow!), so getting our race numbers and timing chips was a breeze. We were even able to sneak over to the expo just as they were closing it to buy tickets to the bus tour of the course the next day. Score!
After that it was a nice mellow dinner in our hotel restaurant (something Italian - a single glass of red wine with dinner, it was good), and off to bed.
Saturday we woke up on our own - around 7 am. Down to the Starbucks to grab a latte & a croissant and back to the expo to check out all the sights and sales. Race expos are amazing - there are booths with running apparel, gear, shoes - you name it, you can buy it at the expo - and usually at really good prices. Of course, there was also the booths with the official drinks that were going to be on the course, Tylenol, the course photographers and other sorts (I loved the Marathon Geeks). We dropped some change on a couple of nice long sleeve running shirts (it is getting to be winter you know!) as well as some great Portland Marathon souvenirs. Got hopped up on the Gleukos drink (eww - that stuff is awful!) and generally just wandered around for a while.
After that, we still had plenty of time to kill before our noon bus tour, so we decided to stroll the 3 blocks from the hotel over to the start area, just to check things out. The volunteers were already busy putting up barricades & signs, balloons, etc. for the Start & Finish areas the next day. That done, we figured we could extend our tax free shopping (Oregon has no sales tax - yahoo!) at Nike Town to get J a pair of running pants for his birthday.
Off on the bus tour - this was definitely a well spent $10. It helps me tremendously to be able to see in my mind's eye where I am on the course and know what's coming ahead. Our tour guide, Scott, and bus driver, Chuck, kept the bemusing Portland facts and corny jokes coming through the 1.5 hour tour. There were also some great people on the bus - people from all over the country: Atlanta, Anchorage, Chicago - other places I can't remember. And while there were lots of us for whom this was our first marathon, there were also more than a few veterans on the bus. For one woman, Portland would be her 27th! Wow.
After that we decided to grab some lunch at our friendly neighborhood Taco Del Mar, and grab some down time in our hotel room. Susan & Dean showed up with some presents (a Marathon Geeks shirt for Jason) and touched base about the plans for Sunday. By then, it was practically time to meet Gavin and his friend Ravi for dinner. The line at the Macaroni Grill was enormously long (45 minute wait!) but luckily we were able to scoop to tables back to back in the bar with not much waiting at all.
Great company (we learned a bunch about homeopathic medicine from Ravi's sister, who's studying to be a doctor in Portland) and a good solid pasta dinner, and we were about ready to hit the hay. Last minute preps in the room (pin the race bib on the shirts, put the timing chips on the shoes, mix up the gu & water in the flasks, lay everything out) and it was lights out.
RACE DAY! Luckily the rain from the night before had departed by the time our alam went off at 5am and we woke up to dry skies and dry pavement. Temps were in the low 50s with overcast skies - just about as perfect as you could get. We had a quick sip of coffee & tried to make do with some super-watery cream of wheat for breakfast (mostly we ended up eating a banana and some clif bar) and it was time to head to the start line.
It was still dark when Gavin & Keith met us at our hotel and we started making our way with everyone else over to 4th & Main. It was chilly too - I was glad for the long sleeve t-shirt that Jason talked me in to wearing over my race outfit - I would be ready to ditch it on the side of the course before the 1/2 mile marker, but it served its purpose as we waited for the start. Jason, Gavin & I picked a spot midway between the 9:00 mile pace signs and 10:00 mile pace signs. Within 10 minutes we were packed in with people - which was a good thing because it helped to keep us warm.
A great rendition of the National Anthem (with the exception of the clueless volunteer back by the walkers making announcements over the microphone in the middle) and we were off. It only took us about a minute and a half to make our way to the actual start line, and on we went. The first mile or so was a total cluster as the crowd spread out, and again as we condensed down to go through the Chinese Gates. A bit of confusion on Marathon Avenue due to a bottleneck and big puddles from the previous night's rain, and then things started getting more sane. Mile 2 had people lining the streets, cheering, ringing cowbells, bands. The hill was no sweat and things really started to spread out as we headed into mile 3.
We finally saw Dean & Susan right after the 5 mile mark, and tossed them our gloves and Jason's hat. 50 yards later and I thought to myself - wow, that woman with the camera looks just like Susan - it was! She'd run down the side of the course (faster than I was going!) to get some more pictures of us.
Off into the industrial section - this was a long, somewhat boring out and back - at least after a while we could watch all the speedsters coming back on the other side of the road. They were haulin.
Miles 11, 12, 13 were great. Feeling good - a little bit of a long gradual climb through mile 12. Then back down some steep S-curves (caution!) and onto the long straightaway approach to the bridge. This was LONG. Really LONG. I stopped a couple times for a walk break - not more than a minute or so each time I think - just to give the legs a break. Finally, we were at the bridge. The climb to the bridge was long, but thanks to the bus tour, I knew we turned at the light, which I could see from the bottom. We were able to pass lots of people just by plodding up the hill. Up and over the bridge - it was really windy up there. Miles 18 - 20 seemed to pass as a blur - I remember they were hard, but that's about all I remember. I think the RedBull aid station was at Mile 19 - that helped.
Then, somewhere between mile 20 & 21, I got a nosebleed for no reason. This was more annoying than anything else, but it did cause us to walk for a couple of minutes while I tried to get it to stop. Then came the long downhill at 22 - and my left knee started complaining. The downhill was tough, and we took one walk break there. Then finally down at the bottom and on the flats, it started feeling better. We ran into Susan and Dean again here - and handed off our fuel belts. The flasks were empty, and I was ready to be free of the additional weight.
We passed the beer aid station between 24 and 25 - funny, but no way appealing. I just wanted to be done. I wish I'd been enjoying myself more at this point - but I was definitely working. Up and over the Steel Bridge to the 25 mile mark. I knew we were so close, but man that downhill tweaked my knee again. We grabbed some Ultima and water as we walked through the aid station, and then on again to put this thing to rest. Just keep going through the last mile - and finally we were making the turn on to Salmon - yahoo! People were cheering, yelling our names (thanks to them being printed on our race bibs), the fat lady singing - it was almost over. One more turn and there were the ballons and the timing mats. They announced our names and Jason grabbed my hand to raise it up in the victory sign as we crossed the finish line together.
What an amazing experience. In so many ways, I still can't believe we did a marathon. We did the finish area thing for about a 1/2 hour / 45 minutes - got some food, got our medals, shirts, roses & seedlings - one more picture in front of the balloons and it was time to hobble back to the hotel.
So cool to walk around Portland the rest of the day, to see all these other folks wearing the finishers shirts, their medals, to talk to people about the race. I was exhausted, but exhilerated. So, So Cool.
Cheers to the Portland Marathon folks and their entirely volunteer organization. They do an outstanding job. I'll be back.
Really - what an amazing experience. Fun. Awesome. Long. Challenging. Exhilerating. Inspiring. Fulfilling. Addicting.
When's the next one? I'll start training as soon as I can walk again without grimacing. :)
We arrived in Portland on Friday night and grabbed a taxi over to the Portland Hilton. The Hilton was both where we were staying as well as Race Headquarters, so after checkin, running our bags over to our room (we were actually in the Executive Tower, which was kitty-corner to the main Hilton & Race HQ), we had exactly 13 minutes to shoot down to the Expo for packet pickup. There was hardly anybody down there, except for the 2 dozen or so volunteers (wow!), so getting our race numbers and timing chips was a breeze. We were even able to sneak over to the expo just as they were closing it to buy tickets to the bus tour of the course the next day. Score!
After that it was a nice mellow dinner in our hotel restaurant (something Italian - a single glass of red wine with dinner, it was good), and off to bed.
Saturday we woke up on our own - around 7 am. Down to the Starbucks to grab a latte & a croissant and back to the expo to check out all the sights and sales. Race expos are amazing - there are booths with running apparel, gear, shoes - you name it, you can buy it at the expo - and usually at really good prices. Of course, there was also the booths with the official drinks that were going to be on the course, Tylenol, the course photographers and other sorts (I loved the Marathon Geeks). We dropped some change on a couple of nice long sleeve running shirts (it is getting to be winter you know!) as well as some great Portland Marathon souvenirs. Got hopped up on the Gleukos drink (eww - that stuff is awful!) and generally just wandered around for a while.
After that, we still had plenty of time to kill before our noon bus tour, so we decided to stroll the 3 blocks from the hotel over to the start area, just to check things out. The volunteers were already busy putting up barricades & signs, balloons, etc. for the Start & Finish areas the next day. That done, we figured we could extend our tax free shopping (Oregon has no sales tax - yahoo!) at Nike Town to get J a pair of running pants for his birthday.
Off on the bus tour - this was definitely a well spent $10. It helps me tremendously to be able to see in my mind's eye where I am on the course and know what's coming ahead. Our tour guide, Scott, and bus driver, Chuck, kept the bemusing Portland facts and corny jokes coming through the 1.5 hour tour. There were also some great people on the bus - people from all over the country: Atlanta, Anchorage, Chicago - other places I can't remember. And while there were lots of us for whom this was our first marathon, there were also more than a few veterans on the bus. For one woman, Portland would be her 27th! Wow.
After that we decided to grab some lunch at our friendly neighborhood Taco Del Mar, and grab some down time in our hotel room. Susan & Dean showed up with some presents (a Marathon Geeks shirt for Jason) and touched base about the plans for Sunday. By then, it was practically time to meet Gavin and his friend Ravi for dinner. The line at the Macaroni Grill was enormously long (45 minute wait!) but luckily we were able to scoop to tables back to back in the bar with not much waiting at all.
Great company (we learned a bunch about homeopathic medicine from Ravi's sister, who's studying to be a doctor in Portland) and a good solid pasta dinner, and we were about ready to hit the hay. Last minute preps in the room (pin the race bib on the shirts, put the timing chips on the shoes, mix up the gu & water in the flasks, lay everything out) and it was lights out.
RACE DAY! Luckily the rain from the night before had departed by the time our alam went off at 5am and we woke up to dry skies and dry pavement. Temps were in the low 50s with overcast skies - just about as perfect as you could get. We had a quick sip of coffee & tried to make do with some super-watery cream of wheat for breakfast (mostly we ended up eating a banana and some clif bar) and it was time to head to the start line.
It was still dark when Gavin & Keith met us at our hotel and we started making our way with everyone else over to 4th & Main. It was chilly too - I was glad for the long sleeve t-shirt that Jason talked me in to wearing over my race outfit - I would be ready to ditch it on the side of the course before the 1/2 mile marker, but it served its purpose as we waited for the start. Jason, Gavin & I picked a spot midway between the 9:00 mile pace signs and 10:00 mile pace signs. Within 10 minutes we were packed in with people - which was a good thing because it helped to keep us warm.
A great rendition of the National Anthem (with the exception of the clueless volunteer back by the walkers making announcements over the microphone in the middle) and we were off. It only took us about a minute and a half to make our way to the actual start line, and on we went. The first mile or so was a total cluster as the crowd spread out, and again as we condensed down to go through the Chinese Gates. A bit of confusion on Marathon Avenue due to a bottleneck and big puddles from the previous night's rain, and then things started getting more sane. Mile 2 had people lining the streets, cheering, ringing cowbells, bands. The hill was no sweat and things really started to spread out as we headed into mile 3.
We finally saw Dean & Susan right after the 5 mile mark, and tossed them our gloves and Jason's hat. 50 yards later and I thought to myself - wow, that woman with the camera looks just like Susan - it was! She'd run down the side of the course (faster than I was going!) to get some more pictures of us.
Off into the industrial section - this was a long, somewhat boring out and back - at least after a while we could watch all the speedsters coming back on the other side of the road. They were haulin.
Miles 11, 12, 13 were great. Feeling good - a little bit of a long gradual climb through mile 12. Then back down some steep S-curves (caution!) and onto the long straightaway approach to the bridge. This was LONG. Really LONG. I stopped a couple times for a walk break - not more than a minute or so each time I think - just to give the legs a break. Finally, we were at the bridge. The climb to the bridge was long, but thanks to the bus tour, I knew we turned at the light, which I could see from the bottom. We were able to pass lots of people just by plodding up the hill. Up and over the bridge - it was really windy up there. Miles 18 - 20 seemed to pass as a blur - I remember they were hard, but that's about all I remember. I think the RedBull aid station was at Mile 19 - that helped.
Then, somewhere between mile 20 & 21, I got a nosebleed for no reason. This was more annoying than anything else, but it did cause us to walk for a couple of minutes while I tried to get it to stop. Then came the long downhill at 22 - and my left knee started complaining. The downhill was tough, and we took one walk break there. Then finally down at the bottom and on the flats, it started feeling better. We ran into Susan and Dean again here - and handed off our fuel belts. The flasks were empty, and I was ready to be free of the additional weight.
We passed the beer aid station between 24 and 25 - funny, but no way appealing. I just wanted to be done. I wish I'd been enjoying myself more at this point - but I was definitely working. Up and over the Steel Bridge to the 25 mile mark. I knew we were so close, but man that downhill tweaked my knee again. We grabbed some Ultima and water as we walked through the aid station, and then on again to put this thing to rest. Just keep going through the last mile - and finally we were making the turn on to Salmon - yahoo! People were cheering, yelling our names (thanks to them being printed on our race bibs), the fat lady singing - it was almost over. One more turn and there were the ballons and the timing mats. They announced our names and Jason grabbed my hand to raise it up in the victory sign as we crossed the finish line together.
What an amazing experience. In so many ways, I still can't believe we did a marathon. We did the finish area thing for about a 1/2 hour / 45 minutes - got some food, got our medals, shirts, roses & seedlings - one more picture in front of the balloons and it was time to hobble back to the hotel.
So cool to walk around Portland the rest of the day, to see all these other folks wearing the finishers shirts, their medals, to talk to people about the race. I was exhausted, but exhilerated. So, So Cool.
Cheers to the Portland Marathon folks and their entirely volunteer organization. They do an outstanding job. I'll be back.
Friday, October 07, 2005
Blessing and a Curse
Selling your home can be an enormous undertaking. Depending on the market you're in, it can take as little as a day or as long as 90 (or more!). It's interesting, I think, how many people don't fully prep their house for sale: clear away all the clutter and knick knacks, take the magnets off the fridge, put away the kids' classroom art, and keep the house spotless. It shouldn't be surprising though - keeping your house that way is a LOT of work.
I should know - today is the 14th day we've had our house on the market. And everytime the phone rings, I catch my breath. It's a blessing and a curse. Blessing because more than likely its an agent calling to bring a client by to see the house. This, of course, is a good thing. You can't sell your house without people seeing it. It's also not so good a thing, though, because it means you need to pick up and vacate the house PDQ. Which, in the middle of the day when you're trying to "work from home", becomes somewhat of a nuisance.
So here we sit at the local coffee shop with free wifi, Rembrandts, waiting for the "all clear" sign to head back to the house. The toughest thing about that is that real estate agents are like the cable guy - they give you a 1-2 hour window during which they'll be by when in reality they're going to be in the house for a whopping 15 minutes at best, and then they're ALWAYS late.
The past 2 days, the phone has been eerily silent. No phone calls, no visits, no nothing. Hmmm. Today we're home working away (or in my case, not so much working), planning to do our packing for Portland this afternoon, when the phone rings. Agent. Coming by in 10 minutes. Yikes! Good thing the house cleaner was just here this morning. As we're doing the final sweep of the house (dishes in the dishwasher, pack up the laptops to head to the coffee shop, grab the dogs) *RING*! Another one - this time coming between 1:30 & 2:30. Okay - this is good. We want to sell the house - in fact, we need to sell the house. We just need to boogie home at 3 and pack, so we can get the heck outta dodge.
Here's hoping we sell the house soon - both so we can have sold the house and so we can go back to living in our house before we have to give it all up!
I should know - today is the 14th day we've had our house on the market. And everytime the phone rings, I catch my breath. It's a blessing and a curse. Blessing because more than likely its an agent calling to bring a client by to see the house. This, of course, is a good thing. You can't sell your house without people seeing it. It's also not so good a thing, though, because it means you need to pick up and vacate the house PDQ. Which, in the middle of the day when you're trying to "work from home", becomes somewhat of a nuisance.
So here we sit at the local coffee shop with free wifi, Rembrandts, waiting for the "all clear" sign to head back to the house. The toughest thing about that is that real estate agents are like the cable guy - they give you a 1-2 hour window during which they'll be by when in reality they're going to be in the house for a whopping 15 minutes at best, and then they're ALWAYS late.
The past 2 days, the phone has been eerily silent. No phone calls, no visits, no nothing. Hmmm. Today we're home working away (or in my case, not so much working), planning to do our packing for Portland this afternoon, when the phone rings. Agent. Coming by in 10 minutes. Yikes! Good thing the house cleaner was just here this morning. As we're doing the final sweep of the house (dishes in the dishwasher, pack up the laptops to head to the coffee shop, grab the dogs) *RING*! Another one - this time coming between 1:30 & 2:30. Okay - this is good. We want to sell the house - in fact, we need to sell the house. We just need to boogie home at 3 and pack, so we can get the heck outta dodge.
Here's hoping we sell the house soon - both so we can have sold the house and so we can go back to living in our house before we have to give it all up!
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Marathon Advice
from BOISERunWalk founder Steve Blake:
Intentionally plan on having fun, and focus on what has worked for you during your training distances. Get good sleep beginning several days prior. You might not sleep well the night prior.
Divide the race into five parts (adjust the miles to your liking):
1. slow warm-up for the first 6 miles. Going out slow enough to soak in the event, the people, the sounds, the excitement. Enjoy this stage of the race event as a party... a slow party of huge magnitude.
2. cruise control from 6 to 16. Hit a groove, settle into a sustainable, even pace where mind and body are in-sync, in a zone. Focus on smooth technique, stride, rhythm, heel-to-toe and monitor your breathing. You need a cruise pace that is smooth and easy for a solid 10 miles.
3. recalibrate from 16 through 22+. Now it's becoming work. Monitor your vitals, calculate your progress, run some numbers on energy and pain levels, and adjust up or down your pace... or keep it the same cruise pace. Recalibrate.
4. finish strong. Just how bad do you want this! Well guess what? You got it baby. It's all yours, you own it and you are the hero. Be the hero, and ask yourself what's important the last 5 miles, 4 miles, 3 miles, 2... 1.... Whatever you decide is important these last miles, drop the hammer at some point prior to the finish line, and finish strong!
5. Post-race..... you just crossed the finish line... now immediately find someone to hug, and spill the emotions of 27 weeks of training and 26.2 miles of guts and glory. Grab your water, and fruits and post-race food ASAP, and head back to the finish line to watch the drama of human endeavor unfold across the line, one athlete at a time. Cheer them on! Absorb the love and pain. Thank the Lord.
T Minus 3...Last Minute Preparations
It's starting to come down to the wire on the marathon preparations. I'm long past the point of adding any fitness - so now's the time to rest, hydrate, fuel, stretch and make sure I've got all my gear ready.
I've been somewhat anxiously monitoring the weather forecast for Portland this weekend. The Portland marathon site proudly touts that it has only rained once on race day in the past 24 years, so when the forecast last week called for showers, I was a little worried. Of course, by now the forecast is ready partly cloudy with a high of 66 - near perfect. :) Let's just keep that going....
Now the question becomes what to wear? Shorts of course (and I know which pair) and a short sleeve shirt - a long sleeve would just get too hot over the course of the race. But looking at the hour by hour trends and the projected low for race day, its probably going to be in the upper 40s at race time, so gloves are definitely going to be in order. My plan is to pick up a couple pairs of cheapy lightweight running gloves today - the kind that are easy to tuck into the band of your Fuel Belt or even pitch on the side of the road if you so desire. One pair for me, one pair for Jason. I may even pick up some extra GU too - so that we have plenty to mix in our bottles.
Tomorrow I'll pack everything up - socks, shorts, tops, Body Glide (lots of Body Glide!), shoes (don't forget those!), hat / visor, gloves, GU, fuel belts & flasks, sunscreen. That's one thing I will definitely remember - after my experience on Robie Creek, I will make sure to wear sunscreen. You forget how long you will be out there on the course - and even if I'm not likely too see too much sun in Portland, I'm not going to take any chances. Also in the bag we'll make sure to have Band-aids, Ibuprofen, Rolaids (for Jason's tummy), and gum. I'll probably even bring my own bananas!
I'm feeling pretty ready. I've done 2 light jogs this week at marathon pace (9:30s ) and was able to keep my HR average at 120 bpm. Pretty good. Lots of stretching. I've been getting great sleep too - I went to bed at 10:30 last night and slept until 7 this morning - pretty much unheard of for me.
Found out this morning that my former sister-in-law Susan may come down to Portland to cheer us on. Susan's done Portland 3 times I think now - at least 2x and she did the Marine Corps marathon with her sister Mary last year. So it will be very cool to have someone we know on the sidelines and at the finish line.
I'm excited. I'm anxious. I'm ready. :)
I've been somewhat anxiously monitoring the weather forecast for Portland this weekend. The Portland marathon site proudly touts that it has only rained once on race day in the past 24 years, so when the forecast last week called for showers, I was a little worried. Of course, by now the forecast is ready partly cloudy with a high of 66 - near perfect. :) Let's just keep that going....
Now the question becomes what to wear? Shorts of course (and I know which pair) and a short sleeve shirt - a long sleeve would just get too hot over the course of the race. But looking at the hour by hour trends and the projected low for race day, its probably going to be in the upper 40s at race time, so gloves are definitely going to be in order. My plan is to pick up a couple pairs of cheapy lightweight running gloves today - the kind that are easy to tuck into the band of your Fuel Belt or even pitch on the side of the road if you so desire. One pair for me, one pair for Jason. I may even pick up some extra GU too - so that we have plenty to mix in our bottles.
Tomorrow I'll pack everything up - socks, shorts, tops, Body Glide (lots of Body Glide!), shoes (don't forget those!), hat / visor, gloves, GU, fuel belts & flasks, sunscreen. That's one thing I will definitely remember - after my experience on Robie Creek, I will make sure to wear sunscreen. You forget how long you will be out there on the course - and even if I'm not likely too see too much sun in Portland, I'm not going to take any chances. Also in the bag we'll make sure to have Band-aids, Ibuprofen, Rolaids (for Jason's tummy), and gum. I'll probably even bring my own bananas!
I'm feeling pretty ready. I've done 2 light jogs this week at marathon pace (9:30s ) and was able to keep my HR average at 120 bpm. Pretty good. Lots of stretching. I've been getting great sleep too - I went to bed at 10:30 last night and slept until 7 this morning - pretty much unheard of for me.
Found out this morning that my former sister-in-law Susan may come down to Portland to cheer us on. Susan's done Portland 3 times I think now - at least 2x and she did the Marine Corps marathon with her sister Mary last year. So it will be very cool to have someone we know on the sidelines and at the finish line.
I'm excited. I'm anxious. I'm ready. :)
Monday, October 03, 2005
My Next Big Thing
As I referred to in an earlier post, I'm already working on the next "big thing" if you will, my next goal. There's a great article in this month's Runner's World about surviving the let-down after a big marathon and how to plan to keep yourself motivated. Sure, you need recovery time, but without a follow-on goal, its easy to lose motivation to train, and to lose the benefit of all that training.
So I have 2 levels of goal races, or actually 3. The first, most near term, is defined, but is a maybe dependent upon how I feel physically following the marathon. That being the City of Trees Half Marathon, on Sunday November 6. There are actually 2 half-marathons that I considered for following the marathon - both of which members of BOISERunWalk are training for: the Zeitgeist half and the City of Trees Half. Zeitgeist is on Saturday, November 5 and is VERY hilly, with 3 significant climbs. CoT is on Sunday November 6, but is a basically flat tour of downtown Boise in conjunction with the CoT full marathon. Both races are only 4 weeks after the marathon - hence the uncertainty - but the Zeitgeist race just seemed too aggressive, given the hills, and the fact that I haven't done any hill training (more fondly referred to as "specificity training" by Coach Mike). CoT seems more doable, barring any injuries (knock on wood).
My 2nd goal, also near term, is half for fun and half a challenge. It's a 5-mile "Turkey Trot" in Cleveland on Thanksgiving day, where we'll be visiting my dad. We did the Turkey Trot the last time we were in Cleveland on Thanksgiving back in 1997. The challenge this time is the reward: the first 50 men and the first 50 women will take home a free pumpkin pie. I'm going for the first 50 women. I don't know how much speed work I'll be able to get in between the marathon & Thanksgiving, but I'm thinking I should be able to be pretty darn close to 40:00 for the race (8:00 miles). We'll see.
The larger question is around my longer term goals. The first 2 will get me through the recovery month and get me to keep training. I know what I want to do next - I just haven't picked the race yet, not for certain. The next challenge is to conquer a triathlon. And like we did with Robie Creek, I'm not starting small. My (tentative) goal race is a half-ironman tri (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) and one of the more challenging races: Wildflower in California May 5-7. Of course I know I'll need to get a sprint tri in there (at least) or maybe even an Olympic distance tri in there as practice, but I definitely want to try for the longer distance.
The trick is, I feel much less prepared to pull together a training plan for a triathlon than I do, or ever did, for a road race. Of course, I know there are tons of on-line resources (OnTri is a great one) and I have no fewer than 5 books on the subject here at home. Plus, I've got a couple of great resources as friends - my neighbor Jeff is a serious Ironman (he finished Ironman Canada in a smoking 10:36:-- WOW!) and my friend and cycling buddy Gina is a budding triathlete herself, having just completed her first Olympic distance tri at Emmett.
I know I can put one down on paper. I'd just really like to have a coach or trainer to help me be accountable too. Plus, I really need to take some swimming lessons. I mean, I took swimming lessons as a kid, but I hardly ever swim now, and I certainly never do laps - that's going to have to change. ;)
So there you go - it's out here. Wildflower 2006. Registration opens on December 1. I need to find some intermediate tris between now and then - probably in Seattle. Oh crap - May's not that far away! Maybe it will be Wildflower 2007.....nah!
So I have 2 levels of goal races, or actually 3. The first, most near term, is defined, but is a maybe dependent upon how I feel physically following the marathon. That being the City of Trees Half Marathon, on Sunday November 6. There are actually 2 half-marathons that I considered for following the marathon - both of which members of BOISERunWalk are training for: the Zeitgeist half and the City of Trees Half. Zeitgeist is on Saturday, November 5 and is VERY hilly, with 3 significant climbs. CoT is on Sunday November 6, but is a basically flat tour of downtown Boise in conjunction with the CoT full marathon. Both races are only 4 weeks after the marathon - hence the uncertainty - but the Zeitgeist race just seemed too aggressive, given the hills, and the fact that I haven't done any hill training (more fondly referred to as "specificity training" by Coach Mike). CoT seems more doable, barring any injuries (knock on wood).
My 2nd goal, also near term, is half for fun and half a challenge. It's a 5-mile "Turkey Trot" in Cleveland on Thanksgiving day, where we'll be visiting my dad. We did the Turkey Trot the last time we were in Cleveland on Thanksgiving back in 1997. The challenge this time is the reward: the first 50 men and the first 50 women will take home a free pumpkin pie. I'm going for the first 50 women. I don't know how much speed work I'll be able to get in between the marathon & Thanksgiving, but I'm thinking I should be able to be pretty darn close to 40:00 for the race (8:00 miles). We'll see.
The larger question is around my longer term goals. The first 2 will get me through the recovery month and get me to keep training. I know what I want to do next - I just haven't picked the race yet, not for certain. The next challenge is to conquer a triathlon. And like we did with Robie Creek, I'm not starting small. My (tentative) goal race is a half-ironman tri (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) and one of the more challenging races: Wildflower in California May 5-7. Of course I know I'll need to get a sprint tri in there (at least) or maybe even an Olympic distance tri in there as practice, but I definitely want to try for the longer distance.
The trick is, I feel much less prepared to pull together a training plan for a triathlon than I do, or ever did, for a road race. Of course, I know there are tons of on-line resources (OnTri is a great one) and I have no fewer than 5 books on the subject here at home. Plus, I've got a couple of great resources as friends - my neighbor Jeff is a serious Ironman (he finished Ironman Canada in a smoking 10:36:-- WOW!) and my friend and cycling buddy Gina is a budding triathlete herself, having just completed her first Olympic distance tri at Emmett.
I know I can put one down on paper. I'd just really like to have a coach or trainer to help me be accountable too. Plus, I really need to take some swimming lessons. I mean, I took swimming lessons as a kid, but I hardly ever swim now, and I certainly never do laps - that's going to have to change. ;)
So there you go - it's out here. Wildflower 2006. Registration opens on December 1. I need to find some intermediate tris between now and then - probably in Seattle. Oh crap - May's not that far away! Maybe it will be Wildflower 2007.....nah!
My Pooper-Dupers
My first and oldest, Frango (she's the one with the grey on her chin), came home to us at exactly 49 days old. She was the sweetest, cuddly-est puppy I knew - and she stole every bit of my and my husband's heart.
Dog number 2, Porter, came to us more recently, as an adolescent, but he has done no less to win all our hearts - including Frango's. Both dogs are pure-bred, AKC registered Labrador retrievers, both favoring the English (shorter, stockier, conformation) lines as opposed to American (taller, lankier, hunting) lines, though Porter is a better example of the "shovel-face" that we originally fell in love with. Luckily for her, Frango has a beautiful, feminine frame, while Porter sports the stocky, blocky look.
A little explanation on the names: for those of you not from Seattle or familiar with the now defunct Frederick & Nelson's department stores, Frangos were the chocolate truffle made & sold exclusively at F&N. When they went under, they sold the recipe & the rights to The Bon Marche, now Macy's, where Frangos have proliferated in numerous varieties. So Frango is the Seattle-specific equivalent of really yummy chocolate - hence the name for our chocolate lab. Porter, on the other hand, had already spent the first 15 months of his life with the unfortunate name of Kenny (my apologies to any Kennys out there). For us, that just wouldn't do. As a black lab, there were 2 viable candidates for his name: Guinness & Porter - because after all, what's more important in life than chocolate & beer? Porter, obviously, won out.
We have been truly blessed with both our dogs. They have fantastic temperaments, and have gotten along like 2 peas in a pod from the moment they met. I'll write more about both of them later - but for now you can enjoy this photo taken this past Sunday, October 2, 2005. The dogs said it was a great dog morning - with temps in the upper 40's it was just right for chasing the ball & the frisbee around the backyard.
The Last "Long" Run
Jason and I logged our last "long" run before the marathon this past Saturday. I'm not sure it even qualified as long... we did 6 on the Greenbelt while our fellow BoiseRunWalkers were slogging through their final benchmark distance - 21.7 miles (or 35km for you non-US types) before the City of Trees Marathon. Six miles. Short - in fact, that's what I would do on a Monday (or longer sometimes) for a typical training run.
Six miles. When I started running again a year ago, six miles was somewhat infathomable. At least, if I were going to do 6, it would be an all out effort that would probably toast me for the rest of the day. Phew - 6 miles! Look at me now!
No really - look at me now. A little over a year ago (13 months to be exact), I started working out with my trainer, Trina. Trina is about the size of a 12 year old - 5'0", maybe 115 pounds soaking wet (and only because she's solid muscle) - Trina can pull 7:00 miles for distance. She's amazing. So when I started working out with her last September, I said I wanted to get back into running, to really get some base miles, to maybe train for a half marathon in a year or so, and to one day, maybe train for a marathon.
So Trina started me out training for a 5K. A ten-week training program for a 5K. For the non-runners out there, 5K is a popular "fun-run" distance - equaling 3.1 miles - that most can do in 30 minutes or so, and walkers can complete in under an hour. To tell you the truth, I was a little offended - I mean, I could already run 3 miles right then if I had to.
But Trina started me off right - smart, slow, consistent. The training program for the 5K consisted of 3-4 days / week of running - some days as little as 1.5 miles. But I would do a 5 minute warm up on the treadmill (which would get me to @ 1/2 mile) then get off, stretch, use the foam core roller (a GODSEND for IT bands & achilles) then go do the prescribed mileage, then do an equal cool down. It enabled me to get to 10-12 miles per week consistently - something I'd never really done. And believe it or not, over 10 weeks time, I went from running 10 minute miles to 9 minute miles. And racing just over 8 minute miles - in the 2004 Barber to Boise 5K, I actually placed SECOND IN MY AGE GROUP with a time of 25:34 (average 8:14 miles).
Now mind you, I've never placed in a race IN MY LIFE. So this was pretty cool.
After that, things got a little crazy. My husband had the bright idea of training for the Race to Robie Creek, well known as "The Toughest Half-Marathon in the Northwest". Now I'd heard of Robie Creek, and wanted to do it eventually - but for our first half marathon?? But we did it - with a LOT of help from our friends at Boise Fit. And before we even got to race day, I was thinking of the next battle - the Portland Marathon.
And here we are. T-minus 5 days and counting. Oy.
In the words of Martin Sheen, as President Jeb Bartlett, "What's next?"
Six miles. When I started running again a year ago, six miles was somewhat infathomable. At least, if I were going to do 6, it would be an all out effort that would probably toast me for the rest of the day. Phew - 6 miles! Look at me now!
No really - look at me now. A little over a year ago (13 months to be exact), I started working out with my trainer, Trina. Trina is about the size of a 12 year old - 5'0", maybe 115 pounds soaking wet (and only because she's solid muscle) - Trina can pull 7:00 miles for distance. She's amazing. So when I started working out with her last September, I said I wanted to get back into running, to really get some base miles, to maybe train for a half marathon in a year or so, and to one day, maybe train for a marathon.
So Trina started me out training for a 5K. A ten-week training program for a 5K. For the non-runners out there, 5K is a popular "fun-run" distance - equaling 3.1 miles - that most can do in 30 minutes or so, and walkers can complete in under an hour. To tell you the truth, I was a little offended - I mean, I could already run 3 miles right then if I had to.
But Trina started me off right - smart, slow, consistent. The training program for the 5K consisted of 3-4 days / week of running - some days as little as 1.5 miles. But I would do a 5 minute warm up on the treadmill (which would get me to @ 1/2 mile) then get off, stretch, use the foam core roller (a GODSEND for IT bands & achilles) then go do the prescribed mileage, then do an equal cool down. It enabled me to get to 10-12 miles per week consistently - something I'd never really done. And believe it or not, over 10 weeks time, I went from running 10 minute miles to 9 minute miles. And racing just over 8 minute miles - in the 2004 Barber to Boise 5K, I actually placed SECOND IN MY AGE GROUP with a time of 25:34 (average 8:14 miles).
Now mind you, I've never placed in a race IN MY LIFE. So this was pretty cool.
After that, things got a little crazy. My husband had the bright idea of training for the Race to Robie Creek, well known as "The Toughest Half-Marathon in the Northwest". Now I'd heard of Robie Creek, and wanted to do it eventually - but for our first half marathon?? But we did it - with a LOT of help from our friends at Boise Fit. And before we even got to race day, I was thinking of the next battle - the Portland Marathon.
And here we are. T-minus 5 days and counting. Oy.
In the words of Martin Sheen, as President Jeb Bartlett, "What's next?"
Friday, September 30, 2005
Writer's Block - so soon?
No post yesterday, and today I'm struggling with what I want to write about. Its not that I don't have alot of interesting things on my mind - its just that none of them have congealed (maybe gelled is a better word?) into a cohesive story for me to write about.
oy... I guess I'll just wait for them to bounce around a bit more until one bounces out.... :)
oy... I guess I'll just wait for them to bounce around a bit more until one bounces out.... :)
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
What's Best about Boise
There are a lot of things about Boise that many would consider less than ideal. For one, it's in Idaho, that hotbed of liberalism and intellectualism (not!). Two, it's really a small town surrounded by farmlands, with unplanned commercial growth contributing to lousy traffic, little diversity and little culture. If you're not interested in the outdoors, there frankly isn't alot to do here.
Lucky for me though, there are a lot of other things that have made the Boise area (the Treasure Valley, as the geography is known) a great place to spend a year and a half or so.
First off, the weather is, by and large, outstanding. With 300 days of sunshine per year, Boise's weather seems to be the polar opposite of Seattle. In Seattle, when you can check the weather and get 5 straight pics of rain, in Boise you get 5 straight (or 10, 15?) days of sunshine. Jason and I always laugh when they show the 24 hour dopplar radar for Idaho - there's nothing there! Of course, it does get HOT in the summer (like, 103 degrees hot) and somewhat cold in the winter - but when the sun is shining, its hard to care.
Secondly, I do love to do things outdoors. I love to hike, bike, run - and Boise's a great place to do all of it. In fact, I've hooked up with an outstanding bunch of people to run with in Boise -formerly known as BoiseFit, the folks at BoiseRunWalk are truly a great group. We've got everything from a Masters record holder (who also runs ultras, mind you) to the Average Joe runner who just does it to be able to keep eating pizza and drinking beer. We've got some Hash House Harriers (those are drinkers with a running problem, for the uninitiated), racers, novices, experts, walkers, run-walkers, race-walkers and pretty much everything in between. We meet every Saturday for a long run, complete with water, Powerade and PortaPotties along the course (conceivably leading up to the Boise City of Trees Marathon in November) or some other race of your choice, but also are regaled with emails, discussion boards, speed workouts mid-week, sales at the local shoe store (The Athlete's Foot ROCKS!) and more. To top it all off, Steve, the Master of BOISERunWalk also arranges for free injury screenings and mini-massages following our long runs. And THEN, we all head off to the local coffee shop to sit in the sun and sip lattes. Ahh, the good life.
Another Best of Boise is our local meat market/deli/wine & cheese shop, The Porterhouse. From before we even moved to Idaho, walking into Porterhouse was like walking in to Cheers - it really is the corner meat market where everyone knows your name - and gives you shit about it too. :) But the guys at Porterhouse are great - they'll take the time to explain to you (and draw pictures too) the difference between a New York steak and a ribeye, what to look for in a good steak, and what wine would go best with your meal. You can even get a glass of wine if you time it right, a free taste of cheese and a good old hard time from Wayne too. They also carry all natural, antibiotic free meats raise through sustainable farming. You gotta love these guys. I just wish they had a "frequent shoppers" club - I swear we should have earned a free cow by now!
And last, but definitely not the least, one of the best things about Boise is the people. Real people, without pretensions, in most cases without agendas, who forge real friendships. These are the kind of people you can find everywhere, even in more metropolitan cities like Seattle, but they're a little harder to come by. From our friends at Porterhouse, to our friends at BoiseRunWalk, to our friends at the gym, from work, and from our neighborhood - the people we've met and bonded with are down to earth, authentic and sincere. I like these folks, and even though we've only been here a short time, there are more than a few people who've made an impact on me. People like Ray, like Kirk, like Trina (the Trinanator!) and Tony, like DJ and Walt, Tina, Ann, Jill, crazy Ironman Jeff... I could go on and on. When I stop and think about it, it really amazes me how little time it takes to really get connected with a place, and its people.
So I think that's what it comes down to - what's best about Boise are its people - even the Republican ones.
Lucky for me though, there are a lot of other things that have made the Boise area (the Treasure Valley, as the geography is known) a great place to spend a year and a half or so.
First off, the weather is, by and large, outstanding. With 300 days of sunshine per year, Boise's weather seems to be the polar opposite of Seattle. In Seattle, when you can check the weather and get 5 straight pics of rain, in Boise you get 5 straight (or 10, 15?) days of sunshine. Jason and I always laugh when they show the 24 hour dopplar radar for Idaho - there's nothing there! Of course, it does get HOT in the summer (like, 103 degrees hot) and somewhat cold in the winter - but when the sun is shining, its hard to care.
Secondly, I do love to do things outdoors. I love to hike, bike, run - and Boise's a great place to do all of it. In fact, I've hooked up with an outstanding bunch of people to run with in Boise -formerly known as BoiseFit, the folks at BoiseRunWalk are truly a great group. We've got everything from a Masters record holder (who also runs ultras, mind you) to the Average Joe runner who just does it to be able to keep eating pizza and drinking beer. We've got some Hash House Harriers (those are drinkers with a running problem, for the uninitiated), racers, novices, experts, walkers, run-walkers, race-walkers and pretty much everything in between. We meet every Saturday for a long run, complete with water, Powerade and PortaPotties along the course (conceivably leading up to the Boise City of Trees Marathon in November) or some other race of your choice, but also are regaled with emails, discussion boards, speed workouts mid-week, sales at the local shoe store (The Athlete's Foot ROCKS!) and more. To top it all off, Steve, the Master of BOISERunWalk also arranges for free injury screenings and mini-massages following our long runs. And THEN, we all head off to the local coffee shop to sit in the sun and sip lattes. Ahh, the good life.
Another Best of Boise is our local meat market/deli/wine & cheese shop, The Porterhouse. From before we even moved to Idaho, walking into Porterhouse was like walking in to Cheers - it really is the corner meat market where everyone knows your name - and gives you shit about it too. :) But the guys at Porterhouse are great - they'll take the time to explain to you (and draw pictures too) the difference between a New York steak and a ribeye, what to look for in a good steak, and what wine would go best with your meal. You can even get a glass of wine if you time it right, a free taste of cheese and a good old hard time from Wayne too. They also carry all natural, antibiotic free meats raise through sustainable farming. You gotta love these guys. I just wish they had a "frequent shoppers" club - I swear we should have earned a free cow by now!
And last, but definitely not the least, one of the best things about Boise is the people. Real people, without pretensions, in most cases without agendas, who forge real friendships. These are the kind of people you can find everywhere, even in more metropolitan cities like Seattle, but they're a little harder to come by. From our friends at Porterhouse, to our friends at BoiseRunWalk, to our friends at the gym, from work, and from our neighborhood - the people we've met and bonded with are down to earth, authentic and sincere. I like these folks, and even though we've only been here a short time, there are more than a few people who've made an impact on me. People like Ray, like Kirk, like Trina (the Trinanator!) and Tony, like DJ and Walt, Tina, Ann, Jill, crazy Ironman Jeff... I could go on and on. When I stop and think about it, it really amazes me how little time it takes to really get connected with a place, and its people.
So I think that's what it comes down to - what's best about Boise are its people - even the Republican ones.
Switching Costs
Anyone even remotely familiar with economics, competition, or even what's made Microsoft so successful is familiar with the concept of switching costs. Essentially, switching costs are incurred when a particular tool or technology becomes so entrenched that the cost to the customer to switch (in learning time, productivity, compatibility, etc) to a new tool or technology outweighs the benefit of switching. This is a technology company's dream.
Unfortunately for MSN Spaces, that was not the case for me. I've posted 1 blog there (my First!) but have to admit I was less than thrilled with the total appearance, and even less so with the fact that I kept experiencing a "catastrophic error" (Microsoft's words, not mine) when I would try to log back into the page.
So, Blogger, here I am. I have to admit, I almost didn't switch when I couldn't get my traditional user name. Unbelievably, charpopp was already taken. So was charpopp72 (is there another one of me out there??). That's okay - at least I could still use it for my blog address - and my user only matters to me.
Hopefully my first day experiences at Blogger will be better than MSN. And hopefully I can now escape the ridicule (or good natured ribbing) of my more experienced blogging friends.
Am I officially a blogger now?
Unfortunately for MSN Spaces, that was not the case for me. I've posted 1 blog there (my First!) but have to admit I was less than thrilled with the total appearance, and even less so with the fact that I kept experiencing a "catastrophic error" (Microsoft's words, not mine) when I would try to log back into the page.
So, Blogger, here I am. I have to admit, I almost didn't switch when I couldn't get my traditional user name. Unbelievably, charpopp was already taken. So was charpopp72 (is there another one of me out there??). That's okay - at least I could still use it for my blog address - and my user only matters to me.
Hopefully my first day experiences at Blogger will be better than MSN. And hopefully I can now escape the ridicule (or good natured ribbing) of my more experienced blogging friends.
Am I officially a blogger now?
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