13 miles
After running 13 miles in the rain, wind and hail (it started around mile 7, just after the turnaround), you smile creepily like this.
Running in the Rain
Yesterday I really didn’t want to run. With six miles on the calendar and no energy, I stared at my computer for quite a while procrastinating. Decided six was the magic number and ate a snack before I headed out. The rain started at about 6:05 p.m. I ran on. The rain got harder. I ran on. I mean, it’s Seattle, it rains.
At about the two mile mark (this was a slow, slow 2-mile in wind and rain over piles of slippery fall leaves), the sky opened up and the rain came down as if wanting to wash me away. I turned around, hoping to at least make it home and get four miles in. Mother nature had other plans for me as the rain came down heavier and heavier. My only goal became getting to cover.
I took refuge under the awning of a closed store with a couple and their baby. We all hoped the rain would let up. The gutter around the corner began to overflow onto the sidewalk and turn into a small river. (Why doesn’t Seattle have gutter drainage I do’t think I’ve ever see a storm drain here.) I finally called for a ride to come get me. I was already drenched and shivering. The couple put a jacket over the baby’s carriage and took off running. I’m not positive that’s the safest action with a baby (I mean they could have picked the baby up), but they took off in the downpour.
Normally, I love running in the wind and rain, but last season it was a bit calmer. It was like running in a drizzle. I came home damp, not soaked. This season is starting to look a little gray.
In the end, I went to the gym and ran a bit on the treadmill and then peddled until the football game was over. I got some miles in, but it definitely wasn’t the happiest 6 miles of my life. This is the second time this week where the rain came down so hard that I couldn’t run if I wanted to. On Monday, I was still 3 miles from the house and had no one to pick me up. This isn’t October rain, this is late-December rain. It’s not making training easy, but I’m not truly complaining because I’ll be at Disneyworld in just two weeks running in Florida sunshine.
First I have to make it through 11-12 miles this weekend. Here’s hoping for a drizzle and not a monsoon!
Training at Disneyland
So I didn’t really do much training at Disneyland. It was hot. The indoor gym was hot. I ran maybe three miles. But I did walk over 10 hours each day! And eat corn.
11 Miles Under the Belt
This season has been hard. I won’t lie, I have barely been running on my “runs”. It’s been hot, my arm goes numb right around the surgery scar, I’ve been dehydrated–I have a thousand excuses. I kept going out there and doing the miles, but I haven’t felt good about it.
On Sunday, after eating cookies and bagels all day, and procrastinating for most of the afternoon watching football, I headed out for a run with Ricky. We left sometime after seven and arrived home shortly before nine. We ran down Golden Gardens way to watch the sunset, crossed the locks, stopping to checkout the empty fish ladder (just in case there was a late salmon), and ran across the Ballard Bridge. That was about 7ish miles. I felt great. I wasn’t tired. I was popping (or rather sucking and slurping) my Gu and drinking a Gatorade G2 mixed with water.
Running across the bridge always makes me happy, but at night, it’s something special. We were on the Westbound side of the bridge so the cars were coming right at me in the night. Their lights creating shadows across the sidewalk and the noise drowning out any cues from runkeeper. I felt great. I could have ran for miles.
Then we came off the bridge, ran past some bus waiting smokers and bam, that hill. Fifteenth Street loomed ahead. One giant hill that had to be passed to get home. Weighing the other options (up Leary to 24th or cross market to 24th), no other options were better. Part of me wanted to cut a left and head to Fremont for some Dumplings at Pel’ Meni (the Dumpling Tzar take LevelUp) and then just take Uber home.
I faced that hill with a “Nothing can Defeat me Attitude”. It laughed at me. I made it to Market, then took a walk break. Decided to run one block, walk the next. Except, some of those blocks were really steep. Took a long walk break to suck down some Gu and refuel, turned down 65th and ran all the way to 24th, and then headed up that hill. It defeated me as well. I was tired. About a mile from home and those hills were too much. We turned down 70th and ran a few blocks, then walked up some hill, then ran some more. Finally, not wanting to walk in, I ran from 77th to 80th around the corner and up my street to my house. I ended it running (well and then walked past my house to cool down).
It took almost three hours to do 11 miles. There was a bathroom break, some slowdown due to Ricardo getting a side stitch, a stop at the locks, a few minutes wasted trying to figure out how to get home from Magnolia detouring around construction, but in the end it was still just a slow 11 miles.
But it was 11 miles.
It was 11 miles where I didn’t feel like giving up or puking once. I felt good (except those last three miles straight up hill where I felt okay). There were a few moments where I actually enjoyed myself. It was 11 miles. And I came home feeling like I could keep running (downhill!!!!).
I have 39 days until the Epcot Wine and Dine Half, 61 days to the Rock n Roll Las Vegas 1/2 with Team Challenge and 107 Days until Tinkerbell Half.
Plenty of time to perfect my cadence, stop holding my breath, and just be faster! I’m on a path. Maybe a screwy topsy turvy path, but I’ll make it!
Thanks to everyone who donated after my 11 miles (my calves felt better with each dollar).
I’m off to Disneyland for a few days. I’ll try to post photos of me running around Disney (already mapped on Runkeeper). In the meantime, please RSVP for my fundraiser on October 13, donate a few dollars towards Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation (my mom will thank you for that too), and generally have fun!
Pro-Tip: Cornstarch is stinky
Vivobarefoot just made another $250 off me. My beloved Evo II were covered in colored cornstarch at the CMY5K. Not a big deal. But after my next run, I noticed a stench. I cleaned them, I sprayed them, I tried to save them. Nothing. They stink. They made me stink. This color doesn’t exist anymore, so I bought a different blue and really pretty aubergine. I couldn’t buy just one!
Email Update 9/26
Happy Wednesday,
It’s been a while since a training and fundraising update, as I’m trying not to bombard you with my pleas for donation (http://www.active.com/donate/seaLV12/kmacris) or for support. My iPhone 5 has kindly integrated my address books, so hopefully this is making it to the right people. My fundraising is coming along; I am at $2,600 with my wine tasting fundraiser just a couple weeks away. Recommitment is in mid-October, and while I already know I’ll recommit, it’s also a bit of a deadline for fundraising. In order to run with my team in Vegas, I will need to raise a minimum of almost $4,000. I would like to have at least that raised by recommitment. Please help. $5 here, $20 there, $10 somewhere all helps. It really does add up! My favorite donation is $13.10 which is a single dollar per mile I will run. It gives me confidence while I’m out there training day after day. If you can’t find a couple bucks to donate, please pass my link or email onto your friends who might be able to help!
As for training, I’m running about 25+ miles a week, working on making my running outweigh my walking. Although many of you followed my training last year; this year has been incredibly harder coming off months of no activity due to arm surgery and that pesky arm getting sore when bent for too long. I feel like I’m training for the first time, learning to breathe all over again. I am starting to hit my groove and am finding four to six mile runs very pleasurable. Unfortunately my long runs are about twice that! To get through my runs, I set little goals for myself. On Monday, I finally conquered “THE HILL”. It’s not a particularly long hill (maybe 1/4 mile), but it’s steep and comes at the end of a very hilly couple miles. Last year, I never made it from bottom to top of the hill without stopping, and on Monday, I made it. All the way past the school and to the fire hydrant. I may have grunted “you will not beat me” at some point. In the same run, I also beat the really short steep hill near my house that I just always walk up because it looks daunting. So while I’m still slow, at least I beat those darn hills!
I run in support of Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and more personally my mother who lives with Ulcerative Colitis. She’ll be there on the finish line cheering me on, so please help me get there with a donation. http://www.active.com/donate/seaLV12/kmacris
For those of you in the Seattle area, please come out to my Fundraiser on October 13 at the Bellevue Towers. It’s a wine tasting featuring Apex Wines (and several great surprises for wine lovers and haters alike). Please invite your friends and family as well. Information is on my website at www.kristieruns.com. If you can’t make it out, please consider donating a few bucks online (http://www.active.com/donate/seaLV12/kmacris).
Cheers,
Kristie
P.S. Please forward this to your friends and family who might be interested in supporting the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. Donate today: http://www.active.com/donate/seaLV12/kmacris
gasping for air
I think I would enjoy running more if I didn’t have to train. If I could just do various races and events constantly. They are fun. I enjoy that. I really don’t like this running around training thing. Of course, if I keep training, then it wouldn’t be so hard and I would maybe enjoy that more.
This arm surgery thing really has me out of shape. After six months of basically not moving, I’ve never felt this awful. Out of breath, out of energy, out of muscles. And it’s so slow getting back to a comfortable pace.
I feel myself gasping for air and it hurts, so I walk a moment and start again.
I’ll be out there tonight, running the mean streets of Ballard.
Las Vegas
The pugs are very excited about Vegas too! Here is Le Mops modeling last year’s medal.
DONATE NOW!
This is my official Team Challenge CCFA Active.com donation page. It’s easy to donate online and your donation will be totally tax-deductible. If you want to donate with cash or check, please e-mail me.
Thank you for your support!
This handy little map and overlay is a bit off. It says I can walk to the Ballard Station Public House in just over 10 minutes. I tracked it the other day, the overlay is about a mile off.
