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Karla and me. And YES! Isn’t that an awesome new shirt I have?! Pink, too! Go Cougs! |
1. SATURDAY
Long run day! My favorite. But I ad to get done early in time for the Highland Games, so I set out on the Cedar River Trail at about 6:40 (10 min. late). The plan was to run 2.5 miles, meet my new friend Karla (Running on Eagle’s Wings) and run 6 together, then run 2.5 miles back to the car. I was running late, though, so I parked a little closer to our meeting spot. I ran about 1.5 miles and met up with Karla for 6. Always fun to run, at least a portion of a long run with a friend!
We just chatted the whole time. The sun was out and the air was still cool and refreshing. The funny thing is, though, that it was 50 degrees when I started running Saturday morning and I was comfortable in shorts and short-sleeved shirt. Why is 50 in the summer so much different than 50 in the winter. If it was February, I would’ve been bundled up.
I dropped Karla off at her car and then finished up the remaining miles (I needed 11). I was feeling very strong and was loving it. For example, I didn’t feel 100% during the last 5k. I was hungry and felt a bit sluggish. Yet I still felt like I could push the pace when I tried to. Also, note to self: Eat a WHOLE PB&J before a long run. A half is not enough.
Here are the splits:
Miles: 11
Time: 1:53:33
Avg pace: 10:18
Mile 1: 9:48
Mile 2: 9:50
Mile 3: 10:37
Mile 4: 10:48
Mile 5: 12:02
Mile 6: 10:53
Mile 7: 10:47
Mile 8: 10:55
Mile 9: 9:23
Mile 10: 9:16
Mile 11: 9:00 (I always like to see if I can really push it on the last mile)
Great run and I burned a ton of calories so I could the amazing steak dinner Chelsea and her BF brought over for dinner!
2. MONDAY
Oy. Monday was supposed to be hills. But my left ankle has been bothering me A LOT after hills. I opted out of hills, out of going to my 8 a.m. dentist appointment (I felt sick; no really, I did and I had a horrible night’s sleep because of dog issues) and in to sleeping in…you know, till 7. As the morning went on my scratchy throat mostly went away. I bet it was allergies since it was like 80 degrees and sunny on Saturday, then cold and rainy on Sunday, then hot again on Monday.
Then T Junior and I went on a field trip to the city to visit Chelsea (Will Run for Food). T Junior says “Chewwesey” since he can’t say his “l’s.” We had a delish lunch at Portage Bay Cafe right across the street from where Chelsea works. T Junior and I shared the massive French toast with fresh berries and homemade whipped cream. We carb-loaded for the run that was to come. Then we visited Chelsea’s office and got to see her dog JJ.
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T Junior has some photography skillz. |
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I don’t know, Chels. That kid looks pretty good on you. |
After lunch, I somehow managed to find Seward Park along Lake Washington. I have been wanting to run the paved trail along Lake Washington Blvd. It is the same route from the first half of the Seattle Rock ‘N’ Roll half and full. We played in the park first (teeter-totter really works those quads!), and afterward, I bought T Junior a kid-sized soft serve ice cream cone in order to get him into the jogging stroller. Boy, was he a sticky mess, but that’s all part of being a kid, right?
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A flower I was ordered to pick for him and then take a picture of. Can you guess what movie he is watching on his DVD player there? |
Pushing the jogging stroller on a winding paved trail is sort of tough, but we had fun. There was a lot to look at, from boats and sunbathers, to massive amounts of Honey Buckets? What the? Then I remembered that Seafair (huge Seattle summer festival with Blue Angels and hydroplane racing, etc.) is this weekend.
One portion of the trail gets really close to the water’s edge. Here is a conversation from that part:
T Junior: Mommy, what’s under the water?
Me (breathing hard): Rocks.
T Junior: But what’s under the rocks?
Me (breathing hard): Dirt.
T Junior: And what’s under the dirt?
Me (breathing hard and not answering).
T Junior: Mommy! What’s under the dirt?
Me (breathing hard and rolling my eyes): MORE dirt.
I was super sweaty after this run in the sun, but I surprised myself with how good I felt despite it.
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T Junior is quite the photog! I must look like a giant to him, which is probably why he held up his plastic brontosaurus and said, “Mommy, he is reawwy big. Just like you!” |
The breakdown:
Miles: 4 (pushing a jogging stroller feels like 5)
Time: 38:59
Avg pace: 9:44
Mile 1: 10:30
Mile 2: 10:00
Mile 3: 9:10 (started feeling “good”)
Mile 4: 9:14 (kept on feeling “good”)
3. WEDNESDAY
I was up much later than I should’ve been Tuesday night finishing/finessing/cursing this:
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Our logo. Check out Mel’s post HERE to meet everyone! |
So, I slept in till 5:15 instead of getting up early to get my speedwork done. Why couldn’t I do it at lunch with Mel (Tall Mom on the Run) again, you ask?
Well, I had a make-up dentist appointment to get to and then the vet afterward, so I needed to work through lunch. I was hoping after those two things, I would be able to squeeze my 5 miles (with 3 at an 8:35 pace) in before it was time to pick T Junior up from day care.
After the vet, I had to get my running clothe son. Fail. I should’ve gotten dressed before going to the vet. It took me longer, as usual, to get ready than it should’ve and I didn’t get out the door until 10-15 minutes after I wanted to be. I braided my hair in pigtails, like I did Monday, because I loved it on Monday. It kept the hair off of the back of my neck. I also wore my hat again. Even though it seems like wearing a hat in the heat would be a bad idea, I liked it. The hat wicks the sweat away.
The second I started running, I wanted to go fast! I had to slow myself down. The first fast mile was a little tougher. I ran a 1-mile loop twice. On the second lap, just before my Garmin beeped 2 miles, I stopped by my house and had my nice cold fruit punch (yum!) Nuun I’d left for myself on my front porch. I also checked my phone since it had beeped while I was running, and yep, I needed to go pick up T Junior. So I ran down to the house where he goes to day care and then he wanted to run/jog home. “Mommy, I’m beating me!” he said.
Back at home, I fired up the ol’ ‘mill. Mr. T has been doing some workouts on there and he told me it missed me. Well, now was its chance to get reacquainted. I jacked that sucker up to 7 and off I went at an 8:34 pace while T Junior made growling noises at me with his plastic dinos. I felt pretty good and I bumped the speed up…to 7.1, 7.2, 7.3…a couple more times during those two miles. The final mile, I cooled down. Speed work. Done. Piecemealed, but done.
Miles: 5.16
Time: 45:31
Avg pace: 8:49
Mile 1: 9:16 (outside)
Mile 2: 8:28 (outside)
Mile 3: 8:30 (treadmill)
Mile 4: 8:30 (treadmill)
Mile 5: 9:26 (treadmill)
.16: 8:10 pace (outside)
And, if you just can’t get enough MvM: Check out runjodirun today. I am the feature on Thumb’s Up Thursday!
11 comments
AWESOME job on all the runs! And T Junior is getting good at those post-run pics! No more self-portraits necessary. Great job on the logo – I love it!
excellent job on the runs and the logo
Way to go on all of those runs! Sometimes I get great speed when I have to piece the run together too!
great job on your running and the logo is awesome!!!Ok, and what's under more dirt is LAVA. 🙂 My kids think that is super cool. 🙂
I love wearing my hats. But with me, I seem to wear them all the time running, not running, covering up my dirty hair. You make me think I should get out there and run though…I'm feeling lazy reading this. 🙂 Oh, and I love love your graphic here! I am so wishing I would have applied for the Nuun team! Hopefully I'll see some of you at the beach though if we can arrange to be in the van that stays and doesn't return.
You rock Kerrie! How do you keep up your motivation for the early AM runs. My snooze button has been working overtime lately and it is not even winter…(big sigh). Nuggets of early AM go-juice anyone?
You are awesome and soooo inspiring!!! Thank you for sharing.
I've been reading your blog for a while now, but don't comment often. Your story has been such an inspiration to me! I had my first baby last year and started walking and jogging when he was 4 months old. He's now 17 months, and I just signed up for my first half marathon. Honestly, I never thought I could do it if I hadn't seen other women like you and sister-in-law (Annette from Running In The Right Direction) doing it. So thanks for blogging and sharing your story! Your enthusiasm is so catchy!
SPEEEEEEDY Kerrie! And T Jr totally is getting the knack of photography! :)See you Saturday AM!
WoW awesome job! My 5k is Saturday, can't wait!!www.therawjournalist.com
Ahahahahahaah me have a child riiiiiight.I have my JJ!