Seattle half-marathon: Race report

Above is my bib number. It was special for a few reasons:
1) The number is a palindrome, a sure sign of luck.
2) The last two digits of the number are my age.
3) This number contains my favorite number. Twice! (The number 7 is special for me. Coincidentally, my first, middle, and last names all contain 7 letters. On a more fun and unique level, my siblings and I have always worn jerseys with numbers that are multiples of 7).

These were all good signs.

I arrived at the starting line about 45 minutes before the race after tossing and turning all night. This gave me plenty of time to drop off my clothes bag, warm up, stretch, acclimatize to the chilly Seattle winter morning (37F!), and shake out the nerves. It was dark outside, and there was a picturesque layer of fog blanketing the city. The Christmas lights atop the Space Needle and those affixed to one of the Queen Anne radio towers shone lazily through the light cloud cover. Basically, what I'm trying to tell you is that it was magical.

After the half-marathon walkers started their race, we runners all crowded into the starting gates. I have to admit, being surrounded by thousands and thousands of people threw me a bit out of my comfort zone - I get nervous in crowds, and we were crammed onto 5th avenue like sardines. People were bustling, trying to find their pacers if they were shooting for a time, and the collective excitement threw an electricity into the air. And finally, at 7:30, the announcer sounded the buzzer and we were off. Welll...we were off after some delay :) There were so many runners that I didn't cross the starting line until almost 4 minutes had passed! I didn't mind - I knew I wouldn't be one of the first finishers, and I didn't want those super fast people to have to dodge me as they raced down 5th. And I have to say, it was kind of fun being in the back a little bit because as we ran through downtown, it was an absolute trip looking up 5th and seeing it completely covered in runners as far as the eye could see.



For those of you who don't know, Seattle's half marathon course is not an easy one. I'm sure you could have figured that out yourself, as Seattle is known for its hills and trust me on this one: they're pretty rough. I knew what was ahead, and figured that hanging out by the 2h pacers would keep me from burning through all of my energy before hitting the hillier second half of this race. In theory, I think this was a good idea, but I just couldn't find my stride with them. They were just a bit slower than the pace that I naturally adopt. So, around mile 4, I picked it up and settled into my smooth (hi Slomo!). At this point, I couldn't stop smiling. Apart from the hilliness and the distance you spend in the I-90 Express Lanes tunnel, this is a beautiful course. You get to run through downtown, then along Lake Washington (which had this lovely, eerie appearance in the gray morning), which leads you to Galer to dump you onto Madison, but then you get to run through a lovely tree-filled arboretum, and then along Interlaken (my favorite running street in Seattle!). That puts you onto Roanoake, then Harvard, which puts you on Lakeview where you get amazing downtown and Lake Union and Space Needle views. The last mile or so brings you through the ugly part of SLU, but that's ok because you're so darned tired that you don't even notice. So, yeah. I had found my smooth, I was admiring Lake Washington, and could burst with happiness. But, as I traveled north, nerves started to set in a little bit. Galer was coming up and that mother is steep. And right after that, is a good 1/2 mile climb up Madison. Trust me, it hurts. I remember doing this in 2008, and I stopped to walk a good portion of it.

I didn't want to walk any of my race.

So, I finally got to the point where I saw runners turning left up a steep incline, many of them stopping to walk, and I knew that it was time. I said out loud, "Well, Kristen, let's do this!" I turned uphill, slowed my pace a little and powered through it. Galer is steep, but it is short and usually surrounded by awesome fans braving the cold to cheer their runners on. I made it up just fine, but the next left dumped me onto Madison, a long hill that is just plain scary. i didn't look at the top, and instead focused on the people around me. Sure, there were folks walking it, but there were also a lot who were still running. If they can do it, I can too, right? So, head down, iPod bumpin, I pushed through. Sure, I was tired, but reaching the top of the hill was almost as good as crossing the finish line. I did it without walking! And I was still running! I threw my arms up in the air and jumped for joy. The man running next to me screamed "YES! YOU ROCKED THAT HILL!" I smiled and screamed "YOU DID TOO! YOU'RE AWESOME!" We high-fived, and then continued on our run. This is a memory that I will probably carry with me for the rest of my life.


The run continued, as previously described, onto my favorite running street in all of Seattle. As soon as we crossed 23rd, I kind of hit autopilot and loved every second I spent on that street. Every view was gorgeous, and I knew I was getting close. And everythign was just fine until that last mile. Boy, oh boy did I hit a wall. It's like all my energy drained, and I still had a mile! Every fiber in my body wanted me to stop, but luckily, sheer will is not a fiber. It's something that we tap into and somehow, miraculously, it carries us through. And somehow, it carried me up that last little hill on Mercer (granted, I *may* have cried a little bit), and into the stadium at the Seattle Center. And really, that's all I needed because when I entered, I saw the clock, which told me that, despite crossing the starting line 3.5 minutes after the official start, I'd still get an official time under 2 hours.

The amount of accomplishment and happiness I felt overwhelmed me. I could have cried. Instead, my legs picked up pace, I dodged through the many other sub-2-hour half-marathoners, and gleefully threw my arms in the air ahd smiled as big as I could as I crossed the finish line.

13 weeks of training. 13.1 miles. Official time of 1:58:fortysomething. Chip time of 1:55:29. I couldn't be happier. And now I'm trying to figure out where I want to travel for a February half marathon. Addicted much?

Hey there, running. It's good to be back :)

Seattle half-marathon: pre-race report

I am posting from my cell phone. Please forgive any typos, etc. Why not from my computer? Well, I am lucky enough to have the support of wonderful friends, one of which is allowing me to spend the night in her apartment, which is significantly closer to the starting line than the greenwood abode. This means more sleep, less stress, and no endless search for parking.

So, yeah. It's here! Tomorrow is the big day, my first race since back/pelvis complications led to hamstring injuries that kept me out for what seemed to be an eternity. When I signed up for this half marathon, my main purpose was to get myself back into running, to rediscover my love for it, and, perhaps to get back into shape. So, regardless of what happens tomorrow, I have already accomplished what I set out to do 13 weeks ago. My cardiovascular capacity is so much greater - I have felt it in cycling and in ultimate. My legs are stronger and, if I fo say so myself, more shapely and muscular than they have been in years. But more importantly, I have rediscovered the addiction. I love this sport, I cannot imagine going more than 2 or 3 days without a good run, even in the craziest weather (snOMG!). I want to run more races, more half marathons, and maybe even a full marathon someday!

So, yes, tomorrow is the culmination of 13 weeks of training, but it does not in any way mean the end of running. Rather, I think it's just a beginning. Thank you all for your support during these training runs. I can't wait to share the results with all of you :)

Dear Running,

I've been meaning to write an open letter to you recently so that we could have a discussion about where I am, where you are, and how things are working out so far. I think that this is an important exercise, and I tend to employ it in all relationships - friendships, or on the rare occasion that I find I've been seeing a boy for a few months. I mean, it usually takes a few months for the honeymoon phase to wear off, for real issues to be brought up, for intimacy to develop. We start showing our real selves, and things do get more difficult. We have to evaluate, ensure that both sides are committed and willing to make any necessary changes or compromises.

You and I have very much engaged in an on-again/off-again sort of courtship for a decade or so, due largely to injuries butting in and taking me away from you, or taking you away from me. After losing you so many times, I have to admit, I was reluctant to accept the our involvement with each other again. I even avoided it for almost a year! I did not want to face the pain of losing you again, and in turn, losing a happier part of myself.

I'm glad I decided to give us a chance again.

You have taught me that I'm capable of so much more than I expect, that hard work pays off. You have taught me that I am beautiful, strong, and capable if determined. You have given me hours for self-reflection, for music-listening, for daydreaming. You have helped me to decompress, work out the worst of my work-related stress, and return with calm resolve and a plan. You complete me.

Thank you so much for being such a great part of my life.

Love,
Kristen

Oh, holy mother of quad!

A time it was, and what a time it was...

Between a hyperactive social schedule, an ultimate frisbee tournament, and a difficult work week, my blogging suffered, as did my running schedule. I skipped 1 training run. In the words of a good friend, "This is how I express my displeasure: BOOOOOOOOOO!" That aside, it has been an amazing couple of weeks, and I feel entirely too charmed in the current state of my existence.

First, a recap from my ultimate frisbee tournament, Hanford Howl. It's a less competitive (but still fun) costume tournament that takes place over Halloween weekend every year in Richland, WA. Teams pick a theme and all the members of the team dress to that theme. Last year, my tournament team chose a German theme, went 7-0 in games, and won the tournament. Here we are in full costume!

(Photo courtesy of my teammate, Mama Flew)

This year, we were looking for a repeat championship. However, we chose not to recycle our German dirndls and leiderhosen, instead favoring a Hawaii theme. I didn't feel like donning a grass skirt for ulti, and i wanted to do something creative. From this thought process emerged the following:



As expected, our first day brought with it fun games, relaxed competition, and great costumes. We played a team that dressed as drinks, one dressed as Greek gods, a young team from Whitworth dressed as Scrabble, and (my personal favorite) Star Wars. Seriously! There was a player dressed as Jabba the Hut, and watching him run in that costume was quite possibly one of the most entertaining parts of that weekend. They were fun teams, but it was pretty nice to win all of our games that day because it gave us a first-round bye the next morning. Yes, friends, we got to sleep in and start immediately in quarterfinals. Sunday was a windy, windy day. While this destroys *my* ability to accurately throw a disc, it's not something that phases the much better players on my team, and allowed us to blow through quarterfinals against Olympia with only three points scored on us. Then came semifinals against another Seattle team. I knew a lot of the players on this team, and I *may* have been talking a little bit of friendly smack at the tournament party the night before. I was invested, and I was determined to live up to my promise of destroying the other team. During that game, I ran harder, faster, and more focused than in any other game that weekend. And I scored the first two points of the game! THis is huge in windy games, because upwind breaks really sets the team in an advantageous position, since it's so hard to throw into the wind. I had a few good D's, and scored another two points, and in doing so, contributed to the team's victory! We won! We were going to finals against Idaho/Big Sky Ultimate! Because it was late, and because we all had a long way to drive at the end of the game, both teams agreed to cut the game at 11 points. It was hard-fought, and it came with the price tag of a pulled quad (I don't think I'd ever pulled a quad before!), but we won. With no more than 2 female subs at a time, with low numbers all around, we emerged victorious. Ladies and gents, your 2010 Hanford Howl Champions:



...and as always happens when I play a tournament with the Rainmakers, I'm in love with ultimate again.

So...yeah. I walked away with a pulled quad. There was no bruising, so I wasn't concerned about a tear, but was shaken enough to postpone my 11 mile run (originally planned for Monday) until Tuesday. And boy, oh boy, did I ever feel it. It pulled just enough to remind me it was there all the way through my first five miles (which brought me from SLU along Mercer to the Seattle Center, by the fountains, by the Space Needle, through downtown, and up TO THE TOP of Capitol Hill and that hill...uff da!). These miles were additionally frustrating due to waaaaaay too many red lights. Start! Stop! Wait! Repeat! Blergh! Things improved significantly once I got to the top of the hill. Along with my quad FINALLY loosening up, I got a nice long descent which invigorated me and enabled me to continue running without much strain, fewer lights, and much less traffic. I ran down Madison, through the arboretum, along interlaken, then Lakeview to Denny and back to SLU to round out about 11 miles. Yahoo!

I skipped my midweek run (Kristen, you slacker!), but I had somehow managed to flood my social calendar and just lost time. Furthermore, I was (am) still nervous about my quad, and felt it necessary to baby it a little bit, which is extremely difficult now that my broken car has confined me to my bicycle for my around-town (read: escaping from Greenwood) transportation. AT this point, I feel it necessary to apologize for whining -- I just get a little bit scared with injury. My running buddies Zach and Zedd helped to motivate me into Friday's really rainy run on our normal Interlaken 5 mile route. We took a good, relaxed pace - I didn't feel too winded throughout it, which may have been a problem for Zach, as I was chattering through the entire run. It was a good confidence booster, and a lovely way to celebrate the official arrival of fall in Seattle. Yes, we ran through a deluge.

I could yammer on for way too long about all of this, and I still want to write about what occupies my mind during a run, or even publish the current iteration of my running playlist. Unfortunately, it is quite late, and tomorrow's 12 miles will most certainly require me to be well rested. 21 days left!

PS -- Thank you all for the encouragement, comments, advice, and support. Y'all have no idea how much it helps me, and I want you to know that you are, indeed, appreciated.

The Perfect Run

It was completely unexpected as I had completed 10.5 the day prior, but yesterday's five miles was better than I could have hoped for.

The air was still and crisp in the way that only fall can deliver, I'd just gotten off of work and had a busy night ahead of me (I had to assemble a shark costume for this weekend's tournament, and this included fighting the crowds on Capitol Hill at The Red Light and American Apparel), and this would be the one thing that I really did for myself. I was wearing my pink shorts and the Seattle Half-Marathon 2008 long-sleeve t-shirt, and as seems to be my trend these days, my iPod was set to my music nerd playlist (lots of classical piano, some jazz, some opera). It took no time for me to find my smooth - probably set in once I passed where Roanoake and Harvard meet, which makes sense because that's when I finish with the worst of the hills - and before I knew it, I was just zooming along Interlaken with nothing but the best days on my mind. Every light I encountered was green, which allowed me to run through the entirety of my course. This is not entirely unprecendented, but it is unusual while running along Eastlake and especially between the Interstate intersections on Roanoake. And when I ran into Eastlake for my last 1.2 miles, I don't know what came over me. My legs became lighter, my stride longer, and I kicked that thing out like it was no big deal.

All in all, I finished my 5 miles in just over 39 minutes. Ego boost!

In other news, I was contacted by one of my cousins recently. She ran her first half-marathon earlier this month and appears to have acquired the addiction. I think she and I may try to run one half (maybe even full!) marathon together. We're looking at a full sometime in October of next year. Any suggestions?

Happy Halloween to all. Take care this weekend :)

Double Digits!

10 miles, baby!



I meant to do this distance while I was in LA for the weekend, but my priority list was set, and skewed though it may be, running was not at the top of it. And I wasn't feeling entirely well on Monday or Tuesday, so it had to be a Wednesday run.

And it couldn't have been more perfect.

Though dry, it wasn't particularly warm - I had to bust out the Nike running knickers and long sleeves - and it was dark. We've fallen into the dark days up here, where the sun sets before you get off of work, so you're left running by the light of downtown. It could be much, much worse. I was lucky enough to run my first five miles on Lake Union with the company of Zach and his most excellent pooch Zedd, both wonderful running buddies that help the miles fly by. After we parted, my iPod ear buds were inserted, and the likes of Debussy, Miles Davis, and Vince Guaraldi accompanied me through some of my favorite parts of Seattle. I gained a special appreciation for the moment when my run brought me by McCaw Hall to enter the Seattle Center.



It was lit similarly to the above picture, and right before I entered this fountain-side corridor, Nessun Dorma from Puccini's opera Turandot started playing through my ear buds, and it accompanied me through the Seattle Center. It was beautiful - the lighting, the music, the Space Needle on the horizon, and running...you just can't let moments like that go. They're bliss, and how fortunate to have found it!

Running through downtown was a bit stressful and annoying. Lots of stoplights, lots of obstacles, but it still made for an interesting run. However, I was happy to leave it behind as I trudged up Capitol Hill to get to Cal Anderson Park. I have stated before that hills are my kryptonite. They intimidate me, and I think that mentality has made them that much more difficult. But, I made it. Last night, I made it all the way up the hill, no stops until I hit the light at Broadway, which was at the top of my ascent. On the way, I saw two good friends, which kind of rejuvenated me, but ultimately...I did it! And I kept going! As good as it felt, I think teh reassurance that I can survive hills is the best thing to come out of this run. I've been a little bit worried about my impending Seattle HM, simply because it IS a difficult run. The hills are plentiful and they are long. But, like everything, I just need to take it one step at a time, and last night's run gave me faith that I'm capable of doing so.

So...onward! I have a frisbee tournament this weekend, for which I will switch my schedule around a bit. Hoping to do my 11 miles on Monday of next week instead of Sunday, and will skip Friday's 4 miles to allow myself some rest - I mean, really, ultimate is a GREAT workout, and it can tire a girl out :)

Until next time, happy trails to any of you who read this. I appreciate your support more than I can express, and I love following your adventures through these crazy interwebz.

Hillacious is Bootylicious. Amirite?!

There's nothing quite like running up a beast of a hill to acquaint you with your capacity for pain, your mental fortitude, and of course, Mr. Maximus. Yes, I mean the one of the Gluteas variety. Yesterday's run brought me from Lake Union (14 feet above sea level) to the top of Capitol Hill at Volunteer Park (444 feet above sea level) within the first 2 miles of my run. I know it's not THAT brutal, but the fact that the majority of my ascent was concentrated to two very small regions made this a good hill trainer.



I don't think I've ever run from Eastlake to Volunteer Park without stopping at least once. My route again included Interlaken (love!), but instead of turning left at the fork in the road and continuing along the flat, winding tree-covered path, I took a right and trudged up an equally winding incline. I usually start to feel that lactic acid burn about halfway between the turn and the point where Interlaken intersects Galer. But yesterday...yesterday was different. Despite starting with tired legs (running, cycling, cycling, cycling, cycling, cycling, cycling, ad nauseum), the cobwebs from Monday's run seemed to be shed pretty easily, and my joints began to feel flexible and ready. My pace quickened on descents, and I reminded myself to take my time on hills, shortening my stride and breathing evenly. And before I knew it, I had conquered Interlaken in one go. Success continued as I turned right onto Galer, facing the last *really* steep incline of my run. Perhaps it was honing into the task before me and reminding myself that it was my responsibility to push myself through it, maybe it was Cannonball Adderley's improv on Autumn Leaves, maybe it was the beautiful fall day - but I found it in me to keep running, to push myself to the top of the hill. And wouldn't you know that Volunteer Park rewarded my efforts with a view of the gorgeous orange sun setting behind the Space Needle.

Hills: ouch. Burning muscles: fo' sho'. Feeling that much more ready and excited for the Seattle half-marathon: priceless.