Seattle!

It wasn't easy running in Seattle. Our hotel was in the middle of the city (which made for good shopping) so it seemed as if we had to stop every block to wait for a street light. In addition, meetings started at 7:00am. By the time we showered, stopped at Starbucks (when in Rome…) and walked to the convention center it didn’t leave me much time for anything but a quick 30 minute treadmill run. The first morning I was there was the only day that I was able to go for a run outside. My friend Stephanie ran with me. The best part of running in the city was all the distractions. We ran down around Pike’s Place Market and saw all the fun shops around Seattle. At one point we turned a corner and were surprised by the giant Space Needle. We just kinda stumbled upon it. I was glad we did because it turned out being the only morning when it wasn’t rainy and gloomy. Actually, it was a beautiful morning (I say morning because it didn’t make it to the afternoon before it rained again); the water sparkled, the large boats were majestic, and the market was live with vendors setting up for the day. I was able to catch a glimpse of why so many people brave the gloom and rain for the beauty of summer and fall. That morning we only ran less than 5 miles but I enjoyed the time with Stephanie and running around Seattle, especially since we didn’t have time for much of anything else with our busy conference schedule.

Running With Tony

So, this is the Weather Channel's idea of 10% chance of rain?

I have a colleague at school who is training for his first marathon, the St. Louis Go!, which is only two weeks away. So, earlier this week, I ask if he wanted to run together on Saturday morning since we would probably be going the same distance. He was all for it, but preferred not to run in the rain. We decided to keep an eye on the weather all the way up through Friday before making a final decision and as of yesterday it was only calling for 10-20% chance of rain Saturday morning until 9:00 am then the chance increased to 40-60%.

We decided to go ahead and run, starting at 5:30 am knowing our 16 miles would take roughly 2.5 hours putting us well ahead of the rain. When I woke up this morning I checked The Weather Channel one more time only to see the chance of rain decrease to 10% max up until 9:00 am. Perfect. No rain on the radar. Out we go.

8 miles into the run, at the farthest part of our run away from the house, downpour. Not only steady rain, but the wind is blowing and it's cold. Like in the 30's cold. All I can think about is "great Tony is never going to run with me again". However, he turned it into a positive by saying that if he can run in this he can finish his marathon. I told Tony that two weeks from now he could look back on this run when he reached mile 20 and be motivated by either finishing the cold-rain run or by thinking I can't wait to get home and strangle Washam! Either way he would be motivated.

Big ups to Tony and running through our unpredictable spring weather and for putting in the miles to prepare himself for St. Louis. Weather channel however?, next time up your % so at least I can think well, they told me it would rain. Run over, glad to be done.

Out With the Old...

Last week I made a big decision in my life; I finally purchased a new watch. Not just any watch, but a Garmin GPS Forerunner 110! Since I started running in 2005 I have been using a the very trustworthy Wal-Mart Velcro Stopwatch special. Actually, I have had my Wal-Mart watch since college and will continue to keep it until it quits working. That watch has been lost, found, soaked, sun burned, and used over and over and over again through 6 years of training runs, countless local races and multiple marathons. And it still works! On the original battery!

But enough about Wal-Mart watches, lets talk about this upgrade. The Garmin keeps track of time (of course), pace (no more math in head while running), and distance (just put it on and go). It beeps every mile and shows my split for that mile and has made running that much easier without a lot of planning before or during the run. As you can see on the display screen from my run this morning I ran 18 miles in 2 hours and 20 minutes for a 7:48 pace. Sad to see you go Wal-Mart special, but I'll keep you around, that is until your battery dies (if it ever will).

Following My Own Advice

This week was the first meeting for the teacher running club I started at school. We are meeting every Tuesday after school at 3:00 pm to run, have fun, and prepare for the May Day 5k. I was inspired to start the group when I realized how many of my fellow teachers had taken up running or had a desire to do so. Before our first run, I sent an email out on Monday reminding everyone that we would meet rain or shine since there was an 80% chance of rain Tuesday afternoon. I also added a little note at the bottom of the email titled Washam's Useless Running Tip #1. In this useless tip, I encouraged the group to not make excuses for not running based on the weather. At the time it seemed like good advice.

Fast forward to Tuesday morning and my planned eight mile tempo run. Wake up, get dressed, light drizzle, out the door, sprinkles, light rain; I am only .3 of a mile away from the house. First thought, run later; second thought, cut run short; third thought follow your own advice. I decided to combine all three by cutting my run short and running later, but try to tough some of it out based on my previous email.

2.5 half miles in @ the turnaround point for my revised 5 mile run, total downpour, wind in the face, and freezing cold, I am headed home. However, on my way home all I can think about is my own advice so I decided that I can't possibly get any wetter and finish out the 8 miles. Sometimes I should keep my useless wisdom to myself.

Half Marathon Fit for a Princess (or 6)

I am a HUGE fan of Disney Princesses so when I saw that Disney held a Princess Half Marathon I knew that I had to go!!! A few years went by and it never seemed to fit our schedule. Finally, I realized that Dustin wasn’t really interested in participating in a run with a bunch of women dressed like their favorite Disney princess. Go figure. I decided I would see if some girlfriends wanted to go with me and if I couldn’t find anyone then I would just go by myself. I didn’t care. It looked like so much fun!

To my surprise, I found 5 other amazing girls that wanted to go with me. April, Nikki, and Christina had never ran a half marathon before and felt like it was time to give it a whirl. Rachel and Teresa thought it would be fun to run a relay. Their only problem was figuring out who got to run the leg that went through Cinderella’s castle.

At the race expo Rachel and Teresa realized that at Disney races the word “team” meant that they ran as a team, not a relay. They laughed as they took in the fact that instead of running 6 or so miles, they were signed up to run the entire half marathon!!! Turns out they both got to run through the castle.

I had trained for the race and was prepared to run it like any other half. On the internet and the flight to FL I learned from other “experienced” runners that there are many photo opportunities with many of the Disney characters along the race and that many participants run with cameras. So, I decided to take my camera and I ended up running all but the last 1.5 miles with Teresa and Rachel. I had a big smile on my face the entire run. I danced with characters, charmed Gaston (or tried), stood by Cinderella and Prince Charming, yelled “to infinite, and beyond” when I saw Buzz, ran through the castle, and had an absolute blast! All the Disney characters from my past were there and it was like I was a kid again. Plus, I received the tiara race medal that I have dreamt of for years. My only regret was that my favorite princess, Belle, wasn’t out when we ran by so I don’t have a picture with her. I guess I will have to go back again some day :)

Congrats to the finishers! I am afraid that they might have gotten their hopes up for other half marathons. This was the MOST FUN I have ever had running a “race”!! And finally, thanks to our hubbies and supporters at home that offered all the encouragement, congrats, and allowed us to go have so much fun together.

After looking back at my pictures I wonder if we ever really ran a race :). All the pictures with the Disney characters were taken in a quick moment in the middle of the race!!!

Here are some of my favorite moments:

Running into Magic Kingdom and seeing the castle on the horizon.

The beautiful weather and warm sun.

Lathering up with biofreeze. Why? Because we could.

Singing a beautiful duet with Christina to a song that Nelly, our neighbor, wrote.

Nikki almost falling in the fountain.

Scavenging for loaves of bread and eating them like pigeons outside a restaurant because we were so hungry.

Cruising in the minivan. The trusted Town & Country.

Lying on Sleeping Beauty’s bed…in the middle of the race.

Getting creeped out by Tarzan

Trying butterbeer for the first time with April in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

April putting on a headband that says “Will Run for Beer”, and never taking it off (jjk).

Trying to nonchalantly get pictures of the couple from Survivor.

“You told me not to change anything.” –Nikki’s pre-race meal

Nikki running a half marathon with huge hoop earrings. So impressive.

The bald guy dressed as Cinderella.

Watching some of my best friends have a great time together even though many of them had only met on the plane ride over.

Getting pink roses from “my princesses” as a thank you for the trip. The pleasure was all mine ladies!