See Diva Run

Back in March I had the opportunity to run with “Cannon” from the LVM 21 message board, when I visited Orange County. I had such an enjoyable time running and chatting, that I was disappointed when the run was over. How often do you run 8 miles and wish it could be 10 or 12? Ever since then, I’ve been looking for opportunities to run with other people, and last week it paid off big!

It all started on Father’s Day, when I had the good fortune to run 15.5 miles with Chef Betsy, who I met through her blog, http://eatdrinkrunwoman.com. I knew from her entertaining blog posts that we were going to have no problems keeping the conversation going. Since we were going for a long run, we decided to run on the Centennial Trail, near my home. It was cool, and very rainy, but the company was so delightful, the weather didn’t matter. We were only planning to run 15 miles, but time and miles fly when you are having fun. After the run, we enjoyed a hot cup of tea at a local tea room. I’m looking forward to running with her again soon. Next time I will bring a camera!

Centennial Trail

On Thursday, I went for a short run with my son, Jason. We’ve been trying to make it a weekly event, whenever our schedules permit it. We cut the run short because my leg was hurting, and I really needed to get back to work, but it was still fun.

Diva & Son

On Friday, I met “Shy Flirt” from the LVM 21 message board. I met Rob during the Las Vegas marathon last year, which he ran dressed as Elvis. Rob and his wife were visiting family in the area, and Friday was the one day that worked in both our schedules. We met at Lake Forest Park and ran 9.6 miles on the Burke-Gilman Trail. The Burke-Gilman is the most popular running trail in the area, but with the exception of the Super Jock N Jill Half Marathon, I had never run there. I wasn’t in my best running form on Friday, but Rob kept me entertained. According to my iPod, we were running at the same 10:30 pace I had run with Chef Betsy just a few days earlier, but this time it was taking a lot more effort. No doubt it was a sign that I need to rest a bit.

Shy Flirt & Diva

Instead of resting, I stayed up all night to catch an early morning flight to Orange County for an action packed weekend of fun, which included a Sunday morning run with “cannon”. This time we were joined by Dennis (aka Surf City USA) for a 10 mile run that covered some of the Disneyland Half Marathon course. We met at Downtown Disney, where they were having a car show featuring nothing but “woodies”.

Cannon, Diva & Surf City USA

We ran by Honda Center (formerly Arrowhead Pond), home of the Stanley Cup winning Might Ducks.

From Honda Center we ran to Angel’s Stadium, and through the parking lot. This was “exciting” as fans were just starting to arrive for a game. Dodging cars on the way out kept thins from getting dull! From there we headed up the Santa Ana River trail. It is a great place to run, but the weather was quite warm (high 70s) and the trail was very dusty. I was so dusty when we were done, I didn’t even notice that I had a minor sunburn. Since most of the access points were locked, we did an out and back run, then headed back up Katella toward my hotel, for a total of just over 10 miles. We stopped for a cold bottle of water along the way (thanks Cannon). When we got back to the hotel we had a nice visit over a cold Coke. Running on a dusty trail on a warm day in Orange County was a stark contrast to running on the Centennial Trail in the rain, but the company was just as pleasant!

With so many opportunities to run with so many great people, it would be tempting to say my week couldn’t get any better, but that would be wrong. On Wednesday, I got an e-mail from Nike, inviting me to a Nike+ Super User’s Summit at their Beaverton headquarters. I am happy to report that Monk_Monkey (see Virtual Reality post), will be joining me there, along with several other runners I have met online through Nike+ challenges, but never in person. I’m sure that will lead to a very long post in July!

When I was young, I was never troubled by peer pressure. As I’ve gotten older, it seems that all it takes to get me to do something crazy is to challenge me to do it. For example, my husband dared me to go out with him. The mad world of Nike+ has me running longer and faster than ever before. A few weeks ago, Monk_Monkey (aka Robyn), my running partner in the Northwest Runner photo, decided to run an ultra marathon (the Oregon Autumn Leaves 50 Mile Run). After she decided on a 25 week training plan, she invited her Nike+ friends to join her. Since I didn’t have any crazier ideas, I signed up. I’m not going to run an ultra marathon — that would just be crazy! I’m going to train for the ultra, and then skip the race! Since I don’t like to carry my own water, I was able to work a couple of marathons into the schedule. It’s so much nicer when people hand you a drink. Since they are “training runs” there is none of the pressure that goes with training for a big race. Considering my rather dismal performance in past marathons (more walking than running), I am just about guaranteed a marathon PR, even if I just jog them at training pace — which is the plan.

Speaking of the plan — we are just starting week 5:

COMPLETED Week 1-33 (51.55)
COMPLETED Week 2-36 (37.77)
COMPLETED Week 3-37 (37.57)
COMPLETED Week 4-31 (32.90) Month 1-137 (159.79)
COMPLETED Week 5-41 (42.43)
COMPLETED Week 6-44 (37.5 due to injury)
INJURED Week 7-36 (13.6)
INJURED Week 8-45 () Month 2-166
Week 9-50
Week 10-51
Week 11-53
Week 12-54 Month 3-208
Week 13-50
Week 14-56
Week 15-60
Week 16-40 Month 4-206
Week 17-60
Week 18-60
Week 19-58
Week 20-46 Month 5-224
Week 21-35
Week 22-50
Week 23-30
Week 24-18 Month 6-133
Week 25-56 Month 7-56
TOTAL MILES-1,130

The first few weeks were like a rest break for me. Now it is time to get back to high mileage. I should be pretty tired an grouchy by the end of July! At least I don’t have to run a 50 mile race when I’m done!

http://forums.nike.com/thread.jspa?messageID=65266ﻲ

What a perfect day! Even though I had to get up at 3:45 to drive to Anacortes to catch the ferry, it was worth it to see the sun rising over the sound.

Sunrise over Anacortes

The boat ride through the San Juans was beautiful. At first everything was shrouded in mist, and then the sun rose a little higher, drying up the mist and highlighting the greens and blues of the land, sea and sky! There were only a few passengers, and most of us were runners. I spent the hour stretching, while enjoying the view. After disembarking, I drove to the Best Western to meet friends from Las Vegas, Martha, Phil and Stephan. They arrived the day before, and were kind enough to pick up my race packet for me.

Stephan was kind enough to take a photo of Phil, Martha and me.

I followed them to the fairgrounds, which was the starting point. As we lined up for the start, we saw Matt and Jeff, who were running their second marathon of the weekend, and their 4th marathon in 2 weekends. We ran with them for the first mile, and then they decided to take a walk break. My goal for the day was to keep up with Martha, so we continued on. There aren’t that many flat places in western Washington, but there aren’t any on San Juan Island! The first 7 miles of the race were almost exclusively uphill. I was starting to worry that I was slowing Martha down, but before I could ask, she volunteered that I was doing good. Since she has run over 100 marathons, Martha is one of my running heroes. She is also very nice, and fun to spend time with. Getting to run with her for 7 miles was a real treat for me!

I got a brief rest by tricking Martha into posing for this photo!

The full and half courses separated after mile 7, so I had to say goodbye to Martha. I cranked up my iPod, and raced up the longest hill yet. This time it was followed by a lengthy downhill stretch. I made up some time on this stretch, which helped me cruise up the next big hill. I was feeling really good, and totally prepared. I enjoyed the company of other runners as we took turns passing each other on the hills. Near mile 10 I crested another hill, with a spectacular view of Puget Sound. The sun was warm, but the breeze was refreshing. The road was flat for a brief period, and I couldn’t help but feel like this was the ideal running experience.

As I approached mile 11, my energy started to fade. I was carrying 3 packs of gel, but didn’t use any of them. By the time I realized I needed one, it was too late. Another runner came by and told me the last 2 miles were uphill. At that point it didn’t matter, I’ve logged enough miles to know that I can run 2 without even thinking about it. A few of the people I had passed along the way were able to catch and pass me, but there were also quite a few that didn’t. I was relieved to discover that it wasn’t all uphill. When I first saw the finish clock, I encouraged the young man ahead of me to get moving, so he wouldn’t get beaten by a grandma. By the time he started his “kick”, I was starting to get into “race mode”. The race photographer caught this photo of us a few yards from the finish. I ended up beating him by .8 seconds!

I didn’t bother to check my time during the race. I’d been hoping to finish under 2:10, and was disappointed to see 2:14 on the clock as we approached. I was determined to get there before 2:15, and I succeeded. My finish time was 2:14:36, which is a PR by 13 minutes. Not bad for a warm day and a couple of hills. I’ve still got a couple of opportunities to beat 2:10 before summer is over.

After the race, I met Shaun Frazier, a very nice young man who had finished 4th overall in the half marathon. He introduced me to his lovely mother Sandy. They were visiting from Olympia. Shaun had completed the Capital City Marathon in 3:34 just two weeks earlier. It was his first. I expect to see his name at the top of a lot of race results.

Stephan had been unable to run because of a bad knee. He volunteered at the beginning of the race, and when he was no longer needed, he rented a bike and rode the course. Phil finished the half in 2:45. He kept me company while we waited for Martha to finish the marathon. Runners always have plenty to talk about, so the time passed quickly. Based on my finish time, I estimated that Martha would finish in 4:30, and I was pretty close. Although she said it was a tough course, she still looked fabulous at the end.

Martha introduced me to Jeff’s wife Linda, who had run the half marathon. We waited together for Jeff and Matt to finish. They arrived about 15 minutes later, looking way too fresh to have been finishing their 4th marathon in 9 days.

After the race we got to spend a little time together at Friday’s Crabhouse, but it was over too soon, as we all had places to go. My trip home took longer than expected. The 4:15 ferry was full. I got in line for the 5:30 boat at 4:30, and figured it would be no problem. The 5:30 ferry arrived on time, let some passengers off, and then left without taking any on. The next boat didn’t come until 6:55. By then I was starting to feel the effects of getting up at 3:45, and running 13.1 miles of hills in the sun. It was a pleasant sunset cruise back to Anacortes, and a long, boring drive home.

The San Juans are one of the most beautiful locations in Washington. It is a great place to visit, and a great place to run, if you have been doing your hill training.

Scenery/location: Excellent
Spectators: Few
Course: Challenging/hilly
Aid stations: Adequate
Bathrooms: Few, but extremely clean!
Shirt & medal: OK
Post race food: OK

Link to the San Juan Island Marathon web site
Link to race results

New, Nike has added a new feature to the Nike+ web site that allows us to share our run data. Here is the graph of my San Juan Island Half Marathon. I should mention that my Nike+ sensor was 100% accurate with the mile markers until mile 8, where it thought I only had 3 miles left. It told me the race was over before I got to mile marker 13. When I finished, it said 13.8. I heard that Garmin owners were reporting similar results, but my gait may have changed as the race progressed.

It’s a beautiful day. I should be out running, but I’m resting for the San Juan Island Half Marathon tomorrow. If I’m not going to run, I should be doing something productive, but instead I’m sitting on the couch with a computer on my lap.

Here are some of the cool things that happened in May:

1. Got to meet and run with Monk_Monkey and paulmerca from the NikePlus forums
2. Paul’s Nike+ article appears in the June issue of Northwest Runner, complete with photo from Virtual Reality post. I feel so famous Run to the store and buy a copy now!
3. I ran a personal best 202 miles in May, at an average pace of 9:36!
4. New PR for the mile, 8:08. I plan to get below 8:00 in June!