Pumpkin Push 5K

October 27, 2007

23:03/7:25 pace
1st in AG

My race costume


Past Pumpkin Pushes:
2006
24:05 (Official gun time)
23:12 (my watch) ~7:28 pace
12th in AG (I was exiting the restroom when the gun went off! Argh!)

2005
23:54/7:42 pace (Official gun time)
23:10 (my watch)
3rd in AG

2004
23:10
3rd in AG

This run loops around Seward Park and includes a hill close to 2 miles into the race. It's nearly the same run course as for the Seafair Triathlon and the Furry 5K. I believe the course was changed slightly from 2004 to 2005 (from 2005 onward, the start line was moved up and the distance made up in the uphill portion and loop in the upper park - someone correct me on this if I got that wrong). I found this GPS photo of the race course (lifted it from someone's blog). Anyway, the course is all flat on the big loop, the smaller, inner loop is a steep uphill/downhill.

Many people show up in costume and I finally tried that this year. The photo above is what I ran in. Hot? Sure, but at least the wig/helmet/sword didn't bounce around and cause problems.

So it was nice to see the usual suspects - Ann, Val, Wendy, Gina. All seemed to have consistent races. Another tri buddy, Lisa H. had a great race with a 22:07 time (and an even better race last year, pre-injury, with 20:58 giving her a 6:46 pace). Luckily, we will only be in the same age group for the few races that go by 10-year increments.

In 2006, due to unforeseen delays (I had to re-register due to the race staff losing my race number), my necessary bathroom visit was pushed back way too close to race start time. Sure enough, the gun went off as I was exiting and I started at the back of the pack. I ran hard to see what my watch time would be, though I knew my official/gun time was worthless at that point. The first 1/2 mile was very crowded with the walkers and slowest runners all over the path, which limited my progress but by the time things started to open up, I wanted to make up for lost time as best I could. So looking for the silver lining here, it was kind of fun to run a race where I was reeling in people in front of me and passing them the whole race.


The morning was very pretty with sunshine and a little fog burning off and all the fall colors seeming to be at their peak.

Ghost of Halloween Past

On the theme of Halloween, here's something a little spooky:

Remember the movie "The Stepford Wives"? Here is a photo of "The Stepford First-Graders". Notice how eerily docile and cooperative they look, waiting obediently for their teacher to call them in for the start of the school day. "We're ready to learn, teach us". Weird. Could the parents of each of these children have sedated them all on the same day? There's Alina in her dress-for-success attire. Camille is on the right and would NOT put on anything new or that she isn't starting to outgrow even for the first day of school. And there's the always-practical Carolyn, lunchbox and raincoat at-the-ready.

Now this is more like it. Camille going off to school as Ellwood from the "Blues Brothers". I hope it was Halloween or something. Check out her fingers, she's a stickler for authenticity.

More past Halloweens:








Back when I was a Good Mother, I actually sewed a few costumes for my little girl. Here is a clown, a princess and a witch. Real original, huh?














Here's a college dorm party, 1977. Me, an evil fairy or something.





A few years later, maybe 1987, oh! it's me being an evil fairy again. And that's my brother Tommy (Tom to the rest of you) as "Captain Crud" (an insider joke about skiing, I think).




Later still, 1991, I was in the mood for rape and pillage so donned this Viking warrior queen thing. I'm especially proud of the attention to detail - notice the bushy blond armpit tuft. A couple Wild Turkeys and I'm battle cry-ready.

Camille was an "Old Lady Vampire" here. I'm not sure what she is here with her dad as a Rastafarian.

Long Run

October 16, 2007
I had some kind of mental block to doing this first long run. With little over 6 weeks left until the Seattle Half Marathon, it was time to get going!

Here's a stretch of Myrtle Edwards Park along Seattle's waterfront where I ran today.

More than you really want to read about heart rate zones:

I planned to run 1:10 to 1:20 at an easy pace, keeping my heart rate in zone 3. It's good to keep certain workouts somewhat easy and sustainable to establish a strong aerobic base, gain fitness and grow more mitochrondria ("the powerhouse of the cell" - we all learned that in 6th grade biology, right?). Zone 4 workouts train your body to push up the aerobic ceiling or threshold (i.e.; in time you can go faster longer without going anaerobic) and improves endurance. Zone 5 are the short, intense, anaerobic efforts like interval training or shorter races.

Anyway, the point is to vary the level of training via the heart rate zones to get the most benefits from training. I wanted to run this longer workout in zone 3, something sustainable and not hard since I hadn't run anything over 7 miles in many months. For me that would be around 143 to 163 beats per minute (according to the VO2 max testing I had done in 2005). I did VO2 max testing to determine my fitness, my aerobic and anaerobic thresholds and things like that. A mask was strapped on my face to measure CO2 output and a heart rate monitor on my chest while I ran on a treadmill slow/fast/on an incline and stationary cycling. According to that testing, I was given heart rate "zones" to guide me in my training and other information.

But (long story short...) I believe my HR zones have changed since then. I have had changes in the dose of a thyroid medication I take and have seen a shift in HR. The medication can affect that and my training/racing HR tends to be lower than was a year ago. When my dose was higher, my HR was higher and I'd occasionally get palpitations and tachycardia. My HR would sometimes suddenly rise 20 points during a steady, moderately paced workout, to as high as the mid-190's and I'd become breathless and dizzy. I had to stop a workout on several occassions when this happened. I was convinced that my thyroid medication was causing this and sure enough a lab test supported that. I've since had the medication reduced and I've seen my HRs stay lower this season and rarely have they accelerated HR out of nowhere anymore. The accelerated HR happened only once during a race - the 2006 Seattle Half Marathon. I was on pace for about a 1:50 time, but around mile 8 my HR shot up to 190's and forced me to slow and then walk. I'd recover and resume running only to have the tachycardia return. That reduced me to walking about 6 times in the last 2 miles of that race, but there was nothing to be done about it. You just can't keep going with a heart rate artificially above your limit. I finished in 1:53:18 official (1:52:51 chip time), around 30 sec. better than 2005.

So to figure my heart rate "zones", I use my current maximum heart rate (the highest I've noted during any race or workout this season), and that would be 186. A zone 5 workout is just 90% to 100% of my HR max (i.e.; 168 - 186), zone 4 is from 80% to 90% of the max HR, zone 3 is 70% to 80% and so on. So, for a zone 3 workout, I'd want to keep my HR between 143 and 163. And so that's what I did today. It mostly was low to mid-150's. Here's a site that will calculate your zones and gives a brief explanation of each heart rate level and the purpose to train at each:

http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/hrzones.php

This is what you DON'T want to happen with your heart rate:

The run:
The route went from my home in Magnolia, across the Magnolia Bridge, along Myrtle Edwards Park and south along Seattle's waterfront. Except for the down then up on the bridge, it's a pretty flat run. Long runs get my hips, knees and ankles a little achy feeling and I felt about as good as I can. I did make a mental note that it must be time for new running shoes since my ankles and feet felt it more than I expected. Anyway, I ran for a fairly comfortable 1:40 which was encouraging for my first time out. I did keep my HR in the low 150's most of the run, except for the uphill portions. Adding 5 to 10 minutes each week and increasing the pace (or heart rate) here and there should make me ready for the 13.1 mile race in 6 weeks. I don't expect to be competitive at this distance, but I noticed that in last year's results, my target time of around 1:50 would have been good enough for 5th in the 50-54 AG. After a couple more long runs in upcoming weeks, I'll try to come up with some goals for the 2007 race coming up. Right now I'd say getting under 1:50 should be a reasonable goal.

This link provides a way to map your route and find out mileage and elevation:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

Rachel Lake Backpack

August 28 - 30, 2007

We had 3 perfect days for backpacking in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area east of Snoqualmie Pass. Mary, Ridge and I hiked the 4.5 miles up to Rachel Lake. The last mile is a well-known rooty, rocky and mostly straight up climb. The early miles through the valley and the steeper ascent offered frequent stops along streams and waterfalls. Very nice on a warm summer day!

I hadn't backpacked in a few years and still had at least one triathlon left to do and wondered about 3 days off from training and lugging a weight on my back up the trail. My pack weighed in at 50 lbs. at the start of the hike. My legs were definitely weary and I was footsore by the end of it, but I held up alright.

A dip in Rachel Lake was pretty much a given. I was with Mary M., the Mary-whose-business-it-is-to-give-open-water-and-pool-swim-clinics, whose official motto is "Get Out There" and unofficial motto is "Suck It Up". So shying away from the lake because "it's cold" wasn't an option for me. I accepted quickly that simply diving in and then gasping from the cold is preferable to easing my way in and gasping with each little inch of progress made. We swam in Rachel several times as well as Lila Lake, where we hiked up to on the second day. I think the highlight of the trip for Mary was Ridge getting in to swim a few times (and no one even had to throw him in). He's never been a dog fond of water, she says.

The nights were clear, quiet and a full moon rose both nights (at least it looked full each night). The moonlight made the cliff sides and reflections on the still lake quite beautiful indeed! Here's a lousy photo of the full moon!

Sitting around the the lake at day's end and at night was very nice and all the more pleasant with my Thermarest chair. It's the one MUST HAVE nonessential on a backpacking trip and I believe I converted Mary to this concept (as she parked herself in it whenever it was offered to her and purchased one for herself afterwards)!

On day 2, after a climb and a few miles of hiking, we explored around Lila Lake, swam in it and checked out the Rampart Lakes area. Another popular side hike is on up to Alta Mt. But by mid-afternoon, I was thinking about the can of pop and bottle of beer that I stashed under some rocks in the lake to stay cold. Afternoon beverages and another swim seemed preferable to climbing another ridge.

Here I'm warming up after a swim, enjoying a late summer afternoon glow in the sun and buzz from my single (lukewarm) beer. Lightweight! Mental note for next time: put beverages into deeper water to keep it cold for later (shallow water is not very cold)!

The hike down was hot and what do you think greeted us upon returning to the trail head parking lot? Sadly, a broken-into car (mine). Broken glass was everywhere and maybe $1000.00 in theft and damages (they smashed my hardcover Thule box on top of the car too). Pain in the butt inconvenience is what it was, but the trip wasn't ruined by that. Next time I will leave nothing in the car and leave a window open enough so they hopefully won't break the glass.

Mary knew about another swimming hole along the dirt road on the drive out, so we stopped. Check out the photos of her jumping and diving off the "cliffs" (click on the photo to enlarge it). I took a few jumps myself, though I'll admit it was from a ledge less high, being a chicken about jumping from heights. Mary got a couple good shots....of me already in the water, so there's no mid-air leap photos of me. :..( But there is one of me WET.

Heart of the Sound

Heart of the Sound SprintTriathlon
August 26, 2007

1st in AG/4th OA

Swim 13:37
T1 1:15
Bike: 48:37
T2: 00:38
Run: 25:48
Total: 1:29:56

One more USAT sanctioned race was needed for the required 3 if I wanted to earn a ranking for the season. I figure, if I'm going to race and compare results, I might as well choose races that earn me another way to compare myself to others at year-end via the ranking system. Also, it's good to choose races that are fun, interesting, have nice courses, attract a good mix of triathletes and have decent free food and goodie bags.

So I chose the Heart of the Sound, a sprint triathlon on Vashon Island. This one mainly filled the requirement of being a needed sanctioned race and also I was curious to try a new one. One of the things that made this race a bit different than others I had done so far included a salt water swim. This would be Quartermaster Harbor, an inlet of Puget Sound (pictured above). The water was colder than most lakes I'd swum in, but unlike the open water in Puget Sound, being rather protected and I assume, shallow. I think the temp was in the low 60's. We waded into the water at low tide and there were plenty of barnacled rocks to step around and soft squishy muck to sink into. One guy felt something in the water and pulled up a big starfish. Alright then! So the swim was fine, really, just salty and cold on the face.

The bike course was around 14 miles and had some longer hills than I had encountered before. A long one up, and thankfully a long one down. That was a pretty exhilarating descent - I got my new max speed of 41.2 mph.

The run was a double loop around a small peninsula with rolling hills and was close to 3-1/2 miles.

For the women, I was 5th in the swim, 6th in the bike and 6th in the run. So how did I make it to 4th overall? My transitions were pretty good and must have made a difference: I was 1st in T1 (remember, I am the USAT Age Group National "T1" Champion, after all - [there's no such a thing, really; it's just my little joke]) and 3rd at T2.

Tracy O. and Lisa W., a couple of women from my Wednesday night track workout and fellow "masters" competitors, took 1st and 3rd many minutes ahead of me. They are way too far ahead of me to even have on my radar screen or know their many accomplishments other than something about "Age Group National Champion" and "placed first at Danskin" and "has done Ironman Hawaii" and stuff like that.

Dawg Dash 2007

2007 Dawg Dash 10K
46:19
1st in AG (50-59)
22nd OA (out of 382)

2006 10K
46:38
6th in AG (40-49)

2005 10K
48:12
6th in AG (40-49)

2004 5K
24:04
3rd in AG (40-49)

The Dawg Dash has been a University of Washington tradition for 22 years, being one of the festivities around homecoming time. The race offers a 5K, 10K and a kid's race. The race starts in Husky Stadium and loops up onto campus (key word: UP) for a scenic run. Running past postcard-worthy Drumheller Fountain is a highlight (especially on the way back DOWN). Some small offshoot from the Husky marching band sets up there and plays some of that rousing marching music to inspire us. Check out the photo of the fountain in 1959 (ok, it's not spewing water for the picture). That's my mom and me when I was 2! I'm a double alumnus of the U-dub (B.S. Psychology '79 and B.S. Nursing '86). Well, enough of that b.s., back to the race report. The course wraps back down again and finishes on the track in the stadium.

My 10K was fine, can’t complain finishing 1st in AG. Although it was only 19 seconds faster than last year (but at least it was faster). It felt hard and I started to get a side ache around the 4th mile. The kind of side ache that causes that involuntary grunting instead of breathing. About that time, a woman passed me. It was someone who I thought I recognized from my earlier reconnaissance missions (someone in my AG who has always beaten me by some small margin and who I ID’ed via race photos in the past). I wanted to beat her so didn’t let her get too far ahead while trying to get a little recovery from that side ache. Fortunately, we were hitting some good downhill sections by then. I think it was my slowing and not her kicking up her pace that had her ahead of me. As I started to feel better, I edged up to just behind her for awhile. Finally, with maybe 2/3 mile to go it was time to push and hope that I could hang onto a little faster pace without her surging ahead of me (or the side ache coming back). I gave a few backwards glances to see if I was threatened as I got close to the stadium, I didn’t see her too close but kicked it in anyway just to be sure. And it was a good thing I did. I forgot to account for the fact that her overall chip time could have been faster than mine if I was very far ahead of her at the start-line. I think this was the case since I only beat her by 7 seconds, time-wise, but I think I was over the finish line with a little more lead than that. That’ll be a lesson to me to remember the chip time and not just try to finish in front of someone. Well, at the time of this writing, the results are still preliminary, so I'll hope for no surprises. Photos should be up in a few days and I'll post if there were any good shots.

Ann R. took 3rd in our AG, Gina wasn't far behind and then I hear that the two of them took off for several more miles to round out some distance training. Good for them! It will pay off when the Seattle Marathon comes around in late November. I'm still thinking about that distance run I need to start.

Val R. took 2nd in AG in the 5K race and my friend Lori K. was 5th in the same AG. I'll have to tell you in a future entry about Lori. If it weren't for Lori, I might not be doing these races at all.

Issaquah Rotary Run

Issaquah Rotary Run 10K

October 7, 2007

46:19 chip time/7:28 pace

46:28 gun time

2nd in AG/32nd OA

The main event was a 10K though there was also a 5K. The course went through Issaquah with several blocks that included running down Front St. while vendors were setting up for the Salmon Days festival - very colorful with booths full of tie-dye, arts & crafts and other typical street fair offerings lining the course. There were people to cheer us on and the smells of food, incense, candles and soaps permeating the air (which I'm not sure was a good thing while breathing hard). It was also some sort of road race championship so there were lots of fast people there.

It was a fine 10K time for me, probably my best. My splits were 7:09, 7:29, 7:43 for the first 3 miles and it was feeling pretty hard. I leveled off with 7:30, 7:29 and 7:27 for the final miles (and it still felt hard). I had hoped I might surprise myself with something a little bit faster since my 5K pace has improved so much this season, but I just haven't run enough longer distances for that to happen yet.

Later, when I checked my heart rate monitor, I appreciated my effort more. My heart rate was around 178-179 for the early miles and 183 in the last 2 miles. This is near my max of 185 or so and tells me I was working pretty hard, regardless of time. When I talked to Coach Tom at Wednesday night track, he asked me how I liked the hill. I said "What hill?". I didn't notice the hill in mile 3, but that's where my pace took a nose dive, so I guess there really was a 1/2 mile hill that gained 190 feet. I just thought I was starting to fade from going out too fast.

Nancy A. took first in our AG with a great time of 41:41 (6:43 pace). We are fairly closely matched in triathlons...until the run portion comes along and then she's gone! This was a championship road race of some sort and the top women had paces in the upper 5 min/mile range

"The Marathon is a Harsh Mistress"

Marathon? Not me! I did one when I was 26 and that's enough for me. But I liked the quote. Maybe it's a famous one, I don't know, but I heard Tom C. say it at my Wednesday night track workout as part of his pre-workout announcements. Tom, the coach, always mentions recent races and placings by the people who attend this workout. Many of the runners (and triathletes) in this group ("Club Northwest") are good. Like REALLY good. Elites, local and national champions, record holders in their age groups at the world level, Olympic contenders and all. And I get to workout alongside them. Well actually, "alongside" isn't true - they lap me constantly (I am usually the slowest by a long shot). The great thing is, as they are passing, they say "good job", "way to go", "keep it up". They're fast AND they're nice.

Anyway, apparently several runners from Club NW went to the Chicago Marathon last weekend with the high heat and humidity that made the news, stopped the race sent many to the hospital. Tom opened with the "Marathon is a Harsh Mistress" line and proceeded to tell us about the extreme conditions and how his runners did or didn't do, as there were many DNF's (that's "did not finish" to those of you new to racing acronyms).

Since I'm on the subject of the Wednesday night workouts, I'll tell you that I've been going almost weekly for a couple months and have some of the hardest run workouts I ever do. I know I go a bit too hard for these just being workouts (you're not supposed to be setting PR's in workouts), but that's the way it goes when you workout with others. I've been neglecting my long, easier paced runs lately and have got to get started on that if I hope to do the Seattle Half Marathon in late November. Longer, easier paced runs for me this time of year should be starting around 8 or 9 miles and working up to 12 to 13, and running 1:10 working up to 2 hours out. OK, next week it is then!

Reebok,Subaru & 30th Reunion

Reebok Triathlon
September 12, 2004

12th in AG/124th OA

Swim: 14:12

T1: 3:32

Bike: 48:14

T2: 2:06

Run: 40:16

Total: 1:48:17

Subaru Triathlon (same race as Reebok, new sponsor this year)

September 11, 2005

2nd in AG/6th OA

Swim: 14:27

T1: 2:55

Bike: 36:06

T2: 1:36

Run: 33:48

Total: 1:28:51

The Reebok/Subaru sprint is an all-woman's event held at Steel Lake in Federal Way, WA. The '04 Reebok was my 4th and final tri of my first season. I had had successful races at my first-ever races earlier that summer and was looking forward to perhaps improving before finishing the season.

Fall was definitely in the air - I had listened to hard rain falling all night before the race and by early morning it was cold and soggy, but at least the rain had stopped. The swim went well and I had started my bike ride when my chain fell off in the first mile. I fixed it quickly and hopped back on. But as I rode, I just didn't feel fast and I was getting awfully tired. Soon I was being passed by many women. Hard as I tried I just kept falling behind. Something wasn't right! By the time the run came around, I was so exhausted. The run is a hilly double loop around Steel Lake totaling close to 4 miles. I was just wrung out! It wasn't until later that I discovered my front wheel was in contact with a brake pad. The darn pad must have shifted when my bike was laid down to fix the chain. I had been riding the whole damn ride with resistance on my front wheel and no wonder I was tired!

I needed to revisit this race the next year and set things right. And so...I came back and took 20 minutes off my time (darn brake pad).

The race in '05 was now sponsored by Subaru. Coincidentally, my 30th high school reunion was taking place in Federal Way that weekend (and the run course took us past Federal Way High School, home of the Eagles). My parents still live in FW, so it was a no-brainer to enjoy reunion festivities, visit the folks and do a race on Sunday a.m. No late night boozing it up would be happening. Being body-marked with race numbers on biceps is a nice accessory to the little velvet top and baubles I was wearing, don't you think? . There I am with old pals Miles, Lance, Rick and Derek (at 5'6", I'm not short; these tall guys used to play on the basketball team together at FW). Go Eagles!

I aimed to have a solid, consistent race to end what had been a great season. I had placed in AG in my 5 other races and 3 of them were 1st place finishes. The swim was fine and I exited the water 1 second behind Sandy L. and passed her running in to T1. I was 1 second ahead of her as we started the bike. She quickly passed me and continued to extend her lead. She wanted to capture 1st in AG and had a hot fire stoked to go for it.

During the bike, Val R. came up from behind to pass me. I said "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be ahead of me!". Simply stated, Val Rocks. She's been tops in her AG for years (2 years older than me, she was in the next AG up from me for this season). Though I have finally squeaked out some faster races than Val, they've been during seasons when she's played all summer traveling or hiking, not training much. Her strong leg is biking which made me wonder why she was only just now passing me half-way through the bike leg. As she passed me on a hill, she said she took a wrong turn. OK, now that made sense. There is a double loop section on this course that is not well marked and several people I know have missed the turn in the past. Oh, Val also played college basketball and I suspect she could probably give those guys pictured above some competition on the court.

.

Back to Sandy. I expected my run to be faster than hers, but she was 1:25 ahead of me by the end of the bike leg. I trimmed that lead by having a 14 second faster T2 which would leave 1:11 to make up. Of course I knew none of these specifics at the time. I just knew she was maybe 250 yards ahead of me. The 4 mile hilly run came and I could see Val and Sandy up ahead. I did not expect to catch Val, but thought it might be possible to catch Sandy. But Sandy had other plans. My run split was only a few seconds faster than hers and she finished 1:04 ahead of me. There's Sandy and me waiting for our #1 and #2 AG awards. Val had a great race with a 1st in AG and 3rd OA, beating us both. There are the 3 of us doing a kind of group high-5 or something.