Market Street Scramble and Jingle Bell Run

This weekend was full of activities, but seeing as how I started off sick on Friday, I did not do all that well. I am definitely going to bed early tonight.

Saturday Tim and I did the Market Street Scramble which was the last in the series this year. We'll have to wait on the final results because by our tally, we should have placed, but maybe the rain washed off some of our answers. I did hear at least one other team questioning the results so we'll see what the final tally reveals. It was only a 2 hour course this time, but we still managed to cover 7 miles.



Ever get that squishy feeling when you have a really bad bruise? Well, I re-injured my foot during the street scramble so that is how the outside of my right foot feels right now. Add that to a knee that won't bend and I barely finished the Jingle Bell run (more of a limping walk for me). It looked like a really fast course so I was bummed. Next year, I'll wish for dry skies and healthy legs.



Time to rest up and get back into yoga so I'm healthy for the Resolution Run on New Year's Day.

Seattle Half Marathon

Oi, it was cold, but at least the rain held off. I wanted to come in under 3 hours and managed to make it in at 2:47:44 so I'm happy. Tim found me about halfway through and cheered me on then met me at the finish. Now a little nap and then I need to finish packing for NYC.

Mud & Chocolate Half Marathon

That was nuts! Who's crazy idea was it to run a half marathon? A trail run at that! Oh yeah, that was me. My phone does not have enough battery to run my XM and my Runkeeper app for three hours so I was only able to capture the first 10 miles of my run. The total miles ran was 13.1'ish and I came in around 2:50. I wanted to finish within 3 hours so I'm happy. Actually, I'm just happy to have finished, full stop!

I'm up before the crack of dawn tomorrow to catch a plane to NYC for work so I think a nap is in order. Seattle Half Marathon is in three weeks.

The elapsed time got a little wonky when my battery died, but the route is accurate.

Run Scared 5K

I talked Tim into dressing up and running around Seward Park with me for the Run Scared 5K yesterday. It was windy and cold, but dry for the race so I'm happy.

Distance: 3.21 mi
Time: 34:36
Avg Pace: 10:48 min/mi
Elevation: 353 ft

This coming Sunday: Mud & Chocolate Half Marathon

Dawg Dash

It's blowing like crazy, raining, and 52 degrees. Perfect day for a race. I dragged Tim along with me for the Dawg Dash to share in the misery. The rain did let up for about half an hour this morning which was just long enough to finish the race, grab some swag, and head back to the car where we turned the heat on full blast. A post-race feast at the Original Pancake House was a nice reward.

I Have Officially Lost My Mind

I’ve been told that if you make a resolution or start on something new, it is a good idea to tell as many people as possible. The potential for public shaming will encourage you to stay on track. To that end, I have signed up for two half marathons in November and now I am telling everyone. The Mud & Chocolate (http://mudandchocolate.com/) on November 7 and the Seattle Half Marathon (http://www.seattlemarathon.org/) on November 28.

Why would I do a crazy thing like that? The only answer I can come up with is that I have officially lost my mind. I really am not a runner so my goal is just to complete both events. The 4 hour race window and the call of chocolate will keep me motivated during the first race. Tim has promised to come out and cheer me to the finish for the Seattle Half Marathon.

Wish me luck, send positive thoughts, and keep the painkillers handy.

Brew Ha Ha Street Scramble

We have not made it out to a street scramble in a while, but beer sure is a good motivator. By our account, we scored over 600 points which should have put is in about third place, but during the awards announcements we did not place so we'll have to look into the official scores in a couple of days.

Still, 5.36 miles is not too shabby for these weekend warriors.

Lake Union 10K

It was my first race back after a bit of a hiatus and I am pretty happy with the results. For the first time ever, I jogged the entire first 5K without stopping to walk. Yippee! I'm slow, but it was a good finish and I feel good. Maybe walking the Seattle Half Marathon is not so far out of my reach after all.

Distance: 6.27 mi (10K)
Time: 1:13:15
Avg Pace: 11:42
Elevation Gained: 798 ft

Easing Back Into It

It's been a while since I've trained and I felt bad for bailing out of the street scramble on such a nice day so I made myself go for a walk. After nearly 7 miles, I'm ready for a giant slice of watermelon.



Somehow the map was corrupted so I'm removing it for now.

Beer, Footy, Midnight Runs, and Sweedes

We kicked off the long weekend with a visit to the Seattle International Beer Festival. True to form, we got rained on, but the sun did come out a bit towards the end of the evening. Sampling beers from all over is not a bad start to the holiday weekend.

A long night rolled into an early morning for breakfast, mimosas and Germany v Argentina action on the big screen at home. Germany dominated the match and ended up victorious. We are hoping for a Germany v Netherlands final this year.

After a couple of naps in the hope of a quick recovery, we headed back down to the Seattle Center for the Firecracker 5000 race which kicked off at 11:55 PM. The best part was slogging past all of the bars on lower Queen Anne with everyone outside cheering us idiots on.



The after party at Buca di Beppo's was rewarding if subdued.

Today was a day of rest before we head out to the Swedish Cultural Center for a July 4 Celebration. The rain has decided to set in for the evening so it will be nice to have a roof over our heads while we wait for the fireworks. I almost feel sorry for the guys down the street who have already started setting off fireworks in celebration. Almost.

Tomorrow it's back to catching up on all the chores at home before heading back to work on Tuesday.

Fitness for Vitality 5K

I signed up to participate in the Fitness for Vitality 10K, but pulled the plug after the first lap at 5K. I had a chance to go sub-30 minutes for the 5K, but just could not push through. I need to start doing yoga again and lose this extra 10 pounds I'm carrying around and things will be a lot easier.

Anyway, here are the vital stats:

Duration    Distance    Avg. Pace    Climbed
0:31:38       3.04 mi      10:25             78 ft

Apologies for the broken maps

RunKeeper upgraded their system and it seems to have introduced several issues including returning a 404 error for embedded maps. A ticket has been open for a couple of days, and they promise to fix the problem "soon". Until then, I apologize for the broken maps. You can use the URL below to click through my past races in the meantime.

http://runkeeper.com/user/kjdreyling

Not Feeling It Today

I went for a free run today and was just not feeling it. I am developing shin splints which have always plagued me when running and I still have not found a good way to prevent them. That and too much food over the weekend made it a pretty low intensity outing today. I'm still giving myself credit for getting out and doing something.

Duration    Distance    Avg. Pace    Climbed
0:33:59       2.91 mi      11:42             146 ft

Furry 5K

I had some technical difficulties at the Furry 5K today. Somehow, when I added a couple more tracks to my running podcasts, iTunes erased all of my music from my phone. Also, the GPS signal was weak so I was unable to use the normal mapping software to track my route and statistics.

The Furry 5K was an event to raise money for the Seattle Animal Shelter which is where we adopted Nomar and Raul 10 years ago. The course was supposed to be a gentle lap around Seward Park, but apparently the low route wasn't quite long enough. To make up the distance, we were routed up and around the hill in the middle of the park. Seriously, is it really that hard to find three flat miles in Seattle? Anyway, my finish time was somewhere around 31 minutes so I continue to improve. If I finally find a flat course I may be able to break the 30 minute mark.

Next week is a 10K along Myrtle Edwards Park downtown. The goal is to run 5K and then see what I can do with the rest.

UPDATE - Official Results:

Time: 31:29
Place: 32/89 in Women 30-39 Age Division
123/308 for all Women participants
258/528 for all participants

Woo Hoo!

Remind me why I'm doing this

I'm not a particularly big fan of running and hills just kill me so remind me again why I've decided to train for a 5K in Seattle? It is one activity that does not cost a lot of money, you can do it pretty much anywhere, it is also an activity that my body reacts to quickly. The races are a lot of fun and there is a lot of encouragement while you are out on the course so you always finish feeling like you've accomplished something. Even if it is just getting off your butt for half an hour over the weekend.

Today's training run consisted of a 5 minute warmup, a 10 minute interval up a gentle hill, 3 minutes of recovery, another 10 minute jogging interval, and then a cool down back to the house. I went up further than I go to come back down so while the second interval was easier, I more than made up for it on the first. Plus I beat the rain home.

Start Time    End Time    Duration    Distance    Avg. Pace    Climbed
6:06 pm         6:41 pm      0:34:31       2.72 mi      12:41             190 ft

Couch to 5K Week 4 Training

I am using the PodRunner Intervals training program and took Week 4 out for a test drive this evening. The BPM used during the training sessions feel a bit slow to me so I tend to run at a slightly faster pace than the music, but the podcasts are easy to use. I threw in a gradual hill for the last interval to up the workout intensity a little bit and that felt good. I think I am going to skip ahead a few weeks and see if that is a bit more challenging.

I was messing around with the program a little at the beginning of my run so that is why the course has some missing sections.


Start Time    End Time    Duration    Distance    Avg. Pace    Climbed
6:02 pm         6:35 pm      0:31:11       2.46 mi      12:40             156 ft

Fremont 5K

I have started using Podrunner podcasts to help me progress with my fitness. I am almost able to jog a full 5K without walking to catch my breath. If I finally get on a flat course, jogging a full 5K just may be within my reach.

I am also trying out the free version of the RunKeeper app on my phone to track my runs over time. Here is the course for the Fremont 5K I competed in on Friday. The elevation chart on the website is quite cool as it tracks your pace along with any change in elevation.

I Ran for the Cure

Yesterday, I participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Downtown Seattle. Unfortunately, we woke up to grey skies and steady drizzle for race day, but the energy at the Seattle Center made up for the weather. There were tons of booths circling the International Fountain with breast cancer awareness education, Race for the Cure apparel, goodies for runners, and even live music. The race was a 5K starting on Mercer Street, out and back through Downtown along Third, then finishing up back at the Seattle Center. King 5's Jean Enersen was there to start off each wave of the race.

Just about everyone has been touch by breast cancer either through a relative, a friend, or through their own personal struggle. Through the I Am The Cure program, the Susan G. Komen foundation is working to raise awareness and educate women to take an active role in their own breast health. My Grandmother was a breast cancer survivor. We miss you MeMa.

No Medal for Team Same Same

At the Gig Harbor Street Scramble, team Same Same finished in fifth place and left without a medal.  Fatigue and miscommunication towards the end of the race caused us to leave 30 points on the table which would have put us in third place.  The course was hilly which made for some fantastic views, but sapped my energy about two hours in.  At least the rain held off even if the sun refused to come out.  The Seattle Night and Day Challenge is up next July 24-25.

A Weekend of K's

I am not a big runner in general, but I do try to participate in a 5K each month in addition to my recent addiction to street scrambles and orienteering. This weekend the stars aligned and I ended up participating in a 10K on Saturday and a 5K on Sunday.

Saturday's race was a nice gentle course around Lake Union. The morning was a bit chilly, but not too bad once you got going. Being my first 10K I did not have any expectations about my performance, but am pretty happy with my result. I came in around one hour, twenty-odd minutes with a combination of jogging and walking. A nice introduction to longer races.

Today's 5K was a different story. The Kilt Run was through Magnuson Park and it was 48 degrees with a strong wind off the lake at the start. Even though my legs were numb for the first mile, I managed to turn in a personal best at 31:39ish minutes. There was a beer garden waiting for me at the end so I had some encouragement to finish quickly. Tim was great enough to stand out in the cold and cheer me on.

Overall a very rewarding weekend.

Orienteering on Whidby Island

After a trial run at orienteering at Lincoln Park a few weeks ago, we had our first serious race today at Fort Ebey State Park. The race was a score-O so, like a street scramble, we had a list of controls to visit of various point values and had to decide how to maximize points and still get to the finish within two hours. The trails were steep, curvy, and sometimes through dense forest so it was a lot slower going than our urban scrambles. The course setter was a huge fan of placing controls at the bottom of "kettles" which are large depressions about 50-60 m deep. This meant for each control we achieved, we had to climb back up a hill in order to get to the next one. Tim is not so sure of our ending score, but I feel like we did pretty good. As soon as they are posted, I'll be sure to update with our results.

Results
--------
Groups: Score: Time:
Tiff Koehn 780 118:39
Robyn Rennie 630 118:52
Mic Swanson 600 116:40
Kari & Tim Dreyling 370 113:25
Lowell Schaffner 360 114:38
Dave Petty/Ken Lew 260 115:39
Chris Klemczyk 180 103:46

Team Same Same But Different moves up a notch

Tim and I scored third place at the U-District Street Scramble which
is one place better than our last outing. The two teams that scored
ahead of us are both hard core runners and always amass a ton of
points so we are pretty happy with where we finished.

Stats:
3rd out of 13 participants in our class ( mixed )
11th out of 47 in our division ( 3 hour foot )
19th out of 115 overall

Team Same Same But Different Scores 4th Place

We did our first Street Scramble this weekend and managed to come in 4th place in our category.  We even got a ribbon!  Not bad considering we had no idea what to expect and the course covered a lot more of West Seattle than we anticipated.  We had three hours to visit as many places as we could on foot and I think there was only one more place we possibly could have hit so  I'm happy with our results.  Now it's time to take another look at the map and see what we could have done differently to score more points.  

The next scramble is April 25, in the U-District.  Tim is going to start off the race for team Same Same But Different and I will join him after my 5K at Greenlake.  It's a ton of fun.

Stats:
4th out of 16 participants in our class ( mixed )
13th out of 49 in our division ( 3 hour foot )
22nd out of 124 overall

Foiled by DST

I was all set to do my first 5K since returning home this weekend. I signed up for the St. Patty's Day Dash, picked up my race packet, set the alarm, cued up the coffee maker, and went to bed at a decent hour. On Sunday morning I woke up just before the alarm went off, got dressed, and was heading downstairs when I realized the time on the DVR was an hour later than I thought it should be. That's when it sunk in that we forgot to turn forwards our clocks for DST the night before. Not having a job is still messing with my ability to know what day of the week it is. Oh well, we ended up walking down to the farmer's market to get in a little bit of exercise. The Alki Street Scramble is this coming Saturday, and my next chance for a 5K is the Top Pot run in late April. No time changes to catch me up this time.

Rediscovering Home

Within an hour of our house, there are dozens of hikes of varying degrees of difficulty and I am sad to say that I have attempted very few of them.  While I am looking for a job, I am making a point to get out and rediscover the natural places around us.  So far, I have made it to Rattlesnake Ledge and re-acquainted myself with an old favorite, Tiger Mountain.  Spring weather and some pretty amazing blisters have slowed me down lately, but I hope to make it out again later in the week.  We spent a lot of time exploring nature on our year abroad and I hope to keep that spirit alive now that we are home.  Looking forward to warmer, dry weather in the months to come.