Decided to skip out on the Spring Classic Duathlon this year. It would have been fun with Mark & Robin as our teammates, but it just wasn't going to work out with all that needs to happen for the Easter service the next day. Somehow multisport events are more fun with friends to hang out with!
Oh well, this gives me more time to train for Blue Lake in June and then look forward to the All Women's event at the end of July!
About Me
- Nancy
- Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Nancy. I decided to retire early and my last day at the Fire District was December 31, 2020. My dream to do this pigs 'n poultry thing full time started on January 1, 2021. So far so good...
Monday, March 22, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
to ride or run...
Took this week off from running - felt like I deserved a break after doing the 8K Shamrock run on Sunday. This week I did a spin class at the gym on Tuesday and then bike commuted the rest of the week. Wednesday and Thursday were windy and cold...not fun, but I just look at it as training. We'll see what today will be like - I think I'll have a short break stopping by Tish & Bry's house for my book...I love me a bike commute day!
Will get back on the treadmill/road next week for maintenance training...and some du training too.
Run-Ride-Run baybee!
Will get back on the treadmill/road next week for maintenance training...and some du training too.
Run-Ride-Run baybee!
Monday, March 15, 2010
21,000 people...
...is a lot of people!
Shamrock Run 2010 was a blast! There were a ton of people everywhere we went, but overall it was a pretty well organized event.
Tom and I picked up our bibs and timing chips Saturday morning at the Adidas Campus on Greeley Avenue in Portland. We were kind of driving around trying to figure out how to get to Greeley - once we figured it out we came upon traffic that appeared to be going to the same place we were, so we figured we were heading in the right direction. Getting in and out of that facility was so EASY...crazy easy...and thus we were on our way to our first Shamrock run!
The 8K race started last so we had some time to get there and look around before getting all lined up to run. We picked up Sally & Stephanie to head downtown together and hung out with them before the race started. Actually, once we decided to check our extra clothes and personal items, we were separated. Only then did it occur to me that we could watch the 5K runners coming in; so we went to see if I could spot anyone from work, but it was too late since the runners coming in were the slower bunch and closer to 45 minutes - my work people would have finished long before then. I ended up not seeing anyone from work :(
The race itself was a blast! At the beginning while heading up Burnside Sally passed us and that was the last we saw of her! Tom and I continued to run together for just over a mile. When we got to Broadway and the climbing started. I told Tom to go and run...I didn't want him to hold back - I really wanted him to run his own pace and find out what he is capable of running over 5 miles. Even then, I was able to spot him in the crowd for a few blocks, but once we got up to the Schnitz he was gone. Aaah, hills....even though I haven't trained much on hills, running up Broadway wasn't all that bad, I only walked about 3 blocks of it and pretty much ran the rest of the course. There were a couple of times on the course that I went into robot mode and I was just a little running machine, chugging up the hills and not thinking too much about how much I don't really like hills, because I really don't like them...really. The downhill on Naito Parkway was a nice end to the run. That was just plain refreshing after running up for a couple of miles. The best part was when I decided to PASS people. Now I know I can do it if I set my mind to it...FUN! Usually people are passing me left and right...but this time there were plenty of slower runners (and I'm pretty slow) that I had a boost in confidence!
The one thing that was messed up was a cop stopping runners at one intersection to let traffic through. Had I thought about it then, I would have stopped my watch and started it again when we started up again. That way I would have gotten my true time and not what the timing chip said. Oh well...there is always next time. Also, I was a little annoyed at this because I was trying to catch up to a woman who was sporting a pair of barefoot running "shoes". I hesitate to call them shoes, but she had them on...check these babies out...
Aren't they crazy looking? She did not look as if she were enjoying her run either, but who am I to say. They just look plain weird.
Anyway, my final net time was 1:01:56 which includes the stop at the intersection. I don't remember what my gun time was, but I think it was 9 minutes more...my average was calculated from this time which I'm not counting. I'm pretty happy with my time though and I know that I'll never be fast, but I'll always finish strong!
Since I have been running pretty consistently since the middle of October, this event helped me to realize that I'm not training for nothing. This run was by-far the best run I have run since starting running a couple of years ago...good running shoes, a gym membership and trying to stay consistent has been the key to good running! I look forward to more training and getting out on my bike more. The Spring Classic Duathlon is up in a couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to doing that as a warm up to Blue Lake in June!
Run-Ride-Run Baybee!
Shamrock Run 2010 was a blast! There were a ton of people everywhere we went, but overall it was a pretty well organized event.
Tom and I picked up our bibs and timing chips Saturday morning at the Adidas Campus on Greeley Avenue in Portland. We were kind of driving around trying to figure out how to get to Greeley - once we figured it out we came upon traffic that appeared to be going to the same place we were, so we figured we were heading in the right direction. Getting in and out of that facility was so EASY...crazy easy...and thus we were on our way to our first Shamrock run!
The 8K race started last so we had some time to get there and look around before getting all lined up to run. We picked up Sally & Stephanie to head downtown together and hung out with them before the race started. Actually, once we decided to check our extra clothes and personal items, we were separated. Only then did it occur to me that we could watch the 5K runners coming in; so we went to see if I could spot anyone from work, but it was too late since the runners coming in were the slower bunch and closer to 45 minutes - my work people would have finished long before then. I ended up not seeing anyone from work :(
The race itself was a blast! At the beginning while heading up Burnside Sally passed us and that was the last we saw of her! Tom and I continued to run together for just over a mile. When we got to Broadway and the climbing started. I told Tom to go and run...I didn't want him to hold back - I really wanted him to run his own pace and find out what he is capable of running over 5 miles. Even then, I was able to spot him in the crowd for a few blocks, but once we got up to the Schnitz he was gone. Aaah, hills....even though I haven't trained much on hills, running up Broadway wasn't all that bad, I only walked about 3 blocks of it and pretty much ran the rest of the course. There were a couple of times on the course that I went into robot mode and I was just a little running machine, chugging up the hills and not thinking too much about how much I don't really like hills, because I really don't like them...really. The downhill on Naito Parkway was a nice end to the run. That was just plain refreshing after running up for a couple of miles. The best part was when I decided to PASS people. Now I know I can do it if I set my mind to it...FUN! Usually people are passing me left and right...but this time there were plenty of slower runners (and I'm pretty slow) that I had a boost in confidence!
The one thing that was messed up was a cop stopping runners at one intersection to let traffic through. Had I thought about it then, I would have stopped my watch and started it again when we started up again. That way I would have gotten my true time and not what the timing chip said. Oh well...there is always next time. Also, I was a little annoyed at this because I was trying to catch up to a woman who was sporting a pair of barefoot running "shoes". I hesitate to call them shoes, but she had them on...check these babies out...
Anyway, my final net time was 1:01:56 which includes the stop at the intersection. I don't remember what my gun time was, but I think it was 9 minutes more...my average was calculated from this time which I'm not counting. I'm pretty happy with my time though and I know that I'll never be fast, but I'll always finish strong!
Since I have been running pretty consistently since the middle of October, this event helped me to realize that I'm not training for nothing. This run was by-far the best run I have run since starting running a couple of years ago...good running shoes, a gym membership and trying to stay consistent has been the key to good running! I look forward to more training and getting out on my bike more. The Spring Classic Duathlon is up in a couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to doing that as a warm up to Blue Lake in June!
Run-Ride-Run Baybee!
Shamrock 2010
Did the 8K Shamrock Run yesterday - here are photos....more to come later!
(click below to expand)
(click below to expand)
Thursday, March 11, 2010
I like hills!
Alright, so not really hills, but the hills that I program in on the treadmill. That's the way I like it, I get to control the hill!
Did a pretty fun run workout today which was pretty much easy in that each change only lasted for 1 "lap". Trying to run at "race pace" which I am not sure where I am yet and change up the incline to simulate running on a hill. So, did 1% from the beginning and actually got up to 8% - which I should have done for 1 lap, but could only stand for 1/2 a lap, walked a couple of times, but managed to do the whole workout. Of course, my challenge now, will be to do the whole thing without walking AND doing the full lap for the 8% incline.
No more running or cycling this week - Shamrock Run is Sunday and Tom and I are looking forward to running through the streets of downtown PDX! Got my green top and a pair of lucky socks on the way...
Run-Baby-Run!
Did a pretty fun run workout today which was pretty much easy in that each change only lasted for 1 "lap". Trying to run at "race pace" which I am not sure where I am yet and change up the incline to simulate running on a hill. So, did 1% from the beginning and actually got up to 8% - which I should have done for 1 lap, but could only stand for 1/2 a lap, walked a couple of times, but managed to do the whole workout. Of course, my challenge now, will be to do the whole thing without walking AND doing the full lap for the 8% incline.
Run-Baby-Run!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Moving on...
It's time to start incorporating a Duathlon specific training plan. My reasons for doing this -
A. It will be good to do both running AND riding during the week which one workout a week will be BOTH in on day, one right after the other.
and
2. I'm getting bored with following a running plan. I won't care about running an 8K distance past March 14, so I"m just going to move on. Actually I should care a little because participating in a Duathlon requires running TWO 5k runs...so I should at least get to a 10K distance just for the sake of endurance on my part.
Anyway, this plan should be good. While doing Blue Lake for the first time, the second run was quite shocking. My legs were like, "Uh, noooo....stop moving, stop moving, STOP MOVING!" I kid you not, my legs felt like LEAD! The actual lifting of my legs was very minimal, I doubt that I looked like I was moving! While training last year, it didn't occur to me that maybe I should train by riding then running more than I did which was only a couple of times. I have to say that enthusiasm really does wonders though - I was so excited about doing this event that the pain really didn't register too much. It was pretty awesome!
Man, I'm getting all psyched up again!
run-ride-run bay-bee!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Weather Watching
My illness for weather watching has returned! Now that the trees are starting to bloom that can only mean that cycling season will be in full swing very soon!
This week doesn't look TOO bad. Wednesday might be the other day I ride this week...a couple of days at the gym on the treadmill and then Saturday looks good for a long run...
This week doesn't look TOO bad. Wednesday might be the other day I ride this week...a couple of days at the gym on the treadmill and then Saturday looks good for a long run...
Yesterday was a decent 5K run - 37:03 at just under a 12 minute pace, I'm pretty happy with that. Now the test will be in a couple of weeks when we do the Shamrock 8K distance. In a week or two I need to start running two 5k distances with a rest in between to get used to that motion.
Run-Ride-Run baby!
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