New Gear, New Venue, the Running Continues....

OK. So I know I vowed to blog more and have blatantly failed to follow through with said promise. To make things easier on all of us (for me, less guilt. For you, fewer expectations), I'll take that promise off the table. I will simply blog when I have enough time to devote to good posting. I may have to update you on an entire week in one blog. Conversely, I may be able to blog two or three times per week. Time will tell and we shall see. My hope is to get back to blogging more frequently, as I am able to capture the essence of runs if I blog soon afterwards.

Enough said on that.

Let me start where I left off: During my last post, I'd just finished a great 5 mile run with Tia and was looking forward to a 4 and 6 miler over the weekend. I didn't actually accomplish those goals entirely.

On Saturday, we decided to take a family bike ride to Eugene's annual "Bike Day" celebration. We donned our helmets, loaded up the kiddo in her bike trailer, and headed out. It was a lot of fun. I haven't ridden my bike yet this year, so it had all of the elements of a perfect start-of-the-season inaugural run. Not too short, yet long enough to wake up those sleepy quads. I decided it was OK to forgo the run for this because it technically was cross training, which I hadn't done in a while.

Sunday, then, I set out for 6 miles. I took a route that I thought was a full 6 and happily headed out the door into the BEAUTIFUL summery sun. It didn't take long for me to feel great. Now that I can begin runs at a decent pace, I can really start to see why people love running. The feeling I get once I hit a certain stride and let it level out is mostly indescribable. To be clear - this is not the "runner's high", but rather just a good feeling of freedom and accomplishment; good health and endurance. I took a route that goes down my street, cuts down through Portland street. I then hit 24th and followed it all the way to Agate. There, I headed North and ran through the University of Oregon, past the Hospital. I then turned South and headed back towards 24th, Portland, and then to my house. I love this loop. I think it's my favorite run that doesn't include the bike path along the river (at which point there is no contest as to favorites). What made this extra special on this particular Sunday is the UO's Prefontaine Classic track meet.

As I began to head down Agate street towards campus, I felt the urge to slow down a a little. My initial spark had worn down and I was settling into a slower pace. This downward trend would cease, however, as I began to see hordes of people walking towards me. As I closed in on campus, I discovered the source: The Prefontaine Classic track meet. Literally 100's of people were exiting Hayward Field. As I darted through them, I was smacked with motivation. Perhaps I just felt fast, but I seemed to be running at record (ok, my record) speed through the crowds, inspired by the tremendous college athletes inside the stadium.

This literal "spring" in my step continued all the way though campus. Once I began to run South again, towards my house, I slowed a bit back into a ten minute mile pace. I was curious to see how this run would turn out in terms of time. I knew I had run a little faster than normal, but I have noticed that I feel quicker than I turn out to be. This is partially because of stop lights. I have to wait sometimes 2 minutes for one to change, so it's difficult to say how that impacts my time.

When I came back to my house, I was SHOCKED to see my stopwatch: 50:55. Flabbergasted, I knew this couldn't be. There was no way I could have run 6 miles in 50 minutes. As soon as I had a moment, I checked g pedometer and learned that I in fact had NOT run 6 miles, but rather logged 5.3. It had been a while since I did 6 and I completely forgot that I have to expand this route a few blocks once I enter campus area. So better luck next time. I didn't do too badly, though, once I take out those stop lights. My time is increasing. I still have a lot of work to do on endurance, though. I do notice fatigue after running a decent pace. My hope is that I can work towards maintaining faster paces.

After Sunday's distance snafu, I knew I had some work to do throughout the week. My goal was to run 3.5 on Tuesday, 3.5 on Wednesday, 6 on Thursday, and then 7 on Saturday morning, before hopping on a plane to Denver.

I had also thought a lot about jogging strollers. It would be nice to have the flexibility to run with Emelyn if needed during these 3 and 4 mile runs. We do have a jogging stroller of sorts - Our bike trailer has a running conversion kit. It's a nice, light, easy to maneuver stroller, but with summer within reach, I know we'll be taking her on more frequent bike rides and it will be a nuisance to keep switching it from Bike to Jogger. In addition, she's essentially sitting in a giant box, far from me and the outside. She would enjoy the runs more, too, if she were out in the open more.

SO - I began research on jogging strollers and determined that they are expensive! I didn't feel right about spending $200+ on a stroller that I wasn't sure she would like, AND I wasn't sure I'd be using a year from now (you know - A Year Before the Gear!). Luckily, my good friend Colby had one that they didn't use much and offered to sell it to me for $25. I tried it out with Emelyn for a "test run" on Tuesday afternoon. It was a different experience than running with the bike trailer/jogger in that it's heavier and less easy to steer. BUT - Emelyn liked it a lot. She even fell asleep! I also liked that I could hear her better and didn't have to stop completely and walk around to the front just to hear what she says to me ("mommy! That truck is RED - Just like my box of raisins!". We did a nice, quick 3.5 mile loop on Tuesday afternoon, which then helped me decide to keep it and pay Colby the $25.

On Wednesday - I pushed/ran with the stroller to the Daycare, picked up Emelyn, and continued on a 4 mile loop. It was so much fun. Armed with snacks and a drink, she happily sat in the stroller, telling me about her day while I shoved us onward. There was a slight upset: A bitten tongue at mile 3. We worked through it and kept on going. The stroller isn't perfect, but it gets the job done - and the price was unbeatable. It's only a 40 pound capacity, so I will have it probably for a year anyway. When she grows out of it, I'll then make the decision to buy another one if I'm still running, or not. It's perfect for what we need right now.

Thursday was a new adventure for me. I knew I needed to cram in a 6 miler, but I didn't have anytime. Each Thursday evening, Greg and I attend a parent education group class called "Birth To Three". This is a bright spot in our week. We've been with the same group of folks since Emelyn was 8 weeks old. It's remarkable to see all of the kiddos change and grow, and also invaluable to be able to share parenting tips with others who have children the same age. That being said, I needed to keep Birth To Three on my calendar, AND squeeze in a run. After some coordination, I decided to RUN to Birth To Three. I charted a 5.5 mile course (time was of the essence) and headed out after work. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and I was loving it. I had asked Greg to bring my gym bag in so I could change my clothes when I arrived to class.

Here's a perfect example of how something can seem so great in your head, but falls a little flat when it comes to fruition. As I was running along, I felt pretty good. Seemed to be enjoying myself. I started at a faster pace and kept it up for a couple of miles, after which I settled into a ten minute mile pace. All was going well. I had felt a little later than I wanted, so I knew I'd be late to Birth To Three. Once I crossed the bridge and was very close to Birth To Three, I decided to cut across and get there sooner, as opposed to completing the remainder of the loop. Only problem: When I cut through the path, I had no idea where I was.

Oops. I was certain the path would lead me directly to the stadium, which was across the street from our class, but it did not. I led me into a large field with tall grass. I was running on a "sort of path" that was no more than beaten down tall grass. I followed it until I saw people running. I followed them as best I could, assuming their path would meet mine and luckily it did. I don't know how much distance I added to my journey, but I'm thinking I did about 6 miles total and I was 25 minutes late to class.

When I arrived, Greg was already there and still getting Emelyn settled. I asked one of the childcare ladies to let him know I was there so he could bring my gym bag to me. Greg appears shortly thereafter with a look on his face that said "Oh boy. You aren't going to be happy with me". He then begins to explain to me that when I said "Do you mind bringing my gym bag in with you", he thought I meant to bring it into our HOUSE and completely missed that I meant to bring it to class. So there I was - wearing a sports bra and a pair of very short spandex shorts, sitting in a metal folding chair in a circle of parents who are talking about many parenting topics, among them, hehe, the value of good spousal communication.

I wasn't able to cram in my 7 miler on Saturday morning like I had hoped. I decided to do it in Denver, though knew when I arrived in the Mile High City and was winded just going up the steps that it would probably not happen. I did run today with Greg. We did under 3 miles and it darn near killed me. Running at Altitude is an interesting, humbling experience. Greg would say things like "Breathe deeply through your nose, not your mouth" and I'd do my best to reply "I can't breathe through my nose". I finally decided to stop running for real and just do a jog/hop sort of thing which helped with my lung capacity, but created other problems with pain to my body for running like that.

Very funny. I'll be glad to get back to Sea Level, that's for sure! So - I'll be doing lots of running this week - and hopefully blogging as well - as I'll be alone! Greg and Emelyn are staying here in Denver for another week, and I head home tomorrow. I won't know what to do on my own, so Tia has planned many things for me, most (or all) of which include running.