State of the Running

So I figure write a blog post at least once a year. Here you go...

State of Running in Tory's Life.

Since my brain hemorrhage I have had a lot of successes and setbacks. I am not where I want to be with my running, but I am much better off than I was a year ago. I still deal with chronic daily headaches that suck the life out of some days, but I also have some good days where I can soldier through and get a good, cleansing run. Since Brain-a-Palooza 2012 I have run:

• One full marathon (Birch Bay)
• Three ultra marathons (two 12-hours and one 50k)
• Probably five or six 5ks
• A 15k (Hot Chocolate)
• A Four miler (Sea Fair)
• Ten half marathons (one with a walker)
• Four half marathons in four days (Quadzuki over Thanksgiving)

My goal was to run a 50 miler, but my training is sporadic an is ruled by my head. I've had to cut a number of races down from full marathons to halves, and 50 miler down to 50k. I still feel good at what I have done.

So next year my goal is to get my 100 miler. I still want to do that and I will. It just may not be this year. 

Tag! You're It!

Because I love my sister, Kendra, I'm going to do this.


Oh who am I fooling? I love to talk about myself! I'd have probably done it anyhow...


there are five rules:

1.  post these rules.
2.  post a picture of yourself and 10 random things about yourself that people may not know.
3.  answer the questions set from the original post.
4. create 10 new questions and tag people to answer them
5. go to their facebook page or their twitter and let them know you've tagged them.

10 random things about me:

1. I was one of a twin. No, really. My twin died shortly before we were born. No, I did not kill her...or absorb her...
2. When I was in 5th grade I had a crush on this nerdy looking guy who sat in front of this dorky looking guy in my reading class. I later dated the nerdy looking guy, but I married the dorky looking guy.
3. I will try just about anything once, as long as I don't think it will hurt my health (like drugs). 
4. I don't drink, or swear...okay I swear, but I don't rat my hair and i probably would get ill from one cigarette. I'm not anti-alcohol I'm just a) too cheap to pay for booze and b) too cheap to spend calories on booze and c) don't really need booze to make me act like an idiot.
5. I let my dog eat off my fork. Yeah, I know where that tongue has been, and yet I do it anyhow.
6. I alternately think I am the smartest person in the room and the dumbest person in the room.
7. I am motivated by ordinary people who do extraordinary things. I secretly want to be one of those people.
8. I used to be a complete couch potato and weigh over 100 more than I do now. I can still pull a mean potato moment, but I hate being sedentary for very long.
9. I really do want to run 100 mile race. No. Really. I want to see how far I can go just because. When I started exercising and realized that I had control over my body (I think when you're fat, you don't feel that way), it was like having a new toy (get your mind out of the gutter) and all I wanted to do was take it out, play with it (I said get your mind OUT of the gutter) and see how far I could push it. 
10. I like watching TV. I like reading trashy books. I like stupid silly movies. I don't care. HA!

questions:

1. what is the most important quality that you look for in a friend?
Honesty and a sense of adventure

2. what is one thing you regret-big or small?
Probably not spending more time with my Dad, Don, before he died.
3. can you stand up in a crowd and give a speech?
Yes. No problem.

4. coffee or tea? when was they first time you had it?
Both, but mainly coffee. I love good, strong, slap you in the face and call you Nancy, coffee.
5. your all time favorite movie and why?
A Fish Called Wanda because when Ken runs over the dog the look on his face is PRICELESS and it always makes me collapse into a fit of giggles! 

6. if you had to choose between wearing a dress everyday or wearing heels everyday which would it be?
Wearing a dress. I hate heels.

7. favorite dessert?
Pie or crisp

8. whats in your purse right now?
Depends on which purse. One has my Kindle and a wallet and lipstick. A few business cards.
My other one has the little purse (see above), my MacBook Air, a Clear modem, girly stuff, phone charger, iPad, some Starbucks coupons, and change.
9. who was the last person you laughed with? what did you laugh about?
Just tonight we laughed at bootcamp. We were laughing about my inability to count to 20 while everyone is in a plank. I think I might have been the only one laughing...
10. when was the last time you were so excited you couldn't sleep? why were you excited?
I don't have a hard time sleeping when excited...nervous, yes. I didn't sleep when I was in the hospital because I was scared about what was happening. I had a really hard time sleeping the night before I got out because I was excited to go home. 


Okay, ten more questions. You have to answer these.:

1. If you could have any pet in the world, what would you have?
2. If you could do it again and either have kids (if you don't) or not have kids (if you do), would you change things? Note: This does not mean you do not love your children.
3. Do you believe in climate change?
4. If you could change one thing about your PERSONALITY, what would it be?
5. Where is your happy place?
6. If you from 15 years ago could visit you now, what would surprise you from 15 years ago most. (If you are under 15, shut up. I hate you.)
7. Where do you want to retire to?
8. If you had to choose one uniform for every day, what would you choose? 
9. Okay I'm watching TV and they just showed an informercial. What informercial do you see that makes you seriously think, "I kinda want to buy that?"
10. Green thumb or brown thumb?

Safety Runs

I do believe that starting in August I will be hosting free Safety Runs in the Marysville area. We'll meet at Jennings Park and just run as a group from 1-5 miles. No obligation, just show up and run with others and get to know your neighbors! C'mon! It'll be fun!

What a fantastic ride! It didn't start that way, though. I have been having full out anxiety attacks about these Saturday rides. Will I get lost? Will I be able to keep up? Can I handle this distance? What if I crash? What if I get a flat? By the time I get there my poor husband is muttering the "D" word (and probably the "F" word too), my dogs are holed up in the neighbor's house, my stomach is churning so bad I feel like I'm going to throw up, and I'm completely besides myself. Yet once I get ON the bike and head out for the ride my adrenalin takes over and all my fears relax. If I crash I get up. Flat? Change it. Lost? That's why God invented cell phones. Can't keep up? So what, you have a Garmin and can finish your ride distance on your own with the map. Today the weather was amazing. All the mountains were out showing off. There wasn't a lot of traffic. The climbs were challenging enough to make me curse a few times, but not so bad that I had to stop or drop to granny (except once at mile 42, but c'mon, it was mile 42). Normally I ride with the slow group, but somehow ended up in the middle group with Cheryl. For the first half I tended to be in the back of the pack, calling out "glass" and "car up" to no one (like an idiot). But as others tired, I just kept at a nice even pace and ended up finishing first and finishing strong. I attribute that to my endurance and not to my speed! I just didn't really get tired much. When I finished I went out on my run (just 20 minutes) and not a full mile into it fell on my face scraping my knees, chin, and hands. DARN! When all was done Cheryl (coach) congratulated on me on my strong riding. I have always felt strong on the run, pathetic on the swim, and semi-pathetic on the bike so that was a HUGE ego boost. I hope I can go into the next training ride feeling confident and not going off my twig in the morning. And I hope that the next one is equally as enjoyable. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 211 ft Location: Seattle, WA Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 04/12/08 Up/Downhill: [+2641/-2641] Time: 08:03 AM Difficulty: 4.2 / 5.0   Weather: Fair   56 F temp; 61% humidity   56 F heat index; winds NW 3 Performance Distance: 45.61 miles Time: 3:31:03 Speed: 13.0 mph Pace: 4' 37 /mi Calories: 2226 Map   Elevation (ft)   Speed (mph)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 7' 02 +2' 25 8.5 -4.5 -4 ft 2 4' 04 -0' 32 14.7 +1.7 -128 ft 3 5' 01 +0' 24 11.9 -1.1 +3 ft 4 4' 19 -0' 17 13.9 +0.9 +13 ft 5 3' 46 -0' 50 15.9 +2.9 -20 ft 6 4' 24 -0' 12 13.6 +0.6 +59 ft 7 4' 13 -0' 23 14.2 +1.2 +13 ft 8 3' 57 -0' 39 15.1 +2.1 -36 ft 9 3' 37 -0' 59 16.6 +3.6 -29 ft 10 3' 55 -0' 41 15.3 +2.3 -26 ft 11 3' 51 -0' 45 15.6 +2.6 +4 ft 12 4' 03 -0' 33 14.8 +1.8 0 ft 13 4' 16 -0' 20 14.0 +1.0 +3 ft 14 6' 26 +1' 49 9.3 -3.7 +69 ft 15 5' 57 +1' 20 10.1 -2.9 +128 ft 16 6' 00 +1' 23 10.0 -3.0 +128 ft 17 5' 23 +0' 46 11.1 -1.9 +23 ft 18 4' 24 -0' 12 13.6 +0.6 -63 ft 19 6' 40 +2' 03 9.0 -4.0 +95 ft 20 4' 15 -0' 21 14.1 +1.1 0 ft 21 4' 20 -0' 16 13.8 +0.8 -161 ft 22 3' 22 -1' 14 17.8 +4.8 -43 ft 23 3' 16 -1' 20 18.4 +5.4 -79 ft 24 3' 18 -1' 18 18.2 +5.2 -95 ft 25 13' 53 +9' 16 4.3 -8.7 +4 ft 26 6' 53 +2' 16 8.7 -4.3 +200 ft 27 5' 12 +0' 35 11.5 -1.5 +82 ft 28 3' 21 -1' 15 17.9 +4.9 -105 ft 29 5' 03 +0' 26 11.9 -1.1 +49 ft 30 5' 15 +0' 38 11.4 -1.6 -19 ft 31 5' 22 +0' 45 11.2 -1.8 +112 ft 32 6' 40 +2' 03 9.0 -4.0 +109 ft 33 5' 24 +0' 47 11.1 -1.9 +23 ft 34 4' 39 +0' 02 12.9 -0.1 -49 ft 35 7' 39 +3' 02 7.8 -5.2 -33 ft 36 3' 58 -0' 38 15.1 +2.1 -72 ft 37 6' 23 +1' 46 9.4 -3.6 -39 ft 38 5' 13 +0' 36 11.5 -1.5 -33 ft 39 5' 00 +0' 23 12.0 -1.0 +14 ft 40 6' 35 +1' 58 9.1 -3.9 -154 ft 41 5' 00 +0' 23 12.0 -1.0 -13 ft 42 6' 29 +1' 52 9.2 -3.8 +75 ft 43 6' 47 +2' 10 8.8 -4.2 +36 ft 44 5' 44 +1' 07 10.5 -2.5 -46 ft 45 4' 04 -0' 32 14.7 +1.7 0 ft end 4' 00 -0' 36 15.0 +2.0 +7 ft Versus average of 13.0 mph

Posted from bimactive.com

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 33 ft Location: Redmond, WA Elev. Gain: +3 ft Date: 02/24/08 Up/Downhill: [+321/-318] Time: 08:33 AM Difficulty: 3.0 / 5.0   Weather: A Few Clouds   46 F temp; 76% humidity   46 F heat index; winds NW 12 Performance Distance: 13.94 miles Time: 2:35:06 Speed: 5.4 mph Pace: 11' 08 /mi Calories: 1260 Notes Ran 14 miles today with Drusy! She's a friend from England. I "met" her last year when, on a message board, she posted asking for ideas of good running stores in the Seattle/Bellevue area. We had planned to get together last year when she was here, but she got sick. She's training for the London Marathon (her first) so we decided we'd get together for 12 miles. (That was on my schedule.) We met at Marymoore Park. Roy brought the dogs so he could take them to the dog park while we ran. We talked the ENTIRE way! At one point she attached her J-River audio recorder to me and did some interviews. We were talking so much that we missed the six mile turnaround point. Okay, so plan changed. Now the goal is to run THIRTEEN miles! What's a mile between two chatty friends? And then well...nobody ever accused me of being Magellan. So I took a wrong turn...and, uh, plan changed. Hey, why not FOURTEEN miles? It felt REALLY good! No pain on the run at all, not even in the belly! I still get sore and swollen at night, but pretty much I feel back to normal! Hally-loo-yah! I still have a little swelling where the hematoma hasn't completely absorbed (Roy calls it my Alien Baby...hawt!) but oh well! I'm just happy to be feeling good! Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 11' 20 +0' 12 5.3 -0.1 +4 ft 2 10' 59 -0' 09 5.5 +0.1 -6 ft 3 10' 39 -0' 29 5.6 +0.2 -6 ft 4 11' 12 +0' 04 5.3 -0.0 -3 ft 5 11' 01 -0' 07 5.4 +0.1 +7 ft 6 10' 55 -0' 13 5.5 +0.1 -7 ft 7 10' 42 -0' 26 5.6 +0.2 0 ft 8 11' 11 +0' 03 5.4 -0.0 +7 ft 9 10' 56 -0' 12 5.5 +0.1 -7 ft 10 11' 29 +0' 21 5.2 -0.2 0 ft 11 11' 25 +0' 17 5.2 -0.1 +9 ft 12 12' 05 +0' 57 5.0 -0.4 0 ft 13 11' 01 -0' 07 5.4 +0.1 -7 ft end 11' 43 +0' 35 5.1 -0.3 +13 ft Versus average of 11' 08 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

Whew! Another long run in the bag, and this one really went great from beginning to end. Oh sure, some ouches here and there, but nothing important. Set up a workout with a half mile warm up then .5 mile run at a 10:00 pace and .1 mile walk. Plan was for 11 miles, so I decided to map out an 11 mile run. When I put it into www.mapmyrun.com it came out to a bit over 12. I figured I'd play it by ear when I got out near the outlet mall and cut it short to hit 11 if I wanted to, or go for the whole 12 if I wanted to. Well you know me! I never cut anything short...although I really AM working on being sensible. I really WAS feeling good. The weather was amazing! Very cold when we started about 35 degrees, but warmed up to the mid-40s and sunny sunny sunny! Gorgeous beautiful sunny! I saw lots of birds and hawks, and really only missed death once when an old lady nearly mowed me down in a crosswalk. I do understand that those thick white lines and that sign that says "Crosswalk" can be confusing and misinterpreted as "HIT THE GAS!!!!" So I forgave her! Ran 9.75 then stopped in at Starbucks and enjoyed a short coffee, a butterhorn (their little ones), and read the paper a bit. The girl, new one who doesn't know me, waiting on me asked if I had gone for a run. I said I was in the middle of one. She asked how far and when I said "About 10 with a bit over 2 to go" she nearly fell over. I heard her still talking about it five minutes later. The other employees, who know me, were like "Yeah, she does that. She's crazy." I'm totally feeling ready for my half marathon on March 9! Woohooo! I'll still do a run/walk dealio, but maybe I'll set my goals a bit higher with a 9:00 min run pace. I'd like to come in under 2:00 hours, but I shouldn't try to push it too soon. Still have some pain in my lower right quadrant of my stomachal area. I braced it with my SI belt today. Hee hee. It worked VERY well. Since the belt has rubbery stuff on it, it didn't slip plus unlike neoprene, it doesn't make me sweat. Finished with a cool down and stretches as I made my way around my little front garden and squee-ed over my crocuses and the little bumblebees dancing in my crocuses. I love spring and I am SO thrilled that it's finally arriving!!!! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 56 ft Location: Marysville, WA Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 02/17/08 Up/Downhill: [+301/-301] Time: 09:44 AM Difficulty: 2.8 / 5.0   Weather: Fair   45 F temp; 65% humidity   45 F heat index; winds Calm Performance Distance: 12.25 miles Time: 2:17:00 Speed: 5.4 mph Pace: 11' 11 /mi Heart Rate: 145 bpm (Avg) Calories: 1103 168 bpm (Peak) Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 11' 41 +0' 30 5.1 -0.2 +16 ft 2 11' 06 -0' 05 5.4 +0.0 +7 ft 3 11' 12 +0' 01 5.3 -0.0 +7 ft 4 11' 01 -0' 10 5.4 +0.1 -9 ft 5 14' 23 +3' 12 4.2 -1.2 -9 ft 6 12' 01 +0' 50 5.0 -0.4 +10 ft 7 11' 02 -0' 09 5.4 +0.1 +16 ft 8 11' 28 +0' 17 5.2 -0.1 -13 ft 9 11' 40 +0' 29 5.1 -0.2 -13 ft 10 48' 46 +37' 35 1.2 -4.1 0 ft 11 10' 23 -0' 48 5.8 +0.4 +6 ft 12 10' 09 -1' 02 5.9 +0.5 -10 ft end 15' 42 +4' 31 3.8 -1.5 -6 ft Versus average of 11' 11 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com