progress - racing and a hiking/driving adventure

I raced (more than just "ran") the Fremont Oktoberfest Brew Ha-Ha 5K this morning. It's in my neighborhood so it was an easy jog down. I saw lots of friends - some I hadn't seen in a while and some I saw just last week at Cle Elum Ridge 50K.

When I got there they were pretty disorganized. I decided to do day of race sign up, along with about a thousand other people, and they ran out of chips. They announced that you had to yell out your number as you finished and someone would write it down. Good thing I had my Garmin 305 on to keep all my data! I got in a line that looked right, until someone said it was for M-Z. So I got in another line; this one turned out to be for the porta potty. Finally I got in the A-L line. I was still near the street at the top of the stairs at Adobe Plaza. I looked down and saw Barefoot Jon talking to James Varner and Alison Hanks, so I ran down to say hi. Before I knew it I was registered and ready to go. As I was hanging out I saw Tory and Roy Klementsen and chatted with them a bit. They were there volunteering for the Street Scramble. Finally the race was about to start so I headed up to the street. The horn went off and we headed down 34th. As we started to head uphill, Jon passed me - kicking some barefoot ass! I felt pretty strong but could tell it had been a while. We headed down towards Latona and made a hairpin turn onto the Burke Gilman trail. As we headed back towards Fremont, I kept trying to wander over to the dirt part on the east side of the trail. Not often that one gets to run southward on that part so I took full advantage! As I felt my body tighten up, I gathered to my center, as Danny says, and relaxed. Also focused my foot landing so I didn't supinate too much. Glute medius and quads felt good. My stomach was a little nauseous, reminding me it'd been a while since I raced. By mile three I was mainly trying to not throw up and just let it be what it was, not focusing on finish time. After we went under the Fremont Bridge (not on the trail) we had to run down the weird stairs to the trail. I walked down them so I wouldn't fall - they are irregular and "artsy". I resumed running to the finish. A guy instructed us to head left to remove our chips. I told him I didn't have a chip and asked who I was to give my number to. He looked confused and then wrote it down. I have no idea if I will be listed in the results and know I didn't win my AG as I saw Karen Buttram hanging around waiting for someone. She looked like she had finished at least a few minutes prior.

My finish time was 26:27; not bad for coming back! I ran into Jon when I went to look for water and we wandered into the Tshirt line. We found out they were just cotton, but wandered up to the front to ask for sure. One of the guys said they only had small, so Jon got one for me. I sort of felt bad for all those people standing in line waiting, but I still took it. Nothing fancy - I don't think I would have stood in line for it. I hope they all got one though, if they wanted one that bad.

I wandered back towards Wallingford, running into Matt Manges who had just flew in from Colorado where Circus Contraption was on tour. Finally I made my way back home to food and a shower massage. Nice workout and social time to boot!

Yesterday Donn and I headed east to Vantage to hike in the Petrified Ginko forest. We climbed up a jeep road for about 2.5 miles. It was super windy and very exposed. Didn't see any ginko trees as we didn't go through the interpretive center. We mainly just wanted to hike the desert. On the way back down, we detoured off the road towards the Columbia and got a little out of the wind where we ate some lunch. We enjoyed the view of the Columbia for a while, and then bushwacked our way, as it were, back to the road and eventually the car. We then headed back west, where we took another detour to get to Taneum Junction Road. I wanted to show him where I had been for the Cle Elum 50K last weekend. We got to the campground and stayed on road 33, as the sign said Cle Elum, 14 miles. Soon it turned into a forest service road and a lot of climbing. About two miles in I heard a clunk clunk clunk. I stopped the car and Donn jumped out to see what I was dragging. He laughed and said Uh-oh. Your muffler is hanging on barely. I got out to look and sure 'nuff, one of the extension pipes had broken (probably the one with the hole in it) and the muffler had hit my rubber bumper, leaving a nice mark in it. It and another pipe were hanging on by a rubber clamp, which we easily cut off. I threw the muffler in the back and continued towards Cle Elum. We got to a junction with no sign of which way to turn. Donn said right so I went right. Immediately (and fortunately) I saw the back of a sign; as I passed it and looked, it told me Cle Elum was the opposite way. I turned around and continued a little up. Finally we started seeing a couple more folks, and within 45 minutes or so, houses and a paved road. Eventually we ended up on a major arterial and kept following that by pure instinct, and got to South Cle Elum. We kept at it, ending up in Roslyn at the Village Pizza for a well deserved pizza and dark Roslyn beer. Yum!! After our bellies were full we headed back over the pass to home. Car ran much better without that pesky muffler and wasn't too noisy either. Still I have to get that taken care of before my trip to Vancouver BC next Friday, as the border patrol will most likely not appreciate my noisy arrival. What an adventure!!

My own private Hood to Coast

Last weekend I really ramped up my running and I am pretty tired tonight. Friday I was off work and had free time to get a casual run in - about 3 miles. I was itching to go since I have been coming back very conservatively and not running two days in a row. I also took a risk knowing that Saturday I was going to run with Charlene and Sunday I was signed up for the IronGirl 5K at Greenlake. The run on Friday left me with a ton of energy so I really cleaned the house - mopped, dusted, straightened the clutter up. It felt great!!

Saturday I met Charlene at Discovery Park where we did a loop that included the beach trail. She was getting over a cold, and I was trying to hold back so we promised to walk the hills. But I must say, for getting over a cold, she sure was getting speedy! I think Scott has been "training" her hard! I was huffing to keep up at the start!! I want to improve my downhill technique so I really tried to open up going down the hills. Right foot is a little sore today. It was great fun though!

Then last night, I didn't get to sleep til after 12, and had to get up a little past 6 to get some food in me before heading up to Greenlake to the 5K. I walked/jogged to the community center, and got there in time for the race. I saw Ann Rinehart warming up, and she said she hadn't been racing all summer. She and Gina Young did the 5K. I got in line at about the 9:30 pace, and really felt woozy for a minute. I think it was a hot flash. When we started, I took it easy for a half mile, then started passing folks. I leap frogged with two gals I had been standing next to through out the race. They stayed ahead of me the last mile, but I caught up to them near the finish chute and we came across 1-2-3 with me as #3. My time was 27:41 - not a PR, but not bad for my first comeback race and also for being tired. Ann and Gina beat me in our AG, as well as two other women. I came in 5 out of 49. Not bad either!

Since you do three legs in Hood to Coast, and since I missed H2C due to surgery, I am calling this my private H2C, even though it was over three days instead of two! Now time to rest those legs and feet!!

back in the swim

After a trial swim of 500 yds at the IMA last Wednesday, I wasn't sure I was ready to swim yet. My belly muscles were SORE after that swim!! And the hip flexors were a little sore too. But I thought - wait - I have a wetsuit that can act as an ace bandage! And if I wear my full one, I don't have to kick as much.

So this morning my friends Sarah and Karyn joined me at Greenlake. We decided to swim east beach to the dog tree (it looks like a terrier profile) and see how I felt. Sarah wore my shortie suit and I wore my full. The air was cool enough that I was not going to overheat. We got to the dog tree and I felt pretty good so we continued to the other side. Nice! After hanging out at West beach side and answering a guy's question about wet suits, we headed back east - INTO THE SUN!!! It was almost impossible to see the other side due to the glare, so we went to a buoy a little south and out of the sun. We hung out and chatted a bit, and then continued to east beach. We stopped to savor the beautiful morning. Karyn and I lamented that neither Donn or Chad liked to swim, and Sarah said Zach didn't like to get his face wet. I said Donn didn't either and Karyn said the same about Chad. Then I launched into a little teasing about them being afraid to get their makeup wet and called them girlie men. Pretty soon we were all giggling hard and treading water. I wonder what the people on shore thought....

It was an awesome morning and it felt great! to be back in the water and great to be with good friends!

first run post surgery

I ran around Greenlake with Terry last Saturday. Or I should say gently jogged and walked in the middle when my low abs were talking. It felt a little weird like I was not quite ready. A little out of shape. It could have been that we stayed out way too late on Friday visiting friends for dinner out in West Seattle. And we had a gig at Pike Place Market for their 100th anniversary. I am definitely not ready to run Hood to Coast so I am glad I dropped out of the team!

Afterwards I came home and took a hot bath (finally, I can soak!!) and lay down for a nap. Almost woke up too late for the Marysville gig! Donn drove and I was still groggy by the time we arrived. But it gets a little better each day though today I didn't get to all the errands I wanted to do. After shopping at Ballard Farmers market and PCC, I was too worn out and just wanted to go home and start the peach ice cream.

So tomorrow I may attempt a swim at the IMA before work and maybe a little run after work - who knows. I'm taking it one day at a time.

And they're gone!

Had surgery on Thursday (8/2) to remove the ovaries and all seemed to go well. I remember getting all groggy in the OR while they held a mask over my face to breathe in, and one of the anesthesiologists asking me if I was alright. I told her I was just getting all wonky-eyed and sleepy. In my mind's eye, I saw a casket sitting across the room with the sun shining on it. There was a body on top - it was my father's. Very weird.

The next moment I heard someone call my name and I opened my eyes. I was in my recovery room and the nurse was by my side. I said "Wow! You guys were fast!" She said it took a while to wake me. Also they pumped a lot of fluids in me - I gained at least 8 pounds! After a while they got Donn and he sat while I worked on waking up. I threw up a few times (before he came in) probably because there was blood in my stomach. They had scratched a few spots in my throat and mouth when intubating me, and I guess that causes nausea. My throat is still a little irritated and I have noticed some rough spots in my mouth.

My mouth was SO dry the crackers just sat there. The nurse got me some jello and it reminded me of the final heat in a mash potato eating contest in college. They ran out of mashed potatoes, so they gave us jello instead. I started spooning mine in and at some point noticed my fellow contestants had the bowl to their mouth and were slurping it in. I came in third, but I learned better race strategy for the next time.

Finally about noon, the nurse asked if I needed to pee, and said before I could leave I had to demonstrate I could walk to the toilet ( with her beside me) and also pee in it. She was a bit surprised (or may have just been humoring me) that I was able to stand and walk without hoding a pillow over my abdomen for support. I told her I had relatively good core muscles - finally - they came in really handy in something other than running or swimming! I passed the pee test and the next challenge was to get myself dressed. First I had to take a quick "power" nap. Then Donn handed me the garment bag and slowly I managed to get dressed. The nurse came in surprised (again) to see me dressed. She got a wheel chair and Donn took me for a (fast) ride to the car.

Back home and on the couch I slept most of Thursday. I noticed on Friday that I was really puffy all over. Legs, arms, face, belly, etc. I stepped on the scale and saw I had gained 8(!!) pounds from Thursday morning. If I were in an ultra, I would have been pulled from the race! I called my doc, and the nurse said it was probably all the IV fluids and I should expect to be peeing a lot, which I had been doing, but not a lot by my standards. So wait and see...

My friend Karyn came over with ice cream and Donn made us dinner. It was really nice and a good break for both of us - she's in the middle of a trial (she's a prosecutor) and has been going at it hard. I feel bad for her but it will be done soon! Anyway, later, I went to bed. About every two hours I had to get up to pee - and I mean pee! Not just a small trickle but like I hadn't gone in days! Sure enough, the 8 pounds I had gained were all (save one pound) gone this morning and my arms and legs and most of my face were back to normal. My lower abs still look weird - like I had been obese and had the underlying fat taken out, with no muscle tone. I'm sure that's because they had to blow up the abs and stretched a few muscles and also it's still swollen there. I'll worry if it's still that way in a month or so.

For now, just taking it easy and following the road to recovery!