summer race calendar

Now that more than a month has passed since the half marathon and I've worked out... twice (?!) in that time, I've been feeling the urge to start training for something again. Since I'd been mostly immobile since finishing my PhD a year prior, the half was definitely a good motivator to get me moving again but it was also frustrating to feel so slow, both because I was getting used to running on hills and also because I hadn't run in so long (duh). Now, I want to focus on shorter distances but getting faster. I'm especially pumped to focus on my running, but I'd love to quicken my swimming pace too. (My biking is probably the only triathlon sport that I'm not horrifyingly slow on.)

Here are the races I'm looking at for this summer:

• June 7, Lebanon Strawberry Festival Run (5K) - This is at a tiny town's festival, complete with elected Strawberry Princesses. Can't wait.
• August 9, Garlic Festival Run (5K or 10K) - Yeah, both of my 5Ks are food-themed. This is by design.
• August 17, Series 33 West Linn Triathlon (Sprint Tri) - Honestly, this course looks fairly terrifying and I am not drawn to any race that advertises itself as "epic" and "challenging." But it's one of the only tris that fit in my schedule, so we'll see.
• September 7, Best of the West Triathlon Festival (Olympic Tri)

Basically, I'm setting myself up to cut a lot of time off of my Olympic tri PR at the end of summer, by doing a at least one shorter tri and some 5Ks. I'd also love to beat my 5K PR - I've done so few 5Ks that I think I could beat my PR pretty easily, but I'd love to totally smash it.

race recap: corvallis half marathon

We did it! 

The TL;DR version is that we finished in 2:44:54 (definitely not a PR by any means) and I verged on the brink of heat stroke, but I am still super proud of how we did, conquering the Oregon hills and running the whole thing together. 

This was Gabe's first half marathon and my third, but I haven't consistently ran in about a year and a half. I also had an obscene time adjusting to running on hills; moving from Indiana terrain to Oregon terrain was not friendly. Gabe and I trained together which was a perfect balance; I helped slow him down so he didn't burn out on long runs (I mean, he's 6'3" and I'm 5'1", I'm fine with admitting that he's way faster than me) and he pushed me and motivated me. 

I was constantly checking the 10 day forecast leading up to the race and was really worried. As much as Oregon weather bums me out, it is usually perfect for running; the drizzle and clouds keep it cool and comfortable. The day of the race ended up being sunny (not even partly) and a high of 77. A gorgeous day, but not gorgeous for racing. I knew I'd have to take care to not overheat, especially since the race started at 9:30 (which is weirdly late for race standards) with the sun out in full force.

I usually only drink water when I fuel in races, but considering I was sweating profusely after half a mile, we decided to walk through every water station, every two miles, and drink at least a half a cup of water. This definitely impacted our overall time but I'm fine with that, because it kept me feeling okay (let's be real, I never felt GREAT until we finished) and our running pace stayed consistently between 11:30-12:00 per mile the entire time. We still finished with some serious salt deposits all over our arms (that can happen when you run and are sweating too much and losing electrolytes) but save for that extra long walk break around mile 8.5 (1:40 in the graph below), I never felt in danger of overheating.

There's also the problem of the hills. Not multiple hills necessarily, but the whole first 8.5 miles were uphill. No joke.

Rude. Also, I'm obsessed with the data that Map My Run outputs; it's so interesting to see how our pace changes over the run. You can see our walking breaks really clearly above, but how our running pace stayed pretty consistent even running uphill.

It's weird because I know that this time is not a great half marathon time; we placed around 1000/1400 runners, and I know both of us have it in us to run so much faster. It's a little disorienting to race in Oregon because everyone is so much faster here than I'm used to. But still, I've never been prouder after a half. I was so proud of Gabe for finishing his first, and I was so proud of myself for pushing through the heat and the hills. It was really cheesy and fun to run the race together; we crossed the finish line holding hands (barf, I know). 

corvallis half marathon: training plan

A few years ago, I started participating in triathlons and running races as a way to counteract my grad school insanity. I was constantly training for something for almost three years straight. Then, writing and defending my thesis and moving across the country for a new job happened. It's been almost a year and a half since I've consistently trained for anything and although I miss feeling fit, racing, and the mental benefits that come with a consistent workout plan, I just have felt too burned out to set fitness goals or try to follow a training schedule. But now, living in Oregon, it's hard to not be inspired to be active. I see people running, biking and cross-country skiing (...yeah) past my apartment constantly. So despite my fears of running on Oregon hills, a few weeks ago I signed up for the Corvallis Half Marathon in April!

And like any good type A enginerd, the second I signed up I created my training plan in Excel.

I decided to mostly follow the same plan I did for my first two halfs, when I trained with a running group and just followed the plan the coach set up for us. Except I forgot that when I trained for those, I was already pretty in shape from tris and 5Ks. Since starting the plan, I have already seriously amended it to my current (non-existent) skill level. Every distance feels hard, and I've had to seriously dig for motivation and willpower just to get me out of the door. I've started to go back to listening to music while I run just to keep me from focusing on how difficult it feels (I had weaned myself off of it before my second half). But this also means that every run feels like a serious victory, and maybe more importantly, I get to listen to the High School Musical soundtrack (Bet On It came on during a very pivotal moment in my long run this weekend) and One Direction on a regular basis. Stay tuned for more updates!