1:56:30

so i took one of the muscle relaxers friday night. and wow, i slept great! eric said i tossed and turned all night but i was totally asleep. i had a tough time getting up in the morning but i was happy to have some good sleep for the first time in like forever it seemed.

we went for a a 3.5 mile family jog. heading back to the house is a hill and eric and i started sprinting it. we started at the bottom of the hill at an 8:34 pace but maxed out at a 5:42 pace at the top of the hill. we were dying but it was fun.

we watched a few episodes of Nip/Tuck season 3 and then I tried to go to bed at around 10:30. Yeah, that didn't work very well. I don't know when I actually fell asleep but I know that when te alarm went off my shirt was drenched in sweat. I thought that was a bit odd.

we all got up, I had PB&J and then we loaded the car. I drank some coffee and water on the way to the race. It took 21 minutes to get downtown and we avoided the mercer st exit and went to stewart instead. We wound up a block from the start about 40 minutes before the start of the race.

i got out of the car to hit the potty line but quickly returned to change my clothes since it was warmer then expected out. I had nickers, a running tank top, a long sleeve, gloves, and a throwaway t-shirt on top. I also wore a visor so the heat could escape out the top of my head.

i did a quick little jog to the starting line, like not even 2 minutes and felt great! i hit the potties then found some of the girls! then i went back to the potty line and then lined up for the race start. i found the 2hr pacers. i asked them if they were going to hold the sign up the whole time and she said no, they would drop ita few miles in but they would still be keeping the pace. last year i got screwed by the paces since i didn't know they were going to drop the sign and i got too far back. they dropped it not even 3 miles in and were never seen again. this time my plan was to stick to them like glue.
before the race even started i moved to the side and took the throwaway shirt off and then got back in line with the pacers. then we were off. it was tough to stick to them but did my best to keep right in line with them and dodge all the runners. not even two miles in i took the long sleeve and my gloves off. i tied the shirt around my waist and tucked the gloves in my pocket.
i saw eric and the kids in the international district rigth before heading up onto 90. i took the outside lane which was longer and steeper, i'll try to remember that for next year.
at some point i realized yet again that I don't know how to work my watch so i missed a split or two and the time on my watch was totally off.
we hit the 5k mark at about 27 minutes which was pretty much right on target.
the tunnel was hot and humid and i heard lots of complaints.
but then next thing i knew we were headed down onto lake wa blvd and 5 miles were done! those miles flew by. a bit after mile 5 i started to move ahead of the pacers. i kept looking back to see if they were right behind me or not. if they were i was just going to drop back but after a while they were no where to be seen.
then i saw the kids and eric again waving and cheering from up above! it was so fun to see them!
i hit the 10k mark in 54:08 gun time. i had fun along the lake and just did my thing. i don't remember seeing the lake. i remember leschi but nothing after that really. i vaguly remember running past kurt cobain's old house and making a right turn before the switch backs.
next thing i knew it was time to hike it up galer. i shortened my steps and bent at the waist and just went up it. then turned onto madison. one of the best parts of the race is the top of madison when you turn into the arboretum since its lined with spectators and everyone is cheering.
the arboretum is tough because its downhill and although i was happy it was no longer up hill, i decided its the arboretum that really does a number on me, not so much interlaken.
then to my surprise i saw eric and the kids again! i watched as people a head of me slapped hands with the kids and then it was my turn. eric said that lots of people were happy to see the kids there and it was almost like when you hold the door for people at a busy place - when do you just decide to leave? apparently people were crossing the road to get to the kids to slap their hands and one guy even slipped and fell right on his arse! i guess he was ok though.
then off to the right and towards interlaken we went.
one spectator was very misguided and told us that we were almost to the top. yeah, no we weren't we crossed the busy road and i almost lost it when i thougth i was the police man telling the runners to stop so the bus could get through but i don't know what was actually happneing there.
then into the real interlaken. i slowed it down and just ran up it. i was doing ok but when i would get tired i would slow it down a bit. then i would speed it up and get tired again so i would slow it down. it went on and on and on. i started getting the chills and got a little concerned but i kept going. i knew i would be too warm if i put on my shirt. then we hit the 10 mile mark. even though i messed up my watch i knew that i would really have to blow it to not get under 2 hrs.
i kept running past the water station (a first for this coarse!) and kept going.
onto lakeview and the false flat. it was killing me but then i saw eric and the kids AGAIN! at mile 11! i was so happy to see them!
right when we were about to head over I-5 i saw a woman wonder off to the right and just go down head first into bushes. i yelled for volunteers but kept running. i felt a little weird about that. then down down down and over and then down then past the 12 mile mark! a little later i saw a guy wonder off to the left, put his hands on his knees then he went down, too. after the race xtie said she saw 3 people passed out in those last two miles with EMTs all around them. I hope they are ok. my theory is that they weren't prepared for it to be as warm as it was. that is the only thing I can guess since i had never seen that any other year.
i kept running until i got to the last stretch where we dip under a road and then have to run back up the other side. i just couldn't do it. i was done. i felt horrible and i was tired. i stopped and walked about 5 steps then started running again.
i couldnt remember how the finish worked, i thought they made you run around the block but they didnt! so next thing i knew i was headed to the finish line!
and i saw a 1:!!! not a 2: but a 1: and i was close enough that it wouldn't turn into a 2: !! i crossed the finish line, got my medal, gave back my chip then headed to recovery. i downed a bottle of water in about 20 seconds. i grabbed a space blanket put on my shirt and gloves and grabbed some soup! eeewww, it had noodles, but i drank all the broth. then i had some chocolate milk and headed outside to find eric and the kids.
i walked to the meeting area and waited for like 1/2 hr then asked a guy who was waiting that entire same time if he had a cell phone. i called eric and found out they were on their way on the monorail! i met them when they got off of it and then we all got back on.
we stopped at westlake center and the kids road the carosele which was really cute.
then we came home. sirus had a hard day of spectating so he fell asleep on the way home and is still asleep right now!
i have to say that i am happy with my finish time but not happy with how i felt that last mile. but i did recover pretty quickly. i'm tired but not dead to the world.

all the girls that i had been on my long runs with did well. and everyone seemed to have a fun race.

i am happy to have the race over and the 2hr curse be lifted. now that the 2 hr mark is in the bag i can go out faster next time and see what happens!

also a big accomplishment for me is getting up to te 30 miles per week mark and realizing i felt better and less tired running 30 then when i was doing 15-20. guess that is why everyone was telling me to try to get to 30.

now off to some relaxing!

the pain in my neck

i have been having terrible pain in my jaw and neck since the end of september. it was so bad that after a few days i made an appointment to start up massage again (different side of my neck this time though) but while i was waiting for the appointment i decided that i was in so much pain that my teeth must be rotting out and i had to make an appointment with the dentist. they got me in right away and said my teeth were in better shape then they had ever seen them. ok, so granted the last 5+ years or so i have been pregnant or recovering from pregnancy and everyone knows what that can do to someones gums!! anyway, teeth were fine, no grinding, nothing. dentist told me to relax. so that is what i tried to do. so weeks and weeks later, i was about to totally lose it. can't sleep, on the verge of crying constantly, wondering if i was on the road to alchoholism since the only thing that seemed to help was a tasty adult beverage or two. so i went to my doctor who told me to go back to the dentist. which i sisn't. until today - about two months since the pain started. i told him that i haven't been able to relax and that running seems to help (to which he commented that it looked like i have been running alot - which i took as a compliment) and that it was time to make a night guard. yeah so that is a terrible process. once which wound up with all kinds of gagging and horror all over the place. ok, that is a bit dramatic but the nice lady kept telling me to breathe through my nose which i couldn't do becaue the stuff stunk so badly, but i had mascara all over my face, drool all down my front but most important, they got a good impression and i didn't need to do it again. i need to go back in a week for a fitting then he suspects i will come back once a week for the next few weeks while my jaw heals from all the swelling and whatever that has been going on. i asked him to shoot my jaw up with something that would take away the pain which he said he could do but that it would just be novicaine and wouldn't do any good really. he gave me muscle relaxers and offered to give me prescriptions for pain medicine and sleep stuff, both of which i turned down. i sure wanted both but its best in my opinion to not take those. heck i have my aleve now. both he and the pharmacists said that the muscle relaxers wont affect my race on sunday and that they might actually make it better but both suggested i try them on a training run first. hope i don't get a random pee check! there are big expectations for the race though! both the magic 8-ball on my desk and the race time predictor say i should finish in the low 150s even potentially below. Yikes! i really have no idea what to expect, but i think i will take it conservatively and hang out with the 2hr pacers for the first 1/2 of the race, then if i am feeling good i will speed up for the 2nd 1/2. lasy year i stuck to a pacer, i can't remember which one but about 3 miles in they dropped their sign and i never saw them again. that pacer was no good.
but now i have some uncertainty, mixed with muscle relaxers mixed with opps, got a flu shot when i was picking up my prescription, topped with thanksgiving, so we will see. i am pretty excited though!!
seamus made me shed a tear earlier when eric asked her what she is thankful for this thanksgiving. she answered with "my mom and my dad". i thought that was sweet. both of those kids are so sweet and i am totally thankul for them, that is for sure. i have a ton to be thankful for and i hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday!

trains

sirus was so funny this evening. he was in the playroom playing with his trains track. i suggested he get all the trains from out of his toy box and bring them which he did. then when it was time for dinner he didn't want to come to dinner instead he said "i want to play with my trains all night long". eventually we got him to dinner then he went back up and played the whole night. when i went to get him to put his jammies on, i overheard him telling the trains that they were getting tired and were going to need to go to bed soon and he was bringing the two tiny little beds we have over and lining them up against the tracks.

seamus stinks

seamus is a funny little girl. she is a big talker and talks all the time. she uses good grammar for the most part and knows a ton of words. but instead of saying think she says stink. Its pretty funny. she is totally capable of saying think but just says stink. so she stinks all the time.

she also has a tendency to say stirty instead of thirty. that ones not as funny, but its cute non the less.

sirus has on some pants today that make his legs look long. maybe they are longer these days since he got his new bed and all.

my face hurts like a biatch. i don't know what the problem is, but i went to the massage lady today and she spent an hour massaging my face. i wanted to throw up i was in so much pain. it feels better but its really getting old.

i got some good news today!!

stuff

a few weeks back we ordered a big boy bed for sirus. we didn't really mean to but we found a great deal on, gasp, a bunk bed. i was totally against getting a bunk bed but the lady told us we can swap up all the peices and wind up with two twin sized beds. so we went with it. now our guests can share a twin with no mattress. anyway, the bed will be picked up tomorrow. we picked up the mattress for sirus today. we put on his snazzy new super man sheets and its 5 minutes to bed time. i am a little sad about the whole thing, sirus is y little guy after all.
i went for a 9 mile run today. it was a little under 10 minute pace and it was so fun. i felt great and had so much fun just talking away the whole time. alledgedy this type of run should help me? we'll see in two weeks i guess.
i did a 5k today at work. it was put on by the same guy who did the snoqualmie 5k. this race was a fundraiser for the community's ptsas at the two elementary schools. i wasn't sure what to expect since i have not been feeling fast by any means and i was kind not feeling it for the race. plus i had already gone about 24 miles that week after recently bumping my mileage up to 30 for the past few weeks. i woke up and was feeling skinny which was enough of a good day already for me. especially since the day before i had to change my pants once i got to work since the ones i wore were just too tight. bleck. i did wear my fancy new old lady shoes and got a compliment on them and they were pretty comfortable... so that sort of ofset the issue with the too tight pants.
so we got to the race site and unloaded the kids. we went in and picked up our number and the kids shirts. then off for a little warm up. i was told the coarse would be hilly and to not expect a pr, so in my warm up i ran the coarse backwards to what looked to be the last hill in the race.
then it was time to line up. i loved the start because the timing company guy was like, if you expect to finish in 17 minutes or less, please line up in the front. you could almost hear a pin drop while everyone looked around like, what? it was just too fast. then he said anyone expecting a 7 minute pace to go to the front. i would love a 7 minute pace but i wasn't thinking i would do that. i did wind up a row or two back and managed to get tripped up at the start.
so then we were off. 3:34 into the race i realized it was going to be a looong race. i held onto the front pack for the first mile - 7:05. i was pretty stoked by this since it was pretty hilly and windy and turny. then in mile two i almost cracked. we went through the neighborhoods and up some more hills, around a culdesac and past the water station. then the mile 2 sign - 7:40. Yikes! then i did crack. i rounded a bend and thought it was the hill i had run too in my warm up but it wasn't. and then i did the unthinkable. i walked. and got PASSED. then i started up again but managed to get passed by two young kids - an 11 yr old and a 7 yr old. next thing i knew i was rounding the corner and headed back to the school. i was so excited except it didn't go back the way i had warmed up - you had to run around the parking lot! then to add insult to injury, eric and the kids were standing at the turn around and i got confused and ran around them and the parking divider instead of infront of them and the divider!! i gave up a second or two there and could have broken 24 had i not run the extra few feet but anyway i was happy to be done.
i came in 3rd in my age group. the top 3 overall ladies were all in the 40+ category, and the girl who passed me on the hill was 20-29, so it all kind of worked in my favor. i got a trophy and was able to give it to the kids so that was pretty fun.
then we got pancakes. with chocolate chips. i will come back next year!
but i do have to say that at no time during this race did i feel like i wanted to drop out of the race (even though i stopped to walk) and at no time did i question why i enter these things or why i run at all. eric said i wasn't really racing then, which is possibly true. i did go home and take a nap though, i was worn out.

i ran to work today. that was fun. better then the last time i ran to work, but i still don't know how to dress, i was too warm. but i didn't have to stop at the conveniently located honey bucket and i felt pretty good. i was a minute slower then last time... but i took it easy to start out with but then cranked it up on and off for the last 20 minutes. i also had my new headlamp which by the time i got around to leaving the house i now longer needed and the new reflective vest, that again i did not need but wore anyway!
eric and the kids picked me up from work and on the way home seamus said she would like her nails to be red like a little girl at preschool. so after dinner and mandatory halloween candy i got to painting seamus's finger nails. then i painted my soon to be not so grody toe nails and then sirus wanted his toenails painted, too, so i did that. then eric was all passed out asleep right next to us so we painted a few of his finger nails too.
i was worried about the pants i had packed to wear today because they are my skinny jeans and i haven't been skinny enough to really wear them since like february i think. but i packed them anway. then last night i was feeling puffy and thick and because even more concerned that i'd run all the way to work and have no pants to wear. turned out the pants were actually fine, it was the shirt i had packed that didnt fit! ok, so that pants didn't really fit either but the shirt i could not manage to deal with. so i put on my coat without a shirt on and wore it all day long. it was a sweet coat i had gotten while shopping in NYC with jen back in september. i think i am going to get some old lady shoes, too.

good night licorice

so sirus is still calling seamus licorice and it is so cute. he pushed her earlier today and i told him he needed to apologize so he went right over, hugged her and said "i'm sorry licorice'. then tonight before he went to bed he went running from her room caling out "good night licorice". i asked him why he called her that. he said its a happy word. i asked him where he learned and he said the leprechauns, those who are responsible for a lot of things in our house.
today i went for a 12 mile run with the girls. it was a lot of fun. it was quite a bit slower then i normally go. i am trying to figure out what speed or effort i should be doing these run. i am contemplating getting a coach for the up coming season since i have quite a few goals. i talked to eric about it who thinks going with a coach would be a good idea. now the hard part - finding one and paying for it. i thought i had an idea and it looks like i was about right if i was looking for just a running coach or just a cycling coach, but ya throw in that whole tri aspect of it and that just ups the $$... plus i haven' found any who mention anything about xterras or mtn biking. so i have some work to do there.
but i have just completed two 30 mile weeks in a row and i feel great. i feel better then when i was just at 15-20. hopefully can keep it up and hopfully it results in some better results. i definitly feel better, so thats a plus!
except i'm not tired and i should realy go to bed...
work has been good but exhausting and kind of stressful.. but yeah, thats the way it goes.

licorice

almost every mornign i ask the kids if they had any dreams. sirus usually says yes adn then says they were about cars. i can't quite beleive him but maybe i should. this morning he said his dreams were about haircuts. then he went on to call seamus licorice for the rest of the morning. I am pretty sure he proclaimed while we were all cuddling this morning "i will call her licorice" and then he did. I can't wait to go home and see if it continues.

the funny things that sirus says

yesterday he said "lets go amigos" and took off running. i am sure he probably learned this from his girlfriend dora the explorer but it was funny to hear him say it.
seamus is showing us her geniusness lately. the other night we were reading a book of mine from when i was little, i think its sammy the seal. she has been saying words a lot lately and sounding them out as she says them. i asked her if she wanted to find some words in the book to sound out and read and she did. she managed to sound out and read Sammy, happy, no (to which she got up and showed me how she had written that already), over, fun, zebra and hippo. then i asked her if she could find the word zoo on the page which she said no to and instead went to her desk and wrote it for me instead. I almost fell down, i had no idea she could do all of this. and now she hasn't done it since. thats ok.
the new james bond movie is coming out soon, i can't wait. we went to see Zach and Miri Make a Porno. while i loved Jay in it because he is one of my favorites, it really wasn't a very good movie. we had seen Burn After Reading a few weeks back and that was good. Or maybe i was just drunk? i did have a few before going to the movie but i think it was funny anyway.
then, there is the election. i really don't know what to say. when they announced on tv that obama had won ohio i cheered out loud and clapped my hands! the whole night was pretty emotional, but it sounds like it was for people all around the world. its really an amazing feeling! when i left for work in the morning i told the kids to remember this day since history was going to happen. they both looked at me like i was crazy so i told them i loved them and headed off to work.

halloween and stuff

yesterday was halloween. i was SOOO excited, probably as excited as seamus! the kids could not wait to go trick or treating! they ate dinner and then finally it was dark. off they went. my heart melted as i watched them dressed as wonderwoman (no wig since it made seamus's forehead itch) and as superman, both holding their pumpkins with one hand and eric's hands with their others. i watched them walk out the driveway on their big adventure. the original plan was for them to do our street then go to one other. i stood in the play room and opened the window. i heard them walking back past our house. i could hear sirus yapping away about something in his totally excited high pitched voice. they were walking very fast! i heard them go up to the house accross the street and i heard their little voices yell out Trick or Treat! and then thank you before they left. Then i watched as they went to the next house and then off of our street.
and then i waited. and waited and waited some more. so i went outside and lit the candles in the pumpkins. then i scattered fake spiders around. then i waited. i ate some candy. then finally two girls stopped by.
then eric and the kids came home and started sorting their loot. they lined up their candy in big long lines on the living room floor. sirus picked out all of his tootsie pops out of his line and brought them over to show me. he unwrapped on then quickly went back to put the others "back in line". later he picked up a peice of candy and asked eric what it was. eric told him it was a snickers to which sirus replied, what does snickers do? does it snick?
3 more groups of kids stopped by the house but that was it. we have waaay too much extra candy left but i think i ate way more then my share yesterday (can you say two cupcakes and a rice crispie treat for lunch?) to even find any of it appealing today.
the whole halloween thing wore me out though. sirus got up and went potty all by him self this morning at 6:50. it was so dark out and i was so passed out that i had no idea what time it was. after a while he crawled into bed with us and he just layed there touching my face with his little hand. then seamus came in to cuddle for a bit, too. she kept telling us how much she loves all of us so eventually i had to tell her to be quite because we were still sleeping. i am so mean. eventually eric got up and the 3 of them went downstairs. i on the otherhand slept until 10am!! wholey moley!
today was the first day of the medicine that will allegedly fix my toenails. we'll see in april since they should be done by then.
i got up, had some breakfast and coffee. then i got dressed to go running. i stepped outside and immediately stepped back in to wear LESS clothing! it was warm out today, totally amazing!
i headed out on what i knew would be a beast of a route. i had already done 20 miles this week plus the extreme halloween so i was a little beat but i wanted to get in a long run this weekend. not even 20 minutes in i took off my longsleeve and just ran in my shorts and tank - it was that nice out! then it rained and i was still warm! the first 1/2 hour had considerably more up hill then i had imagined it would. then it was downhill for about a mile. it was that downhill that started to bother my knees and calves. i started thinking about where i might stop and ask eric to pick me up! then i turned onto a nice farm road and passed the pumpkin patch where we got out pumpkins this year. it was quiet and there were a ton of leaves on the road. and i kept going. eventually i made it back to the main road and down another hill, through the scary tunnel and onto the trail. at the one hour mark i was right by the house with the helicopter landing pad in their yard. and i was beat. i stopped and had a gu. then off i went. i figured i had anohter 15 minutes to the bottom of inglewood which turned out to be right on. i stopped and rested there a bit and headed up. i ran almost 1/2 way up but then had to walk. earlier in the week eric and the kids took the bus and met me at work. we all ran home together which was a ton of fun, although eric pushed the kids up the big hill - the whole hill, all the way up! so i ran the whole thing that day too. then that same day we sprinted the last .3 mile getting up to 11mph by the end. that totally killed me.
but today, i walked some of the hill. i did start to run again at the top and ran pretty well until i got to the stop light. the last section to our house is always really long. there is a hill, which is fine but everything after the hill takes forever and is totally painful. i trugged through it and got to the house. finally.
i stretched and went right to the shower. i was pretty sure i was going to pass out in the shower. i didn't but i did have to get out and then sit on the couch for a good 1/2 hour or more still in my bathrobe.
so that was today and a few of the previous days. nothing too thrilling going on.
i am planning for 2009 already, which i am totally stoked about!! it does mean i will have to do some swimming though so i have to figure that whole thing out...