3 day weekend, 3 day work week!

I *heart* three day weekends. Who doesn’t?!?! Mine was jam packed with fun!

Saturday JM came over bright and early and joined me for my last long run before San Diego. It was 8 miles of fun chatter. (This run was so much better than my last run before Arizona! I was sick and injured...it was all I could do to muster 6 measly miles.) I took her around the little municipal airport, past the dog park and through the ponds near my house. I realized how nice it is to have good places to run close by. In the ponds, I often see these animals, we didn’t see either on Saturday. I have no idea what they are but they are both weird looking.

Our overall pace 11:08, bit faster than goal pace. The last mile we busted out at 10:05 which dropped our average from 11:18 to 11:08. I won’t be doing any 10:05’s come marathon day. Goal is to keep is slow and steady. I’m hoping Maddy and I can pull off PR’s together! We have a plan and I’m going to stick with her as long as I possibly can!

The rest of Saturday I spent doing chores and walking the dog (Saturday was her 1 yr birthday!—picture montage to follow sometime this week, hopefully, b/c who doesn’t love cute puppy pics? I'll leave one below, this is right after we got her last summer.). I wanted to get all the chores out of the way so I could enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Sunday bright and early again, we headed to the coast with some friends for a hike. We forgot the camera so we don’t have any pictures but it was BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! The hike was pretty flat but it was a good 5 + miles which was perfect. We took Zoey with us too, she had a great time.

Monday I slept in and did errands for the first half of the day. Then I went downtown with JM to Rose Festival carnival thing. Hanging out with JM was a blast, she’s such a fun person. We decided in 10 years the carnival would be fun if we have kids. We also took an adventure walk to the east side in search of marathon socks for me. My favorite pair of socks sprung a hole! Sadly, our adventure went unrewarded as the running store didn’t have my socks. I found something similar at another running store in town and plan to try them out this week.

This week is going to be a lovely 3-day work week for me as Mr. Pi and I leave for SD on Friday! I’m excited and nervous! Mostly though, I’m looking forward to meeting all the bloggers I talk to on a daily basis but have never met. (The internet rocks!)

Tonight my goal is to: a) start packing, b) run my 3 miles and c) re-paint my toe nails. I have my packing list all ready to go. I know some of you go crazy during taper time but I gotta say only running for 1:29 minutes on the weekend, instead of 4 hours, and having a 3 mile run on the schedule today is fantastic! My toes are currently coral I’m thinking they need to be HOT pink to match my marathon outfit. Speaking of, here it is!

(I need to be as bright as possible so all of you fast peeps waiting at the finish line can see me coming!)

San Diego here I come!

How Stella got her groove back...

Well actually how Alisa got her groove back!

Monday morning I got up bright and early and took Zoey for a short 3.25 mile run. I didn't know if I'd get time to take her for a walk or not so I wanted to make sure she got some exercise and well...look at that, so did I. Later, I ended up being able to take her for about another mile walk. Monday, feeling good!

Tuesday afternoon I went for a very impromptu, fantastic run with friend HTC. All day I felt unmotivated, bloated and tired. I was stopping by HTC’s house to return some borrowed dresses and asked her if she had gone running for the day. Secretly, I wanted her to say yes so I could go home and sit on the couch. Instead she said “no, wanna go?” How could I turn down a running buddy!?!?! Luckily, I always keep running gear in the car now. I suited up only having to borrow a long sleeve top and hair tie. Off we went for an easy 6 miles or so. I was sans Garmin, sans regular watch, sans music, sans Iphone and it felt great! The first few miles were downhill so I’d imagine we were a little faster on those miles. We did walk up the stairs to the Hawthorne bridge and we sprinted the ramp up to the Steel Bridge and took a little walk break, where we saw this blonde girl bounce by—it was Jen! She stopped to walk with us a little before we all started back up again over the Steel Bridge up through downtown. Jen left us near her place; HTC’s is another 15 blocks or so. We sporadically ran/walked through downtown as we had to stop at lights and stop signs but we made it back to HTC’s with 6ish miles of great conversation behind us.

Tonight I went to spin class with Jen. Seeing her twice in one week was a treat! I *heart* workout buddies. After spin, she was getting on the treadmill for a short run to complete a brick (i.e. A bike workout followed by a run. I’m learning the Tri language). Since she is my Tri-guru, I figured, if she’s doing it I should too. I hopped on the treadmill for a 10 minute run. My legs weren’t as tired as I thought they might be. They were more numb than heavy and tired. I wanted to do at least one mile so I set the pace at a 10:30 and sped up to a max pace of 8:XX and ended with 1.01 miles. During the run, I blasted my new fantastic “mashups” playlist curiosity of HTC. (If you like mashups visit this site: www.goodblimey.com/tunes ). I found the “Drop it like it’s been slimed” particularly entertaining; mashup between Snoop Dog and the Ghostbusters theme song. For my 80’s music lovah’s try the “Billie Jean’s Invisible Touch” mashup of Michael Jackson and Genesis (i.e. Phil Collins). (Kristen, if you’re reading this, remember BFD and Prodigy? I found a Beyonce vs. Prodigy mashup! Also, Backstreet Boys and that Tipsy song, reminds me of you, Blythe and Lauren B.)

After the brick, I was feeling overly ambitious and decided since I skipped my morning swim I would make it up tonight. I headed to the pool and before I knew it 1550 yards had gone by. After the 1550 I decided to call it a day.

I feel so fantastic right now! Tomorrow I have a tempo run on the schedule, the last before SD. I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks away. I was going through a rough patch not feeling very confident, glad I snapped out of it! I WILL get a PR in SD!

Happy Hump Day!

Random

#1) The women's bathroom on my floor is: 1) REALLY far away & 2) Everyone leaves the light off! Is it just me, or am I the only person that doesn't like to pee in the dark? I used to just leave the light off if they were others already in the bathroom but now I make a point to flip it on loudly. I'm all about conserving energy, yadda yadda, but come on, there is no need to pee in the dark!

#2) San Diego is right around the corner. I had a nice easy run last weekend, 12 miles. I didn't really look at my watch I just ran. I've been talking with Maddy on twitter and through email about her race strategy, as we have similar goals. She's been walking .05 of every mile for a water break/gu/rest. I set my watch to to run .95 and walk .05 last weekend. I thought it might slow me down but I ended up with 12 miles/2:15/11:15 AP. I was pleased with this since I wasn't really trying to maintain any certain pace. I slacked a little on the other runs last week but still came within one mile of hitting all my planned miles. Taper time is nice!

#3) My mom was in town for the weekend for a belated Mother's Day. We got beautified at the spa, we ate yummy food, we chatted lots and of course, we shopped! I'll be previewing all my new Nike apparel sometime this week. Let's just say, I was spoiled rotten!

#4) My eating habits have turned to crap. I'm still using TheDailyPlate however, it doesn't seem to matter to me anymore if I have to write something down. What I need is a food journal critic! Anyone want to be my drill sergeant food critic a la Jillian Michaels-syle?

#5) Been thinking a lot about my summer plans. Still have a few things on the table:

-Tri (maybe two, one sprint mid summer and one Olympic in sept)
-SF 1/2 -or- SF 5k? (I'll be in CA that weekend but am undecided on the race)
-5k (I don't have one picked out unless I do SF 5k. I haven't done a 5k in 3 years, my PR was set in 2003, I think it's time.)

#6) Plan or no plan? Since I've been in marathon training mode I started training for Arizona (that race was in January), I'm toying with the idea of throwing all plans out the window and just going with the flow. However, to successfully complete a Tri or 1/2 marathon (if I choose to sign up for either) I'll probably need some sort of plan. The question of the day is: Can I go sans plan as long as I'm still getting in the necessary workouts? i.e. I'm still getting in swims, bikes and runs just without specific goals for each day. Thoughts?

#7) After reading all the tweets and party reports from B2B 2009, I think I need to take that race on again in 2010. I ran it in 2003 with MY DAD! Yes, I ran the quintessential naked, drunken, partyfest with my Dad. We thought it was a "real" race through SF and the course looked pretty...little did I know what I was getting us into. From the start line with the flying tortillas and beach balls I should have known. Next year, bring on the alcohol filled water bottles and crazy glitter I AM THERE!

Randomness done.

Taper Time

I survived my last 20 without totally wanting to die—goal a, accomplished. I really just ran this 20 on feel, I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to my pace, I just went with it. It was a gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky, warm day so I was happy as a clam! (Someone at work today even said I looked TAN! Too bad the rain is back.) I kept my strategy of drinking every couple of miles and taking a Gu every 5 miles (Expresso Love at mile 5, Vanilla Bean at mile 10 and Double Latte at mile 15.5). I did run out of water but some nice lady out washing her car, gave me a refill. I ended the run in 4:05:XX which is 12:15 pace, not my best but not my worst either.

It’s taper time now. I apologize for my whiny post last week, I needed to get that stuff off my chest. I know I listened to my body this time around. I know the reason I didn’t want to run 5 days a week—last time I got overuse injuries. I followed my plan pretty well and I didn’t miss any long runs (not something I could have said before). I have an amazing online community! Special thanks to Maritza who sends the funniest ghettoized motivational messages! Thanks chica, it did really help!

Yesterday, I got my Tri book in the mail. I’m a little overwhelmed by it but plan to have an action strategy sometime this month. I haven’t officially registered for a Tri but I have a few on my radar screen. At this point, it’s really less about doing an actual triathlon and more about being excited to incorporate other activities into my routine. Mr. Pi’s cousin is a superb athlete and has competed in many Tri’s around the world. He recently sent Mr. Pi an email about doing an Ironman next spring. While I think this is a little more than I want to undertake I’m really hoping Mr. Pi does it since I think it would push me even though I wouldn't be competing.

I've been a horrible blog reader lately. My google reader is slammed! I'm hoping to get caught up this week. Wish I could say the same about the never ending laundry pile!

Ramblings on a rapidly approaching race

San Diego is 3 weeks away...yikes! In all honesty I'm not really where I wanted to be at this point. Yes, I've done 99.9% of the runs on my plan, I've cut minimal mileage (only twice have I cut more than 1/2 a mile from any run) and in some cases, I've even added miles. Despite successfully completing the past few months of my modified FIRST plan, I still feel under prepared. I read about others completing awesome weekly mileage of well over 45 miles and running speedy miles during long runs and just get discouraged. I know running is an individual sport and everyone is different but it's hard not to compare yourself to others.

During my first marathon training cycle, I wasn't blogging, I didn't have Twitter or Facebook or really any runner friends (besides Mr. Pi), I just went along with my training. This had pluses and minuses. The HUGE minus to not having a blog is not having all of you wonderful readers/supporters (to tell me I’m being silly, I know I am but I need to get all this out). However, I also didn't feel the need to constantly compare myself to other runners or feel shame about the time I completed my long runs since the only person I told was Mr. Pi. During Arizona, I was blogging but I got injured and sick and didn't feel any pressure for big results. Just finishing that race was going to be an accomplishment. This time around, I really wanted to push myself. Maybe I pushed too hard and peaked too early, maybe I didn't push hard enough, maybe my expectations were too high, maybe they were too low...all I know is, on paper, I've run more miles and worked hard to incorporate pacing but feel less prepared than the past two cycles. Running certainly has a mental element and maybe that's what I need to train the next 3 weeks since I have consistently put in miles (maybe not 45+ but consistently in upper 30's, certainly more than before). Am I alone here? Anyone else ever feel running pressure?

Moving on and looking ahead...

As I said, SD is 3 weeks away. I have one last BIG run, then taper time. My goal for my 20 is to finish and not feel like I want to die. Last weekend my long run was terrible, I wanted to quit 2 miles in. This weekend, I NEED a good long run to boost my confidence. During the taper period, I’d like to enjoy exercise again. In high school and college I loved the gym and my various team practices. It was MY time. Time to clear my head, release stress, challenge myself and during practice, time to hang out with friends. I want to go back to crazyweights class and spinning. Given my history with ass pain, I also need to stay on the yoga bandwagon (or at least good deep stretching). Gazelle and I were talking about how easy stretching is and what good things it does for us, keeps us injury-free and our bodies happy, yet, it’s one of the first things I’ll skip if I'm crunched for time or just because I “don’t feel like it.” Regardless of the outcome of the marathon on May 31st I would like to get through it without injury.

Marathon goals…

I think it’s time to publicly re-evaluate my marathon goals. I set out to hit a sub-5. My training log seems to suggest this is probably not realistic, given that my fastest long run was 11:45, I don’t anticipate tomorrow being faster (4:59:59 is 11:28 pace). Frustrating as it may be, I think my “speed” did peak a little early this training cycle. A few months back, I was consistently running in the 10:30 range for shorter runs and long runs were never over 11:30. As the mileage increased, so did my minutes per mile. I’m not really sure what a realistic pace is for me anymore. However, I have decided on the following goals:

1) A new PR (current PR is 5:56, done while sick and injured)
2) 5:27:30 this is 12:30 pace (this also beats Katie Holmes, someday I'll beat you Oprah)
3) 5:14 this is 12:00 pace
4) Anything under 12:00 minute pace would be fantastic and my A++ goal BUT not a goal that will determine whether I’ve had a successful marathon

I’m slow and that’s okay. At some point I’d like to not be the slowest of my runner friends, what can I say I’m competitive by nature, BUT for now I’ll take my spot in the back of the pack and enjoy all the cheerleaders I’ll have waiting for me at the finish line in San Diego!

P.S. Recipe of the week will likely be a weekend post, I’m cooking tonight.

P.P.S. Good luck to all the racers this weekend, especially Gazelle and JM!

Craptastic Long Run & Eugene Marathon Spectator Report

Saturday was a stepback long run for me. I was aiming for 15-17 miles, hoping for 17. I made it 16 and struggled the whole way. Mr. Pi and I set out around 9am, he was going to run with me to a new trail he discovered (note: The photo is from the December snow storm, rainy on Saturday but not snowy). I thought it was going to be about 3 miles to the trail, ended up being 5 or 6. Mr. Pi was such a trooper and trotted along at my pace, which was slower than normal. Not sure what happened to me on this run! On my recent 20 miler, I felt great and was able to maintain 11:45 mm (close to my RP), this 16 miler came in at 3:16:03/12:15 Avg. It was a struggle the whole way. I ended up using the Galloway method after Mr. Pi left around mile 6. It got me through my run but starting and stopping was hard for me, made me really tempted to stop and walk the whole way. I ended the week with 34 miles, far off of my 40 mile goal but with another 20 miler scheduled for this weekend, I'm hopeful I can get to 40.

Sunday was the EUGENE MARATHON! Gazelle and I hit Starbucks around 5:45 am and headed out in the foggy and drizzle toward Eugene. Our first stop was mile 8 where we anxiously awaited seeing: Zach, Jen, PDX chicks, Shelly (@smellycents on twitter) and Aron! We thought we had missed Zach but almost immediately after we settled into our cheerzone Zach wooshed by! Sadly, we weren't prepared so we missed a photo op but Zach did pump his fist in the air so we knew he heard us yelling! (He totally nailed an amazing PR 1:34:XX...holy cow that's fast! Read the report here.) Not too long after, Jen came by. Again, we weren't totally prepared for her either but Amy did snap an ass shot of her! (read her full report here.) (P.S. Sorry all of these pics will be repeats of Amy's or Aron's, I didn't have a camera.)

We missed Shelly but we did see Aron looking strong. (Note: I plan to be as bright as possible in SD, it was so easy to pick Aron out of the crowd. That way all you speedsters running SD won't have a problem seeing me as I round the corner for the finish line on May 31st.)

Just to give you an idea of what these runners got to see, here's a few pictures of our awesome signs! We got lots of smiles on the course which was so rewarding (marathoning is hard work I can barely muster a smirk let alone a shout out to spectators, we had several yesterday). It's all in the signs!

We had to include some ROHO love since I know those gals really wanted to be there!

Fitting for the girl with 5 of 10 toenails to be holding this sign! (P.S. They are growing back, slowly.)

After mile 8 we headed to mile 17. We had planned a stop at mile 14 too but thought Aron would be beat us there so we went to 17 instead. We were there with plenty of time and even got to see the police escort the front runners through the course! So cool! We also saw plenty of "red elevens" and lots of muddy backsides. Here's Aron and her hubby (who jumped in to run with her and support her through her tough miles).

Our final stop was mile 24.5. We saw crazy Shelly run by on her way to finishing her 3rd marathon in 13 days with a PR of something ridiculous like 3:32 (yes, that's right peeps, she's crazy).
By this point, I was ready to jump in the marathon and finish out the last few miles with the fast crowd (just to see what it would be like to run with the under 4 hour crew). Of course I didn't but part of me really wanted to, especially when we saw Aron for the last time. She mustered a smile, which at mile 24.5 after a tough race is hard (I know b/c I'm usually sobbing at this point or whispering obscenities). I wanted to jump in and (sprint, for me) along with her and Chris and tell her how inspirational she is and how she's one of the runners I look up to, instead Amy and I cheered loudly and headed to the finish.

Aron finishing strong after a tough race with a smile and a high-five!

Everyone ran great races and finished strong. I can't wait to spectate another race. I didn't even mind the 5:00 am wakeup call. Great job to all the other racers this weekend. Dan of 4 Feet Running ran his FIRST half marathon, Kristen ran her FIRST marathon, Carrie PR'd ...I'm sure I missed a few others...Great Racing Everyone!

Recipe of the Week + Update

Clearly, recipe Wednesday is turning into, recipe Wednesday, Thursday or Friday...it is officially being renamed "Recipe of the Week."

First, training updates. Tuesday, Gazelle was feeling ill and it was raining so I took Track Tuesday to the treadmill.

1 mile @ 10:42

4 x 800 w/ .3 mi recovery jog/walks

#1 @ 8:10 pace

#2 @ 8:27 pace

#3 @ 8:10 pace

#4 @ 8:10 pace

4 x 400 w/.25 mi recovery incline walks (incline 7% @ 15:00 mm)

#1 - #4 @ 7:54 pace

1/2 mile cooldown @ 10:42

Total: 6.5 miles

Wednesday JM came over with her super cute doggie Vaughn (nothing like two happy beagles to brighten your day). We set out to do Shred and Yoga but after Shred, Mr. Pi announced that dinner was ready so we bailed on yoga. Kinda wish I hadn't, I've been a little stiff all week.

Thursday was supposed to be 8-10 miles (my schedule called for 6 with 4 miles @ tempo pace). What I actually did was 7.5 miles/1:21:09/10:49 AP. The last 1.5 I took Zoey with me and tried to speed up a tad, we averaged 10:20 on the last 1.5. I'm still trying to find a comfortable pace that's sustainable for long distances. Naturally, I gravitate toward a 10:15-10:30 mile but after a few miles I slow down.

April PR mileage month: 131.77!!!

Today, I'm planning on a yoga session and a walk with the puppy. Tomorrow, I have 15-17 on the schedule, I'd like to get in at least 16. I'm meeting Gazelle and Erika for the first 10, it's Gazelle's last long run before she's going to kick ass at her 1/2 on May 10th.

Speaking of races, Gazelle and I will be spectating the Eugene Marathon this weekend. Several other PDX'ers are running the 1/2 and this girl is going to BQ! We'll be stocked with signs, bodyglide (since it's predicting rain), cowbells, cameras and maybe even a boombox (Roho-style if I can find one). Good luck to all the racers this weekend! Shout out to other marathoners Cindy and Kristin!

Recipe of the Week: Peanut Rice Noodles with Tofu

For all my veg-heads (or Meatless Monday chicas) out there, this one is for you! I've made several variations of this recipe. I've used angel hair pasta, spaghetti, protein pasta, whole wheat; I've made it with chicken, shrimp, tofu or all veggie. This time I went with tofu and rice noodles. I've never cooked with rice noodles before but it sounded like an adventure. In true, Alisa fashion, I added ingredients here and there, omitted others...I tried to keep track and adjust the recipe posted below.

The recipe is loosely based on the following, my changes/additions are in parentheses:

1 tsp canola oil (I use 1 tsp canola oil and 1 tsp fire oil)
2 tsp minced fresh ginger (I used about 1/2 inch)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
4 tsp rice vinegar (I omitted this last night, instead tried 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce for extra tangy flavor)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (I used about 2 tbsp)
1/3 cup natural-style smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup lower-sodium nonfat chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon salt (I omitted last night)
8 oz spaghetti (Used rice noodles)
12 oz medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (Used tofu)
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and julienned (3 small yellow bell peppers and 1/2 a red bell pepper)
1 cup snow peas (omitted)
1 carrot, peeled and julienned (14 baby carrots)

Added: 1 onion, couple of scallions and juice from one lime to the sauce (plus dash of oregano, basil and powdered ginger).

PREPARATION
Heat oil (1 tsp) over medium-high heat in a saucepan. Add ginger and garlic; cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add soy sauce, vinegar, chili sauce, peanut butter, broth, and salt; cook, stirring, until peanut butter dissolves. Simmer over low heat 7 minutes until thick and smooth.

Heat oil (1 tsp) in a wok or saute pan. Add tofu and brown. Add onion cook 1-2 minutes, add carrots and bell peppers cook another 2-3 minutes.

In a large pot, boil water add rice noodle for 2-5 minutes, drain and rinse.

Add all ingredients back into large pot and use tongs to mix thoroughly.

Original recipe, found here, makes 4 servings: 491 calories per serving, 15 g fat (2 g saturated), 57 g carbs, 32 g protein