Second Half

Only 13 days after Jason's first ever half-marathon we ran another half-marathon by his request! My dad joined us as well. The race was in St. Ignatius, and it was beautiful! You had the Mission Mountains ahead of you and pasture land around you! It was all part of the "Good Ole Days" Festival, so afterward was a yummy pancake breakfast at the Senior Center! Our only complaint was that the course was advertised as "mostly flat" but the race was actually uphill for 7 miles! All in all it was a blast.

 

Jason was first in his age group (out of 5) and third overall! His time was a PR at 1:39:49. Let's just say I finished. Haha. I did get third in my age group (out of 5) and my dad got third as well! 

Better Half

For me, running is a passion. I find enjoyment in it. For Jason, it is getting to be that way, but for the most part it is "work." That being said, it meant so much to me in March when he said he wanted to start running with me and run the Missoula Half Marathon with me in July! We began training...he ran some 5ks in the meantime and I ran 2 other half-marathons.

On July 8, 2012, was the big day. Here's how it played out:

Wake up before sunrise to get to the race start at 6 am on Blue Mountain Road by the Peak Gym.

Jason said he'd probably stay with me until mile 4 or 5, like our training runs. 

But no. By mile 1.2 he was looong gone!

So we each just did our own thing.

The course is very pretty, and there are people cheering you on, sprinklers to cool off with, and even inspirational signs!

Once you see the Higgins Street bridge you have come about 13 miles and suddenly you get a second wind... You can tell Jason is running fast! It felt like I was sprinting...but in the picture it doesn't look like it haha.

Once you finish there are refreshing snacks and loving fans to greet you:

And huge grins for a successful day!

Here are the stats:
* For Jason's first ever half-marathon, he ran a 1:41:45! Finishing 126/754 overall for men and 17/50 in his age group.
* For my third half-marathon, I ran a 1:54:50, which is my personal best! I finished 241/1784 overall for women and 29/170 in my age group.

The best part was the next day when Jason asked if we could run another one -- that one being a mere 13 days away! So we signed up!

I Did It!

Yesterday at work it suddenly hit me...

I RAN A MARATHON!!!!!

The whole rest of the week I didn't really think much of it...it just seemed like a regular thing for me to do. But it's really quite a big deal!

Let me tell you, it was so.much.harder. than I thought it would be! I just had to keep telling myself - "You didn't come this far to give up!" My first 13 miles was great, although my legs were more tired than normal because I ran a lot faster than my training pace (8:20 min/miles compared to 9 min miles). Then right after the 13 mile mark you go up hill a bit. My legs were never the same after that! It was so painful. I was going so slow, because my legs wouldn't move any faster! I clocked one mile at 11 minutes!! I never run that slow!

But I didn't come that far to give up. The gummy bears at the Cafe Dolce aid station tasted so delicious. Once I got to Higgins St bridge with less than 300m left, I sprinted as fast as I could because I wanted to be done so bad!!

I did it! It took me 4 hours and 18 minutes, and I was 17 out of 22 in my age group. I might run one again, just because I need to be faster! Ha. We'll see. I'm still feeling the effects of those 26.2 miles...but each day it gets a little better!

Preparation

It's amazing how much preparation can go into something...like a wedding...or a marathon... Try preparing for both at the same time! Actually, it hasn't been that bad! I'm enjoying both! Tomorrow is the big day. No, not the wedding day - although our countdown is at three weeks!!!!!!!!!!! Tomorrow is the big marathon day!! We will wake up at 3am to eat our oatmeal with strawberries and an egg. At 5am we will head to the start in Frenchtown. At 6am we will be running... And hopefully by 10am we will have crossed the finish line on the Higgins Street bridge! My "good" goal is to finish in under 4 hours. My "best" goal is to finish with my dad, who hopes to clock a 3hr30min or less to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

This is the dinner my mom and I made to help prep our bodies with a bunch of carbs: Caesar Salad Pasta with chicken, diced potatoes (my potatoes have Caesar dressing and Parmesan on them) and garlic bread. (We were gonna make green beans but ran out of time). It was a new recipe and it was yummy!!


I spend the rest of the evening prepping for my other big day---THE WEDDING!! My mom and I worked on our table names! They're coming along great! Jason did the first half of them when he helped get them started the other day, and he did an awesome job!!

Old Friends & Good Friends

This weekend my family drove to Salem, Oregon, to attend my cousin Ben's wedding! It was so much fun to see my old friend, Salem, and my good friends, Courtney, Amy & Jen. It was also a pleasure to attend my cousin's wedding!

While with my old friend & good friends I...

...ate at the Old Spaghetti Warehouse! I highly recommend this restaurant. Their meals range from $8-$12, and this includes a good sized entree, salad, bread, and dessert!!! It was so yummy!

...walked to Dutch Bros with Heidi and Nathan to re-live the taste of an iced kicker!

...ran with Amy (for a bit) and my dad through Bush Park AND Minto Brown Park!

...soaked up the sights of my old favorite spots.

...enjoyed my cousin's sweet and simple wedding!

And then we spent an extra 2 hours on the way home, taking the "scenic byway"!

But it was worth it!

Half Empty or Half Full?

I'd like to look at this situation as half-empty, especially since my tank is empty. Well it was last night anyway. In fact, if I'd have written this post last night like I planned, it definitely would have been hard to be half-full. But now, after a night of rest and recovery and encouragement from my friends, I can be half full. So here it is:

The good news -


I ran the farthest I've ever run! 3 hours and 5 minutes! A rough estimate of 20 miles!

The bad news -

It was stinkin hard. Stinking hard. My body aches so bad today. It makes me question whether or not I can run 6 more miles. My dad is also faster than me. Ya. Faster. That's hard to swallow... :)

So anyway. I was pretty discouraged about the run...and being totally exhausted mentally and physically, I was empty and wanted to look at the situation in a pessimistic way. But I think I'll be optimistic, because you know what? I'm still alive. And I'll only have to run it once.

Thank you God, for giving me legs to run!

Track Record*

*pun intended

"I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast.

When I run, I feel His pleasure."

Eric Liddell

Here's the scoop on my track season, since I haven't really blogged much about it!

3/5/2011 Linfield Icebreaker, McMinnville Oregon:

3k steeplechase, 13:00, 2/2

3/17/2011 Charles Bowles Springbreak Classic, Salem Oregon:

5k, 19:52.2, 2/3

*This was the first time I'd ever broke 20 minutes in a 5k!! I've been praying for that since my senior year of high-school. Praise God!

3/26/2011 Club Northwest Invitational, Seattle Washington:

3k steeplechase, 12:40.2, 3/3

4/1/2011 Willamette Invitational (Celebration of Distance), Salem Oregon:

3k steeplechase, 12:13.51, 5/6

*This is a season and career PR for me! I also broke our school record by more than 6 seconds! That race also put me at second in the conference, although now I'm more like 5th. I was really needing a solid steeple race, as my first two of the season had been significantly slower than last year.

4/8/2011 Northwest Relays, Oregon City Oregon:

open 3k (without steeples), 11:20.92, 1/9

*Again, I broke the school record, this time in the open 3k and by only 2 seconds!

4/16/2011 Lewis & Clark Invitational, Portland Oregon:

3k steeplechase, 12:30.2, 3/7

*My dad and two sisters got to see this race!

4/29-30/2011 Pacific Twilight, Forest Grove Oregon:

1500m, 5:18.00 35/44 (3rd in my heat though!)

*Last year I ran 5:19 in 3 times in a row for the 1500m. I really wanted a PR in this race. I got it, but only by one second...........

5k, 19:55.11 33/39

*I was hoping for a PR in the 5k, but I'm still happy that I broke 20 again!

Conference is May 12-14, and I race steeplechase on the 13th! I'm looking forward to this race a lot! My dad, grandparents, and Jason will be there. I have some great goals and plan to go all out! I will keep you posted, and hopefully will get pictures soon!

Did you figure out the pun?

Answered Prayers

"In the 3,000 meter steeplechase, Cross finished fifth with a school-record time of 12:13.51 bettering her previously set Cascade Collegiate Conference qualifying time. The second-year Warrior ran the second fastest time in the conference this season, as she broke Corban's school-record by more than six seconds." To read the full article, click here. The race, the Willamette Invitational, took place on Friday, April 1.

I'm very thankful for how my track season has been going, especially after a not so great cross-country season! And I'm definitely giving God the credit! This is a career best steeple time for me! I also finally broke 20 in the 5k, on the TRACK no less! Just before spring break I ran a 19:52 at the Willamette Dual Meet. (Maybe I need to run on Willamette's track more often?). I never expected to break 20 on the track. I can't handle running in circles! But I did. It's all God. And it totally goes back to the idea of surrendering my timeline. I expected to break 20 in cross this season, and even hoped to break it last year. It didn't make sense that I wouldn't! I was a bit confused that I didn't. But God know what He was doing. And He still answered my prayers, but in HIS timing.

Bridal Boot Camp!!

I am even getting paid to go through this bridal boot camp! Here's what week 2 (aka this week) should end up looking like (as long as I estimated correctly, coaches don't change their mind, and there are no injuries, no inclement weather, and the rapture doesn't happen):

Track: running every Tues, Thurs, Fri morning at 6:15 plus running every day (afternoon) of the week, Sunday-Saturday. I should accumulate approximately 44 miles.

Pilates: every Monday and Wednesday for 45 minutes. (although she unfortunately canceled class this Monday)

Morning weights: every Wednesday at 6:15am for 1 hour. Technically I need to find a way to lift weights two more times, and still do homework, and still sleep, and still run 10 times a week, and still do pilates twice. I'm still working on fitting those two more times in!

In the words of my track teammate Christi, "This will be an exciting week! We will either die or be beasts!"

Bring on the boot camp!

PS: you can pray that my body will hold up and that I'll be able to use my time efficiently in order to maximize Jesus time, homework time, and sleep time! Thanks!

2010 Cross Country Championships - Klamath Falls Oregon...and the preparation for it...

On Wednesday in my devotion, I was inspired with the verse Hebrews 12:1, "Let us run the race that is before us and never give up."


On Friday night, sitting on the hotel floor in Klamath Falls, my prayer was, "God please take my body that I feel is fat and slow and broken, and my mind that is weak and feeble, and make them into something beautiful for You. That's all I have God - my weak and insufficient self. It's my sacrifice for You - it's for You to have for Your glory. Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee. God I trust You. Blow me away."


On Saturday morning, during our pre-race warm up, my prayers/thoughts echoed the words of a Relient K song ("For the Moments I Feel Faint"). "I think I can't, I think I can't, but I think You can I think You can... Gather my insufficiencies and place them in Your hands..."


Now, I'm wrestling with being ok with my race and with understanding/accepting that everything happens for His glory and for His purpose. But I still wrestle with seeing His plan and purpose in all of this... I ran the slowest race of my season and possibly my career. I placed 7th on my team instead of in the top 5. I was beat by two girls who hadn't consistently run cross-country until this season, which was hard to take because cross-country has been "my thing" since my sophomore year in high school. (But I'm proud of them - they had amazing races!) My legs absolutely died. My calves were on fire. I wanted to collapse half way through. Yes, this is a very tough course will lots of hills and higher elevation. But no excuses. None of that should have happened. I thought I was so ready. I wrestle with defining "my best" when there is no quantitative proof, only subjective qualitative questions such as "well did you feel like your ran your hardest?" The thing is, I don't know. There's always the "what if I could've ran faster. What if I could've pushed more. What if..." Without the concrete evidence of a personal record time-wise, I don't know how to judge whether or not it was my best. Our team, which was ranked 6th coming into conference, placed 8th (out of 9 teams). Very discouraging. Very disappointing. A very tough way to end my collegiate cross-country career. I'm really unresolved about it. I don't understand why it ended so badly. It's hard to accept. But I must, somehow. Because it happened. And I need to let it change me for the better, somehow.


Even though I'm still wrestling with acceptance and almost cry every time I think about the race, I know God's plans are perfect. God's plans are greater. And that life goes on. New chapters, new "races" are ahead of me. In the immediate, athletic future, is my track season. Bring on the 5k and steeplechase. I will give my best. I will train hard this off-season. I will pursue breaking 20 minutes on the track in a 5k, even though I don't enjoy running 12 laps around a track. And in the metaphoric way, I will pursue this new "race" with Jason, as we enter into marriage in 265 days. Life goes on. A very good life. I'm so blessed!

Warner Pacific Invitational, Portland OR

Oh, and I suppose I should also just throw this out there. On Saturday (16th) I finally got a PR. Yep that's right! I ran a 20:16 5k, which is a 4 second PR! Praise God. That was our last race before conference!

Willamette Invitational

Today I raced what felt like the best race of my life but then I didn't PR...so that becomes a frustrating feeling. My time was 20:42 and I finished 5th on our team, 138 out of 239. I did race faster than our last meet at OIT, so that's a good sign! Here's some fun pictures!

OIT Meet in Klamath Falls

"Take my feet and let them be

Swift and beautiful for Thee"

On Friday afternoon our cross-country team took a 4 hour bus ride up to Klamath Falls, Oregon, for a Saturday meet hosted by OIT (Oregon Institute of Technology) at Steen Sports Camp. This was the first meet I got to compete in and our teams first 5k meet, although they'd run a 3k meet two weekends earlier. I was nervous. The race was awful. I ran a 22:33 which I'm pretty sure is worse than anything I've ever run in high school! The course is TOUGH! It had hills, parts in thick mushy grass, and parts in sandy/dusty/powder. You couldn't settle in strong and find rhythm because the whole time you were working. The only good about it was everyone ran slow. The first place girl usually runs in the 17s and she ran a 19:01! And I did still place with the top 5 for my team! I'm ready to conquer the next race! More pictures to come!

Best Marathon Runner Overall

My dad ran the Missoula Marathon, sadly without me, on July 11th. Monz, Lauren Morey, Heidi and I woke up at 4am to drive him to the shuttle station downtown and then drove out to mile 3 and set up camp to watch the runners. At 6am they were off. We sat on the hood of our car and cheered for them, some would talk and wave back too! A lady even ran up to us and said, "I'm gonna be gross and pee behind your car." We were glad to be there for her! After my dad ran by we drove to mile 8 so we could give him his chomps. After a quick stop for our own energy fuel-- coffee (it's hard work cheering!!) -- we met him again just across the bridge where my mom and brother and Josie were too and we traded the car for bikes. It was fun to bike along the rest of the way and cheer him and everyone on!! I'm so proud of him!! He did so great!! We thought it would be a lofty goal to make it in 4 hours. He finished in 3 hours and 48 minutes!! And he seemed just as strong and healthy after! He's made for this! Next year I plan on running with him!

Conference Steeplechase Pictures

Conference Track, Gresham, OR

I don't have the pictures yet, but yesterday I raced steeplechase for the second time and at the Conference Meet! I was really happy about the race, I had a 13 second PR with a time of 12:23 and placed 7th, the only freshman to score in that race. I even did a lot better on most of the water jumps! It was good. And I have a lot more potential in that race, so I'm excited for next year and learning to "run smarter." It was such a good end to the season and I'm so thankful Jason could be there! My teammate Jen and I consider "Your Are My Joy" by David Crowder our theme song and I would sing the lines over and over in my head: "and He set me on fire, and I am burning alive; with His breath in my lungs, I am coming undone"...it was definitely God that got me through the race!

Longest Weekend of My Life!!

This weekend has been the longest weekend of my life! On Friday night I went to bed at midnight, because I stayed up to pack. Then I got up at 9:30a on Saturday to eat, pack some more, and leave by 11 for the track meet, Pacific Twilight, in Forest Grove, OR. At the meet is raced in steeplechase for the first time ever. This is a 3K (almost 2 mile) race, which means it is 7.5 laps. Each lap has 5 steeple barriers on it, 4 "dry" and 1 "wet" (water-jump). As I posted before, my coach wanted me to try this race because he thought I had the endurance and stamina and would qualify for conference and score points for our team. Well, the qualifying time was 14:10. My goal was 7 min miles, and I finished mile 1 at 6:37. I finished the race at 12:36!! Which was faster than my goal AND qualified me for conference!!! Here are some pics:

Jumping one of the "dry' barriers. Notice my tongue. Yes, I stick my tongue out when I jump hurdles and they caught it on camera!

Approaching the "wet" barrier. My teammate Jen is in the water.

Landing the "wet" barrier. I need to work on my landings a bit...

Coming out of the water pit.

It was a really fun race and a lot easier than I thought it would be! I'm very happy I qualified and that it's in a race where I have a good chance of scoring for our team! And, because I qualified, I get to stay for Conference, which is May 13-15. I race on the 14th at 4:30. I told Jason that if I qualified and had to stay I wanted to fly him out here for my birthday (May 12th), Conference, and then the drive home with me. So last night I bought his ticket!! Woohoo!!! Nine days!!

After the meet I went to Solid Rock church in Portland. It was a great church service! I really enjoyed it! I got home around 11pm. Now, my team-mate Mel was going to leave at 4am on Sunday. The rest of us running girlies wanted to surprise her with breakfast and coffee and card, so we had to get up at 3am. Because I was gone most of the day Saturday and on Sunday by 5pm we had to be completely moved into our new dorm for these next two weeks, I had to stay up and pack. I took a short "nap" from 2-3am, got up and surprised Mel for breakfast. Then I took another short nap from 4:15 to 5:30am, when us running girlies again got up to be there for a team-mate. Two of our XC girls were running the Eugene Marathon, which was an hour away and started at 7am. So we drove down to that, spent the morning trying to figure our how to get to where they'd be on the course, missed them finishing, and then had to rush back for a 1pm mandatory orientation in our new dorm.

This is a picture of a dog I saw at the marathon:

After orientation, it was moving and cleaning. It took a car trip down for my stuff and later one for Kate's stuff. We had to move all our stuff down from a second floor room, to the car, and then up to a second floor room in a dorm with no elevator!! It was a lot of work!! And we had to deep clean our old room too which took about 1.5 hours!!

Once we finally got to our new room, I still had to get my over-distance (long run) in for the day. After I skyped my family, I drove to Bush Park to run. I had to quit the run 30 mins in because my shin was shooting pain up my leg and I couldn't put any weight on it, so I could barely move.

After my run I still had to come back and unpack my room before I could finally get to bed at 11:30pm.

Whew.

This was my weekend, on a little over 2 hours of sleep!!

Lewis and Clark Invitational

Same old story. Again. I ran the 1500m and got the same time as the last two times I've ran it! (5:20...ok this time it was actually 5:19.93, but in my book that's the same time) And again I felt fast and strong, until I looked at my watch and saw the time and was very disappointed. This time I did take second in my heat (the slow heat), but that too was a bit disappointing because I led the race for probably about 1100m. Grr. I have been having a hard time figuring out how to improve my time (and QUALIFY!) because I can't pinpoint a mental breakdown or even a point where I slow down. But my coach asked me how much each lap hurt, and I said realized that I just feel strong, I don't hurt. So, I'm going to run this next race to make each lap hurt more than the last and to be totally spent at the end! It'll be my last chance too, because this weekend (24th) I'll be running a 5k (yuck) and then our last meet before conference is the 1st, where I will run the 1500m to make it hurt.

Pictures From the Seattle Meet (mentioned previously)

Club Northwest Invitational, Seattle, WA

This weekend we had a track meet in Seattle. Kate and I flew into Seattle around 8 in the morning, but were not going to be picked up until 1230pm. So we stored our bags at the airport (it cost me $19!!) and took the transit system downtown ($5 round-trip!) We basically walked all over Seattle. But is was SUPER fun! First we stopped at good ole Starbucks (because I had a giftcard) to get coffee and I got a pumpkin scone. Then we headed towards Pike's Market. Walking through there we smelled this yummy Russian bakery, and stopped there to get a sweet bread roll with Marion berries and sweet cream frosting. It was delicious! We kept walking around and exploring. We even went to the Art Museum...without paying. You see, their sign at the ticket booth said suggested price, $15. Well, we took that to mean you didn't have to pay if you didn't want to! So we walked in. While we were looking around a security guard came up to us. My first thought was "Oh my goodness, she knows we didn't pay!" But she said to Kate, "You can't have backpacks in here. I don't know why they didn't take it from you at the front desk. You need to take it to the coat storage. It's free." Gee. I wonder why they didn't take it! Lol. Needless to say we just left and headed up toward Niketown, stopping by Mountain Hardwear on the way. We finished our day with sub sandwiches before heading back to the airport.

The meet was pretty good too! I ran the 1500m with a time of 5:20, which is a PR. I hope to hit 5:11 to qualify for Conference!