Instafriday!

Woo Hoo! I got in another Instafriday. Not too many photos to share this week, I have been busy, busy, busy. The girls were both in day camp all week and I have been rushing around like mad getting ready for a Seattle to Michigan road trip. 

Yes, yes they do.
Iris just loved this camp and made a close friend, which is so awesome. 

Eloise (with the pink goggles on her head) at her last swimming lesson.
They did really cool things like jump off the high dive (five times!) and learn some boating safety.
She had a blast! 

Holding hands and heading to camp. 

SOOO happy I got my new running shoes today!
They are Brooks Pure Cadence.
Since they are much more minimal than my current monster shoes, I have to slowly break then in.
Today I ran one mile in them and felt awesome! 

My favorite new bracelet.
I rarely wear bracelets because my wrists are so darn huge but this one is
fully adjustable AND it has a magnetic clasp. Check them out online here.
I got one for my mama, just a different style, but it looks like neither of ours are online. 

Yes I can, no I can't, yes I can!

The past few days have been an absolute rollercoaster of emotions about my marathon. On Saturday I ran a speedy fast (for me) 5K with zero knee pain. On Sunday I ran a painfully (literally and figuratively) slow four miles with my running besties. I think I completely under-estimated how taxing racing the 5K would be on my body. After ducking out on the run less than half way in to it, I headed to the gym for an hour of elliptical. I was supposed to have run 10 miles and needed to get all of the workout time in. Afterwards I was just tired and sore. And completely defeated. All I could think was that I haven't run further than four miles in over two weeks, I must be completely kidding myself that I will fix things in time to finish marathon training. I spent a lot of time Sunday sitting with the idea that I will have to DNS (did not start) the marathon. Honestly, the idea felt okay to me. I don't want to be at a place where I run this marathon at all costs. I don't want it to be an awful experience. I began to think that if I didn't run it, maybe I can focus on running more half-marathons and improving my time, and that was kind of exciting, too. 

Then Tuesday morning comes along and I visit with my amazing physical therapist. She has me practice my stance in front of a mirror: lean in to it, chest in front of pelvis, step with the right foot, keep the pelvis level, swing left foot through without collapsing my leg when I land. Over and over we do this. Then I get on the treadmill. I practice increasing my cadence (foot turnover), getting it up to 90 per foot/per minute. I practice landing softly (not THUNK THUNK THUNK). I practice leaning in to it. I practice keeping length on the right side of my trunk. I practice and practice and practice for over three miles on the treadmill as my PT watches and corrects and cheers. By the time I am done I know what my form is supposed to feel like, but it is also very, very hard to keep it up, especially when I am tired. 

At the end of the appointment I ask her the million dollar question: "do you think I can still train for this marathon?" and she answers . . . (wait for it) . . . "yes". Of course, doesn't mean I will definitely be able to run it, but she sees no reason why I can't keep training for it, unless it just becomes too much for my body to handle. 

Okay, then. 

Not that I was ever totally off the idea that I could do this, but I definitely have a renewed excitement about fixing my form, moving forward with my training, and running that marathon on October 7th. 

But, and there is always a big but, I think that if/when the time comes for me to say I just am not quite ready, I will be okay pulling out of the race and setting my sights on another marathon at a later date. 

West Seattle Float Dodger 5K

I was super excited to get to run in a race that was practically right in my back yard. This year is the first year for the West Seattle Float Dodger 5K and the race was held right before the West Seattle Grand Parade, hence the name "float dodger". We didn't really dodge any floats, however. The Hi-Yu float was positioned at the north end of the course, but we just had to run around it to make a 180 degree turn back south.

Even though I have been sidelined with an IT band injury, this 5K was going to be my big race. I prefer to race longer distances, since a 5K just means fast and hard. There is no watching the Garmin, figuring out splits, working out pacing. You just run as fast as you can until you cross the finish line. And that is exactly what I did.

I met up with a couple of my friends before the race began and it was a lot of fun to have some familiar faces in the crowd. I think the race was about 300 people. It would have been nice if there had been more runners because about half way in I felt like I wasn't really running "with" anyone. It was a very nice turnout for the inaugural running of the race, however. The best thing about the course and the crowd was that my family was able to situate themselves right next to the finish line so I saw them three times as I ran!

Iris and I before the race. Taken by Eloise. 

When the gun went off, I just took off. First we ran north before making a 180 degree turn and running south again. I passed my family about a quarter mile in, then again after another quarter mile or so on the way back south. We kept going south for a mile or so and were treated to a slight downhill along the way. At the bottom of the loop we made another 180 degree turn to head back north to the finish line. And back up the hill we just ran down. It wasn't a bad hill, but when you are racing as hard as you can, any slight incline is very noticeable! 


I spent the whole race just waiting for the pain in my knee to rear its ugly head, but amazingly, it never did. Maybe my knee is a fan of speedy short races? Who knows. 

Making the first pass past my family. Photo taken by Eloise. 

As I came up to the second turn around I thought I had counted all of the women in front of me. It seemed like there was maybe seven. I passed two women on the last stretch so I was absolutely convinced I finished in the top five. Clearly I was off a few, as I placed 12th of 142 females. Nothin' to sneeze at, to be sure, but not what I expected when I hit the finish line.

Heading back south again, about a half of a mile in.
Check out the form of the guy in front of me. I should have been taking notes!
Photo by Eloise.

My official time was 23:45. My goal was a sub-25:00, so I smashed that out of the water!

Photo from the race. The finish line was right around that corner.

There was yummy food and drinks at the finish line. As I was grabbing a few snacks a man came up to me and said I had done a nice job. I thanked him and he mentioned that I had been his pacer for the last little bit and that this was his first ever race. I congratulated him on the amazing effort, my first 5K was run at about ten minutes slower than my time that day! He said one year ago he weighed 308 pounds and had been working on his fitness. My jaw dropped. He was a bit shorter than me (I am 6') and looked fit, I would guess he lost over 100 pounds. In a year. Amazing. I felt so honored that he came to chat with me, and I remembered all of the people in races who I paced myself behind and how grateful I was to be able to follow their effort.

All in all a really wonderful race. I hope to race again next year, when I move up an age category. I would have taken first in my division if I was a year older, haha!

Running wild: weekly re-cap

This week has just been a lesson in complete frustration, with one shining moment of obliterating my former 5K PR and another shining moment of smashing my one mile PR.

Total miles run: 17

Monday: 2 miles on the treadmill, 45 minutes on the elliptical

I checked out our local gym and put myself to work.

Tuesday:  3 miles

It was the last intervals class of the session so we ran a timed mile as part of the workout. My previous PR was 7:22, and my new one is 7:04! SO close to a sub-7:00, but that is definitely do-able for me now. Very exciting. I wasn't sure I could run much, let alone run fast, so I didn't have any expectation for myself.

Wednesday: 3.3 miles on the treadmill, 30 minutes on the elliptical

Another day at the gym.

Thursday: 1.6 miles

At bootcamp we did enough running for me to count it in my total miles. It's funny to say this, because I am a runner, but I HATE when we have to run at bootcamp. I run every other time I train, I just want to focus on my strength at bootcamp.

Friday: rest

Saturday: 3.1 miles

West Seattle Float Dodger 5K! Race re-cap to come. I set a HUGE PR of 23:45!

Sunday: 4 miles run, 54 minutes on the elliptical

Sunday is my long run day, so all of the time I didn't spend running I had to do on the elliptical. I met my buddies for the run and hoped I would feel okay, as I felt totally fine the day before at my race. My knee had other plans and I bowed out of the run at four miles and drove to the gym. I got all of my time in, though!

instafriday!

Here are the rest of my instagram photos from the past couple of weeks!

The girlies and I checked out two new spray parks. So much fun! 

These poppies were so unique. 

Stopping to smell the roses. Literally. 

Shave ice with a friend.

Day one: "California Sunset" which was . . . coconut, strawberry and something. 

Day two: cherry and lime! 

Eloise's Grandma bought her a new book right before we got on the road to drive home.
She fell asleep with it in her arms. 

We finally went to ride on The Seattle Great Wheel! 

Three happy girlies on the ferris wheel. 

Fixing my wonky gait

This morning I finally got in to see my new PT about my knee pain. I am very excited about working with her and fixing my issues . . . of which I have some a few of.

I expected her to hammer home the ideas of stretching and strengthening, which is what my previous PT did. Instead she checked out a bunch of things about my body and the way it moves and then had me run on the treadmill for a while. She video taped me and had me watch the video while she explained what she was noticing. It turns out one of my legs kind of collapses in every time I land on it and my pelvis becomes quite tilted. It was actually surprising to me that I am able to run as well as I do after watching how terrible my gait looks on video! My foot strikes where it should (phew!) but other than that, yeah, I am kind of a mess. I also actually kind of lean back from center as I run, which isn't good at all. This all means I have to start working on what are basically the chi running ideas (she never specifically referred to chi running, but the ideas were all the same). I also have to practice stepping forward while keeping my pelvis level. I would definitely benefit from having a full length mirror to stand in front of . . . I need to get my hands on one. I also am in the market for new running shoes, as my Brooks Adrenalines are too much shoe for me to be dragging along when I don't have a need for that much support. This definitely excites me, I have had my eyes on some neutral shoes for a while!

My PT also thinks we should know in a week or two if I am going to be able to run my marathon, but in the meantime I need to keep my fitness level up. Whatever I have scheduled for running I need to get those minutes in on the elliptical. Not fun, but you know what, I will do what it takes!

Has anyone else had success changing the way you run? How much work did it take?

Insta . . . what day is it?

It has been sooooo long since I posted an instafriday. I was really bummed about how long it was taking to get my instagram photos ready to post on my blog and then finally I looked up how to download the photos. Duh. Instaport to the rescue!

I will divide the photos in to a couple of posts, starting . . . now!

Me at the top of Rattlesnake Ridge.
A crazy awesome hike with a beautiful view as the prize!

The girlies swim. Sorta.

Ice bath in the kiddie pool. 

Eloise's friend in the kiddie pool. 

Eloise in the kiddie pool. 

Eloise enjoys her new headphones. 

Downtown.

Trying the experiment where you put the daisies in colored water then the water turns the petals colors.
The only one that even sort of worked was the blue. Maybe we didn't have enough dye? 

Running wild: weekly re-cap

I am writing this from hot and sunny central Washington, wrapping up a crappy week of running.

Total miles: 9 miles run

Monday: rest and SUPing

The most exciting thing I did this week was try SUPing, or stand-up paddle boarding. Or as I like to call it, KPing, kneel paddleboarding. It was so very much harder than I thought it would be! My friend and I, she was also doing it for the first time, went to ladies' night at the local paddle boarding place on the Puget Sound. They gave us the quick and dirty overview and sent us on our merry way. The water was pretty calm and it was a gorgeous night. I spotted many jellyfish in the water, as well, which was cool. I tried to stand up twice but it took all I had to not tip over and I couldn't paddle and stand at the same time. I was terrified to dump, the water was freezing, I didn't know how I would get back on to the board and I was convinced I would be stung by jellyfish. Later a friend told me the jellyfish in Puget Sound aren't the stinging kind, which I never officially confirmed. So I knelt the whole time. I can't wait to try and try again, though, as I am a water baby at heart and I just loved being out on the water.

Tuesday: 3 miles

At intervals class we started at the top of a 6% grade hill and ran down, then back up, then down and then kind of raced each other back up. I pushed it, but not too hard. Not as hard as I like to. I decided to not do another down and up to protect my knee.

Wednesday: rest

I was supposed to run 6 miles.

Thursday: bootcamp

It was a good class, though I hated the sprinting and some of the exercises where I felt sure I was going to break my ankle. I took it easy when I needed to and pushed when I could. My abs are still sore 60 hours later, so that is probably a good sign! I love when I get sore from my workouts, it doesn't happen every time anymore.

Friday: 4 miles run/walk

I took it very, very easy on my run. I think my pace averaged over 11:00 min/mile. I hoped to run 6 miles to make up for Wednesday but my knee wasn't having it. I ran about 75/% of the time and took walking breaks. I tried out this IT band wrap but I don't think it did anything. Maybe I didn't have it on right, who knows.

Saturday: 2 miles run/walk and 30 mins elliptical

My mother-in-law took my to her fitness center and I enjoyed trying out the elliptical. It was hard to tell how hard the workout was, it just felt so different to me from running. After 30 mins on the elliptical I tried to do two miles on the treadmill. My knee felt good for a mile and a half then I had to start slowing down. It is amazing how quickly I go from feeling totally fine to hurting.

Sunday: rest

Today is my DNS for the See Jane Run half marathon. *sniff*

My first DNS

Due to all of this leg pain, I am going to have my first ever DNS (did not start) in a race, which is the See Jane Run half. Quite bummed. I was looking forward to meeting some friends there and have one of my male running friends jump in and run some with me. Definitely a good thing I paid under $40 for the entry fee, otherwise this would be tougher to swallow. I offered my bib up for free to some local gals I know, but I am not sure anyone can use it.

Well, onward and upward!

This weekend I am going to make friends with an elliptical machine. My mom has one of those bad boys and the couple of times I used it I felt like I was going to fall off, so it might be interesting. My new PT said I can try to run as many miles as I can before my knee hurts and then finish my miles on the elliptical. Um, I have 13 miles on my schedule this weekend. It might be a bit brutal, but I will do whatever I need to to continue training through this.

Keeping my chin up

So in my last post I wrote about how running was going, and how last Wednesday ago I experienced pain in my left knee while running. It felt exactly like the IT band pain I had after running the Rock-n-Roll, so I tried not to get too worried about it. Thursday it felt a little ouchy again. Friday and Saturday I rested it and Sunday I did 12 miles, my knee starting to hurt at about 6 miles and really causing me pain at about 10 miles.

I got a massage on Sunday, which definitely helped temporarily, but the pain came back later in the day. I started googling like a madwoman about IT band pain and running and what the heck I should do now. I realized that healing my sore IT band was going to take some mix of strength training, stretching, massage/foam rolling, rest, icing and a few good ol' anti-inflammatories. I also ordered one of those nifty IT band wraps because hey, why not?

My whole Project Fix My Bum IT Band started Monday morning. I didn't run at all that day and at the end of the day my knee had zero pain. It also felt fine Tuesday morning. Tuesday night is my intervals class and during that particular class we ran a long hill, twice down and up. I felt strong, no pain in my knee (maybe it was my fancy wrap?) and decided to stop running before the pain set in. I did do some one-legged lunges and my knee did NOT like those, so I stopped.

When I finished my hills my running my instructor started chatting with me and said that she doesn't think that, because of my injury, I should do the Portland Marathon. She thinks I should scale back now that I have two half marathons under my belt and rest and do a full marathon at some point later in the future. I have to say, I was extremely surprised she said this, as when I originally asked her opinion on doing the full (pre-IT band pain) she said I should go for it. I guess I didn't/don't quite feel that I am injured to the point of thinking I should throw in the towel on my marathon! I chatted after class with my two running besties and they agreed with me that it was too soon to drop out of the marathon, that I still had time to see how my IT band felt and how my training was going.

But of course, I am a relative newbie when it comes to this running stuff and my instructor has worked with a lot of runners in her day. It's just really defeating. You don't want people who you look up telling you that you shouldn't do something that you really, really want to do. Even if they feel they have a valid reason for telling you so. Is this the time in my training where I step back and remember that I am in this for the long haul and there is no reason to risk a serious injury and burnout by doing all of this too quickly? I don't really know, I guess. Everyone travels a different road, so to speak, toward their goals. And I love running. No, I loooooooooooove running. I love everything about. I love the long miles, the hills, the track, the trail, everything. I love staring at my training calendar, absolutely giddy with anticipation for the day my training runs push me further than I have ever run before. Running is my thing.

I have had a few little aches and pains ever since I started running. It was my shins on and off, and I dealt with those. Then my piriformis for a little bit, but that went away and never came back. And then my hamstring, which is still a bit of a bother but nothing big. And now my IT band. I don't know if the history of issues is a bad or good sign . . . yes, I had them, but I dealt with them and they no longer interfere with my running (or they never really did).

Now, however, the sentiment is out there, looming over me. Someone I trust thinks I am putting myself at too great a risk to continue down this marathon path right now. I want more than anything to prove her wrong, but only time will tell.

Running wild: weekly wrap-up

It was a fun and frustrating week of running for me. Fun because the weather has been beautiful and I did a couple of amazing runs with friends. Frustrating because my IT band on my left leg has been causing me some serious knee pain while I run. The afternoon after the Rock-n-Roll half marathon my knee suddenly became really painful to walk on and throbbed when I laid down. My massage therapist told me it was likely my IT band and she did some work on it the day after the half and then I felt totally fine. I have run a few times since that race with no issues at all and then this past Wednesday about 3 miles in to a 5.3 mile run it started hurting again. It hurt again hiking on Thursday morning and running on Thursday night. I took Friday and Saturday off, stretched and rolled a bunch but it hurt again today! I started feeling it about 5 miles in and by the end it was super painful, luckily it felt slightly better while running, versus walking. Anyways, it sucks. I need to figure something out.

Total miles: 22 miles run, 5 miles hiked

Monday: rest and yoga

I was happy to get in a session of yoga this week, it has been a while!


Tuesday: 3 miles

I couldn't go to intervals class so I did some sprinting/running/walking on my own.

Wednesday: 5.3 miles

I ran around Seward Park and up along the shore of Lake Washington with my friends M and B. It was a gorgeous day and a great run except for two things: my IT band was making my knee hurt a lot and I forgot my Garmin and tried to track the run on my phone . . . and it was somehow way off in the mileage so we ended up only doing 5.3 instead of the 6 on the schedule.


Thursday: 5 miles hiked/walked, 2 miles ran, bootcamp

I went a little overboard on Thursday, but I was overall feeling really good and not like I was overdoing it at all. My knee was a little ouchy on the hike, but not too bad. I started feeling it again on my run to bootcamp. My instructor said the IT pain was probably my body saying I needed to take it a little easier, which I did NOT want to hear. I ended up feeling a little sheepish about my day of exercise and accepted a ride home instead of running back.

Friday: rest

Saturday: rest

I had three miles on my schedule, but I decided to take another rest day, per my discussion with my instructor. I definitely felt very restless. I need to find an activity to do on my non-running days to stay active and not further aggravate any injuries.

Sunday: 11.7 miles

Had a beautiful run with M and B. We started at a beach on the sound, ran through a couple of neighborhoods, along a canal and turned around at a park on Lake Union. It was a great run, I felt strong and like I could have picked up the pace, but my knee felt progressively worse as the miles went on. I didn't feel it at all until about mile 5, then it was downhill (figuratively) from there. Every time I stopped at a stop light or to walk and take a drink/gu it felt worse. As long as I stayed running the pain was manageable and I was able to average about 9 min/miles for the last 2-3 miles. I took an ice bath in the girls' kiddie pool when I got home and it felt much better. I think the massage this afternoon will help, too. Not sure what to do for the future, though. So incredibly frustrating.

It sucks that I am enjoying the long miles and my body seems strong enough to handle it, but my legs just aren't happy for some reason.

Having a fun week

I have had a really fun week! The girls have been in day camp every day, except for the 4th, so I have gotten some things done and also relaxed and had a lot of fun.

On Monday I was able to go to yoga and on Tuesday I fit in a great run amidst errands and chores. On Wednesday, the 4th, my family was invited to join in the celebration at my friend's parents' house with a lot of other family and friends. The house was on Lake Stevens, so in addition to amazing company and delicious food, we had a beautiful setting. We even got to take a boat ride!

The girls were insanely happy about riding in the front of the boat. We got bumped and splashed and it was a total blast.

Iris worked on drip castles on the beach. The water was pretty cold, and the air was barely warm enough for swimsuits, but Pacific Northwest kids don't care! We don't always have a sunny 4th, so it was extra special.

I was so happy to be celebrating the 4th with a big extended family, even if it wasn't my own. We felt so grateful to have been included!

We didn't stay for fireworks, unfortunately, because it would have meant an extremely late night for us and everyone had to be up early and off to do their things. I reminded my sad daughters that we will get to see a big fireworks show later this summer when we are in Michigan!

On Thursday I went for a hike at Rattlesnake Ridge with my friend. It was a beautiful day for a hike! I didn't think the hike was too difficult and in fact we saw some pretty small kids make it to Rattlesnake Ledge at the top.

You start at the bottom, next to Rattlesnake Lake.

Looking up at Rattlesnake Ledge.

photo source

(this is the only picture that isn't mine)

You hike over 1100 feet up over two miles, on well-maintained trails and through a quiet and beautiful forest.

And you hike and hike and then, voila! You are at the top and presented with the big pay-off: the view!

Evidence I made it to the top!

This is the view looking Northeast (I think).

It was such a lovely hike up. We had a light lunch at the top and hung out before making our way back down. The trail on the way back down was more crowded, but not too bad. I hope I can bring Matt and the girls back some time!

Running wild: weekly re-cap

A great week of running post-RnR! I am really happy with how marathon training is going. I *think* this is the lowest mileage of any week until the marathon! Gulp! My long run this week was only seven miles. It kind of cracks me up that I consider it "only" seven miles. A cake walk! (okay, not really)

Total miles: 22.2

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 3 miles

Intervals class was good. I took it a little easier since I it was the first time I had run since RnR. We ran 1x800 1x1600 1x800.

Wednesday: 5 miles

I ran at Green Lake and it was a beautiful morning!

Thursday: 4 miles plus bootcamp

I ran to/from bootcamp and class this week, well, wasn't. Our instructor was sick and everyone but my friend Sarah and I couldn't come. Sarah and I did our own workout and it was a blast!

Friday: Rest and stretch

I spent a huge amount of time on my butt on Friday. Ahhhh. I also decided to add dedicated stretching/gentle strengthening exercises to my training schedule, as well, instead of just doing it randomly whenever I had time or remembered to do it! Going to try to do them four times per week.

Saturday: 3 miles

I ran this as more of a tempo run, which means I did a shorter run at a faster pace than I usually train at. While running I was thinking a lot about my upcoming 5K-- The Float Dodger 5K . I ran two 5Ks last fall/winter, my PR stands at 30:00. Obviously I can do a wee bit faster than that now, so I am gunning for my sub-25:00 5K on this one. I don't really know that much about racing a 5K, so we shall see!

Sunday: 7.2 miles

I was super happy to be running with both of my running besties again! These are the two who are following my training plan for the Portland Marathon but not running the marathon. How amazing are they?! I mapped a route that took us up a .8 mile hill right at the beginning and it was downhill and then flat after that. It was a great run. The weather was perfect and we had lots to chat about the whole way. Ending at the coffee shop that serves Caffe Moles was pretty much icing on the cake!

What's on my mind?

All sorts of random things:

1. I have decided on a new blog name and am hopefully getting some balls rolling on a blog re-design! So excited about this. A new blog name has been a loooooong time coming (I haven't nursed a kid in almost three years!) and well, yeah, the current "design" is pretty uninspired.

2. Have I mentioned before how much I love the weather in Seattle? I really do, especially now that I am a runner I love it even more. I am so in love with the fact that we are not having the weather that the entire rest of the country is dealing with:

It is common knowledge that summer in Seattle doesn't start until July 5th (nope, not the 4th, which would be handy!) Here's proof:

70* and sunny is my idea of a perfect summer day. Unless I am in Michigan on my way to the beach, then you need to up that baby by about 10*.

3. I am doing some rather unconventional treatments for my hamstring. My daughter's babysitter is an acupuncture student and she suggested I give it a try for my pain. I figured it wouldn't hurt, I had enormous success using acupuncture in the past (most notably for morning sickness in my pregnancies) and I have an open mind about alternative therapies. I went to a teaching clinic two weeks ago and was treated by an LAc and a team of students. The treatment that felt nice, but had zero lasting effect. I went again on Wednesday and saw a different LAc and students and got a very different treatment. They sent me home with some goodies to keep up the work at home and suggested my hamstring pain couldn't really be helped by acupuncture (oh, really?) So now I have to put a patch on my hamstring that is about 6" by 4" that has some concoction on it that smells strongly of menthol and feels like a huge band-aid. I should wear one between 6-24 hrs every day for a week. I made the mistake of putting one on Thursday morning, forgetting how, um, refreshing I would smell all day as I went about appointments and such. It did feel nice, though! Lesson learned: I will do the next one on at night while I sleep. 

The other thing I am doing is burning little sticks of moxa on three different points on my legs/feet once per day. This is a bit "woo-woo", even for me.

The moxa sticks look like this:

And something a little more like lit cigarette butts on my legs:

They are basically like burning incense on your legs, but they aren't burning you. Unfortunately they are pretty smokey, I did this Thursday night and when I woke up on Friday morning the house reeked like the moxa. The moxa is supposed to help my blood flow, or something.

4. I just signed up to run See Jane Run in Seattle in a couple of weeks. Zozi.com had a smokin' deal, I think I paid just over $30 for the race. I tried to get one of my running besties, a male, to run with me. For a long time he was the lone male in our intervals class and he runs almost every week with my girl friend and I . . . but he said SJR was too many women even for him. Ha! I am planning on using this run as a training run, since I have 13 miles on my marathon training calendar that day, but it might be hard to not race it. We will see. Maybe I can do it under 2:00 without killing myself, the course is quite a bit more flat than RnR. It is almost identical to the Seattle's Best 15K I did in May.