Spokane 1/2 Marathon

This weekend will be my 3rd Spokane 1/2 Marathon. Its a great and slightly challenging race. The first year I ran the Spokane 1/2 was 2008. It happened to be the weekend after I ran my BQ at the Portland Marathon. I was still sore from Portland, but since I had already signed up for the 1/2 I figured I should follow through. My foot was killing me- at the time I didn't know I was coming down with PF (NOT FUN!). I figured a little adrenaline and some tape would get me through the 13.1 miles. My husband (fiance at the time) asked me if I felt okay to run and I said "yes, but if I needed to walk it in, I would". I was figuring that it might take me a lot longer than I was anticipating to finish. The first couple of miles hurt like heck and it was cold! I couldn't keep warm-there was ice on the course it was so cold. After a while my foot stopped hurting-  I am not sure if it was the adrenaline or if my foot was numb. I ran the whole race and a bit faster than I had anticpated. Adrenaline can work wonders ;-)

Even though I was able to finish this race, I don't suggest running a 1/2 marathon the weekend after running a marathon. These 2 weekends put me out of commission for the rest of the year while I let my foot heal.

2008 Spokane 1/2 Marathon Results
1:44:27
Overall #86
AG (20-24) #2

2nd place 20-24 AG, 2008 Spokane 1/2 Marathon

Cam and Tia @ the Spokane 1/2 Marathon (it happened to be Tia's 1st birthday :))

The 2nd year I ran Spokane I was more prepared as far as the course was concerend. It wasn't a huge shocker to hit the infamous "Doomsday Hill" at mile 9. I even ran it a bit faster than the previous year, but I also hadn't ran a marathon the weekend before. I just ran a 1/2 marathon instead. :-)

2009 Spokane 1/2 Marathon Results
1:41:36
Overall #74
AG (25-29) #5

Unfortunatley I have no fun pictures from the 2009 race....

This year Spokane will be a training run for me, goal pace of 7:45/mile. I was originally going to sign up to run the 10K, but my training plan from FLAB had me running 13 miles on race day so I signed up for the 1/2 instead. I am actually looking forward to this race. It's pretty low key, but it is fun and I don't have to get up super early for it. The race starts at 9:00 am- I live 3 miles from the start. That means I don't have to get up until at least 8:00 am, right????

The next weekend (10.16) I am running the Girlfriend's 1/2 Marathon in Vancouver. I am so excited for this race! I have met some amazing runners/bloggers online that will be there also. I am hoping that I get to meet some of them and hopefully they want to meet me too! :-)

--Tasha

*Blood. Sweat. Sparkle*

I was very excited that my Team Sparkle skirt came in the mail yesterday. If you haven't heard of Team Sparkle, you should check out their website at: Team Sparkle. Their skirts are sassy & fashionable.

I first learned about Team Sparkle through a blog that I follow called {Will Run For Margaritas}. Not only did Melody rave about how cool the skirts are, she was totally rocking hers at Hood to Coast. I knew that I had to have a skirt- I wanted to be a part of Team Sparkle! The problem with Team Sparkle is that all of the skirts are so cute, I couldn't decide which color to get! I finally decided after staring at them on my computer screen for a week to get the pink sparkle skirt. Since pink seems to be my staple color, I figured that it would be the best choice for my first purchase.

After receiving my first skirt, I already know that I will be ordering more. Not only is the skirt awesome & sassy, but the girls at Team Sparkle offer outstanding customer service. It only took a couple of days for me to receive my skirt. Since I prefer instant gratification this made me very happy. I ordered a size small and it fit me perfectly. I even wore it around my house and it was comfortable. I can't wait to actually run in it! Technically, I was going to save it for the Girlfriend's 1/2 Marathon in Portland on 10.16, but I think I might have to break it out for the Spokane 1/2 Marathon on 10.9. Or....I could order another color for Girlfriends....hmmmmm. :-)

When you are checking out the Team Sparkle website (because I know you will) look at their DIY running costume ideas listed in their blog section. I <3 them all, but I really want to be Sleeping Beauty.

Yay! My very first *Team Sparkle* skirt!

--Tasha

Windermere 1/2 Marathon: Week 4 down, 8 weeks to go!

The last couple weeks of training have flown by. I am amazed at how much faster I am getting each week. Unfortunately since I have to do most of my workouts at 5 am before work I have been running on the treadmill a lot. It is boring, but at least I can really see my speed improving. A couple of weeks ago, my warm up was at a 6.0-6.5. Now I am warming up and cooling down comfortably at 6.8-7.0 for a couple of Smiles. My 5 mile tempo run for the week was done at speeds all above 7.0. I like the feeling of knowing that each week I am constantly improving.

My weekly workouts consisted of 3 classes with Amy, a hill workout, tempo run, and a long run. In class, I am making an extra effort to add more weights so that I can add some upper body strength by the end of this next session. I think I still have little pebble arm muscles. :)

My hill workout was tough! It took me a couple of days to fully recover. The hill by SAC doesn't look too steep until you run up and down it 8 times. I did a 2 mile warm up on the treadmill, ran 8 sets of hills, and finished with a 2 mile cool down on the treadmill.

I completed my long run on the Bloomsday course. I think the Bday course is one of those that it doesn't matter how many times you run, it never gets easier. It was a little chilly and windy on Sunday morning, but I felt pretty good once I got going. I finished the course in 1:01 which is fairly decent for this time of year and where my fitness is at. The stairs that we have been running in class have helped on hills immensely (thank you AB!). I ran an average of 20-30 seconds per mile faster than my 6 mile tempo run the week before so that is a huge improvement.

I have 8 weeks of training left and I am very excited to see where I am at when race day arrives. I know that I am just doing Windermere to see where my fitness level is at and to have some fun. My real training will begin after Windermere for my 1/2 in October and my marathon in December. At this rate I should have some good races in my future. :)

--Tasha

Summer Races

I am very excited for this summer. For the first time in a year I have officially signed up for some races. The best part is that I get to run them with my best friend. I am excited to get back into the competition side of running and also even more excited to get to spend time with Cassie.

Bloomsday, May 1st **Still on the fence as to whether I will sign up**
Bloomsday

Windermere 1/2 Marathon, May 14th
Windermere

CityScape Adventures, June 4th in Portland
CityScape

Helvetia 1/2 Marathon, June 11th in Portland
Helvetia 1/2

Go Girl Trail Run, July 10th in Portland
Go Girl

Girlfriends 1/2 Marathon, October 16th in Vancouver, WA
Girlfriend's 1/2

I am still on the fence about signing up for Bloomsday. I really don't like running it, I actually hate running it for multiple reasons. I am going to think about this one before I officially sign up.....

I have never ran Windermere before, but I know from experience of running many long runs on the Centennial Trail that it is a pretty flat course. It should be a fun race to start off with. I have no expectations, other than finishing and having fun. I am still trying to get Cam to sign up, but so far I have made no progress so I am giving up.

CityScape Adventures is an Amazing Race themed race in Portland. I am so excited for it and so glad that Cass found it on active.com. My dream in life is to be on the Amazing Race someday, I love that show! The best part is that Cass and I are on a team so it should be a lot of fun.

Helvetia is a fun, but challengeing course. Last year I ran it for the first time, I was slightly out of shape having not really ran since Boston in April. It was a little warm, I was little dehydrated, and I was a lot out of shape! The course is mostly rolling hills with one out and back portion. The whole course was gorgeous, but I didn't really get to enjoy it last year because I was just hoping that I would finish! This year I would obviously like to beat my time from last year, I think it was 1 hr 56 min, but have fun. I am using it as more a training run, with my real 1/2 marathon race being in October.

Both Cass and I have never ran Go Girl before. It is a 10K trail run that is just for girls. I like that! It is only limited to 500 runners. I heard from a couple of runner friends who have done this race in the past and they said that it was super fun. The 10K will be a good gauge for me so see where my training is at. I am training for Windermere, but not all out. The real training begins after Windermere for my 1/2 in October.

I found the Girlfriends 1/2 on active.com. I started searching for a 1/2 marathon in the fall in or around Portland because I was disgusted that the Portland 1/2 was a $125.00. I thought that was way too much to be spending on a 1/2 marathon, especially in Portland. I thought it was a complete rip off and Cass agreed. We still wanted to do a 1/2 since we had planned on running Portland together. This course is supposed to be scenic and flat; the perfect course for me to actually race on. I am looking forward to training hard all summer and then having a good race. The countdown to October 16th has begun!

--Tasha