Go Girl Recap

What a fun and quick weekend!!!! I left for Portland after my 7:30 am spin class on Saturday and got into town a little after 4:30. I looked up a running specialty store called Foot Traffic and then met up with Cassie. We got some delish Thai food for dinner and then stayed up until midnight chit chatting and wedding planning. I was exhausted! Got up a little after 7 on Sunday to get ready for Go Girl. I was excited to get Go Girl done so we could get breakfast at Biscuits afterwards (I need to stop thinking about Biscuits right now because it is that good).

Go Girl was a lot of fun, but reiterated that I don't like trail running. I would prefer to run on even surfaces where I don't have to constantly be looking down and rolling my ankle. Trail running can be dangerous! The course was fun and challenging. There were so many hills that my quads and hamstrings were burning before I had even hit the halfway mark. The downhills were nice, but I felt that because the terrain was so uneven it was hard to get good speed and utilize them. I ended up placing 4th overall and got 3rd in my age group. I was pleased that I finished and held a fairly consistent pace over the hills. The 3 women in front of me didn't have a huge lead, but after rolling my ankle multiple times I figured that catching them wasn't worth the potential injury. Now that Go Girl is in the books, I am looking forward to my first 25K this coming Sunday. :-)

My new Brooks singlet

Run world, run :-)

Lucky #205

Run Oregon & Run Washington

I think I am ready.....

Waiting to start

Wave 1

The start of Wave 1

Cass & I in are super cute Go Girl finisher's shirts

The sweet shirts I bought us at Foot Traffic

4th place overall, 3rd in my age group

--Tasha

Go Girl 10K

It has been 1 month since I ran the Helvetia 1/2 marathon. Tomorrow morning I leave for Portland to run an all women's 10K in Portland with Cassie. I have never ran an all women's race before so it should be fun. It has been at least 3 years since I have a raced a 10K so I hope that I am ready for it. 10Ks hurt! You have to be quick from the start to the finish. Not quite as bad as 5K, but I don't necessarily think that 10Ks are my forte. I am mostly looking forward to getting out of town for the night and celebrating Cassie's recent engagement. :-)

This week was a little rough for me. It has been over a month since I bruised my knee and I still feel like I am not completely over it. Wednesday was the first day since June 9th that it didn't hurt when I was running. I am hoping (knock on wood) that the bruising is finally subsiding. On Wednesday I had to do my hill workout when it was 90 degrees outside (I know, not smart on my part) and it was not a comfortable feeling. I barely made it through the workout, but I was determined to get in a good warm up/cool down and at least 8 hill repeats. I felt exhausted and gross at the end of my warm up so that is never a great sign, but it felt awesome to finish. After that I was completely worthless and passed out.

I am hoping that Go Girl will lift my spirits and that next week will be better. On July 17th I signed up for my first 25K. I realize that it is only a week after my 10K, but I plan on using it for a long training run. I heard that the course is beautiful so it should be fun. I am really looking forward to the breakfast that follows the race, nom nom.....

--Tasha

Windermere!

The last couple of weeks have flown by! I had every intention of updating Healthy Diva, but I had way too much going on to even think about updating. It all started with selling my Jeep which escalated into this huge 2 week ordeal where that could have possibly gone wrong did (most of you have already heard the story). In the end I go the car I wanted and everyone, including the husband, is happy. On top of the car, I was busy at work etc. Bad excuse I know. Lets get to the fun stuff!

My last couple weeks of training went good and I felt great overall. I was pretty nervous for Windermere, but excited to be racing again. It has been how long????? The week seemed like it took twice as long as it should have to be over. I hate that!

The weather in Spokane has been crap lately so I was really starting to get concerned about the rain/wind that was being forecasted. Luckily, it wasn't so bad. Little chilly/windy at the start, but it wasn't what I had imagined. Out on the course it got pretty warm and there was quite a wind in spots. Wish it would have been more of a tailwind, but I will take that over rain any day. I felt great running wise until about mile 5 when my feet really started to hurt. I made the mistake of wearing my Nike Frees (which I had been training in) which probably weren't the best option for running a 1/2. Once my feet started hurting then my legs started cramping. It was a good lesson learned and I went home and ordered a new pair of Brooks (I know those work great!!!)

Overall, I finished and was happy that I was even in shape enough to run a 1/2. Of course I wasn't thrilled I didn't get my PR, but then again I haven't raced in how long????? I was more happy that I was able to get an automatic qualifying time for the Houston 1/2 in January.

Saturday also marked the last day of my most recent session with Amy. Now that I have been training with her for 18 weeks I am starting to see some muscle definition. Who would have thought?! I still have pea shooters, but they have a touch more definition. :)

Our next official session doesn't start until June, but in the meantime we still get to workout on Tues & Thurs mornings. No more Saturday class for the summer....what am I going to do???? Angie came up with the brilliant idea to start a class running group for Mon & Wed mornings. Should be fun!

I can't say enough just how amazing Amy Black is. She has done so much for me physically & mentally- I can't even begin to describe how much I have transformed since January. I am only a couple of pounds away from where I need to maintain my weight. If you would have asked me in January if I thought I would weigh 125 lbs in May I would have laughed at you and said "NO WAY". My skinny clothes that I wore the summer Cam & I got married are falling off of me. If my wedding dress wasn't boxed up I would put it on- I bet it would be too big.  I am telling you, Amy Black is WONDER WOMAN!!!!!1

Next up on my schedule is the Helvetia 1/2 on June 11th. Last year I "wogged" it in 1hr 58min. This year it would be nice to run it at least 10 minutes faster, even though I would prefer 15 minutes faster. :) I will be wearing better shoes for it!

The rest of the summer I just plan on training for my 1/2 in October and start my marathon training for December. I am doing a 10K in July and will also be doing the Warrior Dash in September (yes I am stoked to get a viking helmet). Warrior Dash is a 5K, but like Cassie said, there probably isn't much running involved. I might have to sign up for the Pints to Pasta 10K for the next morning......

--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