Oregon FUN

Oregon is ridiculously wonderful.
I got off work at 7:45ish Saturday morning. I went back to my apartment and did some last minute packing, then headed to Midway via the El. Oooh the El. I was fighting to stay awake during the two hour trek and miraculously made it. I had a layover in Kansas City (which, for the record, is the WORST airport ever), and finally arrived to Portland around 6pm (pacific time.. so 8pm Chicago time) Saturday evening. I was exhausted and starving, but so happy to be home. Since arriving I've been soaking up this great state as much as possible.
On Sunday I went running outside which was so nice but so terrible. Holy hills! My legs definitely felt the burn, but there's nothing like (slowly) approaching the peak of a hill and seeing the mountains and the entire amazing view. For a small fraction of a second you almost forget that you can't breathe and that every muscle in your body is screaming bloody murder. Monday I signed up for a week membership to the gym and have been LOVING it.
Also on Monday I went hiking with my good friend, Courtney. She knew of a place, Shellburg Falls, that is gorgeous and uncrowded. We saw some beautiful waterfalls that I had no idea existed, and then I had the brilliant idea that we should go off the trail to get to the top of a crazy huge and steep hill to see if there was 'anything exciting up there.' Hiking rule #1: don't go off the trail. We stupidly decided to go for it, and waded through masses blackberries, sticker bushes and the remnants of logging (..sticks) all on an incline that must have been 89ish degrees. Blood, sweat, and close tears resulted-- but we made it to the top. The excitement that met us was a RIDICULOUSLY GORGEOUS view of the mountains. We could even see the coastal range! After we made it to the top we concluded that there was no way we'd go back down the same route, so we searched for something else. There wasn't a lot, but we went through some forest and tried to avoid the blackberries. I still have several thorns stuck in my hands. It was a lot of
fun to be outside in such gorgeous weather and to hang out with a good friend!

One of the small rivers leading to a waterfall

Behind a Silver-Creek-Falls-esque waterfall

My bright idea

At the top-- barely!

A sad attempt to capture the view-- this pic doesn't do justice

Yesterday (Tuesday), I went to the beach with my mom and grandma. Those two can sure

cause trouble. Not really, but we all have some imp to our nature. I love the ocean a LOT and it was roaring and awesome. The weather at the beach was really unusual-- warm and sunny! I'm accustomed to bringing a hoodie and sweatpants to the beach, no matter what the season. I couldn't have asked for better weather or better company. It was a fun way to spend the day.

I will never get tired of the Oregon Beach!

This 'walking stick' may have turned into a weapon.. more than once.

homebound

I'm going home on Saturday and I can't waaait. Hopefully some exciting things will go down in regards to my future-- but that seems to be quite the roller coaster, so I refuse to hold my breath. However any plans made for the home front are rather dependent on potential future excitement... so I just want to know, people! If I have my way I will definitely hit the beach and go hiking-- I seriously miss naaature.
Needless to say I have quite a few things to achieve before I leave. This is complicated by the fact that I work Thursday night and Friday night and will probably head straight from work to the airport. I booked my ticket completely aware of my work schedule, so I m not complaining, just stating the situation. So tonight my goal is to fold all my laundry (there's a lot of it, folks) and get it put away so that packing will be a breeze (pah!). I'll probably end up packing tomorrow.. since when I get home Friday morning (from work Thursday night) I will be useless and to drag myself out of bed early on Friday afternoon is not a safe bet.
Regardless of how frantic the preparation might get, I am so excited to go home. It has been far too long. While I've enjoyed summer (ish) in the city, I can't help but feel smothered here and can't wait to take a deep breath of fresh air.
Another perk: I took ten days of vacation time during my night shift rotation. Muahahaha! AND I got switched back to days for October (I was supposed to be on nights September and October), so really I only have two night shifts left! Praise the Lord! Miracles happen!!!

I can't move

Today is a very sore day. I cannot move. I was worthless while coaching. I feel like a rusty tin-woman... Squeaking and creaking along. Owwie.

Side note: When biking, if you hear "On your left!" that is code for "move over, clown!" I am so sick of people who ignorantly ride their bikes in the middle of the very crowded bike path! Who do they think they are?! The bike path is very dangerous-- more dangerous than the road in my opinion, and it irritates me when some herb just farts along at a sickly slow pace right in the middle. Honestly-- you should need a license to ride on paths. Equally as annoying is when people ride side by side. I understand sometimes you go on a bike ride with that special someone and want to talk during it. Fine, but when you hear "On your left!" MOVE OVER. For three seconds go back to single file biking, let the person pass, then continue whispering sweet nothings as you ride. C'mon people!

Lesson Learned?

Well I sure as hell hope so.
Today was the Chicago Half Marathon that I whimsically signed up for because I had a coupon. Despite the fact I registered several months in advance, I did not train for this. Sure I would workout here and there to try to prepare for the triathlon, but up until two weeks ago, these 13.1 miles were the last thing on my mind, and unfortunately it would take far more than two weeks to prepare me for this race.

This was my 4th half marathon. For the first two, I trained fairly appropriately (gradually increasing mileage to slowly build, etc). The third one is what broke my foot. One might think that would have been enough to teach me about proper preparation, but apparently not. Even with #3, I trained a little bit. This time-- nothin. Last Sunday I considered trying to run 13 miles to make sure I could-- but then remembered that's the course I took with #3 and decided against it. So the week preceding today, I ran more frequently and quickly than I have in one week in quite awhile-- it was actually nice. I couldn't get past the fact, though, that the mileage I was logging was not even CLOSE to the distance of the pending race.

The night before I prayed for food poisoning, temporary shut down of public transportation (that would prevent me from getting to the location of the race), any small containable disaster that would be a legit reason for me to sit this one out. Because lack of training is surely NOT a legit excuse. However, my prayers were denied so this morning I ventured down to the very south side of the city not knowing what to expect. I've never showed up at a race so unprepared. It wouldn't have been far fetched for me to not finish. Disappointing and mortifying? Yes. Very possible? Yes. My nerves atwitter I lined up at the start line.

Well it really was a good race: well organized, properly supplied with fluids, really nice weather (warm and humid-- but that's appropriate in this region this time of year.. can't complain)... So that makes me kick myself more for not preparing myself for 13 miles! My, how I would have enjoyed it if I was in shape! However-- painfully out of shape better describes my state of being therefore it was terrrrrrrriiiibblllllee.

I coached soccer late Saturday afternoon and got to play in their scrimmage because we were short on numbers. Whenever I play soccer my knees hurt a lot. Ridiculously a lot, even if it's with high school girls who have a thing or two to learn about the game. In the first mile of my epic journey this morning my knees (the right one in particular) made it known that it was NOT ready to embrace activity yet. Too bad, goose. So by mile two I was limping along at an overly leisurely pace. Each mile was marked very clearly with a clock that I was grateful for. I made sure I was going at least a 9 minute mile and I was shocked that it lasted until Mile 12 (shoot, I was shocked that I lasted until Mile 12). I skipped the water stops until Mile 5-- I had no time to waste. But then I got really thirsty and my calves were threatening cramping which is not conducive to good things. So from then on I paused at each fluid station and awkwardly drank Gatorade whilst running. This just means that Gatorade ended up all over my face and shirt and if I was lucky some got in my mouth. If I didn't swallow Gatorade, I sure swallowed air and belched my way to the next fluid station. I pity the runners around me. At Mile 11 I was sooo hot! It was only high 70s but the humidity was high and the sun was beating down on us as we pounded down Lakeshore Drive. So I decided to skip Gatorade and use a cup of water to pour on my head. I got wetter than I anticipated but it was refreshing nonetheless. I sloshed along grimacing the whole way. My knee was killing me. I was soaking wet-- both with sweat and water. My shirt was causing some chafing in my right armpit and it was (and still is) rather uncomfortable. The 12th miles always sucks. So close, but SO FAR! The sides of the course were well lined with supporters. Generally I like cheer-ers because they provide a good distraction. Today I was annoyed that SO many people were bearing witness to my worst showing ever at an athletic event. Even worse-- each runner had their name printed on their race numbers. So the cheering crowd wasn't saying "Woo! Go! Yea!" they were saying "Go KRISTIN!" Given-- in any other situation I welcome cheering! But today I didn't want to be seen much less identified.
After what seemed like eternity, I finally finished and just wanted to pass out. I was so exhausted. I was really taken aback that I actually finished. I had every reason to quit and secretly expected myself to drop out. Even during the race I thought 'maybe I will just faint right now.' But by the grace of God Almighty I chugged along to the end. Bewildering. My time is not worthy of posting, but I will find some solace in the fact that I finished.

I made the hour and a half trek home: one bus and two trains. Ridiculous. On the bus I was half passed out and staring off into oblivion and some peppy girl (PG) in spandex decided to start up a convo:
PG: HOW WAS YOUR RACE?!
Me: It was okay.
PG: Why so glum?
Me: (confusion related pause) I'm not glum, I'm tired.
PG: Oh. You're upset about the race?
Me: Well.. yea I didn't train, but I'm genuinely TIRED.
PG: Oh, so this was your first half marathon?
Me: No, 4th.
PG: OOOOoooohh. Well what was your time?
Me: Just under (enter my approximate time here)
PG: But what was it exactly
Me: ...I don't know.
PG: But there was a Results tent you could look it up at.
Me: I know-- I didn't want to wait in line.
PG: (confusion related pause) Oh. Well I did really great and I'm not even a runner I just started running ten months ago and I did sooo well and I'm just so happy because I did so great and it was my first half marathon and I did awesome!
Me: ..Congratulations. (believe it or not the first congratulations was genuine)
PG: ON AND ON ABOUT HOW AWESOME SHE IS
Me: Good Job... congratulations... awesome... well done. EXIT BUS.

It was SUCH an odd encounter. While it is ridiculously exciting to do well, I have never seen someone so spirited about tooting her own horn! That's a lie, I know some pretty cocky people, but this clown caught me off guard.

Anyways, I'm home and I feel sick. There's something GI related going on and my legs are pretty useless.

Next time I threaten to not train, remind me of this shenanigan (except you, mom and dad).

*photo courtesy of someone's facebook album

..oh yea..

Truthfully, I didn't forget. The first thing I consciously thought of as I crossed the finish line at last week's triathlon was 'Now on to the half marathon...' However, after a leisurely swim on Monday and starting the night shift (I could-- and might-- go into how terrible this is) on Tuesday, I haven't had a lot of time (or desire) to focus on the approaching race.

I have mixed feelings:

-It's a race-- a competition-- so of course I want to do well.
-It's a running race, so I won't do well.
-There's really nothing I can do at this point (nine days away) to make my chances any better
-...etc.

Ugh who knows. A couple of days ago, I received an informational email about the race. Towards the very end, the race regulations were listed. I stumbled upon this one and started flipping out:
RACE REGULATIONS
Participants will:
� not be allowed to wear headphones.
NO WAY! I can understand this for a triathlon-- swimming with headphones-- not good. Biking with headphones-- not safe. But running with headphones?! COME ON PEOPLE. Admittedly, I'd been warned that this anti headphone movement was coming. Last year at a Team in Training seminar (Triathlon 101) I learned about the no headphones rule for triathlons, and it was mentioned that running races were moving this way, too. I thought 'Psh, that's bogus!' and thought little of it. But apparently it's true. I have a genuine appreciation for rules as they create structure and safety. But honestly, I am planning on breaking this one because if I have ANY chance of finishing this race, headphones will be as necessary as shoes.

An article recently found its way to my inbox that addressed how to be faster (running and biking). "Offseason Intervention: Train Fast to Race Fast" profoundly stated in order to race faster you have to train faster. ..duh. If only it were that simple. Regardless of its '2+2=4' logic, it was interesting and explained physiology behind its concepts which I really appreciate.

..as promised: I hate the night shift SO stinkin' much I can't even handle it! I may have been quite the Pouty-Polly my first night back (Tuesday). I was greeted on Wednesday night by the scheduling-lady saying "You're off nights for October." She says I was 'next on the list' but I am quite curious if my less than awesome attitude played a role in this decision. I hate it when bad attitudes get the Negative Nancies of the world what they want, but this time I will be insanely grateful. Whether it was my crankiness or not-- I am so glad to only have to do this night shift charade for one month instead of two.