One Word Wednesday

SUNNY

Fall City Days 5K

I was pretty excited to get out and run my first 5K since March, especially since my pace is slowly but surely increasing.  Or, wait, is it decreasing?  Whatever, I'm starting to get a wee bit faster!  My last 5K was at about an 8:40 average mile and since then I ran an 8K and 4 miler in the 8:20 min/mile range.  I'm trying hard to finish strong and get progressively faster throughout the race, which is REALLY hard to do in a 5K.  They still seem to be three short miles of torture for me, perhaps even to the point of vomiting.  As much as I enjoy seeing how fast I can get myself to go, I don't think this distance will ever be my 'thing.'  I enjoy adding distance waaaaay more than adding speed.  That being said, I totally wanted to sneak under an 8:20 average and hopefully PR!

The conditions were perfect for a great run: nice and overcast day, flat course and not a terribly early race start time.  I usually do all of my running around 9AM and the race started at 9:15.  My friend Ashley picked me up around 7:45, at my insistence, since I hate to be late.  And, of course, we were way too early.  We made good use of our time and got our bibs, went to use the bathroom a couple of times (just in case) and took some pictures.

It was a bit humid out and I think I must've spent more time chatting and less time taking sips of my pre-race Nuun than usual, because when the gun went off I already felt parched.  Not good.  All I could think about for that first mile was that I had cotton mouth and that I'd probably have to grab water at an aid station, which I HATE doing in a 5K.  So, the first aid station had local cheerleaders on either side of the trail holding waters out for us.  Now, they were on BOTH sides of the trail and people were going to BOTH the left and right sides. (foreshadowing!)  So, I saw an opening on the left and went for it - riiiiiight as the first person to be finishing the race (the guy won with a time of 15:53) was coming back from the halfway point turnaround.  Being full body checked by someone running damn near 5 minute miles does NOT feel good!  I even have a small bruise where my phone armband got bonked extra hard into my arm.  Needless to say I was spooked and thrown WAY off my rhythm.  I barely drank that water and kept on, not without a expletive or two, ahem...  A nice guy near me ran with me for a bit to make sure I was OK and we exchanged a few words, probably adding more cotton to my already dry mouth.  (fyi, I congratulated the winner and apologized for being a roadblock and he was very cool about it and empathetic.)  After the turnaround, I made sure to get my water from the RIGHT side of the path this time and hoped it would give me the boost I needed for the final mile.  Not so much.  That was a tough last mile and I certainly didn't meet the goal of finishing strong vs. starting strong.  But I met my goal of getting a PR and running a 8:16 average mile!

I guess I have to work on my progression runs, but overall I'm really pleased with how the effort I've been putting in has been paying off.  Also it could have been the inspiring nail polish. 

Thanks Meggie for the recommendation on the nail polish (Revlon 'Dreamer') and also for your great post recently on not always setting PR goals for a race; it has certainly inspired me to think about my goals in a different way.  I would venture to say that at a certain point/age PRs are just not going to be possible, but man, I think that my age group has the most competition right now!  If I had been running in ANY of the age groups younger than mine, I would have placed: would have been 2nd in the 20-24, 1st in 25-29, or 3rd in the 30-34 group.  This also seemed to be the case at the Ironheart Classic 4 Miler.  As it was, I placed 5th in 35-39 and would have been just as far down the totem pole in the 40-45 group.  Same goes with the men: the first place finisher in the 50-54 age group finished 6th overall with a time of 17:16, totally smoking most all of the younger competition.  It's inspiring, and also daunting! 

The Fall City Days is a perfect event: small, but not too small, inexpensive, easy to get to/park, and fun for the whole family.  I was a bit worried about rain, so I left my family at home and I'm kinda bummed I did; because, as usual, the rain stopped for most of the morning.  There was lots of arts, crafts, food, a bouncy house/slide and a parade.  I definitely want to give it another go next year.  Hopefully following the rules of the road and properly hydrating will automatically take a good 10 seconds off my time...

Belated Happy Father's Day Post and This Week's Eats

Our Father's Day weekend was a pretty typical one.  On Saturday my husband spent the morning/afternoon taking the kids to the children's museum and lunch while I was off to another race (running a 5K PR!).  In the evening, after playing soccer in the backyard, he made us a lovely chicken Parmesan dinner.  Which we enjoyed with a big bottle of wine after the kids went to bed. 

Yesterday, after he got to sleep in, we enjoyed some perfect Seattle weather, lunch at Chipotle and... Target.  Yes, my husband willingly goes with us to Target on the weekends.  Afterwards, I had wanted to go to the Brooks Outlet and visit the Cavalcade (and my friend who works there) while the kids were resting; but, I stayed home so that my husband could accomplish his one father's day request.  He wanted to get the kids 'graduation' presents (big brother's pre-K grad and baby girl a toddler group grad), but I secretly think the 522 piece Lego set was more for his enjoyment and not big brother's... 

Um, yeah, who d'you think put that together?  Not that kid!  And certainly not me.

And now my daughter is the proud owner of a new Disney themed attachment item to tote around, her own soft Buzz Lightyear doll. 

He knew she loves to play with the one at the Y, and now they are inseperable.

We are all so lucky to have such a remarkably wonderful man we call daddy 'round here.

• Monday - Pizza
• Tuesday - Pioneer Woman's shredded pork (I eat it on tortillas with some fixins, hubs with bbq sauce on a bun)
• Wednesday - chicken wraps via pinterest
• Thursday - probably making sandwiches or something light for dinner, as I'm off to Meet Dimity and SBS at the Train Like a Mother house party!
• Friday - Pomodoro with angel hair pasta (just saute garlic and onion with olive oil in a large pan, add a 28oz can of whole san marzano tomatoes and mash with a potato masher, season w/salt, pepper and crushed red pepper, cook about 15 minutes/until it thickens and add LOTS of fresh basil and fresh grated Parmesan cheese)
• Saturday - strip steaks with peppercorn crust, twice baked potatoes and wedge salads with blue cheese dressing
• Sunday - Chicken and veggies stir fry with Trader Joes Red Curry Sauce and brown rice

Huh, looks as if we don't have any experiments/new dishes this week.  Last week's went well: the Thai Crunch Salad from How Sweet Eats was very tasty!  Although it was a little on the sweet side; next time I'll probably omit the brown sugar called for in the dressing.

Friday Things

Juuuust in case you missed this one that's been making the rounds:

Mmmmm, Wiener Circle. 

I'm low on content and energy; hot and sunny park days zap the energy right outta me.  Thankfully I put on my Rogas and took full advantage of soaking up some vitamin D on my neon white legs.

Incidentally, if you've been waiting to get in on some violet Roga action, Oiselle just got more in stock!  Although I'm waiting until early July to place my next ginormous order when we can hopefully get our hands on some of the fall line they've been taunting us with since MARCH. 

WANT WANT WANT (from Oiselle's Twitter Pics where you can browse more grabby hands items that aren't available yet!)

I wasn't even planning on running today, but it was too nice out not to.  I just did two laps around the Y (about 2.5 miles) at a super EZ 10:30 min mile pace.  I hope it doesn't negatively affect my 5K tomorrow...  Maybe it'll help? 

Here's my latest Friday favorite cheez ball pop song for you to add to your guilty pleasure playlist: "Now or Never" by Outasight.  Enjoy!

Milestone Mania

It's such a cliche about kids and how the time goes so fast. Personally, I didn't think the time was going by very fast until I had a second child; she helped shine a spotlight on how truly warp speed it all goes.  

This week, baby girl got her first haircut. Not that you can tell; I'm not big on bangs, I just wanted them to take some length off the back so that we can start moving her out of the toddler mullet stage. Baby steps.

Next milestone: last week big brother got promoted to the next swim level at the Y, after only one and a half sessions at the elementary level.  I suppose taking him as much as I can on the weekends, and schlepping poor baby girl right out of her crib and to the daycare while he has lessons, has paid off.  I must share a moment of mommy pride: after the director of the swim program watched big brother swim out 5 yards/turn and come back a couple of times, he gave a lot of praise about his breathing technique, etc. and then asked me when he turns six.  Six!  Um, in just about a year.  Made my day.   

And today was his last day as a preschooler.

I can't believe this was three years ago, the last time he was 'graduating.'

Toddler Group Graduation with Teacher Amy and Today's Pre-K Graduation

This is the same class that baby girl just finished.


Such conflicting emotions.  Yes, as much the years fly by and I want this relentless march of time to stop...  Man, the days, they are mostly LONG.  Crazy how that works.  I see women with brand new babies and get that pull, that pang in the gut (or uterus?) and then I get a grip.  I SO don't want to be back in that sleepless haze; I don't want to have more, we've made a very permanent decision on that front.  I think I'd just like to go back in time and enjoy the kids I have now when they were younger - enjoy them from the perspective I have now.  One superhero power I'd want to have?  Time machine, all the way.

Baby Brother just days old in 2007

One Word Wednesday

Haircut

Open Love Letter to the Seattle Weather

Around this time of year, June-uary in Seattle, you'll hear lots of people complaining about the weather.  Yet everyone here agrees that summers here last from July 4th until the end of August.  We have a handful of crappy days in June and people suddenly forget that we just had at least five dry and beautiful weekends in a row:

OK, I know 5/26 doesn't actually convey nice weather, it's the only pic I had from the glorious Memorial Day weekend we had here in Seattle. 

I will always be a Chicago girl, heart and soul. But when it comes to the weather: I'm a Seattle girl, through and through.  I think the only times I'm ever peeved about the weather is when I have to race in huge puddles (the rain itself is fine), when it was 2005 when we had a la nina winter without many sun breaks (more on that term in a minute) and whenever it snows. Even then, it's not the weather that's bugging me, it's our inability to deal with the snow. 

What's not to love?  The summers, although short, are incomparable with warm, crisp air in the 70s/80s and weeks without any real rain. It stays light outside until about 10pm. Our kids get outside nearly 365 days a year and it's always lush and green and beautiful. I can run year round without worrying about snow that's measured in feet (most years) or, God forbid, muggy and 90+ degree summers.  I can already see the chatter on Dailymile from the Chicago contingent about the heat and 70% humidity.  I do not miss the weather of the Midwest AT ALL. One of the many great things about Seattle weather is this term that I learned 8 years ago called 'sun breaks.' Though the forecast looks to be a rainy day, so often the clouds part and the sun comes out - sometimes for whole mornings or afternoons. We thoroughly enjoyed our week of sun breaks and another beautiful Sunday jaunt to the beach. 

So this would be weekend #6 with a nice day for venturing out.

The one thing I DO miss, ironically, is thunderstorms.  Some people might be surprised to find that we don't get those in Seattle.  Every once in awhile you'll hear a single 'boom' of thunder; but, I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've heard that solitary boom in the last eight years. 

Here's one of my favorite pics from home, of a thunderstorm rolling in.  This was taken from our roof deck.  Yeah, the condo that we had to sell before moving to Seattle (after only living there for just over a year) had a private roof deck.  MAN, I certainly do miss that deck, and that neighborhood, and the margaritas at Fernando's down the street, and the sound of the El whizzing by, and...  Well I guess that's a post for another day.