Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

Week starting Nov 14, 2010

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200820092010
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Location:

Snoqualmie,WA,

Member Since:

Jan 31, 2008

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

Marathon PR: 4:17 at Portland Marathon, Oct. 2007

5K PR 24:37 2009

10K PR 52:58 2010

Have run 22 marathons to date.

No injuries, ever.   :)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Qualify for Boston (4:05 for my age/gender) - or, perhaps, to use my desire for a BQ as a way to get in the hated speed work so I don't just get slower and slower over the years.  This goal is "under (re)construction" right now, until I figure out whether it is truly what I want. :) 


Long-Term Running Goals:

To continue learning about myself and about running, and to enjoy being a fit, happy runner for life.   To always know why I am running and the best way to get the most (both mentally and physically) out of my runs.  To keep a sense of humor and remain optimistic about myself as a runner.  To enjoy running more and more with every passing year. 

Personal:

Baby boomer generation.  Jogged a little in my 20's and 30's.  Started running seriously in 2002.  Low-carb runner since January 2010. 

I love long runs and cold, cloudy weather.  I don't believe in "junk miles."  I am an optimist.  I adore dark chocolate, fog, my family, and knitting -- not necessarily in that order.  

"As every runner knows, running is about more than just putting one foot in front of the other; it is about our lifestyle and who we are."  -- Joan Benoit Samuelson 


Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Brooks ST3 Lifetime Miles: 891.35
Vibram Five Fingers KSO Lifetime Miles: 23.77
Brooks ST3 II Lifetime Miles: 965.17
Lunaracers II Lifetime Miles: 198.23
Mizuno Wave Universe 3 Lifetime Miles: 104.14
Asics Piranha Lifetime Miles: 536.83
RunAmocs (Softstar) Lifetime Miles: 16.23
Piranha II Lifetime Miles: 219.53
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
50.470.000.000.0050.47
Piranha II Miles: 33.54Brooks ST3 Miles: 10.12Asics Piranha Miles: 6.81
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.980.000.000.005.98

Mid 40s, cloudy with patchy fog. Recovery run, w/ quite a bit of walking thrown in.  Nice morning.  I am very sore. 

Piranha II Miles: 5.98
Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.210.000.000.007.21

48F, light drizzle/heavy mist.  Recovery run #2. Very slow & easy. 

My legs still feel sore and weak, but at least I had no urges to walk, as I did yesterday.  I jogged a palindrome by the way: 7.21 in 1:27.  I am easily amused. 

Loved hearing some new music I put on the iTunes app over the weekend, most notably: "The ecstasy of dancing fleas" by The Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Bach Violin Partita no. 3 Prelude transcribed for harp, played by Catrin Finch.    

 

Piranha II Miles: 7.21
Comments(12)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.120.000.000.0010.12

45F, dry for 3 miles, then raining w/ some wind.  Slow, medium-long run. (I had some extra time this morning.)  Legs feel kind of heavy today.  

Yesterday, I was so disappointed to miss my run. But all the power was out in this neighborhood (windstorm), and even with a headlamp that is just too much darkness for me. 

Back in 2007 we had a massive power outage throughout the Puget Sound region and my power was out for 5 days.  I remember trying to go for a run and feeling completely terrified the entire time, like I was running inside a tiny bubble of light surrounded by endless outer-space-darkness, with an occasional rustling of  leaves, or the eyes of deer reflecting back at me. [insert shudder] I get the creeps just thinking about it.  

At least I had some extra time this morning to make up for the missed run a little.  Mr. Sno, poor dear, is very ill and is taking a rare day off from work so I didn't have to be on Mom Duty by 6:40 as usual.   

 

Brooks ST3 Miles: 10.12
Comments(10)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.810.000.000.006.81

37F, windy at times, showers.  zzzzzzzz.....

Asics Piranha Miles: 6.81
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

No run today, as my usual Friday-day-off.  But with the extra minutes I thought I'd share something that has been going on in my life the past 3 months. It's the internet, and neither you nor I have to be embarrassed or uncomfortable if I start crying.  ;)


Anyone who has read my blog for a while has heard about many of the adventures of my Bengal cat Dandelion, aka Danny, aka The Cat Who Must Be Obeyed.  It's time for me to share that he is gone, probably forever.


I don't remember how much of the summer events I shared, but we had some incidents with him disappearing for great lengths of time.  During that time I tried for about 6 weeks to keep him inside.  He was miserable and drove us all crazy with howling and peeing. After a long talk with my vet, we decided to let him out again.  


Then these raccoons started coming around.  They were actually in my house once, and I caught them at the cap flap outside as well. Danny was pretty freaked and would no longer come in the cat flap. We obeyed his new command to be let in and out the front door whenever he chose.  


Towards the end of summer, he went out and did not come back. 

Later that week, the following note was posted on our community website bulletin board, about a little black and white cat - not mine - who was attacked: 

"As a follow-up warning to the last posting about the raccoons attacking the cat in our yard, it is worth noting that these raccoons were, without a doubt, hunting this cat to kill it.  They were also very persistent and unafraid of my intervention.  With me standing near the badly injured cat (brandishing a broom handle and flashlight), they repeatedly tried to attack the cat from different sides.  Were I not concerned for the cat (and this not very loud and in my yard in the middle of the night), it was interesting and seemed similar to the way that lions or other pack hunters bring down their prey.  The point is this: raccoons on the Ridge are hunting cats (and maybe small dogs), so keep yours inside at night if you want to keep them."

Danny is gone, and the raccoons are also gone. It has been agony not knowing what happened to Danny, and imagining the worst.  On top of the worry, I am constantly missing him.  He was the most affectionate, most endearing cat I've ever had. 

One of my favorite memories of Danny is how he seemed to know when I would come home from my runs on weekdays: he would "ambush" me from my neighbor's bushes and then jog the last little bit by my side, purring his little head off the whole way.

A couple of weeks ago, I was missing Danny and went to a local cat show just to be around some Bengals. I also wanted to meet some breeders. I knew I wanted to have another Bengal in my life, and was thinking I might be ready by Spring.  But being around cats and being crazy-lonely for a cat you once had has a way of skewing fate….  Next week I will be getting another Bengal. He could never "replace" Danny of course.  But I am so excited, and I feel like an ache is finally going to subside. The circumstances of me getting this new Bengal are complex and probably boring, so I'll just say that I got really lucky.   

For a glimpse of what I've been missing, and will soon have back, watch A Day in the life of Bengal Cats.  (Keep in mind as you watch that these are not kittens; Bengals are that playful for their entire lives.)  This one is good too: 20 Bengal cat games.

In memory of Dandelion, the best cat I ever had. 

photo 

Comments(6)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.350.000.000.0020.35

High 30sF, partly cloudy.  Endurance run.

Ran around the Ridge for a bit, then down to the club meet-up.  Just 3 of us there, and no one at my pace, so I continued on to North Bend on my own.  Found a friend of mine there and we ran together and explored new roads for 5 miles.  Then back to Snoqualmie and up the Leg Builder Hill to home.  

It was a gorgeous morning.  Chilly, but dry and very scenic. Mt Si has a cap of snow right now.  Nice smells in the air.  Great run.

 

Piranha II Miles: 20.35
Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
50.470.000.000.0050.47
Piranha II Miles: 33.54Brooks ST3 Miles: 10.12Asics Piranha Miles: 6.81
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