iPhone Antidote - Have you tried it? It works!

Hi Peeps, I know I usually post about my runs, but I wanted to let you know about a neat company out there that will buy used iPhones whether they work or not!  Last year, I had the unfortunate luck to have my iPhone 4 go out on me.  I use it with my runs (the Nike Running App) and feel a little safer when I have my phone with me when I am out there on the road.  Anyway, as you know in Seaside it rain A LOT.  I keep my iPhone in a baggy, but occasionally I'll start out on a run and it will start sprinkling or even raining.  When that happens, I protect my phone as best I can in my pocket, but it will get damp.  I started having issues with my phone and it progressively got worse.  I finally wasn't able to use it at all and had my hubbie take it in to the Apple store.  They said it was water damaged and replacement was the only option.  Dang!  I decided to go ahead and upgrade to the iPhone 5 and just move on.  I put the old 4s in a drawer and basically just forgot about it... until I read about iPhone Antidote!  They will take your old phone and pay you for it!  I boxed it up, used a prepaid label and a week or so later I had a check for $50 in my hands. Yes, that helped take out some of the sting of having to replace the phone. I just wanted to let you know about the service in case you have an old iPhone (or two or three) that you can actually turn to cash.  Check it out!

http://www.iPhoneAntidote.com

15k Portland Shamrock Run 2013 – It was Fun!

Did the 9+ mile Portland Shamrock Run for the first time this morning. What a fun event! I worked a 9 hour shift at the Restaurant yesterday, so as soon as I got home we (DH and I) packed up the car and left for Portland.  We stopped to see friends (Steve and Sue) who we haven’t had a chance to visit with in forever.  We walked from their house over to Orenco Station Grill for Dinner.  I was famished but wanted to eat healthy and not go overboard.  One thing I didn’t want was stomach issues during the night or before the race.  I ordered the Cajun chicken and asked that they grill rather than fry it.  Yay me!  They were very accommodating and it wasn’t a problem.  The chicken was delish and cooked to perfection.  It was served with mashed potatoes (yes, I did have a little of those) and brocollini which I just love.  I did have a glass of Riesling with my dinner which was also fabulous.  I recently got a $25 off certificate from Restaurant.com to Orenco Grill and had it with me so that made the meal even better. I actually got the certificate for FREE (as well as one other $25 certificate) when I booked a rental car through Hotwire.  DH had the New York Steak and a few beers, so with the wine, drinks, meals and tip we still got out of there for $44… not bad!   

The start and finish was at Waterfront Park and we got there early as I still needed to pick up my packet.   It was cold but my garbage sack helped!

I really didn’t get a sense of how many people were there because I wasn’t crowded out on the course or in the park.  I heard the announcer say 9,000 runners for my 15k event.  Wowsa.   Later DH heard that there were 9,000 for the 8k run, and 12,500 for the 5k.  There was also a fun run for kids and I have no idea how many for that…  also all the observers.  That is a LOT of people.

The weather was actually not bad.  No wind to speak of which was good as it was cold.  The sun did come out once we got started and no rain!  I wore my running gloves as well as my head band so that really helped. .. My hands were still freezing until mile 3.....oh and I must mention my green sparkle skirt of course!   

The course was very hilly. I thought the Pasadena course I did last month was hilly… but this course had an uphill climb that lastest for several miles and one hill was over 2 miles!  The course took us to the top of Marquim Hill,  past OHSU, Vets Hospital and the Chart House Restaurant.  That hill is steep going up in a car!  I didn’t have a problem with the hill but it did slow me down.  I am a slow runner anyway and am used to getting passed… a lot.  I passed quite a few walkers on the hill so gotta admit that made me smile.After conquering the hill, the reward was a steep descent… then basically it was flat until the finish.

 I haven’t seen my official time yet but my Nike Run program told me 1:56:52.  It will be interesting to see how that compares with the official time.  When I ran the Pasadena Half last month my Nike Run time was exact to the second.

This was a fun event.  The downside?  I didn’t get my finishers medal.. boo hoo.  They ran out and said everyone with a time over 1:50 will have their medal mailed to them.  I was a bit bummed by that as it is always fun to get a finishers photo with the medal.  This year’s medal is a beer opener!

After all that exercise, I thought it would be fun to have a splurge meal.  DH and I went to Shari’s Restaurant and I had a Strawberry Belgian Waffle.  OMG Good!  Definitely  was a fun finish to the morning. Hope you had a sweet St Patty’s Day!

Pasadena Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon - Feb 2013 Completed!

 

Yesterday was the Half Marathon that I have been training for the last 4 months. Yowsa… it was hard! I’m not sure what I expected but I thought I would potentially do a bit better than the HM I ran last Spring in Portland OR. Wrong Wrong Wrong. This one was tougher with lots of hills and ups and downs. It took me to my limits. 
 

This was my first Rock n Roll event. They hold them at lots of places around the Country and are very good organizers. I was impressed with the set-up. They require you to attend the Health / Fitness Expo to pick up your packet personally. The Expo is held the two days prior to the event so we had to be in town the day before. I typically will do my packet pick up the morning of so I don’t have to take extra time off work, so this was a switch for me. Since we were on vacation and had the time, I really enjoyed the expo and seeing all of the vendors and the gadgets. I ended up buying a new pair of Brooks running shoes… something I have wanted for a long time. I am going to retire my Nike “Livestrong” shoes. They will be a back-up pair for me after this event. Every time I put them on I think of Lance Armstrong and I feel sort of embarrassed to wear them. They have a lot of miles on them so I’m really not wasting … 

 
 

The Pasadena course is gorgeous. We start and finish at the Rose Bowl so that in itself was cool. I got to the start point about an hour early so I could figure out what I was doing. At 6:30am in the morning the sun still wasn’t up so it was nippy out. Fortunately I decided to wear a jacket and planned to use the gear check before the race. Lots of people were using those space blankets for wraps which I thought was pretty smart. The gear check was sponsored by UPS and they had UPS trucks all parked in a line with drivers in uniform at the rear of the truck to take your gear. I checked my gear, put on my sunglasses and went to my corral to wait for the start at 7:30am. The photographers were milling around and I had my photo taken several times .. I’m sure because I was wearing my purple sparkle skirt lol. The start was really smooth with each corral being released a few minutes apart. 

 
I carried my iPhone with me and used my Nike running App to track my time and distance. Time wise the Nike app was spot on. Distance wise it showed I ran 13.3 instead of 13.1. I’m not sure why that was different but maybe because you weave back and forth on the course around people at times? 

I started out running strong and felt a little emotional at first. Not sure why that happens. I think sometimes I just can’t believe that I’m actually doing something like this. A few short years ago I never would have believed this was a possibility and here I am doing it today. Got over that feeling quickly as I hit the first hill and my left hip which has been asserting itself lately gave me some twinges. It will be interesting to see if my new Brooks solve that issue. Usually my hip will start giving me a problem when my shoes need to be changed. Almost from the get go I noticed I wasn’t keeping pace with what I had planned. Nothing I could really do about that other than try my best. Even though I have a goal in mind, I have told myself that just doing the run and finishing it is a reward in itself. I will never be a fast runner and for me it is important that I enjoy the journey so I don’t just give up and quit. I am going to try and work on some speed drills in the coming months and see if that will improve my speed…. Can’t hurt. I also read that running fast naturally helps improve your form and I’m sure I need some improvement in that department as well. I read an article on Active.com that suggests you start drills with 10 seconds running as fast as possible followed by 20 second jog and repeating for 200 meters. Build on this over time increasing your sprint time and distance. That sounds doable. 

Back to the race… As I was approaching mile 4, I saw the fast runners coming returning. It was really something to see. They were about finished when I was at mile 4 lol… Later looking at the results the winners came in at 1:12 – they sustained 6 min miles.. wowsa. I can’t even imagine! 

The flattest and most fun part of the course was running on Colorado Boulevard. This is the route you see on the televised Pasadena Rose Parade. The streets are wide and the downtown area is charming. As I got to about mile 9 I started to fatigue. During my training runs this is usually when I will eat a fig newton or something. The volunteers were handing out jellies and skittles so I took a few of those. I didn’t want to have stomach issues, but I did fine. By mile 12 I was going pretty slow but knew that the end was coming shortly. I did cross the finish line with a smile on my face! They gave me a medal and handed me a bottle of water. As I walked through the finishers “village” they gave out chocolate milk and jamba juice. I took both and they were heavenly. 

The downside to this tough event is that I’m now really questioning whether or not a full marathon is something that is realistic for me to do. I still have over 6 months to get ready for the full, but I doubt that I could double the mileage that I did yesterday without a lot of pain. I’m going to keep up with my training and decide in a few months. My next event is the Shamrock 15k in Portland on St Patricks Day. A 15k is a little over 9 miles so shouldn’t be a problem. The finishers medal for that event is a souvenir bottle opener! 

Thanks for stopping by and reading my re-cap. Even though it was tough it was fun and I encourage any of you that are running to participate in an event. It keeps you training and motivated… and I love collecting those medals! 

 

2012 Great Columbia Crossing... with a few new PR's!

On Sept 30th,  I ran the Great Columbia River Crossing. This is an annual event and the ONLY time each year that pedestrians are allowed on the Astoria Megler bridge. This event was the 31st year and the 1st time it was timed with a chip making it an "official" event and they added about 100 yards to the course length. 



I had to get up at 5:30am to get ready and out of the house by 6:30am. Astoria is about 1/2 hour away and I allowed time to get parked and over to the bus for the ride across the river to the starting point. According to the race rules, you have to be in line to get the bus by 7:30 or they won't guarantee you will make the race. I was in line at 7:15 and basically just walked up and got on the bus. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the start point in Dismal Nitch and the race starts at 9:00am. I ended up cooling my heels for over an hour. 

This is my fourth time doing the GCRC. The first year I walked, the second year I walked with a few jog intervals, and then last year I ran for the first time. My time last year was just under 72 minutes so this year my goal was to do better... with a real hope that I would finish in under 70 minutes. Since I have been running fairly regularly it seemed to me that I should be able beat my previous time. The conditions were optimal... good weather and no wind. The mornings are pretty chilly so I wore long running pants, a jacket that I could tie at my waist once I got warm, gloves and a head band. I made sure my iPhone was fully charged so I could use my Nike+ running program and I clipped on my ipod. 

With a field of 3,000 people, it is pretty crowded as they have everyone start at once. Your official time starts when you cross the timing pad but it is frustrating to be in a big crowd where you can't get through... so I make sure that I start up toward the front. I like to be there to give encouragement to my two nephews also as they are great runners and always place... usually in the top five. This year they came in at 4th and 5th place! 

The starting horn blew and off we went. The run from the starting point is about a mile to the bridge entrance. The bridge itself is 4.1 miles long and the last bridge mile has a large elevation gain. That is the river channel and large ships go under the bridge to get through. I started off strong and after a mile checked and noticed that I was maintaining a good pace (for me).... about 10 1/2 minute mile. Yay! At that pace I would be able to finish comfortably under 70 minutes. My right foot was bothering me a bit as my toes were really cold and I hoped they would warm up soon. Mile 2 and 3 were strong and finally toes started to warm up. Mile 4 and still maintaining 10 1/2 minute mile but the bridge ascent was looming. Lots of people were walking now but I trucked on. I typically train with a steep hill at the end of my runs and the bridge ascent while longer than my typical hill run was not as steep. 

I lost some time going up the bridge span so decided to pour it on going down. I managed to make up a little time going down getting my pace up to 9.75 min/mile. 

After leaving the bridge there was still a mile left to run. Most of my training runs are about 4 miles, but the adrenaline and energy from the other runners kept me going strong. I crossed the finish line with an official time of 1 hour 7 min 11 seconds. My Nike+ running indicated that I ran 10k in 65 minutes and that my total run was 6.4 miles.. but I figure that there must be some calibration issues since the course was "officially" 10k. In any event, I was pleased with my time and for the FIRST time I finished with an above average field time. My Nike App said I set a new PR for 1 mile, 5k, and 10k. I'll take it! 

Seaside Beach Run 2012

Today was the Seaside Beach Run! Yip!  This is the 3rd year I have run the 5k... okay really the second as I walked it 3 years ago.  Weather was overcast and a bit gray starting off but beautiful at the finish.  Perfect running conditions.  I was pretty happy with my time 34:32 and hope to do better next year.  The cute guy in the photo with me is my nephew Mike Allen.  He runs a 10k in about the time it takes me to run 5k lol.   Next race for me is the 10k Great Columbia River Crossing in October.

Danskin 2012 - It's in the Bag!

So finished my SECOND triathlon today... Yip! My goal was to just be a little better than last year and to finish with a smile on my face. I accomplished both goals so it was a good day. 

The Danskin Tri is a pretty friendly event for newbies. I did it last year and felt very comfortable in an "all ladies" environment. There were every shape and size, young and old, fat and thin, athletic and couch potato types that all participated. 

Today's event like last year started off with a 1/2 mile swim in Lake Washington. I didn't wear a wet suit this year as it took more time to take it off than I liked. I am not a strong swimmer so I had no idea how it would affect my performance. I felt like the water temp was a bit cooler than last year but within a minute I was acclimated and fine. I was able to do more free style than last year and just overall felt stronger with my swim. I still have LOTS of room for improvement and my plan is to swim 20 laps at the pool at least once a week. 

The 12 mile bike route takes us around Genesee Park and over the floating bridge to Mercer Island. I have spent very little time on my bike and it shows! I take 2 spinning classes every week (Thank Goodness) but nothing replaces time on the bike, changing gears, balancing and such. I still have LOTS of room for improvement here also. I recently got an indoor trainer for my bike so that will give me more opportunity to ride as it is tough to do on the streets around where I live. My plan for the coming year is to bike a little at least somewhere once a week. 

The 5k run is where I feel most comfortable. This is the final leg of the event and I started out feeling a bit winded. I took it slow and steady and just kept moving. This year I was able to do the entire route (including the killer hill) without stopping to walk. I still have room for improvement with my running but according to their timing chip I did manage a PR with my 5k today.. yip! I think the course I typically run is harder than what I did today so that obviously makes a difference. My plan for the coming year is to continue to run 2 or more times a week and also complete another 1/2 marathon. 

For sure I want to do the Danskin again next year... and what an awesome finishers medal!