Elijiah Bristow Glow Run 4.25 Race Report (#6 of 14)

Race #6 of our 14 in 2014 Race Series. Time: 1:01:04

 

For this race, I was really nervous, and really felt like I needed to practice beforehand. Sarah had me meet her at her work, and then we drove out to Elijiah Bristow to practice. She had had one race there previously (I think her first) and she was going to take the lead. Of course as soon as we got there it started raining. But having driven 20 minutes and spent a good amount of time lost, we didn't want to give up. So we went on a little adventure. We didn't even walk a mile down crappy, wet trails before we realized how late it was and the park was closing. We barely ran at all- right up until Charlie Brown (my beagle, who I had brought with me) smelled something funny, freaked out, and refused to keep going. His reaction was so extreme we mutually agreed we didn't want to know what he was smelling and would head his advice. We booked it back to the parking lot and said forget it.

Side note, I'm so grateful to have a paranoid dog sometimes- He's such a little spitfire I feel much safer being adventurous when I have him around!

 

 

This was such a fun race! It was my first trail run, and my first night run. We drove first to a parking lot at Elijiah Bristow State Park, and then were bussed over to the actual trail location which was just down the road. The parking lot faced Dexter lake, which was really pretty!





I thought I'd finish at around 1:15 or later, so I was really surprised at my time. The race was also really hard. The head lamps we got super sucked, and mine flipped off my face and smashed on the ground about 1/3 of a mile in. I ended up running with it in my hand, instead of on my head. It was just way too cheap and unstable. The shirts were also super ugly at this one, and to be blunt, made me feel like a cow. They weren't fitted and were cheap cotton. I think it took me one more race to give up on shirts (or rather, get more discerning about which ones I buy) but this was the start of the slippery slope on this issue!

The race was packed, and the trails were covered in glow lights. It really was beautiful. It was a little spooky at times, but I really enjoyed myself! Sarah's boyfriend Mitch came along for this one too!

Garden Gnome 5k Race Report (#5 of 14)

Race #5 of our 14 in 2014 Race Series. Time: 45:27

This was another awful Corvallis race. I think it had 200 feet in elevation changes,  which didn't bother me too much (I thought), but both times I've done this area (similar, overlapping courses) I've had terrible calf pain. I ran my best mile ever (12:26!!) and then walked/limped the second, cursing everyone that passed me. I did not PR but I guess it wasn't terrible considering I walked so much of it. I was also incredibly proud I ran the first 5 minutes straight, no stopping. That's a big deal!

A car tried to run me over as I got to the finish, and I screamed at him but, we all survived. :)

My friend Sarah PR'd and went sub 30 AND was top 5 in her age group! So amazing! We got free tomato plants as our prize. :)

Girl's Night In Cheese & Dog Party

One of the things I've really appreciated about being in Oregon is having girlfriends to spend time with. So many of my friends are married with children now, that I relate much better to my class mates. We're basically free agents and are moreso in the same stage of life. While I am older, we're all still struggling with the same issues and I don't really feel the age difference so much anymore. While sometimes I am the one with the authority or life experience in regards to a particular situation, mostly we are all equals and I enjoy their company a lot.

Towards the end of the academic year, my friends Sarah and Skylar and I established a rotating girl's night. For this one, we had a cheese party! We each brought a cheese, our dog(s) and wine! It was such a great night.

We all met at my complex's dog park first to make sure all the dogs would get alone- not all had met before.

Then we headed inside to party!

Some of the cheeses we had:
Trader Joe's Chocolate Cheddar Cheese
Trader Joe's  Caramelized Onion Cheddar
Marin French Cheese Company (Rouge et Noir) Schloss
Marin French Cheese Company (Rouge et Noir) Petit Dejeuner
Marin French Cheese Company (Rouge et Noir) Garlic Brie

We also had arugala, cheery tomatoes, a sliced bagette, plain crackers, fruit,  special salami, and Sarah made a really fancy petit basque macaroni and cheese.

The dogs were very jealous.

Check out our awesome copy of "Culture" magazine- a mag all about cheese! Yum!

Such a great night with friends!

The Hop Hop 5k & Half Race Report (#4 of 14)

Race #4 of our 14 in 2014 Race Series. Time: 40:38

Back on Easter Saturday my friend Sarah and I got up at 4am and drove to Portland to run in another 5k race together!

We got personalized bibs- cute right?

I used a little energy fuel for the first time (Salted Caramel Gu!) and we raced. It was a GREAT race and definetly my favorite so far. Our goal is to do 14 races in 2014, and this was number 4 I think.

 Sarah felt like she needed some swag so she got these cool tights to race in. I declined such festivities. lol

 I like this picture of me too. In case you're wondering, no I haven't really lost weight. I lost about 10 pounds at the first half of the year ,but then nothing, and the 10 pound loss isn't really solid. I didn't change sizes or anything either. I seem to have developed a sugar bingeing problem to combat the exhaustion I am always feeling and that does not help with my calories. Feel free to try and follow me on MFP- I love checking out other people's food. My is is auntyem4 I think

 We also both got really emotional about our "Boston Strong" stickers. I believe it was the weekend before the Boston Marathon when we raced and you hear other "real" runners talk about the solidarity they felt/feel with Boston, and I didn't really relate- UNTIL we were out there at 7am, warming up and realized this experience we have in common- running and racing and suddenly we were both just hit with those feelings of grief. It was surprising, but we were happy to wear our stickers with pride!

 

I really like racing with earrings. It makes me feel prettier and faster, I'm pretty sure. ;)

 

 I PR'd at this race and was so proud. I struck up a conversation with another girl the last half of the race after I noticed we were taking turns passing each other and then walking pretty regularly. She agreed and we chatted and ran together the rest of the way- until we sprinted and raced across the finish! It was very exciting and I was so proud of myself! I official time was 40:38 and I would definitely do it again. This is currently my PR time even though I've raced since and I am still hoping to beat it! I totally got emotional when I realized I had taken almost 7 minutes off my race time and cried when I ran over the finish.

The photographer totally got me right after I crossed over when I was all weepy too! I like this picture alot.


 It was so exciting. After the race I lost track of my race buddy, but Sarah and I dyed Easter eggs and enjoyed our free catered breakfast, and our mimosas in our commemorative champagne glasses! It was great!

 We're so cute!

Happy Birthday to Me!

My 31st birthday was on Monday of last week. I spent it mostly alone, as usual. My birthday always gets me down because I never get to celebrate how I'd like to.

I'd like to spend a nice day alone with my partner doing fun things and having a special meal. That's my dream birthday.

But I'm single. And no one is ever free on my actual birth-day which to me is the most important part. The friends I do have in town were out of town for spring break. 

I also hate always having to plan and coordinate things. I want someone to know what I like and just do it. Last year was pretty good. My friend made me an amazing 30 layer rainbow cake and took me cheese and wine tasting. It was basically perfect. Except it wasn't on my birthday so I was left to reflect on how alone I felt again. Even though it was wonderful, I wanted to avoid those feelings.

This year I knew I'd be alone so I tried to think about what I'd enjoy doing.

I took myself to the $1.50 theatre and saw "Delivery Man," with Vince Vaughn which was great and felt fitting given my age and childlessness. I had fun. I almost had the theatre to myself (1130am on a Monday) but not quite!

After that I ran up Mount Pisgah with Charlie Brown. I CUT MY TIME in HALF! I hiked it last fall and it look forever. Like 2 hours. I was down and back in under an hour this time and ran parts of it! Charlie was so tired HE needed breaks instead of me! That was awesome.

At the last minute I decided I was going to go to my friends boyfriend's birthday party. Yes, I went to someone else's birthday on my birthday. There was live music and it was fun.

(What I wore to Mariah & Jeremy's!mustard  tights!). 

My mom also mailed me a birthday cake. I loved that!!!

Lastly, Charlie ripped up my flower bed so my dog basically gave me a bouquet of tulips! Then my mom sent me a bouquet of daffodils! That was fun too!!!

Winter Term Grades & Dating

Lets start with the fun stuff (obviously NOT school): Dating. Or, "date," singular. I went out with Alex about 10 days ago. It was great, I rapidly developed this HUGE out of control crush on him (due to lack of activity in this area of my life over the last few years, I'm sure) and with a few bouts of doubt, finally accepted he's just not interested and I have no idea if he ever was.

I got all emotional earlier today and my one guy friend (Vince, from HS) called and let me bawl on the phone with him for about an hour about how no one wants me and that I'm unlovable and only attract losers. (Vince was very gracious [or too dumb] to realize the loser label would have included him, but he said nothing. Probably a wise choice given my whining.).  I'm still a dweller, so it'll probably take awhile (few days... Or years... Y'all know me by now) to block out his name and this super embarrassing fantasy I know you all know I invented in my head about it. But, this is the difference between three years ago and now. I don't know if I'll be in a relationship again, but I know I'll get over this and be fine. I'm mostly embarrassed,definitely rejected and a little hurt. It'll be okay, though. This I know.

Meanwhile to save face I am back pedaling into friendship mode. I still enjoy the guys company, think he's interesting and who knows, maybe he'll introduce me to my next best friend, a work associate, or maybe even someone who DOES want to date me. So... Deep breaths. I'm rusty, but that's okay. 

Next, grades and end of term. Finals were hell. I wrote over 80 pages of finals, six different papers including 4 research papers. Pure hell. One teacher told me I was an incompetent writer and needed serious help from the undergraduate writing center. Super upsetting experience- to the point I'm embarrassed to see her or work with her again.

Another paper I killed myself over and LOVED writing I got a B on. A "B"?! That's basically flunking in a grad program and is my lowest grade in this entire program. I was pissed at myself and wished I could have re-done it. Still considering it. I was pretty panicked that even though I had A's on the other assignments that I wouldn't be able to save myself from the dreaded B grade. As someone who flunked law school with C's and had a 2.8 undergrad average, grades are important to me now. 

Waiting for grades was a very anxiety provoking experience, but now that they are posted,  I'll let you check them out for yourself! 

Not so bad right? Who knew they gave A+'s in grad school?!