Dirdy Birdy 2009

Dirdy Birdy is Portland’s muddiest 5K run held at the Portland International Raceway. Watch the video and see how fun it was! Make sure you participate next year!

Thanks to Celia of Road Runners Sports for the awesome photos.

There's Something About PDX Mary!

This year will be my fourth consecutive year to run Portland Marathon. I think, there’s something about PDX Mary that I PR’d every time I run it.... well... so far.

In 2006, it was my first year to run it and happens to be my first marathon. I don’t remember hitting the wall but I remember mile 21 when my gluteus maximus (aka buttocks) cramped and it was a struggle from there all the way to the finish line. I finished at 5:45:39.

In 2007, I followed the same training as I did in 2006 incorporating some speed workout. This year was worst than 2006 because my IT bands started to bother me at mile 18 and, of course, it was a struggle from there to the finish line. Despite the misery I felt for the remaining of the run and to my surprise, I PR’d and finished at 5:31:40.

Last year, I caught a bad cold and headache three days before the race. While treating my cold and headache vigorously, I also told myself, “Come hell or high water, I’ll finish that race.” I ran with a little bit of cold but ran conservatively and I finished at 5:03:41.

In May this year, I ran the Newport Marathon and finished at 5:05:14 so, I did not PR.

May be PDX Mary will be nice to me this year and let me PR again. We'll see...

Run on friends!
meechellee

Hood to Coast Report: Swift Justice

Hood to Coast is my most favorite race event of all time. I describe it as a slumber party without the slumber. It’s my 4th year to run with hubby's team Swift Justice and the team has been running HTC for more than 15 years.

I’ve always ran with Van 2 and this year my assigned legs were the same as last year’s: 7, 19, 31. Even though I ran these legs last year, I still got a bit surprised on how hilly the first two legs than what I remembered them to be. Me---no---like-y---hilly.

First Leg (7): I started running my first leg around 12:30 p.m. It was HOT like hell! I felt really good and nervous at the same time but my run went well. One of the two things I remember during this run was this 5 year-old-girl with her mom filling dixie cups with water and handing them to runners. Even though I have my own hydration bottle, I took one cup from the girl and she asked, "Do you want a refill?" I told her, "No, sweetie but thank you for asking." I thought that was very thoughtful and nice. The other one was the sprinklers were directed toward the road for the runners. Running briefly through the sprinklers was refreshing! I don't mind having my personal sprinkler guy running with me at that time. =P

It was around 6:30 p.m. by the time we finished running our first legs. We went to our place to shower, eat, and chillax and wait until we get a call from Van 1 to tell us it’s time for us to leave. Well, we didn’t receive the call until 9:30 p.m. so, we were late at the exchange point.

Second Leg (19): Since we left our place a little late, I was 12 minutes late from the hand-off. Ugggh!!! It’s the worst thing to be late at the exchange point. It was around 10:30 p.m. by the time I started running. I thought it coolish enough that I wore my light long sleeved shirt... bad idea. I flagged my van & quickly changed to a tank top. I was truly sweating like a pig! I felt really good before, during and after the run. It was probably around 3:30 a.m. by the time we finished our second legs, so we head down to the next exchange point and rested there.

Third Leg (31): After my 2nd leg, I ate a little too much of salt & vinegar flavored potato chips... another bad idea. My stomach got upset and I was dry heaving. I told my friend, I don't want to run my 3rd leg. I had a few bites of bagel and water to settle my stomach. It was 9:30 a.m. by the time I started running my last leg. It was drizzling heavily (not quite a rain) during my run and I just loved it! As it turned out, it was my best leg!

My total mileage at the end of the day was 15.54 and total time was 2:38. I got another HTC medal to add to my bling collection plus a neon shirt that's so bright that I can easily be spotted through Google earth. Swift Justice placed 227 out of 313 in the Mixed Corporate Open and finished in 30:17:33.

First Triathlon

Marathoners to Triathletes……

On June 13th my good friend @meecheele and I added a bike, and swim to our run. We thought it would be fun to try out the sport we have heard so much about. I thought I would share this video with you and let the pictures tell the story. Special Thanks go to my friend Nancy who with out her talent these pictures would not be possible. Thank you to my friend Cathy for always believing in me. I also want to Thank two special ladies @Erin337 (http://www.elementsoferin337.blogspot.com/) and
@kelownagurl(http://kelownagurl.blogspot.com)for there knowledge, encouragement and always willing to answer my questions and of course my friend @meecheele. With out all of you I may still be wondering if I could do a triathlon.

1:48:13 3 0:14:11 87 6:12 0:49:52 76 5:05 84 0:32:53 53

SoloRunner

Now Go Out and Do A Tri!

Newport Report (by meechellee)

After months of training with my friends, the day has come. Saturday, May 30th, Newport, Oregon. The race started at 7:00 a.m. It was 55° and foggy. I was wearing a short sleeves shirt under a long sleeves shirt and long tights under short tights. While the rest of my girlfriends, including @SoloRunner looked half-naked compared to what I was wearing. I don’t like to start running feeling cold that’s why I bundle up. It only took me about a mile when I handed over my long sleeves shirt to my husband* because I was warm already. The first three miles, of course, was fun because the adrenaline rush was still there. I was running a decent 10± all the way to mile 9. By that time, the sun was shining so bright. We ran along the bay and even though it was a little breezy, it wasn’t enough to beat the sun’s rays. I was feeling really hot come mile 10, so I had to stop at a porta potty to take off my long tights. I was the second person in line and the gal who was inside the porta potty was in there for 3 minutes! So, by the time I was done, I lost a total of 5 minutes. Some of you are probably thinking, “You should have gone to the next porta potty.” Well, the porta potties were 2 or 3 miles apart. In any event, I clocked in 2:15 at mile 13 and started to feel and more and more tired and hot, so I slowed down. By the time I got to mile 16 which was the turnaround point, I got all excited, and told myself, “Only 10 more miles.” Yeah, right. My excitement didn’t give me any boost at all because at that point I was wading. I was really tired and miserable. Though not too long after the turnaround point, I was pleased to see @SoloRunner, Kathy, and Nancy again making their way to the turnaround point. I kept going and slowly passed mile marker after mile marker. I stopped a few times to stretch my legs and just to catch my breath. At mile 22, I wanted to cry so badly because I was so tired and miserable. It almost felt like I wanted to have tantrums. There wasn’t much I could do at that point so I told myself, "Just deal with it." I kept reminding myself that the finish line is getting closer. I continued on and just past 25 mile marker, I saw my friend’s husband who told me that my husband was just behind him. Sure enough, there was my hero! I saw my husband. That was the second time I wanted to cry because I was so happy to see him. My husband cheered me on and told me that after we pass 26 mile marker, everything is all downhill. And sure it was! Downhill all the way to the finish line. Whew! I survived!

Out of 800 runners who registered, 711 finished and I was one of them. I finished at 5:05:14. No PR this time but I was happy to be 2 minutes slower than my last marathon given how I felt during the race.

After the race, I asked my friends if they are going to do another marathon again. A couple of my friends including @SoloRunner’s response were, “I’m done.” I told them that I’ll check on them in a couple of weeks. I’m pretty sure they’ll change their minds. And my response to that question is, "Hell, yeah! "





My husband was supposed to run this race but he broke his foot in early March and his doctor told him that the next marathon he’s going to run is not until Fall.

The agony of defeat………

My body is feeling really good after my marathon on Sat, but my ego not so much. Maybe it’s the day maybe it’s the fact that it’s over and I have told myself that I have officialy retired from doing any more marathons. This was an especially tough marathon for me, because I really wanted it. I wanted to prove to myself that I have what people have told me – that I could run a 5 hour marathon and even a sub 4 marathon, but it did not happen. I ran a 5:31. As I recap my training - how great my long runs felt, the perfect half’s I ran,, it makes me wonder what the hell happened? My 21 mile training run was awesome, so what happened? The weather was perfect! My mind set was a bit off, but nothing I could not over come. As I started out I was feeling good, keeping in mind that I did not have my HR strap on because I forgot it at home and now I need to run by how I felt. No problem. I can do it. As the miles came up they seemed to fly by and I was keeping pace with what I had to do to own the second half of my race. Working my way to mile seven I realized I am a better runner when I am alone. When I run with someone I know I tend to focus on their needs and not mine. Am I running to fast? Am I running to slow? Am I holding them back? So for the next few miles I played cat and mouse with people including my friend. I just was not feeling the run so I needed to snap out of it. I took a back seat and kept several steps behind my friend working myself into my zone. By now I can feel it, the miles are coming up and I see the first place runner coming towards me and I feel the excitement now more and more people making it feel like I am not alone and I can own my race. I still have some time to get to mile fifteen and the turn around, but I know it’s coming up and I know I will be able to pick up the pace. As I came to mile 13 and caught up with my friend who I could tell was really starting to slow down, I asked how she was doing. She told me she was not well and really needed my help. I was so surprised by those words. I asked her what she needed me to do and she said she did not think she could make it. I told her I would run with her and help her through it. We started a run walk and as we approached mile 15 and the turn around she was really having trouble staying focused on what we needed to do. I reminded her that she has run many marathons and the way to get through this was to focus on each step, find something to focus on running to and don’t lose sight of it. We started picking off trees, signs, and people- whatever it took. We walked up inclines and ran down hills. We did what ever it took to get her on track. At mile 18 I checked in and asked how she was doing. She said she was fine and I asked if I could run a head. I took off knowing I needed to make up time if I wanted to at least hit a 5:30 time. I started picking people off, mostly walkers and slow runners, never the less it was a motivation for me. It was a great feeling to be running again and as I passed people they cheered me on and sent me off to catch the next person. I was feeling good and I knew I could save this marathon. When I got to mile nineteen I saw another friend who was eating oysters (Yes they had oysters on the course!) I also saw my friend’s husband and he was running to find her and I knew she was going to be fine. I went on, but started to feel a few blisters forming on my toes. At the next station, I stopped to put band-aids on my toes. I took off and concentrated on the task at hand. When I got to about mile 23 I could feel some cramping in my leg and the top of my left foot was hurting as if my shoe was too tight so I stopped and loosened it but it did not help. I was really starting to feel the pain and looked at my watch and new I had to keep going if I wanted to PR even if only a one minute PR. I pushed through the pain and reminded myself that this is a PR course, but at some points the pain was beyond what I could ignore. As I approached mile twenty-five I was done! My motivation was gone and I had nothing left, I knew I was not going to PR and would not even come close to my last marathon time. I really needed someone to remind me of what I was doing this for and to help me get up the hill. I was feeling sorry for myself and I did not want to walk in my last mile. I grabbed my phone and called one of my best friends and I was so happy to hear his voice. I knew he would get me up that hill and I knew he could relate to how I was feeling. Holding back my tears and trying to tell him what was wrong he reminded me that I could do this and if I had to walk in there was nothing wrong with that. He reminded me that I was not a quitter and that I needed to get control of my breathing and get up that hill even if I had to walk. His final two words to me were Just Finish! I hung up the phone and started up the hill, when I reach the top, I had another surprise waiting for me. My friend Michelle’s husband was there to cheer me on and take pictures of my finish. I was able to put a smile on my face and run down the hill to find Michelle waiting and cheering me on. Some might read this and think I am just feeling sorry for myself or having a pity party and I am, but I think I have earned it. As I write this I still don’t know what went wrong but what I do know is that if my friends ask me to run another marathon with them, I just might. Thanks for reading.

Now go out and RUN!

Health is Wealth (by Meechellee)

"Health is wealth." I won first prize with this quote in the slogan contest during the World Health Organization day at my school when I was in fourth grade. I won a box of chocolates! Let me get this straight first, I am not one of those few students whose homework or school projects are all done during the weekend. This is me while having breakfast in the morning, a few hours before the slogan contest, "Mom!!! It's my school's World Health Organization day today, and I need to slogan that has something to do with health!" My mom responded in a very irritated tone, "Health is wealth!" My mom was a teacher but she taught at a different school (thank goodness!). I went home with a box of chocolates and told my mom I had won the first prize of the slogan contest, but I also asked her, "Why can health be wealth?" To the best of my recollection, my mom intuitively responded, "How can you enjoy the things you like to do if you're sick? Even if you have all the money in the world, money can't buy you good health. So, take care of your body because health is wealth." Indeed.

If health is wealth, I am so broke right now because it has been nine days since I last ran during a cold, windy, rainy Shamrock race. No doubt it was the bad weather that got me. I've been lying in bed most of the time since Friday afternoon, and it's ironic to say that it is tiring not doing anything. Though I have to admit that I did enjoy not doing anything but it only lasted for a day. After that, it has been a struggle, or shall I say, stressful. I start to worry about my training because I missed last week's 18-mile run, and I don't think running 21 miles this weekend will do me any good. As I continue to stress about my training, I had to remind myself that the most important thing I have to focus on is to become 100% healthy, and the rest will follow.

So for the time being, I mesmerize all the days I ran miles and miles on pavements, trails, and treadmills... swam meters and meters in the pool... and, of course, all the food that I ate and ate. And the more I think about those things, I feel this revitalizing energy within me which is a good sign. A sign that I'll have my wealth back again...

So run on!
-Meechellee