Sorry, Reckless Running Over Here

After a brutal 4.5 mile uphill, my lovely friend and I powered painfully through the last three miles of our 13.1 mile race yesterday morning in a raining, blustery Portland. It was pouring when we climbed out of bed at 5:45 a.m. in order to get to the start by 6:30 a.m. so we could pick up our numbers and chips that she forgot to pick up on Saturday. After some miscommunication with our sole C.R.E.W. (Cranky Runners, Endless Waiting) member (boyfriend), we got our numbers and were ready to start.

At 7:25 a.m. and thankfully no longer raining, 1,600 racers lined up on 2nd Street in Portland, waiting for the gun to start us on our 5k, 10k, or half marathon races. Stupidly, lovely friend and I had chosen a half marathon.

We were cranky, cantankerous and had three weeks of solo-training-whine-buildup to release. It all came out during a dry first mile. We determined that our 6 a.m. meal was too long ago (though were it not for crossing of communication wires we would have  had a little more fuel to start out on), and chomped on our first shot bloks at mile 2. At mile 2.5, I was regretting the running tights under my red shorts and the neon yellow rain shell.

Then, at mile 3, the sky opened up. First merely spitting, but definitely raining, we commiserated that maybe, perhaps, the rain jackets and tights had been a wise choice. As rain began dripping off the brim of my S.F. Giants hat, we agreed that caps instead of the propeller beanies we had intended to wear (to go along with the race's "Alice in Wonderland" theme, as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum) were the better call.

At mile 5, we hit the beginning of the Hill.

"Did you look at the course map?" Heather gasped as the incline began to take its toll on both of us, our speed dropping from a shaky 9-minute-mile to 10s.

"Yeah," I barely managed, equally breathless, as my right hip flexor began to cramp, "It's like this for like a mile and a half. I think."

"We can do it."

"I know."

As the rain came down harder and the other lanes of the road (that was not coned-off) hissed with cars going downhill at speeds upwards of 40 mph. The line of runners chugging up the incline moved further out into the road as the gutter and subsequently, the bike lane became river-esque. The cars loomed closer and we tried to utter exclamations.

Water pooled in the sleeves of our waterproof jackets, trickling down our collars to accumulate inside. The combination of sweat and wet provided an unanticipated conundrum. How can one wipe off one's face when everything is wet?

We ate our second set of shot bloks about a quarter mile into the Hill. At mile 8, as we chomped our third set, I exclaimed, "Do you realize this is the second set of bloks we've eaten on this damned hill?"

Cursing ensued, as it struck home that this Hill was far more than 1.5 miles. We were entering mile 4 of the hill and mile 9 of the race.

"I didn't know you could go uphill this long," my lovely friend growled.

The top seemed to loom and was greeted with broken cheers on our parts. Glimpses of blue sky and a distinct slackening of the downpour was greeted with equal jubilation. Then, the road took a sharp right and we were faced with more horror.

It was the Heart of Darkness of Hills. And it steepened sharply after that turn.

"We should have done more hill repeats," I uttered painfully.

"We should have run more," lovely friend pointed out.

As if 25 miles a week wasn't enough.

The hill petered out at mile 10, and we were past acknowledging that our goal of breaking 2 hours was probably not going to happen. We were hoping for a finish at that point, as our burning legs, churning stomachs, and drenched bodies were petering out as well.

"If there are any more hills, I'm going to kill someone," I growled.

And then the path jutted upwards again.

"Okay, who's first?" I moaned.

Needless to say, our last three miles, while speedy, were tumultuous. We alternated "point" — the ultimate running buddy trick, where you have to keep up with whomever gets a spurt of energy; it helps keep pace and means the bitching alternates — and struggled to keep our legs pounding the pavement. A near tumble down a sharp incline off the side of the path, and a stumble into a runner passing incited comments of how falling down the hill was not, in fact, the quicker way to go and, "sorry, reckless running over here."

But we made it.

2:05:42. With a hill we were unprepared for and torrential rain, we did pretty damn well.

I was 714 out of 1655, and 51st out of my age division. Therefore I am not complaining.

About how I did, that is. My aches and pains are a different story.

We drove home to be greeted by the first snow of the season. Boyfriend can barely contain his glee and my parents and lovely friend got to see the house for the first time. I will post the only picture taken from the race as soon as I get it from my mom. Rain made our C.R.E.W. rather scant, and we were only hailed at the finish line, but we'll take what we can get.

More later.

Ciao,
kc

Impending rain

My lovely friend sent me this, this morning:

"When you don't think you can do something, sometimes things just fall together really well on race day and you totally surprise yourself. So it's worth it to put yourself out there and take some chances."
Lisa Koll, U.S. distance runner and four time NCAA Division One Champion

Which is really really good to know, as I don't feel prepared for Sunday's race at all. Two months of training on top of the month and a half I did for the last race and I feel unprepared. We started training right after my last race.

What the heck? I should feel geared up and ready to go.

Maybe it's the impending rain. It poured last night here, which I don't mind, but it's supposed to rain on Sunday in Portland. 7:30 a.m. race + rain. Ick.

Oh well, I'm an Arcata girl. We know rain.

Ciao,
kc

Welcome Baby!

Not my baby, but my godsister's baby. My first god-niece? Eh. We'll go with it.

She came home from the hospital today, but I'll (hopefully) get to meet her this weekend. When I'm in Portland for my second half-marathon. Anyways, I was so excited about this little one, that I knit her a hat today!

For size reference, the flower is 1.75" across. So tiny!

It's so tiny! I don't know if she'll wear it, or if she'll even get to wear it, but it's the thought that counts and it was fun to make!

I've also been super crafty lately, beginning work on the quilt for boyfriend. He requested it a while ago and last week we went to the fabric store and picked colors. He was pretty cute..."Where are all the boy colors?" he asked.

Two of eight colors all cut out!

I've only got three of eight colors cut out so far, and as I'm doing a snail trail pattern, I've got a lot of work ahead of me! We chose purple, teal/blue, bright green and yellow. A bit brighter than I had thought it would be, but it worked out. Hopefully it'll look nice...if it doesn't turn out as what we were picturing, I'll find someone very lucky to gift it to as it will still be beautiful!

I was cutting away the other night and boyfriend asked, "So are you almost done cutting?"

I said with a smile, "Well, this is the third color of eight that I have to do. Which means I have five left, so yeah, I'm almost done."

Apparently, he didn't realize quite how much work it was going to take. I pointed out that this is why I made such a big deal about being sure about the colors we picked! I'm sure it will be lovely. Fingers crossed!

I can't believe my race is on Sunday! Wish me luck while I increase in my antsy-ness as my activity level is halved for tapering. Yay, tapering, ugh, tapering. Love it and hate it. Love it because I don't have to run (there's no such thing as over-tapering), but I hate it because I can't run as much as I'm used to so my body starts to keep me awake at night — plus there's the side issue of my body still wanting as many (or more!) calories as I usually intake when I'm running 20 to 25 miles a week, which makes me feel torpid because I don't run it off.

Ugh.

Yay!

Oh god. I'm running 13 miles this weekend. What was I thinking??

Ciao,
kc

TODAY: 2 miles, 19 minutes flat...I was speedy. Ooops.

Time to taper

Really? Really? I'm tapering already?

Crap.

I have not, in the two months that I've been training for this thing, felt this unenthusiastic about running. In the morning it's cold and I am not yet equipped to handle running in the cold (with my birthday coming up, I'm hoping that will change...haha), and in the afternoons I just. don't. want. to.

The absence of my lovely friend has taken its toll, people. I am supremely unmotivated. Awesome.

Not.

Just wanted to throw that out there.

Also, boyfriend and I have discovered this nifty little bar and grill down the road from us. Aptly named "Boondocks" as we are, in fact, in the boonies, it boasts a surly barman and a chirpy, fifty-something waitress/barwoman with short, bleach blonde hair styled with gel, giant diamond earrings and a craggy smile. And more importantly, the Giants game on a flatscreen TV. And decently priced drinks and appetizers.

Boyfriend spent the whole game there on Saturday (I joined him at the top of the 7th), and we both went for innings 2 through 7 yesterday. Quite fun.

In other news:

 Sorry for the image quality, cell phone again. It's just so handy!

Corn Cheese Casserole

3 eggs

3 Tbsp Flour

1/2 cup cream (or milk)

1 cup milk

1 Tbsp honey

1/2 tsp salt

 dash pepper

1 tsp dill

2 Tbsp parsley (I don't usually use...)

2 cups corn

2 Tbsp butter

2 c diced onion

1 large carrot grated

1 small red pepper

1 c grated cheddar

1 block tofu (optional)

Salsa for garnish

Combine eggs and flour in blender. Add cream, milk, honey, salt, pepper, dill, parsley, and half the corn. Blend. Preheat oven to 350. Saute onions in butter until transluscent. Add carrot and peppers, saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining corn, blended ingredients, and cheese.

Pour in to buttered 9 x 13 inch pan  and bake uncovered about 35 minutes until golden and knife through center comes out clean. Serve with salsa.

 

Boyfriend was dubious about this dish, but I find it yummy in the extreme. He liked it once he tried it, but he was pretty incredulous when I added the tofu. For the record, I blend half the block of (firm) tofu in the blender and then add the rest of it chopped to the saute pan.

I also added a little broccoli that we'd cooked the night before. It was pretty tasty. Bon appetit!

Ciao,

kc

P.S. My race is on SUNDAY! That's six days away!

YESTERDAY: 6 miles

Black bean, sweet potato goodness

We've had quite the adventure so far, living in our little cabin in the woods. Yesterday, we got a barbecue for $20. My caveman was quite thrilled to be able to grill meat and play with fire. He's off on a bike ride right now, getting his wiggles out and leaving me in peace to do some work and talk to you!

I have some job interviews next week, one at a coffee shop and one at a graphic design studio. I'm kind of hoping for both to work out. We'll see. Professional face on and chin up and away we go.

Other than that, not much to talk about, I just wanted to leave y'all with this awesome recipe. My sister loves it and apparently makes it quite often. It's one I found when I was first learning to cook and have handed around, but often forget about myself. I made it the other night and boyfriend was impressed — though disappointed at the lack of meat.

"I'm a man. Men need meat."

"Yes, dear."

The following night, we added some ground beef to the leftovers and it was still quite tasty. I prefer the vegetarian version, but know that a pound of lean ground beef can be cooked up and thrown in with quite tasty results.

Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I usually use yams...the orange ones that everyone seems to think are sweet potatoes but actually aren't)
1 tablespoon chili powder*
1 jar (16 oz) mild salsa (about 1 3/4 cups)*
2 cans (15 to 19 oz each) black beans

In 4-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in sweet potatoes, chili powder, salsa, and 1 cup water; heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Add beans with their liquid and cook 3 minutes to blend flavors. Serve with sour cream, cheese, and cilantro.

*To kick it up a notch, use medium salsa and add a bit more garlic and chili powder.


Just a note, this recipe makes a lot of food, so don’t double unless you’re serving more than say…five people. It goes great with corn bread.

And I don't mean the fake kind.

Buy a box of cornmeal, which is like, $2, and read the recipe on the back of the box for cornbread. It's actually easier than cornbread out of a box. And tastier. For a little extra moisture in the bread, add a generous handful of corn (thawed if frozen).

Running is going well, it's almost time to taper! Our race in less than two weeks!

Ciao,
kc

YESTERDAY: 4 miles
TUESDAY: 60 minute Fartlek, 6.4 miles total

There goes Peter Cottontail

Okay, so I realize that I grew up in the "wilderness" and so I really shouldn't be so...amused? Surprised? Thrilled? to see all the wildlife around here. I mean, lovely friend and I saw like six bunny rabbits when we went running at Patrick's Point a couple weeks ago.

Nevertheless, I was just captivated by a bunny sitting outside my kitchen window for the last fifteen minutes. Cute little bunny who's brown fur is speckled with white for the upcoming winter.

And do you want to know what that little bunny did?

Nothing.

He sat there.

And sat there.

And sat there.

After hopping there, of course. But then he sat.

And I sounded like some never-seen-a-bunny-in-my-life tourist calling to boyfriend to come look. *Hand to face* What have I become?

But it was cute...

Dangerous Encounters?

Okay, so not so much. But the wildlife here is not only ridiculous, but they're not scared at all.

Exhibit A:

Vicious? See that? That panther is not scared of me at all!

So I'm not serious in this instance at least. Kitty (name still unknown) is a brave little bugger who thought to invite himself (herself?) into my house the other day, without so much as a "don't mind if I do." Silly kitty.

However, exhibit B is a little cooler and I'm being much more serious.

Exhibit B:

That's a coyote.

A live one.

A live wild coyote. Or so it would have us think.

The cute butt on the bike is boyfriend.  Please don't check it out, only I'm allowed to do that.

As for the coyote, he trotted along the bike path we were on for a while on the other side of the barbed wire fence. I thought maybe he just felt safe in the fact that he was probably the "bigger" predator and as we were in a no-hunt zone, which reads "teeming with people all the time," he probably felt secure in the fact that he's the most dangerous thing in his territory. Top of the food chain as it were.

And you know, the barbed wire fence was between us and him.

Then he hopped the fence. And began to chase butterflies on and around the path.

Wild.

Yeah. Right.

I'm sure he is legitimately wild, but he's not scared of people. Nosiree. Mom though rabid, but he made no move towards us and other than the being three feet from us big scary people on bicycles (quite literally), he was engaged in fairly normal coyote behavior.

Speaking of wild animals...

Boyfriend has settled into his man-cave and I may or may not see him this winter. He's asked for a spare key to my car so he doesn't have to hunt down my keys to move my car out of the garage so that he can set up his skateboard rail and skate in the garage. All that's missing from his lawn-chair decor is a mini-fridge full of beer. And that's what snow's for, right? He's out there right now listening to the S.F. Giants game on the radio. I haven't seen him in hours.

Oh well. So long as he's happy. At least I don't have to listen to the game.

Ciao,
kc