Seattle Locks Fat Ass Half Marathon race report

We were looking for a race for the last weekend of the year -- I had considered the Yukon Do It race on the 31st, but then decided I didn't necessarily want to spend the money. I saw the Seattle Locks Fat Ass Half Marathon -- and that it was free -- and that the race started at Woodland Park.

We rolled up this morning, joined the small crowd at the picnic shelter. We got our bibs, listened to the course description (essentially, run out to Stone Way, down to the Burke-Gilman, and then out to the turnaround, almost all the way to Golden Gardens. 

Not really much to report about the race -- we just ran out, turned around, and ran back. At the end, we received a medal, had some hot cider, cookies, and jelly bellies, and then nibbled on them as we stretched. We ran pretty smoothly today, but we did decide to walk up the hill on Stone Way rather than run it. After all, we're supposed to be in our taper...

Pushups are hard.

A slightly bigger group at this morning's boot camp -- not at big as before the holidays, but still 10 or 12 folks. This morning we did a circuit -- several exercises, 20 reps each, as many sets as we could get through -- aiming for 4.

I did that annoying thing I always do -- I watched others do the workout, and thought to myself, "Hmmm. She's not doing 20 reps" and "She's not doing all the lengths" and "She's not doing those right." I could hear Wil's voice saying, "Run your own race!" so I tried to ignore it. But it kept bothering me. Why, I just don't know. I guess I'm a rule follower.

I told Wil about it when I got home, and he actually agreed with me -- that it seems weird when, in a boot camp when the only person who matters is you, why not just put in the reps?

I really struggled with doing pushups with one hand on a medicine ball -- had to modify every single one, and on the last round I had to stop a couple of times to regroup. And as far as "bosu get ups" go, I simply couldn't get all the way down to it without torquing my knees. So probably other ladies were watching me and thinking, "She's totally not doing that right."

Swimming!

Months and months ago I bought a Groupon for swims at a pool not too far from my work. Well, in typical procrastinatory fashion, I waited a looooong time to redeem it. I kept meaning to go, but, well, you know how it is.

So, with an impending expiration date of January 19, I decided to go check the Juanita "Wave Aquatic Center" pool out.

Arrived to a nearly empty parking lot. No surprise, really -- school is out for the holidays, and, well, not that many people are going to get up and swim at 8am during the holidays either.

I headed in to the building and discovered that the women's locker room was locked. Oh. And the counter looked pretty locked up as well. But there was a little sign that said, "Please pay on the pool deck", so I tentatively pushed through the doors.

There were 4 or 5 people swimming, a couple of bored-looking lifeguards, dubstep coming through the speakers, and a chill in the air. To be honest, I wasn't even sure that the pool was open, but the lifeguards were friendly, set me up with a punch card, and turned me loose

The pool was pretty cold -- but also pretty refreshing. I picked up a kickboard and a pull buoy and settled in to an empty lane. The new goggles I bought yesterday were awesome -- no leaks at all. (I do think I had them fastened too tightly -- I had some killer goggle marks for a while after my swim!)

My goal wasn't to swim all that much -- the emphasis today was really just getting into the darn pool. I swam sets of four lengths each: freestyle, kickboard, arm pulls, then a little break, arm pulls, kick board, freestyle. Then four more lengths to cool down, and I was done.

On my way out the lifeguard asked if I thought the water was too cold, and told me that the school had turned the boilers off for the Christmas break. Oh. Then a little girl in the locker room told me that the showers were just as cold. Oh.

But I didn't feel like driving to work in my suit for a shower, so I just took a chilly shower there. Brrrrrrrr.

Nice to swim, nice to use a Groupon (ha ha). I've got nine more swims to do before we move to the U District in March!

Boxing Day Boot Camp

Managed to get myself out of bed early on Boxing Day to go to boot camp. Arrived to a nearly empty parking lot, and wondered if I should have checked the site before braving the morning. But as I sat there, another car arrived, so I figured I should just go in.

The 6am camp was wrapping up -- all FOUR of them. Wow. I signed in and wondered if I was going to have a personal training session. I must admit that I was hoping others were turn up because I wasn't feeling particularly strong!

But another woman arrived, and then, a few minutes into the workout, a third woman jumped in. We did a circuit focusing on "butts and guts" -- different squats and crunches, interspersed with cardio.

I was cold to begin with -- the heating hadn't been on in days, apparently -- but never really had a chance to take off my long sleeved shirt when I got warmer. I think I'll be pretty sore in a day or two... but again, really glad to have gone for my third session!

Happy Christmas Half Marathon

We woke to a dry morning, and were dressed and on our way around 6:30. I insisted on wearing our Santa hats, which we discovered bounce around quote a bit. No matter, we were on the road and running!

We decided to run a simple route, down to the Fred Meyer, on to the Burke-Gilman, and out past tHe university. It was very, very dark when we set out, so we were both decked out in our high-visibility NightLife gear. We had considered running with headlamps' but couldn't find any, so we decided to go without.

The trail -- and indeed the roads -- were pretty empty, but everyone who was out was cheery, and we exchanged a lot of hellos. We reached the turnaround pretty quickly, and were well on our way home before the rain started. By the time we got home, it was pretty wet, and we kept feeling pleased with ourself for getting up and going -- knowing that if we had contemplated going out at 9, we would have let the rain keep us indoors. Heck, I admit I would have whined and pleaded not to have to go out.

Then home, hot showers, a FaceTime visit with Beck, Steve, and her family; a quick breakfast; a Skype call with Tony and Sue; and then the festival of presents. Now napping on the couch -- a perfect Christmas.

Substitute Boot Camp, day two

Yeah, okay, I woke up sore. Heck, I woke up sore yesterday. But there's a big part of me that LOVES that...

Friday's camp starts at 6:00, so I got everything ready on Thursday night. Well, almost -- realized when I got to the locker room at work that I had an empty bottle of shampoo and no moisturizer in my bag. Oh well, at least I remembered to pack trousers...

There seemed to be a much bigger crowd on Friday than Wednesday. That said, the early class on Wednesday seemed really full, too. Jill led the class again, explaining the exercises at the five stations, and then sending us to run laps as a warmup. We had five stations. I started with three other women at the ring pull-ups / box steps station. We cleverly divided ourselves -- two on boxes, two on rings. (There were only two boxes and three sets of rings.) Once we had moved to other stations, we watched as other groups struggled with too many people at that station... and probably felt slightly smug. 

We did "crossbows" at our second station -- basically pulling super strong resistance bands with alternating arms. 

Then into the big room, where we jumped rope and did wall sits. (Oof.) The station after that had glute planks and something called a "genie squat" (or something...). And at the final station we used weights and did squats and "goal posts". Between each set, and again between each station, we did different cardio bursts, but I found them too brief to really get my heartrate up. 

Here's something a bit weird... people didn't seem to talk much during the workout. I said things a few times, but got little response amongst my group. And there certainly wasn't any whooping or glee. I guess Kerry has spoiled me!

I also felt that there wasn't particularly good form. With people in two rooms, and doing different exercises all at once, it seemed like Jill wasn't able to correct form -- or even demonstrate form. For example -- one of the cardio sessions was "squat jumps". She demonstrated them briefly, but when we started doing them, most people essentially were doing little bunny hops... not proper deep squats with jumps. A little weird.... but as Wil always tells me, I just need to run my own race, right?

Still -- camp is good. I'm happily sore again... obviously it's been A WHILE since I did any upper body or core work. And the facility is nice, and I'm just happy to be back to feeling active. I'm kicking myself a bit that I didn't start going last week -- to maximize the value of my voucher before leaving for Florida -- but this is still a great way to fill in the gap.

Looking at the Vast Fitness calendar, looks like the next session starts on Monday, January 7. Unfortunately I'll miss FIVE of the 16 sessions by running the marathon ... The session after that starts February 11 -- probably a much better time to go. 

So here's my plan:  work out with Sync (substitute boot camp!) till I leave for Florida. Then when I'm back, I can spend a week with Dillon checking out her new place. (She very kindly sent me a "work out with us for a week" token. Actually, she sent two... hmm...) Then I can start up with Kerry again a week after that. Sorted. 

Substitute Boot Camp

My beloved boot camp is on hiatus until January... so when I saw a deal on an INDOOR boot camp not too far from our house, well, I figured it would be a good substitute.

I went to workout today -- and had a blast. Now, it's not fun and playful -- I mean, no one really chatted during the workout, which was a little odd -- but I got a great workout, and, yes, it was very nice to be indoors.

We ran laps around the basketball court to warm up, then did sets of exercises -- squats, pushups, and abs -- interspersed with more laps for cardio.

I like the facility -- a "basketball academy", who knew? -- but once we get back from Florida I'm excited to start back up with Kerry!

(Oh, and, yeah, I'm already sore....)

Permission to run slowly...

The Total Immersion Swimming newsletter the other day included a story about giving yourself "the permission to swim slowly"... Now, I don't exactly have to give myself permission, since I'm just so slow. Bit I like the idea that, if you find that you have to stop and rest often, perhaps you're trying to go too fast. Anyway, it made me think about my ongoing challenges with pacing -- that I can't seem to stay on a steady pace if left to my own devices, but I can follow along if needed. I think that's something I should work on next year -- getting my pacing figured out!

Lighthouse Loop, Winter Version

Cold and wet half marathon .. Number 32 complete!0

Getting in to the Christmas spirit

The Fleet Feet store in Chico sent us this picture from their front window:

FRA-GEE-LAY.... it must be Italian! 

Now that's Run Happy Holidays!