Running a half marathon - Tip #1 - Meet your running partner early....

This is not, as many of you know, my first half marathon.  In fact, last year my friend and I ran a full, and that was the plan for this year as well, until the universe told us otherwise.  So, my running partner and I decided we would try to beat our personal best times.  (Maybe that is tip#0, that it is ok to realize something isn't in the cards, but you can still do awesome things!)  Mind you, I am not a fast runner, but I was definitely proud of us both for running our fastest halves yet!

This is us at about mile 6.  Sadly, we had a bit of a rough start.  We were supposed to meet up 20 minutes before the race near the start, and we both got screwed up.  Thankfully, we found each other somehow in the 8,000 or so people who were at the Eugene Marathon!!  

So tip #1 - make sure to really meet your partner early!!  I think because this was our 5th big run together, we were somewhat complacent.  I thought I'd know which roads they'd close, but those changed, and my friend accidentally told me the wrong street to meet.  (Not that it mattered, since I was late!)

After that, I'd love to say it was smooth sailing, but it was not....leading me to tip #2 - really watch your diet before the run.  I was pretty good about carbo-loading, but I think I ate something that didn't quite work for me, leading to a few unexpected bathroom breaks.  Another thing that I really should know better, but was being bad about!

But, eventually things evened out and the running went well.  Tip #3 - choose a really big (as in lot's of people) run for your first half or full!  It is so much fun and so invigorating.  Having tons of people to run with (and run past....hehe) and having tons of people cheering you on is fantastic.  It make for a much more enjoyable run, even when you want to die!  We have done a couple half marathons where the crowd was much smaller, and while still good, nothing like the big runs!

And that brings me to tip #4 - have someone there to cheer you on right at the end!  My hubby and some of our friends were there right before the finish, which totally gave me the energy to sprint as hard as I could over the finish line!

My running partners' partner got this awesome shot of me sprinting the end.  (I think the first thing I said to my running partner is that I hoped someone got a shot of me sprinting! hehe)

We did it!  So happy!

Finally, tip #5 - have people there for you at the end to take pics and tell stories of the run to.  And then go get lunch with everyone!

Happy trails! 

Ash

Sneaky gardening and sunny Sunday....

Yesterday was so sunny out!  It was a great day, filled with all kinds of good (and maybe not as good) activities...do let me tell....

First, my friend and I ran 14 miles!  We are prepping for the Eugene Marathon at the end of April, and boy was that a run!  Next weekend is 16 miles, and I am feeling a little wary of it.

Then, I got home and ate some yummy soup I'd made and showered and then ran out into the yard to hurry and get some sneaky gardening in.  I call it that because I didn't have much time and it was only sunny yesterday...now the cold front has moved back in.

For sneaky gardening, first I let the animals out to enjoy the yard and some of the early blooming flowers....

(I love little check butts!  So fluffy and cute!)

And then I jumped into the garden and turned over my first plot to be sowed...with peas (seen here), as well as kale, lettuce mix, spinach and arugula.  Yummy!  And I am just more and more proud of my overall situation in the garden...see the straw?  It is from the chicken coop, and I put it out in the winter to start breaking down with the fertilizer and now it will act as awesome mulch.  So happy!

But then....I seemed to forget my senses and left the gate open a little while cutting down brambles in the side yard...and the dog ran out!  Silly dog...he had been so good, but he seems to think it is a game when he gets out.

About 45 minutes later, my hubby and I caught up to him playing in a drainage ditch/canal thing in the water...

Look at that wet dog!  

Well, after that it was time to go get a beer and some food.  We met up with a friend at the Ninkasi Brewery (if you have yet to have Ninkasi, you are missing out!) Then we ended the evening watching the new Sherlock Holmes movie at our discount theater.

All in all, a pretty darn good day!

Hope you also had a great weekend!

Ash

26.2 miles...what could go wrong?

Well, I did it!  Last weekend, my friend and I finished our very first marathon!  26.2 miles.  It was so hard, and so wonderful at the same time!

The day before we went to the expo and bought some great new shirts to run in.  Mine said, "26.2 Miles....what could go wrong?" and on the back it listed all the things that could go go wrong.  My friend's said. "26.2 miles cuz I am full of crazy!"  I had to get that sticker, as well.

The day of the race was beautiful! They had registered about 8,000 runners for the half and full marathon that day!  Energy was super high!

We ran without walking at all for the first 20 miles!  It was awesome!   That is basically where we hit the wall.  Luckily we had peeps waiting with food right there.

The rest of the way was pretty tough.  We'd walk and run for the last 6, but right around 23 miles I did something to my foot.  It was pretty painful, but there was no way I was going to quit there!  I was able to run across the finish!

I made it to Hayward Field!  I promise this is me running...but lifting the legs very high at this point is basically impossible.  The legs (and my foot) are on fire!  But I made it!

Woohoo!  I could not look at the crowd, because I thought I'd cry!  I finished at 5 hours and 50 mins...that was about 13.24mins per mile.  I thought that was pretty darn good for our first time!

Here is our celebrating after pics....

We did it!  This is us "cheers-ing" our medals. :)

My hubby and I after the race.

So the bad news....you know how I said I hurt my foot?  Well here it was a few hours after the race...

And the next morn....

Needless to say, it was time for a trip to the doc.  3 hours later, I was told that I likely broke one of the small metacarpal bones in my foot.  Oops!  I got this awesome shoe to wear, though. :P

It is healing, but sadly I can't run for at least 2 weeks.  Bummer!  But it was totally worth it!

Take care and happy mothers day to all out there!

Ash

Acck! It has been a month already!

Oh no!  I can't believe that it has been a month since I have posted!

So quick run down of the last month....

1) Got to go to the Capitol to lobby our legislators on important issues in Oregon!  It was a ton of fun! (You can see what OLCV has been working on here at www.olcv.org)

2) I got to go to our awesome annual celebration and fundraiser with my hubby!  It was nuts!  There were over 1,200 people there.  You can see photos on our facebook page here.  And if you wonder what I do for a living, or why I do the work I do, check out this awesome video that we played at the dinner!



Also, I made my dress for the dinner!  What do you think?  I love vintage patterns!

(I also love my new program to play with photos...lol.)

3) My family was here!  I was happy to see mom and dad and great to have some time (never as much as I want) to just hang out with them!  

4) Earth Day and Earth Week!  I worked super hard all this month in prep for Earth Week.  We tabled in some of my counties, and did other great event.  But I am glad that it is done....whew!  And it was beautiful outside!

(This is a photo of our a capella band, On the Rocks behind our UO Earth Day table.)

5) Lot's of celebrating of birthdays!  There have been several April birthdays, including my hubby's!  We got to go to the roller derby over the weekend to celebrate a few b-day's....

And then a whole weekend of parties!

6) Playing with new baby chickens, big girls and my garden.  There is a ton of work to do, but it is going well so far.  And my new girls are getting big!

Pretty daffodils in our front yard!

This is robot...she is a Jersey Giant, so she will be huge!

Killface...our crazy Wyandotte.

Kiltro (a great movie, btw) our baby Welsummer.

This is Ji Rou....I actually can't remember what she is.  She is going to turn black and white, tho!

And, of course I can't leave out my big girls!  I thought this was cute. 

7) Training for the marathon!  This weekend, on May Day, my friend and I are going to run the FULL marathon!  I am not sure that we will survive, but we will try!

Here is the video of our course....

2011 Eugene Marathon Course from Brian Flindt on Vimeo.

I will make sure to get pics up of the run!

Have a great rest of your week!

Ash

Rain, rain...go away....

And come again another day...maybe in the summer!  It has been raining for weeks here in Eugene!  And sometimes we get a bit of hail as well.

Well, last weekend, in a small break we had (well, break in rain - we did have sun and hail at the same time, though), I got a chance to work in the garden in a bit and till it up.

Garden all tilled! 

A quick break to watch my fishes. :)

I loved seeing all the earthworms in my garden!

My overwintered lettuce and some bulbs (garlic or onion...I can't remember).

My chicks got to enjoy a bit of a break in the weather.  I took them into the garden to see the outside world for a bit.

They are reaching their awkward teenager phase.  Crazy hair-dos and finding their place in their pecking order.... Not all that different from people now that I think about it!

I can't wait for them to move outside, as cute and entertaining as they are.

Today, my friend and I went for a run (training for the full marathon this year).  We left with it seeming like a light rain and we stayed fairly dry...up until we were basically as far away as we could be from her house.  Then it started DUMPING!

But we muddled through, and are better for it!  We did about 13 miles today!

Hope your weekend was great (and a little less wet!)

Ash

So much to do, so little time-

Wow!  I can't believe it has already been a week and a half since my last post, and since Ric left!  It has been so busy, and I am definitely missing my man a lot.  We get to talk almost everyday, though, which helps a lot.

Since I was last online, I have worked a BUNCH, run quite a bit and then took Friday off to go camping with friends.  Here are a few pics from that adventure. :)  

My doggie, JB, all tuckered out after Andi and I took him for a run/tour of the campgrounds.

Somehow my tent was a mess within the first hour...lol.  Did I mention that it has been years (like 5 or 6) since I have been camping?  That is crazy ridiculous!  Not anymore, by golly!

Friends and doggie and our messy table :P

Camp fire!  Love it!

Then we came back on Saturday and picked up our half marathon packets.  And Sunday morn (yesterday now) we ran!  We did so great!  Pics to come, but we did the 13.1 mile half marathon in 2hrs and 24minutes!  (My friend was a little faster than me at the end, so she finished just a bit sooner).  It was about 15 mintes faster than our last one!

So tomorrow I am finally taking some time to get my house in order.  It is crazy dirty and messy, and then just tonight the neighbor knocked on my door to let me know the dog had gotten into his yard under the fence. :(  Guess I also have a yard and fence area to work on, too.

Have a good Labor Day!  

Ash

Done with the afghan, and other news!

I am finally done with my granny square afghan!  I am so excited, especially because I feel like I can now work on something new.

Before I show it off, I am also excited to say that my hubby finally got his money to go to China!  I don't know if I brought this up before, but we had been waiting on his financial aid to come through for his trip.  He got it this last Weds and we got his tickets.  I am so excited for him!  He will be staying at the Nine Dragons hostel in Beijing for the first 2 weeks and then traveling throughout China to learn kung fu and Chinese.  We can even follow his new travel blog here!

Also, I am going to get to run in the Eugene Women's Half marathon  in less than a month!  I am back up to 6 miles without dying, so should be ok if I keep pushing the next 27 days!

Ok, so here are the pics of the afghan!

It is sort of like a twin size, but great for sitting on the couch!  I always seem to have trouble with lighting when I take pics, though...

A close up...

Have a great rest of your weekend!  

Ash

It's been a week already?

Man!  This week flew by!

It was a great week, and very eventful!  Here is my breakdown ;)

Sunday: Was nice enough to go running with my friend.  It was one of those warm days when it would rain just a little when you were overheating.  Perfect!

Monday: Mostly work, but had a great time at a little party thrown by one of the campaigns I was working on.  Great people!

Tuesday: Dentist....not a super fun thing, but eventful none-the-less. ;)  I think it is funny that I went in to get cavities fixed, cavities that were not hurting at all, and then I left with a sore mouth and teeth that are now sensitive to heat...

Wednesday: Off to Bend!  I love traveling over to Bend, and I had some awesome meetings.  I am excited that my team there is great and growing all the time. It was also a pretty nice day, so I walked around downtown a little to get a better sense of what is around town.  They also have a super cute library.  I stayed with one of my volunteers, who had an awesome place, with solar power to supplement their power usage.  I love it!

Thursday: Left Bend early and drove to Portland.  It is great to be in the office with my co-workers.  Had a full day of meetings and got a lot done.  I also got my business cards finally!  Drove home and got a flat tire on the rental.... I think that is my family's curse.  My mom once got a wrench or something crazy stuck in her tire...

Friday: Changed the tire on the rental and drove it back to them.  Was nervous that they were going to charge a lot for a replacement tire, but they decided not to charge us at all!  Yay!  Then worked a little coffeeshop nearby, had a lunch meeting at a yummy Thai place, then drove out to a vineyard to pick up a wine donation for an event we have next week.  When we got home, I found out my sis got a job!  I am so excited for her, she had been looking for some time!  Good job, sis!

Friday eve- Hubby, Sis and I went to the Last Friday Art Walk with a new friend of our's and had a great time.  The Last Friday Art Walk is kind alternative, and my friend and I had fun with it.  Namely with our new purchase of face accessories....

Have a great weekend everyone!

Ash

Video of me running!

Had to post the video of me crossing the finish line!  They cut away from the finish line just in time to completely miss my friend, though!  It think it is not super flattering, but still cool to show that I ran across the line!



I am at about 2:47 or so...

Ok, now to do a little crafting for friends!  Finally!

Ash

I did it! The Eugene Half Marathon!

Well I know I have not posted in some time, but things have been super crazy, and the little time I have had off, I have either not wanted to be on the computer, or I was out running to get ready for yesterday.

Yesterday, my friend and I ran the half marathon!  It was awesome! 13.1 miles from start to finish, and we only stopped once to go to the restroom. We ran the rest of the time, which neither of us thought we could do.  It was so cool, and running through the finish line was something else!

Here is a photo of the crowd.  There were about 8,000 people participating in either the half or the whole marathon:

We started at the back because we thought we would be kinda slow, but next time, we will start a little further up because we ended up having to work our way through a lot of the walkers.  But it was so cool to see that many people there and all doing what we were doing!

And this is my friend and I getting ready to take off! Thanks to my hubby for coming down to the start line in the crazy crowd to get our photo!

I am so glad I did it, and my friend and I are already starting to figure out what is next!

I also have to share this awesome shirt I bought myself:

Ha!  I had to get it!  It also says it on the bottom of the shirt on the back...hehe.

And here is the bandanna I got for my doggie:

 

Ha!  Who knew I would actually enjoy this!?  

Ok, got to run! ;)

Ash

Happy Earth Day to all!

Happy Earth Day!

I have been celebrating Earth Day all week!  It helps that the organization I work for is environmental, because that has kicked off the week with a great event we do called "Eat for the Earth" in which restaurants give a certain percent of their proceeds to OLCV when you eat there.  Check it out here!

I also registered for the half marathon!  I am totally stoked, and feeling a little like I am crazy! :)  But when you sign up for the run, they have a spot where you can buy carbon credits to off-set the footprint of the race.  I am sorta poor, so I only bought one, but I feel pretty good about that!

Tomorrow I go to Portland to my org's big fundraising event of the year!  I get to get all dressed up and schmooze with people, something I love to do. It should be quite the Earth Week event to be at!

Then I come home, and on Saturday I run a canvass for a local candidate running for county commissioner.  She is great, and is also a champion for the environment!

So happy Earth Day and week to you all!

Ash

New job craziness-

SO the new job is great!  It is keeping me really busy already though.  And while there are some great things to working at home, there are also some bad things, like feeling like I need to work during all my waking hours.  I will definitely need to work on that one!

There are also a couple of other things that being so busy with the job hinders:

1) Running - I finally went running today for the first time in like 2 weeks or so!  I have to say that I was sort of happy that the dog was so tired.  Made me feel better!  I can't believe I am doing a half marathon in less than a month.

2) Garden - I am so behind with the garden! But on the bright side, my starts are doing great!

Baby tomatoes!

3) The housekeeping- I have yet to train the hubby to really help with the house work...lol.  We had been working hard at cleaning up the garage and doing dump and thrift store runs, but then I was gone the last couple weeks for the new job...so it seems we have taken a step back.  Oh well, there is always this weekend!

But even with all these things, I am really loving the new job.  I love being in the know, working with local elected officials, and helping save the environment at the same time.  :)

Ash

Running mishaps...

Thought I would share an update on running.  I am having a hard time with finding time to run.  :-P  I think the time is there, but I jam pack the day full of other stuff and forget to run.  I need to try and build it into the schedule or something. For example, I am in Portland and had the opportunity to run last night but didn't bring my running shoes!  Oh well, I am still doing the marathon in May, by golly!

My 100 Mile Running Challenge

So my friend has been challenging herself to running 100 miles in a 1 month period.  I told her I needed something like that, and we can up with my 100 mile challenge.

I will run 100 miles before the marathon in May.  So basically 50 miles per month, which breaks down to about 2.5 miles 5 days a week. And I started yesterday with running 5.25 miles!!  Yay!  I can't believe it!

Follow my challenge by checking out my calendar on the side!

Happy trails!

Ash

Finally posting! Looong but eventful week

The past week was crazy, but very eventful as well.  Here are the highlights:

Monday - Saw a random giant stuffed bear on the hood of a postal van.  When I walked back by it was gone...but it made me stop and smile.  I didn't get a pic tho...

Monday eve- I volunteer with a environmentally mined political group and we interviewed some of the people who are running for our county's commission seat to see who we would endorse.  It is really interesting!

Tuesday eve - My honey bought me a dishwasher!  I have been wanting one forever and we had a little extra from taxes to buy one.  We got it at Best Buy - the people there were sooo nice and helpful (and we got points... :)  Here is the pic....

Wednesday eve - Went grocery shopping with my hubby and sister, and after got side-tracked and stopped by the Hollywood Video that is going out of biz.  I found (and am super excited about!!) the first 2 seasons of this show that I loved called "The Pretender" which premiered in 1996. 

Thursday eve- I went running with my friend and I managed to run the furthest I have so far....drumroll.....5.3 miles!!  I was sooo excited! (And so sore the next day!)

Friday - I came across another randomly placed stuffed animal.  Maybe it was just a coincidence....but I like to think that someone is placing stuffed animals around for people like me to come across. I got a pic of this one.  I love koalas!

Later Friday - I got the opportunity to speak on a panel about how to help the environmentally friendly elected official.  This was at a huge Enviro Law conference they do here.  It is always nerve-wracking for me to speak publicly, but I am always glad that I did (whether or not I think I sound awful :P )

Here I am on the panel.  Not the best pic, but I am the one with the animated arms and white shirt:

Even later Friday - Went out with friends, and had a blast!

Saturday - Went running with my friend again (this time slightly incapacitated due to the previous night's shenanigans) and was able to make it 5.25 miles.  Not too shabby!  And my friend and I came up with my challenge for running.  It will be in another post. 

The rest of the day on Saturday was spent enjoying the gorgeous weather.  I am pretty sure it should not have been as nice as it was in late February, (and they say climate change is a hoax...lol) but I took advantage of it.  I worked on getting my new garden bed set up (almost there) and on trying to tame the invasive species of blackberry brambles.  They tried to get the best of me, but I won!

Then we met back up with friends and went out on the town.  Had a great time and saw some other friends!

Today - I plan on installing my new dishwasher.  I bought myself a jigsaw yesterday (also very exciting to me) and can now install the dishwasher and work on other little projects.  Maybe I will finish the garden beds, too!

Enjoy your Sunday!

Ash

My new challenge-

So my friend has started running and she is loving it.  And now she has totally gotten me into it! I have almost no lung capacity (and no...I don't even smoke...it would be bad if I did!!) so it has been hard going, but I have decided that I am going to do the Eugene Marathon in May.  I will be doing the half marathon which is 13 miles. Below is a little video of the whole course.


Eugene Half Marathon Course 2010 from Brian Flindt on Vimeo.


So my goal is to just make it through this!  Eeeps!

Last night, my friend and I went running together and she is up to 5.5 miles without stopping.  I had been able to do 2 without stopping, but I am super stoked, last night I was able to go just about 3 miles, then walked for a bit and did one more.  This gives me hope that I can actually do this marathon!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Ric, my hubby, will be doing it too!  But he will most likely ditch me...he is actually a runner, unlike me. :) He wants to push himself and see how good a score he can get.

Now all I need is to make a concrete training plan and stick to it.... Any ideas? :)

Ash