Just a short quick post

December...ah, December...I often refer to you as Dismember.  Mostly for what you do to my wallet.  Three years ago, I ran my first race, the Portland Jingle Bell Run.  A simple 5K for the Arthritis Foundation.  That first race was COLD...and I ran in a kilt.  Since that time many things have changed, and I have run many more races.  I might still run this years...I don't even know when it is, but life is changing for me, and I will need to get my training schedule back into order.  I need the running more than ever as a means of maintaining my sanity.  I will get back to posting regularly.  I need this as much as the running.  There are a couple of other things I am working on as well, and as they come to fruition, I may share them.  They are for me, and I will jealously hold them to my chest.  Thanks for reading, thanks for commenting.

Portland Marathon part two----sorry for the delay.

Picking up where we left off last installment…We had gotten to downtown Portland and parked.  We had found our way to the correct coral for ME…the others were in different corals.  I decided that it was time to drop off the bag I brought and said, “I’m gonna go check the bag.”  I walked over to the bag check…this is the same pretty much everywhere, garbage bag, sharpie, and a label.  You dump your stuff into the garbage bag, write your bib number on the label, slap that on the bag, hand to volunteer.  There were more than a few confused by this process and the poor guys working the table were explaining it over and over…

Hello? Is this thing ON?

Wow!  When was my last post?  During the Reagan Administration?  OK, it wasn't THAT long ago, but it surely feels like it.  Where did the time go?  Last thing I remember, was the Run for the Roses in June, and meeting Stacie and Kim.  Next thing I know, I have just finished the Portland Marathon...slower than my first one.  Wait, is that right?  Yup, nearly 4 minutes SLOWER than my first one.  What the heck?  Did I crash out?  Did I hit the wall harder than last time?  Did I injure myself?  Stop for a beer at the tavern at about mile 19? (no but I did think about it)  And, why on earth would I say I had the BEST time ever?  Welcome back to the ramblings of me...

Run for the Roses, and I got to meet a few fantastic people.

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, on the west side of the Cascades.  I like the rain.  I do everything in the rain.  It is a function of having grown up in the rain.  I firmly believe the State bird should be the SLUG, and the state flower is MOSS.  That or the razor fern.  I actually like ferns.  I move around, I have been in places that have two seasons, and in places with four, complete with snow and ice and such.  I, however, prefer to live here in the PNW, where we have four seasons, Spring (warming rain), Summer (warm rain), Fall (cooling rain) and Winter (cold rain).  Why would I want to live somewhere that averages three feet of rain a year?  Everything stays mostly green all year round.  I can run in January outside, and not worry about my water bottle freezing, and I can get out in July and August in the mornings and not fight with temps in the triple-digits.  What does this have to do with the race on Saturday?  Well, for the past few months, we have had temps that barely reached 60, Saturday was 60 at 7:00 am.  By the time the race was well under way it was hot to my moss and algae covered self.  But I still had a lot of fun.

Signage for Saturday!!

Who is going to be running in the Run for the Roses in Sherwood this coming Saturday?  I will be going out to get the stuff to make signs for the path.  Also, if you tell me which race you are running, I can make sure they are in good spots to give a little boost at the right times.  I will warn everyone that is running the Pikermi (13.1 miler) that the little climb up to mile 8 will be a bit of a tough one if you don't do hills often.  It isn't a huge climb it is just a bit steep for a short distance and everyone that runs it gives that little road a nod for being just a little tough.  Just leave me a comment or send me an e-mail at nstrickland007-at-gmail-dot com and let me know what name you want on the signs.  I am looking forward to possibly meeting some of you.

And for all the service members in all the countries in the world that have served ever, and especially those who served when our "leaders" were being less than intelligent, Thank you.  Your service allows me and all of us who post blogs from around the world to be able to do so.

Rum Run!!! OR How my kids didn't get their medals

This past Sunday was the 10 Cane Rum Run to raise money for the Children's Cancer Association.  A worthy cause, and one for which we are semi connected to.  You can read why here.  So the day dawned just about perfect for a race day.  It was overcast and about 50.  Nice weather for putting on the running shoes.  I was dreading the thought of having the sun come out and warming things up.  I put the finishing touches on the Strata that we would be eating for brunch and programmed the oven to start cooking while we were out.  The sitter showed up to watch Number 4, and the rest of us headed to the van.  All looking quite sporty in our black shirts.

Just a couple of weeks away

The Rum Run is next weekend, I have no idea if it is sold out or not.  But, the Oregon Run for the Roses in Sherwood is only a couple of weeks away.  I am figuring out how to build a "free standing" banner so that my girls can decorate it.  I thought it might be fun to have our blogger names {to protect the paranoid ;-)}on it.  It was just a thought and one that can be ignored if you choose.  I've had a bad training week, and am looking forward to re-booting this week. 

Cheers!

How to pick your race....

I posted a few months ago that I was looking forward to running the three races in Sherwood this year.  This is because I can walk to the start/finish lines.  I like to support my local races and they were fun last year, and I see no reason for this year's races to be any different.  HOWEVER, sometimes things get "picked for you".  This year, and maybe for many to come, I have a new race to run.  I joked about this race last week because I just can't see the name 10 Cane Rum without seeing "iocane" from the "Princess Bride".  BUT, there is another reason to run this race....their beneficiary; the Children's Cancer Association.  The reason this becomes even more of an importance, is that there is a tiny little girl that is fighting this horrible, terrible, insidious disease.  Her families story can be found here: http://anopportunityforjoy.wordpress.com/

Crazy is defined as....

Signing up for a race that is 12 months and a bit away.  Seriously, at 1:50 am on Saturday I mean Sunday morning I signed up for my third inaugural event.  How in the heck can I find new, never run before races more than once or twice?  I'm seriously thinking this is kinda cool.  I missed the Fueled by Fine Wine run last year, which ended up being fine since I was laid up with a bum ankle.  But, so far this year, I have nailed the first ever marathon from Vernonia to Banks put on by the ORRC.  And in a month the first ever Pikermi in Sherwood, for the Run for the Roses.  Like them on Facebook and if they hit 500 some lucky two people get in for free!

Tempo run completed

Not really sure I would chalk this one up to the success column, but I did run the 4 miles in the middle faster than I did the two on the ends.  I did my normal 5 mile loop, and added one on the beginning for the warm-up.  As I was getting to the "starting point" I pulled out my cell phone (its buttons are easier to hit on the fly than my $10 watch's) and kicked up the speed a bit.

Not really liking the weights

I had signed up for ActivTrax at my YMCA a while ago, with the intent of getting some upper body work in.  Since I'm kinda good on the lower body part.  I still chuckle when they ask me about my cardio workouts.  Anyway, I signed up for it, and it is kinda cool.  It is like SmartCoach for weights.  Not sure where all it is available, but the system is Free (my favorite price for stuff like this) and it gives you a list of exercises, what weights to use, and how many reps to do.  Kinda easy to follow.  On the web-site there are even instructions with a little looping video, so if you aren't sure what exactly a 90 degree side oblique crunch is or how to do it, you can see.

Two, Two, Two PR's in One (blog entry that is)

So, it has been a bit of an eventful 30 days or so. March 13 was the Shamrock Run in Portland.  Last year was fun, going out for a little run with 21,000 other people.  This year, they bumped it up to 30,000 people running.  It was my first 15K, so no stress on beating a time for a PR, it was an automatic.  Then just a bit under a month later, I ran a lovely little marathon.  It was an inaugural event that drew a bit under 200 people to run it, including some guy who flies all over America to run in small local races to win them.  Granted the guy has run 3 marathons in sub-3 hours three weeks running, but really, get a life guy, go pony for the big races and learn some humility.  So.....on to the reports.

This is REALLY long...pack a lunch.

New Post Coming Soon

I don't have a trailer for it, but I promise there will be a fully qualified High Definition 1080P post up before Easter.

You can go the distance---We'll find out in the long run

I would like to take a quick moment to say, "Thank you" to all the people who take a moment or two out of their lives to read my blog and to follow it...I noticed that I may have a couple few that I haven't sent e-mails to, and I feel kinda bad about it.  Also, I am following fewer blogs than I have followers, so that means if I am not following yours, let me know...I will make amends.

I was reading Danny's blog yesterday, and a thought struck me... Has anyone done a "tag you're it, meme" thing, that covers WHY you started blogging, and whether or not the reasons have changed?  So, I won't actually tag anyone, because, I'm slightly opposed to that practice, but if you DO decide on your own to publish one, let me know, I am growing fascinated by the different personalities that I am meeting via the different blogs I read.

Good run Sunday

Sunday came, and it came earlier that it should have....turns out getting up at 6:00 am to go for a long slow 10 miler is really hard when you stay up with the neighbors drinking wine, or scotch depending on the presence of a "Y" Chromosome, until 12:00.  We had an extra girl that night so I would be on the hook for pancakes in the am before the extra had to go home...so 6:00 am or after breakfast was on the tab.

Wha??? It's February 17th?!?!

Where, oh where has my little month gone? Oh where, oh where, can it be?  I just finished crying about my team's lost and now March is staring at me!!!  OK, so I'm not gonna win a Grammy (was that this last weekend?) but I get by.  So a quick recap of the last couple of weeks: foot hurt, sidelined my training; I got laid-off and am now working on finding a new gig.  If you want more details...and I hope you do (I might hide another song in there) you will follow on.

Where to start

Well, I'll start with the bit that I can control.  I haven't run much this week at all.  My ankle/foot is giving me grief right now.  I think I tweaked it running the other morning as the road was icing over.  I slipped a couple of times and kinda landed hard on it.  Then the next run, early last week, I hit a patch of mud and slime and slipped again.  I caught myself, but it was right after that, the foot started to complain about being treated so poorly.

Busy couple of weeks...and a bum ankle

So I have a lot to post maybe, I don't know.  Tonight won't be the night, but I'm here, I'm alive, and I been drinkin'.  Work, life, and a bum ankle are all getting in the way of getting ready for marathon number 1, but I will post a longer disertation on what has been goin' on soon.  Promise.

Sunday's long run was WET

Wet, yup, that's the word for it.  I hit the bricks at a little before 9:00 am, and the rain started in and let me know that yes, as a matter of fact, I am nuts.  I had planned on doing a nice easy 14 miler.  That would be about .9 miles longer than my previous longest run.  It was warm, about 54*, so I wore just shorts, a light shirt with my LiveStrong pull-over over than, and my hat.  Nano fully charged and ready and an Excel Gel Strawberry/Kiwi for mid-run refuel, my fully loaded Nathan Speed 4 belt, and out the door I went.

Hey world! With update

Hey legs, this one is for you too.  I hope you don't take it personally, but you really need to get with the program and SOON.

I'm going for a run tonight, and then again on Sunday.  Legs you hear that, you have some work to do.

Mi Mi Mi Mi!!!! Stylish Indeed!! Harrumph!

So XLMIC thinks that I am stylish.  Must be the occasional references to kilts, and the one or two pictures of me wearing a kilt while running in a race or three.  So the rules are:

1. I must make a post linking back to the person who has nominated me for this prestigious award.
2. I must share 7 things about myself.
3. I must pass on the honor to 10 new bloggers I really like.
4. I must contact these bloggers and tell them they've been awarded this Stylish Blogger Award.

So, number 1 is done, and I will "stop the insanity" here on this one with me...I shall forego  numbers 3 and 4.  Mostly because I only know so many bloggers and you all have already been tagged in these things...and I also already called "BASE" once.

Races in Shewood

Welcome to my post bragging about all the cool runs in Sherwood.  So for a small town of 16,000 and a little bit, we have a lot of runners.  We also have few triathletes that live and train here as well.  On any given day when I am out I see a bunch of people out pounding the pavement into submission.  So what does a small town with a healthy population of runners do?

It is official

Yup, slipped completely off the deep-end.  I've gone bananas, crackers.  I'm nuts; N V T S nuts.  I am bib number 1481 for the Portland Marathon in October.  That is marathon number 2 for the year.  This is completely crazy, since I have held for a very long time that people who run marathons are insane.  Who the heck am I to run one let alone two, considering that I only really took this game up last year at this time.