Bridge of the Gods half marathon

I have a lot to post since I haven't written anything in almost 3 weeks.  A lot happened in August and I haven't been good at keeping up with writing here, so you are going to get at least 2 posts back to back. =)

August 10th I went to Cascade Locks, OR to run the Bridge of the Gods half marathon, which was hard!  I did not train for that race figuring that since my marathon training had my long run as 14 miles that week I would be fine.  Well, the Bridge of the Gods half is pretty hilly.  Well, this year the first half was, with long uphills.  I guess that the usual route is on trails in the hills, but last year there was a HUGE fire in that area (that residents are still angry about and talked about, some kids lit off some fireworks in the hills in September last year, during a very, very dry spell, and sparked a fire that burned 48,861 acres) that made the trail the route is usually on unusable still. If the route had been on those trails I don't know if I would have finished.

I mentioned the reasons why I did this race in my last post so I won't make this long post longer by rehashing it.  However, I will say it was my Mom's birthday, so I wrote on the back of my legs (or my Dad did). 

I met up with my high school friend at the start line and we talked about not wanting to hold each other up.  She said she was averaging about 9.30 min/miles and I mentioned that my most current long run was an average of about 9.45 min/mile (actually it was more like 9.50).  She said that sounded "heavenly."  She also said that she doesn't talk when she runs, and I said that was fine because I always run alone.  So we put an earbud in one of our ears and off we went . . . together. 

The start was going over the bridge which was pretty cool because it was a grate and you could see all the way to the river below (I have no issues with heights, by the way). 

Like I said, the first half was hilly, really just two long uphills (with corresponding downhills).  My friend has a different approach to hills than I do . . . I don't know if you remember my San Juan half experience last year where two guys walked up all the hills and then ran down them and still beat me by a decent margin.  Well, my friend had a similar strategy, slow uphill and speed up on the downhill.  This is not how I train, I always slow down on the downhill, not only am I afraid of hurting myself, but it's also when I recoup from the uphill.  Well, we were doing 8 and 8 and a half min/miles on the downhill.  I knew I was going too fast, but I thought I'd be okay.

I wasn't.  At about the 7 mile mark she got a few feet ahead of me and I just couldn't catch up.  Finally I embraced the slowness (my legs were killing me) and let her go without saying anything.  She would have slowed down if I had said something and I didn't want to hinder her.  I finished, but the last half was achingly slow.

I hadn't seen my friend since our high school graduation.  In fact, I use the term "friend" loosely.  While we were friendly in high school we didn't hang out or do anything together.  I graduated 23 years ago, and I haven't talked to her at all since then.  We follow each other on Facebook but that's it.  We had some time after the race to talk, and we discussed doing another race together.  One of those conversations that go like "That was fun, we should do it again." "Yes it was, we should totally run together again."

Cascade Locks is a tiny town.  I'm from a tiny town (well, a farm, but I went to school in a tiny town) and Cascade Locks may be smaller.  Well, looking at Google, it says it's population is 1,158 as of 2016 which is double my hometown (550), but it looks tiny.  My dad and I were going to "explore" the town after my race on Sunday, but when we went out on Saturday to get my packet we drove through the town and there was nothing to "explore." 

He really wanted to go on a sternwheel boat tour that they had there, so we did that on Saturday and that was a lot of fun.

That's my dad under the "C" on the top.

Maddox was pretty done with the boat by the time we got off, it was a 2 hour tour (I had the Gilligan's Island song in my head the whole time).  After we were done with the tour I picked up my packet and explored the finish line. 

On Sunday after my race, since there was nothing to explore, we went back to the campground and hung out there for the afternoon.  We stayed at a KOA, so there was a pool and bikes to rent.  My dad kept talking about having to rent the bikes, he thought the campground was expensive enough they could have offered the bikes for free.  Maddox had been asking to ride a bike all weekend, so I decided to rent one ($4 for a half hour) for him. 

He also had been enjoying the pool the entire weekend, so I spent some time in the pool with him and then lounged on a chair while he swam (floated, really).

There may or may not have been most of a bottle of
wine in this water bottle.

We did end up going out to dinner that evening.  And then we left Monday morning to go home, well, Maddox and I went home, my dad went to Long Beach, WA because the next week we had a family camping trip scheduled with my sisters in Bayview State Park (up near my house). 

Overall, it was a great trip.  I really enjoyed the time with my dad and I think Maddox had a blast, especially swimming. 

Running

I decided to do the Bridge of the Gods half marathon this weekend.  I talked to my dad about it and he sorta jumped on it.  I think he gets tired of being at home, so going away for a weekend appealed to him.  And I think it will help him with my Mom's birthday on Sunday.

I saw on Facebook a week ago a picture on an article of a couple people standing with their backs to the camera looking at a lake, they were wearing shorts and they had MOM written on the back of their calves (I don't even think it was an article about running or Mom's, but I can't remember and of course can't find it now).  It gave me the idea of doing that during my run on Sunday.  So, I'm going to write MOM on one leg and 8/12/1947-3/5/2018 on the other.  Maybe I'll get creative and use a heart for the O in Mom. . .  However, my Dad is the one that will have to write it, so we'll see.  =)

I say that getting away for a weekend appealed to my Dad, but we are also going camping the following week with my sisters, so it's not as if we have nothing planned.  But I really do think going somewhere other than their house for my Mom's birthday is good.

I've had a pretty emotional several weeks lately.  I have really been missing her.  This last Sunday marked 5 months, and I can't believe it's been so long and at the same time, I feel like I haven't seen her in forever.  I really, really miss her. . .

Enough of that . . .

On Saturday I went hiking with my sister.  We just went to a trail in the middle of a local town, but it was a nice little hike.  It ended up being about 4 1/2 miles and had some pretty good hills.  We talked a lot, some about my Mom, and it was really nice hanging out with her.  We haven't done anything, just the two of us, for awhile now.  

After our hike we got a pedicure.  Her husband knows someone (or she knows someone, I don't know) who got "metallic" polish, so we went to the place that was recommended and asked for metallic pedicures.  We didn't realize we were getting shellac on our toes, and then it didn't turn out "metallic."  When I got my nails done the next day at my regular place, she called it "cat eyes." It's pretty, but we paid double what we pay for a normal pedicure.  We both agree that while we like it, we won't be doing it again. 

This is what we asked for.

This is what we got.

Oh well, it's pretty . . .

So . . . running.  I'm feeling really good about my runs lately.  I did 12 miles on July 29th (which I wrote about) and last Sunday I did 8.  I'm still about a mile behind in my long runs, but I'm feeling good about catching up.  I don't really know why, but I felt the 8 mile run was harder than the 12 miles the week before.  Maybe it's just my body getting back into the swing of running so regularly again.  I wasn't being very consistent before this month.  In fact, in July I only ran a total of 62 miles.  Last year I ran 94 miles and in 2015 when I was training for my first marathon I ran 89 miles.  (Then last year I dropped way back in my mileage in August to "heal" my hip "issue" that I know now is unhealable.) 

This weekend I'll run 13 for the Bridge of the Gods run instead of the scheduled 14, but next week I'm thinking I'll run 15, which I'm supposed to run.  My weekly runs are still much lower than I'm supposed to be running.  Last week (if you count the hike with my sister) I ran 10 miles instead of the 12 I should have run (not counting the long run).  This week I'm hoping to get most of the weekly miles in.  I'm planning on running 6 (instead of 7) tonight.  And I'm haven't done a longer pace run.  The only pace runs I've done are 3 miles instead of the 6 I am supposed to.  Tonight I'm supposed to do 7 miles at race pace (that's under 9.09 min/mile) and I doubt I'll get it. . . I shouldn't have that mentality.

Last night I ran 4 miles in 80 degree weather.  I know, I know, there are people running in much hotter weather than that, but I'm not used to that.  I complain every year about how hot my evening runs are, and every year I don't wake up in the morning to do them.  This week I had my alarm set to go off at 4am two mornings in a row and I didn't get up. (It's just soooooo early!)  My entire run last night was done thinking about my neighbor's pool . . . so I text them as I was about to get home and asked if I could come fall into it.

That was the best swim I've had in years.  It felt sooooo heavenly.  And I didn't even care that my makeup was running down my face.  I went straight there after my run, took off my shoes and electronics and jumped in. It was amazing.  =)  I plan to do it again tonight.

12 miles

I heard a person at the courthouse (I work with the municipal court and have a cubicle there even though I don't work for the city) talk about The Bridge of the Gods run over the Washington/Oregon border, then the next day someone I know on facebook said they were going to do it.  So now I'm thinking about it.  However, it's on August 12th, which is my Mom's birthday.  I have been planning on spending that weekend with my Dad at his house, but I talked to him and he's going to look into campsites for his 5th wheel and maybe we'll spend my Mom's birthday there.  It may be a good distraction.  Besides, (this is super selfish) it's really hard to spend time at my parents' house nowadays. 

Well, I am continuing with marathon training.  I'm not sure if it's a great idea or not, but I'm doing it.

It's been very hot here (for western Washington).  We've had more above average days in July than in recorded history, and the last week has been 85 degrees and above (yesterday was 90 and above).  The average for this time of year is 77 degrees.  It makes it hard to go run.  I've been telling myself I'll run in the morning, but then I don't drag myself out of bed.  Last week I did do a run on Tuesday in the evening, but then couldn't get the gumption to go on Thursday.  I did go on Friday, but it was a late run.  I think I started at 8:30pm.  Saturday I ran on the treadmill.  That's been my Saturday normal lately.  Chris and Damian both work Saturdays now and I don't want to wait till they get home.  I set up 2 fans facing me, turn the airconditioner on and the ceiling fan, and it hasn't been too horrible.  Well, the treadmill is inherently horrible, but not too hot. 

Sunday remains my long run day.  2 weeks ago I ran 8 miles and was up really early, just woke up, :and was out the door by am.  Last week I ran 10 miles but didn't leave till 9am.  I don't think it was as hot last sunday as it was yesterday.  I wanted to get up early yesterday, but when my eyes opened at 5:15, I couldn't drag myself out of bed.  I didn't get up until 6:15, then I have to drink coffee and water and eat, so again it was almost 9 before I left.  By the time I got back my shirt felt like I had soaked it in a sink, it was so hot. 

But it was a good run. 

 Do you remember 3 years ago when I was chased by bees?  Well, I went on a new-to-me road yesterday and found that I was running next to a bunch of hives.  I calmly stopped (to take a picture) then started running again, saying outloud "I'm not here to hurt me, don't fly into me, please!"  Thankfully I did not get stung or "swarmed."

I have a (slightly irrational) fear of stepping on manholes and other covers on the sidewalk or road.  I passed this one, and thought, yep, that's why I don't step on them.  I'm afraid the lid won't be on tightly and I'll either fall into one or break my ankle. . . People laugh at me when I go for walks with them, but I'll be the one laughing if they fall through.  ; )

I am not doing good on pace runs.  In fact, the farthest pace run (under 9.09 min/mile average) is only 3 miles, and I'm supposed to be doing 6 miles.  I guess I just need to try one, but I know I'm slow and I'm scared of failing.  Last week I did 3 miles at an average of 9.03 min/mile and it just about killed me.  I'd rather do hills, but I'm not doing that either . . . If I want to break a 4 hour marathon I need to be working on speed.  =/  My 12 miler yesterday was actually spot on for a long run, but without the speed work, I won't get faster than that.  Last year, my last run in July (13 miles) averaged 9.28 min/mile and my 6 mile pace runs were under 9 min/miles (closer to 8:30 min/miles), but then I took 2 weeks off to heal my hip (who would have guessed it was arthritis) and never got back into the swing of marathon training, so became super slow. 

I guess we'll see how my August goes.  I should do a pace run this Saturday . . .

It's been awhile.

I haven't written anything in awhile.  I guess I haven't felt like I have anything to say.  Should I write just to put words down?  I don't know.  The last that I wrote talked about the arthritis in my hip and Pars Defect, well, it turns out I do not have Pars defect.  After my second x-ray I got a call from my doctor's office came back with different results.  I have a slight narrowing between two of my vertebrae that is natural aging, and no pars defect at all.  So that is good news.  Although, I really thought that the ache in my leg was due to a pinched nerve and the pars defect fit that nicely, but it's likely from the osteoarthritis forming in my hip.  =| 

I have been extremely unhappy with the doctor's office, they tell me I have a degenerative disease, that from everything I've read, can be slowed down with proper care, and yet they haven't told me anything about what I should do to receive "proper care."

I've been running, not as much as I should be if I'm going to run my last marathon this year, but I am working on it.  And I'm slow.  So slow.  I'm averaging close to 10 min miles even on my short runs, I would like to achieve an under 4 hour marathon before giving it up, but at this rate, it's not going to happen. 

I also had an epiphany a couple weeks ago.  Ragnar was happening, and it just so happens to run through my town (right by my old house), and I was at the store when it was going on and I saw several vans that were obviously part of it.  I thought, that is something I've wanted to do for years, so I need to do it.  I'm gonna have to quit doing the really long distance thing sooner or later (probably sooner than I'd like) so I my goal is to do it next year.  I know several people that have run it, so hopefully it won't be too hard to get into a group.

I've been plugging away at school.  I think that is probably a big reason I haven't written much.  I'm writing a lot for school.  I'm in my 3rd class (the first one being a short one that was an "Intro to Grad studies" type of class). 

We went on vacation the first week of July, which I'm sorta sad about because it's already over. 

We visited my Mom's grave, the first time Maddox was there,
on the way to the Lake.

Schoolwork on vacation sucks

My dad visited while we were there, his head
was getting sunburned so I put my hat on him

We were there over the 4th of July

Immediately after we came home I got sick.  I took some new antibiotics and those made me even sicker.  A week after coming home from vacation I went to Utah for a work conference.  It was fun, but not very relaxing.

I went on one hike while I was there.

I visited the Salt Lake on my last day.

Don't put your feet in really salty water if you
have a cut.  My toe hurt for hours afterwards

And I visited the Mormon temple

I also ordered custom decals for my car and my family.  I love it.  This is a tattoo that I got with 2 of my sisters and my Mom, so it now has even more meaning to me.

And that's the extent of my July.

A "hip issue"

I don't know if you remember my "hip issue" that I had last summer, well, I've never thought it totally went away, although my hip feels better, it hasn't been very flexible no matter how much I stretch it.  And I've had an ache in my thigh on the same side for a little while, which I attributed to my tight hips.  I just figured I had knots in my hip that were pressing on a nerve, so I've been "rolling" it with a lacrosse ball against a wall.

I decided I should get it looked at to make sure it wasn't something more serious.  I was thinking cancer.  So this week I went to the doctor and she ordered some x-rays on my leg.  Yesterday I heard back from the dr's office . . . my leg is fine.

However, the x-ray caught my hip and a small part of my lower back.  I have "mild osteoarthritis" in my hip.  And something called pars defect.  After lots of time on google, I discovered that pars defect is caused by a stress fracture in your lower back.  There is a thin bone that can be broken and if not treated right away it doesn't heal correctly.

The "spondylolsis" is just the fancy word for the stress fracture.  The "spondylolisthesis" is how it heals if not treated.  The biggest incident I remember, where I always said I "cracked my tailbone" was one time when Damian was very young, 3 or 4, and I was not with my husband.  He was in a timeout in his room and I was sitting at the top of the stairs listening to him cry.  I decided to sneak down the stairs and was trying to tiptoe, well, my toes missed the second from the top step and I went airborne and landed on the third from the bottom step on my backside.  I had just gotten a job and didn't have insurance, so I didn't go to the doctor.

Well, over time the vertebrae that was fractured starts to slip forward, which can cause all sorts of problems, including, you guessed it, a pinched nerve. 

The white line indicates the vertebrae
that has slipped forward. (not my x-ray)

The most common symptom is lower back pain, which I don't have, but according to what I've found online other symptoms are leg pain, numbness, and/or weakness. 

Anyway, what I've seen online for treatment is surgery if it's bad enough.  They would fuse my vertebrae together.  The good news about this is that (again according to the internet) full recovery is often achieved. 

So at this point, I don't know where I stand with all this information.  This is all stuff I found online.  I had to go back to get another x-ray on my back, the first one wasn't for my back, it was for my leg, it just happened to catch my lower back.  I went yesterday for that x-ray and I probably won't hear anything till next week.

And honestly, at this moment, I don't know whether to be more concerned with the pars defect or the arthritis.  If the pars defect can be fixed, then the arthritis is the more serious condition. That won't get better.  All of this will affect my running.  Which really has me depressed. 

the last 3 weeks

Wow, my last post was on 5/16, that's 3 weeks ago.  Huh, well, I haven't had a lot to say lately, as I've said before.

I did start running again in May, which I think I covered already.  I hit 54 miles for May, so that's pretty good. If I plan to do the Tri-Cities marathon again this year, then training starts at the end of June.  I have to be up to 8 miles for my long runs by the first week.  I am currently running about 5 miles for my long runs, I think I can easily get up to 8 by the end of June.  I do want to start some speed work, I haven't been very fast, I actually feel like I'm getting slower. . . but the whole reason I want to do the marathon again this year is to get under 4 hours, and that will mean speed work.  I'm currently averaging just under 10 min miles, somewhere around 9:45 or 9:50.  I just need to go run some hills.  ; )

We won't even talk about my monthly goals.  I pretended to continue to care about them through April, but didn't have any heart in it.  When an important person in you life dies, the little things quit mattering so much.  However, I did do two things . . .

I scheduled a dr appt for my leg.  It is still bothering me, what I called a "hip issue" last summer, is more of a "leg/thigh issue."  I have stretched, and I have rolled, and it hasn't really helped.  I just want to make sure it isn't a really serious issue.  If I knew what it was and knew for sure how to fix it, I would be okay with it.  That appt is next week, so we'll see what happens.  I'm sure I'm gonna have to get a MRI or x-ray or something.

And the other thing that I did was I went for a hike with Damian on Memorial Day.  It was the perfect day for a hike, cool and not too hot.  We went up to a lake that a friend of mine recommended, it was about 7 miles round trip.  Damian brought his collapsible fishing pole and hammock.  He fished, I hammocked.  =)  Although, it was in the shade and I was freezing, so didn't stay in the hammock for long.  Plus the lake was full of submerged trees, so he was afraid of snagging his hook.  Which he did on his last cast and lost his hook.  Oh well, it was still fun. 

We had lunch on top of a giant rock.  It doesn't look like it,
but we are way up off the ground.  In fact, our legs were
dangling over a very large drop while we ate.

I almost forgot, while we were hiking up Damian had to stop to adjust his pack.  While he was doing that he looked over at a stump he was next to and said "there's a bottle in there."  When he moved I went to look and there was definitely something in the stump.  I wanted to see what it was, so I pulled it out (hoping it wasn't someone's drug cache).

Turns out it was a geocache.  =)  I thought that was pretty cool.  My parents (well, now just my dad) do it, so I knew what it was.  I really, really wanted to write my Mom's geo name on it, but we didn't have a pen.  So we folded it back up and put it back where it belonged.  If we ever do that hike again, I will bring a pen, although my Dad asked me to put his name on it, so I will.

Last weekend was the Insane Inflatable.  We signed up for this in October with my Mom, so it was pretty hard to do it this year.  I really didn't feel like it, but I had fun anyway.  Maddox enjoyed it too, so that's what matters, right?

All of us

Those that are participating

my niece

 

The kids in the red shirts are my niece (very back) and nephew
with his girlfriend.

My sister's husband (aka our waterboy)

That's us at the finish line.

It was fun but we probably won't do it again.  My Mom isn't here and my other sister didn't do it this year either because she was just diagnosed with degenerative arthritis in her back, and has been in a lot of pain. 

After we were done with everything (we also had dinner with my aunts and uncles for an aunt's birthday) my dad and I went to the cemetery to visit my Mom's grave.  I haven't been there since her funeral and they put up her headstone right before Memorial Day.  I wanted to see it and I didn't, so I went.  It was a hard one, I won't lie.

My dad left some petunias on her headstone (I know it's a terrible picture) but while we were standing there a hummingbird moth came by and visited.  It's kinda funny because my dad and I were talking earlier in the day about the hummingbirds and the hummingbird moths that come to their house.  My mom loved petunias and she loved the hummingbirds and the moths.  Anyway, the hummingbird moth is in the picture, which you can't see very well.  I wish it was a better one, but oh well.