I learned this week that my sister set the date for her wedding the same day as the marathon I have spent the last 3 or so months training for. So, at the last minute, I decided to run the Light at the End of the Tunnel marathon as a training run to prepare a bit for some of the 50k's I identified to run this fall.

It was an up and back. Steady average 2% gradient on the way up and then that same gradient descent on the way back. Unfortunately, it felt like uphill both ways! I thought, rather mistakenly that I would be able to complete it in 3:45 but was quickly humbled. Perhaps it would have helped if I had not started a bit dehydrated from last night's party. All the rest stops were "do it yourself" and I had to stop for one bathroom break but I held it steady otherwise. It turns out that I did pretty well though - 18th (of 61) overall and 3rd (of 26) in women .

26.2 Mile Run @ 04:03:12

Today was interval run day. I thought that I had 6 x 800 and was a bit disappointed to learn that today's workout was actually 7 x 800. I did the workout on a different track this morning - a beautiful new one in Shoreline and I am not sure if that is what made me faster or what but if it is accurate, I seriously kicked ass!

7 x 800 Interval Run @ 00:35:00
Splits were: 3:25, 3:23, 3:25, 3:24, 3:24, 3:24 and 3:26

I spent yesterday in Eastern Washington White Water rafting and had a BLAST! I even got tossed from the boat at one point. I think I did a twisty thing to my ankle when I got tossed because it was a bit sore when I woke up in the morning. Can't wait to do it again :)

After getting in so late, I thought that it might be good to try to sleep in but an early AM text woke me up and got me out for a run. Legs definitely a bit stiff but I was able to work out the ankle soreness. I was hoping to get in a mid-day lift but work ran over any windows of opportunity and before I knew it, I had to go to class.

6.5 Mile Run @ 00:59:00

I had tentatively planned to run the Soaring Eagle Marathon this morning as a training run but sleeping in won, and I instead ran a 20 mile run on my own.

I set out to maintain an 8:30 pace for the run and hit the goal although I was definitely lagging at the end (where the elevation kicks in...). I stopped at the 20 mile point and walked the last bit home.

20 Mile Run @ 02:46:00

Didn't make it to swim practice this morning but had a really good run during lunch. Felt fast and light - quads still sore from Saturday but Sunday's EZ recovery run around Greenlake and afternoon Yoga class helped.

7.1 Mile Run @ 01:02:00 (@ 8:45 pace)

I took yesterday off completely and ran the 10.3 Cougar Mountain Trail Run race. My plan was to finish under 2 hours and I hit it! The preliminary results were posted - my bib was 578 and I finished 70th out of 155. Most exciting is that I finished 6th in the F40-49 group out of 29!

10.3 Mile Trail Run @ 01:55:43

Interval Run this morning. Didn't break a 7 minute mile but it hurt anyway! Pace was 7:13, 7:10, 7:08.

3.5 Mile Interval Run @ 00:35:00

I had a 12 mile (8 at tempo pace) run on my schedule today but swapped it for next week's 20 miler because I plan to run the Cougar Mountain 10+ mile Trail Run next weekend. BTW, I looked up the results from the last one, and I placed 98 out of 201 (typical) but was happy to see that I placed 8th out of 34 in F40-49 age group :) Cool!

So I actually ran only 19 miles but kept the pace pretty decent. Ran from Greenlake to the Arboretum through Interlake over to Lake Union and then the waterfront across the Ballard Bridge then Freemont and finally back along Greenlake. I also cut the 3 miles at tempo to 1.4 (7:48 pace).

19 Mile Run @ 02:50:00