Beautiful day for a run!

Oregon in the spring can be any kind of weather. So when it's sunny and warm, we take advantage of it! I got to take advantage of Monday with a long run in Portland with runner friend, Lauren. The face behind us is a Starbucks wall mural -- he's not a runner!

Blue skies, popcorn clouds. We headed down to the river, crossed the Steel Bridge, and headed southward along the east side of the Willamette River.

There is a lot of bird watching activity on the east side. There were babies in this nest:

Crossing the river to the west side on the Sellwood Bridge:

The beaver sculpture had a stick -- not sure who thought the beaver liked the nuts!

And Lauren got her longest run yet -- here she is, at the 9 mile mark!

Great day for a run -- we did a cooldown walk for a couple miles, and really enjoyed the time!

Race for the Roses 2007

Race for the Roses ½ Marathon!

This was a fun race – this year, shorts and long sleeves were fine, and I could’ve gone to short sleeves, but once we stopped that wind was a cold one! I went to the race with my friend, Sarah, and got to meet a new running friend, Maggie. Maggie had met the other half of Team Karen in Little Rock, so Karen D hooked her up with me. That was so fun – we ran and chatted the whole race, only a little walking on the steeper hill parts.

This race starts on the east side of the Willamette River. First you cross the Broadway Bridge, then do a long loop to the south, then a long loop to the north, then finish by running across the Steel Bridge to the Convention Center. You get to see a lot of Portland!

When we started, there was almost no wind – which was OK, for the last couple of years have been windy and wet both. The river looked so smooth on the bridge crossing. Going south along the river had some long uphills (that wonderful down on the St. Patrick’s run is up on this one). Lots of old homes, lot of spring flowers, lots of runners. Then back into town, where we realized how important we really were that morning – they stopped the MAX trains for the runners! Then zig-zagging through commercial and industrial road sections, till we were on part of the out-and-back section that the marathon course uses, just going opposite for the out-and-back. Maggie’s already made hotel reservations and will be back in October to run the marathon. Yeah!

One of the hardest mental parts of this race is that you have to go about a mile past the Steel Bridge, then come back to cross it for the finish. And while you are going past, you can see what a hill it is to climb for that last section of the race!

Maggie’s from Dallas, TX – she’s not used to hills. We walked that bridge to the first tower, then ran the rest of the way in. We even got exactly the same chip time: 2:13:33! Sarah was about a mile ahead of us – she did great, too!

The T-shirts are white cotton with the race logo and sponsors (which means I always get a large to sleep in, for the iron in our well water doesn’t keep white white). Finishers all get medals, and ladies get roses! J They had so many roses, they were giving them away several at a time – beautiful! Post-race goodies were oranges, bagels, Tillamook yogurt smoothies (we used to live in Tillamook, I love to support those dairies), Gleucose (that was the course drink – it’s OK, but I think I still like G’ade better). And Chipotles had a Mexican brunch for the runners – smelled really, really good, but I can’t eat like that after running. And my sis-in-law was having supper at her house later in the day, I saved my appetite for that. J

The three of us had a great time yesterday – this is a fun ½ marathon!

Juggling

Juggling, that's what it is! I ought to learn to juggle tennis balls – this month it seems like I’ve mastered juggling my schedule!

It is so nice to have spring really here – the birds, the spring flowers, earlier sunrises, and (usually) warmer temperatures for running. That all helps to make it easier to juggle the running schedule.

Last week and this week, my long runs have had to be run on midweek days. That’s because the choir I sing in had a full weekend of singing last weekend, plus with Easter coming, a full weekend of singing next weekend. Weekends are my usual long runs, but since I love singing with the choir, I’ll juggle the running schedule.

This morning my run was planning Friday’s long run. Last week my long run was on Wednesday, and while it went well, it wasn’t as long as I’d have liked. I’d just given blood, so was being extra cautious out there. The long range weather forecast predicted Friday as the best running day this week. And (juggling again) I knew right off it had to be Monday, Wednesday, or Friday because of my gym and swim lesson schedule (that can’t be juggled).

As pretty as it is in the spring to run up on the ridge, I chose my route instead to be running the 8 miles to town and back, with a few out-and-backs on side roads to get a total of 19 miles. Going all the way to town and back means I can’t let any distractions make it shorter, plus, I’ll have a couple of places for water fountains for Gu breaks. That way, I’ll just carry the Gatorade Endurance with me on the route.

Mind you, I might have to carry the camera with me, for rural Oregon really is beautiful this season, and for sure I’ll carry my cell phone. The other half of Team Karen, in Oklahoma, is always fun for a chat on a long run, and that will help keep my pace under control. The high temperature on Friday is supposed to be low 70s, the warmest yet this spring, and I like running in warm weather! It’ll be 50ish when I start, and that’s OK.

I got this all planned out on my run this morning, and coming home, passed one of the neighbors, Tom, out rototilling his garden space. And that’s a SURE sign of spring!