I love coffee

I've already covered that I am an ABSOLUTELY horrible morning person. Reealllly bad. I need about 2 hours and about 3 cups of coffee to get going in the morning. Or so I thought. I've found that if I do my running in the morning, it cuts down on the "wake up" time and I feel ready to go, ready to greet the world, and... of course..... needing one more cup of coffee before I can actually step out the door. Anyhow, it amazes me that on these Saturday mornings I wake up early to drive 30-50 miles to participate in ....gasp..... exercise! I generally don't drink coffee, don't eat much, just roll out of bed and into my clothes... and I'm off. Nothing much but the radio to keep me company. Lately, I've been rolling down the windows and taking in the sights and smells of the great outdoors. All the flowers are starting to bloom, the grass is so green, and the snow is melting from the tops of Mt Si and Mt Rainier. This alst weekend, we ran at Tiger Mountain. Up and down, up and down, up and up and up.... and I HAD FUN! I'm feeling a little stronger, a little more motivated, and a little amazed. Who ever would have thought I'd be running all around a mountain at 8am on a Saturday morning? I never could have guessed that I would have so much fun challenging myself, not only to get out and run but to challenge my level of "comfort" in the morning. I'm learning that "health" and "wellness" extend to so much more than what you eat, what you do, or how much you sleep. Getting healthy is touching every part of my life. And I've learned that coffee tastes especially good after a cold 14 miles.... especially good.

UPDATE:

Only $200 to go to reach my fundraising goal! Please consider donating! The link is on the right side of my blog page - please check it out. Every little bit counts! I'll have a "Happy Hour Fundraiser" here soon! Let me know if you are interested and I'll put you on the Evite!

Matthew's Beach

Whewwww! Today's run was a ROUGH one! Somehow I made it through! This morning's run was out at Matthew's Beach near the Sandpoint area. I was beat at the starting line - it has been a BUSY week and lots of stuff going on. Last night we watched "I Am Legend' and though it isn't the scariest movie I've ever seen - I had trouble sleeping last night.  Kind of embarrassing. :) Anyhow, I started out walking to ease the ache I've had in my shins. I'm actually icing as I write this blog. So, back to the run, it was long. It kept going and going. It was an out-and-back run but didn't include the entire mileage - just five miles out and five back - then you had to go past the finish line and 1.5 miles uphill and back to make 13 miles. Did I mention it was long? I was nearly sprinting on the way back down, just to be done! Kit, our honored teammate, came to meet us at the finish and it was the icing on the cake. She is always so fun and cheerful and such an inspiration. Thanks, Kit! So, the rest of the day has been good but I've been hobbling a little bit (hence, the ice). Really, I never would have believed it if I didn't actually see myself do this - I never would have thought I was capable. 

Jim told me a few weeks ago:

You are stronger than you think you are.

You can do more than you think you can.

How amazing and true.

Best Previous Half Marathon Time (13.1 miles) : 3:21:57 (Boise Half October 2007)

Todays Run (13.0 miles) : 2:50:25

HOLY COW!!!!!!

So much to say, so much to say....

Gosh, where to start.....

Some things that have happened recently:

Missed my Saturday long run at Lake Youngs two weeks ago because I slept in too late. I pressed snooze on my phone alarm and somehow my phone "froze" i woke up nearly 2 hours after pressing snooze and it still read 6:40am. I made up the miles hiking with my friend Meri and her dogs in Snoqualmie and then hitting the Preston-Snoqualmie

trails and logging a few miles.

I've been super busy lately! We are house hunting and planning for an October wedding! More info to come! Sheeshhh....busy!

This past weekend was awesome and... painful. We did 12 miles at Redhook brewery in Woodinville, WA and it was strangely warm. I remember thinking it was pretty warm on the trail, but thought it equated to me being let's say... not in the best of shape. However, watching the news the night, I confirmed that the temp got up over 80 degrees!

I have to say thanks to my coach, Jim, who is amazing. I have never had such amazing and personalized attention and training from someone who seems to sincerely care so much. It really makes me want to push myself, get out there more, and set more personal records. This weekend, I shaved nearly 20 minutes off of my time for the course! So exciting!

Some good news - some bad news. I got some info from Bonnie Brooks - director over at LLS. She says the race director for the Seafair Marathon decided not to "support" run-walkers or walkers for the full-marathon. He plans to close the race after 6 hours. Bad news - most of the walkers in the program will fini

sh around 7:30am, sans water stations, cheering crowds, encouragement, etc. The good news - LLS and Bonni plan to create support for walkers and run-walkers by sending volunteers on the course, a group of participants and mentors to run along with us, etc. Even better news - I was thinking I was part of the group that would finish after 6 hours... but this weekend's run tells me that I might be closer than I thought... maybe there's a chance I'll finish before 6 hours? I'm hopeful, motivated, and determined. I can't wait.

Thanks everyone for your amazing support, for reading my blog, and for your emails and encouragement - they all mean so much!

As John Bingham says, "Waddle on, friends".

-Stacey