Week 18 Tapering: 6/18 – 6/24

20 Jun

I am doing this training recap early because this morning, I went on my last training run!

Marathon training is officially over. All that’s left now is to run the actual race. 😉

My runs this week were just like last week’s – slow, recovery pace. My massage Monday seems to have helped my tight muscles ever so slightly but they’re still begging for lots and lots of stretching.

Anyway… here’s what has happened so far this week.

Monday: 3 mile recovery run (37:20; 12:06/mile)

Tuesday: 2 mile recovery run (~12:15/mile)

Wednesday: 4 mile recovery run (49:30; 12:22/mile)

On today’s run, the first 3 miles I ran were around a 12:50 pace. Then the last mile, I ran in 10:59, just to remind myself that I can run faster.

Running Miles = 9

Here’s what the rest of the week will look like:

Thursday: Rest (to finish packing!)

Friday: Traveling

Saturday: Mayor’s Marathon – 26.2 miles!

Sunday: ??

………………….

Like any other athlete before a race, I’ve been checking the weather for race day everyday. So far, it’s looking like the perfect day:

Apparently, 69* is hot for Anchorage. But for Denver, it’s downright chilly (what with all the upper 90s we’ve been having lately. I’m not complaining though – dry heat is nothing like humid heat!) And I love that sunrise in Anchorage is at 4:21 – no getting up when it’s still dark outside for this race! The race starts at 8:00 so I figure I could get up around 5:30 or 6:00, get to the race site around 7:00 and be good to go.

T-3 days!

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Week 15 Tapering: 6/11 – 6/17

19 Jun

I got in all of my planned miles last week and each run felt better than the last. I purposefully ran them all at a very slow recovery pace. Even when I felt like I could run faster, I made myself keep it slow and VERY easy, reminding myself, “Running slow is the thing helping your legs feel better.” Having no pace pressure also made running more enjoyable!

Monday: 3.06 mile recovery run (38:08; 12:27/mile)

Tuesday: 6.01 mile recovery run (1:13:43; 12:16/mile)

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 6.02 mile recovery run (1:12:19; 12:01/mile)

Friday: 4.03 mile recovery run (49:00; 12:10/mile)

Saturday: 2 hours of easy hiking

Sunday: 30 minutes of moderate hiking

Total Running Miles = 19.12

And with that, it is now RACE WEEK! Gah!

My IT band/hamstring/glute/hip area has been feeling really tight the past week so I got a massage last night. It felt great, though there were definitely some areas that had me wincing a bit while the lady worked them over. My legs felt great on my run this morning but they end up getting angry the longer I sit down at work. Even though I get up to stretch and walk around every hour, my hips are not happy! At least they don’t hurt while I’m running.

Travis and I still have a lot of stuff to do before we leave on Friday morning so I gotta go. It’s good that I’m busy – less time to drive myself crazy with race day nerves!

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4th Annual Camping Trip

18 Jun

This past weekend was our 4th Annual Care Group Camping Trip (at our church, we call small groups ‘care groups’). Just like last year, we went up to Twin Lakes on Friday night and stayed until mid-morning Sunday. And just like the past 3 years, a good time was had by all. Travis and I are really blessed to have such great friends.

We accidentally brought along our smallest tent so it was a tight squeeze with 2 people + 2 dogs but we made it work. And it actually turned out really well because our tent got really warm at night and I slept great. Usually when we go camping, I sleep horribly because I’m freezing all night and can’t wait until it’s light outside. This time, we slept in until after 7 both mornings!

Rocks and dirt provide an endless source of amusement for boys.

Lots of marshmallows were roasted.

Saturday morning, we drove up Independence Pass and hiked a little at the top (Travis went fly fishing instead).

Gorgeous views.

I love wildflowers (darn that camera strap sneaking in there!).

After lunch back at camp, I read The Autobiography of George Muller for a couple of hours. I would’ve loved a nap but it was too hot in the tent.

Then we hiked the Colorado Trail down to the lake.

Boys love throwing rocks into the water.

Charlie was pooped! Katy was hot.

After dinner, a roasted marshmallow got a little out of control…

Charlie made a new friend, Logan, who also loves to play rough. They played for hours the first night and again some more on Sunday morning (Saturday, Charlie was too tired from our hikes to play.) Doesn’t she look ferocious in this picture?

Sunday morning, we had a little worship time.

Then we took a group shot (even though some of the group left early), packed up and headed home.

Good times!

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The Race Strategy

14 Jun

As I’m almost staring down a week until the marathon, I’ve started getting my race strategy together. Using the published course map and the satellite view in runningahead.com, I mapped the marathon course. It helps me in races to recognize the portion of the course I’m on so that I have an idea of where I am and where I’m going. For this race, it will also help me prepare for the hills – and get ready to cruise the downhills!

{I posted the maps in map view instead of satellite so that they’d be easier to read.}

Miles 1-5

Miles 1-5 are an out and back along the highway following a paved trail or road. The elevation gain is steady – 150 feet in 5 miles. Since I’m used to this kind of elevation gain from my daily runs, I’m not worried about the hills. I will, however, be keeping a close eye on my watch to make sure I don’t go out too fast. Coming from elevation to sea level, it could be hard to accurately gauge how fast I’m running when I start. My goal is to run these miles at a very conservative, relaxed pace, probably somewhere around 11:45/mile. If I see my pace go faster than 11:30, I will slow myself down.

Miles 6-10

Miles 6-10 are a nice little downhill! But they also include 4 miles out of 7 that we run on a gravel road called the Oilwell Tank Trail. So these miles will be spent focusing on not twisting my ankle and watching out for wildlife like moose and bears! I read that the race organizers and wildlife rangers sweep the trail in the morning to make sure there aren’t any hanging around but that doesn’t mean they could mosey on over there before I get to that spot.

Other information I read: If you encounter a moose, you’re supposed to give them a good 10 yards of space and an open escape route to get around them. If in doubt, don’t approach. Moose can be moody and ornery. Bears are much more timid and if they hear humans, they’ll probably run away. If you happen to surprise one, put your arms up to appear larger and back away slowly keeping the bear in your sight. (I’m kind of hoping I don’t encounter either of these guys on the course.)

Miles 11-14

Miles 11-14 are still on the Oilwell Tank Trail and are the last section of extended uphill! I will allow myself to walk if needed here and just focus on getting to mile 15 without killing my legs.

Miles 15-20

Miles 15-20 are a net downhill of 300 feet! This is where I’ll pick up steam if I’m feeling good. But I won’t let myself run faster than 11 minute miles because I’ll still have that last 10K to run! The few short pesky hills in this stretch should help keep my pace moderate. Mile 15 is also the last of the Oilwell Tank Trail – I’m sure it will be a relief to get back on to pavement. Around Mile 18, we start running through the actual city of Anchorage. Hopefully this also means more spectator support!

Miles 21-25

Miles 21-25 are mostly downhill, but still involve a few pesky (and downright ornery) hills. If I’m still feeling good, I’ll run at whatever pace feels comfortably fast. But if I need to walk, I’ll walk. It’ll be the longest run of my life at this point!

Miles 26 and 0.2

Mile 26 gets right down by the water (only 3 ft elevation!). But to get to the finish line, we have to climb back up to 79 feet! That’s just cruel. But exciting because it mean we’re almost there. We finish on the high school’s track. (The route I mapped is long by 0.2 mile.)

…………………

I found a really cool running calculator today while surfing Runner’s World boards about increases in running performance going from altitude to sea level. Using the pace from my 20 mile run (which would mean a 5:07 marathon), it calculates that at sea level, I could run the marathon in 4:48, an average pace of 10:58 (an increase of about 30 seconds per mile). I would be beyond thrilled with that time. But again, I want to enjoy this race more than I want a certain time so even though I’ve been tempted to print off a pace band for a 5-hour finish, I won’t. I don’t need the clock staring me down – I’ll have plenty of hills doing that!

Even though my legs aren’t feeling fully recovered from my 20-miler, my brain is feeling excited! I’m still nervous, and reading about the Oilwell Tank Trail hasn’t done me any favors – in the participant guide, it’s described: “Narrow, brushy, and full of rocks that threaten even the most stable of ankles, the Tank Trail tests both physical and mental mettle, as lesser-prepared participants begin to wonder, even this early in the race, if perhaps this wasn’t such a great idea.” Sweet. Thanks for telling me that. (Double gulp.)

But I’ve very glad to be feeling excitement! I’m looking forward to getting out there and proving to myself that I can do this. It still seems incredible to me that I am ready to run a marathon. That’s crazy talk! And in just 9 days, I’ll be at the start line.

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A Map Project

13 Jun

A couple of weeks after our 5-year anniversary, I finally gave Travis his anniversary gift. The first part was a map project I had seen on chicrunner’s blog, which was a version of this one on Kayla Danelle, which was a version of this one on minimoz.

I took all of their ideas and put my own spin on it. The map lives on…

First, where to get the maps. There had been a map store near our house but it closed. I thought about buying an atlas from Walmart but ended up using Rand McNally’s website to make jpgs of each map I wanted to include. I put those jpgs on a flash drive and went to Walmart.

They have a fancy new machine that lets you print your pictures instantly. Instead of having to wait an hour, I got them in 5 minutes. Sweet!

I also bought a frame, scrapbook paper and small rubber stamp letters (for $0.99!) while I was there.

When I got home, I started by making a heart cutout that I could use to turn each map into the shape of a heart.

Then I set to work stamping out the words for each map caption. I had planned on using sticker letters but couldn’t find any at Walmart that were the size/style/color I wanted so this worked out great. I also got to use one of stamp pads I’ve had since, like, 5th grade.

The maps and captions are:

  • fell in love (University of Minnesota campus)
  • got engaged (Chicago waterfront)
  • said I do (Mounds View, MN)
  • made a home (Wheat Ridge, CO)

Finally, I was ready to put the maps into the frame. I’m pretty sure I bought a 13 x 15 frame, with no mat or anything.

At first, I had planned to just use the blank side of the picture the frame came with as the background but the maps were just a little cream-colored so it didn’t look right. I decided to put a border around each map and toyed with laying it out like this:

But I ran out of time and had to pick Travis up from the airport so I hid everything away to finish the next day.

When I got it back out, I decided that I wasn’t a huge fan of the diamond layout and that it might work better to lay the maps out vertically instead of horizontally. I put the scrapbook paper down first in a block pattern and taped the back with looped Scotch tape.

Then I laid out the pictures and captions.

Once I was satisfied, I carefully lifted up a corner at a time to tape them down exactly as they were.

It still needed something. I took the map/paper insert back out and added silver hearts leftover from our wedding invitations to “mark the spot” of each relevant location.

I also added a note for Travis on the back.

Done! I really like how this project turned out and it didn’t take very long – maybe 2-3 hours?

But since this wasn’t really a “guy” thing, I also bought Travis a tarp.

It’s a practical thing but also a running joke between Travis and me. Several years ago, when we were trying to decide what to buy some friends for their wedding, Travis wanted to get them a tarp. I retorted, “You don’t buy someone a tarp for their wedding!” But he insisted – “It’s on their registry!” So we bought them a tarp, along with something else more traditional like bath towels. Now whenever we’re shopping for a wedding or shower gift, he suggests a tarp. Sorry Trav, once is enough. Unless the gift is for you, I guess.

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Week 16 Tapering: 6/4 – 6/10

12 Jun

The theme of my first taper week:

Those who can’t run, walk.

Monday: 1.55 mile walk with pooches (untimed)

Tuesday: 2.63 mile attempted-run-turned-walk (38:54; 14:49/mile)

When I got home from work, I made a deal with myself: I could watch one NCIS episode before going out on my 4-mile run. That would allow it to cool down some (like 1 degree) outside too. I ended up falling asleep by the end of the episode but woke up right as it ended. Determined to run, I got ready and headed out with the dogs. I walked the first 1/4 mile to warm up and then started to run. Half a mile later, I was walking. My legs felt absolutely horrible and I was exhausted and cranky. I decided that I was doing no one any favors by pushing myself to run at all, let alone 4 miles. So I walked almost all of this and let it rest at 2.5 miles.

Wednesday: 5.05 mile easy run (1:00:10; 11:57/mile)

My legs felt better for this run but still weren’t 100%. Regardless, I was able to run all 5 scheduled miles, even averaging a 10:58 pace for the last 1.55 (sans dogs).

Thursday: 5.15 mile ‘fartlek-ish’ run (1:02:26; 12:11/mile); 1.55 mile walk (untimed)

Running in the evening is getting trickier by the day. It’s usually blazing hot by the time I get off work (80-90 degrees most days), with the sun still out in full force. So I’ve started to work backward from sunset to figure out what time I need to start my run by in order to not finish in the dark but still miss as much of the heat & sun as I can. Which works out decently well, except for the dilemma of dinner. What can I eat that won’t upset my stomach?

What is not the answer: a burrito. For some reason, I thought that eating a burrito before this run wouldn’t be that big of a deal. And maybe it wouldn’t have been if I had remembered to take Tums before leaving. But I didn’t and the acid reflux made this run pretty miserable, causing me to cut it from 8 miles to 5 and spend the last 3 miles doing fartleks with walking breaks instead of running the whole thing. I had been planning to run the remaining 3 (of 8) with the dogs but instead, I grabbed them for a walk when I got back. The whole time I was kicking myself. Seriously? That was a rookie mistake. Regardless, lesson learned. Again.

Friday: 2 mile walk to Redbox with Travis and pooches (untimed)

We rented Contraband. Meh. Not Mark Wahlberg’s finest. Travis said it was the exact same storyline as The Italian Job, only that movie was actually good. This movie also had a lot of cursing, which just gets hard to listen to after a while.

Saturday: 10.09 mile long run (2:08:29; 12:44/mile); 1.32 mile walk (untimed)

This was quite possibly the worst run of my life training to date. I was miserable the entire time (with the exception of maybe 5 minutes when I was running down a nice downhill and a hot breeze was blowing). The course I ran is a very gradual but relentless uphill on the way out – 165 feet in 5 miles. It’s not that bad but enough to make you really notice a difference when you turn around and run the gradual downhill. Except that I was so tired and hot that day, my speed remained the same. Here are my shiny new GARMIN splits (I’ll post my review of the watch once I’ve used it a bit more):

The reason this run was so hard is the trifecta: 1) I got started later than I should’ve (around 8:30), which I immediately regretted. It was already 80 degrees by then (the high for the day was 95) and was probably 85 by the time I finished at 10:40. And let me tell you, Colorado sun is HOT. Ridiculously hot. On a nice 70-degree day, you can be kind of chilly sitting in the shade but step into the sun and you’re burning up. 2) My mental game was off. No part of me was excited to be out there and by mile 9, I was silently cursing everything in sight. 3) My legs felt slow and useless.

Thus, my 12 mile run turned into a 10 mile run. Starting around mile 7, I bargained with myself that I could walk for a little bit (a minute?) at every mile marker if I ran the rest. Then around mile 9, I started doing run-walk intervals. The minute I walked in the door, I ran a tub of cold water and sat down in it. Ahhh…

Later, around 4:30, I took the dogs for a walk. But it was still way too stifling hot to be in the sun so I cut it short.

Sunday: 1 mile walk with pooches (untimed)

Total Running Miles = 20.2

Total Walking Miles = 9

I don’t normally count the miles I walk with the dogs as training because they’re pretty slow (since I usually wear flip-flops and the dogs sniff everything). But at least half of the miles I walked this week were done in old running shoes and with minimal allowance for sniffing so the walks were faster less slow than usual. {And I’m grasping at straws to not feel so bad for only running 20 miles last week.}

So now you can see why I’ve decided to do all of my remaining runs in the morning. And actually, once I get past the unpleasantness of having to get up early and the craptastic feeling of stiff and sorry legs, I enjoy running in the morning. It’s so nice and cool out! Plus, I LOVE being able to leave work knowing that the minute I walk in the door, I can lay on the couch and not move all night. That thought alone gets me out of bed. Glorious.

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The Taper Crazies

11 Jun

So I’m beginning to see what people mean when they say they hate tapering. At first, I couldn’t see a downside to once again embracing 3-mile runs; having time on a work day to do something other than eat, run or work; and being able to replace miles with minutes of sleep. But then I encountered the worst part about the taper:

My brain.

And now I understand: the taper crazies are all in the head. They’ve been there on every run since my 20 miler, cursing my legs when won’t move like they’re supposed to (and following the rabbit trail downward spiral of what that could mean for race day…). They keep me up at night, wondering why in the world did I decide that running 26.2 miles sounded like a good idea? and CRAP, the marathon is less than 2 weeks away. They suggest that my legs won’t be fully recovered by race day. That my brain won’t be fully recovered by race day. Every mile on my training plan that I don’t run is like a stain on my conscience – what if that mile was the difference between succeeding and failing?

Of course I know I’m being ridiculous. I know that it’s better to take things easy and listen to my body, rather than be a plan-following Nazi (so that’s what I’ve been doing despite the taper crazies). But it helps to hear other people say it too:

Listen to your body. Don’t worry about cutting short or skipping a workout if you feel tired or sluggish. The taper is all about recovering from the effects of a long distance training schedule. Remember that it’s not the training done in the taper that will help you on the marathon day. Rather, the gradual buildup of distance over the last few months that will get you across the finish line… Think of the taper period as running to simply keep your legs moving…. The tapering period serves no benefit for increasing fitness for the marathon day; the fitness was acquired in the previous months of training. If you feel tired or sluggish, listen to your body, not your training schedule and skip a workout or two. {source}

Self: Remember this – You are not screwing yourself over by skipping a run when you legitimately feel horrible (or by cutting a run short when it’s 85 degrees outside…a story for tomorrow). It’s good for you to run at a slow recovery pace, even if it is mentally painful, hurts your pride and makes you doubt your ability to run faster.

The taper crazies have been exacerbated by my exhaustion. Not only does my body not want to run physically, my brain doesn’t want to run mentally. Even my stubbornness has taken a few hits this past week and thrown in the towel early and often.

So I’m asking God to let these shorter runs revive me. To freshen my legs and my outlook. Remind me why I love running, even though right now I want to dramatically swear that I’m never running again after this marathon is over.

As for the other aspects of tapering, I’m going to do all of my remaining runs in the morning. Even though I’d rather get back into my morning routine, it’s just too. darn. hot. to run after work anymore.

I’m also going to cut out alcohol, eat fewer sweets, drink at least 64 oz of water per day (not including water during runs), eat more protein (chicken and salmon this week!), and really try to get 8-10 hours of sleep a night.

Have any advice for conquering the taper crazies?

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An Encouraging Word

10 Jun

There is unspeakable comfort – the sort of comfort that energizes, be it said, not enervates – in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good. There is tremendous relief in knowing that his love to me is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench his determination to bless me.

– J.I. Packer, Knowing God, pg. 42

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Week 15 Training: 5/28 – 6/3

8 Jun

I’ve been exhausted this week. Two mornings, I’ve woken up as late as 7:15 to get ready for work, even though I went to bed at 9 pm the night before (that would be 10 hours of sleep). The other mornings, I’ve gotten up at 6 or 6:30, which is still later than usual. Yesterday, I was dragging at 1:30 pm and had to go buy an iced coffee (mmmm… iced coffee). Maybe it was last weekend’s 20 miler but I hope my body gets it together sometime soon here – we leave for Alaska TWO WEEKS from today. Gulp.

Anyway, because of that, this week has been a lesson in being joyful even when life is a mess and I feel behind on everything. I actually have kind of appreciated the challenge because it’s a lesson I really want to learn (and a lesson that will take a long time to learn).

Last week was the pinnacle of marathon training. Now I just have to coast injury-free to the start line.

Monday: 800 meter swim + 45 minute easy hike

First swim in a good 5 months. Breaststroke felt good, front crawl majorly rusty. Swimming outside is awesome.

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 5.11 mile run (58:31; 11:27/mile)

This run was MEH. Decent but not great.

Thursday: 10.04 mile run (1:54:24; 11:23/mile)

First 4-5 miles were MEH – legs felt tired and stiff. But last 3 miles were GREAT – legs felt light and fast. Weeee!

Poor Man’s GPS Splits: 

1 – 12:12
2 – 12:18
3 – 11:37
4 – 11:29
5 – 11:25
6 – 11:40
7 – 11:24
8 – 10:21
9 – 10:41
10 – 10:43

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 20.1 mile long run (3:52:44; 11:34/pace)

Sunday: 1.75 mile walk with Mom and dogs (untimed)

Total Running Miles = 35.25

My running total for May was 133.43 miles (April was 111.68), bringing my 2012-miles-to-date to 424.11, over half the way to my goal of running 700 this year.

I said it before, but I’ll say it again – after being sidelined in 2010 from running a full marathon, I feel very blessed to be on this side of my 20 mile long run with no injuries. Nothing. No twinges. No lingering aches. Just exhaustion, apparently. I’ll take it.

(Oh, and it’s a very surreal feeling to be able to write: “on this side of my 20 mile long run.” I ran 20 miles?!?!!? It’s kind of an awesome feeling. I can’t imagine what 26.2 feels like!)

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Our Busy Weekend

6 Jun

Some more pics from Saturday’s race (courtesy of my dad):

(Those last 4 are stills from video that my dad took, so that’s why they’re not the best quality. I included them because I actually look like I’m running!)

After the race, we walked around the Taste of Louisville festival for a bit before deciding to redeem the coupon on our race bibs for a free margarita at Old Santa Fe. Travis and I put on flipflops and changed our shirts and we enjoyed al fresco dining. I wasn’t very hungry so I ordered guacamole and chips, which were delicious.

Then we went home, showered, napped/watched TV until we decided to go do some shopping. Our first stop was the auto parts store. Our Focus died a few weeks ago and Travis has been hard at work trying to fix it. Nothing he did seemed to work so he finally gave up and brought it to a mechanic. Turns out that the things Travis had fixed actually had been broken but there was one more piece to the puzzle. It’s a tough part to get in and out (as Travis and my dad discovered first-hand on Sunday) so instead of paying $500 for the mechanic to do the work, Travis decided he and my dad would tackle it together.

Our next stop was Sam’s Club to look at Garmin watches. For my birthday! My parents are SUPER generous and said that they wanted to buy me a Garmin for my birthday (in July). Since they wanted to make sure I got the one I wanted, we picked it out together. Sam’s Club didn’t have any though. 😦

Then it was off to Walmart (I had seen Garmins on their website but they’re not in the store). No luck there. On to Gordman’s, where my mom and I spent a solid 45 minutes deciding which pillows to buy for our new couches (as an anniversary present from my parents – they think of any excuse they can to buy us things 😉 ). We were heading to the register with our final selections when I noticed one of the pillows had a tear. After calling to another store and finding out they had one, we went over there to buy pillow #6 of 6. Depressingly, those pillows didn’t end up working out so we had to return them anyway. But the others worked great!

While at the second Gordman’s store, Travis and my dad went to Home Depot and bought a stand-up, rolling tool chest that Travis had wanted. I told Travis he could buy one since he officially PASSED his Professional Engineer’s exam! Since they took a while doing that, my mom and I wandered around Gordman’s and found some shoes to buy. After my successful purchase last summer of b.o.c. sandals, I decided another pair for $35 (instead of $60) was in order.

Finally, we were on our way home. Unfortunately, I had had a massive headache for the previous hour or so. When we got home, I went straight to bed, only getting up to eat dinner. Not sure why my head hurt but it could be a combination of not drinking enough water, not replacing electrolytes well enough and not taking a nap.

………………..

The next morning, I felt better. We went to church and then ate lunch at Sweet Tomatoes, a salad bar place. Travis had talked to our friend that works at REI about Garmins and learned that REI sells them in the store. So after returning the pillows that didn’t work to Gordman’s, we headed downtown to find me a Garmin.

After much hemming and hawing, I decided on the 210. I had previously wanted the 405/410 until I learned that they’re no longer making them (and REI didn’t even have any).

The 210 comes with a heart rate monitor. It tracks all the basics: pace, time, splits, distance. You can view your elevation after uploading your data.

I also looked at the 610 but it was too expensive and I didn’t feel like the extra features were worth $150 to me (though they might to someone else). I decided against the 310 as well. Even though it being waterproof made it appealing, I didn’t feel that made up for the less-than-appealing humongous square display. Plus, it would probably be too big to wear with a wetsuit during a triathlon anyway – so what would be the point?

I think the 210 is really cute.

I took it for my first test “run” last night (I ended up walking most of the 2.5 miles because my legs were so tight/sore!). I really like how it fits and the distance/splits seem accurate but I was a little frustrated with the pace display. Thought I think that’s because it was displaying my average, not current, pace (which would explain a lot). I’ve been too lazy to actually get out the manual and figure out how to work the thing so I can’t really make a judgment until I do that.

In addition to the Garmin, my mom bought me a shirt to wear for the marathon.

The last picture is loading weird, but the lines are actually horizontal on the shirt.

The shirt is REI brand and is actually designed for backpacking, so I can get double use out of it. It’s 90% Polyester, 10% spandex so it’s very stretchy and is wrinkle-resistant. I also LOVE that fabric “texture” and figure that I can probably get away with teal + pink for the race. I’m going to test the shirt out on my 12 mile long run this weekend.

Post-REI, we headed home so that Travis and my dad could work on fixing the Focus. While they did that, my mom and I shopped for and hung a picture collage in the living room. When we got new couches, the arrangement of our living room changed quite a bit so the pictures had to be moved around. This is what we came up with:

One of the frames we bought (that will go in the middle on the left) didn’t have a wall-hanger so I have to work on that still – as well as putting pictures in some of the frames.

The canvases on the right need to be put in black frames and then they’ll be hung up above the loveseat.

The car and picture projects lasted until about 8:30, when we finally grilled up some elk burgers. Around 11, we went to bed and my parents (sadly) left the next morning to fly back to Minnesota. It was a short but sweet trip! Thanks Mom and Dad for your overwhelming generosity with everything. We are very blessed by you.

Happy National Running Day!

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