I was trying to get an idea of what the hills look like that I've ran, and compare them to what I'm expected to run for HTC.

Here are yesterday's hills:



Then for kicks and giggles, here is the Furry 5k hill from a month or so ago: (My very first hill that I ever attempted over a year ago)



And the Capital City Half:

The hill right at 9.5 miles is what killed me - I wasn't prepared for something like that, especially at that distance. I never recovered properly the rest of the race.


And the 12ks of Christmas (which I'm still VERY surprised that I maintained a 9:26 pace for this run - I can barely do that in my training runs. I need to find a way to have that race intensity when I'm training:)

Obviously these hills were the worst that I have ever run on, but I never once stopped running - ever - and I still maintained a 9:26 pace.

So by looking at these, I can tell you that Leg 27 (5.98 miles - moderate rating) shouldn't provide any problems other than exhaustion. It's a rolling course, but the gains and losses are all minimal - nothing over 25 feet either way at one time.

Leg 15 (7.25 miles - hard rating) shouldn't be too bad since, like the leg above, which technically happens after this leg . . .) it has rolling hills at times, with elevation gains no higher (or lower) than 50 feet. Plus I also have to factor in the fact that this leg will be ran right around midnight.

Now Leg 3 is a different story. Rated easy and goes for 3.93 miles - the entire leg is downhill. Over those four miles, I'm dropping about a thousand feet in elevation. A thousand feet! Advice given - go slow, and then go even slower, and to take small steps. Even though it's downhill and easy, it's too easy to want to want to catch up with the people in front of you and to wear yourself out. I also have to consider that less than 12 hours after running this leg, I have my 7 miler in the middle of the night to run.

Almost forgot -

Tonight is the 2007 Seafair Torchlight Run.

Last year, this race was my second race ever and I had a blast. It was the "baby step" that I needed to prepare me for the 10k I was thinking about doing in September, which of course led me down the path of running a half marathon just this past May.

I wanted to re-run all of last year's races just to see how much I have improved - I successfully completed the Furry 5k again and set a new PR for myself - but I wasn't sure about this run for some reason. Guess it works out though since I'm not feeling very well and the last thing I need to do is to go running.

This morning was the fifth race in my running "career" - my third 5k overall, and what I hoped was to be my fastest 5k yet. (I'm still amazed that not only am I running, I'm running actual races.)

My goal was to beat my first 5k's time - which was 30:23 - not bad for my first ever race, plus that added difficulty of having to dodge multiple dogs and leashes.

Based on my 10k pace in September, I was estimated that this race should take me about 27:30, and I even had the iPod "programmed" in such a way that when a certain song came on, I knew I was close and needed to push myself towards the finish line.

What I didn't count on was the number of people. This race, by far, had the most runners. Phil told me afterwards that some people were estimating close to 10,000 racers (in three waves) were present. I don't know if there were quite that many, but there were quite a lot.

The first wave was for the faster runners (like Phil) - anyone faster than an 8 minute mile. Wave Two (my wave) was for people with a pace between 8:01 and and 9:40. The third and final wave was for everyone else (runners and walkers.)

I know the point is to have fun and to not get discouraged, but I was a little disappointed in the number of people in my wave that were walking and were in the way of those of us who wanted to run. This little 5k race took me over 32 minutes to complete, which frustrated me just a tad. When I was able to run (which wasn't nearly as often as I would have liked,) I felt good, all my back issues from earlier in the week weren't there. If you know that you're going to walk, at least have the courtesy to not walk in the middle, or walk with the walkers wave, and not be in a runners wave.

I did participate in the holiday spirit - in addition to my Santa Hat that I posted earlier, I added two bells to each of my shoes, and listened to Trans-Siberian Orchestra's versions of Christmas music. Let me say, that damn Santa hat was way to freaking hot! I'm thinking of keeping the bells on my shoes.

Speaking of heat - the weather cooperated perfectly! Yesterday when I was diving, it was pouring down rain, and today's forecast was identical to Saturday's, so I was a bit worried. But it was clear and it was actually a little warm this morning (and by warm I mean 45 at the most.)

The course started in front of Westlake Center, and ran down sixth, to the express lanes tunnel (HOT) and down the express lanes heading north, before turning around and come back in front of Pacific Place and Nordstroms (Pike or is it Pine? I can never remember.) The parts on the freeway were very warm, and the exit ramp from the express lanes had quite a good sized hill, and me not being used to running on hills really felt some straining heading up that ramp. But I never stopped and maintained my pace. Man it felt so good dropping back into town.

After the race, I met up with Phil (we actually ran into each other in Westlake before the race) (Phil works for the same credit union I do, and was my running partner for the Pineapple race a few weeks ago.) We walked down to Bamboo Garden for lunch. I was amazed that Phil was willing try something new - and vegan - but that's probably because I surround myself with people who have no interest in trying new foods. Bamboo definitely hit the spot.

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A little while ago I was thinking that there was no way I could do the 12k next Sunday. But now I'm thinking that I really want to do it. It's only a mile further than my longest run, and I know that there will be less people at this one, so I would be able to get a good personal time this time around. Hmmm . . . wonder if I can convince the wife I need to do this . . .

The pictures from the race last Sunday are finally posted. They managed to get three of me, and two of the wife (she doesn't like them so I won't post them.) They got two with Conrad and none with Jennifer. Odd since the three of them were all together.

	My favorite one of the bunch - in fact, I'm going to actually order a real version of this.
	Decent shot. Not as good as the one above, much better than the one below.
	I feel that I look like a dork here.

Is it wrong to want a DS Lite - knowing that I truly don't need one? Or the fact we're considering buying an Xbox 360 which, like the DS Lite, we don't really need? On the usability of items we don't need, at least with the DS Lite there are actual games I think I would play, whereas with the 360 there's nothing that we have to have.

Besides, my scuba tanks need to get hydro'd this year and I don't know how much that is going to cost.

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I've not tried two of Panera's new pizza things - the cheese one is too rich and oily, and the mushroom one is not worth $9.

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After what I believe was a successful running event on Sunday, I'm thinking of setting my next running goal at running a 10k race by the time I turn 31. That's in a little over two months from now. The hardest part will be the training and the scheduling of the training. Probably going to need to mix things up during my workouts at work so I can get in the weight lifting I still want to do and work my way up to longer runs at work. Thinking of maybe doing long runs during my lunch hour twice a week, weights three times, and maybe one run at home on the weekend. That'll give me three running days, three weight days and one resting day (which will probably involve diving.)

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Keep waiting for the site to have the pictures of the runners, walkers and dogs from Sunday. Probably kind of dorky, but I really want a picture. Their prices are pretty reasonable so I might just the cash and order a 5x7 or so when they're available. Unless I look like a complete dork (cross-eyed, tongue hanging out or something.)

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Purchased the most obnoxious green dry-fit shirt today on clearance and Target. Plus I got some dorky Snoopy shorts to sleep in. Doesn't every guy have dorky sleep shorts? I hope so - otherwise I just outed myself on the interweb.

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Our property values keep going up here - which of course means our property taxes will too.

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The wife just asked me to take the giant Mag-Lite and shine it in her eyes to see if her pupils are really dilated. I had to decline her request. Regretfully.

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I forgot to take my vitamins today.

So today was the run. My very first official timed running event in my short running career.

Long story short - I did my 5k route in 30:23 (I finished in 207th place!) - about a minute slower than the route I take at work, but of course, the route at work has relatively no people on it, and no dogs and no leashes to get in the way either. However, today's route had a pretty killer hill (for a novice like me) at about mile marker two. Overall I felt very good after this run - I probably could have gone longer since it seems I paced myself pretty well.

We met up with Kristy before hand at her place, swapped some CSI and then headed to the course at Seward Park. Ran into Jennifer and Conrad and their two dogs pretty much right off the bat. Got all registered (I picked up my pre-registration kit) and prepared for the big event. Cheyenne got a nifty scarf and I got an official timing chip to slip around my ankle.

The course was pretty flat except for that hill I mentioned earlier. I haven't had much experience with hills, but felt I handled it pretty good. Told myself that no matter how tired I got, I need to keep running and not worry about how much longer I had to go. I knew I could do it and it felt good to actually crest the hill and start down it.

Running with other people in a race environment can be addicting I'm afraid. It was pretty cool to keep spying people ahead of you and trying to overtake them. I'm afraid I've found something new to do - I think I want to keep this racing thing up actually. :)

After breakfast we went to Cafe Flora - some place that I have never been to, but have been told for years I needed to try. Very good vegetarian food - except I was still a bit hungry afterwards - guess I worked up quite and appetite today. Ran into Jean during breakfast as well, and then spent the remainder of our afternoon over on Lake Washington by 520 with the dog.

I'm tired - will probably write something more coherent later.

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Edit:

Official results have been posted - I finished #207 out of 383 registered male runners. My chip time was actually 29:29, and I finished 103rd out of 141 for my division (males 30-39.) Now to just wait for my picture . . .

VERY pleased.

Off to the races!

My first official 5k race is very soon - this Sunday in fact. I'm actually quite excited about. I've come along quite a ways these past few months when it comes to running.

I don't know what the ideal training method is, but I've just been doing my normal running distances outside this week - what is approximately a 5k out and back run around work. The last three runs were 29:30, 29:30 and 30:30 (today's was a little slower - I think it's because of the wind we had today.) Definitely not a speed demon by any means, but I'm still quite happy with a 10 minute mile (approximately.)

Wish me luck on Sunday!