2008 was my second full year of running. My first full year, 2007, I managed to log 700.13 miles.

For 2008, my total logged mileage was 1020.99 miles. While not quite 100 miles a month like I attempt, I can't complain too much about that total mileage. An 85 mile per month average is nothing for me to sneeze at.

Total races ran:
5k x2
5k+ x1
10k x1
Half Marathon x1
Full Marathon x1

2008 featured my very first full marathon. I say first because I do have every intention of running another one in the future - possibly two this year (that plan is still far from being finalized.)

This year also featured my first canceled race - but I do have free entry for 2009 - I just hope they will allow Olive to run it too.

For the most part I'm pleased with the running I've done this year. I definitely want to keep improving - especially on my longer runs. When I ran my only 10k this year, I did manage to better my time from two years ago, and that makes me quite proud. My half and full marathon times aren't spectacular by any means, and I would definitely like to improve on the half marathon time at the very least.

Seattle Half Marathon Pictures!!

I look awful in these, but this wasn't by far not my best race, or even an average race for me. I think I looked much stronger the first time I ran a half - hell, I think I looked stronger when I did the Tacoma Marathon six months ago!

I wonder if the pain in my knee is related to this? Never had a blister quite like this before and I knew my foot was hurting me. Maybe since I was favoring my left leg so much, I ended up hurting my left knee?

On the other hand, my right knee is hurting too, but it's a different kind of hurt.

I'm falling apart. :(

Finished.

Slower than I had hoped.

Tweaked my knee too. Like tears kind of tweaking.

T-minus 63 minutes until the official start time.

Random - they make cardboard Christmas trees now? Who knew.

Had my traditional grande Americano and donut from Starbucks. Visited a super dark Honey Bucket so I'm all set.

Health wise I feel really good. Little bit of coughing but I expect that that will go away the longer I'm up and moving around.

I think I can do this.

I'm restless.

It's not even six, and I'm almost thinking that I'm ready for bed. I wonder how much that is from being tired, or from boredom.

But am I bored? Not sure. I don't have much to do which is absolutely fine, so I'm just hanging out at home for the time being. Just got back from the Quickie Mart and bought some mediocre coffee, bottled water and some Gatorade (even though Gatorade does NOT agree with my system, I need the potassium and sodium after tomorrow's run.)

Need to find some aspirin too - wonder if Melissa has any. I keep forgetting to get some whenever I'm at Costco. I was even in that section recently too - bought mouthwash.

Guess I do have some library movies to watch - that's probably better than being on-line like I have been most of the day.

Haven't heard from W about tomorrow yet - but I'm not going to push it. We've talked about it, so she knows. Josh and Melissa have both expressed interest in heading up to Seattle after the race for Bamboo Garden, but I have a feeling that there's no chance they'd made it up early enough.

Race starts at 7:30 - I should be done by 9:45 - depending on how I feel during my run.

Maybe I'll putz around for a bit longer then decide on a movie to watch.

edit at 6:20: W just texted me - she won't be coming up. She'll be working. Boo.

Went to Trader Joes since I was in the area today.

Got some hummus, pita chips, brown eggs, special edition ale (the bottle is cool, what can I say,) and some Soyrizo. Like chorizo - but soy.

I've never had real chorizo, so the soy version will be interesting. I also had no idea how to cook it. But I did cook it. Squeezed out half a casing into a pan with some oil. Stirred it around some, added my brown eggs, cheese and then cooked. When done, put into warm tortillas.

Also went to the library - picked up four movies (actually watched the three I got last week) and put a book on hold. (I'm reading the last "owned" book that I have with me right now, so the library is the way to go for the time being.)

Laundry is going, dogs are sleeping.

Not sure what the rest of the day will bring. The plan is to play it easy and actually get to bed early so I can leave in the early wee hours tomorrow morning for Seattle - half marathon day tomorrow.

Woke up this morning and I felt below average, but once I got up I started feeling better. Literally - once I got into an upright position I felt so much better. My throat didn't hurt or anything. Maybe that's the secret?

Or maybe it's my Soyrizo . . .

Had to work today - like usual.

The train was EMPTY - scary empty. Work was uneventful for the most part and long too. We did get Thai food for lunch since our manager went to Thailand on vacation. She's still there in fact since the airport is under siege.

After work, I got dropped off in Seattle by Pacific Place. There's a mid-block crosswalk that was green so I went for it. Guess as I stepped off of the curb, the flashing red hand started going off, and the cop directing traffic put his hand up, but I was in a full on run by that time, so I continued.

As I passed by, he called me an idiot, so when I got to the other side, I waved my hand up the air in frustration and yelled to no one that the crosswalk was flashing and the traffic light was red.

Guess he didn't like that, so he actually ran after me and demanded in a very rude manner that I product my driver's license. I asked why and then we proceeded to have a very emotional discussion.

I admit, I was actually a little scared - the cop was a dick, I wasn't much nicer because of his attitude.

But some how, I avoided any ticket and/or arrest or tasing and we seemed to have come to an understanding.

Whew.

Made it the Expo and picked up my race stuff, walked around, looked at things, tried on some coats, and then met my bus in the front on the Cinerama. Not sure if the bus was late or early since it came in between two scheduled times.

Now I'm home - I have orange juice, reheated potatoes and some rolls.

To continue my "issue" of mixing weird foods together -

I had some very delicious pad Thai for dinner tonight. I am now enjoying what was left of the homemade mashed potatoes. I of course added cheese to them.

Not sure what the plan is for tomorrow - I'm really leaning towards seeing a movie or two - Bond and Madagascar 2. Josh asked if I knew what I was doing - told him the same thing. Just not sure.

Must work Friday - it sucks that my regular train isn't running, so I'm going to catch the later train (coordinated it with the rest of the van pool so we'll end up being about 10-15 minutes late.) After work, I'm hitching a ride to Seattle so I can pick up my race stuff and then taking the bus back home.

It was pointed out to me yesterday that I'm now earning 25 days of paid time off per year - 5 whole weeks. Currently I have a bit over 17 days saved. (I also learned that I was earning 22 days a year when I thought I was only getting 20.)

The trip to Mexico is almost all set. The dates had to be changed around by a week since by the time the vacation calendar made its way to me, that whole time was already booked up. Over booked in fact. Jerome was flexible with the dates so that's good. He also seems to have some sort of plan that he is working on so we can stay for free. Fly for free for sure - and then maybe stay for free? Very nice.

A bubbling something of excitement I am!

Melissa is making fun of my dinner because I ate grilled cheese sandwiches and mashed potatoes. I don't find anything wrong with said dinner, but she says it's just weird.

Remembered to go to Target tonight - grabbed some cat litter, reindeer antlers, orange juice and some Mucinex.

My cold has moved into my chest. I feel tons better, but now I barely have a voice (which makes it difficult at work since I work in a call center environment) and I'm coughing up all sorts of brightly colored phlegm.

Put the reindeer antlers on Olive - not sure she's going to like them much. It's hard to get them situated since she won't sit still long enough, but I have time to work with her getting used to them.

Started a new book yesterday which I promptly finished today. I only have two books left at home - a Sarah Vowell and the new Stephen King book. Going to have to start adding some stuff t my library list.

Have high hopes that I can ditch my phlegminess by this weekend so I can run my half marathon comfortably. Also still hoping that W can make it. We talked a bit about on Sunday night and if she doesn't or can't, then the 12ks of Kirkland seems like a better shot. Me, I'm greedy and want both days, but we'll see. Work is starting to pick up for her a month and a half earlier than planned, so her spare time is disappearing fast.

Even though I'm still a bit sickly, and I haven't even successfully ran the Seattle Half Marathon that will be on the 30th, I just registered for my next race:



This is the race I mentioned a few days ago - I ran it two years ago and had a pretty good finish time, so there's always the hope of beating that, proving to myself that it wasn't a fluke time.

Plus, this year, Olive is going to run it with me. I have decided that she'll wear some antlers, and I'll hunt down some cheap jingle/sleigh bells to put on her harness during our run.

On my drive home tonight, I realized that she already has the most perfect name for this too:

Olive - the other reindeer.

See, I'm witty and pretty cute too.

Went diving this morning over on the West Wall of Fox Island. Hadn't ever dove there before, so it was something new to do. Visibility was AMAZING - but Jerome and I did kick up tons of silt though.

Haven't yet looked at my pictures - I do know that there wasn't anything spectacular to see - tons of perch and sea stars. We're thinking of maybe doing a night dive out that direction since it was quite obvious that there are quite a few octopus hiding out in the rocks.

Oh - and I found a sand dollar!

Came home showered and then ran some errands - got some air, returned a CD to Target and took all my dive gear back to the other house. I was starving and couldn't decide on what I wanted to eat, and then remembered that there was a Frugals over in that area, so I had that. It tasted good.


2008 Winter Pineapple Classic is in seven days . . .

2008 Seattle Half Marathon is in twenty-one days . . .

Just got back from an 11.51 mile run. Garmin says I did today's run in 1:55:28 which equals 10:02 per mile. I'm good with this time, especially considering that there were a few walking breaks.

Olive is EXHAUSTED. While we were waiting for the stop light by the Starbucks on 72nd, she laid down in the grass and rested. Good thing for her it was a long light! :)

Here is a shot of the route I ran:



The bottom most line is 72nd Street going over I-5 to the west. The upper most line is 38th by the Tacoma Mall, and then crossing I-5 going east is on 48th Street.

My feet really hurt today. Everything else feels good. No cramps, no back issues, nothing. Just my feet. Especially the ball of my left foot. I'll have to keep my eye on it, especially since it hasn't hurt during any other long run.

Off to take a shower since I'm sure I'm going to start smelling just a tad ripe here soon . . . and I'm starving!

edited to add - I take the not hurting thing back. While showering, I definitely noticed how sore my legs were.

It's almost noon and I still haven't done anything yet. Well, I did have two cups of coffee and some Chex, but that's not really anything to speak of.

I need to get off my butt and do my run - no more excuses. Suppose it doesn't matter much when I go running - I have all day to do it since there is nothing else planned for the day. I might do a different route though since Point Defiance opens up to traffic at 1 this afternoon, and I'd rather not have to deal with cars.

IM'd W a little while ago since she popped on. Asked her if she was interested in going to either one of my upcoming races. She said that she would think about it. Maybe it's shallow or needy, I don't know, but I like the idea that a friend would be at one of my races. It was great that C was there at the start of my marathon, but the last few races that I have ran, I started them alone and ended them alone. Running is pretty solitary as it is, but that sort of thing just makes it feel even more solitary.

Up quite a bit later than planned - I blame that on the fact that I didn't get to bed until around 1 this morning. I stayed up late watching my other library movie.

Made some coffee, having some cereal. Probably get ready for my run in about an hour or so. There was quite a bit of temptation this morning to just not run today because of the late hour, and also due to the rain, but I can't let either of those stop me. I really need the next two weekends of long runs to get me ready for my half marathon, especially if I want to have any sort of chance of besting my time from the Capital City Half I ran last year.

It's finally Friday. It's been such a cruddy week for me, I"m glad it's officially over.

Since I drove in today, I ran some errands after work that I have been putting off for far too long. Hit up Target for some new cat litter, laundry soap, some of those funny Jelly Belly Sports Beans that I've been eating during my half-marathon training, and some new razors (cannot believe that $13 buys you four whole razors.) Also picked up a couple of CDs - one I'm going to return since Amazon has it for $4 less, and I don't need it right this second.

Then I drove over to PetSmart since it was close and got Grocible some more food. I ran out of his new special food, and have just been stealing Josh's cat food.

Now I"m back home enjoying my gumbo from Qdoba. Not sure where everyone is, which is fine I'll be able to just hang out and enjoy myself here at home alone. Play some music, maybe watch my other library movie.

That reminds me - I finally watched the animated version of Watership Down last night (or was it Wednesday night?) While the animation wasn't all that impressive (it is 30 years old) the movie was actually really good - and disturbing. Most definitely not for kids (young kids that is.) It's not your typical talking rabbit movie. I'm really looking forward to reading the book again - maybe it can be added to the short list of annual readings I do?

Ran today inside - first time since November 28, 2007. Wow - almost a whole year. I needed to make sure my shoes were dry for my long run tomorrow. It didn't rain today like it was "supposed" to, but I knew the trails by work would still be flooded, so I thought it would be best to stay in. Managed 4.5 miles which isn't too shabby considering it was on the boring treadmill. The best part of running inside is that I got to mix up my pace and elevation quite a bit. Did a few sprints in between my regular pace runs - ran a slow 9:30 mile, then for one minute ran at a 6.67 mile pace for a minute. Did that a few times - it was a lot faster than I was used to, but it did feel good to just let lose and run. Hopefully I didn't tire myself out for my 11.5 mile run tomorrow.

No other weekend plans to speak of - there was talk of heading to Edmonds for diving on Sunday, but we're going to end up diving Fox Island, which is fine. I need to wash my bedding - maybe I'll do that tomorrow after my run. Or not.

Trying my damnedest to not get into a rut or a funk.

Didn't go to work today - that's even worse than on Thursday where I couldn't decide if I wanted to go to work or not. Today I just decided that I wasn't going to go. I feel fine, little tired is all.

There's a holiday coming up next week, and I even took the following day off. While talking to Julie at work, we both decided that that would be a good thing to do. The weather is too hard to predict that far in advance; I was thinking of maybe hiking one of those days. I kind of want to do something with Olive. We haven't gone hiking in quite some time - at least we have been running together every Saturday. My concern with any sort of hiking activity is injury - I have a 5k in less than two weeks, and then my half marathon is four weeks away now. The worst thing for me to do is hurt myself. Really easy to twist an ankle when you're scrambling up and down rocky trails.

Another option would be to spend some time at the zoo - either in Tacoma or up in Seattle. Or maybe even go to the aquarium in Seattle. Haven't been there in awhile - and I am interested in what the remodeling that was a few years ago turned out (and by few I think I mean one or two years ago.)

Checking on coffee . . .

And now I have a cup of coffee. I also have a cat on my lap.

Today's run was quite the challenge. There wasn't a whole lot of motivation to actually go and run this morning, and that feeling carried itself throughout the run. It became a chore instead of something that I wanted to do. Not a whole lot of enjoyment either. But I kept plugging away and Olive and I managed the 10.5 mile route we set out for.

Time wise it took us longer than I ended. I can only blame part of that out stop lights. The largest delay was right around 6.5 miles when I stopped to eat my Jelly Belly Sport Beans things. A runner that we passed (she was walking - she was done) came by and we talked for probably 15 to maybe even 20 minutes. The worst part of that break is that I was cold when I started running again - I lost all that heat I had built up.

After my run, I stopped off at Starbucks for my coffee treat, and then tried to go and get lunch. Was thinking that some soup would be good, but the two Quiznos that I went to were both closed. One still had all their furniture and things in there. Weird. Instead I stopped at a Thai place over by the mall and got some fried tofu and pad thai. Yummy stuff!

Just got done taking a shower - feel so much better now. Less gross.

Everyone else went down to Olympia to Melissa's nephew's birthday. I'm thinking of maybe heading to the mall to see if I can find some new cologne and aftershave - what I have right now is pretty much out. There might be a few spritzes left of cologne and maybe three or four uses of the aftershave.

Thinking of taking the bus actually - but I probably won't. The mall is so close and the bus will probably take thirty minutes to get there.

We did 10.55 miles today.

We are both very tired.

I'm steaming too.

I must have been pretty tired last night. Woke up officially (as in - I got out of bed) at nine this morning, and that was with going to bed at around 10:30 or.

The plan was to get to Point Defiance no later than 9 this morning for my run, but now that it's 9:35, that plan is shot. The run is still going to happen though - no chance of it not happening. I need today 10.5 miles to keep up with my training plan.

Speaking of training:

Miles ran in October: 122.67 - second highest month (highest was April 2008 during my marathon training. That month was 125.89 miles)
Miles ran by Olive in October: 32.57 (her best month ever!)
Weight on 10/31: 190 (a number that I am not happy with - I would still like to be able to drop between 5 and 10 more pounds, but that will take more than just exercise I'm afraid.)

If I keep up the pace I'm at, I will hit 2100 miles next Saturday - a mere 23 days after hitting 2000 miles. The same day, Olive will hit her 100th official running mile too.

Also, I've now ran 897.21 miles this year.

Getting concerned about my half-marathon registration - I haven't yet received my e-mail confirmation. I had the impression that an e-mail would go out after they received my money . . . now I'm thinking that maybe paying in person wasn't the best idea - I should have just registered on-line and paid the extra fee and not have to worry about anything.

---

Not much is planned for today, besides my run. I do have to visit a work location so I can get a check and some cash for rent (forgot to this yesterday.)

Tomorrow the plan is meet up with W and go and see The Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D. Looking forward to that for a couple of reasons. One, I haven't seen the movie in a very long time; two, it's in 3-D which has to be cool, right?; and three, haven't had the chance to see W in two weeks now. We did talk on the phone for awhile on Thursday while I was sitting in traffic.

Almost 10:00 - I should start to get ready to go to Point Defiance for my run.

Not that this can happen for a few months - but I found an apartment complex in Tacoma that seems ideal for what I would be looking for.

They allow dogs - and have absolutely no problem with large breeds, just as long as they are not aggressive breeds. Plus they have an on-site 4 acre off-leash dog park.

The one bedroom apartments aren't too pricey - about $650 or so per month, something that I will definitely be able to afford.

The hardest part will be furnishing a new place since I don't have any furniture at all. I don't have a vacuum, or a place to sit, or a bed, or pans, or silverware - but I do have a nice set of dishes, a tortilla warmer, coffee maker, waffle make and a griddle.

That stuff will come in time.

I just have to keep up being financially responsible. Easier said than done.

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All plans for the day have been canceled - no zoo, and no diving tonight. Lame.

Yesterday's run went off fairly well. Olive and I did 9.65 miles - averaged just around 10:18 per mile. We were both pooped - that last mile and a half was pretty hard, but I wasn't dragging as much as Olive was. I'm a little worried that she might not be able to do next Saturday's run which should be about a mile further - maybe 9 miles is her limit right now?