Amazing August

I think my Report Card for July Goals is a big fat Zero.

July Goals:

1. Heal! Be 100%.

2. Make Sun Tea.

3. Train for Hood to Coast.

4. Have a picnic.

5. Try Trail running for the first time.

I suppose I’ve technically been training for Hood to Coast with every single workout I do (even workouts that don’t involve running)….but for the most part, I accomplished nothing in July. My July Goals SHOULD have been:

1. Heal.

2. Survive House Guest-Palooza.

3. Finish installing the kitchen floor.

4. Train for Hood To Coast.

If those had been my goals, I think I’d be in better shape right now. So in light of that, I’m going to be very easy with my goals for August:

August Goals

1. TRAIN FOR HOOD TO COAST.

2. Survive Hood to Coast.

3. ENJOY Hood to Coast.

4. Recover from Hood to Coast.

Noticing a theme here? 😉

QUESTION: What are you goals for August?

A Tuesday Night Quickie

For the better part of Tuesday afternoon and evening my face was mostly numb. Which is probably a good thing! I had plans to meet my friend Erika for happy hour and decided not to cancel the appointment. I thought it would be a good distraction and since I was on a liquid diet anyway….why not? 🙂

We met at the Night Light Lounge in SE Portland, off Clinton Street. It’s a funky little part of town and neither of us had ever been there. They had a really nice outdoor patio! We sat outside for a good 3 hours or so talking and drinking.

I had 2 beers (Hopworks IPA). She ordered some fries. I tried to eat a few but couldn’t really chew.

What happens when you barely eat anything all day, eat only soup, and then have two beers?

Yeah I got pretty buzzed. It felt good though. It distracted me from the pain and discomfort. After Happy Hour, I took her home and saw their wedding album from last month. It looked really nice.

I stopped at the grocery store to get soft, mushy food I could eat.

Thank you for all the suggestions! I got yogurt, pudding, soup and ice cream. There was one ice cream I almost bought until I saw the calories! I almost fell over in shock.

That tiny little ice cream cup that fit in my hand was 310 calories!!!

Ooooof!!! I put that back and got a raspberry ice cream that was 110 calories. That’s more my speed.

I had planned on going for a run Tuesday. My Hood to Coast training begins this week and while I was uncomfortable with my tooth I decided that my tooth shouldn’t interfere with running. Training must go on!

I will admit that drinking beer and then going running is probably not the brightest idea but I was no where near drunk. It had been a few hours and the buzz was gone.

I ran the half mile or so to the nearby track and did 2 miles around the track without walking or stopping. My legs felt like they weren’t a part of my body! I was pretty fast.

It was starting to get dark so I ran home to have my soup for dinner and go to bed.

Run Stats:

Time: 32:40

Distance: A little over 3 miles

Calories Burned: 373

It was a fast little run and I felt good. Stretched. Foam Roller. Soup for dinner!

I really love this soup. It’s yummy and really low in calories.

I added some shredded Colby Jack cheese and light sour cream. I skipped the tortilla chips I usually add (nothing crunchy!). Dinner was about 110 calories + the calories for the cheese and sour cream.

I did NOT sleep much last night. The pain pills I got were pretty worthless. I was uncomfortable and upset and I think I finally fell asleep after 1am. That doesn’t make me a happy camper this morning.

29 Days and Counting

I saw the news update in my RSS Feed that the Steel Bridge walkway was closed, so I knew ahead of time I had to run over the top of it.

Today’s run was pretty good because it wasn’t very hot out. The sun was out but there was a cool breeze.

Because I had to run over the Steel Bridge top, and I also ran towards OMSI before crossing the Hawthorne Bridge, my time wasn’t fast. I added some distance to my workout so that explains it. I’m alright with that. I don’t feel like I need to be super fast right now. I am more concerned about adding mileage and being comfortable with running distances.

Today’s Stats:

Time: 36:43

Calories Burned: 487

Today I realized there are 29 days left until Hood to Coast. 29 days. Oh. My. God. Less than a month! I’m sort of at a loss as to how I train for it. Here is where I am confused:

• My fitness level is pretty high with all the cross-training I do. I’m not concerned about being “out of shape” for the run.
• Since I work out all the time, do I *really* need to amp up my training??
• How often should I be running for the next three weeks to prepare?
• Do I really need to get up in the middle of the night to practice running at night (I will have to do one leg of the race in the middle of nowhere at like 2am)? And if I do, is it safe to do it by myself?

QUESTION: Has anyone participated in a running Relay Race? How did you train?