Dev on Running

Surprise! Morning run! I got out the door at 5:27 a.m.

Not all 9:00+ miles, but the average was nice ‘n easy, so I’ll take it.

A cloudy morning at the lake is still beautiful. I love the clouds reflected in the water.

A good thinking bench, for those who do their thinking while sitting rather than running.

Oh, and I’m definitely wearing my Ghosts for the race. They felt great today — like old friends. So happy to have that decision made!

Time to rest my legs today and tomorrow. Packet pickup tomorrow night. Race Saturday morning.

I can’t wait. It’s my favorite race distance and a fabulous course, and I’m so excited to smoke my time from two years ago!!

Tuesday night, I lifted weights and did the Oiselle Dirty Dozen core workout.

I’ve never done core work consistently, but I know it’ll make me stronger and faster, so I’m now officially trying. That workout is intense! I’m definitely feeling the burn today.

For tonight’s run, I wore my most subtle running gear.

Because I simply hate standing out in a crowd.

My goal was five easy miles, so what I wound up doing was frustrating.

Can’t. Slow. Down.

This was the second run in my new shoes, and this time I really focused on how they felt. The toebox is roomier than I’m used to, and I went up a half-size from my usual 8.5 based on the salesgirl’s recommendation; I just don’t know if I’ve got too much room for my toes to flop around. I definitely feel like I’m running differently, but I’m not sure it’s in a good way.

I got too hung up thinking about the shoes to relax, so my shoulders and upper back felt really tight just a few miles in. I kept trying to breathe, relax, and slow down.

Yeah, didn’t work. I was too anxious about the shoe situation and my 15K on Saturday. Which shoes will I wear?

I think the safe route is to go with my Ghosts, but the new shoes are definitely helping me run fast even when I try to slow down. I’ll do one last easy run in the Ghosts tomorrow and then decide.

Cross my heart, hope to die, I’ll be good and run 9:00+ miles tomorrow!

I’m officially awful at slowing down for recovery runs.

I met up with Megan, who works for Nuun and is organizing all the Hood to Coast goodness, for an “easy” run around Green Lake tonight. She’s still recovering from running (and PRing!) the Tacoma City Marathon a few weekends ago, and I just did my long run yesterday, so we agreed to take it slow-ish.

But then… just… nope.

I’m kind of a running loner (roner?) and usually run by myself, so I’ve forgotten how the miles can fly by when you run and chat with a friend! It’s seriously weird how I can remember everything Megan and I talked about, but I can’t recall covering various parts of the trail, even though we ran all the way around the lake, plus some more. Where did the miles go?

Oh, they must’ve gotten chewed up and spit out by my awesome new shoes.

I’ve never had fun, bright shoes before, so I’m a little obsessed.

The Asics Cumulus 15s have some serious cushioning. I removed the Asics inserts, which have even more foamy cushioning, and used my custom inserts (high arches, yo) to firm them up a bit. I felt a bit like I was running bouncing on pogo sticks (in a good way).

One run isn’t enough to be able to give a firm yea or nay on these shoes, but so far, I’m feeling good about them. They were a little stiff, which is to be expected, and don’t quite have that fits-like-a-glove feel that I’m so used to with the Ghosts, but maybe we’ll get there in a few miles.

Yup, I said we — my bright-ass shoes and me. Aaron should watch out; this could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

I kicked off this Mother’s Day with a little half-marathon for a long run.

NEWS FLASH: Running 13 miles is way, wayyyyyy more fun than running 18 miles!

I started out cautiously to make sure my knees felt OK, and then sped up a bit when I felt assured they weren’t going to make trouble. I wound up with an average pace that’s right on target for my long runs — I’m trying to hit 9:00 to 9:10 (a 9:10 average pace equals a 3:59:59 marathon).

My next long run includes a RACE! I’ll run Seattle’s Best 15K this Saturday, then run 10 miles afterward to bring the mileage to 19. It should be… fun…?

I’m excited for tomorrow’s run because I’ll get to test out my new shoes!

I walked into Road Runner Sports wanting to try the the Saucony Triumph based on a recommendation, but they felt really stiff and awkward on my feet. I didn’t even like walking in them, let alone running in them.

So the salesgirl brought me other neutral options similar to my beloved Brooks Ghost 4, and I wound up liking the brand-new Asics Cumulus 15. I have 90 days (!) to run in these and return them if I don’t like them, so yay!

Aaron and I had a great day spending time with both of our moms. We had lunch with his mom and stepdad, then headed over to my mom’s house for dinner and a movie. We brought our favorite cupcakes to share!

I had the cookies ‘n’ cream one (middle of the front row), and just polished off a red velvet one (back right) as I’m typing this. Yummmm. Can’t wait to enjoy these at our wedding!!

I can’t remember the last time I gave an update on my mom’s health on the blog, and it seems that everyone (in real life) has been asking me lately, so the update is: She is now three months out from her surgery, back to work, and halfway through her treatment!

I couldn’t believe it today when she said it had been three months since the surgery; it felt like just yesterday that I was back home helping her in those first few days of recovery. In a way, time feels like it’s gone quickly, but I remember that the month of February felt as long as an entire year. Each day just felt much heavier than a normal day, if that makes sense…

I was going to write more, but I’ve just gone and made myself really emotional, and I need to get some sleep.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. I love you so much. Here’s to lighter days ahead.

I did a very rare weekday morning run today! Turns out Green Lake is very lovely and peaceful in the wee hours.

I don’t know how you a.m. exercisers do it. It was rough dragging myself out of bed to fit in five miles, and I’m so used to running in the evening that I didn’t ever feel like I hit a good groove.

And yet while I was running, I thought about how races are always first thing in the morning, and I never have trouble then. I guess I need the nervous excitement and energy?

I realized after this run that the knee pain (and, randomly, big-toe pain) I’m feeling is what I felt right before I retired my last pair of running shoes and switched to my current ones.

Thanks to DailyMile, I calculated that my current shoes have 355 miles on them; Runner’s World says shoes should be replaced between 300 and 500 miles. They definitely won’t last through the marathon, so I need to get new shoes and start breaking them in ASAP! I’m thinking of cheating on Brooks and investigating Saucony… more on that later.

After work, Aaron and I met up with Meg and her husband, John, for food at Brave Horse Tavern. I can’t believe it had been a YEAR since I’d seen Meg — remember when she plucked me from my sick, injured, lonely despair in San Francisco? Holy lifesaver!!! Just rereading that post amazes me. What a good friend!

May 2012:

May 2013:

It’s no surprise that the conversation centered mostly on running, fitness, and our upcoming races and relays. Both Meg and I are doing Hood to Coast, and both Meg and Aaron are doing Ski to Sea!

Meg is F-A-S-T, as in she just ran a 1:35 half-marathon (her PR is 1:33) and is going to train for sub-1:30 next. We may or may not have hatched a plan called Operation Devon Gets F-A-S-T (just made that up) that’ll begin after Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle and involve Meg kicking my ass on the track. I’m excited.

Welp, gotta get up early (like 5 a.m. early) tomorrow for Aaron’s mountain bike race — the same one at which this pic was snapped by the official photographer last year:

Man, time flies. This feels like yesterday.

I’m so glad I’m off those damn crutches.

The Hood to Coast team assignments are in!!!

I’m runner #12 for Team Watermelon (lemonade and watermelon are Nuun’s new summer flavors), which means I get to run the very last leg of the whole relay onto the beach in Seaside, Oregon!

Huzzah!!!

Nuun asked us for our top three runner position preferences, and 12 was my third choice, so I’m very happy I got one of my choices! I think it’ll be unforgettable to run that last leg — I’m sure I’ll be absolutely exhausted, borderline delirious — and cross the finish line with Team Watermelon.

Here are the details and HTC-provided notes about all three of my legs:

• Leg 1: 6.32 miles, medium difficulty, little to no shade
• Leg 2: 4.92 miles, easy, no music allowed on this leg for some reason (no prob, I never listen to it)
• Leg 3: 5.23 miles, medium difficulty, little to no shade, considerable elevation gain or loss (I’m guessing loss, since this leg ends at sea level!)

In total, I’ll run just under 16.5 miles. My position is ranked 6th out of 12 for mileage and 8th for difficulty.

I’m SO excited!!!

Moving on… I’m smack in the middle of week 12 of my 18-week marathon training plan, and feeling like Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle will be here before I know it.

I adjusted my schedule a bit this week to accomodate a get-together with girlfriends on Monday night, and it’s totally screwing with my legs. Five miles Tuesday + eight miles Wednesday = havoc wreaked on my knees.

Tuesday’s run: Easy-ish and pleasant.

Wednesday’s run: Comfortably hard through mile five, and then my knees started yelling at me. I slowed down a little… then some more… and then WAY more for the last mile.

My knees felt better once I slowed down, but the pain was worrisome enough that I’m going to take Thursday off and get my five-miler in early Friday morning before work (Aaron and I have dinner plans with Meg and her husband Friday evening). I may not do hills, like I usually do, since running downhill is so stressful on the knees.

You hear that, body? I’M LISTENING. No need to mess with me any further. You call the shots up in this joint.

Aaaaand to end this on a positive note, I will show you that I ventured boldly into the exciting world of skirts today. Stripey skirts, no less.

The sudden onset of 80-degree temps and my extreme aversion to pants has forced me to go where my closet has not gone before. I have dresses, sure, but skirts are much more complicated to me. Every time I try on a skirt, I wonder what the hell I’ll wear with it. I just happened to already be wearing a perfectly matching tank today, so I had no excuse not to get it.

Plus, this skirt has an elastic waistband. That means I’ll get to enjoy the kind of comfort that’s usually only considered acceptable in public for toddlers and the elderly.

All the cool people are wearing elastic-waisted stripey skirts this summer. You’ll see.