Helvetia Half Marathon

First major milestone: check.

I didn't follow Hal Higdon's training program as religiously as I should have -- i.e. the race was a little more painful than it could have been.  It was revelatory that my finish time was only 2 minutes slower than when I ran it in 2011 -- when I thought I was at peak fitness.   This makes me wonder if I'm even capable of hitting an 8:30 min/mile ever.

But I'm still holding the course.  Time will tell.   Brit and I registered to run the Oregon Marathon on September 28.  My goal is to run it in under 4 hours.  i.e. a 3:59.

Back to Helvetia.  I love that run -- the countryside course and the hamburgers at the finish.  This year one of the YW ran the 1/2 -- on the same day she graduated.  It was a cool day for her.  A few of the other YW ran/walked the 10K, as well.  We all got to run for free -- a perk from helping out at Hippie Chick.

Stats

I've been informed that link to my Garmin webpage doesn't work if you don't have my loggin.  So here are some other stats that might be even more interesting ....

Boston, Bust:  40 1/2 inches
(I'm not bragging).

Waist:  33 (larger than Briton's, but I've still managed to keep the same shoe size as him.  Now I'm bragging).

Bicep: 11 (not muscle, though.  so bicep might be misleading).

Hips:  38 1/2

Body fat:  31.6%

BMI, according to the device thingy at the gym:  26.4  (overweight).

Weight:  142.  pounds, that is.  in case you were thinking kilograms.

Gobbler:  3.  Inches, that is.  Not 3 gobblers.  There are only 2.


I think what these numbers tell you is that I am shaped like this:

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Garmin and Go!

Well, well.  Look who has a fancy Garmin.  Briton (er, Santa) noticed how jazzed I got recording my mileage in 2011, so he thought a Garmin would be a good motivator for Boston.  He done gone and thought correctly.  It is a very cool tool.  A Garmin-user can log onto the Garmin website and upload all the info from their runs.  I really like seeing the actual mileage I run, as I'm running.  I also like seeing my pace.  The mile split beep is my new favorite sound (YES!  I hear it TWO times now, per run!!!!).  But most funnest of ever is thinking that a satellite up in outer space is watching my every movement.  Sometimes I make a quick dart to the left or right.  See that, satellite???  I say.  When I upload the info, my exact run is right there on the map -- step for step.  Pretty nifty.  Oh?  And did I hear you complain that it's not for you because you want to know your elevation gain and loss and average mile pace?  Ha.  It does that, too.  That's just the whipping cream on top.  I mean, the Gu on top.

Since I plan to post other measurements here, I have no shame in showing you this link.  I will disclaim, however, that I walked the first five minutes and overall ran a tad slower on account of pushing Clara in the jogging stroller.  She knows how to smell the roses -- we admired every fire hydrant and the abundant geese population on the pond.  It was fun to share the road with her.

But seriously,  a 10:51 mile and I need to get it down to a 8:35 mile.   A dubious journey.

Rave Run

"Rave Run" is a little bit of an elevated description at this point (no pun on the pic intended).   Last month Brit and I (and Miles) marked our anniversary in Yachats, OR.  We walked around a short trail and caught this view.  The run (by which I mean, I was more "huffling" than running) - was along the shoreline just north of this view.  The crashing waves were beautiful.  By the way, I learned that all that white, bubbly, foam is sign of a healthy ocean.