My one leg of Hood to Coast

So  I was super excited when Friday arrived b/c I was going to meet up with Melody from I run like a girl to run her first leg of H2C with her!! (and can I just say this woman is in GREAT shape!! I know b/c i was staring at the back of her extremely muscular legs for about 4min:):).
The night before I began to wonder what sort of pace she was planning to run at since I know I am not capable yet of any fast paces and didn't want to slow her down. At the time she thought around 7:30 pace which was perfect for me. (I think she was being modest! lol)...

So when the time came, I joined up with her and she took off!!

About 30 seconds in, when I could hardly catch her I looked down at my garmin to see she was running sub 6:30 pace. (oh crap. is all I thought.). I knew there was NO way I could keep this pace. With 2 mo's off and only 3wks of running back under my belt, I literally am still quite out of shape (in comparison to where I was a few months ago).

I waited to see if she would slow down but she did not. I felt SO bad and disappointed but I had to tell her to go on without me:(:( I held on as long as I could but at 0.6 miles in. I stopped....and to my absolute delight Harmony came along 2 min later:):):)

She was running 7:30-7:45 pace and it felt PERFECT!! (I was so grateful!!)
I knew this was a fast pace for Harm but she was doing great!!!
we ran between 7:45 and 8:10 pace the whole time....and it was FABULOUS!!!
it was so hot and muggy but beautiful! I felt so happy to be running with my Windermere friend. I love that woman. we talked and I encouraged her to push on and hold a pace she hadn't held before...and she did AMAZING!! OH and she jumped over a snake! LOL....I seriously thought she was gonna land right on it!

I also felt amazing on this run! probably b/c I had 5 days off with no running AND b/c of the beautiful company. I really LOVE running with friends:)

 My 5 miles was a 7;45 average and Harm's was an 8:02 (mine only faster b/c of that first fast mile (7:00).
Harm ran the fastest 5 miles of her life and I was so proud of her! I felt great to run at that pace which was encouraging to me.

Here is Harm and I post run. We were DRIPPING with sweat....uuuhhh. Harm I think the reflector vest works well;)

Thoughts post run:
-It was extremely humbling to realize in such an abrupt manner that I am no longer able to run the paces I could a few months ago. I feel like it is must feel like it does to be old or handicapped. In your mind you Think and FEEL like you can do something but your body is no longer capable. and extremely frustrating feeling. STILL, when I lie down at night, I imagine myself running 6min pace and it feels great!
-I already knew I could no longer run those paces but to lose out on an opportunity to run with someone I was really looking forward to getting to know b/c of it sort of stings:(:(
-I feel MORE MOTIVATED than ever to keep working at this and to make a comeback.
-I thought I would be further along by now but My body is really not cooperating.
So far I have completed:
week 1: 25 miles
week 2: 30 miles
week 3: 34 miles
week 4: 10 miles (injured again-boo!).
So here I am at the beginning of week 5 and my goal this week is between 35 and 40 miles.
oh WHY does this process have to go so slowly(?).

I realize my love for running is great and to get a tiny taste of all that love and support I saw going on between the runners this weekend makes me so excited to do H2C next year!
Congrats to the NUUN teams for doing so awesome!!!

happenings this week while in no mans land...

Well....I spent the last 6days in Vancouver, BC Canada with my family! it was SO great to see my sister! meet my beautiful 18mo old niece for the first time. Sort of ridiculous. But we have been waiting for an important meeting at the US consolate for Visa papers and couldn't leave the U.S for the past 18 mos. The reunion was sweet but cramming 5 kids, 4 adults into a small home can get hectic! My sister and brother in law are always so sweet to let us stay with them:)

So...happenings this week...

* We got all our visa papers done! So friggin excited!!! this means we don't have to deal with any more visa crap for at least 2yrs!!! woohoo!!

*Got to see my very best friend (since we were 11yrs old) while in Vancouver. love her so much! I'm so lucky to have a best friend like that:)

*Here's the picture of the week: My sisters daughter Madison is only 6mo's older than Megan. My sister's and I's pregnancies overlapped. We both didn't find out what we were having and when we both had girls we were ELATED!!! Just as we hoped, these cousins are the BEST of friends! they love each other so much, get along so well and often they remind my sister and I of us when we were little. They were on the trampoline when I told Meg it was time to go. I saw them hugging and went over to hear them desperately telling each other through sobbing tears, "it's okay, it won't be long til we see each other again" I wanted to cry. Look at these sweet faces? Maddy is really tall for her age so she is almost an entire head taller than Meg. They are so sweet:

 They have no idea yet how blessed they are to have such a relationship. 

Best friends for life. I can only imagine the fun they will have over the next 20yrs together!

Not so great news:
*I was on the trampoline trying to be Noah's Favorite Aunty (he's my 4yr old nephew), playing crack the egg when he accidentally kicked me in the shin!......now I have really BAD vericose Veins on my left leg from having kids and there is a large cluster of them on my left shin...RIGHT where he kicked me!
Immediately I thought to myself "oh...that hurt".....and something didn't feel right. I jumped off the trampoline and tried to pull up my skinny jeans.
There was a HUGE quickly growing lump on my shin.....it was the size of a golf ball! imagine a golf ball sized lump under the skin on a bony area like your shin! it FREAKED ME OUT!....
I called Steve over and he took one look at it and started Running up stairs mildly shouting for ice.......now if you knew my husband you would know he is the most UNDRAMATIC human being on the face of this green earth! So to see HIM RUNNING and calling for HELP freaked me out even more. I hobbled up stairs as quickly as I could while he is telling me in a rushed voice to get my leg elevated NOW!.
All I could think  was, " I don't know whats wrong, but I was supposed to go for a RUN tonight!" lol...
not worried about leg amputation...worried about missing my RUN! typical Nicole:)

Anyway...we wrapped it up for compression and I haven't run since:( He thinks I burst a vein:(:(
Totally sucks and I was so sad but what can I do.

On the up side.....and speaking of Hood to Coast (b/c everyone is these days),  I get to run with Melody from Will run for Margaritas tonight!!!!
Her leg 10 is about 10min from my house so we decided it would be fun to meet in person!!!
Not sure what I am going to tell my husband I am doing when I leave her at 7pm tonight decked out in running gear b/c I'm sure he does not approve of me running yet! lol....oh well he should know by now that I am a terrible listener!;)

good luck to all my friends running Hood to Coast this weekend!!! I hope you all kick some butt!

People get PAID to do this??? SUH-WEET! (pictures!!)

So last night was the fun running photoshoot with Craig Mitchelldyer...for anyone who didn't read my post on that.....Craig is an incredible sports photographer and asked if I would be willing to model for some running shots for his portfolio....."uuuuhhhhh....let me think about that....YES!"...so I dragged Amanda from runninghood in with me and my good friend Joel.

Our night consisted of:

-Getting All new NIKE running outfits from Craig (and Joel and Amanda got shoes too!!!)

-running around feeling super Bad-Ass while Craig took our pics...

-and then pigging out at Red Robin after:)

pretty much one of the funnest days I've had in a long time!!!

Craig edited a few pics today to put up on his blog! I am so critical of myself so I am not super fond of my angry face lol in some of them (he told us to look Tough)...but I can't wait to get the whole disc of images! the Photography is superb! Craig is SUPER DUPER talented and I am one lucky girl that I know him!!!

To see pictures of the PHOTOSHOOT CLICK HERE

Craig, me, Joel, Amanda...right after the shoot was complete

Amanda and I .....taking a break fromstuffing our faces at Red Robin to

snap a pic:)

These are our "Food Babies" :) I think Joel thinks we are a

bunch of creeps...not only did we scare him for LIFE with our

talk of .....mmm..many "Female matters" lol....but I think

he thought this hidden talent of ours was a bit odd...probably couldn't figure out why
 WE were so proud! ha ha!

and Amanda likes to make fun of my face in this pic but the only reason she isn't looking is b/c she was trying not to bust a gut laughing! AT least I could hold it together! lol

But Really...Amanda is so much fun, and I always laugh when I'm with her..

it was a great night!

2 posts in one day: woah! my first 30 mile week since my injury

yes..it's Saturday night and I'm drinking a pepsi, eating some white powdered doughnuts and clearly have too much time on my hands since it's my 2nd post in like 5hrs:):) You'd think I would be making better choices since I'm supposed to be this FIT athlete in this photoshoot in 3 days:/ oh well...I figure one pepsi and 8 mini doughnuts isn't gonna do too much damage......oh..and the 5 homemade chocolate chip cookies from last night....and ..i should stop. I really like Sugar. can you tell?

So, anyway....I thought I should report on some running:

last week I did 25 miles.

This week the goal was 30:

here's what I did:

Monday: 6 miles 8:52 pace

Tuesday: 6 miles 7:40 pace (had tonnes of energy after a 12 hr sleep, this run had a steady hill over a mile long for mile 5 but I did it. last mile was 6:45:)

Wednesday: strength training, 1 mile warmup 10min pace

Thursday: 6miles 8:45ish pace

Friday: 6 miles 8:12 pace

Friday night: 2 miles with a friend who needed a partner: 9:39 pace

Saturday: 3 miles 7:41 pace

total Mileage: 30 miles:)

Goal next week is 35 miles. I am still feeling frustrated that my endurance is GONE but I guess it will come back with time...it's just so hard to be patient. I want to be RACING! I want to be WINNING! (okay, I know that's not realistic but still:) ) I just want to be back in tip top shape......sigh.

I decided NOT to do the 2 mile race today...as much as I wanted to, I need to be smart and let me body keep easing into things and i didn't think pushing my body to try to run 2 6:45 miles back to back was a good idea. I think I made the right decision.

Portland hasn't given us much of a summer and it's almost over. In preparation for fall and winter running I am trying to reach out to my friends and secure some more running partners so be sure to see my last POST about the morning group run i'd like to start!!

Portland area Runners: Weekly morning group run?

Okay ladies! I've been thinking about this for a while so I'm finally putting it out there.....spread the word!

Yesterday I met up with Stephanie at Soggy Runner Girl for a 6mile run along the spring water trail by the water front. We met at 6:45am and it was wonderful! we both agreed that it was SO much nicer to have someone to chat with and pass the time with while getting our run in.

I have wanted to start a weekly morning group run where we meet (at least once a week) every week for an early morning run. Especially as fall/winter approaches I find it is ALWAYS easier to get out of bed and get my run done...even in the FREEZING cold if I know someone is waiting for me:)

SO...I'd like to know who is

1. interested?

2. what day/days are you free?

3. what time in the morning can you go?

I have to be home by 8:15 so I'm up for early, but what about you? whats your schedule?

pass the word on!

Enjoy the small moments in life....and a picture montage of the last week of my life:)

Normally this time of year, I don't have time do anything but work...but I PURPOSELY booked myself less weddings this year so I could enjoy the summer a bit more with my kids.
this week has been great! and I feel like I've been able to really ENJOY my children.
I was thinking last night about how sometimes you know...things just suck. It is normal to go through some really rough patches in life...I have been going through one for a few months...but this week has been beautiful.
I have made some ammends with my husband...we've been struggling b/c we are both so busy and haven't been making enough time for each other. I have been getting a full night of sleep every night...except last night Erika woke up with a bad dream and asked me to snuggle her..which I actually didn't mind. I love the smell of my childrens skin and hair.
I was thinking in bed last night...what is the BEST FEELING in the world? and to me...the BEST Feeling I can imagine is the feeling of my childrens squishy cheeks on my lips when I kiss them. ...and I kiss them A LOT:) I can't help it..they are just too cute.

Anyway...
a few highlights from the last week of my life:

Friends:

*One of my very best Friends, Chrsytal, who also works for me, got married

this weekend. This was us after I did her hair/makeup right before the beach ceremony! so much fun.

 

Above: us at the reception. I got that dress at Nordstrom.com and am INLOVE with it! I love that it's modest..so hard to find around here!

I loved the BIG HUGE MESSY chignon I pulled together since we were in a time crunch before

guests arrived:)

 

*One of my other Best friends had her 4th baby girl: Evelynn Ruby this weekend.

She was only 5lbs 7oz...turns out her ambilical cord was twisted and she was starving:(:(

she is a miracle and I am in Love. I stopped to meet her before my run this morning.

I love baby girls!!

Isn't she sweet?

Children:

*My sweet little Mooshy started swimming without water wings this week! I always get her to take them off and try but she usually wants to put them back on after 5min...but this time...she just took off swimming!!

She is so cute! she is super excited and keeps telling her daddy "No daddy, I Swim wiffout Fwoaties (floaties)!!" lol..she is only 3yrs and 9mos old so I am a PROUD mama!!

Here's Erika with her best friend AJ:)

*My little Moosh is growing up. She starts pre-school in September and I dropped her off for a trial run the other day and she LOVED it! which was a huge stress reliever for me b/c lately she has been going balistic when I drop her off anywhere...even places she LOVES. She cries and clings to me and begs me not to go. It really breaks my heart...but by the Good grace of God, she loved it and she is actually excited about it...

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS FOR ME?????????????????

well let me tell you! this means I will have 12 DAY TIME HOURS to myself starting in a few weeks!

The idea of a tiny bit of freedom after being home with my kids for 7yrs is so exciting I could about jump out of my skin! I have so many plans already!! mid morning runs, shopping, lunch dates with friends...BLOGGING:)...oh..it's going to be WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Anyway...Megan started an Art camp this week and it's pretty incredible what she can do!

Above: megans self portrait on day 1 and her self Portrait she did today:

below that: her very first painting!!!

Working on her painting

Her first still drawing with colored pencils!

Meg is 6yrs old:)

I was so proud of her! Both my girls learned something new this week:)

* I took My friends 2 little boys (AJ above and his little brother Miles) with Erika to the zoo yesterday. it was SO NICE to just take our time, knowing I didn't have any makeup appointments to get home too...we just walked...ate our prepacked lunches and ENJOYED the beauty of the day.

 I feel Like as I get older and mature more, I enjoy children more too. Sometimes I feel sad that I don't get to enjoy a newborn of my own again, because I think I am more mature now and could be a better mother to a new born baby. Does that make sense? something changes in your maturity when you get into your 30's and I just think my perspective is a lot different now than it was when I had my daughters.

Running:

As I talked about before, I have to start rebuilding my mileage and fittness...

Last week I logged 24 miles ...felt good...

This week I am on track to log 31 and it feels amazing! it's tough though...I am really out of shape but I can tell it will come back..another month or so of building mileage and I think I will feel differently:)

Right now I just feel grateful for everything good in my life. I am pleased that I am being patient with my progress and I know i'll get those PR's next year:):)

FINALLY an update! My modelling debut, some track and the next 2 mos of my life will go as follows.....

I'm ALIVE!!! LOL....

Gosh...this is the first time I've been able to sit down without feeling extremely overwhelmed and guilty about spending 20min on here when I have a million other things to get done.

I'm so sorry I am so behind on your blogs. I promise fall will be different. Summer is always insane for me!

so here we go...and UPDATE:

Life:

Feeling okay. trying to "find" myself in a lot of things right now. Motherhood, marriage, runner, makeup artist, friend.....

My best friend just had her 3rd baby boy. He's gorgeous and I'm trying to have her oldest son, who is best friends with my girls over as much as possible so she can rest. She has done so much for me I want to do SOMETHING to give back to her....especially at a time like this when she needs it:)

Super happy that summer has arrived. We've been at the pool with any free time we've had and I'm trying to just ENJOY my girls when I can....hence the no blogging..all my free time has been going to them:)

RUNNING:

so, like an idiot, I wasted my first 3 wks back running, messing around. I would get so excited to run, that i would only run 3 miles HARD, then be so tired I couldn't run the next day. Throw in 5 days of a fever and body aches and I only averaged 10miles a week for the last 3weeks:(

I feel like I had to get it out of my system though...running fast (or what is fast to me right now) and just FEEL like I could still run. I've come to the conclusion that I haven't lost alot of my sprinting speed, but I have most definitely lost almost ALL of my endurance. After 2 miles..even at a easy pace, I am TIRED:(. THIS SUCKS.

DOCTOR UPDATE:

Went to see Dr. Foland yesterday. I told him I'm ready to start builing mileage so I can train again. I THOUGHT I would have about 2wks of base to do before I could start training,but turns Out i have 2 MONTHS! THIS, I was not expecting this at all and I had to try not to cry infront of him. I am grateful he is protecting me from hurting myself but here's what he told me i will be doing the next few months:

(keep in mind this is ALL EASY MILES)

week 1 (this week) 25 miles
week 2 30 miles
week 2 35 miles
week 4 35 miles
week 5 40 miles
week 6 40 miles (can throw in some EASY 200m strides for a track workout. thats' IT!)
week 7 40-45 miles
week 8 45-50 miles (Can FINALLY start some BEGINNER track workouts).

SO...this means no training for my 10K on Sept 24th.

I asked him if it was realistic to go for my sub 1:30 at the Oct 29 half (12wks away) and he very plainly said NO. I should NOT be thinking or planning numbers. that I will not be doing any sort of workouts by then that will get me in 1:30 shape.

Again..this was a punch in the stomache. I honestly thought I would be back to full training by then. At first I was discouraged. Feeling like "what is the point in running". But I asked myself the question : "do you want to be a runner? " yes. "Are you willing to do what ti takes, even if it takes alot longer than you thought?" Yes.

so here I am. I want to be a great runner more than I want to throw in the towel and sleep through my alarm, so I guess I just have to SUCK IT UP!.

The thing for me now, is fining my MOTIVATION. Normally I am motivated by a race, but since I am not going to be getting either of the PR's I wanted for the 10K OR the half marathon...where is my motivation?

I have decided the motivation is just in watching my fitness return. celebrating the progress even when it's small and marvelling in how my body WILL adapt and return to the endurance level it had a few months ago and then go beyond that.

My other issue is that my brain works in such a way that I don't see the point in racing unless I am going to PR or at least try to get close to that. But in this case, I know I won't PR in either...so do I still race?
I decided yes. That it is probably HEALTHY for me to race even knowing I wont' get that PR. Plus it will help me gage where I'm at. Will I be in 47 min 10K shape or 43-44 min 10K shape? it will help me know where I sit on the scale of where I want to BE. So, I will still race BOTH races and just be grateful I CAN race:):)

TRACK:

So...in my reckless 3 weeks, I was all over the place. I ran a 5 miler (my first one) with Steve 2wks ago and mile 5 was a 6:35 mile! not sure how I did that but it felt great.

Then I decided to go do this community track meet with Amanda. It was SO much fun!

I ran the 2 miler (but only did 1.25 b/c it was too hot). Then did the 400m relay, then the 1 mile race and then the 200m.

My 1 miler was 6:27 which I was really happy with since I've hardly run in 3 mos and I was already drained and tired by the time it was time to run it. My 200m which was about 4-5 min later I did in 32 seconds which I was also happy with:)

HOWEVER, I was SORE for FIVE days after! LOL...when i told Dr. Foland he said "that is what I like to call an aggressive mistake" lol.

So...won't be doing that again...but It was one of the happiest days I have had in a LONG time! it was a blast! Amanda is so sweet and we have so much fun together! My good friend and old coach, Joel came out to run too and it was wonderful!

the girls did the kids races and collected lots of ribbons.

It was s agreat day!
here are a few pics!

The girls drinking Jamba with Joel after the races:)

showing off all their ribbons!

the beautiful Amanda from Runninghood

RUNNING MODEL:

I almost forgot to mention that I get to have the chance to be a RUNNING Model for the incredible Craig Mitchell Dyer  on Aug 16th!!! He is an incredible sports photographer and wants to do a shoot like a NIKE Ad:) I am so excited and Amanda doesn't know it yet..but I'm dragging her in with me! LOL
I have always thought it would be so fun to do that type of modelling. OBVIOUSLY I am not cut out for Victoria Secret lol...but fitness models are pretty average everyday girls who are just in shape and I can't wait!! it will be so fun! I will be sure to show the pics when we get them:) I better do some more strength training! cause I'm not exactly in the BEST shape right now....