Race Report: Oregon Wine Country Half Marathon

What a terrific weekend and an awesome race!  This weekend we went to Oregon to hang out with my aunt, cousin and his son as well as our friend Scott, and to run the Oregon Wine Country half marathon.  It was an exhausting weekend, and race, and just what I needed.

I have run the Healdsburg Half and the Napa to Sonoma Half - both beautiful.  I think the Oregon may be my favorite, though.  The race started at Stoller vineyard just as the sun was coming up (and oh my goodness - the sky was on fire, there is no better way to start a race).  We ran through vineyards, past cow fields, through residential zones, up a rolling dirt trail, and finished in a small town called Carlton. 

I came in with a time of 1:37:05 and was 67th overall (out of 1112) and second in my age group. 

Matt and the boys met me at the finish line for some good dancing, running around the winery fields, and wine tasting (although just after a run, and so early in the morning, wine tasting is not my ideal downtime).

So fun!  And, I'm happy to say, while it was far from a PR, I think I may just be getting out of my slower time slump.

Weekend roundup: go go go!

This past weekend was a SUPER busy one - I'm still recovering, hence the delayed post.  Here it is in a nutshell:

Friday after work we went to my bosses house for a BBQ.  We couldn't get a sitter, nor could one of my co-workers, so we brought all of the toddlers and let them run (kind of - my boss has a giant beautiful house with a grand piano, no kids, and many breakables).  The boys found the stairs the most entertaining for a game of lay on the steps:

Saturday our friends from Boston came over for brunch, and then we walked up to the zoo.

Saturday afternoon our friends whom we met at the playground (how Fresh Prince of Bellaire) came over to talk about their impending move to San Francisco (sad) and pick blackberries before a mellow dinner.

Sunday we met Lisa, Frank, and Lila, Andrew at Mars Hill Church in the morning, and then Lisa, Lila, Andrew, the boys and I hung out at Farmer's in Ballard while Frank and Matt climbed. 

After naptime, Sunday afternoon we made our way to Nicole and Salil's for a BBQ (and many games of ring around the rosy).

Sunday night Lisa and fam came over to watch a Baseball game.  I honestly have no idea who was playing, but it was fun to hang out.

Last night, our neighbors came over for a mellow dinner and catch up - they just returned from Copenhagen (awesome!) and shared travel stories ... which made me want to hit the road :).  The kids all decided to "go for a boat ride" in the living room before taking all the pillows off the couch and jumping all over the place. 

Now it's all about catch-up - cleaning, working all the hours I should have worked this weekend, and prepping for another busy weekend as we're off to Portland this coming weekend.  Thank goodness for all the great Seattle coffee!

To wear: a topper

I am a firm believer in wearing a helmet when biking.  A few months ago I forgot my helmet when leaving the house and didn't realize it until I was at the bottom of our hill and the wind was blowing through my hair.  What did I do? Trek back up the hill to get the helmet.  I am SO thankful I was wearing a helmet on Friday - Matt and I were looking at it this morning and I managed to crack the foam all the way through to the shell with my fall.  Whoa.  So the first and most important thing to wear (when biking) is a good helmet:


As I now have a giant gash on my head that will no doubt turn into a big scar, I am becoming quite fond of hats.  I've always liked them but now I'm starting to think of them like mascara or chap-stick - just another thing you throw on that ties everything together.  My favorites?  Goorin Bros. Hats - a company from San Francisco that luckily has a store here in Seattle.  Yesterday I treated myself to this fedora (but mine has white pinstripes):

It all came to a head

Well, that hurt.  That being my mega bike accident leading to a mega head injury.  Last night biking home I clearly wasn't paying enough attention (read, checked out thinking of what was for dinner, work, how the boys' day was, how nice it was outside, and how an a$$hat car just went the wrong way on a closed street) and took the trolley track from the wrong angle when BOOM, down went me and my bike.  At first I was embarrassed and wanted to get the heck out of there.  Then I was confused - there was a LOT of blood coming from somewhere above, and a LOT of strangers were stopping to stare and offer hankies and clean wipes of all sorts.  Some were just staring to see if I could talk, I think.

After pulling myself up and whipping out my tattered cell, I was whisked away in our Honda CRV chariot by my knight (Matt) to quickly pick the boys up at daycare (past closing time) and streamline to the nearest ER.  When we got to the ER Matt dropped me off because the boys were freaking, so we decided they should go get food.  I walked in and was amazed at how nice everyone was being to me.  I checked in, called my mom, sat down, and within minutes was briskly walked into the back room for the standard blood pressure and temp checks and then into a private room in the ER.  Later I found out this private room was one of few expedite rooms - head injuries mean check fast!  After MUCH painful cleaning later, my hip, arm, ankle, and tattered forehead were bloody holes, but at least they weren't as much of a mess.  I got 6 stitches on my forehead - turns out I had a 3cm giant cut that was making the dr's and nurses all a bit nervous.

Then I was whisked to get a Cat Scan "just in case there was brain bleed."  Try hearing that and acting normal.  I wept then was calm, carried on, was scanned ... and all was well.  Accept the gaping hole that still hurts as I type and when I turn my head.

The moral of this story?  I think I may have been doing too much, thinking too much, and not paying enough attention to the moment.  So, here goes ... Also, here goes my attempt at avoiding a giant scar on my forehead.

Lego maniac

The boys' favorite aunt and uncle (Amanda and Gabe) gave them a lego set for their birthday and the boys are hooked!  Apparently when I was at work, my "sick" boys (they've been sniffling all weekend) were literally trying to climb the walls. 

Solution?  Legos!  Pure joy.

Weekend roundup: a few of my favorite things

What a wonderful weekend!  We had a mellow-ish weekend at home.  Friday was Matt's birthday so we made our way to Carta Oaxaca - best Mexican food in town.  The staff now know us (or should I say, our boys) so well all the waiters and waitresses came by to say hola during the meal.

Saturday I had a race - the last in the Cougar Mt. series, a 13.7miler on trails.  My bad running trend continued and I ran my worst trail half ever ... somethings gotta give, and I think that something is me working runs back into my daily schedule. 

Sunday morning we went to the Amazon company picnic which was AWESOME!  The boys had a blast and skipped their nap ... that part, not so awesome.  Sunday evening Lloyd, Emily, and Louis came over to pick blackberries and then we all enjoyed an early dinner.

Running slanted up - and in good (bad) company

Over the past few years I've noticed a dramatic increase in the number of people running just for fun and in races.  Can running help turn our sinking economy around?  I think yes ... but I'm a little biased.

Per Running USA, participation in races, and road race finishers is on the rise.

Sadly, the unemployment rates (from Business Insider) seem to have a similar increasing grade.

Does that mean that people looking for jobs are out hitting the trails?  Not quite.  Per Running USA, 70.3% of women who run, earn a household income of $75,000+ and 76.0% of men earn a household income of $75,000+.

So are all of these well-off runners investing back into the economy?  Maybe.  But the US debt isn't improving because of this.  Unfortunately, the US debt chart has a similar climb to the unemployment chart and race finisher chart:

 I do think running is giving back to the economy, though.  Here's why:

• Per Running About.com, a rule of thumb for replacing running shoes is every 300-400 miles; since the most common races run in the US are 5Ks and half marathons (based on finisher stats), and per Runnersworld.com runners training for a 10K should target 80-100mi per week, runners should be replacing their shoes every 5-weeks roughly (although I replace mine every 6mo or so)
• The average cost of a race is $49
• Races are driving companies like Active.com to go public - this means more investment opportunities (hmm...) and more jobs
• Runners spend!  We need GPS devices, shoes, socks, clothes, more (healthy) food.  We travel for races so spend on flights and hotels.  And if others are anything like me, we treat ourselves after races :)

Anyhow, deep thoughts from Amber Taylor - just in from a run.