My first half marathon in 2014 and post surgery - Rain Run

To celebrate my 6-month surgery milestone, I raced in my first half marathon.  I couldn't be happier with the result!

Time:  2:04:41.1

Pace: 9:31 / mi

48/139 in my age group

219th overall / 540

The track workouts, the taking it slow on the Long Slow Distance runs on Saturdays, the cross training, and the patience all paid off.  It felt great to check off the first milestone of the year!

My legs felt great and felt strong.  It gave me hope that I'll be able to PR in Lake Sammamish Half in March and gave me confidence that I'll be able to continue strong with my training for all the marathons and triathlons I have planned.  

Thank you for all the support I've gotten along the way!

New Year, New Updates

The beginning of 2014 marks the start of my full dive into training for marathons, triathlons, Seattle to Portland one-day ride and Ragnar. I'll be taking outdoor sport to the next level and plan on doing it all with a level of restraint, ease and consistency; and all while having loads of fun!!!

My ACL surgery is not completely behind me as I'm now in week 20 post surgery. This is where I'm ok to begin returning to different sports. I'm not out of the danger zone yet as that's at the 24-week (6 month) mark. I am feeling pretty good though. There are days where I don't feel my knee at all and there are still days when there's a little soreness to give me a reminder. I have worked my way to 40-mile bike rides with some hills, 10-mile run/walk, 5k non-stop runs at 9min/mi, and back to some level of weight cardio classes with Body Bump sessions.

So my plan for 2014 is to stay consistent with a level of training and variety that I will hopefully not get bored with. For the next few months, this is the workout schedule I'll be focusing on.  If my body needs an extra day of rest, I will give it; otherwise, this is it.

• Monday - Track 
• Tuesday - Weights + Bike/Swim 
• Wednesday - Body Pump + Bike/Swim 
• Thursday - Interval Bike + Tempo Run 
• Friday - Rest day 
• Saturday - LSD Run 
• Sunday - Long Bike (increasing to 100+ mi) 2014 

Tentative Race Schedule through August. Events with (*) are confirmed:

1. * Rain Run ½ marathon 1/25 
2. * West Seattle half ass 25k 2/2 
3. Chilly Hilly 33mi Bike 2/23 
4. * Lake Sammamish ½ marathon 3/8 
5. * Whidbey Island Full Marathon 4/13 
6. Hero’s Half in Everett 4/27 
7. * Tacoma Full Marathon 5/4 
8. Portland RnR Half 5/18 
9. Flying Wheels 100mi bike 5/31 
10. North Olympick Discovery Half Marathon 6/1 
11. Issaquah Tri or Green River Marathon/Marathon relay 6/7 
12. * Seattle Rock and Roll Full Marathon 6/21 
13. Lake Padden Olympic Tri 6/28 
14. Seattle to Portland 200mi Bike 7/12 
15. Ragnar NWP Relay 7/18-19 
16. Eugene or SF Full Marathon 7/27 
17. * Ironman Lake Stevens 70.3 8/17 
18. Lake Sammamish Triathlon 8/23

I look forward to exploring all the different places in the Pacific Northwest that these races end up taking me.  Wish me luck!