Marathon Training ~ May 30th 2015

It's Official! I'm signed up for my first FULL Marathon on the Oregon coast in Newport. I'm super excited and a little bit nervous :)  A coworker signed herself up a few weeks ago, but recently injured herself and won't be able to participate.  She wanted me to buy her entry but I wasn't so sure I was ready to commit.  By the time I psyched myself up for it we discovered that the race doesn't allow refunds or transfers, so I just registered on my own!  I'm doing the Shamrock Run Half next month on the 16th, and then my best friends and I are running the Rock n' Roll Half on 5/17.  Both races are perfect training for the big 26.2!  Since we just moved to St. Johns it's been fun to run new routes.  Cam and I did a test run (not literally) earlier in the week and discovered that from our house it's 1 mile to the St. Johns bridge, and once you get to the other side a staircase leads to a half mile steep trail to Forest Park.  This will be perfect for my long runs because I hate getting in my car to drive to go run somewhere.  I found Kara Gouchers "Worlds Simples Marathon Training" which is on schedule for the race in May. We'll be spending the night on the coast Friday night, and the race is at 7am on Saturday. Stay Tuned!!

"Starting in Yaquina Bay State Park at the historic "haunted" lighthouse, runners will head north along the ocean through some of Newport's picturesque neighborhoods. This loop through the city is primarily residential with a few short gentle hills and turns at street corners. Heading back through the starting area, runners will proceed downhill under the Yaquina Bay Bridge to the bayfront. Past shops, restaurants, galleries and a large fishing village, the course continues along the bay. Just past mile four, there is a short hill that rises about 40 feet then gently descends back to bay level where it continues for the remainder of the race. The course follows the Yaquina Bay and River estuary to mile 15 where it turns back toward town, retracing the same route. The gentle hill at mile four reappears at mile 26, and it's downhill from there to the finish.Along the course runners will be treated to a splendid variety of views and scenery, wildlife and shipping, fishermen and crabbers. It is a flat, very fast, and beautiful course that will produce numerous PR's. Our course is USATF certified and has proven to be a very good "first marathon" as well as an excellent qualifier for the Boston Marathon." 

I love Portland.

I really really do. 

Sometimes it's the little things that make me happy...like being bummed that the gas light came on in the car only to realize I can't pump my own gas anyway so it's not so bad to pull into the station and have someone do it for me!  Driving with the windows down is fun to me since it seems like I always had them up in Vegas to keep the a/c in, or was driving on a highway and it was too windy to keep them down. 
The pedestrians and bikers FRIGHTEN (I'm afraid I'm going to clip one) but I really enjoy seeing them out and about ~ they look so natural & happy.  Mount Hood's silhouette in the distance, driving over a bridge and looking out at the water and seeing more bridges in the distance; these things make me smile both inside and out.  Flowers, grass, outdoor markets, apple trees, and pear trees on the side of the rode that you can just pull up to and pick a fruit off and eat in your car - even going to the stores seems different here.  It's laid back and carefree and seems as if everyone knows each other, or would like to.  A woman checking out in front of me today was talking about her black and white dog named "Gravy".  The clerk was surprised Gravy wasn't a brown dog and was curious how the name came about. "It just seemed right" was her reply.  Tiny moments like that make me appreciate my new home.