Been awhile...

Not sure when I last wrote so here is a recap...

Wenatchee race was great! One I will definitely run again and we were once again blessed with beautiful weather. It was a nice out and back course with not much elevation change. Had some foot pain on the dorsal surface that I'd never experienced befored but still PR'ed and came in at 1:46:40 ish. Very happy with that time, knocking 9 minutes off my Pullman half.

Next was Missoula which I just competed in a few weeks back. There is a nice theme here growing with beautiful weather again for this race. Went up to the race with a buddy of mine (Rob from Pullman) who has lost almost 100lbs in that last year or two. We had to get up at 3am to get food in our guts for the 6am race start time. Yowza!

Stars were out on our way to the shuttle bus that took us to the start. Amazing race, amazing people. 2600 runners in the half marathon! Lots of people all along the course to motivate and cheer, what a great atmosphere. Must have helped because I knocked 7 more minutes off my old PR and came in at 1:39:40!!! Very happy with that time and also happy to not try to beat that time again this year. :-)

May run one more half this year in Spokane on 10/10/10..... I'll keep in touch on the ol' blogosphere a little better between now and then.

Train on,

Luke

Stuppppper Stoked!

Wow just two more days and come tomorrow I will be estatic! I've dreaded my hair.. Part way finished. I've got most of my gear together and bought a few new items:

I HAD to get new iPod earphones that wrap around my ears instead of the ones that came with my iPod because those ones always fall out of my ears, reguardless! So I scored a pair at TJMaxx for only 6.99, I also went in search of my favorite Sports Beans but I couldn't find them... bummer... looks like I'm sticking to the GU.... not my favorite but it does the trick.

I got some great Knee Tape.. the same Kind Misty May and Kari Walsh the Women's 2008 Summer Olympic Vollyball team used. I'm not sure if I'll be using that or the black total knee wrap I bought two weeks ago?

I'm pretty Excited, were leaving tomorrow to Wenatchee and I'll be ready saturday morning... Cup of Coffee incl


Max

1 week to go!!!

Wenatchee Half Marathon is here!

One week to cool down a bit before the race and everything is going fairly well.

Went on a run today (solo) and the weather held for me. Got a little windy at the end but it was a nice run nonetheless.

Made it 9 miles at 8:12/mi.

Stoked about that time and I really want to try to run Wenatchee that fast. Lots of working this week so gonna try my best to stayed rested as the race gets closer.

Train on,
Luke

25 more days...

Good run today. Max and I hit the trail for an 8 miler. Loving the warmer weather that is upon us now that Spring is here. Very nice conditions today and we cruised in around 8:30-8:45 pace.

25 days until the Wenatchee Half!

Should get some more long runs in with the two weeks off from school. Then it will be a bit of a taper until the race.

Getting excited!

Train on,
Luke

Sunday, March 21st

5 miles, 39:00 Flat! Boom done!

Sun Run

Well the group was back together on Tuesday for a 6 miler outside in the 70 degree sun!!! That's right, 70 freakin' degrees!

It was beautiful and was a pretty nice run. Started out at our usual spot by Anthony's but ran around to the pasco side. 3 miles out, 3 miles back in about 50 min (ish).

One month away from the Wenatchee half!!! Gotta get 2 or 3 long runs in before that race and we'll be ready to go. Really wanna get a 14 miler in a few weeks prior but we'll see ;-)

Two more tests and the quarter is done!!!

Almost done w/ school guys!!!

Train on!

Luke

My first 10K- St. Pattys Day Foot Race

48:01 according to my watch but 48:07 according to the website landing me in 19th place for overall womens 10K

I had a blast, and the only things I wish I could change: that I held back a little more then needed (then again I keep reminding myself that this was my first 10k and I didn't know how much I could push myself, I was testing the waters) and Sometimes Tommy has good advise; I started my run with my Seahawks jacket- threw it off between miles and it was never recovered :(

There was a bit of wind on the way back in but overall I had a great time and loved the feeling of clearing past people and the great words of encouragement I recieved at the finish line

:::One lady walked up to me asked my age and then said "O good, I was trying to keep up with you the whole time but it's a good feeling to know your 14 years younger then me." I'm now even more excited about wenatchee but nervous with all my body parts that hurt from running...

PS. I love the Race T-shirt - this is by far my favorite part of running !!!

One Half Down!

And one to go.....

I made it. No walking at all, I made it through the Snake River Canyon Half Marathon in 1:55:30 (on my stopwatch). Add about 20 seconds since we started back from the start line a ways. So, my pace was about 8:50 and I'm pleased with that for my first race.

It was a beautiful day, probably crept up around the 50's at the finish. It was an out and back course and we took on a headwind on the way out which kept my pace a little over 9 min/mile for the first half. On the way back we made up some ground.

Somewhere around the 10th-11th mile I was wishing I could just be done but then the finish line was in sight which pushed me through to the end. I didn't have the kick that I would have like but... I finished.

It was a great experience that I look forward to doing again. And, a new record was set with a guy coming in at 1:08!!! Unreal!

it's SPRING, let it RING

WOW, this weather is amazing and supreme for my saturday long runs. I didn't complete too many miles this week except for alot of cardio at the gym on the days I could since I've been hurting in the usual spots - R heel and a tender L calve.


However, I did switch it up saturday - I wound up on the Richland trail about 10:40am with swarms of HS kids running in packs along with some 20 and 30 -something year olds, that only means us runners are getting ready for something..... So I started out in running shorts- my first attempt all year, used my Camelback, brought a packet of GU, and no hat but a bandana instead.

I had a great run on my way out, but on my way back it was all downhill, I lost all energy and never got a second wind. I did stop at my 5 mile turn around point to down my GU and I pretty much gagged to get the GU down, not the consistancy I was expecting! (I'll be sticking to my beans for recovery during runs and use GU before). The camel back worked great -it sloshed a bit, but then again I left alot of air in it- so I think i'll keep using it.

In the end I pounded out 10 miles on the pavement and staggered across the bridge and back, so I did a little more then 10 all together so I'll say 10.5 to feel satisfied, I also had Spudnuts waiting for me post run (only reason I finished). But I am excited for my first 10K this weekend, I think I'll be rocking a green bandana and an Irish Banner I found at Wal-Mart all in the spirit of the Irish!

Uh oh.

So, four days until my first 1/2!!!

Anywhooo, ran an 8 miler with a buddy of mine on Saturday in about 1hr 6min. Decent pace really considering the recent ailments.

And that is all for the long runs until Saturday. I'll get a couple short 2-3 milers in the next couple days, rest Friday, and then hit the palouse on Saturday.

Had the Team in Training fundraiser in West Richland on Saturday after our run and it was quite a turnout. Raised quite a bit of money there, buddy and I both won some raffle prizes, and had a good time.

I'll post as soon as I can after the Snake River Canyon Half on Saturday... (wish me luck)

Train on,
Luke

Max's Breast Friends

March 20th I'm running a 5K for team "Breast Friends"- it's through Tri City Cancer Center and all donations fundraised go to the their services!!!! Please join me!!
www.tccancer.org -- Look for My name Maxene Alonzo under GROUP NAMES and JOIN!

Well this last week of February has been quite busy but I managed 3 trips to the gym and one great outside run. The gym balanced me out with lots of sweaty cardio, a few treadmil 5K's (working on my fast pace) and I did myself a great 9 Mile Run in the am under 1 hour and 12 minutes!!! I sure got thirsty and need to use my camel back or buy my fuel belt soon... I am just so dang broke.. and Lets not forget about the St. Patty's Day foot Race March 13th.. i'll be doing the 10k


Best of Luck to everyone and all races along the way to Wenatchee Halfer!!

Very strange...

Been working a sh%$load recently so the workouts have been few and far between. Although that's probably a good thing due to my stupid knee or IT band or whatever. So, I'd been off the trail for a week or so and made a stab at a morning run on Monday to see how it might go. Sure as hell, mile and a half in, knee hurtin like mad, not comfortable so I got pissed off and started sprinting...... no pain. Got out 3 miles, downed some GU and sprinted back..... no pain. Until later that day...

I hobbled around the hospital all day thinking I'd ruined myself. Anyway, no workout yesterday but I was not hurting as bad. Then I get up this morning and haven't felt so good in a month! What the heck is going on!? So, went to the gym and did some weights and an hour of cardio. Buddy is still coming to town this weekend and we will run then and hopefully I can stay at a faster pace and w/o pain.

10 days until race day... Holy crap!

Again, if anyone wants to join, we will be running around 3 ish this Saturday and then chili feed out in West Richland for Team in Training (Yakima) fundraiser.

Train on,
Luke

Maxene's Making Progress

I have slowed down way too much, but I am determined to get my weekly miles back into my goal training range. Sadly I skipped out on our tuesday-train-together day, but I got on track Wednesday. Wed I woke up early and mapped out my run ahead of time, by doing this I'm not as likely to stop or give up early in my run knowing I still have x-amount of miles left. So I wound up running 4.5 miles around a few nearby Pasco housing developments, there were a few undeveloped areas but mostly sidewalk and alot of cow crap smelling areas too! Thursday I hit the treadmil and pounded out 5 miles at less then 8 minute pace. Friday I kept it calm and did some hard machine cardio but Saturday I went out to Richland and used our traditional mile marked trail and hammered out 9 miles in 1 hour 14 mins. Each mile was avg'd within a few seconds plus or minus of 8 minutes... I felt great and super happy I bought this watch!

Well I hope to get an other long run in this upcoming week.. hope its going well for ya'll

Train on Folks!
Maxene

Sunny day!

Yes, we got a nice sunny day today and the two gimps made it for a nice trail run. Robb and I both were laboring on wounded knees but the weather and the cool trail seemed to keep us going.

We googled the run afterward and it was 5.83 miles and we got it done somewhere around 9 minute pace.

Robb hooked me up with a Mint Chocolate GU for the run and it wasn't too bad.

Hopefully we could at least match or bump up the distance next week. 18 days until the 1/2 for me....!!!!!

Train on,
Luke

Here's hoping!

On thursday I went for a short run to the airport near my house and back. Everything started out okay but it went down hill for the entire run. I started to get a little in the knees around mile two and by mile three I could barely walk.

No good, Right?

Well I came home and got on the computer looking for descriptions of the onset and how it was hurting, while icing down. It turns out my IT band is super inflamed because I most likely need new shoes. Well at least I hope that's the reason.

So I've got a new pair coming in the mail (the same kind that I had before).
And I got an old bike put together so that I can to some cross training.

Really excited about that.

PEACE!

Robb

Not so fast...

Well, knee pain not totally gone. Ran 5 miles Thursday with minimal pain but hit the gym yesterday (Saturday) just to stay loose. Did 2 miles (slow) on the treadmill and then 20 minute stationary bike and 10 minute stairmaster. Went home w/ some soreness and had to ice a few times before it calmed down. Pretty frustrating and I'm not sure if I should just avoid the jogging so this stupid thing can heal up or if I should push through.

Anyway, looking forward to testing it with the gang on Tuesday. Part trail run, part pavement. Hopefully this knee starts feeling better so I can get back at it!

Train on!
Luke

Also, if any of you guys are interested in Adventure Racing let me know. Co-ed teams seem to be the fun way to go and many races only give out prizes in the co-ed teams divisions.

Wanted to try to load an image :-) Here is the new shoe that the dude from Runner's Soul fitted me with. So far so good!

Luke

Slow Recovery

Well I had my first bout w/ knee pain following my run w/ Robb last Tuesday. Took a week off from running altogether but still did some bike and elliptical though. It has been a frustrating week after going 10 miles w/ Max 2 weeks ago to now barely doing anything.

However, got a patella strap yesterday and tried out the new kicks at a real slow pace for about 3.5 miles w/ Nic. Actually felt pretty good and no residual pain from the run today either. Thinking I'll probably give 5 slow miles a shot tomorrow and see if I hold up.

24 days until the Snake River Canyon Half!

And by the way, my marathon buddy will be up for a long run the last Saturday in February. We will be running around 3 o'clock somewhere around Tri-Cities if anyone wants to join in :-)

Train on!
Luke

GOOD TUESDAY TRAIL RUN

Well today I had a blast. Wicked fun trail run. A little over 6 miles in just under 1 hours was good too.
I'll let Max say more.

Robb

Week Recap

*Every time I try to link my Saturday run from http://www.mapmyrun.com/, the internet page shuts down and yesterday it completely froze, so I might have to post this one in increments*

So over all this week I took some recovery time for my aching right calf muscle (injured during a 4 mi treadmil run lat friday). I missed our Tuesday group run, and felt terrible, so I went back to the basics and worked up miles slowely.

2/4- 1 mile, 40 mins of cardio machine -gym
2/5- 3 miles, 35 mins of cardio machine, plus arms & abs <-my favorite -gym 2/6- 8 miles- done outside. I was only planning on 6 but after using mapmyrun, I guess I did more then I was aiming for. I also took my dogs out for a 1 mile out and 1 mile back run, dropped the dogs off and went 4 miles by myself, but only after making a quick pit stop to see my girlfriend who lives on the way. 2/7- 2 miles, recovery style (took 20 mins to do), 35 mins cardio machine- gym

[] Picture of my brooks while they still look new, I have yet to break them in running outside. I like the clean new look and frankly I haven't owned such white shoes in a long time, so lets admire them together. Plus!!!....

I'am excited about my new running watch I got, mind you it's nothing fancy but it sure does alot for under 40$

[]O and my girls, Tiegan and Meehka[]

K guys I'll try to post my run seperatly in fear of computer crashing again, but see ya tomorrow. I got packets on St. Pattys Day run.

Maxene

Sunday morning trail run

7.79 miles with a time of 1:16 and I feel great.

I'm Back!

So... After a long uphill battle with what's known as "DEATH" (if I could put bigger quotation marks I could) I am finally back.

To catch up, last sunday I went for a trail run around Bennington Lake again. It was just over 5 miles and super muddy. I finished, but I was lacking a lung and all of my energy. I guess that's what I should expect of my first run back.

Then on Tuesday luke and myself did just over 6 miles. Before the run I was as scared as a little girl in a den of tigers, Grizzleys and lots of poisonous snakes. But, it turned out to be the best run yet. So much fun.

Anyways, today I went out and did 4 miles in just under 35 miniutes and I felt great the entire time.

Looking forward to my Sunday run. Maybe I can add a few miles to the loop.

Keep on trucking Crazy people.

Robb

New kicks!

Robb and I hit the trail yesterday for what was Robb's longest run of this early running season. We did 6 1/4 miles in under 1 hour. Robb even sprinted the end of it so he definitely has a lot of gas in the tank!

Finally broke down today and hit up Runner's Soul in Kennewick. The guy there was pretty helpful and got me into some pretty slick Asics. Also couldn't leave w/o a new running shirt and some more GU. Got the new flavor blackberry jet or something like that.

Anyway, all geared up now and ready for the home stretch. 31 days until the Snake River Canyon Half Marathon! Knee acted up on yesterday's run so I'm just doing some lifting and recumbant bike until I feel a lil' better. Hoping to do another 10+ miler next week.

Train on!
Luke

Double Digits Baby!!!

Well another week, another run without our whole squad cause Mr. Coffee came down with a bug. Get well Rubber-toe and we'll see you on the trail next week....

So, Maximus and I decided to take on a challenge this week and go for the 10 miler and our first try for double digit miles. And the weather decided to make it even tougher on us. It rained the whole way which wasn't necessarily all that cold but it was awful wet.

We tucked in back under the I-182 bridge instead of starting on the hill and headed out to the 5 mile marker along the river. We took about a minute break there to throw down some beans and a gel shot which was obviously too long cause we stiffened even in the short break.

We were both hurting a bit but toughed it out and cruised in just under 90 minutes. It was a bit slower than we'd like to run in a race setting but great for our first double digit endeavor and good for the confidence.

Gonna be a sore one tomorrow but the feeling is great reaching new goals every week!

Train on,
Luke

Body seeks sleep

So like I promised myself, I ran 8 miles. I did those 8 on the Richland trail and to be honest I was suprised that I did all of those miles and only stopped once, at the turn around point!

I was a little annoyed about all the saturday morning walkers and stroller pushers taking up the entire path, I didn't know what to do except keep running and move around. I enjoyed two performance beans during my run and unsatisfing amounts of water once I got to my car. the weather was still a bit chilly at 43 degrees.

I'll be looking forward to our Tuesday run without all the pedestrians that presented themselves on Saturday.

Hope your weekends are going great! Maxene

PC death.

So, my computer has been going out late at night and running with some questionable ladies... Low and behold, he picked up a virus... So, I didn't get to post about yesterday's run so here is the skinny...

Rob and I headed out w/o Maximus and actually started our run back up on the bridge coming into Richland from Pasco. It was pretty close to accurate for our distance along Howard Amon. Anyway, we took off together and split after a few miles. Both Rob and I improved on our runs from the previous week, so it was a good day...

And nice day as well. Upper 50's with some sun for part of the run. Only downside was the uphill we had to finish on but it was actually kind of fun.

It will be good to get our 3rd Crazy back for next week. I'm eyeing 10 miles but that may be lofty. My marathon-er friend from Yakima signed up for the Snake River Canyon Half Marathon and is being awfully persuasive to get me to join him. March 6th is the date so we'll see if I can be ready by then. If any one else (c'mon please oh please oh please!!!) wants to do it with me, I'm sure we can carpool :-)

Anyhow... Time to go discuss with my PC the dangers of unprotected web sufing ;)

Later,
Luke

At least I did something

So I bummed out and missed tuesday training with the gang and decided to hit the gym treadmil with what was going to be an easy 3miler but then my remorse set in and I wound up doing 5 miles in a little under 40 minutes. I'm happy I still ran but full of self disapointment that I didn't do the promised 8 miler. Saturday I will catch up and do my self justice by logging 8 miles.. I hope.

Maxene the half Loca

They made me pose for this one, not the first one though.

Well, last Thursday I did two miles with my wonderful wife at a quick paced walk. She's feeling a bit better and it's been driving her crazy not being able to run. She's been hard core about going every day.

Anyhoo, today I did the five mile trail run around Bennington Lake (Mill Creek). I thought we were going to get rained on and the trails were going to be nice and muddy. But, alas, the weather was perfect and the trails were amazing.

Maybe it will be better next time.

I felt super good, enjoyed the weather and the running was great.

5 miles in 54 min.

Lots of hills

So since tuesday I have been consistanly hitting the gym with cardio, some light weights and a few miles here and there. Tuesday I went to Runners Sole in Kennewick and got fitted according to my right sided shin splint, low arches, and history, they had me do some little diagnostic tests to see where I was needing support. I ended up leaving with a Brooks brand of shoe. I tested them out Wednesday at the gym on the treadmil, 1 mile into my run I switched out my old Nike shoes with my new bright white Brooks and my right leg flaired with pain immediatly... so I switched back to a cardio machine and didn't run any further.

I took Thursday and Friday off and they were much needed since I had already worked out 5 days in a row.

Saturday I anticipated my long indoor run and was shooting for 7 miles. I had bearly finished 5 miles with the aid of sipping some water and allowing myself one performance jelly bean to melt in my mouth (yummmm) and a good break in between my 3rd mile to once again switch out my Nikes for my New Brooks and this time I felt a huge difference. I felt I was able to run lighter and smoother. I think my body was just hurting wensday and not willing to run any further than 1 mile since we had done that long run the day before. Well I ended up completing 6 miles and some arm workouts.

Today (Sunday) I completed 3miles entirely in my Brooks and I am pretty sure I have found my match! I am ending this week with 15 miles completed entirely, todays run starts the count for next week..

Keep up the work Half Locos!!!

Maxene

Wenatchee Half!

Ok guys. Time to do it...

I registered for the Wenatchee Half today online. No turning back now!

Been working all the rest of the week so my workouts have been minimal. I did get a workout in on Thursday that was good though. Got some weights in which felt good and did 45 minutes of cross training. Gotta work tomorrow all day too but I'm gonna rise and shine to an early 3-4 miler outside so I don't die on our long run Tuesday.

Also, got some Clif Shots at R.E.I. so I'm gonna test them out Tuesday. And, I'm looking into a hydration belt they have there, just not needing it yet with our distances.

Side note: Ate at Sushi Ya tonight and my buddy kicked down $150 to the joint if that gives you any idea how much sushi we went through! It was among the best sushi I've ever had!

Later,
Luke

2nd long run...

Well the half crazies banged out another long run yesterday outside and we all did fairly well. It was about an hour and we ran 6-7 miles. The weather was a little warmer than last week which was nice and didn't burn the lungs as badly.

Might have found a new long run meal that I like... pancakes, peanut butter, bananas and sugar free syrup! Had tons of energy and didn't feel too full :-)

Anyway, I think we all are developing a nice base and the push for 13.1 is getting exciting...

Train on,
Luke

So the plan was to go and do a 5 mile trail run around Bennington Lake, and I never thought that I would say this, but it got too warm and the trail turned to mud.

Instead Jess and I went to the local track, I ran while she stretched the legs a bit. I only got in a couple miles when my knee started acting up. Instead of going the distance I came home and iced it for a good long while, thinking about Tuesday.

It's a process.

Robb

Oh I almost forgot, I use a couple of cameras. The little one is a sony cyber-shot, I got it a few years ago so if you're looking for something new then there are better cameras out there today for the same price. Then there is the big one, a "Pentax *ist D",it isn't super high end but it dose what I need it too.

Long run Saturday

Decided to just try a timed run yesterday to get used to being on my feet. 60 minute run at a slow and steady pace and it felt pretty good. Only slowed to take a few sips of Propel.

Wasn't sure how it would go because I was testing a new pre-long run supplement of 4 Keystone lights and 2 glasses of cheap red wine the night before :-) Didn't seem to phase me though, but I'm sure my sweat stunk like cheap booze.

My last timed race was the St. Patties 10k (6.2m) last year:

My time was 47:19 and I was somewhere around 10th for my age group if I remember correctly. Ran a quick first mile, cruised the next 4 and then kicked my last mile...

Probably gonna register for the Wenatchee at the end of this week (payday)

Luke

Tuesdays run was a great way to start our 2010 training. After our fabulous 5miler run outside in Richland, I felt I still needed to pump some iron to complete my workout, so I headed to my local gym to do so. Once at the gym I felt the need to run out 2 more miles bringing my day to a total of 7 miles. The following day I wasn't in as much pain as I was expecting and my black toe did a'right, it is still attached and didn't experience any pain. Today I'm on my way to the gym to do some cardio conditioning and Sunday will be my long run I'll be aiming for 7 miles.

Hey can you guys post your PR and your distances, types of trails competed in and any special ways you got through those runs.

I'll start with my mine:
12/05/09- 5K PR - 24:06

Flat trail, small crowd, cold weather conditions, I won for my catagory and felt awesome. I didn't eat but I drank about 2 cups of coffee 1 hour before the race and jammed out to my iPod.


Maxene

Doh!

I like the Homer shot whoever scored that one!

Anyway, nothing exciting about my workout today but just trying to loosen the tight muscles. I did a fast 3 miler and finished it off with some abs and weights.

Just thinking ahead about Tuesday's run and I think we should shoot for a 10k... Any thoughts on that distance? There is a chance there might still be some snow around so we'll see how the weather holds...

Anyhow, train on Half Crazies... (technically only 5 months of school left too!)

Luke

Robb here. Just got done running 3 miles in 27:03 and I'm feeling a lot better than I have in a while. That 5 mile really did me good. Just need to keep it up and be patient.

And the fun begins!

Well, the blog begins with Max, Robb and I (Luke) busting out a 5 miler today. We all finished in 50 minutes or less as we are just building a base right now for the Wenatchee Half Marathon in April. We all had our issues from tight muscles to burning lungs but we are in a good spot right now with just over 4 months of training time left. We will all be thankful when the warmer gets here!

Train on team Half Crazy!