Thoughtful Thursday

credit: http://www.sassmyfrass.com/2011/08/i-just-dont-want-to.html

ONE RUN MAKES A DIFFERENCE

Don't Worry, They Took Out the Big Hill

The R'n'R Seattle Half is just around the corner - literally - it's this weekend!  Emails are flying around with last-minute race instructions from the race director, and frantic group planning of dinners/meet-ups/etc is going on.

So...maybe it's finally time to really study the course, right?  Now, I will freely admit that I'm not "racing" this one - I'm just there to have fun, enjoy the scenery, and bask in the cooler temperatures of the pacific northwest.  And I'd had a few friends tell me "don't worry - they changed the course and took out the big hill," so that seemed encouraging.  And then I saw this:

And then the math nerd in me took over and needed to crunch some numbers... According to the elevation profile above, that hill just before mile 9 looks like this:

8.69mi = 57ft el.

8.82mi = 270ft el.

213ft el. gain in 0.13mi  = 31% grade

Wowsah!!!

Well, good thing I didn't have any big plans for the course, LOL!  And while that hill may be a bugger, I'm still really looking forward to this race.

As most of you know from reading previous posts, I've purposefully taken a more relaxed approach to racing this spring in order to "find the fun" again.  And I think it's working!

Oh You're Not a Runner?...You Are Now!

After discussing with her my slight fear that we're going to get eaten by bears while hiking at Glacier National park, a good friend of mine was kind enough to share the following item:

Too funny!  Hopefully BFF and I won't need to put our running skills to the test out on the trails - after completing a half marathon a couple days before, I'm not sure we'd get very far!