Welcome to issue #251 of My Monday Memo
by Rachel Brandes
Happy St. Patrick’s Day
Quote of the Week
“In the process of running long distances, you learn a lot about what drives you. But most importantly, you learn to look inwards for motivation… not outwards.”
– Michael D’Aulerio, Ultrarunner
Today is Monday, March 17, 2025
National Corned Beef and Cabbage Day
Random Photo of the Week
A foggy, high tide morning at Titlow Beach in Tacoma, Washington.
Feline Tomfoolery
with Brady & Belichick
Dear Human,
Play with me! Play with me! Play with me!
Much Love, Brady
Brady & Belichick are Rachel’s adorable felines. Brady is a short hair and very dominant and athletic, much like his namesake (Forever Patriots). Belichick, aka Beli, the long hair, was the runt of their litter and is much more passive, until provoked. These two cute boys turned one on May 4, 2024.
8.5 Miles of Hilly Fun
You remember Rachel’s friends, Jennie, Bill and Alanna, right? They have all been featured in previous issues of My Monday Memo. Friend get togethers, runs, hikes, etc. This little piece is about a Friday run Rachel took with Jennie and Bill a week or so ago.
Pictured above: Post run smiles for all.
To keep things compacted… Jennie has been working on an endurance training program, which includes an outdoor run on Fridays. Rachel has joined her for this part of her program. Sometimes they are joined by other friends. They started with a 3 or 3.5 miler and have increased the Friday distance each week. For this week, it was to be an 8.5-mile run. With a June 12k (7.45-miles) coming up, they wanted to sample the course and just add another mile to the end.
The sample course, Sound to Narrows (Sound to Narrows June 14, 2025 – Tacoma, WA). Rachel has participated in this 12k twice now and it is no joke. Bill has also participated in the past. The hills feel as though they go on forever. Great course though, and a fun event that even has a diaper dash for the tots. More on that in June. This route would be new to Jennie.
Bill was available on this particular morning to join Jennie and Rachel. He is half their age and a fast runner but has been recovering from a fractured ankle. It would be fine for him to run nice and slow with them.
They had a great run and kept an under 12-minute per mile pace. The below photo is after they finished. Bill immediately plopped down on the ground to rest and Jennie and Rachel took the opportunity to make it look like they handled the run better than this youngster. Bill played right along for the photo. Good sport.
This hilly 8.5-mile run will make their upcoming flat-ish St. Patrick’s 10k (6.2-miles) feel like a piece of cake. Right?
Just look at that course. The beauty of this area is never lost on Rachel. Being surrounded by the Puget Sound and the beautiful evergreens… amazing.
Below is a shot of Rachel, Jennie and Alanna on a previous Friday run with the beautiful Puget Sound in the distance. This run was a 7 miler. Next week, these three have plans for a 9.5-mile run. Will anyone else join them? We shall see.
St. Paddy’s Day 10k
On Saturday, March 15, 2025, the Tacoma City Marathon Association held its 17th Annual St. Paddy’s Day Run Tacoma Half Marathon, 10k & 5k. Rachel, along with friends Jennie and Bill were excited to participate in the 10k at the event (6.2 miles). Two other friends, Katie O and Katie M were both set to run the half marathon that day. The forecast called for a rainy morning, which they are used to in this area, but hoped for a drizzle rather than a downpour.
The weather turned out to be just right for the 10k. They had a bit of light drizzle and minimal wind, and some great views. The rainbow below appeared to drop right into the Puget Sound. What a view as the 10k runners descended towards the waterfront. Rachel later learned from Katie M that the half marathon runners weren’t so lucky. Their race began earlier in the morning than the 10k and they got hit with a downpour during their run.
Once Jennie and Rachel reached the waterfront, the storm clouds were massive and dark. They could see the rain in the distance and hoped it would stay that way. Bill, the speedier runner, was well ahead of them by this point.
The puddles (the result of the previous downpour) were immeasurable. Jennie is a wise one and has invested in waterproof running shoes, she wasn’t worried about the puddles. Rachel has yet to invest in such running shoes. She took the approach of ‘I don’t care’ and ran right through the puddles. All of them. There were so many puddles.
Some of these puddles were lengthy and deep enough to cover the top of her foot. She’s never run through such puddles. The splash effect was great. Too many runners went far out of their way to avoid the puddles. Rachel felt like it just enhanced the experience of a run in the Pacific Northwest. That and she had dry shoes and socks in the car. She’s no dummy.
There they are showing off their medals… the winners. Rachel has mentioned this before… per her son Alec, if you wear the medal it means you won. Great logic. In reality, if you cross that finish line, you truly are a winner. Just getting out there and doing it is the win.
The results are in…
Bill, as expected, did great. Remember, he is recovering from a broken ankle. He still crushed the 10k. Bill finished with a time of 57:18:82 and placed 5th in his division. He placed 86th out of 389 participants. Wow.
Jennie and Rachel stuck together through the finish line. Their finish time was 1:04:23. They placed 180th and 181st out of 389 participants and placed 7th and 8th out of 18 women aged 50-54. Nice!
How did the Katies do? Amazing! These two ladies are beasts in the best possible way.
Katie O is five months pregnant with her second baby and finished with a time of 1:49:57. She likely would have run faster but served as the 1:50 pace person for the run. Her husband, Tim, and beautiful little girl, Shay, welcomed mom and baby across the finish line.
Wait, what is a pace person? For any non-runners, Katie O is an avid distance runner and so good at keeping her pace that she ran with a sign that notified other runners of her pace so that if their goal was run that pace, they would just need to keep up with her. Pretty cool, right. Races often have pace runners for different pace goals in the races.
Katie M hit a new PR (personal record) with a time of 1:48:24. You should see her run on the treadmill at the gym, she is fast. Like, really fast. She gets a decent amount of speed training in while running her German Shepard and endurance training chasing her little guy around the house. Shout out to Liam, the cute little guy that keeps her going at home.
Dang, that means these two ran an average pace of an 8 minute 17 second and 8 minute 23 second mile, respectively, for 13.1 miles. In the rain. Downpour rain. Simply amazing. These two are coaches at Rachel’s gym, Orangetheory Fitness. They are not only great coaches, but they are also both amazing women.
Pictured above: Katie O on the left and Katie M on the right.
After the run, the 10k crew made their way to Waffle Stop in the Proctor District of Tacoma. The below photo was taken at a previous visit and simply doesn’t do the waffle justice. This is Rachel’s favorite, the Cookie Butter Bacon Waffle. Delectable. There is a load of real maple bacon under that whipped topping.
With full stomachs the three posed for a photo outside of the Waffle Stop before heading home.
In past stories, Rachel has failed to get a photo of the photographer taking pictures at events. It is none other than Jennie’s husband, Stephen, pictured on the right below. Stephen has been kind enough to drive them to these events and take pictures. They are all very thankful to Stephen for taking on this role.
What is up next? Rachel isn’t sure. She is on the hunt for an April race and hopes to find something fun. Until next time, run happy, and be well.
