Back With a Capital Vengence!

Up Lulu's down Ulul's. Caught a Kevin on 11th and ran with him for point zero one miles. Hip flexor is stupidly tight :( 

10 Miles!!!

Longest run in 2 years post-hip bull-crap. Ran up Park City's Armstrong Trail across Mid-Mountain and down Spiro for almost 1800 feet of gain, not too shabby. I had 2 goals today, run 10 miles and do it in time to watch Fritz finish the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase with me getting a half hour start. I accomplished both :) 24 miles for the week - oh how I never thought I would get here! Yay to Steeplechase runners - you are so amazing!

STOKE!!!

Felt fine after the big 10-miler yesterday so I thought I would go up to Snowbird and run/hike to Hidden Peak and take the Tram down. Long story short I couldn't find the right trails and kept ending up in the parking lot so no Hidden Peak :)

Weird day as in good weird. My hip had significantly flared up over the last 2 weeks, but now it feels like a normal hip with zero hip flexor tightness and zero general hip achiness, which is pretty incredible considering my longest in 2 years run this weekend. We're talking better than before surgery feeling... I guess lesson is, don't get too discouraged with these flare-ups and start planning some bigger and longer runs :)   

PM: 5 miles on the BST from Morris Meadows. Felt great except for the 95 degrees thing. Please tell me all this heat training I am doing is going to pay off in some way.

Mega glute & core workout. yoga.

AM: Pipeline Trail from Porter Fork to Rattlesnake. I had two goals today: (1) run when it is not 95 degrees and (2) run 5 miles at a consistent pace, more specifically Saturday's goal race pace. Done and done.

PM: Hour walk through City Creek with sprinkles and breezes. Now looking at skis :) C'mon winter!

After reading about Jake's heart rate monitor run today I decided to see what my heart rate was like during an easy run this evening and the results are, well... frightening!

PM1: At a little less than four miles at an easy (9:37 average) pace my heart rate averaged 157 beats/minute meaning I am either in the worst shape of my life or I am part hummingbird. I am thinking a little bit of both. Considering I couldn't run for nearly two years, I am essentially starting over from scratch so I shouldn't get too discouraged. Nowhere from her to go but up-ski!

PM2: Townie bar biking! I need to get back out on my bike!!!

PM: An hour of psoas stretching and beating at PT. My SI joint has officially stayed in place for an entire month. Major, major, serious progress - SI PR!

PM2: Rode my bike around the Ave's watching the Tour of Utah. Speaking of Tour of Utah... best sltrib photo essay I have ever seen! Mostly because it is in my old stompin' grounds! Tour of Utah fans "excited" for the cyclists in Stage 2

Running the Park City Trail 15K in the morning. I know a 15K probably doesn't sound like much to all you crazy runner peeps, but to me it is HUGE. It is my first real race in 2+ years and for a good year or so of that I really didn't think I would ever be able to run again. I don't mean to sound overdramatic, but that is the truth. I am nervous for so many reasons and if I make it to the finish I am pretty sure I am going to bawl my eyes out.

Before the race I demanded three hugs from Andrea, I really wanted more, but I was afraid to ask. My goal was to average 10-minute pace, which I was pretty nervous about. I started with the 9-10 minute peeps, but quickly realized that I was a little overly stoked for that pace.

First 2 miles were at 8:30 pace and I felt great so I changed my goal and just went for it and didn't get passed once after mile 2. I ran up a hill, bombed the downhill, and it was so much fun!!! SO HAPPY - oh my gosh! Then brunch, pool time, and great company - exactly what I needed! I have been annoying everyone today, by bursting out, "I CAN'T BELIEVE I CAN RUN, LIKE FOR REALS RUN" at least every 15 minutes.

I am so absolutely thrilled to be where I am at right now and enjoying every minute of it. Not to get all sappy, but I am really grateful for all of the support I had from fellow bloggers through this whole recovery ordeal. I cannot thank both Andrea and Jake enough for taking care of me after my surgery, providing so many kind words, and giving me HUGE hugs today. Okay going to cry now :)

STOKE!!!

My favorite peeps!

Super fun hour trail run on the Mid-Mountain Trail starting from Empire Pass. Didn't feel that sore from the BIG TRAIL RACE yesterday so I got back out on the TRAILS today!

Ran with Andrea (her biggest/longest run post-surgery) so both of us were bursting with happiness. Going to run this whole trail in the next few weeks with bus shuttle :) 

31.5 miles last week (holy crap!) so I really need to chill out a bit this week and get back into some cross training i.e. onto my bicycle. SI joint is still good and no hip flexor issues after the weekend - freaking miracle!!!

AM: Running analysis/trying to learn how to run with my butts at PT followed by some ridiculous new SI exercises including clam shell/side planks death combo.

Ran to the store and back and then danced (kind of) to Josh Ritter all night long! 

Ran home from work via the BST. Didn't see a soul from the U to Morris Meadows, weird, maybe the whole 97 degrees thing had something to do with it. Hot, drank an entire liter of water.

The evening commute:

First speed "workout" ever at Liberty Park (and probably last) - ughhh! Mile warm-up than 3 x 1/4 mile with 1/4 mile rest in between. Splits 6:51, 6:51, and 7:07 vomit. I am perfectly content being slow! So much for my easy week :)

On a more positive note... psyched for Scott Jurek running Leadville this weekend - interview here.

100 minutes of hippie dancing to secret Hot Buttered Rum show in Park City not to mention 15 minutes of trampoline-ing. Would have been more dancing, but the cops broke up the party which is very fitting considering the band had just played their Busted in Utah song. 

12 miles on the Mid-Mountain Trail in Park City!!! Parked at Park City Mountain Resort and then took the bus up to Empire Pass. Ran from Empire through Deer Valley and Park City Resorts and then down the Armstrong Trail to my car - fun!  

I want to remember to run this when the Aspen's are changing colors. Lovely trail! 

Restorative yoga rest day.

Easy evening run up to the ridge between City Creek and North Salt Lake? on the BST. Perfect timing for a gorgeous sunset atop the ridge, but then grrr does it get dark fast and I ended up running scared in the dark most of the way home. An entire hour of rolling and stretching and misc PT after. 

Had a pretty chaotic day at work so I walked all the way home hoping to work out the funk. Swung by a certain Avenues porch to pick up my weekly vegetable share and already put down an entire Minnesota Midget and a handful of tasty tomaters. Now I happy and virtually funk-less except for the kink in my back from lugging my melons for miles :)   

AM: Morris Meadows Loop. My legs felt terrible. I am not a morning runner. One good thing though, saw a HUGE full moon set over the Salt Lake - awesome! Trying to figure out how I could feel so awful after three easy days... I haven't been eating a lot of carbs since fruits and veggies are so good right now, so could that be it? How did so many fruitarians run Leadville?

PM: Biked to restorative yoga. Two restore classes in one week so I ought to be fully restored by now! Dinner of green beans, swiss chard, melon, and white grape isn't really helping the need more carbs thing. 

I think all this running is turning me into a wuss! Needed to feel strong so I got back on my bike and went for a 90 minute cruise on the Legacy.To think I biked like 70 days in a row this Spring when I couldn't do anything else and now I haven't been for a ride in over a month.

At this point I can't physically run hard enough to get the kind of workout I get on the bike and I really, really need to prioritize the cross-training which I have been neglecting since I can FINALLY run. Operation back to yoga and cycling has been a success this week so I am on the right path! 

2 miles. 1 slow, 1 fast.

Racing tomorrow :)

Two little words I never thought I would hear: first woman :)

The Sapper Joe was the most fun race ever!!! Mostly because the start line was wedged between two tanks and some men in uniform shot off a cannon at the start, which really got me moving! The first few miles were totally in the dark and I kept falling off the road although the cleverly placed glow sticks kept us on track.

I sort of wish I the sun hadn't come up because it was illuminating what looked like a near vertical wall straight ahead of me. PLEASE don't let that be the way, which of course meant that it was the way. This was the absolutely most ridiculous uphill ever!!! The only thing I can think to compare it to is the climb up Black Mountain, but SERIOUSLY 250 feet in a quarter mile?!? It was so steep that I almost had to use my hands to keep from tipping over backwards and that hill just kept going and going for a mile or more.

Finally after four miles and well over 2000 feet of gain, I got to some downhill which at first felt terrible since my quads were burning so badly I thought there was no way I could kick it in to high gear to make it back down to all those soldiers. With the aid station in sight, I finally got my legs moving and it was at that point that I found out that there weren't any gals in front of me. So I grabbed some pretzels and some water and hauled @ss down to the finish. I ran miles 7, 8, and 9 just under a 7 minute pace which is a gosh darned miracle for me! We are talking SERIOUS miracle!

So much fun! Best part was my super awesome prize, a water bottle with a TANK on it! Not to mention, race medals were dog tags with... you guessed it a TANK on it. Screw birds, put a TANK on it is my new favorite saying!

Got my mountain bike out of the closet for the first time in two years. Yup, still word's worst mountain biker. Two hours on the Round Valley Trails in Park City; would have been much easier on my feets!

Loved this!

"I run because I seek that clarity.

Maybe it's superficial.

Maybe it's just adrenaline and endorphins and serotonin flooding my brain.

But I don't care!

I run very fast because I desperately want to stand very still.

I run to seek a void.

The world around me is so very, very loud."

'Why This Compulsion To Run Long Distances?' A Runner's Beautiful Confession

Hour walk. Quads and lower legs still sore from the weekend.

I have to admit that I am still feeling pretty stoked after the Sapper Joe 15K last weekend. Now that I am feeling great it is hard for me to imagine that I couldn't run for more than 30 seconds at a time 3 months ago (first time I ran this year was on May 8, 2013) and the first time I ran a continuous mile was just June 10, 2013. I want to take this moment to toot my own damn horn, maaaaannnnnnn was this a long hau! I am absolutely thrilled to be out doing things!!! Below is the world's slowest return to running plan, but I really think I did it right this time (May1-3 ranged from .05 to .5 miles/week :). Onward!

Woke up early form the back of Rubes (my car) in Kane Creek Canyon to weird didgeridoo type sounds coming out of Hunter Canyon, ate an entire melon while paying homage to the Birthing Rock, and then ran up the Amasa Back Trail.  Overshot the turn off on the Jackson Trail because the trail sign was on the ground in the bushes, but I found it on my way back down.

The Jackson Trail is one of the neatest running trails in Moab and I have never see a soul on it. The single-track trail hugs a cliff above the Colorado and the views and drop-offs are really dramatic! One little trip could leave you tumbling a thousand feet down to the river below and Kane Creek can be flooded and difficult to cross at the bottom so maybe that is why people avoid the trail! Thankfully the Creek was only waist deep and it felt goooood at the end of the run. It is odly humid in Moab today - 50%, weird!

PM: 2-mile hike in my flip-flops to the Mill Creek swimming hole for bathing :)

Jackson Trail above the Coloardo.

Attempt at a running self-portrait. I guess when running solo, my hands are unconciously thrown into the air!

AM: 6-7 mile hike to the most ridiculous blue/green lake I have ever seen, Ice Lakes near Silverton, Colorado. Had fun with my new gigantic camera!

PM: 5 mile run. Molas Lake to Molas Pass (10,900') and back via the Colorado Trail w/ James, Allie, and Jake and then a lap around the Molas Lake with Andrea. So happy I can run with people and I even kept up (almost) to the pass :)