Run consistently as I get back to 100% health. Stay patient!
Long-Term Running Goals:
Have fun training and racing.
Sub-17 5K
Sub-1:17 Half Marathon
Quality for the Olympic Trials in the marathon
Personal:
I am originally from Knoxville, TN and moved to SLC with Jake in 2010. I started racing in 2011 and had some great success before a major injury hit me in July 2012. I had athletic pubalgia surgery in May 2013...then again in Sept 2014 and am still trying to get back to my old self. Although running is my true passion, I love doing pretty much anything active outdoors - backcountry skiing, backpacking, biking, etc.
I've been running for the Saucony Team since 2011. I enjoy representing the brand and really do believe they make the best shoes :)
I work as a Quality Engineer for BD Medical in Sandy.
Decided to take a day off from running and use skiing as my exercise for the day. Jake and I skinned up to the top of Millicent Lift in Brighton twice for 2140 ft of vertical. It's pretty cool that Brighton allows uphill travel. My skiing legs are a little rusty, but they'll come back quickly!
Here is my list of 2012 Resolutions -
Have lots of fun! Be healthy and injury-free Take vitamins everyday Run 2500 miles Do 7500 pushups Sub-17 minute 5K Sub-1:17 half marathon Win USATF-Utah LDR circuit Run a relay/team race Core and hip exercises 3x a week Backcountry ski 100,000 vertical ft
Take vacations to new places (ideas - Portland/Oregon coast, Wind River Range, Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, Sierra Nevadas, San Diego, Escalante, Canyonlands, etc)
AM - Ran with Devra in Sandy for an hour or so. Nice run, felt better.
I decided to get a membership to 24 Hour Fitness. I think that taking a spinning class once or twice a week will be worth it. No pounding + great workout.
PM - Spin class for 30 minutes. First person to quit but in my defense I ran 8 miles this morning and I know that Allie is going to make us do a tempo run tomorrow morning.
AM - JAJA run moved to Wednesdays! We ran from Sugarhouse up to Tanner Park, on the bike path to Wasatch Blvd, down 1300S to 1700E and back to Sugarhouse. Those hills getting up to Wasatch are tough! Saw two shooting stars today so I'm hoping something really good happens now :o) I'm excited that Allie has a more normal schedule with her classes so she can do workouts with me in the afternoons now!
AM - Well, the cold sickness finally made its way to me. Lots of sneezing, sniffling, and head pressure last night and this morning. Met up with Devra early and ran 8.5 miles at about 7:30 pace. Felt pretty good while I was running, then proceeded to sneeze about 10 times in a row after stopping and 30 times in the next hour.
Two thoughts today -
1) How come gyms have a sauna, steam room, and hot tub, but not cold therapy treatment? A cold tub would be very beneficial.
2) What do you think of this idea? I have an acquaintance that is trying to market them for races..
AM - The cold hit me pretty hard last night. Typically when I get sick, it's really bad for 2 days and then I'm better. So if I just sleep all day today I should be feeling good for tomorrow. Lifted weights/strength training for about 45 minutes.
PM - Ran up to meet Jake on his run home from work. 6.3 miles, nice and easy. Got to wear capris for the first time in about two months.
Jake and I are heading down to Provo to run tomorrow, about 8 min pace, meeting at the Tabernacle at 9am if anyone else wants to join. I would love to meet some of you that live down thataways!
AM - Took a trip down to Utah County. Ran with Rachelle, JulieC, Cam, Allie, James, and Jake. Turned out to be much better weather down there than in Salt Lake - warm and cloudy. It was really great to meet a few more people from the blog...I just wish they lived closer so we could run together more often! The run was nice and flat, and we ran 15.5 at 7:45 pace. I am still a little weak/pathetic from being sick and had quite a bit of back pain today so definitely wasn't feeling great. I wouldn't have gone so far today alone (by a long shot), so it's good that there wasn't a chance to get back to the car before the 15.5 mile mark :o)
AM - 4.4 miles easy horsepark loop. It was COLD this morning! Did a few strides in the middle to get the legs moving faster. Sickness is pretty much over - should be 100% by tomorrow. Been thinking about how to get Allie to break 18 this spring...and me for that matter!
PM - 4 miles, felt like I needed to run more to make up for eating too much today.
AM - 4 miles on the elliptical (about 40 minutes).
PM - Ran in the neighborhoods around Sugarhouse 5.7 miles. Felt so much better this afternoon - I did a 20 min massage on my butt/back area using the medicine ball and seems to have helped a ton. Going to try to do this every day.
If interested in the Olympic Trials, here's a Road to Houston Recap including interviews with some of the athletes and predictions.
PM - 6.1 miles. Met Jake up at Wasatch Blvd to run. Lookin' good for long run destination on Saturday.
I have a new plan for the next 5 weeks (until I go see Dr. John Ball in AZ). My goal is to get a strong base but also try to get my back feeling better.
Monday - 7-9 miles, strength training Tuesday - Spin class, 4-6 miles Wednesday - JAJA run 9-12 miles, strength training Thursday - Spin class, 4-6 miles Friday - 5-7 miles Saturday - Long run 14-17 miles Sunday - Cross training (hopefully skiing!), possible short run
This should put me at about 50 miles each week. So, I will still get some endurance (one long run and one medium-long run) and be able to work on speed (using spin class for this as well as doing fartlek runs once a week). Every day at lunch I will do 20 minutes of massage/stretching and work on core/hip strengthening. Probably the most important thing for me is to make sure my back is loose before I run, meaning that I need to devote a little more time to getting ready.
AM - AJA Run - no James today. We had a nice run, ran a little quicker for the last 5 miles. FYI - if anyone ever wants to join us on Wednesday mornings, we meet at Highland High at 6:15am.
PM - Strength training arms 20 minutes. Tried to go longer, but my arms were too tired!
Long run this Saturday, I have drawn up a pretty good 14 mile loop route starting at Tanner Park at 8am that would get us out of the worst of the haze. Would love to go out for breakfast (Mill Creek Cafe or CJ's) in an attempt to stay away from the computer and find the results of the Olympic Trials before they show it on TV. Anyone is welcome to come watch the OT with Jake and me at our place afterwards as well.
AM - I was going to do spin class this morning, but it's so hard to say no to running when I'll have a buddy. Met up with Devra for a hilly run, 8.6 miles at 7:40 pace. SOOO COOLLLDDD! I'm finally starting to get warm after a hot shower and now with my down jacket, scarf, heat pack on my back, personal heater on in my office, and coffee.
PM - Boot camp class 30 min. Planks, lunges, jump rope, mountain climbers, pushups, arms, etc.
AM - 30 minutes on bike and 10 minutes on elliptical, easy.
PM - 5.3 miles easy around Sugarhouse.
Long run this Saturday, I have drawn up a pretty good 14 mile loop route starting at Tanner Park at 8am
that would get us out of the worst of the haze. Would love to go out
for breakfast (Mill Creek Cafe or CJ's) in an attempt to stay away from
the computer and find the results of the Olympic Trials before they show
it on TV. Anyone is welcome to come watch the OT with Jake and me at
our place afterwards as well.
AM - Group run with Jake, Allie, Emily J, Rob, Fritz, Bryan, Cam, Dan, Matt, Scott, Steve, and Adam. Big crew this morning and so much fun! I can't "technically" say I ran with everyone...it's hard to make the rounds with so many people, which is why everyone needs to come again next time! The girls split off around mile 7 to make the run shorter and have some fun girl talk about weddings and such (without James/Jake interruptions). We ran a pretty quick 7:10 pace with some good hills. Great way to start the morning!
OLYMPIC TRIALS DAY!!!! Can't wait to see it on TV.
AM - Too hard to resist running today with the temperature at 50 degrees! This was probably the first day in two months that I have run comfortably and without 3 layers of clothes. Nice run around Millcreek/Holladay this morning, 10.1 miles at 7:40 pace. My back and foot started hurting around 8 miles, but I have all day to recover and relax.
AM - 45 minutes on the upright bike for about 12.6 miles, goal was to keep the cadence at 180...similar to a good running pace. How come I don't get MLK Day off from work??? Not fair!
PM - What led to a faster workout - ate an entire bag of popcorn, didn't feel like running in the icy roads, and hate to run on the treadmill for very long. So I decided to do 5k at 6:18 pace, what used to be marathon pace. Geez how did I run 22 miles at that pace? My breathing was fine, but I could feel that my body has not run fast in two months. 4.6 miles total for the run.
I just have to post this recap of the Olympic Trials from the girl that got LAST place. She was injured but absolutely determined to run in the Trials. I know if I would've gotten to go to the Trials, I would've made sure to take advantage of such an accomplishment just like her. It's inspiring to see that.
AM - 30 minutes on the recumbent bike, 7.6 miles with 5 x 30 s sprints at the end. Then did a few minutes of core work. I was going to meet Devra for a run but it didn't seem like a good idea with the way my back and foot are feeling.
So I have a question...if I take 800mg ibuprofen in the morning before work, I don't have much pain in my back until about 2pm. I'm pretty much in (mild to moderate) pain all day if I don't take anything. I am very hesistant to taking ibuprofen every day and "masking symptoms", but it must be preventing some sort of inflammation that's causing the pain. I am doing pretty much everything else I can think of - stretching three times a day, heat and ice three times a day, etc. I have my doctor's appointment in 4 weeks where I think I will get more direction on how to fix the problem. So what should I do until then? Should I take the medicine every day/every other day/not at all/just once a day/morning and evening? Any alternative suggestions?
AM - JAJA Run at a nice casual pace. James and I are both slightly pathetic so we mostly talked about injuries and epic (or as James thinks "inspirational", I call them stubborn) stories of going for a run when injured and then having to walk for hours back from being hurt. I was actually the only one without a good story...but I feel like that's a good thing! Although I did wake up in the middle of the night with terrible back pain (I didn't even run yesterday, which is why I don't think not running will cure it) and had to take more pain medicine, so I don't think I'm doing that much better!
PM - Bootcamp class with Emily Jameson. Fun times, only 3 of us so it was like having a personal trainer! Lot of lunges and push-ups though - going to be sore.
So we were thinking about doing the Saturday run up north this weekend...anyone interested?
AM - Met Emily J. and went to spin class. It was hard - so much harder than an easy 1-hour run would've been. Good workout, although I'm almost sad that I didn't get to enjoy the warm temps outside this morning.
PM - 4.2 miles, met up with Jake and ran home. Got to wear shorts and no gloves!
AM - Met Devra for a run, 7.6 miles around Sandy. There is nowhere you can go from her house without some major hills!
PM - Messed around in the pool for a bit. It's only 5 ft which is not ideal for pool running, so I spent about 10 minutes experimenting with pool weights, noodles, and kickboards before the solution of two noodles in order for my feet to not hit the ground. Pool running is super boring and I was proud to make it 20 minutes. Not a bad workout though!
Jake and I have decided to head north to Legacy Parkway Trail for a 14 miler with a crew up there. Let me know if you want to join in!
AM - Went up to Legacy Parkway Trail and had a nice group run with Jake, Allie, James, Tara, Kam, Cam, Andy, Emily Bates, and Mark. It was very stormy with lots of wind and periods of rain. I wish that my foot and back didn't hurt, but it was worth it to have a fun group run. Afterwards, Kam and family treated us to an awesome breakfast with hot chocolate, strawberries, and waffles - definitely my favorite part!
Went skiing at Brighton today - lots of powder and fun tree skiing! We skied until our fingers and toes were frozen solid then called it a day. Turns out Jake does get tired after 150 miles when we do non-running activity! The mountains are finally looking like winter.
AM - Did some core and strengthening exercises for 25 minutes or so. After 4 weeks of having pain on the ball of my foot (on the 2nd metatarsal), I have decided to take a week off from putting any pressure on it. I'm still debating on whether to get an x-ray and make sure it's not a stress fracture. So this pretty much means nothing except pool running and strength training (and probably gaining 5 lbs)...I think my goal will be to pool run a mile in less than Fritz's 70 minutes.
Yesterday was probably the least active I have been since I have moved to Utah over a year and a half ago. I feel sooo lazy. This morning I stuck with strenghening exercises again for 30 minutes. Core strength and arms during lunch.
Because I'm the only one at work that doesn't have a family with 3+ kids, I have been put in charge of entertaining a girl from Brazil that is visiting for the next two weeks. She is super sweet which helps a lot! #1 priority is that she is shopping for a wedding dress (b/c it costs $1000 just to rent a dress in Brazil!) so I am serving as stand-in mom. Besides that, I have nothing exciting to do! If anyone has fun suggestions for evening activities, let me know. We'll probably take her sledding/snowshoeing this weekend because she's never seen snow before. Maybe I could get her to run in the SLC 5k this weekend too? :o)
Strengthening exercises for 25 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes during lunch.
PM - Met up with Lulu Walls for some kickboard pool fun. Didn't count but probably did at least 0.25 miles in 30 minutes. We got cold so moved to the hot tub...ahhh to be a typical exerciser.
AM - Strengthening exercises for 35 minutes. I haven't had time to check people's blogs this week, but Jake is catching me up...sounds like everyone is having good workouts!
Thought this video picking on triathletes was comical - *Stuff* Triathletes Say. There is one for runners too but it's not nearly as funny.
Starting to go crazy. Last time I took 5 days off from running was probably 10 years ago - I feel like I'm blowing up like a balloon (which is why I refuse to weigh myself until I start running again). On a positive note, both my back and foot feel A LOT better. I am just nervous that they are going to hurt again as soon as I start back running again. We'll see. This morning was another round of strength training/core for 30 minutes.
Going to the Brad Paisley/The Band Perry/Scotty McCreery concert tonight. I'm so excited!
AM - Served as the photographer/cheering squad for the SLC 5k. It was actually quite a relief to go to a race and not have to run in it! Was definitely a little sad I couldn't join in on the cooldown run, which is definitely the best part of the whole event. Took some pretty good photos, check out Jake's blog for the link.
PM - JAJA Snowshoe adventure with my co-worker from Brazil. Rafaela isn't much of an athlete, so it was a little bit of a stretch for her to go up 9000ft and hike with us. But she had a great time and it turns out that she loves snow! The views were gorgeous and it was really nice to get outdoors and have some fun. I really thought my foot would be throbbing this evening, but it actually feels pretty good :o) Hope that means good things...
AM - Jealously dropped off Jake to run with friends then headed to the gym. Rode on the bike for an hour while reading Meb's autobiography. I had to push with my heels which made for slightly awkward cycling but my foot didn't hurt at all. I think the plan this week is biking a lot.
Somehow managed to get sick again, this time with chest congestion, throat and ear pain. No fun.
AM - Strengthening exercises for 30 minutes. I hoping that all these hip and back exercises will prevent my back pain from coming back in full force once I start running again. My foot feels significantly better which makes me believe that it wasn't a stress fracture but just needed some time off. I'm going to be conservative and not run the rest of this week so that I'll be ready to go next week!
PM - Spin session. 10 min warmup then 20 minutes at 160 bpm heart rate, which felt like a pretty hard effort. Then 5 x 30s sprints. 45 minutes total. 14.6 miles.
