Going With The Flow

AM - Jeremy Ranch Road again this morning, this time with Rob Murphy, Fritz, and Jake. Rode the mountain bike 2 miles out then ran 10.3 miles with the guys. Jumped back on the bike back to the car. Longest run since the half marathon! The past week of vacation exercise camp + stomach virus + more mileage = pretty worn out. Jake and I were going to do a mountain bike ride in Park City but settled on laying at the pool and planning the next vacation instead.

AM - Horsepark loop 4.4 miles. Not a great run - feeling lousy. I need to eat more but my stomach still hurts from the virus I got on Friday. 

PM - Weight training 30 minutes and hamstring eccentric exercises.

AM - 6.1 miles around Millcreek. Saw Fritz along the way and thought about joining him, but my 8 min pace was not getting any faster this morning. Although the stomach virus is still hanging on a bit, my appetite is back in full force!! :)

PM - 2 mile shake-out at Sugarhouse Park. Was going to try strides to get out of 8 min pace, but the hamstring didn't seem up to it. Save it for another day.

Interesting rules about social media for athletes from the International Olympic Committee.

 AM - Slightly extended horsepark loop. Ran 5 minutes at 6:19 pace (0.83 miles) just to see if I remembered how to move a little faster. It was actually pretty cool that my legs still know exactly what marathon pace is without looking at a watch.

PM - Strength training 30 minutes.

 7-11 Free Slurpee Day!!

AM - Another horsepark loop. I know I'm getting totally boring, but I'm still on downtime and this loop is my comfort run. Big dog crews today - 2 people and 9 dogs! It appeared that one of them just got a baby German Shepherd to add to their group. So cute. 

I can't believe it's not Friday yet...this week is dragging! I definitely live for the weekends. 

Also, I have a pair of green Saucony Hurricane 13 in womens size 10 (I know, big foot). They are a little too much support for me and I have plenty of other shoes to keep my occupied...so if anyone is interested and wants them, let me know. They have been worn once, maybe twice.

AM - Quick 3.1 miles around the block. Going to do a few more this afternoon with some strides.

I'm so glad my company does Half Day Fridays in the summer...probably the biggest perk of the job! Jake and I are heading down south to stay with Rachelle this evening and then the Lavender race tomorrow.

PM - 6.1 miles in the Dimple Dell gully with Devra. That run is never easy but we had fun catching up.

(IF the weather isn't bad) Sunday mid-morning Jake and I are planning a shortened Bullion Divide hike - from Cecret Lake to Sugarloaf, Baldy, Hidden Peak, and finally AF Twin Peaks....then head back to the Snowbird Tram and take that down. It's about 3500 ft of uphill and 6-7 miles of hiking. Best part is not having to beat up the legs on downhill! Let Jake or me know if you want to join!!

AM - Run Through Lavendar Half Marathon. I will admit that Jake and I "lavender-picked" this race because of the prize money. It turns out that many other top level athletes in the area had the same idea! At first, my plan was to just run with Rachelle for a nice workout, but my competitiveness got the best of me. I wasn't mentally or physically prepared for a true race this morning, but I did what I could :)

The race began on dirt with a short uphill. Kassi Harmon and I took the early lead. The course turns left to a nice downhill section for the rest of the first mile. We hit the road and then begins the long, boring road in the middle of nowhere. Kassi and I had a high school guy compliment on how fast we were (I don't think he's used to being chicked). We dropped him shortly after and were running a steady pace at about 10 seconds faster than what I was feeling comfortable with. At 5.5 miles, I made the conscious decision to let Kassi go and drop to marathon pace. That difference between 6:15 and 6:25 made a huge difference. I felt much more relaxed and just focused on keeping a steady effort.

The race seemed uphill from miles 6 to 11.5, just annoyingly steady and boring. I needed some music, people, something! The course went through the lavender fields on dirt for the last 3 miles with a pretty brutal hill from 10.5-11.5. Good training for TOU Half, I guess! After that slow mile, I was able to get my legs going a reasonable pace again for the last 2 miles or so. Finished in 1:24:16, right at marathon pace.

This course was not easy for me. It felt especially difficult because I haven't run much faster than 8-9 min pace for the last 4 weeks. Running in the low 6s was quite a shock to the system! It's amazing to me how quick you lose racing sharpness. It comes back quickly, but it just goes to show how important it is to incorporate a little bit of faster running even during base training.

The biggest success in the race today is that I had no problems with my hamstring! It must be healing well. I did have some awkwardness in my groin, but hopefully that's just a fluke. It's all about injury management for me! :)

Congrats to everyone that ran today - some great performances. The race was very well organized with no hiccups at all. Mile markers were right on...it was a fun morning. Cooled down with Kassi, Melody, Rachelle, Jen, and Jake for 2 miles.