catherine's running efforts

Wow - it really was a whole week that I didn't run. 

The spouse club does a 4-mile run on Friday mornings. I couldn't go last week because they were meeting at 7:00 and I teach my class at 9:00 and there's the hair-drying thing and also I think I gave myself an office hour from 8:00 to 9:00, but this week they met at 6:30. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. There ended up being about 4 different pace groups, and the fastest one hung out at just over 9 min/mile. The run leader ran back a couple of times to check on people so I went with her once to get a little more distance. I don't know if I'll be able to go every week because usually I like to prepare a little before class, but maybe I'll at least be able to make running buddy friends. Though they won't be as cool as Toby.  

I got new shoes. I was deciding between Kinvaras, Fastwitches, or some really bouncy or squishy Brooks Pure shoe. The Brooks shoes were too thick and the Fastwitches were too narrow (but I really really wanted them to work because they were an awesome bright red and they have way better tread than the Kinvaras), so I kept the Kinvaras because I've loved my Kinvaras every time except that after my feet grew the ones I had were too small. Then I went out and ran around a couple of blocks to cement the decision. It was dark and I was scared, but I was happy with my shoe choice.  

I had to be on campus tonight so after my meeting I went to the indoor track. It was a little stuffy and the men's bathroom was super super poo stinky and I didn't love the banked corners and I wanted to stop after 4 laps, but I kept passing all of those pictures of people who won national championships and thinking about how they probably didn't quit their workouts early. I did 15 laps toward the middle of the lanes in 24:12. The signs said that was 3 miles. It felt like less than that. 

I knew I'd be getting more than 4 hours of sleep last night, so I met up with one of the MBA spouses for a little run near campus this morning. It was slower than I would have preferred, but totally worth it to have someone to meet and talk to. For sure I would have kept sleeping if it had just been me. Also being out there made me realize that it's probably totally safe to run around campus in the early mornings by myself. 

The spouse's club is having a fitness challenge. I want to win it, so I sacrificed some class prep time last night and went to bed earlier than normal so that I could wake up and run this morning. It was too warm for the jacket I was wearing, but other than that it was really nice. Plus, running makes me feel more confident throughout the day, so maybe the extra confidence will make up for not being as prepared to teach. 

9:16, 8:27 (was following some guys here), 8:45, 8:43 for .5 (8:48 ap)

A little later than yesterday - Eric and I both slept in a little too much and got a later start on our runs. But since it was light out I just ran from my house instead of driving to campus. Also I wore the Altras - I put in an additional insole that I thought might stop the shoe from pulling me into a midfoot strike (as I feel it's wont to do), so we'll see. They're just so wide and durable - I bet they'd last for 2,000 miles. Or I have no idea how long they'd last for. But if my knee starts hurting, they're dead to me.

8:39, 8:56, 7:50 (downhill), 7:50 for .51 (8:23 ap) 

Eric's brother's special friend asked if I wanted to go on a trail run, so we went up to the BST for a little out-and-back. It was very pretty. 

Not a great run. I was sore either from yesterday's trail or today's 3-mile walk pushing Elliott in the cozy coupe (walking for a long time makes my shins hurt), and I also had to make a poop stop. And my Garmin's satellites wouldn't pick up for a bit. Even still, at the end I was glad I had done it. 

With the spouse club people. 

A couple of the spouses were doing 10 miles today because they're doing the Halloween Half (I'm still thinking about it, but I'm not crazy excited about charging down the steep downhill on a narrow path with a million people) so I went with them. We met at the mouth of Provo Canyon at 6:00 and went out for an out-and-back with a planned 9:00 pace. It was a bit slower than that, but it was still enjoyable. Unfortunately, I had to poop in the woods.

9:37, 9:44, 10:48, 10:53, 10:18, 9:28, 7:48 (this is when I was catching back up after my stop), 9:43, 9:34, 8:21 (a little bit of a breakaway pack), 11:50 for the .23 (running back to regroup) (9:42 ap)