catherine's running efforts

Sunday nights are usually pretty late for me because I have to get ready for my Monday classes, so I didn't wake up early this morning to run. Instead I went out at about 8:00 tonight for a loop around campus. It was okay. I like it better in the morning when there are fewer cars. 

8:34, 7:56, 8:52 (8:27 ap) 

I was still catching up on sleep and so didn't wake up early this morning, but I have a couple of things tonight and won't have time to run then. So after Elliott woke up I took her out in the jog stroller. It's harder than running without, but not *so* much harder. And it's nice that I can hop on the paved bike path just about a half mile away. 

9:49, 9:13, 7:59, 7:20 for .08 (8:58 ap) 

I almost didn't go this morning - my bed was warm and cozy, and it seemed cold and dark outside. But when I turned my alarm off I checked my email and then I was awake. So I just did my normal loop around campus. I finished sooner than normal and so thought I should go longer, but since I had run a little harder and had only planned on 3 I didn't have very much motivation to tack on more. Plus, I'm still just trying to solidify the habit of running every day. (Excuses...)

8:21, 7:31, 7:36 (7:49 ap) 

With Eric and Elliott. I had been planning on just 3 and pretty slow, but he's off school today and it's fun running with him. We went south (southwest?) on the river trail, so I got to see parts of it I'd never run on by myself, and he was nice enough to go at my pace (instead of the sub-7 he usually does with the jog stroller...wtheck?). 

8:51, 8:44, 8:56, 8:45 (8:49 ap) 

With the spouse club people. My garmin died about 2 minutes in, so I just have to trust that the person in charge really knew where was the right point to turn around. Also I don't know how fast it was. Also I used the park potty in the dark and didn't get attacked. 

Good luck in St. George today, everyone! I'm thinking about you! 

With one of the women from last Saturday. She's no Toby, but she's probably my favorite Provo running buddy so far. Up and down the canyon again, this time to Vivien Park. I think we saw Sasha. It was *so* cold (my dollar gloves didn't cut it, and I wished I had worn pants), but I felt better on the way back down. I ran ahead for the last mile and barely missed my goal of having an AP under 9. But even though that last mile didn't feel good (I didn't want to push but I kept telling myself it was going to make me stronger), it was faster than I thought, so I was happy since I had been nervous about whether I could even do 12. 

9:01, 9:18, 9:47, 10:16, 9:56, 9:45, 9:17, 8:52, 9:00, 8:25, 8:37, 7:00 (9:06 ap) 

P.M. Went on a trail run with Eric's brother's special friend (EBSF). Last time we did this she was sick, so I thought I was faster than her than I really am. Actually, she kicks my butt on the downhills. By a lot. I'm afraid of downhills on a trail. And I did twist my ankle a bunch (but didn't injure anything) and almost fell off the mountain one of the times I stumbled. I didn't love the run - my legs were tired from this morning, and I'd always rather run on a road than on a trail. Trail running to me is like weightlifting - both are things I'm not good at, both are things I don't want to try to get good at. But it was pretty outside, and EBSF is fun to talk to. And it got me 4 more miles for the day. 

Kind of a bummer run. I had planned on 4, but everything was going wrong. Most of the problem was that I was running in the evening. After eating four orange rolls earlier. And after a rough (but fun) pilates/barre class with my sister yesterday. Tomorrow will be better. 

I did a zumba class at the Orem rec center with my sister-in-law. Afterward I ran a couple of laps around their funny orange indoor track.

We renewed our gym memberships since it's all sorts of cold and dark all the time now. So I headed over to the Cardio Cinema right after dinner (but with a 1% incline because I'm pretty sure their treadmills are slanted downhill). Note to self: of course you're going to get sick if you go run right after you eat. Stop doing that. 

I was looking forward to today for a couple of reasons. First, even though I've kind of had a bummer running summer, I thought I could get a post-pregnancy PR (and I did, by 3 seconds). Second, it was ELLOTT'S FIRST RACE! We realized yesterday that they also have a 200m run for kids 1-4, so we entered her. She did so good. She was the last one to finish, but she was also the smallest and youngest that we could see. And she was happy the whole time. Eric posted the video over on his race report. I'll just post a picture. 

My race was okay. I've run around campus several times in the last few weeks (and I've done a few campus 5Ks), so I knew exactly how the elevation would go. I tried to not go out too fast on the uphill start, to relax but push myself a little bit for the downhill part, and to not give up for the last uphill mile. Every time I wanted to slow down I would tell myself, "post-pregnancy PR...post-pregnancy PR.." But in the last mile I got tired (and I *hate* that gradual uphill) and I started telling myself that I didn't deserve a post-pregnancy PR. I had more consistency going into other races, I've been kind of sick and tired this week, etc. I know I need to work on the mental game. I don't think I could have gone a *lot* faster today, but I think I could have at least picked off the two girls that ended up a few seconds ahead of me. Or I could have at least tried. 

Splits: 7:19, 6:29, 7:38, 7:03 for last .13 (and THANK YOU to whoever decided not to make us run on the grass before the track - two years ago I almost slipped and died (not really) there) 

Anyway, I was happy with my race overall. Running isn't just about how fast my body can go; it's also a lot about thoughts and emotions and confidence. I know I held it together for the last mile better than I did at the Rex Lee 5K earlier this year and the Homecoming 5K two years ago, so that's good. I also took first in my age group. Age group wins are hard for me, though - it's hard to not feel silly about winning a medal or something when I'm several minutes behind the overall winners. But that's a whole other topic.  

After the awards Eric and I did 2 miles with Elliott in the stroller before heading home. I wish we would have done it right after the race; my legs were already pretty tight by then, and they didn't start to feel better until we were almost done. 

Group run with Eric and Elliott. He's been wanting to show me the Provo River Trail where it gets nice again, so we drove out to just past Geneva for a nice out-and-back. I like running with Eric because we go faster than I'd go on my own. And also because I can run where I wouldn't run by myself. And also because I like him. 

8:14, 8:12, 8:09, 7:45, 8:00ish for the last 1.45 (8:03 ap) 

2 miles on the Orem rec center track with Eric after we both went to Zumba with his sister. Seeing Eric take a Zumba class was the highlight of my week. ~7:50 pace. 

Halloween Half. Pacing. Race was really fun except for when I had to run faster to catch up with RAD after a potty break. Then about an hour or two after, I got super super sick. That made me not very excited to run again.