cheryl

Butt-kicking day.  We met at the track and ran around the neighborhoods for just over 3 miles, the avg. pace being 9:06.  Then we did a tempo run up Rustic Roads, back thru Meridies, and back to the high school.  My time on that was 14:49, and 7:48 pace.  Hmm, when we last ran that about a month ago I did it in 14:41, so a little slower today.   I never like that.  Then it was off to do Yasso 800's.  My times were:  3:35, 3:27, 3:39, 3:29, 3:30, and 3:29.  When we last ran these, about a month ago, my times were  about 5 to 6 seconds slower, so I did better on the 800's today.  So according to Yasso, I should be able to run a marathon somewhere around 3:30-3:35.  I would be happy with that at St. George, but I'm not counting on it because Yasso 800's have never worked for me in predicting my marathon time.  Add about 10 minutes to the slowest, and then you have my marathon time.  I had to run off right away, no staying around for any extra mileage.

Here's the thing:  my 5th grader had a field trip to the Timpanogos Cave today.  Ordinarily I don't like field trips and I sometimes volunteer secretly hoping they've already filled the parent spots.  However, I wanted to go on this particular trip because I thought the hike up to the cave would be good cross-training and a good workout.  So I was looking forward to that.  So we get there, we wait around for quite a while because they had to take us up in different groups, and I was in the last group.  When it's finally our turn to go, I was pumped up about the hike.  So we get going, we hike for a few minutes, then we stop.  One of the girls in the group had asthma and was really struggling.  We waited a few minutes for her and her dad to catch up, then we're off again.  A minute later, we stop.  We wait a few minutes for them to catch up, then we're off.  Two minutes later, we stop, we wait, we sit and let everyone catch their breath, then we're off.  Thirty seconds later, we stop, we wait, we go.  Do you get the drift?  We probably didn't hike continuously for more than a couple of minutes at a time.  It took us 1 hour and 19 minutes (yes, I was timing it) to do the mile and a half hike.  That averages to about 1.2 mph.  Have you ever walked that slow on a treadmill?  It is slow torture, which is what I went thru today.  For some reason the teacher didn't want to send any of us ahead, so we had to do the slow march up the mountain.  Very frustrating, but I tried to be a good trooper and keep my frustrations to myself.  I probably won't volunteer for another field trip anytime soon.  So much for my cross-training plans.

I did get on the treadmill later and do a little more running, probably one or two miles.

Did all my running on a treadmill today, at a 2% incline most of the way.  I always enjoy the treadmill, so it was a fun workout.

OK, geek alert.  We ran our 5k's today, and because we have done these many times, I like to compare times from previous years and months.  So here's the lowdown:

Today, these were my times:  25:45; 23:44; 24:09; 24:58

Now, the good news is that these times were an improvement over how I ran them on August 6.  The times then were:  26:55; 24:29; 24:54; 25:42.

So I should be happy that in about a month I have gotten a little faster, it seems.  Plus, I felt much more relaxed today than I did last time, so I feel better about that aspect of the run also. 

However, in  September 2007, when I ultimately ran 3:35 at the SGM, these were my times: 24:58; 23:49; 23:27; 23:09.  So as you can all see I was better two years ago.  So that probably says I won't be running 3:35 or faster this year.

In September 2008, when I ultimately ran 4:01 at the SGM, these were my times:  26:15; 24:54; 25:49; 24:28.  So as you can see, I was slower then compared to today on all except the last one.  What does that mean?  I don't know yet, we'll see after SGM.

Another interesting thing:  I've usually been able to negative split, meaning I get faster on each 5K, which you can see I did in 2007 and  kind of did in 2008 (at least my last one was my fastest).  The two times we've done them recently, my last has not been my fastest. The second has been the fastest both times, then the 3rd was next fastest, and my last was my 3rd slowest.  What does that mean?  Why am I getting slower as we go along instead of faster, which I used to be able to do?  Is it an endurance issue?  Any of you (maybe I should say either of you) have ideas?  We'll see how it all plays out in exactly a month, when we run the big marathon.

Thanks to anyone who plowed thru this entry, probably interesting only to me.

I did a little cross-training and a little running today. Friday I usually spend time working on better form, which is what I tried today. Then something weird happened. I ran on the canal road and was fine, no problems. I went to my son's football practice, everything still fine. Then I went to a neighbor's wedding reception, stood around talking wearing you know kind of dressy shoes, came back home and then out of the blue I was hit by a pain in my left knee. It was either the ITB or the meniscus--I only know about the meniscus because my son hurt his a few months ago and my pain seemed to be where his pain was. It was weird because I didn't feel anything while running, it just seemed to hit when I got home in the evening. I've never had something like that happen before, usually you feel a little twinge and then it gets worse and then you really feel it. This seemed to come out of nowhere and it was somewhat painful--enough to know I probably wouldn't be running for at least a day or two. Very strange.

I wanted to meet up with the group and do their planned workout today, but because of the pain in my left knee, I knew there would be no running today.  Whenever I get injured it means one thing--cross-training, and for me today it was pool running.  I went to the Rec Center about 7:45 to pool run, then a water aerobics class came in at 8:00, so that cut short my workout.   I did get in 30 minutes of running.  I came back later to do more, and this time I just had to dodge all the kids that like to hang out at the pool on Saturday.  I got in an hour of pool running.  Not the same as land running, but I felt like I was working hard.  I'll give myself one mile for each 15 minutes of running.  Typing this Saturday evening, my knee feels better than last night, but I still don't think I should try running on it.  Good thing tomorrow is Sunday, my rest day (usually), so we'll see how things go on Monday.

I ran 6 miles on the treadmill while watching the Bingham-Texas high school team game.  Bingham lost by two touchdowns I think, and that was too bad.  Then later I went to the Rec Center to do some pool running.  Labor Day is a bad day to try to swim at the Rec Center, way too many kids in the way.  I made it for 45 minutes, then had enough of dodging kids.  I will count that as 3 miles.  My knee felt much better today.  It was a strange thing, how it came on suddenly with really no warning and then went away after a day or two.  The way it felt when it first hit, I thought I might have to cross-train all this week.  Fortunately, it got better faster than I thought.  Let's hope that doesn't happen again.  Can you imagine being hit by something like that, completely out of the blue, the night before a big race?  That would be very frustrating, so I'm hoping the bizarre knee pain will stay away for good.

Today the group met at Parkway Palisades, but we didn't really hit the hills too hard--we're saving that for Thursday. We did warm up around the Parkway Palisades neighborhood, then when we regrouped, we went over to the main hill and ran that once. My time was 8:27. Then we went to the trail to run some tempo/harder intervals. My idea was to run for 10 minutes comfortably hard, then 5 minutes really hitting it. The only problem with my plan was it was dark and I could not see my watch, so I had to guess on time. Fortunately, Cheris came up on me at the end and let me know how much time was left. In the 15 minutes, I ran 1.94 miles, with the avg. pace about 7:40. As we were standing around recovering, I thought I wanted some incentive to run the next one faster, so I came up with my brilliant idea to have the speedies start behind and then try to chase and catch up with the rest of us. What a difference it makes when you're running "scared." This time in 15 minutes, I covered 2.06 miles with the average pace 7:19. I was pleased because I haven't averaged that fast in a two mile run in quite a while, so even though I don't really like the idea of everyone wanting to run us down, it does get us to run faster than we would otherwise, so it seems worth it to me. Some of us then ran our main hill again. I wanted to take this one easier, but Nancy R was running by me, so naturally we were pushing each other. Time on that was 8:32. It was all a lot of fun, as always with our group. Later this afternoon, I made it to the Rec Center for 1 hour of pool running. I love pool running, it's so relaxing and rejuvenating to the legs.  I'll give myself 4 miles for that (1 mile for each 15 minutes).

Six miles on the treadmill.  Ran for 30 minutes not going below 7.0mph and getting up to 7.5 for a lot of it, on a 2% incline.  Then ran fast minutes, mainly at 8.5mph and 2% incline.

Our group's plan was to run up 114th So. to 13th East, then from 13th east to 11000 So., back down, past Alta High, back up to 13th East, then back down.  From 1000 E. to 1300 E. is a nice hill.  My times were 16:53, 15:20 and 14:52.  We ran this on July 23rd, and my times that time were 17:00, 15:35 and 14:38, so I was faster on the first two, but not the last one.  I think I could have been a little faster today on all 3 runs if it hadn't been so dark.  I ran on the sidewalks a lot and was afraid of hitting an indentation or something and falling, so I held back a little.  The best part is I felt great at the end, felt like I could have done it again (if really coerced), I did not feel wasted like I think I felt the last time.  Fun run. 

PM--Because I missed the early mileage this morning, I felt like I needed to do a little more.  So I ran 4 miles on the treadmill, then went to the Rec Center and did 30 minutes of pool running, which I will count for 2 miles.

Well, good and bad news today.  The good news is I got a lot of miles in.  The bad news is that I tweaked my left quad and I think it will put me out of running for at least a couple of days.  This is the second Friday in a row where I've done something that hampered my running.  Last week I felt better by Monday.  I'm hoping for the same this go around.  But I've missed out on two Saturdays of getting any real running in--pool running is close but of coursre not exactly the same as running on the roads.

I was hoping I could at least run a little today, but it just wasn't happening.  Then I thought if I couldn't run I'd at least get out for a couple of hours and just have the experience of being on my feet for a long time.  So I headed out on a walk, hoping to make it for at least an hour, two would be better.  Things started out fine, but about 30-40 minutes into it my quad starting hurting, enough to make me think if I kept going I would just be doing more damage and hinder the healing process.  I did make it to an hour, then that was it.  Very sore quad.  I'm still hoping I'll be able to run  by Monday, but we'll see.  Based on the pain level, I'd be surprised if it put me out for more than three or four days, but you never know.  I'll give myself 4 miles for today, one for each 15 minutes.

My quad was still just a little sore today, so I mainly just power walked with a few short bursts of running thrown in.  I'm giving myself two miles for this workout.

The group met at the church at 40th West and 9800 So. today.  I did not come for early miles because I wasn't sure how my quad would feel and I didn't want to overdo things.  When I got there, Melanie was just arriving also, so we ran a short distance up 9800 So. then back to meet the rest of the group.  The workout consisted of two tempo runs from 4800 W. up around the neighborhood and back down.  The first time we ran north and then up, that took 10:22, with an avg. pace of  7:35 for 1.37 miles.  The next time we started south, then up; that took 10:06, avg. pace 7:11 for 1.41 miles.  I was happy with that effort, I felt pretty strong on it.  Then it was hill sprints on the big Glenmoor hill.  We did 4 of them, I did not catch speeds or anything like that, I kept forgetting to hit the lap button.  I did like doing those hill sprints, though, I think sometime we should come and just concentrate on doing those for half the workout.  Then it was back to the car.  I guess the idea was to cool down, but I still had some energy left, so tried to feel more like tempo pace.  It was a fun workout.  Not as many miles as usual because I missed the early miles, but I liked how I felt all during the workout.  Maybe that goes to show  there is something to tapering.  I really hadn't run since Friday and I felt like I had lots of energy today.  My quad felt good, so I'd give this workout a solid "A" grade.  Later I power walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes, and then pool ran for 30 minutes.  Love that pool running, it's really rejuvenating.

Did some power walking on the treadmill, some hill sprints, and pool running.  I figure five miles for all that is probably somewhat accurate.

Well, what can you say?  Some days of running are good, some days (most days?) not so good.  I've had about a year and a half of not so good days, frustrating days, days when I've wondered if my best days are well behind me.  Finally, today, I had one of those good days.  I finally hit some times on the track that I was able to hit fairly consistently two or three years ago, but just haven't been able to do recently.  We ran 800's and after the second one, I decided to try and pace off of Cheris and Michelle.  That's when I was able to run some fast times (for me).  Here are the times, and in parantheses are my times from two weeks ago, just to compare between then and now:  3:25 (3:35); 3:24 (3:27); 3:13 (3:29); 3:17 (3:29); 3:14 (3:30); 3:18 (3:29) and 3:10 (only ran six last time).  That 3:10 is my fastest time in about two years.  So needless to say, I was happy about this workout.   Now I need to work on endurance.

Light day, just a little treadmill running, some hill sprints.

I woke up early, like 5:10, but didn't feel like I had enough time to get ready and meet some of the group at Cheris' house, so I just bagged that idea.  I got up, did a few things, then laid back down and slept some more.  Great way to start the day (not!).  Anyway, I finally got going, and this is what I did.  I took Schneider to the canal road and ran for 40 minutes.  Not overly happy with the run, I felt like I was struggling more than I should have for a 9:15 avg. pace.   Then I went home and ran pretty easy on the treadmill for 30 minutes.  Then later this evening during the BYU-FSU game (Ugh!) I ran some more.  I did a 5K in 21:35; that time is deceptive because the treadmill was on a decline so it was easier than if it had been flat or on an incline (obviously).  It was still an enjoyable run; just enough intensity to challenge me, but not too much to wipe me out.  I didn't enjoy the football game, but I did enjoy the run!

My workout today was a fast 5K on the treadmill, then some hill sprints. For some strange reason I almost always enjoy that workout.

The main part of the workout today consisted in running six 800's with 30-second recovery between each.   I was looking back at past training the other day and noticed we did this workout about a month before SGM in 2007, and I noticed that the times for the 800's were all around what I eventually ran SGM in that year (if you throw out the first warm-up 800.)  So I wanted to experiment with that again today just to see if what I did today will coorelate with how I run the marathon in 11 days.  So here are my times today, and in parantheses are the times I ran back in '07:  3:37 (3:46);  3:32 (3:39); 3:29 (3:38); 3:26 (3:36); 3:26 (3:33); 3:20 (3:32).  So it's interesting, all my times were faster today, so that says I should run a faster marathon this year.  However, my training this year, I feel, hasn't been quite as good as it was two years ago.  Then, I ran several half marathons leading up the marathon, which I haven't done this year.  I've never been good about getting in long runs, so it's no different this year.  We have done some "big workouts" as suggested by Paul Peterson this year that I don't think we really did two years ago.  Another thing different this year is that I've been working on a more efficient running form, so maybe that has made a difference in being able to run faster 800's today.  I don't think having a better form will make up for lack of basic endurance, which is what I feel I lack this year as compared to 2007.    It will be interesting to see how it all plays out in a week and a half.

Treadmill hill sprints, work on running form.

Today we met at the SJ park to run our 5k's--only two this time.  It felt a little like a vacation after we ran four the last two times we've done this.  My goal going in--actually my goal all summer--has been to hit in the 22 minute range on these 5ks.  Just some history:  last winter, when I think I was at my all time low with running, I barely made it under 30 minutes on one of these.  I wanted to blame the cold and the snow on the ground, but I knew it went deeper than that, so to speak.  I knew I had some problems that needed to be corrected if I ever wanted to run these 5K's well again.  Eventually some things got taken care of, the most important being my thyroid, and the times came down.  However, I still was not able to hit that magical 22 number despite what I thought were my best efforts.  My best time before today was 23:09 which I did in June.  Lately, all the times have been in the 23 to 25 minute range.  Today we started south, and I tried to keep things relaxed and fairly comfortable, focusing on keeping my form good.  I ran that in 23:30.  Good, but still not where I wanted to be.  The second we ran north, and this time I ran with Nancy R. the entire way.  I think having her by me kept me going strong, and, what do you know, I finally made it into the 22 range, 22:31 to be precise.  Nice to reach a goal.  The best part is I didn't feel totally wiped out at the end, I felt like if I had to, I could have done two more 5K's.  However, I'm glad I didn't have to.  Tapering is nice.

Another day of working on my form and treadmill hill sprints.

I ran the Steeple to Steeple race today--from the Oquirrh Mt. Temple to the Jordan River temple.  They said it was 5 miles, and at first some of us were thinking that it wasn't that far, but then it turned out to be a little over 5 miles.  I started out with no warm-up--looking back I wish I had put in a little warm-up, but oh well.  I took off and there came Michelle M. and Dean running the wrong direction, then they turned around and joined the race.  My goal was to stick with them or at least not let them get too far ahead, which I did pretty well.  I would say they were no more than 10 seconds ahead of me at any point before the last mile.  Becky Christensen was close behind me pretty much the whole way, so I was trying to keep Michelle and Dean in reach and keep ahead of Becky.   I got stopped once at 9800 So. and Redwood Road by the traffic for maybe 5-10 seconds; Michelle and Dean did not get stopped, and it was then they opened up a gap I was unable to close.   They seemed to get faster once they turned onto 1300 West, so there was no hope of catching them.  I think I finished about one minute behind them.  In my mind, I thought the finish was a church south of the temple, when it really was a church north of the temple, so the finish was there before I expected it.  I wasn't able to put on a finishing sprint like I wanted to.  I think my time was 36:50 (started my Garmin late, one of these days I'll get that Garmin right).  I was second female, behind Michelle.  Becky was third, and I think the BBKs can claim her, so we finished 1-2-3.  Walter won for the men, so we swept this race.  Avg. pace was 7:09--that may sound pretty good, but remember this was a nice downhill race.  I really liked it.

Light treadmill work.

We met at Bingham to do the last best pre-marathon workout, which consisted of three 1-mile repeats and then two 400s.  The first mile was up and down Rustic Roads.  That took 8:06.  The next mile was from Rustic Roads to Canterwood, up to 2700 W. and ending at North Forty Way.  That took 7:53.  Then it was down Rustic Rds. to Merides and then Culmination.  That took 6:51.  The 400s I did in 1:39 and then 1:29.  Obviously, I ran the second two miles a little faster than marathon pace.  All the years I've run St. George, I've never had a sub-7 minute mile.  I'm hoping this year to keep all miles (except maybe for Veyo Hill) below 8:30.  We'll see how it goes.

Some treadmill running at various speeds.  Everything felt good.  I'm thinking this may be it for the running I do before the marathon.  Two years ago I went on a vacation where I didn't run very much.  I ran on a Saturday and then didn't run again until Tuesday.  We did a track workout that Tuesday and I ran some of the fastest times I've ever run.  That was the first time I really believed maybe tapering and resting does help.  So because of that I think not running for two full days before the race might be the way for me to go.