I can do it!

I ran around four miles this morning, followed by eight miles on the bike.  This evening I swam 50 lengths at the pool.  If I could just increase those distances and squish them all together, I could try a tri!

Today was not a running day...obviously.  I just couldn't resist doing a little at the track when I went to pick up my husband.  I did 20 min. HIIT on the eliptical at the gym, and was planning to do yoga this evening, but had an AWESOME massage instead.  What a great day!

I woke up this morning to do my run, but had a terrible case of sciatica, so, to be safe, I skipped my morning regime and went to the chiropractor instead.  He said I had muscle spasms in my back, probably due to some minor injury in one of the disks, so he treated me, prescribed me some stretches, and gave me the OK to continue running, biking, and swimming...as long as I listen to my body and stop if it doesn't feel right.  So this evening, I hurried to the gym to run two miles on the treadmill (yuck!) and then rushed to the pool to get 50 lengths in before my rehearsal started.  It's not as much as I hoped to do, but at least it was something.  :D

This morning I ran 5 miles easy...just to see how my sciatic felt.  It was a little uncomfortable at first, but once I got going, I felt pretty good.  Tonight I'm going to TRY Zumba at the gym, and maybe a little yoga.  I don't want to make it worse.....

This morning I biked 12.5 miles.  Then I finished off my day at the pool, swimming 72 lengths.  Today was not a running day!  :D 

I ran with Elijah 8.5 miles this morning.  I did some light hill training and added a few fartleks on the downhill sides.  I felt great afterwards!

Ben and I did a 22+ mile bike ride this evening.  I love the benefits of cross-training to improve my running!

I woke up early this moring, had a fabulous 5 mile run, incorporating some speedwork, then finished off the morning with an eight mile bike ride.  I rode in high gear all the way home, to see if I could get a little burn in the quads.  I felt incredible afterwards!  This evening I swam 72 lengths at the pool, again feeling great - I didn't even need to stop for a breather!  What an awesome day! 

Easy day.  I did a 20 minute HIIT on the elliptical, did a few crunches, stretched, and then ran a mile on the track.  I was tempted to do more, but I probably need a little recovery after yesterday.  I'm looking forward to building enough of a base that I don't have to worry so much about over-doing after a day like yesterday!  I still feel great.  But I'm trying to be careful.  :-)

I thought I ran super easy this morning - I think I was feeling the after shocks of Monday's workout.  I even took a few walk breaks.  But when I finished my run, I realized that my pace was still pretty good - under 49 minutes - which is actually clipping along for me.  (yes, I AM slow!)   I decided to go ahead and ride the bike, and by the time I was done, I felt great!  I love being able to finish my workouts exhilerated instead of exhausted.  It's also fun to find that a "bad day" this week is better than a "bad day" was last week.  Oh, the joy of getting stronger!  Maybe someday I will get to call myself a REAL athelete!  :D  If all goes as planned, I'll do some swimming this evening to wrap up my day...

Later...I went to the pool to swim 40 lengths, but felt so good I decided to do ten more.  Too bad I can't figure out how to be a swimmer and not stink of chlorine and look bug-eyed from the goggles!  :*)

Ahhh....I slept in this morning until 6:45!  It felt REALLY good.  :D  I started my day with 20 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical, then hit the treadmill for a couple of miles.  I started out at a 10:54 pace, and gradually increased my tempo to 8:34.  Then I did a cool down on the stationary recumbant bike, stretched, and headed home for cheesy scrambled eggs and grapefruit.  I feel great!  This evening I plan to ZUMBA before my dance rehearsal.

So...tonight I decided to ride my bike to the gym for Zumba.  I stayed for 45 minutes, then had to leave early to make it to my rehearsal on time.  Then, of course, I had to bike home.  So that added about another 14+ miles to my tally!  Great day!  I'm ready for bed.  :-)

I didn't sleep well last night.  So it was with great weariness that I pulled myself out of bed and hopped on my bike to do my 8 miles.  To be honest, I had planned to do 12, but since I had an unscheduled biking day yesterday, I decided to take it easy.  Immediately after my ride, I ran two miles.  It was really hard - I can tell I'm going to have to practice going straight from biking to running more often.  But, as per Sasha's instructions, I'm going to take my training up a notch, and try running six days a week, instead of only three.  My legs were really tired, but I feel good about what I accomplished.  I'll try swimming tonight.  I love having this blog to be accountable to.  Otherwise, it would be WAY too easy to talk myself out of a workout!  :-)

As a side note...I actually got emotional this morning reading on the home page about calling myself a "fast" runner.  I have often felt that kind of emotion when I think about being a wife, a mother, and about my music and performing.  It is as if deep down inside I KNOW that those are things I was BORN to do.  Could it possibly be that I was born to be a "runner" as well?  I have felt it occasionally on my runs - the feeling that I am reaching up and discovering that I have unlimited potential, and I was born to be really GOOD...not just average.  I love that feeling.  I'm going to chase that feeling.  Who knows what wonderful things I will accomplish?  I'm excited to find out!

Well, I didn't make it swimming last night. I don't know why, but I was really tired all day, and my muscles felt...tired. So I decided to take the evening off. I woke up at 4:30 this morning to send my husband off for the summer games triathlon, then Elijah and I did our ten miles of running. We took it really easy (as always) doing four minutes of running and one minute walk breaks. We finished all ten in 1:42. I felt great until the last mile, when I started to get a little head-achy, but I drank some electrolye-supplemented water and then I felt fine. Then it was off to rehearsal for me. Ben ended up taking the GOLD medal in the tri, and coming in tenth overall! I was so proud - wish I could have been there to watch...except if I HAD been there, I would have been racing. :D

This afternoon Ben and I went to an all-you-can-eat Sushi place.  Oh, boy!  We ate a lot.  Afterwards, I thought "I just can't go to bed with all this food sitting in my belly," so Ben went running and I jumped on my bike, towing my two youngest children in the trailer.  The first four miles were sluggish, but then I started feeling pretty spry, and I picked up the pace.  Then the kids started fighting, so after about eight miles I dropped them off at home, and went out to find Ben and play water-boy.  I found him about two miles from home, after biking up this massive hill, and then rode home with him at a very slow pace (for the bike).  It was all downhill on the way home, and I rode my brakes most of the way, but I'm still going to count the miles!  :-)

Day of REST!  And I DID rest, most of the day, 'til I couldn't take it anymore.  So Ben and I took the kids for a very small, very relaxing bike ride.  It was actually still hard - my muscles must be really tired!  But NOT sore, so that's good....

Elijah and I ran early this morning...and I felt GREAT!  We did our five mile loop in about 46 minutes...slowly getting back my speed.  My legs felt good and tired afterwards, but not fatigued.  I think I'll see if Ben wants to bike to the pool tonight to do our laps....

Great bike ride!  It was at least 8 miles each way, and I swam 80 lengths at the pools.  I've felt great all day!  I'm going to sleep well now.  :-)

I started out today with 20 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical, followed by crunches and stretching.  Then it was over to the track for a very slow run.  I had to keep reminding myself, "It's a RECOVERY RUN!" every time someone would pass me on the track.  My legs are tired!  But I'm feeling good.  Tonight I'll be able to make it to 45 minutes of yoga before my rehearsal.  It will be the first time in weeks that I'll be able to attend, and I'm excited and looking forward to a really good and much needed stretch!

I got up extra early today to squeeze in a quick 3-mile SLOW run, so that I could go biking with my friends through Snow Canyon at 6:00 am. It was a beautiful way to start the day! There was a lot of fast downhill racing, but a good stretch of uphill WORK!  I did it on my mountain bike....one of these days I'm going to get a REAL road bike.  There's nothing like a little exertion to kick start your day...I feel fabulous!  :D

I have rehearsal from 6-10 tonight, so I'm not going to make it to the pool.  :-(

This morning my legs wouldn't work.  Maybe it was the long bike ride yesterday...  :)  So I TRIED to do 5 miles, but it was more of a run/walk.  This evening I planned to ride my bike to the rec center for Zumba and Yoga, but once I arrived, there was a substitute teacher for Zumba, and I discovered that although I am not a "real" dancer, I must be some kind of a dance snob.  I had to leave.  Instead I did 40 minutes on the elliptical, just to kill time before yoga. 

But the BEST part of my day was lunchtime, when my hubby took me to look at a used road bike, and it ended up being a really nice road bike in beautiful condition...an '05 Allez Comp Specialized road bike with an aluminum frame, carbon forks, stays, and seat post, brand new tires, serviced regularly and recently, ultegra and dur-ace components, etc.  For cheap!   And the other amazing thing is that the gal who owned it was exactly the same height as me, with the same length legs as me!  She won several races on that bike, and treated it like a baby.  Suffice it to say I brought home a "new" bike today!  And I'm giddy with excitement to get to try it out (need pedals and shoes first).  No more riding up the steep canyons on my $35.00 clearance mountain bike from Wally-world!  What a happy day.

Ahhh...Ben didn't have to be at work until 8:00, so I got to sleep in until 6:40!  It was sooo nice.  I started out the morning with a short tempo run, and then was able to try out my new bike!  What fun!  I'm pretty sure riding the old mountain bike is going to be totally unsatisfactory from now on.  But I'm going to have to re-learn how to ride.  :-)  We finished out the evening with a trip to the pool, and 60 lengths back and forth.  Now to bed...tomorrow's a long day.

It was a beautiful morning for a long run!  I met some friends to do 12 miles on the Saint George Marathon route - some pretty steep downhill grades.  I was really worried after having been so tired all week, but after the first couple of miles, something kicked in, and I felt FABULOUS!  The scenery was breathtaking.  I felt a continual flow of happiness as I ran, especially as I neared the end of my run, and realized how fantastic I was feeling and how un-tired I was.  I'm sure that I have never smiled so much before on any run.  I was thoroughly enjoying myself!  It still surprises me when I feel that way running, after having done it for so many months with just the opposite feeling.  But the more I learn about running (and other recreation) the more I realize that I don't ever have to hate it again!  So I'm going to love it, from now on!

For Father's Day, we loaded up all the kids right after church and drove to the Grand Canyon for "free national park day."  It was AWESOME!  The kids loved the day trip.  We didn't do a LOT of walking, but it was enough for me to feel the soreness in my quads.  It's not too bad, but I could tell that I definately did some downhill running yesterday.  We'll see how it goes tomorrow....

After all the exercising that I've become accustomed to doing these last few weeks, today felt a bit like a cop-out!  I slept in late (7:45!) then attempted to run a couple of miles on my slightly sore legs.  It felt good to get going again after the first half mile, and I would have done more if I wasn't with my daughter and if it wasn't so late.  I think these next few days are going to have to be mostly recovery, since my legs haven't adapted to serious downhill running yet.  I'm glad I'm starting now, so that I can be totally used to it by the time the marathon gets here!  :D

I woke up at 3:30 am and couldn't go back to sleep, so about 4:15 I got Elijah out of bed, had a power shake, and we went running.  4:45 am is actually a wonderful time to be running in Saint George, especially as summer wears on!  I felt fabulous!  I picked up a book at the library last weekend called "Chi Running," have read the first few pages, and I feel like it has already made a big difference in my runs...at least in how I perceive them.  I feel fully energized and am thoroughly enjoying my time on my legs.  Today as I rounded the corner to my house, I felt as if I could keep going forever...and probably would have continued running if my partner wasn't done, and if I hadn't already decided that I needed to try out my new shoes and pedals on my bike.  So I had a drink of water, switched shoes, and spent about 15 minutes practicing getting in and out of the clips.  I decided that getting out is no problem, as long as I remember to do it!  But getting my shoes IN the clips was a little more challenging.  Elijah wanted to come along for the ride, so I let him use my old mountain bike, and now I know what it must have felt like for Ben to have to wait for ME all these months!  I hardly had to pedal to keep at Elijah's pace.  A few times I opened up and let my bike fly, and just left Elijah in the dust!  What fun!  But then I would have to slow down and wait for him to catch up.  I'm excited to really get to try it out on my long ride tomorrow!  We'll see how good tomorrow's riding partner will be at keeping up with me....   ;-)

This morning began at 4:00 am. I woke up early so I could squeeze a run in with Ben before getting him off to work. We did a 5K run together, which I'm sure was painfully slow for him, but a nice recovery run for me. He had his Garmin on, so I actually have an accurate time - 30:45. He went on to do a little more running, and I went inside to make breakfast. After that, I met up with a friend to try out a longer ride on my road bike. We did 24 miles together at a very relaxed pace. I found myself easily conversing with her the whole time, and never really broke a good sweat. However, I think it was good for me to spend the time on the bike, as I'm still learning how to properly position my upper body. I finished with just a little tightness in my shoulders, so I probably need to adjust a bit. I have a shorter rehearsal schedule tonight, so I'm going to talk Ben into coming with me on the bicycle. That will add another 16 miles or so, but it will miles I'll have to work harder at, just to try to make Ben break a sweat!

Later.....I was able to cycle to my rehearsal, but we ended up running late, and I didn't get out of there until 9:20 pm.  So I had to get a ride home with someone - it was too late to cycle.  Bummer.  I was hoping to get a few more miles in with Ben, since he's so much more challenging to ride with.  AND riding to my rehearsal was uphill the whole way, and I was looking forward to the ride home!  :D  From now until the play is over, most of my evenings are going to be tied up.  But by the time we're finished, the weather will start to cool down again, so I'll be hitting the road on the bike more often!  Yay!

It was an easy day.  I did five slow miles.  I think the cycling last night gave me a better workout than I had thought, since my legs were tired this morning.  My knees also felt a little sore.  So I ran slow and easy, and felt good afterwards.  :-)

Friday!  Sleep in day!  I got up at 6:15 for my nice and short three mile run, then hopped on the bike to ride to work with Ben.  I had intended to swim this evening, but it didn't work out....I've felt like a slacker all week...but will make up for it next week, hopefully.  :-)

Today was a short long run day!  I ran with a big group of friends.  Everyone in the group was doing 12 miles, but I did twelve last weekend and am planning to do 14 next Friday, so I forced myself to quit at 6.  It was great running with friends!

This morning Elijah and I ran with Ben at 4:15 am.  We did five miles at a good pace for me.  We used his garmin and found out I've been short-changing myself on my five mile runs...oops!  So today I KNOW we did exactly 5 miles in 48:05.  I felt very comfortable and relaxed the entire run.  Afterwards, I biked with Ben to work, then did a few extra miles by myself before heading home.  I felt great all day until I ate dinner, then I REALLY wanted to go to bed, but I went to the pool instead and did 60 lengths.  It was a good day!  And now....goodnight!  :-)

Today is an EASY day!  Three miles early this morning...and then I went back to bed!  YAY!  I actually have a short rehearsal tonight, so I MAY be able to squeeze something else in this evening...but I probably won't.  I'm saving up for my 5 mile run/30 mile bike ride tomorrow morning. 

So I decided to squeeze something in after all...I convinced Ben that we should ride bikes to my rehearsal.  It ended up being really windy on the way home, so it was "fun" getting to pedal against the wind.  Even so, I really enjoy riding, and love my new bike!  I felt bad because Ben forgot he was supposed to have boy scouts at our house this evening....so they all showed up and he wasn't there!  Ooooopppps!  :-)