I can do it!

Today I was reallly feeling the effects of yesterday's runs, so I decided to bike instead. The only problems were that I now am at home alone with a 3 year old, and my road bike is still at my friend's house, since I haven't picked it up since the tri last weekend. So I dusted off my mountain bike, hooked up the trailer, and did a spin around the neighborhood with the boy in tow. I don't think that helped my sore quads. Anyway, I managed to get 8.5 miles done in 45:04, so it was a decent ride.  :D

Despite the soreness in my quads, I pulled myself out of bed this morning and forced myself to do a 5 mile recovery run....which ended up being nott too bad...I finished in 46:19. 

I also realized today that I'm not scared of riding my bike anymore - haha!  Ben wanted to do a loop of the Ironman course after work, and I thought, "50 or 60 miles?  No problem!"  Not only that, but there's some killer hills on that route, my quads are still tender from speedwork, I am still getting the cluster headaches, and Ben and Ryan are about twice as fast as me...but, "No problem!"  I did most of the ride with a headache, but the boys were nice enough to stay with me, especially after it got dark.  It was a great ride!  We did 56.7 miles in 3:32:51, even though we took the last 4 miles super slow because it was pitch black outside.  :D

Everything within me did NOT want to get up this morning at 3:20 to run 20+ miles, but I made myself do it anyway.   I had a pretty late night, and after midnight, I told myself that I didn't need the run, and if I wanted to sleep in instead when the alarm went off, I'd go ahead and do it.  When the alarm went off, I told myself the same thing again, but I also knew that if I went ahead and ran, I would be really glad I did, so I over-rode my lower self-talk, and forced myself out of bed.  :D

It ended up being one of those not-so-great runs.  I had intended to do 22-24 miles, but I felt tired and sore for pretty much the entire run.  I kept thinking to myself, "This is my RECOVERY week!"  About mile ten, I realized that I forgot the body glide, and that I was going to have chaffed arms.  About mile 11, my legs were getting pretty sore, and I thought I would just make myself do 13 miles, and call it good enough.  But about that time, my friend Katie caught me, and talked my ear off for the rest of the run, which made me forget how miserable I was!  I figured I would quit at mile 20, which was good enough.  But when we got to the cars at the bottom of HWY 18, I was at 21.2 miles...and I thought "Why not?"  I ended up getting in 22 miles in 3:29:01...a decent pace for how awful I felt.

The GREAT news of the run was this...NO HEADACHE!  That alone makes me deliriously happy, since it's been 5 weeks since I've been able to work out without paying for it in the form of a monster headache.  And I was right...I was REALLY glad I did the run, once it was all over and done with.  :D

Wow!  My legs are sore from last weekend.  It's probably a combination of not taking a recovery week after the Triathlon and then doing 22 miles on top of it.  Well, my plan was to take it easy today, so instead of running/cycling, I did P90X Chest, Arms, and Triceps, then followed it up with ab-ripperX.  I can't believe I actually thought doing P90X would be good for a "rest" day!  :S

This evening I couldn't resist getting a short run in...maybe it was the junk food I ate for Labor Day.  So I went for a very short run, just to loosen things up.  It HURT!  As in "I'm still very sore" kind of hurt.  So I only did 2.5 miles in 22:36.  But at least I felt a little more justified in eating all that ice cream...  :D

I was just noticing on my calendar that last week, which was supposed to be a "recovery" week, I logged more running miles than I have in months!  And I cycled quite a bit, too!  No wonder I'm still sore....

I was going to take today completely off, but by the time evening rolled around, I had a few extra minutes, so I thought I'd try out the legs again.  Still sore.....dang it!  But I got a bit further this time, getting 3.1 miles in 26:13.  I did a little bit more speed play, maxing out at a 5:52 pace.  But I also walked more.  Boy, I hope my legs recover before this weekend's relay!  :S

It was going to be a rest day, but I had to justify the chocolate binge I decided to have.  So I went to spin class and sweat my face off for an hour.   I did 16.5 miles in 49:54, then cooled down.  It was nice!  :D

Today was a rest day...but I decided to go to Zumba class anyway.  I was really sluggish at first, but eventually got into it all right.  Afterwards, I decided to do a quick run on the treadmill, just to keep it loose.  I did a 1 mile accelleration, starting at 6.0 MPH and increasing by a tenth every 15 seconds until I got to 9.0 MPH, then finished off the mile at 9.5 MPH.  I still feel tight and sore.  :(

Today was day ONE of the Red Rock Relay...see tomorrow's post for details!  :D

THE RED ROCK RELAY!

We had 12 people on our team to run a total of 186 miles.  They gave me all the short legs, since I was one of the "slow" runners on the team. 

I ran leg 9 - 2.9 miles at 10,000 ft. elevation - in 29:29.  It was SOOOO hard!  I felt like I was dying the whole time - it was really surprising to me.  I guess that elevation really makes a difference!  Plus, the whole run was on an incline, which didn't help the matter.  I had a pounding headache when I was finished, but I didn't want to let my team down, so I pushed it harder than I usually do.  I was disappointed by my slow time, but it was the best I could do.

Leg 20 was 3.21 miles in 25:53. By then we had dropped down to around 6,000 ft., and what a difference that made!  It was around 1:00 AM, and the temps were about 45 degrees, so I really enjoyed that run!  I felt fantastic and didn't get too hot, so I was able to run better.  The hardest part of that run was that it was pitch black, and I had a hard time seeing, but luckily the road was good and I didn't have any problems. 

Leg 29 was 5.02 miles in 40:28.  At this point we were back in Saint George, so I was at my "normal" altitude.  I began this run at around 6:30 AM, and ran up an incline of about 200 ft. in the first mile, then descended around 490 in the next 4 miles.  It was a great run, and I'm pretty sure it was the fastest 5 miles I've ever run!  My garmin said my heart rate max was 196 - Ouch! - but I don't know if that is even possible!  I felt fantastic at the end of this run, and even did an all-out sprint at the end to "kill" one more person just before the finish.  This was the only leg where I was passed during this race.

I had a total of 13 "kills" and was only passed once by one of the BYU guys. Our van alone had a total of 101 "kills" and was only passed 3 times! Our results? 186 miles in 23:51! :D

Ben and I decided to do an easy ride on our mountain bikes, just to loosen up our legs a little.  It was fun!  :D

Ben and I had a nice recovery workout this morning.  We got up early, drove to the Rec Center, then ran 3.2 miles around Downtown Saint George.  We finished the run in 28:31.  After that, we went to an hour of spin class.  I cycled for 58:30, finishing 15.5 miles.  :D

This morning I loaded up the trailer on my mountain bike and towed my 3-year-old to the rec center for Zumba!  It's slightly uphill all the way there, which made a nice warm-up for the class...I had a really good sweat!  Then we rode back home.

This afternoon I went to the track for speed work with Coach Dennis.  It was 95 degrees out there, and I had to quit a little bit early because I was overheating.  Still, I was able to get in 4 x 100 at 0:19, 2 x 200 at 0:46, and 1 x 800 at 8:00.  Total with warm-up and cool-down was 4.1 miles in 34:59.  I'm going to be sore!  :D

Ben and I got up early for spin class...I did 20 miles in 55:56.  That's my rest day!  :D

I decided that I'd better try out my legs this morning...oooo!  Still sore from Tuesday's track work.  So I just did a 20 minute recovery jog, covering 2.15 miles.

This evening I got together with my friend Kim to do the Ironman Loop through Gunlock and Veyo.  Kim is a much slower rider than me, which forced me to keep it easy...exactly what I needed!  I had forgotten what it feels like to just relax and enjoy the scenery!  Don't get me wrong - I LOVE riding fast, too, but it was nice to change it up and just do a "fun" ride with no pressure to perform.  I almost left my garmin at home so that I wouldn't feel the need to get a better time, but I didn't.  Kim ended up with a flat on the Veyo hill, and we were running out of daylight, so she called for a ride and I ended up pedalling my guts out to get back to her house before dark...I barely made it!  I did a total of 37 miles on the bike in 2:32:04.  That last 15 miles of speedy downhill work brought my average up to 14.6 - haha!  :D

Today is a rest day to get ready for tomorrow's workout - but I loaded up the baby in the trailer on my mountain bike anyway and rode to the gym for a cardio circuit class....never been to that class before.  It was probably a bad idea - the teacher must have had us do about 250 squats!  I finally stopped doing them, thinking about my already sore legs and the run/bike I have planned for tomorrow.  This is going to be interesting... :S

I met up with some of my girlfriends for a 10 mile run down the marathon course early this morning.  My legs are toast, so I wasn't sure how I was going to do, or if it was even a good idea to try, so I told the girls NOT to let me run off ahead like I usually do!  We had a new runner there, Marcie, and she was slower than everyone else, so I ran with her.  We ended up doing the 10 miles in 1:37:32, so it wasn't too bad a run at all, even though I felt fantastic by the end!

After the run, Kim and I jumped on our bikes to do a 20-miler...but Kim had tire issues again within the first 4 miles, so I ended up biking alone the rest of the way.  Because of my sore legs, I changed my plan from biking the Snow Canyon Loop to just doing an out-and-back towards Gunlock...still hilly, but not the 5 miles of straight, steep climbing that the canyon is.  I was able to bike faster alone, so I finished with 20.5 miles in 1:11:16.  I would have gone longer, but I had time constraints with my chaufeurring responsibilities at home.  Funny - I don't feel like I had much of a workout today...but it looks good on paper!  :D

Ben was bored, so we did a nice ride on the mountain bikes into the center of Saint George.  While out, we stopped and visited my Grandma for a little while...she was so happy to see us!  It was a great evening.  :D

This morning Ben and I were up early to do a run in downtown Saint Goerge and then hit the spin class at the rec center.  We ended up running an easy 5 miles in 48:05.  My legs were pretty tired, so after about 10 minutes of spin class, I gave up and went to an hour of Zumba instead!  At least when I'm dancing, if I feel tired I just get sillier and it makes everything better - haha!  This evening, I went to an hour of yoga, which really helped with the fatigue in my legs....ahhhh!  :D

This morning I met up with some friends to do a bike ride around Saint George.  We didn't push it too hard, but still had a great workout!  Conversation was just what I needed!  We covered 30 miles in 1:49:17, afterwhich I hurried off to Zumba class...but I was only able to catch about 40 minutes of it.  It was still fun, though!

This evening, Ben came home from work and wanted to go to the pool, so we hopped back on the bikes and took the "long" way to the SHAC.  I haven't been in the water at all since the Half Ironman, so I was pretty rusty getting going, and my shoulders were sore from last week's weight training.  It took some time to warm up, and then I decided not to kill myself, and so I called it a day at 1500 meters.  Then back we jumped on the bikes to head home just before dark.  We got in another 20.26 miles in 1:11:30.  It was a good day.  :D

I figured I needed a "rest" day after yesterday's busy workouts, so I skipped doing anything this morning and instead took my kiddies to the kid's Zumba class at the rec center this afternoon.  They were loving it, and my six youngest children made a nice addition to the fairly small class.  I did about 20 minutes with them, then ran over to the treadmill to get a couple of miles in...just to keep it loose.  I did a progressive ladder, starting at 6.2 MPH and topping it off at 9.5 MPH, then slowly decreasing speed until I reached 2 miles.  It took me 14:37.  I went back to the kiddie class, finished up with them, then did an hour of "big girl" Zumba.  Good times!

It was kind of another rest day for me...all I did was go to the rec center this afternoon to try out a new class - endurance strength.  It was simillar to a P90X style workout...except that there were other people there, so I couldn't wimp out - haha!  I did take it a bit easy on the legs...don't want to blow anything before next week's marathon.  :D

I met up with a friend I never run with to do the tail end of the marathon route.  We both said we'd take it "easy," but we ended up running 6.5 miles in 54:05...pretty much better than my 10K pace on a good day.  I felt fantastic, though, and I'm glad I was able to get a tempo run in.  Later this morning, I went to an hour of Zumba. 

This evening, I've noticed a bit of pain in my arches...which makes me a little nervous that I may be developing some plantar fasciitis, so I made sure to roll out my soleus muscles really well and massaged the arches, too.  Hoping it's a fluke....  :S

I met up with my friend Joy this morning to do a REAL easy run.  We ran about 4 miles together, then hopped in on a local 5K that my other friend Jadon was running.  We figured it would be more walking than running, since Jadon has never run before at all.  But he surprised us by running the entire distance at a 10:00 pace!  It was a fun run, and after we crossed the finish line, I went back to find a couple other friends that were running so I could encourage them across.  I ended up doing a total of 8.1 miles in 1:19:41.  See?  I can do easy every once in a while!  :D

I did a 5K run this morning by myself in 26:29, just to keep things moving for the marathon this weekend.  After that, I went to Zumba for an hour.

This evening, I went to the pool and swam 100 lengths...I thought about doing more, but then I figured I had better not overdo this week.  :D

I met the Tri Club at the High School for a track workout this evening.  I was careful not to run too hard, since I'm tapering, but it was nice to get a little speed work in before Saturday.  Anyway, it was 100 degrees out there, and I GREATLY dislike running hot!  I did a one mile warn-up, 1 x 200, 4 x 100, and 1 x 800, before cooling down with a half mile jog.  Total mileage was 3 miles in 24:31.  I'm feeling good!

Taper week!  I was meeting some friends at the all-you-can-eat sushi buffet, so I decided to make it worthwhile by biking there.  I did 9.75 miles in 34:19.  I was going to bike home, but I changed my mind at the last second and hopped in my friend's car instead. 

This evening, I swam a mile at the reservoir.  First open-water swim since the Provo Half.  I felt pretty good!  :D

I did an hour of Zumba this evening, then planned to run a few miles on the treadmill, but my legs were so sore that I decided to call it quits after the first half mile.  :(