Emily's training blog

I warmed up running to Valley Park for a fartlek workout.  Except, I never really warmed up.  It was chilly this morning, and I decided to wear shorts.  It did warm up as the sun came up, but I had numb legs for the first part of my workout.  However, it has turned into a beautiful morning. 

After a 15 minute warm up, I ran three sets of 1,2,3,2,1 with 1,1,2, 1,1, recovery.  The three minute fartleks were tough, and the third set definitely hurt!   I jogged home for a cool down. 

Today is day 1 of my no chocolate commitment.  I decided to implement a little self control in my life since I looked in the mirror a few days ago and noticed that my physique was not as lean as I like it to be!   I'm running Grandma's Half Marathon on June 18, so that is my target date.  My diet is usually okay, except for a devilish sweet tooth.   So, I will be testing my self-discipline over the next seven weeks, and hopefully it will result in increased fitness.

It was very windy this morning, but much warmer than yesterday.  I pulled off my hat and gloves before the first mile, and contemplated removing my long sleeve shirt.  But, when I turned into the wind I could feel the chill, so I left my shirt on. 

I ran out to 4800S and down to the River trail.  I ran on the trail until Bullion, and then ran up to 5400 S and back home.  The sidewalk from Redwood Road to 1900W is completely torn up, so I spent the last half mile of my run gingerly picking my way through construction equipment.   I finished my run in 46:16. 

Today is day 2 of my "no chocolate" commitment.  I have had no major cravings, yet.  Though, I'm regretting buying two boxes of brownie mix at the grocery store yesterday.  I'm glad that I put it on the blog.  If I think someone is reading this, it will keep me honest!

I felt strong and fast while I was running today.  I love those days when running feels effortless.  They are becoming more rare as I get older . . . ah the aches and pains!  It was another cold morning.   The marquee at the elementary school that I ran past posted a 35 degree temperature reading.   That was definitely a little cold for shorts, but at least the sun was shining, and it will be a beautiful day.  Just think, in a few weeks I will be complaining about hot mornings instead of cold mornings.

I avoided the construction along 5400 south, and opted for a route through the neighborhood down to 1300 W.  This added about half a mile to my normal route.   I ran out 1300 W to 7000S, up to 2700 W, back to 5400 S and home.  It is a nice rolly course, with a particularly long gradual hill on 2700W from 7000S to 6200S.   However, after the mile climb, it is downhill all the way home.  

Day 3 of no chocolate:   Yesterday I mindlessly popped a single m & m in my mouth.  Just as I bit down on the candy shell, I remembered that I have forsworn chocolate.  I quickly spat the offending m&m out in the sink.  Phew!  That was a close one!   It made me wonder how much mindless munching I do during the day.  

Thanks to a wonderful neighbor, who didn't mind taking my rugrats off of my hands for a couple hours, I was able to meet Devra at nine at Liberty Park for a speed workout.  It was wonderful to run a little later in the morning, and with a fast running partner.  

My goal was 3-4 x a mile at 5:40-5:45 pace.   We warmed up two miles around the park, and then started the workout.  We ran half a mile recovery in between.  The first mile was 5:36, which was faster than I expected to run.   The second mile I overshot the marker by about five seconds, so I think I ran 5:37-5:38.   The third mile I started to fall off pace a little bit, but managed a 5:43.   I definitely need more work on the endurance!   My left quad began to twinge a little bit during the third mile, so I decided three repeats were plenty.  I'm just getting started with speed, so I need to build up slowly.  So, 4 next time.   We were getting 4-4:30 for recovery.  

Stopping at three was probably a good decision, since I had a blood sugar crash during the cool down.  For the cool down, we finished the lap we were on, and then ran two laps around the outside of the park.  We ran 10 miles, and I was very dizzy by the end. 

No Chocolate Day 4:  My protein drink was chocolate flavored.  That doesn't count, right?  It didn't taste anything like a candy bar!

I'm pretty beat up from yesterday's speed workout, so I kept it short and easy this morning.  The warmer weather is nice, but unfortunately it looks like a few more cold mornings next week. 

I ran 4800S to the river trail, and got off an Mill Race Park, turned up through the neighborhoods, and headed home.  I left my watch at home and just ran off of feel.  I have sore calves and hips!  But, I'm sure I'll be recovered for tomorrow's long run. 

No Chocolate Day 5:  Nothing to report.  It's only six in the morning.

While Teren went down to Provo to run the Provo City Half Marathon, I headed down to the river trail for a twelve mile run.  I'm not quite in half marathon shape, yet.  I'm saving that for next month.   I decided to download a session of general conference onto my I-pod to listen to during my run.  I figured that would be a good way to sneak in some extra religion.  I must admit, the gentle lilting tone of a general authority's voice doesn't exactly get the adrenaline flowing quite in the same way that Eminem does, but I had some wonderful teachings to contemplate as I ran.  And, couldn't we all use a little extra spirituality in our lives?

I ran out past Gardner Village, avoiding the river that was flowing through the underpass, and continued for another mile.  I went out in 42:00, and finished in 1:20:41.   I'm too tired to do the math, but it was faster coming back.  

I'm happy with my training this week.  I think the nice weather helped my motivation and spirits!   And, I am six days chocolate free!

It's raining!  It's pouring!  The treadmill is so boring!   Yes, I resorted to the treadmill this morning to avoid the damp weather.   Summer, PLEASE come soon!!! 

I ran ten miles, starting at 8.0 mph and getting progressively faster every half mile.   The total time sas 67:35.  I felt good and in control.   My sneaky little daughter stole my heel insterts out of my running shoes and hid them somewhere.  I may have sore calves tomorrow.  That will teach me to leave my running shoes in the family room, in reach of a sixteen-month-old!

I continued my no chocolate commmitment yesterday, but I'm not sure it mattered.  Mother's Day was celebrated with too much food!   I appreciated the fruit, yogurt, and granola parfaits that my husband made me, but probably could have done without the accompanying cinnamon rolls.   We barbecued steak and chicken for dinner, and followed that up with fruit pizza.   Overall, a calorie filled Mother's Day!  I enjoyed the time with my husband and babies!  Now, time to get serious again!

My right hip was sore after yesterday's run.  To avoid an injury recurrence, I cross trained this morning.  I did the elliptical for an hour, starting at level 8 and increasing every 20 minutes.  Hopefully I will be back to pain free running tomorrow.   This is the first stress reaction/fracture that I have had that continues to ache upon resuming training.   It never seems to get worse, but just gets achey from time to time.  It's difficult to know how hard to push it. 

I had no pain running, which is a very good thing.  My leg just seems to hurt a little during the day, especially in the evening.  I guess I just need to keep an eye on it, but I ran with no problems. 

I ran out 4800 to the entrance to the River trail.  I ran to Bullion, and then turned around and came back.  The rolling hills coming back up 4800S were tough.  It was that weird temperature where I was too hot wearing a long sleeve, but too cold when I took it off.  Otherwise, it was a nice morning, though I am looking forward to improving weather the next few days.   My total time for the run was 1:06:12.  I may feel that pace during tomorrow's workout. 

My hip is still feeling pretty good.   I met Devra down on the river trail for a fartlek run.  We ran a 15 minute warm up, and then ran 15 x 1 minute on/1minute off, and then cooled down 15 minutes.  It was such a beautiful morning to be out running, and I love having a running partner!   My legs were a little tired from yesterday's 10 miler, but other than that I felt pretty good.  I'm running the Law Days 5k on Saturday, and hopefully this is the year that the Olson-Shaner team wins.  The same team has won every year, so maybe we'll break their streak!   It should be fun.

I took my favorite running partner, Cole, for a ride on the river trail this morning.  I have been taking Cole on runs since he was about 4 months old.  He has always loved the running stroller.  He's a tiny boy, but still much heavier than he used to be.  It was some serious work pushing him along this morning.  But, it was fun looking at the ducks and geese, and any other random thing that catches a four-year-old's fancy.  I'm going to be sad when he outgrows the running stroller.  Maybe Lily will want a turn. 

I've had a change in racing plans.  I was supposed to run in Duluth, MN at Grandma's Half Marathon, but in the span of two weeks the plane ticket prices jumped from 600 dollars (which was a lot) to 800 dollars (ouch!).   So, the following week I am going to run the RNR Half in Seattle.   My mom lives there, so it will give me a good excuse to go visit her.  Plus, airfare, hotel, and race entry (if I don't get a comp.)  totals about half what it would cost me to go to Duluth.  So, I will be extending my no chocolate commitment for one more week. 

I wasn't feeling that great this morning as I warmed up for the race.   Teren and I went on a date to a French cooking class at Sur La Table last night.  The food was excellent, but I'm not sure it agreed with my stomach, since I woke up with the taste of garlic still in my mouth. 

I warmed up by running the course, and was pleasantly surprised that it felt easier than two years ago when I ran it.   Of course, I was eight weeks pregnant at the time!   I was really excited for the team competition, because we seemed to have a pretty good shot at winning.

The Law Days 5k course is pretty tough.  The first mile is all uphill, and today we had a fairly stiff headwind too.  I traded the lead with Emily Bates, the top girl on the competing team, through the first mile.   (Note to self:  More hill repeats, more weights, more core!)   I put a surge on after the first mile when we made the turn off of the hill.  The course flattens out, and then winds back through campus.  It's mostly downhill at this point, but it does have some pretty nasty hairpin turns where you have to head back uphill.   I tried to increase my lead, and was feeling pretty good

There is a point in the course where it doubles back to the start.   There were still people heading to the first mile crossing through.  I couldn't see the cones that indicated the direction I was supposed to run, so I came pretty much to a complete stop until someone pointed out the way.  (I'm sure this cost me a few seconds!)  Then we dropped down to 1300 East and it was back to the Law School for the finish. 

I was happy to get a win, and even happier that our team won the team competition.  I was disappointed in my time.  It is 9 seconds faster than I ran a few weeks ago at the Salt Lake 5k.  I also think this course was more difficult.  I just had hoped to be a little further along on my journey to sub 18 minute 5ks.  

My stomach was cramping badly after the race.  Devra and I ran a two mile cooldown.  I wanted to go 4, but I was struggling after 15 minutes of running.  So, when I got home, I ran through the neighborhood to finish my mileage.  My stomach seems to be recovering, now.

Well, I will just keep plugging along on the path back to running fitness!   I really want to be fast again!

It was windy and cold when I woke up this morning, so I wimped out and went to the health club for a treadmill tempo run.  I warmed up two miles, and then ran a 5 mile tempo run starting at 10.0 mph, and increasing .1 every five minutes.  I ran this workout about three weeks ago, and could only make four miles, and it was miserable.  I actually felt strong through the whole run, and thought about adding one more mile, but decided not to get too crazy!   (I'm not always sure the treadmills are calibrated correctly, so maybe mine was slow.  But, the effort felt right.)  I ran 29:30 for five miles.  Then, I cooled down for two more miles.  Total time for nine miles was 57:10.

It was drizzling when I woke up this morning, and I almost turned over and went back to sleep.  However, the chances of me actually going running later in the day were slim to none, so I got up and went.  I'm glad I did.  It turned into a very pleasant morning, a little wet, but not too cold.  

My legs were pretty beat up from yesterday's tempo run.  I tried to run nice and easy.  I felt pretty good, despite some tightness for the first six miles.  The last three, my legs started to feel heavy.  I was happy to be finished.   I'm sure the gigantic hill after mile six didn't help matters. 

I ran 4800 out to the river trail and off at Winchester, I ran up Winchester to 1300W, up to 5400 S, and back home. 

Random sighting of the run:  I saw a pair of hightop sneakers in the middle of a restaurant parking lot.  It made me wonder what kind of scenario results in a person losing their shoes in the middle of a parking lot.  Hmmm.

After my screechy little girl woke me up at 4:30 this morning, I managed to fall back asleep for a little while, and dreamed that I won a half marathon in 1:15:19.  I love that in dreams running always feels effortless.  (Except for the ones where my legs won't move.  I hate those dreams.)  So, when my alarm went off half an hour later, I was properly motivated to get out on my run. 

The clouds looked ominous as I walked out the door, but thankfully, the rain held off this morning.  I ran out to 1300W,  to 7000 S, up to 2700W, back to 5400 S, and home.  The mile long gradual hill from 7000S to 6200S was particularly brutal this morning.  My legs are tired.  Hopefully, they will feel a bit fresher for tomorrow's fartlek run!

I did not get so lucky with the weather this morning.  It was pouring, and I had a speed workout to go do.  So, off to the health club I went, not feeling particularly motivated.  I warmed up two miles, and then ran 10 x 3minutes on/2minutes off.  I started the speed part at 10.5 mph, and increased .1 every 2 intervals.   I finished at 11.0 mph, and ran the two minutes easy at 8.0 mph.   I felt strong and in control until the last two.  Those were some serious work.  I ran a 12 minute cooldown, to bring my total mileage for the day to 11.5 miles.  Total time for the run was 1:14.  I'm going to be feeling this one for a couple of days, and hopefully I didn't pound too hard.  It was a good workout, even though it would have been more enjoyable to run it outside.  Easy and short tomorrow before Saturday's long run.

My legs are pretty trashed today, just as I thought they would be after yesterday's workout.  I ran very easy today.  I ran the SLCC loop in a light drizzle.  I awoke at my normal time (5a.m.) to a thunderstorm and major downpour.  That was definitely not the time to get out and run.  Thankfully, my husband decided to go into work a little later this morning, so I got to sleep in.  (It is sad that 6 :00 is sleeping in for me.) 

I bought my tickets to Seattle today.  For some reason it always makes me nervous to buy the tickets to my races.  The last couple of out-of-state races that I have signed up for, I have had to pull out of because of injuries.   Buying plane tickets feels like a jinx to me.  I need to shake that attitude and stay positive.  If I train intelligently and take care of my body, I will be healthy enough to run.  I'm not sure if I'm more excited to race, or to see my mom. 

I like to start my morning with an inspirational running experience.  Sometimes it is an incredible race result, like Desiree Davilla's Boston Marathon.  Sometimes it is a great workout from the fastrunning blog.  Sometimes it is an article from Letsrun.com.  One that has stuck with me this week is the story of an Olympic hurdler who struggled with shin pain.  When he received an MRI, he found that what he thought were shin splints, were nine stress fractures in his tibias.   He was out for six months with no weightbearing training.  He is just now returning to form.  I love his quote from the article  "An injury is a minor setback to a major comeback."   That has been my mantra this week when I become discouraged or unmotivated.   Comebacks are a long, difficult road, but so worth it when they happen. 

My inspiration for running today was Susannah winning the mile at the state championships in 4:54, followed by winning the 2 mile today in 10:39.  She was amazing!  What a way to finish up a stellar high school career. 

Devra met me at my house for a loop run that incorporated some road and some of the river trail.  I was still feeling Thursday's workout a bit, but nothing too terrible.  We were running along just fine until we hit the trail.  From miles 5-7 there were giant puddles (or ponds) on the trail. They were calf deep in some places, and there was no way to run around them.  We had to resort to removing our shoes and socks and wading across the puddles.  The trail improved after 4800S, and we ran into no more trouble during the run.  It made for an adventurous run, with a couple less-than-quality miles.  I am happy to be done for the week!

I could have probably used one more recovery day.  I was not feeling so fresh and peppy this morning.  But, I realized that I hadn't done any speed since Thursday, and the morning was actually very nice.  So, off to the park I went for a fartlek run.

I ran a 20 minute warm up to Valley Park.  Then, I ran 1min, 2 min, 3 min, 4 min, 5 min, 4 min, 3 min, 2 min, 1 min, with  a 1-1-2-2-3-2-2-1-1 recovery.  Something kept twinging in the outside of my left quad, and my left hamstring is very tight.  I cooled down with a 15 minute run back to my house.  I spent some extra time stretching, and incorporating my favorite torture device, the foam roller.  I think it is time to re-instate the ice-bath, since I have so many sore body parts. 

I'm trying to front load the week a bit.  I'm running a 10k on Saturday, and would like to feel a little better than today.  Hopefully, I can recover well on Thursday and Friday.

It was raining hard again this morning.  What else is new?  So, it was a treadmill day.  I ran an easy eight miles.  I definitely felt yesterday's workout.  The foam roller seemed to help my left leg a bit.   Today and tomorrow will be longer, and then I get to recover a couple of days.  I plan on running another 4 tonight.

PM  4.5 miles easy.  I ran some loops through the neighborhood.  Definitely have some tight spots that aren't recovering very well.  Time to stretch and ice.

I felt better today than I thought I would.  I still have dead legs, and my left hip is still tight, but I didn't feel like I was going to fall apart any second.  So, that's an improvement! 

I met Devra and Karla at Murray High to run Devra's track workout with her.  She is racing Saturday, so had a short workout of 2 800's at 2:45, followed by 2 400's at 80, with 3 minutes recovery between the 800's, and 1:30 recovery between the 400's. 

We warmed up with a 3 mile run through Murray Park.  After a few strides we began the workout.  We ran 2:45 for the first 800, jogged 400 meters, and then ran 2:43 for the second 800.  After anonther 400 jog we ran 77 for the first 400, and 78 for the last 400.  I felt pretty good all things considered. 

I needed more mileage, so we headed back over to Murray Park and ran 10 x 1 minute on 1 minute off, followed by a mile and a half cool down.  That gave us 10.35 for the day.

I'm glad I made it through today's workout, and I am even happier that now I get 2 days of recovery before Saturday's race!

Recovery starts today.  It is very much needed!  I ran very easy today.  It didn't seem to matter, my legs were dead for the first 4 miles, but seemed to revive a touch after that.  I'm glad I have a short one tomorrow.  I am excited to race on Saturday.  It sounds like the race will be good and competitive.  It will be a good measuring stick of where my fitness is. 

I ran out to 4800S, down to the River trail, out to the 4 mile mark, and turned around and came back.  It was windy, and I didn't appreciate the headwind coming back.  I wish the weather would get consistently nice, soon.   Tired legs and crappy weather made for a cranky Emily this morning.  But, it's done.

When I got home, Teren, Lily, and I went to Cole's last day of pre-school program.  I can't believe the year is over all ready.  I also can't believe what a sap I am!  Parenthood turns you to mush when you see your babies achieving those milestone.  Cole is growing up faster than I am ready for.  At least he has one more year of pre-school before I have to face the first day of kindergarten.  Now, what am I going to do with a busy 4-year-old all summer?

I went to Liberty Park today for some soft surface running.  I ran 3 laps around the park on the outside path.  Then, I ran 8 x 100 meter strides to get some turnover in for tomorrow.  My legs felt much better today than they did yesterday.  When I got home I took a 15 minute ice bath, much to the delight of Cole.  He kept taking ice cubes out of the bathtub.  At least he didn't eat them.  When I ice with an ice baggie, he likes to lick the ice.  I don't think he has ever seen me take an ice bath before, so he was fascinated.  I'm sure he thinks his mom is really weird, but given enough time, being part of a running family will seem perfectly normal.

I feel good and ready for tomorrow.  I'm really excited to race!

I knew that I would be racing on tired legs today, even though they did feel better than a couple of days ago.  I could feel it in my warm-up, but I tried to put it out of my mind and concentrate on my race plan.  I thought I could run at least 6 minute pace, with an outside goal of breaking 37 minutes.  I knew that Andrea North would be in the field, and I had heard good things about how fast she was, so I knew I had my work cut out for me. 

My race plan was to run steady for the first two slightly uphill miles, and then push hard on the downhill through miles 2-5, and then hopefully have a strong lead going into the last mile.  I erased my splits off of my watch, but they weren't helpful anyway since the race doesn't know how to accurately measure a mile.  I ran anything from a 6:30 mile to a 4:52 (yay, me!) throughout the race.  It was frustrating not knowing where I really was in the race. 

For the first five miles I stuck to my plan.  I lead the first mile, and Andrea took over in the second mile.  At mile 2, I started to push to pull back even with Andrea.  I pulled ahead at 3 miles, and led until five miles.  When we turned back onto 400 East, I started to run out of gas.  Andrea passed me, and instead of sticking close I let her go.  I am very disappointed with my last mile.  Andrea ran awesome, and may have beat me anyway, but I mentally threw in the towel, instead of sticking it out and pushing the last mile.  I've been beating myself up ever since!  I was completely unfocused the entire mile. 

On a more positive note, I ran the pace I thought I could, and I think the race indicates an increase in fitness.  I have only been training consistently for four weeks, so it is just a start.  I am happy with the week's training.  I may have overdone the intensity a little, but my miles are increasing, and I'm sure the paces will come down.  When I am tired for a race, I need to remember the bigger picture, my half marathon in 4 weeks, and more importantly, a successful fall marathon.

I warmed up three miles, and cooled down three with Kristen and MaryAnne.  I thought of adding an additional mile to finish out the week at 60, but since I had only planned to hit 55 this week anyway, I thought it was a little unnecessary.

Devra came over nice and early to do a run with me.  The plan was a 10 mile recovery run since we both raced on Saturday.  We planned on running an out-and-back, down to the river trail, out to Garder Village, and back.  We ran into flooding and a closed trail about a mile from the turn around point.  We turned around and headed back the way we came.  Instead of leaving the trail at Millrace Park, we got off at 4800S, and ran the road back to my house.  This made the run a little longer.

I could feel Saturday's race during the run.  I seemed to feel better about halfway through the run.  We kept a good clip, but nothing crazy.  I felt pretty good by the end of the run, except for the ever-present hip tightness that I need to get rid of.  Our total time was 1:12:55.

Today begins my fifth week of no chocolate.  It has been easier than I thought it would be to resist.  Of course, I have found some substitutions that probably make not eating chocolate obsolete.  For instance, I have discovered a love of snickerdoodle cookies, especially when they come from Paradise Bakery.  Four more weeks to go, and maybe I can tighten up the overall diet over the next month. 

I was going to give myself one more day of recovery before hitting any speedwork, but Devra had a fartlek scheduled today, so I decided to keep her company since my workout was similar.  In hindsight I could have used the extra day!  We warmed up two miles on the grass loop at Sugarhouse Park, and then ran a fartlek workout of 8 min. 5 min. 3 min. 2 min. 1 min. with 5 min. 5 min. 3 min. 2 min. 1 min. recovery.  It sounded much easier in theory!  We ran on the road at Sugarhouse Park so that we could get some strength work in on the rolly hills.  I struggled on the 8 minute interval, and then REALLY struggled on the five minute interval.  For some reason, I got a second wind on the 3, 2, and 1 minute intervals, and was able to keep up the rest of the workout.  I think the recovery intervals were longer than I usually do.  They were much needed today.  We ran a mile and a half cooldown to give us 9 for today.  It is so nice having a strong training partner.  Devra kept me pushing much harder than I would have if I had been by myself.