Emily's training blog

I am in Cedar City visiting my sister-in-law and her family.  She is blessing her new baby on Sunday, so we thought we would make a vacation of it.  Cole is having the time of his life playing with his cousin Rex, who is just his age.  

I ran an ever-so-exciting run on US Highway 56.  I ran into Cedar City, until I reached the Veteran Memorial Park.  Then, I turned around and ran straight back.  It was an okay run when I actually got into town, but until that point, the most exciting things I saw were a field full of sheep, and a dead gopher.  I need to find a nicer run tomorrow.  Oh well, it's always fun running somewhere different.  I just don't think I can handle much more fun on Highway 56. 

Today's run was not very long.  Lily screamed from 11:00 to 1:30 last night.  I thought that she potentially had an ear infection, since she was running a low grade fever, but a trip to urgent care revealed a healthy, overtired baby.  I guess it might be teething, but maybe it's just too much vacation.  

So, after about 4 hours of continuous sleep, my brother-in-law and I went up to the Veteran's Memorial Park, and ran on the trail there.  I did not feel well at all.  I had planned on a longer fartlek workout, but was so sluggish, that I just ran easy.  I did try to pick up my pace on my way back to the park.  It was a nice scenery change from yesterday's highway run.  

I hope the shorter mileage week, and the short-run Saturday means that I will feel somewhat fresh for the  5k on Monday.  Of course, we're driving back tomorrow afternoon, so I will have some driving miles in my legs.  Oh well.  Vacation is fun, but not the best for a training routine. 

Hmmm . . . I really seem to be struggling lately.  I wish I could figure out if it is a lack of proper training, low iron levels, a lack of mental toughness, or a combination of factors.  I just feel like I should be further along than I am.  It makes me nervous, because I worry that I don't have enough time to get in the kind of shape that I need to be in to run a OTQ in the marathon. 

I got up at 5 to do a shake out run of about a mile and a half.  When I got to the race, I ran a three mile warm-up with some of my East Runners. I felt okay warming up. 

After a few strides, the race got underway.  I tried not to go out too hard, since that has been my problem the last couple of races.  I was 5:45 through the first mile, which is uphill.  I knew the next mile was downhill, so I thought I could match the pace or even run a little faster.  I ran 5:51 through mile 2.  I tried to close on Stephanie Talley, who was only about 10 seconds up on me, but I seemed just to stay the same distance behind her.  I think she finished in about 18:09.

I just feel so flat when I run.  There is no spring or sharpness to my running.  Originally, I had planned to skip this race, since I ran a half a week ago, and we had our trip to Cedar City.  I'm sure both of these events were factors. 

I cooled down 3.5 miles.  My left soleus started to twinge during the cooldown.  I guess it goes with my sore right achilles.  My body is falling apart!!!

I guess I just need to keep plugging away, and hopefully I'll see some improvement soon. 

PM:  45 minutes elliptical followed by lifting and core.

I think I will be cross training the rest of the week.  My achilles and soleus are really sore on both of my legs.  I'm hoping a few days off of them will help get rid of the pain.  I know it's not real running mileage, but keeping my "mileage" will help me stay motivated and work the next few days.

I was pretty sore from yesterday's lifting fest.  After another night of little sleep (darn fireworks!  Don't people know I have to get up early!)  I stayed at home and rode my spinning bike.  I just did a steady ride, increasing my resistance every ten minutes.  I watched Marley and Me while I rode . . . it is difficult to bike and cry at the same time.  Next time I need a comedy instead of a tearjerker. 

AM:  I rode my spinning bike again this morning.  I warmed up 10 minutes and then did 4 sets of a circuit.  The first four minutes I did a standing hill climb, followed by 6 minutes of "tempo" pace, followed by a 2 minute sprint, followed by 2 minutes of recovery.  Then, I cooled down to an hour and ten minutes of riding.  More exciting cross training to come.

PM:  I had a headache and didn't feel like going to the health club, but I dragged myself there anyway.  I decided to take a lifting class, since my favorite kick-butt instructor was teaching.  I arrived early, and amused myself watching the Zumba class that preceded the lifting class.  There was a lady in her seventies who was wearing bright green tights and a sequined tutu, and shaking her money-maker with the best of them.  It was worth it going to the club just to witness that spectacle. 

The focus of the class was lower-body.  Oh joy!  I'm not going to be able to walk tomorrow.

I didn't make it out to the health club this morning.  Cole and Lily took turns throwing up all night, so I was going off of very little sleep.  Thankfully, the vomiting has abated.  Now I just have two very cranky kids, and lots of dirty towels and sheets.   Motherhood interferes with my training . . . at least it is worth it. 

This evening I made it over to the health club.  I did an interval workout on the elliptical (the one without the arm thingies.)  I did 2 minutes easy/2 minutes hard for an hour.  The first 20 minutes were at levels 4/6, the second 20 minutes at levels 5/7, and the last 20 minutes at levels 6/8.  Then I cooled down for fifteen minutes on the cross trainer (the one with the arm thingies.)  I wanted to go thirty, but my blood sugar started to drop. 

I decided to give running a try today.  I met the East High team at Liberty Park.  I thought a little bit of flat running would be the best bet.  We ran a lap warm up, followed by a lap of firemen, and then 2 more laps.  My achilles felt pretty good after it warmed up.  It seemed to like the soft surface.  Unfortunately, my soleus did not.  It started to pull on the last lap.  But, overall, the run made me feel like I can ease back into full training again.  Especially if I keep the strength and cross training up.  So, I plan on some cross training this afternoon, and a mix of running/cross training on Saturday.  If every thing goes well, I will resume full training on Monday.

PM:  1 hour on the cross trainer.  I started at level 7, and increased every 20 minutes.  I set a record for distance covered in an hour . . .7.05 miles. 

AM  I met Devra and Neil down on the River Trail at 5:30 AM.  They were going 15, I planned on 8-10 depending on my achilles tendon.   The achilles did really well.  I think the wost is behind me.  The soleus struggled a little more, but I think with some pampering this weekend, I can get it under control.  Because it kept tightening, I stopped at 8.  I could feel this week's cross training in my legs, so I must be training fairly hard. 

Devra was telling me all about this book that she stayed up reading last night.  When I asked her what it is called, she told me it was called "The Passage."  Coincidentally, that is the exact same book that I am reading right now.  It must be a popular book.  It's good, if you like sci-fi.  

So, off to the health club in a couple hours for some more cross training.

Later AM:  Lifting and spinning class.  The instructor used a lot of Tour De France imagery, which I enjoyed.  She also did a trivia ride about Lance Armstrong.  We had to increase resistance every time we got an answer wrong. (and still had to increase a little bit when we got the answer right.)

Today was our annual Slurpee Run.  The kids run to 7 different 7-11's and drink a slurpee at each one.  The run is usually 7 miles long.  I wanted a couple of extra miles, so I ran about 3.5 before the run started.  Bill changed the run to end at Liberty Park, and said it should only be about 5 miles to Liberty.  It was 7.5.  Then I had to run the two extra miles back up to Sunnyside Park.  So, I got about 13 miles in today.  I'm not sure what the over-all pace was, but I know for the Slurpee run part, I was 49:19 at around 7.5 miles.  So, we were moving.  It felt like intervals between 7-11's sometimes.  Those boys get competitive.  At least I opted out of drinking the slurpees, so I didn't have that sitting in my stomach.  I was DONE by the time I got back to Sunnyside. 

My achilles was sore, but warmed up.  It didn't like the downhills.  I will definitely have to take good care of it today.  The left soleus did great though!  I knew that one wasn't too serious.

My workout was a little all over the place today.  I met the East High team at Wheeler Farm this morning.  Bill wanted them to run 10 sets of 1 minute on/1 minute off, which was not my original plan.  But, I thought it would be more productive to run with some running partners instead of by myself, so I jumped in their workout.  I thought that running with the boys on the team would help my turnover. 

I had warmed up two miles already by the time the team got there.  I ran three more with the team.  We covered about 3.2 miles in the 20 minutes it took us to run 10 x 1 minutes on/off.  So, we were moving pretty well.  I thought of doing 5 more on my own, but decided to give my aching achilles a break.  Then, we ran 4 sets of grass relays, which really got my sprinting muscles working.  I only managed a 1.5 mile cooldown, because I had to get home to the kids.  Teren is at scout camp this week, so my training time is limited. 

I can feel the effects of the strength work I have been doing.  I am holding my form better.  Hopefully it will convert into some better race times.  It was fun running in the mud and rain at Wheeler Farm this morning.

My achilles was sore from yesterday's run on soft surfaces, so I thought that staying on the treadmill where I could stabilize my foot a little better would be a good idea.  I wanted a long-ish run today, so I decided on 12 miles.  I started easy, and increased the pace every 4 minutes.  I started at 8.0 mph, and ended at 10.0 mph.  My overall time for 12 miles was 1:20:30.  The last twenty minutes was pretty tough, but the first hour felt pretty smooth and easy. 

I warmed up 3 miles while waiting for the kids to arrive at Sugarhouse Park.  I wasn't sure exactly I was going to do for my workout.  I knew the high schoolers were doing hills, and thought I could use the strength, especially since my achilles seemed to handle the warmup with no problems.

While the kids warmed up, I got started on the hill repeats.  They are 400 meters on the grass.  They climb for about 200, and then level off a bit.  I jogged back down the hill for recovery.  Hills after lifting legs the night before wasn't my best idea.  I could feel the lactic acid the entire workout.  Plus, it feels as though someone has been beating my right quad with a baseball bat.  I guess that's what happens after lunges, cleans, and step-ups.  I managed 6 hills by the time the kids made their way over to the hill. 

Bill plays 21 with the kids on hill repeats to make them go faster.  We ran the first hill, and everyone drew a playing card.  The first person to the top of the hill drew first.  Then, we ran the second hill, and drew again.  On the third hill, if someone had 21, they had to try to be the first one up the hill.  Only the first person with 21 who reaches the top of the hill wins.  A couple of people had 21 on the third hill, so it was a sprint for the top.  After the first three 400 meter hills, we shortened it, and ran 6 200 meter hills.  Same story, but no one got 21.  So, on the sixth hill, a couple of people had 20, and once again it was a race to the top.  So, in total I ran 9 400 meter hills, and 6 200 meter hills.  I was running the hills 6-7 seconds faster when I ran with the boys, than when I ran by myself.  Running partners help!  The hills went a lot faster when we played the game.  It was fun (well, as fun as hill repeats can be.)  I only had time for a half mile cooldown, and then had to go take the kids to swimming lessons. 

When I took the kids to swimming lessons, they had the waterslide going  because it was the last day.  So, I got to further my strength workout by climbing all those blasted stairs repeatedly while carrying Lily.  I felt the burn.  But, the kids had so much fun on the slide. 

I am going to be racing on tired legs Saturday.  But, I need to train through the next couple of races in order to be ready for October.  I really need to be building my mileage, so no breaks right now.

PM:  Ran 4 miles easy on the treadmill.  Cole wanted to go to "hay-care" (daycare) at the club, so I figured I could get a few more miles in.  I ran very slowly.  My achilles is still feeling really good, but my quad feels like someone gave me a dead leg.  It hurt for the first ten minutes, but warmed up.  I'm thinking of possibly cross training tomorrow if it's not loosened up.  I guess I got too carried away in the weight room  last night.

Wow!  I really hammered my right leg the other day.  It hurt so bad when I started running.  It warmed up after the first mile and a half, and by the end of the six miles was feeling all right.  I don't think I did anything serious to it, but it is sure sore.  But, at least my achilles is feeling pretty good.  I will be spending lots of time today trying to get my legs a little bit recovered for tomorrow's 5k.

I met the East High team at Liberty Park. We ran one lap around the park as a warm-up.  Then, we ran 1 lap of firemen drills.  Finally, we finished with two more easy laps.

I woke up this morning at 4 am, and went out for a shakeout run.  It was much needed, because I pretty much hobbled through the whole two miles.  Then, I came home and stretched and massaged out my quad and achilles.  They were both very sore this morning. 

I warmed up three miles on the trail, and it still took a while to get going.  I feel so old some days.  I am still feeling the effects of Wednesday and Thursday's workouts.  Especially those darn hill repeats!  So, I wasn't sure what the race would bring, but I was determined to go for that sub-18.

I went out the first mile in 5:38, and honestly didn't feel that great.  Susannah was in the race, but I knew that she hadn't done full training the last few weeks, so I wasn't sure if she would be able to hold with me.  Apparently my training week was a great equalizer, because she came right with me.  The second mile is slightly downhill, so I tried to play to my strengths and make a big push through this mile and put some distance on Susannah.  I went through the second mile in 5:31.  My plan worked, but then my legs started to feel the burn.  The third mile is slight uphill, with a bigger climb with about a half mile left, but then the last 400 is downhill to the finish.  I was trying to keep close to Taylor, who is my running partner during most practices.  I looked back (I know you're not supposed to do that!) and Susannah was charging hard.  She ran a great third mile.  I was just trying to hold on.  Trying to chase Taylor down kept me ahead.  Taylor and I crossed the finish line together, but he got the win.  His time was 18:02.  Somehow they missed my time, and I wasn't even in the results . . .so the 18:01 was a made up time by the race officials.  So, I really ran18:02-18-03.  Darn.  I missed my goal by 2 seconds.  Why is sub-18 so elusive? 

I cooled down with Andrea, Jake, Bill, and whoever else happened to be on the trail.  We ran 2 miles out and turned around.  Then, I went to the awards ceremony, which was, shall we say . . .eventful and dramatic.  

I'm pretty happy with my race for a couple of reasons.  I did want to be faster, but Thursday killed me!  I'm happy Susannah was so close, because I really had to race in the last mile.  This element has been missing from the last couple of races.  I had to keep running hard when my legs were killing me.  Races like this will help me push through to the next level.  It' s also good to get used to racing off of a heavy training week.  The rest of the summer will go like this, so I need to stick it out.  And, I'm really happy my achilles and quad felt good.

PM:  I got obsessive compulsive and wanted to even out my mileage, so I went to the health club.  I planned on 3.4 miles on the treadmill followed by boot camp.  I only managed to get in two before bootcamp started, but I'm claiming the rest of the mileage.  Any class that starts with windsprints is going to be harder than 1.4 more miles.  I don't know what was harder, all the jumps, the stairs, or the one-legged burnouts on the cycles.  Actually, the most difficult part was when we did relays, and he had us do cartwheels.  I don't think I've attempted a cartwheel since I was about 8.  I'm a runner, dang it!  It was a fun class.  There were no men in the class (except the instructor) but these women were all hardcore athletes.  No dancy-dance girls in this class.   Plus, I learned new, fun ways to torture the East High kids on bootcamp day!  MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! (evil laugh!)

I wanted to do my longer run at the beginning of the week, so that I can run shorter this weekend in preparation for Deseret News.  I'm not going to taper, but hopefully rearranging my running schedule will leave me feeling somewhat fresh next Monday.

I did not feel fresh this morning.  I still have Saturday in my legs.  I started with two laps around Sugarhouse Park, and met Andrea coming around the park.  We ran for a little while together.  It was really nice having someone to run with.  Then, I ran the rest of the run with the East High team.  We ran the cemetery run, with two laps in the cemetery.  I started easy, but Tomy and I got rolling when we hit the cemetery.  The kids had one more grass lap when we got back, but I just finished what I needed for 13.  I ran 90 minutes total. 

AM:  Stinker-butt Cole was playing in his room at 4:00 this morning.  He fell back to sleep, but that meant I couldn't get him up to go to cross country this morning.  So, I ran from home.  I was struggling with motivation this morning.  I think I pushed my 13 miler too hard yesterday, so I decided on one more recovery day before tackling a workout.  I tried hard to listen to my body and keep my breathing nice and easy.  It's hard for me to run easy, because I equate easy with slow and out-of-shape.  But, I am trying to change my ways!  I ran down 4800S to the river trail, over to Winchester, up 1300 west, and back on 5400S.  It was nice running on the river trail.  I haven't run down there for a while.  I'm glad I got it in this morning.  Score one for a mental victory!  Now I only have a short run left this afternoon.

PM:  5 miles easy.  I felt better this afternoon than when I started this morning.  I think Boot Camp is finally out of my legs.  I'm ready to hit a hard one tomorrow. 

AM  4 miles easy.  I didn't feel like trying to push myself through a workout at 5 AM.  So, I get to look forward to a hard one later tonight.  SLCC loop. 

AM:  Teren didn't get home from work until late last night, so I wasn't able to get my workout in.  I guess I will be getting a little rest before the race, even though I hadn't originally planned to cut back.  Oh well.  It may be a good thing.  I'm feeling pretty trashed lately. 

I ran an abbreviated form of one of my usual workouts. I warmed up 2.5 miles, and then ran 2 sets of 1:2:3:2:1 with 1:1:2:1:1 recovery.  I usually do three sets.  Then, I cooled down 2.5 miles.

I found out this morning that I was confirmed as an elite athlete at the Indianapolis Women's Half Marathon on September 3.  The race looks so fun!  I'm glad that I have something to focus on the next 6 weeks.  I love women's only races.  Hopefully, I will see a huge improvement over Seattle.

PM:  I went to the health club for an easy five on the treadmill.  To keep my brain occupied, I started at 8.0 mph, and increased the pace after every song.  So, sometimes I sped up after 2 and a half minutes, and sometimes after 5 minutes.  It probably averaged out every four minutes.  I ended at 8.9 mph.  The run felt nice and easy.

I ran a nice run with great running partners today.  It wasn't an exciting one, just 8 miles worth of laps around Liberty Park, but the company made it go quickly. 

I met Andrea and Allie at the park at 7, and we ran 5 miles together.  Then, I met the East High team for three more miles.  I'm getting excited for Deseret News!  I don't like the race being on Monday.  I feel like I have been waiting forever to race!  Let's get to it, already.

I wanted to run a "turn-over" workout before the race on Monday.  I warmed up 3 miles, and then ran 3 miles of hard-easy 200's.  I felt klunky on the track.  I could tell that it has been a few weeks since I ran on it.  My speed doesn't come as smoothly as it once did.  Of course, I was wearing trainers, and it was a little later in the morning, so it was hot.  I ran most of them in 37-38, and the last few I started hitting some 36's.  I cooled down with a mile run back to my house.

Later in the day we went to get our race packets, and I got to scope out the competition.  It's not a big field, but everyone in it is good.  I've only run against one of the girls, so it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out on Monday.   GET HERE ALREADY!!!

AM  So, this morning didn't go very well.  I woke up at 3, and got ready for my race.  I got on the spinning bike to get the blood pumping through my legs so I could warm up my achilles.  Then, it was off to the race.  As I started warming up, my legs felt really good, and my achilles didn't seem to hurt . . . until I turned and jogged down Wakara.  As soon as I hit the downhill, I could feel my achilles with every impact.  This started some doubts running through my mind.  I finished my strides, and went to the starting line.  I got out well in the race, but I could feel the pounding with every step.  My soleus started to twinge from time to time, and I got really nervous.  I decided to drop right after the mile, because I didn't want to hurt my tendon any further.  I jogged easy down to Liberty Park to watch Teren finish. 

I keep vascillating between feeling like I made a smart decision, and feeling like I wimped out.  I have some really big races in September and October, and finishing the race would have been a big risk . . .yes, it could have been a risk that paid off and I might have been just fine.  But, there is that big what if  . . . what if I had finished and really injured myself?  So, I will be running a workout later this afternoon . . . after a good nap! 

PM  I didn't get that nap!  Still, I managed to get a tempo run in this evening.  I wanted six, but I was struggling at 5.  This is one of the first times that I have done a workout after a morning run.  Plus, I did run a 5:15 mile this morning!  I warmed up 2 miles, and then ran 5 miles, increasing my pace every 5 minutes.  I felt pretty good until I started getting under 5:45 pace.  Then it got difficult. 

Mile 1: 6:06

Mile 2: 5:55

Mile 3: 5:49

Mile 4: 5:43

Mile 5: 5:40  Total time : 29:17

The achilles feels fine on the treadmill.  It's easy to adjust my foot plant to avoid aggravating it.  I can tell tempos are missing from my workouts.  5k road races are fun, but they are not the same for extended threshold running.  I cooled down two more miles.

I must have worked hard yesterday.  I felt terrible today.  My ten mile run turned into a six mile run.  That's okay, though.  I have a 13 miler tomorrow.  I read an interesting article from Running Times on longer runs.  It said that physiological changes begin after an hour and twenty minutes of running.  In preparation for the marathon, I will run a mid-week longer run, as well as a weekend long run.  13 is not too long, but it is about 90 minutes of running.