Emily's training blog

The Olympics are messing with my sleeping! Even though I have a DVR, I am staying up way too late at night watching.  Then, I'm so psyched up that it is even more difficult to sleep.  Oh well.  The same Olympics that are keeping me up are motivating me to get my butt out of bed in the morning.

I ran 5.3 miles, down to the River Trail off of 4800 S, and up at Millrace Park.  My route got a bit extended since I have to go all the way around the high school now instead of through the lot.  I felt pretty good running this morning, and only needed one potty stop.

When I got home, I took a gu and hopped on my bike for a little longer of a workout.  The gu really helped keep my blood sugar in check.  Women's cycling time trials were on, which made me push harder on the bike.  Hmmm . . . I wonder if I could be a good cyclist!  I biked for half an hour.  (My butt was sore from yesterday.  I need to adjust to the saddle again.)

Just a run this morning.  The 5-6 hours of sleep is starting to catch up with me.  I actually turned the Olympics off early last night.  I ran out 1300 W to Winchester, down to the river trail and off at 5300S.  Total time: 47:41. 

Yesterday was my 14 week appointment. (Only 26 to go, but who's counting?)  I got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time, which never gets old no matter how many kids you have.  And, the dreaded weigh in . . . 122.75 for a total of 4 pounds in the first 14 weeks.  Of course, the mint-brownie ice cream I had last night may have put me over the 123 mark. 

I try not to freak out too much about the weight gain.  It's healthy for the baby.  But, after my 40 pound weight gain with Lily, it took quite a while to get the last 10-15 pounds off.  So, I thought I would try to keep an eye on it better this time around.  Broadcasting it to the blog will probably help.

We are in Cedar City visiting family, which means lots of people, and little sleep.  It's a fun kind of chaos, though.  I had the opportunity this morning to run with the high school's cross country team.  I scoped out the invitational course before we headed out on our run.  We run a six mile run up to a water tower on a dirt trail.  After 3 miles we turned back.  The coach mentioned that he wished I was in high school . . . so do I!  It was fun to have something different to run, and fun to see what other high school teams do.  The East kids are definitely working harder this summer than probably anyone, so it will be fun to see how the season goes.  

Based on that run, this pregnant 34 year old would be on Cedar's varsity boys team.

The run took me 44:54, so right under 7:30.  Not bad for a really tough course. 

Early run before a busy day.  Today's run was not very exciting . . .3 miles up the highway and three miles back, with a 2 minute jog in the neighborhood as a little cooldown.  7:18 pace.  Back to SLC tomorrow.

The past weekend was exhausting, and I think it caught up with the entire family last night. My kids were sound asleep at 7:00, and I didn't make it much longer.  Getting up was a little tough this morning.  It is nice to be home.  Vacation is NOT vacation with little kids.

I ran a seven mile run, down 4800S to the river trail, off at Bullion, and back on 5400S.  I didn't time it this morning.  I just tried to run off effort.  I felt pretty good.  As my belly gets bigger, running gets a little tougher.  It feels like a cantaloupe is bouncing on my bladder.  I feel like I'm running a good amount, and then I remember an article I read about Kara Goucher's pregnancy training . . . she had cut back to ONLY 75 miles a week.  I'm a slacker.

 PM:  Much to my kids' amusement, I did a prenatal exercise dvd that included some strength, pilates, and balance work.  Not too difficult, except for the flexibility part . . . and the part where Lily tried to climb on my back during planks. 

I also bought a prenatal yoga dvd, so I will have to pull that one out later this week.  I'm sure the kids will enjoy that one even more.

Lily woke up about 30 minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off. So, I got out the door very early today.  I ran 6.5 miles on my Costco route.  It was really dark this morning, and there were parts of the run where it was difficult to see.  I ran 7:12 pace for the run. 

When I got home I biked for 45 minutes while I watched the women's marathon.  I missed watching it on Sunday.  I think the best race was the Russian woman who took third.  Her PR was only 2:26, and she mixed it up with 2:18 marathoners.  Shalane and Kara ran so well.  It was agony watching Shalane finish the last couple miles.  It would have been tough for her to run a sub 70 half for the second half.  It was definitely motivating to watch. 

I think I'm going to be very tired around 10 this morning.

While we were in Cedar City, my nephew came down with hand, foot, and mouth disease, which so far has claimed 7 victims, including my kids.  Thankfully, we are at the tail end, unless Teren or I get it.  So, I've been up most of the night for the past week with a crying child, and quarantined the rest of the day to avoid infecting anyone else.  So, that's my excuse for not running for a week.

It was nice to be back out it, though running is becoming increasingly difficult.  I ran a river trail loop, and came up by the high school.  All the sports teams are out working, which makes me excited for fall. 

A tree branch attacked me this morning.  It hurt.

I woke up at 3:30 with one of my kids, and couldn't go back to sleep.  I watched mindless tv for an hour, and then decided that I might as well get a workout in.  Because it is still pitch black at 4:30, I went over to the health club and ran for an hour.  I started at 8 minute/mile pace, and ramped up every half mile or so.  Overall average was about 7:20 per mile pace.  It's not even 6.  I think I might go back to sleep.

6.5 mile waddle this morning.  I ran 1300 W to Winchester and down to the River Trail.  There is a steep downhill on Winchester, which hurt a bit to run down . . . I guess running Alta Peruvian is a bad idea.  Unless I want to give birth on the course.  That would be exciting!  Guess I'll just be a spectator that day. I'll show up for the barbecue.

Just ran an easy half hour today.  I told myself that while Iwas pregnant, I would incorporate a variety of fitness methods to keep things interesting.  When I'm training for running, I don't have the time or energy to do much else.  So, after my run, I took my very first Zumba class.

I usually avoid dancy classes because I'm uncoordinated and ungraceful.  But, the instructor for this particular class always made it look like so much fun, so I swallowed my pride and tried it out.  It was nice to have an excuse to pull out all those moves that I would probably only try in the privacy of my own home.  It was kind of fun to let my inner Diva out, though my prominent belly cut back on the sexy factor. 

The best thing was that because I had to concentrate so hard on where to put my hands and feet, the class flew by.  I'll probably try a class again, though I increasingly look like one of those hippo ballerinas from Fantasia. 

I wanted to run a little longer this morning, but my niece was babysitting, and needed to get home, so I ran a 7.5 mile loop.  I ran out 1300 W to 7000 S, down to the river trail, home at Millrace Park.  I ran a 7:15 average.  I'm excited for the day that I can run fast again.  That run almost felt like a tempo in places. 

35 minutes of pre-natal yoga with my pre-natal yoga dvd.  The woman on the dvd uses the word "buttocks" much too frequently. (Lift the buttocks.  Descend the buttocks.)

I did not feel so hot running this morning.  That's the funny thing with exercising during pregnancy; some days you feel great, some days you feel terrible.   I guess that's not so different from running in general.  Toward the end of my run I felt a lot better. 

I ran my Costco loop.  I didn't wear my watch, so just ran how I felt.  I felt slow.  I hope that I can keep up some decent running pretty far into my pregnancy.  I don't relish the idea of 20 weeks of cross training.  I'm hoping to make it at least into the third tri-mester

I was up really early again, so went to the gym to run.  I did a progression run again starting at 7.5 mph, and ramping up every half mile.  I got impatient at the end and started increasing the pace more frequently, finishing at 9.7 mph for the last minute.  Average pace was 7:17 per mile.  It feels good to start easy and build in.  I may have ended a little too hard . . . I will know if I feel it later this morning after the endorphins wear off.

I think I ran a little bit hard yesterday.  I was feeling very sluggish this morning.  It took some effort to get out the door.  I didn't time my run, just tried to run easy.  To top it all off, it was muggy and windy, so definitely not the most pleasant run.  But, I'm glad I got out and did it.  I ran 4800S to the River Trail.  On the way home, there was a house that had been fully toilet-papered.  Someone's going to have a fun morning!

I felt like a little change-up today.  I ran 4 miles at 7:15 pace, and then took a cycle class. The class was a really good workout.  The instructor did 4 cycles of a double-time ride, a hill ride, and sprint intervals.  I got really hungry with about twenty minutes left of class.  Luckily, I had a gu in my bag, so that got me through the rest of the class.  I'm sure I looked pretty funny taking a gu in the middle of a cycle class.  But, I'm trying to avoid blood sugar crashes when I work out. 

PM:  We had our East High Cross Country Barbecue tonight.  I decided to jump in the fun run, which was about 1.75 miles.  It was all going so well until I twisted my ankle and wiped out.  I jumped up and managed to pull off the win.  Luckily, nothing is seriously hurt but my pride. 

After my "race" I jogged around the course watching the kids run. 

I was really tired this morning from yesterday.  The cycle class made my quads burn a bit today.  I ran 4800S to the river trail and up at Bullion.  I couldn't bring myself to add the loop through the neighborhood to hit seven.  Overall, it was a good, though uneventful run. 

I felt really good running today.  It probably has something to do with the fact that I just had two days off.  After spending all evening at a high school cross country meet on Friday, I did some volunteer work cleaning the temple from 11-1 AM.  Needless to say, getting up early on Saturday was out of the question.  Then, the day got away from me, so I got an extra day off.

I ran the SLCC loop.  Everyone was out for their first day of school.  I miss those days! 

I was bored with my usual running routes, so I tried a new one today.  I just gave myself a time goal of 45 minutes and just ran.  I ran up 5400S to 2700W, around Valley Park, back up 2700W to 6200S, down to the Canal Road, and back on the canal road to 5400S, and back home.  It actually took just under 51:00.   It wasn't a bad route, except I ran past 3 different schools, so the traffic was pretty heavy.  The canal road was nice, but felt like it would never end.  I listened to the Chunga Show while I ran to pass the time.  It makes the run go faster, but sometimes they make me laugh so hard, I actually have to stop and catch my breath. 

Just time for a short run before my doctor's appointment today.  I ran 4800 S to the River Trail.  I had a rock music soundtrack for the run.  (Foo Fighters, No Doubt, Aerosmith, the Killers, Paramore, and Maroon 5.) 

18 week doctor's appointment today.  The baby was busy moving around, so the doctor had a hard time getting the heartbeat.  He's a runner already!  I weighed in at 126.5 pounds, for a total weight gain of 8 pounds.  I'm so glad I don't gain weight this quickly in real life!  In two weeks we'll have the ultrasound, but we are keeping the sex a surprise for the big day!

I ran for 45 minutes on the treadmill this morning.  Average pace was 7:20 per mile.  After running I decided to take Zumba, just for the fun of it.   I felt particularly dorky today, but I thought, "if the man sporting the oxygen tank can do this, then so can I."  I think I'm going to feel it in my calves tomorrow, since I spent most of the class on the balls of my feet.  Today's class was much more difficult than the one I took two weeks ago.