Emily's training blog

I was feeling the effects of yesterday's workout, plus a night with little sleep. (Due to a family crisis, not a fun New Year's unfortunately.)  I ran an easy six miles on the wonderful treadmill, and then took Boot Camp.  I'm glad that I only ran 6 because the class was really tough.  My favorite instructor, Andrea, was teaching.  She's the only instructor that can kick my butt.  

Some of the ways I was tortured:  2 sets of step ups with weights, followed by a round of intervals in the spinning room,  push-ups from a down dog position, followed by stairs (straight up, jumps, sideways, switch sides),  down to the gym for 5 sets of suicides, and three minutes worth of lunges, up to the treadmills for an increasing pace run (I did enjoy the shocked looks I got when I ran ato 11.3 mph as opposed to their 7mph.  Here's where the extra .75 miles came in)  Back up to the group exercise room for triceps, biceps, shoulders, burpees, and side to side runs.   Of course, we finished with some wonderful core work.  

I'm already sore, and I don't think I needed the extra miles.  But, I'm looking forward to jumping the mileage up next week.  Hopefully, I can keep the supplemental cross training in  without getting too overworked.

I really need to pay more attention to the postings at the Oval. I drove all the way out there again to find the speed skating championships were still going on.  I realized as I left that it was posted right on the front door that the track would be closed.  So, back to the treadmill!

I warmed up two miles and then ran a 30 minute threshold run.  I started at 10 mph and increased every five minutes.  

Mile 1: 6:05

Mile 2: 5:55

Mile 3:  5:51

Mile 4:  5:46

Mile 5:  5:40  Total time: 29:19  30 minutes  5.1 miles

I cooled down two miles.  The total time for nine miles was 57:48.  I really need to get outside to run!  Maybe tomorrow if the roads are clear enough.

I decided to brave the great outdoors this morning.  Not a good idea.  Although I stayed relatively warm, I realized that there are no safe places to run in my neck of the woods during the winter.   There was so much snow and ice on the sidewalks, and most of the roads had too little space on the shoulder.   I spent a lot of time gingerly picking my way through unshoveled stretches of sidewalk.   My plan was 10 miles, but I gave up after 5 and a half.   Hopefully  I'll find some time to get a few more in today, even if it is just an hour of biking.  I'm so ready for winter to be over.

I miss the days when I lived up by the U.   There are so many good roads to run on in that part of town.  Taylorsville kind of sucks for running. 

PM  I made it over to the club for an easy 4.5 miles on the treadmill.  I sent the kids to the daycare, and they did wonderfully.  I will have to utilize it more often now that Cole is past the stage where he screams the entire time.   That's why I haven't brought my kids to the day care too often.  He seems to have outgrown it.

I missed running yesterday. I wish I had a really good excuse for it, but I just slept in, and then never got around to going. If I don't get up and get it done, it is very difficult to go because I never know what's going to happen with the kids or my husband's job and activities. It's only 5 in the morning that I know there is no other conflicts. My mileage goal for this week is 50, which I can still accomplish. I am still working on that consistency! I did a hill run on the treadmill this morning.  I started at 8.6 mph and increased .1 every 5 minutes for the first 20 minutes, every 4 minutes for the next 20, and every 3 for the last 20 minutes.  In addition I increased my incline to 3% every 10 minutes for a two minute hill.  I ran six hills.   The last one about killed me since it was at 10.2 mph.  I gotta get those hills in somehow.  I completed 9.25 miles in an hour.  Maybe I can sneak in a few more miles tonight to make up for yesterday.  

I made it out to the Oval this morning.  (Finally!)  It was even a bargain day; one dollar because it is a red burn day.  So, I did some people dodging on the track, but that is still preferable to yesterday's run on the treadmill where someone left their chewed up gum in the console.  Thank you so much, Considerate Stranger! 

I warmed up 15 minutes.  My legs were a bit tired from yesterday's "hill" run, so I pared down the workout a touch.  I ran 20 sets of 1 minute on 1minute off.  I was pretty consistent, staying between 5:20 and 5:25 pace.  I thought that was pretty good considering it was 5:30 in the morning and I was wearing trainers.  It was actually nice to do some turnover work.  I definitely use different muscles during speedwork than when I'm just logging mileage.  I cooled down 15 more minutes.  

So, I'm debating whether to run an easy 4-5 this afternoon, which will only leave me 7 tomorrow, or save the entire 12 for tomorrow.  If the air quality stays like this, I will be banished to the treadmill again.  I kind of dread the thought of running for an hour and a half on the treadmill.  Hmmm . . . what to do?

I read in the newspaper this morning that going out in the inversion is like smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.  So, I opted to run my long run on the treadmill.  For a change in scenery I went up to the West Jordan 24 Hour Fitness.  The equipment is much nicer there.  Plus, the have tv's attached to each treadmill.  It makes me kind of dizzy to run and watch tv, but it was a nice diversion for an hour and a half of running in place.  I watched stupid, mindless shows the entire run.  First, was Supernanny, ("London, pushing Denver down the stairs is UN-acceptable.  Sit in the naughty chair.)  followed by 16 and Pregnant. ( "I never thought my baby daddy would leave me.  We were gonna live happily ever after)  I may be dumber after running today!

Finishing my run was a mental victory.  I started having stomach cramps after 6.5 miles.  I've been having chronic stomach issues since having Lily.  I won't go into details, but they are not pleasant!  It may be time to see a GI doctor.  Even a bathroom break didn't help matters much.  I was about to call it good at 7 miles, but then sucked it up and finished the last few miles.  I did have to back off of the pace a little bit, but I was proud of myself for finishing.  I know I can be kind of wimpy when the going gets tough.  Giving in to my weaknesses is what keeps me from achieving my goals.

I am pleased with running 50 miles this week.  I know that's not a lot, but it's actually the most I have been able to run since having Lily.  I am also happy that I got a long run in, as well as 2 good speed sessions.

There is still room for improvement.  I didn't work out on Wednesday, and I neglected strength training this week. That gives me some goals to aim for during next week's training. 

Total time for 12 miles: 1:22:30

Nothing too exciting to report today.  Just another exciting treadmill adventure.  I couldn't find my I-pod this morning, so I entertained myself people watching.   There was an extremely overweight couple riding the recumbant bikes.  They must have been starting their New Year's Resolutions.  Good for them!   Then, I amused myself watching a guy in eyeliner check himself out in the mirror while he simultacneously lifted weights and sashayed on the elliptical.  (Great Multi tasker.)  I think I have mentioned him before on my blog.  Finally, I watched in horrified fascination as an extremely thin girl put in about two hours on the elliptical machine.  I'm all for working out to stay healthy and fit, but this poor girl has taken it to a decidedly unhealthy extreme. 

After I was done scoping out the health club patrons, I thought about my upcoming race schedule.  I'm beginning to feel motivated and excited to get racing again.  My agent (that sounds so official and important!)  sent me a list of races to consider.  I will probably debut at the Shamrock  Half Marathon in Virginia Beach in March. (Of course!)  Then, Salt Lake Half in April, followed by the Fargo Half Marathon  at the end of May (not quite as exciting as Virginia Beach!)    All of this will be part of a build up to Grandma's Marathon in June. Grandma's will be my three-years-in-coming marathon debut!  I love having races to look forward to. 

I increased my pace today at half mile increments, starting at 8.0 mph.  I felt comfortable and strong the entire run.  My overall time was 67:22.

I woke up with a tight lower back, so I thought I would give my body a break and cross train.  I think running on the treadmill so much is too much repetitive motion.  It was nice to move in a different way, even though it took a lot longer than simply running does.

AM  I went to the health club and did the elliptical for 1 hour.  I started at level 7 on random, and increased a level every 15 minutes.  My arms probably got a better workout than my legs did.

PM  After putting the kids down for a nap, I hopped on my spinning bike for another hour of cross training.  I increased the resistance on my bike every ten minutes.  My legs were definitely feeling it by the end.

I missed yesterday again.  Dang it!  Teren is working on a huge project at work and didn't get home until late.  I had planned to go when he got home from work, but it was too late.  So, I get to make up mileage with some longer days.   At least 55 miles isn't that much.  It is doable.

I ran a threshold run today.  My goal was to improve on last week's threshold run.  I warmed up for 3 miles and then ran a 30 minute tempo.  I got 5.17 miles in during the 30 minutes.  Then, I cooled down until I hit 10 miles.

Mile 1:  6:03

Mile 2:  5:51

Mile 3:  5:47

Mile 4:  5:43

Mile 5: 5:37  29:03 for 5 miles  30:00 for 5.17

The total time for 10 miles was 63:43

I finally got outside this morning for a run. It was wonderful to breathe the nice fresh red-alert air!  The run was a little slippery due to some light early-morning snow, so I had to run easy.  That was a good thing since I was experiencing some soreness from yesterday.  I plan to run a longer run this afternoon.

P.M.  I only had time for another short run.  My husband's emergency work project is seriously cutting into my training time.  I hope that things settle down next week, so that I can depend on him for some babysitting.  Of course, I'm sure I'm not nearly as frustrated as he is right now! 

I decided to combine my "long run" with a fartlek run today.  I went out to the Oval, though I kind of wished that I had run outside.  The weather was so nice, even though the air quality was terrible.  So, I ended up playing "Dodge the Spectator" at the indoor track.  I ran during Open Skate time, which made my workout even more challenging.  There was a polygamous family (families?)  enjoying Open Skate.  It looked like an episode of "Little House on the Prairie" on the ice.  I was fine until ten girls with poofy bangs, long braids, and pioneer dresses decided to stand in lane one.  

I warmed up three miles and noticed my legs were still pretty tired from the other day's workout.  I definitely need one more recovery day between speed sessions.  My plan was 3 sets of 1-2-3-2-1 with 1-1-2-1-1- recovery.  I was highly motivated by the dream I had last night where high school superstar Susannah Hurst beat me by two seconds in a 5k.  (She could definitely be capable of that.  She's in tremendous shape right now!)  I pushed the first set pretty hard, but didn't feel like I was recovering between intervals very well.  I made it through one more set, and then decided to change up the workout.  To finish the six miles of the workout, I ran 7 sets of 200 m on 200 m off.   That way I got a little more recovery, and could work on my turnover on a shorter interval.  I hit the 200's between 37-38 seconds.  My speed needs work!  

I cooled down three miles, and then had an energy crash.  So, I cleared my dizzy head with a pretzel from Concessions. 

This week was kind of up and down.   I still missed one day of training, and didn't hit 55 miles, which was my goal.  On the upside, I got in two good fast workouts, and I didn't let the entire week fall apart.  I maintained mileage during a crazy week with the family.  Sometimes I miss the days when all I had to do was concentrate on running and work, or running and school! 

My legs were so dead this morning!  I'm still feeling Saturday's workout.  Hopefully I can get recovered through today.  On the up side, I was able to run outside, and it was a beautiful morning.  It is the first time I have been down on the river trail since about October.  There were a few icy spots, but overall, it was nice and clear.  The soreness in my legs seemed to work out, but not the heavy feeling.  I'll admit, I was letting negative thoughts into my mind.  Sometimes I feel doubtful that I will ever be able to gain the fitness I need to achieve my goals.  Sometimes I think it is time to throw in the towel and just run for the fun of it.  But, I keep at it, and try to turn the negatives to positives. 

I ran 4800 S to River trail, out to Winchester, Up to 1300 West, over to 5300 S and back home.  I plan on running another easy four this afternoon.

PM:  4 miles at the club.  I took it very easy.  I felt better than this morning except for a sore spot in my right quad.  Hope that goes away quickly!

I hired a babysitter so that I could go do a workout in the "sunlight" this afternoon.  It was actually kind of gray and gloomy, but still fairly warm.  It was not as nice as yesterday was, but for winter, I'll take it!   I ran down to the River trail for a warm up, and then ran out to Gardner Village.  I ran 3 sets of 5 min, 3 min, 2 min, with 2 minute recovery between each interval.  The five minute intervals were really hard.   It reminded me why mile repeats are my least favorite workout.   Of course, that is one workout that is a great test of fitness.   I still had one more interval when I made it back to the park, so I went about a quarter mile out the other direction.  Then, I ran home for a cooldown.  

The spot in my quad is still sore.  I could feel it, but it seemed to warm out as I ran.  Either that, or the body's natural pain killers kicked in.  It's toward the inside of my quad, almost my groin.  I can't tell if the pain is originating from tight hips, or if it is really a quad injury.  I'm just hoping that it doesn't turn into a femoral stress reaction/fracture. 

I felt better mentally today. I think that yesterday's doom and gloom stemmed from tired legs.  I guess we all have those days.  It is a challenge to stay positive all the time.

Yay! I got over the "No Running on Wednesday" hump!   It was pouring out when I got up this morning, so I went to the club to run on the treadmill.  Wouldn't you know it?  As soon as I walked out the health club door an hour later, the rain had stopped.  Grrr!   My leg is not liking the treadmill.  I think it pulls on my hips, which  in turn seems to pull my inner quadricep.  I need to run on other surfaces more often.  If the weather isn't cooperative in the morning, I may be cross training instead.  

I decided to step on the scale after running.   I wasn't surprised to be a pound an a half heavier than a week or so ago.   I've been eating everything in sight!   Harder training increases my appetite, but I need to make sure I'm fueling correctly.  I don't worry too much about my weight, but I should be concerned with eating properly.  It is definitely time to be more aware of my food intake.

6.5 miles in 42:33

So, I have suffered through a femoral stress reaction the last couple of months. The doctor told me it would take three weeks to heal. It took six. I've run a couple of easy build-up weeks, and now it is time to get serious again about training.   Why do I always feel like I'm "coming back."   If an injury doesn't set me back, then a baby does.   (Of course, I would rather be recovering from childbirth than an injury.  At least a baby represents my own choosing.) 

I ran down to Millrace Park to the River Trail as a warm-up.  I ran 12 x 1 minute on, 1 minute off.  This took me off the trail, and onto 1300 West.  I ran back to 5400 South, and then home for a cool down.   The total time for my run was 44 minutes. 

I enjoyed striding out a little bit.  It's always tough trying to get the speed back.  I know that longer intervals are going kill me.  However, fartlek workouts always get me back into shape the most quickly. 

Thansk to Sasha for fixing my post yesterday. I was posting in February, and didn't realize it. I couldn't figure out why my mileage wasn't showing up on the mileage board.   It was a definite moment of brilliance on my part! 

I was so cold this morning.  I wore my USA tights (or my superhero tights as my son calls them) which are a very thin material.  My legs never properly warmed up.   I'm glad I was only running five miles this morning!  

I ran out to 4800S and linked onto the River Trail.  It was even colder by the water, and everything was covered in a thin layer of frost.   I thought the scenery was very pretty, but very icy!   I left the trail at Mill Race park, and ran up through the Taylorsville High parking lot, where I played an exciting game of Chicken with the high school drivers arriving at school.  I waved to my brother in law who was dropping off my nephew.  (He was not one of the cars that I played Chicken with.)  I finished with a jaunt through the neighborhood to my house.   

I am excited for less frigid mornings.  Of course, a couple months ago, 36 degrees would be considered balmy weather.  I guess it's all relative!

The weather was much warmer today. I think I was a bit overdressed. I felt stuffy for much of the run, until I decided to ditch my long sleeved shirt.   I definitely welcome the increase in temperature.  

I decided to run a bit longer today.  I still get a little soreness in my leg, so I need to be careful.  It usually feels okay running, but aches during the day.   It seemed to handle the run today.   I actually felt almost like a runner, again today.  When I don't run for a while, my body forgets how.   I move clumsily for a few runs, until my muscle memory returns.  Today I ran much more smoothly. 

I ran out to 1300W, over to Winchester, down to the River trail, to the exit at 4800 South.  Then, I climbed the gradual hill up to Redwood Road, and finished with a very uncomfortable uphill jaunt through the neighborhood.  I struggled the last mile and a quarter. 

Total time for the run:  54:02

Much to my dismay, Lily woke up crying at 4:00 this morning.  After rocking her back to sleep for twenty minutes,  I decided I was wide awake, and might as well get my workout over with.   I hoped that the kids would be asleep when I returned, and I could go back to bed for a while. 

My leg ached throughout the day yesterday, so I decided to play it safe and incorporate a cross training day into my training.   I have a feeling there will be many more cross training days before my quad is completely healed.    I started with a half an hour on the elliptical machine, and then took an hour long spinning class.  

When I returned home, the kids were not blissfully sleeping (Surprise!).  Instead, Cole meticulously prepared his stormtroopers for battle, while Lily happily finger-painted her face with yogurt.   I think this is why most athletes finish their sporting careers before they have children!   It's gonna be a long day.   Maybe I can talk my two darlings into a long afternoon nap . . . I won't hold my breath.

Yay!   I got to sleep in today.  Well, if you want to count 6:30 as sleeping in.  After yesterday, I definitely do.   Cole climbed up into bed with me, carrying a towering stack of Curious George books.  So, I spent a pleasant morning reading stories to my little boy. 

We took the kids to the zoo today, in celebration of the gorgeous weather.  We weren't the only ones with that brilliant idea.  The zoo was, well, a zoo!  We managed to maneuver through the crowds, until we ran into the back of several school groups.  We found it difficult to push out "stretch limo" double stroller through throngs of hyperactive elementary students.  I must admit, the animals handled the chaos much better than I did.  What can I say, I'm from a small town.  Crowds make me claustrophobic.  All in all, we had a fun family morning.

Because of our excursion, I didn't run until the late afternoon.  I met Bill at Sugarhouse Park at about four for a fartlek workout.  The park was about as crowded as the zoo had been.  I think Salt Lake City has spring fever!   We warmed up 2 miles around the perimeter of the park.  Then, we ran 3 sets of  3 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute, with 2 minute, 1 minute, 1 minute, recovery.  To cool down, we finished our final lap to complete eight miles. 

I didn't feel any pain in my leg during the entire run.  I think the soft surface helped matters.   Of course, it might be a different story tonight after my legs cool down and the ibuprofen wears off.  

Ugh! I think I ran particularly hard yesterday. One measure of fitness is how long it takes to recover.  I am not recovered today.  My legs felt like they had anvils tied to them during my run.  I might as well have been running in quicksand.   I had planned to run a long-ish run, but opted for a shorter recovery run instead. 

I ran through the neighborhood to 2200 West. I ran on 2200 West until 4100 South, up the big hill to 2700 West, and then plodded through the long gradual climb into a head wind up to 5400 South.  Then, I ran the extremely welcome downhill back to my house.

Despite a rough day, I am pleased with my efforts this week.  I managed two fartlek workouts, and got in 40 miles (including the cross training day) with a minimum of pain in my quad.  Not a bad first week of a re-committed training regimen.   I feel like I am on the upswing, and that keeps me optimistic! 

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.

AM:  I ran an eight mile recovery run this morning.  I ran the 1300W to 2700W loop.  As I was running back on 5400 S, I noticed that some high school student lost their library books on the way to school.  (Chasing Fire and Mockingjay from the Hunger Games series.)  I thought of being a Good Samaritan and returning them to the school, but really didn't want to carry two hardbound novels while I ran.  I guess I'm not as altruistic as I should be. 

I felt okay on the run.  My left hip is still nagging, and I can't tell if I'm making it worse by the constant stretching and strength work.  I may be overdoing it a bit.  It doesn't hurt much while I run, it's just sore.  But, as I go through the day I really notice it.  Hopefully a couple of easy days will help matters.  I may cross train tomorrow if I don't notice any improvement.

4 miles to go this evening!

I obviously did not run another four miles last night.  My left hip is just so sore.  I heard it described in an article as "cranky butt" which is not a scientific description, but it is an accurate one.  I feel like one hard workout or long run away from injuring myself, so I decided on a couple of cross training days to hopefully prevent any serious mishaps.  On top of my sore hip, I woke up with back pain, either from sleeping weird, or last night's core exercises.  So, cross training seems the way to go.  I feel REALLY old! 

I rode my spinning bike this morning while I watched mindless television.  I increased the resistance every ten minutes for an hour.

My back was still so tight yesterday. It hurt even to breathe. After moving around through the day it loosened up, and the hip seemed to be improving too. so I decided to attempt my 15 miler. I need those long runs!

Devra showed up at my house at 6 a.m. with a surprise guest. Kristen Ogden came to run with us, so we had a nice little running group. Kristen only needed 12, so instead of doing the loop out 1300W and turning at the temple, we turned at 9000S and ran up to 2700W. We ran back to 5400 S, and back to my house. Kristen stretched on my lawn while Devra and I ran 2.5 more miles through the neighborhood. It seemed to go quickly with running partners.

I felt pretty good, which is to be expected after two days off. I still feel the tightness in the hip, and I will have to see how it recovers today. I think it is manageable, but definitely something to watch. But, I was happy to be running. This was my longest run since back in October.

I was trying to be a nice wife and make sure that Teren had the time to get his workout in before he goes to work, so I got up at 4:30 to get mine in.  I had originally planned to run 10 x 800, but I thought I would play it safe and try to keep my hip intact.  I changed the workout to a fartlek workout.  I warmed up 3 miles, and then ran 3 x 1-2-3-2-1, with 1-1-2-1-1 recovery.  I ran in Valley Park.

The weather was beautiful this morning.  I got to see the sunrise because I was up so early.  It was pretty dark when I started, but the sun was shining by the time I finished.  My body felt a bit tired when I started, but after the first couple of intervals, I began to feel better.  That must mean I'm turning into a marathoner.  I need four miles before I feel good.  I was definitely tired by the end, and my hip started to get sore.  But, I think it will stay in one piece.  Saturday's long run didn't seem to make it any worse.

I cooled down a nice easy 2 miles through the park and back to my house.

I think that around 10:00 this morning, I will be ready for a nap.

Today was one of those rare perfect days of running.  The weather was beautiful, nice and cool, but not too cold.  I felt amazing while I was running.  It felt effortless.  Days like this are definitely few and far between, so I took full advantage and really enjoyed my run. 

I ran through the Taylorsville High driving range, down to the River Trail, and out toward Gardner Village.  I was only going to run 8 miles, but felt so good that I added on the extra half mile out.  Right before four miles there were three different groups of mother and baby geese.  They were spread across the entire trail.  I didn't want to scare the mothers, because I didn't really want to get bit by a goose.  The moms hissed, but I made it through unscathed.  I turned around at the 3 mile mark on the trail, and returned the same way.  Total time for the run was 59:52.  I actually think it's a bit over nine.

Today helped me believe that maybe I am actually increasing in fitness, and my workouts are paying off.  Maybe I am on my way to fast running again! 

 PM  I ran 4 miles on the treadmill at the health club.  I made sure that it was an easy run.

Devra came over to my house bright and early this morning to go run a light track workout before our respective races on Saturday.  She is running the Utah Valley Half Marathon on Saturday, so her workout was shorter than mine was.  

We warmed up three miles through the neighborhood, and ended at the Taylorsville High track.  Both of us felt pretty tired on the warm-up, so we conservatively hoped to keep our intervals at the same pace that we ran them two weeks ago.  (2:45 for the 800's and 1:20 for the 400's)  Our recovery was 1:1.  Apparently we felt better when we ran faster.  I ran 2:37 for both 800's, and Devra ran 2:41.  I added on two more 400's, and ran them in 76, 74, 75, and 73.  Devra ran some laps on the track while I ran 8 x 200 on/200 off.   I kept the 200's under control and just ran them in 37-38.  My legs definitely felt it by the end of the workout.

We cooled down with a 2.5 mile run through the neighborhood to give us 10 for the day.  I was happy to run an entire workout (albeit a short one) under 5:20 pace.  Especially with 25 miles already under my belt this week.  Plus, my hip is beginning to improve.  My fitness is definitely getting better!  This was a great workout to lead into a 5k race this weekend.  Now, two days of recovery!  I'm ready for them.

AM:  I woke up with very sore calves and very tired legs this morning.  The track beat me up a little bit.  I have 10 miles today, so I decided to divide it in to two shorter runs.  I ran 6 this morning, down 4800S, and on to the River Trail, I got off at Millrace Park, and ran up through the Taylorsville High driving range (during driver's ed!)  and back home.  Two weeks from today I leave for Seattle.  I am very excited to go! 

 PM:  Four mile death march before dinner.  Why is it that sometimes the short runs feel the longest?  I started feeling better in the last half mile.  I guess it takes me a few miles to get warmed up.  My hip felt pretty good, my right achilles, not so much.  Sigh!  It's always something.

I ran an easy five today in preparation for tomorrow's 5k.  My legs had more spring in them than they did last night, though my calves are still pretty sore.  I ran a loop down on the river trail to Millrace Park.  At the park I did 6 20 second strides.  Then I finished my run back to my house. 

Teren is taking Cole on his first Father and Sons campout tonight.  Cole woke up this morning excitedly exclaiming "I get to be a scout today!  I get to sleep in a tent!"  I hope it's still exciting at 10:00 tonight.  So, Lily and I are on our own this evening.  I plan on a nice relaxing evening with a chick flick and an early bedtime.  I will miss my boys at the race tomorrow, but I'm glad they can have some male bonding time.

Time for stretching and an icebath, and I'm ready to go!

My legs felt pretty good this morning as I arrived at the race.  I am very paranoid about being late for events, so I was there way too early.  I picked up my race packet, went to the bathroom, checked out the course map, and began my warm-up.  I warmed up for three miles on the roads in Holladay.  I felt good and was very excited to race.  The field was pretty small; probably because there are several races in the valley today, including the Utah Valley Marathon and Half Marathon.  But, Susannah was there, and ready to go.  I also saw a girl warming up on the field that looked like she could be pretty quick.

My goals for the race were sub-18, and I wanted to win.  I got a little anxious, and went out way too hard.  I went through the mostly-downhill first mile in 5:22.  Rob Murphy had stated that he wanted to run around 17:30, and he was behind me at the mile.  That should have been my first clue that I went out too hard.  Mile 2 rolled a bit, but nothing too killer besides one fairly large hill right before the two mile mark.  There was a water table before mile 2, and someone was yelling splits.  This made me think that I had hit the 2 mile mark.  My watch said 10:45, so I thought I was running nice and even, and was very excited.  But, then I saw the REAL 2 mile mark about 200 yards away.  I was not as fast as I thought I was.

The last mile is uphill pretty much the entire way.  My legs were feeling the 60 mile week and 5:22 first mile at this point.  They were tired, and the lactic acid set in hard as I wound my way through the Olympus Jr. High parking lot.  Thankfully, the last 200 meters was downhill.  I was disappointed to see the clock reading in the eighteens.  I really thought I was in sub-18 shape.  Susannah finished about 20 seconds behind me.  She's going to have an amazing college running career!  The other girl that I was worried about was a minute back. 

So, my feelings are mixed about this race.  I wonder if I had just went out with Rob, if I would have felt better later in the race, or if the hills would have killed me no matter what.  I should be happy with an almost 30 seconds improvement since my last 5k 2 weeks ago.  I still wish the fitness would come back faster, but then again, I'm not 25 anymore.  I need to focus on the progress I have made, and not how far I still have to go.  The fitness will come. 

I cooled down 4 miles with Rob, Bill, Susannah, Lisa, and Greg Schneider.  I got really hungry and dizzy during the last mile.  I was happy to be done, and happy I got to eat some food.  There is nothing better than free fresh Great Harvest Bread after a hard race.

2 more weeks until my half marathon.  It will be interesting to see if a tapered week makes any difference in the freshness of my legs. 

Today I just ran an easy ten miles.  I thought that I would try running on the river trail north of 4800S, to see if the flooding has cleared up.  I ran down 2200W to 3500S, and then to the river trail.  Less than a minute onto the trail, and I ran into flooding.  I didn't feel like wading through water today. (especially since my father-in-law told me about water snakes in the puddles . . .shudder!)  So, I turned back around.  I ran down to 900W and ended up looping around a correctional facility.  This took me over to 700W. I ran to 3900 S, and thought maybe I could get back onto the trail . . . nope.  still flooded.  So, I ran up to 1300 West, and over to 4700S.  At 4700 S, I ran to 1950 W, and back through the neighborhood to my house. 

My run meandered all over the place this morning.  I usually like my specific routes.  (What OCD runner doesn't?)  I guess a little adventure never hurt anyone.  Now I have to go wake the kiddos up.  East High cross country practice starts in an hour!

I met Devra at Sugarhouse Park, so we could do a track workout at Highland High.  We warmed up with a lap around the park, and added on to make a three mile warm up.  Devra had 4 x 1200 with 4 minute recovery in between at 4:10 pace.  I tagged along, and added on one more 1200 since I didn't run a half marathon this weekend like Devra did. 

The workout went really well.  We started out pretty conservatively, and got faster as the workout went on.  I felt comfortable until the fifth one, but then we were running much faster at that point.  My intervals were 4:08, 4:05, 4:04, 4:04 and 4:02. We ran a lap recovery, and then did a standing recovery until 4 minutes. 

We cooled down with a lap around Sugarhouse Park.  On our cooldown we ran into the East High team, who were just starting their workout.  I ran another two miles with the team, to give me a 4 mile cooldown. 

I did not feel very well this morning.  I haven't been sleeping very well the last few nights, and I think it caught up to me a bit today.  I will have to make sure to take good care of myself through the day today, or tomorrow's tempo run will be painful. 

My original plan was 12 miles, but I cut it to ten.  I felt like I was struggling, and the pace was not fast.  I'm glad that Devra came to run with me.  It was nice to have the distraction of someone to talk to. 

We ran out on the river trail to Gardner Village and back.  I filled my daily protein intake through the amount of gnats that kept flying into my mouth.  They were everywhere down there! 

Despite feeling awful, I think we managed to finish in a 7:10 average pace. So, we definitely picked up some steam as we ran. 

If I can just make it through this week, I get a nice easy one next week to prepare for the half.  3 more days!

I met Devra at Liberty Park to run a tempo run.  I originally wanted to run six, but I wimped out the last mile and cut it to five.  We warmed up two laps around the outside of the woodchip trail.  Then, we changed shoes, and jogged over to the start, which gave us a 3.5 mile warmup.  The goal was six minute pace.  

My splits were: 

Mile 1:  5:47

Mile 2: 5:48

Mile 3: 5:58

Mile 4: 6:06 (Whoops, my mind started to wander, and I wasn't focusing very well this mile.

Mile 5: 5:54  (Got my head back into it for the finish.)

Total time was 29:35 

I was happy with my tempo run.  I know that I need to make my splits a little more even, but I have found if I get out a little bit harder during the first couple of miles, I do better.

We did a three mile cooldown around the park, and then I rushed up to cross country practice.  It is going to be a busy summer!

I ran an easy recovery run today in preparation for tomorrow's 17 miler.  I ran out 2200W, down to 3800 S, over to 2700 W, and back up to 5400S. 

It was cold this morning.  I didn't bring a long sleeved shirt, so my arms felt numb.  My legs never felt like they really warmed up, either. 

I was kind of dreading today's run.  I am not a fan of long runs, which is a little weird since I want to run a marathon.  The longest I have run to this point is 15 miles, and for some reason 17 sounded like a lot of running.  Devra's schedule also had her running the last 5 hard, which intimidated me even more.  So, I was proud of myself for getting through today's run.

We ran out 1300 W to 104th S, up to 2700, and back to 5400.  We had to add an extra mile in the neighborhood to hit 17.  We didn't start out too quickly, about 7:20 pace for the first three.  Then, we started to pick up.  At about nine miles, where we turned onto 2700 S, we hit a slight downhill.  Our pace picked up significantly, so we decided to do our five hard right there instead of at mile 12.  From mile 9-14, we ran 6:20's.  At mile 11 we took a goo.  The 14th mile was pretty tough, because it was all uphill to 6200 S.  I was definitely feeling the pace then.  Even in the uphill mile we ran a 6:27.  After 6200 it is all downhill, so we just ran easy . . .6:30-40 pace instead of 6:20.  About this time the goo kicked in pretty good, so I felt great the last three miles.  Our total time for the run was 1:55:45, or 6:50 average according to Devra's garmin.

I'm glad to get past the mental barrier of today's run.  Plus, this is my longest run since the winter of 2008.  If I can just stay healthy, I think I will run really well!

Now I get to recover for next week's half marathon!

Devra and I ran really early this morning. We got going at 5:00 a.m. because we both had crazy schedules today.  This did not bode very well for our workout.  Devra had 4 x 1 mile, with a two-lap jog recovery.  I didn't want anything too hard, because I want to race well this weekend.  But, I thought I could handle this workout. 

We warmed up 2 miles through the neighborhood, and then did some strides at the track.  I thought 5:40-5:45 mile pace would be pretty easy based on last week's 1200 workout.  The first one I ran 5:38, and felt terrible.  The second I ran 5:40 and felt much better.  The third, I ran 5:39.  I felt like I was pushing, but not killing myself.  I decided to stop after three, but then decided to pace Devra through the last 800 of her last mile.  I ran this in 2:49. 

I know that I still have Saturday's run in my legs.  I think that had we run an hour or two later, the workout would have felt easier, and we would have been able to run faster.  However, I couldn't have run this workout a month ago, so I am improving.

We ran a 2.5 mile cooldown.  Then, I went home to get ready for cross country practice.  While I was in the shower, Cole found a fabric marker, and colored his entire face.  He had a big red beard when I came downstairs.  These markers are water resistant, so I thought that we would be living with little Redbeard for a few weeks.  Thankfully, I thought to try make-up remover, and it worked!  I learned something new today!   Needless to say, the fabric markers are now out of reach. 

My legs were feeling a bit pounded today, so I opted to cross train in order to give myself some extra recovery.  I rode my spinning bike for an hour, increasing the resistance every ten minutes.  While I rode, I caught up on trashy television.  I'm a little embarassed to admit that I am addicted to the Bachelorette.  I'm fully aware of the stupidity of this show, but appreciate the mindless entertainment that it provides.

My legs were nice and peppy this morning.  I think I will be ready to roll on Saturday.  I'm excited to be there two days before the race.  That means I can rest up and get myself in race mode instead of dealing with the chaos of everyday life with two kids.  It will be nice to be able to really focus.  I'm also excited for quality time with my mom . . . even if I do have to share her with Hot Scott (the boyfriend). 

I ran a 3.5 mile run on the river trail over to Millrace Park.  Then, I ran 10 x 1 minute on/1 minute off.  My original plan was 15, but my achilles tendon was not liking the lightweight trainers that I was wearing.  (I couldn't find my running shoes this morning.  I wonder if Lily has been wearing them again.)  10 seemed to be plenty.  To finish, I ran a mile and a half home from the park. 

I traveled to Seattle today.  In the afternoon, my mom and her boyfriend brought me to a running trail to do my run.  I shortly realized that I had strained my achilles tendon pretty badly yesterday.  This makes me so nervous for the race on Saturday.  It hurt the entire run, and I was limping by the end.  I stopped at 4.

No running.  Just lots of ice and massage.  I am very concerned about tomorrow's race. 

Completely disgusted and frustrated!!! I will write a more detailed report later.  Let's just say I totally fell apart.  I guess at least I made it through the race. 

 It's later.  I'm still very disappointed, but the original emotion has dissipated.  I can look at my race more objectively now.   I think Teren stated it best, when he said "your mind is faster than your body right now."  He's right.  I'm trying to run to my previous fitness, because that is what I think I "should" be running.  

Basically, I went out way too hard, put myself in a deficit, and then never mentally or physically recovered.  I went 18:00 through the first 5k.  No wonder I was already sucking wind at mile 2.  It just got worse and worse as the race progressed, and because I was getting discouraged, I never got into a rhythm.  In hindsight, the better race plan would have been to go out with the second group of women who started at around 6:00 pace, and raced within that group. 

After I started to really struggle, I mentally packed it in.  That was the longest second half of a half marathon EVER!  I just wanted to be done. 

So, the two major mistakes that I made are: going out too hard, and disengaging mentally.  I know that my fitness still needs to improve, but I know I am physically able to at least break 1:20.  That definitely would have happened today had I raced smarter.  My race was actually a 5k race, a 5k tempo, and then a 7 mile jog!

I guess the positive thing is that my achilles held up, though it is very sore now.  I finished even though I wanted to quit. (Of course, that might be because I didn't know how else to get to the finish line.)  I learned a lot about my true fitness level and my mental state, so I can set goals for the future.  I'm even more motivated to train and get myself to where I want to be.

I would post my splits, but they are so embarrassing!

I ran on the treadmill this morning to protect my achilles.  It was sore for a couple of miles, but it worked itself out pretty well.  I will just continue babying it . . . my house smells like Ben-Gay from all the massaging I have been doing. 

 You would never know that I ran a half marathon . . . probably because I really didn't.  I'm just going to look at it as a good hard long run.  I think I will recover pretty quickly. 

I started my run at a nice easy 8.0 mph, and increased .1 every half mile.  I was going pretty hard at the end, but the overall run felt pretty good. 

I was not very motivated this morning.  I think Saturday's race took a little wind out of my sails.  I'm sure I will perk up and get excited again soon. 

The weather was hot and windy this morning, even at 5:00.  I'm glad that I don't run later in the day.  I ran out 1300W to 70th S, over to 2700W, and back to 5400S.  My legs felt a little more sore than yesterday.  I think it was the lunges that I did with the cross country team. 

5 more tonight.

PM:  Five more on the treadmill.  97degrees and windy?  No, thank you!

I overslept yesterday, and spent the day preparing for our trip to Cedar City this weekend.  I didn't get a run in.  It is so hard to run if I don't do it first thing in the morning.

I didn't think the half marathon was affecting me very much until today, when I tried to do a fartlek workout.  I ran at Liberty Park.  I ran a 2 mile warm-up, and then ran 10 x 3 minutes on/2 minutes off.  I timed a couple of half miles, and realized that I was only running 5:45-5:50 pace.  At least they were consistent.  My legs were pretty dead when I tried running fast.  I ran 2 miles to cool down.  My achilles is still sore, but seems to be hanging in there.

So, I think I have a marathon picked out for the fall.  It's not a huge marathon, but I think it will be a good one.  I'm going to run the Des Moines Marathon on October 16th.  I've run the half before, so I'm familiar with half of the course.  It's completely flat.  There is some rolling in the first half, but I would rather have the hills at the beginning, than at the end.  It's nice to have something pinned down, so I can focus my training better. 

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. 

I took a few days off of running to see if some rest would help my achilles.  It didn't.  It feels pretty much the same.  So, I'll just keep plugging away, and hopefully get into a doctor soon. 

I woke up early to get my run in.  It was cloudy, muggy, and very dark.  There are some spooky places along the river trail.  I forgot my watch, so I don't know what the pace was.  I ran down 4800 to the river trail, to Boullion, and then back. 

After I ran, I took the kids to cross country practice.  The high schoolers got soaked.  As I was turning into the park, I hit a garbage can . . . it came out of nowhere!  I knocked the sideview mirror off of my car.  So, it was off to the dealership to get it fixed.  Great morning!

I ran on the treadmill this morning, with no achilles pain.  I guess I will be doing more treadmill running since it doesn't seem to bother it.  That will be exciting.  I started easy, and increased my pace every half mile.  I will be running a second run later this afternoon.

I had planned to run later in the day yesterday. But,  Teren worked overtime last night, so I didn't make it.  This morning I got up at 4:30 again to make sure I got my run in.  Someday I will learn that the only way I get my run in is to get up early. 

I ran on the treadmill again.  I warmed up 2 miles, and then ran a 6 mile tempo.  I was happy to get six in this week.  Of course, I should have been pretty fresh.  I started at 10.0 mph, and increased every 5 minutes.   The last mile I increased every .25 miles.  I finished at 5:33 pace.  My splits were:  6:05, 5:55, 5:50, 5:47, 5:43, and 5:37, for a total time of 35:02.  The last five minutes were pretty tough.  I cooled down ten minutes, and then had to stop because my stomach started giving me problems. 

I go to the doctor next Thursday to get my achilles examined.  Hopefully, the doctor can offer some solutions for getting healthy. 

I ran some easy soft-surface miles at Liberty Park.  It wasn't the most exciting run, just running laps around the park.  But, I have been running on the treadmill, so it was a big improvement from running in place. 

I ran most of the run with Susannah, and then threw a lap of fireman drills with the East High boys on my third lap.  I ran a couple more laps with the team, and one more with Susannah.  Then, I just had one more on my own.  My legs are tired, but not as bad as I thought they would be after a tempo run.  I was glad to get off of the treadmill.

I hadn't planned on running this race, since I've been struggling with the achilles problem, and haven't done much in the way of speed work the last two weeks.  But, last night I figured that since I was already registered, I might as well see what I could do. 

I'm a little ambivelent in how I feel about the race.  I didn't really prepare for it, so I didn't have much expectations of it.  However, the competitive part of me wishes I had done better.  It's just kind of more of the same pace that I have been stuck in the last couple of months.  But, at least I haven't lost too much fitness while nursing this injury.  I guess I'll just be happy I'm 75 dollars richer, and call it good.

I ran a 2 mile shakeout run this morning.  At the race I warmed up 3 miles with Andrea and Jake.  After a surprise cannon boom to start us out, I got out with Andrea the first mile.  I stuck close through 1.5-2 miles, and then started to fall back.  Andrea encouraged me to keep up, but I fell off.  I tried to keep the momentum going, but now I was in no-man's-land, so I got complacent.  I tried to stay strong on the nasty hill, but at this point I was really all by myself.  I finished as hard as I could, but it definitely would have been better had I stayed closer. 

I cooled down 4 miles with Susannah, Stephanie, and Andrea and Jake.  I had a major energy crash on the cool down, so I stopped there. 

So, since my achilles seems to be hanging in there, it's back to full training next week. 

Later AM:  5 miles at the health club.

After the race and extra mileage on Saturday, Teren and I went up to Deer Valley to go to one of the Deer Valley concerts and spend the night.  It was a lot of fun, and very nice to get away from my kiddos for a couple of days, but I didn't take care of my foot as well as I should have.  It was pretty sore today.

I chose to spend another day on the treadmill.  I ran eight miles, starting at 8.5 mph, and increasing at the end of every song on my i-pod. It was a quick pace, but comfortable.  52:45 for the total time.

Tomorrow I will be running my first speed workout in a couple of weeks.  I'm a little frustrated with trying to find times to run.  My in-laws are out of town for two weeks, my babysitter bailed on me, the young women in the neighborhood are all at girl's camp.  Teren is working tons of overtime, plus he has scout camp this weekend.  Sigh!!!  Sometimes I miss the days when my life was my own.    I'm sure I'll work it out somehow.  Rant over.

I ran on the track for the first time in a long time today.  I wasn't sure how my achilles would handle a workout.  I warmed up two miles, and then ran 4 x 200 to get a little turnover going.  Initially, I was going to run 1000 meter repeats, but decided to ease in a little bit, and ran 800's instead.  I ran 8 x 800 with 1 lap recovery, which turned out to be 1:1.  I will be working on cutting my recovery back as my fitness improves.  My goal pace was 2:45.  I ran

2:44.56

2:43.49

2:42.5

2:42.7 (Started to hit a groove.)

2:42.9

2:43.11

2:39.13 ( I found someone to pace me . . . he paced too fast.)

2:38.15

I probably would have run two more if not for the increased pace on the last two.  Plus, my achilles was beginning to feel it.  I love the track.  I wish all workouts felt this good. 

I cooled down 3 miles.  I'm tired!

Teren had another long work day yesterday, and due to one of my insomnia attacks, I didn't get up at 4:30 to run.  ( I didn't fall asleep until 2, even though I went to bed at 9.)  So, another run missed.    I almost missed this morning's run, too.  Devra was going to come over at 5 so we could go running, but I didn't turn on my 4:30 alarm, and rolled over to look at the clock at 4:59.  Devra is very prompt, so I rushed downstairs just as she was pulling into the driveway.  So, we got out a little later than usual.  But, we made it through our 10 miles.

It was a very nice run.  We kept the pace nice and easy, and ran out the River Trail to Gardner Village and back.  It was pretty dark at first, but I love running as the sun comes up. It took us 73 minutes to run 10 miles . . . definitely nice and easy. 

After my run I went to see Dr. Petron about my achilles.  There are no tears, (thank goodness) but there is some breakdown in the tendon.  Basically, just a nasty case of tendonitis.  We discussed my options.  Taking time off is not one of them, and Dr. Petron assured me that I am not very likely to tear my tendon running.  I could get PRP done, but he said I would be out 2 weeks to a month.  Cortisone is not an option because then I am at a high risk of tearing the tendon.  So, basically I just need to keep up with my ecentric exercises, ice, ibuprofen,  night splint,  all the things I have been doing, and deal with it until I get to the point that I can take a break.  After the marathon, if my achilles is still an issue, I will possibly get PRP done.  It sounds like such a pleasant process, involving injecting needles into my tendon. 

Today was another fun-filled treadmill tempo day.  I warmed up 2 miles, and proceeded to run a 7 mile threshold run.  I decided that since my run was longer than last week's, I would increase my pace every mile, rather than every 5 minutes.  This was not a big change, but kept me under control a little longer.   I felt really good today.  I need to take some tempos to the roads to see where I really am, but regardless, I am seeing progress.  Plus, the treadmill seems to keep my achilles happier.  When I hit 5 miles, I increased every half mile, and finished at 11.0 mph (5:27) pace.  I only ran this pace for a quarter of a mile.

Mile1: 6:06

Mile 2: 5:56.65

Mile 3: 5:52.2

Mile 4: 5:48.3

Mile 5: 5:45.4

Mile 6: 5:41.5

Mile 7: 5:32.6   Miles 2-7: 34:38   Total time: 40:46

I cooled down 2 miles. 

PM:  4 miles easy.  My legs were feeling this morning!

I met Devra at my house to get my long run in.  Devra did 12 with me, and then I ran the last six on my own.  It's so nice to have company on long runs.  I still have a tough time wrapping my mind around long runs, but I know I need to get used to it.  Having a partner makes it go so much faster.

We ran out on the river trail again.  I have avoided the north part of the trail because of all the flooding.  I definitely didn't want to run out there if it was still flooded.  Wading through water that has been stagnating all summer didn't sound pleasant.  We decided to give it a try anyway.  Happily, the flooding is gone.  That is my favorite part of the trail, and it is nice to be able to run on it again. 

The first mile of the run didn't bode well for the rest of the run.  It takes my foot a while to warm up, so we were 7:50 through the first mile.  I thought it was going to be an extremely long run at that rate.  But, then we got rolling.  At 12, we were at 1:23, and I finished the run at 2:04:03.  The pace definitely picked up.  The middle six miles seemed the most difficult.  That must be mental.  The last six, I was just focused on finishing. 

So, I am on my way to 20 milers.  All you marathoners out there,  do you think it is beneficial to go longer, like 22-24 miles, or is 20 sufficient? 

AM  I planned on running a fartlek workout this morning, but was still feeling the long run on Saturday, so I just ran.  I tried a new route, out 1300W to 7000S, down to the river trail, and back home.  It was a bit shorter than I had planned on, so next time I will go out to 7800S, and drop down to Gardner Village.  That will give me 10 instead of  8.  So, another run is in the plans for this afternoon.

I've been re-reading Once a Runner, which I formerly read in high school.  I always like to be inspired.  I realized, though, that I shouldn't read it before bed.  I get too excited, and it is difficult to sleep.  Maybe I need to read it before I go out for workouts.  Apparently, there is a sequel to Once a Runner called Again to Carthage.  I'm excited to read it after I finish Once a Runner. 

AM:  I met Devra today for an easy ten.  We ran from my house, out 1300 W, out to 7800S, down to the river trail, and then back through Millrace Park.  10 milers are starting to feel very easy.  Of course, our pace wasn't to fast.

I received all of my information for the half in Indianapolis, including a list elite athlete bios.  It made me very excited and nervous.  Top ten is not out of the question, and if I'm feeling really good, a top five finish is possible.  There are some very good runners in the 1:11-1:14 range, but most are 1:19-1:21 for a half marathon.  I'm sure that I am much better than my debacle at the Seattle RNR half, so I should run pretty well.  Even 6 minute pace would be sub-1:19.  This race is going to be a fun one, and I'm very excited to run it.

 PM:  Motivated by the long list of fast women that I will be running against in Indianapolis, I dutifully headed to the health club for some extra mileage.  Usually my kids love to go to the daycare, but Cole decided to cop an attitude, and I had to drag him kicking and screaming into the health club.  I'm sure the daycare workers loved hearing me say:  "Come on Cole, Mommy just needs 4 more miles, then we can go."  Cole put up a good fight, but Mommy's workout prevailed.  Of course, when I returned half an hour later, he was playing happily with some of the other kids.   Why does everything have to be a power struggle?

I ran an early morning workout with Andrea today at Liberty Park.  The plan was 3 miles, 2 miles, 1 mile at 6:20 pace, 6:10 pace, and 6:00 pace.  But, that was a conservative plan.  We warmed up 2 miles, and then started our workout.  Recovery between intervals was a half mile.   I ran the 3 mile in 18:15, the 2 mile in 11:51, and the mile in 5:45.   The three mile felt great.  My body really likes 6:00-6:10 pace.  It got difficult to break out of that pace.  On the mile I still went through the half in 6 minute pace, so I had to negative split to hit 5:45.  Maybe a little more speedwork is in order.   It was great having a strong partner to push me.  There's not many people that I run with that are faster than me.   I cooled down 3 miles to give myself 12 for the day. 

AM:  I ran an easy five miles today.  My legs are tired!  My achilles had a tough time warming up this morning, so I kept it short.  I will do a longer run on the treadmill this afternoon, and then I will be ready for a long run tomorrow!

Since I didn't get the second longer run in yesterday, I was very fresh today.  I know that is not optimal going into a long run.  It's definitely better to run on tired legs.  So, taking that into consideration, plus the fact that I have only had one speed workout this week, I decided to really work the run today.  I obviously felt really good, because normally I can't run my long runs as fast as I did today.  I ran out 2200 W to 3500 S, down to the river trail, and then out, past Gardner Village to the 5 mile mark at the road.  Then, I turned around and came back.  I left the trail at Millrace Park, and ran back home.  

The only problem I had, was that the gu that I took at 10 miles did not agree with my stomach very well.  It is time to experiment with some different gels.  I've heard good things about hammer gels.  Maybe it's time to order a box.  It is definitely time to get myself a Garmin. . . so I can be particularly anal about my runs.  I've found that I am pretty accurate at pacing and determining distances.  Anyway, total time for the run was 2:13:42. 

I woke up early and ran 7 miles very easy.  It felt like my slowest run ever!  I'm definitely feeling yesterday's 20 miler.  Then, I drove to Tooele to coach at the cross country meet.  While I was at the meet, I put in 4 more miles running on the course. 

My achilles was pretty stiff this morning, so I took my workout to the treadmill.  I warmed up three miles and then ran 6 x 5 minutes on, three minutes off.  I started the intervals at 5:45 pace, and increased every interval.  (5:45, 5:42, 5:39, 5:36, 5:33, 5:30)  The last one in increased the pace every minute for the last 3 minutes, so I finished at 5:21 pace.  In between intervals I ran 7:30 pace.   I cooled down to 11 miles when I was finished.  The total time for my run was 71:52 for 11 miles.  So, the workout functioned almost like a tempo run.  The good thing is that I felt pretty recovered from the 20 miler. 

I ran a recovery run out to 7800S, down to Gardner Village, onto the river trail, back to Millrace Park, and up through the neighborhood.  It took me about 4 miles to warm up, but after that I felt pretty good.  I was able to run a little bit later in the morning, which was nice for sleeping.  But, it definitely gets warmer.  I'm running a 10k at Liberty Park for some tempo work on Saturday, and the race doesn't start until 8:45.  It's going to be a warm one!

I'm looking forward to a bit of a taper week next week, and the race in Indianapolis.  Then, it's six more weeks until the marathon!  It is coming so fast!

Ugh.  That was a tough run.  I ran out 1300 W, to 9000S, up to 2700 W and back down to 5400 S.  It felt like it was taking forever.  I'm ready for this week to be over, and I still have 3 more days of training.  I don't think Saturday is going to be anything spectacular, but that's okay.  It's just for some tempo training, and it's more important to finish out some good mileage this week.  But, I think a nice ice bath is in order today.  Maybe even just to cool me off.  It is hot outside this week!

I woke up feeling really nauseated.  I slogged through 7 miles.  Here's hoping I feel better on Saturday.

I felt worse today than yesterday.  My legs feel all right, it's just the rest of me that is so sluggish.  You know that candy bar commercial, where the swimmer is swimming in caramel?  I feel like I'm running through carmel, just really slow motion.  I didn't time todays run, just ran off of feel.  I ran out 4800, to the river trail, out to Bullion, and back.  I need to get it together for tomorrow.

So, since I'm racing a big half marathon next weekend, the point of today was to run a controlled tempo run/longer run.   I had the idea that I wanted to run six minute pace, but in the back of my mind I knew that I would probably run what I needed to win.  

I did a longer warm-up, because I didn't want to be too fresh.  I'm trying to learn to run marathon pace on tired legs.  I warmed up six miles.  The race started at 8:45, so it was really warm during the race.  Between the heat, a small field that left me by myself for the whole race, and continuing stomach issues from the last few days, I was pretty happy with the outcome.

I got out a little quickly at the mile, running through in 5:46.  After that, I didn't get consistent mile splits.  I missed the two mile, and thought that the 5k mark was for the 10k, when it actually was the turnaround point for the 5k.  At this point, I just got into a groove, and tried to keep even effort.  I did see that I was 30:44 through 5 miles, so I picked up the last 1.2 miles, and managed about 6 minute pace for the last mile. 

I felt comfortable with the pace the entire race, just not the heat.  I liked the course, and wished that it had been run a little earlier in the morning.  The good thing is that I felt like I could run 6:10 pace for a long time.  If I could hold this pace through a marathon, I would run a 2:40, which would be great! 

So, the real test is next week.  I cooled down 3 miles, and started to crash.  15 for the day is good, but if Teren gets home from work at a decent hour, I may try to get 5 more in.

I'm running a little bit easier of  a week this week.  I really want to run well this weekend in Indianapolis.  I ran an easy 8 miles this morning, but was feeling Saturday a bit.  I guess I ran a little harder than I thought.  It shouldn't take too long to get feeling good, though. 

The race director from the Des Moines Marathon has offered travel assistance, 2 nights lodging, and a comp entry.  So, I guess that once I've purchased my plane ticket, I'm all set.  It makes me nervous!   I'm not exactly where I wanted to be in terms of mileage, or even the buildup through the whole year.  The stress reaction, and ongoing achilles problems have made me more cautious in my training than I would normally be.  But, since I've never run a marathon, I'm forging ahead.  I know that I have enough natural speed to run an OTQ.  I guess the question will be if 60-70 mpw is enough to base my endurance on.  I plan on hitting a couple of 75-80's after this week, but I hope it's not too little too late.  Like Teren says, after I run the marathon, then I will actually be ready to train for a marathon.  I'm sure next fall will be more successful running wise, but since it is an Olympic year, I've got to give it a shot now.    I am excited, but definitely nervous since it is all unknown to me.

I met Emily Bates at Murray High for a track workout.  It took us a little while to find each other, since we parked on different sides of the building.  We warmed up 2 miles on the track, and even got our lifting in, because we had to move benches, and fences out of lane 1.  The goal for the workout was 6 x 1000 with 400 recovery in between.  In a couple of weeks I want to be doing 10-12 of these, but since I have a race Saturday, I cut it in half. 

Our splits were a little all over the place as we took turns leading.  It took a couple to get into a groove.  We got about 2:30 recovery in between. 

1. 3:24.46

2. 3:30 ( I missed starting my watch on this one, and was running along nice and comfortably. I had to pick up the pace the last 400 to hit 3:30.)

3. 3:23.38

4. 3:25.96

5. 3:26.76

6. 3:24 11

I felt nice and strong during this workout, and definitely could run a few more . . . especially if I really hit 3:30 instead of 3:25. 

We cooled down 3 miles on a nice jog through Murray Park.

Now it's time to recover!

I felt a little pounded in the hips and hamstrings this morning, but by the end of the run felt much better.  Devra met me nice and early for our run.  We ran out 2200W  over to 3800S, to 2700W, into a wonderful head wind up to 5400S, and back through the neighborhood to my house.  I may jog a few miles at the cross country meet this afternoon, but my biggest focus is making sure I'm nice and fresh for the half on Saturday.  I leave tomorrow!

It was nice and cool outside this morning, but very dark.  I wanted to get my run in early since I will be on a plane most of today.  I've decided that short runs are nice, but my body needs a couple of more miles to really get going. I ran a mile and a half warm-up, followed by 10 x 1 minute on, 1 minute off.  Then, I cooled down another mile and a half.  When I was done with my fartleks, I felt ready to start a workout.  My legs feel good, except for my omnipresent sore calves.  Of course, that might mostly be from the ecentric exercises I did last night.   Well, off to Indianapolis!

I arrived in Indianapolis to find that they are having record high temperatures, hovering around 100 degrees.  With the humidity, the heat index is over 107.  I woke up and went for a run around race time, trying to feel out what the temperature would feel like.  It was about 75 degrees at 7 in the morning.  It was definitely warm while I ran, but seemed manageable.  I jogged through downtown Indianapolis until I found the canal road.  I ran back and forth on the canal road for half an hour, and then jogged back to my hotel. 

Later in the day I met the other athletes.  We went for a course tour.  The course is flat and shaded, which is nice.  There is about a 4 mile section of straight running with no turns, and then back a block over, which will mentally be a little tough.  After the course tour,  the race held a dinner and fashion show of running apparel.   I concentrated on hydrating well through the day.

So, today was a disaster.  I knew that the heat and humidity was going to be a factor, so I wanted to forget about trying to hit a goal time, and run conservatively.  Everyone's finishing times were about 4-5 minutes off their personal bests, so the weather definitely played a role. 

I warmed up 15 minutes easy, and then headed over to the starting line.  I did some strides, and then we were off.  I tucked in at 6 minute mile pace for the first three miles.  The next three miles I had dropped to 6:20 pace, but seemed to be holding steady.  We were all getting spread out at this point.   At mile 4, my achilles started hurting, but I kept pressing on.  Over the next four miles, I started experiencing shooting pains up my right hamstring.  I couldn't tell if it was cramping, or if it was a referred pain based on how I was landing on my achilles.  It started getting worse in miles 8-9.  At this point I knew the race was not happening for me anymore.  I limp-jogged my way to the medical tent at mile 10, where they offered me a packet of mustard . . . not helpful!  I realized that I wasn't going to get much help, or a ride to the finish, so I decided to jog easy to the end.  It didn't matter how slow I went, the shooting pains continued.  That was the longest three miles ever.  I went to the medical tent at the finish line, where they iced my achilles, which was throbbing pretty good at this point.  Later in the evening, the shooting pains came back, running from my hamstring up into my hip.

So, the heat may have been a factor, but what I ultimately realized was that if my achilles can't make it through a half marathon, then the marathon is starting to seem out of the question.  Part of me wants to forge on through, but I feel like I'm setting myself up for disaster.  The injury is always in my mind, and I keep having to back off my training in order not to aggravate it . . . which means I'm not where I want to be fitness-wise . . . which leads to no confidence when it comes to races. 

My initial instinct is to finally take the time to heal up, and start the re-building process.  That means Olympic Trials in the marathon are not likely to happen.  This is obviously a huge disappointment, but I've been so miserable through this whole process, that it's almost a relief to hit this point.  More than my physical limitations, I am not in the right mindset to tackle the marathon.  I've put so much importance on qualifying, that I'm not enjoying running . . . especially on an injury.  It may be time to get all healed up.

Back to running.  I ran a few times last week.  The first time I ran 3 miles, a couple of days later, 4 , and Saturday 5.5.  I'd like to say that my achilles is completely healed, but it still gets pretty sore.  New shoes and a stiffer heel lift seem to keep most of the impact off of it. 

I feel a bit stiff and awkward, like my body forgot how to run.   I'm sure I'll smooth out after a while.   I ran out 4800S to the river trail, up at Bullion to 1300W, to 5400S and home.   This is definitely the best time of the year to run!  It is so gorgeous outside. 

So, I don't have any immediate plans.  I'll probably stick to easy running for a while.  If I want to maintain top 3 on the LDR circuit, I need to run the Beat the Heat 5k on Oct.16th.  I know I shouldn't care, but the 500-750 dollars that I will win tempts me too much.  It won't be a great race though.  But, really, all I have to do is run it to get enough points. 

I slept in this morning, so after I dropped Cole off at pre-school, I hit the club.  I need to make good use of the daycare.   I ran 7 miles on the treadmill.  I had only planned on 45 minutes of running, but because I'm anal about hitting exact mileage when I am on the treadmill, I ran the extra 2:10.  I ran my usual progression run, starting at 8.5 mph, and increasing every five minutes.  It's not the most exciting run, but the treadmill does protect my calves.

Today was another exciting treadmill day.  It was the same drill as yesterday, but I started slower (8.0 mph) and increased every half mile.  I even managed 6 minute mile pace for the last minute of the run.  I plan on running outside tomorrow. 

I'm just starting back running after my achilles injury.  It is feeling much better, but still gets a little sore.  I've run a few times, and it doesn't seem to get worse, but easy does it.

Right now I am goal-less, except for trying to get back to working out consistently.  My husband has been out of state for 3 weeks, which made it difficult to get out and work out.  Thank goodness for the child care at my health club, or I don't know if I would make it out at all.  Needless to say, this is not the fall I planned on having.

I'm not sure where to go with my running, now.  I guess I'll just take it one day at a time, and focus on being healthy.

I ran 5 miles on the treadmill this afternoon, and pondered why the guy sweating all over the elliptical chose to wear khaki cargo to work out. 

After my run I did 3 sets of 15 eccentric calf raises.  Then, I headed into the gym to do 1-legged squats on the stability disc, which resulted in some dirty looks from two burly neanderthals looking to shoot some hoops. 

So, I start ramping up the running again, and immediately come down with a cough.  I felt better today, though, so it's not serious.   I went to the health club and ran for half an hour on the treadmill.  Then, I got on the elliptical until the lifting class started.  I took a Body Pump class, and quickly realized how out of shape I really am.  My muscles were shaking after the warm up.  It is definitely time to get back into the swing of things. 

Here's to a renewed commitment to consistent training.  I decided to spend these next six weeks before Christmas building my mileage back up, and focusing on my overall strength.  Today was my first outside run in a long time.  It was so calm and peaceful outside.  I've definitely been missing my morning runs. As a bonus, the weather cooperated, and actually felt balmy.  My achilles is feeling great, though my left hip is tight. My hip always gives me a few problems as I get back into shape, but with stretching and strength work, it should return to working order shortly.  When I got home, Teren commented on my heavy breathing.    Yes, I am out of shape.  Half an hour of running has me breathing  like I just ran intervals.  But, it will get better.

I spent all day yesterday feeling excited about getting out again on a morning run.  That's not a feeling I've had in quite a while.  It's nice to feel the spark again.  I was a bit underdressed for my run today.  The closet monsters seem to have eaten all of my gloves, and I could have used a jacket.  But, the run was only five miles, so I survived.

I ran down 4800 to the river trail, over to Millrace Park, and up through the neighborhood to my house.  I thought it would be really dark on the trail, but the half-moon provided just enough light to see.  It was actually very pretty with the moonlight reflecting off of the water.

Now, I'm at home drinking peppermint hot chocolate!  Time to warm up. 

I'm looking forward to hearing from Jake and Andrea at tonight's LDR banquet.  Besides the fact that Teren and I get to go out without the kids.  It's time to remember what being an adult feels like!

I figured that I should make the most of the warmer weather before a winter storm makes it difficult to run outside.  It was pretty windy this morning, but the temperature was very comfortable.  I started shedding layers about halfway through the run.  I ran my six mile 4800 S to River Trail loop.  I listened to quite the eclectic mix of music, which included Kelly Clarkson's new album (very run-able!)  Adele, Lady Gaga, and a few Christmas songs for good measure.  How did I ever survive without a soundtrack to my running. 

Tonight we held the East High cross country awards banquet. (It's banquet week!)  Brad Barton was the guest speaker.  He was very entertaining, combining magic with inspiration.  I highly reccommend him to anyone looking for a motivational speaker.  I felt a little stupid when I asked him if he had a running background, and he said "a little bit of one."  Then, I found out he was an All-american at Weber state and made a USA team.  I would say that is more than a "little bit" of a running background!  Next time I'll do my homework so I don't sound so ignorant.

Today was a treadmill morning, partly because of the weather, and partly because I am alone with the kiddos for the weekend.  Scoutmaster Teren is on a campout.  I'm hoping he makes it out of the mountains in one piece! 

I felt great running, today.  I must run a faster pace when I'm running outside, because most of the run felt effortless.  I haven't been timing my runs since I'm just trying to get the mileage going again.  My initial plan wa 45 minutes of running, but I felt great, so I finished out the last half mile.  I've been noticing that I start feeling my achilles after 30-35 minutes of running, so I probably need to back off a bit.   On the up side, the tightness in my hip is dissipating. 

Dropped the kids at the daycare for a treadmill run.  I started faster than I have been, and increased my pace every five minutes  The run was comfortably hard, which is better than excruciatingly hard, which the same pace was 2 weeks ago.  I had planned to run 45 minutes, and see how much mileage I could cram in.  At about 37 minutes, the day care worker kindly informed me that my Little Lily Poops-a-Lot needed her diaper changed.  So, I finished six miles and headed to the daycare.  It didn't make a lot of sense to stop, take a 10 minute diaper break, and then come finish 8 more minutes.    My achilles felt good until about 35 minutes, and then began to twinge a bit.  My hip was tighter today. 

Since I plan on eating a lot this evening, I made sure to burn some extra calories this morning.  I ran 8 miles, took a 10 minute break, and then took the Thanksgiving Boot Camp class.  Boot Camp is so fun, but extremely hard.  I found that while I can run all day long, I cannot army crawl the entire length of the gym floor.  I looked like the big wimp that I am!  I amused myself through class by listening to two girls describe, in detail, everything that they were going to eat later that day. 

Happy Thanksgiving Bloggers!  I am grateful for a relatively healthy body that can get out the door each day and run.  Running has brought me some of the greatest challenges, but also some of the greatest blessings in my life.  And, I'm grateful for all of those on this blog that share in the misery and elation that is long distance running.

My body is so sore today!  I don't think I was running very quickly, but I was enjoying the nice warm morning.  Plus, when I came home, Teren had french toast waiting for me.  I'm sure the soreness will fade just in time for me to take on another strength class.

I would rather go run than brave Black Friday.  I HATE crowds!

I ran for an hour, and then took a Body Pump class.   I really hate weight lifting, but I think it will help my injury issues if I strengthen up.  But, I can't lift my arms over my head without whimpering.   I am very happy my achilles seems to be doing pretty well, though I plan on another month of just mileage before I try to hit any workouts again. 

We had a major scare yesterday.  My 2-year-old nephew pulled a china cabinet down on himself and the glass shattered all over the poor kid.  He pulled through it pretty well, all things considered.  There is no nerve damage in the face, and the tendon in his knee that the doctors thought might be cut, is intact.  But, he has over 100 stitches, and a full cast on his leg.   During the Thanksgiving weekend it was a huge reminder of what is really important in life.  You can bet that I appreciated my own healthy children even more. 

I threw some 1 minute pick ups into my run, today.  It was freezing out this morning, so I opted for the treadmill.  Every 5 minutes I ran 1 minute at 6 minute mile pace.  It got a little more difficult as the run progressed because I was also increasing my base pace every half mile.  So, the recovery stopped feeling like recovery.  It felt good to run just a bit faster.

I am a terrible blogger.  I'm definitely lacking in motivation, and need to get my act together. 

I thought Cole could use some time out of the house today, so I took him to the gym day care while I ran on the treadmill.  It was a quiet morning at the health club.  I should enjoy it before the new year's onslaught occurs.  I started at 8.5 mph and increased every 5 minutes.  Total time 40:44.

Huffed and puffed through a 7.3 mile run with Devra.  I ran this particular loop this summer, and thought it was 8.  I must have been going really slowly that day.  I'm enjoying having my husband home all week.  It makes it easier to get out for a run.  I also enjoyed having a running partner, though I hope I didn't slow her down too much!   We ran 1300W, down to 7000 S, to the river trail, and back home.  It was a nice mix of hills, road and trail. 

Today was a lazy day.  I took the kids to Jump N Bounce this morning so that they would stop "jump n bouncing" off of the walls at home.  After all that jumping, we needed naps, so I didn't run until this evening.  Since it was dark, I headed for the gym again.  I don't think my treadmill was callibrated correctly, because the whole run felt really easy.  8 miles in 53:15.  That pace would be much more difficult for me on the roads. 

Another fun Dimple Dell run with Devra.  I felt great on the 3.5 miles downhill, not so much coming back.  Still, the weather was warm, and it's pretty in the Dell.  I hate hills, so it's a great place for me to run!

Week 1 of my return to fitness started to catch up to me today.  It's been a few months since I've run 5 days in a row . . . and I could definitely feel it.  It was also my longest run in a couple of months. 

Devra met me at my house.  We ran out 4800 S and jumped on the river trail.  Then, we ran in to a nice head wind for three miles.  At Winchester, we left the trail and climbed the ginormous hill to 1300 West.  I felt like I was crawling at this point.  On 1300 West we caught a tail wind, and were able to pick up the pace.  We finished with another uphill-into-the-wind through my neighborhood.  Our overall pace was 7:15 per mile, with a finishing time of 1:05:10.  I now have a benchmark with which to measure my fitness . . . at least on that run.  I enjoyed the spring-like weather, and wished I had been wearing shorts.

I met a big group of people down on the river trail this morning.  It is so much fun having a group run.  I felt much better than yesterday, but out and back on the river trail isn't too taxing strength-wise.  I still started huffing and puffing after about 7 miles, and I'm still trying to hang on to Devra's coattails.  But, I feel ambitious that the fitness will actually come back.  Thanks Jake and Andrea for organizing today's run. 

I exceeded my goals for this week.  I just wanted to make sure I got out the door for a run every day, and I set the tentative goal of 40 miles this week.  (You have to start somewhere!)  I was also happy to hit a ten miler.  That is my longest run in quite a while.  The best thing is that my achilles is doing so much better.  I feel the occasional twinge and sore calves, but not the constant pain that I ran in this summer.  Yay! 

Next week I would like to keep my mileage in the 45-50 range.  I will probably keep my "long run" around 10 (maybe 12 if I feel good), but I would like to add in 1-2 light fartlek runs to get the turnover coming back.  I also like speed workouts.  They keep me mentally challenged.