Emily's training blog

Met X-C team at Sugarhouse park.  Most of them were pretty sore from weekend races, so they just had an eight mile run, plus hills afterward.  I was planning to stay in the park to run a fartlek workout, but Bill talked me into running it out on the course that they were running.  I warmed up 15 minutes and then ran 2 sets of 5 min, 3min, 2 min, with 3 min, 2 min, 1 min, recovery.  We ran our usual cemetary route, with two loops around the cemetary.  My total time for the eight miles was 55:12. (actually, this was a little past eight miles.)  After the run we did 10 hills, and then a mile and a half cool-down for ten miles total. 

I'm glad I'm getting used to ten mile days.  I know I'm getting stronger . . . now to get faster!!  I was definitely motivated by the performances at Des News this weekend.  I am inspired by all those fast ladies to get back to that level of running.  It's been a long time!! 

The hills that I ran at the end of my workout yesterday made my left calf incredibly tight and sore.  It wasn't so much the running up the hills as the walking backwards down the hills.  I opted for an hour on the elliptical trainer this morning.  I started at level 7, and increased a level every twenty minutes.  I watched a story on the news about a guy who set the world record for the world's longest ear hair (5 inches!).  So Gross!!!  The jury is still out as to whether I will attempt an evening run.  Watching the high school kids suffer through another day of hills kind of makes me feel guilty for not running. (What kind of example am I?)   So, we'll see how the leg feels when Teren gets home tonight.

Calf is feeling better.  It was just tightness.  I think I was kind of being a baby, but with my history of calf/achilles injuries I'm a little paranoid!  I didn't run until Teren got home from work, when it was way too hot to go outside.  So, off to the gym for some treadmill miles.  I started nice and easy at 8.2 mph, and increased .1 every half a mile.  I wanted a little bit of a pick-up, but nothing to make me sore tomorrow, since I want to run some longer repeats. 

I ate steak fajitas when I got home, but they didn't seem to agree with my stomach, since it has been hurting all night.

A.M.  I met the East High team at Liberty Park.  My goal was to run 4 x 1 mile with half a mile recovery.  However, my stomach problems from last night were still present.  I ended up stopping at the bathroom twice in the first lap of my warm-up.  I decided to just run another lap, and see if my stomach felt better in the evening.  So, just 3 miles this morning.

P.M.  Back to the treadmill.  I decided to do a 4 mile tempo instead of repeats.   I warmed up two miles, and then increased the speed to 10mph.  I increased .1 every 5 minutes.  After about 15 minutes, the treadmill began to smoke, and smell really bad.  I switched treadmills to finish up 10 minutes to make my total tempo 25 minutes long.  I didn't really pay attention to see how far I really ran, but it was over 4 miles.  I cooled down to make the total mileage 7 for the run.  I'd like to say I was running really fast, but I'm not sure the smoking treadmill was going as quickly as it said it was.  Still, my stomach felt better, so I count the workout as a success.

I began my run in the wee small hours of the morning.  Teren was running a 5k in the corporate games, and I didn't want to start a long run in the heat of the morning. I began my run at 5:00 a.m.  It was nice and cool, but the darkness created some challenges.  At  about mile 3, there was some pretty serious construction that took some navigation.  During the second half of the run, the sun began to come out.  I love running during the sunrise.  I took a bathroom stop after about seven miles.  Three miles later my stomach started to cramp again.  I was frustrated when there were three port-a-potties within 100 meters.  They were all either locked, or fenced off.  So, I ended up running very quickly for the last 2-3 miles.

I usually like to run on the river trail, but always feel like a depraved boogie man is going to jump out of the woods and grab me when I run on it in the dark.  So, I stuck to the roads to try my luck playing in traffic.   (At least there were street lights.)   I ran down to 1300W, out to 90th south, up to 2700 W, and back to 5400 S, to home.   I erased my total time off my watch, but it was around 1:25.  ( somewhat short of 13, but the need for the bathroom hampered my plan to run the rest through the neighborhood.)  What is up with my stomach!!!!