Believe to Achieve

MAJOR FLARE of INTENSE NERVE PAIN radiating in many directions on my right side--- mainly hip, calf, heel, ankle, neck, side of face, down right arm, wrist and fingers.  I tend to get more flares in late spring.  Not sure what it is.  Super burning, some tingling, numbness and stabbing pain ALL on the right side.  Makes me feel like something is attacking me...this has been a 7 day attack, and its been one of the top ones, lasting longer.  Super annoyed.  Still not going to a Dr.   A friend tonight at a social mentioned about her father in law with shingles that keep surfacing thru nerve pain now.  I could liken it to that type of pain.  It seems systematic, at times predicatable/pattern-like.  He too stopped going to the Dr. for help and understanding.  I would also liken my pain to the areas shown on the fibromyalgia commercials.  Although I hate that diagnosis since it seems to be a catchall disease, not fully understood, yet many diseases are not anyway.  I worked through it all, knowing that making it through a 12 hour shift in this intensity of pain and not talking about it much WILL make me stronger in the marathon.  It is just that at this intensity--if it were next week, I  WOULD NOT run the marathon.   I couldn't mentally get my body to WANT to even start to run.  SO  I give myself these next days to rest and recover and pray I go into remission again.  : D.  EASY miles before work-- pain was not good--  5 @ AP 8:36.

Thought I was fine when I awakened but as soon as I sat down in the morning, from lying down of course all night the pain returned intensely.  Skipped on the 3 x 1600 meters (8miles) and tried to find ways without medication to stop the pain.  I had a massage appt so kept that and had deep tissue massage to my shoulder, upper back and legs.  It hurt.  Then the pain was back.  So at 415pm I drove to the American Fork River and sat in it as best  I could (it WAS RAGING!!!).  Managed to sit with my pelvis in the water. BRRRRRrrrrrrr!!   Cold as ice for sure.  Stayed in exactly 7 minutes.  Then thawed out gradually.  After an hour and feeling pretty sad for myself I took a hot shower then decided to just get out and run two miles.  Well, two miles turned into 3 then 4 and the just decided to go to 5 miles and then run with Mel, Kim and Jane tomorrow morning up the AF canyon.  But DARN it my calves are like pregnancy calves--- charlie horses in both of them but mainly the right.  Seriously have never had this running injury.  The massage therapist worked a lot on my piriformis muslcle.  I had TONS of trigger points.  It hurt so good.  5 VERY EASY pace miles in the WIND at 8:30 pace.

505am run up AF Canyon with Mel, Kim, and Jane.   Parked at the very mouth of the canyon and off we went.  No water.  Freezing temps, well almost with the artic air from the snow capped mountains and the nice headwind we had for a bit.  Quite enjoyed this workout.  Calf and piriformis were VERY tight and quite painful at the start but either the cold or the endorphins numbing the pain helped tons.  Brrrrrr!!  Felt pretty tight on the downhill and a bit sore.  Oh and then I was like "oh yah I had a deep tissue massage yesterday, duh!!".  At first downhill was a killer on the calf and achilles, again the endorphins kicked in and after 4 miles of downhill I was able to get in a 6:22 mile : D.  Only one.  I then slowed to run in with Kim.  Her piriformis was screaming too.  The sloped and angle roads combined with the cold were not a good combination.  The mountain air and BRISK river was lovely.  AP  7:35 for 16 miles.  AP for 8 miles up (8:13)-- WE ARE TALKING a 1,616 foot net elevation gain thanks to my garmin for that detail.    A little over an hour later Kim picked me up and we headed for some TRUE cryotherapy in the AF RAGING WATERS.  Seriously COLD.  ICE COLD.  Lasted only 3 minutes.  Not a second longer. 

7 very easy miles before work.  tired.  pulled self out of bed at 4:35am.  ran in circles.  off to a long day at work.  AP in my trail shoes 8:52.  Amazing it has been a year since Squaw Peak 50+ miler.  This year the SNOW FALL is so bad that the course was redirected to avoid the BIG CLIMBING through the snow.  A faster year from what I hear.  But it was the warmest day so far this year.  Yikes.  That happened last year too.   7 DAYS UNTIL A NEW MARATHON PR.  OH YAH!! : D

9 Easy at 8:15 AP.  I left at 7am and headed in the direction of the sun (west) as the mountains always block the sun a little too long.  I had the WORST attack yesterday-- burning in my spine, down my leg and and arm on the right side.  My calf would burn then go numb as well as both of my feet would tingle and go numb all day long.  I am lacking something.  I suppose I should check my ferritin level again since I haven't taken a break from running for a long time-- I can't even remember when that was.  I also am getting the brown splotches back on the backs of my legs mostly behind my knee so I am suspecting an adrenal insufficiency.  I didn't take the DHEA hormone that I was lacking a lot of last fall because it made me feel sick.  The iron made me feel so much better that all I continued to take was vitamin D since my level was two points off from deficient (I was classified as insufficient).   I try to eat a lot of veggies and wholegrains but since I sometimes don't lately I haven't felt as well.  So this week it is strictly good eating.  And a visit to my favorite FEMALE nurse practitioner.  She will probably not like that I avoided some of her advice.  But the DHEA supplement made me dizzy.  And progesterone (my level was "0") supplement made me terribly zombie like.  I obvioulsy have low levels for a reason-- my body doesn't like what it doesn't like.  No worries I plan on OVERCOMING ALL THIS NONSENSE COME SATURDAY AM AND RUNNING THRU ANYTHING MY BODY PLANS TO THROW AT ME!!  So PR IS HAPPENING NO MATTER WHAT : DDDDD.  I am so excited to see what I can do and see if I peaked right or if that was so three weeks ago.  No matter I am going for SUB THREE AT ST GEORGE MARATHON.  Just sayin'.

Was thinking I should bail on the two at marathon pace mile race prep until later after my chiro. appt. but then decided leaving my house at the 612am start was as close as I could get to real time, as the race will start at 6am.  This is supposed to be a "dress rehearsal".  So I wore my arm warmers and gloves--didn't need the gloves after a half mile nor the arm bands after one or so but  I kept the bands on anyway.  The temp was probably 50 degrees.  Ran 3 mile warm up and went straight into my MP miles (I forgot I should do my lateral raises and kick backs to stretch, so I am going to try not to forget that on race day since I doubt I will warm up much on race day).  So miles 4 and 5 were 6:51 and 6:41.  Both felt very easy, scary.  In fact the first mile I had to slow down seeing my pace at 6:35--hence the slower first mile.  I tend to ease back too much then gauge off that to go in to my next mile feeling more evenly paced.  The first mile however was 1/2 uphill and half flat.  The second mile was half downhill and half  uphill.  Calf is a real bugger.  The chiropracter spent 50 minutes on me with electrodes, laser, and ultrasound.  Also the lumbar stretch table.  My shoulder was out.  My right hip was way off, as well as my right knee and ankle.  Oh and he did laser to my TMJ joint-- it is so tender.  The braces therapy didn't work.  Money gone to waste.  My jaw constantly clicks and locks.  Which causes strain on my jaw muscles then my trapeziuz muscle down my neck.  Seriously I was  a train wreck.  I told him I would dedicate a mile to him in the marathon : D.  Last mile of two mile cooldown 7:12.  Oops.  AP for 7 miles = 7:35.

Nice and relaxing 6:33am run.  5 miles at 8:12 *first mile 9:08, last mile 7:43.  No gloves, no headband.  A little chilly the run was so short it didn't matter.  Day 3 of soccer camp for two of my girls.  Every morning its up by 7am and off to the car pool to go to BYU for 4 hours of camp.  I was the driver yesterday.  We stopped at Krispy Kreme Donuts.  You get a free donut for every A!!   (the max. amt is 6 donuts, glazed only).  Just have your kids bring in their report card.  Fun times!!   I didn't have one.  But they smelled so delicious.  I at least breathed in one in the drive thru.  After taking prednisone 20 mg yesterday I got violent abdominal cramps-- very odd.  It came and went for hours yesterday.  Gone now.  I am taking 10 mg today.  5 mg Thurday.  2.5 mg Friday.  Even this morning my calf was trying to show its ugly head.  My jaw muscle to my shoulder was in a great deal of pain on the right.   So tired of my jaw CONSTANTLY clicking and popping.  And the constant headaches lately.  Diet RIGHT happening.  Going to try and avoid gluten a bit.  Nothing processed this week.  Natural food. So oatmeal this morning.  With some cottage cheese.  And a banana.  I haven't been very hungry.  Lost some weight--- down a pound from yesterday 127 lbs.  When I ran my 3:11 at SGM 2009 I weighed about 124 lbs maybe 123.  

debated whether to just sleep 40 minutes longer or try and get in my 5 miler.  Well,  I debated too long and got out late cause' I was going easy with 6 x 100 meter strides at 6:30 pace mainly.  Not wanting to induce further the nagging nerve pains.  On day three of steroid taper therapy.  At work my leg pains just suddenly ended (typical of my attacks, probably  helped by the prednisone) but yesterday afternoon I had killer muscle cramps in my jaw radiating to my shoulder with numbness and burning (trigeminal neuralgia) so basically a "switching" of the same symptoms to a different spot.   I went to my TMJ  Dr. in pain and he injected it with dextrose/lidocaine.  But all that did was make me notice HOW tight my muscle was.  All day my face has been numb and burning down the back of my head and down my arm.  Such a bummer.  And the muscle by the jaw joint pulsating.  Feel like I am Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde.  One side of me feels normal and the other side I feel distorted.  So to say the least I haven't been able to focus on my marathon AT ALL.  It is like my body WANTS ALL THE ATTENTION.  Seriously?  Like am I running a marathon I have trained for or not?  Perhaps that is just how it has to be because I am.  I hope to wake in the morning CURED and ready for my last day of REST for MY BIG PR THAT SHOULD HAPPEN : D.  I am slightly wondering how the HEAT the last 6 miles will feel.  It should be in the 80s and NO REPRIEVE FROM THE SUN.    So lots of water cup dumping for me : D.  Oh yah, lastly ran 4.3 miles @ 8:29 AP.  No time for the scheduled 5 miles.  I worked at UVRMC's NICU today so I had to drive 20 minutes.  I don't know why, but I feel ME Lan CHOly.   I can't seem to snap out of it.  I should be excited/pumped up, but I feel down and out.  So ALL I can say is WORDS OF BENEFIT--  YOU CAN DO IT.  YOU HAVE BEEN THRU WORSE, YOU ARE READY< THE FINISH LINE IS ONLY JUST OVER 3 HOURS AWAY AND THEN  AHHHHHHH!!!!!  TIME TO RELAX and take it easy enjoy some DOWN TIME : D.

Thanks to a miracle (worried just saying that will jinx me) I awoke to NO LEG CRAMPS!!  No intense burning nerve pains and no pulsating jaw.  I attribute it to an understanding God and the miracle of modern medicine--prednisone, and time on the prolotherapy to work on my face muscles.  Yesterday I also started taking a Magnesium supplement-- apparently a lack of this mineral has been linked greatly to fibromyalgia and leg cramps.  I am just so thankful I don't feel as miserable as I have the last 7 days.  It is like NIGHT and DAY.   Even though I only slept 6.5 hrs getting up once last night I am just so happy to be burning pain free  : D.   Today is going to be a fun day with the kids.  We are going to 7 peaks and then to a Men's Soccer game at 8pm.  The girls got tickets from soccer camp to all the mens' and womens' games.  I don't know what to think about tomorrow but that I will give it my all.  I have done the training so a PR is likely  : D, but you never know with a marathon.  But the math and logic and heart all point to the affirmative.  I can do this.  I will do this.   I will be as if I had wings carrying me to the finish line.  I am ready to cross the UVM finish line.  Goal time is under 3:10.  Go out conservatively 7:10 to 7:15 for the first half then erase my memory and kick it in gear the second half.  The sky was blue this morning at 5:48 am.  I expect to enjoy every minute of the mountain air through the canyon.  I expect to have to keep my head in the game down University Avenue-- the 8 mile stretch to the finish.  I expect to do my best with the moment I have been given to run this race.    This morning I ran an easy loop passing Kim's house and quite enjoyed the relaxation of an easy run.  4.7 miles at 8:39 pace.  Some of my music made me want to vomit due to excitement/nervousness but also pumped me up.  Less than 24 hours and I am there : D.  

HOPE you endure the long report : D. Seven peaks for four hours, Little Caesars pizza with the kids, Expo, then byu mens soccer until 1030pm last night, bed by 1130pm up at 2:30am (up once in between), couldn't fall back to sleep, decided to eat oatmeal and a piece of toast.  Pottied several times.  In fact had to use the potty 6 times yesterday at seven peaks/expo. Strange.  So  I tried to drink as often as I saw water.  Not happy about arriving home at 11pm last night.  But tried to think positive.   But then just as I tossed my garmin into my bag at 3:45am it turned on and read "battery low".  Oh great this is just getting better.  More potty breaks.  Plug it in for 10 minutes (last bus in Provo 20 minutes away is 4:15am), got it to 20 % from 10 %.  There 20 % of  a 20 hour battery equals ( I get out the calculator cause I am too stupid to do easy math at this hour) , oh yah--- 4 hours.  I should be good.  That story cont. later.  Get to the start having to potty AGAIN--- this time more like cramps and you know what several times.  I met up with McKenzie and Aubrey and started to feel adrenalinized instead  of ZOMBIE-like.  The drive to the start I had some serious doubts of even running any 7:00 minute miles.  I was SOOOOO tired.  But seeing them boosted me.  We hung out for 40 minutes.  Got to the start, then ANOTHER potty break in the woods and oh one more behind McKenzie and Aubrey while they stood in front of me.  I am diuresing and have no idea why.  I hadn't drank much.  I started to feel flu/achy like, like when you feel you are depleted of minerals/electrolytes.  So I decided I would get gatorade at every other aide station.  Took a gu just a minute before the start to cut down on my baggage around my waist.  I pinned my gus to my shorts, three of them.  Well within 1.5 miles, the cramps start up again and I am thinking, no way I don't have time to stop.  Blah.  I endured two more miles and just had to pull over.  Accidently stopped my garmin for few seconds then quickly started again.   I went to get up and run and then cramping again, so more time lost.  About a minute.  I got out from the grass and saw the 3:20 sign.  Blah.  I was in front of the 3:10 sign when I pulled over.  Geez.  but I feel a little better so I just cruise along enjoying the views.  I catch up to 3:10 guy and wonder if  I should just stay with him but decide to run my own pace.  Which turned out to be pretty even throughout the course-- about 1:34 (my watch)- 1:35 at the half.  I noticed after mile six my garmin was reading every mile EARLY by about .14 miles.  So I think the course was long, having confirmed this with a few other runners later in the course and with McKenzie.    Kind of a bummer since that made me have to calculate that into my time/distance to my PR.  But oh well.  The fastest avg I saw on my garmin was 7:06 for a mile or two and then it crept down to AP of 7:09 just before the battery COMPLETELY died at 24.93 miles (running time 2:58:18 but need to add about 10- 15 seconds for accidental stopping of watch).  So as you can see  I thought I was running better because, well, I was.  So based off that pace my time for just one more 1.26 miles would be =  3:07:30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   STUPID LONG COURSE  :  D.  Whatever!!!  Anyway, I was 7th overall woman, passing my dear friend McKenzie, who was walking at mile 20, and Julie Esplin at mile 23 who I knew was very tired.  I could feel the gravatation to want to stop with them...but luckily Kim was there to save my HINEY at mile 20, with words of encouragement.  I ended up talking to Kim the remaining 6.2 miles.  Not sure if that part helped me but it sure was SO VERY NICE TO BE RUNNING NEXT TO HER.  She was SO POSITIVE.   I loved it.  If I wanted to slow she was okay with that.  She just pretty much was the best cheerleader EVER!!!  (oh at mile 6 I tried to talk to a woman I thought looked like my age but then she "signed to me" as if she were deaf.  So I said I am sorry, thinking well she is deaf and probably couldn't hear that.  But  I ran beside her even "signing" to her that the hills were coming up.  But that was the last I saw of her until.....The top three master's were called out.  I was first master and she was second.  As she stepped onto the podium she whispered to me (hey she isn't deaf I thought) then she said, "my husband told me NOT to talk to anyone in the race and that he wanted me to stay focused" .  "Oh I told her.  I am a chatty chatstar during runs so I am used to talking and chatting away".  Thought that was INTERESTING strategy.  That's why I  questioned my chattiness with Kim for 6.2 miles.  Oh well.  It was funner even if it was slower.     The biggest problem for me during this race was my left sciatic nerve acting up from 7 miles on.  The road is on a slant and for some reason it just flared that nerve.  Last week it was all my right side.  Today it was burning like no other on the left. The chiro adjusted me too well, I guess.  Got rid of one problem, adding to another.  Acutally I think I must have VERY weak core, so my hips are UNSTABLE.  Will work on that.  The other problem about this race is that I felt to GUed OUT!!  I took only 4 gus but the after taste was getting to me with all that powerade.  By mile 22.5  my heart rate felt fluttery from the SUGAR over load.  I tried to take DEEP breaths and kick it in and I had too much of a side stitch to want to go any faster.  So I didn't.  Plus the next girl ahead of me was definitely in her 20s, she passed me at mile 18.  NO big incentive there.  Met her after the race.  Yup, 25 years old.  She was 35 seconds ahead but her chip time was nice-- 3:07:27.  Nice girl.  Anyway.... here are the splits--- (btw I never felt like I could push the pace like I have in some training runs, probably "the runs" and lack of sleep ) so I just kept it REAL, no over the top mile paces---  7:32, 7:05, 7:09 (add about 10-15 sec, forgot NOT to stop my watch for a potty break : D, actual potty break time about 1 minute, started my watch within 15 seconds of noticing this), 6:58, 6:57, 7:00, 7:02, 7:22 ( HILL), 7:22 (HILL, not pushing the hills at all, just want to ride the downhill to improve the split), 6:54, 6:59, 7:17 (hill AGAIN), 7:04, 7:00, 6:58, 7:15, 7:09, 7:04, 6:58, 6:58, 6:52 (KIM : D), 7:09, 7:24, 7:40 (LAST HILL by country club), 7:31 for .93 miles....AP here 7:09 for 25.93 miles, so probably 7:10 for that potty watch-stopping mishap.  Did not slow down much the last mile so STUPID LONG COURSE-- Kim had my pace for last mile at 7:40 and then 7:00 for last .2.    Forgot to mention--  I won $300 for 1st place master :   D.  Being paid to run...INSANE.  FYI:  UVM course has vertical gain of  943ft.  and loss of 2127 ft.  Net loss-- 1184 ft.  Not near as fast as SGM. 

Since I am NOT running today...I will post my POST-marathon race report, NOTES-to SELF and others.  No regrets because you got to realize you run with what you got the day the race is.  I knew I was trained well for a sub 3:10.  I even know (barring the below pointed out items) that an under 3:05 was WELL within reach if things went differently.  But after years of running and knowing myself I give myself a break because I can't change what happened the week before the race and come what may THAT kind of WEEK WILL NOT happen before SGM.  Here are the things that RED-flagged me and things for SUB three at SGM won't/will be happening:  

Umm I won't have the longest bout of a nervous system FLARE.  I couldn't even fuel right all week.  I wasn't even hungry.  Man did that hurt.  Going from facial pain on Thursday and extreme pain in my right calf radiating down my neck, butt and foot.  Wowsers. That gave me too much NEGATIVE energy

Second, I won't be coming off a STEROID taper. I don't do well on steroids.  I was already NOT sleeping.  Thursday night I got only 6.5 hours of BROKEN sleep.  For SGM I will be sleeping much better as I regulate the hormones I don't have.  No period for a while now.  Also reading more into prednisone (it saved me from extreme nerve pain, however) it is what caused my diuresing because as I tapered off of it my kidneys started working more.  My sugar was probably high (because prednisone does this) and hence at mile 21 I felt GUed out.  I was doing deep breaths and had a fluttery heart when earlier miles it was so easy to run that pace.  I attribute that to a high blood sugar level.   Oh, OKAY I WON'T  CHAT AWAY for 6.2 miles EITHER.  I will sign that I am FOCUSED  : D.   BTW I don't eat any CAFFEINE gus.  And NO caffeine jump starters.  I RUN SANS CAFFEINE BABY!!   

THE diarrhea was probably the MOST depleting along with the diuresing from the steroids.  I started taking magnesium, 1/2 dose cause I am sensitive to everything.  Well....hmmmm the "milk of magnesia" sounds familiar here?  Why oh Why would I take a NEW supplement two days before a race?  Talk about a LAXATIVE.  The abdominal cramping was no fun.  Funny though the magnesium contributed to taking away my leg cramps.  So no magnesium for me.  Someone suggested I take calcium with it to balance it out.  I will mettle with that way before RACE week. 

Lastly, I FEEL SO GOOD.  Besides nerve pains down the base of my neck to my right shoulder this is THE VERY BEST RECOVERY EVER.  After the race I could do lateral raises and kick backs and even could run to the podium.  That is how I like to run a race.  I don't like to feel SPENT so I run just under that pace to make it feel like I can run again by Tuesday without doing damage.  Seriously THIS IS SO AWESOME.  The great first place gal was hobbling to get her award.  Obviously AT SGM I am going to have to feel that badly.  Oh well.  But really this marathon felt more like a training run for 22 miles and then it was about the race the last 4 miles.  So I talked and slowed down but KIM was just so fun to have there like I was out on a every day run.  So nice.  I am all over that sub 3 at SGM.
VERY LASTLY--- I just downloaded my GARMIN---  54 SECOND POTTY STOP!!!!!!  WHAT THE HECK?     NOT GONNA HAPPEN AT SGM (I just downloaded my garmin for all the facts).  Plus with this long course or my poor tangent-taking I should shave off a lot of time.  Elevation gain at UVM 943 ft!!!  Elevation loss-- 2127ft.    So only 1184 ft overall loss.  That was some ROLLER coaster RIDE.  Will definitely do this marathon again!! SO VERY BEAUTIFUL.  Will be prettier without abdominal cramping  : D. 

NO swelling until.....back at work standing all day and HORMONES galore....Elephant legs by the end of my shift.  I went from peeing every 20 minutes last Friday before the race to 1 pee stop in a 12 hour shift.  Legs no longer sore.  But legs too heavy to consider running with them.  Basically my body waited for this DOWN time to explode.  You know the usual things women have to deal with.  Holy moly I haven't felt this swollen since  I was 8 months pregnant in the heat of July.  I sure wish I had some lasix.  I think my kidneys stopped working overtime and decided to take a break as well.  So glad I also work tomorrow so I can blow up some more.  No running until Thursday when I am off.  I am trying to acutally sleep this week.  Would have been nice last week. 

Another long work day on pediatrics at UVRMC. Worsening swelling.  Gained 5-6  pounds since last Friday.  Pelvic pressure/swelling is very uncomfortable to stand with.  Must be those varices I have in there (my pelvis).  I was supposed to get coils up in there to end their misery but I didn't want surgery to put me down nor little metal coils in me.  Wowsers, I feel like I am about to have a baby.  This too shall pass.  So excited to go running tomorrow and try to sweat some of this off.  

Make sure to read below : D.  Ahhhhh RUNNING!!  so wonderful.  So did not feel like I ever ran a marathon last Saturday at 3:09 pace.  If the swelling were down I would be 100 percent but boy did these legs feel fluidy.  My pelvis felt swollen as well but I felt so good otherwise.  No nagging muscle pains, a little hamstring tightness but nothing that made me ever feel like I was over doing it.  Ran 10 miles at easy pace of 8:18.  I left my house at 8:15am.  It was a very warm morning.   Oh I did stop and talk to Stacy for about 15 minutes (she was outside her house along my route) and then I saw Kim with one mile to go and we talked for about 5 minutes.  Enough of this let's move on to the MOST EXCITING NEWS OF ALL-   I GOT INTO THE ST GEORGE MARATHON by RUN 13.  They had a contest after their Memorial Day 10 k race for their SGM entry they had.  I had to write them about why I think I deserved the SGM Slot.  YIPPPEEEEE!!!  That was 2.5 weeks ago.  I had to be patient but I got in.  So SUB 3 here I come!!!  It is SOOOOOO happening.  

14.2 miles from my campsite to my house up at Granite Flats in American Fork Canyon.  Met up with Kim and Jane at their mile 8 going up from where I live in PG.  Camped last night in freezing cold.  Brrr.!!!  then I had the "runs" again and had to stop twice before getting to mile 5 to meet those two and then two other times with them.   Luckily they had to go too.  Then I didn't quite make it to my house when I got .3 miles from my house!!  Perhaps I have a bug in my system?  AP in a run that I never fully warmed up in 7:44 for 14.2 miles  :D.  Iced in river x 1 minute x two.  ICE WATER for sure straight from the mountains up Grove Creek.   It took a bit for our toes to come back to life in the sun.  Kim was great company.  Back up the canyon I go.  Then I work the next two days.  

13 miler-- up to the mouth of the canyon from my house then down on the trail behind Lone Peak High School and around/through Art Dye Park.  Slow and steady at first.  Starting to feel that twitch in my calf again.  I think it is due to my new running shoes, same model/year as I had but the inside of the right heel feels like it is raised a bit more in the shoe.  Since I am noticing it every time I think it is a flaw in the making of the shoe.  I wore my older ones in the marathon and had ABSOLUTELY NO calf pain during or the whole week after the race.  ODD.  AP for 13 miles 7:46.  Time 1:41:06.  It is always amazing to me to see that my EASY but hilly training runs are at the same pace as my LONG ago (1995) RACE PACE was for a downhill half marathon.  Just sayin'.   I think I ran my first Provo Half Marathon in 1:43 in 1995 and then ran Hobble Creek two weeks later in 1:41.  An older friend/Dr. I worked with ran a 1:39 and I thought she was so amazingly fast.  The body can be trained to do what the mind tells it to.   So SUB THREE is MY GOAL.  Seriously I was watching Joan Benoit Samuelson (my running heroine) last  night on  You Tube finish the first Women's Olympic Marathon and RE-INSPIRED myself.  In 1984 (the race she won) I was 14 and very depressed/down about my life and I just turned on the TV in time  to see her finish.  She was/is so inspiring.  I wasn't even much into running then, just for sports (field hockey, ski team, track--YUCK), but something flamed inside me from watching her and in my mind I had this thought that I wanted to be a runner.....

1 min front plank, 45 seconds side, left and right.

A little speed work with Kim, Jane and Mel.  Warm up for 2.52 miles at 8:29 AP.  Ran to AF track.  Potty in the school and water fountain, YES! : D.  Ran 10 x 400s.  5 one way  5 the other.  Ran 400s in between at 7:33 to 8:11 pace.  Here are the splits for .26 miles =  5:57,  6:00, 5:57, 5:59, 5:59,  5:56, 5:49, 5:50, 5:39, 5:40.    This felt very manageble and NOT all out.  We were trying for 6:00 AP.  Mel ran 4 of them and went on a longer run.  Kim and Jane were always the same distance ahead after each one, so they were always about 3-5 seconds ahead but during the cooldown I was able to get closer to them so that was nice.  It was hard to see them take off a few seconds before me and wait until I got to the line but I am not too worried about my pace being slower since it has only been 10 days since UVM.  These felt rather easy.  Yay!!  Some nagging pelvic pain/pressure, so much be careful.  I tend to have marathon alztheimers.  I forget so easily what I put my body through and think I can head right out there and run 10, then 14 then 13 then 11 miles.   Like did I take it easy yet?  Well I did NOT run Sun thru Wed. after the marathon that counts for something.  I did work three of those days however, two of them 13 hour shifts and one 7 hours.  Hey and I didn't run last Sat. or Sun.  I worked two 12.5 hours shifts instead :D.  So see I am being good to myself.  : DD  Big hug.  Total 11 miles today.  Ran 3.5 mile cooldown VERY easy pace so the AP for the last 8.5 that incl. SW dropped to 7:24.  Felt so nice to NOT care about pace and chat away with Kim and Jane.  Nice of them to run easy with me. Oh, btw today is MY 14 th Wedding Anniversary.  The longest day of the year!!!  And the first DAY OF SUMMER !!   Oh and I FINALLY did some ARM work it has been at least three months!!! (and even then it lasted maybe two days): straightups, side raises, front raises, biceps (2 types), overhead triceps, rows, lay down overhead raises, dips and push ups with legs on the ball (6,6,4,4,7).  I am such a wimp.  But I am determined to stick with doing upper body at least twice a week and stop this lower body focus thing I have got going on.  Seriously.  

I think that 10 days post  marathon is the magic day for me.  After starting yesterday's workout I was not sure I should have run it, with a few sluggish warmup miles and 10 days post marathon but two hours later instead of feeling sluggish and tight I was ALIVE again.  My legs were feeling wonderful.  Troy and I took the girls to 7peaks and unplanned we ran into Kim and then Melanie there with their kids.  We stayed 3 hours relaxing in the waters.  The kids not so much going from place to place.  I did go down the new head first Avalanche ride that 8 people slide at once to "race" each other on mats.  Pretty much the heaviest person wins that one.  Later Troy and I went out to dinner at PF chiangs and because we told them it was our anniversary we got  a free dessert and man was it so delicious!!  It was pineappe/coconut ice cream drizzled lightly with caramel with berries in a circle around the bottom (black, straw, rasp) and 6- 2in  banana slices cooked in crispy spring roll crust.  I am telling you HEAVEN, even though I was stuffed with lettuce wraps, crispy honey chicken, brown rice and chicken mu shu wraps I just had to eat my half of it.  It reminded  us of  Hawaii, where we went on our honeymoon.  Later we went to see Source Code.  Anyway, today ran an easy 10 miler-- 5 rolling up, 5 rolling down.  I risked my life today running on Canyon Rd from 1100 north, but hey at least at times there was a safe shoulder made of dirt/rocks so it felt like trail running.  So nice to turn into Cedar Hills Golf Course at the crest  and up around the circle and down through the paved trail by Cedar Ridge Elementary.  Bathroom is open so I got to get  a drink and potty stop, when I stretched a bit.  Felt so good.  Added on 1 mile today because I work the next two days and am wanting to just go 4 instead of 5 on Friday before work to save up for Saturday's run down AF canyon.  I need sleep.  So running shorter in the morning will help with that.  AP today 8:29.  Just took it nice and easy, the first five miles were about a 9 AP.  Oh Yah now I realize how much you use your arms while running since mine are quite tender from finally doing weights yesterday.  Today I did 1:30 front plank, 45 sec on the sides with a lot of stretching : D.

eazy squeezy lemon pleazy....5 at 8:49 pace before work.   Nice and slow so I could sleep and run.  JK.  Long day at work.  Sleepy. 

easy 4 before work at 8:42 pace. Not sure what I am capable of at the half tomorrow. Tried to sign up legally and even have a 52 year old man's number, but they said it was too stressful to switch the names even though they added on 15 names today. Oh well. So I won't be wearing a number just racing it incognito with Kim. Goal would be 1:26 something if my body is ready. It is a 1740 foot decent mostly decending the first 7 miles so will definitely be interesting. Then it does some little rollers and then flattens then rolls down then flattens then ends slightly uphill. Worked all day today. Tired. But legs feel better than before the marathon.

This had to be the FUNNIEST preparation race I have ever run and I ran a PR.  Seriously ridiculous comedy of errors.  First of all I got a number for the race and my plan was just to get on the bus with it because they couldn't change my name yesterday even though they let over 15 runners into the race yesterday.  Oh well.  Less pressure. Sleep was probably 2 hours.  Just have been going to with my eyes wide open unable to drift to sleep.  Just a little bout of insomnia this week.  I picked up Kim and we drove to the finish line at AF high school.  Got to the race start about 5:35am.  I ran a two mile warm up about 8:40 pace on the dirt.  Realized on the bus ride up the my garmin was reading low battery.  Mel tried to console me that her low battery garmin can last for 20 miles.  Well apparently mine was extremely low (it is having trouble with charging lately, I had charged it Thursday).  My garmin died .02 miles into my warm up.  So I ran SANS WATCH and threw my garmin in my bag.  But then I missed the bag pickup truck and a nice camera guy for the event let me put it in his car.  I got in an extra .7 miles an hour after the finish running to his car parked quite a nice jaunt from the finish.  He gave me his keys and I went looking for his white car.  I finally had to just press the unlock of the trunk button and suddenly I found his car.  I just thought that was funny.  Incendentally I AM NOT EVEN SORE TIRED WHATSOEVER.  I could have run another 10 miles (not at the same pace).  I don't even feel like I raced it that hard.  I HAD NO IDEA WHAT MY TIME WAS  UNTIL MILE 10!!!!!  I finally had to yell at three guys (they didn't have music on) "HEY COULD SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME A SPLIT HERE?  GEEZ."  I got a split read to me at the 10 mile mark as 1:04!!!!!!!  HOLY MOLY THAT IS UNDER a 6:30 pace.  I decided to round that to 1:05 which makes that a 6:30 pace.  So I just told myself "just relax and do 7 minute miles Julie and you still will PR in the half".  Of course not having my garmin I had no idea if I did that but I felt like I slowed briefly but then picked it up the last mile.  I did waste a lot of energy probably talking to Cliff and then asking about 10 people along the way what time we were at.  At one point I asked a bunch of bikers how far the first girls were ahead (mile 6) and they said "about a mile" and I was like "yah right".  But since I lost MEL, KIM and Jane after the first mile warm up (that's all they did) I was out there on my own, no watch and no friends.  Until Cliff a coworker running up the course turned around and ran with me for about 3.5 miles.  I asked what he thought my pace was (I met him at mile 2.5) and he said I think you are going pretty fast (he doesn't have a garmin).  Finally I got him to tell me the split from mile 3 to 4 which was 6:35.  HELLLOOOO like I had plans to be about 6:50 for the first few miles. Another problem were my tangents.  Cliff was telling me I was not cutting the corners and was adding on.  Well that is just how I am used to running down the canyon, like there are cars that will zoom by at any moment.  He then said "okay then just run what you like to do".  I guess I better get better at TANGENTS. When the gun went off I was about 40 to 50 seconds from the start  and I stopped just before the finish (there were two timing mats and I felt guilty crossing since I am not a male 52 years old) but the first mat surprised me so after dead stopping right on it and EVERYBODY yelling at me that it wasn't the finish line I decided I better cross, shyly saying "but I am not official", bowing my head saying to myself "dang it"  I didn't want to cross.  Needless to say I missed the clock time but it was recorded as 1:26:42 (would have been 1:26:30 with that dead stop at the first mat about 100 feet from the finish line) and then all the time before crossing the start (I was way back looking for my three girlfriends).  So I am guessing about under 1:26 based off the fact that the girl in front of me got 1:26 flat and I started after her and she finished just a few seconds in front of me.  Any way I was sixth overall (I believe.  I will change it if I read differently) and first master.  GOOD NEWS-- I went up to the HR guy for my hospital, who I know and have known for several years, and said "Brent, I am not evil, I didn't know there would be two time mats and since I crossed the first I ended up having to cross the second", I told him I didn't want to screw up the results for the 50-54 guys so he could take his name off.  But what he ended up doing SO VERY WILLINGLY AND POLITELY is taking his name off and putting my name in.  He said it would be VERY easy to do and no problem whatsoever.  SO COOL.   YOU WON't see that happen everyday.  So basically SANS watch, unofficially but really OFFICIAL NOW I ran an awesome PR and I feel incredible.  I don't feel sore (just a little cramp in my right calt again) but NOTHING ELSE.  NO SCIATICA not hamstring tightness nothing.  Since the course was changed from what we thought, adding on quite the uphill for .2 miles and not knowing where the finish would be I was in shock when I saw the finish as I am fiddling with my iPOD for the 50th time I was like "oh my heavens, forget the garmin Julie and actually try to kick it in.  It was hard not knowing what my time is but I did ask the last water station (just after mile 11) guy the REAL time of day, since the race started on time, he told me it was 7:10.  I knew I couldn't be that fast so I guessed about 1:11-1:12.  I am so happy that it went well.  With MORE CONFIDENCE AND MORE POSITIVE SELF TALK I THINK A 1:24 at BRYCE AND HOBBLE CREEK IS GOING TO HAPPEN.  Plus I will be more recovered from the UVM.  Recovery at over 40 is a lot different than 20s and 30s.  Time will tell but I am pretty sure that SUB THREE AT SGM IS SOOOOOOO HAPPENING : DDDDDDD   Since my friends are all sore and I am not apparently I didn't push myself hard enough. 

Decided this morning I would run to AF high school  (two miles) and run the AF 1/2  marathon course backwards to where I remember the timing mat was.  That ended up being 7.6 miles away.  The end of the course was pretty right on considering the mat being at 7.5 miles from the start.  It was an absolutely beautiful run.  All the cones were still in place from the race (just off to the side).  My legs felt so strong on the uphill even after earlier slow miles my pace was 8:28 to the turn around.  No rush on the way back, just took it nice and easy following the course back to home.  AP for the 15 miles = 8:13.  I am not sore.  Just hungry.  Finally slept a bit longer last night which helped (about 7 hours, waking once).  All week I have been only getting from 2 to 5 hours of broken sleep.  Talked with a new friend at church who is 48 and we talked about the joys of "going through the change".  She told me the only symptom, besides the obvious, she had at my same age was INSOMNIA.  LOVELY!!!  I had several months of night sweats, but that seemed to disappear and NOW INSOMNIA.  I actually get cold more often.  I  usually DESPISE the heat.  Working days has helped a lot however.  : D.  So glad to be working three - 13 HOUR DAY SHIFTS.  Those night shifts the last two years were quite the roller coaster ride.  I SURVIVED.    Apparently they were holding me back in my running.  NO LONGER.

5 lazy miles at 5am before work...home at 5:45 am  (AP 8:56).  Then off to work.  Busy, almost non stop for 12.5 hours.  Tired.  I love that it is somewhat daylight out around 5:20 am.

6.5 miles before work at 4:53am.  So tired of this insomnia.  I think I got 3 straight hours of sleep however.  Wow was it WARM this morning.  80 degrees for a 5am run?  seriously?  seriously not so wonderful.  Stagnant, cotton-mouth producing air!!!  AP 8:07, it only got down there due to 10 x .1 mile strides at 6-6:30 pace.  Nothing spectacular but at least it got some webs out of my brain.  Worked all day.  Busy.  

I forgot to mention the doozy of a migraine I had at work yesterday.  Turns out to be a reason for that.  After another three hour sleep last night I awoke to the same headache.  Decided to go out for the run despite the dizzy/eye pressure headache to try to "detox" and fix it.  Well mother nature, and I aren't the best of friends.  I got out there wind a blowin' and I am climbin' 1100 north to Bonneville shoreline trail where I ran north (uphill) for 4 miles on dirt trail.  Not your usual uphill but rolling steep inclines, the kind that when you go downhill you have to "slow" yourself so you don't fall.  I was aching for some trails and missed my last year runs.  I wore my trail shoes but still downhill in them (like antelope island) my ankles felt unstable.  I slowed considerably.  Don't want to risk dying/injury on an adventure run.  The trail came out at the mouth of AF canyon where I ran the Cedar Hills Pkwy trail for a bit and stopped at their potty for a drink and stretches.  My legs were achy from DMS and my head was pounding.  So much for detoxing.  I ran slowly back to home.  Tomorrow is my long run.  Not sure where I am going on that one.  Just going to be glad to go long and easy.  AP today for 11.5 = 8:50.  Walking under the fences obviously added to my slowness.  I kept my garmin at time mode, but lap miles still beeped.  My first 6 miles were so nice-- 9  to 9:28   : D.  Oh yah it rained on me and I know this sounds so funny but....seriously I had a headwind in BOTH directions.  To the canyon HEADWIND from the north.  When I reached the mouth of the canyon it began to rain and the wind came from the south.  Seriously!!  NO lie.  I was for sure MOM NATURE was just giving me more to work for.  It didn't necessarily bother me because it felt good but I was thinking I was having to work more and my AP doesn't show for it.  Tired legs.  Heart was hoping for more of workout.