Believe to Achieve

Hiked down in Bryce Canyon the famous 3 mile hike in the reverse direction from last year.  WAY hot!!!  But oh such awesome vistas!!!    Did another 1.5 mile rim hike, a lot easier but exhausted nonetheless.  

3.2 miles without garmin.  Back to old ways. Used my watch and course tool after run.  Feel lighter this way and no pressure.  Hamstrings very sore, lower by back of knees.  Back pain and butt pain gone : D.  Still very swollen.  Felt more so in the heat on this run at 6pm.  HOT.  100 degrees or so.  Pace easy 9:23.  Wore new shoes.  They feel good so far and nice and light.

Up 1100 North slow and steady to Grove Creek.  Left at 845 am.  Muggy and hot.  Ran up over 350 feet in 1.6 miles. Iced in river at the top for 10 minutes.   Ran slow down with cold legs.  AP:  9:20 for 5.2.  Hamstrings sore.  New shoes, being careful.  They feel light.  I still sound loud running.  Form slowly adapting.  Feel the shoes making my legs work more.  No new pains.    Sure hope to be up for my 15 miler this Friday.  Just gonna go easy about 8-8:20 average pace.  NO GARMIN.  Boycotting.  My wrist sure feels lighter : D.

Ran 2.25 miles, biked 15 miles.  Run AP 8:07.  Bike AP 4:43.  HOT but breeze helped.   Swam 1/4 mile at the Spanish Fork Reservoir.  Melanie invited me and the kids to swim there with her kids.  I had just gotten back from biking.  It was 11am.  Got there at high noon.  Sure was hot but the water nice and cool.  It took me 2 minutes 38 seconds to cross it and a little slower back as I swerved to the left and had to over correct to get on course.  I so love to swim especially open like that where I don't have to do lots of flip turns.  This is the second swim of the season.  I really got to get going on swimming more.  I felt so free.  : D.  Hope to rise early to run my 15 miler alone.  So don't want to run in the heat.  It will zap my AP for sure.  BTW-- Monday's work out is Tuesdays and Tuesday's work out was Wednesday's. Can't seem to be able to cut and paste at the moment. 

15 grueling miles.   I forfeited a good start time for more sleep.  Went on a date last night with hubby, got home at 1130pm.  Fell asleep from midnight to 8am.  Dang, the sun was beating hard through our window!!!  Got out of house just past 8:30am.  Did a vicious seven mile climb starting out by weaving around my neighborhood then going up to the mouth of the canyon.  So very uphill and so very HOT !!!  Water fountain at 6 miles then a bathroom with running water from a sink at 9 miles was all I had for fuel.  No gu.  So needed powerade!!   Went hard on the uphill that when  I finally reached the top I had nothing left in my legs to deal with the heat so I just couldn't push it.   So very parched.  Stopped again in the shade before the last brief downhill just below Lone Peak High School on the new trail by the golf course near Art Dye Park.  My heartrate was beating too fast.  I so wanted to quit and find a cell phone to call in my dear husband then just exclaimed to myself to slow down and not care about pace.  Ran the rest so slow but necessary.  I just couldn't take the heat.  Did I say that already?  Dunked my hat in the river at mile 12.6 along while sprinkling water on my legs and sitting on a rock mustering the strength to run 2.5 more miles home in the unshaded road.  No sprinklers.  Too many people being wise with their water. : D.  I think running is getting too hard for me lately.  When will I get my mind over this 50 miler slump?  Ever since Squaw Peak "near death" experience emotionally at mile 43 I can't seem to pull my head out and feel strong again.  Geez.  New shoes take some adjusting so it was good to stop and work out some kinks that were developing in my right calf and left big toe.  Hopefully as I adjust to the shoes I will be stronger.  AP=  8:27.  Fastest mile- 7:44.   Slowest 9:29 (HUGE HILL).  Cooled off in river for 20 minutes.   Showered and passed out on my bed for 1/2 hour.  Feeling better now.   I must have been dehydrated as my cramped muscles no longer feel cramped after drinking and drinking.  

Placed "on-call" at 5pm for my night shift just as I was gearing up to be up all night for the second night in a row.  So very hot outside!! What to do?  I can't run in this heat!!  And the gyms are closed for the holiday.  Decided to just get dressed and see if I could make it out the door.  Called Kim to see if I could use her treadmill.  She called me back 1/2 hour later.  Yay!! I can.  Drove to her house.  Hot ride.  So glad I didn't attempt to run outdoors.  Chatted then she walked me to her basement TM.  She asked if  I wanted the door closed, I agreed.  Plan was to run 2 mile warm up then two at "MP" whatever I can get that to by October 2nd.  Then cooldown.  Well the first two miles felt so lovely I thought maybe I need to always run on the TM to avoid the heat.  And then I started my MP miles-  6:58 followed by an AP second mile of a 6:44 (6:27 to 6:53).   My toes kept hitting the front of the TM so I took that as a sign that I needed to speed up.   I was sweating buckets.  It felt mighty warm.  What happened to the cool air?  Am I that out of shape?  It turned out I was on the side of the house that gets all the afternoon sun and forgot to shut the shade (a little sleepy I guess) and the vent in the room for the air conditioning was closed!!  When Kim came down to help me wipe off her TM from my display of intense sweat she was like "oh my its like 20 degrees warmer in here!!"  Then we realized the problem with the sun and the vent.  Glad to know I was not that out of shape.  I actually felt A LOT better on the TM then outdoors, my form felt better and my body didn't ache.  I was able to place my foot better to avoid the pain I have been having there.  I sure hope I am on the mend   : D.  I will keep adding on MP miles each week.  Next week will be four followed by 6, 8, 10.  Then the Hobble Creek Half marathon in four weeks.  I hope to PR but that all depends on my confidence and my body.  I am working on more positive vibes about my running!!  6.5 miles @ 7:57 pace.   1% grade.