Stronger, Tougher, Faster, Smaller

Good thing that today is the preplanned rest day!  I spent almost 11 hours driving in the car with my two kids to go visit Grammie in the mountains.  I actually had a wonderful time the kids were dang near perfect for the trip and I listened to The Host by Stepbanie Meyer, my only regret is that I forgot my i-pod so I can continue to listen to it during my runs this week.

Found out I have a running partner here.  My little brother says he will come run with me.  But I have a feeling I will only have my partner for the first run.  I don't like  running here, it's just two darn hilly, think East side of Salt Lake Valley but worse, more like living in Emmigration Canyon. Hill will humble me, Hills will make me stronger, Hills will make sure I don't beat my recent 5k time again, and THE HILLS WILL NOT WIN!

Well, I did my first California run today, I think I am going to start earlier.  It was 85 degrees by 9:30.  I had a really steep downhill to start and then a slight up hill followed my a mile of slight down.

Mile one 12:24

Mile two 14:57(two minute stretching after first mile.)  At about 1.1 I turned onto Irishtown road to hit some more uphill(not that I am really into running uphill, I just wanted the uphill to be in the first half of the workout not the entire second half.)  Then at 1.5 I hit the top of the hill and saw the downhill again.  Oh BOOGERS! I exclaimed, so I turned left onto Spagnoli Mine Rd which appeared to be level, turns out it was also just a trick and low and behold, more hills.

Mile three 12:07, had some decent down hill here and then only a few short steep uphill. 

Mile four 12:07, hey looking at these times, I'm impressed! SCORE!  Not too bad of a slow down considering all of the inclines.  I had a lot of slight uphill, with a really big hill up to my parents house.

Running here is hilly, but it is beautiful, there is a reason they call it Pine Grove.  I also discovered the old cemetary I didn't know was here.  I'll have to go check it out because some of them have to be over a hundred years old.  Pine Grove was settled during the gold rush.  It also smells good, when you aren't running along the main highway.

On a training note, my breathing was still fast, but my lungs never burned or ached, is that because of the altitude? It's not really low here  but is about 2600 ft .

Day 1 of running partner...........................well he stayed in bed.  I'll try my best tomorrow to get him out.  I hope to show him up a little :)

Today was slower due to several factors.  One it's dang hilly here, two I donated whole blood yesterday so I am a little short on iron.  Three I traded my running partner (little brother) for dad.  It was a great trip.  Same as yesterday except we stopped at the Pine Grove cemetary, the oldest grave I found was from 1866.  But the coolest part was we found the grave of a marine that was part of the brigade that raised the flag  in Iwo Jima after the bombing of Hiroshima.

 Man who ever knew there was so much history in my little town.

Oh side note, I was noticing in one area that the smell of the pines was unusually strong, you could even smell the sap, oh wait, look a whole fleet of wood chipping trucks were lined up there.  No wonder it smelled so good.

I know the distance stinks, but let me explain.  I am going to run 6 days a week and I found out on Monday we are going to great america(theme park) today.  We are talking a 3 hr dive each way, plus 10 hrs in park.  How was I going to run.  Well mother nature made sure I was awake and couldn't get back to sleep.  She let a skunk off somewhere close and it invaded my room, so off I went, 1 mile up at 15:58 and one mile down at 11:20, it would have been faster the the hill to my parents house is the worst hill around, and it's gravel which slows footing some.

Day 3 in a row and little brother is still sleeping, he's got three days to try and make it up.

Oh, I am so getting sick of these hills!  They are so big, so long and everywhere, there is no such thing a flat, or rolling, just big ol long hills that won't stop!  I ran up hwy 88 tonight and got a lot of attention.  Way out here is no mans land you don't see runners and I got woo wooed and honked at.  Both made me jump and I felt a bit silly.  

 Splits, I am getting tired here and I know I am recovering from the blood donation, but i cant wait to get home.

mile one 1333

mile two (1 minute to stop and stretch)1406

mile three (30 seconds to tie laces) 1218

mile four 1416 but i had a really big long uphill in this one, yuck!!!

Oh, today was so easy!  Well it was and it wasn't.  I got up fairly early and my mom signed me into the local gym as a guest (so it wouldn't cost 10 bucks) and I ran on the treadmill.  Ohhhh flat, so nice.  It was really hot, you think in California they would put air conditioning in the gyms, but its just fans.

I was a little stiff the first mile and finished about a 12:30.  Stretched for a minute and then I kept going.  I don't think I have ever sweat so much.  My heart rate was good about 160 the whole time, my legs were working but not dying, breathing quick not labored but I was dripping buckets!!! 

Middle three miles at 12 min pace mile five was 11:00 minutes and it still felt really good.  Maybe the hills haven't been so bad after all. 

The greatest part, I felt awesome in the gym, I was the youngest person there and the only going faster than a walk. I was like a gym junkie or something. 

Day 5 in a row, I think I can handle this.

Okay, this is pathetic and I know it, but I did it.  My babysitter(gram) came home late then it was dinner and clean for company.  I am tired and my legs are tired.  My shins ache and this mile was all up hill, crazy how you can't get away from that.  I got in about 6 flights of stairs too, so there is a mild bit of redemption.  Tuesday next week will be the most difficult.  Driving back to Utah that day.  10 miles in the car, and nobody will be here is the morning so I can run, everyone leaves at about 5 am.  Maybe I can get little brother to do it, because it must be done before I leave.

Wow, I don't think I have ever thought so hard about how I could get a run in.  This week was slightly lower than last but good considering my being out of town.  Next week we will see a 10% increase and have close to 22 miles.