Getting back to it

1st long run!!  End of the first week of the marathon training program.  It was a tough run with uphill the first half.  But we did it.

38 min on treadmill

Long run!!  51 min.  Sore but felt good.

Treadmill - 46 min.  Started using new shoes - Mizunos.

35 min on treadmill.  Felt like I could keep going.

No energy to start run, slow, felt better at the end.

1:06, 16 reps

40 min on treadmill, pace 4.5 - 5.0

51 min, 13:24 avg pace

Felt good.  Cold wind.  Ran w/Leslie.

51 min on treadmill, 10 reps

Felt good, no pain.  Several phone call interruptions.

38 min on treadmill, 9 reps, 4.7-5.0 speed

Good run, no interruptions

1:02, 12:32 avg pace

Felt good - much better than the last 5 miler.

52 min, 7 reps, 4.5-4.9 speed on treadmill

some ankle pain, tough from 25-25 min, then good.

43 min, 7 reps, 4.5-5.0 on treadmill

Felt good  - did some extra walking to get to 3 miles.

1:20:55 (18 reps), 13:58 avg pace

felt good - 1st mile was hard (up Bengal Blvd).

Fun 5K race down at Thanksgiving Point.  Ran with Jenny and Desiree.  Hard surfaces - concrete and brick most of it.  more hills than we expected.  Did a 3run/1walk interval. 

Avg pace 11:59

52 min, 6 reps, 4.5-4.9 speed on treadmill

TOUGH run - lots of aches and pains - neck, hip, thigh  -- walked through it.

40 min, 6 reps, 4.5-5.0 speed on treadmill

Good run, a few aches - knees, rt thigh

First of what I really considered a LONG RUN!!

1:44, 12:55 avg pace, 20 reps.  Fun run with Erica and Jenny.  Leslie met us at the end.

Beautiful course - along Wasatch Blvd out to Draper.

My knees hurt all day - used ice and IB.  Felt better by Sunday.

Great accomplishment!!

Memorial Day - 1st time I ran with Paul since beginning program.  It was fun to run together.

45 min, 6 reps outside.  Did extra 5 minute walking at end.

Went at 8:30 p - beautiful weather but prefer going in the mornings.

Did the same route from Monday with Paul, this time with Desiree and Jenny.

32:57 run time, 11 reps 2/1

Felt good, nice weather, went with no breakfast.

1:15:30 (time does not include cool down)

12:29 avg pace, 24 reps 2/1

Felt good, less energy.

Used NEW Garmin!  What a cool gadget/tool

Today was a little tough.  It was a 6 min run/1 min walk ratio.  I went with Jenny.  Our avg pace was 12:56.  It was fun using the Garmin for the first time really.  We just kind of wound our way through the neighborhoods until we met our set reps.  I felt good afterwards.

Muscle up day.  Tough workout with the bar.  I'm paying for it now - quads are very sore.

Today's run was good.  We ran it in 40:49 with an average pace of 12:43.  It was me, Jenny and Desiree.  We did the little 5K route I discovered running with Paul on Memorial Day.  It's a good route.  I'm very sore now (from Muscle up) and I'm hoping I'm doing much better on Friday for our 9 miler.

Our group had decided to do a power walk today in preparation for our long run tomorrow.  It was raining so we went inside on the track :(  It's been a long time since I went on the track and I definitely prefer being outside. 

We walked for 37 minutes and did some good stretching at the end.  I took the opportunity to play with my Garmin a little and figured out how to work the interval timer on it. 

What an AWESOME long run today.  Our group of 5 set out about 5:00 am.  We ran a beautiful route and ended up at Mimi's for breakfast.

Stats from today's run:  9:04 miles, 1:47:52, avg pace 11:56!!  That beat our previous avg pace by 30 seconds.  Amazing.  Desiree set a great pace for today.  I kept up with her the first 2 miles and then moved to the back of the pack.  I feel like I'm the slowest one in the group - which is okay but I want to work on increasing my pace.

I felt a lot better today than the 8 miler.  My knees didn't hurt as much.  I took 2 Motrin before we left and it wasn't quite as big of a downhill run.

3.24 miles/35:52 min/11:03 avg pace

Today was 8 min run/1 min walk.  That was quite a jump.  The Monday runs are always a little difficult.  I took the girls on the run Paul and I used to do when we were dating - nice and flat.

Walk with Jenny.  It was beautiful outside.

Definitely my toughest long run yet.  We usually go on Fridays but we bumped it up this week since most of our group is doing Heart of Holladay on Sat.  On Tues I was thinking we should switch our run to Thur due to the weather but then the report looked like we'd be okay.   WRONG!!  We ran most of the time in rain!!  And it was not fun.  Did not enjoy it.  I was soaked!  Luckily I wasn't really cold.  The good thing is I can say I've done it (and I'm sure I'll be doing it again.)

Stats from the run:

7 miles/ 1:24:34/ 12:05 avg pace

This week I started my Garmin at the beginning so all stats include our 5 min warm-up walk.  I didn't include that last week so the stats don't truly compare.

Cross-training today.

I got up and went to Muscle up with Cynthia.

Then went on a bikeride with Julianne.  I think it's easier to run uphil than ride uphill.

Did a power walk today with the group.  I think it's great to do these walks before and after long runs/races.  It stretches out my sore muscles and it's great to walk and talk sometimes. 

We were out for an hour and it was chilly to start but nice when the sun got over the mountains.

This race was a beautiful course.  Our group all started out together but didn't stay together very long.  I was the last one to finish.  I had a kind of tough time - didn't have my gum that I always chew when I'm running so my mouth was really dry.  I didn't bring my water/fanny pak since it was such a short distance but I missed having water with me (it was also the warmest weather we've run in yet).  I also missed having sweat rag. And I didn't bring my iPod and should have since we weren't together.  Next time I'll bring it all.

I do feel good that I bettered my time by 3 1/2 minutes and I ran straight for 2 miles.  I walked up the 2 small hills.  I think I do better with the set intervals.  The minute walks are very good for me.

It was a fun race and it was so great to have Leslie come and cheer us on.  Best of all was Paul came to cheer us on and take pictures.

There were 4 of us out for the run this morning.  We did a 10/1 ratio and it wasn't as bad or hard as I was expecting it to be.  I was too warm in my capris - it's finally shorts weather - yeah!!

We went for a little more than 55 minutes including the warm up and cool down.

Avg pace was 12:16 which includes all time - running and walking.

Was supposed to do muscle up in the morning but my buddy didn't go and I was too beat to get up and go.

Got all my exercise in the evening running around Lagoon with my teenagers.  We had a blast until I lost my cell phone on Wicked.  The only thing they could find was the battery.

Did the run with Jenny this morning.  It was beautiful out and almost chilly when we started out but hot by the time we were done.

4.5 miles, 50 minutes, 12:57 avg pace (includes all walking time) with a 6/1 ratio.  I like that run/walk ratio.  It was a little off today because Jenny didn't wear the interval watch so we just kind of watched the time on my Garmin and were pretty closeon the intervals.

Did another 2.38 miles on a hike with the young women tonight.  Our hike was actually a walk along the Jordan River Parkway.  It was a beautiful evening and we all had a great time.  I definitely want to do some running down there.

Did a power walk with Jenny this morning.  I really enjoy going out with her - she's young, enthusiastic and positive and keeps me going.

We were out for 55 min.  We went over to Brighton's track so we could calibrate her iPod+Nike sensor.

Today was a long run day (schedule was for 10) - and it was fabulous, the best one yet!

Everything went well (except me forgetting the key to my van which was parked at the end of the run, luckily I remembered right when we were getting ready to start so Leslie and I went back to get it.  Just made us start late and got Jenny home late) and I felt GREAT!  This was the first run where I really felt strong and I came in strong at the end.  I felt like I could have gone longer and Erica and I actually added some mileage at the end.

Stats from today:  11.18 miles / 2:11:34 time / 11.89 avg pace

I ran almost the whole way with Erica and we felt like we kind of taking it easy and kept it at a pace where we could still talk. And then to get the report that we were under 12:00 for almost every mile was so awesome.  It's great to see improvement every week. And I love our group - we all have similar paces but each week we kind of pair up differently and it's so fun.  Since Jenny and Leslie were ahead of us and Jenny had to get back they got in the van and picked us up when we were at 9.71 miles so I convinced Erica to finish once we dropped off Leslie at Smiths.  So we ran a mile from Smiths and then walked more to get home and ended up with our total mileage of 12.  It was so motivating to do so well today.

Nice walk around the neighborhood with my kids.

It's an easy/recovery week on the program and it comes at perfect time - since i'll be at Girls Camp the rest of the week.

Went with Jenny and Leslie today.  Did our usual 5K route.  It's warm and we were sweating at 6:30 am.

It was good to get back to running today.  I missed Wed's run because I was at girl's camp.

Desiree went with me and I was so glad to chat with her.  Luckily for me, she's been off for 2 weeks so I could keep up with her today.

We did the run to Murray Park and it was great.  We did a 5/1 run-walk and it was pretty easy.  We didn't go until 6:00 so we kind of paid for it with the heat.

Went out with Desiree this morning.  We did the run in 53 min.  It was a 10/1 interval and that was kind of tough.

What a run!! We did our long run this week on Wed instead of Friday so that almost everyone in our group could go.  It's a lot harder when we do it earlier in the week because of the lack of recovery time from the previous long run.

Stats for today:  11.21 miles, 2:11:07 total time (includes warm up and cool down walking), 11:47 avg pace.

For most of the run I felt really good.  I was even the pace setter some of the time.  But I peaked too early and was dying at the end.  And I even had to deal with some bathroom issues at the end - YUCK!!

I'm just glad we're done and now i can really enjoy the holiday weekend.

it was good to get back out running this morning.  summer is hard with keeping on schedule due to vacations.  I was at the cabin for a week and so missed one run last week and yesterday's.  Luckily Leslie was able to skip muscle up and go running with me this morning. Thanks, Les.

We did 15 min run/ 1 min walk interval today -but only 2 reps.  It really felt good to get out there again.

My plan is to make up the 2 days I've missed on the program to get in the miles this week.

Had a good run with Desiree and Jenny this morning.

We did a little over 3 miles in 41 min (includes warm-up and cool down) on on 10/1 interval.  i do feel like it's getting easier and I do enjoy the running time, esp with good friends.

Went to Muscle Up at 5:30 am !  It was hard to get up but I'm glad I did.  i haven't been to that class for several weeks so I took it pretty light today, esp considering we have a long run tomorrow.

Sonia Maxfield taught this morning because Tammy was in a bike accident last Friday.  She's home but pretty beat up.  Hopefully she will recover quickly because she's the best.

It was a good long run today.  Went with Leslie, Jenny and Desiree.  We did our favorite route along Wasatch Blvd.  We even saw two deer and Desiree saw a skunk.

I had no energy for almost the whole first half but then felt better and perked up for the second half.  I felt like we ran a good pace most of the time.  We did a bit more walking than we were scheduled for but that's okay.

Here's the stats:

9 miles in 1:50/ avg pace was 12:10 on a 10/1 interval.  The last 2 miles leslie and I ran all of it and in the 10 min avg pace.

The best thing is I recovered so much better this week than last week.  no bathroom troubles and went right out and did a project with a friend of mine.  Did end up taking a nap for a little bit this afternoon for about 45 min but was woken up by a phone call.

I set my alarm for 6:30 this morning to go running by myself.  Due to Kamryn being up crying during the night, I couldn't pull myself out of bed until about 7:00.

I did what I call the Old Mill route.  I ended up at Dan's to do some grocery shopping and then had Paul pick me up.

It was great to see what I could do on my own.  I enjoyed being up early and it was great weather and I enjoyed my music and the scenery.  I couldn't believe how many bikers were out there.

Stats:  6 miles in 1:11:25 (incl warm-up and cooldown walk)/ avg pace 11:54

Added another mile tonight doing a little walk/hike with friends up in the mountains.  It was beautiful.

Stats: 4.76 miles/58:10 min/12:12 avg pace

Went with Jenny.  It was a tough 15/1 interval ratio, 3 times.  Found out later we missed  Desiree going with us, felt bad about that.

stats - 3. 58 miles in 43:17 min / 12:05 avg pace on a 10/1 interval

Went with Jenny and Desiree.  It was overcast and very muggy.  Good run.

the mileage is a total guess.  I forgot to put my Garmin on to track the mileage.  I was at Youth Conference and we were doing our own version of the Amazing Race.  I was a driver/leader for the blue team and went all over downtown.  It was a blast.

Two mile hike up in Big Cottonwood Canyon near Solitude.  With the kids for youth conference.  It was a steep hike that was pretty tough for me.  It made me feel like I am really out of shape even after all this running and marathon training.  It was beautiful and peaceful at the top.

tough Monday run with Desiree and Jenny. 

We did 3.32 miles in 40:15 minutes with a 12:07 avg pace.  It was a 15/1 interval.

Hopefully tomorrow's 13 mile run won't kill me.

Stats: - 13.46 miles / 2:43:41 / 12:09 avg pace on a 10/1 interval.

This was the toughest run yet.  It was just me and Jenny.  It's hard to keep up with her pace and i feel bad slowing her down.  I really struggled the last 3 miles and started feeling like I was going to throw up and had stomach cramps so I walked the last almost 2miles.  We went over 13 miles because of where we parked the car.  I am feeling  a lot better now.

I had trouble with my knees for more than half the run and my quads were burning.  It was just HARD!!  And discouraging.  How in the world am I going to make it through a marathon?  When I have this hard of a time with a half marathon distance?

The route was great though -we did the Old Mill to Murray route but instead of going to Mimi's we just kept going down Vine St to State then over to 4800 S and west to the Jordan Parkway trail and then followed that south to Winchester where we had parked my car.

Does anyone know how many miles you can run on the parkway?  I know there are interruptions in the trail at some points but I don't know where.

Went for  a power walk with Jenny and Desiree.  We just did laps around the park/field near our house.  It felt good to stretch some very sore muscles.  we were out for an hour.

Did a nice little easy run with desiree this morning.  We did some walking and I actually felt better running that walking.

did the same little easy route again today.  jenny and Desiree both came.  We were a little slow to get going and did some extra walking.  But at least we still got up and went.

It was great to do an "easy" long run today.  Our group went to the Jordan Parkway.  Desiree and Jenny went ahead and leslie and I took a little slower, easy pace.  That was great for me.  It was so good to catch up with Leslie and  hear more about her 1/2 marathon at Bryce and hear more about how Paul is doing (her son-in-law).

Generally I don't like doing an out and back route but i don't mind it on the parkway.  It doesn't seem the same and it's so nice to run that mostly flat course in the shade.  it would be great to live along there.  It was fun to see other runners that we knew.  We met Kim and her friends, fellow blogging runners.

Stats from today: 8 miles in 1:40 with an avg pace of 12:31.

 I finally got a picture of me on my blog.  This was taken this morning on the Jordan River Parkway.  I was with my friend, Leslie, our mother hen.  Her husband, Harold, was biking the trail with his grandson and stopped to take our picture.

Went on a short, 1 mile bike ride with my hubby.  We were just testing out our bikes that have not been in working condition for awhile.  He got them tuned up because we are going camping next week.

Had a good run with Jenny and Desiree today.  It was a huge jump for the interval - run 20 min/walk 1.  It wasn't too bad.  I kept it at a good pace for me.  They were ahead of me but not too far ahead.

just did a power walk with Desiree.  both of us were filling a little beat.  felt good to stretch our muscles and talk.

bike ride pulling trailer with Jared and Kamryn up camping - should count for double miles when you're pulling over 60 pounds and at over 10,000 elevation.

run with Desiree and Jenny.  pretty easy.  Light week gearing up for next week.

hiking and biking while up camping at Washington Lake.

Just a short little run today to warm up for tomorrow's 14 miler.  This is the long run we were supposed to do last week but put off because I was camping.  My fellow runners are so nice to accomodate my crazy summer.  I drove a route this morning after our run mapping out where to go tomorrow.  Hopefully it will be a good one.

today went much better than when Jenny and I did our 13 miler - just the 2 of us.  Today it was us two and leslie and Desiree were with us.

It was a good loop with some gentle up and down with one big uphill and one major downhill but not too steep.  I learned a lot from the 13 miler - when I start to feel the nausea coming on, stop and walk and it's okay.  This run was a good one for me mentally.  I felt a lot better and kept the pace a little slower so I could at least finish running this time.

Here's the stats:

14.25 miles in 2:56/ 12:44 avg pace - I felt like we made pretty good time considering we did a little more walking and had two bathroom/water stops.

My only problem now is I can barely walk.  I've had ice on my knees for almost an hour.  Now I'm going to go shower and crash.

Didn't get up early today - slept in until after 8:00!!  I was beat all day.  did take the kids swimming for most of the afternoon.

Went out running with Jenny this morning.  We took it very easy and slow.  Still recovering from the long run on tues and gearing up for another one on Sat.

Jenny and I just went for a power walk this morning.  It takes so much longer to cover the distance when you're walking.  It does feel good to stretch the muscles, though.  

We're trying to gear up for a 10 miler tomorrow.  We're both feeling beat still from the long run on tues. 

What a great run today.  I've decided 10 miles is my favorite distance for a long run.  I felt great today and even had some fast paces miles in there.  Unfortunately I forgot to plug in my garmin yesterday and it died 4.5 miles into the run.  I do have the stats from leslie's garmin - we did the run in 2:15 with an avg pace of 13:32.  We took it real easy and I think that's the secret for me.  I was kind of dreading the run today and didn't know if I could do it so soon after the 14 miler on Tues.  I was pleasantly surprised with how I did and how I felt.  I finished pretty strong and felt great and not wasted.  Yeah!!

Did a great run with Jenny.  Felt good.  did a 20/1 interval.

Arrived in Sitka Alaska in the afternoon.  We went on a walk through Sitka National Park.  It was an amazing  rain forest.The trails were groomed through there and all I could think was what a great place to run.  There is a river running through the forest where you could see tons of salmon swimming upstream to lay their eggs.

Went on a whale watching tour in the morning.  Great activity.  We saw a few whales, otters, seals, lots of bald eagles.

Went for a walk around town in the afternoon.  It's beautiful here even though it has rained most of the time and it's totally overcast.

Went out for a 3 mile run this morning.  It was gorgeous.

our activity today was going on a kayak trip.  We were gone for 4 hours and the guide figured we went about 8 miles - that was paddling most of that time.  I shared a kayak with one of the other wives on the trip.  It was raining and overcast in the morning and we had some pretty big waves to paddle through.  Then the clouds finally started to break up and we actually had some sunshine and saw blue skies.  Hopefully I can move my arms tomorrow.

I'm afraid to step on the scale when we go home.  WE have eaten so well while we've been here.

What a great run today.  It's beautiful up here today - sunny and warm.  It's great to get out and exercise because I want to and just because I feel like I should.

Went with Jenny.  48 min / 13.11 avg pace

It's really hard to get back into the routine after being on vacation. It was a tough run and slow going.

Today seemed even harder to get going than yesterday.  Was up way too late and not recovered from the traveling yet.

Went with Jenny and started out with a 10 minute walk just to wake up but then the running felt good and we did a good route.

58 min / 13.11 avg pace

I went with Leslie to do a trail run up Millcreek Canyon.  It was great!!  It was beautiful and pretty flat for the most part.  I felt much better today and ran most of the time without stopping.  The scenery was beautiful and it was a great change of pace.

1:09 /  13.49 avg pace

Met with desiree and Jenny this morning in the Willowcreek area.  It was fun to run a different route.  It was pretty chilly to start out.  I'm sad to start having to wear a jacket to start out the morning.  We're heading for a 16 miler tomorrow morning - yikes!!!

WE DID IT!!!!

We did the 16 miler this morning and for me it went great!!  I went with Desiree and Jenny.  when we started out it was dark and cold.  Had a long sleeve shirt but just for the first mile and then took it off to my sleeveless running shirt.

We did the  Wasatch Route and then added on the Porter Rockwell trail and The Draper Canal Trail and then ended up running on the Bangerter Parkway and part way out the frontage road and then back to the Harmon's that is right there by the freeway. 

I felt really good and could have kept going and probably should have but we were having my dad pick us up and had already told him where to meet us.

Details are:  3:21 time / 12:27 avg pace

This time we did a 5 min run/ 1 min walk interval and I think that was the key for me feeling so much better and like I could keep going.  I think that is going to be my plan for the marathon.

Had to go a little earlier than usual today since it was the first day of school!

Jenny and I went and followed the schedule and just did a 30 minute run with walking warm up and cool down.  felt good and not the typical really tough Monday.

Tomorrow we need to go even earlier and in the dark. I'm really going to miss the wonderful summer morning runs.

Went running early this morning with Desiree and Jenny.  We were surprised how warm it was - 80!

Did a kind of new route - didn't really like it.  too much on the busy roads and not enough shoulder to run on.  Don't think we'll do that again.

This morning we tried something different - intervals on the track at Brighton.  It was eye opening to see how out of shape I still am.  It really took it out of me to sprint.  After 2 miles on the track I did start to feel better and get into it.  It always takes me a couple of miles to warm up.  It was fun to see on my Garmin report that I ran mile 2 in 10:31 and mile 3 in 9:52.  after the marathon my next goal is to work on my speed and this is a good way to do that, I guess.

This morning we tried another new route - it was okay.  For Leslie's benefit I'll list it:

North on 2700 east from Jenny's, east on 7000 south up to Wasatch Blvd, south up the hill on wasatch (BIG, BIG hill that we walked), then west on Bengal and north again on 2700 east back to Jenny's.

It was really dark in spots and I felt like I was running blind.  Another problem was not enough shoulder on wasatch and too many cars.

We did have one fun thing - another runner joined us for just a little bit.  She's here on business from Nashville and we told her some routes she could take that would get her back to the Residence Inn in Old Mill area.

I loved running down Bengal and actually did a 10 minute mile there.

Jenny, Desiree and I just did walking this morning - taking a break and also stretching our muscles in prep for tomorrow's 18 miler!!  We're trying to decide on a route, any suggestions??

Three weeks  from today is the TOU!! I can't believe it.

18 was doable but our group kind of traded places today - I had a tough run and Desiree and Jenny both had a really good day.  That was good though so that they would decide to sign up for the marathon.  We met some nice people on our route today - almost everyone out there seemed to be doing 18 in prep for the fall marathons.

Mandy and Rachel ran with us for a little bit.  They are both doing marathons with fall - mandy is doing San Francisco and rachel is doing SGM for the first time.  Mandy told us she did SGM last year and ran a 5/1 interval and felt so good and had so much in reserve that she ran the whole last 8 minutes and sprinted at the finish. That was so encouraging to hear and gave us a lot of hope.

The best thing about the run today was that our good friend, Erica, did a SAG for us.  She used to run with us but had some previous injuries from a car accident (herniated disk) and then sprained her ankle so she hasn't been able to go.  So this morning she started out with us at 5:30 and did aid stations for us about every 1.5 miles for the first half of our run.  She had a little table out with water cups and then a little garbage can for our cups.  She'd made cute signs to encourage us and played inspiring music from her car.  It was a blast to have her out there with us.

I had a tough final 3 miles and really had to slow the pace down and then had to stop for a big bathroom break.  Des and Jenny kept going and ended up probably doing 19 miles.

We had another good friend, Julianne, come pick us up.  Thank goodness for all the support we get from friends.

Here's out stats:

18 miles / 3:36 / 12:02 avg pace - We felt like we improved a lot over the last long run - faster pace for a lot of the miles.  I think that might have something to do with how tough it was at the end for me.

Went for a very fun run this morning with my hubby!   Haven't been with him since Memorial Day - I guess he's a holiday runner!

We went out in a narrow window of good weather - it wasn't raining and looked nice outside.  We did one of the usual routes - uphill the 1st half and then downhill and flat the 2nd half.  With about 10-20 min left to go it started to rain and then hail.  So we cut the run a little short and sprinted home and were soaked by the time we got home.  It was a lot of fun but I was glad we were only running in the rain for the last little bit.

Finally got back to Muscle Up at the Rec Center.  Jenny and Cynthia went too.  It felt good to work out again.  Went pretty light to ease back into it.  It was great to stretch my sore muscles.

Came home and wanted to do a little running so I went on the treadmill for a short 20 minute speed/interval work - IT WAS HARD and I'm sweating like crazy now.  I need to do that several times a week.

We had a good fast run (for us) this morning.  Desiree is almost always the pace setter and this morning we kept up with her.  We even managed to talk for most of the run.  We made our plans for the marathon - yea!!

Stats: 4.86 miles / 54.59 / 12:15 avg pace

Just did muscle up today.

Just Jenny and I did the miles this morning.  We did half walking - half running.  We're both pretty sore from muscle up yesterday.  And didn't want to do too much just before our longest run ever tomorrow - 22 miles!!!!!

Stats:  57 minutes / 15:27 avg pace

OUR LAST BIG LONG RUN!!  For our training for TOU Marathon.

We had planned to do between 20-22 but ran out of time (had to be at a baptism at 10:00).  We were going to start at 5:15 but didn't get started until 5:25.  We did our usual Wasatch Route.  Our friends, Erica and Ann, did SAG for us again. That was great.  We also appreciate all the support from friends who are with us in spirit.

Stats: 3:42:49 / 12:14 avg pace on a 5/1 ratio.

We felt like we were going pretty fast ( for us) but we were behind our pace from the previous week.  It was a bummer to not finish our route but we all felt like we could. 

Just Jenny and I this morning for a slow run/walk to recover from Sat.

We did one of usual routes in reverse and it was quite a challenge.  It's much more fun to down Nantucket that up it.  We couldn't believe how many cars were on that road at 5:30 in the morning. Mostly high school kids - driving too fast and running stops signs.

Stats: 51:06 / 13:42 avg pace

It was almost all of our running group back together again this morning.  We were so glad to have Leslie back with us.  She did great!!

Stats: 5.35 total miles (lots of cool up and warm down walking today)

1:09 time / 13:58 avg pace

splits:

Mile 1 15:02

Mile 2 12:44

Mile 3 12:34

Mile 4 12:54

Mile 5 16:14

Estimate on the distance - it was raining this morning so we headed for the indoor track at the Rec center.  Not that we're afraid of a little rain - but with TOU next week we don't want to take any chances of injury or sickness.

We were dressed for cold outdoor weather - NOT indoor track weather so I got SO HOT!  Not fun doing the track!  Hopefully that was enough on the track this morning to keep us outside as long as possible.

Good little basic run today.

Just went walking with Jenny and Leslie this morning.  This has become our pre-long run ritual - walk the day before and stretch those muscles.  It was really hard to get up this morning and it was cold - windy cold.  Thank goodness we enjoyed our walk and talk - Leslie told us stories from Tonga and her adventures as a young college student.

What a GREAT run today - good friends, one of my favorite courses, fast time (our best when you compare like runs on other weeks) and breakfast at Mimi's at the end.

Because of not getting in SGM, our training has been cut short 2 weeks - hopefully we'll be okay for TOU.  We've upped our mileage during the week over the last month and gotten in all of the long runs except the 20-22.  So it's going to be a mental battle.

Stats for this run:

8.57 in 1:37:34 (we hit 8 miles at 1:29 and that is 10 minutes faster than our best time on an 8 mile run).  Our avg pace was 11:23 which is a minute faster than our average on other 8 mile runs.  That is very exciting to me.

splits:

1 - 13:45, 2 - 11:19, 3 - 10:33, 4 - 11:04, 5 - 10:38, 6 - 11:23, 7 - 10:56, 8 - 9:50

these are pretty fast splits for us.  The encouraging thing for me is that I felt good at this pace for this distance.  I do wish I could do that the whole marathon but that is just not going to happen.  Maybe in the next few years.

Took the day off!  Felt good to sleep in - if you call getting up at 6:45 sleeping in!

It was nice to have a take it easy kind of day - I did the laundry and cleaned off our patio. Took the twins swimming - we were the only ones there for over an hour!  Fun.

I felt good this morning for our run.  don't have accurate stats because I forgot to stop my Garmin when we finished.  Most of our talk was about the marathon.  I can't believe it is this SATURDAY!!!

Just a short easy run today.  We ran down to Willowcreek and then Jenny's mom brought us back.

Did a nice walk this morning.  Hopefully our taper hasn't been too much.  I think at this point rest is the most important.  We're not doing anything tomorrow morning and going up to Logan in the afternoon.  We'll take in the pasta dinner and expo and hopefully get to bed early.  The next time I log in it will be to report on the MARATHON!!

Rest Day. Slept in.  Was busy all morning - getting ready to go up to Logan.

Desiree, Jenny and I left about 1:30 pm, stopped for a yummy lunch at Rumbi's in Bountiful.  Drove on up to Logan and we're afraid to see what our accomodations were going to be like.  We got one of the last rooms available in Logan.  We stayed at the M6Inn, right on the main street before you get to town.  It actually wasn't bad at all and was just fine for the 12 hours that we were checked in there.  We hung out in jenny and Desiree's room waiting for Leslie to catch up with us.  We all laughed and had a great time trying on different combinations of running clothes trying to decide what to wear, depending on how the weather was going to be.

When Leslie got there we went to the Copper Mill Restaurant to pick up our packets, check out the VERY SMALL expo - less than 10 vendors, and go the pre-race pasta dinner.  It was good food, probably not worth the $12 we paid but we wanted to take in the whole experience.  We spun the prize wheel and won the most excited prizes - TOU license plate covers!  We did a little shopping at sports authority and got our bananas at the grocery store and were in bed by 9:30.  We had a great evening together and were nervous, anxious for the big day.  Even with a sleeping pill I didn't get a lot of sleep but I did rest.

I don't even know where to start with this marathon report - I guess at the beginning.  We got up at 4:15 and got ready for packed up our stuff and drove to the park to get on the busses.  It seemed like a very long bus ride up the canyon to the start.  We used the potties right off and then went to the tents to stretch and stay warm.  It wasn't actually hard to stay warm - it wasn't hard at all to stay warm.  It wasn't nearly as cold as we expected it to be.  We went to use the potties again and picked the slowest line and barely made it back to the start line 2 minutes before the start.  We even had a hard time getting our extra warm clothes on the bus because the bus driver started pulling away while we were trying to get our stuff on the bus.

We went to the very back of the pack to start out - we didn't want to get caught up in the push and rush of the front of the crowd.  That worked out very well.  We had a good start and very even pacing all the way down the canyon.  I loved running down that canyon - it was perfect in the elevation drop - not too drastic up or down, and it was beautiful.  I really loved meeting so many people and enjoying the run.  Leslie had given us all running shirts with our group name on the back "the Running Chicks" and that brought about a lot of conversation with a lot of people.  That was a lot of fun.

I felt great at the half way point and we were anxious to see our group of family that we knew would be cheering for us at about mile 14.  I could see my husband, Paul, standing up high on a guard rail with the video camera.  Jenny's family, parents and MIL were all there and desiree's 3 oldest kids were there (her husband is in Holland on business).  It was such a boost to see them all and have them cheer for us and look so proud of us.  We figured that was the last time we would see them before the finish but they kept  appearing every couple of miles cheering us on.  That helped us SO MUCH!!

We REALLY lucked out on the weather!!!  It wasn't very cold - started the race in shorts!  It sprinkled one time - 2 drops.  It was hot for about 5 minutes and the rest of the time it was WONDERFUL.  We were so LUCKY!!

I felt good until about mile 19 and then really started to fatigue.  My quads and hams were so tight and my left knee was really killing me but not so bad that I thought about stopping.  I remember thinking at mile 18 that I wish a marathon was 20 miles.  at soom point around 15 we split off from Desiree - she was cruising!!  She ended so strong and finished at about 5:12.  We lost Leslie at the 9 mile mark because we kept having bathroom issues and would have to stop at about 3 potties in a row.  She kept going and was ahead of the rest of the way.  She said that is what kept her going  - knowing we were behind her.  She finished about 2 minutes ahead of us.

Somewhere between mile 19 and 20 Jenny's knee gave out on her.  She was in a lot of pain and could hardly walk.  I stayed with her and told her I wouldn't leave her.  We helped each other finish.  While she tried to walk out the pain I very slowly shuffled along beside her.  We went back and forth between walking and SLOW jog/shuffle.  Those last 3 miles were SO LONG!!!  Esp running down Main street with all the traffic - I hated that.  And then looping back to the park and not knowing exactly where the finish was - was hard.  But our husbands met us at the last corner and ran with until we got to the finish shoot.  It was so exciting to hear our names announced at the finish and Jenny and I crossed the finish together - hands together high in the air and proud of ourselves.  It was so great to get hugs from all of our friends and to have their support.  It was also so much fun to see all of the friends we had made along the way.

Desiree and I and our families stuck around for the awards ceremony - once again taking it all in.  We also had fun taking our turns to cheer on some runners coming in at the very end.

One interesting thing is the difference between my Garmin and the race times and mile markers.  My Garmin was .2 miles different than the course and my finish time on the Garmin was 5:19:41 - I know that was due to having the Garmin on auto pause and I also stopped anytime we were stopped for bathroom stops.

Here are my splits:

1 - 11:07, 2 - 11:05, 3 - 11:34, 4 - 11:11, 5 - 11:05, 6 - 11:11, 7 - 11:15, 8 - 11:29, 9 - 10:49, 10 - 11:22, 11 - 11:22, 12 - 11:09, 13 - 10:52, 14 - 10:46, 15 - 12:42, 16 - 11:43, 17 - 11:08, 18 - 11:36, 19 - 12:26, 20 - 15:03, 21 - 13:17, 22 - 14:08, 23 - 15:04, 24 - 13:39, 25 - 14:18, 26 - 13:10, 27 - 4:57 (12:19 avg)

I was a little surprised looking at the splits afterwards to see how consistent we were thru the first 18 miles.  You  can definitely see where we began to have trouble. My only disappoint was not finishing as strong as I would have liked to. I wish I could have kept up with those splits from the first 18 miles.  Next time.

overall, it was a great experience.  I really liked the course a lot (Leslie didn't) and enjoyed the scenery and the people.  I would do it again - just not tomorrow.

The official stats were finally posted online.  I registered in the Filly division (give myself every advantage, I figure).  My official finish time is 5:35:42. I was #1550 overall (out of 1718), #56 in the filly division and #74 in my age group and #724 in Female category.

Recovery has been TOUGH!!!!!

I could hardly walk when I got up yesterday and barely made it to church.  The rest of the chicks were there and looking awesome and not limping at all.  They sure made me look bad :) !!

I admit I haven't done the greatest job in taking care of myself on the recovery side of the marathon.  I did get a nap in yesterday and a short slow walk.  I am so stiff and can barely walk. I did loosen up a little.  I've had to give in and take Vitamin I Sat night about midnight and again this morning.  When I got up this morning I was in even worse shape than yesterday.  Added to the very sore quads and hams, my left tendon from the heel was killing me and SO TIGHT!  I got in a hot epsom salts bath and then used our massager on my legs.  Then I took the twins to the rec center and checked them into the nursery so I could walk on the treadmill. I only did .65 mile at a very SLOW pace but it did help.  Then I sat in the hot tub for abotu 15 minutes.  I picked up the kids and we went swimming at the splash zone. It felt good to sit in that cooler water and just massage and stretch my sore muscles.  I'm doing better now but still really feeling it.  I'm hoping to be able to walk some more tonight and then walk with the chicks in the morning.

Any advice on how to recover from a first long and slow marathon run?

I'm finally feeling almost back to normal.  Some lingering soreness and a few twinges in the knees and ankles.

Did 30 minutes on the treadmill tonight abotu 8:00 pm.  I really do prefer to exercise in the morning but have also enjoyed sleeping in for a few days.

I did warm up walking, ran 3/4 mile and then walked the rest of the time.  Felt pretty good.

I got back to getting up early and went to muscle up this morning.  It felt good to do some strength training.

Went for a nice evening run with my hubby.  The weather was perfect.  It felt good to get out and run again.  My left knee was bothering me quite a bit though.  I've got to take care of it better.

I got a late start this morning and didn't get up early.  That always makes for a bad start to a monday.  I didn't get over to the rec center until about 12:30.  Went on the treadmill - that was a little better on my knees than on the road.  Took me about 31 min.  I'm doing a new training schedule I found in runner's world to prep for the painter's 1/2 marathon in Jan in St George.

muscle up this morning.

Went walking with Jenny this morning.  Felt good to walk and stretch the muscles.  By the end though I was having pretty much constant pain on my left knee - in the back of the knee.  That's a new pain.  Kind of discouraging.  Came home and iced it.  That was the knee that hurt during the marathon and I don't know if that's still some residual pain and swelling.

Got up early and went to muscle up with Jenny.

I am so glad I committed to Jenny last night to meet her this morning at 6:15 am.  That was actually sleeping in a little from when we regularly go.  I didn't get to bed until midnight because my husband and I were at the awesome ending Utah game!!!

Anyway, it was hard to get up but I'm glad I did.  We started out walking to warm up and then a very slow shuffle/jog and then picked up the pace through the run.  It felt good to run out on the road again but did have knee issues.  Hopefully those will go away soon.  We were out for about 45 minutes.

Good luck to all those who are running the St george Marathon tomorrow. I'll be thinking about you.

Had a good run with Jenny this morning.  Tried a variation on a regular route - going up Cavalier was tough and I had to stop and walk longer than the 1 minute interval.  Still feel like I'm going pretty slow and still recovering.  Both knees were letting me know they were there and not happy.

It was so interesting reading everyone's race reports.  Can't imagine surviving that marathon.  So glad I didn't get into St George this year.

Did Muscle up this morning with Cynthia.  Felt good to work hard.

4.40 miles  in 52 minutes running with Jenny and Leslie.  The rest of the mileage was walking.  It was so great to go with Leslie again.  It was quite cold to start out.  I'm dreading winter!

I dared to step on the scale this morning - haven't been on since the day after TOU.  I couldn't believe it - I was actually down to 149!  I haven't seen that in a LONG time.  Now if I can just keep going!!

 In the evening for YW we had an exercise night.  A friend of mine from HS days who now teaches fitness classes at the Rec Center came to teach the girls.  She spent about 50 minutes teaching a NIA class and then ended with about 20 minutes of Pilates.  It was fun and a great workout.  I really enjoyed the NIA class a lot and definitely had a good aerobic workout and worked up quite a sweat.  I wish I could get that in for cross-training but the scheduled time of the class won't work out with my schedule.

Muscle up this morning with Cynthia and Jenny.  Today's class went by so slowly.  Tuesday's class went by really quick so maybe that made today seem even longer.

Had a great run today with Jenny.  Total of 5 miles running/ 1 mile walking for warm up and cool down.  Felt good today and picked up the pace.  Ran up the hills.  Today was a good day.  It was COLD and it's only going to get colder.  That is definitely going to be a challenge.

Same run as Friday.  This time Leslie went with us.  It's a good run with hills and slight downhill too.  We try to improve a little each time we go out.  Our average pace improved from 12:43 Friday to 12:18 today.  It was wicked cold but we survived.  I've got to get some warmer running pants.

Muscle up with Cynthia and Jenny this morning.

run/walk this morning with desiree - mostly walk.  I was VERY sore from muscle up yesterday.  I'll be at the cabin rest of the week so I'm not sure how much exercise I'll get in .  I'm going to try.

Went to the rec center with Jenny this morning and we did the treadmills.  My back is really bothering me so I took it easy - lots of walking with some running.  I guess that is what I get for sitting around for a week and no exercise.

Got up early and went to muscle up. I almost called cynthia to tell her I wasn't going because my back was pretty bad when I first got up (lower back pain/bulging disc probably) but it started feeling better and was a lot better after the class.

Got up early and went running with Jenny this morning.  It felt good to get out there again.  It seems like it had been forever.  The weather was perfect and we even got too hot.  My back was really bad last week but its slowly getting better.  I could feel it during the run but not too bad.

It's been a tough week - exercise wise and busy otherwise.

Yesterday I totally slept through my alarm so I didn't wake up in time to go running with Jenny.  I felt really bad that I made her get up for nothing.  I never did go the rest of the day - too busy with errands for our mutual activity - Fear Factor.  I did get plenty of exercise at the activity running around setting everything up.

did muscle up this morning.  felt good.  my back is still bothering me but not quite as intense.

Went walking with Cynthia and Desiree this morning.  We were out for about an hour.  My knee (back of left knee) really started bothering me for the last 1/2.  What a nightmare - some new/different problem every time I go out.

Went running with Jenny this morning.  It was actually pretty nice weather considering the storm yesterday.  We did a little variation on a route we usually run.  We ended up walking about 1/3 time.  I was pleasantly surprised that my back did not bother me while we were out.  But Jenny's knee was really acting up after about 2 miles.

Muscle up with Jenny and Desiree.  My back was much better thank goodness.

I'm guessing on the mileage.  Walked the track at the rec with Des.  We were there for about 50 minutes.  Good to catch up.

It was a great exercise day.  Jenny and I opted to stay inside and run on the treadmills at the rec center.  I felt great and it was so good to run and not have my back hurt at all while I was running.  I did 3.95 in 50 minutes on the TM.  The rest of the mileage is from running over to Jenny's and then walking to and back from the rec center.

I was encouraged with how I felt and did on the treadmill. I've been a slacker the last couple of weeks and I've been wimpy with running.  I felt much better about what I did today and it has me motivated to keep doing better.

Treadmill at the rec center with Jenny again.  Didn't feel quite as good as Friday.  Still good to get up and get some miles in.

Muscle up with Cynthia.  Major upper body workout!

Treadmill again with Jenny.  My back was bad again so i had to do more walking than running today.  at least I did get to do some running.  This back thing is driving me crazy.

Muscle up with Cynthia.  had to leave a little early so I could get ready to go to San Diego with Paul.

totally guessing on the miles - walking out on Ocean Beach pier and all around the GasLamp district of downtown san diego.