Patience; the new endurance sport.

AP 9:22 Catherine's winding down for Ogden in two weeks.  I was really pleased I ran this far, this fast today.  We went down the South jetti, which we've never done.  It was awesome to be surrounded by water on either side, the wind whipping up the waves and splashing us.  The sky was grey and it rained the whole run.  We were loving it and kept pretending that we lived in Seattle or Portland.  Then I remembered how it was 8:00 a.m. and they were starting the Provo Half  Marathon at that moment.  I really hoped for the sake of Jenn, Marion and Michelle (and Josse & Ericka) that today was going to be a calm day.  But man, it rained, and pelted the whole time. I ran home, grabbed a thermos of hot chocolate and the Snuggie (sure laugh) and got quick to Center Street to position myself close to the finish.  First Jeff Mc came in--sailing in ahead of anyone--with no perceivable emotion on his face.  He was so focused and intent coming across that finsih it was inspirational.  Meanwhile, 5 minutes later came the next runner, then MaryAnn, then Michelle and Tyler.  I did as Michelle instructed--yelled loud at her to get a move on and push hard to the end.  She championed that last .10 and came in a minute under her expected 1:24.  Even in the crappiest weather ever--she sailed  right in looking ever the elite.  I got to meet Melody too, who had come in third. Those girls make winning a race look easy and natural.  That's when you know they're good at it--when it looks easy.  It makes me want to run faster.  I stood and cheered for all the other elites on down to the 8-9 m/milers coming in. Michelle and I waited a bit, but then Michelle took off to find Marion and run her in.  When they came in, I was a little worried--Marion was really concentrating.  But once she stopped running she recovered herself.  I was great to see her come in.  I missed Josse & Ericka, and also Jenn.  but I had such a great time cheering for everyone.  It was much funner to cheer at the race than to run it :)  I have now cooked 5 hours straight and am looking forward to sharing my Chilean Pastel de Choclo and flourless chocolate torte w/ganoche at the party.   I've had the best day.  Running in the lush cool rain w/Catherine on the jetti, feeling so strong, then seeing my friends achieve their running goals, and then cooking with the same sense of intensity and fun with which I started my day.  My kids & their friends ran in and out of the house, and my best neighbor friends came to sit in the kitchen and talk to me while I cooked for hours and hours.  And now I get to go to a party and play guitar hero.  I Love today.

It was cold and rainy this morning but by the time I got out to run at lunchtime, it was balmy, and green and fragrant.  Only problem is I had to run back and forth on a 2 mile segment of the trail for 6 miles because of the construction.  They had it open on Saturday for the Provo City Half--but closed it right up again.  I hate that bridge.  I hate Provo City for wanting to bring more traffic to the airport.  I hate a lot of things right now. However, the running part of my day was fabulous.  AP 9:03

I love lower temperatures for running.  But after yesterday's balmy, sunny afternoon; the wind and sleet and grey of today made me just want to stay in bed.  I had a hard time of it. My energy level was really low, my hams felt sore in the cold, and I hated getting pelted in the face by hail (?).  Or whatever hard snowflakes are called.  After I got the kids off to school I took a really warm bath, fell asleep, and then woke up, already half hour late for work (still in the tub).  Maybe one of these times I'll just drown in the tub like they keep promising.  Falling asleep in a warm bathtup sounds like a fine way to go.  Except that I would feel kind of bad for my cat, who likes to sit at the edge of the tub and wait because she  knows I'm going to feed her as soon as I'm done.  I'm working on becoming one of those sad old women who have a lot of cats.  Wonder why I'm so tired?  I have been really tired for about 2 months.

....still cold and cranky. I couldn't run until the end of the day. But it was nice to run in the late sunlight. 

My hamstrings are absolutley a mess in this cold.  I've done lots of extra stretching, but I feel like they are made of glass.  I had so much energy last week.  I thought I'd escaped the post-marathon blues.  I know it takes me at least 4 weeks to fully recover.  I couldn't sprint right now if my life depended on it.

I ran with Josse and Ericka up on the Bonneville Shoreline trail.  So fun. It was windy and miserable getting up that hill at first, but once on the trail, protected by the mountain--the hillsides and the valley floor were bright green, the air was clear and clean, the lake was mirror blue, the sky was wide and brigh, and the mountain tops still capped with snow.  It took my breath away to look over the valley surrounded by the arms of our mountains.  Even as I sit here writing this my minds eye is still on top of the mountain.  I love when Josse takes me up there.  Gorgeous.  What  great way to start my morning. 

I had the pleasure of running with Ericka and Catherine this morning.  We did 8.5 together/ap 9:13.  Then Josse joined us for some more miles.  I could only hack 4 more.  I was really tired today and maybe dehydrated because it was warm.  I haven't had enough water (or anything healthy).  I've been lazy since Boston (what was that like a month ago...I love excuses).  But I was a little nauseous and had to ask Ericka for some of her drink.   She and Josse went on to run some more miles without me.  Josse and Catherine are both running Ogden and Ericka and I are trying to find a way to sneak in and run the course for fun.  Maybe I can find someone (like my uncle in Liberty) to drive us to the start.  We'll see.

I really enjoy lunchtime running whent the weather is good.  I ran a mile and a half up Rock Canyon.  I don't know if this much up hill is good for me if I'm not using good posture/form.  But I do love going uphill. I get a good aerobic work out no matter how slow I go.  I've come to the conclusion though, that the trailhead at Rock Canyon has weird energy.  Don't know what people are doing up there to bring that feeling to the area, but I always get slightly weireded out going up that trail about a mile.  My Garmin died about 3 miles from lack of battery, so I don't even know what the run was like.  Yes I do, it was slow.

Ran w/ Josse, Ericka, & Brune up Provo Canyon to my favorite water fountain.  I remember that waterfountain from when it was just a pipe coming out of the ground and the path was not paved.  That water always runs so clear and cold and is the most delicious thing in the world come summer mornings.  I have no idea how fast or slow since I didn't bring the Garmin.  It started to rain really hard right when we were finishing the run.  Perfect timing.  The weather has been so perfectly cool for running.  I still would like a few more of those clear May skies sometime. But I have been loving the smell of the lilacs in my yard, my bleeding hearts are in full bloom and the hosta are all a few inches above the ground.  It's so much more green and lush this year because of the rain. 

I happened upon someone yesterday who tried to explain footstrike hemolysis and why distance runners are more prone to iron deficiency than seditary people.  So I read this in Pete Pfitzinger's lab report:

#2: Many endurance athletes have low iron intakes. Low iron intake is a problem for vegetarians, and for those runners who eat red meat less than once per week. The typical high carbohydrate, low fat, low cholesterol runner's diet often includes little or no red meat. Red meat contains heme iron, which is more easily absorbed than plant sources of iron.

#3: Foot strike hemolysis is the breakdown of red blood cells when the foot hits the ground. While foot strike hemolysis is not a big problem for most runners, if you are larger than average or run high mileage on asphalt, it could be a factor for you.

I am larger than average, and I run exclusively on pavement/asphalt and I gave up meat about a year ago.  I saw Food Inc. last fall and it was the final straw in terms of eating animal protein.  After I stopped eating meat at least twice a week, over time (a few months) I started getting really fatigued.  I could run, but I was always tired after, and I was sleeping like a rock 8-9 hours every night--still fatigued during the day.  I could not pull myself together.  Before Boston as I was at the peak of my marathon training and starting the taper, I force-fed myself a red meat on the supposition it was Ferritin iron deficiency.  In addition, I started my B complex vitamins again--and in this article learned that Niacin and B12 deficiencies over time lead to iron deficiencies.  So my hypothosis regading B complex and iron deficiency was, I think correct. I resent eating meat anymore.  It was hard in those months to figure out what else besides huge quantities of beans and nuts (and shakes) could replace the amount of protein I felt I needed.  But I do know that I was very tired.  Since going back to eating some red meat each week since about the middle of April--I've gained a few pounds, but I feel much stronger. I'm sure going from 50+ mile weeks down to 30 miles for a few weeks helps too. 

9:34 av lunchtime run .  My river has gotten so big!  I've been listening to it at night from bed.  May is my second favorite month of the year.  I can't wait for the roses to bloom.

Baby taper run for Ogden Marathon.  I hope it's good weather tomorrow.  It thought it was supposed to be sunny, but it's pretty darn chilly.  Driving Catherine to my Aunt's house tonight and we'll hit the expo to pick up our numbers.  (Thanks to Nan's friend for my racing number!).  I'm so glad I got in.  I hope it's a good day and a good run.  Utah Valley Marathon a month from this weekend.  Whew, I have a lot going on tommorrow after the race (soccer game, dinner party, guests on Sunday).  I'm going to be exhausted by Monday.

I'll have to fill in my official information later since I wasn't able to see my official chip time, and it's not yet available online.  I had a great, great day.  Picked up Cath last night (the day and the race really belonged to her).  She'd been training really hard and wanted to re-qualify for Boston.  I bought someone else's place in the race just so I could run the half M to keep myself occupied and get in my Sat training run while I waited to run Cath into the finish.  I love the Ogden Marathon course. I love that valley and canyon.  We did the Expo late, ran into Kelly & her beau, then went to a pasta place and received marginal food and terrible service (Ogden, sheesh).  Got back to my Aunt's house and promptly never slept a wink until 3:50 a.m.  My darling Auntie dropped us off at the start, Cath went off with the big boys and girls to her busses and I waited for Josse, Ericka, and Rad so we could ride the Half M busses.  I was sleeeeeeepy.  But it was fun to listen to the pregnancy talk between RAD and Josse.  I could never run pregnant like they did.  They both were amazing.  It was fun to hang around at the start, run a warm up with cute Ericka and start the race with all 3 girls.  As we ran past Eden I said a little prayer for Eathan Stacy in my mind as I pondered how he'd buried and found there on the hillside just a few miles from where we were running.  So sad.  It was just too much to be there so close to where he had been and not remember him. We we ran easily and quietly together as we passed the still water Pineview Reservoir in the early dawn.  The sky was clear, the mountains still white with snow.  I saw a hawk flying gracefully over the runners going up those little getting to the top of the reservoir and made me think my Dad as it always does.  I so enjoy this course.  I was able to stay with Ericka & Josse up the hills, to the top of the reservoir but lost them when I was unable to drink and run simultaneously and I knew there was no way I'd ever catch Josse on the downhill, 5 months pregnant or not-- EVER. (8:50/8:51/8:10/8:14).  I missed about 3 miles of splits since my Garmin just decided to turn off/lose signal (?) and I never noticed until mile somewhere during mile 7.  I hate that thing sometimes (I even locked the bezel like Josse showed me :( So much of the downhill I just cleared my mind, listened to the river--but I had to stop (twice in 6 miles) to use the johns (8:31/8:19/8:28/7:56/8:46). I didn't do as much (ahem) prep work for this race and so paid the consequences.  None the less, the running was alright in spite of the pit stops.  I ended those last two miles with this guy pacing a woman (his wife?) and an older gentleman his late 60's.  The pacer was yelling, prodding and encouraging them, so I just pretended the pacer was for me finished with them 8:57/8:47  The whole thing was not as bad, as I thought it might be, post Boston (I still feel like I'm recovering).  I crossed the finish line by the clock 1:55.  I PR'd for the girl who'd given me her number (she said the fastest time she'd ever done was 2:04) so I hope she's pleased.  Josse &  Ericka cheered me and RAD in, and we went back to watch the first men Marathoners come in.  Standing on the road, the sun felt marvelous on my skin.  It was awesome to see the first men come in.  But the first guy was white, exhausted (even his lips were grey) but he had a huge lead.  After the first woman made it, I took off to run 2 miles up to meet Catherine.  I saw my friend Marisa finishing really strong behind MacKenzie and Amber (?).  I saw Crockett, and kept my eyes peeled for Cath.  When she came around the corner at mile 24, I could see she was not feeling the love and so I quietly took my place and paced her at an 8:50 finishing pace for the past 2 miles.  I talked to her quietly as we ran, telling her to dig deep and that she could do it. She actually grabbed my arm twice when she stopped last to drink.  I thought she was going down--but she was determined to cross the finish line to BQ. I was pacing her as fast as I thought she could handle. She just kept looking at her Garmin (which kept freaking me out).  As we approached the finish, she pulled ahead to hit a really good stride to cross the line. We got her across the finish line to BQ (just under at about 3:38).  RAD was there cheering us to the finish.  Cath was in such great shape for the race, and had thought she might 3:20.  She did really great early on keeping a few sub 7:00's early --maybe burned out a little too fast. But also said she hadn't done a good job eating, hydrating, or resting prior.  Also that she'd cramped and had stomach issues. But she BQ’d just the same!  Only trouble is, she almost collapsed at the finish and we had to spend about 40 minutes with the medics getting her salts & hydration back to normal.  She colored back up a bit, and by then we had to go because my Aunt was picking us up and I had to get home to cook a ton of Indian Food for a dinner party.  Fun, busy, wonderful day!  I've had more than my fair share lately.

Looked up my official time 1:53:21 (it's such a down hill course, I totally would have PR'd had I not used the privy so many times along the course).  Honestly, will I ever learn? I guess I just felt lucky to get in the race at all to keep myself occupied while I waited for Cath to finish the marathon.  I wasn't really taking it like a 'race' as much as a training run. Still, I've got to put my thinking cap on and get things done right one of these times.  That time, given the stops was a real surprize.   Today, I enjoyed the  luxury of running in the morning after the kids are gone to school.  I enjoyed a cool morning by the river still wide and deep from run off.  I ran an leisurely 9:34 ap and enjoyed saying hello to the other people out on this fine morning.  I felt chipper in my new blue running skirt. It has a pocket on the thigh and it's my favorite color blue. I love it. I was tired though. I had such a busy weekend after the Marathon on Saturday, I'm still pooped. I cooked up an Indian feast with real Indian ingredients from the new Bollywood grocery store on 180 North University.  If you've never crushed your own cardamom, you haven't lived.  I made Saag Paneer, Korma, basmati rice w/ fenugreek & cilantro, and Kier w/ pistachios & golden rasins.  It was all super delicious and was perfect with what everyone else brought (Garlic Naan, Tika Misala, Aloo Gobi, Samosa's, Mango Lassie, etc, etc).  Bombay House eat your heart out.  We made our own buffet. Sunday brought more East Coast out-of-towners to my house, but eventually I did get in a nap in the late afternoon. I sat in the fading sun out by the river to read, and the next thing I know I hear my kids laughing at the foot of my lounge chair, while my son says to his sister "go ahead, ask her something....she'll answer you back all crazy and garbeldey." I opened my eyes fully awake, and said "were you talking to me?" and he said "oh, just wanted you to wake up so you could sleep later tonight."  Cheeky monkey. 

I awoke to the rain softly tapping at the windows and the rooftop. The day was grey,and I just wanted to roll over sleep all day. When I took off, wearing my trusty cap and waterproof jacket, I was still tired. But once I got to the river, heard it rushing, breathed in the fresh, wet the air, smelled the lilacs blooming from afar, saw the world green and lush--even in that grey light and steady rain, I couldn't help but catch the spirit of the day. I had the rainy trail down to the lake by myself.  I recalled May 1st as Cath and I ran down the jetti in the rain, and pretended we lived in Seattle, and that Utah Lake was the Puget Sound.  On the way back, there were about 40 kids on the trail. After passing the whole group, which took about a quarter mile, I realized there were about 6 boys still running behind me--chasing/trying to keep up with me.  So looked at them, smiled, and turned it on --they kept up for a few seconds and then dropped out one by one after less than 200 feet.  Take that you 6th grade boys!  That's what you get for calling me "Lucille Balls" in 1979.

9:09/8:43/8:53/9:11/9:20/9:40  Lunchtime riverrun.  Feeling tired and fighting a cold.

I woke up with a bad sore throat, stuffy nose and headache. I don't think I have ever run that slowly in my life. I really might have just walked.  I started slow and thought I'd warm up, but my legs felt like socks filled with sand the whole way. On top of the flu/cold  I have to travel to DC now.  I completley forgot about this trip and had scheduled at least 3 important things this weekend.  My poor daugter-- has a pool party this weekend is now freaking out that I'm not going to be home.  She's really nervous about this dumb thing.  I think a pool party for jr. high school is about the cruelest thing you could ever do to a 13 year old girl or boy for that matter.  But she's determined to go anyway.  In the meantime, I've got to figure when and where to run 20 miles this weekend. It's always unnerving to try and pull off a long run in less familiar territory.  I think I may hit the Mt. Vernon Trail. 

Twice in the past 6 months I've flown on a plane next to someone who had a story for me.  The story starts with my certainty that I'm about to meet God because the plane has a 100% chance of breaking apart mid-air in the sky, and falling 35,000 feet to the ground in a firey mass.  So whoever is sitting next to me, not realizing they are about to meet their maker, begins innocently chatting out a tale of how they almost died because of a heart attack and how unafraid and grateful they are now because every extra day they have is a gift.  Most recently I sat next to a man, who for half of the 4 1/2 hour flight talked to me about his new governemnt job in Arlington VA, how he spent the weekend practicing getting around the city on the Metro with his 13 year old son (who was with him), and how many wonderful things there are to do in DC.  It wasn't until I watched the son move the father's (slack and non-muscular) legs out of the way so he could go to the bathroom, did I realize the man was parapalegic (he had been sitting down before I got on the plane).  So I've been thinking about the message spoken to me, and I think it is:  I need to be less afraid and just try live until I die.  Instead of doing what I'm doing now, which is being crippled by a certain amount of fear which is prevents me from true living.   I've been so careful, too cautious, because I never really had anyone looking out for me while I was growing up. Maybe now I'm old, and have less to future protect, I can relax a little.  Or maybe I just wish getting on a plane didn't feel like the death penalty, because I have a lot of flying to do this summer.

Let's just say I just crashed and burned the past 4 days.  Utah Valley Marathon, should it be undertaken or finished should be a real adventure.

I forgot-on-purpose to bring my Garmin.  I know I'm running slowly--I don't really need to know how slow.  My nose is still snotty and I can still feel my achilles tendon a bit in the beginning.  I hoped the rest in the past few days would ease it up, but from my experience with tendonitis (every major tendon I have, has had it at some time or another) it takes 6-10 months to heal (with or without rest).  I guess that's just me. It was hurting a little since before Boston from the hill repeats I did so frequently to train.  I should have taken those first two weeks after Boston slower.  It takes a lot of discipline to get that much training done, run a good race, and then bring it down a notch for 2-3 weeks just so you can start again with equal intensity. It's much easier to keep up the momentum--but then stuff starts falling apart (your immune system, your tendons, your energy level, etc).  Today--since it was overcast, I thought I'd run up Rock Canyon again, but as soon as I stepped out the door and felt how warm it was, I immediately changed my route to run to my favorite water fountain at the mouth of the Canyon.  I didn't bring a hand held water bottle with me today, and I was thirsty from about the second I left my office.  It was a nice easy run.  I stopped and stretched at the traffice lights, I drank at my fountain--washed my red, overheated face, ran slowly downhill, looked at trees, felt the breeze blowing up off the river.  It felt like 12 minute miles.  Thouroughly enjoyable. 

It finally felt like a morning in May--balmy, yet still cool.  The river is much lower now, they must have plugged up Deer Creek Dam already this year.  I was going pretty slowly at first, but then I started really thinking about a couple of business ideas, and a bunch of ideas for work.  I got very excited about it and ran home fast so I could get home and outline it.  Some of the best ideas I've had in a long time.  I credit 5 days of no running to increased brain activity and improved energy-- seriously.  I think I hit the wall back there.

5 miles 9:30 ap.

Leafy trees filled with yellow headed black birds chriping a chorus, tiny orangefinches hiding and hopping in the branches, the smell of fresh cut grass, hard pregnant fat rose hips on the verge of bursting with ludicrous gawdy bloom, 20 baby calves standing wobbly legged and glassy eyed in the fields, clear blue skies as far as the horizon, fresh, cool air blowing up from the rushing river, and snowy mountains shouldering the entire valley.  There are a few weeks in May and October that light my fire and make life worth living.   I live and breath waiting 364 days a year, for just one like today.  Or maybe I'm just really, really happy not to be on an airplane this weekend.

Luckily, I had lots of good company today. Cause if I didn't, I might have skipped a whole 'nother weekend. Ran the first 8 miles with Ericka, 6 more together with Cath, and then 5 more w/ just Cath. By the end I was literally wretching I was so tired.  That's never happened before. In retropect, the trip to DC was stressful. It's been a very transformative week in general.  When my brain works too hard it sucks the life out of me.  It will be an interesting experience to do these two marathons so close to each other.  Particularly since my long run was 2 weeks out instead of 3.  I don't know if doing it this way is better or worse than skipping it all together and winging it the day of UVM.  I guess it's an experiement in running.  I can't bear the thought of bombing Utah Valley again, but I have made a pact that I will enjoy it, which for me means, chatting, looking at the scenery, crossing the finish with my kids & their friends.  I really did have a fun experience last year.  I want a repeat.  But that means I have to swallow my pride and run easy.  Preserving my body is more important that having a good race time right now.  So glad to at least the big one under my belt so I can enjoy the rest of my weekend.....starting right now.

There is nothing I love more to do while on vacation than run.  I run easy, I run faster, I run long.  I don't know what happned Saturday Morning (besides pushing a 21 miler exhausted) but today was specatuclar and easy-breezy (well, I did pretty good Saturday up till 15). So today, I remembered all my best dead people and made some of the foods they loved. Happy Memorial Day!  It was a great weekend.