Beautiful morning outside. I have Twilight sleeping in a crate in my room now and she made sure that I got up as soon as my alarm went off to let her go potty. I might as well enjoy watching the sky lighten for one more week before the time change messes us up again.

I ran without a headlamp this morning and really enjoyed the solitude and was able to do a lot of thinking. I realized I needed to get back to weight lifting 3x a week and get into better shape.

7.75 miles alone. .75 miles with Twilight. I thought that would be my cooldown, but she spent the first half  stopping to sniff and the last half forcing me into a dead out sprint.

11:34/11:22/10:53/11:17/11:01/11:13/11:28

No drink on the run - so I was very thirsty when I got home.

- Great lunch with Leslie- I enjoyed the company and we were all giggly about my upcoming 50 miler

PM - .25 running around the outside of my townhouse complex barefoot with the puppy. 2 miles barefoot walking on the treadmill at its highest incline (will be posting walking mileage until after my 50 miler).

I read the introduction and 1st chapter of the  Slow Down Diet by Marc David while on the treadmill.  Here are some highlights:

• Slowing down means becoming more aware: Open. Centered. Present. Balanced.
• 9 out of 10 people who claim they are overeaters actually don't eat when they eat. Because we fail to notice our food, we completely bypass the body's satiation mechanism.
• Week 1 - focus on lengthening out your meals.  Double the time it takes to eat. Eat only in a sitting position. Do not answer the phone, e-mails, or engage in any form or work while eating (probably also means don't read or blog :-) )
• Breathe more deeply.  Take 10 deep breaths before eating. Each time you pause, take 3 deep breaths.
• 
  
• 
  
• Here are some of my observations from eating dinner under this plan. (I made a wonderful stir fry with veggies and chicken and seasonings and had some herbed foccacia bread): 
  
• I actually felt very uncomfortable and guilty about taking so much time to eat.  My body wanted to rush on to my other projects and I had to force myself to relax.
• It was a nice experience to smell my foot before each bite and try and determine the different flavors. I found I really liked the orange vinegar I used and the fennel seeds. I want to try and duplicate the foccacia bread in whole wheat because the herbs smelled so good.
• I actually got full before finishing my serving and had not given myself a big plate of food. AND - I stopped when I got full.
• Did you know that a hot meal can actually get cold while you eat it?
  

Wasn't that wind today fun to run in?  LOL

Ran after work and ran into the wind first so I would have it at my back.

Avg: 11:26    12:07/12:43/11:21/11:34/11:23/10:53/10:36/10:49 (D'ya think I got a negative split?)

I was a little worried because I slipped off a stair last night and twisted my right ankle.  But, I immediately iced it and took some vitamin I and it is feeling fine today.

Went to the gym after dinner and did chest and back weights.  I was talking with one of the trainers and explained about my lower abs hurting when I cough after running for a while.  He had me do some exercises and thinks that I might have a tear or an early stage hernia and thinks I need to get it checked out. Grrrrrr.

Walked the puppy for 1/4 mile tonight.  Right now the leaves blowing about are terrifying her - so it is walk 2 steps, shake, get encouragement, repeat....... I bought a dog gate tonight and set up my kitchen so she has that whole area to play in all day instead of a 4 foot by 4 foot cage.  I don't know if she likes it - she is afraid to go through the gate right now.

Quick run this morning. I had to wait until 5:30 so I could call a former developer on the East coast. Chose a hillier route.

Avg 11:34   12:05/11:35/10:43/11:09

Apparently, I'm going to be sent to my room or the principal's office soon if I don't report in.....

This report will be split between this blog and my other Adventures in Running blog.

Dang! It was cold this morning.  About a mile or so after I left to head up to Layton, I realized I forgot my outer top layer and turned around.  I was very glad to have that.

We met on Antelope Island about 8:20 and the wind just smashed into us.  It was that lovely biting cold and most of us were adding extra layers to stay warm.  Hope it's not like that for the race.  I was glad I waited for Jim Skaggs, the Race Director, to show up.  It turns out he has modified the initial loop even more and I was able to run (ok walk) the change-up.  I'm not too happy about it, but will live with it.

About one mile in I joined up with two men.  One of them took off after about 4.5 miles to loop back to his car.  He was just beginning to get back into running after being diagnosed with Insulin Dependent Type I diabetes.  The other runner made sure he had some jelly beans to munch on and I gave him a Gu packet in case his blood sugar dropped. He is still learning how to control all that.

The other runner, Joe and I stuck together the rest of the run.  It wasn't as cold after a while, so I was able to unzip my top layers and peel off my hat and gloves for about 20-30 minutes at a time.  We were going at the same pace and I was able to tell him all about previous Buffalo Runs and explain what to expect on an ultramarathon and how to set up drop bags and stuff.  I was pretty impressed, he turns 50 next week and is doing the 50K as a birthday challenge.  Even more impressive - he had a knee replacement in 2007 and this was his biggest challenge since then.

We did 16.3 miles on the island, I was going to do more, but had another appointment to get to, so stopped after the first loop.

PM - A couple of hours later, I was on my way home and decided to try and run on the trails beside the Legacy Parkway.  They are hard to get to, but I finally found my way to one.  Ran 5.7 miles in about 1:04 to put me at 22 miles.

11:46/12:04 (including VPB)/11:41/11:16 (including another VPB)/11:04

Ran .5 miles with Twilight just now to get her to burn some excess energy.  I was going to walk on the treadmill tonight - but decided not to.

The hernia is starting to impact me more.  I am seeing a doctor about it on Tuesday.

8 miles in 1:29:??  then 1/4 mile cooldown with Twilight.

I did 25 stride sprints at each road crossing of the trax trail and at each mile marker starting at 1.5 miles - so 14 sprints in all.

Ave 11:12  Max 7:20

11:44/11:22/10:45/11:09/11:18/10:58/10:57/11:12

Went in to work early so I could make my doctors appointment this afternoon and I am going to Phantom tonight, so no workout today.

Summary of the doctor's appointment:  I either have a hernia or a tear that will probably become a hernia. There is a 'slight' chance things will heal on their own if it is a tear.  I can do whatever I want as far as working out, as long as I don't feel a tearing motion and should try to avoid things that cause me pain (gee - I wouldn't have figured that out on my own).  He recommends trying compression shorts for the long runs.  Until the hernia gets bad enough that I can't push it back through the opening, then just keep on doing what I am doing.

One of those beautiful runs that make all the painful, miserable one worthwhile.

I took a long lunch and ran over to Wheeler Farm and ran on its trails for an hour. The trails are no longer covered in ice and just had patches of snow and mud and soft soil. (The mud was a bit sticky and slippery, but my hobnail shoes conquered all).  I was just pushing a little past my comfort zone and really felt great. Legs were strong and feeling good overall.  The fifth mile I could start to feel the effort from pushing and had to fight off slowing down.

11:19 (stupid stoplights and traffic)/10:23/10:10/10:18/10:10

Tried out my new running pack (it is a Nathan running vest) that I am hoping to use for the 50 miler.

Oh - and in case you are curious - 17 days until my 50 mile run.

Tonight I am hoping to do additional miles running uphill on the treadmill.

Ran up to Leslie's house to take Odee for a run and ran him back down to my house.

I only walked 25 steps of the run to Les' place - pretty good since less than half a mile of the 4.65 miles is flat or downhill.  I reset my watch for the run home because I thought I would really have an impressive negative split, but my running companion had a lard butt and wouldn't run fast at all.

1st 4.65 miles (mainly uphill) -11:44/11:31/11:16/12:07 (killer uphill)/7:42 (.65 miles - on course for 11:47)

2nd 4.65 miles (mainly downhill) - 7:50 (.65 miles - on course for 11:55 including an Odee Potty Break)/10:27 (trying to get Odee under control and passed 5 dogs)/10:58 (2 dogs and one OPB)/11:49 (killer uphill and Odee refused to run it + another OPB)/12:02 (luckily Odee got to rest for 4 minutes at a stop light)

Brought Odee in the house for a few minutes.  Twilight came running down to greet me and about died of shock when this monster came in the house.

Feeling a bit of a pull on the outside of my right quadriceps - so going to take today off in prep for a long run tomorrow.

16 miles on the Jordan River Parkway Trail - 12 of them with Leslie.  I parked on Winchester and ran 2 miles to where Leslie was going to start and then ran up 5300 until I met her.  It was a nice day out - a bit on the cold side. 

I started getting calls while on the trail and found out my son's car had been broken into and stuff stolen out of it.  

/*************/

Information regarding the 50 miler - 14 days from today.

The race starts at 6 a.m.  I plan to be done with the first 18-19 mile section before 11 a.m.  If anyone wants to come out and run sections with me - that would be great.  Striders is also looking for volunteers at aid stations - which gets you a free t-shirt and entry to the island.  You can do both (volunteer and keep me company).

My plan is to run between 4 and 4.5 mph.  Places you could join in are at the start/finish line (I pass it again at 18-19 miles), the aid station on Mountain View, the aid station at Frary Peak, the Fielding Garr Ranch, Frary Peak aid station, Mountain View aid station, and Bridger Bay Campground aid station.  There are also a few places where the trail gets near the road.  You can run along, bike along, whatever.  Please let me know if you want more details.

There are maps of the trail at www.buffalorun.org with approximate mile markers.  As I have told Leslie, figure on 4-5 mph to give you a window of when I might be at any aid station. I expect that I will finish close to the 6:30 p.m. cutoff - so will be out there all day if you want to join in the fun.

PM 1 - took Twilight on a 1.5 mile run

Went by Wasatch Running and picked up a pair of the CR-X running shorts.  They are about the best compression shorts available and I went with the smaller size for even more compression.  I also picked up some trial sizes of various topical analgesics and glide/lubricants for my running pack.

Les - turns out I was trying to open the wrong portion of the valve on my running pack. That's why it didn't work.  The freezing shut earlier threw me off mentally (doesn't take much).

TAPER TIME!!!!!!

I won't be running much in the next couple of weeks, but I will still be thinking a lot about running. I just posted my first 'preparation' update on my other running/life blog. Check it out!

http://adventures-in-running-with-maurine.blogspot.com/

Wow - in about an hour's period I went from feeling fine to sneezing non-stop, mucus dripping and the ears plugged up.  I am starting on the zinc, echinacea and Vitamin C to fight this off. Good thing it is a taper week.

1 mile with Twilight and 5.5 miles on my own this afternoon. I felt really good today until I started running. The running totally depressed me.  Every step felt like work and I had no endurance and threw in a bunch of walking breaks.  Hopefully it is from being sick.  If running felt like this every day - I would question why I would ever want to run again.

After 10 hours at work, I crashed Leslie's birthday dinner with Harold and ate some unhealthy Thai food (but I had eaten healthy the previous 1 3/4 days).  Dropped off papers for her on pacing me for the Buffalo Run.

Walked 1.5 miles with Twilight.  Still feeling light headed with no energy - so not ready to do too much yet.

Did mobility exercises from The Biggest Loser 30-Day Jump Start.

Yesterday I stayed home and read a couple of novels and the Biggest Loser 30-Day Jump Start - there were some good quotes and food ideas in it. 

1 - Get connected to the bigger picture. Remember that this is not your last supper - another delicious meal is only a few hours away.

2 - About Ali Vincent: each day she wakes up knowing she will have to make decisions about what she'll eat and how she'll exercise -she can't put her life on autopilot. She has become aware and mindful about each daily decision and the impact it can have on her health.

I also read the supermarket version of Eat This/Not That.  Makes me want to pay a lot more attention to what is on the label of foods I eat.

It is such a glorious day out.  I took Twilight for an easy 1 mile jog after work and then decided to keep going and ran another 3 miles alone in 35 minutes.  The lungs loosened up after a few miles.  This run was a lot better than the one on Tuesday night - for which I am very grateful.

4.3 miles tonight while my son watched a movie.  Not bad on 3 1/2 hours sleep, but the last two miles I could feel the lack of sleep hitting me.

11:41/11:24/10:16/11:01

I really hope the weather is better next Saturday.  It should be - according to the weather websites.  Maybe I could sacrifice something to make sure (Twilight just went into hiding).

I am going to pack my drop bags today.  I have written up lists of items to remember for next Saturday and blogged about my plans and lists on my other running blog.

Leslie - there is a great article in the latest Runner's World on pacing for the Wasatch 100. You can read it here: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-297--13080-0,00.html

PM - I just wrote the following email to my sister - she will be in the last aid station I have to pass through:

You saw how at the end of a marathon some people need help. Well, in an ultramarathon - we are all mental, so need help in different ways.  You are going to have to decide at times when to be a nurse and when to not be.

Lie  - tell us we are looking good, we can finish strong, we are moving well - anything like that.

Don't ask how we are doing - there are high points and low points - but at the time you will see us - we will all be hurting.  If we are tired, sore, our legs hurt, we want to puke, etc - encourage us to keep moving. 

Get people in and out of the station as quickly as you can.  Encourage them to eat and drink.  Fill their water bottles for them to help speed them out. If  one thing sounds horrible to us, try another.    Be concerned if someone is looking dazed and like they need real medical attention - but you will have the advantage of being near the end and people will be trying their best to finish. 

If someone is near a time limit - encourage them to push on as fast as they can.  DNF (Did not finish) and getting 'cut off' are two of the things ultra runners fear the most.

At that point in time - unless a blister is just starting, people are living with blisters and will probably just move on and cope with the pain.  I don't know what supplies Jim will have - he says he will have a first aid kit - but I've heard duct tape is great.  You might also want to have some towels and buckets of water handy if you want to bandage feet.  Bandages don't stick to dirty sweaty feet.

Things not to say: 

• You are almost there or you are almost finished.  Instead - say something like - "this is the last aid station - you are going to finish this puppy!" 
  
• It's all downhill from here.  No - it's not - and we hate hearing it.
• C'mon - you can go faster than that.  Nope - or we would be doing it.
  

I will be running 5 miles on the treadmill tonight in between sessions of work.  Went in at 5:30 this morning to get caught up - but when I left at 4 I had even more work to bring home.

Can I tell you that I am not happy about snow?  It will make the course soggier.

I am making the best spaghetti sauce in the world tonight.  I can eat this by the spoonful - it is so delicious (forget about pasta).  I will probably eat this (with pasta) every night this week for carbo loading.

- In a deep pot, pour 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes in puree, 1 28 can tomato sauce and 1 12 oz can tomato paste

-For each of the following, sprinkle on top of sauce to evenly cover across pot:  fennel seed, basil, black pepper, oregano, salt; also, 2 Tbsp sugar and 1 bay leaf

- in 3 Tbsp olive oil, saute 15 min finely chopped: 2 lb gound beef and 1 lb Italian sausage. Remove greas. Add above meat and sauteed mixture to sauce in pot.

- Add 1 C water and stir. Cover and simmer for 4 hours.  Sample often to make sure it still tastes good.

Just ran/walked the dog at night.

At a delicious pasta and salad dinner at Leslie's.

My sister was over for a while.  She has lost a lot of weight this past year and is looking really awesome.  I am so proud of her.  She even mentioned that she alternated walking/running for the first time on Monday and (gasp!) was a little freaked that she actually liked the running part. Maybe I will be able to get her to join the blog soon.  She is training for some triathlons this year and is getting very motivated to be healthy and active.

I have a tickle in my throat today and some congestion that is making me cough.  I will try some cold medication later to see if that helps.  

My running plans this afternoon include running the puppy to Hollywood Video and back to return some movies.  If I am feeling good - I may do another 2-3 miles on top of that.  After today - it will just be puppy walking until Saturday.

My goal for the week - break 50 miles. :-)  Think I can do it?

PM - Think  I will just go home and watch a movie and not run tonight.  Another 12 hour day and I am not feeling the best and need to rest up for the weekend.  I am planning on running 3-4 easy miles in the morning.

PM 2 - Wasn't at all sleepy after my movie.  About 9:15, I put on a running bra under my pj's and put on a coat and running shoes and headed out.  I ran and walked to the movie store, ran a round about course to Smith's, then over to Walmart, then home. I figure it was at least 5 miles.

Resting the rest of the week.  

The cold that started coming on yesterday is slamming me full force today.  The snow is driving me crazy.  I guess God thought that 50 miles wasn't enough of a challenge and he wanted to spice things up for me.

My daughter and son-in-law in Italy sent me these flowers today to wish me well in the race.  Isn't that sweet of them?

I spent yesterday afternoon and evening in bed - just resting and talking to my kids on the phone.

I am feeling better this morning (knock on wood). I still have a cold - but don't feel like death warmed over today.  I have worked too hard to get ready for Saturday and have been under a lot of pressure at work, so have decided to call in and take a vacation day today. I want to relax, pack my car, nap, and keep my feet up and not feel stressed.

You should go check out Crockett's blog.  He is doing the Moab 100 tomorrow.  Makes me really look like a slacker!

I will be mentally cheering on all of you running the Riverton Half tomorrow!  What time does it start in the morning?  That way I can be calculating where you are at while I am running.

DNF

My first DNF.  Pretty sad for me - but the right thing to do.

This was supposed to be my first 50 miler.  I chose to DNF in order to be able to run the rest of the year.

It was beautiful weather for the run.  I was a bit concerned with all the rain and snow this week, but it was supposed to be relatively mild today.  I was also concerned because I was sick again on Thursday, but felt fine today.

Woke up at 4 a.m. Got ready for the race including sun screen and all my efforts to prevent chafing.  I tried a new product today by Glide (a liquid powder) on all my usual spots and am happy to announce that I had no chafing or blisters or even hot spots.

My sister drove me to the island and we arrived about 5:15.  Dropped off all my drop bags and then we sat around a campfire to get warm.  It was mild enough I decided to start the race with a knit cap, light weight gloves, running bra, long sleeved running shirt, vest, sleeves, compression shorts, socks, shoes and gaiters.  As the weather warmed up I could drop layers easily enough.

The race started fairly promptly.  It was my first early morning (in the dark) start of a trail race and it was pretty cool seeing all the bobbing lights ahead and behind me as we headed up the switchbacks.  I was glad to have both a headlamp and handheld flashlight because my headlamp decided it wasn't going to stay on - guess it didn't like me washing it after my 35 miler.

The sky was light enough as we headed across the saddle in White Rock Bay that I turned off my lights.  I ran the entire saddle and down White Rock Bay because I knew the killer hill (I think we should call it puke hill) by Lone Tree was up ahead and I would have to walk that.

Ran through the first aid station and onto the out and back of Elephant Head.  My conditioning was definitely better this year and I could run most of this 3.6 mile out and back.  Half way out there were about 7-8 bison wheeling around and around - not too happy about the runners.  I started yelling to get them to move on and they finally darted across the trail.  I yelled at a runner coming around a rocky outcrop to stop and he did. A few more feet and he would have been in there path.  Of course, one of the Japanese runners was happily standing there filming it all. Dropped my cap and vest and switched to a running hat.

Next was the Split Rock Bay loop. I chose to run the 2 mile downhill and walk the switchbacks - knowing I could run about half of them. I did talk to another runner that kept switching places with me off and on for another mile.

Grabbed some gatorade and food as I passed the aid station and ate as I ran.  I was making good time and getting ahead of my planned schedule.  After dropping off the saddle onto the new switchback trail - I started to experience some pain in my left IT Band.  It was very unexpected because I have not had any problems with it at all this year. The first twinges started around mile 16 and it started slowing me down on downhills around mile 18.  I planned to wrap the knee and take ibuprofen when I passed the White Rock Aid Station.

After mile 19 - headed across the island to the East side of the island.  My sister passed me in her van about mile 20 and I mentioned that I was in pain and coping with it. Around mile 22 I found that I could no longer run any steep downhills without significant pain and had to walk them.  This got me worried because I counted on downhills to make up time.

Some boggy, wet and muddy sections of the trail for about 2 miles. During this time I was trying to run 100 steps, walk 50 steps - but found the knee pain was starting earlier each repetition.  About mile 24 I could no longer run at all because the pain was so sharp next to the knee.  I was trying to decide if I could walk the rest of the race and still finish in time, but had to slow down my walking because even walking started hurting and by trying not to limp - I was starting to have the right knee hurt.  By 25.5 I knew that I was going to have to DNF - or else choose to be injured most of the summer.  I was walking pretty slowly and trying to figure out how I would get hold of Leslie and my sister, Marcia.

At almost mile 27, Les and Marcia came out to meet me from the Lower Frary Aid Station.  They were cheering me on and it started me bawling as I announced I had to DNF. I just felt like I was letting myself, my family, Leslie, and my online running pals down. 

Splits:

1st 10 miles: 14:12 (uphill)/15:42 (uphill)/13:20/11:40/11:12/14:49 (uphill)/14:12/13:48/13:15/11:11

2nd 10 miles: 16:57 (uphill)/16:25 (uphill)/13:47/13:40/13:21/13:42/13:42/12:55/15:06 (downhill :( )/15:47 (downhill)

Last 7 miles: 14:40/14:49/15:16/14:11/14:59/16:35/17:53

Les was asking what lessons I learned.  My nutrition as right on until I got hurt (then I started focusing). My clothing was good (one notable exception). My drop bags were a good learning experience.

My training was pretty good. At the time I quit I was not tired. My lungs were fine. My muscles were not even tired.  I just couldn't take the pain and knew it would be serious injury time if I kept on.

What I did wrong - it is just a guess, but the only thing I changed was the compression shorts I used to keep my hernia from hurting.  I think they adjusted the muscles and tendons in the legs and caused the IT issues.

OK - Time for pity is behind me.  Time to refocus is ahead of me.

This next week I am taking off of running.  I might do some walking, but I think I need to let my IT Band cool down.  I will be taking anti-inflammatories, icing, rolling it on the styrofoam roller and stretching.  My original plan was to take the week off after finishing 50 miles and it seems logical now.

I really think that the compression shorts were the cause of the injury.  I had worn them in trial runs up to about 10 miles and did feel like they were using my muscles a little differently - but nothing that concerned me. On the bright side - they worked good for my hernia situation. 

I have also let myself slide physically since I had surgery in 2008. Prior to that time, I was weight lifting 3-4 times a week and had lost a lot of weight with a trainer. Post surgery, I then moved, went to Italy and the started a new focus on actually becoming a runner.  Time to get back to what worked.  I will go back to the gym and get into a workout schedule with weights. Some adaptation  may need to be done around the hernia - but that is easily enough done.

I am also getting rid of the junk food and going to learn to eat healthy again. I am going to compile my recipes as I try new things to make me a quick and easy cookbook for single runners.

I am also going to get into yoga, pilates, plyometrics and the dreaded intervals.  I need to push myself more on my runs  2-3 times a week with a plan in mind (ie intervals, tempo runs) and not have junk miles unless they are mental destressing days.

The last Saturday in October is the OV (Ogden Valley) 50 miler.  It is all on roads, so easily accessible.  Leslie and I invite all our friends who want to pace us on different sections to put that on your calendars now. 

Forgive me for posting walking mileage this week.  I vowed before the Buffalo Run 50 that I would take an entire week off without running a single step.

.25 miles walking this morning with Twilight.  1.0+ miles after work walking with Twilight.

Did my first Yoga video ever - The Gift of Yoga.  A little hard focusing at times when moving from upward facing dog to downward facing dog because I was coping with little dog standing on back at the same time.  Felt some good stretches.

One of the books I am going to read this week is Core Performance Endurance by Mark Verstegen.  It focuses a lot on learning proper balance and form and I know that curing my lousy posture and getting better running balance will help me a lot as I strive to improve in the future.  Plus, he has several great exercises using the styrofoam roller and tennis balls for releasing and massaging muscles.  I will be doing those all this week since I won't be running.

Only a little tightness in the hamstrings today.  None in the quads.  This leads me to believe that my training was good enough for the race - it was just not in the cards.  The left knee is a bit tender on stairs - but  not when I get up from sitting or when walking - so those are good signs.

I have made healthy food choices all day.  The sun is out.  As long as I keep busy I don't focus on those three awful letters.

1/4 mile in the morning with Twilight.

2 miles walking the dog after work.  It was her longest walk ever.  I was able to walk about 17 minute miles without the knee doing more than occasional twinge.  

Resisted the urge to cook fattening foods after reading Marion's blog. It was very tempting.

Tonight I will be doing self massage to help work on injured spots. Might as well get everything healing this week.