Training for a Belt Buckle

Slept in - sure felt good.

The dog and I did an easy 2.5 mile recovery run.  Tried the heel inserts and that seemed to help.

50 minutes on the Wii Fit.

Achilles was a little sore today, so went to the gym and did 120 minutes on the stationary bikes.

4 miles walking with the dog.  20 minutes on the Wii Fit.

Walked one mile in the morning with the dog.

I want to run again - so am planning to run 3 days a week and do other cardio 3-4 days a week. For 2 weeks I will do 6 miles on Tuesday, 6 miles on Thursday and 10 miles on Saturday at 75-80% MHR.

PM - one mile warmup running with the dog.  Dropped her off and did some quick stretching. Then headed for another 5 miles. 

Used the heart rate monitor.  I was amazed how quickly my fitness dropped in just a few weeks.  I want to keep my effort easy until this Achilles heals. I plan to do lots of half marathons this year, St. George, and the Pony Express 50 miler.  Even if I don't race (just run races) this year, I am hoping to get strong enough to be ready to rock and roll in 2011.

It was pretty shocking how slow I was having to go to stay below 80% MHR.  I am hoping it will come back quickly.  The right achilles quit twinging in the right leg just past 2.5 miles.  Couple of twinges in the left achilles, but not many.  Interestingly enough - at the turnaround at 3.5 miles, my heart rate started dropping and my legs started feeling tired.  Last mile the heart rate was up again, but it is mainly uphill. .3 mile cooldown jog.

13:55/13:41/14:35/14:24/13:33/14:46 (I know - speed is really pathetic).

I am not happy with my fitness. One year ago I PR'd in a 5K and I feel like I am in horrible shape in comparison now.  Gained 10 pounds this year and know I also lost muscle mass.  My new theme is going to be "No More FLOPPY".

Floppy stands for how I am feeling about myself right now.

F - Fat

L - Lazy

O - Out of Shape

P - Physically Unfit

P - Pathetic

Y - Yucky

Gonna get fit, eat clean, gain muscle, and stay healthy in 2010.

60 minutes (5 miles) on the ellipticals after work.  Now to get out the door and go do my shift at the temple.

Ended up working more than I wanted to do today and working out less than I wanted to to.

AM - 65 minutes on the stationary bike. 35 minutes lower body weight training.  Did some light weights for the hamstrings and calves.  First time I've been able to do those since my injuries in 2009.  Felt like progress (slow progress).

Tonight - 50 minutes with the Wii Fit - mainly on Yoga and balance.

1.5 mile walk with the dog.

RHR 47

Very stressful day at work and I needed to destress afterwards.

30 minutes aerobic training on the Wii Fit. (Included 15 minutes running in place)

Took a break and vacuumed the house.

30 minutes strength training on the Wii Fit.

Took another break to mop all the other floors and eat dinner.

1.7 miles running with the dog, then dropped her off and finished up for a total of 4.6 miles. Achilles loosened up after the initial run.

Stretching

Came up with a good blog post (in my opinion) while running. Will post it after my bath when icing my ankle and knee.

I had great plans to get a run in yesterday, but ended up working 16 hours and when the choice came down to running vs eating and sleeping - I chose the latter.

Got off early from the temple tonight because a boy threw up in the font and they had to close the baptistry down.  Took the dog out for a 1.7 mile run. Dropped her off, took a potty break, then finished up for a total of 5.3 miles.

Now I need to wind down and it is 10 p.m.  Good thing I am off tomorrow for my son's wisdom teeth removal.

Twilight wanted to go for a run with me this morning, so we did 3 miles and back. She didn't think ahead that running in this new snow would mean a bath when we got back.  She was dragging at the end of the run, but is not running around like crazy and growling trying to get her doggy smell back to how she likes it.

Tried to keep my heart rate between 75-80%, but gave up part way home because I couldn't run slow enough to do so (what an experience).  I think it is a combination of the crappy air and my last run being only 10 hours ago.

I had great plans to do a long run yesterday, but was in charge of a new release that went out at work yesterday.  I started getting calls off an on from 2:00 a.m. until around 5:00 a.m. and then had to be in the office at 8.  Came home for a couple of hours in the afternoon to nap and then back at work until 10.  Needless to say - no workout.

Took the dog for a 1.7 mile walk this morning and then took her along to the office with me.  I finished up most of the testing by early afternoon, so came home and relaxed for a bit and then did a 3.3 mile walk.  Played with the GPS function on an app on my new iPhone and it was .1 mile different than my Garmin, but they were pretty comparable.  I don't want to use it often because it really sucked the battery down, but nice to know I can use it in case of an 'emergency run'. 

Stretching now - WiiFit later.

Still some pressure on at work, but I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

2.3 miles on the treadmill at 5 mph.  45 minutes on the stationary bike.  Time to head off to see Carmen - my nephew has a walk on role as one of the bull fighters.

Ran 1.7 miles with the dog, then another 3.3 miles on my own. Enjoyed the sun, blue skies and clear air.

30 minutes of yoga on the WiiFit.

2.5 miles recovery run with the dog.  Now to do a few minutes aerobics on the WiiFit before cleaning up and heading to the temple.

45 minutes upper body training in the morning.

35 minutes WiiFit at night.

45 minutes WiiFit before work.

Ran 1 mile warmup with the dog. Quick stretching session.  Ran 4 more miles keeping heart rate at 75-80% of MHR.  Stretching.

Ran 8 miles in the snow at 65-77% mhr - last mile as fast as I could handle at the end of the run.

I was wide awake before my alarm went off at 5 and headed out the door for a run. So - following Allie's plan - I did 5 miles at 5.

I am going to blog more about this in my Adventures in Running blog, but have been working on heart rate training the past couple of months.  I quit using my Garmin except on long runs (I know all the distances around my house) because I was feeling like a slug when I ran. Trying to keep my heart rate between 75-80% on daily runs and 65-76% on long runs was making me so slow that it depressed me to see my speed.  As a matter of fact, on Saturday I was running some 16 minute miles.  I just felt so out of shape and couldn't run slow enough to keep my heart rate in teh proper range.

Saturday made me start to suspect that it might be the heart rate monitor's fault and not mine.  I have been using the cheapest Polar that I had bought a year ago and decided to read the book on the new, expensive Polar that my son and ex-husband bought me for Christmas.  Using the new monitor this morning, I actually was able to run and had to push a little to get into the range.  Last week I was running 5 miles on about 67 minutes, today I was back to somewhere under 1 hour and probably closer to 57 minutes.  That is a big difference.

I had big plans to work out a lot today - but plans tend to change.  I worked 16 hours yesterday and finally feel asleep around 12:30 this morning and got back up at 6 to head into work. I finished work on a project a couple of hours later and my boss sent me home at 8:30 to get a nap (guess I looked pretty bad).  I felt a lot better after some sleep and went back to work at noon.

Ran an easy 2.5 miles with the dog this afternoon.  My body is still aching, but I might do another workout later tonight.

RHR 43

Managed to fit in 4.5 miles between work and my shift at the temple.  Good workout there because we were so rushed and I ended up helping out in the laundry a lot.

Work and family have been very stressful.  I have not been able to motivate myself to work out even though I know it would help, but was in survival mode.

Tonight I ran 5 miles - the first 3 with the dog.  Stretched.  While watching tv I did an upper body workout and then the ab workout from the February issue of Runner's World.  I will be hurting tomorrow, but this helped the stress level.

Several small outings during the day.  Total of 7.5 miles running.

Trying to get motivated again.  My achilles in the right ankle is still bothering me and my left ankle has been stiff and achy.  I think it is a combination of cold, old, out of shape, and overweight.

I'm going to go back to a combination of heart rate training and pace training.  I will do my recovery runs and long runs using the HRM.  Other runs are going to be using the Garmin pace calculator.  I was just running too slow doing heart rate training and it was very depressing.

So - for the remainder of February, I will run M/W/F for 5 miles keeping my pace under 12 MM.

5 miles - 57:27 avg: 11:29     11:36/11:34/11:26/11:14/11:36

I leave on Friday to see my daughter and family in Savannah, Georgia and return on February 22nd.  Then I will be in Livonia, Michigan from March 1st-4th.

Took a lunch break for once and ran 4 miles on the dreadmill at the gym.  It is so much easier for me to run outside than inside.

Going to try to get up early and get a run in before 6. Leslie is picking me up at 6:30 a.m. to drop me off at the airport.

I meant to get up early yesterday and run before Leslie picked me up to go to the airport - but I lost my motivation while laying in bed - and didn't.

Shortly after Leslie dropped me at the airport, I found out my connecting flight from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia was cancelled.  They were predicting 6 inches of snow in Savannah and recommended I go home and try again on Saturday - but the weather was not looking good then.

I took my chances and flew to Atlanta.  It was just barely starting to snow, but all flights the rest of the day were cancelled or soon to be.  I decided to rent a car - highway robbery for one way rentals.  The cheapest place I could find was over $250 with discounts, some were over $400.  What should have been a 4 hour drive took 6.5 hours.  Never a break in the snow and lots of accidents all over the place.

Today we did some shopping and then I mixed up a bunch of bread.  I took off on a run and my grandkids followed after trying to catch me on their bikes.  They finally caught me 4 1/2 miles later shortly before the Walmart we were heading to.  We got separated and I ended up running home and they hung in the shopping center for a while.

Ran along a pretty highway - swamplands on every side. We passed over the Okeechokee River (or something like that). A lot of the way I could run on a grassy shoulder.  It was cool out - but all the snow had melted from the day before and a lot of the time it was sunny.  Total of 11 miles round trip.  Much easier running without the effects of altitude.

No running today.  We ended up going to Tybee Island and I ran a little in the sand and convinced them all to climb to the top of the Tybee lighthouse (189 stairs).  

When my son-in-law gets up for work tomorrow I will try and run then.  Hopefully we will get the kids in school soon. They are awful bored after two weeks of no school.

Quads were very sore today after the stair climb yesterday.  We were all doing a little whining when going up and down stairs.

The grandkids are really bored.  The stupid judge in North Carolina still has not signed the custody papers, so they can't get the kids into school in Georgia.  It has been 2 1/2 weeks and they are actually wanting to get into school.

A little before noon we came up with a plan.  Sent the kids off on their bikes to ride the 5.5 miles to Wally World.  We met them there and got more decorations for their rooms and I bought the kids and Jenn each some Wii games. After lunch, I started the run back home along the Atlantic Coastal Highway.  Brad and Elise caught up after .5 miles and then Elise took off. Brad stayed back to talk to me and pushed me to go a little faster than usual.

12:05/11:46/10:42/11:26/11:13

Legs were really tired, I think the residual from the stair climb up the lighthouse.  Did a very slow recovery run.

Tried to find 'the hill' in Richmond Hill.  I have come to the conclusion that it is the freeway overpass.

Didn't sleep too well and wasn't feeling good today, so I took a walk around my daughter's subdivision - a little over 3 miles.

Ran around my daughter's subdivision more.  I have covered every road at least once.  Another 5.5 miles.  Weather warmed up 10 degrees while I was running.  Finally getting pretty outside.

My daughter and I got our first time alone the entire trip when my son-in-law came home early from work.  We went back down to River Street and bought a peacock stained glass window I couldn't get off my mind all week.  And some pralines and other southern fattening food. Dropped the stuff at their townhouse, then we went to Sticky Fingers for some delicious barbecue.  (We weren't impressed with the other food, but the ribs were to die for).  Then we each grabbed some books and found a corner to sit in at Barnes and Noble and read.

Homemade pizza for dinner and then a Wii tournament as our version of the Olympics.  Our goal was to have everyone get together and play together.  I bought some sinful caramel and chocolate covered apples as Good Sportsmanship awards and we gave out money for Gold, Silver and Bronze medals.  Everyone had fun together and no one got mad.  We only had to tell Elise once to shut down her phone. 

Another bright sunny day today.  I did an 11 mile run through the city and on some back roads.  The roads are nice and soft on the shoulder and I can do a lot of running on the grass/dirt as long as I avoid swampy sections.  My daughter lives only a few miles from the ocean, so see lots of swamps right off the road. Temps increased 20 degrees while I ran. I was in shorts and a short sleeved shirt today and got plenty warm at that.  High 60's or low 70's now.

I was actually looking on Map My Run at a run listed in one of the neighboring cities.  It sounded good until I read the part about poisonous snakes and alligators and watch where you are stepping to avoid them.

The family is off at family counseling, so I did laundry and packed my clothes.  Also walked to the store (another mile or so) and got some blister pads because I ended up with a big blood blister on my left big toe, for some reason.

My daughter and her husband are going on a date tonight and I am taking the grandkids out to dinner.  I've spoiled them both and they both seem to like me (at least I don't get referred to as 'he/him' or 'she/her' like they do for their dad and stepmother.

Everyone wants to take me to the airport tomorrow.  Much better weather than when I came.

Still on Georgia time so I woke up early.  After having a heart attack when stepping on the scales, I headed out for a run. I could feel the altitude change after just one week away and sure felt the temperature change.

5 miles.  Avg pace 11:37.

Took the dog out for an easy recovery run after work.  Cut it down to 3 miles after 2 phone calls from work left me needing to go into the office again and fix a network issue.

After an hour in the office, headed to Gold's Gym and did 45 minutes on the stationary bike followed by 45 minutes of weight training.

Managed to fit in 5 miles between work and working at the temple.  Nasty headwind the first half of the run.  Could tell I have not eaten enough today because I had little energy.  58:13 total time.  Kept all my miles under 12 mm.

Went out to lunch at Epic this afternoon with my boss/friend to celebrate my new title of Business Analyst and to celebrate my company surviving me daily for 6 years.

Took Twilight out after work for a 1 mile warmup walk and heard Steve Ashbaker call me as I passed Chevron.  Visited with him for a couple of minutes and then headed home to drop off the dog.  As luck would have it, I got a couple of emergency calls from work and was held up another 10 minutes or so fixing the problems.

At that point I decided to just run down 7th East for 2 1/2 miles and back.  Started out at about 11:30mm. Just after the mile mark I started feeling my stomach complain about lunch, so headed over towards Gold's Gym and passed Steve A - already on his return run. I ran 2 1/2 miles at Golds on the treadmill starting at 5.0 mph and increasing .1 every 15 minutes.  Ran home afterwards.  I was glad I stopped at the gym because I had to take several breaks and ended up running home a lot lighter than I went out.

Now I am drinking hot chocolate made from almond milk, chocolate protein powder and strawberry flavoring.

1 mile walking the dog.  Achilles is bugging me a lot.

1 mile walking the dog.

50 minutes lower body and core weight training.

60 minutes stationary bike.

2 hours watching Biggest Loser.

Made it through day 2 of no junk and processed foods.

Apparently the mild calf raises I did yesterday caused my Achilles to flare up even more than it has been.  I have to walk for about 10 minutes each time I start until it eases enough that I quit limping.

Walked the dog for 2 miles this afternoon.

We started the 100 pushup challenge at work on Monday and the 200 situp challenge on Tuesday. 

3 days eating healthy under my belt.

Went to a new podiatrist today because my ankle has been hurting so much that I could only walk with limping a lot of the time the last couple of weeks.  I began suspecting in January that the previous doctor had misdiagnosed me, but kept trying to heal myself.  I also suspected that whatever the problem was, it would end up with me being booted.

This doctor looked at a bunch of xrays and did strength tests on my ankle. Then he started probing and when he pushed on a spot near the inside ankle bone I about jumped out of the seat.  Tapping with a reflex hammer sent numb tingles up my leg and down to my toes.  Diagnosis: tendonitis of the Posterior Tibialis Tendon.  I am wearing a boot for a couple of weeks and then have an ankle brace to wear when not booted for the Buffalo Run on March 27th (I might end up walking the 25K), then back in the boot.  Plus icing and vitamin I 3x per day.

Felt so good to walk without pain! 

Walked the dog 1 mile this afternoon.  Probably a bit too far and too fast because the foot started hurting.

Tonight I went to the gym and did 50 minutes upper body & core workout and 70 minutes on the stationary bike.

We started week 2 of the 100 pushup and 200 situp challenges this week.

I've made it 7 days without sugar and most processed foods (no junk food at all).

Biking at the gym.

Biking at the gym.  Leg workout.

Flew to Michigan this morning.  60 minutes on the Stationary bike and played in the pool with my coworkers.  We were working on conquering (my boss and I) our fear up jumping up on stuff.

60 minutes on the ellipticals and 30 minutes on the stationary bike.

We went out to dinner in Detroit at a Greek restaurant.  My stomach was feeling blech afterwards, so did an hour on the elliptical and 20 minutes on the stationary bike to work gas and crappy feelings out of my system.

Today was the day to try running without the boot.  I put on the brace

and started out with the dog.  It took a while of walking to get my sea

legs back, but then started jogging.  I decided to be safe and just

run/walk around my condo complex and had to call it quits after 2

miles.  Too much pain in the ankle - but it is actually in the anterior

tibialis tendon which started indicating it was injured as the posterior

tibialis tendon started healing.  Made the decision that I could not do

the Buffalo Run.  Boo Hoo!

Signed up to volunteer at the Buffalo Run this Saturday.  Figure that is better than being totally depressed that I cannot run it.

Tons of standing and walking at the temple tonight.  My foot is really sore!

60 minutes on the stationary bike using the brace instead of the boot.  10 minutes on the upper body 'bike'.  40 minutes upper body workout.

After my failed attempt to run last weekend, I switched to a DNS on the Buffalo Run this year and switched over to being a volunteer.  I figured it would help me with my disappointment and depression over missing another race after all the times that occurred last year.

I worked for a few hours on Saturday morning and then headed up to the race.  As I was driving I started getting a little melanocholy thinking that it was one year ago that I DNF’d on the race course and remembering how that broke my heart at the time.

I ended up out on Antelope Island around 2 p.m. because they said they would need more volunteers near the end.  After visiting for a few minutes, I started trying to find ways to help out.  The finish area was running out of water and the White Rock Bay aid station was closing down, so I hiked over there (only a few hundred yards) and shouldered one of the full water jugs and hobbled back with it to the finish area.  It was pretty funny, here I was congratulating runners on finishing their incredible efforts and yet a lot of them were worried about me walking around in a boot.  By the time I had taken three trips back with water, I was pretty soaked.  Then I taught the aid station how strong sports drink was supposed to be.  They were watering it down so much nobody wanted to drink it.

I then noticed that the 50K runners were having to walk back uphill to the White Rock Aid station to get their drop bags, so started several trips that the volunteers then joined in with me on and carted back all the bags.  The last trip back a couple of runners came up and took all the stuff from me.  They said they were tired of feeling guilty about me hobbling around in a cast.

Lots of runners to visit with around the finish area.  I talked with Celeste Collman for a while and also Twinkies (Matt) and Jun (Craig) from the FRB.  I also met Steve P from the blog for the first time.  Matt was looking great for having finished a 50 miler.  I saw Celeste shivering in a chair at the finish line while waiting for her brother and went and got my blanket for her.  She was excited to have it since she had lent her blanket to someone else.

While taking a break for a minute, I heard someone say, “Maurine, what did you do to your leg?”  I looked down and there was a cute runner huddled in a chair by me.  I knew who she was, but couldn’t put it together.  It was Erika from the FRB (Josse’s sister).  We visited for a little bit and then I realized the woman sitting next to her in an awesome green hat was her mother, Karen, who I met at the RHPC half marathon last summer.  We visited off and on as I passed them for the next half hour or so.

Jim Skaggs, the Race Director, sent me off in his wife’s BIG TRUCK at that point to see if there were items to pick up at the Lower Frary Peak and Ranch aid stations.  That is one honking big truck to climb in and out of.  After that, Karen Skaggs mentioned that maybe I could start taking garbage to the dumpsters.  The previous year there had been three dumpsters in the next parking lot. I loaded up the inside of my jeep with smelly, oozy disgusting bags and set off.   Found there was only one dumpster and it was already full, but I was able to get a couple of trips worth on top.  Then we loaded boxes (a lot less disgusting) and I found another dumpster at the old race start and did several trips there until it was full.  At that point I said I wasn’t putting any more of the leaky bags in my jeep since it already was gross and smelled like rotten milk. 

During some of these trips I was able to see Dave Crockett finish the first 100 miler on the island.  He had started at 6 p.m. the night before and ran the 50 mile course twice.  Very impressive!

As things started closing down we started gathering up empty canisters and such. I was put on emptying water jug detail, another garbage run in the BIG TRUCK across the island to Bridger Bay, and taking down the tents.  By then we were all tired and cold and the poles were freezing!  There were only about 8 people left and we were rushing to beat darkness to get the tents disassembled and finish loading the trucks.

I was sent home with two big bags of Buffalo stew and my car smelled gross the entire way home.  It was the first time I left the island after dark.  I stopped at a McDonalds to grab dinner and went into the bathroom to scrub my hands after all those hours of carting trash and to clean up all the scrapes and cuts so that I wouldn’t get infected.  I got home around 10 p.m. and still had to scrub out the car, hose down my shoe and cast/boot and then hose down myself.

Although I didn’t do an official workout, every inch of me hurts today and I will estimate I probably walked 3 or more miles on various tasks.

I'm going to blog my walking miles until I can get back to running. 

Walked 2 miles easy after work today with the dog.  Foot felt pretty good in the brace, but I don't want to push it too much and re-injure the ankle.

Started week 4 (but it is really week 5) of the 100 pushup challenge.  Most of our co-workers have dropped out, but there are still a few of us die hards hanging in there.

Tonight I am going to do more upper body and some Wii Fit workout.

Day 2 of Week 4 of 100 pushup challenge.  Foot was really sore today, so no other workout.

60 minutes on the stationary bike.

10 minutes on the upper body aerobic trainer

10 minutes on the Arc trainer.

Came home to a pitch black condo complex.

Day 3 of week 4 of the 100 pushup challenge.  Stomach has been hurting so did all pushups wussy style. 160 total.

Power finally came back on at 5:30 this morning. It was a cold night.

Sold my Utah Valley Half Marathon slot today.  I was starting to worry about getting in shape for it in time and really didn't think I would be to that point.

Tonight was a bit more positive.  I tightened down the brace and headed out for a walk in the snow with the dog.  2 1/4 miles and I was probably doing 17-18 minute miles.  Some good stretching afterwards.  I was even starting to think of a recovery plan while walking. :)

Another successful walk today.  Braced up the ankle and headed out.  For the first mile I was averaging about 18:20, but by the end I was down below 17 MM.  3.32 miles total.  Icing the ankle now.  I am starting to feel some hope on recovering!

Braced up the ankle again.  Walked 1/2 mile, alternated run/walk for another half mile, ran 1/2 mile, alternated run/walk for another half mile, ran 1/2 mile, walked 1/2 mile cooldown.  It felt good to be running again.

Went to the gym and did 40 minutes on the stationary bike.  If I got my heart rate up too high, the thumb would start to throb (I sliced off a good chunk of my right thumb on Easter).

Didn't have much time today, so took Twilight for a 1 mile walk between work and the temple.

Took a break this afternoon and took Twilight out. Walked 1/2 mile warmup. Ran 1 mile. Walked 1/4 mile. Ran 1 1/4 miles. Walked 1/2 mile.

2.0 miles walking with the dog and a game of HORSE with my son (I beat him even with a bum thumb and ankle). More later.

No big workouts today because I developed a bacterial infection - probably from the thumb injury.

30 minutes yoga.

Ran 4 miles after work nonstop.  Ankle felt pretty good. Walked .3 mile cooldown.  30 minutes stretching while watching Biggest Loser.

1.5 mile walk with the dog.  185 pushups in the 100 pushup challenge.  This is getting nasty!

Lost in a game of HORSE to my son.  I've beat him the other times. Was going to work out, but got involved in other projects.

Day 3 of week 5 of the 100 pushup challenge.  Only two of us left trying at all.  200 pushups over 8 sets.  I did about 50 male style and the rest wussy style.

1 mile walking the dog.  An hour later I headed over to Draper and did the Canal Trail loop up and the Porter Rockwell Trail back.  Ran the first 3.5 miles, ran most of the next 3.5 miles (maybe walked 1 mile off and on).  Came home and played 2 games of horse with my son.  I was having fun - but knew the ankle would complain later.  Washed and waxed the car.  Now I am back in the boot.  I'm going to try to work out more later, but may be a wuss.

Walked the dog to the Post Office and back.   My ankle actually seems happier in the Five Fingers than in shoes.  

Paul and I at work started week 6 of the 100 pushup challenge and decided we are not enjoying it at all anymore.  We will be doing push-ups - but not as seriously as that program. (C'mon - started out with a set of 45, then 55, then 35 - at that point we quit and there were 2 more sets).

After work I walked 5 miles. Stopped at the gym and did 10 minutes on the torso cardio machine, then 10 minutes on the moving stairs machine.  45 minutes of upper body strength training. Walked home and ate dinner.

Ran 4 miles after work.  I had no energy whatsoever - don't know if I was tired, adjusting to heat, or what.  Ankle does good with the brace on.  It just hurts sometimes during the day when I don't brace it.

Tried a new exercise from the Biggest Loser Simple Swaps.  Take a deck of cards and shuffle it.  Diamonds = pushups, Hearts = lunges/squats, Spades = Reverse Crunches, Clubs = Crunches.  Face cards = 10 reps.  Aces = 1 minute break.  Turn over one card at a time and do the number of reps and assigned exercise.  Total time spent < 20 minutes.  

3 miles running on the treadmill at UVU at the What Women Want convention.

6.25 miles running around Wheeler Farm this afternoon. 1.5 miles walking the dog.

Life has left me unable to workout yesterday because I was moving furniture and tonight because I got an injection in my ankle and needed to stay off of it.

The ankle is healing, slowly and surely.  The podiatrist calls it a mild case of tendonitis.  I received another herbal injection tonight that is supposed to help the body heal itself.  

The doc recommends I stay away from no-heel shoes for a while since that seems to cause the tendon to elongate and hurt more.  So - I will avoid my vibram five-fingers and other flat shoes in the meantime.

Nice 3.3 mile run with the dog before working at the temple.

Lots of leg work tonight.

3 miles at the gym on the treadmill.

1 hour of lower body, core strength training.

1 hour of medium to high exertion on the stationary bike.

Dang! I was tired!

Down in St. George with my sister to volunteer at the Ironman.

In the evening I ran about 3 miles total.  Ran from our hotel down to the finish area and checked out where we would work in transition.

Spent a fun, but exhausting day volunteering at the Ironman. We had to be up at 3:00 a.m. and didn't finish volunteering until 5:45 p.m.  Writeup is in my other blog at http://adventures-in-running-with-maurine.blogspot.com/2010/05/st-george-ironman-2010.html.

4 miles after work - about 2 of them with the dog, the rest alone.  Worked on keeping my heart rate in the 65-75% range. Shot hoops for 25 minutes, the last 15 with my son.  I almost beat him in HORSE today, but he sunk a lucky shot from about 8 feet behind the 3 point line and I don't have the arm strength to do that.

After dinner - 20 second fitness video. 45 minutes upper body workout. 10 minutes stretching.

RHR 54.

1 mile warmup with the dog this morning.  20 second workout segment.  More after work.

2 mile speed walking at lunch.

4 miles running in the evening.  The last mile my ankle started bothering me on uphills, so I walked the two uphills.  Did my Card Deck workout while watching Biggest Loser.

Rest day.  Just an easy 1 mile trot with the dog.

Was able to finally drag my not-so-skinny butt out of bed and get a run done before 6 a.m.  Hope to do a leg workout tonight.

RHR - 51

Wasn't too motivated last night and worked late.  Just did two sessions of the 20 second workout videos.

RHR - 49

Heart rate seems to be dropping satisfactorily.  Ankle a little sore today - so have the brace on at work.  I will bike for cardio today.

Been working out hard and eating well and dropped 6 pounds this week (sure a lot of it was water weight).

Yay - saw my name on the St. George Marathon list for a minute before it crashed the site!  So - I went and signed up for the Pony Express Trail 100 - 50 Mile race.

PM - 60 minutes hard on the stationary bike keeping my heart rate at a high aerobic rate.  50 minutes leg weight training.  Another session of 20 second fitness. Stretching.  I'm tired now!

Struggled a lot with depression on Sunday.  Finally dragged myself out of bed and did 11 miles (last 4 strictly running) on the Draper Trails system.

RHR 48

Shot hoops with my son for about 20 minutes. One mile warmup singing in the rain with a wet doggie.

Drove over to the Highland High School track and ran 4 miles around it.  The girls soccer team was doing a killer stair workout that I will try one day when I have my ankle brace on. Seem to be almost over the bout with depressions side effects.

Two sessions of my 20 second workout videos.

Ice.

RHR 47

Session of 20 second workout video.

Feeling back to normal and in the office by 6.

2.5 miles running with the dog, then dropped her off at the townhouse and ran another 2.2 miles.  About 1 mile before the end I waved to Steve Ashbaker as he ran by.  Then, turning around for my last half mile, he suddenly appeared by my side.  He ran a cooldown while we talked for a few minutes.  He's been doing some crazy mileage lately.

Finished up with 1.3 mile roundtrip walk down to Sushi To Go to pick up some dinner.

Tonight I plan to do an arm workout and deck of card workout while watching Biggest Loser.

A nice five mile run after work - enjoyed the sun.  Think I will be ready to up my daily runs to 5 miles all of next week and then hold there for a few weeks.

Watched CSI and did two different sets of the deck of cards workouts.  Upped my weights on the second one and it kicked my butt.

3 easy miles with the dog.

Ran 9+ miles on the Pipeline Trail this morning.  Such a beautiful day and and I am so lucky to be able to run on my beloved trails and in the mountains so easily.

Starting to get up early on a regular basis to beat the heat and get my runs in first thing in the morning.

My version of a tempo run today (first in 8 months).....Set the Garmin to beep if I fall below 12 mm.  Also pushed my daily mileage up to 5 miles today.

Nice to beat the roosters and sun out and run in shorts and a t-shirt with no gloves. 

Avg:  11:35    11:43/11:39/11:29/11:21/11:37

1 mile cooldown with the dog.

Didn't wear an ankle brace today - but the ankle felt good once it warmed up.

Think I'll call my chiropractor today.  Something in the right hip is not right - I have a lot less flexibility than in the left hip - probably from my time in a boot.

Went to the chiropractor last night and he said my right knee, hip, ankle and back were all out of line from my injuries and such.  I will go back again Thursday for another alignment.

Ran 5 miles this morning in the sprinkles.  Felt nice and cool - but not cold.  I kept by HR in the 70-80% range.  Interesting that after running a little faster yesterday, my heart rate seemed to stay in lower ranges today and what felt like faster speed than normal - but I only had my heart rate monitor on - so maybe I was imagining things.  Ran out of energy the last couple of miles - could be from trying to lose weight.

Last ankle injection tonight at the podiatrist.  Ankle is doing a lot better this last week.

2.25 miles easy day running with the dog.  Rode my bike up to Gold's Gym and did 1 hour upper body training.  One of my co-workers was at the gym, so did 20 minutes on the stationary bike with him and another 20 minutes on the treadmill. Biked home.

5.0 miles this morning at 75-80% MHR.  Rode my bike to work.  I need a nap now.

Ankle is a little twingy today, so decided to skip the long run.

Workout 1:  15 minutes stairmaster, 15 minutes torso trainer, 45 minutes upper body strength training, 30 minutes arc trainer.

I was really wiped out and slept for 90 minutes.

After dinner I went to a different gym that was open until 10.

Workout 2:  45 minutes lower body strength training, 60 minutes elliptical, 60 minutes stationary bike. 

I'm giving myself 10 miles of cross training for the 3 hours cardio.

Five miles tempo run followed by quarter mile cool-down.  One more appointment with my chiropractor. He has turned me loose but recommends I quit waiting until I am seriously injured to stop in for an adjustment.

Ran 5 miles after work using the HRM at 70-80%.  Did a few sets of intervals to shake the lead out of the legs in the last couple of miles.  Last .7 as a cooldown. Picked up the muttso and was walking her when I interrupted Steve A's run and had a nice visit with him.  Everything from pets to work to training. Ankle is feeling good again.  

1 hour upper body weight training.

 5.25 miles on the treadmill.  Worked on shaking up the legs and trying to get a little speed back (at least my idea of speed).  After the warmup I went through several repetitions where I would kick the speed up between 6.0 and 6.5 mph and drop the speed .1 mph every minute or 30 seconds.  Felt good to push again.

Went out and did 12 miles on the Draper Trails this morning.  First 10 miles keeping my HR between 70-80% (did the hilliest route first).  Last 2 miles alternated running 200 steps walking 100 steps as a cooldown. Endurance is coming back.

My sister and I volunteered at the State Capital Half Marathon this morning.  Talked to Rachel for a few minutes before heading off to our aid station. I cannot believe she is still running half marathons this close to being full-term.  She has potential to become an ultrarunner yet. :)

We were stationed behind the zoo on a long uphill.  I know how it helps me on hills when people have some music going, so cranked up my marathon song playlist on the ipod on my Jeep.  The Jeep also did double duty as an aid station table because the table was on the wrong side of the road and it has nice flat bumpers.

After all the runners passed, we headed over to the capital.  (We also stopped and put our flags on our brother's grave to cover the grave decorating detail while we were there). Got there just in time to see Rachel finish (and still faster than I can run when not pregnant).  Drove her and my sister back to the Olympus Hills shopping center to get their cars.

I came home and went out for a tempo run on 7th East.  "My speed" (such as it is) is starting to come back along with endurance and I felt happier about the six miles than I did on my five mile tempo run last week.

1:08:03 / 11:12/11:26/11:10/11:24/11:19/11:22

1 mile cooldown with the dogs.  Now down to Provo to meet my dad and decorate my mom's grave.

Weight training tonight.

I'm not sure 'easy' is a good term for my mileage tonight.  I ran over to Hillcrest High School to try a bleacher workout I saw their soccer team do the other week.  You start at one end of the bleachers, run down the stairs, across the football field, up the other bleachers, over a set and then back down and across.  After finishing the entire set of bleachers, you then run around the tennis courts, ball diamonds and high school.  One lap is 1.3 miles.  I was able to run 2 circuits.  Add on the running there and back and it was a total of 5.75 miles.

45 min upper body strength training.

6.5 miles after dinner.  Up 7th East to 8600 South then up the hill to 13th East.  Over to the Quarry and down to the Trax trail and then home.

I didn't start running until after 8 this morning and realized I should have started at least an hour earlier.  Ran the Trax trail over to 12300 South in Draper and back.  Added on another stretch over to 80th East and up that for a total of 14.5 miles.  I'm tired and covered in salt.  My dog thinks I smell wonderful.

2 easy miles to the Post Office and back.

No mojo today. I have an allergy on my arms from running in the sun on Saturday.  It makes it hard to sleep and I am itching like crazy.

Ran 3 miles this morning and the legs felt heavy and there was no energy.  I then ran another mile with the dog and she didn't have any energy either.

In a phone meeting now, then flying off to Michigan for the week.

Six miles after work on the freeway path by our hotel in Livonia, Michigan.  This time I ran south, usually I run north.  Tried to push my pace since the elevation is so much lower.

Avg.  11:04   11:32/10:49/10:55/10:55/11:15/10:59

6 miles in the early morning heading North on the freeway trail.  It started out sprinkling, but by a mile or so in it was pouring rain.  Had to watch out for the wet clay patches on the pavement so as not to slide.  Several areas of the trail were totally flooded on the way back.  Made for a wet but relaxing run.

My boss and co-worker headed back to Salt Lake this afternoon. I have another day of testing, then am driving to Illinois and back over the weekend.

7.5 miles tonight with a 2 mile repeat, slight break, then 3 1-mile repeats.  Pretty tired the last mile.  My goal was to try and stay under 10mm.

Faster miles:  9:55 + 9:49/ 10:04 (mainly uphill), 10:11 (losing gas), 10:49 - mentally gave out.

Killer run - more details later.

Quarter mile sprint through the Detroit Airport with a full backpack on when I found out they moved my flight up 2 hours and it was leaving in five minutes.

1 mile warmup with the dog.  4 miles easy running. This week will be a recovery week.

1 mile with the dog.  3 miles running with a 12 pound weight vest on.

3 miles running to the gym and back.  15 minute hard effort on the moving stairs stairmaster.  10 minutes on the torso trainer. 45 minutes upper body weight training. 60 minutes hard effort on the arc trainer. Going to give myself 8 miles of training on this one.

My daughter and son-in-law flew in yesterday for a funeral, so I am lending them my Jeep.  2.3 miles walking to work with a full backpack on (including computer). Know I have to walk home, so am adding on the reverse mileage now.

Got home from work last night and my son was heading out on his run, so took the dog and ran another 3 miles to meet him and then home.

Another 2.3 mile hike to work this morning.  Shouldn't have brought the laptop home.  That sucker gets heavy.  Luckily, my co-worker is picking me up tomorrow so I don't have to walk in again.

PM - walked home from work again.  Ran 5 miles to the gym and back and did 45 minutes hard weight training on the lower body.  That tuna fish sandwich for dinner was delicious!

Walked/jogged 6 miles running errands throughout the day.

2.25 miles warm-up with the dog.  An additional 5.5 miles with the 12 pound weight vest.

.75 mile warmup walk with the dog.

Ran 6.3 miles on the Trax Trail and back.  First 4 miles I threw in Fartleks.

.25 mile cooldown walk with the dog.

1 deck of cards workout.

Ran to the gym this morning.  Did 35 hard minutes on the stationary bike. Ran back home. Found $5 laying by the side of the road.  Nice way to start the day.

I really want to break a sub 60 minute 10K before the end of the year and since I couldn't drag myself out of bed early this morning, decided to do a hard workout on the treadmill in the afternoon.

Warmup jog, followed by 4x1mile repeats with the pace between 9:45 and 10:00 mm. Quarter mile breaks in between to get my heart rate down to 110. Last repeat was a 1x2 mile that I finished in 19:45.  Cooldown jog.  That was a toughie!

Got up early and headed out to the JRP.  I didn't realize I only live about 3 miles from it because I usually drive to the parking lot near my office. Ran about 10 miles on the parkway, then ran home again.  1 more mile cooldown with the dog.  30 minutes cleaning the pool.

I need to run .25 this evening in order to make my 40 for the week, but first - have to work the rest of the day.

Got up early and ran an easy 6.0 miles, keeping heart range in the 70-80% of maximum range.  I've been using a BodyBugg for 2 weeks to help me lose weight and have dropped 7 pounds so far.  I'm sure it will slow down soon.  It is interesting to see the calorie burns from different exercises.

Ran 2.25 miles to Gold's Gym in the heat (and uphill).  60 minutes hard leg and core workout.  Ran 2 miles home from the gym. Picked up the dog and ran another mile.

I was able to drag myself out of bed at 4:30 this morning and got 6.5 miles in before 6 a.m.  Now I need a nap at work.

7mile run in the morning.

2 mile run.  Not much free time.

Crazy busy schedule, so ran all my errands.  Total of 11 miles.

2 mile run in the afternoon.

Had to leave for the airport at 4 a.m. to fly to Detroit today.  Did an 8 mile run in the heat and humidity this afternoon. Way too hot to run at that time of day.

7 miles in the evening in the Michigan heat and humidity.  It started to pour partway through my run and ruined my new BodyBUGG.  What a waste of $250.

I ran the 2nd annual Red Hot Pink Chicks Half Marathon today. This is just a bunch of friends and runners getting together to have fun up Provo Canyon and back.  I didn't race at all, but my goal was to run the entire race without any walking at all.  I was able to achieve that goal and the legs felt strong as I finished, so my training and endurance are coming along well.

I loved running the first three miles with Marion.  I don't think I have run at all with anyone else this year except for a mile or two with Steve Ashbaker.

Beautiful day, lots of running friends and lots of fun.

Plus - as a bonus, I got to meet and hold Adam (aka Baby Fartlek) (aka Mr. Poopypants).

Did my miles on the treadmill since I waited until late afternoon and didn't want to cook in the sun.

7.5 miles tonight on the Trax Path.  Listened to Paul McCartney for the last half of the run.

Just an easy 2 miles in my Vibram's and with the dog before work.

Did an hour this afternoon with a personal trainer followed by 60 minutes on the elliptical for 5.75 miles total.

12 miles in the morning with Leslie and Harold along the Wasatch Crest, then down to Desolation Lake and Mill D.  The last half of the run was new territory for me.  Lots of beautiful wildflowers and views.  So good to be back on trails.  I have really missed them.

After a quick break to eat, check on the dog and swimming pool, I headed over to do the Little Cottonwood Canyon trail.  It had closed signs pasted all over it, so naturally, I ignored them.  Had to climb over some barriers built to keep less adventurous people off and around the one mile mark found huge portions of the trail totally gone.  I've seen flooding damage on trail before where chunks are gone, but this was the entire trail, with 5-10 feet deep chasms.  Had to do a bit of a balancing act over pipes and downed trees to get to the first bridge to get over the water.

4 miles in the heat of a day with one of our co-workers in from Wichita.  1 hour full body weight training.  30 minutes on the stationary bike. 1.5 miles with the dog. Core workout.

4 miles with Lea Ann again this morning. Yesterday I showed her the Jordan River Parkway. Today the Trax trail. Tomorrow Wheeler Farm.

Easy couple of miles with my co-worker before she flew out this morning. I showed her Wheeler Farm and we brought the dog along for some fun.

Was not tired after working at the temple tonight, so headed out around 10 p.m. and did another 6.25 miles.  I can't believe it was almost 90 at that time of night.

Rest day today.  Not sure how much of a workout I will do.

I'm in the middle of a mental debate on doing relatively long back to back runs on Friday and Saturday, or doing my 35 mile adventure down to Provo to get a huge training run in on Saturday. Any thoughts or input?

Left around 5 this morning and ran/walked down to Provo.  The heat took a

toll on me, nearly an hour longer than my first attempt in February

2009.  I was pleased though that the legs felt fine (other than tired). 

35.2 miles total.  I need a nap.

Walked the dog for a mile this morning.  The legs feel really good considering all I put them through yesterday.  

Added a couple of blog posts today.  One is on my Sandy to Provo run http://adventures-in-running-with-maurine.blogspot.com/2010/07/2nd-annual-sandy-to-provo-self.html.