Training for a Belt Buckle

No mileage yet today - I couldn't get out of bed early this morning.  I hope to get some miles and weight training in tonight.

I am actually (FINALLY!) feeling better and only occasionally cough.  I think between the massive stress I have been under at work, plus heavy training (for me, at least) that I went into burnout mode and was overstressed every way possible and my body just gave out on me.

I am re-evaluating if I will finish out the marathons I have paid for this summer/fall or if I will just work on getting a better level of fitness and strength.  Last week I was totally ready to be done running any races, now I am in a bit of a better frame of mind. A few days off definitely made a difference.

Work should be getting a little less stressful.  I am wrapping up a major project and have three more that are almost completed and will then not have to focus on quite as much as I have been doing.  My boss returned part-time today and full-time next week after months out of the office on bed rest and maternity leave (since the end of January).  She will take part of the burden off of me, since I have been doing as much of her job as I could in addition to my own.

I have scheduled Thursday and Friday as vacation days and hope to actually have 4 days without any work done at all (if no crisises arise) and can then re-evaluate my health and fitness and training future.

PM - Started running at 4 PM and ran 4.5 miles out, stopping at Gold's Gym to do 50 minutes of chest and triceps, then 1.5 miles home.  I soaked my head at 3 miles and it was totally dry a little more than 15 minutes later when I hit the gym.  I think that means it was hot out.  My feet were feeling pretty toasted in the Five Fingers on pavement at that time of day. Walked the dog for 1.5 miles.

Three miles walking with the dog this morning.  It was good to finally get my butt out of bed early again.

Headed out this morning to run the Pipeline Trail up  Millcreek Canyon.  Ran 4.5 miles to the overlook and drank 16 oz of fluids.  I saw a little trail heading up from there and hiked up it, thinking it only went a short ways up.  After a half mile of scrambling and hiking, the trail still continued on, but was really rough, so turned around.  I ran back a mile or so to the Rattlesnake Gulch trail and ran .65 down that (hoping it did not live up to its name).  Hiked back up and drank the rest of my fluids and finished my stinger pack. 

It was getting hot out and I don't think I have drank enough liquids this week because I started to bonk.  Alternated walking and running (running in the shadier areas) but my body was really struggling.  At the stream above Church Fork I took a risk and wet down my hat and also drank 24 ounces of water out of the stream in less than a minute. I could have drank a lot more - but am worried enough about giardia as it is.  After that I was able to run the remaining 1.5 miles back.

I stopped at Dan's and bought a 16 oz bottle of chocolate milk and inhaled that.  I can tell I must have dehydrated myself a touch because it has been 5 hours since I needed to use the bathroom last.

Hiked up the Little Cottonwood Trail and then ran down it with Leslie.   She hasn't run much lately and I figured she would run more if I stayed with her - so I wore my Five Fingers to slow me down.  The uphill miles weren't too bad - although I didn't remember the trail being that rocky.  The miles we ran down were quite painful and Leslie stayed ahead of me a lot of the time.  It was always a relief to get a few feet of sandy or less rocky trail to run on so my shoulder and neck muscles could unknot from the discomfort.

1 hour of legs and core at the gym afterwards.

PM2 - 2 more miles with the dog (walking). We stopped on the way home for a sugar free snow cone.  Twi was very upset that we passed the booth on the way out because she loves snow cones.  She can also tell when it is open or not and ignores it during the closed hours.

2 miles early this morning with the dog.

Drove up to my old stomping grounds and ran the Bonneville Shoreline Trail between Kaysville and Layton and back (starting 3.5 miles of the Wasatch 100). 

Went to a Mental Mastery seminar at my old personal training gym.