Denouement

Met MacK and Travis at 9am this morning. 5F.  Roads were still jacked up.  Tyler bailed in favor of the treadmill, and it turns out that might have been the better choice.  Trying to do a tempo on ice and snow is not fun.  We went from the Salem Stk Ctr to Chevron, past the SHHS, down that farm road to SF.  Travis and I started our tempo after 3.64 miles.  Mile 1 6:36, net downhill, Mile 2 6:44 (flatish), Mile 3 7:06 uphill on the highway dodging in and out of the snow, Mile 4 6:36 net downhill, .51 in 3:15, or 6:26 ave pace.  It was really hard to keep going.  Footing was so unsure at times, I obviously couldn't keep desired pace.  It was character building, though!  Not as much slush thrown up on me from the cars because it was too cold for slush.

Slept in, VT appt, then PT appt.  Did 5 min bike and lunges 6 ways slow then fast, ham lunges 3 ways, total gym, ball grab exercise, stretching, then went out to run.  Orrock taunted me that running 8 miles in 60 min would mean I am back on track, so I couldn't let that challenge stand.  I was actually running 65 min and did 8.94 in that time, 7:16 ave pace.  Did 35 min elliptical in afternoon.

Ran a progression run.  Basically an easy run with the last 3-6 min very fast (s/b 5k pace).  Did this with Tyler and Travis, though started the run with Mack and Holly as well.

Tyler and Travis were able to break 6:00 for the fast bit but I was not.  Did last mile in 6:08.  A combination of not being able to control breathing and legs not feeling the love.  I am pretty upset about not being able to go sub-6:00.  I know I just need to keep putting in the work and my legs and lungs will eventually cooperate.  Perhaps if it would be above freezing every once in a while that could help. 

Ran from Crisps around SF ballpark.  I forgot my ear covers and it was so cold I almost bagged the run at 1.5 miles, but kept going and it warmed up enough that I was fine by 3 miles.  7:46 ave pace.  Wanted to keep today more mellow than Monday, when I ran my "easy" run a bit too hard, and cross trained, and perhaps those affected my Tuesday run?  Have a hard tempo tomorrow and want to do well.  Or at least not embarrassingly poorly.

Met Tyler and Travis in Salem.  Warmed up 3.46 at 8:16 pace.  10F so really too cold for a tempo, but I was grateful the guys were willing to do this one with me. 

Started at the five mile square corner, so started with a bit of downhill.  Was hoping for 6:26 first mile and to drop from there.  Didn't really know what to expect.  Miles were 6:16 (easy to get in the groove with a downhill at the start, 43 ft drop), 6:13 (feeling good, flat), 6:09 (felt ok first half, just hung on for second half, another flat mile).  Tyler led the group, Travis and I generally kept up.  Was nice to run in a group for this.  6:13 ave pace with negative splits, I am very happy.  I prayed for a decent run this morning, I don't think I could have emotionally handled three bad hard workouts in a row, but I wouldn't have asked for it to go that well.  I am grateful.

My breathing was the limiting factor.  Have some mucus in the way, just try to keep breathing at a decent rhythm.  3.42 cool down.

Will have massage today, and core this evening. 

Met Mack at classic skating.  She and I were in our best spandex racing outfits (not really, jeans all around).  The kids races started the fun.  My boys, who got inline skates for xmas, raced the boys race.  I ask the dj if there would be an adults race, and he announced one just for MacK and I, so we could show the competition what's what.  

Eventually 5 women toe the line.  Well, I was actually the only one "toeing" the line, I used the rubber brake as a push off mechanism.  MacK and I assess our competition.  I am feeling not so confident as I do in a foot race.  The MC asked if 2 laps for the race was sufficient.  MacK said she would just be warming up, but I knew some humiliation was on the horizon, so I said 2 laps was just fine.  Ready, set, go.  And the other women are off, and I clumsily follow.  I am the clear biggest loser 1/2 lap into it, but I am trying to go as fast as I can without falling.  I survive a near slip, and finish dead last.  I guess roller derby is not in my near future.  Darn.  Mack did much better, with a 3rd place finish.  I think this was one of her most proud moments!

The evening of skating has to be worth a couple miles of cross training, right??? :D

Also: earlier in the day, did 8.5 in 7:41 ave pace, up and down provo canyon. 

18 mile long run with MacK in 8:02 ave pace.  At times the bad air made me feel like I was sucking wind.  It was quite cold (8-12F prob) and was so glad I wore hand warmers.

Rolled when I got home.  Both IT bands and adductors are tight.  

Core in afternoon. 

Had root canal today, so switched my M-Tu workouts.  Which meant 90 min easy run today for my hard workout.  7:59 ave pace.

Went to PT.  My bottom of my feet and shins have been slightly niggly, so Orrock taped them and said if the tape job made them feel better, then it means I need a new orthotic prescription.  I am typing this up on Wed, and so far, my shins have felt ok but the bottom of my feet are niggly.

No pain from root canal to speak of--good news! 

Ran in my Ghosts for the first time.  Felt fine, even with the taped feet.  No pain from root canal, but I ran easy to make sure blood wasn't pumping fast. ave pace 7:47.

Skiing with Luz in the PM.  It was fun, except for my toes going pre-frost bite.  And the burn, oh the burn in my thighs while trailing her on the blacks got embarrassing at times.  I love skiing.  When I am in training, mode, though, it is scary.  I am afraid a leg is going to snap off or a knee will go out.  I did feel some weakness in my left knee and backed off.  Seems to be just fine.

Core workout in PM and stretching/rolling. 

Met MacK after kids got off to school.  We ran the Payson loop.  Felt good.  Almost got eaten by a dog, who was snarling, chasing me and barking as his owner was telling us that he wouldn't bother us.  I yelled at the owner, "He is bothering me."  Then I almost broke out in tears.  It is downright scary.  I don't like meanish canines.  Yesterday, I had a yappy dog chase me right in front of his owner, and that little dog wasn't scary but was just running with me.  I had to turn around and chase that little dog into its house.

I did my lunges, etc (PT exercises) and some stretches after I got home. 

Woke up from an early morning text at 3:40, couldn't fall back asleep.

Met Travis and did 3.4 mile warm up, then 8x90 sec hill repeats, resting on downhill.  Last time I did this workout was last year with Melody and clan.  I was so sore after the workout, I never did it again.  So this time I tried to not go out too fast on the first couple, and to take the downhill very easy to minimize soreness.  I also took an icebath when I got home.

Did this workout on Harry's Hill, the stretch was about 7.2% average grade, with it being steeper in the first 1/3 of the 90 sec.  I ran it at about 5k-10k effort.  Hard, but not trying to kill myself off.  I was still faster in the first couple than the rest, but not dramatically.  6:55 ave pace for uphill fast bits.  Then nice cool down.   

Dropped off car at Dentmaster's in Lehi to get a ding out, then ran in Lehi to my mom's house.  She lives by the Jordan River Parkway!  So fun to run on that for a while.  It is pretty there, even in it's frozen tundra state.  7.21 miles in 56 min, 7:46 pace. 

Later that day did 3 rounds of laser tags w/ the kids, Kangaroo Zoon, and all you can eat pancakes at IHOP (not a good choice).

Slept with no alarm--it was heavenly.  The only problem was it made my run eat into my day quite a bit.

Started my run at 8:30 at 31F.  Got colder in the SF riverbottoms but was 35F and a bit sunny by the end of my run.

Plan was easy long run but 2-4 miles at half marathon pace at the end.   

Clay was there to taunt me on Zephyr and up Powerhouse, but he was booking it so I couldn't even get him by gu corner.  Then he wouldn't give me the satisfaction of starting before so I could catch him. :P  I kept pace easy because I knew the end would not be easy.  I am not sure I want to include the Zephyr hill in any fast finish runs in the future, it is so hard.  But I don't have a choice unless I want to plant water in Payson.

Anyway.  Started my 4 mile fast finish up Powerhouse.  Here's how it went and elevation changes:

Mile 1: 6:22 (40 ft drop)

Mile 2: 6:24 (15 ft drop)

Mile 3: 6:39 (63 ft gain, Zephyr hill and most of the way to the corner)

Mile 4: 6:23 (gain to the corner, then downhill, net 8 ft drop).

I felt pretty crappy in mile 3, not surprising given my lack of love of hills and it just is discouraging to slow down, but I was proud of not giving up and my mile 4 bounce back.  Overall 6:27 ave pace.  Wanted 6:25, but glad to break 6:30.

.26 slow cool down to car. 16.26 miles total, ave 7:31 overall. 

I am doing the St. G half next Saturday.  I am not yet in racing form, but my coach said I could run it as a "fun run".  Given that I am only half in shape, I am not sure how much fun will be in the run, but it will likely be in the first half of the race :D  Should be interesting. . . I am just hoping for good weather.  So far forecast is 35F low, 55F for a high. Sounds good to me.  Nudge it up a bit more for shorts, though, eh? 

Will do core and some ellip tonight. 

Ran with Mack, Holly and JenH. 8.31 at 7:52 pace.

Met up with Travis, MacK and Holly.  Ran 30 min with all four, then dropped off Mack, then another 15 with Holly, then dropped her off.  Then Travis and I went on canal road toward Payson.  It seemed to get colder (run started at 32, ended at 31F), but it was just my gloves weren't quite enough for my hands.  The run today was 60 min easy, then 10 min DUSA progression.  I wanted to start at 6:40-6:30 and drop from there, last 1/4 mile really hard.  At .5 mile into it we were averaging 6:16, then the first mile split was 6:10 (good, this is a progression run).  I plateaued at 6:10 for the next 1/4 mile and had to go to the bathroom so I did a quick squat at .25 miles, letting my watch run, so it was a quick stop by the time I started going again the lap pace was 6:48.  Got it down to 6:14 before the 10 minutes were up.  Because I did a quick pit stop, I was able to push the last 1/4 mile hard, but the ave pace doesn't show it.  The pit stop was lame, but the pace was nice!  Our last fast finish I was just supposed to do 3-6 min, so we did one mile and I did 6:08, and that was giving all I had.  This workout today was much better.  The amazing thing is that I was trailing Travis.  That kid can run. 

Had a bad night of sleep.  Bleh.  Met Mack and did our Payson loop, I like that loop.  

9.29 in 7:52 ave pace.   

26F at start 22F at the end. Met Travis.  Warmed up 3.14, including a stretching and potty break, then started a 3 x 2 mile tempo interval workout.  This is my hardest workout by far, maybe with the exception of the 35 min steady state.  If I am in shape for 1:25 this Saturday, then I should be able to do this workout no slower than 6:21.  So I was gunning for 6:20 pace, since that sounded hard enough!

First rep 6:15, 6:17.  Felt good, Travis and I were right together, not pushing too hard, in 5 min rest I stripped off one shirt (one remained), my heavy gloves (my light gloves remained) and ear cover. 

Second rep: 6:12, 6:15 Felt really good on this one, felt like I was holding back, Travis felt back a bit but caught up before the end, 5 min jog

Third rep: 6:15, 6:13, First mile went ok, except Travis was ahead by 2-3 seconds at the one mile mark, second mile Travis pulled up at about 1.4 miles, and at that point I was feeling it and hovering around 6:20, but I thought no way was my last mile going to be my weakest, so I pushed through it and got a good split

I feel like I am coming back!  Hopefully soon this will be marathon pace--it needs to be, but baby steps.

Shorter cool down (just 1.26 miles).

Dynamic stretching after.  Ice bath.  I feel wiped out and will hit the bed for a nap soon. 

7.52 in 7:59 ave pace. 

PT appt--worked on right ham and adductor, and left knee/lower itb.  exercises 

Warmed up 3.2, a bit with myself, a bit with AmberG.  Was 34F but sun was out and it felt warm enough for shorts, so I did shorts, singlet, thick knee highs for arm warmers and dollar gloves.  Yesterday Clyde told me he thought the whole Utah Elite running team would be there, including Stephanie Talley, and I thought I didn't have a prayer with her in the field and me only in half shape.  So that kind of took the pressure off.  Also saw and chatted with RAD and the way cute preggie KellieS, who I recognized from her preggie profile.  She was going to do the 5k.

7 minutes before the race start, I was frantically looking through my backpack for my car key, to put my backpack away, and TylerS said hi.  He ended up helping me tear through my backpack, and did the clear thinking for me, and found my key in my coat I had warmed up in.  I don't know what I was thinking. When we were looking through the bag I found my race bib, which was still not on my singlet (oops).  So I got to the start line with 1.5 min to spare, barely remembering to take my last long sleeve layer off.

My strategy was to just keep an eye on #1 girl for the first mile to just see what's up and if I have a prayer.  I thought I might be able to sustain 6:30.  I have barely been able to do this for a 4 mile tempo, but a bit lower elevation, a bit warmer temps and race magic would hopefully make it feasible.  Besides being above 1:25 is different than below, for where I need to be right now.  I will give splits by mile marker, though the miles marked fluctuated a bit between being dead on with my gps, and several seconds long and short.   So perhaps I shouldn't have lapped the watch but I did, so that's the way it is.

Mile 1 -  6:25 started out a bit too fast, but tried to calm down and keep it a decent pace.  This mile felt ridiculously easy.  One girl ahead of me.  Didn't look like Stephanie Talley, going to fast to approach, ended up being Ericka Schramm

Mile 2 - 6:23 still felt easy during the first half mile, then started to feel like a half marathon race pace, not easy not too hard. 

Mile 3 - 6:24 closing a bit on Ericka, I meet a guy from Cedar Hills who's friends with TylerS

Mile 4 - 5:59 (this is one mile that measured short by gps, 6:12 pace per watch), catch and run with Ericka,

Mile 5 - 6:14, somewhere around here I take the lead

Mile 6 - 6:12

Mile 7 - 6:26 sucky steep, but thankfully short uphill at the beginning, watch said 7:30 pace at the top, but gradually brought that sucker down.  Throughout the race I allow myself to take it somewhat easy up hills, thinking "this is just a fun run", a luxury I won't have in future races.

Mile 8 - 6:14, have a lead, but Ericka's behind and I am starting to get nervous about keeping pace

Mile 9 6:36 (this one measured long, but still) this was the suckiest mile of the race, knowing I was going away from the finish line, a bit of uphill, and still many miles ahead.  I am the rabbit being chased! 

Mile 10 - 6:13, much better

Mile 11 6:24, I am confident at this point I am winning

Mile 12 6:27, starting to get hard, but trying to keep splits where I want them

Mile 13 6:18, hard mile, but in mile 12 and 13 I felt like I could have pushed harder, but didn't feel motivated to dig for it.

.12 in 36 sec, wow watch says 4:59 pace.

Final time 1:22:54, two minutes faster than my estimate, but I am very glad I am at this point.  I still have a far way to go to get in OTQ shape, so I am grateful for this 2 minute gift. 

They had a paper I would have ran through, being the female winner, but a woman came in two minutes ahead of me.  The race officials were very on top of it and did some investigation and confirmed that the woman forgot the 5 mile last loop, so I missed an opportunity to break a tape. I hope to some day.  Have never done it.

I cooled down with Ericka, 2.5 miles, got to know her a bit more.  I'm afraid I wasn't successful recruiting her to the blog.  Hopefully she'll call me up so we can run together when she's in UT county, though. 

Wonderful 10 min massage.  I got some good prizes, but I thought there was a treadmill on the line, but it appears there wasn't?  Still not sure what the story is there.

Cut back week.  Today I could take the day off or go 40-60 min.  I chose to go on the tm for 6 miles, about 46-47 min.

Ran with MacK for an hour, then more on my own.  My hands were freezing! 7:57.

Core workout.

Some easy elliptical while I quizzed Ben for his spelling bee. 

Ran with Mack for .25, but she pulled up because of a bum knee.  Bummer.  I hope it heals soon, for her sake and mine :D

On my own without music and with bigger mittens.  Nice and toasty. 7:41 ave pace.

Exercises at home.  And cleaned my wood floors.  They were embarrassingly bad, which means cleaning them should count for cross training :D 

Catching up on the blogging.  Had a rough time with this 5 mile tempo.  Warmed up just over 3 miles, then started in.  Wanted a low 6:20something pace.  Was 6:20something at the first .25 mark, then my back did this major pinch thing it does a couple of times a year.  Bad timing.  For 1/2 mile every time I tried to go below 6:40 it would hurt pretty bad.  And I still had the rest of the tempo ahead.  I kept trying, and was able to drop pace slowly after 1/2 mile of pain.  Kind put me off skew, though, so an off workout.  Splits were 6:37, 6:31, 6:26, 6:30, 6:18, 6:28 ave pace.  So glad the Beck song, I don't know the name, but goes "Na, na, na, na, na, na, na", came on in the last mile.  It has a great fast beat.  I am glad I was finally get into a good gear, but not the overall pace I wanted.  Back didn't hurt in the last 4 miles, though I was running gingerly.  Also fine in the cool down, but as soon as I stopped it hurt.  Hurt to get dressed, to bend down to put on shoes, to get in the car.  So I got a big time massage today.  Skipped my core workout.  So sad to do that.  

Also inside of my left ankle tendon area ached in cool down. 

Back still achy in the morning, not sure if I would run, thought I would let it warm up and then decide mid morning.  Marion came over to ellip and I ran on the tm, started really slow, and gradually got to 7.6 mph.  Got 7.3 in 59 min. Back felt better after run, just a bit sore and tenuous.  I have been applying heat pad, taking muscle relaxants, and using my back massager.

Was supposed to do 14-16 miles with fast finish (2-4 miles fast).  I had the option of bailing on the fast bit if my back was feeling not 100%.  It wasn't feeling 100%, and I was alone on my run and overdressed so really felt crappy, perhaps part of it was the bad air.  But I stripped off a layer at 14 miles and decided to attempt the fast finish for just 2 miles.  Was supposed to be goal 1/2 marathon pace, so I wanted 6:15.  First mile was 6:16, but second mile stopped to use the bathroom (because I had to, dang it) and kept the watch running, and had a hard time getting back on track, 6:38, even with a fast 1/4 mile at the very end.  Bleh.  I guess its money in the bank, even if its 5 cents instead of the $1.15 I was hoping for.

Here's to a better week this week!

Easy run. 7:49 ave pace. Inside of ankle tendon area still sore, so should go in today to PT if I can get an appt.