Denouement

Slept in.  5 min ellipt warm up, stretching, then ran 7.9 outside in 60 min before coming back home and cleaning up for work.  Core workout in the evening.  My voice is coming back, and I am feeling better.  Not 100%, but better than Mon.

Slept in again, but only til 6:40.  Then woke up and started the festivities.  It is my middle son, Mickie's 9th bday today.  I decorated his throne (a dining table chair) and the dining room, then made blueberry pancakes and bacon and oj for the crew--I ate two packs of oatmeal.  Met up with Mack for a midmorning 40 min run (5 miles, was gps free on accident).  Then went to Macey's for three dozen donuts, dropped them off at the kids school, then went home. I cleaned house, did laundry and worked.  Then cub scouts from 4:30-5:30 at our house.  Then pizza for Mickie's bday dinner and he requested carrot cake, so I made frosting and frosted that sucker.  I did eat two pieces of pizza (fat patted off with napkin), two pieces of crust, salad, and a piece of carrot cake, so no nutritious virtuosity for me today :)  But lots and lots of fun.  I was hoping to cross train, but I think my whole day was a cross-training marathon.  Glad my son had a good bday and that it's over !

No running!  Did 60 min elliptical, warmed up to level 4 over 5 min then stayed there to the 30 min mark, then did the medium endurance 30 min workout (warm up at level four, then 5,5,7,7,4,4,6,6,8,8,3,3,5,5,7,7,4,4,6,6,8,8,4,4,4,3.  Core workout in evening.  Perfect eating. 

Slept in.  Ran 8 with Mack in 7:30 ave pace.  Feeling much better, just small sore throat/stuffiness.  Very minimal dizziness detected in run, which my have been just hypersensitivity to my equilibrium.  Driving down to StG to run the AmberG/St. G Running Center ladies team of Lake to Lake relay.  I hope there are lots of teams and that we win :D

Ty did a good play by play write up of the relay here: 

http://runtyrun.fastrunningblog.com/blog-03-05-2011.html

My first relay ever.  My coaches gave me the thumbs up to do this, but at steady state pace (6:20-6:32).  It was really fun hanging out with the ladies.  AmberG set up the team, and there were five of us, Ty and I just met the week before at Dogtown, other than that none of us really knew each other, though we did by the end.  We were the ShebraZ, a funny name, but we won best costume, so hey.

To start off, Steve's in a skirt and reportedly Clyde was in bloomers (didn't catch a glimpse of that train wreck, dang) and Aaron Metler was sporting a mullet (so nice to meet him).

I was leg 5 and leg 10.  We had our 7something paced ladies in the first two legs, and our 6something ladies in the last three slots, so we were backstacked to begin with, which meant a lot of kills for Amber and Ty.  For some reason I never got much.  My #5 leg was supposed to be 4.35.  It was gradual down for two miles, then a hill for about .5-.75 miles, then downhill on the fourth mile.  Will finish later. . . 

Miles on first leg 1 - 6:03, gradual down, holding back, steady now. 2- 6:15, gradual downhill, that's a more appropriate pace, 3 -  6:23 uphill, reeling in my one kill, 4 - 5:57 downhill, this leg was supposed to be 4.35, but it was 4.1.  I turned a corner and bam I was at the exchange, and the ladies weren't quite expecting me.  Drank Endurox right away while doing a small jog.

Kerry got lost on leg 6, ran twice her distance, I felt bad for her, out there frustrated, I was sure.  She did 8.7 in 7:20 pace, what a trooper to keep going and going fast.  She finally found her way and we were so relieved to find her.  We lost about 32 minutes, we were up 15 minutes before, and we were now behind 15 minutes.  The ladies on legs 7-9 had some great kills. I had the last leg, and we were down 3:40 when I started the leg from the #1 ladies team.  It was supposed to be 6.35 miles, so I needed to be 30 seconds faster per mile than that team, but their lady was a 3:10 marathoner.  Mile 1 6:11, gradual uphill then down, Mile 2 was 6:18, our car was there to give me water and told me the other team's lead was only 1:40.  I am in it! 3 - 6:58, big bad dirt up hill, 4 - 6:18, I pass the ladie's team at around 3.25. Mile 5 - 6:32 backing off, Mile 6 6:31, .74 miles (that's the longest .35 I have ever run) 6:11 pace.  We end up winning by about 4 minutes.  

Kerry getting lost sure made it interesting :) 

65 min easy 8:15 pace.

Too much snow to head down the hill, so ran 90 min on the treadmill--it was so long!  

Mickie's bday party at night--Marion and fam came.  We went to Nickel City and I had some of the four layer cake I made for Mickie.  It was strawberry-yellow-vanilla cake swirl with purple buttercream frosting.  Now I am suffering from sugar-blah.  Good news is I didn't have a lick while making the cake, the frosting or frosting it.  So consolidated all of it into one overly sugary experience.   

First two-a- day since surgery.  Slept in, then PT appt, then drop by work, then can do my first workout of the day. 

Started at 12:20, short sleeve and shorts weather (50F).

3.73 warm up, then 10x90 sec hill repeats.  Last time I did these on the same hill (Harry's) 7.3 or so grade average, and I averaged 6:55 pace (this was mid January).  So I was hoping for 6:30 pace.  Paces averaged 6:33 and were: 6:16, 6:34, 6:28, 6:23, 6:34, 6:39, 6:32, 6:39, 6:45, 6:41. So not quite 6:30, but pace was 22 seconds faster than two months ago--I'll take it.  3.48 cool down.  It was such a long workout!   

PM run: 6:30pm 4.8 miles in 39 min

Tired! 

Ran with Mack 65 min, 8:13 pace.  Core workout.

Ran 7.13 in 55 min, listening to the NPR friday news round up, International hour.  7:43 pace.  Was really sore on Thursday from hill repeats, but feeling much better today.

Plan for this was to run it smarter than I ran the 10K, to be more conservative in the first half and do well on the uphills.

I realized as I was leaving my house, I was giving myself only 1 hour to drive, instead of the 1:45 it takes to drive there.  Oops.  So sped up there.  I got there around 7:33 (race time 8am).  I realized when I got there that I had no watch.  Brother. So I got my number then ran down to Harrison, looked at two gas stations and Smiths to see if I could find a watch, but none were sold there. So asked random people if they had a spare watch and with just minutes to start a guy takes pity on me and goes to his car to get a spare watch.  It was a gps with not a full race-worth of battery in it.  He got back about 4 seconds before the race started so I held the watch, trying to get the gps to register, during the first bit of the race.

Stephanie Talley (reigning champ of St G marathon) and Sariah Long (who beat me in the 10k) were both there.  Despite my desire to start easy got a 6:11 (plan was 6:30) first mile (uphill then downhill). Stephanie came along side.  Sariah is just behind.  I really want to take the screaming downhill mile in the second mile easy, so it doesn't thrash my legs.  Sariah comes up in the second mile and we are a three lady pack.  Pretty cool.  5:48 (plan was 5:50).  I want to push it because there are ladies around but I keep reminding myself that the race starts at mile 5. Mile 3 was 6:08 I think, it was faster than my planned 6:20, but it was a bit downhill net still, and I felt good.  Mile 4 was like a death march in the last race, rolling but net uphill, but this time felt good.  I was leading the ladies but they were right there, 6:24 I think (plan was 6:30).  Mile 5 started the nasty hill, I think I was about 7:08 (was hoping for 7:00), Sariah passed here, but I kept pretty close, didn't give up on this hill like on the 10k. Mile 6 was 7:17 (hoping for 7:00), Stephanie passes, but I keep pretty close to her, Sariah is inching further away (maybe 20 sec, Stephanie is about 5 sec up).  Mile 7 is the real meat grinder, my legs are tired and I am tired of fighting (elevation change between 3 and 7 miles is 931 feet), and they gap me the best on this mile, and my watch stops working so I am running by feel.  Finally crest at 7 miles and we have two good downhill miles ahead of me, so I start to reel them in.  Stephanie starts the downhill about 25 sec ahead of me, I close it to about 12 (I am counting at major turns), Sariah pulls up with what looked like a cramp, so I am now in second place, but there is a hill at the beginning of mile 10 that, in retrospect, I just crawled up.  Sariah must have jumped back in the race because she passes me again, and I didn't really care at that point (I really care now, and am pissed at myself for not fighting) but I crawled up the hill, then tried to finish strong.  3rd place.  Dang.

So this race was. . .character building.  Uphills are definitely not more forte.  I can handle hills less than a mile in length but these long, steep climbs are just brutal.  I definitely did better in this race than in the 10k (splits on miles 4, 5, and 6 were better), but have a lot of room for improvement.  I am very glad that the next two races in the series are not hilly beasts, which will help me to compete better.  The 18k does have a 5k uphill bit, but it is more like a 2% grade overall and in the first half and there is lots of race after it, so I am feeling good.  I need to focus now on some excellent training between now and the Ogden half ;) 

Core workout in the evening. 

Had a hard time falling asleep. Ended up with just 5.5.  I do not like daylight savings! Felt good while running despite the bad sleep: 7:40 pace for 8.5 miles.

Met MacK and Holly in the SF river bottoms.  Did 4.09 mile warm up in 3:138 (7:45 pace), then did 12x 1 min on/off.  On was supposed to be 10kish pace, and it was supposed to be rolling terrain.  I started at the bottom of Zephyr and did pretty little road loop 1.5 times (finished at the top).  So definitely rolly, and net uphill too.  Holly peeled off before the workout, but MacK hung out with me. 3.13 cool down.

PM: 40 min recovery run.  My recovery pace is 8:06-8:36, did 4.88 miles at 8:12 pace.  Felt nice to shuffle along.  Core workout 

9.82 in 7:38 ave pace.  Saw Marion and stopped and chatted with her for a bit.

AM: Plan was 4-5 x 5 min on (10k pace effort)/3 min off, so I was going to do 5 of them, of course.  I wanted to be under 6:00 pace, but of course my true 10k pace is probably around 6:0something.  I did these paces 6:02, 6:02, 6:08 (told myself in the middle of #3, when I wasn't feeling "on" that I would only do four), 6:04, 6:09, in the three minutes between #4 and #5 just gave myself the option to do four, but really I knew I wanted to do five.  Glad I hung in there.  Temps were about 33F, but there was crosswind, and my hands were painfully cold by the end of the cool down. 12.21 in the am, 1:20 massage, about half of it focused on my back.

PM: Ran afternoon 4.84 miles in 8:10 ave pace while kids were at gymnastics.  Core workout.

8 miles in 7:58 ave pace.  A tad windy!  PT appt.  Worked right ham, which has been tight, left ITB and my left groin area (can't remember what it's been called) which has been bugging for about a month (not while running, just is tender to the touch).

Met Mack at loafer, then headed toward Aubrey.  First miles were 8:23, 8:03, then never saw 8's again. 7:44 ave pace total, felt good until the last two miles into the wind back to my car!  Ice bath.  Will do core later.

8.14 in 7:59 ave

AM: on my own, me and the music.  Just a tad windy.  Warm up then 15 x 1 min on/off.  I missed the beep for the second repeat so really only did 14.5 hard minutes.  The fast bits for the full 14 on bits were 5:50.  Did it around the SF golf course, so some nice wind and hills in there. 11.42 total miles

PM  4.95 miles in 8:05 ave pace

Didn't have energy to do core this evening, took Ben to urgent care instead where we paid $35 to confirm he did not have a broken pinky. 

9.78 miles in 7:44 ave pace with McKenzie.

Core workout in AM, and 1.5 hour massage. Hurts so good. 

AM: 2.98 mile warm up, then did 10 x 90 sec hill repeats.  TylerS, Mack and Aub were there, though for the hills MacK and Aub were doing together and Tyler and I were doing together.  I did not feel so hot, even the first one was hard.  We were going to do 12 of them, but about half way through the headwind and even a bit of snow started in on us, and I was just lucky to have Tyler there to drag me through the 10.  After a dismal 8th repeat, I tucked in right behind him for 9 and 10 and that helped get my pace into decent range.  Pacers were 6:29, 6:35, 6:35, 6:35, 6:56, 6:45, 6:56, 7:24(bet you thought the 6:56 one was the dismal one, eh?), 6:45, 6:43.  So 6:46 ave pace, worse than last time, but with the conditions and my stomach's condition (ended up with the runs all day, including some stops in this morning's run), I think it was a job well done.  Every workout can't be a winner ;) 10.91 total miles

PM 4.87 miles at 8:13 ave pace.  Listened to NPR and ran into the wind first, but was way tired coming back.  Core workout.

Forgot I was only supposed to run 55-65 min today, went out for a 75 min run, realized at 72 minutes that today is Friday, not Wednesday.  

Ran with Mack after kids got off to school.  Started uphill, did goosenest to Payson loop.  I am grateful Mack is my friend :D 9.33 miles in 7:49 pace, then .75 miles walking back to car.

Ran with Mack and Aub, though last 5 were on my own. 7:43 ave pace, only one mile above 8:00 and that was the first one (8:03).  Last miles was 7:29.  Seemed long, but felt great to get my first 20 in.  No real pains, but took a 14 min ice bath anyway.  My mileage is on target compared to my last marathon training cycle.

8.54 in 65 min.  PT appt focusing on right ham and around left knee.

AM: 13.59 in 1:49, 8:00 ave pace

PM: 5 mile run without watch, core workout 

8.53 at ave pace of 7:39, massage

 AM:  Slept in. Started this workout at around 9am, 46F, sunshine, perfect.  3.28 warm up (8:15 ave pace).  Stretched hams and calves, two strides, then Yasso workout.  I was originally thinking 2:46-2:50 pace, my coach said to do 8-10, but Bonnie convinced me to shoot for 10, so I was hoping for 2:50 x 10.  What is strange about this workout is it is a much faster pace than I run in ANY workout, even my 1 min on/off, which is 10k pace.   1- 2:49 (2:50 rest), 2-2:51 (2:50 rest), 3-2:50 (2:51 rest), 4-2:52 - already getting hard (2:52 rest), 5- 2:50 (approx 3:15 rest including potty break), 6 - 2:55 ok, need to regroup, decide to try to hit 2:52 from here on out (2:57 rest), 7- 2:51 (3:03 rest), 8 - 2:55, cmon! regroup again (2:55 rest), 2:52 (2:53 rest), 2:51 and done!  2:51.6 ave pace, not what I wanted, but it was what I could do, so I am proud of myself for pushing through.  Finished run with When the Mountains Fall by Michael W Smith, a great song. 2.4 miles cool down

PM: 4.86 in 40 min (8:15 pace) including a mile with my husband, who I happened upon on my jog, core workout