Denouement

Ran with MacK.  Nothing too eventful except for it being way too cold for the first morning in April (20 degrees).

Stressful day at work but I finished a big project!  What a relief.  I have worked 12 hours so far today and will likely squeeze in some more.

Met Josse and MacK in SF.  I wanted to get more sleep than I did since I have a race on Saturday, but I guess almost seven is alot better than almost four or five.  I felt good at times and sluggish at times.  I did the Sasha and did a potty break followed by two striders to catch up to the ladies.  MacK and I tacked on some more after dropping Josse off.  

Ave pace 8:26 

I got to the Tabernacle with 30 minutes til start time, but the race started late because of some logistical issues. I warmed up for about 2 miles, with two stops at the Provo Marriott for their bathrooms (the race organizers only had about 5 portapotties and there were probably 900 participants between all the events). I saw an old running buddy from BYU who is a really good runner, so I knew I had to kiss the prize money goodby unless she happened to be in bad shape. Turns out she was in great shape and I never saw her after the first mile. I was feeling pretty good before the race, and the temperature was about 44F, so I was able to wear only shorts and a shortsleeve shirt.

So here's how the race went:

1 - 6:37 - the race started out pretty fast and I was headed toward a 6:20, and still behind the leading lady, but I backed off anyway until I felt comfortable, remembering Ted's advice that the first mile is supposed to feel easy. The mile was still faster than my goal of around 6:45 the first mile.

2 - 6:36 - plugging along, trying to draft because there was already a headwind

3 - 6:27 - I start running with a pack of guys and we form an alliance against the wind. We didn't have strict rules on when a person took a turn in the lead, but we each took turns drafting.

4 - 6:39 - The wind is wearing me down, I will feel good for a while then yucky for a while, I tried slow down but was harrassed by my pack of guys I didn't know into pulling back up to them

5 - 6:25 - The wind was hideous at this point, but our pack keeps a good pace, I don't want to slow down because I need their help.

6 - this miles split got messed up, my gps lost its service, my watch says it was a mile at 5:59 but it also says the race is 13.4 at the end, so I think part of the problem is this mile split, this mile had the turnaround so the wind should have been toward our backs but it seemed to still hit our fronts somehow.

7 - 5:33, --just kidding, yeah this mile was obviously short too, I was probably around 6:45, we caught up with a guy and he and a couple of our pack members got chatty so the pace slowed.

8 - 6:54 - pace continued to be off. At about 8 miles I broke from the chatters.  My comment,
"Less chat, more race" didn't phase them.  One said, "You are girl number 2 but I am the 30th guy."  Well actually he was probably more like 20th overall.  Orange shirt from my pack had already broken away, but red shirt and I pick up the pace again for mile 9

9 - 6:30 - I am feeling like I can actually finish the race without crashing and burning

10 - 6:35 - I alternate feeling good and feeling bad.  Red shirt is still with me and he motivates me at times, then I give him encouragement.

11 - 6:46 - uh, yeah, slight uphill and starting to fade

12 - 6:38

13 - 6:57, suckiest mile.  The only uphill in the race was a big overpass over railroad.  I don't think I would have broken 7:00 if Ted hadn't seen me and gave me a good yell, then he turned around and harassed me for the rest of the race (Thanks Ted!  And I'm not being sarcastic either :) ).

.4 - 5:58 pace, this is the last .4  of the race, even though I don't think the race was long. I was able to  increase the  pace.  I don't think it was a true kick but I am glad I was able to hold sub-6 at the end of the race for that long.

 The timing was off and the clock said 1:28:25 or so when I came in, but Ted gave me the good news that my time was actually faster.  My watch showed 1:27:09 and that was what the posted results showed too. 

 The winner got $250, a gold watch, and guaranteed (and I think free) entrance into St. George.  2nd place got a $60 gc.  The winning lady was 1:21:39, way far ahead of me so I didn't have a prayer.  At least I didn't go home empty handed.

 I think I could have pushed it a little more, but I was pleased with the evenness of my effort and that I am starting my post tax season training in pretty good shape.  Races are good because the tell you exactly where you are.  I am in worse shape than Jan 2008, but I am in better shape than Oct 2007.  I have 1 week and two days of tax season to go!

I don't think I will be running MWF if my work needs those hours I suppose this is the week to give them to work.

My achilles is aching dully and not strongly but I have started to ice, heat and IB and scraped on Sunday. I am concerned that scraping may be hurting instead of helping. There isn't alot of literature out there about the scraping technique.

I walked before and after running, probably another mile total. 

iced and heated my legs at work multiple times (worked more than 15 hours this day), like dork with a big ankle.

I ran with Josse in the morning.  We whined about the cold even though it was about 30F, much better than a couple of months ago.

We took it easy, around 9 min pace for the first half, though our pace dropped in the second half.

I felt some tightness occasionally and some slight niggling very occasionally.  I iced and heated twice today.  I need to take some more IB.  I am seeing Dr. Brady the sports chiro on Tuesday but I think my near injury will clear up once I get more sleep and treat myself right.  Three more work days until tax season is over (Saturday doesn't count because it is my son's baptism day and we have family stuff all day so no work planned--though of course I will be checking my email).

 Ave pace 8:30ish.
 

I decided to take the day off, since I wasn't planning on running Monday and Tuesday (the 14th and 15th). I have an appointment with Dr. Brady, a sports chiropractor on Tuesday.  I am hoping 5 days off, then getting out of tax season will help me to feel fresh and will calm my achilles down.  I think not running Saturday was a good decision because my legs feel good.  I can't wait to get out back on the road though.  Josse's race makes me hungry.  I am still hoping I can run the Ogden marathon on May 19th.

Wow, day 5 without running. I went to Dr. Brady's today at 11am.

After filling out 5 pages of forms with repeat info on each, I go back to an office. I was starting to wonder why I was going to a chiropractor for my issues. Then I tell myself he is a chiropractor specializing in sport issues. I talk to his assistant, who gives me a short massage on my calves and feet (sweet a massage is thrown in! about 8-10 minutes). I am also wondering if I am wearing the right clothes (a long flowing skirt, knee highs, which quickly came off-the knee high's that is). So I am laying on my stomach on the table wondering how I am going to meet a doctor when I am laying on a table. He came around and there was a bench on the side, so I was able to just roll over and chat with him about my situation. I told him I wasn't sure if it was psychosis or a real injury. He has me go in another room with exercise equipment, computers and other gadgets. He has me stand on a pad that analyzes my feet. Then I walk on it several times, then I run on it several times. I am starting to get skeptical as I stare at the orthotics on his window sill, "This guy is going to try to sell me orthotics!" But he didn't. He said I pronate, especially on my right foot. Well, my left foot hurts more than my right, so that's probably not the cause.

Then we go back in the examining room and I do some squats, and some one legged squats I could barely do because I am not balanced. Then he has me go on the table and he starts to work my legs over and I am a total wuss so I am moaning and groaning. He starts making fun of me and calling me Princess. He asks, does this hurt a couple dozen times. It felt pretty tender around my inside ankles and I said perhaps its just because he is digging in hard, and he said, "No Princess, it's because that's where you are injured." So he kept me laughing and wincing the whole time. Then he does his classic chiro manipulation, and I am struggling to stay loose, because he is saying "Relax" as he is pulling at my leg in ways that almost throw me off the table. Kind of hard to relax, I'd say.  He does some stretches and says that he found my problem, that my calves and hams are super tight and I have very little flexibility.  I said that if I were flexible I would be a gymnast, not a runner.  He said that was a cop out and if he heard me say that excuse again he would show me the door and I could find another physician.  He had me rolling.  So then he put some ultrasound waves through my worse leg and some a-stem (not sure on spelling).  My legs felt so great at the end.

Diagnosis: The best news is the diagnosis is that I don't have true achilles tendinitis, but another tendon is strained because of my muscle tightness, but I caught it early enough to train through it. 

Treatment:  He gave me some stretches I need to do several times a day.  We will add to that stretching regimin and I guess I have to keep it forever.  I guess being flexible and having loose muscles help prevent injury.  I will go next week again on M, TH, and some more weekly follow ups, depending on how I am feeling.  I think Dr. Brady is going to be part of my running support group.  I am so glad I came. 

So I get to run tomorrow!  I will keep it easy for a while.

And tax season is over baby!

I have been drinking shameful amounts of caffeine the past couple of months.  Tomorrow starts detox so I am likely to be quite grouchy for a while.  Good thing ya'll are remote buddies so I won't be likely to lash out at any of you!
 

I ran with MacK this morning. I walked just a couple of minutes before starting. We ran an easy pace. After two miles we stopped and I did my stretches, then we continued on. Today my legs felt tired and heavy. I am supposing it is because my legs got worked over yesterday. I also felt constriction in my breathing, so it was overall a very unglorious return to running. I wasn't feeling it. I am glad to be able to run though. My legs felt fine with the exception of a couple of tinges of pain on the inside shooting up from my ankle, the same place it has been hurting. Nothing major at all. I promised Josse yesterday I wouldn't go more than 8 miles, so when my watch said 8.21 and I was still .5 mile from the car, I told MacK I was done and started walking. I did my stretches again at the end of the run.

I really need a nap today but we are leaving at noon and I have packing, cleaning, laundry to do and some people are coming to work on my house sometime this morning. Plus my bed is made. Not sure it is going to happen. I may sleep on the way down.

Ave pace 8:36

Official post tax season weight high: 129 (hey at least its not 130, or 152 like last tax season), so I gained probably 6 pounds, a bit more than my goal but I am really pleased at where I get to start.

We are off to Zion today so I won't be logging again for several days.

Camping just outside of the Zion east entrance. about 6000 ft elevation and 26F when I woke up. I ran an easy 7 miles. My feet were frozen until mile 5 (they were frozen in my sleeping bag so it was harder to warm up during the run. I ran along highway 9 to the east (out and back) so it was rolling uphill out and rolling downhill back. I felt kind of blah during the run. Some pangs on the inside toward ankle on both sides. Not persistent, just occasional.

Hiked about 6 miles today with the family, including emerald pools. Zion is so beautiful!

Ran same as yesterday out and back on highway 9. Morning temp was 29F so my feet defrosted at 4 miles instead of 5. I felt much more spry than yesterday, and did the uphill at about 8:30 ave pace, and then the down hill was right around 7 min pace with my last mile 6:36, so I'll count that last one as a marathon pace mile. I have been doing my stretch regimen about 4 times a day.

No hiking today since we went to St. George. I did do a frisbee tournament with my eight year old and ran with my six year old at the park where the St. George Marathon ended. I also got three pairs of shoes at St. George Running Center and got to chat with Steve Hooper. One of the shoes is a sweet pair of red racing flats with black laces and some silver trim. It matches our racing clothes but I am afraid these are bright shoes and I need to race fast in them because these shoes say, "Look at me!"

I also ran into Wildbull and ignored his first attempt to talk to me. I guess he recognized me but I didn't recognize him. Finally I understood he was a blogger and we chatted for a little, but hubby was burning me with some laser beams (he had been in the car with the kids as I tried on various shoes, for good reason not as excited as I am to be at a running store with blogging buddies). Sorry I couldn't have chatted more!

Ran around Salem, stopped at .85 miles to do my stretches then kept going.  I felt pretty good.  I had two low mileage weeks (18.5 and 22.2) so this week I am jumping back up to 45 but I need to keep the intensity low so that the jump isn't shocking.  I will also run each day so that no given run is very long (though I'll save enough to run 12 on Saturday).  My legs felt good, just some ever so slight tenderness in my left inner ankle.  I want to run fast, but I feel semi-out of shape.

 Still 129 lbs (no weight loss while on trip, what a shocker!), and I feel like I am carrying around a bag of weight, though I am still lighter than when I ran St. George last year.  I guess all is relative.

Ave pace: 8:01 (that's right, not 8:00)

 

Woke up early and ran with MacK. I will definitely be needing a nap today. I have gone 6 days without caffeine and today will make seven. My detox is going well!

The run went fairly well. I am feeling pretty good. I can feel some soreness in my legs from getting worked over by Dr. Brady yesterday. He did acupuncture astem yesterday on my left leg which has mostly felt worse. This morning my left feels somewhat tight and my right somewhat achy so perhaps I'll request some more work on my right on Thursday.

Ave pace 8:09

Walked 3 miles during my son's soccor game.  I walked 2.6 but then the game ended, but I told myself I didn't get my sandwich (a hoagie for dinner--our classic dinner fare when we have soccor games) until I walked three miles, so I kept walking around until I got there.  I stretched after mile 1 and mile 3.

 I went to bed hungry tonight!  My stomach needs to shrink, I am thinking.

Went to bed early last night but my nap from yesterday made it hard to sleep!

I woke up with a tight calf. I planned to only run 4 because of mileage restraints for the week. I warmed up one mile then stretched (these stretches are so hard, they make me shake from effort and want to cry). After the stretch my legs feel much better.

I felt like I was holding back the whole time, probably because my body thinks "You're running 4 miles? This must be a race then!"

I stretched afterward again.

I felt no pain in either ankle nor anywhere else!

Ave pace 7:53

128 for weight for second day in a row.

Walked/ran with kids about 1/2 mile to the pinewood derby weigh in, and about 1/2 mile back.  Stretched.

Did ab workout and stretching.  FEEL THE BURN! 

Sleep got interrupted by chatty husband at night, and wind and ice storm in the morning. I will need a nap today for sure! Today is day 9 without caffeine!

Met Josse and MacK and ran our 9 mile loop. Then I walked some and stretched while the ladies did more miles without me :( Its easy to get jealous when others are able to do higher mileage than you, but I guess we all have our turns for ups and downs in our training.

No pain in ankles. The right did ache a little yesterday when I was playing skip bo with Benji in the evening (really aerobic activity, I know). My hip is just starting to niggle a little so I better recommit to those stretches. So many stretches, so little time!

Ave pace about 8:20

weight: 127 - yah baby! Maybe I won't need those HCG injections after all ;)

Did abs and stretches in the evening. 

Met with JH in WH and did her 4.5 mile loop, which was a beast. It started at about 5200 ft, climbed to 6500ft, then back down to about 5700 ft, then back up to 6500ft, then down. So it was very hilly and I was sucking air because of the higher than usual elevation. There were miles slower than 9 min, and miles faster than 7 minute. JH was fine because she always does these hills and patiently dealt with me lagging behind her. I'll do this same loop with her on Monday. It should help me with hills in races, though these hills are steeper than most race hills.

Ave pace 8:18

stretched afterward

Met the SF group at 6am. Started out running with Hal, Josse, MacK, and Alli, it soon whittled down to us four ladies, and then Alli peeled off at about three miles. At Bishops I stretched. Then we went west and around the ballpark. We kept the pace at a pretty good clip, especially for me in my half-in-shape self. Miles during the whole run were between 8:20 and 7:40 in general, one outlier mile in 7:18 , which happened to also be when we passed a lady, I think we sped up subconsciously for that. I'll count that as a marathon paced mile since its close. I ran one more mile than I wanted to, but that helped us do a loop instead of out and back. The pace seemed a little fast for me but it didn't seem grueling. I can just tell I need some more base work. The run was my longest run in a while too and it felt like it.

ave pace 7:56.

Woke up at 4:30am and couldn't fall back to sleep.  I met with JH in WH and did the same hilly nasty loop we did on Friday.  I never felt like I was able to breathe well and did even worse than Friday.  It's just so dang hilly!

ave pace 8:30. 

Went to bed with a sour stomach, had bad sleep all night.  I think I was nervous/excited about the uneventful half.  It ended up being a pretty eventful half.

 Josse got there early and warmed up before the half started, so she was ready to go. The only problem is she had a persistent painful cramp in her shoulder, possibly a breathing-related cramp, throughout the 1/2 which seemed to make it a very unpleasant run for her.  She hung tough and didn't give up even when she wanted to.  That's probably the best learning experience she could ask for.  My troubles were more of a hit the bushes more often than Sasha variety, more unpleasant details to come.

 So we started off the first couple miles in about 7:15 and 7:10.  It was Jeff, Josse and I.  Sasha and Brad caught up to us right at the two mile mark (he ran with Hyrum for the first mile).  We then started hitting 6:50-7 min through the 7 mile mark.  At around 6-7 miles Josse was struggling to hit the splits but she kept working to close the gap and keep contact, with Sasha making his expected comments to keep her going.  Brad and Sasha stayed with Josse and I pulled ahead with Jeff, determined to keep under 7 minute pace.  We gain some ground on the 7 minute gal, but then I need to hit the bushes.  Sasha and Josse come up on me as I finish up and Jeff and I take off again.  Now I am behind the 7 minute gal but just by a second, easily regained.  We stick to 6:35-6:45 pace for the next couple of miles, then I need to hit the bushes again, and I again have to play catch up.  With 1.5 miles to go (about 11.5 mile mark) I know that I am having a truly glorious stomach day when I feel I need to hit the bushes again (the bathrooms along the trail were closed-what is wrong with Provo?!?).  By this time I am feeling quite embarrassed since this is my first time running with Jeff and I happen to get the runs big time.  At least I am practicing pottying fast like I will need to in races!  Well, we were able to finish the last mile in 6:30 pace or slightly under.  Then I head for Sasha's bathroom.  Toilets are a glorious invention!

Overall pace 6:53

I ran with Sasha back toward the riverbottoms and he starts to tell me why my pace for Ogden s/b 7:10 instead of my desired 7:00 (I think he is perhaps right, but I am thinking 6:45-6:55 for first eight miles, then 7:15-7:25 for rollers through mile 17), and then we meet Sarah, and we have my first Sarah run, even if it was for only .12 miles.

I am so grateful to my visit teacher who came and watched my kids so I could get out (Paul is in Ireland!).

weight: 126, just where I hoped I would be after this run.  I hope to be 124 or less for Ogden, but it has to come naturally.  I need food and I still like bad food.  I am going to Wal-mart this morning.  I am hoping I can resist buying a candy bar - writing that down will help me in that quest. 

Another bad night of sleep.  I woke up at 5:15 and met Bonnie in Provo for a tempo run.  I got there a little early so jogged around until she arrived.  We started on the Provo River trail at Geneva Road and ran toward the lake.  We ran 2.56 warm up in 24 minutes, then started the tempo.  The goal was 3-5 miles at 7:35.  It was a windy day, though, creating actual waves off Utah lake which was beautiful to see, but not so fun to run in. 

Mile 1 7:45, ok since Bonnie wanted to ease into the tempo, going into wind,

Mile 2 7:31, Bonnie is strong

Mile 3 7:17, we are going a little fast but as I start thinking I should slow us down a little Bonnie says, I think I can do this forever, so I think, ok!

Mile 4 7:37, at 3.3 miles Bonnie stops for a few seconds, she is hurting and thinks she might stop, but we start up again without much delay, we take mile 4 one quarter at a time and she keeps hitting her splits dead on (1:53 for quarter)

.33 @ 7:35 pace, She stops and is done, she kept the same pace all the way until the end of the tempo.

I am guessing the fast mile 3 didn't help her, I wish I had paced her a little better, but I think it showed strength that she was able to go a mile further than she wanted to and was able to maintain the 7:35 the whole time. 

We finished with a cool down in the mid to high 8's.  It was nice to run with Bonnie and get to know her better.  Great job Bonnie!

Ave pace 8:22