Denouement

8:34 ave pace.  It was 42 degrees, right in between cold and warm weather clothing.

Mizuno (82)

Slept in this morning (7:30am!!!).  Unfortunately, I woke up at 6:08am on accident and had a hard time falling back to sleep, but eventually suceeded for a bit then my alarm went off.  I ran at 10am, with the temperature around 47 degrees.  It was strange to have the sun out and shining down on me during the run.  It was harder to see cars since their headlights aren't prominent. 

It felt a little too late to run, I felt sluggish, yet was running rather fast on the easy miles and had to hold back.  I guess my horses are neighing a little.  Wierd to have that and the sluggish feeling simultaneously.

I wanted to throw in a marathon pace mile inside a easy run.  Here's my splits:

7:50

8:13

6:53 (had to hold back to make it a true marathon pace mile)

8:01

Asics (67)

Ran 4 miles easy at 8:40 ave pace.

Did a mile out and back with 4 strides coming back.  Didn't feel great, but know that's just the deadleg taper.  No GPS watch.

I am very excited about Saturday.  I am starting to pack!

Well, I had a great time running my first marathon!

My SF running buddies saw me hanging out right behind the elite section and pulled me into the back half of the elite section which was great because it kept the first mile from being overly crowded. 

I wore a 3:00 marathon bracelet as guide of splits that would be too fast, since my races predicted me around 3:04.  I wanted to run by feel and ideally wanted to break 3 hours, but I also knew that my training was not quite there to get me there.

My legs pretty much went from frozen for the first 10 miles to sore from miles 13 on.  I took one shot block every water station from 5 - 23, and took mostly water but sometimes gatorade and never really felt sloshy or stomach problems.

Splits (garmin mostly behaved itself but some splits are my pace as I hit the lap button a couple of times when it got off):

1 - 7:07

2 - 7:03

3 - 6:39

4 - 6:37

5 - 6:44

6 - 6:34

my legs never really got loose or felt great, but I realized I was running even below my 3 hour bracelet, but figured I would race it that way since I was already on track.

7 - 6:30

8 - 7:48 Veyo baby met up with a running buddy from BYU I haven't seen in 5 years, and we ran together until my potty break

9 - 7:06

10 - 7:08

11 - 7:26

12 - 7:12 amazingly enough, my potty break was in this mile

13 - 6:52

13.1 split 1:31:20

14 - 6:50

15 - 6:34 took 2 ibuprofen, legs sore, I wish I had more to take

16 - 6:32

17 - 6:35

18 - 6:50

19 - 7:11 this hill was hard to take, but I passed some people and crested strong

20 - 6:41 feeling sore but still strong, knew I would break 3:00 if could keep 6:50 or so

21 - 6:33

22 - 7:02

23 - 6:53 starting to hurt, my husband and kiddies were there to cheer me on

24 - 7:01 starting to really hurt but know I can do it if am about 7:05 or so, have to go to the bathroom but knew there was no way my legs would bounce back if I stopped

25 - 7:09,  at 25.2 had 7:12 to finish last mile and still break 3 hours, my husband and kiddies were there to cheer me on again.

25.2 - 26.2 last mile: 8:09 - Tried my hardest, talking to myself, pathetic and ineffective efforts, but was just so done, my legs just would not cooperate.  I did manage to pick it up at the end so that I was under 3:01 per the official clock

1st split (taking out chip to timer difference) 1:31:04

2nd split 1:28:37  (1:27 difference)

My husband said that I looked much different between mile 23 (he said I looked great) and 25 (he said I looked terrible).

In retrospect, I feel like my first half was probably too fast for my legs, but my 1/2 marathon split gave me the confidence to go for the 3 hour mark, so I am not sure that my fast first half did me harm.  Sometimes your mental state is as important as your legs.  If I had gone out slower, I could have gotten the more typical 4-5 minute negative split, but I am not sure that I would have gotten a faster time overall.  I feel like I could not have done better and laid it all down.  I would think that if you have to hit the wall, it's better to do it around mile 25 instead of mile 20.

I think that I learned alot and I had a great time, except perhaps for the last three miles. 

I will not bore you with all the bad things I ate today, but I will go back to being good tomorrow :)

I will say that my legs hurt so, so bad.  I can pretend I am not a marathoner if I concentrate on my walk but going up and down the stairs is a feat and trying to grab something off the floor is almost more than I can bear.

It was great to meet so many bloggers and appreciate you all coaching me through my first marathon.  I could have not done so well this season without you.

Do I get to write on the blog if I haven't run today?  Is this a sign that I am a serious blog addict?

My legs are so sore!  Quads are the worst, then hamstrings, calves are mildly sore and I even feel a little soreness in my lower back and abdomen.  I guess I worked everything except my arms. 

I forgot I wasn't supposed to go in the hot tub after the marathon and went in for a good 20 minutes Saturday afternoon. I guess that wouldn't help.

I think I will just go out tomorrow morning and see how it feels to do a little jog.  I have a 60 minute massage scheduled for tomorrow evening.  The 15 minute massage right after the marathon was so heavenly.  So I got Paul (my husband, not any of you other Paul's out there) to try to give me a massage, and I guided him on what to do based off the volunteer-massager's moves.  It turned out to be totally hilarious because if I said harder he would add 40 lbs of pressure, and if I said softer he would use his fingertips, then I would tell him to move my leg and he would start turning it in circles.  We were both rolling because the massage attempt was so pathetic.  I still think it probably did some good.  But he better not quit his day-job.

Ran, or shuffled is probably more accurate, 2 miles easy this morning.  I shuffled for 100 yards, then let myself walk while figuring out my mp3 player, then jogged some more, stretched at .5 miles (hamstrings seemed to be what was holding me back while jogging). 12:03 first mile!  My legs had moments, just moments, of feeling better in the second mile.  Mile 2 10:53!  I think I am not ready to jump into training. 

Easy run, ended up averaging exactly 9 minutes/mile.  Walked and stretched after running.  My quads are still quite tight and made it hard to keep them moving, but there has been dramatic improvement since Tuesday.  I am hoping to feel good enough by Saturday to get in 12 miles. 

ave 8:47 pace.  Calves, leg quad, and right hamstring still tight from marathon.  I guess I will still need to take it easy for a while.

1:11:06, no garmin today. 

Ran in SF at a nice pace, stopping often to socialize.  It's nice to not have to get in 20 miles so I actually can stop without getting stressed about the time.

Mizuno - 101

My legs are back!  8:13 ave pace, though the first half was faster than the second.  I think I just wanted to prove to myself that I still could run a decent pace.  So I think I'll be able to do a tempo run this week.

Asics - 110

8:14 ave pace.  At times under 8 felt good, at others it felt hard and I had to back off, but there were three miles below 8 minute pace.

Tempo tomorrow!

This was my first speed work of any kind since the marathon.  The plan was to go on a 5 mile tempo run, starting at about 7:10 and trying to go down from there.  I ran it with Tom (Tom, I assume its ok to say who I am running with if its you, is that ok?  You have my permission to do likewise).  Anyway,

The first two miles were led by Tom and I was ok the first mile (7:04) but was just kind of hanging on for the second mile (7:07).  I had to make a VPB during mile 3, but Tom went ahead then came back for me.  The break must have done me good because I felt strong in mile three (6:46), then felt good for the first 1/2 of mile 4, but then I gradually just started to feel weaker.  Mile four ended up being 6:55 and 6:56 pace for the last .85 (came up short because of VPB).  I was going until Tom's watch beeped 5 miles, and I actually picked it up with about 1/3 mile to go just to make sure the mile was under 7 minute pace, and I thought we were done, and asked Tom, "Are we done?" He said no, and I suffered through the last .10 mile.  This type of workout would be impossible for me to do alone and am grateful Tom pulled me through the workout and didn't leave me in the dark but circled back for me after my VPB :)

I could definitely tell that I am not fully recovered from the marathon, because when the tempo run was done I almost felt like I had finished a race and my legs felt sore.  However, I think it was good to get out there and help my legs remember that they aren't meant for a 9 minute pace.  But something tells me I might be close to that for recovery tomorrow. . .

I had the brilliant idea of doing a hilly loop that takes me up into Elk Ridge.  The long hills turned out to a little too much for me.  Ave pace 8:21, but here's the crazy splits:

1 - 7:45 downhill

2 - 7:55 slight downhill

3 - 9:23 uphill

4 - 9:34 uphill

5 - 7:15 downhill

6 - 8:02 downhill then more uphill than downhill

7 - .39 - 8:54 pace, uphill

So this was not terribly fun, but it worked me over pretty well.  Hopefully in another week or two I can do this again with better uphill times.

Had a great experience running with a new running mate (no offense to my standby running mates, of course).  We ran 10 miles in the riverbottoms, at times jumping and screaming because of meowing cats, sometimes, running off the road while being blinded the brights of some cars, but a great run overall.  We gradually racketed up the pace to below 8, with even a 7:14 thrown in there.  It felt harder than a standard easy pace, but its the pace I would like to run for an easy pace.  We were able to stay conversational, though at about 7:30 pace I couldn't form a full sentence between breaths.

7:50 pace overall, I think my best non-tempo 10 miler pace since college!

Nice Saturday run.  There was a good group of faster runners, including some new recruits to the SF group.  It was nice to meet and run with Josse from the blog.  The pace was faster like yesterday, generally under 8 minute pace, which felt fine until the last mile or two and then I started to feel tired. 

7:58 ave pace.

Mizuno (131)

Brrrr.  It was cold today, especially with the Spanish Fork wind.  I make fun of those who live in Spanish Fork because the wind makes winter running so miserable, but then I am the greater fool because I DRIVE IN to Spanish Fork to run with those who live there, so I am still getting the wind. 

I ran with a fast friend and we managed to be under 8 minutes most of the time, but I think the couple of miles that we ran up toward SF canyon where it was windiest were more like 8:20, so our average pace was 8:03. 

I do feel totally recovered from the marathon now.  No lingering muscle pains.

I have started ab workouts last week.  My goal is to get a six pack and to lose a couple more pounds so that I might even see some of the pack stick out behind the fat layer.

BTW, I was 153 in mid-April after tax season (I am 5'5", so no, it wasn't pretty), I have weighed under 130 for the 4th time this morning.  129 baby!  If I get much lower I'll be where I was in my college glory days.  So I am totally happy with the way I look from a fashion standpoint, but for running ideal would be more like 115-120, which I don't think I'll ever get to, but the lower I creep in the 120's the easier it will be to run fast.  I really don't try to obsess about weight, but for what it's worth, that's my periodic update.

Asics (129)

Easy, ave 9:03 pace, with SF group.

Well, these didn't feel like easy miles, but they weren't marathon paced, either.  I ran alone for about a mile, then met up with the fast Salem ladies.  We ran through farm country, had a dog decide to get in a morning jog with us, and trip one of my running mates.  I realized I needed to turn around about 5 minutes too late, so I turn around and have about 3-4 miles on my own to get to my car and about 20 minutes in which do it.  I was able to pick up the pace somewhat but was tired by this point (7:30-7:50 pace).

Ave pace 8:05 but it felt faster than that, I guess I must have run the first couple of miles slow.

I have had less than good sleep for the past two nights, and a sinus issue for the last 1.5 weeks, but only this morning did I start to feel some effect from this.  I just felt sluggish and not really sick but not well this morning.  Usually I feel excited for a workout and ready to run, but  not so today.  The plan was to do a 6 mile tempo run at 6:45-7 minute pace, but just thinking of that this morning caused me concern.

We warmed up slow for three miles then started.  It didn't go too badly for the first two miles.  (6:52 and 6:51). Tom played the voice of reason by holding back when speedy girl (yeah, I haven't asked her if I can post her name) and I tried to go out a little too fast.  Mile three got tough for me and I lost touch with the other two, and I think Tom's right that this portion is uphill.  When they turned around and then came up on me I turned around too to get the benefit of the group running.  I was probably 10 seconds back on that part (mile 3 - 7:02-too slow).  Felt stronger after we turned around and stuck with Tom and speedy, but that was probably the downhill talking (mile 4 6:53).  Around the mile 4 mark we had to cross a busier road and they went ahead of couple of trucks & cars that I didn't feel comfortable jumping in front of.  I really should wear glasses since my sense of speed and distance is diminished in the dark.  So I ran to the side until I could cross but by then I was behind them and on my own, which is where I would have been if I hadn't turned around early.  So mile 5 and 6 were hard.  Mile 6 for the first 1/2 was a 7:07 pace, but I convinced myself to do a negative split on that mile to come up with a decent but not great time for that mile.

Tempo splits -

1 - 6:52

2 - 6:51

3 - 7:02

4 - 6:53

5 - 6:57

6 - 6:57

Ave 6:55 pace

I felt spent like I had run a race afterward.  It felt harder than I thought it should feel.  I think I need to not go longer on tempo's until I can do 6 miles well.

Ran with speedy girl and the run felt good.  I went into the run feeling blue, had absolutely dreadful sleep last night, but the run really helped me feel better.  Got to love it!

Had a nice run with the SF group.  A nice new girl came out today and enjoyed interacting with her.  It's always great to get to know new people.  Josse-I missed you!  And I am so sorry I wasn't better at communicating with you this week.

Ran easy up Goosenest road toward Payson and then got lost in Payson.  Wierd that I could lose my bearings and not know that I was running north when I thought I was running east.  Soon I course-corrected and found my way back.

I didn't wear a gps!  I woke up early to get in a mile or two before the SF group meets, and I tried to run fast during that time because I realized the loop I chose was probably a little too long to meet the group promptly at 5am.  Good thing the group is usually tardy forming!  I probably got in two before the group started then 7 during the group run.  We started slow but me and speedy picked up the pace for the second half, then we found Tom in the riverbottoms and ran with him for two miles.  1:17 total time.

Ab workout in afternoon.  It is so hard to motivate myself to do this so I am going to start making myself accountable by logging it. 

Ran 10.82 with speedy ER girl.  8:06 ave pace.  I am happy that 8 minute pace has become my new "easy" pace.  It is still hard to talk in complete sentences, depending on the elevation change in a given mile, and the pace of each mile varies, but it is great to be able to fit in 10 miles in 80 minutes instead of 90.  I hope to be able to keep up that pace as it gets colder, which means I'll have to get in a little better shape since cold can slow down your pace.