Denouement

Did 40 min elliptical, 5 min bike, lunges and total gym at PT, then 60 min pool running.  Did 16x 30-35 sec hard, 35-40 sec easy, then did 8x50 sec hard, 70 easy.

Travel day.  Went to work for 2.75 hours, then hit the Lehi Pool for 51 min elliptical, then plane to Vegas (for two day estates and trust taxation seminar), checked into my room (at the Flamingo--not a very nice hotel).  I went out to run at around 5:30.  It was pitch dark already.  I went east on Flamingo Blvd, meant to turn right on Swenson to try to find the UNLV track, but got mixed up and turned left into scantily-walked areas and it was scary.  It also felt like it did when I ran the streets in So Cal growing up--the traffic kicks up particles that hit your legs and prick your legs.  Ran 4 in 8:22 pace.  Honestly wouldn't have gone that fast except for my fear. I cleaned up, ate dinner, then worked in my hotel room.  Got chili AND a salad for dinner--way too much food.

Regarding the run, some pulling around the belly button first 1/2 mile, felt pretty good, but less good as the run went on.

Walked 4 miles along the strip in the morning, then more in the evening, of course, because it's Vegas and a sign 2 miles away looks like it's 2 minutes away.  

My training class was decent, but holy diet pepsi!  I have a hard time staying awake so I was not doing so great on the diet/soda front.  I have been giving myself through this trip, then the CRACK DOWN.  Was pretty good at the breakfast they gave us (except for these pound cake like squares that had choc on the top).  I just had one cookie at the afternoon break--saw others grabbing three or four at a time--America at its finest.  Or maybe it is the career--you get a bunch of accountants in a room and we can't stand hording--each cookie is worth  89 cents after all! 

My sisters came into town this night and we went to Mon Ami Gabi in Paris.  The food was good, but I bought a cheese platter in hopes of recreating Flagstaff, but alas, it was a pipe dream.  The cheese platter I had with Bonnie and Dean was so heavenly, but some food memories can't be replicated.

Then we walked around and settled down at a bar with a karaoke machine.  I meant to choose "Stay Together for the Kids" by Blink 182 but accidentally chose "Adam's Song" instead, which was rather disasterous. 

Stayed out past midnight last night, so run in the morning.  BIG MISTAKE.  I ran after my training again (met two marathoners in my training--the LV marathon was on Sunday, that was fun--one is in Boulder).  It was dark again.  I decided to run on Flamingo between the Strip and Koval, which is about .65, and I ran it 7 times.  Two guys hanging out at one spot harassed me two-three times, and it got pretty scary, until I would only pass them when there were other peds, but they disappeared, which was great for that spot, but then I was looking behind every bush for them.  I was ready to quit after 1.5 miles and just run on Sunday, but I stuck it out.

Did the 5 in 8:08 ave pace.  Throat starting to bug me from all the smoke.  Pretty much felt like I had been hit by a car on this run and the Thursday run.  Aches everywhere, not anything in particular in the abs though.

Walked for miles in the pm.  Went to, gol can't remember where we ate, must not have been good or bad.  We went to a burger joint first but they wouldn't split the check until I said I would leave then, then the server all the sudden would split my check, but then we decided to not stay.  I remember now--we went to a cowboyish barbeque type place.  It was fun.  I got "the flapjack".  I had choc chips in it and it had a whiskey syrup sauce that was kind of spicy and weird.

We went to a dueling piano place at Paris, then to a bar for dancing in Bally's.  There was a band with some pretty fine eye candy in the form of band members.  They looked like rockers (one had a Kings of Leon shirt) but when they started playing country and old folks started dancing we hit the road.  We wanted to DANCE.  So we went to Pure, a swanky club we had no business being in.  They just barely let us end, we were on the low end of the dress code.  It was so fun, even though we had to fend of guys left and right (despite being old and scrappy looking).  I had a guy ask to buy me lunch, two other guys told me we could just have a good time when I told them I was married.  Despite it being way crowded, and it being hip hoppish music, we had a blast.  We went back to our room by 2:30am.  I woke up around 9am next morn. 

I walked the LV 1/2/marathon course from my hotel to the overpass at 25.5 miles or so, so about a 5 mile walk in the morning.  I was early enough to see the winning woman and lots of quick guys, though I missed the top three guys.  The winning woman was suffering--when I gave her meaningful yelling-racing type advice (of course it was useful! but I don't remember what I said) she pointed at her hamstring, you could tell she was suffering.  I encouraged her to finish up (no reason to pull out at 25.5 miles, unless a bone breaks or your stomach comes out of your throat or something).

Well, that was it for me, no more bad eating.  I am so hungry to race again.

Walked at least another four miles later in the day. 

Ran midday in Orem/Provo.  Felt crappy (breathing wise) at times, but finished feeling really good. 5.06 miles in 8:22 ave pace.

First semi-speed workout.  Did 4.2 mile warm up in 8:20 pace (with MacK and Holly), then did 12x25 sec on/ 60 sec off.  I was supposed to do 12-15. I normally do the top end of a zone, but with just starting back, 12 sounded like plenty. I normally do these around 5:30 pace, but thought I'd be ok with anything below 6:30.  Didn't really know what to expect.  Plus I have a sore throat.  Ended up with 5:28 ave pace, and felt good, except for a bit throaty and I felt clumsy!  None of the multinodal soreness (aka hit by a truck) and no ab issues.  Just uncoordinated.

Slept in, I think I had strep, because my son did and my throat is jacked up.

Was planning on 60-90 min elliptical, but I felt really run down when I was on it so cut it to 30 min.  Did a 60 min walk--4.66 miles, 12:54 ave pace.  

Did my first core workout--Stage 3 level 1.  It was easy for the most part, but abs just to the right of my incision, the usual tender spot, were sore by the end.  Guess I called that right, waiting 4 weeks and starting with less reps. 

I am not sure if I had strep throat this week, but my youngest tested positive, so it is likely I had it, so wasn't even sure that I would do a tempo today, but felt good enough to do it. 

Really slow warm up, headed up the snaky hill on WH drive.  9:30 ave pace for 3 miles.  Then did 20 min steady state run.  Cheating by starting at the top of a hill and going downhill, but I figure that it's ok every once in a while to weight things in your favor.  Mile splits were 6:12, 6:15, 6:18, all downhill.  Got confused and cut the tempo short at 19 min, instead of the intended 20 min, but that's ok.  This is just a reintroduction anyway.  "Fast miles, nice to meet you."  "Greetings Michelle, have you gained some weight?"  No, actually it felt fine, just a bit out of shape.

Slept in. Ran 45:02 -5.62 miles 8:01 pace.  Felt good.

Did 1 hour of elliptical later. 

Ran 12 easy, 3 with the SF running club then 9 on my own.  So glad the roads were clear.

Did core workout again today, same as Wed, abs at incision still sore. 

Woke up at 4:05 wide awake, so started run earlier than intended.  Ran with MacK and Holly, ran into Tyler and he ran with us for almost a mile.  The ladies were going swift, no miles over 8, 7:46 ave pace.  Got home at 6:08 and did 60 min elliptical.

20 more elliptical in evening. 

Met Tyler and MacK for a warm up, 3.51 @ 8:02 pace, then Mack had to peel off.  Tyler joined me for 15 x 25 sec hard/ 60 sec easy.  Averaged 5:26 for the fast bits.  Felt kind of sluggish. Still have a sinus thing going, probably a cold held over from last week, but the workout was perfect for not feeling perfect.  Easy to fake 25 seconds!   Will do core this evening. 

Slept in, then ran in American Fork, from Doug Smith to 100 E up toward Highland.  Man, it is uphill going north!  

Left knee was sore the first mile, so I stopped and stretched and kept pace easy.  8:01 pace for 7.01 miles. 

Met Tyler and Travis in Salem.  16F at start, 14F at the end.  Warmed up 3.63 miles *8:05 pace), stopping for portapot and stretch at 3.25.  We started a 25 min steady state tempo (I was expecting 6:30-6:40 pace) at Osbornes, went up Powerhouse for 3 min, then turned around and headed back to Salem.  Mile 1 was net flat, same uphill and downhill, 6:34 , Mile 2 was gradual downhill, 6:27, Mile 3 Tyler pulled away, since I did poorly.  It was flat with the steep Zephyr uphill at the end, 6:53, .78 finish was flat 6:30 pace, so 6:37 ave pace.  The bad part was that it felt like death for the third and fourth miles.  I still have some sinus issues, which don't bug me for a normal run, but (sorry to get gross) the mucus is much more troublesome at a tempo effort, it was bothering me and I can't hock a lugee (perhaps I should invite Leonardo over to show me how?).  Anyhow, weak excuse but it's now out there, on cyberspace for everyone (all five of you) to read.

PT appt:  Steve pushed on the side of my quad above my knee that's been bugging me, and was pretty effective at causing pain.  He told me I must have caught Tyler's issue (ITB).  So treatment on that leg (bruised now), and I got a girl who actually massaged me too hard on my SI joint.  I like it hard and deep, but after 2 min of her elbow in my bum I had to ask her to back off.  I am nice and sore there as well.  Nice to have to ask someone to back off, I prefer that anyday. 

Ran without a watch in Provo, a double whammy.  I ran from Orrock Mendenhall office (800E 1200S Orem) to Grandview, to Walmart back to their office, then south on 800E for a bit to make it longer.  Got the distance from the course tool, may have been a bit longer.  Was about 58 min.

Started the day dinging my new car, hit right into my rock retaining wall on my driveway.  Merry Christmas to me!  It should come out just fine.

Met MacK and Aub in Salem.  It was snowy, icy slushy on 90% of roads.  It was fairly warm, though, so wet feet, slush splattered on legs from passing cars, wasn't too bad.  Hurt our pace, but other than that, it was a pleasant run.

8:19 ave pace 

Ran on treadmill, just under 8 min pace

60 min elliptical 

Big snowstorm.  My computer fried with the power outages, but it's back up again!  Thankfully we had the option of running in the afternoon.

I met Tyler at 4pm.  Did 3.37 mile warm up in 7:51 pace.  Then did 20 x 25 sec on/off.  I fluctuated between feeling great and feeling foul because of stomach issues.  Went to the bathroom 2 times in the intervals and 2 times afterward.  I tell you, Christmas treats and training do not go well together.  Fast parts were in 5:19, pretty much crazy fast, and that includes one that was slow because we hit a slushy corner we were supposed to turn right when a garbage truck was coming at us.  Tyler drug me through this workout, like has been typical since my marathon.  We also did the slow parts faster than I would have on my own, some were sub 8:00 pace.  I did feel good for the last 5 intervals.  Tyler had about a 7 min cool down, but I did 2.25 in 20 min, so I got my slow miles in after all :D

Core workout in evening.  Still doing Stage 3, Level 1 of McMillan's dvd's, and my incision point doesn't hurt anymore, and that area is just slightly tender. 

Had early work meetings.  Ended up working from 7:15-12:30, then running.  Ran from Wills pit stop, to carterville, turning right, and ran to the Provo River trail, turning around half way.  It reminded me of my run with Melody and Julie E so many months ago.  It was snowy in some sections, raining almost the whole time.  My feet were sopping, the rest of me damp when I was done.  I had oatmeal at 6:15 and a fiber one bar and an apple at 9:30, so I was starving during the run. Ave pace 8:14

Tyler ended up needing to patch up I-15, so I did my long run with MacK, Aub and Beth, at least part of it with them.  I met Mack at Loafer.  I couldn't find my gloves (found out after the run that they were in my purse) so I was so glad MacK had fuzzy socks in her car.  It wasn't cold, just drizzly so I thought those would be fine.  We had no water planted, and I was on my own after 11 miles, and was planning to do 14-16 with a fast finish (last 2-4 miles at half marathon pace).  I took a gu at mile 12 w/o water (that didn't hurt my stomach), and I was starting to drag.  It was raining harder now and I was soaked through. My water resistant coat wasn't doing its job, and my easy pace was slowing to about 9 min pace.   To make matters worse, I was a mile further out than I wanted to be, so I was jumping from a 14 mile to a 17 mile long run on accident.  I had to crest Zephyr hill and then make a decision quickly about whether to try to jump my soggy self into a fast finish, which would end up being more than 2mm faster than current pace.  

I crested, then thought how if I tempoed, I would be back to my car in about 13 min, so that decided it.  I decided to do the fast finish but, to adjust expected pace to just under 7mm, since I was soggy and tired.  I did 6:33, then 6:27 (speeding up last 1/4 mile as much as I could, though I was beat).  I was so proud of myself to tell the truth.  I feel like I'm coming back, if I can find the spine to do these fast miles in these conditions.  Things are looking up!

Core workout in PM 

Slept in until 8:30, started my run around 9:15, did 32:30 out and back.  8.3 in 65 min.  Felt good.  Afterward went to the day spa in Salem and bought Paul a 12 tan pass for a stocking stuffer.  He's going to be my roasted Christmas goose!  Merry Christmas all!

Periwinkle shoes

Did 30 min steady state, after breakfast and presents.  Warmed up 20 min, then did tempo, averaged 6:32, wanted to hit 6:30 ave pace but sucked it up a hill.  I tried to be strong but the hill was stronger.  Happy in general to have clear roads and do better than last week's steady state.  Going on a three day two night ski trip now.  Fun! 

Skiied yesterday really hard, lots of powdery blacks at Eagle Point.  We were staying at a condo from Christmas through Monday.  So my run Monday morning was downhill for just over 3 miles, then back up the mountain.  The elevation is about 9500, so I was way winded.  Ave pace 9:55.  Also another day of skiiing.  

Eagle Point has very nice ski conditions.  They have a great restaurant we ate in three times with a head chef who beat Bobbie Flay in Iron Chef America.  They've put some money into the resort, but they have some issues they are working on (staff training, need to update some lifts).  We plan on coming back. 

Met TylerS, Travis was a no show.  Warmed up .64 before Tyler came, then stretched, then did 3.5 with Tyler at 7:58 ave pace, then began the workout of 12x 1 min on/off @ 10k pace.  Who knows what 10k pace is--I thought 6:00 would be a good target.  averaged 5:55 pace, faster on downhill segments, only a 6:32 on the Zephyr hill segment.  It was tough but not excruciating.  I can tell Tyler's in better shape than me, but hopefully it was a good workout for him too.  I have been freezing ever since I got home, my shower didn't help, but my oatmeal is gradually warming me up from the inside.  Obviously, from my weight, I haven't been eating like I should.  Now that the bulk of the holidays are over, I will go back to good eating habits and get back to racing form.

Core (level 3, stage 2 for the first time in a while), hamstring lunges and 6 way squats.  Stretching (can anyone tell I was watching the food network).  

No bad eating today. 

I got in the car to meet Mack, despite the 4-5 inches of snow, but the snow was still falling, and I slid a couple of inches as I went forward to go down my drive then I chickened out and texted her that I was going to hit the TM.  Did 20 min elliptical, stretched, then 65 min on the treadmill.

Ran my long run today, because the roads were too yucky to tempo.  They were snowy and slushy and I had to fight the cars for what little asphalt was available.  Pace and roads were better on the way back.  Listened to newly downloaded songs from Dashboard Confessional and Paramore.

Core workout. 

Ran watchless.  Was supposed to be 55-65 min run, so after 35 min, started listening to NPR to keep track of general time.  Roads were a mess still, was scouting around SF for drier roads for tempo Saturday.