All it takes is all you've got

Stayed up way too late last night.  Felt tired from running at midnight.  Didn't feel at all like running.  So I didn't.  Took the kids to Classic Fun Center to play in the bounce house, jungle gym, and bomb zone for a couple of hours with our good friends and their daughter.  Noticed a big white van with a fastrunningblog.com sticker on the back while driving and knew it had to be Sasha.  Pulled up beside them to say hi and Sarah mouthed, "Are you from the blog?"  I bet they get that a lot.  We gave her thumbs up and waved but Sasha didn't seem to get a good look at us.  Good thing...we didn't want to cause an accident or anything.  So Aaron posted a comment on his blog to let him know it was us.  He figured it out anyway because of our Colorado plates.  What were the odds of both of us traveling North on I-15 at about 10600 South at 11 a.m. on New Year's Day?  Random.

YEAH!!!  I LOVE LONG RUN DAY!!!!!

My legs were feeling a lot better this morning than they have felt all week.  Left knee is not an issue anymore.  I think the rest and lower mileage was well needed.  My inner thighs were a little tight for the first couple of miles but after stretching at the 20 minute mark everything loosened up and I felt GREAT!  Took the pace easy and just enjoyed the sunshine.  North Salt Lake sunshine was not as refreshing as Denver sunshine as it had to pass through a film of inversion air first, but still better than cloudy or snowy air. 

14.5 miles in 7:51 pace.  Ran from my Sister-in-law's house in Foxboro, NSL (Redwood Road and I-215ish) to my Alma Mater, Bountiful High School and back.  The route was up Center street in NSL to Orchard Drive.  North on Orchard all the way to 500 S. in Bountiful.  Went into the field house at Bountiful High to get a drink of water and use the restroom.  That place is still the same as when I went there 11 years ago.  And probably the 20 years before that.  Isn't it about time for a rennovation?  Ran back from Bountiful High on residential streets with no traffic so I could run on the road instead of sidewalks.  Decided to add on a little bit at the end to bring my weekly mileage at least up to 40.  Kind-of a pathetic week for mileage.  But I guess my body could use a mini-break every now and again.  Actually my knee was forcing me into it, so I was just following orders.

All in All, our trip to Utah was way fun.  We spent some quality time with all of our in-town family and some friends too.  Stayed up way too late every night playing games and chatting with family.  Ate too much junk food.  Ate some yummy meals too.  Ran a fun race together.  Exhausted our kids with fun overload.  Endured many fatigue-induced kid trantrums and one candy-induced kid puke as well as a philipino food-induced Aaron puke.  Visited some fun kid locations (Discovery Museum in the Gateway Mall and Classic Fun Center in Sandy).  Saw a way cool movie (Aaron and I stuck away one afternoon without kids and saw Avatar).  Visited some nostalgic places (the ward where I grew up, my former High School, and the Bountiful Temple where Aaron and I were married 7.5 years ago).  We also saw some extended family at a dinner at Gardner Village, went to Downtown SLC to get some things at the Church distribution center and visit Aaron's Dad in his office.  So yeah, it was a busy week but a memorable week.  And now I'm glad to be home.  Back to my own bed.  My own routine.  My kids normal sleep schedule and normal moods.  And back to the Colorado sunshine and pleasant running trails.  :)

9 miles around Countryside 7:47 ave. pace.  Sunny 25 degrees.  Sidewalks were mostly clear but trails still have some drifted, crusty snow and ice.  Ran on the road for most of it.  Felt GREAT!  Aaron massaged my legs for me last night.  I'm going to foam roller them out some more this morning to make sure I get all that tightness out to avoid a knee seizing relapse. 

AM Ran 2.5 this morning before lifting weights.  Lifted weights and did core for 40 minutes.

PM Met my group at Potts Field in Boulder.  Fun and unique workout tonight!  Each person got to lead an interval and choose how long we went for (between 30 seconds to 2 minutes).  The next person got to choose the time we recovered (no longer than 1 minute)  for and then their interval.  There were 17 of us and we all got a turn.  Coach D took the final leg and brought us in for 2 minutes hard.  Here is the breakdown of what we did: 

20 minute warm up, stretching, strides

50 seconds in 5:56 pace

1 minute easy

2 minutes in 6:04 pace

47 seconds easy

2:08 in 5:31 pace (this was my lead but I lost track of time and people did not like that...oops)

1:46 easy

51 seconds in 5:41 pace

48 seconds easy

26 seconds in 4:57 pace. This one was hilarious because it was led by Dianne, who usually brings up the rear of the group but she must have been nervous to lead all of us because she just went ALL OUT for 26 seconds and called it good.  She has WHEELS!

33 seconds easy

1:10 in 5:26 pace

52 seconds easy

55 seconds in 5:35 pace

46 seconds easy

1 minute in 5:30 pace

33 seconds easy

2:01 in 5:42 pace

1:06 easy

51 seconds in 6:19 pace

37 seconds easy

1:22 in 6:13 pace

55 seconds easy

1 minute in 5:53 pace

40 seconds easy

59 seconds in 5:41 pace

55 seconds easy

1:16 in 5:55 pace

1:06 easy

1:58 in 5:52 pace

1:17 easy  This recovery was longer because someone teased Bean for spitting and she apologized and tried to tell us she never farted though and speaking of which, I said I just breathed in one as Damon raised his hand.  What do I expect...we were running a fartlick afterall.  I mean fartlek?

48 seconds in 6:08 pace

43 seconds easy

53 seconds in 5:50 pace

35 seconds easy

47 seconds in 6:09 pace

34 seconds easy

44 seconds in 5:43 pace

24 seconds easy

1:56 in 6:01 pace

12 minute cool down

Total 9.69 miles in 7:59 ave pace

After my workout last night my right glut was extremely tight so I rolled it out on the foam roller for a while and iced it.  This morning it was still super tight and I didn't want to make it worse so I decided to cross train today.  Went to the gym and my 18-month old was not feeling well and was super clingy when I left her in child care so I resolved to getting my workout done in one hour.  Jumped on the elliptical and made every minute count.  You can really get that thing whirling if you put some muscle into it.  I bumped the level up to 14 and kept my heart rate around 140-150.  It said I did 7.5 miles in an hour and I'm counting it.  My arms and quads were throbbing when I got off.  It may not have been a true "recovery" effort, but at least it didn't hurt my glut.

Tried running for a mile but the glut is still not cooperating fully so I did the row machine for 10 minutes and elliptical for 41 minutes.  Good workout!  Hopefully my glut will cooperate soon.  I think its very likely that its related to my knee seizing up last weekend.  I may have been favoring my left knee a little which caused undue stress on my right glut.  Such is life.  Its a balancing act to give equal effort in all areas. Usually one area or another gets a little neglected.

Crashed into my bed last night after a loooooong day with my 18-month-old crying and being clingy because she's sick.  Woke up this morning feeling sick myself.  And my bum/hamstring muscle still painfully tight.  No running today, just another long day with sick 18-month-old and other two kids to take care of while not feeling well.  Ugh.

Went to bed early last night after pounding the vitamins hoping for a speedy recovery from illness.  Feeling more energized and healthy today but my bum/hamstring strain is actually worse than it was yesterday.  Weird?  I didn't exercise at all yesterday but did have Aaron rub out my legs a little.  Today I have a limp even while walking.  Even so, I did put on my running clothes and attempt running down the street but the limp was obnoxiously hindering so I walked back.  Called Coach D to chat and ask advice and he said to rest it and maybe go see Richey on the team (he's a Chiropractor).   Still waiting to hear back from Richey.  This injury is REALLY frustrating timing with the Houston Half next weekend.  I guess I'll just take it one day at a time.  If I can't run without pain next week I will have to pull out of the race.  Its a depressing thought because I've really been looking forward to going to Houston to run with elite women and my training has been going well up until last week when I had the knee issue.  I think I could still PR if my bum would cooperate but I am not certain that will happen.  I'm trying to keep a positive attitude either way.  I keep thinking about what caused this injury and I think it is probably mostly related to running on cruddy, slippery snow and ice over the past month.  Winter running can be pretty precarious. 

Aaron had another one of his fix n' flip homes robbed yesterday so he took the kids on a drive to go check out the damage.  Luckily only the appliances were stolen and no vandalism occurred so its just $1,500 to replace the appliances.  Not fun, but could have been worse. While they were gone I took Aaron's car in to get an oil change and walked over to my gym to lift weights and do core while I waited.  Afterwards I washed his car and went to Vitamin Cottage for a few things.  Aaron is out on a long run right now and I'm jealous.

Tried running for .25 miles on the treadmill and this injury is still crippling me!  There is no point in running like a crazy limping person, so I just stopped and did the elliptical for 40 minutes, which still aggravated the injury slightly.

I've officially decided to not race this weekend.  Even if my injury does start feeling better later this week its very unlikely that I will be 100% ready to go all out for 13.1 miles by Sunday.  What is more likely to happen if I race is that I'll re-injure myself and extend my recovery time further.  I'd rather recover as quickly as possible and get back to my regular training so I can be ready for Boston in April.

Biked 15.82 miles in 1:07, I'm counting it as 6 running miles

It felt SO great to get out and exercise in the sunshine.  The snow is melting everywhere and we have clear skies and 50 degree temps today!  How could I be in a bad mood?  I haven't been feeling super cheery all weekend but today I'm starting to feel better.  

My friend just dropped her son of to play at our house and she asked if I was okay because it looked like I had been crying when she saw me at church on Sunday.  I laughed and agreed that I was not in the best mood on Sunday, but reassured her that the freaky eyes was just the severe case of pink eye I've been having, not crying eyes.  Since Friday night, by eyes have been super pink and every morning when I wake up I have to pry them open and scrub the crust off before I start my day.  I haven't been to the Dr. because from my experience, the drops they give you don't help much anyway and I don't want to bother spending the time and money for something that will go away on its own in a few days.   

Got a deep tissue massage last night and, woah.  I felt it this morning.  My back was so sore and achey 'cause she elbowed it SO hard.  She also went more cautiosly into my gluts, hammys, and IT band especially focusing on my right leg where the trouble is.  I didn't work out today because I just wanted to give my body another day to recover from the massage, the injury, and the illness that has been plaguing me for 5 days now (pink eye, body ache, congestion, headache, ect).   I'm ready for my body to start winning these battles anytime now.

Despite feeling pretty beat, I did get a lot done around the house today.  Swept and mopped the entire garage (it was extremely gross from all the mud our cars had tracked in over the past few months).  Washed and folded 6 loads of laundry.  Cleaned the bathrooms.  Vacuumed the house.  Plus the usual feeding of kids 3 times, cleaning the kitchen after every meal, and a 2 hour grocery shopping adventure. 

I CAN RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Went out for an easy 5 miles this morning in 9:14 ave pace.  I just ran cautiously and let my legs set the pace.  My right hammy/bum was not restricting my form as long as I kept it nice and easy.  Ahhhh.  I'm SO grateful I can run again!!  Honestly, it makes such a HUGE difference for me to be able to get out every day and run.  The endorphins and fresh air are hugely therapeutic and mood boosting for me.  Without it, I get depressed and irritable.  I guess I'm addicted.

Of additional interest, I decided to wear my New Balance 790s  running this morning.  Aaron recently purchased some of these shoes for himself since they are very lightweight and minimal.  They came in the mail and as he opened them, I told him I had a pair just like them already!  I purchased mine over two years ago and wear them all day a few times a week.  I bought them because I liked how they looked and they were comfy and lightweight.  I've never even thought of them as "running shoes."  I don't know why, I guess I already had other running shoes and was just looking for some comfy lightweight shoes to wear around.  Anyway, I really enjoyed running in them today.  They are definitely lightweight, neutral, and comfy.  

Another slow, easy run.  But a RUN, nonetheless!  7 miles in 8:49 pace.  It just feels right to take it easy as my injury is still healing.  If I push the pace, it causes me to alter my form and I don't want that to cause an injury somewhere else.  Nice and sunny here again today.  Gotta love mid-50s in January!

30.58 miles of cycling in 1:54 with 1,809 feet of elevation gain.  Hamstring felt pretty tight again today so I decided to cross-train.  Dusted off the road bike, pumped up the tires, put on my wind-breaker and headed out.  My previous bike rides this year have been on my mountain bike since the roads had more ice/snow and I wanted more grippy tires, but after the 50 degree week the roads are clear enough for skinny tire biking.  Today was slightly overcast but a warm 47 degrees.   

I was reminded today how much I really enjoy cycling on my road bike.  I can go so far and fast.  The workout provides sections of pushing it up hills and then cruising down hills as my heart rate rolls up and down.  I love those short hill climbs when I see the crest of the hill approaching and push it hard and get there quickly.  I climbed up a canyon for a few miles and kept my heart rate pretty steady for 20 minutes or so and then cruised down as fast as 41 mph at one point.  Its definitely a rush going fast down a hill on a road bike.  It took me a few minutes to get adjusted to the speed after not doing it since last summer but once I adjusted I really started enjoying it.  Big grins.  

The road bike I currently ride was purchased with my prize money from winning the Ogden Marathon in 07'.  Its very light and has great components.  My very first road bike was not as light and had lower quality components.  That one was purchased after 2 years of saving all my left-over per diem money at BYU.  If I remember correctly, they used to give us us $40-$140 cash (depending on the length of the trip) to spend on meals every time we went out of town for a track/cross country meet.   I was just a full-time student-athlete at the time and that left-over per diem was my only income.  After two years I had saved $1,000 to buy myself a road bike.  So I guess you could say my running has payed my way into becoming a cyclist too.  :)

In August, 2007 I rode my first Century (100 mile) road biking tour, the Desperado Dual in Southern Utah.  It was really long and exhausting, but very fun.  Maybe I'll look into doing another Century this summer.

Easy 7 miles in 8:20 pace

Healing slowly, but surely.  Hamstring felt better after a day of rest yesterday but now after my run this morning its a little tight again.  I've iced it a few times today.  I'll cross train tomorrow and try running again on Wednesday.  I also have an appointment with Richey, the Chiropractor on my team tonight to get some work done on it. 

The good news is that my sickness that kept persisting all last week (pink eye, congestion, fatigue, headache, ect.) has finally passed! 

Biked 25.29 miles in 1:35 (15.9 mph) with 2,506 elevation gain.

My friend watched the kids for a couple of hours this morning and I'm watching her kids on Thursday morning.  Today's route had a few more hills than Saturday's route, but had a better shoulder and smoother road surface.  It was a loop I used to ride when I lived in Superior, only it was a 15 mile loop for me then.  Now that I live 5 miles South, its a 25 mile loop.  Highway 128 to Highway 93, back on Marshall Road.   Basically its riding the rolling highways into Boulder and looping back.

Felt great until I started to get a side ache in the final 5 miles and just wanted to stop.  But of course I still had one big climb and a few more miles of downhill to get through.  Hamstring felt great. 

5 miles in 8:20 pace on the Treadmill at the gym.

Aaron has a busy couple of days with the county auctions today and tomorrow.  He was up until 2 a.m. last night analyzing house values and deciding what he would bid on in Adams and Boulder County.  He'll probably be up late again tonight doing the same thing for Denver County.  He was kind enough to watch the kids last night while I went to the Church to speak to a Young Women's group about Nutrition (I'm pretty sure Allie would have done a better job).  Aaron's watching the kids again tonight while I assist with the set-up and take-down of a Relief Society meeting.  I made some yummy chili in my crock-pot to contribute, but I'm going to set some aside for Aaron and the kids to eat for dinner too.  Smells YUMMY in my kitchen right now.

Anyway, this busy couple of days for Aaron is why I just took the kids to the gym this morning for my workout; so Aaron could sleep in and then get right to work when he woke up.  

Lifted weights after running.  Hamstring felt okay after about two miles but its a little sore now.  I'll cross train again tomorrow.  It is slowly getting better each day, but I don't want to overdo it and set myself back. 

Lacked motivation to work out today; I think its a combination of  my lingering injury, winter blah, and lack of routine.  Honestly, the only reason I went was because I needed a break from my kids.  So I went to the gym, put the kids in child care and spun on the bike for an hour.

5 miles in 8:04 pace

While searching for some motivation I found this article written by Ryan Hall that is really cool.  What a great perspective he has.

My hamstring is feeling a little bit better every day.  I'm getting ART done on it again today. 

6 miles in 7:45 pace

Did 7 strides throughout the run.  It was pretty windy this morning!  The uphill miles were into the wind and the downhill miles with the wind at my back.  Would have been nice to swap that.  Oh well, I can't control the uncontrolables.  Hamstring felt pretty good.

I met with Coach D tonight for some one on one goal-setting.   We talked for over an hour and formulated a plan for how I'd like my year to go.  Here's the run-down (pun intended):

Saturday, March 20th: National Half-Marathon in Washington D.C.

• Aaron will watch the kids for the weekend while I make a quick trip out to race at sea-level and PR
• Darren is going to contact the race director and see if he can get me a comped entry and hotel.
• Goal pace: 5:50 per mile=1:16:30 (should put me in the running for a top 5 finish and some prize money).

9.8 miles in 7:48 pace 

Met Running Republic at East Boulder Community Park.  Arrived a few minutes early so I could get some dynamic stretching in. Cold 17 degrees, but once the sun came up...so BEAUTIFUL!!

20 minute warm-up, stretching, strides

4X30 second short hills/jog down recovery

4X3 minutes steady/90 seconds easy

4X90 seconds fast/60 seconds easy

4X30 seconds short hills/jog down recovery. Surprise! We got to do one more since one of our teammates didn't run all the way through the 4th one

 Hamstring felt pretty good throughout the workout.  The finial 5X30 second short hills were the hardest because its accelerating that causes it to work.  Once I get set in my pace, hamstring just does its job.  So the 3 minute intervals were felt great because there was less stopping and starting.

10 minute cool down 

6.46 miles in 8:18 pace

Hamstring felt a little more tight after my workout yesterday so I just took it really slow today.  Felt good once I warmed up though!  I'm going to see Richey the ART guy to get it worked on again today and probably again on Friday.

I think I'll go to the gym today at 4:00 and lift weights.  I've been trying to do some hip exercises and evidently I have very weak hips because one of the exercises is to write the alphabet with your leg and I couldn't even get  to O with my left leg.  Hmmm no wonder my right hamstring is over compensating.

6.67 miles in 8:20 pace

Ugh.  Just couldn't get it going today.  I kept hoping my legs would warm up and start feeling good but they never did.  Hamstring was tight the whole time.  I am also feeling sick today.  Bad sore throat and headache.   

The injury has now moved from my hamstring to my hip-flexor.  And I'm limping again.

Went to the pool and did some aqua-jogging.  Hip flexor didn't even like that, so I mostly powered my arms back and forth with mild movement in my legs.

After reading April and Amber's blogs and contemplating ways to improve myself and feel better, I've decided to do go off sugar for the month of February.  Over the past few months I've seemed to get lazy in my resistance to sugar and have been consuming more often than I would like.  I don't think sugar is an evil which we should always avoid at all costs, but when I start seeing myself lacking moderation in my consumption, its time to stop that cycle. Wish me luck!