All it takes is all you've got

3 miles in 8:40 pace

My legs feel pretty hashed after the race yesterday.  Woke up a few times last night with restless legs.  Considered taking today off, but then decided to go to the gym and lift weights and do a really easy shake-out run.  Did 3X10 pull ups, 4X20 push ups, a few other lifts, ab work, and hip work. 

Busy day between Kindergarten graduation, 4 loads of laundry, and my first night going to Young Women's activity night (I was just called to serve as the 1st Counselor in the Young Women's program at Church and I'm super excited about it!) 

9 miles

My Garmin was totally dead this morning so I ran my usual 9 mile course without my watch, which was actually pretty nice because I just went by feel and did a true recovery run, probably 8+min/mile pace.  Legs feel pretty good, but still pretty tired.  As it turns out, I'm treating my body to some serious recovery aid today. I already had Chiropractor on the schedule, which I went to this morning. I also stopped in to see Richey for some ART on my achilles and quad this afternoon.  And to top it off, tonight after the kids are tucked in I have my monthly massage at Massage Envy.  Spoiled, I know.  Hopefully I don't go into a lazy body-work coma tonight in my sleep.

12 miles in 7:38 AP

Legs feel pretty good.  Achilles is feeling less tight after the massage and ART work yesterday, thank goodness.  I was really tired this afternoon as I usually am on long run days.  But alas, my kindergartner is out of school now, so no nap for me. I did however enjoy some of his artwork that he created this afternoon. Most were pictures of our family or he and I eating sushi with our employees, but one picture kind-of disturbed me.  It was a picture of a guy who had hiked up a mountain (with arrows on the mountain to show where he had gone), but then he had fallen off a cliff and all of his extremities were dismembered in the fall.  Very abstract.  I'm curious where he got the idea for that one.

9 miles in 7:44 pace

Got some new Nike Frees yesterday and ran in them today.  I like how flexible they are.  Definitely requires more work from my calves. 

Met my group at East Boulder Community Park.  Rick led the group since Darren is in Kansas to compete in his first triathlon (a half Iron-Man, guess he didn't want to mess around with the sprint and olympic distance).

20 minute warm up, stretching, strides

4X90 seconds w/ equal recovery (5:49, 5:53, 5:39, 5:51 pace)

3X3 minutes w/ 2 minute recovery (6:05, 5:42, 5:31 pace)

4X45 seconds w. 75 second recovery (4:49, 5:20, 5:16, 5:00 pace)

10 minute cool down 

Legs felt pretty flat still, but started to feel a little looser near the end of the workout.

Now I'm off to Golden Gate Canyon to cheer Aaron in on his first 50K finish! 

9 miles in 7:23 pace

Did 7X50 stride pick-ups.  Legs feel fully recovered from the Bolder Boulder.  

Was looking into races again last night and after talking to some teammates I don't think I'm going to run the race this Saturday.  It takes a good week of effort out of me to recover from an all out 10K and I'd rather just keep training and get ready for something on July 3rd.  And actually after looking again last night, the Freedom Half Marathon in SLC looks very enticing.  The course looks fast and scenic and I'd love to get another fast half under my belt.  It seems like it is an inaugural event though, and I don't love that.  Usually the first year of any race has kinks to be worked out.  Any bloggers doing this race?  Is it in fact the first year of this race?

11 miles in 7:14 AP

Did the workout on my own this morning since Coach D doesn't have an A.M. group today and I can't do the P.M. group due to Young Women's activity night tonight.  I told Coach I could no longer do the P.M. workouts because of my commitment to my new Church calling and he invited me to do A.M. workouts with the triathletes starting next week.  Perfect.  I SO much prefer A.M. workouts anyway.

20 minute warm up, stretching, strides.

5 minutes at half marathon effort w/2:00 recovery (5:51 pace)

4X2:30 at 10K effort w/90 sec recovery (5:37, 5:43, 5:37, 5:37 pace)

5 minutes at half marathon effort (5:54 pace) 

25 minute cool down

Did the workout on the Big Dry Creek trail which is mostly flat with a few rollers.  Effort felt a bit tougher since I was alone with no one to push me, but overall felt pretty good.  Left achilles is still very mildly tight and right shin is a little tight.  I'll see if I can work them out on my own, if not I may see Richey either later this week or next week.

7 miles in 7:30 pace

The prarie dog near mile four perched up on his mound and gave me an enthusiastic wave as if to say "top of the morning to you!"  Finally after a year of running past his home three or four mornings a week he's decided to be neighborly.

Around mile six I saw an older gentleman who's sharp white and black facial hair and jaw line suddenly reminded me of my Dad.  My heart sank as I started wishing I could go hiking with my Dad, see him cheering for me at the end of a race, or just sit down and chat with him.  The last time I was able to do any of those things was three years ago before he passed away.  At least I still have lots of good memories and thoughts of him.  I miss him.

14 miles in 7:33 pace

Out and back on Big Dry Creek.  I'm not sure why they call it that because it is by no means dry. Millions of gallons of water coming out of Standley Lake flowing down a lush river.  Not dry.

 We had a sitter watch the kids this morning so Aaron give community service.  If any of you read his story a couple of months ago about running away from the Park Rangers in the Eagle habitat near our house, I just want to clarify that the moral of that story is to NOT run away from people of authority.  And if you do decide to do it, BY ALL MEANS, DO NOT go bragging about it on your website.  He posted his "funny" story in three different places (FRB, aaronkennard.com, and some ultra-runner's list).  Some people on the Ultra list didn't think it was very funny in fact they expressed to him that it was downright selfish (which it was) and then they turned him in to the City of Westminster Police.  He suddenly felt very ashamed of his behavior realizing that what he did could have harmed the endangered Eagles. Then he wrote an apology post and spoke to the Rangers that he out-ran to try and make it right.  They took him to court anyway and on Monday he was sentenced to a $300 fine plus 100 hours of community service that has to be completed before Sept. 7th.   SO long story short, we will be having a sitter watch our kids every Thursday and Friday morning so he can go do community service from 6-10a.m. and I can still get my run in.  So that 1 mile jaunt through the Eagle Habitat cost $800+ and 12 weeks of busy, over-scheduled Thursday and Friday for Aaron.  Learn from Aaron's experience and just obey the law.

7 miles in 7:57 pace

Woah, I was tired today.  Seriously.  I don't know what hit me.  I guess its Friday. 

Met the group at Palo Parkway in Boulder. 50 degrees and drizzly off and on.  Perfect running weather.  

20 minute warm up, stretching, strides

4X7 minutes at half marathon pace. Went back and forth on a road that was pretty flat but had one nice quarter mile hill in the middle.  First interval went downhill in the middle, I did 6 minute pace.  Second one was flat with an uphill in the middle 6:10 pace. Third back down 5:55 pace.  Fourth back up, 5:56 pace (I pushed a little harder on the last one).  

The group felt kind-of spread out today maybe just because the intervals were a bit longer than usual.  I was pretty much in no man's land but it was good to see John and Jeff pushing the pace out in front of me.  Coach D is recovering from his first half-iron man so he was a bit behind me.

My achilles is still slightly tight but not too bad.

7 miles in 7:09 pace 

Aaron had to leave at 5:45 a.m. this morning and I wasn't interested in waking up at 4:30 a.m. to run, but I also forgot too arrange for a babysitter so I called the gym to see if they had space for my kids in child care.  They were full until 10 a.m. so we went grocery shopping from 8:30-9:30a.m., dropped the groceries off at home, got gas, and arrived at the gym a few minutes before 10a.m. I ran fast so I could be done in time to get the kids out of child care and drive the 10 minutes to their swimming lessons at 11 a.m.  I showered in the pool showers while Ali played with the lockers and took her shoes off to splash in puddles on the floor.  The pool water was cold from all the rain we had the past few days so after the kids showered, we all went to sit in the sauna for a few minutes to warm up.  Now we're home, we just ate lunch and the girls are taking naps.  

My 7 miles was in 50:05.  7X30 second strides mixed in there.  Ran in the Nike Frees and felt very fast.  (Oh and Allie, I forgot to tell you, my Frees are grey with a pink swoosh , so not quite as flashy as yours but I do enjoy the pink accent.)  

A.M. Met my group at East Boulder Community Park

The trails were flooded by the creek this morning so we had to run on the road and paved path by the golf course.  

20 min. warm up, stretching, strides

2X(1min, 2min, 3min, 2min, 1min) intervals w/ 90 seconds jog in between each (my pace was 5:16-5:30 on the 1 and 2 minute intervals, 5:40 on the 3 minute intervals

then

1 min, 2min, 2min, 1min intervals w/90 seconds jog between each (my pace was 5:30, 5:40, 5:50..I'm starting to die here, then I dug deep and ran the final minute in 5:04 pace) 

So basically it amounted to 24 minutes of 5:04-5:50 pace running.  Whew!  No wonder I was tired at the end. 

P.M. Went to the gym to lift weights and ran another 4 easy miles too 

10 miles in 7:52 pace

Left for my run at 5:25a.m. so I could be back in time for Aaron to meet a friend at 7a.m. for mountain biking.  Really enjoyed the early morning sunrise without my iPod.

Legs felt pretty tired but no real pain to speak of.  My achilles wasn't as tight as I thought it might be after all that speed-work yesterday.  I've been trying to do self-ART therapy on my calves a couple of times per day for a few days now because the tightness in my calves is the culprit causing my achilles pain, I'm sure.

10 miles in 7:56 pace

We had a little scare yesterday when after searching the yard and the house we couldn't find our 1 yo Ali anywhere.  Our 5yo and 4 yo mentioned that they had just run around the block without telling us they were doing that, so we immediatley knew Ali had followed them and gotten lost.  Sure enough, we ran around the block and found her in the arms of our back door neighbor, looking quite startled.  That feeling of not knowing where your child is...even if only for a few minutes...is gut wrenching.

So this morning after having nightmares of losing Ali and waking up with a severe kink in my back, I very slowly winced through 10 miles.  Every quick movement in my neck shot pain down my back and shoulder.  I just scheduled an appointment with Chiro Richey and Massage Therapist Koli to get some relief.

Oh, and I was going to do my long run today but I just decided yesterday that I'm going to do a 15 mile race this Saturday up near Nederland instead.  Aaron and I had been planning on taking the kids on a quick overnight camp trip near that area anyway, and when my friend Tony mentioned that there is a race going on that day and invited me to join him, I couldn't resist. So we'll go camp near Ned and do the race for a good long run beat down at 9,000ft. 

8 miles in 7:43 pace

Busy day with two Dr. appointments, kids swimming lessons, a birthday lunch with friends, packing to go camping, and driving to find a campsite.  Camping was fun!  It was our 1 year old's first time, and she loved it! We decided to drive up Moffat (Rollins Pass) Road since that is where the race course goes.  We found a nice little campground around the 7.5 mile turn-around point of the race.  Set up the tent, explored a bit with the kids, made a campfire, roasted some 'smores, and we were in bed by 9:30p.m. asleep around 10:00p.m.  Abe and Breanne slept soundly all night except for one awakening when a train went through the canyon and Abe woke up to ask what it was.  Ali cried a couple of times randomly so I assumed it was because she was cold (it got down to low 40s) and pulled her and her sleeping bag over in between Aaron and me.  Apparently the air mattress we were sleeping on had a hole because we found ourself sleeping on the hard ground within an hour of laying down.  So with the baby crying twice, plus three trains going by about 200 yards away and then echoing for literally 20 minutes afterwards (the tunnel just up the way caused some serious train noises to linger forever) it wasn't the most restful night of sleep I've ever had, but camping never is.  Fun though!

Enjoyed camping in the canyon where todays race was held (apparently also a very busy train route).  When the 3rd train of the night woke us up around 4:30 a.m., Aaron just got up and went running.  The kids slept another couple of hours and at 6:30 a.m. we all woke up and ate breakfast.  Aaron got back 30 minutes later and we hiked around a little bit to warm up (the temp was still in the low 40s) and broke camp.  Drove the 7 miles down the canyon to the race start and I got out to get my race bib and shirt.  Saw Tony (my teammate), made a potty stop, and ran a 1 mile warm-up. Stretched for a few minutes, did one stride, and chatted with Nuta (whom I've now raced three times and am well aware of her speed).  I asked her if she was doing the 10 mile or the 15 mile and she said 15 (I knew from last year's results that she had won the 10 mile course in 6:12 pace).  She asked if I had run it before and I said no, so she told me a bit about the course, warning me about the tough final two miles before the turn around and wishing me luck.  She said she has done quite a few training runs on that road because it is great for altitude training on a hilly but smooth road.  After running the race, I can attest to the fact that it is very challenging course and could be strengthening if run often.

The race started around 9 a.m. and I felt pretty comfortable with Nuta for a couple of miles.

Mile 1 - 6:19  Little bit rolling, net uphill though

Mile 2 - 6:31  Little more uphill

My heart rate started to go up and my respiratory rate was obviously faster than Nuta's so I decided I'd better be smart and not kill myself in the first quarter of the race.  Slowly let Nuta go.  After all, I had a lot of climbing to do and I'm not exactly "hill trained."

Mile 3 - 6:37   more climbing

Mile 4 - 6:44  still climbing, took a gu at the aid station right before mile 5

Mile 5 - 6:37 seems to be a theme here...climbing, climbing, climbing

Mile 6- 6:23  little less climbing 

Mile 7 - 7:30 serious climbing (200 ft gain in this mile) respiratory rate shot through the roof

Mile 8 - 6:33 the mild climb equalled itself out because 7.5 mile point was the turn-around.  Nuta had a solid minute on me at the turn-around but I still wanted to give a good effort in catching her and I knew I had a steep downhill mile ahead of me so I tried to use the momentum to see if I could reel her in a bit.

Mile 9 - 5:37 (200 ft drop) At the end of this mile my legs were really throbbing from the pace change and hammering down the hill.  Nuta seemed to be just as far ahead of me, if not farther and I decided again to just run my own race and not kill myself to try and catch her.  I could have decided to run beyond my pain threshold and blow my quads out trying to catch her and then probably still fallen short.

Mile 10 - 6:11 What goes up must come down and I'm really appreciating the downhill at this point.  Took another gu at mile 10 aid station.

Mile 11 - 6:10 more down

Mile 12 - 6:26 starting to feel pretty fatigued here.  My quads were pretty much screaming at me and my head was starting to feel a little dizzy with the heat and sun, so I pulled back on the throttle a bit.

Mile 13 - 6:23 ran by the river and enjoyed the cool air coming off the water totally unaware of anyone else around me and just enjoying the beauty of the canyon

Mile 14 - 6:18 just keep moving forward.  Tired though.

Mile 15 - 6:30 rolling but net downhill.  I'm completely spent. Apparently I went out a little too fast because this mile was faster going up the hill than coming back down at the end.  Oh well.  I'm just glad to be finished.

Total time - 1:36:53 (6:30 AP) with around 800 ft elevation gain/loss

Saw Bean and Dianne (more teammates) at the finish.  Dianne had run the 10 miler and Bean is injured but came up to hike around and cheer.  Tony came in around 1:50 and we whined together about the intense 7th mile heartbreak hill.

Nuta finished about 2 minutes ahead of me, so she had put another minute on me on the downhill. Overall I was very pleased with my effort considering my lack of hill training.  It was also the longest run I have done in a couple of months, so I'm pretty happy with how my body held up.

About 15 minutes after I finished, Aaron and I grabbed the kids and did the family fun run together (1 mile).  Aaron ran with Abe and Breanne and I walked, ran with, and carried Ali.  Ali and I actually turned around at the quarter mile check-point just as Abe passed us at his 3/4 mile check-point.  We did our half mile in about the same time as Breanne and Aaron finished their 1 mile.  Abe ran the whole way and finished strong.  Breanne ran with Aaron and kept telling him how much fun she was having and how cool it was to run her first "race."  The kids all got little finisher's medals and toy prizes, which they loved.  We ate some post-race grub and stayed for the awards ceremony (I got a $25 gift card to Boulder Running Company and a Timex watch).  Fun day!

Took a pleasant nap after Church while the girls napped and Aaron played board games with Abe.  Then we all went for a bike ride down to a small lake about a mile from our house.  Abe was riding pretty fast but still doesn't want us to take his training wheels off.  Then he decided he wanted to put his bike in my trailer and run with Breanne.  They ran around the lake trails and Ali just HAD to get out and join them too.  They were all still pretty pumped up about their first race yesterday and just loved running around the trails. Breanne ran about 1.3 miles and Abe ran about a mile and biked another couple miles.  Ali ran about a half mile.  She kept resisting my suggestions to get back in the bike seat even after it started to rain a bit and Abe and Breanne had left us and gone ahead with Aaron so I just biked slowly next to her while she ran up the hill in the warm rain.  Its so fun to see our kids get excited about running and enjoy doing it together as a family.

9 miles in 7:27 pace

Did 7 X 50 stride pick-ups after about 20 minutes of slow running.  My legs feel better than I thought they would considering how hard I pushed them on Saturday.  I was going to hit the gym for some weights this afternoon but ended up staying longer at a baby shower we went to since I was enjoying chatting with friends the kids were having so much fun playing with a bunch of other kids.  Then when we got home the girls were both asking for naps and Abe wanted to help me fold the 6 loads of laundry that were sitting in the laundry room, so I took him up on the offer and we hung out and folded while the girls slept.  Next thing I knew it was dinner time and gym time had come and gone.  I'll squeeze in some push-ups and pull-ups tomorrow instead. 

12 miles in 7:08 AP

Did my workout on my own this morning since I can't make it to the 5pm group workout as I will be going to a pool party with the young men and young women in my ward.

20 minute warm-up, stretching, strides

5X4 minutes in 5:55, 5:45, 5:43, 5:46, 5:47 pace w/2 min jog in between each

4X1 minute in 5:31, 5:26, 5:12, 5:27 pace w/1 min jog in between each

25 minute cool down 

Now I'm off to mow the lawn and do some weeding. 

A.M. 7 miles in 7:48 pace

Took the kids to the park, Home Depot, and came home for lunch and naps.  Ah yes, a nap! 

P.M. 4 miles on the treadmill in 7:50 pace

Also did lots of core, hip work, push ups, pull ups, and some weights. 

17.25 miles in 7:41 pace

Even though its a slight downhill going out and slight uphill coming back, I always go out slower than I come back.  There is something about heading home that just makes you move faster.

This morning I took my fuel belt but only wore it until mile 2 where I ditched it in the bushes and put my gu and half Balance bar in my pocket and  just carried one water bottle with gatorade in it.  I ate the half bar at Mile 5, drank my gatorade at mile 5 and mile 9, and ate a gu with more water at mile 12.  Got back to my other water bottle and fuel belt at mile 15 and drank the last 8oz.  It was a pretty hot morning, so I was grateful for the 24 oz. of liquid I did have.  And I guzzled another 30 oz. as soon as I got home.

Felt pretty good this morning.  I really enjoy long runs.  My right shin was a little tight probably from that hilly race last weekend but I've been working it out and icing it a lot.  

10.75 miles in 7:47 pace

Took a solid 5 miles to warm up but the second half of the run felt pretty good.  Its supposed to get up to 98 degrees today.  I got in an hour of weeding in right when I got back from my run before the sun got too hot.  I keep trying to hack away the loads of weeds in our yard but I have a hard time staying on top of it.  If I do 30 minutes to an hour twice a week it stays somewhat under control but I don't always find the motivation to do that.  I wouldn't say I have the prettiest yard, but at least my garden is thriving and I'm looking forward to fresh veggies in a couple of months.

Met my group at Tom Watson Park for some intervals around Boulder Res.

20 min warm up, stretching, strides

6X45second quick stride hills (5:15-5:40 pace, started off slower and got faster as I warmed up)

2.5 minutes easy

10 minutes at controlled tempo pace (6:00 pace)

3 minutes easy

3X3 minutes at 10k effort (6:17 pace; first one was uphill and I'm starting to overheat in the sun after the 10 minute tempo, 5:36 pace back down the hill, 5:53 pace on pretty flat mild uphill on the last one)

As soon as the intervals were over we were all super hot and the reservoir was right there calling our names so we jogged on over and took a swim.  Everyone had their shoes off and was at least waist deep in the lake, most of us fully submerged which felt SOOO nice.  

Then we did a 12 minute cool down which felt great with the slight breeze and wet running clothes.

When I got back to my car I drank my 24 oz water bottle within seconds.  I also stopped at a gas station on the drive home to get another 30 oz of liquid.  Nothing like a good quench after a hot run. 

This run concludes my first 70 mile week ever!  I have to admit that 70 miles did make me feel a bit more tired throughout the week but luckily I was able to sneak in a few naps and get pretty good sleep at night, which helped a lot.  My left achilles is feeling better than it has in weeks and my right shin was a little tight earlier in the week but after pushing it out every day and trying to loosen up that calf, its actually feeling quite a bit better too.  I'm very pleased with how well it has responded to self massage and daily icing. 

9 miles in 7:30 pace

Warmed up 20 minutes, stretched a bit and did 7X50 stride pick-ups then just finished off my run at 7:30ish pace.

I'm concerned that all the weeding I did in my yard last weekend is causing me to develop OCD.  I kept having the urge to pick weeds that were in the middle of the trail this morning and by the time I got home I had two bulky handfuls of weeds.

No. No I didn't.

Met the team at East Boulder Community Park

20 minute warm up, stretching, strides

3X2:30 w/ 90 seconds easy (5:54, 5:48, 5:58 pace)

2 min jog

4X30 seconds w/ 60 seconds easy (5:49, 5:50, 5:29, 5:32 pace)

2 min jog

2X5 min w/ 2 min easy (5:55, 5:51 pace)

2 min jog

4X1 min w/1 min jog (5:37, 5:45, 5:33, 5:19 pace)

13 minute cool down 

Felt okay this morning.  Not great, just okay.  Just not super motivated to kill the pace I guess. My right glut got a little tight on the final few intervals.  I'll get the tennis ball and work it out.

My almost two year old is saying some pretty cute words lately. My three favorites are "elfanant" (for elephant), "popical" (for popsicle) and "walla" (for flower).  Two years old is so dang cute.

A.M. 7 miles in 7:48 pace

P.M. Went to the gym for 4 easy miles and weights