All it takes is all you've got

9 miles in 7:13 pace

29°F with 20mph wind.  At least it was sunny and there was no snow other than a light dusting on the grass.  Come to mention it, we've had a pretty dry November.

I'm getting excited for Club Cross.  I got two emails from former BYU teammates who are both going to be there so we are planning a post race BYU Alumni cool-down.  Go BYU!  Speaking of BYU Cross Country, congrats to Katie Bowen today at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terra Hautte, IN.  She qualified individually and finished in a solid 61st place overall.  Katie is a very talented, committed runner and a classy person to boot.  She is a former Lone Peak High School superstar and good friend of mine from years ago when I was the Coach (or in Allie's case, "Hoolligan Manager") at Lone Peak.

A.M. 3.75 miles in 7:58 pace

Nice morning shake out run up past the library, South Boulder Rec. Center and Fairview High school.  Saw some fast looking runners working out on Fairview track, as usual.

P.M. 7.75 miles

Our babysitter came over at 4 p.m. so Aaron and I could join in for the RRB group workout.  Met at East Boulder Community park for a 20 minute warm up, stretching, and strides.  Then 10 minutes at half marathon effort (5:44 pace) 3 minute jog, then 4X2:30 in 5:35, 5:34, 5:37, 5:45 pace and a 10 minute cool down. 

Legs felt fast and fresh.  Achilles slightly tight.  Went to see Richey for some ART and graston scraping after the workout.  It was ouchy good.

6.5 miles in 7:25 pace

Beautiful morning!

I stayed up too late (past midnight) last night trying to get ready to leave for Utah for Thanksgiving and also getting distracted with a little Christmas shopping on Amazon.com.  Finally got to bed around midnight and the kids woke us up this morning around 6:30 a.m.  We each took turns running and finishing up last details of packing and Aaron tying up loose ends with his business before finally leaving for Utah at 10:30 a.m.  From Boulder to Layton in record time 7:10.  The kids were very cooperative and we were able to only make one stop for gas and bathroom.  AND we didn’t even speed that bad (maybe 5 mph over).  J

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Aaron and I got up around 7:00 a.m., got the kids dressed and fed, and bundled up in our multiple layered running attire.  The kids stayed at Grandma’s and played with their cousins from Fresno while we drove the 10 minutes to Farmington, checked in for the race, and jogged the course (slightly altered from their posted map online because of icy conditions on one section).  It was a very beautiful, sunny, seven degree Utah morning.  The course was mostly clear with some slippery snowpack/ice around the corners and one final quarter mile of crunchy ice chunk covered path and grass to the finish line.  We did a nice long warm-up with some strides and stretching mixed in.  The race started a few minutes late and went out fast down a slight decline for the first mile.  A bounding rabbit in baggy pants and a hoodie sweatshirt, a fit-looking man in his 30s, and a high school runner who made no sign of actual effort being put forth went out in the lead.  I stayed on their heels and Aaron was a few strides behind.  The bounding rabbit had already fallen off pace and started running backwards after the first half mile so it was down to me and two men pushing the first mile.  The less young of the two men fell off just before the first mile and I ran with the high school dude(correcting him twice for nearly turning off course) for a comfortable 5:35 through mile one.    The second mile was a gradual incline and we slowed to 5:45.  Right when my watch said mile two the course turned right and shot us down a steep decline back towards the race finish.  One loop around a neighborhood and up the chunky/icy final quarter mile and we were finished.  I think my final mile was 5:32 and the sprint to the finish was 5:20 pace for a finish time of 17:20.  The high-schooler finished 10 seconds ahead of me.  I found out he is a member of the Davis High school cross country team and they are going to a big national event in a couple of weeks.  I commented to him that he appeared to be jogging out there and he said he ran 15:50 last week so yes, 17:10 was quite comfortable for him.  He thanked me for keeping him on course.  The course map he looked at last night online was obviously not the same course they had laid out today so it was good that Aaron and I had gotten there in time to read the updated map and jog the actual course beforehand.  A few minutes after Aaron finished, we left to  jog the course one more time for our cool down and completed our day at 10 miles.  After the race we chatted with Jun and his son for a minute and also happened to bump into our Stake President from the Boulder Stake along with his wife and 5 of his sons.  It was fun to catch up with them and enjoy the coincidence of traveling all this way to end up in the same lil’ 5K.

The post race food was donuts and hot chocolate which hit the spot as we started to cool off again in the now nine degree Hawaiian Holiday we were experiencing.  We went over to chat with the race director, Darrell and he gave me a prize for winning the women’s race; a $50 Chase gift-card, fresh apple pie, and some rockin’ orange “Sock-Guys” socks with a turkey on them.   What a generous race director!!  The funny part about the award was that just a week ago, I had suggested to him that he give at least $50 to the race winners and I also suggested pies for the age division winners.  Hey, he ASKED for prize suggestions on his website, so why not?  You only get what you ask for.  And you better be careful what you ask for too because you often get exactly what you ask for which is why I didn’t suggest a large obnoxious plastic turkey trophy, a free 15 lb. turkey (which would be leaking blood and stinking up our car on the long drive home), or even a 64 oz. glass beer mug (one of my favorite prizes through the years…I just don’t need another one).

The race was really fun albeit, cold.  Darrell did a great job of lifting spirits with the music and hot chocolate and I think all in attendance were happy to be there.

I was pretty happy with running a 17:20 considering where I’m at in my training and also considering the less than perfect racing conditions. 

The remainder of the day was spent cooking, chatting with family, eating delicious food, playing card games, and thinking about all the many things I have to be grateful for.  I feel so overwhelmed with gratitude as I consider all the wonderful blessings in my life; my brilliant, supportive, good looking, ambitious husband, my obedient, kind, cooperative, smart kids, my good health and strength, our new home in Boulder, our many friends and associations with wonderful, inspiring people, our siblings, in-laws, and parents, as well as our Faith in God and testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We got news this afternoon that Aaron’s 96-year-old Grandpa passed away at 1 p.m.  He lived a long, full life and set forth a legacy of Faith and hard work to be followed by his 50+ grandkids and even more great grandkids.  He is a kind, gentle soul whom we will remember fondly. 

8 miles in 7:24 pace

Ran around Layton/Kaysville in the balmy 18 degrees.  Legs felt pretty great!

Aaron and I woke up early this morning despite our late night gaming with Aaron’s family last night.  We drove the 20 minutes to Sugarhouse park to meet up with Allie for a workout around the rolling 1.25 mile loop.

30 minute warm up, stretching strides

10 minutes at half marathon pace (5:47 pace)

3 minute jog

4X(3 minutes fast, 1 minute jog, 1 minute hard, 2 minutes rest with 10 push ups.)  My pace on the 3 minute intervals was 5:31, 5:36, 5:41, 5:54 (the last one was actually 3:30 since I didn’t see Aaron’s arm cue to stop as he was behind me and I hadn’t been looking at my watch.  My pace on the one minute intervals was 5:17, 5:18, 5:05, 4:53.  Aaron pushed our pace on the one minute intervals and finished each of those intervals slightly ahead of Allie and me in order to prove his manhood (his words, not mine.) 

It was good to catch up with Allie and enjoy her company.  Everyone wish her luck in CIM next week!  She’s sharp and ready to rock it!  During the warm up Aaron and I got talking about ‘efficient’ running form.  Sorry for the unsolicited advice, Allie. With all the studying and experimenting Aaron has done on his own running form lately, it is a frequent topic of discussion for us.  We may sound like we think we know it all but in reality we are still just trying to figure it all out for ourselves.    

My legs felt pretty good considering the solid week behind me.  I finally ran over 50 miles in a week for the first time since Baltimore and am starting to feel pretty fit again.  It was good to race and realize that I am on track for a decent race at the CC Club Champs in two weeks.  After club cross I am excited to get in some higher mileage and begin my preparation for the Houston Half on January 29th.

Aaron and I listened to “Once a Runner” by John L. Parker on the drive back to Colorado today.  We enjoyed hearing the experiences and wisdom shared by the author as he tells in third person the story of his journey to becoming a world class runner.  I feel aligned with the author in this particular sentiment:

“(He) was not enthusiastically going about the business of breaking world records or capturing some coveted prize.  Such ideas would have been laughable to him in the bland grind of his daily routine.  He was merely trying to slip into a lifestyle that he could live with.  Strenuous but not unedurable by any means.  Out of which, if the corpuscles and the capillaries and the electrolytes were properly aligned in their own mysterious configurations, he might do even better something he had already done quite well. He was trying to ‘switch gears.’  At least, that is how he thought of it.”

Who is with me?  Time to go out and do even better something we have already done quite well?  Lets do this.