Boo Legs

For right now, here's the short of it.

Got suckered into doing a half on Friday. Course measured long. Felt pretty good. 

My sister in law is training for St. George and she wanted to do a training/tune up half so last minute, she asked if I wanted to run this half. Sure, I had a free Saturday morning...why not? I knew that it wasn't going to be a PR for me because I took June, July, and most of August pretty easy with my running. Plus, I had heard that there were some good sized long hills from miles 4-8. I went into it with absolutely no expectation.

So this half used to be called the South Valley Half Marathon but I guess some other people directed it this year and it was changed to the Only Half Crazy Half. Same course, new name. It starts up Rose Canyon in Herriman and ends in South Jordan/Daybreak. My garmin (as well as my sister in laws garmin) showed the course was long. Its a smaller race, probably about 200 people? (How else could I place in the top three women with that time? :) I don't know how it was last year but this year it felt disorganized. Even our bus driver didn't know where the start line was, someone on our bus had to direct him. I'm sure its a lot of work to organize a race so I don't want to be critical but...it just felt a little chaotic.

Onto the race. Miles 1-4 were a gradual downhill. I kept about a 7:00 min/mile here and it felt fast but controlled. Miles 4-8 were a series of rolling hills. This is where I started to pass people. My pace slowed to anywhere between 8:00-8:40 min/miles. I was very happy to reach mile 8 because I knew it was mostly downhill from there. I gradually picked up my pace back up to a 7:00 min/mile and tried to cruise in. Around mile 11, I knew there were only a few women in front of me and if I could pick it up and catch one of them, I'd place in the top three. So after much back and forth, I can catch her, no I can't, she's too far away, I can at least try, I can do it, no its too hard.... I decided to go for it. In the last half mile, one of the race volunteers yelled out, "You're fourth right now! You can catch her!" That gave me just what I needed to kick it into gear. I clocked a 6:12 min/mile for the last mile and beat her by 1 second to be the third overall female. :)

Like I said, I really wasn't expecting much out of this race because I had a higher mileage training week, I just started bringing back speedwork, and I knew there were some good hills. I felt good about my performance and I was happy to place in the top three, knowing full well if this was a different Utah race, I'd be smoked right and left by fast running bloggers! (Note to self, run smaller races from now on, it makes you feel fast... :) 

Quads are a little sore from the hills in the race last saturday, nothing too bad, just letting me know they're there. Went for a slow and progressively faster run today. 9 miles, average pace 8:30. Felt good.

9 seems to be the number of the week so far....

Here's the workout from today.

1 mile warm up, 1/2 mile (3:07), 1 mile (6:18), 2 miles (6:40, 6:37), 1 mile (6:20), 1/2 mile (3:06), 1 mile cool down. Recovery jogs between each set. 

I have a love/hate relationship with speedwork. I love how I feel after, but I hate it the burning in the lungs and legs that inevitably comes with it. 

13.75 very slow miles. It took half the run to warm up to a 8:30 min/mile. Average pace was 8:40. I love running in the early fall. The cool air energizes you. I wasn't even  planning running today (I usually do a spinning class) but I played nurse to a feverish 2 year old in the wee hours of the morning. After I got the kiddo back to sleep, I realized I wouldn't get a workout in today unless I went right then.... so I did. I'm planning on slowing down the mileage for the rest of the week. I don't want to up it too quickly, and so far this week, I'm doing just that.

3.3 miles at the gym this morning followed by lunges, squats, push ups, dips, and abs. Its been a while since I have lifted, I'm sure I'll be feeling it tomorrow.

2.2 miles in the afternoon on the rickety old treadmill. 

I needed the run today. I applied for a job a couple weeks ago, got an interview, and I was pretty sure that I got it. I was more than qualified and it seemed like a better fit for me and my family. (I am going crazy on my current floor) Plus they called me earlier this week to see if they could contact my manager. I was just waiting for the call offering me the job.... it didn't come. Instead, I got an email this morning saying that they had found someone else. Bummer deal. I'm not looking for pity (because at least I have a decent paying job, when so many don't), I'm just explaining why I needed the run....

Onto the workout. I did the treadmill class again at my gym. It was killer. The teacher loves hills...I don't. But I did get some serious speedwork and major hills mixed in. Definitely a harder run than I would have done on my own. It kicked my trash and kicked my pity party out the window.

Now I gotta keep looking for a different job..... 

slow and easy does it

2 miles before and after lifting weights. The legs feel heavy and sluggish today. Here's to hoping a better afternoon run happens...

Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles, the afternoon run happened. 2.5 miles. Feeling better and not as sluggish.

I can't decide which type of speedwork I like the least: tempo, mile repeats, 800s, etc,... Usually whatever one I'm doing that day. :) But I always like the results that come from faster running.

1 mile warm up, 5 tempo miles, 1 mile cool down. Here's how the tempo miles went 7:08, 7:02, 6:55, 6:53, 6:47. I noticed in between mile 3-4 of the tempo miles is when I started to feel good. I felt like I could have gone longer, I'm hoping this is a good thing...

4 miles on the treadmill at the gym. Average pace 8:27. Followed by push ups, dips, lunges, squats, biceps. Interestingly enough, my left (my baby carrying bicep) bicep is MUCH stronger than my right... Woopsy, looks like I need to make more of an effort to even things out a bit. Hoping for an afternoon run later today.

2 slow miles later, I made it happen.

I would have loved to run outside on this beautiful fall morning (that's about as pretty as I can make it, sorry to disappoint you Kam) but that would have required me to get up at 4:30 and run outside in the dark. I realize that a lot of you do this on a daily basis (more power to you) but I try to avoid the butt crack of dawn if at all possible. Aaaaaaand I'm not a fan of running in the dark. Every little sound means that someone is chasing me trying to kidnap me. Although, it does make for a faster run....hmm...

Long story short, 8.75 miles on the treadmill. Switched the incline or speed every minute. Average speed 8:20, incline between 0.5-4.5%

I fully intended on doing speedwork today but my legs, head, and overall body wasn't feeling it. Didn't get much sleep last night and decided to take an easier day. I'll add some faster miles to my long run tomorrow.

Faster miles didn't so much happen. I feel fine about it. The overall run was faster. Average pace 8:01. Can't wait to read all the race reports!

2 quick miles before a weight lifting class. I know, I know, I better slow up on the mileage huh?

Mile repeats today. 1 mile warm up, 4 mile repeats with 1/2 mile recovery jog in between, 1 mile cool down. Fast miles went like this 6:35, 6:30, 6:28, 6:25. It felt hard but doable.

Afternoon run: 2.5 miles easy. 

4.1 miles. Average pace 8:13. That was all I could fit in before an early work meeting. Too bad work has to get in the way of running...

Today was an anniversary of sorts... :) 7 years ago today I went for a lovely early morning fall run. As the sun was rising, I was about 3 miles into a cool, crisp, faster run when the sidewalk jumped out at me...and BAM (no offense Bam) I decided to taste the concrete in a major way. Long story short, I broke my fall with my face and cracked my jaw. My first broken bone. My mouth was wired shut for 6 weeks. I now run with a helmet because my clumsiness certainly hasn't gotten any better.

Average pace 8:20

Running class at the gym. Seriously so stinkin hard. We focused mostly on hills. Had the incline on the treadmill at 10% for about 15 mins of the class. It was a booty burner.

Afternoon shakeout. Easy 2 miles. 

7 treadmill miles. Not my favorite but the husband was out fishing so the little man and I "got" to go to the gym and gym daycare for some treadmill miles. Average pace 8:13. Now I "get" to look forward to walking about 6 more miles tonight at work.

Seems like Mondays, I find every excuse not to go out and run. Let me just do this one thing first, okay-ONE more thing, let me just put these things away and THEN I'll go...yadda, yadda, yadda. And before I know it, its time to get back. So, what should have been 7 miles, was only 3.5. Thank goodness for free/old/rickety treadmills and naptime. Hopefully today will be a double day. I'm "putting it down on paper" cuz its more likely to happen right? Right. Here's to 3-4 miles this afternoon....

Woohoo! 4 miles this afternoon, but only cuz Andrea threatened me. :) 

2 miles before a weight lifting class, 1 mile after.

I did a progressive tempo run today. Don't really know if that's a real running term, but it describes what my run was like today. It was comfortably hard.

1 mile warm up, 7:07, 7:02, 6:58, 6:53, 6:48, 6:42, 3 miles cool down.

I felt like it was easier for my mind and body to adjust to going faster each mile instead of banging them all out at just under 7. 

Zombie run today. I worked a night shift last night and it took everything I had to get out the door this afternoon. When I woke up, I felt like I had been hit by a truck, more so than usual. Maybe the combination of speedwork yesterday followed by staying up all night? So painful. Didn't start feeling awake until mile 4. Is sleep running possible? :) 9 miles later I feel so much better and like a functional human being. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, thank goodness for running. It makes me feel awake and alive in more ways than one...

No internet for the past two days, turns out they turn it off if you don't make the payment...who knew? Weight lifting class today followed by 5 quicker miles only because the daycare was about to close...with my child in it. Average pace 7:37.