Boo Legs

8 treadmill miles. Booooooooooooring. At least I had Rachael Ray to keep me daydreaming about lunch... Average pace 8:20.

Today was an odd day. It started off at 2:00 am when my kiddo woke up telling me he was hungry. 2 nutrigrain bars and 1 applesauce packet later, he was back asleep. After that, I never seemed to fall back asleep.

Made it to the gym for a speed workout. I felt like nothing could go right. Every treadmill I got on was busted. When I finally did find a keeper, I went to drag the fan across the room to blow on me during my sweatfest. I go to plug in the fan and its also busted. Drag it to a different outlet, still busted. (do we see a theme developing?) Find a different fan, drag it over, plug it in,....busted. Stupid! I'll just live in my sweat for the next hour. 2 warm up miles and I start my 2 fast miles, with .4 to go of the first set of fast miles...the treadmill suddenly stops...busted. Oh for pete's sake. I move to another treadmill and start the next round of fast miles.  I was planning on doing 2 rounds of a descending ladder but I couldn't hack it. I don't know if I just wasn't mentally there or my body really needed a break. Sometimes its hard to tell the difference between being mentally weak (because I DO think my head holds me back sometimes) and listening to my body. Such a fine line....

So here's what the workout ended up being. About 1/2 mile recovery jog in between each fast mile set:

2 miles warm up, 1.6 (this is when the treadmill broke) miles fast (6:37 min/miles), 1 mile (6:18), 1/2 mile (3:03), 1/4 mile (1:27), 2 miles (6:36), 1 mile (6:15), started the 1/2 mile and got .1 mile in and couldn't do it...I was spent. Again, I don't know if it was mental weakness or being smart and listening to my body.

And that is a long entry. 

3 easy miles. Pretty good day.

Just like last thursday, 5 groggy miles right after I woke up from a nap/sleep from working a night shift last night. I was talking with a nurse on my floor last night who used to go out and do her long runs right after working a night shift, ...not after waking up, no, right after work, ...after being up for 24+ hours...on her feet,....all day...and then all night... Can you tell I'm amazed by this? She's nuts. I don't know how she did it. I'm a wuss nugget.

Treadmill class today. Twas very hard. Somehow made it up to the 10% incline again. 

I'm really wishing I had run St. George last weekend! So jealous of all of you hobbling around. (no seriously, I really am!) I guess it could be worse, I could be like my friend who trained her butt off and is super fast (hoping for a possible sub 3). She forgot to set her alarm and woke up about 7 minutes before she was supposed to start. :( Saddest day ever for her.

5.5 miles, average pace 8:11. Followed by squats, lunges, push ups. Definitely a heavy monday and I'm glad its over.

Tempo run today. I felt good but at the end I was definitely ready to be done.

1 mile warm up, 4 tempo miles (7:04, 7:00, 6:55, 6:50), 1 mile easy, 3 tempo miles (6:50, 6:45, 6:42), 1 mile cool down.

8.5 miles, average pace 8:25. Nothing too fancy, a few small hills in the neighborhoods, it felt good to be outside for a change. 

Treadmill class at the gym. Again with the hills (10% incline) and speedwork. Good and sweaty. 

The bottoms of my feet have been hurting, just under my toes. I have hardwood floors in my house and it hurts to walk around barefoot. I don't know if its related to running or the fact I wear flats and flip flops all the time? Either way, its been around for about a month and hasn't gotten better, but hasn't gotten worse either.... I've been rotating my running shoes and it seems like its worse when I wear lighter shoes with less cushion.

6.25 treadmill miles.

10 slow easy miles. It was a great way to start out the week. Felt good.

So here's something non running related. I got my hair chopped about a month ago. I'm talking about 10 inches or so. I've always had a horse's mane for hair (funny story, in fact, when I was little my hair was so thick I had to have special shampoo called Horse's Mane with picture of a horse head on it... pretty huh?). So it would take for-ev-er to do my hair when I actually took the time to do it. The rest of the time it was in a braid/ponytail/or bun (in which I'd end up with a headache by the end of the day because of the weight of my "horse's mane".). Anywho, enough was enough and I got it chopped. I love it now cuz its so easy, fast, and super low maintenance. I've enjoyed hearing people's reactions and comments. Some are good, some are bad, and some are back handed compliments? Here's my current favorite....

Sweet old Lady, "Natalie! All that beautiful hair is gone! Why did you do that?!"

Me, laughing, "Well....mumble mumble mumble some response...."

SoL, "Well, don't get me wrong I like it...but.....You're hair grows fast right?"

Well shoot. Its not like I accidentally ran into a pair of scissors! :) People are funny and have an opinion about everything huh? Its a good thing I have a healthy self esteem!

1/2 mile repeats today. I did a 1/4 mile recovery walk/jog between each repeat (about 3 min recovery). Here's the numbers.

warm up, 3:07, 3:05, 3:03, 3:03, 3:02, 3:00, cool down.

I really wanted to get in under 3:00 for the last 1/2 mile but my legs weren't having it today. I'll take what I can get.

I started and finished my run totally in the dark this morning. Sometimes I don't mind running in the dark. (at a reasonable hour) Today it was peaceful and I just let my mind wander wherever it wanted. No music just me, my footsteps, and breathing.

45 mins on the stairmaster at the gym this afternoon. My sister just happened to be there at the same time so we commiserated (is that a word?) together on the machine from h---. I really wasn't planning on being on that machine for that long but we got to talking about stuff and things and before I knew it, it was 45 mins later. 

I wasn't going to do anything but because I worked a night shift last night I needed some sort of exercise to wake me up and help me function. Usually I run but I'm planning on doing a half marathon this weekend, so I decided to take it easy on the running.....Which brings me to my next talking point/question....Do you taper for a half? I never have because I'm usually using them as training runs for a marathon. I didn't run today and I'm only going to do 2-3 miles tomorrow, is that taper enough? Please, running people, enlighten me.

3 miles. Not much else to say except I felt a bit sluggish. 

If you want to run a race WITHOUT wind, don't sign up for the same race as me. It seems to be my thing. Here's the skinny, 1:32:45, 2nd overall female (a small race), 40 seconds behind the leader, windy. I'll be back later with a full report and splits. For now, I get to do laundry, my two year old woke up throwing up this morning...sad day. 

The good news is, the man child is feeling better. Lets get down to the nitty gritty. This was my second year running this race. Last year I placed first in my age division and got a free entry for this year. I'm a cheaper chicken so I like free things...Free running things? Even better. The race is run in and around South Jordan. An elevation loss but not too much of a decline. A few small hills, nothing too hard. It was well organized. The only beef I have with the actual race is that the finish line kind of sneaks up on you. For me, seeing the finish line gives me a boost and I end up running faster, its a mental thing I know cuz I can just as easily look down at my garmin and check the mileage. I remember last year being surprised that it popped up out of nowhere. This year, I knew that it came right after the last turn. 

I started this race with a 1:30 goal in mind. My plan was to do 7:00 min miles for the first 7 and then pick it up after the last small hill. When the wind started, I knew that plan had to change. I didn't want a repeat of the Utah Valley Marathon where I knew I should have slowed up in the wind. So slow up I did. Because this course turns all directions, I knew eventually I'd have the wind at my back, I wasn't worried. When I got to mile 10-11, I thought to myself, "time to make it hurt." I really wanted to go fast the last 2-3 miles. Well the universe must have misunderstood me and instead heard, "time to make it windy..." Because it was. Right as you finish along the Jordan River Parkway, the wind picked up and I couldn't get under 7:00 min/miles. Finished and was surprised to hear that the female winner was only 40 seconds ahead of me. I didn't even see any other girls in front of me (I knew they were there, I just figured they were minutes ahead). Kinda bummed because I feel like the competitive part of me would have pushed harder to catch her, had I known that she was only 40 seconds ahead. Then again, maybe she would have pushed harder too, seeing that I was behind her. Who knows. I felt good about the performance and felt that I pushed it hard. I'm glad to see that I've learned from past racing mistakes. Not so glad to see the wind make an appearance at yet another race. (side note, not windy AT ALL where I live.)

Here are the splits: 7:24, 7:09, 6:53, 7:25, 7:27, 7:05, 7:16, 7:00, 6:58, 6:52, 6:48, 6:58, 7:05, 34 secs (6:53 pace)

For my own info. Took a clif shot block packet. Took two blocks 30 mins before the race. 1 at miles 4 and 5, 1 at miles 7 and 8. Seemed to work well because the nausea that usually hits the last couple of miles during the race, didn't hit me today. Although it did show up about 10 mins after the race was over. Still can't figure why I get so sick after races. I have yet to be able to partake of the post race goodies. They always sound so gross. 

Woohoo for races! 

6.95 painfully slow miles. Just the way I like it. Its getting cold.... not just the way I like it.

7.25 treadmill miles. AP 8:00 min/mile.

3 miles. Weight lifting class.

The ball of my left foot is aching as well as the arch of that same foot. I'm thinking plantar fascitis? Who knows. Its not horrible but I still can't walk around my hardwood floors (the upstairs to my house is all hardwood floor) without shoes on. Boo. 

Ahh the treadmill. We might as well get cozy and comfortable with each other, its going to be a long winter with the snow already hitting the ground. I love how its usually snowing on halloween in Utah so you can't see costumes underneath heavy coats... And when I say "I love" in that statement, I really mean, "I despise."

Naptime rickety treadmill run. 2 miles. Followed by lots of foam rolling, the stick, and stretching of the calves. (Thanks Jake!) Turns out I'm kind of tight everywhere, I haven't been foam rolling or using the stick as much as I normally do and I can definitely tell a difference. Let this be a lesson to me. 

Friday treadmill class. Major hills followed by one minute "on"(6:00 min/mi)/one minute "off"(10:30 min/mi) on a 3% incline for 10 min. Lots of electrolyte loss!

11 miles. Awesome weather this morning. I love that we got a little warm up again. 

I'm pretty sure my sweat tasted like candy corns today. I OD'd a little on the sugar yesterday. Got a little carried away making "haunted gingerbread houses." I swear the candy just jumped in my mouth. :)

My love for running AND candy goes hand in hand. :) 

Today I did a treadmill workout that I haven't done in a long time. I used this workout to get back to running after I had a baby. Its a ladder workout. A certain amount of time spent going fast followed by an equal amount of time for a recovery walk/jog. Here are the numbers.

1 mile warm up, 1 min on (10 mph/6:00 min/mile), 2 min (9.9/6:04), 3 min (9.8/6:07), 4 min (9.6/6:15), 5 min (9.5/6:19), 4 min (9.6/6:15), 3 min (9.7/6:11), 2 min (9.8/6:07), 1 min (9.9/6:04), about 1/2 mile cool down.

My recovery jogs were between a 10:00-9:30 min/mile. By the end I was a little nauseated so I know it was a good workout. :) 

2 miles before a weight lifting class and 1 mile after. My hammies are a little sore from yesterdays speedwork, nothing painful, just letting me know they are there. :) I have either a neuroma? or metatarsalgia? some funky business going on on the ball of my left foot. Its annoying, I need to get that figured out.

Happy Halloween!