Boo Legs

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!