I'm not crazy...I'm just bored!!

Legs Are Hammered.

That is all :) I got pretty confident about all this trail running and feeling good. Well, I put together a group to meet at Dave's house for Shaggy Mountain Loop which start/ending there gives us 10.5 and uphill home. Kelli, Amy, Scott, Dave, Curtis and I all met there and enjoyed the run...as much as we could. I did well with only walking a tiny bit of uphill, but the last 2 miles my legs were just SO fatigued. No pain, just fatigue. Fight through though, right? What doesn't kill me brings back my endurance and will help me push through the 55K on my birthday in 6 weeks!

Oh my legs. It was slow. I don't remember running on the TM at all...I didn't want to see the pace :) Just miles on the track to shake them out and get them moving again.

Skiing all day. If I didn't have crazy fatigued legs I would've run early morning, but since they were hammered I decided to give them a psuedo rest day :)

What to do after a rest day? run 18 miles :)

Amy and I started caravaning to the race, but then she slid and her car went over the curb! So, we left the car there and that simply meant I couldn't linger a bunch after the race, but needed to get her home. Good thing we were together! Her hubby was sleeping and not answering the phone. He was able to get a tow and get the car out while we were running though thankfully.

Amy and Lisa wanted me to run a 1:45, but with hammered legs I knew it wasn't happening. But, just around mile 4 I saw them turn the wrong way. They were maybe .25 mile ahead of me. I yelled and people whistled, but they didn't hear us :( So, I tried calling their phones, but no one answered. Poo. I was grateful that a car had gone after them...but not after they'd gone 1.25 off the route. I just pushed through and raced on. Pushing myself, but staying comfortable at the same time.

I took 2 min off my finish time, because I spent at LEAST that trying to get the girls back on track. Since this isn't a real official race anyway I'm adjusting my time :)

I called Lisa surprised they weren't back yet and she told me what had happened....ha! ooops. They'd gotten back on course, but by the time they got to the end they'd run 15.7 miles. Should've stayed with the slow one :) Their half split time was 1:46:XX, so I wasn't really all that slow behind them anyway. Oh well. It was a nice run and I didn't mind being alone.

When I got home I knew I should do more. I need to up my miles. I talked myself into doing just 5 more. A short little loop. I have a 55K coming up in 6 weeks. Get on the horse Rachel! So, I didn't even go in the house. I just took off on the loop. It was slower, but I got it done. Running on tired legs is what I need to practice, right?!?

A little speed work to start the week off. My legs are still fatigued. I can feel it going upstairs and when I start to run. So, I did 2 miles warm-up 8:30-9:00ish pace. One on the TM and one on the track...so I don't know for sure.

Then, I timed my mile 7:03. Crap. I remember running 6:40s. I need to get some speed back.

I went back to the TM and did 2 miles in 16:30 to recover and then did another mile on the track. I was hoping to hit sub 7:00, but it came in at 7:08. Still not bad, but man alive where is my speed?!? At the bottom of the bag of PB m&ms I've been eating I'm sure.

Then back to the TM for a cool down mile in 8:30. A wonderful start to the week.

Tuesday Ten with the Newtons.

Amy met us at the corridor. It was nice to have female company for the first uphill miles.

At the top I decided to try and push some tempo miles. It wasn't as easy as I had hoped, a little difficult...too difficult to be honest, but hit 7:30-7:40s for the miles.

AP for the run was 8:07, been a long time since Ive seen paces like that for a 10 miler.

Spin class. It has been too long, but a good sweat fest with good friends, I've been missing the Wednesday morning party too long!

Afterward I tried out my new slip on tri shoes. They worked well! Just 4 easy miles on the track. One warm-up, then I did sprint a lap, recover a lap for the next 2 miles (22 laps) then a final cool-down mile.

It was nice to get it all done and then head up to Soldier Hollow for a day of lazy man sledding with the family! I wish it wasn't so expensive!

Shaggy Mountain with the Newtons. Too bad I've been getting NO sleep all week. It was horrible. I was totally sleep running! I could've fallen asleep while I was running or been happy curling up under a tree to sleep for a few more hours. SO TIRED! Garmin died, no idea on time...probably better that way. Went back to bed!

Took the day off...one day of taper for my Oval marathon tomorrow. Hoping to hit at least a 50K.

Oh how I love this "race" my kind of race. I don't have to run fast...I just have to keep going. Five hours to run as much or as little as you want. Only problem is that you have to do it running around the track at the Olympic Oval.

I was lucky enough to have my daughter join me again this year and she not only completed her half again, but did 16 miles! WOW! It is amazing what you can do when you don't just sit around for five hours.

Marci came down to run with me this year too. It was SO nice to have her and Paul and Lisa and Kimberly and SO many others there to just run with and enjoy the company as we went around, around and around. Good company makes everything go better :)

Took a gu around 1:15, then at 2:00 I stopped to actually take in liquid, walk one lap to keep legs loose and then kept going. From that point on I did a Gu at the top of the hour (1st no caffeine then increasing caffeine amounts each hour) and endurolyte pills at the bottom of the hour. Worked like a charm! I would have Lauren grab my stuff for me and then have it ready to go as I came around so I wouldn't have to stop.

When it was all over I pushed the last lap, because I know that if you're tied with someone on lap numbers then they go with how fast the last lap was completed. I didn't want to lose by a few seconds :)  I figured I'd completed at least my 50K, but they were having problems with their machine being overwhelmed with the number of "laps" recorded. Shouldn't have trusted them this year, but with a garmin that only lasts 60 minutes, if that, I had to trust them. Grr.

There were ladies lapping me the first half and a few that hung on afterward, so I figured that I didn't have a chance of placing. Plus, last year taking 4th and getting nothing stung a little bit. With fueling and keeping the pace this year I thought I'd be in the top 5ish, but certainly not podium. So, I was at the aid station table after I got my medal and got in engraved. They had lots of left over gu that they told us to take. I certainly got my years supply out of it! Then everyone started yelling my name. What?!? Oh, I had placed and they were trying to give me an award. Score! I had taken 3rd! I really didn't think I'd done that well. But, the 2 women ahead of me I'd remembered seeing pass me nearly the whole time. This year they gave awards to the top 5 (Grr!) and so the 4th place was Marci which was fantastic to be there with her! We'd stayed side by side unitl the last hourish. I loved spending that time with her. I love that girl!

When they finally got a final lap count up they had my laps at 115, which is just exactly a 50K...hmmm. Seemed a little short. Paul then said his foot pod recorded 32.2 miles and another participant said they'd counted their laps and had 33 miles (I was lapping both of these guys the last hourish). Talking to numerous others it was agreed that somehow the lap count was off. I'm not fighting my position in the overall. I think that was accurate...more than. But, I really feel my lap count was off. I'm confident in saying that I finished 33-34 miles. Looking at paces for that time it seems accurate as well. So, to be honest I'll claim 33, not 34, but I'm sure it was somewhere in between there. I didn't ever really take any long breaks. The longest was the walking lap at 2 hours. Otherwise I was keeping a decent 8:30ish pace the whole time. Anyway, long story longer...I'm claiming 33 miles despite only having 115 laps officially recorded and I took 3rd. It was a fantastic day!!!

Six slow, easy recovery miles around the track with various friends :) A lot of them like it when I'm slow, because then they can run with me. I'd do a mile; rest, chat, do another mile...it took me a total of 1:45 to do the full 6 miles. Yup. I talk too much :) Then I did 15 min of biking with Kristy before I had to go get Adam from chuck-a-child.

Tuesday Ten. No goals or anything today, just survive. Still fatigued from Saturday and recovering, but I'm sleeping a lot (since Sunday) and trying to rest well!

Met Amy again and Jerry came with us too. I was, again, slow on the uphill, but that is no surprise. Then when we regrouped and hit the downhill I just felt good and ran. Amy peeled off and we started to drop Jerry. My garmin died at 8 miles, but Chad said we were hitting low 7's the last few miles (7:06, 7:14). Jerry's AP for the run was 7:57 and I'd gapped him enough those last few miles that mine would've been lower than that, because we hit the uphill stride for stride. Nice to see some faster paces coming back at little effort. I was still talking a bit and I didn't feel like I was pushing the envelope...a LOT easier than last week's 7:30s anyway. Crazy. I guess my body just wanted to run more miles :)  Either way, I'm not going to complain.

Oh how I love sleep! My plan was to wake up for spin again (I LOVE Danielle's class) and then do 6 after, but...well, my alarm went off and I was tired...so I slept :) woke up at 10:00! Oh, how I am blessed with children that sleep in. I was STILL the first one awake. Only problem was, I had to get to the gym quickly so I could have at least 1 hour before the day care closed. When I got there they were full. What the heck?!? Seriously?!? Poo. What now? As I was there they had 2 people come in and get their kids, so I asked if I could then slip Adam in. Since I'm a regular and not one of the "resolutionists" they let him in. YAY! But, I had only 50 minutes to get upstairs and get going, run 6 and get back to pick him up. Crunch time.

Did a warm-up mile on the track. Then started at 8;40mm and increased .1mph every song until I hit 7.5mph (8:00) I then had just over one mile left, so I busted it out and finished the 5 in 41 minutes at 1% I did it! Jumped off the TM and went and got Adam then streched with him. Felt good to get some good paces in. Recovering some semblance of speed. Didn't think it could happen this week, but I'm not complaining.

Shaggy Mountain. I felt good about it this morning, carried the hills well and took the downhill too. I have NO idea the pace...thank you garmin that dies, but the last mile I felt like I was really cruising and so I turned the watch on just to see the pace and I was hitting a 6:40-6:50. I may have just run a sub 7:00! Nice. Too bad I don't have a garmin to tell me for sure.

I did go back to sleep, then met Amy at the gym to have an easy workout while the kids played in Chuck A Child. We did the elliptical for an hour.

I went home intent on showering, but then I saw Heidi posted that she wanted to get out on a walk or run. I told her that I'd be happy to walk with her. So, she came over and we went exploring. Four-ish miles and some trail/ice walking. A great day out to enjoy the sunshine!!

Finally a shower and a wonderful afternoon/evening.

One bad thing about not blogging daily is sometimes you forget :) I know that I ran 2 miles and did the bike for an hour, but I can't remember if I ran them track/TM fast/slow...whatever. I did the miles and then got to read my new book on the bike for a while. If I'm going to do a century this year I've got to start getting more bike miles in.

A nice little taper for tomorrow's pacing/long run.

Another Saturday, Another race :) Back to my regular ol' routine I guess.

I was pacing the St George Half at 1:45; which was nice, because I wanted a little speed work in my long runs and this was perfect.Enough to keep it steady, but not enough to exhaust me. I was a little nervous about pacing 1:45 on the hills, but after a few miles I knew it was going to be okay and I fell into pace comfortably. Strange how sometimes I can't run a 10MM uphill, but then I can pace this half at a 1:45 and still talk to people and encourage them.

There were a few people that stuck with us the entire time. Then at mile 10 I announced that the warm-up was over and now it was time to start the 5K race. Then a few more of my usual comments to get people moving. A girl turned around and said "we need you on a loud speaker to get us through to the end!" I told her she should be lucky I was pacing faster, because the slower I go the more I talk and annoy everyone :) We got to chatting and the last few miles just flew by. Kaylee was her name and she had been in a horrible accident where she was hit head on by a truck, then spun into the other lane and rear ended by another truck! She had intense brain injuries and she shouldn't have lived. This was just in October and here she was running her first half back and killing it! I was SO impressed with her that I felt it was practically my duty to get her in under 1:45. So, I kept up with her and told her at the bridge I was going to let her go and finish strong and I would need to finish on pace. I did have to wait a bit for Andy to get there, which means I was running incredibly too fast those last couple, but I felt the encouragement I supplied to those around me was worth it. We finished on the race clock just under 1:45. Chip time came out 20 seconds early, but I'd rather  be 30 seconds early than 2 seconds late when pacing.

I got to visit with some great friends that were running and I heard Toby's name called right after I finished. I KNEW she should've come with us! She did an incredible job and I am SO proud of her 9 min PR for the course. She has worked hard to get there and I can't wait to see what spring brings for her.

I chatted a lot longer than intended, but then again...this is ME we're talking about :) I left at 12:27 to start my 2nd loop. My garmin died around mile 8, so it was a good thing I knew I was just going to run the course again and I didn't have to worry about miles. I stopped for a few minutes at the first aid station (also the last one, so it was still set up) to take a GU and drink/refill my water bottle. Good thing I did. I was late enough I didn't get any other water stops and I was out when I got back. I stopped again around mile 6 to text Craig and let him know about when I'd be back. I made one final stop before the finish line, because my hands just felt sticky and gross and I wanted to wash them. So, I stopped to grab some snow on the side of the trail, but it was frozen and I couldn't grab any, despite trying :) Oh well, finished up just as they were pulling the barriers down. The volunteers cheered me in and I told them I liked the course so much I decided to do it twice. I then refilled my water one last time, grabbed my stuff from we-got-your-back-shack (they are amazing!! Last minute race stuff and bag drop! I'm in love!) and headed back to the hotel. I'd run the mile over to the race with Lowell and so I decided to not inconvenince the family and just run back. A couple extra miles at that point is nothin'...right?

Ended the day rock climbing with the family which included a mile+ hike to and from Turtle Wall climbing area, because Chuckwalla was full. Then we went to Paulas for dinner and Nielsons frozen custard...yup, ate myself sick...fantastic day!

A fun hike to Pioneer Park where I squeezed through a rock, I have lots of bruises and scrapes to prove I did it! My kids left me like a stuffed pig, but with some courage and coaching from a stranger (who turned out to be a friend that grew up 2 houses away from me!) I made it through. It was crazy fun, but scary for those of us who are claustrophobic! After roaming around the area for a while and belaying Craig and the kids as they climbed then I decided that I needed to prove to myself I wasn't a scared stuffed pig, but that I could do it again without panicing! So, I did :) I felt like I'd just conquered a marathon for the first time. I did it! Small Victories, right?

Then we went on a hike to some petroglyphs, it was an easy hike, but with a 40lb toddler and pack on your back everything is a little harder. We had a great time seeking them out and finding them all! Then we visited the Anasazi Village and the kids loved it. What a wonderful day. I wore my trail shoes to make sure that wearing them for hours wouldn't bother me...all is good to go!

Gave up my favorite trail run (Turtle Wall) for my kids. They really wanted to go to the end of trail (we went less than half way climbing Saturday). I had planned to go with Brent and Sylvie and break in my trail RUNNERS with some red dirt. But, since the kids wanted to go timing wise with the hotel check out it just didn't work out unless I left the family and ran while they hiked. I decided to be a good mom and stick with the family. I got some more miles on my trail runners and red dirt too, since this is my back off week (2 high mileage weeks in a row = back off or injury for me; yes 60+ is high mileage) I figured it would be okay to take the day off running.

The kids had a great time climbing all over the red rocks and we stopped by Fractured Prune Donuts (no prunes involved! Named after a famous lady nick named Fractured Prunella)...SO YUMMY!!! Everyone should try them out. Warm, hand dipped donuts and you choose the glaze (lots of flavors) and topping. A good send-off to head home with. I hate when vacations are over.

Newtons Tuesday Ten. Poor Chad had to hand with slow ol' me. I thought I'd feel good like last week and pull some good paces...HA! Nope. Barely breaking 8's. Amy met us for the first 5 miles, but it was rough going for me. I seriously could NOT breathe. It felt like an elephant on my chest. I wanted to take my sports bra off! Everything felt like it was squeezing me. Breathing out was horrible. I don't know if it was the cold air, yucky air or if I'm getting sick, but dang! I don't want to feel that way again...ever. It did let up a little around mile 8, but it was still bad. 1:25:ish total.

After a little warming up and nap I got the boys off to their first day back to school from track break and then went to spin class. It was a little better than the run, but I still felt off. Lots of hills, oh the hills....

cop-out day. I met Amy at the gym, started running, but my legs were protesting. Aching shins and muscles. More than fatigue...I needed to stop the pounding. So I did. I walked at a 12.0 grade @3.0 - good workout, but no pounding. Just what I needed. I did that while Amy ran, then we hit the track slowly together for a mile. That was good :)

I then did the bike for 35 minutes and then ran a full mile alone to teach the legs that you don't stop after spinning. Then finished with a weight set 3X that included arms, abs and back. Gotta get that core back. Between each set I ran .3 of a mile around our track, gives it a little HIIT flare :)

Sad day for running, but a good recovery workout!

Oh man, the legs...the legs! I don't know why last week everything seemed so easy, but this week it all stinks, but it does. I was slow beyond belief. Poor Chad stuck with Me, Jerry and Kim. At least Jerry and Kim could keep up with him on the hills. Between being a pansy after falling last week and my general lack of enthusiasm from my legs...well, I did it. That is about all I can say for myself. The way home I was able to hit some low/mid 7's, but that was a nice downhill pull.

The neatest thing about this run was the fog/smog! It seriously looked like we were in a small town in the middle of nowhere. No lights except a few on the benchs in Herriman. Normally we can see the entire valley, and I guess we still could, but it was covered SO thick with the fog/smog that you couldn't even see Riverton, let alone South Jordan/Daybreak. It was crazy, I've never seen anything like it. I sure was glad I was breathing the air above all that crap though.

I was toying with going to spin and got dressed after getting home, but Adam was SO ornery yesterday because I'd woken him up that I decided I would only go if he woke up. Well, he didn't get up until 10:00, so I didn't go back to the gym. Oh well, happy babies are worth more than a spin class!

Since this is my back-off week I won't be doing high miles like the last two weeks on Saturday, so I decided to do 2 MLRs back to back instead.

Amy convinced me to get up at 6:00 to run 8, but then Chad upped the ante to 5:45...what is 15 min at that point? So, I put together an 8 mile route and the darn trails didn't cooperate. Stink! It was just too icy for a pansy like me to actually run, so we headed out to the roads and improvised. With the new route I had to add a loop on, but it ended up being a little long...so we did 8.5 (garmin died at 4.5...)

I then came home used the bathroom quickly and grabbed a drink then headed back out. I did 5, because I had to get home to wake up boys to get ready for school. Lauren had the day off, so I could leave them home...they just needed to wake up! After the wake-up call I grabbed Lucy and went out for what I thought would be 1.5, nope ended up being 2.0....oh well, I tried!

Got the boys off to school, froze my butt off waiting 20 minutes for Amy to bring her kids by, then showered. It was nice to have Lauren home to watch them while I showered. I think it still took me an hour to defrost my thighs and face!!! SO cold. But, it was done. Now I get to hang out with 4 cute kids and clean all day...ahh, the life of a mother :)

Amy talked me into running the Chad 10 miler but from my house. I missed the downhill at the end, but it is always good to mix it up. After Amy left to go home I went out for my tried and true 5 mile route. I got the 15 done and it wasn't fantastic, but it got done. It is nice to have a shorter Saturday and be done and showered by 10:00! I even got another little nap before I had to head off to basketball.

walking for 90 min with a friend at the Olympic Oval. Nice talk with an old friend.

Another fun day at the gym :) 2 miles on the track with Amy then I hit the TM as she headed off. I wasn't sure I wanted to run at all, but I let my music keep me going. I started at 7.0 then decided every 2 songs to up the speed .1 - until I hit 7.5, then I'd see what the mileage was at and finish that mile. I finished 6 miles in 50 minutes. A decent pace and I was just happy to get off the TM.

I then did a weight set for arms and core with a sprinting lap after each set.  I did 3 sets and with the extra laps I ran with Adam around the track while his class was on the track I called it a good 8.5

Tuesady Ten. I felt better today than last week, that is for sure! I also got to bed earlier which was nice to get a good 7 hours before getting up early.

Amy sent me splits for the first 5 miles and I only had one uphill mile over 9:00, which for me on that route is pretty darn good. Then, on the last few miles of downhill Jerry gave me the splits and we were 7:05-7:10, so I'm pretty sure my overall AP was around or just under 8:00. A much better pace than I held last week!!

I went to the rec center after getting kids off to school and rode the bike for an hour and read. Getting into a new good book...need reading time :)

Amy talked me into running early with her. I'm actually getting to bed earlier and so getting up early is okay, funny how that works! We met at her house, because she had to be home, in the shower by 6:15, so we figured it would be easiest to meet there...plus more time to run. We did an 8 mile loop with the hills all at the front end. I struggled! BUT, we finished with a nice AP of 8:30 - not too shabby for a nice, easy, hilly morning run!

After getting kids off  I again went to the gym and did the bike and read. Always a good hour of reading on the bike :)

Shaggy Mountain. Oh the snow! At least we had some tracks to follow. One car had been through the road, so we didn't have ankle deep snow. On the way up the canyon we had to dodge a few plows and even got a nice splash from one...blech! The dirt roads weren't bad...icy, but when we hit the pavement and it WAS plowed, it was SO yucky and slippery. I kept screaming like a girl and flailing my arms :) I had to slow down the downhill so I didn't die. It was a slower run, but given the conditions we really couldn't complain.

Craig was home and I slept in! Oh, it was fantastic. I didn't want to run, it took a LOT to get me out the door. Not having anyone to meet or a certain time to go and be home makes the start drag out! I finally got out the door and after a few miles was really just enjoying it and the temps were tolerable and almost enjoyable. I didn't feel like I was going fast, but after doing map my run to find mileage and knowing the time I started and ended my AP was around 8:25 - that includes stopping at least 4 times to pick up trash and run it to the next trash can...I remember why I don't like running in the daylight on garbage day. My conscience gets to me and I end up on a trash run :)