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

This sick baby/no sleep thing is getting old...My 8 hours of sleep last night felt like less than the 5 hours the night before! Having baby sleep in my bed is SO hard. He isn't a quiet peaceful sleeper and when he is sick he is pretty needy all night. The 5 hour night he actually never came into our room! That is why I slept so well.

Anyway, I slept/tried to sleep all morning. Finally at noon I got my butt out of bed. I ran with Kristy at 3:00ish. It was a wonderful afternoon! Sun shining, blue clouds, perfect temps. It was worth it. I was happy that she was going a little slower so I could enjoy it more :)

I know it wasn't much for the day, but the way I'm feeling I'm happy I got out. Let's hope that This doesn't mean I'm starting to get sick.

I was supposed to go run Utah Lake this morning, but I just didn't feel right about it. I couldn't say why. I knew if Davy Crockett was going that it would be safe, but I had to listen to my gut...and it said no. 

So, as punishment for my being a pansy I made myself do a 20+ miler. I honestly thought it would be 21 or less. I can't add well...or google maps or my garmin are crap.

I ran from my house to Kelli's house and met her and Amy then we ran to Run Gr8 for their women's group 7 mile loop. About 2 miles into that loop I started just not feeling well. I was grumpy and ornery all morning and it must've just been the indigestion I was giving myself. I even made Kelli stop once, because I felt like I was going to hurl if I kept running. Shortly after we came by a pop and took a short break too. I felt a little better, but was lagging behind where my speed should've been. Effort was high, speed not so.

I made it back to the shop with only one other break and I was about to throw in the towel. 15 miles is good, right? Ugghh. You planned a 20+ now don't be a pansy and just do it. I sat around Run Gr8 for a while and was probably the last person to leave. Kelli met Scott and took off for 12-15 more...I gracefully bowed out of the 'crazy miles' competition when I heard that! I finally had no more excuses left and started my climb back home. 

The last 7 miles were all uphill home. The garmin has them all at 130-150ft of gain/mile. Sometimes living where I do makes me crazy. No downhill home. But, I still managed to slug through it and I only lost 20 sec/mile on my AP :) I checked when I left the shop and I was at 8:28, finished at 8:50...nice. Uggghhh.

Note to self....finish runs by 10:00. After that time you will inevitably get an onslaught of phone calls forcing you to stop and answer them, because you are worried it is your husband/family. Only once it was, and it was a pointless unnecessary call :) I did also stop to play 'peeping tom' on my daughter at the rec center. I figured the tri class would be running the track, so I stopped on the opposite side of the street (where I was running) and stared into the windows on the track and spotted her run by a few times. I thought maybe she'd see me, but she never did :( So, I ran home. Got a phone call from her that she was done just about a mile before my finish line.

I'm glad that I did the run and didn't let myself wimp out. I have a 33 miler on my 33rd birthday on 2/15 that I intend on tackling. I think I needed a good training run for it! I probably should've done more, but I think with my 3 mile downhill finish on the run I'll survive. Plus, I'll have some good friends to convince me I can do it too. If you haven't gotten an invitation on FB yet, here is yours: Come run at 8AM with me on my birthday Friday morning (2/15). Message me for details.

I didn't reset my watch from Friday's run, so when I added the first 3 miles to Kelli's house onto my AP total it came out to be a TT: 3:10:48; AP: 8:47; Miles: 22; 1400ft of elevation gain; splits: 8:31, 8:04, 8:08, 8:19, 8:10, 7:58, 8:15, 8:08, 8:47, 8:25, 8:35, 8:27, 8:32, 8:52, 8:52, 9:17, 9:59 (didn't stop as I made a couple short stops at corners, 9:31, 9:31, 9:39, 9:47, 8:52, 8:40...at least I had a nice finish on the bit of flat home :)

A wonderful run for a Saturday and after a short stretching session and rest, I felt ready to run again :) A little stiff and sore, but nothing horrible.

Mileage Goal Update for the Year:

274 miles - On my way to QP's house, I am just outside Wamsutter, WY. Around mile post 180 on I-80 Eastbound in the lovely Wyoming :) About half way across the state. Next State...Nebraska. I should be there around early March. Keep an eye out for me :)

2 warm-up miles on the track. Sometimes I love the track, sometimes I hate it. This morning I didn't mind it! Especially when I got on the TM afterward and an 8:20 at my 1% incline felt rather easy. Makes me realize I'm still working hard.

3 miles on the TM. Decided to do some 1/2 mile pick-ups. So, I did .25 @ 8:20 then did .5 @ 6:53; return to the 8:20 for a half and so on. It was nice, because it made watching the 3 miles go quickly, because I only had a quarter before and after the pick-up. I am going to hit this one a little bit more in the future. TT: 22:40 AP: 7:33 - not too shabby for an 'easy' TM run.

Then I finished up with 2 more on the track with Amy. I was happy to see her! A nice visit to cool down. I then went and got Adam from the daycare. I've been told that he is no longer contagious, but his cough still sounds blechy, so I only wanted to leave him an hour.

I put him in the stroller with the plan of riding the bike for the next hour, but there were some girls on both bikes and so I walked, but then decided to run slowly with the stroller while I was waiting and my other friend Amy (who runs about that pace) ran the mile with me. The last lap the girls were wiping down the bikes...perfect.

Finished up on the bike for a good solid 20 sweaty minutes. Would've liked a little more time, but I'll take what I can get on a Monday.

Tuesday 10 with the Newtons. I'm denying that I'm sick. A week not getting more than a foot away from sick baby will NOT catch up to me. I forgot my garmin this morning which is probably a tender mercy. I was under a 9mm, because I left my car at 5:31 and got back in to go home at 7:04, so I know with the chatting and one stop we made that I was at least under a 9mm, but that was about all my legs could muster today.

I got up, I ran. That is all I can ask of my body today. I'm not sick, I repeat...not sick. However, I won't be doing anything else today. The Machine is out of order.

Nothing. After not being sick all day Tuesday, I actually woke up NOT feeling so sick on Wednesday :) I figured it would be best to rest and let my body heal 100% - so I did. Unless cleaning the kitchen and folding a mountain of laundry count for anything.

Ahh, back to the life. As I stepped outside to join the Newtons for a run I saw a beautiful moon just over the mountains to the South! I even took a picture I was so in love with it. Chad was a little late, so George and I waited inside until he got there. He was late on purpose so that we could see the sunrise on our way home...it was worth it :)

8 miles on our Hi Country Loop. No peak this time, because we shortened the loop to cut out the snow road. I missed that. Next time I think I'll just make the group back track to the peak for fun! My trail shoes did well and didn't bother my feet, except now I regret not putting my arch supports in. PF isn't too happy, but nothing a night in the splint won't cure. 

AP: 8:58 splits: 9:18, 9:49, 10:28, 9:54, 8:05, 9:01, 7:32, 7:49, 7:33 (last .17 of a mile that I'm going to not mess up my round number with)

A quick change and warm-up while cuddling my cute little baby boy under my heated blanket when I got home, then banana and whipped cream stuffed french toast for the kiddos for breakfast and then I dropped them off at school and took Adam to chuck a child at the gym.

Spin class. Oh the hills. Heidi loves the hills. I only got 14.5 miles in during the 52 minutes on the bike. Stink that was hard!

Then hit TRX class. I really like that class, but sometimes in the middle of class I want to punch someone. I'm always SO tired and exhausted, but I feel like I've got to give it my all to not look like a pansy. Ugghhh. It is always worth it.

PM: Picked up Kristy and went back to the gym to run with her. She finally got some new shoes, so I was hoping her knee would hold up a little more than normal. We did a warm-up mile on the track. Then I've prescribed some speed work for her. 2 min off/1 min on X 5. She did them at 5.3 mph and 7.0 mph. I ran at a consistent 7.0 the whole time next to her. I was happy that she was able to get through it and didn't want to punch me :) She is only up to 3+ miles at a time, so we couldn't do much more, but she finished 1.5 miles on the TM. Then, we did a full mile cool down on the track. 3.5 is good for her especially with the speed work.

My hope is that since she can only spend so much time pounding her knee (multiple surgeries, no cartilage) that if we help increase her speed she can go further on the same amount of time. When the speed is up to 9mm, then we can begin to add mileage to equal the amount of time at 11mm. Sounds reasonable, right? If I'm way off base, anyone is welcome to tell me!

So, I ended with a total of 4 extra for the evening rounding my daily total to 12. Not too shabby...almost makes up for a pitiful Wednesday.

2 miles on the track to shake things out. Body is sore today! Yesterday kicked my trash.

2 miles on the TM, AP: 8:30

1 mile on the track, then I was going to hit the bike, but Kelli finished with spin and wanted to run a bit, so I decided to tag along :)

2 more on the track. Not feeling the love today. Pushed through and figured it didn't kill me, so I'll hope it made me stronger.

7 miles with the Run Gr8 group, stopped with the leader to make sure all the ladies doing 7 turned at the right spot, then took off to try and catch the front of the group again. Made it by mile 3! Hung with and chatted with some ladies from the group on the way back. A great run :)

TT: 59:04 AP: 8:26, splits: 9:01, 8:07, 8:26, 7:44, 9:00, 8:23, 8:22

Drove to the Olympic Oval to meet a friend who is training for her first full marathon at Ogden this year. She needed 11 miles. I was hoping to get there early enough to do at least 2 before she got there, I got 8 laps.

Then we started off and I was having a hard time keeping up. I was tired and she was fresh! We kept a decent pace, but after 6 miles I took a caffeine gu to help me out. It was worth it. A few miles later she was saying she could tell my gu had kicked in :)

We finished 41 laps, which was a little over 11 miles, but with the extra from my 2 miles and that I got an extra half mile. Excellent. Our overall pace was just under 9mm (after adding in my 2 before by myself). Not too shabby. Steph really keeps a good pace. I can't wait to see her smash the Full!!

Overall AP 8:46

Now off for a fun GNO with my daughter!

Gym day...needed the chuck a child so I could sleep in :)

3 on the track. 2 with Amy, then she started doing 1/1 speed work. She would run one easy with me then sprint until she caught up with me again. One time I was close to the start/end of the lap and so I picked it up, because I could hear her coming and she said "Hey! No sprinting!" :) hehehe

2 on the TM. TT: 16:00 AP: 8:00. Started at 8:34 and went progressive the second mile enough to pull the overall down to 8:00.

40 min on the bike reading.

Trying to take it easy this week so I won't die on my 33 mile run Friday for my 33rd Birthday celebration!

Tuesday 10 with the Newtons. Not much sleep, but I can always sleep later :)

I don't think my stomach likes this route. I almost stopped at the rec center on the way back, but figured I could make it. The rest of the day a little gremlin was swirling around in my gut trying to eat its way out of my stomach. I didn't eat or do much else.

AP: 8:26 splits: 8:58, 9:02, 9:02, 9:15, 8:09, 8:35, 8:05, 7:52, 7:41, 7:47, 7:31 (last .04)

With no eating yesterday, I took today off. All in the name of tapering for Friday :) 

8 mile hill chaser route with Newtons. My day off didn't make me faster, plus I had it in my head I didn't want to push anything, so I didn't. This made me the sweeper the whole run. Everyone else was busting a move! I stopped a couple times (on the downhill actually) and just stopped and enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL views! A light, windless falling snow, beautiful lights across the valley. I just had to enjoy it, especially on a day like today. You've got to stop and appreciate the things you love the most and running IS my only Valentine :)

AP: 9:07 splits: 9:13, 9:15, 10:19, 10:10, 8:21, 9:31, 8:00, 8:20, 8:03 (last .15)

Anyone that wants to tag along tomorrow for the 33 for my 33rd birthday, message me and I'll send you details!!

Had a little mix up. I was planning on doing the Run Gr8 run...just 5, but work got it all messed up. Oh well. Surprisingly my legs felt good! It was all that dancing :)

My HUBBY wanted to go to the gym, so I went and did the bike for 1:15:00 then walked the track pushing 'work' around. I work with children in the foster system that have disabilities. So, I had a 21 year old who is in a stroller/wheelchair. 150+ pounds isn't easy to push around a tight track like that. But, it helped the legs feel even better! Stretched and went home to enjoy the rest of the day!

What was I thinking? Hmmm, well, I was thinking it was a holiday and on holidays you get in a nice long run :) Plus, my legs felt pretty good, so I just went for it! Why not!

This was our Newton's 10 mile loop, plus the 8. So, you can read in there - LOTS of elevation! over 1700ft of gain and you don't really get downhill until mile 12-13. 

Met Chad, everyone else bailed, and we did the loop at a better pace than I expected, I only had to stop at the top of the big hill to stretch my calves and then at the cove to get some fuel. I could tell my fuel was dipping down. I did also stop at home (we run right by!) to say good morning to kids and grab a swig of coke to get me the last 3 miles to Chad's house. The kids thought I was done, but I told them I had to run to go get the car :)

I'm grateful that Chad was willing to run slow with me today and let me reign in his super fast legs a little. I told him that he gets to count an extra 5-7 miles for the extra time spent on his feet!

It felt great to put in a good long run after my Friday 33 miler! I think I'm hitting a good pace and rhythm with my running and training right now. Speed is the only thing lagging behind. I'm hoping that will naturally come with a bit of focused training.

AP: 8:48, splits: 8:40, 8:44, 9:05, 9:24, 8:21, 8:35, 8:51, 9:33, 10:41, 10:04, 8:38, 9:05, 8:00, 8:28, 8:01, 7:58, 8:17

You can certainly tell where the BIG hills hit :)

Tuesday 10 with Chad and George. I almost chickened out thinking "hey, I've run a lot, I'll just do a few at the gym and sleep in and...." "GET OUT OF BED LAZY!!" So, I ended up just getting up and doing it. The wind wasn't fun and I was dragging for sure, but it was a good run and the first time in weeks this loop hasn't made me sick!

AP: 8:38 splits: 9:02, 8:50, 9:25, 9:47, 8:27, 8:37, 8:09, 8:01, 8:05, 7:57, 7:45 (last .1)

Went home and snuggled into bed to get warmed up and then after getting kids off went to the gym for spin class. Oh, my...more hills. It was a good workout though, Allison always makes it fun!

I really just didn't want to run today. You won't hear me say that often, but today I just didn't want to, so I didn't :) I figured between F-Tu I had run over 60 miles and I could take a x-training day. It really will screw with my miles this week...but, whatever. Sometimes you have to listen to your body.

Spinning on the bike for 60 minutes,

Swimming for 30 minutes - pulling. Oh man, I forgot what a good upper body workout pulling is! I did some with fins too, but most was just pure pulling.

There is probably more road than dirt on this loop, so wearing my trail shoes probably isn't the best idea, but I've got to break them in somehow!

George and Chad again on the Shaggy Mountain Loop. I wondered the whole time up the hills how in the world I did it on Monday after doing the first part of the 10 mile route! I drug a little on the uphill, but with a little power walking mixed in on the dirt parts I was able to overtake George and stayed up with the group the rest of the time. 

The fun part was seeing the beautiful views of the valley! The bad part was almost killing myself stepping in a hole while I was gawking!

AP: 8:46 (new record for this route!) splits: 9:11, 9:17, 9:59, 9:56, 8:18, 8:54, 7:23, 7:30, 7:04 (last .2)

The best part was seeing those mid/low 7's and knowing that they didn't feel forced! I was comfortable and talking. Ahhh, I love running :)

I went home and got ready in my gym clothes before snuggling into bed to warm up, but my mom (ugghhhh, long story) needed me to take her to an appointment and I finally found an orthopedic doc that would see her that morning at 11:00, so I didn't get to do spin and TRX :( I was sad, but family first. I'd already done 8 miles and had to just be good with that.

Took a rest day for a couple reasons:

My house is a DISASTER! I haven't been able to get it cleaned for over a week. You crunch as you walk along the floor. It needed desperately to be cleaned! I had just been doing everything for everyone else and now I needed to take this time for me. 

I had an appointment in the early afternoon, so if I tried to do both the gym and cleaning I'd never get it all done. It was one or the other.

If I'm going to do what I want to do Saturday, I need fresh legs. Six hours of stairs isn't going to be easy!

Lots of rationalization, but I did spend a good 6+ hours on the house. I finally feel functional in my home again, and my legs were rested. Now, I just need a "house cleaning" mileage box :)

Gym morning, so I could sleep in :)

2 on the track. The sprinter man was back. He runs the track, but on the back straightaway he sprints. Drives me nuts. I pass him and then he kicks by me, I pass him, he kicks by me...just gets a little annoying. But, he kept my pace decent, so I won't complain. 

Then my friend Sara had me run a bit with her and I tried to help her a little with her form and gave her some drills to try. Helpful, but not a lot of workout :)

Grabbed a TM. 8:35 pace (7.0) seemed Waaay too slow. Which is strange. Must've been hauling to keep passing sprinter man. So, I went to 8:00 (7.5) then did a progressive 2nd half of the mile ending at 6:19 (9.5). Repeated this twice. TT = 15:30; AP= 7:45

Ran one on the track to help Sara again (she went to do squats, then we were supposed to try running again), but she bailed and had to work.

Back to the TM to finish up. First mile same progressive sequence with same AP for the first mile, then the last mile was a cool-down @ 8:35.

Rode the bike for the next 40 minutes while I took care of some FB business...love multi-tasking.

Stretched out the hip, quads and calf. Still a little tight, but thankfully not bad.

Classic Tuesday 10 with the Newtons. Chad and George had to wait for me at the top of the hill, my legs have had it with climbing :) George went on ahead and I told Chad it would be his challenge to reign him in. Well, before I knew it George was right in front of us. Chad tricked me into going fast enough to catch him. I'd call him a jerk now, but when faster speeds feel good and I'm just relaxed and chatting along the way I can't really complain :) we kept him right in front of us until the last 1/2 mile to Chads house. The two of them took off to battle out first place. I was content with my 7:30ish pace and let them go. Chad won, but George put up a good fight!

A wise man once told me that with less recovery you have to expect less from your body. I was ready to go to the gym this morning, but I haven't been getting much sleep (my own fault), my back (SI joints) hurts like the dickens and I have some other little aches. So, I'm staying home and not pushing myself. I will get a good nights rest and then tackle cross training another day. Trying to be smart...

AP: 8:28; splits: 8:54, 8:36, 9:19, 9:41, 8:18, 8:36, 8:01, 7:50, 7:45, 7:44

A little TM work with a little sleeping in :)

I had just over an hour at the gym before I had to leave and get ready for our tax appointment. 7 miles (with all my talking) was all I could do.

2 on the track with Amy, then she was done.

4 on the TM in 32:50 - went progressive starting at 7.2mph and increasing every 2 songs on my ipod, then even more progressive the last mile ending at a sub 6mm mile for the last .05 AP: 8:13

1 more on the track to get to seven. A good effort and probably around a 7:30 if my internal pacing was working :)

LOVED my tax appointment. Might be able to finish the basement after all...

Herriman Highlands Loop with the Newtons...Chad and George. I actually kept up with the group today and wasn't always the last one up the hills. For my effort I was rewarded with a new course PR this morning and I only did 2 walk breaks on the hardest hills. Improvement!

A gorgeous, clear and crisp morning. The moon was out, the lights were bright and the views fantastic! I can't wait to get to see the beautiful sun rises in the summer. It is going to be breathtaking. We're starting to get just a hint of light on our downhill/final miles. Makes me giddy!!!

AP: 8:46 Splits: 9:09, 9:23, 9:52, 9:22, 8:09, 8:55, 7:42, 7:48, 7:46 (last .2)

Warmed up and took my little 30 minute snooze, then got kids out the door for school and myself to the gym.

Spin class. She had us make a goal to hit 20 miles in the hour we were there. I did it in less than 55 minutes. Made me feel good that I can keep a higher turnover. Can't wait for camp in St George next weekend!

TRX class. Man alive. I should go to this class sometime when I'm not burnt out! Got through it, even the killer abs circuit the last 2 times around.