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

2 miles to start out on the track. I didn't want to know the pace, but I think it was decently fast. I finished in less than 18 minutes, but more than 16...so, lets say 8:30.

3 miles on the TM. 1@ 8:34, next @ 8:27, last @ 8:20 with a progressive last 1/4.

TT: 25:20 AP: 8:26

1 mile to finish up on the track. I meant to track time, because I wanted a fast finish, but I didn't. The effort was harder than the TM so I'm gonna call it a sub 8 - no idea really.

Home to get the kids off to school then back to the gym. Fartlek got a thumbs up for daycare behavior! Even a smile out of the ladies with "good job!"

Spin class. Not as hard as yesterday, but hard enough! Legs were tired, I was done - so I left :)

Now after a long day and a short nap I'm going to play racquetball with the hubby! woot woot!

Being nice to the foot in prep for a long run tomorrow.

Spin class - not the most difficult, but still okay.

45 min on the elliptical

Had to get home and showered - got to read Dr Suess to the kids at the elementary for 2 hours this morning!! Fun stuff, I loved it. I would really enjoy being a 'book on tape reader' - even if no one liked my voice :)

Sixteen glorious, beautiful and fun filled miles!!! Toby was kind enough to drive to the end of the Earth for this run, and I hope it was worth it for her. I picked up Chad, then we met Toby and shuttled up to Highland HS to meet the speedies to do and out and back up Emigration Canyon. After 4 miles up I was having flashbacks to trying to run at a 6% incline on the TM, luckily before I'd go into convulsions I'd get a nice relief in the form of a roller and be able to push on!

Turned around at 8 miles up and Toby and I were definitely ready to head back down. Paul was in for a couple more and continued the uphill climb. We had a nice relaxing downhill 8 back to the car with just a couple stops for water/gu.

Simply a wonderful morning and although the sun never came out there was no wind and it wasn't freezing cold. I had a lot of anxiety about this run, but at the end I felt good and it gave me confidence that I can do this again - with a lot less anxiety about it. Those first few long runs back are always hard.

Hubby doesn't have Garmin installed on the computer yet (thank you Fartlek for frying the motherboard, another one of his destructive signature moves), so I don't know pace. I did glance before I turned it off at the end and I noticed we were sub 10's going up and around 9's coming down. So I think we were around a 9:30 AP. Not too shabby for that crazy climb! I'll take it.

I'll also take my foot feeling pretty decent. It feels better than after a 4 or 6 miler, so I'm not going to complain at all. I'm going to try and maintain around 40ish a week through March and ramp up the long runs in April before Ogden. I feel like recovering that base mileage and getting the foot back in order is more important than pulling high mile long runs right now. I'll definitely finish - maybe not in the time I'd like, but I'll do it. Blah. Another bunk marathon. I don't think I'll ever get that BQ - running life is just against me right now. I'll just keep running the same speed and expect to get there when I'm 50 :)

Thanks again Toby! I had an epic run this morning and I'm SO glad you were able to come along! I can't wait for warm weather and more long runs!

okay - the plan. I'm now going to try and maintain 35-40 miles/week this month and get this foot under control. Then I will have 7 weeks until Ogden to build from 16 - 22 miles to not die at the marathon. I think this is the best plan I can take right now. So, my daily miles will be low, but I think in the long run it will be best. sigh.

4 miles on the TM with Kelli. Oh how I love a nice leisurely stroll on the TM while chatting with Kelli! She is amazing. 1% incline, 8:34 for the first mile - except the last  quarter I went to 8:00 while Kelli took a quick pop stop - 8:27 for the 2nd mile, 8:20 for the 3rd mile, The 4th mile I went progressive every quarter, until the last one I went every .05 to end at 7:30mm. (TT: 33:45 AP: 8:26) I really didn't feel fatigued or taxed at all during the run. All good signs! Foot is there, not horrible, but lets me know it is there. 

Spin class. Not my favorite teacher, but a good workout.

Home and Ab ripper X for some fun.

I then had 30 min till the clothes were done washing so I decided to go do the recumbent bike I'm 'renting' from my neighbor for a bit and read - just until the clothes were done, then I'd shower. HA! Finally got into my book and had to just keep going. 75 minutes later I got to a decent stopping point :) I'm now paying .15/day for the book, because it is on a long wait list at the library and I can't renew it. I'm almost half way done. "Unbroken" interesting true story!

four more miles...they will add up in the end, right? *sigh*

it took all I had to get out of bed this morning, baby decided to wake up screaming for about 10 seconds every 20 minutes for about 3 hours last night - it was an awesome night.

ran on the track this morning, because I didn't want to stress about time/pace and just enjoy the miles. we were running the correct way on the track so I got a beautiful view of the sunrise each lap. It made me antsy to get outside again.

I kept the pace high, it wasn't easy, but it wasn't hard either - maybe, comfortably hard? So, I'm going to say it was sub 8:30mm, even though I swear when I added time on the clock it said over 40 minutes. Either I don't know how to properly add time, tell time when I start, count laps or guess my AP by effort. I swear I wasn't running slower than 10mm!!!

Anyway, finished up the last 30 min on the elliptical then went home to get kiddos off to school.

By the time I raced back in the rec center spin passes were gone. I was even there before 9 - which is difficult with pre-school drop off! Oh well, I had my book and thought I'd spin on the bike on the track, but it was being used so I went to the elliptical and spent another 55 minutes there.

Took Adam to swim class afterward, he always loves it there and I like the additional 30 min of workout it gives me while he thinks I'm just playing with him :) Good times.

Didn't want to wake up, but I knew it just had to get done - so I did it. I've been SO lucky that sometimes the only open TM is always next to Kelli. I think she intimidates too many people by looking so cute and running so fast all the time :)

Decided to do hills today, ha. hills in 4 miles. 1 mile warm-up 1% @ 8:27, then I waited until the minute mark. Pace consistent @ 8:57, then I increased the incline .5 every 30 seconds until 7%. Took a 2 min recovery flat, then started at 7% and decreased every 30 sec to 1%. Total of 12 minutes (1.3) miles of climbing. I failed to noticed the vert.

After another 2 min recovery at 1% and 8:57, I took the speed up t o8:27 to finish out the 3rd mile. 4th mile all at 1% and increased speed every quarter (started 8:20) and then the last quarter went progressive every .05 of a mile to finish at 7:30 pace. Felt good, nice to put some speed in after hard hill climbs.

Got to go to spin today! yay! Danielle is my favorite teacher and her strength class Wed mornings is the bomb. Jello legs for sure.

Home and shredded it up with Jillian. L3, so lots of plyo moves; glad it is only 20 min :)

Had to get some reading in while the bread was raising, so I finished with 60 min on the recumbent bike while reading. Dang that Luis Zamperini! Every time I think he is finally going to be okay I turn the page and the guy is up to his eyeballs in it again! I honestly think I could beat his mile time before I could endure all that he (so far that I've read anyway) has gone through! Seriously, that man is resilient!

Mandatory sick day....

Yesterday about 11AM I picked baby up from a nap and he was HOT, uh oh... Well, nothing would really break the fever all day (even alternating meds) and the night was long and sleep was fickle. Finally a 2AM warm bath helped bring his temp down to 103.5... I think I finally slept restlessly from 3AM-7AM while he tossed and turned next to me in bed, but at least not crying or screaming.

Doctors appointment this morning (with a broken fever, thankfully!) revealed blisters on his throat: hand, foot and mouth disease. Nothing to do now but get fluids in and hope the fever doesn't come back. 24 hours from fever break he will no longer be contagious, now I just wonder about the rest of the household.

Heaven help me. My head is pounding, my eyes are drooping, my legs ache to go running....

Why can a child be happy and awake all day and then scream and cry all night? No fever back, but the little guy is obviously not happy - especially at night! Got about 2 hours of sleep before the every 30-60 minute screaming started. I really need some sleep! I'm excited to get out tomorrow morning since hubby will be home. I already feel like a caged animal not able to go anywhere :(

Seriously? How can he be awake and playful and happy right now after 2 nights in a row like that?!? I don't get it, I'm just waiting for nap time now....

First, just let me say NINE glorious hours of sleep!! I was in heaven this morning when I woke up! Little did I know what my body had in store for me...

I had originally planned to back off on a long run this weekend and do my tri class at the rec center and just 8-10 miles total. With the past 2 days off I've been itching to not see my weekly miles in the 20s, so I changed plans. Thank goodness for beautiful, wonderful, inspirational Toby who was willing to put up with my whining for another week. 

Met Kim, Scott, Rob and Toby at the JRP and we headed South first to Bluffdale to get the 'bump' over with. I felt decent on the run and was having a good time just plugging along visiting. Even the way back felt okay - wind at our back and things were good. Only problem? We were only at mile 7. By mile 10 I was exhausted, it felt rather SGM-ish, plugging along all my mental energy to just put one foot in front of another. Crap, I was exhausted! I was breathing SUPER hard and could hardly talk while just pulling 9:30ish miles, what was wrong with me?

Well, thanks to Toby I pushed through and turned around at mile 11 - only 4 left to get back to the car. Four is easy, stop in one mile and get a drink at Mulligans and gu and I can get through this. I did my best to stay mentally strong, but I think poor Toby was more than aware that I was ready to kill over at any given second.

The last 3 miles I made us stop every mile so that I could just catch my breath and recover enough to go on. Toby's water belt and her good attitude saved me! Eyes could hardly focus, plodding along, head spinning, side aches, I just wanted to lay down and curl up in fetal position until someone came back to get me.

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger! right? Well, I wasn't dead and I knew I had to get back to the car. Pushed through the last 1.15 without stopping and I was done. Hallelujah! I seriously have never felt so crappy, except during SGM this last year. I did it though. I didn't care if my AP was 12mm, I'd finished and that was the biggest plus for me! I wasn't dead, so I was stronger!

After thinking about it, I THOUGHT that 2 days off (even with little/no sleep) would make this run amazing, but I forgot one thing...I've been with a sick baby. Just like before SGM, I think my body is fighting an internal battle I can't see or feel. No fever or anything (adults don't really get symptoms, but are carriers), but my body knows it is fighting hard and when I try to push myself through a long run like this I just fall apart. This is probably one reason why although I've done nothing but sit for the past 2 days I didn't feel like I WANTED to do anything. No walks, no nothing. I was fine just sitting around. My body is sick and fighting, it just can't tell me that. So, I push it hard and it pushes back by making me feel like death while I run. So, like I said - I'm not dead, so I must be stronger for this one!

I was surprised our AP was as low as it was since I felt like I was dragging through mud the majority of the time. Faster than last week, but felt 10X harder! The best news is that even now my foot feels pretty darn stinkin' good. Not 100% for sure, but I'll take the 80% better it feels. I'm proud of myself for making it through this run and I'm SO grateful I had Toby to drag me along, I'm really not sure I would've made it otherwise - at least without crying :) Thanks Toby - I owe you, BIG time!

AP: 9:15, splits: 8:50, 9:15, 9:33, 9:24, 9:12, 9:18, 9:04, 8:41, 9:04, 9:13, 9:22, 9:11,  9:44, 9:33, 9:23.

I really need to go to bed earlier...no baby to blame the tiredness on today, just my drama filled life and staying up too late. 12:30 bed time makes a 4:45 wake up call come waaay too quickly!

Because of my lack of resolve to get up, I only had time for 5 miles before spin class. Thankfully, my favorite TM next to Kelli was open and I had someone to chat at - she was climbing Kilimanjaro on her run today, so I tried to do most of the talking. Not that she couldn't - that lady is a machine I tell you! I was breathing harder on a 1%!

2 miles, 1% @ 8:34 - jumped off to grab a spin pass.

3 miles 1% with a progressive run 8:34, 8:27, 8:20 then last 1/4 of 8:20 increasing until 7:30mm finish.

Spin Class - I don't know if I was just tired or what, but my normal 'slacker' class seemed really tough today! Sweaty and tired.

1 mile to finish up on the track - no idea on time, but tried to run progressive. I'd say effort wise (take this with a grain of salt, I'd just finished spin) it was faster than the TM miles, so I'd say closer to an 8mm. Who knows - just want 6/day this week for a total of 36 - maybe 37 to round up the .2 from Spectrum Saturday.

Still got to bed too late, but meh - I guess that is just me :)

I got a new pair of shoes Saturday at Wastach Running's anniversary sale. I *heart* them! I rarely get 'cute' shoes, because I'm a big pampered princess with my shoes and my big clunky ones aren't always that cute, but yeah...I like these ones! It will take some time to work into them since they are more heel drop and less supportive, but little by little I hope to move into Elixers permanently and say "Adios" to my Inspires.

Cute, huh? :)

So, I did my 6 today in the new shoes - things went great and I could hardly tell a difference. I'm hoping this is a good thing!

2 miles at 1% on the TM - 8:27, 8:20

2 miles on the track (actually timed them, I was tired of not knowing how hard my effort was!) 7:28, 7:08 - 14:36 TT

2 miles back on the TM @ 1% - started at 8:20 and went progressive every 5 min, then did my last .1 on 6:00mm. I felt awesome! TT: 16:22 - AP: 8:11

Today is my anniversary so my hubby was home so I dashed back to the rec center at 8:30 to get a spin pass, but then due to children had to run in a couple minutes late to class and someone had decided there was an open bike and took it! Luckily, when I said I had a pass the guilt overcame her and she got off. I felt bad and I knew I was late, but I LOVE Allison's class and I didn't want to miss it again this week. Class was worth it! Holy Heavens that lady is a killer on the bike!

Then hubby and I took Adam to his swim class. He was tired and just about fell asleep and didn't want to play afterward. Poor kid :( In class she had us do resistance band leg lifts (all directions) so, I feel like it was worth it for me.

Good times! 13 years on the 13th today - man, I'm old!!!

I have found the devil...and it's name is Cheesecake Factory!

We went there for dinner last night and it was so yummy!! Lots to choose from and even more to glutton myself with. Little did I know this would come back to haunt me. I'm usually pretty good about consuming mass quantities of food and not having it effect me. Not this time.

Actually went to bed at 10, so I got almost 7 hours of sleep which seems dreamy compared to what I have been getting. Went to the gym and snuck on the TM next to Kelli. I'm so glad I can always count on her to be there to keep my mind off the dumb TM!

2 miles - 8:34 @ 1% then I jumped off to get a spin pass. The whole time I felt like I was going to puke. Dinner is just sitting in my gut like a big greasy mass of yuck! I thought the break would make it better...nope.

2.5 miles @ 8:34 with a pick up at the end and after 1 mile I took it down to flat, had to find a way to make it easier. I was struggling with the food bouncing in my gut.

Spin class - we had a sub, but it was a pretty good class. Still wanted to puke.

1.5 miles on the track. I did 1/4 mile warm-up, timed my mile (7:55) then did 1/4 mile cool down. I got the miles in...now I'm done. Still no puking, but I don't think I'm going to feel like eating today. Stomach is still on overdrive from too much food - or too rich, one or the other.

I can't wait to go back to Cheesecake Factory :)

Now, I know this wasn't the plan, but...well, things happen :)

I'll give you the breakdown - then the story. You know there is always a story with all my entries!

AP: 9:12 splits: 9:26, 9:04, 8:59, 9:09, 9:29, 9:20, 9:05, 8:50, 9:14, 9:18

Spin class - it was a good one! She had us do a basic endurance run. 70-80% effort with your butt in the seat 90% of the time and very little variance on the resistance, but enough to do a few small hills. I loved it! Sweaty mess :)

So...this 10 miler, earlier in the week a guy on our Tri team at the rec center asked me if I wanted to run with him. I told him if he could find someone to run with us (I don't like doing just 1 on 1 with another guy) that I would be happy to join him. Well, he finally replied at 8PM last night and gave me his cell #. I gave him mine, but still wasn't sure if he'd found someone else to run with us. I tried texting and sending messages on fb all night, but by 11PM hadn't heard from him. I finally said if I didn't hear from him I was going to just sleep in and do my normal plan. I went to bed and set my clock for a sleep in morning.

5:07 the phone rings and he asks if I got his message....NO! He wanted to meet me 15 min away, so I told him I could be there in about 30 minutes, but that was the best I could do. He said they would wait for me - so up I got and rushed off. It was a BEAUTIFUL morning to be out and the miles went by quickly. George is a tri guy and just ran his first 13 miler Saturday. He is doing great on his training. Unfortunately, when we got back to my car he asked how long it took 1:32, just over 9's, nice pace. Then he turns to the other guy "didn't we do it in 1:27 last week?"

Well, if you know me I rarely set pace, I just follow whatever - especially in a new group. I didn't realize I was 'holding them back' or was I? Then I started reflecting on some other things he said and that he'd invited me to run with them on Tu and Th. So, I thought I was doing him a favor, but he must think he was doing me a favor. The only problem is, if I'm going to get up that early on Tu/Th I'll go to BBK's and challenge myself. I know that sounds stupid and maybe 'elitist' but, I'd rather go where there are good solid workouts and people to chase. I'm always the slowest runner there!

Anyway, now I'm just really confused. Was I doing him a favor or was he doing me a favor? I'm not sure I'll ever be able to figure it out. Oh well. I may join him in the future, but I guess if he wants a faster pace I'll take it up and show him a faster pace. HA! I don't know...it was all just weird.

You know what I love? Sleeping in. Running outside. Warm weather. Leaving from my front door. Quiet time alone on the road. Running in the light of day. My husband who stayed home to make this all possible! 

AP: 8:24 splits: 8:16, 9:43, 8:53, 6:45 (it has the last 27.5 feet I ran over 4 miles as a 4:11 pace, not sure I believe it, but it sure feels good! It was the Zamperini inspiration from the book). 

Can you guess which mile was uphill into the hurricane force wind? The last mile was downhill with a cross wind and I just wanted to see what I could do with opening it up on a downhill slide. Practice for tomorrow. It gives me hope!! Nice little shake out in the wind for Spectrum tomorrow. They don't cancel races for wind, so I figured I might as well grin and bear it...while the wind speed was only 30mph and not 60mph :)

What a day! I seriously didn’t think I had a PR in me. Nope. BUT, I did want to hit 7:30 AP for the race. That was the goal. I figured I’d just go for it (knowing the first mile is the fastest with the downhill) and if I burned out…well, then I burned out. As a wise friend once posted “Suicide pace is the only good race pace, and today is a good day to die!”

Got to ride up with Kim, Scott, Smooth, Wendy, Carolyn and Kathy. I love it when life all comes together! Had a good time at the start and found Teena, Annie and Nick. Gotta love a good chat with friends J

No warm-up, but we were off….

Mile 1 – 6:13; gotta love that nice downhill start! Faster than last year by 7 seconds – nice!

Mile 2 – 7:10; I knew the 6:13 pace wouldn’t last, but I wasn’t going complain! At this point I was done looking at times. I didn’t want to play that game in my head – just run. There was a group of people that had caught me (one guy had his SG running center jersey on) and I decided to latch myself to the group and go for it. Also, this is where I caught sight of the next female to catch in the tie-dye shirt…bring it on sweetie.

Mile 3, 4, 5 – 6:54, 7:15, 7:36; I caught the lady and passed her, then she passed me back, then I passed her, then I passed her back. We kept reeling in blue skirt lady about 30 sec in front of us, but neither one of us were going to give up to the other one. I actually learned to drink by pinching a cup and really getting fluid in while I ran. Never stopped!

Mile 6 – 7:35; last uphill and flat push. Tie-dye girl edged ahead and I just kept thinking “you’ll catch her on the downhill” – then Teena came running by – CRAP! She told me not to let her beat me, but I just kept holding out for that downhill. Well, I caught the tie-dye girl on the downhill  and mile 6 ticked just as we rounded the corner to the finish…she was just off my shoulder, Teena 7 ish seconds ahead.

.2 finish – 5:56; Well, tye-dye girl decided to start her push to the finish. I didn’t want to burn out still .2 to go, but I pushed too…she just pushed harder and pulled a stride ahead. I just thought “well, let’s hope your chip time is faster!” she was after all, always ahead of me. Then I snapped out of it! NOT letting this go. I pulled in and pushed those legs, I was booking it, pumping the arms breathing hard and I started to pull ahead just yards from the finish. I’d done it! I’d finally lost sight of her over my shoulder when I crossed the finish!! Mental power baby…mental power! I’d made up enough time to finish just 1.5 seconds behind Teena. Awesome.

Looked at my watch – YEEE HAAAW! New PR at 43:43 (official time 43:42, but I didn’t know it at the time), I really didn’t think my fitness was there to hit a new PR by almost 30 seconds, but I did it! I was stoked. I knew last year at 44:XX I was like 7^th in my AG, so I figured I was still out of podium reach, but I was happy with my new PR on a course harder than DesNews – and not almost 3 years old! I screamed a gasp when I saw I was 3^rd in my AG!! I was just so stoked. A big, competitive race and I’d done it – I’d placed! I was just excited. Everyone seemed to have good races, despite all of our drawbacks at the start. Wonderful group of ladies to hang with!!

Got my award and a prize for having green underwear :) that was courtesy of my 7 year old who had the idea for himself! Afterward I ran 2.3 with Teena and Annie, rounded the mileage out to 8.5 for the day.

Just as I was driving away I got the call I’d been waiting for! Brent (BSRools) and I set a time to meet at Turtle Wall trail head for a good 4 mile trail run. Yeee-haaaw! Could the day get any better?

Went back to the hotel and kids had just finished swimming. They got showered we ate roll sandwich and chips lunch in the hotel then went to meet Brent. I ran while they hiked and went treasure hunting (geo-caching). I ran to the wall and back with Sylvie and Brent, except the last big hill to the parking lot (about .3 short of the full 4 miles). I LOVED it! The uphill was hard, but on trails I don’t feel so much like I need to keep a certain pace, so I’m okay with the slower times. It was GREAT fun! Good chatting with them and beautiful scenery. Then, the downhill….ahhh, yeah, I like it! Brent may have just made a convert of me! Now I can’t wait for the Buffalo run next week!

It was one mile (on the Garmin) from the point I left them back to where the family was, so I’m going to call this a 4.5 mile trail run. I forgot to start my watch for one of the portions of the trail, so  the garmin has only 4.0, but between not measuring correctly and user error – I think I’m in  the right! :) I was proud of the fact, that although slow I didn’t stop on the way back to the family until I got there.  Recorded the last full mile at a 10:30 pace…about the same as with the BSRools clan. Then I hiked to the end with the family  and back to the car. As soon as I got there hubby handed the carrier and 24 lb Fartlek over to me. Awesome. So, I trucked him the rest of the way there and all the windy way back. Geo-caching along trails is a GREAT motivator for little hikers! We didn’t hear one complaint until about ¼ mile from the parking lot (and last cache) from the youngest. I’ve got some good little hikers!

Overall I had a wonderful day! The wind didn’t really pick up until the afternoon, but there were places along the trail is wasn’t too bad, others were yuck, but overall it was nice. During the race there was a bit of noticeable wind, but nothing like I’d expected. Overcast and cool, but warm enough for shorts and t-shirt. The gluttony at DD’s Pizza afterward was totally worth all the miles and outside fun!!!

Thanks for reading my novel about my wonderful day. Trail running rocks…I want to do more of it! I’m looking forward to a good year, I’ve been through too many injures to now not be smart about them. Tackling the beast….I’ll chase down that BQ and chew it up and spit it out, just watch.

just one mile around the track while waiting for spin to start...slow, slow and slower. My quads are nice and sore after an amazing Saturday! So, in order not to push the envelope and keep myself injury free I went with a no-impact day today to heal it up well.

Spin class - bring it on! Nice sweaty mess, despite the soreness overtaking much of the first half of class effort.

Masters Swim - 2650 yds and a great workout. Coach said I've got a nice looking stroke and helped me on my 75yd sprints at the end of the workout. 1:10 for a 75 isn't too bad.

Stretching and walking it out on the docket for the rest of the day!

10 early miles on the frozen tundra we call the roads. YIKES! I swear I almost died a couple times. I was nervous about running on the ice and snow this morning, but with chunks of snow frozen in the ice on the road it was doable. Chad joined us (George, Todd and I) after about 1.5 miles and watched the garmin to help me pace at 8:50 so I could convince my brain I'll be fine at Riverton. With sore, tired legs and in the ice I exceeded that (taking off the first super slow mile), so I now know I can hit it and feel comfortable at the race. Thanks Chad! 

AP: 8:50 splits: 10:01, 9:16 (getting used to the ice skating), 8:44, 8:42, 9:10 (the hill), 8:39, 8:27, 8:18, 8:32, 8:24.

Got home and shivered for about 30 minutes. Nice after burn, right?

Spin class - gotta love Allison's class. Had a diaper pass around. Allison (teacher) needed one, so I gave her mine, but then 5 min later guess who was called to come change their baby? HA! Darn Murphy! So, another lady in class gave one to me. Awesome mothers, we're always supporting each other when we need it.

Took baby Fartlek to his swim class and got a good arm workout there! Fun times :)

What is it with my kids?!? Seriously, another night where baby was up every hour screaming for a good 3-5 minutes. Sleep? Not last night. Nothing would stop him either: rocking, milk, walking, cuddling, leaving him alone. Ugghh, I was worn out by 3:30AM and turned the alarm off and just tried to sleep the best I could. Then my oldest woke up puking...nice. By 8:30 everyone was up with a smile on their faces like nothing was wrong - except me!

So, my morning was pretty blech. Just wandered around doing what I had to and trying not to fall asleep. Put baby down for a nap and decided I wanted to move...so I went for a run on my outdoor TM (up and down the street which = 1 mile round trip).

Kids were outside playing (except baby of course) and so I'd swing by every 5-7 minutes to say hello and make sure all was well. It was nice to run in the afternoon and get a short, easy shake out to a rough night/morning. Still tired, but at least I'm happy now!

AP: 8:38 splits: 9:03, 8:40, 8:48, 8:03. The first mile probably wasn't really that slow. I stopped to talk to the kids and realized when I took off again I hadn't stopped my watch. Meh, oh well.

***Just got to see the Spectrum Pics. I stole some from Teena and Tie-dye girl :) You can see the sprint finish in the background of Teena's finish line pics. I really wish I could take a good running picture.***

Got to bed late (is anyone surprised?) trying to get the family ready for a ski day! I had good intentions of getting up and doing just 4 or 5 beforehand, but the justification of a taper-ish week and a full day of skiing anyway took over.

So, no running, but an AWESOME ski day with the family. So much so that I think we will be back next Wednesday! It was so nice to have warm weather (especially since I forgot my coat!), blue skies and a small crowd.

Another sleep in day. Skiing and then racquetball date night wiped me out. I think I was dehydrated. Either way, I just wanted to sleep this morning. So I didn't go to the gym, but did my outdoor TM again while the kids stayed home doing chores :)

Took Lucy with me, she used to run 13 miles with me and not complain, but I haven't taken her out a lot and she is getting old. She runs slow, but I pulled her 3 miles! I like running with my puppy. 

It was windy out there, and it is garbage day in our 'hood. Not a good combination. I spent some time stopping to pick up trash that had blown out of the cans. I guess you could call me the neighborhood garbage lady :) up and down the street, picking up garbage...with the dog in tow!

AP: 9:00 splits: 9:14, 9:30, 9:35 (drop off Lucy), 8:18, 8:22 (more like it!)

Holy stinkin' moly. I don't know how you trail runners do it! This was tough, I'm not going to lie, but the end result may be that a new little trail runner has been born :)

Thanks to Smooth, Karen and especially Larry (our escort) for taking me up there. It was nice not to have to worry about a long drive home. It was also nice to talk with the ladies beforehand and get all the stories out afterward.

I got to run with Catherine for a little while at the start, but then at one point I turned around and I couldn't see her anymore. Shoot. So, I pushed on. I was surprised that I ran all of the first 5ish miles without stopping, I did walk the BIG hill just before the aid station. The aid station came a little earlier than expected, I had only taken 2 small swigs from my water. So, I threw back a Gu and just kept the water I had.

After the aid station the beautiful downhill started - whee!!! I finally caught and passed some people I'd been eying for quite some time. Wait...not so fast...the switchbacks started...my complete incompetence on trails was horribly obvious here. I was walking as fast as my legs would go and I still was breathing harder than running downhill. It was TOUGH WORK! I was impressed with all the people I'd flown by on the downhills plodding by me UP the hills...

Got caught behind 5 horseback riders - blech. They couldn't move, but did their best to be courteous and not hold me up too much. Gave me a good mental and physical break. No excuses once they move Rachel- you got a break!

Only a couple of hills, but mostly flat back to the aid station. My legs were feeling spent, tired, blech. But, it was mile 11 - only 4.5 left, easy peasy...you can do this. Refilled my now empty water bottle, threw back another gu and I was off. GREAT aid station workers - especially nice to see Maurine, wish I could've visited more and asked about her race!

Then, the crazy "I'm going to die" downhill section - this was the first part I'd walked up in the race and it was CRAZY downhill, so steep and rocky I couldn't just let the legs fly. Then it flattened out and I struggled, sand and heat and fatigue setting in...walked most of the hill out of the valley. A lady running near me said "all down hill from here on out" THAT made my day! Mile 13 clicked...only 2.5 left and downhill, awesome.

HA! That flat/downhill around the back side of the mountain took forever! Mile 15 clicked and I still couldn't see the finish. One curve I went around I just KNEW I was going to see the tents...nope. I screamed, yup. Out loud. I kept passing people and passed a lady in yellow that flew up the switch backs, helped me feel better and push on. Still couldn't pass lady in green that walked the last hill with me. She was staying the same 20-30 seconds ahead. Shoot.

Finally saw the tents, but I knew it was longer than the 1/2 mile to 15.6. At least I can see it now, right? Tried to fly down that last hill as fast as my aching feet would take me. I just wanted it D O N E! As I approached the blue tents where I thought the finish was, I saw people with the yellow bibs (25Kers) running back up along the fence...no, it can't NOT be the finish...Noooo.

Yup, last 1/2 mile push was uphill, into the wind to the finish. Dang that took a lot of mental power to push through. I actually took a 10 foot walk break and had to regain myself mentally. I was done. Past my goal of 2:30 finish time, and out of placing in my AG I was sure. Just walk it in. "SHUT UP BRAIN! You out sprinted tie-dye lady last week and do you know what kind of crap you'd give yourself if you got passed now?!? MOVE THOSE LEGS!" So, I did. Crested the last hill and sprinted to the finish.

What a crazy, crazy race. I seriously don't know how y'all run 50's and 100's on trails. There was no earthly way I was turning around to do the 50K! I was DONE. 25K is good enough for this pansy :)

I got some liquid refreshment (coke, gatorade, refilled water, chocolate milk) and chatted with Catherine and Eric (both had AWESOME finishes!!!), saw MattVH finish his first 100 miler (complete and utter AWE!!) and chatted at a few others I'd passed, gotten passed, passed, gotten passed along the route. Then went back to see Smooth and Karen come in. Karen was taking her last strong push to the finish and Smooth was just behind her. I helped (or hindered if you count that she kept trying to talk to me when she couldn't breathe) Smooth to the finish and after cooling down and getting our feet back under us got to visit and hang out.

I won a prize in the random drawing - a black diamond headlamp. VERY nice! Now I can be the annoying runner with the flashing light on their head :) It does do solid too. Got some veggie stew (couldn't eat the buffalo...didn't want to give them another reason to come after me!) and a bit more liquid. Listened to the awards, and I didn't see any of the people I was chasing go up there in my AG. So, that made me feel better. Chatted with Scott, Jun and Fritz (1st place finisher on the 50K!) and then headed home.

Saw the official results on the way out and I was surprised I was so close to the top! Proud of a top 10 finish in my AG and 14th overall. Not too shabby for my first trail race. The scenery was beautiful and I enjoyed the views even when I was tired. I honestly can't wait to try out another trail run...just maybe not next week :)

AP: 9:21 (race stats have it as 9:59, because they did it off a 25K, not adding in the extra mile they made us run!);

splits: 9:19, 10:14, 8:43, 7:40, 7:41, 11:10 (aid station stop and first BIG hill),

6:40 (gotta love that downhill!),

10:54, 12:30 (switchback nightmare),

10:22, 9:46, 8:04, 11:03 (I can't figure out WHY this mile is so slow...it should be in the 8's like the rest of them around here. Kind of makes me mad I went so slow.),

8:26, 8:43, 8:22, 9:08 (last uphill .5 to the finish).

**demoted....just looked at 'official' results. Somehow 3 people jumped in front of me in my AG and 4 in the overall women. This makes me feel like crud, shoooot. Whatever..**

1 slow, shake out mile around the track before spin started.

Spin class - good times on sore legs!

Masters swim class - 2300 yds, kicks, pulls, drill, speed - a little bit of everything and finished it all up in almost exactly one hour. Nice.

Why is it that every Monday lately I can hardly walk up and down the stairs? Mondays must hate me :)

I'm trying to take it easy on recovery again this week, because I just think that when I am sore and hurting it isn't a good idea to push my body to run and pound out the miles. I want to stay healthy and uninjured this year - that is my main goal. So, the x-training is nice to get a good workout in and not pound the crap out of my body!

10 mile loop with George and Chad again today. Good times and a great shake out for my legs. I never look to see how fast we're going and it always surprises me when I'm done. George ran 13 (3 around the lake before joining us) and finished in 1:56 - a new PR for him. I think he'll surprise himself at SLC half. I had to let the boys go the last 1.5 miles, the hot fudge brownie sundae I ate at 9PM for FHE last night was just too much and my gut was getting weak. Still managed sub AP for the last 2 despite wanting to puke.

AP: 8:21 splits: 8:05, 8:12, 8:26, 8:30, 8:55 (the hardest hill, I was determined to go sub 9 - nice!), 8:37, 8:06, 8:03, 8:18, 8:13

Spin class - again more puke gut, should've found more time to eat something before spin! blech. Couldn't push as hard as I'm used to, but still a great workout!

Baby swim class - Adam almost fell asleep. Not much of a workout today, didn't want to bounce him all over while he was sleeping on my chest, and I didn't want to puke either  :) Then he did a bit of swimming and had fun playing on the slides.

Still feeling blechy, but I think if I eat something it might just help.

*PM*

blechy feeling lasted all day and gave me a headache because I didn't want to eat much. Then I had 2 children's music classes to attend. Did NOT help! Had a big RS thing to do in the evening that took all my energy, but found a friend who wanted to run just one mile afterward. So, I ran with her. First time she'd run a full mile w/out stopping - 9:52, not too shabby!! I convinced her to do another but 100 yds in she could feel her knee starting to hurt (old injury) so we stopped, but I was impressed she was ready to try one more!

5 early morning miles on the TM, good times chatting with/at Kelli :) even if we did have to put up with stinky man.

AP: 8:38 splits: 8:49, 8:49, 8:41, 8:34, sub 8:30 (progressive last quarter) I did do about 3-4 min of 8:00 in there somewhere when Kelli went on her quick bathroom break.

Spin class - man this was hard today. I'm just spent and need some sleep. ha!

Now off to the slopes. Last ski day, hanging out with the 2 older kids! Good times - hopefully.

1 mile on the track

Spin class - holy hill climb, I think I biked up Big Cottonwood Canyon!

1 mile on the track, called to nursery; thankfully baby just had a stinky diaper. BUT, the diapers were out in the car and I decided to just call it and go home.

I needed a rest day today. Yesterday skiing all day and waking up early has just worn me out. I did get 8 hours of sleep last night, but I'm still just dragging and tired. My body is telling me it needs a break and although it makes me feel like a failure, I'm going to try and listen. I could've pushed through any amount of miles today, but I hoping that listening to my body and backing off when it needs me to will prevent injury and over-training (ha...yeah, with my measly miles lately). Anyway, so today I'm a big failure and didn't get the miles I'd planned in. I'll still top out at 40 this week, but it was choice of functioning at home today (being sick Tuesday and gone ALL day Wednesday things are a disaster around here) and being an active part of my kids life or killing myself over miles. I hope I chose the better part today.

Easy six around the 'hood. Took Lucy, so I was dragging her back after about mile 2! Oh well, she hasn't complained since :)

Ran into a friend, Mike, on my way down the Cove hill and chatted with him about his first 50 miler finish at the Buffalo run - good pace with him. 

On my way back into the 'hood saw my friend I ran 1 mile with yesterday and knew she was on her 1 mile loop on my TM loop, so I joined her. Not the fastest run of my life, but a good shake out and good company as well.

I'm really nervous about the half tomorrow, I know I can do it, but this will be a pacing challenge for me. Especially if the wind comes in as forecasted...

I just like my pace miles to be super easy, and I don't think anything below a 10mm is going to be easy in that wind tomorrow.

Met early and ran 3 warm-up miles with Kelli, Paul, Rachelle and Craig. We ran an AP of my exact pacing pace. Awesome. I finally felt the confidence I could do this.

Race was a crazy start and times were off gun times, no chips. Hollie and I had a few runners with us (the doc that casted my daughter's arm last month was with us! we'd discussed the race at the office, so he came looking for me. How neat was that?!?), but we started out a little fast to bank some times on the easier miles. I knew the headwind from mile 7-9 was going to kill us all and that banking an extra 10-15 seconds for each of those miles would be WELL worth it, and it was. We got enough time to walk through water stops and not die on the headwind/flat/hills. Excellent! Hollie struggled a bit and at mile 11.5 gave me the sign and said she needed to drop back, so I pull along alone encouraging all who passed me! It was nice to have an easy finish and not be pushing for time. I was SO excited as the clock came into view and it was clicking 1:54:40's. I just knew I was going to get the prize for closest without going over. Too bad Bill got 1:44:59.8!!! Dang, gotta admit defeat on that one. My HUGE 2.6 second early finish had nothing on his .02!!

Afterward chatted with some people that had been pacing off me, and I didn't know it. I loved hearing how encouraged they were by me and how well I paced it through the hard miles. I LOVE pacing! I wish I could do it every weekend!! Racing is over-rated :)

Then Kelli, Paul and Rachelle were taking off for a few more miles...sure, why not. Ooops. As soon as I started I could tell the 2 bottles full of water/gatorade wasn't happy in my tummy and that my legs had stiffened and were tired. Crap. Oh well, once you start running NO whining! I just plugged along at the slow creeper pace :) There was one point that if I hadn't been so far away I seriously would've just stopped, but with Paul and Kelli dragging me along I just put my head down into the wind and plugged along. Finished with 4.1 miles, add to the 3 before and the 13.1 race - 20 miles today. Holy Crap...how did that happen?!?

I feel great now, and like I had a wonderful morning. I'm glad it all turned out well. The doc that ran with me finished just 20ish seconds behind me and Holli was right behind him. So, we all had a great day and I'm proud of myself for not wimping out and finishing a 20 miler today!