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

My speed has been suffering lately due to my lax running. With St George half this Saturday I decided I need to remind my legs that they can run a little bit faster. Plus, not having a lot of time this morning because I was lazy and didn't get my sleepy butt out of bed early like I'd planed helped too.

I got to the gym with 40 minutes...

1 warm-up @ 8:27

3 faster miles @ 7:30

1 cool-down @ 8:13, but I increased the incline the last 1/4 mile to 3% - instead of my classic 1% that I usually run.

After I got home and did my 30 minutes of baby-sitting for my friend I went to her house and finished 2 miles on the TM in 15:50. Started at 8:20 pace and increased the speed every 1/4 mile, but bumped more at the end to finish at sub 7mm. AP: 7:57

I was going to do a weight set, but since I want a decent (not racing, but decent) performance on Saturday I need to take this week a tad easier and not fatigue my legs.

Woke up nice and early to meet the Newtons for the Tuesday 10. Ronnie, George and Chad were all there too. We compared dash board/phone temps as we started: 7, 8, 7, 12. TWELVE?!? What the heck kind of heat wave did Ronnie have measuring on his phone?!? At least it wasn't sub zero. Almost warm :)

Nice pace and I felt at ease most of the run and felt strong up the hills which is good. I'm sure I'll be tired of the hills by mile 4 on Saturday, but at least I had a good confidence boost today. Only HAD to stop for traffic once, dang it :)

AP: 8:15 splits: 8:20, 8:23, 8:32, 8:28, 8:45, 8:21, 8:08, 7:50, 7:55, 7:52

Went home got out of the wet clothes and ready for spin, but snuggled under my lovely heated blanket! I seriously don't know how I ever survived without that thing!! I got a good hours nap in and then got up (before any children) and snuck off to the gym for spin class. Good hard push! Lots of climbing and standing. 14 miles in 45 min

Quick little morning run. I'm feeling a little deflated seeing all the speed and hill work everyone is doing and I'm just here enjoying myself. So, I decided to push a little today. 

2 warm-up miles on the TM 8:27

2 miles on the track: 1 lap as fast as I could handle, then 1 lap recovery (11 laps/mile = 11 fast repeats)

I was going to then go back to the TM, but they were gone because it was now 9AM and the gym was crowded. So, I decided to do 2 with Wendy and Amy on the track. An easy pace, but not slow.

I finished up my last mile with a good speed push on the track. I don't know any of my times or paces and they were probably a lot slower than I'd have liked them to be, but I kept a good effort on the speed. I'm starting to think Saturday isn't going to be very pretty...

6 miles by myself at the gym in the early afternoon. It was the only time life would let me get there.

3 miles on the track, a pretty decent pace and I only can say that, because when I got on the TM for the next 2 the 8:20 pace seemed a little easier (@1%) than the pace on the track.

2 Tm miles @ 8:20

1 track mile at a hard push, no idea on the time.

Returned to the gym in the evening to run 3 with Kristy on the track.

Went to a baby shower dinner at Olive Garden then went back to the gym for a little racquetball date with my hubby.

Sometimes I feel like I live there :)

Shopping, errands, packing the family for St George. I loved the warmth of 35 when I got out at 7:30 with the sun down in St George!!

I started out not really thinking that anything would come from this 'race' - I guess now I just feel like I shouldn't underestimate myself.

I didn't really taper, but didn't push like I normally do through a week with cross-training...just regular running with Friday off. I haven't really done much, if any, real speed work. But, I just wasn't feeling the love of racing or even running today. I figured if all went well I could hit a 1:40-1:45.

When the gun went off I was between the 1:35 and 1:40 pacers...so I figured I'd just try to stay there and not let Christy pass me :) The 1:35 pacers quickly disappeared and I was running scared of those 1:40 pacers the whole time. After mile 3ish I paced out and besides passing a few women, the same group of people stuck right with me the whole time. My 'pacer' was about 10-20ft in front of me the whole race. I passed her once at an aid station, but she quickly regained her 10ish feet.

I felt stronger on the hills than I expected and the quick glance at the splits showed I stayed at a good pace - 7:45 I think is the slowest, but I've got to get home and dump it to see. My laps did fill (I forgot to delete!) so, I only have up to split 9. Oh well. No worries. Except I am kind of bummed that I missed my last .1 push to the finish. I dug deep on that one! Anyway, the group around me didn't pull away on the hills - I was able to keep up with the 'group' on the tons of uphills. Made me feel like I haven't lost too much over my easy hiatus this winter.

I felt like I had a good push on the race and was happy with my finish time, but now I keep thinking I should've gone harder :) But, I think we always do that. The good news is that I was really nervous and trained pretty hard to hit a 1:36:40 at SLC half in April and I pulled just one minute slower today on a tough/honest course. So, that has to be a good sign that my legs still remember how to run fast and long? right?

After the race I hung out and chatted with the tons of peeps there. Then, I ran the mile back to the hotel. Made the kids lunch, ate a bit myself and rejoiced over my 2 year old going #2 in the potty by himself. Almost ready to call this a success. Then the kids wanted me gone, because dad said they could go swimming after I left for my bike ride.

Met Brent, Di, Sue, Polly and Heather by the fishing pond on the way to Snow Canyon. Did a loop around Ivins and Kayente then headed up Snow Canyon. Thanks to the SL County Library we had an annual State Parks Pass and got all of us in free (Brent did have his own pass too). Rode to the top of the canyon - a good push! Then down the marathon course back to Snow Canyon Blvd and then the fishing pond. Wow! That downhill was awesome. I like riding it more than running it :) I added a few more miles on by biking back to the hotel (mostly all downhill), Bluff is a nasty street to ride on! So, I jumped over to Main Street and took it down to Abbey Inn. I didn't feel like I was going to die on that road :) 33 miles total with a ton of climbing.

Then I took the kids swimming...yes, they went again. I spent most of the time in the hot tub and just relaxed, and sweat some more :) What a wonderful day! I wish every Saturday was so easy with kids and that I could just play all day like this!!

My legs are tired now, I can tell. I get winded and they burn by the top of the third floor :) Can't wait for a big breakfast tomorrow!!