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

Looking forward to a better week this week. I may have done too much too soon, but oh was it lovely today! 

I decided to run up yellow fork canyon. I knew the hills would keep my pace naturally slower, more of a recovery so I didn't push myself too much and then I could just relax on the downhill. Well, it worked. Nice poky slow pace up the canyon - but gaining 900 ft of elevation over 3 miles isn't too shabby. I love the run up the canyon and the weather was just a tad cool with a slight headwind up, but I guess I was just so happy to be out I didn't care. 

The plan was to run one mile up and if I had pain to turn and come home...I didn't :) turn around that is. The pain wasn't too bad, but I could tell it wasn't good either. I probably should've stayed closer to 4 miles today, but darn it, I just couldn't! The canyon was beautiful and the creek was full. Coming down the canyon I had BEAUTIFUL views of the full valley and some scattered showers moving across the valley. Oh, how wonderful it was to be out! The bottom of the canyon road was lined with American flags as well - I tell you, it was a GREAT run! I just wish my iliopsoas was cooperating more. You'd think after a week off it would be nicer to me.

Did a good .25 mile cool down walk came home and promptly stretched, stretched and stretched some more then threw some ice on and some ibuprofen back. I will get through this - I will. Baby is feeling better, still whinier than I'd like - maybe 80% back, but SO much better than this past week! Glad to be back.

Midnight movie madness kept me up late, so I slept in, but the problem comes as what to do with 2 munchkins since I don't have time to get to the gym before meetings at 10:45. So, since the weather was marginal (better than it's been for a while, but still cold for almost JUNE!) I packed up the jogger and we were off. 

The plan was to push the nearly 60+ pounds of stroller (and Lucy tagging along too) up to the top of the cove - just walking. This would give my hip time to warm up and not to mention a killer workout anyway! Then, if I was feeling good and ready for it I could chase (run with) the stroller down hill until I landed myself at the church about 3 miles later. Well, luckily things did work out that way...almost.

On the way home (just about a mile out) I ran into Kelli going the other way, it was nice to chat with her for a while. I miss my little gym! I got a phone call from the school as we parted ways and my almost 7 year old had another migrane and was in the nurses room. This complicated my time line and route. I now had to get HOME instead of to the church and I was going to be late for the meeting (I'd also packed all my crap I needed in the stroller, so I was pushing around a couple of unnecessary pounds now). Luckily everyone was running late and so it wasn't too inconvenient for me to run and grab my little dude and get him home and in bed before I ran (drove) off to the meeting.

I tell ya...always an adventure. I thought it would be good running downhill with the stroller, but dang! That thing is hard to chase and control going down those hills. I was more than grateful for the flat and rollers at the bottom of the Cove.

It was nice to get out and although I'm not back to my normal crazy running self, things are still feeling okay. It isn't getting worse and I would almost say slightly better. So, with this happening while still being able to run a few miles I'm gaining some confidence back about UVM. It certainly won't be the PR race I'd planned, but I think I will do okay - a finish is all I need anyway, right?

I was going to run today, but Wednesdays are crazy days at the gym and baby got whiny (surprise, surprise - he is still a bit whiny from being sick last week) so I didn't get everything in that I wanted. 

Started on the stair climber and I have decided that that machine is THE beast! Sweating like crazy, a good 'tempo run' cardio workout and the stairs never stop or slow down - they just keep coming! A great workout. Had to take my little guy to/from swim lessons during the workout, so I only  got 25 minutes total in, but 125 floors conquered.

Then I hit the weight area to do some hip flexor exercises to help recovery. Then after those and some planks Sarah came and got me for volleyball. I love my Wednesday smack down! Good workout volleying around. Problem came that the racquetball courts we play in (helps limit chase time when you shenk the ball) are right across from where the baby is and when they took him out to take him to the main room he saw me - and well, it was over at that point. I did talk them into letting me go do 5 min of stretching before, so I got the most important part in.

Lots of chatting at the gym and maybe not so much workout, but it was still good :) I'm now ready for a good hill climb tomorrow!!

Oh yikes, trying a new route can sometimes be good and sometimes it can be ugly. Today it was a little of both.

Met Cal for a good hill run, I warned him that running with me he probably wouldn't want to share his splits and I was right! I took my hi-country route, but went around the backside of the foothills and dumped onto Rose Canyon Rd above the cove and came home that way. I'm glad I found a little different loop to come home, but I'm not sure I'll do it again :)

After the regular hills we started on the new portion of the route - holy moly crust anloy! There were at LEAST two big nasty hills that were practically straight up. When the sun (that has been up for about an hour) sets again when you are at the bottom of the hill, you know you've got a problem! One of the hills was a dirt road and it was very Ragnar-esque and the other was at least paved. After hitting hills for 4 miles, scaling those ones wasn't easy. Let's just say there wasn't much chatting going on.

The last 2ish miles of downhill home made it all worth it and since I'm then recovered when I finish I feel good about my awesome hill conquering run! I got almost 1,000 feet of gain for the run and Monday's run up the canyon was about 870 - so it was a very good hill run.

Now I'm off to yoga for a good stretch to wind down the week. I'm feeling a ton better with the hip flexor and am almost to the point where I don't feel it with every step. I can actually forget about it sometimes, even running, which hasn't happened for a LONG time. I only had that for a day or two before Ogden, so hopefully with an extra week of care I can tackle UVM and not run myself into the ground again and have to start recovery over at square one. Proper warm-up, cool-down, stretching and nsaids are key right now!

Friday spin - back into the swing of things. 

A good hard class today - man I felt like I was biking a mountain and then would have to push sprints as well. I hope my body appreciates what I'm doing for it :)

Afterward did her 20 min stretch, PT and core stuff and then a few more minutes of stretch to finish off.

Great morning and looking forward to a 'long' run tomorrow!

Oh, the stinkin' miles... I just noticed this run put me almost over the top to 29 miles this week...yeah, uh huh...I really AM training for a marathon, why do you ask?

Despite the lack of mileage lately I am feeling better. I was a little worried about what the extended miles today would do to the hip flexor, but I am pleasantly surprised! Things had been feeling better and honestly they are even better after the run than before. It is still there and I have to gimp along a little to start, but once I warm up things go nicely!

I met Smooth, Toby and Karen at the PRT this morning at 6:30 and took just a couple minutes to get the leg moving with some dynamic stretching and a short walk - then we were off. Old rusty hinges getting back to work. I didn't even notice pace (or care, really) I just chatted along the way and had a GREAT time with the ladies! At the turn around I saw the real Smooth come out. You set that lady on a trail and she is OFF! I was having a hard time keeping up as she effortlessly darted around the bushes and plants on the trail - I think I now know her niche.

On the way back down we were discussing SGM and on the rollers I just kept thinking of how deceptive that race is and how I felt the same on that trail! We thought we'd stop at a drinking fountain and grab a quick drink, but it was off - poo! So, we ran on and came to a box with a jug of water and gatorade and cups. We figured we would help ourselves and thank those that had kindly left us some fuel (there seemed to be plenty!). It really helped get us all back to the park with some energy. Well, especially after Smooth heard the beep for the last mile and said "let's go ladies - finish strong!" Toby took off like a shot and left us in the dust just chatting, but I decided I would go for the race and push to catch her. I could hardly close the gap, and as soon as I was making progress doing so she noticed I was chasing her and gave me a good run for my money! I was going to push out the last .1 at the park (Toby stopped just before the street), but the cars didn't stop so I had to and then I couldn't pick the pace back up to finish out, so I just jogged the last bit until I hit 12. 

The pace again was slow, but I really can't complain when I can at least get out and run and have excellent company to boot. I honestly was having a hard time keeping up at some points as well, so it was perfect for my old rusty body today. Know the effort this pace took, I really don't see UVM being the race I want it to be next week. This isn't really a bad thing in my mind. I don't mind changing plans and not PRing, it really honestly doesn't bother me at all to just run and have a good time. With all I've been through in the past couple months I'm just glad I can show up and finish. I still have SGM to race and if I don't get to do it there, oh well. Running is about more than setting PR's for me. If you can't have fun and feel good when/after you run, why do it?

AP: 9:29 splits: 9:51, 10:00, 9:44, 9:49, 9:44, 9:48, 9:22, 9:27, 9:18, 9:26, 9:18, 7:56 (Thanks Toby!)