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

I liked the 10K course so much from Saturday I decided to do it again! My friend Sara invited me to go paddle boarding with her and so I decided to run to her house and then she would drive us to the lake at Daybreak. It was a perfect breeze-less morning!

I worked hard to get up and over the trail, but still ended up walking a little bit. Slowly, but surely made it over the knoll and then back down. Wound my way through the trails and streets of East Herriman and Riverton down to her home in Monarch Meadows. Ended up with 7.25 miles.

AP: 9:20 splits: 9:03, 10:37, 12:34, 9:37, 8:19, 7:38, 7:44, 8:20 - downhill paces were decent at least :)

Then I spent 90 minutes on the lake paddle boarding. It is SO fun!!! I wish I could do it every day.

I didn't get to do the Tuesday Ten with the Newtons, because no one was going...except Chad. I chose to not do a date run and Chad did also. I slept in and did a nice heat training run starting at 10AM. I thought I'd run up to Yellowfork Canyon and then just go along the trail until I felt like turning around. As I was running up Rose Crest Road I decided to try the upper Shaggy Mountain Loop and come back down on Mountain Top Road and see how far it was so that we could run it as an alternative to the nazis loop in hi-country. It worked out to a good 8.5 miler. It was 85 degrees when I got home, but I ran it all without walking the hills! I was SO proud of myself. Slower than molases, but I did it. I did make a stop as I turned onto the dirt road and then half way up to the peak (the last driveway) I stopped and my mom called, so I got a few minutes rest there to get me up to the peak. This is the first time I've ran it all and not walked any. I am determined to conquer my bad hill running! The way down was fun and I took a little backway home that gave me even more downhill. Nice! Heat training...check.

AP: 9:26 splits: 9:26, 10:14, 10:23, 11:14, 8:23, 9:51, 8:15, 8:05, 7:56 (last .5)

Kimberly asked for company on the Urban Trail Loop and since I'm a sucker for company I agreed :) We met with Lloyd, His wife and Christine. I got to tell some fun running stories that Lloyd hadn't heard before, since I haven't run with him before, and Christine and Lloyd's wife ran together. We looped back to check in on the ladies a couple times, but the second time it looked like they cut back early and went straight down 10400S. So we just went ahead. They've started developing more and more of our little secret trail. It is sad to see it go, but I understand Urban spread. Maybe now we will find more running friends on the loop!

When we got back to the cars Lloyd's wife was there, but not Christine. We found out we'd missed her and she'd followed us alone. I felt so bad for leaving her alone!! I would've gladly run a little slower with her, but we thought she'd cut it short. So, I ran back on the course and ran in with her. We then had an amazing little chat afterward. I love my running friends!!

AP: 8:33 splits: 9:06, 9:03, 8:29, 7:59, 8:21, 8:29, 8:21, 8:31, 8:33

I then came home and rode bikes with Lauren down to the rec center. Swam a mile in approx 40 min working on my form (this time included breaks), and then biked home. It was fun to get a full workout in and hang out with my girl for a little bit.

A re-run of my Tuesday run - trying out the upper Shaggy Mountain loop. Mike and Chad were able to make the Newtons run, despite they both had Ragnar this weekend. It was a nice run and knowing that Tuesday I did this loop without stopping when it was hot, I was going to get through it again!

We did stop at the Shaggy Mountain turn off, but then after that I ran all the way to the peak without stopping...no phone calls! :) I will slowly get this hill thing through my head and be able to run hills! I may always be horribly slow, but I'm going to keep working on it. A good goal for me to push toward right now.

I haven't downloaded Garmin data yet, but I know my AP was around 8:50 which was significantly faster than Tuesday. Good news for me!

I'm not sure if I like these night runs or not. My gut is just not used to night running. This was my homage to Ragnar...that I'm not a big fan of.

I stopped eating by 3:30, but my gut still just didn't feel settled. I was supposed to pace 1:45, but I was grateful when Doug showed up and he seemed excited and willing to switch the 1:45 for the 2:00. This was a last minute and only 4 person pacing job. Only a few of us weren't out at ragnar. Then there were also only a handful of people running. Even at 2:00 I was alone most of the time. Except when I decided to run racers paces to stay and chat with them. I was a little a head of time on my way out, but was able to slow down and make enough water stops to be only 40 seconds ahead at mile 10. I kept 9:15 average until the last mile when I met a guy running his first half marathon. I knew I had time to kill and he didn't want me to pass him, so I stayed and talked him through the finish until we could see the arch and I sent him sprinting ahead. He was SO happy to have me helping him through that last mile he needed to take a picture with me :) Then he ended up placing 3rd in his AG! What an awesome start to a great running career. I hope he continues on, despite the baby coming in 2 months.

Another girl that I spent the majority of the time with was from San Antonio and I loved chatting with her and dreaming that she was Becca :) She is training for the Orphan Hope marathon this year that Becca BQ'd at last year! Such a small world. She was fun to run with and wish she could've kept up. I think I ran from mile 4-10 with her. Then she asked "Are you speeding up or am I slowing down?" I told her I was keeping a good 9:15-9:20 pace and that she might be having a hard time because of her AF half last week. She wasn't too far behind me at the end.

The race was about .15 short, so I finished a minute early, which means I was about right on time. Can't help a short course that doesn't have mile markers! I also had about 20-30 seconds ahead of that, but on an accurate course that isn't a big deal. I was SO happy that I didn't do the 1:45, 2:00 felt nice and easy and my gut didn't rebel too much, but the legs were a little heavy. Tender mercies! Thanks Doug!! 

It was a little creepy running in the dark and alone along the path where you hear about so many people being attacked. I wish there would've been more people racing, but with Ragnar it just wasn't meant to be. If you run this race remember your head lamp!! Lots of tree roots and the turn around is easy to miss and then you'll literally run off the edge of the path if you can't see. Glow sticks just don't do much for you as far as lighting the path!! I told everyone on the out and back to turn at the cone. I hope people believed me and no one got hurt.

Kimberly and I had a great ride down and back, despite getting home at 2:00 :) Including a stop at Krispy Kreme so my kids would love me when they woke up in the morning...and leave me alone when they got hungry! It was weird sleeping in and not running Saturday morning. Really weird. I was going to run a few miles with Cheri at Liberty Park, but she cancelled her 100 mile training run there. So I just hung out with the family.

running a midnight race Friday night makes Saturday morning runs difficult! So, I slept and took a rest "day" - 36 hours with Sunday :)