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

Had a beautiful run this morning! Adam got me up early, so I decided I could fit in a good 9 miler. As I left my hubby said "but it's thundering" "yeah, no big deal" and it sure wasn't! It was sprinkling just a tad when I left, but quickly stopped. I ran up to Butterfield Park through the cove, then did the Pumpkin run route down to Monarch Meadows, then came back the same way.

I honestly couldn't have asked for better conditions. I got to watch a beautiful thunderstorm roll across the Northern part of the valley, a beautiful sunrise in front of me and to the South, the headwind was on the downhill miles (which is VERY rare, it usually comes out of the canyon which is all the uphill), and it was just a bit chilly! Then as I was about 3/4 of a mile or so from home, I heard a huge crack of thunder and was excited that I'd get to watch another storm. However, these big black clouds were coming right over the mountains behind me! On the last stretch home there was a beautiful rainbow with the black clouds behind it...seriously beautiful! I walked in the house, let the dog in got a drink and it started to HAIL! I BARELY made it home before a hail storm and down pour for the next ten minutes! WOW! Super lucky this morning. I got rained on by sprinklers more than clouds.

AP:  9:02 splits: 9:28, 8:51, 8:41, 8:35, 8:55, 9:21, 9:35, 9:24, 8:30, 8:43 (last .25)

I didn't feel like I was pushing the pace, but just tried to keep a strong effort on the uphill. Kind of bittersweet - last time I ran this race (almost a year ago), I finished the 5 mile race in an AP of 7:17 to take 1st in my AG (last race in that AG). I don't think I could hold an 8:17 now!

Now it's off to step class and ab's class, safely inside the gym. It'll be cold, but at least it will be inside :)

Regular ol' loop on a regular ol' morning, except that it is freezing cold! UGGGHH! Where is the heat? It's only August :(

Garmin must not have been put away correctly yesterday, because it was dead this morning, so I have no pace to give. However, I felt pretty good on the run. Did a few fartleks on my mile flat stretch. I'd do two lamp post sprints, rest one. I've got the endurance back in my legs, I now need to work on the speed.

Felt strong on the hills, stronger than normal, but not fast. When I would feel my pace slowing I'd make a mental note and pick it up again. I'd like to say I was pulling around 9:20's on the hills, but who knows. It is about effort anyway, right?

Off to body-sculpt for my resistance and then I'll hit a few more on the TM at the gym.

***Got locked out at the gym. The scanner thing to open the door had fallen and the whole gaggle of us were waiting outside (and I guess some had been for over an hour) to have someone come open the door with keys. At least I wasn't late to class like I usually am :)

Class was good, and we just went a little longer to complete the full hour after we got inside. I hit the TM and decided to try a bit of speed work to switch things up a bit. However, as I got going I felt good about the paces and kept pushing the pace and length of the speed work, and sped up the pace of my recovery time. So here is what I did in my extra 30 Minutes:

5 min @ 9:30mm

2 min @ 8:00mm

5 min @ 9:22mm

3 min @ 7:53mm

5 min @ 9:13mm

4 min @ 7:47mm

4 min @ 9:05mm

2 min @ 7:30mm

This gave me a total of 3.5 miles for the 30 minutes which becomes an AP: 8:35 - not too shabby. The best thing was I felt good on the speedier parts. My breathing was under control and the minutes went by quickly. I think my legs just need to learn to feel speed again. I've gotten so used to listening to and not pushing my body (pregnancy forces you to), that my legs and body have just really forgotten what that extra gear is like. This gave me a bit of confidence for Onion Days, I'm still not sure I'll hit the paces and time I'd like, but it won't be as bad as I've thought it would be. ***

blaaaahhhh! Cold and tired leg run. My legs aren't sore after trying to push a little speed yesterday, but I could certainly tell they weren't fresh. Tried to hit the downhill hard and maintain a consistent effort on the uphill. 

I really wish my baby would start sleeping longer stretches at night. He slept until 2:30, I fed him and then put him back in bed, but he is then just restless the rest of the night. I think I was up about once every 45-60 minutes. So, I was in bed for six hours, but it feels like I got 3 hours of sleep.  It's just harder to recover every day when you can't get a good nights rest.

AP: 8:59 splits:  9:16, 9:22, 9:27, 7:40 (the crazy downhill section), 8:07, 9:21, 9:41, 9:00 - This is Cal's rosecrest loop. It's funny, because you go uphill the first 3 miles (pretty gentle, even for me) then in about 1.5 miles you loose all your elevation (350ft) and then you spend the last 3.5 going back uphill to recover most of that lost elevation. So, to keep a 9mm even on my last uphill mile makes me very proud!

Now I'm off to boot camp and probably a few extra miles at the gym...stay tuned.

***Boot camp was LOADS of fun (can you hear the sarcasm?). We did however run enough loops in the back to do another 1.5 miles. the last 1/4 mile loop we did I pushed the pace and was breathing hard at the end. I don't know what pace it was, but I know I couldn't have held it much longer than that.

Then I finished up on the TM (after chatting for a bit) and did 2.25 - first mile at 9:22, then 9:05 then the last minute (almost .25) I did at 6:58 pace, which felt quite a bit easier than the speed outside. Gotta teach these legs how to move again!***

I think today's miles are what we usually refer to as JUNK miles.

I was tired (ha! what else is new?), and my legs were seriously like lead, they did not want to move. I felt like this was the last 6 miles of a marathon. It's been a LONG time since I've been at mile 4 and just wanted to stop running, thankfully I did hit a new gear about 1/4-1/2 mile later. Sometimes on days like this I wonder if the hour of sleep would've been more beneficial than the 7 miles...

AP: 9:29 splits: 9:22, 8:55, 9:09, 9:44, 9:51, 9:51, 9:36, 8:59 (last .1)

Thank heaven's I've got yoga today and then a sleep in and rest day tomorrow!!

Anyone doing 20 on Saturday that I could tag along?

Still not much sleeping on the baby front *sigh* If anyone has any good suggestions I'm all ears! I've always had good sleepers so this is new territory for me. Maybe I'm just expecting too much too soon.

I did get to sleep in today and just do the gym though - a bit of heaven honestly! Ran 1.5 on the TM @ 9:13 pace (felt pretty good and easy) simply to even out my miles for the week. Then I hit the elliptical and did more RW reading for another 60 minutes @ L10. Finished with a good 15 minutes of stretching. With a good nights rest I'll be ready for the 20 miler tomorrow! (hahahaha...)

Two with Lucy (my puppy), then met Annette and started off on 18 more. Becca joined us just a couple miles down the road.  Did a nice loop around to Kennecott (BEAUTIFUL sunrise view!), down to Daybreak lake and around (TONS of folks out this morning), down the hill then over to 11800S, then the long uphill trudge home past the new HS. We finished up a little early and got a nice almost mile walk back to my house. Between the walk, stretching and an ice bath (first of the season) I'm feeling pretty good now! I felt strong at the end too, it was nice to be done but I knew I could've pulled a couple more out.

AP: 9:06 splits:  9:31, 9:35, 9:46, 9:36, 10:07 (the nasty hill up to Kennecott), 8:45, 8:33, 8:29, 8:34, 8:43, 9:02, 9:03, 8:59, 8:53, 8:40, 9:20, 9:14, 9:13, 8:52, 9:09, 7:45(for the last 25 feet until I hit the button...gotta throw that in! :) )

So, a couple of things on this run I observed - I'm still slow, especially on hills, but I can do the distance even on hard hills and still have some left over. I also hit a sub 9 pace on one of the 5 miles uphill to home. THIS is encouraging to me, keep truckin' on baby! (I observed this as I was the one dragging butt about 20+  feet behind the others...I'm blaming the extra 15 pounds of baby weight!)

Secondly, this is my highest mileage week EVER! Even when training for my first full last year, I only hit 59. So, this is uncharted territory. My speed was a bit faster then, but I've got the training under my belt I need to finish strong at SGM. Also, with my diligence in rolling, stretching and x-training I am injury free. No even little aches to complain about.

I'm very proud of myself (sorry...I'm going to be a braggart here) for being able to get this training under my belt just 10 weeks after having a baby. My body has been good to me, and I in turn have tried to be good to it. Running, cross training and nursing all at the same time aren't easy on my body, I'm sure, but I'm trying to eat right and take care of it (rest/sleep) as well as possible.  I hope this doesn't jinx me!