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

Conquered my new hill route. When I looked at the elevation afterward, it made me depressed...only 400ft of gain in .75 miles. I know that is a big hill, but when I felt like I was dying at the top I was sure I'd climbed about 1000ft and it had been well over a mile. Poo. I hate it when a route I've built up in my head isn't all that. Especially when my split time is SO slow!!! Whatever, I got it done and it didn't kill me...so I guess it just made me stronger :)

2 miles to the hill: 8:39, 8:57 Hill: 11:32; down hill, back home: 8:40, 8:21, 8:32 - didn't push anything, just enjoyed the run.

Just after mile 6 clicked I saw my friend running and decided to go a little bit with her, she is slower, but I had a good time with company and just relaxing! 11:35

Then a little after mile 7 I took a short cut home so that I could get there before hubby had to leave for work .6 = 8:57 pace.

Rode the bike with Adam to the gym and did .4 on the track before spin.

Great spin class with lots of climbing. I love climbing in spin!! Better than speed anyway. Great puddles of sweat = great class!

Got the bike cleaned off and to the TM as fast as I could. Did a push speed mile on the TM in 6:45. Did the first half at 6:57 pace, then went progressive every tenth until the end and finished at 9.5mph.

Rode the bike home with Adam and then had to get back out the door to take my son to a Dr appointment. Physical exhaustion to start the day, mental exhaustion for the next few hours = spent mama! Now if I only had time for a nap...

Tempo Tuesday. I hate making my own workouts, because I know what I'm in for!

Did our regular 10 mile loop, but threw in tempo miles (just as fast as you could take...since Chad hung with me and George was still sore from his first 20 miler Saturday I guess it was as fast as Rachel could handle).

2 mi warm-up, luckily temple hill was in the warm-up. 1 mile tempo then a half-mile recovery repeated until we were at 9 miles, then the last mile was full cool-down.

warm-up: 8:52, 8:31 - legs felt heavy and I wasn't so sure I wanted to do this today!

1st tempo: 7:10 - okay, not too shabby for a flat mile.

2nd tempo: 7:50 - don't get on my case too much about this one! It was all uphill with the Maverick hill on 12600S. I didn't finish until I got to the top. I didn't plan the workout with the course, I just did it. So I'm pleased it was a 7:50, good for a full mile hill sprint for me.

3rd tempo: 7:44 - I think my poor legs were just tired from the hill. I don't have any other reason it was so slow. Well, the elevation says 156 ft gain over the mile, but I thought it was flat...hmm. Either way, the effort was there!

4th tempo: 6:52 - ahh, downhill! Can you tell? I thought it would be faster though, closer to 6:20 oh well. I guess the legs were tired.

5th tempo: 7:20 - I actually felt the strongest on this finish. Maybe because I knew I was done. I don't know. It is a pretty flat mile and I was just happy to be done with the tempos and on the finishing stretch home.

AP for the run: 8:12

I thought about going to the gym, but decided to sleep instead :) Got a little nap while baby played with trains on my bed. Gotta love just having one kid...and a big empty bedroom so he can't get into or destroy anything!

We then had a good little bike ride to run some errands around the 'hood and go to music class...maybe 4 or 5 miles.

Last night I was contemplating what to do. I had my route and everything all planned out and I was ready to tackle it, but my shins/calves started getting a little achy. Nothing big, but putting in high miles after a near nothing month and with SGM coming up I get super sensitive about little niggles. My contemplation was this: I had arch supports (super feet) in my shoes from the start of my running days until after SGM last year when I finally took them out upon recommendation of my PT, because I would constantly get shin splints and he figured that I was probably over compensating with the supports. Since taking them out I haven't had any shin issues! Then, my PF came up. So, my PT had me put in SOFT arch supports - the super feet were too rigid and giving shin splints, but my arches must need a little more than what is in my shoes. So, since Aug I've had new arch supports. Now that my miles are going up my shins are getting achy! Poo! I rolled and stretched really well last night before bed.

I didn't want to run outside in case they got bad and I felt like I needed to stop, and I was tired and wanted to sleep in :) So, I went back to an old pair of shoes w/out the supports and went to the TM. Amazingly, my shins don't ache now and my calves don't feel horrible either. So, was it the supports gone or the rolling/stretching last night? I don't know. I'm confused and don't know what to do. Should I try no arch supports for the long run Saturday and see how my PF does and hope that all will be okay or should I keep the arch supports and deal with the shins and just roll and stretch if it is bad afterward? I'm in a quandary!!! Any advice is welcome.

Rode the bike to the gym with Adam. It was cool enough we both needed jackets :(

3 miles on the TM: 8:34 (1%); 8:34 (2%); 8:13 (1%)

1 mile on the track not timed, but similar effort

3 more miles on the TM: 8:20(1%); 8:20 (2%); 7:45 (started at 7:58 and went progressive the last half, so I'm kind of guessing)

1 mile on the track again, not timed, but similar effort

Walked and chatted a few laps with Jena

stabilization exercises - band walking, big toe/little toe calf raises, lunges, weighted bridge leg lifts, 20 push-ups (girls), side arm raises, X hop. Repeated 3X with a sprinting lap between each set (11 laps/mile...so not enough to put into mileage).

10 min of stretching calves/hamstrings/feet.

Bike home with Adam, didn't wear MY jacket home, but Adam still needed one. It is getting cool :(

Urban Trail Loop and Kelli decided to come join us this morning too! It was nice to have some female company! Kimberly has been coming more, but I always love a run with Kelli! She was nice enough to go slow and hang with me this morning. 

After the run I did 3 extra with Chad, the worst part was up and over temple hill! Y'all know how much I love hills. But, the last mile everything finally just clicked in and I felt great! Perfect pace and I just could've gone another 4 or 5 exactly like that again. 

AP: 8:42 splits: 9:12, 9:00, 8:32, 8:07, 8:50 (hit the single track...so much for that progressive, like always), 9:11, 8:57, 8:35; 3 after: 8:49, 8:43 (temple hill was faster than the first mile?!?), 7:43...and that felt good?!? Crazy run!!!

Came home and it had been SO cold all morning I just buried myself under 3 blankets and shivered for a good 20+ minutes. After I got kids off to school I took another little nap while baby played trains :) He needed more help today putting the track together, but I still got a little rest.

Did a new yoga video (I've had it for years, but never done it), a little less crazy than p90X and more stretching. Not as much as my old yoga class though...I miss Wendy's Thursday yoga class :( I just can't find a good substitute!

Two @ 8:34 on the TM in my Altras. Someday I'll get brave and take them outside on a short run :) 

30 min swim. It was nuts in the pool today! They had all the lanes closed for swim lessons, I don't get it... THEN they had zumba water class going, I don't get it....

I swam the short way under the diving boards half way, then I'd turn at the first lap lane and go back. Then zumba got over, so I went on the outside of the lanes the long way. Then the geriatric class started so I could only swim half way the long way. Finally, they put in an additional lap lane and I could swim normal laps. crazy! Constant (practically) swim for 30 minutes, couldn't figure out distance if I'd tried!

Biked to and from the gym with Adam and then picked up Nathan at Kindergarten. He and his friend rode scooter and Adam and followed on the bike. Wonderful morning!

One of my worst runs ever. Honestly. Not so much the pace, but the way I felt. All I can say is I didn't puke or poo and it didn't kill me...so I must be stronger for it.

Met Skip in Provo/Orem to run the river trail. My initial thought was to do 10 up the canyon then try and tempo down. Just not the day to do it. There were times on the way up in the VERY dark (5AM start), that I got a little dizzy, but I figured it was from the headlamp. When we got to Vivian he said we could run the highway or up Southfork. I didn't want to run on the road (I'm a chicken) so I chose Southfork. HA! I had NO idea what I was in for. 

We ran up to a campground/park to the bathrooms and water. Fighting a head wind the entire way from the start. At one point before we got to the canyon it blew my visor off!! I've never had that happen. Strong wind. It was nice to turn around, and it was finally light enough we didn't need the head lamp. I knew the way down would rock!

As we ran down Southfork I was perplexed...this was STEEP! I didn't really run up this road did I? It certainly didn't feel that bad on the way up, but this down is amazing. Looking at the elevation, not surprised...200ft gain/mile approx for those last 3 miles. My AP at the turn around (10.3) was 8:47mm

Around mile 11.5 I started feeling crappy. My gut was just not happy. I started getting a headache, lightheaded and I just felt weak. I figured when we got back to Vivian I would pop my GU and be fine. HA! Didn't work.

The miles just got harder and I stopped talking. I can only concentrate on one thing at a time and that was keeping my feet moving despite my head yelling at me to stop. I was dragging and felt like I was running 10mm, my head felt like it was going to implode and I wanted to puke. Finally got to Nunn's park and stopped for water. Poor Skip had to deal with my horrible run!

The distance between Nunns and the bottom of the canyon has never seemed SO long! Just enduring. I did have to stop a couple times when I was sure the puke was on its way up. Luckily, it never made it. We stopped at a bathroom by the ever flowing water and that seemed to help a little, but I was still just exhausted with a pounding head and unhappy gut. Misery, but at least I had good company :)

I'd met Skip at the Harmons in Orem and it is UP that 800N hill at the bottom of the canyon and I was NOT looking forward to that, but I knew my 20 miles was almost done so I pushed on. At the light at the top of the hill I hit 20 and started to walk. Poor Skip was just getting moving and ready to run the last 1/2 mile back to the cars. So, we compromised. I walked 200yds or so, then we picked it up and ran another 1/2 mile.

When we got back I laid down in the parking lot and put my feet up on the lamp post I was parked under. done. I'd done it. Despite Skip asking multiple times if I wanted him to come back and pick me up, I had resisted and finished it! I still felt just as horrible, but I was done. Put it in the books and it is now signed, sealed and delivered.

I had to pull over once on the way home, because I was so light headed I didn't want to kill myself. And yes, I had water, gatorade and chocolate milk when I got back to the car (despite not wanting the milk!) so I was refueled a bit. I was just in a bad state. I don't know why :(

Came home and caught a 1 hr nap before taking my little guy to football, where I laid in the grass trying not to puke. He did a great job and there are many things that happened that made me smile BIG! He is trying SO hard lately to work on a lot of things and today he made friends and jumped into a group all by himself. That isn't easy for him, he is very introverted like his father...definitely NOT from me! :)

It still took me another couple hours to eat anything solid, but I'm feeling a bit better now. I have to remember to eat on Fridays before a big run. I didn't eat, because I was busy with kids and house, until 7:30 yesterday. My body needs fuel...I guess :)  Anyway, when all was said and done with and I looked at my splits I was really surprised. I'd known the 1/2 AP, but didn't realize how fast I'd really run those downhill miles (or how hard the uphill really was!). I guess if I can deal with a suffer fest like that and keep a decent pace I shouldn't be too frightened of SGM. Maybe that is why I had this run today, to make my brain understand that I CAN do hard things even when I don't think my body is working properly. I'll try again next week for those solid tempo miles, but I'm certainly NOT upset about the pace of this run given all the circumstances.

Can't wait to read all the good reports sure to roll in from races!!

AP: 8:25 splits: 8:46, 8:48, 8:38, 8:40, 8:33, 8:19, 8:18, 9:25 (hello hills!), 8:56, 9:18, 8:13 (ahhh, downhill!), 7:50, 8:04, 8:02, 8:16, 7:52, 8:05, 8:07, 8:02, 8:07 (for the hill UP on 800N...no way!), 8:11 (last 1/2 mile).