Running For Trevor

I will do a more detailed recap on my personal blog (runningfortrevor.blogspot.com) but here is the short (that will probably turn into long) version.

This was not a good race for me at all.  I am not one to make excuses and blame my bad race on external factors so I will just say that it was not my day.  After having an entire day to digest everything I am over it and realize I did my best with what I had in me.  I am so excited to get back out there and prove that I am capable of better.  I believe that the most frustrating thing as a runner is to perform outside of what you know you are capable of.  With that said we just do our best in the moment and that is all that we can do.  Bad races teach us and at the end of the day I am just so grateful for the experience.

Leading up to the race was one of the most stressful weeks I have had in a very long time.  I have been trying to refinance my house and found out Monday my appraisal was too low, I was out $500, and there was nothing I could do about it.  Work was just crazy and I was overwhelmed with stress.  I was so excited to just get away from it all and head to St. George.  Friday after work I went to pick up my sister to head down and her and her baby were both incredibly sick and would not be able to make the trip.  I was so upset because my Sister is my biggest cheerleader and was planning to run me in.  Oh well I was just so glad my Mom was willing to come with me and support me.

Got into St.g a little late and after the expo and checking into the hotel I finally settled with Subway for dinner around 8:30pm.

Race morning:  up at 3:45 out the door by 4:15.  The hotel clerk informed us it was already 77 degrees outside.  Awesome!  Met up with friends at the bus and the drive up flew by.  Once at the top we hit 2 rounds of porta potty trips and were ready to go.  I took 3 sports leg pills 1 hour before the start and 30 minutes after taking them I started to feel dizzy and light headed.  You are suppose to take 1 pill for every 50lbs and I decided to take 3 even though I only weigh 118.  I think I may have taken to much for my body weight.  I ate another half of a granola bar hoping it would help but I still just didn't feel quite right.  Oh well!

Ran into Merri at the beginning of the race and we were off.  There was no 3:20 pacer so my plan was to stay in between 3:15 and 3:25 and just pace myself the best I could.  HUGE mistake!  Should have stuck with 3:25 from the beginning.

Miles 1-3:  7:45, 7:42, 7:27  Felt sluggish and like a warm up but that was normal. I always feel this way at the beginning of a run.

Miles 4-7:  7:21, 7:42, 7:21, 7:24  Feeling really good and finally getting in a rythm.  Barely breathing and just shuffling along.

Miles 8-11:  9:06, 8:17, 8:27, 9:21  Awwwww eaten alive by the hills and unable to recover physically or mentally.  Passed by the 3:25 pacer and trying to hang on.  Feeling the uphill in my calves and blisters on my toes starting to form.  not good!  Threw up on the side of the road at mile 11.  Not pretty!

Miles 12-13:  8:42, 7:52 - 1:46 at the halfway point.  I was mentally depleated.  What was going on.  I needed to be at 1:42!!!!!!!! 

Miles 14-17:  7:54, 7:07, 7:19, 7:30 - Trying to pull it together but still struggling so hard mentally and physically.  Instead of running consistant splits I was trying to play "catch up".

Miles 18- 21:  8:18, 9:07, 8:22, 7:33 - calves started cramping at mile 18 and the rest is basically history.  Why oh why do I never cramp during training runs but always at the end of a marathon?  I think I was just unprepared for the hills.  I tried to eat a bannana but just couldn't stomach it.  I knew if I didn't slow my pace it would be ugly.  It was either I walk/run it in or slow the pace.  I decided to just slow the pace and try to get through it.

Miles 22-24:  10:05, 8:32, 8:24 - I had to stop and use the porta potty at mile 22.  I had just drank WAY too much but was still so thirsty and delirious.  I saw runners ready to run in they're family and friends and I really just wanted someone to run with me.  I was depleated and done.  Welcome the marathon death shuffle.

Miles 25 - 26.2:  9:08, 9:35, 6:54 - Calves cramping so bad it is ridiculous.  They were seizing up every few steps and I would scream out loud.  I'm sure it was great entertainment for the spectators.  My friend Nikki saw me at 25.5 and ran with me.  Thank you, thank you, thank you Nikki!  Once I hit mile 26 I just went into a zone.  All goals were out the window at this point but I was determed to re-BQ with the new qualifying times and finish under 3:35.  It felt like someone literally picked me up and flew me to the finish line.

The medics caught me in the shoot and I spent the next 2 hours dehydrated and unable to move.  I have only ran 3 marathons and 2 out of the 3 I have I finished completely delirious and dehydrated.  I am really not sure how I could have even hydrated more in this race and just think I really cannot handle the heat.  It is ridiculous!  Whenever I would stand the world would become fuzzy and my vision was blurred.  It took me 2 hours of laying on the grass and drinking 62 ounces of fluids before I was able to get out of the runners area without passing out.  Awww seriously just ridiculous. 

Anyway this obviously was not short so I will end it.  All in all my time is not completely terrible and I am proud of myself for pushing through leg cramps for 8 miles.  Not fun at all.  This was an incredibly organized race and I look forward to running it again.  I learned a lot and am looking forward to working through my issues and growing from the experience.

weights & 57 minutes on the elliptical.

I am sore but not anymore sore than I have been after my other two marathons.  I am sure that walking up and down stairs and carrying boxes all day Saturday and Sunday did not help and more than anything I just feel exhausted.  My parents are finally moved into they're new house though yay!

Already plotting out my next marathon.  The only way for me to get over a bad race is redemption.

Whoa I was all mixed up on my days.  Anyway weights, 30 minutes elliptical, and 3.25 miles on the treadmill 8:55 AP.

I am definitely sore but running actually felt pretty good and hopefully by next week I will feel back to normal.

15 minutes triceps, 10 minutes core

20 minutes elliptical

4.1 treadmill miles, .5% incline, 8:18 pace. 

PM:  2 miles.  Something about the cooler weather and changing of temperatures makes me fall in love with running again.  I am recovering from the marathon well and feeling stronger each day.  I am looking forward to learning all I can in the off season and coming back strong for Boston in April. :)

Las Vegas Ragnar & Halloween Half on the agenda for Oct and then Nov & Dec off of racing. :) 

worked legs and core

ran 8 miles in 65 minutes, 1% incline on the treadmill.

I had my body fat tested at the marathon expo and it was 19.6%.  Not terrible and I'm not really sure how accurate it was but it was definitely an eye openner that I am carrying around 23lbs of pure fat.  gross! 

I would like to work on getting that number down closer to 17% before Boston.  We shall see about that as the Holidays (food everywhere!) are approaching.

PM:  15 minutes ellpitical. 

It was weird going to the gym on Friday.  I always run outside on Friday but I totally wussed out on running in the cold.  I really need to get some better cold weather running gear.

Anyway 30 minutes weights (back & shoulders)

Just ran on the treadmill for 60 minutes and focused on staying relaxed and not paying attention to pace!  I kept the incline at 1.5-2% and sprinted out the last 800 meters.  Average pace was 8:34.  I was able to run the last 800 at 6:30 pace and still felt really controlled.  Great workout!  Thanks Jake for the advice on slowing down my runs.  I probably need to slow down even more but this was a good start for me.

10 minute cooldown on the elliptical to round out 70 minutes of cardio for the day.

I wanted to wuss out and go to the gym this morning but I decided to put on my big girl panties and run outside.  I am so so glad that I did!  It was a little rainy but once I got going it was perfect.  10 miles with a 8:22 AP.  I picked up the last 800 to a 7 min pace but other than that kept it easy and felt relaxed and controlled the entire run.  It was a great run!!

Sunday track day!  I met Julia this morning and she brough her dog plus the dog she is dog sitting.  The dogs ran around and me Julia walked for 2.5 hours.  Probably like 6-7 miles, I have no idea.  It was great to chat.  I jogged a slow 3 miles when I got home.

The weather is gorgeous today!

20 minutes weights.  8 treadmill miles, 1-2% incline, 64 minutes.

PM:  2 miles easy, 8:09 pace.  Perfect weather!

10 min elliptical warm up

5 sets 15 squats with 25lb weight

5 sets 15 alternating lunges with 12lb weights

1 sore butt

53 minutes running

20 minute easy warmup, 1% incline 8:18-8:34 pace

10 minutes threshold, 6:58 pace

23 minutes easy, 8:34 pace

Overall average = 8:01

PM:  2 miles easy.  Another gorgeous night!

Worked tricpes & shoulders for 25 minutes

20 minutes ellpitical

5.5 treadmill miles, last 800 at 6:45 pace.  I am wicked sore from all the squats/lunges I did yesterday.  Hopefully doing a leg workout 1-2 times a week will strengthen my legs and make me stronger on hills.  It is a good sore. :)  Just slows my running down a bit.

The gym is crazy packed lately.  I need to toughen up and start running alone in the dark. dun dun dun.

PM:  3 miles easy.  Holy crud my legs are crazy sore!  I guess thats what I get for doing 5 sets/15 reps of lunges after a 1 year hiatus. 

20 minutes weights (chest/shoulders/abs)

The I'm bored to tears treadmill workout

1 mile warmup 8:18 pace, 1% incline

.25 miles fast 7:13-7:25 pace, 1% incline

.5 miles easy 8:00 pace, 1.5% incline

.25 miles, 8:04 pace, 3.5-4% incline

and repeat x6

Last 800 at 6:48 pace.  Running outside tomorrow!  Woo hoo!

PM:  2 miles easy.

8.5 miles outside, 8:06 AP.  mile 1, 8:48 pace, last 800 meters 7:08 pace.

I am working on giving myself a running makeover.

Heres the background:  I started running in Summer 2010.  I ran my first half marathon Oct 2010 (Halloween Half Marathon).  Before that race the furthest I had ever ran outside was 10k distance.  Every workout I did was medium/hard and almost always an all out effort.  I was an idot new runner and I think this is actually a common mistake.  I continued with this method until just recently.

Anyway I am now just trying to train smarter and figure out what my "natural running pace" is.  I haven't ever really known how to just run naturally since I have always pushed myself too hard in workouts.  I have really been absorbing everything I can from others and especially everyone on the blog and think this will be a good change. 

My plan is to run easier for the next few months (besides 2 "fun runs") and focus on conditioning.  We shall see how it goes.

14 miles with my friend Julia in Provo canyon, 9:35 AP!  Windy and freezing for the first half but perfect weather for the second half.  Great conversation and great recovery miles.  Feeling good!

Track Sunday!  I met up with Julia at the track to walk/talk and let the dogs run around like crazy beasts.  She was a little late so I decided to a little speed workout.  I haven't done any real speedwork since SGM so I wanted to see if my legs were even capable of turning over quickly.

1 mile warmup

1 mile at 10k pace, 6:59!  Whoa I was impressed I got my body going that quick.

.5 mile jog and then 800 at 5k pace, 6:40.

.6 jog and then Julia showed up and we walked for an hour.  Good morning!

Came home and ate waffles with butter and full sugar syrup.  Yum!  Healthy Habbits challenge starts tomorrow.  You better pray for me. :)

10 minutes ellpitical

20 minutes biceps/abs

7 treadmill miles, 1-1.5% incline

15 minute warm up 8 min AP

15 minute threshold 6:58-7:13 pace

20 minute cooldown 8 min AP

Weights at home. I have been working late and hate crating my dog for too long so I will probably start doing this more often. 15 minutes shoulders, 10 minutes abs including 4 minutes of plank.

Ran 8 miles on the treadmill with 6 half mile hill climbs at 3-3.5% incline. 8:00 AP overall.

PM: 2 miles easy. Another gorgeous night.

Weights/abs 20 minutes

8 treadmill miles with 3x/800 sprints in the middle just to mix things up. overall time was 63 minutes for the 8 miles.

PM: 2 miles easy

Working triceps for 20 minutes. Gym was dead today which was SO SO NICE!

7.4 miles easy on the treadmill. I have a hard time running "easy" on the treadmill because I get bored so I added a few hill climbs to keep things interesting. I also covered the screen with my jacket so I wouldn't let it mess with my head. Weird how I prefer running slower and easy outside but on the treadmill it seems harder than running fast.

Anyway I'm off to Vegas this afternoon for Las Vegas Ragnar! I have a really easy leg and am just looking forward to having fun.

Las Vegas Ragnar Relay.  Just fun as always.

Leg 1:  4.6 miles, 7:12 pace, 90 degrees.  So dang hot but other than that it was good.  I haven't attempted to run fast really since the marathon so it was weird and took my legs a mile or 2 to get used to moving quicker.

Leg 2:  4.2 miles, 6:59 pace, middle of the night and nice and cool.  Some weird construction going on that slowed me down a bit but other than that it was good.  I love the night runs. :)

Leg 3:  5.7, 6:35 pace.  Lots of down and tons of heat.  87 degrees or something but considering it was the last leg of the race I felt really good.

3 easy miles watching the sunset.  It was a gorgeous night.

25 minutes weights/abs.

8 treadmill miles, 1.5-3.5% incline, 63 minutes.  I alternated the incline throughout and never went below 1.5%.  I think the incline training is really helping and my legs feel stronger.

PM:  2 miles

AM:  25 minutes weights/abs.  My Healthy Habbits (extra) goal is 10 minutes of ab work a day.  This has been tough for me but I can tell it is making a big difference.  My core feels a lot stronger.  Today I did 5 minutes of planks with 20 sit-ups in between each plank for a total of 80 sit ups.  Wowza!

Ran 8.2 miles on the treadmill in 68 minutes.  My legs felt really sluggish today.  I tried a 15 minute threshold in the middle and felt fatigued the entire time so I took a que from my body and slowed down to an easier pace.  I am running a half marathon this weekend so I feel no real need to push the pace.

I had to be to work early for meetings this morning but was able to sneak away and run a quick 6 miles.  Actually it was slow and took me 52 minutes.  I did 5 minutes of abs afterwards.

PM:  3 miles easy.  Lots of wind.

Weights/abs for 25 minutes.

Ran 8 miles on the treadmill alternating inccline 1%-3% before sitting in meetings all day.  Whooopi!

25 minutes weights (shoulders)/ abs

7 treadmill miles easy, 60 minutes.  The effort felt a lot harder than it should have even though I was running really slow.  Maybe I'm still not fully recovered from the marathon?  I don't know.  Anyway Halloween Half tomorrow and I'm hoping I can get those fast twitch muscles moving.  We shall see I guess.

I will post more details on the race later.  I am at work (on a saturday...so LAME!) and just wanted to get it logged.

It was a really fun race and I am really happy with the way I ran.  My only real goal going into it was to beat my time from last year (1:36) and possibly run sub 1:30.  I accomplished both but couldn't have done it without the Amazing JulieC!!!!  I owe this race to her because she stuck with me and paced me the last 8 miles.  Thank you, thank you, thank you Julie!!  And sorry for my heavy breathing and screaming out loud that last mile. :)

This was my very first race last year and I am glad to say I cut 10 minutes off of my time.  Paces and more details to come soon.

Okay I will make this quick but I really wanted to post my splits. 

1-3 (6:16, 6:14, 6:09)  Didn't push too hard on the downhill and chatted with a couple of girls I met Raquel and April.  They were fun to talk to and I felt like I was in a good rythm.

4-6 (6:08, 6:35, 6:53)  Still feeling good but bummed to be out of the canyon.  I could have sworn the downhill lasted longer in 2010.  Oh well!  I was so happy to see Julie at mile 5.5!  She asked if I wanted her to run with me and was so happy.  It was great to chat with her for a bit and I knew she would help keep me on pace.

7-9 (6:58, 6:35, 6:39) The GU I ate at mile 6 kicked in by 8 and felt pretty good.  I was amazed I was running that fast on a flat area.  I had no idea I was capable of running in the 6's unless it was downhill.

10-13.1 (6:37, 7:02, 6:43, 6:52, 6:25 pace)  Mile 11 really sucked with the lap around the parking lot and the gravel.  Dang it I really slowed down but was able to pull it together and recover fairly well.  I really wanted to die the last mile but Julie wouldn't let me quit.  My breathing was heavy and I kep saying out loud (fight, fight, fight).  Aww it was tough but so worth it.

Overall I really feel like I emptied the tank with this run and gave it everything I had in me.  It was a good confidence booster for me because I had been feeling really slow and kinda depressed post St. George.

So a huge thanks to Julie for teaching me that I am capable of more than I give myself credit for.  It was a fun day and a great final race of the 2011 season.  Congratulations to everyone that ran. 

Track Sunday!  I jogged an easy 3 miles and then walked for an hour with Julia.  My legs feel really good considering the race yesterday.  My calves are a little sore but other than that I feel really good.

20 minutes weights/abs

8 miles on the treadmill, 1% incline.  calves are sore but everything else feels good.  I am amazed that my quads aren't sore from the downhill.

PM:  2 miles easy, 8:28 pace.  I hope I get some trick or treaters tonight so I don't have to eat all the candy I bought!