Each Day Is a Gift

7 easy bench loop with Karen.  Windy.  Cold.  

The tongue of the Inspire 6 feels stiff.  It irritated the tibial tendon on the foot/ankle.  Still debating which shoes to wear on Sat.

6 with 2 at mp.

Fun day with my sister!!! :)  

Eating out for lunch and dinner everyday this week!  I must have gained 5 lbs today already!!!

5 easy miles!

Another day of playing, shopping, eating, movie watching w/ my sister!  Probably gained another 5 lbs!!! :) :) :) :) :)  

What's with the rainy cold weather...so much for trying to show off the beautiful Utah mountains to my sister and brother-in-law whom I'm trying so hard to convince to move here!!!  Dang!!!

5 miles with 6x100m strides!

More eating and partying with sis, bil and hubby! :) :) :)

5 easy :) :)

Eric checked out my shoes and feet.  I am going to take his advise and run in the Inspire 6 on Sat.  I will continue to train/run shorter and faster distances in the Elixir. :) :) :)

Carb-loading in earnest! : |

This is my 5th year running Ogden.  I met Teena and her brother in the middle miles of Ogden 2007.  Many fond memories and friendships were made at this marathon.   On the flip side,  the Ogden course has not been kind to me.  I ALWAYS cramp up badly and swore never to run it again and yet kept coming back for more.  Thus, I dub Ogden my *angels and demon* marathon. 

Weather was perfect, 45-65 temp, partly cloudy sky with a strong canyon breeze!  It was AWESOME to see SO MANY friends (even my friend/neighbor, Wendy.   Btw, she WON her division today and her husband ran a huge PR!).  It was SO FUN to meet many bloggers (Carina, Stacie, and others) for the first time!  :)  

Last year my running-guardian-angel was Maynard who stayed with me every step of the way and literally dragged me across the finish line.  This year RAD was my angel! :)  We had SO MUCH FUN running 21 miles together!!!  Hope she wasn't too annoyed by my silliness, especially the asthma attack at mile 14! ;o) 

Between mile 11-12, my phone rang!  My son Eric, left a message that he's somewhere between mile 20-22 waiting to run with me!!! :)  I called to let him know what I was wearing so he could spot me! :)  So EXCITED to have TWO angels (allie and Eric) to look forward to in the canyon!

For details of how the day unfold please read RAD's detail report here: http://radrunning.fastrunningblog.com/blog-05-21-2011.html

THANKS RAD for running the happiest EVER 21 miles with me!!!  LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!! :) :) :)

We spotted the 4:00 pacer around mile 17.  He was running a steady pace, no stopping at aid station, nice and easy on the downhill.  I was able to stay with him 'till mile 23 when  suddenly an overwhelming fatigue hit me (I had taken 3 gu's).  I wanted to stop running so badly!!!  My sweet Eric kept encouraging me to run with short quick steps, pump the arms, chin up, run like Emi.  I tried with all my might, but my legs would not work, my breathing became labored, hearts pounding.  The cramping demon showed up at almost the same spot on the parkway as last year.  I fought with pain and fear from mile 25 on. :(

I wish the statute horses along Grant St. were the real ones we saw earlier in the pastures.  These colorful horses were standing still, lifeless, mocking my death march.  I had told RAD earlier the meaning of *run like a horse*!  How ironic!!!!  Only Eric's comforting voice kept me going now! 

With the finish arch within sight, I heard my hubby's cheer.  Eric gave me one last encouragement then peeled off course to join his dad.  I think my body must have known that I'm done at 26.2 (the course measured long according to my Garmin which shows 26.37 miles in 4:02:26) I stumbled and fell at 0.1 short of the finish!!! What in the world!!!  Eric rushed back to scoop me off the pavement.  Another ugly demonic finish! 

Experience taught me that I must keep walking after crossing the finish.  I walked for at least 5 min.  I was about to stop by the fence where my hubby was when BAM!!!  charlie horse seized my left calf then right shin! :(  I managed to break the fall by grabbing onto the trash boxes where a kind older gentleman, Sherman, got a hold of my arm.  He coached me to step down hard on my feet/heel.  It was painful yet the only way to stretch out the cramps myself.  He and Eric held onto each arm and walked with me for another 15 min.  He made sure I eat a banana, drink water/powerade and walk unassisted before leaving me.  Another Ogden angel!!!

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Eric gave me three things to incorporate into my training:

1)  Frequent proper stretching to increase flexibility.

2)  Core exercises to improve postural control to facilitate efficient running form.

3)  Upper body strengthening exercises to share the work load especially late in the race.

Eric showed me some stretching exercises in the evening.  Tomorrow he will show me some core stability exercises. :)  I'm the luckiest mother!!!!  Wish he could stay longer before heading to his three year residency!