Create.

Wasn't able to start my run until 10:00 p.m. and still wasn't finished with my studies (but was having a hard time staying awake ... hence the run). Alternated miles with 9:30s and 7:30s (and was able to study during the 9:30s -- nice.)

7 easy miles with a handful of strides 

20 minutes bike, easy

Hallelujah ... another set of midterms DONE!! Looking forward to a nice chill evening with my Ry and kids. :) :) :) 

21 miles, AP 8:15 (JRP + Linton Loop and Vuyk Hill)

I think I bit off a bit more than I could chew today because the last few miles were quite miserable. I guess I should have suspected that they would be seeing that I skipped my long run last weekend. I think I need to add in a longer run mid week. Somewhere closer to 14-15 miles instead of the 'ol stand by of 10.

With that said, I am happy that I managed to hit 70 running miles this week. That is really good for me (I have only done it 3 other times). The funny thing is that I feel like with the added mileage that my legs are always too tired to really go all out in a speed workout. I am guessing (hoping) they are just adapting. :) 

Also, 21 miles is just too long for me to run by myself. I was able to run a mile or two with others (strangers with friendly faces) on the parkway as I forced myself into their worlds though. :) :) :)

Have a great weekend everyone! :) 

morning

7 miles: 3 miles easy, 3 miles at 5K pace, 1 mile easy (with a couple of one minute sprints).

I am super happy with how the 3 miles at 5K pace felt (I definitely pushed, but I did it) after 21 on Saturday (in which I struggled in the end). I am certain that it must have been KristyAnn's Indian food that helped me recover so quickly!!! :) :) :)

afternoon

contract/relax PNF stretching (thanks to the help of a classmate -- I am SO lucky). :)

plyo

evening 

3 easy miles 

30 minutes bike (10 minutes easy, 20 minutes kilamanjaro level 10)

10 TM miles [1 easy (8:57), 5 hard (AP 7:18), 1 easy (8:57), then 2 miles of 1 min. max/1 min. jog, then 1 easy (8:57)]

am 

14 miles,  AP 8:32

2 pull ups/5 chin ups/2 pull ups (30 second rest between sets -- form could definitely use some work. Pretty weaksauce with not going down all the way between each rep ... but I gave it a good go. :) ) 

pm

30 minutes upright bike

ST: glutes and hip abductors 

am 

75 minutes upright bike (comfortable: not easy, not hard)

Yasso Workout:

 800 meters warm up

10 x 800 meters with 400 meters jog in between each 800 :

3:29, 3:29, 3:27, 3:27, 3:25, 3:25, 3:23, 3:23, 3:20, 3:07

800 meters cool down 

You never know if the TMs are perfectly calibrated, but regardless, I felt great! Very happy. :) 

pm

3 easy miles (10:00 pace)

30 minutes upright bike 

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women's_Day

5 easy miles

WAY FUN DAY!!!!

10 miles by myself, AP 7:21 (550 ft net downhill and a handful of traffic lights that required short stops)

10 miles with my amazingly awesome SIL, Annie. I forgot to start my watch, I am guessing roughly a 10 minute average pace. Annie's ITB started acting up the last handful of miles :(  .

90 minutes mtn bike ride with Ry at Corner Canyon. The weather and company were absolutely PERFECT!!! SO SO SO MUCH FUN!!!! :) :) :)

I am presently a muddy mess and extremely hungry!!!! :) :) :)

Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend. :) 

*** Two weeks of 70 running miles in a row and everything feels great!!! I am going to take it down a notch next week to keep it that way. Yahoo!! :) 

A big zero for me today. :(

I have been feeling a little bit congested for the last few days, but late Saturday night it hit! Stupid cold! I was hoping that it would be all cleared up by now ... but no such luck. I have been debating all day long whether or not I should run (or even get out of bed for that matter). After looking back at some entries (particularly Feb 20, 2011) and reading this http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-286--9082-0,00.html I have decided to skip at least today. We will see what tomorrow brings. 

On the bright side, I have the coolest SIL ever (andrea27) who brought me a bag of Great Harvest cookies. I am certain they have magical powers and that I will be feeling as good as new any moment now!!! (No worries, I have been filling my body with tomato soup, orange and grapefruit juice, and lots of green veggies as well.)

Hope everyone is off to a wonderful week!!! 

Feeling much better today. Not 100% but enough to feel like running and going to lunch with Annie! :)

12.5 miles, AP 8:57 

11 miles:

1 mile warm up

8:00, 7:30, 6:59 X 2

1 easy

5 X 400 meters each at 1:30 with 1 minute super easy jog between each

.75 mile cool down

** Not sure why I forced this. Wasn't feeling that hot and struggled. Boo!!! Oh well ... what's done is done! OFF TO VEGAS with the family!!! :) :) :) 

2 hour mtn biking with Ry in Red Rock Canyon!!! I love this place!!!

(Slight trouble with asthma during ascents, but getting better.)

2 hours mtn biking with Ry in Red Rock Canyon (asthma not too bad, but still not breathing 100%)

6 easy miles

Very happy with this race. :)

Let it be said that I am not a huge fan of 5 or 10Ks so pretty much avoid them. BUT ... I needed to finish the runners series and left myself with very few options (plus I promised Annie)!!

I have rarely been able to find a rhythm in these shorter distances. Today I was a bit concerned about my asthma and so made the simple goal of running completely in control of my breathing. I LOVED IT!!! I felt strong throughout the race and did not have one asthma issue. Consequently I PR'd by over one minute (my previous PR was on this same course last year). How can I not be thrilled? I am!!! :)

The only regret I have is not running 2 seconds faster (which would have given me the #2 spot in my division and a top 10 overall ... but I had no idea where I was at and was just enjoying seeing my family on the side lines and feeling good). :)

Was able to run Annie in (but she was cruising and only had about 1/4 of a mile left by the time I got back up to her). SHE DID AWESOME and beat her hubby (my brother)!!! :) :) :)

Then an additional 8 with Annie afterwards. GOOD TIMES!

Always great to be able to hang out with friends before and after!!! (Congrats to all who had a fantastic race!)

(Is Spring Break already over? STINK!!!)

am

7 miles (1 warm up, 5 @ HMP, 1 cool down)

pm

30 minutes upright bike

6 TM miles, easy

ST:Hip Abductors and L Rotators 

am

20 minutes upright bike

11 TM miles

[3 warm up (8:57), 6 w/AP 7:25, 400 meters jog, 400 hard, 400 jog, 400 hard, 1 cool down (8:34)]

** Funny story: This morning at the gym after I got done running (looking pretty stinky, sweaty and gross) this guy comes up to me and says: "I saw you going after it today on the treadmill. Have you always been a runner?" I respond, "I picked up running about 6 years or so ago." He then proceeds, "Did you run in High School?" I answer, "Nope." He goes on, "Well why are you running so hard?" I laugh and say, "I am trying to get ready for the Boston Marathon that is next month." His eyes look a bit puzzled and he questions, "Well, how long is that race?" I grin, "Oh about 26.2 miles." Then (this is the good part) in all seriousness he asks, "Do you think you will win?" AWESOME .... I needed that this morning!!!! I LOVE PEOPLE!!! :) :) :) 

pm

20 minutes upright bike 

3 recovery TM miles

2 pull-ups/5 chin-ups/2 pull-ups  (still need to work on form: elbow flexed a bit when I go down ... got to work on that)

push-ups 35/20/20 

box jumps 17": 10/10/10 

14 miles, AP 8:28 on the JRP

Legs felt tired and heavy initially but seemed to snap out of it around the halfway mark. 

20 minutes upright bike

10.5 miles (Julie G's Boston Hill Workout +)

0-3         0%: 8:57 (warm up)

3.0-3.7   3%: 7:53 

3.7-4.7   1%: 8:00 

4.7-5.0   6%: 8:49 

5.0-6.4   1%: 8:00 

6.4-6.8   4%: 8:12 

6.8-7.4   1%: 8:00 

7.4-8.0   6%: 8:34 

8.0-10    0%: repeats of 1 min max 1 minute jog  

10.0-10.5 cool down (8:34) 

PM

3 recovery miles

4 TM miles (Originally planned on more but felt exhausted. Caused me to freak out a bit about my long run scheduled for the next day, so decided to call it good.)

Core workout.  

23 miles [22 with AP 8:18 on the JRP (18 of those miles with JohnnyV -- SO NICE TO HAVE COMPANY), then one with Sophia :) at 8:57]

Plan was just to run comfortably today. I was worried about how this run would go because I felt exhausted yesterday and this is my highest running mileage week ever. I was very cautious and it was rather nice feeling like I was holding back some most of the run. I did hit it hard the last 6 miles (it was a confidence booster to see that I still had gas in the tank). :)

Got home and Sophers was wanting to run one mile. I thought a good 10:30 - 11:00 pace would have been a perfect cool down after hitting my previous 6 miles hard. NOPE ... she had a sub 9 in mind. There is something very freeing about watching her run. SO RELAXED, SO NATURAL. I love it ... I love her!!! :) :) :)

(4 energy blasts, 1 gu, 20 ounces of gatorade) 

81.5 running miles for the week. :) :) :)

am

2 miles warm up, 3 miles really hard, 1 mile cool down

pm

4 easy miles

ST: hip abductors/lateral rotators 

30 minutes upright bike (easy)

11.5 miles (2 warm up @ 8:57, 8 @ 7:28, 1 mile of 1 minute hard and 1 minute jog repeats, .5 mile cool down @ 8:34)

* Still pretty tired -- hope to get the spring back in my step soon. Fonz was trying to talk to me while I was struggling to just keep my head upright during the 8 @ 7:28 ... I told him that I was dying and could NOT talk and run simultaneously but he just laughed and said it was good for me! Compassionateless man!!! He also said that he saw a flaw in my gait (there are a lot of them) but that he thought it best not to tell me what it was until after Boston. Now I am going through all of my flaws in my head ... stink! Then I wanted to quit around mile 5 (of the 8) but luckily a firefighter came and started biking almost directly in front of my treadmill -- I decided I could hang on for just a bit more. :)

Happy Tuesday, all!(It is Tuesday, right?) :) 

10.2 miles to Copper Hills HS and back, AP 8:33

Felt like I was running on fumes and as if my tummy was eating itself (the wind did not help matters). Not pretty. I pushed hard yesterday so maybe this is to be expected. I think nutrition and sleep are going to be paramount these next 19 days. Let the real taper begin. :) :) :)

Happy Wednesday! 

am

5 miles: 1 easy, 2 MP, 1 Vo2, 1 easy

For our Physical Agents lab today we did massage!!!! AAAAAaaaahhhhh!!!! I want to go back. It was pure heaven. I needed that so so so badly. I have a feeling that my hubby is not going to complain when I need his body to practice on (he really has been a good sport about letting me practice the not so pleasant aspects of physical therapy on him). :)

pm

5 miles: 2 easy, 1 super hard (6:23 pace ... I know for many of you that is no sweat ... but it is the fastest I have ever run a mile on the treadmill ... so I am very pleased :) ), 2 easy.  

4 easy miles

1 hour of aquatic therapy: AWESOME core workout plus! :) 

*** FOR THOSE OF YOU RUNNING THE RIVERTON HALF (OR 5K) TOMORROW: PLEASE COME BY AND SAY HI AFTER THE RACE! I WILL BE RUNNING THE HALF BUT WILL BE STAFFING THE U OF U PHYSICAL THERAPY BOOTH THERE (IN THE BIG TENT) AFTERWARDS! WE SHOULD HAVE OTTER POPS, U OF U PENS, AND SOME FLYERS REGARDING COMMON RUNNING INJURIES. *** 

So ... this race did not go as I expected. It was much more difficult than I had anticipated and the wind and crazy hills did not help!! I cannot say that I pushed to my max, but I definitely did not take it easy. Sadly, my average pace ended up close to what I want my Boston pace to be. That definitely has me second guessing myself. STINK!

BUT ... even considering this I am happy that I ran the race. SO MUCH FUN to be around other runners and good friends!!! LOVED seeing everyone!!! Also a quick shout out to my SSF who appeared to get through the entire race without her asthma taking over. She looked AWESOME at the end!! WAHOO!!! To Rivertonpaul for cheering all the runners on on his home turf (even though he could not run it). And, of course, to Walter who won the whole thing outright!!! NICE!!!

Looking back there are definitely some Dos and Don'ts that I will want to incorporate in future races:

1. DO NOT go to Panda Express the night before a race right before they close (9:58 p.m.) and tell them just to give you what they have left (because the choices are sparse) and then inhale it while watching recordings of The Voice. Bad idea. :(

2. The following conditions DO NOT mean you should take it down a notch and start walking through the aid stations (periodically glancing backwards to make sure no other women are getting too close):  1.When there are not any women ahead of you that you think it would be possible to reel in during the last few miles OR 2. There are not any women behind you that you think are going to catch up. Bad idea. :(

3. DO have your kids run the last stretch with you if the race people are okay with it. My FAVORITE part by far!!! LOVED IT!!! Good idea. :) 

4. DO eat a fortune cookie the night before a race. No one puts bad fortunes in fortune cookies! Last night mine read, "Good luck will come your way when you are not expecting it." Considering my race I definitely did not expect to place. Certainly the fortune cookie made all the difference. Good idea.  :) 

ALSO: a quick thank you to those of you who stopped by our U of U PT booth. :) :) :)