Create.

10 miles, AP 8:07

Felt pretty tired, but guess what? I am officially in my last year of my doctorate program!!!! Can hardly believe it! It seems like I have been in school forever. Don't get me wrong, I love school ... but ... I am so ready to be done!! Only one more semester of course work and the rest is internships. YES YES YES!!! So happy!!! :)

10 easy miles :)

Wanted the miles but didn't feel like pushing it, so didn't. :)

A little over 13 miles of crazy steep terrain with Ry and Fly (hey, I like the phonetics of that) on the Wahsatch Steeplechase course (well what we could run of it ... the backside was snow packed so we went down the way we came up). Talk about madness!!! Seriously, how in the world did I get talked into the Wahsatch Steeplechase? That course is CRAY CRAY!!!

I have to admit, now that it is all over, I am excited to test it out again. Only this time I will bring much more fluids!!!! :)

Thanks Fly!!! :) :) :)

7 miles, AP 8:01

When I finished the 7 miles and looked at my watch and saw the 8:01 AP a thought flashed through my mind that maybe I should run around the block one time really fast to bring my overall pace under 8. Then I thought, "nah." What has happened to me???? :)

6 miles with Ry, Rylee and Sophers running the trails in Corner Canyon. SO INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL. 3 miles up then 3 miles down. BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL! :)

6 miles (1 warm up, 3 @ 6:57, .5 jog, 1 @ 6:40, .5 cool down)

Felt good. :)

7.5 miles, AP 8:16

Interning in a neuro rehabilitation clinic with an emphasis on spinal cord injuries this summer is having a true effect on how I look at things.

Happy Tuesday everyone. :)

5 miles: 1 easy, 4 MP

Feeling super tired, but I think it's just the stress and hours of the internship. Hopefully I will start handling it with more ease (physically and emotionally) soon.

10 miles, AP 7:58

This was one of the hardest runs I have had in so long. It felt like I was running 7:30s without any of the joy or satisfaction. My legs felt like garbage -- like each one weighed about 50 pounds! It was very discouraging and I am trying to figure out why it was so difficult. Here are the things I was wondering about, but I really don't know if any of them are that applicable (at least enough to make a difference). If anyone would be willing to weigh in (not just to say that I am being too hard on myself, but give me some real advice regarding where to go from here) I would be super appreciative. I really am looking for some suggestions on how to make the most of this next week so that I can have the best race possible under these circumstances come next Saturday.

Okay, here is what I got:

REASONS WHY THIS RUN MAY HAVE FELT SO STINKIN' HARD:

1. Started a new internship on Monday that has been emotionally and somewhat physically tiring. I work 4-10s (which actually end up being closer to 11s and 12s): Monday - Thursday.

2. On my feet most of the day and started wearing Dansko shoes. They are heavy but are supposed to actually reduce the fatigue in your legs. They were super expensive so I am going to be ticked if they are doing the opposite!!! ;)

3. Not sure if I am eating enough. I have never been very good at figuring my diet out.

4. Sleep is so-so. Haven't been getting 8 hours a night but have been getting about 7 to 7 1/2.

5. Only really trained consistently for about 9 weeks due to some tibia pain prior. Maybe just not enough mileage built up (even though I was able to hit some pretty decent miles the past 4-5 weeks).

6. Crazy bad allergies this week. Taking quite a bit of antihistamines.

7. Taper madness?

8. Temperature in the 70s during my run on the parkway today. (That's not that hot ... so what gives?)

9. Feeling a little bit of guilt for having such a great life (I know that sounds crazy ... but working with individuals with spinal cord injuries all day really makes you question things ... it's hard to explain).

10. Angry at one of Rylee's basketball coaches that seems to do nothing but yell at the girls. It is so frustrating. Rylee is an excellent baller and plays on both a school and competitive traveling team. The high school coach had her play 4 straight games last night in a tournament (both JV and Varsity) and they lost all games!!!! Rylee gave it her all and was literally exhausted at the end. All he did was yell and make the girls feel like garbage. Needless to say, my blood pressure rised quite dramatically and I was upset during the whole four hours of games and when I went to bed. (This may sound stupid, but I am really just trying to figure this out.)

In a nutshell? Is this something I can fix by next Saturday or should I change my goal? My goal was to try and get a course PR (not a distance PR). I was hoping to run Ogden around 3:25:xx.

Anyway ... that's far more about what is going inside of me that I usually share but I am really looking for some advice if anyone is willing to read this lengthy post.

Happy Friday, All. :)

No running for me today. I just simply did not feel good when I woke up.

BUT ... lots of running for my kids!!!

The USATF youth track meet was today in Park City. My kids did awesome!!!

Here are their races and results in the order they ran them.

Rylee (15)

1500 meters: 1st place, 6:03.81

800 meters: 1st place, 2:39.28

Payton (13)

3000 meters: 2nd place, 13:03.02

(This was the race the Sasha's son dominated. Sadly, it was Payton's first time running the 3000 meters and only 2nd race ever and it was a bad experience due the father of the third place runner in this race. You can see the details on a comment I posted on Sasha's blog for this same day.)

Sophia (11)

1500 meters: 1st place, 6:08.72

400 meters: 1st place, time unknown (The results that are posted have it wrong. They have her in LAST place with a 1:31:xx which is CRAZY because I have footage of her winning the whole thing with a LARGE margin and the footage only lasts 1:22:xx and I started it a little before the race started and stopped it a few seconds after the race ended. I have sent the footage to the director of the meet and I haven't heard back yet. Sophia was not happy when she saw the results.)

800 meters: 2nd place, 3:08.68 (This was a fantastic race. Sophia was pretty tired after running hard on the 1500 and 400. She was running in third place until the final stretch in which she kicked it into gear HARD! She ended up taking 2nd 1/3rd of a second behind the 1st place girl who ran a 3:08.34)

Livvy (10)

100 meters: 3rd place, but not even listed on the results ... WHAT?

200 meters: 3rd place, 37.56

Oliver (10) -- my crazy fast sprinter

100 meters: 1st place, 14.76

200 meters: 1st place, 31.99

Anyway, I hope they get the results fixed. Once again (like last year) there were a couple of coaches trying to recruit Sophia and Oliver to run for their team. They love that!! :)

8 Mother's Day miles with Ry on the JRP. AP 8:48.

5 easy miles with 10 strides thrown in the middle (30 seconds hard, 1 minute easy x 10: Bonnie told me to do 25 second strides but the math got too complicated!!). :)

5 miles. 4 x 4 minutes at HM pace with 1 minute jog between each. Everything else easy. :)

(Per the Bonnie week of the marathon plan. :))

3 easy miles

2 easy miles

Planned on 20 minutes of super easy running but some unplanned stuff crept in and ruined my plan. Bummer.

3:27:33 -- Definitely not my best race, but considering the past few weeks I will gladly take it and say "thank you very much." :)

So ... this is definitely a race I will remember. Just for a quick run down:

The family is staying in Eden thru tomorrow afternoon. I met up with them after a super long day (13 hours) in the clinic. I think I got here around 9:30ish. I was tired but all was good. :)

Saturday morning I slept in (giving me 9+ hours of sleep which felt AWESOME). Got up and began to get ready for my short little jog. WHAT??? Somehow my running bag was left at home!!! NO!!!! With construction in the canyons it was about a 3 hour trip. Dumb!!! But I told myself the sitting while driving would be a good forced rest. :)

Now to the race:

I WAS FREEZING from the get go. Arrived with a little over an hour before the start and searched and searched for Smooth, Vuyk, Ashton the Lintons and Lowell. Never did find them. This bummed me out big time. I just wanted the gun to go off and to get moving. I did find a handful of friends from my neighborhood though. I was wearing shorts, tank, and a pair of Ry's dress socks on my arms. Everything was soaked within the first 20 minutes (I told myself, "No problem, T! You run well in rain." :)

Miles 1 - 5. I told myself to go slow per Bonnie's advice. I tried to ... but I was moving faster than I should have even though it felt super easy. So easy that I overly confidently told myself, "Teena, I think you are going to PR today! Merry Christmas!!!"

Mile 6: (Background: Last night I spent over $20 purchasing some new tunes for my ipod. Good music always makes me feel good and I knew that I would need that today.) My ipod was soaked and ceased to play any music whatsoever!!!! Weaksauce ipod!!!

Miles 7 - 10: I didn't like these miles. Boring.

Mile 11: Saw Ashton!!! "Sweet!" Since Ashton is friends with Ry I am sure that I will not get in any trouble if I give him a hard slap on the buttocks as I pass!! He beat me in XTERRA, so now it was my turn. Still thinking I rule. :)

Mile 12 - 16: Ran comfortably but the miles were starting to wear on me. Took my 2nd Gu around mile 16. Had a hard time opening it because my fingers were shaking and my teeth were failing to do anything resembling ripping a package open! Finally got it.

Mile 17-20: Not too bad ... but starting to struggle more than I had hoped. But plenty happy that I was not struggling any worse. Just dripping wet and freezing my something off. The idea of PRing disappeared. Thought a course PR was still realistic. Which still thrilled me.

Mile 21 - 23: Can't fully take advantage of the sweet canyon downhill. Things are turning south very quickly. (Which is normal for me on this course.) "Stupid puddles and construction areas ... " No way to run true tangents. The discrepancy of the mileage on my watch and the mile markers on the course are getting further and further apart. Can't open another Gu. Hands and teeth are not behaving. Out of frustration I cease trying. No more Gu's or anything solid for the last 10 miles of the race. But I walked through most all of the aid stations to drink my little cup of gatorade. :)

Mile 24 - finish: Hurting. Hurting. Hurting. No injuries. Just extreme fatigue and stomach. Trying to call upon Bonnie and Andrea's badassness (can I say that on here?). Almost there!! No chance of getting a course PR at this time. My watch is too off. No how no way. Oh well!! It's all good. I'll see my Ry in no time!!! (He ran the half in 1:46:xx. And he looked amazing this morning!) :)

FINISH!!!! 3:27:33 (1:13 more than my personal course best but almost a quarter of a mile longer than 26.2 ... so it all comes out in the wash, right?)

Glad it's over! I'm happy! You win some, you lose some. This was kind of in between, AND ... my body doesn't hurt now several hours later. Just a little tightness in the right hip but nothing bad at all. Now how do you like them apples??? :) :) :)

Happy Saturday, All.

Oh, speaking of wash, quick question: "Why did the polar bear wash his clothes in Tide?"

ANSWER: Because it was too cold to wash them 'out'-tide!!!!!! :) :) :)

(Now admit it: That is HILARIOUS!)

Nice walk with the hubs in beautiful Eden.

I am surprised that I feel pretty dang good. Some moderate right hip tightness but that is it. Nice. :)

1500 meter swim: Nice and easy. I can tell that I am out of swimming shape -- but that is to be expected. :)

I feel really good today. My legs feel fine and the right hip tightness is very mild (barely noticeable). I feel as if I could run with no problems. The physical therapist in me is being more cautious acknowledging that 26.2 miles of racing definitely takes a toll on the body. I am committed to waiting at least a couple more days before running/jogging. Possibly waiting even until Friday. :)

Happy Monday, All. :)

45 miinutes spin bike: moderate to pretty decent resistance

ST: core (needed that) :)

My body does not feel like a ran a marathon on Saturday. Does that mean that I did not push hard enough?? But I really struggled the last few miles. I don't get it. But I will take it. :)

morning:

elliptical: 45 minutes (15 minutes easy, 15 minutes moderate, 15 minutes hard)

ST: glutes/hip

evening:

circuit training ---

3 sets of:

- jump rope (double feet) x 75 hops

- box jumps x 10

- lunges x 50

- bicycle crunches x 25 (each side)

- dumbbell T pushups x 10

* My goal is to get to 6 sets of these in less than 30 minutes. Lots of work to do to get there.

**********************

On a side note: My internship deals primarily with patients with spinal cord injuries. However, I worked out a deal with another therapist that whenever there is a cancellation I can help him out. He deals primarily with individuals who have traumatic brain injuries or amputations. I had no idea how deeply I would fall in love with working with individuals with amputations who now are learning how to use a prosthetic or manage a residual limb (I had one patient that I helped in home health care, but not at this level). Wow! I did not see that coming. I have talked to my clinical instructor about this and she is arranging for me to spend a couple Tuesday mornings working with prosthetic companies and learning about the various prostheses. I am the luckiest girl in the world!!!

30 minutes elliptical

3 easy miles

14.2 miles on the Wahsatch Steeplechase course (except for the little section that we got lost on) with my Ry.

Felt even more difficult than last time!!!! Hoping that is a byproduct of the marathon 6 days prior. Starting to wonder if I have any business running this race!! It'll be a challenge for sure. :)

Finally finished our run and headed to Moochie's for a yummy sandwich when we got word that my hero (my grandpa) had just passed. He had become suddenly ill a few days prior. Our family had made arrangements to head to Richfield the next day after the kids' track meet.

There is a giant hole in my heart that I don't know how to deal with.

I have been asked to speak at the funeral this Thursday. Each time I sit down to write I cannot stop crying. Can hardly believe how lucky I am to be his grand-daughter.

Until I see you again, Grandpa. Peace. I love you the mostest.

No running for me today.

Only Sophia and Oliver wanted to compete in the USATF youth development meet at UVU. Sophia had just run super hard on Thursday running the fastest mile in her entire school other than one boy who she has been trying to beat all year. She cut the gap to 2 seconds this time which is awesome!!!! Not bad for a tiny little 5th grade girl! Unfortunately it took a small toll on her today. She still ran tremendously but was off by quite a bit compared to two weeks ago. She also started running with the Murray Track club so it has been her first week in a LONG time that she has run every day. :)

Sophia (11):

1500 meters, 6:27.03 (1st)

400 meters (Not sure of her time -- once again they have screwed her time up with this one. She won her heat but there were two heats and they had some smokin' fast girls in the other heat ... so I'm guessing she was third or so overall.)

800 meters, 3:13.93 (3rd). She was definitely worn out!

Oliver (10):

100 meters, 15:06 (1st). Head wind.

200 meters, 33:11 (1st). Head wind.

** We really need to get Sherm (Oliver) some running shorts. He has been running in his big baggy basketball shorts. He is SO much fun to watch. The muscles in his face are so relaxed and they move with his lips when he runs. It looks freaking AWESOME!!! :) :) :)

I miss my grandpa. Everything reminded me of him today.

7.1 miles to my parents house and back. I love them. :)

Bike: 30 minutes. Started reading To Kill a Mockingbird again just because.

3 easy miles.

Wonderful day at the pool with my family. Now I am sitting here listening to Rylee practice the piano in preparation for playing the prelude and postlude at grandpa's funeral. The tears still come so easily. Nothing beats family.

6 miles, AP 8:17

ST: UE

6 miles, AP 8:05

ST: core

7 miles, nice and easy (9 somethings)

3 wonderful miles with my brother, Nic, in Richfield on his birthday.

One of the coolest men this world has ever known, my grandpa, on his 1917 Indian motorcycle.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ehKkkqb9sH4

Rest in peace, Grandpa. I love you the mostest (and then some).