In The Long Run

I feel lazy when I take a day off of running, but I know my body is not ready for 7 days a week yet.  So I did Restorative Yoga for 1 1/2 hours.  My hips and hamstrings feel so much better, hope this feeling carries over to my track workout tomorrow.  

AM: Dynamic warmup, planks, lifting.  I've been neglecting strength training and figured it was time to get back into it.  Nothing crazy, though, until after Ogden.  

PM: SLCTC Track Workout. Warmup loop around Sugarhouse Park. My plan called for 5 X 1000m at 5k pace with 2 min recovery and everyone agreed to do my workout with me :) I haven't run a 5k in awhile so I wasn't sure what pace to aim for.  I decided 7:45 pace (4:48-4:49 for 1000m) sounded good, but I started off by trying to stay in control. I ended up running 4:47, 4:41, 4:39, 4:36, 4:35.  I was pleasantly surprised that I hit the last 3 at under 7:30 pace and I didn't feel like I was straining.  I felt really good and controlled through the workout.  I had a nice group to run with and I'm really glad that Neil, John, and Stacy were there to push me today. Cool down loop around the park.  

It's amazing what 6 weeks of consistent running has done. I'm finally starting to believe that I'll get back to where I was.  

Tuesday Night Trails! 7 miles on the BST.  I was slightly sore from yesterday, but felt decent on this run.  It's always nice to hit the trails on a beautiful evening.  

Met Stacy for a mid-week 10 miler around Sugarhouse and the nearby neighborhoods.  It was nice to have company and not surprisingly, it was faster (and felt better) than my last few mid-week runs.  

AM: Dynamic warmup, planks, light lifting.  Elevated planks are HARD.

PM: Easy 5 mile run with my husband and the dog around Liberty Park.  Followed this with a Restore yoga class.  My body felt even tighter than usual so this was much needed tonight. Shavasana was so relaxing tonight, I almost fell asleep.

I didn't feel like running today, but my dog had other plans.  I took her for an easy loop around the neighborhood.  It was a really enjoyable run.  Tomorrow I have the Strider's half. I decided that I should have some goals for this race so here they are: The first goal is sub 2. If I don't do that, I won't be happy at all.  Ideally, I would like to beat 1:57:57 which is my fastest recent half (October 2010).  I think I am fitter than that, but I guess I will find out tomorrow.   

I woke up this morning feeling like I was going to vomit.  Hit snooze a few too many times before I decided to actually get out of bed.  I had some coffee and a PB&J english muffin and that seemed to settle my stomach.  I quickly got dressed and headed north. Halfway to Ogden, I realized that I forgot my Garmin.  I also did not have a watch.  I would have to run completely by feel.  Not the end of the world, as I've done this before with some success. I'm somewhat of a headcase when it comes to running so sometimes it's good not to know paces so that I can't overanalyze things.  

I got to the Red Moose Lodge, picked up my packet, and got on a bus.  It felt like we sat on those buses forever.  Finally, we started moving and headed to the start.  At the start we were informed of the temperature: first 15, then 16, and finally 21 degrees.  I was frozen even with a down coat on. My feet went numb.  I waited as long as possible to take my warm clothes off.  I lined up in the middle and before I knew it, the race had started.

I could not feel my feet for the first few miles.  It was the weirdest feeling trying to run that way.  As my feet warmed up, it felt like my socks were bunched around my toes (they actually were not).  A guy I was running near at the 2 mile mark informed me that we were at 16:55 (there were no clocks on the course).  Crap. That was way too fast, although it was downhill.  I didn't feel very controlled and just knew I was going to slow down a lot.  

The miles seemed to go by so slowly. I kept hoping I would somehow be magically transported to mile 10, so I could just get this run over with.  I felt like I was going too slow and that I wouldn't meet my goal of sub 1:57:57.  At mile 11, I asked roughly what time we were at.  1:35 something, I was told.  Suddenly, it clicked that I could not only meet my goal, but I could even run sub 1:55.  I increased my effort slightly.  As I came into the finishing stretch I saw the clock in the high 1:53s and sprinted to try to get in under 1:54.  The clock clicked over to 1:54 and I finished a few seconds later.  I hoped that my chip time would be 1:53 something and it was.  Results said 1:53:52.

I'm pretty happy with this result.  It's my fastest half since May 2009 when I ran a high 1:48.   It was another step towards getting back to my racing times of 2006-2008.   I still have a lot of work to do to get below 1:50 again, but I think it is possible by the end of summer. Another positive is that my hamstrings felt great.  My left plantar tightened up after the finish, though.  

PM: Went to Yoga for Flexibility to unwind and stretch out. This was much harder than the Restore class I've been going to.  My husband and I were the least flexible people in the room, but I felt much better after the class.