I Can Do Hard Things

February 2015

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Location:

American Fork,UT,

Member Since:

Nov 27, 2009

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

St George Marathon

2011 - 4:11:52 

2017. -4:01:17

2021 - 4:03:05

Salt Lake City Full Marathon

2013 -  4:23:03 

Ogden Marathon

2012 - 3:58:35

2013 - 4:17:20

2014 - 4:02:51

2017 - 3:55:22**

2023 - 3:57:09

Utah Valley Marathon

2019 - 4:05:37 

Top of Utah Marathon

2014 - 4:09:27

Mt Charleston Marathon

2019 - 4:05:33

West Mountain Marathon

2015 - 4:42:34

 

St George Half Marathon

2012 - 1:55:00

2013 - 2:03:00

2014 - 1:46:00

2015 - 1:48:00

2022-  1:42:45**

Salt Lake City Half Marathon

2012 - 1:51:00

2014 - 1:44:01

Hobble Creek Half Marathon

2001 - 1:40:00**

2011 - 1:45:00

2012 - 1:43:00

2013 - 1:43:00 

2022 - 1:48:53

American Fork Half Marathon

2013 - 1:48:24

2014- 1:53:23 (pacing Tim)

2017  - 1:47:54

2018 - 1:48:12

2019 - 1:47:50

Timp Half Marathon

2012 - 1:47:18 

2022 - 1:49:40 (AF Cancer course)

Utah Valley Half Marathon 

2011 - 1:55:00 

Top of Utah Half Marathon

2010 - 1:48:20 

The Haunted Half Provo

2018 - 1:51:28

 

Goblin Valley 50K

2014 - 5:58

Red Mountain 55K

2018 - 7:31:37

Antelope Island Fall Classic 50K

2017 - 6:14:23

Antelope Island 50 Mile

2015 - 10:10:00

Antelope Island 100 Mile

2018 - 26:53

 

 

**Personal Best 

 

 

Short-Term Running Goals:

 

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

To qualify for Boston

Personal:

Married for 23 years. I have 18 year old triplets and a 15 year old. I love to sew, garden, and run!

Favorite Running Quotes: 

1.  

"Sooner or later the serious runner goes through a special, very personal experience that is unknown to most people.

Some call it euphoria. Others say it's a new kind of mystical experience that propels you into a elevated state of consciousness, a flash of joy.

A sense of floating as you run. This experience is unique to each of us, but when it happens, you break through a barrier that separates you from casual runners. Forever. And from that point on, there is no finish line. You run for your life. You begin to be addicted to what running gives you."  

~Nike Poster

2.           A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Lao-Tzu

You’ve no doubt heard this.  And you’ve probably recited it in your mind on a run or at the gym when you’re just beginning to get in shape.  You have a goal in sight and this quote brings you back to the current moment.

 

But the problem is that many runners forget all of the steps between the first one and the goal.  If your goal is to run under two hours for the half marathon then you need to be honest about all of the little steps to get to that goal.

 

…and what I’d rather see you do is to get the goal out of mind completely, but rather focus on the process, not the outcome. -Jay Johnson Process orientation, not outcome orientation.

 

You should have goals, but you should take it one step at a time.  And you should be honest about the fact that you don’t know how many steps it will take to get there. ~ Vernon Gambetta

 

3.  Human beings are made up of flesh, blood and a miracle fiber called COURAGE! ~ George Patton 

 

4.   Find the courage to be patient.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 22.33 Month: 127.28 Year: 374.00
2014 - Minutes Lifetime Miles: 28605.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
129.053.25132.30
2014 - Minutes Miles: 1830.00
Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
5.000.005.00

2 miles

power pump

3 miles

 

long stretch and foam roll.

2014 - Minutes Miles: 110.00
Weight: 0.00
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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
5.300.005.30

Trail at base of AF Canyon

TT:  1:02:41

AP:  11:48

Elevation:  721ft

11:59, 13:03, 12:33, 11:02, 10:11, 3:49

 

This probably sounds silly, but I REALLY love running trails.  I was debating running on the road (faster) or trail (slower) and it was a no brainer.  I am definitely slower on the trails and totally got passed by some guy this morning.  He literally flew by me...like a bird.  I guess I still need to find my mountain goat feet.  Regardless of how fast I am, I really like being on trails.

My calves and feet have been a bit achy.  Growing pains, I guess.  I've been stretching and icing a lot.  

Off to parent/teacher conferences.

2014 - Minutes Miles: 60.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
10.000.0010.00

Today was not the run or experience I was hoping for.  I was invited earlier in the week to run Tibble Fork up to Mineral Basin.  I had already run for the day and wanted to be smart, so I declined.

But I thought it would be a great run for my easy week long run.  I parked at Tibble Fork and started to make my way up.  Looking at the Strava profile from several people who had gone on the run, I thought I would be slow....but could manage.  I needed 13 miles and I wanted to lift afterwards.

It was extremly icy at the beginning.  But I was really struggling with the elevation.  So here is the frustrating part - I've run steeper elevation and longer miles, but I totally buckled today.  I was DYING at 2.5 miles up the canyon.  My heart rate was out of control and I couldn't fathom running 4 more miles up.  

I quit.  I turned around and headed down the road.  I thought I just run the rest at home.  But it was already 10:45am and I still had 8 more miles to go.  I was running out of time.

So I ran 5 more miles on the road (which stinks and is not nearly as pretty).  I was so frustrated at myself for not getting my miles OR lifting.  And most importantly, I gave up.  

When I got home, I synced my Garmin and compared it to my friends' Strava account.  I was running faster than they were.  Double stink....if I would have just hung on.

I guess we all have really rotten runs and experiences.  Time to move on and recommitt to NEVER give up.

 

The very BEST part of the whole morning was seeing Smooth and Karen on my way to the canyon.  They are such wonderful ladies and I should've run with them!  Live and learn.

 

My calves have been on fire since I've started trail running.  So I finally bought a pair of trail shoes.  I'm hoping they help calm everything down.  Come on Hoka....save the day!

2014 - Minutes Miles: 100.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(1)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
10.000.0010.00

10 miles at the gym 

power pump

 

Ughh...no mojo and very tired

2014 - Minutes Miles: 150.00
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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
11.000.0011.00

TT:  1:45 on home TM

I haven't gotten up early on a weekday in forever.  Hooray for me!  Hip has been a bit achy lately.

2x

LLL with weights

clams with weights

supermans on Bosu

one leg squat (I stink at these)

hip thursts with weights

2014 - Minutes Miles: 135.00
Weight: 0.00
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0.000.000.00

bike warm up

stretch and foam roll

power pump - walking lunges and 100 jump squats.  I hope I can walk tomorrow!

2014 - Minutes Miles: 75.00
Weight: 0.00
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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
5.000.005.00

TT:  53:07

AP:  10:36

Elevation:  945ft

11:01, 11:08, 11:01, 10:09, 9:40

This was a GREAT run.  I needed a good one to fill my running bucket!  I've been feelin SO creaky and have had a lot of aches and pains.  So it was really nice to feel good.  

The trail was in excellent condition - the best I've ever seen it.  I felt good and really liked my new Hokas.

ART done on my hammies and psoas yesterday.  Feels sore today, but better.

2014 - Minutes Miles: 53.00
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22.000.0022.00

TT:  4:20:26

AP:  11:53

Elevation:  3802 ft

11:22, 11:28, 9:42, 10:15, 10:29, 9:30, 10:49, 12:53, 12:55, 11:50, 10:24, 12:01, 12:55, 13:19, 14:51, 13:15, 10:03, 11:46, 14:51, 13:38, 12:35, 9:24

Kelli S. was nice enough to meet me this morning at Potato Hill for a long run.  I'll admit I was a bit intimidated by running with such a super star, but she was so wonderful to go my pace!

We started by going under the underpass and headed north.  It was a nice gentle downhill.  We ran into one of Kelli's friends a long the way.  Once we got to the big hole, we turned around and had to climb all that gentle downhill.  Oh man, did I struggle and was a bit embarassed at how much I was walking and how hard I was breathing.  But it is what it is.

We finally made it back to the parking lot having completed 11 miles- refilled water and took fuel.  I was sad I didn't have a short sleeve short - it was getting warm.  We headed out on Ann's Trail.  My legs were feeling very heavy and I wasn't sure how I was going to hold up.  

My fuel started to kick and I felt better.  We hit a bunch of mud on Brock's trail and decided to go back up to the road/BST. Oh we enjoyed that downhill and it stunk having to walk back up it.  BUT I do believe the walking saved my legs.  I didn't have as heavy legs as I usually do and my gut didn't feel like it was going to fall out as badly.

It was a wonderful day with Kelli!  She is SO good at carrying on a conversation and was nice enough to go my slow pace.  I wore my new Hoka's and I had a big blister on my foot.  I never get blisters.  So the verdict is still out on if I like them.

2 more long runs till Antelope Island.

2014 - Minutes Miles: 260.00
Weight: 0.00
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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.000.006.00

6 slow miles

power pump

long stretch and foam roll

2014 - Minutes Miles: 120.00
Weight: 0.00
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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
13.000.0013.00

TT:  2:03

On home TM early.  I was suppose to do this run as a B2B long run later in the week next to my 26.2.  But with my very achy calves and shins, I thought I would be safer if I had a little space in between.  Just trying to make it to the starting line and I'm running scared right now.

Stretch/foam roll/lots of ice

2014 - Minutes Miles: 125.00
Weight: 0.00
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0.000.000.00

15 min bike warm up

power pump

 

After my run yesterday, my righ shin was screaming at me.  My calves have been very achy lately and I've been very proactive about stretching, icing, deep tissue massage, etc.  But I'm afraid I've hit the panic mode.  

I met with my PT yesterday and we kinda came to the same conclusion - almost a stress reaction, but not quite.  Last year before Ogden Marathon, this same thing happened and sports medicine Dr Rich put me in a boot.  I could still run, but wore the boot to help lesson the weight on the leg.  So I decided to try the boot again.

I hate all the comments I get when I wear the book and I should really stop running if I keep getting injured.  50 miles is way too dangerous to run..yada...yada...yada.  I've decided to not look at Instagram or Facebook for awhile to help keep the angries away.

I think the main culprit this time was runnign 22 miles in brand new Hokas.  It is probably bumping up my mileage to fast also, but I'm really not running a lot of miles and have only bumped up miles 2 miles/per week.  I just can't seem to get this running thing down.

Plus my PT kinda made me feel incompetent and dumb.  So my spirits were really down yesterday.  I always hate when I pay for races way before and then feel the pressure I have to run them so I don't waste money.  

2014 - Minutes Miles: 75.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
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Another round of PT today.  More Gratson scraping...although I wish he would do it a bit harder.  More boot.

After PT's prompting, I ran 3 easy miles on home TM.  Shin felt good...I was surprised.  Still wearing boot today.  26 miles tomorrow with Kelli S.

2014 - Minutes Miles: 30.00
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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
26.000.0026.00

I had a total freak out moment earlier this week.  It usually happens a few times a year.  I guess when I invest a lot of time/effort into something and I start to feel an injury come on....I panic.  Big time.  Just ignore please!

TT:  5:25:08

AP: 12:29

Elevation:  5340 feet

Kelli Stephenson was kind enough to meet me again for a long run.  Bless her sweet heart...I'm so much slower than she is.  We went on a few new trails around Potato Hill.  But oh my...we climbed and climbed and climbed.  I had to walk a lot up those hills.  But still with the walking, my breathing was heavy.  We ran out of water and were really glad to make it back to the cars to refill.

Then we went and climbed some more on the other side of the tunnel.  It was hot and I was tired of climbing/hiking.  But Kelli was so supportive..especially with my lack of talking!

Glad this run is over.  The reality of running 50 miles is very scary to me.  I'm not sure how well things are going to play out.  It is definitely going to be a mind over matter race!

(I wore tape and compression sleeves today and my road shoes.  Calves/shins felt good.  Note to self - do not wear new shoes on a 22 mile trail run!!!)

2014 - Minutes Miles: 325.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.000.004.00

4 miles before power pump....started as a walk, a wog, a jog and finally a run.  

Power pump - walking lunges

30 minute nap!

2014 - Minutes Miles: 100.00
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4.250.755.00

5 miles on the home TM.  I did a few fast 400's (and I didn't die!!).  Legs felt really good - calves too.

Long stretch and foam roll

2014 - Minutes Miles: 47.00
Weight: 0.00
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2.502.505.00

We are in Disneyland for the next few days.  I was excited that I finally got a run in tonight.  But I had just eaten a salad with apple cider vinegarette and it totally made me want to barf.

10 minute warm up

2 min hard/2 min easy

I've eaten so much junk today that my running shorts were way too tight.  Ughhhh....

2014 - Minutes Miles: 45.00
Weight: 0.00
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2.000.002.00

The door to the fitness room was broken and no one could get in.  By the time the maintence guys fixed it, I only time for 2 miles.  Felt horrible.  

2014 - Minutes Miles: 20.00
Weight: 0.00
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Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
129.053.25132.30
2014 - Minutes Miles: 1830.00
Weight: 0.00
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