Running to stay sane

Big girls group run this morning through Murray. It was great meeting new people and catching up with others. I hope I didn't embarrass anyone with my sex dream stories...or my lewd sense of humor. We averaged around a 7:25-7:30 pace. Allie, Devra, Emily and I ran a couple extra miles and those were right around 7:00 AP. Thanks again ladies!
 

I woke up this morning and my hamstring was hurting. Boo! But I had a babysitter planned for 10:00 so I decided I better try to run because it's rare to, 1- Run at 10:00 and 2- Have a babysitter. When I started running I thought, "Oh shoot...this is not going to happen". But then after a couple minutes it warmed up and it felt better. I guess it feels more like a soreness than an injury. The weather was beautiful so I ran 8 miles. 7:18 AP.

I wasn't going to run today. My hamstring is still hurting and I thought I better rest it. But last night I had Bryant roll out my hammy and massage it. It released a lot of pain and tightness. So I decided to give running a try today. 9 miles later and it fetl ok. I took it really slow. Didn't even wear a watch. I'm going to get some ART therapy on Monday.

45 minutes easy on the spin bike. Core, planks, clams, bridges, Jane Fonda's, push ups, GRRRRRRRR!

8 miles through Cottonwood Heights and into Sandy. I like this route because the first 3 miles are uphill with mile 3 being a straight hill. Then I get to run slightly down for a few miles and then flatten out. It's a nice variety. 7:16 AP with a few miles under 7:00. My hamstring feels like it doesn't have much power behind it. Must be that annoying strain again.

7 mile loop through Holladay. I didn't wear a watch because I wanted to just run by feel today. I had my ART therapy yesterday so my hips, hammy's and quads are pretty sore. I knew I'd be slow and didn't want to push my pace by knowing how slow I was going.

While running by Cottonwood High I came across  3 pornographic magazines that some ass hole spread across the sidewalk. They were between the high school and the elementary school my son goes to. Seriously? Who would do such a horrible thing? So I picked them all up and threw them in the garbage (thank goodness it's garbage day today). l am so glad that I got to them before some sweet little 1st grader did. Sometimes I want to bitch slap the world.

6 miles on a lovely, snowy morning. I like running when there is a fresh layer of snow on the ground. Not too deep to run threw but enough to make for a cushioned run :)

Today is the 9th so I decided to run 9 miles at 9 o'clock. It was snowy but the roads weren't bad. Just a little slushy and wet. I am watching Emily's kids right now so she can run and it looks like a blizzard outside. Poor Emily! But her kids are lots of fun to have over! Runners gotta help each other out...like watching each other's kids or keeping a look out while you pee behind someone's bush when you are both out running. It's what we do. 7:15 AP.

6 miles through Murray. I feel like I have fresh baby lungs with all this clean air. 7:18 AP.

Emily and I met at 5:30 to run 13 miles in the dark. I sure miss those dog days of summer where the sun comes up early and it's warm and bright. But it was very enjoyable just running with a good friend and having good conversation. This is one of the reasons why I love running. Thanks Em! 7:24 AP.

I felt really good today so I decided to run my favorite hilly 8 miler with a 4 mile tempo between miles 4-7. Here are my splits: 7:45, 7:36, 7:30 (hilly miles), 6:45, 6:30, 6:24, 6:20, 6:50. My tempo wasn't super fast but it made my legs work harder than usual. It was a good winter tempo but not as fast as a summer tempo.

7 miles in the dark through Holladay. BTW...Holladay needs to invest in more street lights. It's so dark!

My awesome sister in law watched Weston so I could run at 10 am! It was sunny and warm (well, if you call 40 degrees warm). She told me to "take my time". So I did! 11 relaxing miles at 7:24 AP. I ran through Murray Park to 4800 South then west to the canal road. Then I went east on 5300, through neighborhoods, past the hospital and back.

I know a lot of girls will be running "Meg's Miles" on Saturday. If you'd like to get together, let me know!

6 miles around my neighborhood with 2 sets of 3-2-1. 5K effort. My hamstring didn't want to go fast but I told it to shut up. 6:54 AP.

Today was suppose to be an easy recovery day...but then miles 2 and 3 happened. It all began when I saw a runner in the distance. As I got closer, I realized my pace was faster and as I passed her I gave the curtious, "Good Morning" wave and kept running. She gave a loud grunt and picked up her pace to match mine. Then, as we were turning into a neighborhood, she cut across someone's lawn and got ahead of me. Really? Did she just take a short cut to get ahead of me? Well, I caught back up with her and she grunted (again). I had a big smile on my face because I thought the whole situation was quite humorous. We started climbing a hill and she again picked up the pace (6:30 going uphill...dang it...there went my easy recovery day). I said, "Wow, we are going fast". She didn't respond. After another quarter mile she turned off a side street and I continued up the hill. I waved goodbye and I'm pretty sure she gave me a "one fingered wave" goodbye. I laughed outloud because I thought the whole situation was hilarious. 6.3 miles at 6:55 AP.

16 miles for Meg this morning. I ran up the Big Cottonwood trail to Wasatch Blvd. The air was nice and clean up there. I love running along that road. I looked up at the big blue sky and said a few prayers of gratitude for my life, health and family. Runs like this are healing to my soul. 7:24 AP.

10 miles on my favorite hilly route. My legs felt tired from Saturday. The air is nasty again which makes me sad...ugghhh. 7:18 AP.

I stayed up late last night because I was at the P!nk concert (totally worth it!) so it was hard to get out of bed this morning. I had to "shoot the gap" again and run between taking Kaden and Lily to school. 55 minutes was all I had so I decided to run my favorite Holladay route. 7:09 AP.

Cross training day. I rode my spin bike for 60 minutes and did my PT exercises+core. I had a late night again so I didn't feel like waking up early to run. Plus, this air is super duper nasty and I didn't want to breathe in the toxicness.

9 miles along Wasatch Blvd today. The air is so gross I decided to try to run a little higher up. I did 10x2:00 pushes with 1 minute active recovery. 7:03 AP.

I have a super sensitive nose. My husband calls me a human blood hound. I smelt so many things today while running: onions, fresh laundry, fresh tar (not as pleasent as fresh laundry), sulfur, icy hot, coffee (yummy), bread and pine.

So now you all know that my nose is pretty awesome :) Maybe I can get a job at the airport sniffing out drugs.

Time to retire my Nike's...Goodbye old shoe...You've done me well. Thanks for the marathon PR and for some really good runs. Rest well in running shoe heaven. 6 miles at a slow recovery pace. 

I met Emily at Murray Park for some running and a good therapy session. I felt like all I did today was talk about myself and she was a good listening ear. Thanks Em!

I felt pretty good (thanks in part to the caffeine I took). We ran down 4800 S./1300 W/Parkway and back to the park. I like this route because it has some gradual uphill sections and some downhill. It's not an out and back route but a big loop which makes for new scenery. We ran a pretty good pace with a few sub 7 min miles in there. 7:08 AP. 

9 miles around Holladay this morning. Nothing too exciting. 7:11 AP.

8 miles along a dark Wasatch Blvd. I thought I'd escape the smog a little bit this morning but I forgot that there are about 2 street lights on Wasatch. I need a stronger head lamp because I couldn't see the ground. It was nice watching the sun and city wake up. 7:23 AP.

I decided to visit my old running friend today...the track. I ran at 10 o'clock and it was above 40 degrees so I thought, what the heck. I did a 4 mile warm up, 5x800 with 400 recovery. My splits weren't super fast but my goal was to get some good turn over in my legs and just work some dormant winter muscles. Splits were 3:03, 3:01, 3:00, 3:00, 2:56. Then I ran around my neighborhood until I hit 9 miles. 

Easy recovery day. 7 miles around Murray. Pretty slushy/snowing/wet. At least the air is clean :)

Another easy day. 7 miles through Holladay. The roads were pretty slippery and I almost fell once. Sure glad I didn't! 7:19 AP.