Running to stay sane

7 miles around Murray. It took me 6.5 miles to warm up so I felt good the last half mile. I must be getting old. Long run tomorrow with Devra. 7:13 AP.

17 miles with Devra along Highland, Sugar House Park and back on 2000 East. She is an incredible runner. She always runs well and can hold a conversation without sounding like she's dying for air (like me). 7:09 AP. 

11 miles on my usual Monday route. I missed the rain (thank goodness). I ran a few miles at a fasterish pace (yup, that's a word). The faster miles were between 6:37-6:49 pace. 7:13 AP. 

8 miles with my old friend Jen Brusch (Price). She lives in China now so it's been a few years since we've run together. It was great running together! I think we spend the majority of the time laughing so it made running kinda hard. 7:32 AP. 

6 mile tempo this morning. I ran my 3 mile neighborhood loop that is slightly uphill the first 1.5 miles and slightly downhill/flat the other 1.5 miles. I ran it twice. 

6:11, 6:07, 6:01, 6:20 (I was a little too relaxed that mile), 6:07, 6:05. 

6:09 AP. I felt really good this morning and I'm happy with my effort. I don't love tempo's so I'm glad this one is done. 

9 miles with Allie. We ran around my neighborhood and over to Wheeler Farm for two laps. It was great running with her again. She is such a great friend...she even gave me a few beers after the run. I felt it was only appropriate to return the favor so I gave her a handful of caffeine pills. 7:24 AP.

7 miles around Muray. I felt really tired today so I decided to just relax and run at a comfortable pace. 7:18 AP.  Long run tomorrow :)

17 miles with Allie, Emily and Devra. We ran up BC trail to Wasatch and back. I love running with these girls. We laughed a lot and ran a great pace. 7:09 AP with the last couple miles at 6:20 pace. 

My husband greeted us when we got to my house in his red striped underwear. I call them "Where's Waldo?". I think everyone enjoyed it ;)

My friend Jen texted me late last night and said she was in town again and wanted to run. Yippee! So I ran 8 miles with her and then I added on a few to make 11. 7:17 AP.

10 miles around Murray and Wheeler Farm. 7:20 AP.

Track workout at Cottonwood High. I warmed up 2.5 miles around my neighborhood. I ran by an old lady with a big scowl on her face. So I looked at her as I passed and yelled, "Wheeeeee!" The scowl stayed on her face. But I'm pretty sure that I brightened her morning just a little bit. 

The plan was 3x1600, 2x800, 4x400 with 400 recovery (1 minute between the 400's). My splits were: 

5:45, 5:44, 5:43. 2:48, 2:47, 80, 79. 79, 78.

I'm really happy with this workout. I was finally able to break out of my 5:49 mile "funk". I felt strong and was able to push it at the end. 2 mile cool down. 

8 miles around Holladay. Nice and easy. Didn't wear a watch. The sunrise was beautiful and I found myself feeling very spiritual watching the sun come over Mt. Olympus. 

13 miles with Allie, Devra and Emily. Devra is running Hobble Creek 1/2 tomorrow so she just ran 5 miles with us. Then we ran down 4800 South to the canal and back on the parkway. We were dodging cars this morning...It's dangerous out there! 7:14 AP.

10 miles with my friend Kyla. She lives in LA and was in Salt Lake for the weekend. We had a great time talking about life, love and logic. 8:40 AP. We didn't pass a single runner. It was super quiet on a Sunday morning. 

8 miles along Highland to Creek Rd and back on 900 East. My legs felt kinda weird from yesterdays run. I think running at a slower pace can make your stride different and cause your legs to actually be a little sore the next day. Call me crazy...but it's true. It was nice to get back to my normal pace today. 7:09 AP.

What a lovely day for a track workout! 30 MPH winds and pouring rain! Grrr... My warm up was dry but by the time I hit the track, it was raining hard. Here is a list of the things that went wrong today:

1-Obviously the weather conditions
2-I left my flats at home because I didn't want them to get wet
3-I had a side ache the entire time
4-I had a hard time breathing because I've been congested since Sunday

So the plan was 6x800, which I was able to do but my times were super slow.  Splits-2:55, 2:54, 2:55, 2:55, 2:54, 2:54. It was horrible. The wind and rain were just too much for me today. I really hope I can shake this off and get my mind and body ready for Saturday's race. 

7 miles through Holladay. My side ache/cramp was back... It's not really on my side but below my right rib cage. At mile 2, I had to stop and walk it was so bad. Ugh! This has been a crappy running week for me. I really hope I didn't pull a muscle in my stomach that is making me cramp. *Thinking positive thoughts for Saturday* 

Rest day, I hope whatever is going on below my rib cage heals quickly. Yesterday was horrible and there is no way I can race with a "cramping muscle" that doesn't allow me to breathe! (If you can't tell, I'm stressing !)

4.5 miles around Murray. No stomach pain today! Wahoo! I think I pulled a muscle on Tuesday so I'm still crossing my fingers for tomorrow that it won't hurt my race. I'm probably being too paranoid. I did 5x 30 second pushes at 5:25 pace at the end. See you all in Logan! :) 

Wow, what a race! First of all, the people in Logan sure know what they are doing. They were so organized, friendly and generous (they doubled the race money!). It was awesome. I can't believe it's taken me so long to run this race. The course was beautiful and fast. The weather was perfect too! The night before, it was raining cats and dogs (seriously, I saw poodles falling from the sky). I was super nervous it was going to be wet and cold. But it turned out to be a great morning.

I carpooled up to Logan with Allie, Devra, Emily and Noah. We picked up our race packets and bright neon orange shirts and headed to dinner. I ate 4 pieces of pizza and was still hungry (I must be a nervous eater!). I bunked with Emily and we braided each others hair while we talked race strategy :) 

I warmed up 2 miles and felt tired. But I didn't think about it too much because warm ups can be super crappy and you can still race well. At the starting line, I saw a lot of familiar faces and was able to talk to a lot of friends. I lined up behind Jake K and noticed how nice his freshly shaven legs looked. The gun went off and I tucked in beside Emily, Devra and Merrilee. I stuck with them the first mile and realized they were taking it out fast. Our first mile was a 5:47. I wanted to stay with them but I knew I wouldn't be able to stay at that pace for 12 more miles. My goal was to hover around 5:55-6:05 pace. So I fell back. I ended up running most of race alone. But I didn't mind because the scenery was so beautiful. I threw up my hands in praise a couple times to thank Jesus for His goodness.

Around mile 6, my legs started feeling heavy...and tired. "Oh crap!" I exited the canyon and thought that my goal of running under 1:20 might not happen. I saw Emily in the distance around mile 7-8 and used her to keep me going. I am a pretty good closer when I race so I thought if I could try to catch her that I'd still have a chance. I started feeling better again around mile 11 and was able to push it up the hill at mile 12. I looked down at my watch as I passed the mile 12 marker and knew that a sub 1:20 was going to be close. I had to push it! So I repeated, "Pain is temporary...pride is forever" over and over again in my head. I was getting closer to Emily but I knew I wouldn't catch her. So I focused on the time clock at the finish line. When I was just a few yards away I realized I was going to do it! 1:19:52! Hell yeah! I was so happy. 

I took 4th overall and was a little bummed that I missed the top 3. But once TOU posted the results at the finish area, I realized they do top 5! Wahoo! I got a sweet trophy and some cash. It was great. I guess us women made history because they have never had the top 4 women run under 1:20. I am so impressed with Merrilee, Emily and Devra! Way to go girls! Here are my mile splits- 

5:47, 5:58, 5:56, 6:05, 5:54, 5:52, 6:02, 6:14, 6:08, 6:08, 6:10, 6:35 (hill), 6:01, 1:01 (.18-5:36 pace). 6:05 AP.

This year has been great for me. I feel like I've improved SO much with my running. A lot of that comes from hard work, track workouts, tempo's, etc. But a lot of it comes from running with other runners who help push me. Emily, you are the best running partner I could ever ask for. You have always been one of my running heroes and I'm lucky that I get to train with you. Allie, I'm so sad you are moving! You've help me enjoy so many runs together and you've motivated me with your raw talent and mental toughness. Devra, (she isn't on FRB) you are a robot. You are nuts. And to everyone else who has inspired me along the way...thank you! *High five to all the runners out there*

7 miles around Murray/Wheeler Farm. My quads feel tired. But not too bad. 7:40 AP.

8 miles with Allie. We ran 10,000 loops around my house. It was super fun. 7:16 AP. 

9 miles around Murray. My hamstring doesn't like it when I run under 7:00 pace. It's a little angry...

8 miles with Tori around Holladay. We talked about running, bikini's and grapes. 7:25 AP. 

6 miles by Cottonwood Mall and through Holladay. My legs are feeling better! 7:07 AP.

15 miles with Emily. My legs felt pretty good. I think my recovery week was a success! Time to get back to it next week. 7:15 AP.