Running to stay sane

I wasn't sure if I'd be able to run today because I got a stomach bug yesterday afternoon. It wasn't very pretty last night! But I woke up feeling better and I decided to run close to home in case I needed to make a few "stops". But I felt really good! My legs weren't tired at all and I was able to run 10 miles at my normal pace! Wahoo!

On a side note, I looked at my splits from my race on Saturday and I ran the last 5K in 18:34. That's a PR for me! And I did it at the end of a 1/2 marathon. I'm feeling pretty optimistic that St. George will be a good race for me! (Fingers crossed!)

I decided to do another easy run this morning since I didn't get to bed until after midnight. Arrgghh...so frustrating. Anyways, I ran along Highland to Creek Road and then looped it around on 900 East to Wheeler Farm. I didn't see the foxes which I was hoping to see. I like those little guys! 10 miles at 7:30 pace. I think I'll try to do a track workout tomorrow.

Today's track workout was great! Although I was tempted to run with Emily, Devra and Allie (sounds like they had quite the adventure at Wheeler Farm), I am glad I hit the track and got some fast miles in. My trainning plan called for 5x1600. So I warmed up for 2 miles, ran 1600 and did a 400 meter recovery jog between each interval. My splits: 6:03, 5:59, 5:58, 6:00, 5:59. Then I ran a 2 mile cool down. I am super excited about hitting the 5:50's again! I wore some new light weight trainers and I really liked them. Maybe I'll try a long run in them this weekend and wear them for the marathon? I've become somewhat obsessed with running shoes lately. My friend ,who works for Asics, sent me 9 pairs of brand new shoes so I've been trying them out for her and giving her feedback. These Asic GEL Lyte's are the bomb! :)
 

10 miles this morning felt REALLY hard. My legs were tired, my body was tired...I'm just tired all around. Must mean that St. George is a month away! The hardest part of training is almost over! Only one more week after this week and then I can start to cut back a little.

I didn't get much sleep last night so I slept in and had to take my two youngest kiddos in the jogger. It was very slow...but I wanted to get some miles in today. Tomorrow is a long run!

I don't know how to share a link to my Garmin connect but here's a quick summary of my 22 miler this morning: Ran with Emily at 5:45, ran up the Big Cottonwood Canyon Trail and headed north on Wasatch Blvd to Parley's Canyon and turned around. It was a beautiful morning and the sunrise was gorgeous! We decided to push it on the way back and averaged 7:00 or below for the last 9 miles. The last 4 miles were at 6:30 pace. I felt pretty good! But man, we were THIRSTY!!!!! We were constantly thirsty and hot. But this run was definitely a confidence booster for me because I felt pretty good at the end and I hope that means I'm not going to crash at mile 20 of the marathon. Thanks Emily for the great run! And I agree..."That port-o-potty hidden in the trees is SO CUTE!" Hee hee...

Today's run felt really good! I was nervous to see how my legs felt after Saturday's 22 miler. But they recovered quickly and today's 11 miles felt nice and easy! I think I'll do my tempo tomorrow. 11 miles at 7:25 pace.

I was not looking forward to this tempo... but I'm so glad it's done! And I'm glad that I was able to keep my pace for 9 miles. I was originally going to do 8 miles but once I hit 8 I thought, "What the heck, I can do 1 more mile!" My brother has a quote in his room that says, "CHAMPIONS ALWAYS DO A LITTLE MORE". That was my motto today. I warmed up 1 mile, 9 miles at 6:32 pace, then 2.1 mile cool down.

On an exciting side note, I recieved a call from the St. George Marathon informing me that I'm an elite athlete this year! YAHOO! I've never had my own water bottles before. Does anyone  have any advice or tips for this? I'm thinking about using Cytomax. Should I drink it at every aid station or switch between water and Cytomax? Geez, I haven't been training with this because I didn't think it would be an option. I'll definitely use it on my long run on Friday.

10.5 recovery miles in the rain. What more could a girl want? :) Besides my hair turning into a big rats nest, my run was uneventful. My left hamstring started to hurt a little bit towards the end.

7.3 miles this morning at 7:10 pace. I felt pretty good besides a tight hamstring afterwards. Long run tomorrow...then it's TAPER TIME! :) Well, not too much of a taper next week but it's nice to know that training is now slowing down.

Last long run today!!! SO glad to be done. Emily and I ran on the parkway starting at 5300 South and went north for 10 miles then turned around. When we started it was pouring rain! But it stopped after the first mile and the sun came out and it was super humid! Ugh! I didn't feel great on the way back. But we managed to average a 7:07 pace! Emily finished about 20 seconds ahead of me. She felt better than I did the last few miles. But overall, I am super happy with this run and with my training in general. I have high hopes for St. George!

Today's mileage came from pacing a friend in the Big Cottonwood Marathon. It was a beautiufl morning and it felt nice to encourage my friend thorough a marathon because running 26.2 miles is tough! I felt pretty good considering the 20 miles I ran yesterday. I ran 4 miles at 6:50 pace before meeting up with my friend to run the last 7 with him. I'm happy to break 70 miles this week!

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!!!!

Double rainbow this morning...what does it mean? OMG! OMG! Ha ha! It was a beautiful morning. I was only going to run 8 miles but my body must have been on auto pilot because I started running my 2 mile extra loop and half way through it I thought, "Dang it! I'm not running 10, I'm doing 8!" Weird that I only need to run 8 miles each day this week. Must be taper time! 9.1 miles @ 7:28 pace.

Track workout this morning in the dark. It's kinda spooky when you can barely see the lines! Luckily it started to get lighter about half way through. I warmed up for 2 miles then ran 5x1600 with a 400 meter recovery jog in between and then cooled down for another 2 miles. I felt pretty good but my hamstring was getting tighter and tighter with each repeat. I didn't want to push it any harder than I did.

Splits:
6:05 (very dark and still warming up)
5:58
5:57
5:59
5:58

Last track workout before SG...CHECK! I am feeling pretty good about my training and I'm hoping for a good run come October 5. I'm getting a little nervous though because there are SO many fast girls running this year. I really want to place well but I think it might be smarter for me to just have a time goal and not stress too much about place. It seems like everyday I find out there is another fast girl running SG!

7.3 miles of easy running. My legs are tired from my track workout yesterday. 

7 miles at Wheeler Farm. It's amazling how much I love the dirt there :) Brrr...it was cold.

I felt really good today so I decided to turn my run into a modified tempo. I ran the first 3 miles at normal pace and then picked it up for the last 5. I ran about 10 seconds slower than MP. I ran down Murray-Holladay Blvd and through some neighborhoods in Holladay. 8.25 miles total :)

Last longer run until SG!! 16 miles along my favorite long run route. Up Big Cottonwood Canyon trail to Wasatch (North). Turned around after 8 and come back. My goal was to run the uphill's under 8:00 pace and the downhill under 7:00 pace. Mission accomplished! I felt relaxed on this run and didn't push it hard.

Tempo today...2x3 miles with a 1/2 mile recovery jog between. I didn't want to push it too hard since SG is next weekend (ahhh!). I warmed up 1 mile then did my first 3 miles in 18:59 (6:20 pace) and then the second 3 miles in 18:57 (6:19). I was pretty consistent which is good and the second one felt easier than the first. Cool down was 1.6 miles.

I might do a fartlek of some sort later this week. I'm going to stay away from the track until after the marathon. My right hamstring is starting to hurt again and I think it's from running too fast at the track. My left quad is also starting to burn a little after I run. I would be so upset if I couldn't race my best because of stupid little injuries.

Easy 6.1 miles at Wheeler Farm this morning. I didn't even wear my Garmin because I didn't want to know what my pace was. I went and saw Dr. Fletcher yesterday and he went to town on my hamstring (ART Therapy). It was really sore yesterday/last night/this morning. I hope he didn't over do it. Now I'm nervous it won't be 100% for SG! But I'm praying that it will be. I guess it's normal to be sore the next few days after a treatment. Here's to hoping!

7.3 miles through Holladay this morning. Beautiful weather! My legs felt a little better than yesterday but I could tell my hamstring is still pretty sore. I've decided to not do any leg weights (ie-squats, lunges, etc) until after the marathon. I think I need to really let my legs heal. Trying to stay optimistic!

Bryant went hunting at 4:00 am so I ran later this morning at 11:00. Wow, it felt nice to be warmed up for a while before running. I decided to run easy and easy was 7:00 pace. I went to Wheeler Farm and it felt great! 6 miles at 7:05 AP.

Easy 6.2 miles this morning through Murray. I thought about doing a fartlek but decided to give my legs another day of easy running.

I went to Dr. Fletcher's this morning and he did light work on my legs. They feel better. I also sat in his compression boots for 20 minutes. That was cool! I think I'll do it again next week.

Found out my bib number for SG is 5019! Yahoo! Last year I was 5102. Feels good to be moving up :)

Last "long" run with Emily this morning. It was really cold! I decided to conduct a session of "Running Therapy" with her and we discussed the top 3 things we are most worried about for this marathon and then we discussed the top 3 things we are most excited/confident about. It was nice to talk to someone about things like pooping, muscle aches, body glide, etc. These things are important people! :)

Running with Emily today really helped build my confidence. Even though the run felt harder than it should have, it was more about what was said. She reminded me about the good training I've had and that I should run faster than I think I can. Looking back on my training I've run (2) 22 milers, (4) 20 milers, (1) 17 miler, (5) 16 milers, I've dropped my mile splits on the track from 6:06 pace to 5:57 pace, my tempo's have gone from 6 miles to 9 miles and have gotten faster, I ran a strong 1/2 marathon that was a minute slower than my PR on a harder course and it felt comfortable.

She also talked about making it a positive experience and just taking control over the things you can control. So if the weather's bad (which the forecast looks great, btw) than just run the best you can in bad weather. Remember my training when I start to doubt. Thanks Emily...you're the best! I'm super excited for you to run an awesome marathon! If I was a gambling woman, my money would be on you to win this! :)

I felt SO good today that I really had to hold back on this run. It was a nice warm morning! I ran through my favorite Holladay neighborhoods. The best part was when I ran past a kid on a skateboard and he said, "What the f***! You're fast!" Hee hee...thank you random teenage boy! 8.1 miles at 7:10 AP.