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. 

Big Girls Group Run around Day Break. Plus one boy. It was nice running with everyone! I really enjoy these group runs and I hope we can do it every month. 7:21 AP.

11 miles dark and early. I ran up Highland to Creek Road, around the neighborhoods and home on 900 East. As the sun was coming up over Mt. Olympus I had a moment of clarity and peace. Some tears were shed. I love running for so many reasons. 7:21 AP. 

Snow. Dark. Yak Trax. Reflective Vest. Head lamp. 7 miles.

Brrr...Brrr...Brrr! I was super cold this morning. I ran my favorite Holladay loop with some added neighborhood streets. 10 miles at 7:24 AP. 

I want to do a tempo tomorrow.

Tempo Thursday. I was not looking forward to this. When the weather is so cold, I have a hard time running fast. But I wanted to do something "faster" since I've got a race in a couple weeks. I dropped Weston off at my mom's house and she told me I needed to be back in 65 minutes. So I had a time constraint on top of everything. 

I warmed up for 3 miles (7:30, 7:22, 7:20) then did a 4 mile tempo around my house which is 2 miles slight uphill, 1 mile flat, 1 mile slight downhill. My splits (6:32, 6:30, 6:21, 6:23). Not super fast but it seemed hard for me. I guess I'm more tired than I thought and it was only 25 degrees! My cool down was faster than I wanted because I had to get back to my mom's house (7:09, 6:51). Overall, 9 miles at 6:55 AP. Glad it's done. 

10K this morning. It actually felt pretty nice outside. My left foot felt a little tweek around mile 5 when I was turning a corner. I hope it isn't anything serious. 7:18 AP. 

It was a lovely morning for running. Besides a slight wind coming out of the south, it was a balmy 43 degrees. I met Emily at Murray Park and we ran around the Murray/Holladay area. It was super hard to warm our bodies up and we thought about calling it quits around mile 2 (but we were only kidding). 

The original plan was to run 16.6 miles (so I could get 60 miles in for the week). I am totally OCD when it comes to running even distances. If I would have run 59.4 miles for the week, I would have been so upset that I didn't run the extra .4 to make it an even 60. Hi...my name is Jen...I have an even numbers running problem :p Anyways, we accidentally added an extra 1.5 miles at the end of our run so we ran 18 instead. Emily and I were so tired around mile 17 that we started yelling at each other like an old married couple. She said she hated me, I said I hated her, I told her she was running on the wrong side of the street, she elbowed me a couple times... But once we had Murray Park in our sights, we said we loved each other and we made up. It was funny and totally sarcastic! 7:18 AP. Our last few miles were sub 7:00. 

11 miles in the rain on a warm February morning. It was really nice. I ran my usual hilly 8 miler plus some muddy fun at Wheeler Farm. My legs still felt tired from Saturday's long run. 7:29 AP. 

It was super hard to get out of bed this morning but I'm glad I did. 8 miles through Holladay. My first mile was nice and slow at 8:02 but my last two miles were 6:49, 6:44. 7:15 AP. 

10 miles up and down the Big Cottonwood trail. It was a nice morning for running! My legs felt really tired and sluggish so I added 10x1 minute pushes. The last 5 miles were some what of a tempo: 6:43, 6:38, 6:34, 6:30, 6:50 (last mile was flat and I was tired). 

8 easy miles through Murray. It was sprinkling the whole time but it was very nice. My right Achilles was sore the first mile but then felt better. 

7 miles around Murray. I had a Valentine I needed to take to my dad's house so I decided to run it over. I ran at 3 pm so it felt a lot easier than running at 6 am. It was almost 60 degrees so I wore shorts for the first time in a while. My legs were a little shy after being covered up all winter. 6:45 AP. Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Ugh...that's the word I would use to summarize today's run. It was a lot harder than I wanted it to be. I think that 18 miler I did last week really took it out of me. Plus, I ran pretty fast AP's this week. 14 miles seemed LONG. I met Emily at the parkway and we did an out and back run. 7:16 AP (which is still a decent pace but it felt hard). 

The highlight of the run was seeing a secret rendezvous with an old creepy man and a woman...well, the woman was actually a man dressed as a woman (that's why it was so scandalous and totally shady!). Emily and laughed about it for quite a while. 

9 miles through Holladay. Nothing too exciting. 7:10 AP.

8 miles around Murray. I probably should have done some speed work to help get my legs ready for Saturday's race...BUT, I was lazy and just wanted to enjoy my run. 7:17 AP.

6 miles around Wheeler Farm. It was nice and windy. I was feeling really tired so I decided to throw in 4x3:00 pushes (1:00 recovery jog). Needless to say, they didn't help me feel any better. I'm just going into this race really tired. Oh well...the ultimate goal is to have fun. 

Easy 6 miler around my house. Nothing exciting. 7:18 AP.

4 easy miles with no watch. I really should run without a watch more often. My legs felt a little better. 

I am pretty happy with how this race turned out. I wasn't sure how fast I'd be able to run since I haven't been doing a lot of speed/tempo's. My mileage has been decent with a couple weeks of 60+. My goal was to have fun and just push myself. 

The weather was beautiful! I wore a tank top and a running skirt. I even got a little sunburn on my face (yahoo!). I ran this race last year and placed 2nd with a time of 1:24 but the course was short (my Garmin said 12.84...REALLY short). I heard the course had changed this year so I was expecting it to be closer to a true 13.1. My Garmin said 13.15 when I finished so I'm glad they changed it. 

I went out with a big group of girls. At one point, I was in 6th or 7th place and decided to just focus on effort and time. I felt really good for the first 9 miles, then I hit the hill at mile 10...ouch. But I was able to muscle my way up it. This course is really challenging with a lot of downhill, rolling hills and some steep uphill towards the end. At mile 11, I had some gas in the tank and was able to pass a couple girls and move into 4th. The girl in 3rd place was just too far ahead of me so I wasn't able to catch her. When I crossed the finish line in 1:23:28 I was really happy. I PR'd and beat my time last year by about a minute (and the course last year was short). Emily ran a solid 1:22 and took 2nd. I was super proud of her but I could tell that she wasn't too happy about her time. Emily is such a strong runner and I really admire her drive and competitiveness. She is starting this season at such a good point...she's going to have some great races this year. 

I feel so much stronger than I did last year. I have a lot more confidence and I feel like I'm training smarter than I ever have. Running with Emily has also made me a better runner. With that being said, I'm excited to see what I can do this year. I'd love to break 1:20! 

Splits: 6:06, 6:10, 6:10, 5:55, 6:19, 6:27, 6:37 (a dog ran out in front of me and I had to stop. A big truck also pulled out in front of me and I had to wait a few seconds), 6:13, 6:39, 6:57 (big hill), 6:14, 6:25, 6:15, 5:57 (.1). 6:20 AP. 

7 miles on the dirt at Wheeler Farm. My legs felt pretty good but I wanted to take it easy. I think I'll take it easy for the rest of the week. 

9 miles around Murray, on the parkway, by IMC and through Murray Park. I was planning on going 7-8 but the weather was SO nice. I wanted to stay outside a little longer. 7:18 AP.

8 miles through Murray. My legs felt really tired at the beginning. I think it is left overs from the race and the leg workout I did yesterday. But once I got past mile 3 I felt a lot better. 7:04 AP. BEAUTIFUL WEATHER! Tank top and shorts again. 

I had to make it a quickie this morning. I'm teaching Lily's preschool. 6 windy miles in the dark. 7:20 AP.

I had to sneak in my run again early this morning. 7:13 AP.

To quote my good friend Winne the Pooh,

"Hum dum dum ditty dum
Hum dum dee

Oh the wind is lashing lustily
And the trees are thrashing thrustily
And the leaves are rustling gustily
So it's rather safe to say

That it seems that it may turn out to be
It feels that it will undoubtedly
It looks like a rather blustery day, today
It sounds that it may turn out to be
Feels that it will undoubtedly
Looks like a rather blustery day"

It was a rather blustery day to say the least. 20+ mph winds always make for a hard run. Emily and I pushed it pretty good when we had those strong head winds (7:30 pace going uphill into the wind isn't half bad!). Overall, we averaged 7:09 pace for 13 miles. We were REALLY tired by the end of it. We thought about Allie running 26.2 miles today and were grateful it was her and not us. Allie is one tough chick! 

I decided to run the Salt Lake Half in April. Time to start getting serious about trainning again. I think I'll start doing some tempo/speed again next week. 

BTW, Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss (tomorrow). I miss you. 

I felt pretty good this morning so I decided to do a little tempo. I ran my favorite hilly 8 mile course with 3 miles added on. I gradually increased my tempo pace and didn't want to push too hard. Just get comfortable. 6:44, 6:32, 6:30, 6:26, 6:30. Not too fast but it felt really comfortable and I wasn't dying at the end. 7:00 AP. 

Legs, core and arms when I got home. 

8 miles around Holladay. Nice and easy. 7:24 AP

Track workout at Murray High. I thought I'd take the new track for a test run. My mom watched Weston so I was able to run at 9:30 which was awesome! 

I thought I'd copy Emily's track workout that she did on Monday. I think it was just enough speed to get things moving and I didn't feel completely trashed afterwards. Thanks Em for the workout idea! 1xmile, 2x800, 4x400 (400 recovery jog between the miles and 1:00 between the 400's.)

Mile-5:45

800's- 2:50, 2:49

400's- :80, :80, :78, :78

I'm pretty excited about this workout. I haven't run this fast since college. I wore my new racing flats and I think that helped too. 3 mile warm up and 3 mile cool down. It's always fun to run around town with racing flats on your hands (because I warmed up/cooled down in my trainers). 

Easy 10k around Wheeler Farm. Lots of angry geese. Still haven't seen the fox.

Another 10K today. I ran around Holladay. 7:09 AP. Beautiful morning! 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/457272497

15 miles on my favorite long run route. What a beautiful day! Allie, I wore a sports bra and shorts! Yahoo! I decided to sleep in and run at 10:00 which helped. I felt good but it was weird running solo. I've run with Emily almost every Saturday since last summer. But it was nice to have some alone time to solve all the world's problems in my head. 7:05 AP. 

Missed my morning run so I ended up running at 1:00. It was nice and warm...but kinda windy. I felt really good today. I tried pushing it up all the hills and into the wind. 6:58 AP. 

8 miles around Holladay. Nice and easy. 7:29 AP. 

Super dark and super cold this morning! It was really hard to get out of bed. But I'm glad I did. 10 miles 7:19 AP.

8 miles with Allie around Murray/Wheeler Farm. It was a beautiful day! Good company, good conversation, good running. Makes for a great morning! 7:20 AP. 

6 miles with a 3 mile tempo thrown in there for fun (6:30, 6:22, 6:10). My legs felt really tired from my PT exercises that I did yesterday. 

Windy again today. What's with all the Saturday runs being windy? Today felt hard. I ran up to Holladay Blvd and just ran north until I hit Parlesy then I turned around and came home. Kinda boring. 7:20 AP. 

11 miles around Holladay. It was nice and warm this morning. A little windy (once again). I have a friend who works for Asics and she sent me the prototype for the Nimbus 17 so I ran in them this morning...wow, get ready for a great shoe come next spring! It's significantly lighter and has more cushion. Overall, a great shoe! 7:16 AP. 

8 miles with Tori. It was really cold! It was nice having a running partner. She is running Boston next month so we talked a lot about that. 7:28 AP.

10 miles around Murray and through Murray Park. It was SO hard getting out of bed knowing it was 32 degrees outside...and dark...and I was tired. But I forced myself out and I'm glad I did because I had a great run. 7:05 AP.

Track workout with Allie at Murray High. I didn't know what I wanted to run so we kind of made it up as we went. The first 2 mile repeats involved dodging high school students...Always fun. 

3xmile (6:00, 5:53, 5:49)

2x800 (2:49, 2:52)

2x400 (77, 77)

2 mile warm up and 2.5 mile cool down. Beautiful day! :) 

Easy 10K around wheeler farm. No garmin. Lots of angry geese. Must be mating season.

14 miles in Kamas. Running on country/farm roads are so peaceful and quiet. 7:15 AP.

11 miles with a tempo thrown in. I ran up Highland Drive into Sandy, down Creek Road and home along 900 East. The first 3 miles are uphill (with a steep mile on 3) then 4 miles slight downhill and the last 4 miles are pretty flat with the last mile being uphill again. 

My splits: 7:45, 7:45, 7:50, 7:03, 7:06, 6:55, 6:30, 6:31, 6:23, 6:10, 6:28. 

6:58 AP

8 miles with Tori. I think we are going to make it a regular Tuesday morning thing. She wore tights, I wore shorts...7:18 AP.

10 mile fartlek run this morning. I did 2 sets of 5-4-3-2-1 (2 minute recovery jog between the 5-4 and 1 minute between the 3-2-1) That last set we pretty hard but it felt good to push myself past my comfort level. Beautiful weather this morning! 

8 mile recovery run through Holladay on a drizzly morning. 7:18 AP

6 miles with Emily. It seems like forever since I've run with her! We went over to Wheeler Farm. I did the fox calls...but still no luck. 7:20 AP

Long run with Devra and Allie along the new Salt Lake Half course. It's going to be an interesting race with some good uphills, steep downhills and a few long gradual uphills in the middle. 7:15 AP

12 miles along Highland Drive to 9400 South. LOTS of hills :) 7:16 AP

8 rainy/cold miles with Tori. 7:27 AP. 

On a side note, I think my big toe nail is going to fall off! I've never had one of the big ones go! :(

Let me quote KSL weather: Scattered showers possible mainly in central and southern Utah throughout the day. Most of the day along the Wasatch Front will be dry. Ummmm...yeah....NOT! Today I did a track workout that turned into a horrible snow storm/blizzard! When I got to the track it was 40 degrees and partly cloudy. By the middle of my workout it started snowing. By the end, FULL ON BLIZZARD! 

2 mile warm up, 4x1600 (400 recovery jog), 2x800 (400 recovery jog). My original plan was to hit around 5:50-5:53 for the miles and 2:49 for the 800's. But once I got to the track and saw that it was wet and a little slippery, I knew I needed to adjust. 

My splits: 5:59, 5:57, 5:57, 5:57, 2:57, 2:57. Once the snow and wind hit, I just couldn't go any faster. It was not pretty. But at least I was able to get a little turn over in my legs. 2 mile cool down. I looked like the abominable snowman when I got home. My hands and fingers were white and numb. 

Oh look...the sun's out now. Go figure :P

8 easy recovery miles through Holladay. It snowed on me...again. 

6 miles in Moab. Be-a-utiful!!!! 7:02 AP

15 miles along Moab Canyon. 7.5 miles up the canyon and then back down. I pushed it on the down. 7 miles between 6:38-6:10 pace. I felt pretty tired by the end. Running uphill for over 7 miles will do that to ya. 7:09 AP. I could live in Moab! 

11 miles. Nothing too exciting. It felt good to work the demons out of my legs from traveling in the car yesterday. 7:20 AP. 

8 miles with Tori. We ran at Wheeler Farm because she had never run there before! She loved it! 7:30 AP. 

Track workout. 6x800 with 90 second recovery. Splits: 2:53, 2:51, 2:50, 2:48, 2:48, 2:49. 

8 miles around Murray. Tired legs. 7:28 AP.

10K through Holladay. Felt better today. 6:56 AP.

13 miles up Big Cottonwood Trail to Wasatch and then back down. Nice and easy. I hit two 6:30's on the way down and my last mile was a 6:18. Felt good! :) 7:12 AP.

9 miles around Holladay. The last 4 miles were under 7:00 pace with the last being a 6:35. Felt good :) 7:08 AP.

Tempo Tuesday. 2 mile warm up, 4 mile tempo: 6:20, 6:09, 6:09, 6:14. 2 mile cool down. My legs felt more tired than I hoped but it wasn't too horrible. I did my PT exercises yesterday and that always makes them a litte more fatigued the next day. I'm getting excited for Saturday's race! I'm excited to see what I can do...

Easy 10K around Wheeeeeeler Farm. Didn't wear a watch...I'm sure it was nice and slow. 

Rest day. Getting these legs ready for Saturday :)

3 miles around my house on dirt roads and around Cottonwood High. I saw a couple of kids smoking pot on the bleachers. High school kids are SO cool... :P 7:09 AP.

Sorry for the delay in getting this race report up. It's been a busy Easter weekend.

This was a great race for me. I really liked the new course and thought it had a good mix of hills, downhills and flat parts. I met Allie at her house bright and early (5:30 am) and we drove up to the U. We stayed inside the math building where James works. It was nice to be inside where it was warm. Allie and I drew up a detailed race plan on one of the white boards. This plan included a ghost, a hurdle, a muppet (Oscar the Grouch), a mushroom from Super Mario and a neighbor lady spraying us down with a water house. Overall, I felt like this was a solid plan and I was going to stick to it! :P 

The first few miles felt nice and comfortable. There were a couple steep hills and one long gradual one. Running down Memory Grove was fun. At mile 5, Allie started to pull away from me and I was ok with that. I knew if I pushed it too hard at that point I would be dying at the end. I watched her catch up with the girl in first place and I did a "Go Allie" fist pump. I could tell that the second place girl wasn't too far ahead of me around mile 9 and I tried my hardest to catch her. At mile 12, there was only a 15 second gap between us. I pushed that last mile but so did she. She was a tough runner! She finished 15 second ahead of me so we were both running the same pace at the end. Allie finished in 1st about 45 seconds in front of me and I was super happy for her! She is an awesome runner. My final time was 1:22:09. This is a PR for me by about 1.5 minutes! I felt pretty strong throughout the entire race. I'm excited to see if I can break that 1:20 milestone by the end of the summer. 

Here are my splits. (My Garmin was measuring a little short compared to the course markers? So I'm not sure how accurate they are): 6:18, 6:36, 5:48, 5:48, 5:39 (probably not), 6:20, 6:03, 6:30, 6:15, 6:21, 6:03, 6:19, 6:06. (6:10 AP)

Congrats to Allie, Emma, Fritz and all the other amazing runners! 

6 miles on the magical healing dirt at Wheeler Farm. 7:58 AP. Nice and slow. I'm a little sore from Saturday's race but it's not too bad. But I am going to keep it easy this week to recover. 

7 miles through Holladay. Still taking it easy. 7:35 AP.

7 miles around my neighborhood. Still feeling tired. 7:30 AP.

8 miles around Holladay. I'm starting to feel better. 7:16 AP.

5 easy miles around Wheeler Farm. 7:23 AP.

10 rainy, cold miles through Holladay. But my legs finally feel "normal" again. 7:05 AP. Now I need to decide what to train for next...any suggestions?

9 miles along Highland to Creek Road and back on 900 East. A little chilly this morning. When I got home it started hailing like crazy! Glad I finished in time. I felt pretty good today. I ran my last 4 miles at 6:45 pace. 7:16 AP. 

I think I might run TOU Half Marathon. And maybe UV Half...still deciding. 

8 miles...legs felt like jelly on toast. My PT exercises kicked my butt yesterday...7:30 AP. Not even Wheeeeeeler Farm could help me feel better. 

10 miles with Allie on the JRP. 

5-4-3-2-1 (2 min rec). My legs still feel sore from Monday's workout. But it was good to get them moving again. 

7:06 AP. 

Blah...this run was not fun. My legs feltl tired and I had no motivation...I forced myself to keep going. 8 miles around Murray at 7:29 AP. 

6 miles around Murray. My last 3 miles were under 7 min pace (6:55, 6:44, 6:35). My legs definitely feel better today. 7:04 AP

15 birthday miles with Devra. We ran up the Big Cottonwood Trail to Wasatch and turned around after 7.5 miles. Our last 5 miles were under 6:45 pace with our last mile being a 6:25. Devra is a strong runner! It was awesome running with her today! 7:06 AP. 

10 miles on my favorite hilly course. I ran at 11 o'clock and it was about 75 degrees. I was really hot. But it was nice to run when my body was warmed up and not just jumping out of bed. 7:04 AP. 

8 miles with Tori. It was fun hearing her talk about Boston. She had a great time. 7:25 AP.

10 miles through Holladay. It didn't start raining until the last 2.5 miles so it was a nice morning for a run. 7:19 AP. I think I'll hit the track tomorrow. 

2.5 mile warm up to Cottonwood High. 4x1600 (400 meter recovery jog), 2x400. I wasn't sure how fast I wanted to run my 1600's so I just decided to run and see what happened. I ran at 5:00 pm so I was a little nervous about my stomach acting up. When I run in the evening I always have stomach issues. 

Splits- 5:44, 5:47, 5:45, 5:47. 

400's- 80, 80 (my stomach starting acting up during the first one and I knew I wasn't going to be fast). 

I'm pretty happy with my 1600's. They felt controled and I am definitely faster this year than I was last year. 

2 mile cool down with 2 bathroom stops (ugh!) 

5 recovery miles at Wheeler Farm.

Evening run+morning run the next day=crap.

Long run along Highland to 9400 and back on 1300 East. Nice weather this morning. My legs felt better. 7:19 AP.

12 miles through Holladay. I am leaving on a 7 day cruise to Alaska tomorrow :) My running plan for the next week is to run whenever and not stress. It could be 3 miles or 10 miles...Heck, I'll be on vacation! 7:14 AP.

Rest Day- Alaska Cruise!

Rocky day at sea. Treadmills suck! 7:09 AP.

Treadmill 7:15 AP.

Dreadmill again...7:13 AP.

11 boring miles on the treadmill again...7:18 AP

Blah, blah, blah...treadmills are the worst! 7:22 AP

Last day of treadmills! Yahoo! 7:09 AP. 

Rest day. Traveled home from Seattle. 

Back to running on land again! Yahoo! I ran my usual Holladay route. I still feel like I'm on a boat and I could feel the effects of being at sea level for a week and returning to our altitude. Seemed hard...7:22 AP.

8 miles around Wheeler Farm. Still feels hard today. 7:24 AP

Fartlek Friday. 5x2 minutes (1 min recovery jog). My legs are still feeling sluggish so I thought a little fartlek would help work some of it out. 7:12 AP.

Long run with Devra and Allie. It was pouring rain the entire time. Our shoes were making that gross sloshing sound towards the end. We ran up BC trail to Wasatch. I'm so glad I ran with these ladies today! It was fun! When we got back to my house, I made a delicious breakfast with fresh chicken eggs, bacon, strawberries and a green smoothie. Breakfast of champions! 7:14 AP.

Happy Memorial Day everyone! This is one of my favorite running days of the year because of all the flags out in people's yards. I love it! I ran around Murray/Murray Park. 7:08 AP. 

Easy 8 miles around Murray and Wheeler Farm. 7:20 AP.

Early morning track workout at Cottonwood. It was almost 80 degrees and very windy at 6:00 am. I knew these conditons would make for a hard workout. Plus, it has been about 3 weeks since my last time on the track so I knew it was going to hurt. 

6x800 (400 meter recovery jog) + 2x400 (1 minute rest): 2:54, 2:52, 2:54, 2:54, 2:54 2:54, 84, 83. My splits were a lot slower than I wanted (I was hoping for 2:49ish) and they all felt really hard. I've definitely lost some speed. BUT, this is a good place to start from and I'm motivated to really get running fast this summer. 

8 miles through Holladay. My legs felt better than I thought they would after my track workout yesterday. 7:16 AP. 

6 miles around my neck of the woods. I decided to "push" the last 3 miles: 6:49, 6:30, 6:11. It felt hard but I'm glad I did it. I really need to start doing some tempos again. 6:59 AP.

16 miles with Allie. Running with her is good for my soul. Great conversations and lots of laughs. We ran around Holladay and then a loop around Wheeler Farm. We were pretty hot by the end of it...good thing my husband blasted us with the sprinklers when we got home. Surprise! :) 7:15 AP. 

Heavy legs, stomach issues, side cramp. What a run...what...a...run. 7:16 AP.

8 miles through Murray to Murray Park. I feel extra tired this morning. I'm going to start taking my iron pill again. 7:23 AP.

Warmed up 2 miles, 4 mile tempo (6:30, 6:18, 6:18, 6:17), 3 mile cool down. I felt a little better today. The first mile was hard and slower than I wanted but it's hard for my body to warm up so early in the morning. I really hate tempo's but they are so good for my training. My goal is to keep bringing the pace down while increasing the mileage.  

Happy National Running Day fellow runners! Run on! :)

8 mile up BC trail and back down. I had to stop and go the bathroom in a bush around mile 6 and stood up (with my shorts still down) right as a guy on a bike passed me. He had a big smile on his face and said, "Good morning!" I am so happy I could bring such happiness into his life...

Fun run with Emily this morning!! I'm so glad she is back running! We met at Murray Park and ran over to Wheeler Farm. It was wonderful!!! I missed her! 7:12 AP.

15 miles along Wasatch Blvd with Devra, Allie, Tyler and James. We met Allie and James at 3900 South after they ran the Crack of Dawn 8K. They both won! (Nice work A and J). We ran to Hoogle Zoo along the Bonneville Trail. I forgot my watch but Tyler said we averaged a 7:10 pace which was pretty good considering all the hills. 

Allie and I wore the same sports bra... It was a little embarrassing ;)

10 miles around Murray and into Holladay. I felt good this morning! I think the iron pills are helping. 7:14 AP. 

8 miles around Murray and Wheeler Farm. Nice and easy. 7:20 AP.

Track workout at Cottowood High. 4x1600 (with 400 meter recovery jog) and 4x400 meters.

Splits: 5:48, 5:49, 5:49, 5:49 (I'm so consistent!) and 79, 79, 80, 80.

I'm happy with this workout and I felt like I had some gas left in the tank at the end so that's promising. Cottonwood's XC tream was on the track for my last two 400's and they thought I was crazy fast. Those high school kids look so young to me...I must be getting old :P

9 easy miles around Murray and Wheeler Farm. My legs are tired from yesterday's track workout and PT exercises. But I'm loving this weather! Sports bra and shorts...you can't beat that :)

Progressive run. 7:28, 7:19, 7:09, 7:04, 6:41, 6:34. Felt good today but it was pretty warm outside. 

Good luck to everyone running UVM and Half tomorrow! :)

15 miles with Devra. We met on Highland Dr and ran up Creek Road to 1300 East and then to 9600 South. Then we turned around and ran back to my house. Lots of hills. I love running with Devra though...she has a great outlook on running and life in general. 7:10 AP with the last 3 miles being 6:50, 6:41, 6:30. 

We drank protein shakes. 

10 miles with Allie. Murray loop and Wheeler Farm where we encountered burping goats and farting children. We high tailed it out of there once we saw the children...7:14 AP.

Allie, you are awesome. There is no way I could run 10 miles the Monday after a hard half marathon. And four of our miles were under 7:00 pace. You are a robot! 

9 miles around my neighborhood. Lots of looping. 7:18 AP. 

10 miles with Allie at Liberty Park. 4 mile warm up then we did a 5K time trial. 18:58 (5:54, 6:10, 6:16, :37).  I am not a 5K runner. This was pretty hard for me. Our last mile was a lot slower than I wanted it to be. I'm so glad Allie was there to help push me. I could tell that she wanted to go faster but she held back for me. What an awesome friend/robot! 3 mile cool down by delicious donut shops.

I really think my best distance is the half. I can run 13 miles and still feel strong at the end. But 5K's are super painful and hard for me. I'm happy that I was able to get under 19 minutes today. I haven't done that since college. I signed up for the Murray 5K and Draper Days 5K so I must enjoy the misery a little bit. But I think they will be good training for TOU Half in August. 

7 miles on tired, slow legs. I ran my usualy Holladay route but it was not pretty or fun! Blah! 7:30 AP. 

Note to self: NEVER eat Taco Time again! Bad choice! :(

15 miles with Emily and Allie. We met at Highland and ran a few loops around the Sugarhouse area and then Allie and I ran up 1700 East to Sunnyside and back downnnn....it was so steep my parachute almost deployed. 7:09 AP. 

9 miles around Murray. Nice and easy. Glad to hit 60 miles this week. Now, off to Moab with the family!  

10 miles up Highway 191 trail in Moab. I LOVE RUNNING IN MOAB! The red rocks up against the blue sky has to be my favoirte color combination. Way to go Mother Nature :)

5 miles up (average 7:35 pace) and 5 miles down all in the 6:40's. 

10 miles around Murray and the old Cottonwood Mall (RIP). 12x2 minute pushes (1 min recovery jog). 7:03 AP.

10 miles around Murray. I did a lot of neighborhood loops. Kinda boring. 7:19 AP.

8 miles through Holladay. 7:10 AP.

Last week I hurt my foot. I was walking across my backyard when I stepped down and felt horrible pain in my right foot. I massaged it and the pain seemed to go away. I've been able to run on it but after each run, it hurts and I have to baby it for the rest of the day. But no pain while running. I went to the doctors on Wednesday and he thinks I might have sprained it. So I'm taking the rest of the weekend off to see if it helps. It's super annoying because, like I said, it doesn't hurt at all when I run. Just afterwards. 

See you on Monday. Hopefully it feels better. 

10 miles along Murray Holladay Blvd. I didn't see many runners out...must be the Monday after Ragnar. Everyone is recovering! My foot felt good :) But the real test will be how it feels for the rest of the day. My form felt a little off from not running for 4 days. 7:20 AP.

Track Tuesday! 6x800 (400 recovery jog). I wanted to stay under 2:50, that was really my only goal (oh, and not hurt my foot again). Splits- 2:49, 2:49, 2:48, 2:48, 2:49, 2:47. The foot felt great so I'm super happy about that. 

I brought my water bottle to the track for hydration. I didn't realize that a bunch of ants had crawled on the top. So when I took a drink, I swallowed a few ants...nothing like ant water to keep me going at the track! Blah! 

7 miles around Murray. Nice and slow. My legs are kind of tired from yesterday's track workout and leg exercises: one legged squats, regular squats, hamstring curls, wall sits, lunges, calf raises, side leg raises, clam shells, one legged bridges, side steps, hip dips, iron cross, 3x2 minute planks, abs, push ups, tri dips. 

6 miles around Cottonwood High and through the neighborhoods.To finish, I did 4x30 seconds @5:30 pace. Legs are still feeling a little tired...who knows how tomorrow will go??? 7:10 AP.

I love the 4th of July! And I love the Murray 5K. I've been running this race since I was in high school. So needless to say, I look forward to running it every year. 

The morning started off on a sad note though...on the way to Murray Park, we were driving down our street when we found our elderly neighbor laying down in his drive way. He fell while trying to impress the neighbor boys by shooting a basketball into a hoop. He is 85. His head was bleeding all over and he was very disoriented and complained of chest pain. So Bryant and I called 911, put a towel under is head and stayed with him until the paramedics arrived. Once they came, we took off to the park. I was a little frazzled when I picked up my bag but I soon found Emily and we did our warm up together (2.5 miles). She said she was still feeling pretty sick but she wanted to run anyway. Emily is such a tough runner! Who has a fever of 102 the night before a race and still shows up to run? She is awesome. Tough girl! :)

I had a couple goals for this race: 1) PR, 2) Sub 19:00, 3) Place top 3. This race can be stacked with really fast runners one year and then be slow the next. You never know. The siren went off and I wanted to get out in front. I followed behind a pack of stinky boys for the first mile (seriously boys, PLEASE wear deodorant! Thanks!). 5:56 at the mile mark. At the turn around, I picked up the pace a little because I knew there was a little downhill after the high school. 5:48. The last mile has a gradual climb, flat and then down into Murray Park. 5:53. I finished in 17:50, 1st place. The course was a little short but I was so super happy with my effort and my time. I've struggled with 5K's for a long time and have never been able to get under 19:00 so this is a HUGE PR for me. Emily came in second and I was really happy for her. She is one tough cookie. (2.5 mile cool down with "T" who is 8 and a half months pregnant! She also ran the race. What an awesome woman!)

It was great to see a lot of friends from the running blog at the race. I seriously love the running community we have here in the valley. 

13 miles from my house to the JRPW. I ran into Demetrio and his gang of runners. It was hot, windy and my legs were tired from yesterday. I didn't eat that great either so I knew today would be a challange. I should have run with Emily but I dogged out on her last night thinking I'd be too tired to run this morning. Sorry Em :( 7:30 AP. 

11 miles up Highland, down Creek Road, through neighborhoods, down 900 East. The first 3 miles are always hard on this route because it's all uphill. But after that, I felt pretty good so I decided to through in a few miles at marathonish pace. Mile 7 (6:39), mile 8 (6:26), mile 9 (6:26), mile 10 (6:36). Mile 11 was 6:55 because I got tired and decided to slow it down a bit. Overall, I felt good and I enjoyed the morning. 7:03 AP. 

10 easy miles through Holladay. My legs felt like noodles. I increased my weight on my leg exercises yesterday so I'm sore today! 

So I guess Shalane Flanagan has been training in Park City. I sent her a Facebook message telling her I'd love to run with her. I gave her my cell number and email address...I wonder if she'll call? 

I "attempted" a tempo this morning. I don't know what I was thinking...Over the past 8 days, I've done 4 speed sessions. I usually only do 1, maybe 2, a week. So 4 is too many for me. Plus, it was over 80 degrees and windy. Heat and wind make for a very hard run!

I warmed up 3 miles and my legs felt like cement blocks. I thought about scrapping the whole thing but I decided to give it a go. The plan was 5 miles @ 6:05-6:15 pace. 

Mile 1- 6:30 (Shoot! Maybe I just need to work into a good pace. Plus, I was running into the wind)
Mile 2- 6:29 (Shoot! That was hard! My legs feel like crap)
Mile 3- 6:28 (SHOOT! Ok, I'm done)
Mile 4- 7:03 (I decided to just take this mile easy and regroup)
Mile 5- 2x800's (3:08, 3:07...I knew I was toast so I decided to break it up into two half miles)

My cool down felt like miles 22 and 23 of a marathon. Super slow and very hard! Ugh..I should have stayed in bed this morning.  

8 miles with Emily. Murray Park to Wheeler Farm. Wow, it was humid this morning. We were both sweaty messes when we go back to our cars. It was great running with a friend though...7:10 AP.

10K around the Holladay area. I didn't wear a watch...I need to do this more often! It's good for my body and mind. I'm able to just enjoy the run and listen to how fast my body wants to go. 

16 miles with Emily. We started at Murray Park and ran up 4800 south to the canal road then went south until Gardner Village and turned north on the parkway until 4800 south back to Murray Park. We both really like this route because it has a good mix of everything (gradual ups and downs, rollers, flat, dirt). We both felt really good today and the weather was perfect (66 degrees with no wind). Our slowest mile was a 7:30 (mile 1) and our fastest was a 6:49 (mile 15). 7:03 AP overall. 

We both ate a lot of bugs.

Ran a 2 mile loop around my house and then went 4 miles up the Big Cottonwood Trail and turned around. Pushed it on the way down (6:40, 6:35, 6:29, 6:20). I love where I live! So beautiful! 7:10 AP. 

Track workout today. I warmed up 3 miles, did 2 laps of speed changes, 7x800 (400 recovery jog), 1.5 mile cool down. 

I did all my 800's in 2:49...Seriously, I crossed the line at that exact time every time. I don't know if my consistency is a good thing or a bad thing. I felt like I was pushing it on the last two but they were still 2:49. I wanted to run a little faster. But, it is what it is. Consistent Connie is my name... :)

I ran with an old friend from high school who is in town. She was a sprinter back in the day so she is starting to convert over to distance running. It was great talking to her about the good old days when we both were younger and had boobs. 7:55 AP. 

8 miles through Holladay. Only 66 degrees this morning! Felt brisk :) 7:13 AP.

6 miles around Murray/Holladay. I did a few strides when I finished. I feel good! I'm excited to race tomorrow! :) 

This was a pretty good race for me. I wasn't quite sure what to expect on this course since they changed it from the "normal" route. I ran this race years ago when I was in college and I don't remember how fast I ran it. Anyways, my goal was to run hard but controlled. 

I warmed up 2 miles with Allie, Devra and Emily. I stayed pretty close to Devra and Emily for the first mile. The second mile was a good gradual downhill mile and it felt nice and controlled. The last mile was slightly uphill and I was a little surprised that my mile split was a 6:03 (Dang, I wanted to keep it all under 6:00). I crossed the finish in 18:20. I was happy with my effort and I feel like I'm getting faster with each race. Heck, last year my 5K PR was a 19:28! I am definitely running smarter and racing better. 

Splits- 5:51, 5:46, 6:03, :40. (5:53 AP)

7 mile cool down with Allie and Devra on the trails. Draper has some really nice places to run. 

10 miles on my hilly highland route. Hills+wind=my least favorite running conditions. Plus, it was pretty warm (75 degrees). I took it pretty easy though because my legs are still a little tired from Saturday. But not bad. 7:18 AP. 

10 miles around Murray. I feel like I might be getting sick...blah. Decided to take it easy again today. 7:20 AP.

5 mile tempo this morning. The first mile was uphill and into the wind so I didn't go for time but more for effort on the first one. 

6:52, 6:11, 6:13, 6:06, 6:10. 

I felt good and I'm happy with the pace. 

Good luck to everyone running Deseret News tomorrow! I gotta give a shout out to my girl Allie...GOOD LUCK my friend! 

8 mile recovery run. Ran my favorite Holladay route. I yelled, "Go Allie" when I was at my turn around point and closest to the Des News marathon course. 

7 miles around Murray. The weather was much nicer this morning than yesterday. 7:15 AP.

17 miles along Highland to Sugarhouse Park, around the park, back on 2000 East to Cottonwood Ln then 5600 South home. It was a beautiful morning! My first few miles were in the dark which always creeps me out and I run slower than normal. But once I hit SHP I felt good and picked up the pace. 7:13 AP. 

11 miles along Highland, Creek Rd and around my neck of the woods. I didn't eat/hydrate well after my long run on Saturday and I felt it today. I felt extra tired and slow. 7:19 AP.

10 miles in the pouring rain! My hair was a rat's nest when I got done. My shoes and clothes were soaked! BUT...I loved it! :) 7:15 AP. 

Track workout (aka-sweat fest). It was super humid this morning and I was dripping with sweat. Gross. 

4x1 mile repeats at MHS track (400 recovery). Once again, I was very consistent: 
5:49, 5:48, 5:49, 5:48.

3 mile warm up and cooldown. 

8 miles around Wheeler Farm. Nothing too exciting. I just love running! 7:20 AP.

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.