Running Yoga Mom

Oy. It was hot, and I felt it. I most definitely did not beat this run--it beat me. Only two weeks until the 1/2 and this is what I experience? It's rough, but I kept telling myself that it's going to get better. Get out earlier so it's cooler, get my iron up where it ought to be, and tackle the next long one.

A much better run, today! I took it kind of slow for a lot of it since I just needed to feel good. I did throw in a 800m speed lap at the end to finish strong. The weather was cooler, so I'm sure that helped. Used my new inserts to keep Morton's Neuroma at bay. 

I was tired when I woke up and considered putting off my run. I'd go back to bed and run later in the gym. I'm so glad I just went. The morning was beautiful. My run wasn't fast, but I felt strong. I picked up the last two miles to do a little speedwork. I felt like I could have kept running at the end, which I always love. 

I've decided to try drinking Gatorade on my runs instead of just water in an attempt to not tank after my summer runs. I'm a big sweater, so I have to be careful of my electrolytes. I didn't take water, so my mouth felt pretty sticky and sugary after drinking the Gatorade. Next time, I'll take both. 

 I'm still struggling with feeling wiped out. It wasn't even a long run. Not sure what's the deal there. At least I felt good while I was running. 

It was a hot morning for a long run. I don't think I've had as hot a morning this entire summer. Strike One. Add to that high humidity. Strike Two. The air felt hot and heavy, but it got a little better as the run went on and the temp's dropped a bit. I was originally planning on 11 miles, but I shorted it when my Morton's Neuroma started hurting around 8.5 miles. I don't know if it was just a good excuse to cut a hard run short, but I was a bit concerned about getting it inflamed a week before the Bryce 1/2.

 A tough run psychologically. I kept telling myself that next week won't be so hard since Bryce will be cooler. And, I hope, less humid. I think I'm well-trained for this run. I hope I am, anyway. 

Tempo run today with a long warm-up. We "warmed-up" up 3050 E. and started the tempo pace at the top. This gave us a good mile of slight up and down before the downhill we love so much. That mile was a 9:00 mile, followed by an 8:45 mile and an 8:35 mile. The last two were mostly downhill, but it still felt good to run that fast, especially since my legs were tired and I had to push to hit those speeds. Those might not be fast for a lot of runners, but those are good for me. This was a great run to boost my confidence for Bryce remind my legs that they can run a good, fast pace.

Short and easy, today. Average pace was 9:45. The cloud cover made it HOT and MUGGY (for so. Utah), but it was okay for 3 miles. I still felt pretty strong, and I'm hoping it will help me be better prepared for whatever the weather might dish out. Tomorrow's run will probably be a lot the same. I am hoping for much cooler weather in Bryce.

Final fun before Bryce.

I went into this race with pretty low expectations because I was fighting a cold & sinus infection. I also was going on three horrid night's sleep; two because of cold and stress and one because of bad hotel conditions. 

 I started off slow to give myself a good warm-up. Ran just under 10 min/mile for the first 1.7, until we hit the downhill. The next four miles were under 9 min/mile and felt very comfortable. The next couple of miles, until I ran into Tropic, felt really good.

 After Tropic, I had my two roughest miles. My legs felt pretty heavy and tired. The sun was starting to come out and heat things up. We also had higher humidity than usual to worry about. My paced slowed during those miles, but there was nothing slower than 9 1/2 min/mile. I just kept plugging away and moving forward.

 One main goal for this race, for me, was to have a strong mile 12. Last year, I was so self-defeating on that mile. My pace was slow and I fought the urge to just take a break and walk the entire mile. This year, I kept picturing it being a great mile. I focused on my pace and kept going strong.

 Coming into mile 13, I felt strong. I picked up my pace back to a 9 minute mile and passed a bunch of people. I came into the finish line feeling great! I was even able to pick up the pace and 'sprint' it in at the end. My breathing was great and my back stayed upright. 

This was a great race for me. I was happy with my time. It was over a minute slower than last year, but I finished feeling so great. And, compared to others' times, there were a lot of slower times compared to last year, the result of hotter temps and higher humidity, I think. The biggest contributors to my having a great race were higher mpw and more speed training, I think. I also made a point of stopping at every aid station (except at 12.3 miles) and getting Gatorade and water. I stayed hydrated and was able to keep my strength up. 

Just an easy post-race run. My legs felt really heavy to start, and my quads started to burn at .5 miles; but everything evened out around 1 mile and I felt great the rest of the run. A great run to loosen up my legs and keep them warm.

I felt ready to head back uphill, again. Nothing too serious, but a long, steady climb. The distance felt really good, and my legs were pretty loose from yesterday. I'm feeling in a good position to forge ahead with marathon training. Only eleven weeks to go!

This has been kind of a weird week. I've been trying to balance giving my body a chance to recover from the race and keeping miles up & training for the marathon going. I hope I'm finding that balance okay since next week it's right back in to full training. I decided I needed to run Foremaster this morning. I've never found that to be an easy task, but it was better than I expected. Temp's were a little lower, and I made it up without slowing down as much as I usually do. My overall paces were slower than normal, but I still felt strong. I'm enjoying that feeling.

We hit the marathon course, today. I ran 10 with my mother-in-law, then she continued on another six. What a lady! We started running toward the top of Veyo hill and ran the dreaded Dammeron Valley three miles of up. I felt it, but we still did well. I was thrilled to reach the downhill segment. I kind of wish I'd run up the Ledges, but my ten miles were up and I had somewhere I needed to be. That will be a good run for another day.

Speed intervals--loved it! It was so hard, but I went faster than I even thought I could. It was empowering.

Tough run in Salt Lake. I kind of ran with my sis and sis-in-law, but they were only going 10, at a lot slower pace. I started early, then ran back to see them, ran ahead, did a detour to add distance, passed them, added on more distance. I was sure ready to be finished, but I was happy I did it.