Running Yoga Mom

Ben's out at Fitness Ridge, from 6 a.m. until 7:30 p.m., so that's really killing my running. It doesn't help that I'm fighting a cold, so my motivation isn't as strong as it should be.

 I'm hoping to get Fri & Sat runs in and be back on it for next week. 

Love running with Ben!

Sinus infection=yucky, tough.

Not enough sleep, but I needed a run. The run was totally worth it. Now, to get to bed earlier... :)

Took it easy, this morning, since I may be running Angel's Landing, tomorrow. Run/Walk is probably more how it will go.

Ben fulfilled his dream of running Angel's Landing, in Zion National Park, for his birthday. And, I was with him. I need to be tougher before I try that, again. We went 2 miles, climbing 2500 feet, in 26 minutes! I did bring us to a quick hiking pace when my heart rate shot through the roof and didn't want to come back down, but that's still an awesome time!

 After running Angel's Landing, we felt like we needed more of a run, so we did a couple of miles on the Pa'rus trail. It was a beautiful, sunny day, but still on the cold side. I was grateful for the sun. And, I was thrilled to enjoy such a gorgeous run with Ben.

We plan on running Angel's, again. Next time, I plan to be better prepared. 

My legs are so sore from Saturday's run, but they felt good, this morning. I took it easy, so I wouldn't pound them too much. Didn't sleep very well, so I'm feeling that. Tonight should be better.

I almost didn't go, this morning. So glad I did. It was a relaxed run, even with a climb up Foremaster. I would have regretted it, had I chosen to go back to bed. 

Nice, easy run.

I donated blood, last night, so I just wanted to take it easy. I did that. :) 

Another easy 3. My breathing was a bit strained. From the low iron, I imagine.

Speed intervals. Not as speedy as I'd like, but it'll get better... I hope.

Must get sleep...

Planned on 4. After some altering of the route and backtracking, it ended up being 5.5. Oh well.

Got up an hour earlier to run with the running club. I'm glad I did! I had a great run, even with the longer-than-planned run from yesterday. I changed my route a bit from the rest of the group so that I could cover one of my Lake-to-Lake legs. Needed to mentally prepare for it. I'll be joining the club again, I hope.

An easy run to make sure I was okay after the stomach flu. Felt okay. Definitely need to get my strength back before next weekend's race.

Speed Intervals

1/2 Mile Warm-up

3 Min @ 8:06

3 Min @9:30

3 x 4 Min @ 8:00, 3 Min rest @ 9:40

4 Min @ 7:30

5 Min @ 9:40 

Need more sleep. Awfully tired, but had a good run.

Lake to Lake Relay! A great and fun race. Our team was almost the same as last year, just one substitution. I ran legs 4 & 7, which felt tougher than last year's legs. I may just not be remembering last year very well, though, and I did run a lot faster.

 Leg 4: 5.2 miles @ 8:00 min/mile average pace. I was stoked about this pace. I've never run that for that far on anything but pretty good downhill. I really pushed myself on that leg.

 Leg 7: 4.4 miles @ 8:45 min/mile average. I wanted to run this a little faster, but I was pretty spent from the first leg. And, my hamstrings were so tight, and my stomach was cramping. I know I didn't drink enough between legs. And, sitting in a car for 1 1/2 hours between legs isn't great for staying loose. In the end, I was still happy with my time, but I just wasn't as thrilled.

 As a side note, at the awards banquet I won an entry to the Redrock Relay Moab! I could hardly believe it. Now, I just have to figure out if my Friday night commitment can be worked around so that I can do it. I would love to run it. Just have to work it out.

Another side note—I'm not even sore! That makes me feel pretty good about my training. 

Felt a bit sluggish, after Saturday's race and fasting, yesterday. But, I managed it okay.

8:55 min/mile

9:31 min/mile

9:20 min/mile

This was supposed to be a half, but most everyone's GPS read closer to 12. It was awesome, though! My first trail run, ever, and I loved it. The first three miles were so tough as we climbed up some pretty serious hills. I wondered what I'd gotten myself into. But, I was able to ease into it a bit, after that. Had a blast! Will do it again!

Salt Lake miles. My breathing felt pretty good. Legs were a bit sore from the trail run, but it felt good to work out a bit of that.

Serious digestive pain, this morning. Almost didn't run. We'll see if I make it, tomorrow.

Up that awful hill in 17 mph winds. Ugh. Not my favorite, but I enjoyed a lovely downhill, after that. But, it was slow. Oh well!

Not enough sleep... So tired. And, my legs aren't recovering well. I think I'm low on iron.

Ran with the St. George Running Club. It's nice to have company on a run. I parted ways about four miles in so I could add some distance, then I crossed paths with three of the ladies a bit down the road. Guess I should have just stuck with them. 

This was a harder 13. My legs were beat and I felt some achiness the rest of the day. Also experienced some chaffing. Ugh. Haven't been able to adjust slowly to the warmer weather. It came on quickly!  

Treadmill Speedwork:

1 mile warm-up, 3x1600 @ 7:30 w/800 jogs, 1/2 mile cool down

 It was HARD, but I managed to do it. Now my legs hurt.  

Ran from just south of Rockville down the twist into LaVerkin. I was glad when the sun came up so I didn't feel so out in the middle of nowhere. The plan was for 13, but 13.5 took me to my destination.

The morning was beautiful! It didn't feel as downhill as I would have liked. :) I guess that's good training—I really earned it. Not sore today. A little tight, but not sore. 

My legs felt pretty good. I was happy to not really feel the 13 miles from Saturday.

Good run with good, but easy pace. I felt strong.

Tempo at the gym.

Mile 1: 9:30

Miles 2-6: 8:05

Mile 7: 9:15

 It felt tough, again, so I'd better be getting stronger. :) 

Tried out the newly fixed trail. It was awesome!

Very hilly course. Didn't quite make my pace goal. 9:30 min/mile

9:21 average

@9:15/mile

Not enough sleep & low iron made for a tougher one. Still trying to balance homework and training. 

average 9:21

9:19 avg. pace

9:25 avg pace, even with headwind and rain (took me back to St. George, 2008), and an almost completely uphill course. Of course, it was only 6. :)

Ran with Ben, so he helped me keep a good pace up the hill. Finished with a 9:13 avg pace.

9:13 avg. pace

Beautiful morning! Love getting into capris. 

Tempo run at the gym. 1 @ 9:30, 5@8:00 (final .25 @ 7:30—because I was ready to be finished), 1 @ 9:30.

I still don't like tempo runs, but this one didn't hurt as much as last time. So I guess it's getting better. 

9:19/mile avg.

Started with Ben and Danny. Ran 5.5 with them before taking a different route. The strange thing is, I felt better on miles 13 & 14 than most of the rest of the run. Was able to pick up the pace, at the end. Averaged 9:18/mile.

The weather was gorgeous!

9:11/mile avg; I maintained 9:30's up the hill! That's good for me!

Skipped yesterday. I'm trying really hard to balance school and running. One more week, and I won't be up late all the time doing homework. Yeah!

 Speed work, today.

1 mile warm-up @ 9:30 

4 x 1600m @ 7:24 w/800m jogs

 Now, I 'm concerned I may have the flu. Ugh. 

9:05 avg.

Beautiful morning, even if a little warm. It was a bit of a tough one. Maintained 9:24 min/mile average.

My mileage this week dropped since I gave my self a bit of a break to finish school. I pulled some awfully late nights and needed to have my wits about me to GRADUATE! Yep, that's right. I'm graduating this week. Yahoo! 

9:14/mile average

Boy, do I need a nap, today. I almost chose sleeping instead of running, but it was a good run. And, I finish my last class, today, so I won't have homework keeping me up, so much!

3 miles up Green Springs: 9:43, 9:58, 9:57 (not my favorite times)

3 miles down Green Springs: 8:02, 8:15, 8, 17 (I like those much better) :) 

Tempo run on the treadmill:

1 mile warm-up @ 9:30

5 miles tempo @ 8:00 (final .25 @ 7:30)

1 mile cool-down—.5 @ 9:30 & .5 @ 9:00 

9:22/mile average

Slower than I wanted, but not by much. 

This run was awesome! I was so grateful to feel so strong, the entire run. The morning was beautiful, which always helps.

I headed out 5-10 minutes before the guys and expected them to pass me between miles 5-7. They didn't make it to me until 9.25. I surprised all of us. :)

9:08/mile average. Almost half of my miles were under 9 minutes, and it didn't even feel hard. Wish I could do that every time.  

9:28 min/mile

9:23 min/mile

9:01 min/mile

Total race distance: 70 miles. I ran legs 6 & 12, and they shortened both of my legs. I was totally bummed about that. Feel a little like I got cheated. :)

 Our team rocked it! We ran through the heat and the high elevations, and came within two minutes of our goal time. That's pretty awesome considering we were going on about four hours of sleep, weren't prepared for the heat and elevation, and we got lost and missed our first runner transition by four minutes.

My pace for my legs were 11:10 for leg six (2.2 miles of straight uphill) and 8:29 for leg twelve (5.6 miles of level-ish).

Great fun! 

9:25 min/mile

9:20 min/mile

9:29 min/mile

9:07 min/mile

It's heating up around here! 

9:19 min/mile

Missed a turn and had to backtrack 1 mile. Fortunately, it brought me right to the 16 miles that I was wanting to run! 

9:30 min/mile

Not the pace I'm supposed to hit, but my running partner was struggling up the hill. I'll have to make up for it, tomorrow. And, I need to fit in a nap, today. 

9:11 min/mile

Speedwork:

1 mile @ 9:31

4x1600 @ 7:18 w/800 jogs @ 9:22 

9:39 min/mile

I was only planning on 16, but I didn't map beforehand, so I ended up over 18. Nice to have an 18-miler under my belt this far before the marathon. 

9:31 min/mile

9:06 min/mile

9:09 min/mile

9:38 min/mile

9:27 min/mile

Was supposed to do speed work, today, but decided to go easy. I have a little runner's knee going on in my left knee—wasn't sure that speed work would be okay for it. 

9:15 min/mile

9:03  min/mile

9:06 min/mile

One week to the half! 

9:03 min/mile

Taper week—Feels weird to run less than 5-6.

9:09 min/mile

Speedwork. Felt very sluggish and struggled with my breathing.

.75 warm-up

2 x 1600 @ 7:35 w/800 jogs (9:30)

.25 cool-down 

This was a rough and frustrating race. All those "easy" downhill miles were made difficult by the horrid headwind blowing up the canyon. It was awful! I did pull off a negative split, so I'm thrilled with that. My garmin has since died, so no play-by-play. But, I ran between 8:15 and 8:30 the first half and between 7:50 and 8:10 the second half. I'm happy with my race, now. Took some time, but I feel good about what I did.

9:03 min/mile

8:55 min/mile

35 min strength-training, upper body

This was supposed to be speedwork, but I gave my legs a break since I raced on Saturday. Threw in some sprints, just for fun. No real plan—just when I felt like it.

Averaged 8:58/mile. 35 min strength-training, lower body.

9:05 min/mile

30 min. strength training, upper body (I am so stinkin' sore!) 

This new strength-training program is great, but kicking my butt! My legs were totally sore, but today was my chance for a long run. I just took it easy and let my legs work out some soreness. It's getting pretty warm, so I'm grateful for water and gatorade! 9:26 min/mile.

Not technically a run, but we had a pretty intense hike! So I'm counting it! :)

9:11 min/mile

35 min strength training 

9:14 min/mile

9:24 min/mile

Salt Lake running, so elevation and smoke. It wasn't my easiest or strongest run. 9:38/mile

Treadmill after traveling home from Salt Lake. Threw in some tempo-interval miles to break up the treadmill monotony. 8:36/mile

Foremaster for the first time in a couple of months. Slow... 9:45/mile

35 min strength training 

Ran the trail—I was ready for something easy. 9:19/mile

35 min strength training. 

9:07/mile

Trail run while camping in Pine Valley. The elevation made it tough, but I loved the cooler weather! Beautiful run!

No real idea what my pace was. My GPS was going beserk—it thinks I climbed over 5000 ft in my eight miles. I mapped out the run and think I'm safe in saying it was 8.5 miles, although it might be slightly more. The run felt pretty good, though.

Back in West Valley & up 6400 West hill (with a killer headwind, this time). 9:30/mile

Ran ten with Jeremy, then two with Stacie. Last six were on my own (except for the handful of blocks where the friendly, somewhat strange bike guy kept catching up to me). Man was it hot by the end! My legs held up really well. 9:24/mile

Another run up 6400 West. I'm getting better at it. Looking forward to running at a lower elevation. 8:49/mile

Ran the first half with my sis, so my pace was a bit slower than usual. Tried to pick up the pace and finish strong. I'm thrilled with passing 50 miles for the week!

9:30/mile

8:45/mile avg

Warm-up; 8:11, 8:12, 8:24, 8:00, cool-down. 

What a beautiful race! I ran without a GPS and just listened to my body. I had no real goal for the race—I just ran to enjoy it.

The first 4–5 miles of the race, I was getting passed by tons of people. I decided I wouldn't let it bother me and I'd just run what felt comfortable to me. After those first miles, I started to pass others. I'm guessing that I had either really consistent times or a negative split on this course.

I PR'd my half time by two minutes, so I was totally stoked. My gel fell out of my pocket (unbeknownst to me) around mile 4, so Gatorade was my only fuel on this one. Still felt great at the end. The extra miles are paying off!

9:24/mile

9:24/mile

This run felt pretty good until mile 14. Then I felt the fatigue in my legs. I went in anticipating some fatigue left over from the race, so it wasn't discouraging. Just a slow run.

Taking it easy this week. I'm feeling some tightness/pain behind my left knee. Not behind the kneecap, behind the knee. I'm hoping it's just from tight muscles and not an injury.

A beautiful run down the marathon course with the running club. I averaged 8:40/mile and felt great.

Didn't sleep well last night. The humidity was noticeable. Finished with 9:39 avg—slow.

Tempo run, kind of. It was hot and 78% humidity which I am not used to. Rough one.

These were actually just speed walking miles, but they were miles. :)

This was a discouragingly slow run. I didn't feel like I was running slowly and I felt like I was working as hard as usual, but I was so much slower than usual and than I want to be. Ugh!

Time for new shoes, too. These just hit 400 miles. Which shoes to get?

I felt a lot of stiffness in my leg yesterday, again, and the corresponding knee pain woke me a couple of times in the night. I decided this morning to skip my planned run to rest my leg and get more sleep. I only went two with my daughter (who's training for her first half). I've got to get this leg figured out...

8.5 running, 2 speed-walking

5 of the running were with Ben, so I enjoyed some good tempo miles. 

More speed-walking with my visiting mom. We still worked up a sweat, which is not incredibly difficult in 80*. :)

Ran 18.6 with the running club on a course that felt half uphill. It was a tough course. 

I then picked up my daughter for another 1.5 miles—she's training for a half marathon in January. I'm seeing some great improvement in her stamina! Even in this heat. 

Cut my run short because I was sick on Sunday. Didn't wear GPS—just ran.

I ran 3.5 with Rachelle, 3.5 by myself, and 3 with my daughter, Brigitta. She's really starting to improve. Almost three miles without walking, and the third of a mile she did walk was up a killer hill. I'm excited for her!

Kind of a tempo run... I wasn't nearly as fast as I ought to be. Not sure what's going on, but I'm keeping the miles up, at least. Just over four week until marathon day!

Another split run: 3.5 with Rachelle, 3.5 on my own, and 2 with my daughter. She ran the full two, so she's doing awesome!

17 on the marathon course; 3 with my daughter afterward

Treadmill miles to avoid heavy rains (seemed dangerous in the dark). 

1 mile warm; 4@8:05; 1@7:30; .3 cool

Cut this run short to get home and run with my daughter, but she wasn't ready to brave the (lighter) rain then go to school all wet. :) 

New shoes! And a new brand. Haven't tried KSwiss before, but they felt great at the running center.

Ran the marathon course, again. The morning was beautiful! Veyo didn't feel too bad, Dammeron Valley felt long, :) but I picked up the pace after that and finished with an average of 9:05. I was pretty happy with that.

Felt really weird to only run 4.5 but it's taper time for Top of Utah. I'm trusting my schedule that this big of a drop is okay. :}

Another short day. Speed intervals tomorrow. Ugh.

Speed intervals on the treadmill. 800 m warm up. 4x1600 @ 7:30 + 1x1600 @ 7:15 with 800 m jogs. Fit in what I could before the treadmill made me stop (since it will only go for 65 minutes). Went home from the gym and ran my final mile "cool down" already pretty cooled down.

Another short one. Still feels pretty weird, but I think my family is enjoying having me around sooner in the morning since I have time for my strength training and making them breakfast after such a short run. :)

This was a TOUGH run. I felt tons better on my 20-miler than this run, but it could be attributed to the fact that we climbed 600 ft (net) in the first six miles before we turned around and ran home. I really felt that climb. Fought a side stitch the whole way home so the downhill wasn't even fun. 

Funny how 7 miles often feels better than 4. I felt great this morning. Kept up a 9:14 pace.

Great run—9:13 pace—but I definitely need a run today.

Tempo run

1600: 9:30, 7:49, 7:46, 7:51, 9:01

I now have a really tight, sore spot in my left calf. Not sure what happened there.  

9:19/mile

9:15/mile; ran with Ben and felt pretty good. My legs were tired at the end.

@ 9:20

@ 9:17

Trying to balance rest with keeping a strong pace. 

Speedwork: 1 mile warm up; 2x1600 @ 7:18 w/800 m @ 9:15; 1x1600 @ 7:13 w/800 m @ 9:15.

@ 9:13. My final run before the marathon!

This was an awesome, painful race! :)

I headed into it with realistic expectations of breaking 4 hours. I really wanted to hit 3:55 or lower. It would have been a dream to finish in 3:50, but I knew that was probably unlikely. I started out wanting to keep my miles between 8:45 and 9:00 and did pretty well at that. I definitely spent too much time in the first three aid stations—I need to work on my techniques there. It didn't help that their cups were huge, so the water/gatorade just wanted to slosh all over me.

By the halfway point, I was at 1:57:30, exactly what I'd need (if I could maintain my pace) to finish in 3:50. I accepted that an equal or even negative split was unlikely on this course, though.

When I hit mile 18, my legs started to cramp significantly. I'd been keeping a cramp in my hamstring at bay since mile 6, but it started to kick in at mile 18. My legs kept getting progressively worse as the miles wore on. By mile 24, I knew I had slowed considerably an my legs HURT! I have never felt so much pain in my legs. Everything felt cramped, but I wanted to get under that 3:55 so badly that I pushed with everything I had. I was close to breaking down into tears a couple of times (one being when I saw my parents and kids cheering for me—sweet, but not helpful in the tears department).

The finish line was such a welcome sight (even though it seemed much further away then it ought to have been at that point)! I tried to pick up the pace but didn't much succeed until I saw a blue shirt come up on my right. I dug deep and found enough to stay ahead for that last 20 yards.

It was so exhilarating/painful/exhausting/joyful that I broke down in the runners' corral and cried. By the time my husband and family found me, I think I'd pulled myself together, although my legs still were killing me until I got a massage. 

The course was harder than I expected, so I'm especially grateful for that time. I do wish, at this point, that I'd registered for St. George. I wonder what I could do with that much downhill. Good news? By Monday, my legs were feeling pretty good. Those 60 mpw paid off big time in the recovery department. 

Another note: my previous marathon times are 4:18 for 2008 St. George and 4:33 for 2010 St. George. So, I PR'd by 25 minutes and beat my most recent marathon time by 40 minutes! I'm happy. :)

I ran 3.5 with my running partner then 3 with my daughter. Nice, easy miles. My legs felt great.

I seriously considered running 13 with the running group, but after staying up late rock climbing, I decided to take a break and just run 5 with my daughter. It was an easy morning.

I'm working to keep my miles up. I may have to drop them soon due to medical treatment, but I'd like to keep it up while I can. Averaged 9:00/mile today.

Ran with Ben, so I pushed to keep a pace that would be beneficial for him, too. I felt pretty strong until the last mile when I slowed somewhat. Averaged 8:54 over the run.

Followed up with an intense leg workout. Now I have sore, achey legs. :) 

Ouch! Legs hurt! Fortunately, it didn't affect my ability to run (although I might give them a break tomorrow). Beautiful, cool morning! Had a great run with Rachelle and a nice run with my daughter. She's up to 4-5 miles with no walking.