Training for a Belt Buckle

I went over to Leslie's tonight and had an absolutely awesome massage.  She really worked my legs (and everything else) over good. It was pretty obvious when she hit the IT band on the left leg. She also did some great flexibilty and movement exercises.  Thank you so much, Les!  I feel like a new woman and am so relaxed.  Human touch is such a wonderful thing.

Walked the dog for 1/4 mile and then walked 2.25 to work.  Not speed walking - but probably 15 minute miles.  The leg is healing well.

Finished Twilight in Italian last night - finally!

Leslie picked me up this morning and we met Marion, Smooth, Luz, and Rachel at the Jordan River Parkway Trail in Lehi.  Snow was coming down pretty hard.

I ran 7 slow miles with Marion and Leslie until the first sign of pain in the knee. At that point I stopped and walked the remaining 2 miles back to the car.  Did some backwards running, scissors steps, skipping, etc. as cross training.

We had a party in Les' car afterwards getting warm and eating.  Thanks to everyone for bringing treats and cheerful moods.

PM - after Leslie dropped me off I went to the gym and did 1 3/4 hours weight lifting - getting in the entire body.  Now I'm ready for some good protein and listening to conference in Italian.

Here are the plans for next Saturday morning:

Group run on the Porter Rockwell and Draper Canal Trails.  Starting at 7 a.m.  

Directions: Exit I-15 at 12300 South in Draper and head East. At 13th East, turn right.  You will go down a hill, around one of those traffic circle thingies, then a short block.  You will see the train tracks that cross the road.  Just to the RIGHT of the train tracks is a little park. Park there.

We will cross the road and head down the Porter Rockwell Trail. About .8 miles up the road you turn right on the Draper Canal Trail. The signs for both are very well marked. In fact, the first 3 miles of the Porter Rockwell Trail are acutally marked every .25 miles. We will run about 3 miles to the end of the Draper Canal Trail and then you head up a sidewalk less than a block to the Porter Rockwell Trail (they both used to end at Bangeter Highway). If you want to do a short run, just loop back to the left on the Porter Rockwell Trail. If you want a longer run, head across Bangeter and get back on the Porter Rockwell Trail (new section). This continues on another 2 miles to Point of the Mountain (warning - it gets very cold and windy on this section). Turn around where the trail ends and come back, this time on the Porter Rockwell Trail.

The canal trail is a very gentle uphill the way we are running it. Porter Rockwell trail has more ascents and descents.  For those who like to run trails - I tend to stick to the Equestrian portion of the trail on the side of the other trail.

The total trail this way is about 11 miles.  You can turn around and run more, or there are three small loops around the park where we start at.  Anyone getting there early can do some warmup miles, or you can continue running there afterwards.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

I really like these trails. Pretty views of the temple and not a lot of road crossings.

.5 miles this morning with Twilight before work

The plan was to run at lunchtime, but I was told I had to be available for a meeting and never got called in.

.6 warmup jogging with Twilight.

5.7 miles - ran the first 5, then walked .7 when the knee started twinging. I did 7 sets of intervals, running fast for 1 minute, then recovery run for 4 minutes.  The last interval I pooped out at 45 seconds, so decided that was enough for the day.

Mile 1: 10:12 (best 6:51)/Mile 2: 10:14 (best 7:28)/Mile 3: 10:27 (best 7:08)/Mile 4 11:43 (slowed down to keep my knee from hurting)/Mile 5: 12:03

1.0 miles cooldown with the puppy - she wanted to run the entire last half mile.  While I was on this portion, another runner stopped and asked me if I was on the blog (I was wearing my FRB shirt). It was Darkhorse/Steve.  Nice to meet you Steve!  Thanks for introducing yourself.

My 'plan' for this week is to run 3 days, cross train 3 days. 

2 miles pool running followed by 15 minutes swimming.  I took my lunch at 10 a.m. to make sure I would be back in time for my meetings.

PM - walked the dog, then pumped up the tires on my bike and rode to Point of the Mountain and back (22 miles).  Does that count for 7 running miles?  My butt hurts.

2 miles walking and running (more running than walking) with the puppy this morning.

Weight is starting to go down again as I focus on eating healthier.  I am really frustrated though because I feel so out of shape.  Things that were so easy two weeks ago are so much harder now.

On the positive side, while watching Biggest Loser last night I was doing some ab exercises and did not feel my hernia at all (but I was being more careful).  Maybe it is just a tear after all (the doctor said that it might possibly be).

AM 2 - Les called right after I got out of staff meeting and was taking Odee over to Wheeler Farm. I took an early lunch and ran over there to meet her. We ran around the farm together for about half an hour and then Paul and Julie came, so Odee and I ran some more while Leslie walked with them. I was gone 52 minutes, so am giving it 4.5 miles.  Really glad I had a long sleeved shirt in my running bag - because the temperature is starting to drop.

PM - just finished 45 minutes of upper body workout.  That really takes some focusing when you have a puppy jumping up halfway through to lay on your stomach and/or back as you balance on a Swiss Ball.  After eating and relaxing for a little while - plan to do about 30 minutes of Yoga and stretching.

What a beautiful day outside.  I walked the dog for a while and then ran 6.35 miles.  I still feel like I lost a lot of conditioning in just 1 week - but it is slowly coming back.  And I am still very happy that there was no pain in the IT band today.  I will do 30 minutes of yoga and ice and massage the band next.

Kept a nice easy pace.  I'd rather be slow and let my leg continue to heal.

11:21/11:31/11:28/11:42/11:17/11:35

.75 with the puppy - but she wasn't feeling good and I was headed on a downward slide - so quit after that. We walked to the vet and bought her a new bag of puppy food.

I am really battling depression every since I left work last night.  (I really hate holiday weekends when everyone has such great family plans and I am all alone).  I read scriptures and prayed a lot and found one in the Doctrine & Covenants which kept me going last night and this morning, "Be of good cheer, Maurine, for I am in your midst and I have not forsaken you."

I considered cancelling out of the run today, but talked with my sister about training last night (you have no idea how exciting and fun that is for me after years of watching her struggling with obesity and inactivity) for an hour - I decided to go ahead.  Didn't sleep much because I kept the puppy in bed with me - I was concerned because she threw up all her food on Thursday and wouldn't eat at all yesterday (and didn't shred a piece of newspaper I left out for her to play with) - but she started perking up in the middle of the night so I knew she was going to be okay and was happy to see her wolf down food this morning.

Marion texted me a little before 6 to say she was sick and not coming.  That almost made me not show up for the run because I knew I would be alone all morning - but pushed myself out of bed knowing that I had arranged this run.

When I got to the park I was joined by Smooth, Kelli, Becca, Metcalf Running (Laurie), Rachel and Heidi. They took off and I was left in the dust.  I stayed on the trails on the side except for maybe 1 mile of my run. Beautiful day - no rain yet. My plan was to walk 1 minute/run 9 minutes and see how long I could go without knee pain in the IT band.  I saw the rest of the runners about a half mile from the turnaround.

No pain - leg held up good. That means my training and recovery are going well.

Avg: 12:06

11:38/11:47/11:55/12:54/12:12/12:37/11:45/11:32/12:53/12:30/11:28

Stopped at the gym on the way home and did a leg and core workout.

My son just came in to do laundry. I haven't seen him in 3 weeks so this is a nice treat.

Twilight and I have never explored the subdivision across 7th East - so we headed out this morning.  There are going to be lots of neat streets for us to explore and we got a good 2.25 miles in together.

It sure is a pretty day outside.

Finally dragged myself out of bed. Forgot my IT Band brace, but only started feeling any twinges about mile 5.5.

Nothing to write home about.

13:08/12:14/12:00/11:48/11:51/11:41

.3 cooldown walking with the pups.

RHR - 48

.75 miles with the puppies this morning. Arm workout included at no extra charge trying to keep them each on their side of the sidewalk and moving.

Marion and Luz - I'm going to back out on running with you on Saturday.  There is a nutrition seminar I want to attend in Layton at 12:30 and I think I will go run up North so that I can attend it.  Anyone want to go to a free Nutrition Seminar with me?

Since everyone wussed out on the run this afternoon and I was stressed from work - I went to the gym. 

1 hour on the arc trainer on a cardio setting.  I was pouring sweat the entire time and had a high rate - but the machine says I only did 3 miles, so that is what I am putting down.

1 hour on the stationary bike - higher settings the first half hour, then dropped it slightly the last half hour when the knee started hurting. 15 miles on the odometer.

Watching Biggest Loser.  The makeover section made me cry.  Now Laura's stress fracture of her hip (3 months of no pain activity - Teena - are you listening) is making me cry.  Maybe I am a crybaby.

Walked  the Porter puppy 1 mile.   Walked Twilight another 2 miles.

I am ready to give up and quit on almost everything.  My joints are killing me, I feel like I have pulled muscles in my legs, I am severely depressed, I can barely walk up the stairs after a lousy  3 miles of slow  walking.

I took yesterday off from working out and relaxed all evening and my resting heart rate was 6  bpm faster upon waking up.  I spend my days in or near tears, I'm dizzy and I want to throw two little puppies out the window for being normal puppies.

I think I'll go eat some dinner and try and  crawl in bed with my computer and work the rest of the evening.  At least then I will feel like I am doing something worth while.

OK -  done ranting and  raving. Back to my normal crazy life.

Laid in bed all morning relaxing and recovering.  Started to go stir crazy around noon, so hobbled into work and put in 5 hours trying to catch up.  As the day progressed, I started to feel better, but still moved like an elderly person when getting up and starting to walk around and on the stairs.

Walked the dogs for half a mile then spent the evening in bed getting ready for a full weekend of work.

I'm starting to see daylight at the end of the tunnel and think I must have been hit by some kind of virus.

I was able to walk the dogs for about 20 minutes this morning and threw in a couple blocks of running and didn't feel too bad.  I'm hoping to take a couple of hours off from work this afternoon and get some running/walking in at Wheeler Farm and then do the same thing tomorrow.

I think next week I might try to run 4 miles easy each day.  My body needs physical activity and it is going to be a very stressful week at work.  I had gotten approval to sign up for 3 days of a 'virtual conference' Wednesday through Friday on SQL Server and was going to be working nights on top of that to stay caught up on work. Then my boss realized that the Project Manager for our current product development will be in the office from Michigan on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and I need to be in those meetings all day long - particularly because their is a high chance she won't be available since she is on long term bed rest for her pregnancy. So - should be totally nuts. Good thing I only live 2 miles from work or I would have to sleep here.

5 miles around Wheeler Farm at lunch time.  It was sure pretty outside.

PM - Took my brother-in-law out to dinner as a thank you for some projects he did for me. Ran home from the restaurant.

Ran 2.3 miles to work - which means I run 2.3 miles home from work.  I was hoping to be able to listen to scriptures and sunday music on my speakers, but the President and Exec VP are in the office today - so I am back on headphones.

Took a break while some database processes were running (and to avoid the President giving me more work) and ran around Wheeler Farm for an hour.

Kara Goucher took 3rd in Boston! Ryan Hall also placed 3rd.

Smooth is running well.

Sasha requested that I focus on running miles below 11 mm pace. 

Did what should have been and out and back 6 miler.

Mile 1 (including warmup and downhill) 9:32/9:53/9:38

At my turnaround I was hoping I would break 1 hour for 6 miles for the first time, but the heat, lack of training, and eating improperly this afternoon started the bonk around 3.5 miles

Mile 4 - 10:00

Mile 5 - 10:21

At this point I had 3/4 of a mile of uphill to get back to 7th East and was not enjoying the run at all and was more stressed than when I started, so walked the remaining 1.25 miles home. Hydrated, then ran/walked the puppy for a mile to try and clear out the lactic acid in my legs.

I should have not pushed as much on the downhill, since I knew the entire route back was a net uphill, but it felt good (for a while) to move fast and the knee was feeling well. I need to go back to early morning runs - the heat of the day is taking a lot out of me until I get used to it.

Stretched, then 30 minutes yoga.

Now - back to work

4.6 miles running  in the afternoon heat. I forgot to set my alarm this morning and really regretted it. My body is not adapting to the heat rising this quickly at all.  I have to stop more often and was glad to carry water because I was seriously having dehydration issues.

10:31/10:06/10:11/10:49

Stopped at Wasatch Running and bought some new running socks and some gel/shot block combinations.  They let me fill up on water  and I think I drank about 6 cups of water while I was there.

Walkd 2.5 miles home - going the long way.

Couldn't fall asleep last night, so slept in again this morning. I hate those hours when you are trying to fall asleep and just lay there.

Went to the gym this afternoon to avoid the heat because it has killed me so much running the past two days.  

Three miles on the treadmill at 11:00 mm. Heart rate averaged between 158-162.  Still felt like the running dead.

My ex showed up then to drop off something and we visited for a while about our kids.

Two more miles on the tread mill - this time keeping my heart rate at about 140.

Eating dinner - then going to put in a 2-3 more hours work.

3.4 miles on 7th East this morning at 75% effort. Slept a little better than the previous night.  RHR 56 - up almost 8 points from my average.   I'm looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.

Rest day. Easy walk in the park with Leslie and the mutts.  One mutt needed a taser - but we didn't have one handy.

18 miles on the Jordan River Parkway with Leslie and her friend Gary (we are hoping he will join the blog).  2 more miles on my own.  Last 2 miles the quads started getting tired.

RHR - 48

Avg HR during run - 128

RHR - 52

Rest Day - not even walking the puppy

Took an ice bath this morning - felt pretty good since I was drinking peppermint hot chocolate to keep warm :-)

Not too stiff. I felt it most when I would get up off the floor after playing with my nursery kiddies.

Working from home this afternoon so it doesn't feel as bad as working in my cubicle.

3.5 miles this morning followed by 20 minutes of 'Yoga for Posture'.

Oh yeah - called Italy at 5:00 a.m. to check up on my daughter. She had her wisdom teeth removed this morning and I was concerned.  She is home and in pain and has chipmunk cheeks - but all went well.

It looks like Jenn and Jeremy will be moving from Italy to Ft. Stewart, Georgia in the middle of August. They won't be able to come visit like I had hoped and planned on in October because my son-in-law will be at school/training for several months when they move. Good he is in training. Sad they won't be coming to visit.  Good that I can see them at least once a year (if I save up $$$) for a few years until they get stationed in Europe again.

PM - worked my way through several Pilates exercises (PilatesOnFifth podcast).  After dinner I will do an arm workout.

Working on steady state running is a pain with headwinds.  It was a lot warmer this morning but the wind chill cooled things down a little bit.  Why is it headwinds seem to make you notice the uphills more?

3.5 miles.

PM - Did an upper body workout tonight while watching Biggest Loser.  (grrrr - I can't believe Ron the master manipulator made it to the final four).

Woke up nice and refreshed this morning.  Took the puppy for a two mile walk.

Took a break at lunch and ran the trails at Wheeler Farm.  It is so beautiful over there and the baby animals are so cute to watch.

13:14/12:17/11:56/12:05

I think I am going to run the Little Cottonwood Trail after work - up to where the snow is.

For Biggest Loser fans - they will be doing a marathon on the show next week.  Should be emotional to watch (I'm not planning on Ron being a competitor).

I drove downtown early this morning and met Marion at the Armstrong Mansion.  We did five easy miles in the Avenues and up City Creek Canyon.  Didn't wear my IT compression strap and not a twinge from my IT band.  I think "I'm Back". :) (happy dance).

Marion - did we decide a time on Saturday for the 18 miles?  6 a.m.?

PM - Ran 2.5 miles uphill to Gold's Gym.  One hour leg workout. Ran 2.5 miles downhill home.