Training for a Belt Buckle

I took most of the afternoon off and ran some errands up to Layton and bought some garden plants. I was able to get most of them in before it rained.

Last long run before Ogden Marathon. My goal was to get Marion through her first 18 miler. 13:20 ave. 11:43, 11:31, 11:19, 11:25, 11:33, 12:24, 12:10, 12:35, 12:50, 11:31, 12:37, 13:15, 12:03, 13:36, 13:33, 17:44, 14:11, 15:18, 17:45

Luz's hubby dropped us at Vivian Park and Luz ran the first 13 miles with us - which kept our pace up a little more.  After that  Marion and I cheered in runner's on one of Mary Anne's races and we also gathered up markers and cones for her and left them in 3 different road accesses (hopefully she finds them).

Great job, Marion!  Thanks for running with us Luz!

I was soaked and freezing, so dropped by my Dad's for a minute and stole some pajamas to change into so that I wouldn't shake the whole way home.

A wet, but pretty day!

RHR - 47

Nice day of rest. Walked the puppy for 2 miles this morning.

Just got back from a dinner in SLC with my dad (right at the start of the steep downhill we ran by on Thursday, Marion).  It was a combination 70th birthday party for one of my old Stake Presidents and a reunion of a lot of the former stake members from the 60s and 70s in Chicago.

Didn't feel like running this morning, so read my scriptures and went in to work early. I was glad later that I ate a bigger than normal breakfast.  I had a contractor in to work on one of my big projects today and he is soooo good at his job.  However, we ended up working from about 8:15 until 2:45 without any real breaks or lunch.

Came home and ate a huge lupper, then cleaned my house while it digested.

Went to Gold's Gym and did some speed work on the treadmills - 5 miles total.

Walked the puppy 1.5 miles - my feet are hurting from my FiveFingers. Twilight was hilarious chasing all the fuzzy dandelions.

Walked the dog this morning for about 20 minutes.  

After work - walked her for another mile or more.

Tonight I ran 6.1 miles.  My Garmin needed charging - so actually had to use mapmyrun.com.  Slightly under a 11 minute mile average (67 minutes).

Ran 5.35 miles this morning down to the Trax and along that trail and back.

11:34/11:45/11:51/11:34/12:04

Walked the dog.

PM - Ran 1.4 miles up to the gym in 20:32

1 hour leg & core workout

Ran 1.4 miles home down from the gym in 18:30

Walked the dog for another mile

Felt like a superhero at work solving crimes and issues all day.  

PM - walked the dog

Ran down to the Trax Trail and along it for 3 miles. Then I headed off on the Dimple Dell Parkway (this is the start of it) and ran it up to 7th East.  Did some bushwacking to get up the hillside, then ran 7th East to the gym (4.7 miles total).

Did an chest and back workout.

Ran 1.3 miles home for a total of 6 miles in 1:12:00.

After I eat my bizarre dinner of tuna fish on cinnamon burst bread - I will let it digest, then do some yoga and pilates and stretching.

I'm definitely going to have to run at lunch time today.

My right eye healed a lot during the winter so that I was not getting the tearing of the cornea when I woke up - however last night I got a stabbing pain when I woke up - so had to get some lubrication in there and need to start doing that religiously each night at bedtime.

My legs are aching a lot today - but I think that is from a combination of the strength training on Wednesday and yoga last night (lot of leg stretching).

Walked the puppy before work.

 I took off work before noon today and rested in bed for a while.  Then I got ambitious around 3:00 and headed off to the mountains. Picked up Odee from Leslie's house and ran the pipeline trail with him to the end and back.  He was really struggling and needs to get back in shape - so I got in some pretty slow miles at the end trying to keep him motivated.  I took some cool pictures and will do a write-up tomorrow on my other blog - so check it out.

On the way back, just at the far edge of a rocky section, I caught a toe and did a lovely face plant.  Luckily I was through the rocks and fell on dirt - or it would have been a lot worse.  I will probably be stiff and bruised tomorrow - but my left elbow is the only area that really broke the skin.

Leslie told me to be at her house at 7 this morning.  Guess who was sound asleep when I showed up at 7?  Slacker!

We ran the pipeline trail again this morning.  I was about 5 minutes faster than last night with Odee (not counting stopping times) because he was struggling so much.

I ran down the road and was about 3/4 of a mile down the road when Leslie passed me.

Then I came home to a boring Homeowner's Association Meeting.  They raised our monthly fees again. Grrrr.

My son says he is showing up at 2 a.m. to spend Mother's Day with me. 

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.  I hope you have a good one.

I was able to talk to my daughter in Italy for a few minutes this morning.  It will be so nice when they are back in the United States so we won't have the time difference between us.

My son arrived at 3 this morning and was awake when I got home from church. We had fun visiting this afternoon - playing games and talking.

My right leg started hurting last night while I was in the store and it is still bothering me tonight when walking.  I am going to try some rest/massage/alternate workouts and see if it gets better - if not I have to consider if it is worth trying Ogden.

I'm considering having to DNS for the Ogden Marathon on Saturday.  A pain in my right leg while walking on Saturday was still there on a short walk on Sunday.  However, as time goes on - I think I have isolated it as not belonging to the hamstring but up in the old Gluteus Maximum area.

I have scheduled a deep tissue massage with my favorite massage therapist for tonight (thanks, Leslie!).  I am also resting for a day or two. 

After talking with my sister, I am also trying to find a chiropractor here in Sandy and get in to one in the next day or two.   I have a feeling this injury might be a result of my faceplant on Friday evening.  It was pretty jarring to my entire body and I got up and ran an additional 3.5 miles after the fall.  Then, 13 hours later I ran the same trail (and then some again) and wrenched my right ankle after a mile and might have been favoring that side of my body.

I'd curl up in a fetal position and suck my thumb - but that would probably put more stress on the injured area.

/**********************/

I did not get drawn in the St. George Lottery.  That puts pressure on me to run the Grand Slam if I want to do St. George this fall.  Waaaaaaah!

I took the puppy for a short walk this morning and did not feel the pull in my leg. I think that means it is healing.  I do feel my piriformis today and a pain I have had in front of the right hip - but I am hoping that is also a sign that they are healing.

Just received an email that the 'Across the Years' race over New Year's in Phoenix is not going to be held this year.  I was actually considering it - so can now take that potential race off my calendar.

Chiropractor again after work.

Biggest Loser finale tonight!

I received this in an email and think it is fantastic!

A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience,
Raised a glass of water and asked 'How heavy is this glass of water?'

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, 'The absolute weight doesn't matter.
It depends on how long you try to hold it.

If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.

If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.

In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.'

He continued,

'And that's the way it is with stress management.

If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later,

As the burden becomes increasingly heavy,

We won't be able to carry on. '

'As with the glass of water,

You have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again.

When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.'

'So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down.

Don't carry it home.

You can pick it up tomorrow.

Whatever burdens you're carrying now,

Let them down for a moment if you can.'

So, my friend, Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now.

Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.

Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

* Accept that some days you're the pigeon,
And some days you're the statue.

* Always keep your words soft and sweet,
Just in case you have to eat them.

** Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be
"Recalled" by their maker.

* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again,
It was probably worth it.

* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.

* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time,
Because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

* Nobody cares if you can't dance well.
Just get up and dance.

* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

* The second mouse gets the cheese.

* When everything's coming your way,
You're in the wrong lane.

* Birthdays are good for you.
The more you have, the longer you live.

* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Ok - here is the update.  I have thought and stressed and prayed and depressed about it and I am not going to run the Ogden Marathon on Saturday.  My chiropractors says he thinks I could run it without serious injury - my gut says it would be a mistake.

Smooth - I know you want to run - but one thing that no one has mentioned in all the discussions with you (at least that I can remember) is age.  I hate to point it out - but we are not spring chickens and recovery can be even harder as you get older.  The body is just not as elastic.  Look at what Teena and Michelle are dealing with and they are just babies in comparison.  Take the day off - join me at the Women of Steel Triathlon in American Fork and help me cheer my sister in on her very first triathlon.  

My plans are to take it easy recovering and still do the Grand Slam - with Utah Valley being a very long training run and lots of recovery time before Park City and maybe not even racing (just running) Top of Utah and St. George so that I can do my 50 miler.

That being said - I am also not going to use the blog as much.  I will still get on to visit, but I am going to work on creating my own PHP/MySQL tracker as a learning tool and just put mileage on the blog - maybe once every week or two.  I really think that while my running has improved since I joined the blog - my quality of life has gone downhill. I no longer feel like I can walk and count miles.  I feel pressured to improve.  That is  not me.  My entire goal is to be better each year than the year before, be happy and be fit all around - not just running.  I want to get back to that.  I had several great years of marathoning with no injuries until I started getting pressure (and giving in to pressure) to focus almost entirely on running.  I am hoping to post two or three interesting training runs/walks/workouts on my Adventures in Running blog and would love to have anyone check that out at any time.

So - how am I doing.  Depressed.  Physically, the pain is very low today, so tonight I took the puppy to Wheeler Farm and we did two easy miles walking 200 steps, running 100 steps, stopping to smell pee markers (not me :-) ).  I will be stretching and icing later tonight and am looking to get some resistance bands to start some specific exercises I have found that I can do at home when I don't feel like hitting the gym.

I spent 4 hours at the temple and came home feeling much more peaceful.  This weekend is going to be hard - but I will survive and I will be back and I will have a much better summer than if I push myself and find myself injured.

Now - off to watch the season finale of CSI!

for Marion

Various miles running around the Women of Steel Triathlon course taking pictures of my sister the triathlete and cheering on participants.

3.1 miles walking/running with my sister during the run portion of the triathlon.

68 minutes riding my bike to Draper and back (14.5 miles).  Going to try and ride this same route 2-3 times a week for cross training and see how much faster I can get it over time.

Note to self:  reattach brakes after changing a flat tire. It makes stopping easier.

5.5 mile loop ending at my office - includes Wheeler Farm. Stretching. Piriformis still tight - but not painful.

PM - walked home from work.  Took puppy on a long walk and bought dog food and carried the 20 pounds for a half mile (saw Steve Ashbaker running by).  Did arms and shoulders and core weights for 1 hour. Stretched - finally had the back relax doing my lower back/IT band stretches.

Ran to work again this morning after avoiding getting out of bed for a long time.  It is hot out already and that was at 5:30 a.m.

PM 1 - 2 miles at lunch

PM2 - 2.3 miles home from work, then .75 miles running da dog.

A stupid neighbor's clock radio has been going off every morning from 4-5 and waking me up.  I went over and rang their doorbell this morning at 4:15 with no response. Spoke to the condo president this morning and said if they can't get it stopped - I will call the cops tomorrow.

Since I couldn't sleep - went to the gym and did an hour of legs and core strengthening, then 6 miles on the treadmill alternating .5 at 5.2mph, then .5 at 6.2 mph,

Puppy gets spayed today.

It is 7:15 and I need a nap!

I went up tonight and ran the Little Cottonwood Trail, then down the road and ran the trail up to and around Bell Canyon Reservoir. Had to turn around and go back when I was almost done because a stream crossing was too deep. I think I bonked a bit. I only had 12 ounces of calorie free electrolyte drink the 3 hours I was trail running.

I think I created my own sadistic triathlon this morning.

I rode my bike a little over 10K to Draper and parked by the Porter Rockwell Trail. Then I ran 7.1 miles on the equestrian trail part of Draper Canal Trail/Porter Rockwell Loop. When I got on my bike for the 10K home and hit the first hill, the left quad cried 'Oh, mama!' and the right quad whined a little bit.  I gave them a stern talking to and they settled down.  Rode home, but stopped at Gold's Gym and did 45 minutes of chest, back and biceps (I found an awesome bicep workout in Oxygen magazine). Quads whined when I got back on the bike, but they quit whining pretty quickly.

Later I will do some yoga and my core and abs work - for now - uh uh - no way.

Taking splits from Marion - I'm too lazy to look them up: 4:05:21/12:00.59 Splits-12:32,12:12, 12:09, 13:04, 12:23, 16:19 (potty), 11:49, 12:22, 11:28, 11:29, 11:19, 12:24, 11:31, 12:14, 11:11, 12:21, 12:59 (lights), 12:16, 13:53 (vpb), 10:26

I went along as Marion's pacer and to help her get through her first 20 miler.  The weather was beautiful and the companionship was great.  Big thanks to Luz and her hubby, Jorge for dropping us off part way up the canyon and then feeding us fruit afterwards.

I'll get a run in tonight - but just wanted to let Marion and Luz know I blogged in my Adventures in Running blog with pictures from yesterday's run.

PM - legs are pretty tired today.  I did a 5 mile loop that included the gym. One hour of weights for arms, shoulders, core and abs.  I was struggling through 21's on my biceps and a cute guy named Justin jumped in and started spotting for me.  We then alternated spotting each other for a while and he says he will show me some other exercises other days. He is training for his first competition in October. (sigh) ....If only he was 20 years older or I was 20 years younger.

Ran 5 miles to the gym.  Did leg workout for 1 hour. Ran 1 mile home.

The plan for tonight involvescleaning, stretching and rolling.  My knees both started hurting tonight and (even though I am majorly stressed from work) I decided it will be best if I just take the day off from cardio work.  

New heater being put in the pool today. Hopefully by the weekend it will be warm enough to swim in.

Drove to work and then walked around Wheeler Farm before heading in to my cubicle.  I fell for a stupid Trojan email from UPS and now get to battle a computer all day.

Went over to Wheeler Farm again at lunch time and did another 2 miles. I'm not too motivated to work extra hard today since I will be working most of the weekend.

Lots of trail miles today.  I enjoyed part of the time with Leslie.  Unfortunately, heat and hydration issues started bothering me around 8 miles.  I did my best to cool off in the streams, but was bonking bad.  Lots of uphills - I am tired.  Time to clean up and then head to work.

I'm trying to plan my plan so that I will finish one long race healthy this year and be able to get over the DNF/DNS hurdle.

My goal is to run 5 miles on Monday thru Thursday, 3 miles on Friday, then 7 miles on Saturday for a total of 30 miles this week.  Lots of stretching and rolling.  Think I will try and get to the chiropractor once this week and next to make sure my body is where I want it to be.

Somebody smack me around if I do too much cardio this week, please!?!