Training for a Belt Buckle

puttered around a bit today walking errands.

I did the Crest trail with Leslie and Laurie this morning and did about 17.3 miles there.  It was great running weather - not too hot.  We waited at the top of Puke Hill for the 'men on bikes' that were with us - then didn't see them again after that.  I was enjoying the trails and started feeling pretty good, so took off  on my own after about 3 miles.  The wildflowers were great, butterflies and hawks were gorgeous, even got called an ultramarathoner (yes!).  I think the from about mile 8-11 I had this big grin plastered across my face.  When I made it to Millcreek Canyon, didn't see anyone else from our party, so started running down the canyon until Les and Harold picked me up.

I picked up a knee strap to try today and didn't feel any pain during the entire run.

One of those days that make all the hard days worthwhile.

Tonight I walked 4.7 miles to Bajio and the grocery store.  My knee was a little sore.

No serious training today.  I spent a lot of timing picking up supplies for our office picnic this weekend and going to pharmacies, so parked as far as I could from stores and then walked for a while tonight.

I went to the eye doctor today. My right eye has always been very dry since I had lasik surgery - but lately there have been times (particularly in the night or when I wake up) when I feel like someone is stabbing me in the eye.  It turns out that I have Recurrent Corneal Erosions  and also Blepharitis.  The pain is caused by my eye actually pulling off the top layer of skin on the eye.  I went to 5 pharmarcies before one pharmacist called around to find me the eye ointment that the doctor wants me to use.  I sure hope this helps - because there are days when I want to tear the eye out of its socket.....

Walked to work today and found a bit of a shortcut that gets me off of 9th East and onto less busy roads.

The plan is to run 2 miles at lunch, walk home, run to and from the gym.

Later - walked home from work. Took a detour along the way and stopped by a swimwear shop and bought a water running belt.

I ran for 45 minutes in the pool and was wiped out and then swam for 15 minutes.  I am not sure of how pool running converts to real running - so am assigning myself 3 miles for that portion.
 

Ran the pipeline trail tonight.  My goals were to run all but a few small stretches and do a negative split.  I accomplished both.

Mile 1: 13:05

Mile 2: 13:01

Mile 3: 12:19

Mile 4: 12:56

Mile 5: 12:55

Mile 6: 12:53

Mile 7: 12:08

I was pleased with the last 2 miles because I was really tired and had to jump off the path a lot to avoid bikers - but kept on pushing.  Of the 7+ miles, I only walked 2/10 of a mile total.

Really lousy run tonight.

I woke up around 5 with my stomach feeling like I had an ulcer, so ate some food and went back to bed.  Dragged all day - thinking I overdid the run last night and needed to taper for the Provo Half on Saturday.  

I ran to Wasatch Running tonight and about half way there had to make an emergency pit stop a 7-11 (before things got messy) and from there on it all went downhill. I started walking at 3 miles and thought I would never make it home.

Filled 200 water balloons for my office picnic tomorrow - but I'm ready to go to bed now. I'm hoping it is only a 24 hour flu - but if I feel like this tomorrow night - I won't even bother trying the half because it would probably do me more harm than good.

Taking my pitiful self off to wallow in bed in perfect misery......

PR Time!!!!!

I ran the Provo Half Marathon this morning.  I am very happy to have a new PR.  The previous half marathon PR was 2:41 in 2006 - so I was able to drop 12 minutes.

I have run the Provo Half 3 previous times and I was very disappointed in the organization of the run. I think they were scrambling to change the course because of the fires above Bridal Veil Falls - but after all these years I thought they could have done better.  They suggested you come early on Friday and pick up your number and get a free GU - and I came within an hour of them opening and they had run out of GU.  Not that I cared - its the principle of the thing.

Race started about 15 minutes late.  They decided they had to get the final buses out of the canyon - so tried to find ways to move them through 2500 runners. I finally went back and got in the port a potty line and decided to just run my watch time.

We started at the top of South Canyon and ran 4.5 miles down the hills to Vivian Park.  That was the first aid station.  My knees were a little twingy - but never got worse the entire race, so I was happy with that.  My goal was to run 8 minutes, walk 2 minutes the entire race and see how that felt. After Vivian Park, they put us on the highway for 2.5 miles.  A lot more uphills than the previous course and my knees were not too happy about the concrete.  Finally - another aid station at 7 miles.  From then on we were on paths or parking lot and that was a lot easier on the body.

Overall, I felt good maintaining that rhythm.  I dropped down to 1.5 minutes walking after 10 miles and ran the rest of the way in from 12 miles on.  My legs and body felt really good from 7-11 miles and so I know I am training in the right direction.  I could have pushed harder, but this was more a pace test and a knee test and I am satisfied.  It is really different this last year to finally be in a position where I am passing runners and surrounded by runners the entire race. My first years - I was usually in the back and alone the entire time.  I had a potty stop at mile 7.5 and was able to catch and pass the runners I had been with at about mile 10.5.  The last mile I was passing lots of people.  That sure is a motivator!

Overall - a good run. Average pace 11:14 (my goal was to average under 12:00). 1526  Calories burned.

It was my turn to struggle.  I've been battling depression and stress from work and a battle in my condo association.

While eating my 1/2 pint of Cherry Garcia ice cream tonight, I decided that I needed to force myself to run 3 miles.  So, put on my running clothes and headed out the door to a nearby park. 1/2 mile running warmup, then alternated 50 fast paces with 100 slower paces until the 3 mile mark. .7 mile cooldown.

Average pace 12:11.  Mile 1 11:18; Mile 2 10:27; Mile 3 10:34

I want to start pushing intervals again and get try and get down to below 10 minute miles on the average before the end of 2009.  I am struggling to lose the 'I can't run fast mentality.'  I think I have finally beaten the "I am not a runner" mentality - but need to force myself to not walk at all on runs of less than 4-5 miles. 

Did an ab workout and was stretching when my son called.  He wanted to run/hike Timp the weekend after next, so I told him that I had to run Park City on Saturday, but would miss church on Sunday and do Timp with him (or way behind him).  I leave on a business trip the next day and will be gone all week and then head off to Italy on September 5th, so it will be nice to have a day to spend with him.

Ran to work this morning.  The plan is to run again at lunch and then run home.

Ran home from work this afternoon. Dang, it was hot!  First time in a long time my eyes have burned from so much sweat pouring into them.

My son is up for the night - so I'm enjoying having him around.

I'm giving myself 11.5 miles tonight.  I left at 4:30 and biked 33 minutes to Leslie's house (about 4.3 miles).  I never realized it was almost entirely uphill - boy was that not a lot of fun ?!?!

Les, Harold and I went up Millcreek Canyon and Harold took off biking in one direction while Leslie, Odee (the teeny dog) and I went the other way.  We stopped every 3/4-1 mile to make sure that we gave Odee enough water - so our pace was pretty slow.  We were going to go out for an hour, then decided to go to 4 miles, then decided to see how far the trail went and reached the end at 4.7 miles.  After snapping a couple of pictures we headed back. It was a lot cooler then and I felt really good running. It was actually a pretty leisurely pace because neither of us wanted to carry Odee out if he got too tired. Spoiled dog - he had two women holding up ziploc bags of water for him! (9.4 miles on the trail).

All in all - a great evening (Les even gave me and the bike a ride home since it was dark). I sent Leslie off with my favorite foot massager and she was limping pretty bad - so I hope by now she is icing those heels.

Easy day today.  Walked 3.75 miles at a nice pace.  Stopped at the gym in the middle and did an hour of weights for the lower body.

I was not at all motivated today - but finally loaded up my camelback and headed out around 2:30 p.m.  I ran down to the Dimple Dell Recreation area and hiked/ran to the end of the trail area up in Granger.  Off the trails about 8.3 miles - I stopped to dump all the sand out of my shoes and then tried to figure out where in the heck I was and how to get home.  Took a potty break at a 7-11 around mile 10 and put some ice in my running cap.  Felt a hot spot on my left foot at 12.5, so stopped again and cleaned all the sand off my foot and running socks and that cleared it up.  I was getting pretty tired - so took another potty break at Harmon's with one mile to go and picked up some post race chocolate milk, a steak and a mop.  I'm sure I looked intelligent running home with a mop the last mile.

I just heard Deena Kastor had something pop in her foot and pulled out of marathon. Bummer.

Rest Day Reflections:

- Why is it on Rest Days I want to go running, but on Running Days I sometimes don't?

I'll admit it - I like tight bodies.  I've lost 30 pounds in the last year and I love looking in the mirror at the gym and watching my leg muscles show in definition during a workout.  I also like  as I walk up stairs to put my hands on my upper leg muscles and feel them flex.  I've worked hard to get in shape (and still have a ways to go) and am proud of it.

The night before last I couldn't fall asleep until after 4 in the morning and felt like crap all of yesterday - so decided it would be wise to avoid working out.

Today - my workout was fantabulous!  I walked 1 mile/ran .3 mile to Gold's Gym.  My plan was to start back on intervals.  Last time I did them earlier this year, it kicked my butt to do 6.0 mph on the intervals and I walked in between.  I decided today to do a ladder workout.  Five minute running warmup followed by 2 min at 6.2 mph, slow jog in between for 2 minutes, 4 min at 6.2, slow jog again, 6 min at 6.2.  At that time I decided I have gotten fitter this year than I thought and my heart rate was only in the high 140's during the intervals, so for the top and reverse I kicked it up to 8 min x 6.5, 6 min x 6.5, 4 min x 6.5, 2 min x 6.5 and then an 10 minute cooldown.  I think I can push even harder because my bpm was only in the high 150's - but will adjust to this for 2 weeks before pushing up.  Makes me wonder what I am capable of (in the turtle range).

Then, I did an hour of chest, shoulders, back with weights. I don't know if it was because I was feeling good about the workout - but looking in the mirror I kept thinking, "Wow, girl, you are skinny and fit!".  Most days I feel fit since I lost the 12% body fat, but not often skinny - so it was a great feeling.

Walked the 1.3 miles home and stretched.  Now off for some chow.

Nice easy run today.  13:43, 11:58, 12:01

Park City Marathon today.  The morning started out a little stressful when I got on the freeway and found out I-215 NB was closed near I-80, so they backtrack us and wind us around and finally let us get on I-80 - but westbound.  I finally got off at 1300 S and swung around and floored it up to Park City.

Talked to Ben VanB before the race and wished him well on his attempts to take 3rd place (he eventually did!).  Congratulations Ben!

The start of the race was a little warmer than last year when there was frost on the ground.  I decided to not wear a throwaway shirt or gloves and my hands were the only real cold items until about mile 6 when the sun was fully up.  For those who have not run Park City - it is a loop course, so you start and finish at the same location, there are some trails, and the roads are not closed to vehicles.  The real challenge is running at elevation and the fact that there are a lot of little, steady uphills on the course (more than I remembered).  I talked to a few 50 staters in the starting chute - including one named Marcia from Texas who I passed at about mile 22 and then talked to again after the finish.

The race started on time.  There were plenty of port-a-potties, but it would have been nice if a bunch of them were designated for marathoners only until after our race started because we were fighting for spots in line with half marathoners who started 15 minutes after us.

Again - I love the course, running surrounded by mountains and with lots of trails.  This course is typically run slower than St. George or Ogden because of the trails and elevations.  I found that the course was a little short, but didn't really mind (my garmin listed it as 25.88).

I was predicting an under 6 hour finish (last year was over 6:18). I knew I was not really as well trained as I wanted to be for a marathon, but also knew I needed to get some long training runs in before I head to Italy so I will be ready for St. George and the OV 50 miler. Leslie predicted an under 5:30 finish - which I didn't think was possible. My goal was to attempt to run 8 minutes, walk 2 minutes for as long as I could in the race.

Just so Leslie can say "I told you so"....

PR time....... 5:24:06

Now - back to my regularly scheduled report....

I haven't looked at any of my mile splits until now - that wasn't the point of my run - it was to see how long I could maintain a good running pace.

Mile 1 - 11:59      Mile 2 - 12:28    Mile 3 - 12:29    Mile 4 - 12:48     Mile 5 - 12:01     Mile 6 - 12:32    Mile 7 - 14:37    Mile 8 - 12:42    Mile 9 - 12:40    Mile 10 - 12:44     Mile 11 - 13:25    Mile 12 - 12:53    Mile 13 - 13:48  Half - (2:47:04)   Mile 14 - 13:42      Mile 15 - 13:44    Mile 16 - 12:11    Mile 17 - 11:48     Mile 18 - 12:18     Mile 19 - 11:34     Mile 20 - 13:03    Mile 21 - 11:22     Mile 22 - 13:10     Mile 23 - 11:32     Mile 24 - 11:17   Mile 25 - 11:44    Mile 26 - 10:58

LOL - I can tell the miles when I took portapotty breaks.

Highlights of the race course (too many hills are not highlights):

Watching the sun come up, 5 hot air balloons taking off between miles 5 and 8, a cow blocking the path at mile 9 (a guy wanted me to scare it off and I told him I had faced down buffalo so a cow was nothing and I just started running at it and it moved off), the long uphill slog through downtown Park City up to Deer Valley parking lot.  I had wanted to negative split if I felt good and it looks like I did.  My hip hurt a little around miles 16-18, but quit hurting so was probably just running a lot affecting it.  Two quick knee twinges around 18, but I didn't even tape my knees today and they really never hurt at all.

I started feeling tired around mile 19, but I also started feeling stronger (the same thing happened last year).  From mile 19 on, I passed 1-8 people per mile and was only passed once by an older runner, but I passed him at the next aid station and never saw him again.  My running was feeling really strong, even though I was hot and tired.  About mile 21 I passed a couple of guys and heard them comment that "I bet that lady wins a medal in her age group" (I wish) so I must have been running as good as I felt.  Approaching mile 25, the walking segment was actually more tiring than running, so I ran the last mile without a break.  Two guys tried to pass me, but I held them off and they gave up and walked.

A great race for me.  I can now say I ran more than 80% of a marathon and think if I put in some interval and tempo time while I am in Italy that I might meet my goals of breaking 5:15 at St. George and breaking 5:00 if it is a perfect day.  I was pleased with my legs and think I am finally starting to accomplish the progress I want to do.

My son wanted to hike Mt. Timpanogos today, so we headed out around 8 a.m. and started hiking about 9 a.m.  My legs were feeling pretty good. My head and body were feeling like I was 'out of gas' and a little fuzzy.  My goals were to make the saddle before turning back, stay under 30 minutes per mile, and do a negative split.  It was pretty hot today, so made sure I drank some water every 10 minutes and alternated gu on the hour with gatorade endurance and a beef jerky stick on the half hour.

I made it to the saddle (6.28 miles) and was resting before my son came back from the top.  He was a little ticked that I had made it so far - he though sure he would outdo me by a lot more than he did.  I also called him out because two guys who came down from the top about 10 minutes before he did were so impressed that he had run the Park City Marathon the day before and then also was hiking Timp the next day.  I got a bit ticked and told them that "he stole my marathon!".  They were more impressed that an old lady like me did it than an 18 year old.  Kevin was pretty embarrassed that I called his bluff - he didn't think he would get found out.  (No one takes credit for Tarzan's runs).

Nice blister on my big toe, but I am resting and relaxing and getting ready to head off tomorrow to Michigan.  I think I will take tomorrow as a rest day and try and get one or two runs in while I am away on business.

Rest day today, but lots of walking around airports.

My legs felt surprisingly good today after all the punishment of the last two days.  I don't know if that is because I am on the right track with training or because I need to push myself more.

However, standing up after dinner tonight - I suddenly felt my quad muscles go 'ouch' and remember that they are in recovery mode.

No running again today.  I've had a hard time falling asleep most nights that last month or so and the same thing happened last night.  I had to get up early to eat breakfast with my boss and off for a day of meetings.  By the time we finished eating dinner, I decided to avoid working out and hoping I could fall asleep (not working so far - its 10:30 in Michigan).  I did find a running store near hear and it was 'track night' and they had a 20% discount on everything so I bought a Livestrong Running shirt, 2 pairs of socks and a running poster for my son and a Livestrong running shirt, running sunglasses and the Definitive Guide to Ultrarunning for me.

We are staying right near the freeway and the roads around here are really busy.  The sidewalks start and stop all over the place and there is no shoulder on any of the roads.  Tomorrow morning I will either hit the treadmill in the 'fitness center' or do laps around the hotel parking lot.  I've been breaking my feet in with my new Vibram Five Fingers shoes and want to try those out in a running situation.

I hit the treadmill in the fitness center this morning.  No oomph in my legs (probably because I need to remember I just finished a marathon).  I alternated running and walking. The problem with fitness centers is they are small rooms - so I was dripping with sweat.

Off to breakfast and then to business.  Have a good day all!

Spent most of the day at the hospital playing Guitar Hero on Nintendo DS against my sister and waiting for our dad to have double hernia surgeries.  This afternoon I took a break and mowed his lawn, then walked the 2.5 miles to UV Hospital and visited for a while and then came back.  The legs are still 'heavy' - I can feel the right knee some.  Tomorrow I will try running again.