Training for a Belt Buckle

Leslie and I were discussing diet and fitness this afternoon.  I went and took the pre-tests in Jillian Michaels' book, Making the Cut.

Les - here are my initial results:

Pulse - 3 minute step test = 84 (excellent)

Pushups = 19 (above average)

Situps = 38 (excellent)

Wall Sit = 94 seconds (excellent)

Yesterday I did a lot of icing of both my knees since they have been aching a lot to be ready to do a treadmill endurance test for Sasha.

I got up about 4:45 to head off to the gym.  Weight pre-run 148.4. Drank about 10 oz water before heading to the gym. Ran 1 mile warmup at 4:30 mph pace. Potty stop and another 8 oz of water.

Set the treadmill for 6.6 mph and settled in. My heart rate the first two miles was about 159-161 most of the time. At the start of the third mile my heart rate started going up and I was feeling the pace. Heart rate averaged 161-163 during this mile. In the fourth mile I mentally wanted to stop the entire time.  I was tired and hot and thirsty.  Heart rate went between 163-165 and occasionally 166.

I stopped at the 4 mile mark. I was starting to feel faint, but did not yet have the roaring in my ears and black spots that usually precede this yet.  I am not sure if I was at the end of my endurance or if I mentally gave up.

I mile cooldown at 4:30 mph pace.

Weight post-run 145.6. Lost nearly 3 pounds of fluid during the run - plus the 18 oz I drank pre run.

Drank my protein shake, played with the puppy and am about to pack up my food for the day.

Tonight I will try to get in some upper body weight lifting and some time on the ellipticals or arc trainer.

PM: Met Leslie at Gold's Gym and we did the first day of Jillian Michaels' Making the Cut Program (45 minutes). I had absolutely no skill or grace at it.  .5 miles on an arc trainer as a warmup. 30 minutes hard on the ellipticals (2.5 miles) after working out.

I had great plans to go running and to the gym tonight.  However, while I was running errands after work my son called and mentioned he was at the house. So, I spent the evening with him cooking, visiting and watching him play Guitar Hero World Tour.  He took off to find friends near the end of Biggest Loser, so hit the treadmill at 9 p.m. 

I didn't really want to run that late because it will be hard to wind down and fall asleep - but I can always read Isaiah if I am desperate for a sleeping pill. I am trying to follow the concept of  'no excuses'.

5 miles - 57 minutes.

Hey - here's a suggestion for the running 6 days a week/2 miles minimum.  I think that anyone who is running a half marathon or longer can have a free day off the day before as part of their taper. Does anyone agree with me on that one?

Ran 6.5 miles after work. It's nice to see the sky staying lighter later at night. My time was nothing to write home about. The path next to Trax was extremely icy and I stayed in slush as much as I could to avoid black ice. Also dealt with some extreme lower GI problems and had to take some emergency VPBs (probably all this eating healthy).

OK - today has to have been the worst run of my life.  I had to force myself out of bed even though I had been having horrible dreams all night involving my son and his friend, my mother and a cell phone.  I never warmed up on the run. My body felt stiff and sore and cold and achy.  On the long uphill I was going between 15:00-16:00 pace and on the downhill I think I got to a blazing 11:00 pace.  I'm going to call into work for a few hours off and see if going back to bed with a mug of hot chocolate and my electric blanket makes me feel better.

On the positive side - I wore my shoes that I had screwed my La Sportiva hobnails into and did not slip once.  They were a good investment.

Just got an email that they cancelled Red Mountain!  Now I need some chocolate......

We at Red Mountain 50K sincerely regret to inform you running enthusiasts that our races will not be held this year due to multiple reasons---Economic slowdown perhaps being the primary reason.  We at Red Mtn Running have been committed to providing a "high quality race experience" put on " by runners for runners".  And we hope to offer a Southern Utah spring Ultramarathon or similar in 2010.  Thank you for considering our race, and to those of you who participted by running or volunteering your time and efforts, we  cheer you and are very grateful fo count each of you as friends.  We will be sending refund checks to you in the next two weeks.  Thanks again and look for us in the future.  Happy Running!
redmountain running

Ran on the treadmill tonight. Increased my speed and incline every half mile.  Tried to do a half mile at 8.0 mph.  Next time I will succeed. I was able to do about 1/5 mile, slowed down for a minute, then another 1/5 of a mile.

9.0 miles on the Porter Rockwell Trail with Leslie.

OMG - I had no concept I was being graded on the number of words.  Sheesh.

Ok - woke up early to meet Leslie in Draper for a long run. Leslie told me to meet her at a Chevron in an Albertson's parking lot. Well, Chevron was not inside the Albertsons parking lot - it was across the street. Leslie told me to meet her at 7:15. I was there on time with a smile on. Leslie was not. She was running late.  Leslie told me we were going to stash a car and do an 8 mile run that she liked. But - Leslie changed her mind and we ran from where we parked the cars.

We ran down a hill to the Porter Rockwell Trail. I have always wanted to try it and this was a good time to do so. The trail is nice - but it could use a few bathroom stops on it :) I made one of my own. ;)  Lots of little uphills and downs.  We tried to see how long it went, but turned around after an hour. 

Leslie and I discussed race options for the year. We want to get in a 50 miler come heck or high water.  I nagged Leslie about drinking, eating, training and breathing. Leslie called me Marion.

I am going to find the full length of the trail and we are going to try and organize a Saturday run for our group.  It also leads to several ways to get to the Draper Canal Trail - which is another trail we need to try.

Somebody commented on the hobnails on my shoes.  We saw Team in Training training - but we beat them to the punch.

Came home, showered, worked on Twilight's running training for about 5 minutes while waiting for my brother-in-law to pick me up and take me to the gun show.

Bought a holster. Took a nap.

Bye Bye

PM = 2 miles on the treadmill