Saturday, January 31, 2009

first 5K of 2009

Lizzy and I made it to the race just in time to say hi to Carol, her husband, Gary, and her sister, Claudine. I couldn't find a leash, so Lizzy had a scarf tied to her collar for half of the race. I was not registered for this race, so I didn't partake in any of the post run food or beverages or anything. The first mile was stupidly fast: 9:40. During this time, I saw my good friend, Nate, blaze past me. (He was just a smidge late for the race, but ran a great time anyway.) I saw Nate again during the second mile as he had already made the turn around and was headed back. My second mile was just shy of 10 minutes as was the third mile. I only slowed to walk three times for about 10-15 seconds each time and only because I took Lizzy off her scarf/leash, put her back on, and took her off again. I generally set my sights on some runner or another and tried to pass him/her. It worked really well. I passed a girl at the very end which I think panicked her. She picked up her pace so that we were side by side until the finish line where I had to pull up and let her run through the chute since she was registered and all.... I really felt like puking when I stopped, but that feeling subsided when I took off my fleece shirt. We found Nate and chit chatted where Carol joined us once she crossed the finish line. She, too, had a good run. In all, it was a good morning, and since this was my best 5K time ever (at 30:06), I'm looking forward to the year ahead!

Friday, January 30, 2009

Slow and cold

Barely above freezing this morning. I didn't do any planned walk breaks, but did make sure to walk gingerly over the icy intersections. Liz had a great time. We did 3 miles on the clubhouse loop. My time sucked compared to recent runs: 11:57 mpm. I was nice and tight/stiff/blah because I haven't run for 4 or 5 days. Duh - inactivity will do that you you! But, I'm glad I managed to get up and do this run today - even though it was slow.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Long, cold and wet run

Lizzy and I ran to dad's today. It's 7.3 miles, but since we took a wrong road, we added .6 miles. It's an easy, steady drop of about 300 feet, so it wasn't too difficult. My pace was 10:33mpm which is really good. It was a very chilly run, and I probably should have worn an additional shirt. At about 5 miles, it started to spit cold rain/snow. We were happy to finally get to dad's house! Liz and I are enjoying our runs togtether, but I'll be happy when the weather warms up a bit and the boys can start coming again. I'm going to try to increase the distance again next week. I'm also going to run the winter series at Saltair to see if I can improve my 5K, 10K and 15K times. I can't afford to pay, so I'm going to run earlier than all of the people who can pay. Then, when I'm done, I'm going to stick around and cheer for my friends, Carol and Nate, who ARE paying for the series.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Not the best pre-run meal...

Lizzy and I ran to Grimm's Gate again tonight. I only took one walk break of 15 seconds after pulling weeds off of her feet. That's really good for me! I also ran on full stomach of buffalo wings and 1/2 picture of beer two hours earlier. Really, not a good idea. After runnining for 3.3 miles with it sloshing around, I really had to get home and into the bathroom. Perhaps that's why I had such a great negative split - almost 5 minutes difference! Pace was 10:40 mpm. Not bad considering the slosh.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Really - what was I thinking?

So, my first relay team didn't work out. Communication problems. They dropped me from the team. Fine. So, I'm on an all women's team, and the runner assignments were made yesterday. The captain "claims" to have drawn the names out of a hat....

I am runner #6. Sounds innocuous enough, doesn't it?

Well, the first leg is described as "knee jarring." 6.9 miles - 4 on gravel. The first 1.2 are a 277' ascent. The next 5.7 are a 1396' descent. Holy cats! I was worried about running UPhill. I never even considered the downhill legs.

The second leg is termed "difficult uphill." 695' over 5.2 miles, to be exact. I guess it's good that I was concerned about the uphills!

"Flat leg through green pastures" is what I have to look forward to after beating the crap out of myself in the first two segments. Whew! Thank goodness for those green pastures! Yeah - as if that's going to make up for the fact that my feet will look like hamburger after leg 1 and my quads will be tighter than my pocketbook after leg 2.

And even though I'm a bit freaked out, I'm doing this willingly, and I'm excited. THAT is the freaky part! Another new, another first, another challenge.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Long run - longest in... how long?!?!?

Lizzy and I ran the Broadway Loop + two laps in the cemetary for a total of 6.3 miles. I am shocked at my pace! 10:33 mpm. Awesome! It was chilly and hazy (inversion), but still a good run. My quads were feeling it at the end, but the two laps at the end in the cemetary were faster than my self-imposed 10 minute lap limit! At the END of a run! Also, this is the longest run I've had in SEVEN months. Seven months! No wonder I haven't been able to lose any weight - I've been busy sitting on my duff. Seven months of 3 and 4 milers. Shameful. Well, onward and upward (mileage, not weight).

Friday, January 16, 2009

Inside-my-head voice yells "Woo-hoo!"

Lizzy and I ran five laps at the cemetary. Each lap was progressively faster. I made sure that I was never more than 10 minutes/lap, and it paid off. The first lap was exactly 10 minutes, and each subsequent lap was 9 and change. I also increased my run/walk intervals to 11/1 (from 10/1), and I think that this helped my overall time. At the end, I almost did a really loud "Woo-hoo!", but that's just not me. I don't know why - there was nobody around. I am, however, very excited about my pace; it was an average of 10:35 mpm pace. I tell ya', I'm a running machine (when I manage to get my butt out of the door.) My quads were really feeling the push, but no pain. I'm a smidge stiff now, but I think that's due to my complete lack of a stretching regime. I did, however, do 100 crunches and day two (again) of the 100-push-up challenge. Maybe this week I'll actually move on to day three!

Other news: I haven't heard from my relay "team" for almost a month. If I don't hear from them soon, I'm going to find another team.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Progress

Liz and I ran to Grimms Gate this morning after a sleepless night. (Sleepless only because the boys slept an UNPRECEDENTED 14 HOURS which was so odd that I got up constantly to check on them.)

I made it to the gate in just 21 minutes which is good for me - again, only two walk breaks on the out and zero on the back. My overall time was 36:05 which is a 10:57 mpm pace. (For my whole four readers, any pace with a 10 at the beginning is a happy day for me.) Interesting to note that my last four runs on this route have all been sub 11 mpm. It seems that I'm making progress after all.

I was saddened to realize that the dirt road leading to Grimms Gate has been paved. Yes, it's only 2/10 of a mile. Yes, it's probably safer for me in the long run. Yes, it means that my beautiful view of the Great Salt Lake will soon be obscured by new homes. Progress.....

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Good pace (for me), good mantra

Today's run was 10:49 mpm for 4.5 miles. I think that this is the best pace I've ever had on the Broadway loop. The first two miles were faster than the last 2.5, but downhills always are. I hate to pace myself on downhills even when I know that I'm going to have a positive split. This was a good run - I even ran up the cemetary hill (which I hate). Lizzy had a good time.

At the end of the run, I kept repeating part of a quote that I have posted at my desk. Basically, it talks about how those who get off their asses and do something are different from those who live life from the sidelines. I'm trying to be the person in the game. I'm tired of being on the sidelines. Anyway.... I kept chanting "buts or brilliance, reasons why not or recounting of, excuses or experiences."

Bub and I talked tonight about my inability to find a consistent and good time to run. I won't run when the boys are awake unless they can go with me because I just don't get enough time with them. So, I need to run when they are asleep - morning, nap or night. It's hard to run in the morning because I feel guilty if they wake when I'm gone causing Bub to get up (IsaV, stop rolling your eyes). I can only run at naptime on the weekends, and frankly, that's when I'm able to get something done around here. Evening is hard because it's not terribly safe and I get tired, too! We agreed that mornings will need to be my time. Bub's just going to suck it up, and I'm going to need to stop letting guilt run my life. (I feel guilty just writing that.....)

Thursday, January 8, 2009

the Marine Corps way?

After three rest days (two unintentional), I think that I might need to follow baby bro's Marine Corps motto:

PT, PT every day
Builds our bodies the Marine Corps way

Yes - Monday was a planned rest day. Tuesday evening was supposed to be spent on the exercise bike watching Loser. (Instead, I WAS a loser and drank beer while watching it.) Wednesday was spent angry and stomping around the kitchen instead of running at 9pm.

If I were in the Corps, I wouldn't have a choice. I would just do it. No excuses.

Suck it up, wussy!

Monday, January 5, 2009

Catching up

I didn't run much in December although I had great intentions.
On Christmas Eve, I managed a run to Grimm's gate (3.6-ish miles) in the best time I've even done on this route. Then, on New Year's Eve, I did a run up to the golf course club house and back. It was a decent time, but I was tired from doing something the day before. (I can't remember what, now.)

Last Saturday, Lizzy and I decided to enjoy the fresh snow and run in the canyon behind our house. Two miles uphill in powder was pretty hard. We weren't the first ones out on the road, so we were running where a few snowmobiles, show shoers (is that a word?), and cross country skiers had already gone. It's definitely easier to run in ski tracks as the snow is packed down a bit. These two miles are almost a constant grade. It's an elevation gain of only about 350 feet, but it's all uphill. My pace was about 14:11 mpm going up. At the top, I met two people on horseback and their dog. They decided to go ahead of me to separate our dogs (who just wanted to walk in circles and smell each other). That was probably a mistake on my part because it turns out that horses really churn up the snow and make the footing even MORE unstable! My return pace was just barely over 12 mpm. It was COLD, COLD, COLD, but a beautiful run. The sky was a brilliant blue, and the trees and scrub oak had snow piled on even the smallest branches and twigs. When looking up, it was like looking at a blue, white and black jigsaw puzzle. We even heard a woodpecker (but couldn't find him). The only downside of this run was the fact that I had to stop about every three minutes to remove packed snow from the pads of Lizzy's feet. She loves running and playing in the snow, but her hairy little feet really pay for it.

Yesterday was another COLD run. This time, I stayed in town. My legs were TIRED from the powder run the day before since I had spent a good deal of time slipping and sliding and altering my pace and form to adjust to the snow pack. So, we just did the USU loop (about 4.5 miles). My pace was slower than I would have liked at 11:43 mpm, but I'm not surprised by it.

I did receive an e-mail from the team captain for the relay in June. A little tiny part of me was hoping that they had forgotten about my crazy reply to their search for a team member, but it looks like I'm really in this thing. I just need to train and pay my fee. I'm excited, but definintely scared! I would hate to let them down by not training enough - but, I guess that's the point.