Wednesday, July 21, 2010

rambling and swamp-like

This is the first time I've run in six days. Not good training for a September marathon, I know; however, I have gotten a lot of homework done in that time. That IS good since I'm cramming and entire semester into two weeks. (I know, I know. Let the chastising commence!)

Anyhoooo, Carol is in Phoenix (in July - I know! She's nuts; it's 116* down there!) visiting her daughter. Being the machine that she is, she's probably running at 3am. Let's face it. If there is a contest, she'll kick my ass every time even though she is 20 years older than me. (Is it me, or do I have a problem sticking to the point?) So, I was off by myself and I decided to do Sugarhouse Park. The temperature for the run was 77* with 42% humidity. Yes, that's right. I might as well be living in a friggin' swamp. (And, I know that the humidity is 77% in NC this morning and 87% in NJ, but I'm not IN those places, now AM I?) Whatever. It was hot and humid by Utah standards, so I wussed out and only did 5.5 miles. The first two miles were really tough because every muscle in my lower body was stiff from un-use (<--is that a word?). The muscles in my upper body are probably stiff, too, but since I never use them, who's to know? I considered doing the backside of the hills in the park because they are easier, but I decided to suck it up and do them head-on. (Where was I going with this?) Anyway, I'm done, and I'm happy about it. Now, more homework - oh yeah, and real work that pays the bills.

Stats: 5.5 miles in 1:00:07 for a 10:56mpm pace.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

speed work

I'll consider this my speed workout for the week! (5 miles in 51:16 at 10:16mpm pace - YAY!)
I ran by myself today and did the extended Liberty loop. It was one of the coolest runs I've had lately temperature wise. Sprinklers were on just about everywhere I went, so the air surrounding the sidewalks was crisp and cool. Plus, I managed to get out the door about 30 minutes earlier than normal, so the sun didn't peek over the mountains until the very end of the run. It was a good run, and faster than normal as I had intended. Now, just a long run tomorrow and plenty of homework!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

USU loop in the heat

I took the day off and decided to go running with the boys. Unfortunately, they weren't big on eating breakfast, getting dressed, going potty, or any other thing that may have gotten us out the door early. So, it was hot when we started. We ran the USU loop for the first time in many months. It was nice, and we even saw two other runners out there, both of whom were men easily in their 60s. We stopped for a couple minutes to watch a hay mower and then again to watch the garbage truck. Very interesting stuff. We also stopped at the park for a potty break. Meatball managed to hold it the entire time until Peanut sat down. Then, the waiting was just too much. Poor guy.... We finished 4.58 miles in 59:21 which is a 12:58mpm pace; I'm happy with this because pushing that job stroller is NEVER easy.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Niiiiice pacing

We ran a 6.5 mile loop through Sugarhouse this morning. We purposely avoided any big hills since Carol just had a 10k race (where she took 1st place in her division AGAIN!), and I'll be running with the boys tomorrow. (6.5 miles in 1:11:45 @ 11:03mpm pace) I didn't feel like the pace was that good, so I'm very happy with this run!

Friday, July 9, 2010

I found my thrill on Gravity Hill.

Today's run (12.34 miles in 2:19:12 at 11:17mpm pace) was pretty good. Carol ran the first 2.5 with me, but then she turned back and headed back to work. She wasn't doing long miles today because she has a 10k trail race tomorrow. (Did I mention that she took 1st place in her age group at the 5k two weeks ago? Well, she did. Awesome!)

We ran up Main to South Temple. She turned back on State and I headed up to the capitol. I ran up more of that big incline than I walked, so I'm happy about that. When I got to the top of the hill, I decided that some stairs wouldn't actually kill me, and my jiggly butt needs all the help it can get. So, I managed to climb 173 steps around the capitol grounds before heading down Bonneville Blvd towards City Creek Canyon road.

Rounding the turn in the road, I was daunted by the incline up Bonneville Blvd to B Street, but I figured I would just do the best I could. Well, not to be full of myself or anything, but I friggin' rocked it! I ran up the entire thing except for a really quick stop to take this picture:

(The sweet peas were blooming all over the place!)

Anyway, I think that this must be the infamous Gravity Hill that everyone has always talked about but that I've never actually experienced. I almost felt like I was being pulled up the entire thing. It was GREAT! From the top of the hill I ran east to I Street, south to 9th Ave, east to J Street, south to 7th Ave, east to K Street and then south to 900 South. From here, I thought that it would be good to just get a lap in at Liberty Park to ensure that I would have enough miles to be over ten for the day. After my lap here, I really started to feel the effects of the heat (73* when we started, 82* when I finished). I headed back to work. I was going to extend the run, but I just didn't have it in me, and the road I was considering had no shade which sealed the deal.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Woozy!

This was a nice run with one lap in Sugarhouse. (5.76 miles in 1:02:30 for a 10:52mpm pace) I'm more tired than I probably should be, and I'm trying to figure out why. I spent three hours at the dentist last night, so I didn't eat anything after 5pm. That's probably one problem. I also didn't drink anything after 5pm. Hmmmm... Then, immediately following our run, I was talking to someone and got very light headed and was seeing spots. I know that this is a sign that I'm about to pass out, so I quickly sat down. I think that I'll go check my notoriously low blood pressure!

Oh, I don't think that I mentioned this. Two weeks ago when I went for my uber-fun colonoscopy, they were doing my "pre-op" stuff and the blood pressure machine kept going off. One of the nurses thought that it was broken, but the nurse administering my IV looked me in the eye and said "You're a runner, aren't you?"

Oh my hell! If I hadn't been in a back-flashing hospital gown, I would have danced a jig right that moment!

THEN, in the post-op the nurse had to come in and repeatedly reset the blood pressure machine. It was reading something like 90/46. The bum doc came in and was trying to give me my results, he finally just disconnected me from the machine. He, too, looked right at me and said "Are you an athlete?" SCORE!!!!! (Procedure results: two diventriculae [?sp] that could someday develop into something, and one very small [2mm] polyp, shit! I hope that it was OK. I haven't heard anything since that day. I should probably follow up...)

AS IF THAT WEREN'T ENOUGH, I had my annual with my doc the next day. I asked how her husband-the-runner was doing. He's going to run the TOU, and MY training is going better than his!

Sometimes, I friggin' kick ass. Now, off to check my blood pressure.

(Post Script: My blood pressure was 90/55)

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Short and sweet

We had to run a quick 4.6 miles today due to a conference call that I had to make at 8am. We just ran around Liberty Park and back in 49:27 (10:45mpm). It was pretty cool because they had just turned off the sprinklers at Liberty, but this also meant that it was slippery and muddy in some parts. The three day break since our long, hot run last week was nice, but any benefits that I should have felt were cancelled out due to a few beers and not-so-great food over the long weekend. Not horrible food, but not really great. When will I learn?

Friday, July 2, 2010

Summer is definitely here

It was 74* when we left and 86* when we finished! We ran 13 miles (exactly) today in 2:34:10 (11:52mpm). Not our best pace, but the heat really drained us both. The first 6.5 miles were a constant climb with only one downhill of about 50 yards. We ran up 21st to Foothill and connected to Bonneville Shoreline for a couple of miles. Then, we detoured off the trail through Tanner Park which was the best part of the run. All trails next to a creek and in the shade. It was easily 10* cooler through the park. Then, it was a difficult trudging run to get back because of the heat. Thanks to the folks at Rocky Mountain Grill for filling our bottles with ice and water. It looks like a nice little place; I'll have to stop by there sometime. I didn't even know it existed. Very nice folks. (1100 East and 20-something South - it was right across from the state liquor store) When we got back to work, we were only at 12.6 miles, so we had to run around the building. It would seem silly to stop at anything less than 13, and we were so close, but that .4 was the hardest part of the run!