Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Wet, but fast

The sky was spitting rainy snow throughout our entire run today, so we cut it short at just 4.5 miles. Carol could hardly see where she was going because her glasses were such a mess! We still clipped along at a 10:49mpm pace! We spent a lot of time trying to figure out where we are going to do our log and hilly run this Friday. I think that we've settled on City Creek Canyon or Millcreek Canyon. Look out Camp Williams! Oh, by the way, I checked out the hills around Camp Williams yesterday as we detoured through Saratoga Springs in order to get home (wildfire caused two freeway closures). The "hills" are steeper than I've ever realized. It made me freak out just a little to think about running up them.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

biggest number since...

So, did I happen to mention that I surpassed my October mileage total. I did! More exciting, however, is that I also surpassed my August mileage total! August was my marathon month. My mileage even included the marathon!

First, how did I possibly complete a marathon on the ridiculously low miles that I had? (Well, with a PW. That's how.)

Second, this month's 92.8 miles is the biggest mileage month I've had since I got pregnant! That's more than three years.

It wasn't hard to achieve, so I feel good about the future! Yay for me!

Monday, March 29, 2010

Are we crazy?

Recovery run for Carol after her grueling 16-miler on Saturday. Even though it was really hard, she had a great time. I'm doing it next year. Today's run was the Westminster loop again, and we averaged 11:10mpm for 5.65 miles. It was nice. The weather was perfect. I loved hearing about her race. I'm so jealous. She has talked me into doing some crazy assed thing called Sapper Joe. The overall elevation gain is 4792 and loss is 4767 feet over 19 miles. Scared but excited. It's in two months. We are trying to find some routes with some serious hills in the next few weeks.

Friday, March 26, 2010

No gas left in the tank

I just finished a 7-miler (Sugarhousex2) in 1:15:57. I don't know my exact pace because the log in runners world is down. I waited all day to do this run because it was pouring this morning and snowing off and on throughout the day. I finally left at 2pm. I got snowed on in the first mile, rained on in the second mile, the wind blew through miles three and four, and then the sun came out making it warm enough that I was roasting in my fleece shirt! I tried to eat really lightly all day long knowing that I didn't want a full stomach when I finally had a chance to run. However, after my first lap in the park, I was having serious hunger pangs. I considered wimping out on the second lap because I just had no energy (duh - no food), but decided to tough it out anyway. I was STARVING! I took a couple more walk breaks on the way back to work than I normally would have, but I just had no more energy. Either way, it's done. I've already surpassed my February mileage, and I still have at 3-5 more running days to go in the month of March!
(training log just came up: no.. down.. no.. up.. no.. down..)
(OK - official pace shocked me: 10:51mpm. Who knew?!?!)

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Nodder or Flicker?

I ran by myself today on the Liberty (1-lap) route. It was weird to be so quiet, but nice. There was a stronger breeze than I expected for the last half of the run, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I didn't try to run for a fast time since I am going to do hills tomorrow; I just tried to run a consistent pace with only a couple of walk breaks. My effort wasn't through the roof, so I felt good with my time when I glanced at my watch at the end. Imagine my surprise when I keyed my pace into the calculator and it was 10:43mpm for the 4.5 miles! I definitely didn't feel like I was working hard enough to run that fast. Yay!

After I had passed a few fellow runners and greeted them with a "morning" or head gesture, I started to wonder why I'm a head flicker instead of a head nodder. Is it because nodding seems too formal, like "how do you do, ma'am"? or is it too submissive, like "yes, sir, whatever you say, sir"? or is it that it's just too pompous for my back-woods, lack of social skills and class upbringing? I'm more of a flicker, as in "hey - what's up? do you want to get together for a beer?" kind of a gal.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Her version of taking it easy....

We had planned to do one lap at Sugarhouse this morning, but Carol was too pooped. With her upcoming 15 mile trail race this weekend, she is calling the shots. So, I said "We don't have to do Sugarhouse. We can turn at the light and go where ever." She was up to that. Instead of turning back at 17th, she decided that she wanted to go on to 13th. Hello? Long, uphill slog. We could have done Sugarhouse! She's a nut job. Overall, we ran .2 longer than we would have by doing the park! 5.7 miles at 10:59mpm.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Clean and crisp

We ran the Liberty (2-lap) course this morning. 5.85 miles @ 11:09mpm. Not bad. We're still trying to crack the 11min barrier on this 2-lap, but since Carol has a 15 mile race on Saturday, we're not going to do it this week. The rest of our runs will be for mileage only so that she can sufficiently rest before Saturday. It was a nice cool run with only a few people out on the roads. It rained last night, so everything felt fresh and clean. Very nice.

Friday, March 19, 2010

recovery #2 - still tired

It was a good run for both Carol and I, but we were both still tired from the two speed workouts earlier this week. Because of that, we only did one lap at Sugarhouse. We completed 5.5 miles at 11:11mpm pace. Not bad. I'm going to try to do at least one run this weekend on top of the incredible amount of homework that I have to complete.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

recovery run

It was a recovery day for Carol and I. We did 4.5 miles again at 11:06mpm. We thought that we were running slower than that, so we're both really happy with the time. We had a lot to talk about today, and we were going slowly enough that we could actually talk without gasping. It was a nice to release some emotional energy.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Hell yeah! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout.....

Carol and I ran the Liberty loop with only one lap. We decided yesterday to take shorter walk breaks (only 10-12 steps) to see if we can improve our time on this route. So, that's what we tried today. We were both pooped from the beginning, but we continued to push it. Imagine our shock (and awe, if I do say so myself) when I stuck our time into the pace calculator and got 10:36mpm for the 4.5 miles! Wahoo! We're running hills tomorrow - but we're going to run them a bit slower than today's pace! We need a break. (626 calories burned...)

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

failed experiment and 5.85 miles

Carol and I did the Liberty 2-lap route today. Since I hadn't run for three days, I felt like I needed to push it. I think that we did a good job finishing 5.85 miles at 11:12mpm. My problem continues to be my weight. I am just mentally not engaged at all. I know that I would post faster times if I dropped even ten pounds (ideally 40 pounds). It's getting to the point of ridiculous.

I got on the scale yesterday. I couldn't handle it anymore. If I had felt my clothes fitting better, I would have stayed off. However, I knew that they weren't, and I was right. I'm exactly where I was 15 days ago. I'm pissed at myself.

Friday, March 12, 2010

goals

Good recovery run this morning. My legs were achey yesterday - darn that Carol and her insistence that I run the two laps yesterday! After a soak in the tub, they were fine. We ran the 1-lap Liberty route today. It was cooooold! 32* felt like 22*. Brrrrr... I'm glad that I had an extra shirt to wear with my long-sleeved technical. I wasn't going to, but it was the right decision. My legs and rear end are very cold though. We did 4.5 miles at 11:06mpm pace. We just agreed that we are getting more and more runs in this pace area, and we want our bad runs to be no slower than an 11:15mpm pace! Aggressive goal, but one worth achieving. We are also going to run both the 2-lap Liberty route (on the wood-chip path) AND the capitol route at a sub-11mpm pace before June. We would also like to look good doing it, but let's not get our hope up too far!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

so close

Ooooh! Just one second off my PR for this route. AAACCKKK!
Carol and I did Sugarhouse today. I ran two laps, and she ran 1.5 laps because she was feeling queasy. So, that's 7 miles at 10:50mpm. (My best is 10:49mpm!) It was good, and I am glad that I pushed it. I could have just done one lap with Carol, but she wouldn't let me slack off! She also reminded me that spring is officially just ten days away! Bring on the sunshine! I'm already stocked up on sunscreen, and I can't wait to get the boys out on the west desert for some exploring....

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

better...

Good run to Liberty with one lap. Both Carol and I felt much better today than yesterday. We did 4.5 miles @ 11:08mpm pace. I got back to work and realized that I had forgotten to spray the de-wrinkle stuff on my clothes, so now I'm working in my sweaty gear looking like a real prize (if you win a contest in hell!) and waiting for my clothes to relax. My poor co-workers!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Blah

5.85 miles (Libertyx2 route) at 11:25mpm today. I haven't run for 4 days which likely explains why I felt so blah today. Carol wasn't feeling too fast, either. Well, we got the miles in, but they weren't fast.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

WBR 2010!

I got my confirmation for Wasatch Back 2010! Yeah! Our team, Free Radicals, will consist of most of the people from the Vegas Ragnar. I'm so excited. This will likely be the ONLY race I do all year. I really hope that I get leg six again so that I can improve on my times from last year. Carol and I are starting our hill training now.

Here's a picture of us from Vegas that I never posted.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

improving

YAY! Carol and I did Sugarhouse with two laps at 10:58mpm for 7 miles! That's Carol's PR on this route, and anything sub-11 is a great day for me. It's an added bonus when it includes hills. Funny. My times have been better on this hilly route than on flat. What the hell? I'm not a hill runner. I scoff at hill runners, and the mere mention of hill repeats makes me want to vomit. But, something strange is afoot (lame Bill & Ted reference...) Oh - 955 calories burned, and I've managed to refrain from stepping on that blasted scale for seven entire days. (I really hope this experiment works!)

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

tough miles today

Carol and I ran the Liberty loop with only one lap today. Both us us were wiped out. She didn't get enough calories yesterday, and I didn't get enough sleep last night (four hours just doesn't cut it - and I didn't even get any homework done!). So, we wimped out at one lap, but I know I'm happier because of it. My legs felt dead tired, and she was really dragging. However, when I input our time into the pace calculator, I came up with 11:04mpm for 4.5 miles! Way faster than it felt! I also burned 614 calories. We kick ass.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Self Sabotage

OK - so, I'm going to do something new for the month of March. I'm not going to weigh myself AT ALL. I've always been a firm believer that I need to weigh myself each day in order to know if I'm headed down the wrong path so that I can make immediate adjustments. The problem is that I don't actually do that.

Instead, I see that I'm gaining a bit, and then I get depressed and eat even more. OR - worse - I lose a pound or two and then something inside my brain snaps, and I end up eating like a pig. It's the worst when I've lost weight. It's way worse! I don't know if there is just a part of me that is afraid to be a normal weight or what, but I do exactly the opposite that I'm supposed to do when I see the scale going in the RIGHT direction! I know that I'm supposed to get all motivated and stuff, but it just doesn't work out that way.

So, I'm not going to look at the scale at all. I'm going to follow webmd.com's recommendation of only 1330 calories/day, and by the end of the month of March, I should be eight pounds lighter. (Of course, I'll step on the scale at the end of March, see good results and probably sabotage myself again..... Maybe if my clothes are fitting better, I won't get on the scale again until - well - whenever. Maybe not, though. I'm a slave to the numbers! I like tracking the results of anything - except - obviously my weight going down.....)

Carol is back from vacation!

Carol is back from vacation! We ran the Liberty loop with two laps. It was nice to run with her again, and the time seemed to go by very quickly. Since I haven't run for almost a week, I'm happy for our 11:20mpm pace over the 5.85 miles.