Work will win when wishy washy wishing won't

A new month.  Last month was my best running month ever!  I was happy to log 170 miles and did some great workouts!  I feel like a real athlete, (maybe not the top athlete, but still an athlete!)  It is great to be 41 years young and feel like I am in the best shape of my life!

Now that it is getting warmer in these parts, Tom needs to get his harder workout done in the mornings.  So today I went out one with him, (then he went to do hills, I'm glad my hills aren't until tomorrow.  My quads are needing one more day of gentle after our big race last weekend!) and then past to pick up a friend who wants to start joining me.  She came out for 2 with me and the rest was on my own.  It was so fun to be with K and do some gabbing and laughing!  I hope she decides to join me at least 3 times a week.   

It's funny how getting out of bed and starting my run is less enjoyable than the last of 7 miles of a good workout with 6  two minute hill repeats!  Did that make sense? 

I am loving these beautiful mornings to run in!  It's kind of sad to think of all those mornings in my life I have been in bed instead of out enjoying what my own two feet can do for me!  I notice things so differently while I am out running.  Kind of like the spirituality discussion going on on the discussion board.  I feel the crisp morning air, (sometimes very hard as the wind slaps us around!).  I hear birds of all kinds, (including peacocks that you can hear all the way across the fields.)  I smell the different flowers as I pass people's well cared for yards, (also a few smells down at the river bottoms that aren't always pleasant.)  I see beautiful mountains, rolling hills, flowers, trees, wildlife, people and a really great husband by my side.  Taste is usually something I enjoy more when I get home rather than on the run.  Sometimes that might be a nice mug of hot chocolate to warm the innards up. But definitely NOT the squid jerky that Camron sent us from Japan yesterday!  Blech!   It all makes me so grateful for all the many blessings I have. 

Drizzly morning.  Most of the run alone.  Joined for 2 1/2 miles by my friend, K.

Rain dropping, puddle jumping, worm dodging, wind blowing, 6 x 2 minute striders with Tom morning!  =)  

Striders ranging in pace from 7:40 to 7:10.  It's fun to run at that speed.  I hope someday I can do it for longer than two minutes at a time. 

This morning Tom had to get in a longer, quicker run and the gal who is starting to run with me once in a while is out of town. So I decided that since I would be running alone anyway, I might as well get an extra hour of sleep and go out a bit later. I thought maybe I could talk Jansen into joining me, but that was a no go. He was enjoying his teenage slumber.

My Garmin's battery died in the first mile, so I made sure to stick with my 6.1 loop so I at least know the distance. As far as pace, I probably went a bit faster than I was suppose to. But when I am alone, I hate to mope around.

Three fun observations of the day....Two of the huge windmills at the mouth of Sp. Fork canyon were up and running today! Kind of cool to see them in motion. I don't know if they are in full swing or just testing them at the moment. One thing for sure, there WAS wind for them and for me. Another thing I enjoyed was the GREEN mountains! We usually see white, snow covered mountains, brown, dried up mountains or black, burned up mountains in these parts! It's so refreshing to see green! And finally, it was fun to pass a farmer and his son out cutting the hay with an old fashioned sickle (sp?). Their clothing and tools were just as if they were thrown here from 100 years ago!

This is the third time I am trying to write this.  It has disappeared from me twice.  I was really excited the first time I was writing and I used lots of !!!!.  The second time I was still kind of excited, but now I just want to hurry and tell the basics and get this submitted before it disappears into cyber space too! 

Tom and I met up with a few from the SF group and had a nice run in the rain that included my first trip up Harry's Hill.  It was great!  I feel very good about today and this whole week! 
 

I went out with Tom this morning to do the last of our currently scheduled hill repeats.  I guess next week we will do some track work.  I've never done that, so it will be yet another running learning experience for me. 

After the hills we were going to pick up Kellie P for a few miles.  On our way to her house we ran into Kelly G  and he joined us for a few blocks.  When I got home and added the distance I ran with Tom to the distance I ran with Kellie, I realized I was .2 from 8.  I almost decided to go back out and get that last .2 but decided I wouldn't let it bug me and stick with what I had.

It was a little nippy out this morning and the wind was doing it's thing, but there was no rain.  Good way to start out the week!  It looks like we will have sunshine today.   So I think I will open up my heart and let the sunshine in!  =)
 

It was a little harder for me to get out of bed and get moving this morning.  I guess the longer run on Saturday and then a few extra miles yesterday caught up with me.  I was also feeling a little pain in the top part of my right leg.  Tom and I are thinking it is the adductor muscle.  If anyone has advice on that I would appreciate it.  I haven't seen much discussion on that one before.  Coach Tom will turn into Massage Therapist Tom this evening and help work it out a bit.  It started up yesterday when we were doing some hill repeats.  I plan to keep things simple and less miles this week with the 5K on Saturday.  So hopefully that will be all it needs.

I am taking it very easy today, tomorrow and Friday for 2 reasons. Number one reason is because of a small pain at the top of my left leg. Tom and I were thinking that it might be the adductor muscle, but as we looked at pictures we decided that is not what it is. Not sure exactly what it is though. I just know I don't want to end up on the injured list with so many others on the blog! Number 2 is to taper a bit for the 5K on Saturday. If the pain is gone I will push it hard, if not, I will just run an enjoyable 5K and hope to win the golden ticket, or at least cheer for a fellow FRB-er who wins it.

Today I ran 3 with Kellie and 2 alone. All very easy pace. Pain felt good at that pace and with no hills. So very grateful the weather was much better this morning than it was at our daughter's softball game last night!

An easy paced run in some of our usual neighborhoods this morning.  Kind of quiet, I think we may have been sleep running part of the time.  One part felt like a giant road treadmill.  It didn't seem like we were getting anywhere.  But eventually we got home.  Kept it at about 10 minute miles and stayed away from hills.  The leg felt good, just felt like a bruise or something.  I think it will be OK if I don't do something dumb on Saturday at the race to aggravate it again.  

I did two and a quarter this morning as the final run of my taper week. Tomorrow is the Heart of Holladay 5K. I emailed the people in charge to ask a question about the race. They said there is a HUGE response to the SGM guaranteed entrance. So I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much. Not sure what to do if I don't get the golden ticket. I've got a bid in with one of the charities, but the prices are getting out of hand. It means a lot to me to run with Tom this year. (Albeit, much behind him). Physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, I need to do this. I am doing every legitimate thing I can to try to get in. I am kind of discouraged because I hear of so many people who call in and whine and get in. But then I hear of people like Walter who should get in on his time of last year and he has to do the grand slam to get in. I also know of so many people who put their name in for the lottery when they know darn well they won't even be able to run it because of an injury or something. Of course their names get drawn and I sit here wanting in! Is that enough boo hoo-ing from me for the morning? Tomorrow is going to make or break my chances of running SGM. I hope I can handle things well either way.

I HAVE A GOLDEN TICKET IN MY HANDS! ST. GEORGE MARATHON HERE I COME!

Thank you to everyone who ran for me today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right when I got home from the race I had to rush to a stake primary activity that I was partially in charge of. Now about the race...

It was fun to have our son, Jansen, and my brother, Jeremy join us today. Neither of them have done much in the running 5K department so I am really proud of both of them! Especially Jansen since he came in about a minute before me and did a cartwheel over the finish line!

I came in at a decent time and felt I put forth a great effort. The heat was a bit more than I was ready for and the hills weren't a whole lot of fun. But I am a HAPPY GIRL!

Kellie P. joined in on three of my miles today.  It's great to have her company.  She is doing good.  Very nice morning out.   Heats up by 7:00.  Saturday's race helped me learn that I need to get out in the heat and run once a week or so.  I can't imagine how you St. George and Arizona runners do it!  But I guess you wonder how we get out all winter here in our conditions.  

I'm sending in my guaranteed St. George Marathon entrance today!  =)  If I hadn't won that on Saturday, I wonder if I would have had the guts to pay out $800.00 for the Dixie Care and Share Charity auction that ended Saturday night.  They were "giving" away guaranteed entrances to the top 10 bidders.  I had been keeping an eye on it in case of emergency.  The final winners were all between $800-$1000!!!  That's great news for Dixie Care and Share! 

Now I've got to get ready and go help clean the church.  Our ward has the duties today.  Then laundry, laundry, laundry...then finish up the day with a nice family home evening at the local swimming pool. 

Tom took me out to my very-first-ever-in-my-life track workout this morning.  We did 8x400s with a lap recovery between each one.  With warm up and cool down it ended up at 7 miles.  I was suppose to do the laps between 1:50 -2:00.  I was surprised at how consistent I was able to keep them.  I even kind of had fun with the whole workout. 

Here are my splits.

1:51

1:52

1:52

1:52

1:52

1:47

1:50

1:49

So that's that.
 

Today just got to be an easy day.  No hills, no track, no pressure for speed.  I was joined for three of the miles by Kellie.  She is doing good and is enjoyable company.  Today's conversation was a lot about crimes we have been a witness to.  Kind of interesting....

One and a half miles warm up then 2 one mile repeats with a 2:00 active recovery.  Mile one 8:15.  Mile two was at 8:08, (until the last .15 when I decided to add a kick.  Then it ended at 7:52).  Then a few miles back home around 9:00 pace.  

We are going to be working on these mile repeats for a while with it all cumulating at the Speedy Spaniard 10K on July 24th.  That will be my first 10K since becoming a "serious" runner.  By serious I mean, running 6 days a week.  I have ran the 10K a few times in past years, but I have never been preparing for it like I am this year.  I'm excited to see what I can do with it. 

Tom and I slept in and had a nice leisurely morning getting him ready for the WBR. He is on the 2slow2win2dumb2quit team. That name suited them well the first year they did it. But last year they actually won their division, so the name doesn't quite fit, but it still works for them. My son and I get to go up to Park City tomorrow and volunteer at the finish line from 1:30-6:00. It will be fun to see teams coming in together.

So I got Tom off and then went out for a little heat training. Ran 4 miles while my girls rode along on their bikes. The temps out are 65 degrees. Now I know that some of you southerners call 65 ideal, but I kind of like 45. I figure I better learn to run in some heat if I'm going to be running SGM in about 4 hours. I'm sure it's plenty heated up there at 10:00 a.m.

Girls night tonight with Camp Rock and the Jonas Brothers.  If you don't know what I'm talking about then you don't have daughters between the ages of 7-12! 

I was going to mention, we received a letter from our son in Japan.  We had been worried since we had heard of the earthquake there last Saturday.  He said it is definitely the biggest one he has felt there so far.  But that everything was fine and no one in his area was affected seriously.  Be still my heart....  :-)

I needed to get in an 11-12 miler this morning.  Tom is at the WBR so I met up with the SF group at 5:00.  I knew there would be a little peer pressure to go more.  I was willing to do 14-15 but no more.  They tried to talk me into 17 but I didn't let the pressure get to me.  I turned around with one other person to get to my 14 while the others continued on.  I hung with Michelle and Josse for a bit.  I'm not sure what I was thinking hanging with the speedster girls.  After awhile with them I turned around and joined back in with the gang I can hang with for a longer period of time.  The last few miles was on my own and I slowed down  a bit because the IT band on my left leg started feeling a little pain.  I want to avoid IT band issues at all costs!  That's what took me from trying to train for a marathon a few years ago. 

I only got about 4 1/2 hours of sleep last night and I have to go volunteer at Park City at the finish line for WBR from 1:00 - 6:00.  So I am going to try to go back for a few zzzzzz's.

Coach Tom left me to do my own and make my own decisions this morning.  I was planning on going 4 to 5 easy miles since I ran 14 on Saturday.  However, I accidentally ran 12.  Average pace 9:50.  If I didn't have 'mommy duties' I might still be out there running and growing a full beard with people joining in yelling "run Forest run!"  But alas....I must face Monday.

Tom had kind of a bad weekend and was feeling quite down by yesterday.  So I decided to pick him up from work and kidnap, (man-nap?),  him for the night.  Our kids were great to take on some extra responsibility so we could take away from our responsibility for a night.  This morning we had a very nice relaxed 6 mile run near his work in Provo that he runs often at lunch time.  Sometimes it's nice to just get away from it all for a few hours.  Thanks kids for helping us out!  

The running week is going very well!  Nice morning run with Tom.  Kellie P. was going to join in today but there was a note on her driveway telling us to move on without her...bad night with the kid who just had his tonsils out.  So Tom and I plowed ourselves through the nice big wind we had coming from the canyon today! (We were remembering the days not so long ago that we ran that same windy route, but the temperature was more like 20 degrees instead of 60!  Brrrrr!  How did we do that?  And how will we do it again?)  With all that wind, and the windmills still aren't up and running full time yet.  Seems like such a waste of good wind!

Oh ya! Uh huh! Oh ya! Uh huh! (That's me doing an "I'm lovin' it" cheer!) Are ya feelin' it!? Tom and I started at Peteetneet this morning and ran up Payson Canyon for 3 1/2 miles and then back down. Going up is a gradual uphill for the first mile and then rolling hills that continue going up. As you come down, as you can imagine, it is just the opposite. "Running down hills is fun to do, fun to do, to do, to do....Running down hills is fun to do, to do, to do, to do!" How many of ya know that song? It took 38 minutes to go up and something like 28 minutes to come down.

Passed Marion on our way down. Great job Marion! Way to get out and do a tough workout all alone! We'll need to get some official group runs together for Payson Canyon.

Tom, could you please add in the stats if you get a minute? If you don't remember my password info, just add it into the comments. I want to be able to keep track of these things.

Here are the splits....

Uphill 3.5 miles:  1 - 11:08, 2 - 11:08, 3 - 10:21, .5 - 5:21 (10:44 pace).

Downhill (we did mile repeats with 2-min jog rest in between)

1 - 7:33 (then jog .21 miles @ 9:42 pace)

2 - 7:35 (.2 mile jog @ 10:02)

3 - 7:32

Overall average pace 9:22.

A few miles with Tom, a bit on my own and three with Kellie. Nice and easy today. Legs feel great after my run down Payson Canyon yesterday. Thought I might feel a little soreness. Not feeling it. Maybe tomorrow? I never really get sore no matter what I do. I'm not sore after a 5K, a track workout or hills. It doesn't make sense to me. I feel like I am working hard and should be stiff and sore the next day or two but it hardly ever happens. Does that mean I'm not working as hard as I think I am or what?

Last night we were able to watch Tani, (10 year old daughter), save the day at her softball game! It was so fun! We have pretty much lost every game of the season. This week is tournament. They lost the first game and we expected to loose last night and be done for the season.  However, they put Tani in as pitcher in the first inning after the main pitcher walked four in a row without hardly even a strike thrown.  Tani is not a pitcher, she plays around with it with Tom a bit at home, but definitely not much.  Well, she got in and struck three girls out in a row!  The momentum changed and we won with a score of 7-1.  Yeah  Tani! 

Tom and I met up with the SF running group this morning.  I had 10 miles planned, he is still out with his 20.  I had 4 miles in the 9:25-9:49 range.  5 miles in the 8:11-8:43 range and one at 7:55.  The 1st one and last three were the 9s.  The last couple of miles I was feeling a little pain in the left IT band so I slowed it down to keep from doing any damage there.  This is my highest mileage week ever.  I think I'll enjoy my Sunday rest. 
 

I promised Coach Tom I would keep all today's miles over 10:00.  I kept my promise.  Kellie joined in with me for 3 miles.  The rest was just me and that good ole' Spanish Fork Wind!