I started running in the fall of 2007. I truly believe I was inspired to start running and I have seen some very big blessings come my way because of following that inspiration.
Ran Boston Marathon 2013 & 2014. My favorite PRs: 2011 at the SG 1/2 and 5K where I ran the 5K in 22:22. 2013 Nebo 1/2 (downhill) 1:36:15
Short-Term Running Goals:
Long-Term Running Goals:
Running throughout life with Tom. Staying healthy and happy.
Learn from others, learn from myself, work hard, do my best, enjoy!
On running and on life.....
On occasion we need to make a second effort - and a third effort, and a fourth effort, and as many degrees of effort as may be required to accomplish what we strive to achieve.
~Thomas S. Monson~
Personal:
Going to St. George? Bag the hotel and stay in one of our condos instead!
Nothing too exciting on this new week, new month morning. Just a regular old 6 mile loop. Most exciting observation of the day was the rooster in the tree that has been greeting us at about 1.25 miles into our run. I think it's weird to see roosters in trees.
After getting our 12 year old off to her first year of girl's camp and Tom helping out a neighbor this morning we finally got out around 7:30. It's probably good to get a few runs in the sun since there will most likely be sun on the last part of my SGM. (However they said that the first time I ran SGM and it WAS NOT TRUE!...2008 the rainy, rainy year!)
We decided to run into the wind for the first 3 miles and have the wind at our back for the final three. We zig zagged up and around and through a few different neighborhoods for a little different view. Now I must hurry and get ready because my 4th grader is so excited to get up to the school and find out who her new teacher is!
Tom and I went over to Payson Canyon today. Started at Pateetneet and went up 4 miles then down four. I get a bit nervous when we start doing the hills because I always seem to find a way to have some ITB issues. I think if I try to do the up/downs without trying to push the speed too much I may be a little better off. Today we did an ave 10:07 up and 8:36 down. It felt good and I'm feeling good now.
Now I need to go back up that same canyon to help with meals for girl's camp today and tomorrow. I am planning on taking tomorrow as a rest day since I will be busy with all the hustle and bustle of feeding and cleaning up after 300 girls!
Wednesday afternoon I went up to Camp Koholowo to help on the stake girl's camp cooking crew. We served about 275 hungry girls pork salad (Cafe' Rio style) Wednesday night, yummy french toast with buttermilk syrup Thursday morning and sloppy joes and tatter tots for lunch. Which means that is also what I ate for those three meals...plus the ice cream for dessert on Wed. and the Rice Krispie treats for lunch on Thurs! Eeek! I also skipped my run Thursday because I didn't have time and I had scheduled it as a rest day. We kept pretty busy up there and I did not sleep well at all that night up there. So I was very grateful to get a nice sleep last night and wake up to run 6 miles with my hubby. (He actually did 4 because he did Payson Canyon the past two days.) Tomorrow time for 16. It's kind of fun to have the long runs moving up.
Tom and I met up with the SF group at 5:00 but they decided to go the Leland route and we had already planned our 16 miler so we parted ways with them right at the beginning. They didn't want to start into the wind, we wanted to get the wind out of the way.
The weather was nice... not humid, not hot, not cold, pretty much just about right. The wind does get kind of strong here and there, but the wind is our friend here in SF!
The route we took gave us a few nice hills to battle, including Harry's Hill again. On one hill we noticed a dead scorpion about 2 1/2 inches long. That's the first time we've ever seen one of those down in that area. I had no idea they were that close to me! I'm not much of a scorpion fan!
I mentioned to Tom that I might be interested in running SGM without any kind of watch at all this year. I would really like to run this one without knee injuries. I think if I just run by feel I will have better luck with accomplishing that goal. It may mean a slower time than I would like but my goal this year has nothing to do with time or BQ or stress!
Lots of people out and about this morning. It's crazy how I think we have seen everyone who runs in this area and then we see a bunch we've never seen before. I sure like the ones who say 'hi' or 'good morning' or 'good job'! Some runners actually put their face down or turn away so they don't have to say hi....what's up with that? I was talking to a lady once who said runners always look like they are out there being miserable. That makes me think of an obituary I saw the other day...it said "So and so died while she was out running, something she didn't enjoy doing". What the heck?! You usually see it say they died doing something they ENJOYED doing! Anyway, I'm glad that I was out running today and I'm glad I was running with my hubby and I'm glad I enjoy doing it and that I CAN do it! How's that for some rambling of the day?
Tom and I parked one car at Peteetneet then drove the other one up 3 miles. We started the run there and went up 3 more then down the whole six. Then the drive back up to pick up the second car and back home. It was very nice up Payson Canyon except for the low flying planes zooming up to scout camp! (cars with drivers who drive way too fast!) I will also be happy when the deer on the side of the road has finished it's decomposition! STINKY!
We passed Peteetneet Creek and decided that if that was a name on Wheel of Fortune you would do well to by an "E", no other vowels are going to help you out on that one.
Happy to say the knees are continuing to hold out fine at the moment. I'm really trying to focus on some good form up hill and down hill. And also quicker turnover and counting my steps in 3/4 instead of 4/4. I really want to run this SGM with no or very minimal knee pain even if that means taking it slower than I have in the past.
Whoa....took a little while to get the gears going this morning! Started our regular 6 mile loop in over 11 minute miles! Tom was nice to stick it out with me. The first couple miles felt like a lot of work. My back needs a little more time awake before jumping into the run. Luckily the pace was able to pick up and I felt great the last few miles.
The regular route Tom and I take has a 4, 5 or 6 mile option. The second hill can turn up one way to make it 5 miles and the other way takes it to 6. Since Tom did Payson Canyon yesterday and Tuesday he took the 5 mile while I took the 6. Crazy cool temps here! I hope that doesn't mean we are going to have a bitter cold winter! We are thinking of going out a bit later tomorrow for the long run just to be able to get a little heat training. I know some of you out there are getting lots of heat training! It's just kind of weird to be cold at the beginning of an August morning run.
Very enjoyable run with my hubby this morning. We didn't set the alarm, just decided to run when we woke up. We got out the door about 5:40. We didn't go meet with the SF group since they had probably met up at 5:00. That's OK by my though the extra bit of sleep was used well and felt good.
At the bottom of Harry's Hill we met up with Brad and Kendall so Tom went up speedier while I worked my way up with them. Tom met up with speedy Steven K and took Harry's at a nice clip.
We continued down the other side and down Woodland Hills Drive and looped back over to Zepher for our return home. There was some good up and down in today's run.
We mostly ran by whatever felt good for me and my knees and my back and my breathing. I ended up with an aveage pace of 9:03. It was nice because I didn't look at the watch much, just ran by what feels good.
Six miles with Tom in the perfect morning weather. We did some striders on the mile every mile. Kind of fun to try to run really fast for a short amount of time. We finished strong and it felt good.
The wind sure was blowin' this morning! We have to run into it at some point of our run but we usually choose not to do it right at the beginning, which is the choice we made today. We start out with it at our backs but miles 2, 3 and 4 get it in the face. The funny thing is that our big windmills at the mouth of the canyon weren't even moving. I guess they had them turned off for some reason....too much wind? Is that possible? Anyway, it's a waste of wind if you ask me. Might as well be making some energy with it!
Today marks 9 months since our second son went on his LDS mission to Denmark. It is so fun to get our weekly letters from him! He is doing well and learning so much as he shares his testimony of the gospel with the Danes. It is a wonderful experience to send missionaries out into the world and watch their growth!
Good luck to Terry and his family today as they send their oldest into the MTC!
Tom went off with the speedy guys to do Payson Canyon so I did my neighborhood 6 miler. The only problem with the neighborhood 6 is that it takes me straight into the wind for the first 3 miles! (But then I get the last 3 with the wind at my back!)
Tomorrow I will take a rest day to get ready for my first 18 miler of the year and also to take my son in for surgery for a deviated septum. I'm hoping he will finally be able to breathe good after 22 1/2 years of really struggling! Funny thing is, our son's name is Camron and when you look at meanings of names you will find that Camron means crooked nose. So now that they are going to straighten things out will we need to change his name? Maybe we shouldn't have named him Camron in the first place and he wouldn't have had this problem. : )
Out the door at 5:00 this morning and into the wind! A little warm and muggy until we got down into the river bottoms where it felt better but we still had the lovely wind for a few miles.
Not a soul around in the dark morning except a car with two lost girls trying to find Mapleton Park for the buses up to Hobble Creek. They were hopelessly lost as they were in the wrong town! They were here from S. Jordan and seemed happy to find someone who could help them find their way to the correct town. Hopefully they made it.
Today is our ward service day. We signed up for the easier things like writing to the missionaries and working on quilts since we knew the manual labor wasn't going to be quite so enjoyable today.
We are happy Camron has 24 hours behind him now on the recovery of his surgery. Things went well during and after but he has been kind of miserable. It will be nice when he is all better and enjoying his new ablility to breathe.
This morning's run in the river bottoms was absolutely peaceful! We finally realized the reason it felt a bit different....there was NO wind! Hello! No wind! It was so fun and so quiet! We saw 2 buck and one doe enjoying the morning hillside we also saw a hawk and a little gathering of quail!
I dropped my new Jr. Higher off to her first day of 7th grade this morning and got a bit teary! I didn't think I was going to do that but it's kind of hard to see your kids taking each new step along the way to them leaving home. Now that we have 2 out of the house we realize how fast this time actually goes! This afternoon I get to take my 4th grader to meet her teacher and classmates. She's the last one in elementary school. I wonder if there will be a tear there too?
Also a little tear as Camron heads back to college after being here for his surgery. It's been very nice to have him and his girlfriend here with us. I will miss having them around.
This morning was quite chilly! When we got home we looked at the temp and it said 48 degrees! It actually felt good after the first mile but the chills came when we got in the house. It was nice to get in the warm shower! Days like that make it hard to conserve water and keep your shower short.
Just took my daughter to the doc to find out if my suspisions of her having strep throat were correct....yup....now she not only has a sore throat but she also has a sore hind end from the shot I talked her into getting instead of going through 3 pills a day for 10 days. She was a good sport and smiled through the whole thing. Hopefully she will get feeling better quick and be glad she got the shot. And hopefully the rest of us don't end up with the same thing!
I don't know how some of you run so many miles on so little sleep! About once or twice a week I have to have a really good nap to catch up! And on the other days I need a little cat nap too. I guess I'm admitting to one of my really good naps this morning! : )
I took yesterday as a rest day. It feels good for my legs to take 2 rest days, but my back likes it better when I get up and get a run in to loosen things up for the day. I noticed my back never quite feeling right yesterday.
This morning I got to try out my new Garmin. Tom got me a new one for my birthday. My old one was was really flakey and not always reliable. This one also has the HR with it so it will be fun to use that.
Tomorrow there is a group running down Payson Canyon. We heard of a bear sighting this past week up there....2 cubs and their momma! It makes me a bit nervous to go. I think I will head down and pick up some bear spray. I'll just have to be careful with it and not mix it up with my 'hair' spray! : )
Today Tom and I met up with about a dozen people from the SF running club to drive up Payson Canyon for a nice downhill training run. We dropped everyone else up about 20 miles then drove down 5 to start our run. We are trying to be a bit cautious with the steep downhill so I can try to avoid ITB issues this year.
The moon was just under being full and lit the way beautifuly for us. It was nice and quiet and still except for several cars going up for a hunt or something. We were actually glad to have a few cars to help keep the bears from coming out on the road to eat us up! Some of our friends spotted a momma and her 2 cubs in that canyon on Wednesday so we kept our eyes and ears on alert. (Not that that would have helped much if we would have actually encountered the bears.) But happy to say we only saw deer today.
My right knee was giving me a few warning signs here and there and started stiffening up pretty good in the last mile so I stopped running at 14.5 and walked the last half mile.
I'm starting to feel the excitement of doing another marathon. Only 5 more weeks. I hope I have made some good changes to my training that will make this my most enjoyable marathon to date. I'm looking more for enjoyable than a PR, but both would be even better.
This morning the legs were still feeling the 14 mile downhill Saturday run. It was nice to get them moving but a 10 minute pace felt more like a 9:00. Oh well, I guess it was a recovery run and didn't need much fanfare.
Tom and I are loving the morning runs right now. Pretty much perfect temps here in our little corner of the world. Still get the wind most mornings but just very enjoyable days. I wish this kind of day/morning would last much longer than it does.
We did 5 striders along the way to help perk the legs up. The legs still have a few memories of the Payson Canyon downhill we did on Saturday. But all in all this morning's run felt quite nice.
Now I'm off to spend a nice day with my dear friend Lesa! Just what the doctor ordered. : ) No laundry, no grocery shopping, no cleaning, just fun and relaxation today.
