Work will win when wishy washy wishing won't

45:47

52:22

1:50:43

54:37

37:57

40:40

1:33:22

39:47

35:56

Second in my age.  Behind first by 10 seconds.

40:39

58:18

42:26

40:08

1:14:45

Beautiful February 1st!  I was much too overdressed for the day!  Shorts and short sleeves would have been perfect! 

I did my 6 mile loop with 6 X 40 second striders.

I am going to try blogging again for awhile and see how it goes.  I like that I blog because it is the only journaling I usually do.  But I don't like when I spend too much time reading and commenting.  So for now I will keep it private.  I may or may not decide to make it public.

6 miles,  time 54:04 , overall pace 9:01, striders pace 7:12-7:38

4.55 miles, 43:48 overall time, 9:38 overall pace

Did 6 x 8 second hill sprints at 3 miles. 

Overall time 1:03:49 for 7 miles.  Average overall pace 9:07.

Last mile and a half.....1st mile 8:18 pace, last half 8:03 pace.

Nice day.  Short sleeves felt good after the first two miles.  Could have even had shorts on.  The wind was a bit nippy in parts, but and overall pretty morning for a run. 

48:24 time

9:35 average pace.

It was easy to go easy today because my legs didn't want to go fast. 

1:25:49

9:02 pace

35:54

9:14 pace

6 x 40 sec bursts

Just 3.5 today.  Partially because of time partially because of my right ham string.  Did 8 x 8 second sprints uphill.  Maybe I pushed them too hard and pulled something.

Beautiful sun!

8 miles in 1:15:27 average pace 9:26

mile 7 8:44 pace

mile 8 8:19 pace

Ten miles at about a 9:30 pace was my best effort for today. 

7 miles with my cute little Valentine!  1:05:06  (9:18 overall pace)

Did 6 x  45 second hill runs. 

Enjoyed a nice run with my friend the sun today.  Ave. pace 9:20.

I'm going to try out the blog again for awhile.  I miss writting down my observations and feelings like I use to do.  I have been logging my miles either here or on another site, but I haven't been writting feelings and observations which, in my book, are more important than keeping track of the miles.

One of those weeks where you visit the poor, the sick, the imprisioned, etc....Today was a hard day to fit the run in, but I finally got it.  Luckily I didn't need to go long today.  Overall time for 4.3 miles 38:12.  Overall pace 8:53.  The last mile before the .30 cool down was 7:54.  I'll take tomorrow off and run a bit on Friday and then see what my 5 mile Dam 2 Dam race on Saturday turns out like.  I want to be under 45.  Hopefully closer to 43, but we'll see. 

Second in age for Tom and for me!  Yeah! 

I knew I could do 45. 

I thought I could do 43. 

I DID do 41:35. 

I kind of like this run.  It's fun to run around the res like that. 

It was also fun to have my parents and our two daughters at the finish line cheering us on, even though they were pretty darn cold waiting

I just wanted to come in and add my splits.

mile 1: 8:19 dirt road

mile 2: 8:15 dirt road

mile 3: 8:27 uphill, asphalt and into the wind

mile 4: 8:22 still uphill, asphalt and into the wind

mile 5: 7:51 crosswind, level, gravel trail.

Overall pace 8:14 

It took me a while to talk myself into getting out the door today.  Does that ever happen to anyone else?  The wind is a bit chilly, but I warmed up good after the first mile and stashed my jacket, hat and gloves to pick up on the way back. 

Today on the agenda was a 12321.  Each number is minutes with a .25 recovery jog between.  Here's how they went.

1 min: 7:24 pace

2 min: 7:25

3 min: 7:21

2 min: 7:24

1 min: 6:56

Goal today was to get between 6 and 7 miles with six 10 second hill sprints.  I got the hill sprints in and ran 6.5, which seems to be between 6 and 7 miles.  So mission accomplished!  Beautiful sunshine out today!  I should have had shorts and short sleeves.  I always let the cool feel when I first step out fool me.  I need to remember that it's ok to feel a bit chilly on that 1st mile.

Ave. pace 9:14

When I looked at my calendar to see what my plan for mileage was today I saw 6-7.  I wasn't too excited about getting out in the rain/snow for that.  Tom called from work to have me help get him motivated to get outside and get his run instead of heading into the gym for the TM.  I'm not sure I gave him much motivation, but after hanging up and looking at my calendar again I realized the 6-7 is what time Tom and Tia have their daddy/daughter date tonight....I only had 5 miles on my agenda!  So I figured I may as well just get er done!  I headed straight uphill and into the wind and snow/rain for the first 2.25 miles.  It was mostly down hill from there.  I was suppose to do 1 mile warm up and then 4 at 8:30.  I changed that up a bit.  I did 2 miles warm up (9:30) then (8:17) (8:12) (8:10).

My observation of the past few days is that many people who smoke and drink, (and not just beer drinkers, soda drinkers too), think it is also their right to throw their cigarette boxes, bottles, cups, cans, straws and lighters out the car window where ever they are.  It makes me sad.  : (

Ran today with my 2 BRBs, (best running buddies)!  My hubby and the sunshine!  Yeah!  Ave. pace 8:56

I'm on my way to read a book to our 3rd grader's class.  I'm going to read Bamboozled.  Fun book if you are looking for a cute picture book to read with your kids!  Have a great day! 

It's so nice having a built in running buddy!  Tom and I decided to just wake up whenever.  I woke up at 6:30 and he had been awake for about 20 minutes.  We slept through the 6:00 meeting point and the 6:30 meeting point, which was fine by me!  We got out the door around 7:00. 

Nasty old wind to join us on the long run today.  We went down through the Leland/softball loop.   Going down wasn't so bad, but heading back up into the riverbottoms and up into SF I was not feeling the love for the wind.  I was glad I wasn't doing this one alone!  I got to come home but Tom still had 5 more to go to get his miles.  I'm sure he will be happy to be done soon too. 

Our son, Jansen,  and his city league basketball team is playing for the championship today.  The game the other day to get them to this point was quite intense.  We'll see how this one goes today. 

Ave pace 9:30  Overall time 1:54:02

After a 2 mile warm up I did 8 X 1 minute hills.  Nice sun out today. 

I didn't get a kiss on the cheek from the sun today like I was hoping, but it was still perfect weather for a run! Short sleeves and shorts again!  Woo hoo!  I don't think that will be the case for the next few days though.  I did a very random, zig zaggy, see new places type of run today.  At around 2 miles I did 8 x 10 second hill sprints. 

Saw a few people out doing yard work....even one mowing his lawn!  However, I think he was just doing his fall leaf clean up. 

Ave. pace: 9:13

The plan today was for 6 miles with the last 4 at 8:30 pace.  I had to adjust that a bit because of time and wind.  I got out a bit late and realized I needed to be at the school to help in my daughter's class at 12:15.  So in order to get back and have time for a shower I had to cut a mile out. 

So I did 2 miles warm up then tried for the 8:30 for the last three.  The up hill and wind on the first two made it so I could only get to a 8:46 and 8:58 pace.   Finally the last mile was level and crosswind instead of up hill and head wind.  I did that mile in 7:49 and felt much better than the others! 

Hurried home, showered, quick bite to eat and off to help at the school.  Came out of the school to some rain....glad I was done with the run!  Now I want chocolate! 

Running in a winter wonderland today!  The streets were clear though so I quite enjoyed it.  Except that I tried a pair of shoes that I haven't worn for a long time.  They are still in good shape so I wondered why I hadn't been wearing them.   I was reminded early in the run!  They really hurt my lower legs.  Burning in the achillies/calf area.  After about the 1st mile and a half it wasn't quite as bad, but I don't think I'll be running in these again.

Ave. pace 9:00

The wind was a bit brisk as Tom and I stepped out this morning, but it turned out to be not so bad.  We met up with the SF group.  Enjoyed running in a big pack for 8 miles then turned around with Pat and Jamie for the rest of the way. 

Ave. pace:  8:50

Quick run down...started out with clouds and wind.  Wind blew clouds away and sun came to join wind.  So sun/wind beats cloud/wind.  Actually sun/sun would have been ideal, but hey, I'm in Utah and it's March...tomorrow I'll probably be running in snow again!   So the sun/wind was great for today!

Did a 123212321 (minutes @7:30-8:00 pace w/.25 mile recovery)

1 mile warm up at 9:06

1 @ 7:36...2 @ 7:26...3 @ 7:42...2 @ 7:56...1 @ 7:36...2 @ 7:35...3 @ 7:48...2 @ 7:32...1 @ 7:31 

1.3 miles to home at 9:14 pace.

It's good I got out when I did. I was out with the springtime Utah, but toward the end of the run it chilled off quite a bit and I think that wintertime Utah may be coming for the afternoon.

No speedwork, no long run, no excitment, just an enjoyable run.  Ave. pace 9:05

Four on the Provo River Trail with my cute hubby.  Nice to see a few other people out enjoying the trail also. 

The good thing is the weather held off and was quite perfect for a race.  The bad news is the 5K was long and the 10K was short.  Grrrr!  I use to wonder why that was such a big deal to Tom and other runners.  But now that I am doing the running also, I understand!  I don't know my official time or place at the moment.  I think it was 25:30.  I will check the results when they are up and see where I fall in the age division.  I must say the age divisions with the most people will surely be 18 - 25 year olds!

Mile 1: Fighting the crowds and going up hill most of the way.  (8:18)

Mile 2: Downhill all the way.  Time to have some fun. (7:02)

Mile 3:  Turns and heading a bit up hill to the track.  (7:56)

.27:  I would have been happier if this would have been .10 like it was suppose to be!  I didn't have the kick I like to have at the end.  Oh well.  (8:02)

Over all ave pace 7:47.  I was hoping to get under 24:30.  I guess if it would have been the right length I probably would have done it. 

Tom and I had to hurry off to a family b-day party in SLC so we didn't get to see any of the results. 

****Results are finally up.  I am happy I ended up 2nd out of 26 in my age and 206th overall, including men, out of 1526 people!  Woo hoo!  Tom got 1st in his age!  Woo hoo!  How sad we couldn't stay for awards.  I wonder if we missed out on anything really cool. 

Six miles with 8 x 10 sec hill repeats on a beautiful Utah afternoon! 

Was reminded several times today of the many blessings I have.  Why can't I see my blessings that clearly always?  At least for right now, I see! 

• Warm up one mile: 9:19
• 8:33
• 8:16
• 8:21
• 8:14
• 7:45
• Cool down one mile: 8:52
• .55 mile more cool down: 9:06

Five miles on a windy Provo River trail with Tom.  Now I''m drinking warm cocoa to warm my inards.

So very dark at 6:00 a.m. again!  But the stars were sure pretty!  Tom and I met up with a small SF crowd and headed out in the dark.  I felt a little claustriphobic without being able to see so well and started freaking out a bit.  A single runner came towards Tom and I that I didn't see until he was right there and I let out a yelp!  Poor guy!  I probably helped him pick up his pace!  :)

I ran with Tom to the storehouse, to Osborne's then up toward the golf course.  Back at Osborne's we went our separte ways.  The last 4-5 were actually the most enjoyable.  I had felt a little sluggish at first and it was so dark.   I think the sun coming up over the mountain helped boost me  a bit.

Wow!  Spring fever has officially hit!  What a nice day!  Almost too hot for my hill repeats.  I probably could have used a little drink of water in there.  During the winter I can do a 6 mile run easily without water.  Today I was grateful to get home to a big drink!

Two mile warm up at 9:13. Then 8 x 1 minute hill repeats.  I wasn't sure what the pace was suppose to be so I just did them at whatever I felt like I could keep for 8 times.  They ranged from 8:17 to 8:43.  Cool down with a little over 2 miles back home. 

No speed work, no hills, no fancy smancy stuff.  Just an easy 4 miler with my doggie woggie.  :)

I have to add a tally mark to the left side of the chalkboard for today.  For further explaination of the chalkboard and tally marks go to http://pthomas.fastrunningblog.com/  and while you are there you can wish him a happy 50th birthday!  He's a great guy with a lot of great wisdom and inspiration packed in that 50 year old body of his!

Anyway, mentally I wasn't ready to do today's workout.  Warm up...4 X 1mile repeats at 7:45-8:15 with a 1 minute jog/rest between....cool down.  I had decided to just get out and run and not worry about a certain workout.  But I didn't let my mind and the wind win today!  I did a mile and a half warm up and then started my miles right smack into the wind!  Miles 1 and 3 were into the wind while miles 2 and 4 the wind was at my back. 

• 8:00
• 7:48
• 8:01 
• 7:37

And so I did it...and now I have my first tally marks on the left side of my new imaginary chalkboard.  I think I'll  use this chalkboard a lot...silly, but effective. 

Tom wanted to go do the UV Marathon course this morning, so I met up with the SF crowd without him. 

It was a very nice morning.  We were all over dressed and had to stash our jackets for pick up on the way home.    The guys kept me going at about an 8:50 pace.   It was fun to get my longest run of 2010 in. 

I went to my 2 daughter's play, The Wizzard of Oz.  I thought I might get too tired after the run and fall asleep, but they kept me entertained and awake.  Theater is done for another year...no more curling 2 girl's head's of hair twice a day!  Yeah!

Much warmer out than it looked.  I'm thinking I need to start getting out earlier soon.  My legs were a little tired from Saturday's run.  I finally started to enjoy the run at about 4.5 miles. 

Did just over four this morning with Tom.  So glad I'm not out doing it right  now!  Yucky wind!

The snow falling outside made it hard to make the right decision today.  Tom called me from work and gave me a little motivation.  I like running in snow better than wind so I thought I'd better get out, since the wind will proabably kick in later.

I was trying to do the middle 5 miles at 8:15-8:45 pace.  The first two were up hill and I didn't hit it, but the last three were 8:11-8:15s.   

I came upon a dead skunk in my path.  Gave me a little start there!  He looked like he was just rolled up nicely for a little nap in the middle of the road.  Unfortunately for him but fortunately for me, I beleive it is an eternal sleep that he is in.

Thursday is one of 2 rest days for me and today I went in and ran with Tom.  We had a nice and gentle 4 miles in cloud/wind/sun.  Nice conversation and company.  : )

Tom and I met up with a fairly large SF crowd today.  It was nice to see that everyone is dedicated runners even though we all listened to the howling wind all night long.  Not bad when we went out though.  It did do some rain/sleet pellets for awhile that I thought might leave a pock mark or two on the face. 

I did my 10.25 with a variety of people.  The last mile I was with a group of about 6 when we all pulled to one side to let a car go past.  I was at the back of the pack when a medium sized black dog came up behind me and bit at my ankle.  I did not hear him or see him until he was growling and biting at my foot.  I let out a yelp that not only scared the dog away, but as Dan said, "cleared the cholestorol right out of his body!"  I am grateful that the dog didn't get a hold of me!  I've never had a dog do that quite like that before and I hope to never have it again!  The moral of this story....don't be the antelope at the back of the pack!

Ran in the riverbottoms in the sunshine with Tommy!  Kind of a 6 mile progression run with a 1.2 cool down to home while Tom stayed and did some hill repeats. 

       Today's list

• Sleep in
• Run 6 miles in shorts and short sleeves with my cute hubby
• Go shopping
• Go swimming
• Eat dinner and ice cream and  maybe even a few Peanut Butter M & Ms
• Play games with the fam
• Lounge around some more

Now that's a good day!  :)

Ok, today will be pretty much the same as yesterday....darn!  : )

My race ended up being a little more of a happy face than Tom's did today.   : (  Unfortunately he had to walk the last .2 in a lot of pain.  Took him 4 minutes to go the last .2.  I was happy he could at least hobble across the finish line. He did the 10K and still ended up with 2nd in his age.  He's probably down and out for a bit. 

I did the 5K and am keeping with my 2010 tradition of 2nd in my age.  I had a kick at the end and was trying to beat that 24 I could see coming on that clock, but I just missed it.  Oh well.  This is a PR for me and I think this course is kind of tough so I am smiling for my effort!

It was fun to have the 1st place girl from a younger division come up to me after and thank me for helping her have the best race she has had. 

Tani and Tia made a good choice to get out of bed early this morning and go do the kid's run.  Tani decided that she would do the 5K next time. 

I guess I'd better go play some tennis and some shuffleboard and swim and sit in the sun for awhile now.

Warm + windy + running = very thirsty!

Wow!  That was one HAIL of a run!  Actually just the first mile was hail.  After that it was mostly sunny with a light, misty rain. 

Today was a very nice day to run.  (sorry to any injured runners who happen to read my blog and aren't able to get out today!)  I had a stomach ache as I woke up today so I am pleasantly surprised that I was able to do my planned workout without any problems.

• Mile 1:  warm up 9:40
• 2: 8:27
• 3: 8:19
• 4: 8:20
• 5: 8:07
• 6: 8:08
• 7: 8:20
• 8: 8:29
• 9: cool down 9:34

It made me sad to get up this morning and leave my ailing hubby home in bed.  Number one reason it made me sad was that he is injured and can't go out at the moment....number two reason is because HE got to STAY in BED!  But I know he would rather have got up and ran! 

I met up with the SF group.  Most of us were planning about the same miles for the day so there was a fairly good group all along.  From my house to all the regular Saturday morning run plus up around pretty little road and back to my house is a perfect 14 miler! 

Beautiful day here in Utah!  At least for the moment!  Enjoy!

Soon I'll have to start getting out before getting the kids off to school.  It's getting a little warm out there!  That is NOT a complaint!  LOVIN' the weather!  Everything looks so pretty right now and it just feels good!  But it is a bit warm to run in and I had a very red face that is not at all atractive when I was done. 

I just have to say, I have a great hubby!  He is doing so well with his attitude while he is down for a bit!  He is my greatest cheerleader even though I'm sure it's so hard for him to sit back and listen to my running stories when he would like to be out there making running stories of his own!  Thanks Tommy!  <3

Oops!  Kicked a little dog that was right at my feet today.  I don't think the little dog liked it so much.  I didn't really mean to kick it, but it's hard not to when they are  right at your feet like that.  Thing is, those two dogs are out chasing every time I go past there!  I haven't ran that route for a while but they were still there!  Maybe next time they will think twice before chasing after me or other runners.  But I do hope the little guy is ok.

The rain was pouring down while I was getting ready to go out for this run.  I tried to have Tom give me some sympathy and an OK to not go out, but he had nothing of that nonsence!  So out I went.  It was raining, but not pouring when I went out.  I wasn't sure if I would get the planned workout in or not, but I was giving it a shot.  The rain actually turned to a gentle mist and then sun.  Which made it a little muggy but I made it through.

1 mile warm up: 9:31

 3 @ HM to 10K pace: 8:18, 8:16, 8:10

4 minute jog/rest: 10:00

1 mile @ 5K pace: 7:44 (with the rest of the workout and the warm/muggy, I barely made it to the end of that one.  Would not have been able to hold that for 5K).

1.6 mile cool down

Thanks for kicking me out the door Tom!  :-)

Mostly ran with cute Jamie today!  Thanks Jamie!  Nice conversation, nice run, nice weather and a very nice girl.  Still sad to leave my ailing hubby home while he is recovering.  He is being very smart and very nice.  Can't believe how well he is handling things!  It will be nice for him to start some cross training soon though. 

Provo half marathon next Saturday.  It is my first half since August or so.  It will be interesting to see how it goes.  I'm not making any big goals for now, just want to see where I am at this point. 

This Saturday is my first half marathon of the year. 

• I'm excited to see where I'm at with that distance.  : )
• I think I will get to do it in yucky weather though, so I'm not quite as excited about that.  : (
• I am excited to have my hubby/cheerleader/coach cheering me on throughout the race and at the finish line. : )
•  But I am not excited that he will not be running this race.  : (

I hope that if,(when), it is my turn to be injured that I can remember how well Tom is doing with his injury.  He is handling things so much better than I thought he would!  He is being very smart, very patient and very nice! : )  I hope his diligence pays off very well and very quickly for him!

Today's run was enjoyable, easy and in the sun!  : )  The rest of the week may be different.... snow is on the way again....  : (

Nothing much exciting to say today. 

When I am out running and it starts to rain I can handle that ok.  But when it is already raining and I can tell it's going to be raining all day and I have to go out with it already coming down it is very hard for me.  Which is the case today.  However, I have had to do some very hard things in life so I knew that I could handle this.  It just took a few hours to get motivated enough to actually do it. 

I only needed to get 4 in today with the 2 middle ones being 8:00-8:20. 

(9:15)(8:07)(8:05)(8:33)  The last mile was for a cool down and I felt like I was going more like 9:15.  What a surprise to look at the time and see 8:33. 

You would think that a May 1st half marathon would be a nice pleasant weather run!  NOT!  When we woke up and let the dog out I was excited because it seemed very mild and no moisture of any sort.  But that changed as we got ready to leave and on our way in.  I was still excited thinking the storm would get itself out of the way for the race. 

The actual starting lineup had a false sence of "fair weather" to it.   But then we were fooled no longer....Rain, rain, more rain, some snow, maybe some hail/sleet stuff!  It all blurred together to cause us all to be soaking wet!

I don't know the official time yet.  My watch said 1:50:59.  I think it is pretty close.  It was hard to have this be the first time Tom has not ran a race that I ran.  He has been such a great support, even while injured!  He hobbled me to the start line.  He cheered me on just past mile one!  He gave me five at mile five.  He handed Gatorade to people at mile 10 and was there to catch me with a warm blankie at the finish!  Thanks Tom!

For future refrence, my split times.

(8:15)(8:22)(8:20)(8:28)(8:26)(8:19)(8:15)(8:23)(8:35)(8:39)(8:50)(8:39)(8:02) with the last .1 (7:36)

Just looked at the official results.  I get to take one second off of what I thought it was.  Actual time 1:50:58.  7th of 28 in my age and 145 of 663 runners (men and women).

I took a three day break after the half and went out for a very easy 6 miles today.  It was a perfect day to go slow and enjoy the sunshine!  I haven't just done a real nice and easy run for a while.  It's good for the mind and body to just enjoy what is out there!

Nice, easy 6 miles in the somewhat deceiving sunshine.  Recovery weeks are nice!  : )

Seven and a half miles and then 2-3 hours volunteer work at the Canyon Elementary Fun Run.  Weather was perfect at the end of the race.  Not so perfect before and during.  Our school has been doing this for at least 13 years.  It is fun to get the school together like this.  Tom and I were in charge of it for 4 years.  The Cables have now been in charge for 4 years.  I would be happy to take over again till our youngest is out of elementary. 

It rained through the night and was raining this morning when we woke up.  I assumed I would be running in the rain today.  My daughter called from school and said she had forgot her glasses so I decided to get the runnin' gear on and run them up to her.

It was beautiful while I was out and looking even more beautiful now.  I love the day after a good rain!  Rain!  Not snow!  At this time of year rain is more than welcome, but I hope we are finally done with snow....we'll see.

The main things I had to worry about today were a few puddles and lots of worms in the road.  I really didn't want to hit a worm and go sliding into the splits! 

My other problem of the day was a sad old CHRISTMAS song going over and over in my head!  I had to do something to get it out so I started singing, "My mother said not to put beans in my ears."  Now does anyone have a remedy for getting that song out of my head?!  One thing I like about that song while running is that it is in 3/4 time.  So I don't over emphasize one foot all the time.   The down beat changes back and forth to each foot.  OK, I'm sounding kind of strange now, and I am just not a strange person (ha ha) so I best be done for now. 

If you have never heard of Beans in your ears, go to this you tube to find out how to get it stuck in your head too!  : )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjL8Ec-w1wU

Yep!  I decided to do 12 today.  Rain and all!  It was perfect.  Just sprinkles here and there with a few moments of a bit more than sprinkles.  Nothing like the "Drowned Rat Race" of May 1st!

Two excitements of the run....first was when I approached 5 deer enjoying their fresh greens for the morning.  They didn't notice me and I didn't notice them until we were about 5 feet from each other.  They were just off the side of the road as I rounded a corner.  It startled them, (which in turn startled me), and they hopped off a ways to stop and look at me.  So I stopped to look at them for a minute also.

Then I turned onto tree line road and there was about 20 feet of road covered in water from a plugged up irrigation area.  A nice local farmer on a four wheeler was just finishing helping three other girl runners from the other side to my side when I got there.  So he loaded me on and took me across to the other side.  He said helping us across was lots more fun than working!  : ) 

Yesterday I didn't mention the fun Tom and I had talking to our missionary on Mother's Day!  I love Skype!  It was a fabulous 1 hour and 36 minutes!  Our missionary is in Denmark and has been gone for almost 6 months.  He is doing so well and is very happy!  Makes a mom's Mother's Day perfect!  : )

Now off to a nice, long, hot shower!

ave. 9:26  And I just noticed it took one hour and 36 minutes....just like my Skype call....the call seemed much faster.

 Nice~n~easy sixer.

Another easy six.  It's fun to just get some miles without worrying about how fast I have to go.  I think I'll kind of be in this mode for a few weeks. Comfortable speed usually ends up being between 9:15-9:35ish.   Today's run was along the bunny trail.  Lots of fun with the bunnies, but I just have to sing "hoppin' down the bunny trail...hippity hoppity Easter's on it's way." ....and I don't love having that song stuck in my head.  But maybe it's better than Beans in your ears like the other day.   One thing I know for sure....I can't wait till Tom can run the bunny trail with me again.  I miss my brb, (best running buddy).

Since I did 12 on Tuesday I used today as a sleep in and short run day.  I ran down to the bunny trail and Tom met me down there.   After I had my 4 in I walked around the loop with him at his "feeling-quite-a-bit-better-but-still a-bit-nervous" pace.  It was just fun to be able to walk with him without him limping or hurting!  Woo hoo! 

So I guess I'm no longer an alternate for the Wasatch Back...I am now a member of the team.  My first relay.  It should be fun.  I'm still learning what I need to know to become an official member of the team.  I'm sure it will be a fun adventure.

This morning I did 6 miles.  The first mile was down hill and I let myself go faster than I should have to start off the morning and the week and I felt a bit of a twinge in the left knee IT band area.  I need to keep things nice and slow for the next few weeks as I am just uping my miles a bit.  Going for 35-40 weekly miles.  No need for speed right now.

...seven soggy miles...

six something, something.....

five pud-dle jumps......

four something elses......

three impatient drivers.....

two layers of clothing......

and one blister from a very wet sock!

Sorry, that's as creative as it gets today.  = ) 

Ran 3 miles, (in rain).  Sat through some of the Hershey's track meet, (in rain), until it got cancelled.  Took Tani home to get dry clothes and then back to school.  Then finished up with four more miles, (in rain, in case you didn't guess.)

Tani was able to run her 100 meter and do her long jump before they cancelled.  She took a big time first in her heat of the 100.  She did a long jump of 77 inches.  She was also suppose to do the softball throw and she was on the relay team.  She was one of the sad ones that didn't want to cancel.  I don't know if they will try to reschedule the rest or if they will call this good.  But way to go Tani girl!

I was hoping to get 6 in but time kept me to only 5.5 today.  I am just trying to get around 35 happy miles in each week for a while.  Today was nice, maybe a bit muggy, but not rainy.  My hubby is getting a little bit better each day!  I am so happy for him!  He has been the best PT patient ever!  Without much grumpiness at all!  I really am impressed with him!

Our 6th grade daughter's track meet was rescheduled for today.  Much better weather for it than Tuesday's regularly scheduled, rained out meet!  I got three miles in and then drove down to watch her in the 100 meter.  After she ran I ran the rest of my miles and came back to watch her in the semi finals and the relay.  She did very well in everything!  I hope she will have a desire to be on school teams as she moves along! 

And now off to the 3rd grade program.  Lots of excitment these last few weeks of school.  I love to go watch them do their thing!

I am so glad Kim H. decided to join with the SF group today!  Yeah Kim!  It was so fun to run with her!  I had met her in passing on one run a year or two ago, but never really until this morning.  It was great to have a soggy running buddy with me!  She is Kimmy on the blog.  I noticed she blogged today for the first time since like October or something.   We are looking forward to getting some good runs in together between now and SGM.  However we won't have a chance to run together for the next few weeks.  

We chatted a bit about the bloggers that she knows, that I don't know.  And that I know that she doesn't know.  And about those who we both know.  It will be fun to get to know some of her gang that I haven't "met" yet. 

Today I got to take my almost 16 year old, (on Monday), son to Red Robin for a lunch date and shopping at the mall for some b-day presents.  I have to say it was quite an enjoyable date!  So fun to just be with him and spend time together.  And tonight I get to go out on a date with Tommy.  He got to go on a cabin trip with our girls last night.  They have been riding horses and four wheelers.  Great times! 

I don't even want to write it....it's so deja vu-ish!  Six miles in the RAIN!  But as I was avoiding all the worms all over the road yet again I was thankful that I wasn't out running when THEY were falling!  That would not be a fun run.  So far I've always been out just after the worms fall, never during a bad worm storm.

Ran in the morning sunlight...such a strange concept.  Almost missed the rain. 

I am so sad that I neglected to mention my son's 16th birthday yesterday!  Happy late birthday Jansen!  This morning we sluffed 1st and 2nd period to go get his official liscense.  So glad we went when we did!  I've never been to the DMV when there were less than 50 people there in line. 

I tried a "two a day" today in preparation for Wasatch Back in a few weeks.  I went out this morning around 6 o'clock and did five miles.  Then I just got back from 6 more.  The sun wasn't shining too much but it felt quite warm and muggy.  It's good for me to get out in a little more warmth.  (I'm saying warmth because I know that Bonnie has been running in 100 degrees, so I dare not say hot.  Even though to us who have not yet had spring think it feels that way.)   This morning's average pace was 8:58 and this last one was 8:50.  I was going to keep this second one slower than 9s but I guess I was impatient. 

Good news!  Tom is so on the mend!  He will soon start getting back into very gentle running.  I can't wait to run with him again!  He will be taking it easy through this running season so it will be a fun time to run together, (since his easy is my regular stuff).

When I was up at midnight waiting for my 16 year old I thought of getting out for my run.  Then at 4:00 when I woke up again and had a hard time getting back to sleep I thought of going out.   Finally at 6:00 I actually did go out.  Nice to see more and more people getting out and running, walking and biking! 

I just got home from my 6th grader's graduation program.  She had been asked to give a little talk.   She did a great job.  It's crazy to be sending her onto the big bad Jr. High.  Not sure I'm ready for that.  But I think she is. 

Slept in till 7:30 today.  Felt good.  I needed that.  When I first started my run I noticed something that I am not use to seeing.  It was with me wherever I went.  Sometimes in front, sometimes in back and sometimes to the side.  It was quite fun to watch!  It was my shadow!  The sun hasn't been peeking in on my runs lately and I kind of forgot what a shadow was.  It was nice to have it along today! 

At the end of my run I noticed a sweet friend out in her yard and stopped to say hi.  We chatted about this and that and our cute missionaries and how beautiful Mt. Timp looks with the snow and the blue sky.  We had a nice little visit and then I started for home. 

I decided to go up one final street before turning to my house when I saw another friend just opening the hood of her car.  I came from behind her and said, "are you a fix it girl?"  She said, "no, but I need a jump."  Her kids were buckled in and she seemed anxious to be going.  I told her I would run around the corner and grab my van and come and help her.  When I got back over there she seemed very relieved and said she thinks that is the fastest her prayers have ever been answered.  She said as she was saying amen she heard me say "are you a fix it girl?".  She was very grateful and I feel blessed to have been able to be in the right place at the right time for her today!

Then home to mow lawns and give my daddy a haircut. 

Nice morning to get out.  Not all soggy like last Saturday, but not hot at all.  Perfect, maybe a teeny bit muggy.  Ran mostly with Jill, Kim and Carolyn.  

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You’re off to Great Places!

You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

~Dr. Seuss~

So Tom and I are off to great places now!  See ya when we get back!

My goal for miles on the boat track was 35.  My actual miles ended up 37!  Woo Hoo!  That is 185 times around the track on deck 11.  I took my handy dandy tally counter and it worked out great!  When I got to 185 I really wanted to take it three more miles and get 200 laps around the track but I was not feeling well at all by that time. I got really sick that last day and coming home yesterday.  I went into the doc today to find out I have pnumonia.  This might put a damper on my first Wasatch Back experience.  If I don't improve a lot in the next few days my doc advises me to drop out for this year. 

Wow, who would have thought I would get 37 miles the week of vacation/cruise and a big fat zero the week I get home?  Not me?  I was planning on having a bit lower week this week because I had 4 weeks of building up miles, but not quite like this.....not my idea of fun!  I am definately better than a few days ago, but not sure when is a good time to start doing much again.  Even walking down the hall too fast or laughing still puts me in a coughing fit.  Hopefully by Monday things will be all better! 

Good luck to any Utah Valley Marathon Racers!  I'm hoping to be doing well enough to go watch Terry and my friend, Susy and anyone else coming over the finish line.  If you are running and you know about when you'll be finishing let me know.

I decided it was time to try a little run.  I didn't want to go first thing in the morning because of the cool air, but it didn't seem to warm up too much.  Kind of strange for June.  I just decided to run slow and see how it felt.  If it felt OK then I would go up to 3 miles.   It felt fine so I got 3 miles in.  I did a little coughing when I was done but it all seems to be in my throat and not my lungs.  The last 6 times I ran was on a ship on the ocean.  It was nice not to go around and around and around for my miles today.  I plan to keep things real easy and low miles this week.  Then I hope I can start my official SGM training.

Ya know what I am most excited for?  Running with Tom tomorrow!  Just when he was able to get running again I got sick.  It will be nice to run with my BRB again!

Yeah!  Ran 4 walked 2 with my BRB/hubby, Tommy, in the beautiful morning sun!  The coughing is almost gone.   Probably a bit of it will hang on forever like coughing does.  But yippee yahoo for a great way to start the day!

I can tell my energy level isn't quite up to normal.  I did fine with my 5 mile run this morning but didn't have a lot of energy at home. 

Wow, when Tom and I went out to run today we commented on how it felt like October.  Crazy weather but it sure makes for some beautiful scenery!  The mountains are so green and pretty!   Ran 4 with Tom and then one more for the day.

I am one of those lucky people who only work one day a week.  Three weeks ago I missed for my daughter's 6th grade graduation.  Two weeks ago I missed for our cruise and last week I missed for pneumonia.  It was so nice to be there today.  I get to work with a great gal and we have such awesome people who come in each week.  It was a joy to see each of them.  However I was sad as my cute Joan came in and told me that her dear hubby of 49 years had passed away last week.  I cried with her.  What a sweet example her and her hubby are to all!  She was so cute as she mentioned that he was just ahead of her planning a great place for them both but she was going to give him plenty of time to work on it before she joined him.  : )

So I can't figure out my back.  I hurt through the night and wake up hardly able to move.  After a few minutes of walking around I am able to go about the rest of my day with no troubles, including being able to run. People who see me running don't believe that I really have back troubles at all.  I'm wondering if I need a firmer mattress.  I am also wondering if wearing heels at work, (I stand for four hours in heels), makes it worse the next morning.  I need to start keeping track of the things I am doing and when my back is doing well or not. 

But after the back worked through it's crazyiness I enjoyed yet another run with my hubby.  I think I like him being at my level.  : )  A little selfish, I know, but I like it.  It's great to run with him!  I'll enjoy it as long as it lasts. 

Great run today!  No time to write though so for more details go to tom.fastrunningblog.com

Have a great day!

Tom is  helping me with a new approach to marathon training this year.  In the past I have ran 35-45 miles a week but the daily miles were always about the same each day except the long run on Saturday.  This time we are going to have the daily mileage different but still add up to the 35-45 per week.  This way I will have a mini long run in the midweek.  It will be interesting to see how it works out for me. 

Eight quiet morning miles up around the golf course.  Six of them with Tom. 

This morning Tom and I started out together but I was having a problem at the top of my leg that was bugging me.  I wasn't sure if it would loosen up for me very good or not so I wanted to keep it really slow and stay close to home in case I had to call it quits for the day.  After about 1/2 a mile I could tell it was feeling a bit better so I went the opposite way that Tom was going so I could meet up with him again.  I met up with him and then I had to go on my own a bit to get my 6 for the day.

Sad observances of the day.....more shot out windows in the neighborhood!  Lately there have been a bunch in SF and Salem.  I saw 4 cars this morning but my friend just told me that hers was shot out also.  She said the police said there were over 20 in SF last night and 10 in Salem.  Why? 

I wish whenever I wait around all morning to get my run in that I would remember how enjoyable it is to get up and get it out of the way.  The morning sun is always so nice, seeing others out and about is always fun and it is done for the day.  It's been working out well to run with Tom most days.  Kind of convenient when you wake up with your running buddy!  : )

Tom and I wanted to do a different route today, but the wind made us stick with our good old standby.  If we do our regular route it has us going with the wind instead of against it.  It just seems a little nicer and not as abrupt as waking up and running straight into the wind.

Today is the day my girls have been waiting for!  They are in Cinderella and will perform three times today.  Tani is Drizella and Tia is one of the mice.  They are so excited!  I am looking forward to watching them!  Break a leg girls!

Not much to say.

Did my 4.3 route mostly with Tom.  He is still being a bit careful in getting his miles up.  I must say he has been a very diligent patient and done everything his PT has told him to do.  I think next week he will be at my mileage. 

These June mornings have sure been beautiful!  As we round the corner into the river bottoms we are greeted each day with the cutest little colt!  There are also a couple larger horses there.  Then we get to see fluffy little white bunny and sometimes his buddy grey bunny will also be out sunning.  Today we were also greeted by some of the chickens out for a stroll.  Down the road a bit we usually see 2 horses with their little goat buddy, but not today...must be somewhere else where the grasses are greener or something.  And white doggy buddy who used to come out and bark at us now just watches us pass by.  I think he's getting too old for his old antics!  I hope I never get to old to get up and go.  It's good to start a new week!  Have a great day!

Tom and I decided to do our Leland 8 mile loop today.  It was nice to have a change of scenery, but it gives us the wind at our face around miles 5 - 7.  But it was a nice morning, the clouds were in just the right places at the right times. 

We'll see what happens when you go to the midnight showing of Eclipse with your great friend visiting from Georgia, (I have never even seen any of the Twilight movies but wanted to go just to have a fun girl's night), get home at 3:20 a.m. then get up at 6:00 to go on my 6 mile run with my hubby. 

I felt really good for the run.  The wind tried to break us as we went up our hill in mile 4 but it just helped kick me into a faster gear at the top for my last two miles.  Most of the run was about a 9:20 average.  Mile 5 was 8:42 then my last mile by myself was 7:56.  I walked back and walked home with Tom for about a half a mile.  This has been good for me to get a little walking in after my run.  I've never been very good at doing  a good cool down.

Crash and burn to come....

Wow!  I can't believe it is already July 2nd!  Where does time go?  Sometimes it's kind of scary!  Anyway, I was suppose to do 6 yesterday and 3 today but my body and mind needed to take yesterday off so I did 6 today instead.  I only lost 3 miles for the week by taking yesterday off. 

Tom and I ran 3 together then I added 3 more on my own.  He will soon be caught up to my weekly mileage and then he will stick with me through all my runs for the most part. 

Tom and I had a great morning run today before heading to my hometown of Manti for the 4th of July celebrations.  Went out to Ozbourne's past Junk Mail up Zepher around the corner to Harry's (went up about a half a mile) back down Harry's down around Pretty Little Road and back through Junk Mail, Ozbournes and up Heartbreak hill. 

We met up a bit with Chad and Hal.  Chad told us of finding a drunk on a bike sprawled out on the road on his way to meet up with people at 5:30 a.m.  He had to wait for cops to come which put him about a half hour behind on his day.  I'm glad it wasn't me that ran into that scene!  You never know what you will see out on your early morning run! 

Kind of cool temps for a Utah July morning.  Quite enjoyable!

My silly back is hard to understand.  It hurts as I sleep and when I first wake up.  In fact, I could hardly move when I got up this morning.  Once I get moving along though it loosens up and is just fine!

We met up with our friend, Darin, who just returned from a trip to Israel with his wife.  It was very interesting to hear about the things they were able to do.  He told us we have to do that before we are 65 years old.  It was an amazing feeling just hearing about where they went, I can't imagine actually being there. 

Now time to enjoy one more day with the family before Tom has to head back to work.  I just wish our 16 year old boy liked doing things with us a bit more.  Oh well, I suppose some day he will again. 

Just a few of the things I can be grateful for on today's run...

• There was a porta potty in a very needed place!  : )
• Although it was a porta potty for construction workers it had just been cleaned!  : )
• The skunk was already dead when we passed it.  Stinky, but not on us!  : )
• The weather was nice and cool for July and we were fine even though the water stop we had planned didn't work out.  : )
• A body healthy enough to get out and run!  : )
• A cute running buddy/hubby to get out and run with!  : )   : )   : )   : )  

Today's list is a few things that we as runners should not assume....

• that the driver sees us just because we see them....(how could they see us when they are TEXTING?)
• that your running buddy sees the big water puddle.  oops! 

Have a great day friends! 

Sometimes when Tom and I have a quiet run it is a Grrrrrr-and-quiet run because one or both of us are bugged at the other for some silly reason, but today was one of those nice-and-quiet runs where we both were quiet and contemplating with no Grrrrrrrs going through our head.  I think I'm getting kind of spoiled having my built in running partner.  It's fun to have him stick at my level for this year.  I'll enjoy it while I have it.  : )  

Tom and I woke up about 4:20 this morning to get to the first Hobbler 1/2.  We got there about 5:20 and ended up as the last 2 people on the first bus.  So when we reached the starting point we had a whole hour to spare.  It was a bit nippy but not enough....that meant the heat would be coming way too soon.  I think it should start at 6:00 or at least 6:30. 

It started on time but on a very crowded street.   I'm thinking the super fast people were probably bugged at all the slower people who lined up at the front. 

We had decided to just take it at what felt good for me.  I know Tom, (even coming back from an injury), could have flown past me, but he stuck with me the whole way. 

The first 8-9 miles were fine.  I decided to take a Carboom a bit before the 8 mile water stop.  Unfortunately I took it too soon and it was hard to gag it down until I was able to get a good drink. 

After about 9 - 10 I was struggling way more than I would have liked.  My legs and body were feeling OK but I was really feeling like I couldn't breathe well.  That last 5K seemed like it might never end.  I think the course may have been a bit long, but both of our Garmins were being a little faulty so I'm not quite sure.

We ran across the finish line together.   I'm just a bit bugged that Tom was running mid pack with me and he still took  5th in his age where I took 7th.  Oh well.  : )

I loved the COLD water bottle that was already opened up for me as I came across the finish line!  But we couldn't find more water anywhere so we had to get another one along with everyone else.  So I hope that the people coming in later weren't left without water. 

Overall a good long run for me today.  I would like to have seen closer to 1:50 or lower but I gave it all I had to give today so I feel like I did my best on this race. 

Four mile recovery run after Saturday's 1/2 marathon.  Finally at about 3 1/2 miles I started feeling good. 

Today I did the SG Bunny Trail. 85 degrees at 6:00 in the morning.  Definitely lots of cute bunnies along this trail.  Luckily that is all, I keep a lookout for snakes and other critters that might be down this way.  I like bunnies....I don't like some of those other critters!

I'm down at the condo doing some of the deep cleaning that needs to be done.  All the kids whined about coming down in the hot weather so I came down alone. 

Last night I had to go out to my van to get some things at 11:00 p.m. and it was still 96 degrees!  Thank goodness for A/C! 

K....back to cleaning now.....

Here is a list of some of the things Tom and I passed on our 9 mile run this morning.

• Icelandic Monument
• Our favorite little white bunny
• Our favorite little colt
• Lots of runners/walkers that seemed to come out of the woodwork!  Most were going by twos.  Hopefully we don't see 40 days and 40 nights of rain come and Tom and I missed the ark. : )
• Lion statue at the end of a driveway.
• Pig with wings statue in a flower bed.
• Big giant pig statue by a front door.
• Doggy statue in a flowerbed.

All those things will be there waiting for us tomorrow, except maybe the people and the ark.... 

I was a bit worried about today's run because yesterday I was feeling some IT band warnings.  Tom and I kept it flat and easy and it felt good.  I'll watch things good and hope to avoid anything serious.

I took a needed rest day yesterday and it seemed to be the ticket.  My IT band has been threatening me this week but it felt great today.  Tom and I met up with the running group at 5:00.  Loved getting down into the river bottoms where the fields were being watered.  The breeze over the water gave us a bit of an air conditioning effect on a warm morning. 

Tom and I took off on a different road when everyone else was going towards Harry's Hill.  I wanted to avoid as many hills as possible today.  We loved our little turn off.  There was such a fun little lane lined with trees.  What a fun place for people to live.  All was great except the really strong cow smell by the dairy farm we had to pass twice.

Off to the Manti Temple with our cute nephew to take out his endowments.  He has been called to the Romania, Bucharest Mission and will leave in Sept.  It will be nice to spend the day with him and his family!

So yesterday marked 8 months since our cute missionary headed out on his mission.  He is in Denmark and doing so well!  I can't believe how much he is learning and growing!  No amount of college can do for a 19 year boy what a mission can do!  He has even become somewhat of a runner while on his mission.  We have tried for years to help him be interested in running and he is finally doing it! He said he still hates it and can't figure out why Tom and I enjoy it, but the members all feed them too much so he has to do something to help keep the weight down. 

Tom and I were able to chat with a few different runners along our way today.  Always nice to see friends out enjoying the beautiful mornings!

I'm grateful that I can get out and run each morning.  I'm grateful that Tom can too.  I will enjoy each day that we are able to do this!  With all the injuries and health problems all around and lurking over everyone's shoulders at all times we just need to remember....Someday I may not be able to run, but today is not that day!

Just the regular ole' 6 mile route with the nice hill into the wind.  I'm enjoying this marathon training that puts the focus on the mileage instead of speed.  I just run what feels good at the time.  I am also enjoying my coach/training partner.  I have usually had to do a lot of my runs on my own.  I quite enjoy having a consistent running buddy!

Tom and I did the hills of Spanish Fork this morning.  I'm interested to know what kind of elevation changes we have here in our city.  Felt like a good workout to me.  Tackling the uphill is always satisfying!

The rest of the day was spent at Lagoon.  We go once a year on Novell.  Thanks Novell.  Our son was able to meet and get a picture with Karl Malone.  How the heck did I miss seeing Karl there?  Oh well....Speaking of former NBA players....sad news about Shawn Bradley's dad.  He fell off his roof and died.  He is from my dad's old stompin' grounds over in Emery County.  Condolences to the Bradley family. 

Fridays are my optional day so I decided to take the option of a rest for the day.  Yesterday after doing a good workout of some hills we spent all day at Lagoon.  So in order to feel nice and fresh for tomorrow's long run I decided to sleep in, eat a handful of peanut butter m&ms and 2 chocolate chip cookies for breakfast and log a goose egg for today.  : ) 

The pillow is going to feel good to me in just about one hour even though it will still be light outside and most of you will be out enjoying some pyrotechnics through the night!  I am tired.  Went to bed at about 11:45 and woke up at 4:20.  Now some of you are able to handle that kind of sleep but not me. 

Tom and I ran 13 miles on some of our regular roads.  At mile 12 we were right in time to watch the Speedy Spaniard 10 K at mile 3.  We stopped to cheer on most of the runners.  It was fun to be the cheerleader!  But then we had to go straight up Heartbreak Hill after for our last mile home after a nice rest.  Wasn't sure if the legs were going to make it up the hill.  Once we got to the top the rest of the run home felt great.

We went to the parade with the family and some extended family and then enjoyed some of the entertainment at the park before coming home to yummy Sanpete County BBQ turkey, (only we used chicken), and visiting with family from the north and family from the south.

It has been a nice day to celebrate the pioneers here in Utah.  All you out of staters are probably wishing you would have had reason to celebrate today!

And soon.....goodnight! 

Some days this running blog is just a running log.  Today is one of those days.

The Tuesday Ten with Tom!  I'm kind of liking this mini long run on Tuesdays!  Our 10 mile course gives us a few hills and we added in a few striders along the way.  I felt good the whole way and I am not feeling overly tired! 

Tom was singing a few too many "happy" songs up the hills and into the wind.  I told him he is welcome to do all the singing in those situations! 

We saw a cute little deer and a couple of peacocks and lots of road kill today.  Nothing like Davy Crocket's report from the other day....holy cow, he saw a mountain lion, fox and a bunch of other stuff.    That would make me just a bit nervous!  But I do enjoy the wildlife and farm animals that we get to see each morning.

Today was one of those days that I just did not want to go run the same old route so I took Tom on a wild goose chase and we saw a few new things and enjoyed a little different route, part of it on the Spanish Fork River Trail. 

I did the 6 mile up and down the city streets route alone today.  Tom headed to the canyon with some of his buddies for an up/down run.  The city park is almost exactly half way in this run so I was able to get a "mouth temperature" drink of water....ugh!  Oh well, at least it wet my whistle for a minute. 

The problem with the up hills here in SF is that they are always INTO the wind!  The final mile uphill and into the wind was starting to get me down but I held on till the end!

Tom and I signed up for the Dirty Dash in Midway that will take place on Sep. 25th.  I am excited!  It should be lots of muddy fun.  We will just have to make sure we keep it slow and fun and not hurt ourselves in any way since it is one week before SGM. 

A great way to  end July!  Tom and I met up with the SF crew.  We ran with them for the first 3 but then was on our own as everyone had different routes and speeds they wanted to do today.  We took it out to Harry's Hill and made it to the top where the nice family keeps their hose available for us to take a drink.  (Thank you nice family!)

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? 

Happy, smiling running to all of you!

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. 

All in all a great morning run! 

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.  

Doe....a deer, lots of female deer, and even a couple cute fawns.

Ray...a drop of golden sun peeking over the mountains at us.

Me....and my cute hubby enjoying being active together in the nice morning hours.

Fa...we went sorta fa.  : )

So....I want to make some cookies.

La....ts and 'la'ts of cookies.  : )

Tea...no, milk is best with cookies!

And that will bring us back to lots more doe....they were all over the place today!

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.

Now it's time for a nap. 

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. 

Time for our "City Tour Ten" again.  Up and down the streets of our good ole windy city.  This gives us a mini long run/hill workout in the middle of the week. 

Yesterday I got to go with my dear friend out for massages and lunch to celebrate our b-days.  One word...."heavenly"!  My cute little massage thearapist at the Yardley Inn and Spa in Manti is my favorite!  She works the legs exactly how I need them at this point in marathon training. 

Tom and I shook things up a bit today and ran down west, mostly on some of the city trails. It was a nice morning.  Not many others out at first but finally started seeing a few people enjoying the early morning.  Rest day tomorrow then 20 on Saturday. 

Best long run of the year!  Loved it!  Woo Hoo!  I'm feelin' it! Yippee Yahoo!  Good Golly Miss Molly!  And any other type of woo hoo you can think of!  I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful! 

Beautiful run down Provo Canyon to Utah Lake with my really cute running partner!  I just really can't think of anything negative about the run at the moment.  We thought the detour on the Provo Trail was going to mess us up but it actually took us to exactly 20 at the finish.

Now....if only I can have the same kind of experience in 4 weeks with adding another 6.2 miles on! 

Did I mention this was a great run?! 

Tom and I are both still feeling really good after yesterday's 20 miler.  I am just sitting here trying to figure out a way to can or bottle all the things that went into making it such a great run so I can pull it off the shelf and use it whenever I need it.   Then I could start selling it and make a fortune! 

Happy rest day for me.  Back out there tomorrow.

Here we are at the start of another week.  One thing about marathon training is the weeks seem to go really fast.  I'm not sure if that is good or bad.  The chilly fall like mornings are kind of bittersweet.  I love this time of year, I guess I just wish it would stick around longer.

Last night I was up until midnight with our cute almost 10 year old daughter, Tia.  She had a tooth that needed to come out but was just not wanting to!  It was hanging on for dear life no matter what we tried.  We were twisting and pulling and pushing.  Finally at 12:05 I had it with the needle nose pliers and gave one final twist and pull and it was finally over!  Whew!  I was glad I wasn't going to have to wake up early for today's run.  We woke up at 7:00 which was just perfect and got out just in time to see the sun poke it's pretty little head up over the top of the mountain. 

We went to the airport yesterday to pick up our cute Japanese friend, Aoi, who will be staying with us for the next week and a half.  So fun to have her here with us.  Time to enjoy the day off with family and friends! 

Hope you all have a nice Labor Day break.

Time for our Tuesday ten, up and down the streets of the city.  Into the wind on the up hill and the wind at our backs on the down hill.  Chilliest morning yet....but was ok.  I don't really look forward to it getting any colder than this, but there's not a lot I can do about it but but bundle up and enjoy each run.  Because there may come a day when I can not run...but today is not that day!  : )

As much fun as marathon training is, I think I might be happy to be done with it soon.  Today was nice, but a little hard to get going the first few miles.  The wind always plays with our heads a bit here in our windy city.  Taking a rest day tomorrow and then doing another 20 on Friday so we can help with the Spanish Fork 1/2 marathon on Saturday. 

Now I'm making a bunch of freezer jam that the family will eat way too fast! 

We had to get our long run in today because tomorrow we are helping out at the Spanish Fork 1/2 marathon.  We did the same thing as last Saturday.  This time we had my friend, Anna Lisa, with us.  It was so nice because her nice hubby woke up early to take us to the top so we didn't have to drive back up to pick up a vehicle afterwards!  Yeah Justin!  Thank you so much!

It was pretty dang dark up there in that canyon at 5:45 A.M.!  Luckily it was Friday morning so most people were going to work and there wasn't much traffic anywhere.  Loved having the trails mostly to ourselves! 

It was another enjoyable long run...I guess I won't have one this long again until the actual marathon.  Last week and this week I took and Ibuprophen at the start and then at mile 10.  I use to not like the idea of taking anything while running because I felt like it just masked the pain and made things worse by running on an injury you are not aware is happening.  But I am now believing that a little bit of IB helps keep the inflamation down.  I will plan to use some for the marathon. 

Saturday countdown to the marathon...

Tomorrow: Help at the 1/2 marathon

Next Saturday:  Celebrate 24 years with my absolutely amazing hubby!  Run a 14 - 18 miler at Fish Lake.

Saturday after that:  Run the Dirty Dash with that same cute hubby!  Can't wait...should be lots of dirty fun!

Saturday after that:  Marathon day! 

Saturday after that:  Take 'er easy!  : )

Just three today as I helped with the Spanish Fork 1/2 marathon. 

Had a busy day with that and a work meeting. 

Had a little mental breakdown today. 

Sometimes that happens. 

Trying to get my funk back. : ( 

Regular ole 6 with 5 striders thrown in.  Still feeling good with the training.

I had to take our cute friend, Aoi, to the airport this morning so I had to get my run in with the sun.  I guess that is probably good for me since I'll most likely be seeing some of that on the marathon. 

I just decided to go back and look at my first two marathon reports and remembered this funny story from last year!  : )

Anyway, those who seen me the last bit probably saw a lot of grimacing! During that time, Tom realized that our van key had slipped from his little hidden pocket in his shorts and fallen into a new little pocket, not intended to store keys in. :) As he told me where the key was and watching him try to get it out I got laughing and laughing! I'm sure people thought I was delirious or something, (which I may have been)! And they probably wondered what in the heck he was doing! Anyway, the key was put back in it's proper place, as was everything else and we continued on.

Then I read on and remembered that I said I was going to wait 2 years until my next marathon.....oh well, I guess I forgot I said that.  : )

I would love to run another marathon someday. I think I will give it 2 years though. I want to think only about 1/2 marathons and less for the next while!  

And last but certainly not least....I loved what I said here..... 

A big thanks to a great hubby who sacrificed a perfect year to run this marathon with me!  It was a lot like life....ups and downs, grimaces and laughter, joy and pain.....but together the whole way through!

And I get to have him with me all the way through this marathon too! 

Only 9 miles up and down the streets of SF today instead of ten like we have been doing for several weeks.  Beautiful morning...no moon so it was pretty dark.  The stars are always a nice sight to see!  Still feeling good about everything.  Starting to get a bit more excited each day. 

Today our sweet daughter, Tani, became a 13 year old!  Ya know how there are 2 different kinds of people in this world?  One that makes you happy when they come and one that makes you happy when they leave?  Well, Tani is definitely one that brings joy when she comes around you!  Tom and I are very lucky to have such a wonderful daughter!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TANI GIRL!  I LOVE YOU!

 Oh, and it felt good to have a rest day today too!  Back at it tomorrow!

When the alarm woke us this morning we decided to ignore it and get a few more Zs.  Tom is taking the day off so we can head off for a nice little anniversary get away, so we decided it was ok to get the run in after the kids went to school.  It was nice to run in the beautiful sunshine today!  The mountains around here are starting to be so colorful!  I can't wait to get down to Fish Lake and see how pretty it is!  Thanks to my parents for coming to take care of home and family for us while we away!

Tom and I got to spend the weekend down at Fish Lake.  We left Friday and came home Sunday morning.  (I'm writing this on Monday).  We are very grateful to our kids and to my mom for taking care of things here so we could go without a single worry on our minds.  We spent our honeymoon at Fish Lake 24 years ago this same weekend!  It was so fun and so beautiful down there!  This is such a perfect time to be in places like that!  The colors of the trees, the mountains and even the water were so vibrant! 

Part of our anniversary plan was to run 16 miles on Saturday.  We figured that since we were at 9000 feet elevation that we didn't need to go the whole 18 that was planned on the schedule.  We took off one direction on the Lakeshore Trail and went out 3 miles.  Unfortunately, even though I thought I was watching carefully, I did a nice face plant in mile 2.  It was one of those falls where you feel like everything is in slow motion.  I knew there was nothing I could do and thought it was really going to be ugly.  But the MPAs (marathon protection angels) were on hand to make it as smooth as possible.  I still feel stiff in my shoulders from catching myself but absolutely no other injuries came out of it! 

After going out 3 miles we turned back to the start and headed the other way.  The trail took us another mile and a half and then started going too far up the mountain.  We decided to come back down and go out on the road and back for a few miles.  We met up with the local cow heard and gave them a little run for their money.  I think we must have threatened them or something so they all started running.  But instead of running away from us they all just ran with us!  Not really my idea of  fun.  The couple in the truck trying to get through the pack seemed to get a pretty good kick out of watching the whole thing!  : )  Anyway, we were happy when the cows figured things out and ran down and away from us. 

When we turned around and started heading back I got a bit of the mental "want to stop" feeling.  We stopped while I drank some Gatorade and then we were off again and the feeling was gone.  I enjoyed the rest of the run back to the cabin.

After showering we decided to walk the mile and a half trail back to the restraunt for lunch.  On our way there I guess Tom was a bit jealous that I had done me a face plant so he decided to add one of his own.  Luckily we were moving slowly at that time and he came out ok too. 

Enjoyed lunch, the walk back to the cabin and a nice nap without guilt for ignoring the family all day. 

Five this morning with some strides thrown in.  Officailly taper time.  Now I need to go and put my run in for last Saturday.

The same ole' Tuesday up and down the hilly streets with the wind.  The only difference was that we ran 8 instead of ten...,taper time.  I seemed to feel each part of my legs and feet today.  Getting nervous about doing something stupid to injure me this late in the game. 

OK, I know I am probably just being a little paranoid, but I would rather caution on the side of not getting injured at this point.  I decided to take my rest day today rather than tomorrow.  Saturday Tom and I did 16 miles with a lot of it on trails.  I'm not use to running trails so I was a bit nervous about doing something wrong.  I think the only thing I actually did wrong was trip on the rock in mile 2 and slam to the ground, but other than that all was well.

Monday we did easy but threw in some strides and yesterday we did some hills.  Last night while I was walking around the neighborhood doing Primary business I felt a bit of a pain in the left ITB area.  That is my biggest weak point and I am scared to death to have it flare up before SGM.  So last night I decided that today would be a rest day.  I hope I don't freak out about every little ache and pain this next week. 

I really, really, REALLY want to run this marathon without ITB issues!  I have ran SGM in 08 and 09 and had troubles both times that have really slowed me down and caused me much pain!  I'm hoping that the ole "third time's the charm" saying comes true for me this year.  I'm not really concerned about time as much as I am concerned about injury. 

I am glad I got to get out and run today.  Usually I take Thursday off but since I took yesterday off I got to get up and go today.  What an absolutely beautiful morning!  I don't think it could have been any better for a nice run in the morning with the hubby!  Temps...perfect!   Moon....full and beautiful!  Wind.....NOT THERE!  Solitude with the hubby....nice!  Aches and pains and phantom injuries....not there!  Yeah!

Tom and I were able to get our 10 in today after the kids headed off to school.  Tom has to take a few vacation days so today was one of them.  Still feeling good.  This marathon training has mostly been miles in the 9:00- 9:30 range to see if it will help nix the ITB issues that seem to haunt me.  But today we did the last mile in 8:20.  It was fun to know I can go faster than 9s at least for a mile. 

Tomorrow is the Dirty Dash.  It should be lots of fun....I just hope we don't get some dumb injury there.

The first day of the last week.  The first 3 miles of this run felt like lead but the last mile felt good.  One out of four.....I guess that's what I get for today.  I am actually just grateful that the eventful Dirty Dash from Saturday didn't do any damage to either of us. 

BTW:  Does Ryan Hall ever freak you out the way he looks at you when you are typing your report? 

Only one more day of running then 2 days rest before my long run on Saturday!  Still feeling good.  Tail bone a bit sore from a fall at the Dirty Dash Satruday but not bad.

‎26.2 miles = 42.1648128 kilometers = 46112 yards = 138,336 feet = 1,660,032 inches....bring it on!

Well, now that I've had a day to think it all through I'll give a little report here of marathon #3.

My first marathon was SGM '08.....record cold.  Last year's #2 SGM was about perfect weather.  And this one was record heat.  Three marathons in three years and three completely different experiences. 

One thing that made this marathon really fun was having our own condo to stay in and having our good friends, the Beans, stay with us!  We had a great time here!

Tom, Terry and I left the condo around 4:30 and was able to get right on a bus and head up to the start.  We could tell it was going to turn out to be quite a warm morning for a long run.  Funny thing is they were handing out the silver space blankets to everyone at the start.  People still wrapped in them and there were still fires so it looked like a bunch of tinfoil dinners all over the place.  Kind of weird.

We lined up just behind the 4:00 pacer.  My goals for this marathon were

• Run as far as possible without feeling ITB pain.
• Hydrate enough to keep me out of the ER.
• Run the first half more conserviative so that maybe my knees would feel better longer.
• Get a PR (under 4:05)
• Get a sub 4:00.

I am happy to say that I reached each and every one of my goals!  Unfortunately I had some pretty bad GI issues that caused FOUR awful stops!  Grrrrr!  But even with that I was able to reach all of my goals.  Maybe without the potty stops I would have reached my unofficial goal of BQ at 3:50.  The reason that was an unofficial goal was because if I tried to make it one of the goals I think it could have hindered me on some of the other goals.

1.9:02

2.9:03

3. 9:00

4.9:47 (2 potty stops!)

5.8:43

6.8:39

7.8:28

8.9:55

9.9:40

10.9:29

11.9:43

12.9:33

13.9:16

14.9:55 (potty stop)

15.8:34 (now I've gone further than last marathon without any ITB issues!)

16.8:39

17.8:26 (I think it was around here that we passed a guy and he said, "Hey Kim and Tom".  We looked behind and lo and behold it was our good buddy Paul T.....not feeling well at all...so sad for me to be passing him.  I just read his report, so sorry for a bad day for Paul...but grateful he didn't end up in the hospital.

18.8:54 (here I've gone further than either of my previous marathons without ITB issues!)

19.8:56 (on this hill I told Tom to find some stories from his youth that he had never told me to help keep me occupied.  He proceeded to tell me more of his Campin' Coyotes tales...this one involved 12 year old boys, exploding soda pop cans in bon fires, tents and sleeping bags catching fire and trying to come up with a good story to tell their moms about the whole thing. 

20.9:24 (last potty stop.)

21.8:08

22.9:11

23.9:08

24.8:21

25.8:54

26.8:43

.2  2:28 (7:48 pace)

At the end....off to find a POP again....Yesterday I was convinced I had picked up Giardia from last week's Dirty Dash!  Awful evening....TMI, I know,....But this morning I think I am feeling much better.  I don't know if it was because I had taken Advil and the heat and the marathon or what.  Whatever it was I sure don't want to ever run with that kind of misery again! 

I feel like I did my best for the conditions I faced yesterday.  I am not feeling very sore today so I'm not sure what that means...maybe I could have gone harder, but then I may have had ITB issues.  So I am very happy with my effort and my results. 

It has been a fun training year with Tom!  It was great to have him with me...we really enjoyed the whole thing. 

One thing we had this time that I haven't had before was our 2 youngest daughters cheering us on at the finish line with Terry's wife, Taunia.  It was so nice to see them there!  It was Tia's 10th birthday so we yelled a Happy Birthday to her...Tom ran over to say a quick hi as I focused on those balloons at the end.  We crossed the finish line together and celebrated our victory!