I'm not ready for winter

I'm a little behind on my posts. Today I taught spin then ran 4 miles on the treadmill. Gotta burn those calories before Halloween tomorrow!!!

 

 Here is Saturday's post: 

I feel like the cold came way too fast and early this year.  I'm being a baby about it and have no desire to run in it.  It takes all my energy to get my butt out of my warm bed and hit the pavement.  On Saturday we did 12 miles and when we started it was 30 degrees.  It took me 10.5 miles until I was warm enough to pull off my jacket and just run in my shirt.  (I know I'm being a big baby with all this complaining.)  Other than the cold the run was good.  I was nervous that the water I dropped off the night before would be frozen but it was just icy cold (why can't it be that cold in the summer....)  It's nice to go for a run without caring about times and just go because I love running.  

I wore a fleece headband, a long sleeve fleece lined shirt, jacket and gloves.

 

 I also tried something new this year and put a running skirt on over my tights to try to keep my rear warm - it seemed to help so I think I'll try that again. 

 

\

A new workout

It's so fun to not be officially training for a race (even though I've already signed up for 4 races next year and have 2 others I plan on running).   I feel like I can try new things and have some no pressure time for running.  I will still run 4 days a week and do speed work and long runs but it's for fun now not for training.  I love it!!  So Saturday we tried something totally new.  It's similar to a crossfit type workout.  I went up to a new gym Lyceum and did a boot camp workout.  It killed me!!  In an hour I was dying and I have been so sore ever since.  

For the workout we moved our own pace and did as many sets as we could.  We did things like stairs (3 times), TRX rows (16), TRX pushups and exploding pushups (16 times), lunges with weights (10 each leg), bag pull, pullups (16).  Between each one we had to do 10 box jumps.  And it was hard.  We finished 3 full sets in the hour.  I can't wait to go do more workouts like that.

 

After the workout

The dreaded boxes

with the TRX bands

Cold dark running

This morning when I woke up it was 35 degrees and pitch black.  It was so hard to not send the "I'm out" text.  I mean I'm really I'm not training for anything so why get up and go run.....because I need it and once I'm doing it I love it.  It was still dark outside when I finished my run.  UGH.

I am so not looking forward to cold, dark morning runs.  I already miss running in shorts and tank top.  Today I had on a tank, long sleeved shirt, jacket and gloves.  UGH!!  

But I won't stop running outside just because it feels like winter.  I'm a runner and this is just what I do.   

So I think to get me through this winter I need this cute white jacket from Lululemon.  I totally deserve it for getting out of bed :)

Today was a nice easy 5 mile run and yesterday I did 6.5 miles.  My legs feel completely recovered even after making the mistake of not doing any recovery for my legs after the marathon.  Tomorrow I'm going to try to run 10 - we'll see how that goes :)

Best Training Partners Ever

I am always impressed by people who train for marathon's by themselves.  I can't imagine running over a thousand miles by myself.  We have run over 1300 miles so far this year.  The vast majority of those miles were run with no music just us girls chatting.  I love these girls so much.  I could never had made my goal without them.  There is just nothing better than a great training partner - except two of them!! 

Schultz Strong

Meet a very small part of my family.  I'm 4th of 10 kids and happen to be right between these two.  Sherry is 2 years older than me and Danny is 2 years younger than me.  Growing up between these two was never easy but it definitely changed who I became.  Sherry is the most disciplined person I know.  When she wants something she works hard and gets it - every time.  There is nothing she can't do. Being her little sister meant I had to work really hard to be second place.  Then you throw Danny in the mix.  I was older than him so I should have had a bit of an edge when we were little - but not with this guy.  He is fiercely competitive and very strong.  He was always the same size or bigger than me and could do anything I could do better - even when he was 3 and I was 5.  So having Sherry lead the way and Danny right on my tail forced me to push harder than I ever wanted to.  But I didn't want to get left behind so I did what they did to the best of my own ability.  I never minded them being faster or better than me I just wanted to be close enough to them to be a part of the fun.

So last year when they both ran the STG marathon and qualified for Boston I decided that I didn't want to be left behind this time either.  So I set my sights on working hard to qualify.  This year all 3 of ran this race and qualified.  What a feeling.  It took some coaxing but we got Danny to sign up and now the 3 of us are going to Boston in April.  

Danny ran the race with a horrible head cold and even though he didn't get his goal (3 hour marathon) he kicked trash and finished in 3:07.  He amazes me with his strength and the fact that he trained so hard and ran as an "elite".  Pretty cool in my book.

Sherry injured her foot a few months ago and hasn't run in 5 weeks.  The longest training run she did before the marathon was 15 miles (and that was like 6 weeks ago).  She was just going to go out there and see how it felt.  We were together for 16 miles and every mile she was so happy that she could run and counted each mile as a blessing.  Even injured she ran in 3:44:56 and qualified for Boston.  Amazing.  I'm a brat though and kept rubbing in the fact that I beat her. Something I've only done twice in my entire life and the last time was my freshman year in high school at a track meet when she had a really bad sprained ankle. 

I admire these two and love them both so much.  Thanks for motivating me to be tougher than I want to be and making me dream big. 

St. George Marathon Recap

Before the race:  I drove down Friday afternoon with my 2 fave girls.  I was little nervous but when we got together I calmed down a lot.  The drive was quick and easy and we headed straight for the expo.  We walked around the expo for a bit after picking up our numbers.  Somehow I walked out of there with nothing new.  Then we ate at Brick Oven for dinner and I was off to the hotel.  I stayed in a room with Danny and went to bed around 8:30 and actually fell asleep around 10:00.  It wasn't a great night sleep but I stayed in bed until 4:00 then jumped on the hotel shuttle and met the girls to head up to the start. We got in the porta-potty lines first thing and it was a good move because our line took forever and we only had about 5 minutes until the gun went off.  I brought up an old blanket and old pillow to use but didn't even have time to sit down.  I took off about 2 minutes after the gun went off.

T, Me and L waiting in the porta-potty line.  I love the reflection on T's hat!

During the race:  The temperature was in the mid 40's at the start with a cool breeze at our backs.  It felt perfect and I ran my first 10K in 41 minutes.  Veyo hill at mile 7 was a tough hill so I plugged in my iPod.  The next 5 miles were tough but we held to our pace.  I kept one earbud in but talked until about mile 15.  There were so many times during the race that a song would come on and I would think of the person who recommended the song to me and dedicate the next mile to them.  It kept me happy and focused.  A few that stick out to me are at mile 17 when I took a GU marked with "Fight like Hell" from a friend and right then the song "Holding out for a Hero" came on (which he recommended).  I focused on all the support from him and it helped get me through the next mile.  At mile 21 "The Adventure" came on which a song from my awesome team captain's playlist and I just thought about how much I adore her for the next mile.  The song that came on as I was coming into the finish line was "Don't Stop me Now" and that was all it took to bring me home motivated by Traci and our training and her friendship.  So many times fun songs would come on and I could focus on times during training the songs came on or think about my friends and family.  It really helped me think about something other than my legs.

Somehow I didn't bonk this race - it never hit me physically or mentally.  I thought so many times about things that hurt - but then I would just say to myself "it's supposed to hurt you've run 21 miles" and then I just kept going.  I knew I had trained hard and I knew I was on target for hitting my goal so I just kept running. 

For me this was the perfect race.  The course was beautiful.  The temperature was perfect (it did get hot by the end but overall it was great).  My family was there to support me.  My sister ran side by side with my for more than half the race.  I knew my brother was in front of me kickin' serious trash.  My training partners were there running along side me.  I simply loved the entire race. 

The last mile was very emotional for me.  I knew at this point I was going to qualify.  About 1/4 mile out I saw my sis-in-law Amy with the kids holding these signs cheering for me.  It took all my energy to not cry at this point.  I kept telling myself that I needed to finish then I could cry.  I gave the kids high-fives and Tayson ran along side for a few steps.  A little bit later I saw my mom and dad.  Then right at the finish line Todd and Emily were cheering.  It was so much fun and I was on cloud 9.  As soon as I crossed the finish line the tears came I saw my friend Lori (who rocked the marathon with a 3:15) and I was just so excited.  The lady next to her said "I don't even know you and I'm crying" it was hilarious.  Before I was even out of the coral Laurie and Sherry finished right at 3:45.  Then right behind us was Traci with a PR (almost 10 minutes faster than her last marathon!!) 

Adam, Carson, and Tayson

The girls cheering me on

I was so happy at this point

Traci, Me and Laurie at the finish.  Love these girls more than words.  Best training partners ever!

Super speedy Lori

All the kids with the signs Kami made for us.

Danny (little brother), Sherry (big sister) and I.  I love my family!

More details just for me....

All the people who came to cheer me on: my mom and dad, my mother-in-law, Todd, the kids, Todd, Amy and kids, Emily and her kids. Timmy and Kami were also cheering me on from Provo while they got texts.

Nutrition: I did my first GU (caffeinated roctane) at mile 5 to get me ready for the uphills.  I did my second GU (just a regular peanut butte GU) at mile 11 and drank a full glass of water with it.  Then another non-caffeinated roctane at mile 17.  I did my last GU (caffeinated roctane) at mile 22.  I drank a full glass of water with each GU and drank a few cups of Gatorade at other stops. 

Final Preparations

In 2 days I will be done running the marathon!!  So right now I am doing all my final preparations.  I have been eating healthy and doing a bit of early carb loading.  I'm drinking lots of water and gatorade to get this body all hydrated.

I printed out the course map and figured out when I'm going to take my GU's and what times I need to hit each point of the race to make my goal.

I have my outfit all picked out and washed.  And I got these awesome new shoes from my friend for my birthday.  I have done 9 miles in them to break them in this week and they are going to help me cruise to the finish line.

 

I am very calm right now and excited for race day.  I really want to try to enjoy this race and remember that I LOVE RUNNING!!!  Running has given me so much over the past few years and I want to focus on those things while I run.  I have created amazing friendships.  I am healthier and faster than I have been since high school.  I weigh less than I did on my wedding day.  I have the most supportive and amazing family cheering me on every day and helping me make my goals.  I can't wait to see the smile on Todd's face when I cross the finish line!!  (can someone remind me of this at mile 23?)

2012 Goals

My 2012 running goal was to run 1200 miles this year.  So far I am at 1360 miles - apparently training for 2 marathons in a year is a good way to hit a mileage goal and  September was a 165 mile month.  

I am sooooo ready to run fewer miles for a few months.  This morning was an easy 6 mile run I didn't even wear my Garmin.  I have 2 more runs to go before race day.  

This week's main goals are stay calm, don't get injured and drink lots of water because it's looking like it will be a hot one this weekend.