Thursday, August 29, 2013

Throwback Thursday


Finish line at the UV marathon June 2012

Last year I set the goal to train and qualify for the Boston Marathon.  I had only done 1 marathon in 2009 before.  I found a training program.  Started this blog and made my goal a reality.  In June of 2012 I ran the Utah Valley Marathon and the conditions were horrible - hot and a serious headwind the whole way.  I missed qualifying by a couple of minutes and was heartbroken.  Now I'm almost done training for my 4th marathon in a 16 month period.  I know my body better than ever before and I know how hard to push and train.  But man am I tired and ready for a break.  No matter how tired I am right now I am not going to stop pushing hard and finish my training with a bang so I can race hard in a few weeks at St George - it's 36 days away!!!!

This week's workouts:
Monday:  10 mile run
Tuesday: spin and crossfit
Wednesday: 8 miles total w/ 4 one mile intervals @ 7:20 pace and crossfit
Thursday:  8 mile run 
Friday: rest
Saturday:  22 miles

Monday, August 26, 2013

I'm tired


Today was another 10 mile run.  I really didn't want to get up when my alarm went off at 5:00 am.  But I knew I had to do it so I forced myself to get up, get dressed and go.  And by 8:00 am this morning I had run 10 miles.  Picked up a few things at the grocery store.  Made and served fancy birthday pancakes to my 9 year old and got 3 kids off to school. 

I've realized that I'm starting to get tired and I just keep telling myself 3 more weeks of hard training then I can taper and then it's race day.  I'm ready to not be marathon training for a while.  I think maybe I've done too many races in the last 18 months.  4 out of my 5 marathons and lots of other races in between.  I'm tired and ready to run for fun for a few months.  I love racing and it keeps me motivated....but I am ready to have my races be half marathons or shorter :)

Saturday we did 16 and it was a good run.  I felt fine the whole run and we ran the last 3 miles faster than the first 13.  Always a good sign.  I will stay motivated until St. George and I plan on running hard.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Ragnar Trail - Snowbasin Race Review

What a fun race this was.  I am so glad I did it and even more glad that these 7 girls were willing to do it too.  Only one of our runner's is an experienced trail runner and 2 of them had never set foot on a trail before the race.  And the other 5 of us had gone 1-5 times before.  But we had a blast and kicked some serious butt on this race. 



How it works:  You have 8 runners and each runner does 3 loops - all runners do the same 3 loops but in a different order.  First runner does green - then second yellow - third red - fourth green....you get the point.  I was second runner so I ran Yellow (6.4 miles) - Green (3.5 miles)- Red (4.8 miles).  


We all drove up together in the party van then had to haul all our camping crap up the mountain to find a spot to set up.  This was a sweaty, tiring process at noon.  But we got it done and were ready to rock before our race start time - 2:30 pm.  I was second runner so I started a little after 3:00.  It was so freaking hot when I ran.  I took my handheld water bottle and drank 1 1/2 over 6.5 miles.  

I had a horrible run for my first leg.  It was hot, my stomach hurt from eating too close to the run, it was hot, I wasn't mentally prepared to run up a ski slope and just how hard that would be.  At one point I looked down at my garmin - I had been run/walking uphill for so long I knew I must be almost ready to go downhill.  I was at 1.83 miles and I nearly cried.  I was so tired and I wasn't even 2 miles in - how would I do 4 more miles and then do the whole thing 2 more times????  I decided to stop and look around for a minute and it was beautiful then I just forced myself to keep going.  I finished my first run in  1 hour 11 minutes at an 11:09 pace.  I suck at running fast downhill and got passed by more people going down than up - that's depressing.  

coming in from leg 1

My dirty trail shoes

My even dirtier feet - it took a lot of baby wipes to clean these babies

 Right after I finished - I was sooooo grumpy.  That run was the hardest 6.3 miler I've ever done.

My 2nd leg was Green - 3.5 miles around midnight.  I got to wear my sweet new headlamp.  I ran the whole 3.5 miles without walking once.  Wahoo!  It wasn't fast but I did it.  I ran it in 38:39 at a 10:57 pace (it felt way faster than that - ha ha).  I didn't get passed at all and even passed 1 person on a downhill.  After the first half mile I only saw 2 people so I was completely alone in the pitch black.  I didn't let myself freak out but I also didn't stop running because I wanted to be done bad.  I passed one girl walking with a headlamp and flashlight - as I came up behind her I yelled "I'm not a bear....or a rapist....just another girl running".  I'm not sure if she thought I was crazy or not but at least I didn't scare her.  The craziest part of the night run was the bat that flew right in front of my headlamp and freaked me right out.  I think I'd rather see a bear on the trail than be attacked by a flying rodent!!  (I have serious issue with rodents).  When I finished my second leg I felt great and was back to my old happy running self. 

 We are cute in our bandanas and headlamps

 After my 2nd leg I cleaned up and crawled in the tent and slept solid for almost 5 hours.  I thought I wasn't sleeping so I looked at my watch and it had been 5 hours - crazy.  I laid in bed for a little longer and then decided to get ready for my last leg and start hydrating.  My last leg was the "hardest" leg.  It was the steepest but not the longest.  4.8 miles with a 1200 foot incline in the first 2 miles.  I started my run right around 7:00 am and the sun was just coming up.  It was SO BEAUTIFUL!!  I absolutely loved this run.  It was hard but so gorgeous and the fast downhill made up for the uphill. 

 this picture doesn't do how pretty it was justice


and this picture doesn't do justice to how steep these trails were

 I was so happy on this run - this was close to the very top of the mountain

I finished leg 3 in 51:47 at a 10:45 pace.  My first 2 miles were around a 13 min/mile and I was under an 8:00 pace on my last mile.  I started to get more and more comfortable with downhills and didn't get passed going down this time :) Really though I only saw 2 people this whole run so there weren't many people to worry about.  


We finished the race in 23:21:44 and took first place in women's submasters.  I loved this race and even though it was so dang hard I would do it again in a heartbeat.


the finishers medal
  
the campsites and main village


This week's workouts:
T - spin
W - 10 miles
Th - 9 miles w/5 at tempo





Wednesday, August 14, 2013

My Bad Habits

 Today on facebook I saw this article from Runners World and it cracked me how many of these bad habits I break.

Here are the highlights of my bad habits (at least some of the ones from their list).


3. Forgoing SPF.  I've had my fair share of red shoulders from runs.  Usually I'm good because I run at the crack of dawn before the sun has a chance to wake up.


6. Being your own doctor.  I am totally at fault for this....but really I took classes in college 20+ years ago so I'm sure I can self diagnose.

7. Skipping stretching. I am horrible at stretching after a workout.  I'm usually in a hurry.  I *try* to stretch at night but I suck at doing it unless I am really really sore.
 
 
9. You never rest.  Big issue for me.  I am always afraid that if I skip a workout I'll get behind.  I know this is something I need to be better about.  I'm getting old and tired and need to rest a little more.
 
Not bad only having 4 of the 10 they listed.  I'm sure I do the other ones too - but I like to think they aren't soooo bad I need to fix them.  Ha. 
 
Update on past workouts:
Today:  trail run with a few extra road miles
Yesterday: spin and crossfit
Moday: ran 5.5 treadmill/crossfit in the morning then ran 4.5 miles on the trail at night 
Saturday:  20 miles (I was too tired to take pictures or post about this)