2013 in Review

Overall this year of running has to be the best ever.  Running in the Boston Marathon was simply amazing and something I never thought I would do.  To top that off I set PR's for my 5K, 10K, half and full marathon distances.  I can't look back at 2013 and be sad.  However, I also ended the year on a sad note with issues on both of my feet and not being able to run pain-free.  I miss running so much and these injuries have helped me see just how much running means to me.  

Top 10 Running moments of 2013:

1.  Running the Boston Marathon with my brother and sister

 

2.  Wasatch Back with the Housewives

3.  Being a pink emissary

 4.  Setting a new PR for every distance race

 5.  Ragnar Trail - and trail running in general

6.  Running the STG marathon in 3:32:00!!

7.   Running the Disney Cruise 5K

 

8.  Running 16 and 20 miles on the treadmill

 

 9.   Wearing pink for every run in October

10.  Running with my new puppy

My 2013 goals:  
My goals for 2013 seemed simple when I set them in January.  However, I only completed 1 of the 3.  Sad. 

1.  Run 1000 miles.  This one I completed and then some.  I ran 1588.80 miles this year.  This is a big deal for several reasons.  First, it's not an even number.  I'm a bit OCD with stuff so that fact that I didn't force myself to run 1600 miles shows I'm a changed woman.  Second, with my injury I barely ran in Nov and Dec - so to have this many miles is awesome. 

2.  Do a half-ironman.  I didn't do a half-ironman because I signed up for the STG marathon and wanted to focus on that.  I think I made the right decision and I'm glad I did because that race was amazing for me.  

3.  Do 2 unassisted pull-ups.  I still can't do these.  But I'm stronger than I was at the start of the year so I'm still happy with my progress.

2013 Races:
I am so glad this year of races is over.  I did more races this year than ever before.  Here's the list:

April:  Boston Marathon
April: Pink Series 5K (PR)
June: Utah Valley Half Marathon (PR)
June:  Ragnar - Wasatch Back
July:  Freedom Run 10K (PR)
August:  Ragnar Trail Race
September:  Disney 5K
October: St George Marathon (PR)
October:  Pink Series Half Marathon
November: Snow Canyon Half Marathon (new PR)
November:  Courage 4Kuu 

Now onto 2014.....

2014 will be a very different year for me with running.  This is the first time in more than 5 years that I haven't already been signed up for a race before the year starts.  I don't even have any races planned out on my calendar.  I'm going to be out of town during Wasatch Back so I'm not even doing that race (sad, sad, sad).  I'm not sure what I want out of my running this year, except that I want to let my body rest and recover and simply get back to the fun part of running.  I don't want to train as hard as I have the last 2 years - instead I want to try new things and have fun. Wish me luck - this is very hard for me.  :)

My goals for 2014:
1.  Run 1200 miles
2.  Do 2 unassisted pull-ups
3. Compete in a new event (anything I haven't done before - distance or type)

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

Ragnar Recap

Season 4 of Ragnar was awesome.  I think my favorite year so far.  I love being part of the Housewives of the UC team (like us on our facebook page).  We have fun, we run hard and most of all we all get along great.  

As always the party starts the night before with van decorating.  We had lots of fancy pictures on magnets for our vans this year which made decorating and clean up faster.  I love how pro we're getting :)

Our start time was 8:45 am - so we met at 5:30 am and were on the road at 5:45.  We got there with the perfect amount of time to go through the safety briefing and relax a few minutes before the start.  Since I was runner 1 this year I got to do the starting line.  

On the ride up to Logan (about 2 hours) the girls were looking at the pace calculator sheet that I brought and were getting on my case because I changed a few of their times without asking.  You are supposed to use your 10K race pace and I know some of the girls are faster than they said.....so I took the liberty of changing it :)  

I was taking some serious heat - but luckily I can hold my own.  Ha.  Anyway I had put that my pace would be 8:00 (which I actually think I will beat next week in my 10K....so stay tuned).  My first leg was tough with some good uphill and some trail in the first few miles.  So when I finished I was sure I was way off my time.  I finished my first leg of 7.7 miles at an 8:17 pace in 1:03:37 - my estimated time was supposed to be 1:03 so I guess I was right on target. 

For our first legs I managed to go opposite of these 2 beauties.

At the first major exchange right after van 2 left someone came up to me and asked how far into the race we were when I told him we were van 1 and had just finished our first legs he asked if we wanted some water for our van.  He gave us a big old box of pop-top water bottles.  Of course I got a little silly and said "wow, you're our first sponsor" - he thought I was full-blown crazy but he still gave us the water.  We had some fun posting our "sponsor" on Instagram.

Right before my 2nd leg we had a delicious picnic lunch and rested up at Snowbasin. Could our matching pink blankets be any cuter?  I have no pictures of my 2nd leg but it was 8.2 with most of it being a very steep downhill.  I ran it at a 7:44 pace and because of traffic the van finally caught me and passed me with less than a mile to go. 

Heather made these pretty signs for us to use at the exchanges and then my brother Steve added LED lights to them for the night.  They were so awesome and made it so easy to find each other.

My last leg was a bit cold and was first thing in the morning.  But the good news is that I actually had a good solid 3 hours of sleep in the van.  Best sleep I've ever gotten at Ragnar so I felt like a new woman.  It was a flat 5 mile run and I finished it just under 40 minutes at an 8:04 pace.  

My bubble face that was on the side of the van.....and then my team threw me under the van at the end!

After our van finished we went to Kneaders for breakfast and big old diet coke.  It was heaven.  Then we changed into our finish line outfits, organized and cleaned the van and then headed over to the finish area.

Van 2 kicked serious butt and we finished in 30:51.  In women's submasters we were 5/23.  Overall women's 11/101 and overall 256/1390.  We were 2 hours faster this year than last year with almost the exact same team.  We all trained hard and raced hard and even though it's not about our time or place it feels great to do so well.

Our sweet Higgy was runner #9 and she had some seriously hard legs to run.  Her 2nd leg was over 11 miles during the middle of the night (3:00 am) and she got really sick and dehydrated.  She finished that leg and still ran her last leg which was 4.4 miles straight up the steepest mountain in the course.  She is AMAZING!!  She was so sick by the end she couldn't get out of the van to cross the finish line with us.  She is a serious rock star!

I love my team and I can't wait to see what 2014 brings!

2013 Housewives of the UC

Ready or not here we come.

We are so ready for Ragnar this year.  I couldn't be happier about the team I run on - I love these crazy, sassy, fun, running girls.  In 2 days I will be spending a couple of days running and partying with these gals in the mountains. 

In preparation for the race I have my nails painted bright pink, pulled out my pink sparkle skirt, purchased a few new pink running items and of course run a lot of miles.  Yes we take our team very seriously - ha ha!

Triple Run

Yesterday was a triple run day on the training -  5/5/5 and it was the last day of school so scheduling was a bit of a nightmare for people. I only managed to get a picture on 1 out of 3....not bad! For our 6:00 am run there were 5 of us.  Then our 4:30 pm run there were 6 of us and our last run at 9:30 pm there were 5 again but I had something hold me up and didn't even start running until after 10:00 so it ended up being a group of 3 and then just 2 of us.  The funny part is that each of my runs my pace got faster instead of slower.  Part of it was the fact that I was tired and it was dark and we just wanted to be done by the end.

One thing I love about Ragnar training is how varied the training is.  It's a great combination of hills, running different times of the day, long runs and multiple runs in a day.  I love how it challenges my body and that it keeps me on my toes with what's next.  And most of all I love that my team has fun training together.  I really do have a pretty awesome group of running friends.

Yesterday I was reading online and I found this article: Run your best doubles in Runners World. Talk about some crazy doubles training.  I am very interested in how it relates to marathon training.  This is what the article says about that.

Add Doubles to 26.2 Training Another version of the double has marathoners combining two long sessions on a single day, building endurance without incurring the fatigue of a single long marathon-pace run—what Ryan Hall's new coach, Renato Canova, calls "special blocks." For an elite marathoner, the morning session might include six miles at half-marathon pace, and the afternoon session would be 5 x 2000 meters at 10-K pace. As you get stronger, add an extended warmup of up to seven miles before each session. Do it once a month during your marathon buildup, in place of that week's long run.

Interesting.  I think I'll try it with my St George training.  But I'm not marathon training right now I'm Ragnar training so I'll stay focused :)

Today's workout:  Rest before my 18 mile long run tomorrow

My Parents

Most mornings when I leave for work I see my dad and mom out walking.  I love that the go walking every morning to start their day.  I love that not only their dog goes with them but their cat does too.  I love that at 70 years old they are both active and make it a priority.  If they don't go walking they are out riding their bikes.  They both snow ski several days a week (black diamonds still....amazing).  I want to be like them when I grow up.  They are so full of life and I know a big part of it comes from their healthy lifestyles. 

Thanks mom & dad for being amazing examples to me!!

Yesterday's workout was a triple workout day.
Morning:  6 mile tempo run with 4 miles at an 8:00 min/pace with crossfit
Noon:  4 mile run
Night:  4 mile run

Today:  6 mile recovery run

I heart Ragnar Training

2012 Ragnar Training

I love training for Ragnar.  It's fun and different.  It mixes up hill work (up, down and trails), speed work, multiple runs on the same day and running at different times during the day.  Plus my team does lots of it together. Tonight we are doing our first group night run.  I am a total spazz when it comes to group runs.  I love love love them!!!  The more people the happier I am. 

This morning Traci and I met at the gym at 5:20 am and did speed work on the treadmills then hit the 360 fit class.  For speed work I warmed up for a mile then did a mile at a 7:47 pace, jogged for a half mile then another mile at 7:47 pace and then another half mile easy pace.  Then we did our crossfit WOD - 20 wall balls, 20 kettle bell swings, 20 pushups, 20 walking lunges 5 rounds for time.  Then I jumped back on the treadmill and did a half mile warm up, 1 mile at 7:47 and a half mile cool down.  Then tonight I am doing a fun 4 mile run with the team. 

Go Housewives

Saturday was our first Ragnar team group run.  I love love love group runs! It's so fun to just hit the road with friends and chat about everything and nothing at all at the same time.  It was a beautiful morning too - I overdressed in a long sleeve shirt and capri's.  

7 of the Housewives of the UC

Because we knew Saturday had a lot going on we did our long run on Friday morning.  We did 14 miles at just under an 8:30 pace.  It was fast and after it was done I was glad we pushed it - but I am so not planning to push my next long run that hard. One thing I've read several times lately and heard from a few collegiate runners is that one long run a month you should do part or all of it at race pace or even faster.  So there we have it - now for the rest of May I can relax and not have to do fast long runs :)

Today we did hill repeats - we ran a mile over to State St. then headed up the hill (it was about 0.75 mile) then back down and up again.  Then added a few miles then did it one last time just for fun.  Ha ha.  Not really for fun but it was a great hill training workout.  8 miles total. I love the variety of Ragnar training.