Running Tag

Today's workout was a 9 mile run.  My legs are tired today so I only ran and skipped out on crossfit.  (P.S. This month I ran 162.5 miles - not too shabby).

I saw this running tag a while ago on HungryRunnerGirl's blog and I thought it looked fun.  I never had time to do it but today I finally got around to it.  Enjoy.


1.  On average how many races do you run a year?
4 or 5 normally.  But this year I am doing 9 or 10.  And it's wearing me out a bit.  Back in 2009 I set a goal to do a race a month and did 12 races that year which was also a bit overwhelming.  I think for me 4 is the perfect number of races.

Races I've done so far....

Boston Marathon- April 2013

Pink Series 5K - April 2013

Utah Valley Half Marathon - June 2013

Ragnar Relay - June 2013

2.  Head accessories, things you have to run with:  a hat, a visor, sunglasses, chapstick, sunscreen, head band, ponytail, braids, sweat band?
I'm at hat girl these days.  My hair is just so short.  I own lots of headbands and visors but with morning hair the hat is really the best option. I usually forget to wear sunscreen and I put chapstick on before a long run but I rarely carry it with me.

3.  Where do your workouts come from?  A training plan, a coach, whatever you feel like doing that day or what your training partner is doing that day?
I love training plans - really I love them.  I look online and read books and read articles then write them up on paper.  I have done so many different training plans over the years and have combined different ones and created my own.  Once I have my training plan down I schedule my weekly workouts in my calendar so that I always have it on my phone.  I might be slightly OCD when it comes to plans.  Right now I am following the SmartCoach plan from Runner's World. I really like the plan because I feel like it has pushed me to run faster while still working with my weekly mileage needs and current pace.

St George Marathon course map with my gu's, times, elevation change, etc.

4.  How many miles on average do you put on a pair of shoes?  
I have way too many running shoes and I usually rotate through 3-4 pair at a time.  I have a pair for speedwork a pair for running off roads and then a few pair for just runs.  I always wear my newest shoes on long runs.  I don't track exactly how many miles I put on each pair but I would guess 300-400 miles.

5.  Cell phone=  do you bring it with you on your run or leave it at home?
Always if I'm running alone and sometimes on group runs.  I bring my phone if I think I'm going to want to snap a picture mid-run or if my kids might need to call me.

You never know when you'll want to snap a pic.

6.  What was your last running related injury or have you been an injury free runner?
I am a pretty injury free runner - if you take out losing toe nails, blisters, falling and stuff like that.  I do a lot to prevent injuries.  I get deep tissue massage every other week during heavy training.  I do ice baths and advil and Udo's oil which all help me with recovery and I try really hard to listen to my body and stop before it's too bad. 

 

7.  Is your current running goal about running a farther distance (adding more mileage) or getting faster or BOTH?!?
Faster!

8.  Speedwork—->  at the track, on the treadmill, on the roads or never do it?
I do speedwork once a week on the treadmill.  I alternate between tempo runs and mile intervals and occasionally I will do HIIT workouts that I find online to mix it up.  

9.  Stretching after a run:  hit the ground after a run and get stretching, stretch in the shower, stretch once you get to work/school, skip the stretching?
I do a little bit of stretching right when I finish a run and if it's a really hard or long run I do an ice bath after.  I also love to use my roller or my stick at night for sore muscles. 

10.  What was your reason(S) for starting to run?  
 I started running in high school just because my sister ran.  Then I gave it up then I started again in college.  I have way more reasons for running now then I did then but really the main reason I started was because of Sherry.

Danny, Sherry and I - STG marathon 2012

 

My biggest fan

Oh how I love this girl. She loves to wear her Boston shirt and walk around saying "in your face".  Last weekend when we were out on the town a few different people saw her shirt and asked me if I ran the marathon.  I've decided that hanging out with this girl is even better than wearing race shirts myself or even than having the good old 26.2 sticker on my minivan :) 

Today's workout:  9 mile run and crossfit (WOD: 25 dumbbell cleans, 50 box jumps, 75 wall balls, 100 air squats - 1 RFT)

Early Mornings

One of the hardest parts of marathon training is long runs.  They are hard to do and very hard to plan.  They take 2-4 hours and I get bored easily so you need to vary your route.  I don't like carrying water so the planning needs to include where the water/gatorade will be dropped as well as who is going to do the drop.  And anytime you are scheduling more than 2 people it is always tricky - especially with all very busy running moms.  However, there is nothing I love more than spending hours running with the girls.  We chat about everything and nothing the entire time.  No music needed.  Running mile after mile after mile with someone creates serious bonds so I do everything I can to get as many people as possible on long runs and never run alone if I can help it.  Plus it's safer.

This weekend schedules were a bit crazy.  I have a swim meet to cheer at tomorrow morning and others are running in Cooper's Run.  So we opted to do our 14 miler today instead of tomorrow which means we needed to be done by 7:30 am (darn those husbands having jobs!)  So the alarm clock went off at 4:45 am - I try very hard to never set my alarm before 5:00 am but it had to be done today.  We left for our run at 5:00 am and ended up having a great 14 mile run. 

I am always so glad that I woke up early once my run is done.  As we were finishing today it was just getting hot out.  I've pretty much always been a morning person.  In high school and college I was young and tough enough to stay up late so I would work out in the evenings but since I had kids it's been early morning for me.  

Today on Pinterest I saw this and thought it had some good tips if you want to become a morning person.  The biggest downfall to being a morning person is that if you're going to get up every day in the 5:00 hour you have to go to sleep early.  Luckily, my kids are still young so they go to bed at 9:00 pm- I'm not sure how I will survive when they are staying up late.  I can't keep my eyes open past 10:00 :)

 

http://greatist.com/happiness/become-a-morning-person

Are you a morning person?  

Have you always worked out in the morning?

A real princess

When I saw this picture of Kate with her new baby I wanted to stand and applaud.  Good for her for being real.  I love that her post baby belly is showing  (there is nothing you can do to get rid of it in the first few days anyway).  This is something I didn't know after my first baby.  I brought pre-pregnancy clothes to go home from the hospital in.....yea right! You've got to love a real princess!

Photo from US Weekly

Today's workout was a tempo run -  7.5 miles total with 5 at an 8:00 min/mile pace.  It wasn't easy or hard today it was just another run.  Then I had to hurry home and pick up Tays for swim team.  I came back to the gym for the crossfit class and for some reason it kicked my butt.  It was a 12 minute WOD and I was dying right from the start.  

Yesterday we did a 7.5 mile trail run and it was so much fun to just go run with no idea where we were going or exactly how far and pace didn't matter at all.  It was so much fun to just go out and enjoy running.  I need to do more of that.  I am always in training mode so I forget to just love running sometimes.

Lucky Number 4

I have been so bad about putting my workouts up and even worse with taking pictures.  Summer is busy busy busy.  I spend so much time at the pool watching my kids swim.  The boys are both on 2 teams and have been doing private lessons with their coaches which means I drive to and from and to and from all day every day.  Last weekend the boys had another meet and they decided they wanted their "lucky numbers" on their backs.  It must have worked because both boys swam fast and made this mama proud. 

Speaking of their lucky numbers.....they come from our family shirts.  I'm from a dang big family (4th of 10 kids) and several years ago we were all doing the Turkey Trot so we decided to make family shirts.  Each of us had our number put on the back of our shirt - and now these have become our lucky numbers.  Your number is based on when you came into the family - so there are grandkids with smaller numbers than in-laws.  We have done 3 versions of our shirts so far and they are worn all the time when we are together.  

I am number 4....as you can tell by the sweet flex.

Turkey Trot 2007

 

Turkey Trot 2009

Thanksgiving Dinner 2012

Workouts:
M - 8 mile run & crossfit
T - spin

Running in the Rain

I don't really love or hate running in the rain.  Last week on my long run it rained for the last 6 miles of my 17 miler.  The rain cooled everything off quite a bit which was nice.  But I wasn't dressed for the rain - no hat and I wasn't wearing a tank so it was a bit heavy and uncomfortable.  But I did it - the whole run so now I'm happy. 

I have perfected the "ugly" face for my self portraits. Ha.

I had a first on my run too - we always do water drops the night before so we don't have to wear fuel belts or carry water.  At one of the drops I left 2 Gatorade and 1 Powerade. And when we got there 2 of the 3 were gone.  So we got to share the last Gatorade.  Luckily, since it was raining we weren't too thirsty.

Last week's workouts:
Monday:  8 miles & crossfit
Tuesday:  spin & crossfit
Wednesday: 8 miles & crossfit
Thursday: 6 miles 
Friday: 17 miles
Saturday:  watch my kids at their swim meet :)

Freedom Run 10K

It's official - I have now done all the road race distances this year.  5K, 10K, relay race, half and full marathon.  And that is the only reason I signed up for the Freedom 10K instead of 5K.  I really wanted to get a PR at this race so I talked my SIL Kami into running it with me.  She's a speedy runner and I knew she would help push me.  The race started at 7:00 am and it was already in the 70's when we started.  It was a very hot and muggy race.  It was a really tough course too - it started going uphill, then flat and down for a while then another uphill at mile 4.5 then the last 3/4 mile was uphill to the finish.  The end was HORRIBLE.  I had to turn the tunes up loud to make myself keep pushing.  But we did it and I was happy once it was over.  Especially since I didn't throw up .... it felt like I was going to for a few minutes after! 

P.S.  beating my PR wasn't too hard since the last 10K I ran was in 2009 :)

Me and Kami

Some of my team mates who also did the 10K