Run that ye may Obtain

5.6 miles -2.5 easy, 3.1 race in 5:45 pace

Ran in the Beat the New Year 5k at 11:30 p.m. in Sugarhouse park in Salt Lake City.  Before the race Aaron and I played games with his sisters and their husbands, Ashley and Matt and Emily and Adam.   I fueled up on pizza, peanut M&Ms, soda, raspberry sticks, and apples.  At least I resisted the pie and other sweets I could have been puking at the race.  And I resisted eating after 9 pm so as to have a chance at a settled stomach for the race.  Aaron and I talked Ashley, Emily and Adam into coming to the race with us even though they weren’t registered; we figured they could just bandit run it and enjoy the unique exercise of racing to the New Year.  Matt volunteered to stay home with the sleeping kids in the home.

We all left for the race at 10:45ish and got to Sugarhouse park around 11:10.  20 minutes to race start.  Jogged to the race number pick-up and were handed some nice long sleeve tech t-shirts and a race number the same as everyone else: 2010.  Upon learning that everyone had the same race number and there were no more race pins so the volunteer handing out numbers just told us to put it in our pocket, I knew it was not really a “timed” race but more of just a low budget fun run.  All the better! No pressure!  They did claim to give a prize for overall winner and COLDEST runner though, so of course I was after the win and Aaron was after the coldest runner award.  We jogged the 1.25 mile lap of the course together to warm up, took our outer layers off (which included everything except short running shorts for Aaron), and jogged the other half mile to where the race start was. The race was basically two and a half laps around Sugarhouse park.  Aaron looked AWESOME in his bare feet, bare chested outfit in the 20 degree darkness.  He got lots of comments about how crazy/awesome he is.

Right as the race was about to start, my Garmin froze.  Aaron quickly took his Garmin off and gave it to me but when the race started I pushed the wrong button anyway and didn’t start the timer until about a quarter of a mile in when I realized I had pushed the wrong button.  So I just forgot about the pace and time anyway and just ran.

There were 4 or 5 men that went out ahead of me, most of them shirtless.  I settled into a comfy pace and really enjoyed the energy and uniqueness of the event.  Finished the race with 12:12 to spare before the New Year which means I ran a 17:48 for the 5k.  Grabbed our camera and took a pic of Aaron finishing.  I got the overall female trophy and he got the Coldest runner trophy!  We celebrated for a couple of minutes and I jogged back to run in with my sister-in-laws, Ashley and Emily.  We hooted and hollered our way into the New Year while running in together.  Such a FUN way to bring in the New Year!!!

Happy New Year Everyone!

6 miles in 8:00 pace

Went to the Bountiful Recreation Center again since it was snowing hard and I didn’t want to run on the slippy surface that seemed to agitate my knee in the first place.  Ran 6 miles on the treadmill.  Felt GREAT!  Small bit of twinging behind my knee but not the same tightness across the top of my knee as I had been struggling with previously.  SO grateful for the 6 miles of actual running I could get.  Didn’t want to push my luck, so stopped there and lifted weights for a bit.  Did a set of 10 pull ups and another set of 9.  Very happy about that as I usually just settle for two sets of 7.  Did some other lifts and core work.  The workout really lifted my spirits and put me in a good mood.  Traveling for an entire week with the kids and staying with other people throws me out of my routine and I start feeling blah because I don’t eat as healthy and my sleep is not good either.  Working out always lightens my mood though.

My reward for putting up with the blah lack of routine is that I get to visit with loved ones and enjoy catching up with my family and friends.  Sunday evening I was sitting in the home where I grew up.  My parents built that home 31 years ago and raised 5 children there.  There we all were, 5 children and their spouses, Mom, our step-father, Owen (I’m sure Dad was peeking in on us in spirit), and 14 crazy grandkids running around us.  It was such an amazing energy of love, support, and understanding in the room as we reunited one last time in our home where we all grew up.  Mom and Owen have purchased a new home together and will be selling the old family home soon so its the last time we’ll all be together in that home.  But I don’t mind.  Home is wherever we are.  Home is where family is.

8.25 miles equivalent

Went to the Bountiful Recreation Center to work out since I heard its like smoking a pack of cigarettes if I run for an hour outside in this cruddy inversion air.  Question: if the air is so horribly damaging outside, would it really be THAT much better in a large building with doors opening and letting that air in every 13 seconds?

I did a 2.25 mile warm up on the treadmill and my knee was pretty tight.  Not wanting to make it tighter, I stretched well and jumped on the elliptical.  I pushed it up to level 14 and kept my heart rate over 140 so as to make the workout equitable to running.  I did 4X45 seconds hard, then 1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1 minutes hard with one minute rest between pushes and a cool down afterwards.  I got my heart rate up to the 170s for a bit, at least.  Felt great on my knee and worked some weaker inner thigh and outer calf muscles differently from running.

5.75 miles in 8:47 pace

Aaron and I met with our friend Danny in North Salt Lake to run together.  I was a little nervous about running since my last run on Friday caused severe knee pain.  Taking Saturday and Sunday off seemed to do a LOT of good though.  We started off very slow and my knee felt fine until we had to go across some cruddy snow at around mile 4 and then my knee started nagging.  After another mile it was slowly nagging more and I decided to bow out at mile 5.75 since we just happened to be running by Aaron’s Sister’s house.  I didn’t want to push it and injure my knee more.  Need to get that knee feeling better so I can race on Thursday and get my training back up to speed.  Aaron and Danny continued on for a total of 13.1 miles.

10.5 miles in 7:54 pace

Got out for a 10.5 mile run in the 25 degree windy cold.  Didn’t dress warm enough because I stopped feeling my hands, face, and forearms at some point.  It was nice to get out for some fresh air though.

I was going to go for 12 miles but at mile 10 my left knee suddenly had a spasm.  It was strange.  I didn’t twist my ankle or step on any big awkward object or anything, but my knee just told me it was done for the day.  I did not feel any tightness in this knee the entire run until suddenly at mile 10 when it literally stopped working.  My direct route home was still a little over a mile and I was really cold so I walk/jogged the rest of the way home.  It didn’t hurt when I walked and jogged very very slow but if I tried to pick up the pace at all it twinged severely again.  NOT GOOD.  Has anyone else had this experience?

I may have pushed too hard with the thera cane two days ago and damaged some tendons near my knee?  I had been feeling a small bit of tightness in that knee since Monday but I thought it was just because my quad was tight and the tightness was nothing compared to the severity that I felt today at mile 10.  My other theory is that my legs were just not liking running on the uneven cruddy ice that was out there today.  I ran on the clear road for as much as I could but there was still plenty of slipping and crumbly chunks of ice to get through.  Maybe I’ll take tomorrow off and ice my knee on our drive.  We have a long day of traveling and need to be in Utah by 4:00 p.m. for a party anyway.  That will give me some extra time to heal over the weekend.  Please let it be better by Monday!

7 miles in 8:05 pace

I got to bed early last night since I’ll be up late tonight playing Mrs. Clause.  My run today was on the treadmill at the rec. center.  We got a pretty good amount of snow last night and I didn’t really want to trudge through it.  Our gym’s child care wasn’t open today and I wanted to take the kids swimming afterwards anyway so  the Paul Derda rec. center is a great option because they have an awesome kids pool.  I put the kiddos in Child Care for an hour while I ran and then we swam together for an hour and a half afterwards.  I could tell my Thera Cane work yesterday broke up some serious adhesions because my legs felt pretty hashed today.  As in sluggish, tired, beat-up overly worked from all that pressure point pushing.  I just couldn’t get enough of it!  I pushed in the morning and then again in the evening.  We watched Avatar (the Japanamation kids shows) last night with our kids and I sat there for a good hour pushing on my legs with the Thera Cane.  I’m sure they’ll feel better by tomorrow.

We’re going to our friends house (the same friends we had Thanksgiving dinner with) this afternoon/evening to enjoy Christmas Eve with them and let the kids play.  Then Christmas Day will be a fun family day and the day after Christmas we’re driving to Utah to visit our parents and siblings.  The kids are looking forward to seeing their Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles, and playing with their cousins

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

8 miles in 8:37 pace

Drove to Littleton to run with Carolyn.  Traffic was a little slow due to the snow so I got there a few minutes late but still under an hour of drive time.  There wasn’t much snow, maybe just a few inches on the trail.  Made for a nice soft running surface.

Ran 8 miles in 8:37 ave pace.  Felt good for me to take a good recovery day and loosen up my tired legs.  And of course its always enoyable to visit with Carolyn.  I met a couple of her kids, saw a third sleeping on the couch.  Her 7 year old daughter is remarkably cute!  Also enjoyed some of Michelle’s wheat bread.  YUM!

When I got home I worked on my legs with a Thera Cane.  Never heard of it?  Me neither until a couple of days ago when Aaron told me he found one that was left in a house he just bought.  If it were me rummaging through dirty, junk-filled houses I wouldn’t have recognized this strange device as anything useful but he recognized it since his massage therapist has showed him one before.  I tell you what, Aaron has brought home a whole TON of junk from houses he’s bought (which always ends up in our garbage can) but this Thera Cane is a diamond in the rough.  It will be a nice compliment to the foam roller in keeping my legs adhesion free.

11 miles in 7:40 pace

Went to the gym this morning and ran for 20:30 (2.5 miles at 8:12 pace) then lifted weights.

Was going to run with my group in Boulder, but Aaron had too much to do and didn’t get home until 5 pm (I usually leave around 4 pm to make it to my group in time) so I left him with the kids and did my workout around my neighborhood when he got home.

20 minute warm-up, stretching, strides.

Fartlek: 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1 with 60 sec rest between the 1 and 2 and 90 sec rest between the 3 and 4

My pace was as follows: 5:14, 6:00, 6:13, 5:52, 5:56, 6:24, 5:53, 5:20

Total evening run was 8.5 miles at 7:15 pace

For some reason I had issues during the 3 minute intervals both times. The first 3 minute interval was uphill and very dark on a muddy trail with a short steep uneven hill near the end.  The second 3 minute interval brought bowel problems and I ended up stopping right after to do some business.

I probably would have run these faster had I been with my group and people to push me, but as it was I felt good about my effort and had enjoyable time with my friend Mr. Ipod.

9 miles in  7:53 pace

Nice and warm outside today.  Supposed to get up into the mid-50s!

Last night around 7 pm I was SOOO tired.  I could have gone to bed and slept 12 hours.  Aaron and I got the kids to bed early and did some calendar sync and family planning and resolved to go to bed early.  After the kids were in bed I seemed to get a second wind though.  Something about the peace and quiet of no kid responsibility rejuvinates me.  I did not feel tired again until almost 11 pm and finally fell asleep around midnight.  Then I ran at 6 am today because Aaron has jury duty and had to leave early.  Neither of us have ever had jury duty, so I guess the government is finally catching up with us.

Ali just climbed up on the kitchen table to get an orange out of the fruit basket.  She is now dangling her legs off the edge of the table and I just sent my 3 year old over to help her down.  Not working.  Better go.

9.9 miles in 7:30 pace

Met at Potts Field to run with Running Republic team.

20 minutes warm up, stretching, strides

3X1.5 mile repeats in 5:47, 5:49, 5:59 pace (last one was more uphill and I was tired)

10 minute cool down

Nice workout, felt great!