Run that ye may Obtain

On Friday night we went to a “send-off” gathering in Castle Rock for my midwife and her husband, Jean and Mark Dhority who are leaving into the mission field next month.  Jean was my angel and facilitator throughout Breanne and Ali’s homebirths.  After serving as a direct entry midwife here in Colorado for many years, Jean has made an impact here and is now moving on to the Copper Canyon in Mexico to serve the Tarahumara Indians.

Jean and Mark are remarkable people with a noble mission before them.  They are moving indefinitely to the Copper Canyon with the goal of bringing life and light to the Tarahumara Indians.  Read about their mission here.  As I spoke with Jean on Friday night I felt of the love, peace, and faith she has in her heart.  She is going to these people with the humble desire to bring them God’s love and empower them with the wisdom of midwifery which will enable them to continue to grow their society and be healthier and happier.  She will be joining Dr. Mike who has already established a medical clinic in the Copper Canyon. Dr. Mike’s informative video.

It was nice to visit with Jean and Mark and send them with our love and support.  Even though they have only raised 30% of the estimated cost of their mission, they have sold their home and all their things and are driving to Mexico with faith that God will provide for them and watch over them.  Jean and Mark can use all the support they can get, so if you have it in your heart to support them, please do so!  God be with you Jean and Mark!

My week of running in review:

Monday

A.M. Easy 8 miles in 7:08 AP

P.M. Hike to Mallory Cave with the kids (see pics below)

Tuesday

A.M. 10 miles with the group in Niwot with about 5 miles worth of intervals and some hills  mixed in.  Massage with Erin afterwards. She did some much needed work on my gluts/hips as well as my ever-constant tight calves.

P.M. Easy 6 miles and weights

Wednesday

12 miles in 7:20 AP.  Both arches of my feet are super tight.  Lots of self massage.

Thursday

A.M. 6 miles with Darren and Colleen

P.M. 4 miles with the wind.

Friday

A.M. 13.6 miles with Colleen and Katie B.  Coach D timing us.  4X2 mile repeats on the creek path in 11:22, 11:29, 11:12, and 11:09.  Solid workout and pleasant time with great people.

Saturday

20.4 miles; first 10 in 7:05 AP, next 6 in 6:12 AP, last 4.4 in 7:30 pace.  Left plantar facia is not happy.  Lots of massage, ice, rest.

Sunday

Day of Rest

Total weekly mileage: 80

Some pics from our hike on Monday….

20 miler on Saturday…thanks for supporting me, hon!

Lately I’ve been drawing my attention to “the little things” that are going to help me become a more efficient, healthier, stronger runner. For instance I’ve gotten some custom orthotics to help my foot strike and pronation efficiency.  I’ve been dialing in my long run fueling and nutrition and eliminating products that don’t work for me (thick gels/gu) and maximizing my use of products that do work.  I’ve also recently gone in for some blood work to get some baseline measurements of different markers, specifically my ferritin.  I used to get my ferritin tested a few times a year when I was running at BYU but since graduating, haven’t put much thought towards it.  Now that I’m running more mileage and more intensely than I ever have before I figured its a good idea to keep tabs on how my body is keeping up with it.  I still take liquid iron+Vit. C almost every day because I know living at altitude and training at the intensity I am, that iron is being put to good use.

I’ve been working more frequently and effectively in the weight room strengthening my running specific muscles with a focus on my hips and core.  Colleen gives me exercises that activate my core while working my arms/legs and I am able to feel a more full body workout every time I meet with her.  I also make time to do the cannonball cooldown after almost every run to keep my hips loose and gluts and core strong.

One of the biggest “little things” that is still a work in progress is getting enough sleep.  While I think I am a pretty darn good sleeper (I’ll sleep long when given the chance), I can’t say that I’ve mastered this piece of the puzzle.  If only there were an extra 3 hours in the day!  With my busy schedule running my kids around to their daily activities, grocery shopping,  cooking, cleaning, and trying to stay on top of all the laundry, while running 8 to 20 miles (depending on the day, excepting Sunday) every day is a full day.  I hate to admit that sometimes a basket of clean laundry will sit on my dresser for 3 days before I actually get around to folding it and putting it back in the dresser drawers.  Twice this week my son came to me in his underwear asking me where his clean pants were and I secretly snatched a pair out of the dirty laundry basket and presented them to him.  Clean enough for one more day!  At least I have Aaron to help me so I don’t get too behind on things.  He has cooked dinner at least three times this week and folded the laundry lots too.  Sometimes I’ll dump the clean laundry out on our bed so we are forced to fold it and put it away before climbing into bed at night.  That 20 minutes of folding laundry with Aaron is the perfect end to my day.  Despite being super busy, I have to take a step back and be grateful for all that I AM able to do in my quest for speedy PRs.  I recognize that I truly am very blessed.

This week in review:

Monday

Easy 8 miles with strides, 6:47 AP

Tuesday

A.M. 11.5 miles; Hill repeats.  7X 2 min. up, 2 min. down Lehigh Street with RRBers and Striders who are training for Boston

P.M. 4 miles, weights with Colleen

Wednesday

13.5 miles in 7:01 AP

Thursday

A.M. 6.5 miles in 7:08 AP

P.M. 4 miles in 6:59 AP

Friday

A.M. 11.5 miles; 7XMile workout with Katie and Joanna.  Coach D timed us, thank goodness because I forgot my watch and was forced to go by feel.  My first 4 repeats were something like 5:26, 5:30, 5:33, 5:32.  Coach D kept reminding me to run the odds slower than the evens but I just couldn’t seem to feel it.  Finally he threatened to pull me out of the workout if I didn’t run the 5th repeat at 5:45 or slower.  To help me with the assignment, Katie let me borrow her watch for my 5th repeat and I ran a very comfortable 5:50.  Then my 6th was 5:21 and 7th was 5:39.

P.M. Easy 4 miles in 7:14 AP, weights/core.

Saturday

14 miles; First 5 miles in 7:27 AP, middle 4 miles in 5:58 AP, last 5 miles in 7:17 AP.  (6:58 AP for the entire run)

Sunday

Day of Rest

Total Mileage for the Week: 77

Last, but not least.  Our good friends Zach and Kristy recommended a new band, Mumford & Sons, so I got to enjoy some fresh tunes on my iPod this week.  Here’s a sampling….

14.5 miles in 7:51 pace.

YEAH!!!  I LOVE LONG RUN DAY!!!!!

My legs were feeling a lot better this morning than they have felt all week.  Left knee is not an issue anymore.  I think the rest and lower mileage was well needed.  My inner thighs were a little tight for the first couple of miles but after stretching at the 20 minute mark everything loosened up and I felt GREAT!  Took the pace easy and just enjoyed the sunshine.  North Salt Lake sunshine was not as refreshing as Denver sunshine as it had to pass through a film of inversion air first, but still better than cloudy or snowy air.

Ran from my Sister-in-law’s house in Foxboro, NSL (Redwood Road and I-215ish) to my Alma Mater, Bountiful High School and back.  The route was up Center street in NSL to Orchard Drive.  North on Orchard all the way to 500 S. in Bountiful.  Went into the field house at Bountiful High to get a drink of water and use the restroom.  That place is still the same as when I went there 11 years ago.  And probably the 20 years before that.  Isn’t it about time for a rennovation?  Ran back from Bountiful High on residential streets with no traffic so I could run on the road instead of sidewalks.  Decided to add on a little bit at the end to bring my weekly mileage at least up to 40.  Kind-of a pathetic week for mileage.  But I guess my body could use a mini-break every now and again.  Actually my knee was forcing me into it, so I was just following orders.

All in All, our trip to Utah was way fun.  We spent some quality time with all of our in-town family and some friends too.  Stayed up way too late every night playing games and chatting with family.  Ate too much junk food.  Ate some yummy meals too.  Ran a fun race together.  Exhausted our kids with fun overload.  Endured many fatigue-induced kid trantrums and one candy-induced kid puke as well as a philipino food-induced Aaron puke.  Visited some fun kid locations (Discovery Museum in the Gateway Mall and Classic Fun Center in Sandy).  Saw a way cool movie (Aaron and I stuck away one afternoon without kids and saw Avatar).  Visited some nostalgic places (the ward where I grew up, my former High School, and the Bountiful Temple where Aaron and I were married 7.5 years ago).  We also saw some extended family at a dinner at Gardner Village, went to Downtown SLC to get some things at the Church distribution center and visit Aaron’s Dad in his office.  So yeah, it was a busy week but a memorable week.  And now I’m glad to be home.  Back to my own bed.  My own routine.  My kids normal sleep schedule and normal moods.  And back to the Colorado sunshine and pleasant running trails. 

16 miles in 7:29 pace.

Wow.  What a beautiful day today is.  Went running in 40 degree sunshine at 7:30 a.m. with shorts on.  Out and back on Big Dry Creek.  Running felt easy today. Almost effortless.  The sinus infection that has been bothering me since Sunday is almost completely gone and my body feels strong and fit.  I am SO grateful to feel this good right now.  Its never easy to stay healthy and uninjured but when it happens you just have to recognize that it is a gift from God and give thanks.

Stretched and rolled out on my foam roller for a good 30 minutes after the run while eating breakfast and watching TMBG songs on You Tube with the kids.  Ali was climbing all over me, jumping on my legs and giving me hugs even though I’m sure I didn’t smell great.  What a little cutie she is.  18 months old is SUCH a fun age.

12 miles in 8:00 pace

I thought it was cold in Denver.  Its even colder here!  We arrived last night around 11:00 p.m. after getting our kids situated and packing the car and then driving the 3 hour trip and the temperature was -9 F as we got into our hotel room.  This morning, wanting to find a fitness center and some hot springs to soak in we asked the front desk manager and she recommended the hot springs up the road that has a fitness center too and gave us some discount passes.

I did my long run for the week, 12 miles.  Started out at 8:20 pace and slowly progressed to 7:30 for the last 4-5 miles.  Treadmill shut down on me after an hour so I had to restart it.  In my final half mile Aaron had finished his 9 miles and was just waiting for me so I decided to finish it quickly and bumped up the pace to 5:30.  The run felt great and we stretched, rolled out on foam rollers, and soaked in the hot springs for a while afterwards.

After showering, eating, and getting our gear, we hit the slopes for a few hours.  My legs were not used to using those snowboarding muscles in the isolated anaerobic way snowboarding requires so I had to keep stretching but finally after a couple of runs they got warmed up and felt better.  The weather was beautiful and sunny, but stayed in the low 20s F.

For dinner we ate at Giovanni’s, the same place we ate at on our Honeymoon 7.5 years ago.  Their ownership and menu had changed a little but it was still VERY delicious.  Then we went to see the movie, Everybody’s Fine and I cried through a lot of it.  Its a pretty sad movie.  I don’t want to spoil it or anything, but I don’t know why they called the movie Everybody’s Fine because everybody is definitely NOT fine.  As Aaron and I discussed it afterwards we felt inspired to be better parents though so I guess there was a good take-away message.