beautifully sunny winter run

I was only planning on only doing about five miles today--you know, since I didn't run much this week--but it turned out be something more like 7.5 (according to map my run, anyway).

the beauty of the whole situation is that I felt good. I mean, good for most of the run. it wasn't until the very end that my legs started cramping up a bit. that pesky hamstring almost didn't even make an appearance! I think I'm getting stronger and am ready to start the slow build of the marathon push. hurrah!

7.5 miles; 6th east, liberty loop, through the park to south temple, 8th east to bryan ave (quick detour to look at a house), 10th east to 17th south

my week:

monday: the holiday ski

tuesday: the HBJ 5K

wednesday: ice skating (with kids, so you know it's a workout what with the clinging and the pushing/pulling and the picking them up and all)

thursday: snowshoe (again, with kids)

friday: cross country ski (yes, once again with the children. I love my job!)

saturday: long run

HBJ 5K

the course is not officially marked, it's not officially timed, it's not officially sponsored, and it's definitely not USATF certified.


it's the HBJ 5K, the best christmas day run around.

thank you oatmunchers for letting me participate long distance, via the blog. I know this is a little late in coming, but I wanted to submit a photo of myself running the HBJ 5K in hopes to win a prize. I'm going for the cutest new running digs award. thank you, peter, for the sassiest new running skirt around! I absolutely love, love, love it! (enough to pull it on over the tights for the inaugural run) peter and I had a fabulous relatively 3.1 mile run through a beautiful winter wonderland. it was like a christmas miracle.

the Happy Birthday Jesus 5K
tuesday, december 25th 2K7

post scipt:

today I did some holiday ski with the husband.

telemark love, free-heeling it down the mountain.

my quads are killin' me.

saturday long run

saturday was a short long run. six miles. it was cold. my legs never felt like they warmed up properly. I didn't have time to ice afterwards. but since they were like icicles the whole time anyway I didn't really see the point...

it was a good run, the same old same old.

6 miles; baby pug tree west, north, east

biathlon team

back in the day when I used to go to masters in the evenings at steiner, my cutest husband would come too and do his own little biathlon team. he'd swim first and then go run on the treadmill. it worked out perfectly.

today I wanted to try my own little biathlon team. I reversed the order, because it just makes more sense to me to end in the pool. I just wanted a short, easy run and to see if my shoulder still hurts while I swim. (I haven't been back to early AM swim team since it really started hurting)

after a quick two mile warm up on the treadmill, I headed down to the pool. I did a lot of slow laps. my shoulder felt okay. (my flip turns felt fantastic, btw) I did one length of the pool at a fast pace, and my shoulder totally felt it.

it felt so nice to be back in the pool; I miss it.

2 mile run; 30 minute swim; steiner

you know you're competetive when. . .

I was hoping this statement would prove true last night: I am faster than weather. seriously. it turns out that statement is false. when you try and race weather, you're sure to lose. (unless you're really fast, which I am obviously not)

the run started out nice enough. the sun was out, there was a slight wind. I was layered in tights, shirt, long sleeve tee, windbreaker, beanie, mini gloves. almost midway through the run I had to ditch the windbreaker because I was overheating. (ahh, the beauty of layers) a few blocks after my turn around, I noticed something behind me. the darkest grey sky you have ever seen. this is when the race was on. I was going to beat weather.

I don't know if anyone else out there has ever experienced this, the feeling of being totally enveloped by darkness. {I'm glad it was literal darkness--the daylight fading coupled with the ominous darkness right on my heels--not a metaphor for my life. my life is not darkness, but bright sunshine with the feeling of warmth on my cheeks.} it's a strange feeling. my mantra became, I can beat weather. I can beat weather.

I tried. I failed. the rain started to lightly fall. then the wind became chillier. back on went the windbreaker. (again, the beauty of layers) then the cold, pelting hail started. man, it got a little intense at the end. hail in the face is not a fun feeling. actually, it hurts. a lot. I had to run with my hand near my face to sheild myself. to be honest, though, I did feel quite hardcore out there. (and we all know how I like to feel hardcore, even if I'm not hardcore) after the hail came the lightning + thunder (how often does that happen in a winter storm?!). then the snow.

all in all it was an exciting run. me and weather, a fight to the end.

3.5 miles; 6th east to 6th south to 8th east

not so cold, but dark

yesterday I did the same quick loop. tuesdays are always so jam packed with fun and excitement I barely have time to breathe, let alone run. so it had to be quick. and unfortunately in the dark. (no time to go up to steiner for the tready) so I pulled on my layers, but made sure the white long sleeve tee was on over my fleece. you know, for added visibility. I was out the door.

my turnover was pretty quick again. I was cruisin' until I started to feel it in my left hamstring, so I listened to my body and slowed down a bit. problem solved.

when I got home I only had time to stretch a little bit. definitely no time for ice. oh well.

3 miles; liberty park loop

cold run

I have a problem. I need multiple meals throughout the day to live. I eat breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, et cetera. lately, though, I've been going without the afternoon snack. either a) because I'm too busy, or 2) because I'm not feeling hungry enough to take a break at work. usually in the latter situation, okay both of the situations, I end up feeling suddenly starved but by this time it's too late to eat anything because I'm almost off work and will be going running immediately after. and we all know how I have a wacky thing with food and exercising. I need at least a few hours in between. (usually. I find I'm getting better.) so by the time I actually get to my run, I'm so hungry I could gnaw off my leg. not a fun thing. I should probably just force myself to eat in the afternoon, even if it is just a little bit, to avoid these situations.

I did the quick three miler today. (you know, as opposed to the long three miler.) I was too hungry for anything else. and it was cold. my legs could feel it through the tights. maybe I should've doubled up. I felt pretty good out there, though. nice quick turnover.

I stretched a little when I got back. (I didn't start stretching right away because my muscles were so cold.) and then I forced myself to ice. I almost didn't. but then I did.

just so you know: when I got home I had half a banana with some peanut butter. (why half a banana? I'm still not sure. maybe I was thinking I was going to be eating dinner soon and didn't want to ruin my appetite. as if that could happen.) I was planning on making baked potatoes for dinner, but since we had roasted red potatoes in our dinner last night and then leftovers today, I didn't really want to eat more potatoes. but I did have a hankering for some treaty cornbread. so I made that. and then I had nothing else to really go with it so I ended up (after eating half the pan--peter helped and it was just a little pan) having some honeycombs and bites of the beef pete was making for his burritos. oh, and the other half of the banana. it was a very nutritious meal, as you can see.

3 miles; liberty park loop

eight

friday I was too busy to run. or swim. or anything. I took it as a rest day.

saturday I did my long run.

it was chilly when I woke up. something like fifteen degrees outside. I waited to go out until it was more like twenty-six degrees. I bundled up in all my little techy layers and braved the winter temps. it wasn't bad.

I did the baby pug tree run. it really is such a great run for it's convenience and simplicity. and it's water availability. {if you don't want to carry water, but want water every two miles or so, try a directional run. super easy. go out one mile in one direction turn around and come back. drink water. go a mile out in another direction, and so forth. water every two miles. it's a beautiful thing.}

my hamstrings started feeling a little tight midway through. otherwise I felt pretty good. this is the longest I've ran in this marathon push. I'm still building my base. eight miles didn't seem bad at all. my mind was totally there, and my body was close behind. I just need to keep working on my hamstrings and I think I'll be okay. {like being diligent about stretching + icing. ice is key.}

I rather enjoyed my run.

8 miles; baby pug tree south, west, north, east

run 4 your life

okay, so I was back at steiner again today. on the treadmill. it was okay. I don't know how people can run long distances on those things. but four miles really isn't too bad. I think six is the max. anyway, I digress.

I felt pretty good today. I ran two miles, put the machine on pause to stretch and by the time I was done stretching everything had been reset. good thing I don't care about my time or my caloric burn (does the treadmill tell you that? I know the eliptical does...), 'cause then I'd be pretty upset with mr treadmill. I just hopped back on and went another two miles. no biggie.

my hamstrings were behaving, though tight. and you know, the usual random aches and pains that come and go. nothing out of the ordinary.

4 miles; steiner

treadmill

I didn't run yesterday because I really had no time for that. (though I did almost wake up early and go to the gym before work. but yeah... that didn't actually happen.) I did go ice skating. which wasn't much of a workout. but it was something active. (and when you try to skate with two pre-teen girls hanging on the back of your jacket, it's actually quite a workout for your quads.)

today I opted out of swimteam. I made the decision last night, and neglected to set the alarm. for anything. yeah, I was slightly late for work this morning.

after work, though, I went up to steiner to run on the treadmill, since it was getting dark. (man, I'm so safe these days!) I did three miles. about halfway through I was thinking to myself how great it was that neither of my hamstrings hurt. about five seconds later I started feeling it in my right hammy. I guess I thought too soon.

3 miles; steiner

bum shoulder

I think I hurt my shoulder in swimming this morning. I don't really know what I did exactly, because it didn't even start hurting until I got to work. and then working just aggrivated it more. (you know, because of all the manual labor I do.) I hope this isn't something that sticks with me. I want to be able to keep swimming regularly.

I think this is the first time I've ever actually remembered my time intervals. (they're posted below with the sets) it was just me in the lane so I had to be very good about keeping track of laps + my times. sometimes I struggle with that; it's just so easy to lose count. I was having a hard time hitting the intervals for the 100's. the 50's were okay until the end. I pushed myself hard, though. (maybe that's why I now have a bum shoulder?) I was able to get the whole workout in. (okay, so I only had a 300 warmup. sometimes I show up a few minutes late...) so even if I'm slow, I'm still proud of myself.

500 warmup

4 X 75 drill (IM order)
4X 50 kick (IM order)
4X 25 swim (IM order)

2 X 100 (1:45)
4X 50 (1:05)
2 X 100 (1:45)
4 X 50 (1:00)
2X 100 (1:45)
4 X 50 (:55)
2 X 100 (1:45)
4 X 50 (:50)
2 X 100 (1:45)

100 cooldown

five in the snow

it did indeed snow today. but I couldn't bear the thought of running on the treadmill. so I braved the conditions and took it to the street.

it was pretty rough out there. it had snowed most of the night, and it was still coming down during the whole run. most people hadn't even shoveled yet. I was running through snow banks, dodging big slushy puddles, and trying not to slip or get hit by a car as I crossed the street. it was like a war zone out there.

I had to run slowly for the aforementioned reasons. conditions were far from ideal. I'm sure it didn't help my hamstring (what with the uneven, slippery surface I was running on), which still hurts, btw. I must have done something to it on thursday's treadmill run. my right hamstring didn't bother me a bit. I hope the left one doesn't become a chronic pain in my you-know-what.

I had originally planned a six or seven mile route (I had conjured up a few different options), but decided to cut it down to five. it wasn't worth risking severe damage to the hamstring or risking my life out there on the snowy streets.

I stretched and iced when I got home.

5 miles; baby pug tree west, baby pug tree north + the liberty park loop

wednesday | thursday | friday

wednesday: swim
don't worry, I was able to wake up ridiculously early on wednesday. I did not miss my swim workout.

when I got to the pool the last lane was empty and there was a guy about to jump into the next lane. I always have a hard time deciding which one I should swim in. if nobody else is in it, I'll take the second to last one and let things just work themselves out. but one of those super fast chicks had just arrived too, and was going to get in the lane with the fast-looking guy. so I opted for my own personal slow lane.

as I was warming up that one guy--the guy that usually swims in my lane, the one who showed up with about ten minutes left of the workout one time--got in and started swimming with me. then my friend karla came. (she is a lot slower than me, and we kept passing her up. it leads me to my theory about swimming: I am a better runner than my friend tori, but she is by far a better swimmer. karla is a better runner than me, but I'm faster than her in the pool. so maybe good runners make slower swimmers. but then I think my theory is shot all to pieces when I look at those chicks in the super fast lanes who I know must be supper awesome runners too. they're probably kickin' butt and taking names at all the local triathlons. they'd kick my butt on the bike as well, I'm sure. anyway, I digress.) so yeah. we were all in the lane together.

now I don't remember what the workout was exactly. I do remember they were all really short sets. nothing farther than a 100 was swam at any one time. it was a really good workout, though. and the coach was worried my lane (meaning myself and the guy, karla kinda had her own little modified workout) wouldn't be able to finish it all in time. but we did, even with a minute or two for a cooldown. I felt very good about that. we swam our little hearts out that morning.

thursday: run
since I split my time between backcountry and youth ed on thursdays, I sometimes like to go up to steiner to workout since I'm going up by the U anyway.

it was a treadmill run. has anyone else noticed that they run differently on a treadmill? (and does this affect the ability to analyze your foot type and pronation at the running store? I've always been a little suspicious for this reason) I seam to take longer strides and my feet aren't as under me as I'd like them to be. maybe I'm just crazy. I don't know.

I ran 4 miles. I tried to push the pace without pushing it too much that my hamstring would go into fits. I had to keep reminding myself that I have time to work on speed. this marathon business is often a lesson in patience, isn't it? I guess you could say it was a good run, though. my right knee did start hurting for no reason at all at mile two. we're talking the whole knee was hurting. not just the outside or anything, but the whole knee cap. I stopped and stretched and that seemed to take care of the problem. it was kinda weird.

I stretched afterward, but obviously no ice because I was at the community rec center where bags of frozen corn are not readily available.

friday: run
I wanted a shorter run to stretch and get the kinks out. both my hamstrings are feeling it today. they are TIGHT. I did the liberty park loop at a pretty slow pace. I stretched briefly mid-run, then again when I got home. I iced. they still feel tight. so, so tight. hopefully I'll be able to work it out on my long run tomorrow. and by long run I mean I'll probably only go 6-7 miles. we'll see.

on a weather related note, it was slightly raining during my run. gotta love rain in the eyes. tomorrow it will most likely be snowing. I'd rather run while it's snowing as opposed to raining. it's less wet that way. so hopefully there's not a foot of snow on the ground when I wake up. if that's the case, I might be moving my run indoors. and I do not want to do that.

my run + a recipe

the temperature was relatively warm'ish this afternoon, so it made everything all melty. I ran the perimeter of liberty because the south side (I approach it from the south) had no snow on the path. I hoped this would be the case all the way around. it wasn't. pretty much the rest of the run around the park was through grey mushy snow. either that or I was slogging through muddy patches of dead grass. it was pretty fun.

it felt pretty good to be out there. just the normal random aches + pains. I almost didn't ice after I stretched. but then I made myself do it.

I also wanted to have my new favorite post-run food. . . the power smoothie. . . but the blender was still sitting in the sink from yesterday's post-run power smoothie. . . so it was a no go. I was totally bumming.

okay, okay. here's the recipe for the power smoothie already (it's really quite simple):

power smoothie
assorted berries of your choice
banana
peanut butter
milk

01. place a handful of berries into the blender.
02. cut up the banana and put in the blender with the berries.
03. blend a little
04. add a scoop of peanut butter
05. blend some more
06. add milk until desired consistency
07. blend
08. pour
09. enjoy

3 miles; liberty park perimeter loop

it's official

so I guess I'm committed. my snail mail registration finally went through. fargo, north dakota here I come!

ditch swimteam? check. ditch work? check! ditch my run? no way!

I slept through swimteam today. this is the first time that has happened since I've started going to the early AM masters. man, I suck. but in my defense I had a really hard time sleeping last night. even with my sunday afternoon nap limited to thirty minutes, I still could not fall asleep for the life of me. slightly frustrating. let's just hope this was an isolated incident.

so I just ditched work instead and ran in the early afternoon. it was perfect.

my hamstring didn't bug me too much, I don't think. overall, it was a pretty nice run.

I even stretched and iced when I got home. I am so good.

4 miles; 6th east/8th east loop, via 4th south

movement without moving

we woke up to a blizzard this morning. so much snow that peter was worried I'd slip and hurt myself or worse, get hit by a snowplow if I ran outside. so I obliged and we both went up to steiner for joint treadmill team.

I have decided that if I was given the choice of jammin' to music or having the feeling of actually going somewhere, I'd choose going somewhere every time. see, that's what I hate most about the treadmill. I run and run and my little legs are really going somewhere but I am not. I hate the feeling of movement without really moving. I want to see the world pass by me. plus, I need a better running play list.

okay, I'll be honest. I don't really have a running play list. I set the ipod on shuffle and just let it go. some songs, I discovered, aren't so conducive to moving fast. I need to work on that. {any suggestions out there? eye of the tiger obviously. but what else?}

I think I'll be spending a little more time on the treadmill in the coming months. {though I hate to say it} on days when air quality is poor or the road conditions aren't ideal, I don't want to risk it. I'll suck it up and do what's best for my overall health. (this is so far from my old running self who was do or die run outside) plus I think it will be easier to do workouts where I want to target my tempo or goal pace for a certain number of miles. I'll be able to gauge speed + distance. but don't get me wrong. I will spend time on the roads as well. I cannot run much more than six miles on a treadmill. I think I just might kill myself if I have to resort to that.

the run was pretty good. it's nice to see how far off my target pace I am. I was sitting at about a 9:22 minute mile for most of the run. I pushed it below 9 minutes for a bit. I am trying to be conservative and not push too hard too soon. I have time to get my pace + endurance where they need to be.

6 miles; steiner