trying to remember...

monday, januray 21: worked late. went on a hot date to cocoa caffe with the lewis'. no time for running.

tuesday, january 22: 3 miles treadmill.

wednesday, january 23: 3 miles treadmill. (I think I was going to do 4, but my knee started hurting so I cut it short.)

thursday, january 24: 3.5 miles treadmill.

friday, january 25: didn't run. sat on a plane all day. but I did play hot foot with three energetic kids + one bro-inlaw. it involves a lot of running around a basement throwing boxing gloves at each other. it was quite a workout to say the least!

saturday, january 26: 6 miles treadmill. level 2 incline. (stie's treadmill is stuck and won't go any lower)

monday, january 28: 4 miles treadmill. again, level 2 incline.

tuesday, january 29: ski day!

wednesday, january 30: 3 miles. around liberty and then back via 8th east.

thursday, january 31: 4+ miles. up 17th and over to sugarhouse park via 15th east. one loop then back the way I came.

the week went as follows:

monday | run | four miles | out on the streets. did a four mile loop from the casa. felt pretty good, if I recall. maybe until the end. don't really remember.

tuesday | run | three miles | ran the liberty park loop. oh, picked up my stick from salt lake running company. I think this is going to revolutionize my life. I will end this cycle of tight muscles once and for all--I'm determined.

wednesday | ummm. . . | zero anything | okay, so I was planning on going to yoga. but then I got talked into going to a party instead. what's a girl to do? so yeah, it turned into a good quality rest day.

thursday | run | four miles | treadmill. I think it went well. can't remember anything specific.

friday | run | three miles | treadmill. kinda "raced" the girl next to me. sometimes I hate my competitive tendencies. really, it was just because she is one of those really good fast swimmers at masters, and I wanted to at least be better at her at running. needless to say I did have my treadmill cranked up higher than hers, and I wasn't even pushing it too fast, so that made me feel good about myself. I guess. like it really matters in the end, though. right?

saturday | run | ten miles | ten miles and I'm feeling great! seriously, I did not have as much of the usual aches/pains/tightness I usually do. ten miles was nothing. mentally, I think I'm right on track. and my body is following close behind. hopefully I can get it to the point where I can really push myself so as to reach that certain goal. it's kind of exciting. and scary. and I know there will be a lot of hard work involved. but maybe, just maybe I can do it.

eight

I felt good when I woke up yesterday morning. {I should have, I slept for almost twelve hours.} I felt good on the first part of my run. it was still pretty icy so I had to be careful and slow the pace a little. there was one little slip that could've been bad, but fortunately it was just sliding without the falling or even the pulling of muscles. there were a few times during the run that I didn't feel as great. I felt tight, et cetera. but then I'd feel good again. and then tight again. and then good. as always, though, it was a great time for thinking. and the weather was nice, not so cold, so it wasn't a bad run at all.

when I got home I stretched. then I took an ice bath. yikes! those are pretty intense. I filled up my bathtub with the coldest water from the tap, then poured in all of the ice cubes that we have. the hardest part about the ice bath is the pain in your feet. but once they get a little numb, it's not so bad. {that generally takes about two minutes or so.} I like to try and keep my core body temp as high I can by wearing a beanie and wrapping a towel around my shoulders. and yesterday I held my little rice bag that I heat up in the microwave for added warmth. that seemed to work nicely. you know, it kept the convulsions down to a minimum.

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

friday

I did the elliptical. for thirty minutes. did the cross country workout. went a relatively slow pace. jammed to the juno soundtrack the whole time. loved it.

eliptical; 30 mintues; 3 miles

thankfully I remembered the ipod

I ran an easy four miles on the treadmill today. I feel a cold on the verge so I didn't want to overdo anything. I'll probably just take tomorrow as a rest day {or just an extremely easy day} and then do my long run on saturday as planned.

4 miles; steiner

the potpourri swim

I have been dreaming lately of effortless gliding through water. each time I'm swimming the backstroke. my kick feels great and releases pent up energy. the rhythm of my rotation in my stroke is both relaxing + rejuvenating. maybe my mind was trying to tell me something: my body wants to swim. {though I'm still not sure why it was calling for the backstroke. that seems random}

[does anyone else do cross training on wednesdays? I don't know why, but I've always done it on wednesdays. maybe it's just a cross training sort of day, what with it being in the middle of the week and all. tuesdays are always scheduled as speed days. is my training too predictable?]

so what with it being wednesday and all, I knew I needed to do something other than run. I also knew that my body was craving the pool. and since I didn't wake up ridiculously early this morning for masters, I was left to do it on my own.

I had no plan going into it, so I just swam whatever I felt like at the moment. I did the 500 warm up, some kicking, a few sprint 25's, some longer sets, a splattering of laps other than freestyle, I did some build: descending + ascending. . . it was a little bit of everything.

what I am most excited about is ironically not my backstroke. I mean, that felt okay, but my butterfly--oh, my butterfly! I was able to swim it! I mean, really swim it! {okay, so I wasn't doing endless laps and laps of the fly or anything. actually I did some 100 IM sets. but I was able to make it all the way without resorting to a drill. I felt fantastic, though I'm sure I still looked like a flopping fish} there's something in the rhythm of this stroke. the kicks + arm movements. maybe I'm finally feeling how it's supposed to be. how that little extra kick right before you come out of the water to breathe helps propel you forward, not upward. I don't know what it was, but it felt good. just about as good as the backstroke felt in my dreams.

swimming; steiner; 1 hour

monday | tuesday

monday: short run around liberty park. the run around the park was completely icy. out of the park, while running home, I did a little fartlek, speed play. had to be careful, though, because there were some slushy-ice patches.

tuesday: ran on the treadmill up at steiner. forgot the ipod, but was miraculously okay without it. the miles didn't drag on. I guess I was just lost in my thoughts. lost among the whirring white noise of the treadmills. lost in the darkening sky as it snuck across the valley. it was a good four mile run. I felt pretty strong. cranked that baby up a bit.

the year {so far} in review

monday, december 31st: hiked over six miles in telemark ski boots on a snowy trail. oh yeah, in the dark. {this will hopefully be another story for another day for another blog}

tuesday, january 1st: hiked over six miles in telemark ski boots on a snowy trail. this time in the daylight. it must be hard to hike in telemark ski boots for so long, because my legs were sore in slightly random places the next day.

wednesday, january 2nd: ran on the treadmill due to poor air quality. did about a 3 mile "hill" workout. tried to push myself. first time running in just the skirt. felt a little exposed while stretching, note to self.

thursday, january 3rd: took a rest day because my body was a little tired and feeling out of sorts.

friday, january 4th: did my long run so I could ski with the husband on saturday. six miles. my legs felt tired + tight.

saturday, january 5th: didn't ski because the canyon was closed until the afternoon due to heavy snow and avalanche control.