my long run yesterday was good. I felt strong.
going into it I wasn't sure what the weather would bring. they had been forecasting snow and/or showers all week. not something I necessarily want to run in, but will run in if needs be. the only problem was I didn't quite know how to dress for the run. it had currently been clear with temps in the low forties. would that hold? would I be out there when things changed suddenly and drastically?
I had thought about doing the baby pug tree run for that reason. if things turned for the worse I could run home and put on some additional layers, or change out of wet ones. but I didn't really want to do the baby pug tree. I am a little over it.
peter generously offered to go place some water bottles out for me. just like last week I did the 14 miler zoo/wasatch run. I just added two extra miles in the beginning to make it 16 miles total. I did a quick western run of the baby pug tree and then was off on the rest of the run.
can I just tell you how much better I felt at each point of the run over last week? and that was with two additional miles already under my feet! I didn't really start getting tight until about mile 12 or so. this is a good sign.
I felt strong.
pete rode the course on his bike and dropped off the water bottles in our designated spots. I met him soon after he had turned around. he was surprised I was already to that point; I must have been cruising! also, my outfit choice was perfect, just in case you were wondering. and I know you were. layered long sleeve tee's with my vest, tights, beanie, snot-gloves. I'm so glad I opted for the vest because it gave me a place to stash the beanie and gloves when I didn't need them. there were a few times where I had to pull them out of the pockets because it got windy and the temps dropped. thankfully no rain or snow. just a fierce headwind for the last three-fourths of the run.
I'm feeling good about where things are right now and where they are going. I am so much farther along than I was last year at this time. cramming in my training after an injury is no fun and really affects your body. I'm so glad that this year I have remained relatively injury free--just those chronic annoyances--and have had time to get that solid base under me. this year should prove drastically different from last years marathon. and I'm so excited to see it all play out.
16 miles; baby pug tree west, zoo/wasatch
Sunday, March 30, 2008
the weekly rundown
oh my goodness, I'm sure having a hard time remembering what I ran this past week. I can barely even remember my run on friday, and that was two days ago! sorry this is a little spotty, but here goes. . .
monday, march twenty-fourth:
4 miles; the big loop?
tuesday, march twenty-fifth:
3.5 miles; through liberty, then around liberty and back home. . .
wednesday, march twenty-sixth:
got a sports massage. . . there is much to be worked on on the body of anna jo. . .
thursday, march twenty-eighth:
3 miles; around the perimeter of liberty. . . okay, I can't really remember if this is what I actually ran on thursday, but I think so. I do remember my legs feeling like dead weight.
friday, march twenty-ninth:
3 miles; liberty. for some reason it felt like there was a huge ball stuck inside my left glute. I don't know if it was from something I did the day before, but there was a knot and I could totally feel it with every step! I do think it lessened as time went on. it didn't really stick around for the long run the next day, so that was good. it was bizarre, though.
monday, march twenty-fourth:
4 miles; the big loop?
tuesday, march twenty-fifth:
3.5 miles; through liberty, then around liberty and back home. . .
wednesday, march twenty-sixth:
got a sports massage. . . there is much to be worked on on the body of anna jo. . .
thursday, march twenty-eighth:
3 miles; around the perimeter of liberty. . . okay, I can't really remember if this is what I actually ran on thursday, but I think so. I do remember my legs feeling like dead weight.
friday, march twenty-ninth:
3 miles; liberty. for some reason it felt like there was a huge ball stuck inside my left glute. I don't know if it was from something I did the day before, but there was a knot and I could totally feel it with every step! I do think it lessened as time went on. it didn't really stick around for the long run the next day, so that was good. it was bizarre, though.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
fourteen
I ditched the baby pug tree run. though it is super convenient, it gets a little old. so very, very old. I did that one fourteen mile run I did last year. {I did change a few things up, though. instead of running along 9th east and up 8th south, I just took 17th all the way up to 15th east and over. I think it was a huge improvement.} it's a good route. it will now be my fourteen mile standby.
man, the first couple miles I felt awesome. by the middle my legs were starting to tighten up a bit. but even though they were tight, I still felt strong. near my turnaround I passed these two guys--I just felt like my little legs were just totally flying past these guys. it was a good feeling. yeah, the end of the run ended with that tight but strong feeling. I took an ice bath when I got home. (after stretching of course) I feel pretty good about my running right now. even though I'm constantly battling my right hamstring, I'm trying to take care of it and I feel so much stronger than I did last year at this time. I will be so much more prepared for this marathon than the last. and that's all I can ask for.
14 miles; the zoo/wasatch run
man, the first couple miles I felt awesome. by the middle my legs were starting to tighten up a bit. but even though they were tight, I still felt strong. near my turnaround I passed these two guys--I just felt like my little legs were just totally flying past these guys. it was a good feeling. yeah, the end of the run ended with that tight but strong feeling. I took an ice bath when I got home. (after stretching of course) I feel pretty good about my running right now. even though I'm constantly battling my right hamstring, I'm trying to take care of it and I feel so much stronger than I did last year at this time. I will be so much more prepared for this marathon than the last. and that's all I can ask for.
14 miles; the zoo/wasatch run
running at the morgue
thursday: march 20.
I did some plyo. I ran a two mile warmup on the treadmill. then did my little ten minute jumprope routine. it's killer. the next day (and the day after that. . .) my calves were totally feelin' it. I did a .25 mile cooldown, because that's all I really had time for.
I was a little annoyed, though, because I wanted to do the jumping of the rope on the rubbery workout area inside the ice skating rink section. but stupid trainer-guy was working out two figure skaters. lame. I just went over to the other side and did my routine on the hard concrete floor. not as fun. by the way, my mother told me the other day that if there was ever a huge disaster here in salt lake city, utah. the ice sheets at steiner were going to be the morgue. yeah, better believe that's all I could think about when I was there. I was just picturing myself on the treadmill looking out over a sea of corpses. um, I'd rather be watching the pee-wee hockey league for sure!
friday: march 21.
I was going to do some yoga or something. but as usual, if I don't make the effort to go running or do something else like the elliptical at the gym, the day seems to slip away and I get too busy to do that yoga I keep meaning to do. so it was a rest day. which is okay too, I guess.
I did some plyo. I ran a two mile warmup on the treadmill. then did my little ten minute jumprope routine. it's killer. the next day (and the day after that. . .) my calves were totally feelin' it. I did a .25 mile cooldown, because that's all I really had time for.
I was a little annoyed, though, because I wanted to do the jumping of the rope on the rubbery workout area inside the ice skating rink section. but stupid trainer-guy was working out two figure skaters. lame. I just went over to the other side and did my routine on the hard concrete floor. not as fun. by the way, my mother told me the other day that if there was ever a huge disaster here in salt lake city, utah. the ice sheets at steiner were going to be the morgue. yeah, better believe that's all I could think about when I was there. I was just picturing myself on the treadmill looking out over a sea of corpses. um, I'd rather be watching the pee-wee hockey league for sure!
friday: march 21.
I was going to do some yoga or something. but as usual, if I don't make the effort to go running or do something else like the elliptical at the gym, the day seems to slip away and I get too busy to do that yoga I keep meaning to do. so it was a rest day. which is okay too, I guess.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
the liquid love
once again, the pool and I have reignited our love affair. I am happy to say that I made it to early morning swimteam. finally. it has been far too long.
that being said, todays workout totally kicked my slacker butt. though I didn't feel like my body forgot how to swim, actually swimming was very tiring. I hung in there, though. we did a lot of IM sets. our coach wanted to torture us today by putting IM sets back to back with reverse IM sets, pretty much making us swim the fly twice in a row. brutal. but that also meant that sometimes we would be swimming freestyle twice in a row, kinda like a holiday. (or so I pretended) anyway, it felt good to be back in the water. even if it was at six am. even if my muscles were screaming. it is so good for me. plus I love smelling like chlorine.
500 warmup
6 100's (50 kick/50 drill; the odds - freestyle, the evens - fly, back, breast)
100 IM
200 free
2X100 IM (IM, reverse IM)
200 free
3X100 IM (IM, reverse IM, IM)
200 free
4X100 IM (IM, reverse IM, IM, reverse IM)
200 free
100 cooldown
that being said, todays workout totally kicked my slacker butt. though I didn't feel like my body forgot how to swim, actually swimming was very tiring. I hung in there, though. we did a lot of IM sets. our coach wanted to torture us today by putting IM sets back to back with reverse IM sets, pretty much making us swim the fly twice in a row. brutal. but that also meant that sometimes we would be swimming freestyle twice in a row, kinda like a holiday. (or so I pretended) anyway, it felt good to be back in the water. even if it was at six am. even if my muscles were screaming. it is so good for me. plus I love smelling like chlorine.
500 warmup
6 100's (50 kick/50 drill; the odds - freestyle, the evens - fly, back, breast)
100 IM
200 free
2X100 IM (IM, reverse IM)
200 free
3X100 IM (IM, reverse IM, IM)
200 free
4X100 IM (IM, reverse IM, IM, reverse IM)
200 free
100 cooldown
tuesday, march 18th
I changed things up a bit. instead of doing the usual tempo run on the treadmill, I headed outside to appreciate the fantastic running weather. I did a hillier route a la sugarhouse park. my hamstrings seemed to hold up pretty well. I tried to be conservative on the hills as not to further aggravate anything.
since the weather was so freaking nice I got to wear shorts + a tee + a long sleeve shirt. well, after I warmed up I ditched the long sleeves. I didn't realize I had put my tee on backwards. and it was a totally obvious backwards too because the front neckline scoops down a bit lower. plus that whole nike logo that is obviously on. the. front. totally embarrassing! I'm sure all the people running behind me thought I was some kind of spaz who can't even dress herself. classic.
4+ miles; 17th to 15th east + the sugarhouse loop
since the weather was so freaking nice I got to wear shorts + a tee + a long sleeve shirt. well, after I warmed up I ditched the long sleeves. I didn't realize I had put my tee on backwards. and it was a totally obvious backwards too because the front neckline scoops down a bit lower. plus that whole nike logo that is obviously on. the. front. totally embarrassing! I'm sure all the people running behind me thought I was some kind of spaz who can't even dress herself. classic.
4+ miles; 17th to 15th east + the sugarhouse loop
monday, march 17th
I did a short run. around liberty park, on the outer perimeter dirt path. I ran home via 8th east. I felt pretty good, if I remember correctly.
3 miles; liberty
3 miles; liberty
Saturday, March 15, 2008
between the shadows of injury and illness
it's been a rough two weeks for my running. let me recap.
monday, march 3rd: a three mile run? something like that. I don't remember now if anything significant happened or how I even felt. I think overall things went ok and I might have even felt pretty good. oh! I do remember now. I did a short run around liberty park with peter. that's right. joint run team.
tuesday, march 4th: a five mile tempo run. I remember feeling a bit tired. like my legs just didn't have as much in them. I did a mile warmup, a mile at 8:20, a mile at 7:45, a mile at 8:20 and then my last mile was a cool down. even though I felt a little sluggish, I didn't really notice anything abnormal with the state of my hamstring.
later that night I went with my little church girls to learn some hip hop dance moves from this chick in our ward. we were really groovin'. not only did I almost break my wrists off (she was teaching us some sweet stall moves), but I must have done something to my right hamstring. like re-pulled it. like this is not good pulled it. total set back. I'm still not sure if it was the run, the hip hop, or a combination of both.
wednesday, march 5th: I'm pretty sure I did a 40 (or 60?) minute yoga for inflexible people leg series.
thursday, march 6th: I was going to do yoga, but I don't think I ever got around to it.
friday, march 7th: went night boarding. man, oh man! now I remember why I like to ski. my butt and wrists were totally feeling it by the end of the night! good thing snowboarding stresses your quads (at least when you plow down the mountain) more than your hamstrings. I would have been hating my life if I had tried to tele that night.
saturday, march 8th: I was scheduled for a 15 mile run. since my hamstring was in disrepair I settled on the side of caution and just did eight. I figure I have enough room in my training schedule to move things around a bit.
oh, and I woke up that morning feeling sick.
monday, march 10th: well, that little feeling of getting the cold hit me. and boy did it hit me hard! I didn't go to church on sunday, I didn't go to work on monday. I did find some time during the day to do a very slow three mile run around liberty park.
tuesday, march 11th: again, didn't go to work. this cold was taking over my life! no energy, sore throat, stuffy nose. I took this as a total rest day.
wednesday, march 12th: I felt bad for not going into work on monday and tuesday so I sucked it up and went in. bad idea. it totally wiped me out for the rest of the day. I didn't go running.
thursday, march 13th: again, I was feeling pretty low energy. I don't think I even stepped outside of my house.
friday, march 14th: I was feeling well enough for a half day at work. but no running.
saturday, march 15th: in efforts to reclaim my life I did a long run. I had 12 miles scheduled, so I was determined to get it all in. even if it was at a painfully slow pace. it actually wasn't too bad. I hocked a few logies there in the beginning, and a lot of snot rockets throughout. I tried to get plenty of fluids every two miles. my legs did start getting pretty tight around mile 7 or 8, but I just pushed through and did my twelve.
it felt good to have some normalcy back.
monday, march 3rd: a three mile run? something like that. I don't remember now if anything significant happened or how I even felt. I think overall things went ok and I might have even felt pretty good. oh! I do remember now. I did a short run around liberty park with peter. that's right. joint run team.
tuesday, march 4th: a five mile tempo run. I remember feeling a bit tired. like my legs just didn't have as much in them. I did a mile warmup, a mile at 8:20, a mile at 7:45, a mile at 8:20 and then my last mile was a cool down. even though I felt a little sluggish, I didn't really notice anything abnormal with the state of my hamstring.
later that night I went with my little church girls to learn some hip hop dance moves from this chick in our ward. we were really groovin'. not only did I almost break my wrists off (she was teaching us some sweet stall moves), but I must have done something to my right hamstring. like re-pulled it. like this is not good pulled it. total set back. I'm still not sure if it was the run, the hip hop, or a combination of both.
wednesday, march 5th: I'm pretty sure I did a 40 (or 60?) minute yoga for inflexible people leg series.
thursday, march 6th: I was going to do yoga, but I don't think I ever got around to it.
friday, march 7th: went night boarding. man, oh man! now I remember why I like to ski. my butt and wrists were totally feeling it by the end of the night! good thing snowboarding stresses your quads (at least when you plow down the mountain) more than your hamstrings. I would have been hating my life if I had tried to tele that night.
saturday, march 8th: I was scheduled for a 15 mile run. since my hamstring was in disrepair I settled on the side of caution and just did eight. I figure I have enough room in my training schedule to move things around a bit.
oh, and I woke up that morning feeling sick.
monday, march 10th: well, that little feeling of getting the cold hit me. and boy did it hit me hard! I didn't go to church on sunday, I didn't go to work on monday. I did find some time during the day to do a very slow three mile run around liberty park.
tuesday, march 11th: again, didn't go to work. this cold was taking over my life! no energy, sore throat, stuffy nose. I took this as a total rest day.
wednesday, march 12th: I felt bad for not going into work on monday and tuesday so I sucked it up and went in. bad idea. it totally wiped me out for the rest of the day. I didn't go running.
thursday, march 13th: again, I was feeling pretty low energy. I don't think I even stepped outside of my house.
friday, march 14th: I was feeling well enough for a half day at work. but no running.
saturday, march 15th: in efforts to reclaim my life I did a long run. I had 12 miles scheduled, so I was determined to get it all in. even if it was at a painfully slow pace. it actually wasn't too bad. I hocked a few logies there in the beginning, and a lot of snot rockets throughout. I tried to get plenty of fluids every two miles. my legs did start getting pretty tight around mile 7 or 8, but I just pushed through and did my twelve.
it felt good to have some normalcy back.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
ten miler
I got to pull my mileage back this week. ten miles. no big deal, right? well, in theory it's no big deal. but the wind seemed to kill me today. I swear, no matter which direction I was actually running it always felt like a head wind. what's up with that? around mile eight I got pretty tight again.
the good news is it was warm enough to run without tights this morning (but I will have you know it's been snowing all evening). I got my first true run with the skirt. verdict: I love it. it's just like wearing shorts except you don't have all that pesky riding up. plus you get to feel a little flirty out there. who doesn't want to run while feeling like the cutest thing on the block? the only drawback is when I'm stretching out I feel like I may be showing the world my goods. but after the run I tested things out in front of the mirror and in all actuality I'm probably showing off the same amount of skin as I would be in my running shorts. so I'll just have to get over it.
the outside of my right foot hurt during the first mile. that seems to happen when trying to break these specific shoes in. with my last pair this went away completely, so I'm not worried. like I said before, I was tight in the later miles. I think I'm going to start practicing a pre-race warmup so I can get a little routine down for the day of the marathon. it will be good to be a little warmed up and stretched out before I head into this thing. usually I just use the first few miles as a warmup, but I know my race strategy will be completely different for this thing. it will be like I'm actually racing it, not just running it. basically my race day strategy is this: stay with that 3:40 pace group even if it kills me. so I figure being loosened up going into it will only make that goal that much easier.
10 miles; baby pug tree south, west, north, east, west
the good news is it was warm enough to run without tights this morning (but I will have you know it's been snowing all evening). I got my first true run with the skirt. verdict: I love it. it's just like wearing shorts except you don't have all that pesky riding up. plus you get to feel a little flirty out there. who doesn't want to run while feeling like the cutest thing on the block? the only drawback is when I'm stretching out I feel like I may be showing the world my goods. but after the run I tested things out in front of the mirror and in all actuality I'm probably showing off the same amount of skin as I would be in my running shorts. so I'll just have to get over it.
the outside of my right foot hurt during the first mile. that seems to happen when trying to break these specific shoes in. with my last pair this went away completely, so I'm not worried. like I said before, I was tight in the later miles. I think I'm going to start practicing a pre-race warmup so I can get a little routine down for the day of the marathon. it will be good to be a little warmed up and stretched out before I head into this thing. usually I just use the first few miles as a warmup, but I know my race strategy will be completely different for this thing. it will be like I'm actually racing it, not just running it. basically my race day strategy is this: stay with that 3:40 pace group even if it kills me. so I figure being loosened up going into it will only make that goal that much easier.
10 miles; baby pug tree south, west, north, east, west
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