the post-marathon week

the week after the no-post-race-soreness miracle run has been good. pretty much I've just been taking it easy.

monday: pete and I did a very short run to stretch out the legs. it was probably only one mile. it felt kinda good to get back out there. and it was perfect running weather. cool, grey and overcast with the threat of more rain in the air. perfect.

tuesday: yoga.

wednesday: just took it easy.

thursday: yoga.

friday: ran my errands on my bike. I rode up to steiner(which isn't that bad if you go up 17th south to 15th east and then over to guardsmen) to drop off some flyers, and then over to fairmont to drop off some more flyers. it was kinda fun!

I'm thinking riding my bike to work in the summer won't be too terribly bad. it took about twenty minutes to get up to steiner, and it's not far to campus after that. now I just need to get a bike lock...

the race: a visual account

potatoes!

marathon number seven/state number four: the famous potato marathon in boise, idaho.

we drove up friday afternoon. we got to boise with plenty of time to pick up my race packet which included my race bib and timing chip(I was thrilled to see the prison style ankle bracelet of a timing chip--that thing was huge!), cheesy idaho potato pin, and various coupons and brochures for random things. you gotta love the race packet. we had a carbo-loading extravaganza at macaroni grill, I ordered the twice baked lasagna with meat balls. perfect blend of carbs and protein. afterwards we headed up to nampa to stay with my aunt and uncle.

we woke up early saturday morning to drop me off at the start line. the race started up at lucky peak state park, where we hopped on the green belt and ran our hearts out!

it was hard at first to adhere to this run/walk thing I had set my mind on. the first few miles I didn't really walk that much at all. then every eight minutes or so I'd walk for either a minute or a minute and a half. I was fairly diligent with that until the later miles.

my legs didn't feel tight at all for the first six or eight miles. it was like a dream! even in training they'd feel tight from mile one most of the time. I was still feeling pretty good through mile 13, then on through mile 20 or so. after mile 21 (and the short loop around the riverside elementary parking lot--they weren't kidding! you should've seen this thing! it was a few cones set out in a very small semi-circle that you just had to run around. it was barely past the entrance to the parking lot. it made me laugh.) I had a complete breakdown. imagine the whole lower half of your body cramping up. then imagine trying to run (or even walk!) like that. it was miserable. my legs were done. finished. dead.

I pushed past those remaining miles. I ended up doing a lot more walking after that. seriously, it hurt to run but it also hurt to walk. I couldn't decide which was the lesser of the two evils. the interesting thing was, though, I never once had the thought "why in the crap am I doing this? I'm never doing this again!" (I usually have that thought at least once during that last 10K) I knew I would finish eventually, and that it hurt, but it wasn't really that bad.

I did eventually finish. {thank you peter, for pushing me along.} and once I stopped running my legs completely seized up on me! they were so tight! I did go sit in the boise river for some 'ice bath' fun. I lasted about one minute. it was really cold.

I was also very pleasantly surprised with how pretty boise, idaho is. at least on the marathon route. the green belt along the river is beautiful. it reminds me of the jordan river parkway trail, but so much better! (I wasn't worried about finding any dead bodies or being attacked by a homeless person) it runs for a very long time too--I think someone said at least 25 miles.

and I had the best support crew out there. pete on the bike (and running along side me the last few miles) and my mom and dad with the flip-chart signs. all the other runners were jealous. if there had been an award for best spectators/cheerleaders these three would have gotten it, hands down. so many people appreciated it so much--mom, you were popular at this event!

I would definitely recommend this marathon. if you're not expecting a big race (thousands of people) and you're okay with running alone for half of it (after the half and the full marathon split, it's basically just you out there for miles.) and you don't mind really watered down gatorade, then I think you'd love this. it's a beautiful course with friendly volunteers. if I wasn't on the run for the fifty states, maybe I'd even consider doing it again one year.

my time was around 4:44. definitely not even close to my best time, but I'm okay with that. I didn't expect to PR or anything, just finish. and I did finish. plus there were potatoes at the end. so I'm happy.

ps: I'm not even all that sore! it's a potato miracle!!!

pre marathon friday roadtrip

we are hittin' the roads this morning in search of good times and potatoes. boise idaho here we come!

---
I think I laid low on tuesday, maybe had a waxing extravaganza. . .

wednesday peter and I had an early AM run before work. it was really nice outside. I started ranting about the inequality and unfairness of bcdc. he thought I was crazy.

thursday I just rode my bike to work. (I had to since I couldn't ride it today, national ride your bike to work day.)

friday is yet another rest day. maybe I'll walk the trail alongside the river tonight for a little bit to loosen up the legs. I'm excited to see the route. from the mile-by-mile online directions, it sounds like we could all get easily lost tomorrow! (my favorite part is when we take a small loop in the riverside elementary parking lot before heading back out onto the street at mile 21. are they just hurting for mileage or what?!)
---

ps I'm sorry, rachael, we didn't realize malad isn't on the way to boise. we might have to cancel lunch in efforts to get to boise in a reasonable time. we have to pick up my race packet, check out the course, carbo-load, and then get to nampa before it's super late. I hope you understand. and I hope you don't read this before I call you! [we plan on rescheduling. super fun road trip to malad idaho!]

monday night swimteam

last year the big kid pool always felt so daunting. this year the transition has been so smooth. I just felt ready for it. it's really not that bad at all. especially since there's fewer flip turns.

(missed the warm up completely--whoops)
4 50's (I caught the last two), kick/pull drill
4 50's eyes out of water first 25, swim the rest
3 100's (I don't remember our intervals for the rest of the workout)
3 200's
2 300's
cool down

I had the veggie burrito from beto's today for lunch. if you know this burrito, you know it's bigger than your face. and of course I ate it all because it's too good to stop eating once you've started. it's a total fat bomb of pure goodness. I was a little worried it would affect my swimming.

when the work out started I didn't want to lead the lane. everyone else insisted, so I said yes... but that I might go pretty slow and we could re-evaluate later. it turns out the veggie burrito from beto's just might give you super human strength! I was kickin' trash tonight! it felt so good. I was swimming fast and not feeling tired. it was amazing.

mike, the monday coach gave our lane a little tip: as soon as your hand enters the water on your stroke, start the pull immediately to fully take advantage of it. it really worked; I felt so much faster.

seriously, everyone should swim.

the last long run

I love the last long run before the marathon for the simple fact that it's so short. six miles. that's nothin'! you get it done and you still have your whole day ahead of you!

the run was pretty nice. I got out pretty early because it was supposed to get pretty hot (and it did) on saturday. I did the baby pug tree run--I only had to go in three directions! I went south, west, then east. I didn't do the run/walk thing. I figured since I wasn't going that far it wouldn't kill me to just run the whole thing. my legs felt ok. hopefully they hold up this weekend.

it's kind of exciting, I feel like I haven't run a marathon in so long. this will be quite the adventure!

6 miles; baby pug tree run

run. bike. swim.

monday:
the usual quick monday evening run with my cutest husband. once around the park and then back. somewhere around three miles. it was funny because when we got home we were stretching on the grass in front of our apartment... the old lady that lives below us, mary, came out in all her blue sweatshirt glory to tell us to be careful where we sit because that's where all the dogs go potty! eek! don't worry, though. we didn't sit in anything.

tuesday:
I just rode my bike to work. it is national bike month, after all. okay, so I actually only rode it to trax, but I did ride all the way home! I took a new route. from the U I went over on Gaurdsmen and then to 1500 east all the way to 1700 south and down. it's a lot less scary than riding 800 south all the way down. so it worked out perfectly.

wednesday:
AM masters swimteam! oh my gosh, I woke up a little after 5:30 this morning to go swim. I could barely believe it myself. but I'm not going to be able to swim this evening, so I felt I just had to do it. it wasn't even that bad! except I don't think my body is used to sucking in that much pool water so early in the morning. during the summer I'm going to try and hit up the 6am swimteam at fairmont on mondays (I'm still going to do the wednesday evening workout at steiner--I love the coach and my lane buddies.) so this was some good practice at waking up so early. I can do it; there's nothin' to it!

the first long run/walk

I've been a little worried about my legs lately. they just never seem to loosen up. I'm having chronic problems with my right hamstring. the thought of running 26.2 miles is starting to scare me, especially after my longest long run of only 16 miles.

I decided a while ago that the best way to preserve my legs--and not kill myself completely--throughout the whole run was going to try the run/walk method. I'll be running eight minutes and then walking two. in the long run, I'll probably be able to finish quicker than if I were to just run this time around. we'll see if it works.

yesterday I tried it out for the first time. I was very diligent. I ran for eight. I walked for two. I ran for eight. I walked for two. my legs aren't sore at all today.

sure, it might take a little longer. but like I said, in the long run it will all pay off. I don't want to be caught at mile 18, with so many miles still to go, with nothing left in my legs. I don't want to have to walk the last ten miles because my muscles have cramped up so much I'm left limping along a deserted course.

we'll see how this all plays out on race day. I'm just practicing a little self preservation for now.

12 miles; baby pug tree run

these days

saturday|4.21.07
the salt lake city half marathon. it was a good run. I woke up super early, caught a train up to the start line with my friend lisa (and her friend lisa), and ran 13.1 miles. I started out slow and got into my groove. it was a fun surprise to see peter on his bike near our house--we live right on the half marathon route it turns out--he stayed with me pretty much the rest of the race. it was also fun because I was able to take a little pit stop at my house to go pee and change into my new running shoes. I'm pretty sure people thought I was either cheating or giving up when I took the little detour. I love living on the route. I totally pushed through the last 5k. it's fun passing people. I had enough in me at the end to sprint to the finish. I did it in two hours. not too bad for not even running at all the week before. my quads hurt the next day, I couldn't figure out why. I don't think I stretched very well after the race. it was a fun day, though. I'm super proud of the rest of my team: grandpa and dan d. -- bike tour; mom, dad, rachael, robert, michael, meghan, mary, v-lo, marta d. and the sole sisters -- 5K. you guys rock!

monday|4.23.07
run. I went up 1700 south to 1500 east and down to 2100 south and back. it was a good run. the downhill was slightly hard on the quads, but not bad.

wednesday|4.25.07
swimteam. I really like the pool. swimming is such a great workout. everyone should do it.

thursday|4.26.07
run.

saturday|4.28.07
long run. it was a tough 16 miles. not quite the twenty I had originally planned (or the 18 I was maybe going to do) but I'll take it. under the circumstances it was probably best. two weeks prior I didn't run at all, and last week I only ran 13.1; it's best not to increase the mileage too drastically. it was a hard run, though, and I don't think my legs would've let me do anymore anyway. they are just SO tight. my hamstring hates me. I need some yoga in my life and I need it now!

monday|4.30.07
ride! peter and I rode the frontage road out by saltaire. just a tip: don't ride there in the evening (or anytime of day?) because all you'll get is a face full of bugs. it was disgusting. but I guess that's what you get when you ride right next to a marshy body of water. it was fun being out on the bike, though.

tuesday|5.1.07
run. I just did the liberty park loop. nothing too exciting. I did run on the dirt trail (not the woodchip trail; I don't like to run on that because it feels too soft.) which adds in a little more length and it's not on concrete--always a plus.

wednesday|5.2.07
swimteam. the big kid pool opened. it's always a little daunting to stare out at the water after swimming the entire winter in the little indoor pool. fifty meters compared to 25 yards is a BIG difference. when I got in the pool the water felt so dense my arms couldn't push through. I think it was just because they were already a little tired and sore. at the end of the workout I felt like we should still be swimming for at least fifteen more minutes, so I guess the big pool hadn't beaten me like I always fear. it's just all in the mind.

thursday|5.3.07
run. I went up 6th east through the park and turned around and came back. it was probably only two miles.
yoga. pete and I got a yoga kit from costco today. it came in a little box with a handle. it felt like a little yoga suitcase. it came with a mat (though I already have a rad pink one that I got for my wedding), a dvd, and a book with poses. I did some of the dvd before the office came on. can I just say how inflexible I am? at least now I can start doing my homework before my real yoga class begins on may 17th. hurrah!

new shoes

I love my free shoes. granted they do need some breaking in still. after about one mile the outside of my right foot starts hurting a little. if I keep running, though, that pain seems to go away.

I probably won't run in them tomorrow. though I really don't look forward to running 13.1 (plus?) miles in my old shoes. but what do you do? I'd really hate to risk it in my new shoes. what if they gave me blisters or something? ouch.

last night I went on a longer run in efforts to break them in a little more and see how they'd hold up. pretty well. I think they're comparable to my old shoes. so we'll see if any of my chronic aches and pains go away. maybe I just need to get off the roads and onto the trails.

I'm resting today. I can't wait for the carbo-loading extravaganza tonight! extreme caloric intake, anyone?

~4+ (maybe five? who knows) miles; 6 east to 4th south to 8th east to 1700 south to my casa

the pool

swimteam:

500 warmup, every 4th length stroke (I was a tinsy bit late... I only got a 200 in)
6 75's [1-3: 50 kick, 25 swim; 4-6: 50 drill, 25 swim]
200 free
3 50's fly
200 free
3 50's back
200 free
3 50's breast
200 free
3 50's free

I felt pretty good for being sick... I wasn't too incredibly slow. I think the pool cleared me out a bit. the water at least made my throat burn. I'm glad I went.

ps. pete did biathlon team. he kicks butt! (biathlon team = swimming then running on the treadmill)

back on the roads

I'm back! I know you all must have been worried sick about me and my inner kenyan. well, we've been sick the past week. in fact, we're still sick. but we're making a comeback onto the scene, don't you worry. we won't let kid germs get us down.

after a whole week of not doing anything. no running. no swimming. no cycling. [okay, to be fair, I was doing a lot of walking, swimming (in a pool with kids), and a little hiking] we've decided to get back out there.

last night peter and I did the usual three mile run.

today I bought new shoes. [I went to the runner's advantage to get my foot analyzed on their special mat... yep, I need a stability shoe. I've been running in a stability shoe. I just feel bad because I went through the motions with this guy, when I knew full well I'd be buying my shoes from salt lake running co. you gotta love the frequent shoe buyer's program! every eighth shoe is free!] hopefully I can get a quick run in tonight after mutual?

tomorrow I'm planning on swimming.

thursday I'll most likely run.

friday should be a rest day.

saturday I'm running the Salt Lake City Half Marathon. I might just run home from the race finish line to get a few extra miles in. [I mean, I was supposed to run 18 miles this weekend... but since I didn't run at all last week--not even a long run--I'm thinking that might be pushing it.]

sixteen miles

I ran sixteen miles today so I can go skiing tomorrow (that's if the chick with the gold pass ever calls me back!). it was a beautiful day for a run. I went pretty slowly. my mantra, as any long run mantra should be, was "long and slow." long runs really aren't for speed, that's what midweek workouts are for. but my legs were tight at about six or eight miles, increasingly tighter throughout the run. how am I ever going to run 26.2? I think a lot of the problem is my shoes; I need new ones. maybe I'll go get some tomorrow... my feet were hurting by the end. that usually never happens. and I bet the shoes are contributing to the chronically tight muscles too. so we'll see.

16 miles, baby pug tree run--twice in each direction

ps I *heart* U too, peter! thanks for the secret motivational note at the baby pug tree... *my heart was all a glow*

the usual

pete and I went running on monday. it was the usual route. it's fun. I really like having run team with him. (especially when he makes yummy dinners afterwards) oh, I started doing becca's routine - monday was abs and such

tuesday I didn't have much time so I just went up to steiner and did two miles on the treadmill and then did tuesday's weight workout.

I went swimming last night. oh how I love the pool! there's just something about it. it is definitely a kick-you-in-the-butt workout. and I love the wednesday coach. she really makes an effort to know everybody and help with your stroke and form, etc. she's fabulous.

also: for the first time in my life the fly is starting to feel like it's clicking. I could make it a whole 25 without resorting to the breastroke or one arm drill. when I went to breath, I could do that extra little kick to get my head out of the water moving forward. it was like magic. she gave our lane the option of just doing freestyle during the IM sets. I chose IM. I have got to master the butterfly and backstroke.

thursday I rested: long run on friday.

ten miles plus tele skiing

last saturday I ran a short long run. only ten miles. I love it when you get to that point in your training when you pull your miles back and anything around ten miles is considered short. it's fabulous.

with that being said, I figured it would be no problem to go out and run a quick ten and then go skiing with my cutest husband. the run went ok. I just did the directional run and added one more little segment to get enough miles out of it (I am happy to say I chose to go east--that means I ran up the hill two times instead of just once. go jo!). my legs had the usual tightness.

skiing was fun. it was pretty warm. the snow softened up. I rented some tele boots from REI but ended up alpine skiing more than doing any tele turns. I gave it a good effort, though. it just hammers your quads (think of doing lunges while sliding down a mountain) and my legs were already pretty tired.

10 miles, a mile out in each direction (east twice) from the pug baby tree + tele skiing

plyo, et cetera

peter and I did the usual monday night run. somewhere around three miles. the liberty loop and back. it's a good, quick run to stretch the legs.

on tuesday I went up to steiner and did a two mile warm up run on the treadmill. then I got out a jump rope and did a ten minute plyometric routine. so good. such a fabulous workout. ten minutes is all you need, and it magically makes you a quicker, more efficient runner. [I have a testimony of it. this was the magic ingredient to my fastest marathon ever. I never thought I could run that fast for 26.2 miles and then somehow I did--without really training hard for it! all it took was a ten minute plyo workout once a week in the last half of my training, I swear!] anyway, I did my plyo then I stretched out with a two mile (does the distance on the eliptical machine actually translate to actual miles? I always wonder.) eliptical workout. good times for sure.

here is a peak into my plyo-jump rope routine. I like to break it up into 30 second segments.

mix up any of the following:

*easy jump roping or 'recovery jumping', if you will
*jumping from side to side across the rope
*jumping forward across the rope from a standing position
*jumping roping with high knees
*jump roping with feet together and no extra bounces between jumps

this workout is actually surprisingly tough and your calves will kill in the following days until you get used to it. I am a firm believer in this. trust me.

wednesday was swimteam. I really love swimteam. I led the lane. swam hard. did a lot of IM. one day I'll master the fly. and my backstroke felt surprisingly better. it was good.

I didn't run today because I wasn't feeling well. tomorrow I'm going to do an easy run to stretch out the calves, etc. then saturday is a ten miler. and hopefully a ride with the buchanan's and maria. it should be fun, can't wait!

14 miles of goodness.

my long runs are getting longer. I'm definitely into higher mileage now. but I'm facing my fears head on and running right through them.

yesterday was a tough run. I had some long uphill miles to get through. I'm just glad I can still get away with starting the run at 9 am. soon it will be that if I don't finish my run by 9 am I will be in serious trouble. I love spring. I love running in long sleeves and shorts.

my body held up well. only the usual random aches and pains that don't stay with you through the whole run. that's a good sign. I was hydrated this week. I ran hard. it felt good. sure, I was tight by the end (or by the middle?) but not too terribly tight. I feel pretty good today.

this is serious marathon training now. no messin' around!

tips: [for all those just dying to break into the long run scene]

drive your route in a car, mapping out the mileage and dropping water (and gatorade, if needs be) about every two miles. but when you're done running, don't forget to drive back and pick up the water bottles! [or just have your cutest husband secretly follow behind you on his road bike. peter, I loved the cheering and the high-five as you passed by. best long run surprise ever!]

play the mental game. running is seriously 90% mental and 10% training. you cannot listen to the negative thoughts in your head. replace them with positive ones. lie to yourself if you have to. because your body is amazing and you'll be surprised as to how much she can really do. you really can do anything you put your mind to. here are some things I had to tell myself yesterday:

"you've done this route before, you know this. . . just remember how to do it. . ."

"be proud, jo, this is the hardest part. you are amazing"

"just keep running until X. . . good job, now just keep running to X. . ."

surrender yourself to the run. this is an old lesson, tried and true. you have to be able to come to a point where you are just out there, running, putting one foot in front of the other. you're out there for a long time; don't think, just be. this is where a good diversion is handy. someone to talk to, music blaring on the ipod, learning to be okay with your thoughts. running in a beautiful locale doesn't hurt either. just know you'll be out there for a while and don't think about it. the miles will go by easier. trust me.

dress the part. I love buying running clothes. I can justify any purchase if I can tell myself it would be great for running. if you look like a runner you'll feel like a runner. if you feel like a runner you will be a runner. pace times don't matter if you look hot. and not to mention the fact that technical clothing (the correct shoes for your foot type, non-cotton/technical fabric clothing, etc) will also reduce injuries and the like.

run safe. run strong. run happy.


14 miles; 17th south to 9th east to 8th south/sunnyside to wasatch and back

wednesday, thursday, friday

wednesday I swam, thursday I ran, friday I rested.

tuesdays: speed work

I decided on saturday that it was time in my training to start implementing some speed work. since I'm running on mondays to get the kinks out, tuesday would be the perfect day for speed. today I decided to do some hill repeats.

I ran over to sugarhouse park as my warm up. I turned into the park from 1500 east and ran down to the first good grassy hill on the south side. I did five repeats (you generally want a hill that's relatively steep and will take you around 30 seconds to get to the top), focusing on a quick turnover, running on my toes, keeping my head up and eyes on the goal. . . and engaging my robot arms.

[when doing hill repeats while I trained for my first marathon, this rad girl we ran with would always say she was turning on her robot arms. because it's a known fact that your legs can't go anywhere without your arms. so if you just put your arms on automatic, and power them through your feet will just have to follow. it's like magic.]

after the repeats, I ran the rest of the interior loop of the park and ran home the way I came. it was a good, long run. my legs started to get a little tight near the end. I came home and iced, though. and my hamstring didn't really bug me at all--I was a little worried that running hills might aggravate it (and let's be honest, running to sugarhouse is a hill in itself!) but I was okay.

I felt fantastic when I got home. It was a really good run.

~5.5 miles; 1700 south to 1100 east to 2100 south to 1500 east to the sugarhouse loop and back again

my new monday routine

I decided on saturday that I couldn't swim on monday's anymore. I needed to run. after all these long runs on the weekend, I'd need to get back out on the road as soon as possible to stretch out the legs.

pete and I did the usual quick run route. over to liberty park, along 600 east. it was good. I stretched and iced when I got home.

~3 miles; 600 east to liberty and back

twelve miler: JRPT

yesterday I did my twelve mile run on the Jordan River Parkway trail. at first I was going to just park and go six miles out one way and turn around and come back. I wasn't sure if any of the parks would have their drinking fountains going yet, so finally at the last second I decided to park, go three miles out in one direction, turn around--get water and eat an energy gel at least halfway through--go three miles out the other direction, turn around and come back. good thing I did because there was no water anywhere else. Salt Lake Running Co. was sponsoring a run for people doing the SLC Marathon so they had water jugs out there on the course. . . I broke down and stole a drink of their water and gatorade on mile ten. I was kinda dehydrated and needed something to get me through the last two miles. I'm sure they'd understand.

anyway, it was a pretty good run. nothing too eventful happened. my legs got pretty tight halfway through. my hamstring sucks. (I did ice when I got home) my ankles are holding up relatively well, so that's good. right after the run I went to the Maverik across the street to get some gas. while I was filling up my calves started to hurt so bad! I think they just seized up on me or something. so tight. but now they don't bother me, thankfully. I'm not even that sore today--hurrah!

12 miles; jordan river parkway

thursday:

elliptical team.

I did it for like 3o minutes (plus that five minute cool down, of course) and it was alright. I don't know, maybe it was just an off day for me and the elliptical machine, but I just didn't feel it. is it losing that spark? do I not love it as much as I used to? I don't know... maybe it's this change in weather. why should I be stuck inside when I could be outside enjoying the ideal temps? I mean, I should take advantage of the cool spring weather while I have it. soon it will be nothing but too hot to do anything.

steiner; 3.3 elliptical distance
jerry seinfield on the ipod

wednesday:

cruiser bike team.

peter ran and I cruised. it was fun. we went to liberty. I took two laps around. it was more of a workout than you'd think since my cruiser bike is a classic schwinn, that's probably forty years old and forty pounds. I love it. it was surprisingly hard on my quads and inner thighs. and it was fun! soon we're gonna break out the road bikes. I can't wait!

I ditched swimteam 'cause I hate getting home at, like, eight o'clock. I promise to do the thursday AM swim, I swear!

tuesday:

run team.

I just did a quick route. the usual run to liberty and take a lap around the park.

I hate to say it, but it already felt too hot. in the shade it was perfect, and sometimes you'd get a nice breeze blowing, but. . . my hands want to turn into sausage fingers a little bit and that's just no good! I should start running in the mornings on weekdays.

monday:

swimteam.

warmup
8 50's - drill/swim
3 100's - each progressively faster
4 300's
cooldown

I lead the lane and felt pretty good.

the rest of last week

tuesday I ran on the treadmill, I do believe. something like three miles.

wednesday I ditched swimteam to go running with peter. it was probably around three miles. we went out on 600 east to liberty, circled the park and then came home.

thursday I elipticalled for 45 minutes.

friday was a rest day.

saturday I ran ten miles! from here on out it's double digit miles until taper. it's kind of exciting. the run felt pretty good. I was a little tight halfway through. I ran in downtown and then up city creek canyon a bit. so far my ankles are behaving. we'll see how my body holds up for the rest of training.

oh, if anyone doesn't know, I'm training for the Famous Potato Marathon in Boise, Idaho in May. It should be definite good times. It will be my fourth state -- whoohoo!!!

monday night swimteam

yesterday's swim workout kind of redeemed last wednesday's workout. I felt strong. I lead the lane most of the time. (mainly because I didn't have the stress of making the sets in any real intervals... we swam, then waited 30 seconds after the last person in the lane touched the wall) and I even talked the substitute coach out of having us do a smaller set than everybody else. (he thought maybe we couldn't handle it -- how about five sets of 300? but my little competitive eskiminian swimmer kicked in and couldn't bare the thought of having to swim less than everyone else just because we were in the slow lane.)

"We can do five 400's, we'll just do it slower."

and so we did. this was the workout:

warm up
6 50's - drill (fingertip drag, catch-up drill, thumb drag)
400 - free (slow)
400 - free (medium)
400 - free (fast)
one minute rest
400 - free (medium)
400 - free (fast)
cool down

I felt pretty good. my stroke felt relatively strong. we finished the whole workout in time. hurrah!

long run

I went skiing yesterday, but that didn't stop me from doing my long run. I'm dedicated. I did it on the treadmill because it was only six miles (I think that might just be the limit on those things. anything over an hour just might kill you.) and it would be easier to know how far I'd gone, etc.

the run was pretty good. about halfway through my legs starting feeling a little tight. it's mostly my right hamstring, but what's new. I got to watch a hockey game. that's always fun. and the chick that's always working out was there. she got on the treadmill right beside me. maybe I should just become friends with this woman; we're always at the gym at the same time.

but you will all be happy to know I bought some frozen corn to use as ice packs. I iced my hamstrings yesterday. hopefully I'll get over this nagging injury soon.

6 miles; treadmill
counting crows

ps skiing was amazing! telemark or die!!!

wednesday | thursday | friday

wednesday:
swimteam. I was having a rough time. I felt slow. the upper (read: faster) lanes were crowded so they made a few people shift down. it happened to be just me and this other guy that night, until the german, that other lady, and the pregnant chick all moved down into our lane. I wasn't too thrilled about it since they're (at least the german guy and the non-pregnant chick) faster than us. I remember the german guys condescending look with his eyes when he motioned with his head to the other girl that they were going to have to swim with us.

warm up
3 200's - descending

100 free
25 stroke/75 free
50 stroke/50 free
75 stroke/25 free
100 stroke
[3 times through; 1st set - fly, 2nd set - back, 3rd set breast]

cool down

it was hard and I felt beat. I wanted to quit about a thousand times. I kept going, though, so I guess that was a victory in itself. sometimes you just have off workouts. you just have to shake them off and focus on the good ones...


thursday:
elliptical team. I went for 45 minutes again... it felt good. I had a lot of energy afterwards. I tried reading my new runner's world that came in the mail... it's slightly harder while elipticalling.

45 minutes; 5.9 elliptical distance
the get up kids


friday:
joint swimteam. peter and I met up at the pool. I wanted to focus on my butterfly since it's so hard. I used fins to try and help me get out of the water to breathe. it was still pretty tough. I want to keep working on it, though, and get better. it just takes a lot of endurance. I also did some work just on my arms with the pool buoy. I want to save my legs for tomorrow's long run...

monday | tuesday

Monday:
I ditched swimteam for a run. my legs needed to stretch. plus I had a little bit of a headache and the thought of putting on a tightly fitting swimcap and goggles wasn't too appealing. I headed north on 600 east, straight through liberty park and on to 400 south and back. it was a good run. I felt strong. it was just what I needed after my run on saturday.

3+ miles; 600 east


Tuesday:
Eliptical! I don't know why I love this machine so much, but I do. I could go forever on this thing and not even think twice about it. Way better than a treadmill, that's for sure! I felt great!

45 minutes; 5.78 eliptical distance
sufjan stevens/weezer

I ditched the ipod for some city sounds and my thoughts

north. east. south. west. a mile out and back in each direction. eight miles. water every two. these are the tricks you learn when you've been doing this as long as I have. (and you're a little princess who will not carry water with her on the run.)

I put my water bottle in the baby pug tree a block away from my house (apartment d, if anyone is interested in purchasing "baby pug's") and started out on what felt like my first real long run of training. it was the first run of the year outside as well. it felt good. the sun was out. fresh snow on the ground. my legs were moving. it felt great.

near the end of the run, somewhere tucked away in mile 7 my legs started to feel tight. I stretched when I got home. I tried to take an ice bath, but lasted about five seconds. it was really hurting my feet. when I get into the higher mileage I'll just have to be brave and tough it out. I still need to buy some bags of petite frozen pees to ice my ailments individually.

the run felt good, though. I'm a little sore today, but not bad. my ankles and knees are holding up. hopefully that continues.

8 miles; 2 miles radiating out from 1700 south and 600 east

elliptical love.

I went to the gym and ellipticalled my face off. it was fabulous.

marta, you would appreciate this -- oprah in surround sound. on one television she was a guest on ellen. on another tv was the oprah winfrey show, and they were talking about obesity and weight loss. how fitting, since I was at the gym.

I ellipticalled for like 45 minutes - went 5.5 miles - burned over 550 calories. and I jammed out to counting crows the whole time*. hurrah!


*okay, so during my five minute cooldown I finished the counting crows set on the ipod. then I turned it to Jesus on the Radio by Guster. It is quite possibly one of my favorite songs ever. I kept it on repeat all the way home. literally.

back in the slow lane, and loving it

the workout:
warm up
3 100's kick - descending

300 free
200 IM (that means a fifty of all four strokes!)
100 stroke (anything but freestyle - I chose breaststroke on each set)
[3 times through]

25 free - hard/slow
25 free - slow/hard
25 free - hard
25 free - slow
cool down

how I felt:
fantastic! it felt good to be back in the slow lane, pushing hard. I was more in my element. at first this lady named erin (she's the one trying to make the break up to the next lane - she's a really good swimmer and very tall and lean) was leading the lane, then this guy, then me, then this girl named megan who hadn't been coming the past couple months due to illness. after the first run through of the main set (300, 200, 100) it became very apparent that I needed to get in front of that guy. I was swimming on his toes the whole time. once I got in front of him I was just keeping up with erin. I even got to lead one of the 300's. it felt good. after the workwout erin and I were talking. she was like, "that was such a good workout - it felt good to have each other pushing us so hard." it was a good workout.

what we ate:
dinner afterwards was fantastic too. peter juiced us up a special blend:
4 carrots
1 beet
.5 cucumber
4 big leaves of green leafy lettuce
1 pear

delicious!

I made some pasta, with fresh mushrooms in the sauce, and some winter blend of frozen veggies - broccoli and cauliflower.

it was the perfect way to end a good workout.

the end.

I *heart* treadmills?

I think somehow I became a gym person. I don't know how it happened. I think it might have had something to do with an injury and an ipod. Oh, and poor air quality. Somewhere along the way I started to get excited about going to the gym (aka the community rec center) to do my long eliptical workout, or to try running on the treadmill. It seemed fun because I got to jam out to some tunes and, if I was lucky, watch some kids play hockey! So now I'm just wondering when I'll make the transition back out onto the streets. . .

So needless to say I ran on the treadmill today. I felt like it was a good pace; I probably could have pushed it faster, but I am trying to be cautious with the whole hamstring/ankle/random ailments/failing body/old age thing.

The super fit lady I always see at the gym (she swims masters in a really fast lane) was there. I think that's all she does--work out. It's slightly crazy.

3 (plus a little more) miles
treadmill, slc sports complex
counting crows

movin' up

so today is a holiday, I suppose. which means not a lot of people were at swimteam. so instead of staying in the slowest lane, my friend tori talked me into swimming in her lane.

"come swim in this lane, you can do it. . . I won't lap you. . ."

since it was just her, I agreed. (though it might have been better if there had been more people in the lane, it's just easier that way) and we started swimming. I was holding up pretty well during the first part of the workout.

warm up
8 50's - drill down, swim back
5 100's - descending (the last 100 was supposed to be at the fastest pace you could hold for the rest of the workout)
4 300's - at the aforementioned pace
cool down

the 300's kicked my butt. sure, tori never lapped me per se. . . she never physically swam up from behind and passed me, but I think I was a full 50 behind on some of those sets. at least I kept up in the 100's.

she did teach me a little trick: hold your head up a little so you're looking straight ahead, and not down. it feels a little more awkward since your head isn't in natural alignment with the rest of your body, but it did make me feel like I was swimming faster. so maybe there is some merit to it.

swimteam was hard today while I was doing the workout, but I feel like I recovered really quickly. it didn't kill me for the rest of the night; maybe I'm finally getting into shape.

swimteam: mon12feb2k7

what the swimteam workout was supposed to be:
warmup
8 50's - drill on the way down, swim on the way back (all free-style)
300 - free
8 50's - kick
200 -free
8 50's kick
100 - free
8 50's - kick


because we are so slow, this is what the workout ended up being:
warmup
8 50's - drill on the way down, swim on the way back (free)
300 - free
8 50's - kick
200 - free
6 50's - kick
100 - free
2 50's - kick
50 - cooldown

oy vei, we are slow! I'm hoping one day to make my break into the next fastest lane. . . I think it could happen. maybe even sooner than we think. I just have to be okay with being the slowest person in the lane again. I mean, this extremely pregnant lady could hang in that lane--why not me?!

postponement

The first annual All-County Swimmeet is being postponed to a later date. More details to come.

(Because seriously, how many of you were actually planning on it anyway?)

joint swimteam

As most of you know, I'm Peter's swim coach. He's my team. We have practices, but rarely together. Last night it was a christmas miracle that we could both be in the pool at the same time. It was like a dream come true.

We didn't swim for very long. Peter is getting sick and I'm still recovering. We did some laps, kicking drills, races, stroke technique critics, video analysis, and a hypoxic set or two. It was a lot of fun.

And yes, it's true, I can go the whole length of the pool without taking a breath.

So. . .

Now what? I can't do anything. If it had just been my knee maybe I could work out my upper body. If it had just been my wrist, I could still go running or something. But it's both and I can't do anything.

I better be somewhat healed by December 30th, because that's when training begins for the Fargo Marathon!

random page: entry five.

I found this while wandering around bcdc's intranet, The Goat. There's a link for "random page" which is fun to click on repeatedly to see where you'll end up. I keep hoping it will one day take me to my page on the goat, but it hasn't yet. Anyway, I thought this was interesting. I have no idea why it's on the goat, if it is linked to anything relevant, or if it truly is a random page. I wonder what ever happened to entries one through four and if there are any subsequent ones. Maybe I'll go waste more time looking for those too. At least I look like I might be doing something productive!

Darwinism. Challenging your physical abilities. The curiosity of whether or not you can do it. The exhilaration of accomplishing something you actually questioned, premeditated, were fascinated by, and therefore conquered by means of anguish. Sacrifice is the tool we use to become accomplished. This is natural to some. Shunned by others. It's what sets the potential survivors apart from the easily diminished.

Experience. New experiences. Learning experiences. Progression. Innovation. Adaptation.

If you can't challenge yourself you have given up on life. Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant. Taking a challenge shows integrity. Facing fears shows how strong your will is. Quiting shows weakness. Only you can decide what you want to be. And what you can or can't accomplish. It is this mentality that from the beginning of mankind has created wheels, invented computers, and conquered peaks.

Try something different.

post script: Entries one through four are about this guy's dream of climbing Mt Reinier on his 40th birthday. The posts stop after entry five; I wonder if he ever made it.

swimteam secrets

i lick my hand
to smell your scent
intoxicating like chlorine

I like the smell of the pool on my skin.

All-County Swim Meet

Get out those tightly fitting speedo's, boys.

Girls, don those swim caps.

Because it's time to start training for
the first annual All-County Swim Meet!!!

When: Saturday, January 27th 2007
Where: Steiner Aquatics
Who: Swim teams across the County (that means you! all age groups and skill levels welcome*)
What: Swim fast, win a prize!
Why: Some people seem to think prizes are cool.

*This is a "serious" swim meet. No previous skill needed. Just humor us. Please come swim in our "All-County" swim meet. There will be prizes. Maybe even a trophy. Just please come swim in our swim meet!!!

The Deluxe Annual Family Pass.

We did it. We bought the annaul pass to the Salt Lake City Sports Complex. I have a blurry photo to prove it. Swimteam is back in full force.

Famous Potatoes.

I should be running a marathon this weekend, but I'm not.

this is how it is.

I haven't been running much lately. In fact, I don't think I've actually been since my run by the beach two weeks ago.

My ankle is all messed up. It feels like hash when I don't do anything at all. I'm scared to run. Sometimes I worry when I play frisbee...

I decided to let go of my pride and walk the marathon next month. Hey, it's something I haven't done, complete with it's own challenges, I'm sure (read: my pride). But I'll have Idaho out of the way with hopefully minimal problems with the ankles.

I don't think I'm doing the Wasatch Back Relay either. It's just not coming together like it did last year. After today the rates go up, we still do not have a full team. I don't want to deal with it.

So what's the state of my physical life? I walked 20 miles on a beach a few weeks ago. I've been swimming. I've been hiking. I play city league frisbee. Maybe that's good enough for right now.

the state of affairs

I think I feel the onset of overuse injuries coming on... so I don't want to overdue anything. I was going to go spin up at steiner, but came to bountiful instead. I'm still not sure if I'm doing a long run this weekend. If I do it will just be a short one. I'm skiing on Saturday anyway. Maybe I need new shoes... I know I need new shoes...

Because I have random pains and I don't like it!

soccer sabatical

I had my last soccer game tonight. Well, the last one for a while at least. I guess you could say I'm going on hiatus. Ultimate frisbee starts in a few weeks. As much as I'm going to miss Chunky Monkey, I'm so excited to see all the frisbee people. I haven't even played frisbee since Texas... It's been too long.

But we did win tonight. I got two goals. Too bad I was feeling very exhausted--I think I'm getting sick and it's leaving me with no energy. It was still fun and a good way to go out.

Good times fo' sho!

The McClelland Street Swimmers

A few weeks ago my hometeacher, Pete, called when I was headed up to the pool for Masters. I told him how I'm on this swim team for adults and he thought that was really cool. He said he wanted to swim too.

If you know me at all, you know how I get excited when people show interest in doing the things I do. Especially if while doing them they call me coach. Well, Pete now calls me "coach," and I now call him "team." It's a beautiful thing. We're trying to rope some other McClelland Streeters into joining the team -- aka my roommates. If Rui joins we can be an international team. It's really quite exciting.

Last night we had our first swim practice. He came to the pool after my Masters swim practice was over. I sat there in the water watching him swim, trying to give him pointers. He knows the basics, we just need to fine tune his skills. We'll be doing drills in the future.

Just so you know my Masters swim practice was a kick in the butt yesterday. We practiced the fly, back, and breast strokes -- and did sets of IM's. For all you non-swimmers, an IM is all four strokes: fly, back, breast, free. It's tough. But hey, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, or it at least puts hair on your chest.

futbol

Chunky Monkey went undefeated in the last league. This league is a little different. We've won a couple, lost a couple, and even tied once.

Our team has its ups and downs. Some days we run hard, some days we're a little lazier. Tonight I felt like we were all running hard and passing fairly well. We beat the team by some ridiculous amount like 13 to 3. Paul, I think, scored at least eight of those goals; he should get a haircut every week.

Beth and I are the only girls who play the field. Katie is in Keep. So I get to play half the game. We sub out every three minutes or so. Sometimes I just want to stay in longer. To be honest, sometimes I'd be happy if I didn't have to sub at all. I like running.

I did get one goal tonight. It was a fun game.

Sometimes it's a rough road to physical fitness and marathon readiness.

Every now and again I think I have a stress fracture on my left ankle. So what do I do? Crosstrain!

I recently bought a pass to Steiner Aquatics, aka the Salt Lake City Sports Complex. Sure, Steiner's doesn't have tons of equipment like a trendy gym might have. But what it lacks in equipment it gains in quality swim workouts!

I've been swimming Masters for a couple weeks now. It's like the old days -- swimming in the slow lane (we used to affectionately call it the "slacker" lane) with a guy on deck telling us what to do. Except for now it's not Jack Seninger, thank goodness! I was only going to go on Wednesdays, but now I'm swimming on Mondays as well. I think I'm going to get those quality, kick-your-butt-into-shape workouts that I need.

I'm also going to take some spin classes. And hopefully yoga and pilates if I can fit it all in. Because back in the day when I could run a marathon without training at all (and feel the best I've ever felt at the finish) I was swimming and biking more than running. I figure I can do that again here. Plus, maybe I could be ready for a few spring sprint triathlons! I'm going to be physically FIT!!

Famous Idaho Potato Marathon, here I come!

I'm back on the team!

Okay, so I didn't score two goals tonight, but my one goal was well worth it. Not only was it a pretty shot, but it put us ahead in a very close game. We held the lead to the finish. I'm happy, because they were a very good team. Maybe an undefeated season really is well within our reach.

The low-down.

I went running on Monday.

I didn't go running on Tuesday.

I went running on Wednesday.

I played soccer on Thursday.

What will the rest of the week bring?

I'm off the team.

I didn't get my two goal quota tonight, so I've been kicked off the team. That's the only reason they signed me. Maybe I'll go play in a league in Europe or something.

Okay, so soccer tonight was a lot of fun. As it has been this whole league. I love my team and I feel we're meshing better than the first game. We've won all four of our games so far and I'm thinking we might just be the champions at the end of this all. But anything can happen, we'll just have to see how it all plays out.

I just have to say that I'm in love with playing. It feels good to be out there again. I'm actually scoring goals--even if it is just one, not two. It's always like this after a long absence, though. I'm out there playing with some spit 'n fire, just so happy to be chasing a ball. I'm sure I'll gradually get worse if I keep playing for a while. Or maybe not. That just seems to be the trend sometimes. I'm happy for now at least.

Neglect.

Let's be honest, I've been neglecting my Kenyan within. But I really do go running sometimes, I promise.

Actually, I've just been so busy lately with work and everything. . . But this week I actually went out both Monday and Tuesday night, and I didn't have time tonight because of Nata's bridal shower or I would've gone. Tomorrow I play soccer. (I'm on an indoor league again, it's like coming home.) I think I've refound my joy for running as a release. Sometimes you need it to keep your sanity. I've really been working a lot.

So if I'm ever around a computer I'll have to keep this weblog updated. That's the other part of the problem. . .

My week so far. . .

I went running on Monday and Tuesday, but not yesterday. By the time I got home from work I was too tired and hungry and Marcus came over to make dinner anyway. Hopefully I can go sometime today, but I have a wedding reception tonight (Eternal Wasatch Back Relay love!!!) so we'll see if I can squeeze one in.

On Monday I went on 1100 East to 1300 South and then busted up the hill to 1300 East. It's a pretty tough hill there at the end but I was proud of myself because I didn't stop at any point. It's a short run, but a good one.

Tuesday I just went on 1100 East to 1300 South and back. I had some time constraints because we were headed down to Pleasent Grove for Melissa Carroll's bridal shower. I just needed a quick one anyway to get the legs moving a little bit.

Just a little guy

I went running yesterday. It was just a little guy because it had to be quick so I could shower and get ready to go down to Provo for Armchair Cowboy. Besides, I feel like I may be getting a little sick. I just want to take it easy.

For a short run I felt I busted it out fairly quickly. It was good to get out there and at least get the legs moving a little bit.

11th East to 13th South

Back on the road

So I've only gone running a handful of times since the marathon. This past week, it seems, that I've kind of come to that place where I want to be out there again. I think I really needed a few weeks off.

I've been twice this week. Tuesday and Wednesday. Only about three miles each. Even though they didn't feel like the best runs, I knew I had to get out there anyway. And my body is appreciative of that. I need to get out there for myself. For my own sanity.

Maybe right now I should just focus on running for the pure joy of running. No training. No qualifying. No pacing. Just running.

So hopefully I'll hit the road again tomorrow. With this beautiful running weather how could I not?

St George

It's funny to compare my two St George Marathon experiences.

Last year I found out about a week before the race that I would be able to run. I had not been training at all, though I was in pretty good shape overall. I started out very slowly and must have gotten into a good pace because I finished at around 4:20. This was my first and only race where I felt really good at the finish line--I felt as though I could keep going right on to Vegas! Hey, why stop there? Why not keep running right to the coast?

*Sigh*

This year was different. I had been training. Or doing my best to train, at any rate. I was trying to work through chronic injuries. I had visions of qualifying for Boston. But I guess it wasn't the right time for me, and my body knew that. The week of the marathon I got sick. It was hard to hydrate adequately. I had also been living in Lubbock, TX for the past month, and as many of you know there are no hills in the high plains of West Texas.

In Paulo Coelho's book, The Alchemist, he writes "When you want something the whole universe conspires for you to achieve it." I believe that. But as I said before this just wasn't the right time. For starters, I was expecting and counting on pace groups during the race. I panicked at the starting line when I realized they really weren't having any that year (they had them the year before because that's how I gauged my progress since my watch died at mile 1) and I had no real back-up plan. I started out too fast. I burned myself out in my already weakened condition. The race was hard both mentally and physically.

The two races are such polar opposites. This year I came in at 4:17 chip time, which is practically what I ran it in the year before. But I felt totally different. My legs hurt, my feet ached, but I was surprisingly not as disappointed as I thought I might be. Will I run St George next year? I guess we'll have to see. Maybe I'll throw my name in the lottery and see if I get in. I am, however, refocusing on my goal of the fifty states club. I can't keep running the same two Utah marathons year after year! I'm thinking of Yakima River Canyon next April in Washington state. . .

Long runs

I ran my six miles this morning. I feel tight. I wonder how my whole body will be feeling in a week, when I'm racing 26.2 miles. I also rolled my left ankle today. Again for no reason. But I think I have resilliant ankles. I roll them and they are fine.

6 miles; the usual Texas long run route

Last day with my Tech team

I played disc for the last time with the kids in Lubbock. I'm really going to miss them; it has been a lot of fun. After it was too dark to play and we were all getting ready to leave Kyle (one of my favorites -- the one with the dreds) was like, "I just want to thank Anna for playing with us..." Bla bla bla. I thought that was sweet, and then I expressed my thanks for them letting me play with them. Then Kyle was like, "we should give her one of our Lubbock discs!" Everyone thought that was a good idea, but Joy was like, "well, someone would have to pay for it." Then Tony (the guy who's in charge of this whole operation) gave me his Lubbock disc. It's used and says "Tony" and "Lubbock" faintly on the back, but it will be a good reminder of my days of frisbee here on the high plains.

My hamstring is bugging me a little bit, but not too bad. We'll see how it holds up tomorrow on my last long run before the marathon. (Only six miles.)

2.5 hrs; Texas Tech

My week as of yet.

Monday I took as a rest day since I did a whole heckuvalot of running this past weekend.

I did go running on Tuesday. Three miles. It was the usual aches and pains until on the way back I, for no good reason at all, completely tanked my right ankle. It just folded right over. It kind hurt, so I walked it off a bit, then I started to slowly run home again. It didn't swell or anything, so I didn't ice it. For some reason I have a hard time icing my ailments. It's like a mental thing or something. I just don't want to for some reason.

Today I started on my run way too late. I was only planning on doing a couple miles anyway because I wanted to see how the ankle would hold up. By the time I ran over to 19th Street it was too dark so I just turned around and came home. Maybe it was only a mile. Who knows. I tried to stretch out really well when I got home to make up for the lack of mileage.

At least I get to play frisbee tomorrow. It's my last night with the Texas Tech kids. The last frisbee of sabbatical. I'm going to miss them all.

Texas Sectionals in Austin

It was fun. It was hot. And there was a lot of running involved.

So I took a little road trip to Austin, Texas this past weekend to play a lot of frisbee. Seven games in two days. Only one female sub. I'm amazed at how our women held up. We're hardcore. It's funny, though, because the only people complaining of being tired were the guys! And they had at least ten subs!

We went into the tournament seeded fourth out of eight teams. We held seed and finished fourth as well.

On Saturday we won our first game and lost the next three. On Sunday we won our first two games and lost the last one. I don't think my legs had anymore in them for a fourth game on Sunday, so it was just as well.

I think the heat really affected me. It was just SO hot and humid! Both days I was just dying by the second game. Like spent. Finished. Wanting to pass out. By the next game I would feel better, though. I don't know what it was about that second game, but it was a killer. Maybe because the first game wasn't too terribly hot because it was still pretty early, but as the day wore on my body just needed to adjust. Who knows. It was crazy, though.

I played a lot better on Sunday than I did on Saturday. I made some stupid errors the first day. But I wasn't afraid to lay out, which was pretty cool. The grass was a lot nicer than most grass I've played on recently. Especially in the morning when it was still dewey. I had some good D's, some good throws, some good cuts. It was a lot of fun, I must say. I'm glad I went.

Oh, and Austin is a pretty cool place.

Texas Sectionals; 7 games; 4th place; Austin, TX

last practice before sectionals

Last night we had our last practice before sectionals. It was a good practice. We went over some stuff--zone defense. We scrimmaged. I think it went well. I got a hand block, which are rare for me so it was exciting. I almost had a really good lay-out catch, which would have been cool. My legs didn't really bother me too much. I hope we do well in the tournament this weekend. We're going into it in fourth place, out of eight teams. Right there in the middle of the pack; just where I like to be. I hear the weather in Austin is supposed to be hot--mid 90's--and humid. It will be important to stay hydrated. I'll let y'all know how everything plays out.

~2.5 hrs; Texas Tech

big sky, big clouds, big sunset

I guess I set the alarm last night without really knowing it. My sister said she heard it go off twice this morning until it shut off. I do remember waking up, seeing that it was around 6:30 am and thinking it was too early and too dark to go running. So I went back to sleep, totally unaware that the alarm had ever gone off.

Later that day I regretted not getting out there earlier. It's always just so bloody hot. And it had rained quite a bit today which made the air more humid.

[Quick anecdote about Lubbock, Texas: It is so flat here that when it rains the water has nowhere to drain. The streets become big puddles, like the whole place is drowning. Just think of cars synchronize swimming and that's pretty much what it is like here. It's quite a sight.]

I got out there a little after 7'ish. At first it was surprisingly cool'ish, later it became unbearably hot. My legs were still pretty tight--especially my tendon by my left ankle, and my right hamstring. I iced tonight. I pushed the last stretch pretty hard, which I felt good about.

3 miles; Iola southward to Milwaukee

swill

When I got to practice tonight I really wasn't in the mood to be there. I didn't really want to deal with the whole Don situation. And it seems it is always windy here in Lubbock, which means a lot more zone defense. Sometimes I really don't like playing zone. Especially if I have to play the cup. Too much running! And I never got to handle all day. Which was probably for the best because all my throws were swilly. Today just wasn't a great day for disc.

As far as running goes, I was just tired. I felt sleepy, as it were. My legs didn't feel like they could hold up to all the running and sprinting. Maybe I wasn't getting enough oxygen or something. It just wasn't fun. But my hamstring didn't really bother me, which is always a good thing. Oh, I did completely tank my ankle once. It hurt. But after a few minutes it really wasn't bothering me. That could have been bad news.

~3 hrs; Texas Tech

Always a head wind, never a tail wind.

Today was my highest mileage run before the marathon. I can't believe we're to that point already. Now I'm into taper.

My biggest fear about St George is that I didn't have enough time to gradually get my mileage up. Sure, I ran eighteen miles today, but my longest run previous to that was only somewhere around fourteen. I hope my legs are really ready to pound 26.2 miles. I'm counting on the adrenaline of race day and gravity to carry me through.

The first few miles of my run today I was experiencing what happened on Tuesday. My calf/tendon area on my left leg must be really tight and it causes my foot to go kind of numb. I made an effort to keep stretching it out, and it soon wasn't bothering me at all. What did bother me was my right hamstring and I just felt kind of tight.

My calves were really tight and sore immediately after the run. They were the first things I iced, though, so I hope I can keep that under control. I'm pretty tight overall, but not too bad. I'm going to make some effort to keep icing tonight and tomorrow. My left ankle kind of hurts as well. I love my aging body!

18 miles; Iola southward... Milwaukee to 4th...

practice

Practice was good yesterday. My hamstring held up reasonably well. I tried to warm up better and keep it stretched as much as possible. I missed a few catches, which always sucks. But I do remember getting a few really good D's. There was some good running involved as well.

~2.5 hrs; Texas Tech

frisbee and running

Monday night I played frisbee. I didn't really warm up and when I started playing my hamstring was bugging me a little bit. Not a whole lot, but it was still noticeable and I didn't want to aggravate it further. So I left before practice was officially over. I had gotten a pretty good workout in nonetheless.

Yesterday I went running with Robert. He said it was about three miles, but I think it was closer to four. The weirdest thing happened. My left leg started hurting (to the left side of my calf) and then my whole left foot went completely numb. It was very odd. It was like I was running with a brick attached to the bottom of my leg. I didn't like it one bit. I'm not running today because I just feel like I should take a day off and rest my body. I was going to throw a disc around with this Don guy tonight, but that's a whole other story. . .

Ten miles

I went running this morning. I could only do ten miles. My legs were hurting. They are so tight and sore and I can only imagine it's from the half marathon and frisbee on Thursday. Hopefully this shorter run will help build up those darn muscles. Because, afterall, it is in those lower mileage weeks that your body becomes stronger.

My calves are still tight along with my hip flexors and hamstring. But what's new?

10 miles; Iola... Milwaukee... 4th Street... 11th Street...

the disc in texas

I had so much fun playing frisbee tonight! I was a little worried as I was walking toward the field--I only saw a bunch of guys doing a drill. This surely wasn't pick-up, I thought to myself. I asked the guy that was sitting on the bleacher if he was playing and if it was pick-up or not. He was like, no it's practice. Oh. Practice. Then I told him how Tony had told me to come tonight. The guy was like, oh well then you can talk to him after their done with the drill. Finally Tony comes over and we introduce ourselves. He told me I could scrimmage with them after the next drill. So I put on my cleats and threw with the other guy until it was time to scrimmage.

This is what I love about ultimate frisbee: everyone is so nice. It doesn't matter where you are, what team you're on, or if you're a beginner, everyone is nice and willing to help out. Well, I guess unless you're in some big-time tournament or something. Which brings me to my next point...

They want me to come play in the sectionals tournament in Austin in a few weeks with them! They really need women and since I'm pretty good they're willing to practically pay everything for me to go. It's kind of exciting. So I'm seriously thinking about it. I might as well play in a tournament while I'm here, right? Right! And then I get to see another part of Texas. I think it could be a really good time.

There was only one other girl who showed up. So I pretty much played savage the whole time. My legs held up even with all the intense running. I did start to slow and get kind of lazy at the end but that was after like two hours of endless playing. The thing that bugged me the most was my feet! I don't know if it was the socks or what--they're relatively new--but my feet felt like they were totally getting blisters. They're still a little tender on the balls of my feet. It was weird, that usually doesn't happen. Next time I'll put BodyGlide on them for sure!

Anyway, playing disc makes me happy and I'm glad I found some people to play with while on Sabbatical.

~2 hours; Texas Tech ultimate

My first run on Sabbatical.

It was my first run since Hobble Creek. It was noon. It was hot. I was tight. Other than that, it was an alright run.

I went a little over three miles. It was about 80 degrees, and there's not much humidity here, so it would have been like running in Salt Lake City at noon. Which I never make a point to do. I'm still trying to figure out where to run in this crazy place. I just don't want to get lost, that's my main fear. So I went on a route where I was sure to remember the turns. 11th Street to Milwaukee to 4th Street and back. So simple. The only problem is that 4th Street is pretty busy and there's not much shoulder to run on. I'll figure things out, though.

My legs were pretty tight. I've been dang sore since Saturday. It was good to get out there and losen things up a bit. I'm playing frisbee tomorrow, so that should be good too. Hopefully my hamstring behaves along with every other major muscle group in my body.

~3 miles

The Hobble Creek Half Marathon

I was talking to my friend Emilie Creswell a few weeks ago, and she told me about a half marathon she was running. Since I missed the chance to run the Provo River Half, I jumped at the chance to run this one.

Emilie and I went down the night before and stayed with her friends in Orem. We went out to eat at The Old Spaghetti Factory in Provo (or is it still Orem? Who knows!) for our carbo-loading extravaganza. I ate way too much, as usual. After making a stop at Cyndi's new house we headed back to Orem to try and get some sleep.

I had a hard time sleeping. Maybe it was the anticipation of the race. Maybe other things were on my mind. The thought of being in the elite 100 Women finishers was definitely hanging over my head. Could I do it? I thought there was definitely no chance. Surely there were 100 women faster than me in this thing. But I wanted that medallion so badly.

We woke up early race morning. We had to be to Springville by 6:30 at the absolute latest--that's when the last bus was scheduled to shuttle runners up the canyon. We took the wrong exit, but eventually found the park and was on the last shuttle bus on time.

From where the shuttle bus dropped you off to the start line was about a 3/4 mile walk up the canyon. I guess you could say it was a "warm-up" before the race. It was still a little annoyed and my left ankle started hurting terribly, which I took as a bad sign. But by the time we actually started running, my ankle didn't hurt anymore. I swear my body is on crack sometimes.
This race is mostly downhill, and it's fast. It's good practice for the quads for St George. It was surprising, though, what actually hurt during this thing: my calves. Was I just trying to bust up the hills? Emilie said her calves were tight by the end too. And my right hamstring was bugging me a little bit. But not too much.

I love the race experience. I love picking people out in front of me and passing them. Each women I passed I knew I was one more closer to my goal of the elite 100. I knew this race was fast, but I didn't realize how fast. I was pushing it, sure, but not terribly hard. I've had other races where I felt like it took all I had and I still wasn't going that fast. I still had something in me for the last few miles.

I took them one at a time. I thought to myself, "if I can just coast through mile 10... then mile 11... then I thought just keep it up through mile 12 and I can start to push it a little harder..." once I got to mile 13 I knew I had it and I kept pushing. This was a good course.

I finished with a time of 1:42, gun time. Since my watch broke I couldn't keep my actual time, but it was probably a good minute or two before I crossed the start line. Needless to say, this is my best half marathon time ever. Perhaps my best race ever. I crushed my previous PR by ten minutes! I was running a 7:51 pace for over 13 miles! I never thought I could hold that! My dream of Boston has been rekindled! I need an 8:20 average pace in St George to qualify, so if I can race like I did last weekend I can do it. It's really quite exciting.

So if you must know, I was in the top 100 women finishers. I received the coveted elite 100 medallion. Now it's true: I am an elite athlete. It was a good day all around. Everyone should run this one next year. I'm quite a fan.

P.S. Emilie and I both won in the random prize drawing after the race, which is exciting. While running the race we passed the Hobble Creek Golf Course. As I was running by I thought to myself, "wow this is really beautiful! Fred should come down here and play this course!" Then I almost got hit in the head with a golf ball (actually the guy right in front of me literally almost got hit, but it startled me nonetheless). So when they were doing the random prize drawing and they were giving away the 2 passes for 9 holes at the Hobble Creek Golf Course I thought to myself, "I should win this..." And then they called my number and I did! So when I get back from Texas Freddie is going golfing with me. I'm excited to see his advanced skills on the golf course. Emilie won a prize right after me. A new pair of Mizunos at a running store in Provo. Oh, and we both got a new pair of socks with our prize. Good times!

The few days leading up to my best half marathon ever.

On Wednesday I played frisbee. It was, of course, pretty secret and not a whole lot of people came. I think we had like four on three or something. Netti and I both didn't really want to be there and were a little ornary. It was funny because Don left the full field even though we only had a few people. Netti and I kept sneaking the endzone cones up after each point. Don finally noticed and we all had a good laugh.

On Thursday I went running. It was a good break from packing up my life. I needed to get out there. I got out the door around 9 o'clock. It's probably a little late to be out there by myself because it's pretty dark at that time these days. I ran all the way out to 2100 South and stopped at Smith's to get a drink. I got sketched out by this guy sitting in his truck. I thought for sure he was going to follow me home and try and kill me or something. Don't worry, he didn't. He was probably just a nice old guy sitting in his beater truck waiting for his wife to pick up some eggs at the grocery store.

On the way back I ran into Karla Hoggard. She was running in the opposite direction, toward her house. As soon as we both realized who the other one was we stopped and chatted for a minute. She told me about the fifteen mile run her club was doing that saturday, but I was already comitted to the Hobble Creek Half Marathon.

I felt pretty strong on my run. It's always a good feeling to get a strong five mile run in.

disc at bryant; five miles on 9th east

I think I saw some kids from camp!

Now that I'm unemployed I have time to go running in the morning. I had my alarm set for 7'ish, but didn't drag my butt out of bed until nearly 8 o'clock. It wasn't too hot by the time I got out there, so I was lucky.

I only ran about 3 miles. My body was just feeling tired. Can legs feel sleepy? Well, mine did. It was good just to get out there and loosen things up, though. I'm not complaining.

My right knee hurt randomly throughout the run. And my left ankle hurt sometimes. I was a little tight in the shoulders and arms. But my hamstrings held up. I love my aging body!

~3 miles; 800 East to Kensington Ave

Frisbee

Disc was pretty good last night. I wasn't too sore and was running well. I guess the tournament motivated me to actually want to run hard, because I didn't start to get lazy until the very end when I was convincing Tori to move into the cool house with us.

My hamstrings didn't really hurt, which is good. I don't remember any other noticeable aches and pains either. My body is pretty random sometimes.

3 games; Bryant

My week:

Monday: Frisbee.

Tuesday: Running on 800 East. Four miles?

Wednesday: Secret Frisbee.

Saturday: Park City Ultimate Frisbee Tournament. Four games. Lots of running. Played some dang good teams. Played some not as good teams. Managed to lose all of them. I was a handler all day.

Sunday: Second day of the tournament. Played two games. More handling. Actually won the last game. It was Fred's first tournament win; very exciting. Had one good D, ran hard, played well both days. (Except one endzone play coming off a time-out where I was supposed to cut to the break-mark side but didn't because I confused myself) I was told that I should think about trying out for one of the club teams in Salt Lake. I'm good, I can run, and they can always use women. I'm not sure I want to get that serious about it.

I have no idea how far I ran.

I must've been feeling relatively well yesterday morning because I ran something closer to 14 miles than anything. I'm not really sure on the exact distance. But it was probably at least 13, if not more.

I felt great on the way out. It was the way back that got to me. After the turn-around my right hamstring really started bugging me. It made it pretty hard. The temperature was relatively coolish until the end when the sun finally came out behind the clouds. I had a cool breeze for most of it. Once the sun was out and things were heating up, I had to abandon all the rules to road running. I ran with the flow of traffic on the sidewalk. Sometimes the shady side of the street is more important.

I've discovered that running on 9th East is pretty nice for the only fact that there are plenty of grocery stores for water stops. It's really quite convenient. I found another stop for my Smith's-to-Smith's run.

~14 miles?; ~2 hours; 900 East to 5400 South

super secret wednesdays = throw practice

so pretty much only five people showed up on Wednesday. I actually knew a lot of people weren't going to make it so I came prepared. I didn't even bring my cleats and just went on a little run over there. I took a long route to get more of a workout in. By the time I got to the field only Shannon and Melissa were there. We started throwing a disc around.

It turned out to be a good night for the girls who came. We spent a lot of time throwing and catching. It will help their game. I think it's hard to really get the basics down in the high-pressure situation of a game. Not that disc at Bryant is that high-pressure. It's actually pretty chill and swilly, if you ask me.

But anyway, I ran home afterward.

One thing I noticed on my run over there was my throat was really dry. That's a sign that I'm maybe getting sick, because I'd been hydrating all day. I've been taking it easy these past couple days. I'm still planning on going on a long run tomorrow. I just haven't decided if it's going to be 14 or just 10. I guess we'll see how I feel in the morning.

Throw practice; Bryant

disc

I went to monday night frisbee last night and Aaron Stringer made the comment that maybe all the jerks starting playing somewhere else... maybe they've formed their own secret frisbee??? Because lately things have calmed down quite a bit. The numbers are manageable and it's really a lot of fun.

The only problem with last night's game was that I had eaten a lot of food at FHE, as I like to do sometimes, and it made it really hard to run. So I didn't run. Not that much anyway. I felt completely lazy and apathetic, but that's nothing new.

My legs held up well, though. We played three games and I think my team lost all of them. But I had fun and that's all that matters.

3 games of disc; Bryant

Jordan River Parkway

I did another long run with Lindsay this morning. I ran about 12 miles on the JRP and she did around 10. I always like running there. She said it reminded her of the greenway in Idaho, so I think she enjoyed it as well.

I was feeling pretty good for most of the run. My right hamstring was bothering me, but only minimally. By the end it was hot and my legs were feeling a little tight. But let's be honest, I haven't gone running the past two days because I bought new running shoes from the Salt Lake Running Company on Thursday (I knew going into it that I was going to drop a whole lotta money in there... $140 later I knew I was right)from the cutest employee I've ever seen. His name is Taylor and I'll probably have to go back and buy some more Gu's sometime soon. Good Times. But anyway, after my adventure to buy running shoes and apparrel, I went out on a hot date with Marcus Wright. So that left no time for running. And Friday is usally my designated rest day. So there ya go.

One exciting thing about the run was that I bumped into Joy Postma. She used to run with Team In Training and she is the cutest woman alive. Her cute little baby, Isabelle, has cancer in her brain and it breaks my heart every time I think about it. They are both the strongest people I know!

For a lot of the run I was holding a pretty good pace. Between 8-9 minute miles. By the end I was shot, though. A little dehydrated and really hot. I was glad when it was over. Next week I'm getting out there even earlier.

~12 miles; Jordan River Parkway Trail

Mysterious injury--gone.

Okay, so I played secret frisbee last night and my mysterious pain was gone. I have no idea what's going on with my body these days. Seriously.

SF was fun. Only about ten people showed up. We played two games. I was a little worried in the beginning that nobody would show up; Don, Shannon, Melissa, and I had to resort to playing two on two. That's not the most effective way to play ultimate. Everyone knows who you're going to throw to! Finally Freddie came and other people started showing up.

I was able to run last night with no problems. That's a good sign.

Secret Wednesday; Bryant

I'm broken.

I played frisbee monday night and everything seemed fine. Though I can't remember now what my aches and pains were, if any.

Yesterday I noticed that my right shoulder hurt. It took me a while to realize that it was from throwing a softball around with Don at FHE on Monday. It turns out I don't make that motion very often. Who knew.

I also noticed that my left leg was hurting. I don't know if it would technically be classified as my hamstring, it seems that it's too far up the leg for that. If anyone out there has taken an anatomy class recently and would know this, please drop me a comment. This has been baffling me for days now. (Two to be exact.) Basically it seems it would be the opposite of your hip flexor--your butt flexor, perhaps? It's the connector between the butt cheek and the upper thigh. I didn't even notice until I had been laying on the couch, exhausted, for hours. It felt like I had pulled it or something, but it wasn't too bad so I didn't worry too much about it.

Last night I went running. I was worried that my run was going to be wasted on dollar burgers and zuchinni fries. It had been stormy all evening--we're talking a good summer storm with hard driving rain and lightning--so the air was grey and cool. Perfect running weather. But I was still feeling the effects of my trip to B&D Burgers earlier that afternoon. Once I got into the run I started feeling better.

There was something in the air, though. Maybe it was the mood of the darkening sky, or the electricity in the air, but I was starting to get sketched out! There were too many dog walkers and people out and about. I didn't feel safe. So I turned around earlier then I probably would have and ran up to 9th East where it was better lighted. I feel like I was booking it pretty hard. It reminded me of that run I did a few years ago on Davis Boulevard. It was dark and it had been raining. As I was passing one of the reseviours there was a man walking the other direction with what looked like a big club. I thought for sure I was going to be hit to death in the darkness. It turns out it was just the guy's umbrella, but I still ran home faster than I ever had before. It was scary.

This morning as I was walking from the train to work I noticed that the pain in my leg had gotten worse. It feels like a totally new pain. It has moved from a pain in the muscle to the feeling of bone rubbing out of socket, or something like that. It hurts to walk. That's all I know. So now I'm gimping around, wondering what happened. Hopefully I'll be better by tonight to play some secret, or unsecret as some might say, frisbee. Everybody pray for me and my mysterious injuries.