rectifying the situation

I hadn't gone running since last saturday until about 30 minutes ago. I really hate it when my life gets overly busy and my running is the thing I have to sacrifice. I guess I could try harder to make the time, but I'm not into running at ten pm as much anymore. in my non-running defense, though, I did go on three different hikes (they were kinda baby hikes, but hikes nonetheless) over monday and tuesday, and yesterday I took a walk. (okay, so that was only about a mile. it was nice to be in the sunshine, though. yesterday was a fantastic day.)

I should be able to get a run in tomorrow. (it is another strangely busy day--in fact, it's been a strangely busy week, and it continues right on through the weekend.)

and saturday I'm hoping to get a short (shorter than last week's?!) long run in.

wish me luck.

short long run

I woke up this morning and did the usual long run routine. I don't know by this distance if you could call it a long run, per se, but it's the longest I've actually run in a long time. and I'm still working up my base. so needless to say after I ate my pre-long run toast I laced up and hit the road.

it was a little chilly this morning. in the low to mid forties. soon I'm going to need to get myself a pair of those cheep little gloves. or find a pair I already own, I guess. I started thinking about winter running with snow on the ground, etc. I can't believe we're almost there.

the run was pretty good. the first four miles I felt pretty tight. I started loosening up in those last two miles. it made me feel good, even if my legs were still a little tight by the end. mile five was uphill, and I didn't even think about stopping and walking. I just plodded on. that felt good.

overall it was a good run. we'll hover around this distance for a couple weeks and then maybe push it up a little.

6 miles; baby pug tree run: west, north, east

a quickie

I did a quick run before work. I just wanted to get out there. I probably needed it more after work to relieve some stress, but I did not have time for that. so whatever. I ran through the park, up 9th south to 8th east and just ran home. nothing too major. my legs still feel tight.

I iced and then somehow tweaked my hamstring a little bit. I really don't know what I did. it kind of bugged throughout the rest of the day. oh well, what can you do?

2.5 miles; 6th east to 9th south to 8th east to my casa

confessions

okay, so I didn't go to yoga last night. if you really want to know, I was sitting at home shoving my face full of food. that's the problem with not going to the store for over a week. when you've finally made dinner after starving all day, you really can't help but eat everything in sight. and just so you know, we still haven't gone to the store yet. we're holding out until at least next week. I mean, with family parties and such we've at least got dinners covered through the weekend.

but I did go running after work again. today I wasn't as hungry. more thirsty. {how could I not be adequately hydrated after drinking fifty nalgenes at work?!} but I felt a lot stronger. my quads (well, right above my knees, is that something more specific than my quads?) still took a beating. I made sure to target that muscle group when I iced. maybe that dirt/grass trail just isn't that soft. and speaking of that path, those dead, fallen leaves were out to get me. or at least catch a ride home in my shoe. I needed some serious gaiters to avoid all the stowaways.

one of my favorite things about running the dirt paths at the park is racing the runners on the inner sidewalk. it makes me feel cool when I can run up ahead of them on the outside because I have so much more distance to cover. it doesn't really make a difference if they're old and slow. I still feel hardcore anyway. {just so you know, they're usually old and slow.}

3 miles; liberty park perimeter dirt path

almost perfection

I ran this afternoon after work. my goodness was I ever hungry. {it's never a good sign when you've pretty much eaten all the food you brought to eat for the day by 12:30pm} and my legs seemed pretty tight/sore. other than that it was a gorgeous autumn running day. you know it's perfection when you can be out there in shorts and a long-sleeve tee.

I did the outside perimeter loop at liberty. even on the softer (though let's be honest, is the grass/dirt around here really that much softer?) surface, it still felt like my legs were taking a slight beating.

you better believe I stretched and iced when I got home. I'll be doing yoga tomorrow.

3 miles; liberty park

forgot to mention. . .

about my run yesterday. see, I purposefully didn't post about it because I was going to add a PM swim to my AM run. the swim never happened because I have this cold just teetering on the verge. I figured I wouldn't overwork my body with two a days until I was in the clear--if I ever am in the clear. this thing is just sort of hovering around my head without getting better, or worse, really. slightly annoying.

anyway, I did do a three mile run in the morning. my hamstring was okay. I came home, stretched and iced. not really an eventful run, I guess. (I'm sure I would have had more details to say about it yesterday, but whatever)

in other news, I mapped out my training schedule for the marathon. I pulled it off runnersworld and it seems pretty intense. {it's the intermediate plan} I very well might die, but I want to put in a good effort towards qualifying for boston. so putting myself through pure hell might be the only way of getting there. I just have to get my body ready for pure hell first. good thing the intense training doesn't start until february.

3 miles; liberty park loop and home via 8th east

saturday run

I almost didn't go running today. good thing pete was at swimteam when I got back from the boutique because I might not have gotten out the door otherwise.

the weather had cleared up a bit, though. and I knew I had to go; I'd hate myself if I didn't.

for some reason I wanted to run up to 15th east and run along that street, but the hill getting up to 15th east didn't sound too appealing. so I did the usual run (6th east, through the park, and up to 4th south) but ran all the way to south temple instead of turning around at 4th south. I ran back along 8th east as well (with a minor emergency bathroom break at the maverik on 3rd south and 9th east. yikes.). it turned out to be a beautiful day for a run. I only got hailed on a little bit. it wasn't too cold. there was blue sky peaking out of grey clouds to the west.

my hamstring was feelin' it, though. I'm icing right now. hopefully that helps the situation.

my stomach was also feelin' it. that vegetable chili I ate for lunch was sitting a little heavy. I love my stomach.

oh, but I was in luck. when I got home pete was back. this is a good thing because I had locked myself out.

5 miles; 6th east - south temple - 8th east - 17th south

yogi

athena|tree pose, modified via waterbottle on head

thankfully I was able to go to my yoga class tonight. it was fantastic. I know my body needs this. I noticed how tight my IT bands were. and how inflexible I am. but it actually felt better than the last yoga class I took. so maybe I'm making improvements on my strength + flexibility.

chilly morning run

I woke up at seven-thirty this morning. it was still dark. I thought to myself, hey maybe I should go running. now usually I don't go running when it's dark outside. okay, I take that back. I will run in the night time darkness any day of the week. but that morning darkness? I don't know. I guess I always feel more unsettled about it.

but by the time I pulled on my running tights + jacket et cetera it was getting light outside. no worries.

I just wanted to do something quick, so I ran the usual liberty park loop. my left knee was hurting a little bit again today. I don't know if it has something to do with my IT band or a residual problem from that kayaking accident last year. (sometimes I feel it acting up) my hips kinda hurt today too. maybe it was from all that elliptical yesterday.

I think I need yoga in my life. good thing athena (my costa rican traveling partner friend) teaches a free yoga class every wednesday night. hopefully I can make it. I think it all depends on my eating situation. yes, everything in my life is dependent on and revolves around eating.

3 miles; liberty park loop

the gym

I don't know why I did it exactly, but I passed up a perfectly good autumn running day to go to the gym. maybe it was for the pure joy of jammin' to the ipod (I am strictly against this while road running. hey, a girl's got to watch out for herself). maybe it was to get my elliptical fix. maybe it was to rest my legs a bit. maybe it was just to see if my membership is still current (it is! I think it expires next month, though). regardless, I went up to steiner to do some elliptical workout fun. and what fun it was.

I decided to go for an hour. I set the machine on a lovely little cross country circuit, grabbed some health + nutrition mags, plugged in and jammed out. it was fabulous.

yesterday a little while after my run my left knee started to hurt. it was very random because the pain came out of nowhere. I could also feel my left hamstring this morning. yikes! I really should've stretched and iced yesterday. I did stretch a lot better today. still no ice, though.

5.56 elliptical distance (~530 calories burned); steiner

autumn run

well, after a week of doing THIS {okay, so it was really just two days of doing THIS, plus more days of playing in the jungle} I finally went running again. even though the oatmeal was still sitting a little heavy in my stomach (and tried to derail me of my plans) I stuck to my guns and ran the route I was planning on. nope, no running around liberty park. this time it was through liberty park. and then on to 4th south where I turned east two blocks and rome home via 8th east. one nice big loop.

I ran it pretty slowly, sure. but the route was longer than the usually loop through the park and back. my hamstring didn't really bother me. I did have a pretty random pain in my left knee about halfway through. it was in between the outside and the front the of the knee. kinda weird. but it didn't stay with me too long. or I just stopped noticing it. not sure. either way, it was a very nice run on a beautiful fall day.

I'm a slacker, though. I got home and pretty much neglected my legs. didn't stretch very well and certainly didn't ice. that will probably come back to bite me.

4 miles; 6th east to 4th south to 8th east

my run

I found out some very exciting news at work today that gave me the urge to go running. I won't divulge what that is just yet. I'm working on building suspense via the blog. I'm waiting for everything to come through and be official.

so when I got home, I did just that. went running. I've still got this cold kickin' around, but I'm overall feeling much better. almost one hundred percent. perhaps ninety-two percent healthy? plus or minus five? (I've got to account for this headache that snuck up on me this afternoon)

I did the usual three miles. you know, liberty park and all that. I ran the outside perimeter dirt path. there was a couple running a ways ahead of me that I was making significant gains on. eventually the chick ditched the guy to go run on the inside sidewalk. in my heart of hearts I wanted to pass them so badly. it was my inner kenyan coming out. and when it was just the guy, I wanted to pass him even more. but since this was my first time back out there in a while, I didn't want to push it too fast. I figured if I could just find a fast enough speed that was sustainable, I'd make my attack. I didn't. I mean, I closed the gap somewhat, but he was always just a little out of reach. I'd like to think that if I was in shape and it wasn't hot {okay, I'm going to be a little running princess for a moment. it was freaking seventy degrees outside and I'm still complaining about it being too hot. it wasn't too hot, unless you were in direct sunlight. the shade was just perfect.} that I would've been able to kick this guys trash. I really think I could have.

basically during the whole run I felt the yogurt/granola I had eaten at work. it wasn't the greatest feeling in the world. maybe I should've waited a little longer. I felt a little sluggish too. on the way home, running up 13th south to 8th east I felt pretty tired. but the rest of the way wasn't too bad.

I didn't really stretch very well when I got home. I did some and then just laid there on the floor. then I hopped in the shower so I could get dinner ready before pete got home from work.

speaking of, I wish he'd get home from his run soon so we could eat!

3 miles; liberty + 8th east

the state of affairs

I haven't been running. I've been sick. hopefully I will be on the up and up soon so I can get back into the routine. I miss the routine; it has been such great running weather as of late.

{notice: rain in the valley, snow in the mountains!}

I'm running again!

finally, a non-cleanse related post! so I'm back in action. eating. running. the whole shebang.

since it was my first run after my little sabbatical, I only did about three miles. I felt pretty good though. I could feel my right hamstring in the beginning, but by the end it loosened up. everything else was fine overall.

it was a perfect day for a run. we're transitioning into my favorite running conditions: cold. I love cold running weather. {my body shuts down in any kind of heat} I love pulling on the running tights. I love layering. I love the fact that my body warms me up sufficiently. I love feeling hardcore when everyone else stays inside or just goes to the gym. winter running can be so beautiful. I'm excited for the changes. I like fall running too. especially on days like today. chilly {enough for the tights}, the sun finally peaking out after two days of rain. I love it. it's days like today that remind me why I love to run.

3 miles; liberty loop to 8th east and back

the master cleanse: post-cleanse, day three

hurrah, I'm back! yes, the old anna jo that you all know and love is back! today I ate food, real food! and it was heaven.

I started the morning out with a bowl of grape nuts trail mix crunch cereal (of the maple nut & brown sugar variety. not as good as the original since it's sans raisins). then I made a yummy salad full of fresh veggies (red leaf lettuce, cucumber, tomato, red onion, radishes, mushrooms, with a slice of lime to squeeze on top) to take to work, along with some cut up veggies (carrots, celery, and broccoli) and a strawberry yogurt. {I'm not taking the probiotic pills at this point, just hoping the yogurt does the trick. so far so good.} and for dinner tonight? fish! yes, you heard me. anna jo ate fish. willingly! it's all a apart of my new plan: enjoy fish. we went to red rock brewery up in park city and I had the almond crusted trout with rice, steamed carrots and a side salad.

I just can't believe the day of eating I've had. I no longer feel sick to my stomach. I no longer have a headache or sore shoulders. it's like I'm me again. and I'm loving it.

the master cleanse: post-cleanse, day two

well, today was a little better than yesterday. I'll give it that. I still have a headache and my upper body is sore. I still feel all yucky in my stomach. pete is convinced it's due to my lack of caloric intake. seriously, I'm consuming fewer calories now than I was on the juice diet. so he's forcing me to eat food even though I feel a little pukey inside. but I think it's exactly what I need. hopefully tomorrow my eating ability is a little more normal. I really don't want to be anorexic, but eating just isn't appealing right now. what's a girl to do?

here is a rundown of some things I ate today:
some cream of wheat (sweatened by none other than organic grade b maple syrup!), though I couldn't even eat all of it.

some vegetable broth (from the homemade vegetable stock I made this morning.) with a few saltine crackers. (which, btw, I found out are pure death. yeah, the saltines have high fructose corn syrup.)

orange juice. (I don't think it sits well with my stomach)

homemade vegetable soup (made with some of the aforementioned vegetable stock and more fresh veggies)

a {very tiny} piece of lemon cake. okay, I know what you're all thinking, you ate cake?! doesn't that go against everything you just did? well, yes. actually it does. the lemon cake had high fructose corn syrup in it too, but I ate it anyway. but our neighbors brought it over and it just looked so good and it was only a littly itsy-bitsy piece anyway. so I did it. all things in moderation.

the master cleanse: post-cleanse, day one

well, this day ranks as the worst day of the cleanse by far. I've had a headache and my back/shoulders/neck feel really sore. let's be honest, the orange juice is no lemonade beverage. how do they expect anybody to live off of this stuff for a whole day? I should've stuck with the lemon/syrup/pepper combo. at least it would've given me energy throughout the day. seriously. I want to die. oh, and did I mention I kinda feel like puking? I think it stems from my severe lack of food, coupled with the oj and that jamba juice I had (okay, so I could really only handle a couple of sips). no good. but now I'm home and eating saltines. real food! my mouth doesn't know what to do with it all! I've had, like, maybe seven crackers so far. I think it might be helping my energy levels. {"*gasp* food gives you energy!" --peter h.} now I just need to go drink some water or something, because I think I'm severely dehydrated.

so tomorrow I get to eat soup. I'm planning on making some fresh, homemade vegetable soup and I'm really quite looking forward to it.

say goodbye to the juice

and juicing equipment

and say hello to whole food!
{seriously, don't I look happy?
oh, it might be the fact that I feel like puking up my guts.
which actually wouldn't be much, I suppose.}

so hopefully I made the right decision in ending the cleanse when I did. this morning I woke up with very sore, achy legs. which is a sign of detox. and if you end the cleanse without flushing those mobilized toxins out, it's bad news bears. but I did eliminate this morning, for the last time, so hopefully that did the trick. I mean, I have been feeling crappy all day, but maybe it's unrelated. right? right. . .

the master cleanse: day eight

well, I guess this is the last night. I've actually gone back and forth in my mind for the past couple of days as to wether or not I should end at day eight or day ten. I mean, I know I can make it to day ten, but do I need to? should I?

if the stupid maple syrup weren't so expensive (I can't believe how much I've spent in maple syrup alone! and I'd have to go drop another twenty bucks tomorrow to continue with this thing) I'd probably do it. I'm sure there's more to flush out of me. but a lot of people do it for eight days and that's good enough. honestly, a lot of what's holding me back is the fear of-- well, the unkown. the fear of my body revolting anything but this stupid lemonade drink. when I start drinking orange juice tomorrow, and then vegetable broth and soups the next day is it going to make me feel sick? am I not going to have the sustained energy I've experienced with just the orange juice? am I going to crash and burn tomorrow? it freaks me out. maybe I'll just be anorexic for the rest of my life. {okay, we all know that is not happening!} oh yeah, and then there's the whole probiotic debate. I'm supposedly depleted of those in my system now, and all the literature I've read say I should take a probiotic supplement. pete tells me I should just eat our yogurts that have probiotic cultures. now my question is this: is the probiotic culture in my yogurt enough? do the pills have more, the needed amount I need to restore my body's natural probiotic levels? someone help me out here, I'm freaking out!

okay, phew! I just had to get all that out. {did I just detox or what?!}

speaking of detox, here are some symptoms I think I had:

sometimes I would have a general feeling of tiredness, or yuckiness, or coldness.

there was one day (that this was extremely noticeable) that I was having a hard time remembering things. mostly relating to speach. I was having a hard time trying to think of specific words or what I wanted to say in general. and then when I did think of the word(s) I was having an awfully hard time getting them out of my mouth.

last night my legs were a little achy. and I've had some random headaches.

so who knows. I'll let you know how I feel tomorrow--day one post-cleanse. I am still planning on drinking the tea tonight and doing the salt water flush in the morning. I feel that I've been drinking this bloody lemonade juice all day, which supposedly loosens up the toxins and built up crap, why not flush it all out of my system tomorrow. then I will be done with it. gone. out of my body and out of my life.

I only have one more day of drinking ocean. . .

the master cleanse: day seven

day seven. one week. who knew I could last this long?

so things are going well. it's still much of the same. people ask me if I feel cleansed. in all honesty, I don't feel much different. I know I have gotten rid of stuff in my body. I mean, I haven't eaten anything solid in seven days now and I'm still eliminating every day. so that tells me something. but I don't feel like a sparkling, shiny new version of myself or anything. I think I'll probably--hopefully--notice it when I ease myself back into regular foods. my energy levels should be up and I should feel clean. let's all hope and pray. {because if I don't, I'll be slightly irritated.}

in an attempt of normalcy, I like to put my juice in the cupboard. {I have to split the 32 oz up into two nalgenes--one big and one baby--so I have mixing room for the extra stuff. while I'm sippin' on the baby nalgene, the big one gets to wait in the cupboard.} it makes me feel like I'm just grabbin' something tasty to eat. we all know what a lie that is. but I try and trick myself into believing it every day anyway. so the juice has a home right next to the syrup, cayenne, sea salt and tea. they're all friends.

I'm still only taking in two nalgenes a day. but I have plenty of energy to sustain myself. the funny thing about this whole experiment, is that I haven't really craved food. at all. me. anna jo. not pining for food. sure I'd see something or smell something or even just think about something delicious and I'd think to myself, that would be nice. but that's it. I wouldn't dwell on it. because for the most part, I haven't even been that hungry. I even cooked today and was barely phased by it! {I did almost slip up when I took the eggplant out of the oven and the pepperjack cheese was gooey and deliscious. I had to catch myself, because without thinking I almost tried to take a nibble.} I watch cooking shows and read foodie blogs. I browse through recipes. nothing. it's truly amazing. cooking for peter tonight was fun because it took me out of my mundane juice life and into the fabulous world of cooking that I've missed so much. I even donned my apron. I've missed that.

the master cleanse: day six

yeah, I totally suck at drinking this little bevvy o' lemons. maybe I'm just in anorexia nervosa training or something, but I'm struggling to drink two of these things let alone three! seriously. it is now ten o'clock and I just barely finished my second nalgene of this stuff. it's partly due to the fact that when I get engrossed in something {sewing the cutest shirt ever} I totally forget about drinking. or maybe the fact that I'm just getting sick of this stuff. or possibly that my body is used to this deprived state and she just doesn't care anymore. like I've said before, who needs to eat?! obviously not me.

I can live all hyped up on sugar water.

well, anything else to report? basically it's still the same deal. I'm eliminating waste from my body. if you think about it, it's really kind of exciting. . . in that gross'ish sorta way.

oh, the liquid love

the master cleanse: day five

wow. day five. that's a long time without food.

so not much to report. it's been about the same as the previous four days. I still hate chugging the salt water, I still can't go anywhere until about 11 o'clock, I'm still drinking that bloody lemon beverage...

I do think I might be putting too much lemon juice in. can that be bad? I don't know. but whenever I'm measuring this stuff out after I've juiced up those lemons there's always a little bit left. so I dump that in too. I think I can taste it--too lemony. and it might be making me feel slightly sick throughout the day. too much citrus maybe? who knows. tomorrow I'll only put in the required amount and see if that affects anything.

I only drank two nalgenes again today. tomorrow I'll try for three, I swear.

I'm starting to look forward to real food again...

the master cleanse: day four

so I think the more of this stuff {this stuff being the lemonade beverage} you drink the better the cleansing the next morning. that's just my theory, though. unfortunately I only drank two nalgenes today. sometimes I get a little sick of the whole ordeal it is to make this stuff. what with the peeling and the juicing and the adding of the other ingredients and then the washing of the juicer and all. oy vie it all gets old.

I guess I was a little lower energy today. it seems that every other day I'm feeling fantastic, then not as fantastic. (still not terribly bad, though)

I haven't eaten any food in four days. I can't even believe it.

the master cleanse: day three

well, day three wasn't bad at all!

my salt water concoction is still pretty hard to get down. it's that last little bit that gets ya every time! but it's been working nonetheless. not like that first day--man, oh man--but now maybe we're strippin' away at some gunk? who knows! I'm just glad I'm eliminating, as it were, 'cause I hear that some people just retain this salt water sometimes, and it'll make you all bloaty and uncomfortable. like your eyes will puff up. and you just feel miserable. I hope and pray each morning that that doesn't happen to me. so far, so good.

I've had a lot more energy today. I don't know if it was the fact that I went through three nalgenes or what. I got really sleepy around three o'clock'ish, but I'm not really sure that has anything to do with my cleansing. usually at work (and I did go to work today, whoot!) I get sleepy around that time. otherwise I've felt fantastic all day. you wouldn't even think I hadn't had anything to eat for three days by just looking at me. I'm bounding with energy, just bounding.

so there ya have it. I don't feel like I've really had any symptoms of the detox. and I know that my body is harboring all sorts of toxins, so I don't know what the deal is. maybe tomorrow.

I'm off to make some tea!

the master cleanse: day two

so they say that day two is one of the hardest. it was harder than yesterday, it's true.

I had a general feeling of "blegh" all day. I had more noticeable hunger pangs, as it were. I felt pretty thirsty all morning (could it have something to do with drinking ocean?)

I don't think I'm drinking enough of my juice. I only drank two nalgenes yesterday (64 oz for anyone who's counting), which is on the lower end--I had planned on drinking somewhere along the lines of three nalgenes a day, the max. and I'm on track for drinking only two today as well. maybe that's contributing to my feelings of hunger. my energy levels felt pretty low today too. I just felt kinda yucky in my system.

overall it's not horrible yet, though. I can tough it out six more days. (lemonade diet, eight days; post-cleanse eating rehab, two days) it's just the monotony of having the same thing over and over again. I like variety in my diet. and I miss the actual, physical preparation of food. preparing and cutting up the lemons is as close as I get to that these days. at least I get to bring out the cutting board and good knife for something! I think I will actual look forward to the herbal laxative tea every night, just as a change of scene.

btw, right now I feel hungry with a slight headache.

the master cleanse: day one

I woke up a little before seven o'clock. mixed the salt and the water. chugged. let me tell you, it wasn't the most fun I've ever had in my life. but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting, either. it is hard to get that last bit down, though. that's just a lot of water in general, not to mention salt water!

but I think it's working.

I also made some batches of my lemonade drink throughout the day. it's actually not even all that bad! the cayenne pepper gives it quite a kick and it's nice and lemony. I'm juicing the lemons in our green power juicer {thanks again, grandpa!} and am still trying to figure out the best way to get the most juice out of each of these lemons.

at this rate I'll need about nine lemons per day. I'll also go through one jug of spring water per day. and I don't think this grade b maple syrup is going to last me that long (and it's kinda pricey). this cleanse might end up being slightly expensive. but hey, it's for my health.

I've been surprised by the fact that I really don't care about food. this not eating thing has been pretty easy. now tomorrow might be a completely different story. {I hear day two is especially hard.} so we'll see if I get any cravings or anything.

my energy levels are at a pretty normal level. I take my life-blood with me everywhere. anytime I'm feeling a dip, I just take a sip.

hurrah for cleansing!

{life-blood}

post script: fyi. when you go without this stuff for an hour, you start to get hungry. always remember to bring it to the young women's activity, even if you think it's going to be a short one.

the master cleanse: ten days to a happier, healthier me

so you're wondering why I would want to deprive myself of the things I really love? {food} well, a couple of years ago my friend, natalie, told me that the average person has about ten to fifteen pounds of, well, crap encrusted in her colon. I was horrified.

{now to clarify, this is not a weight loss scheme. the purpose of this cleanse is to detox my system. a lot of stuff builds up in those intestines over the years, and I'm lookin' to get rid of that.}

which takes me to the cleanse. it's called the master cleanse, also known as the lemonade diet. there's a book out there that you're supposed to read, The Master Cleanser by Stanley Burroughs (or Peter Glickmans' book, Lose Weight, Have More Energy & Be Happier in 10 Days is another good resource) but it was all checked out of the library and I didn't really feel like buying it. {hey, this cleanse is already costing me a fortune!} so I've been researching it online and feel I've got a pretty good handle on things.

basically, the lemon and cayenne mixture break up the stuff that is in your intestines and the rest of your body (toxins and such) and the salt water flush removes it all. the maple syrup is what gives you the calories to sustain life for ten days without eating anything. I like to think of this whole process as the agitator and the rinse cycle.

they say you will go through many different symptoms (cravings, aches and pains, sinus issues, et cetera) as your body is flushing out the toxins. once the toxin has been eliminated, the symptom is gone. I'm interested to test this. {I've also heard about a lot of, um, crazy things physically coming out of your body, but I will spare you the details and leave it up to your imaginations. just know that if I have anything like that in my body, I want it out right now.}

I've heard people swear by this method, so I'm excited to try it out. I'm looking forward to increased energy, less unwanted waste in my body, and a healthier diet post-cleanse. and come on, who needs to eat anyway?

the master cleanse: pre-cleanse

right now I'm preparing myself both mentally and physically for this cleanse. it is definitely an unknown adventure that I am about to embark upon. it basically consists of drinking an herbal laxative tea every night (to get the bowels moving) and then a salt water flush every morning (to really get the bowels moving!) then throughout the day I drink about three nalgenes (it's a 32 oz water bottle, folks) of this lemonade drink. (they also call the master cleanse the lemonade diet for this reason) and nothing else. no eating. no drinking other beverages. just tea, salt water, and a lovely lemonade mixture. for ten days. sounds fun, no?

here are the goods:

and now for the recipes: (just in case you were wondering just what goes into this stuff so you could try it along with me at home)

herbal laxative tea:

• follow directions on the box

salt water flush:

• 2 teaspoons uniodized sea salt
• 32 oz spring (or distilled) water

lemonade beverage: (1 nalgene's worth, which is 4 servings)

• 8 tablespoons lemon juice (I'm juicin' real lemons, nothing fake)
• 8 tablespoons organic grade B maple syrup
• 4/10 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 32 oz spring (or distilled) water
  

I hope to chronicle this adventure here (don't worry, I won't get too personal), so keep checking back. tomorrow I will let you know how I feel and perhaps go into more detail as to why I am neglecting my body of the food I so dearly love.

post backpacking trip run

I needed to stretch out the legs a bit after the little backpacking trip we went on this past weekend. {I don't remember the exact mileage of the trip. somewhere along the lines of six to eight. not too terribly impressive until you add in the vertical gain -- about two miles roundtrip. between the two days we spent about eight hours out hiking, and a lot of that was through boulder fields. not easy, to say the least.} my calves, quads, and ankles were a bit tight yesterday and today. surprisingly, though, my hamstring held up quite well through the whole ordeal. maybe I truly am on the road to recovery!

I did the liberty park perimeter loop. the dirt path was easy on the legs and added more distance. instead of going home on 6th east, I headed up to 8th east to finish out those remaining blocks.

I feel myself getting stronger. I could feel it in the hiking. I can feel it when I go running. my pace was pretty good today. right after I hopped onto the dirt path, there was a girl running on the interior sidewalk. I thought to myself, if I can just keep ahead of this girl, I will be doing awesome! (since she was running on the inside track, she had a lot less farther to go than me!) it turns out, I smoked her! so that made me feel good. though she was probably just running incredibly slow. I felt fast today.

I'm starting my cleanse tonight, so I doubt I'll have the energy for any actual physical exercise in the upcoming eight to ten days. but afterwards we should see my energy levels skyrocket! and not to mention I will just be in overall better health. this is a total experiment for me, so we'll see how it all turns out. I'll keep you updated.

~3.5 miles; liberty park perimeter loop to 8th east

run team

we were maybe going to go for a swim, maybe for a ride. we ended up going for a run.

it was the usual liberty park loop. just a quick run. we were hungry and pete hasn't even been running in a long time. it was enough.

my hamstring felt okay. I stretched and iced afterward and feel pretty good about the whole thing. I've got a plan of attack for my tight muscles: a foam roller. I'm opting for this over the stick, since you can get a better, deeper massage out of it. though I do remember the foam roller being the implement of death back in my physical therapy days. yikes. but it is needed, I feel.

3 miles; liberty park

swim | run

monday: pete and I did the labor day swim. went up to steiner for some lap swimming fun.

we didn't actually last too long because we were both deathly hungry (we went to sniagrab first to get the annual ski passes: pete's altabird and my alta silver). it seems we always hit up the pool when we're starving. we were there for about a half an hour, though. for being quick, it was pretty good.

tuesday: I was going to go hiking, but that blasted storm blew in and ruined all my plans. so instead I didn't do anything all day. oh well, we'll take it as a rest day.

wednesday: went running along 800 east. probably just under 4 miles. my right hamstring was bugging me in the beginning, but must have loosened up mid-run. I had some good time to think about training philosophies, that will most likely be shared in future posts. (if I remember what exactly it was I was thinking about.) get excited.

oh, and my runner's world came today. that's always fun and refuels the dedication to the sport. hurrah!

run

I had it all planned out last night. I would wake up early, drive my little self over to some park along the jordan river parkway trail and run about five miles or so.

when I woke up today that plan didn't seem so fun. I hate battling the morning. I sometimes [more often than not] lose. so instead of going running I slept in, leisurely ate some toast w/j (just incase I decided to go at any minute), checked my email and the blogs. I started feeling like the biggest slacker ever. I needed to run. even just a few miles. I couldn't not run. I'd regret it later.

so pete gave me the encouragement I needed to get out the door. he's good like that. I felt stupid because if I was going to go now I might as well have gone two hours before (when the air was so much cooler). but it was still only seventy degrees, so I gave it a go.

I felt tight and slow. I took yesterday as a rest day, and was sore from the ride in the shoulders all day. I felt a little sluggish in the beginning. instead of the JRPT, I just did the perimeter of Liberty. it was quick and easy. I ran up to 8th east and headed south toward home. I started feeling tired in my whole body--sleepy. I have a sneaking suspicion that when I can't breathe very well through my nose (and I also have a sneaking suspicion that I have some sort of nasal/passageway/congestion problem) it makes me tired. I need that oxygen, dangit! anyway, I fought through it and made it home.

I stretched and iced afterward.

3.5 miles; liberty, 8th east

a nice long walk

a walk from our house to hire's big h. in chaco flips. my legs are beat. {don't worry, I stretched and iced afterwards}

4 miles (10,000 steps); 7th east'ish

the blok vs the gu

it turns out
I don't like
the Clif Shot
Bloks

as much
as I like
the GU
energy
gels.









{vanilla bean is still my favorite.}

the roadie

instead of running this morning I decided to go on a ride. I haven't been on my bike in way too long. it was about time.

I rode north on 5th east over to the downtown area, then I headed up city creek canyon via memory grove. I couldn't make it all the way up the canyon because it is actually closed to bikers on even numbered days. (I had no idea city creek even had these restrictions!) but the nice man in the booth said I could come back for two days starting tomorrow: August 31 and September 1. September 1?! how did it get to be September already?

I turned around and headed back the way I came. this time riding all the way out to 45th south before turning back a final time.

I tried to keep it a pretty easy pace. if I pushed too hard I could feel it in my hamstring. 5th east is pretty level (for the most part) so that helped the situation. It felt great to be out there again.

I didn't stretch too well when I got home, but I did ice.

18 miles; 5th east to city creek canyon then out to 45th south

realization

I almost didn't go running this morning. I woke up just wanting to eat. so I had a bowl of corn flakes and then about a half an hour later had this strong urge to get out the door and hit the streets. my stomach was feeling okay; I could probably handle it.

I'm happy to say I got out of the liberty park routine. I ran on an old, familiar running route of mine: 800 east. it definitely felt good to be out there. the air was still cool, going north was a slight incline (you really can't avoid hills in salt lake city, utah) but not too bad. after the turn-around (4th south) I even had that this-is-why-I-love-running feeling. it was great. I really do love running. when I was almost home the legs started to feel a little tight. but they felt tight when I woke up this morning too. so I stretched and iced when I got back to the casa. btw, I discovered cooking while stretching. now I can kill two birds with one stone and eat sooner post run. perfect.

I did realize that the reason why my hamstring was hurting yesterday after my run was due to the strength training I did. [thanks, brook. this post helped me put two and two together] lunges. squats. dead lifts. my hamstring is not ready for that. see, that's the thing. one thing I have to really focus on this time is patience. there is a method {and a madness} to this marathon training business. it's called periodization. you don't go all out at once. there are different phases and intensities you must go through. I have to constantly remind myself that I don't need to go too far or too fast right now. I am laying a foundation. I am building a strong, solid base. strength training will come later. speedwork will come later. higher mileage will come later. I have from now until late december to just run. and I am happy with that.

~4 miles; 8th east

my hammy

I was more disciplined this morning. Instead of stuffing my face with some breakfast, I ate a small piece of toast and was out the door. I did the usual run: liberty park. I need to get out of this rut I'm in. but it's just so easy to run the same route, and not to mention the fact that it's flat (I'm trying to take it easy on my hamstring). maybe I'll break up the monotony tomorrow.

while I was running my hamstring didn't really bother me at all. but now post-run it certainly is. I even stretched and iced when I came home. blast this certain large muscle group of mine! *shaking fist* I just need to get it under control. good thing I have nine months to prepare for my next race. . .

3 miles; liberty park dirt trail

swimteam

pete and I are trying to get back on the swimteam wagon. we went tonight and just did our own thing. we left right as master's was beginning. (I didn't want to face them... yet.)

my first length of the pool felt fantastic. when you don't realize you're already at the wall, that's a good thing. on my way back, after my flip turn, I started feeling it. but that's to be expected when you haven't been swimming in a few months. overall, though, it felt great to be back in the pool tonight. my right hamstring was kinda feelin' it on the breast stroke kick. and while I was doing some freestyle my left shoulder started hurting for no reason at all. fun. like I said, though, overall it was a great workout.

we only swam for about forty minutes, though. we were hungry and cafe rio was calling our name. it's a post-swimteam guilty pleasure of ours.

joint swimteam; steiner

cross country

I really like how it's cooled off lately. at least in the mornings. I was able to go running a little after nine o'clock yet again today. I really should just go right when I wake up, but breakfast lures me in. I'm surprised, though, that I'm able to only wait about an hour or so after eating and it hasn't really affected me too much. (I usually have a three hour time frame after eating for any physical exercise. maybe I've just learned to eat less and my body can digest it easier/quicker)

I ran the usual loop. this time taking the faint dirt path on the perimeter of the park. it adds a little more distance plus you get the feel of running cross country. because I think only cross country runners (not that I would know, maybe I should ask my husband) actually run on grass. I picture rolling hills in the mud and rain: what any good cross country race should be. everyone else tends to stick to the road, sidewalks, or trails.

instead of heading back the way I came, I ran up 13th to 8th east. I was headed that direction anyway since I wanted to get a drink at the water fountain on the south-east corner of the park. and it's good to change things up every once in a while; you never want to run bored.

my legs held up well. nothing major. I stretched and iced when I got home.

3+ miles; liberty park

just so you know

QUALIFYING STANDARDS*
Age Group	Men	Women
18-34	3hrs 10min	3hrs 40min
35-39	3hrs 15min	3hrs 45min
40-44	3hrs 20min	3hrs 50min
45-49	3hrs 30min	4hrs 00min
50-54	3hrs 35min	4hrs 05min
55-59	3hrs 45min	4hrs 15min
60-64	4hrs 00min	4hrs 30min
65-69	4hrs 15min	4hrs 45min
70-74	4hrs 30min	5hrs 00min
75-79	4hrs 45min	5hrs 15min
80 and older	5hrs 00min	5hrs 30min

*qualifying times for the Boston Marathon; any qualifying race must be USATF certified

run + weights

today I went running around nine o'clock. it was basically the same temp as yesterday, but felt hotter for some reason. oh well. you can't win 'em all.

I only went two miles today, but when I got home I did some weight training for my arms.

on the run I felt generally okay. my right ankle was having some weird, random pain. but it came and went, so I'm not too worried about it. the outside of my right foot hurts too. if I remember correctly, I was having this problem when I first got the shoes. maybe I have to re-break them in since I haven't been running in them as of late.

currently I have four bags of frozen corn placed under key areas of my legs. hurrah for icing!

2 miles; liberty + weight training (arms)

run!

it was nearly ten o'clock in the morning and I was in my kitchen doing the dishes. usually by this time of day it's already too hot to go running. as I scrubbed and rinsed I was thinking of what I could do for my physical well-being. swimteam? a ride? I had almost convinced myself to pull on that spandex and head up emigration canyon to see how far I could get when I looked over at our sweet indoor/outdoor temperature gauge thing. thanks again, eliza and paul! it was only 69 degrees. 69 degrees! maybe I could pull off a run, I thought to myself.

so I abandoned the dishes mid-soak, pulled on some running digs, laced up and was out the door.

it was fantastic. the temp outside was very reminiscent of running mid-day in autumn. it made me happy. the air was cooler, and even with that hint of heat, completely bearable. especially in the shade.

I ran the dirt path on the liberty park loop. I took it easy--my goal is to slowly build up mileage and pace. I want a good base below me for my next marathon training push. it was a great run. my hamstring didn't even really bother me!

okay, now I have to go finish the dishes. . .

3 miles; liberty park

what it takes

the four key areas I will need to focus on to get to boston:

• diet
• weight training
• rehabilitation/recovery
• safe/smart training plan
  

the rundown

2009|the marathon of life!

2008|Valley of Fire Marathon|Valley of Fire State Park, NV

2008|Fargo Marathon|Fargo, ND

2007|Famous Idaho Potato Marathon|Boise, ID

2006|the marathon of love!

2005|St George Marathon|St George, UT

2005|Salt Lake City Marathon|Salt Lake City, UT

2004|St George Marathon|St George, UT

2004|Salt Lake City Marathon|Salt Lake City, UT

2003|Lake Tahoe Marathon|Lake Tahoe, CA

2002|Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon|Anchorage, AK

another saturday run!

I woke up at 6:30am, just in time for the big event, laced up and headed out the door. for about the first ten minutes the temperature was actually pretty nice. but after that it just started feeling hot and muggy. I cannot wait for the day that autumn crisp is in the air.

I felt tight in my right hamstring. the outside of my right foot hurt as well. I'm a super thin sock kinda girl, and maybe these socks are too thick. or my shoes shrunk. I mean, I do follow the standard half to full size bigger running shoe paradigm. I love a lot of room, especially in the toe box. but today they just seemed to fit snug. it was bizarre. I did stretch and ice when I got home; hopefully I can finally get my hamstring under control.

I'm proud of myself, though. I've hit the streets for the past three saturdays. and now that I'm practically unemployed and don't have to be to work in the seven o'clock hour I'll be able to start going weekday mornings. hurrah!

4 miles; baby pug tree run: west and east

guts 'n glory

I woke up early on saturday morning to go running. something I haven't done in a long time. well, except for last week. I ran the sugarhouse loop 2.25 times. it was the dash for donations five k. we were team guts 'n glory*.

I made eliza warm up with me a little before the race started. I didn't want to be completely cold going into it. we ran back and forth in a parking lot a few times and then stretched for about a minute. I don't know if you could say I was warmed up, but it was good enough.

I didn't have a real solid plan going into the race. I figured I'd take it pretty easy since I'm slightly out of shape and not to mention the fact I was up until almost one o'clock in the morning the night before, eating junk food right up until the moment I laid my head on my pillow, and my legs are always so tight. but after that gun went off I knew I had to at least give it my best shot. I mean, it was only three point one miles. I can endure almost anything for three point one miles. so I tried to run it at a good pace. I definitely wasn't used to hills, but I tried my best to power through them.

I came in around twenty-five minutes. which isn't a super amazing five k time (though it might be around my fastest five k time--I don't run very many five k's) so I was a little surprised to see that I had come in second place in my age division. I was 52 overall, out of around 700'ish participants. I was excited. it is quite rare that I place in the top three in my age division (the lava to downata triathlon I took first place, the rail trail half marathon I took second place).

it was a fun race; we even stayed for the raffle! eliza was the first ticket called and won a gift card to jamba juice. fun!


3.1 miles; the dash for donations five k; sugarhouse park; 25 minutes and something seconds


*the roster:
becca, team captian and tissue donor recipient. oh, and walker extraordinaire!
eliza, runner
paul, runner
anna, runner
my mom, walker and baby stroller pusher
my dad, walker
peter (the baby), rider
nuno, rider
(me, eliza, paul, my dad, peter and nuno were the guts. my mom was the 'n. and becca was the glory. go team guts 'n glory!)

maybe it's time

a couple of weeks ago my favorite mag came in the mail (along with my favorite catalog. it was a definite good mail day!) and as I was flipping through it I started to get a little sad inside. I hadn't been running in months. a dark cold weight sunk to the bottom of my heart, was I not a runner anymore? I paused there in that place for a moment and then quickly brushed the thought aside. as soon as the way-too-hot-for-doing-anything-especially-running summer temps started to cool off, I'd be back on the road. besides, after running a marathon in may, can't a girl take a break for a while?

I woke up this morning sometime around four o'clock. I could feel my left IT band acting up. my legs were restless. I knew I needed to run. Somewhere around five o'clock I woke up again with the same feeling in my legs. I got up and looked outside; it was too dark to go running. so I went back to sleep. around 6:45am I woke up again, dragged myself out of bed (by this time my legs had calmed down and it would've been so easy to let myself sleep in), put my running clothes on, kissed my sleepy husband goodbye and was out the door.

I decided to run the usual loop around liberty park and back. it felt good to be out there in the cool morning air. by the time I got to the park I was warmed up and ready to go. I started the loop a little too fast and regretted it later on. though I did stick it out and even added another loop (this time the longer dirt path around the perimeter of the park) to increase the distance. by the time I was done with both the loops it was getting hotter and I knew it was time to go.

it felt good to be out there again. I am a runner.

~4 miles; liberty park
a training run for the upcoming big race.

idaho

I forgot to mention that pete and I went on a ride, a real ride, when we were on vacation in idaho. it was about sixteen miles of lovely country side and picturesque farm goodness. we rode from lava over to caribou county. the temp was perfect. it was fabulous ride.

look for that ride (or will it be the run route? we're still not sure) in the future lava monster triathlon, hoping to make its debut to the public in july of '09.

resolutions

last week peter and I discussed our health and nutrition goals over a basket of fries and some shakes. we made a resolve to exercise at least one day the following week. (it's so easy to slack off in the summer when you're held hostage by sunlight and heat) here was my week:

monday: joint swimteam with peter. hurrah! it felt good to be back in the pool, as it always does. we only lasted a half an hour, though. I was too hungry. and you can practically taste that crappy air out there. no good.

tuesday: yoga.

wednesday: I rode my bike to work.

thursday: yoga. I was the only person who showed up for the class, so I had my own private lesson.

friday: hiked up to timpanogas cave. with kids. exhausting!

peter went swimming on monday, rode his bike to work on most days, and had a two hour ride on saturday.

good job both of us!

beginner's luck

...Each day I take to the roads as a beginner, a child, a poet. Seeking the innocence of the beginner, the wonder of the child and the vision of the poet. Hoping for new appreciation of the landscape, a new perspective of my inner world, some new insights on life, a new response to existence and myself.

There are times, more often than the good times, when I fail. I never do pierce the shield. I return with a shopping list of things to do tomorrow. The miraculous has gone unseen. The message has gone unheard. I have had one of those loveless days on a lovely day for love.

Still, there is always the chance I'll have beginner's luck. And this run, this hour, this day may begin in delight and end in wisdom.

Dr George Sheehan, Running and Being: The Total Experience

the pocket schedule

ever since camp started I feel like I've totally abandoned my exercise routine. I was going to be so good this summer, too. I had it all mapped out (come and look at the schedule on my fridge, or for your convenience I have the updated pocket version just waiting to be laminated for your easy perusal). It went something like this:

monday:
AM swimteam (fairmont)
PM ride

tuesday:
AM run
(ride to the train and take it up... or just ride to work)
PM yoga

wednesday:
AM ride (to work)
PM swimteam (steiner)

thursday:
AM run
(ride to the train and take it up... or just ride to work)
PM yoga

friday:
AM ride (to work)

saturday:
AM ride or run

sunday:
rest

well, I've been doing my yoga diligently (I did pay for it, after all), but not so much the other things. I am a slacker! I've ridden my bike to work probably all of one time in the last few weeks. I haven't been running (well, except for the mud run, of course. more details and a race report to come). swimteam? haven't done that in over a month!

today after work I went over to steiner to have my own swimteam. I felt I needed to get back in the pool and see if I still had it in me before joining the real team again. it felt good to be back in the water (mostly because it was one-hundred degrees outside) even though my body was having a hard time remembering just what it was it was supposed to be doing. I didn't last too long. that's why I go to masters swimteam--it forces me to do an actual, effective workout. I also didn't reapply the sunscreen, so I didn't want to do too much skin damage. a short little thirty minute pool workout was good enough.

so stay tuned to see if the schedule is put into effect any time soon. . .

saturday AM run

pete and I went running on saturday morning before my staff training. the plan in my head was to do six miles. we only did three. pete just wasn't fealin' it. and to be honest, I didn't really mind. we have the mud run in a couple weeks, and it's all right to ease up to that mileage. yeah. but I am proud of marta and dan, who busted out a six mile training run yesterday. way to go!

in other news, I just read that my sis-in-law, stie, just got into the st george marathon. way to go! it definitely got me all excited; I want to run another marathon right now! whoot! but not st george. (I've done that two times already!) maybe the valley of fire? I've been thinking of doing that one for the past three years or so. maybe it's time I actually did it. but that means I would have to train through the summer. . . yikes.

another lazy week. . . sort of.

I haven't gotten back into a full blown regimen yet. though it's not like I've been completely sitting on my butt or anything.

early saturday morning pete and I went on a hike with katie and bj. we did grandeur peak up millcreek canyon. it was a lot of fun. bj couldn't get over the fact that I was out hiking a week after my marathon. I couldn't get over the fact that his very pregnant wife was out hiking with only six weeks to go! she is very hardcore like that, though. it was a fun hike.

tuesday I had yoga. I never realized just how inflexible every muscle in my body was until this class. it makes me really sore. I'm hoping eventually I'll release and my muscles will begin to lengthen. I look forward to that day.

wednesday I rode my bike all the way to work for the first time ever. I was so proud of myself. it takes a little less than 25 minutes. I think it's actually quicker than riding over to trax and waiting for the train. it is uphill the whole way, but I can power through it. maybe by the end of the summer it won't even be that bad!

thursday I biked to work again. hurrah! I also had yoga. again, I am very tight and inflexible. I realize I have to be very patient with the yoga, though. it took me my whole life to get me to the state I'm in now, it will take a while to remedy that. I'm just amazed at how strong you have to be to do yoga. it seems like you think of yoga as being this totally easy (if you're flexible), relaxing thing. you have to be so strong to hold some of those poses! I admire the yogi's.

friday I rode my bike to work, walked up and down three flights of stairs several times (it was moving day for club u--camp starts next week! whoot!!) carrying heavy boxes (okay, so I didn't have to do this as much as everyone else because I had to go back up to the office to sort out counselor groups), and tonight we're going to hike to the living room (aka the furniture, aka the couches) up behind red butte. it should be good times!

and tomorrow maybe I could get a run in before going to the ropes course for staff training? we'll see.

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