w + h + f

wednesday: first snowy run of the season. loved it. well, I could do without the big, fatty flakes in my eyes, but whatever. it was still a great run and super pretty outside. just as I was getting done with it, the sun came out and everything cleared up. super gorgeous. {I got the brunt of the storm during the middle of the run; super blizzardy}

4 miles + core workout



thursday: did a quick loop because I was trying to be time efficient. yeah, still didn't get everything I wanted to done yesterday. such is life, I suppose. any uphill kicked my butt. I just felt sluggish. my ankle hurt the first mile or so, but then the pain kind of subsided. my hamstrings (especially the right one) are pretty tight.

3 miles



friday: I walked {and ran -- I've been in the habit of nearly missing (or completely missing) buses lately} to/from a bus stop that is kinda far away from my house. when I finally got home from work, I did my core workout. you should be so proud of me, I did it three times this week. I am right on track. too bad it's kickin' my butt!

pool

went swimming at the local pool. it felt good. pete and I didn't share a lane, and actually had quite a productive workout. pete was even doing flip turns; I am so proud.

whenever I get back in the pool I get nervous about my left shoulder. I'm happy to say it didn't hurt. let's hope that as I put swimteam back into my regular routine I don't have any more problems with it. because seriously. I'm done with injuries!

the workout felt really good. I always love the way swimming makes me feel afterward. I will say, however, that I am still feeling yesterday's workout. I am sore. the run + the core workout + raking one billion leaves really threw my muscles through a loop. they don't know what to do with themselves. let's hope they figure it out soon.


500 warm up
4 X 50 kick
12 X 25 IM (sans free)
50, 75, 100 descending
25 breast
500 free
100, 75, 50 ascending
25 breast
4 X 50 hypoxic (strokes per breath: 5/25, 7/25)
100 cool down


1 hr; swimteam

the plan: 45 minute run, 15 minute core

I wanted to go exploring this morning, so I went in the opposite direction that I usually go. I had pete's watch on because I wanted to run for time rather than a set distance I thought I should run. 45 minutes was the plan. I ended with 48:00:36 on the display.

I actually took this run pretty easy, compared to my "easy" runs last week. I certainly didn't push it. my ankle didn't really hurt per se, but my tendon feels pretty tight. my legs were a little tight as well (I think it's from jumping right back into this training routine--they need some time to adjust) but overall I felt fine.

the run ended up being over five miles, according to the mapmyrun.

afterward I (and I really mean afterward... after I stretched... after I ate... after I showered...) did some core strengthening exercises that I plan to do three times per week. I picked it up off of runnersworlddotcom a while ago, but I copied + pasted everything into a document for easier printing and now I don't know the address to the article or anything. so sorry if you were dying to know what it all entails. maybe in the near future (especially if I stick with it and it actually helps me get that toned mid-section!) I will devote a full post to the routine. get excited.

5.36 miles

the rest

tuesday: I think I just walked for about 3'ish miles. (that is walking to/from work)

wednesday: did the sugarhouse perimeter loop again. so it's about 3.5 miles, I think.

thursday: walked around again, about fifty miles (or so it felt like--I walked home from work + walked to the DI to run some last minute halloween errands)

friday: took a nice long nap after work. totally took a holiday rest day.

saturday: long run. 8 miles. my legs felt tight. my ankle was feeling it for the first mile. then it subsided. then I would feel some discomfort on and off throughout the run. by the end of the run I was feeling pretty strong, though.

three and one half miles

I did the 3.5'ish mile loop. I was planning on running it pretty slowly, as a recovery run. but it turns out I had to run off some pent up energy and try to work some things out in my brain. my body has held up pretty well since the first long run of ten miles. at first my ankle was a bit tight, I guess you could say. but by the end of the run it seemed to loosen up.

3.5 miles

saturday's long run

I decided to kick my butt into gear. since I totally flaked out on training for the valley of fire marathon in november, I wanted to really set my sights on something else. and actually train.

I found the sedona marathon a couple months ago. it's in february. last year's race day landed on my birthday. too bad I didn't know about it then. oh well. but I figure I have plenty of time to train for it. I'm not going for a BQ or anything, the course seems too challenging for it anyway. so I'm just going to run it for the fun of running + another state. love it.

so with that in my mind I ran my first long run on saturday. I wasn't even planning on it. but sometime in the mid-morning I just decided to. I put on my gear and went out the door. I didn't have a plan for the route, or the mileage. I just stuck a gu in my back pocket and decided I'd take it if I needed it.

I ended up doing a park to park route. I headed over to some familiar ground: 17th south/liberty park. I ran around the perimeter and took the gu just as I was passing the drinking fountain again to leave the park. that was around 4 of 5 miles. then I ran up and over to sugarhouse park. and ran around the perimeter of that park. then home.

after the run I looked up my route on map my run. I figured it was around 8 miles. actually, it was 10. I don't know if I really needed a ten mile run to start off my training. I probably over did it. I hope my ankle doesn't blow up because of it. but oh well. it was so nice to be out there for an extended period of time. it was such a beautiful day.

my ankle has been feelin' it a bit, but not too bad. we'll go forward from here and see how things hold up.

yesterday + today

tuesday: ran somewhere around 4 miles. maybe a little more. I took the garmin {because I finally found it!} but I kept losing my satellite signal, so it was totally inaccurate. lame! at one point it told me I was running a 40-minute mile. yeah, don't so much believe that. {guys, I'm really not that slow. I swear.}

wednesday: eliptical at steiner. I just set it to 45 minutes turned up the tunes and then dove into the mags off the rack. the time flew by.

recooping + emergencies

I forgot to mention that last wednesday pete came home and took me on a little run. which was nice of him. because I wasn't going to go. due to the fact that I was getting sick, I didn't think I had the energy. it turns out I did. and I got to show pete some of my racing strategies as we passed people at sugarhouse park. now all he needs is a race.

I didn't do anything active the rest of the week. my cold hit me full throttle, and we're lucky that I can actually talk again.

this morning I was feeling well enough to get back out on the streets. unfortunately, though, I had one of those bathroom emergencies midway through. yikes! I made a b-line to the nearest park bathroom and all was well. I pretty much just took the run easy since I'm just recooperating. it was a nice autumn run.

3.5 miles

bike + swim

bike to work: it's only about a three mile roundtrip, but man that ride back up the hill seemed hard today. I don't think it should really feel hard; I need to get on my bike more.

joint swimteam: pete and I hit the pool tonight. it was pretty awesome. we should never swim in the same lane. nothing but shenanigans from that boy. and we only lasted a little over thirty minutes. it was a good reintroduction to the water, though. {it's been months for both of us} I am happy to say that I could bust out some butterfly. though I'm not saying it looked pretty. because I'm pretty sure it didn't. but I was just happy that I could make it to the other end of the pool.

oh, and btw, they have closed the outdoor pool for the season. now we all have to adjust back to the yard pool.

some of my thoughts

the weather is starting to cool off considerably around here. and I think that's going to be really good for my running. it seems the best time for me to run is right when I get home from work in the afternoons, right before I have to make dinner or other obligations take up my time. this is when I'm most consistent. so now that the temperature isn't going to be a factor, I just might get back into a routine. finally. {and can I tell you how much I love cold weather running?!}

my run today was pretty good, other than the fact that I was pretty hungry. nothing too major happened. I tried to make myself go easy, cut the run short a little bit as to not overdue anything--I've been a little sick the past few days + I haven't really run in a week + I already walked about 2.5+ miles today. but of course I went the full route.

my left ankle is feeling a little weird now, post run. it's reminiscent of the early stages of the pain I felt in 2006 {that pretty much sidelined me for the whole season} I think it's from over stretching it. like from folding over on my ankle, if that makes sense. but I haven't really done anything that I can think of to make it feel this way. very weird. but what's even more weird is that random pain I sometimes get in my right big toe. you know that feeling when your toe just needs to pop? and you do and everything is okay? well, I can't get it to pop and it just keeps hurting. it feels like it's broken or something. but then the pain pretty much goes away. this has happened a couple of times recently and it's totally bizarre.

I've been reading around the blogs lately about all the people doing their fall marathon... I'm kind of bummed + jealous. but let's be honest, even though I've been telling everyone I'm going to run one, I'm not. a) I haven't been training at. all. and 2) a good friend of ours is getting married that weekend. so good excuse to bag the whole idea.

and do you think if I did the utah grand slam, I'd actually PR in one of the races? you know, if most of these marathons were just training runs. and if I had one {or two?} key race, like st george? because I think to train for something like that you get a really good base under you, but once the season starts you're not running as much because you're busy recovering from races. maintaining. reverse tapering. it seems like at the end of the season people are really strong. I don't know, it's just something I've been thinking about. maybe the slam + the BQ could go hand in hand and I could cross them off the list at the same time.

morning run

well, it looks like I haven't gone running for a week. sucks to that.

I headed out the door today in shorts + a long sleeve tee. such great running weather.

I was feeling a little tight out there. I don't remember any notable aches and pains, though. so that's good. my ankle held up. oh, I think I had a cramp on the way back. I blame that on the honey nut cheerios I had eaten earlier.

3+ miles

how it is

ack! I haven't posted in a while. I know I worked out last week, but who remembers what I actually did?!

I know I did a four mile run, woke up ridiculously early and went to a spin class with a friend, ran a couple three mile runs. and maybe that was it. oh, and moved several heavy boxes.

as if the moving of several heavy boxes doesn't tip you off, it's true, we've moved. which is exciting because now I get to explore different running routes.

today's route took me on the bike lane of 17th east all the way up to 17th south. then back down to sugarhouse park. one lap around the perimeter (seriously, was I meant to be a cross country runner or what?!) and then back home.

it was good, other than the fact that my ankle/heel was bugging me. which I should've just followed the thought of cutting the run short (aka - no park loop) but no, I have to be stubborn. once I was on the grassy trail, it didn't feel so bad so I just kept going. but now? yeah, it still hurts.

maybe tomorrow I'll wake up ridiculously early and hit the masters swim. or the spin class. or I'll just end up sleeping in. whatever.

4 miles

finding my groove

despite severe dehydration and being a tinsy bit hungry, I felt really good on my run this morning. I felt strong. I only had a few random pains come and go. nothing lingered. it just felt so good to get out there and move.

4 miles

it was just me, the january 2007 issue of trail running, and cnn on the tube

since I went in to work this morning, I decided to take my gym stuff and walk over to steiner afterward. I really like my community rec center. as I was upstairs, ellipticalling my face off, I looked around and noticed no one else was there in the cardio machine area. no one. I had the place to myself! I love it. I love that this place has everything I need without that trendy gym feel.

45 minutes; elliptical

the morning run

ran around the park again. on the dirt path. it was nice. not too hot. I feel slow these days, but I know it's because I'm still just getting back into the groove. I'm okay with that.

3+ miles

eight miles

I took it to the streets yesterday. I did my long run via the baby pug tree route. I felt pretty good. my ankle was feeling okay, my muscles were feeling okay. the weird thing was that I couldn't breathe. not in the I-have-asthma-and-will-surely-die sort of way. more the my-sinuses-must-be-clogged-and-my body-isn't-getting-the-quality-oxygen-it-desires. it felt like my whole upper body was sleepy. like I really wasn't getting enough oxygen to my blood or something. and my right ear felt a little foggy as well. kind of like that feeling of water stuck in your ear after you swim. sort of. I need to neti pot. maybe I'll go do that right now...

8 miles

status

monday: 3 miles

tuesday: 4 miles

wednesday: 30 minute elliptical

thursday: 3 miles

I've been feeling a cold coming on for the past couple of days. I'm happy to report I've been successful at staving it off so far. I think I might just take today as a rest day {though I thought that about wednesday and thursday as well. we'll see how much will power I actually have} and hopefully do something awesome tomorrow. you know, like a long run. or even a fun ride with the hubs.

the rest of the week

thursday: run. 4 mile loop.

friday: nothing. ran around getting birthday surprises ready.

saturday: went on a short ride (like 6.59 miles short) and then went horseback riding.

swim + run

pete and I woke up early and did a joint swimteam. the problem with joint swimteam is we kind of play around a little too much. it's a lot of fun, but not as great of a workout. we need more discipline. or seperate lanes.

after the swim I decided to run home from the pool. I don't know why I hadn't thought of this sooner. especially if I have a short/easy pool workout. it's probably only about 2.5 miles, which was perfect this morning.

a recap

tuesday (august 26): I went running in the morning. the same route as the day before. 3+ miles.

tuesday - sunday were meant to be a backpacking trip in the wind rivers, but our plans changed when we noticed the area we were headed for was on fire. so we tried to salvage the trip by car camping in grand teton national park. it wasn't quite the same, but we did go on a hike around jenny lake and happened upon a small black bear a few feet off the trail. yeah, we got out of there quick! we ended up driving home thursday afternoon. it was pretty sad.

saturday: went on a seven mile hike up big cottonwood canyon. kinda steep. very dry out there. but it was pretty fun and I didn't have to worry about seeing bears on the trail, which is always a relief. we came home tired + dirty. you can't ask for much more out of life.

monday: did the short 3 mile liberty park loop (as opposed to the longer three mile loop I usually do) with peter. it was kind of a struggle because we pounded some serious cafe rio earlier that day.

tuesday: did an hour of elliptical at steiner. it was kind of low key. I was more interested in the magazine I was reading than keeping my heart rate up, I guess.


and that's pretty much it.