I'm at it again.

I decided to train for the SLC Marathon. Again. Official training started two weeks ago. I spent the last week and a half sick with strep throat and a sinus infection. So, I have already missed the first two "long" runs. Needless to say, I'm already questioning my choice of training again. Mostly because last year at this time, I was in great shape! And this year, not so much. I went to the gym today to run on the tread mill. I ran a mile, walked a quarter mile, and repeated that three times. I'm just basically starting from square one. Pretty sad considering last year at this time, I could bust out three miles in my sleep! We'll see how it goes this year.

Post Marathon

It has been 9 days since I ran the marathon. I was basically sore for just a couple of days. Mainly in my calves since that is where I cramped up at the end. And my knee and hip were a little sore too. I went to the gym the Monday after and did 1 elliptical mile and 1.5 miles on the treadmill, running .75 of a mile and walking .5. The biggest problem was the blisters on my toes!!! Ouch. So I stuck a needle in them when I got home and then decided to rest and let them heal. I went to the gym again that Friday, no soreness in the muscles by then, and did 2 elliptical miles going at a regular pace for me and then going 1.5 mile on the treadmill. I felt really good. Then I rested Sat. and Sun. Today I went to the gym and ran 4 miles! Three of them at a 10 min mile pace and one at a 9:40 pace. My back started hurting a little and after the run my knee was bugging me. I think I pushed it a little. I'm going to stick to a elliptical/treadmill routine for a while I think. But it did feel super good to run. I was only going to go 2 miles, but I got in a groove right at 2 and had to keep going!

I Did It!!!!

To read ALL about my marathon experience.....grab a snack and click here!

Here's the new shirt.

My friend had these pieces of cloth that you can print on and then iron them on your shirt. So she made me this iron on piece for my shirt. Thanks Lois!

It's go time. I leave today. Less than 48 hours now until the gun goes off!!!

I can't believe race day is almost here!

More Shirt Drama/I Am An Idiot!

So I got my marathon mommies shirt fixed today. My friend cut off two inches from the bottom and redid the hem. It looked way better! I was feeling better knowing that I had something to wear on the top finally! Well, I went out and bought iron on letters. I practiced on a black running shirt first. I put one on the inside of the shirt. :) Then I put my A N G on the shirt and went to iron them on all at once. Well, I was very careful not to iron over the marathon mommies logo in the front. Because I didn't want the iron to touch that, I held it still on the shirt. When I lifted it up, I had totally burned the shirt. Yes, a big fat brown iron mark on the front of my light pink running shirt. ARARRRRARARRARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!! 1. 32 dollars down the drain! 2. I now have nothing to wear.......again.

I AM SO BUMMED. Not so much about the money, but because I was really excited to be matching with the other marathon mommies. I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now. Not really. But I am soooo bummed and so mad at my stupidity!

3 treadmill miles

I was suppose to go 4, but only had time for 3. My cousin Tina called me just as I was going out the door. We haven't talked in a LONG time, so 1 hour and 20 minutes later I told her I HAD to go since the gym was closing in 35 minutes!! I could care less that I only went 3 instead of 4 since I know this week is about staying loose and not about cardiovascular training.

Also, I have decided to take ibuprofen everyday between now and the marathon to hopefully help out with my back.

3 miles and a Breakdown

I read a fellow marathoner's blog last week and about how emotional this marathon journey is and how she had a breakdown. I read about it thinking that yes, it is a very emothional journey, but wasn't thinking I was going to have a breakdown. Well, not so. I guess I just had so many worries about this marathon and today I let it all out with a good cry. The main stresses are what I'm going to wear :), and how my back and knee are going to hold up, mainly my back. So on Sat. my back took a major turn for the worse. Go figure, one week before the race. I got my marathon mommies shirt that I ordered in the mail and it was bigger than I had hoped. It was just too much at the moment and I started crying. All of my worries just got the best of me. I got a hold of myself pretty quickly, thank goodness. I realized I could make the shirt work and I iced my back. (Not that it helped, but it made me feel like I was doing something.) Then I went to the gym and ran three miles. I just couldn't skip it, mentally. So I'm really not sure what to do about my back, but I don't feel like I can do much, so I just am praying for a healing miracle between now and Sat. Maybe you'd like to join me!!

8.5 miles

I got to run with a my friend Toni today. I have never run with her before and so that made the run extra fun. Toni is training for the Tacoma 1/2 marathon which is 4 weeks from today. We met at Lake Sammamish State Park. It was perfect running weather today, about 60 degrees. Sooooo nice. Toni is a faster runner than I am. We started out just above 9 min miles and then gradually slowed down. We ended up running an average of 9:32 min. per mile pace. So a little faster than I planned, but no biggie. I was kind of discouraged at the end of the run because my back hurt worse than it ever has before and my IT band was really acting up. (It has been all week) However, I'm going to be really good at icing this week and I'm going to go take some ibuprofen right now! I had been really faithful at icing and taking anti-inflammatories, but then I got feeling really good and totally stopped. Ummmm lesson learned. Also, I was disappointed that I could still feel junk in my lungs. I've just comes to terms that it is what it is at this point and there's not much I can do to fix it or change it. So come Sat. I'm just going to do my thing and hopefully dominate that marathon! Wooooohooooooooooo.

4 miles

I almost ran without my Garmin today, but then I decided that I wanted to be sure I got my whole 4 miles in, so I strapped it on. My goal for the run was to really just go at an easy pace and have a nice relaxing run. The weather was perfect! And I did just that. I had a great 4 mile run. And to my surpise, my average mile pace was 9:33. Yeah for that. Oh, today at the end of the road, I took a right onto flat land instead of a left up the hill. :) I would of had to turn around before I got to the top of the hill to make it four miles and that wouldn't have been good on my psyche. :)

Totally skipped out today!

5 outside miles

I got to run outside today which was great! When I got to the end of the road I always run down, I had to choose to go either left, nice and flat, or right, up the "connector." The connector is a huge hill, 3/4 of a mile long! I decided this would be the last chance I had to run up the connector or any hill before the marathon, so I turned right. I kept thinking about the one nasty hill on the marathon course that is around mile 7, or so I hear. Today I powered up the connector like it was nobodies business!! Then I had the joy of turning around and running back down it like a maniac! I looked at my garmin halfway down and saw I was running at a 7:30 mile pace. Hehe. I ran faster than normal back to home because I wanted to have an average pace of around 9:45, my anticipated marathon pace, and even though I was powering up the hill/connector, it was still slow. Well, I did it. I averaged 9:43. But it was harder than I thought it should be. So now I'm worried about trying to do that for the marathon. However, my five mile run had 1 full mile of serious uphill! Of course that means it had one full mile of serious downhill. I just have to try not to over think this too much!

4 Treadmill Miles

I enjoyed watching Law and Order during my run today at the gym. I did all four miles at a 9:40 mile pace. Trying to imprint that pace onto my mind. Holy cow, my count down is on 10 days and some odd hours. Oh my goodness. Let the nerves begin piling up!

3.6 Elliptical Miles

11.5 Miles

Technically I was suppose to go 12, but whatever. I ran in between conference sessions today and knew I was going slower than normal so I cut it a little short. It was a very tough run today. I have been sick all week. I'm coughing like crazy, but still, I had to go on my run. Mentally I couldn't skip it today. Not a "long" run. It was tough from the get go. My fuel belt felt like 50 pounds today. I was just weaker than normal. After about 4 miles I was feeling a little better. I tried GU brand gel packs today, flavors vanilla bean and chocolate outrage given that's what they are serving at the marathon and I want to know if I like them or not. Plus they have caffeine in them and I needed to see how that would affect my body, namely my bowels. T.M.I, I know. Anyway, the vanilla was way to sweet, but at least it was thinner and could be choked down. The chocolate was thick and nasty. I will definitely go for the vanilla at the race. And they didn't seem to have any adverse affects. Good. At least I got that figured out today. I love the Powergel more than any other brand. (Made by Powerbar) Anyway, at the end of my run, I had a huge hill to go up, the one that leads to my apt. if you've ever been here, and I started having the biggest coughing spell going up it!! When I finally made it home I swear I was wheezing. Ughh. It was tough to run with my lung full of junk, or whatever is wrong with me. Let's all just pray I don't get bronchitis or pneumonia! I've been a coughing fool since the run.


Me after the run. I couldn't muster up enough energy to smile. Oh, I averaged 10:22 minute miles just like last week.

Resting Again.

I'm still super sick. Ughhhhhh. Talk about tapering. It is not good on my psyche to not be running. And tomorrow I won't be able to run either. FRUSTRATING!!!

Rest.

I don't think I could have gone to the gym no matter what today! I woke up feeling 18 times worse! I don't think any signs of improvement are on the horizon either.

4 Should Have Been 5 Miles

I was going to do my speed training work out that I have done the past two Tuesdays, but I just couldn't do it. On Sunday Evening I noticed that I was getting a cough and it just kept getting worse and worse. I decided to still go to the gym because I don't want to skip any workouts. Well I did the first two miles fine, rested three minutes while getting on a new treadmill, and then did mile three at a 8:20 mile pace. Well, this was a bit much for my lungs. I was trying not to breathe in deep because that would cause a major coughing spell. It was just really difficult to get through that mile and at the end of it my chest was burning!! The lungs are not in great shape right now. So I did a fourth mile at a 9:40 mile pace and then called it quits. My back hurt and I couldn't breathe properly. I have been sick now for over four weeks and this newest bout of gunk has me worried. I really need healthy lung for the race in a mere 17 days!!! I'm pretty sure tomorrow I will have to rest because I can tell it's only getting worse!!!! So much for training for a marathon keeping your immune system up!!

4.25 elliptical miles

WooooooooooooHooooooooooooo, Ya Ya Ya Ya Ya, God Bless the U.S.A and My Running Legs, BaBam, I am Awesome! 21 miles!

Yes you read it right, my 20 mile run today turned into a 21 mile run! Don't be too impressed, I ran it kind of slow. 3 hours 37 minutes, 10:22 minute mile average, actually, yes, be impressed. I went 21 miles for crying out loud!! :) The thing that I have loved about training for this marathon is that I am constantly amazing myself, today being no exception. Let me start from the beginning.

I met my friend Carla at 7 this morning and we took her car 7 miles down the Orting trail, parked it and went back to the hometown to start. I had my capris on and then decided to change into my skirt since that is what I was thinking of wearing in the actual marathon. It was a little cold, but I didn't mind. We got going and I felt great right from the beginning! We were doing 10 minute miles. (I stopped at mile 4 to uses the facilities and put my iPod under my sleeve. Rain, but not too bad) I felt a little tired at mile 5, so I took a gel pack. We met up with my sister in law Lindsay at mile 7. I said good bye to Carla and welcomed Lindsay. I started running slower because Lindsay's pace is a little slower than mine, by about a minute. At mile 11.75 my stomach felt a little hungry. So I took another gel pack. We had gone out three miles and then turned around, so we got back to her car at mile 13 for me. I took 600 milligrams of ibuprofen and pushed on. I knew we couldn't stop for long because I was cramping up. After that I told Lindser I was going to push ahead a little lit but would not get too far ahead before coming back to her. This was working well and then I looked back and she was walking. (She doesn't have a fuel belt) So I ran back to her and discovered that she was so hot she felt like she was going to pass out! She was wearing under armour on the top and the bottom. I told her to stip down right on that trail, next to the road and take off that under armour top. So I held her hat, watch, and ipod and had her T-shirt ready to put on quick while she took off the under armour top. It was kind of funny. I gave her a water bottle and the problem was solved! I was still feeling really good. When we got back to the spot where I used the bathroom, sure enough, Carla's dropped water bottle was still there! (Mile 16ish)I ran it back to Lindsay and continued on my way. I kept making sure I didn't lose sight of Lindsay, and if I did, I immediately turned around to go back to find her. At mile 18 I took another gel pack. Doing this made me realize I was HUNGRY!! You know like when you don't know you're hungry and then you eat something and think, holy cow I'm hungry. That is exactly what happened. So at mile 19 I ate a pack of lunar moons. Basically they are suppose to be like a gel pack, but they are gummies, kind of like gum drops. They were good too. I was still feeling good, especially after eating the gel pack and moons. I was PUMPED when I hit mile 20! (3 hours 27 minutes) I made a big scene throwing my arms up in the air! However I was not at the start. I had picked up some extra mileage checking on Lindser. I was feeling really good, so I kept going. I didn't want to walk a mile back to my car. (I wasn't really sure how far it was at the time.) When I could see my car, I was at 20.8 miles. I was too close to not make it an even 21 miles. So I just went until I hit 21 and then stopped and walked. I was sooooooo excited to be done and so proud of myself. Once again I felt a little overwhelmed by emotion. My eyes watered a tiny, but no tear drops or anything. I couldn't believe I had just run 21 miles and I actually felt pretty dang good. I was tired, of course, but my knees felt good, my hips felt good. What a relief. At that moment, I KNEW that I could do this marathon!! I have complete confidence in myself now. The only thing that bothered my while running was the balls of my feet. All that pound pound on the ground was taking it's toll, but nothing too bad, just annoying. Overall, I felt great. I amazed myself today!!


Look out SLC, here I come, and I am ready!!!!!!


P.S. After the run I went to Farelli's and got a full size order of cheesy bread sticks with ranch and marinara sauce. I ate 2/3 of that baby loaded up with ranch. It was like one part bread stick, two parts ranch. Then I got home and took a two hour nap. I'm feeling it now. I got out of bed and my legs were like lead. They didn't want to move. My muscles are a little tight everywhere and my hip is hurting somewhat. But still, that's pretty darn good. I ran 21 miles today!!!! Go me. (I think I'm finally done bragging.) :)

P.S.S. A special thanks to Carla and Lindser for making this a great run. I couldn't have done it without you!

P.S.S. I just want to note that all week I had told myself this was going to be a great run. And it was. Never underestimate the power of the mind!

8 miles

I had a good, but cold run outside tonight. The only problem was the route I took had me stopping to cross streets way to much! And about half way through I had to go to the bathroom and so I chose to go into the Whole Foods Grocery store as apposed to the AMPM across the street. Turns out there was a line at the grocery store and I swear it took 10 minutes. As a bonus though, there were drinking fountains right next to the bathrooms. :)

Mind Body Spirit Update

I just wanted to write a post about how I'm feeling. With a mere three and a half weeks until race day, I'm starting to get really nervous. There are a couple of reasons why.

1. My back is bothering me more than I care to admit. I'm worried after this weekend's 20 mile run, I may be out of commission.


2. On the marathon mommies blog, girls were posting about how they are doing and I noticed most everyone had already completed a 20 mile run and still had one or more to go. I, on the other had, am only doing one. I'm just so worried that my training isn't going to be enough. The truth is, I am confident that I will finish. Period. The problem is that I do have a time in my mind that I would like to finish in, 4hours 20 min. or less, and I think I am going to be disappointed if I don't make that. And I'm nervous that my body is going to be a wreck by the end of it. At the same time, I am super glad that I jumped from the intermediate plan to the beginner plan when I originally hurt my back. I really don't think I would have lasted much longer on the intermediate plan.

I'm also getting worried about what I'm going to wear and what I'm going to carry with me.

I can't even tell you how bummed I am that Nate and the kids are no longer going to be able to come. Now that we know Nate is going to BYU in the fall, it doesn't make sense to pay for everyone to go to SLC when we will be moving there three months later. Originally, it was going to be our final trip to Utah before going to the East Coast, or staying here. Funny how life works. In every marathon vision that I have had, the kids are there at the finish line with Nate. And actually I envisioned them along the course too holding signs. I just really wanted them to have a memory of their Mom accomplishing something great. So bummed. My mom did buy a ticket to come so that's exciting. Plus I will have my two sisters there, Kimm and Kylee, two sisters in law, Lindsay and Jana- two of Nate's sisters may even come, and one brother there, Jeff. So it's not like I'm going to be totally by myself. And of course I'm meeting up with some marathon mommies the day before, so that is super exciting and who knows, maybe one of them may want to run at the same pace that I want to. That would be cool.

Also, my feet are nasty! It is now officially spring and my feet couldn't be in any worse shape to be in sandals! Because I think only Kelly and Michelle look at this blog(and I really appreciate your comments and support!!!!!!!) I am going to post a picture! Warning, total nastiness below!





Despite all my worries, I am totally totally totally excited and can't believe that race day is almost here!!!!! Wow, what a journey this has been so far.

P.S. I forgot to mention that my achilles tendons do feel much better than they have in a while. All that icing and ibuprofen paid off!

5 speed training miles

I did the same work out that I did last Tuesday.

2 miles half marathon pace

1 mile 10k pace

1 mile 10k pace

800meters 5k pace
800 meters 5k pace


I love this work out so much!!! The problem is that tomorrow I'll run outside for 8 miles, and then on Thursday when I have to go back to the gym, it will be hard to do 5 regular treadmill miles. Oh well, life goes on.

Monday: 4 elliptical miles

Saturday: 13.1 miles

I decided while I was running that I would do a half marathon instead of my 12 scheduled miles. Mostly because I had done a 4 mile run instead of a 5 the day before. I started out at a pretty fast pace and just decided to go with it. It lasted about 2 miles and then I slowed down to about a 9:45 second pace. I decided to keep it there because that's the pace I would like to run the marathon at. I got myself on a new trail by accident, the sidewalk took an unexpected turn under a bridge, and I decided to go with it. I was pretty sure it would dump me out onto the Lake Sammamish trail. It did. About .25 miles from that was another new trail that I was planning on trying out. It was the Issaquah-Preston trail. It was super great at first. I was loving it. The weather was beautiful too! Then it started climbing, up, up, up. I kept pushing along and around every turn there was more hill to be conquered. I thought maybe I was half way to Mt. Rainier at this point! Then the paved trail turned into a gravel little trail and I was in the wilderness! NOT my scene. I'm a big scaredy cat and was imaging mountain lions ready to pounce on me. So I turned around and went back to the Lake Sammamish trail. Turns out I ran up for .9 of a mile! That seems big to me. The rest of the run was pretty uneventful. I tried to keep my pace under 10 minutes. I had to push myself pretty good to do that. Also I had to use hammer gels as apposed to my regular power gels. NEVER again. They are just too thick and just didn't quite give me the boost I was looking for. The plain flavor was the nastiest thing EVER! The apple cinnamon actually wasn't that bad. I finished my own personal 1/2 marathon in 2 hours 7 minutes and some change. My pace was 9 min. 44 sec. average. I was a tiny bit discouraged because that is the pace I want to sustain for the full marathon and I was spent by the end of my run. However, I am still getting over a cold and feel like my lungs aren't quite back to normal yet. Also, my back was giving me more grief than normal and still is. I have been icing and taking anti-inflammatories hoping to keep it under control.......... especially for my 20 mile run this weekend! Yikes!

Friday March 21st- 4 treadmill miles

Thursday= Big fat skipped day.

I was at Jordan's track meet in the hometown and just didn't make it home in time to get to the gym.

Wed. -8 mile run outside!

Speed Training!- Tuesday March 18th

I came across this speed training workout on Julia's blog. (The girl that Erin writes to). So I thought I would give it a try. Can I just tell you I loved it! It felt so good to run faster than normal! My five miles flew by. Here was my workout.

2 miles at 1/2 marathon pace. 8:49 min./mile

3 minutes walk/rest

1 mile 10K pace. 8:00 min/mile

2 minutes walk/rest

1 mile 10K pace

2 minutes walk/rest

800 meters 5K pace. 7:19 min./mile

1 minute walk/rest

800 meters 5K pace.

Will all the resting and my small warm up and cool down I went a total of 6 miles. I feel really good. AND I did this workout from 10 to 11pm tonight! Nate hit the gym first tonight when the kids went to bed, that's why it was so late. I almost skipped it too, but I knew I could not skip any more runs! I should mention that Nate deserved to go to the gym first as I took a nap the second he walked in the door at 5pm and didn't get up until 7:30pm!

4 Elliptical Miles- Monday

18 Hard Hard Miles

But I did it.

In my chant that I say to get psyched up mentally I say, "I am mind-body-spirit strong." Today I was none of those things.

I basically had myself psyched out from the beginning. All day on Friday I kept thinking about all the reasons why the run would be hard. 1.I was alone. 2.It was 18 miles, the longest I've run. 3.It was going to be rainy 4.I was on a trail that I had a bad run on the last time I was on it. The trail is dreary and boring. Dead brown grass all around, next to a river. 5.I only managed one 5 mile run during the week. (The reason there aren't posts between last Saturday's run and this one.)

So pretty much I hit a wall before I even began. Every step was tough.

But on the bright side, my body(knees,hips) felt surprisingly really good for 18 miles! I felt confident about that. Even tough it was such a tough run, I still managed an average of 10:16 sec. miles.

One of the things that saved me on this run was the fact that at mile 6 the trail turned out to be part of the course of the first half marathon that I ran! It was fun to think about that as I ran along the course. It was miles 10-13 of the half marathon. I was running it backward when I got to it, but when I turned around, then I was running the same direction as I did when I ran the half. So that was fun to think about.

Anyway, glad it's over! And even though it was a very tough run, and I wondered the whole time why I was even doing it, I'm still grateful that I can run. I'm not taking it for granted.

Looking forward to a shorter run next weekend!

16 miles WooooHoooooo!

I ran out on the orting trail for this run. It was so great. I started out with my friend Carla, (Debbie is still injured and I'm getting worried our running days together are over. Poor Debbie), and we ran together for 7.5 miles. We parked her car out at the orting park which was 7 miles from where we started. She wanted to run 8 miles, so that why at 7.5 she turned around and went back to her car. It was nice to run with her. I was dreading running back by myself, but I actually enjoyed it. It was a perfect day for running too! I took gel packs at mile 4.8, 9.8, and 14. I hit a wall at about mile 12 and then put my playlist back to the beginning, because that's where my favorites are, and it really helped. I also used my visualization technique for when I'm tired. I basically imagine myself bursting off the tired outside layer of myself. I actually close my eyes for a second and open them with a burst and say, "poof." I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it, but it really works. I felt way better and then took a gel pack at mile 14 and boy that really helped too. The first two I took were with no caffeine, because it negatively affects my intestines, and I waited to use the caffeinated one until the end. It works like a miracle. I'm telling you I think my fastest mile was my last mile! The running group that Lindsay belongs to was running on the same trail and they were there at the finish. The head guy saw me a few times along the trail and when just about finished he gave my a little encouragement. I liked that.
As far as my body is concerned, I was really happy. My back did WAY better than I had expected, and I just had the usually aches that go along with running. I was sore the next day, but hey, what else is to be expected? So I'm happy and feeling more confident at this point!!

4 miles

For some reason this was a hard run for me. After 1/4 of a mile, I had decided I was quitting at 1 mile. But when I got to one mile, the Eye of a Tiger song was on so I kept going. Once again I used my chant in my head over and over and I made it four miles. I think the problem was that I wore the most annoying shorts in the world. They are mesh shorts with spandex underneath and the spandex was riding up like crazy. Ugh. I will never wear them again!!! Physically I felt pretty good! Yay.

NOTE: I bought some new chapsticks that were all candy flavors. Nerds, blow pop, laffy taffy, tootsie roll, sugar babies, etc. Well, I put on the grape/strawberry one just before I went into the gym, said hi to the friendly gym guy that knows me by now, and went upstairs to the cardio room. As I got to the top of the stairs I saw myself surrounded by mirrors on every wall and was mortified to see my lips were the brightest eighties style hot pink!!!!! I immediately started wiping them off. Apparently the nerds chapstick does not go on clear. So embarrassing!

6.25 Treadmill Miles

I got to the gym and realized I forgot my iPod, and my Gatorade. Nice huh. But, I repeated my chant over and over in my head and it was all good.

Survival Mode

I figure that I have 4 more weeks to power through and then I have three weeks of tapering until the marathon. That is do-able in my mind. I am totally in survival mode for 4 weeks. I can do it. It doesn't matter anymore what hurts............I'm just going to.....................Git R Done! (I hope you read that how I am saying it in my mind).

So, yesterday I did 3ish cross trainer miles. Is that what that machine is called? It doesn't have moving arm thingies. Maybe it's a cross ramp. Whatever.

Today I did 4 miles on the treadmill. I used my new shoes and am happy to report that they fit perfectly!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!! They are wide enough, and long enough. My toes are singing songs they are so happy.

In order to get through the 4 mile today, I moved treadmills twice. Yes, third treadmill is a charm. Biggest Loser Couples was on and I really wanted to be right in front of a TV! Also, I kept saying a little chant to myself. I got the idea from the "Nonrunner Marathon Trainer" book I am reading. It went like that.

I am a marathoner. I love running. I am mind-body-spirit strong. I run for my kids. I run for my husband. I run for ME. I CAN do it. I am a marathoner.

The book suggest repeating your phrase every morning and several time throughout the day, everyday. I love doing it. It totally works.

P.S. My IT band isn't hurting at the moment. I remembered to stretch it today. Hmmm, funny how that works!

7 treadmill miles

I was going to rest on Sat. too, but I just couldn't. My body needed it, but my mind couldn't take it. My back was feeling OK so I thought I would give running a try on the treadmill so that 1)I could stop whenever I needed to 2)I could avoid hills and 3) I wouldn't have to carry my fuel belt around my waist. I should have done 16 miles, planned on doing 12, and ended up doing 7. I had two baptisms to attend in the morning at 10am and 12:30am, so a morning run was out. When I got home from the second baptism, I went to the gym. I was feeling guilty for leaving Nate home AGAIN. So that's why I quit early and my back wasn't hurting, but it wasn't feeling normal either. I figured less was more on this day. I came home super happy that my back wasn't feeling horrible, but then immediately bummed as my IT band starting hurting me pretty good when I got cooled down. Honestly, if it's not one thing, it's another. I'm sick of my body being so lame. I'm really going to try to complain less........ starting tomorrow! :)

Oh, I totally used a gel pack at mile 4.75. Can you just imagine me at the gym eating a gel pack. Too funny.

Rested Thursday and Friday

3 elliptical miles

Today my back really really hurt. It got to the point where I had to lay on the couch and not move and I thought I might throw up from the pain. So I iced it, and then heated it and it felt a lot better. Later I decided to go to the gym and do the elliptical. I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't hurt me. I wasn't going gung ho or anything, but still glad it wasn't hurting.

5.48 elliptical miles and 8.11 road/trail miles

Yesterday, monday I did the elliptical to try and give my knees a break. Today I got to run outside, which is always nice. I tried out my new skirt, the one I was hoping I could use in the marathon. Turns out the compression shorts underneath ride up, which doesn't really bug me. However, the bottom of them are tighter and ribbed, and when one leg rides up farther than the other, it creates a perfect chaffing situation. No good. The skirt is super cute though and will be used often in shorter runs, and with my body glide which I didn't use today. The run was fun too because I went on a new route and found some trails through some blueberry fields and it was interesting, minus thing scurrying in the bushes scaring me. I was wishing I had brought a gel with me. My stomach was super hungry at about mile 5 and I got feeling pretty weak. The last time I did 8 miles, well 7, I had a gel pack with me, but didn't' need it. I think it all has to do with how much food is in my system. Lesson learned. My back started bugging me today during this run and is still bugging me. URGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

I'm Thinking About Quitting

Except for that I'm way to competitive to quit. If I hadn't told so many people that I was going to do this, I might really consider quitting. It's just that the list of things on my body that hurt me all day long is getting longer and longer. Add to it now: my lower back. Not good people. I'm really hoping my new shoes help. It's just so frustrating. It's not how I imagined my training going, not even close. I really feel like my body is breaking down piece by piece.

11 Miles

I went down to the hometown today to run with my S.I.L Lindsay. AKA: Lindser, Linserelli. She runs with a marathon training group that has aide stations all set up. Too fun. We ran at a slower pace for me, and a faster pace for her. When it was all said and done, our average mile time was 10:57 miles per hour. I think it was good for me to slow down a little bit, even though at times I was wanting to push forward faster. I felt pretty good, aches and pains would come and go the whole run. It's kinda funny how that works. We would stop at the aid stations, get some water, stretch if needed and continue. I'm not used to stopping. I don't think my knees liked that. There were feeling tight and after our last stop, they didn't recover. For some reason my shoulders tightened up so much the last mile. That was the worst part. However, the scenery was beautiful. We ran along a river, by fields, cows, horses, and even an emu farm. Crazy. It was so fun to be able to do a long training run with Linds. She was having some hamstring troubles the whole time, poor thing. We were pretty proud of ourselves when we finished!!

Udate on my shoes: I ended up taking back the New Balance shoes. I also took back the Addidas Supernovas I bought during the week. I ended up finding a pair of shoes like the ones I'm currently wearing on line. It's kind of a miracle since they are a model that was new two years ago and is no longer being made. I hope that this internet company is the real deal and they get here soon!!! (Saucony Triumph 3)

Big Fat Zero miles on Thursday and Friday

2 Easy Goin' Miles

I decided to give another new pair of shoes a try on the treadmill today. They were the Addidas Supernovas. (Mens) I decided I'm taking them back tomorrow.

I only wanted to run a little bit to keep my muscles loose, but still give my legs a chance to heal. So I just took it easy. I think tomorrow I will do the elliptical.

I Need Chocolate.

Anyone else out there an emotional eater?

I just don't feel like going to the gym today. I'm not doing great physically or mentally at this point in time. Mentally, I probably really could use a good workout, but physically, it's just not a good idea. There you have it.

4 Bothersome Miles.

I feel like my body is starting to break down. More specifically my legs. I need to solve this shoe dilemma and fast!

17.2 miles!!!!! WHAT!

I still can't believe I got up this morning and ran this far! Especially since I had a ROUGH night and didn't even try to get to sleep until 3:30am and the alarm went off at 6:30am. Not even exaggerating. Let's just say that Kyah has croup, which if you have never had a child have this, you think they are going to die because they can't breath and are making horrible sounds. Anyway, back to the run.

Note: I got new running shoes yesterday. New Balance 768.



We ran on the East Lake Sammamish Trail again today. It is a crushed rock surface. I was iffy about the shoes from the get-go. My arches hurt, but I'm pretty sure that was from running with inserts in last week that were to much of an arch support for me. By mile 9, my knees already hurt. Not like something is wrong hurt, but the "I will never be able to start running again if I stop because my knees are tight" kind of hurt. Which is why I have the .2 on there. Debbie had to stop to use the bathroom at mile 14 and I knew I was toast if I stopped, so I jogged up for a minute and then turned around to go and meet her. And just so she doesn't feel bad, I had to use the bathroom at mile 1 folks and again at mile 4. That's what happens when you chug the G2 right before you run. (No, I didn't learn my lesson from the last time.) Also, my second toe on my left foot was hitting the seam of the shoe. It was annoying and left a large blister. The balls of my feet ached after we were done. Another reason I'm iffy on the shoes. But I'm wondering how much of this is from running 17 miles and how much is actually from the shoes. Pretty much everything from my waist down hurt when I was done. Last week after our 15 mile run, we really really felt good. Today was not quite the same. I feel like a big whiner in this post so let me cheer it up a little bit. We really did have a good run. We had lots to talk about and honestly it flew by- for something that took 2 hours 56 minutes, it flew by. It is soooooooooooooo nice to run with Debbie. And, most of my aches and pains are gone, except of course the achilles tendons, and my toes. :)

Can I just tell you, never in my life did I ever imagine I would get up on a Sat. and run 17 miles. I am Amazing. (So is Debbie)

A 6.75 Mile Valentine Run!

I was scheduled for 8 miles, but I left the house at 4:15pm and had a special dinner planned and just didn't have enough time to do all 8. It was a good run. I averaged 9 min. 59 sec. miles, which was good considering the hills I was running. I did have to stop at Debbie's house to use the bathroom. Duh. That's what I get for chugging a gatorade just before I ran to make up for my lack of liquid consumption in the morning and afternoon.

Tomorrow, off to Fleet Feet to get new shoes. Yayayayayayaayayayyyayyyayayayay! My purple toenails are already thanking me.

4 miles

I ran 4 miles on the treadmill today. It felt good. I ran faster than I normally do and that felt nice. I did 2 miles at a 9:05 mile pace and 2 miles at a 8:33 mile pace. I used my inserts in my shoes today for the first time running. I think I will take them back. They didn't hurt my knees or anything, but there was a big annoying fat lump in my arches. I did get used to them after 2.5 miles, but I still think I may like the less aggressive ones better.

P.S. I realized that I should be way embarrassed about my white legs at the gym. NO ONE is as white as me! But I am in a phase in my life where I am "owning" my body so to speak. It is what it is at the moment and I'm going to "own" it. Whatever. I'm not going to hide my white legs.


I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me

Maya Angelou

8 miles

Today I got to run outside because Nate came home from work at 4:15pm. I knew I had to get out the door quick because there was only so much light left. I wore my hydration belt with two bottles filled up. I kind of wanted to get used to it. I took along a gel pack too, but didn't use it. The run was hilly, but that was kind of nice since I have only been doing the treadmill and flat trails on my long runs. I used the suggestions in my book to stay possitive mentally. I do best using the self talk method. I was telling myself on the hills, "I love hills, I love hills, they make my buns firm. :) ) Other things I found myself saying, "I never get tired, I love running, I love running in the rain, I AM a marathoner!) Yes, I got rained on.... a lot. But it really was fine with me. And it made for an awesome rainbow!!! The sky looked awesome today as the sun was setting and the sky was almost purple with some coulds. It reminded me of spartan spirit. (My high school colors were purple and gold) There was one part when I came out of the trees and was heading down my big hill and the sun was shining bright on me and it was so cool. Then I got too low on the hill and it was back to being in the dark. Overall, a good run.

4 miles

Today I only did .6 miles on the treadmill before I had to get off. I wore my old shoes because my newer shoes are a little small and two of my toenails are super sore after my 15 mile run on Sat. Anyway, the minute I started running things were not feeling great. My heel was really bugging me. It was very deja vu of when I had plantar facaitis before when I had the exact same model of shoes that had put in too many miles. Not wanted to repeat history, I hopped off the treadmill and over to the elliptical. I went hard core for 3.4 miles! I actually felt sweat running down my forehead. (Nice, I know) I kept my heart rate between 150 and 160. It felt good.

P.S. My spellcheck is still not working!

15 miles

Yesterday Debbie and I did a 15 mile run!!! We were both anxious about it the night before and didn't sleep well. We decided to run on the Cedar River Trail. It was the first day that we used our fuel belts. When we got to the trail head. It was cold, rainy, and windy. We got started quickly as we were cold! We warmed up really quick though and the rain stopped very soon too! It was still kind of a dreary day out and for some reason I was struggling! I just kept thinking how my hip was already hurting and how the belt was weighing me down. We ran about 30 seconds slower with the fuel belts on. It was kind of hard for me because it seemed like Debbie was always a step ahead of me and really wanted to speed up. I felt like I was catching up. I was telling Debbie how I was being such a whiner in my head and that I was really having a tough time. Then she YELLED, "Are you a marathoner?" and I yelled back, "I am a marathoner!" Then we laughed and laughed. It must of worked because soon after that I felt great (about mile 6) and the rest of the run was great from there on out. Well, almost. I had to go to the bathroom super bad at about mile 9.5. We knew we had seen a porta potty, but weren't sure how far away it was. We finally found it at about mile 12.5 (we run out and back) Anyway, it was barely in time!!! Phew! What is the deal with my body????? We felt really really great at the end of our run and couldn't believe how good we felt for having just completed 15 miles~! WOW. And Debbie's knees didn't hurt her like they normally do because she just got new shoes Friday. Everythings good.

Sorta~
P.S. I did ice my achilles tendon when I got home and hope that it isn't going to become an issue!

P.S.S. We didn't use our iPods because I don't think I'm going to use it in the marathon!

Friday 3.5 elliptical miles

Thursday: Totally skipped my 7 mile run!

Nate had a final meeting to go over his BYU essays at 8:30pm, the time I go to the gym. So I missed. BUT all his aps are now turned in so that won't happen anymore! Yay!!

Wed. 4 miles

7 miles!

Today I was throwing a baby shower and so I didn't get to the gym until 9:45pm. Yuck. And I had just stuffed myself full of yummy baby shower food. BUT IT DOESN"T MATTER I told myself! I ran a mile on a treadmill not infront of the TV, then my normal treadmill opened up. Yeah. So I switched at a mile and started again. This was good timing. I had six miles left to do in front of the TV which unfotunately was on CNN or something that was reporting on Super Tuesday. Don't get me wrong, I'm interested in politics, but not for one hour straight while I was running. Anyway, it was fine, plus I had my ipod. The problem today was that I needed to use the bathroom in a major way for 4 whole miles!!! It was a true emergency when I finally was finished. I shut the treadmill off so fast, didn't even wipe it down, and pretty much ran to the bathroom!!!! Luckily everything was fine. It was a close call. :)

4 miles

Yesterday I was able to go on a run in my hometown while Jorday watched the babies. It was so nice to be outside and running during the week! It drizzled on my a little and I didn't care at all. I have been reading a book called, "The nonrunner marathon trainer." (I don't know how to underline) It gives you tips on the mental aspects of running. One of them is to tell youself, it doesn't matter, if you find yourself complaining. So yesterday I was thinking, "it's starting to rain....but IT DOESN'T MATTER!" Or, my achilles is achy, but IT DOESN'T MATTER!" I love this new technique.

14 dedicated miles to Gordon B. Hinckley

Today my friend Debbie and I ran 14 miles for our dedication run to the Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley.



Writing on my feet. GBH and 1910-2008. If you look closely, you'll see that at first I wrote 2007 and not 2008. Duh.


Our pre-race picture with the Prophet.


We had really nice weather today considering it was suppose to rain! The sun actually shined on us. It was beautiful. I had quotes from President Hinckley in my coat pocket and read one at every mile. It was a great run. Well, the first 1.35 miles was sketchy. We were at Lake Sammamish State Park where there was suppose to be access to a compact gravel trail. We were on some crazy trail that was totally muddy and at points there were wooden crates to run on so you weren't in the mud/puddles. The crates were slippery. At one point we had to stop and tip toe around a HUGE puddle to avoid getting soaked up past our ankles. Plus, I saw a sign that said, "Attention. Coyotes have been sighted frequently along the trail. Please keep your dogs on a leash. I was very nervous! Luckily though after 1.35 miles, we found the right trail and it was awesome!


Post-race pic.


My muddy shoes. They don't look too bad in this pic, but they were.

All in all, we had a great time and it was a really wonderful thing to think about our beloved prophet as we ran and dedicate it to him.


Notes: My knees, hips, arches, ankles, all felt way better this week than last!!! My knees were very tight at mile 13 and were telling me to stop. But it wasn't pain really, just tightness. Because we didn't want to make the trek back through the mud, we went a different way back to the car. It was longer and forced us to have a cool down walk of .5 mile. I think that was actually good. We can't wait to get our fuel belts on Monday! Also, that first 1.35 miles was ran very slow because of the conditions and I think that was really good too to have sort of a warm up mile.

Hello Buns. 4.56 miles. Elliptical Style.

I did the elliptical tonight since I'm going to be running 14 miles in the morning. Can I just tell you there was the funniest guy at the gym. He was doing the stair stepper/master, whatever you call it, just in front and to the right of me. He was really workin it doing quick short steps. NO JOKE, 45 seconds out of every minute he was turned around checking himself out in the mirror. He totally pulled up his T-shirt so it was about and inch above his shorts. Board shorts at that, you know, like swimwear. AND he had himself leaning his upper body on the machine so his buns were totally sticking out. EWWWWE. But he sure was enjoying the view of himself. I seriously had to try hard to hold in my laughter. If only my iPod had the song, "You're So Vain" on it, that would have been perfect!

Why I No Longer Deserve an Award. ZERO MILES.

I knew that I wouldn't have a chance to run tonight since Nate had an 8 O'clock meeting to go over his essays. So I was planning on going on a run this morning, but my buns just didn't want to get out of bed. So count me for a big fat zero today.

Why I Deserve an Award. 4 miles.

I really didn't think I was going to get a chance to go to they gym last night. Nate was looking over essays with some Harvard Grad friends and then at 7 was going to do church stuff and then I thought back to working on essays. I was in my jammies, laying on the couch, watching wife swap waiting for Lost to come on, eating a whole bag of sour patch kids, when Nate walked in at 8:30pm and asked if I was going to the gym. I really really didn't want to, but I got off the couch changed and to the gym in no time! I was so proud of myself. It would have been so easy not to go.

Luckily, I had charged to ipod and put a couple new songs on it to distract me. I happen to land on the same treadmill in the backrow in front of the TV too. Score. So the run itself wasn't so bad.

There isn't one workout that I do that I don't think about the upcoming marathon at some point in time. Last night I had chapped lips and as a consequence started to think about whether or not I would have space to carry chapstick with me during the race. I started to think that if I didn't have any and my lips were chapped, I would start yelling out to the crowd,"Does anyone have some chapstick? I need some REAL BAD!" Then someone would find some and hand it to me. Then I would tell them, "Thank you so much, I'd kiss you, but my lips are chapped................and I'm married!"

Yes folks, I really dream up stuff like this while I'm running on the treadmill!

P.S. For some reason the spellcheck will not work! Do not judge me on my lack of spelling capabilities!

7 super long miles

Last night I couldn't post about my run because my husband was working on his essays when I got home. Anyway, I hadn't looked at my training schedule yet and thought that I had a 5 mile run, but when I looked at 7pm, I saw 7!!! What! So I quickly got dressed and told Nate he would have to put the kids to bed because I was losing the desire to get my buns to the gym exponentially by the minute! It was bad enough that this run was going to be on the treadmill, but on top of that I was going to have to do it WITHOUT my ipod! Uggggh. I had decided on wearing my new blue pair of Nike shorts with the undies built into them. They are shorter than any other pair I own so I was feeling a little self conscious. I knew I needed a treadmill in the back row so no one could look at me while I was running. And because what if they happen to be a bad pair of shorts that would get all caught up in my thighs while I run, that was the other reason I needed to be in the back. When I got to the gym, all treadmills were full! Super lucky for me, one in the back right in front of the TV opened up! YES! The sonics were playing, not too excited at the beginning, and I was hoping that American idol would come on at any second since I requested it at the front desk. No such luck. The first mile I just kept telling myself, just get through the first mile that one is the hardest. I still wasn't feeling better by mile two. Then I was telling my self that once I got through half of the run, 3.5 miles, I would walk. I knew at some point I would have to turn the treadmill off and restart it at some point in time since it only goes for one hour. By the time I got to 3.5 miles, I was finally in a groove and decided to go with it. At mile 6 I had to turn it off and restart since I was at 60 minutes. Too bad because the last mile was torturous as a result! But I made it and that all that matters!

P.S. The shorts worked out fairly nicely. The built in undies didn't give me a wedge and they didn't ride up my thighs. :)

4.3 miles- Elliptical Style

I have decided to cross train on Mondays as well as Fridays until my body feels better after long runs. I went on the elliptical for 45 minutes and did 4.3 miles. Doesn't sound tough, but I did get the best work out I could. I had that baby cranked up so it was tough to do. (Well, only a 10 out of 20) My heart rate was up the whole time, so that was good. I also did some ab work.

9.65 miles

*****Warning******* Whining in the following post********* Warning**********

Today was not a great run. It has me feeling very nervous. First of all, it was freezing!!!!! So stinkin cold this morning. My knee and arch on my left leg/foot were hurting almost immediately. My arch pain went away, but the knee just got worse. Apparently my right leg felt left out and my hip started hurting and my ankle. What the heck is up with that! I felt like such a gimp. I was scheduled to run 9 miles today, but my friend/training partner Debbie was scheduled to run 10. I figured I would run 10 anyway. No biggie. But I felt like I should listen to my body and stop when I did and meet her back at the car.


The cool thing was, we found a new running spot. It was at Marymoor Park in Redmond and there was a nice wide paved trail that went on forever. It was went right next to the Sammamish River. We actually saw two beavers! And we did see a deer leg... so gross.

Afterward, we stopped at Footzone to check out fuel belts. I think I'm going to try and find one on Ebay. Also, I decided on getting some inserts for my shoes, and I hope that solves ALL my problems. (I didn't buy them yet, but I am soon. Instead I bought a cute new pair of shorts) I really hope the inserts do the trick because next Saturday's run is 14 miles. Holy Crap. That will be the longest I've ever run. I need to quit looking ahead at the calendar. Too late. I noticed that today's long run is the shortest I have until the Sat. before the race. Double Holy Crap. Excuse my language. (My Grandma would die if she knew I wrote like that......I'm just trying to keep it real!)

Oh, one other good thing. I got a new pair of undies last night that I tried out today and they were great!!!! In case you are wondering they are Jockey brand, microfiber, bikini cut, color:white. Too much info? Never. Just ask Debbie, she'll tell you I don't believe in too much info!!!! Especially today. Anyway...... tomorrow, REST!!!

P.S. I skipped yesterday!!

5 Miles

I was able to run outside today which was nice! A little cold though. Spring can come at ANY TIME! I think I must have a sign on my head that says Information because it seems like just about every time I run somebody asks me for directions. I'm such a good neighbor kind of gal. :) I think I need to find some flat land to run on and soon. My calves/achilles tendon are not feeling great. Hopefully this won't be an issue.

4 Miles

I skipped Monday and Tuesday of this week in hopes that my body would be feeling perfect by today. I ran 4 miles on the dreadmill, I mean treadmill today. Certainly things are achy, but nothing too bad to complain about.

It is Official.

I have paid my registration money. Come hell or high water I am running the Salt Lake City Marathon on April 19th 2008. I have been loosely following Hal Higdon's 18 week Intermediate 1 plan for this marathon. I am in my sixth week of training right now. I wanted to start this blog so I could have a journal of this experience of training for a marathon. This will be my very first marathon!