Here we go again~

Our Summer Schedule is officially in swing.  I wasnt' going to run today but I decided I wanted to get just a few miles in to start my day off right and keep my muscles warm.  I knew I needed to get going early today because I started swimming lessons for my 3 year old, my 9 year old has a summer soccer camp at BYU and we had a Birthday Party to get ready for.  So, I woke up at 6:00 and headed down for a short little jaunt on the TM.  I ran 6.9 the first mile, then up to 7.0 and ended at 7.3.  It was just enough to get my heart going and to get my day started.  Now, it's off to get ready and out the door.  Got to go to work, have piano lessons later today and have to run my puppy to the vet also so it should be busy!! Gotta love it~ Later!!

So the schedule said Tempo today! Why do I hate tempos??? We were supposed to do a mile warm up, 3 mile tempo and mile cool down but decided that we would rather do a 3 mile warm up and 3 mile tempo instead! It usually takes us about 3 miles until we get into a groove or wake up :).  We ran "new Leaf" backwards today so it incorporated some up hill as well.  Then, we tempo'd home.  It was very muggy this morning but still beautiful!! Summer continues today with swimming lessons (Jack), soccer camp (Evan), summer school activity(Kael), work (me), baseball practice (Evan), 2 Ball games (Tyler), cleaning the house prepatory for RS party tomorrow night (me). Fun times! I am ready for this week to be over :).  Glad I got a run in to help me through it~

Splits: 9:01 (yes, nice warm up mile), 8:55, 8:45, 7:31, 7:21, 7:14 (wish we could have got that first tempo mile down but oh well :). 

What an incredibly beautiful morning it was today! I met up with Heidi C and Janie C for a little 8 miler. We basically run "New Leaf" and then turn down to Power House, back to Woodland Hills drive and home.  One week until UVM and Heidi C is running very strong (I am proud of her). I felt really good until we came down a slight hill right after 3 miles and I felt a strong pinch in my left hip area.  I have been having this problem for a while and turns out , the inflammation in my L4-L5 (low back) is  irritating a nerve that shoots out to my side and down my leg.  I could feel the pinch but decided to run through it in hopes that it would go away.  Worst part is that my energy levels were great this morning (go figure) so I wanted to run my heart out but couldn't :(.  It was still a great run, so fun talking with Heidi and Janie and getting some mileage in. 

Splits: 8:54, 8:38, 8:37, 8:13, 8:18, 8:24, 8:17, 7:48, last 1/2 7:36, AP 8:21

Today I ran with Jamie E. Cute little thing that I know from High School and a natural runner. She got in to SGM this year (her first) and is looking for someone to train with on her long mile days so it was great to have her along this morning. It was supposed to be a party with the Heidi's as well but Saturdays get too busy and it ended up just the two of us.  I decided to do the same route as yesterday. I went to the Chiropractor yesterday and my back is feeling much better today but still sore.  All in all, it was a great run!! HOT morning but GREAT run and so fun running with Jamie!! Great way to start a weekend (how many more times should I say Great??).

AP: 8:19 ( a bit faster then yesterday, that's nice).  :)

The beginning of a nice easy taper week before UVM on Saturday!!!  I met up with the Heidi's for 5 mile square. We had a nice lazy walk and visit before we started our jaunt for the day!! Wow, it's getting warmer and this morning was a bit muggy after that freakish rain storm last night :).  Fun morning!!! Can't quite decide what to do this week as far as running, so we will see :)

I would also like to wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweet little Kael who turns 6 today! Life is surreal.  Look forward to spending some time with him tonight celebrating!!!

AP: 8:31

Treadmill miles, it was okay~

Happy 12th Anniversary to me! Ty is at scout camp so I am celebrating alone :(.  Actually, he surprised me with a Bread Maker, delivered to me by cute Heidi W after our 3 mile easy run!! So nice of him to arrange that before leaving to Scout Camp.  Anyway, just a last little run before UVM on Saturday.  None of us wore our watches so I have no idea on pace, but it felt good and we are ready for Saturday~

Another Fun Marathon for me!!  I ran with the the Heidi's today~.  Heidi C. wanted to get her BQ so our plan was to stay with her and get her there!!!  She did very well.  The course was a bit harder then I expected it to be. They advertised it as a “Speed” course with the revisions this year but it actually was, in my opinion, much harder then St. George.  The race started a bit late (about 15 mins) and the first 6 miles flew by (flat course), however, then we hit the hills around Deer Creek Rez, and they seemed to just keep going and going. You would get a hill, then a bit of down hill, some flat, then another big hill, then a slight down, then a hill, etc.  The hills lasted from about mile 7 to mile 15 so it was a long stretch. Then we came out of the canyon at 19 miles and the last 7 miles were flat until the finish line.  The Weather on the other hand was PERFECT running weather!!! We couldn’t have asked for better weather.  Yes, we got some serious rain for about 10 miles through the canyon, but it was welcomed and kept us cool.  Heidi needed to get 3:45 to qualify and we came in together at 3:44:01 (nothing like leaving 59 seconds in the bankJ).  She felt really good until she came out of the canyon and then she got tired, so we just stayed by her side trying to rally her spirits and keep her going.  It was a fun race!! I have to add how much I have loved meeting people in the running world!! I ran into Amber G, Smooth, Teena and Marcie at the start!! Saw Dustin, Walter and Wild Bill lined up and ready to go! Passed Smooth at mile 1 and gave her a little tap on the buttocks (Purely for blogging purposes) and then saw others at the finish as well!! Ran into Josse who was running back to get her sister (about mile 23-24) and I was also so  happy to be greeted by Kelli S who had been running people in all morning (she is an animal).  I am so grateful to have met so many wonderful people and to see familiar faces at races! It's the best part of running!!!  I am not sore either, YEE HAW!!! I am going to try to walk tonight (Now Monday) and then run Wednesday to be prepared for Friday's Ragnar!!!! Let the good times roll!

So, I woke up late this morning but decided to at least get on the treadmill and see how the legs were feeling.  Because I was short on time, I decided to just walk it out with intentions of running later tonight.  I got on and walked for 15 minutes and got a mile under my belt before the kids woke up and started in with the orders :). Hey, it was a mile, and 15 minutes to  myself, I am not complaining!

Later, I had a window of time after dropping my son off at piano lessons to run in the heat.  With Ragnar being this weekend and our start time being 2:00PM (YUCK), I really should have been running in the heat more but, it doesn't work that way sometimes. So, I decided to embrace the 25 minute opportunity and run 3 quick miles (quick not referring to my pace in any way).  Tyler ended up meeting me and watched the boys play at the park (while waiting for my oldest to get done with piano) so that I could go out on the roads of Bejmamin Utah!!  That was nice of him to meet me and let me run, and fun to get out in the middle of the day (5:00pm is the middle of the day for me anyway).  It was also nice to get miles in, despite my tired legs and know that I got to run today! Yipee. 

AP: 8:19

Feeling a bit more sluggish this morning but WOW, the weather is BEAUTIFUL for running!!  Ty got up and went out before me and then I met up with Heidi C for 5 mile square.  Tyler has a "meeting" tomorrow morning so I can't run tomorrow or Thursday (unless of course, I decide to Treadmill it) and I wanted to get some miles in before this weekend so I decided to get up! Now that I am done, I am awful glad I did.  It was nice to visit with Heidi and hear how she is recovering from the marathon Saturday! Now it's off to the normal hustle and bustle of the day! 

AP: 8:46 (nice and easy :))

My 2nd attempt at running in the middle of the day and in heat! I am not too keen on it! I prefer mornings, a bit of chill in the air, having my girls with me and talking along the route!! However, it was good to get it in before Ragnar!!! AP: 8:21

I am not quite sure how to post my actual stats of Ragnar so............I'm not going to worry about it!!! Ragnar 2010 was a complete BLAST!! I loved doing it with Tyler this year and we had such a great team and loved the people in our van with us!!  It's so fun getting to know people and spending 2 days with them!!  Our van 2 did hit a deer, and missed the exchange point which required Tyler to run a bit extra (after just running a very hard leg) but aside from that, we lucked out!  We started at 2:00PM (HOT). My first leg was 7.9 miles!! Turns out they re-routed the course this year and took on a trial through a park so the van got lost and didn’t' find me until mile 5, yes, I was dying! It was Hot and I needed hydration!! However, seeing them pull up all smiles was GREAT!! I got my water and carried one!! First leg averaged an 8:30 which I felt happy about given the gradual hills, heat, time of day, etc!!!  Cute little Madeline (18 years old and just graduated high school.  A complete DOLL) in our car tackled AVON'S PASS flawlessly and has to be commended!! Tyler (runner #6) had a very steep 8  mile, downhill leg amongst boulders, pot holes, and any other road hazard you can think of (He is very sore today), so they were my HERO's for Set #1 of the race!!!  We started out on our second set at about 10:00 at night! I was runner #1 so I got us started again!! Can I just say, THIS WAS THE FUNNEST RUN OF MY LIFE~ I had an 8.6 mile stretch.  The first mile was a pretty good uphill (averaged a 10:12, not very impressive), but after that point, it was down hill with quarter mile climbs every here and there. I think it was running at night, seeing the people ahead of me, the head lights blinking, the silhouette of the mountains, stars in the sky, the RAGNAR spirit, but WOW, it was SO dang fun!! And, for the first time in my life, I got 4 consecutive miles at a sub 7 pace (even a whole mile at 6:21).  Granted, it was down hill, but I don’t' care, I pushed myself to a level I never have before, and IT WAS FUN!!! Oh so fun!! Average pace for that leg was 7:24.  It was during this set that we learned about van 2 hitting a deer.  This was a sad moment! I felt bad for the van and they were borrowing the cute couple from our car's SUV so I felt bad for them!! Then because of the event, they missed getting to the exchange which made me feel bad for Tyler who was running, not feeling well and he had to keep going waiting for our team to arrive.  It was a hard moment :(.  In any event, the damage was hopefully minimal, our team was un-injured and the happy attitudes of all involved, kept us going!!  We finished our second set and headed for a resting zone.  We rolled into Oakley (the next exchange point) at 5:15 or so in the morning, rolled our sleeping bags out on some grass and CRASHED!! Man, I was oh so tired!! We got about an hour and a half’s sleep and were up getting ready for our last stretch!!  We started our last set of legs at about 9:45am (I think, the times are blurring together).  I set off on my last 4.8 mile stretch.  The sun was up and it was already Hot for the day (70 degrees).  This last leg was very hard for me (I am not going to lie).  I was tired, my legs were tired, I had no energy, had a bad cramp in my stomach and to be honest, just felt like I was ready to be done for the day :).  In any event, the show must go on, so I took off and ran my heart out (which resulted in a measly 8:45 AP).  The "ray of Sunshine" was coming around the corner, feet away from the finish and seeing Cute Amber G cheering me in (THANK YOU AMBER G).  Poor girl had the same leg as Tyler (the steep downhill with boulders, etc), only had to do it at night and she got some serious battle wounds to show for it. Man, she is tough!! Later in our day, Reed took it for the team running a grueling 8 mile stretch up hill in the blazing heat, not stopping one time!! Further, he was energetic, joking around and making it so fun for all of us!! He is my HERO for Set #3!!  In any event, is over and I have some Great Memories stored because of it!! I am so thankful to be a runner, Thankful to have the support of my husband and Thankful for opportunities like Ragnar to get to know new people!! What a fun weekend~

45 Minutes of YOGA, NICE!!!  I will be sore~

Tyler had an early morning meeting which meant I had to get up all by myself and venture running.  I know I sound pathetic, but running alone early in the morning is hard for me.  I like the company and frankly, need to know that someone is outside my door waiting for me, in order to get my phanny out of bed.  With that being said, I was proud of myself for getting up and getting out.  I made a jaunt around 5 mile square and called it a morning.  NICE nice morning!

AP: 8:17

Day Off, I am tired~

Oh man, how nice to get a 10 miler in!! Even nicer to run with Heidi C this fine morning!! We just ran out 5 and came back~ Felt really good.  AP: 8:31

I didn't wake up this morning to run and we had Iceland Days so we had to get up and get going.  Needless to say, I came home this afternoon, got my baby (3 year old) down for his nap and hit the treadmill.  I was just going to go 5 miles, but a good Hallmark movie came on (I am so turning into my mom :)) so I made it a 10k instead :).  Felt good. 

New Leaf route with Heidi C this morning! We got up early and got out and BOY was it PERFECT weather! I am beginning to see that waking up early definitely has it's good points.  It was a great run (6.25) followed by a nice .25 mile cool down!! Great start to a Monday :)

AP: 8:30

Eclipse was GREAT!!! However, due to the late night, I did not run today :(