Running For Trevor

AM:  9.5 miles with Payson Onion Days 10k sandwhiched in between.  I ran with Mack and we had an absolute blast.  Then I ran back for my sister.  I should have ran into the finishing shoot with Mack because I would have won my age group.  Oh well....I took 3rd in my AG with a time of 53 minutes finishing with my sister.  The competition in Payson Utah is legit peeps. :)

PM:  4.5 miles in the orchards.  Absolutely beautiful night!

10 miles on the hilly route in Salem with Jen and AmberD, 7:43 pace.  I love these two ladies and am so thankful for our chats.  I'm so glad they are willing to run with my crazy!

30 min stretching and a little core

7 mile recovery run on the SF river trail with AmberD, 8:33 pace.

It was nice to just really take it easy and focus on recovery today.  8 hours of work + 6 hours of school on Tuesdays is really going to take some getting used to for me so these easier wednesdays are going to become a must. :)

Also a must should be getting more than 5-6 hours of sleep per night and eating something besides icecream, popcorn, and diet coke.  

10 miles in the orchards.  I ran the first 3 with Amber and then she followed her taper plan and I decided to try a tempo.  I haven't done any sort of speed since Chicago and I kind of just wanted to expirement with where I am at.  Ended up with 6:40, 6:32, 6:21.  Not terrible but if I decided to race at all this Fall I've definitely got some work to do.  

6.5 miles with my sister, 9:06 pace.  It was lovely.

Lily sighting.  She probably passed us x 3. :)

Looking for any excuse to not work on my accounting homework so I guess I'll write my race report.

1 mi wu at 9,000 elevation running up hill that was plenty.

Paced 1:35 with Melissa.  I think we did a good job.  Kept things under control while flying down a cliff.

I bought a new pair of shoes last night that I thought would be better on my feet.  They are a step up from the Nike Pegasus which I have liked but I hated these shoes...my feet were on fire by mile 5.:(  I'm going to have to buy a new pair of Altra Olympus or Hoka's before pacing Big Cottonwood full next weekend.  I'm looking forward to running a full without the pressure of racing but it is still a full marathon and I am worried about my feet.

Ran to my brothers house after the race, played with my neices and nephews for an hour and then ran back up to the finish to wait for my friend Carla to finish the full.

6 miles in the heat, 7:57 pace.

Weights with the crew

7 miles on the river trail with AmberD, 8:12 pace.

Registered for Boston 2015!!!  WOOHOOZLE

8 mile orchard loop with AmberD, 7:45 pace.  Today's run felt hard. I have a cold.  Boohoo!  I'm slated to pace 3:15 at Big Cottonwood on Saturday so that should be interesting.:/  New Hoka's should arrive in the mail today.  I really hope they give me wings.  Off to school in the rain.  Maybe I'll stop at the outlets and buy a raincoat. :)  Happy tuesday!  Where's the grammar police?

7 miles on the river trail with my favorite set of Ambers, 8:34 pace.

5.5 with the Birthday girl, 9:04 pace!  My sisters only request for her Birthday was that we run as slow as she wanted to go.  No complaints by me. :)

Hiked the "Y" with Julia & Heather.

30 min stretching and core

30 min run in the new Hokas that arrived yesterday.  Hopefully they grow some wings tonight and can carry me over 26.2 tomorrow.

3:25 pacer with my friend Amber.  This was absolutely the most rewarding marathon I've ever ran.  Pacing a full marathon takes on a whole new purpose as many runners are trying to BQ.  3:25 was a popular pace as it is the BQ time for men 45+.  We had a really big group and I have absolutely no regrets.  It was an awesome experience and one that I am glad I was able to share with Amber and many, many, runners along the way.  We had runners with us from Nashville, Tahoe, Austin, St. Louis, Colorado, and a few from UT.:)

To be completely honest I think this is one of the best races I've ever paced.  Pacing a full is not easy but I became emotionally attached to my runners, worked really well with my bff and pace partner Amber, stuck to my pacing plan, and just did a really good job.  I wont go off on a soap box right now but I am pretty dang passionate about pacing.  It is not something to be taken lightly and when I commit to doing it I commit to doing a good job.

Canyon miles 1-16:  Absolutely gorgeous!  We saw a Moose at mile 4 and I was wishing I had a camera to prove it to my nephew.  I liked that the first mile started uphill and by mile 2-3 I was locked into pace.  These miles were really smooth and our splits were between 7:15-7:45.  I worked to get to know the group and make sure I had everyones names.  It was cool running with the old(er) guys because most of them were very experienced runners and 2 of them were running their 99th marathon!

Out and back miles 16-23:  I knew these miles were going to be tough not only for the runners but for me as well.  I'm typically a 2 hour long run kind of gal so wrapping my head around an extra 85 minutes took me some self talk.  I had a few moments of doubt between miles 16-19.5 at the out and back turn around point.  My feet were hurting and I was questioning my ability to pace a full.  Luckily this race was not about me and those thoughts were quickly erased with worrying about losing our runners.  This section was hard after flying downhill but there were also things about it I liked.  I loved the view of the salt lake valley, cheering the fast runners on, and seeing so many running friends with the out and back.  As a pacer this is also where runners start dropping like flies and it is so hard to keep doing your job instead of staying with them.

23-26.2:  These miles were great and this is where the real work starts as a pacer.  I felt great and was able to 110% focus on my runners.  We picked people up and had a few stay with us the entire race.  I loved the downhill finish and Amber and I were able to work together to help as many runners as possible.  We gapped a bit and she stayed forward and I held back as I picked people up.  Finished in 3:24:32 to ensure we got those that needed a BQ well under 3:25.

It was a great experience and I would definitely do it again.  A lot of people have asked me what I think about the course and I honestly think it was great.  Obviously with any course that starts downhill it is difficult to transition but as long as you are aware and prepared I don't think it was too bad and the downhill finish was awesome.  I don't think I would ever actually race it....steep downhill racing is really hard on my IT bands but I really enjoyed pacing it. :)

I know I'm beating a dead horse with this one but my feet were not happy...even in the hokas. :(  I was in pain by mile 16 and walking through the aid stations was enough to keep it at bay.  Definitely something I need to address again.

Ending on a positive note it was awesome to cheer, hug, and celebrate with those that got there BQ's or PR's.  Pacing is fun and I really enjoy it.

7 miles with my sister on the river trail, 9:00 pace.  My sis and her family are going on vacation for a week:( and I needed to get an hour with her before they left.  I have attachment issues.

upper body weights with the crew.

7 miles with AmberD, 8:33 pace.  I feel pretty good considering I ran a marathon Saturday.  Running down Nebo 3 times over the Summer had my quads well prepared for the pounding.  My hamstrings and my right IT band are sore but all systems are a go.

10 miles of hills in Salem with Jen and AmberD, 7:35 pace.  I have no idea why I am calling these easy miles because my marathon legs wanted to cry.  I hate hills and running fast.  Someday I will snap out of this but I am not going to push myself until I get that desire back.  

8 mile orchard loop so slow, so lonely, so tired, so wanted to quit. 8+ pace.

Got a good scraping this afternoon.  Hopefully it revives my elephant legs.

8 miles by myself again, 7:57 pace.  I'm so sick of myself but the crew was doing a track workout and that just did not seem smart or fun.  I'm so lazy!

Weights - Back & shoulders.

7 mi with AmberD, 8:10 pace.

AM:  11 miserable miles.  Slept in and missed my planned run with friends.  I finally went out around 9am and it was just the worst run I've had in a long time.  I had to use mantras just to move at a slow pace. meh.

PM:  3 mi on the SF river trail, 8:28 pace.  Still not really feeling the mojo but better than the am attempt.

6.5 miles in the rain, 8:22 pace.

Weights:  Leg day.  I didn't push too hard but it felt good to work the little leggies.

7 mi on the riv trail with AmberD, 8:03 pace.

10 miles in Salem with Jen & AmberD, 7:25 pace.  Track+road+trail+grass

The girls were doing a track workout.  I had an eyelash malfunction on the way, nearly wrecked, and spent 15 minutes on the side of the road digging my fake eyelash out from underneath my contact.  By the time I arrived they were almost done with the workout so I just jogged jubiously around in circles.  My watch somehow clocked a 6:36 mile while I was chasing Jen down to talk during her cooldowns probably.  Jen hit her 2:42's for her 800's and Amber hit her 6:35 miles.  I hit a wall hard and had to pray to the running god's just to finish 10 miles.

Slept in again and missed weights.

6.5 mi on the river trail with the Ambers.

Hilly route in Salem with Jen and AmberD, 7:27 pace.  Started slow and finished with a 6:49 mile.  Jen is on fire and I'm having a hard time swallowing the fact that I just really can't help her train for CIM right now.  But I need to do what is best for me.

The incredibly sad thing is this used to be an easy run for me and today I was literally dying.  I'm into being authentic so I'll just state that I basically have every classic sign of overtraining right now.  I probably have all year in hindsight.  

Not recovering from workouts ever

 not sleeping well at night 

work/school/life stress elevated.  

Oh not to mention basically peaking for 3 years straight without a single real break. ha!  So overtrained.

Thus a decision must be made by me as to whether I want to weather the storm and settle for being a hobby jogger for the rest of my life.  Or make an intelligent decision and take time off of running.  If I want to save my body and attempt to compete again (which of course I do at some point) my disordered brain will make the correct choice.

I am planning to run St. George marathon because clearly I'm a complete and utter idiot.  Just running with a friend trying to hit 3:35.  After that I have a plan that includes a  3 x 5 foot rubber room, handcuffs, and A LOT of netflix.  

30 minute upper body weights

7 miles on the river trail with the Ambers, 9:01 pace. My sista Amber was really sore from her flag football debut...I was jogging circles around her.

4.5 mi wu.  I decided to do this little race with Amber & Jen.  Jen needed a tempo run for her CIM training and Amber wanted a nice little STG tune up.  I did not want to run alone so this seemed to fit the bill.;)  I did not register because I did not really plan on racing.  I was just there for moral support.  Turns out the race was way smaller than I anticipated.  They bussed us up to the start.  We rode up to the 10k start and then jogged down to the 5k start.  It was a gradually downhill course so I thought I could maybe break 20.

I kind of like racing without any pressure.  I let Amber go out in front and ran a 6:23 first mile, I caught and passed amber at 1.5 and encouraged her to stay with me.  mile 2 was 6:25, and the last mile was 6:22.  I stopped after 3 miles because I wasn't registered and wanted to push Amber.  I felt pretty good physically but got so dizzy in the last mile I was afraid if I didn't slow down I would pass out.  This weird brain fog happens to me whenever I run fast lately.  Oh well it was good to push myself since I've just had no desire at all to move fast lately.

3 mile cooldown in the rain.

5.5 miles shortenned loop, 7:55 pace.

5:30am Power Yoga Class - My cute friend Heather (that I'll be running SGM with Sat) teaches yoga at my gym every Monday and I'm planning to make this a regular thing.  I've got a lot of work to do but Heather was a great teacher and I loved it.

6.5 with AmberD on the river trail, 8:00 pace.  Beautiful morning.

7 miles in the orchards with AmberD, 7:34 pace.  Last chance workout for her!  We did a 2 mile tempo 6:55, 6:39.  We kept up our conversation the entire time so I know she is ready to smash her goal at SGM.  Lady has worked her booty off!