"If we don't suffer enough we won't remember it."

10 miles up/down Provo Canyon avg 7:01 pace.  Brent came with me on his bike.

Hiked with "Y" with my husband and kids.  It irritated my still recovering ankle sprain. 

This is the 8th anniversary of the day my dad died.  He got me into running and we ran together for years.  He was a good runner.  Lot's of great running memories of him.  I pushed him in a wheelchair for his last run down Provo Canyon a few weeks before he died. 

16 miles up/down Provo Canyon avg 7:00 pace.  My husband can't keep up with me on his bike going up the canyon so he drove up and met me at Bridal Veil.  He came with me 3 more miles up and all the way back home.  I still got ahead of him going up South Fork.  Nice to visit with him on the way down.  I was tired.  I don't usually do two long runs this close together, but I'm going out of town for a few days with my mom and siblings and won't be able to get a long run in. 

10 miles around Central Park in New York City.  I saw the start of the New York Runner's Association Scottish 10k.  I was 3 1/2 miles into my run when I came upon the race about to start with 9,000 + people.  I watched the supper fast people start and hopped int he race for about 4 miles, then tuned off and ran back to the house we were staying at on the north end of the park.  My hamstring hurt the first two miles then felt better once I was warmed up. 

10 miles outside with 8 x 1/2 mile repeats.  Felt ok doing them, but then my leg hurt later in the day.  I'm so frustrated.

20 miles with Melanie and 16 of it with Melody.  We started this run at 4:40 a.m.  I'm sure this is the earliest I've ever started a run.  I felt good on the run, as I had a massage and a chiropractic adjustment the day before.  We ran from my house 10 miles up Provo Canyon / South Fork.  We ran faster the first 6 miles down then slower the last four.  Avg 6:54 pace.  I was happy finishing the run because I felt so good, but later in the day I could hardly walk.  My back, butt and hamstring thing totally flaired up again.

Couldn't run today anyway because my leg hurts.  Having a surgery on my nasal passages.  Would be at the hospital now, but the doctor had an emergency, so I'm waiting who knows how long.  I'm really hungry so I hope they call soon.

I ran the Salt Lake City 1/2 Marathon this day.  I hadn't run in 10 days due to my nasal passage surgery and also the ongoing problem with my hamstring tightening up.  The night before when I wasn't feeling very well my husband said, "Are you sure you should be running tomorrow?"  I said, "Yes!  I just want to feel normal again." 

The next morning as Melanie and I were freezing cold, in the rain, squatting down in some bushes together peeing she said, "Are we crazy?  We're crazy."  Having already told her about my comment to my husband the night before I said, "The crazy thing is, this is what I have to do to feel 'normal.'"

I must say overall I was just happy to be out running, but really the race was miserable.  My hamstring hurt most of the way, not bad, but enough to stress me out about how much it would bother me later.  I must have started out too fast based on how much I slowed down and the cold really got to me.  I think the cold is part of my hamstring problem.  I felt like everything was tight by the end because I was so cold.  I walked through a water stop because I felt thirsty at mile 5 and ran 20 seconds behind Melanie most of the race.  Towards the end I thought "I'm running a 7 min mile.  I should be able to pick it up to a 6:40 or even 6:50 and catch her," but I couldn't.  I wanted to run with her and couldn't make up even a short distance.

I thought my misery was over when the race ended, but that was really just the start.  Melanie and I only hung around for maybe 5 min before we were freezing and started running the 2 miles back to the car in the rain and already soaking wet.  About .9 into our "cool-down" we came to a hill that from a distance looked like stairs!  We walked the hill and by the top we were even colder.  We ran another .1 then decided to walk.  We had another mile to the car and it was a very long miserable mile.  I told her my dad used to say, "If we don't suffer enough we won't remember it."  At first our "suffering" was a little funny, but by the end it was not funny at all.  I really wondered if we needed to stop and get help.  Our whole bodies were shivering when we got to the car.  We stripped down and put on dry clothes.  I didn't have any dry pants so I rode home in my underwear. 

When I got home my hamstring was so tight I couldn't bend over at all.  I think it would have hurt no matter what, but being so cold and shivering I'm sure made things tighten up even more.  I spent over an hour rubbing myself out and felt tons better.  Then I went to my sons soccer game and by the end I couldn't bend again.  I'm so frustrated.  I really hope the warm weather that must be coming will help me get all the tightness worked out. 

30 min elliptical.  I decided I need to cross train if I can't run every day. 

10 miles with Melanie in Lehi.  In my frustration over my hamstring problems I used a scraping tool to dig into my butt on Saturday night.  I had a big bruise the next day, but it seemed to help.  My hamstring still hurt, but not quite the same, more like it's recovering and less like it's still being pulled funny.

We ran 2 miles warm-up then 4 x 1 mile faster with 1/2 mile recovery.  It is discouraging how much conditioning I've lost.  Mile times were 6:15(wind at back), 6:20, 6:28, 6:44(into wind).  The last one I felt cold and tight.  I just had a hard time making my body go even though I otherwise felt ok. 

I've changed my philosophy on running in the cold.  I used to feel like I was wimping out hitting the treadmill, but I just don't do well in the cold.  After about an hour I really struggle.  My limit used to be single digits and even then I sometimes went out in less than 10, but next year it's going to be 28.   

After my run I spent over an hour scraping my quads, hamstrings and butt.  I had a hard time getting one spot in my butt and resorted to using the race metals hanging on the wall in my bedroom, Utah Valley, Provo City, Ragnar.  I look like I've been abused or in an accident or something with bruises all over my legs and butt, but I'm feeling a lot better. 

30 min elliptical.  My hamstring faired up much less, almost not at all, after my run Tuesday which was encouraging.  I dug into my hamstring more after elliptical.  The Ragnar metal works the best for this.  I'm hopeful I can be done with this problem soon.  Warmer weather is just around the corner too.  I get so tense in the cold and it makes everything tight.  Summer is bound to be better for me.

10 miles with Melanie.  We started at Vivian and ran up/down South Fork Canyon.  I am so much slower than I was two months ago.  It's ridiculous, 7:06 average pace and I felt exhausted, like I was at the end of  a hard 20.  Saturday I really have to do a hard 20.  I wonder what that will be like.

On the bright side, my hamstring hurts less and didn't seem to feel worse after the run.  It was also beautiful up South Fork.  Cold, but beautiful. 

Ran 18 miles down Provo Canyon with Melanie and Josse.  Melanie and I planned to go 21 and Josse only wanted 18.  My hamstring hurt the first several miles, but seemed to feel a little better when I got warmed up.  We were going to do a "progression" run and get progressively faster, but I unfortunately got progressively slower.  I realized at about mile 9 that I wasn't going to go any faster and would be lucky to just stay the same.  After about mile 10 Melanie and Josse kept getting ahead of me but not so far we weren't together at the water stops.  I was getting tired, but doing ok until about mile 14.  Looking back I realize I should have fueled more.  I drank some PowerAde, but only took one gu.

At about mile 16 I realized it wasn't going to be smart for me to run the whole 21 and decided to do something less.  My legs were so tired I felt like I was going to be sore if I kept going much farther.  Sore muscles lead to tight muscles and that's what's causing all my hamstring problems.  I stopped to stretch at mile 16.5 which helped me feel better for a while.  I was down on the trail by the river woods and would have just run home, but I was so far behind Melanie and Josse after stretching that I couldn't yell to them to tell them and didn't want them to wonder where I was.  

I struggled the last two miles at a 7:15 pace and finished my 18 miles in an average 6:50 pace.  Josse gave me a ride home and Melanie finished up the 21 miles.  I don't remember ever cutting a long run short before but I know it was the right thing to do.  I was tired from lack of sleep and didn't fuel enough, but the biggest problem is that I've lost conditioning.  I have some serious work to do the next six weeks.  With the spring I've had I'll just be glad to run Utah Valley and feel good.  No time goal anymore. 

I was a little frustrated my hamstring hurt later in the day.  I had to remind myself it was hurting a whole lot less than it hurt after every Saturday runs for the last two months.  I'm so exhausted with this problem.   

30 min elliptical

12 miles with Melanie up/down Provo Canyon, tempo 4 miles down, avg 6:49 pace.  Last Tuesday I felt like I was slamming into the wall at mile 8 and today I didn't feel like I was slamming into a wall until mile 11.  Hamstring also feeling a lot better.