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

4 miles with my sister Laura who is in town from AZ.  Avg 9:24 pace.

10 miles avg 7:15 pace.  Ran 6 x 800 meter intervals in the middle with about 400 meter recovery.  My "intervals" weren't very impressive though, all around 6:15 pace. 

10 miles avg 6:56 pace.  I wanted to go a little faster and I did.  I ran down to Orem Center Street, around Riverwoods and North on University Ave into Provo Canyon and back home the same way.  I didn't stop much, or for long and felt good for about 7 1/2.  My legs started feeling tired, no big deal, but about 1/2 way up the Center Street hill (end of mile 9) I felt like I was going to throw-up.  I stopped at the top and just stood there for about 30 seconds before running the last mile home.  It's amazing that running only 10 seconds faster than usual can make you so much more tired.

4 easy miles avg 7:17 pace.  My legs were tired from my run yesterday.  I hope I feel good tomorrow.

18 miles with Melanie, first 8 with Kim and Jane too.  We met at Jane's home in Highland at 5:00 a.m. and ran the first 8 together.  Kim and Jane headed back to make and 14 mile loop and Melanie and I kept running out another mile and back the same way we came.  When we started the run it wasn't windy, but it picked up about 1/2 way through.  Our 10th mile was uphill and into the wind.  Some of the roads had snow on them too.  I was doing fine until about mile 16 when my legs got really tired and the last 2 were hard.  We slowed down, but it didn't help much.  The last 3 miles were into the wind again and when we stopped 3/4 mile from Jane's house to pick up the jacket Melanie left on the side of the road I felt like I could hardly start running again.  Avg 7:22 pace.  I guess I need to do more 18 mile runs.

4 miles @ 7:28 pace

10 miles total with 3 x 1 mile repeats.  Met Melody & Emily B at BYU.  We warmed up outside but the outdoor track had ice on it so we went to the indoor track.  I was very hot in my shirt that keeps me warm in 32 degrees.  My splits were 6:01, 6:02, 6:04.  I was happy with my times, but being 12 seconds behind Melody on the track looks really far and 20 seconds behind Emily B was, well about a whole straight away.  I could barely see her with all the other people on the track.  It felt good to do some speed work again though and I'm excited to do it again.

Met Melody, Emily, Dessire, Josse, and Rebecca for a 4 mile tempo run.  We warmed up 1 1/5 miles then started our tempo.  Our first 1/2 mile was too slow, around 6:37 pace, then we picked it up and I finished the first mile at 6:23 pace.  The 6:10 pace we ran for the second half of that mile was too fast for me and my second mile slowed to 6:34.  Melody and Emily took off keeping up a pretty good pace.  I felt the best on mile 3 and 4 which were 6:26 & 6:28.  I think the last mile would have been faster, but I stopped for traffic to cross the street.  I needed more warm-up.

4 miles avg 7:13 pace.

18 miles @ avg 7:10 pace with Melanie.  Kim and Jane ran with us for 10 of the 18.  This week's run seemed to go by faster than last weeks run.  I felt a lot better than last week too.  I was worried I might struggle after my harder runs on Tuesday and Thursday and only getting 5 1/2 hours of sleep last night, but was pleasantly surprised.  The thermometer at my house said 26 so I dressed for that, but in Lehi it was only 16 and I was really cold the first two miles.  Once I got "warmed up" I felt ok, but by the time I drove home I felt cold all the way down to my bones so I sat in the hot tub.

My brother talked me into doing the 1/2 marathon Spartin race here in June.  The website describes it as "an obstical course from hell."  Some of the obsticals look really hard.  I'm worried I won't finish because I won't be able to climb the 20 foot rope etc.  This week I tried to do some pull-ups and luckily our pull-up bar is down low for our 10 and 8 year old boys because I had to put my feet down and totally cheat in order to get myself up.  I've got a long way to go when it comes to upper body strength.

4 miles avg 7:23 pace.  I didn't sleep well last night so I'm tired.  Over the weekend I said something to my husband about my push-ups/pull-ups etc.  My husband told me my arms were looking bigger.  That wasn't what I wanted to hear!  I told him, "I'm not going for bigger, I just want to be stronger!"  He tried to recover by saying I looked more "toned."  I do feel stronger though.  I graduated from doing women's push-ups to men's push-ups today.  I had to cut back on the number though.

10 mile run with hills, avg 7:13 pace.  It was 8 degrees when I woke up so I waited until 10:00 a.m. when it was a toasty 15 degrees outside. 

I thought for a few minutes abougt skipping today because I'm doing speed work tomorrow and running my 10 on Thursdsay, but I needed the run mentally.  My compulter was freaking out, shutting down, and at first I thought it was because the plug wasn't in really good in the back.  But then I got a message saying it failed to start and the "start-up repair" began.  Three prayers and 20 minutes later the computer seemed to be working again, but my anxiety level was still really high.  The computer is only 9 months old and this is the time of year I really need it to do my bookkeeping. 

8 miles total.  Met Emily, Melody, Desiree, Rebeca and Josse at the BYU indoor track for a speed workout.  8 x 800 meters with 1 1/2 lap jogging recovery.  My splits were: 2:53 (too fast), 3:01, 3:01, 3:02, 3:01, 3:01, 3:01, 3:03.  I felt the worst on #2 and #3 because I did the first one too fast.  After #4 I thought I wouldn't be able to do 8, but 3:01 must have been the right pace, because I didn't feel any worse on #5, 6 and 7.  I felt the fatigue setting in on the last one though and was glad to stop.

I was tired from my run yesterday.  This morning I woke up at 4:30 a.m. when I heard the computer make a noise.  I was afraid it was spontaneously shutting down on me again and I was all of the sudden totally awake with a rush of anxiety.  I laid there stressing about it for 15 min then walked into the office and it seemed to be just fine.  I still couldn't go back to sleep before my alarm went off at 5:15 a.m.

4 miles avg 7:07

20 miles avg 7:16 pace.  Met Melody, Josse, Rebecca and two other girls I've never met before who were in town visiting.  Ran up Provo Canyon 7 miles from the River Woods to Vivian.  We didn't plan to go up that far, but the trail was amazingly clear.  I was so thirsty when we got there that I pulled out a Poweraid I stashed away last August.  It only took one sip to learn that 5 month old Poweraid tastes funny an might have mold in it.  Our pace up was about 7:45.  Melody and I sped up on the way down and did a 5 mile tempo starting after mile 10.  The tempo miles were 6:17,6:19,6:14,6:17,6:22.  The first three miles were together then I just had to stop at the drinking fountain but Melody kept going.  I got a drink and it was a little hard to get going fast again, but after about 1/2 mile I felt better.  We met up and ran another 5 miles with the other girls.  It started to really rain the last mile and continued to rain and then snow most of the day so I was glad we ran when we did.

4 miles avg 7:20 pace

10 miles with 4 x 1 mile repeats with 2 lap recovery.  Met Melody, Emily, Josse and Rebecca at the BYU indoor track.  My 4 x 1 mile repeat times were 5:59, 5:59, 5:59, and 6:04.  I set my watch to beep each lap at 6 min pace and I finished righ on the first three.  The first two felt good, the third was harder and the fourth I couldn't keep the pace.  Overall I felt a lot better than when I first did these two weeks ago, so that was encouraging. 

10 miles avg 6:58.  Met Emily for an 8 mile tempo run, that turned into 6 for me and 7 for her.  We warmed up 2 miles then ran 1 mile up Provo Canyon (6:42) and back down along Univ Ave to Will's (6:19, 6:25, 6:22) turned around a little past Will's (6:33) this was where Emily pulled ahead of me, and back up towards our cars (7:07). I "quit" about 1/2 way through this mile.  Emily kept up a fast pace for 7 miles then came back to get me for a cool down.  I wish I would have kept it up for 8 miles, but something about being in pain takes a lot of the fun out of running.

4 miles avg 7:08 pace.  Sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups.

21 miles with Melanie B avg 7:16 pace.  We met Kim and her friend Shondie (spelled wrong, I'm sure) for 12 of the middle miles.  Only 17 degrees outside. 

At the dinner table the night before my son commented on how fast the temperature was dropping saying, "When I went out to kick the football at 4:00 it was (certain temperature) and when I came back in it was (another temperature) and when I went back out at 5:30 it was __ and now it's __.  If it keeps dropping like this it'll be negative 50 tomorrow morning."  I said. "I hope it doesn't go lower than 28 because that's my comfort level for running," and my husband said, "That's a pretty cold comfort level." 

4 miles avg 7:28 pace. 

More computer problems.  I spent at least 4 hours dealing with my computer, 4 hours!  I could have gotten so many more things done in 4 hours.  It's not that old and still under warranty, but this is such a pain.

9 miles at the track.  I decided to drown my computer frustrations in laps on the track.  Met Melody, Emily, Rebecca and Josse at the BYU track.  8 x 800 meter with 1 1/2 lap recovery.  Times: 2:56, 2:55, 2:56, 2:55, 2:53, 2:55, 2:55, 2:55.  I was worried I would slow down on number 5 and ended up going faster, number 7 and 8 hurt a lot more than the others, but I was happy to keep the same pace.

10 miles.  warmed up, 5 mile tempo run, cool down.  Tempo part, 6:34, 6:41, 6:34, 6:20, 6:59.  The last one was on the running trial.  Had to totally stop to turn to get onto the trail, it was slippery in parts and I basically walked over a bridge without stopping my watch. 

4 miles avg 7:10 pace

20 miles avg 7:15 pace.  Melanie, Rebecca, Josse and Melody met at my house and we ran an out and back route with several hills.  It was cold and the wind was terrible the last 2 1/2 miles.  It was at our backs the first few miles then we were out of it, but coming back it hit us full force a couple miles from the end.  That hurt our average pace some.

4 miles avg 7:05 pace.  Sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups

10 miles.  Met Melody, Emily, Josse at the BYU outdoor track for speed work.  5 x 1200's @ 4:30, 4:30, 4:32, 4:28, 4:28. 

Met Emily B at my house for a 10 mile run up/down Provo Canyon avg 6:57 pace.

4 miles avg 7:23 pace.

16 miles avg 6:49 pace (net elevation drop).  The plan was to start at Vivian Park, run 4 miles up South Fork then down the canyon ending at the Riverwoods parking lot where our cars were for a total of 16.  Started at Vivian Park with Melanie, Melody, Josse and McKenzie, however we only got 1 mile up South Fork before the road was to slick.  We started down the canyon and ran on the highway between Vivian and Bridal Veil.  Melanie tried to run a mile up/back on the little road by Bridal Veil, but only made it up .3 on that one.  We didn't make a concious decision as to when we started our "Marathon Pace" miles, but we gradually got going faster and pushed it until 12 miles.  Then we took it easier the last 4.  Splits, 8:09 (up South Fork), 6:29 (down South Fork), 6:59, 6:26 (Highway), 7:14 (Bridal Veil road), 6:35 (this was where we realized we ought to really kick it into "marathon pace"), 6:26, 6:25, 6:17, 6:21, 6:27, 6:30 (end on Univ Ave at light after golf course so this one had a short hill), 6:58 (starting cool down), 7:21, 7:18, 7:23 (last 3 north on Univ Ave to cars).

4 easy miles

8 miles at BYU indoor track with 3 x 1 mile repeats 5:57, 6:01, 6:04.  I didn't feel as well today as I did doing intervals the last few weeks.  This was a little discouraging. 

10 miles after the kids went to school avg 6:44 pace.  I ran south on Univ Ave and had a 6:40 avg when I turned around.  My goal was to keep my pace under 7:00 coming back since it was slightly uphill.  It was hard, but I managed to do it. 

4 easy miles

16 miles avg 6:49 pace.  I ran 6 miles out and back along Univ Ave from my house alone without stopping at a 6:51 average.  Then my husband came with me on his bike for 10 more along Univ Ave and back with one stop to stretch/drink and a few short traffic light stops.  I wanted a flat run without a lot of stopping.  I was hoping to keep all my miles under 7 min pace and I did, but I was sure tired the last two running up towards the canyon.  My husband did most of the talking.  Overall I was happy with the run because I've never done 16 miles that fast on an out and back route before. 

10 miles avg 7:01 pace on my hilly run.  My husband came with me on his bike.  The kids were gone having a sleepover at grandma's house so we slept in and worked out most of the morning.  It was very relaxing.

8 x 800 meter repeats on the Orem High track.  2:57, 2:54, 2:56, 2:56, 2:58, 2:56, 2:58, 2:56.

10 miles avg 7:06 pace and I felt horrible.  About 2 miles in I felt weak and shakey.  I tried to do some speed work and ran about 1 1/2 miles at a little faster pace, then 1/2 mile slower then tried to go fast again and I just couldn't do it.  I stopped and stood there 1/2 mile later then tried again and stopped again.  I decided to just do an easy run, but I never felt good.  It was so strange. 

I slept fine.  I'm either fighting off sickness or it's because of the food I ate the last few days.  The Relief Society gave us left over food from a funeral Tues because my brother/sister-in-law had the ambulance at their home next door and I watched their kids (including twin babies) in the afternoon while they went to the hospital with their daughter.  Everyone was sick but the babies so I was around a lot of germs.  Wed I ate at the scout banquet.  As I was feeling so yucky all I could think about was all the margarine that I'm sure was on the white french bread I ate.  I just don't feel as good when I eat that kind of stuff, and I had it two days in a row.  Hoping to feel better Saturday for a long run. 

4 easy miles.

18 miles with Melody and Rebecca.  We ran our hilly route out past Timpview High School, the MTC, down 900 East, etc.  Average 7:14 pace.  I felt a lot better than Thursday, but still not 100%.  My legs were tired and ached the last 4 miles but my stomach felt a lot better. 

4 easy miles avg 7:20 pace.  This was my 39th birthday. 

As I went into each of the kids rooms to get them up for school I sang, “Happy birthday to me happy birthday to me.”  I climbed into Elsa’s bed with her and said, “Can you believe I’m 39?”  Then I said, “Actually 39 isn’t that bad, but I’m really going to have a hard time next year when I turn 40.”  Canyon walked in and said, “You think about your age way too much mom.”  I said, “When I’m 40 there’s a really good chance my life is more than half over, a lot of people don’t live to be 80.”  Then I started singing, “Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, my life is half over, what am I going to be?”

To make the sting of a birthday even worse I felt like my body was falling apart.  My legs hurt and I couldn't tell if it was shin splint type pain or if it was in my bone.  I really started worrying about it and decided to cross train for a few days.

I went to the Orem Fitness Center to workout.  I biked until my quads were killing me, only 20 minutes, then did the elliptical for 35 minutes and swam for 20 minutes.  I figured I had to do something for 1:15 min so it was like running 10 miles.  I was tired afterwards from using muscles I don't usually use.

I went to the Orem Fitness Center again and this time I only did the elliptical for 30 minutes. I had a lot to do that morning and I just felt tired on the stupid thing and hated every minute of it.  Nothing is as enjoyable as running. 

4 miles avg 7:10 pace.  My legs felt ok, just a few aches and pains, but not any worse afterwards.  I really rubbed on them every day so they are doing much better. 

16 miles avg 7:12 pace.  I met Melody, McKenzie, Josse, Rebecca and Aubrey.  They had already run about 5 miles, but I didn't want to go as far as them.  We ran up/down Provo Canyon, then down into Provo along Univ Ave and back to our cars at the Vintage office park.  I couldn't believe we could run almost to Bridal Veil on a nice clear trail this time of year.  My legs felt tired at the start and then better as I went along.  I'm going to take it easy one more week and then try not to wear myself out so much when I start back up.  I got lazy at rubbing out my legs and let them get way too tight. 

4 miles avg 7:00 pace

Only 8 miles avg 7:00 pace.  I tried to do too much in the morning before heading out on my run and only had time for 8 before my daughter got off the bus. 

10 miles avg 6:50 pace.  I feel like I'm finally more back to "normal."  The wore myself out, it hit me two weeks ago, and it's taken this long to recover.  It was nice to feel good going a good pace. 

4 miles avg 7:02 pace

16 miles avg 7:09 pace.  My husband was going to come with me on his bike, but he got called into work in the middle of the night to handle a problem.  He was too tired to go so I went alone. 

4 miles avg 7:09 pace

10 miles with a few intervals at the track.  Met Melody, Rebecca and Josse at Orem High track.  1600 meter @ 6:08 pace, 1200 meter @ 4:25 pace, 800 meter @ 2:56, 400 meter @ 1:22, 200 meter @ 39 sec. 

My 10 year old son, Canyon, said he wants to start running in the morning.  I ran 1.3 miles with him.  We covered about 1.5 miles, but walked two times.  Our average was 8:51 pace. 

12.5 miles with Rebecca.  We ran .7 miles warm-up at 8 min pace then I restarted my watch for our faster miles.  11.8 miles avg 7:01 pace up/down Provo Canyon.  Then I ran 1.2 miles with my 8 year old son Eli.  We went about 1.5 miles, but walked a bit and our average was 9:40 pace. 

4 miles avg 6:51 pace.  I didn't look at my watch during the run and was surprised by my pace at the end because I thought I was taking it easy.

20.2 miles with Emily B average 6:51 pace.  I was nervous about this run when I went to bed last night.  I didn't want to slow her down too much and she's really fast.  We went up/down Provo Canyon twice because we hit ice shortly after Bridal Veil Falls.  The weather was perfect this morning, cloudy and 52 degrees.  Thanks Emily!

Up canyon, 7:05, 7:02, 6:56, 7:01, 7:13, 7:03, down canyon, 6:34, 6:27, 6:30, 6:30, 6:32, up again, 7:06, 7:12, 7:01, 7:05, down again, 6:44, 6:33, 6:33, 7:00, 6:51 

4 miles avg 7:16 pace. The snow this morning was a reminder of how spoiled we were this winter without snow on the roads all the time.

I DID A PULL-UP!  It took me 2 1/2 months of working up to it, 2 or 3 sets of 10 pull-ups 2 or 3 times a week, but I did it.  I lifted my feet off the ground half way up my first one then went down and up again without touching the ground! Yipee! Then I couldn't do it again and put my feet back down for the rest.

10 miles.  Met Melody, Rebecca and Josse at the Orem High track for 6 x 800 meter intervals.  2:56, 2:55, 2:55, 2:54, 2:54, 2:55.  I slept  horriblly the night before.  Saturday night I started feeling "sick" and I thought I was sick.  By Tuesday night I just knew I had a sinus infection.  Still didn't sleep well. 

No running today.  I got on an antibiotic for my sinus infection and also realized that this whole thing is from my seasonal allergies.  It's  no coincidence that I'm healthy all winter and the night after my daughters first soccer game I'm "sick."  I wish I would have gotten on allergy medication sooner so as not to really get sick.  I realized this as I sat at my daughters soccer game Wednesday night and my eyes started watering and my nose itched like crazy.  I had to wipe my nose every 5 minutes.  Huge pile of tissues in my pocket.  I need to talk my kids out of soccer next year.

I took allergy medication Wednesday night, the stuff that was helping me in the fall, but it didn't work.  My eyes hurt and nose itched and ran like a river all day long.  I literally stuck toilet paper up my nose to keep it from dripping as I fixed lunch.  I made an appointment to see an allergist next week.  I also bought some bee pollen to eat.  When I was a kid I had terrible allergies.  My dad was a bee keeper and had me eat bee pollen.  I thought he was crazy, but it helped and my allergies went away.  I thought I just out grew them.  After moving around for so many years and now coming back my allergies are back.  I going to eat bee pollen again and see if it helps.  I'll try just about anything because I'm so miserable.

4 miles avg 7:09 pace. Feeling a little better today. I finally slept well last night after three terrible nights of sinus problems keeping me awake.

20 miles avg 7:03 pace. Met Melody, Rebecca and Josse. Started at Bridal Veil Falls and ran 6.5 miles up to the top of South Fork and back to our cars at the Vintage office park. The uphill "warm-up" felt harder than a warm-up then we ran faster down for our "marathon pace" miles. I still didn't feel 100% because of my sinus issues.

4 miles avg 7:25 pace

10 miles.  Met Melody and Emily at the BYU track.  4 x 1 mile repeats with 1/2 mile recovery, 5:56, 5:58, 6:00, 5:58.  I felt good on the first one, but half way through the second one I didn't think I would do 4 anywhere close to that pace.  On the last one I told myself I could quit after 800 meters if I wanted.  I had to do that to get myself to start it.  I figured I could do 800 meters and that was better than nothing.  Then I stuck it out and finished the mile anyway.

10 miles avg 7:13 pace.

4 miles alone avg 7:11 pace.  Then 3 miles with my sister visiting from Oregon avg 9:30 pace.  When we got about 1/2 mile away from home my sister was breathing so hard  she said her lungs were burning.  I said, "Maybe we should slow down," but as I was saying this I thought, "I don't think it's possible to run much slower.  If we slow down, we'll be walking."  We had a good laugh later when she told our other sister how tired she was and how I didn't seem to be breathing at all.  I couldn't help but tell her what I was thinking when I said, "Maybe we should slow down."  I was laughing so hard I could hardly get the words out.  She being a great sport, had a good laugh at it too.  

This sister Kellly Nelson, is so suportive of my running and always says how proud she is when I have a good race.  I'm way proud of her too.  She just got a NOVEL PUBLISHED!   "The Keeper's Calling" and you can buy it at Deserret Book, on Amazon.com, or order it at any Barns & Noble. It's a way good story and appeals to people of all ages.  It's book 1 of 3 and the other two are coming out later this year.  Book 1 is really good and books 2 and 3 are so good you can't set them down. 

http://www.amazon.com/Keepers-Calling-Saga-Kelly-Nelson/dp/1599928442/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333476352&sr=8-1

Ran with Melody, 3 mile warm-up, 5 mile loop avg 6:44 pace, 1 mile slower, 5 mile loop avg 6:39 pace, 3 mile cool-down. 

We set our clothes & water on a picnic table at the park where the running path crosses Geneva Road.  That's where we started/ended our loops.  When we finished Melody's jacket was gone and my shirt was still there.  I guess the thief didn't like my shirt as much as her jacket.  It would also have to be a very small thief, or someone stealing clothes for their teenage daughter. 

4 miles avg 7:07 pace.  Sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups.  I didn't do these very well last week.

Met Melody and Emily at the BYU track for intervals.  5 x 1200 m 4:22, 4:26, 4:25, 4:28, 4:23.  I didn't want to do the last one, but Melody and Emily "made me do it" and I was glad they did.  They ran one my pace and it was nice to be by someone on the track instead of way behind.

10 miles avg 7:09 pace mostly with Emily.  Three at a faster pace 6:28, 6:39, 6:21, the other 7 slower.  

4 miles avg 7:16 pace.

22 miles avg 7:15 pace.  I ran the first 16 with Melanie B and the last 6 with my husband on his bike.  Up/down Provo Canyon both times.  I felt more tired today than the last several Saturday's.  I didn't sleep enough last week. 

4 miles avg 7:32 pace.  I was so tired I just couldn't go any faster.  I definately need more sleep this week.

10 miles avg 7:03 pace with my husband on his bike.  I felt a little better than yesterday, but still hurt more than I should have for the pace I was running.

10 miles avg 6:55 pace.  I ran faster and felt a lot better than I did Tuesday.  I had a little more sleep the last few days, which was nice.  I was really busy with bookkeeping trying to get things done for people before April 15th, so I sat at my desk almost all day Mon and Tues, and a little in the morning Wednesday.  Wednesday afternoon I rewarded myself by doing yard work.  I got my boys to  help me move a bush that I decided was too close to the house.  Hopefully it will live.  We also sprayed weeds. 

4 miles avg 7:05 pace. The kids had a sleepover at their Grandma Esplin's house with their cousins because it's spring break. I went to bed at 11:00 p.m. and didn't get out of bed until 9:45 a.m. I woke up several times after about 7:00 a.m. but couldn't make myself get up until then. I think my allergy medication makes me drowsy. Once I get going I'm fine, but it's sure hard to get up.

23 miles avg 7:01 pace.  My husband came with me on his bike for the first 17 miles then he needed to take  my son to baseball practice.  We went up/down Provo Canyon and into South Fork.  As we got close to the house at mile 17 I wanted to be done.  I ran a little too fast coming down the canyon for several miles and was starting to feel it.  My pace was 7:00 average at this point.  I headed back up the canyon for another 6 miles though and managed to keep my pace about the same as I finished with a 7:01 average.  It was good to be done.  Three weeks to my next marathon. 

4 miles avg 7:23 pace.  Did sit-up, push-ups etc. while watching some of the Boston Marathon on TV.  I had fun getting text messages for some of my friends running it.

10 miles avg 6:45 pace.  I did bookkeeping for too long after my kids left for school.  All of the sudden I relalized I had to leave quickly and run really fast to get in 10 miles before my daughter got off the kindergarten bus.  It was cold and raining.

10 miles avg 7:15 pace

4 miles avg 7:09 pace

18 miles avg 7:16 pace.  My husband came with me on his bike for 14 miles and I did the last four alone.  He had to hurry to get my son to his baseball game and I met them there.  We had one baseball game and three soccer games this day.  We literally went from game to game all day eating lunch at Subway in the middle.  It was our first really hot Saturday and I forgot sunscreen and got burned.  Yuck!

4 miles avg 7:09 pace

10 miles avg 6:58 pace

10 miles avg 7:12 pace

4 miles avg 7:04 pace

14 miles with Melanie B and 6 of it with Josse.  We ran South on the running trail.  I thought it would be good to do some slight uphill towards the end since the Provo Marathon is like that.  Avg 7:08 pace

4 miles avg 7:03 pace

8 miles avg 7:02 pace

3 miles with my sister Laura who is in town from Gilbert, AZ.  We pushed her two girls in the stroller while mine were at school.  Avg 8:12 pace.

4 miles avg 6:59 pace.  With a marathon two days away I figure less is going to more for me than more.

At the beginning of the week I said to my husband and kids, "We have 6 soccer games, 4 baseball games and a marathon this week."  Oh, and 5 practices.  So I didn't think much about the race until Thursday night as I was going to bed, and I wish I wouldn't have because I was a ball of nerves.  I couldn't go to sleep, then I woke up every hour or so and struggled again.  I have sleeping problems.

Thursday, on our way to one of the games, my 6 year old daughter says, "I'm going to run a marathon.  I know how to get ready."  One of my sons asks her how and she says, "You get a massage, and takes some naps in the afternoon, and then you run some miles on the treadmill."  The way she said it focused more on the massage and naps and my 10 year old son said, "You have to do more running than that!" 

Brent drove Melanie, Kim and Jane to the starting line and we got there about 6:30 a.m.  We found Emily and visited for a few minutes.  They were all doing the half so they went to warm-up.  I didn't want to run more than 26.2 miles and opted out of the warm-up.  My plan was to run 6:40 pace the first half and try to do 6:50's the second half.  I knew 6:40's would feel easy coming down the canyon and that 6:50's on flat and the slight uphill would be hard. 

I stuck to the plan the first half and felt good, running miles 2-10 with Scott and his friend Calvin from New York who was shooting to break three hours.  Around mile 10 Calvin fell back a little and Scott went back to help him.

I think I was right on a 6:40 pace average at the half.  Right after I passed all the people cheering for the half finish I threw purple Gatorade in my right eye and by the time I could see again realized I was outside the cones and in the road where the cars were coming from behind.  Purple Gatorade in the right eye at mile 14 is just as painful as yellow Gatorade in the left eye at mile 17.

The second  half was definately harder than the first.  The wind was really blowing out by the lake and I was worried if I really pushed it to do 6:50's in the teens that I would loose it in the 20's and do over 7's.  So I kept an even effort type pace and just ran comfortably. 

At mile 22 or so Scott came running up to me from behind.  Calvin was way off the 3 hr mark so he came up to help me.  I really appreciated that.  My husband also drove by in the car with my daughter around mile 23.  As we approached University Ave I could see Melanie, Kim and Jane cheering and said, "I think those are my friends!" 

The hill over the train tracks on University Ave was harder than I anticipated.  I slowed considerably going up it and thought I was about to "hit the wall."  But going down the other side I felt better and never got to the point where I really felt horrible.  I saw Marie, Rebecca, and Josse's sister there at the end which was fun.  My husband was also there with my daughter.  My boys were both playing soccer tournament games so they missed it.  I finished 2:59:24 avg 6:51 pace. 

My splits were: 6:33, 6:38, 6:49, 6:35, 6:43, 6:37, 6:39, 6:40, 6:46, 6:41, 6:54, 6:39, 6:44, (half) 6:48, 6:50, 7:00, 7:04, 6:56, 6:59, 7:03, 7:00, 7:05, 6:48, 6:58, 6:54, 7:11, last .2 6:50 pace.

Before the race I told myself if I ran under 3 hours I would be happy no matter what my place.  After all I can't do anything about whether some really fast person shows up who's just plain better than me.  On the flip side, I figured if I won I would be happy no matter what my time.  So I guess I was double happy.

This wasn't a PR, I ran St. George 1 min faster, but it feels like it.  I think St. George is more than a minute faster of a course than this one.  I'm pleased I was able to run what I thought was a consistant effort and amazingly still feel good at the end.  As I approached the finish line I thought of something I heard Bart Yasso say in a seminar he gave before the Boston Marathon several years ago. "Never take a finish line for granted," and I don't.  I love to run.

4 miles avg 7:02 pace.  Probably my best post marathon run yet.  Just a little quad pain the last quarter mile. 

8 miles avg 7:08 pace.  My quads are still bothering me some, so I stoped to rub them a couple of times.  I wanted to go farther, but I want my quads better even more.  I'm going to really dig into them and rub them out over the next few days so I can hopefully go back to my regular running routine next week. 

10 miles avg 6:51 pace.  I met Melanie B at her house in Lehi.  She ran a few miles before because I only wanted 10.  Well, I wanted to do more, but my quads still had a couple of tender spots the day before and I really don't want to injure them. 

I woke up with a sore throat and nasal problems.  I think I might really be sick.  My husband and son are both sick right now.  Just over a mile into the run I thought, "I'm more tired than I should be.  I must be sicker than I thought."  Then Melanie said, "We're going fast," and I looked at my watch. 

We planned to go 7:15 pace and we had a 6:44 pace average going.  We tired to slow down several times and werern't sucessful  until the last mile.  At one point I thought, "What is wrong with us!"  Brent says Melanie and I are too much alike, we both run 1/2 step ahead of whoever we're with so as not to slow them down.  My quad only bothered me a little bit at the end.  I sat in an epsom salt bath and rubbed out my quads when I got home.  Now if I can just get over this head cold I'll be good.

4 miles avg 7:24 pace.  My allergies are awful!  My sinuses keep draining down the back of my throat and are making it sore.  It was so nice when we had those little rain stoms every few days for a while.  I want more rain.

10 miles.  Met Melanie, Melody, Emily and Rebecca at the BYU track for a workout.  8 x 800 meters with 400 meter recovery.  2:54, 2:54, 2:56, 2:56, 2:56, 2:57, 2:56, 2:57.  Allergies still bothering me.  I doubled up on my one medication and added another so by the end of the day I wasn't feeling quite as bad. 

10 miles avg 7:10 pace.  I felt tired.  I know I need to do more tempo type training runs, but I just didn't feel like it today. 

4 miles avg 7:01 pace.  The first almost 3 miles of this run were very pleasant, up/down Provo Canyon, cloudy with a little breeze, not too hot, and not too cold.  Then as I came out of the canyon the wind picked up. 

(I just asked my daughter if she could think of a more fun way to say, "the wind blew really hard."  She changed her tone of voice and put an arm in the air as she said, "the wind blew really hard."  I laughed a little and thanked her for the help.)

Anyway, I must have been a sight making my way up the 800 North hill with dirt filled wind blowing in my eyes, because when I stopped at the light a man in a car asked me if I wanted a ride.  I said I didn't live very far away and was laughing about it more than anything.  Fortunately I made it home when it was just starting to sprinkle and was safely inside when the downpour started. 

Yea for the rain.  I looked at the forecast on Monday when my allergies were so bad and there was no chance of rain ever.  I told my kids to pray for rain and I know at least my 8 year old did.  I of course did too.  My son wrote a poem in school last year in which he said he wished he could control the weather.  I wish I could do that too.

18 miles avg 6:52 pace.  We started up Provo Canyon at the turn off to Wallsburg.  We ran towards Wallsburs 1 1/2 miles then out and down the canyon to our cars at the Riverwoods Shopping Center.  It looked so nice out,  but was only 33 degrees up the canyon where we started and the hills around Deer Creek seemed bigger to me than they did last fall.  I hope they don't feel that big during the Utah Valley Marathon.

4 miles avg 7:17 pace.  My quads felt fine on our run Saturday and for several hours afterwards.  Then I went out in the yard to weed the flower beds and strained one a little bit.  I hope it gets better quickly.

10 miles with Melanie on Jordan River Parkway Trail.  We did 12 x 1 min fast, 2 min slower.  Pace for times: 5:26, 7:13, 5:34, 7:19, 5:41, 7:16, 5:46, 7:25, 5:34, 7:30, 5:35, 7:21, 5:44, 7:42, 5:43, 6:54, 5:55, 7:38, 5:43, 7:26, 5:45, 7:51, 5:50, cool down.  Average pace for whole run 6:52 pace.

20 miles up/down Provo Canyon/South Fork with Melanie, avg 7:15 pace.  We both agreed the 3 miles into South Fork seemed harder than we remembered, so uphill for so long.  We were glad to turn around.  I wanted to get in one more long run before Utah Valley and was glad to get it in 2 weeks and 2 days before the race instead of just 2 weeks. 

4 miles.  Don't know my pace because my battery was dead. 

10 miles.  Don't know my pace because I forgot to charge my watch.  I ran up Provo Canyon and met Marie.  We ran down together.  I haven't run with her in a log time so it was nice to visit.

6 miles with my brother Mark avg 7:55 pace.

10 miles avg 6:42 pace with Melanie B from her house in Lehi.  We did an out and back course that was uphill on the way out @ 7:00 pace and downhill on the way back @ 6:24 pace.  I think that's my fastest out & back 10 mile run ever. 

At dinner I said to my husband, "I can't believe how good I felt after my run this morning.  It was like I was on drugs, not that I've ever taken drugs," to which my husband turned to my 8 year old son and said, "Mom's finally admitting she's addicted to running."

10 miles up/down Provo Canyon avg 6:56 pace.  I thought I was going "easier" today and my pace at the end surprised me.  I guess it was easier than Tuesday, but when I go that fast on Tuesday my Thursday is usually slower.  Time to really slow down and cut back for Utah Valley though.  Only 9 days away!

4 miles

12 miles with Melanie.  Avg 7:15 pace.  We ran 4 miles warm-up then Melanie did a 5k race.  I started a few minutes ahead of the race, ran a few fast miles, and ran Melanie in the last 3/4 mile of her 5k.  Then we ran 5 miles cool-down.  We tried sitting in the Jordan River by the camp ground, but need to find a better spot.  Where we sat was more like a swamp.

4 miles avg 7:00 pace

6 miles with Josse, Melody, and Emily, avg 7:20 pace.  We ran 2 miles warm-up, 2 miles marathon pace and 2 miles cool-down.  Sat in the river.

4 miles avg 7:05 pace.  I felt tired and my back is tight.  I didn't feel like I could go any faster than 7:05 pace.  This made me nervous for the Utah Valley Marathon Saturday.  I just need to stay calm, sleep well, and trust that I'll feel better a few miles into the race when I'm warmed up.  I really want to PR on Saturday.  The forecast for wind from the south isn't helping me either.

Utah Valley Marathon today.  I felt good at the starting line and was confident I would have a good race, but things just didn't turn out like I planned.  The wind really hurt my time, but everyone was running into the wind.  I could have dealt with the wind ok knowing it was blowing against us all.  It was stomach issues that ruined the race for me.  I don't usually have stomach problems. 

I felt good for about 5 miles and then my stomach started feeling off.  I was uncomfortable, but still doing ok with it until about the half.  The miles around Deer Creek and clear down until the half-way point were just hard.  The wind was blowing what felt like at least 20 mph and my left quad really hurt going up the hills.  It was ok going down, but not up, which seemed odd.  At about mile 12 I looked at my time and thought, "I really thought I would be able to run faster than this."  I crossed the half at 1:30:35 and knew there was no way I would PR.  I didn't even have hopes for a sub 3 because I didn't think I had it in me to run the second half faster than the first. 

I took my first port-o-potty stop just after the 15th mile marker.  I was so uncomfortable and it just didn't seem worth it to poop my pants for a terrible time anyway.  Might have felt differently if I was on track for an awesome PR.  Somewhere around here I also felt as though I might throw-up for about a 1/2 mile. 

A mile or so later my brother came running  up the highway and ran down about 2 miles with me.  He told me I was in 4th place.  I thought for sure I was farther back than that.  Just after he turned off to the trail my husband pulled up with the kids.  My 9 yr old son Eli asked what my pace was and I said, "7 min" with a thumbs-down sign.  He had so nicely prayed in his personal prayers the night before that I would be able to accomplish my goal and beat my time.  He knew 7 min wasn't good enough. 

Just after the 19th mile marker I took another port-o-potty stop.  At this point I just wanted to be done.  I didn't care much about the time or place.  I think someone must have passed me while I was in the port-o-potty and two people passed me along University Ave. 

I never "hit the wall" and really felt horrible, just a lot of very uncomfortable miles.  Josse ran a mile or so with me towards the end which was nice.  I finished in 3:06:38. 

My husband and kids were there cheering for me.  They knew I hadn't placed in the top 5 and didn't win anything.  A few minutes after I finished my 6 year old daughter Elsa said, "Well, it was more fun when you won."  I couldn't help but laugh at that.

Splits: 6:26, 6:33, 6:35, 6:43, 6:47, 6:51, 6:50, 7:24, 7:32, 6:44, 6:54, 7:17, 7:02, 6:59, 6:55, 8:46 (1:30 sec in port-o-potty), 7:11, 7:02, 6:43, 8:12 (1:15 sec in port-o-potty), 7:08, 7:12, 7:12, 7:31, 7:26, 6:56, last .2 6:47 pace. 

Only 4 miles because my quad hurt in the spot where it hurt during the race.

4 miles quad felt much better on the run.  I thought I was good to get back on running full swing.  Then I hurried around the house for an hour or so getting ready to go to youth conference and somewhere in the up and down and kneeling etc. I pulled my quad again.  when I got in the car to leave I realized it hurt again.  At youth conference we did a ropes course that didn't help it any either. 

10 miles with my brother at about 9:00 p.m. Avg 7:40 pace.  I haven't run in the night since I did the ragnar 2 years ago.  My quad hurt again. 

My brother, sister, my mom and I all live in the same cul-de-sac.  We came home to see everyone cleaning up a disaster in my mom's basement.  She left the sink running in her laundry room and unfortunately the plug was down.  The sink overflowed for about an hour and destroyed the ceiling below it.  Fortunately it was in the storage room.  It's a storage room the size of a large bed room and we had to rip out the ceiling, take out the carpet etc.  I wasn't as helpful as I could have been because my quad hurt. 

I decided I need to "baby" my quad for a couple of days to get it better.  I tried to not use it at all, using my arms to push myself up and to lower myself down when I sit etc.  My goal was to not cause it any pain all day, but there were a few times I slipped.  It still hurts to push on the one spot.

Nothing - Trying to get my quad better

Still nothing - quad almost better.

4 miles avg 7:07 pace.  Felt like I haven't been running much.  Not a well rested feeling, more like I'm loosing conditioning feeling.

4 miles avg 7:19 pace.

11 miles avg 7:15 pace.  More like 10 miles @ 7:05 and one slower cool down.  Ran backwards ong the American Fork 1/2 Marathon course until I met Melanie and Kim, turned around and ran the last 5 miles in with them.  Then we ran a 1 mile cool down.  I felt good.  When I got back I told my husband, "I feel like myself again."  It's been about 2 weeks since I felt good.

4 miles avg 7:07 pace.

Late leaving house.  2 miles warm-up @ 6:45 pace.  I was breathing hard when I started my 800's on the track with Melody, Rebecca and Desssire.  2:54, 2:56, 2:58, 2:58, ? (missed timing 5th one), 2:57.  We only did a 200 meter recovery which was hard.  My last two I did more like a 300 meter recovery.  Ran 4 miles cool down home.

10 miles with Melody and Rebecca avg 7:12 pace

5 miles with Melody and Emily avg 7:23 pace

Spartan Beast 12 + Miles and 30 + Obstacles!  This race was awesome!  My brother Mark talked  me into doing it.  As we stood at the starting line of the "Competitive Heat" with 300 other "Spartan's," the announcer yelling, "Who are you?" and the crowd yelling, "I AM A SPARTAN!" my heart was beating so fast and I wasn't sure what I had gotten myself into.  I've never felt so unsure of myself at a starting line and realistically didn't know if I would finish.

The race was three different loops, 90% on trails, approximately 4 miles each with multiple obstacles each mile, climbing over walls, crawling under things, muddy trenches, carrying heavy things, monkey bars, jumping along a stretch full of tires, balancing walk along poles, shooting a quarter from quite a distance, and a lot of crawling in mud under barbed wire (the longest stretch probably 100 meters uphill).  If you fail and obstacle you have to do 30 burpies.

My sister Tracy (www.tracyandersonphoto.com) although wedding photography is her specialty, came to the race and took some awesome pictures:

The long muddy uphill stretch!

This part seemed to take forever and I wished I had elbow and knee pads.  I'm pretty scraped up.

Mark was faster at the obstacles, but I'm a faster runner.  We were near each other for the first two loops.  Kept seeing each other at the obstacles.

The third loop had longer stretches of more running and that's when I passed a lot of people.

Actually feeling really good here at about mile 11. At this point I had only done one set of burpies when I couldn't climb the 25 foot rope out of the water filled mud pit that went up past my knees.  My javelin throw right near the end came up short, another set of burpies, and I fell off the wall with little 2" x 4" wood hand and foot holds that we had to scale along the side off, another set of burpies.  These were ugly burpies with some stopping and standing after every 5 or 10.  I was glad I had managed to complete so many of the other difficult obstacles as I was doing those last burpies only a few hundred yards from the finish line.  Of course I then had to go through another long muddy barbed wire stretch, a few more mud pits and past the three big men with padded poles knocking people down as they ran toward the finish line. 

Here is me and my ever so supportive husband.

My brother Mark and I at the finish.  Huge sense of accomplishment.  It was so hard and I was glad to be done, but I immediately thought, "I can't wait to do this again next year."  It was the most fun I've had in a long time.  I was just going for a finish and it was awesome.  However, when I realized how close I was to being in the top three I wished I would have pushed it more.  Next year I want to win.

10 miles with Melanie out/back from Legacy Center in Lehi to river and back.  Average 6:47 pace.  I was tired on this one.  The pace felt fast.

3 miles avg 7:22 pace.  I was in bed until almost 10:00 a.m.  Couldn't pull myself out. 

Freedom Run 10K.  My body felt tired from the Spartan and my hard run Monday.  Avg 6:32 pace.  6:17, 5:59, 6:15, 6:43, 6:55, 6:55, last .2 6:39 pace.  I felt like this was a good workout.  I need to do more runs like this.

4 miles with my sister Laura in town from AZ avg 8:16 pace.

18 miles with Melanie up/down Provo Canyon/South Fork, avg 7:00 pace.

4 miles avg 7:09

10 miles with Melanie avg 6:54 pace.  Warm up 2 1/2 miles (7:26, 6:57, 6:50) then 10 x 1 min fast & 2 min slower. 5:59 fast pace (7:07 pace recovery), 5:39, (7:01), 5:54, (7:33), 5:39, (7:23), 5:47, (7:20), 5:28, (7:12), 5:52, (7:30), 5:43, (7:16), 5:52, (7:15), 5:50, cool down 3 miles (7:18, 7:03, 6:56).  I felt better doing this workout than last time and the pace on our 2 min recovery was consistantly faster. 

8 miles with Melanie avg 7:23 pace. 

Bryce Canyon 1/2 Marathon today.  Last year I ran 1:22:16 and I thought I should be able to go about 30 seconds faster this year, but ended up only 8 seconds faster with a 1:22:08 (avg 6:16 pace).  Melanie and I warmed up together and saw Amber G at the start.  There was a woman standing near us that looked fast.  I was having a hard time reading what her shirt said when she looked my way and I said, "You look fast."  She said, "Yes."  Then I asked her where she was from and she said, "France," in a very heavy accent.  She was definitely fast. 

It started to sprinkle on us just as the race started and miles 2 and 3 were into the wind and some pretty hard rain.  The clouds were nice and it didn't rain much again until after the race was over but I was soaked the whole time.  I felt good most of the race.  Miles 3-6 are all a relatively steep downhill.  At about mile 5 I said to Melanie, "I feel like I'm sprinting."  I was breathing just fine, but the rest of me felt like I was sprinting.  Melanie and I ran together until into mile 6 when she started having stomach issues.  My stomach didn't feel quite as good on mile 10 but it was nothing compared to what I was afraid of.  My kids were throwing up on Wednesday. I had diarrhea on Thursday and hardly ate anything, so I was happy to be feeling in the normal range on Saturday.  My legs started really feeling tired about mile 11.  I felt like I struggled on mile 13 and that it should have been faster and wasn't.

Overall I was happy with the race.  My splits were as follows:  6:23, 6:34, 5:49, 5:54, 6:07, 6:00, 6:14, 6:18, 6:29, 6:23, 6:30, 6:37, 6:30, last bit 24 sec.  My watch measured a little short. 

About 30 minutes after I got done it started raining again.  I felt a little bad for all the people finishing in over 1:50 because they really got poured on at the end.  We were staying at the KOA in Cannonville near the finish.  We were in a cabin, but my sister-in-law was in a tent with some of her girls.  We waited for a while and the rain just wouldn't stop.  It rained for over 2 hours straight.  We finally took down her tent in the rain and headed for home without doing our usual hike to the waterfall. 

10 miles avg 7:04 pace with Melanie.  My legs, and especially my quads were too sore to run yesterday.  They were still sore today, but I tried it anyway.  Fortunately I made it through the run without feeling like I injured myself. 

10 miles with Melanie avg 7:14 pace.  2 miles warm-up to Orem High track, 8 x 800 meter intervals with 400 meter recovery, 2 miles cool-down home.  800 meter times: 2:58, 2:59, 3:00, 2:56, 2:58, 2:58, 3:00, 3:01.  My quads were feeling better, but my butt muscle was really bothering me.  I almost quit after 6 because it felt so tight.  I was really tired that last mile running home.  More tired than I've been in a workout in a long time. 

21 miles with Melanie, Kim and Jane.  We met at AF High School and ran an out/back route up AF Canyon, first 5.5 miles in the city and next 5 in the canyon.  I have never run up AF Canyon before and it was a killer, so uphill for so long.  I could tell I might struggle on this run from the very start.  I haven't slept near enough this week.  Going up the canyon I couldn't keep up with Melanie, Kim and Jane.  I ran about 10 sec/mile slower than them for about the last 3.5 miles going up.  Average pace at top 7:41.  Coming back down was better, but I was still exhausted!  At mile 17 I wanted to be done and at mile 20 I felt like I was at the end of a marathon.  My legs were seriously more tired than they were at the end of both my other marathons this year. Average pace down 6:33.  My average for the whole run was 7:07.  We stopped a lot, about 40 minutes worth.  It felt like 2 mile marathon pace repeats with standing stops to drink, pee and talk about how bad we felt.  We all had something to complain about on this run.  When I got home I showered and went straight back to bed with wet hair.  Took a 2 hour nap.  I need more sleep.  I should be able to get that next week at Young Women's Camp right? 

4 miles, my butt still hurt.

2 miles, early in the morning.  No time for more.  I realized about a mile into my run that I needed 15 more minutes to get ready for our church young women's camp more than I needed 2 more miles.  I didn't wear my watch, but I ran fast and my lungs were burning at the end.  When got done I wish I knew how fast it was. 

No time to run this week.  I was the ward camp director for our young women's camp.  That means I was in charge of 17 girls and 5 leaders.  I feared I would go crazy by the end of the week if I didn't run, but I think the lord blessed me and I felt great.  The week was so wonderful.  I got less than 6 hours of sleep every night, but it's easier to feel ok on 6 hours when you don't run.  I got home today, Saturday, and wanted to run in the evening, but the only 4 1/2 hours of sleep I got the night before caught up to me and I just went to bed instead.  I could go on and on about how wonderful the camp was, how everyone amazingly got along and how I felt so inspired in everything to do with it, but this is a running blog.  I just added it up.  Only 10 weeks to St. George.  I need to really step up the training!

4 miles avg 7:05 pace.  I decided to do some burpees on this run.  1/2 mile to stop light, 5 burpees while I waited, another 1/2 mile to mouth of canyon 30 burpees, 1 mile up canyon to drinking fountain, 30 burpees, decided I was too tired to do another set on the way home so only did 5 more waiting at the stop light again. 

10 miles with Melanie.  4 x 1 mile with 1/2 mile slow run recovery.  We did these on a 1.4 mile loop around the Riverwoods shopping center.  mile times 6:02, 6:06, 6:05, 6:06.  It seems harder to do these on the road than the track.  The last 1/2 of each mile was always into the wind.  I felt like I was hitting the wall on every one at about 3/4 mile. 

Later in the day I felt like I had been hit with something.  My sides and hamstrings hurt from the burpees the day before, and my patella tendon felt increasingly worse as the day went on.  It got so I couldn't walk without pain.  I rubbed on my hamstrings before going to bed.

Woke up with my knee still hurting.  It felt like something was pulling on my tendon.  There was no way I could have run this day.  I dug into my quad and found two big knots.  I scrapped on them so hard I now also have two big bruises, but as the day went on my knee felt better and better to the point where I was walking pain free before going to bed.  I took a week off and my first long run brought out all the problems that didn't go away with time off.  I've got to work out all the little knots everywhere in order to really feel good long term.

20 miles with Melanie.  We started at Bridal Veil Falls and ran up the highway to the Wallsburg turnoff and back.  It felt like we were pushing the pace the whole way, and I was tired every mile.  Our average to the top was 7:06 pace.  On the way back down at mile 15 I thought, "I don't want to feel this tired at mile 15 at St. George."  Our average down was 6:46 pace.  I'm glad I was able to keep going relatively fast for so many miles on such tired legs.  Average for the whole run 6:56 pace.  We stopped 6 times to drink probably 2 minutes each and one other pit stop on the side of the road that took a little longer.  Figured we had about 17 minutes of stopping.  

I did the Wasatch Wellness Run in connection with my husband's work.  We were going to both go and take the kids.  I was registered for the 10k and my husband and oldest son were registered for the 5k.  However my daughter threw-up about 8 or 9 times in the night over a 3 hour period, so we didn't sleep from 12:30 a.m to 3:30 a.m.  Needless to say I didn't feel like racing, especially after my hard run Thursday, and my husband and I both wanted the other person to go.  I guess he won because I ended up going with my son.  I didn't warm up or cool down so just the race.  Avg 6:41 pace.  Came home and went back to bed still in my running clothes.  I feel like I'm still seriously sleep deprived from girl's camp.

4 miles avg 7:05 pace with two sets of 20 burpees on the run.  The 70 burpees I did last Monday left me sore so I'm going to work up to doing 3 or 4 sets of 30 a little slower.

10 miles with 5 x 1200 meter intervals and about 600 meters recovery.  Melanie and I did these on the road.  The 1st, 3rd and 5th were going one way on the same stretch every time, and the 2nd and 4th were going the other direction along the same stretch.  Paces for the 1200's were 5:47, 5:55, 5:51, 5:56, 5:51.

Started at Vivian Park and ran 3.5 miles "warm-up" up South Fork avg 7:42 pace which didn't necessarily feel easy.  Started up South Fork with Melanie, Melody, Emily, Josse and Rebecca.    Then we headed down the canyon for a 12 mile downhill faster pace run.  Melanie, Melody and I kept up a 6:20 overall average on this part until mile 10.  I was doing ok until about mile 9 when my legs became very tired.  Melody left us and headed back to her car at the mouth of the canyon at mile 9.5.  At mile 10 I stopped running and said, "I need to reevaluate this."  I didn't think I could go 2 more miles.  I said my legs felt like the end of a marathon and Melanie gave me a good pep talk, "It's only 2 more miles...you can't quit when your legs are tired at the end of a marathon... you want your 2:54:45 don't you...etc."  I did the 2 more miles, but they were at a 6:30 pace instead of 6:20.  1.75 of it was continuing South on University Ave with a slight downhill and the last .75 was heading back up north.  Finished with a 6:23 overall average for the 12 miles.  We stopped three times to drink on the 12 mile stretch, again when Melody broke off , and for my mental breakdown at mile 10, but we kept them short. 

I really need more sleep and feel like a broken record as it seems like I say that every week.  Last night I went to bed @ 11 p.m., but didn't think I had even fallen asleep when my husband got home at 12:15 a.m. from being up at scout camp.  Then the carbon monoxide detector went off at 4:20 with a low battery and I didn't go back to sleep before my alarm went off at 5:10 a.m.  Four hours just isn't enough for me to feel good.  I'm happy I finished the run though, and that I have a good training partner to push me.  Thanks Mel! 

4 miles avg 7:21 pace.

16 miles.  I ran 8 miles with Emily at avg 6:56 pace, then my husband, Brent, came with me on his bike for 8 more avg 7:02 pace.  I drank some orange juice before I left the house, but didn't take anything with me on the run, just had water from the fountains.  About 2 miles from the end I felt my blood sugar level getting really low and wished I had taken something. 

4 miles avg 7:05 pace.

10 miles with Melanie and Jane.  2 miles warm-up, 8 x 800 meters on the track, 2 miles cool-down.  800 times: 2:54, 3:00, 3:02, 2:58, 3:00, 3:02, 2:57, 2:54.

22 miles with Melanie and Jane.  Up Provo Canyon/South Fork from my house and back.  7:13 pace to the top and 6:33 pace down, avg 6:53 pace.  I felt better than I've felt in a while on a long run.  Still pretty tired the last few. 

4 easy miles avg 7:23 pace.

10 miles avg 7:03 pace.

4 miles 7:02 pace

10 miles with 6 x .6 mile intervals with about .5 mile recovery.  Paces on intervals, 5:54, 5:52, 5:47, 5:55, 5:46, 5:55.

12 miles with Melanie, Melody and Emily.  Ran up/down Provo Canyon.  5 miles up avg 7:11 pace, then tempo down 5 miles 6:05, 6:04, 6:04, 6:15, 6:05.  Avg for first 10 6:39 pace.  Fastest 10 mile workout I've ever done.  Then 2 mile cool-down avg 7:23 pace.

4 miles avg 7:21 pace

18 miles.  I had some anxiety before this run after how bad I felt running in American Fork Canyon last month, exhausted, seeing spots, felt like I just wanted to lay down and sleep, etc.  Melanie and I met Kim and Jane at Kohler's Grocery Store in Highland, 2.5 miles into their 22 mile run.  We headed up American Fork Canyon about 2 miles away.  The 7 miles going up the canyon were hard.  Melanie and I took a shorter stop 2 miles from the top because we were going .5 farther up than them, hoping if we made quicker stops we could catch them on the way back down.  Kim and Jane changed their plans and ran father up than us to get the GU they stashed with their water, deciding to end their run at Kohlers instead of where they started, so we passed them coming down and didn't see them again. 

When we turned around we had an average 7:38 pace.  Melanie asked me if I thought we could get it down to 6:59 and I said, "No, we'd have to do 9 miles at 6:22 pace!"  After how hard I ran the first 9 miles up there I didn't think I would be able to or even want to try to go down that fast.  We decided to just run and see what we got.  Well, American Fork Canyon is a constant up and therefore a constant down and we miraculously ran a bunch of the miles at about 6 min pace.  Even our last two on the flat part were 6:20 pace.  Our average pace down ended up being 6:10 and we got our our average for the whole run down to 6:54.  I was pleased with how fast we were able to go and also with how good I felt, so much better than last time.  I was able to run to the point where I was breathing hard and have my body still feel good.  It's amazing what some sleep will do for me that way.  I wish I would have slept better all summer. 

4 miles avg 7:10 pace.  3 sets of 20 burpees on the run, one set after each mile, but last.

10 miles with Melanie. Speed work 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 all around 6 min pace except the 400's.  They were a little faster.

10 miles with Melanie up/down Suncrest in Lehi.  Easier pace than usual, talked the whole time, avg 7:17 pace.

4 miles easy, with 3 x 20 burpees, one set after each mile. Avg 7:22 pace

20 miles up/down Provo Canyon on running trail.  I messed up on my watch and didn't stop it two times when I stopped to drink/talk to people, but I think my average was 6:54 pace.  I went up to Vivian, back to the mouth, then back up to Nun's Park and down again. 

On the way down the first time I see a snake on the trail, adrenalin rush, jump to the side, etc, and the snake didn't even move.  I look back and wonder if it's dead.  Second time going by same thing, I'm scared, I jump a little and realize it's in the exact same place it was before.  I think, "Ok, this snake is clearly dead.  I'm not going to be scared by it on the way down."  So coming back, about a 1/2 mile before the snake I think, "Let's see that snake is going to be coming up here soon."  Sure enough a half mile later, in my own little runner's world, no longer thinking about the snake, I see it and have the same response as the other two times, total adrenalin rush, jump away like it's going to bit me etc.  This time I literally laughed out loud at myself.  What is wrong with me!  I'm not even terribly afraid of snakes.  If it was a huge spider, that would make more sense.  

4 miles avg 7:14 pace.  3 sets of 20 burpees.

Met Josse and Rebecca for 4 x 1 mile repeats.  All the miles were downhill with the 1/2 to 3/4 mile recovery uphill.  Downhill mile repeat times 5:41, 5:49, 5:43, 5:38.

10 miles with Rebecca, Melody and Emily.  We ran up/down Provo Canyon.  7:17 pace to top, 6:35 pace down, avg 6:56 pace.  My legs felt a little tired, like I need to sleep more.  I got up earlier this week.

4 miles avg 6:55 pace with 3 sets of 22 burpees.  I'm trying to work up to 30 or maybe even 40 in a set. 

17 miles with Kim, Jane, Rebecca, Shonde and Maddison.  We drove about 5 miles up AF canyon then ran up another 2 miles for a "warm-up."  I reset my watch and we ran the Timp 1/2 marathon course back to the high school.  Our average for the 13 miles was 6:08 pace.  It's so easy to go fast down AF Cayon, down, down, down.  I felt fine until the last 1 1/2 miles when my chest felt tight and I couldn't get a deep breath.  It was strange, as I usually don't feel like that.  We ran a 2 mile "cool-down" back to Kim's house from the high school. 

4 miles avg 7:03 pace with burpees.  I didn't feel right while I was running, still that strange tightness in my chest, like I couldn't breathe, and when I tried to take a deep breath I had an aching feeling there.

This is where men who feel uncomfortable hearing about female reproductive issues should stop reading:  I had the same feeling a couple hours later while I was at the grocery store and it only got worse.  I started taking the pill a week ago because I was having "issues," bleeding all the time.  I remembered the pill making me have high  blood pressure when I tried it before so I checked it at the machine at the store, higher than usual, stopped by another store on the way home, even higher, 151/94.  I called my doctor and the nurse said I should go to the emergency room to make sure I didn't have a blood clot.  So I spent the afternoon at the emergency room, EKG, CT scan, and everything was fine, except that my blood pressure was really high.  When they drew 5 vials of blood to do some tests I thought, "There goes all the blood I saved by going on this stupid pill!"  I stopped taking the pill.  I really feel for that woman in the New Testament with "an issue of blood."

10 miles with 8 x 800 meters 3:01, 2:59, 2:58, 2:58, 2:57, 2:57, 2:59, 3:00.  Felt better than yesterday, still not 100%.

22 miserable miles.  Avg 7:03 pace.  Ran from my house to the top of South Fork and back.  My hamstrings felt a little tight before I left I so dug into them.  They ached the whole time.  I drank orange juice and water before I left the house and felt waterlogged the first 5 miles.  Not wanting that sick, too much sugar, feeling afterwards I took only 2 GU and 2 fruit leathers.  Ate the fruit first, but could tell it wasn't enough when my calf started cramping at mile 10.  That last mile going up South Fork was rough.  I literally hit the wall like I was at the end of a race.  I stopped and stood there at the top thinking, "I'm 11 miles from home."  I really thought I might be calling my husband for a ride.  Avg at the top 7:22 pace.  Started down, probably the slowest I've ever run down South Fork.  Took 1 GU at mile 12 and another at mile 17.  Actually had about two miles in there where I didn't feel completely miserable.  Calf started cramping again at mile 19, hamstrings still ached.  Average down 6:43.  I don't want to feel this bad running the marathon.  This run was a confidence buster.  Glad it's done. 

4 miles @ 7:10 pace.  No burpees, too tired from yesterday.

10 miles in the heat of the day.  Last year I didn't have a problems with the heat at St. George and I think part of that was because so many of my Tues/Thur runs were in the late morning after the kids went to school when it was warm.  I decided I need more runs in the warmer weather just in case it's warm at the SGM this year.  My husband came with me on his bike.  Avg 7:03 pace.

4 miles with burpees, avg 6:57.

10 miles with Melanie.  2 miles warm-up, 4 x 1 mile repeats with 1/2 mile recovery, 2 miles cool-down.  Mile splits 6:00, 5:56, 6:00, 5:59.

10 miles with Rebecca and Josse, avg 7:09 pace.

4 miles with burpees.  My watch was being weird so I don't know my time.

17 miles with Melanie, Jane, Kim, Rebecca, and two other ladies, one of which had to turn back when she twisted her ankle a mile into the run.  We ran a loop from Kim's house in PG.  Avg 6:47 pace.  I felt a lot better today than I did on my long run last week.

4 miles avg 7:26 pace.

10 miles with Rebecca.  Warm-up, 5 x 3/4 mile w/ 1/2 mile recovery, cool-down.  First 3 intervals heading up University Ave and into Provo Canyon, last 2 coming down the Canyon.  Paces: 5:57, 6:10, 6:20, 5:55, 5:54. 

Felt good on the run, but so tired after lunch.  Took a 2 hour nap.  I sure feel spoiled, being a stay-at-home mom and all, when I have a nap.  Not so much when I spend 2 hours driving everyone everywhere in the late afternoon and another 2 or 3 hours doing homework (I'm in 6th, 4th and 1st grade again.  It's harder this time). 

10 miles up/down AF Canyo with Melanie, avg 7:07 pace.

4 miles

13 miles with Melanie up/down Provo Canyon.

4 miles

7 miles with Melanie from her house along the Jordan River trail.  Fortunately the moon lit up the trail enough to see.  I'm feeling anxious for the St. George Marathon.  We ran two miles of it a little faster and the rest a little slower, although it was hard to slow down as I can feel the extra energy from tapering.  Our avg was 6:48 pace.  That seems faster than an "easy" run should be, but we really didn't feel like we were going fast and 7 miles isn't far. 

I seriously start feeling sick to my stomach when I think about the race.  Yesterday I thought, "Why am I even doing this?"  I love those weeks in the heat of training, the long runs with friends, seeing my progress, etc.  But when it comes down to the race, I hate the days leading up to it.  Usually I like the actual race, at least the first 22 miles, and I like having done it when it's over, that is if I do well.  When I don't do well I wish I hadn't even done it.  This week is the worst.  I wish I didn't doubt myself so much.  Ahh!

St. George Marathon 2:54:39!  This was the most enjoyable marathon I have ever done.  My goal all summer long was 2:54:45.  I looked at a pace chart last spring, noticed 6:40 pace was 2:54:45 and decided to shoot for that.  I must admit I had some serious doubts about it over the last couple of months though.

Melanie and I ran together until mile 23.  Our first mile was too fast, but after that we followed the 2:54:45 pace chart fairly well.  The miles seemed to go by so fast, mile after mile it was so nice to have a good friend by my side, wind at our backs, beautiful scenary, etc.  I thought Melanie might go out slower after having her foot bother her a few weeks ago, but was so glad she decided to "go for it" with me.

This was the best I've ever felt in a marathon.  My quads hurt almost the whole time and I felt a little "off" the first 8 miles, I think from the sleeping pill I took the night before, but other than that I felt great.  When I got a massage on Wednesday the therapist stretched my quads a little too hard and pulled them.  When we crossed the half, faster than we ever have before, I was nervous about how fast we were, but not about how I felt.  I thought I could keep up the same effort for 13 more miles. 

I was so nervous I would "hit the wall" any second during those last two miles but didn't.  When I turned the corner and saw the finish I felt great!  As I got closer and closer and the clock came into view I realized I was right on where I wanted to be, 2:54:38, 39, 40...  I sped up looking at the clock as I approached the line crossing at what I thought was exactly 2:54:45 gun time.  Ended up being 39 chip time.  My 9 year old son had so thoughtfully and specifically prayed for me to run a 2:54:45 after I told him that was my goal.  I hope my dad saw it.  He would really enjoy that.

1st half splits: 6:37, 6:46, 6:36, 6:25, 6:36, 6:29, 6:28, 7:19, 7:04, 6:58, 7:07, 6:55, 6:36.  Mile 13 @ 1:27:54

2nd half splits: 6:38, 6:27, 6:19, 6:25, 6:31, 6:54, 6:36, 6:25, 6:47, 6:37, 6:33, 6:32, 6:33, last .2 @ 6:24 pace.

So happy!  So so fun!  Can't wait to do it again next year!

10 miles up/down Provo Canyon with Melanie.  We were tired and stopped a lot.  Pace around 7:10. 

10 miles with Melanie in Lehi.  Felt better than Saturday, but tired the last 1.5.  Pace 6:58.

10 miles with Melanie and Melody in Orem.  Didn't feel as well as Tuesday.  Maybe I didn't get as much sleep, or it could have been the flu shot I got the day before.

12 miles with Melanie and Jane up/down Provo Canyon.  6:52 pace.  So much fun to run and visit and not care about the pace.

4 miles with burpees avg 7:09 pace.

10 miles with Melanie from her house to Smith's and back.  Avg 6:58 pace. 

10 miles up/down Provo Canyon with Melanie.  40 degrees with a little slushy rain falling at the start.  The first few miles were really pretty with snow on the trees and the sides of the trail.  But about 4 miles up it all of the sudden got reallydark.  We started at 6 a.m. so we were running in the dark anyway, but it was even darker, the clouds looked really grey and we could hardly see the headlights from the cars on the road off to the side.  It also sounded like the rain picked up, but we couldn't really feel it. 

When we turned around at Bridal Veil we had a pretty good pace going for the uphill @ 7:08 avg, but we quickly realized it was much less pleasant going the other direction.  The wind was blowing hail in our faces so hard it hurt our skin and eyes and we could hardly see where we were going.  The next two miles going down were some of our slowest ones on the stretch where wer're usually our fastest!  Fortunately it quiteted down for our last two miles.  Avg for whole run 7:00 pace.

4 miles

Ran 12 miles of the Halloween 1/2 down Provo Canyon with Melanie.  Average 6:24 pace.  We paused our watches four times when we stopped to drink.  My brother met us a couple miles from the mouth of the canyon and ran our last couple fast down with us.  Then I ran a mile home with him from the canyon for a cool down.  He lives right near me, and by right  near me I mean he lives in the house next door. 

4 miles avg 7:04 pace.

10 miles with Melanie along Jordan River Parkway avg 6:50 pace.

10 miles up/down Provo Canyon from my house with Melanie, Rebecca, Melody and Emily.  Average 6:52 pace.  This run felt hard.  I was tired going to the top, avg 7:05 when we turned around, then we ran fast down for about three miles, 6:24, 6:18, 6:24,  and slower the last two.  I didn't know what was going on, just that Melody and Emily were leaving the rest of us in the dust.  When we stopped at the drinking fountain 2 miles from home I said, "this feels like a tempo," and Emily said, "This is a tempo."   

4 miles avg 6:48 pace.  I have no idea why I ran that fast.  About 1 1/2 miles into the run, I thought, "I' m tired," and looked at my pace, an average 6:42.  This was supposed to be my "easy" run.  I slowed down after that.  I actually slept through the night, a straight 8 hours!  That only happens once a month or so.  I got woken up a lot earlier in the week with sick kids so it was nice to have a good night.

Melanie and I decided to run the dirt road that goes south from Hope Camp Ground near Squaw Peak.  Kim and Jane were running in Provo at the same time too and decided to come with us.  The camp ground is 5 miles from the turn off the Provo Canyon highway.  We started driving up but the road was closed.  It closed on Nov 1st.  We thought we might have driven a couple of miles and started running up the road.  Well it turned out we had only driven .7 of the 5 miles.  We finally got to the road we wanted to run on, after 3.5 miles at an exhausting 9 min pace, stopping every mile to rest, etc.  I'm not good on hills and had a hard time keeping up.  We ran about a 1/2 mile on the dirt road, which was still very uphill before decidinig to run down to where our other cars were parked by Will's Pit Stop. 

4 miles avg 7:05 pace.

Intervals at OHS track.  Melody, Emily, Rebecca and Amber had already started when Melanie and I got there.  We ran an 800, 1,000, 800, 600, 400, 200 with them then.  They had worked up to the 800.  We decided we hadn't run enough and did another 800.  We thought that still wasn't enough and did a 400.  Then we stood on the track for several minutes trying to calculate how many miles we had done of speed, we wanted 4.  Fatigue was seriously impairing my ability to do math at this point.  I finally decided we still hadn't run enough so we ran another 600 to get what we needed.  Our whole recovery time was spent just standing there trying to figure it out.  It was sort of a haphazard interval set for us, but I was exhausted at the end, so I guess it worked.

10 miles with Melanie and Melody from Melanie's house in Lehi.  Smith's route avg 6:46 pace.  I was so tired.  Haven't slept well this week because I keep getting up in the night with my son who is sick.