Daily Mile

Today seemed like a good day to run.  Despite some nasty haze outside, the sun is out and the sky is (relatively) blue.  It was also around 20º by the time I got out.  I veritable heat wave!  I felt really good and strong.  The biggest problem is all the damn black ice.  I'd go from a nine minute mile to barely walking every time the road looked even remotely icy.  I am a pretty big sissy about this.  I do not want to fall!  But, it was wonderful to get out and move my legs!  

New Drymax socks.  They were nice and toasty!

Some call it a running belt or fuel belt.  But, come on, let's be honest....  It's really just a fanny pack!

I found this quarter!  It must be my lucky day!

3.5 miles

38:03

10:53 average pace

Daily Mile: It's cold out there!

It was brutally cold this morning!  The gauge said 28º, but it felt colder than that, even.  Katherine and I met up at the gully.  Despite numerous runs in the gully over the years, we still managed to find new things!  We even ended up on a main road at the turn around point, and a building that we were pretty sure was a bathroom.  Once we hit about mile three we finally started to warm up, the sun starting coming and I was feeling really good.  It was a beautiful run, despite the horrid air conditions.  Plus, frozen fingers spurred a trip to Target for some new insulated mittens.  I see warmer fingers in my future!

Brr!

Popsicle friends.

Look at all that frost! 

Hey!  I've never seen that before!

Here comes the sun!

 

We're frozen, and we're happy about it!

Here comes Speedy K!

No wonder the first half of the run always seems harder.  Dimple Dell is deceiving, because it doesn't really look uphill but it certainly is!

5.4 miles

1:09

12:55 average pace

Daily Mile

It felt great to run today after a few days off.  I was seriously shocked at the end of the run that my pace was so slow.  I was sure that we were running in the 10's.  Meghan met me at 6am and we ran to the nearby rich neighborhood and gawked at the houses as we ran.  Fall is certainly here.  It was time for gloves.  I'll wear shorts until it's 40º out, but below 50º I need gloves.  I hate having cold hands!

Did I mention my second ultra is coming up?  (Insert evil laughter) Well, it is!  Only 22 days left!

4 miles
45:14
11:18 pace

Last minute, I decided to go to the gym after working in my daughter's class.  I can't believe some of the horrible fitness and nutrition information I overheard some "personal trainers" telling their clients!  One trainer boasted about eating white bread every day, but justified it because he works out five times a week.  Good grief!  Forget the bread, lift heavy instead!

My routine today:
Dead lifts
Bench press
Lat pulldown
Lat arm raise machine
Hamstring curls
Hip adduction & abduction

Daily Mile

I love running in the dark.  Not necessarily the pitch black dark of night, but that just before dawn darkness where the sky is just becoming light.  I love that.  I'm a little bit sad that Fall is here, because even though it means cooler temperatures, it means that that moment of darkness is arriving later and later in the day.  Today felt fantastic.  I'm sure going to the chiropractor yesterday helped.  My whole body really felt smooth and running felt easy.  I love days like this.

I got a new phone, so of course, I had to test out the camera!

What 6:30am looks like.

5.2 miles

56:45

10:54 pace

Daily Mile

After a lovely day of rest, I'm feeling tip top!  I was rather slow, but felt quite fine.  Luckily, Katherine doesn't mind a nice easy run now and again.  She and I headed to out on our new favorite five miler, to Crestwood Park.  I was just a little slow, which is to be expected.  Now, only forty one days until Antelope Island 50k!  I can't wait!!!

5.08 miles

1:10

13:46 pace

the short, long run

This week my youngest child, Clarissa, started kindergarten.  That has been wonderful for my running and fitness routine!  I was able to get in three weekday runs, one in the mountains and a full yoga class at the gym!  Needless to say, I haven't woken before sunrise once this week.  When my alarm went off at 5:40am this morning, it took me a moment to figure out why my phone was making noise.  I ran straight from the house this morning, did a few miles, met with Meghan and did a few more miles before heading on my way.  There was a beautiful sunrise this morning and eleven miles flew right by.  I do love an early morning run.  Plus, I was home early enough to get in a yoga video before my kids were out of bed!

11 miles
2:08
11:41 average pace

Daily Mile

Today was fantastic!  I ran from the girl's school down to Crestwood Park again, did two laps and headed back home for a clean 10K.  I felt really great and it was a beautiful, cool, cloudy morning.  Love days like this!

On another note, I'm thinking more and more about a 50 mile race next year.  I really really want to run the Headlands 50 in California.  It just feels right.  I feel hesitant because it is during the school year, but hopefully we could make it work.  I guess I'll just keep dreaming about it at this point!

6.2
1:06
10:47

Daily Mile

I enjoyed lovely moonlit run with Katherine this morning.  Surprisingly, I felt fantastic today!  I expected to be at least a bit stiff and slow after my long run Sunday, but I felt super!  We headed to Crestwood park and did a couple miles on the the trail there before heading back.  We had quite a start when a large chocolate lab bounded around a corner toward us.  I about plowed Katherine over as I put it in reverse!  I think I was extra sensitive to this because of my experience on Sunday.  However, it was just the dog of another female runner and I was sure happy when I realized that!  By then end of the run I was feeling particularly fantastic and really put on the heat.  Overall, our pace wasn't amazing, but that last mile sure felt outstanding!  I love days like this!

Moon in the middle, street lamp to the right.

6.25 miles
1:12
11:36 pace

Daily Miles

Wow, this week has been busy.  Life just gets that way sometimes.  Luckily, I am still getting my miles in.  It would take a special kind of busy to make me miss a run.  Tuesday was a great day.  I ran to Meghan's neighborhood and did some hills there while waiting to meet up with her.  I was feeling really great and ran both the up and downhills.  Not a bad pace for eight miles of hills.

Thursday was also great.  It actually started with a bit of a stiff hip, but that went away after about half a mile.  I ran without water and headed to Flat Iron Mesa (read: drinking fountains) where I did some hills again.  There were a lot of people, which was motivating when running uphill.  It kind of lights a fire under my ass when I know people are watching me.  Although, there was one creeper guy who was watching a little too much for my liking.  But, like I said, there were a lot of people there so I wasn't too worried.

I'm gearing up for another short run tomorrow, then a big doozy on Sunday.  Twenty miles.  I'm hitting the trails.  Let's hope I can make it!

8 miles
1:28
11:06 pace

5 miles
53:10
10:38 pace

External motivation

After watching Speedgoat on Saturday, I was very motivated to run on Sunday. I felt great and was pushing myself a bit. I decided in order to get all my miles in I'd do a road run this week.  I ran about seven miles, and then met up with Meghan for about six. We ran to the gully and saw a huge stag who ran right in front of us! That was pretty awesome. Then I left Meghan and continued on my way. I felt very strong and finished feeling fantastic! I'm thrilled that a run of that distance is now becoming easier for me.  I have a good feeling about my upcoming races.

18 miles
3:35
11:57 pace

Daily Mile

Today I almost didn't run.  I'm really glad I did, though.  I felt fantastic!  At first, I was a little slow going, but then I picked up and felt really strong.  I set off thinking I'd run three miles, and felt so good that I added some extra mileage onto each 1.5 mile loop.  By the second lap I was feeling really great and picked up my pace.  It seems that alternating mountain runs with road runs is really good for me.  My body likes it.

Also, I'm really excited that Katherine and I will be volunteering at Speedgoat tomorrow!  I'm really excited to watch Anton Krupicka run.  He's the one that inspired this adventure.  There will be loads of other big names in ultrarunning doing this event as well.  You can look at the line up this year on iRunFar.  Lindsay will also be there taking pictures and hanging out.  So, all in all it should be a super fun day!

3.6 miles
38:33
10:42 pace

Lap 1
1.68 miles
19:24
11:32 pace

Lap 2
1.92 miles
19:08
10:00 pace

Daily Mile

Today was just what I needed.  Usually I don't love road runs, but after my mountainous adventure Sunday it was quite pleasant.  I decided, at the last minute, to go to Flat Iron Mesa and run on the flat walking path there.  Part of my motivation was that I was feeling lazy and didn't want to bring water with me.  I knew I could stop at the drinking fountain there, and it actually worked out very well.  I typically don't like this sort of thing, and prefer to run all by my lonesome, but for some reason today I was quite happy to be running amongst all the people.  There were the old folks walking with their friends (those are the friendliest), the speedy runner (she didn't even smile), the couple that did'nt look like runners, but were doing their best to run anyhow (who knows, maybe they've been running for years?), the couple pushing their kids in a jogging stroller, the many dog walkers and the random folks out for a stroll by themselves.  Watching all these people come and go was quite refreshing today and I was able to run at a pretty good clip through the park.  Usually my post long run runs are quite painful, but for some reason I felt great today.  Guess I was due for a good one.

4.57 miles
46:43
10:13 average pace

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Some runs are good, some bad, and some downright ugly.  Some runs are all three.  Today was all three.  I started off at 5am into my neighborhood feeling very sore from weight lifting yesterday.  Plus, there is so much smoke in the air from the fires in Colorado that the air is dry and unpleasant to breath. I just felt like a lump.  I thought about cutting my run short, but decided that would be, as Katherine would say, "lame sauce." So I put in my ear buds and let Will I Am motivate me to the half way mark.  Once I hit half way, not only was it downhill, but my spirits were lifted and I started feeling fantastic.  It always amazes me how some runs can start out so crappy and end so wonderfully.  Another day, another run owned!

5 miles
57:58
11:36 pace

lap 1
2.5 miles
32:51
13:08 pace

lap 2
2.5 miles
25:07
10:03 pace

Fortitude

Today I decided to test my fortitude.  First, I went to the gym with Jeff this morning and did legs.  Squats and leg presses until my legs shook.  Calf raises, leg extensions, the whole number.  Jeff kept asking me repeatedly, "Are you sure you're going to go running later?"  YES!  Of course I'm going running.  I had already planned it with Katherine.  There was no way I was skipping.  The last time I did legs I was oh so very sore... for days!  Despite what could have been a horribly painful experience, I laced up and met Katherine for a run at Dimple Dell Gully.  We decided to head west instead of east and mix it up.  The trail was lovely and there was lots of soft sand, wood chips, and fantastic winding single track.

There was also some very colorful graffiti.  Believe it or not, I miss graffiti.  Utah has way less, and way less impressive, graffiti than California.

Hey!  It's me!

Sketchy rape cave?  Smoking cave?  I don't want to know cave.  I'll look at it from a distance, thank you very much.

Friends.

Amazingly, I didn't hurt!  I could tell I had done leg work this morning, but I felt good.  I was a little tired, and walked a bit more than usual, but it worked out as Katherine had just gotten over the stomach flu.  Most importantly, we had a wonderful time.  Of course!

4.15 miles
54:07
13:03 pace