Daily Mile: The fun we have

This is what happens when Katherine and I are feeling less than enthusiastic about running.  In fact, we were both feeling quite slug like today.  That's okay.  We still had a blast out on the Sandy Rail Trail.

Someone left their forty on the trail just for us.

Does anyone else make friends with their shadow?  I like to watch my shadow when I run.  As silly as it may be, it motivates me!

I had gotten a ways ahead of Katherine when what do I notice sitting on the side of the trail, but a folding chair.  Time for some more tomfoolery! 

Miraculously, despite running into the wind the first half of our run, and feeling like slugs, we managed an okay pace.  Daily mile, done!

7.1
1:21
11:24

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

Daily Mile

My hip was hurting a lot this morning, so my run was very short and very slow.  After coming home and doing a bit of yoga and going for a hike it's feeling just fine.  No pain. My body was just not cooperating at 6am today.  Maybe I'll get in another short run tomorrow before my race on Saturday.  This week and next week will be like rest/taper weeks, because then I have the  Mid Mountain Marathon the week after that.  One race this month, one next month and then the race in October!  Yipee!

2 miles
28 minutes
14:00 pace

Why oh Why?

Today started out fine.  A little stiff and cold, but fine.  I met up with Meghan for a few miles after an hour of running.  It was slow going with lots of black ice and ice puddles on every street corner.  My pace was surprisingly slow even though I felt pretty fast when I was running.  After I left Meghan back at her place I headed home to drop off my dog, I just didn't have it in me to run with him for four hours today.  Just before the three hour mark I started to become very sore.  My hips and legs were really hurting.  The elliptical is just not as good as time on one's feet.  I went back and forth between feeling good and feeling like I'd been hit by a semi truck.  At one point with less then an hour of running left I nearly cried wondering why on earth I would do this to myself.  Then I texted Jeff for some encouragement and received a few ridiculous photos of he and the dog.  This did cheer me up some, but I was hurting.  Finally I made it home with not nearly as much mileage under my belt as I'd hoped for.  So not only was I hurting, but my ego was slightly bruised as well. More than once, while running, I thought about that fact that I have nearly twice this far to go in March and I'd certainly better get my training going now that it's February (PANIC!!!)  After a shower, a bath, some relaxing a quite a bit of foam rolling I'm doing slightly better (read, I can walk up and down the stairs like a normal human.)  I feel like I should end on some sort of positive note, but I'm not sure how to do that.  I just hope this next week of training won't prove so difficult.

4 hours
17.65 miles
13:35 pace
1 giant blister (it's gross, you should see it)
2 sore legs
1 bruised ego

P.S. I am still glad I went out even though the second half of my run pretty much sucked.  Now I own those miles!  They are mine.  So is the blister.

Training Week 10 or I love Maverik

Today was one of those awful/wonderful runs.  It started with a failed trip up Millcreek Canyon due to a blocked road and full parking lots.  Katherine and I were going to meet there, so I called her and told her it was a no go, to meet me at the Sandy Rail Trail.  After about 45 minutes in the car I was ready to get this run started.  Of course, I forgot my Garmin   At that point I was frustrated and decided to just let it all go.  I got in about a twenty minute run before I met up with Katherine and we headed on our way.  Despite the clear blue sky and the sunshine we were both very grumpy about running and agreed that we would rather be in bed.  We kept on keeping on and the next thing we know it began to rain.  This did not lift our spirits.  I vowed to not let Katherine quit if she wouldn't let me and we motored on.  Then, I had and idea and we left the rail trail on a mission and almost immediately felt better.  We were headed for the nearest gas station for hot coffee!  Yes, we stopped and bought coffee and then proceeded to run with said coffee and drink it through straws!  Despite the fact that it was now pouring rain we were quite happy and were finally beginning to enjoy our run.  It's amazing how a crappy run can suddenly become a fun run and not really have anything to do with the terrain, weather or anything else that would seem logical.  It's completely mental.  That adventure to the gas station (I should have known, Maverik is "adventure's first stop"  HA HA HA) took us down roads we'd never ran and we were having a blast!

On the Rail Trail we were running so sluggishly you might have mistaken us for these fine fellows we happened upon. 

Two cups of  piping hot motivation!

It's easy to run and drink coffee from a straw.  Who knew?

Thanks to my two awesome running buddies, this totally crappy run turned into a fun party run.  I finished my three hours with a smile on my face!

3 hours

Approximately 12.5-13 miles.  Since I forgot my Garmin I don't really know.  Katherine had hers, but I ran before she arrived and a bit more after she left, so this is my best guess.  For the sake of having mileage to write down I'll just say it was 12.75. 

Week 10

Monday: Yoga

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 4, plus weight lifting

Thursday: 4.6

Friday: 1, plus 30 min. elliptical

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: 12.75

Total: 22.35

Previous Total: 209.47

Training Grand Total: 231.82

Race Course Run

Today was another training run out on Antelope Island with the Buffalo Run crew.  As usual, we met up at 8am and started not too long after that.  It was one of the physically toughest runs I've ever done.  The footing was rough with deep snow and it was cold.  But it was sunny and beautiful and I was feeling great.  We did the 50k course loop (the 50k is two 16 mile loops, which actually makes it 32 miles, not 31) so it was great to see what I'll be expecting on race day.  There is a pretty tough steep section from approximately mile seven to nine (then again at mile 23-25!) that I had never been on before.  There was a lot of walking during those miles.  In fact mostly all walking because it was a series of switch backs and then another stretch up uphill after that!  I can imagine that doing that for a second time around mile 23 will be challenging, to say the least.  I was happy to run along with two other runners who ran a similar pace as me.  All in all a wonderful run and I finished with a smile on my face.  Just the way I like it!

It was C.O.L.D. cold at the start!  This was in the parking lot before we headed out onto the island.  It warmed up to a balmy 9º before we headed out on our run.  I have to say that at first, my face and fingertips where quite numb.

A sea of white.

It was so quiet and serene. 

Here comes the sun!  Once the sun came up it was quite pleasant, despite the cold.

Uneven footing much of the way.

A bit of uphill.

We ran all that way!

The rocks and snow are quite dramatic.

Afterward the race director once again had hot chocolate for everyone and I was more than glad to have a pb&j waiting for me in my car along with some coconut water and a large chocolate milk.  I was famished!  What a workout!  After I made it home I was wiped out and my calves cramped up.  After some foam rolling, stretching, a hot bath with Epsom salt and some icy hot I'm feeling quite good. I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight!

16.12 miles

4 hr 12 min

15:38 pace

Daily Snow Hike

Today Katherine and I hit up the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  It was 25° out and snowing.  It was very rough going as the trail was very uneven and very slippery.  We had to slow to a crawl in many places just to get up and down steep slippery sections.  I was feeling very stiff and achy.  I found myself cursing a week of sea level runs.  It was, however beautiful out and I'm sure it was very good training for my race as it could very well end up being similar conditions.  Not that I want to think about a.) running in conditions like that for 31 miles, or b.) how long it would take me to finish a race in those conditions!  It felt more like a snow hike than a run.  What did Katherine call it?  A snowy mountain adventure, I think.

  Katherine snapped these three photos while we crept along.  Killer icicles.

Making my way down a rather slick section.

Blue skies over the valley.

I snapped this one after we were done.  I have a snow mustache!

We called it quits early.  Honestly I'm glad we made it as far as we did!  

3.1 miles

56:48

18:19 pace (The answer to how long would it take me to run a 50k in these conditions?  9 hours 27 mins at that pace! Yikes!  Hope for sunshine!)

Snow Run

Today's run was epic!  It snowed all night and continued through our entire run.  I met up with Katherine and her friend Shelby, who may I add is not a regular runner, and headed through town to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  We ran the Shoreline trail for a few miles before turning around and heading back home.  It was anything but a boring run.  Snow, ice, speeding cars, slushy puddles, wet socks, calf high snow on the trail, you get the picture.  We ended up with a little less mileage than we initially set out to do, but with the snow depth it was rather slow going.

Three ladies out on a mission!

Shoreline Trailhead

Epic!

Shelby and Katherine.  May I just take this moment to say what a badass Shelby is.  Girlfriend isn't a runner and thought that a half marathon distance in the snow sounded like a great idea!  She kept up and had a blast like a pro!

The "non-runner" powering uphill ahead of us.

It was a true winter wonderland!

Running Buds!

It was fun, hard, amazing, difficult and I loved every minute of it, however I think I'll wear my sunglasses next time.  Now I'm seeing stars*!  Hmmm...

12.1 (+ approximately .25 when I stopped my garmin & forgot to restart it)

2hr59min

14:47 pace 

*The stars finally went away!  

Training Week 2

Today was my first back to back long run,* and the end of week two of training.  When I woke up before my alarm at 6:40am I could hear the wind raging outside and did not want to get out of bed.  After peeling my tired legs out of bed and getting ready to go Ozzy and I headed out on a loop that is uphill for the first three miles.  Let me just say that those first three miles were B R U T A L!  Not only was I tired from yesterday's trail run, the wind was howling around me and my legs felt like lead weights. At mile two I was contemplating the sanity of my decision making skills.  Luckily, by the time I reached the top of the hill and headed back downhill, I was feeling pretty decent and by the time I hit mile six I found myself running at a 9:30 pace!  Honestly, I knew it would get better because the first few miles are always the most difficult, but I didn't know I'd feel that good! What a great confidence booster!  I can almost see the 50k finish line!

7 miles
1:22
11:42 pace

*The back to back run is when you run two long runs in a row.  The purpose of the back to back for ultramarathon training is to prepare you for running on tired legs that you will certainly have on race day.  The back to back goes like this:  Day 1 long run, Day 2 long run of approximately half the distance of the day before, i.e. Saturday= 20 miles, Sunday= 10 miles.

Week 2
Monday: 3.1
Tuesday: 5
Wednesday: weight lifting
Thursday: 3
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 13.1
Sunday: 7
Total: 31.2

Week 1 Total: 23.12
Training Grand Total: 54.32

The Gully

First, for those that worry, a note about safety.  I always run with a friend and my dog, Ozzy, when I run trails in the dark.  I carry pepper spray, and so do my other runner girlfriends.  I also carry a whistle and a cell phone.  When I run trails during the day I bring Ozzy whenever possible.  Many trails here are watersheds and there are no dogs allowed.  I always tell Jeff where I am going and when I'll be back.  When I run with music I only ever put one ear bud in so I can hear what is going on around me and I don't wear them on trails at all.  Now, on to my story...

Today Katherine and I met at (the absurd time) 5:15am at Dimple Dell Gully.  It was 28° out and even though I had lots of layers on it's still darn cold at that time of day.  It was pitch black out and very slow going.  The ground in the gully is rough with lots of rocks and indentations from horse hooves with lots of ups and downs. Even in daylight I usually run at about a 12-13 minute pace on this trail.  Ozzy loves running with us there because at that time of day I let him run off leash.  He runs up ahead and waits to see our headlamps and flashlights before going on.  At the halfway point I decided to take a drink of water only to discover that the bite valve on my water pack was frozen solid.

Note to self: Sip from water on a regular basis when temps are below freezing.

No biggie really, since we only had 2.5 miles left to go.  Overall, the run was fun.  We even had to cross a stream twice and joked that it was the Rucky Chucky River crossing.  If you haven't read Ultramarathon Man by Dean Karnazes or are not familiar with the Western States Endurance Run, definitely look at that link.  Your mind will be blown!

5 miles
1hr 10 min
14 minute pace

Daily Mile

Today marks the official start of my 50k training plan.  Three whole miles and boy was I dragging today after  my long run last night!  But, I had my good buddy Katherine with me and it's a beautiful day out so I enjoyed my run despite the fact that my legs felt more like lead weights than legs.

3 miles
33:42
11:14 min/mile pace

P.S. After a recommendation from my soccer playing son, I popped the (very painful) blood blister under my toenail from yesterday and now my toe feels as good as new!  Thanks Kurtis!