I started to update this blog a few weeks ago, but i forgot my password and have changed it so many times, i just couldn't get back in to my blog!!!

SO i changed it again today and will update. 8 weeks of training can be summed up in three words:

Injuries = undertrained!!

I made the 2 long runs of 14 miles and with the help of a friend, Cyndie, i also finished the 16 miler. Without Cyndie, that run would have been way less successful.

That was 6 weeks ago. Then the next week on my short runs, my foot hurt so bad i went to the urgent care and had it xrayed. Nothing appeared, but it i was instructed to stay off it for a couple days. That rest did not do very much good, and it continued to hurt. So i went back to my sports med doctor, and he re-xrayed the foot. An inflamed tendon was the cause, the tendon that wraps around the entire forefront of the foot. That was 3 weeks ago. I took some steroids, and 2 weeks ago ran a painful 10 miler.

So next week is the marathon, and when it arrives I will not have run but once for the last 7 weeks. Longest training run, 7 weeks out from the race, was 16 miles.

On this coming Monday i have an appt to get a cortisone shot in my knee and i will discuss for the last time with my doctor whether 26 miles will further injure my foot, or will be ok.

I am ready, with a changed plan of a LOT more walking than i had envisioned last year when i signed up to start the journey for this event. I am so undertrained for what i had hoped for. But i have been spinning my life away and doing cycling on weekends. So i have not been a complete couch potato!!!!

I have a 'strategy' and time frames i hope to reach. But i also have a backup plan, and that is to accept if my journey turns into - just to make the cut off time.

I will never know what i can get accomplished here unless i show up and give it my best effort.

I BAILED on my 1/2 marathon. I did get up at 1:45am, after getting only about 20 minutes sleep, thanks to my neighbors who had a late fireworks party, so i got up, and HOBBLEd to the kitchen and had a cup of coffee, limped back upstairs, stretched out my leg slowly, showered and dressed and could not get that sciatic pain to subside!! I feel soooo defeated about this. But the Olympics are on during this time and NiKE got a commercial that just touches you to the core - finally, they just nailed it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsXRj89cWa0&feature=player_embedded

So Sunday, i walked the 7.5 on my marathon training plan - 16:10 pace
Tuesday, a good treadmill run - walked .25, ran a mile, walked 4 min, ran another mile, walked 3 min, and ran another mile - 3 independent miles of all running - 3.5 today in 46 min.

Then today - ta daaaaaah! I feel very good about this. 4 miles - 46 minutes - NO WALKING!!!
With a little reminder from a dailymile friend - Michelle from Georgia - i also did a COLD bath afterwards. She recommended ice bath, but here in Utah, remember our tap water is melted snow pack, so i think that is cold enough.
But i feel good about this, and will try to stay on this journey to Find My Greatness!!

I haven't kept up daily, because it's the same thing - sciatic nerve pain through my leg all nite, and wake up with a stiff achy leg in the morning, looming races on the calendar that i cannot run to train for!!!

I have been sticking to my training schedule although - lightly. Trading cycling and spinning and walking for the running, but still doing the minutes on training days.

But i am still going to do this. The Timpanogas Half is tomorrow, and they increased the cutoff deadline to a time that is a 16 minute pace, Yay! that is at the 7.5 mile mark and i feel i can do this.

Sunday was a 10 mile run/walk. I did a bit more running than on previous long runs, increasing my running intervals to 2 minutes for all of it except the return home which is 2 miles up an incline.

Also calve cramps set in at mile 7 AGAIN!! 

On every longer distance my calves start getting cramps at mile 7. I have been hydrating alot, adding gatorade for electrolytes, added sweet potatoes, and i eat bananas every day. Lots of stretching too.

My doctor did comment that he thinks the cramps start from my sciatic issue, so there's not much i can do for this except the sciatic exercises. Which i do.

I need to leave my house by 3:30am to meet the buses that transport to the start line. I am worried, as always, about GI issues. So i will have to get UP at 1:30, have coffee and hope for the best. I will eat a banana and half a pnut butter topped bagel probably on the drive down there. And hope there are lots of restrooms and really hoping that my calves don't cramp up too bad.

It should be beautiful!!

Yesterday at work a friend of mine gave me an attitude adjustment piece of advice, and coming from her situation, i really took it to heart.
Tracy is known at work as Tracy the Runner. She runs, or used to run, circles around all of us. Miles and marathons.
Well last year she was in a car accident, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, completely not her fault. But none the less, she was the one injured. Her knee was so damaged she had to have 2 surgeries to repair it. But now it doesn't bend. She takes steroids for the pain, and needs a 3rd surgery, and then she feels she will be able to use it effectively again.

Well at work yesterday i was rubbing my lower back where my sciatic pain starts and Tracy came up and asked if my back was still bothering me. I answered yes, every step i take, and at night it hurts to lay down, front or side or back, and when i roll over the pain wakes me up.
So i said, let me ask you something, if you were in the middle of your scheduled training for your first marathon, 7 weeks having gone by with very little running, and 13 to go, and your goal was to do run/walk intervals, but now you have hardly ran at all and are more than likely going to have to walk the whole thing if you even do it.
What would you do?
Tracy said - "you are like me, i was so frustrated the other day, i just started crying to my husband about how i can't exercise and how fat i am and how it's depressing me. He replied to me, well you can't run but you can do weights and upper body stuff. Michelle, you want to do the whole picture, or nothing. And that isn't getting you to what you want. If it was me, I would change my goal. I would focus on that finish line. That is where you want to be. And if you have to walk to get there, then accept that is where you are now. That is what you can do, and do it."
So i really took this advice to heart, because i can (probably, well in 13 weeks) walk this, and maybe throw in a couple minutes each mile of some slow running, and get to the finish line. That is where i am right now, and i should not throw away this opportunity. i had to register for and run 2 races in St George to get my spot in this marathon. Over 10,000 people are turned away each year in the lottery. Only 7,500 runners are given spots, and this year i am one of those.

So thanks to Tracy, a woman who right now would love to be able to walk 26.2 miles, I am back on the horse.
Today - on schedule - i did 7.7 miles at a 15:00 pace. Running 30 - 60 seconds and then walking 2 - 3 minute recovery intervals in between.
I also think the 1/2 marathon i have signed up for in 3 weeks, has thrown me off  my path.
This 1/2 has a cut off time, i mentioned before. You have to be out of the canyon by 1 hour and 45 minutes, this is the 7.5 mile, and that is a 14 minute pace. When i signed up, i knew i could easily make that cutoff because it is 7.5 miles down hill, down a beautiful canyon! But not now. Today i realized, running downhill makes my leg hurt worse. And i do not think i can maintain a  14 min pace. Next week i will give it another try and see if my leg is better, after my knee gets a cortisone shot tomorrow. But there are still more areas of my leg that protest, my hamstring being my biggest concern.

The St George marathon does have a cut off this year. You must be out of that canyon by 1:00 pm, which is a 6 hour time frame. This cutoff mileage is at mile 23.1, they say a 16 min pace. Since it is the first time they are enforcing a cutoff, they are actually having a pacer for this slowest allowed time.

Anyway, I am off and wogging again!!

This is my new self image...............

Happy 4th of July!!
Did a late in the day cycle with my husband today.
He finally fixed one of our 3 other bikes to ride with me. He chose to try to fix one of our sons' mountain bikes, but the tires were too punctured and when i bought replacement tubes, they were the wrong kind.
So he decided to get out his sacred Schwinn. He bought this bike 40 years ago and swears it is a classic collectors item!!
Well, with air in the tires and WD40 on the gears, it did work ok!
The route he wanted to ride had a bit of a  hill coming home, but he said he would be fine. - Ok, this incline coming home is something we have disagreed upon regularly. I have run up this incline - 150 feet in 1.3 miles, and when it is at the end of your run, it seems pretty steep. Hubs has insisted 'that's not a hill' Well riding in his car it may not seem like a hill, but today, on his bike, it finally seemed like a hill to him!!

When we were starting out and he told me where he wanted to ride, i asked how many gears his trusty Schwinn had. He said '20 something'. I looked over at him and asked 'are you sure? I thought they only made bikes with 10 gears back in the 70's.' He assured me his had over 20.
Well as we were coming up the previously categorized non-hill, he got off his bike and started walking it. I was a ways ahead, and when i noticed he was walking, i turned around and went back and changed into a slow gear and pedaled slow next to him. He looked over and asked, how many gears does your bike have? I replied - 21, but i stay away from the outer edges and only use about 18.
He looked down at his and said, i only have 10.
Well what do you know!!!
But he has decided he is ready to go again, to Jordan Parkway, where there aren't any hills.
So a good day!

I need to catch up!!!
 I have been having TERRIBLE sciatic pain, and when i tried running last week - the only run i have actually done in weeks, it did not turn out well. 4 slow miles on the treadmill, my sciatic nerve hurt with every step, but not my knee or calves or anything else. So i thought all was good.
Then the next morning, i could hardly get out of bed. My knee hurt, my calve had cramping, and my hamstring was very sore, and yes, my sciatic nerve hurt all the way down from my back to  my bottom to my knee. I wore a knee brace all day, ate ibuprofen,  and hobbled around.

I have been doing cycling in the evenings, and once in a while walking, but seriously walking hurts with every step. So my miles have been much shorter than they should be, but now with my ham string.... It is now 5 days after that slow run and it still aches. I walked yesterday 8.5 miles at a pretty slow pace, it ended up taking me 2 1/2 hours which was an 18 minute pace. That is too slow for the half i am signed up for in 4 weeks, and even too slow for the St George Marathon.

For the Timpanogas Half, i have to maintain a 14 minute mile for the first 7.5 miles, they close the road at the 7.5 mile point to runners after 1 hour and 45 minutes after the start. You would think since it is downhill, that would be easy, but downhill hurts everything in my leg right now. St George marathon also has a cutoff at the 23 mile mark  at 6 hours - a 16:00 minute pace.
I go in to the doctor a week from today and get a cortisone shot in my knee, that will be one spot that will be less painful. Then we will discuss the next thing to try for my sciatic nerve. The cortiroids he put me on for the inflammation, did absolutely nothing for the sciatica.

I do not want to walk the marathon in October, the whole thing anyway, that is not my plan and would be nothing but a big disappointment if that is where i am at that point. I have 13 weeks to get moving and get the miles in. Even walking 8.6 yesterday made my legs tired.
I have time to try plans for healing, but not much, and I know there are marathons almost all year long - somewhere.
I might eventually need to decide which way to go.
Walking an entire marathon that I had planned to run/walk would be a failure to me. Walking is perfectly fine, if that is your goal. Mine is to be able to do run/walks interval the whole way. And if it gets to the walking only point for this year, i am pretty sure i am going to wait till next year when i can accomplish my goal.
We'll see, and keeping my fingers crossed for less pain!

Today was a walk. Well marathon training plans called for an easy run, but i am just walking till my leg heals. The pain returned during mile 2 and i almost skipped mile 3. But i want to keep up with the mileage so i slowed down a bit and got the 3rd mile done. The temperature was in the low 40's but my hands were cold and even got a little numb until i pulled my sleeves down over them ~ in June!!

Monday Utah was 20 degrees over the average, even set a new record of 98 degrees, and today we are 16 degrees below average - !!

I also called a Sports Medicine MD and made an appointment to get this leg checked out next Monday.I need to be informed about what the problem with it is, if it is really 'injured' and what exercise i should be doing to help it get better, and if my attempts at running are hurting it at all, or just feel painful.

Then tonight i did a 4.5 mile spin for 17 minutes. Spinning does not hurt at all.

Easy morning yoga - Yogamazing Morning Slow Flow  with Chaz. PERFECT!!!
I really need to do this more because i always feel good when i get a low level yoga session done in the morning!

Today was a 10.8 miles spin - 40 minutes. Slower but higher level today. Leg 'burned' when i got up this morning and it pretty much hurt all day, both the injured area along the inside of my right knee, and the back side from my  bottom down through hammie  because of that sciatic nerve! Pretty much did not do a whole lot all day, tried to stay off my feet because the leg hurt with every step.

Today was an attempt at doing more running. I copied Hal Higdon's marathon training program onto the calendar on my ipad and decided to try to keep up with it. The long miles on the weekend are pretty much  the same as they are on John Bingham's program, but the miles during the week are quite different.
The mid week running is 3 days in a row. The first 2 weeks are 3,3,3. I am doing my running days as Wed, Thur, Fri. long runs on Sunday.
After the first 2 weeks, the middle day of the mid week running days, start to be longer than the other 2 days. The longest running for mid week is 5, 10, 5 - that is a lot of running to do before work, but those days don't come until The beginning of September.
Anyway, so today i started Hal Higdon's plan which i thought was a 5 mile run. It is 2.5 from behind my house down to the library, so i decided to go down the hill, running as much as possible, to the library and there turn around and walk back up.
On the way down i did intervals walking anywhere from 3 - 4 minutes and then running from 2 - 4 minutes, with a final burst of 5 minutes at the end of the hill. Then i turned around and started back up. I actually 4 running intervals on the way back up, 2 -4 minutes each, and again a final 5 min stretch at the finish. I was glad to get some running done and for the most part my sore leg felt pretty good.
This afternoon and evening, it is sore and achey again. Hopefully by morning that will subside.
When i logged my mileage onto my ipad calendar, i realized that i was supposed to do 6 today instead of 5. I had planned on doing my last mile later in the day, but my leg started to ache, and my sciatic nerve being pinched really hurt today too, so i let the last mile go.

3 mile walk in the morning. I tried 3 running segments. Two were 30 seconds each and one was 53 seconds. Doesn't seem like much, but i wanted to see if i could tolerate running in the least. These went ok. The good news is that these micro bursts sped up my time and i averaged 16:17 per mile, which is quicker than i have been walking lately.

Spin today - I0 miles in 36 minutes. I wished my spinning worked out more than just my legs because these are easy and convenient!

"'Remember, your worst run is always 100 percent


          better than the person who never tries.'" 

Today was a stiff and painful stupid 2.6 mile Walk!!! My bottom is still sore from my sciatic nerve issue, my leg is quite bit tender, my ego and motivation are really taking a hit. Argghhh. LOTS of runners out today, and you know what, that really depressed me. I am happy for them, but soooo jealous. :(

Spin - 5 miles. Spinning feels great, but a long car ride (4 hours) to a small community college in Western Colorado - CNCC, was not fun. The car ride stiffened up my leg and i had to ease out of the car at every stop and slowly straighten my leg. It also aggravated my sciatic nerve and my back end hurst too!!
So i eased the pain by my usual - over eatting !! ice cream and brownies.
Maybe they allow scooters on the St George Marathon course? ;)

5 mile walk because that is what was on my 'training plan'
Leg felt sore after 4 miles and continued to do so all day.
I am really beginning to rethink my marathon, this leg issue is annoying, but not quitting yet.

I need to catch up because i have been having a failure week!
Monday - Nothing at all.
Tuesday - 3 mile walk - all was ok.
Wednesday - 2 miles and my leg would have none of it - so i kept it at 2.
Thursday - 11.6 mile spin - this was a great sweaty pain free spin!! Yay!
Friday - 2 miles - pain free but ran out of time on my slow - 17:30 pace!!!

Today was officially Week 1 Day 1 of marathon training!!! 4 miles
I was over anxious and did intervals the first 2 miles: walking 3 minutes/running 1 minute for the first mile, then walking 4 minutes/ running 1 minute for the next mile. That caused a definite pain in my right leg. So i walked miles 3 and 4, with just 2 - 30 second running efforts mixed in somewhere.
My leg is not happy. I have stretched, foam rolled, and iced it  and it is still very tender and achey.
The rest of this week i will just walk my schedule - that was supposed to be my plan anyway for now - and see where that gets me by next Sunday.
My time - first 2.1 miles - 30 minutes. Second 2 miles - 36 minutes, but that also included a stop and short chat with a neighbor (3-4 minutes)

Morning walk 3.26 in 51:28 - little bit faster. Nice and still when i went out at 6:30, but by the time i left for work at 9:00, windy and rainy!! here in Utah you never know how quickly the weather can turn yucky, but i have noticed more time than not, if i get a run or walk in early in the morning, i usually have better weather than the afternoon has.

Spinning day - nothing much to report except i got a spin in and a few reps with weights.
Spin 11 miles in somewhere around 36 minutes.

Today was a walk day -  walk 3.28 miles in 54 minutes - it was just over a 16 minute pace. Leg ached entire last half of the walk, so i slowed down my pace there.
But i just checked my Marathon Training schedule, and it starts this weekend. I thought i had already lost 2 weeks but i have not. But the best news is the Epiphany i had earlier today, and i just checked in my book - yep - John Bingham has 4 plans for his half-marathon training and his full marathon training plans. The first level for each is a walking plan, then it has walk/run, run/walk and run only plans. Each plan is the same number of weeks, each plan has the activities similar for each day of the week.
Same number of long miles on the weekend, you just approach the miles with walking or running or the combination of each that you want to do - So here we go. I will follow the 'walk' plan until my leg stops aching, then i will progress to the walk/run and eventually to the run/walk.
Yay! I am excited that i have not lost any weeks and i have a plan i can now do!!
Finally i am Optimistic about this marathon training!!! :)

Just a spin  of 7 miles in 25 minutes. Then 25 sb crunches. I have really let my eating habits get lazy since i have not been able to run. Hoping to start up running this Sunday.

Spin and walk today - 2 miles each. Leg still feels a bit sore during my walking.....

Today, for Mother's Day. I went for a one mile walk and them a hike with 2 of my sons. We hiked up to Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon.
The weather was absolutely perfect, and there were a lot of mothers out today with their children, from little preschoolers to adult children.
From where we parked, it was about 3/4 a mile up a well groomed road, then about .85 up a trail that was fairly easy uphill, except for the spots where the sun had not melted the snow, and in these spots the snow was packed down and slippery. Otherwise, it was easy if you watched your footing over some rocks and roots.
I was surprised however, at how out of breath i got on the steeper inclines. The groomed part and the natural section both had some inclines and i was panting quite a bit. I hope my leg gets over it's achiness pretty soon so i can run and stop sitting around so much. Its hard in the evenings to get on my spin bike and ride and get hot and sweaty when my husband is watching TV right there. And yes, he complains when i open the window. Sometimes it is not worth the defeated feeling i get for just trying, so more often than not i don't ride it.

Total mileage today was 4.2 with some hills, some picturing taking, and a moose sighting! First one for me!!

Susan Komen Race for the Cure ~ For my Mother's Day present to myself and to my daughters-in-law, i sponsored us all in the Race for the Cure.

Before and after the race pictures. It was an event full of energy, but not exciting. We missed my Daughter-in-Law's mother who is a Survivor and a very lively personality. She joined us last year, but was sick this year. I stopped by after the race and told her we intend on doing this continually and next year she is going to join us. She is very supportive of the family group effort, because  my sons and these two women are going through divorces, but we want to keep the contact with these babes and really between all of us alive and growing strong over the years ahead. It's hard to do, but hoping for a united front all around!

I realized i haven't been posting ~ That is because i have been feeling sorry for myself. My leg is still sore when i run at all, so i was just being a lazy slob. Then my sister gave me a kick in the arse and told me to get up and do what i can do. So i have been doing a little spinning, and some walking in the mornings.
Total mileage is 11 walking and 8 spinning in the last 8 days. And i have renewed my efforts at yoga. This is probably what i need to increase the most.
In fact this morning on my walk I stopped at the neighborhood church, which has grassy fields , a baseball field, and a view of the valley and the Wasatch mountains in front of it since it is on the edge of the neighborhood, well i stopped on the grass and did some Sun Salutations to help me stretch my leg during my walk and get  myself 'centered'. I felt a lot better after stopping to do this and my posture was upright and stronger after taking this moment.
I am improving slowly, but with marathon training starting up next week........ I guess for now i will be walking the miles.
This link is something a friend of mine posted on Dailymile, it is really inspiring!http://youtu.be/qX9FSZJu448
Hope i got it downloaded correctly!!

I Tried something new today, set my coffee pot for 5:00 just to make on e cup of coffee to see if that could wake me up enough to go run outside at 6:30. Well getting up at 5:00 is very difficult for me, so since i DID IT, I knew i had to go out and run.
3.3 miles in 35 minutes. Felt pretty strong and now i can really hear the wind whipping up as i type, so i am glad i got this happy run in.
My son just came in and showed me how to zoom in on my screen so i can actually see what i am typing. Boy does that help!!
I am going to work on getting up extra early to conquer my avoidance of running outside. I wish i knew the reason why. I think just lack of confidence. I see people running everyday as i drive to work, and i think "i wish i could run strong and confident like they do' well, i am where i am and really need to remind myself that any running is an accomplishment.

Trying to work on getting outside, i don't quite understand why i am hesitant to go out. So i made myself go at least for a walk. 1.1 miles but then my leg started aching again, but i broke the barrier for today and got out.

Stared outside this morning, but could not bring myself to go out to run. Went down to the basement to run on my treadmill. but .6 into it my right leg, inner side of the knee, really started hurting. It kept me up last nite hurting. I think it was from kneeling down to put in and level bricks on Sunday.
I shut off the treadmill at .8 and opted for a spin. 5 miles, something but not the run i hoped for.

This was a treadmill run that felt pretty good. 4.25 miles. I wanted to run outside, but i just could not get the motivation to get myself going in the morning, and then by afternoon the sun was pretty strong, so i actually had to force myself to get going on the treadmill. Got the miles in, but i am getting concerned about my lack of motivation.

Spinning 4.5 miles 18 minutes

Treadmill run today. I was soooo tired this morning that i could not drag myself out of bed, then this evening it was a bit windy, well a lot windy, so i opted for a treadmill run: 2.25 miles in 24:20, then a cooldown for .5 of a mile. Calves were a little tender tonite, but much better!
I signed up for the Timpanogos Half Marathon - it is in July and it has an elevation drop of 1,800 feet down American Fork Canyon, should be beautiful! It is called Timpanogos because you run past Timpanogos caves, a landmark. The worst part of this is the 4:30 Bus pickup!!! Yikes!!!

http://afhalf.com/timpanogos-half-marathon

Spin and walk today because my calves are so tight and tender.

Spin easy 3.5 - walk easy 1.3 in the afternoon. I am determined to battle back to finish a half with my head up!!

I am being lazy tonite and copied this from my daily mile post - so if you read it there, it's the same sad info!!

I am hoping this one goes in the books as my worst Half Marathon.
We started just before sunrise - a beautiful start to a beautiful day here in Utah.
I even kept pace with a great encouraging 2:30 pacer for 4 miles. Then the Gatorade i was sipping started giving me stomach problems and i had to slow way down so as not to regurgitate it back up. Plunked along for 2 miles then somewhere during mile 7 those painful calve cramps reared up. For mile 7 and 8 i fought them. Walking, stretching, massaging, running slowly, but with every run they froze up my legs in about 90 seconds. I battled with them for those 2 miles, then i came to the realization, there was no way i could even break 3:00 with miles of walking ahead- darn it. I then accepted the opportunity to finish the Salt Lake Half, and get the same medal no matter what my time. I have never walked through a finish chute, but i did today. But i still made it to the Finish Line.
I have a lot of research and experimenting to do to prevent this from happening again. I suffered through many bottles of Coconut Water this week, that was not the solution. I am going to find one though!!
Positives: It was fun when my calves weren't screaming and i got a finisher's medal. I got to meetAlison T. who drove us today, Thanks again!! And I have spent a lot of time hanging with Gina H.this weekend!! So it was a good day!
Happy Weekend everyone!

"Your biggest challenge isn't someone else. Its the ache in your lungs and the burning in your legs, and the voice inside you that yells CAN'T, but you don't listen. You just push harder. And then you hear the voice whisper CAN. And you discover that the person you thought you were is no match for the one you really are."


I got that quote off one of my Daily Miler friends post today. I just LOVE the last line - the person you thought you were is no match for the one you really are ~!!!!!
I am hoping to discover this to be true on Saturday, that i really have more in me than i thought.....


A quick treadmill run today - 2.5 miles in 26:30 - 10:30 pace. Happy with this. Finished with 90 sb crunches. 
Last entry till after my Half on Saturday. Let's keep fingers crossed that it goes well....

Today i just did a spin to keep my legs moving. 20 minutes - 5.7 miles.
One more run tomorrow, then a rest day Friday and my Half Marathon in the middle of
Salt Lake City bright and early Saturday morning..........

Out the door at 6:30 in shorts and a long sleeved top to find it chilly and windy! I realized a storm was blowing in, but i still did 2 .2 of my 3 miles in a loop around my neighborhood, without a watch so i don't know how slow i ran these,  then i had to make a bathroom stop at home - annoying issues - then when i went to go outside, it had started to rain. So i finished my last mile on the Treadmill - 1 mile in 10:20 - that made me happy.
My schedule this week right before my Half on Saturday, is very light. My friend who is also running the half is using a different schedule and she has ran a lot longer - long runs - than my schedule. And she also has many more and longer weekly runs. This has me worried that i am undertrained for this weekend! We will see......

This is NOT my tattoo!! It is my sister's. She just got it done last week and is really excited about it, but she could not figure out how to post it on here, so i am posting it for her. The girl is running through water, and Karen loves that. It makes her want to go run on the beach!! Very pretty Karen!

This is what she emailed me about it: Thanks.. you know that when you put yourself out on a limb like that getting the tattoo.. you have to do better! I kept telling myself I am the runner in charge going for it!!! keep my head up and have purpose. Smile feel the run!!!!

You go Karen, you are doing great!!!

For me a Busy day. Carried and juggled and planted 2, 10 gallon trees about 10 feet tall each! That was definitely an arm and shoulder workout!

Finished watching Boston Marathon this morning... I just Love watching the women's finish! Those ladies are so amazingly strong!

Only actual exercise i did was a 10 min spin - 2.5 miles.

Got up very early to get this last long run in before my half on Saturday.
Up at 5:00 am to drink a cup of coffee, and part of a banana to get my system going and done to get out by 7:00.
Out the door by 6:50, to a half cloudy, half clear sky, chilly and quiet 41 degrees. 41 is usually not that chilly, but with the cloud cover I was comfortable in capri tights and a warm tech shirt, the kind with the soft fuzzy inside next to your skin.
The run ended up being 6.5 miles in 1:12 minutes. I attached my Galloway timer today, setting it for 4/1 run/walk ratios. For having some walking breaks, i was happy with my pace. I also noticed that having 2 days off running or walking, and very little spinning, made this a bit achy of a run.
The only problem with my Galloway timer, was finding a place to attach it where i could hear or feel it.
On the  bottom of my shirt i could not feel it and missed a couple walking breaks. Attached to the waist band of my shorts, i got confused between whether the 'vibrating' was the timer or my fat jiggling~~!! :)
The best location ended up being the bottom of the long sleeve on my shirt, but on race day i intend on wearing short sleeves, i will get something figured out.

I am posing this on Monday instead of Sunday, when i actually ran and i am watching the Boston Marathon as i type ~ I LOVE watching this race!!!!

Yesterday was just a failure.
Thursday afternoon i had to pick my husband up from the hospital from getting a kidney stone blasted, and he has had more pain this time. I had errands to run Thursday nite and when the alarm went off on Friday morning, i just was zapped of energy and did not get up. I had planned on running after work on Friday instead, but by the time i got home from my son's High School baseball game, i was worn out.
I am more worn out emotionally than physically.

This morning got up and just did a very quick 1.5 mile spin.

Spinning day - 8 miles in 30 minutes - nothing to report about spinning. I just keep the resistance low, and watch Good Morning Utah. That always keeps me entertained.

Outside, predawn again! This was a better run today. It felt better and i was more 'determined' and got a little speed on. 3.3 miles in 34:40, which averages 10:30 pace.
Temperature was 55 when i went out at 6:30, the air was still and peaceful.

Now this evening, 47 and pouring rain. So glad i ran in the morning today!

These are some of the wonderful ladies who donate their time every week to weigh in the participants of West Jordan's Biggest Loser! The 2 happy ladies on the left are there EVERY Week with encouragements, even though i am so up and down each week. Last week a gain of 1.4, this week a loss of 1.
No more Junk from now till my 1/2 in 11 days..... yikes!!

Todays run was a sunrise run, and it was  a great morning for it. 51 degrees out with only a slight wind coming out from the south. I got out at 6:31 and was out looping my neighborhood till just after the sun rose around 7:00.
3.3 miles, 37 minutes.
I went to the running store to buy a new bra, and talk about my calf cramps.
The are in agreement, i am depleting my electrolytes, and they told me that the calf muscles are the first to react. So their solution, is to hydrate with Gatorade, or a different sports drink that i like, to replace my electrolytes while running longer distances.
A friend of mine at work suggested i try coconut milk, and.or coconut water.
So i will give the coconut water a try when i get a chance, other people drink it too.
But for my half it looks like i will be carrying Gatorade....

Today is Monday, the 9th, and my sister reminded me that i have missed at least a week of blogging. i am going to back up and copy my posts off dailymile because i also have forgotten to keep up on my calendar on my ipad.
My sister, Karen, (runningfatstick:)) also thinks it might be because i have already thrown in the towel.  NOT TRUE!!!
i do fight daily with myself and my family to get my training/running time in, but my marathon training has not 'officially' started, that will be in May. Right now i am still training for my Salt Lake Half Marathon on April 21st.
Then i will have 3 weeks without a 'schedule' and then the training for St George Marathon starts.
 This is the link if you wish to check out the home page for it:

http://www.stgeorgemarathon.com/

This was probably my worst long run I can remember.
I got up 2 hours later than planned (no surprise) and did not fuel at all. Warmed up by hiding Easter Eggs (yes for my teenagers, they still compete to find the most) Actually when i got back, one of the dogs, the chocolate lab!!, had found and eaten 7!!
Anyway, the temp was 38 when i left so i wore tights, the sun rose higher and at mile 3 i had to stop at home to change into shorts, just way too hot. Somebody in the neighbor was baking cinnamon rolls, hmmm they smelled so good!, so when i stopped to change i ate part of a banana and grabbed a drink of water, and used the restroom. This pit stop was 10 minutes long!!! So my time is a bit longer for it.

So i ran around my neighbor again and at mile 5.75 i headed down the hill to the library, making myself run the whole 2.5 without walking.When i got the library I turned around, now at 8.25, chomped on 3 Cliff Blox and headed back up the hill to my home. Much more walking on the way back up. Downhill was in 27 minutes, back up was in 35.
 I kept getting cramps in my calves on the way back. I was remembering that about 7-8 years ago when my son would ride his bike while I ran, we would head out for 7-10 miles often, and i never had cramps. But i used Gatorade for my fluid intake. Today it was just water, and i am thinking the potassium or sodium in Gatorade helped me ward off cramping. Today i think i sweated out all nutrients!!!
2 weeks until my half, and i am hoping that for race day, i will have a better run.

Treadmill run today: Felt good about this, first 4 miles were in 44 min, the last .5 was in 4:30. Fast for me. I am in desperate need of an ejection button on my bed though. I wanted to get this done in the morning, but got up and saw the snow and went back to bed for 30 minutes!!

More circuit training today:  spin, then set 50 sb crunches, 10 gups (girl pushups) 30 sec plank,
repeat 3 times.
The spinning was 8.5 miles total.

4 miles on the treadmill today. Walked the first miles while talking to my dad on the phone. Then picked up the pace and the last 2 miles were under 11. Happy about this run.

Just a spin today - 5 miles in 18 minutes.

Since I never got my long run in yesterday,  i was really frustrated about that. I had a very long pity party about it though until i read a quote in Runners World: a man from Texas said "my big sister was born with cerebral palsy and told me that her favorite dreams are the ones where she dreams that she can run. I've never taken a run for granted since."

So i tried today, in pieces, 2 miles on the TM, then I woke up son for school, 4.5 more miles, then I took son to school. I tried to go outside to finish up 4 more, but my legs would not go. I forced 1/2 mile and then came back.
After that I went to the brand new City Creek mall. Trying to shake off my black cloud, one day and one run at a time.
Happy monday friends, and remember: "Your worst run is always 100 percent better than the person who never tries"

Today was supposed to be 11 miles.
Our darling 3 year old grandaughter spent the nite, and  then in the morning i needed to set out to get my miles done..
It was rainy and cold, so i decided to try to get this long run done on the TM.
This is a warning: I am going to whine here.
I waited until my husband had cooked his Sunday Morning Bacon, and started a crockpot of his spaghetti sauce (this is the only sauce he will eat, HE thinks it's the best in the world)
Then, after he was done, he said he would watch the little one while i ran.
SO 1.5 miles into my run, she comes down stairs, and said 'gramma, while do you always to this?'
I told her that granpa would play with her for a while. And she replied - he left!!!
I couldn't believe it!!!
I was soooo frustrated and this made me want to throw in the towel!
I got off and spent the rest of the day pouting.
I later told my sister, that i should probably postpone my marathon plans for another year.
I am 40 pounds overweight, and that makes training even harder on me, plus the difficulty getting up in the morning, and having family interference.
She reminded me - If you don't do it this year, you will probably weigh another 40 pounds next year then, and that will be even harder. Her husband told her to tell me that i was putting in the training and i needed to do this for me.
They are right, and i am grateful for their encouragements and support.
Just wish i could get this old tired body out of bed in the mornings ON TIME!

I am just 'not feeling it' this morning and did NOTHING!!! Worried about this mood.......

'Circuit' work today - spin 10 min, then 50 sb crunches, 15 knee pups, and then some weight repetitions. I did 3 cycles of this.
This really did not feel like much of a workout......

Today i did a tribute run for a dailymiler who died on Monday, apparently at his local track. I was not internet friends with him, but those who were said he was a great motivator and a great friend. It was an unexpected and sudden death, i am not sure of the cause.
3.1 miles today.

Just a tired treadmill run today. 4.5 miles, 50+ minutes. I forget now how long, but it was pretty slow going. But i got the miles and minutes in, Yay!

Today was a short easy 'wog' jogging + walking for 2 miles to loosen up my legs after the long run yesterday.

Today was a long run day. My Half Marathon training by John Bingham only said 6 miles, but the other plan i have said 9 for today. I went with the 9.
I wanted to practice down hill and knew i had to finish uphill with that plan. So i ran 4.4 around my neighborhood, then went downhill. The down hill was .5 to the road, and 2 miles down the road, then turn around and come back up.
Except for the 2 miles downhill, i kept to a 4/1 run/walk interval. The run ended up being 9.5 and my time was 2 hours. that was about a 12:36 pace. Hopefully my marathon pace in October.
The St George Marathon has a descent for the first 7 miles and then an incline for 4 miles and then is basically a descent for the next 15 miles. I am hoping if i practice finishing with an uphill for a couple miles at the end of my long runs once a month, i will be prepared for the course.
YIKES!

Running done in splits again today. 

Just a note to self, no oatmeal for dinner, it doesn't agree with you for running in the morning.

First run, 1.5 miles on the TM (staying close to home)

Then because of extra time from not running further, Yoga Sun Salutations with Rodney and Family. 

Blinds, and windows open to listen to the birds, feel the breeze blowing in and watch the sunrise.

Nice morning yoga.

Then in the evening after work, finished my miles with 2.5 on the treadmill. 

Total time for both runs was 43:40. Only pace i remember was the last .5 ran at 10 minute pace - Yay!

Today was a spin and core. 25 min spin - 7.1 miles. 175 stability ball crunches, and weight repetitions with a 2 pound weight. Not much on the weight, but i am trying to strengthen my left arm, it has something causing a lot of pain in my upper arm with any strength efforts.

Today was a mixture of short runs when i could get them in.
Started early with a blurry eyed tread mill run: 1.5 in 17:41.
Then after i took my son to school, i went ahead and got another mile in running one lap around my neighborhood. It was a chilly very pretty morning. I wore shorts and an old ratty sweatshirt and it felt great. Using my MapMyRun App, it was 1.1 in 11:18.
Then after work i finished my miles with a sunset run. Very pretty again. 2.03 in 21:29.
Total of 4.63 for the day, i feel good about the days total!

10 min spin - 3 miles

4.25 mile run in 46:30 minutes. 1 mile of spinning, a w/u and c/d with 16 lunges after everything!

Catching up with posting  -
Spin 15 min, 2.8 miles

St Patrick's Day Run! This was the Spectrum 10k in St George, Utah.
This race starts 3.5 miles up Snow Canyon, which requires you to take the provided buses up to the start.
That is always kind of fun because you can talk to other runners, but today, the temps were in the 40's in St George with cloudy gray skies and windy!! The buses dropped my load of runners off at 8:10, so we had about 50 minutes to move around to try to stay warm and have a last visit to the porta potties.
This race tops at 800 runners, and they had that many plus a couple more sign up. Of course the shirts they gave out were green, and many people wore those shirts, and a lot of others, myself too, wore some form of green in honor of St Patricks Day.

When the race finally started, i started near the back of the runners, about 800. Going down the canyon i could see ahead a road filled with a sea of runners, most of them in green. It was a very pretty sight. This canyon has red walls, and the landscape is mostly covered with sage brush and small desert type plants. They contrast with the red dirt and dark red cliffs that make up the entrance to Snow Canyon.
As you near the opening, you can see across the valley that spreads out to the next mountain range.
It's a very pretty sight, even with the gray clouds above threatening to rain, which never fell till later that nite.

I finished in 1:12:?? - an 11:41 pace. This put me 23rd in my age group of 28 ladies, and 679 overall out of 778 runners.
It was a fun race, pretty route, but i was definitely out classed with these serious runners, many who were talking about Ultra's they were training for, or their sub 20, 5k's.
Oh well, we all ran the same route, saw the same sights, and had a good time.

After the race, i still had to get 2 miles done for my 1/2 training schedule. So i drove to the Confluence Trail. On the way there i saw a sign at the restaurant Kneaders. It read: all you can eat french toast $4.99!
Well, that about did me in. I parked at the trail and used my running App to measure 1/2 mile running, then turned around and went 1 mile, then turned back to the 1/2 mile back to my car. This was torturous!
I was exhausted, and STARVING!! I had to do some walk breaks and at the 1.7 mark, i couldn't run anymore, i just walked back to the car. But my mantra for this entire 2 miles was : french toast, french toast..... that was all i could think about!! So yes, after my run, i changed into non sweaty clothes i had brought to the race with me, in case of an emergency such as this. Then went to Cracker Barrel which was right by the running trail, and ate french toast to my tummy's delight!!

I have been slacking on posting, so it is now Wednesday March 21st, and i am going to catch up:
I keep all my workouts and schedule on my ipad, so i am getting the workouts from there.
Wed 3/14 - treadmill min 4.1 miles 45:30 min + 50 sb crunches.
Thursday 3/15 Two spins a) 20 min - 5 miles b) 20 min - 5.2 miles.
3/16 was my race in St George so i am going to give that it's own post.

Spinning day today - 7 miles 25 minutes, followed by 100 sb crunches.
Tonite was our weekly weigh-in: i broke even. That means with all the running I have been doing, I must eat 3,000+ calories a day to not lose any weight!!! I think it is all those  quick couple crackers, or quick couple cookies, or just a couple bites of ice cream. That kind of 'quick' grabbing a snack or bites must really be adding up.
This week i am vowing to curb that snacking and see how i do by next week. Yep, i am.....

Today was a black hole day.
Day light savings time, and being worn out from our mini vacation, i had absolutely no motivation nor desire to run today. Even considered dropping out of the running world all together. I know i gained weight from vacation food, and snacks.
But i took my own advice i gave someone else: Just put in the miles so that when you do 'feel it' again, you will still have the miles under your belt.
But i couldn't get enough motivation to run in the gusty wind, so i hit the treadmill.
4.5 miles in 50:33 - No walking breaks.
So, on paper, it looks fine, just hoping to get over this black funk soon.

This morning's run was down in St George, Utah. Commonly referred to as Utah's Dixie.
We are down here for a high school baseball tournament. So my 20 year old son accompanied me this morning.
 The sun was shining brightly, the air was about 40, with a chill. We ran from the hotel towards the Confluence Trail, but the underpass under the freeway was closed for construction. So we walked towards the overpass, right along the river and were able to run along till we came to a temporary chain link fence on the other side. But tromping through the bushes and shrubs, we were able to circle around the fence and connect with the trail. We crossed the river on a wooden bridge and continued on till we hit 2 miles. We stopped and enjoyed the peaceful scenery from a second wooden bridge, then headed back towards our hotel. We stuck to the roads and crossed the freeway on sidewalks, and even increased our pace about .25 from the end of our run.
Miles and time were 4.17 miles in 53 minutes. But this included stopping to check out a route under the freeway, tromping through bushes for a minute, contemplating the scenery for a minute, a bathroom stop (for me) and waiting at 2 signals. So i guess the time was acceptable!
But it was great to have Chris run with me!!

I did today's workout in segments. Busy day, here i am posting at 11:30 pm!!
 First, a 1 mile spin warm up for 4 minutes. Then my TM run, which was supposed to be 45 minutes, but i ran out of time and did 3.5 miles in 40 minutes. Then after work i got the inspiration to finish my miles, so i hit the treadmill again and decided to make it a quick mile. I kept upping the speed, running the entire last quarter mile at a 10:00 min pace. My whole mile this evening was averaged to a 10:30 min pace. That is what i am going to make my goal, to run this pace on my runs this summer.
I think i would find everything about this adventure much more fun and more obtainable if i could just get past my biggest obstacle - rolling out of bed in the morning!!

Today was a running day. Legs were tired from 2 spinning sessions yesterday, but the schedule said 44 minutes, so that is what it did! 4 miles in 46 minutes with 1 walking break. I accidentally hit the wrong button while trying to turn up the volume on my ipod. The button i pressed instead stopped the whole treadmill, miles and time, so i took a drinking water walking break then. I did the first mile in 12 minutes, then tried to go just one click faster each mile. I did finish the last half mile faster, 11 min pace then started the very last .25 at 10:30 pace and slowly increased it till the last little bit was at my dream pace, 10:00 min pace.
Tonite was weigh-in nite at the W J Biggest Loser - well it appears that the cookies brought on by those little green monsters, Girl Scouts, caused me to gain 1.2 pounds. I just can't seem to get this dieting thing under control!!!!

Today i did spinning. 7 miles in 25 minutes in the morning with 170 stability ball crunches. Then in the evening i did another 10 miles spinning in 38 minutes.
Another visit to the chiropractor because my back side hurt alot on Sunday. Can't tell if this trip helped or not!

I was intending on going to the track to run 7 today. Wanting to keep with my chiropractor's advice of running on a level surface and be outside in warmish weather. But life had different plans today. My daughter-in-law asked if i could babysit for the afternoon while she worked. And the temps early in the day were still in the low 30's. I just could not bring myself to get out early to the track, so i opted to run this on my treadmill. Long Miles for a treadmill!
It ended up being a good choice, as i needed a bathroom break at mile 1.5, and i also was able to keep a steady slow pace. 7.25 miles in 91 minutes - 12:34 pace. Only one walking break at mile 5.8 for 75 seconds to drink some bottled water. I cannot drink while running and swallow while gasping. So i always slow to a walk while drinking during runs, and it adds a short break so it's fine.
I have lost my running motivation lately. My confidence that i can actually run outside, Life has been throwing stressful buckets at me, and it is affecting me not just emotionally, but physically too.
I am trying hard to get stronger as a runner, and hoping that will help me also become stronger as a person.
13 days to my 10k in St George, and while nervous, i am also getting excited about going out of town without anything to do but have a nice and enjoyable run down in Snow Canyon!

One of my dogs woke me up at 4:00am today, and i could not get back to sleep, so i decided to get my run in early. 4:20am. That is 1 1/2 hours earlier than my alarm is set for.
Nice and slow, I got 4 miles done in 48:08 minutes, with NO walking breaks today.!!
I tried to do strides, but i only managed 1 for 40 seconds at an 8:00 min pace, and was doubled over gasping. So my breathing is still undergoing recovery from my flu earlier this week. But an early run with 20 lunges afterwards felt great!

My sister complained to me that i have not been keeping up with my blog. Well, i have not been keeping up with my training and therefore nothing to write about in my blog.
The fluish thing i caught wiped me out, not 'sick' just exhausted and it hurt to breathe deep, so i did not have the energy to do much for the last 2 days.

Good news though: this week at the weigh in I lost 3 pounds!! Yay! Except it was probably because i   did not feel like eating - that one day. I also went to the chiropractor on Tuesday for my sciatic nerve pain. He did electric impulse things, pressing on my back and dropping half the table things, and those twist your body sideways and he smashes you twisting you farther. The things they learn in chiropractic school!!
Anyway my backside does feel somewhat better today.
And today i got a spin and run in!!! 2 mile spin and 3 mile run. I wanted to run farther, but this 3 required a couple walking breaks, so i left it at that. Then 20 lunges and 55 sb crunches.
The chiropractor also said my hips are tilted, not permanently, almost 3/4 inch difference. So he wants me running on the treadmill or a track till i get straightened out. Waking up to snowplows today... the treadmill was the only way i was going to be able to run - brrrrr.

Still sick and still needing running done.
I did a warmup spin for 20 minutes, 5.7 miles.
Then some treadmill running. 22:40 - 2 miles. My legs liked this run, but my throat and lungs were a bit painful when i tried to breathe deep.
But i got some exercise for 2 days now!

Was sick for the last couple days and did not run, but I know I need to keep up a schedule so i tried running this morning. Since I am sick and it was 25 degrees outside, i opted for the treadmlll.

I wanted to try for the whole 6 that was on my training plan for the Salt Lake City 1/2, but 1.5 miles into the run my son called to see if i could babysit my little 6 month granddaughter while he took his wife to the instacare for her illness - it ended up being a bad case of the flu.
I finished up to 3 miles then got off to go babysit. Not a great 3 anyway, gasping for breath, i added a couple walking breaks here and there.

just a spin today. 35 minutes - 9.2 miles. then 120 stability crunches and 18 knee pushups.
But tonite I feel fat. I need to make time at nite to do a spin or walk. Treadmill while it is so cold and windy outside would be good. I just need to add a second exercise session.

Did a mini brick today. Warm up was a short spin, 2 miles in 7:20 seconds.
Then went out in the morning. Pretty warm for February, 41 degrees. The sky was getting lighter at 6:30, and it was a great morning to run outside.
Had to call it short, 2.15 miles, and had to add walking breaks, 27 minutes total, due to a bad choice for dinner and GI issues.

Regular scheduled run of 45 minutes. Today 45:44 and 4 miles. Tried to pick up the pace a bit today, but i got out of breath and had to walk for 45 seconds during the last mile. but I still got the miles done.
Finished with a little core: 10 squats, 15 lunges, 10 pushups (knee) and 75 stability ball crunches.

This started out with the intent of being an easy 2 mile run, but things turned out differently when i some how got Lost!!!
Started out with an easy walk with my husband for 1/2 a mile then he returned to the hotel and i started off on my run. The air was chilly, so chilly that my legs were numb in my shorts and my hands got numb also.
I was slowly running along and realized that somehow i had turned off the road my hotel was on. I have been in this exact area and gone running a number of times, and it really is pretty hard to veer off the main road, but i managed!! So i kept running at a comfortable pace and at 1 1/2 miles i realized where i was and turned onto the main road again and walked 1/2 mile until i found a restroom. Then i ran the remainder back to the hotel. It actually really felt great to get this cold morning miles run in!
Total miles - 4 including the warmup 1/2.
Total time - 47 minutes, including the warm up time.
I think i run faster in this lower elevation.

Sand Hollow Reservoir 5 mile run!

The weather was beautiful, 38 and clear, crisp and sunny. The water was dark blue, the rocks surrounding the small reservoir were deep red. Beautiful.
For this race there are two distances you can run, 10 miles or 5 miles. Both distances start at the same time in the same place and all runners head out across the damn and turn onto the road that circles the reservoir. There are 2 turnaround locations, one at 2 1/2 miles and one at 5 miles. It's an out back course so you cross the damn twice.

Very fun race, organized by local runners in Hurricane, Utah. A couple hundred people from  all over Utah come down to St George to run this race. I plan on doing it again next year.
My goal was to finish and not be last, hopefully in under an hour,  and not get passed by too many people doing the 10 mile race.
Well my time was 57:41 - Yeah!! I was 3rd out of 5 in my age group - Yeah!! And the first person to cross the finish line out of the 10 mile racers, finished 30 seconds behind me - Yeah!!!!
So it was a great finish for me, and my second race is done for the Runner's Series for the Marathon.
That was all i needed, so my spot should be officially reserved - Yeah!! and Yikes!!!

Down in St George today, this was just a .6 mile walk to test the 'MapMyRun' App i downloaded to my phone, and it looks like it works well.
Baseball tournament today so there won;t be time for running and our hotel does not have a fitness room! But i have a 5 mile race tomorrow! Yikes!!

i did not get a run in yesterday, it just did not happen. I was pressed for time today, as we are traveling out of town later and i still had to pack, so i did a nice quick and sweaty 30 minute spin for 8.1 miles.

Yesterday was a rest/walk day, so i did a 5 min spin for 1.3 miles, then a 1 mile walk.

Today was a 45 min run. Slowly made it to 4 miles in 48:20.
Finished with 20 lunges, then 4 sets of 25 stability ball crunches.
I got the run done, but it was not a great day.

At the biggest loser weigh-in, i GAINED .4 of a pound. So of course i weighed my pants and they weighed 7 ounces more that last week's pants, so i guess this week i broke even.
 I really need to learn to 'Just Say NO!!'

All week the weather has been a bit warmer than normal, so i wake up today on my non-work/long run day, and yep, cold and drizzly. I could probably handle cold, I have even run in drizzly, but the combo with the cold being in the 30's, was too much to get me out of my warm bed.

So, a cup of coffee and peanut butter toast later, i opted for the Treadmill because i needed a 5 mile run today. Hallelujah, I did 6.1, but at a snails pace, 73 minutes, 20 seconds, which is a 12:01 pace.
I keep telling myself that a 12:00 minute pace for my half is being Over Optimistic, but on runs 6 and under it feels slow. I did allow myself 3 one minute walking breaks, one at 2.5 miles, one a 5 miles, and one at 6 miles. I need to find the right pace for my half, before it gets here in April!!

The miles for this week are done!

Today i realized that 3 days of running in a row is too much for me right now.
I got up this morning and stumbled around bleary eyed putting on my running clothes. I decided to run on the treadmill, because going outside just sounded like too much trouble!!
The run was 4 miles in 46:20 minutes. I took one bathroom break during mile 2. It was a struggle today, just plain tired legs. I was also too late to do my strides, but i got the run in.

I looked up my marathon training plan, and the weekday running is Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday. With the long runs on Sunday. So i am going to start next week doing my half marathon training on that schedule, running Tues, Wed, & Friday during the week instead of Wed, Thur, Friday, and walking Mondays, cross training Thursdays. Then maybe my Friday runs will be better runs, and not just struggles.
I finished with just 45 crunches today.

This morning i did a spin for my warm up. 9 min, 3.2 miles.
 Then when i checked outside to see how light it was, i noticed it was not completely dark, just a cloud cover. But there were a few slices of almost light blue peeking through the clouds. The temperature was 34, so i decided to go out in the still dark chilly morning.

The sidewalks were covered with ice crystals that crunched under my steps, but the streets were ice free. It was a peacefull morning out as i carried a flashlight and ran a figure 8 route through my hood to finish off 2.1 miles in 24:10.
I felt very happy that i finished this run without any walking breaks today! Yay!
Finished up with 116 stability ball crunches.

Last night was the weekly weigh in for WJ Biggest Loser and I was down 1.6 pounds, which is great until i realized I had worn jeans the first two weigh ins and last night i wore track pants in anticipation of going on their weekly walk. Well, i just weighed those two pairs of pants and the difference is 1 pound, that means i was only down .6 of a pound!! I will excuse myself this week because it was super bowl Sunday, and lots of fattening foods, but now, i need to exercise a little self control here!

Todays run was 4 miles in 44:45 min. on the treadmill. I did a one minute walk break at the 2.25 mile mark. Then some stretches for my sciatic nerve pain, which has been bothering me a lot this week.
That is why i did not go on the walk last nite with with Biggest Loser group - too much pain.
Can't wait for the sun to rise a little earlier so i can go do some of my morning runs outside.

I just did a little spinning last nite - 26 min, 6.79 miles, and 104 stability ball crunches, because my sciatic nerve was very painful yesterday. Today is also a painful morning. I need to be more dedicated to doing the exercises i have for it.

Sunday's long run was a bit of a tough one. It was a 5 miler outside.
All thermostats said that the temperature was 24 degrees, but it seemed warmer. I wore tights and one long sleeved cold weather shirt. One with a 1/4 zipper in front, thumbholes in the sleeves and soft moisture wicking on the inside, a regular baseball hat and no gloves. I was already sweating by the first mile, so I stayed on the shady side of the streets as much as possible.
I started with 8/1 intervals, but by the mid point of this loop, i was already running out of steam, so i shortened my running intervals to 6/1 and continued that for the rest of the way. 6/1 works out much better for me right now, although i have 2 long term goals: running halfs at an 8/1 interval for a while, then i really want to be able to run the whole 13.1 without walking intervals at all.

This 5.1 mile loop started at Bingham Creek Library in West Jordan, running up a bit of a hill for the first .5, then it flattens out for the rest of the distance. There never seems to be downhill, so somewhere it must do a gradual slope back down. This loop has 4 streets i can run down to turn around, each being 1/2 mile apart so i can do loops in distances of 3,4,5 or 6 miles from this same starting point. That is convenient. I do pass 6 churches on the 5 mile loop, and if i am running on Sunday at a time close to 9:00am or 11:00am, it can get dangerous as there are always people late for church who do not want to wait for a runner on Sunday and they will cut me off if i am crossing their path. I have had to stop in the crosswalks or by driveways on a number of occasions to avoid being plowed down.

My time on this run was 58 minutes, for 5.1 miles. Not impressive, but definitely not my worst.

Third day in a row, and it was a struggle, but i got it done, and, as always, I feel much better for having got my run done. 3.5 miles, 41 min. Then 4 strides: 8 min pace for 50 seconds each with a one minute cool down in between.

I'm trying to add light runs on Thursdays, to get 3 running days in a row per week, hopefully to get stronger. Todays run was 2 miles in 23 minutes. Then i did a short spin of 2 miles in 9 minutes.
I found another half marathon training plan and have decided to follow this one. The website is not listed on the printout, so i am not sure where it came from.
It follows this pattern:
Mon - rest or walk
Tues - cross
Wed - run
Thurs - cross (and i will run short this day too)
Fri - run
Sat - cross (but this is probably going to be rest or short cross session)
Sun - long run

Looks good to me!!

Yesterday was a rest day, and there is not a lot to say about today's run.
It was a treadmill run for 40 min, 3.5 miles. I had to do a one minute walking break during miles 2 and 3.
Finished off with 20 lunges and 55 stability ball crunches. My sciatic nerve pain makes the crunches a bit painful.
My plan this week is to run 3 days in a row, today, tomorrow, and Friday.
I am still perusing other 1/2 marathon training plans.... in search of the perfect plan!!

Tuesday nite was our 1 week weigh in for West Jordan's Biggest Loser Competition.
I lost 1.2 pounds, but i think it was because i wore lighter clothes this week.
Some people lost a lot of weight for one week, one man even lost 14 pounds. I am beginning to think that he and possibly others wore hidden ankle or wrist weights on the initial weigh in. That is a lot of weight to lose in one week!!

Today i tried to do a short easy run on my treadmill, but, it was a fail. From my shin to my shoulders my entire right side ached, so i only finished one mile at a  13:00 min pace.

I did 5 miles spinning instead.
A disappointing day for running but i get to spend the rest of it with my 15 month old granddaughter!

Yesterday was a 'rest' day and i just did a 23 minute spin to keep the legs loose.

Today was a 4 mile run. I woke up with a lot of sciatic pain in my right rear side so i tried stretching and trying to open my spine to ease the pain. By the afternoon it was improved so i decided to venture to the outdoors, since it had warmed up to 40 degrees.
 I went to the track at Copper Hills High School and tried to see how far i could run without walking breaks. This track has 8 lanes and i was the only one down there, so i decided to go 8 laps, (2 miles) in one direction and then turn and do the second 8 laps in the opposite direction. I had been running only on the treadmill since November and this was first time outside in two months and it was a struggle. With the first 4 steps i realize how much training i still had ahead of me and needed to do more of it on firm ground.

 At the end of the first mile, 11:50 pace, I allowed myself a one minute walking break, at the end of mile 2, 11:30 pace, I allowed myself another 1 minute walk break, mile 3 was 11:40, but i did not take a walk break this time and mile 4 was somewhere between 11:00 and 12:00 minutes, unfortunately i forgot to check the seconds, but i think it was closer to 12:00 minutes.
  I am glad i got to get an outdoors run in, but in three weeks i have a 5 mile terrain run and it is not looking pretty.

Week 2 of half marathon training for the Salt Lake City Half Marathon is Done!!! :)

Today was another treadmill run, 35 min, 3 miles. Walked 4 min first,  then I started out with a slow jog, too slow, I had to speed up quite a bit to finish at the 3 mile mark in the 35 minutes. Then a cool down walk for 4 minutes, then 4 - 45 second strides with 45 second cool down in between each one. The first 2 were at 7.0 then the the second 2 were at 7.5. This entire run and strides felt really good today - Hope that starts a trend of Good Feeling Runs!

    I forgot to post yesterday's run - It was a 35 min, 3 mile run on my treadmill. It felt pretty good.
    I saw that my sister checked out my blog and posted my first comment! Thank you Karen. She is my biggest supporter and cheer leader and i appreciate and love her to pieces, BUT, her email address she had to create to comment is 'runningfatstick'!!! Karen, not true, but hilarious!! Our plan is to run a 1/2 marathon together some day. We just haven;t yet decided who should to the traveling since she lives in Alabama. I think i want to be the one to travel, but after I get my marathon done!!
     I have a pinched sciatic nerve right now, so today i opted for an indoor cycle - 30 min, 8 miles. When i get this nerve straightened out, I want to add running on Thursday, but for now it's a cross training day.

The Start of My Journey...

This is my goal ~ The St George Marathon, October 6th 2012.
This will be my first marathon, just 5 days before I turn 55. I am mot consistent in keeping a journal, but i spend more time than I should on the internet. So I am going to blog my journey, hopefully learn from it and share the adventure with any one else who is contemplating starting a similar journey.

Tonite officially started the first step with a beginning weigh in and evaluation at West Jordan's Biggest Loser competition. They checked our blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose along with weight, body fat %, metabolic rate, fat mass, etc. The most shocking was my % of body fat - Holy Cow!!

The summary is.... I have A LOT of work to do!!
I do run now, not a lot and not fast, but i have finished a number of 5k's, one 10k, and the Disneyland Half Marathon.
I have run in the Huntsman World Senior Games every year since i turned 50 five years ago.
So i am not really starting from square 1, but i have a long road to travel. I am starting my running this
year with a 5 miler at Sand Hollow State Park in Hurricane Utah in February,
a 10k in St George in March, and the Salt Lake 1/2 marathon in April.

I am optimistic about the year ahead!!