Sunday, April 29, 2012

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.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

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


Sunday, April 22, 2012



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!!




Saturday, April 21, 2012


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!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

"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....

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

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..........

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

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......

Monday, April 16, 2012


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.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

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!!!!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

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.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

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.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

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!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012



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....

Monday, April 9, 2012

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/

Sunday, April 8, 2012

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.

Friday, April 6, 2012

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!!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

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.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

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.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Monday, April 2, 2012

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"

Sunday, April 1, 2012

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!