Last run

Last run before the half! 

2 simple miles. 

No stopping, no holding on, and I ran a strong solid run.

Life is good... Real good. :)

Nervous...

I just finished 3 miles on the treadmill! yay! :) No stopping or holding on again. I wanted to, but I told myself that I wouldn't do that anymore. 

For about 2 hours before my run I was super nauseous. I don't really know why, maybe my nerves are getting to me. 

I think my ultimate go for this half marathon is to run it in 2.30. I'd LOVE to run it under 2.20, but we'll see. I think I'm more excited for my sister to run. She's going to do amazing! I think she'll get under 2.20 easy.

It's almost time! 3 days away.

4 days and 4 miles

4 days until this year's first half marathon. 

I'm excited to run this with my sister. She'll do it faster than me, I'm sure, but the fact that someone else I know is there starting the race by my side is awesome. 

This week is the week to taper before the half. Today I was scheduled to run 4 miles. I decided to do the treadmill since there were some crazy winds out there today. I started out the run thinking that I'd probably end up holding onto the sides and/or stopping like I normally do, but about 15 minutes into it I decided that wasn't going to be the case today. I was going to run a solid 4 miles on the treadmill at a good pace without cheating. 

I felt really good during my run. I felt like I was pushing myself, but I also felt like I was comfortable enough to keep going without quitting. I finished at 6.5 mph. Not too shabby. I had to shut off my mind a few times, I kept feeling those "gotta stop, gotta grab those handrails" thoughts from sneaking into my head. I just kept telling myself that I was almost done. No stopping. 

Don't get me wrong. I can run 4 miles without stopping, but running on the road and running on the treadmill are two totally different things. 

Tomorrow I run 3 miles, then 2, then a couple rest days, and then the half! 

10 tough miles

We were out late last night watching Hunger Games (GOOOOD SHOW!!) So, my early morning run today turned into an afternoon run. 

I skipped breakfast (stupid mistake) and then ate a 6" Black Forrest Ham sub for lunch about 20 minutes before running (another stupid mistake). I started out feeling great, but then around mile 2.5 my legs turned into lead. I walk/ran about a mile, turned around and went the other direction. I think changing directions did the trick for a while cause I was feeling great for the next 3 miles or so. Then the sub started bugging me. I kept burping peppers. Yeah, not the best thing. 

I stopped a gazillion times to try and get my mind in the game, but it wasn't working 100%. I just wasn't feeling it today for some reason. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, maybe it was not eating breakfast, maybe it was the sub. Maybe it was all of the above, but something wasn't working today.

I want to say I finished my run strong today, but that just wasn't the case. I barely made it. I'm glad I got out there and I'm glad I made it the distance, but something has to change. I really want to get back to where I was 2 years ago before I had Rose. I want running to be fun again like it is for my sister. 

Half marathon next Saturday!! Exciting! 

Maybe something will click this week and the half will be a breeze.

I didn't want to do it...

I spent all day moving things around in the garage and cleaning up. I moved our small deep freezer down to the basement by myself and while lifting it up the stairs I kinda sorta pulled something behind my knee. Sure, it wasn't one of those "HOLY CRAP! I don't think I can walk." kind of pulls, but more of a "Awwww, dang... I hope this doesn't start something..." kind of thing. 

I didn't want to run. 

This week has been one of those weeks. The kind of weeks where you don't want to do anything, especially exercise, because it's so chaotic, but you know you REALLY need to because it will make things MUCH better. 

Anyway, I had to run to run...

I put it off until after I put the kids to bed. I went down stairs and started watching Biggest Loser on Hulu. I know that show always motivates me. There's no way I can be lazy while watching it. 

I started off walking...

 I'll just put it out there... I walked 80% of this run. That's ok. Walking is better than nothing, right? Well, to make up for it at each commercial break (about a minute in length) I pumped up the pace to 6, then 7, then 8... I felt awesome doing the 8 mph. I'll have to keep doing that. I'll keep getting stronger and stronger. :)

I'm glad I did it.

5 miles with my mom

My papa and momma.

That's my mom. We ran the Utah Valley Half/Marathon together in 2010 before they left to Sierra Leone, West Africa to serve a mission for our church for 3 years.

She's such a great mommy. She loves to cheer us on in all our races and things even though she's so far away. 

Today I thought it'd be fun for her to "see" me run on the treadmill. The treadmill is pretty cool cause I can log into ifit.com and see the stats tick by while I run on it. So, my mom logged in and texted me with each mile that ticked by.  I had the stats covered on the treadmill so I wouldn't focus on it. It helped to have my mom there saying, "1 mile down!" "You're at a 9:50 pace!!" "Almost there!"

It was nice that even though she wasn't physically there to run with me, she was there in spirit. :) 

The run went pretty well. I started out slow and gradually increased the pace. I had to grab the sides a couple times. If I pushed myself a little harder mentally I wouldn't have grabbed the sides, but oh well. My next run will be even better. :)

My ending pace was 7.0! Yeah!! 

I finished my run nice and strong. I love runs like that.

A little while after my run I was playing with the kids when I noticed that Annabelle (the 3 yr old) was a little too quiet. I went upstairs to find her playing with the toilet cleaning gel and squirting it in piles around the carpet. Yeah... kids are great... Lots of bleach spots all over the carpet.

One day I'll laugh, I'm sure, and I'll say, "Just wait until you have one of your own..."

I'm glad I got my run done.

St. Patrick's Day 10k

I got up this morning around 630 and headed out the door to go up to the state capital for the race. 

I got there early enough to get a good parking spot. 

I was so nervous the night before and on the way to the race. I don't know why I've been getting so nervous in the past couple races. Maybe it's because my sister's running with me, I don't know.

The race started out uphill. I just kept thinking, "Sue would hate this race." hahaha! It started out uphill then leveled out a little.... then it kept going up hill... and up... and up....

It sucked. 

My legs hated it. I walked part of it. The angle of the pathway made my left calf scream from landing weird for so long. I hated watching my time go slower and slower. I felt like the race was never going to end and I wondered if my legs were going to feel like that the whole time. 

I was almost to the turn around point when I saw my sister coming down the trail, gave her a high 5 and kept going.

I got to the water stop and they were out of cups. Nice...

I really could have used a drink. 

I took a couple little Sports Beans and used the downhill to my advantage. My legs were LOVING the downhill. My pace picked up, my legs felt awesome, and I was moving along. 

Around mile 4.5 I started getting a side stitch. I haven't had one of those in forever. I ignored it and it went away. I couldn't let it get to me cause my legs were feeling SO good. The wind started blowing hard, but it really helped me. It seemed to help support me in going down the hill, plus it helped me push a little harder without feeling like I was running too hard. 

I hit another water stop and there were no cups... lame...

Finally the finish was coming up. I was running at a 8 min mile pace! AWESOME!

I crossed the finish in 1.09.44. Yay!

Joy finished in 1.01.01 Not bad for her first 10k!

I went to get some water after finishing and they were OUT OF CUPS! Ugh!!

That was their major problem. You can't run a race and not have any drinks for the runners. 

Oh well, it was fun to be with my sister. We even took advantage of the people doing massages. My lower back feels much better.

Half marathon in 2 weeks!! Can't wait!

5 miles inside

I wanted so bad to run outside today. It was SO beautiful out. The temps were perfect, but Jason had to work so I did my 5 miles inside on the treadmill while watching Duplex.

It was a little tough having to stop a ton of times to help the kids, but I got it done. I even did it a little faster than last time. :)

I'm really hoping to run 3 outside tomorrow. This spring weather is just too good to not take advantage of.

9 miles!

Jason was gone today and I didn't want to do 9 miles on the treadmill, so my sister came over and we switched off watching the kids while the other ran. 

Joy went first. She came back while I was making cinnamon rolls and I was surprised that she was home so soon. She looked at her watch and she finished 9 miles in 1.20!! She wanted me to run the same route to make sure the miles were right. Sure enough, she ran 9 miles! I told her when it comes race day not to stay back and wait for me. She needs to run ahead and get a good time. I think she'll really surprise herself. 

My 9 miles took me about 20 minutes longer than hers, but that's ok. I  was expecting that. That's about my norm. 

I need to give myself credit, though. 

 I'm a lot faster than I think I am. I kept thinking I was slow during my run, but when I looked at my Garmin I was under an 11 minute mile for over half of the run. Looking back at all my 9 mile runs this one was my fastest.

I felt really good during my run. I felt pretty strong. One thing I notice though, I stashed a drink on the bank of the lake in the rocks, when I'd finish a lap around the lake I'd stop for a second to get a drink. Well, after each drink I felt really bogged down. I think I may need to start taking my camelbak with me so I'm fueled during the whole run. 

Next week is a fun St. Patty's Day 10k with my sister. FUN!

Oh, I've lost 10.2 lbs since Jan 1st! yay! 

Myfitnesspal is AWESOME!

Life is good. :)

Sweating like a champ...

I sweat like crazy on the treadmill. 

Glad I'm doing it in my basement and not in a gym. Haha!

I went a little faster this time. I built my pace up to 6.5 by the end. Not too bad. 

Besides getting off a couple times to take care of the girls it was an uneventful run. I feel like I'm getting stronger on the treadmill. I really gotta work on my mental game though. Covering the display with a towel helps some, but I still think about how long it's taking way too much.

1st treadmill run

This morning was my first official run on the treadmill.

I ran 5 miles. It took me an hour to do, but I did it. :)

Running on a treadmill is a whole different mind game. Running on the road tends to be easier for me because my body naturally fluctuates in speed, but on the treadmill that's just not the case. Its a consistent speed, so my body's saying, "SLOW DOWN!!", but the treadmill's saying I'm already going slow. 

Brianna had fun recording me and Jason while we worked out. I showed my bro the video to see what he thought about my running stance and stuff. He said I looked good and I looked like my body naturally wanted to run. The only thing holding me back (I think) from going faster is my weight. 20 lbs is a lot. 40 lbs is even more. My body doesn't like going fast with so much weight. 

Tomorrow... 3 miles on the treadmill! :)

Runnin' in the snow and ice...

I was wanting to sleep in this morning... 

It doesn't work too well when you have kids up and ready to go at 7.

Oh, well... I decided to run with a local running group today at the Jordan River Trail at 8, so I needed to get up anyway.

My sister texted me and decided to meet me down there. We had 8 miles to do and we thought it'd be fun to do it together. She was running late so, we missed the group, but that's ok. 

We started out and had to climb a hill to cross the main street since the trail was flooded. 

 We got partway up the hill when Joy realized that she didn't lock her car. 

She ran all the way back to check and I waited.

It was COLD! I knew that when I warmed up I'd be fine.

Joy got back only to be upset that the car was locked the whole time. Oh well, It gave her an extra half mile to her run. Haha!

The run was a good one despite the snow and ice on the trail. 

We climbed a hill and the whole time Joy's yelling, "I LOVE HILLS! I LOVE HILLS!!" We made it up the hill with energy to spare. Yay!!

It was a nice run. We ran the second half a LOT faster than the first. I love when that happens. When we turned around and got back to the hill Joy says, "OK! No stopping! We've got this!" I think that hill was a lot longer on the way back, but we did it. We made it up the hill and finished our 8 miles nice and strong!

We've got this half. It's going to be a great race. 

Only 27 days!

My new friend...

 This was my view from my workout on the treadmill. Annabelle wanted to follow the example of her papa and do the elliptical while I did the treadmill. I'm proud of Jason. He's been working out on the elliptical an hour a day. He's doing AWESOME! His back is recovering VERY well.

This treadmill is awesome! You can go on the ifit website and map out a run and then it'll simulate the hills while you run. I ran around our old house in Mannheim, Germany today. :) Even though I couldn't see it, it was fun to imagine it. 

I ended up doing an hour on the treadmill. Can't wait to do more!