Fastest mile

On Friday I decided to run fast. I ran the first 2 miles around a 12 minute pace and then decided to run my 3rd mile as fast as I could. My fastest miles have been going down the canyons during a race and they have been in the low 9's and I really wanted to prove to myself that I could run a mile on a normal course (not down hill) in the same pace. I really surprised myself! 

 I ran it in 8:44!!!! What?! I haven't run a mile that fast since elementary school when they had us run the mile for the presidential fitness test. I even felt like I had some gas left in the tank to keep going. This week I'm going to go farther. I'm thinking a mile and a half. I really want to get stronger and faster and to do that I have to practice going fast. This course even had a couple up hill spots! 

Don't worry about a thing.

This mornings' run was about telling myself that it's ok to run after a bad race. Yesterday I tried to run. I took about 10 steps and said, "Nope... not today..." I kept telling myself that I didn't want what happened on Saturday to happen again. I didn't want to get sick and I didn't want to run sick, but I wasn't sick on Monday. I was fine. I rested the rest of the day Saturday and all day on Sunday. I felt fine. I felt like I was recovered, but mentally I still had that half weighing on me. 

So, this morning I got up and saw how beautiful the sunrise would be and got out the door. I walked down towards the temple and the skies were almost purple. It was so pretty! I told myself I'd walk the first bit and then start running. I wasn't aiming to run any particular amount of miles. I just wanted to get my legs going. I started out after I got some pictures of the sunrise and the temple. There was a lady walking behind me and I didn't want to do the whole walk and her catch up to me and then I'd pass her and she'd pass me and all that, so I ran. Those first 10 steps almost made me stop, but I kept going. I don't care what the pace was and it wasn't going to bother me that I wasn't listening to any music. I just wanted to move. The first mile came pretty easy actually. I just trotted along. Then the second mile came and I felt stronger and mentally I thought, "I can do this... What was I worried about?" The 3rd mile felt great! I was running laps around a little section until my mom came, but I didn't see her so I went off looking for her. I was a half mile in and thought that maybe I'd just run the full 5 miles. I was almost at 4, so what's another mile? I was feeling great. Then I saw my mom and finished the last 1.4 miles with her. 

My goal every day is to get 5 miles in. It doesn't really matter to me the walk to run ratio as long as I get those 5 miles and hit my 10,000 steps on my Fitbit early. Haha! This morning when I got home, Jason and I got to work on our 30 day challenge workout.  

Last month we did a 30 day ab challenge and it REALLY helped with my running. I could really tell that I was becoming a stronger runner because of it. So, when our friend told us what the new 30 day challenge was we were all on board. This month's challenge includes squats, planks, push ups and crunches/sit ups. I can do all of them easy except the sit ups. I know it says crunches, but they do nothing for me. I've challenged myself this month to do sit ups instead and the goal is to do them with elementary school standards. Haha! You know, when you were in elementary school and everyone had to do the Presidential Fitness Test. That one... No using your arms to help with sit ups and no bouncing off the floor for momentum. That kind of sit up. It's not easy not using your arms to give you a little boost. I'm the one who usually starts with my hands behind my head and then ends up using them to get up. Haha! Not this time though! I'm on day 6 so far and I did all 45 sit ups today without using my arms. 

All in all today I'm feeling really good about everything. :) I just can't let a bad run keep me down. 

Timp Half Marathon

I woke up at 3 AM with a major headache and thought nothing much of it besides a bad nights sleep or something. I took some Motrin and I ate some banana bread cause I was out of my normal oatmeal that I have before a race. I had my normal race morning nervousness.  I met up with Joy at about 4:15 at the school where the buses were to take us up to the start. On the bus ride up my headache felt like it was getting worse, so I kept my eyes closed the whole ride up. 

We met up with some great running friends at the start and hung around until the race started. 

Me and Joy at the start. She was freezing and I was trying not to puke. My nausea just kept getting worse. Joy's first thought was "maybe you're pregnant..." NO! I am not... hahaha. I just chocked it up to having a root beer float the night before. 

There were a good amount of people there today. It was really great. They also had an early start for walkers and the marathoners. I love it when races have an early start! I didn't take it this time just cause I figured I would be fast and would make it in 2 hours 10 min or so. 

We got in line behind the 2.10 pacer, Sonja. I really was hoping to hang out with her for a good part of the race. My goal was anything under 2.16 (my last PR). 

I started out great with Joy and she left me around mile 4 to use the Honey Bucket, and I kept going. I knew she'd catch up with me some time, but I didn't know when. Each aid station I'd get some water, but didn't drink much of it because of my stomach. I ate a couple chomps at mile 5 and mile 8, but I couldn't take as many as I wanted. I got to mile 8 before I started crashing. My stomach was KILLING me. I seriously felt like I was going to puke my guts out. My miles dropped from the 9's...

Joy caught up with me around mile 8 or 9 in the neighborhoods and passed me up. She was on track for a 2.10 half. I kept wishing I could stay up with her. I saw the 2.20 pacers pass me and I could only stick with them for a couple hundred yards before I had to walk. Then towards the end in the last mile the 2.30 pacer, Susette caught up to me and I tried running with her for a half mile or so, but I just couldn't do it for the full mile. It was so great to see her though, she's always a big encourager. I finally made it to the track where we finished the last quarter mile. I walked in and finished the last .10 running. I was so out of it. My stomach was killing me. I just kept thinking "I shouldn't have had that root beer float!" Joy got a video of me crossing the line. I was pretty amazed how strong I looked considering how I felt. 

Joy kept telling me to get something to eat, but the smell of the Chick-fil-A at the finish and the sight of the food just made me want to throw up even more. We picked up her drop bag and I got my Run The Slam medal for the race. I made it to the parking lot and had to sit down for a second. 

Joy got to her car and I sat in mine for a minute or two before I started to drive. I just wasn't sure if I would make it home without throwing up. I got out of the parking lot and to the stop sign where I pulled over and waited a minute before driving across the street to the gas station. I found an empty spot by the grass and dry heaved a few times before I felt like I could drive home. 

I ended up getting about 5 miles from home when I had to pull over and throw up. I felt SOOOOOOO much better after that, but I still had a pounding head ache and I think I even had a bit of a fever. I came home and slept for 3 hours off and on. My Annabelle brought me this bell when I was laying in bed and said "Ring this if you need me, ok?" She's such a great kid. I ended up eating some chicken noodle soup for dinner and went to bed by 10. 

I slept for 10 and a half hours last night. I think I had heat exhaustion on top of the whole root beer float and stuff. Next time I'm going to get a LOT more rest and drink a LOT more water the week leading up to my race. I don't want that to happen again. 

The awesome thing about this race though is the fact that even with crashing like this I was able to still run it in a GREAT time! I remember this year when running a 2.30 was HARD and today I was able to do it on a really rough day. Earlier this year I would have easily done it in over 3 hours if the same thing happened. I've really reached a new level and I love it! 

I think the nervousness I get before races is that when I bonk like this that I'll end up falling back to the 3+ hour races, but yesterday proves that I won't. I'm doing good and I just have to trust in my ability.  

Hobbler Half

I woke up at 3:15 on Saturday and ate my oatmeal. Mom, dad, and Joy were coming to pick me up so we could head down to Springville for the Hobbler Half marathon. Mom and I were going to do the relay and Joy was going to run the full thing. My plan was to run the first half with Joy and then at the meet up with my mom, I'd walk/run the rest of the way with her. 

 Dad's such a good sport, getting up super early and driving us down there. He shakes his head at our crazy running adventures, but he's proud of us. He wears his "Wow! My wife and Daughters run marathons!" shirt every time. We need to add an S to that shirt. When we had the shirt made it was just me and ma who ran, but now my sister is in on it! 

We picked up our packets and numbers before catching the bus. Joy and I were on one of the first buses and mom and dad drove up to the meet up point for the relay. There were a good amount of people at the start and it was a little chilly, not too bad actually. It felt really good. I went to use the honey buckets before the race and boy did I get the wrong one... I've changed a TON of poopy diapers in my life, but this porta potty was smelling HORRIBLE! I almost threw up. 

Joy and I got lined up and ready to run. We were between the 2:10 and 2:20 pacers. By the time we crossed the start line we were more in line with the 2:20 pacer and stuck with them for the first mile before we warmed up and ditched them. We were running really good at about a 9:45 pace for the first 5 miles. The relay point was about .75 miles early, so from mile 5.5ish-12.95 I ran/walked with my momma. I kept going back and forth on going ahead with Joy (I could have PR'd again), but I felt like I needed to stick with my mom. Plus I'll be running Timp this coming Saturday and that's the one I'm going to PR on. I kept thinking of this one as a training run. While running with my mom I discovered it's MUCH easier to run fast than it is to run slow for a long time. Sure, it takes a lot of effort to run fast, but to run slow you have to endure for a long time. 

Momma did great! We finished in 2.46! Go ma!!

It was great to run with my mom and sister! I'd love to be able to do it again one day. :)

I felt amazingly strong this half. I've been doing one of those 30 day challenges for abs and I've been killing the sit ups. I REALLY think it helped a TON in this half. I could really feel my posture straighten out and my core stay strong while I ran. I felt like I was running with my legs vs my whole body, if that makes sense. I'll have to make sure to keep it up even after the challenge is over. Today I did 120 sit ups and 190 crunches and a 2 minute plank! I was amazed. :)