Bring on the challenge!

Okay, so I thought hiking for the last few days and not running wouldn't be so bad.  It's still exercise, right?  Well, this morning I did my sprint workout on the treadmill (decided to do it today because it's such a good workout and I missed it on Monday), and I thought I was going to DIE!!!  Well, maybe not that bad, but I could definitely tell I hadn't run for the last 5 days.  I don't remember the last time I had that long of a break from running.  Last fall?  Summer?  I guess sitting in the car took it's toll, too. But, I'm back now, and it's time to get serious.  Only 2 weeks till the race!!!

Felt pretty good this morning.  Did my 10 in 1:31, just over 9 min. miles on average.  Next week will be faster, with the race.  Hope to do well!

Rest day.  Tomorrow is the Salt Lake Marathon/Half marathon.  I'm doing the half.  SOOOO excited!!!  We'll see if all the running I've done over the winter has paid off!  I'm not hoping for a PR, since this isn't as fast as Hobble Creek, but I would like something close, preferably a 1:55.  We'll see how it goes!!  LOVE race day!!!

What an AWESOME race today!  Here I was, hoping to just get under 2 hours for this race, and I ALMOST got a new PR!  Only 37 seconds off my PR!  Wow!  If this is only the first race of the year, I have high hopes for the rest of the summer!  I felt great and most of my miles were between 8 and 8:30 min/miles.  Wish I could have run just that much faster, but I gave it my all.

Okay, complaints.  I was very disappointed in some of the organization of this race.  Some instructions were not very clear, like packet pick up times.  Also, I missed about 3 mile markers.  And, yes, I WAS looking for them.  The first one I missed was mile 2, but I thought I might have just missed it in the crowd.  But, I also missed 2 others when there wasn't the hordes of people around.  Very frustrating when you are trying to time your miles. They had the roads blocked off so well, I don't understand why they didn't just put the mile markers on the road, instead of hiding them on the sidewalk or who knows where.

The aid stations - they  had them set at odd locations.  I love the races where the aid stations are set at mile markers.  This was not the case here.  So, that kind of threw me off a bit, too.  And, no Gu!  I brought my own, thank goodness.  For such a big event (and for the price!) they should have at least had these in 1 or 2 locations. 

Also, there were A LOT of people racing this morning.  I am a competitive runner (not so much against other people, but against myself).  It's frustrating trying to get out of the crowd to find your pace.  I wish people that were running with each other wouldn't run 2, 3, or even 4-abreast!  It's so hard to get around them. 

My other complaint was not with the race itself, but my music!  Just as we were getting ready to start today, I went to turn on my music and it WOULDN'T START!!!  Never have I had a problem with  my ipod before!  My husband, who was running the full marathon, just laughed because I'd actually have to run without my music.  MEAN!  (I think I'll blame my lack of a new PR on the lack of music :) )  I know some people think it's silly to have to have it, but I honestly believe it helps me.  Helps keep my mind off the run, especially when I'm getting to the end :)  However, the good news was, after the race I was able to go into an Apple store and find out what the problem was - a simple fix of resetting it.  Who knew??  Maybe I should read the instruction manual next time.  Glad it's not broken, though.

All in all, though, it was a perfect day for a run.  The weather was great (why did I wear a long sleeve shirt???) and the temp was perfect.  What a great race!

Took the day off today.  Didn't really want to, but the inside of my knee has been bothering me.  I didn't notice it hurting on Saturday after the race, but Sunday morning it hurt like you know what!  Don't know if I pulled something or what, but I've been popping the ibuprofen to get it feeling better.  If anyone reads this and has experienced this, any advice?  Any good stretches?  Can't afford to injure myself, I've got a big running year ahead!  It does feel better today, but I still notice it, especially bending  my knee.  Hope it's nothing too serious and goes away.  Hope to be back running again in the morning :)

Felt SO good to run outside today!  The weather has been so nice, can't wait for summer.  Can't wait to be outside permanently, and not on the treadmill  most days.  

Knee is feeling better.  Guess I just strained it somehow.  Doesn't hurt at all to run, it's just sore after and when I'm stretching.  I'll have to just be careful.  

Argh!  The last couple of days have been SO NICE to be able to run outside!  It was back on the treadmill again this morning because of the rain.  Not that running in the rain is always terrible, but I just wasn't in the mood this  morning.  

Did I ever mention how much I hate the treadmill?  I run so much faster outside on the roads.  I just feel like I can't run that fast on the treadmill (unless I'm doing sprints) and my min/mile is 10.  I KNOW!!  I NEVER run that slow outside, but it is exhausting on the treadmill.  I don't understand. 

Anyway, got through it.  I was more tired today, too, went to bed a little later, and I don't think the cold, wet weather helped my tiredness this morning.  Looking forward to Saturday - weather is supposed to be better and I'll get my 10 or more in.  Wish it was another race. . .love race days :)

I planned on doing 13 this morning, thought my route was for that far, but I guess I was just a little off.  Oh, well, close enough.  

Felt pretty good, but took it slow.  The weather started out at 38 degrees when I left (you mean I have to wear layers of clothes again???), but warmed up by the time I had finished.  CANNOT WAIT for summer to be here!!  I'm so tired of layering on the clothes.  

 Good run, I'm tired, but not sore.  Hope to up it some more next weekend. 

Took advantage of the decent weather this morning and ran outside.  It was great!  I ran 4 miles in 33:41.  (Mile 1, 8:58, Mile 2, 8:49, Mile 3, 7:50, Mile 4, 8:02).  The first 2 miles are slightly uphill, then I turn around and come back.  Pretty happy with that but I still want to do better :)  Thinking about running a 5K in a few weeks, wondering if I could do a sub 8 min/mile pace?  Guess it depends on the course.  Feeling like I need to increase some of my tempo runs.