Bring on the challenge!

Got to run with my honey again this morning.  Loved it!  And, to top it off, it was 60 degrees outside when we left at 6:30 this morning!  What a change from last weekend's 32 and layer upon layer of clothing!  Felt so good to just wear shorts and a shirt!  Finished in just over 2 hours, so good pace to be getting on with.  Now, if we can only keep that pace for an entire marathon, life would be good. . . :)  

Sprints on the treadmill this morning.  

Easy 3 this morning and Jillian after.  Stayed up too late last night so tired this morning.  Gotta go to bed earlier tonight.

10 miles on the treadmill!!!  UUGGHHH!!!  But, I was a woos and didn't want to run in the snow/rain.  Oh well, it's over :)

Sprint workout again this morning.  Do you ever have those out of body experiences while running?  Well, I was woken up very rudely by my alarm this morning in the middle of a dream and heavy sleep, lol, and was exhausted and didn't want to exercise this morning.  After last week, I just want to veg - packing up boxes and cleaning the house (did I mention that I did this all by myself??) and trying to train for this stupid marathon on Saturday.  So not in the mood.  But, anyway, I got on the treadmill and thought, I just don't know if I can do this this morning.  And, the next thing I knew, I was almost done.  What just happened??  Glad it went fast.  Cannot wait for this race to be over with this weekend.  You know it's a bad sign if you are dreading it instead of excited for it.  I'm just hoping it will be better than I am thinking it's gonna be.  

3 easy on the treadmill.  No Jillian today.  Had to hurry and get ready this morning for a dr appt.  That's okay - I should probably tone it back a bit anyway, seeing as how the marathon is only 5 days away. . .

Last running day before the marathon.  Hope my body can be rested up enough before Saturday.  Decided to do a quicker workout this morning than my usual hour on Wednesday.  Ran for 1/2 an hour at a 6.6 (9 min/mile) on the treadmill this morning.  Hoping that that pace will be good for Saturday.  It's so pathetic.  I was averaging 8:30's in the fall for St. George and now all I can hope for is 9's??  Winter training SUCKS!!!  And, I'm burned out.  I'll admit it.  You know it's a bad sign if you are dreading the upcoming race instead of looking forward to it.  Okay, so maybe I'm looking a little forward, but not as much as normal.  Hopefully, after going to the expo on Friday and then during the race there will be great spectators and I can get more pumped up.

Okay, this race report is being written over a week later, so I'll see what I can remember. :)

While I wasn't excited for this race (burnout), I did start to get the excitement at the starting line.  Then, they had our "esteemed" former mayor speak before we began.  Uugghh!!  Did he notice that there weren't a lot of cheers for him?  We don't care what he had to say, we just wanted to start running!  

Thankfully, the weather was PERFECT for the race.  50-60 degrees, and a light sprinkle here and there.  We started and I immediately began my darting in and out of people - love to do that :)  Quickly came upon my father-in-law, said hi, then kept going.  My hubby ran with him for a few miles, so I put some distance between us for a bit.  I love the beginning of this race.  It's a lot of downhill, so your miles are fast, but you don't feel like you are pushing it.  

We made it to Sugarhouse Park, where the half and full marathoners divided.  Felt pretty good being in the pack less traveled by here :)  Zipped through the park, then joined the halfers again.  Ran with them to 2700 S. then we divided once more.  I've never run a marathon where the half was simultaneous - I've always been on the half side.  Wow, it felt GREAT to be on the full side this time!   I felt like I belonged with the elite group and I LOVED it!!  We made it down 2000 and 2300 E., and then hit Holladay Blvd.  I was kind of disappointed through here, because we ran near so many people I know and no one was out watching!!  I really could've used the support.  

Got to about mile 11 and hubby caught up with me.  Ran with him for a couple of miles (felt like our normal weekend run as it is on the same course) and then told him to go ahead, since he was feeling so good.  Came around 6200 and starting to get a little tired.  My stomach was having issues off and on, not sure if I was gonna have to stop and use the bathroom or not. Mostly when I would stop and get a drink, and I knew I hadn't had enough to eat that morning, so I was feeling kinda empty.  Van Winkle was a little tough.  Tired, hungry, and boring stretch.  But, I knew my best friend would be around mile 16 waiting, so that got me through.  Sure enough, there she was with two of her children, who ran to greet me.  That felt great!  I stopped and chatted with her for about 3 minutes, then took off again, starting the countdown in my head - only 10 miles to go.  Every mile after that, I had to keep telling myself that.  

Made it to 500 East and was really getting tired and hungry.  Found my parents and kids around mile 20 - what a great sight that was!  My mom had brought some snacks for the kiddos, including cookies, so I stopped and had one.   I know, not the best choice while you are running a marathon, but you know what?  It did the trick!  That one cookie saved me the rest of the race.  I probably was stopped and visiting with them for at least 5 minutes.  While I knew these stops weren't conducive to getting a great time, I was already resolved to just finishing the race and enjoying myself along the way.  And, with each of these stops, it rejuvinated me, if only briefly.  My this point my feet were starting to hurt.  Why can't I ever find a pair of shoes that my feet don't feel so pounded??  But, I continued on, made it through Liberty Park, albeit, slowly, then picked up the pace slightly.  

Then, we came upon that stupid hill on State Street.  Hate that hill!  Mile 25.  Halfway up, I had to stop and walk.  (Actually, I had walked quite a bit in those last 6 miles.  I was feeling so pounded, I just wanted to walk, but the walking didn't help and I had to tell myself the only thing that was going to feel better was to sit down, and I couldn't do that till I was done.  So, off I would run again.)  

Coming off that hill, my pace picked up a bit again.  I made it down into Gateway and the finish line was in sight.  I decided to start picking it up here and race to the end.  Another guy had the same idea and we were quickly in an all out sprint to the finish, with him shouting encouragement at me the whole way :)  We crossed the finish line at the same time where he turned around and gave me a high five.  What an awesome finish!  I have NO idea where that came from, but man, did it feel good!!  

And, all things considered, especially my little breaks, I was quite pleased with my time.  I had been worried about this race and training over the winter, and I finished better than I had expected to.  And, I finally feel like a real marathon runner.  This was my 3rd one, and for the first time, I actually felt like I could continue doing this distance and would be okay.  What a great feeling! 

Here are my mileage breakdowns:

1 - 7:37

2 - 8:06

3 -7:57

4 & 5 (didn't see the marker) - 15:32

6 - 10:02

7 - 9:17

8 - 8:48

9 - 9:19

10 - 9:05

11 - 8:59

12 - 9:33

13 - 10:01

14 - 9:34

15 - 9:14

16 - 11:53

17 - 9:15

18 - 10:13

19 - 10:39

20 - 14:20

21 -11:10

22 - 10:59

23 - 12:47

24 - 10:52

25 & 26 (again, didn't see the marker) - 25:28 

First time back running since the marathon.  Immediately after the race, we went home, showered, packed up and drove 24 hours to Houston.  I know, not the smartest thing to do after a marathon!  However, we actually were okay, stiffness-wise.  We stopped every couple of hours, and, after the initial getting out of the car, walked around for a minute, then were okay.  By Monday morning, I was hardly sore at all.  Amazing!

No time to run in Houston, flew home on Wednesday, and packed running gear to take to Idaho.  However, it was FREEZING up there.  And, I was a wuss.  I planned on running on Friday, but it was too cold.  So, then I thought I'd go later in the day, but we ended up having a lively game of kickball with the kiddos that afternoon, so I counted that as my exercise :)   Saturday, I was just plain lazy.  

So, now we come to this morning.  Back home, back to routine, back to exercise.  Ran my sprints on the treadmill this morning.  Could definitely tell I hadn't run in over a week!  But, I made it through and it sure felt good to get those endorphins back again!  Hoping the weather cooperates some this week so I can get outside more instead of on the treadmill.   

Ran 3 easy on the treadmill this morning.  It's the end of April and it's snowing outside. . . BOO!!!  Can't wait to just get outside for good!  Followed it up with Jillian.  Haven't done her for 2 weeks now, and boy, it showed!  I struggled this morning, especially with the upper body stuff.  I'm also fighting a cold, so I'll just blame it on that, shall I?? ;)

Did tempo run on the treadmill this morning.  Only ran for 45 minutes instead of the hour I usually do since I debated too long about whether or not to get up this morning and ran out of time :)  Still feeling fatigued, I'm sure it's partly from the cold, partly just from running the marathon a week ago.  On the bright side, it's getting easier to get up in the morning since the sun is coming up earlier :)  And, while it was cold this morning, at least it wasn't snowing.  Here's hoping the weather will warm up soon :)

Decided to sleep in this morning and run after the kiddos were at school.  Of course, this meant no Jillian, but. . .that's okay :)  After Tuesday, I wasn't in the mood.  

I ran at a 6.5 for 30 minutes on the treadmill this morning.  Then, I decided to mow the lawn.  That could take the place of Jillian this morning, right?  Oh my gosh!  Let me tell you what a chore that was!  Let's just say that I think it very much equaled or surpassed Jillian this morning.  Glad it's done, if only it wasn't going to rain/snow again tomorrow. . .