The Day After the Marathon

The St. George Marathon is less than 2 weeks away. Woohoo! Just wanted to share some humor before the race. Enjoy!

6 weeks to St George Marathon

August 22-30

Swim: 0. Bike: 1 hour spin, plus 15 miles pulling the trailer. Run: 32.4.

Monday: Rest. I've decided 2 rest days in a row are good.

Tuesday: Track workout. 1 mile warm-up. 4 x100 striders. 2 x 200s (:45, :48). 6 x 800s (3:15, 3:16, 3:14, 3:15, 3:14, 3:17). 2 x 100s double accelerators. 1 mile cool-down. Felt pretty good, surprisingly. They all felt very doable.

Wednesday: 1 hour spin. I was fatigued, but got a good workout.

Thursday: 5.4 miles pushing James. I did the first 3.1 with Cherie and I tried to push her harder than she is used to. We averaged 8:57. I did a second shorter loop, and just wasn't feeling it. I guess it is harder to push, than i thought. Overall average, 9:08.

Friday: Lazy. I should have gone for a ride, but didn't in anticipation of Saturday's long run.

Saturday: 19 miles of hilly hardness. 8:37 pace. 2:43 minutes. I ran with the running group from the new Walmart to the Washington Rec Center and back. Wow! there are a lot of hills in that section. I started with Ashley, Ty and a new girl. Ty turned around at the 5 mile mark and we continued. Ashley and the new girl definitely had a bit more left by the end, I was really struggling the last two miles up the hill. I would have liked to have run 20, but I was beat. This may be my longest run before the marathon, so hopefully it is enough. The new girl just ran a half in 1:39 and wants to run St. George between 3:30 and 3:40, so I think I can make that same goal.

7 Weeks to St. George Marathon

August 17-22
Swim: 0. Bike: 16 miles, 1 hour spin. Run: 27.5 miles. Other: 0.

Now that the half-ironman is over, I need to focus my training on the marathon. I think I can make through it, but maybe not a PR. My goal is still to qualify for Boston (3:40) and a very optimistic goal is to break 3:30 I can't believe I am writing that, but I gotta shoot for the stars sometime.

Monday: Rest day.
Tuesday: 5.5 miles pushing James, easy pace. First run since half. I ran the first half with Cherie and then did a second loop. 10:30 pace.
Wednesday: 1 hour spin at gym. I was still pretty tired. But got a good workout in.
Thursday: track workout. I am surprised I did as well as I did. 1 mile warm-up, 4x100 striders, 2 x 200 (:47, :48), 8 x 400s (3:17, 3:!7, 3:16, 3:16, 3:16, 3:16, 3:17, 3:20), 4 x 100 accelerators, 1 mile cool down. I felt pretty good.
Friday: 16 mile bike. Biked with Ty up the twist. 16 mph average.
Saturday 15.5 mile run on the marathon course. 8:08 average. I was very surprised with this result and happy. I intended to do the last 14 of the course and if I felt good, a couple more. I didn't think I could run that fast, 1 week after the half, but it was all down hill. I will do another long run on Saturday. I need to run a 8:00 to break 3:30. Yikes!!

Utah Half Race Report

The Utah Half Triathlon was quite an experience. It was not easy. I wanted to quit a few times. I was almost in tears a number of times. But after I crossed the finish line, having given every ounce I had, it was so worth it.

The morning began early, but calm and cool. But as the morning progressed, the weather turned worse. The temperature dropped and the wind picked up. The cold front was supposed to move through Friday night leaving a cool, but calm morning. But the front decided to move though the morning of the race. As the athletes walked toward the lake, the wind got fiercer and fiercer. The men started to get in the lake and the rest of us shivered on the dock. Luckily, the swim was held in the protected harbor. Views of the actual lake, brought agonizing fear to me. Huge, ocean-sized waves crashed in the main lake, while smaller white caps disrupted the harbor. Race officials postponed the swim as the weather was checked, buoys were replaced after being blown away by the wind, and we shivered from cold and fear.

Finally, after about an hour of waiting, race officials decided to start the race between two cold fronts moving through. The swim was cut in half to allow both the men and women time to get through before the second front moved through. The men started and I got in the water. The water was choppy, but not cold. The gun went off and I started toward the giant orange buoy. I was swimming directly into the waves. For every stroke I took, a wave hit me in the face. I panicked. I basically survival swam out to the buoy. I side stroked most of the way to keep my face free from the water. Many swimmers were turning around early, but I was determined to make it. My training buddy, Carol, was tempted to quit, but I encouraged her and we both carried on as best we could. Finally, I made the buoy and began the easier swim back. However, the wind was blowing at an angle and although I was swimming with the waves, I was blown way off course and had to stop to figure out where I was when I thought I should have been done. The finish buoy was no where in sight. I raised my hand to signal a kayaker to help me figure out where to go, but no one saw me, Luckily, I wasn't actually drowning. I followed an island toward the shore until I could see the buoy. I made it out, safely, and one of the very last ones.
Swim-1000m: 28:45 (pathetic, I know)

T1: 2:46
I hustled the quarter mile to the transition area, stripping my wetsuit as I ran. I grabbed a drink, put on my socks and shoes and got on my bike. I grabbed my arm-warmers and some food and put them in my super cute pocket (post on those to come soon). I got on my bike and started the 56-mile windy trek. The first few miles weren't bad, because I had a tail wind, but when I turned and had a cross-wind or headwind, it was awful. I caught my training buddy Ashley close to the turn around as we tunneled directly into the wind. Luckily, the course was flat, but my legs burned from steadying my bike in the wind. The 28 miles back were all either in to a headwind or cross wind. And when I though it couldn't get any worse, it started to hail, yep hail.

It stung, but I didn't want to stop to put on arm-warmers. The hail stopped and turned to rain. I was soaked through and pretty cold. One advantage was I didn't need to drink much. And the advantage of being almost dead last out of the water, is I got to pass a lot of folks without a single person passing me. By the end of the bike leg I counted that I was in close 20th place.

Bike-56 miles: 3:00:19

T2: 1:27 (4th fasted female, thank you very much)
I was freezing at the start of the run. I couldn't even get my helmet off because my fingers were numb. I stuck the strap in my mouth and bit the clasp open. I took off my soggy bike shoes and put on soggy running shoes. I felt surprisingly good at the start of the run. I stopped for a potty break and had to wait in line. I figured I lost 2 minutes there, but I had to go.

The run consisted of two loops and a number of little out and backs. I thought I would hate the out and backs, but they weren't too bad, because I could see who was in front of me and if I was gaining anything and if I was losing anything to those behind me. By the third mile, my extremities had warmed and I was feeling great. I was pretty consistent the whole run and felt pretty good. The course was spectator friendly and I got to see Tom at least 4 times. That really helped my morale.
The last three miles were hard, but I pushed myself harder and tried not to slow down. When i crossed that finish line, I truly didn't have an ounce of energy left.


Run-13.1 miles: 1:52:48 (8:34 miles)

I ended up in 16th place, 8th in my age-group, with a time 5:26:06

I am so ready to try another one. I am even tempted to do the full-ironman, but realize that is impossible with little James at home. But I am glad I did it. I am a little disappointed with my swim, but now have something to look forward to improving next time. I plan to work on getting my bike faster, but am content. And I am super happy with my run, I couldn't have expected to run any faster, but will still try to do better next time.

I feel like I put the training in, and got a great result. Hard work does pay off and now I get to focus my energy on the St. George Marathon in October.

Here is my good friend and training buddy, Ashley. She looks hot and rocked it!


Here is my other good friend and training buddy, Carol. She is 45 and crazy! She rocked it and will rock the full Ironman in May.


Click here for full results and click here for photos, my number is 65.

2 Weeks to Utah Half Ironman

Wow! I am behind in posting.
Run: 16.5. Bike: 3 hrs. spin, 0 road miles. Swim: 1.3 miles. Other: 0

Monday: 1 hour spin at the gym
Tuesday: 3 easy miles on tread (8:15 pace). I felt like crap and had to go to the bathroom twice.
Wednesday:

• Track workout. 1 mile warm-up, 4 x 100 striders, 2 x 200 (:47, :48), 6 x 800 (3:15, 3:19, 3:14, 3:18, 3:17, 3:15), 2 x 200 (:45, :46), 4 x 100 accelerators, 1 mile cool-down. I felt great and we did the full "Yasso" workout.
  
• 1 hour spin at the gym. Good tough spin after good track.

Thursday: Rest
Friday: 5 miles, middle three tempo (7:36, 7:50, 7:54). I really need to run out of doors more often. This was hard! I ran the Lin's loop.
Saturday:

• taught spin at the gym. lot's of hills. good tempo. i liked it and sweated like a beast.
• 1.3 mile swim with ash at sand hollow. 54 minutes. it was good. i didn't push it, but felt good. i tried out the vanquisher googles. i prefer my others.
  

I plan on taking it easy this next week. my sister is coming to visit and unfortunately, that means i will eat a ton of junk. i will try to watch myself. oh yea! i got new aero bars from my brother. i will give them a try during the week and pray i get my new tires in the mail.

3 Weeks to Utah Half-Ironman

July 27-Aug 1
Swim: 1.5 miles. Bike: 37 miles. Run: 18 miles. Other: 0

Monday: Don't remember.
Tuesday: Track workout. 1 mile warm-up, 4 x 100 striders, 2 x 200 (:44, :44), 5 x 800 (3:11, 3:17, 3:25, 3:30, 3:19), 1 x 400 (1:37). I put that between my last 2-800s. 4 x 100 accelerators, 1 mile cool down.
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Ultra brick- approximately 1 mile swim in Quail (43 minutes), 37 mile bike Leeds/Sand Hollow Loop (17.1 mph, not including flat tire stop), 10 mile run Quail to Leeds and back (9:34 pace in the very hot weather and over a hilly course). Felt dead at the end, but made it. I need to remember to eat on the bike and I got dehydrated and overheated on the run big time.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: half mile swim.

4 Weeks to Utah Half

July 20-25
Swim: 0. Bike: 26.5 miles. Run: 5.5 miles.

Monday: Rest. Super sore still
Tuesday: 26.5 mile bike ride with 1 mile run. Leeds loop from Toquerville. 17.7 mph. 8:11 mile. First workout post half-marathon. I was still sore, but legs felt fine on bike. Super tough run.
Wednesday: 1 hour spin at gym
Thursday: Don't remember. Probably lazy or maybe tread.
Friday: Lazy. Organized and directed pioneer day 5k.
Saturday: 4.5 mile run with Suzanne in California. Hilly, dirt. 11:28 pace.

Week of Bryce Half-Marathon

July 13-18

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: Easy track workout, I think. 3 x 800?
Wednesday: 1 hour spin.
Thursday: Was feeling sick all day. Stomach bug, nausea.

• 17.3 miles. 16.7 mph.with carol.
  
• Swim. 30 minutes with Ty. Felt like crap.
  

Friday: Rest
Saturday: Crappiest half-marathon of my life. 1:54. My first 8 miles were at a 7:20 pace, then I had to stop to go the bathroom and never recovered. Stomach issues, big time and legs cramped up a bit after stopping.

2 Weeks to Bryce

July 6-11

Monday: Rest?
Tuesday: Track workout. 1 mile warm-up. 4 x 100 striders. 2 x 200 (:47, :47), 6 x 800 (:3:15, 3:19, 3:16, 3:14,3:14, 3:15). 4 x 100 accelerators. 1 mile cool down.
Wednesday: 1 hour spin.
Thursday: Pioneer trek. Hike 9 miles.
Friday: Pioneer trek. Hiked 3 miles.
Saturday: Pioneer trek. Hiked 3 miles.

3 Weeks to Bryce

June 29-July 4
Swim: 1200 m. Bike: 103 miles. Run: 9.25 miles. Other: 1 hour.

It was supposed to be a hard training week, but I had zero energy. I started takin ga multi-vitamin and iron again. We'll see if that helps the energy levels.

Monday:

• 23.3 mile ride. 16.7 mph. 1:20:29. Rode up the twist with Ash and Merrill. Good ride.
• Hour of kickboxing with Ash. And it kicked my butt. I was definitely sore on Tuesday and Wednesday.
  

Tuesday: Track workout. Dennis is back and had us do some new things. 1 mile warm-up, 4 x 100 meter turn-over drills, 2 x 200s (:46, :49), 5 x 800s (3:17, 3:17, 3:20, 3:21, 3:16), 4 x 100m accelerators, 1/2 mile cool-down. It was fun. It brought me back to my high school days.

Wednesday: 1200 m swim at the lake. 27:52. My fastest ever. I was really tired, so I just wanted to get out and do something, but I felt much better after the swim.

Thursday: Rest. I was supposed to go on a tempo run on the tread, but I couldn't get myself to do it.

Friday: 80 mile ride with Tom. 18.3 mph. We started in Hurricane, rode to the park, up Zion Canyon to the Temple of Sinawava, back to Hurricane and to the top of the Sand Hollow hill. I had very little energy the whole ride, but especially the first 20 and the last 15. I barely made it up the hill home. It was close to 100 degrees by the time we finished.

Saturday: 3 easy miles on the tread. 8:05 pace (last one at 7:19). I should have gotten up early and done a long run, but again zero energy. I hope I figure out what is going on.

This next week, I only have a few days to train early in the week and then I will be on pioneer trek from Thursday through Saturday. I will be walking a lot, but no running. So hopefully I get some good workouts early in the week.

4 Weeks to Bryce

June 22-27
Run: 27.7 miles. Bike: 30.1 miles, plus 1 hour spin. Swim 1.3 miles. Other: 1 hour.

Monday: Easy 3.1 miles with Cherie after dinner.

Tuesday: Tempo run on the tread. 3/4 mile easy followed by 4 tempo miles (7:24, 7:24, 7:24, 7:10). 3/4 cool-down. It felt good. I will try to go faster next week.

Wednesday:

• 1 hour spin at the gym
• 1.3 mile swim. 51 minutes. It was awesome. It felt good and I was so surprised I could go that far. It took us 23 minutes to get to the turn around, but then the water was choppier and it took us a little longer to get back.
  

Thursday:

• Worst track workout of my life. It was hot and I guess I was worn out from the swim. 2 x 200s (:48, :49). 3 x 800s (3:27, 3:31, 3:42). 1 x 400 (1:43).
• Futsol, 1 hour.
  

Friday: 30.1 mile ride in SLC. 17.2 mph. 1:45:19. Rode from Big Cottonwood Canyon over to Emigration and 9 miles up the Canyon and back down into town. I did by myself and it was so fun. I felt good and enjoyed the nice climb. There was a bit of rain, but not too bad. Overcast skies. Beautiful!

Saturday: 13.13 miles in Logan. 8:22 pace. 1:49:51. Tom was doing a 100-mile bike ride with his bros. So I got up and ran part of the bike course. I was only planning on going 10-12, but felt so good, I kept going. I started off slow, stopped to go the bathroom and then just steadily tried to increase my pace. My last 3 full miles were sub 8:00 pace. I am feeling pretty good about the half now.

5 Weeks to Bryce Half

June 15-20
Run: 22.6 miles. Bike:21.2 miles. Swim: 0 miles. Hike: 5 miles

Monday: 21.2 mile bike. 16.3 mph. 1:18:14. It was just me and I took it easy after the tri. Sand Hollow Loop.

Tuesday: Track Workout. 12 x 400s. It was just me and Tony and we rocked it. (1:35, 1:36, 1:36, 1:36, 1:35, 1:36, 1:36, 1:36, 1:35, 1:35, 1:33, 1:33). Felt great.

Wednesday: Rest. I went to girls' camp.

Thursday: 5 mile hike. It was steep and the girls in my ward are go-getters. So we had a good pace.

Friday: 45 minute run at 6000 feet. Didn't have my watch, but just an easy high-altitude run at camp.

Saturday: 10.65 miles. 8:36 pace. 1:31:35. I started slow, but picked up the pace toward the end. First long run in a while. It felt good.

Utah Summer Games Triathlon

I feel like I have been training hard for this one and I wanted to do well. I had all the normal pre-race jitters, but the morning was good. The weather was overcast but fairly calm. The temps were mild.

I got my transition area set up, fueled a bit and was trying to attach a bandage to my ankle from my bike crash last week. The gash was right on my ankle bone and gets rubbed by my running shoes. A friend gave me some water proof tape which would not stick for one second to my skin. So I had to frantically try to find a band-aid at least that I could put on after the swim. I found one and put it in my transition area.
Swim. 1500 m. 37:00. I was very happy with this time. Last year, it took me over 50 minutes in a surf wetsuit and then I did it in a borrowed tri suit in over 40 minutes. My goggles leaked big time after the start and I had to fumble with them a ton. I got them to hold for the most part. But I still couldn't see very well, and the sun glare was bad. I had no idea where I was in the pack, but just did my best. The course was a two-loop one. The only people I passed were struggling men sprinters so I thought I must be the last woman in the water, but I wasn't. I finished in the middle of the pack.

T1. 2:42. This is usually my strength, but I was fumbling with a band-aid and decided to wear socks to keep the band-aid on and didn't clip my shoes into my pedals. They all just slowed me down.

Bike. 24 miles. 1:15:47 (18.8 mph). I was happy with this time. I wanted to get in the range of 1:15 and I did. It rained a bit and the roads were slick. I was a bit over cautious because of my crash as well. But I just tried to hammer the rest. I passed quite a few men and a few women. 1 woman passed me before the big hill. I passed her back on the hill, but she caught me again after the descent. I couldn't keep up with this fast 42-year-old. I was definitley tired by the end and was worried I wouldn't be able to run.

T2. 1:15. I usually get this under 45 seconds so this was bad. Again, I was trying to get a new band-aid on. I have got to work on these transitions before the next one.
Run. 6.2 miles. 49:03 (but according to my watch 48:01). I was happy with this. I wanted to get under 50 minutes. The first mile is downhill and I did it in 7:37. I slowed to 8:00 minutes for the second mile and then stopped keeping track. But I ended up averaging 7:45s. The girl who passed me on the bike was in my sights the whole time. I caught her just after the turn around, but she picked up the pace and I couldn't keep up with her. She ended up beating me by 30 or so seconds. I was beat by the end for sure, but felt really good about my time.

I finished 17 minutes faster than the same race last year and almost 8 minutes faster than the Kokopelli last year, which is the same course. I ended up as the 10th overall woman, 7th Utah woman, and 3rd in my age group (which is funny because last year I was second at 17 minutes slower - oh well.)

I am going to do a half-ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) in August. I just have to decide which one - Utah Lake or Bear Lake.

Full race results can be found here.

6 Weeks to Bryce

Run: 13 miles. Bike: 50 miles, plus 1 hour spin. Swim: 3600 m (2.25 miles). Other: 1 hour

Monday: I rode by myself, but I forget what I did and how fast. I think I rode 18 miles, to the top of the Sand Hollow hill, down it, back up it and home. No idea what pace was but I do remember feeling lethargic.

Tuesday: Track workout. 2 x 200s (:48, :51), 3 x 800s (3:19, 3:14, 3:16), 2 x 200 (:47, :49). Felt good and didn't work too hard.

Wednesday:

• 1 hour spin.
• 1000 m swim in a choppy lake with wind. 32 minutes. Wow! it was hard, but after I hit the turn around, I realized I could do it without drowning, it was just slower and harder.

Thursday: Futsol game. I was supposed to run as well, but didn't get it in. A good workout at futsol, though.

Friday: Swim, bike, run at the insane hour of 6:30 in the am. Wanted to practice transitions, which sucked.

• 1100 m swim (or something like that) 28 minutes.Water was perfect. And I felt great! I picked up the pace a bit and tried to actually get my heart rate going a bit. I still felt fine when I was done, but felt like I went faster.
• 8-mile ride. Computer wasn't working, but just went fast enough to get a good feel for riding after swimming.
  
• 1/2 mile run. Just wanted to get the feel.

Saturday: Utah Summer Games Triathlon (Olympic Distance). 2:45:48.
Swim: 37:00. With goggle malfunctions
T1: 2:42. Gotta work on this one.
Bike: 1:15:47 (18.8 mph). In the rain.
T2: 1:15. Had to fix a band-aid.
Run: 49:03. My watch said 48:01 (7:45 miles) and I like that time better.

10th woman overall, 7th Utah woman and 3rd in my age-group.
Full race report to follow.

7 Weeks to Bryce / 2 Weeks to Summer Games Tri

Run: 16.25 miles. Bike: 27 miles, plus 1 hour spin. Swim: 1400 m. Other: 2 hours.

Monday: 20-mile bike ride with Ashley followed by a 2-mile run. It was good. We did the Sand Hollow hill for practice. I taught Ashley how to tuck on the descent and we got up over 40 mph. I think I maxed at 45.1, my fastest ever. I think the average was right around 17 and we averaged 7:35 for the 2 miles. I was surprised I could do that after the bike, but it felt good.

Tuesday: 5 mile on the treadmill. 1 easy mile followed by three tempo (7:24, 7:19, 7:14) followed by a cool-down mile. I am trying to pick up my tempo runs. I should be doing 4-5 miles at sub half-marathon pace, which if I want to break 1:37, is 7:25. Yikes!! Not this week, but the following, i will try to get that up to 4 tempo miles. I was about to die at the end of that third mile, but I feel like I am getting stronger.

Wednesday:

• 1 hour spin at the gym. I was on a broken bike that wouldn't chnage tension, so I was stuck at a slight incline. It was still a good workout.
  

• 1200 m swim at Sand Hollow - 28 minutes. I tried out Carol's $600 wetsuit (the nicer, long sleeve version of mine.) I like mine better. I am glad I got the long john. Carol decided to return hers and get mine. After she gets it, I will have to try out her smaller size.

Thursday:

• Track workout with Dennis and Tony. 2 x 200s (:47, :48), 1 x 1600 (6:47), 3 x 800s (3:16, 3:19, 3:19 ), 2 x 400s (1:36, 1:37), 2 x 200s (:47, :48). It was hard, but felt good.
  
• Futsol game. We had no subs so I played hard the whole game. We lost and I fell a few times and have a good bruise to prove it.

Friday: 1 hour Turbo with Ty. It was great to have Ty back. Great workout.

Saturday: Mini-triathlon. 2 mile run, 7 mile bike, 200 m swim. 43:80. It was a fun little workout. I won, but was racing mostly 12-year-olds and 70-year-olds. I think my pace for the run was right around 7:45. 18.4 mph on the bike and who knows about the swim. It was hard to do it last and like I said before, I am not a pool swimmer.

I plan to taper a bit this week and then try to get my speed and endurance up.

8 weeks to Bryce / 3 weeks to summer games tri

Run: 12.75. Bike: 117 miles, plus 1 hour spin. Swim: 3100 m. Other: 1 hour.

It was a good week. I had some great workouts and a lot of fun.

Monday: 93-mile bike ride. Tom and I got to go it was tons of fun. We averaged 17 mph. It took us right around 6 hours with two stops (bathroom, drinks, etc). We rode all over the county and did a big portion of the Ironman route.

Tuesday: 4.5 on the tread. I ran the first mile easy and tried to do 3 tempo miles (7:25, 7:40, 7:33). I was supposed to do them all at 7:25 but my legs were definitely fatigued from the ride. Hopefully I will do better this week.

Wednesday:

• 1 hour of spin at the gym
• 1200 m swim at Sand Hollow. I went with a group of friends. It was good. I used Marilyn's wetsuit, which is short, but I still felt good. Mindy swam with me without a wetsuit and stayed right with me. I think it took us about 30 minutes.
  

Thursday:

• Track workout. 2 x 200s (:48, :50), 5 x 800 (3:16, 3:18, 3:20, 3:22, 3:26) 2 x 400s (1:38, 1:35). This was hard, harder than 10 x 400s last week, but it was good.
• Futsol game. We lost, but I got a good workout and had fun.

Friday: 700m swim at the pool. Wow! This was hard. I much prefer the lake and a wetsuit. I should work on my form in a pool, but I suck so I think I may just stick to the lake.

Saturday: Brick workout - 1200 m swim followed by 24-mile bike (summer games course). Ashley, Carol and I met up with the southern utah tri club. A fun group.

• Swim. 1200 m in my new wetsuit (woohoo! xterra vortex 3 sleeveless.) I love it. I felt awesome, came off like butter and kept me afloat. Took two minutes of my time. 28 minutes.
• Bike. 24 miles around sand hollow. 17.8 mph. I felt good and just rode on my own. This was my first time on the Sand Hollow hill this year so I wanted to see what I could do. I would like to get my speed over 18 for the actual race.

I plan to work real hard this week as well and take it easy the week before the race. Then, I will start focusing more on the half. But I am having so much fun riding and swimming.

9 Weeks to Bryce: Elizabeth

Run: 26.6 miles. Bike: 14.5 miles, plus 1 hour spin. Swim: 1100 m. Other: 1 hour.

Monday: A really hot 6.15 miles. 8:17 pace. I started a little late in the morning and I thought i was going to die it was so hot. I took the first two miles pretty easy and tried to pick up the pace a bit on the middle three (8:08, 7:55, 8:06) and just brought the last one in. I need to get these tempo runs under 7:30 if I want to break 1:37 at Bryce.

Tuesday: 14.5 mile bike ride. 17 mph. I was short on time, so I could only go for 15. I went with Ash and a friend of hers. We did a little loop in cliffdwellers that is new in the Tri. I tried to pick up the pace a bit on the way back since I was by myself.

Wednesday: 1 hour spin at the gym. Standard. Good.

Thursday:

• Track workout. 2 x 200, 10 x 400, 2 x 200. A new guy, Dennis, has been coming at has some experience coaching, so I am letting him call the shots with distances and paces. We did the 200s in 47-48 and then, he wanted me to do the 400s in 1:38-140. I did them as follows: 1:37, 1:37, 1:36, 1:36, 1:35, 1:35, 1:34, 1:36, 1:29, 1:31. We purposefully picked up the pace on the last two. Then two more 200s right at :47. It was a great workout. Dennis gave me suggestions on how to get my half marathon time down like, doing my tread workouts at 1.0 incline and 8.1 mph. We'll see what I can do.
• Lake Swim. 1100 m. It was very nice and I just took it easy. I didn't have my watch. Last week's swim turned out to be closer to 1200-1300 m. woohoo!!
• Futsol.
  

Friday: Easy mile followed by a 1 mile race against my sister and niece and nephews. 6:23. I was surprised but it felt good. I would like to try to get my mile under 6:00 this summer, since I never broke 6 in high school.

Saturday: Awesomest run ever!! 10.5 miles up the La Verkin twist and Smith Mesa. First two miles nice uphill (10:15, 9:44) next three pretty flat (8:22, 8:10,8:35). The next three are straight up (11:30, 13:30, 14:30) but I kept my feet running. I finished the climb and started the descent (9:17) and continued the descent (7:25, 7:03). I went with a group and it was just fun. My average pace ended up at 9:59.

A Small-Town Girl Conquers Boston

The bliss of not knowing what is to come.

All pictures from marathonfoto.com

(This is an article I wrote about my experience in Boston. I wrote it for the local paper, thus the common person, not runner. Enjoy!)

April 20, 2009. Every thing I had done since last October revolved around what would happen on this day. And I mean everything.

I qualified for the Boston Marathon at the 2008 St. George Marathon in pouring rain and by less than two minutes. The pressure to qualify was oppressive. My husband had already qualified. The hotel was already reserved. My training said I could do it, but the rain and my head started to give me doubts. But I did it despite the pressure I felt and the pouring rain. After I crossed the finish line that October day, I thought could relax. I achieved what I had set out to do. Little did I know that I would not be able to relax for seven long months.

I qualified for the Boston Marathon. That meant I would actually have to run another marathon. Another 26.2 miles of my heavy pounding feet on hard asphalt. Another 26.2 miles of no nourishment besides Gatorade and jelly beans. Another 26.2 miles of listening to the voice in my head telling me to stay strong while the shooting pain in the rest of my body is telling me to quit.
But before I could even get to those 26.2 miles, I would have to first train hundreds of miles on rock hard asphalt, drink gallons of Gatorade and eat hundreds of jelly beans. I would have to teach my head and my heart to tough it out while trying to ease my body into the pain it would feel.

But I did it. I ran the miles every week. I trained my body to go far by doing long runs including two 20-milers. I trained my body to go fast by doing half-mile repeats at the track. I trained my body to run up hills and down hills, by running up and down hills.

April 20 came and I felt ready. I had put in the training. I had read dozens of articles on the Boston Marathon. I talked to friends who had run it before for advice. I listened to and read the words of encouragement from my friends and family. I had given my body and legs a rest the weeks coming in to the marathon. I had carb-loaded and skimped on the junk food. I checked and re-checked the forecast. I had even driven the marathon course, visualizing me running it. But nothing I could do, could truly prepare me for the experience of running the Boston Marathon.

Patriot’s Day in Boston turned out to be a cool morning with patches of clouds and noticeable wind, but not rainy as some of the forecasts had predicted. My husband and I awoke early, rode the bus up to the start line in Hopkinton with 26,000 other runners. We waited at Hopkinton High School with all the crowds. We waited for the porta-potties. We waited for the 10 o’clock start to roll around. We waited for it to warm up a bit. We waited for the porta-potties, some more. We waited for the sun to come out from behind the clouds. We waited while all this anticipation I had building up in me for seven months was starting to explode inside me. I just couldn’t wait anymore.

The call came over the PA system that I could start walking the one-mile to the start line, but I was still in line for a porta-potty. I finally made it through the line and started the nerve-wracking walk to the start. I just sort of followed the crowd, nervous and excited. I got to my corral (a fenced off area for 1000 runners about my same speed). Luckily, I didn’t have to wait in the crowded corral for long before it was my turn to start the race. I shuffled my feet with the other 2000 feet until we crossed the official start line and the shuffle turned into a slow jog as the crowd began to thin out.

Unlike The St. George Marathon, the crowd of runners never really thinned out the entire race. I was always running among a crowd. I had to watch where I was going and maneuver around every mile.

Also, unlike St George, the crowds of spectators never thinned out either. For close to 4 hours, my ears were bombarded with yells of support. I even wrote my name on my legs and shirt so total strangers could yell out my name, and they did. “Go Lizzie” floated to my ears every few minutes. I gave an energy-efficient thumbs up every time I heard my name. But when I got to Wellesley College, close the half-way point, if they called out my name, I couldn’t hear it because thousands of Wellesley coeds were screaming at the tops of their lungs for a half-mile section. Nothing could be heard but the high pitch yells of these girls holding up their signs offering free kisses. Loud, but awesome. A definite morale booster when my legs were starting to feel the fatigue of running 13 miles.
After Wellesley, the course got more difficult. The famous rolling hills of Newton began to take their toll on my quads which were very fatigued from the fast downhill miles at the beginning of the course. To be honest, the famed Heartbreak Hill at mile 20 was the easiest of the hills. I wasn’t even sure I was on it because it seemed so small. Although it didn’t seem very big, it still hurt.

It was at this point in the race that my legs pretty much wanted to quit completely. But the even larger crowds as I was getting into Boston proper continued to propel me through the miles. Running the last 10K of the course was one of the hardest things I have done in my life (and I have had three children au natural).

The rolling hills continued, the headwind off the harbor began to pick up, technically the finish was so close, but emotionally it was so far away. I began to look for my parents and my in-laws who had made the journey out to Boston to support my husband and me. I never did see them, but just knowing they were out in that crowd somewhere helped me.

They never saw me either because the guy in the tutu distracted them.

The fatigue and pain in my legs was getting worse. My form was deteriorating rapidly to a pathetic shuffle.

The thought of anymore Gatorade was nauseating. The familiar buildings of downtown did not seem to be getting any closer. I began to get passed by more runners than I was passing, including an older man decked out in a pink tutu and leotard. I stopped looking at my watch and focused just on getting through it. But soon enough, I was on the streets of downtown surrounded by the tall building and even bigger and louder crowds. The finish line was getting closer and after a couple of turns was in sight.

The last two-tenths of the last mile were glorious but excruciatingly painful. I willed my legs to move a little faster. I willed my arms to pump a little harder. I willed back the tears of exhaustion and joy. I even willed out a smile and victory thumbs-up as I crossed the finish line in 3:48:35. I don’t know what place I came in. I don’t know who beat me. I don’t know who I beat. Because the Boston Marathon for me, was not a race against the other 26,000 runners. It wasn’t even a race against the clock. It is a very personal race against the pain and fatigue, a personal race of hard work and diligent training, a personal race made better by the encouragement of friends and family, a personal race to overcome and conquer one of the world’s greatest marathons.

10 Weeks to Bryce: Elizabeth

Monday: 5.34 miles. 9:15 pace.
My legs felt like lead. I was supposed to ready at 7:30 when Tom got home from his ride, I wasn't. I had to quickly get up and rush out the door. I think I need more time to wake up.

Tuesday:

• 17 miles on bike. 16 mph. Ashley and I rode up the twist and back. It was great. I felt good going up the hill and am just getting super excited about riding more.
• Strength training at the gym. Hard, but good.

Wednesday: Spin. My legs were tired, especially the hamstrings, so I kind of took it easy.

Thursday:

• Track workout. 6 x 800s (3:21, 3:20, 3:19, 3:17, 3:18, 3:17) It felt great. Tony was there and a new guy from Leeds who really helped me push the pace. We had a good group of others as well.
• Open-water swim at Sand Hollow. 30 minutes. I swam from the beach, following the buoys to the island and in a bit then back tracked. It felt awesome! I know I am slow, but if I can swim 30 minutes for an 800 or 1000m with zero training ( I have been in the water one time since last November) I have good hopes with some training.
• Futsol. Luckily, we won by forfeit because I had no energy. I played the first half, but then just played goalie or defense for the second half.

Friday: 90 minutes p90X yoga with Cherie. Awesome!! It felt good, no cardio but some good strenght poses and I definitely worked my shoulders. I even followed the workout with 2 real pull-ups.

Saturday: Taught spin. Kind of a dud of a class. Only two people and one wore headphones and did her own thing the whole time. But Bonnie and I got a good workout reagrdless. I guess I need to come with more mainstream hip-hoppy music that these ladies will like. I was a bit discouraged, but oh well.

I am looking forward to getting in a couple of good runs, rides and at least one open water swim next week.

11 Weeks to Bryce Half Marathon

Boston is done. But my race schedule is not over. We have many fun races planned this summer. The highlights include: Utah Summer Games Triathlon (Olympic Distance)on June 13, Bryce Half Marathon on July 18, maybe Kokopelli Triathlon on Septemeber 26, St. George Marathon on October 3 and I am thinking about doing a half ironman in Provo on August 15 or Bear Lake on August 29.

I am excited about all the races and will train for each of them, but I am really trying to peak at the Bryce Half so I can beat my sister, Rachel. I have never beat her in a running race where she wasn't pregnant, but I plan to in July.

Monday
Turbo kick at the gym. Great workout.

Tuesday
20 mile road ride with Ashley. A great ride to get me back on the bike. We road out past the airport and through Sky Ranch. Average speed: 16 mph.
This will hopefully be a regualr thing at 6:30 am. All are welcome.

Wednesday
Track workout. 3 x 1600 (6:41, 6:57, 7:34) with 400 RI. Wow! That was a hard workout. We had a great turnout, but it was a million degrees. I felt pretty good on the first and not so good on the second. I thought I was going to die on the third, but I made it, barely. This will be our last night one for a while. We are switching to the morning. Tom will lead a 6:15 workout and I will lead a 9:15 one. Hopefully we get some folks out.

Thursday

• Rode to spin and strength at the gym. Alicia taught a great 40 minutes of spin followed by 20 minutes of arms.
• 300 m swim at the lake. First open water swim sine last September. Felt good. I was a bit panicky on the way out, but got in a groove on the way back. I want to make this a weekly thing. But I need my own wetsuit.
• Ward Futsol. Awesome game and a great workout. We won by forfeit, but were able to play a great, fun game.

Friday
Rest

Saturday
21-mile ride with Ty. We rode from Toquerville, through Leeds to the turn-off to Harrisburg. What a great route. There is a nice climb into the wind out of Toquerville, followed by a nice fast few miles thorugh Leeds. A few little climbs, but mostly downhill. Then, the way back is a nice long climb with some steeper sections followed by the super fast descent into Toquerville.

Hurricane Half Marathon Race Report

I have written up a Boston race report, but it is on my computer which is currently unavailable at my brother's house, so I will just have to post about the Hurricane Half, first.

It was a good race. The forecast called for rain, which was crazy because it had been so nice all week, but lately, all races we are doing have rain in the forecast. I really didn't know what to expect running a race 12 days after Boston. My legs felt good, but I just didn't know if my body had recovered at all.

I took it easy the week and a half between the two races. To be honest, I don't remember what I did. The Saturday before I did 6.5 miles at a 8:13 pace and it felt pretty good. My legs were definitley fatigued by the end, but they weren't rubber. I also did a short track workout the Wednesday before (4x400 at 1:26-1:27). They felt good.

So the rain started at about 3:30 am the day of the race. I woke up to and thought, oh great a whole 13.1 miles in pouring rain. but by the time I awoke at 5:00, the rain had stopped. The weather turned out to be ideal: overcast, mild temps in the low 60s and nice clean air without pollens floating around to agravate my allergies.

The race began at 6:30, with a bus ride at 5:40. I am not used to the early morning runs yet, but it wasn't too bad.

I wore shorts, tank, and arm warmers. Perfect choices. No gloves or ear warmers needed.

I started the race with a couple of friends. Carol wanted to run around 1:45. I wanted to beat her because I barely beat her last year after she had just run Boston. she and I have friendly competitions every race we do together. She is 45 and has 5 or 6 kids, but is amazing. It makes me feel super strong if I can beat her. Shelly wanted to stick with me as long as she could in her debut half. She is going to try to qualify for Boston at the St. George Marathon this year. She was really fast in college but has had triplets since then and is just getting back into competing. I stuck with them for a while but slowly gained a bit of ground on them.

My first few miles were good, under 8 minute pace. I had a few slow miles our of Virgin, but picked up the pace back down the La Verkin twist.I realized I was not going to make my very optimistic goal of 1:40, but decided to keep trying for under 1:45. My IT band was a bit tight, but I just kept trying to keep my miles under 8. No woman passed me the entire race. One passed me, but I passed her right back. I passed two that repassed me.

The last mile, I really tried to pick up the pace. I passed a few guys that made comments (nice ones) and I just kept going. The last 100 yds onto the high school track were fun. One of the guys I passed decided he didn't want to let me beat him, so he starts sprinting. As soon as I realize what he is doing I pick it up. I am surprised I had that much left in me, but I catch back up to him and I think I outleaned him at the line, but that is debateable.

I finished in 1:42:23, a 3-minute PR over last year. The course was a little short this year, but I will still take it. I was very happy and now will work toward 1:37 (eeeek!) at the Bryce Half in July.

Here are a bunch of our running buddies that did the race.

4 Days to Boston: Elizabeth

Tread workout. 1 mile moderately easy. 4 x 400s at a 3.0 incline (400 RI) (1:40, 1:40, 1:40, 1:30). 3/4 mile cool down. It felt good except for a shooting pain I got in my left shoulder during my second 400. I got through it and stretched it and it felt fine the rest of the run.

We leave tonight!!! I am so excited!!!

1 Week to Boston

Monday: 7.71 miles, 8:14 pace. Felt great. I didn't want to over push, so i just went at a comfortable pace. I did push the last mile hard to keep my pace constant, but other than that, it was a very comfortable pace.

I am so excited!!!

I also just found two pace calculators specific to the Boston Marathon. They give you splits based on the terrain of the course. They can be found here and here. There is also a really cool one for the St. George Marathon, that I used last year. It can be found here. I love what people come up with to benefit me.

2 Weeks to Boston: Elizabeth

Monday: 13.1 miles, 8:23 pace, 1:49:53.
Exactly on marathon pace. Now if I can just keep it up for another 13 miles. It felt pretty good. I made sure there were plenty of hills. The wind picked up a bit halfway through, but that is good practice as well. Allergies were unbearable for the rest of the day. I can't wait for spring to end or for me to discover a allergy medicine that works.

Tuesday: Taught strength at the gym. I didn't have much notice (1 hour) but it turned out okay. The ladies didn't seem to mind my inabilities and we were all pretty sore on Wednesday.

Wednesday: Spin at the gym. My legs and pretty much whole body were tired and tight. I felt very slow on the bike, but oh well.

Thursday:

• Track workout. 1 mile war-up. 4 X 800s with 400 RI (3:11, 3:15, 3:09, 3:12). I did it at 4 instead of the usual 6. I was grumpy. But Cherie joined me and ran one lap of my 800s with me and really pushed me. It was nice to have her to chase.
• Futsol game. Awesome! I am so glad this sport is back on. We lost, but I had a good workout and even scored two goals. I'll miss it next week for Boston, but count me in every Thursday after that.

Friday: Rest.

Saturday: Tempo run. 1 mile moderate (8:18), 3 miles tempo (7:40, 7:45, 7:27), 1 mile moderate (8:20). It flet good. There was a misty rain and the temp was cool. I wore shorts, long sleeves and a light jacket. I had to remove the jacket part way through. So, even if the weather isn't ideal for Boston, I will be fine and I need to remember not to overdress, like I tend to do.

Wow!! It is so close. There really isn't much I can do at this point, but hope for the best. I had a good week.

I am looking forward to an easy week next week and then travel to and get used to Boston.

Two Weeks to Boston: Thomas

Wednesday: 5.5 miles @ 7:21 pace.

Thursday: Track workout - 5 x 800m (2:49, 2:52, 2:50, 2:51, 2:53)

Friday: 16.29 miles bicycling (17.7 mph average speed). I signed up for LOTOJA, so I figured I probably should start training.

Saturday: 5.0 miles @ 6:46 pace (one mile moderate - 7:14, three miles tempo - 6:34, 6:25, 6:26, one mile moderate - 7:12)

Felt really good on all my workouts this week. Saturday's run was especially nice. Legs felt fast and energy was high.

3 Weeks to Boston: Elizabeth

Monday: kickboxing at they gym. I was a bit sore from Saturday's run and this just added to it.

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 1 mile easy, 5 tempo miles on tread. Average 7:41 pace.

Thursday: Yoga at the gym. Good core workout. Lots of static positions.

Friday: 5 mile hill workout on tread. 1 mile, 1.0 incline, 8:34. 1 mile, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5 incline for 1/4 mile each, 8:34 pace. 1/2 mile, 1.0 incline, 8:20 pace. 1/2 mile, 5.0, 5,5 incline, 8:20 pace. 1/2 mile, 1.0 incline, 8:20 pace. 1 mile, 4.0, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0 incline 8:20 pace. 1/2 mile, 1.0 incline, 8:20 pace. Good hill workout.

Saturday: Rest. I will do my long run on Monday to start getting my body used to running on Monday.

Three Weeks to Boston: Thomas

Tuesday: 6.51 miles (1 miles easy, four tempo miles (6:40 pace), 1.5 miles easy)

Thursday: Speed, 4x800M (2:50, 2:51, 2:50, 2:51)

Saturday: 13.37 miles @ 6:58 pace. My Garmin was malfunctioning, so I did this run with a regular stopwatch. I was concerned that I might not be able to stay on pace without the Garmin. So I was happy that I came close to marathon pace without the aid of the Garmin.

4 Weeks to Boston: Elizabeth

Monday: 5 hilly miles on the tread.
1/2 mile at an easy pace. Then I bumped up the pace to 8:00 and ran a 1.5 mile hill: quarter mile at 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5 incline. 1/2 mile at no incline, same pace. Next, a 1 mile hill: quarter mile at 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5. First 3/4 at 8:00, last quarter mile at an 8:13 pace. 1/2 mile at 8:00 and no incline. Last hill was a 1/2 mile: 4.0, 4.5. First 1/4 at 8:00 second at 8:20. 1/2 mile cool down.

This was a great workout that seriously kicked my butt. I kept the whole workout at faster than marathon pace. I was sucking wind hard by the end, but it felt great and hopefully it will help me through the Newton hills.

Tuesday: Hour of spin at the gym.

Wednesday: Laziness. I was supposed to run at the track, but only one other person showed up, then I got a side ache and I was never into it mentally, so I went home and watched Idol.

Thursday: I had to do my speed on the tread because it was super windy outside. 1 mile warm up followed by 4 X 1-mile with 400m recovery. (6:55, 6:53, 6:53, 6:50) It was a good workout, hard to do on the tread but easier because I was forced to keep my legs moving at the same pace. I am curious if I could keep the paces on the track.

Friday: Rest. I should have gone to the gym since I rested on Wednesday, but I was lazy.

Saturday: 20 miles!!! 8:42 pace.
I ran through Angel Heights, up the Sand Hollow hill, down it and back up it and home on 200 west.
I was very happy with this run. I wanted to do it at least under 9:20 (PMP plus 1 minute), but I was hoping for under 9:00. I had a few slow miles, but a number under marathon pace including the final mile (8:21), even though I was exhausted. Allergies kicked in bad after the run, though. I took too much medicine and couldn't function the rest of the day. Luckily, I have the greatest husband in the world and even though he was exhausted from his 20, he let me sleep and took care of the kids.

On to the taper weeks. Although, Tom mentioned an article about how a two-week taper is all you need for a marathon. I better check it out. As of now, I plan to keep the speed up and intensity up, just cut out some distance in my long runs.

Four Weeks to Boston: Thomas

Tuesday: Treadmill - 1 mile easy, 4x1600M (6:40 @ 4% incline), 0.5 mile easy.

Wednesday: 7.0 miles at 7:17 pace. Last two uphill miles at 6:57 pace.

Thursday: Speed on treadmill - 1 mile easy, 3x1600M (6:00 pace), 0.5 mile easy.

Saturday: 20.0 miles @ 7:19 pace. Last good long run before Boston.

This was a pretty good week. I have been icing my foot each night and the injury from a week ago has not returned. With 22 days to Boston it is time to start a gradual taper.

Thoughts at 1 month to Boston: Elizabeth

Boston is 4 weeks away, today. Here is what I am feeling:

• Nervous because of curse. Timing couldn't be worse.
• If worse comes to worst and I have a bad race, I should be able to make up for it 12 days later at the Hurricane half. I feel I am in better half shape anyway.
• I feel faster than I did this time before St. George.
• My endurance is, however, not as good.
• But my 17-miler last week was way faster than any long run I did before St. George.
• And I felt great at the end and even picked up the pace the last couple of miles.
• My 20-miler before St. George found me sucking wind the last couple of miles.
• I weigh 5-10 pounds more than I did St. George.
• Hopefully, it is all muscle in my legs.
• Body feels pretty good: hamstring hasn't been bothering me much. I still wear the wrap on long runs, but more as a security blanket that anything.
  
• Knees are pretty good.
  
• Bunion still hurts, which it did for St. George and doesn't really bug me while I am running.
• IT-band gets tight, I need to remember to stretch it after all my runs.
• Basically, I am just mad about the curse timing and wish there was something I could do to alter it.
  

Overall, I am feeling fairly confident in my training, but very nervous and unsure of what to expect. I would love to do well, but am just excited for the experience. This is not the end all race of the season. Actually, I care more about my time at the Bryce Canyon Half in July where I have challenged my sister and would love to break 1:40 or even 1:37.

I am excited for my taper to officially start after Saturday. If I can just get through 20 miles at a decent pace, I will feel ready. I also need to radically change my eating habits over the next month. Much less junk will do my weight and glycogen stores some good.

5 Weeks to Boston: Elizabeth

Monday: 5 miles on tread. 1 mile easy (9:06) and 4 miles at tempo (7:30, 7:30, 7:19, 7:09). Great run, maybe my tread is off or something, but I felt very comfortable. I was working, but not getting super uncomfortable.

Tuesday: 1 hour spin at the gym.

Wednesday:

• Track workout. 4 x 800 (3:09, 3:10, 3:11, 3:11). I had to cut it short for spin.
• Taught i hour spin at the gym. Lots of hills and standing.

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Turbo at the gym. Ty did not lack any energy with two weeks to go. Ashley helped keep the tempo up. My back was starting to hurt by the last 15 minutes. (PMS, I'm sure). I was sore on Saturday.

Saturday: 4.7 miles, 8:00 pace.

I stayed up too late and ate way too much junk food this week. My sister and her kids came into town on Friday for a softball tournament. I planned to get 12 miles in. Oh well. But i really need to get in one last ultra long run on Saturday.
Curse started, which sucks because it means the curse will be going strong for Boston. I definitely felt sluggish all week and really didn't even want to get up and run at all today. I'm going to do some research and see if I can alter the curse in 1 month.

Five Weeks to Boston: Thomas

Monday: 5.5 miles on treadmill (1 mile easy, four miles fast - 6:27, 6:22, 6:17, 6:15), half mile easy.

Wednesday: Track workout - 1200 m warm up, 4x800 m (2:50, 2:51, 2:55, 2:55), 1 x 1600 m (6:46 pushing James in the double stroller).

Friday: 6.63 miles @ 7:36 pace. It is starting to get really hot. I did this run in the afternoon and suffered in the heat.

Saturday: 18.0 miles @ 7:42 pace. I planned on doing about 22 miles (the Sand Hollow loop). I felt really good the first 13 miles (averaging 7:10 to 7:15). I stopped for water at the top of the Sand Hollow hill and my right Achilles tightened up. I tried to run/walk through the pain for the next five miles, but the pain was getting severe and I didn't want to risk major injury. I called Elizabeth from the animal shelter to pick me up. I will try again next week for my last long run before Boston.

Six Weeks to Boston: Thomas

Another lackluster training week.

Tuesday: 4.5 miles on the treadmill at a moderate pace (recovering from Lake to Lake relay).

Friday: 5.25 miles on the treadmill - 7:40 average pace with lots of hills (started at 2.0% incline, gradually increased to 6.0%, then decreased back down to 2.0%).

Saturday: Wasatch Powderkeg backcountry ski race. Three climbs, three descents. 5.5 miles, 4,000 vertical feet of climbing. 2:39:23 total time.

6 Weeks to Boston: Elizabeth

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Taught spin at the gym. My standard 3-15 minute segments. Good energy and a big class.

Wednesday: Track workout. 6 x 800s. (3:08, 3:10, 3:13, 3:15, 3:13, 3:10). I went out a little fast thanks to Darrel pushing the pace. Felt pretty tired, but happy with the times.

Thursday: Piyo at the gym. Nice and easy because Ty is down to three weeks until her due date. She definitely didn't push us.

Friday: 4 miles on tread, 8:17 pace average, with hills. Definitely got my heart rate up.

• mile 1: 8:34, flat
• mile 2: 7:41, flat
• mile 3, 8:20, increased incline1.0 every quarter mile from 2 to 5.
  
• mile 4: flat 8:34 first half to catch my breath, 8 min quarter, 8 min quarter on 3.0 incline.

Saturday: 17 miles to top Sand Hollow hill, 8:45 pace.

I was dreading this my long run, but it turned out fine. Tom was out of town so I had to go at 9 when I had a sitter. I hoped for under 9:00. I started off pretty easy. I stopped at the stake center about two to three miles in for a potty break and to get rid of my jacket. I ate some Pria bar and went on my way.

The temp started at about 40 degrees and finished near 60. Hence, lsoing the jacket a few miles in. Wore short sleeves and arm warmers, which I also took off, and tights.

I energized through out with Jelly Bellys (I'm a big fan) and Clif Bar chews. Hydrated with water and gatorade. Wore my hamstring wrap and it felt fine. My right hip started getting a shooting pain the last few miles, but I just pounded it with my fist and carried on.

My pace started at an over 9:00 minute pace. I got faster after about five miles and felt really good, even up the Sand Hollow hill. Last two miles were 8:36 including the last mile uphill home. I was very happy and am feeling much more confident and prepared for Boston.

Lake to Lake Race Report

Can I tell you how fun this race was. It was fun to run with great friends. It was fun to take second place as out of 22 mixed teams. It was fun to take that second place from the third place team by a mere minute. It was fun to ride around in the van and cheer on my fellow team members and Tom's team for the first half. (He was so much faster than us that by half way, he would be gone from the exchanges before we got there.) It was fun to run the final leg with my team supporting me. It was just a great experience and I can't wait for the next one.

The Lake to Lake relay is a 50-mile relay from Gunlock Reservoir to Sand Hollow Reservoir. The race is divided into 10 legs of more or less 5 miles. Each team of 5 or less runners takes turns running at least two legs until the finish. Some legs are downhill, some up, some legs are dirt trail, some are paved bike paths, some legs are on city streets, all are spectacular.

The race began at 8 am. We dropped of Kasie and drove down the road to the exchange where we dropped of Darrel and then off the the next exchange. There we picked up Kasie from the bus, waited for Darrel and sent Ben packing.

I ran the 4th leg. It was 5.18 miles on mostly bike path. 7:08 pace.

The profile shows it as a mostly downhill run, but it didn't feel like it. There were plenty of little climbs. I was passed by one guy right at the exchange and one more at mile 3. I couldn't re-catch either but just tried to keep them in my sights. When the second guy caught me he told me he had been trying to do so since the beginning of the leg. He gave me a compliment and then was on his way.

Luckily for us the next leg was run by Glen and he rocked it. He passed 5 people, putting us into 7th place overall and 3rd in the mixed division. Kasie ran the next leg and held off all the teams Glen passed, plus passed one more. Darell ran the next and lost only one spot. Ben ran the 8th leg and gained one overall spot. Now it was Glen's turn again. I told him he needed to get me a pretty big buffer if we wanted to keep a hold of second place. At each of the exchanges there were 5 teams, including us, very close to eachother. 4 of the teams were mixed teams and one was an all men's team.

Leg 10. 4.4 miles. 7:32 pace.

I started the final leg in second. I had no idea how close the other teams were, but I did know that many of them had their strongest runners running this leg. I just ran the generally uphill route as fast as I could. I got a few hollers as friends passed in their vehicles and Tom stopped at a few spots to encourage me since he was long finished. It really helped. He warned me there was a guy gaining fast on me. The last half mile of the route is a substantial incline. I have run it before in other races, but always suck at it. I just motored up it where my team met me for the victory run across the parking lot. We held off the other team, but only by one minute. The guy was running 5 minute miles. Had the race been a half mile longer he would have caught me. The 4th team was less than a minute back. Full results can be found here.



It was a blast and I felt great with my times. I think we got second because we strategized. We had our two fastest run the two hardest legs and gain enough ground to allow me to bring it home on the less difficult leg. The other teams put their best runners last, but they couldn't make up for the slower runners on the very hilly and sandy legs.

Go team Saturday's Warriors!

7 Weeks to Boston: Elizabeth

I spent the week with my sisters, eating too much and running too little. Hopefully, it doesn't set me back too much because I don't have too much time left. I did use the excuse of tapering for Lake to Lake and was happy with the result. But now I have no time left for slacking. I need to be serious until the big race.

Monday: 4.88 miles, 40:44, 8:21 pace
I ran pushing James in the dark and I was stopped to be warned about rattle snakes. I started with my sisters but when on ahead after the first mile.
Mile 2 was more uphill and I was getting used to the stroller.
I picked up the pace for miles 3 and 4. (7:39, 7:41).
Ran the last mile with my sisters.

Tuesday: 10.68 miles, 1:39:56, 9:21 pace.
This was supposed to be my long run (16 miles remember?). I intended to run anywhere between 11 and 15 miles depending on how I felt. We drove to Saguaro National Park East. I ran a trail for the first 1.4 miles and then ran an 8-mile, very hilly paved loop around the park and finished on the trail. If I felt good I was going to run the 4 miles back to my sister's house. I didn't. It was 85 degrees. I was hot and tired. When I got back to the trailhead I should have finished out the 11th mile but I was so tired and my sisters were there from their 8-mile run and we went home instead. Oh well.

I slacked the rest of the week until Saturday's Lake to Lake relay.

Saturday: Our team took second in the mixed division out of 22 teams!! I ran legs 4 and 10. A full race report will follow.
-Leg 4: 5.18 miles, 36:52, 7:08 pace. It was a slightly downhill run, but I was ecstatic.
-Leg 10: 4.44 miles, 33:28, 7:32 pace. This one was a slightly uphill course, finishing on a substantial incline.

8 Weeks to Boston: Elizabeth

Tuesday: Spin at the gym.

Wednesday: Track workout. 6x800 (3:14, 3:14, 3:15, 3:12, 3:10, 3:09)
This was the my best track workout to date. I felt great and kept getting faster. It helped that we had a big group.

Thursday: 3 mile walk with my sister and niece. A nice brisk walk after a big dinner.

Friday: 4.62 miles, 48:06, 10:24 pace.
I ran with my sister Suzanne. We pushed two kids in a stroller and it was wicked windy.
We followed the run with an ab workout from Runners' World.

Saturday: 6.07 miles, 57:34, 9:28 pace.
I was supposed to run 16, but I promised myself I would run it on Monday in Tucson because I was just too tired. Again, I ran with my sister, no kids and no wind. This was a good, fast speed for her.

Next week, I go to Tucson with my sister. How will my training go?

7 Weeks to Boston: Thomas

This was a bad training week. Many factors contributed to a poor week of running: 10 hours of driving to Salt Lake on Tuesday, a moderately severe head cold, tapering for Lake to Lake relay. Here's what I managed to do.

Wednesday: 4.25 miles on the treadmill @ 7:15 pace with lots of hills.

Saturday: Lake to Lake Relay. My team finished third overall. I ran legs 3 and 7.

- Leg 3: 5.62 miles in 35:23 (6:18 pace).
- Leg 7: 4.35 miles in 28:00 (6:26 pace).

8 Weeks to Boston: Thomas

Monday: 5.05 miles @ 6:50 pace.

Tuesday: Rest.

Wednesday: Speed. 6x800M (2:47, 2:48, 2:50, 2:49, 2:47, 2:46)

Thursday: 8.35 miles @ 7:02 pace.

Friday: Coached Porter's soccer practice.

Saturday: 21.25 miles @ 7:21 pace. It felt good to get in a nice long run at marathon pace + 20-30 seconds. I included lots of hills to practice for Boston's infamous Newton Hills.

9 weeks to Boston: Elizabeth

Monday: crappiest run of my life. I intended to do 12, but felt horrible from the get go. My pace was slow and I would have called Tom to get me had I had my cell phone. First 7 miles, pace was right around 9. I had to go to the bathroom and was out in the farms with no bathrooms. I walked 2 miles and finally found a port-o-potty. I then was able to run home, but was miserable.

Total distance: 11.75
Pace: 10 something.

Tuesday: I tried to go to spin, but the power was out and class was cancelled, so I sat on my butt all day.

Wednesday: 4 miles on the treadmill. Average pace: 7:51.

Thursday:

• piyo in the am.
  
• track workout in the pm.

3 - 1 mile repeats (6:55, 6:52, 6:53) and 1- 800 (3:17)
I was very happy with the workout.

Friday: Turbo at the gym. Great workout. Thanks Ty.

Saturday:

• 1 hour of basketball. I actually played the whole time and had fun. Definitely worked up a sweat.And I even made one basket and fouled many times.
  
• Taught spin at the gym. Good workout with lots of hills.
• 10 miles. Hilly to Toquerville. 8:57 pace. Legs were fatigued, but I felt good.

9 Weeks to Boston: Thomas

Monday: 17.3 miles @ 7:35 pace.
Tuesday: Rest.
Wednesday: 7.0 miles - 1 mile easy, 4 tempo miles (6:49 average pace), 2 miles of hills at moderate pace.
Thursday: Speed - 3x1600M (5:55, 5:48, 5:46), 1x800M (2:47).
Friday: Rest.
Saturday: 12.16 miles (trail run up the twist along the old road to the La Verkin Overlook) @ 7:28 pace.

Dam to Dam Race Report: Elizabeth

Dam 2 Dam 5-Miler, February 14, 2009, Sand Hollow State Park
38:28, 9th overall, 4th in age group (30-34)

Tom and I ran the Dam to Dam 5-miler at Sand Hollow State Park. This is the fourth annual race, and the third time I have run it. Unfortunately, it gets more competitive every year. The first year I ran it (41:53) I took third overall. Last year, (41:57) was still good enough for 2nd in age group. I forget my overall placement. This year, I ran it 3 minutes faster but didn't place even in my age group.

The morning was chilly but better than expected. The forecasts were saying rain and I hate rain. We had beautiful sunny skies, still but chilly air. The race follows the reservoir from one dam to the other. It is a very scenic run and is about half pavement, half dirt road.

Racers are shuttled to the start where we waited for about 45 minutes for the start of the race. Nerves were good. Lots are good friends were there to wait with. I bought the hamstring wrap and put it on 10 minutes before the start. My hamstring was feeling fine, but just in case I wore it.

I started the race at the front because it is just hand-timed and I couldn't lose any seconds getting to the start. I felt good. There were a handful of women ahead of me.

Mile 1: 7:31. I intended to go out at about a 7:50, but I felt okay. I ran with a 12-year-old in my ward. She has potential. My hamstring wrap slipped down and I gave it to a guy taking pictures and hoped I would find the $20 item at the finish line. I caught my friend's husband Jim. Local rival (and 12-year-old's mom) Kasie Watts still ahead of me.

Mile 2: 7:47. I definitely slowed down, but still feeling good. Kasie in my sights, but not really any other women.

Mile 3: 7:45. I caught Kasie at the end of this mile. It felt good. Also caught race director Terry Tucker. One other woman maybe within reach.

Mile 4: 7:41. I'm just running steady. Still ahead of Kasie. Terry re-catches me. Other woman getting further out of reach.

Mile 5: 7:40. I gave all I had. Kasie passed me in the last 150 yards to beat me by 7 seconds. At least one man also passed me. I really had nothing left.

Overall, I am very happy. My first goal was to break 40 minutes. Check. More optimistic goal run between 7:30 and 7:45 pace. Check. I ran 7:41. Third goal. Beat Jim. Check. Fourth goal. Beat Kasie. No go, but I was close and I'll keep working on that one. I have yet to beat her in a race.

It was fun to run with so many friends.

Next race: Lake to Lake Relay, March 7, 2009. Relay group: Glen and Kasie Watts, Ben Ashcraft, Derral Humphries, and me. The 8th ward team.

Dam 2 Dam Race Report: Thomas

Saturday, February 14, 2009
Dam 2 Dam Five Mile Race at Sand Hollow State Park

Temperature: 37 degrees Fahrenheit.
Weather: Mostly sunny (despite forecasts calling for rain/snow mix).

Pre-race: Elizabeth and I car-pooled to the Sand Hollow parking lot with Richard and Kay (thanks for the ride, Richard!). Once at Sand Hollow we had to take a "shuttle" to the actual start line (the race makes a big loop around the reservoir, ending at the main parking lot). We met a nice family from Vegas in our shuttle. Their 14 year old son, Julian, ran the race last year in 31:00. It was fun to talk to them. Got to the start line and did some warm ups. Local speedster Jose was there, along with a guy from the St. George Running Center club.

Mile 1: Started out a little fast with the lead group. Jose went about 20 seconds off the front of the pack. 6:18.

Mile 2: Jose still out in front. The St. George Running Center guy and one other runner went off the front to try to catch him. I was in a group of about seven or eight (including Julian from Vegas, and my local rivals Glen Watts and Glen Leavitt) behind the front three. A really fast woman set the pace for our group. 6:23.

Mile 3: Three runners still out front. Our group was down to four (me, Julian, the really fast woman, and one other guy). 6:23.

Mile 4: I tried to pull ahead of our group of four. At one point I had a bit of gap on the other three, but the really fast woman caught and passed me right before we got to the dam. 6:27.

Mile 5: Crossing the dam. I could see the four runners in front of me (the three who had been out since mile 2, and the really fast woman). I tried to close the gap, but didn't have the kick. 6:24.

Overall a really good race. I beat last year's time by over a minute. My goal was sub 32:00, so I beat my goal as well. Though I wished I could have picked up my last mile a little bit. I also got $10 at Classic Sports for the third place age division award. Thanks, Jared.

10 Weeks to Boston: Thomas

Monday: 6.5 miles @ 7:12 pace.
Tuesday: Skiing at Brianhead. Ten to twelve inches of fresh, light, untouched snow. If you have to ski Brianhead, this is the way to do it.
Wednesday: 4 miles on the treadmill. 7:50 pace with 3 to 4% inclines.
Thursday: Bad weather prevented a track workout. 3.5 miles on the treadmill with three 800 M intervals at 6:00 pace (the fastest the treadmill will go).
Friday: Rest. Carbo-load for race.
Staturday: Dam 2 Dam five-mile race at Sand Hollow reservoir. 31:55 for the 5.0 miles (6:23 pace). Fourth place Men's Overall, third in Men 30 - 34.

10 Weeks to Boston: Elizabeth

Monday: Lazy

Tuesday: Powder skiing all day at Brianhead. Woohoo!! It was awesome. I haven't really ever skiied powder. It was a good workout and tons of fun.

Wednesday: Taught spin at the gym in the pm. Good endurance workout.

Thursday:

• Piyo at the gym.
• 4 miles on treadmill, average 8:02 pace. Started at 8:34 pace and incrementally increased my pace without ever going back down. Ended at 7:35 pace. Legs a little fatigued from piyo and spin.
  

Friday: Rest. Had to rest for Dam to Dam.

Saturday: Dam to Dam 5-miler. 38:28. 9th woman, 4th in 30-34.

11 Weeks to Boston: Thomas

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: 6.4 miles (1 mile easy, 4 miles @ 6:34 pace, 1.4 miles easy).
Wednesday: Speed, 6x800M (2:53, 2:51, 2:52, 2:51, 2:52, 2:46)
Thursday: Rest.
Friday: 5.47 miles @ 7:34 pace.
Saturday: 13.1 miles @7:30 pace.

11 Weeks to Boston: Elizabeth

Monday: Kickboxing at the gym. Good solid workout with ab work.

Tuesday: Rest. Not the usual day, but scheduling conflicts made it happen.

Wednesday:

• Strength training at gym in the AM.

• Speed work on track in PM.

6 - 800s (3:18, 3:22, 3:18, 3:22, 3:25, 3:24). I definitely felt the fatigue of strength in the morning. It was extra bad because I haven't done strength in a long time. Hamstring bothering me by the end.

Thursday: Piyo at the gym. Hamstring very tight.

Friday: 3 easy miles on treadmill (8:34 pace). Hamstring on verge of excruciating.

Saturday:

• A little bit of ward basketball. Hamstring very sore so I only played when someone needed a rest, but it was fun.

• 21.5 miles, 4 hours running, 11:20 pace. My friend Carol was running 45 miles on her 45th birthday. I intended to run the middle 15 with her. I was worried about my hamstring though, so I wasn't even sure if I would make that. But between basketball and the run, a friend brought over a hamstring wrap and hallelujah! Praise the Lord! it worked like a miracle. I couldn't feel much pain at all. And I was having so much fun I ended up running the rest of the way with her and it ended up being 21.5 miles.It was a very slow pace because after all, she was running 45 miles. After the run I soaked in natural hot springs for 30-45 minutes. Today, I am barely sore.

This week I discovered a new energy source, 5-hour Energy. I say it works like a charm. I need to research it though, to make sure it's not too bad for my body. I can buy it at Costco by the case for 1.50 a jar. I used half the jar on Saturday's run.

My Garmin was on the fritz so I sent it in for repairs. I hope I get it back soon.

And I need to go buy my own hamstring wrap.

Next week will be an easy one because the Dam to Dam 5-miler is on Saturday, Feb. 14.

12 Weeks to Boston: Thomas

Monday: Rest.
Tuesday: 5 miles on treadmill (1 mile easy, 3 miles at 6:30, 1 mile easy).
Wednesday: Rest.
Thursday: Speed - 5 x 800m (2:52, 2:56, 2:53, 2:55, 2:55)
Friday: 6.5 miles at 7:09 min/mile.
Saturday: 15.3 miles at 7:32 min/mile.

12 Weeks to Boston: Elizabeth

Monday: 1 hour Kickboxing. Great workout. Haven't done kickboxing in probably a year.
Tuesday: 1 hour spin. I was sore from kickboxing and the soreness got worse as the day went on.
Wednesday: 5-mile tempo run on treadmill. Easy mile followed by three tempo miles (8:00, 7:47, 7:27). 8:50 cool-down mile.
Thursday: Piyo in the am. I am so inflexible, i can't even touch my toes. I've got to make this workout a weekly habit.
Speed work on track in the pm. 1 mile warm up followed by 5-800s with 400m easy lap in between: 3:17, 3:20, 3:16, 3:19, 3:22. 1 mile cool down.
Felt great and was pleasantly surprised with my times. I am super excited to do these on a weekly basis.
Friday: Rest (and well deserved if I may say so)
Saturday: 11.5 miles, 200 w to 400 s to 700 w to airport road to 3000 s and back on 700 w. I wanted to run at about an 8:50 pace. First half was 8:42 and by the end I got my average down to 8:37. Very happy. I didn't take any energy or water. I desperately needed water and finally found some at mile 10 at the gym. I need a water belt.

Overall, a great week. Now I just need to keep the energy up from this week into next week.