The Lent Report:  Curious effects to report.  I have not had a diet pepsi/coke since Tuesday night.  The only thing I have noticed is that I am VERY tired after lunch and need a nap. I am also ready for bed by 9pm.   I went to bed Friday night at 10 on the nose (about 45 min earlier than usual) and last night I was out cold by 9.  I slept in until 7am :D.  10 whole hours of blissful rest!  I do not know for sure if this is related to the lack of soda or an increase in miles.  I don't seem to have any side effects at all, other than being POOPED!  Oh and the green smoothies are great but create a ridiculous amount of gas.  I am going to add fresh ginger as it has anti gas properties, supposedly.  I know you were just dying to know all of that :)

New favorite recipe.  I made my own granola for the first time this week.  I used 6 grain cereal for the base (rolled oats, barley, white wheat, red wheat, rye, & sunflower seeds) 5 C, coconut (1/2 C), pumpkin seeds (1/2 C), raisins (1 C), flax seed (1/4 C),  slivered almonds (1/2 C) & a 1/2 t cinnamon.   For the "sauce"  I used 1.5 T water, 1/4 t salt, local honey(1/2 C), coconut oil ( 1/4 C) and 1/2 t vanilla.  Bake at 300 degrees for 30 min, stirring often.  It is DELICIOUS!!!  I am in love with it :)  I just have to keep my paws out of it or I will eat it all and gain 10 lbs this week ;)

In church this morning the question was asked, "What is Fasting?"  A 4 year old answered, "It's for running."  I thought you'd like that one :D

RunningSkirts.com is having a clearance sale ;) This is the link http://runningskirts.com/sale.html  They are normally $48 and many are on clearance for $24 ;)  I ordered 3.

1:06:08, ave 13:13, best 9:16, Laps- 13:42, 13:19, 13:35, 13:32, 12:02

What a beautiful day!  It was 44 degrees and just perfect out!  My legs have not been sore at all after last week and I am very happy about that.  No signs of impeding injury ;)

I am off to work.  Be sure to check out yesterdays entry and the sale at runningskirts.com.  (if you are interested in running skirts ;)

1:15:00/12:30

55 degrees out at 6 am!  I wore shorts and a t-shirt :)  My garmin died in my first mile so the time is off of my clock as I ran in and out of the door.  The run felt GREAT this morning.  I wasn't sure how I would feel this morning after more than 3 hours of raking yesterday.  6 of our trees don't drop their leaves until after the snow is here for good :(  We made a fire in our fire pit and roasted hot dogs and made s'mores.  It was really fun.

One whole week of green smoothies and no soda.  The only thing I have noticed is that I am up at 6am every morning.  I am going to bed earlier becasue I am SO tired in the afternoon and evening.  I did stay awake long enough to see the weather last night.  Oh, the ginger seems to help with the gas OR I am just getting used to it ;)

BE SURE TO GO AND VOTE FOR LORI'S DOLL AT THE LINK BELOW IN HER COMMENT.  LORI IS AN AMAZING ARTIST :)  VOTE ELLIE!!!

Just got word that my dad is in the hospital and has to have open heart

surgery.  He will have 4 bypasses for sure and possibly a 5th.  We are

off to Timp Hospital ICU right now.

Went to go run before heading out to Dad's surgery.  There was 6" of heavy icy snow.  Bagged the run and spent the day at the hospital.  I am glad I was there to see him before he went into surgery.  It totally slipped my mind that I would be skipping a day of running.

58:26:26, ave 11:41, best 7:05, splits-12:17, 12:53, 11:34, 11:31, 10:56

Best run :)  Kim came.  I could feel the stress in me for the first 2.5 miles.  Man does stress do a number on me.  I feel much better now.

My dad had a great night and we are headed over right now.  After seeing him yesterday, poor David is totally out of luck.  That boy is going to have a major Come to Jesus about eating and activity :(  He see's it coming so it should go alright :)

Have a GREAT weekend!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxo

I had to make a decision this morning.  I am emotionally spent.  I was

going to run 14 miles today.  I had to decide if I had the strength to

do it and the ability to actively recover from it after wards.  I

realized that I have been gone so much from my children that the time

for the run would be too much as well.  I also found myself bursting into tears

all morning.  This week just gets to be a survival recovery week.  I

was supposed to run with Kim and Trisha and had to bail.  I am so glad

that Trisha came to run so I didn't have to worry about leaving Kim

high and dry.  The little run I did do felt good and I did it really

slow, 13:14.  Everything with my dad is going just like the doctors

like to see and see all the time, but for us, it is new and scary and

very stressful.  It is horrible seeing my dad hooked to more tubes and

wires than my car.  Anyway, I hope you all had great runs today and

have a wonderful restful weekend.  I have a few more loads of laundry

and then I want to head out to the hospital.

44:57, ave 9:59, best7:21, Splits-11:32, 11:42, 10:10, 9:11, 8:54(.5)

Can you say HOLY CRAP?!?!  I left my house at 3:30 and it was 50 degrees. I felt great and it was a bit windy.  Well, ALL OF A SUDDEN it got really windy and COLD and then the next thing I knew I was being pelted by hail, rain AND snow!  Jeezzz louise!!!  I had to abandon my dreams of 6 miles and save myself!  What a crapper.  I ran like the wind to get home.  The snow/hail/rain was side ways hitting me on the side.  My poor uncovered legs were slaughtered and left cold and welted... ok, not welted but really red and goose bumpy ;)

Happy day :)  I am pretty excited by my speedy splits :D

58:49, ave 11:45, best 8:49, splits- 12:45, 11:50, 12:26, 11:46, 11:19

I am late for work and have to go.  I will write more tonight ;)

***I had Corrine's kids over night and needed to take them back home, so I figured that I'd go see my dad.  So when I got to my parents home my mom needed to run some errands.  I get to spend some time with my dad :)  I made him lunch and baked him a pie ;)  Actually I put a Marie Calendars Very Berry in the oven.  Anyway, I was an hour late for my run with Kim.  We had a beautiful run.  I had to kick a car for nearly hitting us.  I decided that I should not kick cars anymore if I don't want to break my foot or as David puts it, "get shot."  I am going to have to work on my temper :(    I liked my run today.  I was a tad bit late for work because of my run. 

My dad is doing well.  My mom is doing alright but is a bit fearful.  My grandmother died a few weeks after she came home from the hospital.  I think she will be better in a few weeks when she continues to see how well he is getting everyday.

The kids were up last night throwing up so I am doing laundry ALL day! They are so funny. I wouldn't have even known, but the bathroom light came on at 1:20am and found my baby (3) getting a towel to clean up his bed so he could go back to sleep. I thought he could use some help ;) I cleaned him and his bed up and laid him down. He wanted a new pillow, so I grabbed the second one under Mac (5) only to find out that the reason his pillows were stacked was because he had thrown up on his pillow and just put another one on top of the mess and gone back to sleep. I guess my kids are more independent than I thought. Funny little fellows!

I am hoping for a run right when my daughter gets home from school at 2pm.  The only problem is that I have to be in Mapleton by 3:30 for my cousins wedding.  It will be close.  It may be a short run.  I'd hit the treadmill, but my ham has been whiny and I don't want to really make it mad by getting on the DREADmill ;)

Have a great day!  Hey, we are planning on a run at Memory Grove, SLC, the third Saturday in April.  Please let me know what you think.  Leslie says is is BEAUTIFUL!  Pass the word along.

*** just ran 2 baby miles. Hitting the shower ;)

17 push ups, 50 crunches, 20 side crunches

1:15:34, ave 12:30, best 7:28, Splits- 11:11, 12:22, 12:35, 12:39, 13:16, 13:40

This run was a bit on the hard side.  I can feel how tired I am.  It was really nice to get out and spend some time alone with Mama Mia :)  

My silly dad took and unauthorized field trip to his workshop this morning and landed himself in the ER.  No serious damage and I think the lesson is learned.  I think he is having a really hard time with the "no activity" thing.  He has never had to be waited on or been restricted physically ever and this is gonna be hard for the poor guy.   He's also not a drepressed person at all and this situation is causing a bit of depression and saddness that he is not used to and doesn't know what to do with it, in my opinion.

I am hoping for nothing exciting for the rest of the year ;)  Here's to hoping :)

20 push-ups, 90 situps

(I am going to run the Utah Valley Marathon.                                                        I can't sleep...I am too excited and nervous...3:30 am)

Hola amigos!  We went to go help my parents today.  I cleaned and David fixed broken water pipes :)  Then I decided to run up the canyon and then back down.  Then we went to the temple and then we went to Chuck-O-Rama and now we are going to Walmart.  Talk about a perfect day ;)  hehehehehehehehehe

50:10, ave 12:32, best 8:19, Splits- 13:29, 13:35, 11:16, 11:54

Happy Pi Day!!!!

This run took FOREVER!!!  Kim and I started after 10 and did not get home until just after 1 ;)  The first half was done in about 11-12 minute paces and the second half was between 12-13.  The adventure took us so long because it is spring and new life everywhere!  First of all at 2.5 we took a potty break at the gas station.  We drank every 2 miles and gu'd at mile 6.  YES, I actually got a whole gu down.  I only gagged once.  I think I will be ok with gu from now on.  I figured I'd better learn how to take the stuff if I am going to run a marathon ;)  The second half is where the wild life adventure began.  We needed another potty stop so we popped into IFA.  Well, unfortunately they had baby chicks.  We gabbed with the chick guy for a while and then spent the next mile talking about how to build a chicken coop.  Next we came across about 2 dozen CUTE little fat young pigs.  Unlike the snobby cows and horses, the pigs came right up to us and chatted with us for a bit.   We decided our neighbors would not like pigs in our yards, but the pigs would be OK in our freezers ;D  A few more miles down the road we could hear this really loud noise.  It was FROGS in a swampy field.  We spent a silly amount of time looking for them to no avail.  They must have been hiding in the reeds.  The water was SICK looking and I was ready to see a dead body at any moment.  I love frogs.  My mom calls me Toady ;)  I was green when I was born.  So then there were some FAT horses (snobs) and some really furry cute cows.  They looked at us but would not come over and say "Hi."  No hawks or birds but lots of other good stuff.  We did see two dead deer.  One was regular and still looked like a deer.  The other looked like jerky... YUCK!!! ;D

I took an ice bath and will do my sit-up's and push-ups this evening.  Off to tackle the laundry.

I am starting the Hal Higdon Novice II training program this week.  I'll be starting on week 6.  It will give me 3 cross training days each week.  My #1 concern in training for the marathon is injury as I start adding the longer runs.  I will bike 60 minutes and do yoga for 60 minutes on Mondays and Fridays and Sunday afternoon, I'll go for a walk with the family.  I have 2, 1/2 marathons coming up and they fit perfectly into this training schedule.  I am really excited and terrified all at the same time :)  My only goal is to finish this marathon.  The time does not matter at all to me.  I'll return to 6 running days per week after the marathon.  I feel like in a another year, I will have a greater base and ability to handle the long runs.  I'm also, as usual, going to try to lose more weight.  I really am happy with where I am with weight, except with regards to running.  My happiness with my current weight has made it impossible to lose more weight, after all, as long as we are willing to accept the consequences of our actions, we can not change.  As soon as we are no longer willing to accept the consequences of our actions, changes can be made :)  I think I am there, finally.

Have a great week!  I am of to read the two marathon books I bought, Peter Pf...somthings and Jack Daniels.  David thinks they should have named Daniels book, "Running with Jack Daniels."

100 crunches, 25 push-ups

What a GLORIOUS spring day!  I went on my first bike ride of the year.  I went for 60 minutes.  Divide that by 12:00 and you get the 5 miles running.  I will do 60 minutes yoga tonight and 25 push-ups and 100 crunches.  Fun times!  I am getting really excited about this marathon :)

Oh yeah, I saw 3 Mule Deer.  They were fine with me until I started talking to them.

It's Anna's 17th birthday today.  We are having Sushi for dinner and a yummy chocolate raspberry 4 layer cake with cream cheese frosting and chocolate ganache drizzled on top.  It is going to be so yummy!

39:56, ave 12:01, laps-12:41, 12:20, 11:06, 11:21(.32)

I got to run with Kim this morning :D  Best day EVER!!!  I am finally feeling used to the time change and that is a good thing.  After our run I hopped on my bike and rode up the canyon to get my mileage conversion for an extra 2 miles today.  Boy, did my bum complain when I hopped on that bike.  I think I let our audible "ouches" for the first quarter mile ;)  Oh, and it's a LOT colder on the bike than on the road!

What a fun day so far!  Hopfully the rest of the day will follow suit!  Oh, YUM, the next time I make granola I am going to put dried blueberries in it.  That will be tasty!

Entire 6 mile run 1:05:50, ave 10:58, 5 mile Tempo total 51:47, ave 10:21, best 6:57, Splits- 14:03, 10:28, 9:57, 10:31, 10:35, 10:14

Holy cow!  (although I saw no cows today ;)  Today's run was supposed to be a 6 mile tempo at marathon pace.  My marathon pace is 11 minute miles as projected my McMillinRunning.com based off of my last 5k time.  This was a really hard run.  Mile 4 was all up hill.  Mile five was rolling hills, net even.  Mile one and two were up hill.  Mile 3, 5, and 6 were down hill.  I worked really hard to make mile 4 come out like it did.  I could hear MichelleL in my head saying "ta ta ta" to keep my foot falls quick and even.  It really helped on this 1/3 of a mile BEASTLY hill in mile 4.  I think I am going to get some salt tablets.  When I really get sweating I get major salt deposits on my neck.  All in all, I am very pleased with my run today.  It was really hard and I HATE running hard.  I really like just having a good ol' time running with my friends :)  I kept telling myself that I just have to kick my bum once a week and that's it.  The rest of the time is for me, and the bum kicking will pay off!

46:45, ave 13:30,  best 9:04, Splits- 13:32, 14:05, 13:21, 12:31(.5)

Can you say POOPED!  Wow, there was NOTHING in the tanks this morning.  I am just plain tired.  I will bike for 18 minutes after school today.  I am too worn out at the moment.

My feet are feeling much better.  I think this 4 days running is really going to help a ton with aches and pains.  Hey- do sweat glands get clogged?

I asked a few of you to rank 1/2 marathons for me.  I didn't explain my question very well.  What I want to know is on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the easiest 1/2 and 10 being 1/2 marathon DEATH, please rank the half's you have run.  For example, Hobble Creek is a 4 and Painters is a 7, or whatever.  I have only run Painters, so I am not going to count my thoughts for a while.  If you wouldn't mind, I would be much appreciated.  I may post this to the discussion board.

I did 28 push ups last night, ONE MAN PUSH UP!!!!  I did 110 crunches last night as well.

Love to you all!  Have an amazing day :)

60 minutes of bike riding :) I rode out on Salem Canal Road.  It was almost a perfect out and back, as far as time goes.  I went 31 minutes out and it took me just a few seconds under 29 minutes to get back.  Those hills are killer and the Salem Canal Road is virtually flat, meaning the effort out and back was virtually identical.  We are going to build a shed today :)  Yeah- the carport will be a patio and all of our crap will be hidden in the shed and not visible to every poor soul who enters our back yard.  It's a bummer not having a garage!  Yes, I know that garages are supposed to be for cars, but we know that they secretly like to hide peoples "stuff" ;)

Have a great weekend :)

1:54:25, ave 12:42,  best 7:51, Splits-12:45, 13:07, 13:02, 12:42, 11:05, 14:10(nasty head winds and up hill), 12:48, 12:17, 11:42

The weather was perfect for the first 5 miles.  The wind blew me down the last four.  Will is really sick.  I am off to give some loves :)

60 minutes biking. cold. baby stll sick. typinh one hansed.

51:16, ave 12:49, best 10:25, Splits-14:23, 12:57, 12:24, 11:59

Nice run.  Twisted my ankle on a rock :(  I sure hope it is nothing.  I am going to ice it.  It does not hurt :)  I got up early and ran.  Will is still asleep, his first whole night sleep since last Thursday.  Last night he actually smiled a few times and he walked around a bit and picked up 2 cars and flew them a few feet through the air :)  Zoom zoom!  My boy is coming back :)  We shall see what today brings :)

It looks like the Red Hot Pink Chicks will be hosting their first 1/2 Marathon on July 11th down Provo Canyon.  Everyone is invited to run it.  There will be totally AWSOME(lame) prizes and we will be eating breakfast at Ihop at the Riverwoods afterwards.  If there are any family members who would like to be volunteers for a couple water stops, that would be cool :)  I am looking into t-shirts.  So far the consensus is hot pink tanks.  Yes, guys are our welcome honored guests so we just might consider a red one too for the men who can't quite pull off a hot pink singlet ;D  I'll let you know the price.  Meanwhile, keep an eye out for great technical shirts that are perfect for the RHPCs :)  Target has black running skirts with a bit of pink on them for the girls :D

Also there will be a RHPC run April 11th at Memory Grove in SLC.  PM me if you would like more info :)  Leslie is coming up with the route.  We will meet at ~7am, probably :)

Lot's of smiles today... it must be a good sign :)

Yesterday at about 3:30 pm, my ankle really started to hurt.  I iced it through the evening and night and am taking Advil.  It feels fine this morning :D  No running today.  More ice and Advil for today.  Tomorrow morning, I will try my run and I think it will be fine.  I am still planning on the 1/2 on Saturday, but I will have no problems cutting it if I think my ankle is not 100%.

Have a great day!  

The July 11th RHCP 1/2 is getting great response.  Be sure to start collecting "prizes" for our race "winners."  The stranger and cooler the awards, the better :)

Did someone say that they knew someone who could print on our t-shirt?

Check out this tank :)

check out this clearance tank at Target

Target has free shipping and 10% off on most of their running gear clearance.  I just bought 6 tanks and one skort for $75 total.  I now have all of my summer running gear :)  ( I already have 3 new skorts from runningskirts.com :)

Day one of potty training went well yesterday :) Here's hoping day two is a good one :)

I will run 7 after school.  I am trying to figure out tomorrow's running/biking.  I think I will run 2 and bike 36 for the 5.  I am also trying to make sure that I do not gain weight over the weekend.  I need to be at goal by Tuesday night and I typically weigh a lot more after long runs and races :(  Any pointers for eating enough food for the race, but NOT TOO MUCH???  I retain a bunch of water, but I can fx that with drinking pleanty of water and eating lots of fruits and veggies.  This may sound really stupid to many of you, but at work we get awards for being at goal everymonth for the year and I WANT MY AWARD.  ;D

*** seven miles at 4pm.  The wind was stiff and cold!  The last 2.5 miles had a very cold stiff head wind!  DARN IT!!!  My face is frozen and I can't talk normally :(  I sound like drunk.  Anyway, I am off to entertain a bunch of 8 year olds.  I wonder if they will notice how much I stink?

1:26:46, ave 12:17, best 8:41, Splits-11:33, 11:37, 11:52, 12:10, 12:34, 14:04, 13:06

Two really SLOW miles!  My legs were achy all night and they did not want to run today.  My ankle did great on the run yesterday and not pain at all today :)  My left ham is a bit twingie, but should be fine.

I am working on an eating plan today.  I had a 1/2 of a bagel with some hummus for breakfast.  Then a banana for a snack.  I am going to have a mini-meal of carbs and a bit of protein 4-5 times today with a snack of fruit in between.  Lots of water today too.  I am hoping that this will get me the carbs I need for tomorrow without the extra weight I don't need. Thanks for your help ! xoxoxoxo

I will go biking in a bit when it is a tad warmer.  I am tired of my face freezing.  My family jokes that I have had Botox ;)

Will is doing great with the potty training :)  Thanks for all of your tips :)

Ford's birthday was great.  He is such a fun little boy.  He loves all of the Cub Scout stuff we bought him.  He looks so cute in his uniform ;D

Wow, Riverton really put on a good half!  They had great water stops, lots of emergency personnel stopping traffic and pointing the way.  That darn wind on the rivet trail was a bugger :p  There were some really good "hills" and some equally good down hills ;)  The course was really well marked and one I will do again.  I gu'd 3 times and drank at each water station.  I did take some Advil and Tylenol during the race.  My neuromas did not kick in until mile 7 and were manageable.

My goal for this race was to beat my Painters time and to run it at my marathon pace, 11:05.  I am feeling pretty good about the whole thing ;)  I started out the race really slow and was dead last at one point in the first mile, just the bike medics and me.  Then I slowly started to pick people off throughout the race.  In the first three miles I passed a bunch.  From 3-7 I just had Melissa to pass (cute girl I met on the trail).  She really got me through some tough hills!  Thanks Melissa!   From mile 7 on I really focused.  First these two guys, I got a big cheer when I passed them ;)  Then all in black girl, then running skirt girl, then pink shirt girl and finally there was this one guy that I wanted to pass so badly, blue coat guy.  I could see him from 7 on.  I finally caught him at mile 12.  We chatted for a bit (he's run over 50 halfs) and then I took off (well like a turtle takes off ;) PS- Nobody passed me for the whole race ;)

It was so great to see blanket clad KellieS cheering me on at the finish.  I can't believe how fun it is to know people at races :)  I finally got to meet Water and Misty, RivertonPaul, and Rachel (rad).  I think I met some other people, but my brain is mush.  We went to lunch with Kelli, Scott, Smooth, Walter, Misty, Rachel... and more :)  What a fun time :)  Thanks guys!

This was far better for me than Painters was. I beat my Painters time by 5 minutes.  I am sure most of it was mental.  Other runners said that Painters was harder, I'm not sure, but I feel better now than I did after Painters :)

Average pace 10:58 :D  Splits-10:22, 10:16, 10:46, 10:54, 11:07, 11:53, 11:08, 11:45, 10:25, 11:31, 11:22, 10:34, 10:20, 9:35(.1)

Up 4 pounds from yesterday :(  I knew it would happen, It always does :p 

Today was fast sunday.  I am not a great faster.  I fasted until 5 ;)  I decided since I was battling water retention I'd go for sugar free fresh lemonaid, protein and fruit.   I chose, 3 hard boiled eggs (they've been on my mind lately), 1/2 a cantaloupe and an orange.  Normally I don't do anything for post race/long run water but I really want to be at my goal weight tuesday (the last day of the month).   Silly, silly, I know, but I really want to be at my goal weight every month this year.  March has been such a bugger with stressful events, that I have been a few pounds up all month and lacking the motivation to be more careful with the food intake.  I forgot about the race affecting my weight for an end of the month weigh in.  I should have refocused earlier, but with the barfs going on last week, I really wasn't thinking about anything but, laundry, lysol, and not getting the barfs!  Oh well :)

I told you so!  Yesterday I was UP 4 pounds from Saturday AM!!!! :p  This morning I was down 4.4 :D  So here's to hoping that I can go down another .2 so I can be at goal tomorrow :)  Does anyone have a sauna??? ;)

Today will be either a 60 minute walk on the treadmill or a 60 minute bike ride :)  Here's to hoping there is a 56 degree miracle afternoon high and I can get on my bike.   Should my miracle not happen, then I guess my treadmill walk can be my sauna ;D

Have a great day!  Oh- I had no soreness :D, only stiffness in the legs.  I think the stiffness was mostly water retention though.  I did take a THREE HOUR nap yesterday afternoon.  It felt so great!  I must have needed it, because I woke up feeling fantastic, not the usual "hungover" afternoon nap feeling. :)  I also slept all night too :D  I love running.  It's the BEST!!!

XOXOXOXOXO

* 3 miles on the treadmill. :)

The four miles from HADES!!!  2 miles at13 mm and one walking, trying not to throw up!  And one 11-12 mm for the home stretch.  I fear I may have the stomach flu that the rest of the family has had :(   It also does not help my run today that I was eating "low carb" style yesterday and sunday :p  Low carb is great for getting rid of water weight, but a total crapper for running!  On the up side, I am 7.4 lbs down from sunday morning ;)  I am going to run in and weigh and then have very nice lunch :) ... and snack.... and dinner.... and snack!  Lots of whole grain carbs!!!