Patience, the NEW Endurance Sport!

1:34:47  ave 13:32.  Run felt medium to mildly bad :(  Glad is is done.

Can't sleep.  So warning- this is going to be a long and introspective post.  I have 7 miles planned for today.  I sure hope the weather will cooperate!

I wanted to review my race for future reference, all the things I did that worked, etc.

#1  Friday- The day before the race, I did carbo load, but I did not pig out.  My meals were regular to conservative, but more carbs than usual.  I laid off of the fruits and veggies, as not to create tummy issues at the race.  I ate bagels with hummus, rice with a bit of chicken, pasta with a bit of red sauce, etc.  I also stuck to mainly white flour as to avoid possible tummy issues on the run.  I drank plenty of water and NO soda ;)  I took 800 mg of advil before bed.  My feet have been acting up, now and again, and I wanted to make sure that there weren't any flair ups.  I have been wearing my birks everywhere, even to church and work, and it has seemed to help a ton.  I sure LOVE my hooker shoes, but they really bother my neuromas and fallen arch in my right foot.  I look STUPID, but my feet are a ton happier!  I need to find some pretty shoes that are as kind to my feet!  Weight was OK friday.  If I had not been racing the next day, I would not have been worried at all about my weigh in the next week ;)

#2- race day.  I had a bagel and a banana for breakfast and some water.  I took 2 advil at some point before the race.  Oh and I was up 2 lbs from Friday morning :(  This is Ok and expected.  I burst into tears before I left home.  I did this before Painters.  It must be something I do before a big race?  I must be more anxious than I realize ;)  During the race I gu'd 3 times at water stations.  I drank water at those and gatorade and the one I did not gu at.  I did take my right shoe off at the water station by the cemetery (mile 7ish?)  My neuroma was killing me and if I can take my shoe off and spread out my toes, it alleviates the pain a ton.  Running skirt girl passed me while I was doing this, but I passed her back as soon as I got my shoe back on.   I did take 2 advil and two tylenol during the race too.  Wait- I am not sure about the advil.  I need to check my race post.  After the race I drank a ton of gatorade and I had a whole wheat bagel and cream cheese.  At the restaurant, I ate a small piece of pizza and a salad with a bit of oil and vinegar on it.  I had more G2 and then some diet Pepsi!  YUMM!!  I may have taken 2 more advil at this point.  At home later, I continued to drink water.  I ate some granola later and then went out to dinner with my daughters.  I had chips and salsa and a chicken salad- lettuce, avocado and plain chicken.  I used salsa for dressing.  I was tired and slow, but not nearly as bad as Painters ;)  Took advil for the rest of the day every 6 hours.

#3 Sunday.  I woke up stiff, but not sore.  Took advil in the morning.  Fasted until 5 (fast sunday :).  I had three small meals that evening.  Fruits and proteins.  No more advil that day.  I drank a ton.  I was up 4 lbs. (6 total from Friday ;( )  I was stiff all day.  I could tell my legs were loaded with water.  I did start to pee like crazy that evening.  I bet you were dying to know that one ;)  I also took a 3 hour nap that afternoon :D

#4 Monday.  The legs felt 100% normal. 4 lbs down.  Water ;)  I ate lots of fruit, veggies and lean meats all day.  I drank a bunch too.  Now this worked great for a weigh in, but not for race recovery. I felt really great.  (peeing tons ;)  Oh- I also did a 60 minute leisurely walk on the treadmill and some yoga ;)

Next race, I will definitely do more protein after the race with lots of fluid intake, but I will add the usual whole grain carbs back in immediately for a better return to running.  I did not experience the mock UTI symptoms that I get sometimes after a long run.  Proper hydration before, during, and after a long run seem to alleviate this problem ;)  I will also use the advil and tylenol again too for the race.

Now weight wise- all the extra weight from the race, plus about a pound and a 1/2 came off by tuesday.  I am really bad a math- so I may be messing this all up.  It's hard when I am trying to be a cryptic with my actual weight #'s.  Maybe some day I will be brave enough to post my actual weight- but probably not! I was about a pound less on tuesday(yesterday) than I thought I would be last thursday, if I had not raced.  With the race, I was really not sure what my weight would do tuesday, as I know it always goes way up with races and long runs.

It is not snowing here yet- I sure hope I can get my miles in before the wind and snow hit!  I am going to try to go back to bed.  I am tired but cannot sleep!  CRAP :(

My lower back was really acting up during today's run :(  It felt like it does when it used to give out.  Weird!  I even laid down on the sidewalk to twist it out ;)  After the warm up, I felt really good, minus the lower back pain ;)  I was feeling so good by the end of mile three, that I pulled out a 9:00 minute mile :)  Whoo hoo!  I am starting to think of what my strategy for my next 5k might be, hmmmmm.  I want to do a 10K in April.  Any ideas???

The school called.  Ashley (14) just got hurt.  Fortunately the doc waited for us so we got to skip the ER ;)  It appears that she injured her collateral ligament.  BUMMER!!  She's down for 2 weeks at least :(  She's in the Jr Highs production of Oklahoma next week.  I wonder how that will go?  Good times!!!

Ave 12:00, best 7:15, splits- 14:00, 12:00, 12:00, 9:01

Raining, snowing, back still twinges, Kate's 12th birthday, BIL & SIL coming this afternoon, cleaning house, Ashley laying on couch, need to get cupcakes for Kate's class, need to shower, brush teeth, make Kate's birthday cake... the list goes on and on :)

I will get out and bike if it works out, but I am not too worried about it. I need to do 15 miles tomorrow. Anyone want to do it with me? I'm willing to go to the Provo river trail or maybe the JRP :) I have a route planned for down Payson canyon and into Salem if anyone is up for a field trip. I have never gone 15 miles before!!! YIKES!!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!  Rachel, Susanna, Maurine, Leslie and Luz!  You are all the BEST and I LOVE you all FOREVER!!!

Luz- Name that quote- "Darn you, darn you all to heck!!!"  It was remade in Madagascar II and is originally from Planet of the Apes, Charlton Heston.  Sorry- I just asked my husband and he looked at me like I am nuts for not remembering our conversation two weeks ago.  I think it is the Botox/stroke thing.

Now about the run.  I picked up Luz at 6:43 and went tot he Jordan River Parkway to meet the rest of the amazing ladies :)  Dang it is hard to run forever on a snowy windy day.  These amazing ladies made it all worth it!  I am SO pooped out.  After the run, I had 2 HUGE hot chocolates with TONS of whipping cream on top.  I am not remotely exaggerating the HUGE whipping cream thing.  It was obscene, but GOOD!!!!

I am going to go watch Marley and Me in bed.

Page 46, May Runners World.  Let me know what you think!

Nice Sunday with nothing I have to do but watch conference on the TV :)  Dinner is in the crock pot, I'm out of the shower and now I just get to veggg all day :)  Does anyone know how to spell vegg...????

My legs are not sore at all today.  I ran turtle pace, so I think that could be the explanation.  I forgot my Garmin yesterday, so I had no idea of our pace.  I am still pretty proud of myself for 15 miles :)  This week is 11, then 17, 18, 12, 19, 13, 20, 12, 8, then MARATHON!!!

This week I am going to focus on including protein at every meal.  I am going to try to tweak my diet a bit for better running and weight loss results ;)  Aren't we all???

Happy Sunday to all and CONGRATULATIONS to all you amazing racers yesterday!  WOW!!

Alright, y'all know that I am supposed to cross train on Mondays, well....  I just HAD to run today.  It was 56 degrees and BEAUTIFUL!!!  The clincher was when I read that it was going to rain on Wednesday and Thursday :(  I figured that I would run today and Tuesday and then cross train on Wed & Thurs :)  Friday and Saturday are supposed to be AMAZING too :)  I love it when Spring acts like Spring :)  I wore shorts and one of my new sleeveless shirts :)  It is orange :)

Now about this WONDERFUL run on the most AMAZING day :)  Well, I think I will let the splits speak for themselves ;D  Oh and when did wind go from being the DEVIL to my very best friend??? xoxoxoxoxo

44:01, 11:00.25 ave, best 7:25, Splits- 12:13, 11:41, 10:56, 9:52

56:43, ave- 12:27, best 8:37, Laps-15:00, 11:18, 11:58, 12:11, 11:22

I was supposed to run 7 MP miles today.  I ran the fist mile and stopped to stretch.  I started the run and within 100 feet I was breathing like a steam engine.  I could not move any faster.  I tried until about 2.7 miles in and nothing.  At that point I had to decide if I would just do the 7 slower or stop at ~4 and try for the 7 on thursday.  Since there were two trucks parked in a weird spot on a secluded part of my 7 miler, I headed back home for the 4.5.  There are a few spots where I run that I am totally alone.  If I see a car that does not belong or people out of place, I turn and go the other direction.  I suppose if axe murderers were smart, they'd dress up like runners.  I am not afraid of other runners at all.  It's pretty nuts really.  I meet a bunch of people on the internet and go off to other cities and sleep in the same rooms in the same condo???  I think we are BONKERS!!! :)  I am so glad that non of you have turned out to be axe murderers ;D

Anyway- I am going to go clean out the carport and have a GREAT day!!

XOXOXOXOXO!!!

What size t-shirts should I order? I am getting bids from 3 different places to see what we can do, price wise.  I have asked Sasha if we can use "Fast Running Blog" on the shirts.  I fugure that we are all FRB runners/blogers.

It's a perfect morning for a run, but my hips are screaming YOGA!!! So, I am going to do a good hour of yoga this morning :)

Here is what I can hear coming from my room-

Mac (5)- "Can you breath?" 

Muffled Ford (8)- "Yeah," 

Mac- "Can you breath now?",

Muffled Ford- "Yeah",

Mac- "Can you breath now?" 

Muffled Ford- "Yeah"

This goes on for about 5 minutes.  I figure Ford can breath so long as I can hear his responses ;)

If there are any guys out there today, WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE THESE BOYS THINKING???  Boys are just plain strange!!!

Have a beautiful day!  The sunlight is SO beautiful this morning.  It's extra pretty today :)

***PM- bike ride and 50 minutes of Yoga.  By how the yoga felt, I am seriously in need of more regular yoga!  My quads were solid and immovable- great for moral character, bad for injury free running legs ;)

I need FROSTING!  Thanks a lot Kelli and Leslie!!!

1:17:03, best- 7:13, ave- 10:40(for the 6 MP) and 10:43 for the entire run), splits- 11:36, 10:53, 10:13, 10:34, 10:29, 10:41, 10:19, 12:16(.19)

I decided to take a gamble and wait until this afternoon to run and boy did it pay off!!  I was in the low 40's and raining this morning and this afternoon it was 52 and sunny when I left and 54 when I got back :)  PLUS my legs decided that they wanted to run today :)  So the 7 miler at marathon pace worked :)  I was a bit closer to my 1/2 pace, but I can live with that.  I don't seem to do well holding 11 mm.  I think actually 10:30-10:40's. Anyway- I am very happy about today's run!  I got to wear my shorts and a t-shirt :)  Yippee!!  I think summer may come :)

I am going to be ordering the Red Hot Pink Chicks T-shirts for anyone who would like one.  Please PM me with any questions ;)  Basically they are either a singlet ($14), tank($15) or t-shirt($16).  That is including the printing cost of $4 per shirt.  These, of course, can be worn for our First Annual RHCP 1/2 Marathon down Provo Canyon July 11th, but should be worn at EVERY race you run ;D  I'd like to place the order next week, so let me know ASAP.  Now, if you personally object to pink, you can choose another color that the shirts come in and be a strange and odd RHPC!  But hey, you would still belong to the coolest group of running women around!!! ;)

XOXOXOXO

2:20:39, ave- 12:46, best 8:51, Splits-12:44, 13:11, 12:52, 13:21, 12:58, 13:13, 13:14, 13:22, 11:58, 11:50, 10:45

Yesterday a bunch of CRUD came crashing down onto my head and right shoulder from a really high shelf.  It gave me a really lousy head, neck and shoulder ache all day :(  I felt better by bed time but woke up at 2am feeling pretty horrible.   Anyway, by about 5:30 I knew I had better trash the run plans and try to get some sleep.  Me and no sleep makes for a really bad several days and brain pain that never goes away!!!! (Ok -it stays around for a few days)  I slept in and lazed about and by about 2, I was feeling MUCH better and decided to try a run.  I thought I'd do a little loop to test the waters.  It was a bit too long and had to VPB behind a low wall next to a dead deer :p   Oh, did I mention, whenever my head hurts it gives me nasty tummy troubles??  Any hoo, I came home and fueled and hit the last 4 miles.  The last two were with a crappy head wind and RAIN!!  Oh, I had to yell at a STUPID driver too about a 1/2 mile from home.  He seriously was going to run me over.  I need to take plate numbers and have my cop friend scare the crap out of them!  ARG!!

My tummy and head are feeling OK at the moment.  I really want a shower, but my bathroom has been taken over by 4 teenagers doing Anna's hair for prom tonight.  I hope no one lights a match, there is so much hair spray in the air, the house would BLOW UP!!!

Happy Easter!!!  xoxoxoxoxo

Anna and her Mad Scientist sister, Ashley

This is taking SO long, Anna must have sustenance ;)

Mikes at the door!

Adjusting the glass slipper :D

Anna and Mike. That is one lucky boy!!!

PS- Mike had Anna home by 12:03 ;)  Not too bad.

50:54/12:41 best 9:04, Splits- 13:18, 13:05, 12:24, 11:58

Well- I was tired on todays run.  I have to hurry to work.  Does anyone know any great places in St George that I can get 8 miles in???  What is the name of the trail that Painters is run on???

Have a great day! xoxoxoxoxo

11:34, 11:54, 11:29, 13:20, ave 12:18, best 8:49

Great run with Mandy on the trails around St George.  COLD WIND!!!

Great run with Mandy on the trails in St George.  We got busted by some golfers for running on the cart trails :(  We were just following some other runners instructions that were a bid misguided.  Anyway- we made it to the end of the Painters 1/2.  That was weird to run it.  The ghost of Jon was there telling me to RUN FASTER!!!  Mandy is quite the speed deamon.  If she ever decided to take this running stuff seriously, WATCH OUT!!!

Yes, you read that right- 17.2 miles!  THANK YOU LUZ!!!!!  Our average was12:12, which is what I was hoping for.  Anything in the the low 12's would have been GREAT!!  It took us 3:30 (the time is from Luz's garmin- her's pauses when we do- mine does not :( ).  Last night I texted Luz to see if she wanted some SLOW company for our 17 miler today.  Fortunately for me she said YES!!!  Luz is the most amazing person EVER!!!  We met at Willie's Pit Stop in  Provo and ran up the canyon just a 1/2 mile past Vivian park for our seventeen out and back.  That last 1/2 mile up the south fork was TOUGH!!!  I took shock blocks and 2 gu's and 2 tylenol.  I drank a ton of water and am planning on a ice bath as soon as I am not freezing anymore.  I really don't want an ice bath, but I am quite sure I need to take one if I am going to make this an injury free training session.  My left calf started to bug on the way back down :(   I am going to stretch it and may go see Dr Brady if it so much as twinges.  We saw JonA on the trail :)  FUN to see friends!

Calf pain, not too worried.  2 miles tuesday to see what happens :)  I have to do 18 on Friday AM or Sat at 5am.  I am not too worried about the weekly miles this week, so long as I can do the 18.  Is that stupid or correct?

25:53, ave 12:54, best 9:35, splits- 13:28, 12:19

NO CALF PAIN!!!  I am so glad :D  Tomorrow I will go for 5 :)  I am on day 2 of the RAD Weight Watchers plan :)  Rachel was so kind as to share some tips with me.  So here is the plan in a nut shell- 30% of my points for breakfast, divide the rest of my points over 5 smaller meals.  The last meal/snack of the day needs to be high in protein and protein should be about 70% of my total daily points ;)  I am shooting for about 90 to 100g's a day.  I don't think I can hit 70%- too much.  Dr Brady recommended more protein a while ago and I have ignored his skinny little self ;)  Rachel, on the other hand, looks like the beach volley ball player that I want to be- so I am going to listen to her :)  My friend, MissB, and I had lunch yesterday and plotted and planned about this great new idea.  MissB is already a fabulous twiglett, just looking to improve her fuel intake.  I, on the other hand, am still trying to SET THE AMAZON GODDESS FREE!!!!  I am pretty sure she is still HOT and and dying to find out for sure ;D  I also think she might be a fast runner too.

THANKS RACHEL AND MISSB!!!

1:03:59, ave 12:36, best 9:22, splits- 12:59, 12:14, 13:11, 13:03, 12:51

No pain again today :)  Rachel's RAD diet is working  ;D  Now seriously, I am feeling quite satisfied with more protein and such a HUGE breakfast.  It's only day 3 (day 2 of strict perfection ;)  Oh and by perfection I mean that I only ate 2 of my daughters french fries, one bite of her soft serve homemade root beer float, 2/3 of a mini pretzel (from off the floor), 1 slice of 2% swiss cheese.  Not too shabby.  OH OH OH- Snickers makes a protein bar.  I bought a six pack at walmart for about $6.50.  They have 20 grams of protein and about 280 calories (6 points).  I ate half of one for my 3 point, pre-bedtime protein snack.  It was TASTY!!!  I don't know if any of you know this, but I am a Snickers JUNKY!!  I LOVE them :)  I would totally marry them if I could ;D

Have a great day :)

60 minutes bike ride with the boys- Will and Mac in the trailer and David on his bike.  My right foot is really bothering me :(

David yelled, "Hey, watch this." and proceeded to ride down the ampatheater steps.... head over heals!  He turfed it BIG TIME!!!  Fortunately he only got a few bumps and scrapes.  He should have said, "Hey watch this... NO BRAINS!!!"

1:15 bike ride. 

I consulted Coach Maurine yesterday and I have revised my long runs for the Marathon.  My recovery after the long runs is a bit slower than anticipated and to make sure that I don't injure myself, I am making some changes.  My right foot is hurting me and I really don't want to exacerbate it and ruin my marathon chances :)  Here goes the new long run plan:

25th biking

2nd- 18

9th- ~12

16th - Ogden 1/2 -this is going to be a training run, marathon pace if the planets are aligned ;) NO RACING!!

23rd - 20

30th-  ~12

6th- 8

13- MARATHON

(Yes, I think too much and worry too much!)

31:50/12:44  Everything felt fine except the DARN TEMPERATURE!!!!  :p  I changed the plan for the week a bit. 2.5, 5, 8, 2.5 off, 18, off.  Off to the showers!

Sunday-

Goals for this week-

5, 8, 5, 2, off, 18, off

I am going to ice bath after each run NO MATTER WHAT!!! :(:::::::::::  (trail of tears).  I am going to do yoga 60 minutes, 5 days this week.  I am going to do push-ups 4 nights this week.  I am going to stick to my RAD Diet 100%, except at The Melting Pot on Wednesday night for my birthday!    I am gonna be 40 :)  We are going to see Wicked and staying at the Armstrong Mansion in SLC.  Oh, and probably going to have a HUGE obscene breakfast Thursday, too ;D  I am pretty darn excited about the whole thing :)  Anyone want to run 2 miles with me Thurday morning in downtown SLC?  The more important question is, does anyone want to run 18 with me Saturday?  It can be The RHPC "Marion's 40" Run :)  I think I may have David dump me off at Vivian Park and I will run down to the lake, real early like.  Good times :)

PS- Ford's baptism went really well.  He is such a sweet boy!  It was really cool that he was able to be baptized with his cousin Gregory.  Everything went just like we had planned, so all's good.  It was a hard day too.  My brother, Dan's son, Daniel, was born right after Ford and Gregory, he passed away July 5th of that year.  I was fine yesterday, until my dad gave the closing prayer.  My dad's name is Greg Ford.  These were the first grandsons and he was so excited that he was going to have these three little boys.  Daniel was to be the only "Ford" great grandson.  My Grandfather was one of 8 sons.  Only my grandfather had any sons.  Out of his three sons, only my father had any sons.  While Ford was his first grandson, his last name was McClellan and Gregory is a Simonsen.  Little Daniel, would be the first and maybe only name sake of the Ford line.  Since his death, Dan and Wendy have had another son, Nathan and my brother Adam and his wife Mandy have little Tyson.  (Mandy is on the blog- richgirl97).

Ford is in the blazer.  Maybe some day he'll drive this old Ford truck!

PPS- Ooops I put this on Monday's entry- oh well!

PPPS- David actually cracked a few ribs when he crashed on his bike last week :(  I actually find it pretty comical.  He takes much comfort that Mike thinks he brilliantly misunderstood.  The poor guy has the cough that the boys have had and is feeling it pretty good when he coughs.  Again, there is a bit of an evil chuckle coming from me over the whole thing.  That boy is SO lucky!!!

1:07/13:24

No zip today.  I was actually quite nauseated for the second half of the run.  I need to change my blog title to Paranoid Hypochondriac Runner.

I broke one of my toes last night :(  It's the second one from the end on the right foot.  The baby toe got jammed pretty good, but I don't think it is broken.  It is not broken near the base, just near the tip.  The poor thing looks like a grape :(  I was worried about running this morning, but it wasn't too bad at all.  Putting the socks on was the worst part :)  I am not sure if it is the joint or the distal phalanx.  Probably the joint, but WHO CARES, it's just a toe.  As my doc said once when I told him I had broken my toe.  He said, and I quote, "Ah man, that SUCKS!!  Bummer!  We can tape it if you want :D"

***Just when to get Will off of the potty and HIT MY TOE ON THE STOOL!!!!  I think that is the worst part about breaking a toe, YOU ARE GONNA KNOCK IT AGAIN!!!!**

I iced my feet after the run, both for good measure.

Hola Everyone!  I will get out and run as soon as this yummy breakfast settles a bit :)  You know, if I was smart, I'd run my 18 today to make up for The Melting Pot tonight!

Does anyone want to come and run 5 SLOW miles at 6 am with me downtown SLC tomorrow?  I was going to be lazy and sleep in, but Maurine might be able to do it if I go at 6 :) so, I am gonna go for it!!  Now if she, or anyone else can't, then I am going to go for LAZY!! ;)
1:02:00/12:24 KimR came and ran with me for MY BIRTHDAY!!  It was so fun to run with her.  Shs is the BEST friend in the world :)  When I grow up, I want to be like her!

Maurine and I ran 5 miles from the B&B up City Creek Canyon.  It was SO fun to run with Maurine :) We went REALLY slow but it was VERY FUN!!!

Wicked was FANTASTIC!!  David even liked it :)  He does have a soul!  The Melting Pot was good but not $104 good.  The fruit and veggeis were OLD and dried up.  Again, I really liked it, but not as much as I should have liked it ;)  The Armstrong Mansion was really wonderful.  I love that place.  They have an amazing breakfast!!!  YUMMY!

The only casualty was Will.  He got knocked into the fireplace and craked his head open :(  Fortunatly, our neighbor can over and gave the "no stitches" verdict.  Phew!