I can do it!

Ben and I got up at 4:00 and ran a very slow 5 miles....sometimes you got it, and sometimes you don't!  :-)  Poor Ben was very patient with my sluggishness, but I let him go the last half mile so he could get in a bit of a real run.  Then I downed a power shake, loaded up my bike, and drove to Ivins so that the girls and I could do our ride out to Gunlock Reservoir.  Even though we all ride at different speeds, it was fun because I could go my pace and then wait for the others to catch up at certain points along the route.  I will now consider myself as a "real" cyclist, since I had my first "forgot to clip out in time" accident, and took a small spill on the side of the road.  Luckily for me, I was ahead of everyone, so no one was there to witness my foolishness - hahahaha!  :-D  And since I also had my first "need a bathroom but will have to be content with behind a tree" experience a couple of weeks ago, I also now consider myself a "real" runner!  We finished off our workout with a nice restaurant for breakfast....since any workout with food at the end is always more fun.  It was a great morning!

I had a doctor's appointment at 10:30 am, and had to go in fasting, so it was an EASY morning.  :-D  Two miles at 4:30 in the morning...and back to bed.  Yay!

We decided to do our long run on Friday instead of Saturday, since we have fourth of July celebrations tomorrow morning.  So we drove up near the start of the Saint George Marathon route, and ran the first half.  We did the 14 miles in 2:26, which, considering my usual time and the fact that we had at least a good 10 minutes worth of bathroom breaks, was not bad at all for a long slow run!  I'm pretty happy with it.  We mostly ran five minutes with one minute walk breaks, although in the beginning we had longer runs and less walk breaks.  After the drive home, my knees felt pretty sore getting out of the car.  I jumped in the pool for awhile, then slathered wintercrest all over my legs and rested for about half an hour.  Since then, my legs have felt perfectly fine!  It will interesting to see how I do when I try to run tomorrow...

We finished off the morning's workout with a trip to Mesquite for all-you-can-eat sushi....the perfect pre- or post-race/run meal!  Ahhhh....Heaven!  :-D

Happy Independence Day!  To kick off the holiday, I dragged myself out of bed at 6:15, ran a very slow but attentive three mile recovery run, showered, and had a great dutch oven breakfast with all of my neighbors!  For the rest of the day, I'm going to lounge around the pool with my family, and maybe go have a massage.  Yes!

Later....no massage today, so Ben and I decided we needed Dairy Queen Blizzards!  We hopped on our bikes and rode the 4+ miles to Dairy Queen, then decided to make an evening of it.  We did approximately 20 miles at an average speed of 15+ miles per hour.  Now my quads really feel spent.  I'll try the wintercrest again, and see how that affects them.  :-)

Elijah and I ran a nice easy 5 mile loop this morning.  My legs are still a little tired from last weekend - hence the easy run.  We encountered a skunk in the dark...he scared us, and we scared him!  We were feeling pretty lucky to have been within a few feet of him without getting sprayed!  Aren't skunks supposed to be stinky, so you know when you're getting close?!?

Afterwards, we went over to the pool to do some laps.  I was planning to stop at 40 lengths, but then I thought I'd make it an even 1500, and then I thought "Why not do a mile?"  So I did.  I'm feeling good, with the exeption of a very sore shoulder and back on my right side.  It occured to me this morning that it's probably due to my fall on Saturday's bike ride.  Ouch!

Today is Ben and my 19th anniversary!  To celebrate, he will be working all day and I will be rehearsing all night.  Good thing for us that we celebrate EVERY day.  That's why our marriage is so AWESOME!  ♥  Love you, Ben!  ♥

Easy run....great way to start the day!!!

Even though late night rehearsals have me tempted to stay in bed and sleep all day long, I managed to drag myself out of bed at 4:00 AM to run with my husband.  We did a pretty easy 4 miles.  The first mile just about killed me, but I felt good after that.  I think it's mostly mental.  I had intended to do five, but four seemed like a good idea at the time...

I feel like a big slacker with my cross-training.  Tech week has taken up every evening, and I will continue to have no freedom at night until this play is over.  Sooo...should I audition for another one?!?  I CAN'T believe I'm actually hesitating to be on stage in favor of training!!!!  What happened to the couch potato that I used to be?  Ben has killed it in me.  Thanks a LOT, honey.  :-D

I had intended to do a nice slow run with walk breaks this morning, but I felt so good, that Elijah and I did the run in 48 minutes anyway, even WITH the walks!  We ran 5 minutes and walked 1 minute - the way I'm planning to run the marathon.  At the pace I was going today, I would be able to do the marathon in about 4:12.  Wow.  My first marathon was 4:48, but I will be a lot better prepared for the Saint George Marathon.  I'd like to do 4:45 or better, but will be happy with anything less than five, and ECSTATIC with a 4:30!  Anything less than that, and I will have to be resuscitated from the shock!

I received my Garmin 305 in the mail today, and am excited about learning to use it to assist in my training.  I'm interested to see if it helps or hinders my progress.  :D

Elijah and I did our "long" run today instead of Saturday.  It was a short week for us, so we were supposed to do 7 miles, but we did eight instead.  I tried out my new Garmin - it was fun!  I set it up so that we got a walk break every half mile, but I think we will switch back to walking by time instead of distance, since on the hills we didn't get to walk as often, and on the downhill grades we walked more often.  We did a nice, slow pace, finishing the 8 miles in 1:22.  Our last mile we ran under an eight minute mile.  I felt great the whole run, and will be ready to do a 16 mile run next weekend!

Good morning!  :-)

Last night was a late-night rehearsal.  It was our first rehearsal in full costume, and my feet were SO sore afterwards!  I took off my shoes and put on flip-flops and hobbled out to my car, wondering how I was going to get a run in this morning.  So I decided to ask my 16-year-old daughter to accompany me.  We did 2.88 miles in 36:03, alternating 2 minutes of walking with 2 minutes of running.  Then I went by myself and did a tempo run of 1.12 miles in 9:24, afterwhich I picked up my 9-year-old daughter (who's been begging to get to run) for 1.2 miles in 14:56, again alternating walking/running.  The whole walk/run took exactly one hour, for an average pace of about 11.5 minutes a mile.  It's so funny - I remember when that pace was my RUNNING tempo!  It's nice to see how I've progressed so much in the last year!

Later today I'm planning to attend an audition for Tuachan, then if it's not TOO hot, I'm going to try to get on my bike - it's been a WHOLE WEEK!

.......Well, the audition went pretty well - they liked me enough to call me back for a dance audition!  To bad I'm not a dancer - HA!  Anyway, I ended up missing all my meals because of my schedule, so when I got back from the audition, Ben and I went to an all-you-can-eat chinese buffet.  Afterwards, we decided to go cycling and did 20 miles in 1:09.  It was a nice ride along flat terrain - perfect for riding on a very full belly!  I think I'll sleep well tonight....

I woke up to run at 3:45 this morning, but I couldn't get Elijah out of bed. It's probably a bad idea for a woman to be out at 4:00 in the morning running, so I read for awhile, and at 6:00 woke him up again, and off we went.  He was clearly not in the mood to run, so we only did 3 miles at about a ten minute per mile pace, taking walk breaks after every five minutes of running.  We finished in about 34 minutes - I'm still trying to figure out my Garmin, and had it set on "biking" for the first 3/4 mile, so it was reading our pace funny.  After I dropped him off, I did another two miles at a 5K pace, and finished in 16:48.  :-D

Somehow I never heard Ben leave for work, and I ended up sleeping in until 6:40!  The bad thing about that is having to run after the sun comes up - it gets hot fast here in Saint George!  Britnee ran at the beginning with me - again doing 2 minutes of running with 2 minutes of walking.  She was feeling sick after the first two miles, so we stopped at 2.25 miles (28 minutes) and walked 0.75 (13:03 minutes).  Then I ran 1 mile by myself in 7:52, and picked up Haylee and Elijah for another 1.15 miles of walking/running in 2 minute increments.  That took us 11:10 minutes.  Elijah and I finished up with a 0.75 mile run in 6:43.  I logged 6 miles total on my Garmin, but I didn't count the 0.75 mile walk.  :-D

This afternoon Ben and I went to the pool and I swam 72 lengths - which is just over one mile.  I miss getting to swim and bike more regularly.  One more month and I will be finished with the latest production and I will have my evenings back!  Yay!

I was supposed to get up early this morning to run, then go cycling with a friend after that, but I slept in LATE, and my friend didn't show up - so I was able to get my run in!  I ended up running a 5K length in 26:09 - a really good pace for me!  The first mile I ran in 8:51, and then the second mile I did an 8:24.  The last mile was more uphill, but I still finished in 8:13!  Then the last 0.1 was 0:41.  Great run!  What a perfect way to start the day!  Too bad I missed my bike ride.  :-(

In anticipation of a long run tomorrow, I took it really easy today - two miles with four kids in tow.  Yay!

Elijah and I got up at 3:45 AM for this run.  He was having a tough time, so we actually did our "long slow distance" LONG and SLOW!  We finished our 16 mile loop in 2:55.  The second eight miles went by much faster than the first, since the first half was all uphill and the second half was all downhill.  I felt really good the whole time, with the exception of a strange pain in my left knee.  It still feels a little sore this afternoon - I'm not sure what's pulling.  Tomorrow I get to have a massage!  Whoopee!!!  And now....it's nap time.

Today was a recovery run from yesterday's long run.  I did two miles.  The first mile I took a few short walk breaks - my left knee was still bothering me.  Then I started really focusing on my technique, and the discomfort was greatly alleviated.  Still, I didn't want to do too much, especially when my week's total mileage was already pretty high for me.  Toady was also the preview of the play I'm in (we open on Monday night) so I had to hurry to get to the show on time.  It went GREAT!  Ben and I celebrated with an hour-long massage.  :D  Then this evening we went cycling, and did 18 1/2 miles in 1 hour 8 minutes.  We would have gone further, but it got dark too fast.  It was probably just as well, since my muscles were all jello after the massage, and I was shaking like a leaf through most of the ride!  Now I'm feeling great, and am totally ready to sleep well tonight.  Ahhhhh.......

My friend Melanie is here from out of town, and so is my sister and her family, so I got to run with buddies today - Melanie and my brother-in-law, Joseph. We did 5K starting out a little faster than I usually do, but we made the loop in 27:48. My knees didn't bother me at all, but I felt it a little in the shins. When we got back, I did some lower body weights - 4 sets of 10 reps with leg extensions @30 lbs.(on my old rickety machine), lying leg curls @ 25 lbs., calf raises (4 sets of 12 on each leg), and some crunches. It was a good morning. :D

Well, my back is in spasms again, which is sooo sad because I can't run when it does this.  This is the third time in the last four months or so that it has happened - and it hasn't ever happened before!  At least, not since high school.  It's very frustrating.  I started to feel it last night, just before my performance started, but other than during a few high kicks, it didn't bother me too much.  I went to the gym this morning and did 20 minutes of HIIT on the recumbant bike, then tried to run a little on the treadmill, but didn't even get five steps in before I knew it wasn't happening.  So I went to the pool and swam a mile - that felt great!  As the day has worn on, it my back has become steadily worse.  It's like a phantom pain shooting down to my tailbone, causing pain when I sit, stand too long, and even when I lie down!  If it lasts much longer, I'm going to be in serious trouble, since I have more performances this week on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, plus I start rehearsing for the next show on Monday in addition to the one that's running now.  Hmmmm.....

I'm out of commission today - sciatica.  Such a bummer.  :-(

I'm feeling much better today - but I dare not chance relapse by doing something physical yet.  After all, I have three more shows this weekend and I start rehearsing for "Aida" on Monday!  So one more day off for me.  I miss running.

After being laid out for several days - it is SO great to be able to run again! I did my 5K in 28:00. I tried out my new shoes today - saucony "fastwich". They are so light and comfortable! And this afternoon I went to the pool - but only did 40 lengths because I was afraid of having "goggle eyes" for my performance this evening. :D I'm really looking forward to my 10 mile run in the morning. Yay for running!

I had such a great run this morning! It just felt incredible to be out running again.  We met up with some friends at 5:00 AM and ran part of the "Trails Half" route.  We took it nice and easy, running a good pace but stopping to walk every mile.  The last two miles I took off by myself and ran between a 9:00 and 8:30 pace, and finishing up the last 3/4 mile at around a 7:30.  I love running.  :D

Elijah and I ran 5 miles together this morning. We ran a mile, then walked a minute.  We averaged around a 10:00 mile, finishing in 50:31. The last mile we really stepped it up. Then I took Britnee, Hyrum, and Haylee out for two miles, alternating walk/run every two minutes.  The last 1/2 mile the arch in my right foot suddenly started to hurt, and I'm sorry to say that it feels almost as badly as it did after my marathon!  I have no idea why.  I sure do hope it feels better soon, even though it has already been several hours and it still hurts to walk on.  Today I start rehearsals for "Aida", and I'll go straight to my performance of "Annie get you gun" afterwards.  It's going to be a BUSY four weeks!!!!

Out of commission AGAIN today...sigh.  I have to get some lab work done tomorrow while fasting, but I'm going to try cycling in the morning.  Then I'm going to make an appointment with a podiatrist.  Yay.

I went cycling with a group  of gals this morning, but it ended up being more of a goof-fest with pictures than any real riding, so I only got in around 9 - 10 miles.  We sure had a blast, though!  So tonight, Ben and I went to the rec center and I did a 20 minute HIIT on the stationary bike, and logged another 7.5 miles.  I tried the elliptical machine, but it made my arch hurt.  I'm seeing a podiatrist in the morning.  I hope that whatever the problem is, he can fix it in time for me to run 18 miles on Friday!  What are the odds?!?  Anyway, after the gym, we went to the pool and I swam 80 lengths.  I feel great, but totally ready for bed!  :-D

I just finished a great bike ride with my friend Dawn!  We rode 27 miles in about 1 1/2 hours.  I'm also excited to get into the podiatrist today, to find out what is going on with my foot.  I REALLY miss my morning runs!

I woke up at 3:20 AM so that I could watch the sun rise while running 18 miles of amazingly beautiful Southern Utah landscape! What a way to start the day! Elijah and I ran 5 minutes and walked one.  We finished in 3:07:48, and that was while running injured at a snail's pace.  At that rate, I will easily finish in the marathon in 4:30 - 20 minutes LESS than my previous time!  Yay!  My visit to the podiatrist was interesting - he said I had a strained tendon, told me my new shoes were probably the cause of the problem, and gave me a brace to wear to support the arch until it healed.  So I got two NEW pairs of shoes, put on the brace and my new asics, and drove out to run the marathon trail.  It was probably a dumb thing to do, having never tried out either the shoes OR the brace, but...   My arch hurt so much the whole time, but I kept telling myself that I wasn't doing any damage, so I would just have to deal with the pain.  By the last four miles, I was mostly numb, but my 1/2 mile walk at the end was pretty painful.  The funny thing is, once I took the brace OFF, my tendon wasn't any more tender than it had been before!  So I guess it worked.  Hooray!  I was just SO glad to be able to run again.  :-)