I can do it!

Elijah and I did two easy miles of light jogging today, just to stay loose.  Then I did 40 minutes of P90X stretching.  I'm trying to eat the RIGHT kinds of carbs for the next two days, instead of being a sugar glutton.  I am SOOOO excited about the race!  The weather has FINALLY cooled down a bit, and it's supposed to be a beautiful fall weekend.  Everytime I think about running the marathon, I want to cry tears of joy!  How crazy is that?!?  I can't wait for tomorrow and the expo!  Still debating over whether or not I want to squeeze one more small run in tomorrow, or if I should just totally rest.  I'm also going to the chiropractor tomorrow to get kinesiotaped up.  :)

Today was a total rest day.  I spent all day at the marathon expo.  Elijah and I won over $270 worth of stuff like running shoes, clothing, and other products.  What a fun day!  I'm soooo excited for the race!

BEST RACE EVER!!!!

After only 2 1/2 hours of sleep, I ran the best race I've ever run!  Elijah and I ran the way we trained, with one minute walk breaks after evvery five minutes of running.  We stopped at every aid station for water, gatorade, and whatever food they were serving (usually bananas, oranges, and clif shots).  I had to stop once at a port-a-potty, but basically I ran the way I felt good running, and tried not to overdo.  The weather was beautiful - absolutely perfect for a race.  My first marathon in January was a 4:48, and I was really hoping for a 4:30 this time, with secret fantasies of doing a 4:20.  I was shocked when I realized I was doing better than I had thought possible!  I finished in 4:10:10 - 38 minutes faster than last time!  I had NO IDEA I could run that fast.  I cried when I crossed the finish line.  I felt incredible the whole time - only a blister on my right foot.  My attitude was the best it has ever been during a race.  I just felt joyful the whole time I ran.  It was, for me, the perfect race.  I can't wait to have that experience again.  :)

I'm taking one more day of rest. I can't get over my runner's high! I think I'll be riding that feeling until the next race!  On a different note, my weight is totally high from all the carbing up I did.  I don't know if it made a difference to eat like that, but since my race went soooo well, I guess I won't discount it.  Today I'm going to do a cleanse to get rid of all the junk I ate.  Tomorrow...I'm going running!

I guess my cleanse helped out a bit...I lost almost 4 pounds from yesterday morning!  I guess it's easy to lose weight when it's just junk food and not fat you're getting rid of.  :D

This morning I went running for three miles.  It was a great recovery run!  I alternated two minutes running/two minutes walking, and finished in 35:36. I can't believe how GREAT I feel!  There is some slight soreness in my hips, but nothing out of the ordinary.  I never had anything that caused me to have to alter my walk.  Wow.  If every marathon could be a great as the one on Saturday, I could run one every month! 

I finished up my workout this morning with P90X CardioX.  I'm going to incorporate more P90X into my regimen.  Also, I'm registered for my first triathlon in November, so I'm going to have to step up my training in the bike and swim.  I'm planning a half marathon also in four weeks.  I really want to do another marathon, and I don't want to wait a year to do it!  I wonder how soon I can attempt it, without compromising my health....

This morning I woke up late, so I only had time to do a half hour of P90X shoulders and arms and then follow it up with ab ripper X....gonna be eating out tonight.  So much for my cleanse.  :)

Elijah and I ran three miles again this morning.  This time we ran five minute runs alternating with one minute walks.  Finish time was 28:49.  I followed up my run with one hour of P90X yoga.

I went out to run this morning, but there is something wrong with my ankle, and I only made it a mile before I stopped due to the pain.  :(

P90X Shoulders and Arms this morning.  Then off to the lake this evening.  The water was so cold, I could hardly breathe!  By the time I was halfway done, I was so dizzy I thought I was going to faint right there in the middle of the lake!  I had to lie on my back for a while, and luckily there is a big rock in the middle of the lake that I was able to stop at to gather my bearings.  After about 15 minutes I was able to see straight enough that I attempted to get back to shore.  I don't know if it was the cold or what, but that was definately the strangest swim experience i have ever had!  Then we started the 15 mile bike ride, but it started to get dark, so we cut it short, and only completed nine miles.

Today was the "Tour de Saint George."  Ben signed up for the century ride, and i considered doing the 65 miler, but felt unsure that I could perform for that long without killing my upper body, having never spent that much time on my bike before.  It seemed like paying someone to let me ride 30 miles was silly, so my friend Katie and I decided we'd just ride the 30 mile route along with the "real" riders, and just not stop at the aid stations.  So Ben and I got up and rode to the starting line, which was about 6 miles.  Then Katie and I rode the 30 mile route, which took us through Washington City almost to Hurricane and back, but by the time we arrived back at the beginning our garmins had only clocked 24.  We decided to have breakfast at a wonderful little cafe on Main Street, then I convinced Katie that we should ride our bikes to her house, wait for our husbands to come through on the century ride, and ride a little further with them.  She was reluctant, since they live up Highway 18 in Winchested Hills, and it would be quite a climb to get there.  But we did it, and logged another 8 miles onto our garmins.  At her house, we made protein shakes, then got bored and rode further up the mountain to Snow Canyon.  By then, we still hadn't heard from our husbands, so we rode down the canyon - which made climbing all those hills totally worth it! - and decided to ride through Ivins and into Santa Clara.  Upon leaving Santa Clara, we stopped at McDonalds and had an ice cream, when we discovered that the men were just behind us.  So we waited for them to catch up to us, and we cheered them on as they passed us.  We took a short-cut to the finish line, but Katie wanted her Garmin to clock 50 miles, so we circled a couple more blocks, and ended up crossing the finish line just after our husbands got there!  Another 6 miles home, and had ridden an easy 62 miles!  My longest ride by 20 miles!  I've decided that for now, if I'm going to do any distance riding, it should definately be with plenty of food stops and lots of great conversation!  What a glorious day!!!

I haven't been blogging because I must have done something to my right ankle, and I haven't been able to run because of a shooting pain up the inside of my leg.  So last week I did P90X all week.  I haven't been weighing in, and have been eating whatever I felt like eating.  We've eaten out a LOT, in addition to all the parties and get-togethers for the closing week at Tuacahn.  I felt like I had gained tons of weight.  So yesterday I did a fasting cleanse, and for the next three days I'm going to eat very carefully to see what my weight decides to do.  I'm also going to call this week my first official P90X week, where I'll be following the program as perfectly as I can.  I plan to implement the P90X nutrition plan on Thursday.

So I started today with an early-morning run with Ben.  We did 3.1 miles in about 32 minutes...a nice, easy, try-out-my-legs runs, since I haven't run in a week-and-a-half.  I wore my compression sock over my right leg, and that seemed to make it fine to run on.  The problem is, I can't wear my arch brace AND the compression sock at the same time, so my arch bothered me a little.  I'm going to have to give that some thought.

I followed up my run with P90X legs and back.  It typically is a Friday routine, but I changed it due to the races that always happen on Saturdays.

This evening we played ultimate frisbee with some friends.  :D

This morning I did P90X Cardio X.  Then this afternoon I went to the gym and ran 3.1 miles on the treadmill and followed it up with an hour of yoga.

Had a horrible night last night!  Yesterday I had to start a new antibiotic for a staph infection.  The label said "may cause dizzyness," so I waited until night-time to take it.  Two hours later, I woke up with the WORST vertigo I have ever experienced!  It kept me up most of the night....I could barely walk when I got up to use the bathroom!  The dizzyness has continued for most of the day.  I HATE taking meds!  I haven't been on anything in more than a decade!  I hope that it's not this bad every night, because I don't think I can handle two weeks of this.

Anyway, I was still too dizzy to run this morning, so I missed getting up to run with Ben.  I did P90X shoulders and arms later this morning, but still felt very unsteady.  I really didn't feel "normal" until around 6:00 this evening, when I went to my first dance class.  I decided I needed to take dance to prepare myself for more auditions, so I'll be taking ballet and tap on Wednesday evenings.

Last night wasn't as bad as the night before, but I was still up for hours in the middle of the night.  I wanted to run today, but my ankle feels very unhappy with me, and I have a race on Saturday, so I'm holding off.  So I did P90X Kempo X this morning, and called it good.  how come when I only do ONE workout a day, I feel like a slacker?  :D

Also, today was my first official P90X nutrition plan day.  The food was delicious, but there was so much of it!  I couldn't finish all the meals, and wasn't hungry at all.  I'm excited to see what kind of results I get.  My weight is not going down as quickly as it usually does...I wonder if it's because of the weight training....

OUCH!  My weight is back up!  Oh, well...I guess I'll trust the process.

My ankle is still really bothering me, so I'm going to go get kinesiotaped today for tomorrow's race.  It's only a 10K, but still...I'll probably try to get in ten miles if I feel good.

This morning...P90X core synegistics!

Ben and I and four of our kids raced today.  Before the race, I did a one mile warm-up in 8:47.  Then Elijah and I raced the 10K together...well, mostly together.  He ditched me at the end and beat me by 22 seconds.  :D  Even though I'm still loopy from the meds, I managed to pull a new PR, with a time of 53:25.  Why is it that I find short races to be harder than long ones?  I think I must be built for distance, not speed.  I tend to run faster the farther I go!  Anyway, it was a good race for me.  The first two miles were uphill, and I think I spent it all faster than I should have, because I had a hard time finishing strong.  I definately felt better and ran faster at the end of the marathon than this race!  But I still placed second and PR'ed, so I can't complain.  Ben and my daughter Britnee took second in their divisions, and my two sons Joshua and Elijah took first in theirs.  Ben, Joshua, and I all finished in the top twenty overall.  After the race and awards ceremony, Ben and I ran home three miles.  Later in the afternoon, Ben and I started to do P90X Yoga, but I only made it 15 minutes and called it quits.  My head was still swirling...probably from the meds and the hard run.  So Ben finished without me.  But we did go out and do 21 miles on the bikes that evening.  :)

Day of rest!  We took the kids out on a family bike ride to the park, so the 10 miles we did were pretty easy, but it was still good for my shoulders to spend some time on the bike.  Later that evening, Ben and I walked 2.5 miles to pick up his truck at work.  My legs are tired!

I got up this morning and Elijah and I ran a 5K with walk breaks in 31:10.  My legs are still tired, and my right ankle/shins are bothering me, so I just took it easy.  Later, I did my P90X legs and back routine, but left out the back exercises, since I have no pull-up bar or any place too hook up the bands.  I finished up with ab-ripper X and was excited to be able to do a couple of the exercises that I've never been able to do before!  Yay for getting stronger!!!

Then, to top it all off, I wrapped up the evening with a trip to the pool, where I swam my first official "workout," not just a bunch of laps.  It was surprisingly fun!  I went with my friend Katie.  I did a 100m swim, then 75m legs only, another 50m swim, followed by a hard 25m swim.  This exercise was repeated four times, first with freestyle, then back stroke, the free again, and finally breast stroke.  Then I followed it all with 1000 meter swim.  It was supposed to be a little different, but I was short on time, so I did the last part straight through, instead of in intervals.  I think the breast stroke kick is going to cause some soreness in my shins later...we shall see.  :)

Ooooo....sore legs today. Still, I was able to do my P90X Cardio X routine, and felt pretty strong the whole time. Other than that, I was a slacker today. :)

We went to the outdoor amphitheater last night, just in time for winter to move into Saint George.  We froze our tails off!  I had the chills all night long.  Then this morning, I woke up with a lovely cough, headache, and fever.  So all nutirtion and exercise plans went out the window, and I loafed around all day, using my witch doctoring skills as best as I could.  By this evening, I thought I might try going out to my ballet and tap classes, which I was able to do fairly well.  So I came home tonight and did ab-ripper X.  That's it for me today.  Still feeling somewhat low, and I sound awful, but I'm hoping for better things tomorrow.  I never stay sick for long....

Ben and I pulled ourselves out of bed at 5:30 this morning to do P90X Plyometrics. It was my first time, and it was HARD! I "cheated" on several of the exercises. I'm sure it will get easier, but I think if I had eaten breakfast first, it may have made a difference. Plus, I'm still feeling somewhat unwell.  Anyway, after going back to bed for a few hours, Elijah and I ran five miles in 48:54.  It was the best I could do today.  Some days are like that, I guess.  :D

Ben and I are leaving town now for a two day road trip.  It will be fun, but nutrition and excerise are not part of the equation.  Ben will find a way to work in a work out, but I'm sure the eating thing will be sketchy...Too bad, since I'm FINALLY starting to lose weight on this diet!  Heeheehee!  Good thing that there's always NEXT week!  :)

We spent the night last night in Primm Nevada at Whiskey Pete's hotel! Ben and I were "sort of" good, and got up early enough to do a little bit of P90X before hitting the road.  I did core synergistics, but feeling pretty poorly, I didn't quite do ALL the moves.  We ate like pigs the night before at "Sweet tomatoes", then continued the pattern for the rest of the day.  I have a feeling I'm going to be starting all over after this weekend....