I can do it!

Day of REST!  And I DID rest, most of the day, 'til I couldn't take it anymore.  So Ben and I took the kids for a very small, very relaxing bike ride.  It was actually still hard - my muscles must be really tired!  But NOT sore, so that's good....

Elijah and I ran early this morning...and I felt GREAT!  We did our five mile loop in about 46 minutes...slowly getting back my speed.  My legs felt good and tired afterwards, but not fatigued.  I think I'll see if Ben wants to bike to the pool tonight to do our laps....

Great bike ride!  It was at least 8 miles each way, and I swam 80 lengths at the pools.  I've felt great all day!  I'm going to sleep well now.  :-)

I started out today with 20 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical, followed by crunches and stretching.  Then it was over to the track for a very slow run.  I had to keep reminding myself, "It's a RECOVERY RUN!" every time someone would pass me on the track.  My legs are tired!  But I'm feeling good.  Tonight I'll be able to make it to 45 minutes of yoga before my rehearsal.  It will be the first time in weeks that I'll be able to attend, and I'm excited and looking forward to a really good and much needed stretch!

I got up extra early today to squeeze in a quick 3-mile SLOW run, so that I could go biking with my friends through Snow Canyon at 6:00 am. It was a beautiful way to start the day! There was a lot of fast downhill racing, but a good stretch of uphill WORK!  I did it on my mountain bike....one of these days I'm going to get a REAL road bike.  There's nothing like a little exertion to kick start your day...I feel fabulous!  :D

I have rehearsal from 6-10 tonight, so I'm not going to make it to the pool.  :-(

This morning my legs wouldn't work.  Maybe it was the long bike ride yesterday...  :)  So I TRIED to do 5 miles, but it was more of a run/walk.  This evening I planned to ride my bike to the rec center for Zumba and Yoga, but once I arrived, there was a substitute teacher for Zumba, and I discovered that although I am not a "real" dancer, I must be some kind of a dance snob.  I had to leave.  Instead I did 40 minutes on the elliptical, just to kill time before yoga. 

But the BEST part of my day was lunchtime, when my hubby took me to look at a used road bike, and it ended up being a really nice road bike in beautiful condition...an '05 Allez Comp Specialized road bike with an aluminum frame, carbon forks, stays, and seat post, brand new tires, serviced regularly and recently, ultegra and dur-ace components, etc.  For cheap!   And the other amazing thing is that the gal who owned it was exactly the same height as me, with the same length legs as me!  She won several races on that bike, and treated it like a baby.  Suffice it to say I brought home a "new" bike today!  And I'm giddy with excitement to get to try it out (need pedals and shoes first).  No more riding up the steep canyons on my $35.00 clearance mountain bike from Wally-world!  What a happy day.

Ahhh...Ben didn't have to be at work until 8:00, so I got to sleep in until 6:40!  It was sooo nice.  I started out the morning with a short tempo run, and then was able to try out my new bike!  What fun!  I'm pretty sure riding the old mountain bike is going to be totally unsatisfactory from now on.  But I'm going to have to re-learn how to ride.  :-)  We finished out the evening with a trip to the pool, and 60 lengths back and forth.  Now to bed...tomorrow's a long day.

It was a beautiful morning for a long run!  I met some friends to do 12 miles on the Saint George Marathon route - some pretty steep downhill grades.  I was really worried after having been so tired all week, but after the first couple of miles, something kicked in, and I felt FABULOUS!  The scenery was breathtaking.  I felt a continual flow of happiness as I ran, especially as I neared the end of my run, and realized how fantastic I was feeling and how un-tired I was.  I'm sure that I have never smiled so much before on any run.  I was thoroughly enjoying myself!  It still surprises me when I feel that way running, after having done it for so many months with just the opposite feeling.  But the more I learn about running (and other recreation) the more I realize that I don't ever have to hate it again!  So I'm going to love it, from now on!