I can do it!

Elijah wanted to take walk breaks today, so we set the clock up to run five minutes and walk one...what was surprising was that we ran so much faster than we usually do WITHOUT walk breaks!  We finished the five miles in 45:02, which beats our "normal" time by about 2-3 minutes!  AND we both felt invigorated by the time we finished!  I love walk breaks.  :-D

Britnee, Elijah and I ran a 5K this morning in 36:43.  Afterwards, I hopped on my bike and rode for 30 minutes, covering 8.54 miles. 

This is my last week of overlapping rehearsals for "Aida" and performances for "Annie get your gun."  Next week, I will have my evenings back (for a week, anyway!), and then the week after that, we'll be in production with "Aida" and I will only have shows on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights through the middle of October.  I've been missing my evening swims.  I'm hoping to get geared up to try my first triathlon in November.  But first, the Saint George Marathon! 

Elijah and I tried a different route this morning, running 5 miles in 48:16 with walk breaks.  I was more tired today...not sure why, since I had more sleep than I usually get.  Oh well, good days and bad days, right?  I'm saving up my strength for the 15 mile race I'm doing on Saturday anyway.  I've got to run 20 that day...so I'm not sure if I want to do the extra 5 miles before or after the race, or maybe split the difference.  Hmmm....

I did three easy miles today. I was tempted to go cycling, but I think I will save it for tomorrow, since I'm not planning to run at all then. I need to save up for my 20 miles on Saturday. Even as it is, I will have logged 36 miles this week!  That's a bit of an increase for me, and I don't want to overdo.  I will probably only cycle 12 miles or less tomorrow, but I'll see how I feel...

I took the day off running today, since I have the race tomorrow.  I debated over whether to REALLY take the day off or not, and I opted to do a short bike ride.  30 minutes on the bike to get the blood pumping...I love starting my day with a little activity.  It was just enough!  I'll report on the race tomorrow...

Ben, Joshua, Elijah and I ran in the Pine Valley 15 mile race this morning!  Elijah and I were scheduled to run 20 for our training, and we figured this was a good way to get the miles in with built-in support!  So we ran 1.5 miles to warm up, then did the race.  There were aid stations every two miles, and were supposed to have pretzels and animal crackers along the route, with a GU station at mile 7.5.  I guess I wasn't paying attention, because I didn't notice the food, but when I got to the halfway point, there was no GU!  By that time, I had already run 9 miles with no food.  The course was honestly the hardest course I have ever run - steep inclines and declines on gravelly dirt road.  As we climbed up the huge hill after the halfway point, I started to feel pretty spent.  On our way back, I realized that there WAS food at the other aid stations, but I had run 11.5 before I actually got any in me.  I think it cost me a few minutes of time because I was feeling so weak and dizzy.  Anyway, when I finally got some sugar in my system, I felt a little better and was able to complete the race at a semi-decent pace, but my legs were hammered by the constant hills.  Elijah and I did another mile afterwards, and then I decided to call it a day.  I figure that 17.5 miles of steep hills and gravel roads are as good a training run as 20 miles of semi-hilly pavement.  :D  I felt tired, but was able to go straight to my final two performances of "Annie get your gun" and stay up until past midnight to strike the set.  Elijah and I ended up taking first in our divisions, and Ben and Joshua took second in theirs.  I came in fourth overall - I'll post the official times and placements when the website updates them.  I feel pretty good about the race - I know I could have done a little better if I had had food earlier on, but so it goes.  First place!  I never thought I'd see the day....maybe I AM a fast runner, after all...  :D