Catch me if you can

From home.  Average pace 9:51.

Met Cheris and Peggy at Riverton High.  The track was locked.  We warmed up for 4.3 miles. Then we did 10x400 with about 45 seconds rest in between in the neighborhoods.  I would start when Peggy and Cheris did.  That's why I didn't get the full 60 second recovery.  Recovered back to car.

7:24,  (I messed up my timer on 2&3), 7:03, 7:05, 7:31, 7:06, 7:07, 6:49, 6:46

Day 1 of my 18 week training for St. George.

From work.  Average pace 9:59

From work.  10:24, 11:36, 11:05, 9:57, 8:56

Started at the church on Tithing hill.  9:23, 8:59, 9:07, 8:38, 9:24, 9:17

I got up at 2:30 am.  I should say I got out of bed at that time.  I couldn't sleep at all the night before.  Michelle picked me up at about 3:15.  We parked at the mall and got right on a bus.  We waited right up by the start line.  We were able to use the porta potties about five times without any lines.  That was really nice.  The race started right on time.  We were pretty lucky to have a tailwind for several miles.  I had a gu right before the start and carried my water bottle for the first six miles.  I had to use the bathroom just before mile six.  I lost about 1:30.   My stomach was a little upset during the race, so I didn't dare take any Gu.  I did drink the Nuun that was offered at two of the stops.  I felt pretty good, but I could tell I was slowing down the last few miles.  My goal was 1:45 and top 5 in my age group.  I didn't get the time, but I did get 2nd in my age group.  I was happy about that.  Michelle was 1st in our age group.  Taylor and Gary came to cheer to me on.  That made my day.  We got a free massage and ate some food.  After that we walked backwards on the course about a mile so we could see a friend of Michelles finish the marathon.

8:15, 8:08, 8:20, 8:04, 7:43, 9:21 (bathroom break in there), 7:42, 7:44, 7:58, 8:01, 8:19, 8:11, 8:18 and 7:41 

6 very slow recovery miles from home down to the trail and back. Average pace 11:35.

Met Cheris and Peggy at O'Roi Hardy for speed work.  My legs were still too fatigued from the race.  Warmed up for 2.3 miles.  I attemped to do 12x400, but decided to bag it after 5 attempts of not hitting my paces.  

1. 7:32

2. 7:08

3. 7:34

4. 7:36

5. 7:59

Treadmill at work.  2 miles wu, 12x 90 seconds fast and 60 seconds off.  2 miles cd. Fast pace was 7:00 mm.

Easy miles on the treadmill at work.  I was going to ride the bike, but decided at the last minute to run since I wouldn't have much time tomorrow.  Pace was around 9:40 with a 1% incline.

PC meeting at work.  I ran on the treadmill at work at 5:30am.  1 mile warm up, 2 miles at 8:00 and 1 mile at 7:50.

7 easy miles from home.  Average pace 9:49.

I met Cheris and Peggy at the Riverfront Front park at 5:30. We ran 3 miles and then picked up Michelle and Becky for another 10. The last 1/2 mile I started getting a really bad side stitch.  I stopped my watch and walked back to my car.  It was a good run.  Average pace 8:57.

Super easy and slow pace.

Started at Riverton HR.  After the warm up, I did 10x600 with about a minute recovery.  

Started at the church on 9800 S and 2200 w.  After the warm up, headed up to 4000 w through the neighborhoods and back.  Felt really good.  Average pace 8:57.

Jackie picked me up at 3:15am and we drove to AF to catch the bus.  It was a little chilly at the top which is just perfect for a race.  I tried jogging around for about a mile, but it  didn't help.  I ate a banana and a bagel at 3:00 am.  The race started at 6:00.  Jackie and I stayed together for about the first 3 miles.  I pulled ahead knowing I would have to stop at a porta potty, which I did just before mile 7.  When I came out, I saw Jackie ahead.  I took me about 1-1.5 miles to catch up to her.  I could tell I was slowing down about mile 9.  Just before mile 12, I got a side stitch and walked a couple of steps.  Bill (1:45 pacer) saw me and encouraged me to finish strong.  I sucked it up and took off.  My goal was 1:43 and top 10 in my age group.  I ended up with 1:43 and 11th place.  There's a lot of fast ladies at this race.  Jackie did great and finished with her goal time of 1:45.  

I took a Gu 15 minutes before the start.  I carried my Gatoraid for the first 8 miles and then tossed the bottle.  I had another Gu at mile 9 or 10.

Super slow run/walk on treadmill at home.

Treadmill at work.  Warm up 1.5 miles, 6 x 800 at 7:19 with 800 recovery.  The plan called for 400 recovery.  I felt I needed longer so soon after the race.

My legs wear hammered after the race Saturday and the speedwork the day before.  I ran/walked outside at work.

Stomach issues all week.  I decided to run on the treadmill at work.  1 mi wu, 6 miles at 8:12 pace with .5% incline, 1/2 mile cool down.

Early all day training today.  I did the walking incline workout on the treadmill.

7 easy miles on the treadmill at home.  We saw Night Ranger at the Sandy Amphitheather that night.

Met Jackie at Treehouse to run on Wasatch Blvd.  I ran 1.5 before we met up.  Jackie ran 5 before.  Perfect running weather.  I didn't have any Gu.  I carried and drank 12 oz of Gatorade.  I felt really good.  I had a few issues with my left knee.  I'll have to watch that and be extra careful with rolling out.  Average pace 9:38.

Ran from home.  Kind of an emotional run.  May have had something to do with my music choice.  Average pace 9:50. 

I ran with Peggy and Cheris.  3 mile warm and then we ran 5x1000 meters with a short recovery.  The first two repeats were good.  The last three were into the wind and were hard.

7:13, 7:13, 7:50, 7:41, 7:51

I'm having some pain in my lower left leg.

I got to Riverton park and warmed up for about 1/2 mile before the race started.  My plan was to use this as my marathon paced tempo run.   For some reason we did a big loop around the park when the gun went off.  That added over a half mile to race.   I was happy with my pacing for the most part.  I hit 6.2 at the bottom of the steep uphill switchbacks.  I was kind of done at the point.  I did end up finishing 1st in my age group.  8:08, 8:35, 8:07, 8:11, 8:14, 8:07 and 8:53.  Average 8:19

Easy run starting from Bingham.  Average pace 10:26

Easy run from home.  Average pace 10:20

I'm following the HMM training plan and decided to use this as my long run for the week.  I went in without tapering at all, including running the Riverton 10k just 3 days before.  I could fill the fatigue in my legs right from the start.  I knew it wasn't going to be a fast race, so I decided to think of it as the last 13.1 miles of St. George.  I did slow down more than I wanted in a few of the later miles.  Overall it was a run race.  I went down with Peggy and Cheris.  Average pace 8:12.

4 miles easy recovery run on the treadmill.

Met Peggy and Cheris at O. Roi Hardy.  My glute was hurting so I wasn't able to do the speed workout.  Average pace 9:20.

Easy bike and stretch

Jogged very slowly on the treadmill for 1.5 miles, then did the elliptical for 60 minutes.

Ran with the BBKs.  I got there early and warmed up for 2 miles.  Then we ran the 5k loop twice.  My glute/hip/hammie is still so tight and kind of hurts.  I named the run - Just rip the bank-aid off run.  I'm ready.  My miles were:  10:49, 9:18, 9:07, 8:31, 8:24, 8:31, 8:36, 8:32 and 9:11.  Average 8:59

6 easy miles from home.  The run felt pretty easy, but my HR stayed high.  Average pace 9:50.

I met Cheris and Andy at the trail at O. Roi Hardy at 6:00.  We ran 7 miles and then picked up Michelle and I ran another 4.  I had some pretty bad side stitches that forced me to stop a few times.  I'm thinking maybe it's a dehydration issue.  Average pace 9:00.

Fun run on the BSL trail strarting from the equestrian park.  Average pace 12:09.

I met Cheris and Peggy at SJ soccer fields.  We warmed up for 2.5 miles.  Then we did a ladder workout 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800 and 400.  We included the Rustic Roads hill in the repeats.  400 = 7:42, 800 = 7:22, 1200 = 7:55, 1600 = 7:51, 1200 = 7:35, 800 = 7:27, 400 = 7:24.  I didn't always get the full 400 recovery between each one.  Short CD after.

Easy treadmill run at work.

It was a rough morning for me.  This week just sucked.  I got it done.  Treadmill run at work. 1 mi wu, 7 tempo miles at 8:19 with .5 incline, and 1 mile cd

I ran from work.  Lots of hills.  Average pace 9:41

Easy miles from home. Average pace 10:38

I met Peggy and Michelle M. at Hobby Lobby.  It was a really good run with a lot of hills.  Average pace 8:54.

Eight miles on the BSL trail starting at the equestrian park.  I looked forward to this run all week.  It had rained the day before and it was a beautiful morning.  I loved every minute of it.

Average pace 10:51

Pre-race run.  I probably ran a little faster than I should have, but it felt good.  9:29, 9:04, 8:41 and 8:48 for last .5.  Average pace 9:03.

Cheris picked Jackie and me up at my house at 3:50 am.  We drove to Eccles Stadium and got on the buses.  It was really warm in town.  It was a little cooler up the canyon.  The race started at 6:30.  It was my first time on this course and I really liked it.  I held back the first mile and tried to ease into my pace.  I passed Jackie at about mile 3.  I had a Gu a mile 4 and another around 9 or 10.  I carried my little bottle with Gatorade and sipped on that for the first 10 miles. It was a fun atmosphere running on the parade route.  There were tons of 5k people walking side by side.  That made it difficult to get around.  I did a lot of dodging the last 1.5 miles.  Overall it was a good race.  I finished the race and headed straight to the porta potties.  I'm glad I didn't have to waste time during the race.  My splits are 7:51, 7:37, 7:30, 7:32, 7:44, 7:33, 7:29, 7:48, 7:22, 8:04, 7:53, 7:42, 8:00 and 7:59 avg for .22.  Overall average pace 7:42.  I've lost about 5-6 lbs in the last month.  That's a lot for me.  

6 easy miles on the treadmill at work with a 1% incline.

My legs felt pretty good considering I ran the 1/2 the day before.  

I ran on the treadmill at work.  I switched my running schedule around this week so I could run the Deseret News 1/2 on Tuesday.

1.5 miles wu, 3x1600 w/ .5 recovery (7:18, 7:18 and 7:13), 1 mile cool down

It was so hot in the gym.  I got it done.

Easy miles from home.  Average pace 9:04

Still on vacation.  3 easy afternoon miles to get some heat training in.

I started this run from work.  I ran up the hill and started my tempo run heading south on 1000 w.  It was very dark and there was construction on 10400.  The sidewalks were gone and I was running on the gravel road up to 1300.  I miscalculated my miles and ended up stopping the tempo at 7 miles instead of the scheduled 8.  

10:08 and 10:20 (.5)

8:08, 8:05, 8:01, 8:06, 8:12, 8:12, 8:18

9:15

6 easy treadmill miles.  Average pace 10:00

7 miles on my favorite run of the week.  BSL Trail starting at the equestrian park.  A lot of bikers out today.  The air was pretty bad.   Average pace 10:14

I ran with Jackie on Wasatch Blvd.  I got there early and ran 2 miles before Jackie got there.  The air quality from the fires was really bad for the first 7 or 8 miles.  It seemed a little better once we got up and over the big hill.  I felt really strong on the hills.  At about mile 15.5, I started getting a bad side stich on my right side.  This has happened on several runs over the last few months.  It forced me to stop and walk several times while running downhill.   I refilled my 10 oz. water bottle 3 times during the run.  I'm not sure if I was dehydrated or not.

Average pace 9:20

This was definitely not the race I wanted.  Hopefully I can look back at this report and learn from my mistakes.

The day before the race, I picked up Cheris and we drove to St. George.  Once in St. George, we picked up Peggy and headed to the expo to get our packets.  We then went back to Peggy's house where we would be spending the night.  Cheris and Peggy had their own food and I made the mistake of not planning what I was going to eat for dinner.  I ended up getting a turkey sandwich at the grocery store.  

We went to bed at about 10:00 pm.  After not really sleeping, we got up a 3:50 am.  We got to park and searched for Jody but couldn't find her.  We decided to get in the bus line.  We ended up in a longgggg line waiting 75 minutes for the buses to return from their first trip.  It wasn't too cold, but there a little rain.  

We finally got on the buses and made it to the start.  Cheris went into the elite area.  There wasn't much time left, so Peggy and I threw our drop bags and headed to the porta potties.  We lucked out and found Jody.  Jody and I wanted about the same time, so we lined up together.  The race ended up starting nearly 30 minutes late.  

The first few miles felt okay.  Not great, but okay.  It was cold and raining.  Jody and I stayed together for about three miles.  She was smart and held back.  I picked up the pace just a little.  My dad's cousin, who lives in Veyo, was so sweet  and stood out in the crappy weather to see me come by.  I quickly realized after started up Veyo that it wasn't going to be my day.  I'm normally pretty strong on hills, but I had nothing.   I really struggled through miles 7-13.  I stopped at the porta potty for the second (or maybe 3rd) time at mile 12.  When I came out, I saw the 4:00 pace group a little ways ahead.  I caught up to them and made the decision to just tuck in and stay with them.  I felt I could have run faster, but with the headwind, I liked running in the pack.  I stayed with them until about 19 when I had to make another porta potty stop.  

Just after mile 23,  I started feeling pretty good.  I was able to pick up my pace and passed a lot of people.  The last three miles didn't feel hard at all.  When I finished, I knew I didn't run the race I had trained for.  

Here are some of the mistakes I made and will not repeat next training cycle.

1.  I did not follow my training schedule.  I ran six 1/2 marathons during the 18 week program.  I pulled this off in 2014 but this time it just wore me out.  Stick to the plan!

2.  I ran my final 20 mile run just three weeks out.  I've done this in the past, but this 47 year old body needs more taper.

3. I need to strength train and eat more (better choices).  I lost too much weight and just felt weak.

After a disappointing race at St. George marathon two weeks prior, I decided to give this race a shot.  It finishes ten minutes from my house.  I figured all I had to lose was the entry fee if it didn't work out.

I got on the 5:15 bus and headed to Copperton for the 6:45 am start.  I stayed warm by the heat lamps and chatted with some other runners while we waited.  It was about 40 degrees.  My only concern was the wind from the south.  At 6:25 we were warned if we wanted to use the porta potties, we better get in line.  I did and had just enough time to take off my warm clothes and line up.  

When the gun went off we started running at an uphill grade.  I tried to hold back a little.  I caught up to the 3:45 group at about one mile.  I stayed with them until the long two mile uphill section at mile 5.  I let them go and tried to conserve my energy.  At about mile 7, we reached the top and started the two mile descent.  I really liked this part.  By mile 9, the 3:45 group was in sight.  I was feeling really good.  I hit the 1/2 around 1:52.  At about mile 17 we started the uphill climb in front of the temple and into the wind.  This section really took a lot out of me.  By mile 19, I could feel the wall coming.  Miles 19-21 are mostly uphill.  Cheris was waiting to cheer me on at mile 20.  She is so awesome.  I wish I felt better when I saw her.  Cheris and Michelle met me again at mile 22.  They are the best.  I was so happy to see them.  I was telling them goodbye and tripped on a hole cover.   I caught myself, but that really hurt my sore hamstring.  Taylor and Gary met me at mile 25.  They tried so hard to push me, but I just couldn't go any faster.   My body was done.  Jerry was at the finish to see me.  I could barely walk for the next 15 minutes.  Taylor said after seeing me finish, she didn't know if she ever wanted to do a marathon.  She won the 5k that morning.  

I didn't get the 3:45-3:50 time I wanted, but I don't regret giving it a shot.  I learned some valuable lessons.

I need to do my last long run 3 weeks before the marathon, not 2.  This was only my 3rd out of 24 marathons that I didn't stop to use the porta potty.  Here is what I did.

Thursday:  I ate a bigger lunch and dinner with less fiber than usual

Friday: Breakfast - Scrambled eggs and cheese with one pancake.  Lunch - 2 torillas and a side of shredded chicken from Cafe Rio.  I made them into two tacos with gaucamole.  Dinner- spaghetti with plain tomato sauce.  Dessert/Snack- Special K cereal with a little milk.  I also snacked on pretzels throughout the day.

Morning of race:  (at least two hours before the race)  two slices white Grandma Sycamore bread with strawberry jam, a banana and 1/2 c. chocolate milk.  I sipped on Gatorade until the race started.  I also had 2 Immodium AD when I woke up.