Yoga and running

I have been wanting to try yoga for a while now. So about a month ago I bought a pass to 3B Yoga in the Riverwoods. I am really loving it. It's a good workout but in a different way than my normal gym workout.

I am hoping it will help my IT band issues I have been having for years now. I haven't run for about 7-8 weeks trying to get rid of some of the tightness. I meet again with the physical therapist on Thursday and he's going to give me a running schedule to get me back up. Hopefully I can be prepared for St. George in October!

Day 14 of Gratitude-Movement

I am grateful that I have a healthy body and am able to do the things I want to do---especially running!

Oh, life.....

It's amazing how quickly time passes when you get busy. I don't like it when I don't have time to slow down and enjoy life. I am definitely trying to enjoy the beautiful fall weather we have been having here in Utah. There is nothing better than running on a trail covered in fall leaves. Love it!

PR-Updated!!

**So my official time was 1:52:34!**

I forgot that the big clock at the finish was gun time and I did not cross the starting line at the gun.

Not exactly sure of my official time yet..... but somewhere pretty dang close to above.

I was a little nervous for the Hobble Creek Half this morning. My stomach hadn't been right all week and I certainly had not trained enough this summer. I was just hoping to finish. But I surprised myself!! I was feeling pretty good the first half so I kept a good pace and didn't stop. About 10 my IT band started bugging me but not enough to hinder my pace. I walked off and on until the finish because I was winded. But I was able to shave about 9 minutes off my fastest time! It's not that fast for all you super-fast runners but it was quite an accomplishment for me. Now I can finally say I have finished 13 in under 2 hours.

Yay for me!

The Highs and the Lows

Me at the beginning of my run this morning. Notice the snow coming down!

This past winter has been a real low in terms of motivation and energy for me. I wrote a post about it back in December. Well, it continued to linger months later. I am glad I signed up for the Canyonlands Half to keep me running even when I didn't want to. When I went to my doctor in early February, she discovered that my thyroid was low and my vitamin D was low. That would explain a lot of things.

Now, a few months later and after some adjustments in medication and supplements, I finally feel like I am getting my energy AND my desire to run back. I have had 2 really great runs in the past few weeks that have helped me remember why I love to run. The first was in Arcadia. We had a few hours between races. So while Montana and Summer were resting up, Hawk, Cheryl and I headed into the hills. The temperature was perfect, the trail was beautiful and the company was the best! When we got to the top and looked over the other side, we were looking down on Mt. Sac where they hold another big cross country and track meet. Then I looked back to where we had come from (which was really far away!) and I was a little overwhelmed. But I was feeling good and it ended up not feeling as far away as it looked.

The second great run was last Saturday afternoon. Montana, Summer and Kandace needed a cool-down run after their meet. We decided to head to The Rock-which is a portion of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. The girls headed up first. Cheryl drove Hawk and I to the trailhead and then met us all partway through the run. I had done this run once before with Montana and it was HARD! This time it was still hard but so much easier when you are distracted with conversation and people.

I have come to the conclusion that I need people to run with at this stage in my running life! I need the conversation, the company and the extra motivation of people with similar goals. I have a few more days to sign up for St. George and I even have a partner to run with if we get in! I think the lows are on their way out! Hooray for the highs!

Me at the END of my run this morning. SUN!

UVU Invitational

Our weekend was busy! Saturday morning started early with a track meet for Montana at UVU. She ran the 1600 m and 3200 m.

She was able to stick with Candace and Summer for about a lap.

Then her shins started bothering her and her pace fell off.

But she still had a PR by .11 seconds! As her coach says, celebrate the small successes!

Canyonlands Half Marathon

The time shown in the above picture was the clock time---not chip time. We were slow but not quite that slow.

This weekend Kurt and I went to Moab so I could run the half marathon. I was so excited to take all the kids down and have a fun family weekend. But, one by one, each of them had something come up or made other plans. So it ended up just Kurt and I---which was great.

I had signed up to run the race with Cami and Kaci. Kaci had to drop out because of a foot injury. She was bummed about that. I felt like I was fairly well prepared. I had a goal in mind and we were doing pretty well to hit that goal. Then about mile 9 my knee started hurting. I was hoping it would go away like random pains do so many times. Well it didn't go away. By mile 10 I had to stop and walk. From that point on I was walking more than running. So, unfortunately, we were way slower than I had hoped. But we did finish.

Injuries are so frustrating!! I did not have one IT band problem during all of my training. I can't figure out what the problem was. Add to that the fact that we had a head wind the entire race. Not at all the race I was hoping for. I guess there is always next year...

We're In!

I signed up for this half with Cami and Kaci. Kurt and I tried to get in last year and didn't make the lottery. But luck was on our side this time. Can't wait!

Vegas Ragnar 2010

Aubrey, Jess, Cami, Julie, Lisa, me

I got to spend this last weekend in Vegas running the Ragnar Relay with these ladies. We had a pretty fun time I must say---even considering the lack of sleep. I hope to have more pictures sent to me soon so I will write another post with all the details later.

November??

Who would have thought I could go running in the canyon in shorts AND a short sleeve shirt on November 3 in Utah? It was a gorgeous day with a beautiful blue, cloudless sky. I know it won't last long so I am really trying to appreciate it while I can!

Wasatch Back 2009

This past weekend, I ran the Wasatch Back with a group of girls from my neighborhood. We had a team of 6 girls and 6 guys. The race starts in Logan and goes 188 miles to end in Park City. Each runner runs 3 different times with total mileage from 13 to about 18-19 miles. I was runner #5 and my 3 legs were 7.4, 4.5, and 2.5 miles.

This is about the only picture I have of me-----and it's not even me running!

We were supposed to be support for Raquel while she was running but had to take some time out to stretch!!!!!

This picture was taken at the end of my first leg in Avon Pass. It was so beautiful! The funny part about this picture is that about a second later the fence broke and everyone (but me) fell flat on their backs in the weeds! Another van full of runners was passing by at the precise moment we fell and found it quite amusing!

Heidi & Allison right before Allison's turn to run.

Raquel getting ready for her exchange.

Leslie on her first leg.

Cassidy on her first leg.

Cassidy was runner #1. Here she is at the starting line-obviously not nervous at all!

The girls team in front of our lovely van before we decorated it up nicely!Getting ready to run!

The starting line!

This race was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Back Up and Running

I went to the physical therapist yesterday to get the low-down on my knee and find out if I can ever run another marathon. And the answer is yes!! It was just as I had thought-IT band, an EXTREMELY tight IT band. I have heard that ITs can be a recurring problem especially with women runners. But the physical therapist was confident that, with a couple weeks of work, I can be back on track. I also found out that my left leg is slightly longer than my right-which is not unusual. That only aggravated my problems once I started running longer distances.

Time to go running!

I almost did it!

Well, the St. George Marathon has now come and gone. After 6 months of training and hard work I had to drop out at mile 17. What a disappointment! I was very pumped up and feeling confident and ready!

The morning of the race I woke up to see it was sprinkling. As we got on the bus in St. George it was pretty mild but the further we got up the canyon, the more the rain started to fall. At the starting line there was a pretty good wind. They were handing out garbage sacks but ran out just as we got to the table to ask for one. Luckily I had on my knit cap to keep the rain off my head. Raquel Westover, Suzette Greer and I all started out at a good pace. We were staying close to the 4:30 pacer. At Veyo hill I kept running and lost Suzette and Raquel. I was feeling good and didn't want to lose my momentum even though it was slow on the hill. I kept looking back to find them but couldn't. My left knee started hurting from about mile 5 but it just felt like normal aches and pains that come and go during a run. But about 13 it wasn't going away. By 15, I was only running a few hundred yards at a time. About 16, there was a long downhill stretch and, by that point, it was hurting to WALK down the hill. I knew I was done. I had to walk to 17 to catch a shuttle down to the finish line. I was so cold and so drenched that I couldn't stop the shivering. At the finish line I couldn't find anybody. We hadn't arranged for a specific meeting place. So I ended up walking around for about 30 minutes trying to find Kurt and the kids. I finally found them in the bleachers. They thought they had missed my finish. It took everything in me not to break down in tears when I told them I had to drop out. I was so cold and miserable! We stayed just long enough to see Suzette and Raquel finish and then went home.

The bummer about the knees is that I had this same problem about mid-way through my training. But I thought I had taken care of it. I hadn't had one knee problem since about July. I can't figure out if it was the cold that contributed to the problem or what! All I know is that this is not my last marathon. St. George 2009---I will be there!

4 weeks until........

the St. George Marathon! I am starting to get mostly nervous but excited and anxious too. I think most of all I am tired! I have been training since April for crying out loud! Tomorrow I have to run 21 miles and I have been dreading it all week. If I can get to the half way point I am usually good to finish. I will be thinking of our friend Matt Galland who is running the Wasatch 100, yes 100 miles, tomorrow! 21 is way more manageable.