Getting back to it

Went for a very fun run this morning with my hubby!   Haven't been with him since Memorial Day - I guess he's a holiday runner!

We went out in a narrow window of good weather - it wasn't raining and looked nice outside.  We did one of the usual routes - uphill the 1st half and then downhill and flat the 2nd half.  With about 10-20 min left to go it started to rain and then hail.  So we cut the run a little short and sprinted home and were soaked by the time we got home.  It was a lot of fun but I was glad we were only running in the rain for the last little bit.

Finally got back to Muscle Up at the Rec Center.  Jenny and Cynthia went too.  It felt good to work out again.  Went pretty light to ease back into it.  It was great to stretch my sore muscles.

Came home and wanted to do a little running so I went on the treadmill for a short 20 minute speed/interval work - IT WAS HARD and I'm sweating like crazy now.  I need to do that several times a week.

We had a good fast run (for us) this morning.  Desiree is almost always the pace setter and this morning we kept up with her.  We even managed to talk for most of the run.  We made our plans for the marathon - yea!!

Stats: 4.86 miles / 54.59 / 12:15 avg pace

Just did muscle up today.

Just Jenny and I did the miles this morning.  We did half walking - half running.  We're both pretty sore from muscle up yesterday.  And didn't want to do too much just before our longest run ever tomorrow - 22 miles!!!!!

Stats:  57 minutes / 15:27 avg pace

OUR LAST BIG LONG RUN!!  For our training for TOU Marathon.

We had planned to do between 20-22 but ran out of time (had to be at a baptism at 10:00).  We were going to start at 5:15 but didn't get started until 5:25.  We did our usual Wasatch Route.  Our friends, Erica and Ann, did SAG for us again. That was great.  We also appreciate all the support from friends who are with us in spirit.

Stats: 3:42:49 / 12:14 avg pace on a 5/1 ratio.

We felt like we were going pretty fast ( for us) but we were behind our pace from the previous week.  It was a bummer to not finish our route but we all felt like we could. 

Just Jenny and I this morning for a slow run/walk to recover from Sat.

We did one of usual routes in reverse and it was quite a challenge.  It's much more fun to down Nantucket that up it.  We couldn't believe how many cars were on that road at 5:30 in the morning. Mostly high school kids - driving too fast and running stops signs.

Stats: 51:06 / 13:42 avg pace

It was almost all of our running group back together again this morning.  We were so glad to have Leslie back with us.  She did great!!

Stats: 5.35 total miles (lots of cool up and warm down walking today)

1:09 time / 13:58 avg pace

splits:

Mile 1 15:02

Mile 2 12:44

Mile 3 12:34

Mile 4 12:54

Mile 5 16:14

Estimate on the distance - it was raining this morning so we headed for the indoor track at the Rec center.  Not that we're afraid of a little rain - but with TOU next week we don't want to take any chances of injury or sickness.

We were dressed for cold outdoor weather - NOT indoor track weather so I got SO HOT!  Not fun doing the track!  Hopefully that was enough on the track this morning to keep us outside as long as possible.

Good little basic run today.

Just went walking with Jenny and Leslie this morning.  This has become our pre-long run ritual - walk the day before and stretch those muscles.  It was really hard to get up this morning and it was cold - windy cold.  Thank goodness we enjoyed our walk and talk - Leslie told us stories from Tonga and her adventures as a young college student.

What a GREAT run today - good friends, one of my favorite courses, fast time (our best when you compare like runs on other weeks) and breakfast at Mimi's at the end.

Because of not getting in SGM, our training has been cut short 2 weeks - hopefully we'll be okay for TOU.  We've upped our mileage during the week over the last month and gotten in all of the long runs except the 20-22.  So it's going to be a mental battle.

Stats for this run:

8.57 in 1:37:34 (we hit 8 miles at 1:29 and that is 10 minutes faster than our best time on an 8 mile run).  Our avg pace was 11:23 which is a minute faster than our average on other 8 mile runs.  That is very exciting to me.

splits:

1 - 13:45, 2 - 11:19, 3 - 10:33, 4 - 11:04, 5 - 10:38, 6 - 11:23, 7 - 10:56, 8 - 9:50

these are pretty fast splits for us.  The encouraging thing for me is that I felt good at this pace for this distance.  I do wish I could do that the whole marathon but that is just not going to happen.  Maybe in the next few years.

Took the day off!  Felt good to sleep in - if you call getting up at 6:45 sleeping in!

It was nice to have a take it easy kind of day - I did the laundry and cleaned off our patio. Took the twins swimming - we were the only ones there for over an hour!  Fun.

I felt good this morning for our run.  don't have accurate stats because I forgot to stop my Garmin when we finished.  Most of our talk was about the marathon.  I can't believe it is this SATURDAY!!!

Just a short easy run today.  We ran down to Willowcreek and then Jenny's mom brought us back.

Did a nice walk this morning.  Hopefully our taper hasn't been too much.  I think at this point rest is the most important.  We're not doing anything tomorrow morning and going up to Logan in the afternoon.  We'll take in the pasta dinner and expo and hopefully get to bed early.  The next time I log in it will be to report on the MARATHON!!

Rest Day. Slept in.  Was busy all morning - getting ready to go up to Logan.

Desiree, Jenny and I left about 1:30 pm, stopped for a yummy lunch at Rumbi's in Bountiful.  Drove on up to Logan and we're afraid to see what our accomodations were going to be like.  We got one of the last rooms available in Logan.  We stayed at the M6Inn, right on the main street before you get to town.  It actually wasn't bad at all and was just fine for the 12 hours that we were checked in there.  We hung out in jenny and Desiree's room waiting for Leslie to catch up with us.  We all laughed and had a great time trying on different combinations of running clothes trying to decide what to wear, depending on how the weather was going to be.

When Leslie got there we went to the Copper Mill Restaurant to pick up our packets, check out the VERY SMALL expo - less than 10 vendors, and go the pre-race pasta dinner.  It was good food, probably not worth the $12 we paid but we wanted to take in the whole experience.  We spun the prize wheel and won the most excited prizes - TOU license plate covers!  We did a little shopping at sports authority and got our bananas at the grocery store and were in bed by 9:30.  We had a great evening together and were nervous, anxious for the big day.  Even with a sleeping pill I didn't get a lot of sleep but I did rest.

I don't even know where to start with this marathon report - I guess at the beginning.  We got up at 4:15 and got ready for packed up our stuff and drove to the park to get on the busses.  It seemed like a very long bus ride up the canyon to the start.  We used the potties right off and then went to the tents to stretch and stay warm.  It wasn't actually hard to stay warm - it wasn't hard at all to stay warm.  It wasn't nearly as cold as we expected it to be.  We went to use the potties again and picked the slowest line and barely made it back to the start line 2 minutes before the start.  We even had a hard time getting our extra warm clothes on the bus because the bus driver started pulling away while we were trying to get our stuff on the bus.

We went to the very back of the pack to start out - we didn't want to get caught up in the push and rush of the front of the crowd.  That worked out very well.  We had a good start and very even pacing all the way down the canyon.  I loved running down that canyon - it was perfect in the elevation drop - not too drastic up or down, and it was beautiful.  I really loved meeting so many people and enjoying the run.  Leslie had given us all running shirts with our group name on the back "the Running Chicks" and that brought about a lot of conversation with a lot of people.  That was a lot of fun.

I felt great at the half way point and we were anxious to see our group of family that we knew would be cheering for us at about mile 14.  I could see my husband, Paul, standing up high on a guard rail with the video camera.  Jenny's family, parents and MIL were all there and desiree's 3 oldest kids were there (her husband is in Holland on business).  It was such a boost to see them all and have them cheer for us and look so proud of us.  We figured that was the last time we would see them before the finish but they kept  appearing every couple of miles cheering us on.  That helped us SO MUCH!!

We REALLY lucked out on the weather!!!  It wasn't very cold - started the race in shorts!  It sprinkled one time - 2 drops.  It was hot for about 5 minutes and the rest of the time it was WONDERFUL.  We were so LUCKY!!

I felt good until about mile 19 and then really started to fatigue.  My quads and hams were so tight and my left knee was really killing me but not so bad that I thought about stopping.  I remember thinking at mile 18 that I wish a marathon was 20 miles.  at soom point around 15 we split off from Desiree - she was cruising!!  She ended so strong and finished at about 5:12.  We lost Leslie at the 9 mile mark because we kept having bathroom issues and would have to stop at about 3 potties in a row.  She kept going and was ahead of the rest of the way.  She said that is what kept her going  - knowing we were behind her.  She finished about 2 minutes ahead of us.

Somewhere between mile 19 and 20 Jenny's knee gave out on her.  She was in a lot of pain and could hardly walk.  I stayed with her and told her I wouldn't leave her.  We helped each other finish.  While she tried to walk out the pain I very slowly shuffled along beside her.  We went back and forth between walking and SLOW jog/shuffle.  Those last 3 miles were SO LONG!!!  Esp running down Main street with all the traffic - I hated that.  And then looping back to the park and not knowing exactly where the finish was - was hard.  But our husbands met us at the last corner and ran with until we got to the finish shoot.  It was so exciting to hear our names announced at the finish and Jenny and I crossed the finish together - hands together high in the air and proud of ourselves.  It was so great to get hugs from all of our friends and to have their support.  It was also so much fun to see all of the friends we had made along the way.

Desiree and I and our families stuck around for the awards ceremony - once again taking it all in.  We also had fun taking our turns to cheer on some runners coming in at the very end.

One interesting thing is the difference between my Garmin and the race times and mile markers.  My Garmin was .2 miles different than the course and my finish time on the Garmin was 5:19:41 - I know that was due to having the Garmin on auto pause and I also stopped anytime we were stopped for bathroom stops.

Here are my splits:

1 - 11:07, 2 - 11:05, 3 - 11:34, 4 - 11:11, 5 - 11:05, 6 - 11:11, 7 - 11:15, 8 - 11:29, 9 - 10:49, 10 - 11:22, 11 - 11:22, 12 - 11:09, 13 - 10:52, 14 - 10:46, 15 - 12:42, 16 - 11:43, 17 - 11:08, 18 - 11:36, 19 - 12:26, 20 - 15:03, 21 - 13:17, 22 - 14:08, 23 - 15:04, 24 - 13:39, 25 - 14:18, 26 - 13:10, 27 - 4:57 (12:19 avg)

I was a little surprised looking at the splits afterwards to see how consistent we were thru the first 18 miles.  You  can definitely see where we began to have trouble. My only disappoint was not finishing as strong as I would have liked to. I wish I could have kept up with those splits from the first 18 miles.  Next time.

overall, it was a great experience.  I really liked the course a lot (Leslie didn't) and enjoyed the scenery and the people.  I would do it again - just not tomorrow.

The official stats were finally posted online.  I registered in the Filly division (give myself every advantage, I figure).  My official finish time is 5:35:42. I was #1550 overall (out of 1718), #56 in the filly division and #74 in my age group and #724 in Female category.

Recovery has been TOUGH!!!!!

I could hardly walk when I got up yesterday and barely made it to church.  The rest of the chicks were there and looking awesome and not limping at all.  They sure made me look bad :) !!

I admit I haven't done the greatest job in taking care of myself on the recovery side of the marathon.  I did get a nap in yesterday and a short slow walk.  I am so stiff and can barely walk. I did loosen up a little.  I've had to give in and take Vitamin I Sat night about midnight and again this morning.  When I got up this morning I was in even worse shape than yesterday.  Added to the very sore quads and hams, my left tendon from the heel was killing me and SO TIGHT!  I got in a hot epsom salts bath and then used our massager on my legs.  Then I took the twins to the rec center and checked them into the nursery so I could walk on the treadmill. I only did .65 mile at a very SLOW pace but it did help.  Then I sat in the hot tub for abotu 15 minutes.  I picked up the kids and we went swimming at the splash zone. It felt good to sit in that cooler water and just massage and stretch my sore muscles.  I'm doing better now but still really feeling it.  I'm hoping to be able to walk some more tonight and then walk with the chicks in the morning.

Any advice on how to recover from a first long and slow marathon run?

I'm finally feeling almost back to normal.  Some lingering soreness and a few twinges in the knees and ankles.

Did 30 minutes on the treadmill tonight abotu 8:00 pm.  I really do prefer to exercise in the morning but have also enjoyed sleeping in for a few days.

I did warm up walking, ran 3/4 mile and then walked the rest of the time.  Felt pretty good.

I got back to getting up early and went to muscle up this morning.  It felt good to do some strength training.

Went for a nice evening run with my hubby.  The weather was perfect.  It felt good to get out and run again.  My left knee was bothering me quite a bit though.  I've got to take care of it better.

I got a late start this morning and didn't get up early.  That always makes for a bad start to a monday.  I didn't get over to the rec center until about 12:30.  Went on the treadmill - that was a little better on my knees than on the road.  Took me about 31 min.  I'm doing a new training schedule I found in runner's world to prep for the painter's 1/2 marathon in Jan in St George.

muscle up this morning.