Marathon Training Plan-Week 6 of 16

Week #6

Monday July 9th-Ran 5 Miles

Sometimes I run on the treadmill, sometimes in the hills on the trails, sometimes on the grass, sometimes at the track and sometimes on the road.  So, I vary my surfaces that I run on but I haven't really varied my speed.  Every once in awhile I've tried to just go a little faster in between songs on the ipod just to get to my destination a little quicker but I've never really followed any speed work plans.  I'm an avid Runner's World reader and am very intrigued by speed but I guess I've just been too lazy to try it.  Well, a couple of days ago a certain speed work-out piqued my interest and seemed very basic and doable for me and so I decided to give it a try today.  It goes like this:  Run 10 minutes easy run, warm up. Then run 10 strides fast with each time your right foot hits as counting as 1 stride and then do 10 strides recovery, then increase to 20 strides fast/20 strides recovery, then 30 strides fast/30 strides recovery etc. increasing by 10 all the way up to 100 strides fast/100 strides recovery and then continue going backwards at 90 strides fast/90 strides recovery, 80 strides fast/80 strides recovery, all the way back down to 10.  Well, I did it and it actually was fun to have something to keep my brain busy while the miles went by.  I ran a mile to the local jr. high track and then did this speed work out which took me exactly 2.33 miles to accomplish and then ran on home with a few extra laps at the park to get in a full 5 miles today.  This is definitely something I will be trying again.  I don't know if it will make me faster but it was fun to push myself a little bit and keep my brain engaged!  Also when I got home I did 40 sit-ups and 20 woman's push-ups (can't do man push-ups)

Tuesday July 10th-Walked 6 Miles
Did a few laps around the park and then met up with my friend for a few miles and then back to the park for a few more laps.

Wednesday July 11th-Ran 5 Miles and Walked .50 Mile
on the treadmill while watching Bachelorette. I'm really hoping Emily is most in love with Jef but my guess is she'll end up picking Ari. We will be finding out soon. After my run I also did 40 sit-ups and 20 push-ups. 

Thursday July 12th-Ran 4 Miles and Walked .25 Mile 
Last night I babysat my grandson Miles until a little after midnight and by the time I got home to bed I didn't get to sleep until about 1:00 am so getting up early for my run wasn't happening. Can I just say how much I dislike doing my workout in the evening?  I also have grown to really dislike the treadmill too.  The more I use it the more I hate it.  I'm really looking forward to some cooler temps as well so that running outside will be a little more bearable.

Friday July 13th-Walked 4 Miles
Got an earlier than usual start to walk with Laurie. Me and the hubs are heading to Bryce Canyon and I needed to get packed and ready to go.  I will be running the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon on Saturday and am looking forward to a beautiful setting to run in.  A little vacation never hurts either.

Saturday July 14th-Ran 13.10 Miles at the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon  Not a great race for me this time but I did it. Race recap coming soon.  After a much needed nap Mark and I headed off for some hiking and got in 2.50 Miles in Red Canyon

Sunday July 15th-4.75 Miles

Hiked with the hubby in the Panguitch Lake area and found a beautiful little lake in the mountains called Blue Springs.

 Total Running Miles: 27

Total Walking Miles: 13
Total hiking Miles: 7.25

Pink Donut Half Marathon-Saturday July 7th

This half marathon was definitely more different than any I've experienced thus far, yet was probably one of the most rewarding.  My good friend Josh organized this run to benefit cancer research and awareness. His momma has cancer and is currently undergoing her own treatments. He read us a very sweet letter that she had written to us.  I can tell she is a strong lady and a fighter. I'm keeping her in my prayers to beat this bad "C" word.

One of the runners, Jackie Edelman made a cute blanket for Josh's mom.  She used pink to resemble cancer awareness and blue because Josh loves denim.  Can you tell by his outfit?  He wears his denim vest in every race.

Jackie, Julia, Susette, Josh, and Angela pre-race

Only 5 of us ran this race but we still had a good time.  This is the first of many years that Josh will host this race and the hopes are that it will just keep growing from here.  We met at 6:30 am in the West Bountiful Park and after Josh read the very sweet letter his momma had written to us we headed out to the road to start our run.  Josh did a count down of 5...4...3...2...1... and off we went.  We stayed together for the first mile and then the group started to break up.

Almost 1 mile in to the run and it was warming up quickly!

Just after we got onto the Legacy Parkway I stopped to take a photo of this sign as proof where we were and Julia kept on running.  She is a crazy runner girl.  She had just ran 22 miles the day before so I thought I may have a tiny bit of a chance to run with her because she would be sore and tired but that was not the case.   She was only a little bit ahead of me but I just couldn't catch her as hard as I tried.

This was a very nice trail, well maintained with some cool boardwalks as well.  It's highly used with literally 100's of bikers and a few runners.  I even saw one inline skater.

After I realized I wasn't going to be catching Julia, I took a photo and then put in my earbuds and settled into an easy, slow pace.  I could already tell from the warm temperatures this early on in the run it was going to be a good idea to not over exert myself.

This run was an out and back and before I reached the 6.5 mile mark here came Julia on her way back from the turn around spot.  She said the aid station was not too much further ahead and was well stocked with goodies and very nice people.  She's looking happy and strong, despite the heat.

I love her cupcake shirt. If I had one it would say "I will run for any treats"!

Ryan Copland, Mark Gabica, Jill Van Leuven Gabica at the Farmington Trail Head

Here are the kind friends of Josh's at the halfway turn-around point.  They are all college buddies of his.  I was so disappointed I forgot to take a photo of the treats Josh had for us that I almost turned around and went back for photos but it was just way  too hot.  It was a beautiful sight though running in to see pink donuts, bananas, pink gatorade, water bottles, and granola bars.  I cut myself a piece of donut and ate a banana and then loaded up my water belt with more liquids.  I was hoping it would be enough to sustain me for the return trip back.

On my way back I ran into Josh.  Maybe somewhere around mile 7.  He was looking cheery and strong as well.  About a mile later I passed Jackie and then further down the trail I saw Angela. 

The heat was so brutal by now that I did a lot of walking breaks and had to stay focused to keep myself from walking too much.

Of course I needed a photo of this!  Thank you Porter for being there for a moment for me.  That always brings a smile to my face and warms my heart.

I finished 13.1 miles in 2:56:26.  Most definitely most slowest half marathon yet.  But I didn't care.  The whole purpose of this run was to be with friends and help a good cause.  My dear husband, who took this photo when I finished came to support me as well and waited for the nearly 3 hours for me to finish.  (He took a little side trip visit to Home Depot while I was gone running)

Ice cold watermelon, pink donuts, pink strawberry milk, pink gatorade, ice cold water bottles and more granola bars were our after-race treats and everything tasted so delicious.

Mark had a list of honey-do jobs he was excited to get started on (haha) and so we said our good-byes and thanked Josh again for his hard work and great event, then got on the road for our journey home.  I will most certainly be back to run this one again next year. (and hope for a little rain or cooler temps)

Marathon Training Plan-Week 5 of 16

Week #5

Monday July 2nd-Ran 3 miles and walked 1 mile
I was still a little bit sore from my big 16 mile adventure on Timpanogos Mountain on Saturday and so I decided to sleep in a little bit and did my scheduled 3 miles on the treadmill while watching last week's Bachelorette. As my Saturday runs get progressively a little bit longer I worry just a tiny bit what my body will be able to do on Monday mornings. I'll just cross that bridge each week as I get to it. 

Tuesday July 3rd-Rest Day walked 5 miles with Laurie.  I got a little bit of an earlier start this morning before I met up with my stalwart friend and after a lap around the park and seeing this beautiful sunrise I had to dash back into the house to grab the camera. It's almost a patriotic photo with the red, white and blue sky.  Well....almost red.

Wednesday July 4th-Freedom Run 10K Ran 6.25 miles and walked 1 mile
a pretty uneventful race.  I showed up, said hi to a couple of familiar faces, used the potty (real flushers at the park bathroom) and then we were off. I ran my miles and was highly disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm from the parade spectators as we ran a little over 2 miles of the course on the parade route.  Hardly any cheers going on.  My friend Laurie, whom I saw later said it was probably because they were all still waking up from sleeping out the night before. Lame-O!

Thursday July 5th-Ran 4.25 miles
Oh my what a pathetic day.  I think staying up late last night to watch fireworks and eating a super delicious BBQ dinner zapped me of my energy this morning.  I slept in and didn't get my run in until the evening. I had Mark take me to Dry Canyon trail head and my plan was to run across the mountain and then home.  The looming clouds overhead had me a little nervous.  Exactly 1/2 mile into my run the skies opened up and poured right on down on me.  I had to stop my garmin and hide in the trees for a little while.  I was getting drenched even under the trees.  After I came out this is what the trail looked like and I had to do a lot of puddle dodging.  It made for a slightly more eventful run. I actually had a good time until I heard thunder and saw lightening a couple times.  You can bet I was hightailing it home!

Friday July 6th-Rest day-Walked 5.5 miles
I did a few laps around the park and then met up with Laurie.  Still feeling a little bit sluggish.  Holidays in the middle of the week kind of throw me off I think.

Saturday July 7th-Pink Donut Half Marathon-Ran 13.25 Miles 
My friend Josh whom I met back when I ran the Draper Trails 15 mile run, hosted this cancer benefit race.  It was held up in Bountiful on the Legacy Parkway Trail and was an awesome experience.  Race recap coming soon.

Sunday July 8th-Day of Rest!

 

Total Running Miles:  26.75

Total Walking Miles:  12.5

Mount Timpanogos Hike-Saturday June 30th

Bright and early 5:15 am 

♪All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go♫

We got up to the trail head and got started on our journey around 6:20 am. I was so happy to be able to get a parking spot at the trail head.  This hike is so popular and in past years we've had to park a lot further down the road and walk about a mile just to get started on the trail.

Doran, Jody, me

Jody bought a twisty little pink thing (tripod) that bends and twists to attach to stuff for taking photos.  Every time she pulled it out it reminded me of pink peanut butter cups.  Strange I know, but up close it really looked like them.

 Mile 1

We thought it would be fun to stop at each mile along the way and take a photo.  So be ready for some major photos of this hike.

 Mile 2
and loving the perfect cool morning weather for hiking.

Mile 3 
and getting warmer.  A little too sunny for my liking.

A kind gentlemen took pity on us and took our photo for us since we were struggling so much getting a decent photo at mile 3.

 Mile 4  
and still climbing!! Wait, this whole hike is a climb!

But we got to enjoy seeing all kinds of beautiful flowers along the trail.

This was the scariest part of the whole hike and these snow chunks are usually why I will wait until later in the year to hike when they are hopefully gone.  But with my crazy running schedule this Summer we just had to go this weekend so it would work for Jody and Doran as well.  Watching that man on the left in the red shirt and his little 3 year old boy cross the snow nearly made my heart stop working.  It's a pretty steep drop down this patch and I honestly don't know how that brave daddy did it.  He was literally holding the little boy by the arm and dangling him while trying not to slip off the front himself.  This snow wasn't very slushy like the snow closer to the top that had sun shining directly on it.  So, a couple of parts were pretty slick and I had a little trouble with my own footing.  Yeah, my adrenaline was pumping for a little while later.

 I never tire of seeing this peak or the glacier that people slide down on the left.  Definitely is something I won't ever be doing. 

 Jody and Doran coming back down a side trail after inspecting some bushes.

 Snack break while my friends are out inspecting those bushes.

Mile 5
and a perfect view of the glacier to the left.

Mile 6 and getting closer to the top.

I loved how these flowers were growing right up out of the rock

Getting closer to the top and crossing some slushy snow.  Good thing the sun was shining and keeping it soft.  Much easier crossing up here.  I was ready for a snowball fight and Jody was ready to lay down and make snow angels. Doran was just ready to keep going and get plastered by a snowball.  Too bad I couldn't throw that far. That big U shape in the distance is our destination.  If you look really close you can see many people already sitting up there.

We made it to the top in just a little under 4 hours.  Not too shabby!

I never tire of being up here and seeing this view.  Too bad it was so smoky from all the fires going on in Utah right now.

This little guy seemed to want to come over and visit until I tried to get close to him.

OK, see ya later little fella.

After relaxing and eating our lunch it was time to get back down the mountain.  My scheduled run for the day was to be 8 miles so I was planning to run down as much as I could.  Jody and Doran wanted to join me as well which I was pretty happy about.  They both are pretty speedy and it was me trying to play catch up to them most of the time.  After a few miles they were done running so I would run ahead and then when there were a few flat parts I would run back up the trail until I saw them and then turn around and keep going.  Since it was only slightly under 6 and 1/2 miles one way I was going to have to make up mileage.  Then Jody had the most brilliant idea.  She suggested that once we get back to the car that Doran and I could keep running and she would drive the car down the canyon.  SMART!  So that's what we did.

 This is a view of the mountain we just came down off of.

Running down the mountain in 85 degree weather and trying to catch Doran.

 Doran is too fast for me to keep up with.  But, I have a hard time keeping up with anyone so that's nothing new.

Doran makes it seem so effortless!

 Jody was the perfect support vehicle.  She wouldn't go too far ahead, she handed me water out the window, she asked me if I wanted candy, and she would take photos.  What more could a runner want?

 Soooooo incredibly hot and just about ready to climb into the car. Yeah, I feel as bad as this picture looks!

Out of the 16 miles traveled today I'm not sure how many miles I ran but for sure I got my 8 miles in and possibly a little more.

 On our way home we stopped and bought bagged ice so we could soak our sore, tired muscles in the bathtub.  After we got cleaned up we headed to Costa Vida for dinner!  Sweet pork salad hit the spot!! I had a blast today and love to hike Timpanogos.  I'm so glad my Brigham City friends could join me.  I would love to hike this mountain again before Summer is over and could easily be persuaded to go if anyone is raring to go!