Bakers Dozen Half Marathon and this and that for 2012

Random blog post #57.

So to wrap up the last year, I've included a race report of sorts, a running streak and 2012 highlights. First up, the Bakers Dozen half marathon.

December 15 brought a race put on by Cory Reese of FastCory. The race was a 3.25 mile loop run 4 times with the eating of a goody (or goodies if you were a glutton for punishment) after the 1st, 2nd and 3rd lap. Bart and I got there just before the race started so we didn't get in on the group photo.

Before the race





 

 

The Goodies!

 

 

The pensive RD-Cory Reese

 

 

It was a little bit chilly and the weather progressively got wetter as the race went on even snowing by the end. This dampened no spirits whatsoever! Everyone was having so much fun stuffing their faces with delicious treats and checking out all the fun costumes, that really, I didn't even realize I had run 13 miles.

 

After all was said and done, we finished in about 2:52, but really that was the least important number of the day. We got to eat more treats, strut our new awesome medals and meet up with blog friends (this cute one was dressed as a Twinkie! I thought she was a hot dog because I was behind her the whole race.)

 

Me and Susette

 

 

Thanks Cory for an unforgettable race!

 

In other news, I finished my 2012 Holiday Running Streak. 36 days in a row and I only missed one (I had bronchitis the whole time and that one day I was just too sick to move). 95.18 miles total. It was more of a challege than I thought it would be. The last two days I ran one mile on the treadmill 15 minutes before midnight, then did the second mile after midnight so I could get it over with. Stupid.

 

All in all, I ran-

 

1 marathon (Top of Utah)

 

1 5 mile race (Dirty Dash)

 

1 10K Deseret News

 

8 half marathons

 

2 Bike marathons (not running,but hey-)

 

I also ran on a cruise ship, in a foreign country and in Hawaii. Good times!

 

I'm hoping that my injury problems are behind me and I look forward to running fun in 2013.

 

Races I've signed up for so far-

 

Spectrum 10K in St. George, Salt Lake Half, Top of Zion relay, Big Cottonwood half and St. George marathon (runner's series).

 

Tenative races-Deseret News 10K, Mesa Falls half, RnR Las Vegas half, Snow Canyon half and of course, the Bakers Dozen half!

 

Happy 2013!





2012 Holiday Running Streak

I was checking out my Face Space the other day and came across a link to Runner's World Holiday Running Streak. I had heard of this last year but wasn't much interested. This year, though, I thought what the heck, I'll do it!

I am keeping track on the sidebar (Susette-you're kicking my butt on miles!)-------------------------->

Happy Running!

It's Been a While......

Where have I been!?!

Nowhere. I'm just an extremely lazy blogger. I'm not even sure I can call myself a blogger. I am, however, still a slogger.

Since the marathon in September I have been nursing my stupid IT band. I would have good days and bad days. Rest didn't seem to help much, neither did icing or rolling. I finally decided to go see a guy who does ART (active release therapy). I'd heard good things about it so I gave it a try.

In fairness, the doctor told me it would hurt. He said it feels like breaking up scar tissue along the outside of your thigh to just below the knee. I don't know about you, but my upper thigh is kind of sensitive. So imagine a guy digging his thumb, as hard as he can into your ever so tender thigh and making you go through a range of motion with your leg. Then he moves up a millimeter and you go through the whole thing again and again. Ouch! Then he says come back in two days and we'll do it again. Double ouch!

But....

Dang, it works!

I was able to run the Snow Canyon half marathon after only 2 treatments with only a little pain around mile 9. I always feel a little pain around mile 9 (I call it the wall for half marathons but its only about 2 feet high so you can jump over it!). I've had 5 treatments now and I'm running better than I have all summer.

I'm still going to take it easy through the winter (except for a half marathon on December 15 called the Bakers Dozen). It's going to be sweet in more ways than one.

In other news, Erin is almost 31 weeks along. She has me doing all kinds of projects (knitting cute little outfits, refinishing dressers, making bedding for the crib, etc.). I'm loving it!!!

Marathon Training Week 15 and 16

So, remember how I only ran 3 miles last week? Well, I made up for it this week a little.

Monday, Sept. 3
13 miles from the top of Suncrest to Draper Park. I did this by myself today since Bart has been under the weather (understatement of the year). It was a beautiful day and the route was amazing. I ran my fastest 5K and 10K during this run, probably because they were all downhill!

Tuesday, Sept. 4
4.4 miles at the Riverton track. Still a little sore from yesterday so took it slow. Bart Bootcamp afterwards.

Wed-Fri
Took some days off

Saturday, Sept.8
6.42 miles down Emigration Canyon to Ruth's Diner. This run felt great!!

Tuesday, Sept. 11
4.29 miles at the Riverton track. We kept it pretty light.

Thursday, Sept. 12
1.5 miles on the treadmill

Saturday, Sept. 15
Aaaaahhhhhh! Top of Utah marathon. Okay, so here's the truth. I did not train well enough for this race. I knew that going into it but I figured, hey!, this is my 5th marathon, maybe I can fake it. You can't fake a marathon. Period. I felt so good and did rather well for the first 18 miles but then the wheels fell off. My calves started to cramp even though I was taking electrolyte pills, drinking Gatorade and eating bananas at every stop that had them. I pretty much power walked for the last 6-7 miles. But I did make it to the finish in under 6 hours. Emotionally, this was the hardest marathon I have done. Bart didn't run, Erin didn't run and I just missed my running buddies.


56.02 miles for the last 2 weeks of the training cycle

Next up-Big Cottonwood Half marathon

Marathon Training Week 14

Speedbumps everywhere!

Monday, August 27
Got myself a nice little sore throat, headache, general I feel crappy day. I kind of think it might be partly exhaustion. Work has been crazy for the past 3 weeks then I ran a fast half last Saturday and 7 extra hot miles on Sunday.

Tuesday, August 28
Riverton track.
I still wasn't feeling all that great but I managed 3 miles. We were late getting there because we helped Dave and Erin out with some car trouble.

Wednesday, August 29
Helped Erin out with her Jamberry nail party. No running.

Thursday, August 30
Utah football game. Go Utes! No running.

Friday, August 31
nothing

Saturday, September 1
My sore throat reappeared this morning plus it was raining like mad at 6:00 am when we were supposed to start. Bart has a horrible cough and I wasn't feeling great so we just supported our fellow runners by giving them a ride to the top of Suncrest. I had planned a 13 mile run from Suncrest to Draper park and it would have been awesome. It was foggy and cloudy at the top but started to clear up as we drove back down the hill. It turned out to be a beautiful run and everybody who did it LOVED it. So my plan is to do it by myself tomorrow (Labor Day). Bart is still sick so he might just walk a bit.

In conclusion, 3 miles for the week. Is this any way to run a marathon training program? The results will be seen in 2 weeks!

Marathon Training Week 13

Well, I guess I'm kind of back.

Monday, August 20
I did an exercise video at home and ran on the treadmill for 2 miles

Tuesday, August 21
Riverton track with Bart, Erin Robbie and Christian's entire family!
Christian's wife and oldest son Daniel have signed up for the Utah half marathon on October 13 so they are probably going to come train on Tuesdays. They are such a cute family!
4.14 miles for me

Wednesday, August 22
Rest

Thursday, August 23
1.5 mile walk with Bart

Friday, August 24
We headed up to Logan to pick up our race packets for the TOU half

Saturday, August 25
Top of Utah Half-2:31:59. I'm pretty happy with that after all my knee problems and not running that much for a month. I'm thinking the TOU marathon is doable.

Sunday, August 26
We were going to tack on 7 more miles yesterday but time got away from us after the race and we had to go check out of the hotel. Therefore, we added today! We headed to Park City because we thought it would be cooler. Not so much. We ran a route that Bart's friend suggested but there was absolutely no shade! I walked a good bit but got in an extra 6.64 miles

Total miles for the week
27.5 (I'm counting all of them even the walking ones at this point, all forward progress is good)

Marathon Training and It's a ......... baby?

Marathon Training

Week 11

So to make a long story short, there wasn't much running this week. I am still healing my stupid IT band, but it is getting better everyday.

Tuesday, 8/7/12
3 miles at the Riverton track. I ran for 20-40 seconds at a time then walked to recover.Repeat for 3 miles.
Saturday, 8/11/12
I ran on the Draper trails for 6 miles using run 1 minute walk 1 minute. It felt really good and I wanted to run more but held myself back.

Week 12

My knee is being so nice to me!

Monday 8/13/12
I walked on the treadmill at 4 mph with a 4 incline for 2.25 miles.

Tuesday 8/14/12
6.2 miles at the track. I used the run 1 minute walk 1 minute again and I felt great!

Thursday 8/16/12
No running today becuse I went with Dave and Erin to their ultrasound appointment. It's a GIRL! They had the technician print 3 pictures then put them in envelopes. We all closed our eyes so we didn't know. Then we went to get frozen yogurt with Dave's parents and Bart. We all opened the envelopes at the same time. I bought some little red Utah booties with lace to give to them (I also had a boy pair in reserve). Dave seemed a little bummed (he really wanted a boy) but everybody was really happy!

Saturday 8/18/12
So here it is, the Porter half marathon. I signed up way before my knee went stupid. I wasn't sure I was going to do it right up to the moment I got on the bus.   Lo and behold, I ran the race and got my 2nd best time (2:33) ever! I know that doen't seem very fast to some people, but it's good for me. Plus, I took 2nd place in my age group! Ok, so there were only 2 people in my age group so technically I came in 2nd and last, but I'll take it. I got a ribbon! Bart and Ginny also ran the race. Bart did 2:12 and speedy Ginny did 2:01!

I also got to meet Susette Fisher (You'll Always Have My Heart). I've been following her blog for a while but this is the first time we've met at a race. She was running the race in honor of her son Porter. I'm sure he would have loved it. Nice to finally meet you Susette.

So now I am a little more confident about the TOU half next weekend. My knee was a little sore after the race but I iced it and it feels wonderful now. I'm even starting to think the marathon might be doable. We'll see.