WEEK IN REVIEW-4-6-12.5 miles

I have neglected to journal my runs this week, due to a crazy week at our house. Don't worry, I haven't given up! I skipped Monday's run. My hip flexer wasn't doing well after Saturdays long run, so I opted to take a healing day and I am glad I did. It was doing a lot better by Wednesday. Running Monday wasn't worth worsening my injury and blowing my whole week. Wednesday I did 6 miles, nothing to exciting to report. Thursday's usual run took place on Friday because of the crappy weather. I did 4 miles. I usually have Friday as a rest day to prep for Saturday, so I was hoping it would be OK, it was. Today's run was awesome!!! Steve found me at mile 6, and was there for the remainder leading me through. He stopped every 2 miles to replenish me with fluids. I finished at the corner of Smith's. I took a little detour from what was planned to avoid construction. We remeasured on the way home and I actually did 12.5 miles. My time was 1 hour 52 minutes. I was pleased! I had a one on one with Hawk Harper (this man is amazing, actually his whole family is, click on his name for all the info)yesterday up at his store, the Runners Corner. He gave me some great suggestions to help with my form and speed. I tested it today and it helped a ton! A pep talk from him was exactly what I needed for today. I feel well prepared for the half marathon. I am totally stoked. the next few weeks leading up to it are a bit less intense, it will be a good break. I will keep you posted!

ENDURANCE-11 miles

My run was great today, 1 hour 41 minutes. Upping my miles this week really helped my endurance for this long run. I am excited for 12 miles next week. I am going to change my route and head towards Smith's. I haven't measured the miles out yet, but I'll probably end up in the parking lot. Anyone need me to pick up a few groceries? The route for the marathon is down grade for 9 miles. I have trained a lot uphill, but need to train a little more downhill. The run down to Saratoga will closely compare to the marathon. It will also be a good change of scenery. My hip flexer is killing me today. I can hardly lift my leg to walk up the stairs, of put my pants on. I am really going to rest this so I can recover for Monday. Hopefully all will be well.

WE BOOKED A ROOM-4 miles

This weeks miles increased to 4-6-4. I was hoping I could do it. I did. Yeah!!!! We booked a room today at the Marriott for the marathon. We are going to make a weekend of it. My mom-in-law had a coupon for "buy a night, get a night". So we will go up Friday and pick up my registration packet, head to the pasta party, and chill for the night. We are going to bring the boys with us, and leave the girls. The boys need some good bonding time with mom and dad, so that's what they'll get. We will stay the next night as well, so we;ll hang out after the race and maybe hit the planetarium and the pool. I am so excited. Staying in Salt Lake seemed like the best way to do this. The race starts at 7:00, so we would have to leave the house by 4:00 to get to the starting line through the 25,000 spectators they plan on attending. Now I can get up early and head on TRAX to get to the start. Then my boys can sleep in and meet me at the finish line, hopefully by 9:00. I think it will all work out well, I hope!

GEARING UP-6 miles

I ventured up the hill today, hoping to mentally prepare myself for Saturday. I am anxiously awaiting Saturday, 2 more big runs before the marathon. It's all is starting to feel so real now. I just keep reminding myself that "I can do hard things!" And ya, this is definitely hard!

HOT! HOT! HOT!-4 miles

And did I mention windy. Well ok, maybe just breezy. But combine it with the heat and WHOOOO BABY!!!!! For the first time today on my run I was reallly really thirsty. I usually run 6 miles before I am ready for fluids, but today I was ready at mile one. I couldn't believe it! I have been drinking water all afternoon! It was hard today, but I got it done!!! Thank goodness!!!

A BEAUTIFUL MORNING-10 miles

It was an absolute perfect morning for a long run. Clear blue skies, a slight chill in the air, and not even a breeze to push or hinder. This week was much easier than my 9 miles last week. I haven't been eating enough(so I've been told). Apparently 1200 calories a day isn't enough for an avid runner, especially when your burning that many on your weekend run. So, I've upped my calories a bit this week, and I can see a difference in my performance. Last week I almost didn't make it up the hill, I wanted to cry and quit. This week was fine, I flew right up. My time was awesome today, 1 hour and 31 minutes. I did 10 miles today in only 4 more minutes than my 9 miles last week. My time is improving a lot faster than I thought it would. I am definitely not complaining about that! This next week is pretty intense. By the end of the week I will have ran 25 mile2. Wish me luck!

UP AND GOING-3 miles

I got out early and got my run in. Once again, nothing to exciting to report. Same cracks in the road, same landmarks in the sky. I'm just mainly trying to mentally prepare for Saturday. It will come so quickly! I loaded some new songs on my IPOD tonight. I'm looking forward to running to a few new tunes.

WHAT NEXT-5 miles

The thought has crossed my mind about what I'm going to do after the SLC Half-Marathon. I really don't want to go back to doing nothing. I am planning on doing the 5k for the city, so I'll work on getting good speed, but what else? I checked into the Wasatch Back relay marathon today. My training schedule correlates with theirs. The timing is perfect. It's sounds like so much fun. You have a team of 12 runners and you each take 3 legs over a 170 mile course. All you do is sleep, run , repeat. And, of course cheer for all your team members. So, all I need is a team! That's the not so easy part. Anyone interested? I could always join a team of 11 people I don't know, SCARY!!!! I am going to give it some more thought, we'll see if anything comes of it. At least it has me thinking. My run was energizing today. It feels so good, most of the time!

MORNING RUN-3miles

Today's run was good! I was able to get out early this morning since there was no school today. The weather was perfect. It snowed this afternoon. So glad I got out early. I was browsing on the SLC Marathon site today, It got me excited! I'm all registered now so there is no turning back.

A GOOD HARD RUN-9 miles

I will keep my post short today, since I have been so long winded all week(I'm really just so exhausted). I did it! It was hard but good, as always. I was pleased with my time today. I was gone and back in 1 hour 27 minutes. The weather held out just for me. Sun was shining strong, with a slight breeze. Next week will be hard, I'm thinking about it already. My miles bump up again throughout the week. All I can say is that this is getting really, really, intense. More so than I could have ever imagined.

26 MINUTES&28 SECONDS-3 miles

Yesterday's run was hard. Only 3 miles, but I think my head was messing with me from my previous days trauma. I bought a stop watch at Wal-mart today. It is so lame. Nothing, compared to the GPS one I have my eyes on. But, it will time my runs for me, so it was worth the twelve dollars I spent. Upon finishing my run the numbers read-26 minutes, and 28 seconds. I was floored! I shaved a good 3 1/2 minutes off of my normal run. So, something was to be gained from my run on Wednesday. My purpose for running up Unity Pass was to increase my speed, due to working hard up the hills. Pushing through the wind was great resistance training. It wasn't planned, but it worked. I got exactly what I wanted. See, somebody really knew what I needed. He did answer my prayers, just in a different way. He knew what I wanted most in my heart of hearts. He knew I wanted to run, and be good at it. He provided a way for me to receive it, to train for it, even though it was hard. I know he was hurting, to see me hurting. But he had a plan for me, i just needed to accept it. I did, and rewards were recieved. He knew what was best for me. He was ultimately watching out for my interests. He gave me the inner strength to push through, and achieve.

DOWNHILL BATTLE-5 miles

Today was pivotal for me. It was either going to make me, or break me. Today's forecast-windy. I prayed all the way to the head of the trail that just maybe the heavens would open and swallow up all the wind, just for an hour, so I could get my run in. The wind pushed from behind as I began to head up Unity Pass. "Great", I thought. I could use nature's force to help me up that hill. The wind pushed harder than I needed it to. It was making me move so fast that I felt myself tripping over my feet. My heart rate and temperature climbed. I decided to ditch my jacket and my car keys at a post just off the trail. I would just grab them on the way down, no big deal. Going up was really hard. My body wasn't use to moving at this speed. I always tell myself that if I go up, I get to go down. That is usually motivation enough to reach the top. I made it up, and reversed to go down. An enormous blast of air greeted me. It blew my hat off and tossed it down the hill, the other direction. So, up again I went, chasing my hat. I grabbed it and headed down again. It felt like I was headed nowhere. I've told you my gripe with a treadmill. Well, this was worse. Resistance on top of going nowhere. I watched the ground as I seemed to only inch forward. Where was my reward of getting to go down? I had worked so hard for a few pleasurable moments. I seriously would have rather run up this hill twice, than go down it once. So, trying to be positive, my thoughts were, "If I can get down this hill, the wind will be less forceful in the valley. So I persisted downwards. The valley offered no relief to this awful wind. In fact, it was maybe worse(I don't know, it all felt bad). I wanted so badly to stop, and walk. But I knew I would have to hang out in this wind longer if I chose to do that. So the only alternative was to just RUN! So, I did. Deep down I was hoping someone I knew would drive by, see me struggling, and rescue me. In the distance I saw a familiar vehicle. Sure enough, Marci was driving by. Maybe she would see me and return for me. At that point I had some serious decisions to make. If she did, would I really jump in? I couldn't possibly give up now that I had made it down the hill. No worries, she didn't come back, so I didn't have to make that choice. It was made for me. I could no longer hear my music, that I depended so much on to get me through my run. The wind was howling so loudly. I was dodging tumbleweeds left and right. I couldn't breathe. I literally felt like I was being suffocated by air. How is that even possible. I wanted to throw up! Then I realized that I had passed my jacket and keys. I had completely forgot about them as I was trying to just focus on getting home. I turned around to go back and spotted the pole I had dropped them at. It was at least 1/4 mile back, which meant another 1/2 mile running in the wind. I turned right back around and left them without another thought. I had a spare key in a box under my car. So long as it got put back after the last time it was used. If it hadn't, my plan was to go to the school and call and beg for a ride home. I kept praying through my last stretch, pleading for the wind to stop. I only needed 10 minutes to fly to my finish mark. Surely, that couldn't be too much to ask? It wasn't, but someone had a different plan for me. Something was to be learned, that couldn't take place in any other circumstance. I kept remembering that "I can do hard things." I made it back to the car. Can you believe it? I can't! I grabbed the key box and tried to open it. The box would not let go of that key. I couldn't believe this was happening! I threw it on the ground and started stomping on it. I even reopened a new wound and was bleeding on what ever would absorb it. Still producing no key. I said a quiet prayer in my head, and with one more slide the box opened. I smiled at that key I was waiting to get my hands on. I opened the door and jumped in. I sat back and closed my eyes for a moment. Grateful for my refuge from the storm. I checked the clock to see the lenght of this ordeal. Only 55 minutes. I couldn't believe it, it seemed so much longer. I was impressed that with all that wind that I still made my run in good time. I'm sure the push uphill helped. I rushed to my Havie Baby, who was hanging out with Jenny and Kassidy. I knew she was in good hands, and having a blast. But I wanted, no I needed to hold her and hug her. Through my run I pictured her round little face and bright pink cheeks, just waiting for me. She felt so far away. I felt comforted as I stepped into Jenny's safe Haven and was greeted by her. I needed her. She let me vent, breakdown, and retell my tale. I was so grateful for her. Grateful to her for keeping my Havie safe, and entertained, so I could go and accomplish something I never thought possible. Something I will not soon forget.

NOT TOO EXCITING-3 miles

I always look forward to my Monday run. It seems like such a breeze after my long weekend runs. Nothing to exciting to report today. My IPOD didn't give out on me, so I guess that was pretty exciting. I am really worried about the weekend weather. I need it to hold out for a 9 mile on Saturday. They say it should be snowing. There is no way I can bring myself to run 72 times around the track. My brain could never handle it! PLEASE pray for good weather!!!!!