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am

8 recovery miles with 8 X 100 meters strides

pm

30 minutes elliptical

strength training: arms

** 3 weeks until Ogden. I don't want to over-taper, yet I don't want to under-taper either. Hopefully I will hit this right on the money. Keeping all fingers and toes crossed. :)

Ry dropped me off at Wasatch Blvd so I could get one last decent length downhill training run.

10 miles - solid effort.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83244244

Legs were a bit tired, but not too bad. Only stopped while I waited to safely cross the freeway on/off ramps and when I saw Matt right before this portion of my run was complete (I avoided the lights by jayrunning ... is that a word?). Matt was flying! The thought of having to keep a similar pace for a whole 26.2 miles to hit a 3:25 at Ogden seems overwhelming. A sub 3:30 seems more realistic. But who knows. I have to remind myself that I ran 22 on Saturday. Really, I just have no idea at this point.

2 cool down miles (except I sprinted Homestretch Hill - .25 miles - towards the end. Just had to see if I had anything left in the tank. The hill is around a 4.5% grade, nothing too awful, but definitely enough to know you are running a hill when you are tired).

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/83244236

6 recovery miles

I took my last final as an undergrad today!!! Yeah, I know ... it took me 37+ years ... but I did it!!!! Alas!!!

11 days until PT school. Not much of a break ... but I will gladly take it! :) :) :)

Sick kiddoes at home today, hence, another TM run.

11 miles -- slow easy pace (roughly 10 minute miles)

My legs have been feeling a bit beat up, heavy and tired. I remember Paul once telling me that when you feel like this (not hurt, just tired and worn out) that you should run between 90 - 120 minutes at a very slow easy pace. I think it was exactly what I needed. :)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84003959

Ran with JohnnyV. Started out slower and ran progressively faster with the last few miles a bit faster than marathon pace (well, the last mile was quite a bit faster, but what do you do?) Felt awesome! One cool down mile jog home.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/84003951

7 miles with 10 strides towards the end.

I am super excited that my friend, Fonz, had a successful lottery and is now registered for SGM. After years of trying to convert him to running marathons and he trying to convert me into running 5Ks a deal was struck: He would register for the SGM lottery if I would run a 5K. However, if he did not get in through the lottery then I could never bug him about a marathon again! I am so so so excited that he is in!!!! Little does he know that I am going to try and talk him into qualifying and running Boston!! He could totally do it. He is FAST! Also, I think he has decided to forego my commitment to run a 5K if I will run the Super Spartan race on July 9th. :)

If you get a chance, congratulate Fonz (he used to sporadically blog a bit ... maybe he will start blogging again now).

http://fonz.fastrunningblog.com/

 pm

upper body strength training

4.35 miles on the woodchip trail at Liberty Park. Perfect long sleeve shirt and shorts weather. I love it!

core workout

*Bought my books for my first semester in PT school. WOW!!! I had no idea that books came in XXXL! Gulp.

8 miles w/3 x 1600s w/800 meters jog in between

6:59, 6:49, 6:40

I am happy with how these went. The 6:59 felt great, the 6:49 felt decent, the 6:40 was a hard push, doable, but I worked for it big. :)

5 easy miles

strength training: lateral rotators and hip abductions

6.35 miles on the PRT with 8 x 100 m strides in the last mile.

GREAT FUN on the trail with Smooth and Kathie!!! :) :) :) Always nice to have the harem together. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!! Then to make things even more spectacular we met Brooke at Kneaders for breakfast. WONDERFUL SPECTACULAR CRAZY FUN FRIDAY MORNING!!!!! :) :) :)

12 miles on a warm and windy afternoon (should have gotten up super early to run, but didn't want to run by myself in the dark -- oh well).

4 miles with Ry. We tried to run only on dirt/equestrian trails ... came to dead ends and little swamps a few times. Had a lot of fun. :)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85610085

8 mile progressive run by my lonesome. Not as fun.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/85610075

Somedays I feel ready for Ogden, other days I don't. Really hoping that next Saturday will be one of the good days!!! :) :) :)

7 miles

Just heading out the door for my first day of PT school!!!! I am crazy scared but I am ready. :) :) :)

7 miles, 2 @ MP

5 easy miles

5 miles w/ 6 x 100 m strides. :)

Almost there! :) :) :)

4 mile jog. :)

3 minutes on the inversion table. It feels like sitting 7 hours a day in class are making my vertebrae squish together!!!! Aaah ... relief. :)

Now the tough part: figuring out what to wear tomorrow. I am think the running shoes are a must! :)

BEST OF TIMES TO ALL THOSE RUNNING OGDEN TOMORROW!!! HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE! :)

Not sure of my official time -- it never did show up on the computer.

Good character building stuff!!!! I think that is the best way to describe this race for me. Didn't do nearly as well as I thought I would have, but a great reality check! :) I have a list of what possibly went wrong, but they are just excuses. :) :) :)

I ran the race almost exactly as I planned through mile 20. Ran the tangents, felt strong. :) In fact, I distinctly remember virtually patting myself on the back at mile 20 telling myself how  incredibly awesome I was and that I had 3:27 in the bag and just might hit 3:25!!! OH HOW PRIDE PRECEDES THE FALL!!! Seriously within a couple of minutes of congratulating myself on my incredible fitness everything fell apart. I suddenly felt weak and exhausted. I decided to slow down a bit to re-energize but no matter what I did the feeling got worse and worse. At mile 23 I gave myself a good pep talk and was determined to reverse this trend. I knew if I could just gut it out for a few more miles that I could still hit 3:27. I gave it everything I had and ran that mile exactly at planned pace. After that the wheels completely came off. I lost a minute on mile 24, another on mile 25, another on mile 26 and then another with the course being long. I WAS SO MAD AND FRUSTRATED. I pointlessly tried to surge (my mind would attack but my body would not respond) as I watched 3 women pass me in the last mile. Very discouraging. Solid effort, just fell short.

BEST parts:

Hanging out with friends (esp. my SSF) before and after.

Feeling extremely cool to know so many elite runners and wishing them luck at the start! (I was worried about how Fritz would do after I saw the crazy huge deck burns on his leg ... but now I think he should pull a stunt like that before every race!!! WOW!!!!)

Meeting blogger friends that I had not met before :)

Slapping Slick's tooshie around mile 2

Running miles 3-15 with JohnnyV. Those were my favorite miles!!! Thanks, Johnny! :)

Having my son, Payton, waiting for me at the end! :) :) :)

My SIL (andrea27) had a HUGE half PR.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/87243206

***************************************************************

Misc. info for myself:

*don't get cocky

*3 gus might not be enough

*consider walking through aid stations to get more fluid

*re-evaluate training plan/schedule -- determine best plan for running while in PT school

*make nutrition and sleep more of a priority

*don't compare myself to others, just do my best and be okay with that :) :) :)

1 mile swim

5 easy miles

U2 concert tonight!!!! WAHOO!!!!!! :) :) :)

** Sadly, I do not have a waterproof jacket. Hmmm ... garbage bags??? (No umbrellas allowed.)

60 minutes elliptical

6 miles: 4.5 easy, 1.5 HMP

5 miles. I categorized these miles as easy although a couple of them were definitely not. Yet, they were not MP, Threshold or VO2 max either.

Pace 10:00, but started at 2% incline and then increased the incline by 2% each mile. Had to stop and take a breather halfway through the final mile. Weaksauce of me ... but I had to!!! :)

Core workout

*Johnny made us a schedule for now until UVM! Very cool! :)

12.35 miles on the JRP.

Beautiful day! :)

Ran the first 9 or so miles with Matt, Brooke, Steph, and JohnnyV. Then JohnnyV and I finished with a few more.

Very fun morning! Thanks for setting this up, Brooke! :)

9 miles at the Oval with JohnnyV and P-dawg! :)

1.5 warmup, 6 MP in 46:57, 1.5 cooldown.

Payton ran the first mile with us and then did about three more at his own pace and then rode the spin bikes for a while. Very cool to have him there! We also met a future Olympian (thanks to JohnnyV's frankness ... "Which one of you is going to the Olympics?") His name is Alex, he does long track, and he is from Colorado! Keep your eyes open for him. :) :) :)

5 TM miles

core workout