Christina's Running Blog

I met with the trainer for a core/arm workout at the gym.  It was great talking with him again.  However, I am not signing up to do any more sessions.  I think I like working out on my own!

We met at the Capitol today for an out-and-back course to the This Is The Place Monument. Nothing too difficult today, just a nice run with good conversation.

I gave Scott a scare this morning. He got out of his car, looking like he didn't sleep much through out the night. He groggily asked, "How far are we running today?" With my very best poker face, I said, "We're going to be running 28 miles." The look on his face was priceless. He looked devastated, like he was going to go back to his car and drive off. I said, "Scott, I am just joking. I think it's 13 or 14 miles." A look of relief washed over his face. He said, "You are a very kind person, and I just never thought you'd be capable of pulling off a lie. You totally got me!" We laughed about it throughout the run.

Today was our last run with Alicia and Cortney. :-( They are moving to California today. I will really miss her, especially during football season. We had some great football chats on our long runs. I think they'll come back every now and again and run with us. We had bagels to wish them well.

AM: I rode my bike to work today.  Very hot outside!  I took a shower when I got to work. 

PM: I rode home from work. Much nicer at night--no traffic and it's cool!

A nice, easy run in Murray Park. Brutally hot, since I woke up late, but it was over with quickly.

I biked to the gym in Sandy this morning.  I'm still getting used to a bike, so I hit a pothole in the road and crashed into a cement wall.....I have some nice road rash on my leg, but nothing too serious.  I also almost got hit by a big truck making a right hand turn...he wasn't paying attention. He missed me by a second. Another car was stopped at a red light and was watching the whole thing.  The people in the car threw their hands over their faces because they thought I was going to get hit.  So......I'm not dead yet, but there's always risk on a bike.  It doesn't help that I'm so accident prone.....

When I got to the gym, I did some upper body and core work.  Then I rode to work.

 PM:  I rode home from work and was more careful this time!  I made it home in one piece.

I ran in City Creek this morning.  I had only run about a half mile when I saw Alisa running as well.  She was a gal we recruited on the Runamok Divas Wasatch Back team.  I don't know her well, but we decided to run to the top together.

It was great having her there--it made the run go by so much faster.  She told me how she just loved meeting Coach Bill and was so impressed with how selfless and giving he is.  She tells everyone about him and the influence he's had in her life!

We also talked a lot about spiritual things--we've both had a lot of similar life experiences and perspectives on life.  We both have seen the hand of God in our lives so many times.  I am so grateful she was there this morning and that I got a chance to get to know her better.  I hope she can come out to some of our group runs.  She's a little intimidated right now since we're right in the middle of some intense training, but I told her after the marathon is over, we tone it down a bit. :) 

Some of my coworkers are really getting into running.  One of them mentioned to me the other day that she gets that runners high.  Her husband loves it because then she's in a really good mood and just loves everyone and doesn't care if the kids are fighting or messing up the house.  It's funny how that high can affect us so much.

Rami wishes he could run but he has some issues with his feet--some sort of neuropathy.  So, he just spends his time watching Arabic soap operas.  They actually have a lot more drama than our soap operas--he almost got me hooked!  But not enough to miss a run!

My friend Emily and I went to a spin class at the rec center.  Then we jogged a mile around the cemetery.  She was having a bad day, so I figured a run would get her endorphins high and get her in a good mood.  We went swimming afterwards to cool off.

Provo Half is this weekend.  I am excited to run it, but not excited to wake up early!  I will miss Tracy 1--we usually sing U2 songs during a run to keep our minds off of the pain!  She will be at Bear Lake relaxing and living it up on the beach!

Beautiful day for a race.  I wasn't sure what to expect since the course had been changed so many times.  I talked with Curt Catmull last night and he said he measured the course about six different times to make sure it was accurate.

I stayed the night with Miriam's parents in Orem. We met Hildisvini at the packet pickup and ate at Subway. This morning I woke up at 3 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep.  We met up with the runamoks to get on the bus to head up to the canyon.  I sat by Tracy A and Luke on the bus.  Tracy told me some funny stories about his step-father-in-law and had me laughing the whole way up.

As was expected, there was some disorganization at the beginning.  I wanted to do some warm-up sprints, but a man kept yelling at us to stay on the side of the road since busses were coming.  No one quite knew where the start was, but  we saw Curt in his pickup truck shoot the gun off, so we figured out approximately where it was.

My splits are as follows:

1- 8:24

2- 7:59  Renae caught up to me and we ran about 4 miles together.  We talked about how weird it was that Tracy1 wasn't with us!  She opted out of the race today.

3- 8:04 

4- 7:59

5- 8:12

6- 8:03

7- 7:32  I felt pretty much "in the zone" from this point on.  My breathing was comfortable and my legs were on cruise control.

8- 7:10

9- 8:24

10- 7:27

11- 7:42

12- 8:00

13.1- 8:09   Coach was near the finish line and yelled "200 meters left--SPRINT!!"  I took off as fast as I could.  It was actually about 400 meters left.  I saw him after the race and said, "You lied to me--it wasn't 200 meters!"  He smiled and said, "I know, but I got you to run faster."

It was a PR for me today.  We were all very pleased with our times.  We call Miriam "MIR" (most improved runner) since she is knocking the socks off of all of us.  So many of my friends were there and I loved chatting with them and enjoying their success.  It always gives me such a high to run with them and share in this experience. 

I feel like I have a hold on the half-marathon distance pretty well.  It's the marathon that I feel like I haven't quite gotten the jist of it yet. 

A run up City Creek today before work.  I am fighting a cold, so I did it at a slower pace.

Had to go into work for a couple of hours, so I biked to and from work.

It smells like marathon season--since we're increasing our mileage now on Saturdays!

We had a great run today in Kearns. Our crew consisted of Coach, Craig, Andrea, Johnny, Murphy, Jasro, T2, T4, Marie, Jennifer, Renae, Natles, and Scott.  T1 did her run yesterday, since she was unable to come today.  T2 said he was having T1 withdrawls--he really enjoys seeing her at runs and texting her all the time about how nervous he is before a race! 

We met at the Smiths and carpooled to Copperton High School for six downhill tempo miles.  I clocked my miles at 7:26, 7:18, 7:26, 6:49, 7:16, and 6:47.  I took some sudafed this morning to clear my sinuses and I think it gave me a boost!  Maybe an unfair advantage, but since we're not in the Olympics, I don't think a little extra drug-induced high is such a bad thing ;-)

We then took it easy for the last 11 miles.  Coach stressed the importance of consuming gu before and during runs.  He said a lot of women hesitate to take it since it can be high in calories, but it is essential for stamina in long runs.  Speaking mostly to the women about weight loss, he said, "Now is the time to put your scales away and just focus on getting enough fuel for marathon training."  Less calories equals loss of muscle mass, which is not conducive to strong running performance.  When Coach was in college, he consumed 7800 calories a day, and still had a hard time keeping weight on.  Good advice from Coach.  I don't run enough miles to consume that many calories, but I like the thought of eating more.

All in all, it was a great run.  I ask myself how I got to be so lucky to train with such a wonderful Coach and the best running pals a person could ask for.

I biked to and from work this afternoon.  My legs are a little tender from yesterday's run.

Upper body and core workout followed by 20 minutes on the ellipitical trainer.  I woke up late because I stayed up until 2 a.m. watching the Olympics and making apricot freezer jam.  I should have just gone to bed since the jam did not turn out well at all!  I must not have followed the recipe exactly.

I ran with Coach and Miriam up to the treatment plant in City Creek.  Miriam kept going to the top.  She is sagging the run this weekend so she wants to get more mileage in this week. 

Coach ran with me back down to the gate.  This cold is still hanging on, so I had to stop a few times and hack up some guck from my lungs (kinda gross).  Bill said "Don't be shy--just get it all out when you need to." 

All in all, it was a nice run.  It was fun spending time with them. Bill is having a great running year.  He has had four first place spots in races this year.  He is very pleased with how well he is doing.

No exercise for me today. My throat is very sore and lymph nodes are tender, so I went to the Instacare this morning. It turns out I have strep throat, so I got on antibiotics right away.  It hurts to swallow.  I am on a liquid diet today--solid food doesn't go down too well.

Core and upper body workout, followed by 20 min on the elliptical machine.  I'm eating lots of carbs today to get ready for my 22 miler tomorrow.

A nice run in Emigration Canyon today.  We were small in number, but we pretty much stuck together.  Coach, Andrea, Johnny, Jasro, Miriam, T2, Scott, Natles, and John (our sag driver) all came out.  This was Johnny's longest run so far.  He looked strong at the end.

As always, we had really fun and interesting conversations.  Scott told stories of digging graves in Alaska.  Andrea and I at one point talked about feminine hygiene products (this made Bill surge ahead of the group to avoid that topic).  Scott also mentioned that he subscribes to the Men's Health magazine.  He told us they have really good recipes. We gave him a hard time since we figured he read it for the relationship advice.  He did comment that there was an article in there that said the first thing a woman notices when she goes into a man's home is how clean the bathroom is.  

We all ran very well today--Coach was very pleased with all of our efforts.  We do have runners with some issues--Scott had calf cramping, Natles had some pain in her legs, and Jasro has problems with both achilles.  The marathon is six weeks out, so hopefully we can all keep our injuries to a minimum and burn up the course!

Gym workout today--I am so glad I am feeling better finally.

Coach, Scott and I ran to lower rotary in City Creek this morning.  It was a pretty good clip the whole way. Scott was entertaining us with stories about his college days. 

Coach says he has a great workout planned for Saturday--it sounds like it will be tough.  I told him I may not make it since my cats have a hair appointment that morning.  Then Scott said, "Oh yeah, and I need to help her with her cats, so I'm out as well."  Coach didn't buy it, so I guess we're committed!

Core workout at the gym.  My legs are sore from yesterday's City Creek run!

Coach and I ran at the Olympic Oval this morning.  We jogged a mile, did 4 x 50 meter sprints, and 4 x 200m sprints.  I had a nice time chatting with him.  He loves how everyone in our group is improving so much.

There were several speedskaters at the Oval from all over the world: Norway, Finland, Japan, and Canada.  Bill said, "I notice you run a little faster when passing those cute blond Norwegian men."  Well, I guess that's one way to get me to PR. ;0)

Tonight I biked with Tracy and Marie on the Jordan River Parkway.  It was a beautiful evening.  We stopped at Emerald Smoothie to get our favorite drink:  the chocolate peanut butter with banana!

I went to the gym this morning. I planned on doing an upper body workout and core workout with some cardio on the elliptical. I ended up only doing some situps since I ran into an old friend. We talked for over an hour and then I realized I was going to be late to work! So, not much working out today, but I had so much fun catching up with my friend!

Eleven of us today for a Brighton Loops workout: Coach, Craig, Scott, Natles, Andrea, Jeremy, T1, T2, Renae, Miriam, and myself.  We did 16 loops, which were each 3/4 of a mile.  It was a very tough workout!  My legs felt like they were dragging lead weights toward the end.

I will say I actually beat Craig's time--well, time in the porta-potty, that is.  That's the only way I would ever be faster than him!  I would need to be an olympic runner to ever catch him!

T2 made me laugh, as always.  He told stories of Aunt Gert and Aunt Marge, who are as tall as they are wide.  He told me in St. George he's going to wear a bathrobe at the start and put curlers in his hair.  He can be pretty silly and I'm always smiling when he's around. 

I'm glad I made it to this workout.  Coach was very happy with all of our efforts.  Scott and I were going to take my cats to the spa for a hair appointment, but we decided to come to the workout instead!  ha ha......

T1 and Renae were twins with their matching singlets--pretty chic!  I'm always on the lookout for cute running clothes.