Same Time, Same Channel

This was a tough race. It was fairly flat but there were some gradual uphills and gradual downhills, but according to my Garmin, more uphill than downhill. Also, it seemed unusually humid this morning. I really felt like I struggled the first four miles, and through mile 8. I tried to pick up the pace and maintain a good pace through the last mile.

I don't know what the official results will be like because they did not use timing chips.

According to my Garmin, my overall pace was 9:47.

Splits were: 9:41, 9:34, 9:48, 10:24, 9:18, 9:54, 9:34, 10:15, 10:05, 9:18

I'm really tired now. I'd like to take a nap.

Saucony Omni 6: 20.18

Recovery run. I took it easy this morning to recover from yesterday's race. It was quite cool this morning. I think we got the cold front that Utah had yesterday.

Average pace: 11:09. Splits: 11:19, 11:04, 11:01.

It was even colder this morning than yesterday, at least at the start of my run. But it is warming up faster today than yesterday.

I went onto a paved trail that goes through a green belt very near my house less than a half mile into my run and I saw a group of four animals. I think they were coyotes. It made me nervous, but I kept running and they didn't bother me. I guess they are after the rabbits that are all over the neighborhood, not the people.

My legs felt tired and heavy this morning and it was easy for me to go slow. A couple of weeks ago when I started trying to run slower I had to force myself to do it. Now it's easier for me to go slow and feels more natural. I feel like I'm becoming a slower runner and I'm losing the ability to run as fast as I used to run.

Here are today's stats:

Average pace: 11:10

Splits: 11:56, 11:22, 11:20, 10:57, 10:31

Saucony Omni 6: 25.48

Just an average run. The high temperature today is supposed to be colder than it has been the last couple of days. However, it was actually a little warmer this morning than it has been recently.

For some reason I've been extraordinarily hungry the last few days. I don't know what's up. And then on my run this morning I could really smell the bacon as I ran past IHOP, and then I could smell the donuts from Lamars. But I just ate a banana when I got home from the run.

I saw my next-door neighbor running this morning. I've seen her walking before but I've never seen her run before today. I don't really know her. I should make an effort to get to know her.

Stats for today:

Average pace - 10:36

Splits - 11:19, 10:47, 10:21, 10:08

I normally do a long run on Saturdays, but I didn't today because I had the 10 mile race on Monday, and I was already at 22 miles for this week and I've been doing around 24-25 MPW lately.

I've got a small local 5K next Saturday, and so I ran the course for that race this morning. I had put the course on my Garmin and kept the Garmin on the course map the whole time, so I didn't monitor my pace except just to run at whatever felt like a (relatively) comfortable pace. It turns out the course is very hilly. The first half is mostly uphill and the second half is mostly down hill, though there are a couple of good uphills in the second half. And a good chunk of the second half is on unpaved trail.

I went a little farther than the 5K distance because I started and stopped at a slightly different place than they will next week.

Stats for this run:

Average pace - 10:21

Splits - 10:17, 10:18, 9:55, and 0.36 @ 11:55

Saucony Omni 6: 28.84

My 6-year-old daughter came into my room at 4:00 this morning because she had had a bad dream. She climbed into my bed and I tried to sleep until she got up and went back to her own bed at 5:00, at which time I heard my son get up and get in the shower and I tried to get back to sleep knowing that my alarm would go off at 5:30. So I'm tired today.

Very slow and easy run this morning. I'm going to do slow runs all week and then try to run fast for the 5K race on Saturday.

It was cool and slightly drizzly this morning. Last week I was surprised every morning that it was cool because it was the first week that we've had cool temperatures in the morning. I guess that's the way it's going to be for a while now until it gets even colder.

Average pace: 11:31

Splits: 11:33, 11:40, 11:25, 11:24

I got up at 5:00 this morning and did Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred, level 1, with 3 lb. weights before I drove my son to early-morning seminary. After I got back home, I went out for my run. I plan to do both the shred, or some other weight lifting, as well as running on Tuesdays, Thursdays (once I start running on Thursdays, making it 6 days/week), and Saturdays. I plan to move up from 5 days a week to 6 days a week next week. There. Now I've said it so I'll have to do it.

In any case, my average pace today was 10:59. Splits were 11:07, 11:10, and 10:40.

And I'm even going to be on time to work (at least as much as I ever am).

Saucony Omni 6: 31.84

I got a little bit earlier start than usual today because I made my husband drive my son to seminary. That bought me about 15 minutes. I wanted that extra time because I was going on a little bit longer run this morning.

It was a little warmer this morning that it has been. It was 52 and it has been in the 40s in the morning.

I started out and the first half mile was downhill and was feeling pretty good and went out a little faster than I had intended, then it started uphill and was uphill for the next 3 miles, then the rest of the run was more downhill. This explains my slower pace on miles 2 and 3.

Once again I had a child call me on my cell phone during my run. And it happened at about the same place as last time - right as I was passing the great and spacious building. But this time it was a different son. This one wanted to know if I knew where his shoes were. Give me a break! How am I supposed to find his shoes when I'm out on a run. He's 16. He should be able to find his own shoes. I checked the time and figured if he was just looking for his shoes that he was going to be late for school unless he got a ride. A few minutes later I was crossing an intersection and I saw my husband driving my son to school. I assume he found some shoes to wear.

Stats for today:

Average pace - 10:42. Splits - 10:57, 11:22, 11:13, 10:35, 10:15, 9:50.

Saucony Omni 6: 37.93

PM - One hour of Iyengar Yoga.

No running today. I'm still at running five days/week this week with Thursday and Sunday my days off. I plan to move up to six days/week next week with just Sunday off.

I did Jillian Michael's 30-day Shred level 1 with 5 lb. weights this morning. I've always done it with 3 lb. weights before because level 1 really focuses on shoulders and I've had trouble with my shoulders in the past, including bursitis. The increase in weight this morning made it a lot harder, but I think my shoulders are strong enough now to handle it.

My hip, in the other hand, is killing me. The yoga instructor tried to stretch out my hip yesterday and the muscle kind of spasmed when she did it. Then last night my family helped a new family unload their moving van and I did a lot of heavy lifting. I'm not sure whether it was the yoga, the heavy lifting last night, or the shred this morning, but my left hip is hurting.

It was cool and slightly drizzly during my run this morning. But the weather cooperated fairly well because it's raining harder now that I'm inside and done with my run. I actually got warm and had to take my jacket off and tie it around my waist.

It was just a short, easy run today to keep me rested for my race tomorrow. The race is in the early afternoon (12:30), which is weird for me. All the races I've run in the past have been in the morning. I guess I'll get to sleep in.

I ran some 5Ks earlier in the year and at the time I felt like I didn't have more than about 3 miles in me and so I didn't do much of a warm up. However, since then I've learned that it takes me a mile or 2 to get warmed up and then I can run faster after that. And since I'm able to run more than 3 miles now, I think I'll jog slowly around the parking lot where the race starts (I'll run around The Tattered Cover) for 15-20 minutes before the race starts and then I'll try to set a PR on the race.

My hip is feeling better today. I've been taking ibuprofen and running never seems to bother my hip. It's the other stuff.

Stats for today:

Average pace - 10:47, Splits - 11:07, 10:32, 10:48, and 0.27 @ 10:33

AM: Did the shred level 1 with 3 lb. weights. I'm making the switch to 5 lb. weights but I didn't want to over do it this morning.

PM: Warmed up with a slow jog for about 1.1 miles. It was sunny and windy and I almost had my hat blow off a couple of times.

They had a 100 yard dash tacked on the end of this race, so the finish line for the 5K was the start line for the 100 yard dash. I blew it with my Garmin and forgot to stop it until after I had had my timing chip removed, gotten some water, and walked over to the shade. Also, during the race I had to pause while crossing the street to let a fire engine go by. They had stopped traffic but of course they had to let the fire engine through.

I went out faster than I had intended because about the first 1/2 mile was downhill. The course made a loop and finished where it had started, so of course that also meant that the last 1/2 mile was uphill.

Here are my official results:

Time: 28:48.2 (A new PR by 15 seconds!)

Pace 9:22

Time for 100 yard dash: 0:29

Overall place: 82 out of 233

Division place: 9 out of 42

Gender place: 21 out of 111

http://www.onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php?race_id=9078&submit_action=select_result&re_NO=1080

Splits according to the Garmin: 8:43, 9:17, 9:18 (I don't have an accurate time for the last bit because I forgot to stop the Garmin). These splits don't correspond exactly to my overall time, because the Garmin was showing mile marks before they were marked on the course.

 Saucony Omni 6: 42.4

Day of rest.

I had to get up early this morning despite it being a day of rest because my son had to be driven to work at 6:30. At least that gets me to church on time. I had to conduct choir practice after church and that stresses me out to no end. We have to sing in church next Sunday and I'm not sure we're ready. My husband is a much better conductor than I am, so he's giving me occasional lessons, but I'm not a very talented or willing student. I was kind of keyed up after choir practice, but managed to relax and get a nap later in the afternoon.

I'm excited to switch to running 6 days/week starting tomorrow. I went to REI last night and bought a headlamp and a reflective vest.

I started sneezing and having a runny nose after the race yesterday, but I think it's probably because most of the race was through a green belt that was full of weeds. I've still had symptoms today, but not as bad.

Easy run.

I went to bed fairly early last night but had a hard time getting to sleep on account of the nap I took yesterday afternoon. Then I had a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. I hit the snooze alarm once. It's a good thing I had to drive my son to seminar or I probably would have hit the snooze alarm several more times.

I didn't really feel like I wanted to run today when I first got up, but then I reminded myself that I always feel better and in a better mood if I run in the morning.

I didn't wear my new headlamp because I didn't get out running until after I dropped my son off and by that time it's starting to get light. As the days continue to get shorter I'll start using the headlamp.

It wasn't too cold this morning. I had an average run.

Average pace: 10:34. Splits: 11:09, 10:35, 10:20, 10:13

I was just comparing my new PR from last Saturday's 5K to my previous 5K PR because the new PR is only 13 seconds faster than the previous PR. However, the average time for the previous race (where I finished in 29:01) was 29:16, and the average time for last Saturday's race (where I finished in 28:48) was 34:56. Last Saturday's race was very hilly and it was windy.

My plan was to do get up extra early, do the shred, then drive my son to seminary, then run. However, I was up too late last night dealing with kid's needs, so I talked my husband into driving the boy to seminary so that I could sleep an extra half hour. So I got up and did the shred level 1 with 5 lb. weights and then ran. I'm trying to build up the number of push ups I can do and the shred level 1 has push ups in it. I managed to do 11 on my feet on the floor, then the next time on push ups I did them standing, leaning against a ledge.

I headed north from my house and whenever I do that I start faster than I intend to because it's down hill. Also, I was warmed up from doing the shred.

Average pace: 10:07.

Splits: 10:06, 10:25 (long uphill in this mile), 9:49

Saucony Omni 6: 45.5

I had another really busy night last night and didn't get to bed on time, so I'm running on 6.5 hours of sleep for the second day in a row. Fortunately, the rest of the week looks a little better. I should be able to get to bed earlier tonight.

Good, uneventful run this morning. I saw a handful of other runners, which is always nice.

I've been going to a yoga class at work. Today is the last class of the current 6-week session. I don't think I'll sign up for the next session because some of the yoga poses seem to irritate my hip. I think I'll take a break from yoga and maybe get back into it later. And now they're going to offer a cardio kickboxing class at work. They're having a free trial class of that today and then there's a six-week session of that starting in two weeks. I'm going to give it a try today and I'll probably sign up for the six-week session, though I'll be out of town and miss the first week.

I had a little trouble figuring my stats for today because I wore my Garmin on a walk with my friend yesterday and forgot to reset it, so I had to subtract that walk from my total amounts to get the amounts for today.

Average pace: 10:46. Splits: 11:13, 10:48, 10:27, 9:54, 9:54

Noon: 40 minutes of cardio kickboxing - I'm very uncoordinated and had a little trouble keeping up with the instructor and I'm sure I looked like a fool.

PM: 1 hour of yoga.

I'm really worn out now.

I was a little late getting out for my run this morning. I got up on time, but then I did the 30-day shred level 1 with 5 lb. weights and changed the laundry and spent some time talking to my husband and generaly dawdling. But I did finally make it out.

Today  marks the first time I have run 4 days in a row. Of course tomorrow's run will make it 5 days in a row and Saturday's run will make it 6 days in a row.

As a result of getting out a little later it was a pleasant temperature this morning and I was able to run in shorts and a t-shirt.

Average pace: 10:14. Splits: 10:47, 9:56, 10:05.

I ran roughly the same route that I did on Tuesday, but in reverse. On Tuesday the second mile was the slowest and today it was the fastest because there's a gradual but long hill in the middle of the run and it either speeds me up or slows me down depending which direction I'm going.

Saucony Omni 6: 48.69

It was a nice run this morning. I felt pretty good. I made a conscious effort to slow down several times because I wanted to rest up for a 10 mile run tomorrow. At one point I was approaching the high school and there was a boy up ahead of me walking to school. As I got closer I noticed that he was smoking, so I crossed to the other side of the street to avoid him.

I realized recently that I've had this notion that I always had to run first thing in the morning instead of later in the day. This is fairly true for weekdays, but my race last Saturday, which was at 12:30 pm, caused me to have this epiphany that I can run later in the day on Saturdays.

I've got to take my daughter to her swimming lesson tomorrow morning. If I want to run before that, I've got to get up really early, which I'd rather not do on a Saturday since I do it every other day of the week. It occured to me that I could run after her swimming lesson and then I won't be worried about time.

Another thought I've had is that before I figured out the philosophy on this blog, I used to run 4 days/week and I ran every run pretty much as fast as I could. I would find myself dreading each run because I knew I would go out there and kill myself. Now that I've backed off and am running slower, even though I'm running more total miles and running more days per week, I look forward to each run.

Todays stats:

Average pace: 10:19. Splits: 10:28, 10:41 (up a long hill), 10:07, 10:01

I've decided I much prefer running early in the morning to running in the middle of the day. It was hot and I spent the whole time wishing I had chapstick and my water bottle ran out. Getting up early is totally worth it.

I got up a little later than I had intended this morning, but I guess that's a good thing since I went to bed late. I did the level 1 shred with 5 lb weights and then took my daughter to swimming lessons. Then I hung out at home for a little while until it was time to pick up my son from his orchestra rehearsal and then I went on my run. I didn't get out until about 11:45 am.

I had a few short stops during my run because I had to wait for traffic lights. I always paused my Garmin while I was stopped. There's sure a lot more traffic around this area at noon on a Saturday than at 6 am on a weekday.

The route was very hilly. Of course the only way I'd have a flat run around here would be if I ran laps around the track. So I'm including ascent and descent numbers with my split times today just for fun.

Average pace: 10:20

Splits:

Mile 1 - 10:21 (up 115 ft, down 139 ft)

Mile 2 - 10:13 (up 117 ft, down 107 ft)

Mile 3 - 10:39 (up 122 ft, down 66 ft)

Mile 4 - 10:17 (up 119 ft, down 76 ft)

Mile 5 - 11:01 (up 144 ft, down 46 ft)

Mile 6 - 10:03 (up 76 ft, down 100 ft)

Mile 7 - 10:07 (up 206 ft, down 209 fit)

Mile 8 - 10:17 (up 73 ft, down 112 ft)

Mile 9 - 10:32 (up 108 ft, down 85 ft)

Mile 10 - 9:58 (up 82 ft, down 138 ft)

And of course the whole thing is done at between 5800 and 6000 feet.

I'm looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow. Of course I have to get up early because we have choir practice at 8:00 am and then we're singing in church. It's my fault that the practice is that early because I'm the choir director. We normally meet at 8:15 (church starts at 9:00) on the days we sing, but we're not quite as prepared as I'd like to be and so we're meeting a little earlier for practice. I don't think the choir is too happy about it.

 Saucony Omni 6: 58.88

Day of rest.

The choir performed in church today. It went amazingly well, especially considering that at choir practice a week ago we were considering cancelling the performance because the piece wasn't ready. In fact, the returning missionary who spoke after the choir sang said it was the best ward choir he has ever heard. I can't quite say the same because I've been in some really fantastic ward choirs, but it was pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Now I'm going to try to take a nap, but someone is playing rock band downstairs and is pounding on the plastic drums.

I hit the snooze alarm once this morning and that put me behind schedule the whole morning. Oh well.

I did the shred level 1 with 5 lb. weights before I took my son to seminary, but I didn't have time to get dressed for running before I took him (I do the shred in my pjs). So after I got back home I got my running stuff on and headed back out. My legs felt heavy. I went faster on Saturday than I intended to and faster than I should have, and I'm still feeling it today. The legs got a little better as the run progressed, but it was easier than usual to keep the slow pace on the run this morning.

Stats for today:

Average pace - 10:42, Splits - 10:57, 11:03, 10:40, 10:34, 10:17

I've got a busy day today. My third son (possibly) broke his finger on Friday evening. I took him to the urgent care because it was too late for the dr's office and they took an x-ray but still weren't sure whether it was broken. So I've got to take him in to his regular doctor this afternoon and have them look at the finger and at the x-ray. I've also got to take my daughter to dance this afternoon. I've got to somehow get in a full day of work too. I'll have to do some work at home tonight. And my first son has an orchestra rehearsal tonight that he needs to be driven to and picked up from. And the second son wants to be taken to the store to buy a game that he's been saving up and waiting for. And I've got to get the third son (the one with the hurt finger) packed for a 3-day outdoor trip he's going on tomorrow with the sixth grade. I'm tired just thinking about it.

I actually got up on time this morning and was all dressed for my run by the time I drove my son to seminary. In fact, we got there a little bit early, but then we had to wait for someone to come unlock the door to the school.

I got my run in as soon as I got home from dropping him off and then got ready in record time because I had to take another son to his school early because his grade is going on this outdoor ed trip today. I burned about 40 minutes standing around at that school waiting for them to board the buses, then I finally gave up and left.

My legs didn't feel heavy this morning like they did yesterday, but I didn't feel great. I was still kind of tired. I hardly looked at my watch and ran more by feel and naturally went quite slowly. The first week of running 6 days/week wasn't too hard, but the second week is turning out to be a little harder, probably because I overdid it a bit last Saturday. But I'll keep running. I'm planning to do the same 10-mile run again this Saturday, but I think I'll do it early in the morning and I'll try to go slower than I did last Saturday.

Average pace: 10:49. Splits: 11:13, 10:58, 10:38, 10:27.

Saucony Omni 6: 62.9

I got up one minute before my alarm went off. I did the shred level 1 with 5 lb. weights. I figure I'll stick with level 1 this week and then move up to level 2 next week. I've been through all three levels in the past, but then I took over a month off when I had surgery during the summer, so then I started over with level 1.

I got out on my run pretty quickly after I took my son to seminary, so it was still a little dark when I started, but I knew it would be light within 15-20 minutes, so I wore a reflective vest, but not a headlamp. I didn't look at my watch for pace at all, but just ran by feel. At one point, there was an older man, I would guess about 70, running along the same street as me, but on the other side of the road. We were going roughly the same pace and I made sure to at last stay even with him, but then after a short distance he veered off onto a bike path. I tend to run on the main streets rather than on the bike paths. The bike paths are made of concrete, so they don't offer a better surface than sidewalks and I figure the main roads are safer at dark-thirty in the morning than the bike paths, which run through the green belts, are.

I've been thinking about the best way to increase my weekly mileage. I think right now I should focus on increasing my week-day mileage and keep my Saturday long run at 10 miles for now. Last week, my week-day mileage was 4, 3, 5, 3, 4. So far this week it has been 5, 4, 5. I think I'll do 4 each tomorrow and Friday and then try to do all 5s next week. Then I'll take a couple of weeks to move all of the weekdays up to 6. I don't know whether I should stop at 6 miles/day with maybe a little bit longer run one or two days during the week or if I should try to get up to 8 miles every weekday. I don't think I have time in the morning to do 8 miles every day unless I make my husband drive my son to seminary every day and get out on my run earlier. Any suggestions for what my weekday mileage should be are welcome.

Also, I bought the Run Faster book by Brad Hudson yesterday and have started reading it.

Stats for today:

Average pace - 10:44. Splits - 10:58, 10:57, 10:49, 10:32, 10:26.

My pace was more consistent not looking at my watch than it usually is when I look at my watch.

I got up and did the shred level 1 with 5 lb. weights this morning. I was just going to do the shred on M, W, and F this week, but I decided to throw it in today as well. I'm still planning to do it tomorrow, but not on Saturday.

I had a nice 4 mile route planned out for today, but then I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and took a wrong turn, which accidentally cut out about a mile of my route. At the point that I realized I was off course I was near a mile loop that I sometimes throw into my runs, so I threw in that mile loop in order to get the distance. That mile that I threw in is more hilly than the one I missed.

I decided to push the pace today. I did not look at my Garmin at all and just went by feel. I guess I was pushing it harder with each successive mile. And I had no idea I had been so slow on the first mile. So I'm putting splits in today since this was a faster workout and not what qualifies as an easy run for me.

Average pace - 9:44. Splits - 10:57, 9:48, 9:25, 8:47

At the end of my run when I was walking up and down my street for a cool down I met another neighbor. This is not the next door neighbor that I talked about before. This is someone who lives across the street and down a couple of houses. She was just heading out and looked like she was going for a run. I stopped her and talked to her for a minute. I think there's a potential for running with her sometimes. I run by myself almost all the time, and I think it would be nice to run with someone else once in a while.

 Saucony Omni 6: 66.9

Easy run. Average pace - 10:50.

I was going to let my self sleep in a little today because the kids don't have school (professional development day for teachers) and so I wouldn't have to drive my son to seminary or spend time getting kids ready for school. So I set my alarm for 5:30 instead of 5:00, but then I let myself sleep in even more by hitting the snooze alarm a couple of times.

I got up and did the shred level 1 with 5 lb. weights and while I was doing it I remembered that I hadn't made my husband a lunch last night. So after I finished the shred, I made his lunch, and then I got dressed and went for my run. I tried to take it slow and easy since I went faster yesterday and I've got a long run tomorrow. I took the route that I intended to take yesterday but messed up yesterday.

I think I'll do the same 10 mile route tomorrow that I did last Saturday, except I'm going to do it early in the morning instead of at noon and I'm going to try to take it slower than I did last Saturday.

Easy long run. Average pace 10:20.

I ran the same route that I ran last Saturday but it was a much better run. The differences were that last week I ran at noon and this week I ran at about 6:30 am. I also had a bowl of oatmeal right before running this morning. Last week I had eaten before the run since the run was later in the day, but didn't eat right before. Also last week I did the shred in the morning a couple of hours before the run and this week I did the run first thing. Finally, I attempted to run slower this week. I did start slower, but finished faster and ended up with exactly the same average pace, which I think is kind of funny. I think the biggest difference and the reason this run felt so much easier was that it was early in the morning and so the temperature was about 20 degrees cooler. Another interesting thing I noticed about the run today is that I got progressively faster through the seventh mile, and then I started getting slower, so that probably says something about my endurance.

I'm have to travel to Foster City, California next week. I fly there on Tuesday afternoon and back home on Thursday evening, so my Wednesday and Thursday morning runs will be there. I mapped out a 5 mile route that starts and ends at my hotel. We'll see if I have the guts to run by myself in the dark in a strange place. I can always do the treadmill at the hotel if I chicken out. In any case, it will be interesting to run a flat course at sea level when I'm used to running hills at high elevation.

 Saucony Omni 6: 77.0

I didn't sleep very well last night. I had some kind of weird apocalyptic dream and I had a hard time getting back into a good sleep after it because it was disturbing.

I got up at 5:00 and did the shred level 2 with 5 lb. weights. The switch from level 1 to level 2 was a little bit challenging. I then drove my son to seminary and ran after that.

According to the t.v. news, the temperature was about the same as it was in the mornings last week, so I dressed the same (shorts and a t-shirt), but once I got out it felt colder to me. There was a cold wind and I felt pretty cold for the whole run.

My average pace was 10:42 and I did a hill sprint at the end of the run. I timed the hill sprint, but didn't do it based on time, if that makes sense. I just ran to the top of the hill and then hit the lap button. The hill sprint lasted 21.78 seconds and my average pace on the hill sprint was 6:31.

I've got to work today and also get laundry done and get packed for my trip to CA tomorrow. Also, my daughter has her first piano lesson this afternoon.

Saucony Omni 6: 82.18

Easy run. Average pace 10:40.

This was a hillier route than usual. I wore my headlamp for the first time and turned it off about halfway through the run because it was light enough by then.

I did the shred level 2 with 5 lb. weights before the run.

I've got to finish packing and get to work for a little while before going to the airport. I'm looking forward to running at sea level tomorrow.