Long Saturday Run

This last Saturday I decided to do 12 miles. I realize that some of your mouths are dropping and ready to accuse me of being crazy. Maybe I am- I haven't been tested for that yet ;-) It was really enjoyable though. I did have a lot of highs and lows throughout the run, but overall- it was great.

One thing that I really need to stop caring about is how fast/slow I go. I recently joined dailymile and I have fun looking at the "leader board". This keeps track of who is running the furthest. You want to see crazy people- head on over and look at it!! Jon and I have fun looking at the distances some people do and they say something like "this was a shorter run for me" and it was like 9-10miles! The only downside of looking at this is that I get caught up in people's paces. There was a girl who did a long run (14-16miles) and she maintained a pace of under 8 minutes! I just can't fathom how!! I am struggling to make sure I stay under 10min miles on my long runs. In shorter races I can do under 9min miles... but honestly, I couldn't do that for over 6miles.

This long run I did- I ran it slower than I ran my first half marathon and I am hoping that this isn't a sign of what is to come for my next 2 halves! Yikes. What I really enjoyed about this run was that I was able to listen to a book on my Zune. My husband was nice enough to help me get the book on the Zune and compiling all the tracks by chapter. He got a program that can do that- it's pretty cool! Anyways, it kept my brain focused on the story and not on the run- if that makes sense? It was really enjoyable!

Anyways, here is the run :-)

So. Cold.

This evening after work I decided to do a 5+mile run. I put on my "knickers", long sleeve shirt, short sleeve shirt and colorful gloves. I figured that would get me through. I wasn't completely wrong... but by the time I was 3 blocks away from being done and home- I was so stinking cold!! I'm not sure what else I really could have worn... earmuffs? I really need to invest in a "running jacket". Like a REAL running jacket. Not a hoodie or a thin zip up jacket. I've been meaning to buy one... but I was planning on not really needing it until Halloween/early November. I honestly thought I would have more time to prepare for the cold and to buy items that I've either gotten rid of or have just gotten really old. The last time I was seriously running in the cold was the winter before I had foot surgery. That was 4 years ago! Hah, that makes me sound like a serious slacker when I admit to how long ago that was!

I'm still cold though- even after the run. Jon always asks me why my body doesn't produce heat. ever. Poor blood circulation? I don't really know. Oh well- time to sit back and drink my first cup of hot chocolate of the season :-) That'll warm me up!

Before I post the run- I'd like to announce that I have officially signed up to run the 2010 Salt Lake City Marathon this April. I am really nervous about it. I have my two half marathons coming up in the next month- we'll see how I feel :-) Oh and last thing- my costume for the Halloween Half Marathon will be revealed soon! Get ready!

20 lbs down!!!

As most of you know, last March I put my foot down and decided I needed to do something about my weight gain from the past 3 years. I decided to stop talking about it and really do something about it. I had to throw out all the excuses and the "I'll do better tomorrow" phrase.

It was all worth it though. I have now lost a total of 20lbs from since I started counting. I did it in six months and I'm happy with that. It wasn't easy by any means, but I am glad that I have had Jon's support. I couldn't have done it without him.

If you're trying to lose weight and just feel like you're too busy or have no time to really commit to that- I think that's a bunch of bologna. I've heard tons of people say they work full time or have kids and just can't make time. You can always make time. Even if it's just 15 minutes- do something! You'll be so much happier that you did. Foot surgery is what really stopped me in my tracks 3 years ago and ended a lot of my running. My doctor told me I might never be able to run the mileage like I was ever again. Little by little though, I have overcome that and I have proved to myself that if you put your mind to it and have a support group- you can do anything.

I have to put a shout out to those who really inspired me. First, my oldest sister, Shannon (15 years older than me). She worked her fanny off and went from never ever exercising to going at it for 1-2 hours a day and she looks fantastic. She would call me and tell me how she was throwing away all of her "fat clothes" and had to buy new clothes- I won't lie.. but I was jealous at the time haha.. I wanted to buy new clothes!! She ran a 5k w/ me this last May and she beat me!! I think that in itself says a TON!!

Second, my mother-in-law, Anne. I always thought she looked great- but this last year she lost 20+lbs by changing small things and adding in cardio and weights and sticking to a tough regimen. I hope that I look like her when I'm her age! My father-in-law, Clyde looks fantastic too! I'm really proud of all their hard work and they really inspired me to get back at it.

I'm still not done though- I have 9lbs left to go. I am hoping I can do it by Christmas! Heh, and for your amusement- I took a picture of my progress on Wii Fit for the last year. I would get on it whenever I lost more weight on our home scale. Don't mind the "goal of 117.5". That's not my final goal- but it's my next goal that I'm aiming for :-) Also, for those of you who know- when you do the "body test" and it looks at your BMI and your weight and then it tells you "that's overweight" or "that's normal". Well, I'm happy to say that it no longer tells me that I'm overweight! My Mii does a dance and gives me the thumbs up :-) Awesome.

PS: I'll try to find some before and after pictures good enough to post.. hehe. I never thought of taking a before picture... I'm sure I can find something though!

9/22 run

Last night I ran the "Oak Cliff Run". Well, at least that's what I call it. If you've ever been up to the "Y" you'll know this hill. It's long and awful. I was just so excited because I ran the ENTIRE hill without stopping to walk. It has been a very long time since I've been able to do that! You see all these people pass you in their cars and you watch and hear their cars struggling to get up the hill as you're running up it. It makes you feel strong :-)

My shoulder started to hurt a little bit towards the end. It was a little odd, but I got through it. There was one part of the run after a down hill and I felt like I was flying and doing great. I was coming up to a fence doing my thing and this guy steps out from behind it onto the sidewalk- I nearly collided with him! How awkward! At least this means that he didn't hear me coming and I wasn't pounding my feet on the ground or anything :-)

Racing Cane 6k

Today I tackled the 6k (3.7mi)! I was really nervous coming up to this race because it has been a while since I have done a shorter race. I have mostly been doing 10ks and then the half marathon. It's a whole different mindset when you're running less then 6 miles for a race. At least for me, I can't just stay at a comfortable smooth pace for a few miles and then kick it up. For me, smaller races mean- all or nothing. I know... that's probably really dramatic- but it's true!

To start the morning- it was so cold! Thankfully, the race started at 8am so by the time it started the sun was up and it was getting warmer. We started at Mountain View High School in Orem, UT. I felt pretty good during the first mile and then when I hit mile 2- I kicked up the pace. I started picking people to pass and once I passed them up- I picked more people. I haven't had a race like this in a while! It was hard but really relaxed... if you can call it that?

I finished strong and ended up having under a 9min pace! That's BIG for me! Six months ago I was at 10+ min pace/mile. I was really happy with that. The only thing that I was really bummed about was my place in my age division. I went over to the fence where they were posting final times and there it was. 4th. You may be thinking "That's great!" While that is pretty cool- I was only a few seconds from taking 3rd and getting a medal. If I was like 5th or 6th- there wouldn't be any "bitter" feelings. But 4th? Really?? I was so frustrated! I know, I really shouldn't focus on that... but it's hard not to. Especially since I really gave it my all. There was nothing else I could've done to go any faster.

I'm bummed that I won't be able to run this race next year. Next year I'll be in the 25-29 age division and the chances of me getting a medal in that age group is high. Humph. Hopefully when we move to Houston this summer I'll be able to find more races there. There aren't the same amount of races there like there are in Utah. Utah is very unique in that respect. Oh well, maybe next time :-)

Little of this... little of that

So, for the past few days I have been looking at this blog and trying to figure out how to spice it up. As I was reading it.. I realized that I had failed to mention a ton. Like how I signed up and was doing the Spanish Fork half marathon!!! I just kind've sprung that one after I finished. Oops. Let's face it... you can't really spice up a blog when you haven't informed anyone of anything! Sorry about that- I'll work on it though.

Life just get's busy. It's especially busy this year. Jon is finishing up his last year of his masters and I am working full time and trying to reach my running and weight loss goals. Other than life being hard sometimes- life has been good to us and I can't complain.

Well, for things coming up: Tomorrow I am running the Racing Cane 6k. It's a charity run for children in the Dominican Republic. They have weird race distances (6k, 3k and 1k for kids) because this race benefits the children there who travel an average of 3k each way to school - many without decent shoes on their feet. I'm excited for it because we'll get to donate some shoes, but I'm also very hopeful that I'll be able to go all out on this one. Although, my boss had a mandatory business meeting today and provided pizza... this was my lunch break and I normally go home for lunch- so I didn't have any other choice but to eat the pizza (it was delicious... but I hope I ate it early enough so that I won't feel it on the run tomorrow!)

Other races I'm doing: I am for sure doing the Snow Canyon Half Marathon in St. George in November. It'll be a fun getaway too! The other half marathon I want to do is in October (Provo Halloween Half). I'm still weighing the pros and cons of that one and once I decide if I'm going to do it or not- I'll post it. :-)

9/15 run

This run was slow going at first and I had to make a pit stop along the way. After that- I felt pretty good.