Believe to Achieve

Plank 3:10.   I just decided to do one out of the blue just after church.  Decided 3 minutes was all the WORK on Sunday I could muster.  Think I have 5 minutes in me as this one I was shaking from the beginning---sugar overload and still held on pretty good.  If I can start out feeling good I can get there. 

10 miles ice skating around my neighborhood.  Scary terrain.  The fog was so low that the humidity froze the clouds on the pavement, making a lovely ice layer to run/skate on. Each lap the fog got thicker and the roads icier.  I left at 3:55am.  Earlier than usual as I worked at Utah Valley Hospital today rather than American Fork which is one mile from my house.  Had to get back in time to drive in the fog safely.  But really I had much more difficult time running in it.  Slippery all over the slanted church parking lot and at mile 7.5 I went down hard, flying thru the air.  One might say I did a forced, immediate plank.  Think Mission Impossible move before hitting the ground except that I didn't get to be suspended in air, I hit the ground with my palms and a bit on my left inner knee.  I was not happy.  My back also was not happy.  But I really don't think anything is bruised too badly.  Just tender and achy from braking my fall.  I decided no more running thru the church parking lot in this fog.  Way too icy and visibility low.  It WAS VERY EERIE!!!  I am so glad I have never seen the movie THE FOG as my imagination already got the best of me.  I was startled  by everything.  I was wondering how insane I have become.  Seriously?  What am I doing here?  Silly crazy me.  Of course my pace reflects the icy challenge.  Nothing fast as that would have been a greater catastrophe.  AP for 10 miles =  8:44.  This run not recommended to any of my friends.  Hope you all got on your TMs if you were in the area.

Nada. (WAIT THIS JUST IN SEE BELOW!!!)  Passed out cold  at 9pm after a long day at work.  Didn't even have the strength to listen to my bladder in the middle of the night and then my alarm went off.  Bladder happy but rest of my body was beyond tired and yippee 13 more hours of continuous work...VERY busy day.  Who said having a baby was easy?  My poor patient may end up on ICU by morning.  Not a Merry thing at all.  Very tough.  Baby cute, though.  Anyway...the roads of course were CLEAR!!!  no ice!!!  And here I risked my life yesterday.  AND  I got IN zero miles to speak of.  Tomorrow is Amber's 8th birthday.  We are having a 4 1/2 hour birthday party filled with games, pizza, cake, ice cream, present hide and seek, and the movie Megamind.  I suppose I will have to force myself out of bed early in the am for some TM speedwork.  Not sure where I am going with all this effort?  Painter's half in January  is no PR course and SGM is MILES away.  Antelope Island should be interesting since I am in better shape and a bit more competitive but I want to not be for this race.  It's a tough one.  I just want to run by feel, sans garmin but I doubt  I can convince myself of that by race morning (march 26th).  9:33 PM:  STRAIGHT ARM PLANK  5:03!!!!!!(usually I do elbow.  Kim thinks straight arms is harder than elbows.  I think the opposite, yet I had never done a straight arm plank until tonight.  SHAKING MISERBLY the last 1 1/2 minutes but so KNEW I could do it.  Just embraced the PAIN and watched the seconds tick ever so slowly away.  Of course I am going for the elbow 5 minute plank.  My middle back must be my weak area as the muscles/bones in there really start to get sharp pains as my abs weaken. BUT totally feel soooo accomplished now  : D.

So not remotely in the mood to run this run.  Stressful shift yesterday then a 5:03 plank in the PM (which btw I am estatic about : D).  It was compounded by the fact that I only could sleep 5 hours even when I went to bed at 1140pm.  I got up, heard the rain/sleet and knew I was NOT running to the rec center.  I got there a few minutes before 6am feeling pretty sleepy.   Glad to see a neighbor hitting the mills as well.  Apparently the rec center opens at 5:30am and all this time I thought it was 6am!!  I would love if it were open at 4 or 430am but the patrons there just laughed and said "no way".  This is SW day.  I did last weeks workout but slightly faster.  After the first set I could tell my hip and knee had taken a hit Monday morning and my form started to crumble as my inner knee was getting tender.  It is just bruised and my hip is out of alignment.  Nothing I can't work out over the next week, I believe.  I was pretty achy at work yesterday from catching my fall.    Enough of the whining here is what I ran:  3 mile warm up at 2 % (8:57, 8:30, 8:03), 2 @ 6:44, 1 @ 6:40 (1 %), then 1 @ 8:06, then 1 @ 6:44, 1 @ 6:40 (1%), 1 @ 6:30-6:35, as I upped the MPH to 10 gradually for the last lap ( 0.5% grade), cooldown 4 miles at 8:06 AP at 1 %.  14 miles total.  SW AP for 8.5 miles= 7:01.

This weather is killing my love of OUTDOOR RUNNING!!  I really am sick of the TM.  It was just supposed to be a once a week SW thing.  Two in a row is boring.  So I changed it up a bit to get it done.  11 miles of HILLWORK on the TM.  Grade from 2-6 %.  About 4 miles above 3%.  I don't have the breakdown but I went up a percent every 1- 2 laps (.25- .5 miles) and sometimes held on for a mile.  I was exhausted from the beginning but I didn't want to be there long so I just pushed myself.  I did from 3-6 percent for two miles at 8:13 pace and then later the same mileage for 8:00 pace.  AP for first 11 miles =  8:06.  I bundled up and began my drive home.  Melanie ran 15 miles so no hope of an outdoor running partner in the morning and then I saw my husband drive by me going to the rec center so I turned around and joined him for a couple more.  Was going to run 4 more  miles but out of the blue I got lightheaded and dizzy and could barely move my legs on the mill.  I hadn't eaten since 6:30 last night and I was crashing quickly.  I felt hungry for carbs.  So I left home shaking.  I bet having gone outdoors earlier with sweat in the 5 degree weather was not the best thing and to turn around and try to run again was stupid.  I had no glycogen left.  I quickly got down OJ when I got home and took a long hot shower.  That took a lot out of me.  Those last two miles were 9:00 average pace (2%) you'd think I'd be able to pull out that rabbit but when I saw another runner looking for an open TM I just gave in...I didn't need to run anymore today.  Not worth it.  

15 GLORIOUS MILES IN THE FROZEN TUNDRA.  Hey after about 7 miles I think my toes came back to life.  I had to keep wiggling them to see if they were still there.  When I got back from my 2 hour run at 10:15am the weather said current temp was 16 degrees but feels like 5 degrees due to windchill.  I would have to agree with that windchill.  Wowsers as I climbed for four miles up and around Cedar Hills I was reliving my old ski days in New Hampshire in sub-zero temps.  The roads were atrocious.  I ran on ice, frozen snow, snow drifts, ice, oh a piece of dry ground---dart off the middle of the road as cars think they have the right of way, and then there was the calf-deep snow drifts on the cedar hills parkway trail, and a dog that thought I was his dinner or his running partner.  I didn't want to find out so I yelled loudly at him to back off, it worked.  He ran the opposite direction.  Pace was not on my mind here. Survival was.  Seriously freakin' cold.  Seriously icy and seriously not sure why I held out to the end but it builds character I think.  I am currently toying with the invitation I just received from an old friend (we trained for our first marathon together in 1995).  She wants me to join her and her husband for the Wasatch 100 miler.  Just a week ago I told Melanie, "never, not in me" and now to run with Anna and Matt in the wild outdoors, now that would be fun, serious fun.   AP for 15 miles = 8:45.  Never felt exerted cardio-wise.  This run was mentally challenging, had to watch the terrain THE  WHOLE TIME to not go crashing hard.  So to run 100 or not to run 100?  Must consult the expert, Crockett.  Happy New Year.  I work all day tomorrow so no 4 am run for me as I will be staying up until midnight playing games and watching movies, not sleeping.

less than zero degrees at 4am,  SOOOOO NOTTTTTTTT running.  Plus the roads are all ICE.  Like I need my legs this year.  Off to work for 13 long hours at 6am.  Got off work late and no GYMS open and I don't own a TM and jogging in place is NOT an option.  So I bailed.  The first day of the year and I didn't run.  Terribly pathetic.  My New Year starts Monday then.