Fuel SMART,Train HARD, Run FAST.

1.5 wu

5k @20:40, alternating pace every two minutes from MP/5k

.5 cd

Weights- shoulders, arms, hips

Today I was notified that I have been selected to be on the Pearl Izumi Run Champions team for 2015. I specifically chose this brand becuase I love thier products. Mostly becuase thier gear fits my tush.

Icy cold run with Kam and Andy. Ran a loop down Main to Farmington, then connected on LPT. The conversations were...well, we were cold. ~8:32ap. Came home and ran a bit more with my dog. 

5:30- BST/Partial Twins with Scott and Craig.

I love running on the trails, but now I'm starting to wonder how a 10 miler that takes 2 hours, translates to the equivalent of a long run (effort?), or if it does. Hummmm. More road running to come.

PM: 2 mi on elliptical and 5mi spin at PF. 

6:00AM- 8 miles on LPT with Andy. Ice and snow pached the trail. The weather has been strange, It was a bit warmer today than usual (30's) and the last two days have been very humid! Today was 86% and I came home drenched! 8:10ap

1.5 wu

Epic zombi march attempt 8X600 @6:00. I did two, barely.

I am extremly sleep deprived this week its not even funny. I'm going to bag speed altogether this week and focus on the next tempo workout.

5:30AM-Woke up and went to the gym with Steve. 45 mins on the Arc Glider, 10 mins TM and 30 mins of weights-upper body and hips.

10:45AM- 8 mi up City Creek with Scott. We tried to escape the inversion and did for most of the run. Came back down and ran into it like hitting a wall! It needs to go away.

I was so grateful my friend offered to watch my son today so I could go to the gym today. I was begninng to wonder if I would get it in today, otherwise.

11:00PM- Marathon pace tempo 10k on TM

1.5 mi wu

6.2 @ 42:53 (6:55ap) 21:44/21:09

1.5 cd

Felt great today. I tried to spend the last miles visualizing the end of the race and how I would feel. Obviously this was hard to tap into since I was only doing 6 miles, but It helps me to tune into this during any paced runs. I resisted the urge to go any faster or add on any mileage today than what was recommended. It's mentally strange to train for an unaided marathon. Paces start to not make sense and I get worried I'm going to slow or too fast. Chill out and follow the plan, slugger. 

PM- 10 mins core work

AM-Twin Peaks with Karen. We got a little lost a few times but easily scrambled our way back to the start.

PM- Full body weights, spin, and some messing around on the treadmill.

3 mi wu/cd  

8x2 mins on/off @6:00, first two a bit slower. Felt hard, wish it didn't.

AM- 8 dark-puddle-jumping miles with Andy on LPT. 8:11ap

Two words: cumulative fatigue- a new concept I am trying with a new plan. It's kicking my rear end. Running 6 days a week is making me extra hungry, tired, and moody. I don't know why. 

A look back In history, if I may....

I remember transitioning from running three days a week to four back in 2011. That was pushing my comfort zone. In 2013 I began averaging four days a week, that made me feel more invested. In 2014 I started doing five days a week, it was definitely a transition. Now going 6 days a week for this cycle is well, hard. No doubt I will transition just like I have before. Cumulative fatigue.

.8 wu

10k @ 6:52ap (42:35) .05% for half

1mi cd

The idea of this workout was to run at marathon pace.  I'm really not supposed to run any faster than my goal pace which is really closer to 7:03 but sometimes I battle in my head thinking I'm not reaching for a high enough goal. At the end of the day, I would be saisfied running Boston at that pace. I'm making small steps into my goals this year rather than jumping to where I think I should be. I think that will make the year more enjoyable and successful, as a result. Eventually I will get there.

Overall the workout wasn't too bad!:)

AM- 5 mi easy on TM with weights- 2hrs

PM- Found 30 mins extra to get in a few spin miles while Steve was putting in his time at the gym. It's all about being supportive of my his running goals for himself.

Mueller Park with Scott. 9.1 miles in 2:02:09. The first two miles was hard for me. Tired lungs and legs, which I actually expected today due to this weeks' workouts. There is still a lot of snow up there, but little ice. Past Elephant Rock, it wasn't tracked out to Rudy's like we had hoped,  so we turned around and found another trail elsewhere to get the rest of the miles. Upon leaving,  my car got stuck in the parking lot. Good thing I had some stuff in the trunk to hook up to Scott's awesome car that pulled me out. Teamwork! And my legs are tired. Totally unrelated, but I wanted you to remember that.

Dear Diary,

My "long run" is 10 miles this week. I still can't wrap my head around 10 miles being long. I think I basically did a long run today so...do I do another one tomorrow? Guess so. I keep thinking I need a longer run soon! Most people who are training for Boston are doing 17 milers now so my head is going bonkers.  I recently purchased a personalized plan that I start at the end of this month. While waiting, I have just been doing the Advanced plan in their book. I wonder if it will vary much. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing enough to cover the distance by April. The speed work has been the hardest for me, which is usually easier than the other stuff. Plus it looks so doable on paper so it's throwing me off. As soon as I see the plan, I'm going to just trust it and go with it. 

Thanks for listening diary, I'm done whining now...for today.

Slow build up for 2 miles then gradually dropped the pace around 40- 45 seconds above mp. Picked up the last half mile or so. Legs were tired as expected and felt a little bored, but overall felt fine.  

12.2 @ 1:33:38, 7:40ap

HR@  70-75%

Sweaty mess.

Have you ever been too stressed to run? But then you're stressed because you didn't run? A losing battle here. 

***Que background music****

In one day I had the following lost/stolen: wallet, keys, Bluetooth earbuds, mind.

The most devastating part of all? Having to go to the DMV. buh-bye.

Okay, I'm over it all. Cancelled everything and slowly building up my wallet contents again. On the bright side, I get a new wallet:) Maybe this time I will consider not hooking my keys and phone into my wallet.

Nice run this morning on Main. If I had any doubts before, they have vanished. The last few weeks I have felt incredibly tired and could not imagine running a marathon the way I felt. I took the last three days off, unplanned and knew this was totally against my schedule, but it happened. Today's easy run gave me a glimpse into my fitness this far- on rested legs. My legs felt awesome and I had to focus on holding back. Even stepping out the door, I felt like I could have ran a tempo without a warm-up. The hills felt effortless and my lungs felt great. My pace was no different than usual for this run, but the way I felt was night and day. I'm excited and hope it lasts. Back to the grind with weeks of tired legs, but at least I now know it's working! 8:16ap

4mi wu/cd

10k @43:03 (6:56ap),  0.5% incline

This workout is feeling much easier.

I felt dizzy the  last 2 miles. I think I found the culprit, Power Bar fruit fuel packs. I have no idea why, but I can contribute all of my dizzy spells to those. I don't ever seem to have the problem when I don't take them. I used them in the most of my 2013 races and ended most of them feeling dizzy. That's got to be it, I never feel it otherwise. I wonder if that's ever happened to anyone else. Google time. You can find any answer you want to find on Google:)

These miles weren't all that easy for me. Kam and I met on Bountiful blvd for a hilly long run, away from the inversion. It was especially chilly outside with the wind. We chatted up and down the hills and by mile 3 it was starting to feel like a tempo effort at 8:30 pace. Kam seemed to mange to keep his HR around 60 bpm range. He was also smart, he brought along his fuel consisting of a gallon-sized ziplock bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies. I have no idea where he carried it. They looked delicious but I didn't think I could stomach it. At the turn around we finally hit a flat section that was brief but nice. We ran back to our cars and took in some more fuel. Then we headed up the trail by the B to the gun range. My stomach was not happy and began to reject the GU I had just taken. I'd never had this kind before and hoped it would pass. At 12.5 miles I had to quit so I could drive home and silently die on my bathroom floor. So I did that while Kam continued on (8:23ap.) After my stomach settled I jumped on the TM to gut out a few more miles (9:30ap and HR at 80%- yikes!) It was nice running with someone else today so I could stay out of my own head and get a second opinion about training. The guy knew just what to say. 

12 weeks till Boston

Several important updates.

1. Tempo Tuesday has been moved and renamed to Meandering Monday's.

2. I have found my wallet and earbuds. 

3. I have made and eaten a lot of delicious chocolate cake that is to die for.

This morning I met Andy on LPT for 8 miles and salivated over confections.8:03ap

Then I came home and ran an extra mile as I mapped out a route for tomorrow's hill intervals.

 was smoggy and foggy. I literally ran in a humid cloud the entire workout (90% humidity.)  It didn't seem to bother me, but I felt like I could taste it. Yellow day- ugh!

1 mi wu

12x400 downhill @ 5:20-5:40ap with uphill recovery (3 mi up/3 mi down)

1 mi cd

I found an area near my church that seemed to be perfect for some downhill without traffic. It was also lit up, which I needed.  I started the intervals in a field where I could run on the dirt for part of it. This was the steepest part then flattened out on the road for the last 150m. The goal was to do these around 5k pace, but with (surprisingly) little effort, I found myself falling between 1:21-1:25 each time. The uphill recovery was actually much more taxing. Sort of a strange-reverse-effect workout. 

I focused on good, smooth form down the hill and also keeping a consistent effort when it flattened out. I expected my quads to be sore (and maybe they will be) but I really feel like my CX tights really protected my legs. My legs don't even feel tired today, which I would normally expect already. Yea!

Overall, I expected this workout to sort of hurt for being first speed workout with hills, but it ended up feeling less taxing that a trail run:) These would be tougher on the track, obviously. A good starting point to see the condition of my legs and what work needs to be done by Boston.

I went into this workout not giving it much credit,  but it ended up feeling harder than I thought it would be. Christi from the blog, who recommended this plan, warned me of this! Felt harder than the past few weeks of consistent paced tempos at a similar pace. 

2.5 wu/ cd

Incline @ .5%

6mi progressive @42:20, 7:03ap (7:30-6:30)

Progressive tempos are still my favorite type of workouts! Like if I could marry them, I would.

Frolicking around on Davis Blvd for 8 miles. 8:40ap

14 mile LR w/ Bike support from Steve. It was fun talking and having some company out there. Effort felt easy/moderate. Started to get tired last 10 mins. Last mile picked up in 6:37. HR stayed in 75% range for most of run. Legs and lungs felt great considering this weeks training. Felling hopeful!

8 in 8:01ap.

Intervals were supposed to be 5k-10k pace, with the last mile faster.

1 Mile Warm Up -

4x400 @ 6:00, 400 jog

1 Mile @ 6:17, 400m jog

 4 x 400m @ 6:00, 400m jog

1 Mile @ 5:50

1.5 Mile Cool Down

I had about a 3/10 on the motivation scale for this workout since I had to do it in the middle of the day. It was quite easier than I thought it would be and it never hurt! Things are working.

Hum...not sure what to think of my new PI shoes. Maybe it was the low drop I'm not used to or that they seem .5 size too big. Still thinking on those.

10:45AM- A gorgeous day up to the Twin Peaks with Scott.

"What goes up must come down" - Issac Newton

I think he was referring to marathon training.

Dead leg day. I got ready for a speed workout today but knew in the 1st mile it was not going to happen, no matter what. Double dang.  I'm not a fan of changing up the schedule since everything seems so calculated. It looks like I'm going to have to merge my speed workout with my long run on Saturday. That's going to be a super fun day! Anyway, trudged through 5 miles, stopping every .5 mi to negotiate with myself. 9:53ap

Also, my PI shoes are growing on me. I had my doubts and still do about racing in them. I'll wear the ones I intend to wear for the marathon on Saturday and see how they perform. Maybe it's the user.

1 mile run, 5 on the elliptical. The only way I could get my legs to move. Gosh they're not sore but my hip flexors are exhausted and won't help lift my legs! I have no idea why, well maybe I do. Counting every mile today.

fun time running around Farmington with Cynthia, Jasmine, Alyssa, Vicky, and Angie. 7:55ap

8 in 7:48ap. 

I dramatically screamed when I saw a shadow of a would be critter in the dark. I never want Andy to hear me do that again. 

1 mi wu

4x400@ 5:58 (90sec jog)

800m easy

3mi tempo @ 6:58mp

600m easy

4x400 @5:58

= 6.55ap

2.5 cd

Nuts, sick today. 0mi @ 0ap. Felt easy.

Still sick. I'm going to see if I can get a few easy miles in tomorrow and hopefully savage a slow long run on Saturday. 

Easy does it. 9:34ap

Today's run a made possible by DayQuil.

7:00AM- 15 miles down Main to Farmington Pond and back. Glad to get some hills in today. Picked up miles 10-13 to mpe and the last at 5k effort. 7:53ap 

Added on a couple more TM miles at home. 8:15ap

6:30am- 6 with the Bountiful ladies league on Bountiful Boulevard. 8:32 ap

Still sick.

No time to waste! I'm leaving town for a few days for my grandpa's funeral, so I really need get in a few quality runs in this week!

Today's workout felt hard. I'm not sure if it's from being sick or increasing the incline more than usual. On paper I thought it wouldn't be too bad, but it was rough today. 

WU 1.5 mi at 2%

6x1 mi @ <6:48/400 jog. 1-1.5% incline

Picked up the pace on the last one and lowered the incline- it felt nice:)

7.4mi = 7:10ap

1 mi cd 

all I could do.

Legacy Parkway Trail w/ bike support from awesome Steve!

6 mi wu

2 mi @ 6:54ap

400 jog

4x800 @ 6:20ap

400 jog between and 800m after last

2mi @ 6:56ap

2 mi cd

15.5 mi =7:39 ap

Hail and snow on the way there, cold wind on the way back. Didn't effect too bad, just how to give a little bit more effort to stay on pace.

First half of workout felt easy, last 2 mi started to feel hard.

5 miles on TM at PF.

Progressive 8 mileer on the docket today.

1mi wu

8 mi @ 7:18, 7:18, 7:08, 7:08, 7:03, 7:03, 6:48, 6:20

=56:06, 7:01ap

1 mi cd

I'm feeling encouraged that my marathon pace is beginning to feel quite a bit more doable and I can find a rhythm rather quickly. Oh, but marathons are hard.

I knew this was going to be a hard one today and it did not disappoint. So glad to have this one over with. I've been eyeing it down on my schedule all week! Hallelujah!

3mi wu w/ 2x400 pick ups to get use to speed @2.0%

Then realized today was not an incline day and turned it to 0%

3x2 mi @ 7:13, 6:45, 6:58, 6:39, 6:58, 6:19

800 jog in between

4x200@ 5k

7.5 mi @ 6:50

Felt like a wild lady tonight. 

This was hard today. Struggled the first 7 then suffered the last 9:)

So grateful this week is over. The schedule shows two more weeks of pain before letting up. I hope my legs can take it! Seriously.

+2 mile elliptical shake out.

On the bright side, I feel like things are working as they should and that I'll be ready by April!

Somehow I forgot to run today, sort of. When I planned to do it, the time slipped by and I lost my chance. Sort of didn't mind but that certainly piles the miles on later in the week!

Just got a new sponsor from Honey Stinger. I love thier fruit smoothie gels. Yum! "Gels" and "yum" don't usually go together in the same sentance for me, usually "doable", but this was actually yummy! I'm excited to get thier other products in the mail soon and gobble them up! Buzz.

Dragging at PF. Breathing like I was running a 5k for 8-9 min/mi. Dead legs.

AM- City Creek with Scott

PM- Easy miles at PF with Steve

Picked up another sponsor today. Rudy Project! They make specialty sunglasses for running as well as other eye wear for other sports. Helmets too!

2 mi wu to Davis Blvd.

9x1000m/ 400 jog @6:35-6:40

1 mi cd

Kept my HR at 80% for the duration.

Some were harder than others depending on if there was a hill or not. Felt like I gave a good effort! HR averaged 79%/max for entire duration.

7 mi @ 7:05ap for Davis Blvd. Almost to my goal of averaging 7:00 on that darn course!! 

10 mi total= 7:39ap

Ave Twin Peaks sunrise with The Lloyd brothers and Scott. Had to leave the group and hustle down the last couple of miles since I was running late. Felt surprisingly good today considering yesterday's workout!

I'm also trying out new fueling strategies during my workouts so I can avoid getting dizzy at the end of every single race! Learned some great tips from Craig today that might just help! Salt caps and tums...

6:00am- long run+ workout combo on Main Strret to Farmington and back. Felt the hills today.

4 mi wu

3x2x3mi tempo (7:07, 6:51,7:07ap) 800 jog

2 mi cd

15mi-7:53

My heart rate was a bit elevated during the warm-up. Garman recovery advisor said I was only "fair" recovery wise, instead of the usual "good." With my My legs  tired going into the workout, I made an early decision that I would just get the miles and without any workout if it got bad enough. Luckily my lega held out better than expected... but now they're shot again and that's okay:) Garmin says I need 3 recovery days now. I wish. One time it said I needed 5 days after a workout, so I guess I'm making progress. On the bright side, the race predictor has me at a 3:00 marathon finish. I could see a 5 mins variance there. Good to see I'm on the right track.

Afterwards I felt like I was in a Tri having to force a transition. My in-laws are in town and were waiting for me to get home so we could all go out to breakfast. I showered and got ready in eight minutes. I forgot to shave one armpit.

walking and running to get 8.25. My knee has been niggling all weekend, but it should be good for this week or I'll supplement for an elliptical workout.

A rollerblader stole my Strava course records on LPT. I'm going to go get a horse and steal them back!

In other news...

2 mi wu

4x1.5 mi @6:48/ 800 jog

1 mi cd

Knee felt great:)

=10mi @ 7:21 ap

7 easy miles

30 mins of upper body and hip exercises

Tomorrow's workout has me super duper scared. 10 mi @ mp. I'm scared it will be hard and then make me dobut my pace for Boston. I guess it's good to test it out and see if it's doable. The most I have gone is 8. I can't decide if I should do it on some rollers (Davis) or flat like LPT. I think if I can do it on the rollers then I'll be more confident. Hummm...

FYI- Shoebuy.com has a 20% off promotion going on now. It seems rare you can get a discount on some of the more popular running shoes. Free shipping and returns.

1mi wu

1 teaser mi @6:56

20 min break drive home and jump on TM

10 mi @ 1:08:35 (6:51ap)

1mi wog cd 

I get psyched out, but not often. Today was a challenge.

Today's workout had me psyched out, because I was so scared that the pace was not going to feel comfortable enough for a marathon. If I can't run 10 miles at marathon pace, but magically expect to on race day, I'm in trouble!

I drove  down to LPT to avoid traffic since I was doing it late morning. The forecast said it would rain, and it started to. After a couple miles, it started to rain more and I could not get myself excited to run a 10 mile tempo in the rain nor did I want fun shafing patterns on weird parts of my body. 

I decided to take it inside after mowing through ideas of where I could possibly run outside and stay covered. It occurred to me that a 10 mile pavilion did not exist. So I took it inside to the most boring Treadmill of all, the one in my basement, pushed all the way up to the wall,  facing a window with the blinds stuck down.  I stared at white blinds for over an hour. That was the hardest part of all. 

So it began, 9 tempo miles at marathon pace. There was no way I was doing 10 since I had already done one tempo mile on the trail. I jumped off twice to quickly swallow a gel and kept going. I decided to make the time go by faster by cutting it into three blocks of 5k's. They all were 21:00- 21:24. It turns out nothing was exciting about that and every 5k was predictable since my pace hardly varied. I also knew my pace on the treadmill was not going to be a true reflection, so I sped it up in the 6:40s, and averaged  6:51ap overall. I was not about to turn up the incline today! Nope.

When I finnaly got to 9, I made myself go one more to 10. Cause I knew it would haunt me all day if I didnt! Overall it was okay. I was a bit concerned about my heart rate, it stayed near 85% for most of the run, higher than most of my other comparable efforts have been. I'm going to be in trouble if I plan to keep my heart rate at 85% of its max for the duration of the marathon! I knew I was just really tired and had the whole "cumulative fatigue" thing going on.  

I'm so glad this one is over!! Next week I have a 12 mile race simulation and then slowly taper from there. These last 3 weeks of training have been so draining. C'mon Boston!

Shake out run.

Pearl Izumi sponsored fun run on JPT with a fun group. Untimed and not a race, just a group run with a raffle. I got a hat and a cool shirt that I'm going to wear everyday. ~8:07ap

4 easy and lazy

Davis blvd. rollers. One of these days I'm going to average sub 7 on this course! 

2 mi wu/cd

2x3mi tempo /mile jog

(6:52, 6:57, 6:50) =6:53 ap

8:33 jog

(6:55, 6:53, 6:30)= 6:43ap

=7:03ap

Nice downhill on last mile, tried to hold back without looking at my watch. Whoops! Otherwise, happy with the splits. The workout was supposed to be ran at 6:50ap.  I figured for this course anything 6:55-7:05 would be a comparable effort. The ups and downs made the effort feel harder to gage pace. Started to feel it on mile 5 but eased up with the last mile downhill. 

Nice jaunt in the dark with Karen on Davis.

Runch with Scott on the Twins. I was breathing harder today than necessary. Only slightly alarming since I'm apparently well rested. I love my PI shoes!

8 stroller miles with Landon to plant water. Stopped many times to look around and watch the fields burn by LPT. ~10:30ap

It turns out pushing a stroller is hard for me.

These were pretty much all hard miles for me. My legs were like lead from the start. 16 mi with Kam, 8:19ap.

Today was meant to be a 12 mile race simulator but I made a few mistakes leading up to it, which I will document for my own records- that will otherwise be boring.

Right-

Mentally prepared myself and felt ready, again mentally only. 

Planted water.

Declined a challenge on Thursday to race from Peak to Peak w/ Scott and just watched him do it, when I really wanted to. I was proud for saying no. Okay that sums up anything I did right.

Wrong-

Ran on Wednesday when it was a rest day.

Ran the Twins on Thursday when it was supposed to be an easy 10. It made me a little sore. I'm out of trail shape!

Friday I pushed my five-year-old in a stroller, in the sun and felt exhausted. I haven't pushed that stroller in years, nonetheless with a five-year-old inside! Plus I was only supposed to do an easy 6 mi shakeout.

Came home and took a super hot bath. Should have been an ice bath:/ I think this caused soreness to linger and not recover well.

Then ran around later in the heat of the day w/ a bunch of boys at the park playing obstacles- for my sons birthday party. By 5:00 I was dead and my legs were like lead. It was clear that I would not be ready nor tapered to run any quality miles the next day. Instead, I dragged for 16 miles with Kam down Main to Farmington and took LPT back. Glad for the company.

Day off to prep for tomorrow's tempo.

 12 mi simulator run today. I drove down to LPT this morning and began after a 2mi wu. The pace was supposed to be marathon pace. I decided to go by feel and not watch my pace.  I ended up averaging 6:55 overall (aimed for 6:55-7:00). I took a quick GU somewhere in the middle and resisted the urge to stop and stretch, but instead hurried on to quickly get back on pace. Felt good, but it was boring to slowly suffer by myself. I feel good about this one today!

Splits: 6:46, 6:59, 6:55, 6:52, 6:51, 6:53, 6:49, 7:11, 6:57, 6:57, 6:56, 6:54

12mi= 1:23:01, 6:55ap

recovery 5 miles

Easy 5 on Davis

Progression 10 miler down Main. 7:35ap for 12 miles +1.5cd

1.5 mile hike with kids to Centerville waterfall.

Quick lunch Mueller Park run with Scott. I was breathing like a maniac for the first 1.5 miles while he talked. I could barely give any verbal indications I was listening. The first mile always makes me feel super out of shape!

  Unintentional rest day.

6:00am- Plant a fitness TM workout. I chose to do my workout on the TM this morning because I was so tired and didn't feel like I could easily force myself to do any quality miles without a conveyor belt assisting. Not a tough one, a welcome relief compared to the past month. Pace felt good and non-taxing. I hardly felt like I needed a break after each one, and felt like I could have just made it into a tempo workout, but that wasn't today's plan. I'm suprised I even felt that way. Things are shaping up well for Boston. 

2.5 wu/cd

5x1 mi @ 6:39 w/400 jog

6mi = 6:50ap

5:30am- 12.5 miles, 2 peaks, 4:02:30 w/ Scott. Lots of slippery climbing and scrambling up Little Black Mt. in the snow. Not much,  but just enough to make everything slippery and difficult.  Then we hit Ave Twins on the way down because it's Spring Break and we wanted to. Counting this for my long run. Came back and sat in an ice bath then put on my compression tights and walked around with a muffin top the rest of the day. 

Easy Moab miles.

Corona Arch hike with family.

Early morning run- 8 miles, 7:57ap at PF.

6:00am- Ran 7+ miles down Main with 8X400 pickups around hmp.

Last tempo before Boston!

TM workout at PF.

2.5mi wu

3x2mi @6:55ap

800 active rest between sets

1 mi cd

My legs are just beat and haven't had a chance to recover from this past week fully. Took the day off to give them a breather. I'd rather error on the side of caution at this point. Everything is starting to poke it's little niggling head out.

Easy 8 mi TM run @ 7:46ap.

At this point I am trying to avoid any hilly runs and just keep my legs moving. I don't need any more dead leg muscles! That trail run last week found new muscles in my legs that I haven't activated in a long time. Not terrible, but not comfortable with the short time table left. blah blah blah.

7:00am- Easy 5+ around the neighborhood. 

The longest 4 miles 8:53ap. Just felt that way as I was blowing in the wind to and fro. I'm getting sluggish. I guess that means I'm tapering right. Right? And I have a gut full of whole grains. 

It's my birthday and a scheduled day off. I woke up to a sticky note from my husband giving me my first clue for a scavenger hunt filled with prizes throughout the day. He timed them all well so it kept me busy. The most clever was a note saying that the hunt was done until 11:09 and to enjoy the gifts till then. At exactly 11:09, a loud song started playing somewhere in the house. Behind a picture frame, he had a battery powered alarm with a present and note by it, saying that the hunt was back on. Loved it! Anyway ended with me getting a camera that I wanted so I can post selfies all day long.

Aside from the hunt, I deep cleaned the house while it snowed all day long. Apparently this storm brought in more snow than January, February and March combined. Believe it.

Easy 4 miles at gym. I have a right sided niggle that has played with my head for the past two days. It was aching when I went to sleep and woke up this morning. I think as soon as I run, it will go away. I'm going to call it a taper niggle. Those are psycophysical and can be thought away.

Bustling miles around Boston.

What a great experience I had running the Boston Marathon today! Okay, first the numbers~

The field consisted of 30,251 total participants. Going into the race I was ranked 7,607 and finished exactly 5,200th.

The women's field had 13,751 runners, and I placed 526th overall- or the top 4% (which makes the number more fun for me:)

Steve and I flew in on Saturday and settled into our Hotel in Somerville. We drove the course and ate to our hearts desires. The expo was a riot. Picture the energy of Oprah's audience, having a free-for-all in her closet. The Adidas' clothes were being torn through as though they were free. Everyone needed a piece of official Boston marathon attire, including myself. I was in and out as fast as possible so I could stay off my legs and relax. 

The night before, I spent some time going back and fourth on my options for clothes. I spent the month prior testing my clothes in my workouts. From the socks to the sports bra, I had this cute and coordinated uniform that did not chafe nor ride up. However once the weather appeared to be a factor, I spent the day before purchasing multiple layers and going back and fourth on my options. The last thing I wanted to do was be too cold, too warm or too uncomfortable. This may not have been too hard to plan if it weren't for the very clear instructions given to us all. 1. No bags were allowed on the busses to the starting line. 2. Any layers of clothes worn were to be somewhat fitted to the body and 3. Any clothes discarded before and during the race were to be donated. Normally I would pack several options, but I had no choice but to just put on all my layers and plan to donate along the way. 

The weather going into this race was rather torturous, so much so, it became comical to run. The forecast called for 40° weather, 100% rain, and winds ranging from 20-30 mph, increasing along the way. Well,  Boston was certainly going to be memorable!

I woke up at 5:30 AM, took a quick shower and got ready. I ate a banana, yogurt, grain bar, and sipped on Gatorade. Steve accompanied me to the Boston Commons, where for the fist time, I was overcome with the magnitude of this event. Thousands of runners lined up for the busses with the help of many orange-jacketed volunteers. I felt so grateful to be there and felt a deep gratitude for my husband in that moment. Memories filled my mind of the countless leg rubs, encouraging words, and patience he freely gave me during my tedious months of training. I had never felt more certain that he was a main contributor in my efforts to step up to the starting line that day.

As I walked on to the bus, I immediately felt as though I had walked in the boy's bathroom. Nearly every seat was filled with a male. At first I was certain I had stepped onto the wrong bus, but the pink-haired driver assured me otherwise.  As we entered the freeway, the driver picked up the speed. She started weaving in and out of traffic and riding in-between the lines! A few men from the back of the bus rushed up to the front and asked her if she was okay, she assured us all that she was more than capable of driving us there to safety. The next 20 or so minutes were filled with multiple scares. We witnessed her closer her eyes and doze off?!? She veered on off into the emergency exit lane, almost hit several cars, threatened to share lanes with another bus, and hit speeds that were never meant to be achieved on a school bus odometer. During this time, men are yelling at her to pull over while several are standing in the front, telling her how to drive. One guy across the way had his head on his lap, another guy was wildly cursing, someone else was speaking tongues and I'm starting to wonder if a terrorist is driving our bus! At one point she decided to turn on the radio to calm our "marathon nerves" and blasts some rock/rap music through the speakers. I suppose no one had their phones on them, or no one had thought to contact police, but we endured the most terrifying ride to Hopkington. Eventually, we reached the athletes village. Everyone quickly fled out from the bus, began kissing the earth, and in unison began crying and frailing our bodies like babies; just so happy to be alive. Just kidding, but we were all clearly glad to have arrived safety. Several of the men approached the police standing outside the entrance and reported the driver for a recommended sobriety test.

By this time, if I had any nerves leading up to the race, they had dissipated! I entered the village and again witnessed thousands of runners in a giant fenced arena, heavily guarded with actual soldiers. We were certainly being watched over. Vendors from various sport companies handed out bars, fruit, primers and emergency blankets. For the next 2+ hours, we sat curled up under cold tents, as it started to pour outside. I was so grateful Steve had packed me a poncho, hand warmers and a emergency sleeping bag. I was bundled up like a cocoon, although cramped, I was warm and protected until the start. 

RACE STRATEGY TANGENT- skip the next three paragraphs to get on with the race!

Normally I would spend this time once again going over my planned splits, racing strategy and even visualizing and repeating mantras:) Yes, these things calm me down and make me feel prepared for the competition ahead, but today was different.

I had trained and planned to run 3:03 or 6:55-7:00 splits. My training had given me the confidence that this was quite obtainable. However the week leading up to the race I wondered if this was going to be possible. One particular workout the week before had left my legs abnormally sore and I wondered if they would generate fast enough before the race. Each day they were less sore, but were very much fatigued and just felt dead. I knew this was not caused by the taper, but a natural process I had been through many times before, as I have recovered from past races and workouts. This time it was far to close to the race. Two days out I decided to stop running completely. I knew this would risk feeling stale on race day, but I thought it was a better scenario so that my legs could just heal. Realistically speaking, It was clear the day before my legs were just not in the place they needed to be to hit my goal time. Additionally, the weather was bound to slow me down, but it was actually my physical limitations that ultimately led to me shifting my plans for the race.

New plan! Today, I was going to take it in and stay consistent.This was something I desperately needed after coming off my last marathon. I wanted today to be memorable- because there were too many factors I couldn't control at this point and I feared it would end poorly from me otherwise. I couldn't mentally afford another one of those races right now. Today was a celebration for me, and perhaps I could gain something that would eventually aid another day, when attacking my goal would be feasible. Under the circumstances, I needed to scrape what good I could and realize it's all an entwined effort towards great things to come. "Be stubborn about your goals, flexible on your methods."

At 9:00 AM they started filling the corrals for the first wave.Volunteers lined the streets with bags for our shedded layers, but I couldn't get myself to do it an hour before the start! Although being drenched was inevitable, I wanted to offset it as long as possible! After annoucing the elite men field, I quickly peeled the layers down as far as I could stand, but kept an extra layer on for the race to shed later. The gun went off promptly at 10:00 AM and it took appox. 7 minutes for me to walk/jog to the start.

As expected, my legs did not want to work. They were extremely tight and felt heavy. Given the weather, I expected some of that anyway for the start. My first mile pace was outside of my control. The tight spaces were many and gaps were few. We were like thousands of guppies in a pool of water, splashing around and trying to find our way. I didn't fight it, but gladly went along with the other school of fish. By mile 3, I was able to start weaving in and out of runners. This continued throughout the race, passing, passing, passing. 

The spectators were unlike anything I'd ever seen. All along the entire 26.2 miles, spectators filled the roads on both sides of the course. They cheered through the rain and wind as they offered food, popsicles, high fives; and for some, hugs and kisses. After the 5k, I never checked my watch again. I got into comfortable groove and I took it all in!  I read the signs, I high fived sections of spectators and I re-configured my outfit and bib several times until I had reached a satisfactory arrangement. I had even written my name on my arms, so once they were exposed, suddenly it felt as though they were all there cheering just for me, "Go Tara!" That was fun:) 

All of the miles ran together. I do remember passing the town of Wellesley where thier all-women's college lined the streets screaming and cheering for the runners. I could hear the male runners talk about it and get excited as we drew near. We could hear the roaring cheers even in the town before. The males sped up, some stopping for kisses, while I unconsciously slowed down and watched it all. I have no idea why, but I had a good time seeing the reactions of all the men. Gosh, it was funny. Realizing my pace had come to a dawdle, I resumed my pace as I set my sights on the Newton hills ahead.

Around mile 17 the first of four peaks occur until you reach the infamous Heart Break Hill at mile 21. The wind was also at it's strongest here and at times, it felt I was running in place. There was no charging here, but I did work to keep a consistent effort. Although initally a critic, Heart Break Hill was quite draining under the conditions and having already ran 20 miles in it, I felt it's toll. However, it was quickly over and forgotten about. 

The last 5 miles were mostly downhill and I was feeling great here. I cruised down the hills passing people by the dozens, maybe hundreds. I felt like I was in a car, passing objects and feeling like a million bucks. I thought I had picked up the pace, but after seeing the splits, I realize I didn't, but perhaps others had unvoluntaritly succomed to the hypothermic conditions, as it was terribly numbing entering the city of Boston. I'm not sure what everyone was going through out there, but for me, this was one of the greatest moments I have felt in running. I felt like a superhero with so much energy and clarity of mind. I never got dizzy, which is a miracle alone. This was one of the greatest moments for me during my time in Boston.

As I approached the last mile, I took one last moment to take it all in and reflect on the immense gratitude I felt for my family and friends. There is something about a marathon that makes you overly emotional and grateful. I felt it. I didn't want it to end (which by the way I have NEVER understood when people would say that. Who does not want a marathon to end!?) After the last turn, I saw the finish and gave one final push in an effort to look good for my family. I never did look good (and I have the pictures to prove it) but crossed the line feeling so happy and alive! I collected my medal and gladly accepted a warming poncho. Then I heard my parents call my name!!! Since my parents are serving a mission in the area, I haven't been able to see them for the past year until that moment. It was the greatest. They hugged and coddled me all along the 1.5 mile walk back to the bag drop. The rain was pouring and people were dropping like flies from hypothermia. The cold was absolutely paralyzing at this point, but I had my parents on each side of me, warm clothes were in sight, and we were walking in the direction of Steve, so things were good.

Overall, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't hard. I was definitely tired and the weather was a definite contributor to that. I'm not sure I'll ever reach a point in my life where covering the marathon distance (at any pace) is not challenging. I'm just grateful I was able to do it with the energy I had and the mental clarity to take it all in. That just never happens for me in the marathon, and so for that, I am stoked!

Boston lived up to all the hype. I was able to take it in and walk away feeling happy with my race. I wondered if I would feel bad afterwards for not attacking my goal-because there are few things in running that match the feeling of having set a personal record, but today mine was different. I needed this today. It gave me a boost and appreciation for things I had taken for granted. I walked away with my second slowest time ever, but achieved more today than I planned on walking away with. Tremendous gratitude. What an experience!

"Run with a heart of gratitude and you'll travel farther than you ever thought you could." -unknown

Splits: 7:22, 7:05, 6:59, 6:51, 7:09, 7:04 (GU), 7:00, 7:04, 7:07, 7:15, 7:21 (GU), 7:05, 7:20, 720, 7:25 (GU), 7:06, 7:42, 7:40, 7:23, 7:43, 8:11 (GU), 7:22, 7:24, 7:25, 7:21, 7:24, 2:33 (.38)

Freedom Trail x2 waking tour. Legs feel pretty good!

4.5 miles at PF, some running, some elliptical.

6:00AM- Met up with Kristen O. for a post marathon rehash down Main Street. She was more peppy than I felt I could do today. My hammy's were so tight! 7:53ap.

Last Friday I tweaked my back just enough for it to remind me of my past back injury in 2012. While not as bad, it is very much there. I'm hoping I can cool the burning before this weekend. For some reason, I thought it would be fun to run a 50 miler less than two weeks out from Boston- a distance I've never come close to covering before. Also, I'll be hitting my all time highest mileage in the week. A lot of firsts. I am excited though, I will have a lot of support out there and it will be pretty slow and scenic. I plan on running it around 11 hours, with several stops at aid stations along the way. Zion Traverse, here I come! Plus if I need to, I have no shame quitting after 30 miles, but don't tell anyone in my party that. They just can't fathom it:) At this point, I'm more concerned about my back than my legs holding out. I'm really hoping I can cover the distance without being a total disaster.

I'm pretty stoked for the scenery and company, however. I have no doubt I'll learn so much more about the trail and ultra world from these seasoned athletes.They have been so gracious and patient with me. I plan to just soak it all in.

The Zion Traverse!

Well, sort of.

I carpooled with a fun group down to Zion to meet up with a bunch of other WMW's. We left late Thursday night and arrived early morning on Friday. We set up camp quickly and tried to get a few hours of rest, but I ended up not sleeping more than 20 mins that night in Jennilyn's awesom van. The next morning Craig L. was dropped off for his 150 miler. The rest of the day we ate and crewed Craig until the others would join that night.

Around 6:00 everyone was off and I was the sole crew captain. I drove over an hour to the next stop to Hop Valley Trail and set things up for them to come in. At 9:30 each came in with different issues. Long story short, the run was done and the day was open for Saturday. Although they highly encouraged me to do the 50, I didn't want to do it unles the others were healthy to do it with me, so instead I opted to hike Angel's Landing and the Narrows. So much fun!

A very fun run up Mueller Park with the Snorkeler's. 

11:00 AM- muddy, rainy, thunder/lightning, puddle jumping, beautiful BST run.  It was really all of that and a bag of chips.

5:45AM- Pipeline trail up Millcreek Canyon, my new favorite trail.

If you don't take a picture then it never happened. 

6:45AM- Crossfit exercises at PF. 

Rainy race rehash with Kam down Main. Felt tired today. 8:49ap

Peaceful, yet ungraceful run on BST. Took a nice little tumble at the end. I can't think and run at the same time. 10:33ap

It's been nice running on the trails again after training on the roads so much for Boston. I just can't get over the beauty of the mountains this time of year. Wow.

BST Towers to N. Canyon park with Matt and Scott.

Progressive repeats. Short story, they were mile repeats, but they really weren't.

4 mile wu down Davis Blvd.

7x 3 mins @6:30's 

1 min jog inbetween

After each mile I rested for 90 seconds and ate a hamburger.

Splits- 6:52, 6:58, 6:51, 6:17

There was not much rhyme or reason to this workout, just something to get my legs moving faster again.

8 miles total, 7:29ap

PM; Walk n' talk with a Doc 2.2 miles

Main Street. Word to the wise, don't plan on coming to Bountiful for the next 4 months unless you want to be overwhelemed with traffic, consturction, closures and confusion.  My route to my home is especially a riot. 7:54 ap

Cold and windy in Gangsters Paradise. Aka JRP in WV.  I loved running across the message on the pavement, "death"  with an arrow pointing ahead. :) Actaully enjoyed myself after the initial fear left in the first 5 mins. 

 Paced Karen for the last 10k of the Ogden marathon today. She did so well! Cold, windy, rainy, of course. 

Mueller Park to Rudy's Flat.  Humid weather and sunny enough to give me a slight tan line. That almost never happens – mostly because I lather up in a full bath of sunscreen before I even think about going out in the sun. Redheads.

Saw a couple doing some sort of  awkward meditation stance together. Had to be there.

BST. Strava gave me one trophy for the run. I was shooting for 38. It's all about the trophies.

BST, Craig and Scott.

Pm- walk w Steve

Mt Aire with Matt, Craig, Scott, Zac, MVH and Ashley. My sweet van also died.

View Benchmark and some unnamed smaller peak on the way back.

 Woulda, shoulda, coulda, but didn't. 

City Creek road with Scott and Matt. 11 mi 

PM- Nice walk with Steve 1.5 mi

Ten miles on Pipeline Trail with Craig, Scott, Matt, MVH. It's crazy to always have someone to run with. I'd never run alone on the trails anyway. Signed up for my first offical ultra, the Skyline 50 miler in July. Trail training is a nice change from the road for a bit. I can tell it's shaping my body differently, but I'm less achy overall, which is new for me. Planning on a Fall marathon along with some 5-10k's this summer!

Sore hip, icing and taking the day off.

Run/walk/sunburn around Bountiful Pond.

Still feel the hip a little, taking the day off and should be good for next week!

3 miles on BST with family. Trekking poles and temper tantrums.

MP

Twins

 Happy national running day! Spent with  good buddies, Kam, Andy, Becky on LPT.  Followed up with some drills at the church with my little buddy, Landon 

Pipeline

Towers/N. Park

6 miles down Main. 7:35ap. Felt great but tried not to push the pace since I'm planning on a 35-45 miler on Monday somewhere in the Wasatch Mountians. If I don't return, contact ScottW., he's responsible.  

Also, this is my highest mileage week ever! My second largest was the week of May 10. I must be running an ultra next month! :)

Lots of miles for my first ultra in the Wasatch Mountains. 7.5 hours of running, 2 peaks,  desolation peak and Scotts Peak. lots of bathroom breaks in the wild and 3 hours of  nausea like I've never had. Hot, humid and high elevation made the run a bit harder, but  refreshing spring  water, good company and the confidence boost was well worth it .  Just one month left till the Skyline 50 miler, I'm feeling ready!

Hey, I'm not sore! Shock of the century for me.  I'm feeling pretty tired though. Tomorrow could be another story...

80 mins easy on BST.  No signs of soreness but not exactly feeling fresh.  I'm loving the progress!

6.5 mi with summertime in IF. 7:26ap

A nice lil' hike.

Paced the Drop 13 Half marathon today with American Flyer's Race Pacers. Came right on time at 1:40.00 with Josh Hernandez as my  pacing partner. 

Most miles ever this week  and my legs feel great! 

4 mi walk w steve

Mp to Rudy's 

Mt. Raymond w/ a fun crew!

hike and walk x2

Am: Mp ~9 mi

Pm- Davis Blvd 8mi 7:29ap

Alta loop w/ Matt, Scott, Ashley, Zac

4 mi walk w steve

Devils castle with Matt, Scott, Zac, Craig.  So much crazy climbing! Loved it.

city creek road and trail

AM- 3 mi w Steve up City Creek

PM- Gobblers Knob and Circle All Peak w Matt and Scott. 8 mi

AM: MP with Landon and Steve,  5 mi

PM: Sugarloaf peak lunch run

Pfiefferhorn with Scott to Store a cache at the peak for Jennilyn, MVH, and Aaron. It was hot, hard, and so much fun!

Walking  loops around the church lawn with Steve. 

 A few easy miles to test out my knee from a small fall I had coming down Pfeifferhorn on Saturday. Ran the last 5K in 20:37. Fast pace felt fine.

I'm also not sure how to log my shoe miles for this run. I discovered after the fact that I had ran with two different shoes on. Wow, I must be really tired.

PM- walk w Steve, 1.25mi

Red Baldy and Sunrise peak up Alta with Scott and Craig. So, so tired. Less than 3 hours of sleep on some very tired legs. Time to taper for the 50m next week.

Timpanogos daytime with a fun group!

Timp, again. This time in the night with 30+ other weirdos. Tripped and fell so hard on both knees. Limp up to the top, hobble on the way down. TIME TO TAPER FOR REALS THIS TIME! Plus, I was kinda in a bratty mood.

Walk around to loosen up knees and watch other peoples fireworks, with Steve.

Easy does it around Bountiful. 

Walkin' around, trying not to feel too lazy.

Ashley's sunrise birthday run up Big Mountain pass.

Easy miles

Mile two brought heavy breathing, burning calves and a hand full of doubts. Mile three brought a blister...already. This was setting up to be a very rough race today. I felt tired and dead. I could tell that the others had a lot of pep in their step. They were laughing, and even possibly enjoying themselves! It was dark and my phone light was the only thing keeping me from tripping over exposed roots and rocks. I wasn't sure about this. Who on earth thought running two consecutive marathons up mountains was a good idea? I still feel like I don't get the marathon and somehow I thought I would just give this distance a whirl?  It brought me back to my days as a child, climbing the ascent of a roller coaster and waiting to get off, but knowing it was going down no matter how much I whined or cried. I was in this. The doubts were steadily creeping and I had no clue what the outcome would be today- in fact, at that point I wondered if I was even going to finish the race ~12 hours later. However, I did know that I had trained hard and I had experienced friends who mentored me along the way. I finally thought to myself, "well, they said I could do it, so lets find out," And with that, I trudged behind, huffing and puffing as I always do.

The first 5 miles was a hard bushwhacking climb up to James Peak. The downhill was super technical with slippery rocks. I started to feel really good around mile 10 but my left knee was feeling quite painful from a fall I had last week up Timp. It never slowed me down, but I felt it for the rest of the race and tried to send good vibes to my knee. As the course smoothed out a bit, I was surprised to find that my energy increased each mile from there on out, although that may not be accurate, it just seemed as though I felt more driven with each step closer to the end.

Miles 10-20 were nice and easy and I kept a steady pace with my friend Scott at this point. We found ourselves running under 8:00 min miles, but then would try to slow down the pace. I'm so grateful he encouraged me to slow down here! We started climbing again and the temps were too. Mile 23 or so, we learned that we were in 5th and 6th overall due to a few going off course. We saw Jennilyn and Chelsea here who were so helpful aiding us and getting us on our way. Around mile 24 Scott got sick and encouraged me to go ahead. I was scared to go alone, but decided to be tough and just do it. I was leading the women at that point, but the second place girl was only two or less mins behind. She looked strong and focused, so I pushed hard from that moment on and never looked back or let up. I didn't care if she or anyone else passed me, I was just going to go as hard as I could for those last 25+ miles. I ran every thing that was even remotely runnable, and hiked if I had to. Otherwise, I pushed it! I found the pink markers and each of the stations of which I checked in. I prayed many times along the way that I wouldn't get lost and then would soon thereafter find a pink flag making the way. Lots of good experiences out there alone. I felt good the entire time, but had to play a lot of mind games to stay focused for the last 5 or so hours by myself. I found myself worrying about the others and wondering if they were also tripping on the same spots I was:)

My legs burned like crazy coming down of Ben Lomond Peak around miles 30-38! I couldn't wait for the next climb at this point to give my legs some respite. Then it got really hot and windy. I had to chase my hat off the course a few times and figure my hair out (did I mention that my hair thing broke at mile 10!). That was a nightmare and I looked ridiculous trying to keep my layers in my hat that didn't want to stay on my head. 

The climb from 38-40 was just brutal and the footing was difficult. Somehow I passed a couple of  guys here (maybe one was a pacer in hindsight). I was in 4th overall until DJ passed me around mile 45-47. He was cruising (and had just ran extra miles). At that point I was 5th overall and learned that I was around an hour ahead of the second place woman! I had no idea I had made that kind of gap and it encouraged me to keep going hard. I wondered if I could go under 10 hours, but since my Garmin died, I couldn't do the math accurately and had no clue what pace I was really going. Thankfully, Chelsea gave me her Garmin to use for the last section of the race and gave me some much needed caffeine beans!)  I never really knew what mile I was on, so I just kept my focus on pushing hard and creating a bigger gap, and trying hard to keep each mile under 10 mins, not sure if I did though.

The last aid station at Wind Surfer Beach was hilarious. I had ran out of water 40 mins prior, and the volunteers were concerned with my state (even though I did feel good, considering.) They baptized me by ice water, dumping cups over my head without notice (Ahhhh! thank you?!) but I loved their help. I loved seeing Ashley and her family there cheering me on! It was hard to get going for the last 4 miles after that, and I went off course just a little but turned around after turning on my phone to navigate back on course. I came in strong and felt amazing! I loved having my family there cheering me on. They are the reason I get to train everyday. Loved this race, and I even love trail running as much as I love the road. Never thought I would say that:)

First female with the CR, and placed 5th overall. 11,740 vertical climb and lots of technical, non-running terrain. I did what I could, now I'm wondering if I can do better. What a challenge this race was for me. I loved it.

4 mile ascent to Red Pine Lake backpacking w Steve. Camped over night in the best place ever!

4 mi descent from red Pine Lake w Steve

4 mi at 7:27, 2 mi walk and weights at gym.

8.3 mi @7:14 ap last 10k at 6:56ap

walk w steve

AM: agility

Towers w RB

Grandeur

Spanish fork w Christi 7:55ap on our old stomping grounds.

AM: agility + 4 miles

Pm:Wire

Renyonlda peak 

15 Main Street 7:27ap

pm: 3mi  walk w Steve

city creek

 Honeycomb, Wolverine, Patsy Marley, Tuscrora peaks up Alta.

was going to do Little Black but storm was looming so did City Creek Road and trail, 12 miles in 1:51. Humid, felt good with caffeinated sport beans and water stops. New N2's fresh out of box felt amazing!

view benchmark with Arriene, Jen R and Scott

Gear: Lucy top, Lululemon Fast Track skirt, Pearl Izumi N2 shoes, and Pearl Izumi hat

Twins from I street

Pipeline. Felt good to run fast!

Gear: Lululemon Fast Track Skirt, Champion tank, Pearl Izumi N1 shoes

Kam and Andy on BST

Flat Top in Ophir. Where's that? Who knows.

Henrys, Kings, Cliff peaks with Scott, Matt, Craig and another guy I can't remember right now. And I broke my pinky. Had a blast!