Happy Saturday Run

The weather cooperated and it was a nice 34 degree morning. At 8am Tinkerbell and I were out the door to begin our first official 4 mile run. After the GPS came up we were off, Tink giving her official happy woof as we began. I think she'd be happier with a faster pace but luckily I was in charge. I decided to try some different scenery so we took to the parkway path heading north and then went up into our neighborhood and around to try some uphills and downhills.

Here are the results:
4 miles, 51:43 fastest mile 12:29 and slowest 13:16.
After the run we had a cool down walk for a half mile.

When we got home Tinkerbell got THE worst case of the zoomies. She was ALL over the house, upstairs and downstairs. Jan had a special breakfast for his volunteer work as a sound technician at the Festival of the Trees so I hurried to the shower. After my shower Tinkerbell finally looked more tired than me.

Here is my elevation summary:

Elevation Gain:	206 ft
Elevation Loss:	207 ft
Min Elevation:	4,285 ft
Max Elevation:	4,406 ft

Marathon Nutrition & Pace Team

Up early this morning so I decided to read a couple of chapters in Run Your First Marathon by Grete Waitz. For nutrition info they quote author Nancy Clark who recommends "that all marathoners practice both eating and running, since it is through trial and error that you can test when, what, and how much nutrition works best for you. And whatever you consume, your body can also practice digesting it." This sounds pretty funny until I think how picky a digestive track I have without jostling it around while running. Lots of work ahead on my running diet.

The book suggests to learn to run wearing a fanny pack with my own nutrition supplies. At this point in my training I really don't know how long it will take me, but it probably is a good bet I could be out there approximately 6 hours. So I will need to carefully plan my fuel intake and water intake and most importantly I will need to memorize what miles the porta potties are at!

While studying the website to see race cut-off time, I came across a free running support they offer during the marathon - a Pace Team. So, since I have no one to run with I decided to sign up. Here is what it says about it:

Running with a pace team is a great deal of fun. The mental pressure of calculating your pace is removed, as the leader does that for you; the emotional pressure of staying motivated is removed, as the leader does that for you; and some of the physical stress is reduced, as the pacer will keep you from going out too fast. We have had many runners tell us that they would not have reached their goal without the help of the pace team.

The advantages you gain from running with us can help make a difference in your final result to the point where you can finish faster than if you run the race alone. However, you still do have the biggest part in this happening. If you aren't properly trained, you won't get any magic benefit from running with the pace team. The marathon is still 26.2 miles, a distance that needs to be respected. But if you come to the starting line physically, mentally and emotionally prepared, you can definitely benefit from running with our group

It just sounds more fun every day doesn't it? You wanna do it now too. Tomorrow is 4 miles. Real snowy weather would force me inside but I'm hoping for a break, only need about 50 minutes.

Tip from a pace team member: The training in the difficult part—the Marathon is the reward. Believe in your training and enjoy the Marathon!

December 9th - Sad & Happy Feelings

Today my mom would have been 82. I sure miss sharing my daily challenges and triumphs with her. I wonder what she would have thought of all my new athletic goals. And Marley, my first grandson, is 4 today. I keep a favorite baby picture of him at my desk at work - he still has those cute baby chubby cheeks.

In the pool by 5:05am. Early morning to get my laps in before the master swim class arrives. The water is kinda cool, but once I get some blood flowing I warm up. Another goal achieved today, I have my 2000+ yards I need to be on track for the Desert Shark's swim competition this month. I am 400 yards ahead of planned 2000 a week because I will be gone during Christmas for a few days. Lap storage.

Swim today was 1200 yards. Time 37:06.

Running with company

This afternoon was nice run. Cloudy with temps about 44 degrees. Had my best friend and sweetheart Jan on his bike riding next to me and Chip also joined us. It was different having someone to talk to besides a Sheltie.

My stats for the run were right on goal: Run 2.5 miles and walk another .35 miles home. Total time: 36:34. This GPS watch is so cool.

Running Gear Essential: A Training Log

Read a great article early this morning about training logs in Rocky Mountain Running & Triathlon. Picked this little magazine up at my weekly visit with Stacy at Muscle Works. By the way, I noticed I have a cascade of bruises on the outside of my thighs. To help avoid so much future pain I ran (not literally) to Wasatch Running Center to buy a foam roller to stretch my muscles with. I am also going to put Prolytes in my water all the time. I do need any edge I can get.

So back to the training log article, and I quote Jose Jimenez, "While you certainly don't need a training log to hit the road and run, such information will provide motivation, insight, quiet suggestions for improvement, and a plan for your goal. It could be the separator between the recreational jogger and the dedicated runner. No gear junkie would ever turn away a product with those claims." And there we have it. I think I am a gear junkie. That is actually part of the motivation to run. Like today, I can hardly wait to get home and get that Garmin GPS on my wrist and take it out for a run. How is that for motivation!

As you can see I have already chosen to do my journal electronically, and I am still trying out several different actual training logs to find one I like. My blog with log is now where I can get to all my favorite sites.

So quoting Jose again, "Don't get to race week wondering if you have trained enough to meet your race goals. Get logging today!"

Swim chick - chlorine is my perfume

Swim days....get to the pool a little earlier. Today I got bumped to another lane for the master swimmers class, Saturday it was the water aerobics class, luckily in both cases there was another lane free or one to share. Note: Program brain to wake up earlier on swim days or set alarm.

The swim today was 1200 yards, about 36 minutes.

Week Two - Day One and the sun is out

And that means running outdoors! Yeah. Today was the first day running with a GPS on my arm. How cool is that! It takes the guess work out of how far I am going during practice runs. It was a great temperature: 43 degrees. Got the clothing right today. I picked the right shirt, pants, ear covers and I almost thought I misjudged by running with no gloves because my hands became cold quite quickly but it didn't take long and they warmed right up.

Miss Tinkerbell was my running companion today, and she was all fired up. Took a couple minutes for the GPS to find satellites and then we were off. All this time I thought to the bridge and back was under 3 miles, come to find out I've been telling everyone I haven't run further than a 5K when in fact a couple of weeks ago I actually ran 4 miles during my practice for The Human Race. Needless to say I was excited.

Stats for today, I will be brief because now I have lots of details for each mile... Ran 3 miles, 38:18 and then walked another .58 mile. Made today's marathon goal of run 20-35 minutes.

I am a Marathoner

I know I am only competing against myself
I set goals and work hard to accomplish them
I understand the power of the human will
I strive to help others in their quest for success
I know that I can face whatever road lies ahead
I am not satisfied with the status quo
My true self shines through I am a Marathoner

I found this on the internet today and thought this is who I am going to be. Those who have run before me have been reaching out to lend a hand in my quest for Marathon success, some in person and by email and some in books who don't even know me.

I know and yet I don't know what is ahead. It's going to be one of those experiences I will have to go through to understand what it is like.

Sweets not so sweet

Week one of training comes to a close. Slept in a little this morning but still wasn't light when I decided it was time to run so off to the gym. It didn't take too long on the treadmill before I was taking a little inventory on how I was doing. How are legs doing, fine. How is breathing doing, fine. How is stomach doing, not fine. I guess the power food I ate yesterday wasn't quite what I needed to fuel a workout. Those delicious cupcakes made by my niece Maddie and some chocolate trifle made by me were now taking a sugar revenge on my tummy. This is the first time I've had to fight my stomach to get my miles in. I sipped on some water and just kept going. I wanted to quit running, but instead decided to teach myself a lesson. Having a day off in the training schedule to s t r e t c h does not mean your stomach. I'm going to remember this.

Off the treadmill, with my bright red sweaty face, my 3 miles completed, a time of 36:45 - I headed to the dressing room bench and my recovery drink. Amazingly, my body was glad to have the drink and actually began to feel better. Good enough to do the little extra I had planned, the 1000 yard swim. The water was cool and relaxing and I made the swim in 34:30. I was pleased to make my 2000 yds this week for the USAT National Challenge, it puts me on track for the monthly shark goal of 8000 yds.

Time to get out the nutrition information I purchased from Debbie Perry and get on the success track as far as diet goes. I thought I could totally slip in a day of indulgence and get away with it. How wrong I was.

Early Swim

This morning was cross-training so I choose to swim. Logged 1000 yds. That is .57 of a mile. Time 32:25. Nothing earth shattering to report. Threw on some swim shorts and top, grabbed some clothes, my gym bag and a sweatshirt and off to Lifetime Fitness. At 5am the lap pool was not crowded. One other crazy girl, and she finished a few minutes after I arrived. I do know the rule of not swimming alone, but hope that doesn't apply if I can stand up anywhere in the pool.