Who spiked my Gatorade?! 5K Turkeython Race Recap

Happy Thanksgiving!
Yesterday was an all around fabulous day!
I am super tired right now but wanted to post so I'm going to break this up, sorry for the lack of writing skillz here tonight:)

5K Race Recap:


Woke up and felt really excited. The weather was beautiful and I was so excited. We had had torrential downpours all week so I really felt like the Lord was smiling down on Lace and I:)

Met Lacey and hopped in the car. When we arrived we got our bibs and then realized we were FREEZING so we got back in the car and took a few pics:)

woohoo!! first race bib!

 This is my super speedy friend, Becky, who is running CIM here soon...trying to make olympic trials with a 2:46 marathon! she used the 10K as a tempo run and ran the first 2 miles with me. 

Yes we wore matching outfits:) Lacey is my BF and she moves to Canada in 21 days:(:( I'm a bit devastated about the whole thing:(

Warm up:

Becky and I did a 1.75 mile warm up and I only got to fit in 2 strides before having to bust our butts to the start line:)
The path is narrow so they started us every 20 seconds in groups of 20ish or so. They had us line up according to our speed. I gave Lace a hug as we found our places in line and reminded her to Push it!! I told her I would be back for her, after I finished.

My PLAN was to run 6:30, 6:25, 6:20 and this is where I messed up. We started running and Becky kept yelling her time was 6:30ish and mine was saying 6:10...I didn't know what to do...My friend had also emailed me and told me to go out fast so I sort of let my mind get indecisive and decided to just go for it! This decision I regret. I SHOULD HAVE listened to John.

Us at the Start:

 That's my friend Becky in the blue.

Here goes Lace!

Lace waiving at her little boys, I LOVE the face of True happiness here!

Mile 1: 

First mile was 6:18. Crap! I knew it was too fast and I was not going to be running this progressively like I should have!
at mile 1.5 there was a short but very steep hill....my lungs were already tired and I knew I was only half way done. It's funny, but it wasn't the legs as much as it was my LUNGS...does that mean I need more speed work or more endurance?  curious.

Anyway...mile 2 was 6:35.
At this point, I relaxed too much. I thought I was still okay b/c I had banked some time in that first mile...but I should have trusted myself and known better b/c EVERY time I run my first mile too fast, I bonk!
Sure enough, my friend Sommer, ran by me at abuot a half mile to go and I had nothin left to kick in.
Mile 3 was 6:38. DANG IT!
I picked it up a bit the last .12 with a 6:22 pace but that was it:)

Final time was : 20:10  3rd place:)

Why is there a 10yr old kicking my butt?

 Kicking it into the finish....there's my not so cute face:)

That face has "tired" written all over it:)

I am SUPER Happy with my time. SUPER happy...BUT I am mad that I didn't stick to my plan. Every single 5K i've ever run, I have run this way! I don't know why I can't run it progressively like the rest of my races, so my new goal is to run my next 5K progressive. I think if I do another one in a month or so, I will surely break 20min. I am more than pleased with 20:10 off no speed work and it makes me exited to get closer to the sub 19min 5K in the next year:)

As Lacey came in , I was screaming like a banshee!! I lead her in til about .2 miles to go then ran over to the finish line to cheer her on!

 here we come.....

 I was so excited I was jumping up and down...I'm sure people thought I was nuts!

 she sprinted SO hard, I was SO friggin proud of her!

 I bawled like a baby! so excited for her! she finished with a 29:19!!!!

I am sure she didn't want her picture taken yet! LOL

After the Race, we tried to warm up again...it started to rain.....we stayed a little too long in the car b/c the kids almost missed their kids race! they jumped in right at the end and only got to run about .20 of a mile! OOPS!

I won a delicious COSTCO PIE for my 3rd place finish and it was Devine!!! Becky won 3 for taking first place in the 10K:)

All in all, a GREAT race!
I recommend this race to anyone for next year. Well, run, beautiful course all in the park on paved trail:)

 AJ, Meg and Erika after their kids race:)

My Turkeythoners:)

POST RACE: Who spiked my Gatorade?:


This is when the day got interesting.
When I got home, I was SO happy and just feeling on top of the world!
I knew I had to run a lot more easy miles to hit my 55mile goal this week. I couldnt' sleep (nap) so I got up an headed out.
I have never felt this before, but my legs were just BUZZING! it felt like I had little fire flies inside them...I had SO MUCH ENERGY! I have NO idea why...I think it might have been the adrenaline rush I was feeling from my 5K. I really felt optimistic that if I had just run a 20:10 off base miles, then 2012 was gonna be a great year for new PR's.

I started to run and had EVERY intention of just running easy miles.
However, as I started running..I progressively felt more energized! it was as if I had not just run a 5K at all!
This is how my splits went: I really can't explain how the hell this happened? It didn't feel hard AT ALL. No heavy breathing or nothing. I just felt ON TOP OF THE WORLD! It was a super euphoric feeling:)

Mile 1:   8:31 (half uphill) 
Mile 2:   7:56 
*Mile 3:   7:38 
*Mile 4:   6:42( mostly downhill) 
*Mile 5:   6:36 (but this one wasn't! What the heck???) 
*Mile 6:   7:39 
*Mile 7:   8:08 (uphill) 
*Mile 8:   8:25 (uphill) 
*Mile 9:   7:45 
*Mile 10:  7:35 (felt like I could have kept going for another 5 miles)


Overall pace: 7:41


So I pretty much ran a 10 mile tempo run! I could NOT believe the energy I felt. 
I finished the day with 15.5 miles total. 


It was one of the best days I've had in a WHILE. Days like this make all the hard days worth it!!!

You HAVE to go read this..because it's just that inspiring......

www.livethelifeyouchoose.blogspot.com

Finally a post! this woman is SO inspiring to me and tomorrow I get to watch her cross the finish line of her first 5 K. The fact that I am crying while writing THIS means I will probably be  a blubbering mess tomorrow!!!

First of MANY Very wet runs, and a few tidbits of inspiration:)

This morning I was awoken by a little wisper in my ear saying "mommy, I had a bad dream"....I grabbed my beautiful 7 yr old girl and pulled her into bed with me. I snuggled her tight, told her mommy was here and she was safe and rubbed her warm little back. After about 10min i tucked her back into her bed. That was at 6am. (I s houldnt' have stayed up til midnight).
Next, my little 4yr old monkey came in at 6:30 saying "mommy, I'm Hungy"......I managed to convince her to go play so I could sleep the last 15min before my alarm went off at 6:45.

I got up at 6:50 and I could hear the sound of torrential down pours outside.
I say to myself "It is just rain. Water never killed anyone". The alternative is the Treadmill and we are not getting along right now....so I put on my 2 layers of clothes.....a hat, 2 hoods, gloves etc...and was out the door.

I wish someone was there to take a picture so I could remember this day...but this was the closest I could find that resembled what my 65minutes and 8 miles in the rain and hard wind looked like this morning:

Half the side walks were flooded and I was drenched before I even got to mile 2:)

I couldn't help but think of the morning though...my sweet little baby girls, upcoming thanksgiving..and ALL that I have been blessed with.
I couldn't help but think of GOD....the creator of ALL things...of ALL the elements......even the Wind and the Rain. If I can run on a beautiful sunny summer morning and see his beauty...why can't I see his beauty on a day like this? so I did. I felt so grateful to be out there. I'm not saying I will feel like this on ALL the wet rainy weather days...I'm sure some days I will loath it, but today I just felt thankful. I thought about the people who don't have legs or arms or are disabled. I was running to show the Lord how thankful I am for the body I have and for the blessed opportunity I have to run, b/c it is what I CHOOSE to do. No one tells me I have to do it. No one calls to wake me up in the morning...and the same goes for YOU.
we get up b/c we WANT to:) it is a privilidge.

I found a few things on Pinterest that I really connected with.
Here they are:

This one I loved b/c I have had to have this little talk with myself SO many times!. 

 Oh...this is my very favorite so far. I REALLY connected with this. Isn't this why we run? b/c 

we want to be OUR best.....how many of us run b/c we want to "Beat" so-and-so? probably none of us. 

what would be the point ? the challenge is to overcome our own nature to give up...to fight through the pain

and then relish in the victory that WE.DIDN'T.QUIT.

love it.

And this...well this just makes me want to cry. 

I am so inspired whenever I see an overweight person out running...I always want to run up to them and hug them and say "you're doing it! way to go!! Keep going! don't give up!". 

5K RACE thoughts:

So John asked me what my goal was for this race on Thursday and I told him I thought I could do about 20:30-20:40  BUT I would LOVE to run a 19:59;).....we all have our dream goals right?:)

He said he thought 20min was  a good goal to aim for and that this race is really just to give us an idea of what my paces should be for my interval workouts for Boston training. No pressure and not that big of a deal. goal paces he gave me were:

 Mile 1 : 6:30

Mile 2: 6:25

Mile 3: 6:20

(uuhh..I haven't even run ONE 6:25 or 6:20 mile in over 6mos:):) lol

So here's the dealio right now...and all the thoughts in my head:

1.These paces seem way too hard to hit right now. I don't think it is impossible but most likely not probable. 

that being said, I WILL go for it. Why not? i might fall on my face, but I'd rather try than wonder. 

2. I have been having really sore quads for over a week now...and today my calves tightened up alot. My legs felt really tired AGAIN today...so I'm sort of thinking they might not be recovered in time for thurs.

3. if it is windy, I will probably POUT...I HATE running against the wind..its worse than cold or rain or anything else to me.....it just makes me miserable.

4.I am excited to run. I worry i've lost a bit of my competetive edge lately b/c I really don't care if I don't run as fast as i'd like. I have my mind set on the big picture: Boston and I'm REALLY trying to have FUN with my races:) I have not trained for a 5K at all. trying to keep this all in perspective:)

5. I will go out Thursday, run my little butt off and be happy with whatever my legs decided they are capable of THAT.DAY. I feel like I am maturing with my attitude about running and I can accept things like this a lot better now. numbers dont' define me b/c I know I will get to my goals when the time is right. I don't plan to stop til I do:)

6. Lacey at Live the Life you choose, who is also my best friend runs her FIRST 5K this day too and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited for her and SOOOOOOOOOOOO proud of her!!! This is going to be a wonderful memorable day to share with her and I 'm so excited I can be there to watch her cross that finish line! she has come so far in the 6wks she's been running:):) she should have a new blog post up later tonight...so go send her some good luck wishes!!!

PROUD MAMA MOMENT:

Okay..and one last thing...went to Megans parent teacher interview today.
found out she has been going to the advanced group of the grade 2's reading class for reading each day. didn't know that??. also...the advanced Grade 2 group for spelling. she is reading at a 3-4th grade level. this I knew.
Next they are planning to test her on math b/c she is bored with what they are doing now....He plans to test her on math she's never done before b/c he said she 'intuitively' knows how to apply principles and figure things out:):)
this all lead to a conversation about what do we do if she is going to the 2nd grade class for everything and it sounds like it might be probable that she will skip 2nd grade next year and go straight to 3rd. we will see. lots to think about and consider...but she has told me on more than on occasion that first grade just isn't challenging for her:(:(
I have always known she is a brilliant child, but this still was humbling and made me beam with pride.
what a sweet little girl I have......who just happened to also get her daddy's brains along with her heart of gold:)


Here she is with me tonight, working out at the gym: as I watcher her run around and hop on and off the eliptical, I couldnt help but see myself 26 yrs ago..... so cool to be a mom:)

Are you a Fair Weather runner or do you tough it out?

I remember about  a year ago was the firs time I heard this term. Joel explained to me that there are "fair weather" runners who run half the year and then when the bad weather hits, they just stay inside:)....I suppose their are also fair weather runners who still run all year but hit the treadmill when the weather gets bad...AND I suppose there are those who live in places that it gets so friggin cold they CAN'T run out side.  I am having a hateful relationship with the Treadmill these days. Not sure why, but everything feels twice as long and twice as hard lately so I'm avoiding it until I get stronger and faster:)


Here in Portland, it RARELY gets so cold you CAN'T run outside. Last year I went out when it was 19 degrees and after 1 mile my face was borderline frost-bitten. Joel told me afterward HE had run on the Treadmill that day b/c it was too cold:) that was when I knew there IS a limit to running outside in cold weather:)

Well today wasn't too cold...about 38-40, but POURING rain...I did NOT want to go run repeat 800's in this weather....but I did. Gotta get used to it. Never know what Boston might bring us for weather in April:)

Lucky for me, I got to go to the Nike Employee store last week and here are some of the cold weather goods I got!!! NO excuses now! I will be nice and cozy warm, I hope:)

 I LOVE these tights! I bought two pair. my old fav's for long winter tights were Under armour but these are much better and they have a pocket for my key!

I really love this blue top...I got it in Orange too. it's WARM and the hood stays ON:) what a novel idea;)...

also has a pocket. Not many of my tops had pockets before now...what a difference it makes. 

No more tie-ing my car key to my shoe:)

So, todays workout was: 
2mi warm up
4x half mile at 3:15-3:30 (6:30-7:00min pace)
with half mile recoveries at 4:00-4:15.
2 mi cool down.

I was a bit discouraged that this felt hard today. hope my legs make a turn around before Thursday!:o/

My splits for my half miles were: 3:21, 3:20, 3:20 and 3:12 so at least I got it done.

Here I am Drenched after my run. There is something so gratifying about getting out and running even when the weather sucks:)

STILL sick, family visits and 5k race preview......

You know when you are SO far behind, you just feel like you'll never catch up? well that is how I feel about blogging right now. I have caught little snipits of you guys but I just havne't been able to follow everyone lately. Sometimes, our lives are so busy we have to do the Essential things:(...in any case I am hoping to get caught up on Some blogs tonight!

So.....where have I been? well...i'm going on my 3rd week now with this damn cold and let me tell you, I'm so over it!.....have you had it? if you have, you know what I'm talking about...mucus and snot that seems like it will NEVER go away!

I have been overdosing on every single vitamin and herbal remedy you can think of daily for 2.5wks. I'm better than I was the first week but it's still hangin on!

It has been 7wks since I had my first 50 mile week and since then I have sat between 40 and 48 miles ....it was just bugging me, so this past week I added a few extra miles on saturday and hit 51 miles. My plan to get up to 60 before training is looking out of reach. I was just hoping to get my body used to a little bit more mileage but it's fine.

So Thursday is the TURKEYTHON:) I'm excited to run a 5K...it's been about 10 mos since I've run one. Goal?? well....just run my butt off and hope to not make an ass of myself! I have done ZERO 5K paced miles in the last 6 mos so I'm sort of feeling like this is ridiculous....and along with this cold, I really have no idea how I will perform, but I'm quite looking forward to the feeling of Cold Seering lungs and that I am going to throw up feeling only a 5K can bring:)

is that weird? I LOVE that feeling...well....it's a love/hate relationship:)

so...we'll see how it goes:)

Saturday Amanda called me up and we met up on the waterfront and I ran 11 miles and she ran 14. it was a BEAUTIFUL day and we talked about how blessed we were to have legs to run on such a wonderful day and how we would much rather spend our saturday running and sweating on a cold sunny fall day than shopping at Nordstroms or something of the like:)

I am grateful for A LOT Of things this week, and one of them is like-minded friends:)

Amanda and I on the sellwood bridge...about Mile 4.5:)

My mom and Sister and her oldest daughter came to visit me last week...it was SO nice to see my family. I miss them dearly. They are still up in Canada where I'm from:)

My neice, Madison, and my Megan are only 7mos apart. they ADORE eachother and are very similar personalities to me and my sister when we were little. we really get a kick out of seeing them play together!!

Maddy, Meg and Erika. My mom bought Erika that bunny hat. she slept in it for 4 days! lol

Little cuties in their matching jackets. my dad bought them both those little

stuffed cats about 4yrs ago and they still play with them every time they see each other:)

At California Pizza Kitchen

With My big Sister. She is 2.5yrs older than me. we are COMPLETE opposites in every way....

she is super shy and quiet...like I said...opposite of me:) I love her to death!

Me and my beautiful Mom! we are EXACTLY alike lol.....

I am so thankful for my FAMILY!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

New Blogger to check out.....and Just when i'm on a roll.......why does this always happen?

First off...I'm SO sorry I have not been able to read or comment much lately...I'm trying to stay caught up but it is an undaunting task with all that's on my plate right now:(

Mom and sister and niece just left after 4 days ..was SO much fun, will post more later.

Right now I am sick as a dog!

I was goin along this last week slowly getting sicker and sicker day by day, but fitting in all my runs...was excited to hit 53 miles this week and then made the mistake of telling My coach and Dr, John, that I was sick and he told me I can't run today or tomorrow:( I had one last 10 miler to fit in with 6 at tempo...sigh...I'm tired of sitting at 40ish miles every week. this week was 43.

I have this sneezy, watery eye...moving into what will hopefully NOT be a sinus infection thingy going on...YUCK!.. I am headed to bed in T-5 minutes and it's only 7:09pm.

so hopefully I will be back on my feet next week.

NEW BLOGGER:

My best friend Lacey...mother of 3 boys, 4.5, 2, and 3mos started running 3wks ago. YES, just 3 weeks ago! she is up to 2.5 miles a day without stopping and I could not be more proud of her!

she is trying to lose weight and get in shape and I encouraged her to start a blog where she might find support and encouragement from all of you WONDERFUL women!!! I have spoken so highly of this community!!:)

I hope you go read her story and give her a boost!

She is moving back to Alberta in 1 month and it is COLD there..she will probably have to move inside to the treadmill which she is Not looking forward to. I hope that having lots of fellow runners/bloggers and support she can continue her journey.

she is an inspiration to me and I know she can do it!

She is running her FIRST 5K on Thanksgiving!

Go Lace!!! Love you girl!!

www.livethelifeyouchoose.blogspot.com

New things....training things! and a few tidbits....

I have a cold. blah. My nose is dripping as I type this but I'm too lazy to get up...so wipe it on the sleeve. nice.

Got my schedule from Coach John today.....hence the title NEW THINGS;...

we are still just in base building mode but he does want me to start doing some light interval training...sort of like a warm up before marathon training begins...

anyway ...some of this is new to me...check this out:

Wed: speed: 2 miles warm up, 4 miles of 1 min hard, with 2 min easy/ recovery. Then 2 mile cool down.

**Never done this before....seems interesting...and scary lol. 4 miles seems like A LOT of 1 Minute intervals:):) I will have to ask him what exactly "hard" effort should be.

Sat: 8-10 miles with 2 warm up, 4-6 miles at tempo (7:30 pace), 2 mile cool down. The 4-6 miles will depend on how you're feeling and how much time u have.

**REALLY looking forward to this run.....I never did much tempo or fartleks in my last training and I really enjoy them:)

I am getting excited about Boston Training...excited about trying NEW THINGS for training!

I spoke to Amanda Briefly this morning and expressed my anxiety to her about training with a few of you fellow bloggers for the same race.Don't get me wrong, I am very excited about it too...but I know it will be impossible NOT to compare training and I don't WANT to be feeling bad b/c I'm only running 60 miles a week while some others are  running 70,80,90...and not that I SHOULD feel bad at all...but I'm sure with all the stress it will be easy to question whether or not I'm doing enough.

It was nice to talk about how some bodies do better with higher mileage and some do better with speed. Too bad I have no idea WHAT mine does better with??:/ but I KNOW I will not have time to peak at more than 70 miles. I will be ELATED if I can hit 70. I guess we'll just see how it goes. I have to trust that I can still run a great time and a great race on lower mileage. I haven't talked to John about it lately but I do remember him mentioning in the past that I would probably peak at 65-70 miles so we'll see:)

After our quick chat and then talking more about it with Steph who has been running 50 miles a week consistently and ran 2 amazing half marathon times this summer....I feel a bit better. I only hit 59 miles one week for myfirst marathon and i did great there so I am just gonna go with it and embrace whatever these legs give me on April 16th. It's nice not having too much pressure on myself.

Okay..one more random before I go blow my nose and hit the sack.....

here is my #1 Christmas wish:

This brand new Nike Jacket is AWESOME! Tried it on Saturday. I need it for the cold winter months ahead in which I will be training for Boston OUT SIDE.

I went to the New Nike store and of course had to take a picture in it so Steve would know EXACTLY what he was looking for:)

Reasons why I LOVE this jacket:

1. it is WARM

2. it is Wind proof

3. It has a built in face mask. Last year I looked like a ninja. black ski mask, beanie, gloves, tights etc...you get the idea. I like that this is built in...won't slip down and is yellow:) I don't look as much like a psycho serial killer.

4. it has a tie a draw string in the hood around the BACK of the head so it really stays ON your head! Love it!!! I hate running in the wind and your hood keeps falling down. Ingenius!

Next up: Murder Mystery Party "under the Big top"
We were each assigned circus characters...I was Mandy Small "The Skinny woman"

I had fun doing this crazy makeup:)

Steve was "The Strong Man".....he is looking very threatening here lol.

here are few more of my favorites from the night....

Steve always sets up a photobooth and we all go in and take pics with a

remote. This is our 3rd year doing it...always a blast!

Steve and our friend Jordan lol....

My best friend Lacey and her husband Aaron

My very good friend Tahsha! ( I was super impressed by this!)

Steve trying to "one up" Tahsha! ha ha...nice try honey...looks more like Kung Fu than Gymnastics, but whatev's!

The Strong Man and the Skinny woman= perfect pair;)

"DARE GREAT THINGS"

One of my very best friends, Katie, sent this talk to me today and said she thought of me.
this talk is by one of the amazing female leaders in our church. Her name is Elaine S. Dalton and she oversees the Young Womens Organization (girls from age 12-18).
In part of her talk "Dare Great Things" ...she shares this story of a man...a runner...I thought it might inspire you all as it has inspired me: truly amazing!. Elaine was a runner herself in her younger days and ran the Boston Marathon.....she shared a story about that in one of her other talks too. I love her. what a wonderful woman and great example.

Every year in Australia, an endurance race that goes from Sydney to Melbourne is held. This race is 543.7 miles long and takes world class athletes five full days to complete. It is known as the world’s most grueling ultra-marathon. And the athletes who enter are mostly young, less than 30 years of age, highly trained and sponsored by large companies.

Let me share with you the story of a very unlikely competitor named Cliff Young, who at 61 years of age showed up at the start of this race wearing his overalls and work boots. Everyone assumed he was a spectator, but when he picked up his number and joined the other competitors, everyone was shocked. When he was interviewed by the press, they told him in effect that he was crazy to attempt this and that he should not even start the race. They told him there was no way he could ever finish. To which Cliff replied: “Yes I can. See, I grew up on a farm where we couldn't afford horses or tractors, and the whole time I was growing up, whenever the storms would roll in, I'd have to go out and round up the sheep. We had 2,000 sheep on 2,000 acres. Sometimes I would have to run those sheep for two or three days. It took a long time, but I'd always catch them. I believe I can run this race.”⁹

The professionals who had run this race knew what it took and they had calculated that in order to finish in five days, a person had to run for 18 hours straight and then sleep for six hours. Everyone knew this fact. Everyone that is, except for Cliff Young! 

When the race started, Cliff was left in the dust. He wasn’t flashy, he wasn’t sponsored, and he wasn’t fast. In fact he didn’t even run properly—he shuffled! So on the second day of the race, Cliff was forgotten. But to everyone’s surprise, he was still in the race. He had jogged all night long! And not only that, but he had determined to run for the next five days straight to the finish line without sleeping at all. No one believed that this could be done—no one that is, except Cliff. 

“Cliff kept running. Each night he came a little closer to the leading pack. By the final night, he had surpassed all of the young, world-class athletes. He was the first competitor to cross the finish line and he set a new course record…Today, the ‘Young-shuffle’ has been adopted by ultra-marathon runners because it is considered more energy-efficient. At least three champions of the Sydney to Melbourne race have used the shuffle to win the race. Furthermore, during the Sydney to Melbourne race now, modern competitors do not sleep. Winning the race requires runners to go all night as well as all day, just like Cliff Young.”¹⁰

What does this story teach us? It isn’t that we shouldn’t sleep; rather, it teaches us that we can change the world! We can do hard things. We can endure. We must prepare and all our life is preparation. Believe in yourself! Don’t give up. Endure! You have the power to achieve anything you set your mind to. There are many lessons and each is custom fit to you. What I know and have learned is that anything worth doing is not easy and that we can do anything that is not easy if we believe. Now you may not be contemplating a marathon or an ultra-marathon, but you may be in the middle of a challenge that looks like one. You may feel opposed on every side. You may wonder if you really can continue to push forward with a perfect brightness of hope. So as Paul taught the Hebrews, today I repeat the same words to each of you—“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.”¹¹ Go forward with faith knowing if you do your part, the Lord will always do His.

Now go out and get your run on! Dream BIG, Girls! 

and stop doubting yourself. You really can 

ACCOMPLISH ANYthing! I believe in YOU!

If you'd like to read the whole talk , you can find it here: http://www.byui.edu/Presentations/Transcripts/Devotionals/2011_10_11_Dalton.htm

My gimpy HIP, meeting with the Doc and thoughts on race strategies.....plus a few pics:)

So...I am still thinking over my  half marathon. Honestly, there is NOTHING I would have done differently...MAYBE run that 2nd mile 10 seconds faster but that's about it. It feels good to have a race where I'm really happy with how I ran it....actually this is 2 races now in a row where I have ran negative splits and to be honest, I hope I never run another race any other way!

John...who as I have mentioned is My Doctor and ALSO my new Coach, was really happy with my splits. He made a point of telling me last night on the phone that another reason he wanted me to run that race that way was b/c he wants to start teaching my body NOW, rather than later, to run races that way. That is how he wants me to run Boston. He said every race should be finished that strong. That every world record has been set with negative splits. It really got me excited about teaching my body to run this way, b/c regardless of the time I run in Boston, I want to finish that race STRONG. I want my last mile to be my fastest:)
Here are 2 pics of me during my race this past weekend:

Me at mile 10. took me 8 plus miles to catch those 2 guys behind me:)

At the finish line. I was running 6:20 pace and it HURT! 

as you can see by the very strained look on my face:)

My gimpy foot and hip:


I have been having pain in my foot and calf again. mostly my 3 small toes. It is bc of the way my foot lands...I land on the outsides of my feet...and I am pushing off MORE with my baby toes on my right foot than my big toe like I should be doing. My entire life, my feet have looked like this when I stand...Or run.  both my legs are facing straight forward. if I try to bring that right foot in, my right hip turns way inward and it is very awkward and uncomfortable.

My right foot aims outward. it has been like this for as LONG as I can remember. Its probably a major contributor to my stress fracture and now foot pain. I put alot more stress on this foot and especially on the outside of it:(...so John told me to get Steve to take an Xray of my hip today. we wanted to see if my hip is rotating out b/c of the tightness of my piroformus muscle or if it's an actual bone issue.
WELL....unfortunately the Xrays showed that my hip, femur, whatever actually grew that way.....SO..not much I can do about it. it means I am going to have to be very careful and keep up with chiro and  massage maintenance on my leg, foot so that the extra stress on it doesn't lead to injury.
I am glad I know though. I have always wondered my leg/foot did that. now I know:)

Half marathon during marathon training?


I asked John today If I could race a half marathon during my boston training and go for that -1:30 and he wasn't too excited about the idea. we didn't have much time to talk about it, but he said it strays away from training and takes a fair time to recover...then he said, "whats more important to you, a sub 1:30 half or a 3:05 marathon?"...to which i said "A marathon!"....this was as I was walking out the door...so then I was like 'Wait...did he just say 3:05 Marathon?!!"....this got me thinking...does he ACTUALLY think that that is even a possibility??!!!!....or was he just throwing that number out there?
I am pretty adamant at this point that I will not be announcing ANY Boston goals publicly. I want to ENJOY Boston and will be happy with anything under a 3:30...but I am not gonna lie..this comment got my mind thinking and just got me motivated in general!!

I'm sure if I asked him right now  about it, he would tell me it was just a number he was throwing out there, and that  a 3:20 is a more realistic goal, but still....it's the fact that AGAIN, we all need to remember that

EVERY DAY holds a possibility of a miracle:):) 

Never give up on dreams, BIG DREAMS....cause some day...probably not in 2012, but SOME DAY that 3:05 will be Mine:):)