Trail Running Granny

just muscle-up today

L A Z Y!!!!!  Went to the gym this morning to do an hour long cardio session on the eliptical, did 20 min. and went home.  Harold and I walked around the pond with Odee after the snow storm.  It was a real kick back kind of day.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Great run this morning!  It was cold, headband and glove cold, but it felt great once we got going. Harold rode his bike along side me which is always nice, it makes me go alittle faster so he doesn't go so slow he falls off the bike. We ran/biked down to the Cottonbottom, past the pond and Old Mill and up to the mouth of BCC and home. 

Now off to take the grandkids to go see How to Slay a Dragon!

Oh, and over 40 miles this week!  Yahoo!

Today should have been my first day volunteering at Red Butte Gardens, but with all the snow I bagged it. Since I had a free morning I took 3 fitness classes at the rec center, muscle-up, track and tone ( a new class where you are running and doing afew exercises) and spinning and decided I would take the 6 week triathlon class that starts up in a week or so. It is from 5:00am to 6:30 four days a week.  I think it will be similar to my bootcamp but they won't be calling me names, and it is much cheaper.  It is the first time they have offered a tri class at CHRC so it is very reasonable. 

I am running out of time!  My 50K is 17 days away!  I feel like a cow!  I must drop 10 pounds, I need to take drastic  measures!  This is going to be my venting page, please feel free to ignore me completly as I am going to get crazy  these next 17 days. 

I got up this morning and the scale screamed at me!  I am at my highest weight in the last few years.  I am not sharing that number with you but will report my loss daily for the next 17 days.

This morning I ran 9.36 miles on the JRP with Gary, it was beautiful, we had a nice visit and I am ready for more miles.  I need to cut Paul's hair and then do another appt. and then I will get back out and get a few more miles in.  I plan to go to the rec center every evening and get at least another short workout in.  It stinks to get old, I eat less and better than I used to and still can not seem to drop the weight.  HELP!  If anyone has any tricks please share.  I need to burn more calories and go to bed hungry and onery I guess. 

This morning I had a green smoothie before my run.  During and after my run I had some home made lowfat healthy little cookies made with quinoa, oats, whole wheat flour and flax seed)

4:00 pm update, I did a short hike with Odee on the Pipeline, bad call, I waded thru at least 6 inches of mud and slush.  I ate a banana on the way up in the car.  I am hoping to get in an evening work out at the gym.  So far my day has been good, I should drop acouple of pounds and then that is where it starts to get really tough. 

9:30pm update, I had some turkey speghetti for dinner and then did 20 min. on the stationary bike at the rec center.   Today went well, hopefully I can keep this up tomorrow.

I was happy to wake up to a loss of 3.4 pounds, of course that is the easy part,  the next 6.6 will be killer, but I feel real determined to do this.  I was going to take a tri class, but decided I would just get up at 5:30am on my own and work out, I have become real frugal lately and didn't want to pay for it.  I got up at 5:30 this morning and put on my new clip hed headlamp and took off for a run up to BCC and back and then came home and took Odee over to the pond for acouple of loops. I am going to spin this morning also.  I really liked going over to the gym last night, it was only for 20 min. but it keeps me focused on this mission and I am not as tempted to sit on the couch and eat chocolate covered pomegrante seeds! 

Day #2  down 3.4  and 6.6 to go!

PM update, just got back from doing 20 min. on the stationary bike.

breakfast- green smoothie and 2 of my healthy cookies ( 79 calories each)

lunch- turkey speghetti and an apple

dinner-protein pancakes and scrambled eggs

In my book this is another great day!! My only fault is not enough water, I need to work on that.

I forgot how nice it is to get up before the sun to run and watch the sun come up!  I did the same run I did yesterday to the mouth of BCC and back and then took Odee for a 2 loops around the pond. 

The weightloss is going well!

Day # 3    down 4.1 pounds and have 5.9 to go!  This is the weight I usually get to and then bounce right back up, so anything from this point on is really worth celebrating.

Breakfast- 2 healthy cookies ( 79 calories each)

snack- cottage cheese and pretzels

lunch- green smoothie

I am crazy.  Yesterday for an early dinner,( 3:30 in the afternoon), I had a 1/2 of a turkey wrap from Costco and then just ate raw veggies in the evening while playing cards with some friends.  They had pizza, I did not have one bite.  Yay me.  I got up this morning and the scale was up and  was really ticked and ate nothing before my run.  I met Rachel and Smooth and Kathy and two guys from the blog, I knew I would be slow, but on top of being slow, I was STARVING to death.  I always eat before a run.  Anyway, I took off with the gang, but lagged behind right from the start and decided to just do 4 miles to reach another 40 mile week.  It's all good, it was fun to say Hi and Goodbye!  I came home and the scale was still up and I have been SO good.  Oh well.

I came home ate some whole wheat cereal and then had the other half my my turkey wrap for lunch and tonight we are taking my girlfriend from Escalante out for Thai food, so I will probably be up tomorrow too.  You know I am doing the best I can, and what ever happens with the scale, so be it. 

Day #4  total down 3.3 pounds. 

It was fun to see you girls!!!! 

I had a early 5 mile run in the dark around the neighborhood and then came home got a drink and some food and then went and ran up Millcreek Canyon on the road. I parked at the park-n-ride on Wasatch and ran from there. 

Just muscle-up today.

I just have to say I am so looking forward to heading to St. George next weekend and getting up in the dark to drive up to the top of the Red Mountains and spend the day plodding along a beautiful trail.  All day on the trails, with the sun on my back and gorgous scenery and a buffet of food set out for me along the way!  I love ultras!

I had a charlie horse last night and my leg is still sore, so I did a walk with Odee this morning, I have been tapering alittle early, but oh well, it all feels right. I am going to run from my house to Liberty Park tomorrow and jump into the SL Marathon course.  Harold is doing the Bike Tour, that will be my last long run before my 50K next week.

Harold did alittle bandit ride on the SL bike tour and then dropped me off at the Cottonbottom to do a little bandit run myself.  I should have waited an hour, I was way ahead of the first place runner, so did most of it solo, however I did have the police escorting me across the street and aid stations that would make silly comments about how I was in first place.  It was not as fun as last year when I jumped in with the mid packers.  I will know for next year. 

As far as I can tell there were two white guys in the lead and a Kenyan that was in third place, I wonder where all the Kenyans were?  It was odd. 

6 miles on the Pipeline with Ardie.

Good luck all you Boston runners!!

msucle-up

Today is my first day of volunteering at Red Butte Gardens! 

Just a quick little run today, was planning on going further, but it was raining and windy up here. Oh, well, time to taper anyway, all is well.

Got up in the dark and put on my running clothes and it was rainy and windy and so I bagged it.  I am not doing muscle-up, I do not want any stiffness  during the race. 

I am so excited, I found out my parents will be in Southern Utah and they are taking us out for dinner fri. night and watching me as I cross the finish line!   That makes this weekend extra fun!!  

Wonderful Wonderful Day! 

My alarm went off at 3:50 am and got myself ready, Harold took Gary and I to Ivins to catch the bus to the start.  When I did this race two years ago, it was pitch black and I forgot a flashlight, this year it didn't seem as dark, but I was prepared with a headlamp and a flash light, it was interesting to see exactly where we started. It was in Central where the St. George Marathon starts, but we jumped   to a dirt trail/road heading west. 

 I also didn't remember how many hills there were the first 8 miles.  It was tough going up and down for so long.  After the first 8 miles I got into a comfortable pace and ran with Gary to mile 12 where we hit the paved road.  I changed into my running shoes, got a bite to eat and took off, Gary took the time to use the porta potty and I didn't see him again until about mile 29.  I had the road to myself until we hit Gunlock and then  met up with Harold and Ernie on their bikes. 

This year was also different because there were no other slow runners.  They took off fast and after a few minutes they were out of sight.  Being a 55 year old gal, this didn't bother me in the least, they had aid stations every 3 miles, and guys on 4Wheelers driving around checking on us. I was happy with my dear friend Gary's company for the first 12 miles, and then was happy meeting up with Harold who rode along with me for a good portion of the course. 

At mile 18 I ran into a  man probably a little younger than me that I had met on the bus, it was his first ultra and he said he was really beat up, I talked to him for a minute and then took off.  The man DNFed, Gary never saw him, so I am not sure what happened to him. On the results they didn't mention any DNFs, I don't know if there were any others.   They also didn't put any of the runners ages down, I would like to think I was one of the older runners, as I came in last place.

Anyway, I felt really pretty good until about mile 29 and then started to drag, I was happy to have Gary catch up to me.  I was really running out gas and I told Harold I will not be able to beat my last years time of 7:18, I guessed I would come in about 10 minutes slower.  At mile 30 my parents came driving by which was a nice emotional plus, I didn't even stop to say hi, I just waved and ran on.  My game plan this year was to NOT socialize at the aid stations and see if I could shave off a few minutes by doing that, because my fitness level was worse than it was two years ago. 

Harold coaxed me on and knowing my parents were at the finish line made me run in, instead of the crawling I would have prefered.  I was thrilled when they marked on my bib my offical time of 7:11:58.

I absolutely love this race.  The race directors made me feel like I was the queen of the day, they remembered me from 2 years ago and called me by name when I picked up my packet and cheered me on and gave me hugs at the finish. I will be back next year, and hopefully finish a couple minutes faster. 

We had a great weekend, dinner with my dad before the race at the Pasta Factory, hot tubbing and swimming after the race, and then a celebration dinner at the Texas Road House for a steak dinner and then a double feature movie at home which I slept thru.  I am completely crippled today, but I  feel like I have conquered the world.  Kinda funny, I came in dead last and had a PR, not too many people can do that!  Haha! 

There were 16 women doing the 50K, this was a really small race.  I think there were 23 men.