Trail Running Granny

Happy New Year!!!

4.5 treadmill miles.  I counting on 2011 being a much better year for my running!

early walk with the dogs in the park and a 2 hour hike snow shoeing up to the summit at Suncrest.

Day One of my 100 day challenge to move 30 min. a day 

Day 2 - 3.5 miles

Day 3- 13 miles at the Oval.  The air is horrid and cold. Thank you Oval.

Had a talk with my son Chris about working out, he told me what I really already knew, but have ignored - I need to increase my intensity. Just because I am a 55 year old woman I don't need to act like one. I went back to the gym tonight and did 2 miles on the tread mill at a faster pace and actually broke out into a sweat, yah, yah, I know, all this running and I keep the pace slow enough that I don't even breath hard, and then I do a race and try to push it and I about die.  Geez I am a slow learner!!  So my new goal is to sweat every day, just a little anyway!  I need to get out of this shuffle rut!

Day 4- 30 min. in the gym, if it weren't for the challenge I would have skipped it all together, I was dragging all day, I guess a light work out was in order after yesterday.

30 min of spinning, at a level 12 and Hot Hula tonight!

Day 6 a one hour walk around Tanner park with Harold and the dogs, now off to celebrate our 6th year anniversary, lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and then a movie.

hiked up Emigration Canyon with Tracey and Harold and the dogs.

20 min of weights and 20 min. of cardio, and a walk around the Old Mill area with Ardath and lunch at Zupas.  

a walk with the dogs and then 30 min. on the treadmill and did 2.45 miles, which is good for me, I could have gone a little faster, but I will do that next time on my speed work.

14 miles at the oval with Paul and Gary and a dang good book on tape. I was bummed to stop, but can't  run all day.... well, I guess I can if I want too, maybe next Wed.

This was my little test to see how fast I could run in 30 min.  Worked up a good sweat. I will try and do this once a week and see how much I can improve. And, you need to know I usually run so slow I don't sweat, so this was good.

BTW- This was Day 11, I also weighed in at Weight Watchers and was down 3.2 this week, which gives me a 6 pound loss since Jan. 1st!!!!

Hot Hula!

2 mile hike with Harold and the dogs up at  Suncrest.  

Hiked up Emigration Canyon with Ardie and Kim.   Beautiful day, nice to feel the sun on our back and see blue sky.  

30 min. of speed work on the treadmill, and then lead 8 people on a snowshoe trip up to View Benchmark.  

NO energy!!!  Yesterday kicked my butt, last night I had an aching back and felt really tired. I canceled my oval run today and just took the dogs out for a 30 min. walk. I am chilling the rest of the day.

  Day 18 - hiked up Rattlesnake Gulch with the dogs.

hike with the dogs and Hot Hula with Julie

4 miles on the treadmill and a 1.5 mile hike with the dogs.

hike with Harold and pups

Snowshoeing with Ardie and Harold

Gary was sick this morning, I ended up only doing 5 miles.  I really am having a hard time getting my long runs in, I am getting bored, not good.  I need to get some fire under my butt. 

Day 25- Speed work on the treadmill

Did Zumba and Let's Dance at Julie and Paul's house last night- that is a great work out!

I just weighed in at Weight Watchers, I am down 7.4 pounds since the first of the year, I love the new program! 

Hot Hula with Julie!

3 miles on the Pipeline with Odee and Izzy, it was beautiful up there!  It made me sick looking down at that black gunk covering our valley.

6 miles on the treadmill, did some speed work.

11 miles at the oval with Gary.  

I just got back from WW, I am down 8.6!  I set my goal today, I have 13 pounds to go! 

9 miles on the treadmill out of habit, I should have run outside, it is nice today, I need to pay attention, I am being a zombie runner this winter.

Gary and I hit the Oval today. 12 miles of running in circles. I listened to the playlist Jana made me for the Pony Express 50 miler and had such happy memories. I wonder if I will ever do another 50 miler again. I would like to, but I am having a hard time doing my "homework", hopefully when spring comes around I will get more excited about long beautiful trail runs.

speed work on the treadmill, I did a few minutes at 7.2, dang good for me!!!  

Weighed in at WW. I lost 1 pound this week for a total of 9.6 pounds since the first of Jan.  I am very happy!  I just hope I can maintain this weight loss during my trip to Hawaii. I plan on eating lots of fruit!!!! I love passion fruit, guava, mango and papaya. I am planning on eating  fruit for breakfast and lunch and then a nice dinner out each night. I can't wait to go and see my daughter and thaw out!!!

3  miles snowshoeing with Ardie, off to Hawaii tomorrow for fun with my daughter and the Aloha Run!

I haven't been blogging much, I have been in Hawaii. I did the Aloha Race 8.15 with Ann and Tom, we just walked it.  Now that I am home I need to get busy training. I just signed up for the Red Mountain 30K, I am not ready for the 50k. 

3 treadmill miles

Woke up to 6 inches of fresh snow this morning. I took Odee, Ziggy and Bob to the park, they had a blast playing and chasing each other in the snow.  Then I went to the gym and ran 8 miles on the treadmill while watching the Food Network.   I felt great!  A nice start to the day.  6 more weeks until Red Mountain, I think I can do this!!   Now off to spend a day with my cute hubby.

Went snowshoeing this afternoon up Big Cottonwood Canyon with Harold and Kim and John.  Tons of fresh powder!

Hiked along the Rail Trail with Ardie and Odee in Park City.  

7 miles at the oval..... no mojo.

I finally ran outside, feels good to get off the dumb treadmill.  No gloves no hat, 38 degrees!

early morning treadmill and then a walk with Ardie around Spencer pond and then back to the treadmill.  I hope I can pull a half marathon on Wed., I am starting to run out of time!~

speed work on the treadmill

Oval run with Gary.

Finally a great outside long run!  Ran from my house to Draper along Wasatch Blvd.  42 degrees is perfect. 

Nice morning run with Ardie on the Porter Rockwell trail.  

I was running at the oval when my daughter Julie came up behind me a slapped my butt, scared me to death. She tracked me down so I could take Paul to the instacare  and check out his swollen ankle. I am so grateful I have a flexible schedule and can help my kids.  

ran outside today.

really wanted to do a long run outside, but the storm was bad, had to settle for 5 treadmill miles.

6 miles on the Porter Rockwell trail this morning with Ardie and then 5 miles on Wasatch around noon.  It sure feels good to be outside!

I just signed up for the Park City Half, Bryce Canyon Half and the Mesquite Half, I am hoping Harold will be up for the Little Grand Canyon Half, I better check with him before I sign up. That would be my one  "new" race for the year.  Of course I am already signed up for Red Mountain and St. George, should be a  fun year! 

2 treadmill miles and Jackie's strength training video.

I just signed up for the Little Grand Canyon Half, so this year I have a total of 4 half marathons, one 30K and one marathon.  I think that will be it, but you never know what might tempt me.

I ran up to the mouth of BCC and met up with a fellow St. George 10 year club member, he remembered me from the banquet two years ago and I couldn't remember him at all. I really  am forgetful.  His name was Clark Jolley. He told me I lived by Butler Park, yep, that's me. 

It was cold this morning, went and did 4 miles at the gym.  Tomorrow I plan to run from  my house to Liberty Park, I will be jumping into the SLC Marathon course, should be fun. 

I ran from my house to Liberty Park, about 10 miles of my run was on the SL marathon course.  It was fun to be with the crowd. I felt great, no soreness at all. I am a little more optimistic about Red Mountain next week. I am real excited about running in the warm sunny weather, and getting out of the city!

It is race week!  I am so excited to kick off the running season in the beautiful Red mountains!!!! 3 miles, and a nice walk with Odee this morning.  Feeling great!

I was waiting for the race results, but they are not up, so I am going to go ahead with a quick race report anyway.

This year I decided not to do the 50K, as I have done the last two times. The 30K was perfect for me for the first real race of the season.  Red Mountain is my favorite race of the year.  It is small, friendly and the course is beautiful. I absolutely love the race directors, they always make me feel like a queen.  They came up to me at the expo gave me a hug and a gift certificate for a massage and a hat and told me how happy they were to see me.  They are so cute, it is a race I plan to do every year.   They had Krissy Moehl speaking, who just broke the R2R2R record Tues. and has won several other ultras. She was really good. I got to see Kelli, her friend Wendy, and my old college roommate Karen Boothe and her friend. They were all doing the 50K, I did not feel like I was left out at all, the idea of moving down to the 30K was really exciting to me.  19 miles is about where I feel like crud when I run a marathon, so this length sounded perfect.

Harold and I spent the night at my cousin's house. I was really excited about the race and couldn't sleep, so I read from about 2:30am to 4:30 and then got up and got ready for the race. Harold drove me up to the Ivins Park to get on the bus and then he went home to shower and get Odee. I road up with a cute gal from SL who had not run this race before and told her a little about the course.

At the starting line I got more hugs from race directors and we said the pledge of allegiance, I talked to Wendy for a few minutes and then we were off.  It was so beautiful up there, I went out at a nice slow pace, I was in the back only a few people behind me. I kept a comfortable pace all morning long,  a 10:30 to 12:30 min. pace for most of the time. I had Harold's classical music playlist on my ipod, it was so awesome to have this beautiful music and the spectacular scenery. I never felt sore or tired until the very end.  The aid-stations were great, good variety of food and drinks and very helpful friendly volunteers.  I told Harold it would probably take me 4 and half hours, but I realized that if I kept up my pace I could break 4 hours, so I pushed a little harder and  the last 3 miles I passed about 5 people and felt really strong.   I hope my garmin is right, like I said the results are not up so I will update my report as soon as it is up.  My garmin read 3:59!!!

I kept expecting to see Kelli and Krissy  run past me, I told  Harold, wouldn't it be cool if Kelli came in first, she is going to be the next ultra super star, she won her first 50 mile race, a couple of weeks ago at the Buffalo run, and I know we will be seeing her on magazine covers and speaking at race expos.  She is so fast, and such a great person.  She is always helping and encouraging others, myself included.  She paced me at Painters and then came back to run me in at Goblin Valley.  She is a running angel. I have an adorable picture of her running in with all her kids around her, I hope we can figure out how to post it here, it is always hard to figure that out. Anyway, what I wanted to say was Kelli and Krissy never ran past me, and I couldn't figure out why, I saw an ambulance go up the course and had a sick feeling.  After finishing the race Harold and I sat with Wendy and Kelli's family and waited for Kelli.  She came in about 20 min. or so after I finished and told us what had happened.  Someone tampered with the course and changed the signs and diverted about 12 of the fastest runners and sent them on a wild goose chase and they ran an extra 4 or 5 miles.  By the time Kelli got back on the right course, she realized her time was going to be off, so she didn't push as hard. I think I have that right, but you will have to read her report for the full details.  It made me sick to think of all those runners lost on the trail because of some prankster. There was an article in the Spectrum about it and the police are investigating it.  Not only do I feel sorry for the runners, but for the race directors who worked so hard to put on such a great race.  It was really a bad deal all the way around.

I had a great race, loved every minute of it. This is how I like to run, nice and easy and finish feeling good.  Thank you Red Mountain for another fun race.

Look at little Emma out in front!!  She is adorable!

speed work on the treadmill

Ran a free 5K  put on by SL Running! It has been a long time since I have done a short race, boy they are tough, not enough miles to get into an easy lope.  It was fun running with Andrea, Pete, Misty and Maurine.  I am going to do more of these, great speed work out. I hit my garmin at 3.1 and was at  34:02.  It would be nice to see how fast I can go by the fall.  Great morning! Oh, and Pete, Andrea and Maurine  kicked my trash.  It was Misty's first 5K, she did awesome.

a chilly hike with Ardie on the BST.  Burrr.

Parked at the Park-N-Ride and ran up BCC a bit and back down.  What a pretty sunny day!

Went to the gym after being stood up by an appt. and did 3 more miles on the treadmill.

got up at 5:00am to run, finally decent weather, I love running and watching the sun come up!

5 miles outside, beat the rain.

ran my Bengal/Wasatch/Danish route this afternoon, I really do not like running in the afternoon, but woke up feeling funny, at least I got it in.

3 miles outside before a busy day.

4 miles on the Pipeline with Ardie and Odee and 2 miles on the treadmill.

It rained all day, did 7 treadmill miles.

another rainy day, 3 treadmill miles

A fun 5k with 3 step kids and 2 grandkids! Was happy placing 5th in my age group. Loved running thru Thanksgiving Point gardens. Beautiful sunny weather too. 

4 miles on the PRT,  I beat the rain.

5 treadmill miles, boring. 

great hike in Capital Reef with my dad, hubby and 2 grandkids.

5 am run up to Wasatch Blvd. and back.

early morning run outside!

Ran up to Wasatch Blvd again, sure is nice being outside, and I love EARLY runs!

hiked up Parley's Summit with Ardie and Kim and Odee, new trail, beautiful, and GREAT company!

Fun morning, ran with Lisa and Erica, then walked Odee on the trails over by Bywater Park and then did a short run on Wander Lane to catch some new scenery. Beautiful morning!

I did the extended Old Mill route, past the Cottonbottom, around the pond and along Wasatch Blvd to Bengal and home!  A great morning!

Lisa and I ran on Wander Lane, so pretty!  Thanks Lisa for a nice morning.

First good trail run this summer. Harold, Ernie, Gary, Odee and I did the Pipeline.  I was going for 10 miles but Odee started to fade at 6 miles, and I opted to take him down Rattlesnake Gulch and the boys went on to finish at Birch Hollow. I am now not letting go further than 5 miles, poor old dog really struggled.  We bumped into Aron and Emily, so fun!! Man, a good trail run is like prozac!!!!  Great morning!

3 mile hike with Ardie in Corner Canyon up to Ghost Falls and then a 4 mile trail run in PC around the National Ability Center while Paul had an archery class. The trails were really great, rolling hills and Paul did AWESOME!

3 miles on the treadmill 

8 miles in Holladay!  Now off to work in the community garden with Paul.

Have a great day!

a quick hike this morning with Kim in Big Cottonwood Canyon. One mile straight up and one straight down, not sure of the name of the trail. Kim was the guide, nice morning. 

3 miles and then packing up and heading to Mesquite with Julie!  Massages, pool time and the penny slots!

5 miles on the half marathon course in Park City with Ardie and 2 miles with Bob and Ziggy on the trails above the National Ability Center while Paul had his archery class.

Hiked to Stewart Falls with my friend Julie, first time, awesome with the spring run off.

speedwork on the treadmill.

Lisa and I did a 3 mile run at 6am, and then I hiked Granduer Peak with Kim, we ran into Karl Meltzer on the trail and stopped and chatted for a minute. I should have asked for his autograph!! Then we went to Lone Star for fish tacos!  

3 miles on the road and around the pond, it is just about to spill over!

7 beautiful miles on a dirt road with Odee in Huntsville, however I am reminded again, Odee is slowing down and I need to limit him to 5 miles, he was exhausted. I finally made over 30 miles this week, I need to keep it up!  

6 miles with Ardie behind Jeremy Ranch, and 3.5 miles of trails at the National Ability Center with Odee, Ziggy and Bob. Paul is really doing great in his archery class.

5 miles, up Bengal, across Wasatch and down Ft. Union. Beautiful morning, will try and get more miles in  later....we shall see....

2 miles of speed work on the TM.

3 miles in Holladay.

4 mile hike to Circle All Peak with Kim, probably the most beautiful hike of the year, tons of Bluebells out and we ran into Karl Meltzer again!

3 miles on the Pipeline with Odee and Harold.  A perfect distance for my old dog ( I am talking about Odee not Harold)

Hiked in upper Millcreek with Odee and Harold. 

Fun 5K at Liberty Park, about 80 runners, not sure they are posting results.  Lots of Polynesians there, friends from Hawaii, great morning!! Heading back to hang out and listen to the concerts tonight!

5 miles on the JRP after working out for an hour with the ladies. 

2 miles speed work on the TM

I had an early work out with the ladies, doing hill intervals and  some upper body weights, then hiked with Kim to Stewart Falls and Cascade Springs, the water fall was spectacular, the run off was crazy! Then we went to my brothers house for a home tour in Midway and lunch in PC and topped it off with a little shopping, it was like a "staycation"! 

Did part of the Park City half marathon course this morning with Harold and Odee, I love running in PC, so cool and beautiful. 

workout with the ladies and 3 miles

work out with the ladies and 3 miles, 4 more days until the Bryce Half Marathon!  Kind of taking it easy this week.  

early morning cardio/strength training and then Odee and I hiked up Rattlesnake Gulch and along the Pipeline.  

Friday afternoon, Harold, Gary, Ernie and I headed down to Bryce. We picked up our race packets in Cannonville and then set up tents at the Bryce Canyon camp ground. We tried to eat out at a nice place, but the town was packed and ended up eating at Subway. 

Sat. morning we got up early and Gary and I walked to the start line, it was fun not to have to take a bus and wait in the cold for an hour before running.  This year there were over 1,300 runners.  I plugged in my classical music and took off, Gary and I leap frogged most of the race, I saw Smooth, that was a treat, said hello and gave her a hug and sent her on her way.  

I love this race, so beautiful, and a small town feel, I  PRed on this course 3 years ago at 2:18, this year I did it 6 min. slower.   After the race we went to Torrey and mom and dad treated us like royalty, dinner out, 2 hikes, lunch out, Farkle in the evening and time kicking back and enjoying each others company.  Lovely weekend!

hiked in the evening with J and P up Millcreek. The dogs loved it. 

I feel like I am completely recovered, so where did my mojo go???  I did my workout class this morning and a whimpy 2.5 walk, couldn't even bust out a jog.  Tomorrow I will do a long hike and  be done with my laziness.

Hiked with Kim from Upper Big Water to the ridge, saw quite a few runners out training for the Wasatch 100. Had a wonderful conversation with Kim as always, I hope her smarts rub off on me. We topped it off with our tradition of Lone Star fish tacos.  Perfect day.

8 miles from Cottonwood Heights along Wasatch Blvd to Draper with Andrea, Pete, Angela, Misty and Heather, yep, me and the 30somethings!  Beautiful morning, done before 8:00am and then off to hike to Stewart Falls with Harold, Julie, Paul and Odee!  Could a Saturday be any better?   :) 

I ran and Harold rollerbladed on Murray Holladay Road.  Now to get ready for our Butlerville Days party at our house.

Hiked with Kim to Lake Blanch, Lake Lillian, and Lake Florance.  Then our traditional fish tacos afterwards.  

Harold, Devante, Tracey and I drove down to Torrey to help Julie and Paul with a family reunion and hike.  We took 10 kids ages 4 thru 15 on a 6 mile hike thru Sulfer Creek in Capital Reef. I posted pictures on FB, it takes forever to figure out how to download them the blog.  WAY FUN!

Kim and I hiked up towards White Pine Lake, hiked thru one snowfield and then turned around. I can't believe all the snow up there this late in the summer. We saw a bull moose about 20ft off the trail.

early morning Pipeline run with Odee.

ran from the Beach house over to the bridge at Dana Point and back.

Pipeline with Odee

ran in the neighborhood

Odee and I ran in PC, we bumped into Ardie and Jeff on their bikes!!  Fun!

7  miles along Danish Road and Wasatch.

First time to run the Crest this year! Best run of the year. I took some of my step kids and a friend of theirs for their first trail run.  Maurine joined us, and Harold biked it. We ran down Desolation because it was a  "no bike" day in Millcreek. Fabulous, hope to do it in two weeks, next week is the PC half, which I will be doing with my step kids( their first half) and my dear friend Ardie and her sister from Orange County.  Then I spent the day at Jordanelle with my kids, today was good as it gets!!!!

2 mile hike with Ardie in PC and 2 miles on the trails at the NAC with the dogs.

Pipeline with Odee

Hiked with Kim to Sunset Peak, the wildflowers were amazing. I packed birthday cake on ice in my pack for Kim's birthday!  Another amazing hike.....they all are.....life is wonderful!

Had a great time running the PC HALF!  I ran with my step kids Andrea and Pete and their two friends Heather and Misty, it was their first half.  So much fun.  Ardie and Laural and Stan were there too. Perfect weather. Harold was a great photographer and cheerleader.  I will have to check out the website to see where I placed in my AG. I am guessing on my time too.

ran up to Wasatch Blvd and back, legs feeling fine after the race, yay!

5 miles before heading off to Beaver to make jam with cousin Shari!!

pipeline with Odee

Gary, Ernie, Harold, Ang and I did the Wasatch Crest, so much fun!!!  

5 miles on the PRT

early run down to the Cottonbottom and back.

4 quick miles

Neff's canyon hike with Harold and Odee

ran from Guardman's Pass look out to Wasatch State Park in Midway with Maurine, Harold crewed. Nice morning, and then topped it off with the Sheepdog Championships.  LOVED IT!!!

Crazy day, walked the dog. then ran a few miles on Holladay Blvd, then in the afternoon ran up LCC trail and then took the dogs to Tanner Park in the evening. Just noticed I have 3 blisters, no more crappy Costco socks for me, went down and bought some super cushy ones from Wasatch Running, hope it helps my feet while running the Little Grand Canyon half on Sat. 

This was my "new" race for this year and I am sure glad I picked this little gem.  Gary, Ernie and Harold and I left SLC at 3:00 and drove down to Price to pick up our packets, we heard that Groggs was a good place for dinner and ate on the patio of this little pub/diner, it was great, we could see the dark clouds coming in.... we picked up our packets at the Natural History Museum and found out it is okay to drive out to the race course and camp, if we could find it.  We found the Huntington City park and asked a fellow who was there to pick up his race packet (sorry buddy, you have to go back to Price)anyway, he pointed us in the general direction and we headed out to find the race portapotties and mile markers, after several tries on different dirt roads, in the dark and in the rain we found the course and eventually the 13 mile start, it was made clear by the 5 portapotties rather than the  single potties that lined the course.  The rain had stopped, but the ground was wet and muddy, the guys decided to rough it and set up the tent, we opted to all stay in Gary and Ernie's mansion tent, plenty of room for 2 air beds and all our gear, plus standing room.  Such luxury.   As soon as we got the tent up and visited the super clean pops we got into bed and the rain began, a pretty wild storm for about an hour, we stayed toasty and dry in our tent. 

We woke up around 6:30 after hearing some of the race volunteers drive by and got dressed and out to the start by around 7 just in time for the race.  I love not taking the early bus ride and waiting round for the race to start.  There were over 400 in the race, they did a full, half and 10k. The course was a dirt road, nice scenery, and it got better and better the further a long you went, Buckhorn Wash is beautiful with petroglyphs on the walls and tall canyon walls.  I felt  good thru the race, and  enjoyed my nice easy pace, at about mile 10 Ernie and Harold drove past me and gave me a drink of diet coke that got me thru to the end.  The finish was a real party, loud music and lots of great food, the best food I have ever had at a finish, sandwiches, veggie trays, fruit trays, someone making snow cones, and all kinds of desserts and cookies.  I checked my time, not sure why, I usually don't bother because I am in the back of the pack, but I took first place in my age group and got a beautiful glass award. I was really excited.  When I checked I was the only person in my age group, but there were still people running in when we left, so it will be interesting to see if there were others in my age group behind me. The results are not on their website yet.

After the race we explored Nine Mile Canyon and saw some beautiful petroglyphs, I love traveling with my husband Harold,and our dear friends  Ernie and Gary. They  are such good travel companions, we really have a good time together. I am lucky to have such a sweet hubby to go on these adventures with.  I really enjoy these small races in interesting locations, rather than the big city races.  I rate this a 5 star race!!  We will be back next year, Ernie wants to run it!  Harold need to bring his mountain bike! 

I had an early morning Pipeline run with Odee, happy to find out there is no soreness at all in my legs.

5 mile loop in neighborhood.

quick morning run before a busy day

Odee and I did an early morning walk and then I did a 9 mile trail run this afternoon with Maurine on the Pipeline. We saw one rattlesnake and one unicycle on the trail, you never know what you will see on the trail!  Dinner at Zupas with Maurine and Harold afterwards!  

Ardie and I hiked the Lost Prospector trail up in PC. It was 38 degrees when we got out of the car.  Fall leaves are turning, beautiful hike, but chilly, need to pull out the long pants, gloves and ear warmers. 

2 miles on the Pipeline with Odee.

Odee and I ran on the Jeremy Ranch dirt road, started out at 35 degrees.  

Sheryl wanted to hike Timp for her birthday, so Trish and I joined her.  We bumped into Ben Woolsy on the trail, he is 69 years old and has hiked  Timp over 564 times, what a great guy, 69 years old, we enjoyed chatting with him and getting our pictures taken with him. We got within a few feet of herd of mountain sheep.  Great day, great company! Tough hike, 9 hours, it will make ST. George seem easy. Hauling all the water on our backs and climbing all day was a lot harder than running down Snow Canyon.

pipeline with Odee

Pipeline with Odee, SGM is 2 days away!!  This will be my 15th SG!  

 This was my 15th ST. George Marathon! ( 21st marathon) 

This year I have run half marathons instead of full marathons.  I did do a 30k in the spring, but other than that, I have not run longer than 13 miles, not real smart. I did well the first 13 miles and really struggled the last 13. I was happy to find out I was just 2 min. slower than last year. I was fine with my time, but I didn't feel as good as I usually do after a marathon.

This year Harold took his bike and biked up to meet me and ride down, it was fun to have him there and he got some great pictures.

Great weekend, we stayed with Shawn and Les and they came to see me run at mile 23. We had dinner together Friday night and enjoyed visiting all weekend.  

I was happy to see so many friends and family this weekend, we ran into Toni and Monica at the expo, I saw Margret,Steve Leatherwood and Karen Booth up at the start.  While I was running I ran into Rene, a cute gal I met several years ago while running St. George. 

I almost bagged the 10 Year Banquet because I felt like crap, but Shawnie gave me some cheese and nuts and a coke and I started to perk up. We made it to the banquet and had a great time. We saw Keiko and Margret and John Bozung.

St George is wonderful no matter what happens!  I will be better prepared next year! 

walked Odee, legs feel pretty good!

Ran up to the mouth of BCC this morning at 5:30am.   

2miles of speedwork on the treadmill and 30 min. of weights.

2 miles on the treadmill

Hiked with Ardie up to Ghost Falls. Nice fall hike.

short run around the neighborhood, decided to sign up for the Provo Halloween Half Marathon while out this morning. That will give me 10 races for the year. 

Walked with Odee on a bike trail up at Summit/

early morning treadmill run

Ran with my new phone app Runkeeper, it was fun!  Ran up to Wasatch Blvd. and back before the sun came up and then went and watched Angela run her first half marathon at SOJO.  She did great. I saw Rachel and had a nice visit with her too. 

Beautiful fall hike up to Twin Lakes, a moose, 2 inches of snow,colorful fall leaves, pumpkin spice latte and Ardie!!!!

ran up to Wasatch Blvd and back

5 mile run at 5:30 am, I love running in the dark. Then a 1.5 mile hike  with the primary girls in the afternoon.

5 miles this morning, thinking of everyone running the Pony Express today!

Maurine and I did the run from Smiths on Bengal to the South Mountain bridge. Great morning!  Thanks for the company! Thanks for the books too!  

 Hiked with Ardie to Lake Solitude, got lost and then found our way.  Ran into Ginny Lee and her hubby. I bet the next time we hike it will be COLD and SNOWY, sure has been a great fall.

3 miles of speed work on the treadmill.  

First of all packet pick-up stunk. I really hope they get their act together because the race was a blast.  Harold drove Maurine and I to the start because we were afraid the bus scene might be a nightmare, not sure how that went, but we got to the start line and sat in the warm car until the race started.  Thank you dear husband.  Loved the course and all the fun costumes!  I ran with Maurine until mile 10 and then started to get tired, she went on to finish 5 minutes a head of me.  Love the crisp cold air, and party atmosphere!!!  Please get it right next year, and have a packet pick up in SLC!!!

I did weights this morning at the gym and one 10 min. mile on the treadmill and then took Odee for a walk.  Body feels great after the half marathon, however I was a real tired all day Sat and Sun. and really dragged. 

I am milking my recovery a bit too much. 2 miles on the treadmill and strength training. 

Nice morning walk with Ardie on the PRT. We had fun exchanging  stories about our different half marathons. Ardie did the LA Rock n Roll and loved it. Ardie and I are going to be doing the Mesquite Half in 2 weeks!

Bundled up and ran outdoors, took Odee for a walk after.

26 degrees this morning when I set out for my run. I need to remember that this weather feels great to run in!  

Great early morning run with Ardie, we did the Old Mill loop, and then I ran along Wasatch Blvd. and down Bengal. A little windy and some light rain, but felt great to be out!

heading off to Mesquite tomorrow!

Harold and I had a great weekend in Mesquite and St. George. Ardie and Jeff, my dear friends, and Ardie's sister Laurel and her hubby Stan from Orange County were all there for the fun.  We had a fun evening doing a little gambling ( penny slots) and  dinner and then early to bed.  

Sat. morning I met the gang in the tent and we rode the bus up to Beaver Dam. The course had changed a bit from last year, and it was better, no weaving thru and around town, a more direct route.  The weather was perfect, in the high 50s to begin and low 60s to end. NO WIND!  It was fun running into the tent to finish the race.  First time to see beer as a post race beverage, kinda funny. 

This was my 5th half marathon for the year, with each race my pace got a little slower, maybe it is time to rest up a bit.

We spent the evening with Colleen and Dave in St. George, it was fun and very relaxing, we enjoyed a yummy home cooked dinner and went out to Nelson's Frozen Custard afterwards. It was fun visiting with our good friends.

This morning, Harold and I took a beautiful morning walk on some trails above their home and then we had a breakfast with Dave and Colleen before heading back to cold SLC. 

I am happy to report, I have no soreness at all, this is one of the great perks of doing half marathons!!  We did miss not having Gary and Ernie with us, they always add to our fun!

I never saw Smooth, I was hoping she would pass me while on the course.  Dang it.

Walked over to the Turkey Trot with Rachel and some of her family and walked the course, Harold rode his bike, then we took Odee over to the pond. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

ran the Canal trail with Maurine, NICE!!!!

Pipeline with Ardie and Odee! Need to do this all winter! 

Treadmill

Treadmill

Left the house at 6:30am in the dark, 26 degrees, burr....the plan was to run the
Big Cottonwood trail, but got to the pond and told Harold to come down with dog and some hot pumpkin spice coffee. He was obedient and came down to join me at the pond and went home with Harold and skipped out on the last 2 miles. I felt good that I toughed out the cold, but it was FREEZING!

treadmill

treadmill

it is too cold to run outside, another treadmill run.

ran outside this morning.

treadmill

Hiked to Desolation Lake with Kim, tough with the snow, but beautiful.