Killer workout

Today I tackled mile (OK, 1600m, not quite a mile!) repeats again (with 1:20-2:30 rest). I was up at 5:10 am and at the track at 5:45, because it's a long workout. Here's the summary of how it went (interval, time, ave HR):

warm-up 1600m, 10:10, 139
first 1600m repeat, 9:14, 155
second 1600m repeat, 9:20, 160
third 1600m repeat, 9:24, 161 (my legs were starting to feel heavy)
fourth 1600m repeat, 9:24, 162 (tired, but managed another)
fifth 1600m repeat, 9:19, 163 (managed to speed it up - working really hard now)
sixth 1600m repeat, 9:16, 164 (turned on some serious music for this one, and it worked!)

I cooled down slowly and stretched very carefully afterward. My right piriformis is still bugging me from Saturday; it feels fine when I racewalk but just bugs the heck out of me when I am sitting a lot. I sat for most of the afternoon at work today, so that didn't help. I did bring a tennis ball to sit on, which was useful, but I'm still a bit sore. Oh well, it's nothing that keeps me from doing my workouts, so more of a nuisance than anything.

I am VERY pleased with this workout. It's a bit faster than last time I did it, when I ranged from 9:22-9:29 for each (and OK, my HR was a bit higher too, but not much). When I finished, the feeling was amazing. I felt so strong, capable, and yes, beautiful. As a recovering food addict, I can say that that feeling seriously rivaled the most pleasure one can get from food. Hmmm, now if only I could remember that next time I want to overeat :).

Actually, the food has been much better. I am adjusting to the new, lower # of points that my body seems to now require, and as of last night's weigh-in at Weight Watchers and this morning's weigh-in on my scale, I am pretty much back at my lowest weight - maybe 0.5 lb above it, but close. I'd like to lose just a little more before Portland. This week has a lot of food challenges, but I'm just going to take them one day at a time.

My wild & crazy brother ;)

My brother is a youth pastor for senior high, and his charges just completed the parent-teen backpacking trip in the Sierras. While up there, they spent a bunch of time jumping in the lake :). Here's a self-video (?like self-portrait? just made that up) of Alex jumping in the lake.

Catching up again

Photo: TNT workout Saturday. I'm in the foreground, and behind me are Kandice, Randy, and Sue.

Yeah, got busy this weekend & didn't blog. But I'm back :) for those of you loyal readers who still get some entertainment value from this blog.

Saturday we had our TNT workout, and I did about 11 miles (accidentally had my Garmin off for a bit so this is an estimate) in about 2 hr 15 min; this includes regular walking at least 4 miles with the back-of-the-pack people. They are actually getting a lot faster though - our walkers were almost as fast as the slower runners (who were alternating 8 min running w/2 min walking).

TNT workouts are interesting with this team. We have one VERY fast runner (he is shooting for a 3:15 marathon to qualify for the Boston marathon) who was doing 8-min miles to start and finished up with 7-min miles. We have a couple runners who will probably be able to do a 9-min pace for their marathons, and a few who can do 10-10:30. The rest are run/walkers who average probably 13-min miles, and our walkers, who are at about 15:30 right now (improved from 17!). So it's quite a spread and I get to do a lot of different speeds for my Saturday morning workout, which is why I need to do my long day a different day. Yes, I get exercise, but it is not MY workout at all really. But I have a good time and enjoy seeing people improve.

This past Saturday I did 1.2 miles with our fast runner at about an 8-min pace (I was running, not RW, obviously!), then a couple miles with the 10-10:30 runners (the 9-min runners were not there), and then the rest of the time with the run/walkers and the walkers.

***

Sunday I took a rest day. My right piriformis was bugging me because after I did the 11 miles I had to drive 45 min to get home, and it really HATES sitting that long after a workout. It felt nice to have a morning off, oddly enough, and I felt OK despite not working out. Some days when I don't work out I feel crummy all day; sluggish, tired, etc. But yesterday was fine.

***

Today I was flying fast :). The rest day must have helped. Sue (asst coach for our team, and a friend from last year's team) met me at the Porter Rockwell trail in Draper for an 8-miler. We started fast, but what the heck, it was only 8 miles and I was feeling great, so I told her we could go fast (Sue is a runner, and a good one at that, so she usually goes a bit slower for me). We did 8.04 miles in 1:22:21 for an average of 10:14/mile! My average HR was only 141, though --- that is amazingly low for that speed. If the Portland Marathon had been today, I'm sure I would have done very well. I wish I could figure out why some days are just so much better (and some worse, like Nike last year) and then bottle the good days and save them for races :). Hahaha. Maybe today it was the distraction of having someone along; don't know but it sure does help to talk with someone. Too bad Sue is doing the 10-miler in Minneapolis that weekend, or I'd try to talk her into doing the race with me. I have a couple friends doing the race, but we are not the same speed.

Tomatoes

Our tomatoes are making progress. They started off very small; photo above. Now see how big they are (photo below)! There are a lot of tomatoes on there, and also a lot of flowers. I think it's gonna be a good harvest starting in a month or so.

Mmmmm ice cream

Took the kids to Baskin-Robbins last Saturday. It's SO cute watching them pick the flavor they want.

More photos here.

Likes to write his name

 Calvin loves writing his name. This is his latest creation; he did it all by himself, unprompted. I thought it was pretty darn clever!

sleep-deprived stupidity

I really should get more sleep. This morning, I drove the Rav4 up to my weight training class, and got there about 10-15 min early so that I could racewalk to warm up for class. When I pulled in, my instructor was just getting out of his car, and I was distracted because he was dressed up in a shirt & tie. I was asking him about it and re-arranging my car keys at the same time. I meant to put my Rav4 key in my shorts and put the other keys in the car. However, I did just the opposite, and then locked the car. I did not realize what I'd done until I was 1-2 min into my racewalking, when I heard my keys jingling. "That's odd", I was thinking. I reached back and grabbed my keys and realized what I'd done. Major bummer.

Fortunately, I live only 2.9 miles (just under 5k) from the U, where the class is. I racewalked home (all downhill!) in just under 28 minutes, grabbed a quick shower and my husband's keys, and went to switch cars. I couldn't have him just drive me up there, because we have the kids and the Buick has no car seats. So I drove up there and switched the cars, and drove home. Meanwhile, he showered and dressed the kids. I got back and we piled everyone in the Rav4, and took Loren up to get his car. He drove to work from there (less than a mile) and got to work early. I took the kids to day care and made it to work about my usual time. I guess it could have been worse; I got my workout (not the one I'd planned) and it all worked out OK. Still, I think maybe more sleep would be good.

6 miles at marathon pace

6 miles @ marathon pace was the task for this morning. I did 6.15 miles (just under 10K) in 1:04:41, for 10:30/mile. It was downhill for the 1st mile, uphill for the last mile, and mostly flat in between. Average heart rate 142 (low for that pace!). Still not sure I can do the whole marathon at 10:30; probably 10:40 is more realistic, but I'll train hard and see what happens.

Been staying up too late these days, so I am going to sign off and get some sleep now, before it's too much later.

Hills in City Creek Canyon

This morning I got up at the crack of dawn (really!) to do hills in City Creek Canyon. I had a hard time dragging myself out of bed, and I was dreading the workout a bit. But I was out the door by 5:35; I took Copper with me in the back of the Rav4. She was so excited to go for a ride! We arrived at the canyon mouth at 5:50 and started up the hill.

The schedule said 7 miles (11.25km) of hills, and City Creek is nothing if not hilly. It is pretty much UP, UP, UP for 6 miles to the top. However, dogs are only allowed up the first 2.9 miles (4.7 km) from the gate (because of the watershed), so I turned around at mile 2.9, headed back down 0.6 miles (1 km) to mile 3.5 on my Garmin, then back up to the watershed signs, and finally down all the way to the bottom.

[Side note - I remember the first time I went up this canyon - it was on a bike, about 7-8 years ago, with Sarah and Bryan and Loren. I was SO slow and out of shape, but everyone was very patient with me. I wonder how long it took? I have the feeling that I racewalked it today faster than I biked it years ago! WOW! What a cool thought!]

The weather was gorgeous this morning. It was 55 and clear, and in the canyon it was probably 5 degrees cooler (50F or 10C). My hands actually got quite cold in the first 1-1.5 miles, and I wished I had gloves! Even my legs were a bit cold. Hmmm, maybe it was only 45? Perfect weather for a hard workout, though, as the chill makes it so much nicer when you start sweating.

It was a hard climb for the first 2.9 miles, but not as bad as I was imagining last night when I was thinking about this workout. I tried to do it moderately hard, and that was a good decision, as it felt great. I did the first mile in 10:54, and the second mile in 10:53. Not too shabby for the incline, and ave HR was 143 for the first mile and 153 for the second mile. After that I didn't really do splits for each mile, though my split through halfway (3.5 miles) was 36:45 for 10:30/mile (6:31/km).

I was still feeling pretty good when I got to the watershed signs the second time. All the same, it was great to be headed back DOWN the hills to the car. I did pick up the pace quite a bit and finished in 1:09:26 for 9:54/mile (6:10/km) with an average HR of 150 for the whole workout. Wow, that is really very fast for the incline! From 0.0 to 2.9 miles the elevation increased from 4700 feet to 5260 feet, or 560 feet (171m). I'm not sure how much I went back down from mile 2.9 to 3.5; it looks like about 100 feet (30m) or so. Of course, then I went back UP that part, so I probably climbed something like 660 feet (201m) through mile 4.1.

That's not as much as the 900-1000 ft I have to climb in my hilly leg of Portland-to-Coast, and it's about 80% as steep. Holly (our team captain for PTC) has me down for 11:15/mile on my leg. I think I'll be ready. Yes, the hill is steeper and longer than what I did today, and some of it is gravel road, but I was a lot faster than 11:15/mile, and I could have pushed harder had it been a race situation. I'm getting excited - less than 7 weeks to race day (Aug 28)!

And yes, I did stop (very briefly) a few times on the way down to get some pictures. Here are the other photos.

Monday long racewalk

Today the schedule said 13 miles easy (20.92km), so off I went. I had no problem keeping it very easy; in fact, I had trouble for the first half pushing my heart rate much about 132-133. Not sure why, but it was just one of those days when I felt sluggish or something. I did manage to pick it up a bit about 7 miles (11.27km) in, when I was done with the hilly part (I started on some hills and then did a flat part). Ave pace for the first 2 miles (very uphill) was a quite slow 11:42/mile (7:14/km). Anyway, I just felt tired today, and I know I really need to get more sleep. I'm just not sure how to fit it all in. Y'know, work, training, being a mommy, doing laundry & housework & cooking, etc. Sleep seems to get the short end of the stick a lot.

Overall, 10:59/mile (6:50/km), 13.00 miles (20.92km) in 2:22:52. Ave HR was 135.

No pain, though my R piriformis is still a bit tight. It's getting better, though.

***

Oh, and yesterday I did an easy racewalk around Sugar House Park (3.65ish miles?) in 39:17.

Michelle stuff

Sadly, Michelle spiked a fever just before we were to hand the kids off for 24-hr of kid-free time yesterday :(. And the friends who were to watch them can't do it again until August 21st :(. Oh well, I guess the delayed gratification will make it that much better?

***

On the funny side, I talked to Michelle today:

T: What's your favorite store?
M: Costco.
T: Why?
M: Because I can buy samples there.

:) She meant that she gets free samples there :). The kids love going to Costco and tasting whatever they are handing out. Very cute.