Leg is really sore

I thought I was going to be OK after my walk today, but my left leg is now extremely sore. I have no idea what I have done to it, but it's been bothering me a little bit (not too much - just a little) for a few weeks, and after my 10-miler this morning it is much worse. It hurts a lot where the hamstring attaches at the top - I literally have a "pain in the butt". I got Loren to massage it a bit for me last night, and it helped a lot, but it was stiff again this morning at the start of my walk. By the end of the walk it was fine, and I wasn't even thinking about it.

I stretched it out really well, but a few hours later after sitting in church for only 30 min, it was really sore. I got up to play the piano for the offertory, and was limping a little - a friend noticed and asked me about it. I've been sitting on my duff watching football most of the day (my poor 49ers got mashed) and that has only made it worse. Despite 800 mg ibuprofen and 1g acetominophen, it still hurts a lot. I'm going to take some more before bed and hopefully it will be better tomorrow. I want to go to my weight training class - well, I guess I can always just do arms and skip the legs if I need to. I hope I recover enough so that I can do the 1/2 marathon in 3 weeks.

10 miler

Did the 10 miler (16k) this morning in 1:48:20, for 10:49/mile (6:45/km). Would have liked to be a bit faster, but I was trying to mostly take it easy. I stayed at about 70-75% MHR for the first 7 miles, and then tried to maintain pace, and my HR went up to about 78-79% max. That was a little high, since today was supposed to be an easy day, but I wanted to see what I could do at the end. Next week is a 12 miler... whew. Then in 2 weeks, the half marathon.

Pay it forward

I have always thought the saying "pay it forward" was kind of cliche. No, I think it is over the top cliche. However, today at Weight Watchers our leader gave out white wristbands that say "pay it forward" (like the LiveStrong ones, but white) to all of the lifetime members (lifetimers have hit their goal weight and maintained for at least 6 wks). She explained that it was to celebrate our accomplishments and remind us to encourage others that they can do the same. In that sense, I really do want to "pay it forward". I try to encourage those around me in their weight and fitness goals as much as I can. I feel like I do have something of value to share, and I enjoy watching others work through things to achieve their goals. So even though it's cliche, I am wearing it because I suppose it has some truth to it - others helped me get where I am, and I want to give back.

So, if you are reading this and you are on WW or working on a fitness goal, know that I am behind you and hoping you will succeed. Remember that it's a new lifestyle that you are seeking to have. Take it slowly, watch the changes, and celebrate your accomplishments!

Next race

Don't think I've posted my next race yet. I am going to do the virtual Nike Women's Half Marathon on October 21st. The real race is in San Francisco, but instead of going there, I'm doing the race in San Diego when I go to visit my parents. I paid $45 to enter, and I will race with my Nike+ iPod sport kit, and then upload my run to my computer via iTunes. Then they send me a finisher's T-shirt and Tiffany key chain! I'm excited to do it, because the proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Since my dad was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in December, I am more than happy to do a race to benefit research into the causes and cures of blood cancers (I would have been happy to do it before, since as a molecular biologist I understand the importance of research, but now I have a personal reason too).

I started my training this week, but since I have a pretty good base, I am not too worried about getting in the miles. I just have to up my mileage a bit and I'll be ready. I plan to do an easy 10 miles tomorrow (16 km), and we'll see how that feels. Of course I'll do some speed work too - I plan to hit the track on Tuesday for some fast 400m intervals.

Workouts

Thursday - 60 min acceleration - HR at 140 for 10 min, 145 for 10 min, 150 for 10 min, 155 for 10 min, and 160 for 10 min, then 140 for 10 min for cool down, then some stretching. Did about 5.65 miles for a 10:37 per mile pace overall (ok... in km for my Canadian buddies, that was 9.09 km at 6:36/km overall).

Friday - weight training and biking

Saturday - 4 x 1 mile at 1/2 marathon pace, in 41:48 (just under 10:30/mile; 6:26/km). I was going to rest each mile but didn't really need it, so I kept on going.

Some Racewalking Drills from Italy

There are some different ones on here! I am going to have to try some of them.

World Masters' Championships

Is in SACRAMENTO! in 2011!!! I am so excited. My brother lives only 20 min from there, so I am definitely going to go, and hopefully by then I'll be a bit faster, too. I can't wait to racewalk with hundreds of people from all over the world. OK, it's four years away now, but that gives me lots of time to get ready.

Cold and dark and crowded

That was the track workout this morning, in a nutshell. Cold (39 degrees F, 4 degrees C) enough to see my breath, but fortunately I decided to wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt, so I was fine after warming up. Dark for 3/4 of the workout, as winter is approaching. Finally, it was crowded. A running club was meeting there today, and I had to park across the street because the parking was all full. I almost turned around and went home when I saw how crowded it was, but decided to give it a go anyway.

The bad:
Had to stay in lane 3-4 most of the time because of the crowds and the runners.
Some idiot in that club brings there yippy little dog with them, and the dog was pretty pesky.
Too dark to see my heart rate monitor, and with my gloves on the little flashlight I brought was hard to operate.
Got up a little later than I wanted and had to cut my workout down to size a bit.

The good:
I had a decent workout anyway, doing 4x800 in 4:48ish (10K pace) with 2:00 rest, plus warm-up and cool down. I was going to do 6x800, but time prevented it.
Overheard as I passed some runners who were walking in between their sets: "Walker on your left!" with a reply of "That ain't walking!" in a tone of amazement at my walking speed.
Burned almost 500 calories and felt good that I stayed for my workout.

Race photos

OK... I fixed the link. Race photos here.

Race results

(drum roll...)

I finished fourth, with a time of 29:16.5.

I am pleased that I finished in the top 5, and my time was good - but not great. I had a good race, but just didn't have that little extra something that it takes to feel really fast. I didn't feel as smooth and fluid as in my Thursday workout. However, I am really happy that I went because it was great to compete with other racewalkers. They were fast, too! The woman who won the race finished under 27 minutes, and she is 56 years old (and does NOT look it!). She holds the world Master's record for 5K for age 50-54, so I fully expected her to win. My friend/coach Jennifer, who drove up with me, finished 2nd with a time just over 28 minutes I think. The 3rd place woman finished in 28:52, (my best time for 5K is 28:53), and she was within striking distance of me the whole race, but I just couldn't turn on the power to get by her.

Nitty gritty race analysis: I went out a bit too fast the first mile (yeah, I should know better... sigh) at 9:06, and then the 2nd mile had a pretty good uphill for a bit so I did that in 9:47 or so, and then the last 1.1 miles I did in 10:23, picking up the pace. If I had done the first mile a bit slower I probably would have been able to do the 2nd and 3rd with a lot more kick and it would have been a faster race. I was trying too hard to stay with the walkers ahead of me instead of walking my own race.

Bottom line: I had a wonderful time anyway, and was totally thrilled just to BE there, and to be fit, and to have a chance to meet the racewalkers from Idaho.

It was a great experience to race with so many FAST women, and the atmosphere of the race (the Boise Women's Fitness Celebration) is fabulous. It's a huge 5K race (for women only, and over 10,000 women do the race!) that starts off with the elite wheelchair athletes. Then 5 min later the racewalkers get their own start! With thousands of women watching and cheering us on, we were off. 10 minutes later, the elite runners started, and then after them the rest of the runners started. The top elite runners passed me about 3-4 minutes before I reached the finish line, and it was really fun to watch them zoom by me as if I were standing still. What was neat about the order of the race start was that I could really see what place I was in and could tell exactly who was in front of me and how far, with no runners crowding the view.

The race has an amazingly festive feeling about it. Before the start, they had a dove release - hundreds of doves were loosed from ornate white wicker boxes, representing the dreams and hopes of the women in attendance. There were brightly colored balloon arches at the start, at each mile mark, and at the awards stage. Finally, along the last 0.1 mile of the race, men wearing tuxedo shirts, jackets, cummerbunds and bow ties along with shorts (yep, shorts!) flanked the race course and cheered the women on to the finish. They call it "Tuxedo Row".

They actually recognized the racewalkers in the awards ceremonies - the top 5 racewalkers, wheelchair athletes, and elite runners got flowers and recognition on stage. The wheelchair athletes and runners get prize money, and the racewalkers used to, but in recent years the race has not been officially judged (lack of qualified judges) so they don't give prize money to racewalkers anymore. However, I didn't care - I was thrilled to be on stage and receive a beautiful bouquet of multicolored roses.

After the awards for the top finishers, they added a beautiful touch - they gave each woman over 70 that completed the race a red rose, and a tuxedo-clad man escorted her across the stage, dancing to music by a live band. They announced the names and ages of all the over-70 finishers as they danced across the stage, and the crowd went wild.

The race allowed people to enter as competitive runners (timed), competitive fitness walkers (timed), or noncompetitive walkers (untimed, pushing strollers, etc.). So many women turned out to celebrate fitness and getting in shape. Women of all sizes, shapes, and colors were out there having a great time. I was heartened to see many larger-sized women out there, and I wish them all well in beginning or continuing their journey to fitness. It was obviously a place where any woman could feel comfortable, no matter her fitness level, her age, or her size, and I loved that.

I'm going to try and post some pictures soon.

Ready or not...

Here I come! Off to Boise tomorrow for my first race with a racewalking division. I'm really excited and nervous and hoping for the best.

This morning's workout went great. After my warm-up and stretching, I did a short but fast workout. I wanted to see how fast I could do a 1K, inspired by Sarah's great times the other day. So, off I went, and I finished it in 5:27! Wow! I have never done one so fast, and didn't know that I could. But I only did one, because I wanted to take it easy today. So then I did an easy 200m, followed by 3x400m at approximately 5K race pace, each followed by an easy 200m. I did the 400s in 2:15, 2:16, and 2:16 (my 5K goal pace is 2:18, so I was a little fast). I felt like I was flying, loose and fluid. It was great. Hopefully I will feel like that on Saturday!

Evening eating

Once again, the evening eating is getting out of control. I think it's because of 2 things:

1. I have cut back my points a lot to try and lose a little more weight to improve my racewalking. This has led me to feel deprived. That's not good, because then my self-control goes out the window and I binge.

2. I have not been getting enough sleep. That leads to feeling really tired (gee, ya think?) and then my self-control goes out the window and I binge.

The solution? I think I should put the weight loss plans on hold for a bit, so I can just feel normal for a while. I also need to blog less and go to bed earlier - not likely to happen :) so I'll settle for just stopping the weight loss train for a bit.

Siblings

Some candids of my mom and her siblings

At Wheeler Farm

Adorable!

Father & son

Mommy wore this when she was little, and now it's my turn to wear it!

Calvin goes to the dentist

Calvin's first dentist appt was today. He did great! Here are some photos.

Photos!

I worked on my photos a lot today during naptime and also tonight after the kids were in bed. The photos on our website are now up-to-date. I've put a few up here on the blog to whet your appetite (or not!).

Date night

Last night we had a great date night. We went to Bambara for a delightful meal, since the city is having Dine-O-Round right now, and you can try expensive restaurants for less. For $28 each, we got a 3 course meal - salad, entree, and dessert. Loren had rabbit with wild mushrooms (! I could not even try it ! Too close to home w/our pet rabbit !) and he said it was amazing, and I had Morgan Valley lamb with polenta. Delicious. The dessert was pistachio cake, which was just OK, probably because it was not chocolate. All the same, the coffee and the wonderful adult conversation with my husband were sublime.

Then on to the symphony. For the season opener, they played 2 of our favorites: Beethoven's Emperor Concerto, and The Planets by Holst. It was so amazing to go, since we hadn't been in a while. I just love the living, breathing organism that is the orchestra. It delights me to hear and see the musicians working together to create such a breadth of sounds and timbres. The piano concerto was splendid, really - the soloist, Andre Watts, was having the time of his life with this old warhorse of a piece. His musicianship was impressive, and the variety of sounds he coaxed from the piano were marvelous. He got SO into it, though, that he was singing along quite loudly at times - we could hear him readily from our 9th row seats. I didn't mind too much, though, because he was clearly enjoying the music for all it was worth, and that was what I came to do as well. After the intermission, the orchestra tackled The Planets. Loren and I agreed that Mars is our favorite, and the orchestra really could not have played it better. The solid wall of sound that the brass produced was totally over the top, and we loved it. The other planets were extremely well-executed too, and listening to the large performing force with the unusual instrumentation (bass oboe, bass flute, contrabassoon, 6 horns, celeste, glockenspiel, et.) was a treat.

Sorting

Today was sorting day. I went through all of the kids' summer clothes and put most of them away, saving out just a few outfits for the occasional warm day that we might get in the next couple of weeks. I got out all of their larger sized fall clothing, though I am not quite done putting Michelle's in her drawers. I sorted all of Michelle's old baby clothes to give to some friends, organizing them by size and by who I am giving them to. My entire trunk is now FULL of her old clothes. It feels really good to get them out of the garage. They were taking up a LOT of space.

It always surprises me how long this takes to do, for some reason. It took me about 4 hours, and I'm still not done, though I'm close. Michelle had so many clothes... 0-3 mo, 3-6 mo, 6-9 mo, 12 mo, winter and summer. I wonder how people do this if they have 5 kids? How can they ever get it done? Heck, I haven't gone through MY clothes yet either. Fortunately, that will be much easier, as I don't have that many! Losing all that weight was great for pruning the ol' wardrobe down. It will probably only take about 30 min to sort through my stuff, put away the summer clothes, and get out the winter ones.

Track workout

Today was my last long track workout before my race. I warmed up and did my flexibility drills, and then I did 16x400m with no rest, with alternating 2:18/2:45 as my goal (2:18 being my goal 5K race pace for next Saturday's race). I was able to do the 2:18s no problem - most were actually 2:13-2:16, but I slacked on the 2:45s, mostly because I wasn't paying that close attention to how fast I did the recovery laps. Some were 2:40s, but many were 3:00, even 3:05. Oops. I'm not worried, though, as it was a good hard workout and I felt decent.

I do wonder how I will sustain that pace for almost 30 min - but I wondered that before my last 5K and did 28:53, so I think the adrenaline helps a lot. Also, you push harder in a race than in a workout, even if you have an intense workout. I never do all-out in a workout, but in a race I will. Especially a race like this one. I have never done a race with a real racewalking division, and there are some FAST walkers in Idaho (at least 2 of them can do a 25:30ish 5K!!!). My goal is first of all to have a good race and finish well, but of course I would like to finish in the top 5 and get an award :)!

Drat

I lost all of my pictures when I moved my blog. Sigh. I know exactly why it happened - I had it hosted on my website, and moved my website and didn't move the photos. It would be really time-consuming to fix it, so I'm going to leave it the way it is. Sorry! I will just have to post new pictures as I go. I should have just hosted my blog on Blogger to start with, but I wanted it on my domain. The only problem was that when I switched my hosting, it was a major hassle to move everything. Oh well. Thanks for bearing with me.

Feeling fast

I had a great workout this morning. Warmed up on the 1.2ish miles from my house to Liberty Park, and then did some flexibility drills. Then did 2x around the park in 27:38 (a 10:01 per mile pace, or 6:12 per km) for a lactate threshold workout. The first lap was great - 13:23 (6:02 per km or 9:42 per mile), and then the 2nd lap was not as fast.

I was not too worried, though, because I would have been a lot faster (30 sec? 1 min?) on the 2nd lap if not for my dogs. I have learned that my dog Copper is plenty fast and motivated. She can keep up with me just fine. Sahara, on the other hand, is fast only when she wants to be. She was keeping up all right on most of the first lap, but on the 2nd lap she lagged seriously unless we happened to be catching up to another dog, in which case she had no problem whatever keeping up (and more than keeping up - racing ahead). The rest of the lap, I was basically dragging her along. I don't really know how much she slowed me down, but it was significant. Thing is, I am not too worried about that. I still got a great workout, and I felt nice and fast this morning. My pace was exactly where I wanted it to be, and it felt good. For a fast 5K I will have to go about 15 sec/km faster, but I think I can do it. I was pushing really hard this morning, but it was not all-out, and I didn't have the adrenaline rush of a race.

I think I'm as ready as I'm going to be for the race next Saturday. I have one more serious track workout and then I'm tapering. I was pretty anxious about it, but then had a good conversation with my boss (who is not a walker, but just an all-around nice guy who has a good perspective) who suggested that I just needed to "have fun". He's right. The race is the Boise Women's Fitness Celebration, and I intend to treat it like a celebration. It's a huge victory for me to be in great shape and to be out there racing, when 3 years ago I was an obese couch potato. I'm going to have a great time!

Funny commercial

This commercial has been running locally, and despite the fact that I watch little TV, I have seen it once or twice. I was pleased that it is online now so I can show all of you too :)

http://animallogic.com/?link=Our%20Work,_54

Moving

I'm moving the blog to www.racewalkertammy.blogspot.com

I am changing where we host our website, and I needed to move my blog so that the posts didn't get lost. Please bear with me! :)

In memory of Lolita, 1999-2007

My cute little gray Holland Lop, Lolita (at left in the picture), died yesterday at the age of about 8 (we got her at about age 2, and were not certain of her birthday). She hadn't been eating well, and I was just thinking that I should probably take her to the vet when I found her last night when we returned from the football game.

We buried her in the back yard, and I'm painting a stone to place over the grave. I'm going to miss her.

Sat am track workout

Forgot to post about my workout this morning. It went great - after my warm up and flexibility drills I did 1k @ race pace (5:45) then 1k recovery (6:45-7:00) and repeated 3x. I felt great afterwards, though my left hamstring seems a little sore/tight now - not sure why.

Interested in watching some racewalking? Try Racewalk Planet TV.

Really busy day

After attending Anna's birthday party, teaching a piano lesson, going to Costco and the grocery store, and going to the Utes game, I am really thrashed. It was fun, but maybe a little over the top.

Workout notes

Had planned a harder workout today, but still feel a little off from Monday's hike, so I compromised by doing a "not so easy" workout. I kept my heart rate around 150, and did 7.18 km (4.46 mi) in 48:36, for a 6:46/km pace. I felt absolutely great and I think I've had a major form breakthrough - it's not making me faster (may be slowing me down) but I feel quite sure I'm more legal. I think my left leg was actually the culprit for the problems I've been having with my right knee being soft. Before, I was walking too much on the outside of my left foot, and I was not getting enough toe-off on my left foot either. Now I think that is much better, and I'm getting more knee drive too. Hopefully this will eventually translate into better times once my muscles and body get used to the new form. If not, at least I'm more legal. I am definitely worried about Boise, though - I would hate to go all the way up there (it's a 5 hr drive) and do poorly. I just feel slower for some reason, even though I've been working hard and have lost a few more lbs since my fastest 5K in June.

PEARS!

Our pear tree has graced us with a giant box of pears, which are all ripening. Yesterday I made pear preserves, and today I made cinnamon pears for the kids (well, for all of us, but they really like the cinnamon pears). Tomorrow I think I'll try to make some sugar-free pear jam for myself. It's a LOT of work to make and can all this stuff, but I can't eat all the pears and I hate to toss them out, so I either need to can them or give them away. I haven't had many takers for them this year, so I'm canning them.

A lot of cross training

Today I climbed Mt. Olympus with Kat, my co-worker. It is "only" 6 miles but it's about 4200 feet (1280 meters) of elevation gain, from 4830 feet (1472 meters) to 9026 feet (2751 meters). It is a tough hike, with a serious rock scramble at the top. This was made more serious by the fact that we missed the correct trail near the top and scrambled up some harder rocks. It was challenging, but not too bad, and we still made it to the summit without incident (click pictures to see a larger view).













We started at 6:40 am (to beat the heat!) and made the summit at about 9:30. Once at the top, we stopped for a while to enjoy the amazing views, and also to listen to the people singing. Yes, singing (see photo below). A guy had lugged an LDS (Mormon) hymnal up to the top, believe it or not. First these guys sang the Star-Spangled Banner, and then they sang a Mormon hymn that I am not familiar with - something like "Up on the Mountaintop", appropriately. I've been living in Utah for 8 years, but I can still be surprised by the local culture sometimes.













Now for a sample of the great views:














On the way down, we encountered a rattlesnake at the side of the trail. Some other hikers pointed it out to us. I was glad that it was sitting on a log minding its own business a foot off of the trail. It was pretty neat, but I did NOT want to be any closer.














We got back to the trailhead at 12:30 pm, and it was VERY hot for the last hour or so of the hike. We promptly drove to a 7-11 and got some Slurpees (I got one w/Crystal Light, so didn't even consume many calories!) to cool off.

My quads are pretty sore now, so we'll see how I feel tomorrow. I had planned on a track workout before I decided to climb a mountain. If my legs are really sore, I'll probably just do an easy recovery walk. If I feel good, I'll hit the track for an economy workout.

I got a ton of stuff done today - it felt great. When I returned from the hike, after eating lunch and putting the kids down for a nap I watched a movie with Loren. While the movie was on, I made a baby sling for my other co-worker, David, whose wife had a little girl on Thursday. After the movie, I repaired Calvin's sunglasses, gave Loren and Calvin a haircut, and canned some plums from our tree. I cooked dinner, and after dinner we all headed to Baskin-Robbins for a little treat (I had 13 points I had to use up :)!).

I think we might take a soak in the jetted tub tonight - perhaps it will ward off muscle soreness. If not, at the very least it will feel good.

50K World Championships

Got this article from the racewalking Yahoo group. It was pretty interesting. In case you didn't know, the 50K racewalk is the longest footrace in the Olympic games, 8K (5 miles) farther than the marathon! The world championships were in Osaka this week, and here's an article about the results.

FIFTY K WALK FOR DAILY YOMIURI.

By Elliott Denman
Special to the Daily Yomiuri

OSAKA – Fifty-kilometer racewalkers consider themselves the toughest of the tough.

Marathoners? They stop nearly eight kilometers early.

Ten thousand-meter runners? Relative sprinters.

To outsiders, fifty-kilometer men are the grizzled devotees of an event that seems to go on forever, an event that’s been the longest event in major championships since its debut at the 1932 Olympic Games, yet far too many people (a) understand, and (b) appreciate.

To do what they do and for as long as they do it, fifty-kilometer men can’t be softies. But guess what? Deep down, they really are.

Nathan Deakes proved that yesterday morning.

With some 100 meters left to walk, as the finish line neared, the last of his 24 Nagai Park two-kilometer road loops behind him, and morning-long chasers Yohan Diniz and Alex Schwazer no longer a threat to catch him, the 30-year-old Aussie had himself a very good and public cry.

By the time he crossed that line, three hours, 43 minutes and 53 seconds after he heard the starting gun at 7 a.m., those tears had turned to a gusher.

Said Deakes, after he’d dried his eyes:

“A lot of athletes make a lot of sacrifices along the way, and I’m one of them. I was thinking about everybody that ever helped me, my family and my wife, the support team that I’ve had around me..

“If I had to split up my medal in pieces for everybody who’d ever helped me, I wouldn’t have much left for myself. This is something I’ve dreamed about forever, and now to have it actually come true…

“ I tried to concentrate (on the final meters), but it was something I couldn’t help. It just started coming out.

“To actually come to the finish line (first), I couldn’t believe it, and I still can’t. World champion? It’s amazing.”

Amazing is the right word. Deakes, who set the world 50-kilometer record of 3:35:47 on home turf in Geelong last Dec. 2, then fought through a series of injuries on the road to Osaka, showed ultimate strategic sense.

Others handled the early pace-setting: Spain’s Santiago Perez, China’s Yu Chaochong, Russia’s Vladimir Kanaykin.

By the midway point, though, Deakes held a share of the lead, with Kanaykin and Japan’s own Yuki Kamazaki – to the utter delight of the many uniformed, fan-waving supporters in Nagai Park.

Then Diniz of France crashed the party, only to see Deakes surge right back. And that’s the way it stayed, with Alex Schwazer of Italy’s late bid sufficing only for the bronze medal back of Deakes and Diniz.

There were cheers for the special achievers – Russia’s Denis Nizhegorodov, finishing fourth when his heralded teammates were succumbing to heat-induced wobbles and heading to the sidelines; Canada’s Tim Berrett, the 19th placer, as the first man to compete in nine World Championships; Portugal’s Jorge Costa, the 27th-placer, age 46, as the oldest athlete in the whole meet.

But there were only commiserations and the deep regrets of the organizing committee, for Japan’s Kamazaki, who held sixth place after 35 kilometers, only to be mistakenly waved into the stadium one two-kilometer loop early, then being relegated to the DNF (did not finish) list.

It would have-should have-would have equaled the highest placing by a Japanese race walker in World Championships history, but it won’t.

Fifty-four men started the race, just 31 finished it. Nine were disqualified, 14 were DNFs, several stretchered-

off.

And, one more thing. The fifty-kilometer racewalk is the championships’ only event that doesn’t have a women’s equivalent. And the ladies, seeing what this event does to men, seem in no rush to demand equality of opportunithy.

Tomorrow's challenge

Tomorrow morning I'm going to climb Mt. Olympus with Kat, my co-worker. I'm excited to do it - last summer I was toying with this climb, but decided to do Mt. Timpanogos instead.

I got a sitter to help Loren w/the kids from 9 am to noon, and I'm going to hit the trailhead w/Kat at 6:30ish. Hopefully we'll be back by about 1 pm. I plan to bring my camera and get lots of great photos.

Long day/S'mores

Today was my long day. I did 7.75 miles (12.45 km) easy, in 1:27 and change. I was going to do 8 mi (12.9 km), but had some pretty severe intestinal cramping at the end and decided to get home. I felt pretty off for about an hour, but then I was OK. Weird. My dog Copper kept up just great and enjoyed the walk too.

I was glad I walked so much this morning, because then I had the points to enjoy some s'mores, guilt-free, at our church's smore-a-thon tonight in Millcreek Canyon. It was a beautiful evening - the rain threatened, and it drizzled a bit, but never amounted to much. It was warm and pleasant up in the canyon, and much cooler than the heat in the valley. The kids had a great time, too. Calvin loved "roasting" marshmallows - i.e. burning them to a crisp. Michelle had a great time walking everywhere and eating LOTS of watermelon, including the rind. I think watermelon is possibly her favorite food. She squealed when she watched me cut it this afternoon, and was really upset that I didn't give her any then. We still have half of it left, which will please her a lot, I'm sure.

I'm going to Boise!

Yay! Now, you ask, why are you so excited about Boise? It's in the middle of nowhere!

I'm going to do the Boise Women's Fitness Celebration 5K on Sept 22nd. They have a real racewalking division, even though it's not judged. I don't care, though - it's a real racewalking race, and I have never done one before! Too exciting! Jennifer, my racewalking coach from Ogden, is going to go with me so we can share gas and hotel costs. We're going to stay at The Grove Hotel, the only 4 star hotel in Boise. I got a good price with my AAA card, so it's not too expensive, believe it or not.

Hopefully my workouts will go a little better than this morning, though, if I'm going to have a prayer of finishing in the top 5 in that race (that's my goal!). I was SO sluggish at the track. I did 2K in 11:45, 1.2 K in 7:15, 800m in 4:45, 400m in 2:22, and 200m in 1:03, with 2 min rest in between all. Pathetic. My heart rate was pretty high, but I guess I just didn't have the energy this morning or something. Tomorrow is my long day and I plan on an easy 8 miler. I look forward to my long easy days, because I listen to books on my iPod nano while I walk, and it's relaxing to go slow and easy. I think I'll walk around Liberty and then SugarHouse parks, which is always fun. I'll take the dogs, and if they're slow I'll leave them off at the house between the two parks.