only a few miles w/the team

Here's a photo of some of the TNT runners: Denise, Mandy, Starr, Darlene, Kevan, & Emily.

This morning was our usual Saturday TNT workout. I only had time to do a few miles w/the team, because I had to be in Ogden(almost an hour drive from where our workout was) at 10 am for a TNT information meeting, recruiting for the summer marathons.

I walked a total of 10K (6.2 miles) in 1:07. I was working pretty hard most of the time, so not sure why my time was so slow - should have been more like 1:03 for how hard I was pushing to stay with the runners (who were doing ~10 min miles). I think I might have stopped to talk to people a few times w/o pausing my Garmin, and I turned of the autopause feature for snowshoeing on Friday, so I'm pretty sure that's what happened.

It was a great workout because I went pretty fast for most of it, and got to connect with some runners I don't normally talk to as much. I did miss talking a lot w/the walkers (I talked to them, but not as much as usual). I was trying to hit all the groups and ended up running out of time to talk w/everyone before heading up to Ogden. Hopefully Te Koi (the other coach) had time to talk a lot w/everyone and make sure they were all OK. The full marathoners did 14 miles this morning, and I feel bad that I couldn't be there for all of them to finish.

Oh, some bad news. My friend Diane (who is also a TNT coach and has coached for 10 years) fell this morning on some ice and got hurt pretty badly. She may have broken her patella - she had it x-rayed and it looked suspicious, so they're having a radiologist read it more carefully on Monday. I hope it's not a bad break because she wants to do the Canyonlands 1/2 with us on 3/21. Plus, she takes care of her dad (age 96) and it will be hard for her to do that with her knee injured like that. I'm going to check in w/her tomorrow and see if there is anything I can help her with.

The good news is that my IT band was pain-free :) and didn't even get tight! Yay! I feel so fortunate to be recovering, especially after what happened to Diane.

Day 5: 40 days 'til 39

Today was scrapbooking day. I finally finished Calvin's baby album. Sad, since he is 4 years old now. I really want to find more time to scrapbook...and read books...and play music. Oh yeah, I have 2 preschoolers. I guess that stuff will have to wait a bit.

But even one hour was time well-spent, and I did finish the album, so now I can start on Michelle's :).

Here's a sample of my work. These are my favorite photos of baby Calvin (age 3 mos and under). He was SO cute! Can't believe he was once this small.

The moon & Venus

 
As seen from our house tonight. It was beautiful - they were both SO bright, and in the photo you can see that Venus is not just a star - it is definitely showing its phase.

Lots of activity

It was an active morning.

First I went to my weight training class, where I warmed up with 7 min on the bike and a few min of racewalking. Then I did a hard set of lifting: walking lunges, incline bench press, dead lifts, upright rows, assisted chin-ups, leg extensions, tricep pull-downs, bicep curls. Then some core exercises: back extensions, ball crunches, 2 minute plank (!), and supermans.





Next, I got the kids dressed and took them to day care for the morning, and I met some friends at Mountain Dell Golf Course (2nd photo; up Parleys Canyon) for some snowshoeing. I'd never been snowshoeing before, and was eager to try it. Turns out it is really easy, and a lot of fun. I was borrowing a friend's snowshoes, and so it was free too! I would love to get a pair of snowshoes now. I think Loren and the kids would like it a lot too. I can't believe I've been here 10 years and this was the first time I've done this. My friends Kathy (last photo), Diane, and Carol (with me in the 1st photo) came along and we had a great time. The only bummer was that our friend Nancy, who proposed the trip, was sick and couldn't join us. We are now hoping to try cross-country skiing. Kathy says she can teach us. I actually own a pair of skis but have only been a couple of times because I needed some lessons, so this is perfect.

The last thing on my morning activity list was a physical therapy session at the U at 10:30 am. It was awesome. I love PT. I talked with the therapist, did 10 min on the elliptical to warm up, and then did a whole set of exercises designed to torture, oops, I mean strengthen, my hips. It was a good hard workout and afterward the physical therapist did some deep tissue massage on me and then iced my leg for 10 minutes or so. I think the reason I like PT is that as a mom of 2 small children, my focus is always on caring for someone else's needs, and PT is all about them caring for YOUR needs. It's nice to be spoiled for a while, even if it involves some physical effort.

Good thing I did all that activity, because I used the leftover bananas from the TNT workout last weekend (they were nice & ripe - perfect!) to make banana bread. And I ate a lot of it, pretty much guilt-free :).

Day 4: 40 days 'til 39

Today we are looking up famous people born on our birthdays. On Wikipedia, it has a lot to say about March 8th. For example, in 1924, the Castle Gate mine disaster here in Utah was on March 8th. I had heard about that but had no idea that it happened on my birthday. Well, since it was before I was born, I suppose it wasn't my birthday yet, but I digress ;).

Notable people born on March 8th:

C.P.E. Bach (son of J.S. Bach), famous pre-Classical composer, born in 1714. Of course I learned a ton about him in my music history class, but it somehow escaped my notice that he was born on my birthday. I also did not know that Georg Telemann (famous Baroque composer) was his godfather, or that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart said of him, "He is the father, we are the children."

Lynn Redgrave, English actress, born in 1943 (the year my parents were born). I had heard before that we shared a birthday, but had forgotten until now. She was in the movie "Shine" (1996) as Gillian, the wife of David Helfgott (Geoffrey Rush, Best Actor Academy Award), a pianist (hey, I wanted to pick another musical connection!) who suffers a mental breakdown and spends years in institutions. I saw the movie and really enjoyed it, but didn't even realize that Lynn Redgrave played Gillian, or that I shared her birthday.

Kenneth Grahame, British writer, born in 1859. He's known for writing "The Wind in the Willows" (1908), a children's classic (which I have never read). Interestingly, his only son Alastair was nicknamed "Mouse", just like Sarah :). Sadly, Alastair, born blind in one eye and with many health problems, committed suicide at age 20. Mr. Toad, one of the principal characters in "The Wind in the Willows", was modeled in part after Alastair. Interestingly, Grahame was a banker for some 30 years, from 1879 to 1908, and a successful one at that, becoming secretary of the Bank of England before his retirement.

That's it --- now I'm going to go read who Sarah chose!

25 random things

This is all the rage on Facebook so I'll post it here too. What the heck.

If you are not on Facebook yet, get on there! It is addictive, fun, & a blast to get re-acquainted w/old friends. Yes, there are plenty of people on it who are in their 30s, 40s, 50s, etc., so don't let age be a barrier.

1. I was born in Louisville, Kentucky but have no idea what it's like there because I only lived there for 6 months before moving to Wisconsin.

2. I lived in Wisconsin until I was 10, then moved to Pennsylvania and lived there until I graduated from high school.

3. Then I moved to California to go to school at UC San Diego. I wanted a change of scenery and I have to say that San Diego is one of the most beautiful places you could live.

4. I met my husband in the first day of freshman chemistry class. I guess you could say there was chemistry ;).

5. I love music and science and was debating between a music major and a molecular biology major. Science won.

6. But later I went back to school and did a piano performance major.

7. I still teach piano lessons today (and have for the last 10 years). Did music win?

8. I'm not sure that music won, because I worked at the University of Utah as a scientist from 2002-August 2008 when I got laid off because my boss lost his grant $. If he gets $ again I might go back to work there, because I really liked working for him. I love science and subscribe to Scientific American.

9. I was a couch potato until February 2005, and I was 100 lb overweight.

10. I joined Weight Watchers because I hated who I was and didn't want to pass my bad habits to my son, who was 4 months old.

10. I lost the 100 lbs and now I am a coach with Team in Training (www.teamintraining.org) and I LOVE RACEWALKING! I did a hard treadmill hill workout this morning (hey, it was freezing outside!) and it felt awesome.

11. I love blogging and I blog all about racewalking and other random things at http://racewalkertammy.blogspot.com

12. I'd like to lose 5-10 lbs more to be faster at racewalking. I said this last year too and didn't find the motivation, because I still love to eat!

13. My next race is the Canyonlands Half Marathon in Southern Utah on March 21st.

14. I'll be taking the family with me and we'll all be camping down there. After the race we'll do some hiking and check out the scenery, because my husband's favorite place in the world is Canyonlands National Park.

15. Oh yeah, we live in Utah now. We moved here in 1999 and thought we'd be here for my husband to go to school for 2 years but then we stayed and it's going to be 10 years this summer.

16. We thought Utah was going to be a really weird place to live, but it turns out that we love it here. I'm not too fond of the cold & snow, but it sure is beautiful.

17. I love looking out my front door and seeing the mountains every day.

18. I get cold easily since I lost weight and one of my favorite things to do is to take a HOT bath in our jetted tub at the end of the day.

19. I have visited 47 of the 50 states. I have not been in Louisiana, Alabama, or Mississippi.

20. My husband and I want to take a cruise to Alaska in 2010 or 2011, or as soon as we can save up enough $. We have wanted to do this for about 10 years now and are finally really making progress on saving the $.

21. I love to read books. I am reading about 5 books at any given time.

22. I subscribe to magazines too: Weight Watchers Magazine, Scientific American, Parents, Everyday Food (new one recommended by my SIL), and my favorite, Runner's World (yes, I'm a racewalker, but most of it except for the shoes and technique is exactly the same for RW and running).

23. In addition to the piano, I play the clarinet and the organ. I don't really have time to practice any of them right now though.

24. I still have to be very careful about my eating and I track my food intake every day. If I didn't remain vigilant I know I'd gain some of it back, but not all of it, because I love to racewalk too much! I attend Weight Watchers meetings weekly.

25. Though I didn't live in Kentucky very long, it must have influenced me, because I still love horses and like to watch the Kentucky Derby.

Day 3: 40 days 'til 39

T-minus 37 until our birthdays!

Today we are exchanging recordings of our favorite classical music. Both Sarah and I are total musicophiles. She is a superb violinist and dabbles in the piano, and I play the piano, the clarinet, and the organ (OK, so I'm not a very good organist, but I do play it!).

My favorite composer is Brahms. I love the complexity and craftsmanship of his music, and he does all of that without neglecting the emotional component that is so essential to great compositions.

Today's selection is the final movement (Vivace) from Brahms' clarinet sonata #1. It fits my mood perfectly today. It's triumphant, joyful, and elated. OK, I know it's the endorphins from my hard workout this morning speaking, but I feel terrific. I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts, and the music is part of the moment. Enjoy!

Here it is if you want to listen.

Fun with Calvin

Yesterday, Calvin was bugging me to make Rice Krispies treats in the shape of pandas. He saw this on the cereal box and it looked like fun, so we finally did it. I am proud to say that I didn't totally pig out on them. I did have some though!

This is what they were supposed to look like. Um, yeah, right.

This is what they actually looked like. Not too bad, considering my lack of frosting skills.

Calvin didn't care what they looked like :). Yum!

Yeah, I should have been napping instead of doing this (Michelle was napping, and I was VERY tired), but it was a great time with my son, and I went to bed early instead. It worked out OK.

Hills on the 'Mill

I love my treadmill. Let me say that again. I LOVE MY TREADMILL.

It was cold this morning, and I was worried after Tuesday's workout that I might have more IT band pain (yesterday I did the bike & weights because I wanted to rest my IT band), so I opted to do a hard hill workout on my treadmill instead of doing a tempo workout at Liberty Park. I didn't have any IT band pain, but it was SO nice to be inside. I remembered about 8 minutes into my workout that I needed to ask Sarah if I could borrow her snowshoes (I'm going snowshoeing tomorrow with the Wasatch Walkers), so I picked up my phone and called her. I got her machine, but I knew when she called back that I'd be around to pick up. I could have taken my cell phone outside on a walk I guess, but it was nice to be inside for other reasons. Calvin woke up early (6:40 am!) and I was able to help Loren keep an eye on him. Then when Michelle woke up, she wandered downstairs and gave me the biggest smile while I was working out. That was great :).

I also love the treadmill for the hill workout part. I started off warming up at 5.5 mph, and then got off and did a brief stretch of my IT band and adjusted my IT band strap. So far, so good. Then I started in to my hill repeats. I did 4% incline at 5.5 mph for 5 min, and then recovered at 5 mph 1% incline for 1:30. I repeated this four times, and my HR was in the low to mid 160s (~85% max) during the hill intervals. Then I cooled down at 5 mph down to 3.5 mph. Total time 46 minutes and about 4.2 miles (treadmill kicked off when knocked the safety off while going to get my phone, so I'm not sure of the distance).

I love that I could do hills, because it's easier on the IT band to go uphill, and I had ZERO pain today. Yay!

I have to say that it was not particularly fun while I was doing this, but afterwards I felt awesome. Really good. Those hard workouts bring on the endorphins, and I love it.

Day 2: 40 days 'til 39

Today is day 2 of our 40-day adventure.

Today we decided to listen to a song from 1969, the year Sarah was born. I chose "Na Na Na Na Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam. According to Wikipedia,

"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" is a song written and recorded by Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer, and Paul Leka; attributed to a then-fictitious band "Steam," it was released under the Mercury subsidiary label Fontana. It became a number one pop single on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1969. Although subsequent recordings and a quickly assembled touring band Steam met with little success, "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" remains a perennial favorite.

I chose it because it brought back memories from the mid-80s, when I was in high school marching band. We used to sing this song to the opposing football team & crowd when it became clear that our football team was going to steamroll them. We'd wave goodbye with our white gloves, sing at the top of our lungs, and generally just have an awesome time.

If you want to have a listen:

workout update

I've been neglecting my workout blogging. I have been logging things in my racewalking log (cool Excel spreadsheet I downloaded) but have been a bit busy and the blogging has suffered.

Sunday: Moderately hard 4 miles around Liberty Park (& to & from my house). I finished in 40:11 for 10:21/mile according to my Garmin.

Monday: Easy 2 miles on the treadmill for a warm-up for weights. Then weight training - mostly PT for my hips to help w/my IT band. Then I did something colossally stupid. I decided to try my new running shoes (bought them on Saturday hoping that if I had a new pr of running shoes w/more stability that might help me run again one of these days - need to eventually do some running this spring for TNT). I ran for 5 min on the treadmill, and it seemed OK though possibly a bit tight and a teensy bit sore at the end of the workout. Then I compounded my error by forgetting to take my anti-inflammatory Monday night and this morning. This was a problem (see Tuesday).

Tuesday: It was cold out, and I wanted to do my first speed workout since being injured. I decided to do it on the treadmill (wise choice!). I did 1 mile easy to warm up (5.5 mph or 11 min/mile at 0.5% incline) and then started in on some 0.25 mile (400m) repeats at 6 mph (10 min miles) with 0.1 mile recovery at 5 mph (12 min miles). It was great! I did them really slowly because 1) my treadmill seems to be a bit harder workout than the road - not sure why as usually it's the opposite; perhaps it's improperly calibrated?, and 2) I didn't want to do too much too soon. I did 8 of them in 2:30 or at a 6 mph/10 min mile pace. That was still enough to get my HR to 155-160 for most of them, and up to 168 on the last few. I love my Garmin - I used the lap timer feature and it takes my average heart rate for each lap, max HR for each lap, etc. Awesome. Anyway, I digress - my average HR was from 155 on the 1st one to 164 on the last repeat. That's a little high for 10 min miles, but I'm out of shape, I need to lose about 5 lbs, and I'm not sure my treadmill is 100% accurate.

So, you're probably wondering how my IT band was - it felt fine the whole time until my cool down. I cooled down at 4-5 mph (varied the speed to cool down) for 8 minutes. I was going to do 10 min, but 6 min into it, my IT band started to hurt. Uh-oh. Not good. I slowed my pace and it was a bit better but still hurting. I stopped and used my foam roller, took my anti-inflammatory, and put ice on it for a while. It feels fine now, but I hope this will not be too much of a setback.

That running thing was a very stupid idea. Why did I do that? I hope that if I take it easy for a day or two and remember to take my meds and ice that I will be OK again.

40 days 'til 39 ;)

Mouse and I started our "40 days 'til 40" today. Only I'm not going to be 40 quite yet ;). It's her turn this year, and my turn next year. But since we share the same birthday, we're going to count it down twice and do some fun stuff twice.

Every day we're doing something fun/different/special/random. I'm not going to ruin it for you by telling you what we're doing in advance. You'll just have to stay tuned to see what we do.

We decided we wanted to read a Psalm a day, but that we didn't want to start at the beginning of the book. So we're reading Psalms 41-80. We started today with Psalm 41, and the Psalm-a-day is counting as today's activity, even though we'll be continuing it for all 40 days.

Random TV thoughts

I was watching the TODAY show while I was on the treadmill this morning.

Some random thoughts:

They did a story on octuplets born in California. All the questions were about how the babies were doing, what complications they might have, etc. No one asked about WHY the heck somebody was having octuplets to begin with. Assuming that the woman was receiving infertility treatment (the most likely scenario), why were no hard questions asked about the FAILURE that this represents? Women should not be having litters. Medical science should be held accountable for this sort of thing.

They did another story on a man who was "dead for an hour" (heart attack) and resuscitated. I actually did not watch the story, because I was finished with my workout, but I question the whole premise of such a story. The idea I think is that we are going to learn something about the afterlife or lack thereof from someone's near death experience. I question this. All we learn from something like this is perhaps something about what it is like to ALMOST die. The guy was resuscitated, and he did NOT die. Whether you believe in an afterlife or not is irrelevant; all we can learn from this is what it is like to be in heart failure and be resuscitated, from ONE person's point of view.

I have no idea why I waste time watching TV at all. I watch very little (mostly while on the treadmill, these days; sometimes a little of what passes for "news" while making dinner) and this is why. Of course, I could probably exercise a little better taste in TV shows. I should switch to PBS but at 7 am it's just cartoons.

courage

The team workout today was a cold, rainy, blustery experience. Yet all the team members showed great courage in the face of some unpleasant weather conditions.

The team did 10 miles in Bountiful today, on Bountiful Blvd. It's a beautiful route high up on the bench (elevation about 5100 according to my Garmin), with views of the city. We saw a herd of deer in one of the golf courses, foraging for what little grass they can get this time of year.

It was very windy at the start, and in the upper 30s, fairly warm for this time of year. However, pretty soon it started to rain, and it actually was coming down in a steady and heavy drizzle for a good portion of the first 4 miles, before it eased up. AND it was windy for quite some time, with some nasty gusts. I got wet. My feet were wet, my gloves were wet, and my shirt got wet. I did have a rain jacket but got a little hot with it on; later I got cold because I was wet, and I threw on my fleece and my rain jacket. I was still cold. It was fairly nasty out there, but we had a good time anyway. No one complained much - I was impressed by how everyone just took the weather in stride.

You are probably wondering how my IT band was. The answer is that it was FINE - no problems whatsoever. I stopped after 2 miles to stretch and it felt terrific. I was wearing my shoe inserts and IT band strap, and have been continuing to take my diclofenac and do my PT exercises, with great results. I did about 12 miles today, more or less. I stopped my watch at one of the later water stops and forgot to start it again for a while; I think it was about a mile. My Garmin said I did 11.17, so I figure it was 12 total, more or less. The total time for the 11.17 was 2:17:40, or 12:19/mile. About 8 miles of that (or maybe a little more?) was more like 11 min/mile, and the rest was slower, about 13-15 min/mile, with the walkers. For a hilly route, and for not being in great shape these days due to my injury, I'm very pleased.

I am thinking about possibly adding in some speed work in the coming week, depending on how I recover from today's workout. My half marathon is only 2 months away, and I want to be fast!

Feeling thankful

I am feeling thankful tonight for a lot of things.

I spent part of today talking with a friend who is just starting her weight loss journey, and I remember so vividly now how scared and uncertain I felt when I started, and how vulnerable I was. I hope and pray that I can support my friend through this tough time and that she'll get off on the right foot.

I also spent part of today reading a friend's blog. This friend has endured a lot of discrimination recently because of her sexual orientation, and may lose her home because of it. Thankfully, there is some hope that things may get better for her, but it's scary for her and her five children.

Another friend has cancer, which was in remission for a while, but has returned with a vengeance. She is raising a teenage son alone, and I am so sad for all she is going through. She lives too far away for me to do very much except pray for her and write her notes on Facebook.

So, in light of all this, I have it really good. I mean REALLY good. It seems so small and petty to say that I am very happy because my IT band is continuing to do better, but it's true, so I'll say it. I racewalked 6.5 miles or so this morning in about 1:09, and it was good. Very good, and very beautiful to be out there. I'm thankful.

5.1 miles!

I managed 5.1 miles pain-free racewalking at my easy pace this morning. I went around SugarHouse Park 2x and to and from my house. On the way back my leg was a bit tight coming down the steep hill, but no pain. I had my IT band strap and my shoe inserts.

I wasn't particularly fast, but I don't really care. I'm obviously going to have to build back my fitness little by little as I am able. Of course, I do have a race in 2 months (on 3/21) and I'd love to be ready for it. But at this point, just to be back on my feet is great. Today I did the 5.1 miles (8.2k) in 55:19 for 10:54 per mile, or about 6:46/km.

Oh, and the weather - pretty cold at 19F and very wet and foggy from the inversion. When I got back to the house, the inside of my jacket was dripping wet! The hot shower was most welcome and too short, as I had to get ready for my babysitting charges.

***

Speaking of the kids, mine were AWFUL this morning. Mouse's kids were pretty good, but mine were just nothing short of terrible. Calvin was so defiant that he didn't get breakfast (he sassed his way right out of getting to sit at the table with everyone else), and Michelle screamed ear-piercing shrieks for at least half the morning between having tantrums and fighting over toys. The kids get SO territorial with their friends over. I can't wait until she really understands how to share a little better. It would have been MUCH easier to be at work this morning. I will keep that in mind if S gets more $ and my job becomes available again. It might be attractive, after today.

***

On another subject, I did lose 0.2 lb last week. I had a GREAT week food-wise and expected to be down about 1-2 lbs, but I think I was retaining some water. I can't go to my WW meeting next Monday because I have a Team in Training meeting, but I am going to be sure to continue my diligence in the food department, and I expect that in a couple weeks I will have taken off a few more in preparation for my race in March :).

Still pain-free!!!

Sunday: 1 mile walk on treadmill + 10' on bike trainer, then repeat. 40 minutes total, and NO PAIN :). Wore my shoe inserts & my IT band strap.

Monday: 6.2 very easy miles with the Wasatch Walkers for Nancy's 62nd birthday. We did about 13.5-14 min miles. NO PAIN; again, I wore my shoe inserts and IT band strap.

I think I'm ready for a good workout around SugarHouse Park tomorrow. I will go around 2x for 5.1 miles if my leg is doing well. I am SO excited about taking a REAL walk outside :)!!!

I continue to take the anti-inflammatory diclofenac 2x/day and have also been doing my PT exercises for my abductors.

No pain is a great thing!

I racewalked pain-free this morning, and it was wonderful. So wonderful that I almost don't mind too much that I got a speeding ticket, but more on that later.

This morning was a TNT workout up in Kaysville (a 30-min drive from my house). I made sure I wore my IT band strap, cinched down really tight, and my shoe inserts. I drove to the first water stop and started racewalking back toward the runners. I racewalked with the different groups of runners for a while and went back to get the walkers. After seeing everyone, I drove to the next water stop and repeated the process. At this point I'd walked about 3 miles and had no pain. So far, so good. I drove up to near the end of the course (12 miles total for full marathoners; 8 for half marathoners) to keep tabs on everyone. Then I went back to a large hill just before the first water stop, so that I could walk up it with people on their way back to the start. I walked up it three times and was a bit leery of going down again each time (since the IT band does NOT like downhills) but kept my cadence quick and my steps short going down the hills, and I was FINE. By now I had about 6.2 miles total on my Garmin.

I thought I should probably stop walking, but I really wanted to walk with some of the walkers and check in on them; I figured that since it wouldn't be a super fast pace that I'd be OK. I was going to drive back to the start first and check on the other participants, and I had one of the team captains (whose asthma was acting up because of the pollution/inversion today) in the car w/me when I got pulled over for speeding. Um, oops. Honestly, I was not in a hurry at all, and the road was a large road with a double yellow line that in MOST places I know would be a 35 mph limit. Not here. The limit was 25, and I got clocked going 38. I was chatting with the team captain and really had no idea how fast I was going. I was quite apologetic to the officer but he still issued me a ticket. He was nice, though, and in lieu of the fact that I have a clean record he marked it as going 30 in a 25 zone. Still, I have never had a ticket, and I feel pretty ashamed of myself, and was pretty annoyed, especially because it says I have to go up there to the Davis County Courthouse (NOT a short drive) to appear, probably with kids in tow (and if you read my blog regularly you know just how much fun that will be). The officer did say I might possibly be able to take care of it by mail if I call the courthouse, which I plan to do first thing on Tuesday morning (I'm assuming Monday is a holiday). Ugh. I feel pretty stupid about this.

Back to walking :). I found our walkers and parked the car and had Bev (the team captain) follow us in case my IT band started acting up. We went up that hill (my 4th time today! I felt virtuous!) and my leg was fine, and the conversation was good. I really enjoy walking with all the different team members. I was able to walk until my Garmin read 8.37 miles, at which point I could feel my leg beginning to tighten (still no pain), so I stopped and had Bev drive me back. But it was GREAT to walk so far without incident.

I am not sure what is helping the most - the new anti-inflammatory, the shoe inserts, or the IT band strap, but y'know what? I don't care which it is as long as I'm on the mend. This is the farthest I have walked w/o pain since November 16th. One caveat though - only 3.7 miles was fast enough to have my heart rate in my usual training zone; the other 4.7 miles was at a slower pace. Overall, I did an average of 13:18/mile. Still, I am very pleased. Let's hope this trend continues!!!

PT

Tonight I had my first PT and now I'm a bit bummed. The PT said (and rightly I think) that walking when it hurts will make the inflammation worse :(. However he did say to walk as much as I can w/o pain in order to stay in shape. He did a very thorough history and physical and I'm in pretty good shape except for weak abductors on both sides (gluteus medius in particular) and weak LEFT hip flexors. Also I have mild pronation in my left foot. He did recommend I wear my running shoe inserts (they have pretty good arch support/motion control) in my racewalking shoes to help with my overpronation. I am hoping (probably in vain) that this will be the magic bullet, but in reality it looks like this might really be a long road. Oh well.

He said it's not good that the foam roller (which I've been using for quite a while now) is not helping - often that is indicative of a bad prognosis. He gave me some stretches and exercises to strengthen abductors & hip flexors, and did some fancy massage thing on my left IT band to break up adhesions. I am a bit sad because I was hoping to be able to walk more, but it looks like I am still going to have to take it very very easy. And the prognosis is not necessarily very good at this point, which is a bummer.

I'm tired and could use a bit of rest. I think I'll stretch things out a bit and crawl into bed. Tomorrow? Some stationary biking (highly recommended by the PT, as well as swimming), and my weight training class.

Today's walk, doctor stuff and lots of it.

I racewalked again today. In the house, on my treadmill, with my new IT band strap tightly affixed above my left knee. I started at 2% incline, and that was great through about 20 minutes, and then the IT band started to complain (only a little). So I upped the incline, because that generally helps it to feel better. Every time the IT band hurt, I increased the incline more, until I reached 5% and 42 minutes, and ran out of time to exercise. It didn't ever hurt as badly as it did on Tuesday, probably because of the incline and the strap. I did 3.6 miles total.

I have PT tonight and I am really looking forward to it. I can't wait to do whatever it is I need to do to get back in the swing of things.

***

In other doctor news, I took Calvin to our family doc because of a suspicious-looking mole on his head. After we waited for ONE HOUR to see him (kids screaming, fighting, climbing the walls the whole time in the patient room - arrrrgh!), he spent 2 minutes looking at it, said that yes, it looked suspicious, and we should go see a dermatologist. However, he didn't have a recommendation for a good one. Fortunately, I have a friend a few doors down whose husband is a derm resident at the U. I called her and she said he'd be happy to recommend someone.

***

More doctor news: Loren has to get another of those epidural steroid shots in his back because of his bulging disc. Yes, it's feeling better, but it's not all the way better yet, and though PT and a back brace and better posture are helping, it's still painful. The PT recommended another shot and more PT.

Good thing we have good insurance. This is a lot of doctor stuff.

New award for Lifetime members; book is out

Weight Watchers is FINALLY acknowledging its Lifetime members yearly. Yay! Each month you weigh in within 2 lb of your goal weight, you get a Bravo! sticker for a bookmark, and when you get 10 in a year, you get another lifetime key for your key chain.

OK, I know this sounds silly, but the 5 lb stickers, the 10% award (for losing 10% of your body weight), the 25, 50, and 75 lb awards, the Goal award, and the Lifetime award really meant a lot to me. I just truly appreciated each step of the way, and now that I have been Lifetime for 2 years I wished they would at least remember how hard it is to maintain your weight. Well, now they do!

***


In other news, I am a success story in the new book by Joy Bauer, "Joy's Life Diet". Since I was featured on the TODAY show almost 1 year ago for losing >100 lbs via diet and exercise, Joy used me and many others from the Joy Fit Club as success stories in her new book. I saw the book at Barnes & Noble on Monday night and liked the profile they did of me, except that they spelled my last name wrong. Uh, oops. But anyway, the book is out, and I am supposed to get a signed copy in the mail one of these days. Not that I particularly need a diet book :). But it might have some yummy recipes in it! I look forward to receiving it soon.

Doctor visit

Today I had a visit with Dr. Amy Powell at the sports medicine clinic at the U. She was GREAT and came highly recommended by a friend. If any of you are looking for a sports medicine doc in the future, definitely pay her a visit.

This clinic was also VERY efficient and amazingly well-run. When I arrived at 10:40 am for my 10:45 am appt, they immediately got me on the new patient paperwork (though I have seen some of their other docs for a broken ankle (TWICE!) in 2001, I had not seen this doc and had not been to their new facility). Before I could even get finished w/the patient questionnaire (do you have heart disease, etc.), they called me back to the room. By the time I finished the questionnaire, the radiology guy came to do 3 x-rays on my knees. I only waited a few minutes (long enough to read a section of the newspaper) before the doc came.

She took a thorough history, examined my leg, and pronounced it a surefire case of ITBS (iliotibial band syndrome). Apparently the latest research shows that the best treatment is physical therapy. She noticed a muscle imbalance - my left leg/hip is definitely weaker than my right (in my opinion, this is possibly due to my ACL surgery 16 years ago - it's been that way since then, no matter what I do in the gym). She says that after 4-6 wks of good PT I will probably be lots better. Yay! I hope she is right. She was very sympathetic, asking when my next race was, and apparently she has had ITBS before herself and understands the stabbing pain associated with it and how unpleasant it is. I think she must be a runner, because I told her I was planning to do the Canyonlands 1/2 Marathon and she knew right away that it was in March, and that there was a lottery to get in. She seemed to think it was likely I'd be able to do it. I asked her what physical activity I can do right now, and she said I can definitely do anything that doesn't hurt, including stationary biking and the elliptical. She also said that I am welcome to racewalk through the pain if I want to - that it won't make the injury any worse. This surprised me; however, I'm not likely to do much of this because the pain is REALLY BAD when it gets going, and I can't tolerate it for very long.

She gave me a prescription for a pain reliever/anti-inflammatory medication which is gentler on the stomach than ibuprofen (I've been having some nausea from lots of ibuprofen), and told me that a strap for ITBS that they sell at running stores might help w/the pain as well.

After this very helpful visit w/the doc, I was shepherded out to get my prescription, which I could fill on-site. Then, just a hallway away, I was able to make my appointment with Physical Therapy. They have an opening for tomorrow night at 6:30 pm. Wow.

I left at noon, after only 1 hr 20 min, with my prescription medication in hand and my appt w/physical therapy. I am a very happy camper. I highly recommend the U Orthopedics people if you ever need care like this (and I hope you don't).

Too good to be true

Sunday's racewalk - too good to be true. Alas, on the same route at a little slower speed today, I felt the stabbing pain on the lateral side of my L knee at mile 2.3. And I had to make it back to the house (mile 3.9) in a hurry, so I couldn't slow down too much. I did stop and stretch, and thankfully, the route home is a bit uphill, which eases the symptoms (this is typical if IT band problems from what I've read). It ached all the way home but it feels fine now, which is also typical of IT band problems.

I am SO glad I'm going to the doctor tomorrow.

I plan to bike a little and go to weight training in the morning.

More swimming

Today I swam again, and it was OK. It's not racewalking, but it's activity, and it burns calories. I did 20 lengths free to warm up, then 2 x (10 lengths pull, 4 lengths kick and 6 lengths free). Then I did 10 lengths breast, 4 lengths pool running (was in the shallow end and wanted to try it out - it was a bit weird - think I like swimming better), and the remaining 26 lengths free. Total of 100 lengths in 1 hr; a little less than Saturday, but the kick lengths and the breaststroke lengths are slower, so overall I feel I was a bit faster.

Again, if I have to swim long-term while I recover, I will want to join Master's swimming to have some help with my strokes and some interesting workouts. I visit the doctor on Wednesday, though, so I'm hoping to have some answers then.

Meanwhile, I think I'll go for another racewalk tomorrow.

Ahhhhhhhh :) :) :) Happy Tammy

I caved in. I couldn't stand it one more second, so I went racewalking this afternoon. I know I probably shouldn't have, but it felt SO GOOD, and guess what? Nothing hurt! I stopped 4-5x to stretch carefully, and was very careful about my technique. Specifically, after yesterday's TNT injury prevention clinic (which was great, BTW!) given by a physical therapist who is an avid triathlete, I decided to focus on 1) increasing my cadence just a bit (I wondered if I had been getting in the habit of a slower cadence and longer steps), and 2) being very mindful of not overstriding with my left (injured) leg. I think that the overstriding might be a factor in my injury, and though I will not be afraid to lengthen my stride a bit in the future, I think I first need to work a bit on making sure that my cadence is appropriate and that my foot placement is not too far in front of my body. I want to stay healthy!!!

I wasn't going to go very fast, but I ended up being pretty quick because of my cadence work, which is fine since nothing hurt! My cadence was about 180-184 per minute every time I checked it - pretty good, and about where I would expect it to be for the speed I was going. Amazingly, it was exactly what I told the TNT participants yesterday when they asked what cadence a RW should have. I told them I thought mine was ~180, and I'd like to see theirs be >160. A quicker cadence means that they are less likely to be overstriding and more likely to be taking the small, quick, rolling steps of a racewalker. Now I know that elite RWers have cadences >200, but I am not an elite, and I wasn't going at top speed, either, so I think that 180-184 was just about right for me today.

It was great having my Garmin - it measured the Liberty Park route I always do at 3.91 miles (my car odometer measures it at 3.9). I did the 3.91 miles in 40:16, for 10:18/mile average pace. Average HR was 139 but this includes the stops for stretching; the graph shows that it was more like 145-150 for most of the workout, which correlates well w/my speed. I actually do not think I have lost too much fitness, which is completely amazing.

After getting back I stretched very thoroughly, I took some ibuprofen, and I am now icing my knee just in case it's injured (though it feels just fine, even going down stairs - yay!). I feel SO VERY GOOD now. It was incredibly motivating being out there again. It got me thinking about the year ahead, the races I plan to do, and the thrill of competition :).

Tomorrow - there is no weight training class tomorrow, and I really need to rest my leg tomorrow, so probably more swimming is in the cards.

a very little bit of walking... and lots of swimming

Today we did have a TNT workout (6 miles). I was very good and did not walk much at all. I hung out at the water stop and talked with all the team members as they went by; it was actually a great way to touch base with everyone, and we had good attendance (24+) at the workout today. I did walk a little bit - about 0.5 miles of racewalking (very very easy - my new Garmin said about 12:00-12:30) and about 1.2 miles of regular walking. I got cold and just HAD to do SOMETHING anything so I wouldn't freeze. Bev (one of our team captains) is nursing an ankle sprain (or maybe a fracture) from slipping on some ice, so we hung out together, and it was great to have the company. All in all, a pleasant morning.

Yes, I did say I had a new Garmin. I got a Forerunner 305 and it is SO amazing. When I got home I downloaded the workout and checked out the graphs - it automatically graphs heart rate vs. pace, but with a touch of the mouse it can do heart rate vs. speed, or vs. elevation. Or speed vs. elevation, pace vs. elevation, etc. - you get the idea. As for accuracy, there were 0.25 mile markers on the trail we were on today (Porter Rockwell trail in Draper), and the Garmin agreed with them within 0.01 mile. Not too shabby. I can't wait to get better so I can try out all the other features - courses, virtual training partner, etc. Oh, and it also put my workout today on a map, automatically. Very cool.

After driving home, going to Costco (for the THIRD time this week... sigh) and feeding the family lunch, I went for a swim. I decided to see how far I could go in an hour, inspired by my SIL Erica's recent 1 hr postal swim (she was shooting for 4000 yds - she's quite good). I actually didn't really go all-out; my HR was about 150 for most of the time, and if I racewalk I could easily keep it at 170ish for a really hard hour's effort. I guess I just wasn't in the mood to push that hard. I did 2600 yds in the hour, more or less. I am lousy at counting laps but did try to keep track. It works out to 1:09 for each 50 yds; pretty slow, but that's OK. I did do one 50-yd in :57 when I was really pushing it, that was not bad, for me! It was good exercise and I enjoyed it more today than the other days I've done it; I felt like I was improving a little. One funny moment - the woman in the lane next to me was using a kickboard and was going just as fast as me. I thought that was pretty amazing kicking and then I realized she was wearing fins :).

My left leg did hurt a bit though on several of the turns at the wall. I wonder a little if this really is an IT band injury or if it something else, because I don't think it should have hurt from the swimming. Hmmmm. Well, I'm just glad I am getting it checked out on Wednesday. I confess to a bit of anxiety about it, but hopefully it will be very helpful.

Tomorrow - I am not sure if I will swim or do some biking. We'll see. Stay tuned.

Some thoughts on swimming

I went swimming again today. I was pretty apprehensive but it turned out OK. At least I got a good workout.

I went to Steiner Aquatic Center, which is only a 5 minute drive (it's pretty near the East High track where I often work out). The first thing I noticed is that I had to pack a lot of stuff to swim. Cap, goggles, towel, soap, shampoo, deodorant, clean socks & underwear, $5 for the fee, a brush, and a lock for the locker. I didn't forget anything important, thankfully. I suppose if I had decided to shower at home I wouldn't have had to bring so much stuff, but honestly, who wants to drive home when the weather is below freezing wet and smelling of chlorine? When I worked out w/my brother and SIL we did that, but it wasn't so cold outside there. Besides, this way I could get a shower without any little ones peering in and saying "mommy...", and without getting in Loren's way as he gets ready for work.

I paid my fee, asked where the locker rooms and pool were, and walked in. I was wearing my suit under some sweats, so I peeled them off and shoved my stuff in the locker and grabbed my towel and goggles and cap and headed for the pool. I surveyed the scene. Half the lanes were occupied by the East High swim team. The other half had 1-2 people each lane, except one lane on the end which was empty :)! I asked the East High coach if there were any rules for which lane was which (slow, med, fast, etc.) and he said no, but he wished there were. I thanked him and got in the empty lane, next to some of the East High swimmers. I tried not to pay attention to how fast they were.

The workout itself was a bit boring since I didn't have anything in particular planned. I just thought I'd swim at an easy aerobic pace for an hour and not stress about anything. That was good for today, actually. I did in the neighborhood of 40 laps (I'm terrible at counting them!) of the 25 yd pool for about 2000 yds. Most of them were freestyle but I did about 6 laps (?) of breaststroke for something a little different. My knee (IT band) actually bothered me a little bit pushing off the wall during some of the freestyle laps and also a little during some of the breaststroke laps. I don't think it was a big deal, just a little tweak, but it was a good reminder of why I was in the pool. It was still great to get some exercise, and every time I checked my heart rate it was about 135-150, which was exactly where I wanted it.

Things I like about swimming:
1. You don't notice sweat in the pool. I am not one to enjoy getting really sweaty, though obviously racewalking is a pretty good sweat generator.
2. Weather is a non-issue in an indoor pool.
3. It's pretty easy to tune out the world when you can't hear or see much. I think once I got better at this it would be a good time to think about things.
4. Once you're in the pool no one notices much about how you look. That's a happy thing.
5. The showers had private stalls with a bench in each. Yay!
6. I wasn't the slowest person in the pool today. Not that I'm fast (I was very slow, with most of my laps around 1:00-1:05, which is 2:00-2:10 for 100yd).

Things I didn't particularly care for:
1. The chlorine smell which is still on me 8 hours later, even after a shower.
2. The large number of teenage girls in the locker room after the workout - the East High contingent. I actually didn't mind their gossip and camaraderie with each other, but I was acutely aware of my age and my cellulite. Hopefully they didn't mind the old lady (me!) in there with them. Not that I'm old, but I sure felt that way next to them!
3. I missed my mp3 player. I love listening to music/books/podcasts while I racewalk.
4. It was on the boring side. If I'm going to have to do this for several months (which I might) I am definitely joining the Master's team so I can get some coaching and do real workouts. That would be more fun.

I miss racewalking SO much. I popped a DVD of the Olympics in the other day, and watched a little. I had to turn it off after a few minutes because I just couldn't stand watching it knowing that I couldn't get out there for a walk.

However, overall my mood is much better since Tuesday. I'm not exactly sure why, but I'm grateful for it. I think part of it is just being back in a routine again after the holidays. Whatever the reason, I'll take it.

Out with the old, and in with the new

The old one, obtained 8/11/1999 (tornado day, for those of you who are SLC natives - that was an interesting day!). Yes, I lied about my weight on here. I put 230, but I probably weighed at least 240. You can see why I have been getting a lot of weird looks - "Is that YOU?". Not good at airports, though I was never detained or questioned further once I told them I had lost weight.

The new one, obtained yesterday. It's a temporary one, and the permanent one gets mailed to me in a few weeks. They used to give you the permanent one right away, but now it's more high tech or something.

Mother & daughter

 

At the Putah Creek Cafe in Winters, CA.

Feeling more positive

Yesterday I woke feeling miserable, and the only exercise I got was shoveling snow. Twice. But despite that, I managed to have a very good day with my eating, I managed to successfully babysit 4 kids all day, and I felt pretty good at the end of the day. Part of that was due to the fact that I finally got a doctor's appt to see someone about my IT band problem. I can't get in until next Wednesday, 1/14, but I got an appt with a doc at the U that comes highly recommended by a friend I trust.

This morning I biked on the bike trainer for 20 min then headed off to weight training. I had a good workout and did a bunch of stuff for my abductors and adductors, hoping that will help with the IT band problem. My knee is feeling a lot better today than it has, probably from resting it so much. The biking is a bit iffy, though - it doesn't hurt, but I wonder if it is hindering my recovery? I have read quite a bit that leads me to believe it might not be the best. I think I'll just use it sparingly until I see the doc next week and can ask her what she thinks.

Tomorrow I am going to swim. I got a swim cap today (the kids nearly dismantled Big 5 in the few minutes it took me to pick out a hot pink one) and so I think I'm all ready. The suit I have is not that great, since the Finis suit I ordered was the wrong size (mislabeled box) so I had to send it back, and so I'm going to wear an old suit I've had around for a while. It doesn't fit the best but should work in a pinch. I will just have to make do with it until the replacement suit arrives in a few weeks. I'm a little nervous about swimming at a new pool, alone - but hopefully I can figure out which lanes are for the really slow people like me :).

OK, off to bed - need my sleep so that I can have the strength to face whatever food temptations come my way tomorrow.

weights today; random stuff

Today I lifted weights/did circuit training. I alternated between the bike (which I'm not 100% sure is a good idea; it doesn't hurt, but I need to get some medical advice on this) and weights. I did not lift anything that required bending my knees, but I was still able to do dead lifts for my hamstrings and cable pulls for my abductors. I did a bunch of upper body stuff too: chest flys, lat pull-downs, bicep curls, upright rows and more. Of course we did lots of abs and good stretching at the end.

My IT band is still quite painful when descending stairs and even just walking. I limped my way around the grocery store w/the kids, though. As a side note, that was NOT fun. Michelle kept standing up in the car cart, so I took her out and buckled her in the seat in the cart. She did not like it at all and pitched a giant fit, screaming at the top of her lungs. Well, I still had my shopping to do, so I finished anyway. People were looking at me like I was some kind of ax murderer, but whatever. I really don't care what they think. At the checkout, the ladies asked me if I'd like balloons for the children. Hah! Balloons? To reward that kind of ridiculous temper tantrum. I think not. Then all the little old ladies who were there shopping (it's 11 am on Monday, so what do you expect?) were trying to tell me how I ought to manage her fit. I honestly did not appreciate the input - mostly they seemed to think that I was being too hard on Michelle. Um, hello? If I cave in to her tantrums, I will have to put up with more of them. It was highly aggravating.

After I got home I decided to make some French bread for tonight. I plopped the ingredients in the bread machine on the dough cycle and pushed start. The dough blade promptly broke and I had to take it all out and knead it by hand :(. Replacement dough blades are $20 (!!!!) which is ridiculous for a little piece of plastic; the machine dates to our wedding in 1993. I don't know but I think we might toss it. I can make bread by hand anyway, and I'm home to do it these days (though I have been recruited to come back to my old job, sort of - I'd work for a different boss, and I'm not up to doing it right now, so I said no).

Today is still better than yesterday, but let's face it - it's not going great. Oh, and no, I haven't called the doctor yet. I'm waiting to hear back from a friend on a recommendation. If I don't hear by later today I'll just punt. I need to get in and see someone.

I'm still feeling pretty rotten about life in general. I don't remember the last time I felt so down - it was probably before I joined WW in February 2005. But please don't tell me how I should stop feeling sorry for myself, focus on the positive, and remember how everyone else has it worse than I do. I know I ought to do this, but y'know what? I'm just not able to do it right now, and I don't care.

Biking still doesn't hurt

Today wasn't a very good day. I will spare you all the details, as I am trying to be as positive as possible about things.

So, with that in mind, one positive thing from today was that I was able to bike 40 minutes on the stationary bike with no pain :).

Tomorrow I call the doctor. Some doctor. Any recommendations?

Pain

OK, it's really time to face facts. I cannot racewalk now. At all. I may be a TNT coach, but I am going to have to coach from my car and set a good example to the team members of how to take care of yourself when you are injured.

I walked with the team today. After 35 minutes, my knee was quite painful. I did stop, go by my house (near the route!) and use the foam roller. I went back out and within a block was in screaming pain again, even though I was not racewalking - just regular walking. It was a huge disappointment. I walked the remaining team members back to the park despite the pain, and tried to keep a game face (the team workout today was sparsely attended due to 2 inches of fresh snow last night, but the roads were pretty clear, it wasn't that cold, and we got a nice workout!).

The emotional pain of not being able to racewalk is probably just as hard for me as the physical pain. I'm worried about how I'm going to exercise (swimming will be the answer for now I suppose, but still, I'm not used to it :( and I know I will miss walking SO much) and how I will keep the weight off, and I do NOT want to start eating over this. It's just not worth it, but it would be easy to do.

I'm really sad. I am trying very very hard to stay positive, but it's not easy. My brother told me it took him 2 months of NO RUNNING to heal his IT band. I really hope it won't take me that long to get better. I am entered in a 1/2 marathon on 3/21 and I really want to be able to do it :(.

I will call a doctor on Monday. Anyone local know a good orthopedic doc/sports medicine doc? Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

WOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!

UTAH WINS THE SUGAR BOWL!!!!!!!!!!! 31-17 defeating Alabama :)!!!!!

Down but not out

My IT band has been doing so much better, until today :(. I walked yesterday, no problem, and today I decided to take it really easy so that I'd be ready for tomorrow's TNT workout. I did 20 min on the bike, then 18 min on the treadmill before my leg started to hurt. I had to stop after 19 min and stretch. I was able to do another 20 min on the bike, no problem, thankfully. But, my leg has been sore all day, despite lots of ice and ibuprofen. Admittedly, I was on my feet a lot today (we did a bunch of errands, and I cooked a rather involved pizza in preparation for the Sugar Bowl tonight), but still, I am disappointed. I have no idea why this is happening when I've been SO careful, and when it has felt so good for the last week. Why should a measly 18 minutes be the end of it? It's frustrating.

All the same, I am not too discouraged. I am going to rest it and seek medical advice first thing on Monday. Tomorrow I will walk a little for the team workout, but not very far (probably 2-3 miles, and I can go slowly if needed - it doesn't hurt to walk slowly). I planned a route that allows me to see team members 2-3 times by basically staying in one spot on the route, where the first water stop is.

Good thing I have bought a new swimsuit. My SIL helped me pick out a great one online that was only $19.99. I am going to need it now.

Other good news - I have been doing great with food since I've been home :). Yay! It's nice to be back in an environment where I have some control again.

Happy New Year

I started off 2009 on a good note. I did my favorite route around Sugar House Park from my house, and finished it in 40 minutes and change. My IT band seemed fine; I wasn't pushing the pace at all and it's a short route. Hopefully it will hold up well for Saturday's 10 miler with TNT.

***

I ordered a Garmin Forerunner 305 today, with some of the $ that FIL gave us for Christmas :). It should arrive late next week.

My 2008 racewalking in review

I started keeping pretty darn good track of my mileage & workouts in 2008. Here are a few stats.

January: 90 miles
February: 86 miles
March: 133 miles
April: 102 miles
May: 101 miles
June: 137 miles
July: 137 miles
August: 176 miles
September: 176 miles
October: 121 miles
November: 113 miles
December: 81 miles (injury: IT band)

Total miles: 1453
Most miles in a week: 52
Average weekly miles: 27.9

Races:
3-15-08 27:44 9:24/mile Leprechaun Lope 5K (actually 2.95 mi)
4-5-08 1:38:34 9:51/mile Salt Lake 10 miler 2008
4-19-08 2:14:12 10:15/mile Salt Lake Half Marathon 2008
5-31-08 59:41 9:36/mile Bridal Veil Falls 10K 2008 (hilly!)
7-4-08 28:46 9:16/mile Murray Fun Days 5K
7-24-08 57:57 9:20/mile Deseret News 10K 2008 (downhill 700 ft!)
8-8-08 28:36 9:12/mile USATF Masters' Nat'l Champs 2008 - first judged racewalk
8-10-08 58:43 9:27/mile USATF Masters' Nat'l Champs 2008 - 10K road race
10-11-08 16:53 9:03/mile Wasatch Walkers/USATF Utah 3k
10-19-08 4:59:49 11:27/mile Nike Women's Marathon
11-27-08 36:26 9:46/mile Cold Turkey 6K 2008

My best race this year (besides the Deseret News 10K, which was SO downhill it hardly counts) was the 10K in Spokane at the Masters' Championships. That was a great place to have a good race!

My biggest disappointment was the marathon; I was trained for a faster pace but just didn't have it that day.

All in all, a great year. Here's to an even faster 2009!