Saturday-today

Saturday: 35 min elliptical

Sunday: rest day

Tried to rest up a lot on the weekend, and was mostly successful. Of course there was still laundry, cooking, and yeah, even a bit of work (a couple hr on Sat, and an hour on Sun). But I did feel I got a good amount of rest.

Monday: 20 min elliptical (slept very poorly - middle of the night insomnia, which is not like me usually, but seems to be a feature of my illness - and this was all I could manage).

Today: Woke unrefreshed but I didn't have middle of the night insomnia, so it was better than how I felt yesterday morning. Sort of. Legs were sore (why? haven't been doing anything?), mind felt foggy. I went out and did 5K with the dog, and I'm glad I did, even though it made my legs hurt the rest of the day (weird soreness upon sitting - and I sat a good amount at work because I was planning some molecular cloning projects I need to work on - sat in front of the computer staring at DNA sequence for a while, trying to figure it out). Total time was 32:21 for 6:29/km with ave HR 146. Kinda slow. Whatever! Garmin data here.

I went to my family doc this morning, along with Calvin. He had a well-child checkup, and happily all is indeed well with him. He didn't even need any vaccinations, as he's all caught up and there aren't any more until he is 11. He was happy about that! Since I have a captive audience, here are 2 photos of the kiddos from today. They're just too cute :). Of course, I'm obviously a bit biased. Grace had her face painted in her Spanish & art afterschool program ("Arteprimero"), and Calvin is chowing down on a cannoli from Harmon's Emigration Market, just before soccer practice.

Back to my doctor appointment. My family doc has no idea what is going on, essentially. He said it could possibly be chronic fatigue, but that is a diagnosis by exclusion and so it's a tough call. He seemed to think a repeat visit with my rheumatologist was a good idea. I called yesterday to move up my rheumatologist appointment from June 17 to sooner, but the soonest they could move it to was May 27. That's not very soon, but I'm grateful nonetheless.

So meanwhile, I wait, and feel tired, and try to be grateful for what I DO have :).

I can still racewalk short distances and enjoy the outdoors like I did this morning.
Though I've gained some weight, it hasn't been a lot and I am managing it OK. Could be better, but could be a lot worse.
I am glad for my amazing kids. Their summer goal is to read the Harry Potter books in Spanish. Last summer they read them all in English, so now we're upping the challenge.
I'm grateful for a very good job that I do love, even if it has been a bit frustrating lately.
I'm grateful for music, and thinking I need to spend a bit more time doing music, since I can't exercise as much.
I'm thankful for books. I've been reading more, and it's wonderful.
I'm glad Loren has felt up to helping around the house a bit more, and we have made some progress on our bedroom redecoration/refurnishing project.
I'm grateful for my good friend Sarah, who listened to me ad nauseum last night with love and concern.
I'm glad my parents live nearby and that we have a good relationship; I very much enjoyed having breakfast with my dad last week and I also enjoy coffee with my mom on a regular basis.
There's lots more…but I am feeling better just listing what is here :).

feel like giving up

Had some work issues yesterday that were a bit upsetting. Nothing really bad, but it wore me out. Didn't sleep well.

Woke up and just didn't care about working out. Every time I try I just feel crappy afterward, so what's the point?

I know that this will pass. I'm just in a period of difficulty and have to get through one day at a time. I will try again tomorrow to be a bit more motivated, work out, etc. Today is just survival.

no-go at the track

Woke feeling fatigued, with sore hamstrings/glutes (definitely some of the weird soreness I've been experiencing). But I only had a 4K fartlek, so off I went to the track. The weather was OK: 41F (about 4C) and breezy; wind chill of 34F. I started off and my first 500m was 3:19 and my legs were sore. I almost stopped then, but decided I had to for sure give it at least 1600m before quitting, because I might feel better after a few laps. Nope. I didn't. Legs were not going to do a fartlek today, at least not well, and there was no point flogging them. I did the 1600m in 10:25 (slow!) and walked back to the car.

I wasn't mad, just philosophical about it. I am starting to accept my new limitations. I appreciated this morning even more the fact that we have limited time and energy in our lives. I think for much of my life I have felt that I could accomplish anything I set my mind to, and though I knew that was an illusion on one level, on another level I didn't appreciate my limitations at all. Now I do. If I do too much, I will pay for it, and so I have to be much more choosy about what I spend my time and energy on.

I have been feeling fatigued at work today, and may need to take a 1/2 sick day or a few hours of sick time to rest up a bit. We'll see how it goes.

Perhaps tomorrow I will try at the track again, depending on how my legs feel.

10K

Chatted with my coach last night, and he recommended I try 10K today. I thought that was a lot…but then, he is smart, and I'm paying him to give me advice. I trust him. So I did it.

I didn't have any trouble completing it, though my muscles were sore (some of the "weird soreness" for sure) from 6K onward. It didn't slow me down much, though, and I managed the 10K in a surprisingly quick 1:03:21 for 6:20/km with ave HR 148. Part of that may be that I stopped more frequently than usual, because 1) I had the dog with me and she is not used to going so far, and would occasionally pull hard like she needed to rest, so I'd pause for a minute or two; 2) I thought it was good for ME to pause for a bit and stretch, get a drink, whatever, since I haven't done 10K racewalking in a while. Whatever the case, it seemed to work well.

I will admit that now (at lunch break) I am feeling quite fatigued and sleepy, and my muscles are a bit stiff/sore - especially glutes. But I think they'll be OK if I rest up this afternoon. I work 30 hr/wk, and get off work at 2pm on M-W to do stuff w/the kids. Today Calvin is at a friend's house and then soccer practice, and I don't have to pick up Grace until 4:15 to get her to her ceramics class. So, if I leave work by 2:15 (theoretically possible at this point) then I'll be home around 2:40 and I can still get in a quick nap before picking up Grace.

I have to be smart with my energy at this point. Sure, there are LOTS of things I could do like cleaning my house, doing laundry, financial stuff, cleaning out the garage, putting together some more of our new bedroom furniture, etc. etc. etc. but it will have to wait. I need rest so that I can function in life and so that I can (maybe) train. I have a new rule about electronica after 9pm (which I bent to 9:15pm last night), and a doctor friend also advised me to try gluten-free and no added sugar for 1 month (gulp!). Probably won't do a darn thing, but can't hurt and might help. Probably will help me lose some weight as I will admit to a sugar problem :). I see sugar, I eat it :).

Here's hoping for the best! Seriously, at this point I will do anything within reason to try and feel better. And maybe some things that aren't reasonable? :)

Edited to add: amazingly warm weather today - almost too warm for my cold-accustomed blood haha! It was 68F (20C), calm and cloudy. It's windier now and we're supposed to get a storm, which is why it was so warm.

Garmin data here.

Salt Lake Half Marathon, 2014 edition

This was the 8th consecutive year I've done this race. Because I'm under strict orders from Jim not to racewalk that far right now, I decided to walk with Diane (74 years young, and fast for her age!) at her pace. Jim figured that would be totally fine, and actually it was.

We could not have had a more beautiful day for the race. I've done this race in all sorts of conditions - last year it poured the whole time - and no year was nicer than this. It was about 50F (10C) at the race start and probably 58F when we finished. Calm, clear, and beautiful with all the spring flowers running riotous.

I felt very good for half of the race; then decent until about 16K (10 miles) or so. The last 5K was definitely venturing into sore muscle territory, and it was way more comfortable to power walk. I alternated racewalking, casual walking, and power walking; the racewalking was all pretty slow except for when I took photos (lots heehee!) and had to catch up to Diane (picture with Diane after the race below). My legs felt tired and stumpy at the end, and my abductors were quite sore all day, especially in the evening. Sunday I was sore but felt better, and today I actually felt pretty good (and did the elliptical 40 min without much fatigue later in the day!).

However, I really didn't nap like I should have on Saturday, because my friend Juan was in town from San Diego for the race and we wanted to take him out to brunch at Ruth's Diner (awesome as always; picture of me & Juan after the race is below). On Sunday, consequently, I was overly fatigued and quite nasty to my family for a bit until I realized how awful I was being and vanished to bed for a long nap. Hopefully they will forgive me - I gave them a decent apology, I think.

Anyway, back to the race - lovely day, great weather, great company, and really enjoyed going slowly and taking lots of pictures. My family was waiting for me at our street (the race route went about a block from our house!), and the kids were so happy to see me out there - it was adorable the way Calvin jumped up and down when he saw me.

My pictures are here. 

Garmin data here. 

Total time: 3:08 and change, with average HR only 107, and I was 187/210 in my age group hahaha! Diane was 2nd of 4 in her age group, though!!!

another 6K

I felt OK today. Better than Tuesday, and my racewalking showed it.

Gorgeous weather today - 45F (6C) and calm and clear. Lovely!!!

I took the dog and stopped occasionally for dog-related issues (other dogs, water, etc…). That was good because it gave me little breaks here and there. My legs had a bit of the weird soreness during the workout, but not as much as on Tuesday, thankfully. My time was a lot better too.

Total time: 38:42 for 6:27/km with ave HR 138.

Garmin data here. 

If I feel good tomorrow I'll try a 3K fartlek. If I'm not sure, I'll x-train. I still want to do the race on Saturday….

a bit better

Today was the best I've felt in a while. I don't know why, but I can't discount the nice dental cleaning I had yesterday. OK, so that's not likely to be the cause of all of this, but the hygienist found a lot of gunk in my gums and that's never good. It could have contributed.

Anyway, I did the elliptical for 20 min this morning, had tea with Kelly, and then went home and got ready for work. I rode my bike to work, vigorously, with no ill aftereffects. In fact, I felt great all day. Go figure.

We'll see how I am feeling tomorrow. If I feel good, I intend to racewalk again tomorrow :). Yay!

6K

I felt OK this morning and decided to racewalk. Yesterday, I didn't, so I took a rest day. But today I was determined to do it. It was chilly (30F, -1C) with a breeze, but it was sunny and beautiful anyway. I started off and knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I didn't care. Well, I did, and I didn't. I desperately want to feel better, and I really wanted to RW, no matter what. If it got too ridiculous I'd stop, but I wanted to get out there. Below left, how I felt at the 3.5km point, when I knew it was a rough one:

I took lots of small rest breaks and trained the dog to sit (with treats I brought along), which seemed to help me get through OK. I wasn't fast but it wasn't awful either. Of course, I have a half marathon entry for this Saturday, and I would not have been able to racewalk that this morning. I have decided if I feel suspect on Saturday that I will walk it slowly with Diane, and stop at my house (at the 8.5 mile point) if I feel too tired to finish.

Anyway, this morning I did my walk at 6:39/km pace in 39:56. Slow, sore, a bit tired, but done. I have some residual soreness now (at 3 pm) but really not bad at all. Hoping I will feel better on Saturday.

Garmin data here.

trending up

Yesterday: rest day.

Today: elliptical for 42 min. Sounds like a random number but it wasn't. I did 4.35 miles in 30 min then did another 5 min - but I'd programmed it for 35 min so had to restart. Did another mile before calling it quits. Legs felt great until 35 min. Then a bit tired, but not bad. Enjoyed breakfast with Kelly and Grace afterward, at Ruth's diner. Awesome.

I am going to try for 6k RW tomorrow. I so much want to feel better. Taking it really easy today and hoping for good stuff. Rest. Sleep. Good.

trying to recover

I'm trying to recover. It's challenging, and I'm concerned. But this blog post is not a complaint. I'm just recording the way things are so that I can figure it out if possible later.

Yesterday I felt very fatigued. For a good part of the day I had "brain fog" like you do when you are jet-lagged. I didn't have time to take a nap, but I wished I could have. I didn't exercise, other than walking kids and dog to and from school, and walking from the VA to the U (I had Loren drive me to his work, and I walked about 1 mile to my work from there, at a casual pace).

I slept OK, but didn't feel very rested when I woke up. My legs felt pretty good, though, so I thought I'd try for 6K. When I started to walk it was clear after about 1K that I'd have to stop. I made it 2K at 6:35/km and called it quits, because my leg muscles were sore and tired. I wanted to keep going - they weren't THAT sore! I knew I could make it 5K! But I decided that sometimes quitting is smarter. I want to get better, not worse. I walked slowly home with my happy dog in tow, though I was crying.

I don't know what to do now.

I talked to my boss, who is a neurologist, and he had no particular insights. He just said that I could work a bit less for a few weeks if I thought it would help. I may just do that, as I have some sick time. We'll see. I want to get better!

I had lost about 4 pounds, but I have definitely gained a couple back. It's challenging to stay on track enough when I can't exercise as much as I am accustomed to. I will have to get more rest so that I have more willpower to fight off food temptations.

6K and feeling better

I felt decent this morning so decided to do 6K with the dog. She's getting lots better on the leash, though I did have a few stops to make her behave :).

The weather was gorgeous at 45F (7C) and calm and clear, so I was very grateful to get outside.

Legs a bit tired and sore from 3k on, but not bad, and I didn't have much soreness later (it's lunch time now). Hoping that after an easier week I will be up for a half-marathon on 4/19 - I have a race entry for the Salt Lake 1/2.

Total: 6km in 38:49 for 6:28/km with ave HR 143.

Garmin data here.

Not much else to report… just some cuteness as the kids and I walked to school with the dog. Calvin did a great job walking her!

still resting up

Yesterday I decided to stretch my legs for a bit and took a short racewalk. We adopted a dog on Saturday, so I brought her and the kids along. Calvin ran, and Grace rollerbladed, and the dog ran alongside me. It was a bit tricky since she's not used to the whole leash thing, so I went slower than I'd have gone otherwise. However, my legs were definitely NOT up for this sort of thing yet, so I'd have been slow anyway. I thought before I went that they felt good, but the racewalking made them hurt. Fortunately, they didn't hurt the rest of the day. I did 3km at a 6:50/km pace and mostly enjoyed it, when I wasn't worrying about how slow I was and if my legs would ever get better again.

Today I took a rest day, though I did walk the kids to school and back twice (with the dog); 1km
each way for 4km. Add in a side trip to the dog park (another 1km total) and I walked 5km casually.

I am going to try again to racewalk tomorrow morning, alone, if I feel good. (Or maybe with the dog…?).

***

More about our new dog: Labrador Retriever/Great Pyrenees mix, female, 2yo, about 70-80lb. Super sweet and calm temperament. She was picked up as a stray with an injured leg, but after antibiotics she is doing well. Looks like she may have had a litter of puppies at some point. We adopted her from Furever Buddies Dog Rescue, with all her shots and spayed. Her new name is Sugar, and we are loving her!

resting up

Thursday I took a rest day. I felt pretty fatigued, though I did make it in to work.

Yesterday I did the elliptical for 45 min. That felt decent, and my muscles felt OK though not 100%. Still, I made it through another full day of work, but I was very fatigued in the evening.

Today I felt good when I woke up and did 51 min on the elliptical. That's a pretty random number, but I was feeling good and wanted an hour; however, Loren and Grace wanted to go skiing so I had to get home quickly so they could go, hence the 51 minutes. It's a good thing I stopped, because I am definitely a bit fatigued now.

I have had a few cold symptoms - mostly the fatigue, a runny nose on and off, and some hoarseness. I wonder if I just caught a bit of a virus that has caused this relapse? I'm hoping and praying that I feel better. I want to be able to train. I know I must be cautious, but I do have a race entry for the Salt Lake Half Marathon on April 19, and would love to be able to do it at an easy pace. They've changed the course, and it's quite different, and I really want to do it.

Well, one thing at a time.

6K and wiped

Today: 10K with 3x3' bursts was scheduled. Wasn't sure that was happening after yesterday.

Got up early and felt decent; legs were a tad sore but nothing remarkable until I started to walk…and then I knew it wasn't good. I made it 6K at a very slow 6:50/km before calling it a day. Muscles hurt pretty badly from 2-3k, and I felt very fatigued. Definitely the weird soreness.

Took the day off work and totally crashed, on the advice of both my coach (who graciously spent 20-30 min talking to me on the phone and reassuring me that this wasn't the end of my racewalking career - it just means we have to re-adjust our plans and I have to listen to my body more) and my husband. I took a 2-hour nap and generally tried to do as little as possible. I'm glad I did, because I am STILL tired, though my legs feel fine - no weird soreness the rest of the day. Plan is to take 4-5 days of rest/cross-training and then see how I feel. Tomorrow I will probably rest. Hopefully I'll have the energy to go to work, but if not, I won't push myself. That's why I have sick days, which I rarely take.

Garmin data here.

5K fartlek

Sunday: rest day; legs a bit sore but all right.

Monday: elliptical 35' - woke up a bit late and wanted to do 10K but no time. Legs felt good to go, so I was disappointed that I ran out of time.

Today: Supposed to do an 8K fartlek. Obviously didn't. I don't know what went wrong. The weather was fine (40F, 4C, slightly breezy). My legs felt good and fresh and ready to go this morning. On the warm-up, though, I felt a bit off. I wasn't terribly slow, but the first couple laps were slow (5:18) and I finished in 10:16, so that much was all right. I started the fartlek after some dynamic stretching. By 2K, I knew something was wrong. My legs were hurting - hamstrings, glutes, were complaining - it was that weird soreness I'd had problems with all of last year. I have no idea why it is back, and I'm quite worried. After reaching 3K in 18:12 or something similarly slow, I debated quitting, but decided that if I could keep my "fast" 500s at 3:00 or better I'd keep going - and my 500 was 3:00 so I kept going. I managed another 3:00 500 for the 4th km, but got to 5K with a sad 3:04. My heart rate wasn't high at all - my legs just hurt. The heart rate trace is quite telling - very abnormal. Not as high as I would normally get, but mostly just really quite low during my medium effort intervals. Obviously my legs were the limiting factor, in a big way.

I missed a 100m stretch by accidentally hitting stop on my watch at one point, and it was during a recovery so add about 40 seconds (yeah, I was that slow) and you get a 5K fartlek time of 30:58. That's an easy 5K when I'm fully trained and feeling good, so I am very upset/worried/disappointed.

Hopefully this is just a bump in my recovery…but I'm worried.

Garmin data here. 

20K

My legs felt 70-80% recovered this morning - mostly good, but climbing stairs I could tell that my glutes were still a bit tired. Still, I knew it would be important to do the whole 20K if I could, as I need to get my body used to 3 days in a row with a speed work day and a long day.

The weather was interesting. It was 50F (10C) at the start and 60F (15C) at the finish, but the wind was STRONG and GUSTY. It was 25mph steady (40kph) with stronger gusts. Not helpful. It was at my back for the first 7.5k, then from 7.5 to 17.5k it was in my face, and then from 17.5k to 20k at my back again. Challenging.

My legs held up quite well until 15k, when they were very, very tired and starting to be sore (maybe a bit of the weird soreness? but I think mostly just regular soreness from a long walk). Stevie walked with me for 15k, and then he stopped and I walked the last 5k alone; I saw Diane and Nancy at Arrowhead park and stopped there to talk with them and of course when I started up again it was painful. But the last 5K still went decently all things considered - it was not a death march and I wasn't in agony. Just uncomfortable.

I'm just glad I finished. It's good to know I can still do it (long day after 2 workout days) even if I was sloooooooow as a turtle.

Total: 2:12:00 for 6:36/km with ave HR 146. 5K splits pretty even at 32:25, 32:40, 33:34, 33:21. Slow, but considering the wind and my legs, I think that's decent. I worked really hard for it anyway, for what that's worth.

Garmin data here.

6K

I thought today might be disastrous, but it wasn't. Yes, I was a bit sore, and a little slow, but it didn't feel terrible, and my legs are recovering OK. Glad I didn't have to do more than 6K today, but that actually was the perfect amount to get me moving, work on my technique (especially posture! I think I'm getting better!), and just get used to walking 3 days in a row like I'll need to in order to do 5 days per week training again.

The weather was pretty good at 40F (4C) with a slight breeze and clear. When I did my first 500m I thought it was going to be a terrible workout, as everything was quite stiff, but I loosened up after about 1.5-2km and things went OK. I had to stop and stretch my piriformis frequently, but other than that things were good. My foot didn't bother me, and though I was a little sore in general from yesterday it wasn't bad. My legs were somewhat heavy, but not horribly so. Whew. Could have been lots worse.

Like I said, I wasn't fast… but that is OK. That will come. Today was a recovery day.

Total: 6K in 39:06 for 6:31/km with ave HR 142.

Garmin data here. 

5x1km

Yesterday: 45 min elliptical. My legs felt tired.

***

Today: Weather was chilly (38F, 3C) and breezy (about 10 mph, 16 kph). It wasn't raining when I started, but it began sleeting (snow/rain mix) right after my first 1km interval.

I warmed up feeling so-so in 10:03 with a couple 100m strides. I could tell it wasn't going to be a great day but I thought it might go OK. I had a lot on my mind as our dog was much worse this morning and I knew we'd have to take her in to the vet to have her put to sleep, and I was trying to figure out how to make all that work schedule-wise. I wasn't in the mood to do a hard workout, but I figured it was a good mental toughness workout regardless. Add in the sleet, wind, and the fact that my legs started to have some of the weird soreness in the 3rd km, and it was a sure-fire recipe for generating mental toughness. I figured if I could finish the workout then I would have gained something even if it wasn't a physical benefit.

My first two 1K intervals were all right. 5:45.1, 5:47.7. Then on the third my legs started to hurt a bit but I still did 5:49.5. The fourth and fifth weren't pretty but I did finish and under 6 min/km so it was probably beneficial to do them. The fourth was 5:53.6 and the last a gritting-my-teeth-giving-it-all-my-washed-up-legs-had 5:58.4. Ouch.

My legs have hurt a bit since then but not terribly, and I did do a fair amount of sitting at the microscope this morning. I will admit that I was a bit worried that whatever my mystery illness was is returning, but logically it's probably just the stress we've been under this week.

Garmin data here. 

***

We did say goodbye to our friend Sahara today. That was really hard, but it was clearly the right thing, as she was obviously suffering this morning. The kids said goodbye before they went to school, and honestly I think they are taking it better than we are. Calvin wanted to know when we are getting another dog. Geez, kid, let us process this one thing at a time, OK? But I'm glad that he is not dwelling on it and is able to move on.

I'm tired and sad. I took this afternoon off work and I'm going to take a nap.

10K w/3x3' bursts

I was feeling better this morning, except for lack of sleep… our poor sick dog vomited at 4:30 am and woke me up, and of course I couldn't fall back asleep. I listened to some music for a while and then got up and went for my walk.

It was a nice warm morning for this time of year, at 40F (4C) and it was a bit breezy. Overall, quite comfortable and a good number of people were out exercising.

My legs were slightly sore from yoga yesterday, but not too bad. It was a good kind of sore, though, and I don't think it slowed me much.

I wasn't fast today, but I didn't really care too much. I was just glad to be out there and feeling better than yesterday morning at the track. I worked really hard on my technique, and was reminded why I love and hate racewalking :). It requires a lot of concentration to make and keep technique changes, and I like it because it's challenging, but at the same time sometimes I just wish I could let my mind wander.  I focused hard today.

Total time was a rather slowish 1:04:21 for 6:26/km with ave HR 149. The bursts were slow too, at 3:02, 3:01, and 2:59. My legs were tired, and after sitting at the confocal microscope for a couple hours today, I did have a little of the weird soreness, though it was very mild.

Garmin data here.

workout fail….

I went to the track this morning. The weather was good - 40F (4C) and light breeze. I was not good. 4 laps of warm-up and I was glacially slow (10:36) and felt like my legs were made of bricks. Plus my right piriformis was bothering me. It was one of those days when I felt it would be super risky to try the workout. I was quite concerned I'd pull something, and there was no way this was going to turn out well. I'm just not recovering well from the 5K. Pathetic. I wonder if this is a last vestige of whatever illness I have had?

Mentally, I wasn't there either. I can't explain it but I just woke up grumpy and out of sorts, imagining crazy stuff. Our dog has completely stopped eating, and I'm imagining finding her dead somewhere in the house or the kids finding her, and then my mind wanders to horrible what-ifs about the kids, etc. It was bad.

I went home and did a good yoga workout instead to try and strengthen my hips. I've been neglecting strength training and it's showing.

I'm sorry coach. 5 workouts this week isn't going to happen :(. Maybe next week my recovery will be better.

Running of the Leopards 5K

Yesterday: elliptical

Today:
5K race! First race since last October's horrid 29:56 effort at the 5K Nationals in Kingsport.



Calvin is bugging me to get going… so this will have to be quick!

Warm-up - did 1.4km with some strides around the parking lot. Felt antsy. Right hip a bit irritated from Thursday (piriformis). Weather was about 40F (4C) and breezy, but it was a tailwind for the race. Pretty nice out, actually!

Race: Billed as "The Fastest 5K in Utah" and it probably is :). Nice descent of about 300ft (100m) with just a small uphill in the first mile (in the 2nd km). I felt pretty good initially, but my legs just didn't have the turnover I wanted; probably my fast-twitch muscles are just not there yet. Not surprising. Also, I just didn't have that little extra push I needed - was a bit afraid to go really hard because I don't trust my fitness just yet. I did a nice fast 4th km (5:32, my 2nd fastest) but on the 5th km though I worked harder (see my HR increase! Averaged 169 on 5th km, but max was 174 - working hard!), I didn't go any faster. Admittedly I was slowed down a bit by about 5m of sand on the track entrance and then the fact that the last 300m was flat, on the track.

So - I wasn't as fast as I'd hoped - was hoping to break 28 min on this nice downhill - but it's a good start to my season. Time 28:19, with splits of 5:24 (biggest downhill), 5:56 (the uphill was here), 5:46, 5:32, 5:39. Average HR for the whole race was just 161, so I think there was more room to push there. With time and some fast workouts, this will improve.

Garmin data here.

***

Calvin was just AWESOME this morning in his race. He did a flying fast 24:10. That's really good for a 9-year-old, I think!!! He got 2nd in his age group (under 11) and had a great time. We'll be doing more races together I'm sure!

tired not-quite-12km

My legs were tired this morning. That about sums up today's workout. After the hard effort I gave the 5x1km yesterday, I was a bit sore and didn't recover well.

This morning the weather was cooperative at 39F (4C), though I will say it felt a bit cooler than that to me. Anyway, it wasn't a factor. I started off and right away my legs were very heavy. I really had to talk myself through this whole walk. By 3km I was tired, and by 7km my legs were VERY tired and I was wondering if I'd make it to 12km. I fully intended to try, but by 10km it was increasingly difficult to hold my form, and my muscles felt weak. My right piriformis had been bothering me a little yesterday, and as my form deteriorated today, it began to bother me more. I decided to call it a day rather than injuring something.

Believe me, I gave this a lot of effort. It was mentally very taxing and I did not decide to stop early lightly. I think it was wise given how I was feeling. Sometimes you need to respect how your body is feeling, and you need to know when to push and when not to.

Totals: 10.83km in 1:11:07 for 6:34/km with ave HR 140.

Garmin data here.

My foot is slightly achy now (at lunch) but mostly OK, and my piriformis feels totally fine. I'm still glad I stopped.

5x1km

Yesterday: physically and mentally a bit wiped. Maybe more so mentally, but I was very tired and had trouble getting up. Still dragged myself to the gym and managed a measly 20 min on the elliptical. I'm proud of that, as I was tempted to skip entirely.

***

Today: 5x1km intervals. I was still tired, but better than yesterday. However, my body wasn't wanting to do anything. It was cold this morning (a bit cooler than usual for late March, at 31F or -1C) with a breeze of about 10mph (16kph). It was dark. I wasn't thrilled.

My warm-up (the usual 1600m with strides) was slow and I felt sluggish. I hoped things would turn around for the 5x1km, but alas, not so. My HR was a bit low, so maybe it was just one of those mornings? My times were pretty awful, but not because I didn't try hard. In fact, I'm proud of today's workout because I didn't quit. I was sorely tempted to quit after the 3rd one, but thought, no, I can quit after the 4th if I really want. And then there was only one left, so I figured I could pull it off.

Times: 5:49.5, 5:50.0, 5:52.9, 5:52.2, 5:52.5.

As my friend Nyle would say, "blark". Not sure exactly what that means, but it's ugly. Speaking of friends, here's a shout-out to people who have kept me going through all this: Loren, Nyle, Jim (coach), Erin, Sarah, Jonna & Erica, and Ollie, among others. Thanks for your words of encouragement.

My legs felt rubbery when I was done, and they are a bit sore. Not the weird soreness, though - just the post-hard-workout-I-gave-it-my-all soreness. Am supposed to do 12k tomorrow…hahahaha that'll be interesting!

Seriously, though --- I am happy I can be out there training hard again, even if the results are not so good.

Garmin data here.

12K w/3x3' bursts

Sunday: rest day. I felt good - a very tiny bit of the weird soreness while sitting at the piano at church for an extended period, but other than that no problems. I had some normal post-race delayed onset muscle soreness, especially in my shins, trapezoids, and deltoids. Odd to have so much soreness in my upper body, but I haven't been diligent about weight training, so I guess that's not surprising. Time to hit the gym again now that I am pretty sure the muscle thing is 95% better.

***

Today: 12k w/3x3' bursts. I was a bit sore today too, but didn't think it'd impact my workout much. At about 7k, my legs got quite tired and I definitely slowed down, but I still did a respectable 1:16:55 for 6:25/km with ave HR of 146. The three bursts were 2:57, 3:01, and 2:57 - slower than last week, but I didn't try to go all-out, just at 10K effort, which was slower today due to race recovery.

The weather has been freaky. 57F this morning (14C) - so warm - and windy, with 11mph wind, as a storm front was blowing in. Not as windy as on Saturday at the race by any means, but still noticeable and a bit annoying. Later in the day it cooled down to about 43F and was snowing on and off, but still super windy, so it was snowing sideways. I had to do a bunch of errands with the kids after work (shoe store, grocery store, thrift store) and it was not pleasant. Add in just plain tiredness from not enough sleep and I am grumpy now and ready for bed.

Oh yeah, and I got 2 blisters from the race - one on my right toe #3, and one on my right heel, where I've never had one. The toe blister is no biggie, but the heel one was really bothering me this morning and then all day walking around work and during errands. Glad to get off my feet.

Garmin data here.

Canyonlands Half Marathon

Yesterday: rode my bike to work in about 30 min, keeping it moderately easy --- used really low gears to climb the hills, kept my HR from getting too high, and didn't work my legs much. Usually if I work it harder it takes 22-24 minutes, so I did take it easy.

***

I left work early yesterday and Sarah, Erica and I drove to Moab (about 4 hr), arriving in time for dinner. After a relaxing dinner at the Moab Brewery, we checked into our hotel… that was a bit ugly. Sarah had reserved a room with two queen beds. The price was $79 per night for 1 person with a 2-night minimum (because of race weekend - all the hotels in town do this - and we could only stay one night!), because at the time she'd reserved it she didn't know she'd have me and Erica along with her. When the desk clerk realized 3 were staying, she jacked the price up to $109 per night, costing each of us $20 extra. She was fairly rude in her mannerisms, too. We were pretty annoyed, and even more so when we discovered the ice machine was broken, because we wanted the ice for my foot and Erica's ankle (which has been bothering her a bit). Needless to say, we will not be staying at The Virginian again… cannot recommend it at all. I will say that at least it was clean and comfortable and quiet.

This morning the race start was not until 10 am, so we got to sleep fairly late for a race morning! We were out of the hotel by 7:30 and then got on the bus to the race start. Because of the remote location, they bus everyone in, and you have to hang out for an hour and a half before the race. However, it's beautiful, and though it was chilly it wasn't cold until maybe 30-45 min before the race when the wind picked up.

I knew I was not in shape to race this, but it sure was fun to do it as a long day. I figured I'd be happy if I walked under 6:30/km and had a good recovery. My coach is particularly interested in how well I can recover from this week, and especially this race.

Back to the race… because of the wind, though it was 50F (10C), I opted for tights and a long-sleeved shirt. I think I'd have been happier in shorts and a T-shirt, in retrospect. By mile 3, the sun came out, and the wind calmed a bit, and I was downright hot. I worried that I wouldn't make it to the finish in one piece, but within 2 miles, the weather changed to partly cloudy and strong, gusty winds. VERY strong winds. The weather said it was a steady 25 mph (40 kph) with much stronger gusts. The wind was a headwind on and off until mile 11, with gusts so strong I could barely WALK never mind racewalk at some points. Add in some larger rolling hills, and it made for some slow miles and tired me out a bit. Starting at mile 11, we left the canyon and the wind was thankfully at our backs for a while, but the damage had been done and I was slower at the end. No matter, as I wasn't actually trying to race, just go the distance for the first time in a long time.

Mile splits:
1 - 9:44 (BIG downhill!), 2 - 10:02 (still downhill), 3 - 9:56 (still downhill), 4 - 10:23 (flatter, hotter), 5+6 - 20:39 (rolling hills), 7 - 10:25 (windy, slight uphill) 8 - 10:53 (larger uphill, windy), 9 - 10:30 (rolling hills, windy), 10 - 10:38 (rolling hills, windy), 11 - 11:04 (flat, tired legs), 12 + 13 + 0.1 - 22:06.

Total time: 2:16:16 for 6:27/km with ave HR 150.

Garmin data here.
Pre- and post-race photos at left.

10K w/3x3' bursts

This morning I woke ready to work out. I seem to have adjusted to the time change, at last. My foot felt great, too, and has continued to feel good even after the workout. I iced it twice so far today just to be extra careful, but it didn't feel uncomfortable at all. 

The weather was chilly, but seasonal for March at 35F (2C) with a light breeze that felt quite cold. I wore a long-sleeved shirt, jacket, tights, and gloves, and a headband, and that was just right. 

I started off fast on the downhill but didn't feel my technique click in properly for at least 1km or so. Have to work on that. Still, it did click in and then felt good the rest of the time. I concentrated a lot on it so as not to re-injure my foot or hurt my piriformis or tibialis anterior. Whew. 

My bursts were nice and fast: 2:53, 2:54, 2:53, but after the 3rd one I was quite tired, which isn't surprising since I did 5x1km yesterday and my body is not used to that yet. So I slowed a bit and my total time was slower than last week at 1:03:01 for 6:18/km with ave HR 145. 

Ready for some cross-training tomorrow and a half-marathon on Saturday! :)

Garmin data here.

5x1km

Yesterday: elliptical 30 min; then stationary bike for 7-8 min. I woke up late (again… dratted DST!) and that's the time I had. Almost got the kids to school late, but we made it. Iced foot frequently and it felt good.

Today: 5x1km was the workout. I woke up a bit later than I intended, and felt lousy. Still not used to DST. Why can't we just leave the clocks alone? Now it's darker and colder for my workouts…grumble, whine, moan. That was my mood this morning, and I really did NOT want to do the track workout. Just didn't care. But I know that I am competing in the 15K in May, so I really do want to get back in shape. I made myself go, and it went well.

Warm-up - truncated to 1200m with strides because of the time. 7:18 or so, and I felt pretty good.

Weather: average for this time of year, but chillier than it has been. 34F (1C) and a very slight breeze. I wore my new warm jacket and my new headband that my mom gave me for my birthday, so at least I looked stylish haha. There was only 1 other person at the track the whole time I was there, and it was dark, so stylish hardly mattered. I was concerned the track might be icy, as it snowed and rained a bit yesterday, but it was dry.

Edited to add the selfie I took with my new headband.

Workout: I felt pretty good and was consistent on all of the 1k intervals. Each one was naturally a bit harder, but I had something left for the last one. My foot did not bother me at all, but I concentrated a LOT on keeping it aligned properly to avoid tweaking it more. In fact, I worked on my technique a lot. At first I thought "technique over speed" and then I thought, no, "technique IS speed" and repeated that  over and over to myself to make sure I held my posture, used my hips, kept my foot aligned, and used my left glutes more.

Times: 5:41.0, 5:44.0, 5:43.5, 5:43.9, 5:42.9. HR was up to 170 max, and averaged over 165 on the last 500s of the last 2K, so I know I was working hard.

Garmin data here.

8k after work

Yesterday: 30 min stationary bike to burn off part of my birthday dessert. Usually I take Sunday off of training but I wanted the exercise.

Today: Gotta love  daylight savings time. NOT! Overslept my alarm and missed my morning workout. Luckily for me, the kids are old enough to take with me now! I get off work in time to pick them up from school on Mondays, and after walking home we readied ourselves to go out. Wish I'd taken a photo as they were so cute. Calvin had his running shoes and his scooter and was planning on one lap of the park on the scooter (2.25k) and then 5k running. He is training for a 5k in a couple weeks and wanted to practice running non-stop and timing himself. Grace had her rollerblading and all her protective gear, and her plan was to rollerblade 8k with me.

It was warm and windy, as a storm was coming in. 60F (15C) and quite gusty at times. I hate racewalking in the afternoon, because I never feel quite right. Today was no exception. I was originally planning on 10k with bursts, but the kids and my foot (which was just not 100%) changed my mind, so I did 8k instead. I'll do the 10k on Thursday.

The kids behaved very well and had a great time, and though I was slow it was ok. My foot felt no worse during or after and I am pleased about that because I concentrated very hard on my form to avoid aggravating it.

Haven't uploaded yet but my time was 51:34 for 6:27/km with average HR a low 140. I just didn't have any oomph to push harder after work. But I was glad I went and we all enjoyed being outside. Now it's lots winder and raining and generally icky out so it's good to be done.

birthday bash walk! 18K!

Yesterday: supposed to cross-train, but rested. My foot was achy and so I decided rest would be better - ice and naprosyn helped a lot :).

***

Today: 18K! My birthday treat to myself. I slept in until 7 am (late for me!) and enjoyed a kid-free morning courtesy of my parents. Loren slept much later, and while he slept in, I read a book for an hour, then tidied up the house, and left for my walk around 9 am. Luxurious! Thanks, mom and dad!

The weather was absolutely glorious. Our first daffodil bloomed today, in honor of my birthday. Loved it! It was 40F (4C) at the start of my walk, and about 50F (10C) at the finish. Sooooooo beautiful - sunny, warm, amazing. Just a slight breeze, but I got pretty warm in my long-sleeved shirt and capris and gloves - took off the gloves at 3K, and rolled up my sleeves above my elbow at 10K. LOTS and LOTS of runners, rollerbladers, strollers, dog-walkers at Liberty Park, all with spring fever!

The 18K went well. My foot ached a bit from 14K-18K, but I iced it afterward and paid lots of attention to my technique and that paid off. It feels good now. My legs were pretty darn tired from 15K-18K but I kept a good pace and finished well.

Total time: 1:55:22 for 6:25/km with ave HR just 144. I'm getting more fit!

Garmin data here.

10K w/3x3' bursts

My hamstrings were a bit sore after Monday's 8K fartlek, and then yesterday's 4x1km made that a bit more pronounced, plus my glutes were a bit sore too. 500m into today's workout I thought it was gonna be rough…but I turned out to be wrong!

The weather was decent. Can't complain - we haven't had much snow, mostly rain, and that's just fine with me! I thought it was 46F (8C) but the Garmin weather says it was 12C…whatever. It was breezy/windy, and I had on tights and a long-sleeved shirt and gloves; ditched the gloves partway through and rolled up my sleeves and it felt pretty good.

Anyway, despite my legs being tired and not feeling 100%, I pulled off a season's best 1:02:23 for 6:14/km with ave HR 145. My bursts were 2:58, 2:58 (slight uphill), and 2:54 (slight downhill).

I'd say this week is going quite well. Tomorrow is x-training, and then Saturday I'm going to tackle 18K. My foot was a bit sore today but not too bad, and I'm icing it right now.

Garmin data here.

4x1km w/2' rest

Yesterday: 30 min elliptical, 30 min stationary bike (trying to rest my foot more). Started taking some Aleve (naprosyn) to try and help the foot recover a bit faster. I think it's helping.

***

Today: 4x1km with 2' rest. I drove to the track, and it was 35F (1.7C) and calm and clear. Unfortunately, it was just cold enough on the track surface to be icy…and it rained a bit last night. So the track was waaaaay too slippery for racewalking. Irritating! Next I drove to 800E and parked and just did my workout there.

It went well. I started off very slowly and then accelerated throughout my warm-up, throwing in some strides and focusing a lot on technique. 10:10 for 1600m, by my Garmin.

After my dynamic drills, I got started on the workout. It is not perfectly flat, but the best I can get --- I think it's slightly downhill-ish on the first km and slightly uphill-ish on the 2nd km. I did two out-and-backs for my 4km.

My km times were 5:42, 5:45, 5:39, 5:48. I guess I took the 3rd one a bit hard - my legs were pretty much screaming on the 4th one and it was slower. Oops! HR was up to ave 169 on the last 500 (max 171 on that same 500).

I actually felt good and strong though. These were faster than last week's, and I did more of them and had less recovery. Good job! :)

I am still sooooooo happy to be feeling better!

My foot has hardly bothered me at all today. It's doing a lot better, too. The combination of 1) technique vigilance, 2) new shoes, 3) naprosyn seems to be working.

Garmin data here.

8K fartlek

Sunday: Rest day!

***

Today: 8K fartlek
Weather: 44F (7C) with a slight breeze. A lovely morning for early March!
Warm-up: 1600m in 10:07 with strides on the last lap. Felt OK. Wearing my new pair of New Balance 1400 shoes and they felt good.
Workout: It went as well as I could have expected. I was hoping to go under 48 min, and I did - just barely! With just getting back into things this is about the best I could hope for, seeing as how I did 29:46 for my 5K fartlek last week. My splits were consistent today, my technique felt solid (though I have to keep checking everything constantly!), and I finished in 47:58 with ave HR 162, so I was working good and hard. The fast intervals varied from 2:48-2:54 and the medium effort 500s varied from 3:07-3:12. Good and solid.
Foot: feels a bit achy now, but better than on Saturday. I iced it briefly but have been standing a lot at work. Will ice it again later. I think the new shoes helped.

Garmin data here.

16.442K indoors

Yesterday: 45 min elliptical.

Today: WINDY. Very, very windy. 22mph (35kph) with gusts of 33mph (53kph), and light rain predicted (though it didn't rain much that I can tell). I hate wind. I'd rather be inside with that kind of wind. Too hard to RW effectively, and with the Olympic Oval as an option, well… inside it was. Stevie met me there, and he did 14K (I think…not sure his lap count was right). I also (happily) ran into my friends Erica and Sarah. They don't know each other (well, they do now haha) but they were there doing 12 miles and 14 miles, respectively. I had 16K (10 miles) on tap, so we decided we'd eat breakfast together after, which we did. Erica ran with me most of my workout, which was great - I love having company. Stevie is a bit faster and I just told him to go his own speed, which he did. 

I was to do 36.2 laps of 442m for the 16K. I somehow miscounted (despite my watch…hard to see the laps with my aging eyes - sad but true!) and did 37.2 laps. Oops. I never felt really awesome or strong today; I was a bit tired after 5 laps and it just stayed that way. However, my lap times were pretty consistent even as I tired. My HR was pretty low today - average of just 137 - but I think it's just the tired legs thing I've had all week. No pain or weird soreness, just have felt sluggish. I don't think anything is wrong at all though - just working through increasing distance, and I think all is well. Took a water + gel break at 8km, and then 2 more quick water/stretch breaks in the last 8km. 

My foot was warm and a bit inflamed, but not painful. I was just uber-aware of it and afterward iced it during breakfast (asked the waitress for a big glass of ice, put it in my newspaper bag as I'd grabbed the paper from my driveway and threw it in the car on my way over to the Oval, and iced away - felt SO great). It feels fine now. I just have to baby it a bit to get it back healthy after trashing it in that pair of shoes. I need to switch shoes as my current pair has about 400 miles on it (643km) and it's time… fortunately I bought a brand-new pair of NB1400s and I know that those are good for my feet as I used them for 50K training in 2012. I think I'll use those for my shorter stuff this week and if all is well will switch to them before my 18K next Saturday. 

My total time was 1:47:11 for the 16.442km, which works out to 6:31/km with ave HR 137. Note that one lap time is 43 sec long because I forgot to press stop on my watch, and a couple others I pushed 10-15 seconds late so one lap is long and the next a bit short. Otherwise it's accurate. 

Anyway, today was solid but not great, and I'm OK with that. One step at a time. It's the farthest I've walked since Jan 12, 2013 (when I did a sub-2hr 20K long walk…sigh……..), so I have something to celebrate there, through mixed emotions. Coming back is hard but good.

Garmin data here.

10K w/3x3' bursts

My legs were still tired today. None of the weird soreness or anything like that - just a bit tired, probably still from the bicycling on Tuesday. So, my 10K wasn't stellar, but it wasn't terrible either. I just didn't have a lot of pep.

It was warm and windy this morning, at 54F (12C), as a storm is blowing in. It rained a few drops on me, but the bulk of the rain held off until lunchtime today, for which I was grateful.

I was a bit worried about my foot, as it ached a little today, but it never did more than just get a bit achy. I worked hard on my technique, trying to keep things adjusted. I feel like I'm fighting all the little niggles - left foot, right piriformis, right anterior tibialis - and that the technique adjustments are just barely holding things together. Maybe. I'm a bit worried something is going to go off; I feel like things are held together with duct tape and that something could go wrong any minute. Hopefully that's just the out-of-the-routine uncoordinated out-of-practice feeling and it will go away once I have a few more miles under my belt.

Back to the workout. I started off feeling clunky and out-of-sorts. Even when I settled in a bit, I just felt slow and a little tired. My 3 minute bursts were 500m in 3:00, 2:53, then 3:04. The 3:04 shocked me - I thought I'd gone sub-3 for sure… but I was just getting very tired. My HR was a bit low this morning too, partly because I just couldn't get my legs moving very well. Oh well. It's done, and nothing hurts. That's good :). I'm happy I'm racewalking again.

Total time: 1:04:51 for 6:29/km with ave HR 142. Garmin data here.

cross-training; 3x1km

Yesterday: cross-training. I did 35 min elliptical and then dusted off the bike because it was SO warm and lovely (high of 60F (15C)) and rode my bike to work. That did cause a few problems…

Today: 3x1km. Warmed up and my legs felt quite sluggish and unresponsive. I think that bicycling to work was responsible, as I haven't done that in months. My warm-up of 1600m was much slower than on Monday, at 10:18 - and with a low HR of 133, and I just felt "off". I didn't have any muscle pain or anything like that, but my legs just felt like stumps. Not sure how to explain it. My foot was also achy yesterday after the elliptical and bicycling, so I was nervous that it would be a problem this morning on the workout. I was VERY happy that it was just fine - maybe a bit warm-ish, but it felt fine and there was no pain.

The 3x1km went about how you'd expect for someone whose legs were a bit compromised, but it wasn't awful, and my last one was the fastest. Somehow I pulled it off, despite it all. I figure I'd have been at least 5-10 sec faster on each one if my legs had felt good. Anyway, the times were 5:48.8, 5:48.5, and 5:45.1. My ave HR on the last 500 of each was 155, 158, and 161 - I was working hard, but you'd expect a bit higher, so I think from that data you can tell my legs were iffy today, explaining the slower times.

Good enough for today. I'm happy I could work out, and I'm happy nothing hurt. Speed will come later.

Edited to add: This was my 2nd speed workout in a week - first time I've done that in a while! So I'm pleased that I completed it and that I feel good now.

Garmin data here.

5K fartlek - season's best

Yesterday: rest day

***

Today: 5K fartlek.

Weather: 45F (7C) (warm for February!), cloudy, calm.

Warm-up: 1600m with 2x100m strides in the last 400m. Felt good on warm-up. Watched technique to get in good habits. Time 9:43 w/ave HR 139. Then dynamic drills.

Workout: Consistent and felt strong throughout. I did work hard, especially on the last 500m. Fast 500s were 2:49-2:54, with the last one 2:51 :). Medium effort 500s were 3:06, 3:08, 3:08, 3:08 - getting better and fitter! Hopefully soon those will be around 3 min again. Well, except that next week Jim gave me an 8K fartlek so may not be able to go that fast because of the distance increase!

Total time: another season's best of 29:46 with ave HR 160. I'm very happy with this! Under 30 min again, and with solid technique.

Garmin data here.

YES! 15K!

Yesterday: elliptical 45 min

***

Today: I made it to 15K for the first time since the national 15K last May in Riverside. Wow. It's been a long time, and 15K is not even that far. I felt good today, which is way more than I could say after the 15K in Riverside, or any 15K I did last spring, for that matter.

Today I had lots of good company. Stevie joined me as usual, and my friend Erica came along as well. Erica is training for the Salt Lake City Marathon on April 19 (I am registered for the half that day), and she was doing 18 miles today and wanted some company. We gave her company for half of her 18! I hope the rest went well for her too.

The time seemed to fly by, as I felt pretty good, and the company was enjoyable. The weather was lovely - it was 35F (2C) and partly sunny at the start, turning to overcast with a slight breeze. I didn't need my hat or jacket - just wore 2 long-sleeved shirts and tights, and no fleece pants. It was great not to feel cold. For February, this is pretty mild, so I'm soaking it in while it lasts.

I started off fast, but my form felt a bit iffy as it often does to start. I reeled that in and by 1.5km or so I was feeling solid and good. I had to watch my posture a lot today - distracted by chatting, I kept noticing that it wasn't good. That's a first step anyway! As for the rest of me, it felt great. No piriformis trouble, and my anterior tibialis felt OK as did my foot. My foot felt pretty good until 14K, when it felt warmish, but I only had 1K to go, and knew it would be fine. It seems to be doing much better back in the old shoes. I don't have any more of those, but I do have some New Balance 1400s which I know are safe for my feet, so I will probably start using those soon.

I am just SO pleased to be feeling better. This morning I woke up and nothing hurt. My legs just felt GOOD. I didn't realize how bad things were before until I started to feel good! When I walked today I felt strong and like I could walk forever - I got a bit tired around 7K but then revived at our water stop at 7.5K and felt strong to the finish. I could have walked farther, but 15K was a good amount for today to get my confidence back. I'm so glad to be on the mend!!!!!

5K splits: 31:55, 32:30, 32:25.

Totals: 1:36:49 for 6:27/km with ave HR 148.

Garmin data here.

10K with 3x3' bursts

I'm feeling better today. I could second-guess myself and say I should have worked out yesterday, or I can choose to say that I wouldn't have felt so good today if I hadn't taken it a bit easier yesterday. Either way, I feel better now, and only missed one workout, so that's good. Sore throat is gone and I just have a bit of congestion, swollen lymph nodes, and fatigue remaining.

Fastest 10K of the year so far… but don't get all excited - it was slow, just less slow that I've been. Hey, I'm trying to look on the bright side. The bursts were consistent and pretty good at 2:58, 3:02, 2:56. My total time was 1:04:21 for 6:26/km with ave HR 145. The weather was cooperative, at about 32F (0C) and calm and clear. I got started a bit late, so it wasn't even pitch black out when I left, as the days are getting noticeably longer.

My left foot ached a bit, but it wasn't too bad. I'm still focusing a lot on form and I know I'm getting better posture. It's hard to remember everything at once but the foot reminds me (via pain) if I don't pay attention to that aspect of my form as well. I'm just so glad to be on the mend :).

Garmin data here.

sick

Yesterday I woke up feeling sick-ish. I had a sore throat and was fatigued, but once I got up I felt a bit better. Went to the gym and did elliptical and had a busy day.

Today when I woke up it was worse. More sore, more tired, more congestion. I was supposed to do a track workout (3x1km) but I was even debating if I should go to work or not. I decided it would be smarter to skip the workout and save my energy for work. In times past, I would have pushed it and done both. Now? Well, I'm still very cautious after all that has happened. I probably could have done the workout, but if I miss one it won't kill me, and I have 10K tomorrow that I can possibly do if I don't push it too hard today.

As the day has gone on I've gotten more and more tired, so I suspect it was the right decision. I've got a lot going on tonight as we are hosting small group at our house for church, but if I'm lucky I can squeeze in a nap?

rest day; 5K fartlek

Sunday: rest day!

***

Monday: Drove down to Orem, where Stevie lives, to do a 5K fartlek with him (OK, well he had an 8K fartlek, but still…). It was nice to have the day off today so that I could go do that, plus I wanted to stop by IKEA on the way home and get some furniture for our bedroom (renovating this weekend - paint, carpet, etc.). We warmed up in 10:05 for 1600m easy at the Orem High School track; I felt my technique was a bit off to start, but after a lap or so it settled in and I focused on keeping it good and strong throughout.

After some dynamic drills, we started the workout. Stevie took off like a shot and I let him go; interestingly, he never got that far in front of me (150 meters at most) and at the end of my 5K I was reeling him in. Have to talk to coach about how Stevie is doing his hard workouts - I don't think he's been getting it quite right. I talked to him a bunch afterward and explained more about the fartlek workout and I think he was starting to understand it a bit better at the end. I explained it to his dad, too, as he was watching and yelling technique corrections to poor Stevie!

My 5K fartlek went about like last week - much slower than if I am fit, but not terrible. Today the recoveries were a bit better but my fast segments were not as fast. I felt pretty strong for most of it, but after driving to IKEA (driving aggravates things a lot for me), loading heavy boxes into my car, and driving home, my legs definitely are stiffening up and hurting a bit. Anyway, I felt like I got through the 5K fartlek pretty well. My splits ranged from 2:46 (out too fast on the first one) to 3:00 for the fast segments and my recoveries were all 3:06 and one 3:10. Total time 30:08 with average HR 161.

Garmin data here.

14K

Yesterday: 45 min elliptical. My foot was a bit sore but I wore my racewalking shoes with orthotics to work and tried to stay off it as much as possible. By the end of the day it was feeling better, and I wore some boots (no heel) to dinner and the symphony with no ill effects. Whew.

***

Today: 14K was on the to-do list. We are having record-breaking warm weather (it was 60F today = 15C for a high!) and this morning it was about 48F (9C), calm, and cloudy. I wore capris and a lightweight long-sleeved shirt, and it was so lovely. Stevie wore shorts and a T-shirt!

Today I just wanted to have good technique and to finish feeling decent, without hurting my foot or piriformis or anterior tibialis. I did all that, and also managed to keep a 6:30/km pace. Sure, I'd have liked to go faster, but my fitness is not there yet, I'm working on my technique, and right now finishing strong is what I care most about. I actually felt better today than I did on last week's 12K, and MUCH better than the 12K two weeks ago. At about the 11K mark today, I noticed I was still feeling strong and though my legs were a bit tired, I knew I had plenty of muscle to make it to 14K. I am sure I could have done 15K, but we're saving that for next week.

My foot wasn't sore during the workout (well, maybe a touch?) but it did bother me a little later in the day. I wore my old pair of shoes and that seemed to be a big improvement. I think it was just the shoes?  If I'm still feeling pretty good on Monday after my track workout then I think I'll be fine. I'm a lot less worried after getting through things just fine today.

Totals: 14K in 1:30:58 for 6:30/km with ave HR 148.

Garmin data here.

Having a bad day

I was to do 10K this morning. It was warm (for February) at 40F (4C) and drizzly, later turning to full-on rain. I left the house about 6:40 am and that should have been plenty of time to be done by 7:50 to get the kids to school, but it wasn't, because I was that slow.

Funny, I thought I was well-recovered. My legs felt good last night and this morning before going out. In fact, they feel good now at lunch. Maybe it wasn't my legs - I couldn't seem to get my heart rate up this morning. I was overly tired and a bit grumpy and had no mental motivation to push. I just wanted to have a smooth workout with good technique. But my speed started off slow and I could never get it going. I don't know what was wrong, but for now I'm chalking it up to just having a bad day.

To make matters worse, at about 5K my left foot (the one that was injured about 3 yr ago) started acting up; I stretched it and it felt better all the way home, but now at work it is really bothering me - sore, and annoying. I know what the technique flaw is that is causing it, and I thought I had cured it. It might also be the shoes, as they are relatively new and had seemed to aggravate this problem before. I plan to try and switch shoes and see if that helps.

I could go on and on, since it hasn't been a good day at work either. But it's just one of those days, and venting about it probably won't make it better. I just have to go with the flow and try to do what I can to make it a better day. I'll have a nice latte at lab meeting and that should help :).

Anyway, because I was short on time and my foot was hurting, I cut my workout short, getting to 8.32km in 56:59 for a dismally slow 6:51/km; my ave HR was only 132 though, so obviously I just wasn't pushing hard enough. Plus, though my legs didn't feel THAT heavy, but obviously they were tired. Bleah. And, I was cold and wet when I finished (though the hot shower was lovely!). Hopefully 14K on Saturday will go much better.

I could beat myself up about this some more, but that is counterproductive and stupid. This is bound to happen when one is coming back from a long layoff and it goes with the territory. I have to just suck it up and keep on going. The alternative is less appealing.

Garmin data here. 

elliptical; 5K fartlek

Yesterday: 35 min elliptical. Up too late watching the Olympics so was short on time to get in as much time as I'd have liked. Legs were definitely a bit sore from the 10K w/bursts but not awful. Just noticeable in the morning when I sat a lot at the confocal microscope.

***

Today: OUTDOOR TRACK! :)!!! Thawed out enough that it is clear of snow for the first time since early December! It was 40F (4C) with a slight breeze and it felt good this morning. Seriously, it was beautiful out. I was quite nervous about the 5K fartlek as I've not done speed work that long since being ill, but the chance to do it on the track outside was awesome. Besides, I figured the worst that could happen would be that I'd crap out in the last km.

I warmed up for 1600m with strides on the last lap, in 10:17. I felt decent. My first lap was awkward but then the technique settled in and I felt my posture was really good and that my hips had extra ability to move because of my straight spine. Can't explain but it kind of clicks in. Anyway, then I did dynamic stretching and started in on the fartlek. I purposefully went out conservatively because I wanted even splits to the end, and I almost got them, so I'm pleased that I went out the way I did. My fast intervals were 2:53, 2:57, 2:56, 2:56, 2:55, 2:53. Pretty good! My recoveries show my lack of fitness: 3:08, 3:11, 3:11, 3:15. That's OK - it'll come. I felt my technique was rock solid and good posture the whole time. I really focused on that; I know it probably slowed me a bit - my total time was a pedestrian 30:14 - as my ave HR was 156 (though I did max out at 168 on the last interval), but I don't care. That will come too. This morning I just felt VERY grateful to have the legs to make it 5K without dying on the last interval, even if I was slow. I also felt grateful to be uninjured; my piriformis and right anterior tibialis seemed content this morning, probably because my technique was good.

Very solid and I'm happy with it even though it was slow. I think it shows progress, especially because my legs feel decent now - not too sore. It will be interesting to see how I fare for 10K tomorrow - again, might be slow, but doing it is what counts. I told myself this whole workout that it didn't matter how fast I went - it would be a season's best. That's how I'm going to think about every workout. Can't compare myself to the past until I'm really fit and lose 15 pounds, and I'm not fit and haven't lost the weight, so I'm not going to go there.

Garmin data here. 

rest day; 10K w/3x3' bursts

Yesterday: rest day. I was going to do yoga, but I was too into the Olympics. If I were at home I'd have done yoga in front of the Olympics, but I was at my parents' house and didn't want the volume of the yoga DVD to disturb them. Lame excuse…but…well… I'm an Olympic junkie - what can I say?

***

Today: 10K with 3x3' bursts. Weather was OK - 40F (4C) and raining lightly. It wasn't a soaking rain, for which I was grateful. I felt pretty good until 7K, when legs got tired, and about 9K they got really heavy too. But I finished, and at 6:30/km, so I'm happy. My bursts were 2:58, 2:58, and 3:06 (! I thought I was going faster? Legs tired I guess - HR was nice & high - you can see the bursts on the HR trace).

Technique felt lousy for 1K and then I settled in and it felt really good. Worked hard on posture and looked at reflection in shop windows on 21st South - looked really good. I want to be super solid as we increase mileage so that I avoid injury and can lay a good foundation for longer distances later in the year should I be up to them!

Total: 10K in 1:04:56 for 6:30/km with ave HR 148.

Garmin data here.

12K

Yesterday: 35 min elliptical + lots of core exercises with Lisa. My legs felt pretty tired from the yoga and the Wed-Thurs workouts, but they were just fatigued with very little of the weird soreness.

***

Today: 12K. I met Stevie at the Jordan River Trail and the weather was surprisingly warm :). It was 40F (4C), though quite windy. We definitely had some headwinds from 3k-9k that slowed us down in spots, plus there is still a very icy spot on the trail, but mostly the conditions were very good. It didn't even rain on us, though it did threaten to.

I felt pretty good today. Yes, I got a bit tired on the last few km, but Stevie and I had a quite interesting conversation and that distracted me a bit from tired legs? Either that, or I'm getting stronger, or both. This is not to say that it was easy today - it's just that it wasn't very hard as it has been. It was challenging, but not ridiculously so. I stopped at 6K for a few minutes to apply Aquaphor for chafing, which helped; stopped at 9K for a bit of stretching (slightly tight in piriformis - better than last week, though!). Other than that, we kept moving.

Technique felt solid and pretty good. I had Stevie watch me a bit, for what that was worth. I am pretty confident that the changes I've made are holding.

Totals: 12K in 1:18:03 for 6:30/km with ave HR 150.

Garmin data here.

Jim said I can increase my mileage next week! First increase since I've been training again - finally, I have managed to get through the week's training in good form and feeling pretty good, so it's time to increase. We are still staying with 4 days/wk of racewalking for now - that will increase later as I'm able.

core, yoga, 8K

Yesterday morning after my 3K fartlek I did a bunch of core work: sit-ups on exercise ball, Russian twists with 8-pound medicine ball for obliques, V-sits, and planks + side planks.

In the afternoon after work, I did my yoga DVD again - it was a bit easier this time but still challenging and it definitely left me a bit sore.

***

This morning I woke with some well-deserved soreness from the 3K fartlek + yoga. Mostly normal muscle soreness; possibly a bit of the weird soreness mixed in - hard to tell. That's good - if it wasn't hard to tell then I probably overdid it, but as it is, I think I got it about right. I knew the yoga + core would tire me a bit and make me slower on my 8K this morning but I also know that I need the strength more than the speed right now. Jim says I need to focus on my technique most of all and not worry about the speed, as it will come. I repeated that to myself this morning and thus had a lovely workout even though my legs were sore and I was obviously a bit slower than I'd like. I kept telling myself "I have to do this technique work and strength work so that I'll be a better 50K walker down the road, so I won't get injured, and so I can walk half marathons in a few months."

I worked VERY hard on my technique today. Posture #1 - remembering all the great posture stuff from my yoga DVD and incorporating into my RW. Then, weight back, allow hips to rotate, keep arms from sideways motion, drive arms back, don't "play the piano" by allowing arms to be too far in front, and then back to posture. Oh, yes, and widen stance a bit, be sure to get a good toe-off, watch those knees, etc. Quite the task of concentration, let me assure you. It's one of the things I love and hate about racewalking!

Anyway - some totals. 8K in 53:32 for about 6:41/km with ave HR146. And how did I feel? Legs sore and a bit heavy, but felt decent until the last 1-1.5km when it became a bit tougher and I just allowed myself to go slowly and focus focus focus on technique.

Garmin data here.

3.165K fartlek - indoor track

Yesterday: elliptical for cross-training; muscles quite sore from Sunday's yoga. Mostly normal muscle soreness, but perhaps a bit of the weird soreness I experienced so severely through November.

***

Today: 3K fartlek on the schedule. 19F outside and pitch black. The roads were mostly clear after snow yesterday, but I just didn't feel like battling the cold and dark, so I went to the indoor track. I warmed up for 8 laps (1688m) in 10:40. I felt a bit off at the start, but I worked hard on technique and by the 4th lap or so it felt smoother and like things were kicking in. I then did a few dynamic drills (after the 8 laps).

I got started on the fartlek and for the first lap I was flying - felt so smooth, with such great technique. Maybe it was my fast shoes from David Smyth? He sent me them 2 yr ago and I couldn't use them then because I was recovering from a foot injury, but now they are just awesome. It was good to be fast…but I went out too fast (oops!) and at the end of the workout I paid a bit with slower times. Still, it was MUCH better than my 3K fartlek 2 weeks ago, and though I was working really hard (ave HR 166!!!), I felt my legs responding and they felt good and strong through the first 2km.

Here are my splits - "adjusted time" is divided by 1.055 to give the time if I'd done the fartlek over 3km instead of 3.165K. I'm pretty happy with the time of 17:23 and with my fast intervals - even the last one, when I was very tired from starting off a bit fast, wasn't too bad at 2:53.

lap	time	ave HR	max HR	adjusted time
1	02:51.0	152	164	02:42.1
2	02:55.0	166	170	02:45.9
3	03:12.8	166	169	03:02.7
4	02:58.2	171	175	02:48.9
5	03:21.0	168	172	03:10.5
6	03:02.5	172	176	02:53.0
	18:20.5			17:23.1

Garmin data here. 

8K

Super quick 2 min blog.

Yesterday: yoga DVD. AWESOME! It was so fantastic. Lots of great strength moves targeting all the key muscles I need to work on. Great. It's called Christine Felstead's yoga for runners, intermediate level. My brother recommended it and now I do too. I plan to do this a lot. Side effect: I'm a bit sore today :) but in a good way.

Today: 8K with 3x3' bursts. Cold but clear at 25F. Went well. I felt great and strong all the way to 7K or so and my bursts were good. 3:02, then 3:00 for 500m and the last burst was the best - so proud of it! - at 2:53. Ha! Take that, fatigue! The last year has been crappy but this workout was decent and shows I'm on the mend. After that it was uphill and I did slow a lot but not a big deal. The other great thing is that I can really feel my technique is getting solid and improving. I hope that is true when I videotape, but I feel a huge difference.

Garmin data here: 50:54 for 8K (6:21/km) with ave HR 151. You can see where the bursts were on the HR graph :).

12K

Yesterday: elliptical, then core with my friend Lisa at the gym. Haven't done core work in a while due to my illness…so I'm a bit sore today, in a good way :).

***

Today: 12K. There was a very light dusting of snow this morning and it was 28F (-2C) and cloudy. 95% of the pathway was clear, but the other 5% was scarily slippery. I fell on my rear end once, and slipped enough to scare myself on two other occasions. We (Stevie and I) had to go slower in quite a few spots - probably cost us 1-2 min? Dunno. Hard to say.

The walk today went OK. The good part? I worked hard on technique and I feel like it's coming together quite well. The bad part? I got tired very quickly, probably because I'm still sick. I still have a sore throat (pretty severe) and some serious fatigue.

1.5K before the end, I was SO frustrated with my slow 500m splits that I was getting upset. I decided I had 2 choices: give up, or try harder. So I did the latter, pushing much harder and pulling off a 3:07 (normal speed…but it felt like 2:45 because I was working hard) and a 3:14 and 3:13.

I was glad Stevie was there - beat doing that alone when I felt so lousy.

Total time: 1:20:10 for 6:41/km with ave HR 149.

Garmin data here. 

***

Didn't get to go to my Weight Watchers meeting because I 1) had breakfast with Kelly, and 2) went to the memorial service for my friend Dorothy. It was an amazing service - packed full of people and not a dry eye in the house. She was an incredible person and loved by so many. She planned many of the details herself, and it showed. String quintet of her friends for prelude & postlude (she was a violinist), both classical music and hymns that she loved. Another friend sang "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth" from Handel's Messiah - wonderful and moving and hopeful. Congregational hymn and praise song (My Jesus, I Love Thee, and 10000 reasons) rounded out the list of great music for a great lady. I basically cried the whole service, and spent an hour there afterward talking with old friends and crying some more. Weird being happy and crying at the same time - we all agreed that we'd miss her deeply (hence all the crying) but glad for her suffering to be over and for her to be making music in a much better place.

Now I'm completely wiped. Thankfully, Loren is helping with the kids and I can get a nap.