Peach Days 10K

Last Saturday, I went to Brigham City to run the Peach Days 10K. This is one of my favorite races all year and is definitely one of my favorite distances. I was a bit worried since I haven't gone more than 3 miles for a couple weeks but I knew I could go slow if my body (and my baby) weren't too happy. Fortunately, I felt great. Of course my pace has slowed, but I'm still running and that's all that matters to me! As long as I can run at all I'll be happy. I saw a few friends, including Brandee, one of my favorite running buddies and a huge reason why I miss Tremonton, so that was great. When we finished, she was a few minutes ahead of my time of 50:14. My goal was to finish in under an hour so I was happy. She ended up taking 2nd place and I took 3rd in our age division. I'm so glad I was able to run one last semi long race before the belly really starts to grow! Yay for Peach Days! See you next year!

Summit County Fair 5K

On Saturday, I ran the 5K at the fair. Jordan and Easton decided to go camping for the weekend with Jordan's brothers, so I decided this would be my first race pushing Kason! Because of this, I knew my time would be a little slower, so I was kind of expecting it. The race was hard - it definitely makes a difference when you're pushing 25 pounds up a hill. Not only that, but part of the race went down the rail trail which meant dirt gravel and a huge board crossing the trail to keep motor vehicles off. Great. How in the heck am I going to lift the stroller over THAT? Luckily, there was a nice man behind me who was willing to slow down his time a little and help me over it. Needless to say, I still felt fairly good about the race, thinking I'd be 4 or 5 minutes slower than my last 5K time of 22:55. When I crossed the finish line, they grabbed my tag and said "31". What!? 31! No way. There is no way that took me 31 minutes. I went over to the score chart and surprisingly saw that I got first place in females age 19-29. I thought that I must be the only female in that age group with a time of 31 minutes. I stayed for awards, and when they called me up, they said my time was 26 minutes. No ones time had anything but full minutes. They were crazy. My cousin, Loni, who was a few minutes behind me told me they said her time was 31 minutes. So I guess my time was somewhere between 26 and 31 minutes. I'm hoping it was closer to 26, and I'll take that considering. So, lesson learned. Always bring your own stop watch!

New Goal

So, my running hasn't been ideal lately, but it's been consistent I guess. I've established a routine of running 3-4 miles twice a week with a longer 6-7 mile run on Saturday. I try to bike and do weights sometime during the week and I've discovered I really like to bike. I think I always knew this, but lately I've been thinking about how fun it would be do do a mini triathlon. I don't know if I'll ever be able to swim well, which is what' s holding me back, but it's something to shoot for I guess.

So, I've discovered my biggest problem with my exercise plan is my diet. I cannot stop eating junk! I wish I had as much drive to eat well and I do to run. This is my current goal. Tonight for FHE, I taught Easton about being healthy since this month the theme in primary is: My Body is a Temple. I decided this is probably the most hypocritical lesson I've given him. So...my current goal as far as my physical health is to avoid treats - only one small indulgence a day! We'll see how it goes!

4th of July 5K

On the fourth, I ran the Henefer 5K. I don't really love 5K's because I feel like I have to sprint the entire thing. This year, I felt much better about this one since I had been running more and I had run the course several times previously. The race started out really fast and within the first mile I found myself having a pretty hard time catching my breath. As the race went on, I felt better and told myself I would try to just stay in the position I was in. When I crossed the finish line, I was surprised to hear the time, 22:55. It was the fastest 5K I've done so I was super excited. I was even more excited to find out I finished first place in my age division. They posted the results so I had people congratulating me all day. It felt good! Once in a while, it's fun to complimented and feel like you're improving!

The kids and Jordan did the bike-a-thon that morning which Easton loved. I am so bummed that I can no longer do the Morgan half due to our Bear Lake trip so I'm searching for another race somewhere. Possibly, I'll go to Salt Lake to do the 10K on the 23rd or maybe head to Tremonton for the Wheat and Beat in August. We'll see!

Ragnar 2012

So we're in! I think. My friend in Henefer invited me (and Jordan) to join their Ragnar 2012 team! Let's all hope we're able to get in when registration opens late tonight! It's crazy that you have to register an entire year before this crazy event but Jordan and I both decided it's a great long term goal - I hope it all works out so we can both join this relay team!

Blah Week

So...last week was a pretty bad running week. I was sick on Sunday and Monday so when I ran on Tuesday I felt like I had zero energy. That's so discouraging when you know your body can do better but it just won't move. Luckily, Saturday's run was much better. I ran for about 57 minutes, close to 7 miles I think. I love Saturday runs when I'm not thinking about getting home so I can get a head start on the daily stuff. Saturday's are relaxing and enjoyable and so far have been perfect weather for morning runs. Hopefully I have a better week ahead!

Saturday - Long Run

Today was SUPPOSED to be a long run but Jordan and Easton went on a father-son campout last night so I didn't get to run til about 10:30. It was already getting hot and by that time I have things to do. It wasn't my best run but I was able to run about 4.8 miles. It'll have to do for today, hopefully next week will be better!

Oh, I registered for the Morgan half-marathon on July 30th and found a 10K at Easton Canyon on July 9th! I'm super excited, 10K's are my favorite!

Tuesday

We finally had a nice morning without rain! I'm so excited that I got to run outside this morning. I even found a running friend! Her husband works super early so we've made the commitment to run at 5 A.M. twice a week. Crazy. We'll have to see how it goes. Today we ran a little later at 6 and the weather was perfect. Luckily she has a Garmin so I'm not just running blindly like I usually do. Hopefully I can save up and get my own in the next few months! Anyway, we ran about 2 miles and then she had to leave so I decided to run another mile or so before Jordan had to leave for work. I didn't have my ipod today and loved listening to all the morning sounds of spring. The birds seemed to be chirping extra loud today (probably shouting hosannas that it wasn't raining and freezing) and there are an insane number of roosters in this town. I like it. I hope this weather will stay nice and keep me up and moving in the mornings. My days are so much better and more productive when I get a good run in first thing!

Tremonton West Stake Half Marathon

Horray! Last Saturday, May 21st, I went back to Tremonton to run their semi-annual half-marathon. I honestly thought I might die since my longest run prior to this race was 7 miles. I went in with the goal to run at least the first 6 miles and then if I needed to, I'd walk a little every 3 miles until I finished. Prior to the race I talked to my sister-in-law, Jordan, and she told me to just have fun and forget about my time. I decided it was good advice. The weather was perfect, with just enough breeze to keep cool. There were only about 25 runners and I just hoped I wouldn't be the last one to finish! A few guys took the early lead and were soon out of sight. Quite a few of those who were behind me were no where to seen either! Basically, I felt like I was running this race on my own and I loved it! I didn't feel all competitive and I truly just enjoyed the race. I told myself I'd check my pace at about mile 8. When I got to that mile checkpoint, it was actually at 8.8 miles and I decided if I'd gone this far without knowing my time, I'd just finish off the race at my current pace because it was working for me. As I approached the last mile, I decided to speed it up a little and was so happy that I was able to run the entire race, and especially that it was so much fun. I remembered all over again why I love to run. The competitive races are fun, but I enjoy these kinds of races once in awhile. I crossed the finish line and checked my phone for my non-scientific time, which I knew would be slow but I didn't care. I finished in 1 hour 57 minutes, 5 minutes slower than my last half but it was by far my most enjoyable race. Instead of coming home, wondering if I ever wanted to attempt and half-marathon again, I came home even more optimistic of completing my next goal: a full marathon before age 30. I'm sure I'll run a few more halves before that, but this race game me a lot of confidence that I can keep getting better and better!

Thursday

Today's run wasn't the greatest. I ran 5 miles on the treadmill and I even had to stop in the middle. I really had to push myself to finish and it ended up taking almost 45 minutes! I was hoping to be closer to running 8 and a half minute miles. Oh well! During the run I thought, I really don't think I can do the half in 2 days but I hope by being outside and not being so aware of my time or how much farther I have to go, I'll do okay. I have to keep telling myself that I just want to finish. I'm not going to get my best time, I just need to finish. We'll see how it goes!

Running Blog

My awesome sister in law has a running blog, so I decided it would be a fun thing to do to help motivate myself this summer! Today is a super rainy day and Jordan has been out of town since Monday, so it's the perfect day NOT to run. This is how I work sometimes. Excuses, excuses, excuses. But...I have a half marathon in 2 days and haven't ran since Monday. I'm just headed over to my sis-in-laws to run on her treadmill while she watches my kids. I HATE THE TREADMILL but today, it's all I've got. I'll let you know how it goes!