Back On Track

Thank you for all of your kind comments.  It really helped.  Such a tough race but I'm over it and feeling good today.  I am excited to move on.  I actually have a lot to look forward to in the month of September.  It will be my busiest month of races - so moving forward...

Maybe not...one last pic from Park City...me and my little guy discussing how hard it was to get this silly medal. ; )  I promise I'm not harboring any bad feelings...letting go...really I am. 

So, my kiddos are back to school. Of course my little guy thinks he's heading off with the big kids too. With all this going on, I missed my Tunesday Training Tips. It was my first real day off . Four of my five kids are in school all day now and it's a little weird. I have more quiet time with my toddler but he is definitley missing all the noise and action of the older kids.  We're having great one on one time and I love it.  He keeps asking for his brothers though and I know it's because they're the ones that always sneak him treats when I'm not looking.  : )

I will get my first run in since the marathon on Thursday and maybe another 8 to 10 miler on Saturday. We'll see how I'm feeling. My legs are not that sore from the race, they just feel heavy. I went for a short walk today to try and loosen them up and I think it helped. I know I've slacked with the Food Journal but I'll be tracking that again starting today!  This week is recovery week but I still have to stay on track with my nutrition.

I have my big training session tonight...The Smack Down.  'In this corner we have the tough as nails, 'I'll show you a workout', know everything trainer...and in this corner we have another know it all, the 'go ahead, bring it on' blondie runner.  Let's get ready to rumble....' echo, echo, echo...  Hahaha.  Hope I'm the one laughing tonight and not him! : )

Stay tuned to ESPN Sportcenter for the smackdown results tomorrow...  

Marathon #3 - Check

Yup, it was that good ;)

You know that song 'I left my heart in San Francisco'? Well I've got a new title for that song...'I left my pride in Park City'. Seriously, it was really tough. I survived but it sure wasn't pretty. I knew it going in but hopeful I could have a respectable finish time. That course chewed me up and luckily spit me out across the finish line.

So, other than going on and on about how hard it was...which can be a little bit of a downer, I thought I'd throw some sarcasm in a la David Lettermanish type. So here we go...

The Top Ten Signs You Know You've Run

The Park City Marathon...

10. The scenery and surroundings are amazing - I can't even knock that. So beautiful and great weather other than the head wind for 3/4 of the race.

9. Your swag bag has a box of Wheaties in it. I mean, come on Park City. Jen Aniston shows up and she gets a Fendi bag, Dolce & Gabana sunglasses and True Religion jeans in it. Now, I know I am not Jen Aniston but throw me a little some 'em some 'em. This is the city of celeb during the winter months and one step away from Aspen and the only freebie I get is a box of Wheaties? Really?

8. You get to 8th Street, which is mile 18, and you need a repelling rope to help pull you up the hill - it's that steep.

7. At mile 20 you've finally stopped running uphill. Remember that elevation chart I showed you? It said 16 miles up, right? It lied. 20 miles up, then gradual down. Huh.

6. A grown man puking at mile 23. Guess that could happen at any marathon but seemed poeticly perfect in this race.

5. Instead of hopping on the ski tram for a nice scenic ride up Deer Valley ski resort, you find yourself running right by it trying to stretch and jab the sides of your abs to get the stitches to release. The air is thinner than thin up there. Stitches finally worked themselves out over the next couple of miles...

4. Hamstrings crying "Why Me?"  the whole second half of the race.

3. Running so slow that I could take phone calls on my iPhone. No...really.

2. Your family is tired of circling the booths at the finish line waiting the extra half hour wondering where the heck you are. Sorry guys.

1. You're crying at the finish line. I know, I thought I had the mental part of of this in control but apparently not. This race got the best of me.

After I got my cries out, we celebrated at Red Banjo Pizza...one of our favorite places to go as a family. You gotta go there if ever in Park City. Best pizza ever! I enjoyed my Cherry Coke too!

So there you have it. My Park City recap. I'm putting it behind me, the whole 5 hours and 7 minutes of it. Let me just say I started really strong. I got to the half-way mark at 2:10. I was ecstatic about that. Those uphills just didn't quit! After the hill at mile 18, that's when my hamstrings started cramping...bad. I'm just glad I finished. I'm pretty sure this will be the hardest course of my 12 marathons this year. At least I'm praying it is. : )

Gotta go back to the drawing board on a few things though. What should I have done to keep my hamstrings from cramping so bad? I shot blocked every hour, water & gatorade every 15-20 minutes. Took some endurance pills to help oxygen flow to my muscles and brain (I'll tell you about these soon!). Ate my regular pb sand and banana pre-race. I think I needed more carbs and sodium during the race. Maybe some pretzels, trail mix - I don't know. I also think I should have done more long runs with serious uphill miles at the end. But who wants to do those? :)

I'm going to do some yoga and tai chi this week to try to release all the negative energy and push forward to brighter days of running. (Sarcasm) I'm really okay today, just a little disappointed in myself. Which brings me to my final point of the day....

To all of you out there running, training, pondering marathons - You have to run more than one! You train so hard and do so many things to prepare and sometimes one miscalculation can throw off the entire experience. Don't let the "1" be the end. I tell everyone to run at least 2! You've trained for weeks and weeks and for it to be all over and done within one morning, good or bad, just doesn't seem like enough! Throw another one on that calendar. Whether it's a half-marathon 6 or 8 weeks before your marathon or a couple of marathons a month or two apart. You'll be glad you did. I'm so glad that I have Top of Utah Marathon to look forward to. I know it's going to be great! My redemption from Park City. No pressure. ;)

Happy Monday y'all!

So, Without Further Ado...:)

Thanks to my production staff for figuring out (learning) how to rip, slice, and post this video. ;)

Racing Dawn on Park City TV!

I made it! I was on Park City TV last night! It was so fun. A bit surreal, but fun. I still haven't watched it yet. I've got it DVRed but I am having a hard time turning it it on...maybe later. I would have informed you of the time and channel but I just wasn't sure how it was going to go down...were they going to record it for a future show? I just wasn't sure if it was going to be live or not. I just didn't want to set myself up for disappointment. I have the dvd and my staff, I mean my husband, is still trying to get the footage spliced so we can upload it to the ol' blog. I have a hard time watching myself, but it might be fun for you to meet me and get to know me a little better than just through my writing! Stay tuned...we're having technical diffuculties at the moment. : )

This is the host, Ori Hoffer and I right before we went on. He was very nice and made me feel at ease throughout the interview. We chatted a bit before hand which made me feel more comfortable before we went live. Afterwards, he even hooked us up with a 2 for 1 coupon at an awesome restaurant on Main Street in Park City! Dinner was delicious - thanks Ori!

That's us during the interview. I couldn't believe I was really on television...I know, I'm being a bit gitty about it but it was really a fun experience. We chatted about running, kids, the Park City Marathon coming up on Saturday and the journey of 12 marathons in 12 months.  It felt like the interview went on forever but over in a flash.

Park City is home to the Sundance Film Festival as well as one of the locations from the 2002 SLC Winter Olympics. Lots of famous people have sat on the very same couch as I did. Ooohhhh... ; )

It was fun to do a television interview and it will definintely be a memory that will stay with me forever!  The Park City Marathon will also be memorable no matter how hard the course is!

So, without further wait, here is the video of my television debut ;)

So what's next for the new TV star? Let's see, how about I start with cleaning the kitchen. Have a good day everyone!

Cat & Mouse

Are there any cat lovers out there? I usually am, except mornings like today. We have 2 cats that are low maintenance and for the most part great additions to the family.  However, it's not so wonderful to wake up to a cat meowing loud enough for the whole household to wake up at 6 a.m. Only this wasn't her usual I'm hungry meowing, or pet me meowing. It was a closed mouth meowing. Which can only mean one thing. She brought in a new play toy. Two choices... a bird or a mouse. I'll take a bird any day. Today, however, her play toy of choice was a mouse. That's what I get for leaving the unscreened window open over night. Of course she takes it to the girls' room, it's usually the messiest room with the most obstacles(toys), so therefore a great place to play 'cat & mouse'. Yes, my cat still brings her toys in half-alive. She wants you to witness her brilliance in catching her prey. Can you feel my anxiety? I've had too many mice get away from her to know that this situation doesn't always end well. It's not fun to look for mice that are still on the move, lifting up clothes, looking in shoes, toy boxes and purses to find a little grey rodent. Believe me, not my idea of fun. So I enlisted my husband to get it, and he wanted to let our cat finish the job but I insisted that he take care of business. Today was a good day. He caught it right away. Princess was disappointed that her fun was over for the morning, but now I can carry on without wondering when a mouse might run across my path today. I'll be wearing the running shoes in this house, thank you very much, not no stinkin' mouse... : )

So big week this week.  My #3 marathon.  Park City Marathon is Saturday! I'm looking forward to it. Excitement is building... Does this elevation chart scare anyone?  Mostly uphill til mile 16ish?  I haven't done as many hill workouts as I had planned.  Not going to lie, a little nervous.  I'm going in with the attitude that I can do this, I will finish it, it will be great weather, and I'm going to have fun.  Not expecting a PR of any sorts.  Good attitude, right?  Fun, it's all about fun...

It's also my daughter's birthday weekend, so really the focus is on her.  We're going to stay up in Park City for three days and have a blast for the last weekend of the summer and dedicate it to my soon to be 9 year old!  She's pretty excited as are the rest of us to have a weekend up there.  My race will only take a few hours, I'll shake it off, good or bad, and then play, play, play!

I will be catching up my food journal today.  I will admit right now that I am not an example to be followed.   I made lots of mistakes last week with my eating and will have to dissect it in another post.  My trainer will also be going over it on Wednesday during our extra long session, so I'll give you my POV and his this week.

Don't forget my giveaway here!  You only have til tomorrow night at midnight!

Have a great day & I hope you don't run across any stray mice today! : )

3 miles, 3 miles, 3 miles...

We did it!  Our Red Rock Relay team did our first training run together!  Of course we have all been training on our own but we've scheduled 2 sessions to do together and our first one was a blast!

I know, how cute are we?  We look like we have way too much energy to go running at midnight!  We only missed one girl and that is because she has twin babies that she had to be home with, we'll give her a pass. : )  We had a pre-run meeting at my house to go over van assignments, where we're going to stay, and also discuss nutrition/meal planning.  Only one of us has done a relay - not me - so we are trying to plan the best we can.  If anyone out there has good tips and any info you think can make or break a relay, please share!

Only one of us brought a reflective vest.  Put that on the list for the race.  We did an easy 3 miles and had so much fun.  We all are at different paces so when we hit the half-way mark of our out and back, we waited for everyone to gather up again.  At this spot, there were 11 of us standing at a corner and I'm sure there were some suspicious neighbors.  We even had a visitor from the local law enforcement drive by real slow to inspect the situation... "Headquarters, we got a gaggle of women out here loitering, I think we're going to need some back-up. 10-4."   Ha ha...  I'm sure he realized quickly we were pretty harmless!  By the way, it was 81 degrees at midnight?!?

Watch out Redrock - these new kicks are comin atcha!

Onto 6 a.m. - What a perfect time to run.  I didn't get to sleep until about 1:30 a.m. so the when my alarm went off at 5:45, I felt pretty groggy.  Once we got going though, it felt great.  Muscles felt good.  I ate a Clif bar and some water and off we went.  We were able to witness a beautiful sunrise.

After we finished our run, we planned our 2 p.m. run.  Not everyone was going to to make it because of work and other commitments. 6 of us planned on meeting and running the easiest route of all since it would probably be in the 90's at 2 o'clock.

Instead of the 90's we planned on, we had a monsoon tropical storm hit and of course, a complete downpour of rain!  Hey, I can take that over heat any day!  There were rivers flowing down the streets from all the rain that fell really fast.  My shoes were soaked through within the first 5 minutes.  Before I left my house it had already started to rain so I wore my Utah Valley Marathon tech shirt and the shoes I wore for that race, you can remember that story here. : )

Lindsay wasn't able to make it to the run, but strategically found us and got pics of us running - without anyone knowing!  Proof we did it even in the rain.  Seriously, I could not have been happier that we did our run in the rain.  10 minutes after we finished our run the storm passed, the sun was out, and the heat returned.

So we had a successful 3, 3, and 3.  We're going to do it all again in a few weeks to practice again.  And yes, I will admit, I am tired.  That is why this post is coming today and not yesterday!  Body good, but sleepy!

I had my training session Wednesday night, right before the 3,3, and 3, and it was great!  These sessions are only a half hour long but he's kickin my butt.  And the great thing about it is that when we're working out, he's choosing things that I can get through and can complete without falling apart or having to stop.  Now 2 days later I'm feelin' it!  My favorite new move is where you start in a crab walk position with dumbells in your hands and push yourself up to a standing position. You then do a shoulder press and lower back down to crab walk position again. It sounds weird and you have to twist your body back and forth to move from one position to the next. Man, my abs are still hurting today.  Love it!  He definitely listened when I said I wanted to work core, speed and strength.  Yay!

Now we're off to a family vacation this weekend at my cousin's cabin.  It's going to be great to get away for a few days with the fam and relax a bit.  I'm planning my long run up there for Saturday and I'm sure it will be wonderful.  I've got to get some serious hills in during that long run to help prepare for the Park City Marathon.  This upcoming race has a gradual up for about the first 16, 17 miles and then down the final miles of the race.  Sounds tough to me, but I've been told by others that because you will be running slower it won't be as hard on your body come recovery time.  We shall see...

So, any tips on relay team musts?  How bout uphill marathons?  I'll take whatever you got! Plus it's fun to hear about the different things you guys are doing.

Tunesday/Training Tips

I'm  trying to get back on track with my training this week but it has been tough.  I had a great recovery week last week and then the race on Saturday was awesome.  Now, trying to be consistent with my plan before Park City Marathon sneaks up on me seems to be really hard!  I've become a magnet for a lot of other races that aren't the marathon distance and I'm trying to fit them in everywhere.  I'm not really sure that it's a good idea but these races are so fun!  I'm starting to get a glimpse of what I may be leaning towards when my challenge ends...

So for today... I have a training session with my trainer at the gym - the first real session - so I'm excited.  I really am counting on him to take me to the next level.  I'm prepared to work hard and definitely get results!

Also, I'm part of a relay team for the Red Rock Relay that is coming up in September.  It's a race that covers 180 miles between 12 people in Southern Utah.  Tonight we will attempt a training run together. Here's our plan...meet at midnight, run 3 miles, meet at 6 a.m., run 3 miles, and meet at 2 p.m., run 3 miles.  Most of us have distances longer than this but it will help our bodies feel what it will be like to run 3 legs in 36 hours.  Crazy!  Gonna look pretty crazy seeing 12 women running through town at midnight!  It will also benefit us to try out what our nutrition should be between those runs.  Trial and error, we'll see what works.  Details and pics will surely be available tomorrow!

 I thought I'd add a couple more Q&A's today...hope they help.
Please feel free to add to or tell me how I wrong I am in the comments!  I love feedback!

What supplements do you take and when?

If you're running less than an hour you don't need Gatorade or supplements. They are extra calories that are unnecessary for less than 60 minutes of exercise. However, if I know I'm gonna be out for over an hour I start my usual routine of a peanut butter sandwich and water before the run and then hydrate every 15 minutes from the beginning, usually just 4 or 5 oz - 4 swallows - rotating Gatorade.  But honestly, I don't bring Gatorade unless I'm doing 2 hours or more.

I also add in supplements every hour mark. I switch it up all the time... it's something you gotta try...figure what works for you and your tummy.  My favorites are the Clif Blocks, they are like gummy bears, they taste good, and go down easy. I usually only eat one, maybe two squares an hour. I've taken trail mix, honey packets, regular gummy bears, Clif bars (I only take 2 bites of a Clif bar an hour). I've liked the Clif squares the best. You're looking for fast carbs that will digest quickly and easily.  The last thing you need is something sitting in the bottom of your gut making you feel sick. 

What do you do to help get past your wall - whether it's 4 miles or 24 miles?

This one is tough.  You really can't prepare for it until you've hit that wall and crossed it a few times.  I've hit a wall in every marathon I've run.  It's all mental my friends.  I run with music and that helps me but it really is a mind game. Your body is so fatigued that it really is pure will that pulls you through.  I actually have little chants that I say to myself when I feel myself slowing down or hitting a wall. My go-to phrase is 'Finish like a champ, not a chump.'  I know, so goofy, but I've heard sillier.  : )   Also, in some instances it helped to talk to those that are around me in a race that are trying to finish at the same time. There's been a race or two where if I saw someone crying during the final few miles, I just had to go past because I know I would start crying too and probably not finish! 

If you start feeling strong when you leave for your run and then you're feeling really fatigued and weak in the mind by mile 4, you're probably dehydrated. Or, maybe you need to switch up your course.  If you're always running the same route and at the same point always feeling tired, it's mental. Try switching up your runs throughout the week to see if that would help. For example: Monday, an easy 3, Tuesday XT, Wednesday Fast 2, Thursday Hills, Friday off, Saturday Long 4. This will help you add mileage and increase your speed.  A lot of you know these tidbits, but for newbies I think it's super helpful!

As far as Tunesday goes, I still have Hurt In The Dirt on the mind.  They put together this short little video of some of the race day action accompanied by a great R.E.M. song.  Enjoy...  http://vimeo.com/13813261