Daddy Daughter Running: March 2011

Two days ago we conquered 20 miles. TWENTY MILES PEOPLE! That is crazy to me. Do you know how far 20 miles is? You may THINK you know 20 miles but hop in your car and drive around until your odometer actually hits 20 miles. You will realize you have driven ALL OVER. It's crazy.

It was kind of up in the air when we would actually do this run. We were a week behind our schedule but we had both been out of town so we weren't sure when to do it. We went back and forth about doing a mid-week run or waiting until the weekend. After checking out the weather it was decided to do the mid-week run. I am so glad we did it when we did it. We both are. We got it over with.

I was a little nervous about the run because I hadn't worked out too much or stretched my IT band since our 10-miler. Tom kept saying he was ready and pumped but I didn't know if he was just feeding me a bunch of bull because he had been out of town for work for over a week and was originally worried about doing the mid-week run because he hadn't ran for five days. But I didn't question his enthusiasm. I just tried to find my own enthusiasm. Actually it isn't that hard to kind of get excited because you just know what kind of accomplishment it is to actually run this type of distance. But you have to make it to the end to get this feeling. And making it to the end was what I was nervous about. I knew physically I could push my body to at least walk if I needed but I was worried about my IT band again.

We were both pretty pumped about the new route I created. We were starting at the top of 193 in Layton again and then would head west through Layton and end up in Syracuse. It was new scenery and seemed like it would have some good downhill and flat areas.

So Wednesday afternoon my dad picked me up at Stacey's house. She was kind enough to watch my kids and her house would also be the finish line. We headed to the starting line. After doing a few wardrobe adjustments and stretches we were off. We were both doing so good. Our form looked good, especially Tom's. He had pep in his step. :) By mile 5 I was shedding my outer shirt and by mile 8 I was making Tom take off his. He didn't want to, claiming he wanted to train in the heat, but later he was glad I made him. It was a warm afternoon. By mile 11 I was feeling slight pain in my IT band so every walk we did from then on out I would take 5-10 seconds to stretch it. At mile 15, just as we tried out the cherry chocolate shot turbo (and decided we didn't like it) we got hit in the face by the oh-so-sweet smell of the sewer plant. I think our speed increased on that road. My dad is starting to show a pattern because by mile 18 he was getting sluggish. It seems like any time we do a long run like this he starts getting slower about 2 miles before the finish line. He takes more walk breaks and just seems to really have to dig down to keep going. He said he doesn't feel tired or winded but rather his legs start hurting. We are thinking maybe he needs to start doing weight training on his legs. Anyways...right about this time I couldn't tell if my "encouragement" was bugging him more than it was doing any good and I started to inch away from him. I kept running when he took his extra walk breaks. It's hard to break your rhythm. If I stop more than what my brain knows from habit then it is so much harder to get going again. But even though he walked the majority of the last 2 miles I find it crazy that he only finished about 2 1/2 minutes after I did. His walking stride is so long that he can basically walk as fast as I run.

Now here we are two days after the run and we are both pretty sore. Oh by the way, my mom ran I think 10 miles that day too. She ran up by her house. All three of us felt great after our runs. It was later that night when we all started to struggle. I was in bed promptly at 9. They said they were in bed by 8:30. I woke up around 11 and ate THREE bowls of cereal I was soooo hungry. I had a restless sleep the entire night. And what sleep I did get was plagued by crazy dreams. I was also feeling pretty nauseous for about 24 hours. My mom said she felt like she was going to throw up all night. I guess she ate a big dinner and later regretted it. My muscles are sore but it is the good kind of sore. I rewarded myself with a massage today! It felt so good. Painful at times. But good. As I am typing I am icing my knees. My left one is stiff and seems a bit swollen. This is not my IT band problem side either. Ahhh the joys of running.

All in all I am VERY proud of us all. I can't believe my dad is doing this. Everyone is so shocked and in awe that he is running these distances. Way to go Tom! And my mom, she is crazy. She just wakes up and decides to run one day and hasn't stopped. Her distances surprise me. And she doesn't stop to walk either. I laughed when she told me she would choke every time she took a drink. I found out she was trying to drink while still running and couldn't do it. I told her it wouldn't kill her to walk long enough to squirt some water in her mouth. So funny.

**STATS**

Distance: 20.01 miles

Time: 3:25:09

Pace: 10:15/min/mile

TOM

Time: 3:27:41 pm

Pace: 10:23/min/mile

Temperature: 54 degrees

Time of day: 2:43 p.m

AT THE STARTING LINE

I have to get goofy. It's how I mentally prepare for the "road" ahead. Check out those guns and calves!

Here's the route we tackled!

Surprisingly feeling good and not falling over

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Striders Winter Racing Circuit 10 Miles

Well, we did it. As my friend Cami said: We conquered that bitch. And a bitch it was. It truly was a hard course. The hardest I have ever ran.

Yesterday was the Striders 10 miler. I have never ran so many hills for so long in my life. I ran most of this race with my head down because it was just so hard to keep your head up. You would just reach a crest in a hill and look up only to see more hill. You would round a corner thinking the hill had to be over only to find out it wasn't. Of course with all this uphill climbing there has to be downhill. But, for me, this downhill wasn't a benefit. Normally I like to fly on the downhill but after 6 miles the downhill was just as hard as the uphill. OK Maybe not quite as hard as the uphill but it didn't really help me that much.

The first 6 miles we were comfortable with because it is the course that they used for the 10k and we had just ran it last week. So we knew what to expect. This doesn't necessarily make it any easier though. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Sometimes you don't want to know about the upcoming hills. I am telling you we were both really glad we didn't know about the hill climb just after the mile 6 water station. It just kept going and going and going.....and going. Then there was a nice long downhill but at mile 9 there was another climb. Short, but still a climb. I was determined to make it up the hill but I couldn't do it. I ended up walking. I don't think I would have had it in me to start running again until a guy came up behind me and encouraged me to go on. That was all it took and I was off again. Finally I rounded the corner into the Dee Event Center parking lot and headed to the finish line. Me and my dad ran the first mile together but I lost him on the first downhill and didn't see him after that. I never looked back because frankly I didn't have the energy to turn around. To my surprise he crossed the finish line just a few minutes after me. Way to go Tom!

You might be wondering how my knee held up. Well I will tell ya. It survived. I didn't feel much pain at all. Once I found out what was truly causing my type of knee pain I did a ton of googling to find out what to do to fix the problem. I bought an appropriate knee band to wear, borrowed my mom and dad's foam roller and learned a ton of new stretches. I was faithful all week with stretching and icing and luckily it paid off. I also tried to shorten my stride on the downhills so I wasn't pounding the pavement so hard. I did get slight knee pain on and off but nothing that slowed me down. Now I just need to stay disciplined because we have a big 20 miler coming up.

**STATS**

Distance: 10 miles

Time: 1:33:55

Pace: 9:23/min/mile

TOM

Time: 1:37:33

Pace: 9:41/min/mile

Bro-in-Law Mike Merrill

Time: 1:14:07

Pace: 7:25/min/mile

Temperature: 45 degrees

Time of day: 8:00 a.m

Gettin' ready to head to Weber State

After the race we met up with some of our fellow running buddies.

Mike Merrill, Tom, Adam Arnell.

Daddy Daughter Team

Cindy & Tom. This is a good friend of my dad's. She is the one who told us about the awesome run from mountain road to the bottom. She just earned the rock star medal in the rock n roll series for running 4 marathons and 4 halves back to back. WOW!

Tom and his friend Ron Remkes. He runs ultra marathons! YIKES. He has run in 115 marathons/ultra marathons.

Cami & Matt Bell. I stuck with Cami most of the way and used her as a pacer. I didn't see Matt the entire run he was so far ahead.

Me & Cami

Daddies, Daughters & a Mom :) This is Cami's mom and Dad, Brad & Jelean. Cami has ran the St George Marathon with her dad a few times.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Now I'm Nervous

This is the opening paragraph in an email we received to prepare us for tomorrow's 10-miler. My stomach seriously has the jitters right now. I wish I were a calmer person.

Hello,
Well, you've had a couple of weeks to rest up, but now it's time to get after it again with the WRC 10 MILER. The race is Saturday, MARCH 12TH at 8:00am. The race will start on the east side of the Dee Events Center. It's a lot like the 5K AND 10K, but it's longer, tougher and the hills are steeper -- it's sure to be a great time :)

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Had to do it AGAIN

OK Technically it was my dad's first time. But I had to prove something. I had to see if I could run this bad boy course again. But let's just say it didn't go so well the second time around. My dad did great for not knowing what he was in for. Me, on the other hand. BLAH!

We started out great. I was leading us up Skyline Dr with no problems. Then my favorite part was up ahead...a HUGE LONG downhill. I can cruise on a downhill leaving my dad in the dust. Which is fine because I don't need the 58-year old to fall and skin his knees...and ego. He always catches up once the course levels. So anyways...I was a little ahead just feeling great when around 3 miles my right knee started to hurt again. Honestly, I think I could be a good runner if it weren't for my dang knee. So I started to get mentally drained because of the pain in my knee. I again took off my brace which seemed to help for like a minute. The rest of the run was done in extreme pain. I know technically I should stop and walk the rest of the way but that is so mentally hard to do. So I ended up crossing the finish line with a limp. I stood back and cheered on my dad who finished strong. He said he liked that course. It's a ball buster but really fun and challenging to do. The biggest problem on the route though is the uneven roads. The crown in the road is bad enough to hurt anyone's knees.

**STATS**
Distance: 6.21

ME
Time: 1:01:54
Pace: 9:58/min/mile

TOM
Time: 1:04.06
Pace: 10:19/min/mile

Temperature: 40+ degrees
Time of Day: 1:22 p.m.

Mom & Aunt Jodi heading out for their 5+ mile run around the neighborhood

Tom finished strong. He loved the course.

Doesn't he look cute? I love him in that hat.
This is no exaggeration. I honestly had tears from pain and frustration. This is truly how I felt

I am now looking into my knee problems. I have done some research and it seems my knee pain is probably caused by my IT Band. I have now learned some stretches and I will be taking the week off from running and we will see if it pays off next week during the 10 miler.

Daddy Daughter Running

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Goldenwest Credit Union 5k

Friday, March 25, 2011

20 miles!