I love burpees

Oh man, i'm tired.  i got up super early to make it to the radio station at 7 am.  The Big Loser contest ended today, and I wanted to be there for my trainee, Leslie, cause she was in the final 3.  She ended up getting 2nd!  and won 6 free months to wash rec and weight watchers.  She lost 46 lbs in 8 weeks.  I'm a proud mama.

I then subbed renee's spin class today as a last min thing - it was interesting.  I haven't subbed a spin class in years, so i just got a routine off turnstep and read through and followed it as i taught the class.  haha.  i wonder if they noticed.  i think i pulled it off ok.

I wanted to run afterwards, but wasn't feeling up to it in my belly.  I decided to go to the doc instead.

well he confirmed my suspicions that it was my ulcer, and says it must be seriously inflamed right now with how much it's hurting.   thankfully no bacteria in it though.   Sooo he doubled me up on medication to get started on, and hopefully it helps!  The ulcer has been off and on since high school is making me so tired and nauseous all the time.  I suspect that this was the culprit last week as my "flu" as u can have all the same symptoms.   I will need to get a scope done in 3 months to check things out in there.  I need to quite stressing!!!!  easier said than done with my kids:)

Also my iron was in the toilet, so time to start taking my pills again.  and no more ibuprofen.

I decided to try for 10 today, but my legs were toast by 9.  I guess my body is still in recovery mode.    i immediately scheduled an appt with april cause my quads are just holding onto the pain.  It was really hilly today, and abs didn't love the downhill.  hopefully she can figure out what is causing this. averaged 8:10 today.  I'll prob just ease into next week too.  nothing too serious.

On the positive side, the barrage of medicine on my ulcer seems to have calmed it down.  i felt a little at the end in my esophogas, but that's it:)  i'll have to stay on the meds, but i can't believe that's all it took.

Taught my 3 hours - zumba, turbo, zumba.  Wow i'm sore -havent taught all that for a couple of weeks.

I really wanted to run early this morning, but it just didn't happen.  I taught core, and really tried to bust my butt as well.  My obliques are still not right, but it felt good to work them. 

Put kids down for a nap, got a sitter, and ran an afternoon run to the water tower trail backwards - wow so much uphill!  i didn't realize it.  I was pretty dead by the end.  abs and ulcer bugged a little - not bad.

taught flex, but they wanted to do cardio today - dang it.  i did some turbokick for them and my body just did not want to move.  I knew i had an appointment with april afterwards, so i could push it a little bit:)

full body massage tonight - had a tight back, but legs seemed to be ok -my quads really weren't too bad. what was torture was my ab massage.  ugh...she said all my problems lately (abs, ulcer) are stress related, and i had some serious knots at the top of my rectus abdominis. its been making it feel hard to breathe. k anyways, i'm hoping that makes it all better - and I will work on de-stressing!

Oh yes, i got 1 measely mile in today.  It was my son isaac's bday, and i spent my whole day getting ready for that.  at around 10:30 pm, i got myself to start on the treadmill, and my knee was bugging that whole mile, i didn't have the drive to push through at that time of day.  iced my knee (it's been bugging for a while, not bad).  Decided to run in the morning.

One of the results of slacking off the day before is a lot of energy for the run today.  I wasn't actually planning on doing speedwork, but after a mile i decided to do the workout that i was going to miss out on with the club later that day.  So here's my workout...which btw is so not as much fun on the tread....alone...

every 1/2 mile i would change the incline through this pattern - up to 1.0, down to -1.0, and then .0...it keeps me occupied

miles 1-3- 7.0 - 8.0 - (treadmill speed)

mile 4 - 8.2, mile 5 - 8.7 mile 6 - 9.5, mile 7 - 9.8, mile 8-9.5 = 10.2. 

cool down .5

Last mile felt pretty hard, but that's the first hard workout i'd had since the marathon.  My knee has been bugging here and there, and hurt for about the first mile, then eased off - hmmm.

on the positive side, abs never really hurt.  ulcer just a little - I'm a mess ha ha.

Got to do my Zumba Party tonight!!!!  So much fun - packed room with 65 people and 5 instructors - I love my job:)  I was surprised i didn't feel tired for the whole 1.5 hours at all. 

Man i'm being lazy.  couldn't get myself out of bed early this morning, so i ended up on the stupid tread...again.  5.5 miles running up and down mile long hills.  average 8 min mile.  where is the motivation??

Seriously woke up to hail and dumping snow...my poor garden.  luckily i pulled my grow boxes in and the tomatoes and peppers seem fine. 

I am in such a slump right now...i am having the hardest time getting motivated.  i think i just need a schedule, but don't know what to follow. (recommendations??)  I have an app from runner's world on my phone, but i'm questioning that all my easy runs are average 7:41.  ha ha i guess i just like to take it way more easy on my easy days.  I want to run the hurricane half in 3 weeks, and then possibly the UV marathon... so 10 weeks - if i can get my quads ready for the downhill.    I'd like to do 1:25 or better in hurricane (hilly course), and then 2:55 or better in UV.  So i should be excited to train, but i haven't found my drive yet.  I wish i had more people to run with out here.

Well it's 9:45pm and i'm going to feel way too guilty if i don't get some sort of a run in tonight.  It's freezing outside, so I'm doing the tread for the 3rd day in a row - SHOOT ME NOW.  i needed a long one, so maybe i'll turn a movie on and run 12 - 14.  oh my gosh.  maybe that will movitvate me to wake up early next week. 

Next week, i'm going to commit myself to less sugar and early bed time.  1 a.m. hasn't been cutting it. 

zumba, turbo, zumba - i'm seriously considering giving up my evening classes so that i can run more (and not get injured so easily). 

I taught my core class today and did everything - i killed my abs and had no unusual pain there.  I can't figure out why only certain things hurt them.

I went to a free PT session today, and wasn't exactly worth my time.  the part on my abs wasn't hurting where he inspected - he barely touched on it and said that it wasn't my abs that were the problem, that it was my ribs.  um i'm positive my abs are hurting.  he told me to not run any downhill since that's what aggrivates it (how does one avoid all downhill?)

So in my usual fashion, i wanted to prove to him that it was my abs, and i went and ran some serious hills.  I ran in hurricane down 600 n, and then back up.  I sped up on the 3 serious downhills, and then uphills on the way back.  That was a tough workout today!  average 7:30.

Taught core fushion - only did some

abs were ok until about mile 7. then i had to stop and massage. 

Easy 8 miles in the gusting wind - watertower loop.  the dirt was a lot easier on my sore muscles.

10 mile club run tonight.  and my first "faster" run since the marathon - oh yes i felt it.  my breathing was a little too strong at the beginning.  ran with steve and trevor who always make it look easy:)  Aside from from bathroom stop, i kept up with them.  averaged 6:40 for the whole run...last 3 miles were 6:15, 6:15, 6:25.  Hopefully that run will kick my body into gear.

Steve suggested following hal higdon's marathon plan....i think i will.  It looks like a solid training program. 

Finished with an hour of zumba - abs were surprisingly ok through all workouts today!

5 super easy miles on the treadmill, and i still dragged. eek!

alright, i've got my running schedule planned and my sights set on Utah Valley Marathon.  If i even want a chance of doing well, i'm going to have to get my quads conditioned cause i seem to be affected more than most on downhill.  The club run was going to be 20 miles down the marathon course with 10 tempo miles, and i'm posititve my quads are not ready for that.  Instead i ran up Kolob 8 miiles (steep, continuous, uphill) and then back down for 16 total.  Ouch.  It was an easy pace, but that was some intense uphill.  I plan on doing this a few more times before the race.  thankfully my quads lasted through down the hill - i think my Saucony Kinvaras really helped them last longer.  The only sore spot was my ribs in the last mile.  I ran tempo on last 4 miles - average 6:40 (my body was not wanting to go faster).  I'm pretty happy with this run. average 7:40. 

I did it!  i gave away 2 of my classes for a while so i can train more.  it seriously is such a stress relief.

I did zumba this morning and then ran 4 easy miles in a lightning storm - ahhh.

My dixie track workout. 

1st round

30 regular pushups, 30 frog crunches, 30 burpees, 30 jumping lunges - then 5 sprints up the stadium

2nd round

30 decline pushups, 30 oblique cruches, 30 burpees, 30 hindu squats - 5 sprints up stadium

3rd round

20 pushups - knee comes to shoulder, 20 tricep pusheps, 2 min elbow plank

running workout - 2 miles warm up - 7 x 800 m with .25 recovery - had to run around the block since their was a soccer game going on - the first part of the interval was uphill, 2nd downhill

splits 800 m - 3:03, 2:56, 2:55, 2:45, 2:46, 2:47, 2:50

1 mile cool down

abs started bugging on last interval - what is the deal????

I am so done with the ab thing i've got going on.  I can't figure out how to manage it.  My run was not good at all today. i shouldn't have tried to run through the pain, but i did.  My abs/ribs bugged the whole time, but were feeling ok by the end.  I think they just get inflamed by the end.  I ran the cholla creek trail, and had to stop and wrap my abs - which didn't really help.  I don't want to have to rest them. this is a big week for me!

On the bright side, i got into UV marathon today - yeah!  I wish my abs would stop bugging so i could be more excited.

I got up this morning and my abs were aching a little.  i had planned on doing the club run later, but didn't know if my abs would last.  I got up and ran 3 miles on the treadmill.  the 1st mile was not so great, but next 2 were ok.  so i decided that i was going to try the run.

Went to p.t. today, and had ultrasound, stimulation done on it ribs/abs.  He told me that i could still do abs and other cardio - this is not something you tell a runner.  I have to find a way to run.  So he showed me how to wrap my ribs so they wouldn't bug (didn't help the abs but at least ribs were stabilzed.

I drove over the club run and showed up 7 min late.  no one was there so i assumed i had missed them. thankfully clyde showed up, and i got to jump in with him.  Even though he just ran a marathon, he pushed me to a solid pace.  And may i mention that the freaking wind was blowing!  again!

I was wearing the wrap, but right away my ribs and abs were not loving me (and it was way hard to breathe).  By mile 6, i was ready to give it up for the day and let clyde go.  i took the wrap off, and things started to feel a little better.  so i ended up running up the trail til i found clyde coming back.  i ended up getting 9 miles or so in (we didn't have garmins).  felt like a 6:45 average or so.  My abs were ok again, but started up about the last mile.  Clyde had a good talk about our similar injury, so i'm hoping his advice will work for me.

I taught zumba tonight,and it was awful.  i eeked my way through it and my abs were hurting till the ibuprofen kicked in.  they are sore tonight, and i will not run tomorrow - maybe will try to hit up a spin class.  I'm so frustrated right now!  I've got to get this 20 miler in this weekend and don't know if my abs will hold out.  I wasn't planning on tapering for race next week, but maybe i will so it will help my abs get better....again.

rest day - trying to calm my abs down

I had a 20 miler on the schedule, but i got 1 whole mile in before my abs were freaking out.  I felt like being depressed about it and just giving up on the day, but i ran back home, got on my road bike, and went for a nice ride.  It felt so good to be back on my old girl after a 6 mo break.  i was just going to ride the leeds loop - 27 miles, but got to hurricane and was feeling so good that i added on 10 more.  So i ended up riding over 2 hours.  my legs were pretty dead but i was suprised how strong i felt.  i averaged 17 mph even with a headwind.

Went to see april for a massage that night.  i was so sure that i was unfixable, but she got my abs to release again - can i just say that that woman is amazing!  I still don't know what is causing my abs to do this, but at least i might be able to run on monday!

I got a sub for my zumba class, and got in a 10 miler around the watertower loop that evening.  abs still felt tight, but do-able.  slow miles  My little guy evan who's 4 rode his bike for the last 2 miles of it with me, and my little chihuahua came along as well.  I was so impressed that they both kept up.  i loved it:)

core class - again abs did not hurt

6 miles on the tread - lots of ab massaging - abs ok - not great

flex class - only did some of it

Tempo run on the treadmill with varying hills.miles slowly imcreased pace. miles 2-3 - 7:00, miles 4-6 - 6:08, 

easy run around the neighborhood.  abs tightened up whenever i headed down any sort of incline, but legs felt good.  I called another p.t. and will meet with them tomorrow to get a second opinion on what's going on.

I taught zumba and amazingly abs were ok.  maybe all the massaging is helping???

I met with a new p.t. and was disappointed  to hear that the one who would be helping me was a new therapist...ahh...i need someone with experience!  the last thing that she said to me was, sorry i don't feel like we helped you much.  Thankfully though, she did some research and called me later.  i may know what is causing my problem.  It has to do with the diaphragm and the liver -if i don't take breaths into my abs and it stays shallow in my chest, it can cause the ligaments in the diaphram to strain.  I've been under lots of stress lately and that could cause it as well.  soooo, concentrating on deep breaths into my belly when i run may be the fix.

while at the p.t. she also "scraped" my abs, which may have helped the next day during my race.

I decided to go ahead and run the hurricane half the next day.  i'll take some ibuprofen and get through it.

Well it aint called Hurricane Utah for nothing. The wind did the city proud today.  Unfortunately I had to run in it today - Fortunately i had a decent race.  I got to the starting line 15 min before the race started, and really didn't feel that bad about not getting much of a warm up in.  The wind was bone chilling!  I felt perfectly dressed for the race, but had forgotten my gloves - I have never wanted them more during a race!  (wore arm warmers, race singlet, shorts, headband, and compression socks).  That was one of the first races were i had less on than my hubby:)

It was great to see so many familiar faces at the start -lots of friends and  a bunch of my ladies from class were tackling their first 1/2 marathon today and it was so cool to see their commitment!  I felt pretty confident in my race that day - I was hoping for a 1:24 or 1:25 - With a strong, cold headwind that day, a  hilly 1st 5 miles, and nemisis to be climbed, that sort of time would have been a tall order.  As I toed the line, i looked around and didn't recognize anyone that was going to challenge me for 1st (but you defintely never know).  I tried to not hold myself back like i tend to do.

I saw that i was right as i stayed out in front of even the guys for the first 8 miles. Here are my splits.

1 - 6:24 - flat

2 - 6:33 - flat -slightly up - i was already thirsty and the first aid station didn't have any cups!

3.- 6:33 - rolling up - I kept eyeing the lake and was glad that i wasn't the one doing the ironman next week - that lake is going to be freezing!!!

4 - 6:35 - up then down, starting to turn into the wind - my hands were painfully freezing

6 - 6:55 - started up nemisis - nasty, nasty hill - now wind is straight on, ugh!

7 -7:51 - end of nemisis - had to get legs moving down the other side - we now are running into a headwind for the rest of the race;(

8 - 6:40 - down then up - 1st guy catches me here, next guy is a ways back next girl  is not even sight

9 - 6:38 -

10 -6:45

11 -6:45

12 - 6:33 - i knew i had secured 1st woman at this point, but i wanted to catch the 1st guy - just to say i did.  He continued to speed up and I finished about a minute back.

13 - 6:26

.2 - 6:24

My body wanted to go harder on the last 5 miles, but the wind was puting up a good fight. I had taken some ibuprofen, so i'm not sure how my abs handled it.  I tried to concentrate on the deep breathing, and it may have helped.  My diaphragm area still felt tight during the race, but i was definitely manageable.  My abs twinged at the end, but that's it!   hopefully this means that they are on their way back:) 

Ran 1 cool down mile and got to pace my hubby in - so proud of him:) and cheered my friends in.   I changed into some fresh clothes right when i finished, but i still froze my tush off until after the awards ceremony.

I'm happy about how i did today.  i would've liked a faster time, but felt like i did what i could today.  I wish the Hurricane half would step up and improve their race as their were many things i'd change.  it does have potential.  the old course was much faster and drew more competition - classic sports did a much better job sponsoring it!  They we\re not the most organized or enthusiastic crew today either - but maybe they were hating being in that wind as much as we did.  Anyways , there's my 2 cents.  I was happy to get a $50 gift certificate to both Classic Sports and Hill Sports!