Saturday run

Yesterday I mapped out an 8 mile run. It was a horrible, ugly, boring run. As I was not enjoying this particular run, I happened to cross the Murray entrance to the Jordan River walkway and saw lots of runners/bikers/walkers. It looked so pretty and fun that I had to forsake my mapped run and join the runners on the walkway. I'm glad I did. It still felt like I ran quite a distance, and although I don't know how far it was, it took me 1 hour 15 minutes. So I'm assuming I was probably just shy of 8 miles.

The spring snow is hampering my running efforts a bit. We've had so much snow the last week and we got more today. Hopefully it will end soon and we will have blissful warm spring running soon!

Mid-week running

Good news- Justin has decided to run the provo riverwoods 10 mile race with me! So Tuesday we ran a mile or so together (because grandma had Makenzie and I pushed Jarom in an umbrella stroller!) and yesterday we took turns. He ran for 14 minutes (we don't know how far it was) and then I ran my usual 3 mile loop out to 90th. I decided to go for speed again and ran what I would consider my 5k race pace. Usually, when I push on this run, I start slower and finish strong. This time I decided to really push myself as hard as possible right from the getgo. By the time I finished the big uphill stretch on 90th, I was beat. I tried to keep pushing myself at the same pace but I could feel my body slowing down. My legs were tight and felt heavy. I pushed as hard as I could but the slowdown was obvious. I was really happy though, because even with my slowdown I beat my best time for that loop, and finished in 23:15 (just about 8 minute miles)! I would really like to run some shorter races while I train for this marathon just to see how good I can do!

Long run!

I pulled it off- 9 miles this morning. It took me 1h30m (not counting approx. 4-5 minutes of stop time for stoplights, dogs, etc.). So I took it really easy. It was gorgeous outside (about 63 degrees according to a bank on my route). Great day!

Adding a mile

Yesterday I ran an unknown distance, but it took me 34:51 so I'm assuming (hoping) it was about 4 miles. We've had great weather the last few days, but it's supposed to get wintry again this weekend. Hope I can log some miles on Saturday. My official marathon training starts Monday.

Getting a better pace

I did my 3 mile loop today. I didn't push hard, but I didn't take it easy either. I would call it a moderate push. I finished in 24:30 (8:10 miles).

A little distance

I ran 5.5 miles today in about 51 minutes (approx. 9:16 miles). Short on time as usual or I would have gone further. It was a beautiful day out there!

Sprint pace

I ran that same 1.5 mile loop today (really hurting for time to go running this week). It may have been short, but I was booking it. I finished in 11 1/2 minutes, which gave me a 7:40 mile pace. It's impressive for me to get under the 8 minute mark.
Speed work is so hard for me. I would rather run 10 slow miles than 5 fast ones. But I'm hoping it will affect my muscle strength and prepare me for speed intervals in my longer runs.

Losing momentum

Not doing so well this week. I missed Monday and Tuesday and ran a measly mile and a half today. I've gotta start making running more of a priority if I'm going to run this marathon!

Picking up miles

Well I definitely didn't hit my intended 20-30 miles last week, but I did pick up 7 miles on Saturday. After my last two speed workouts, my seven-miler felt like a piece of cake! I took it nice and easy, taking about 1 hour 6 minutes to complete it (about 9 minute 25 second miles). My right foot and knee have been giving me problems, but they recovered from the seven miles pretty well.

As I'm looking outside my window right now, all I can see is snowfall. I might just have to take an extra day off!

Little by little

I ran the same course that I ran on Monday, and beat my time by 40 seconds instead of the intended 30. I was pretty happy about that. I've got my mile pace close to 8 minutes now. But that's only for 3 miles. I'm hoping I can condition my body to push itself harder so my long runs don't feel so bad when I run them slower. So this week I have only logged 6 miles. And it's Thursday. I've really got to pick it up!

3 mile speed run

After running nearly 6 miles on Saturday, I went for a shorter, faster run today. I ran a 2.9 mile loop (I mapped my run after the fact or I would have gone for the extra tenth) in 24:22, which is a 8:24 mile. I'm happy with the pace because there was some fierce wind that really held me back for the first half of the loop - felt like I was running in water for a few moments there! I did cut a full 3 minutes off of my previous run time, but I hope to shave an extra 10 seconds per mile off the next time I run it for speed.
My goal right now is to run 20-30 miles a week before my actual marathon training begins in April. Better pick up some good miles tomorrow!