Recovery Week

I ran 2 miles on Monday and walked one. Than I did some research on recovery from a half and took the rest of the week off from running. I still went to the gun and did the elliptical on my usual running days.
Yesterday I tried a new class at the gym called TRX. It's a brand new class they are offering and it was a workout. I am super sore today.
Tomorrow I will be back to running and training for a full marathons :)
I would love to run a full marathon this year so I looked up training schedules and found one I like. I wrote it all out on my calendar and will start it tomorrow. I think I was still on a half Mary high when I decided this cause this recovery week has been so nice and easy and as I sit here in my chair under a warm blanket,, running for 4 hours every Saturday for a while does not sound fun. But I will start the training and work my way up just like for the half.

Salt Lake City Half Marathon

I ran my first half marathon this past weekend.
It was a very emotional week for runners. What happened in Boston is sick and I was heartbroken for those that were injured. It's a sick twisted world we live in.
Monday night my husband asked me if I still wanted to run my half. I said I can't live in fear and it did make me nervous that he was going to be watching me but I still wanted to run.
Friday I picked my my bib and it was a little unorganized and a long line but we got my bib and shirt and looked around at the vendors a little.
Than hubs and I went out to Old Spaghetti Factory to carbo load. We were sat at a table in the bar area and there was a tv on the wall and they were showing the news of the capture of the 2nd bombing suspect. I didn't want to watch it but I could not look away. Finally I forced myself to just enjoy dinner.
After dinner we came and went to be early. The kids were spending the night at my BFFs house so I could get some sleep.
I got a good nights sleep and we left the house at 5:15am. When we parked it was pouring down rain and freezing. We sat in the car until about 6:30 and than headed to the start. It was still raining and freezing. We saw ATF agents, DHS agents, bomb sniffing dogs, and helicopters, and police everywhere. We huddled in the tent with everyone else. Jeremy than left to go get a good spot to watch the start. I lined up right behind the 2:10 pacer. My plan was to follow him as long as I could.
7am they played Sweet Caroline and we were off.
The first 3 miles flew by. It was pouring rain but I warmed up really quick.
At mile 4.5 I ate a gu chomp. I was still right behind the 2:10 pacer.
Than we hit some sharp downhill and sharp up hills. On the second up hill the 2:10 pacer just took off and I fell behind. By mile 6 I had lost sight of the pacer but I was sooooo happy that I had followed him so long.
About mile 7 I started questioning my sanity and wondering why on the earth I was doing this and vowing to never do another one. It was still pouring down rain and I had stepped in a few big puddles.
Mile 8.5 I ate another GU chomp and by mile 10 I found my love for running again. Which is a good thing cause I started to get cold. I was soaked to the bone and my clothes probably weighted 15 extra pounds with all the rain water. But I was doing it. I had not stopped. My body was feeling cold but I was feeling great. I was amazed at my body and the fact that I was going to finish this was an overwhelming since of accomplishment.
About mile 11 I walked about 10 feet thru a water stop and that was the ONLY time I stopped running.
The last mile was hard. I new I was close but it seemed like it was taking forever to see the finish and the rain really started coming down.
Than finally I saw the finish.
I crossed the finish line at 2:16:10.
I was so happy. I as on cloud nine! I was so pleased I ran the whole thing, that my body did it, and I was very pleased with my time.
So soon as I stopped running I started to get really cold. We did not stay at the finish. Jer and I walk around a little bit and than I was so cold and wet I started to shiver. So we went to the car.
I had a huge smile on my face the rest of the day and wore my medal the WHOLE day.

Week 11

Week 11 was a good week. My blister got infected and on Thursday night I could not sleep it hurt so bad. I woke up up about 2:30 am and I put ice on it and tried to sleep but could not. It was throbbing and out of control with pain. So about 3:30 am I did surgery on my foot. I cut the blister open and it popped like a big zit. I squeezed puss and blood out of it. After that it felt 100% better. It still hurt but it was not throbbing and the pain was very manageable.
Today I had my last long run before my half. I did 8 miles today. It was cold and windy and I got stuck at a stop light forever. I did eat a gu chomp at mile 4 and I think I love those things. It gave me a huge pick me up and I finished really strong.
Race day is a week from today. I am getting nervous. I'm not nervous about the running I am nervous about the parking and the starting line and Jeremy has family staying with us that weekend so its goings to be a crazy stressful eventful weekend.

Week 10

Less than two weeks till my half. I am so nervous.
This week I was on Vacation with my family in St. George, UT. I got 3 runs in with my sister and loved it. We did our long run (9 miles, I'm now tapering) on this cool river trail. It was so nice to have someone to run with.
Jeremy got me a fuel belt for my birthday and some shorts and a shirt. I was informed by Amy that I should be hydrating on my runs and I should try some sort of fuel. So I got to try my fuel belt out and some Guy Chomps. I noticed a huge difference with water and fuel on my long run. It was great. I am so glad that I got that piece of advice. I know it will make a huge difference during my half.
The bad news is I have something wrong with the bottom of my foot. I had a huge blister and we drained it before our vaca and than I got some red sand inside the blister and didn't notice it. I knew that it hurt but it took me two days to figure out there was sand in it. So Jer cut away all the dead skin and we got all the sand out but now the whole bottom on my foot feels like a huge bruise. By the end of the day it feels as if my foot is broken tonight I took Advil and Tylenol and sat with ice on it I hope it feels better soon.

Week 9

This week I did my last long run. Now I start to taper. I ran 12 miles on Saturday. It was hard. The first 6 miles was all up hill. I struggled the last 2 miles. My new shoes are giving me huge blisters and I get very painful chaffing under my arms. But I did it.
I ran over 100 miles in March.
This week we are going on vacation to St. George with my family and I am excited to run with my sister.