Wasatch Back Marathon Relay 2011

There is one thing I've learned in the last year and a half of racing, and it is that a bad night's sleep the night before a race does not necessarily affect performance.

Thank goodness.

After going to bed at about 1:30 AM and waking up at 4:45 AM, I was feeling very tired this morning. Sometimes I hate running.

Darcy picked me up at 5:15 AM and we headed to the race start at Soldier Hollow. Since this was the inaugural year of the marathon, it was very small. There were about 80 full marathoners and 45 or so relay teams. We all huddled together and swatted mosquitoes that were the size of bats while we waited for the race to begin at 6AM.
My stomach was hurting this morning and it made me nervous, but luckily it didn't bother me after I started running. I'm sure a lot of it was nerves. I didn't feel very prepared for this race because I haven't been working hills like I normally do. I knew what was in store for me and knew it would be a very tough race. I'm telling you, those full marathoners were BRAVE.
We stared on time and ran parallel to one of the most vibrant sunrises that I have ever seen. It reminded me so much of this one that I got to watch on my third leg at the Del Sol Ragnar. I wish so bad that I could have had my camera with me.
Mile 1: Felt awesome! I knew this would be my fastest mile because it was the only one with an elevation drop. Ran a 7:04 and lost 92 feet.

Mile 2: Still holding strong. I kept saying "Nice and Steady" the whole way. I knew I had to save some juice for the hills at the end. Ran a 7:33 with a 60 foot gain.

Mile 3: I walked so that I could drink some water at the water stop, but I was still feeling really well. Ran a 7:43 with 34 feet in gain.

Mile 4: My stomach started bothering me so I was trying hard to focus on other things. The sunrise. The 4 leading men in front of me. Ran a 7:59 with an 87 foot gain.

Mile 5: By the time I finished this I knew I had achieved my first goal- keeping a pace of 7:40 for the first five miles. Ran this mile in 7:55 with a 62 foot gain.

Mile 6: This is when the fun began! I quit looking at my watch because I didn't want it to wig me out mentally. I didn't have a pace goal for the hills- I just wanted to run without stopping. I was so glad I wore my New Balance Minimus shoes! I think it made a huge difference. I ran this with an 8:37 and 131 foot gain.

Mile 7: This was a dramatic difference in incline from the previous mile I had just run. I was passed by the only woman that passed me- a full marathoner- during this mile. I ran it with a 9:33 with a 259 foot gain.

Mile 8: Oh dear. Calves burning. Hamstrings burning. Quads burning. I just kept pumping my legs. Had to keep them moving. 11:47 mile with 383 feet in gain. Seriously.

Final .74: Kicked it into gear during the last .15 when it leveled out for a second. Finished strong and felt amazing! Ran this last little bit with a 10:53 and it had 317 feet in elevation gain.

Overall I had an average pace of 8:43/mile over the 8.74 miles, and I climbed 1,333 feet up a mountain!!!!!!!!! WITHOUT STOPPING!!!!!!!
I am so proud of myself. I wanted to do this so bad when I ran Guardsman during the Ragnar, and I was so happy that I could redeem myself during this race.

I handed off to Sara- who killed it during her leg. Sara handed off to Darcy, and Darcy finished strong! We ended up taking 1st in the Women Relay! There were only 2 other teams that had crossed the line before us. We ran the marathon in 3:52- which was incredible for such a difficult course. We were hoping to finish in under 4 hours, and we did it!


The winner of the marathon was a 17 year old guy- he ran the 26.2 in 3:34. Stellar.

This was such a great race. The crowds were small, but very encouraging. I talked to Mark, the race director, and he said that next year he was probably going to push it to September. The mountains would be stunning that time of year! I can't wait to do it again.

Wasatch Back Marathon- Relay Style- GOALS

The 13.1 mile workout with Darcy was awesome yesterday! I use that word a lot it seems like. Will someone send me a thesaurus? Anyway, I paced Darcy to a new 10K PR time and half marathon PR time. Not a bad way to start your day, eh? We ran the first 6.2 miles in 46:46 with a 7:32/mile average, and then we finished the 13.1 in 1:43 with a 7:56/mile pace. This was just a training run- it gets me stoked to see what we could do in a race!!! Obviously those Yasso's are helping us.

When we finished, however, my legs were not loving me. My IT Band felt more tight and sore than it has in a long time, and 3 days of running in a row did a number on my foot that has been sore. So what did I do? ICE BATH.

I turned the faucet on as cold as it could go and filled the bath up until it would completely cover my legs (quads included). Then, I dumped in my entire thing of ice from my ice machine in the freezer. After I cranked up the tunes to get my mind off the pain, I hopped in, and....

IT WASN'T AS BAD AS I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE!!!

I'm totally going to do this after all of my hard/long runs. It made a huge difference in my legs for the rest of the day, and today I'm not even sore. Bonus!

It's a good thing I'm not sore because I have a race tomorrow. The inaugural Wasatch Back Marathon is taking place right in my own back yard at 6AM tomorrow morning. The difficult course runs from Soldier Hollow in Midway, over to the Wasatch State Park, up Snake Creek, over Cascade Springs and back down to Soldier Hollow to the finish. I'm excited to do this in a relay because, frankly, running this on my own would make me want to jump off a cliff-
With elevation gain like this, it's not exactly a PR course :).

The course is sure to be stunning. With all of the water we've been having, the mountains are still so lush and green. These pictures are from the actual course and were taken only a couple of weeks ago (so as to tempt you with lovely views so that you'll run next year)-


I'm running the first leg- 8.8 miles. I will have a total elevation gain of 1109 feet. I do believe that I get to enjoy the first mile or so with a loss :). It's not until that last mile, when I'm beat for racing at near 10K pace for 8 miles, that I'm going to want to die.
Darcy is running the last leg, and I'm so excited to run with our middle runner. Her name is Sara Edwards and I first met her when I ran the Toughest 10K last year. She placed 1st in women overall, and has spanked me in every race that I've seen her in since then. I knew she ran the Utah Valley Marathon in June, so I busted out my super spy abilities and checked out her time on line.

3:26! She placed 6th in her age division at Utah Valley.

I am still feeling humbled that she asked me to be on her relay team for this marathon and I hope I don't let her down!

My Goals are-
1- To run the first 5 miles at under a 7:40/mile pace.
2- Run the last 2.8 miles up Snake Creek to Mill Flat WITHOUT STOPPING. I know I made this goal for Guardsman, and didn't do it, so now is my chance to redeem myself!

Your questions- ANSWERED!

I'm certain this is just what you've all been waiting for! I'll do my best not to bore you to tears.

Translations for non-runners? PR? BQ?
PR- Personal Record. For me, this is everything in running. The only person you are racing against is yourself.
BQ- Boston Qualify. I know I have been talking about this a lot since it is constantly on my mind as of late. To qualify for Boston at my age (27) you have to run the 26.2 miles in under 3 hours and 40 minutes. That is running an 8:23/mile average.

What is your ultimate running goal?
I have 2 ultimate goals... actually, I have 3. I want to be able to run a Boston Qualifying Marathon, I want to run a 10K in under a 7 minute pace, and I want to continue running well into my retirement years.

When was the moment you knew you were a runner?
I will never forget it. It was when I was injured for the first time. You can read about the post here. I was unable to run and I realized how much I missed it. I craved running. That's when I knew I was hooked for good. I wanted to be called "A Runner". This happened only 3 months after I had started running consistently.

Enormous cookies from Maverik: great junk food or the greatest junk food?
I've never even tried one!!!! Isn't that awful? I vow to get one in the next week or so (the next time I fill up my car) and I will give you the full report then. Right now I'm currently eating half a pan of butterscotch brownies, and I think those just might be the best dessert ever.

How long have you been running?
A year and a half, almost to the day! I began training for my first race ever (the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay) at the end of January 2010. It has been a trip since then! I did, however, run in junior high. I was pretty quick, too! I used to run the 400 meter dash in just over one minute. What I wouldn't give to be able to do that now!

Favorite distance to run?
I love to run around 8 miles as a normal workout, but I think the half marathon is my favorite race distance. It's hard and beats you up, but you don't totally want to die. Plus it's a huge accomplishment! Not very many people can say they can run a half marathon.

Favorite type of run (tempo, hill, speedwork, LR)?
Right now I am lovin' on those Yasso 800's!!! I can feel my sprinter body coming back. :)

Have you always been so skinny or do you work hard to stay thin?
I have always been really skinny. It's a blessing and a curse. Lots of people (especially in junior high) used to assume I had an eating disorder- this has never been true. I was even confronted by a teacher at one point. A group of kids in high school used to call me "Skeletor". Nice. However, for the most part, I've always been really comfortable in my skin- especially now that I know I'm working hard and eating well and doing pretty much everything I should (minus the insane amounts of sugar on some days). I've been really blessed to have a naturally thin body. The ironic thing is that I actually weigh more now since I started exercising and running than I did before. I'm very lucky that I've never had to focus on weight or anything like that.

Can we hangout in real life? When you qualify for Boston can we go together? :)
You know it! I figure our plane seats will be next to each other, right? I've just got to qualify first :)

What is your favorite activity with your kids?

I love taking my kids to fun places- Lagoon, the park, to get a treat. Any of those things. We also have a lot of fun camping and just playing hide and seek or reading books at the house. My kids are so funny!

Do you consider yourself happy? Like 85% or more of your day makes you smile? If so, why? What is your secret?

I would say, yes. I'm a simple person and I try to find joy in lots of little things. I also have things that I look forward to- just like most people do- but I try not to focus too much on that. I feel as though I have been blessed with the ability to find joy and because of that I am able to avoid the depression that befalls so many. I can honestly say that it is a blessing- a gift that I have been given by my Father in Heaven.

Although the majority of the time I am happy, I still have my days- and sometimes weeks. Before I started running I had a hard time. I have found that I really need to have something that is MINE. It used to be theater, and then it was school, and for awhile I had a break (from about 9 months or so when Annie was first born and towards the end of my pregnancy). At this point in my life I struggled with depression more than I had in my entire life since early junior high. I can look back now and see that it was because I didn't have something that was just for me. At that point I was solely a wife and a mother. I also did cub scouts, but I didn't take time to do something that I really enjoyed. When I started running was when I was able to break out of it. If you think about it, I get to spend about an hour (sometimes up to 3 hours) 3-4 times a week just being MYSELF. I don't have to be responsible for anyone else at that time. It is such a blessing in my life!

I also have come to be very loving of myself. I often repeat to myself "I'm doing the best that I can!" in a positive way. I'm not always the best Mom, I make mistakes and spank my kids and raise my voice on those rare occasions, I don't always have a clean house or a good dinner on the table, and I don't always give my husband the attention that he needs, but I also know that I am honestly doing the best that I can at the time. I don't do these things because I'm being spiteful or vindictive, so there's no reason to give myself a hard time about it when I know that I am trying. After all, in motherhood especially, there is always tomorrow!!!

Now I have a question for all of you-
A friend just called me and asked me to fill in for someone on her Logan to Jackson Hole Epic Relay team. I want to do it soooooooo baaaaaaaad. However, this takes $$$ which would have to come out of my Boston fund, and I would have to give up one of the last weekends with my husband before school starts.

What should I do?

Perception

***Updates to the family blog- click [HERE], [HERE], and [HERE] for the individual posts.

I feel like I have a lot to say and nothing to say at the same time. Weird.

I'm going to answer all of the *millions* of questions in a post tomorrow. I suppose I should start commenting on all of the blogs that I read so that they know I am reading them, eh?

I ran an easy 4 mile recovery run in Island Park last Friday- the day after my 17 miler. I felt great! My foot was still sore from stubbing my toe a couple of weeks ago, so after this run I took 3 days off in a row. I could tell a difference when I ran this morning. I ran the 4 miles with a 7:59/mile pace.

I know I've said before how I love the Island Park and Yellowstone area. I just have a few pictures of our trip I wanted to share with y'all (thanks to Cely for teaching me how to spell that correctly!). If you've never been, GO! What are you waiting for?!




Today was Yasso's! This time we did 7 intervals, and it was awesome. I can tell I am getting faster because I'm able to run faster with the same effort as before. Wow. Way to state the obvious, Amy.

My splits were: 3:18, 3:16, 3:13, 3:21, 3:14, 3:23, 3:11.

Janae was talking on her blog the other day about how your perception of a "long run" changes with your training- this is so true. Today as I was running I was thinking about how my perception of being "fast" has changed.

When I first started running a year and a half ago, I thought a ten minute mile was awesome for me. Then it changed to being stoked if I could get an 8:59 or below. When I ran my first 5 miles at under an 8:00 pace I was completely SHOCKED. Now I look down at my watch and I am frequently having splits between the 6-7 minute pace mark, and occasionally I see a pace that starts with a 5 in there.

It makes me wonder where my true potential is.

It just goes to show that if you work at something hard enough, and long enough, then you will be utterly amazed at the results.

Help with... runs.

Thanks to the funny and talented Cory Reese for lumping me in the same category as Lance Armstrong and picking me to participate in:

Amylee! Blogger style of course.

Ask me anything-about life, love, religion, running, children, vacations I'd like to go on, food I wish I were eating right now- and I will answer it! I will be getting to your questions by next Wednesday- after I return from a much needed vacay to Yellowstone and Island Park!

I'm supposed to tag people, but I'm in too big of a hurry to find URL's. I would like to tag Tina @ Gotta Run Now and Cely @ Running off the Reeses to participate- should you feel so inclined.

I ran 17 miles this morning. SEVENTEEN! The word is long, and the run was long, but it was awesome! Oodles better than our 15 miler a couple of weeks ago. Our pace was good and we felt good too (no chafing, knee problems, or back problems). We ran the 17 miles in 2 hours and 30 minutes with an 8:49/mile pace. We ran a different route than usual and it was so nice to switch things up! However, I much prefer to end my runs on 4 miles of downhill rather than 4 miles of uphill.

The biggest problem of the run: I HAD TO TAKE 4 BATHROOM BREAKS. F.O.U.R. It was insanity! I can blame it on a couple days of a terrible diet, and hanging out at Lagoon all day yesterday.

The truth is, I fight bathroom issues on the majority of my runs. It gets really annoying. Any of you have this problem? Any advice? I've been pretty lucky on my races and have been able to make it through without problems, but I'm nervous about the marathon. What should I do?

I really wish I could have one of these that could magically fold up and be carried in my spibelt.

Plus- who has ever seen a port a potty this pretty? Or clean???

I'm doing my next couple of run in bear country. Here's hoping I don't get eaten or spray myself with pepper spray!

Tug of War

***Update to the family blog! Click [HERE].

We hit our goal! Demolished it, really. Last Saturday we wanted to run our 11 miler at an 8:23 pace, and we ended up doing it in an 8:02! We both felt so good about it. I really felt strong- like I could have run farther, and faster. It was so nice to have a nice long run! I need to keep in mind how awesome it was as I get myself psyched up for my 17 miler this Thursday.

The night before the 11 miler I stuffed myself full of hot dogs and marshmallows- maybe that's the key to having a good run? Probably.

Dallas and I at a cookout last Friday night.

Monday was another round of Yasso 800's. These are quickly becoming my favorite workout! Maybe it's because I keep envisioning myself running a marathon in under 3:30 :).

My splits for the 6 800's were: 3:24, 3:22, 3:24, 3:21, 3:24, 3:21.

Seriously. Boston. BOSTON! I swear that I can do it.

I'm a pretty religious person when it comes to running. I follow my training schedule exactly and I rarely miss a workout. I set pretty reasonable goals for myself and almost always achieve them. Sometimes I miss a PR, but it's not by very much, so I know that the goal will be attainable with another try at it.

With this in mind, the marathon thing is throwing me for a loop. I've never done one before and I know I should just go with the flow and be happy to finish. But there's that darn BQ that keeps getting in my sight. I feel like I can run an 8:20 pace for a long time without feeling exhausted- why shouldn't I just go for it?! At the same time, I don't want to put too much pressure on myself because I'm RUNNING A FREAKING MARATHON!!! Isn't that awesome enough?

I keep having this tug-of-war with my heart and my head over this issue. Do any of you feel the same way? How do you feel about goals and running? Advice???

I do other things.

***Updates to the family blog. Click [HERE], [HERE], and [HERE] to see what's going on with the Nicoll's!

For some reason this marathon training is killing my legs. It's probably a mental thing, but I feel like my legs have been in a constant state of soreness ever since I finished the Ragnar. What I don't quite get, is that I only run 4 days a week; sometimes less if I'm busy! I don't understand how people can get out and run 6 days a week and do heavy heavy training. As far as marathon training goes, I think what I'm doing is as easy as it gets.

I suppose I like my down time too much.

Tomorrow I am going to be doing an 11 mile run, and my goal is to be under an 8:23 pace- which would be Boston Qualifying time.

Speaking of Boston- are you aware that they are changing the qualifying time? They are getting rid of the 59 second leeway, and cutting down the previous qualifying times by 5 minutes. In other words, if you are a 27 year old female and you want to qualify for the 2013 Boston Marathon, you have to run a marathon in 3:35 or less.

Yikes. This has got to be my year!

Although I pretty much only talk about running on this blog, I want you to know that I do other things. Just this week I spent time BBQing with friends, throwing rocks in a river, feeding ducks, playing at Lagoon, finishing a book (The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein- it has nothing to do with running), dancing in the rain, swimming with the kiddos, going to church meetings, and wishing I could sleep in.

It's good to have balance.

Yasso, O, how I love thee.

Last Saturday I did a tempo run for 6.5 miles at a 7:45/mile pace. I would be lying if I didn't tell you that I thought I was going to puke and that I wanted to stop about every quarter mile (or less). Sleeping in is NOT worth it- this heat WILL KILL YOU. However, I finished. Sometimes that's all that matters.

Today I picked Darcy up at 6 AM (and in 57 degrees!!!) to run our first set of Yasso 800's on the track. IT. WAS. SWEET.

Don't know what Yasso 800's are? They are a speed workout that I'm choosing to believe in. You can read a little more about them here. In theory, according to the coach and marathoner Bart Yasso, the speed in which you can run 800 meters will determine how fast you can run a marathon. For example, if you can run 800 meters (or a half mile) in 4 minutes, you can run a 4 hour marathon. The same goes for a 3:30, or a 2:20, etc.


Darcy and I had the goal of running them at a 3:30. My splits for the 5 sets were as follows:

3:21, 3:26, 3:21, 3:30, 3:29

Right on goal!!! It had been awhile since the last time I researched them, so we didn't recover in the middle for as long as we should have. We did 400 meters at a recovery pace and then did our next set of 800's. What we SHOULD have done was recovered for the same amount of time as it took us to do the 800- IE, run 800 in 3:30, recover for 3:30. Next time that is what we'll do. We will continue adding 1 set of 800's to our workout until we get to 10. We will stop doing Yasso 800's 2 weeks before the marathon.

It was awesome and I can't wait to see how they help us in the marathon! Do any of you seasoned marathoners do Yasso 800's? Do you think they help you?

On another cool note, I have started doing something extra special :). In Kara Goucher's book she suggests saving $1 for ever mile you run. I thought this would be a great way to save up for running shoes/gear/races/BOSTON, so about 6 weeks ago I started saving. I don't have a lot of money right now, so $1 was too much for me; I decided that I would save 25 cents/mile. Today I went and opened up my own checking account with $82 in it!!!! I'm stoked!

Some of the money was bonus from another account I closed, but in the last 6 weeks I've managed to save 57 dollars. Yeah baby! Only about $418 more dollars and my flight to Boston will be paid for :). Now I just have to qualify...

Amazing Blogger Award

Thanks to the ever inspiring Rachelle Wardle from Running For Trevor, for the shout out! It's pretty amazing how you get on the blog and spill your beans and some people- whom you have never even met- are out there listening. Pretty cool, I say. Thanks Rachelle!

Drum roll please...

Favorite Cartoon Character
How could it be anything other than Homer Simpson? This Simpson's pretty much sums up my childhood. Anyone out there ever seen the "Angry Dad" episode? Because that is my father in cartoon format. For real.


Favorite Thing to Photograph

The children. They are just too cute not to snap a photo of! I have over 70,000 pictures on my computer to prove it.

Favorite Thing to Cook
So easy. So yummy. I'm always in the mood for it. Homemade pizza rocks my world.

Favorite Way to Exercise

Is there really another form of exercise? There isn't for me. I love it so much that I'll even do a race in -5 on Thanksgiving.

Favorite Movie
This is my favorite, favorite, favorite. Humorous and touching. Insightful. Lovely. Prior to my running days, and mommy days, I did a lot of theater. I love it so much. It speaks to my soul in a different way than running does. This movie shows a little bit of how I felt as a "Theater Person"- a little bit misunderstood at times, but we were capable of creating magic. And we did, often- thanks to our own personal "Jim Barrie" in our director Andra Thorne. Neverland exists to me.

Favorite Article of Clothing
I love me some Silver Jeans. It's no secret that I'm pretty tall and really skinny. This combination makes finding jeans difficult sometimes, but I can always find a pair of Silvers. I can be seen in jeans and a t-shirt about 90% of the time. (With the other 9% being running clothes and 1% being a dress at church).

Favorite Flower
White tulips have been my favorite since I was birthed. Or maybe even earlier.

Favorite Breakfast
First off I have to say that there have been a handful of electronic devices/inventions that have changed my life. They are, in no particular order: My Garmin, the internet, my iPod, my Kindle, and THE MAGIC BULLET.
Lately for breakfast I am loving my banana/strawberry/blueberry smoothie with a side of two pieces of whole grain toast topped with butter and homemade strawberry jam. I wish I could eat it for every meal! So yummy. Plus there's 4 servings of fruits in that smoothie!

Favorite Book
As previously mentioned, I own a Kindle. Love it! I love to read, although I am very slow at it- just ask the ladies in my book club (I often come to book club with the book only 3/4 read... my bad). I love These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner. A few other books I love are The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. (Coincidentally, I DISLIKE the movies that were filmed based on the books). My favorite running book so far is, of course, Born to Run.

Favorite Place to Be
There's no place like home. This is not a current photo. I am, however, too lazy to walk outside and take a picture right now. Imagine it with green grass, green tree, and a pink, white, and blue hanging basket on the porch.

Favorite Place to Visit
Island Park, Idaho. It is one of the most beautiful places on Earth! My family had a cabin there so I spent lots and lots of summers walking around the forest, wading in the streams, moseying around West Yellowstone, and checking out the geysers at Yellowstone National Park. I. LOVE. IT. Coincidentally, we are going there in only 2 weeks and I can't wait! This picture was taken at Big Springs, and I was very, VERY pregnant with my Annie. In fact, she was born only a few days after this picture was taken. So, please ignore the pregnancy "fat face".

I tag the following people:
Kalie from The Mrs. Writes
Vanessa from Gourmet Runner
and last but not least....
Coy from First in Philly

Love you bloggers!

Pizza + 15 miles = Terrible Awful

The details of my most painful and mentally abusive run are below. It was awful.

I blame the pizza.

I'm looking forward to an easy 11 miler next week. I will be running part of this course BACKWARDS so I can avoid 830 feet in elevation gain. I guess there is a downside to living in a mountain valley- all of your running involves running uphill! I'm so jealous of sea level right now I could spit.

Now I'm going to attempt to take a nap (if the two year old will let me!)

Carbo loading... or so I say.

I've had pizza for two meals today. And not just a few slices. I've had one and a half whole pizzas. I have a 15 mile run in the morning, so of course I'm just preparing for that. Carbo loading, you know?

I've made up my mind that if I could only have one food for the rest of my life, I would choose pizza. The options are limitless! Think about it- you've got meat sauce, white sauce, pesto sauce, marinara sauce, and that's just the sauces! Toppings?! The sky is the limit!!!! It's the perfect food.

Plus, anything with melted cheese should be sainted.

On another note, I ended up running yesterday evening. The humidity was not so stellar, but the sunset was out of this world. It's too bad I don't run with my camera because it was truly breathtaking. We even changed our route just so we had a better view. It was just what I needed to remind me how much I love this sport.

I'm hoping for an equally spectacular sunrise tomorrow.

If you could only eat one type of food every day for the rest of your life, what would it be? Why?

Nothing beats a 4th 5K! Well, except maybe badminton!

***Update to the family blog! Click [HERE], [HERE], or [HERE] to see what's going on with the Nicoll's!

Me, Kalie, Abby, Sierra, Liesel- Aren't my SIL's the cutest ever?

I spent the 4th of July holiday with my husband's family in Wyoming this year. I love my in-laws. Love, love them. Why? Because they let me be a fool and I know they don't really care.

Evidence of me being a fool?

I named our badminton team "Thunderbirds" and nearly peed my pants- on more than one occasion- while we played badminton for about 10 hours over the 3 day weekend. My forearm is sore from all of the playing.

It was good times.

I convinced my super cute SIL's to run a Patriotic 5K in Star Valley Ranch on Saturday, July 2nd. I was so happy because when we finished, they all said they wanted it to be a tradition! They did so awesome, even though the course was really hilly, and they haven't even been running. Abby was even the first girl in her division to cross the finish line. They are serious rockstars!

I ran the 5K in 22:55- a 7:30 average. It felt so hard, but I never stopped running and pushing my hardest- even at the hill at the very end. I was able to place 2nd in my division- which included both men and women. The overall winner of the race was a 24 year old guy that ran it in 19 minutes- so awesome.
Now that I'm home I'm feeling... tired. Maybe it was because I ate my weight in oreo truffles? Or because we stayed up until the wee hours of the morning every night? Either way, it's Tuesday and I have yet to run this week.

Marathon training = FAIL

What's your favorite running workout? Tempo, hills, long runs, sprints? Send me some motivation!