Enough is  enough!  After a month or so of "rest" aka lack of motivation, I drug myself back to the gym, got on the treadmill and started my version of slowtwitch's 100 days 100 runs, I got a half marathon to run with Kerri and Brent in January, it's time to get busy and begin my "revenge tour".  First stop:  St George Half Marathon.  I even have a pr to beat, looking to best 2:19.

Now, I have beds to make, laundry and vacuuming to do and a party to plan, Brent is at the airport and by my calculations should be departing Phnom Penh in about 25 minutes, he will arrive at LAX tomorrow morning via Seoul and Tokyo.  Kyle is also at the airport, his flight has been delayed but I should be picking him up in about 4 hours!  Fun times ahead!

IMAZ 2012 Race Report-DNF

"My finish" standing at the sidelines looking for my friends to cheer on...."

You know, what happened in Arizona hasn't really bothered me too much until tonight, five days later and I can't sleep mulling it over, knowing that my friends race reports are up and not being able to read them.  So what did happen????

I went to Arizona on Friday to get checked in, Craig was working and had a hike/campout planned with Brad and was flying in on Saturday evening.  All was going well, I met up with Linda Friday night for the athlete dinner and was just chillin' at my hotel, all the HGTV I wanted!  Saturday I started to not feel very well, I was nauseous and no food sounded good.  That's not like me on a day when I usually would eat anything that sounded good in any amount that felt good.  I finally decided I wanted In N Out, I hopped in the car and got to the exit--it was closed, the next exit I got caught up in the ASU post game traffic and couldn't get into anyplace.  I really didn't care, food just wasn't sounding good anyway.  I was slightly worried though because I knew I needed to eat.  I picked up Craig at the airport and it was time to go to bed.  I slept pretty well until midnight and then it was useless, I couldn't sleep anymore. I tossed and turned until it was time to get ready, still fighting nausea and chalking it up to nerves, I forced down some food and we headed off to TTL.  I finished setting up in transition, added two bento boxes to my bike and filled my fluids.  Went out of transition and hung with Craig and got my wetsuit on.

SWIM:  I hung back and didn't get into the water very early, it was cold, but I knew it was from doing the practice swim on Saturday.  It is amazing how much colder it was than just a month before at Soma.  The cold didn't really bother me too much, I had some goggle fogging problems but better than Soma.  One of the kayakers told me to sight into the sun and that really helped.  My goal was to come out of the water at 2:00 hours, not a lofty goal but realistic and it proved to be right on.  Out of the water, whew!

BIKE:  Onto the bike where I knew it would be a long day, but I was excited that the weather was perfect, I couldn't have asked for a better day.  I was anxious to see how much better I could do on the bike compared to 2010 when the weather was so bad.  That year I did 7:17, certainly I could make some big improvements this year.  I started out about 16-17 mph not trying to push it, just trying to get a Clif bar down, doing well and catching my breath still from the swim.  I'm not sure when it started, I think before I got to the Beeline, but my back started to hurt, I had a dull ache during the swim but just thought, oh well, you're swimming 2.4 miles.  The back pain radiated to the side and I was becoming increasingly nauseous.  Just keep pedaling, just keep pedaling. Maybe it's gas...increasing nausea and weakness, I finally stopped just past an aid station and vomited, I reassured the volunteers I was fine and got back on my bike.  My back was better for a few minutes and then the pain would hit again in waves, again I was trying to ignore it and thought if I could just make it to the turnaround I would be fine when I started downhill, my speed slowed ridiculously (especially when you consider my "fast" is ridiculously slow) but I made it to the turnaround, I wanted so much to stop but was sure I'd be ok going back, the pain in my back and side never got better, aero or upright it was getting worse.  I finally got to the turnaround for the first loop, went around the cone and pulled over to sit on the curb for a minute.  One of the volunteers asked if I was ok and I said yeah, I just needed a minute, he said ok but he was keeping an eye on me. I was getting shaky and nauseous and accidentally dropped my bike, another volunteer came over and decided to escort me to the med tent, at that point I was hurting too much to argue, in fact I didn't even mind at all when they took the timing chip off my ankle.  I was in tears, tears of pain and probably tears of relief.

MED TENT:  So every year for the last three years or so we go to dinner with a good friend who works the med tent, my personal doc, so the year I end up in the med tent is the year he is in Rhode Island doing a rotation!  Anyways I was very well taken care of and as I suspected but was trying to deny I have a kidney stone (still). Craig was about four miles out and by the time he got to the tent to claim me I was much better, with the stone having moved.

POST RACE:  I was feeling pretty good, I checked the Ironman store for a DNF shirt, hmmm no such thing, though really I wasn't embarrassed and would have bought one, something to the effect I would be back with a vengeance.  I cheered on my friends and hung out with Craig and knew I made the right decision, heck it really wasn't a decision it just happened.

POST POST RACE:  Well my DNF has finally caught up with me.... This was going to be my last Ironman, but I have such conflicting feelings.  I want to go out with a finish, not like this.  I am excited for my friends great races but I am missing that "I finished" high. Kind of a melancholy feeling about the whole thing.  I look at my bike average for the first loop and even with my slow splits my averages were good enough, couldn't I have just toughed it out?????

PLANS:  I don't know, I really don't want to go out like this, I know it will always bother me.  Annette cramped up on the swim and has a comeback to make also, she's thinking Lake Havasu next year, volunteer 2013 and comeback 2014, I think I'm with her.

SOMA

 

 Pre SOMA, my anxiety level was really pretty low, or so I thought, I think sleep tells the real story.  I went to bed at 8:00 pm, really 8:00 and was dead tired, but I woke up every half hour checking the time, I finally got up about 3:45.  No, that was not my intention but sometimes the body has other ideas.  I checked on the tracking and added the kids phones to my account so they would have the updates, I must  have done something wrong, no one got updates.  My stomach was yucky and I was pretty sure I was going to throw up, that was how I felt all day.

In transition, I checked my bike the night before so I just had to set out my "stuff".  My wave didn't go off until 7:00 am but they close transition at 6:15.  This is me, Linda, Caroline and Kim. Kate also found me right before the swim start.
I will add more pictures from Dad's camera, I haven't looked at them yet. Red Rock's results are not loading, so these times aren't exact:

SWIM:  58 minutes, big disappointment, huge disappointment, I really thought my swim was getting better and that is much slower than IMAZ 2010. I didn't have any panic but I was wearing my new goggles with the blue tint.  The defogger didn't work and the glare of the sunrise was literally blinding, I know I lost some time clearing my goggles and trying to see where I was, but I am not sure I lost 8 minutes, my goal was 50 minutes--in the pool every morning now. I did learn a new trick from the fun ladies in my wave, I was trying to adjust the shoulder of my wetsuit and this lady told me to have Dad blow in my sleeve, seriously this is cool he blew in the cuff of my sleeve, the whole arm puffed up and it felt much better. So, lessons learned 1) Wear my old tried and true mirrored goggles  2) Use spit for defogger  3) Make sure you have hubby or a really good friend to blow up your wet suit sleeve!

T1:  I gave myself 10 minutes in T1 in my goals, a hefty amount of time, but it made for nice round numbers, I wanted to be out of T1 by 8:00 am, with my bad swim I hurried in T1 and was out in 3-4 minutes, putting me a little past my original goal, I am happy with T1

BIKE:  3:47 This is a pretty flat, fast course but it has a lot of turns and turnarounds. My goal was 4 hours which would be an average speed of 14.  It's a three loop course, my first loop average was 16, second 15.5, I'm not sure what my final loop was (Garmin probs, as usual) but my overall average was 14.7.  I was disappointed I couldn't keep up the 16, it got hot, and a little windy, but overall pleased.  IMO the Soma course is harder than IMAZ.  IMAZ has less turns and you have that nice straight shot up and down the Beeline.  Slower than my IMAZ time even with wind, I'm hoping the problem is just the turns, right!

T2:  I was happy to be off my bike, I enjoyed all the honks and waves of encouragement from those driving away from the race, when I still had a half marathon to run!  T2 was 3-4 minutes also, which is better than I thought it would be, I couldn't stand and change my shoes so I plopped down and took my time.  Hit the porty on the way out and I was off.

RUN:  My goal was to run a 2:30 half, I was not even close, I think I ran about 3:01 :(  I had no legs when I started and finally about half an hour in I was rolling, from that point on I picked up my pace.  On the second loop I found Linda and we walked and chatted for awhile.  It was hot but the aid stations rocked, I filled my jersey with ice front and back at every station, one station had pirates and home made cookies, the volunteers were awesome.

FINISH:  I revised my finish goal during the race from 7:30 to 8:00, when I came in the clock said 8:32, I was close.  Craig met me near the finish and picked out a "not today" for me, she was walking but was significantly ahead of me, I didn't think I could do it without barfing, but what the heck, I gave it my best shot and passed her. And there was Annette, cheering me on at the finish!!! On the way home when I checked my results 7:59!!!! (I wouldn't have made it without my "not today").  My wave was the last wave, 30 minutes after the first, and apparently it started 2 minutes late!  Fifth out of 7 in my age group, I'll take it!

 

THANK YOUS:  I am forever grateful for a wonderful husband who is out there supporting me at all my races, I appreciate it a lot since many spouses do not.  He is the best.  Thank you to my IMAZ buddies, it makes coming to Arizona a lot more fun I love the support.  And one more huge thank you to the volunteers, thanks for staying so long at all your stations to take care of us stragglers, we, the stragglers especially need you and you were there the whole way!

Grumbly place....

I know all I do is grumble on this blog, but...well....I do grumble a lot, usually to myself but Saturday was an exceptionally grumbly day.  I had a long bike on the schedule and Bri, Sarah and Maddie were coming  to watch the BYU game[ :( sad but that's another story.]  While riding I resolved never to do another Ironman, I wanted to be home getting everything ready for lunch and munchies for the game, I wanted a quick trip to Target to buy some Maddie toys.  Our house has a sad dearth of toys,  especially girl toys.  About half way through the ride my attitude picked up and I thought maybe someday I'll do another Ironman (but only with Craig or one of the kids).  I eventually got to the grocery store and stocked the fridge for game day enjoyment and had a wonderful time enjoying my beautiful Maddie, toddling around.

Grandma did have one toy for Maddie to enjoy!

St. George Marathon 2012 Race Report

This was a different kinda year, Craig was training for a sub 3:00 marathon and pulled a groin muscle in June, then in August had a disc compressing the sciatic nerve with so much pain he couldn't walk.  So much for sub 3 plans.  I have IMAZ on the front burner and decided to treat this as my last longest run, and guess who had to run.  Amazing huh, but Craig decided to give it a try, as always the great and spacious vans were available, they just cruise by with their doors open  beckoning any runner who looks even slightly weary, so he went out with the resolve to give it his best, with the van always being an option (yeah right, if you know him you know that's not really true).
It was a strange feeling this year, usually I'm excited and can't sleep, overwhelmed with anxiousness, but this year-nope.  Maybe 'cause it was just Craig and me for the first time, I'm not sure.  I had absolutely no expectation except to hang with the last pace group which would make Snow Canyon Parkway by the cut-off time.
Speaking of pace groups, there seemed to be so many more runners this year, I'm not sure if that was really so but the road to start was packed full of runners, it can take  ten minutes after the start just to get to the start line, (providing a great opportunity to hit the port-o-pots without a line)!  But anyway, back to the pace groups, the five hour group was right where we were getting on the road, so hey, why not, I haven't broken 5 hours yet, lets just see how long we can keep up.  Craig was doing great, I was ok, I would drift to the back of the group and then catch up a little, keeping the balloons in sight most of the time.  I lost the pace group at some point, but Craig said he could see them and I again managed to catch up, drift back, catch up etc.  At about mile 19 we were still with the pace group but Craig was ready to walk and I unintentionally pulled ahead of the pacer, once I realized I had done that my only thought was, if I can stay in front I will break 5 hours. No really, I guess I had more thoughts, like "anyone can run faster, just depends on how much you want to hurt afterwards"--Craig.  "if you hold back on top you can negative split this", "stick out your chest, open your mouth and suck oxygen"--or something to that effect-- I could still do math in my head (unusual for me at mile 19 and figured I would really have to start to push it right now, to pr, so off I went.  I finished at 4:58, Yay--that first number is a 4 not a 5!!! 4:55 was my moving time, now I've got bigger goals in mind for next year, but if I can just keep shaving off time I will be happy.  I was most excited about a stat on my results--for the final 7.5 miles I passed 297 people and 6 people passed me!  I don't know where my legs came from, maybe all the yoga, but my fastest mile was mile 21.
Craig finished a few minutes after me, (that will never happen again I am quite sure!) but I waited in chute the and gave him his medal as he finished.
This morning I signed Brent, Kerri and me up for the runners series, right now we are thinking about doing the St. George Half in January and Lake to Lake if we can pull off a team in March.  At least Ker and I are thinking that, we'll se what Brent is down for when he's back from Cambodia.

Training Crunch

So with Kyle safely ensconsed in the halls of academia (liberal academia, whatever was I thinking!) you would think I would have more time to train.  One child at home, but still it is not any easier, the weekends are so full of things to do, where do I put those long rides and runs?  I guess I better get them on the front burner, 54 more days.

Soma or not to Soma

I know, I know, I've got to decide very soon.

Edit:  Ok, I did it!!!  I'm in.

Two Strikes!

Yesterday I went to spin class, I thought I had plenty of time to fill my gas tank first, wrong.....got there and no bikes!  No prob, went back in the evening to do my swim, all lanes were full and water aerobics was starting in an hour :(  Grumble, grumble but I got an extra rest day which led to a really good run this morning.  I saw another deer on Sunset, maybe the extra hot weather has been bringing them down.  Plan:  swim tonight and a beginning yoga class, my sherpa has injured his back and has agreed to yoga, never say never!  Switched to 13 week plan, starting in week 11.

Oh deer!

Last night yoga class was very hard, it was over my head but I just kept doing what I could and Daniel kept reminding everyone to "be in the moment".  Yeah--I just wanted out of those moments.  He told us we were almost done, we just had to go through the whole routine again for the other side so we wouldn't be lopsided, the lady next to me said she was ok with lopsided.  Me too, I was perfectly willing to come back today to finish the other side........but I survived and Daniel promises us we'll be stronger, umhmmm.
But this morning when I was out on my run, definitely not feeling the endorphins, but trying to remember to be in the moment, that very moment, when all at once this beautiful mama deer trots very slowly across the road in front of me.  I stopped and was very still just to watch her, she didn't seem afraid of me and all I could think was what a beautiful moment, I was there, totally plugged in not to my run but to the moment. Yay for the reward!

Yoga

Craig gave me a membership to the Yoga Room for my birthday, I am really enjoying it.  I appreciate it, I probably wouldn't have done it for myself, it seems a bit decadent having a gym membership and Yoga Room!  When I trained for IMAZ 2010 I give total credit to yoga for getting there uninjured.  My training is so so, lacking a lot of intensity but I am loving yoga and trying to make room for it.  Tonight I did a headstand, yay, sounds easy but, yeah easy when I was about 20 years younger!  This morning was 45 minute spin and half hour run, tomorrow one hour swim and one hour run.  I just realized today how fast the St. George marathon is creeping up on us, some year I am really going to go all out for it, but once again not this year!  Just a long slow run, last long slow run for IMAZ,  still thinking about SOMA for my half, anyone else in?

Back to the training

Vacation is over!  Really it's still July but we're back from Hawaii and Brad starts school Aug 7, way too soon!  I rode 37 miles today, should have been 4 hours, I have to pay a little more attention to the training plan, I got an hour swim and an hour and a half yoga class, so it was a good day.  Bri, Sarah and Maddie came for the afternoon and played in the pool and had dinner with us.  The Hawaii pics are on the other computer but I will post a few of my training pics.  There was the OWS in Waimea Bay, stand up paddle boarding--that counts too right, cross training, another cross training day hiking to Waimano Falls and jumping off the rocks, lots of snorkeling, Craig did quite a bit of running, me not so much running.  16 weeks, I plan on being home except for Labor Day weekend and really, really training.

Beach ride

Saturday Craig and I rode our bikes to the beach, my Garmin data link is on our family blog.  It was a good ride, I have sooo much work to do before November.  I tried to stay on Craig's wheel because of the headwind, each time I came up out of the saddle through the washes I thought,  "Thank you Willem!"  Spin class paying off.  The downside to spin class...for 76 miles all I could hear in my brain was "I'm not going to write you a love song....." I don't even know the rest of the words! This was my longest training ride so far this year, I have many more to do. Training has been going as well as can be expected given that fact that life is not all about training, and there is a lot going on!  I am going to try to get a long ride in Friday morning before we leave for Hawaii, in Hawaii it's just a lot of running and swimming.  I am so excited to go, it's Craig, Kyle, Brad and me.  The boys just want to surf, I definitely want to learn to stand up paddle board, and depending maybe I'll even take a surf lesson. I'm trying to challenge myself to do something outside my comfort zone. I am looking forward to snorkeling and just hanging out with the boys.

Utah Valley Marathon....

I think the picture says it all....I was slow, ok buck up, you finished and you're moving forward.  (Pep talk to self!)  The buses were early, I don't think I slept at all the night before.  The start line is in Wallsburg, seven miles or so from the turn off on Hwy 189 (the canyon).  The first seven are pretty easy then when you hit the canyon you hit some pretty nice uphill, about that time you begin to notice the altitude if you live at sea level like me.  Just need to train more, stick to it, train more, stick to it.  So easy to say, so hard to do.  Craig and I were in Atlanta last week, next weekend Ker and Kael are coming down and Bri and Sarah (yay full house), then we're off to Northern Cal for an anniversary party and we need to squeeze in another trip to get the condo ready to rent.....ahh.....training days?

June 5, 2012

45 minute spin class, 15 minute treadmill run.

On plan.

June 4, 2012

One hour swim this morning, skipped my run because I'm "tapering".  

Rest Day

I am doing Fink's plan but Sunday is my rest day instead of Monday, this week, I haven't decided what to do with the training plan with the upcoming marathon.  I am going to be better about posting my training so I will try to keep this updated.

It Looms.....

Credit to Marathon GIS website

So here is an elevation profile of St. George (which I have run) and Utah Valley, which I have not run.  Hmm....thinking no PR here.  I did my long run today, was going to do 18 but Craig found me at l5 and it was just too tempting to jump in the car and call it a day.  I wore my Newton's again today and they are definitely a go for next Saturday.  While we're there we are going to get our condo ready to rent, so if anyone is interested in a 3 bedroom, 3 bath, 2 car garage condo in Spanish Fork let me know!

SB SART

Great ride today, rode Santa Ana River Trail from San Bernardino, out to where it ends.  Not to be confused with the SART that starts at Green River, because we all know the SB scenery is divine compared to the scenery from Green River to Huntington Beach!

SB/Riverside County Line, not OC!
this ride is about 36-37 miles out and back, very comparable to one lap of IMAZ  it is a great training ride but not a route I would choose to ride by myself, it is fairly isolated if you have a flat or mechanical you can't handle yourself.  SB SART and I are going to be seeing a lot of each other.  Tomorrow:  18 mile run, last long run (ha-only long run!) for Utah Valley Marathon.

Have you been here yet, the line is out the door, so yummy, they make your ice cream on the spot, ride your bike--get ice cream, seems like a good deal to me.  We had a mom, dad, Brad date here tonight, YUM!  Brad and I had the Salted Caramel and Craig had Avocado.  I had the Strawberry Balsamic the last time, I don't think you can go wrong with any flavor.

Newton's vs. Mizuno

Who says you can't buy speed!  Ha!  A couple years ago before IMAZ 2010 Craig ordered me a pair of Newton running shoes to surprise me.  These aren't the fully lugged ones, but kind of an intermediate step. I wore them once or twice but was really "afraid" of them.  First of all I read somewhere not to use them on a treadmill and I do a lot of running on a treadmill and I read they would make different muscles hurt since they were changing how you run.  All in all I didn't want to wear them with the St. George Marathon and IMAZ 2010 looming.

My Newton's several years old, I'm not sure what model they are, lets just call them "Boughten Speed"

Fast forward two years, I just got a new pair of my trusty Mizuno Wave Riders and decided to dust off the old, almost new Newton's and do a little comparison, no doubt about it, the Newton's are faster.
Here are my two Newton runs:
59:56
1:00:03
My two Mizuno Wave Riders:
1:08:36
1:06:21
These are both on the exact same course, same two water fountain stops.
That is a huge difference for  a slow runner, I have gathered courage and decided to wear them in the Utah Valley Marathon, then if I hate them in a marathon I will know before St. George and IMAZ 2012.

Training 2/6

This was a good training week:

6 days of running, long run 8.2

2 spin classes

1 ride (meant to get another ride in on Saturday but it got cold!)

2 yoga classes

2 weight training days (yep putting it back in, darn dexascan)

Reasons running doesn't suck as much as you think

Picking and choosing a few of my favorites from hellogiggles.com  (thank you Kim)

You can lose weight by drinking nothing but hot water with lemon. Or you can run for an hour, treat yourself to a cookie and still fit into your skinny jeans. One of these options makes you witchy; the other makes you rad.


When your boss, your melodramatic friend and your nagging to-do list won’t leave you alone, calmly put on your running shoes and head out the door. They won’t follow you. 


Running is the last place you have to “be a lady.” Sweat, snot and sneaking behind a bush to pee is not only liberating it’s fun, in that giggly-childish-naughty kind of way.


Girls are lucky; there’s an entire industry committed to making us look awesome while getting our sweat on. 
Workout clothes come in all sorts of cool colors and designs. Jockstraps, on the other hand, will always be ugly with questionable stains.


Non-runners will sit on the couch and call you crazy. Those folks, sadly, will never learn what their bodies are capable of. You, on the other hand, will die knowing you completely, totally, unabashedly used up the body that was loaned to you. That’s not crazy. That’s freakin’ awesome.

Run-Yoga-Bike

Hurray, back on the bike yesterday and today!!!  

Good yoga class and 11 mile run. Run-Yoga-Bike makes a tri, I'm pretty sure!

St. George Half Marathon

Seriously I must re-examine the Wright family Budget!  I paid to do the Runners Series, paid to do the Snow Canyon Half, paid to do the St. George Half all for the privilege of registering and paying for the St. George Marathon!!!  That's true devotion for a guaranteed marathon entry.  I really do love the St. George Marathon though, so I'm in for sure!  Now to use the rest of the year to do some speed work.  My goal this year is just to cruise, pushing my pace but not getting beat up, it will be my last long run for IMAZ.  As for my St. George Half race report:
Craig and I got into St. George on Friday, picked up our packets at the Dixie Center, I bought this cool magnetic pocket that will hold a cell phone, key, credit card, etc.  I really like it (RooSports) since I always run in compression shorts with no pockets.  Neither of us slept well that night, when we woke up I had a head ache and it was raining!  A little Advil solved the head ache, as for the rain....well it must have been the torrent of prayers from all the runners, the rain stopped as the race was starting.  I have to admit I was kicking myself for not doing the 5K, think how fast that could have been over with!  Started off with no HRM just the resolve to go out and get it done, at mile 2 I really started to feel good and just cruised, I lost the 2:15 pace group, which was unrealistic for me anyway but when the 2:20 group caught up to me I resolved to hang with them.  I did pretty well until the last two miles and they got out of my sight, I was ok with that since my goal was 2:30 and knew I would make it.  When I came into the finish chute and could see the clock It was 2:20 something......I ran as hard as I could so the clock wouldn't say 2:21.  Here are my official results:

22    Melinda Wright                    Redlands  CA         5094   54     1103      2:19:55.6   2:20:43.4      0:47.8     10:40/M

I was happy to see 2:19 on the chip, which means  the pacers were a little on the  fast side...thank you pacers.  (Sorry about the font change, I don't know how to  change it since I copied and pasted) It did start raining the last mile which only     made me more anxious to be done.  So that's it--I package of Cliff Shots, 2      Vanilla bean Gu's was just about right.  Next project is to calibrate my foot pod, it showed I ran a 10:04 average    pace instead of 10:40, darn, I wish the foot pod was right!

Run Grandma Run

Yesterday was my long run, only 8.3, but I think I'm seeing the benefits of my 30 min/day no walking runs.  I ran without walking, my favorite route, top of Sunset to the Temple, best time I've done, averaged about a 10:40 pace, yay!!  Next week is the St. George Half, I would like to do less than 2:30, it's a flat course as opposed to downhill like yesterday.

2012 off to a great start--

2012 is off to a good training start after some Christmas and New Years time off.  We had a wonderful Christmas at home and then gathered all the kids, grandkids and Grammy and Papa for a cabin trip.  What a great time.  The weather was fairly mild, no snow :( we had to go to Brianhead to ski, so you might think I got my runs in...well not.  But I'm back on track, I haven't done any make up runs yet, but I'm still logging 1/2 hour a day on my Slowtwitch log.  I am doing a base plan until Be Iron Fit starts in April and I'm really enjoying it.

Craig and I are on for the St. George half marathon on Jan 21 (?) somewhere around that date--I decided to do the half which is crazy because I  haven't done any long runs, but, that Saturday I will have a long run.  This will make my second Runners Series race woohoo guaranteed admission to the St. George Marathon.  Did I also mention that Craig and I are registered for the Utah Valley Marathon in June? Looks like I'll have three marathons this year.  My best time is 5:05--goal--beat 5:05.  Time to start ramping up the long runs and getting some "speed" work in.