I Can Do Hard Things

St George Half Marathon

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Location:

American Fork,UT,

Member Since:

Nov 27, 2009

Gender:

Female

Goal Type:

Boston Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

St George Marathon

2011 - 4:11:52 

2017. -4:01:17

2021 - 4:03:05

Salt Lake City Full Marathon

2013 -  4:23:03 

Ogden Marathon

2012 - 3:58:35

2013 - 4:17:20

2014 - 4:02:51

2017 - 3:55:22**

2023 - 3:57:09

Utah Valley Marathon

2019 - 4:05:37 

Top of Utah Marathon

2014 - 4:09:27

Mt Charleston Marathon

2019 - 4:05:33

West Mountain Marathon

2015 - 4:42:34

 

St George Half Marathon

2012 - 1:55:00

2013 - 2:03:00

2014 - 1:46:00

2015 - 1:48:00

2022-  1:42:45**

Salt Lake City Half Marathon

2012 - 1:51:00

2014 - 1:44:01

Hobble Creek Half Marathon

2001 - 1:40:00**

2011 - 1:45:00

2012 - 1:43:00

2013 - 1:43:00 

2022 - 1:48:53

American Fork Half Marathon

2013 - 1:48:24

2014- 1:53:23 (pacing Tim)

2017  - 1:47:54

2018 - 1:48:12

2019 - 1:47:50

Timp Half Marathon

2012 - 1:47:18 

2022 - 1:49:40 (AF Cancer course)

Utah Valley Half Marathon 

2011 - 1:55:00 

Top of Utah Half Marathon

2010 - 1:48:20 

The Haunted Half Provo

2018 - 1:51:28

 

Goblin Valley 50K

2014 - 5:58

Red Mountain 55K

2018 - 7:31:37

Antelope Island Fall Classic 50K

2017 - 6:14:23

Antelope Island 50 Mile

2015 - 10:10:00

Antelope Island 100 Mile

2018 - 26:53

 

 

**Personal Best 

 

 

Short-Term Running Goals:

 

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

To qualify for Boston

Personal:

Married for 23 years. I have 18 year old triplets and a 15 year old. I love to sew, garden, and run!

Favorite Running Quotes: 

1.  

"Sooner or later the serious runner goes through a special, very personal experience that is unknown to most people.

Some call it euphoria. Others say it's a new kind of mystical experience that propels you into a elevated state of consciousness, a flash of joy.

A sense of floating as you run. This experience is unique to each of us, but when it happens, you break through a barrier that separates you from casual runners. Forever. And from that point on, there is no finish line. You run for your life. You begin to be addicted to what running gives you."  

~Nike Poster

2.           A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Lao-Tzu

You’ve no doubt heard this.  And you’ve probably recited it in your mind on a run or at the gym when you’re just beginning to get in shape.  You have a goal in sight and this quote brings you back to the current moment.

 

But the problem is that many runners forget all of the steps between the first one and the goal.  If your goal is to run under two hours for the half marathon then you need to be honest about all of the little steps to get to that goal.

 

…and what I’d rather see you do is to get the goal out of mind completely, but rather focus on the process, not the outcome. -Jay Johnson Process orientation, not outcome orientation.

 

You should have goals, but you should take it one step at a time.  And you should be honest about the fact that you don’t know how many steps it will take to get there. ~ Vernon Gambetta

 

3.  Human beings are made up of flesh, blood and a miracle fiber called COURAGE! ~ George Patton 

 

4.   Find the courage to be patient.

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 22.33 Month: 127.28 Year: 374.00
2014 - Minutes Lifetime Miles: 28605.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
22.0015.1037.10
2014 - Minutes Miles: 439.00
Weight: 149.75
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
10.000.0010.00

TT: 1:33:29

AP: 9:20

I got up at 4:00 am to get my run in...ohhhhh...that is too early! As always, I had a hard time finding my mojo the first half and was fine the 2nd half. I really liked seeing that I had burned 1500 calories this morning...before 6:00am too :)

Quick stretch and foam roll

2014 - Minutes Miles: 93.00
Weight: 0.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.002.004.00

TT: 33:34

AP:  8:23

4 miles on the home TM.  

 

WORKOUT

15 min bike warm up

1 set 

lunge matrix

60 sec plank

touch downs

crossover drill

.5 mile warm up - 6.3mph

.25 hard x 5 (started at 8.0, 8.0, 8.2, 8.5, 9) - .25 recovery to keep my miles straight

cooldown till 4 miles

1 more set of the above

stretch and foam roll

 

2014 - Minutes Miles: 70.00
Weight: 149.00
Comments(2)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
7.000.007.00

7 blah boring mile on the home TM. No mojo or speed today....blah! I am so much slower on a TM than outside!!

TT: 1:05:32

AP: 9:21

PM:

20 min on bike

3x

Lunge matrix with weight

Crossover drill

Single leg hamstring lift

1:00 bridge

Donkey kick

Fire hydrant holds

Overhead press

Butterflies

Skull crushers

Bicep curls

Stretch and foam roll

2014 - Minutes Miles: 140.00
Weight: 150.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.000.000.00

Taper day! Sure enjoyed the extra sleep this morning!

Weight: 150.00
Add Comment
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
3.000.003.00

3 easy shakeout miles on the home TM. I stopped after each mile to stretch and foam roll. I scraped my lower legs this morning so they will be ready tomorrow. Lets do this SG Half

I went to the BYU bod pod today to see what my real weight and body fat % is. I've come a long way, but still have a long way to go. Sigh.....

2014 - Minutes Miles: 30.00
Weight: 150.00
Comments(2)
Race: St George Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:46:47, Place in age division: 27
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.0013.1013.10

I wrote this little diddy for my family blog....it will work for my race report:

Five years ago, I decided to run my first marathon.  With that marathon came the desire to join the elite running crowd who qualify for the Boston Marathon.  Disappointment after disappointment and injury after injury, that goal was set aside.  
 
Time after time.
 
After time.
 
I decided that my running game plan was not working.  I was reminded of the definition of insanity, "doing the same thing time after time and expecting different results".  So in May 2013 after another poor race, I decided to change my whole paradigm of running.
 
I read several articles and books and thought I would implement their suggestions.  I had nothing to lose.  It couldn't get any worse.
 
First, I stopped racing and recovered from every injury I had.  Second, I started strength training.  Then I started to run.  I cut my miles way back and ran slow.  Every fourth week, I reduced my miles even more and called it a rest week.  
 
After a few weeks, if everything felt good and there was no lingering injury, I increased my mileage a little.  More weight lifting.  More stretching.  Another rest week.  No injuries - a few more miles.  
 
My training friends were qualifying for Boston left and right, but I was just running.  Though my heart said "I should have raced with them and I would have qualified too".......my head, told me I made the right decision.  The right decision to train slow and smart...to not rush through another training cycle and get another injury.  But to take as much time as my body needs to adjust to the incessant pounding.  To get stronger.
 
I told myself I wanted to train this "right" way for years and years, but always after the next race.  Which turned into the next race...then the next next next race.  I finally stopped the unsuccessful cycle.
 
The St George Half Marathon was my first race of the 2014 season.  I'm finally putting my new training regime to the test.  I've been working on it for 7.5 months.  I've run more miles than I've ever run in my life.
 
My Boston qualifying time is a 3:40 or an 8:23 mile.  I really wanted to be able to run an 8:23 mile (or a 1:50) for the race today.  I knew it would give me the mental boost that I could run that fast.  But also, that I would have enough time to get more speed and endurance to be ready to run that pace for 26.2 miles in May.
 
On my way to St George

 

 

 

 
I had a good friend who was the 1:50 pacer and another friend who was the 1:45 pacer this morning.  I knew both ladies had plenty of race experience and had enough guts to chew me out if I started to slack.
 
The gun went off and it was time to hit the road "JACK".  I stayed with the 1:50 pacer until mile 4.5.  I was extremely hesitant to pull away so early in the race but thought I could maybe catch the 1:45 pacer.  But tried to keep my pace and breathing consistent.  
 
I saw our good friends, the MacDonald family, at mile 5 and was thrilled to have cheering squad out there for me.  I continued to climb and climb and climb through the streets of Bluffdale.  My legs started to feel heavy and my gut started to hurt.  
 
My good friends, the MacDonald family, took this picture at mile 5.
 
 
After conquering the final hill at mile 7 (there was an ambulance waiting at the top....that is how big of a hill it was), I decided I needed to find my TRUE GRIT.  It does not matter how well I start the race.  But it does matter how I finish.  How far can I dig into my reserve of motivational thoughts, songs, movies....how can I overcome the demons screaming on my shoulder that I am not ready to do this.....how badly do I REALLY want this.  DESIRE is a force to be reckoned with.
 
I took my last drink at the mile 11 aide station and knew I only had 16-17 minutes of running left.  I would look at other runner's shorts and try to catch them.  "Catch the purple shorts"  "Catch the black shorts".  One by one they became roadkill. 
 
But I was in puke zone.  And I had to pee.  I could only hold so many bodily functions in at once.  My legs were tired.  "YOU CAN'T DO THIS".  I'm gonna pee my pants.  Here come the pukes....swallow.  "YOU STILL HAVE ONE MILE TO GO...IT'S TOO FAR TO HANG ON".  My feet hurt.  Catch the blue shorts.  Ohhhhh....I have to pee so bad.  My arms feel like bricks.
 
Just when I thought I couldn't hang on for another second, I see the finish line.  Then comes the overwhelming emotions of the balloon arch, the fuzziness of the spectator faces, fist pumps, cow bells, and the clock that silently screams 1:46:47 (8:09 mile).  
 
4 minutes faster than my goal.
 
9 minute course PR.  
 
The pukes go away, the rocks on the asphalt start to focus, a stranger puts a medal around my neck. and the flood of emotions start pumping through all the veins in my body.  I wish I could bottle it up and sell it as Walter White sells his goodness.  It would be more powerful than his blue meth.
 
 
These amazing ladies tell me I can do it and today I believe them.  Love you LPL's!
 
I don't know how the rest of my season is going to turn out.   It may all be for naught and come crashing down.  I don't know.  
 
I hope to recover smart and continue with my marathon training.  I need to work on my mental toughness the most.  I need to regularly practice digging into that cave of pain.  To get comfortable there.  To learn that it can only hurt to a certain point.  And I WILL live through it.  Hopefully, that will get me my blue jacket.
 
2014....CONQUER DEMONS AND CHASING DREAMS

 

AP:8:09

1-8:17

2-8:18-Water

3-8:20

4-8:10

5-8:14-Water

6-8:16

7-8:25-Water

8-7:48

9-8:12-Water

10-8:08

11-8:31-Water (I stopped twice!!)

12-8:03

13-7:49

2014 - Minutes Miles: 106.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(6)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
22.0015.1037.10
2014 - Minutes Miles: 439.00
Weight: 149.75
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