What a week

What A week. Sorry I am posting later than normal. We decided to go up to Spanish Fork for the weekend to spend Easter with the family. This past week was filled with highs and low in my training. On WED, I got the sweet opportunity to run with my good friend Lamon Mack. He is such the stud. We started out a run the morning following a night at work for me. I wanted to run a good 4 miles but only ended up running a fast 2.25 miles with an average 9:45 min/mile. My left quad tightening up and we ended up having to walk the remaining 1.75 miles. Lamon was so good to enjoy a nice morning walk with me instead of a good run.. Sorry Bro... But the times were Great!!!!! On sat I was gonna hit the streets of good ole Spanish fork but when I woke up at 05:45, I was greeted to snow. SO I hit a ride from my MOM who works out every morning at Golds Gym and went for a nice long run on the treadmills at Golds Gym. To my surprise, I was able to knock out a quick 7 miles in 75 min. I felt AWESOME.... Before traveling home today, I went back to the gym with my MOM and run a nice and easy 5 mile run in 58 min. I have had a pretty good week in my training. I have learned that I must listen to my body and even though I remain slow in my running time, I am getting the Miles added to my training. I am looking forward to Salt lake Marathon 5K in less than two weeks. Good Times!!!!!

OK!!! My New Goal

I have loved every minute of my running experience. When I get asked why I run, I tell them, i'ts hard to describe, but it's the adrenalin you get while running, the feeling of success you get when you cross that finish line, and knowing that you are a winner no matter what place you got. Running is a sport of overcoming oneself, while trying to master oneself all at the same time... This is why I love to run... Pure and simple... I LOVE IT!!!!

MY GOAL: A little over two months ago, I started to run, and run races. Knowing that I would probably be the worst runner in the whole field, I had to put my Pride away and give nothing but my best. In two months, I feel that I have made some huge steps, but I can also can see the MASSIVE Hills in front of me. In running, we always hear two things, The physical aspect, and the Mental side of running. Unfortunately the mental takes more time and experience than the physical. The physical can be paced out, worked up, and scheduled. The mental is something a runner must learn over time... With this in mind, I do not want to fall into peer pressure to run more than I am physically and mentally ready. For this reason, I plan to stick to my training schedule and better myself with my 5K-and 10K schedule for the remainder of the year. I hear that I could be ready to run a bigger race before I actually do, but I feel that this is the wisest decision I can make at this time. OK SO HERE I GO...... My new goal is to run St George Half Marathon aka Painter half marathon in Jan 2011. Painter 5k was the first race that I have ever run, and I think running the half at my year mark would be something special. I am so excited to have this as my new goal. Running 13.1 miles is a BIG deal, and I want to make sure that I have taken every step to be physically and mentally ready for this kind of run. But hey, I will and Can DO IT!!!!

Now that is off my chest... This week has been an awesome running week. On Monday, coming off my 10K high, I hit the treadmill for another 6.5 mile run followed by a 3.5 mile run on Tues. Friday I also got in another 3 mile run and today I ran 7 miles. Today's run KICKED MY BUTT. Not only did I wake up at 0630 to run, It was incredibly windy and cold. Running 7 miles is hard enough, but to add wind, holy cow... Oh and did I mention I HATE HILLS... i thought i had picked a pretty simple 7 mile route, well to find out, hills were everywhere, i don't mind running down, but running up is HARD!!! :) well I guess what doesn't kill me, will only make me better right? Overall, i was able to get a little over 20 miles of training in this week. I feel Awesome, Sore, Incredible, Drained, an Absolute high, all filled with challenges. This is what makes running such a special sport. Rock on!!!!

I saw this quote on one of friends blogs and couldn't help but posting it on mine... I love it....

"I run because it's so symbolic of life. You have to drive yourself to overcome the obstacles. You might feel that you can't. But then you find your inner strength, and realize you're capable of so much more than you thought."
--Arthur Blank

More spectrum 10K pics

Isn't this fun or what.....

Walking to the aid/water station.

Run Forrest Run...

Just a few more pics from the spectrum 10k. Thanks Melissa and Logan for some sweet race pics.... Thanks guys.

Spectrum 10K

Melissa Baldwin and myself at the start line. I work with her at the hospital. It was so much fun to run the whole race with her and her son. They truly ROCKED da House... Nice Job guys.

Annette Orton and Myself. Annette is a good friend of ours from Panquitch. It has been fun seeing her at all of the races. Oh and she of coursed kicked my butt again...lol

Sunrise at top of snow canyon state park. The start line. It was such an awesome, but cold morning. It warmed right up when the race started.... Sweet

I LOVE SNOW CANYON STATE PARK..... It was AWESOME...

This is looking towards Tuacahn. This was one of the most scenic runs I have ever done....PSSS ( I have only ran three now but it still is the best)....

RACE REPORT: The Spectrum 10K was awesome.... I wasn't for sure that I was going to know anyone there. All my running friends didn't run this race. Thursday night at work I found out that Melissa and her son was going to run and that made me happy. I ran into Annette, which is always awesome to see. Man it was another cold morning. but just as the race started it warmed right up. The race overall was pretty sweet. the first three miles weave in and out of Snow Canyon State Park, and is primarily down hill, but it also had several hills, but overall wasn't bad until mile 4 and the weaving in and out of the neighborhood. There was more hill's to conquer here, but once we hit the flat top, it was all about the open road. I was able to have a pretty sweet run with an avg 11:30 min/mile. It was so much fun to run with Melissa and Logan through the whole course. I crossed the finish at 1:15. Just a month ago, I ran the dam to dam, a five mile run, in 1:15 min.... and today 6.2 miles in that exact same time. I think the thing that made it even better was that I didn't need to walk as much. I did walk through the aid/water stations, but other than that, I was able to run majority of the race. I felt awesome when I crossed over the line. I have never in my whole life EVER ran 6.2 miles, and today I DID IT!!!! It felt amazing, so satisfying. It was my greatest accomplishment yet. Today is my two month mark for running. I now have run a 5k, 5 miler, and a 10k, oh did i mention that I have also lost 25 lbs... These have been my greatest two months of my life. Running is so addicting and I just love the running atmosphere. There is nothing like the Runners high. Thanks to EVERYONE for all your love and support. You guys rock. It makes a Difference. I am gonna ENJOY my Journey.

Ready or Not...

What a week... I just completed my last training run before I run the Spectrum 10 k this weekend. This will be the longest race I have ever attempted. Last month, the dam to dam was 5 miles, the spectrum is 6.2 miles. I am so excited for sat, but also a little sad that Melissa and the kids wont be there to see me finish my longest race of the year. Between soccer and primary activities, they wont be able to make to the race... Oh well, guess I will just have to take pictures huh.
Well my runs this week went well. Monday I ran 3 miles, and today I ran 3.5. I only plan to cross train on Wed and rest before the big day. Overall, I am excited to see actually how far I have come. This Sat, March 20Th, will be exactly 2 months when I started from the couch to running races. I never imagined that I would have come this far. Well I'm looking forward to SAT... Stay Tuned and wish me luck!!!!!!

The Big 5

I love this saying... Sometimes in life I think we keep telling ourselves... I will love it when.... or I cant wait until...... And we forget to Enjoy the Journey along the way.... I hope that I never get caught up in this and that I will always enjoy the journey and smile because it just happened...Well It has been a great week for me. Today I had the undaunting task of running 5miles as I prepare to run a 10 K (6.2 miles) next weekend. Today, as it has been over the past several weekends, was cold, and stormy. I wanted to get out and get my run in before the rain moved in. It actually turned out to be an awesome run. I ran 5 miles in 58:51. Looking back on my Dam to Dam posting of 73 min and change, I was stoked to see the progress. I felt good, I felt that I could have gotten that last 1.2 miles in at somewhere around the 70 min mark. I cant believe that the Spectrum 10 k is just One week away. It is going to be a blast. So this week I ran a total 12 miles. I feel good. I have lost a total of 23 lbs so far and am loving every moment of it. Just cant wait for the warm weather to finally arrive and STAY...lol Onward to next week.

Gonna Run Disney

I have decided to be apart of the the Disneyland 1/2 marathon weekend Sept 3-5Th. This year I will only be running the 5k with Mikayla. She really wanted to run this one with me. It looks like a sweet 1/2 marathon route that is flat, but I wanted the experiences to run with my daughter. The 5k route run through both theme parks and finishes up on Main street USA. It is gonna be a blast....
I don't know what is up with all the wind and rain we have had down here this year. But today's run was in wind and rain. I decided to change my route up and added more elevation changes of approx 250 ft. Overall it was a pretty sweet run. I started out fast and had to pay for it later in my run. I was able to run 3.5 miles in 38:50. I am stoked that I am seeing some progress in my endurance and that the hills don't kill me as much as they used to. What a great run today. Tomorrow is cross training day. Gonna be swimming laps, so to the pool I go after I work tonight. Bring It ON!!!!!

Blowin in the WInd

Man what a run today. Melissa and the kids wanted to come today and play on the schools playground while I ran. It wasn't a cold day, But it sure was windy. It was a good 20-30 mile an hour wind gust. It sure makes it hard to run in a head wind three quarters of a lap. So Today I ran a total of 4 miles in 51 minutes. I felt good throughout the run, but just tended to be a little bit slower due to the head wind. Overall not a bad day. I have been asked to post some new pics.... so here ya go. I have officially LOST 20lbs since January....I am so Excited.. I feel awesome, well beside the aches and pains etc.... NO PAIN NO GAIN RIGHT???? I even had Rylan (4) run .75 miles with me and Mikayla (9) run 1.25 miles with me. It was funny, Mikayla said this was the hardest run she has ever done because of the wind. It was fun to run with the kids. Hopefully they catch the fire and keep it going while they are young. Time to ice up... Later all...

Two weeks away

What an awesome week it has been for me. I can tell that my training is Totally paying off. You may say this is weird, but I can feel my muscles getting stronger. My Endurance in running is getting longer, my strength in core exercises are becoming not so much a nightmare as they were on my first few days and weeks. The best part is the weight that I have lost. It is such an awesome feeling to hear people say....."Your looking good", "You have lost some weight".... I jumped on the scale today, like I do everyday, and marked myself at 18 total lbs down.... I just LOVE to run. I was asked yesterday by a good friend of mine...."Why are you so excited about running, Its like someone lit a fire under your butt, you jumped up and haven't looked back". Needless to say, they are right. Back in my earlier days, for those who knew me, I was a very competitive person. I was going to do one better. Always lived by the saying that 2ND place was the first loser. Well alot has changed. I am no longer worried about how I do, but more concerned with the effort I now give to it. I expect nothing but 100% from myself. For me, I have won if I have left everything I have on the Table and have no regrets following my actions. That is true success. I run today, because I find a joy that I haven't had in a long time. Its like I have a thirst I cant quench until I find myself running the pavement. Lately I have been craving a good run even after I complete a good 3 miler. I have been totally engulfed in this sport. I LOVE IT!!!!!
I loved the Quote by Steve Young that I have posted here earlier in my blog. The only competition is ourselves. We need to make sure that everyday we are making progress.. As a new runner sometimes this progress seems slow and tedious, but everyday you run, everyday you work on core training, every rest and recovery day, progress can be made. I have found that It begins first with a desire then forms a habit. I no longer need to pump myself up for a run, I just get up and DO IT....
Yesterday I got home from work and noticed that the rain was back in town again.... Jeeze every weekend we have rain, whats that all about.... I bundled up and hit the road. About a 1/2 mile in, I really started to feel my Extensive Core Muscle training from Tues kick in. I haven't squatted, lunge, calf lift etc..... like that in ages... WOW I never felt sore until I started into the run. So I decided to make the workout into an interval run. Running for five minutes at a fast pace, then slowing to a brisk walk for 1-2 minutes and repeating for a total of 45 min. I was able to run 2.5 miles. I felt good. Today is an active rest and recovery day. I do look forward to SAT 4.5 mile long easy run. I Love the open road, Bring it on!!!!

PS... The Spectrum 10k is now only 2 weeks away... EXCITING :)

A change in plans

Just got word today that the ST George Fire 5k that was scheduled for March 13Th, has now been canceled. I'm so bummed. I was hoping to use it as a leap board to the Spectrum 10K. Well all focus now is on the Spectrum 10K on March 20 at Snow Canyon State Park.
SO to prepare for the mostly down hill run of 6.2 miles, I added some changes in my running. I want to make sure that I get used to not only running a flat course but that I also am prepared to run elevations changes. You know that law: What goes up must come back down.... Yup gotta love da hills. Well it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I actually had an awesome run. I ran 3.5 miles, with better than normal pace around 11:45-12:00 min/mile. I was able to knock out 3.5 miles in 40 min with multiple elevation changes. Sweet. I FELT SO GOOD. I love that I am just able to not stress about running, but that my desire takes over wither or not I run. It is never in question. I just run because I love the open road, I love the solace, peace and the ability to think w/o disruptions. I love it for the way I feel, the endorphins, which gives ya the runners high. I just love to run. I may not be a pro, but that isn't my goal. I look back to where I was almost two months ago, coming from the couch, and now I can run 5 miles and going for 6.2... WOW I'm stoked. Thanks to all of you who have offered support, dealt with my enthusiasm, and given me advice. I am thankful to all of ya. Oh by the way, I have lost 15 lbs and counting.... Sweet.

PS... Cross training today went well. worked on core muscle training. Gotta love the burn.