Running

Blogging is starting to seem a little archaic. With Facebook and Instagram being quicker and more accessible to share photos and the interesting parts of our lives, it just seems like too much to sign in, upload and organize photos, and then write a post anymore. But blogging is like journaling. A simple photo and caption don't always tell the whole story. There are a bunch of different ways to record a story. You can write it in a journal (who writes anymore anyway?), voice record it, or type it. And if you type it, do you print it and store it? Or have a hosting site store it for you? These are questions I've been wondering lately. I don't want the story part of my life to get lost. I have a lot of pictures, but sometimes, looking back, I don't always remember what happened when I took the picture.

With that boring train of thought now removed, I'm going to try a quick update of my life. Lots of stuff skipped over for sake of time.

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I'm running. A lot. My family thinks I'm a little too crazy about it but I am truly addicted. I'm going to blab about why I love it and how I feel about it. Because this is my journal!

One of the top reasons I love running is for the stress-relieving capabilities of it. I absolutely love LOVE the feeling of those endorphins racing through my body both while I'm running and after my run. It's a natural high that lasts for hours afterward. I could compare it to something that happens in the bedroom. It's comparable. It is! ;)

More about stress-relief. On the surface I'm calm and sweet, right? I'm actually a very tense and angry person (come on, aren't you?). Most of my anger is with myself. For not meeting my own expectations and for doing dumb, stupid, idiotic things. Since most of my anger is internal,  running has proven to be an excellent outlet for that anger. When I feel uptight, I go for a run. I don't have to get in the car and drive anywhere first. I don't have to fix my hair or put on makeup or call a friend. I don't have to talk to the person at the front desk and show my pass. I just put on my shoes, my sunglasses and I just... go. If its the middle of the day and Kyle is at work and I have the girls, I have two choices. The treadmill in my basement (lifesaver while Kyle was back at the FBI academy) while the girls play around me OR they hop into the double stroller and we hit the bike trail (though I do try to plan my runs in the morning or at night so I don't have to run in 100 degree temps pushing 65 lbs of extra weight. Because that hurts).

You know, running is really like throwing a big tantrum or having a good cry. And no one has to see your tantrum or watch you pout. The madder you feel, the harder your run. Beat yourself up. Berate yourself. Run harder. Get tired. Run a little slower. Apologize to yourself. Cut yourself a little slack. Acknowledge your efforts at being a good parent, a good employee, a good spouse, a good friend. Ponder ways you can be better at this or at that. Think about people that inspire you to be better. And then start feeling better. Promise to hug your kids when you get home from your run. To pull off your sweaty shoes and read them a book. Cry a little bit for being so uptight for such silly reasons. :) This does happen!

My reasons for running aren't always to relieve anger though. Only about 4 out of the 5 days a week it is. No, I'm kidding. :)  The other reason is the very noticeable change to my body and energy level. Running is the most time efficient way of burning calories. Lifting weights, swimming, cycling, any other form of exercise will burn calories, of course, but not as many as running. Running tends to burn more calories because it works eeeeverythiiiing. Your legs, your butt, core, arms, back, feet..... everything. In the beginning when I was trying to lose that twin-skin around the middle, it was one of the major draws for running. Now, at this point, I'm not trying to lose weight. In fact, right now I'm trying to gain back about 5 lbs. Of muscle, preferable. Not Oreo-food-storage. Being healthy, being strong, and being fast are my goals. I want to be 45 and go backpacking with my kids. I want to be 50 and try surfing for the first time with my kids. I want to be 65 and play soccer with my grandkids. I do. I dream of the day when my girls can put their running shoes on and go for a run with me. Can't wait.

Running is really really really hard to learn to love. When I first started running in the very beginning, running drained my energy. It was boring, it was hot and sweaty. I would be exhausted and sore all day from running a slow 3 miles. But. I kept at it because I knew that to build it up stronger, I had to tear it down first. And my ultimate goal was to run a race. Half-marathon or marathon. Wear a bib. Hear people cheer. Vain, yes. My shallow side shows. But true. So I kept doing the same thing and pushing hard every time I ran. I made goals. Every time I ran, I had a goal. Whether it was a longer distance or a 5 second faster time, I had a goal. After several months of doing the same thing, I found that 3 miles was getting easier, that I was recovering from it faster. So I would make these small bumps. Up to 4 miles. Or run it just 30 seconds faster. I also noticed that I was getting more done around the house and playing with the kids more energetically. I could go for longer without having to rest. Again, the hardest thing in the beginning was that building that base. And to keep running having faith that I was making changes even though I couldn't see them yet. Only after about 8 months of routine, 3-4 days a week, running, did I FEEL like a runner.

Well, one can go on and on about something they are passionate about but I've said all I can think of that I feel about running. I have had a few setbacks and injuries. I'll journal about those but now some pictures are needed to prevent this post from being 100% boring..... So I'm going to post my Zazoosh photos of me during the races I've run so far along with my times. Many runners started slow. I really did start pretty fast, relatively, for a runner. My PR (stands for personal record) times are really pretty good for some first races. Which really doesn't mean I'm good, it just means I'll reach my plateau sooner. :) Here goes:

Dogtown Half Marathon - Feb 25, 2012

Time: 2:02 (2 hours, 2 minutes)
Pace:
This was my very first race and in my hometown, Washington, UT. I didn't know what to expect and I surprised myself at running way faster than I had trained for. I remember being overheated because I had, noob-style, worn pants and a long sleeve shirt which were way too hot once I got warmed up.

Bryce Canyon Half Marathon - July 14, 2012

Time: 1:46
Pace: 8:06 per mile
I traveled to Bryce alone and stayed in a hotel by myself which, may to some seem weird, but was actually a nice treat to myself to get away from the kids and life. I really surprised myself again by cutting about 20 minutes off of my previous half marathon time. This course was mostly downhill though, beautiful, cool, and easy.

St. George Marathon - October 6, 2012



Time: 3:58   (3 hours, 58 minutes)
Pace: 9:09
Since this was my first marathon, I didn't have any time to beat so didn't know what to expect. I did, however, have this unrealistic goal in the back of my mind of getting an under-four-hour time. My long runs during training didn't match this goal so I kind of put it away. When I got to mile 24-ish and saw how CLOSE I was to making the goal happen, I pulled everything I had out of me and laid it on the table and sprinted the last two miles to try and beat the clock. I was super disappointed in myself when I crossed the finish line at 4 hours and 1 minute. Later, when I found out that I had a CHIP TIME (the time I actually crossed the start line, not when the gun went off) of 3 hours and 58 minutes, I've almost never felt as proud of any accomplishment in my life. And I felt proud because I worked so damn hard to make it happen. When you give everything you have, a huge investment is made.

Snow Canyon Half Marathon - November 2012

Noob-style again, I started running too soon after the St. George Marathon. Even though I'd read that recovery was vital, I didn't fully understand what it meant to recover. I thought it really meant 'when I wasn't sore anymore'.  Two days after the marathon I thought "Ya know, Misty, your muscles are feeling ok! Maybe you should run an easy four miles." Then the next day, another four miles. And that weekend, 10 miles. Truth was, I needed my old routine. The one I had been living all summer long. I didn't understand that it wasn't just my muscles that needed recovering, but my tendons, joints, and bones. Even though I couldn't feel that they were stressed, pounding them for 26.2 miles gave them tiny fractures that can't be felt or seen. My weekend 10 miler did it. After my run, the outside edge of my right foot started throbbing. And got worse the next day, and worse the day after. I iced it, I tried to rest it. But every time I ran on it, the pain would flare up again and I could feel a grinding on the bottom of my foot when I'd point my toes (probably peroneal). I had already paid for and was planning on running the Snow Canyon Half with friends, but two days before the race, with tears flowing, I called St. George Leisure Services and cancelled. It was impossible for me to limp 2 miles let alone race thirteen. I went to the finish line and cheered my friends but pouted and fumed inside. Lesson learned. A marathon requires weeks of rest, not a couple of days. I took a break from any hard running for several weeks, it cleared up, and I was back to running.

Dogtown Half Marathon - February 23, 2013



Time: 1:44 (one hour, forty-four minutes)
Pace: 8:00 minutes per mile
This was my first repeat race. A repeat race means a true test of improvement. The distance and course are exactly the same. The Dogtown Course is fairly hard. How much had I improved in one year? I pushed really really hard on this race. Maybe even harder than the marathon. I over-Gu'd and almost threw up toward the end. And my compression socks (which I'd never worn during a race) gave me wicked blisters. BUT! My finish time showed I had shaved 18 minutes off the same race from a year previous. And two minutes from my last half marathon (easy Bryce course). I was happy with that!

Spectrum 10K - March 16, 2013

Time:

Pace: 7:51 min per mile

This was the first race I got to run with Kyle! And how does he do? Well. He doesn't train. He just gets off the couch, puts on his shoes, and keeps up with me anyway. Sick and wrong. I think I expected a little better out of myself on this race (it was, after all, only 6+ miles and downhill) but I had been spending a little less time running and more time eating Oreos and doing Chemistry homework at the kitchen table. It's all good though, my pace improved very slightly and I had fun turning 31 and running a race with my sweetie for my birthday!

And now what? Well. In two weekends I'll be doing THIS with some other crazy Moms that also need an excuse to get the heck out of town:

It's a 195 mile relay with 12 team members from Torrey, UT, over several mountain ranges and ending at Zion. We each run 3 legs of the race. I am Runner #3 and get THEE hardest legs of the race, elevation change-wise. AKA I'm running up a mountain so my team members can run down it. Super excited!

And then July 15, I'll be running this race for the second time. And Kyle will be running it with me for the first time! Looking forward to getting out of town with him. I don't think he's so excited to run it (to run at all actually) but he's a good sport and does what he can to try to be interested in the things I am.

Lastly, the St George Marathon is on the schedule again for 2013!

I had a little mishap with getting signed up for it though. Initially they sent me a rejection letter telling me I had not gotten in through the lottery EVEN THOUGH Washington County residents are guaranteed a spot into the Marathon. I emailed them immediately and they sent me this in reply:





I took my ID in, the issue was cleared up, and I'm in! There may be a few other races I sign up for. I think my favorite distance is a half marathon. I like the looks of the Yankee Meadow or the Outlaw (in Beaver, UT) or the Top of Utah but we shall see.

That's it for now!