Fess up Friday

Today's Workout:  25 minutes weights, 10 minutes ellipticizing, 8 treadmill miles, dropped the incline to 0% for the last mile and ran it in 7:03.  I nearly died.  62 minutes overall for the run. 

It was a good workout and I feel like I have got some really solid workouts in this week.  Rather than focusing on speed from the beginning I have been trying to hit my tempo pace mid workout or towards the end and it has felt really great and been an exciting new challenge.
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This week marked 6 months since I first started my blog and also 6 months since running my first half marathon.  I have grown so much in the last 6 months as a runner, and as a person and I feel so grateful and thankful for the love and support my family, friends and you all have shown me.  Running and this blog have been such a great outlet for me and I have so enjoyed sharing my journey and am so thankful for each of you for following me along this crazy road.  I truly appreciate each and every single comment you leave and am so thankful for the friendships I have made.


To thank you all for being a part of my journey and reading all of my crazy adventures I will be doing my first giveaway next week.  The blogging community has given me so much and it is now time for me to give back. I will announce the giveaway on May 5th which is Trevor's 23rd Birthday.  I started this blog in honor of my brother and Trevor was truly the most giving and caring person I have ever known so it only feels right to do my first giveaway on his Birthday and to give back to you all for reading my blog. 


The giveaway will be awesome and you are not going to want to miss it.  I will give you a hint that it definitely will involve food and it may involve a gift card to Trevor's and my families favorite restaurant of all time.  Again, you are just not going to want to miss it.

Now that I have announced the announcement of my giveaway you must suffer through Rachelle's addition of Fess up Friday.

1. I secretly wish I was running Ogden Marathon.  Most of my running group is running it and I just feel so ready and suddenly waiting until June 11th feels like an eternity.  I am also already stressing about doing my last 20-miler without Ashley and her Mom Pam.  I think I would impulsively sign up for Ogden in a heartbeat if it weren't sold out.

2. The sugar fast really hasn't been that hard for me.  I realized I really don't eat much sugar during the week.  But what would be hard it a salt fast.  I have nearly eaten an entire bag of baked lays this week, and I have polished off an entire bag of pretzels, and probably eaten my body weight in cheese.  I gotta make up for the lack of sugar somehow right?

3. I ate fast food (besides subway, kneaders, cafe rio or Jimmy Johns which don't count) for the first time in probably a year last night.  Arby's was calling my name and I was really not feeling like cooking so  I looked up the nutrition facts online beforehand and settled on the Jr. ham & cheddar melt.  They were not teasing when then said 'junior'.  It was seriously smaller than my fist and I was wishing I would have just went BIG with the extra large roast beef and curly fries.  After I ate it I ended up eating a second dinner of peanut butter and real strawberry sandwich. 
4. I haven't done push ups since Monday.  I always start and then just get bored with it and quit.  Dang it I need to work on this.
5. I have a massive mosquito bite right above my butt crack.  Scratching your butt is totally classy right? 

That is all I have for you today.  I hope everyone is having a great Friday and has some awesome weekend plans. 

Do you every eat two dinners?

Not usually but seriously the minature Arby's sandwich was just not cutting it for this girls massive appetite.

What are your plans this weekend?

I will be running 20 miles in the snow and then hanging out in my sweatpants and avoiding sugar.  :)

Tell me a confession about you.  Please!

A Day in the Life.......of an ADDICT

Today's Workout:  20 minutes weights, 8.25 treadmill miles, 1% incline, 62 minutes.  2 mile jog/walk with my sister, baby James, and Izzy dog.  Okay Mom's out there you are my hero's because running with a jogging stroller is tough stuff.  Seriously hard core.  I pushed it for about half a mile and then had to give it back to my sister.
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ADDICTION is defined as:  the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.

A day in my life lately.  (I recently finished Spring semester in school which has only heightened my problem.)

5:30a.m.- Wake up and head straight to the gym.  (Sleep in my gym clothes of course to give myself an extra 5 seconds of running on the treadmill.)

8:30 a.m. - Arrive at work.  I answer phone calls for three different hospitals and in between calls I spend my time researching races, texting running friends, e-mailing running friends, reading running blogs, reading runners world, researching workouts, analyzing elevation maps of upcoming courses, and thinking about what my next workout will be. 

Lately I have been studying this race like it is my job:

4:30 p.m.- Drive home from work while talking to one of my running friends.  Lately it has been Ken as we try to figure out our Wasatch Back Ragnar team.  If I am not talking to someone about running I am thinking about what I will blog about or how far me and Izzy will run.

5:25 p.m. - Lace up my running shoes and head out the door running with the dog.

5:45 p.m. - Blog about running and read running blogs or research more races and impulsively sign up for a few.

7:00p.m.-bedtime - Put on my favorite Ragnar sweatshirt, my compression sleeves, and read running books.  Stretch, do some crunches on the ball, and push ups and think about what my training will be the next morning.

9:00p.m. - Crawl into bed and dream about running.  Last night I dreamed that my purple hair gave me super powers and I ran the marathon in 3 hours.

They say the first step to getting over addiction is admitting you have a problem.  But I am going to continue to live in denial and pretend like my daily life is completely normal.

Do you think about running all day?  or am I the only weirdo and you are thinking I seriously need help.

What is your favorite time of the day to workout if you could choose?

I really do love mornings but lately I have been loving my afternoon jogs.  Perfect weather, and such a great way to de-stress after a long day.  It totally keeps me from just opening the pantry and eating everything in sight as well.  :)

**The answer from my post on Monday about who the first person to notice my purple hair is:  The 62 year old security guard.  Okay so when I say 'notice' I probably really mean 'comment'.  I am sure that everyone noticed by he was the first person to say something and it completely caught me off guard.

**Also my amazingly talented brother in law fixed my camera.  Yay!!  I am one happy camper and no more running with a camera in one hand and dog leash in the other for me.  I am not coordinated.  Lesson Learned!

Have a great night friends and don't forget to checkout out Blue Eyed Runner's awesome giveaway.

Running Lessons Learned

Today's Workout:  10 minutes on the elliptical, 7 treadmill miles, 1% incline, 56 minutes.  2 mile walk/jog with Izzy dog, my sister Amber, Momma Sue, and baby James.  ********************************************************************************

As a part of Julia's footnotes here is my edition of lesson's learned from running.

• Today I learned the vital lesson of not running with a Camera.  I was so excited to run with my sister and my Mom that I decided to bring my camera along.  I have heard of tons of people doing this and thought it would be "no big deal".  I took some epic pictures of our family adventure and it was seriously so much fun.  But unfortunately the Izzy dog yanked me towards the end of the run making me toss the camera in the air and as a result the lens was bent. :(  Bent so badly that the camera will no longer work.  :(:(  Learned that lesson the hard way. (I promise I took some awesome pictures and promise to share them with you if my camera gets fixed.)
• Honestly I have learned so much from running that it is impossible for me to explain in just one blog post.  Before I started running I was constantly stressed and worried.  Running was the balance I needed it my life.  It has made me a better all around person and that is what I love about it the most, that is has balanced out my crazy life.  Life is hard and running is an outlet. It has made me a better student, a better Manager, and overall a better friend and person.
• 
  If you are a new reader or even an old reader please refer to one of my very first posts HERE.  This post explains what I have learned from running and how much it has effected my life.  Basically running has taught me that I am capable of doing things I never thought possible.  Running has taught me confidence, faith, courage, and most of all that I can move on from my brothers death.  Losing my best friend was life altering.  I was a mess after Trevor's death.  I was confused, mad, lost, delirious and sad.  I would have hidden in a closet for months and never came out if I had my choice.   My best friend was gone.  The person I used to talk to every single day and the person I called when I was down or needed advice was gone....forever.  Think about someone you talk to everyday in your life for a minute...like your husband, your Mom, or your best friend.  That person for me was erased from my life without warning, and in an instant. I truly feel that running saved me.  Without my new found passion of running I would have never found myself.  Through running I have been able to cope with Trevor's death.   Before I started running I didn't have much self worth.  I didn't really think I was that good at anything but running and racing has helped me to realize that I am talented and I am capable of pushing myself and achieving success. 

Okay so this could quite likely qualify as the most boring and lame blog post ever but there you have it.  Running has taught me so much and most importantly self worth and confidence.  I am so grateful and thankful for running and more importantly the friendships I have made throughout my journey.  I truly feel lucky and blessed to be a part of such an amazing blogging community and I thrive off of all of your posts and information you share.

You Are What You Eat & Yet Another Amazing Race

Today's Workout:  20 minutes biceps, 9 treadmill miles, 1% incline.  7 @ Tempo 7:19, 2 at 8-8:30ish.  This workout kicked my butt and my right knee was killing me towards the end.  I stretched for 10 minutes after and still feel a little pain in my knee cap so I may be forced to a do a little cross-training the next few days.  We shall see. 


Oh I did push-ups last night.  I promise I am not giving up on the challenge.  4 sets of 15 and max of 30.  I seriously just plopped right on the ground once I hit 30.  wowza!
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I wanted to talk quickly about why I have chosen to deprive myself of the deliciousness of sugar.  And since I am a list kind of girl here you go:

A.  You are what you eat.  According to what I have researched and learned in my Health Care classes at least 80% of Health problems in America are related to diet.  Every class I take the reoccurring topic is always heart disease and diabetes and the root cause of both of these illnesses is poor diet.  OK, your thinking lame Rachelle your 25 who cares?  Well last week my Dad was diagnosed with incredibly high sugar levels and borderline diabetes.  This was an eye opener for me because I always thought my dad was healthier than an ox.  I know that heart disease and diabetes both run in my family and it is important to me to set a good example for my Dad and to do what I can do now to prevent these illnesses in my future.

B.  I am an "all or nothing" type of gal.  Most people I know can eat 1 cookie, or 1 serving of m&m's, 1 piece of cake and be completely satisfied.  ahem I hate all of you people!!!  I am the type of person that is not satisfied until I have polished off the entire bag of animal crackers, or the entire cake, or the entire 32 oz bag of m&m's, or I am laying on the floor in a stuffed comma but still licking frosting from the jar.  This may stem from my disordered eating past which you can read about HERE.  But I am the type of person that cannot just stop at 1, 2 or even an entire bag.  I am hoping that by cutting sugar out for awhile I will no longer crave it and have these awful crazy binges.  By not having it at all for awhile it may make it more "special" when we reunite and I may not have the urge to eat a full sized funfetti cake in one sitting.

C.  I ultimately want to race at a lower weight.  My long term goal is not to lose weight.  I am actually incredibly comfortable, confident, and happy at my current weight but I would like to be 5-7lbs lighter when I race the UV marathon.  I know that cutting out sugar will help me to achieve this goal so I decided that now was a good time.

D.  I love having goals and doing things that are hard.  Goals push me to challenge myself and I have learned that I am capable of a lot more than I ever gave myself credit for.  In the past I would have never even considered publicizing such an overarching goal like quitting sugar or running a marathon.  But I have learned that if I have enough faith and courage in myself I am capable of anything.

Alright so there you have it.  This is my story and I'm sticking to it.  Day two is going good and so far I think that the biggest problem is that my house is FULL of left over Easter candy.  I've got Reese's, mini eggs, m&m's, peeps, chocolate marsh mellow bunnies, and even ice cream and chocolate syrup all starring me down.  Yikes!  Someone please come claim all of my candy.

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Me and Julia at our first Ragnar.

In other awesome and exciting news I will now be running Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay in June!!  Yahoo!  My friend Ken who I am running Napa Valley and Vegas Ragnars with called me Saturday and said 2 spots opened up on his team.  I could not be more thrilled.  I have always wanted to run Wasatch Back since I first heard about it and now I officially am!  My first Ragnar was a monumental experience for me and I truly don't know if I would still be running if it weren't for that experience.

The best part about this is that since my team captain needed two runners my friend Stefanie at Run-On! will be running her first Ragnar with my team.  I know Stefanie has been talking about wanting to run Wasatch Back for awhile so when I saw the opportunity I jumped on it and I am so excited to be there for her first Ragnar.  Ragnar's are amazing and I love being a part of a team and working together to achieve something amazing.  None of us could accomplish running 200 miles alone but together it is possible and so much fun!!  EEEEE I really cannot contain my excitement and my passion for relay events and running with others!

Everyone have a fantastic day!  Mine would be better if it weren't snowing outside!?!?!

What's the weather like in your neck of the woods?

Seriously snow on April 26th...blah

Have you ever ran a team race event like ragnar?

Let's all get together and create an epic blogger/runner relay race across the country.  Seriously that would be the greatest thing ever!

Purple is the new Brunette and Sugar FREE is the Way to Be!

Today's Workout:  20 minutes triceps, 8.25 treadmill miles, 1% incline, 64 minutes. I was planning to take the dog for a nice run outside but as soon as I got home the thunder started. :(  Stupid, lame Utah Weather!
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Lets just get this out of the way first:

Not too bad when the lights are dimmed.

In the light

So sometimes on Sunday afternoons I get kind of bored and this boredom generally leads to trouble.  You see I suffer from a disease called never ending energy and sometimes I channel this crazy source of energy in the wrong direction.  Since I only ran 3.5 miles instead of my normal 8-10 I was suffering some major "I need to do something to entertain myself syndrome". So I bought a hair dye (I HAD A COUPON PEOPLE) and decided I would dye my hair.  Before you go passing judgement I know that this is stupid and a risk but I have dyed my own hair multiple times and never ever had a problem.

The color on the box was pretty and I thought it was the same color I always buy.  Nope not the case.  They apparently came out with a new color "soft black with auburn hues."  I got home and noticed it was the wrong color but decided to just do it anyway.  After all the color on the box was dark brown and I didn't think it would be a big deal.  oops!  I had a melt down for about 2 minutes and then got over it and laughed at myself hysterically.  I mean after all it is just hair and luckily my appointment with my boss today was over the phone.  (I work for an incredibly conservative company that frowns upon clown colored hair.)
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In other news aside from my illiteracy I am quitting SUGAR!  For an entire week at least.  This will be my only goal this week and it is a big one.  Maybe if I quit using sugar as my number one source of nutrition I will be able to think clearer, and not make such impulsive decisions like dying my hair purple for fun?

My ultimate goal is to quit until my marathon June 11th but I am going to start with baby steps and shoot for a week.

Just to clarify my little sugar fast, I realized today that nearly everything has sugar.  My yogurt=9 grams, granola bar=7 grams, pretzels=7 grams.  I will not be quitting all of these things but rather anything that the main ingredient is sugar like gummy worms, chocolate, cookies, cake, donuts, pastries, you get the point!  I will also try to cut back on things such as granola bars.  But my main goal is to get the pure sugar out of my system.  Wish me luck!

Who do you think the first person at my work was to notice the purple/reddish hair, my 40 year old female secretary, my three female employees, or the 62 year old male security officer?

What is the craziest thing you have ever done out of pure boredom?

I will not go into my adolescent days because my Mom would be more than embarassed but as an adult dying my hair purple may top the charts?

Are you going to do the sugar fast?

It is the cool thing to do.  :)

Sugar Comma & last 30k post

Today's Workout:  3.5 recovery miles, 28 minutes, flat, around my neighborhood.  My legs felt surprisingly great this morning and the weather was nice so I decided to go for a quick easy run. 
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 I hope everyone is having a great Easter Sunday.  I am celebrating by not showering, wearing my sweatpants all day, and eating as much Easter candy as I can fit into my body.  Stefanie at Run On is starting a sugar fast tomorrow and I am thinking about joining her.  I decided the best way to figure out if I was ready was to eat all the sugar I could handle today and that way it should still be sufficiently pumping through my bloodstream all week if I decide to quit cold turkey.  Anyway I will let you know what I decide but I do know that I feel incredibly "icky" today after consuming about 3 times my weight in sugar flavored eggs.

My personal favorites.  Peeps, marsh mellow bunnies, and mini eggs.

"Running is an endless source of learning, especially if you pay attention." - Matt Fitzgerald I stole this quote from Julia's blog and it is one of my absolute favorites.

I know that you are all probably sick of me talking about the 30k but I quickly want to post about what I learned.  Running for me is all about the experience and with each race I learn so much and it only adds to my journey.  I really focused yesterday on paying attention to my body and running by feel rather than pushing too hard.  It was amazing because I was able to think clearer and enjoy the experience more.

What I learned:

•  It is important to have a plan about when you will eat your GU's or Chomps before the race starts.  I wasted a lot of energy thinking about when I would eat my chomps yesterday.  I kept thinking I feel good I should just wait and I don't really need those extra calories I should just hold off.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.  I should have known where the water stations would be before the race and ate every 45 minutes. 

• Thrive off of the people your running with and talk to the runners around you.  This is the first race ever that I have talked to people around me.  I have always thought that it would slow me down or waste energy but actually it was the opposite.  I was high fiving the elite runners that were racing on their way back, striking up conversations with people that were pacing with me, and encouraging those that passed me or that I passed.  Not only was this encouraging it also made the time go by a lot faster and I wasn't constantly thinking about how I was feeling or my pace.

• Know your max pace for the distance you are running and don't go below it.  I told myself I did not want to go below a 7:40 pace the entire race and ended up having 4 miles faster than this pace.  Had I stuck to my plan I think I could have ran more consistently.

• Relax and have fun.  I think this is the most relaxed and calm I have ever been for a race and it totally paid off.  Not only did I run well but I can also honestly say that I enjoyed myself.  In some races I have been so stressed out and OCD that I forget that running is a hobby and running is something I enjoy.  This race reminded me of why I run and why it is important to enjoy the experience.

 If you could only pick 1 Easter candy for the rest of your life what would it be?

Such a tough choice between peeps and mini eggs but I think I would have to go with the chocolate.

What is the greatest lesson you have learned from racing?

Honestly just to have fun.  I am usually so competitive I forget to enjoy myself but yesterday showed me that I can have fun and race well all at the same time.

30k Recap

This is probably going to be long and boring but this blog is pretty much my personal journal and I really want to write this all down before I forget everything about today's race and what I learned.

Friday night I headed up to Ogden and my brother hooked me up with an awesome room at the Holiday Inn.  (it is incredibly helpful to have a family member in the hotel business when you travel all over the country for races.)  We stopped in Layton on the way up to pick up my packet and got to the hotel around 6:30p.m.  I walked around the hotel, checked out the pool, weight room, and lobby.  (I am a dork and get kind of excited to stay at hotels) and then went on a quest to find me some dinner.  After driving around for awhile I finally settled on Jimmy Johns.  I didn't want to try anything new and knew that bread, meat, and cheese was a safe bet.  Yummy, such a great decision!  The sandwich was so thick I couldn't even fit a full bite in my mouth but it was delicious and I devoured the entire thing with ease.  :)

#12 on the menu.  Try it today!

After I was sufficiently full I tried on my shirt and and got everything ready for the morning.

Love this shirt.  Usually I hate the shirts and they pile up in the back of my closet but I will definitely be wearing this one.  :)

I had a snack before bed (of course) and then hit the hay around 9:30p.m. hoping to get some good shut eye.  Um not the case....I could not sleep at all!  I have no idea why.  I really wasn't nervous for this race, I knew it was just a training run, and seriously I had never felt so un-nervous but actually excited for a race in my life.  I'm still not sure what it was but I tossed and turned all night and finally it was time to wake up.  I got up around 6:00a.m. and started getting ready.  I decided to go with my original outfit and my favorite jacket.  I had been training in my jacket a lot and knew that Brian would be following me on the course to throw it to him if I felt like I was getting too warm.

Race outfit.

We then hit up the breakfast buffet and I horded food for after the race.  By 6:45a.m. we were off to Eden.  It was about a 25 minute drive (It was a beautiful drive) and we got the the starting line at about 7:15.  By the time I ripped off my sweat and used the porta potty the race was off.

Classic porta potty picture.

This was such a weird start to a race.  There was no announcement and no gun shot.  By the time I walked up to the start people just started running and I was like oh ok I guess it started.  It was actually really nice because I never had time to have that pre-race anxiety or urge to start out "balls to the walls."  I started moving my feet really slowly and worked my way past the slower pack.  By half a mile I settled in at a nice pace and felt great.  I could not stop thinking about how excited I was to be there and to just run for fun.  I really was not taking this race seriously and just wanted to enjoy the 2.5 hours ahead.  The scenery was beautiful once we got out of the city and I must admit the first 3 miles literally flew by.

Mile 2.  So happy to be running.  :)

Mile 1:  7:21

Mile 2:  7:28

Mile 3:  7:39

At mile 3 I met Stefanie Talley with Utah Elite and I was literally star struck.  I talked with her for about a mile and a half and she was so nice and a wonderful distraction.  I did not turn on my music for the first 5 miles.  I knew that if I listened to my music from the beginning I would go to fast and I was determined to keep a more consistent pace.

Mile 4:  7:44

Mile 5:  7:42

Mile 6:  7:48

Right after mile 6 we hit a water station and I stopped to drink.  I know from experience that I am terrible at drinking water while running so I just stopped, caught my breath and drank a full cup of water.  Mile 6 was a gradual uphill climb and I was excited to be 1/3 of the way done.  I still felt amazing and literally was excited to keep running.

Mile 7:  8:04

Mile 8:  8:02

At mile 8 I started talking to a guy on the course.  I did not get his name but he had just ran Boston on Monday.  He was an experienced runner and incredibly nice.  Miles 7-10 were gradual uphill climbs and he was a wonderful distraction from the elevation gain.  He gave me some advice for my marathon and was so fun to talk to.

Me and my friend I met.

Mile 9:  8:10

Mile 10:  7:41

Mile 11:  7:38

Mile 12:  7:49

I ate 3 chomp blocks at 7.75 miles (the 1 hour mark) and hit a gradual downhill after mile 10.  I felt so great and picked up my pace.  I may have picked up my pace a little too much but I just felt SOOO good I couldn't help it.  I was in awe with the scenery and just felt so blessed that my body was capable of running like this.  I was so happy.  Brian met up with me around mile 12 and I was still feeling great.

Mile 13:  8:10

Mile 14:  7:58





I ate the rest of my chomp blocks at mile 13 and realized how exhausted my body was.  This was an out and back course and I knew that the gradual downhill I had finished earlier would now be a gradual uphill.  I was tired but I knew I only had 5 miles to go and I was determined to stay mentally strong.

Mile 15:  8:14

Mile 16:  7:58

Pretending to be happy.

Brian met up with me for the final time at mile 15 and I told him I was dying.  He was incredibly encouraging and just cheered and said you are doing so great you are so close.  Just finish strong.  The next 2 miles were a gradual uphill towards the city.  I stopped and walked and ate a GU after mile 16.  I knew this would slow me down but also knew I needed it.  My right leg was starting to cramp and I mentally felt weak. The GU was nasty and thick (I stole it from the aid station earlier.) and I remembered why I don't love the GU's.  I was physically exhausted at this point but just kept telling myself 20 more minutes you can do it.  "you started strong, now finish strong." is what I kept repeating in my head.  The GU helped and I was able to pick up my pace a little for the last stretch of the race.

Mile 17:  8:40

Mile 18:  8:21

Mile 19 (.71 miles):  7:42

I sprinted into the finish and was so excited to be done.  I was tired but I felt okay.  Some races I have felt as though I would collapse at the end and I actually felt just fine at the end of this race.

Instead of medals this race gave out Nike bags at the finish.  I was excited about this because I love these bags.

Took off my jacket at the end for some pictures. 

 Alright so there you have it.  The official results have not been posted yet so here are my Garmin results for those of you who missed them earlier.

Time:  2:27:54

Distance:  18.71

Average Pace:  7:54

Max Pace:  6.27

I will post again tomorrow about what went right and what went wrong with this race but overall it was a great training race for me and a great experience.  I am incredibly behind on reading blogs and promise to catch up tomorrow.  Everyone have the most amazing Easter ever!  :):)

How To Set a PR

Run a distance you've never ran before!

Quick Update on the 30k coming to you live from the hotel room.  We are off in 5 minutes to ensure I do not miss a second of the family Easter Egg hunt.  I feel like I'm at least 108 but hopefully I can hobble around faster than the kids.  :)

Ogden Winter Series 30k Garmin Results:  Time:  2:27:54, Distance:  18.71, Average Pace:  7:54, Calories burned:  1922.

Alright I am off to eat 1922 plus calories of chocolate covered Easter candy.  :):)

I will be back tonight with lots of pictures and details of the race.  I hope everyone is having a great Easter weekend.



30k Thoughts

Today's Workout:  20 minutes shoulder weights, 6 treadmill miles, 0% incline, 50 minutes.
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Tomorrow morning I will be racing in a 30k (18.64 miles) in Eden, Utah.  They really were not joking when they named this circuit a 'winter' series.  Statistically the weather in Northern Utah on April 23rd is between 58-64 degrees.  Tomorrow's weather report in Eden.

Tomorrow: Rain and snow showers in the morning. A shower or two in the afternoon - otherwise, mostly cloudy. High 44F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip 30%.

You truly cannot predict the weather and I will of course still run the race.  I have learned that when it comes to weather and running you really just have to adapt to whatever mother nature throws at you.  Recall posts Here and Here when I ran races in less than Ideal weather and still survived.  Sure as a runner I would love for every race to be 60 degrees, downhill, overcast, with no wind.  But these tougher weather races make me that much stronger for the good weather races.

Why I chose this Race:

• As I have mentioned previously I do not love distance and I knew this race would ensure I run at least 18.64 miles before the marathon. (luckily I found awesome people to run with and have already conquered 20.:)
• I get major pre-race anxiety and felt this race would calm my nerves and help me to transition from 13.1 to 26.2.
• To wrap my mind around running more than 13 miles in a race.  Pacing will be much different for 18.64 than is would be for 13.1.  At the end of all of my half marathons I have felt as if I have burned all of my brain cells and couldn't crawl another step so this will hopefully help me to pace smarter.
• This course is HARD!  It is a net incline gain and there are lots of hills.  You can check out the elevation Here.  This will be great training for me and make my mostly down hill marathon feel easier.

Thoughts and Goals for the race:

• I did not taper for this race at all.  I have ran 44 miles so far this week and the additional 18 will put me well above 60.  I am looking at these races leading up to the marathon as 'training runs'.  My goal is not to kill myself and run 7:30 miles the entire time but rather to gain confidence and experience.
• With that said I would like to run this in about 2 hours 30 minutes which would put me at about an 8 minute mile average pace.
• I would like to run the entire race and not have to walk at all except at aid stations to get water.  Speaking of water I would like to actually drink water during this race.  I have struggled with this in the past but know I need to stay hydrated.
• I would like to pace smart.  I wont say I necessarily want to run positive splits because most of the hills are towards the end but I would like to be smart in the beginning so I am not crawling up the hills.
• I would like to enjoy myself and relax and hopefully meet someone to run with.  Running alone for 150 minutes can be incredibly lonely.

Okay now onto the most important topic of this entire post.....What should I wear???

I planned early this week to wear my cute pink tank, black shorts w/pink stripes, and pink compression sleeves, of course with throwaways on top.  At the start of the race it is predicted to be 34 degrees.  Do you think I need to wear a parka and furry boots?  Or can I still pull this off?  I am so so so sick of long tights and under armor.  I need serious opinions friends.  This decision is almost as important as where I will eat dinner tonight or where the best ice cream joint in Utah is.  Serious, serious, life altering decisions!

What are you all doing this weekend?

As soon as the race is over I am headed straight to Eureka for my Grandma's annual Easter egg hunt.  I have my extra large pink Easter basket ready, will still be in my running gear, and my younger cousins better watch their backs.  I take the Easter egg hunts serious and in my opinion you are still a kid until you are married.

Gym Pet Peeves

Today's Workout:  10 minutes abs, 20 minutes ellipticizing and counting seconds on the machine, 5 treadmill miles, 1% incline.  I have no idea my time because my machine was unplugged twice while I was running.  I nearly punched an old man (wearing jeans and slippers to workout) in the face when he kicked the treadmill plug the 2nd time.  That old man is dam lucky he doesn't have a black eye.
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The above incident brings me to the topic of gym pet peeves.  I work out at the gym 4-6 days a week and here is what drives me crazy.

1.  Having to re-start a run on the treadmill or any machine for that matter.  There is nothing like being almost done with your workout and someone kicking the plug to your machine, or accidentally hitting the stop or emergency button.  Blah!!  You will also notice that I generally run 8 miles because that takes me 65 minutes and 60 minutes + 5 minutes cool down is the maximum time limit on the treadmill.  I hate having to start over.  After the 2nd time the old man unplugged my machine today I wanted to lay down on the ground and kick and scream like a 2 year old.  But instead I just quit and pouted in the locker room.

  2.  When someone is using a treadmill to talk to their friend and not even working out.  You know the person at the gym that stands on the treadmill with their hair all did and make-up on just to talk to their friend that is working out on the other treadmill.  Why would anyone wake up at 5:30 in the morning to come to the gym to talk?

3.  Juice heads.  I'm talking the annoying 'buff' guys that think they are cooler than a triple scoop of ice cream on a 150 degree summer day.  You know the ones that huff and puff and eat a gu in between every rep.  They grunt and throw their weights on the ground and hog the entire weight area.  Oh and then prance around flexing their muscles in the mirrors.

4.  This last one is somewhat un gym related but when large people tell me how to lose weight.  This absolutely drives me crazy.  I once had an incredibly overweight person (while eating french fries and a foot long hot dog) tell me "if you want to lose weight you should just start eating fruits and vegetables and nothing else."  Really?  like seriously?  that would work?  I. do. not. believe. it.

Let me conclude this tangent of mine by saying that I love the gym.  Really I do 99% of the time.  These are just a few of my pet peeves.  Have a great Friday Eve and I will be back tomorrow with my thoughts on the 30k this weekend.  Eeeeek I am scared spit less for that race.  Longest distance+hilly hard course+my ipod may be broken=Rachelle might pee her pants with anxiety status!

What are your gym pet peeves?

What race were you the most nervous for?

I remember feeling this way before my first 5k, 10k, and half marathon so I am hoping it is just the 'first time' nerves.  I am also nervous about the hills......YIKES! 

What I did Wednesday and Mantras

Today's Workout:  15 minutes triceps, 8 hard treadmill miles, 1% incline, 64 minutes. 1.25 miles with the Izzy dog, 8:38 pace, 3 hours chasing around a 10 month old, 123456 calories burned. :)  Last nights push ups were 2 sets 25, 2 sets 15, and last set 20.  I need to work on the whole "maxing out" thing.
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This afternoon I hung out with this guy:

And he did this to my house:


I am kind of a clean freak, and messes give me anxiety

 And then his Mom talked me into this:

2 protein bars, 2 bags o baked lays, 2 family sized boxes of gushers, peeps, marsh mellow bunnies, crispy m&ms, conditioner, and pretzels.  all for $13.00

My sister and I are wanna be couponers.  Well more so her than me, she just always drags me along for support.  We seriously SUCK at couponing.  We have tried several times and failed and after our last experience I refused to ever try the whole crazy coupon, price match, psycho extreme approach ever again.  Some how today she talked me into 'trying' again.  I obliged by saying I would go with her strictly to watch the wild child.  (I had already gone shopping this week and really didn't need anything anyway.  Really I am just trying to justify the fact that I only bought junk by telling you this)  Anyway long story short she talked me into doing some price matching coupon crap and it actually worked out.  As if I needed two bags of chips to eat my m&m's with but anyway I was excited because I usually suck at these things.  I know most people get like $200 worth of food for $2.00 but this is a start.  Maybe someday I will be one of those crazy people that gets all there groceries for free.  Someday!

Anyway I am getting completely off subject with my randomness but I felt it necessary to brag about my cute nephew and my obsession with Easter candy.  At least you all know that I am capable of washing my hair in between eating m&m's and peeps!

Onto more important things.  Have you all checked Julia's blog out and her "footnotes" segment?  If not check it out now and join in on the fun.  This weeks topic is positive mantras.

I wouldn't necessarily say mine are positive but here they go:

1.  "pain is temporary, quitting is forever."  I literally repeat this as many times as I need throughout a race to get me to the finish.  The pain will end when you cross the finish line but if you puss out and start walking you can't take that back.

2.  "pain is weakness leaving the body."  I love to tell my fatigue that I am better than it while I am racing and that I will beat it.

3.  "screw it:  run through it."  Mostly use this one will hills or mountain as I like to call them.  After an uphill is usually a downhill.  The grass is greener on the other side.

4.  "relax and flow."  This is when I in my positive mindset and need to just keep a consistent pace.  I am able to control every part of my body and just enjoy my surroundings.

Alright there you have it.  For me I have to have short mantras because my brain only functions at about 15% capacity while I am pounding the pavement and pushing myself beyond what is normal.  I am a pusher when it comes to running and constantly asking myself: "can I give more?"  if the answer is yes you better believe I push harder.  (Do not follow my example, I am not normal, and this is why after I am finished with a treadmill run the machine is drowning with sweat.)  "Extreme" is my middle name.

Okay, okay I am rambling on about nothing.  Happy Hump Day Peeps!

What have you been talked into that actually worked out for the best?

couponing!  I swore against it but actually had 'fun' trying to be thrifty today.

Matras?  I want to hear them now?  Are you a pusher or a wait for it type of person?

I push, and push, and push, until I want to puke.  Smart? no! Hard to change? yes

Totally Terrific Triple Tangent Tuesday

Today's Workout:  15 minutes weights, 9 treadmill miles, 1% incline, 72 minutes. 1 mile wogging with the Izzy pup.  I also actually counted my push-ups last night.  I usually do them but don't really keep track.  I realized if I want to be a miniature muscle machine I gotta take it serious.  So 4 sets of 25.  It was hard, but I did it!
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''Your life is in your hands. No matter where you are now, no matter what has happened in your life, you can begin to consciously choose your thoughts, and you can change your life.''  

Totally Terrific Triple Tangent Tuesday.  I added the Totally Terrific (aren't I clever) because that is what today has been......Totally Terrific!

1.  The co-founder of the Ragnar Relay Series Tanner Bell wrote an inspiring article on reasons to run.  You can read the full article Here.  I spent the entire morning completely relating to everything he wrote and thanking my lucky stars I started running because I truly do not know where I would be without it.  My favorite quotes from the article are "if you run, your a runner, end of story." Love this quote because so often we discount ourselves by saying I run but I am not a runner, or I ran a half-marathon once but I'm not a runner.  If you run you are a runner!  Another favorite quote from the article "I have running friends all around the nation. I may only see these people once a year, but I'm bound to them through running." Love, love, love this quote.  Okay check out the article it is great!

If you haven't ever ran a Ragnar Relay please do it now.  It is literally the most amazing running experience ever.  I so cannot wait until Napa and Vegas.  Can't wait to reunite with my running family.

2.  I love my job and my employees are amazing.  Today I had a staff meeting and my employees completely surprised me by highlighting me and telling me what the appreciate about me.  Since I am working on upping the protein the also gave me a big bag of reese's. :)  I seriously wanted to cry happy tears.  Knowing that you are appreciated is the best feeling in the world.  I just love my job and truly am committed to "healing for life".  We also had an inspiring speech at staff meeting about charity care and that made me want to cry happy tears all over again.  I am so blessed to have such amazing and inspiring people in my life and am so lucky to have a job that I love.  I promise I am not a crier but today has helped me realized how truly blessed I am.  And that realization is tear worthy my friends.  It is easy to get stuck in the negative and throw your own pity party but today look at the positive and count your blessings!  :)

3.  I eat enough cottage cheese to keep cows in business.  I think I have discussed my love for cottage cheese in previous posts but seriously it is out of control.  I go through a 24oz container once a week and when I learned cottage cheese was a good source of protein I started eating even more of it.  I even eat it straight out of the carton.   I am crazy!

Alright time to do some push ups while I watch Biggest Looser.  I'll be back tomorrow with my positive mantras for Julia's footnotes.  Have a totally terrific Tuesday!

How are you doing with the push up challenge?

From here on out I promise to be accountable and keep you updated on my wussy little progress.

What do you eat plain that a lot of people think is weird?

Between me and my sister I would dare estimate we eat a good gallon of cottage cheese a week.

Marathon Monday & Goal Big

Today's Workout:  10 miles.  I forgot to set my alarm but naturally woke up right at 6:00a.m. giving me enough time to get to the gym and run 8 miles.  8 miles, 1% incline, 62 minutes.  When I got home I did another 2 miles with the Izzy dog.  I run with Izzy a lot but normally I don't take it too seriously.  It is usually full of me being lazy and "wogging" (walk-jogging) and her stopping to pee, poop, or bark at a cow every 2 seconds.  But for some reason today I felt like pushing it a little bit.  We ran the first mile a conservative 8:02 pace, and the 2nd at 7:18 pace.  Needless to say we were both exhausted when we got home.

I think Izzy was a little pissed and passed out promptly on the hardwood next to her water bowl.

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 ***Huge shout out to my amazing blogging friends that ran Boston today.  I stalked you the entire way and had so much fun tracking your progress.

• Keri at Blue Eyed Runner ran after being sick for an entire week and killed it!
• Karah at Tired Mama Running ran on a sprained ankle and finished with lightning speed.
• Sarah at SR ran back to back marathons.  One on Saturday and then Boston today.  Um yeah she is pretty much my hero.

Congratulations to everyone that ran today and was apart of the epic event.  I will be there next year I will!
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Last Monday I set 2 goals.  To eat 85 grams of protein and to get my ass out of bed in the morning and get my workout on.

1.  Get up 15 minutes earlier.  I cannot say much for this goal today since I left my alarm on weekend mode.  But last week I made a very conscious effort to get my hiney out of bed and get my workout on.  The best part about it is that I was organized all week and didn't have any gym mishaps.  I would give myself an A- on this goal.

2.  Goal numero dos was to eat some freaking protein.  This goal was HARD!  I had to really, really think and if you know me well you understand my hatred towards using my brain for anything besides a place to hang my hair.  Anyway I did pretty good but still have a lot of work to do so I will be working on this goal again this week.  I managed to get at least 75 grams a day so I will give myself a big fat B on this goal.

Here are a few pictures of what I ate to up my protein.  I am a terrible food photographer so I apologize.

Chicken Stir Fry with veggies and pineapple, and black beans.  35 grams of protein including the brown rice not pictured.

Pork Chop with pineapple, 20 grams of protein, cottage cheese 14grams, and rice with black beans 12 grams for a grand total of  46 grams in one meal.  That is pretty dang good.

Kashi Go lean cereal.  13 grams of protein, 140 calories.  I don't really like cereal so I would eat this in my yogurt like granola.  Yogurt+Kashi=20 grams of protein. 

This weeks goals:

1.  Eat 90 grams of protein a day.  I know this goal is basically the same as last weeks but I really want to keep working on it and try a little harder.

2.  Stress less.  I have been letting stress get the best of me lately and I really want to focus on just taking things 1 day at a time and not worrying about the over-flowing bucket list of "to do's".  Usually after I finish something I realize it really wasn't that bad and thinking about it was the hardest part.

 3.  Pace my runs smarter.  I really really have a problem with starting out to fast and I really want to focus on starting slower and finishing stronger this week.  Positive splits, positive splits.  I can do it.

Did you spend your work day following your favorite Boston runners?

Hey if I can't watch it live following on the computer is the 2nd best right.

Do you peak at the beginning or the end of races?

I am famous for flying through the first half and crawling through the 2nd half.  I must, must, must improve with this or I will never finish a marathon.  Any advice for me?

Fun Runs

Today's Workout: 2 mile recovery run with the Izzy dog, 8:30 pace.  Maybe I'll do some push ups during commercials of my favorite Sunday night trashy TV show marathon but I am not making any promises.
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I apologize for the lack of blogging and blog reading this weekend. I promise I will get back in the swing of things here soon. My brother has been in town with the triplets and it has been a non-stop party.  I have spent almost every waking moment hanging out with my family and playing with the kids and it has been fabulous.  This will be a quick little boring post so feel free to skip it and check back tomorrow.

Yesterday I graduated long run training and accomplished the epic 20-miler.  It seriously felt like a test to me.  At the beginning of my training I dreaded the 20-mile run.  I would look at my little training schedule and just pretend like it was never going to happen. Honestly I have had a bad attitude about distance and always complained about distance.  I have always said that I am that person that will do just 1 marathon to say that I have done it but that will be it! 

Well the 20 miler happened and honestly it was awesome.  I felt great the entire time and you couldn't wipe the smile off of my face for most of the run.  I am not going to jump to the conclusion that I love distance and am going to race a marathon twice a month anytime soon.  But I truly am learning to enjoy distance and it really is exciting to me.


Josh, Pam, Ashley, me, Nicole, Holley, and Stephanie.  I obviously need a stylist for my LR fashion choices.

The morning started early.  My alarm went off at 4:50 a.m. and I was up and ready to go.  I obviously didn't plan my outfit the night before and I am blaming that on the fact that I look like I was ready for the circus instead of a 20 mile endurance test.  Anyway I got to Ashley's right at 5:30 and up the canyon we went.  I think we started running about 10 after 6 and it was still pretty dark.  I wore my headlamp for the first 2 miles and then ripped it off because it was driving me crazy.  I ate chomp blocks at mile 8 and again at mile 14.  Overall I really felt pretty good the entire run.  I definitely was feeling tired around mile 17 but knowing I only had 3 miles to go I pushed hard and my last 2 miles were surprisingly 2 of my fastest miles.

I finished in 2:46 with 20.4 miles and a 8:21 average pace.  I am incredibly surprised and happy with my time.  Having runners that are faster than me in the group definitely pushed me a lot harder than I would have pushed myself running alone.  It was also so helpful to have people to talk to while running.  I promise if you haven't ran with others before you should try it.  You will never want to run alone ever again!  I am already dreading my 30k this weekend because I will be running alone.  I am so thankful and grateful for my amazing little running group and especially for Ashley for being so awesome in organizing the route for these long runs.  Lastly, Ashley's husband is amazing and seriously deserves husband of the year award.  He woke up at 5am on a Saturday just to drive us up the canyon and left water for us at 3 different places.  He is awesome and we could not have done this without him.

I am finally starting to feel more ready for the marathon and I am feeling good about how my training is going.  For once in my short lived running career I am starting to feel somewhat confident about distance and that is a huge step for me.  There for awhile I was thinking I never wanted to run more than 5k's ever again.

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

Family Fun Friday

Today's Workout:  10 minutes abs, 20 minutes elliptisizing, 6 treadmill miles.
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Friday in photos.  Today I worked half a day and spent the rest of the day with my amazing family.  We hit up the zoo, ate at the sizzler at 5:30p.m. (old people style), and then visited the celebration of life monument in SLC where trevor's name is written on the wall for being an organ donor.

We rolled into the zoo in style.  My brother has the ultimate limousine of strollers. 

4 babies under 14 months.  Impossible to get them all to look at the camera.

We got to see the new baby elephant Suri.  She weighed 250 lbs at birth.

The giraffes are my absolute favorite animal at the zoo.

Sister. baby James, and brother in law Jared.

Dreyden and James were loving the giraffes

Daija, James, and Mya playing at the park.

Riding the train.

Me, my dad and his awesome visor.  The man is deathly afraid of the sun.

At the celebration of life monument after eating 5 rounds at the sizzler.

If you look closely to where my finger is pointing you can see Trevor's name



Sorry for the picture overload but I had such a fun day with my family and hope everyone else had a fabulous Friday!  I gotta get to bed because 4:45 a.m. is coming soon.  20 miles planned in the morning, followed by more family time.  I am scared to death to run 20 miles but also giddy with excitement all at the same time.  Good luck to everyone that is racing tomorrow and everyone else relax and enjoy a little sun!  :)

What is your favorite zoo animal?

I am obsessed with the giraffes.  Maybe it is because they are so tall and I am so short?  who knows.

Do you think that my brother's triplet stroller is the coolest thing you have ever seen?

You should see the stares and the questions we get when people walk past us.  Yes it is triplets, and yes it is crazy, but crazy awesome!!!