Sherry Arnold Virtual Race

Sherry Arnold - runner, mother, wife, daughter, and teacher- went for an early morning run on January 7, 2012, and never came home. Sherry's goodness, courage and strength prevail and she is not defined by the tragic way in which she died. 

Yesterday was a day to honor someone I didn't know personally.  Sherry Arnold left her home to go running on January 7th and didn't come back.  Beth at Shut Up and Run knew Sherry though, Sherry was her cousin!  She organized a virtual race to honor her cousin.  Yesterday was the day of the virtual race which worked out well for me since I had my longest training run to date.  I read on Beth's blog that there were a lot of participants throughout the world that donned a bib and dedicated their run to Sherry.  If you want more details, head on over to Beth's blog to find out more.  

Yesterday's run was a 20 miler.  As I mentioned before, I have been using Jeff Galloway's approach to running.  Which is a good thing because I don't think I could have finished this long run any other way.  Based on previous "Miracle Mile" runs, my run to walk ratio is 1 min run / 1 min walk.  I was able to do this for most of the run until about mile 17.  I had a big problem with cramps.  I had to stop quite often and stretch our my calves especially.  Three things contributed to the cramping I think.  First of all, on Thursday, I tried to get up two flights of stairs quickly and took the steps two at a time.  I don't normally do this and it probably strained my calves a bit.  Alan and Michele are both probably laughing at this point since both are stair trainers and two flights is nothing to them.  Usually it isn't for me either but taking them two at a time was not a good thing.   Second, I started my run later than I usually do and this usually turns out to not be good as far as having a good run.  Three, maybe my long run shouldn't include Provo Canyon because my elevation gain was over 3,000 feet.  I should probably save the uphill for interval training.  

I didn't make it up the canyon as far as I would have liked.  When I reached one of the highest points in the run, I ran into some ice.  It doesn't look all that bad, but it would have taken extra energy to watch where I was stepping among all of that ice.

I have posted pictures of Bridal Veil falls before, here is what they looked like yesterday before I headed back down.

I always hate it when I have to refigure my run.  Since I had to turn back early, I had to make sure that I picked up the extra mileage before I got back home.  Sometimes, my brain doesn't think straight when I have been running for a while, but I got it figured out and finished up a 20 miles on the dot.


Biggest Loser Contest
I mentioned that our family was having a Biggest Loser contest.  I lost 1.6 lbs.  I have gotten off caffeine for over a week now, and finished off the week of not having much refined sugar.  I think cutting back on the sugar was much harder.  My brain is addicted to the stuff!  The rest of the family is doing great, everyone that reported in had lost weight.  One of them lost 8 pounds!  Nicely done!


Hang in there and I will too!