Running through the mountains: challenging run.

My decision was made extra easy this morning about whether or not to run today! My favorite running buddies were going running so of course I had to join them.  Plus, a lot of you guys had great points on taking next week to taper and get my legs fresh before my 1/2 on Saturday.

There was an old man walking around in the parking lot that took our picture, we ended up talking to him for a while and he couldn’t get over how the boys were wearing shorts but told me I did a great job dressing for the weather….too bad I was dying of heat at about mile 6.

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We decided to try and mimic the course for our race next Saturday and drive 14 miles up the canyon and run home from there.  The course next week has a good amount of downhill and uphill so we wanted to test our quads on some hills in the canyon.

Does it get any more gorgeous?

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This run actually really tested me.  It was an ‘off’ day for me mentally and physically but I kept telling myself that I DO NOT QUIT.  I slowed down but I would not let myself quit and instead tried to be distracted by how gorgeous it was all around me.

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Quick note about my new On shoes: I am still loving them but they are SLIPPERY.  I hit a tiny bit of ice and lost all traction, I came so close to falling. Definitely not snow running shoes.

Off to refuel at another all you can eat buffet with the boys!

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Tell me about your run today! How did it go?!?! On or Off day for you!?!

Do you wear sunglasses when you run?

-When it is sunny, heck yes! I don’t like having to squint as I run!

What are you refueling with?!?

-About to go get some garlic sirloin and grilled pineapple:)

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53 comments

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Refueling right now w/huge salad & cheesy pizza. Had a beautiful trail run, 6 miles at sunrise:). Loved it for the beauty but felt humbled by how slow I am. I did the same run faster pre injury but I gotta remember that it takes time to get the speed back.
Hope you enjoy the buffet!

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Off day! 10 mile race tomorrow!

I definitely wear sunglasses! Not just for sun, but they are also prescription, so it helps me see as well, and well, that’s usually a good thing.

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oh wow, what beautiful scenery for a great run!!! it’s gorgeous! i think i’ll carry my iphone on my run tomorrow, and look at your pictures and views while i’m running…so jealous. we’ve had yucky rain and humid 70 degree temps…blah blah blah!!!

have a great rest of your weekend!

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My husband ran with me today outside. It’s the second time we have run together. We went 4.25 miles but I’m feeling a little urge to go back out and do some more. I definitely wear sunglasses when the sun is shining like today. Especially since I won a free pair at a race a few months ago. They are pretty sweet glasses.

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I’m still refueling from this morning’s 15 miles…it may never end! BTW, beautiful run, running in the mountains will never get boring!

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20 miler today for me…felt great! Definitely an on day, which after the last week, I REALLY needed. When it’s sunny, I wear sunglasses, but I forgot to put mine on today and ended up doing a lot of squinting. Refueled with three snack wraps and an apple!

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So glad you didn’t fall!

I actually had my first 10 miler today (as a race…I’ve run far more than 10 miles before :D) and it went amazingly! (Recapped it more fully on my blog :D)

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Scheduled to do 9 miles w/6 at HM pace; mentally was off so I ended with 3.5. Just couldn’t pull myself together. Trying not to let it get me down.

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That scenery is breathtaking!

I was supposed to run 10 today, but I woke up with a splitting headache and I’ve been nursing that all day. The most productive thing I’ve done all day is shower. :/

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Today was my first outdoors run in about 2 months. It started out difficult, as the sun was hiding behind clouds and the wind was blowing. But after a couple of miles, I felt great! :)

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No running today… Tomorrow I take on the Color Run!!!! picked up my packet today woohoo!

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I am always jealous of your scenery whenever you post pics. So breathtakingly gorgeous. Wisconsin is beautiful, but for the most part FLAT. I remember my first destination race in Oregon. I was SO not prepared for the “hills” which looked suspiciously like mountains to me. :-)

So glad you didn’t fall! Looks like you all had a great time. :-)

Still no running for me, but I took a very nice 5 mile walk which was my longest distance (walking or running) in over a month. If the walks continue to go well I will add in a mile of running here and there in the next week or two. Cross your fingers.

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I am refueling right now with half a jar of salsa and a salad. Going to dinner in an hour for lobstah!

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I am refueling right now with half a jar of salsa and a salad. Going to dinner in an hour for lobstah!

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Today was a an ON day. I did my first 17 mile run alone and it went perfectly. It was warm here in Wyoming too. I am glad to have the monkey off my back and do some fun stuff this weekend. I am refueling with salmon, rice pilaf, and some homemade mozzarella sticks.

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Today was my second time running after taking a 41 day hiatus due to my hamstring!!!! It was slow, flat, short, and on the treadmill but it was GLORIOUS. I was so grateful for every pain-free stride!

I have never run with sunglasses before…mainly because I don’t have any running sunglasses.

Today I had my lunch right after my work out so I refueled with some salmon, broccoli, spinach, carrots, and a yogurt!

HAPPY SATURDAY NIGHT!!! :)

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No glasses for me! They drive me crazy. Trying to get the energy to run now, but I’m just so sleepy and the couch is so comfy…

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JANAE, I ran my first 5K on the treadmill this week!!! I know that this is nothing to super runners like you, but I just decided to start running. I was supposed to doing intervals (like 5 minutes run, 2 minutes walk), but I decided to just keep pushing myself and see if I could do it, and I did!

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KATIE!!!! AHHHH CONGRATS!! That is so so awesome, you are a rockstar! WAHOOOO Way to push yourself, you are incredible. Keep me updated and have a great weekend!

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We are lucky in the fact hat we rarely get snow or ice in Portland, OR, just lots of grass and tree watering rain. I had an AWESOME run this am. I “host” a group and I was, pace wise, inbetween the two groups. So I chose to go out with the fast guys and gals. I was able to hang on for about have the run. We run through a park with a few steep switch backs and that’s when I dropped off. But I was able to will my legs to keep going and caught them right at the finish! In fact my fastest mile was my last one. I just told myself to keep my pace below a 9 on my Garmin. That trick seems to work pretty well for me!

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Gurlfran…totes saw you running down the canyon today. We were heading up to go snowshoeing and I yelled…”there’s Janae!” it was a georgous day to be up the canyon.

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I ran 4 miles today which is nothing for you ;), but my first “long” run of my half marathon training. I refueled with a swirled fro-yo from Costco and it was delicious :)

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I hate days like today. I get awful, awful migraines and this morning I woke up with a brain-crushing one. Therefore, running was out of the question. I am relatively new to running, and I get so discouraged when my body isn’t in the same place as my mental state. I’m hoping I feel better tomorrow, and that I’ll get to take my new Mizunos out for a spin. How do you cope when you have to take a day off that you weren’t planning on taking?

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I did 12 yesterday, so today was my off day. And don’t feel bad if you had an off-run, haha I’m sure you rocked it!

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Today wasn’t a running day for me… but it was an off day for the elliptical. My knee was hurting every so often, which put me into sheer panic mode.

Even when it’s sunny out I can’t stand wearing sunglasses when I run.

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Such beautiful views!! We miss Utah! I just recently got sunglasses for running and love them. If it’s not too sunny I usually just wear a hat.

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What beauty you have to run in! What are the temps like where you live?… I can’t believe they wore SHORTS!
I had an AWESOME 26km run today.
I really would like to get sunglasses so I don’t get all wrinkley from squinting but I find it so hard to find a pair that looks good. And for the first time ever, I fueled with cottage cheese, strawberries with a spoon of dulce de leche. All of your talking about cottage cheese with fruit made me want to try it :)

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I had an “on” 16 miler, it was fun, but of course felt wonderful to be finished with too haha.

I love wearing sunglasses when running because I can’t stand the bright light. I have a great cheap pair of $19 target ironman sunglasses that work just great.

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So pretty! I did a quick run this morning before yoga to test out my new shoes. Tomorrow is my long run of the week.

Grilled pineapple is amazing! I’m wishing I had a pineapple in my house right now.

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Off day for me, tomorrow is Half at the Hamptons, in NH. It is my first Half since August and the course it flat, the weather looks nearly perfect, so I’m hoping for a PR. Yes, I have packed sunglasses.
I’m hoping for a good burger and sweet potato fries after the race.

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Total off day for me! I was stupid and hit the treadmill when I should have takn advantage of the weather and hit the pavement! I couln’t get my head into it and ended up stopping at 7 miles rather than the 10 I was attempting. Lame! But, sounds like you had a great run with the boys! Good for you!

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Gorgeous, gorgeous scenery on your run. Wow.

My run today … not what I had wanted. I went to the Zooma women’s Half mar kick off training run, thinking an easy 6 mi, maybe … turns out to be an easy 2.5 miles. I am counting it as my rest day for the week, and going out for 8 with my neighbor tomorrow.

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I ran in new shoes on the dreadmill. I attempted to break my 11 minute mile pace but my average was 11:06 for 3 miles. Not long, but I felt with new shoes it was long enough. Also, my first mile was a 12 minute mile, so I really made up some time.

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Anyone have suggestions on sunglasses? I can’t seem to find a pair that will stay on.

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I use Oakleys and they are the absolute BEST!!!! They don’t move and they don’t fog up, WORTH the mula!!

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Awesome I’ll have to check them out.

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Did 20miles this morning. It was good.
Then I ate a 12inch sub in JaNae fashion. :-)
I do wear sunglasses.
That looks like a great place to run. Jealous.

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off day for sure, my running gang did a test run of half marathon were doimg next month. Not a good day for me, oh well. Bday cake and ice cream to refuel for my daughters tenth bday.

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I wear Oakley running sunglasses, love them, they never move or fog up and are super light. Wear them whenever the sun is out because I feel like squinting wastes precious energy. Just moved from Seattle to Denver and I have a feeling I’ll be wearing sunglasses a whole lot more.

Doing my long run tomorrow near the mountains, can’t wait! Mountains and beautiful scenery are the ultimate motivator.

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I use Oakley too and I love them so so much! WOW, that is a big move! How are you liking it?

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I need some advice/encouragement! So I’ve been running exclusively on the treadmill for awhile now and can easily do 13-15 miles at about an 8:00 pace with no problems. So today I decided to try running outside for the first time ever (b/c I’m running my first 1/2 in April) and it was AWFUL! I could barely hold a 10:00 pace and had to stop after 11.3 miles because I felt like I was dying. And then the rest of the day I was absolutely exhausted. Am I doing something wrong?!? It seriously made me never want to run outside ever again. Please tell me it gets better (hopefully fast too since April is quickly approaching!)

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HEY MEAGAN!! I am so sorry about your bad run today, I totally understand how frustrating that is. First, I am so excited for your first half marathon wahoo! It may have just been an OFF day like my day today:) I always set my treadmill on a 1% incline to make it more like outdoor running. Hills can really take it out of ya if you aren’t used to them. I would start small and do shorter runs outside and build up to how far you are going on the treadmill. DON’T GIVE UP…it will get better with time. Just like it was probably hard to do a few miles on the treadmill and go farther and faster, the same is for outside. Practice outside and it will get easier and easier and I think you will really enjoy running outside. PLEASE keep me updated on how it is going!

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You probably already knew this because you are super smart but I guess research shows that 1% treadmill incline = outside. I definitely didn’t know this but will for sure be doing all my workouts at 1% from now on. Hopefully the next time I go outside I won’t die. Thanks so much for your tips and encouragement!

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Seriously breathtaking views! I want to go to Utah!!!
I took a rest day today because my hams were super sore so I’m going to run tomorrow, yay! :D

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Wow gorgeous view! It’s so tough to run when you’re not feelin it mentally but way to go on not quitting- that’s why you’re such an amazing runner :)

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I am so jealous of the scenery you run through! Today was the first time I ran over 1 mile without pain in almost a month! Thank goodness bc I’m signed up for a half in 4 weeks. I only ran two but I am so so happy and hoping that I am done with this ITBS for good.

I usually wear sunglasses when its sunny! Idk if it does this for anyone else but they make me feel so ‘in the zone’….like I’m invisible to everyone around me and I can just focus on me and my run.

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I had an AMAZING run yesterday…I’ve been tinkering around with my diet and finally found something that works…amazingly enough it’s ridiculously healthy lol, im going to try it again this week to see if it works it’s magics again but I might’ve found my marathon fuel :) love you girl!

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NO run today due to some foot issues. But I did get in some elliptical times and some weights. And then went overboard with lunch and snacks. Oh well.
Yes, I wear sunglasses when I run. Squinting gives me a headache.

The Kidless Kronicles

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On my 11 miler, I forgot my sunglasses so had to run back and get them unfortunately they had been stretched out and fell off my facetime the entire time so I had to just put them on top of my head. I also kept telling myself I don’t quit every I wanted to quit because of the chaffing. I ran in zig zags and didn’t stay on my route, which made it seem like eternity. Endurance wise I felt awesome and my energy was great. The weather was gorgeous. You’re making me miss my homeland with those mountain pics. I refueled with blueberries, raisin bread, high protein yogurt, cheese and crackers and anything else that wasn’t nailed to the floor.

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Wow you live in a really pretty area…love the snow. We haven’t got one flake of snow this year, usually it snows at least once or twice maybe even three times, but nothing yet this year.
I really hope that we get something soon before Spring sneaks in!

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Whew, I’m glad you didn’t completely fall on your run!!

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Your blog is so inspiring and charming! I just love it. I’ve only recently started running, and I’m totally getting addicted. I can only run 2 – 3 miles at a time right now, but reading your blog makes me so excited to get stronger and be able to run longer distances. Yayyyyyyyyyyyyy

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Great job with the LR Janae! I totally ate pavement last weekend in Provo Canyon so be careful. :)

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