Sometimes you just need to tell yourself that you feel comfortable over and over again when you are really hurting.
I did the hill in my area that scares me.
I lapped my watch so I could get the exact distance/gain for the hill—> 1.09 miles with 381 ft of climbing. It hurts but it actually hurt less than it usually does yesterday because A) I have probably gained some fitness since the last time I did it a few weeks ago and B) I kept telling myself that I was comfortable as I was going up.
I think I tend to freak out when I start to feel REALLY uncomfortable when I am climbing hills and then I slow down because mentally I am worried I can’t keep going if I am feeling that uncomfortable… but yesterday I just lied over and over to myself that climbing up a never-ending hill was pure comfort and it worked and made my body feel so much better. <— It’s funny because I can tell this to you guys and you all get it but people that don’t run probably think that these weird mind games that runners play are crazy and we should just skip the hill:)
I really want to do this hill once a week because hill work is speed work in disguise.
8.2 miles total @ 8:04 average. It was a little slick out in some areas;)
Oh and something else that helped me up the hill was I could see the footprints of somebody else that must have gone up the hill that morning. Knowing somebody else didn’t quit doing the same thing I was trying to do is always very helpful for me.
My run happened later than normal because we all enjoyed a very lazy morning together.
Beck is just the happiest when he has Brooke playing with him.
We then packed up the car and the below scene makes Andrew very very happy.
Andrew has 2 more days off so we decided to chase after some warmer temperatures for mountain biking and trail running.
58 degrees feels like summer for us!
First, we stopped at my brother’s new house! They are building a new home and they will be moving in soon. My favorite part about them building a house is the fact that it means this Utah move is a permanent one:) This is the pilot brother that used to live in Kentucky! They are loving Utah which means I need to just get one more brother here and then all 5 siblings will live here.
They are going to have some really pretty views!
Then we hung out at the house my brother is renting for a bit.
And then Andrew went mountain biking. These are the trails where he first fell in love with mountain biking as a kid because he grew up here (and so did I… I really wonder if we ever saw each other at elementary school since we both went to the same one)!
Then we had take-out from my favorite Utah restaurant. Viva la Chicken is a MUST if you are ever in St. George.
We finished up with the best caramel sticky buns for dessert!
—————————————————————————————————-
Tell me about the last mind trick that you used on yourself while running?
Do you have siblings? How many do you have?
Would you rather do a hill workout or a speed workout?
Do you like to move often or stay put in the same area for a while?
25 comments
Chloe
Happy 35th birthday Janae!!!! I’ll be 35 this year too , and am planning 35km lol in a couple months’ time. I’m glad you got to do all you wanted!!!
We had quite a few weeks of rain in Singapore in December (unprecedented) so I had to suck it up and get out there. wasn’t too bad after the initial getting soaked and I had a nice time drying my hair after (my husband got me a dyson hairdryer for christmas!).
I would choose the hill workout for the downs in between sets ;) I’m still living in the area I grew up in, this island is barely 41km across and I can’t imagine staying anywhere else lolol.
Kristin
I am reading Bravey by Alexi Pappas and she has a chapter on dealing with pain during a run (and life). I highly recommend this book, it’s amazing! (trigger warnings: suicide and depression)
Beth
Ohhhh, to get away to some warmer weather sounds amazing! We were having such a mild winter and now we are sitting in negative temps. It’s supposed to warm up by next weekend so I am just trying to be patient.
I love how much Beck loves Brooke ,it’s so sweet.
How long are you guys staying in St. George? I have only been there once when my husband raced the half ironman but I really want to go back and do the marathon some day. We are going to do Zion and Bryce Canyon in March but I don’t think we will have time to go into St. George. We LOVED the all abilities playground I can’t believe it’s free! https://www.sgcity.org/cityparks/thunderjunction
Looks like an amazing trip so far, have fun with your family!
Kristin
I love how much we lie to ourselves while running; it sounds crazy but it works! I avoided hills for the longest time, until I struggled hard in a race with a lot of them (not on the course map . . .). When I commit to them, I kind of start to enjoy them! I’ve also found doing some high knees during a strength workout REALLY helps with my hills. I can’t stand high knees, but when I started noticing the difference they made . . . I hated them less! A couple rounds of 30-60 seconds a couple times a week helped me so much!
Beck is so cute and looking so animated now! So fun to see!!
Mariah
I definitely use mind games! One thing I tell myself is that I’m calm, like how professional runners look when they are in races! It makes me think I’m not breathing as heavy or hurting as much as I am.
I have an older brother and younger sister- middle child!
I’d rather do a hill workout. It’s strength + speed + endurance! All in one workout. Plus I like that it’s not about a certain mileage, it’s getting up whatever size hill you pick.
Wendy
We love St. George! We usually stop there on our way to/from Colorado, at least for a quick stop. It’s really pretty. And sounds like a good end to a nice long birthday weekend ☺️
I’m the youngest of 6! Most of my siblings live in Colorado, one sister in the Vegas area, and my brother here in California. My husband is the youngest of 3, all of them live here, and we’re all very close. I love when we can all get together! I love seeing all our kids hanging out.
My go-to mind trick is saying, ” just get to that stop sign ( or tree, or driveway)”. It really helps me to keep going. I also tell myself “I can do this! I get to do this!”. It is funny how these little tricks help so much!
My husband and I went back to Crystal Cove state park to do that hike with over 1,400 feet of climbing yesterday. It was so fun, and we did a little more running too. I realized that I am not a good downhill trail runner! At least those really steep parts. Do you have any tips? I can’t remember what the elevation gain and loss was for your ultra…. But man, downhills are tough! Super fun though!
Have a great Tuesday ?
Jenny
One thing I think when I’m having a hard run is ‘I’m strong, I’m good at this, I can do it.” Sometimes I’ll say it over and over again for a mile, and by the next mile I feel like a completely new runner. I think one reason tricks like this work is, your brain is using all sorts of data to determine how tired you are, including your thoughts. So the thought “I feel strong” has just as much power as your physical sensations.
I literally live in the flattest place on earth (South Florida) so no hills for us! One of my goals is to qualify for Boston (someday) and I wonder how I would train for it if I got in- i just figure I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Have a great day Janae!
Janine
Good Tuesday Morning! I think mind tricks are a necessity! Mine have changed over the years; counting steps, using landmarks, and for a while I would say things to myself like “You’re doing fine. You’re OK” or if it was particularly challenging, I would say to myself “Just like Deena Kastor!” LOL.
I am the oldest of 4 and we are scattered around the country. My sister (the youngest) and I are especially close and I really wish we lived nearer one another.
Definitely hills over speed. My very first 5k, long before I knew about course maps or anything else, was called The Monster 5k. I learned why when the first mile was a steep uphill! Trial by fire for hills, but it took the anxiety of them away and I really like them. Hate flat courses actually!
I think I prefer to stay put, but life hasn’t always allowed for that. The upside is it has to living in some really great places!
Cheers to a fantastic day!
Michele
Central Illinois is super flat so I look forward to hill workouts on the treadmill. It makes treadmill time go faster when I’m constantly adjusting the grade to go up and down. Speed work is so tough so I love hill work.
Sometimes on a struggle run, I just have to occupy my mind. I play little games sometimes like thinking of a random word and trying to think of as many songs as I can with that word in it. Next thing I know, my workout is almost done.
I’m not oldest of 7 children. I’m so jealous that you will have them all in the same state. I have a brother that lives 10 minutes away, but all the others are scattered in Ohio, Colorado, Texas, and Hawaii. Enjoy that precious sibling time together.
Elizabeth
Your brother is so nice! I help coach a high school xc team and work at the running store so I’ve run into him a couple times and he is always so nice even though I call him hungry runner girl brother ?. Viva chicken and benja Thai are my two favorite restaurants. You should check out the quail lake trails for biking and running. Lakeside and Cub Scout is my go to loop. Cub Scout would be too technical for me to bike but perfect to run while the hubby bikes.
The Hungry Runner Girl
THIS MADE ME SMILE SO BIG! I asked him about this and he said that he thinks you are the nicest. Which school do you coach for… that is AWESOME! I would love to go on a run with you sometime when we are here. Well, now I must try benja Thai and go to quail lake trails, lakeside and cub scout… you are the best!
Lisa Harsma
What do you mean when you say you lapped your watch? How does that change the data at the end? Can you still see total miles and pace per mile or does the whole thing change to whatever the lap was? How do you tell your watch the lap is starting/over on something like a hill? (I THINK I know how to do it for a set distance, like if I wanted it to be half miles). I have a garmin venu sq (and a vivoactive 3) if it matters. Thank you!
The Hungry Runner Girl
Hey LIsa! Sorry I didn’t explain that well! I lapped my watch so that the new mile started at the bottom of the hill. That way I could look at the exact information for that mile and then I lapped it again .09 miles after the first mile for when the hill ended so I could add in the elevation gain for the final part of the hill too! My watch has a button on it to lap (top left button). You can choose on my watch which screen to look at… just the info for the lap you are doing or for the overall stats too! Does this help? I wish I could talk to you in person ha… typing is hard sometimes ha. Hope you are having a great night!
Eveline
Hi Lisa! It took me a little while to figure this out too. I think in “activity setting” you can choose auto-lap which will always lap at whatever distance you set it to (usually every mile) or manual lap, which means you’d need to press the lap button every time you want to stop a lap and start a new one. With the manual option, you won’t see the by mile breakdown anymore, but only the breakdown for the laps you “created” (however pace will still be displayed as min/mile if that makes sense). However, if you leave the setting to auto lap, but use the lap button like Janae did it will create a lap at every mile, but as soon as you press the button, it will overrule that setting until you press it again. So her laps would look something like, 1mile, 2mile, 2.56mile, then press lap button because hill starts, then press lap button again when hill stops, 0.09mile, and then it will just start counting each mile again, so 1, 2, etc. Hope this helps!! It’s fun to play around with!
Amy S
Hi Janae! I love on top of a hill that’s about half a mile to run up it and 250 ft elevation gain and it’s so hard for me to run full speed up it! I do the same thing as you where I mentally slow down before I actually need to. I get in most of my runs elsewhere where it is flatter. I read once that for hiking every 1000 ft in elevation gain is an extra mile and I wonder how you feel about that. Have a great day!
Kelsie
I would rather do speed work than hills any day! But I’m trying to include some hills in my long runs. I’m going to have to try your trick!
Where did you get the sunglasses in the first pic? So cute!
St. George and 50 degrees sounds wonderful right now, have so much fun!
The Hungry Runner Girl
Hey Kelsie! I think that is awesome you are going to include those hills on your long runs. You’ll have to let me know how that goes. The sunglasses are here: https://amzn.to/3as0XNe
I hope you get some warmer weather soon. Thanks Kelsie!
Michelle
Yahoo for getting away to the warmth!! And that your brother will be here for good! Now you have a great reason to escape to St. George often in the winter. When it’s icy out or really cold I will drive about 45 minutes to one of the valleys to run where it’s warmer and it changes my whole mood.
One trick my running partner taught me was to speed up when we approach a hill. It changes the hill from “ugh” to “I got this.”
I have 7 brothers and sisters (Brady Bunch style) and we’re all within 6 years of each other (hello teenage years). There was never a dull moment (or dishwasher that wasn’t running) in our house. We’re sprinkled throughout CA and OR now and aside from pandemic life get to see each other pretty often. The cousin love is pretty adorable.
Marcelle Thibodeau-Hennigar
I love tricking my mind while running!
Enjoy your trip! I am curious why you plastic wrapped the bikes on your bike rack? Is this something I’m supposed to do?! :)
The Hungry Runner Girl
Definitley not a must! It was snowing outside and he was worried about them on the drive down! The plastic ripped pretty quickly so it didn’t work! I hope you are having a great night! Thanks Marcelle.
Marcelle Thibodeau-Hennigar
Ah, that makes sense! Great idea, I’m sorry it ripped though :(.
Just looked at your pictures of your run in the St. George area, wow!! I’d run for days too if I was there!
Pre-kids (2011), my husband and I did a cross-US rock climbing trip and we stopped in Indian Creek near Moab for 3 days of climbing/camping. The landscape was similar to St. George and I’ve said since that that landscape has to be one of my favorites ever! There’s just something magical about those red rocks and cliffs. It’s on my to-return-to list!
Enjoy enjoy enjoy your trip!
Tracy
I have 5 siblings but sadly we live all over the country. Kansas, California, Illinois, Florida and Columbia (South America!). It’s difficult for us all to get together often :(
I can’t believe you went to the same grade school! What is your age difference? Were you in the same grade or close?
Beck is getting cuter every day! Such a doll.
Loribeth
I would prefer hills any day over speed. I like feeling so tough when I hit the top. And I am the oldest of 8 kids…..the youngest is a senior in high school!
Ashley
Hi!
How/When do you lap your watch?
Sarah
Hills! All the way! Such a challenge on the way up, but the way down always makes me feel like I am flying. Love that!
Can’t wait to run again, hopefully in the next few days. It’s been so cold here, that I’ve been biking inside and doing barre classes.
I am the youngest of five. Oldest is 61 and I’ll be 42 next week! P.S. Happy Birthday to you!