Angie Nickerson

Today was a really rough day.  I didn't have a good workout this morning, and I have been pretty down on myself ever since. 

We met at the Olympic Oval this morming.  The track was packed with runners from all over.  The workout was 4xone mile (not to be confused with 4x1600).  Anyways, we did about 3 miles of warmup--2 jogging and one of speed changes.  Based off of the warmup, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel.  Bill wanted us to hit 5:40.  We got about 800 recovery.  With Nat and a few of her teammates from BYU there, 5:40 seemed reachable.  To boost myself up, I thought back to track when I did mile repeats in the fall at Mesquite and closed with a 5:28 mile. 

From the start of the first mile, I didn't feel strong.  I was struggling to stay with the group.  I felt kind of light headed, and my legs wouldn't go.  Also, I really hate falling off of the pace, especially when I know what I am capable. 

Anyways, the workout just really made me question myself.  I don't know if  I will be in good enough shape coming back to SUU.  I feel like I have been putting in thework, but, after today, I am not sure if I am ready.  I want to be getting better, but feeling so slow and miserable makes it hard to feel motivated. Is the pain and frustration worth it when you're not seeing results? 

I don't know.  Today has been tough.  I guess I just need to get it out of my mind and keep moving forward, but it isn't easy for me.  Hopefully tomorrow feels better.  I just want to start feeling good and seeing results.  I think a big part of that comes with attitude.

I didn't make it to run with the group today.  It snowed last night, and my dad didn't want me on the roads in the morning.  It kind of sucked at the time, but I trust his judgement.  Later in the day, Jaden and I went to the Olympic Oval.  It wasn't snowing particularly bad, but we wanted to stay out of the cold.  My watch was dead, so I didn't get a total distance, but we were there for roughly an hour, maybe a bit more. The track was a lot less busy than yesterday, but the skating rink was packed.  Felt good to shake my legs out.  I am feeling a bit better mentally today, but I am still struggling with the feeling that no matter what I do I am not good enough.  I always feel like I am disappointing someone.  Hopefully I get a bit more of my confidence back before I head back to school next week

I am finally starting to feel a bit better!

am: 4 miles on the Jordan River Parkway with Jaden.  We were going at a decent pace, and my legs felt good.  The weather was nice too.  We brought Koa just tospice things up a lottle.  She did surprisingly well on her leash.

pm:  6 miles around the Sugarhouse area with Bill, Nat, Tressa, Diwas and Nate (I think).  We started pretty slow, but picked up the pace by the end of the run.  Legs felt good...stomach, not so much.  Indian food might not have been the best idea.  Anyways, I am getting to bed early.  Hoping to feel good for speed tomorrow.

We met at the Oval to do some speed.  The BYU girls were there again.  We did 8 laps warmup, 4 laps speed changes and then put on our flats.  We started with one mile.  It was supposed to be 10 seconds faster than the average pace of the repeats we did the other day.  I was aiming for 5:43/44, but ran a 5:45.  We did 3 laps of recovery and then an 800.  Unlike the mile, I was able to stay with the BYU girls, which was good.  I was faster than I was supposed to be.  I ran 2:43, but I think I was supposed to run closer to 2:50.  That makes me think I should have pushed the mile harder.  Next, we did 9x300.  It was broken into sets of 3.  We only had about one minute rest between each one, but after the set we got a lap recovery.  We were aiming for 5 minute pace which I believe is about a :58 high, but we were closer to :56 on all of them.  It felt weird to run so fast.  It was definitely a shock to the system.  By breathing felt ok, but my legs were exhausted by the end!  It makes me excited to get on the track.  We finished to 11 miles.