Blake Bennions running

We warmed up a mile with the whole team, and then another mile before a small workout. We did an 800m and 2 200s. The 800m was a little slow for me, I followed Kramer because he was going for 2:15 for his 3200m pace and I want to run a 4:32 or maybe better. We ran 2:20, so it was slow. The 800m felt pretty easy though, and the 200s felt good too. Then we went to Coach Murphy's room and watched some of the movie Endurance and talked about the BYU meet. After that I cooled down a mile and went home. The cooldown felt great! I am going to do very well this weekend.

Ouch, I hit my knee on a rail as we were walking out to do the 2 miles. I hit it pretty hard, walked straight into it. My leg hurts. I still did the 2 mile warm up and 4 striders. It hurt a little on the warm up, and a little more on the striders. My philosiphy was that if I couldn't do the warm up and striders, I couldn't do the race tomorrow. I will be fine, I will rest it all night watching movies and playing games and then get a good 9 hours of sleep and I will be ok. I might even do a little light biking for 5 mins or so just to keep get it moving. Tomorrow I am going to race, and then kick the last lap as hard as I can.

I had a very good race today. I went out and got myself into the top pack and I stayed there. The first lap was 65 which was faster than I had planned but thinking back, it was about right. The 2nd lap was the slowest, I ran 70 or 69 so that was slower. Thats an area I can work on. I ran the first 800m in 2:15, I was feeling fine but kind of suprised at the pace. I tried to make a move on the third lap but when Albert sped up and closed the gap I was going for so I had to fall back for a little. That was really the only thing that didn't go well in the race, if I could have gotten that I think I would have placed a little higher. I can't remember the time for the 3rd lap, it was pretty good as 3rd laps go, it was something like 3:23 or 3:24 . I don't remember a whole lot about the last lap, but I gave it everything. I kicked past a lot of guys, including Albert. Albert has good ambition, he's a good competitor. Coming into the final straight I saw the clock was at 4:14 or 4:16 and I knew I had to go, I really kicked and hard and passed some more people. I watched the time as I came in, not even thinking about it, I guess I was going for sub 4:30 because the second I crossed the line and knew I ran 4:31 I only had two feelings. The first was joy, and the 2nd was dissatisfaction. I really want to run sub 4:30. Region will be a big race, lots of competition, lots of goals that I am very close to. Its going to be a battle, this is what I've always been hoping for.

Later- 6.6 miles from Brighton to Alta. I needed to go pick up the van from Alta so I had my brother drive me to Brighton and then I ran to Alta from there. A little longer than I was supposed to but I enjoyed it! I am number 14 all time on alta's 1600m list! I am very close to the top 10 ever! It was a very good day, hopefully next week will be even better. I need to run with that top group of guys at region, I know I can do it. Region will be very intense and exciting. I always feel good about the mile, theres enough time for me to relax a little, but it's not long enough that I have to worry a ton. I just love it. The 2 mile is fun too, I am going to run under 10:00 next week for sure. Next week is going to be huge! Nice sunset on the way home too.

I wasn't feeling incredible today. 3 tests and I left my water bottle at home. I felt tired today, I am feeling a lot better now that I've had some more cups of water. We did 4x300m at 400m to 800m pace, I ran them all in 42 or 43 which was pretty good. Region is going to be a battle for anything, I am going to fight hard to run faster than 4:30. Running under 10:00 for the 3200m shouldn't be a problem but I am still going to run as fast as I can and see how fast I can get. I will probably wake up tomorrow and do 5 or 6 miles in the morning. I need to relax and get ready for region, its going to be really fun!

5 miles in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. Region is tomorrow, my goal for the 1600m is 4:28. Hopefully conditions will be good!

I had a lot of things go wrong today, bad mentality, not enough warmup, and the race went out very slow (2:19 at the 800m). I would have taken the lead but I couldn't get around everyone without wasting a lot of energy. It probably would have been worth it but thats ok. I finished exactly where I was seeded, uneventful race. Tomorrow will be important, I need to run under 10:00. Right now I need to relax and think race strategy.

Another bad race. Went out at 67 for the first lap. I will go to jv region for another attempt to break 10:00.

Getting behind on my posts! 3 easy miles, we did it around alta and stopped a couple times for Kramer to sing the national anthem and stuff.

Nice run in the gully. Not a great week for me, don't know what happened. I am thinking of running the 3200m at jv region, probably more likely for me to break 10:00 than 4:30. And also if I am thinking about attracting any kind of colleges, I should have run under 10:00 by junior year.

Premeet

JV region today. I won the two mile, but it was a slow time. I probably should have just tried to sweep the distance events and had fun. It was a nice day and I had a good time, I am now taking a nice break. If my ankles are hurting on next wednesday I will take some more time off, but if not I will return to running. This is a crucial season, I need to make the most of it and prove that I can run the 5k well. 850 miles of training this track season. In review, I ran well this season. The 4:31 1600m at the BYU Invite was the highlight of the season, but I did very well in a lot of races this season. I also learned the 2 mile, I think it will help me as a step towards running 5ks better.

I'M GOING TO ARCADIA!!!! Well not officially, but I have the qualifying time for the 1600m just barely! From what I can tell at least, finding a direct conversion is impossible. But a 1500m race run at 5150 feet elevation lowers 5.6 seconds when converted to sea level accordingto USATF, so a 1600m at 4500m should drop at least 5.0 seconds, which puts me barely under the required 4:26.99!!! Off to do a nice 30 minutes of biking.

It felt good to be back running again, training for senior year. Its weird to think its that close to being over, high school goes by fast. No aches or pains, and I feel good and strong. I'm ready for this summer of aerobic preperation, and I am very excited to return to the gully and get into the highly exclusive sub 40-minute gully time trial club. Only 3 current members that I know of. I am considering running a time trial in the gully next friday to see where I am right now, I need to run below 40:00 on the first day of practice, June 23rd or so. I have a lot of confidence in my ability to do that. I am going to prove to myself that I can run cross country well, I would love to finish top 20 at state in cross country, maybe even 2nd team all state if the season goes very well. I know I can be great this season, but I need to forge a new mentality. This summer will be very important, I need to learn how to race the 5k well.

I barely had time for a run between study hall and the track banquet. I got home, had a cup of water and then did a nice 6 miles, it was a little tough on the 4th mile, but I am feeling really good for the 2nd day back. I have tried to assemble a group of guys to come run the gully with me tomorrow, so far I have one and two undecided haha. But I will turn that into a nice 7 miles tomorrow, and maybe 8 on saturday. I was very suprised at the track banquet, I was just expecting a letter, I hadn't expected I would recieve such a high honor, but I was awarded a lot more! I was very lucky to recieve the Most Inspirational Athlete Award, I am grateful to my coaches and team, especially Coach Murphy! I am really looking forward to one more year of having the blessing of being coached by him, I know I will do amazing things!

First Gully long run of this summer, I ran with Jacob and Ashton, it was a good run but it was tough. But it was an important run, tomorrow I am going to do an 8 mile run. I will probably stay around the city. It was a very interesting year, and a very good year for my development. I had a lot of highs and lows, and I learned a lot and grew from them both. Our team needs me to be a good leader and a high placer at all the meets, we need to work together and become a lot closer. My goal is for our team to win region, and for us to place higher than we have while I've been at Alta. I also want to finish in the top 5 at region and top 20 at state. If the season goes very well, I want to recieve 2nd team all-state honors

Great run! I felt really good the entire time, I am already back in good shape. I ran around the neighborhood and city, it was very nice. I ran in the evening/night because I was busy during the day, Junior year is all but finished. One day left, I'm not sure how long I will run on monday (I'm thinking maybe 9), I will do another good aerobic run. I felt so good today!