Blake Bennions running

8 miles around the city, I stopped in the rec center to do 2.15 just to round it out. I felt really good on the run. I think I will do another 4 later. It feels good to be on spring break. I will also do some core. I feel like I will definitely run under 10:00 on friday.

Later- I did 3 miles on the tread mill when I went to spot my brother at the gym, I also did dips and an abb workout. I took the 3 miles at 7:30-6:40 pace, until the last half mile or so I slowed down to 8:00 pace.

I ran up to Brighton High School and did some laps on the track plus some more around the school grounds while waiting for my brother. I ran 8x400m on the track. TOUGH workout, I really put all of my energy into it. I ran 67, 67, 65, 68, 67, 68, 69, 67. I may have hit a couple seconds faster on a few of them. My brother timed me. I was barely able to cool down, I was so tired and out of energy I was about to pass out! I did a lap on the track and then ran back home. I also ran between each rep. I took 2 minutes between each 400m, a little longer between the first 4 and the second 4. Good workout, very hard work. I will do another 2 or 3 miles tonight.

Later- I went on an easy bike ride with my dad and then I did another 2 miles including running to the library. It was a good day of trianing, I took the 2 miles easy as well, they felt good.

Today I did 2 minutes hard, 3 minutes easy for 60 minutes. Actually 63 or so. I did the hard minutes at about 6:00 pace, maybe a little faster. I stopped at the cottonwood heights rec center so I could see my pace and stuff. At the rec center I did the hard mintes at 6:00 and the easy at 8:00, I think 7:;30 for the first one maybe. It was a tough workout, I also did one of the 2 minutes down a steep downhill, and another up a steep uphill. It was a good, I felt really good. This is a very important trianing week, maybe the most important, 2-3 weeks out before region, and the next two weeks both have 2 day meets. I am the only Alta athlete registered for the Woods Cross Invitational, the fastest time is seeded at 9:57 and there are 2 other guys close to my level that have run 10:10 and 10:06. My goal is to win the event, hopefully they give out medals for this invite.

I woke up too late today and missed practice, the alarm didn't go off, turns out it was set for PM... I went for a 4 mile run and threw in a couple of striders. I felt great, pretty crazy day, spring break went by way to fast...

Today I had heartburn from the time I woke up to about an hour before the race, I also used the bathroom at least 6 times before the race. I wasn't feeling so good, I did ok considering everything. I warmed up about 2 miles. I did a lot of stretching and striders, and I was feeling ok before the race, I could have used a little more energy. I started out and I let myself fall a little, I came across the 200 at about 34, maybe even 33, that was bad because I thought I had given myself plenty of space from the lead. I hit the 400m a little better at 72. I started moving up after the first lap, picking a few guys off each lap. This slowed signicantly after lap 4 or so. I started only passing 1 or 2 guys a lap. I needed to go to the bathroom and it was making it hard for my to pick up the pace, I knew I was off pace with 2 laps to go. Laps 6 and 7 killed me, and lap 5 wasn't good either. Lap 5 was 79, lap 6 was terrible at 81. I don't know what lap 7 was, but it was pretty slow. My last lap was pretty good, I really gave it a good amount of gas and passed 4-6 guys. Maybe for me in cross country races, the key is to go out easy. There were a few Davis guys who were really giving me a hard time passing, they would accelerate while I was passing them and try to close gaps in lane 1 when I was trying to move in, and they would move out to lane 2 when I was trying to pass on the outside, this happened 3 or 4 times. The first time I was a little angry. It would be a lot easier to deal with in xc. I took 4th or 5th I think, but maybe worse. I was feeling good this week up until today, so it was unfortunate. Overall I had a pretty good time at this meet, and I got to see Kyle, Renee, and Brandon so that was fun. Next week I kind of want to do the 1600m but I also want to break 10:00 for the 3200m, I guess I will see what Coach Murphy thinks. I think I will do a couple more miles tonight.

Nice easy 10 mile run around the city and neighborhood. I felt good, my achilles hurt for a little bit. I am starting to lose hope in making it to state this year, with Kramer, Andrew, Brayden, and the walker twins, any event will be tough to get a top 4 spot. Especially if you add in Christian Allen. There are 6 guys in my region who have run 4:30 or better, and 5 guys who have run under 9:45. I think I could run close to 4:30 right now, low 4:30s, but it would still be tight. I will do my best and hope I make it. I am excited for the Davis Invitational, it is going to be a lot of fun! And it is a very fast meet, I think whatever I run, I am going to make a big personal record.