Blake Bennions running

We ran at the Cottonwood complex today, we warmed up about 2.5 miles, I felt really good. Then we did 4x400s on 2 different places on the region course. My times were 64, 63, 64, 64, I feel pretty good about these times, I worked hard and the cooldown actually felt really good, although I wasnt sure if I was going to be able to run it at all for a while after I finished the last 400 haha. We did about a mile cooldown, avoiding hills, after that I went home and did another 2.5-3 miles but I put it as 2.5.  I did more just because I was feeling good and wanted more of a cooldown, and I felt bad about not doing a morning run. I feel good phisically going into the day before region premeet, I'm confident of my ability and I want to show that I'm better than my races this year have shown. I know I'm better than I've looked in races this year, I want to burn some of those guys scoring from bingham at region.

Easy run, it felt good and I enjoyed it. We did the top half of the best buy loop and a half mile on the track, then we did 6 striders. Everything felt good, the distance run and the striders. I need to get into the mindset that I can keep with those bingham top 3 and 4 guys and then I need to control my breathing and help my lungs out during the race. I know if I can control my breathing and my lungs don't go bad during the race I can pull it all together and have a great race. I have all the tools, I have my speed as good as its ever been I would say, I have the aerobic fitness from doing an average of 47 or 48 miles a week this season with multiple 50+ weeks which is more than I've ever done, I've been able to work as hard as I need to during races in workouts. I just need to have a better race mentality, I need to enjoy the race more and push myself harder. All there is to do now is prepare by eating well, getting enough sleep, drinking plenty of water, and having a good premeet day. I plan to put everything I have into region, I'm going to try hanging with binghams number 4 guy as long as I can, maybe 5 but I believe I can run with number 4. I just need to keep going with them as long as I can, i'm not going to even think about the future of the race during it, just the present and what I can do every moment to run faster.

We did 4 easy miles and 4 start of race 200s. It was all easy and I felt pretty good, I need to get a good sleep tonight and race harder than I ever have tomorrow. I'm going to give it my all for as long as I can, I'm going to keep with Binghams number 3 and 4 guys until either I die off or its time to kick them out. I'm only going to concentrate on defeating Binghams number 3 and 4 guys, I'm going to get right behind them and pass them in the final 800, I know have the ability to do this.

I can definintely say I'm happier about this years region than last years, this year I didnt run the time I wanted to last year but I could have. My arms were the only thing hurting today, I really need to figure that out. My lungs and legs felt great today, I could have gone faster but my arms were hurting bad. If my arms don't hurt at state and I can be positive, confident, and aggressive in the first 2.5 miles then I know I can have a breakout race. My kick today was good, which is something I haven't been able to say all year until now. I outkicked Binghams number 7 by a lot and also got a guy from copper hills who had had a big lead on me before I started my kick, I noticed how tired some of the guys I was passing in the last 600-700 and I realized how fast I could have run today if my arms hadnt been hurting. Austin is the guy from Bingham that I was running with for a while today and ended up beating by plenty, he is their number 7ish guy, their team is a little shifty after number 4. Looking through their past results I notice that their 5, 6, and 7 runner switch around quite a bit. I'm excited for state, if I can pull it all together and run hard I really think I can have an amazing race. My goal is to defeat Adam from bingham, his last name is haysen I think. He is their number 4 runner, he ran a lot faster than I did today. But Bingham hasn't gotten any better since the start of the season, and I could have run a lot faster today. We will see when we clash at state, but I'm going to work to my limit these next 2 weeks and do everything I can to beat him on the 23rd. I'm going to train as smart, well, and hard as I can and hopefully we will be able to defeat Bingham and make Nike Cross Nationals in Portland. For now I'm just concentrating on helping Alta finish 2nd at the state championship at Sugarhouse park in 13 days, really it just comes down to what I can do in the race, I need to start preparing mentally now so that when the race comes I will know what I'm going to do and where I need to be and so that I can make myself push myself to a fast pace the entire race and the blow out some guys with my kick.

I felt really good today, it was a nice pace and just and enjoyable run. The big hill on the gully run didn't even hurt today, it was sort of weird but really good. I know I am in good shape, and I'm going to get in a lot better shape by the time state comes around. I think the weakest point is racing, I really need to be confident and determined at the state meet. I know I would do amazing if I could have the mentality in a meet that I do most other days, but for some reason something just gets to me and I just can't push it during races. I really need to break through that problem, I know I will have everything I need to beat Adam by the time State comes around if I work my hardest. I just need to have the determination going into state.

We warmed up 2 miles and then we did 4x400s with 7 mins rest in between each. My splits were 58 seconds, 61, 61, 62. So an average of like 60.5 or so, under 61 but not under 60 which would have been nice. I went out to fast on the first one, but it was a good hard workout. I had a good time and then we did a cooldown, we did a lap in between each of the 400s and striders beforehand, we pretty much had done 2.25 before the first 400 and then with a lap in between each we got up to 4 miles by the end of the workot. Then we did a cooldown, I did a little extra but it was only 1.7, maybe a little more but I just put it as 1.7. I want to do another mile or so just to get up above 40 for the week, I will be looking for excuses to get that in.