Breanna's Running Blog

You asked Sasha about finishing the season with a few more two-a-days. As a coach, I pulled my two-a-days this past week. At this point in the season it is about being FRESH and FAST. Give your legs a chance to recover and hit quick speed work with less repeats and longer recovery. But, of course, go with your COACH'S PLAN (Isn't it your dad? He knows what he's doing.). Don't worry about missing BYU. It has happened to many a great runner. You build on the positive and negative experiences both to become a great runner.

I agree with Dave, now is the time to hit the speed with fewer reps and longer recovery. More mileage is not going to help you at this point in the season, it is time to sharpen for regions. Stay positive, we have all missed by events.

Dave, Scott - under normal circumstances this would be the case. However, something odd is happening with Breanna. She is faster in shorter distances like she should be than she was 3 years ago. However, she is slower in longer distances in spite of her training. She also slows down significantly in races longer than 400 meters. Given those circumstances, I do not think she will get much benefit from sharpening. What I do not quite understand is why her aerobic endurance decreased so much with age. One suspect is the increased anaerobic load. To test if this is correct, I recommended earlier to remove it completely and train only aerobically.

Even though you won't be running at BYU, will you be coming to the meet? It would be fun to see you if you're going to be there!

Ruth, I actually won't be able to go to the meet, because we are having a team workout for those not going to BYU and then I have my cousin's wedding shower, but good luck, and hopefully I will see you at state.

Thanks to all for the input it is a good way to analyze Bre's situation. One of the best things in it all is her attitude she is positive even when she is down and is a hard worker. I have taken the team to short reps and extra recovery. I know they were tired and could see it in their times. Even our recovery runs are now shorter and slower. I do believe that Bre is getting her legs back too. However, she has had a stuffy nose which has been a factor. With her taking Benadryl to combat this I think she is not quite as chipper. The only reason for the two a day approach at this stage is to do a short workout with a little speed for her to feel more comfortable with the faster turn over. Still giving her time to get fresh. I know she has the strength and speed to run a good 1600 and feeling the quicker pace with ease is the confidence builder she needs. The positive experience of a good race works wonders for all of our training. Sasha, I know you have thought of a few of the factors that could have slowed her times and aerobic fitness. Here is my take. Bre was a level 8 gymnast when she was 11 years old. Working out 6 days a week usually 3-4 hours a day. With that there is a lot of conditioning. She was also running with Wasatch Athletics in XC and track, road races. She was very fit. As she moved up levels the difficulty is much more. Bre has always made her own decisions on what she wanted to pursue. I'm proud of her values and choices. She came to me at 11 and said she wanted to quit gymnastics, she said running had more of a future, and what would she do back flips down a hallway when she's 40. Over the next few years her conditioning of her core decreased. She always liked going to the gym so we fudged alittle on her age so she could get a membership at Exel where she liked to work on her core strength. She still goes but never could push herself to condition like she was at gymnastics. Over this time she also grew which takes a lot of energy itself. She is now starting to grow into herself and I feel her running is about to really take off. Demetrio has always coached Bre and thinks much of it is a mental block. The main thing I am thinking now is to keep her crisp and fresh with the goal of her hitting the starting line with confidence and not feeling sluggish. She has always ran well in bigger races when she is focused.