The Renegade

Didn't get a chance to run today because I was traveling.

Good run today, I actually had an average pace of 7:40, so probably my quickest easy run that in a long time. A couple more weeks of training and I'll be back down to a 7:30 going easy. I ran the Park Avenue/River Trail/Willow Park loop. It was actually warm enough that I didn't have I where tights. (It's nice being back in Utah). There was a head wind coming from the west on my way back that made it a little chilly. I felt pretty tired by the end but it's good to know that it was because of a good pace, not just that it's an off day, and I geuss you can tell the difference between the two when you're running anyway. Tomorrow I'm going to try to run around ten miles, but at a slower pace though, maybe an 8 min average.

Wow that was a good run! I averaged a 7:40, do I'm pleased with that, and also I felt like I was flying right around miles 7, 8, and 9. I took a condensed version of the huge hilly road loop I would do on my 14 mile runs in August. I felt okay in the first half, and then my show came untied behind the Water Research Center. My hands were too cold to really tie it very tight, but I did the best I good. I had to stop and adjust a couple more times going up the hill between there and the intersection of Mtn. Roads and Quail Way, but after that I felt amazing pretty much until I got home. I wish all my runs could feel that way. Anyways, good way to end the week. It's too bad I didnt run on Thursday, because than I would have more miles this week, but I think it was appropriate to take a rest day after such a failed workout on Wednesday. ✌️

Good run out to Providence and back in a loop. I managed an average of 7:25, which shows great improvement in the last month. Of course, it did feel a little quick but in a week or too I'll be running that pace in all my easy runs. Tomorrow is a workout and I'm assuming it will be another 2 mile Tempo. I did some strides afterwards.

Solid training day as always, although I did have a tough time in the workout. We ran a little over a mile and a half for the warmup, and then 4x800 just like a few weeks ago. Aside from the usual people, we had Mark and Jake with us. I ran the workout alone since Keith got there late. My splits were 2:56, 2:57, 2:59, and 3:10. 😁 I started the first one a little too quick, with a 1:25 at the 400. So I purposely slowed myself down to about a 1:31 for the next 400. The first rest already seemed fast, and before I knew it I was back on the track. This one didn't feel too bad either, and I was pleased to see that I was consistent from the first one. The next one, as always, is where it started to get bad. After it I had to retie my shoe, which got in the way of me stretching out my diaphragm and getting lots of oxygen, so when I started #4, I was already feeling crappy. My main focus was just to get through this last one because I was hurting so bad, so I just had to think about enduring it to the end. So all I was doing was counting down the meters basically. When I finished that one I couldent stand for a couple of minutes, but when I did get up, I could actually jog pretty comfortably, unlike after some other workouts I've done. The main thing I learned today is to start my workouts slower, and that's what I'll do for this next time. I think that other than the last repeat this is showing an increase in my fitness levels from 3 weeks ago. After that we did a little over a two mile cool down, with some hip drills and 40m flys. Then we went in the weight room and did some satisfying lifting.

Recovery day. Keith, Vickie, and I jogged 800 on the track, did some warmup stretching, and then we ran 4.25 miles on the Park Avenue/River Trail loop. Pace was 7:17, and it felt quite delightful. It wasn't as good for Vickie and Keith because they lifted this morning, so I geuss I should have slowed the pace a little bit more, and it would have been beneficial to me, too, since I'll probably be more tired for the threshold tomorrow than I would be. But it is just training, but a race. After we got I did a 200m stride, jogged 100 and then did a 100m stride. Then I did some core.

I started my 800m jog on the track while we were waiting for more people to show up, and I was stiff like no other, and I thought today would be terrible. Mark, Zair, and I started our run out to my road for the Tempo run and I felt a little better. We then did our warmup drills and stretches and about 5 min later started the run, and I actually felt pretty dang good. It was the best tempo I've had yet out of the four. It was also the slowest (13:01) but I felt a lot better and ran just a little bit slower, so I think it was a matter of pushing myself more on it. It was just really fun running that and going fast. My 800 splits were 3:13, 3:15, 3:19, and 3:14 if I'm correct. Mark was doing a 4 mile tempo, so Zair and I ran back at not a bad pace. Then I broke out my new spikes with some 100m strides with a 300m jog, 1700m in all. (5 strides, 4 jogs) Strand told me to do them faster next time, so I'll remember that. My slowest one was maybe 18 so that's pretty intense for next time but it'll be good for me. The spikes felt great! They just felt weird when I was jogging but they're not exactly my Pegasus! After that we did some hip drills and a tiny bit of core, and then I had to leave for a piano lesson and had to skip lifting which made me pretty mad but oh well.

Good pre-meet run today that capitalized on the fact that I'm not going to take a small race as an excuse to slack off on training. It was way colder than I expected! But I was somewhat okay. I left the school with Mark and we ran to Merlin-Olsen to meet up with Louis Vidal (who graduated in 2013) Then we ran to first dam and back. The pace didnt feel super easy, but it wasn't that much harder than what I'm used to either. I think it was 7:20. It was kind of cool getting to know a past Logan runner for the first time. After that we ran back to the school and did some yoga with strand, which I'm not seeing any ways that it's helping, but maybe it could be good over the long term. When I got I found the shoes I orderedm waiting for me and I did some strides in those just because I wanted to try them out really bad.

Kind of a dissapointing day, but when I think about the fact that I'm still gaining my fitness post-injury, it's early in the season, we havent done alot of speed work, and I just finished my highest mileage week since cross-country including the longer and teh somewhat tiring run yesterday, I'm not that pooped. My goal is still to break five at Simplot. We got there and I jogged around a bit on the track in my trainers, and I wasnt feeling too good. I felt sluggish and my shins were trashed. Then I got them stretched out by coach and they actually felt alot better. We then did a two-mile warmup outside, where it was perttty cold and super foggy. I spent alot of time watiing around by the start line for all the heats. 

1600m 5:34

This race went by alot faster than I expected, probably because of the two mile tempos that we've been doing. I started in the front, but I got passed by alot of guys pretty quickly. I pretty much just held on for the whole race with fairly even splits, not feeling to bad. My first 7 200s alternated between two times in the low 40s, and then my last 200 was a 37. The kick felt great and I passed a guy. I was super bummed when I found out my time though. 800 cooldown outside after. 

800m 2:27   splits: 36, 37, 39, 34

After about 2 and half hours of waiting around I finally stepped up to the start line for the 800. I was pretty pumped because I had just watched Johnny pass about 6 guys in the last 150 meters in the fast heat to win the overall race. I was in the third and slowest heat and I started in the front. When the gun went off the same thing happened that happened in mile earlier, except I eventually passed all of those guys except one to place second in my heat. This time I tried even harder in the kick, and it felt AMAZING. My best geuss is that the lifting I've been doing helped alot for that. It also probably helped me to be able to make a move and pass people pretty dang easily, even on the turns, which is hard to do in indoor. That was such a fun race, and it didn't even hurt that much, at least not in the way that I'm used to doing 2 mile tempos and coming out of the cross season. I think the 800m will be my main event this season, and I'm probably going to drop my time down around twenty seconds or more. And that did'nt even feel as hard as I remember the 800 being, so when I really puch myself, it'll be great.

After that I did a half mile cooldown. As I'm writing this my legs are super, super sore and trashed, and I could barely even run if I tried, but we'll see on Monday how I'm doing.

Today I didn't run because I felt like my legs could take a break and would benefit an extra day of rest. Plus I had a dentist appointment and haircut and by the time I got home. It's too bad because Ive had a pretty crappy day and a run would have been good for my mood.

Pretty good workout today. It was 4x1000m with 2 min rest and a 200m jog. First Keith and I ran 800m on the track, and that felt pretty tight. Then Mark showed up so we did a lap around the school with coach. After that we did stretches inside then started the workout. My times for it were 4:03, 3:50, 3:49, 3:48. So I was pretty happy with that in that I had the same average as last time BUT I felt a lot better and I got progressively faster. Keith had a higher average though son I gotta get on that next time! It's weird because I didn't feel that different form the first one the second even though it was a big increase in speed. I felt pretty good and energetic until the last repeat. I kind of got caught off guard with the rest ending so maybe that's why. After that we did a two mile cooldown with Vickie and Chazel Campbell, who stopped by. Then we did strides on the track, which felt pretty good. Finally we did hop drills and some lifting, which was more intense than any of the other time that we did it.

Tough run today. I ran out to Providence and back with Coach Strand, Mark, and Vickie. I was feeling pretty dang tired by the end, but I'm happy to get the mileage in. (-:

Today was definetley tougher than I expected. First we ran an 800 on the track, and then Mark, Vickie, and Zair, went in the weight room to do mile repeats on the treadmills. I ran with Coach to the street next to the temple to do some 200m hill repeats. It's a pretty big and steep hill. The workout, katered more to the 800, was 8 x Temple Hill (200m) w/ 2:30 rest in between sets. At first it didn't seem too bad, but as the workout progressed, it turned into quite the grind. My times were as follows.

37.26,   35.55,   35.68,   34.99,   36.24,   37.1,   38.82,   38.86

By the end of these I was super pooped. After the last one I leaned against the fence for a while before I could even move. The run back, which was .82 miles, was pretty grueling and slow. I wouldent be surprised if I was going at a 9 minute pace. When I got back I did some weights and had to leave. This workout is very beneficial on the anaerobic side, especially for the 800. Good day, I jusy wish I had gotten more miles in. I went believing it was six until I mapped it out on here!

Today I woke up too late, my lower legs were feeling beat up and we're traveling so I don't think I can run today. It sucks to put a hole like that in my training. If I don't run tomorrow I'll have about 18 miles for the week.

Man, I geuss you could say I felt tired today. It wasn't that bad, but I was kinda struggling in the middle section of my run. I ran to the Aggie Bull across the street from Romney Stadium, then went to Old Maine and came back on Canyon Rd. and Center. I definetley felt better once the run hit it's elevation peak and and I started going downhill (at Old Maine). Average pace was 7:50. That's about as slow as I'll most likely go on an easy run for now on, unless it's the day after a super tough workout or meet, or if I'm cooling down after any workout. It was actually pretty nice weather, and I was sweating by the end. This week will definetley have more more volume than last week. It's kind of funny how my lower mileage weeks just happening to be when I'm not racing but I run alot more miles in the week of a race. That's fine though, it is preseason, but I'll have to make sure to get solid training in every week.Tomorrow the new semester starts and I've got a class that I can run in (or do strength training and lifting), so that will help.

Surprisingly solid day today. I ran two miles in seventh hour, and they were 110% grueling. It was 8:30 pace at the fastest and my legs felt so tight. Then I waited around for everyone else to show up (we had a surprising increase in numbers) and then we did our mile warmup. The workout was 8x400m w/ 2 min rests. The prescription was mile date pace, but I ended up pushing myself a bit harder than that. Here are my times:

1:17,  1:22.6,   1:19,  1:15.4,  1:15.6,  1:20.6,  1:19.1,  1:14.8              

Avg: 1:18 

2.5 mile cooldown after, followed by weights.

Good day today. I got a lot more miles than I planned on running but ath's okay because I feel fine. In 7'th hour I ran a half a mile on the infield and did some warmup stretches. Then when practice started we did another 800 and stretches. We ran up the Canal trail and by the time we got off that everybody had turned back except for Mark and I. So we went up teh trail to Cliff Side and made our way down to Providence did a big loop there and ran back to the school. Before I knew it we had gone 8.5 just on that run. Then we did a quarters worth of strides, then hurdle mobility drills and hip drills. Finally I ran an extra 400m just to finish off the 10 for the day. Great day of training as always. :) It wasn't as cold as I expected either. 

Wow, I think I am on a streak this week as far as training quality goes. The only thing I missed out on today was lifting, which kind of bummed me out, but oh well. 1 mile in 7th hour today with the same hurdle mobility drills as yesterday stuck in between, plus about 4 minutes of core. Then when practice started we jogged 800 on the track, loosened up a bit, and then ran to the usual spot by my house to do the tempo run.We did quite a bit of warmup drills and then started not long after that. I felt pretty good during it, almost as good as I felt on the last one. The difference was that it was a lot faster. I'm beginning to really like these runs. We had more people, too, maybe five or six, so it made it a bit easier. No one running next to me though. Here are my splits:

3:09,  3:09,  3:05,  3:14   

Total: 12:38      

Avg. 800m: 3:09      

Avg. 400m: 1:34

That was very amazing and surprising. I thought I was going to run my slowest time yet and coach even told me to expect it to be slow today because of the hard week this week. But that was faster than any other time in that workout. After that we ran back and did a set of strides which added another mile, and then after a small amount of hip excercises I had to go. All I can say is that if training goes on like it is this week, I think I'm going to have a breakthrough track season. Very big confidence booster. I'm going to go low 40s this week and then try and maintain that for a while before I step it up again.

Easy run with strides today. Ran the Icon trail with Mark and partly with Coach. I didn't feel as good as I did yesterday, but it's been a hard week. After the run I did 4x200m alternating mile pace and 800 pace.  I'm having some pain in my right shin and left hip, so if I still feel it tomorrow after the meet, I'll take it super easy on Monday. Tomorrow at the meet It's just Mark, maybe Zair and me going, so we'll see how that goes.

Great way to end the week today. I am very pleased\ about it. We got to the meet a long time before my race, so there was a lot of sitting around other than watching Mark's race, which he did well in. After that I warmed up about a mile and a half while he cooled down. Then when I got back I spent a nasty amount of time doing various warmup walks and strecthes and walking around, just staying loose. Finally my race started ( I was in heat three.) I was seeded based on 2:27 last time, and from how my warmup felt I didn't really know if I could do much better than that. But the gun went off and I felt pretty good and loose from the start, with the help of quite the adrenaline boost I might say right before we toed the line. My first lap was a 34 ( mind you I wasn't wearing a watch so I didn't really know.) That didn't feel bad at all, and I was surprised because yesterday I ran some pretty sluggish 200s after the run. I had okay position. The next two laps, because Coach forgot to get the second split, were an even 1:10, which was still right where I needed to be. (I imagine the third one was slower than the second). This was where I passed quite a few people. I started doing it after the first lap, and then I passed maybe three guys at once on the inside of straightaway, sorting of using my elbows, so it was kind of risky and I didn't have a lot of space, but I didn't get DQd.  On the bell lap I passed one or two more people, which put me in third with the leaders maybe 25m out of my reach. I really tried to go crazy and I ran a 32 for that one. After I finished I was still really hyped up, expecially after I found out it was an all-time PR, not a big one and not very impressive yet, but I that will definetley change throughout the track season. When I was passing people, it's funny because I would come up behind them and then next to them I would think "For sure their going to respond and not let me pass them"  but then none of them did respond. I think that's from the miles and the lifting. The speed has been helping me with running faster times. After the race I cooled down with Mark on a trail that led to Ogden's XC course, and we ran the rode loop and the park from the actually course then headed back up. It brought back some memories from my rookie XC days. That was a little over four miles, and it was pretty grueling by the end. That topped off my week. I'd say it's been a dang good training week, and I hope the best for the next few and maintaining my mileage.

I geuss this is a little far for a Monday, but it'll all balance out. At first I ran 40 min in 7th hour with Johnny, just a loop around River Heights. I didn't get a chance to stretch, but I still felt pretty good. Then I had to atlk to a teacher, and after I saw Mark and told him to hold up, so I went out 15 with him and then turned around. He was running ten miles too, so it feels weird to be running as much him in a day. On the way back I got pretty tired and was just muscling through it. Finally I did 2x200m with 200m jogs, both 32s.

Really fun/interesting workout today. In seventh hour I warmed up with Johnny for a mile. Then when teh rest of the people showed up we ran to teh canal trail to do some 800s. The trail was in terrible condition (mud, puddles, etc.) And pretty soon I just stopped trying to avoid it. It was fun though, and it was like I was running NXN. I felt pretty good during them. We did 5 with 90 second rests. I ran them in 3:02, 3:03, 3:09, 3:02, 3:03. So the average was less slower than normal but what we were running on slowed us down a ton compared to a track. And they were pretty consistent besides #3. Then I ended up tacking on some extra mileage because Layne I forgot to pick up the cones on the way back. After that we ran back down canyon road and did 4x100m on the old road by the dugway, and those were pretty tough. When we got back to the school we did hip drills and lifting, but I just wasn't feeling super into it. Finally I jogged 800m on the track while I waited for my ride. My hip flexors are pretty sore, so I hope I can get that out of the way soon.

Today we ran the river trail loop, and I wan't feeling super good, but I was able to go at a pace of my choice since I was basically leading everyone but Mark. It was rainy, but not really cold, so that was nice. When we got back I tried to do some strides but it brought out my hip flexor pain and I felt a twinge in my knee, so I had to stop that. We then did some hurdle mobility and hip drills, and that stretched it out just a little bit. Then we went into the training room to have my hip and Mark's calf looked at but the main trainer wasn't there, so I didn't get a good analysis.

Good day. I did the temple hill workout again with Zair, and I didn't feel any pain in my hips whatsoever. I did take an Ibuprofen, but I don't think it would have affected it as greatly as that. The workout felt better than it did last time too. My times (200m uphill w/ 2:30 rest):

39.56 

36.39 

35.68

36.25

35.2

36.19

35.04

36.03

It didn't feel as hard this time like I said, but it was still pretty intense and I was goin H.A.M. if you know what I'm sayin. I think on the first one I just wasn't completley warmed up. After that we did a little longer cooldown and then ran another mile on the infield. Then I did a tiny bit of weights. 

Good run today. I ran a mile and a half with Mark while we waited for Coach to come, and then we left. The pace felt pretty quick for me going up to Old Maine but then we went downhill and it felt nice. We ran a loop around the XC course and then headed back up and over Old Maine just the way we came. I felt pretty good. We then did 2x200m (~31, 31), and that was it for us. My hip didn't hirt really I just felt a slight ache after the strides.

Today I was in Bountiful, and Bountiful is really hilly, so I thought I might as well do a hilly run, so I ran up this road to another road which took me to the temple, which was a pretty run, but it was a tough climb. On the way back down I went pretty hard for a couple of miles or so, probably a sub-6 at one point. I just hope it didn't put to much stress on my body. Then I took a stop at the high school and did a couple of strides before I went back to my grandma's house.