The Renegade

This was my first run since Dec. 8th and the first run of the year. I ran down the frontage road to the green meadows church building and back. I didn't really feel like running today but I made myself do it because I knew that if I didn't start early in the year, than I would lfall way behind on my miles for the track season. My left toes were kind of hurting, but it was'nt a huge problem. I was properly dressed, so it didn't feel cold. I ddi feel how out of shape I have gotten though. It would have been nice if I had gotten up earlier to day . Runs seem always better when I do.

Today I got up at around 7, wich is unusual for a Saturday morning especially after falling asleep in front of the TV at 2 am. I left at 9 was back at 9:20. I felt alot morea rested today despite the 5 hours of sleep I got. I just ran to the west center street area and back. It was a better run than yesterday's. I just hope the bad air isn't hurting me too much, but I've seen other people out running today since then, so it must be a bit cleaner today. I had some stomach problems afterwards ): (Im sure the cups of chocolate milk I had last night didn't help with that)

That was a ok run! I went up to the temple and ran up the hill fast one time and came back. This was at around 5 pm, so it was almost dark. I wish they still had the christmas lights up on main street. My legs felt pretty good teh whole time,and my breathing was just slightly labored at the end. My hands were cold though, I shoudv'e worn gloves. When I got home they hurt bad, like I was starting to get frostbite.

Today I did a run to the river trail, up it, adn then I traced my way back. Luckily I didn't have the cold problem. I kind of felt the ache in my toes again though, but it eventually went away once I was warmed up. It started to get kind of tough right before the river walk. I got to the end and realized I had to get back to the house in 20 minutes, so I kind of had to hustle back.

This was my longest run in a while, going from 10th west to first dam. It was my first run of the year that wasn't right before dark, and I kind of over dressed because I got pretty hot. I felt fine all the way up canyon road and was going pretty fast, but after I took a rest and then turned around, I felt pretty crummy. Maybe it was the big breakfast I had this morning. I had to take a bathroom break at the library, wich I kind of went out of my way for. It was good to get the mileage in. I took a nice nap afterwards.

That was a pretty dang good run. It was up 400 N right next to Old Main and back in loop around the temple. It started off a little shaky, but that was because I wasnt warmed up yet. I made a mistake going straight up 400 N. because of teh exhaust and the noise from the cars. it was so bad right there that thke snow at the side of the road was blackened from it. Running down Temple Blvd. kind of put some stress on my calves, but not a ton. On my way back past the high school, I could tell I was running way to fast for an easy run. I'm just trying to decide if thats good or bad now.

Oh my heck, if you ask me, that was a terrible run.(might have been that package of airheads Xtremes) I think one of my biggest problems is regulating speed. I start off running 6 miles easy like I'm runnning 2 easy. I exhaust myself too fast. Luckily hasn't been as big a problem with racing so far. I did a route that I'd like to take more often, up river heights, down through the denzel stuart nature park and back through center street. I shoud've taken a break today though. If I'm lucky than Thursday will be my next run, but probably not since thats a really busy day for me, so most likely friday.

Wow, that was an amazing run! This time I ran out west to the boonies all the way till I got to 3200W on 500S. My breathing felt so good. I'm so glad I took that 2 day break. It did wonders on my body. We had a half day today so I got to do while eh sun was still high and bright, so the cold was'nt a problem. When I got home I did a short round of core.

Well that was pretty good too, but not as good as yesterday's run. It was probably the coldest temp I've run under. I'm just glad it wasn't windy. I felt good for the first half around the west side of the golf course I felt good, but I was going pretty slow (probably cause of the cold) It sort of went down hill from there after I entered the back end of the river trail. I sped up alot just to get it over with in the last half mile, and it actually kind of made me relive what it felt like in the last 800 of a cross country race.

That was an interesting experience. Today I decided to race myself at a 5K just to see where I was at. Now I don't know my route was exactly a 5K but it was pretty close. My time turned out to be 20:58. Definetley not a PR, but I wouden't have counted anyways. That doesnt woory me at all because I took a long break after cross country adn I havent been on very many runs since then. Im not going to worry about that though because XC starts in over half a year and I have track to think about, so maybe I shoudve timed my mile because I don't know what my mile is yet.

This was a workout in my Dynamic Fitness class that I did with Hayden. It didn't feel to beneficial, especially because I was running with him the whole time. Outside we ran like 8 slower 200s with some core inbetween. Inside we took turns sprinting a lap around the track and then doing pushups and stuff. 

Then I got when I home I ran another 2 outside just because I couldent settle for 2 miles today.

I started on my run with Mark and Hayden to the river trail, but it was closed so we took a left and went to the fair grounds, then Mark split off to take a longer route and Hayden had to stop and I did'nt want to wait for him, so I kept running and I got back to the school right as the bell rang. That was pretty good run for me.

I ran with Hayden and a hurdler who had nothing to do today. We ran from the high school up center street until we got to the base of cliffside, played with the speed measuring thing for a second ( I got 16), ran part way up the hill, than turned around. 

Today I went for a 30 min. run to the ellis elementary area and back, following coach Nielson's workout sheet for the month. I knew knew I was going at a completley steady pace tehk whole time because I was at 15 when I turned around 30 when I got home.

Today in gym I did small speed workout indoors which I thought was longer because I thought the track was a 200m track, but it's actually shorter. It was supposed to have some 400s, 200s, and a 600 at R-pace, but I shortened it on accident. At least I got somewhat of a workout in. Afterwards I did 6 minutes of core.

Just a mile (13 laps) on the indoor track today. It was boring as heck!

Today in gym I ran outside a little bit up Canyon Road, with a small detour up the hill to Temple Blvd. I didn't get that tired, but it was difficult to find a good pace. I was soar afterwards though, which is weird for a 3 mile run. I'm glad I did though because I did'nt have the best day at school and it made me more relaxed afterwards.

Today I went to Dan's (high jump coach) preseason practice. It was pretty fun, but that's probably the only reason that I would keep going to them. They're not that challenging in my opinion. Mostly just high jump based (but what should I expect. Dan's a fun guy though. We did a workout on the track where we sprinted the straights and jogged the shorter stretches. Then we went into the weight room and did some core and agility, so I geuss that that's one benefit of it. Afterwards Hayden and I stayed and lifted some more and that was about it. 

This was just and idea for a sad excuse for running that I had while Hayden and I were trying our best to scrape some ice off the track. 200 meters was clear, so we took turns running 400s while the other shoveled ice.

I got to do a workout today:

5 min. E- pace + 5x (400m R-pace w/ 400m jogs)

So this was indoors, and I just did 4 laps per 400 even though that would be longer. I did'nt seem that hard, and I didn't feel I benefitted from it. I probably jsut was'nt pushing myself hard enough.

The first mile of this run was outdoors, and that probably was'nt the best idea, seeing that a huge snowstorm was going on. I could hardly even see, but luckily I was properly dressed.  We went to Merlin Olsen park basically and then turned around. This bugs me because I was actually planning on a 45 min long run, but the weather was just to crappy. The other mile was on the small track indoors. I really hope I can do a long outside run tomorrow, just as long as the weather's descent.

Here is the sequence I completed:

5 min E-pace + 2x (4 min I-pace w/ 3 min jogs) + 2x (3 min I-pace w/ 2 min jogs) + 2x (2 min I-pace w/ 1 min jogs)

I cut it a little short from the full workout just because I'm not that used to intervals right now. I was supposed to do the middle one 3 times and there was 15 min cooldown, which I probably should have done. I do feel it gave me a good workout. It took alot of endurance, though. And its true, you have to have good endurance before you can do hard speed work outs. If it werent so slushy and snowy out, I would have done that 45 min run I've been itching to do.

So the run today, was again, indoors. ): I would be getting so much more mileage by now if it were'nt for the weather! It just get's a little frustrating.  That's about all I have to say about the run. Afterwards I did a bunch of core.

Wow I'm glad to finally see a solid week of running! Not necessarily all long runs but I've ran every day this week. And I've gotta say that this was onw of my best EVER.

Nielson's workout calendar said to do a 15 min warmup, 30 min at T-pace, and then a 15 min cooldown, and thats what i was planning to do. I ran east for 15 minutes, and started the T at around mainstreet, got about a half mile up Canyon Rd. Then I decided I was'nt up for that so I went back to easy and ended up going all the way to first dam and home without having to take a break. I think I improved my form, too.

Easy run up to providence during 7th hour. Well it was supposed to be easy, but I was kind of struggling, probably because the relatively high mileage on saturday. I only rested twice though. It was so nice outside today. It was completley clear and pretty warm. 

I took a road east that I've never been on, by Baer Welding. I hit my turn around time on that road, and I had to stop and walk around for about 2 minutes, than I kept going, not felling to good. 

After the run, I went to Dan's conditioning and got a pretty good weight room workout with alot of core.  Is should start doing more of that thing called core.

Got my new Brooks shoes yesterday! I was basically just trying to break them in, but I did'nt feel to hot in them. I'll probably get used to them within a week. I felt crappy again, just like Monday, just more sluggish. I ran north down 400 west until it ended, then ran down to 600 west and followed my route back.  It took about half an hour. I did bunch of stuff in the weight room afterwards.

Today was a super easy run with some other guys. We ran up past the temple and then to the to of Old Main. I love that route, it's got asome nice views. I probably needed an easy day like that after struggling for the last two runs. We got a little reckless on teh way down the grass hill, skidding on the ice super fast straight down. I think I'm already used to the new shoes! That was pretty quick to break in a pair of shoes.

The track was finally melted enough for all of lane 1 to be open. So I got to do a descent workout. Here is what I did:

400m E-pace + 2x (200m R-pace w/ 200m jogs) + 2x (400 m R-pace w/ 400m jogs) + reverse and repeat ending with 200m R- pace.
 

Now that I think of it, I probably made that harder than it was supposed to be by going to hard. I also should have done a descent warmup and cooldown. That 400 got really hard. The whole workout was hard, although I don't feel sore. Afterwards lots of core with Dan. Tomorrow I hope to do a super long easy run. Looking forward to it.

Dang, that was pretty great run. I took the route past the the high school and the temple  up to Old Maine, took a small break to recover from the hill, then kept going past Aggie Ice Cream and ending at Romney Stadium. Traced my route back and it was great. The roads and sidewalks were completely dry today, it was nice. I think I improved my form a bit, too. This was at like noon although I had just gotten up. I bet the run would have been better if had gotten up earlier.

8 miles "easy" from home to the top of Mtn. Rd. and back. I say "easy" because thats probably the hardest run you can do in Logan. I'm only going to take that route couple of times a year. Hills are bad enough normally but when teh hill just does'nt end, it could be torture. It's crazy because you go so slow yet you use so much energy. Good way to practice maintaining proper hill form though. The way down is a breeze, but I started to get a side ache about halfway, and  I  had to be careful not to hurt my knees.

That was a hard workout. I wish I had finished it but here's teh part that I did: 

5 min E-pace + 3x (400m R-pace w/ 400m jogs) + 800m R-pace w/ 400m jog)                        + 2x (200m R-pace w/ 200m jogs)

This doesn't sound hard, but i wasn't feeling too jazzy. The thing I took out an extra 800m with equal recovery. I just skipped to the 200s because, like I said, I wasn't feeling great, and I realized I had to get to the track meeting.

So today I was really just trying out my new spikes. Hayden and I did two 400's and a 200 in seventh hour. I ran them pretty quick for testing a pir of spikes, the 400s at 1:17 and 1:10, and the 200 was in the low 30s. Than I did a sprint workout and some strength training afterschool with the high jump coach.

Today I did time trials in the 1600 and 800. My mile was 5:50 (it'll be better with competition) and I don't remember the 800 time (oops) Hayden also did the mile with me, and stayed next to me for the first 200m, then fell way, way behind. I felt light headed afterwards because I didn't drink any water since before lunch. I am liking the spikes.

First track practice! It was so great to have people around me to run with again. The weather was nice too, it felt like it was may. Here's the workout that we did:

Core + 15 min E-pace + 3x (400m R-pace w/ 400m jogs) + 3x 800m R-pace w/ 800m jogs) + 15 min E-pace

I felt pretty good toady. The only thing was that I started to get a side ache during the workout and during the cooldown)

In seventh hour I did about 4 and half minutes of core. Than in track practice I had a great run.; We did a seven mile loop that involved the three mile block that my house is on. I ran with Sergio and Layne the entire time. We were even able to stop by my house and get a drink.

At the begining of practice we did 5 minutes of core, and then coach told us we were doing a workout. That surprised me since I was expecting an extra long run today. But I do feel it benefitted me. Heres what we did:

Warmup + 5x (2 min I-pace w/ 1 min jog + 1 min I-pace w/ 30s jog + 30s I-pace w/ 30s jog)

I was very satisfied with that, it was just really tough on the 2 minutes I-pace. I didn't rest in between sets, and I'm pretty sure that that's what we supposed to do, but not completley. I think one reason that I felt pretty good was that I got in a good warmup. (2 miles) It was a gorgeous day, too. It was really warm and the sun was bright. After the workout Coach Nielson gave me some encouraging words. I really appreciate morale support like that.

Here's today's workout:

15 min E-pace + 4 x (1000m T-pace w/ 1 minute recoveries)

That felt considerably difficult. Probably the fact that that was the second track workout in two days. The cold pouring rain didn't help much either. I felt bad for the soccor players having tryouts on the field. I probably wouldve done a good cooldown if it was nicer, also. I'm glad there were only four sets. When I think about it, that was nothing compared to the 8 1000s at R-pace with 1 minute rests we did in cross country last season. 

I had a fantastic run today, and I was especially enjoyinhg it in the last mile. I think the alteration I attempted to make on my form helped. The worst part was the first half-mile where I wasn't warmed up yet. And the part in providence where I was nearing the turnaround point wasn't so great, either. But other than those parts I really enjoyed myself.  On my way back it was nice because I had tail winds. The best part was the last half mile, where I my form felt perfect and I still had energy. 

Today it was pouring more than it was on thursday. I did a loop that went by willow park and the fair grounds. The rain was really annoying when I was running south and it would fill up in my eye sockets. I didn't feel as good today, because I was going at the same pace as normal yet it felt faster. But I was glad to get the run in. Almost 40 miles this week. That's the highest mileage I've gotten in a week ever.

Here's the workout I did today:

10 min E-pace + 4x (1000m I-pace w/ 2-3 minute rests) + 5 min E-pace

That was such a hard workout. I felt like I was going to pass out towards the end. I started running the 1000 at 3:40 with a 2:10 minute rest. That was my first set. I don't remember the two in between, but the last set was a 3:40 1000 with a full 3 min break before it. So not a huge decrease I geuss. That just made me super exhausted. I'm glad I did a cooldown though. I usually don't end up doing those. 

Today was just and easy run up canyon road. I didn't feel to good today, probably because I didn't get much sleep last night. I started with Layne, and then he turned around. Then I caught Thomas and ran with him for a bit, and then I ran with Keith and Jessi with Coach on his bike. The pace felt pushed all the way back to the school.

Dang that was good! Here's what we did:                                                                       +15 min E-pace                                                                                                           + (600m R-pace w/ 5 min jog) + 2x (400m R-pace w/ 4 min jogs)                                         + (600m R-pace w/ 5 min jog)                                                                                          + 2x (300m R-pace w/ 3 min jogs)                                                                                   + 4x (200m R-pace w/ 2 min jogs)                                                                                  + 400m cooldown

That was a great workout as far as how good I felt during it and how much it helped me improve. For the warmup we ran in alot of circles, so it felt really long. The 600s, 400s, and 300s werent that bad, but the 200s killed. (probably because I was running way to fast) They left me super winded. Now that I think about it, I was going somewhere between R-pace and F-pace, so way to fast. I geuss I just really felt good today. Nothing wrong with that.

Today was just an easy long run up to Aggie Ice Cream and back to the school. I always like that route. It was raining, but not too hard. I felt okay, but the distance felt longer than six miles. When I got back Hayden and I did a core workout with the high jumpers.

Mile time trial today. We did a mile warmup, stretched, and them proceeded to to line up and start. The girls went first, so us guys had seven or eight more minutes to prepare. I hung on to Will the entire time, and I think that's what helped me. I passed him in the last fifty meters, but our times were just a couple seconds apart, which is actually pretty amazing considering how spaced out everyone else was. I got 5:28, which is a 22 second PR from the trial I ran alone two weeks ago. 

Today I did a trail run, something I haven't done for a while and need to do more often. I ran the Bonneville Shoreline trail and then took a road to the green canyon trail head and turned around. This was at 22 minutes and the total was 45 including going back up the switchbacks one more time after I was done, so I ran the return trip significantly faster on the way back. I forget how steep some of those hills are. I'd have to say the low point of the run was just before I hit the turn around point, since I was planning on turning at 30 but changed my mind. the best part was probably the middle section of the trail on my way back.

I've gotta say that that was the hardest workout this season so far. Here's what we did:

800m warmup                                                                                                                        + 2x (1200m I-pace w/ 4 min jogs)                                                                                        + 2x (1000m I-pace w/ 3 min jogs)                                                                                        + 800m I-pace w/ 400m jog

So there's what I did, and it was almost the full workout, just 800m short. I cut it off because I didn't want to injure myself since our first meet is on Thursday, and I was having a hard time with it. During the thousands I would say was the hardest part. I had that feel like I wanted to just collapse on the track. I still think it was a good workout and that it made me stronger. So stoked for thursday! 

Easy run today. I went with a group of freshman, and we really didn't have a route planned, so it was basically all over the southwest section of the city. I felt really good today, like I could have gone much faster and farther.

Today we practiced starts, just a 400 each time. I kept ending up 5 seconds faster than where I wanted to be. After that we were done so my medley team and I actually practiced passing the baton and we got the hang of it. I'm just nervous about dropping it tomorrow.

1600m - 5:22.98,12'th place

Pretty good race. They split it up into two heats, and I got placed in the faster one, but didn't place last in it either. There was about thirty runners in all, so maybe fifteen in my heat. Toward the middle, an Ogden runner passed me for a second, but I gained my position back and beat him. I kind of bummed that I started too fast. My first first lap was 1:15, and I didn't keep track after that. PR though, from that 5:28 a couple of weeks ago. 

800m (Final Leg in Medley Relay) 

I wasn't too serious about this one since one of the teams had Chad Artist (fastest sprinter in the state) with Caden Andersen, Thomas, and Johnny, plus another team from Ogden that looked fast. When I recieved the baton our team was in dead last and by alot. Luckily Hayden was the 800 runner in fourth so I closed that 200m gap pretty quickly. so we didn't get last, and plus if I had a faster relay team with some actual sprinters doing the 200 instead of other distance runners, then I think we would do alot better. 

I was not expecting a workout today. This is it:

10 min E-pace                                                                                                                    + 2x (600m R-pace w/ 600m jogs)                                                                                       + 3x (400m R-pace w/ 400m jogs)                                                                                        + 4x ( 300m R-pace w/ 500m jogs)                                                                                        + 4x ( 200m R-pace w/ 200m jogs)

I went way too fast on the first parts, so I geuss those were really more like F-pace maybe. But I actually hit the right pace after that. I felt surprisingly good today for having a meet yesterday afternoon. I geuss I just had a good recovery. 

I was feeling to good on that run today, maybe I should have cut it short. I knew it wasn't going to be good as soon as I started the first mile. I also wish they would open the park bathrooms already enough said. 

Man I hated the workout today. Here it is:

Core

+ 15 min E-pace

+ 4x (1000m I-pace w/ 2-3 min rests)

That erally sucked for some reason. Luckily it'll probably be my only speed workout this week. The last 200 of the fourth set was torture. That's how I knew that I was done. (we were given a choice on how many reps we do) I think that 1000 is just a tough distance for whatever reason.

Track was fun today. We did the first dam run. I ran ahead with Will until we got there and our pace was pretty fast. Then I joined Keith and Vickie and we ran up to the Graffiti towers. Then we got stuck on a cliff and had to carefully climb down. I felt great the whole way back.

Starts today. I was hitting the 1:20 400s perfectly.

1600m - 5:29, 12'th place

I am very frustrated for not PR'ing today, because I could have done it if I had pushed it more. I hit the first lap just fine, but after that I was so focused on not going to fast that I started to slow down. The fact that I was feeling comfortable the whole time should have been a clue. 

800m (Medley) 2n'd place

I am very happy about this race because we placed #2 out of four and it was to another logan team, who's 800 runner (Keith) was one that I would've beat if I had'nt started with a 150m gap between me and him. 

super easy run at a little too slow pace. The only people there we people too slow for me, so I had to keep waiting for them. Everyone else is at the Hurricane Invite.

That was probably the worst long run I've since started. I felt like I wanted to crawl home by mile 5.

Track Workout: 

15 min warmup

+ 4x

 (2 min R-pace w/ 1 min. jog)

+ (1 min R-pace w/ 30 sec jog)

+ (30 sec R-pace w/ 30 sec jog)

Man, that was a pretty tough workout, here it is:

10 min E-pace + 3x (1600m I-pace w/ 3-4 min rests)

Cache-Box was supposed to start toady, and I was expecting and easy 2 or 3 mile run to get ready for the 3200m tomorrow. The first set didn't feel too bad, and I even did an 800m jog after it. I was trying to hit 1:27 per 400, but they were more like 1:33s. In the next two sets I really suffered. I was glad to be done with that, and then I did a sprint workout with the high jumpers just for fun. (100m repeats) So I geuss that that was my cooldown. 

I felt good on that run, but the hail storm we ran through kind of ruined it. The sun was shining in the first half, though. We went up canyon rd. and the up this muddy steep path that led to the top of the bench. My body felt phenomenal the whole time. I didn't get tired at all. I'm already bracing myself for the workout tomorrow, though. 

That was probably the longest workout I've ever done, here it is:

15 min E-pace + 2x (3200m T-pace w/ 1 min rests) + 4x (200m R-pace w/ 200m jogs) + 15 min E-pace

So the workout was exactly six miles when you take out the warmup and cooldown. I didn't check my V-DOT chart before teh first set, so I ran it too slow. Then when I tried to match my real T-pace the second time I still think I hit it too slow. I think both of them were maybe in the 14s, though. The 200s weren't bad at all, and I hit my pace perfectly on each one. They were pretty fun.  I'm glad I got so much mileage today!

Man, I didn't feel too good on that one, probably becuase of dehydration, eating too soon before, and the fact that I spent the night on a couch half my size. I was in Ogden today at my aunt and uncles and place, that's where I did it.. My ankle felt like it was having problems, too. Hopefully my day off tomorrow will help. On my way faster, I do think that I sort of broke in, so maybe it wouldent have been too bad to go longer. 

Track Workout: 

10 min E-pace + 3x (1600m I-pace w/ 4 min rests) + 10 min E-pace

I'm surprised I did this seeing that we are out of school this week and the last thing I wanted to do was be there again. I ran there for a warmup, and it didn't feel so good. When I saw some other track people, so that was nice. I stretched and did my first set, in which I felt like I was racing, when really it was around a 6 minute mile. Then I ran the next two miles even slower. I geuss I just don't have alot of energy today. The cooldown to my house felt way good, though.

That wasn't necessarily my best run ever. I should have gone a little bit slower, but that probably wouldn't have helped much. I just didn't have that good feeling that everyone wants on a run. I'm on spring break, and it was on a highway plus some dirt roads near my grandparent's house. The only fun part was when I surged in about the last 400m. I think tomorrow I might try something less monotonus with some hills and such. At least the weather was nice today, I wasn't expecting that from Idaho in early spring.

That was a terrible run, I was getting hot, I kept getting tired, and it was snowing. My jacket felt heavy, too. I think this increased altitude is really affecting me. I think it will benefit me though. I have a tough track workout tomorrow, it involves 3200s, just like last friday.

That was tough, but it would have been tougher if I had done the whole thing. I only did one set. I ran 2 miles at what was prabably alot faster than T-pace.Then I did 8 200s at R-pace. The worst part about was that it was on the road because the local track was still covered in snow.  I was dieing during the 3200. Either the altitude is getting to me, or I'm having a bad week.

Crap that run felt just as bad as saturday at one point. I ran with Vickie and Keith all the way up to first dam and about half a mile up the canyon, then I turned around before they did and after that I 3.75 slow, sluggish miles all the way back to the school. I think I was really underhydrated. I'll work on drinking more water during the day for now on.

That was an awesome run! It wasn't the best run, but it was good. It had some good scenery, that was probably what made it enjoyable. Maybe it would have been better if I hadn't drank five cream sodas yesterday.  I think I'm just barely getting acclimated to the elevation. I can't wait to take the route I took next time I'm here!

Man it is good to be back. Here's the workout :

Core + 2 miles easy + 5x (1000m I-pace w/ 2-3 min rests) + 1.5 miles easy

That was a good workout. We've done it before, but I guess this time it was easier for me because I was at altitude last week. I was hitting my times perfectly. I'm glad I got a good warmup, too. And then I'm also glad I had that rusty but OK cool down. The first three sets felt great, but the last two were actually pretty hard.

That run was actually pretty tough,  and it was not a cool day. I ran with Keith the whole time, running up to Aggie Ice Cream then doing a loop around the cemetery. We stopped at AIC for a while, getting a drink and hanging out a bit with a bunch of other people on the team. When we headed back, it felt like I we were going really slow the while time, not an easy slow. I need to stay hydrated better.

We did start today, just three four hundreds. I was hitting my splits perfectly, and it makes me pretty confident about tomorrow!

3200m - 12:26

Thay was a pretty good race! I was actually aiming for 11:20 (just because I didn't know where I was at), but that's fine. It was my first time racing a two mile, unless you count our time trial at the beginning of the XC season. I was feeling pretty good the whole time and I think I had a good finish. 

1600m - 5:25 12th place

That felt harder than normal after racing the two mile earlier in the meet. I was trying to keep up with Keith, and I probably would've if I was fresh for since he ran a 5:21 and I ran a 5:22 in our first meet. My muscles just started to get lactic a lot faster than normal. No problem, I just know that I probably would've PR'd if it wasy first race of the day.

800m - 2:28

This was my first open 800 ever. I think it went pretty well. I set my standard, and I'll probably be devestates if I ever get over 2:30. Don't remember a lot about the race itself, but it went well.

Treadmill run today in my hotel in California. I'm surprised I got myself to do it since I hadn't gotten any solid sleep in about 35 hours. I would have ran outside, but it was already dark. The weight room is right above the pool, which made it super humid, so I was drenched in sweat by the time I finished. The treadmill felt pretty quick, I was going at a 7:30 minute mile, but it felt like a 6:30. I'm glad I got the run in, though.

Had to run on the hotel treadmill again, which especially sucked for how fast I needed to go. I did a 400m warmup, then 8 400s R-pace with 1 min rests, and then a 400m cooldown. I also did three minutes of core.

So I went to track practice and we just did this relay with hurdles and throwing and high jump, obviously just as a stress reliever. I had fun, but I wanted to run since I lost so much mileage during the trip, so I just ran 2 easy miles when I got home. I felt pretty good.

1600- 5:15, 4th place 

Yes! I got exactly the time that I wanted. The way I did was I just paced for 5:20 but stepped it up in the last lap. I was'nt in the lead pack for most of the race, but lots of people went too fast at the beginning whereas I raced smart (for once) and passed them. I think I passed about 8 people throughout the race, and at the 1400m mark I moved into 3rd place, but then the other runner kicked and passed me again. Overall, I'm very satisfied with that race. 

800- 2:20, 3rd place

I PR'd in this, too! That was such an exciting race. I was behind a bunch of guys at first, just like in the mile in the first 400. But I passed almost all of them in the second lap. I moved into second place in the last 200, then the guy came up next to me at the start of the last 100, and it was an allout battle in a sense from there. He beat by about a centimeter, but I think it was a judgement call after that.

3200m- 12:26, 6th place

I think it was a bad call on my part to race that. I was hurting more than you would believe in the last 300, most likely because of the two all out events I had done before then. I was pacing for 12 flat, but that didn't  work out so well. I was just suffering so bad. i don't remember much about the race itself, it's just so cloudy. I do remember Coach Deursch encouraging me every time I came around, and I'm thankful for that.

That was a pretty good workout. We had a two mile warmup, and then we did 8 400s at R-pace with full recoveries. I sort of forgot to get a cooldown in (oops)  Most of the first repeats I was hitting about 1:16, wich would put me at a 5:04 mile, so way to fast. Then towards the end when I was making sure I hit 1:19-20 it felt pretty fast, like racing an 800 fast, but if that was true than I my 800 would be 2:40. So I think I was just getting exhausted.

I somewhat liked that workoutt, I mean I felt that I benefitted from it. I'm not running the 2 mile this week, but I did the workout for it anyways. Heres what we did:

15 min E-pace + 3x (200m F-pace w/ 200m jogs) + (400m F-pace w/ 400m jog) + short 400m cooldown

I've never done F-pace in a workout before (6 sec faster per 400 than mile R-pace) It's actually pretty hard, although it's kind of fun to go fast. 

Heres the workout I did:

1 mile E-pace + 3x (1000m T-pace) + 2x (1000m I-pace) + 2x (400m F-pace)

Htat was tough, I gotta say. I was supposed do two more 400s, which I really should've done, but I kind of gimped out of it. I'm trying to decide which part of the workout was harder, and I'm thinking it was probably the 1000s because in the 400s you hurt more but for a short period, but teh 1000s feel so stretched out and I was still hurting quite a bit.  I'm just glad we did'nt do any 1200s. I've had those various times and they are super challenging. Looking forward to a long run tomorrow.

( No run today, we just found out that either we missed thje Morgan Invite, or it got cancelled. So I'm racing tomorrow at mtn. crest. In practice I just played hacky sack with freinds, it was a good stress reliever)

1600m

So I was aiming and pacing for 5:10, but I actually got 7 seconds slower than that. This really bugged me. It's kind of frustrating, and I know i was feeling off all day, but I think that if I wouldve paced for 5:15 than I wouldve gotten a better time. I was told that I looked solid, although I did'nt feel that way.

800m

Funny story, I almost missed this race. I was talking with my buddies and I happened to look over and see them lined up for it. I barely made it, and I did'nt have a very good sttarting position. Thats probably one of the reasons I did'nt do as well as I wanted (I got 2:22) I think I just had an off day though. luckily I'll have another chance to PR in these events this season.

Today I helped out at the Adams Fun Run, basically just to get out of school, but I had a good time. It was cool to help out little kids running the mile. I remember when I did Fun Runs in elementary school. One kid ran a 5:37. My fastest mile was 6:52 back then, that kid is insane.

5 miles easy today. It was actually quite enjoyable. I made a pretty big loop around the west side of the golf course and then through the river trail. It bugs me that they chopped down all those trees. Then I went through willow park, and went abck the same way I came past Woodruff Elem. 

My calves were a tid bit soar from yesterday, but it was'nt a big prob. The weather was nice and overcast, and I felt like I could go pretty fast without getting tired. It put me in a better mood when I got home, too.

I've gotta say that's probably in the top five toughest workouts ever for me, here's what we did:

mile warmup + 2x (200m R-pace w/ 200m jogs) + (800m R-pace w/ 5 min rest) + (600 m F-pace w/ 6 min rest) + (400m F-pace w/ 4 min rest) + (300m F-pace w/ 3 min rest) + (200m F-pace)

The 200s weren't bad, I'm used to those. Neither was the 800, we do those alot. The part where the workout gets super tough is from there on. Really the hardest part was teh 600 at F. That section of the workout gave me more pain than I've probably ever felt during a workout. It just made the shorter parts tougher than then they would've been. In the 400 I slowed down alot at the 300 mark, and thats something I usually make sure I never do. But this time, teh slowing was completely involuntary, it was'nt a result of giving up mentally. In the 300 I did the same thing in the last 20 meters.  I did fine in the 200, though.

Afterwards, I skipped the cooldown because I just did'nt have the energy for one. I probably shouldve though.

Today was a pre-meet with starts, although I did'nt really want to because I'm not racing tomorrow. Oh well, it was anice rest day.

Well, that was the last run of the month, and this month I ran 50 miles less than I ran last month. Mostly because of spring break and my trip to california. Oh well, I geuss it's part of tapering. 

As for the run, it was great! I did a medium sized loop that went on this dirt road in River Heights, than up some hills, down through Denzel Stewart nature park, than I went down center street and did a small loop by the temple, and went back to the school. (this was all during seventh hour) It was actually pretty hot today. The run got cut a half mile short though because I saw that my mom was waiting for at the front so I just hopped in. 

I would have had a meet at Bonneville today, but I had to miss it for region orchestra, which is actually at the same school, but I decided not to try and do both because it would be too complicated.

That definetley was'nt as enjoyable as my run yesterday. I started with Sergio, Layne, Hayden, Bjorn and Jaxton. Sergio tripped and maybe sprained his ankle at less than half a mile. A lady luckily picked him up and took him back to the school. Our plan was to run up cliffside, adn I added on to the route a bit and widened the loop into river heights. Everybody kept stopping to wait for Hayden, and eventually I just left them in teh hills of river heights. So I went all the way up to the Dry Canyon trailhead, took some rest (those hills are tough) and maybe went a little too fast on the way down because I strated to get a sideache. (It's hard to control yourself) I took another small rest at the bottom, then went back a little slower than normal, and I cut through Merlin Olsen park, but I was dissapointed when the drinking fountain was'nt turned on.

Short workout today. It felt tough becuase of the speed, but there were'nt alot of reps so it was'nt as bad as it seemed. We had an 800m warmup, then did four 400's at F with full recoveries, followed by and 800m cooldown. Coach said we were tapering for region. When I got home I ran another easy mile.

I'm trying to decide if that run was even worth it. It was'nt even that far, but it was actually pretty tough for me today. I was going at what would normally be my easy pace, yet I was breathing really hard and my legs felt heavy. I geuss the donuts I ate a couple hours before did'nt help much. (oops) I need to be more careful with Region coming up on wednesday and thursday, especially if I want to bring my 12:26 down by much. I'm pretty confident I can do it. I hope today's extra mileage did'nt affect the taper.

So I got really lucky today. Becouse me and a few other people are fast enough to go to region but too slow to go to state we got a super easy workout. Here it is:

800m warmup + 2x (400m F-pace w/ full recoveries + 800m cooldown

So now I have at  ton of energy, and with another easy day tomorrow, this tapering that we're doing is really going to give us non-state qualifiers a potential to get a hopefully nice PR . I know I'm ready too on thursday.

This is nice, it's just getting easier as we continue to taper. Basically teh same as yeseterday, but a little slower:

800m warmup + 2x (400m R-pace w/ full recoveries) + 800m cool down

I actuall quite enjoyed those 400s . I was supposed to hit about 1:18, I just found out. I ran them in 1:20 and 1:18. So it was actually the first one that I was off on. I did'nt even look at my watch on either, so that's pretty good. 

I've got even more energy now that I want to get out of my system, but I'll save it for region and be smart. Just one 400 tomorrow, but I might practice a couple starts for the 2 mile because we've only done mile starts before.

Region got postponed for today because of the weather, and they're moving it all to tommorrow. That's fine because my race wasn't today anyways, but then again tomorrow the 32 will be one of the last races, so I'll probably miss my orchestra concert.  I'll go anyways, but that's kind of frustrating.  

I ran three laps in seventh to help Hayden with his workout, (he hit his times later every time), then at practice coach had us do an 800m warmup, then just 400m at F-pace, and Keith and I just did a 400m cool down. It was slightly rainy and overcast, but it wasn't that bad, I think they still could have pulled off a meet today.

So the title of this entry says that it was just the 3200, but that wasn't even the highlight of my day.

In the 4x800 relay, my team placed 1st, which we were actually really excited about. The order went Luke, Damon, Me, then Keith. At the end of Luke's leg, we were in second. Them Damon put us into first by quite a bit. When I was waiting for him to pass it off, the Sky View guys who were in second were telling their 3rd leg runner that he had to go fast to beat me. I received the baton pretty well and then as soon as I started, I knew that I felt good. At around the 200m mark, the Sky View runner caught up to me and passed me. I expected that he was just really fast at the 800 and he was going to keep that speed but I stayed on his shoulder and passed him shortly after. Then I passed it off to Keith, he raced really well, and we won! Too bad there's no 4x800 at state!

The 3200 didn't go as well as I wanted it to. I finished in dead last place, but it was technically my first varsity track race, so I don't feel too bad about it. As soon as the race started, the main pack started to separate from me and a Mountain Crest runner. I tried to hang on too him, and I did for the entire first mile. Then he eventually broke away, although my memory of him doing so is clouded. In I think lap 6, it got pretty tough mentally because I was getting lapped by the faster people. I tried to stay strong though, and kind of focused on keeping my form solid. In the last 200, my legs were really burning, but I made sure that I sped up quite a bit. I PR'd, but I was't completely satisfied with my time. The 4x800 was over two hours before then, but maybe I would've gotten a better time if I had'nt done that. Oh well, there's another chance at JV region.

First I ran a mile in seventh hour just because I felt like it. Then I found out that there was no practice, but a couple of people still showed up, so we went and did a short hill workout. (2x400m hills R-pace w/ down hill cooldowns) I was going to do more sets, but the rest of our group was'nt very motivated. The weather was actually really nice outside when we started our run, but before we went back it started to rain and thunder. By the time we got to thwe school it was pouring buckets. I'm glad we brought our stuff in in time.

Today I had a really good run. I just felt great the whole time and did'nt get tired, which is pretty much teh opposite from last Saturday's run, which was actually less than half the distance. I listened to the radio, maybe that helped me somewhat. The only bad thing that happened was after about half a mile, I got a nose bleed, which I could luckily get to stop. I ended up going all the all the way to the tip of the island area up Sumac Dr. past Riverside Elementary( which I had never heard of before) In the last half mileI got a small side ache, but that's just 1/16 of an otherwise really enjoyable, easy run. I'm glad I got the mileage too, I just hope it was'nt too much for Tuesday, on which I've decided I'm running the two mile again because I'm frustrated with not PRing as much as I wanted too.

Easy pre-meet today. We did basically the same thing that we've been doing for the last week and a half or so. People racing tomorrow, that is. The state qualifiers had a longer workout. I sure am wishing the best for them. We just did two 400's at R-pace with an 800m cool down and warmup, but mine was more like a mile warmup cause I ran 800 in seventh hour. I didn't feel too good today, I could tell when we started our warmup. The 400's felt harder thatn usual, and I know that I was going at the right pace. I think I'm starting to get a cold, too. I just hope I feel good enough tomorrow to PR one last time.

3200m - 12:26

I really, really regret running that race. I wouldn't have regretted it if I had beat my time, though. This morning I could tell as soon as I got up that I was super tired, and my cold was worse. Probably beacuse I didn't get enough sleep last night. I should have taken that as a hint right from the start. I started to feel a little bit better throughout the day, but I just didn't feel the same energy that I'm supposed to feel on race day. We got to Sky View way late, so Keith and I had amost no time to get a warmup run in, or stretch, or prepare in any way. At 400m, I could tell this wasn't going to be my race. I went out fast, also. I think I was at like a 1:25 at lap 1.  I raced alone the entire time (although that's not uncommon with this event). By the last 800m, I think I just remember trying to reassure myself that I would finish and be able to rid myself of pain someday. So that kind of helped me. In last lap the 100s felt more like 400s. It was terrible. After I finished I felt very lightheaded.

1600m - 5:25

I think I would've PR'd in this event if I hadn't run the two mile. It just bugs me so much. But hey, I did'nt finish as slow as I thought I would, it just hurt more than usual. It wasn't my slowest race this season, either. One reason I think I ran it in that time was because of Bryson & Davis. Whenever one of them came up next to me, I just thought, "I can't let them beat me, Bryson's been sprinting all season and Davis hasn't beat me in track yet". Bryson actually started in front of me, probably because he's used to reacting fast to the gun. That initially is what made me want to run harder. Anyways, I think my slightly selfish competetive attidude helped me out alot. When I finished my light headedness was gone. (thank goodness)

800m - 2:25

So it happened again today, I literally almost missed the race. I was distracted and I looked  up and I saw that they were ready to go. 5 seconds after I ran to the line they fired the gun. So I wasn't really mentally prepared for it, although luckily I had gotten my stretches in. I think I went out too fast. I moved into 4th place at 200m and stayed there the rest of the race. That's about the only thing that I remember happening. At my 700m, my legs felt like they were on fire and all I could was make a tortured face and bare the pain. I laughed when I saw pictures later because I looked constipated.

I decided I do a little warmup today if I'm running a 5K tomorrow. I didn't feel that good, though. It was just a mile, but I was glad to be done afterwards. I geuss that's the sign that it is past the end of a tough track season. Still really excited for XC to start!

I had my mom drop me off a half mile away from the school so I could warm up to the starting line. I got there and did some stretches with Hayden, and about 10 minutes later, the race started. I felt alot better than I did warming up. This obviously wasn't a competetive race because I ran the first mile alone and started overlapping people at the beginning of mile two. (It was all on a mile loop) I felt great pretty much the whole time.(that's why my time was so slow.) There was just a small hill, but other than that the course was pancake flat. At the end, I did sort of relaxed sprint. It felt really good. I kind of feel bad about running 19:30 on a 2.9 mile course, but I wasn't going as hard as I could have, and I have a whole summer to work to drop my time before the season. 

Yeah........I geuss you could say that that wasn't the best run that I've ever had. 6 "easy" miles up to the tip of the Island and back, just like I did last Saturday, except from the school instead of my house. I felt moderatley fine up until about the end of Center Street (mile 1.5) Then the rest of the run I just had no energy, and it wasn't that cool out either. Probably a mix of unhealthy eating, dehydration, and sleep deprivation. I'll try to do better in those areas. 

Glad I got the mileage, though. I'll count that as the first run of my Cross-Country training season.

Had a pretty good but tough workout session today. Warmed up to Merlin Olsen Park (just under a mile), did some dynamic stretches, then I did six 800s at R-pace in a loop that circled about half the park. I treated the first 3 like the beginning of a race hitting around 3:10 for all of them, then the last three like the end, with a kick in the last stretch hitting 3 flat for all of them. I tried to do that relaxed sprint like I did in my 5K on saturday, but my body was pretty tight and it didn't work out as well. I was planning on doing eight repeats, but I knew it woulden't be in my best interest after the sixth rep. When I was done with that, I did three and a half minutes of core, four twenty second bare foot strides on the grass, and then some extra cooling down (800m) before I started back to the high school. I'll probably focus more on mileage volume for now on, but with a few of my own workouts peppered in here and there.

Not a particularly good run today. If I don't have a good run soon then that means that I did'nt take a big enough break. I did a loop down Park Avenue and then throughn the river trail back to the school. I just wasn't enjoying it. I had to stop a few times to rest and do extra stretching. Maybe because I didn't stretch before I started is the reason it sucked. I don't know. I just need XC to start soon, I hate training alone.

Felt pretty good today (glad I took yesterday off), so I decided to make up sort of my own workout. That was'nt my intention when I started, but then I just kind of went with it. I ran from the school to the bottom of River Heights Blvd., that was E-Pace, then I went harder than normal up the hill, (about 800m). When I got to the top, I was breathing pretty hard, so I had a recovery down through the nature park ( this was all a big loop) I ended up back at the bottom of the hills, and I went at tempo on the dirt road till I hit 200 south. Pretty short for a tempo run, but I also had the hills, too. I liked that workout, it had some variety and helped with recovery after a big set of hills, like in a race. The run was only about 30 min. long, I'll start increasing my time and distance next week. 

Today I probably had the weirdest and most interesting run ever. I'm up at my grandma's in Idaho, and I decided to take a dirt road that ran on last time I was here. I felt OK, I think the only reason I didn't feel great was because of the elevation change. There were some moderate hills, but nothing to trecherous. The first half was uneventful, then I got to a gate, and I hopped it and continued down the road. I turned around this ridge, and there were to dogs about 100 yards away by some sheds, and they were barking at me. That had me pretty scared. So I cautiously went passed and I hit the end of the road right after. There was another gate the led down to a house, with a black lab right behind it. By now I felt cornered and I thought I was going to get attacked, and the dog came up to me and started to jump on me. He was actually just being friendly, but I thought I was going to be disebowled. Very scary situation. Anyways I started running and he was following me. He ended up running next to me the whole two miles back. I wish I had a dog to run with.

AM- 1 mile easy (9:10) with my little bro at his school's mile run.

PM- 7.5 miles easy, took just under an hour. Good run, but boy was it hot! I think it's hotter today than it's been all year. I didn't keep myself hydrated throughout the day, and that prabably made it worse, but lmy breathing was good, and I had quite a bit of energy. Although I had to take alot of rests and I slowed down in that second half. All to keep from getting heat exhaustion. I took a route that I've never taken before, up center street, up through the nature park, through river heights and all lthe wayh to some houses in Providence that were sort of on a hill. Than I took the dirt road in Rvier Heights back. Good path, but there was only one working drinkiing fountain along the way. 

When I got home, I stretched and then did 3 1/2 minutes of core. I need to do that more often.

I went to the second bridge at the river trail and back today. I wasn't feeling great, my stomach was bothering me and the heat didn't help. I had to stop at the same restroom twice. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel better, I might do a workout.

Today I did a 3 mile, 24 minute interval workout. My body didn't completely feel up for it, by I made myself do it. So I had about a 400m warmup, than. I started with a jog ( I don't know why, since the jogs are for recovery) probably to get some extra warming up. Anyways, what I did was intervals of 3 minutes hard and 3 minutes easy. I got through three full sets, and the last hard part was cut to two minutes because I got home before it was over. They were pretty tough, each one getting harder every time. But that's how it works. Wow, if I don't run tomorrow than I'll only have like 15 miles for the week, that's kind of a bummer. Oh well, I'll double it next week, it'll all be good.

First day of XC today! I ran there and back to get about 2.7 extra miles, I'm glad I did. If I do that alot than it'll add up. On the way to the school I felt pretty tight, though.  When I got there we taught the freshman some stretching drills, had an 800m warmup, and then we went on our run. A little group of us guys ran through the river trail and then around the west side of the golf course.  That was about 4.2 miles, and they felt great. It's nice to run with other people for a change. When we got back we had a short round of core, and then I ran home.

Short tempo run today. It felt great! This afternoonI woke up at 2:00. Yikes! So naturally i spent all day felling kind of crappy, but for some reasonI had alot of energy on the run. It was supposed to be just E-pace the whole time, but I decided to bump it up to tempo sice I felt so good, I need to do it more often, and it was 9:00 and almost dark outside. The distance was actually a little under 3.25, but I rounded it down. I finished in 24 flat, so about 7:10 to 7:20 mile pace.

I'm sure glad I didn't run to practice today. That extra 2.7 miles would've been a good add-on, but it also would have killed me. First an 800m warmup, then the run. I ran with varsity, and we went out 4 miles to Lundstrom Park. Then we agreed to go out an extra half mile to turn it into a nine miler. At the beginning I was still warming up, then in the middle 4 miles I felt pretty good, but not as awesome as I did yesterday. Then in the last 2 or 3 my legs were getting really tired, but I geuss that's what comes with higher mileage than normal. I'm just glad I could keep up with them, it makes me feel great about myself as a runner.

Easy run today, although it was at half past noon in the heat (that's what I get for staying up to late I geuss) I felt pretty tired, and the heat didn't help. I just didn't have the energy that I should have. I geuss it's that spike in mileage, mainly the extra long run yesterday. 

Fun practice today. We ran to a park and played ultimate frisbee for about half an hour, then did an indian run on the way back (my personal favorite running thing to do). Afterwards we cooled down 400m, and did about 3 minutes of core, Not alot of mileage, but I think it was a good rest day since it's the beginning of training season, and hopefully now I can have a nice long trail run tomorrow.

Goode but pretty challenging trail run. I'm exhausted! jI went 3.5 miles up dry canyon, hoping to get to the top, but that didn't really work out. There was a constant incline on the way, and it was pretty steep at some parts.  I stopped about ten times to catch my breath, but I'm okay with that, since this wasn't a normal run. It took me 58 minutes to get up there. I felt a little better than I thought I would, so that was nice. I'm glad I did it, because there were some beautiful views up there. On the way I had to grit my teeth and grimace the entire time, and it really put a pounding on mty knees. I'm just glad that I didn't trip on a rock or something, and my knees are fine now. It took me 25 minutes to get back down to the trail head.

Nice run to first dam at xc.That's always a good route, but there were some real strong headwinds coming out of the canyon, and they were pretty cold, too. I ran with Keith, and Damon most of the time.  It took me a while to get warmed up, like I was having trouble with my form and stuff, and I didn't feel really good until about halfway back. We surged about then for some odd reason, but it fell back again. It's weird how you just naturally speed up sometimes. Good run overall. When we got back to the field we did close to five minutes of core.

First I did a three mile workout with intervals of 2 minutes hard and 2 minute recovery jogs. I felt pretty awesome for how I was feeling the all day before I ran. I jsut felt like I could go faster than normal without getting tired, and it was thrilling. I started with the hard interval, and I got through about four and a half sets before I finished the three mile loop. I'll have to start doing that workout longer next time. After that I did a two mile cooldown, just to get the mileage.

Easy short run at XC this morning through the river trail and back. Then we did close to six minutes of core. I tried to ice my legs in the canal afterwards but I'm think I'm just a little more sensitive to the cold water. I can't wait until we have a coach, but if they need to take their time to pick the best one than fine by me. I'll probably do a hill/terrain workout at the shoreline trail tomorrow morning. I'm actually kind of looking forward to it. 

So I didn't end up getting out of bed to go do my workout today, but I did do it in the evening.  I rode my bike up to first dam and then warmed up on the switchbacks to where the trail reallly starts.  Then I stretched and started my first 800. The section I did it on started completely flat for 200 meters or so and then had an abruptly steep uphill, with a pretty gradual incline the rest of the way except for another hill that was just as steep as the first one. My initial plan before I started was to do 2 800s, a mile, and then 2 more 800s, all with equal recovery jogs back to the bottom. After the first rep, I decided I wasn't up for the whole thing and was going to take out the mile. 800 #1 was pretty difficult, and I hit 3:03. The next one felt just as bad if not worse and turned out to be 3:21. So that's when I decided to stop at that and just run most of the trailn for the rest of the time I was there. I went pretty slow and sluggish after that , probably 9 or 10 minute miles, but it's okay, I was tired from those 800s. On my way back there was alot more downhill than up, and I had to grit my teeth for some parts. The bike ride back home was gradually downhill pretty much the whole way, and it served as a good relaxing way to loosen my muscles.

Ryan's Place Park run today after our 800 warmup and stretches. I was feeling pretty dead this morning after the run last night. When we got there we played sharks and minnows for about half an hour and then went back. A small group of us did an indian run. After that a 400m cooldown, and around 5 minutes of core. Icing felt good. When I got home I ran an extra mile and than did some accelorators.  I geuss it was because I won't settle for not running more than 3 miles a day. I geuss it's a good thing to put a minimum on the length of my runs everyday. Soon I'll raise it again, but it's the beginning of the summer, and I really don't want a stress fracture or something like that.

I had a fantastic trail run today. It was the deer fence trail, so I had to ride my bike up cliffside to get to it. (Note: never try to ride a bike up cliffside) I'm surprised I had any energy for my run once I got to the trail head. I didn't really know how I was going to feel before I started, but I ended up feeling pretty good the whole run, which surprised me since just eaten a funnel cake about an hour before. It started with a short steep uphill, and them had some pretty big down hills with smaller uphill following them. I ran until the trail ended and then went about a half a mile up Providence Canyon, and turned around at the big shed. The run back felt even better than the first half. I think there's something about trail runs that makes it easier when I would otherwise have a not so good time. Towards the end those downhills at the beginning were uphills, and they were pretty "fun" to go up. I really liked that trail, I think I run it again sometime. 

Good run this morning in xc. We went from the school up center street and then part way up cliffside hill, turned south, and then came back by Ryan's Place Park and past the Marriot and Elements. I missed the warmup so I did an 800m cool down after core and every thing. I should have done strides instead since that's what some of the other guys were doing.

I wasn't sure about running today, but I'm really glad I did. I felt very quick the whole time and it was great. I ran to the top of Old Maine and back home. It was raining but it actually felt pretty good. In the last 3/4 of a mile or so, I really increased my speed. I'm pretty sure I was going 5K pace or faster.

It was very cold and rainy this morning, so I was pretty reluctant to go to practice, but I don't regret it. I got a ride there today (thank heavens). The track is closed off now so they can lay down the new turf, so we actually had mile warmup, which I think I prefer as opposed to an 800. 

After stretching we ran a good six and half to the Lundstrom Park area, by Hillcrest Elementary. I felt pretty fast today, too. I fact I found out from Mark that onw of our miles on the way back was sub seven, and it felt like nothing. I love those days. When we got back three of us did two 200m strides with 200m jogs. I hit 32 and 34. That's the fastest I've run in while, when I'm used to these long distance runs. It was good to have some speed in there, though. After driver's ed I ran the mile and a half home, and they were not enjoyable after sitting for three hours, but all the extra volume is good.

Today's run is definitley the worst of the week so far. The last four runs Iv'e had have felt amazing, and I think it was mailnly a hydration problem. I decided to go at 3 in the afternoon, and it wasn't cool out. So I spent the whole time feeling like crap. I actually took a new route, which was in the north-east quadrant of logan where I almost never go. It wasn't as fun as I thought. I actually cut it a mile short on my way back and stopped at my mom's office by the high school since she was about to leave anyway.

Mile warmup in cross country then we played games the rest of the time. It was fun, but it kind of frustrated me since I knew that ment that I was going to have to run later. It's my brithday and we had plans, so I ran 3 miles as soon as I got home from driver's ed. They were pretty gruelling after sitting on a hard chair for three hours. The first mile was 6:50, and normally that would feel pretty good, but my body was tight and my form didn't feel natural at all. For the final 800, I did a small "workout", which wasn't really hard at all. I just went 30 seconds at about in between 1 and 2 mile pace, and then 30 second jogs. It actually just made it feel quicker.

Same run as last saturday on the deer fence trail. This time instead of going up Providence Canyon I actually kept going on the part of trail that I didn't know existed. I didn't have the energy I wanted, and I definitley didn't feel as good as last week. It took 1:01:00 (minus rest breaks) , with splits of 30:00 and 31:00, so actually not that bad considering the fact that it was alot more uphill on the way back.

We finally got a coach today (Chazel), so we did something a little more specific. She had the more experienced people go 38 minutes at an easy pace without stopping. And that doesn't sound to hard, but it was was alittle tougher than I expected, because you usually stop for traffic at some point, or stop to stretch. But I actually quite enjoyed it. Iran with Keith and Dustin and some others, but then they fell back and then it ws jsut me and Keith. We sort of turned up somewhere in the middle, but it felt good to go a little faster. We got back to the school just ten seconds over 38, which was actually pretty amazing. Then six minutes of core with the team. I would have had six miles today if I hadn't missed the warmup. It kind of ticked me off. 

TOTAL TIME: 50:00

I actually got up this morning to run on my own so that was an accomplishment. First I ran about a mile and half and on to the 200 north highway. That was not fun having cars as close as they were and at their speeds. So 15 min in I turned around and then on my way back I found a grass path that led onto hay field, and I did a loop around it. By the time I got off that and back onto 600 south I had been going non-stop for about 36 minutes. We were really only supposed to do 30 today, but I think it's all good. So after I took a little break I found a small dirt road that I didn't go very far down before crossing a ditch into a sub division which led me to about the last half mile. From there I did the same thing as friday, going about mile pace for thirty seconds and then easy pace for another thirty until I got home. I wasn't feeling my best today but I am relieved to have my personal run over with. I can't wait until we hold practice 5 days a week. 

TOTAL TIME: 43:00

Today in XC we did the same thing as monday, 38 min. (with the warmup before) we were just 30 sec under 38 when we got back to the school. I ran with Johnny, J.D., Keith, and Todd. I felt moderatley good. We went through the ds nature park by wilson, and the hill had no mercy on me. It felt worst right after I got over the crest. That's usually how hills are for some reason. It took awhile to recover from that. Then we looped back north of us from a big lot by cliffside and back to the park. Towards the last mile my stomach was bothering me, but after stopping to wait for the light I felt better. The last mile was a loop around the school. We did some core after, but I was a little too tired to do it right. 

TOTAL TIME: 50:00 (run)

Less than average afternoon run today. I went up to Providence and back home. I had to stop more than usual this time. That's one thing I like about cross-country better. You don't stop or you'll get left behind, and pretty soon it'll get easier. I really shoulden't take that many breaks, I know I would eventually warm up and feel better. Anyways, I think I kept an ok pace and that's all I remember about most of it. In the last mile I did the same fartlek that I've been doing for a while. (30 sec hard w/ equal jogs) except this time I just went at 5K pace instead of mile pace. 

TOTAL TIME: 5:00 warmup, 50:00 run

Godd run at cross country practice. We went up to Providence and actually saw alot of Ragnar runners. We even went right right past one of there handoff points. So we decided to turn off that street because we felt silly and eventually hit a pretty big hill (by the it was just Johnny and I) that really put a burn on my legs. Luckily there was a Port-a-Potty not long after that I stopped to use. Once we got running again, I felt alot better (mainly because we were going downhill now) Back at the school I wanted to ice my legs, but I had to go driver's ed. It's the last day though, so I'm relieved about that. I'll probably even run to practice on Monday since it sounds like we're just playing games.

TOTAL TIME: 54:00 run

Awsome early morning trail run w/ some of the team. It was Logan Canyon, and I biked there, so that made for a good warmup. Our little group consisted of Todd, Todd's brother Aaron (who coaches up at Preston), Thomas, Johnny, and me. We started off at a nice little pace, and at the end of mile 2 I think somone said we hit 6:20. Either that or we were going at 6:20 pace, but it did'nt feel that quick at all. Towards the turnaround at mile four the trail got really steep and I was having a hard time keeping up. Luckily it was right before we turned around. That last half mile we were going super quick, sub-six pace is my geuss. Overall the run was great, I felt great, and I can't wait for next saturday morning. Honestly it is so much better doing your long run of the week with people to go with and beautiful scenery to look at. Love it!

TOTAL TIME: 45:00 (R)

I slept in this morning and missed cross country, so that ment sitting around all day and trying not to not completely sabotage my evening run by eating too much junk food, not hydrating well enough, etc. So at about 6:30 or 7:00 I rode my bike up to first dam to run the shoreline trail.  It was pretty hot, and I wasn't feeling too great. When I got to the end, I decided to take a more flat and shady route back, so I went through the neighborhood by Lundstrom park and Hillcrest until I hit the dam again. Not a very enjoyable run today, but that's what I get for sleeping in.

TOTAL TIME: 40:00 (R)

Nice "pleasent" heat run up to the riverwalk from home and back. Felt pretty sluggish. I think it was the heat and humidity, or my lunch I don't know. All I can say is the sun is an interesting and tricky thing, and you can't live with it but you can't live without it either.

TOTAL TIME: 5:00 (WU), 25:00 (R)

Moderate run at morning XC. I was feeling a little more tiredt than usual, and it might have been from those heat runs.  We went to the river trail, and on the way back the pace felt pushed even though it was just barely under 7, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. We played ultimate frisbee after the run.

TOTAL TIME: 44:00 (R), 6:00 (WO)

Evening run from the house to about halfway up canyon rd. and back. I felt okay, just a little tired and stiff, and a little bit after I started up the road my heart started beating really fast. In the middle of the run at the turnaround point I did 6x (15 sec @ 2 mile pace w/ 45 sec recov. jogs). That was the workout written by coach. It was pretty easy because of the shortness of the fast parts and the long rests. My stride loosened up a bit more on the way back, but I still felt tired. After the run I did aprx. 4x50 meter barefoot strides in my yard and then about 5 minutes of core.

I woke up for morning cross-country, not knowing if it was cancelled for the holiday or what, so I ran to the school. That way I could just keep going if nobody was there. I took it pretty slow; it was an 8:10 mile. Turns out there wasn't a soul who showed up, and I felt pretty stupid. So I continued after some extra stretches, at a faster pace than before. I basically just did a loop through most of river heights (river heights is pretty small), the one with all the hills that comes out through the nature park. From there I took a pretty direct route back home. After that I ran about 400m worth of accelorators. I was pretty bummed that practice got cancelled. Independence Day shoulden't be an excuse to put off training, so I figured at least a few of the more serious people would show up. Nothing even goes on that early anyway.

Friday night I made a plan to ride my bike up to Providence Canyon at 6 in the morning. That plan didn't really work out. I didn't get enough sleep that night and then slept in till about 10:30. But I decided I would still go and left around 11. Once I got up there I ran a mile up the canyon and decided that today was not my day for a long run and turned around. Probably dehydration. I didn't drink enough water friday and it was hot day for a bike ride with a lot of steep hills. This week was my lowest mileage of the summer, which proceeded my highest weekly mileage this summer, so I guess it adds up. Next week I'll make sure I go above forty since scout camp is the next, and then that will be my lowest mileage week all summer no doubt about it.

TOTAL TIME: 50:00 (run)         AVERAGE PACE ON RUN: 7:30 mile

Slept in and missed XC again so I ended up having to run at night. This was my first run in my new shoes that I got on Saturday, and I really like them, although there wasn't a huge difference compared to my last ones since they're just the latest version of the same shoe. I think they helped my form out better than the last ones. I basically ran up to the temple and back with a lot of weaving in and out to make it longer without getting too far away. I felt better then I expected to be feeling. I really like running at that time in the evening (8:30 - 9:30), but it sure does feel good to have your run over with early in the morning. 

Evening run up to the east side of logan and back home. I don't exactly remember how many minutes it was today, probably about 45. Maybe if I had gone a little later than it would've been more enjoyable, but I was not feeling it. The way I felt at the end of the run could be likened to how I would feel after racing a 5K at 100%. I still hope that I can go above 40 this week, and then next week I'll run maybe 26. (scout camp)

AM:          It felt good to be back at cross-country seeing that it's been a week since I've ran with another human being. We had a .4 mile which felt pretty good. Then on our run (the river trail loop backwards) coach had us do push segments after about the first mile or 5-10 minutes. We did 6 x (20 sec 2-mile pace w/ 1 min jogs), so basically the sam thing as last week but longer on both sides. After that portion I had a hard time keeping up with the group for the rest of the run. It almost felt like I was racing. Probably because I'm not used to just going on and running a long distance immediatley after doing something similar to a workout. 200 meter stride after (31 sec) and then we did 5 minutes of core. We did the run in 30 minutes and it was about 4.3 mile long. 

PM:              I got a new pair of shoes to race in this season and do some training in too. The run a little over 2 miles long (and it was really close to home). After that I did some practicing with my form for a little over 800m, and finally some barefoot strides in my yard. (.18) The shoes were great. They're zero drop shoes, and the other brooks I have have a 12mm drop, so they felt alot different, but they were so much lighter and connected with the ground really well. It put pressure on some muscle groups I'm not used to using, so I'll have to run in them more before I race with them, but overall  I think I'm really going to like them and I may even switch over to minimalist shoes for the most part after these.       

Nice evening up to the area by Old Maine and back. I took a road on the west side of mainstreet that I've never ran on before, just for a change. It's always nice to mix things up once in a while. It helps training not be as redundant. I felt really good and it pleased me to realize that I had better form right then than I ever have before.  Those shoes probably helped out alot. Although after going up Old Maine, going down too far and having to back-track and go up another hill, I got a little bit more tired. But I would definetely have to say that was the best run all week so far.

Wow, crazy practice today. First we did a mile warmup, and then Chazel had us run to Merlin Olsen Park, but we had to get in 20 minutes of running before we could do what we were doing. So me, Luke, Damon, and Jake did an indian run to the park, and we realized we had only been running for 3 minutes. So Damon took us on this wacky obstacle course that he just made up as we went (I mapped what would be close to it: course{Damon's Crazy XC Course} ). So we basically ran in circles for 1.5 miles (we had already done .5 getting there). Then the whole team played soccer for maybe 45 minutes, which was super fun.  

 After that I went on a good 6 mile run with Mark and Johnny up to first dam, and on the way back we took an extension of the canal trail that I didn't know about before. That was maybe 37 minutes, and I felt good, but it felt longer because of the shoes I was wearing, and I started to get blisters towards the end. I really shoulden't run that far in brand new shoes that are so minimal. Great run. We iced in the canal after and then I drank 2 big bottles of water before I went home.

Good run today. I was surprised at how good I felt with the long run yesterday but it was pretty enjoyable. I felt like I did on Thursday. All I did was go about 15 minutes out (which got me to the start of the rivertrail, and then came back, but the last half mile I staged a 5K finish, so pretended I was finishing a race. It was in between 3 and 3:10. Then I did a couple hundred meter strides and that was it. Break week nexxt week at scout camp (meaning lower mileage), but I'm still going to run every day. There is a 5K that I'm going to run, since I haven't timed it since May.

5K at 6 in the morning at scout camp. Got 19:41 but would have done alot better if I hadn't just woken up. Splits were 6:12, 6:48,  6:40. So not what I was hoping for. I think I am going to make it one of my goals this season to drop my times in each mile of the race, or at least the last one. I don't know if I've ever done that before.

I ran up a super steep mountain called Cardiac Hill to get a candy bar. It was a 4:15 800 and I was pooped so it was super steep.

67:00

Well, that caps off my impressive 12 mile week. I haven't had mileage that low since Febuary. But I can't wait to PR in mileage next week ( I'm gonna need to compensate as much as possible). I did a run similar to what I did last thursday, which goes up 500 S all the way to Old Maine Hill, and then I explored some of the small trails that run below the main highway by the university, and I found out there are alot of cool places up there. Then I came back on the road that we usually take back to the school in xc practice from usu then back home. I felt pretty much average. I didn't feel terrible, but I didn't have a ton of energy either. Probably from the break and the car trip home ffom camp. I didn't have alot of trouble with my form though. My average pace for the run was actually a 7:48 mile, but that was because I did alot slow running on the narrow paths so I wouldn't trip and fall to my death.

WU - 3:30,  .5 M          RUN - 1:03:00, 8.5 M

Pretty good run. We went through a park in Providence that I've only been to once. It was cool. I felt kind of tired, especially after going up a hill at the park, but it wasn't terrible. So glad to get the good mileage in today. After practice I slept until almost 1 PM. though.

6:30 P.M., 2 M,  15:00

It was pretty hot out, so I only planned to run a little. I felt kinda tired, but probably just from the heat.

9:00 P.M., 3.25 M, 24:40

I ran some more after young mens, and those miles felt much better than the last 2. The shoes felt better, too. I did a loop I've done before that went around the Fairgrounds and the Zoo and then came back by the elementary school. 

I slept in and missed cross-country, so I ran pretty late at night. My route was up to Old Maine and then I went a little bit up the canal trail before I turned around and went home on the road by the temple. I felt pretty crappy at first, but after I got onto the trail I started to feel okay. By the time I got home it was almost completely dark. I actually enjoyed running at night, I just had to make sure stay off the road as much as possible.

I got up today and ran to a park where I ran a 5K last Pioneer Day. It turns out it was earlier than I thought, so I just kept running. I did the River Heights loop that I run alot, the one with the hills. After I got to the highest point and started going down, I felt much better that when I had started back at home. Then I just took Center Street most of the way back. Good run.

I had a great run today in xc. Coach said to do a short run (really for the majority of the team) and none of my regular running buddies were there, but at least I got to run with Davis up until the end of the canal trail. When he turned around it really put an emphasis and realization on the difference between running alone and running with freinds. Immediatley I started to breathe harder and slow down but then I got used to it. I took a trail that goes from the water treatment center and up to cliffside then started my return path. I'd have to rate this run as #1 this week as far as how good my body felt, despite getting to practice too late to do any warming up or stretching. 

TIME - 1:20 (R)

Awesome trail run today, I just wish more people would have shown up. Todd, his wife, Chazel, two freshman on the team and me were the only ones there. We ran up to the Jardine Juniper in Logan Canyon, wich is apparently the oldest standing tree in rockies (1500 years old). So Todd and Kalin (a freshman who I already knew) ran together the whole way to the tree, except we had to wait for Kalin to catch up every so often, wich was fine. We went at a nice speed for the constant but gradual incline, averaging a bout 10 minute pace all the way up, except for where it drops down on some switchbacks at the very end to get to the tree. There were some pretty nice views up there, that's for sure, and early in the morning is the best time to see them. On the way back down I ran pretty much ran on my own since Todd hung back with his wife and Kalin was going slower. I averaged a 6 minute pace. It's crazy the difference a decline makes. That was way fun, I just want to get more people to come to these, since they are way better than regular practice. We soaked our legs at First Dam after, but it was pretty cold so I didn't stay in for long.

I lnow monday isn't the typical day for along run, but I jsut felt like getting past it this week, plus I want to PR in mileage yet again, probably low 50's. I slept in for cross-country (I've gotta stop doing that), so I ran at 4:15 maybe, and it was cool out, actually raining a little bit.. I got in a mile warmup, and then I did a half marathon time trial, wich made me pretty confident for Top of Utah. I finished what was pretty close to thirteen miles in 1:33, not counting rests. I'm gonna say it was about 1:40 if you add those in. This was on a very hilly course, which basically made a giant loop around the island area and cliffside, and TOU is downhill almost the whole way, plus I didn't have the maximum rest, hydration. and nutrition that I would have preparing for an actual racde event, so I'm gonna geuss I could go 1:30 on race day, which I will be ery, very pleased with for my first half.

As for how the run felt, I took it pretty conservativley for the first five miles. The hardest part of that was probably Old Maine Hill. The only hill that was bigger was the trail that leads up to Cliffside and then goes up  a little more to Gibbons Park. I think I kind of picked up the pace when I got to the bottom of the hill by first dam, and I defininetley increased the pace in the last mile. That was really the only hard part of the run. I am very excited for the 23'rd now.

Today I thought I would feel pretty tired but actually, I felt good enough to do some intervals. It was overcast and maybe about to rain, so perfect weather for a run. I ran for about a mile and half, and then started 16 minutes worth of 2 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy. That took me around the west side of the golf course and then through the river trail, ending at Willow Park. I took the hard parts pretty quick, about mile pace I would say. But I still felt pretty light on my feet and all, so that was good. then at the Park I did 800 meters worth of strides and took an indirect route home. I even felt good then, and I was going at a comfortable but not too slow pace wich picked up a  little involuntarily.

TIME: 3 min (WU), 30 min (RUN)

I was a little bummed today when coach had us run basically the same route I did during my workout yesterday, but it's all good. I ran with Damon and Ethan the whole time, and Ethan set a pretty quick pace that stuck, probably somewhere around 6:50. We had to do 8 x 20 sec @ 2 mile pace w/ 1 minute recoveries. I geuss that's when the regular running slowed down, because the intervals got us almost all the way back to the school. Ethan sort of led the pace the whole time, and on the fast parts I'm pretty sure we were all going faster than 2 mile pace. I'm almost certain that we were going faster than my 800 pace, so almost a full sprint. When we got back to the track Damon and I did some strides.

This evening I decided to run up to Old Maine hill and do some repeats, and I actually got in a pretty satisfying workout session. It took me 22 minutes to get there, so a nice little warmup. the course I planned is about 690 meters and It goes up the path on the side with the more subtle incline (270m), then I get a recovery jog (but I still have to go fast) down the path on the north side of the stairs (300m), and the finally, I kill myself on the stairs (150m) and end at the flag pole. Then I jog back down to the start. I did 5 sets of those with times of 3:09, 3:20, 3:10, and 2:58. I had about a     2 1/2 minute recovery after the first one, and after the second I ran into a freind and chatted, so that was a 5 minute recovery, then the next one was about 2:00, and finally I gave my self a full recovery because I was only planning on doing 4 to begin with and I was going to run it as fast as possible. I felt pretty good. I was good about using my upper body on the hills and lifting my knees to propel myself upward, and the lactic acid didn't fill up as fast as normal.. After that I did 500m of strides on the field, then took a nice route home right before it was completley dark.

One thing I can definetley say right now is that I am very exhausted. we didn't have a hard day or anything, I've just put myself through a tough week. I ran to practice because my bike tire blew out again, and I actually like when I can do that since it just adds on a couple more miles, besides, I,m pretty sure I would be jsut as tired if I had my bike available. After our warmup we ran to the quad at Old Maine and did some core. Than Vickie, JD, and I ran some extra miloes through campus and some trails below the highway. Whe we got back we played ultimated frisbee, but I was to exhausted to really do anything. I felt okay on the run back, but I almost fell asleep standing up in the shower afterwards I was so pooped.

6 miles easy in the area around my grandparent's house in Tetonia, Idaho. This topped off my first 50 mile week, so the legs felt moderatley tired. It started with a hilly dirt road that had this long hill that kept looking like it was over but then there was more, followed by a pretty steep decline for that area of the state. Then I ran down the highway through main street until I got back to the house. With about 2 miles left I stopped and retied my shoes and discovered it is easier to run when your shoes are tight. I have no idea why I am figuring that out now. I did a couple strides in the yard when I got back and then ate more food than I could say.

Once again, I slept in for xc, so I decided to maybe go do a track workout since the field is finished. That didn't go so well. I tried to do a workout I heard about in a book about Alan Webb when he was running at Michigan. It involved a 1600, a 1200, an 800, and a 400, all with 2000m tempo in between. My goal was a 2000 of 7:44 consistently, a 6:00 mile, a 2:40 800, a 1:10 400, and I don't remember what my goal was for the 1200. Also I was going to allow myself 1 minute rest in between segments. The only part that I hit really well was the mile, which I ran in 5:59. But that really took it out of me, and I was beginning to realize how hot it was. I switched the rest to 2:00, and then tried the 2000 at tempo. Before I even got done with the first 800m, I realized I was way off pace for a 7:44, and I was suffering, so I changed it to an 800 and didn't attempt any of those runs again. then I was way off pace for the 1200, and got a pretty long recovery afterwards. I was actually debating with myself coming up on 800m if I should even go through with the next lap, but I did. I don't really remember what the 800 was, but it was was probably around 3:00. I got a long recovery, and than gave the final 400 every thing I had. It ended up being a 1:16, wich is 6 seconds slower than 800 pace, but it felt so much faster. I think I will make it a goal to complete this workout someday with the times a gae myself, but for now if I attempt it again I'll try going at I-pace for all of the sets, and maybe take the tempo segments down to and 800, and run it outside of the track for a little less redundancy.

I got lucky with the weather today, seeing that it was rainy and overcast during my run at a time when it would normally to hot for my taste. I ran twice, once at 6 PM and then again at 9 PM. The first one felt kind of hard, but I got through it. I my 3 mile run at night, I finished with a time of 21:30. About halfway through I decided to pick up the pace so I did and it felt pretty good. I really picked it up with an 800 to go and put myself mentally in the end of a race. 

We got in a pretty good workout at practice today. After our 800m warmup on the track and stretches, we ran to the river trail and went back and forth until we had done 8 x 1:30 @ Tempo w/ 2:00 recoveries. Of course I can't really say that I took those at tempo. It would have been to easy. Damon, Jake, Isaac, and I were together almost the whole time. I was the one who started taking it quick, and then they came along. We did most of them at about 2 mile pace. I was fine, and then I sort of hit a wall during number 7. Then for the last one Damon took us through it somewhere in between 800 and mile pace. After that was over with, we ran back to the school and did some strides on the track, and then a 5 minute round of core with the team.

I went to XC this morning feeling kind of soar and tired, and my warmup felt the opposite of fluid, but the run actually turned out to be pretty great. Our goal time was 45 min. and we hit it. The run was about 6.5 miles long and it was pretty much all in River Heights and Providence. The big long hill at the Nature Park didn't feel too bad, that's for sure. We did a little bit of core after that and then my run home felt pretty good.

Another great run today at cross-country. Either I'm doing something right or I'm just lucky but everybody else seemed to be feeling awful, and I wasn't. We were told to pick a group to run with and stick with them. (good thing that's what I always decide to do, because it paid off). So I ran with our coaches (Chazel and Todd), Vickie, and Jake. We ended up running all the way to Gossner's on 10th West, and then just turned south and made a big loop back to the school. We were going at a pretty good pace and I don't recall us stopping once, even for traffic, but I still felt awesome. Towards the end we did 4 20 second pushes spaced pretty far apart, and they were pretty dang good, and fun, too. When we got back the rest of the team had already started core, so we did about 3 minutes of it. I ran home again, (bike problems, but at least I get a ride to practice), but this time I didn't feel so good. Probably because I waited about 30 minutes to leave, but now that think of it I eventually warmed up again with about a 1/2 mile left.

I'm so glad to get the mileage in for the week. It's only a couple miles less than last week but it felt alot less volumonous. I did the exact same thing today as I did last Monday, the mile warmup and then the huge half-marathon loop. I timed it stopping my watch every time I rested last time and got 1:33. This time I didn't really stop it at all and it came out as 1:49:50. So not bad, I'm still super excited come raceday.m I only had 4 real stops, 3 if it weren't for the traffic on main street. I took a drink at Aggie Ice Cream in the middle of mile 4, rested a bit at the top of a big trail incline at the end of mile 6, took a brief drink in the nature park, and then waited for mainstreet to let me pass. I think I took the beginning faster than I did last time, and I'm pretty sure I held a pace the whole time, too, increasing a bit at mile 10, and dramatically speeding up at mile 12.

Pretty interesting run today. We did the Canyon Road/Canal Trail run, and when we got to first Dam, everybody who made it that far (there was five of us), decided to take a super scary trail above the reservoir that eventually took us to the top of Sumac Drive. We pretty much walked the whole way on the trail, because we were bound to fall to our deaths if we even jogged.  After Sumac we stopped by Vickie's house and had some popsicles. Then we ran two more miles to get back to the school, where we did a good round of core, and then I would have iced but I had to run home again. Hill Repeats at Gibbons tomorrow. I think it's nice that we've started to put in speed work during practice, because then I don't have to worry about doing it on my own.

Great workout today. We took a bus up to the park on cliffside and and after  close to a mile warmup, we did 6x800m hill repeats. I was a workout very similar to the one last year with Brian Mckenna at this park, but his course was flatter, although that workout is still imprinted in my mind as one of the toughest of the season both mentally and physically (maybe because it was about 80 degerees out and two days after our race at Mt. Crest. All I know is that he designed to simulate the state course at Highland so I'm assuming it was the same for this. It started out pretty flat with a couple small hills here and there, and around 600m we had to get to then top of a big hill and run back down. Then there were a few rolling hills for about the last 200m. We had a little over a quarter mile jog in between sets. My splits were 3:10, 3:07, 3:03, 3:05, 3:01 ( I think), and 2:46. (I just went all out on the last one). I ran pretty much all of them with J.D. and Ethan, but I don't think they had to put in as much effort as I was to get those times. It's funny because even though the last repeat was run harder and and being much more tired for it, it was easier than most, almost fun, actually. I geuss it's like that with alot of workouts. I didn't really have any problems other than a couple small cramps in my shoulders and neck, but they went away fast. Afterwards we had a 1200m cooldown and took the bus back. Then I iced, wich I geuss isn't such a good idea if you still have to run more after, especially if you do it from the waist down like I did today. So I had some shin pains on the run home but they went away as I warmed up again. 

4.5 easy miles with Jake and Keith, up Mainstreet to Carl's Jr. (approximatley).Then we got back and kind of got to gimp out from core because we got  there when everyone else was finishing.  Then I ran home after icing. (I don't know why I keep icing when I have to run again, it's probably just because I don't want to get left out at all)

AM- For XC we ran up to Providence and then did 8x20 sec pushes w/ 1 min recovery. Ididn't feel totally on top of it, but it was OK. For the first few pushes I was really just reaching as far as I could with my legs and overstriding, not increasing my cadence, which actually felt pretty good and satisfying. Then coach told me I shoulden't do that, so I just worked on having a quick, definitive stride. I think I'm going to work more on both of those things, increasing my natural stride length, and also being able to "slice" through the air with my legs. Back at the school I iced for a long little while and then ran home.

PM- I got the new racing flats I ordering online delivered today, and I coulden't wait to break them in a little, so I did a short little run on (mostly on grass), did some strides on a field near my house, and then ran back. I felt pretty fast in the shoes, and I'm excited to race in them. I might even use them for our 2 mile time trial next tuesday.

Good run today. I actually ran to practice, wich I think is a great warmup, bett erthan the 800m we usually do. I ran with Keith, Damon, Jake, and Isaac. We went up to the Aggie Bull statue by the stadium. I felt pretty good, and I think it was the good night's sleep I had. Then we went up the hill to Old Maine super quick, (we were sort of racing), and then a good pace until we got down to mainstreet, where we sort of raced all the back to the football field. (I geuss I started it by picking up the tempo). Then we had about 8 minutes of core, iced, and I had a pretty good run home. 

This morning I did my last long run before the half marathon. It was a big loop just like the one in the past two weeks except this time I arn all the way up center street till I hit cliffside, then once I got up to dry canyon, and ran the deer fence trail to providence and came back through the residential are and then past Macy's and the Golf Course. I got feeling pretty tired once I got across mainstreet, but it was ok. I pushed the last mile like I usually do, so that I can remember to do it on race day.

Easy run this morning after and 800m warmup and stretches. Damon, Keith, Jake and I jsut ran to the end of the canal trail and back. That was a little under 5.5. Then my run home made the total 7 miles, so not bad. We have a two mile time trial tomorrow at the cross-country course, and I'm pretty excited.

I am very satisfied with today. It feels like all my hard work this summer is paying off and it makes me excited to work even harder and get great times this season. We got to the course at about 6:30 and did a quick but slow half-mile warmup. Then the rest of the team started doing a dynamic warmup but I was changing shoes so I missed that and only got a little bit in. I feel like I definetley went out at the right speed, and in the pack with me were Damon, Keith, Jake, and Davis. I was sort of in the middle of our pack for the first mile, although we were super close together. Ahead of us were Johnny, Ethan, and J.D. The grass was pretty easy to go the same speed on thanks to numerous times that I've done grass runs and strides this summer. We came through the first mile at 6:30. Some time around here was where I started to pick it up, and the rest of the pack followed. from there on I led, and the last 400 was really fast but felt amazing at the same time. I started kicking pretty early and that's when I sort of broke away from them. The end of the course was set up weird in that there was a big straight long striaghtaway and the a sharp turn followed by maybe a 25-50 meter straightaway. That made it harder to fall into the nice relaxed but quick strided sprint that I've been working on lately. I finished in 12 flat, so a PR, and it also means that we had a crazy big negative split, with a 5:30 second mile. It felt like I had energy to spare. I think it will be great if I can run under a 6:30 first mile next wednesday and then keep progressing it from there in the next 2.1 miles. After doing some yardwork on the course for a couploe hours a few of us ran back to the school. It was a nice, slow, easy feeling three miles.

Helping make the course look great for the start of the season

This morning in XC coach had us run to Merlin Olden park and them we did a 30 minutes session of core excersices with some sprints here and there. I'm geussing I geussing I got in a mile total during that, but I geuss it was pretty beneficial. Then we ran back to the school where I iced and then played some soccer. After that I ran about 5.5 miles to the river trail and then headed home along Park Avenue, just to actually get a run in. It felt pretty good. Tomorrow we have some tempo repeats I believe, plus it's our first afternoon practice because school starts also.

First day of afterschool practice was today, and the weather wasn't super cool, even though it seemed like it would be earlier. After our warmup and drills, coach had us run to the river trail and do (5 x 3 min hard w/ 2min rests). That was one of the toughest workouts we've had, just because of the less than equal recoveries, plus the heat. the other tough one we had was the 800s up at Gibbons, but that was in the morning. Most of the sets weren't too bad. I think we may have been taking them a little too fast, though. The only one where my legs really started to get tired and and I felt fatigued was the last set. At least I made an attempt at hydrating today. The run back just felt super hard. After we did some core, but it was felt pretty tough and it wasn't good to feel all gross and sweaty and have mosquitoes attacking you at the same time either. We did this front elbow plank for like 2 minutes, and that felt really hard. After that I got some pretty good full submersion icing in the canal.

The half is tommorrow!, so I decided to take it really short and easy today. After our 800m warmup, I just went 3 miles easy with the usual group, and we were told to do some strides when we got back so that's what we did, a half a miles worth on the track. They just felt amazing, the way I cold extend my stridelength. I think I'm to try to do those after most runs.

     Wooh! What a day! I had to get up at 4:30 to catch a bus up to the start line, so last night I tried going to sleep at 8:30. It took about a half hour to get to sleep (on two meletonin), and then I woke up at 10:30, got up, took another chill pill, went to the bathroom, and tried to get back to sleep. That took about 2 hours, so I wasn't as rested as I wanted to be, but it was still pretty good.

     When I got off the bus at the park in Blacksmith Fork Canyon, it was freezing cold, and I was shivering even with my sweats and warmup shirt. This was  at about 6:00, and the race started at 7. At 6:30, I stripped into my race clothes, got in a a good 10 minute warmup, and before I knew it, people were lining up to start, and the gun went off. 

     When  I lined up, I made sure to get near the 1:35 pacer, but when the race started, he was going at a pace that  I was not comfortable with, so I kind of thought sub 1:35 was off the book once he was out my sight, but as far as I new I was way ahead of the 1:40 guy. The first 7 miles (down the canyon) were super easy, just like I was told before. One of the only splits I remember is at mile 2 where I was at 14:45, and thought yes, I have good pace and I feel great. Four of my friends from XC were at the mile three aid station, which was great. I spent the whole time in the canyon basically leapfrogging with some other runners.

Me at somewhere around miles 4 or 5, fixing my posture for the camera

       I kind of started feeling it as soon as the course flattened out, but it wasn't that bad yet. So I geuss I would call most of the Hollow Road section stage 2 as far as difficulty. I was surprised when I saw the entire girls soccer team from my school at one of the stations. Once I got onto the highway and off it, the race was at maximum difficulty. Miles 11 and 12 were the worst part. That was probably where I was at the slowest pace and sloppiest form. I got passed once in the whole race and it was at the end of mile 11. It was a kid wearing a Sky View jersey and he just had a strong finish that I wish I would have had. (I found out later that he's my second cousin).

Somewhere on Hollow Road, but I don't remember where.

Realizing I'm gonna get passed and that I need to step up my game

    Once mile 13 started, it got easier, and I was able to pick up the pace. With about 800 left I passed the 1:35 pacer, who was going way slower than when he started. I figure he must be new to pacing and went out too fast, then realized it and had to slow way down. By then I could physically see the finish line, and got even easier. It felt amazing sprinting through the finish. 

  The final kick before the finish line is undoubtedly the best part of the race   

That look of exhausted, triumphant, relief when you realize when you realize you just finished your first Half-Marathon

I was a little scared about doing a speed workout today for frear that I might hurt myself, but I actually felt pretty good. The workout had two parts. After running our warmup to Merlin Oslen, we went up Canyon Rd. for 20 minutes easy. That got us exactly 2.34 miles, or to the water treatment center, where we took a brief rest stop. The next step was to get back in fifteen minutes. We started kind of slow, and then once we picked it up, it was just me and Keith. (Damon and Jake fell behind). We ended up getting back in 15:30, so close enough. I felt super great, in the way where the running is still hard and it raises your breathing and heart rate, but you have the energy to not back down or break form at all. For the next part, we did  3 800's around the park. A good prep for wednesday, since it had the same surfaces as our home course. The first one was a 3:05 with a 2 min rest, the next one was a 3:04 with a little bit longer rest (coach said it was okay), and the last one was a 2:51. On the first set I was running with Ethan and Keith. On the next one it was just me and Keith but he fell back a bit. On the last one I was in the front until Ethan came up next to me and raced me to the line. I'm glad I had somone to push me. Then we did some core, and jogged back and iced.

Today we did an easy run on the river trail. I felt pretty sluggish and heavy, but it was probably because everyon eincluding me just forgot to warmup and stretch. It was pretty hot and humid out too. On the way back we did about 4 20 second pushes with a minute between. Then back at our spot I did some strides in my flats on the field.

     Great race today. I think I did pretty well hydrating throughout the day. I left school with a few others after lunch to go help set up the course. That took about an hour and a half. Then the team showed up at maybe 2:40. I got a mile warmup in at 3, and I felt okay. This was right after a nice roller massage, so I did feel nice and loose. I did some strides at 3:20, and was doing pretty welll as far as pre-race jitters go. the race started at 3:35. (Ogdens team is one of the best in the state, so we weren't planning on beating them, I'm gonna say that off the bat) 

     When the gun went off, we went out moderatley hard (this was the same pack as in our time trial) I felt okay still, but I think we could all tell that we were going out a little too fast. I could also tell that Ogden was already set up to beat us, with all of their varsity and more in front of me, the fourth scorer. So I focused on staying with at least an Ogden runner near us, who I remember beating in track. Mile 1- 5:50.

     That was where I realized we went out too hard, faster than the first mile of our 2 miler last week. But I kept running and tried to keep up the pace. This mile was pretty uneventful. I think we stayed in our positions, but Keith was having a hard time keeping up. At the end of the mile we dropped the Ogden runner and he was replaced with another one, a mile 3 kicker. Davis stayed right on my tail. I think he's got alot of potential. Mile 2- 6:10

     At 2.5 I started sensing alot of lactic filling up in my legs, but Davis came by my side and remided me to trya dn step it up some more. Once we had about 200 left, it got way easier mentally, and I pulled away from Davis and gained on the slowing Ogden runner ahead. When he saw me next to him in the final straightaway, he kicked and I kicked, and he beat by I think .37 seconds, so super close. After I cooled down a bit while watching the girls race.

I was way satsified with today, (wich was a PR). The fact that I PR'd makes me want to work even harder and see how much I improve throughout the season. Next meet is a week from saturday, on the same course, just more schools. Hopefully the course stays the same so I can compare times like in track. It'll be great to see what teams we beat and know sort of where we are, and know that I helped in that effort (Assuming I race my best)

Very unsatisfied practice today. That two miles includes the warmup. I've been trying to suggest that getting in more volume during the season is a good thing, but noone will listen. For now on I think I'm going to run with Mark. Johnny, and JD on the easy days, since I did notice that they went a little bit longer.

Good practice. First we ran to Merlin-Olsen and Todd had us do the same core circuit that we did last wednesday, and then Mark and JD and I put in a couple more miles, which felt pretty good.

I wasn't feeling too well so I took today off. Next week I'm definetley going to try and get more milage in. For sure above thirty and maybe above 40.

I don't usually run on sundays, but today I was feeling alot better and was mad at myself for taking a day off, so I decided to do my long run today. It didn't feel like the first run of the week, but I geuss it technically is. I felt kind of trashed for the first 3 miles, which got me exactly to the start of the canal trail by canyon road. After a little rest (and dropping my shirt, something I'm not proud of), I started feeling better. Before my head was pounding, but that stopped. Then I took the trail up to Cliffside, which was kind of taxing for an easy run, but it's a nice route. I pretty much went directly home after that, with a little detour in the ds nature park.

TOTAL TIME: 1:08 (RUN WAS ACTUALLY 8.85, I JUST ROUNDED IT UP)

We were in salt Lake today so I got the chance to do a test run of the state course. When I started running I didn't feel very good and I felt dehydrated (proably from walking all day), but then I got a little warmed up. The first time around I needed the map alot, but it seemed pretty simple. I had alot of stops and starts, too. When I got to the track I turned around and jogged back to the starting line. This time I was running it all without stopping at an easy pace and seeing what time I ran it in. I just wasn't feeling good today I geuss, because my head started pounding and my legs got heavy, when it was supposed to be nice and easy. I didn't run the whole thing, I stopped with maybe 300 left, so my estimate would be 22:30 for my Epace time on the course. One thing I learned just from jogging it is to run the first mile conservatively to save energy for the two hills in the 2nd half of the race. It usually gets described as pretty hilly, but there are actually only 3 hills, and none of them are a combination of steep and long, the first one is moderate and short, the second one is steep and short, and the third hill is shallow and long, which could still kill you if you didn't pace right. Well, now I'm more ready for it if we qualify this year then I would've been. 1000m repeats tomorrow, I hope I haven't used to much energy today and yesterday. Also, I just figured out that tommorow I will run my 1000th official mile this year. In 2013 I ran 402 miles.

At XC this afternoon we took a bus up to Lundstrom and did 5x1K repeats w/ 2 min rest at 10K pace, although I found out later they were more like 1.1. After our warmup, Todd put us into groups, and I was in a group with Damon and Keith, and I think Xavier (A pretty fast freshman, and I think that's how you spell it). Then right before he started Mark, JD and Ethan's group, he changed his mind and put me with them. On the first 1000, I tailed the three of them, but then we all finsihed right next to eachother. Our time was 4:00. I don't remember much about the rest, other than that the heat was getting to me and they hurt more each time, also I fell further back behind the other three. I think I really started to get exhausted and break form on the second to last one. That was probably where I suffered most mentally. At least I finished the last one, Ethan quit once we got to like the 500m mark. That is definetley rated as the toughest workout so far this season. I felt worse than I ever felt racing last Wednesday. But that's good, the more it hurts, the more I am increasing my fitness.

Splits:

4:00

3:52

3:54

4:00

3:51

In XC today we did a 40:00 run, which is actually longer than I've gone in afternoon practice in the whole two weeks. We went to Providence and I ran with Mark and JD on the way out until we got to three miles, and then we turned and they dropped the pace to one that was pretty uncomfortable, around 6:05. So they dropped me and I ran pretty slow the rest of the way back. When we got back we did 4x100m strides.

Easy 25-30 minute shakeout on the rivertrail. The pace started feeling kind of hard on the way back, but I geuss it was my fault since I was leading half the time. Big meet tommorow at our course. There is expected to be 25+ schools there, although we won't have two of our top 4. That makes me #3, so I geuss we won't really be able to gauge where we are, although this would be a perfect time to do it.

     (Sorry for the long entry, I know it's not state, but I got carried away)

     Well I PR'd by 9 seconds which is good, but I also killed myself doing it. That race hurt way more than last week's race. The course was also .04 longer, (although it was on the same sight), so I would have been under 18:10 probably. I bet I could have done better if I had gotten more sleep, too or done something different during the day. Anynways, here's the break down.

     Our second and third runner weren't racing, so I was #3, but at least I got to start in the front. The course was on the same site (our home course), but it was changed just a little bit, and instead of just Ogden being there there was around 20 other schools. So a much different scenerio from our first meet, except for the course. I just realized that our course lacks a big component to XC: hills. So you kind of use a track mentality on it. I hope we will be prepared for Bob Firmin and State.

Mile 1- 5:40 

When the gun went off, I sprinted out pretty hard, and so did everyone else. I geuss that's how all varsity races are, I'll just have to get used to that. Damon got out in front of me and Davis with some runners in between us. I reminded him not to go out too hard since we talked about that earlier before the race. We eventually got into a pack of three and Davis headed it. I knew we we were going pretty quick from the start, and that was confirmed when Coach (Todd) told us we were at a 5:40 mile. 

Mile 2- 6:18 (That's the average for my next 2 miles which was 12:36, last mile longer. Mile 1 is the only split I heard)

     This was when I felt like slowing down, and obviously I, but I almost let Damon and Davis drop me. Luckily they noticed this and and let me know. I hit the wall somewhere is this mile, and and a hard wall it was. I spent the rest of the race battling it.

Mile 3- probably between 6:00 and 6:10 with the .09 taken off

     The fire in my legs just worsened and worsened due to the lactic acid filling them up, and my face showed it. I think I had Davis with me for most of this mile, but Damon dropped back about 20-30 meters. It got so bad with 800 to go. Like I said this race hurt way more than last week. It probably made it worse when somone said there was 400 meters left when I knew it wasn't true, but I wished it was. I remember looking at my watch when it was at 15 and thinking "the leader (Conner) has already finished, I really wish I was done". Some encouagement from teammates helped me keep going when I hit the quarter-to-go mark. At this point I was just telling myself,  "I will finish soon, and it's gonna feel good when that happens", and then I was in sight of the bend that led to the last straightaway, and the white tents that we had decided we going to start our kick at.

Last stretch: 10-20 seconds

     This is where the mental burden laid off and I kicked it into high gear, which brought on so much pain. I looked over and saw a Bear River runner, and I went faster and beat him by a hair. That felt pretty good since I was in his exact postion last week. The line to give them our Bib#'s was pretty long and I wanted to collapse or at least lean on something, and I was gasping for air. It took me about 5 minutes to catch my breath. 

All in all, I was pretty satisfied. My teamate did pretty good. Mark and JD (our seniors) finished right with eachother in 17:12 and 17:14, and four of my other teamates (Damon, Xavier, Davis, and Keith in both varsity and JV) proved to be in a good pack with me (we all finished within 16 seconds of eachother) And I realized that even though we still have a whole XC and track season ahead of us, next year if we all improve together we are going to be a dang good top 5 group. Our team took 19'th, but we beat Box Elder and Roy without some of our fastest runners. Now we just need to really race Bonneville hard next week to see if we can beat them with our complete varsity, and if we can do that, we can qualify for state at region in October.

Good morning run with the team. We met at somone's house (which is nearby mine) and ran 30 minutes out west and then turned back. I was with the fast goup on the way out and felt good for the first two miles, and then my condition declined from there. On our way back I really felt the effects of the race yesterday and when we caught up with a slower group I let my previous group drop me and ran with them. It felt pretty good but at the same time I was dissapointed in myself for not staying with the rest of the varsity. I did pick it up again in the last 1/2 mile and felt pretty good so there's that. Then we had a nice filling breakfast after which I went home and napped for 5 hours on the couch.

Tough workout for me today, and not the for the usual reason. We did a five minute warmup and then started with a minute tempo and equal rest (it was all equal rest). The first minute was with Mark and JD, so for Me, Keith and Damon it was pretty dang quick. The whole workout was supposed to be 1 minute tempo w/ equal rest, then 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3,2 1, tuening around at the five. After Mark and JD dropped us we went at our own tempo pace, and I stayed with them until the beginning of the 4 minute tempo, where by now we were over halfway through the canal trail. On the 4 minute one lactic acid filled my legs up quick and my heart beat super fast. They pulled far ahedad and I eneded up stopping after 3 minutes (because I thought 4 minutes was up). Then I just decided that it would be hard enogh to keep running and when I got to the top of the small hill by First Dam, Todd came back and told me that I could jsut turn back. So I ran with him for about 10 minutes, pretty slow but I was hurting none the less. After that Todd had to back to the school so he sped up and left me alone. Then I took a rest and kept going pretty slow for the remaining time. I was kind of disapointed in myself for gimping out, but Todd said that it was okay and that I'm probably sick or something. This makes me fear that I'll even stay on varsity for this year.

Well, I kind of wish I felt like I did today yesterday, because my shakeout run with Keith was effortless. We did the rivertrail, like we usually do on shakeouts, and I was able to talk the entire time, my breathing was low, it was great. Hopeful for tomorrow.

     Pretty good race today. Bonneville's course is super good. It's in a big park that's covered with trees, and it's pancake flat. We got there at about 2:30 (race started at 3:30), so we had plenty of time to walk the course and then get in a good warmup and stretches. Last year (almost a year ago to the day actually) we had a meet here and I sort of got lost, but it was that I was going the right way, turned around because I thought I was going the wrong way, then it turned out I was going the right way in the first place. I ended up running a 20:00, and it probably would have been a 19:30 if I hadn't had that confusion anyways. So I kind of wamted to redeem myself, and I geuss I did. 

     Before the race started, I talked to everyone about not going out too fast, but we ran a 5:50 first mile (I wanted to go 6). At least it was better than the 5:40 last week. I came through the mile mark feeling pretty good anyhow, and with me was Johnny, Keith, Isaac, and I think Damon, Davis, and Jake, but if they were than we lost them soon after. I could alerady tell that the odds werent in our team's favor with the pack that Bonneville had up front, but I let that leave my mind and focused on my own race. Pretty soon Keith and Johnny pulled away and it was just me and Isaac running together for the rest of the race. I was scared that he would just pull away all together, but I stayed with him the whole time. I was actually surprised to see him running with us, but I just figured out that it was his first race of the season, so I didn't really know where he was at. I started to feel it at teh start of mile 3, where the lactic started filling up. I figured out the other day that if you shake you arms when that happens it will drain out, but I coulden't do anything about the legs, just take the pain, because that's what distance running is all about. We hit the sharp turn before the final stretch and I ducked away from some branches and almost tripped on Isaac's heels, then he outkicked me. Good race overall, I just need to make sure to stay with Keith next time and stay ahead of Isaac. whe we got of the bus back at the school, Todd told me that maybe I was experiencing some burnout and that he might have me take it a little easier for the next week before Cache-Box on wednesday. So I think I'll trust his word. I know we have milers on Friday so it will be interesting to see what he has me do then.

Good run with Mark and JD. I felt pretty great, and I was able to keep up a conversation with no problem. We ran up to the university and then back on the canal trail. Afterwards we did four strides.

     At practice today we had a small set of mile repeats at Willow Park West. I got some xc spikes a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to try them out. The only down side of that was that I had to run to the park in them on the road, so they kind of got scuffed. 

     When we got there we ran a little part of the course and then got started. The first onE felt fine the entire time. I was on Keith's heels all the way, with Isaac right behind me. We ran it in 5:58, right on the goal pace. On the next one it was pretty much just me and Keith, and he picked it up quite a bit at the end. I pulled up next to him and he took it as a challenged and took off, but I said forget it, I'm trying to hit a certain time here, it's not a race. I still ended up running a 5:38. On the last one a pack of quite a bit of us stayed together until the end, and that made it easier mentally. Again there was a big kick and I came in getting nipped by Keith and Isaac with a 5:58 again.  Then we did core and ran back. The workout I think was actually not that hard, and I would've liked to see more repeats in there. They were at R-pace, except for the second one, so I think we could've done 5 in 6 minutes, it just would've been hard. I've heard a great workout is 6x1 mile @Tempo, so I would like to see that sometime in our workout schedule. 
 

    When we got back to the field I did 4 strides by myself. The spikes worked great on the grass, I just need to see how they are with the gravel on our home course. If I do use them I wont be screwing in any actual spikes unless the course is completley grass. The shoes do al have a shark-skin type rubber tread that already is an advantage in the grass. 

     This morning we took a bus up to the Campbell's (our coaches) parennt's house in Weston, Idaho to do a "long run", which I guess is long compared to what we've usually been doing for our easy days at practice. It was pretty cold for the first couple of miles, but I warmed up after that. Keith and I were running in the front group for the first mile and then Johnny and JD came and picked us up basically and we dropped the rest of the group. It's funny how that happpens. There were some long and gradual hills, but they actually weren't too bad. In the last mile of the run though it felt like the end of a hard tempo. Probably because of the lack of sleep I got last night, plus we didn't do any warmup drills before running. When we arrived back at the house we had a nice big breakfast and then took the bus back home. 

     Today I had a pretty good workout.  I'm going to count the warmup as being 3.9 miles (our regular warmup loop and then the run to First Dam Park). What we were supposed to do was go out 25 min and try to come back in 20, but I started my watch later so I woulden't be interupted by traffic during the tempo. I ran with the faster varsity, so the jog out was a little faster than I wanted it to be anyway, and when we got to first dam my watch was at 20, so I just turned around there. Last time we did this it was twenty out, but I covered a little over a half mile less distance that time, and it only took me 15 minutes to get back. I don't know how far that was, maybe a litttle over 2, but my tempo distance was 2.66 and I made it back in 17, that's about right. I don't do tempo runs really at all, but I really should because their super good in my opinion because they keep your mind in sort of a race mentality because it's just continuous running, contrary to a fartlek for example. I felt medium good the whole time. Mark went out at 4:30 pace, so that's why it looked like he was just flying away from me when we started (he didn't keep it). I just calculated my pace and it was anywhere from a 6:23 to a 6:30, so pretty much right on the dot. Going down the path to get off the canal trail onto Canyon Rd. was pretty scary because I thought I was going to snap my ankle on a rock, especially with the shoes I was wearing. The end of the tempo was a pretty big hill, and it ended literally right at the top, so I don't know how good that was for my mentality about hills. I'll probably put a hill in the middle or just not have a hill at all next time so that I won't be used to stopping at the top of hills. After that I ran 2.5 more miles just for the volume and to get in a long cool down, since that's usually done for tempo runs I believe. Tomorrow we have an easy day and then we have the Cache-Box Invitational at our home course, and I hear it won't be a cool day, so I hope I'll be prepared for it. 

Good shakeout, it was a little quicker than I geuss I would have done, but I was running with the other varsity guys, so what can I expect. We did a pretty nice loop that incorporated willow park and the river trail. It was super hot out and I heard it's going to be worse tomorrow, so I'm kind of scared. 

     So I am satisfied with my race, just not the time. Although I geuss it's pretty good that I only missed my PR by 6 seconds considering the 80-90 degree heat with no shade. I woke up not feeling super great, and I was kind of still feeling the soreness from our tempo run on monday, but as the day progressed, the soreness faded, and I felt okay. I did a good job hydrating, too. 

     When we got to the course it was about 2:30, so I had some time to kill, and most of it was spent relaxing in the shade under our team canopy, with the occasional port-a-potty run. I did watch the races, and they were great. Keith placed second in the JV race, and my other teammate Vickie Krull placed 2nd in the girls varsity race to Miranda O'very. 

     I started warming up at 4:40 (the race was scheduled to start at 5). I felt about the same as the warmup at the Aggie Invite. After some stretches we went to the starting line, did some strides, and the race soon started. the sprint-out felt fast again, and Damon reminded me to chill out, so I took it a little slower in the first mile. I came through the 800 at 2:40, so a little quick, but that was just because of the sprint off the gun. (2:40 800's were actually my mile pace in track last year, so that gets me excited to see what my mile is once the season's over) At this time I was running with Zair and Damon, and I came through mile 1 at 5:48, so I did a better job pacing wise than at the Aggie Invite. This was where I sort of pulled away from Damon and Zair, and cruised through mile 2, which felt pretty easy and quick. At the end of mile 2 (which I don't know the splits for), I passed Johnny, which really surprised me because he ran a 1:56 800 in track last season, but he also hasn't been running as much due to illness and injury. He apparently dropped out right after I passed him, which is fine, it only counts at region, and it also is nice to know that our score (5th place) could have been better with him. A while after I passed Johnny I looked at my watch and it said 12:30, so I thought if I just held my pace I would PR, so either I was wrong or I didn't hold the pace. Anyways the last mile was great because I passed maybe 5 or 6 people, and I've really never done any major passing in a race, so that was awesome, plus I know that that helped us beat West Side and Preston, because there were guys on those teams in the group that I was passing. But it was more likek I was passing kids 1 at a time, just picking them off. I was pretty fun actually. Towards the end I was on this Sky View runner's heels, I passed him right before the turn onto the straightaway, and tehn he let out a ferocious yell and took off. That made me so mad, so I screamed, too. And I can actually see why he did it. It triggers some adrenaline. I think I'll try it full on at Bob Firman next week. In fact I'm pretty sure I remember Brian McKenna (our old coach) say that last year. So teh Sky View dude and a Preston runner just took off, and I sprinted as hard as I could, but to my dissapointment I didn't PR. I'm going to blame it on the heat. 

    Like I said, this gets my hopes up for region because of the fact that we could beat Mt. Crest if we all work hard for the rest of the season and race to our full potential on that fateful day. We do have Bob Firman to try adn beat them, too. And then we have one more race, the Bear River Invite, and then region and I'm really hoping state. 

Entering the final 400m in hot pursuit of a Sky View runner, with Vickie and Keith cheering me on. 

Entering the final straightaway with Jake to my left yelling encouragingly.

Letting out a roar in response to the Sky View and Preston runners' kicks.

Home free to the finish:

Today was supposed to be easy, but I kind of ignored that for reasons and decided to make it a longer endurance run. The people I ran with, Keith , Damon, Jake, and a couple girls on the team were going super slow, and I decided to just take it at what felt normal, so I dropped them. Where we were running was a road in Providence that we like to call "Death Hill", near Von Baer Park. I was feeling pretty good, and then I hit the hill, and after coming back down in a loop that goes through a trail at Von Baer, I was not feeling good at all, and I was 4 miles away from the school. The weather was scorching just like yesterday, too. So teh rest of the run was hell, and it felt great to be back at the school. 4 x Strides and icing and that was practice. I think today was a rough day for everyone, I know it was for Vickie and Mark also, who ran up to Lundstrom Park. 

At practice today we were supposed to run to Merlin Olsen and get further instructions from Todd. Turns out we were playing ultimate frisbee. I was expecting 800 repeats, not games. I like our coaches, but I think these games when we should be running our butts off is one of the reasons why we don't have alot of hard workers on the team. Luckily Mark agreed, so he took about 8 of us up to the canal trail by Lundstrom Park to do a workout: 8x800m repeats, just what I was gearing up for today.  After a short warmup, we started on the first one, and finished it in 2:45, a little bit faster than I expected, but I think it was because the course was a little shorter than 800. 

Here's the times to best of my memory (It's #7 that I'm not sure about). 

1- 2:45

2- 2:36

3- 2:41

4- 2:40

5- 2:46

6- 2:55

7- 2:36

8- 2:26 (all out)

I ran most of them with Kieth next to me, and the only ones that I didn't I finished in front of him, especially on the last one. We took a 1:30 to 2:00 break each time. I felt pretty good today, thankfully. I think the hardest one was #7, even though it was the slowest. The easiest repeat physically was obviously the first one, and the easiest one mentally was the last. That one was actually kind of fun to just go all out and know I didn't have to save any energy. The sprint on the final straightaway was great. After running the half mile back to Lundstrom I cooled down for 2 miles with Mark. Our pae was actually pretty good, we got back in exactly 15:00, so 7:30 pace. After that we got slurpees and did some icing. Overall that was one of the best workouts I've had all season.  

Great run this morning on the Deer Fence, probably my favorite trail run of them all, and plenty of people would agree. I ran with Mark, Keith , and Vickie at a slow pace for about 30 min, which got us three and a half miles out, so 8:34 average mile. I felt good. On the way back, which has a couple more tough climbs than going out, we picked up the pace to a 7:08, so alot faster, but it didn't feel hard. On the last big hill before the trailhead, Mark and Keith went super fast up it, but I coulden't keep up. I don't think I'm very good hills, and I don't want that to become my weakness at Bob Firman. I just looked at the workout schedule for next week and we only have one workout, which I think is weird considering that we have 5 days of running before the race, enough for 2 hard days, so I hope I can get coach to have us do some hills, since we have Bob Firman and JV is at Box-Elder next week, a very hilly course. 

The group after the run and at breakfast

First I had a half-mile warmup and then 6 easy miles out towards Providence with Todd, Mark, and JD. We averaged a 7:30 pace and it felt pretty good, I've just gotta get Damon and Keith and whoever else to run with us, because the older guys are a good influence for solid training. This morning it was super foggy, and I wished I coud've been running then, but the sun came out for the second half of the day and pretty much stayed out. It was still a pretty cool temperature , though, a good break after last week's blistering heat. Afterawards we did 4x200m. I hit 34, 36, 34, 33. They felt super quick, probably a combo of having run six miles and waiting half an hour to do these, and not being used to running on a track, but that should be my 800m pace if not slower. Tomorrow morning we have 1000's in Logan Canyon. This is going to be a busy week (it's Homecoming and Bob Firman), but luckily we have a day off from school tomorrow.

       Very hard, very humbling morning workout today.   

     I got up this morning to catch the bus to First Dam that the team was taking and had a pain in my leg, like shinsplints. I had had it before, but this was worse than it's been before. I went to practice and when we got to first dam we started running towards trail head of the river trail in Logan Canyon adn I noticed that I kind of had a hitch in my step whenever I took a stride with my left leg. Luckily that pretty much went away when we started the workout, which  was 6x1000m all out with a 500m jog. The way the course was set up was we ran up the trail 1000m adn jogged back 500 until we got to the last cone, where would then just do straight 1000 and 500s with out turning around at all. The first one felt so fast it seemed impossible to maintain mechanical stability and efficiency due to the velocity at which we were going, (maybe because I wasn't completely warmed up), although we were actually only doing 3:45s on average the whole workout which translates into a 6:00 mile. So on teh next one I told Keith to slow it down a bit but after 500m Todd came from behind and told us we were going to slow. That's when the realization came that this was going to be a hell of a run.

     Most of the repeats were run with Keith, and the further up the trail we got, the steeper the incline was. The end of the last one before turning around was on a single track trail where the switchbacks started, and earlier in it was a significant incline on kind of a long hill, so Keith kind of pulled away from me on that one because he'll kick a hill up the but before he let's it get him, which is good but I can see that being a problem if he surges up spectator hill on saturday the first time we go up it, because that's not even halfway through the race and the course takes you up it twice. We had a 1000m jog after that one so the next set felt alright, I actually beat Keith on it and he started ahead of me, too. That was the second to last one. On the last repeat, I died and didn't feel like I had teh energy to keep going. Also my shoelace was untied so that did no good mentally.

     The season is reaching it's climax, the point in time that occurs in every cross-country season. The time where we hurt, and see eachother hurt, and open up by letting others see your pain, with that comes a special, strong bond between teammates that appears only in endurance training. That's the miracle of running, because when your'e hurting, you can have the comfort of knowing that the people beside you are hurting just as much, and alos that pain you have inside you can be so deep, so so real, and deep down you know how good it actually feels, because you know how much good will come out of it in the long run.

All the people going to Bob Firman did 1.75 mile warmup to the nature park, where we ddi some hill/tempo work. It was 2x5min @ tempo with recovery jog. ( It was prettty much a full recovery. The workout could have been alot tougher had there been more reps, but coach went easy on us today. The hill in all of this was about 400m into the course, a pretty long maybe 100-200m hill that we were told to race up, at a significantly faster pace than tempo, and then go back into tempo once we got ot the top, keep going till 5 min is up (we crested the hill at about 2:30 both times), and then finish the loop and do it again. I knew that hill would be a challenge to keep up with Keith on, because he always takes hills at an uncomfortable speed, but I stayed with him on both. It actualy wasn't that bad once I got to the top, and it was pretty easy to keep going at tempo. On the second rep Damon beat both of us up the hill, but then I stayed ahead of him and Keith for the rest of the 5 min, which got us further on that one than the first, a little past the edge of the Providence Cemetary. After that Mark and I got in about 3.5 extra miles in a loop that went around on the canal trail and then Temple Blvd. They felt pretty good just nice and relaxed. I was a little worried about my tendonitis, but I didn't feel it at all doing the workout or other running. The only time I can feel it is when I am on my feet but not running (so walking) I think the little bit of icing I did helped. That workout was good, I would definetley do it again, probably while training for Foot Locker in November. After icing I went to the homecoming parade and then the poweder-puff game, so busy day, but it's homecoming week and I've only got one more year of this so I might as well make it worth-while.

Good run with Mark to First Dam and back. I felt pretty bad at first up until the canal trail and then I felt better It was hot enough for me to drop my shirt. My leg felt okay.

We arrived in Boise an ran the course. My shin was hurting and I felt like crap. (maybe from all the muddy buddies I ate). This doesn't make me very confident for tomorrow, but we'll see.