The Renegade

5 x (3 min @ 6:51 + 1 min @ 5:43) on treadmill.
Felt kinda tired but that's my fault for not getting a ton of sleep. Picked it up a bit on the last one. I would have done another one if my foot wasn't bothering. I think it might be the flats, but I hope it isn't a huge problem because I like the streaks a lot. After that Paul and I (Paul went for like 7 or 8 sets!) headed out on the track and did 3 200s. I ran em in 30, 30, 29. They felt really good. I've just gotta get close to that speed in the 800 soon. Confident about it. Then we ran a couple more mile on the treadmill and then lifted.

So I was planning on a recovery day today, but then I found out that the rest of the team was doing a hill workout, and since coach was going to have them do their second workout of the week tomorrow, I decided I might as well go back2back also. So yeah, I joined them. We jogged to the temple and got started after stretches. The sprinters did 4x200, then 8x100. Distance people did 8x200. I felt decent. Coach Strand worked out with us! So I didn't get the splits saved because I had to use the GPS again, but it's safe to say that I averaged 34s. And I think the best I've done before this was like 36s at the fastest, so I felt accomplished. Jogged really slow a longer way back the high school  with some freshman, then I added on around the school and on the track with 4 light n loose strides put in there. Now I'll have two recovery days before THE OVAL.

Easy 7 miles out to campus by myself because everyone else was doing a workout. I didn't feel too hot, but it ended up being 7:29 average and anything below 7:30 is a pretty good day for me. When I got back I did some lifting and then ran an extra mile on the dreadmill while I waited for my ride. Got home and my Launch 2s came in the mail, so that made me happy. As I write this I'm there is an ad for the Launch 3, lol its all good tho  I got these on sale. 

So my brother was showing a history project at the Capitol so I decided to come, and then I snuck out at like 11 for a run in the avenues around the cemetery. I was excited to run in the new shoes, but it turns out they are too big. So yeah I'm probably gonna exchange them. I ran down Capitol Hill, then headed up 4th, went around the cemetery and headed back down on 11th, then I found a path that led down to Memory Grove Park and headed back from there. Fun to run somewhere. Along with the shoe problem, I just wasn't feeling super great. I should be good tomorrow afternoon tho. 7:40 pace.

Although I was only able to run one event, this was the most successful meet so far this season for me. WE got there and the oval looked alot different than I expected, more open. We jogged two laps. After the slightly harder run yesterday I was really worried that I was going to be really tired and bomb it today, and when I started on my first warmup jog outside, it almost felt like that, but as I started to run more, by the time I had run a full mile I was feeling really good. But it was a while till my race, so after I finally got my number and stuff I went out for another half mile jog (close, my watch died) and I came back and Jack's heat (heat 5) was going. I was in heat 8, and funny because I asked my team and someone else what heat it was and they were like 6 or 7, so I freaked out and hurried over to the starting area. Luckily I had plenty of time after all and I got there slightly early. 

       So yeah I spiked up, did some warmup drills, and then they called us over to do our strides while the previous heat was going. I was super nervous, but I felt good. I was seeded 4th with a 5:02, and when the gun went off, I didn't have that super aggressive start I usually have and I ended up behind like four guys, and then by the time we were around the first turn more guys passed me and I was like oh crap. Came through the 400 in 71 seconds. Kinda just held my position on lap 2, maybe passed one or two guys. Then on lap three I pushed it decently and passed bunch of people, my middle 800 was a 2:32. So I don't want to do the math on what I closed it but it must have been fast to run a 4:51. I still felt good and strong on the last lap though. Took second behind a Herriman kid. I was closing on him on the final turn, but then he sped up and held his position. Would've been cool to win a heat but that doesn't matter. So happy, seeing that this is a season PR by 11 seconds and an all-time best by 4. 

       Jogged around with Jack for half a mile outside, then we waited around forever for the 4x8, and when they were just starting the girls 400, coach decided we should leave. So Jack and I ran about a mile and a half together then met them at the bus, but the bus driver wasn't there yet, so I ran a bit more, then coach decided that we were going to just do the 4x8 because the driver was taking along time to get there, so we went back in, and like ten minutes later he showed, so we decided to leave again for good. So kinda dissapointing, but it's indoor, I don't need to be killing my legs just yet. Long run tomorrow, wish I could be going back down there, but I have a dang piano recital!

 It was like a whitout when I wanted to run today wich was in the afternoon, so I ended up driving to the rec center to do run on a treadmill. Woohoo! I got started on it at around 7:30 pace and I was just super bored, and I had thought about making this kind of a workout earlier, so I decided to bump up the pace periodically. Splits looked something like this:

7:40,    7:30,    7:30,    7:20,    7:00,    6:45,    6:30,    6:15

Then a half mile cooldown at 7:30 pace. Realized that basically every .1 mph is 5 sec/mi faster so that was nice to know.  So yeah it kind of sucked for the first half but then after that the endorphins really started flowing and I felt good. Last three miles were 6:30 average so I'm happy with that seeing as I've done many 3 mile tempos alone at that pace. I could see my reflection in the window the whole time which can be a good and bad thing, but yeah my form looked very Kenyan-like, no biggie. I wonder if this is any more beneficial than just setting it at the pace I averaged and running that for 8 miles. It's definitely easier on the mind. Did the standard set of lifts and got outta there. Good solid day, and I feel fine about running semi-hard because if I didn't have other obligations I would have been racing today. Also, I went to Al's today and tried on some shoes, screw the Launch, I think I'm gonna get the Saucony Zealot! They felt nice!