The Renegade

Today was an odd day. I was planning on doing a track workout and showed up at Logan's track expecting it to be vacant but there was little kid football and cheerleader practice so too many people. Then I drove to Ridgline's track and there was a soccor game going on. Checked MC and it looked like something was starting there. So I just did an easy run on Hollow Road, which was really nice and shady. Running on it reminded me of doing my first and only half at TOU in 2014, and I realized I missed it alot. I also thought about how much of a hassle it would be schedule track workouts not know if I could use the facilities. Then I thought about how cool it would be to run a marathon in the near future. Thought more and made the decision that I wouldn't pursue the track team at USU. I think I'll have a lot more fun running high mileage and doing long aerobic workouts, and testing my strength on the roads, from 5K up. So yeah, I think the best choice would be the Ogden Marathon on May 20th. I'll keep you updated if I change my my  mind or whatever. Felt pretty good on the run, just got kind of tired the last mile. 6:49 ap. 

AM: After my morning class I did a mile warmup outside that ended at the Aggie Rec Center. Once there, I did a three miles on the dreadmill at 6 minute pace. Usually I don't prefer the treadmill, but I wanted to run a specific pace. Felt a little worse than I would have liked, but no horrendous suffering and really no lactic acid. My level of discomfort kind of plateaued at less than a mile in and stayed there, which is what you want in a tempo I guess. I would still describe it as comfortably hard. Then I hit the weights, which is something I haven't done in 4 1/2 months. I quickly discovered that I have lost alot of strength since track lol. I tried squatting 135, and it didn't seem that hard, but after 8 reps my groin immediatley felt tight and ready to cramp, and I couldn't even do a body squat. So I didn cleans. I picked it up, felt how heavy it was, and changed the weights three times before I was comfortable with it. That was starting at what I was doing during track. Well now I am extremely sore from that minimum level of lifting. 1.5 mile cooldown outdoors, which felt really not good.

PM: 3 miles suuuuper easy and relaxed just after dark. I ran to Willow Park, did a mile loop and came back. I forced myself to relax, and ended up with a 7:45 average. Overall a very calming run. I signed up for the Homecoming 5K, which should be lots of fun.

Sick run up Green Canyon to unwind after a full day of classes. I parked in the lower lot just cuz. Took it really easy and relaxed for the four miles up, which was still a decent pace (8:30 average). The fall colors were at their peak and it was absolutely gorgeous. Overall pace was a 7:41. My body has been insanely sore all day just from trying to lift yesterday, but luckily I didn't feel it much while I was running. 

Today's run kind of felt like a grind. I did a loop I've never done before out west of home that eventually connected with the river trail through trapper park. After two miles of running I did 5 x 1 minute pickups with 2 minute recoveries, just something to get a little bit of an edge for Saturday (I'm doing the Running of the Bulls Homecoming 5K) The pickups were around 5:10 to 5:50 pace, and my form felt better on each one. Started with a nasty headwind so that sucked. That will feel alot easier regardless on race day, let alone on a flat course but this has a lot of downhill. For the rest of the run I felt really flat and had no energy. Did some strides at the stake center by my house, and practiced rounding some sharp turns. The last half mile after that I had more of a pop in my stride. 7:03 ap.

Easy run in the rain up Logan Canyon this morning! Great stuff, I love rainy trail runs. Felt alt better than yesterday. I started at first dam, took the lower trail up and the highline trail on the way back for the last 1.5 miles. 7:01 average.

AM: Pretty fun race today! It was a little on the chilly side but great temps for running. I almost didn't find the start line! But I got there about 10 minutes before, and I had already done some running looking for it. The race started and we headed east and this one guy went out crazy quick, like faster than I was comfortable with, so I just sat on his shoulder. I couldn't really tell if he was legit or not but then he slowed down about a half mile in and I took the lead, with Big Blue leading on a little motorbike. The turns weren't as bad as I thought they would be up on campus. Really rolled down Old Main and then I had to slow down a ton at the bottom to go through the tunnel but then I picked things back up and had a little more down hill. Then I hit Temple Blvd which is completely flat and it got hard right there, but I just pushed knowing I would have another downhill. I looked back on a curve and saw that there were some guys closer than I thought so I pushed it a little more. Entered Merlin Olsen Park and looked back again but they were lagging. I had a little confusion crossing 100W which slowed me down a little but not by much. Came out on Mainstreet and I made the mistake of staying on the sidewalk (they had said to stay on the sidewalk the whole time but I guess not for the finish) Stepped onto the road half a block later and sprinted for about a block to the finish and there was a tape and an announcer saying my name which was pretty cool. Average was 5:15 which doesn't sound that fast for a downhill course but whatevs. I think I got my goal of under 16:30 if it was a 5K. Shoutout to fellow Logan grads Sylvan Needham and the Olsen brothers for killing it as well. Cooled down, watched the parade, then awards where I got a nice glass trophy for being the first student in (even though I was first overall lol).

PM: Was going to run 5 miles but didn't get the chance to. It's okay, just means I'm building one week slower, which will prevent injury even more. 3 weeks of 50 after this week then I'll bump it up 5.