I am one with the levee and the levee with me

7 am - I was lucky enough to squeeze in 3 miles before class today. Mid-terms end tomorrow, so things should be a little more easy going soon.

11 am -  Ran a moderate 7 miler down the usual path, average pace 6:47. It turns out my 8:00 class was canceled for the exam, so I could have run more today if I had planned better.

AM - I got to the track with plenty of time this morning for an interval workout, and things went pretty well.

I ran a 9 minute warmup, a couple of strides, and dove right into the workout. The idea was to do 6 x 1000m with 2:00 rest at 5k pace. I wanted to start at 3:08 and work down to 3:00 or just under, but I had a really hard time dropping the pace. The first three weren't too bad (3:08, 3:07, 3:06) and I was feeling strong still, but from the fourth one on I was really struggling.

The fourth was 3:05, and I thought I had it in me to drop down to the 3:00 range, but the fifth rep was getting painful (3:06) and I started the sixth with just the hope to maintain pace. I came through the first lap okay (:59) but dropped to 1:02 on the next lap. I was wavering towards dopping out, but I thought about my goals and knew I had it in me to finish, and I was able to open the throttle for a :57 last lap, plus the 20 or so meters to the finish for 3:05.

So average time ended up at 3:06.17, certainly one of my best workouts ever. Just before my 5k pr, my HS coach had us do 5x1000m with about 3:00 rest on a slightly hilly course, and I believe I averaged 3:10. It's hard to compare the two, but at worst I should be well within pr range.

Later AM - I am loving the weather! I got 5 more miles in up Canyon Rd in Provo, it was nice and warm, sunny.... I never knew 40 degrees could feel so good. I headed out in 7:00 pace and came back in about 6:42 pace. I didn't mean to speed up, it just happened.

AM - Ran 5 easy miles down the usual route, about 7:10 average. I'm feeling a little sore from yesterday, but that isn't unusual.

PM - Added 7.3 on the run home. I got caught in the snow storm which was fun at first, until the wind picked up and the temperatures dropped. It was a little tense coming over the highway into Springville, I don't like running this way in bad weather. I felt pretty good considering conditions, average pace was about 7:10.

AM - 7 easy miles down the usual route. I didn't have my watch with me, but I'm guessing about 7:15 pace. It was a little tough to get going today, not that I was feeling unmotivated or anything. Okay, yes I was, but I still did it. I just think it would have felt better to lie in the steam room for an hour. 

 Anyway, I'm trying to get registered for the Weber State meet next week, but there isn't any online registration as far as I can tell, and it's like pulling teeth to get ahold of one of the coaches. They were pretty relaxed about their outdoor meet last year (worst race of my life, don't ask), so if worse comes to worse, I'll just show up and expect to run.
 

So good news and bad news today. The good news is that the workout went well today. I did 12 x 200m on the indoor track, 50 sec rests and 31.0 average. I met a guy named Braden who is also trying to walk on to the track team for 400m hurdles, and he ran several of them with me. He's got a lot of speed, it helped to have him there. I told him about the blog, maybe we'll see him soon.

So.... the bad news. A few weeks ago I rolled my ankle a little, not really bad, but it's been a minor pain that has been persisting. But today, after the 200s, I headed out on a 10 miler and the twinge that I've been feeling there was wrapping itself around the back of my ankle. If I had been smart, I would have cut the run short, but my prideful self was like, "Nah, this is nothing." By mile 9 it suddenly turned into a solid pain in the back of my ankle, so I stopped, cried about it a little, and rubbed some snow on it for awhile. The snow helped a lot, but I walked the rest of the way home. I'm thinking it would be good to take tomorrow off, maybe do some swimming, but just let it rest.

Anyway, it's a little frustrating, but I think it's a short-term thing -- with any luck it won't affect my training too much.

200s:

Reps 1-7 (31.1 - 31.8), Reps 8-11 (30.2 - 30.7), Rep 12 (29.8)

 I just noticed I've got just over 400 miles for the year! Yea!
 

I met with Josse today to look over the ankle. She worked it over with her scraping tools and said it looks like I've got a little tendonitis in the ankle. It's not in the achilles' tendon, but a little more to the outside. In any case, I'm planning on doing some cross training in the next few days.

Today I went to the indoor Springville pool to do some laps. The thing is, I'm a terrible swimmer so I was a little nervous about trying to do a pool workout. When I was in Scouts I only passed the 100 yard swim test once, and it was more tiring than a mile race, if that gives you any idea how bad at swimming I am.

So I jumped in the pool and wore myself out in about one minute of regular swimming, but I discovered that I could lay on my back and kick like crazy and get a decent workout. I was even swinging my arms like I was running.... if only I'd had a video camera, this workout would be #1 on youtube for at least a month. My goal was to keep my heartrate close to my running HR (about 145), but I only managed about 135 bpm. Total time was 60:13, more than I have ever swam in my entire life. It was awesome. I think I'll count it somewhere around 6.5 to 7 miles of running.