Just do it

New Year's run!  Not nearly as long as I would have liked it to be but oh well.  When I got to the end I had pain shoot through my arch.  Probably the worst feeling in the world to a runner.

It was very cold this morning.  My breath thermo shirt alone wasn't cutting it.  The run was good though and my foot felt pretty good.  I got back did some light therapy and ice.  Of all the problems I have had with tendinitis since I started cross country last semester all of them have been cleared up by light therapy.  I swear by it.

33rd South run... It's my favorite route around here.  Probably because it's mostly flat and you run along 11th East from 17th South and that's a cool area.  I need new shoes though... I am starting the David Fundraiser for New Shoes so his Foot Doesn't Hurt Anymore.  Any donations?

Went out to the Jordan River Parkway Trail.  From 17th South we ran out 4 miles and then back 4 miles.  We kept our splits under 7 minutes to total about 55:30.  Good run

Beast creatures... First speed workout since before the break. We ran 1.5 down to Liberty Park and then did 4 x 1 mile repeats.  I was pretty tired but I was able to maintain an AP of about 5:50 so I was okay with it.

Our coach had seriously misplaced the cones so it was long.  My watch beeped at a mile and he was still about .14 miles away.  Instead of stopping there though I kept running to the cone.  Gave me an idea for a new shirt.  "Westminster Cross-Country/Track... We go for the cones." 

 Good run today except my body doesn't like afternoon practice.  At about mile 3 I started feeling some serious gas and I couldn't relieve it!  Then at about 4.5 miles I had to stop for a bit to see if that would help the relief factor. I felt a bit better and decided I wanted to catch up to my teammate who had kept going.  I did mile 6 in 6:10 so I caught up just fine.  It was really cold though and my eyes felt weird when I went inside.

 Did some beastly core work with weight plates after the run.  Not too shabby.  

Went out to the Olympic Oval today for our interval training.  We did 12x400 meter intervals.  The first two were pretty chill at about 85.  The next six were at about 80.  The last four went 79, 77, 75, 73.  It was meant to be consistent but speeding up after all those is pretty good so I was happy.

Cross training day.  I just did freestyle non-stop for 50 laps.  I decided it's much easier for me when I count the laps.

Slow... It had snowed and I always feel like poop when the run starts on an uphill.  Coming down 5th South the sidewalk had been covered by the snowplows so it felt like I was running through about a half a mile of sandboxes. 

Coach told me to run 9-10 and I was planning to but I went with Jef and Oliver who were planning to run 13.  When we got to the Temple (about 5 miles) I decided I would just keep going with them and it felt sooo good!  Great run!  We were just chillin at an 8 min AP.  It's quite a climb from the Temple to the top of the avenues along the road above the cemetery.  I had to stop again on this one.... 

Quote of the day: "Hang on guys... I can't gas while I am running." - Me 

Fartleks at Sugarhouse Park.  We did 9, 6, 4, 3, 2 ,1 minutes at about a 5:50 pace.  It was nice and warm this morning!

Ran up to Hogle Zoo... Good times

800's today.  Rather beastly.  We were supposed to practice at the oval but our coach messed up on the van so we ended up going on the outdoor track at Highland.  We did 7 intervals and we were supposed to increase speed but I was not feeling it.  Kept them all about 85 seconds.

Swimming is boring.

Did a nice little pre-race run at the Idaho Center. We realized there is really nowhere to run around there. We started down this huge highway with no sidewalks and almost got hit by cars so we turned back and ran through the wal-mart parking lot.  Good times.

Beast Monsters... That's all I have to say about this one.  It's been a long time since I ran at a track meet.  This was indoor track so the 3000 ended up being 15 laps.  It was also the last even so we had a lot of time to just sit around.

 I got to try out my new spikes today as well so that was exciting!  They felt like socks... Very nice.

 The race started out well and I stayed relaxed toward the back.  I was able to pass one guy to stay up with the pack as much as possible.  The race actually went by really fast.  I had tunnel vision so I could only really hear one teammate on the side and my coach.  Everything else was blocked out.  I will say that I found this race to be more painful than my 8k cross country races.  It probably wasn't but it seemed like it.

 I hit the mile at 4:53.  This was quite a moment for me because it was the first time I have ever broken 5 minutes in the mile.  It has been a goal of mine for almost 6 years but I just never really got the chance to do it.  The last time I ran the mile was in H.S. and I got a 5:06.  I was beginning to think it would be something I wouldn't be able to log away in my life history.  Unfortunately no fireworks went off... I wasn't even really able to enjoy it because I knew I had another 1400 meters to run.  I felt good though.  My mile and half was a 7:33 and I ended up keeping an AP of 5:04 for the whole race.  I slowed up a bit after the mile unfortunately.  Felt good to be done!  Good race! 

Mile-Repeat Monday... Holy beast is all I have to say.  Today my legs felt like the knot fairy had nestled into my leg and got down to business.  I was tight so I thought it might be a bit challenging.  I did 4 intervals each one at a 5:48.  The last one was ridiculously hard.  We only had 1 minute it between each so yeah I kinda wanted to die.

Today we did lactate testing on the treadmill.  I warmed up and then coach had me go for 3 minutes at a 6:05 pace after which they tested my blood for lactate.  We did that 5 times.  Each time I increased speed 10 seconds.  We found that my break was at about 5:45.  Training any faster than that would just lead to failure quicker I guess.  My performance on Monday reflected that so it was interesting.

 After that I went and ran 5.6 miles to make an even 9.  The first mile was horrible after those tests. 

Went out to the Olympic Oval and did 400's.  Coach had me go about 82 for the first four, 77 for the next 4 and then 74 for the last 4.  My last one was 71.  I  was getting tired but I felt pretty good :)

Just a little pre-race run.

First mile I have done in nearly 6 years.  The last time I ran a track mile was my last meet of H.S.  I ran a 5:06 and died.  I was pretty happy with my time today.  I must say that I am not used to moving at those speeds but it was a fun race.

 The track there was made out of wood and it felt like I was going to fall off the inside.  One girl actually did do that during a 400 and slipped.  Fortunately none of us fell.  I can't remember too much of it actually.  We went 8 laps.  Ollie was up ahead and then I caught up to him and we finished at about the same time.  I felt like my esophagus had burned up though.

 It's always easy to say, "I could have gone faster," because we don't remember pain very well when it comes to running.  I don't at least.  I can only think of how cool it was that we were going that fast!  It was a good race though.  PR in the mile.  I think I prefer the longer distances though. 

Fartleks at Sugarhouse Park. We did it in time on the road.  1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9.  The 9 was a bit beastly but it was a good workout.