Just do it

I have been suffering from an injury around my inner ankle.  I thought it was a stress fracture for a while but some of the symptoms don't seem to match up.  I decided to go for 5 miles on the treadmill today just to see how it would feel.  I felt pretty good.  There was really no real pain... just some discomfort.  I think a stress fracture would have caused more pain while running.

 Lifted afterwards... Chest, shoulders and triceps along with a core workout. 

Got home a little bit late last night so unfortunately my normal morning workout was postponed to night time.  I was okay with that though. :)  Went to the Podiatrist and he stuck what looked like a piece of a cork board the orthotic he had already given me to give the arch more support.  I decided to go give a it a try tonight.

 I went and swam a mile (because then if you stop running you feel like you've still accomplished something and the urge to cry is lessened) and then I jumped on the treadmill and ran 4.  It actually felt really good and I wasn't feeling any pain at all during the run.  It was more after I stopped.  Right now it's kinda achy... Oh well such is life.  We shall see... 

So I did 40 minutes on the elliptical this morning.  When I got to the gym I realized I didn't have my headphones for my iPod so that was fun.  It said I ran over 4 miles WOO HOO!

 I then did some core work with biceps and back in the weight room.  Not too shabby. 

PFA tomorrow.  Went and ran 3 miles with some quick bursts.  Then I just did a small set of push ups and sit ups.  

Ran my PFA (Physical Fitness Assessment) for the AFROTC today.  Not too bad.  Did 75 push ups in a minute, 74 sit ups and did the 1.5 mile run in 8:35.  Not my best but considering the amount of running i have been doing it's pretty good.  My shin didn't like it too much though.

 Swimming was normal... 3 sets of 12 laps with about 1 minute of rest in between. 

Becca reminded me that I needed to blog... I keep forgetting.  I used my cool new swim suit this day :)  I did 3 sets of 12 laps.  Took about 33 minutes total.  It was a good swim and I enjoyed the new suit.

 David then decided to take his mountain bike on a little journey.  I went through the U campus and then along that road East of the Capitol to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, went up some beastly hillage and also fell down a hill.  It was good times.  Took my bike to the car wash because it was so muddy.   

So this morning I decided to go swim a mile.  Did 3 sets of 12 again in my cool swim suit.  Took me 33 minutes.

Miss Bec joined me later where we had some sweet lifts.  I did chest, shoulders and triceps along with some core.  Since it was in the afternoon there were more people so I got a spotter to help out.  Did 10 reps at 225... That's a personal best :)

 Then I went and biked for 30 minutes and then did the stair stepper for 20 while the beast woman ran on the treadmill.  I wish I could run at the treadmill but the day will come... 

I woke up super sleepy... Decided I should take it easy in the gym today.  Went in and swam under a mile.  I actually felt really good swimming though.

Well today I didn't think I would be able to squeeze a workout in.  Got to bed late and had something bright and early.  Luckily I managed to find an hour where I could run to the gym and do some quick back and biceps with 40 minutes on the spin bike.  I was sweatin like a banshee!

 Then I got to go see a sweet dance show! 

I did like 40 crunches and about 30 push ups and then just went swimming.  I didn't really stop on this one.  37:30

My swim was okay this morning.  Rather fragmented I felt.  I was helping a friend of mine with his swimming flips so I kept stopping.  I normally don't do the swim flips but I did today for a bit.  Those are super hard!  They do make you go much faster though.  

I did some breast stroke as well and then finished off with 4 sets of 1 lap going as fast as I could.  That's hard too.  After I did some core work and some push ups and pull ups, I went and did the spin bike for about 20 minutes.  Just cause I felt like it... 

Did one mile non-stop in 33:33.  It was nice.  My goggles got all foggy and my swim suit kinda came untied so I couldn't really push off the wall but it was nice :)

Hey baller pimps! Sorry for my lack of blogness. This last week was a beast creature! I will say that I worked out two WHOLE times this last week! Yes! Lately I have been sticking just to swimming. I am going to get an MRI done as soon as Tricare authorizes it, but until then I will stay away from anything that involves any kind of pressure to the leg.

Last week I swam twice. Each time was about a mile I believe. I also was still able to get lifts in for the major muscle groups that do not include the legs (for reasons mentioned above).  I did indeed go swimming with Becca last Tues.  The only reason I went faster was because I was in my jet-ski speedo shorts and she was in her running clothes.  I think we had both pretty much mutilated our arms in the weight room.

Today was biceps and back along with a mile swim.  I went 12 laps and then 4 sets of 6.  The sets went 5:24, 5:20, 5:14, and 4:48.  The last one was beastly but fun.  Good times :)

So today I just started swimming and didn't stop.  I did 60 laps in 59:49.  I hit my mile at 33:02 and just kept on swimmin :)  It was probably the best I have ever felt swimming so yay!

So today I just felt like seeing if I could get a mile in any faster.  I did it 31:29 so that was pretty sweet.  My goal is to get that under 30.  My first half was 15:40 and second was 15:48 (including the quarter lap to finish the mile) so my pace was right on.  

 Then I decided to do the spin bike for 30 minutes... Good times.

THE MRI RESULTS ARE IN!!!!  And the Doctor says..."Everything looks good."  No stress fracture and the tendons are just fine.  This basically led us to believe that it's just a matter of getting better arch support so I will be more patient with my orthotics.

 So I swam a mile pretty slow today.  I felt kinda like poop.  Then I ran a mile pretty slow and I felt kinda like poop but at least I ran!  I also did some lifting. Hopefully I will be able to build back up in the running :)

Went did a slow mile swim without stopping.  Ran my 1 mile in 7:30.  Just trying to keep everything rather light as I ease back in.

 Did some lifts as well as some of those cool little calf strengthening exercises in Runner's World Magazine :)

Got home from the race and while Rebecca was taking a nap I went for a one-mile run.  I didn't have any workout clothes so I just went it my shorts that I was wearing.  I probably looked like quite an amateur.  Took about 7:20.  It was good.

Did a spin class and then Rebecca wanted me to run a mile with her so I did :)

 Then we swam 40 laps.

Well I did my PFA.  It didn't hurt so that was good.  I was going to take it easy but when I hit my mile at about 6:30 I realized that I could still max the 1.5.  I finished in 9:31  

Then I did the elliptical platform thing (which is really cool) and it said I went 5 miles.

I ran on the lovely path in West Valley behind Kennedy Jr. High. I was supposed to do 2 today but I felt pretty good so I went a little over.

Rebecca and I did the Westminster spin class together. That was pretty beastly. Then I ran a total of 2 miles. I kinda felt like doing 10 minus 8 and then I though about doing 20 divided by 10... In the end though I went with just two. :)

Well today was a BW with Rebecca "The Radcliffe" Rampton. Although you may think that BW stands for Big Workout it actually stands for Beastly Workout because it was.

We did a spinning class and left little puddles on the floor and then we went and swam a mile. After that we went running outside. It was good weather today for that. After 1 mile I turned back while The Radcliffe decided to go about 5 more... Beastly.  It was a good workout and I look forward to doing it again next week.  Perhaps I will go for about 2.5 miles instead :)

Decided to go for a 5k today in the borhood of neigh.  It was pretty nice.

Nice swim and run at the base gym :)

This was boring...

Nice little trip to the base gym.  Did 3 on the treadmill without any pain or problems really.  I was keeping about a 7:20 pace and felt just dandy.

 Used the spin bike by myself for 20 minutes... I was raining. No towel... Gross

Ran 5!  on the Hill AFB path with Rebecca.  It felt good to go that far and there was no pain!  After that I went and did some lifting with the leggies.  It was a good workout for me :)

Today was fun!  I went to the West Valley Rec Center and decided to do my own little Pleasant Grove Triathlon (happening this Saturday).  I was able to use my auto multi-sport feature on my Garmin for the first time!  It was pretty friggin sweet!  The whole thing took me 1:04 which is about what I figured it would take.  Good times...

Today wasn't so great.  I ran 2.5 on the base path and I was feeling a bit of pain in the leg so I just walked another half mile on the track.  I went in and did 25 minutes on the elliptical and then I lifted.  Not the best day but still good.

 STEINER WITH REBECCA "THE RADCLIFFE" RAMPTON!!! 

So the elliptical told me I did almost 7 miles but I don't count those.  It was a good workout today.  Steiner Aquatic center found a way to make a never ending pool.  I wasn't aware that technology existed.  50 meter pools are a whole different ball game but I really enjoyed it!

Just a quick workout with Rebecca and Lehi. I finally got my bike fitted to me so I took it for a test ride.  It was pretty awesome! 

FIRST TRIATHLON!  WOOP WOOP!

 Pretty much loved every friggin second of that race!  Rebecca and I were a bit worried about the weather but the blessings came through with overcast skies, no wind, and dry roads.  Basically perfect weather conditions.  We had loaded our bikes in the night before and made our way out at about 7 am.

Upon our arrival we got our numbers on us with permanent marker.  These numbers are mainly just to make you feel cool for the rest of the day because people either think you just got out of a prison camp or (if you are familiar with the racing scene) you ran a triathlon.  Rebecca sang at a funeral right after and it was fun watching the strange looks people had as they looked down at the number on her rippling calf muscle ;)

Anyways... We got our bikes into position and The Rampage realized she had left her goggles at home.  This tends to be a very important part of triathlons.  We ran to a nearby wal-mart.  Luckily we were there early enough to make this possible.  Lesson to all!  Be early!  This also allows you to get a good spot in the transition area.

After a quick warm-up jog the race began!  Felt good!  The first mile was all uphill (beastly).  I started at about 7th or 8th and then passed a couple up the hill.   Then I stayed behind a guy right up until the the last turn where I passed him.  The last part of the run was pretty much downhill. I came in 4th.

The transition thing is all new to me so I just kinda took my time putting my shoes on and tried to run in them a bit to where I could mount my bike and I was off. Talk about friggin fun!  Racing on a bike!  What could be better!  The first hill was rather beastly but once past that you were set to fly.  I got passed by two guys who were on super bikes but I didn't care.  On the 2nd lap I was seeing all the other peeps doing the race.  Pretty much loved that bike ride I must say.  

I got back and ran awkwardly from the bike dismount to my spot where I threw off my shoes and shirt and then ran to the pool in my swim suit (also awkward).  The pool tasted like straight poop and made me kinda sick. I had to resort to the side stroke for a bit to keep my head out of the water.  The 450 meter swim was a lot harder then I had anticipated and I made it through.  I passed one guy in the swim and another guy came close to me.  He said the only reason he didn't pass me was because his swim suit started coming off... A likely story ;)

Jumped out of the pool to grab sixth place.  The results were retarded because they just stuck the names in alphabetical order.  According to them though I was first in my age group.  Yes that means that some older guys beat me. I blame their super bikes ;) Then I saw that Rebecca was not far behind so I watched her finish 2nd in the females.  This was a fun race!

 My splits are below.  After this race I can see there are many places for improvement.  First of all it would be good to learn some transition techniques and practice them such as leaving your shoes attached to your bike so you are not running awkwardly.  I also felt like I could have gone a lot faster on the bike.  I didn't really feel I pushed myself as much as I could have.  If any of you triathlon junkies have any tips I would love to hear them!  I pretty much have the tri bug and can't wait for the next one!

Run: 18:55  AP: 6:13   Bike: 26:40  AP: 19.5 MPH Swim: 10:11 

1. 6:35 1. 4:12 

2. 6:14 2. 3:08

3. 5:51  3. 2:15

Transition: 1:49 4. 2:42

5. 3:28 

6. 3:53

7. 2:20

8. 2:33

8.5.  2:07 

Transition: 1:33 

Went to the base gym and swam first.  I tried out my new PGTRI swim cap!  It was pretty sweet!  I did a warm-up of ten laps and then I did some intervals of 8, 6, 4, 2, 4.  I was kinda tired but it was good.

I then did 3 on the treadmill at about a 7:34 pace.  It felt pretty good until the last mile and after I finished.  My legs are pretty beat.  I think they are just mad at me because they weren't used to racing.  

After some core work with push ups I departed from thence. 

Today felt a lot better than yesterday I must stay.  I ran outside on the path at Hill for 3 miles at just under a 7:30 pace, which is exactly what I was shooting for.  My legs felt a lot better than on the treadmill yesterday.  Oh and I forgot to add in my blog yesterday that there was a guy next to me on the treadmill walking backwards.  Is that normal?  Do you see that?

 After my run I got bike outta the truck and biked the base perimeter twice.  This is a really good ride!  One lap is about 11 miles (obviously) and it's pretty flat or downhill so I didn't kill myself.  The end has about 3 miles of uphill but it's not bad.  I will definitely do it again! Before this I had only gone 8.5 miles on that bike at once so I decided to bump it up and see how it went.  It was a fun ride!  Averaged about 20 mph and got up to 36!  YEAHH!  

I then went and lifted with chest, shoulders and triceps to top it off.   I also plan to hike Adam's Canyon with Rebecca "The Rampage" Rampton a little bit later.  GoOd DaY!

Went to the base gym with Rebecca.  I just jumped in the pool and swam for forty laps.  It was kinda boring but good.  I had a know in my back so that wasn't great.

 Then we went on a bike ride with my parents around the perimeter road once.  We had to make sure we kept our speed down so we didn't leave them in the dust.  Comparing bikes is like comparing sports cars and semis... It was a fun time :) 

Today was grand!  I ran 4 miles!  Woop woop!  I did an out and back on the base road at about a 7:10 pace.  I was loving life!  My legs felt great!

 I then took my bike on one loop around the base.  I am a bit saddle sore these days.  I think I need to take one day off from riding.  It's just too fun though!  The loop took me just over an hour.  I pushed about 15 mph on the hill climb at the end.  Good ride.

I was going to lift a bit but there was little motivation.  By the time I got up to the weight area in the gym and saw all the people it dwindled. I stretched and left. 

I did some interval work swimming today.  It basically sucked.  I did a 15 lap warm up followed by intervals of 10, 9, 8... 3, 2, 1 to equal 70 laps total.  It was hard to not cut the workout short but I was motivated by the fact that each set was one less than the last.

I then did a bit of lifting and was outta there. 

Went to Ragnar and ran with Rebecca for her last 3 miles.  Got in trouble cause I didn't have a number.  Happy Birthday to me!

Vacation running on the beach

Went to the base gym for a swim.  Swam once in the past 2 weeks so it felt a bit like I was swimming through syrup or something of the sort.  It was good to get back in the water though considering I have the Echo tri this weekend.  

Ran 3 miles out on the perimeter road and 3 back.  I was going to go more but the blister on my foot was acting up and it yelled at me.  When I started coming back it felt better.  Guess it's good to listen to your body :)  My legs felt a bit heavy so hopefully I can get them loosened up with a bit more mileage this week before Sat. 

Went to Echo Reservoir to check out the tri course today.  Tested out my rented wet suit in an open water swim of 16 mins out and back.  It was pretty cool!  I probably could have gone with the medium large but when I tried it on it felt like there was no way I could zip that thing up.  The water there is pretty murky and as I swim I imagine suddenly seeing some beast creature come up from below.  When I see the plants it freaks me out.  Good swim though otherwise.

I then hopped on my bike and rode the course.  It's kind of beastly.  It's a bit of up and down for 4 miles and then you pretty much just climb for another 8 up I-80.  By that time you have forgotten the beginning (which is also the end) and think that it's just a decent to the transition area.  Wrong.  There are 2 beastly hills on the home stretch.  Very rude if you ask me ;)

I then ran one mile and realized that the run for this Saturday is going to be rather difficult but it should be fun.  Good workout. 

Ran on the treadmill at the base gym.  I was going for 4 but my blister remnant was not happy so I cut it back.  Hopefully this will heal someday.  I just swam a little to stay loose.  Training at this point won't help me at all for Sat.

Just some race prep for tomorrow.  Went light on the bike for about 15 minutes and then did a 3 mile run.  This made me realize that tomorrow is going to be rather challenging.

The Echo Triathlon was absolutely amazing!  It was a great experience!  I found it quite more enjoyable the the Pleasant Grove Triathlon.  I was a little nervous about the swim considering it was my first time swimming with people all around me but it ended up being my favorite part.  We made two laps around some buoys on the reservoir and ran outta there.  I love every second of that swim!

I did finish the swim before all but one in my age group and I was out on the bike before them too.  Unfortunately the longest part of the race (the bike ride) is probably my weakest point.  It was about 4 miles of rolling hills to an 8 mile ascent for the most part.  That's when we turn around and go back.  At the bottom there are two pretty big hills to get back to the transition area.  I got passed by 2 guys in my age group and a lot of fancy tri bikes.  Those things are super fast!  It felt pretty good though.  I was happy with my performance and I was glad I held back to save my legs for the run.   

When I got back to the run those two guys were around 1-2 minutes ahead of me.  My legs felt pretty good!  I was able to lock down about a 6:44 pace for the whole run.  I caught the two in my age group at the halfway point and left them behind.  They ended up being second and third.  The last mile of the run was pretty tough.  It felt like it would never and but it was great!

It is funny that I got 1st in my age group and 43rd overall.  These races seem to appeal more the older generation.  They are fast!  I got 35th out of the guys. My age group had only 9 in it but it's better than 3 ;)

My splits:

Swim: 30:56 (56th overall)

T1: 3:59

Bike:  1:15 (97th overall)

T2: 1:34

Run: 41:50 (15th overall)

These splits definitely help me see where I need to work the most.  I was happy with my performance but we always strive to be better!  Loved this race! 

Ran around Brooks City base in San Antonio at about 9 pm.  I was still sweating like a beast monster.  Thanks humidity.  My legs also feel like lead as I am recovering from the race.

Ran early in the morning... Still friggin hot!  I was just dripping with sweat the whole time.  During my first mile my legs felt as if they were going to start on fire and melt.  They loosened up a bit but they still are feeling really heavy.

Got up early again and tried to bike at the inn in San Antonio.  Crappy stationary bike so I tried the treadmill.  I ran about 3 steps and knew that I was just going to get some kind of injury if I ran so I went and did some push ups and sit ups.  Figured I would give my legs a rest.  

I flew home and Rebecca picked me up.  We went to Steiner were I swam just under two miles.  Love that pool!  Closest thing you can get to open water swimming without having to keep checking where you are.  Although you do need to be aware or you'll run into someone. 

10 miles!!!  It has been around 5 months or more since I last ran that kind of distance.  It felt pretty good!  I ran on the base perimeter road for an out and back.  Before I ran, I went and put a bottle of gatorade at mile 3 and then a goo with a water bottle at mile 5.  That way I could replenish myself.  My hamstrings did get rather tight so it's good I didn't push it anymore than that.  I kept an AP of 7:16 for the whole run and felt really good.  I am glad I listened to my body yesterday :) 

Went up Trapper's Loop to Snowbasin today.  Took about an hour to climb all the way up and about 20 minutes to descend reaching speeds of 40 mph.  Good ride.

Found out about the first annual 5k on base last night and decided to go check it out.  Best part?  It was free!  Next best part?  We still got a shirt!  This was a great 5k for the amount of volunteers they had and that fact that it was free.  That doesn't surprise me though considering it's part of the Air Force

The course was very challenging.  On any other day I would not have been too happy with this time but considering the course I was okay with it.  It started on a downhill going through the base housing area and then it began to climb.  There were some pretty steep hills until you got about halfway through the race where the neverending road began.  Past that it was a nice downhill to the finish.  I recommend this course to anyone looking for a more challenging 5k.  My AP was about 6:11 with splits of about 6, 6:30, and 6:10.

They had lots of good fruit and gatorade to give out at the end.  Let me just say that I have never had such good-tasting gatorade at any race.  The starting line is located at "The Splash Pad" so you can get a nice cool down afterward if you so desire.  The main purpose of the race was to publicize the new housing some more.  You run right through a lot of it but it's hard to pay attention when you're huffin and puffin.

The prizes were gift cards.  The 1st male and female got $30.00 gift cards to either FYE or Sports Authority.  2nd male and female got $20.00 and then they had a raffle.  There are some things they can improve but for a first race I say good job!  Those of you can gain access to base I encourage you to check it out next year! 

After the race I went on a nice 29 mile bike ride out toward Antelope Island and back. 

Quick 4-miler on base followed by a swim.  I am feeling some pain at the bottom of my quad muscle just above and to the right of my left knee.  I'll have to see how it's feeling tomorrow

Went to Steiner to swim today but the outdoor pool closed right when I got there.  It opened again right when I was finished an hour later :(  Lame.

Went on a quick run tonight.  The knee feels pretty good.  I'll just keep babying it and hope no problems arise before Sat. 

Out and back on base.  Was planning to do about 6 but I was feeling pretty good so I went a bit more.  Could have used the fuel belt but it worked out okay.  Came home and took an ice bath.  Legs feel purdy good.

Just some quick easy workouts to keep me loose for the race tomorrow.  Everything feels good. I did practice some T1 techniques as well.  I went back and forth on the road for a while taking my feet in and out of the shoes.  

Felt good to get another triathlon in.  I will begin by saying that I only got 1st in my age group by default.  The real first placer actually beat me by 15 minutes.  The reason I got bumped up was because he get third overall.  I guess they didn't want to give him both an overall medal and an age group medal.

Also, the website says that the bike ride is a 40k which is just barely under 25 miles.  However the course is about 22-23.  It even has that on their map.  I also don't think the swim distance was up to par because it took me 22:40 and I have never swam a 1.5k in anywhere near that time.  The run was accurate 

Also in Triathlons the average age for participants is a bit higher so there usually aren't many in my age group anyways.  It still feels good to beat them though :)

The race was well put together.  The water was pretty warm and it smelled somewhat like sulfur. It wasn't as enjoyable as Echo.  I think it was because we were a bit more bunched up in this race when we started.  It was a beach start and we went off and diagonal rather than straight.  I got kicked in the face once and had to reposition my goggles.  I wasn't feeling too energetic but I got through okay.  

My transitions were faster this time around.  The bike course was really quite flat so you could maintain a pretty good speed.  I passed a few guys and a few guys passed me so I wasn't too upset about my ride.  I enjoyed it.

The run was beastly.  I felt pretty good throughout the whole first half and then when I began lap two I started to get really tired.  By the time I had one mile left I felt like I was going to fall over and die.  I did manage to pass quite a few people though.  The finish was a very welcome sight!

Great race!  Can't wait to do a half :) 

Recap on splits:

Swim: 22:40

Bike: 57:56 (21.8 mph pace)

Run: 39:51 (6:34 pace)

Little swim at the base pool.  Did some intervals while practicing my spotting.

Went for an out and back run on Antelope Drive.  Run felt really good for the first 3 miles with an AP of about 7:00.  On the way back my energy was gone for about the last mile and a half.  I think when it's that hot even 6 miles merits the use of a fuel belt with a gel or a blok.

Went to the base and realized the battery on my Garmin was completely dead so I just decided to run two laps on the path.  That path makes you feel like poo but that's okay.

Afterward I went in and did some weight training on my chest, shoulders and triceps.  Not too shabby. 

Went on a nice little out and back on Antelope Drive.  First time using my fuel belt so that was pretty cool.  I also ended up not using a watch.  It was nice to just run without any of that stuff.  My legs were feeling kinda toasted by the end.  Guess that's what happens when you don't run for a week and a half.

Swim at Hill AFB.  Very boring... 

Just went on a loop run in Layton.  My legs felt like lead after about two miles.  I figured a nice gel and a bit more running would help but it really didn't.  I did some light leg work yesterday and I guess it caught up to me.  Hopefully I will feel better Saturday.

Went on a nice little ride out at the base perimeter road.  Instead of making the loop, I did an out-and-back twice.  Figured it was better than going through all the traffic.

Ran from Hillside Ln up to the top of Millcreek Canyon.  To the top is about 11 miles from the house we were at and then we ran one mile back down to where a truck was parked for us.  (Thank Heavens!)  That was one beast of a run.  Lots of deathly uphill.

First day of Cross Country practice!!!  We went on an afternoon run before dinner around Sugar House Park.  My calf was still feeling tight from Sat but hopefully it won't impede me during the retreat.

Went running with Ian (cross country teammate) up the canyon road for a couple of miles.  My calf was yelling at me considering it was a climb the whole way and then on the way back down it was feeling quite painful.  This worries me because tomorrow is going to be a lot of running.  Hopefully the Aleve will kick in.

Today was  beast.  We started the morning with a trail run by Weber State University.  Ian and I got way lost and couldn't find a trail that just kept going.  We ended up running for about 45 minutes though.  

A little while later we played a pretty competitive game of Ultimate Frisbee for an hour straight.  This did not help the calf muscles too much but it wasn't too bad.

 We then did a scavenger hunt which required a bit of running to find the dog we were looking for. 

 After that we had another trail run for about 20 minutes.  This was just a light recovery run for tomorrow's tempo run. 

Today was our tempo run.  We did a 10 minute warm up to start off on the trail.  After that we took off along the road for a 5 miler.  My first mile was at 5:55 and then we slowed a bit after that.  I stayed up with the teammates for the most part.  I ended up finishing less than 20 seconds behind the two in front of me with a time of about 30:25.  Considering it's the start of the season and all we did yesterday and that we were at altitude I was pretty happy with that time.  It was about a 6:05 AP :)

 Then we did a 15 minute cool down jog during which I felt like an old man.  

Best run I have probably ever had!  I started at 8 pm when it had cooled down a bit at an AP of 8.  I went down to 17th South and dropped to 7th East.  I followed that to Liberty where I looped once and then continued to 4th South.  I ran down 4th South to State Street and went up to Temple Square.  From there I ran up North Temple to 13th East and stopped at a gas station.  They charged 25 cents for a cup of water which I didn't have.  A skater kid inside was nice enough to buy it for me.  I drank most of it and then I emptied a salt packet into the rest because i had forgotten my electrolyte capsules.  After that I went the 2.5 miles on 13th over to my house.  

This was seriously the best run ever!  I loved seeing all the night life and it felt really good just going at a slow pace.  I ended up with an AP of about 7:40.  My legs were pretty tired by the end and I had a nice blister on my little toe but it was good times :)

Did a run North along 13th and went up Sunnyside to Foothill then back to 17th and down.  My legs felt like lead and the climb from 13th to Foothilll did not help matters much.  Hopefully tomorrow I will feel a bit better.

Group run to out to 27th South and then back on 9th East.  At the beginning of the run we formed into a nice formation with one on the inside whom we referred to as Mr. President from that point on.  I felt a lot better than yesterday and was able to maintain our quick pace for the whole run.  There were lots of low-hanging trees though and those make me angry.

Unfortunately my shoes are a bit strange and they cause my foot to slip a bit down.  My little toe on my left foot has been taking some abuse and it feels like the skin is peeling off.  Not really sure what to do about that. 

Went to Payne Gym at 6:30 am and did some weight training on the legs.  Right after that we ran out to Sugar House Park and did 8 intervals of 800 meters at 2:45 or under.  Beastly... We kept our split spread at no more than 5 seconds so we were right on each time.  Then we came back and did some core.

 I went and got in a ice bath for 12 minutes and it pretty much felt way good. 

Cross training to keep the legs happy

Sore legs... Slow recovery run.

Long run on the pipeline trail up Millcreek!

Did some lifting this morning followed by a 6 miler around the area.  I am guessing we were hitting a sub 7 pace.  We then did strides at the end for some speed.

BEASTLY SPEED WORK!!!  We ran out to Liberty Park for a warm-up run and then did some mile repeats.  He had us do about a 5:30 pace and we did 4 intervals.  I did okay for the first 3 but the last one was a huge mental challenge.  We started out and my legs were burning like crazy!  It took everything to finish in good time.  

Went for a swim to give my legs a break for a day.  Swam over a mile in about 32 minutes so I am not doing too badly even with not swimming as much :)

Nice easy recovery run.  Our coach told us that we all needed to tell a crazy story about ourselves during the run which made for a very fun and interesting 40 minutes.  After we ran, we went to Sugar House Park and did 2 hill sprints for some speed at the end.  Good day :)

Tempo run.  We went to the pathway by the Jordan River.  Guys did 5 and girls did 3 (since those are our race distances).  We did a 10 minute warm-up jog and some stretches and started.  It was pretty stinkin hot... Coach told me to hit between 6 and 6:10 pace so I figured it wouldn't be too bad.  I started with Jef and Oliver though (fast freshman) and we hit the first mile at 5:38.  After that we basically made a nice parabola.  The next miles were 6:01, 6:14, 6:24, and 6:09.  At least I brought it back on the last mile somewhat.  Ended up being a 30:28 which averages to an AP of 6:07 so actually I was right on.  I feel like it would have been a lot better though if I had started a bit slower.  We lost Oliver at 2.5 miles due to stomach problems... Jef is at about 50 miles this week and ran 12 yesterday so he was tired and I lost him at the last mile.  I pushed it pretty hard though and I was feeling it when I crossed.  Good time, but it just wasn't the best day for us all...

Went out to Park City for long run today.  It was a dirt road at Jeremy Ranch.  I did an out back to make the 9.  We kept an AP of about 7:20 I think which was a little faster than I felt like going today but oh well.  I am feeling some pain in my quad so I will need to make sure I take care of that.  Good run otherwise.  I was just super tired probably due to yesterday's tempo run.

Starting a taper week so I will probably be shooting for around 28 miles.  Today I felt like crap.  I am thinking it was due to the afternoonishness.  I really don't like running in the afternoon.  I felt like I was going to poop my pants.  After we got back we did some weight training along with some jumps, leg work and core.  It was actually one of the most intense weight sessions we've had as a cross country team.

Today we jogged down to Fairmont Park which is about 1.5 miles from Westminster.  There we did 4x1000 meter intervals.  Coach wanted us between 3:20 and 3:25 for our pacing.  My splits were 3:19, 3:20, 3:20, 3:25.  We then did 2x400 with splits of 78 and 76.  It was a good workout.  Coach wanted us to relax a bit and not kill ourselves today since this week is a taper week.  We then jogged back and that was it :)

FIRST TIME EXPERIENCE TODAY!!! I will tell about that in a moment.

I normally cross train on Wednesdays because they are the day after speed work.  Last night I also played ultimate frisbee so after all the lifting and speed work and UF my legs were hurting.  My coach wanted me to get about 50 mins of cross training so I swam 50 laps.  It actually took me 45 minutes but I was good with that.  While I was swimming a guy got in my lane and was going faster.  I couldn't allow him to pass me so I sped up for the last 12 or so laps.  It was actually a pretty good workout!  I held him off :)

 Then came the FIRST TIME EXPERIENCE!  I went to the training room and did some foam rolling, sat on a tennis ball for a bit and then stretched.  Foam roller and/or tennis ball = PAIN.  Anyways, after that I prepared my ice bath.  I added ice until it was 55 degrees which is pretty dang cold.  I got in up to my stomach as usual.  My upper body though was also sore so I decided to get the smaller stool.  I THEN SUBMERGED MY WHOLE BODY UP TO MY NECK!  It was so friggin cold!  I began to shiver uncontrollably and could only stay in fully for a few minutes.  After I got out I felt like I would never feel warmth ever again.  It was a pretty interesting experience!

Today was just a normal mileage run. We planned to do about 5-6. All of us have some pretty sore, heavy legs right now so we were keeping it at about 7:40-8 minute pace. We met at Sugar House park and did 3 hill sprints before going back to the school for some core. The ice bath felt real good today!

We did some fartleks at Sugarhouse Park today.  We used the North loop that we had at our conference meet which ends up being about 3/4 of a mile.  We would go hard for a half a mile and then active recovery for 1/4 mile.  That means that your first 200 meters is uphill followed by a slight downhill for the rest.  It was pretty challenging.  It wanted us to keep it at about a 3 minute pace and we managed pretty well.

Went out to Dimpledell trail... I have no idea if I spelled that right.  This is a trail normally for horses.  It's by no means flat.  Pretty much a climb until about 3 miles and there' s a lot of soft woodchippy ground.  Then after 3.5 we just came back.  Not my favorite place to run.  My knee has been feeling some pain too so that's not fun :(

Since we have a meet on Saturday we did our longer run today.  I would have felt better with 9 miles but I didn't see the necessity to push it too much so I just cut it at 8.  It may have been a little more because it was about 1:04 time.  We ran up to Hogle Zoo and then back down.

Okay so I actually ended up running another 2 in the afternoon to make 10.  My coach wants me to be between 35 and 38 this week and he wanted 9-10 for today so I bumped it.  Felt good. :) I then just went for a little swim.

Normal 6 miler today.  My legs were feeling a bit heavy but I did okay.  We did some strides after the run (6) and then some core work.  Good workout today.

Speed work today at Sugar House Park.  We did 9x800 meter intervals.  Coach had the main group hitting splits of about 2:40.  We were within 3 seconds of that split for all 9 intervals so I would say that was a good day.  We lifted this morning as well so I was pretty happy with how I felt during the speed work.

Just a little swim for cross training today.  I honestly felt like crap in the pool.  I have been getting less sleep lately and I think that is contributing to my poopy feeling.  I need to start getting to bed earlier.

Pre meet run today.  Kept it at a slow pace just to keep the legs moving.  I felt like I needed a lube job because my legs were hurting.  The muscles were fine but everything else was just hurting.  I would think that it might be I need to shoes but these only have about 200 miles on them so I don't see why that would be.  Oh well.  Montana meet this weekend!  I am nervous...

First race of the season!  I am rather torn with this race and my performance in it.  We left at 3:30 on Friday to head to Montana.  This was a problem because it caused us to get to our hotel at about midnight and in bed by about 12:30 only to get up at 6:30 to prep for the race.  I haven't been getting much sleep this week as it is.  

Race morning we headed over to the golf course where it was held.  It was really cold!  Our warm-ups were not helping too much.  We started running and we got warmed up so that was nice.  I will say I was pretty nervous for this race and I don't think I was too prepared mentally.  We got to the start and the gun went off.  We took off through the hilly start as a pretty large group.  I stayed close to 2 of my teammates and then two of us peeled off at about 800 meters.  We hit the first mile at 5:30... Okay David... Don't freak out... You can keep strong... However the problem was that just before the first mile I started to think about how I had 4 miles left... Bad idea.

Going into mile 2 and 3 were okay but still mentally tough.  Hit mile 2 at about 11:20 I believe. The golf course had a portion that did two loops.  This mean that as you were finishing mile 3 you would run straight toward the finish line just to peel off and run another loop...  Very tough mentally.  At mile 3 my teammate (Ty) got a surge of energy and took off. Our split was a 17:30 so not bad.  He caught up to Jef who was about 10-15 seconds ahead.  I really should have stayed with him but I didn't feel like I was capable at that time.

At about 3.5 miles I was completely by myself.  That's when the race sucks... I could just hear by breathing and all I was doing was trying to maintain my pace.  I still had Jef and Ty in my sights but I had already told myself I couldn't make it up to them (another bad decision).  So I stayed back.   Then finally I see the mile 4 marker and it gives me a bit of motivation.  I began to remember our mile repeats from practice and knew that I could push it out for 1 more mile while holding that pace.  I think I was at about the high 23s to 24s so I also knew that if I kept my pace I would make it under 30!  

 I pushed through the last mile and the rolling hills right before the finish.  I was pretty happy when I saw 29:30s and counting as I was approaching.  I still think though that I could have done a lot better in this race.  Jef came in about 30 seconds before me at 29:09 and Ty was right behind him.  Oliver was our top guy with a 27:50 something I think.  He got 49th and he is a freshman.  Andrew wasn't too far behind him in the 28 range I believe.

Felt good to finish... After the cool down I started to feel a bit sick.  I got really really cold and my body felt like crap.  I think I would attribute that to a lack of sleep... Maybe?  I felt better as time went on but it wasn't an enjoyable feeling... Yeah that was that.  Just shows you how fast some of these kids are!  87th out of 110 and i was holding about a 5:56 pace!  Beast!  The top guy had 25:05 which makes me a bit sick. 

Meet this weekend as well so we did our long run today.  It was actually a really good run.  My hamstrings were a little tight but other than that I felt really good!  We ran down to Liberty and did one lap.  Then we ran up to 15th East (BEAST HILL) and North to Miller Park for a loop on the trail.  Then we ran to Sugar House and did the outside loop.  When we got back to the school we were only at about 1:08 so I added a little on 13th East to finish at 1:18.  :Pretty sure that was about 10.  I think we averaged about 7:30 pace.  It was a good run :)

Ran along 13 East on over to Sunnyside, up to Foothill and across to 21st South and back.  We had to add on a little bit when we got back because we were under 7.  My legs did not feel very good on this run and i had some strange pain in my foot.  I iced and hopefully by tomorrow they'll be a bit better.  It didn't help that I went to sleep rather late last night.  Tomorrow we have mile repeats so I am hoping my legs will be feeling a bit better by then.

I actually have no idea how far I swam but it was a good swim indeed.  I went for 50 minutes so I probably had about 55 or so laps.  I was swimming next to a guy who was pretty fast so he kept me going.

Went light around Sugar House with my fingers crossed that my tendon wouldn't hurt and it worked!  6 good miles without any issues!  Definitely excited for the meet!

AWESOME MEET!  This one was definitely much better than last week for me.  I felt a big difference going into it as I wasn't feeling super nervous or worried.  Last week I was fearing the pain that I would have to go through.  This week I wanted to focus on my position in the race and each step as opposed to thinking about how much I had left.  So needless to say I was feeling a lot more at-ease at the starting line.

Unfortunately the race people were retarded and we ended up starting 15 mins late but whatever.  This was a huge meet with like 14 races going on throughout the day.  We college men were first.  We also ran with some track clubs.  Anyways we lined up and the guy said, "Ready"... BANG!!!  I was expecting a "Set" so I wasn't really ready but oh well I took off nonetheless.  I told myself this meet that I was going to stay with my teammate Ty so that was my goal.  As we went off we were going pretty quick.  I felt myself pushing to stay with the pack.  I felt good though so I didn't think on it too much.

The course consists running around a lake 3 times then doing a little out and back to the finish line.  It's actually about .05 under 5 miles because it's an 8k but I wasn't going to put 4.95 in that little box up top.  So the first lap felt good as all the runners start to spread out.  I could see Oliver and Jef (my teammates) just up ahead and I wondered if we would be able to keep them in our sights.  The first mile I have to be careful of my thoughts.  I could feel my mind slipping to thoughts of the magnitude of the race and how much I had left. I had to just shake my head and think of the here and now... Then and there?  I just focused on staying with Ty and we did manage to pass a couple of people.

There was one nice part just before the first mile that was basically 180 degree turnaround.  We had to take that turn 3 times but Ty wasn't too prepared for it the first time and took the longest route possible around it.  That was kinda funny.  You basically just had to stop and go again which is not easy at that pace.

Then came the first mile!  The first mile marker was on a beach... Yes we had to run along a beach.  Luckily the sand was damp so it wasn't too hard to run through.  Ty and I crossed mile 1 at about 5:28.  As soon as we hit that I heard some obscenities from Ty out loud.  I guess he felt like that was too fast although he said he wanted to hit a 5:30 so that was confusing.  I just said not to worry and that it'd be fine.  Perhaps I was the one worrying.  Last year a first mile like that would have meant my death shortly thereafter but I didn't think that way.

After the first mile came the beast hill!  You go up a little hill around a bend and then up a HUGE BEAST HILL!  The first lap up felt really good and we passed a track club guy.  Then on the other side it was a beast hill back down.  As we rounded that next bend the track club guy's little girl was screaming, "GO DADDY GO DADDY GO DADDY!"  Okay how in the world is he not going to be flying after hearing that??  It was cute.  With the first lap down we just kept it up... Through the sand again and over the beast hill one more time.

As we were starting the third lap (coming to mile 3) Ty saw an old guy and asked for the race time by saying, "Time".  The old guy said, "Sorry".  Not sure what that meant but if he didn't give us the race time just because we were a different team then that's just plain rude.  Ty did his normal speed up at mile 3... This was where he lost me the last meet but I told myself that it wasn't going to happen again.  I had to put forth every bit of mental strength I had to speed up and catch him again.  I just had to keep telling myself I could do it.  We managed to pass a couple of guys but then they passed us back unfortunately.

The third time up the mother beast hill was a bit difficult.  Legs were burning.  Ty pretty much flew down the other side and I did my best to keep up.  We came around the corner and I noticed a couple walking peacefully in on the trail next to where we were running and I felt burning envy!  I wanted to be walking peacefully... I knew we were close but it was mentally tough because they had no marker for mile 4.  I couldn't really tell how much we had left.  We went down and then started coming back to the finish.  Ty was about 8 seconds or so ahead.  He was probably around 6 or 7 when we rounded the turn toward the finish.  There it was!  The finish line!  I was giving it everything I had until I saw that the clock was still under 29 minutes!  Then I gave it more than everything I had.  I kicked hard and came across at 28:43 (3 seconds behind Ty).  I was completely fine with that considering there were no runners in between us.  Felt really good that I had kept my goal. I ended up having an AP of about 5:47

Team got 4th out of 5.  We were able to beat a track club ;) Our guys

16th Andrew Archer 26:58

25th Oliver Lange 27:42

29th Jef Marsicola 28:18

35th Ty Gregg 28:43

36th Me 28:46

49th Ian Asay 31:19

GO TEAM! 

Started the morning with some weight training at 6 am.  10 sets of 2 reps with box squat (exploding up), high jump and broad jump with a 15 lb medicine ball for 5 minutes, ladder speed exercises, and weighted core work.

Mileage run after that.  We went North along 13th to South Temple and then headed West to 700 East and came back to 17th South and ran Easterly back to the school.  My right foot was a bit sore but I managed to get through.  We then did 6 strides when we got back.  I then spent about 1 hour in the training room.

SPEED WORKOUT! We went to Fairmont Park today where we ran 20x400 Meters.  That was a lot of 400's.  We kept about  72 second pace so it wasn't too horrible.  Felt pretty good.  My legs started getting pretty heavy on the last five.

Today was my cross training day and the dumb pool was closed! So I went and used the stationary bike for 50 minutes instead. Holy boring! No music (since they don't turn it on upstairs), no iPod!  So all I had was a little paper in front of me that told me when the bikes might be needed for the spin class.  I also watched the lacrosse team as they ran around.

Just a mileage run today.  Coach led us astray a bit.  We headed west on 17th South and turned South on 9th East instead of 3rd East to make the 7 miles.  We had to run a lap and a half around Sugar House Park to get the total mileage in.  We then did 4 hill sprints which was rather difficult because we all have very sore bottoms.  We did core when we got back to the school.  Tendon is feeling good so I am happy about that.  When you are running for about an hour it's easy to worry about pain coming along.

Tempo run at Liberty.  It's about 1.5 miles down there and then we did a 5 mile tempo run on the inside concrete loop.  He told me and my teammate to go for a 6:10 pace so we did just that.  It was pretty good!  The splits were 6:14, 6:11, 6:08, 6:06: 6:03 which made for a total of 30:32ish.  I felt really good.  Last couple of miles were a bit tiring.  I also had some stomach pain at the end and only barely made it to a bathroom.  We then ran 1.5 miles back to make the 8.

Long run in Park City!  We ran along a path out there out and back.  We went for time since the course wasn't marked. Ty and I went out for 37:30 and then back which made about 10.  The run felt pretty good!  I was a bit worried after yesterday's tempo but I felt fine.  What I did feel though was that my legs were super tired.  No injury pain, just tired muscles.  At about mile 6 and 7 I was really wanting to stop.  We made it back at exactly 1:15 though so we were right on at a 7:30 pace.  Still felt really sick after but it was good.

Longish run today.  We have a meet on Saturday so we went longish.  Since this is our taper week, a longish run was 7-8.  I was going to go 8 but I decided to go 7 just to be safe.  I feel good now so though so I believe twas a good decision.  Ran up around Hogle Zoo and back down to 17th South to Westminster.

Ran along 13th East to South Temple and back to the school.  I rolled my ankle on the way back and it's a little sore now but it shouldn't be a problem.  We did strides and core when we got back.

2 x 1 mile (AP of 5:35)  2 x 800m (AP of 2:40), 2 x 400m (AP of 75)  Did them all at Sugar House.  I actually really enjoyed it except for the little marsh we had to run through.

Really don't know how far I swam.  I didn't keep track.  I went for 50 minutes straight and I know that each lap was less than a minute so yeah... Over 50 laps.  Really boring!  That's probably because I just did freestyle the whole time.  It would help to change it up a bit.

Quick pre-meet run along 13th East.  

LOVED THIS RACE!  I felt like I was a lot more in the zone on our way to this race as I have been in the past.  While we were driving to our motel the night before I was listening to music and visualizing.  I kept telling myself, "You will fast.  You will run well.  You will be strong."  Stuff like that.  I also did that on the morning of the race while we were headed there.  The van was very quiet as everyone was zoning in and focusing.

It's always a little hectic right before the race, especially when there are but few restrooms.  We managed to get a 1.5 mile warm-up jog and start getting ready to roll.  The girls had already run before us for this race so we knew we'd have a good cheering section.  We lined up at the start ready to go.  I was definitely pumped.  I was relaxed and calm, but also very focused.  I felt like I was right where I needed to be.  Right before the gun went off I looked over at Ty and said, "5:40 first mile?"  He agreed gleefully.

The gun went off and we squeezed all together.  There were 126 runners and it became almost a funnel into the first turn.  Due to the amount of runners it became very tightly packed.  I was using my elbow a bit to get people off of me.  The first mile felt really good!  I was thinking we were right on pace.  However due to the group we were in at the start, we went out a bit fast.  We crossed the first mile and she called out 5:17... Oops... Ty said, "What time did she say?"  I said, "Uhhh 5:35."  He then said, "Shut up!  I know what she said!  She said 5:17!"  I just smiled and said, "I tried."  It was a very funny moment.  That tends to happen to us.  

The course was a crazy figure eight with some downhill bike path and 2 beastly uphills.  The 2nd mile didn't have too much craziness.  Ty and I were passing people left and right which felt really good!  We hit the 2nd mile at 11:07 so our pace hadn't faltered too much.  It felt about right.  You usually go out a bit fast in the first mile to gain position and then you settle in.  That way you don't have to worry about passing tons of people.  You do want to pick it up at about mile 3 though.  We did continue passing though.  We went through some crazy rolling hills and Ty was hauling.  I was like ohhh poop.  Then he eased up.

 We ran down that gradual decent and we were probably at about a 5 flat pace.  It was a nice hill.  We crossed mile 3 at 17:02... Good pace still.  The first hill was very very beastly.  It was nothing like Bob Firman.  We came around the bend and it was almost straight up.  We climbed and climbed and finally reached the top.  The only thing I could think of was, "I am never going to recover from this hill."  Then a miracle happened.  After it flattened out I pushed to get my pace back and my legs started to recover!  Energy came back and my pace quickened!  I felt good!  I started to leave Ty behind at this point.  We went around the big curve and Ty caught back up.  Just before the decent we saw the girls and I flashed a peace sign.  Then when we hit the gradual decent for the 2nd time, he started to fall back again.  He had some serious sideaches.

We crossed mile 4 at 22:27... Good news at this point.  I could see my teammate Jef not too far ahead.  Throughout the race I had been telling myself.  "I can do this.  I can do this.  I can do this."  When I saw Jef I thought,  "There is Jef!"  I'll finish right behind him!"  Then I saw that i was gaining on him and I though, "Wait!  I can catch him!  I can really catch him!"  I kept my pace strong. I caught him right at the bottom of the hill with about 3/4 a mile left.  I gave him the butt tap and he was good.  He said, "Are you ready, David?"  I was like ohhh poop, he has been saving up and he is going to smoke me now.  At this point my legs are pretty toasted and my breathing is quite heavy.  Then to my surprise Jef didn't stay with me.  I started to leave him behind and continued passing runners.

At this point I had probably moved up a good 25-30 spots throughout the race.  I had 800 meters left and I started recalling our 800 meter workouts and was telling myself, "You know you can do this.  You know you can push it out through this last 800."  I passed another couple of runners.  One had a shirt that said on the back, "You trail a snail."  I just thought, "Not anymore! hee hee hee!"  

As I was going along I saw the last hill. They were cruel and decided they wanted to put this beast hill right before the finish.  I hit it and gave it everything I had to maintain somewhat of a reasonable pace.  My legs were BURNING!  My heart was pounding out of my chest.  I passed another runner going up the hill and was gaining on one coming toward the top.  Everyone started yelling, "Go!  Don't let him pass you!"  I just thought, "Too late... Thanks for the motivation to pass him."  I picked up my pace knowing the finish was just ahead.  I was giving all I had left.  Then I noticed the finish was a lot farther than I thought... Oh well!  Keep the pace!  AHHHHH!  I started to grimace... My breathing was completely sporadic and my legs were crying uncle like never before.  The banner came closer and closer until I finally crossed with a PR of 28:25.  Euphoria!  I felt really woozy and it took me a good while to recover but it was an amazing race!  I loved every second!

After I finished I found out that our number one man had dropped out due to some injuries.  It was sad to hear. I also found out that Oliver and Jef were basically leading the whole race for about a half a mile.  They him mile one under a 5 minute pace.  They went out super fast and kind of died because of it.  

 Results

28:25 (AP of 5:43- Notice the goal on my blog :)

Splits: 5:17, 11:07, 17:02, 22:27

My team:

Oliver Lange: 59th 28:05

David Sondrup: 65th 28:25

Jef Marsicola: 80th 29:02

Ty Gregg: 83rd 29:12

David Perales: 97th 30:14

Ian Asay: 109th 31:28

Romnick Poindexter: 122nd 36:32 

Distance run down to State Street and across to 27th and back.  My achilles tendon wasn't too happy for a bit but hopefully it will be fine tomorrow.  We finished off with some strides.  3 and half hours of sleep probably wasn't helping either.

Speed work today.  We ran over to Sugar House Park and did 10 intervals of 800 Meters.  I hit 2:38 pretty consistently throughout the whole workout.  My legs were giving out on the last couple.  My muscles just didn't want to continue.  

Cross training day!  It was very welcomed considering I have been feeling some achilles tendonitis on the right side.  I have been doing light therapy with ice cups so hopefully by tomorrow it might be feeling better.  

Swimming was a bit boring.  I went for 35 minutes of freestyle then I did 10 minutes of sidestroke and breast stroke followed by another 5 minutes of freestyle. 

We had a GREAT 5 mile tempo run this morning at Liberty.  There were 3 guys there including myself.  Hit the first mile at 6:10 and the 2nd and 6:20.  Jef and I had relaxed a little and were talking still during the second mile so I picked it up after seeing that split. I left Jef behind at that point and the 3rd mile was a 6:08.  I was feeling super good!  I picked it up some more and crossed 4 with 6 flat.  Then I was like, Yeah!  So I picked it up some more and came across the finish line with a split of 5:49.  The overall was 30:30 and I didn't even feel very winded.  This is definitely a confidence booster for conference.  Going for a sub 28.

Jef was actually able to catch me and came across right at the same time.  Well done! 

Got my new shoes today.  Felt pretty good.  It's always weird trying to get used to new shoes.  Went for a minimum of 6 today.  Didn't want to overdue it with the tendonitis I have been feeling.  I still felt it on the run but hopefully I will be able to keep it at bay.

Good long run :) :)  I was a bit concerned about the tendonitis I have been having.  It seemed like it was trying to decide if it wanted to flare up or not this week.  I was battling it with news shoes, light therapy, ice cups, and cold whirlpools...  I think I may have won.  There wasn't any pain throughout the whole run.  The new shoes probably are helping. I am not going to take any chances though so I will keep taking ibuprofin today and using ice cups.  

I ran from 11th East down 17th South to 700 East... I then took that to 4th South and dropped down that to State Street.  Looped once around the Temple (got a drink from the fountain) and hiked it back up South Temple to 13th and back.  I pretty much love that run!  The only part I don't really like is 13th East because I have run it so many times.  Felt really good though! 

Ran down to State Street, over to 27th and back up to 13th.  I think it was just under 7 but I also did 8 strides so I figured it was fine.  My legs felt rather achy today so it was nice to get those strides in.  I would say the aches and pains may have just been from the 22 slow miles this weekend since Friday until today.  The strides helped me shake off the rust a bit.

Felt really good today!  We ran the Hogle Zoo route and then did some core afterward in the weight room.  No ice bath, but the legs felt good :)

Speed work.  We did 5 1-mile repeats.  My splits were 5:26, 5:31, 5:28, 5:32, 5:25.  Consistency could have been better but 13 second spread isn't too bad.  Coach was only going to have me do 4 but I was feeling really good so I added in the last one.  Ice bath was pretty dang cold!  Probably didn't help either that we did some lifting this morning.

Swam for 50 minutes... Boring as usual.  I went 35 laps freestyle, then some side stroke and breast stroke and finished the last 5 free.

Not racing this Saturday so coach had me running some fartleks.  I haven't been sleeping as much as I should be so this was quite fun.  I ran down to Liberty and then just did them around the park.  I went 3 minutes at about a 5:40 pace and then 1 minute slow for recovery.  Did that 8 times and ran back to my house.

We were down in Orem right next to UVU campus for an Institute retreat.  Went to bed at about 1 and got up at 5:30 to go running before the next part started.  I ran from La Quinta Inn to the Provo Temple.  It may have been just over 5 miles up because it took me about 41 minutes to get there.  Total time ended up being 1:17 by the time I got back.  It was a really fun run if i do say so myself.  I did surprisingly well with how much sleep I have been getting.  

Really cold and rainy this morning so that wasn't very enjoyable.  I stepped in a huge puddle at about 8 minutes so that was great.  Felt pretty good otherwise though.  Knee was a bit sore afterward.  Probably more from the cold.

I got muh watch back yesterday!  It was nice having something to tell me my distance and pace.  It was still super cold this morning but at least it wasn't raining.  Just went for a nice little run and kept about a 7:30 AP.  Speed work tomorrow.

Woke up to the lovely snow and freezing cold.  That was exciting... especially considering we had interval training today.  Since Fairmont Park was covered in snow, we went to the track at Highland H.S.  We did 16x400.  I was pacing at about 75 seconds per and we had a minute of rest in between.  They felt good for about the first 8 or so and then they started to get harder and harder.  It was a struggle to keep the pace up for the last few but we did go shirtless for the last ;)  I think it's a bit hard because we're just not used to the cold air.  Our conference meet could be quiet cold up in Montana so I will consider it good training.

Cross training day which means swimming. I swear that 50 minutes takes forever regardless of what i do.  

Air Force Fitness test this morning so I had to do my workout around that.  I got there and ran a mile for my warm-up and then we did push-ups and sit-ups for 1 minute each.  I did 70 push ups and 60 sit ups.  I didn't want to wear myself out at all so I stopped early on the time.

1.5 miles on the indoor track kinda sucked.  I had cotton mouth and my legs were a bit toasted from the sit ups right before.  I hit my mile at 5:06.  I have never felt like that at a 5 mile race in a meet.  I did finish with my goal of 7:55 (below 8) so I was happy but it seriously raped my throat.  I will be clearing it the rest of the day.  

After that I did 4 sets of Fartleks 3 mins hard and 1 slow.  I tried to maintain a reasonable pace but it was rather hard.  Then I cooled down for a mile and that was it. 

Went out to a trail by Jordan River that did not end up being so great.  We ran out and along a road and then wound up in a big track for motorcycles.  We ended up weaving all through that (potholes, mud, curves, etc) just to go back the way we came reaching only about 6 miles.  We then went left along another path that led straight back to the same place!  Luckily by the time we got back we had reached about 9 miles.

I was the only guy on the cross team to show up for morning practice (we can choose between morning and afternoon) so I got to run by myself.  It wasn't too bad. The beginning was hard because it was all uphill and my legs were feeling it.  For the last 3 miles they were downhill so I got to about a 6:40 pace.  Good run :)

Low mileage!  It was our taper speed day.  We went to Sugar House and did one mile repeat, 2 800's and 4 400's.  The distance was off on the course so I am not sure what my splits were but it was a good workout.

Ran by myself again... Decided not to cross train this week with the lower mileage and the fact that conference is on Friday.  I started with an 8 min AP and then was at about 7:20 by the time I finished.  Felt good.

Ran the course with the team.  We had just eaten about 2 hours prior so I pretty much felt like crap and my knees were sore.  Not the best run to have the day before a meet but I didn't want to let that get to me so I didn't think too much on it.

"No negative thoughts cross my mind on race day.  When I look into their eyes, I know I am going to beat them." - Danny Harris...

That was the quote that was bouncing around in my head come race day.  My good friend Allie (Captain of the girl's team) decorated our locker room and put quotes on each locker before the meet.  That was mine.

The night before the race I was doing some visualization while listening to some music.  I was also doing this day of.  I wasn't allowing negative thoughts to come into my head.  I kept saying, "You will do well... You will run fast.  You can do this."  I didn't want to leave my last meet knowing that I could have done better. I talked to my legs a little bit as well.  Made sure they were ready.

Ty and I wanted to go out relaxed so we did.  We were probably close to the very back of the pack at the beginning of the race.  There were 54 runners.  We hit mile 1 at exactly 5:30, which was the exact split I wanted.  By this time, the runners had formed into a nice long line with equal spaces between each other.  It was time to move up.

The race consisted of 5 laps on a golf course.  It ended up being a rather slow course due to the uphill and the headwind.  I did my best to keep my pace strong on the uphill into the headwind but it was tough.  I left Ty after the first mile and kept my pace up.  I just kept passing runners one at a time.  It felt like each time I passed one I had a small surge of energy.  I would pass coach on the side and would want to have moved further up the next time I passed him.  

I saw Jef at about mile 3... My mile 2 split was 11:10 I think and then mile 3 was 17:10 so I had slowed a bit.  I caught up to him and gave him a butt tap.  At that point he said, "I believe in you... I believe in you."  It felt good to hear that.  Things like that are what make the sport of cross country different from any other types of running race.  It is a very individual sport but there's something about being out there as a team knowing you're not alone.  Thanks Jef.  I kept going along moving up the line.

Coming up to mile 4 I saw Andrew and I gained on him.  I gave him a nice butt tap as well and kept up.  As I was coming to the last mile there were 3 guys ahead of me not too far.  I worked to get up to them.  I passed a Great Falls guy a bit before and he was giving me a run for my money.  He passed me back with about 800 meters to go and all I could think was, "No... I will not be passed on my last meet even if I had already passed him."  I kept my pace up and pushed it.  

With about 250 meters left I had a Carroll runner, Lewis Clark, and a Great Falls just ahead of me and I thought to myself... "I have done it... I have beat them!"  There were still 200 meters left :)  The Great Falls guy was about 5 meters ahead of me when we came to the finish line straightaway and I kicked hard.  I passed him and ended up beating him by 5 seconds with 22nd place.  This was another one of the best races I ever had :) 

Going back to the quote I did beat them.  At least in my mind I did.  I don't think we can always look at the literal translation as in beating them  just means getting first place.  If we can walk away knowing we gave 100% then we have beat everyone.  We can keep our heads held high that we did all that we could do.  I will miss this college sport dearly.  Track season is coming up though so it's not over yet! 

This normally isn't a very competitive race.  I did it last year and got 2nd as well.  What's difficult is that the 5k and 10k both start at the same time in the same place.  

I felt good going out and was in about 4th place when I hit the first mile.  During the third mile I moved into 2nd place and with the plan to catch first place.  Unfortunately he was just too fast for me.  The gap wasn't closing at all and I knew if I sped up anymore I would die quick.

Interestingly enough, I hit mile 5 my legs were done.  All season we have been training for the 8k so I guess my legs just decided they wanted to stop then. I had already slowed down but it hit hard on this one.  This is also the stretch where all the 5k walkers are so you have to run around them.  Another downside is that the last 200 meters are on a sidewalk turning into a parking lot so it makes it very difficult to get any speed.  I was happy with my time and won a nice little pumpkin pie... Then I stuffed my face at the Thanksgiving Feast :)

 My splits: 5:43, 5:40, 5:49, 5:48, 5:57, 6:11, 1:15

Unfortunately there were some people who signed up for the 10k and decided they wanted to run the 5k instead.  So when they crossed the finish line at about 35 minutes, it showed up on the results and kinda screwed us over.  If you sign up for a 10k, run the 10k.  If you decide you want to run the 5k instead then don't cross the finish line... Really people? 

 

Thought my legs were going to be super sore today but they actually felt surprisingly good.  Kept a good 7:20 pace for 6.

Ran up to Hogle Zoo... Legs felt a bit heavy but I got through it okay.

Holy crazy morning!  The only place available to run was basically right in the middle of the road.  Some of the sidewalks were shoveled but there was still a small layer that would get caked onto the bottom of your shoe causing issues with your form.  That meant we had to stay in the road as cars sideswiped us and splashed slush onto us. 

 We ran up to Hogle Zoo and back down to Westminster on 17th South.  Good run but our pace was a bit slow due to the conditions. 

Ran at 5:45... Holy cold! My face fell off and hands froze completely.  Not the most enjoyable run but it happens.

Swam freestyle for 35 minutes then did sidestroke and breast stroke for 10 minutes and another 5 mins of freestyle fast.  Pretty much super boring.

 We also did core and some leg work. 

Did some speed work at Liberty.  We ran fartleks of 3 mins hard 1 min jog 7 times.  I admit it was rather beastly because I was keeping up with my teammate Oliver who is faster than I am.

Did some training with the Arnold Air Society candidates which consisted of lots of lunges and squats followed by some wind sprints.  It was about 2 miles total.  Then I went on a 9 miler by the U.  My legs felt like crap.

I meant to run 6 this morning but my beanie fell out of my pocket so I had to backtrack to get it.  My legs felt like crap today too unfortunately.

Ran over to Sugar House and then did some speed work.  Coach had us run fartleks of 2x10 minutes.  I kept about a 6:02-6:05 pace.  Although Sugar House park is quite hilly, it is pretty easy to catch even splits due to the recovery portion on downhills.

This week is supposed to be a taper week at about 30 miles so I am takin it pretty easy.  I was also planning to run everyday instead of cross training one day.  I should have cross trained because I felt some pain in my tendon.  Looks like I will be swimmin tomorrow... Bleh

Cross training day to give my leg a break... Not literally... I usually go for 50 minutes but I had no desire to swim back and forth for 50 min so I decided to do some interval stuff.  I did 2x300 at about 4:57, then I did 4x200 at about 3:13 followed by 5x50 at 42 seconds per.  It was a bit tiring but I was able to keep my splits almost exact.  I guess runners have a knack for hitting splits with all the speed work.

Felt good at the beginning but then the tendinitis began to flare up and was really hurting toward the end.  Lame...

I think this is the lowest amount of mileage in a week that I have had for quite a while.  Initiation night in ROTC so it involved a hike up the trail behind the U.  Pretty cool up there.  Did a bit of running so I counted a mile.

I decided to play it safe and cross train again today.  I should be running tomorrow.  Hopefully the ice and Tiger Balm will have done its job.  Today I just used the spin bike for 50 minutes and then swam 10 laps... I also chillaxed in the hot tub.. Real nice.  I was sweating like a beast creature on that bike...

No tendinitis today :)  I ran over to Sugarhouse Park and did two laps on the inside.  I then did a half lap on the outside to get my mileage up to 6.  Felt good to be out running again :)

Ran around Sugarhouse park again today... The snow was a bit challenging.  My ankles were scared.

Did some elliptical today. 50 minutes and 7 elliptical miles.  Figured I would continue to play it safe this week.  Then I did some core and push ups and pull ups.

Super early run right before our road trip.  I knew that it wouldn't happen if I didn't get up before 5 so there I went!  Good run.

California running! I ran in Vista which is hill central. I was actually planning to do 10 miles but I was retarded with math.  What happened was I went .25 out on one road and realized I didn't want to go that way so I came back and went another.  That equals .5 miles right?  Well when I did my 5 miles out i thought, "Hey!  I need to go a bit further to compensate because I won't be running that same road again!" So for some reason I decided I needed to go out to 5.5 miles instead of 5.25.  I guess it didn't compute that the other road added up to .5.  So basically I got back just under 11 and figured I might as well get there.  The whole 5 miles out I was crying on the inside because it was all downhill but it ended up being a good run :)

Dark and rainy this morning.  Had to go at about 5 am because we were planning on leaving at 6:30.  The problem with where I was running is that the roads are somewhat busy and there aren't really any shoulders.  I would say it was quite scary.

Last run in Cali... Decided to take a different route today.  Probably the scariest run I have ever had.  I basically ended up on a highway with no shoulder in the rain and dark.  I was completely drenched and scared for my life.  2 of my miles were a 6:30 pace just because of that.  I survived luckily.

Back in Utah again.  Ran up to Hogle Zoo and down.  My legs were burning on the way up there.  Then on the way down I was keeping about a 6:35 pace for the last 4 miles.  

First time running in a week due to arch pain.  I really don't know what the problem is.  Felt okay on this run but it's still there.