Ethan Cannon

AM: 5 miles. 

PM: 10 miles and a few strides, but my right Achilles kind of hurt. I was a little bit concerned because yesterday I went shoe shopping online and the usual places seemed to be all out of my Ride 10s. Thankfully, I found a new pair on eBay for $62! 

It was lightly snowing when I left but I’m glad that I went outside. It was warm enough that I got pretty sweaty actually. 6:10 average. Didn’t feel too hot. We’ll have to get that blood test ASAP. Thankfully last night I slept great (relatively) and my body felt fine. 

T minus 25 days till lift off...

AM: 6 miles

PM: 11 miles and strides. Today I felt more energized than I previously have been. I'll still get the test tomorrow I think but this is encouraging. 

My friend Sarah recently told me she’s actually read my blog before. I guess I hope to get good enough that someday people can draw inspiration by reading my running history on this blog, but it also reminds me to delete a few posts where there was a lack of a filter in my comments lol.

It was a rainy workout with some wind. But I didn’t really notice it. For some reason I just haven’t mastered mile repeats yet this season. This workout where we did 800s was a lot easier than last week where I had to slog through four laps, almost all on my own. 

We did a 10 minute tempo to start. I started a bit fast and then settled in and averaged 5:05 pace (I was supposed to actually go a little slower, 5:10 pace). It felt really relaxed and I knew it would be a good workout. Then we took six minutes rest and did 5 by 800. These felt really good. About 3 minutes rest. I ran a 2:14 (they were claiming I went out in 29 which is NOT true haha), 2:17, then put on my flats for the first time in a while. I ran 2:15, 2:14, and then 2:12. I was surprised he called it at 5. Then I did weights but no power cleans since my knee hurt and Achilles a bit. Today I got my iron checked. I’ll get the results tomorrow. 

My knees and achilles' tendon were hurting. I wore my roommate's hat to keep the rain out of my face. It didn't end up raining at all, but oh well. 

Hmm. My confidence is oscillating like an electrocardiogram right now (can you tell I'm about to take a physiology test?) I shouldn't be too concerned. For whatever reason I have just had multiple sub-par workouts in the past few weeks. 1 mile in 4:52, then 5 by 400 w/ 90 secs rest in (63, 63, 63, 63, 65). At the end of the fourth one I realized I was dying. We took three minutes off and then did the second set: (65, 65, 65, 66, 64) I think. My knee and achilles were hurting but at least felt alright during the workout. Wet day. Still didn't feel like doing power cleans or squats. 

Somehow I slogged through 17 miles today. For one reason or another, about 13 miles of it was on a treadmill. Thankfully they are there for when I need them. I did 6 in the morning and 11 in the afternoon. No strides since my knee and achilles were aching, though they didn't die. 

I did a new long run today. It was kind of fun going where I have never been before, on Geneva road out toward Lindon. Coach told me to chill on it. I ended up running 6:13s, which was faster than I had planned on, but still didn't really hurt. I felt sore by the end though. Thankfully my achilles and knee felt pretty good! This was my longest run ever, I believe. And my longest week. I wore Bryce's Garmin. It was the first time I had used one since high school. Pretty nice to have. 

Wow, is it already time to say goodbye to my grey Sauconys? I suppose it is. 

AM: 5 miles

PM: 11 miles. To be honest, I was a little bummed that my knee and achilles were as sore as they were today. Oh well. I may have to do the whole workout in trainers tomorrow. If so, its no big deal. At least I can do it.

Alright, it’s time to think critically. I have determined that my iron levels are normal. Today I felt just kind of tired again. I think it was fine aerobically but I just didn’t have the pop. Coach suggested that I bring down my mileage. So that’s what I’ll do. Rather than go 82-76-70 leading up to the race I’m going to cut it down significantly to about 76-70-65. I had been concerned about overtraining as I embarked with this season. Hopefully I can get my legs back ASAP. I ran 4:39, 4:40, and then put on my flats and ran 4:45, 4:44. Weird, huh? Thankfully I was able to do some light power cleans today! 

Today kind of hurt. My knee and Achilles were struggling. I hope they can recover well

New shoes felt good. So did my achilles! And my knee felt a little better. I did some light squats. Four guys got cut this week. I feel bad for them, but it is SO nice to have people to run with, even though I'll still have to do a lot of front running if I am to reach my 14:10 goal in two weeks. I felt a little better today. I hope I continue to improve as I let my body rest more. I did a two mile tempo in 10:03, eight min rest, 2 by 800 w/ equal rest in 2:13, 2:13, then two 400s with 2 min rest in 62, 61.

10 miles. It was supposed to max out in the high 30s but it felt great with the sun beating down. I did a few strides by doing a ten second jog to warmp up my knee. I'm grateful to have only run once today, hopefully the extra recovery pays off!

I am very proud of myself. I only ran 6:33 pace today! The Provo river trail is closed down a bit so I had to run out in the sticks a bit. It was nice. 

AM: 4 miles. Adam ran a 2:26 800 split, almost exactly what I ran at the rotary relays my freshman year. He’s not in bad shape. 

PM: 10 miles, 4 strides. Body felt better, not perfect.

Super warm day on the track today. I am so grateful to see some continued improvement as we approach the big race (t minus 10 days). Isaac wouldn’t tell us the workout, he just gave it to us, segment by segment. It was harder than I thought it would be, but having people to switch off leading laps with really helped. The last one in particular was nice, I just ran right behind Andrew the whole time. It was seriously akin to being on a treadmill. I just thought: “all you have to do is keep him right in front of you”. We did two sets with seven min in between. 90 seconds between reps. 1600, 1200, 400, 800. (4:51, 3:30, 60, 2:17), (4:52, 3:34, 62, 2:10). Shoes felt good. Weights.

It was 60 degrees today! 🔥🔥 The warm weather will be helpful for my healing. My Achilles didn’t feel so hot again today, but my knee seemed fine. 

One more reason why I like my new teammates is that Scotty plays music during our workouts. Tbh I got a little worried when Enya came on but the rest of it was fine ha. We did a mile at 5K pace. We were nailing our splits, 3:24 at 1200, until the last lap. Then I slowed a bit (I was leading the last 8) and we ran 4:34. 4 min rest, then 400s with 75 secs rest at 5K pace. (68, 67, 67, 68, 67). 3 min rest. (66, 67, 67, 66, 65). Then he told us three min rest, and we got on the line again, he said we were done. Oh well. I could have done those for days. Did my last weights sesh before the race!!

Rainy day. Good day. Achilles pain. 2 strides. 

Nice morning run on Geneva road. We had a temple trip I had to get back for which unfortunately I think made me run a little faster than I had wanted. Then again, I was shooting for 6:30s and ran 6:24s. That shouldn’t be a big deal. 

Hmm. Tough day. It was super nice outside. Mile breakdown with what ended up being 4-4-2 rest. I went out on the 1600 in 71, so I was really pushing it to finish in 4:35. Then I was 3:34 on the 1200. One redeeming aspect of this workout was that it helped me strategize for Friday. When I “lose contact” or “fall asleep” I can drop off really sharply. It’s much better to start a little slower and then race the whole way. Since at this point I think it’ll take a great race to hit 14:10, my plan is to go out around 4:36 and then push it from there. I can definitely make up time on the back end. My 800 was 2:17. Thankfully I was able to come back and do the 400 in 60. 

10 easy miles. Found a cool path. T minus three...

Did the workout on my own in the wind. 400s and 200s with 2 min rest: 60, 62, 29, 28. I shouldn’t have experimented with running without socks in my flats but I think my feet will be ok. I’m excited! It’s game time!! 

6 mile shakeout. We ran to the track. 4 fast strides. They felt good.

Well, it’s all over. 

It has been a really fun trip to the Bay Area. The weather has been amazing, and so many things lined up so well to make it a great trip. I’m grateful for the amazing support I’ve had. My grandpa used his Marriott card to get us an awesome hotel a mile away from the track. My dad drove down to watch me which was so nice of him. It was great to spend time with him. My girlfriend wrote me a nice and comforting letter, my coworkers made me a Good Luck sign, my high school teammate cheered me (and her boyfriend) on, and my roommate prayed for me and called me right after the race. Someone even suggested to put my name on the temple prayer role- Well, I won’t complain. 

Thankfully I wasn’t overly nervous, despite all the weight that was on this race. I wouldn’t say I felt springy Thursday, but I did feel the altitude difference. I laced up my flats REALLY tight, we lined up (in no order whatsoever), and it was on...

The pacer said he was going to go out in 4:30. No one ran that pace for the whole race so idk why he was doing that. My teammate Andrew went out right behind him but wasn’t interested in running that fast either so the race went out slow. I hit 400 in 70. 800 was 2:19, then 3:30 at 1200 and 4:40 at the mile (these splits came from my dad). I was too conservative. I didn’t have really any problems with the large number of people on the track, other than a little shoving with JD Thorne from Utah State, which was a bit scary with the rail on the inside. In a way I don’t blame myself because we formed a line and it would have taken a big effort to pass people. But in all my worry about training the past few weeks and the fact that my goal pace for 5K was faster than my (unconverted) PR 3K pace, I was just scared. I didn’t trust myself. I didn’t give myself the chance to run 14:10. For example, I could have run 75s and then closed as hard as I could in 58. I closed as hard as I could, but running 70s didn’t give me the chance to run what I needed. 

I hit 3K in 8:42. It was weird because once again I’m not used to running that fast and not feeling dead. I felt fine. With one lap to go I was at 13:19. Watching the video, it looks like I passed like 20 people the last mile ha. I started in the back of he race and finished sixth. I passed Andrew and then that helped him pick up the pace. He passed me on the last straight. That was a 63 last lap (5:40 last 2K). Within a few minutes of cooldown I felt not bad at all. Lesson learned. Not good enough to make the team, but it was a good experience. I’m so glad I didn’t bomb the race. Now I have to decide what the rest of my season will look like. One thing about this race is that it made me (figuratively) hungry. I want to get faster! Well, sorry for the essay.

Ten easy miles with Josh in Cali. Felt good.