Ethan Cannon

AM: I liked this workout because it made me tougher. It was really hard. I went with my friend Carmen to the North track early on a frozen morning with a bit of snow. It was 4 by (1600, 90 seconds rest, 400). The paces were supposed to be 3K and mile. 5 minutes rest. I ran (4:44, 67), (4:47, 68), (4:49, 68), and (4:49, 64). I seriously feel like I work out better in Provo. Still, I'm not sure after something like this that I have a very good chance of running 14:20 in less than a month.

PM: 5 miles. Felt F for fine. 

10 miles on Coal Mine. I saw my brother Adam twice doing his fartlek. That was cool. The hills made it kind of hard per the usual. Core

AM: Track workout @ South. 12 minute tempo doing loops around the school. I had arduously planned it out so I knew just how fast to go so I could run 5:10 pace and not wreck myself for the second half. I did that just fine. Then I started on the track. I felt really warm, loose, and good. First one was barely over 65. Second would've been a 64 I think but I got kicked off at the end :( So I had to finish it just running around south. It is really hard to know how fast to go without being on a track, but thankfully I had already done two so I kind of had a feel for it. I think I would've averaged 64 or 63. Felt really good. 7 min between tempo and 400s, 90 secs-2 min between 400s, gradually progressing towards 2. It wasn't balmy, but the weather on Tuesday definitely took it out of me in a way that it didn't today. Then I went to Superior and did a strength yoga/ Pilates class with my mom. I'll have to lift tomorrow instead. It was tough. I was reminded how to do core workouts. 

PM: 5 miles on the treadmill. I seriously feel guilty on the rare occasion when I do this as if I am avoiding necessary pain related to being cold. But being cold doesn't make you faster last time I checked. And I wasn't feeling that or the hills tonight.

10 miles on the bike path and three strides. Another cold, misty, day, though I am grateful to be living in Oregon where 25 degrees is cold. Then I did weights. My form is still pretty bad on some of the lifts, but as I continue watching YouTube videos, I am confident I can improve. 

And that's a wrap on my longest week ever. Ran the first five miles with Bryce. We were talking which was not great for my first run back at altitude lol. That combined with my lack of sleep maybe was why I didn't feel comfortable running like 7:10 pace. I feel like it may have been hard to not run and feel cruddy those first miles. Then he left and I was quickly able to increase the speed. I felt fine the whole way, only a little sore and achy. All in all I averaged 6:09s, probably a little faster than I should've been going. 

New weekly mileage record! Also, big plans in the works right now that I'll probably talk more about soon.  

AM: 5 miles.

PM: 11 miles and three strides. All today was really slushy, but at least it wasn't raining like it was supposed to be.

6 by 800 with 2:30 rest (which sometimes grew to 3 minutes) averaging 2:15. The last one was actually 2:18. I guess I kind of just got lulled to sleep, thinking but not being sure it was our last one. Turns out maybe it was a good thing I didn't give it everything today since coach wants me to run the 3K this Saturday. He said I need experience running against quality runners. I'm not sure what I'll run. I'm not gonna really peak for it a ton, but if I can run a PR I'll be happy. My current plan is to go down to San Fran at the end of March for a fast 5K. 

11 miles. Felt fine, went pretty slow. It was warm outside but Kiwanis was still snowed in so I had to go past the MTC instead. 

I christened my new shoes by throwing up on them! Yay :) I got sick today at an inconvenient time but I'm going to try to not stress out since this is certainly not my big race. I'll see how I feel tomorrow and decide whether or not to race. I was able to miraculously run the first 12 minute tempo (albeit slow- 5:25 pace or so the first 6 minutes and then I struck it out on my own the last six minutes at a little bit sub 5 pace). Then I threw up and didn't attempt the 400s. It's honestly been great, I've had very few problems with non overuse injury related health. 

Just about six miles, plus strides. I felt a LOT better after an 11 hour sleep last night. I might race tomorrow. TBH I was more concerned about my left Achilles' tendon. 

Showed up and talked to Isaac. I have still had some lingering GI tract issues from my sickness, but this morning I planned to race the whole thing. He told me he'd rather have me run 2K somewhat competitively. I feel like even with the past couple days I could have PRed today, but oh well. I just need to be consistent until March and April and I should be able to get much more than a couple second PR (more like a 1+ minute PR in the 5K). We went out way too fast (I heard 63 or 64 at 400 and was buried in the pack). My brothers friend got my splits after that- 55s all the way till I dropped out. I think I was at 4:33 or 4:34 at the mile. So it was a good experience to feel like I was racing again a bit but not worry too much. 

Today was really cold! I always am excited to run on monday mornings though. Felt some heartburn on my afternoon run, and some weird medial malleolus pain.

11 miles and strides. Felt good except some gnarly heartburn again. Then I lifted weights. I pulled one of my adductors I think. After that I was easy on it so I hope it should be ok tomorrow. I watched the farm team workout a bit too.

Today was an interesting experience which I'm glad I had and which I am definitely not interested in repeating. My coach asked me to pace the women's track team. It wasn't like "ok everyone today we are doing mile repeats at 5:30 pace". Coach Taylor asked me to do a 600 and go out in 58-59 and I was like "ok what is that for 600" and she said "1:29" probably thinking I was really bad at math. I thought she meant 58 for a lap, not a 400. Turns out that's what you get when you invite pro runners to your track practice. I hit 56-57 and 1:28 for the 600 and felt a lot of lactic acid and a little bit like throwing up, even though I could've gone a bit faster if I needed to. Then she asked "how much rest do you need" and I was like "well I just ran a 1:28 but I wanna look cool so I'll say two minutes". So then I ran what was supposed to be 800-1200 meters at 2:15 800 pace but the girl in front was antsy and eventually I couldn't maintain it and dropped after 1:43 at 65-66 pace. Then I had five or seven minutes and led a 1:36 600. Then I took eight minutes and did my own workout, two 800s with three minutes rest in 2:14 and 2:16. On my cooldown I used the bathroom of the nicest country club ever. Seriously so nice. Thankfully I didn't feel my hamstring at all! 

A little over 10 miles. Rainy day but just enough that it was enjoyable while I was running. I finished my weights for the week afterward.

AM: 5 slow miles with Aidan. We thought it was going to be frozen today after it snowed last night but it was actually fine. 

PM: 11 miles. Pretty dang good. My malleoli(?) felt fine, no major acid reflux problems, strides were snappy, and the sun occasionally came out and felt really good. 

I went out on the River trail and then around the airport with Bryce. It was nice to have company on the easier part of my run. I felt bad though because I missed my alarm so I was a few minutes late to get started, and then I had to go to the bathroom THREE times during our run. My plan was to start my four mile tempo at the halfway mark, but the last mile or so we were running through and around frozen puddles. Not a good place for a tempo. I started instead when we got out of that area, probably between mile 9 and 10. I actually went faster than I felt. I was cold and could feel it slowing me down, plus we had been going a decent pace beforehand and so I obviously wasn't fresh. I averaged 5:05s for the tempo and then chilled out the rest of the way. One thing I did was to try to stay in it. Around 14 minutes or so I felt kind of fatigued, but I kept checking my watch and tried not to give in and get slower without even noticing it. That is one issue I've had with both tempo runs and even 800s.  Don't fall asleep.

AM: 11.5 miles with Aidan. It was cold and snowy so we did the first fives miles inside. Then we ran some more inside later. We also did six strides. They were shorter than I usually go. I should probably time my strides. They shouldn't last longer than 15 seconds. 

PM: 5 miles.

I’ve grown quite fond of the indoor track. Perhaps it has come because we practice at 5:00 and it never looks appealing to run outside then. Hopefully it can warm up a bit in March so I can practice outdoors before my race. Today was mile-800-mile-800 and then maybe another mile. I only did the first four. I felt pretty tired on the second mile. I feel like my longer running is good and my 800s are solid too, but I need to work on being able to run a fast miles. I ran 4:38 (5 min rest), 2:12 (4:30 rest), 4:40 (5 min rest), 2:09. There were lots of people on the track. I took a second off for the reps I was dodging people on. If anything it probably cost more than that but oh well. Idk what to make of this workout. Not insanely good but not bad either. 

11 miles. Felt pretty good.

Idk if I was tired from Tuesday or I mentally wasn’t ready to actually run quickly, but that did not feel easy in the least. 2:16 800, 2 min rest, then 400s in 63, 64, 62 with 90 secs rest. Definitely need to recover now. Felt really weird.

Just under six miles and then some strides. The strides felt fast. I still felt a little tired, but I think I'll be good to go tomorrow. 

Good race. I went out with Michael Ottesen, Connor Weaver, and then was surprised that Garett Barton and Kenneth Rooks hung on, too. We were pretty consistent and didn’t start too fast. In fact, we may have Been like 4:41 at the mile. I realize how much it helps to have people cheer for you. Someone kept yelling at Kenneth that he should go faster and pass me or something. I’m not blaming them at all, it just kind of gets to you, especially when you hear it almost every lap. It was kind of unique to run 15 laps. The whole thing didn’t feel that hard. They sped up with 400 to go but then let up a bit so I knew I had a shot at beating everyone except Michael. Apparently this converts to somewhere between 8:17 and 8:24 because it also isn’t banked. Idk, I was just there for the race. The PR is just a bonus.

AM: 5 miles.

PM: 11 miles and strides. I met with Isaac today. Of course the goal posts have been moved again. The team is overloaded and will be even more packed in the fall, so it looks like now is my chance. The great battle of our time will be waged on March 30 (and the two months leading up to that will be crucial). I essentially have to run 14:10. If that happens, I'll get on the team and have a couple races over the next month to run only a few seconds faster, qualify for regionals, and lock in my spot for next year.

Interesting workout. 5 by mile with what ended up being 1:45 rest. It was slower but less rest. So there was just like this gradual pain that started coming in, but I never was going that fast. Lots of people on the track. 4:54, 4:53, 4:51, 4:52, 4:52. Weights afterward. 

I didn't feel good today. It was really nice outside. But I felt tired and my achilles wasn't doing well. Hopefully it can get better quickly.

I really need to get myself a GPS watch. The outdoor track had snow and barriers on it so I had to run toward university. Thankfully I never really had to stop. Afterward I tried to calculate it. I think I was doing about 5 flats for the three miles but it could have been a little slower or faster. Oh well. 9 minutes rest, then a 2:15 800, 3 min rest, 63 400, 2 min rest, 62 400. It was hard to change gears afterwards. Probably really good for me. Weights.

AM- 6 slow miles with Aidan after doing a little Insanity with some people in my ward

PM- Beautiful day. I was feeling the mileage a bit at the end but the wheels never totally came off so that was good. 3 strides. 

I ran 17 miles with Bryce towards Mapleton. It was unique. We stayed close to the canyon at the beginning which meant lots of hills. We averaged 6:39s which still seems slow based on the effort. Maybe it was because we were talking, maybe because its been a long week. Oh well. Now I've got plenty of time to get ready for next week! New mileage high.

AM: 5 miles with Aidan. It was a super nice, warm morning.

PM: 11 miles and three strides. Felt solid.

There was some unfortunate miscommunication about the workout. One thing led to another and we ended up getting 2 minutes rest instead of 90 seconds. I should've known that workout wouldn't be logically hard enough.  Oh well. I'll go harder on Thursday. 8 by 800. 2:22, 2:20, 2:21, 2:20, 2:19, 2:19, 2:18, 2:15.

10 miles. Cold but I felt fine. I went pretty darn slow because of the weather and to recover.

Thankfully my goal to go hard today worked out well. I felt like I was able to give a good effort during the workout and weights. We did a 4-3-2-1 fartlek, five min rest, followed by an 800, two min rest, 400, two min rest, 400. The four min I did at 4:35 pace, the three min was about the same, I forget the two min, and the one min was at 64 400 pace. I ran the 800 in 2:15 (a little slow) and the 400s in 61 and 59 (a little faster than I had planned). I'm not sure why. Good day though. 

AM: 5 miles. Apparently it was like 15 degrees outside but it wasn't windy or anything so it didn't feel that bad.

PM: 10 miles and four strides. Felt a lot better than last friday.

17 miles with Bryce up the canyon (get it?) Cold but it wasn’t the end of the world and the wind could’ve been worse. We did about 6:30s. Then I did yoga afterwards. If I were a professional athlete I would definitely spend like 45 minutes a day with yoga. It’s pretty nice. Well I feel good right now. Which is good because I need to get fast. The only way out of my situation is to get really fast. Right now like everyone at BYU is totally “ballin” to use terminology from my coach. Three guys broke the indoor school record yesterday. Hopefully my training goes well and in March I can run fast! 

AM: 6 miles

PM: 11 miles. Four strides. Weights since I’m going to a show tomorrow. Feeling good.

Right now I don't know if I am coughing because of my sickness or the fieldhouse haha. Anyway we did 1000 repeats on the indoor track with 90 seconds rest. Isaac told me if I felt good I could do 10. Interestingly, this is the second week in a row that due to lack of time to think about and calculate paces, I significantly underestimated how fast I should go based on current fitness and where I want to go. I was planning on 3:05s based on what he told us but then he said he wanted me to do 3 flats, and I'm glad he did. I wasn't preparing myself mentally for 10 so I did 8. Idk what my times would have been had I done 10. (2:58, 3:00, 2:58, 2:59, 2:59, 3:00, 3:00, 2:56)

It started dumping snow right before I left on my run. I really need a baseball cap to keep rain and snow out of my face for runs like these. But today I decided to run indoors. Thankfully there was a treadmill available, and a fan, which made it a little better. I am grateful for treadmills on days like today!

I have a lot to be grateful for. As soon as I got the text what our workout was, I looked at the weather and realized I needed to go run right after my review at noon before the weather got too yucky (I love rain, just not during workouts). Sure enough, it wasn't that bad as I ran but right afterward it really started pouring. I went to Orem again. Again, I faced some wind. It was never like "wow what I am even doing right now" but it wasn't easy either, especially on the way back. 8 mile progressive tempo. I ran (5:26, 5:18, 5:13, 5:17, 5:18, 5:16, 5:16, 5:09). I did have to stop to uh, get something at two miles to go, but that didn't take too long. The good thing is at least I finished strong. 5:16 overall. Not quite as fast as I had hoped but under the conditions, we'll take it and have faith that I'll get faster moving forward. 

What a beautiful day! I am so grateful that I can run, especially on a day like today. I felt a weird soreness in my superior tibia this morning and a little tightness in my right achilles, which reminded me to be grateful that regardless of how my workouts go, at least I am training. 5 miles in the morning nice and slow, 10 miles in the afternoon, also nice and slow. No strides.

Another 85 mile week in the books. I wore my hat and tights because it was supposed to start snowing an hour in to my run. Intstead, it was a gorgeous mostly sunny morning. My achilles felt tight for the first 5 or 8 miles but then it felt better. By the end I still felt sore but I felt good. 6:10 average. Time to recover from this tough week (13 miles of workout!) and get ready for a lower mileage next week.

11 miles. It was pretty nice weather out actually. The sun makes a big difference whenever its less than 30 degrees. It felt good. Thankfully, I usually feel fine when I double. I don't get too tired. But this being the first Monday since early December where I haven't doubled, it felt really good. I had to slow myself down to stay at 7 minute pace. Four strides. No right achilles pain, I will ice my patellar tendon though.

We did one hard mile, 8 min rest, then 8 by 200 w/ 2 min rest, and 5 min rest after one in the middle. I ran the mile in 4:21. I went out in 48!!! That's 4 flat place!! Holy crow. Then I was at 1:39 after two laps, and 3:26 after four laps. I FINALLY got that mile/1500 PR that has eluded me since I ran it in 2013 as a 16 year old. Now, if I had people to run against, flats to wear, and had raced, I think right now I'm in 4:10-4:12 shape at sea level. Not bad to be that fast off of just strength. If my 5K doesn't go well in San Fran, I definitely will plan on training for the Robby mile in late April. Sadly, afterwards I felt like garbage, but it was because of the fieldhouse air. I felt nauseous and like I was being stabbed in the trachea. Possibly my worst fieldhouse breath I've ever had. So I needed over 10 minutes rest after that (and not cuz I killed myself on the mile). Then I did the 200s in 29ish, the last two on my own. With that much rest and people to run with they are pretty much cake. 

I skipped lunges and squats today because my patellar tendon still hurt a little after the run.

10 miles. Maybe I've just gotten used to it, but 30 degrees doesn't feel bad anymore. I felt my patellar tendon during the run. I ran really easy. I hope it was just caused by more soreness last week, but I will still do some exercises for it in addition to icing. 

Also- I really want to improve my form/ posture. I don't think it will be easy but I hope it is doable. I think a lot of my issues- forward shoulders, raised shoulders, arms swinging from side to side, are related. If I can fix one, I think I will be on my way to fixing others. So today I focused on lowering my shoulders and swinging my arms forward. It was tough, and didn't feel like I was being more efficient, but if I want to look like Bernard Lagat when I run instead of Mary Cain, with all the physiological benefits that includes, then I have to do this. I hope to make it such a habit that I will finally run that way in workouts and races, too.

Every once in a while you have a really trashy workout, no matter how good of shape you are in. Today was one of those days. My legs just felt zapped. I was supposed to do 4:54 mile, 2:50 K, 62 400, 2:12 800 w/ 90 secs rest, followed by 6 min recovery and then all over again. Instead I ran (4:56, 2:56, 64, 2:20) (4:58, 3:03, 66, 2:17). Yep. Also my patellar tendon hurt so I didn't do exercises that involve the knee a lot. I did do some eccentric knee drop things I looked up. I'm grateful that I can run, that I could use the indoor track, that it didn't destroy my lungs again, that I am healthy and fit, that I have great support from coaches and teammates- I have a lot to be thankful for. Looking back the only thing I would have changed that I had control over is that I wish I was more mentally tough in accepting that it wasn't going to be an insanely good workout but not thinking about how bad it was the whole time.

Today since I’ve felt pretty banged up the past couple days I decided to run on the treadmill since it was cold outside. I’m glad I did since it also started snowing! Thankfully I had the fan which worked really well so I didn’t get super sweaty. My knee and Achilles’ tendon hurt but felt better than I expected. I was actually able to get in a few strides as well.

And that’s a wrap on my short week. It was 14 degrees supposedly when I woke up but the sun was out and I ended up taking off my hat again. 6:09s. I felt a little tired at times. I talked to my dad about anemia and hemochromatosis which he has. I highly doubt I have iron deficiency (if anything I have too much like he does). But we’ll see. Now I get to recover and prep for my Tuesday workout. My patellar tendon and Achilles’ tendon are definitely on their way up! 

AM: 5 miles. Maybe I slept weird on it or something but my back was hurting really bad.

PM: 11 miles. This felt significantly better. My strides still hurt though so I only did three. Super nice day.

4 by 1600 on the outdoor track. It was SOO nice today, even at 5:00! I didn't know if I was going to be able to do the workout until I started it because of my back. Miraculously, I was alright. I ran (4:39, 4:43, 4:42, 4:39). Four and a half minute rest with six after the second rep. So while I'm so grateful I was able to run, after doing some more research on plant based diets and iron defficiency, I am more concerned about this issue, and I might investigate it. To rest my back, I didn't do squats today. Tomorrow I start work as a wellness coordinator! Only 7 hours a week for now. Hopefully I can balance it. 

It was raining as I first got going but then it cleared up and was soo nice!! Felt good too. My back is feeling much better. My dad is going to call in a blood test for me. 

Good news, my back isn't all the way better but today I forgot to take ibuprofen, which is a good sign. I did a 10-5-3-2-1 fartlek. I was thinking about doing some of it on the track. But I decided against it. This makes it a lot easier. So I don't really know how I did. Afterwards my patellar tendon was feeling a bit tender so I didn't do power cleans because of that and my back. My workouts have been tiring but right now the mileage is giving me no qualms. I'm going to have to hold myself back to stick to 83 this week.

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.

I got to run the Bonneville shoreline trail for the first time this year again! Yipee! Right now I am trying to balance between staying in shape and getting ready to prep for the mile in less than a month and also getting some much needed recovery. The plan is to do a light workout on Thursday.

11 miles in the rain. Beautiful day. 4 strides. I did some weights. This will be my only lifting day this week so I did lots of stuff, but not everything. I felt good, I had to hold myself back a bit. That's exactly what I would hope for.

10 miles running every grass loop we could. It was nice to run with the guys and shake it up a bit. 

I'm not sure how I feel about today. Well for one, in my first workout since I went down to sea level, I REALLY felt the lack of oxygen. In between reps that was the major issue. I'm not sure what the interplay between lactic acid buildup and oxygen availability are, hopefully I learn in Exercise Phys. Anyway, it was 4 by 8, 1 by 4, and 4 by 2, but I only ran 2 8s because Isaac and I both wanted me to take it chill today. 2:10, 2:11, 61, 29, 28, 28, 28. Not bad for on my own. 3:45 rest in between the 8s (long story), then 2:30 rest and 2 min between everything else. 

Long run today because of conference tomorrow in Salt Lake. It didn't feel like a long run, just a longer normal run. That's fine with me. 

10 miles after priesthood session. After sitting around all day it felt GREAT to be on my feet. 

11 miles up in the mountains on north shoreline and south shoreline. 3 strides felt pretty good.

Rainy day. Wind wasn’t terrible. It was super nice to do a short workout. Aidan came. 3 by 300 w/ 2 min rest, 6 min rest then all over. (44, 43, 42) (44, 44, 42). Then some solid weights afterward. Strength is important for the mile. 

Ten miles on the treadmill. It was cold and windy outside. My achilles felt pretty dang good actually. 

Andrew wasn't there so I was supposed to lead the whole thing. 8 by 400 w/ 90 secs rest. It was nice outside for sure, but pretty windy on the backstretch. I ran 61, 61, 61. Then the wind picked up on the fourth one and I struggled to a 63. After that I just lost it and ran 63, 63, 63 (Will and Scotty led these). Closed in 61. It's too bad, I know I'm in much better shape than that. On my "good" days I feel like I could have averaged 60-61 instead of 62. I think the altitude has still got me a bit. 

Carterville. On the bright side, my achilles and knee felt good. Also, I literally felt like I had an extra gear on my strides. It must be the speed work. I went pretty fast. Sadly, I felt a little fatigued today. 

15 miles in the afternoon. Felt a little lighter on my feet today, ran about 6:05 pace. 

10 miles felt good! Three strides. 

Wow... Rainy day but it mostly stopped by the time of our workout, so it wasn't like last Tuesday. 4 by 200 with about two minutes of rest (funny how when Isaac said he didn't care much about our rest is when we took less rest). Then we did a 3 mile progressive run around campus. We hit 27 on the first one which was faster than I expected. Then our pacer was slow and we ran a 29 on the second. Then I put my spikes on. I immediately felt a difference. My legs were just flying. I ran 26 flat on the first one and then asked to lead again and ran that one in 25. That felt good! The 3 miles we did in 6 flat (uphill), 5:17 (downhill), then I'm not sure on the last one, maybe 5:10ish. I didn't have a watch and I was in front, otherwise I would have gone faster. 

9 miles. Three strides.

Felt a little sick. Given that, it was a solid time trial. Andrew got in the way a bit since we forgot to communicate about where he would get off. So I probably had a 1:54 in me with that in mind. That's pretty good at altitude! Especially since I felt like I was just running through glue at the end- I simply don't have enough speed work under my belt to really slam dunk that. 

10 miles on a very warm and beautiful day. Strides.

14 miles on geneva. 6:13 pace. Sore hamstrings for some reason. Also, my shoulder were tense. I tried to relax them. Maybe they were contracting isometrically. 

10 miles. 3 strides. 

10 minute “tempo”- 5 minute pace through the lap, then a jog back to the lane 8 start. Overall I hit 3200 in 10:22. Then a good break, and two 400s in 60, 60. 2 min rest between. Then a 300 in 42 (into the wind), a 200 in 28 flat, and a 200 where we increased speed up to the halfway mark and then sprinted. Isaac got me at 12.2 but that is probably quite inaccurate. I did feel like I could have better 100 speed. It’ll come. Light weights. Gotta run a 4:08 on Saturday to make the team. My goal is, unlike last race, to go out in a what is necessary to at least give myself a shot!!!

10 miles. Warm outside. 

2 by 400 and 2 by 200. I wanted to simulate race day and practice running my first lap. My first was 62 high. Uh oh. The second one I have about the same effort and thought “there’s no way I can hold this for four laps on Saturday”. Luckily, that one was a 59 so I don’t have to hold it for that long! That may have been the most controlled sub 60 I’ve ever run. It still is hard to beleive I can run four 61.8s in a row, but every race I feel that way! So I’m going to try to go out that hard so I can allow it to actually happen.

Didn't feel amazing tbh. Four strides. Maybe it was because I ran in the morning.

Well, I got my rear end kicked today. I was way more nervous then normal. I'm not sure why. I definitely need to do everything I can to decrease sympathetic tone before future races, as I naturally get more nervous than I need without trying. I was 62, then 2:06, then I don't know. It was a bummer. But everyone is entitled to a bad race. I just can't let this affect my confidence. I should at least be able to run a 4:12 in good conditions, even if a 4:10 is maybe a little better than I am. So now I have to decide whether to continue my season and run the last chance meet, or call it quits. After the race I threw up a bit. It was really nice to have my brother and his friends come along with my girlfriend and her roommate. Plus my family got to watch it online. Too bad I didn't run well lol. 

10 miles. 

So I heard from Isaac last night that the last chance meet isn’t really happening. That’s too bad. On the flip side, apparently Eyestone actually wants me to be on the team this fall. That’s cool! For now I’m planning on finishing the season with an 800 time trial this Saturday. So it was kind of weird that we did Ks today. I was supposed to run 2:55. I went out in 64 ha. Then I just chilled to a 2:49 and was surprised how easy that was. We had a bit less than three minutes rest between every rep. Then I did 2:53 and 2:52. I wish I had someone to pace me on the 400s. I ran the first one in 57. Then 61, 62, and 60.

10 miles, shortened carterville loop. Three strides. Once again, today I felt like I should have been tired but wasn’t. I feel blessed.

It was just me and Josh at the workout this morning. It was cold when we started but thankfully the sun came up quickly. Just 4 by 2. It’s really hard to tell with 200s how well you did. I didn’t run anything scorching fast, but not was it a dead out sprint effort either. 27, 27, 26, 27. 

Ran with Josh this morning. Hope things go well tomorrow!

And that's a wrap to the season. Ran a 1:55.6 in the 800 at our time trial. Went through halfway in 55. I was bummed to see that only converted to a 1:55.1 at sea level. With competition and a better track maybe I have a 1:53 in me but probably no faster than that. Now it's time for XC TRAINING!!!!!! I'm kind of excited because even though your improvement is still out of your hands, I feel like there is more you can do to influence how good you will be in distance running than in mile/800 stuff. I don't think I will be breaking 1:47 anytime soon, but running a 13:45 5K next year? I can see that. 

7 easy miles with Josh.

7 easy miles (with Josh) 

7 miles easy with Josh

7 miles alone. I haven’t been sleeping the best. Idk why. I must have been very restless last night or something because somehow one of my blankets ended up falling off my bed. 

7 miles with Josh

10 miles, left Achilles actually itched a bit. That’s not good. It shouldn’t be happening with this little impact, hopefully it goes away. I can’t wait to start running more. I just don’t have that awesome feeling you get after running 17 miles on a Saturday morning, you know? 

Starting to run a little longer. Nice warm evening on the river trail. I ran twice by a very friendly guy. Some people don’t like talking or acknowledging you whatsoever, but I need to still be friendly because it means a lot to some of us! Still a little scratchy in the Achilles.

Yay! I finally figured out my sleep problem. 9 miles this morning with Josh. Strength. 

8 miles today after the bike tune-up

9 miles with Josh. 

Run in the rain with Josh 

12 miles with Josh on Geneva. Surprisingly it felt pretty easy to talk even when we were going 6:10-6:20 pace the second half. That was nice.

Last night I got engaged! In hindsight, I am not sure why I told Josh I would be ready to run at 7:40. I didn't get to bed until about 12:40 haha. SO WORTH IT.

New run with Josh. We sort of got lost and ended up having a good time anyway.

Still feel a little tired each day. I even yawn when we stop. It’s weird because last night I got over eight hours of sleep. Maybe if I am more consistent with sleep it’ll be better.

Carterville with Josh. Did strides afterward! Used Bryce’s weights for back stuff.

Pretty tough run up on Bonneville shoreline. 

Nice run with josh. The sun was already up. We ran to Murdock canal trail. I got tired on the way back, maybe because I’m not used to this much mileage in 24 hours (having run yesterday afternoon) and maybe because I was dehydrated. Felt good other than that though. 6:30s.

AM: 10 miles. The river trail is really nice right now. 

PM: 5 miles. Just kind of slogged through it. I’m not used to doubling yet. 

10 miles with Josh. Strides.

Felt good today. Ran with Josh and Conner was there for the first part. 

Ten miles, strides. Weights felt good at Lib square. Gotta take care of this plantar fasciitis.

It might just be me, but I feel like I am starting to get back into the flow a little more. The same can't be said for my side planks. I need to do those more often. No plantar pain which was good.

Today’s long run was a lot different from last week. I kept wanting to go faster but Josh wasn’t taking the bait haha. Probably a good thing. I’m glad that I’m getting itchy to go fast. That’s right where I want to be. Utah Valley marathon this morning.

AM: 10 miles with Josh, including five strides. 

PM: 5 miles. One of the reasons I realize having a training partner is so good is that they keep you relaxed and not too focused on running. That sounds weird but it’s true- you shouldn’t be thinking about running all the time (which if you only think about while you run, feels like all the time when you’re running 80 mile weeks). Anyway. Achilles’ tendon feeling a little bit.

AM: 10.5 miles w/ Josh. Weights.

PM: 5 miles. Hot.

I ran. No strides today since I had work at 9.

Sarah and I are headed to St. George today so I did my long run this morning. Josh wanted to come to which was nice. I was just telling him how I love storms and I wouldn’t mind personally if it was a thunderstorm on my wedding day and right then it started raining on us. He told me I got my wish haha. Interesting weather, it was pouring on us for a bit. Oh by the way, SHOUTOUT TO BYU!!!!! 1-3-4 at 10K nationals last night. That’s insane. Like, insane. 

Easy miles along a bike path in St. George. Everyone is really friendly here. 

My first workoutish thing. I just ran a casual fartlek. Maybe eight hard minutes total. Felt good.

AM: 10 miles, four strides, core

PM: 5 miles. 

Nice Run. 6:50 pace. Weights. 

AM: 10 miles and strides with J

PM: 5 miles. 

Good morning workout on Carterville road. We did a 2-5 fartlek. 2 min on, 5 off. Based on what josh was hitting, it looks like I was usually in the 4:20-4:25 pace range. I was kind of surprised at first, but then again, my goal isn’t to break 16 in the 5K this year. That was very appropriate in terms of pace based on my goals this year. Weights.

10.25 and strides. Legs felt tired for the first half.

17 mile long run. We both felt very dehydrated by the end. We made it a good way up onto Murdock canal trail. Sometime it would be fun just to do 17 or 18 miles straight and have a car waiting at the end. I think we were averaging somewhere in the 6:20 range. 

AM: 10 miles, strides, core.

PM: 6 miles. I accidentally went a little longer and ran a ways with Larsen, a friend of mind who I bumped into while running.

I shadowed a PA this morning so I ran in the evening. Felt a little tired tbh.

AM: 10 miles, 5 strides. 

PM: 5 miles. 

Not sure quite how far I went, the deal was I wouldn’t keep track of pace until next week. I did feel a little tired at the beginning of my 3-3 fartlek. I think I need to be getting more sleep. One thought I had though is that the past couple weeks have both included “chill” workouts, not anything where I pushed myself too hard. I think for my psychological well-being it might be nice to keep it that way. In the past I have always gone crazy on workouts, I would probably be wise to pull back a bit, at the very least until I run with the team. 

Felt a little tired. Weights felt great though.

I slept better last night. I had the windows wide open since it was cool outside. I got to bed late so I kind of had to hurry on my run (which was on my own)- like 6:00 pace hurry. Unfortunately, I was surprised at how difficult it was. I mean, I was certainly in control and could have gone faster, but I wasn't "holding myself back". Hmm. Time for some good sleep (averaged only 7.5 hoursish this week anyway) and some good work next week!

I felt a little fatigued this morning which caused concern. However, about halfway through it went away! Weird. Still, I will try to get a little more sleep and stop going to the cycling class as I had planned. Most of the exhaustion I felt in my quads which I have been pushing pretty hard on the bike anyway. 

AM: 10 miles.

PM: 5 miles.

AM: Cutdown in seven segment of 1.5 miles each on Murdock canal trail. Here are the paces for each segment: 6:14, 6:04, 5:46, 5:40, 5:26, 5:24, 5:19. I ran a little under pace, but was disappointed after expecting something much easier. All I can do is hope I get faster. 

PM: 4.5 miles. Today was quite hot. I also played pickleball at noon. I just felt like I was drinking water all day and constantly needed more!

10 miles, including three strides. Felt pretty alright today.

5:57 pace in the canyon. I should probably back it off a little. 

Had a fun little adventure running in Garland today. I ran by fields, along a canal, and had one of my favorite pastimes- chancing upon a race and joining in. It was only like a mile of the Wheat and Beet days (yes you heard that right) 5k. Windy, but overall a good day. Strides.

Felt really good today actually. I wasn’t going very fast, but when you feel like junk, it doesn’t matter how fast you are going. I’ll shoot for eight hours of sleep again tonight, that might be part of it. 

AM: 10.5 miles.

PM: 4.5 hot miles. Felt good today though. 

Easy Run with five strides. 

Where to begin. My fiancee thought it was a little weird that I knew almost exactly what time I would run and I knew that I was going to get second place. Yesterday at packet pickup I asked a guy to organize the list of entrants by seed pace. There was one guy from Palermo who wrote 4:30, but he was in his 40s so I'm guessing he thought it was for kilometers, not miles. The other guy I noticed was this Jaydn Asay fellow who had run 15:20 in the 5K at UVU several years ago. No problem thought I. I did a little more research and realized this dude had run a 2:22 last year at St. George (I have since seen that he ran 1:07 at the Provo city half marathon to win that). That was when I knew I wasn’t going to get first. It was a bit of a gamble, but I decided not to wear the $80 singlet I had bought, since you can’t return it after wearing it. I did wear the expensive shoes and shorts I had gotten, hoping for second place.

Last night I had a really bad sleep. I wrote a note on the thermostat for my roommmates to not turn off the AC so I could sleep well, which is ironic because after doing that, idk if any of my roommates were even here last night and I woke up starving twice anyway. When I got up at 6, I was starving and stuffed myself more than I should have. That made me nervous as I warmed up, which only serves to slow down your digestion even further. I really believe one reason I did so well last year is because I was SO relaxed. Thankfully, when the race started, I felt fine.

Asay and his teammate got out in front. There was some high school kid that went with them. I was waiting for him to realize how foolish he had been, but by the time we were at 2.5 miles, they had about 25 meters on me and I was already going faster than I wanted to. I first checked my pace at 3 miles, which was a net downhill but still cooking for my current fitness level at 15:02. At this point though, high schooler has fallen off the Runner’s Corner bros and I pass him up. Within another mile, I had passed the other guy, too. After that it was a slog to the finish line. I was able to keep just enough in range of Asay that I got to follow in his wake and not get caught by a million 5K runners running 11 minute mile pace. Actually, said 5Kers were the real MVPs. A lot of them really cheered us on, and several inspired me a lot by yelling at me that I could catch Asay. I think we entertained them which is nice. But I had kind of given up on beating him so I’m glad they encouraged me to keep pushing and at least try to get him.

Long cool down.  

AM: 11 miles with josh. Felt pretty beat up and sore for some reason. 

PM: had to run to work so I only got in 4.5. 

Long run up the canyon. We were both cool with running chill after our tough weeks, so we ended up running 6:41 pace after starting 7:10ish for the first five or six. 

AM: 11 miles. 5 strides. Tbh I was going to forget to do core until I saw Adam doing it. He was doing his long run and was right behind me. 

PM: This was actually a four mile run but I’ll count the 10 mile hike we did as one mile of running. I got home at 10 but being so far north during the summer, it wasn’t dark yet.

11 miles outside of Glacier national park and strides. 

AM: 54321 Fartlek. Felt pretty good. The hills added some nice variety and took the pressure off from trying to run 4:30 pace on the first segment. I went 11.5 miles since it went by so quickly. Seriously, you can do a lot of mileage doing fartleks without thinking about it. 

PM: 4.5 miles. 

11 miles after rafting and horseback riding. I could have been a lot more sore. Four strides into the wind. 

AM: 9 miles. 

PM: 6 mile run near Yellowstone. It was so pretty. Gorgeous sunset and purple clouds. I ran with Adam for the first time which was tons of fun. 

Longest Run ever to end my longest week yet! Ended up going 5:59 pace. Oops, I tried to slow it down after halfway. 

10 miles and strides. My left knee hurt a bit. On the bright side, I ran in like 95 degree weather and didn’t alright. 

10 miles, no strides because it still hurt. 

Did a new version of the lake loop tempo for a power run with Josh. Obviously we had to extend because it is under 5 miles. We also started at a different spot. Mixed feelings. Pros: I ran 5:13 pace for 7 miles. That’s pretty good depending on how you look at it. Last year I was way fit when I was injured and didn’t improve a huge amount during the season. However, senior year and college freshman year for both I was really slow during the summer and got way faster during the season. If that happens to me, I have the potential to be really good. Cons: My tibial tuberosity (I think) hurt. I hope it’s my Osgood-Schlatter’s Disease. I’m not even sure I have it, I self diagnosed and I shouldn’t have it at my age. But it has happened before and went away. Throughout the day it has felt less and less tender. Hopefully it continues to heal as I run easy tomorrow! 

Uh oh. Limped my way through 6 miles. I might have gone less if Josh didn't convince me to try Kiwanis. Upon doing more research I think it really is Osgood Schlatter though, so hopefully me resting it will take care of it!!!

Ran a mile. Then Sarah convinced me to give it a rest. That was hard but it might be a good idea, 

Coach Cummings turned out to be right. I felt much better today. Still felt the knee, but no limp. I even took a break after 30 minutes or so and when I started again, it felt fine. Pain never really went away nor became worse. 

Ran with Josh and Aiden. Didn't feel amazing in the knee, hope it gets better. It was better than Saturday for sure.

Grass loops. Trying to Be patient but I know I can can  more. Today I iced and did some strengthening exercises.

Felt pretty junky at first but it got better. I wasn't limping at all. I even did strides at the end. I think the ice and quad stuff is helping.

I was able to work out today! I ran from the nice country club down University. Should I be grateful for how it went? Yes, I should be grateful. At least I did it! And afterwards I felt just fine (as opposed to last week post workout). The reason I wasn't quite as happy was that I only went 5:05 pace. I was actually quite a bit faster on the way back. There was a headwind which may have been caused by the traffic on the way out. 

Not bad the day after a workout. Feel like I’m on the upswing. 

16 miles with Josh and Aiden. We were all of the accord that we should go slow and averaged 6:50s. It's weird how you will feel tired no matter how fast you go on long runs. I guess that is part of the reason why I am so tempted to tempo them. I know this is probably a lot more helpful for me knee and body though. Hoping my knee finishes healing. 

AM: 11 slow miles with Josh. No strides. 

PM: Felt good enough to double! Yay. It felt so good to double. 

Good day for me, not Josh or Aidan. Aidan had to turn around early since he wasn't feeling it. Josh's leg was hurting so he biked to pace me. That stinks and I can totally relate but it was nice having him be there. 60 min progression run, started at about 6:10 pace and worked it down. Never doing Carterville again for this, too many stops. Having said that, I worked my way down to 5 flat pace the last 10 minutes and it looks like I did 5:14s the last 10K overall. 

Easy grass miles with Josh. Then again, Kiwanis is never easy no matter how slow you go. 

AM: Workout. I almost worked out with the team. It was weird timing cuz we got up early to run which made it actually possible for me to go with them when Isaac texted me that morning, but I was late. I actually don't regret it in hindsight because I wasn't really feeling it. I didn't mean to go hard anyway since I wasn't used to working out twice a week. They took off pretty fast, or at least it felt like that, up the hill on our campus loop. 5:33 first mile, ran the next two in 10 flat or so, including a good bit of downhill. It ended up being pretty hard. Took a break and then did three by three minutes hard with 90 secs rest. I just chilled and didn't push myself too hard. Isaac told us not to do all five. I ran my second two on the grass solo since my knee was hurting. About 5 flat pace for those. 

PM: 4.5 hot miles. Afterward I could taste the salt. 

10.5 miles in the morning on my own. My other knee was hurting with what might be prepatellar bursitis. It wasn't worse on impact I would say, but I decided not to run twice anyway.   

Interesting day. Sarah was running the Wasatch 5K so I drove up to the canyon to see her. I ran around and then started with the group. I basically paced the top guy up the hill. He ran like 19:40 so yeah I wasn’t killing Myself. I ran like a mile with Sarah on the way back. Now I can say I have run with Adam and Sarah, so I feel content haha. Then I ran more after we drove home, and more that afternoon. My knees were doing pretty well so that’s nice. 

AM: 11 miles. Core. 

PM: 5 miles late in the evening. That was the first "night" run I've had in a while. Unlike previous experiences, I was NOT rolling. I was surprised how slow I was. Oh well. No matter how fast you get, you are still capable of running slow. 

AM: Fartlek on the river trail. On the way I out I did 3-3s and 3-2s for the way back. Felt alright. Very rough estimate of 5:50 pace- 4:40 on hard and 7 flat on easy? Idk. 

PM: 5 miles.

11 miles. Knee pain unfortunately. 

Dropped Sarah off at the SLC airport at 5 am so I didn't run in the morning. Actually it worked out well because I felt good running in the evening in the rain. It was quite nice. Plus, I have been super busy with wedding prep and I had this lightbulb idea as I ran past Wilson diamonds that I could pick up her wedding band right there in my short shorts. Yep, miraculously it worked. She put it in a box so I took it home and it was nice and dry. 

AM: 11 miles and a few strides. Woohoo! At times I felt kind of junky but I was able to do the strides fine. 

PM: 5 miles. I felt SO hungry at the end. I LOVE that feeling of just being so hungry and knowing you can eat a ton of food once you get home.

18 miles to end my longest week ever. Grateful for the sabbath to rest these knees! Thankfully my back felt fine even though I threw it out last night. Being in the running position didn't hurt it. Three mile tempo on the way back. The pace seemed off so I must have miscalculated it. Overall it was like 6:19 which seems about right. 

Stressful morning of packing up the last two years of my life. But my run wasn’t stressful. I did 4 by 2k w/ 90 secs rest. I decided to run the lake loop. Then I decided I would start each rep where I finished the last so I could see my overall time and pace accurately. Each rep I did 6:10 hard since that was my pace estimate. At first I felt great. The lake loop always feels fast. At the end though I realized I was cutting it close to my goal and I just felt  like I couldn’t go any faster. I ended up doing the loop in 24:51, with three 90 second rests thrown in. Disappointing but once I get my speed I hope to drop a lot off of that. 

Ran on a beautiful bike trail near Sarah’s house. Strides. It’s super wet here. 

2 mile tempo and then four 800s on Sarah’s track in 2:23-2:25. The humidity accounts for a lot more difficulty than altitude. 

I went the other direction on the bike trail today. Reception today. 

Gray run along the bike path. It felt uphill both ways! Lol. Got married today! 

No one was at the gym this morning. That’s fine because it is tiny. There was one treadmill. Ran strides too. 

8 by k on the treadmill with 90 secs rest. Started at 5:10 pace since on a treadmill that seeemd like light speed but really it wasn’t. Gradually dropped it down until it maxed out at 4:50 pace and I did a mile of that on the last one since I wasn’t too tired. 

Treadmill. Strides. 

4 mile tempo... 5:12 pace?? Was there some mistake? I have never worked out well in medford but that is quite slow. Oh well. 

Did a complete out and back firehouse loop and strides. 

Went to go watch/ pace my brother who had a two mile time trial. He killed it- 10:47 for fourth place on the team. He will have a great season. Ran out of time so I ran a few more miles that evening. 

8 by k w/ 60 secs rest in Mapleton. 

AM: 11 miles and some fast strides. I’m starting to feel it again! 

PM: 5 miles. 

11 miles. Strides. Stopped at the training room to see about camp/ trying out and sadly it is a complicated process that should have been started earlier. Due to circumstances that I wouldn’t say make it my fault or Isaac’s fault, I may not be able to go to camp :/ Oh well. I never have before and that didn’t stop me from getting fast. 

AM: Workout. Went to the track and fresh orientation was crazy but no one was on the track. Ran in the outside lanes because of steeple barier. Supposed to Be 10-5-3-2-1 fartlek, but I did 5-6-4-3-2 or something since I got out in 77 and freaked out because it was hard. Later on I was sub 5 pace but I needed to wake up first. 

PM: 5 

AM: 11 miles and strides 

PM: 4 hot miles that made me excited for dinner. 

Pretty quick, I think sub 6 pace today. I got out really fast for some reason. 

11 miles.

First workout with the team. Thought it would be hobble creek so I had to do the 4 mile grass loops in trainers. 4:54, 4:54, 4:53, 4:54. Good consistency and not bad times considering I was leading the second group for the first three before joining the top group, and the trainers. Could've gone another 800 but didn't want to push too hard. 

AM: 5 miles

PM: 11 miles with team and strides.

Good run. Didn’t sleep well last night so I wasn’t worried but I felt pretty good the whole way. 2 by 3K at Kiwanis (2 loops). I wanted to do another mile but coach said no. Interesting contrast from previous attempts to make the team where I felt like I was pushing myself way too hard, these first two workouts have been way under control. Ran with Jake and Garnica on the first one, then followed Mantz on the second. 5 flat pace more or less. 

AM: 5 miles 

PM: 11 miles and strides. Felt a little wonky with a headache and legs. 

18 miles around 3:00 because of my grandparents’ funeral. Rough go. Afterwards I felt kind of sick. I stopped for water three times, I literally don’t think I would have made it if I hadn’t. Good thing tomorrow is Sunday. 

10 by 1k... Thought we had 90 seconds rest but it was only 60. Flotrack came to film. It was pretty rough but I was smart and also felt blessed that I didn't go crazy early because if your legs are burning during that before the end, you will drop way off the pace. I'm glad I did all ten. 3:06, 3:07, 3:08, 3:07, 3:08, 3:07, 3:08, 3:07, 3:08, 3:06. The top group started dropping me but at least it was because they were speeding up, not because I was slowing down. 

AM: 4 miles 

PM: 11 miles. 

The rain was pouring today and coming off a hot week, no one was really prepared for it. I don’t have any more gear here so I started my warm up on the indoor track. We did mile, 1200, 800 w/ 3-5 minutes rest. First two on the grass, 800 on the track. I ran 4:54, 3:35, 2:13 the first set and 4:49, 3:32, and 2:12 on the second. I started feeling better towards the end at the same time as the weather started clearing up. I’m really glad to be on a good team finally. I am in a great spot right now where I have the chance to claw my way into that top pack. I’d really like to. 

AM: 4 miles.

PM: 11 miles.

Course preview. Perfect timing! I got my new shoes today. I like the Peg 36s.

I woke up at 7:15 and stuffed myself so I could run t 10:30. Bad idea. Always better to undereat than overeat. I felt full all the way up through the race. Oh well. We went out way fast. By lap two I was kind of slogging through it. I don't think anyone would say this was their best performance. I still passed a couple people even though I was dying. Will beat me right at the end so I was 13th overall, 10th on the team. Nothing to be ashamed of. On to the next one!

AM: 5 miles.

PM: 11 miles. I began to feel a hitch in my knee. Could it be the Pegs I am wearing? Idk.

Hobble Creek. It was good weather today. I did a good job making sure to not overeat beforehand, but what made today hard was that we went out fast- the "warmup" accelerated to 5:40 pace by the time it was over. Part way through I started to feel sick to my stomach. Around 34 minutes though I felt a second wind and was able to catch Garett. He and I ran together the last ways. It hurt, but I didn't wreck myself like I did a couple years ago. I ran 46:53. That's a two minute PR, about 5:40 pace up the canyon I think.

I was worried about my knee so I only ran once. 

Ouch. Last time I went into a workout not feeling so hot, I did great. Today I didn’t feel so hot, and I didn’t do so hot. We did the Michigan. Started with a 4:37 mile. I felt smacked and ran 5:15 on the tempo. Then I limped through a 3:36 1200. 5:13 mile. 2:23 800. Coach then had me run just an 800. 2:29. On the bright side, I think this break was needed and useful. With a few extra minutes rest, I ran a 63 400 and then closed in 4:57 hurting but feeling like I could do more. Maybe it was hobble, maybe it was just a bad day. You are allowed to have bad workouts, just not two in a row. Time to rest up! 

Felt sick still so I only ran once. 

Long run out to Hobble Creek canyon. Feeling better today.

Workout today. 3 by 2 mile at intramural. Wheel took 20+ seconds onto our time compared to watches. Oh well. I ran 10:13, 10:13, then coach had us run one mile (4:56), sit an 800 out, and then finish the last 8 (2:25). That felt like a jog. It wasn't a breakout workout, but nor was it terrible. Felt great to be back on it.