Ethan Cannon

AM: 10 miles. A little knee pain.

PM: 4 miles treadmill, knee still sensitive. 

Tired, but glad my knee felt good. I had to sacrifice skiing today and doing my run on RoxyAnn to take care of it, but you've gotta do what you gotta do. 

AM: 11 miles. It was supposed to dump rain but only sprinkled. Loved it! 

PM: 5 miles.

Unfortunately I probably can't double today cuz I am traveling home this afternoon. My last run in Oregon was a 5 mile tempo by the church. 5:08 pace isn't too shabby actually since you are almost always running uphill or downhill. My goal had just been to go faster than a couple weeks ago. 

AM: Accidentslly slept in so I almost missed my COVID test and doctors appt but it felt so good. 5 miles.

PM: 11 miles. Not too cold actually.

AM: 4 miles. 
 

PM: Workout. Relatively warm actually, like over 40 degrees. I'm surprised the snow hasn't melted yet in Mapleton. I did Mile-1200-800 times 2 with equal recovery. It was my first hard run back at altitude right after I had a cavity filled and I had already run this morning, so I didn't have high expectations other than staying healthy. I ran [4:43, 2:17 through 800, 2:19] and [4:43, 2:18 through 800, 2:18] on the bike path. It felt like it was supposed to feel. 

10 miles in the morning because I accidentally slept in long enough that it wasn't too cold outside when I went running. Because of my gastroc strain, I am calling off my afternoon run. 

Ran nice and slow, and pretty long, which made it the longest time I've ever run. Hopefully my gastroc feels better by monday. 

5 miles prior to my class, then four after. My calf felt pretty good, especially before class. 

Came to practice late because I was standing in line to get my textbooks for so long... glad it worked out! Really my only goal was to stay healthy. I didn't have time to really do treatment before the workout. We'll see how things feel tomorrow, but as of the workout today I was really pleased, my calf didn't feel bad. I did do the 400 on the grass to be careful. I really kept it under control today and felt good that it was the easiest Michigan I feel like I've done. A little ice on the course and wearing trainers might have slowed it down a bit.

Track 1600, 1200, 800, 400: [4:33, 3:25, 2:13, 63 effort) Grass 4 x mile: [5:05, 4:58, 4:54, 4:47]. 

Wow. My calf felt totally fine on the run today! Huge blessing. Also, it was so warm outside. Like 48 degrees. Loved it.

Pre race 800, 400, 400, 200, 200 in 2:12, 61, 61, 28, and 28 as I remember. Could have felt a little easier. Oh well.

6 miles, strides.

Well, that was that. I was going for 8:22.5 which is 67 second pace and on-track with the continued improvements I want to make, but I am happy to have gotten a PR (8:15 conversion I think). I wore Victory's for the first time. My calves hurt after the race! I don't think they are terribly different from the Matumbos though. I was a little nervous/sick beforehand but felt fine during the race. I have another health problem I will mention more next week when I figure out what it is next week, but thankfully that didn't bother me either during the race. Looking forward to doing a cross race at a longer distance. 

AM: 11 miles. Felt ok. Warmer outside than it could have been.

PM: 5 miles. 

8 by k on a beautiful day at intramural. Just chilled in the pack, although I did speed up on the last one because I was feeling good. Eight just isn't that bad. (3:07, 3:05, 3:03, 3:03, 3:00, 3:03, 3:00, 2:56). 
 

Also, I saw the doctor today. We are getting an MRI so no certainties yet but I thought it was a hernia and turns out if it is, it's small. Plus it felt better today. So that's good news!

AM: 5 miles

PM: 10 miles. Beautiful weather. Felt a little tired and sore in my adductor at times, including strides. Gotta be conservative tomorrow.

2 by 2 mile at Intramural field, but it was supposed to feel like we could do 3 reps. It was a good day to do a chill workout cuz I was just feeling pretty tired and trashy today. So I just fell in with the group and didn't ever "pull the trigger", just ran. So I could have done one more for sure but today wouldn't have been a good day for a race. I ran 10:08 and 10:00ish but that doesn't really mean much cuz the measuring wasn't official at all.  

Lazy Friday has gone too far- I was part way into my run when I realized I was also unintentionally skipping class. Oops. I had also scheduled my MRI later in the day with the plan to go shopping afterwards, which would have meant skipping my other class! Just cuz I don't have to be in school in person today doesn't mean I don't have to be in school! Oh well. I ran home and made it in time for the second half of Stats, then I did the last four miles. 

I'll admit that the past 24 hours have not been my favorite ones of all time. After thinking I had a hernia, I started feeling better and the doc even said he didn't feel a big lump. My hopes came crashing down unexpectedly last night when I got a text from my trainer that my MRI indicated I have a pubic bone injury. 
Ouch. 
Well, such is life, even when you're a senior in the best shape of your life. I haven't had a meeting with the doctor yet so idk what to do now really. I swam 64 laps in 79 minutes (including some short breaks)  mostly switching between freestyle, back, and breaststroke, and just the former two at the end. That's about 2 miles I think. 

Things keep on changing. Today it looks like my season may happen after all. I'm trying to not get my hopes up. But hopefully I find out some good information tomorrow. 

AM: 1 mile swimming (32 laps in 38ish minutes)

PM: 60 min or so on the bike. It was really hard to keep at it and keep my heart rate up. 

Indoor track workout. Felt ok. 4 by mile, equal rest. 4:38, 4:38, 4:37, 4:37.

8, felt better than yesterday. 

3 mile tempo on lake loop. We got to two miles at 10:00 and it was so easy. Idk how long I could have held it. But it doesnt matter, cuz then we turned around and I finished in 5:08 or so, and it was pretty hard. The wind was very strong. Oh well.

9 miles, feeling better. 

10 easy miles. Felt good, especially for the first 8 miles.

Race today. Positive side was that I won the race and had a nice kick at the end. Feels great to be able to race despite the bone problem. Solid PR. However, going off of time I was our 6th man today, and we had a bunch of guys right in that range (like 5 through 11 I think) plus a couple others that didn't finish the race and would have been there as well. But there was a big gap behind our fourth man, and I don't think we'll beat NAU in March unless someone really steps up. I hope someone does, but all I can do is keep training and try to stay healthy in case it's me. Also- maybe I need to run with more confidence because at 6k my mental state was not good. I was hurting (which is very normal) and didn't have a lot of confidence to take the lead or anything. I just hung on until literally the last minute.

We ran Bonneville shoreline. I shouldn't have gone up there, my achilles didn't feel great which shouldn't have surprised me the day after running a race in spikes. Darn it. Hopefully I'll feel better by Thursday. 

Achilles still felt a little sore, hopefully better tomorrow. 

Cold day at Kiwanis. I was quick to think that I wasn't feeling very fast on our 800s (I ran about 2:31-2:33 on each of them, although they were long), and was a little frustrated by that, but I should just be grateful that I was able to work out! I had my achilles taped today. Hopefully I can get back up to full speed. Coached pulled me after 5 reps. 

10 miles, felt ok. 

Meant to go really slow today for the achilles which was pretty tight last night. Thankfully I felt a little better for most of the run (although I did feel some tenderness and pelvic sensitivity toward the end) and ended up gonig 6:19 pace, going a touch faster on the way out when it was downhill of course.

Beautiful day. I didn't feel great. Doctor says I will need surgery but it is not pressing. He also gave me some advice to stretch but not lift. Achilles were pretty chill though. 

6 by 400. I was worried about my Achilles but miraculously it went ok, pubic bone was alright too. 60, 60, 60, 60, 60, 59. Should've done the last one in 60 cuz I was redlining a little bit, but the other ones felt pretty good for being 60s. Just gotta recover now for Friday. 

I'm guessing I ran 10 miles today...

6 miles around this lake and strides. 

Race day! I went out in last place. I thought I was going a good pace! Like seriously, if you end up doing 67s, isn't a 67 first lap ok? Haha. I should probably work on getting out better anyway. I'm actually not sure of my splits. I kept hearing like 69 cuz they would time it from the first person of the second group. Felt pretty good until right about one mile. It was on that 400 that I distinctly remember starting to feel bad. I thought I hit one mile in about 4:32 which was on target, but I didn't think I'd be able to speed up enough like I had intended. For the next several laps I was hanging on for dear life. If you watch the video, you can tell I was off the chase pack. I literally didn't feel like I could make up the few meters without overdoing it. And this is only my second track 5K but I remembered the mistakes from my first one, and I was not going easy. It was hard all the way after mile one. I reached a turning point around 2 or 2.25 miles though because I realized that although I was hurting, the hurting wasn't unbearable. So I was able to keep grinding. I remember seeing 13:13 with a lap to go. Knowing we had hit previous laps in about 52 (I thought I had heard that) I thought I might have a shot at sub 14. I ran so hard and felt like I threw myself across. Did it! 

I was wearing the new dragonflys. They felt really springy and good. Its hard to feel good about yourself because idk how much slower I would've been without them. Last year I would have been No. 41 in the NCAA, but a better comparison might be next year to see what a 13:59 would rank me. Anyway, good race. Really exciting to be part of something so special- we had three guys break 13:30 which should be unbelievable but it's not cuz I know them. All 9 of us ran 14:10 or faster.

14 treadmill miles cuz it was snowing like crazy. Our flight got cancelled and now we are stuck here. Dang it. But my pelvis felt not bad. 

11 miles in the snow.

I think I can officially say that I am not one of those people who bounces back super quick from hard races. I felt ok at first doing indoor mile repeats. On the third mile I started feeling kind of juiced, so I'm glad coach only had us do 3. The pace didn't feel too hot, I was just tired. 4:38, 4:37, 4:37. 

10 miles after the snow storm. Pelvis felt good. At this rate I might be able to double again. We'll see. 

3 by 2 mile workout on a half mile path mostly clear of snow around the track complex. I wore my new Next% shoes to try them out and gauge if I'll want to wear them in future races. The workout went well, so either I felt good or they felt good, or probably a little of both haha. 9:53, 9:41, 9:34 were the splits, although idk if they were a full two miles. 5 min recovery. 

Had a terrible sleep last night. Felt pretty gross and tired today, but it wasn't super bad. 

Long run. Ran slow on my own, fast with the team. I just wanted to chill cuz I need to recover. 

Went faster than I should have for pre race. 800, 400, 400 in 2:08, 60, 58.

6 miles. Strides. Really warm today. 

Raced in the late morning. Was stressed beforehand because my wife was going into labor, also didn't get a good sleep at all for the past few nights, but the real reason I felt like trash was my stomach hadn't digested everything and I was dry heaving / wanting to throw up. Thankfully I actually just felt ok without puking because it was also hot outside and fluids were important. I made a goal to be top 10 the night before and got 10th place. Now I'm a dad too. Big day!

10 miles, given the circumstances, could've felt a lot worse. 

Felt tired. I forgot that it takes me almost a week to recover from races these days. 

15 miles. Felt kind of junky after a bad night last night. It was baby's first night home and that was kind of rough. We are hoping for a better night tonight; I really do need to get better sleep.

10 miles. Tired.

Yikes. Legs felt very juiced today. This was not a good workout. 4 by 1200 at Kiwanis, averaging like 3:37 but that's not really relevant. I was just tired. I have to continue recovering and stuff. I'm very grateful for my wife and mom who are willing to pull some extra weight with the baby to make that happen. 

Felt a little better than yesterday. Got another good sleep last night, but I was still tired during the day. I'm glad to have another recovery day tomorrow and hope I can take advantage and get more hours of sleep in. 

More sleep, still feeling tired. But I felt fine during school today. I'm glad my mom and wife have let me get so much sleep! 

10 by K. It wasn't wheel measured so it may have been short. Also I was wearing flats. I just still feel tired. Its frustrating because I have been getting good sleeps recently, so I want my legs to feel normal again. I know that when they feel normal I will be good to go. I pulled it after 6 because trying to keep up with the pack was pushing me farther than I wanted to go. 2:59, 3:01, 2:59, 3:00, 2:58, 2:59. 

11 windy miles. No major difference from this week.

5 by 800 at Kiwanis. One uphill (2:22, if it even matters), one partly downhill (2:16), one uphill (2:26), bathroom break (yeah, didn't feel so good), then one downhill (2:13) and downhill (2:15). The last two made me feel much better about what had been a tough workout thus far because they were downhill and I had missed a rep to use the bathroom. Oh well. 

10 miles. Even though I didn't sleep amazing last night, I felt more loose and energized than I have since conference. Yay!

Felt pretty good. 

Workout day. We went at 2 which was great cuz it started snowing later! 66, 62, 65, 63, 66, 62, 66, 61 alternating grass and Track 400s. Getting stoked about race. 

8 miles. More humid than I thought. Oklahoma is beautiful in its own way. Rainy run. 

AM: 3 miles.

PM: 6.5 miles on the course. It was pretty humid, but the fact that it wasn't hot tempered it. It will be a very interesting course. Pretty hilly. Hopefully that favors me and us. 

NCAAs. Weird day because it was very warm, but so windy that I was freezing in the morning. Our women won which is absolutely incredible of them. Then we stepped up to the line. We started out with the wind at our back and running downhill. So it was going to be blazing fast. I just did not feel comfortable going out any faster than I did- 2:47 through the first kilometer, in about 240th place. Yep. Clayson was just ahead of me which was a little concerning but nothing too serious yet. Turns out at the time we were doing great as a team (in the lead through the first couple kilometers). I passed people pretty fast, but not as fast as I needed to. And it was disappointing as the race progressed to hear people still yell out that we were like 140th or so. At a certain point, I passed Clayson and eventually came up on Aidan AND Elijah. I realized that TWO of us would be scoring, which is when I realized our team wasn't doing so hot. The race progressed; I actually did pretty well up the hills. 8:50 at 3k, 15:18 through 5k. I was in about 100th by 6k, and that was the one split I didnt move up in place. My kick at the end wasn't stellar, and it was dissapointing because I saw like 25 people within 15-20 seconds of me at one point, so I wished I could catch them, but didn't. Anyway I saw myself catching Jackson Mestler and almost got him. 83rd and our third runner because one of our top 3 basically passed out with 400 to go. Tough day. Hopefully things go better from here. Congrats to the other Utah teams who did very well, and NAU who is a better team than us right now, hands down. I hope this fall my teammates can bring home some more hardware. Also- Mantz never gets on the blog these days, but he WON. First American in over a decade (back to Galen Rupp). That's absolutely amazing.

5 miles, thinking about my future in running. Ran pretty quick actually (6:45) but knew full well how slow I would be if I tried working out today!

5 miles.

7 miles. Reminded me of when everything got shut down a year ago. So much has happened since then. 

7 miles.

7 miles. Tempted to go farther, but I resisted. I feel like I am almost over the physical fatigue of nationals. Next week I plan to keep chilling and hopefully get over the psychological fatigue of all the racing. 

8 miles after lab at 6:00. Crazy that it was still light out. That made my day not seem so long, which it was.

9 miles. Everyone else worked out but I am just not ready yet. 

9 miles, planning to start workouts next week. Feeling good. 

AM: First double in a while! Pretty fast, not that I was bouncing with energy, but I did sleep well last night.

PM: 8 miles. Rainy and cold. 

AM: 8 miles fast. (48:30 to the windmills and back, then added extra). 

PM: 5 miles before we went to an Indian place to celebrate Sarah's birthday and graduation. On the way to my brother's apt afterward, we saw someone taking grad pictures. Its crazy to think we are graduating. Amidst all the other life events, I haven't thought about it at all. 

15 miles on the SF trail, 6:03 average. 

Workout today. Actually felt pretty good, nice and in control. We ran on the indoor track because people thought it was too windy outside. 2:11, 2:13, 2:11, 2:10 for 800 and 62, 60 for 400 w/ 3 minutes rest each time. I'm just grateful that after 2 weeks of break, I hopped back in and felt fine. I feel like 2 weeks optimizes physical and psychological rest while also maintaining fitness.

AM: 5 miles. Note that I ran this pretty fast, and using some calculations, started doubting that the turnaround point on my classic morning run was accurate. When I mapped it out, it looks like indeed it was a little short. So I need to definitely go the majority of the way to the curve before turning around. I still ran like 6:40 pace this morning though. 

PM: 8 miles. Today I found out we won't be able to attend one of the races we had planned on in April. That gives me ONE shot at sea level to get a regional qualifying mark, in about a month. That is kind of dissapointing, and puts the pressure on for that one race. But a) I stand by my decision and the reasons for which I made it (I do feel like my body was telling me to take a break) and b) I am no stranger to high pressure races. There were probably three or so XC races where my ability to travel to the next race depended on me performing well in the current race. So I need to not sweat it and trust that I will be able to perform well when it counts, even though I've never run a track 10K before (which is what I hope to be able to run). 

10.5 miles.

Don't think it reached 70 degrees but it felt like running in the summer. I worked out with the pro group. I decided to try to hang with them for as long as I could rather than go off of feel (which is not really my style, so I thought it would be good). I dropped off at around 2.5 miles. Hit 3 miles in 14:55ish I think? 25:10 overall for the five miles. The last couple hurt pretty bad. It wasn't the normal lake loop fyi, it was two shorter loops. 

AM: 8 miles, up Hobble Creek for the first time in a while!

PM: 5 miles. Still running pretty fast these days.

Ran harder than I wanted to to make it back in time for conference (just over 6 minute pace again), and felt sore hips and a somewhat sore achilles. I will appreciate having the weekend off. 

AM: 5 miles

PM: 8 miles.

Workout. Felt kind of gassed doing the two mile tempo (9:46, not wheel measured). Then we did a mile in 4:34. Then an 800 in 2:12. Then I decided to just run 1200 in 3:25. Wish I had finished that. Overall not bad considering I felt tired.

AM: 5 miles.

PM: 8 miles. 

Lake loop tempo. Did a different route this time, it was an out and back, so hard to compare times. We started slower and that made it feel a lot better. 25:23 for 5 miles. I was just glad my Achilles tendo felt ok! 

AM: 8 miles.

PM: 5 miles. Achilles has been quite tight today.

First tour de Spanish Fork in months, and longest long run in a while. 5:59 pace, but it was the distance that was getting to me at the end, I wasn't trying to run super fast.

AM: 5 miles

PM: 8.25 miles

I wasn't feeling the best before this workout, but I have to say, I was excited to hear what we were doing. Anyone who calls themself a 10K runner should love 20 by 400 w/ 30 seconds rest. We alternated directions every 5 laps which was nice. I felt like it did a good job preparing me for a real 10K. If I learned anything, it is to just get into a rhythm running 69s or 70s depending on how I feel, and not go much faster (even a 65 lap could take it out of me and make things worse for several laps). I ran 69, 68, 68, 68, 68, 69, 69, 70, 68, 68, 68, 67, 67, 67, 67. That was all the laps my watch could hold but afterward I probably ran 67-68 per lap with a 66 and 64 for the last two I think.

AM: 5 miles

PM: 8 miles. Felt yesterday's workout a little more in the afternoon than in the morning. 

AM: 5 miles. Yesterday it started raining after both of my runs, today I finally got a little wet.

PM: 8.25 miles. After practice I found out I have had a high risk COVID encounter. I am pretty frustrated about it, but am grateful I got vaccinated when I did. Also, I would be super ticked if this happened before Fresno. As it stands, I should be able to return and run the BYU race next weekened...granted that I don't develop symptoms. Right now I just have to wait it out and not let my mind play tricks on me whenever I have a cough. 

Bike path miles, windy day but only 25% was into wind. 4:47, 4:43, 4:39, 4:46. 5 min rest.

Lesson learned:

go for a walk before running

you probably will never be that good without being on a team. 

Tried to take it a little slower cuz of workout yesterday and less than ideal sleep last night. Ended up being like 6:20s. 

AM: 8 miles

PM: 5 miles.

8 by 400. Realized at the end I was wearing my old shoes. Wasn't super impressed; I haven't really gotten much better at this workout since I was a young buck. Hopefully my speed endurance is there so I can achieve my goal on Saturday. 

62, 62, 61, 61, 62, 61, 61, 59. 

AM: 8.5 miles. Didn't feel too good.

PM: 4 miles before my vaccine. 

Pre race. Woke up this morning after my vaccine feeling like trash. Was able to go to practice feeling ok, but once again I now feel pretty trashy. Hope to feel better tomorrow. 

60, 60, 27, 27. 

Run and strides. Excited for 1 by Mile all out tomorrow. 

I went into this race very nervous because of my recent workouts and how my previous mile races have gone, including this same race two years ago. Thankfully the weather was great. I was put it heat two. Some people went out ahead and maybe I was lulled asleep because my teammates and I were all in the back, but I heard "64" after one lap. So I tried to push it more I guess, but that hadn't exactly felt easy. At two laps to go though, I thought "wow there are only two laps to go? This feels good". I guess I should have gone out harder. The next two laps I passed people and enjoyed the race, closing hard. Ran 4:12.06, which converts to 4:07 for mile and 3:49 for 1500. My goal was just sub 4:14.5 (which converts to sub 4:10), so this is good. It gives me confidence that I can run as well as I need to next week in the 10K to make regionals. 

Splits: 66.2 (409 meters), 63.5, 62.7, 59.6. 

Fun fact: Here are my top six 800s of all time: 1:55 (time trial 2019), 1:56 (time trial 2019), 1:58 (time trial 2015), 2:01 (districts 2013), 2:01 (districts 2014), 2:02 (the second half of this mile race, run at altitude). That's kind of crazy! Ha. 

Ran 7.5 miles in the evening on my own. 

Started a physical new job today, so I felt grateful that I wasn't too tired. 

Workout. Since I am racing very soon (Friday morning) I tried to keep it really under control and felt like I did a good job of that. Nothing crazy. 1200, 800, 400, 400 in 3:24, 2:12, 61, 61. 

8 miles. Felt pretty tired.

Hot run and strides. 

Wow, what a day. Two nights ago, I just could not sleep. It was too bad because our baby has been sleeping like an absolute champ recently for her age.  Then in the morning we had to get up super early and travel to Fresno (with a layover! Side note: The Fresno airport is wayyy nicer than Vegas. I feel so much better around pictures of Yosemite than slot machines). Then we woke up really early this morning for our race. Other than the wakeup, it was quite a blessing that our race was put in the morning. The high today is 97! Wow. But on the west coast, the morning will still be nice. It wasn't ideal weather, but I could hardly complain compared to what my teammates will run in tonight. Anyway, right from the start two groups formed. I wasn't going with the group shooting for sub 28, so I fell in line. I was surprised with a couple 29:10 guys in the group that we went pretty slow. To start the race with 70s, you get pretty antsy. Each lap I saw even 70 second pace get farther and farther away, and recognized I would need to kick hard to do well. But I didn't feel good enough to lead it even though the nobody really did, and each lap it got harder and harder. 4:44 at the mile. Threw in a random fast couple laps to be at 9:26 at two miles. That was the last surge I had mid race. I hung on, slogging 70-72s while wondering where my speed was, until things fell apart with six laps to go. I didn't have any idea at the time, but I really fell off right there, running 74, 76, 76, 76, 74 before closing in 68. Ouch. Have big respect for 10K runners. Super bummed, this is my worst race in a long time. Definitely a humbling experience. Made me recognize I'm not the runner I  wanted to think I was. So idk what comes next. Now I just get to enjoy the races tonight and get home tomorrow. 

AM: slept in later than I intended. But I'm glad I finally got some good sleep. Ran 3.5 miles in Fresno.

PM: 8 miles after dinner. It was a delicious dinner of sweet potato fritters, but boy did that make it a rough run.

AM: 5 miles. Felt pretty dank still.

PM: 8 miles. 

Warm outside for a workout. But it was a really pretty spring day. Coach had me do just a templ mile and some 800s because I was coming off a 10K. My workout wasn't terrible, and typically so soon after such a race you set your standards really low, so overall I feel very good about it. My favorite part was during the second 800, we went out in 64. Then on the second lap it got really hard. I fought to hang on and run a 2:12- and then we got to the end and it was 2:08! Pleasant surprise. 4:56 tempo mile, then 2:12, 2:08, 2:08 with over 3 min rest between 800s.

AM: 8 miles 

PM: 5 miles. 

8 by K with one minute rest. Felt grateful to be able to keep track of pace by running at the Loudon County track. Goal was to run race pace for next week (72s). It hurt pretty bad. 2:56, 2:58, 2:57, 2:58, 2:58, 2:59, 2:57, 2:56. I think it gave me good practice running hard laps on my own without giving up. I'll need that in my race. Little windy but weather was otherwise good and it wasn't a super confidence boosting workout other than the fact that I finished hard without dying and I have gone REALLY slow here before in an admittedly hotter workout. 

AM: 10 miles. Only breathed through my nose the last half!

PM: 4 miles. Nose breathing was hard.

Tried not to take it too fast. But ended up running pretty quick and feeling pretty good after a slow start. Not sure why at sea level my best workouts seem to always be long ones on bike paths (not that this was a workout). My miles on the path were 6:00, 5:54, 5:56, 5:40, 5:51, 5:47, 5:45, 5:53. Felt pretty chill and even did some nose breathing toward the end of that. Now have to start feeling good for next week.

12, 8, 4, 4 on the track. Windy and I didn't feel great. 3:25, 2:15, 60, 62. 2.5-3 min rest.

10 miles exploring Leesburg. 

3 by 400. Didn't feel as good as I would have liked, was pretty hard for being 62, 62, 61. In fairness, it was quite windy, and I half stopped and talked to someone who started talking to me on the second one (the only one I did backwards which I think was better). Just hoping I can feel great on Friday.

5 miles up at altitude again. Strides. 

Well, that's it. A wrap on my career at BYU. Feels bad because people were there watching the race like Isaac, my coach who helped me get on the team, and then of course Clayson and Michael who paced me. We went out on pace for 30:00 which is 29:10 at sea level and would probably get me a spot at regionals (havent checked yet but it actually might be closer to 29:05 or 29:00 now). Michael did the first mile slow in 4:50 for me and of course it felt good. Then Clayson got us back on track and that didn't feel great. Michael led the third mile but by this point even a normal paced mile hurt. Came through 5K in 14:59 or so, but that was I think my last on pace split. After a 73 and 74 or so, it got bad- very consistently a little worse at a time, bottoming out in 79 before I picked it up the last couple laps. We had dropped Zack, but he was apparently being smart, not dead, and made up ground and passed me, ending up 9 seconds ahead. Afterwards I laid and then sat on the turf for like 30 minutes. The last 10 minutes of these 10K races I've done have hurt so so bad. It also hurts to run them despite knowing your dreams are slipping away lap after lap. Was it the early morning races that I simply couldn't handle well? Or coming back to altitude after being at sea level? Hard to say. In either case, it's a serious confidence check heading into my time at Minnesota. I'm so grateful I have at least one more year. My final races at both South Medford and BYU have been extremely dissatisfying. I have loved being a BYU athlete. It was something I dreamed about since I was a freshman in high school. I'm so proud of my story thus far and looking forward to writing the next chapter, hopefully being all American and taking the gophers back to XC nats. I feel very blessed. Disappointment is part of life. It was a hard day as I also lost my summer job for a very frustrating reason. At night was the viewing for my grandma. I'm just now sitting down to try and process everything and my thoughts are still in a mess. Time for a break, then time to up the mileage and get ready to go. It's not my time to quit yet! 

5 miles before funeral.

Made a last-second decision that my body needs an occasional break completely off from running, and if I don't do that for it, that it will force me to later through injury. Short cross training today. 

4.5 mile speed hike, 1000 feet elevation gain. It hurt my body in ways I wasn't used to- my back, my knees, etc. 

Had to turn around for safety because I just walked straight up the mountain. I probably could have been safe, but you never know. 1200 foot elevation gain. 

Decided to begin running again. Legs felt nice and fresh after a break. Let it begin!

5 miles in the rain, probably ran a little fast. 

5 miles. Tried on a new pair of Cliftons and they didn't feel too different. Also I don't like the new Rides. They feel like tennis shoes walking which is good but they also run like tennis shoes.

7 miles. Chest hurt, hope its just my sternum. 

7 miles.

7 miles. Felt kind of kinky. Started a demanding job last night. I wouldn't be very concerned if I was running 45 easy miles per week all summer, but obviously that is not the plan. Hopefully my legs can get used to it and my daughter can sleep better so I can be rested for running.

7 miles. 

7 miles. 

Ran 10 miles on my Springville route which happens to be exactly the route I drive to work. Felt tired, hoping its because I haven't run 10 miles in 2.5 weeks. Arch felt better today which is good. I want to have a better outlook on my work. For example, I could think it is making me tougher and will actually help me be a better runner, rather than fearing I will be too tired or get injured.

10 miles exploring Springville

10 miles in suburbia Mapleton / SF. 

8 miles towards windmills.

10 miles up canyon. These days when I don't have work in the morning I usually take the baby for an hour or so and don't leave till later. That means I have the eat, and while digestive problems thankfully haven't been an issue, I do feel hypoglycemic and tired. I'll have to try to fix that.

9 miles. We are in a heat wave so honestly I was happy with the fact that I didn't feel too too hot.

(update - ran farther than I thought cuz I was actually going 6:33s). 

13 miles. Found a new way to get to the SF canal trail past the Golden Gate Bridge. I think it's about a 5.5 mile run so on a 20 miler I could do 9 miles on the trail itself if I wanted to.

AM: 10 miles

PM: 5 miles after work. My first double in a long time didn't feel too bad. 93 degrees out but cloudy which made a world of difference.

AM: 10 miles up to Bonneville shoreline. Saw a house that totally looks like a haunted mansion. 
 

PM: 5 miles.

10 miles at 10 am, cuz of baby. It's a blessing I work tonight and not today.

10 miles.

Bad bad sleep last night. Actually felt good on my run despite the fact that it was a harder course- did power lines trail for the first time in a year and loved it. Maybe it was because of the cooler weather. I'll have to get out earlier to run during our heat wave next week. So the trip to Minneapolis will be about 1270 miles. From the beginning of June (which is about when I started summer training) till the end of August I plan to complete about 1150 miles. So I am tracking my "journey to Minnesota" this summer for fun. At 120 miles in, I am no past Evanston Wyoming! 

Good sleep last night which was nice after a tough night at work. Sad day though cuz it was smoky out cuz of a fire. Nooooo! 6:08 pace. 

Miraculously it wasn't smoky this morning even though it was a total pit yesterday morning. Did my classic MLR.

AM: 10 miles to Springville 

PM: 5 miles. Today it was 102. It was a little clouded over when I ran. 

AM: 10 miles suburban route 

PM: 5 miles 

10.5 miles on power lines trail 

11 miles, felt slower today. I left later.

Left fork hobble creek, 6:20 avg. 

On my trip to Minnesota, I am now passed Rock Springs, well into Wyoming. 

AM: 10 miles in Medford. 
 

PM: 5 treadmill miles.

AM: 10 miles. Still feeling my Achilles' tendon.

PM: 5 treadmill miles. 

AM: 10 miles on the flat.

PM: 5 miles till treadmill suddenly turned off, finished on the road.

AM: 10 miles. Really feels a lot worse when I get out late.

PM: 5 crazy miles running through swarms of bugs on the only half mile route I could on our camp out. Later that evening it started storming and the lightning lit a fire so we evacuated and I got home at 1:30 am. Woke up this morning feeling yucky and hips hurting. 

8 treadmill miles. Felt yucky. 

About 6:30 pace down to the bike path. Pretty chill.

Trip to Minnesota: I am not just coming into Rawlins Wyoming. Laterally I am over halfway through WY but now we have to go north and even east before I get to South Dakota. 

Ran after getting off the plane at 11:30 in 85 degrees with next to no diet planning and little sleep. So understandably I gave myself permission to feel however I needed to today. Somehow I actually felt pretty good!

AM: 9 miles on power lines. Hip started hurting. Think it is trochanter bursitis. I think it had to do with all the hill running and because my Achilles were not doing great, I overworked my hips on the uphills. 
 

PM: 5 insanely windy miles. As of the next morning I still have something in my eye. Hip hurt bad.

9 slow miles. By no means am I out of the woods yet, but I bought myself another day to strengthen and stretch and rest. 

AM: 10 miles. Slow, but feeling better. Left Achilles feeling a little loose right now, hope that clears up so I can race Monday. 
 

PM: 5 miles. 

AM: 10 miles

PM: 5 miles. Feeling better today.

You're going to feel tired no matter how slow you run 17 miles, especially starting at 8 am and going to SF canal trail. 6:37 pace. Right now on my trek to Minnesota I am seriously in the middle of nowhere, Wyoming. 3 Forks-muddy gap service is about where we are at, starting to head north. Looking forward to racing Monday. 

Ah, what could be the last edition of my beloved freedom run (for me anyway- I've run it five times now but am moving to Minnesota). Got a terrible sleep last night. It's frustrating that I seem to be making a habit of this, especially on the night before races. You might first think it is anxiety, but  I don’t feel very anxious at night. Maybe I’m just a little anxious and that makes it hard to fall asleep because the room is so hot. 

Anyway, I was like the first one there. I forgot most people don’t warm up for these things. Had some digestive issues but for the majority of the race they didn’t bother me (last half mile I felt like throwing up). Went through one mile in 5:30 and I was surprised at how slow that was. I had allowed a 15 meter gap to open up because I didn’t feel ready to go faster. Hit 2 miles in 10:23 (4:53 split) and that felt a little better. By now I am chilling in the front with the leaders, not wanting to make a move even though it feels pretty easy. 15:10 at 3 miles (4:47 split). Started feeling tired at mile four and a little uneasy as there were still four of us. Finally took the lead on an uphill on this mile, hoping to drop people. On the downhill I get caught again. Then I push on ahead and lead for almost a mile, but I know at least one person is still there. He sprints by me with 1/2 mile to go and I think it’s over. On the last push uphill I actually catch him a little but still lose by one second, running 31:16. 

I feel fine about that. Haven’t run anything hard since mid May. There’s only like a 40 foot elevetatjom drop and the hills make up for it. Realistically I could probably run a track 10K in about the same time as I did twice earlier this year. That’s not bad given the circumstances. 

Fun fact: the past three years I’ve run this race, I’ve gotten 3rd, 2nd, and 2nd, but over the course of those years I was only 11 seconds off of being the three time defending champion.

AM: 10 miles

PM: 5 miles 

AM: 10 miles with Maple Mountain XC

PM: 4 steamy miles at like 2:30 because I picked up a shift at work. 

AM: 10 miles.

PM: 5 miles. Got some interesting news that Coach P at Minnesota is retiring. This must be tough on my teammates. It is still tough for me but I did not know him very well so I am not too heartbroken as long as we can get a really good, motivated coach to replace him. 

10 miles. Still feeling my hip. Tomorrow will be big since I've got a long long run to do. 

6:28 pace, hip could have been worse.

Update: Passed Antelope Hills, Wyoming today.

Classic MLR. Hip felt better. Could be because yesterday I had off. Hopefully it is because it is actually healing. Question: would it be easier to get 80 miles by running three doubles this week and nine miles each morning run, with a 16.5 mile long run? Or to run this same route every day, not do any doubles, and run 15 on Saturday? I'm not sure. This run doesn't ever feel that tiring. Maybe it's because it is Monday. Just food for thought.

AM: 9 miles 

PM: 5 miles. 

AM: 10 miles. Little Achilles tenderness 

AM: 9 miles. Woke up to Achilles pain and hip pain but it was ok on my run. By my double I was...

PM: 5 miles. Feeling good! 

AM: 9 miles

PM: 5 miles after work. Felt a little hypoglycemic and I trodged through to the end. That is never any fun, but it does make eating afterward amazing. Hip hurt still.

SF canal trail with byu. Didn't feel so good. Nice to run with team again. 

Trek update: Coming up on Gillete, Wyoming, where we will spend our first night of the trip (548 miles in). Long ways to go, as we will see next week. 

AM: MLR

PM: 5 miles. Cooler cuz of storm today.

AM: 10 miles

PM: 5 hot miles at 2:30 because I picked up a shift at work. The past two days I have walked 5 miles at work in addition to my running. Overall I have traveled about 43 miles while being on my feet for like 9+ hours a day. 

AM: 10 miles

PM: 5 miles before work. Bad chafing ;(

AM: 10 miles. Warm outside so I went up powerlines for the first time since my hip issue started. Love that run; realized I could go further than I had previously been going. 

AM: 10 miles

PM: 4 miles. First time doubling five times in a week and I've walked another 20 miles or so too. 

Long run, 6:19 pace in Spanish Fork. Didn't start till 9 am because of baby and was very dehydrated. Ran through the parade in Spanish Fork as the bagpipers were going by. Congrats to fellow blogger Benjamin Pachev on a good race at Deseret News. If it wasn't in Salt Lake I might have run the 10K myself.  

Update: Just finished a tie for my longest week ever, and it got me to Beulah, on the Wyoming / South Dakota border. On Monday I will cross into SD. I've come a long way, but with four weeks before I move, I'm not sure that I will make it to Minnesota by then (not that this is really important anyway). 

MLR, strides. 

AM: 10 miles

PM: 5 miles

AM: 10 miles. Couldn't think of a route I wanted to run so I settled on power lines even though I was worried for my hip. Probably means I'm read for our big move.

PM: 5 miles

AM: tempo run. Didn't run quite as long as I was supposed to to (28 min instead of 35) but it was just to be careful, I was running 5:15 pace and honestly couldn't have done much faster but could have gone at about that pace for a while longer. Felt good.

PM: 4 miles. 

Humid run after a rainy night, strides.

Ran nice and early. Still felt tired and went a little slow. 
 

Update: just passed New Underwood, South Dakota (east of Rapid City).

Only a few more days before I get my desperately needed new Hokas...

AM: 12.5 miles

PM: 5 miles. I've been sick (sore throat) today. 

NOTE: This was Monday, each day is a day late. 

AM: 11 miles

PM: 5 miles. Sickness getting a little better but will probably have to wait till Thursday for my workout... we'll see. Sarah biked with me on this run which was nice. 

AM: I assume and hope this was my last run in these shoes. 948 miles means only my Adi Zeros from freshman year topped them. Did power lines. It's crazy how much Mapleton has changed and will change between now and when I next visit. They are definitely building a legitamate road above the reservoir. With a spectacular view, I assume the houses which overlook million dollar homes will be even pricier than that. 
 

PM: 5 miles, Sarah biked with me. Picked a couple blackberries! 

AM: 11 miles and afrides

PM: 5 miles with Sarah and my new shoes

AM: 10 miles

Silver lining to the fact that I did not get my first 100 mile week this week (it was way smoky yesterday) is that this was my longest run ever. Went up SF canyon to get away from the smoke to no avail. Started running, and remembered I hadn't worked out this week (sickness) so I had no excuse to not work it on the long run. Didn't feel like I was going too fast, but I actually hit 6:03 pace for the 19.68 miles. It was pretty epic as I used an N95 mask. 20 minutes in, it started crumpling in each time I took a breath, so much that it crumpled into my mouth and I felt like I was suffocating. Had to stop in the middle of a hill, and had the idea to flip it upside down. This allowed more smoky air to come in, but also decreased the suction so it stopped doing that. 550 feet elevation gain. New shoes feel great. 

Felt pretty springy today, my pace was a lot faster than previous weeks. Perhaps this was because I was going downhill on the latter miles when I get tired anyway. I wonder if it was because I didn't run last evening. Maybe getting a full 24 hour break between runs helps with recovery for races and stuff. 

Update: Currently between Stamford and Murdo, SD, about halfway across the state. 

MLR, wore a mask again today. Felt a little tired and hip was a bit sore.

I'm a little bummed to again put off a workout. The front of my hips were a little tender today, but mainly it was because of the high AQI. I still wore a mask. Plan is to workout Thursday, hope it is better by then.

AM: 10 miles, strides 

PM: 5 miles. Walked nearly 11 miles yesterday and today at work. 

Tempo started out with a little more wind and ended just feeling more tired than last time. Went 30 minutes. Splits: 5:20, 5:16, 5:16, 5:12, 5:12, 2:36 (half mile). 
 

PM: 5 miles.

10 mile hike up Maple Mtn. 4000 feet elevation gain. Jogged down some of it. 

6:12 pace up Hobble Creek. 6:29s going up, 5:55s coming down. Felt a little laggy today. 500 feet elevation gain. 
 

Trip update: Just passed Oacoma, SD. Getting toward the Minnesota border but still a ways away.

AM: 12.5 miles. 
 

PM: 5.25 miles. 

AM: 11 miles, strides 

PM: 4.75 miles. It's gonna be a long week on my feet...

AM: 10.75 miles in the storm. Saw some lightning pretty close by but thankfully stayed safe.

PM: 4.25 miles. Storming when I went out, but it smelled like a campfire! Boy, moving could not come at a better time. 

AM: workout. Just feeling pretty tired these days and I did my 40 minute tempo as 3:1 hard:easy. Based on how far I ran, I was likely going around 5 minute pace on the hard with a mask on. 
 

PM: 5 miles. It was really cool outside, not at all like summer (phone said 61 degrees; normally a run at that time of day would be 30-40 degrees warmer this time of year).

AM: 11 miles

PM: 5 miles

Ran with BYU in Mapleton today. I'm gonna miss those guys. Longest week ever.

The final update: The distance is actually shorter if you take a route that is slightly longer in the car. I have traveled 991 miles since the beginning of June, which puts me on the east side of Sioux Falls, SD. That is just about 28 miles from the closest town in Minnesota but less than that to the border. I still have about 14 miles to run before Tuesday night so yes, I will basically (if not exactly) make it to Minnesota running before I make it to Minnesota driving. 

Felt amazing only running 7.5 miles on a Monday. Big day today! 

7 miles in Gillette, WY. 

7 miles in Minneapolis. Got my U card. It was SO humid. 

9 miles along the river. 

11 miles. Did a small workout (4 by 1 minute hard with 1 minute rest).

AM: workout after breakfast. One of my coaches biked with me while I ran an 8 mile tempo in the hills of Minnesota. First 4 miles was 5:30 pace. Running up the final hill made this less "chill" than it should have been. Next 4 miles was 5:15 pace or so. So, not a great time. I'm still getting used to the humidity. The hills were challenging. But I'm trying to stay positive. 
 

PM: 4 easy miles.

AM: 10 beautiful miles on a soft rolling hill rural road. Nice and slow; loved it.

PM: 5 miles after the canoe trip, was hungry and felt tired. Note: today my hernia area has been hurting more. I'm hoping it is becasue I went biking again. It did that last time I biked too.

17 miles, beautiful long run. 

11 miles, last run at camp. 

AM: 10 miles, course preview. I like it but it is quite hilly (small hills, frequent). Hernia not feeling hot. Gotta just wait and see.

PM: 4 miles.

5K race on the course. Wet today so I wore my spikes. A lot of us finished close together. I'm really stoked for this year. Only ran 15:49 which is pretty lame but not going to read into that, the course was hard and is probably a good bit too long. 

AM: 10 miles along east bank headed south; I really like that route. 
 

PM: 5 miles up Industrial and on to the Minneapolis diagonal. If there was a sidewalk the whole way I think I would stamp it as my official double route. Since there is not we will have to see what traffic is like during weekdays. 

10 mile progressive tempo as part of a long run, although I have done 10 mile progressives before and the fact that those usually take 14 miles and that this was on a Monday made this not really feel like a long run. Which is ok. We ran along the beautiful west river parkway heading south. Started at 5:40 pace, got down close to 5:00, averaged 5:22. I felt really good during almost the whole thing. I love that type of workout. Weights and other stuff after made for a long day. 

AM: 10 miles. Felt pretty sore in a lot of places but thankfully it got better. 

Ran to Silverwood park. Did a workout of 4 by 1 minute with 1 minute rest, then the same with 30 seconds hard and 1 minute rest, but I had to cut the workout after the third one of those cuz I ran into a bee or something and got stung either inside or outside my lip. Just ran home after that. 

Pre race

Tough race. Based on previous workouts and how my teammates did I should've at least been top 20. It's tough and humbling to be back in 30th. I knew I would have a bad race this season but I wasn't expecting it to be this one. I know my team needs me even if this is the level I am at, but in order to reach our goals they need me to be better than this. We beat Penn State and Ohio State pretty easily, but lost handily to Georgetown and got stomped by Michigan and Syracuse. I have plenty of reasons why I think we will be better next time (which includes why I will be better next time) but it's better to just show that at our next race on the home course. 

Ran after coming home. Hamstring hurt a little but not terrible. 

Long run, half of it with team. Hurdle drills. Hernia felt fine, felt my hamstring but a little bit less, I also had a charlie horse in my upper calve last night but that shouldn't be a major issue. 

AM: 10 miles.

PM: 5 miles. 

This will be the blog post where I list runs I have found in my new area (Twin Cities) much like I did in Mapleton. Here goes:

-St. Anthony Parkway: Go north on Industrial and follow the pathway for at least 10 miles, although you could continue on for more.