Step by step, mile by mile

Happy new year! Starting off the year working the grind! I woke up at 6:20, groggy from staying up for four New Years with Emily, grabbed a mint clif bar(with added caffeine, what a beautiful concept) and a glass of water, and went back to bed for 40 minutes to digest the food, woke up at seven, stretched, and left for my run. 9 miles at 7:15 pace this morning with strides. I ran on the bay and pier and it was deserted and it was great. Last mile before the huge hill was right about at 6:00 pace. First 3 miles were about 23 minutes, then I sped up. Felt good! I'm leaving San Diego now to head to LA.

7 easy that night. We're pretty much staying in McFarland in the sense that everyone is Latiño here and they laugh at running. Also every house smelled great, all I can say is I hope whoever ate there thanked the cooks! I've never been so ravenous during a run before! Good run. It was dark the second half of the run but I wasn't too worried. The people in Cali are super friendly, I get yelled at or honked at at least once a minute. I guess they find a kid in bright and colorful short shorts pretty unusual! Good run. Strides after, feeling good!

Core later that night! Man it feels good to put in some hard work, hopefully it pays off!

12 miles in St George on Virgin River trail on to Mayors walk and back in just about 90 minutes. Quite the run! It started off with a gnarly hill so I knew this run meant business. I hoped to see some fellow bloggers during the run but didn't happen. I think I saw Tanner S. from dez hills and another car honked frantically at me so shoutout if that was anyone. Strides when I got back. I feel surprisingly good! I hit 70 miles without my Sunday long run. About to murder some breadsticks @ Olive Garden 

10 miles from the park to Emily's house and back. I left my one and only hairband on her mailbox as a memoir, so looks like the ponytail is on a brief intermission. I thought 12 degrees would be worse. It wasn't fun, but I thought I would lose a couple digits in the process. Strides after. Iced for about 20 seconds then drained the tub. For 7 hours in a car from St. George to Vernal my legs felt alright. No problems with the altitude adjustment. 

My alarm for my morning shakeout run didn't go off. 4 miles before practice to Terra and back, warmup with the team, then 4x2 mile at an easier pace with Aaron, core in between each set. Austin joined us later. I wore a long thick shirt and the heat was killing me at the indoor. I botched the last 2 miles and ran three alone outside. Came back, cooled down, and did strides. 14 for the day!

I got 87 miles from last Tuesday to today, Monday. I'm really excited to see where I am in the upcoming indoor season at BYU indoor.

10 miles while it snowed pretty heavily. The pace was barely in the 7:40's which surprised me, normally I go a little easier. Cooldown and strides at the rec after. Did my core after that.

Not a good day. Coach Henderson had me do a 6x1000 workout, aiming under 3:00 pace. I had to go right after school instead of with the team so the track would be emptier. 1.5 mile warmup, then mile of speed changes. First 1000m I took the first approx. 250m lap quick, coming in at 38. Ran a 2:52. 2 lap recovery, then the next one. Hit the first lap in 41, so I started picking it up, then as I came in around the bend the Baseball team was walking on it to the turf field. None of them moved! I had to weave through them and the last guy, just a grade A piece of work, refused to move. Rather than move, he made sure to take up the entire track that spans maybe 3m max across. I tried to step around him, but my legs got tangled in the netting surround the track, and I hit the ground, HARD. I rolled a bit. I heard the Baseball team laughing at me and I threw up both birds for a good 15 seconds as I gathered the strength to get up. That didn't feel too good. I decided to do some stretches and a distance run instead. Coach Heaton came in and told the now gathered track team(who witnessed all of that) to warm up. The front of my shin hurt, so I told Heaton about what happened. She seemed irate and told me to walk around, and she stopped me after a few steps and said I had bruised legs and scraped my arms, and my ankles were a bit swollen. She told me to go home and ice l, and rest today. I planned on defying her, but then I thought reasonably about this. So I drove home, defeated and a tad upset that a workout I had been long looking forward to was over for a ludicrous reason. My calves are really sore currently. All I came say is I hope that baseball player has a batting average of zero hits per game this and every other season, and that he stubs his toe often and gets hangnails daily. I'm pissed.

Good day! I woke up at midnight really thirsty and drank a lot of water, then woke up a mere 5 hours later to head to early morning french with mon amie Emily. I was a little tired throughout the day. I got home right after school ended, wasting no time socializing, sunlight is limited and precious. Laced up and did a distance run from my house to the rec, down the road to Red Fleet, Kyrie's house, and back to mine. I really liked this run because I only had to make like 5 turns on the entire run, and go through only 3 intersections. From 3.5 to 8 it was one straight road, it was nice. Gives a guy time to ponder and think over important matters. I had no idea how long the run was, turns out it was just a tad over 14! When I hit the final turn off Kyries road(like 3.5 miles left) I sped the pace up to 6:19, then controlled myself after that to a higher 6. The hill at the end was pretty tough, but I pushed. 7:35 pace! It felt quite easy! 3rd longest run ever, and longest without stopping at all by like 3 miles!(normally theres a bathroom break thrown in there). Headed to the rec after, did my strides, and some core. Good day!

6 miles before practice on my own. Warmup, then we had to do this dumb game where we seperated into teams of like 12 and shoot basketballs with a yoga ball. I made a couple but I couldn't write this entry without giving props to Austin Valentine who made probably 10 shots! We probably dabbed more than Cam Newton. Unfortunately I was completely unstoppable and ended every match the victor! Out of the probs 40 people there I'm the only one to have that bragging right. Sort of fun, but a complete waste of time. Heaton had us do a couple laps cooldown, but Mason, Aaron and I said "forget that, we're getting in mileage." We got Christian and Jordan to come too, but Austin declined our invatation to do a cooldown with a certain unnamed girl #whipnoise. Got a bit over 5 miles in. Very legit and fun run with the boys. I like running alone and thinking, but sometimes ya just gotta lose brain cells and IQ points, and I prefer talking to them than becoming an alcoholic/stoner/Trey Hacking. Cooldown and strides after. 13.5 for the day, give or take a bit. I rounded down yesterday so I'd call this breaking even. In other news the neighbourhood's new songs are really good.

2 mile warmup, mile of speed changes, then 2x2 mile tempo workout. My legs felt heavy. It was really cold but I refuse to not run in short shorts and a shirt so I was pretty rigid as well. I went a little over a mile down Aggie, then turned around. I didn't stop where I started so there was a bit more of an incline. I think I hit the half mile at 2:47. Mile at 5:30. 1.5 at 8:23. I thought "crap, I'm not gonna make it", but then thought "if you break 11 you don't have to do the second one" so I kicked it hard and ran a 10:56. Half mile active rest, then again. I went quicker at the start, hitting the half mile at 2:44. Mile at 5:30 again. I wanted to go quicker, so I started speeding up way earlier than before, with maybe 1000m left. A car pulled in front of me at the intersection, so I lost my speed. I tried to make it up but with maybe 200 left I realized I wouldn't break 11 and didn't really give everything I had. I got 11:03 for that, if it weren't for the car I think it would have been around my first repeat time. There was also a U-turn so I assume that sapped a bit of speed. Oh well. Pretty good workout, my legs felt the mileage. I was able to sustain for longer, but I wish they had been fresher for the workout. I feel pretty content with it, I didn't take it lightly. Long cooldown and strides to add to 10.

Easy 7. Legs felt pretty tired, not gonna lie.

Good run today! I left my running clothes at my house somewhat purposely, so I went home after school to get them. Once I got stretched and changed I notice practice started in 30 minutes so I laced up and headed out! Ran down to the high school on the more rural road which ended up being exactly 4 miles in 28 minute, 7 flat pace. Joined the team for part of the warmup and stretches. Did a distance run with Aaron, Christian, Mason, Zack, Jordan, Austin, and Kedric. Ran past the church down mainstreet. I really had to go to the restroom so I stopped at Subway, and sped up a bit to meet up with them at Vernal Ave. They managed to lose Kedric somehow. Good thing he lives around where we were, otherwise it'd be worrisome. Turned around and ran back down to Main, where I said sayonara and ran a bit extra to get home. It was really cold at this point and super hilly. I pressed on, but at the peak I got hit with a wicked bathroom cramp, paused for a few seconds to recover, and ran the remaining quarter mile home. 12 for the day.

I went to sprint practice today for strengthening purposes. Good workout. At the end we had a competition to see who could go the longest doing burpees and I'm proud to say I hit 86. It sucked. I planned on running a lot more today but it just didn't workout all that well, I don't want to push it with BYU on the corner.

After school got out I did 9 miles on the lonesome, but major bathroom cramps told me to stop at the indoor to go. I went, and after I noticed the team doing some quicker stuff and thought "Oh heck, might as well". 1 hard, 1 rest, 2 hard, 1 rest, 1 hard, 1 rest, 400m, 1 rest, and some straightaway strides. The track is like 260m or something so I don't know what the laps mean. 37, 1:18, and 38. Felt pretty good. The 400 was a 69 which isn't too bad considering 90 degree turns and people who don't know what's good for them when they hear "Track!" behind them. Cooldown with Aaron, some hurdle flexibility stretches, and a bit of core to add to a solid 12 for the day. More core tonight(?)

Way busy today. I was really sore waking up today so I didn't run after school, took a hot bath instead to ease the muscles. I guess burpees have vengeance after all. I went to night school and after that I ran 3 miles at the rec on the treadmill at 7:19 pace. Could have done more but my Achilles felt weird, I don't think I stretched enough prior to the workout. Feels better now that I'm typing this on Friday.

After I got checked out from school, I leave to do a shakeout, get a couple steps in, and BAM! I hit the concrete hard. I get up, knee and elbow bleeding, left leg scratched as freak, and go back inside. Mom got me fixed up and I left for BYU. When we got there Mason and I did 6 miles through Provo, it was fun and a nice temp. Strides after. Leg felt alright.

Mile warmup. I felt pretty good for the mile. I was ranked second in my heat so I thought I could win it if I ran smart. Got out good and fell back(I planned on kicking hard) and hit the first lap in 57. I worried and slowed down. 2 laps in 2:00. Even worse. 3 laps in 2:58-59. I don't remember the next split but I do remember all the people who slowed down were trying to bring everyone down with them. 5:02. Not proud, but I'm glad I have another event. 2.5 mile cooldown. 

1 mile in the 7 hours before the two mile

1 mile warmup with Christian and Rylie. I stopped at a bathroom at a restaurant, thinking I'd avoid the crowd at the stadium, and there was an even bigger line there, and I was freaking out and sure I missed my event. I went way quick back to the field house and found out I had a lot of time left, I thought the 200 open were finals instead, so those took quite a while. I stretched out after and went to the pen after a while. I got put in the fast heat, ranked 4th to last. Got on the line and watched Christian kick like crazy and win his heat in 10:49! What a kid. While we waited freaking Ethan Field kept farting and I felt like I would throw up haha. I wasn't really worrying about the race, but I felt good as the gun went off. Hit the first lap in 2nd to last at 61. "Good, I just don't need to fade" I say to myself. I passed a couple people and drafted off a Wyoming kid. We hit the mile at 5:12, and he took off (there was a huge gap ahead and behind us) I think I had it in me to keep with him, but I let him go. Next lap in 6:20. Running alone sucks. 7:30. 8:41. Halfway through this lap I heard the gun go off and sped up a bit. 9:51. I wanted to break 11. Bad. Luckily someone caught me about here and we duked it out for the last lap. 10:55! I wish I went with the Wyoming guy but I'm still happy with it. 3 mile cooldown after. The others did good. Mason and Aaron both ran 4:51, Austin ran a 5:06, Rylie a 6:28, Mason almost won his heat but then dang Adam Jensen out kicked him. Darn you man. He ran a 2:08, Aaron a 2:11, Austin a 2:12. Christian did 10:49, Rylie a 13:22, and Izen jumped 16'9. Atta freshman. 

Overall I'm happy with the two mile, I think I could have pushed harder, and it probs would have been a sub 10:50 3200. Unfortunately I need to shave a minute off that time in the next 33 days to make finals at Simplot. I think I had difficulties running alone, but strategically I'd call it one of my better races.

The ride home was great with Mason, Christian, and Rylie. Listened to some good tunes and had some good times. I went out later to see one of my favorite people of all time, Joshua Jay Johnson Jr., for the last time before he leaves for his mission in Guatemala. He, Shauntel, Jaden, Jesse, Will, and I played Super Smash Bros and listened to more good vibes and I had a great time.

12.3 in 1:33. I was going to do another four going quick but I stopped briefly at my house and my stomach felt pretty bad, so I ended it there. Felt pretty good, form was good.

AM - 7 easy miles. I got a solid 12 hours of sleep last night so 3 cheers for that.

PM - Got about 400m in and the pounding of running sent acute pains in my left knee/femur telling me to stop.

My house to Rec center to Don Pedros to Kyries house again. At 7 miles I remember thinking "wow that went by really quickly" and I guess I jinxed myself because I got the worst continual stomach cramps of my life over the next 7 miles. It was awful, my entire body was just hurting really bad, but all centered around my stomach. The best part was that there're no bathrooms on this route after mile 5. It was pure hell. I finished though, and that's what counts in my mind.

4 miles from my house to the school. I did a quick set of a 3 2 1 fartlik workout at 5:20 pace or below during it that went pretty well, my quads were pretty spent from yesterday though. I also did a quarter of a mile hard in a bit above 80 seconds which I was fine with because I had to stutter step a lot to avoid giant puddles/slush. 9 miles with Austin, Jordan, Mason, and Kedric, and when I say 9 miles I mean they turned after 1.25, so the rest was alone. The first 4 miles alone were 6:30's so I slowed it down to an easier pace after that.

Our schools advanced choir was asked to come sing recorded and videotaped for BYUTV on campus, so that was neat I guess. It'll be airing in like a month. It was really time consuming, we left at 7 AM and drove to provo, sang, went to the mall for 2 hours, and drove back. On the way back there were only 15 of us on the whole bus so I sat with Emily and the b-day boy Christian and had a nice drive back. The first two hours returning I thought I had left my bag with my wallet and other necessities at the mall which was mad stressful, I was panicking hard core inside. Then Natalie sad she had been sleeping on it, which improved my day greatly. I got back at about 7-ish, and I had to be back soon so my run was short. 1.5 warmup on the TM, then 60 sec at 800m goal pace (4:15-3:58 mile pace depending on how I felt), then quarter mile at recovery pace(7:35), then 45 sec hard, quarter recovery, 30 sec hard, quarter recovery. 2 sets of that. It was by no means easy, but it felt good to get moving quick and go hard! Cooldown to add to 5.

Mile warmup, then coach Hill gave us a monster workout. Basically you pair up and one does core while the other goes ham on a lap with stairs. Do that a few times in a facility with the heat cranked up and try not to throw up. I went to go to the restroom, and they started without me! I heard them take off and thought "oh Aaron will get me a good lead". I go outside, and find out the wagon didn't even run, he was sitting there waiting for me to start! What a bag. I took off, fueled by fire. I started probably 20-ish seconds late but still managed to catch the back stragglers. You can't really pass on the stairs though, and that's where it was really congested. I got Aaron in a pretty good spot though. He took off and when I started running again it was Kyrie, Austin, Jordan, and Christian ahead of me. Christian and his partner kept taking off before their partner tagged them though. I went hard on this one and caught all but Christian. Talon went crazy on the next lap and gapped Aaron a lil' bit so I started with Christian maybe 60m ahead. I went so balls to the walls, man. I caught him right before the stairs and got us the lead, and we kept it for the rest of the set. Hill says we can do another set if our heart so desires, so of course I hear Aaron say "Another one Eugene" as I finish what I thought to be my final repeat. Good thing the heat and sickening sickness of the workout were at the max at that moment because that made me feel way worse haha. Still went hard though and the dynamic duo took home the gold per ush'. Cooled down and 4.5 seems right. 

3 more that night

AM - 7. Got a solid 11 hours of sleep which is great. It was 10 degrees outside though which wasn't a preferable temp. I didn't have my watch, but I went pretty quick to keep warm, I'd say the pace was at least a 6:40 average. Miles 4-6 were pretty righteous pacewise but towards the end I had to go to the restroom.

PM - My watch's memory was full, so I did an old 9 mile path with the stop watch on. Not sure of the splits, but I did know where the 6 mile mark and 9 mile mark were. Last time I did this run was the first day of summer practice with Aaron, where we ran the beginning easy and kicked it in at the end. Today was similar. Because I was only using the stopwatch I didn't see a point to go fast, but it was overcast and 19 degrees and I tend to run better in colder conditions. Was going leisurely the first few miles, but at about 3.5 I sped up for whatever reason and kept that pace. Hit 6 miles right under 41 minutes. I kicked it in hard the next 3 and came in at 9 miles right at 60 minutes. Dang! It didn't feel too hard either! Def could have maintained for a full half marathon if I desired, but I really didn't. I planned on doing 11 for this run, and that would set me at my highest mileage in a day by a mile. The only bothersome part of the run was some parts of me handled the cold fine, other parts... didn't. I rue the day I bought my first pair of BOA's, because ever since then I hate to run in anything else, I feel like a peasant. Anyway, back to the run. miles 6-9 took right about 19 minutes, so about 6:20 pace. 9 miles at 6:40! I did another 2 miles, but they were probs in the sevens. 11 miles, 18 for the day!

7 easy this evening. I wanted to go longer but I put the run off too late and it was getting dark. It snowed a lot overnight so I wore my wildhorses to get more traction, but man they're clunky and not smooth at all. I had to trek through a lot of deep snow and had to do a few jumps for the side walk to the road, and stepped in way too many misleadingly deep puddles. 7:32 pace.

3 in the morning. It was way cold and really foggy so I went to the walking park as the not get ran over. the walking park is a 1/3 of a mile on the outer loop, so I ran nine of those. First one was like 2:20 because I was getting stretched out, but the I pushed the pace. Nothing crazy, just trying to be the best hobbyjogger I can be(Its official. #hjptakeover) laps after that were 2:04, 2:04, 2:04, 2:00, 2:04, 2:08, 2:04, and 2:01. 18:49 for three miles. 

We were having a practice meet to see who qualifies to go to simplot(I'm going FYI). I thought "what the heck yabba dabba yolo" and ran the 1600 at 3200 pace. There were two heats. Aaron, Kedric, and Talon were the noteable runners in my heat. We decided to make a train of me Aaron and Kedric, each leading an alternating lap in that order(there were a little over 7 laps, 43 splits are right at 5:10-15 pace) First lap and I take the lead quick. I try to conserve as much as possible to stay with the other two but it was hard. First 263m lap in a 40. I yell out the split as I had the only watch and Aaron said something like "Good thing I'm on pace" and I dropped behind Aaron, Kedric, and Talon(what?). Hit 2 laps at 1:28. Aaron drops behind and Kedric leads. Split was a bit slow again. Talon decides he doesn't want to lead the speed train and tries to drop behind with Kedric but ended up stumbling me and Aaron and slowing us down. I hear coach Hill yell "2:40"! at the 800 and I panic and I'm gone. I took off pretty quick. I ran scared, knowing Aaron could get me if I relaxed too much. I remember passing Heaton and hearing her yell at me "3 laps"! "2 laps"! At one lap the other coaches were there and they yelled at me to kick, and immediately I heard the yelling at Aaron to catch me. With one lap left I was at 4:30. I knew Aaron was going hard but I remembered "Hey this is just tempo" so I finished with a lot left in the tank. Won it with a 5:12. Good neg. splitting, 2:40 and 2:32 800's. Didn't feel too hard, I finished and hit a wall with my fist for my loyal fans who cheered me on and felt alright. 27 90 degree curves kill though. I think Christian ran around my time so I might have not truly won it, but I'll say that I made an M today. Felt good! Jacia got 2nd in the girls race, and Rylie got 3rd. Aaron had me do squats with him but after a while baseball came in and Aaron talked to them and I dipped. 2 mile cooldown outside, came back to the indoor then ran another cooldown mile while Jacia and Tommi ran the other direction. After one lap I made the comment "Nice form" where we proceeded to insult each other many times, when she hit me with a low blow that will remain disclosed. I thought she had me beat, but I went savage with the comment "Nice second place finish". A little over 6 for this session. Good day. I was pretty worn out from the morning workout but it went over well.

8.5 on the lonesome. Running alone man, it has its ups and downs. I was really tired all today, I think I might drop AP History next tri so I can get another hour of sleep a day haha. I ate some fruit snacks to wake myself up and ran to the rec center, down Aggie and back home. Drivers were not friendly today! Got called some rude words (probs baseball) by some passerbys, and others just didn't want to waste energy turning a wheel a few degrees to the left.

Another 2 miles on the TM after night school with some strides.

4.5 after school to the turf farm where sprint practice was being held. Coach Hill and Henderson couldn't make it so everyone went to Heaton's practice. I took the long route coming there, and the intense core I did yesterday hurt, a lot. It wasn't the most fun time. After the warmup Mason, Christian, Kedric, and Jordan left to go on a tempo run. I knew I had to run back to the high school so I opted not to. Aaron didn't have warm gear so he stayed as well. Heaton straight killed us RIP in peace my upper body lol we had to do as many pullups/dips/chin-ups as we could at one time. 6 TIMES. It was awful. We also had a lot of plank pushups but it was survivable. Then, as I drink from the fountain, I hear coach yell "Ladders"!! At this point Mason and the others had gotten back, turns out they had gone 5 miles at 7 minute pace. I should have attended. We seperated in age for each ladder, where I discovered a perk of being the youngest guy senior on the team. Mason, Aaron, Jordan, Christian, and Austin were in the 18 group and Mason was won his by a couple seconds. My group was me, Jacia, Brody, Todd, and a couple others. Brody went hard and I stayed with him, but on the last two legs(the longest one) I pulled ahead pretty good. We did them again and a freshman threw up on the drinking fountain which sucked because it was hot af in there. The next set Mason came in quite a bit ahead, so I was inspired. Brody went crazy fast at first but then he hit his wall, and I sustained and on the final one I went as hard as I could and almost collapsed at the finish. Ran back to the high school to add to 10 for the day.

I'm looking at the 4x800 list for the oval and it looks like it'll be wild. Ranked 5th, 10 seconds from the #1 ranking, which is both Lone Peak and Star Valley, but I talked to the anchor of SV's relay at BYU in the mile and he said that they fabricate times. also Springville, Maple mountain, Salem Hills, and Spanish Fork are all in there too!

Premeet easy run, 7:20 pace on the lonesome. 8 strides after.

1600 went okay I guess. I was seeded on the front row on the very right so I ran a lot in the second lane. I got spiked bad the second lap. With 200 left I was at 4:18 I think, and I kicked pretty hard and caught a couple, including josh erickson from LP. I told him to come with me and kicked hard. I think I hit like a 4:53. Austin might have beaten me, he was in the 6th heat, that'd probs get me fired for the 4x800. It probably shouldn't, but oh well. I need to do some speed/ tempo bad.

The 4x800 I screwed up on and did a 2:16. I feel like all the training I've done lately has been pointless when going against talented runners. Mason has done 2 runs this entire week counting today, and he murdered me in both races. I heard a saying "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard", but I've been working harder than I ever have and I honestly think I'm getting worse. I don't love to whine, but I honestly don't see a point to trying hard at something where you can work all you want and still get beaten by teammates because they're naturals and you're not. I don't know I think I might need a break from this

Either way I needed a cooldown, we immediately drove home after the 4x800 and my legs were killing me. We stopped at The Train in heber and I did a cooldown run. Probably got 4 miles in the low 6's, I was hauling. It was like that scene from "the perfect mile" where the guy just goes ham until he collapses, only I didn't collapse. I stepped in countless puddles but I stopped caring after a while. There was like a 3 ft high snow wall that I cleared twice without stopping. I got back to the train and saw austin's dad drive off to get gas, but my wallet was in the seat so I needed it. I took off after him, luckily he hit all the stop lights, but eventually he sped off and I tried to keep him in eyesight, then I hit a rough patch of ice and hit the ground hard. Not only that, but I slid into a giant pool of a puddle. I layed there, not bothering to get up for a long time. I got up, drenched, and hobble-jogged back to the others who were eating and went home without food(I didn't want to make them stay longer). I'd say that completed the second part of "the perfect mile" scene. Also probs the closest thing to a God-given sign to stop running that I'm going to get.