Step by step, mile by mile

I had the worst stomach cramps of my life when I woke up. I could barely move, it was awful. I was late to my second hour, and after 20 minutes I called my mom to check me out. The pain was nearly unbearable, it really hurt. We went to the doctor and got some medicine which made me feel a tad better. I volunteered to be a supervisor of a lock-in for the youth at my church. Probably got a solid mile in during night games. Really tiring.

I went to bed at like 2 AM last night, woke up at 7:30, ate some cereal, drove home, made a smoothie, took a nap at 9, set an alarm at 9:30, woke up at 4:30 PM. I was somehow still tired when I woke up haha. Got dressed and headed to the track with Trevor AKA Tbird Shurtdog AKA T_81RD. 1.5 warmup. Workout was 2 sets of 5x800, first @ current 3200 pace, second set @ goal 2 mile pace. 2 minute rest between repeats on first set, 5 minute rest, 3:30 rest on second set. My stomach still felt like trash. I ran 10:55 for 2 miles back in indoor, so I determined 2:40 was good for the first set. Went 2:31, 2:34, 2:37, 2:40. A bit too quick, with the stomach thing + no running yesterday + just waking up, I decided to do 4 per set instead. S/O to Trevor for leaving after 2 200's at like 31 haha. Second set I was pretty tired for, I just wanted sub 2:30's. Those went 2:24, 2:29, 2:27, 2:25. The last one should have been quicker but I hit like a 32 first 200m lol. Every 400 except the second one of the 2:29 was sub 75 on this set so that was good. For running alone I found these times pretty excellent. Did 4x200's, going 3200 pace and sprinting with 125, 100, 75, and 50m to go. I ran the 800's in my spikes and my calves were shot so I wore my trainers instead. Those went 32, 33, 33, 34. Long barefoot cooldown on the turf. By the end of the workout it was dark outside which was neat. 

Team did really well at UVU. Mason ran 4:35, Christian ran 4:39. Mason won his heat in the 1600 and steeple. Not gonna lie, I'm a little jealous of the two of them. I would very much like to run for Alabama, but how is that supposed to happen if coaches don't take me to fast meets? Ugh. S/O to fellow bloggers Zack, Ryan, Josh, Connor, Asa, and Tyler at UVU, and Sage, Nick, and Garek @ PV.

Boy oh boy did my stomach feel awful today. Especially during the run. Played a little tennis before to loosen up the calves because they were pretty sore, but that got better as I ran. The stomach got way worse though. I still feel like trash. Did some hurdle flexibility stuff after. 

Mile warmup I had this weird tightness on my right leg, it might have been a tendon, but I was able to ignore it later on. We did the long road home again today, I thought it would be pointless and just sprinting half laps but it was difficult. And you better bet I went ham, Eugene 2.0 was born last Saturday during those 800's. Workout went run a lap, run up and down all the bleachers, two laps, 50 V-ups, three laps, 50 squat jumps, four laps, push ups up the bleachers, three laps, 50 burpees, two laps, 50 crunches, one lap. I lapped everyone at least twice in it which probably isn't too big of an accomplishment but I'll take what I can get. Legs were hammered by the end, but I was able to bust out a 73 last lap which I was proud of. S/O to Mason for running a 28 second last 200. Small cooldown with Mason, Christian, Austin, and Jordan. Man we're awful people. Good thing we're hilarious though. Longer barefoot cooldown and strides on the turf alone. In other news I got the highest scores on my tests today in my lowkey AP physics and AP Bio class.

Premeet, EZPZ. Neighborhood with Christian, Mason, and Austin. I ran two 400's after. The first one I hit the first 200 in 38, sped up a bit and finished controlled in 71. Next one these girls started 100m ahead of me, and I went in to chase mode. Caught them and ran either a 64 or 65, I can't remember. Both felt good. I'm running the 3200 and anchoring relays tomorrow. My goal in the 3200 is run a slow first mile, like 5:40, and then kick in a sub five second mile.

Today was real great. Bus was super Jammed and I got squished. I got off and it was way hot, plus the track here is black so that wasn't fun. Also the track doesn't have a lot of rubber and your spikes didn't stick in. But oh well. Two laps when we got there then warm up later. When I wasn't running I made sure to stay in the shade. We line up and gun goes off. We bunched up guys and gals, it was a small meet. I didn't want to go out fast but I knew after a couple seconds I was gonna lead it. After a lap these two Union kids breathing rather raggedly cam up on me, and I sped up just a tiny bit. At about 650m in I couldn't hear their breathing anymore. I think I hit the 1200 around 4:1x. I started lapping people around here, so I swung into the second lane and picked up my pace. People wouldn't get into the other lane to let me pass which was annoying. 1600 at around 5:35. When I hit lap 5 I sped up quite a bit, I think I hit a 73. I kept an alright pace the next lap, then died a bit. With a lap to go coach yells "give me a 70!" But I didn't really have any motivation. Running on unions track isn't a party haha. Good closing speed for no competition. Anyway I won by almost two minutes. Cooldown, then chilled until the medley. I got the baton with the B team right behind, Union on their tail. My legs felt crappy but I tried to tough it out. Not sure what the time was but I got a 100m lead on the B team anchor, so that was good. Anchored the 4x400 and man it was pretty great. I went out quick and kept it. We won by about 200m haha. I ran a 57, it wasn't amazing but coach said it was the fastest split of anyone by three seconds! Today was good. More of a workout than anything. Gonna be a limit approaching 10 as x approaches infinity on Saturday in the 3200. Yeah I took AB last year.

Cooldown down Aggie once we got home

Good day today. Was a bit sore waking up but all good. Rolled out a bit throughout the day. I've brought my roller to school everyday this week and it's been nice. Also I've ate basically the same thing for breakfast/lunch everyday. Half a cin/raisin bagel w/ jam, small fruit smoothie, some cereal. I don't have a 1st hour so I eat this over an hour or two. For lunch I eat ham on pita, an apple or grapes, and some wheat thins. I've been feeling good lately so I'll keep this diet up. Anyway warmup, then some speed which surprised me. Did an 800, ran right beside Christian the entire time, hit 73's for 2:27. Wasn't really winded. Lap recovery while the girls ran. 3x400(walking lap in between). I wanted to hit 72's but Mason was going sub 60 on all his basically so I got a little excited. Still tried to hold back though. 65, 67, 64. I ran the 67 alone, I started early bc Coach was busy. Last one I hit the 200 at maybe 33, then kicked it in just a bit to catch Christian. Excited for Saturday! 3200's first, so it won't be too hot, and Piercen Maez from Stansbury is in it with a seed time of 10:05. We're the only three under 11, the next fastest seed time is a high 11, so it's probs gonna be a three man pack. Goal is to hang with for 5 laps despite hurting, then just go for it with three laps left, take the lead, and hopefully hold it until the end. Neighborhood cooldown. Iced after

Today was sort of stressful. I had a big application to turn in to get a paid internship over the summer in the neurobiology clinic @ USU, and I couldn't get my transcripts, but I got them and my hopeful future boss seemed to like me a lot. Warmup, Neighborhood run, very easy. Christian and I did solo 400's after, I hit 72-73 and he hit 74-75 so tomorrow should be good stuff. I'm fairly excited. My top of my foot hurt, coach said ice it so I did. I think I tied my shoes too tightly. Wish me luck tomorrow mon amies(et mon freres).

Tough day. I got to the line and it was pretty windy. I was ranked fourth in the race with my 10:55. Rankings were Piercen, Christian, Hawk, Me, Stansbury kid, Paul. Piercen wanted to go sub 10 today so Christian and I though to hang on with him. I got out pretty well, hit the first lap at 74. I'm third at this point behind Piercen and Paul B. 800 at 2:31. At 1000m I passed Paul on the curve and Hawk came with me and passed me at the same time. I hung with him for a while and we hit the 1600 at about 5:07. Hawk had a crazy kick here and I got dropped. Christian passed me in the back stretch of that lap and took off, I spent the rest of the second mile in "no mans land". I glanced back with maybe a lap and a half to go and knew that the top four were pretty much determined. With a lap to go Henderson and Hill are screaming at me, I remember hearing "9:17" so I kicked alright, The other three were pretty far ahead so I had no motivation. S/O to Christian for catching Piercen. Hawk won it in 10:06 and Christian ran 10:16, barely beating Piercen's  10:18, so it was one of the deepest 3200's ran on our track since Ben Saarel and Luke Puskedra were in our region. And since the track was rebuilt in 2012 this might have very well been the most legendary 3200 ran on the Uintah track, which still wasn't too crazy. Prom's today so I went on my day date after a cooldown with Paul, he did well and got 7th place with a 10:55. We went and ate at Quiznos(I didn't eat, but everyone else did) and I left to go to run the 1600. I was sure I missed it but I had quite a while. I was in the fast heat again. I got pushed back to like 9th first lap but then moved up a little throughout, I wasn't going too hard, I only wanted a medal, which I got. My legs=spaghetti on the home stretch, I was stumbling pretty bad. My dad had me at 4:55. I later anchored the B medley, aka Underclassmen feat. me. I got the baton in 5th, moved up well and got second, but Christian had probs 100m on me when I started. 3rd place was like 5 seconds behind me so I feel good about it. Cooldown. Good PR today, but I still got a whole lotta room to improve. Still, I dropped a 20 second PR in the 3200 on Wednesday, ran some solid repeats on Thursday, then dropped another 20 second PR in the 3200 today. Coolio. Prom was lit AF

5 out on the trails. I had no time to cool down yesterday after my races and my legs were shot from prom. We partyed(partied? party'd?) for a while then Trevor, Korbin, and I and our dates and went to KG's house to watch a scary movie. We ended up watching "Hush" bc it was rated 5 stars on netflix(one review), and to anyone reading this; don't watch it. It was one of the dumbest movies I've ever seen, def. worst in the horror genre. On the drive to drop our dates off Trevor and I just made fun of the movie. I rated it one star right before I left on the run. I felt okay during it, it was super windy and the trails were tough. Top of my foot hurt again and when I got out of my car after driving home my knee hurt a bit but then it faded. UPDATE: researched foot pain, likely from lacing my shoes(I started lacing my peg's really tightly around a week ago) and webmd said it to be nothing serious.

Warm-up and strengthening. About 20 billion strides up the bleachers, then we partnered up. I paired with Mason, then we did 6 hill sprints carrying each other on our backs, then 3 sets of 10 squats with him on my back. Then 50 partner clap push-ups, S/O to Mason for doing girl pushups for all of them haha. 2 lap cooldown. For everyone not racing at dez hills invite over the weekend we're having a region tri meet @ Uintah, and I'm announcing it. After Zack and Connor's legacy's that they've left announcing I know I gotta bring my best. Also my dad got my 3200 splits and he said I hit the 2800 at 9:20, which means my last lap was 75, which I'm happy with.

Ran down the rec road about an hour later to add to 5. My quads were dead at first but I felt really good towards the end, that's how the rec road run always goes.

Today was rough. Mile warmup, then 30 minute tempo. After about two thirds of a mile I got tired of 6:30 pace and sped up quite a bit. by 10 minutes my quads felt hammered from the steady uphill, but I had about a minute lead on the other 5 guys. A little later I turned right as planned, and after a minute turned back just to see how close mon freres were, and I saw them going str8 instead! I turned around but as I turned around I got hit with mad stomach cramps. I couldn't get my legs moving too well after that. I caught Jordan and got closer to the other four but they were quite far ahead after I turned around and I couldn't get them, I just felt like trash after turning around. Barefoot cooldown on the turf. Coaches want everyone to race at the meet tomorrow so Varsity can get a good workout in. I find that pretty dumb, yesterday was pretty dang hard and today was difficult as well. I wonder why all the distance records have been set in stone since the 80's. S/) to Collin for finally putting me on his fav's after meeting and finishing with him at footlocker lol

During my TA hour Coaches and I headed to the track and started to set up the meet. Coaches asked if I wanted to help a bit more. I said sure, I was having a good time, and so Henderson called the school and had me excused for the rest of the day. I set up the meet with them for the next 4 hours. It was sick, I felt like a kid who was staying home on a sick day but wasn't ill. Announcing was super lit, plus I didn't have to race because of it. I was inches away from being kicked out, I had to be talked to twice. My friend who's last name is McDonald raced the hurdles and tripped, and I said "old mcdonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-Ow" I felt bad lol. It was a lot of fun, I also had an phone interview with USU for the internship and it went quite swimmingly. I didn't end up starting my run until 9 PM. 7 with strides from the rec past rehab down mainstreet. Passed enough pedestrians vaping it was like I was in a middle school or something lol

Finally an adult, it means nothing lol. Like 50 people signed up for D hills 3200 overnight. I'm ranked 24th out of 63, and I really really really hope I get in the fast heat because like 2/3 of the people faster than me have unverified times and I really want to make that fast heat and get another solid PR. 

Easy 2 miles on the track during lunch with strides. Hurdle flexibility after. Aaron and I got my tennis rackets and hit some balls around on the field which was fun. Add belieber4lief on SC for some shenanigan stories.

Ran around a bit once I arrived at the meet. I was in heat 5, ranked 4th. I knew I could win that by a margin. Once the girls heats end I go to the restroom, come out, and coach literally grabs me and freaks out and says "you're running now!" I assure him I'm not, but still I run over to the tent, grab my spikes, and run to the track. Turns out I got moved into heat three! I literally didn't stretch or stride at all. I run to the official and profusely apologize and he lets me put on my spikes. No lucky socks or shorts. I jump on the line and start maybe 5 seconds later. I ran sockless and it didn't feel good. I beelined in to a good position, maybe 5th. 3 guys immediately separated, and by 300 they died and I took the lead lol. I gave an "I'm so screwed lol" wink to sage the bell ringer, and sped up a bit. 400 at 68. 600 at 1:42. I got passed right about at 700 but that guy won by like 8 seconds so it's Cool. As soon as he passed me though my legs shut off. The non existent warmup struck with anger. Last lap two more guys pass me, Aaron being one of them. Really didn't finish too well. Season PR but I really think I shoulda qualified for BYU, I was 3 seconds off. Alli P came and talked to me after and so I met her and Vis(no holt:( ) I also saw the warbeast but idk if he recognized me. Really excited for the 3200 tomorrow, I WAS ranked 4th in heat 2 but with the mashing hopefully I'm in the quick one now. Sub 10 or bust, my dudes! If I get a warmup, of course. 3 cooldown. Fun meet so far.

Fun time. 2 WU. I had a basically perfect, conserved first mile, then it went kinda crazy. It went 78, 78, 78, 78, 79, 81, 83, 78. I ran with Mikey from PV and he ran smart but the lead pack we passed a few time had crazy surges. With 1000m left they made a surge and I told myself I'd catch them but didn't. Lame, but a PR. Love St geezy but didn't like this track, spikes didn't stick a bit. 2 CD with Riley and Kedric. He ran 10:43, atta kid. All four of the uintah boys ran sub 11 so that was sweet.

2 miles later. I had a pretty good talk with Hell Raiser and a couple others. I found Holt who has hair, I didn't imagine that haha. I didn't freaking meet Sage though which is ridiculous because I actually talked to him before hand about meeting up

"I am the one don't weigh a ton don't need a gun to get respect up on the streets" It was astoundingly windy today and I wasn't willing to risk hurting my lungs because it's now serious grind season.

4 with the pack. I was going to do longer with Christian and Mason since they aren't racing tomorrow(behind in Calculus), but then I realized that puts me in the A team for the medley so I finished early. Did some strides, I had a sharp pain in my right foot, on the top. I'm racing the 3200, 1600, and anchoring the medley most likely. Originally Mason and I were going to try and hit a 2:10 and survive, but I might run smarter since he isn't racing.

Quad meet today. 1600 I got out well, in second right behind Chesnut. Stayed on his back until the 800, then I passed for the lead, then immediately Heston came flying by. I let chesnut get ahead again and at 1000m Heston walks off the track. It threw me off and I let chesnut slip. I got passed by a few people in the last 200, just couldn't get moving, I was being dumb. Got 4:5x, Should have ran smarter. In the medley our sprinters did awful, it was peculiar, I got the baton with Salem about 75m ahead. I closed that gap crazy quickly, by the 400 I was on his heels. His team was cheering for him like crazy and he kicked pretty good, couldn't quite get him. My dad had me at 2:11, with a 60 first lap. Did the 3200 about 20 minutes later. Chesnut went ham and came in at a 68 first lap, his teammate hit 72. I hit 76 and started to reel them in. Kedric was right on my back but I shook him off at 800m. I passed the Salem kid around here and caught chesnut at about 1200. He sped up once I got on him. We hit the 1600 at 5:18, it didnt feel too hard but I was tired from everything else. At about 2000 I took the lead and chesnut surged not too long after and I didn't go with him when he passed me. Both of my open races I wasted energy passing chesnut at a trivial point and fell off because of it. I should have stuck on him and battled the last 200 out instead. Anyway wind really picked up here and some guys weren't adamant about being lapped so second mile was embarrassingly slower. 10:59 for second, 9 seconds behind chesnut, 15 seconds from third. Did a long cooldown with Riley after, she's pretty cool. And should make a blog. More of a workout today but still I'm stressed about it, I probs shouldn't be.

Good workout today. 2x1000m, let Aaron lead us in the first half then he slowed down a tad, so Christian and I swung out and pushed the pace a bit. We had to run in lanes 3 and 4 a lot due to sprinters boondoggling. Hit 3:03 and 3:02. 75 second first 400 on both of those. 2x400 next. Aaron said he'd pace 73 because I couldn't, and then the punk runs 68 or something lol. Christian and I hit 73. Went to the bathroom and did the next one with Austin and Mason, 70. About 20 seconds after I finished Christian and some others toed the line, so I jumped in with them. Christian and I paced the first 300 a bit easy and then went ham the last 100. 67. 300 200 100 after. Active rest for a 400 between every repeat. Barefoot cooldown and strides on the trf. Coach had a talk with me where he said I'm really good at practice, and I push everyone, but I could be great if I raced like that. Hmm. I didn't run yesterday. Christian and Mason never run the day before races, and their PR's are 4:35 and 4:28. Should I run tomorrow? idk if you homies have any advice i'd appreciate it

Today was irritating. It was raining and storming and quite cold and I didn't pack sweats or a jacket. Or spandex. 3200 Christian and I got pushed back and started moving up, but aaron got between us during the passing and my legs wouldn't move enough to pass. Christian started to move up and I still couldn't pass. Mile at 5:10 and I was a tad disappointed. Christian pulled away and I should have gone with him but I couldn't get past aaron. With 200 left I passed him, and with 20m left my legs locked and Aaron passed. Bad times. Really lame week this week, had three off days, I had this coming. I wasn't too far off Christian though, like 7 seconds. I should have went for it. Next time I guess.

Drove about 45 minutes up to Flume trail for a good time. 8 miles easy at 8000 ft. Tons of hills, high elevation, and Cafe Rio after church work to make the trifecta of a hard "easy" run. First three miles drudged along but then time started to fly by which was nice. My sock had a tear in it so my foot was rubbed the wrong way afterwards.

Man today was hard. 8 miles with Aaron, Austin, and Christian. There was a huge storm about to roll in, so the others decided we should run into the storm. I said "hey maybe we should run away from it and come back", but they said "nah we have to run into the storm either way, might as well do it now" which made literally no sense lol. After two miles at a nice 8 minute pace, the hail came in, furious and painful, and we started picking it up more and more. Constantly whoever was in front would say "alright let's slow it down", but then someone else would lead and pick the pace up even more. It was mainly me picking it up, that weather was awful. Once we finished the math geeks on the team(Mason) had brung donuts as an apology, the others took them but I didn't. I did core last night and I've felt sore today.

S/O to Cason for running a 9:25 at Kansas relays! He's speedy. Check his blog out @c_cropp

I skipped helping at the dual meet to catch up on school bc I'm missing tomorrow for region choir. It goes from 7Am to 11PM, so I have to wake up at probs 5 for speedwork at the track ;( I hope Christian can wake up as well because the workout will be way easier with someone else. 4 at the rec, strengthening after, man I can tell I've slacked, but it feels good to get those gainz back. Core tonight. Got answered to senior ball which is lit bc I plan on getting mad chex.

Woke up at 4:45 AM to get in the workout with Christian. He had mission prep at 6:20 so we had to cut the workout short. 1x800, 2x400, 4x200 @goal mile pace. I went pretty dang hard in the 800(survivable) and ran what Christian hypothesized to be a 2:13. Rest of it was good, we went all out on the last 200 and i think I might have ran a high 26. Was supposed to be two sets but Christian had mission prep and my stomach wasn't feeling well because I tried to eat breakfast. Cooldown and strides for 7.

In AP Bio I destroyed everyone in a POGIL race, so my reward was an expired organic fruit rollup. I didn't know the former adjective. It REALLY didn't sit well in my stomach. Didn't feel all that great altogether today, I took a nap when I got home and was late for practice. Did 1.5 warmup, 400 @mile pace, 200 finish, cooldown for 3. It was raining a lot and my shoes weren't getting great traction. Hit a 69-70 and 28-29. My stomach felt destroyed and my legs felt tired from the bus ride(the advanced choir im in is going to state btw), but the 400 didn't feel too hard. Ready for tomorrow.

I raced the mile, 800, and 3200, and they progressively got worse. I couldn't go quickly, when I needed it most. Could write a huge report, but don't wanna. These very attractive girls came up to me after my trash 800 and flirted with me which was cool. They asked for my number and I told them I'd win the 3200 for them. I was ranked 1rst and got wrecked. No BYU. Bites like a mother, I watched Whiplash on the way back and it inspired me.

Good quote from Whiplash-

" 'Exactly. Parker's a young kid, pretty good on the sax. Gets up to play at a cutting session, and he fxxxs it up. And Jones nearly decapitates him for it. And he's laughed off-stage. Cries himself to sleep that night, but the next morning, what does he do? He practices. And he practices and he practices with one goal in mind, never to be laughed at again. And a year later, he goes back to the Reno and he steps up on that stage, and plays the best mxxxxxxxng solo the world has ever heard. So imagine if Jones had just said: "Well, that's okay, Charlie. That was all right. Good job. "And then Charlie thinks to himself, "Well, sxxt, I did do a pretty good job." End of story. No Bird. That, to me, is an absolute tragedy. But that's just what the world wants now. People wonder why jazz is dying.'

'But is there a line? You know, maybe you go too far, and you discourage the next Charlie Parker from ever becoming Charlie Parker?'

 'No, man, no. Because the next Charlie Parker would never be discouraged.' "

My AP bio class was taking a practice AP test today, and our teacher strongly encouraged us to run in the color run before it. I figured I might as well. Jogged probs a mile and a half warmup. A couple kids from the team were there, including Aaron. I took it out fast, and kept lengthening the gap. There was a love of loose gravel and potholes so it wasn't ideal. I ran quite a bit passed the turnaround point so it might have been more than 5k. I turned around and started going downhill and opening my stride. It was fun, everyone cheered my name, I waved to some kids and got pretty colorful. Finished at 17:50, next best was Aaron with a 20-something, but I don't think he was going hard after yesterday.

Strengthening later that day. 800, 1600, 3200, 5000 in 16 hours wrecks a body.