Step by step, mile by mile

5 in the afternoon. 20+ mph winds out! Tired from that, studying, and a bad night of sleep.

Shakeout with strides later. Felt good on the strides.

Ran to the turf field, did dx1.5 laps going a harder pace until I had 100yds left then kicking it up. Was going to do more, but then I thought of how fun this would be to do under the lights on my last night in Alabama freshman year(aka tomorrow), so I'll finish it then. Felt good to put some life in tired legs. Only one final left, physics w/ calc.

Took the past two days off to crush finals. I think I pulled A+'S all around so that's sweet. Did a minute tempo at 4:40 pace and 250,150,150,250 hill strides. I know I went hard because on the last one I bundled up super hard the last 50m or so, which is good because it means I'm pushing my limits. Every time I come to Atlanta it's miserable I swear.

5 in the afternoon. Was hot, windy, and hilly. Felt tired.

Shakeout in the evening with 3x200m getting progressively faster. Went 34, 31, 28. It was raining, hilly and windy(and bad traction on the roads for the 200's) so good stuff. Long run tomorrow, can't remember the last time I did that.

Hard one today. Lewis didn't wake up until 11 so I had to run this in midday. Wasn't too hot, but very bright. Did 7 miles at 6:22 pace(watch didn't connect until 3 miles in, so the 6:22 pace was only for the last 4 miles), then 4x200m in 28.2, 27.9, 27.5, 27.8, then cooled down some and did a 100m on the grass pretending to start a cross country race in 18.2, then a 100m pretending to finish a race in 14.9. That last 100m felt SO easy. 200's were hard. I told myself to do them controlled, so I was going fast, but not sprinting. I've read that if you're going to do year round speed, you can't be going all out. So I was basically telling myself "you've already used up a lot of your energy, so now do some 200m's fast, but using as little as energy as possible", so I was treading a fine line of going as fast as I can without really pushing it. While sprinting is good, I can't run a 25 second last 200m in a race. But, if I work on controlled "sprinting", I think it will be more beneficial. So the purpose today was to tire myself out, and then try to go fast, but have it be controlled. It was pretty sweet that I'm already running around what I was for 200's last season, and they feel a lot more controlled! Hopefully I can work on speed endurance and run some 55 second 400's later in the year. Good start to the week! Cooled down some more, then Lewis picked me up and I cooled down for 12 for the day around the neighborhood. My 8 year old cousin is coming to see me today so I'll def get some cross training in throwing him around. Will do core later too.

AM - 5 as soon as I woke up + some sweet core and strength I got by throwing a tire swing and catching it as it came back. No PM run, in flying to see my family today which is going to take forever. If I'm not running late I might walk instead of taking the terminal though.

AM - 5. Might be the longest I've gone without stopping yet for a crosswalk or to catch my breath, even on Sunday I had to find a bathroom during the aerobic part. Hard to shake some life into the legs after a long day of travel.

PM - 8 miles, breaking my longest run without stopping set this morning. Measured a mile of it in the middle because my watch is low on power and I forgot my charger and want it for tomorrow's workout. That one was 6:35, which felt pretty consistent with the run. Just overall a great run, hitting the trails felt SO good and I felt like I could go on forever. Left calf hurt for maybe a minute or two in the middle but worked itself out. Put my legs in the hot tub after and I'm about to roll out.

2 mile shakeout running back from my 8 year sister's school.

Mile WU, 1000m in 2:43, 5 miles, 600 in 1:40 for 4:23 for the mile(1600m). Wow. How did that come out of like four 40 mile weeks? The k was great but I paced badly. Hit the first 400m in 61 and slowed down a lot. I did that on the roads, so I ran 5 miles to the cinder trails. It was downhill there, but I forgot how technical it is. I eased back a ton so I wouldn't break an ankle. Exactly one year ago today I failed to even break 5 in the 1600m so anything is possible.

Another 2 mile shakeout picking up my sister from school. About to stretch and ice. Not going to do too many miles these next few days, and they'll probably be 8 min miles. I say that like I'm controlling myself, but truth is I probably will be too tired to go any faster. 14 HOUR drive to Utah tomorrow.

The drive up was awful. I woke up at 2AM to leave, and my left leg hated me for it. It was super tight in the knee/hamstring area, so I made sure to stretch a ton every time we stopped. Got my first altitude run in today, 5 miles jogging on Gov. Legs felt good during it. Iced after but I forgot how cold it was so I only put my calves and below in. Glad to be home. Even if Kedric is here.

AM - 3. Hills hurt a lot more at elevation, and I live in the highest neighborhood in Vernal. Tried to ice bath in the creek after. It's an acquired feel. I couldn't do it for more than 30 seconds, but I'm sure once it gets hotter and I get the plank back up so I can ice as soon as I finish most runs it'll be tolerable.

PM - 5 on the trails with strides. First run at McCoy, oh man. It's way out in the desert and all they have is super technical single trails so I grinded it out. Iced after, actually managed to get in up to my knees for around ten minutes. Strides felt great.

AM - 2.5 easy.

PM - 4 miles easy + 4 hard strides(200m) in 28.2, then I didn't time the others because the watch I'm using(my dad's ancient marathon watch) wasn't being accurate/wouldn't display time. Did drills after, those burned.

Long run in the desert. It's been a while since I did a long run. The hills and more technical parts of the trail hurt, but it was a fun time.

AM - 7 miles. First mile kept speeding up and went sub 6. I was surprised how much I could speed up by because it didn't feel hard. Felt tired until the last two miles where I felt good again. Apparently Clayton(Uintah's #1 400-1600 guy) wants to race me in a mile next Monday. I bet he could beat me right now, but I'm trying to get him to race me in a root beer mile instead because that's my true race. Did a 400m on the treadmill in 69 that didn't feel too hard, then stretched and did core.

PM - shakeout on Gov w/ strides. Mileage is starting to add up, I don't feel like I got hit by a train every morning(now like a smart car or dune buggy) and the occasional knee or Achilles tightness is fading away too. This should be the last week before I hit my normal weekly base mileage(90mpw). Less than I did last year, but this time I'll have some quality mixed in with the quantity.

AM - 3x800's all in 2:32. They were on the treadmill so in all actuality a few seconds slower. My legs did not want to move today, I think it's because I only warmed up a mile. 

PM - Ran up to the peak of the overlook dirt road(1.56 miles) in 11:45, and figured I'd TRY to come down in under 10 minutes. I emphasize try only because there was a 20mph tailwind going up, and it was in my face the entire time the way down. Dug deep and came down in about 8:20-30, so mid 5 minute pace. Was happy with it because my legs felt like lead going up, I felt super tired, and the wind was just brutal. Maybe one day I'll go all out down it and try to break 7(and shorten it to 1.50 so it can be done). Iced after. Managed to get in to knee level this time. I was going to do a 2 mile tempo in the AM and some speed in the PM on Friday, but since this went down I'll dial it back a notch and take out the tempo. Jogged around to hit 11 for the day.

AM - 4. Cold out, but I overdressed. I really can't handle heat at all. Came back to find that my dog had run off so had to spend the next 10 minutes looking for her. 

PM -  Went to Uintah's track practice and had a long talk with Clayton about the 800, How he'll have to run it to break the school record, etc. After getting one spot short of state in xc, he trained his rear off and he's running 2:00 for the 800 in the open and medley, and 50/51 in the open/4x400... At the same meets. I really hope he breaks the record, only problem is he's running 4 events at state, and 3 have prelims so he'll probably have raced 5 times by the time he runs the 800. 3 miles after. Wanted more but conditions were awful. I saw a bird flying into the wind and she wasn't even moving forward.

AM - Jackalope. If Hell was a single trail, this would be it. You gain about over 1000ft in the 3.8 mile ascent of nothing but loose rock, extremely steep hills, and overgrowth everywhere. I've ran probably near 7,500 miles in Vernal, and I'd rate this the most difficult path I've traversed. And in the next two miles you lose nearly all the elevation you gained in a trail so treacherous that attempting even normal easy run pace would guarantee broken ankles. On top of all that, windy and snowing! I make it sound terrible, but at the same time I love it. The view at the peak, looking at all of the mountain ranges below you, it's astounding. I'll make an effort to do this every week because it's a great workout. It took me 34 minutes to run up the 3.8 miles, and the 4.2 miles back took 25 minutes. The only reason the descent was that quick was because I hit a semi flat single trail with less sharp turns than usual, so I just kept speeding up and split a 5:20 for the third mile. I was happy with that because it wasn't downhill at all, and I hit a 2:48 at the half mile so the next half mile was 2:32. Kept the momentum going and jogged a mile at the corral. My heart rate never got above 148 so maybe I'm starting to get fit.

PM - easy 3.

AM - 7 easy. Windy and cold. Legs felt tight in places but felt better by the end.

PM - 4 easy.

Noon - 8 miles. The first mile felt like hours, so I knew this would be a mental battle. Very tired from hanging with friends last night. Did Gov and ran on the roads until 6.5, then drove back up to my house and ran down to the creek where I iced, and climbed back up to my house. Coach Galley pulled up next to me at the end of the run where I was actually starting to feel better, always nice to talk to him.

PM - 2 miles WU, strides, jogged until I hit 4. I averaged 28.7. I did faster 200's 2 weeks ago, but I was at half the mileage so I'm not too worried. Right now I'm not supposed to be focusing on closing in sub 60 400's, I'm working on the strength to run the other 2600, or 4600, or 9600m. Longboarded with Syree after. There were others there, but they ditched us because we were going slow.

3rd on the weekly mileage board!! Been a long while since I even cracked top 10.

Since yesterday was "bring your own cup" day at 7-11, my friends and I celebrated by bringing 3 gallon soup pots. I had scarcely eaten prior so I ate nearly half of the pot, and didn't eat anything else, so today I was a bit concerned. First 5 or so miles went by really fast and I felt great. Then it went downhill. I wasn't hurting or anything, I just felt like I had no energy so I was pretty miserable. Around mile 8 I did a couple hill strides, hoping they'd reinvigorate me, and that was a mistake. I was like a car running low on fuel, and those sprints took whatever I had left.

3 more on Gov. about to storm

AM - 7 miserable miles. Hopefully shaking out what's left of what I ate on Saturday. My left lower calf was tight the first few miles, I'm gonna start getting on a good recovery routine. I haven't stretched at all and have scarcely ice bathed, plus hydration. I'll get on top of it, because if running keeps feeling like the past couple of days I'm a goner(core, stretching, and icing after).

2 around noon. It's been quite the past couple days. I was icing after my first Monday run and somehow my dog found me even though it's pretty far from my house, and she jumped in. The current was too strong so she started getting pulled away so I ran to get her and pulled her out but hurt my ankle doing so, so I took a couple days off. Yesterday I jogged for a few minutes and lifted. I was tired today from that. I've also started working at Walmart and it's a pretty big time consumer. Luckily I get the next three days off because I'm working from 10PM-7AM starting Monday, yikes. So I'll probably be doing my runs at 7PM and 7AM from now on. I felt pretty good on the run, probably because I knew it was only 2 miles. I felt this weird thing in my right calf, almost a cramp but not really. I'll chalk it up to lifting repercussions.

4 miles later. Did 3x250m strides on the grass trying to cycle through gears to sub 4 pace

AM - sleeping. Changing my sleep schedule. So my second run of the day is actually going to be at like 4AM tonight.

PM - 30 minutes easy on the turf + strides and stretching. Bought some cheap Vomero's after at Ross, my structures are getting pretty up there in mileage so I'm happy I could get another trainer. I've hydrated super well today and hopefully that equates to a good run this AM.

AM - 5x1 minute w/ 2 minutes off at 4 AM. Watch was dead so I had to use an app that I'm almost sure was quite a bit slow pace-wise, but even with that, the paces were pretty good. 5 miles altogether. Now I'm going to put tin foil on my windows and sleep until about 5 PM. Took a nap around 2AM which helped a lot with the night schedule thing.

PM - 9 tough miles in the desert. Legs felt pretty lethargic after so I drove to the track and did some drills and 150's and 200's changing gears every 50m. The first one was pretty rough because it was a shock to the legs, but by the end I felt very good. Stretched and iced after.

AM - 5 at 5AM. I felt really good during it, not like I ran 15 miles the day before or anything. Best I've felt on a run in a long time, just light and smooth. Maybe that's because of the new shoes. No matter what the reason, I'll embrace it.

PM - 5 miles w/ strides. Finally got on my sleeping routine, I woke up at 5PM today. It's strange that my "second run" of the day is actually the first. Hot out.

AM - 5 miles during my lunch break(at 2AM). My legs burned from stocking all night.

PM - 3

AM - 4 easy. Felt good.

PM - Gov + strides. Gonna count some work mileage so I can round up to 10(I walked about 5 miles during last nights shift).