Step by step, mile by mile

4 miles on the treadmill at 6:50 pace. Would've done more, but I'm waking up at 4 AM tomorrow to head back to Utah

Despite such a long journey back to Utah(14 hours), I still managed to attend the team run that night. It was an easy run up and down Moonshine Arch. Aaron and I managed a low 8/ mid seven pace, but everyone else was about ten/fifteen minutes behind us, the rest of boys Varsity included. Shame. Kedric tried to stick with us but died out about a mile in. Uintah XC needs to step up.

Aaron and I met up in the morning and did a light 10k. Started going low sevens, ending at a mid-6 pace. In other news, I leave for team USA XC camp tomorrow!

First day of camp USA. Camp started in the afternoon, so only 5 miles today. My roommate(who I ran with for the most part) is a guy named Charlie from Georgia. He runs a 4:40 and 16:30. His teammates, Max and Will, are here as well(they have even better PRs). The first mile of the run was about a 7:30 because everyone thought they were a hot shot and went ham on what was supposed to be a medium day, pushing the four of us to the back. We caught a lot of people after that, ran about 17 minutes in, and turned back(we run in minutes, not miles here. Since max and will have been here longer than Charlie and I, they were told to be between 35-45 minutes instead of the new kids, 25-35 minutes. Charlie, Will, and I turned around but Max went a couple minutes more before turning. At this point the trail got smaller from people, so I was pushed behind the other guys, and got mad cramps(it's 8000 ft elevation here), so I slowed down a bit. I finished around 20 seconds behind Charlie, who averaged a 6:46 pace, so I'd call it 6:50 for me. After that strides and stretching.

15 minute shakeout run in the morning with Will and Charlie. Our first mile was a high seven, followed by a low 6. Strides and core afterwards. 2.5 together.

Our real run took place through the mountains at 13,000 ft. We had the option to run for 25, 30, 35, or 40 minutes. Charlie did 30 and was kicked out of the van and sent up the mountain, along with the majority of the campers. I wanted to do 35, but did 40 instead. The first mile Max, Will, a div. II runner named Jacob, and I ran behind everyone(including the three girls). The four of us passed the girls, and Jacob kept progressing so I kept with him, leaving the others behind. We eventually caught the front pack of the run 3 miles in, but Jacob kept speeding up and I stuck with the pack. At about 4 miles I started to slow down. The pack had dissipated at this point, so I stuck with a kid from China(nationals qualifier(and Caucasian)) for a bit, but then he gained some ground on me at the end. I managed to beat both Max and Will, and the Mississippi XC state champ, along with a few others, so I'm pleased. Strides after. Sub 6:55 pace. 6 miles altogether for this run.

After breakfast 15 min shakeout run. I stayed with Charlie for the easy part, and then passed him, Will, and Max, along with some others, sticking with a kid named Liam. Strides and core afterward.

At lunch I ate too heavily. After lunch we were literally forced to go into our rooms for an hour and sleep. People caught awake would have to do push ups and crunches. Pretty terrifying. And that we did Cloud Loop run. It's a five mile course, with 1184 foot elevation gain and 600 ft loss. At 13000 ft elevation. On a tiny trail that bikers occupy. We were put into groups of about ten based on speed, I think I was in the second fastest, or maybe third, along with Charlie, Max, Will, and another few kids, notably Ernest and Hugo. For the first mile Max, Hugo, and Ernest made a wall, making passing impossible, going a 7:11 for our first mile. After that the trail got smaller, so I made a move in front of Hugo and drafted off Max until the second mile, he drafting off Ernest. Once we started hitting the big 1100 foot hill the pace slowed, but about mid way I passed Max and followed Ernest, Charlie not too far behind, or Max or Will. I planned to trail off Ernest and surge the last 200, but after the hill the trail only had room for one person, and I was trailing about four feet behind him(the rest of the pack was quite a bit behind. Ernest and I were bombing the hills). He told me to just hurry and pass him, but I didn't want to. A About a minute later he got impatient and worried we'd trip and fall off the mountain face the trail followed, so he hopped into the surrounding grass, forcing me to pass him. After that I started mobbing the hills, passing about half of the group in front of me. I passed the Junior USA XC coach, coach Sanderson, towards the end but he didn't see me. I finished the 5 mile run in 31:57. Charlie ran a 32:48, and Ernest ran a 32:50. Max ran a high 32, and Will had to stop and go on the mountain top. Strides afterwards. Apparently coach Sanderson did notice me, because as Charlie and I did our strides we passed the coach, he looked at me and said "very good form, good pace," ect. I didn't hear him say that to anyone else. After that stride he pulled me away from the rest of my team and talked to me about my trail run, along with my PR's and goals for this season. Yee yee!

15 minute shakeout run in the morning. After that strides and core.

200m repeats after lunch while coaches looked at form.

The afternoon run was the same as my first day. 25, 30, 35, or 40 minutes. I ran with Liam, and we did a little over 40 minutes. Our splits were:

6:43

6:44

6:40

6:37

6:34

6:20

It was a quick run. Afterwards coach Trent pulled us aside to talk to us, and watched our strides. After that he took us to ice personally in his USA hummer, which was sick.