Step by step, mile by mile

3 miles warm up with a 400m in 80 just to stride out a bit. Very windy. 400, 400, 800, 400, 800, 400, 400 @8k pace. 200 recovery on the 4's, 400 on the 8's. Times were 7l, 77, 2:35, 77, 2:36, 78, 70. Finished with 4x200's pacing @ the start and kicking w/ 150m, 100m, 75m, and 50m to go. cooled down back to the dorms for 9.6 miles in 60 minutes.

Daily review - 20 mph winds! 5k wasn't happening. The wind definitely made the workout a bit harder, but the pace was sustainable, I just let my mind sort of wander. First 400 I forgot that this was supposed to be 8k pace. Both the 800's were either even or slightly neg splits. Went a bit harder on the last 400. I began to feel some lactic acid on the last two 400's, but the 200's flushed that out. Looking forward to some easy days! I wasn't that focused today, but it was the paces I need to hit on Friday so that's good(maybe a couple seconds too quick).

Breakfast - bagel and chia squeeze

Lunch - large salad w/ fruit

Snack - bagel with chia packet

Dinner - Huge salad with rice

1.5 bagel w/ chia packet & popcorn

5 miles easy

Daily review - 4 days! My calves were very tight from 4-ish miles straight in spikes yesterday. I took it easy because my legs were a bit tired, but the pace was pretty good! The run didn't save, but for the most part the pace was in the high 6:30's/low 6:40's. Getting excited!

Breakfast - granola w/ fruit and a half a bagel and a chia packet

Lunch - salad w/ fruit and two bagels

Dinner - salad w/ fish 

After dinner - another bagel, some fruit, and pickle juice to numb the calves... We'll see.

2 W/U, 1200 @8k pace, 800 @5k pace, 400@mile pace. 3:55, 2:34, 73. 400 recovery. Strides and CD for 6.5.

Daily review - 3 days! Very windy out there today. Legs started to feel a little tired on the 400, so I took it a little easier.

Breakfast - bagel, oatmeal, potatoes, fruit

Lunch - salad and fruit

Early dinner(3 PM) - bagel and a salad with fruit

Later dinner (7PM) - a bit of rice, but there wasn't really anything else. Tried to get an apple, but it was rotten. Just went back to my dorm and had 2.5 bagels and some Italian ice instead.

2 W/U, 4x200 w/ equal recovery, hurdle drills/flexibility, CD for 5.

Daily review - 2 days... wowzers! I know myself pretty well, and I know if I get nervous I'm not gonna race well. I ran a 26:40 and up until the last mile I didn't even realize I was in race mode, so I just gotta chill... It's hard, though. First 2 200's I just focused on short steps and went 33 and 32. Next one I paced the first 100-ish meters and then kicked it in. Last one I started jogging briskly with 50m left in the recovery, sped up to pace for the next 50, started striding for 50 after that, next 50 started kicking, and last 50 turned over. On the cooldown, I saw Cerake G. and we waved to each other, He runs for Oklahoma and was(and still is) a way fast dude. He and Conner used to race each other a lot back when I was a frosh. Well, Conner's gone, so I guess it's my turn to race him!

Breakfast - Granola and fruit. Less than usual.

Lunch - salad and rice(and an apple)

Early dinner(?)(2PM) - 2 bagels and some rice

Dinner - MONSTER salad. I got a ton of greens, olives, corn, pico, and black beans to make an amazing taco salad.

2.5 easy w/ 3 strides (6:35 pace, nice)

Final review - pace was easy today. Made sure of that. Highest the heart rate got was 130, even on the strides which were ~5:00 pace. Made sure to focus on breathing and form and staying relaxed. Tried a new technique called "centering" which felt good. Studied up on racing mentality and stuff like that. Left calf was a bit tight, I'll make sure to roll that out.

Ever since late may I've been training hard, and now comes the time to prove that. My body is in good shape, and that combined with the race mentality that I'm going to collapse before I give up, and I think I can do 26:20. No, I KNOW I can. So, if I could stay in all my loyal readers thoughts/prayers, it would mean a lot.

I'd just like to thank everyone that helped get me to this points . No matter what happens in the arboretum tomorrow, I'm giving everything I have for you guys. 

ITS GRIND TIME!!!

I can't even describe today. I felt like I lined everything up perfectly, but today just really wasn't my day. Then again, are race days ever my days? 

Got to bed at 7:30 last night. Got some good sleep. Woke up a couple times thirsty, got water, went back to bed. Woke up at 6:30 and my stomach felt pretty bad, but I thought I'd be fine. Had an apple, a banana, and some oatmeal for breakfast. Got to the meet. Surrounded by all these great DI athletes... It was pretty neat. But, I told myself, I'd trained hard for this, I was just as good as these guys. Get to the starting line and I heard "Eugene?? It's Eugene!" It was my good friends Max and Will from Team Prep USA, now running for Kennesaw State! We talked for a bit and then the race started. Man, I don't even know what happened. It felt like everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. I got pushed a lot. I stumbled down the hills and tripped over roots. Around 4k my back started tightening up badly. I noticed my left hamstring was tight yesterday but I stretched it out after my shakeout. from miles 3-5 my primary focus was on making it to a port-a-potty. And that's all I have to say about that. 

Obviously I'm a little upset about training all this time just to fail when it matters. Huge S/O to my roommate Grant for coming to cheer me on. Only race splits I remember hearing were 5:16 for 1 mile, and 23 for 4 miles.

It's really irritating to be able to run workouts and do well and when it matters, you fall flat. So I'm gonna train to the point where even my bad races are something to be proud about!

PM - 3 miles