The Mongoose

I'm back!!! So today at about 3 in the afternoon I flew into St. George after serving 2 years as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Chile. It was such an incredible experience. I love the chilean people and I was sad to have to end my missionary service, but I'm glad to be back with my family in this beautiful city that I love so much! After being released by my stake president, I went with my family to eat dinner, then decided to go see the team run their michigan workout at the high school. It was great to see those guys and run a little bit with them. I ran their 2.5 mile warm up with them and was able to talk to Coach and some of the guys. The team looks good this year, and there are some great runners who have really stepped up since I've been gone. Well they were finishing their workout and I decided to try and race them on their last 400. HAHAHAHAHA! Man, for the first 100m, I thought I was in pretty good shape, then at about 200m I lost my lungs, then at 300m I lost my legs, and I don't think my knees were coming up very high those last 100m. Haha, but it was fun, even though I almost threw up my dinner. I'll get back into shape slowly but surely. It's good to be back!   

3 in the morning. Probably the longest I've gone in 2 years, haha. 

So basically my running plan for the past couple weeks was to rest week 1 (I ended up just running a couple with the team the day I got back), then go every other day last week (with weights the days I wasn't running), but I just ran on Tuesday and did weights Mon, Wed, and Fri, due to some weird weather on Thursday and family in town Saturday. BUT this week I'm ready to roll! I plan on just doing an easy 3 every other day to get back into things. Also, I started working today with a landscaping company, so my runs will either be reallllllly early or in the afternoon. Today I went out for an easy 3 around 7:30. I felt pretty tired, haha, but it's probably a mix of the loss of conditioning and working all morning in the sun. Hips were a little sore but that's pretty normal for me when I start up again. 

Worked until a little later today, then I was dead tired from work so I napped in the afternoon, then I went to the Running Center to hear about Hayden Hawks' CCC race. It was pretty sweet! So I got out later to run an easy 3 around 9:00. No problems with the hips today so that was good, but a little tightness in the calves. Again, pretty normal for me, so with rolling and stretching I should be fine!

Got home a little earlier from work today a little before 2 and thought, "Hey, today's Friday, I bet the team has a race tomorrow and they're just doing easy mileage today!" So I got in contact with Coach Fielding and he said that they were, so an easy 3 with the old team out to Hidden Valley! It was awesome to get back out there with them. 

Saturday long run! Haha, really not that long, but twice as long as I've run since I got back from Chile! 6 miles with Coach and the varsity girls. He had them do 6 miles with a 2 mile push to finish. I stayed with them for the first half of their 2 mile push but then they roasted me on the last mile! Hahahahaha, it was good to get the legs moving a little quicker. I'm actually surprised with how much fitness I've regained in just these last few runs. THE GIRLS TEAM IS SOLID THIS YEAR!!!! Seriously, a bunch of animals! I jogged around for about another mile with Coach afterward. 

Busy day, but I got out at around 8:15pm for a nice little night run. 3 miles easy. Head lamp kept falling off my head so I put it around my waste lol. Innovation.

Ran in the morning with Coach Powell and a couple other guys from the team. 3 miles easy.

Ran with the team again today. Easy 4 with 4x200m finishes. 

3 in the morning with Coach Powell and Bryson before work. Drove up to Cedar later to watch the team run at the Cedar Invite. Brought back memories of some good times, haha. Good day.

Slept in a little this morning so I didn't have time to run before the first session of general conference. Got a nice inter-session run in after the morning session. Drove up to the high school to run the ridge behind the high school. Pretty difficult run for me today with the hills and the heat, but overall it was a good run. Weights later with my dad. Deadlifts and shoulders. Good day and some great messages from inspired leaders during general conference.

3 in the morning before work. Weights in the afternoon. Squats, then biceps and triceps for the auxilary lifts. 

3 miles in the morning before work. 4 miles after. I felt really tired during my afternoon run. Probably a combination of weights yesterday, the run this morning, and work. I work in landscaping so I'm pretty much outside all morning and I guess the sun just drained me today. Good stuff though. Getting my conditioning back little by little.

Just 3 this morning, a little tired. Maybe weights later. 

Pretty tired this morning so I just waited until after work to run. Decided to go run with the team. They had a short workout at the Bloomington Hills North Park, I'm guessing around 2 miles for the workout. 5 with warm up and cool down. I felt like I was able to push through the tough parts so that was good. Now I just gotta keep slowly bumping up the mileage to get the conditioning back!

Easy 3 in the morning with Coach Powell and some of the guys. Weights later. Lunges and shoulders.

Went up this morning to Cedar with my dad to watch some former high school teammates and future collegiate teammates run at the Color Country Invite. It's crazy to think that I'll be joining them in a few months. The UVU women won the meet and it looks like they have a pretty solid team. The men ran pretty well and one of their runners actually won the meet. I'm excited to start running with them in January. I got together with Jaiden a little later for my run. We ran about 7.5 out in Little Valley/Washington Fields. I felt alright, but I've noticed that my lungs are pretty much tired right from the beginning, and it actually gets a little easier to breath as I keep running. So it's easier for me to have a conversation in the middle of my run than the beginning. Kinda weird, I don't remember it being that way before I went on my mission, haha. It was the longest I've run since I've been back and I felt pretty good so it was a positive run. 

6 easy this morning. I ran over to meet up with the team for their morning run then I ran back. I felt good, much better than Saturday. The fitness is coming back so that's good. My resting heart rate is actually pretty close to what it was before the mission. 

4 in the morning solo. Went to the region meet later to watch the team. Great performances from the team in each race. Brought back some good memories.

Missed my run yesterday because I slept in and then had some stuff come up during the day. Almost missed my run today for the same reasons but I got out around 8:30 for an easy 6. I felt pretty good but I can tell that I need to start taking better care of my legs with stretching and rolling out and stuff like that as I start to bump up the mileage.

Another busy day and another night run. 5 easy.

Ran with the high school team this morning. About 4 miles with some pick ups. I felt pretty good. I'll probably get out later for a few more.

4 more in the afternoon exploring mustang pass out by green springs.

Around 4 today with the team. 2.5 mile warm up then 4x400m at 5k pace w/1:00 recovery. It was their last workout before state and I decided to jump in with them. I felt pretty good, I think I could hold that pace for a mile but definitely not 5k right now, haha. I had the opportunity to talk to the team afterward about my experience running at state and I had a good time. Excited for those guys!

6.5 out in Little Valley after our ward's PIGnic in the park, haha. Ate some good hawaiian food and caught up with some old neighbors so it was a good time. On the run my calves were pretty tight which caused a bit of lower leg pain. Overall good run. Stretched and rolled out afterward.

Easy 4 on the trails behind Hidden Valley to break in the new trail shoes.

4 easy with the team out to baskin robins and back. Good ice cream 

Got off work pretty early so I went up to run with the team again today. .5 mile warm up then ran out toward the Arizona strip with a 2 mile tempo on the way back miles 4 and 5. 6.5 miles total for the day. Averaged 5:40 for the tempo, the guys basically dropped me from the start, haha. Not too fast compared to what I was running in high school but I basically ran the fastest mile since I've been back from Chile then ran it again. Also, my last 2 mile tempo run about a month ago I averaged 6:20 so there's definitely some progress there. Good stuff, fun to run with the team.  

8 miles out on the Barrel Roll trail. Not focused on pace or anything, just wanted to get a good longer run under my legs to finish off the week. I felt good and it was good to get back out on that trail. Such a sweet trail! Solid week, bumped up the mileage a little bit from last week. Not too much but it's gettin' there!

4 miles easy later in the evening. Went up to Orem on Monday to meet with an academic advisor at UVU and get registered for classes, then I came back on Tuesday, so I wasn't able to run the past couple ofdays. Had some aches and pains in the beginning of my run in my knees and lower legs, probably from the long drive. Everything loosened up well though and I finished feeling pretty good. 

5.5 miles in the morning. I felt a little tight in the same spots as yesterday when I started up. I ran over to go run with the team and I had basically warmed up before I got there. Just Coach Powell and Lauren today. I felt good running the 3 miles with them, but I started to tighten up pretty bad in my hips and shins running back to my house. I cut the run a half a mile short and got in some good stretching. I think it might've been from stacking a really early morning run on top of a late evening run and I didn't give my legs enough time to recover, especially after taking a few days off. 

Met up with the team this morning for their run out at Little Black Mountain. I ran with the gold group girls and Coach Fielding and Coach Powell, #choosethewhite. They had a 10 mile progression run. I felt good, no aches or pains, so that was really nice. A good run to wrap up a kind of weird week of training. I missed a few days this week due to bad scheduling, but this next week I'll improve on that. 

Ran some of the michigan workout with the team today. I did the road miles and the last 400 with the boys then I paced Sam for some of her workout so she wasn't running solo, plus Coach had already run a bunch and asked me to help him out and pace her on the track. 3xmile +1x400m finish with the guys. Their goal pace was around 5:40 for the road miles I think. We went 5:30, 5:36, 5:37. :58 for the 400m finish, I almost caught Lil Ginge at the end! Workout with Sam was 1200m and 800m,on the track at 1:28-1:30 pace for 400m, road mile around 6:20 I think, then about 1:10 for the last 400m finish. She had a great workout today. It was fun to run with the team, especially for the michigan! This workout was always a huge confidence booster for me. The guys also ran really well and are in great shape. 2 mile warm up and about .75 mile cool down. Good stuff. I remember trying to jump in on the last 400 the day I got back from the mission and I think I went like 64 and almost lost my Durango's salad all over the track after, hahahahah. 

Ran a little more than I thought I would today. 5.5 in the morning with Coach Powell and Lauren, then 4 more with the team for their Halloween run. There were some creative costumes this year, fun run. Also I made the first page on the mileage board for the first time since I've been back from the mish, WOOTWOOT!

5.5 with Coach Powell and his wife and Lauren again in the morning. A little tight starting up but things loosened up after about a mile. Everything good but I really had to go to the bathroom at the end of my run, lol.

5.5 again in the morning, this time with Coach Powell and Carson. Had to go to the bathroom pretty bad at the end like yesterday, I blame it on the pizza I ate last night and the night before. Went over to watch the race at Pine View later in the evening. Good stuff from everyone today.

4 miles in the morning solo before work. Got a text from Matt later in the morning inviting me to go run with him and Hayden later. I didn't want to pass up the opportunity so I got about 8 more miles in with them out on the trails behind Tonaquint Intermediate. I struggled on the uphills because my fitness isn't so great right now but overall it was a good run. I talked to Hayden a little bit and got some great advice about the transition into collegiate running and I'm excited to keep training and getting ready.

Just an easy 4 on trails later in the evening because of the longer run yesterday. It was a good week of training and I'm excited for a much needed recovery day! 

5.5 easy in the morning. A few little aches and pains from last week.

5.5 easy again before work.

5.5 in the morning before work. Got off work a little earlier than usual so I got in another 7 with the team for their afternoon practice on the trails out in Green Valley.

Just an easy 4 in the morning before work.

No run this morning. Went to go run with the team in the afternoon. They did the usual 1600m week-before-nike time trial. I guess it's called the Harambe mile now. I didn't understand the reference but I guess it's some gorilla or something like that, haha, that's what happens when you're out of the country for 2 years and don't have social media. Anyway, I just wanted to jump in with them for a little push and to see more or less where I'm at with my fitness and speed right now. I didn't want to take it out too fast and suffer later so I started off pretty relaxed and just went with it. I ended up going 4:48. Not too great but not bad either considering my training right now. Good little push.

8.5 with the boys in the morning out to Witch Mountain. Good way to finish the week off.

5.5 easy. Felt good. 

Woke up this morning and was wayyyyyyy too tired so I smacked that snooze button like a red-headed stepchild. In the afternoon I ran 5 miles with the team and 3 more by myself after. I felt tired, but it was a pretty tough day at work yesterday and this morning so that was probably a big reason why I felt kinda drained. Overall it was a good run.

5.5 morning xc out and back. 

The usual.

Pretty tired in the morning so I slept in before work. Just an easy 30 minutes later in the evening. I actually almost didn't make it out for a run. My shoulder angel and devil were having an intense battle. Shoulder angel won, #blessed. I felt good on my run even though it was an exhausting day at work. I've been trying to bring down the pace a little on my easy runs and it's been going well.

Late night so I slept in a loooooooooooooooooooootttttttttttttt. I got out around noon to run out by the Cove Wash trailhead. I started on Pecipice and worked my way through Sidewinder to Suicidal Tendencies. It was an awesome run. Perfect weather, some good climbing and fun descent, and some spectacular scenery! A little bit of core work later in the evening.

5.5 in the morning before work. Some normal Monday aches and pains but I felt good after getting into it. I got off work a little earlier today so I threw in another 6 with the guys on the ridge. Good stuff! 

5.5 with Sir Nancelot, Coach Powell and his wife. Nice and relaxed.

Slept in so I got out in the afternoon for my run before heading up north for Thanksgiving. It was weird because I was working all morning, then we went to Don Pedro's to eat lunch around noon and I at some good mexican food, so when I started running at about 1:30 I felt like I was going soooooo slow. I had all that food in my stomach and I was tired from work so I was thinking that I would go through the first mile at 8:30 pace or something like that, but I hit the first mile and it said 6:30. Haha, it's crazy because I do the same run pretty much every morning, and I always feel like I'm going super fast, but I've never come through that first mile in the morning faster than like 6:45ish. I think Don Pedro put something in my chimichanga. Good run, I felt pretty good and really didn't have any stomach problems until like the last 100m of my run. 

6.5 mile loop around my grandma's neighborhood with Alex, my brother-in-law, up here in Sandy. It was a great to spend time with family and eat some good food. I'm thankful for all of the little things that make life so good. Happy thanksgiving everyone!

Easy 4 later in the evening after getting back from Sandy. Warm evening for November. 

Good Saturday long run. Pretty much the same run as last week but we started from the road which added on a couple more miles. I had a great time running with an old thunder-cat-turned-thunder-bird. The blogosphere might know him as Ducote, but I know him as Sagebrush. A didgeri-dang good time with that pal. We’ll meet again on the battlefield one of these days. 

I went to Zion later with some other high school pals and now my legs are trashed! Tomorrow will be a solid recovery day. 

5.5 in the morning before work. I had a good conversation with Bryson and Nance today about the proper courtship of young women in adolescence. 

5.5 in the morning with the xc team. I almost didn't go because I felt suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper tired which is weird because I got decent sleep last night. I got back and almost fell asleep while I was stretching, but I had work so I had to get up. Man, honestly I was so tired that I had like 0 motivation to do anything. Kind of a bummer. Right now my throat's a little sore so I think I might have a cold coming on. I'll do my best to fight it! It may just be a lighter week for me this week.

5.5, felt much better this morning. A little strength training in the evening after work, mostly core.

Pretty tired in the morning so I slept in and got my run in in the afternoon solo. I was a little tired from work but other than that I felt great. 

5 miles later in the evening. I didn't really give my body sufficient time to digest my dinner so the last couple of miles were a little uncomfortable lol. My sister is in town for her baby shower so we went to Roy's Pizza. First time I'd been there and it was pretty good, but I wouldn't recommend it as pre-race food lol. 

10 easy around noon. Both of the cars were being used so I couldn't run on trails today. I made a loop from my house out along the Virgin River Trail, which is still a trail I guess but it's paved so not that kind of trail. There was some 5k going on so there was a little bit of traffic between the trailhead up by Hill Rd and the trailhead by the Dixie Center where the finish line was. It was a little awkward running through all their stuff, haha. I felt pretty strong for the first 5 miles but then it started to get a little tougher. I guess it's probably because I don't really run more than 5 miles each day lol. Pretty light week this week. Next week I get into training mode!

Easy 5 in the morning, I felt suuuuuuuuuuper stiff. Probably a combination of Saturday's run and the colder weather. I loosened up after a couple miles so it was alright. 

In the afternoon I went up to the high school to run the chocolate milk mile with the team but wisely opted out when I discovered that it'd been changed to the root beer mile. I got some sweet footage though. I ran another 4 with Coach after their practice. I felt a lot better than I did in the morning.

I went out later for dinner with my family at Red Lobster to celebrate my birthday! 21 baby, woohoo!!! Cake and ice cream at my grandma's afterward. Good way to finish off a great day. 

5 today before later in the evening.

I woke up this morning with very little motivation to go running. Parents out of town (me being alone in the house) + high school team on their 2 week break (no running buddy) + cold temps and monotonous training + too many episodes of the Office the night before = perfect storm to prevent me from running. I conquered the obstacles in the morning and got out for an easy 4, but I was planning on getting out for another 5 or 6 later in the evening after work and didn't make it out for that run. I don't know, I was just kind of in a funk today. Moving forward!

I had way more motivation to run today but I still only made it out for an easy 4 later in the evening. I would've gone longer with more light but it was dark outside. Last Saturday I realized that I had adquired a decent amount of money from working these past few months and I splurged and bought some running gear. Today I tested out 1 of the new pairs of shoes, the adios 3, which I'll probably use more for speed work. They felt good, my calves were pretty tight at the beginning of my run though which caused a little bit of discomfort, but I finished the run off feeling great and got a good stretch in afterward.   

Just an easy 4 this morning. I don't think I'll go out for more tonight. My lower calves and ankles are a little sore so I'll do some strength exercises and maybe core. 

Motivation was pretty low on Saturday and I had some aches and pains in my ankles so I didn't run that day. I decided that one of the reasons that it was so hard for me to get motivated the last couple of weeks was not having anyone to run with, so I texted Brianna and she was down to run with me today! Just an easy 4 miles but I felt much better. I did weights in the morning: squats, biceps, and triceps. I went with my dad early before running which made the legs pretty tired for the run but I don't know when I would go if I didn't do it in the morning, and I don't want to run before weights because I'd have to run at like 5 in the morning!!! No afternoon run.

5 eeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaasyyyyy with Brianna again today out by the new airport. Cold!

5 again this morning with Brianna. She's been awesome to run with me this week! It definitely makes running a lot more interesting. Really nice day today but it sure is chilly down there along the river! 

I got out before lunch for an easy 6 through Little Valley. Brianna couldn't come today so my pace was a bit faster than I've been running for the past few days and I definitely felt it, haha. Pretty tired but it was a good run. Weather was perfect.

Easy 4 this morning before weights. Deadlifts + shoulders. After that I went and saw Star Wars!!! Sooooooooo gooooooooooooooooood!!!!! 

10 easy in the afternoon. Really nice day for a run! I did the same 10 mike loop that I did a couple weeks ago but I changed up the finish a little. I felt good through 3 miles then I started to get a little tight in my left hip/glute and calf. The overall pace was just a little slower than last time but I’ve kind of had an off couple of weeks and this was my first week back in the weight room. Moving forward! 

Just 4 this morning before weights. Squats + biceps and triceps. I was going to do a little more but the back inside of my left knee was way tight and made my run in the morning a little uncomfortable. I stretched and rolled out later.

Just 4 again today. My knee was feeling a lot better.