I can do it. I will do it NINE times!

Took it pretty easy today, warmed up with Amanda, then did Foremaster - started off with everybody, but stuck with Jeff for most of it, since I think we were both feeling kinda tired out today. 7:41/mi avg. (DS2 203)

Goals for tomorrow's 10k: Win, PR and break 40:00! 

I must have bad luck with 10k's - this is the second one (of my 4 total) in which I've gone the wrong way or something! I think there were a total of 10 of us running the 10k, so the start was pretty small and I took off with no boys coming near, so I had goal #1 for the whole race! The race was a out-and-back, so when my garmin said 3.1 miles and there wasn't a turnaround, I was a bit confused, but when I eventually got to 4 miles with no turnaround in sight, I was so mad! I turned around and tried to think of where I could've messed up, but there wasn't any, so as I made my way back I told all the people running it what was up.

The first 2 miles were fast and fun, and the third had a lot of slow uphill. I was actually 'racing' for them, but I got more and more confused/angry on the fourth mile so it was slower (and still uphill). Miles 5-6 were faster with the downhill, and when I got to 6.2 miles total, I glanced at my watch at 6.2 and I think my time was around 41:00. So, whatever. After that, I slowed to a 'cruise' at around 7:15/mi pace for the last 2 miles back to the finish line for a total avg. of 6:46/mi. (DS2 211.8)

It turns out, talking to the race director after, that at some point we were supposed to go from the road to the paved trail and that the turnaround was on the trail. That would've been nice to know before the race. Or even during. Or if it had been marked. But no. I don't think I've been so tempted to flip someone off in all my life! I left right after I finished so I wouldn't freak out on anyone or get even angrier, and to make it to Pres. Hinckley's funeral on time. So I spent twenty bucks for a t-shirt, goody bag, and a 8 mile tempo run. Bleh.
I'm mostly over it by now, just a bit of frustration over a wasted morning.

Warmed up 600m with Amanda, then I ran out on Telegraph to the Coral Canyon stoplight (4 miles) and back to the high school. Took it pretty easy, started out with Jeffree and finished off by my lonesome. Felt slow and exhausted for the first 6 miles, but the last 2 felt better for the most part. Managing to breathe was interesting, while coughing and having a stuffed up head, but I survived! (DS2 220.7)  

After, I lifted 3x11 of LE-7, LC-10, LPD-3, BP-55, SQ-75 and Abs-5. Then I did 4x100m barefoot strides on the turf. Cold feet!  

Early out from school today, so we ran at 11:30! Legs felt a bit stiff from yesterday as we warmed up to the cemetery and did the loop twice w/o stopping for a 2 mile tempo workout (6:20/mi gp). Last week I went too fast on the first one and too slow on the second, so I was so determined to do better this week. I held back on the first one a little and got exactly 6:20, then pushed so hard on the second one to keep it fast that it ended up being 6:09! Oops. After, we jogged another loop around the cemetery and ran back to the high school for a total of 7.6 miles. Then we took off the shoes for 4x100m barefoot strides on the turf. Knee got pretty sore and tight today, so April's giving me a massage tonight! (DS2 228.8)

Grass loop with Amanda for a warmup, then ran a fun easy River Run - first 2 with Rob and the rest by myself. Forgot to replace my watch's batteries yesterday, so I borrowed Amanda's watch for the run. I had such a fun time! Amanda's garmin was set for a "fast pace" alert, so it suddenly beeped at me and said "SLOW DOWN!" randomly. It was so unexpected, and made me laugh (a lot) so I left it on for a mile or so. The dirt part of the run was SO squishy, I could barely run through it and my shoes got dirtier. :) And I talked to myself some. And I saw some other girls doing the bank 5-miler on the way up the industrial hill about .25 ahead of me, so I hurried up and caught them! That mile was 7:12 - woo hoo! Avg. pace 7:34/mi. SO GOOD! (DS2 237.3)

Today I became LEGAL. I can now vote, buy dry ice and sign my own race sign-up forms! 

Ran a couple laps barefoot on the track to warm up for lifting, but the basketball coaches wouldn't let me into the weight room. So I went home.

Club run tonight - the usual 7. Legs were really tired out for the first 3, but felt lots better for the second half. Kinda had a sloshy belly for most of it, but not awful. And I held my breath all the way through the tunnel that goes under the road! Didn't start my watch until we were 3 miles in, but the last 4 were at 7:36/mi avg. pace.  (DS2 244.2)

Off to Flagstaff tomorrow!

Some alarm clock malfunction (whether it didn't go off or I accidentally turned it off in my sleep, I'll never know) made for a hectic morning run. I had planned to get up at 4:52 to run 7 miles before getting ready and leaving for Flagstaff at 7am, but I woke up at 5:40 because of my mom. So, I threw on my running gear and ran hurried through a 6-miler in my limited time. Avg. 7:15/mi with 6:55 first mile. And I was still late to get on the bus because I forgot my dress the first time! 

After getting situated in our hotel, we had an hour of free time, so I went exploring to see how the roads and surrounding area were to decide between outside or treadmill for tomorrow morning. Easy out-and-back 3-miler. The roads were snowy, wet and mucky, so when I finished the backs of my calves were black. Eew. 7:43/mi avg. (DS2 253.2)

This trip has been rather unlucky! I had such a frustrating morning. Again. Got up at 5:37 to go run 10 miles on the treadmill in the hotel (since the roads were icy and it was freezing out), but the treadmill wouldn't go any faster than 3.5 mph and I couldn't figure out why. The front desk fellow was totally ignorant, so after trying again (in vain) to get the treadmill to work, I stalked back to my room, put on my cold weather gear and went to run in the icy freezing-ness. By then it was 6:15, so I barely had time to run a slow 7 miles with all the ice and snow everyplace. Argh. Avg 8:15/mi. (DS2 260.2)

Never had time to get in the missing 3 from this morning, but we got I's in both performances!

And we have good news about Kermit! He is up and running and legal, so I'll be driving him from now on! Woo hoo! And since we got $1,100 for him being totaled and spent a total of $925 on repairing him, we even gained $175 in the process... not bad!

First day of track conditioning today: we warmed up 2x on track, did agilities and stretches, had a little discussion and then ran the Washington Pkwy 8-miler. Started off with everybody, ran with Jeff for most of it and finished up with Willy. Boy did I feel awful. I was working so hard to keep my pace good, when it was still hanging around 7:50. Ugh.  My inner ankles and arches were hurting the whole run, I got a few sideaches and generally felt "bleh." By the last 2 miles, I was so sick of sucking that I sped up and determined that I would make up for it a bit and run them better. So I did. Most non-triumphant. Avg. 7:38/mi. (DS2 269.2)

After, I lifted weights: 3x11 of LE-7, LC-10, LPD-3, BP-55, SQ-85, and Abs-5. Then I ran 4x100m barefoot turf strides. My feet and ankles still hurt. Iced. Bleh.

Track again! Was still pretty lame-feeling for the most part, left ankle still not liking me for almost the entire run. Took it easy to the cemetery with Holt, then ran the cemetery loop for one 2-in-a-row tempo, then one easy, then one tempo again (GP 6:20). Wasn't expecting much goodness out of these, but they were all right.

The in-a-row miles were 6:14 and 6:14 (though my watch said .98 miles for 6:20/mi avg. exactly for both). Then I ran the slow easy one, but on the downhill bit, I rolled my right ankle on the edge of a large-ish rock - ow - and came perilously close to faceplanting it, and just jogged it off, though it still smarts a bit. When I finished the lap, I noticed my watch had run out of batteries, so I jogged around a while until Austin and Kimz finished up theirs and swapped watches with them for the last one. It felt pretty icky, with ankles quite ouchy, but 6:12, so not bad. Paused to stretch before jogging slowly back. 7:13/mi total avg. Iced at home. (DS2  278.2)

Easy Green Springs 6, felt lethargic and tired again. And sore on top of it! I seem to be having a really crappy day today and a quite crappy week this week. Ran the first mile with the guys, then slowed up a little and since my ankle is not liking me still, I stopped at the turnaround to give it a bit of rest and rub it out a little. A bit quicker on the way back with the downhill. Avg. min/mi 7:40-ish. (DS2 284.7) 

At 4:33am (six minutes before my alarm was due to ring, grrr) I woke up, got into my warm clothes and drove to the school, then ran the Hospital 7-miler. For the first time this week, I actually felt reasonably good for most of my run. On the last mile and a half, snow flurries were coming down nice and gently, which made for a bit of fun catching them in my mouth and seeing how white my sweatshirt was getting. Avg. 7:34/mi. (DS2 291.7)

After that I lifted weights by myself. (While listening to good music! Ha!) 3x11 of LE-7, LC-10, LP-3, BP-55, SQ-80, Abs-5. Not so bad as last time. Ran a cooldown around the school barefooted - about .25 mile.

Today's workout was a good start to a awful day! Ugh. I spent 13.5 hours driving all around the community to deliver "singing valentines" to people for our choir fundraiser. My feet are killing me from wearing 4" heels all day. And the food I managed to get during the day was rather questionable and definitely bad for me. Good thing I NEVER have to do that again!!!!! And, yeah... happy Valentine's Day.

Foremaster 6-miler, mostly ran it with JFree. Best run I've had all week. Ran up "the hill" - east ridge - like a hill workout and it killed me. Excited to run up it lots in the future? Not a chance. But the inevitable will come. Last mile up the long hill I picked it up a little. Left my watch at home accidentally, but Jeff's was 47:35 and I finished a bit before him, so I'm guessing about the same avg. pace as yesterday. Afterwards 4x100m barefooted striders on the turf. (DS2 285.4)

Made a deal with myself again that I wouldn't run until my laundry was done, so I got going at 3pm. Started off doing the AP 10, and stopped by at AP's house for the potty (and found Annie and Heidi sitting on the roof of all things), then was feeling good and adventurous, so I went off exploring new roads in Little Valley and came back through S Bloomington Hills, so it turned out longer by a ways. Felt pretty good, though my lower back is sore from duct-taping and freezer-papering our entire boat last night (which worked quite perfectly this morning, I must say) and my left ankle is still being bothersome, but the weather was perfect and the run was nice and relaxing. Also, I finally think I'm starting to kind of get the hang of running downhill better. Hopefully! Avg. 7:39/mi pace. (DS2 296.5)

Fun run out on the Washington Fields loop that I hate, but it wasn't so bad because I did it backwards! I think I'm going to only do it that way from now on. Because of the parade of homes, there were lots of balloons tied to "open house" signs, so I gave a total of 10 balloons the smack-down! And I love this weather! Really consistent miles, first and last were 7:07 & 7:09, and the rest were all within 5 seconds of 7:30. Avg. pace 7:26/mi. for 8 miles, then stopped in the park on the way home to do some barefoot grass strides. It wasn't measured or anything, so I ended up doing more like 140 meter strides. Whatever. Good run and lots of fun. And I found a dime. Winner!!! (DS2 304.5)

Ran out with they guys for some tempo cemetery miles like we do every Tuesday - this time we did 2 x 2-in-a-row (with the .1 jog between) and 5 minute jog between the sets with GP 6:20/mi. Felt ok on the jog out, but wasn't feeling good in the legs or the guts for most of it. Ran the first two in 6:16 and 6:14. Jogged around feeling tired, then got going on the second two which were 6:13 and 6:17, though on the last one I was my legs were juiced and I was huffing and puffing muchly by the end. Not the greatest, but not awful time-wise, I guess. But it sure felt awful. Jogged back to the school around the pond way with Holt talking about goals for the season and first meet. We'll see! (DS2 314)

Started out a little chilly on the trail out-and-back run, then at almost 2 miles cold cold winds and rain suddenly attacked us! Lots of rain, wind, hail and jumping in BIG puddles. With mud. And soggy heavy shoes. I think I ran the fastest I ever have on the way back because I was so excited to be out of the cold. By the end of the run, we were drenched and freezy! Then Decker and I (Austin and Willy wimped out) ran 4x100m strides on the turf and our feet froze off. Or at least almost. The run was fun in a crazy kind of a way! And I found a dime again. And I did yesterday - so this makes 3 days in a row of finding a dime on my run. Triple winner! Avg. 7:09/mi pace. Soaking wet and still shivering an hour later. (DS2 321)

Warmed up with the team and such, then lifted same as always - 3x11 of LC-10, LE-7, LPD-3, BP-55, SQ-80, Abs-5. Then cooled down on the big grass loop. (DS2 322.3)

Afternoon I ran with the club. I feared my legs would be totally spent and slow, but it felt really good for the most part. Just did the 7-miler with Austin. The easy miles were pretty quick: 7:10, 7:10, 7:06, 6:50, 6:51 - then the last uphill miles kinda died: 7:38 and 8:00. Overall, not a bad run, though I've decided boys are gross. And weird. Marcie, you need to come to these to save me from the awkward conversations! (DS2 329.3)

Ran Foremaster with the big hill (east ridge?) hard once. It was supposed to be fast, but it was just hard. Started out w/Holt and finished by myself with a 'pit stop' at Maverick. My guts hate me - I think from all the cookie dough I ate during 2nd hour - and my legs are really tired and sore. So I went really slow. It was icky. Glad my watch was out of batteries. After, 4x100 strides on the beginning slope of the grass loop place because the soccer players were taking up the whole field. (DS2 336.4)

Tired, sore and slow, out to the AZ strip and back. After about two miles I was ready to be done. The way out was so slow and - avg. 8:24/mi, then on the way back I got sick of being so slow and picked it up more - avg. 7:42/mi. Plus, the slight downhills helped pick up the pace. So, average pace for the whole run was 8:03/mi. Glad it's over with. (DS2 346.4)

Track practice "officially" started today, and we had 2 of them. At 5:30, I ran a warmup and the AC 3 with Austin, Holt, Trevor and some other fellow I can't recall. It felt a lot faster than it actually was. 22:23 total time - 7:27/mi pace. And the showers at the school were freezing cold yet again. Curses.

Then in the afternoon, I ran the Hospital 7-miler, started out with Ashley J and caught up to McKenzie at AC, so we ran together until the Hospital which was fun - especially to run with girls for once! Still feeling pretty tired and slow, my shoes are getting worn down and running twice in them today wasn't good for them, so my shins were a little achy. If I can find some time I'm going to get some new ones this week. 54:21 total time - 7:45/mi pace. 4x100m strides after. And lifted, exactly the same as last time. (DS2 357.9)

To cemetery wtih Ashley and Kenzie and some fellow (Chris?), then 4x cemetery loops with .1 mile (1:00) jog between each - GP 6:20. Times were 6:16 (6:22), 6:15 (6:25), 6:14 (6:23), 6:10 (6:23) - parentheses are the pace/mi my watch spat out. It has been measuring a bit short lately. Weird. Shins were a bit achy again, and the last couple were pretty hard with much hard breathing. When I finished I stopped and went to the restroom and was feeling really sick to my stomach. Jogging home was slow and icky, my belly was sloshing and I felt awful and tired. Yucky and very slow going - 8:30 pace the whole way back. But I made it, barely.(DS2 366.9)

All by my lonesome in the morning, I was going to do the afternoon workout, but my legs were completely dead, so I opted for the traditional AC. 23:47 total time - 7:55/mi pace. And I got a warm shower at the school! I was so happy!

Legs still tired in the afternoon, but not quite as bad as in the morning. Had to hurry to get home by 3:45, so I left 8th period early to get going on the Dogpound AT run. It was slow, hard as heck and killed me dead. Miles were 6:18, 6:28, 6:49 and 6:37/mi pace for .25 mile. Eew. Though, thinking about it just barely, those might be a bit slow, since my watch has been off lately. Hmmm. Maybe it was only pretty crappy and not really crappy!

At 3:45, we biked about 5 miles with a lady in my ward to her cancer treatment and back. Kind of a nice cooldown, except now my legs are dead-er than dead. Dern. (DS2 374.9)
 

Slept in until 8am, yay! Was supposed to do 7 today, but I'm sick of all the Washington, Little Valley and Industrial Rd. runs from my house, so I did the Man-O-War 8-mile loop, which is close. Ran it slow and easy - 8:09/mi avg. (DS2 383)

Track practice: ran the warm up, then lifted the same as always, though I upped the weight on Abs to 7.5 and added some cherry pickers, bicep curls and pull ups (which were questionable). Next Monday, I think I'll up the weight on a couple more lifts. Then I ran a big grass loop cool down and stretched a lot with the guys. Good day today. (DS2 384)

AC at 6:30am, ran with Austin for most of it. 'Twas pretty slow and easy. Ran in my new shoes and they were reasonably good. (Adrenaline 3.5)