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

Did the tri as a team (ski-3.8, bike-32, run-6.3) with my brother, Gene, and my sister-in-law, Gretchen. Gretchen started us off with the ski and she came in 6th last (of 82) since she mostly just swims and hadn't ever used skate skis before - her split time was 40:20. Then Gene took off on the bike, did really well, and passed 28 people - his split time was 1:18:08.

Then it was my turn! I started off a bit too fast (first mile 5:54) but got settled into a good pace after that. Probably could've run it faster, but I didn't really want to kill myself since it was mostly for fun anyway. The course was mostly gentle downhill, with about 2 miles total that were uphill/flat. So, not a hard course at all. I passed 28 people, too! Mile splits were 5:54, 6:18, 6:16, 6:19, 6:18, 6:15 and .33 at 5:42 pace with total time 39:15 and avg. pace 6:12/mi.  Had a really good time and partied with the nephews some more and ate at the BBQ, then ran a couple more really easy miles with Gretchen before the awards. Fun day and fun race. Then a long drive home again. (DS2 393)

Slow in the morning. Legs were feeling pretty nice for the first time in a while. Ran with Austin again; he thinks that my new shoes make me sound like a guy running. Nice. Miles were 8:23, 7:45, 6:55 - 7:50/mi avg. (Adrenaline 11)

Afternoon 7-miler out past Washington Pkwy on Telegraph and back. Took it pretty easy on the way out with McKenzie and Ashley, then picked it up on the way back because I was feeling SO GOOD! Great weather today, great company today, and great run today! Days like these are the ones that really make me love running. Yay! Total avg. 7:34/mi. (DS2 400.5)

Afterwards, I lifted - I was feeling brave and actually upped some of my weights! (the bold ones) 3x11 of LE-7, LC-11, LPD-4,3,3, BP-57.5, SQ-85, Abs-7.5 Then I ran 4x100m turf strides to get the legs moving again. Foot hurt a bit. Oh well; I couldn't have a perfect day, now could I? Close enough! : D

Of all days to forget my watch! I am an idiot. Thank you SO much Jeffry for letting me borrow yours on my last 3 tempo miles and the way back. You're so awesome.

Legs feeling tired out from lifting and upping my weights, so I wasn't looking forward to Tempo miles (4x1 miles with 1:00 jog recovery, GP 6:20), this time we went down to the river trail and did the tempos on that. Didn't like it. The wind was pretty hard against us on the first two out, which wasn't fun. Times were: 6:34- argh! against the wind and Jeff was wearing the watch, so didn't know I was sucking that bad while we were doing it, angry face! 6:21- a little better, but still hard against the wind. 6:14- overcompensation? 6:15- again!?! So, I was proud of myself for coming back after a crappy first couple, but mad at myself for letting the first 2 fail. Fail fail fail. And coming back after them on the long uphill of 2450 basically killed me. (DS2 409)

Went to bed at 2am, so I am again brainless and set my alarm for 6:07, not 5:07, so I ran at the school at 6:15 really fast and got ready in 15 minutes at the school to get to class on time. Kind of a crazy morning. I need food. And my legs are still tired and sore. It was, however, a surprisingly good run. Probably was the adrenaline. Or Adrenalines? Hahahahaha. I need more sleep; thank goodness spring break is coming soon. (Adrenaline 14.5) 19:15

Didn't have much of good food during the day (all I had was a donut, 2 cookies and  5 cordial cherries during 2nd period), so I was again pleasantly surprised by my run. Did the Dogpound run; AT starting at the bank and ending at the school. Ran pretty easy for the first easy bit with a couple of girls from the team, then took off on the AT miles: 6:24- legs not quite wanting to work, a bit of a headwind, but not bad. 6:16- still a bit of headwind, but faster thanks to the downhill. 6:35- really good since this mile is ALL uphill. Then .25 at 6:10 pace- worked hard to finish strong! Total AT time: 20:47. Pretty happy with the workout today. And I did 4x100m barefoot strides after on the turf.  Hopefully I'll get a little more sleep tonight...tee hee. (DS2 413.5)

Ran Hospital-7, ran with Ashley for the first 2 miles, then by myself the rest of the way. Took it really easy, avg. 7:53/mi. Hectic day, glad it's SPRING BREAK!!!!! (Adrenaline 22)

Goals for the Hurricane Invite:  3200m - qualify for state (11:48.35 or faster), and 400m - see what happens... get a fast time or something? :)
 

AC in the AM, nice and easy with Austin, Kimzey, Decker and (for the last bit) JFree. It was colder than I expected. (Thanks Decker for letting me borrow your gloves.) Legs a tad sore, but they loosened up after a bit. Then Amanda and I got our legs waxed! First time since January and it feels awesome. It'll be smooth sailing in the race today! Woo hooo!

First off at the meet, I ran the 3200m. It was AWESOME! Before I was really nervous that I wouldn't be able to pace it very well, but it felt great. I think I started out a tad fast, but I settled into a comfortably fast pace and stuck with it. Splits were pretty consistent: 1:18, 1:26, 1:28, 1:28, 1:29, 1:29, 1:29, 1:19.  PR-ed by 10 seconds, qualified for state by 22 seconds! And I took second place barely - by a "crazy lunge!" (DD spike 39)

Then I ran the 400m just for the heck of it and got 3rd place in my heat (and probably really bad overall). My time was 1:05.25, so I PR-ed in it by .52 seconds. A little while later, I ran to Wendy's, bought some dinner and then ran back with my food. It took me 13:15, and it felt like about 7:40/mi pace, so I'm guessing it was about 1.7 miles. (DS2 419.95)

I won't make it to the meet tomorrow, since I'm flying to Baltimore from Las Vegas at 6 AM tomorrow. Sad day, since I'm missing my favorite events - the 1600m and the Medley Relay.

Had a long and frustrating day of travel - our flight from Newark, NJ to Baltimore got delayed twice, then canceled, then we ended up riding the Amtrak instead, so we got to Baltimore at 9pm instead of 5pm - when we finally reached my sister's house, we had no luggage - it is still in Newark, I think.

So, at 9:30pm, I borrowed her shoes, socks, shirt, sbra and shorts and ran over to the nearby clubhouse for a late-night 8-miler on the treadmill. Most of the run was at 7:53/mi pace, nice and easy with my stiff and sore legs.  Sweaty, sweaty, eew gross. After about 7 miles, the treadmill kept on trying to slow up on me! It said, "cool down" and would slow to 13:00/mi pace, then I'd have to speed it up again. Hahahaha. New record for miles run consecutively on a treadmill for me!

Out-and-back in the morning in Baltimore. A little chilly, but not bad, kind of a boring run. Legs are feeling pretty good, though, and the low elevation here is easy to run in. How convenient! Avg. 7:42/mi pace. (DS2 425.2)

In the evening, I ran to the clubhouse, did 5 on the treadmill at 7:47/mi pace, lifted a bit, then ran back. Treadmills suck. (Adrenaline 27.5)

Ran around a lot trying to find a hill as steep and long as "The Ridge" for a hill workout, but I couldn't find one. So, I ran a couple of different hills that were shorter, twice up a paved but rundown trail (.15), then twice up the road on the other side of that hill (.17), then once up a less steep longer hill that I found later (.3). Hopefully that's somewhat equivalent to 3 times up The Ridge. Ran around some more to make it 5.5 miles. Moved a roadkilled squirrel (with some sticks, not my hands, mind) off the road because it was grossing me out, and earlier I got attacked by a dog. Had quite the adventure! (DS2 430.8)

A couple (needed) hours after an AMAZING dinner in a crab house, I ran on the treadmill again. Started at 8:00/mi pace and every .5 to 1 mile sped up by .1 mph. Ended up going 7:13/mi for most of the last mile, then kicked it down to 6:00/mi for a bit at the end, just for fun. :) (Adrenaline 33.1)

Legs feeling tired out and sore this morning, so I took it really slow and easy. So slow that I'm almost ashamed of how slow it was, so I'll not post my min/mi avg. Hahahahaha. Did a little loop out on Baythorne, then around on Smith Ave and Cross Country Blvd (YEAH!), then back on Rogene and Ivymount that was only about 3.5, so I did a littler loop around Western Run, Dixon, Gernand, and back on Bonnie View to get to my 5 for the morning. I don't really know why I put all the street names in there... mostly I've lost my mind. But my nephew and niece are really cute! (DS2 435.8)

Then the treadmonster at the clubhouse in the nighttime again. So boring. Accidentally hit the stop button at 2.5 ish, oops, but I got it going again straightaway. Slow again, my legs are still tired out. (Adrenaline 38.6)

Way too early in the morning, got up and ran on the treadmill again, thank goodness I don't have to run on that for a long while. But sad to leave and not party with my sis and the kidlets. Anyway, mostly same-old boring run, five miles with a quarter warmup to and a quarter cooldown back. (DS2 441.3)

Then I flew across the country! From Baltimore, Maryland to St. Paul, Minnesota to Portland, Oregon! 

Once I was at Willamette (in Salem, Oregon), I met up with their XC/track team and ran a 1.5 warmup with them, then stretched a lot and went off on a cold and rainy 5 miler with the assistant coach. Fun and muddy on the trails around in some fun parks.
(DS2 447.8)

Jet lag is killing me! I woke up at 4am, with no alarm or anything. Argh. At 7am, I ran 4.5 miles around Salem and in Bush park with Maya (the girl I stayed in the dorms with). Took it nice and easy, just stretched out the legs and got moving. Still was raining and muddy, but much fun. And there was a hill! I was quite surprised, since most of the city I've seen is pretty flat.

Since I'm racing in a random 10k in Springfield tomorrow, we decided to stay in a hotel there tonight. So, after some fun exploring of Oregon's coastal region, we got to a hotel here and I ran 4 sweaty miles on the treadmill. I am so sick of those. (Adrenaline 47.1)

Was feeling pretty tired and not ready to race hard much, so I mostly just had a freakishly fun time at a crazy race in Oregon! Got there and checked in and warmed up a titch (since it was cold and raining), then we got on the line and instead of a gun to start us off, we started to a bagpipe serenade! The course was a trail 5k and a road 5k that we could run in whichever order we wanted.

I did the trail portion first. It was so muddy and slick and wet and beautiful in the woods and overall AWESOME! I was totally soaked and had mud splattered all the way up me by the time I'd finished the first half. Then the road portion entirely kicked my butt. The first mile and a bit was a huge uphill, then a short steep downhill, then we turned around and went up the short steep hill and down the long hill. Ouch. If I hadn't been tired already... still deaded! Then we had another long downhill, some flat bits and then back up the other long hill to the finish. Talk about a killer course! The lady who beat me was amazing - she ran a 36-something and was just blazing the whole way - she almost beat all the guys! And the pipe and drum band was still playing when I finished. Didn't get my official time, awards, or anything because I had to leave right away to catch my flight in Portland at 1:35pm. And we had to push our rental car out of the mud we'd parked in and got splattered with even more muck! What a fun race! I'm so glad I did it, the bagpipers were awesome and made me smile and it was fun to race in such crazy conditions, even though my time off my watch (42:48 - I stopped it a ways late, though) was really slow. Mostly just a PARTY!!! Just got official results - updated! So slow!!!! :) (DS2 454.8)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

AC in the AM as usual. Getting up this early is so depressing. Warmup, then the boys left without me, so I started by my lonesome. About halfway in, we crossed paths and Holt ran with me for the rest. Tired and sleepy. No watch, didn't want to know how slow I was going. (Adrenaline 50.6)

At afternoon practice, we did the Hospital 7. Ran with Holt again, still feeling pretty tired out, but the times were a lot faster than I expected. 7:23/mi avg. with a couple downhills under 7 and both uphill miles under 8. Nice run mostly, felt good to be out in t-shirt weather again. Opted out of lifting in favor of (hopefully) getting some really good tempo miles in tomorrow. If I'm feeling up to it after them tomorrow, I'll lift then, if not, I'll start up on Thursday. (DS2 462.3 - definitely shouldn't do anymore long runs in these)

Busy day today, so I got out at about 3:45 and did my workout late. Ran the warmup, stretched and ran out toward the river trail for 4x1mile tempos with 1:00 jog recovery (GP 6:20) on the trail. Felt pretty sore and tired, but they went reasonably well and felt satisfying after a particularly frustrating day at state math and school s&e. Times were 6:17, 6:19, 6:13 and 6:16. In the middle of #3, I got the most killer sideache, but after about a quarter mile of trying to breathe right, it mostly went away. Other than that, it always surprises me how much easier the second two feel, since it looks like the way back is slightly uphill. After, I ran slowly back to the school and finished up s&e. Got a few blisters from today's run- not so fun. (DS2 470.8)

Found out that I missed the school record in the 3200m by .31 seconds - Shucks. But I'll get it next time!

Got to sleep in until 6 today! Then the usual AC with Holt, took it really easy - my legs are tired and sore from yesterday. (DS2 474.3)

Slow and easy in the afternoon, first 3.6 out-and-back in Washington - started out with Hayley, Monica and Kenzie, then 1.5 out past Arctic Circle to pick up Kermit from the shop. I went so, so slow, I felt really lethargic and my legs are tired out. No bueno. (Adrenaline 56.2)

So nervous for the races today! I was hoping for some more excellent times, but I can keep improving from here. We got our new uniforms today and they are most triumphant! Woo hoo!

First off, I ran the 1600m. Overall the race was kinda slow - lap splits were 1:18, 1:22, 1:24 and 1:21. The wind was kinda rough, so there weren't the greatest conditions ever. And my legs are/were pretty tired before I even started. I need to remember to give it more guts next time - I had way too much left at the end, I think. Won by about 15 seconds in a small race. (DD spike 40.2) 

Then, I warmed up and ran the 800m. No good. Wasn't really mentally there strongly and had forgotten how much that race is supposed to hurt. Time was 2:30 - ouch. Second place. What a pathetic race. Again, not fast enough overall. Not a good race, but I'll be better next time, definitely. After that race (which was supposedly my last), I was angry and went to cool off/down on a run. Ran around for a couple of miles, then found a nice place and gave myself a talking-to and made some more short-term goals. Then, when I was feeling better, I ran back - total of 4 miles.

Later, the person who was supposed to run leg 3 of the 4x400m ditched out, so I got to run that! By then, I'd completely lost my mind! Ran a pretty slow split (1:08), but we won the race, which was lots of fun! (DS2 481.1)

I am SO tired today! 3.5 hours of sleep is definitely not enough, especially the night after a meet. (Bill and Ted's was worth it, though....) Nobody but me of the 5:30am crew was there this morning, so I ran by my lonesome with The Beatles to keep me company on the iPod. I forgot how much I don't like running with music, it makes an easy 3-miler seem like forever. Also misplaced my watch, so no times, which was probably good for my self-esteem.(Adrenaline 56.2)

Afternoon, the legs were feeling a bit more like legs, but still so dead. 3.25 mile AT on Dogpound, 21:26 total for the run (borrowed a normal watch), so 6:35 avg/mi. Better than I expected, but worse than I'd hoped. Legs were burning for about 65% of the run. Ugh. After, I lifted weights and ran a .5 cooldown on the track. Glad to have a nice easy long run tomorrow. Need new "fast" shoes, mine are dead. (DS2 485.6)

So tired and sore. I wasn't even going fast and my legs were burning whenever I went up a hill! Hahahaha. I'm pathetic! Ran the first 3 with my brother, Jon, who's down for Easter, so they were faster. Mostly because he was calling me fat the whole time... and is faster than me. ;) They were at 7:30 pace and I almost died. My run today felt like I had suddenly gained 30 pounds and not run for a month. In a sad way, it was really funny.... Ah, well, finished the week and now can hope my legs are legs again by Monday! Avg. 8:06/mi. (Adrenaline 66.2)

AM AC with Austin. A bit fast for my liking, but the legs were feeling almost normal again, so not bad. 7:32/mi avg. Then I got a hot shower at the school! Yay! (DS2 489.1)

5 out-and-back in Washington, first half with Kenzie and Ashley, second half with just Ashley. Legs really tired out again, ball of left foot feeling bruised from Thursday's race. Ended up pretty slow, but it was fun to run with the girls. Perfect weather. Yes! After, I lifted 3x11 of the usual set of lifts. Upped abs to 10 lbs. (Adrenaline 71.7)

Went to SGRC later and bought some new racing spikes and some new "fast shoes" - DS Trainers again but the upgraded model. Retiring the DS2s - now for the DS3s! 

Wow. I did really really badly today! Pyramid workout of 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4 with 1 minute jog between each. Ran out to the trail and did them out there - kinda wished they were on the track. Legs were really tired from yesterday's lifting and my times were really crappy - 1:26, 2:53, 4:25, 4:27, 2:57, 1:23 - though the first 4 I went a bit over the distance, so those times are a titch slower than actually. Sadly, this doesn't excuse the 2:57 I cranked out on the last 1/2, which was really pathetic. While I'm making excuses, I guess I'll say that since I was up with the faster guys on the later ones, I really thought they were faster (both the times and the boys). New shoes were ok, foot still hurts. Also, knee was really questionable during the intervals, so I should/will call April for a massage soon. (DS3 7.5)

AC AM with Austin. Misplaced my watch on the way out of the house this morning, oh well. I'm really exhausted - I think I need more sleep - when I get up in the morning, I'm already spent. Yuk. But the HOT SHOWER! YES!!!! (Adrenaline 75.2)

Afternoon 4xhills on the Foremaster. Hard to know, time-wise how I did, but effort-wise, I had an alright workout. I think I could've pushed harder on the first two, but getting into the swing of that hill after a long hiatus takes a bit. Legs were feeling pretty tired the whole run, but they were actually feeling less blah on the way back than the way out. Not bad. Glad we did hills today - I almost miss them when we don't.... NOT! Hahahahaha. (DS3 13)

Driving up to Sandy tonight with Zac Z, then visiting USU for "Scholar's Day" tomorrow. Fun, fun, fun! Too bad it's cold up there still. Hee hee.

Sleep! Yes! 7 whole hours and it felt heavenly! Got up to go run and it was snowing - snow, snowflakes, snowstorm, snow - and COLD. But crazy fun, yessirree! Ran an easy and slow out-and-back in Sandy. At USU, I did all the Scholar's Day stuff, but ditched some to go meet some coaches and see the place. (It's crazy, they have 2 underwater treadmills!) Had a long, fun, busy, tiring, awesome day. (Adrenaline 81.2)

Way early in the morning before driving back home, ran easy 3 in the freezing cold. (DS3 17)

In the afternoon, ran the 1600m. Not awesome, not awful. The first lap was really crazy and tightly packed, so it turned out pretty slow - 1:20. The rest of the laps were almost exactly the same, so good for consistency, but I know I could've pushed harder. I'll do it next time! (DD spike 41.2)

Started out the meet today with my favorite - the 3200m! Ran an AWESOME race! Last time I ran the 3200m, I got .31 seconds off the school record, so I was sure that in this race I could break it. Don't know my splits really, but I know that they could've been a bit faster (we'll worry about that next time). But, I PRed by 2 seconds, got 2nd place and broke the school record!

Cooled down with Ash on the big grass loop really slow, then waited it out until the 800m. Mostly I was dreading this one because I sucked it up last time in it. But it went well, too! Season's best of 2:26.94 and got 4 seconds better than last time. Good splits - 1:12, 1:14. And it almost hurt really bad, so it's getting better! And I took 3rd place - that's a plus!

Then got a long massage from Bouncing Brain and stayed warm for the medley relay (800m leg). I had forgotten how much running these two 800's doesn't feel nice at all. Mostly, I was dead tired and ran like it. Still, not an awful split of 2:28 (1:11, 1:17) and we took 5th place.

Still off qualifying for state in the 1600m by 1 second, the 800m by 2 seconds and the medley by 3, but once we get going on some speedwork and I start getting up to peaking time, it'll be there. Great meet today, but glad its over - hosting this big meet sucks. (DS3 19.5) (DD spike 43.2) (V spike 1)

AC in the AM by my lonesome. Boring and foot hurting. Nice out for the most part. 

Easy bank run (5) today. I haven't done that in a while and I'd forgotten how much I like it. On the mph sign, I got it from 11 to 14 in about 15 meters! Sweet. Foot was being hurty again, no fun. But otherwise, it was a good stress-release. Who needs sleep, anyway? (DS3 29.3)