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

Happy New Year!

After much partying and a pulling of an all-night-er to enjoy all of the New Year celebrations, I went over to Steve's house where we had a fun first run on the new year w/some of the club: Bill (for a bit, hope his back gets feeling better soon), Steve, Mike and Holt. I was surprised by how awake I was after getting no sleep last night - the run wasn't sleepy or blah or anything! Went out with they guys and they thankfully kept it really slow at the beginning, so it was even easy for me (thanks) and I turned around at 3.35 for an out-and-back 6.7. Judging from my random disappointment that my foot wasn't miraculously better, I must've been subconsciously hoping something of the sort would happen for the new year. No such luck, though running on the soft dirt trails made it a bit better with it only hurting lots for the last 1-2 miles. Avg. 7:52/mi. (DS2 36)

Some running-related "New Years' Resolutions":

1- Not get injured. Ever!
2- If #1 works out, run everyday! (Except Sunday rest days.)
3- Get to th 2,000 mark on mileage,
4- Change my text from purple to blue. :)

Not quite sure whether these were fast or slow miles, but they felt GREAT! I have no idea how or why, but my foot was feeling almost completely back to normal - a couple twinges here and there with a titch of soreness after, but no really hurting like it has been for the past few weeks. Cross my fingers and hope it stays that way! Ran out-and-back on the river trail, first couple with RJ, Decker, Austin, Jeff and Holt, all but Holt turned back at 2 or 2.5, I went to 3.5 with Holt where he kept going and I turned around. Kept the miles pretty quick, mostly 7:00-7:15's and even managed a sub-8:00 on the mile with the 2450 hill back up to the school. Avg. 7:16/mi. (DS2 43)

Afterwards, I had a big adventure! My dad took out my wisdom teeth tonight and it took forever - between 1.5-2 hours or something. They were really really hard to get out, one of them he had to cut in half to get out and another left behind a very little bit that took ages to finally dislodge. And we ran out of laughing gas so I had to be coherent during the whole thing. Also we found out that the lidocaine ran out for me in about a half hour, so he had to give me more of marcaine instead. It wasn't the worst thing ever, but the marcaine hasn't run out yet, so we'll see how I feel tomorrow. I don't want to mess up my new year's resolution of running everyday yet, so I'm determined to run at least a mile tomorrow.

P.S. I went with as close to royal as I could find. :)

After a long day at school, I managed 4 slow laps around the track. I ran with some sort of low glide-step to minimize bouncing. First half felt pretty good (surprisingly), but second half I got a little sorer in the face. And speaking of my face, boy is it ever swollen. I'm trying to post a picture so you can all laugh at it. Because I do look really hilarious. (DS2 44)

Another slow track mile today, first 800m I ran with Steve Everett. Face is a bit more evened out today, still hurts and looks really funny. One of my friends told me I didn't look like me, and I can see what she means. (Yes, both faces in the new profile picture are me.) What a 'before and after' picture... eeek! (DST 45)

Around 11 I went out and ran a mile around the park by my house. It even started sprinkling/raining - it was so nice! And it was even kinda fast - 7:25! Then I walked a bit with my mom in the rain. Face is still huge, though the swelling is falling a bit, so now I have a massive double chin. Hahahaha! BTW, this whole running while I'm still swollen needs to stay on the down-low, since my dad told me I couldn't. It's a secret. (DS2 46)

Swelling is finally going down, so I thought I could up the miles a (very) little. Both the stitches on the left side fell out sometime today, though I don't know when, so I fear I swallowed them (eew). Ran to Harts and back, not an awful run, not excellent, ran with Fre and Holt. (DS2 47.5)

I actually went mileS today! Two of them! DI loop. It was cold(er) and by the last .5 my face hurt again. More tomorrow!? (DS2 49.5)

Went 3 whole miles with Ashley J today on the Arctic Circle run. Started out kinda fast and I felt out of shape, but Ash was feeling pukey, so at the turnaround we slowed up a bit and it felt good. Looking forward to some more miles tomorrow! (DS2 52.5)

Bank run w/o the extension. I think I should've gone a little shorter today, since my left side of my mouth was sore for lots of it, but I'm still glad I ran more than I have for a week! Still feeling kinda out of shape, but I guess it'll come back sooner or later. Let's hope for the former. After, I got my stitches out, and I'm officially 'allowed' to run now... cough cough... :) (DS2 57)

Green Springs 6. Started out planning on a 5, since yesterday's 4.5 wasn't the greatest, but when I got to the turnaround I felt great, so I kept on - I was even tempted to go 9, but decided against it. But it felt great to finally get into a good faster rhythm like I haven't for a while. Had some bad luck with traffic lights, but overall, it was an awesome run. And the weather has been so nice, T-shirt and shorts weather the last couple days! (DS2 63)

For the last week or so, I've been mentally debating whether or not I should run the Half, after backing off for my foot and wisdom teeth so much. My last few 'longer' runs had been feeling slow, tiring and out-of-shape, but after today's triumph, I signed up for it on my way home from school. I'm not expecting an amazing race, though, and if I feel like I shouldn't, I can still do the 5k.

Decided to go "long" today - I did the AP 9. Got out a bit late since I had to do laundry and homework all day, but I like running in the dark, so it turned out rather nicely. Altogether, it wasn't too bad of a run, considering. Still not feeling quite up to snuff, but I think my first attempt at something longer than 7 for a couple of weeks turned out rather well. Another tally on the "run the half" side of the slate! If I can run 9, I can run 13.1! Or at least attempt it... :) (DS2 72)

Went running around with some hooligans from school - Kimzey, Holt and Austin - we kinda started on our way to the firestation hill loop, but it turned out a bit convoluted with a some random new trails in the desert. Mostly really fun, except for when the guys tried to ditch me after I took the long way 'round Sandberg's pond and they took off on a trail I didn't know existed, so it took a lot of hard breathing to catch up. But I did!! Felt really quite nice until the catch-up bit at the end. (DS2 79.3)
 

Washington Parkway, ran the first few miles with Jeffry, Decker and Austin and we played a fun game - we attacked each others' shadows! Much fun, though it probably looked rather odd to passersby. Ran it pretty easy, legs a little bit tired, but not bad. (DS2 87.3)

Foremaster run, Ethan started out with me, but only did AC, so I had to brave the chilling headwinds on the Riverside Drive portions all by my lonesome. So so so cold! I've been spoiled this last week with nice t-shirt-and-shorts weather and I didn't like being cold again! A little sore this morning, but it wore off by the afternoon and the run felt really great leg-wise (though my hill-running skills are sorely lacking). (DS2 93.4)

Ran with the club tonight, started off talking with Steve, Marcie and Bobbie, then ran the second half with the Wildbull! Was actually planning on going shorter, but it felt nice and the company was good, so I kept on and ran the 7. Started out with rather nice weather, though it got colder by the end - numb fingers! Excited for the race... but scared, too!!! (DS2 100.4)

Nice easy sunrise tire run, a bit stiff but nothing I won't get over in the next...day... :) 7:36/mi avg. And I found out that my new jacket fits in my shorts' pocket! (DS2 104)
Good luck tomorrow everybody!

Woohoo! My legs are dead and sore! After being totally sure I would completely die with my inconsistent training the last while, I had a very pleasant surprise PR! Didn't warm up really beforehand, just a little strides, stretching and hopping around at the start line. Before the start, Marcie, Michelle, Ted, Mike and I were planning on going out together, but when the gun went off, Michelle and Ted took off like insanity, so I stayed back with Marcie, Steve and Mike. Sadly, I didn't hit my start button hard enough (or something) so I realized when everybody's watches beeped at 1 mile that mine hadn't started yet! So I didn't get a split for the first mile, but I got the rest after 1.05 or so! (Though my old 101 isn't quite as accurate as those newfangled 205s.)

1- (off Marcie's split) 6:10 felt good and pretty comfy, though I realized that I hadn't used the potty before starting, oops

2- 6:45 settled into a good groove with Mike and Steve

3- 6:41 good pace

4- 6:42 staying consistent

5- 7:05 oops, let it get a bit too comfortable here

6- 6:32 got mad at myself for that last mile, so I left Mike and Steve (sorry) and made up a little time from the previous mile's slowness

7- 6:43 back to the pace, got running with a couple of random guys which helped keep it quick enough 

8- 6:48 a little slower, but decided to stick with this fellow who was aiming at a 1:27

9- 6:46 those rolling hills around Bloomington SUCK, legs getting tired, thought about taking the gu I had stached in my pocket, but was afraid of it making me sick, so I didn't

10- 6:35 again mad at myself for seeing a 7-something pace everytime I looked down, so I started kicking myself, though my buddies ditched me around here :( was tempted to use the porta-john but didn't want to waste time, so I held it

11- 6:45 knew I had a good time coming and was just trying to hold onto it, right hamstring started getting really cramped and tight

12- 6:47 got energized a lot by cheers of people going the other way since I was in second place, probably would've been much slower otherwise

13- 6:33 started trying to kick it in with about half mile to go and Sasha helped a bit got my legs going and finished! And didn't die! (DS2 117.1)

All in all I'm so so so happy with this race! I was sure I would get about a 1:30 or slower, but I feel like I pushed it pretty well and I got second overall in this race for the second time in a row! Probably won't have the chance to run another half in a while, so I'm glad I went out on the limb and ran the half today. Hopefully the next half I do I'll get in some better training and run something crazy fast like MichelleL or something! Thanks lots to Steve for hosting and sponsoring everything and Mike and Marcie for helping me run faster at the start than I would've otherwise! You guys are AWESOME!

Went out in the late morning in Farmington while the nephews were at swim lessons and preschool, pretty chilly out and had to avoid snow and ice on the roads.  Was afraid my legs would be mostly useless and way sore from the race, but they felt ok. Ran a 2.1 mile loop around the neighborhood, was planning on going only twice around for a 4-miler, but felt all right at the end of the second loop and took the third one. Though the legs weren't all that sore, they were still fatigued and my miles went from being comfortable at around 7:30 pace on the first loop to being comfortable at around 8:15 pace on the last loop. Avg. 7:52/mi. (DS2 123.4)

School again. Bleh. But the run was good! Ran the Wash Pkwy loop, started off with Jfree and Decker, then when Holt, Kimzey and Austin caught up to us, I went with them. Got a bit tired aerobically on the uphill sections and the left knee was weirding out like last week on this run, but overall, it was a rather triumphant run, we even got a couple of the miles under 7 with avg. at around 7:15/mi. Fun fun fun run! Yay for St. George weather and t-shirts! (DS2 131.4)

Foremaster with Holt, Austin, JeffF, and Kimzey. Legs still feeling easy breezy and fast! Except for downhills - I hate those. On the last couple miles, I kept picking it up because I thought I was slowing everybody else down and ran the industrial hill mile 7:20! Sweet. (DS2 137.5)

Since I'm trying to get back into lifting weights regularly, right after school I ran a grass loop warmup, lifted 2x11 of everything, then ran a grass loop cooldown and went home.

At 5pm, I went 7 with the club. There were quite a few of us today, so it was fun to rotate around in the group and talk with different people about whatever during different parts of the run. And I jumped in a puddle and got my feet all wet! On purpose. :) A little stiff today, but mostly just going smooth and nice like this whole week has been. I'm getting spoiled with all these good runs! (DS2 145.5)

Boy am I sore! The little lifting I did yesterday has done me in, I think. And I'm starting to get a sore throat. And I feel whiny! My body wanted to do less and my mind wanted to do more, but ended up running an easy Green Springs 6 with Jeff, and we talked a lot to keep our minds on something besides our tired legs, since they (mine, at least) were stiff, uncooperative and sore the whole way. At the end, I was pleasantly surprised that our average was 7:34/mi with one mile on the downhill back under 7:00! Hopefully my legs will feel more like legs tomorrow. (DS2 151.5)

There is a need for a place to put down very slow miles, because that's what I ran this morning - it was cold, my legs were so tired and I was congested and sick, it was not very fun. But I did it! Ran out on River road around on Riverside, up Mall Drive and back home on River road with a couple of detours to make it 10 miles. 8:14/mi avg. (DS2 161.5) 

Snow, snow, snow! What a crazy run! Did the River 8 - we started off into some nasty wind with the snow pelting us lots and it hurt muchly. Once we got past sunrise tire, the wind wasn't against us anymore and from then on out it was a fun fast run. Nobody had a watch, but we were cold and ran fast - I think I got a new time record on the last mile up to the school! Also, we got to run in some very messy muck on the crossing to the paved trail, so my shoes have finally become filthy... bwah ha ha ha ha ha! I don't think I've smiled so much in a run since I ran the steeplechase at SUU last year. Good times. (DS2 169.5)

Ran to the cemetery and did  a couple of tempo miles with an easy one in between, went with Decker, Willy, Holt, Austin and Kimzey. Legs are sore and a bit stiff from yesterday's lifting (2x11 again after our run yesterday) and fast running, plus I have the remnants of a sinus headache -presumably from running in the snow with a cold- so the tempo wasn't the most excellent. But, I guess if you average the two they were almost right on goal pace... 6:14 and 6:23 (gp 6:20). After, we did 4x100m grass strides and ran back to the HS. The guys were going pretty quick on the last mile down on Riverside, so I stuck with them and that mile was 6:40-ish! My left knee is getting tighter and left foot sorer, I think I'm going to call April up for a massage soon. Good run for the most part.Avg. for the whole run 7:05/mi. (DS2 177.8)

The boys all ditched me today! Which was probably good since I think I needed a break. So, since I randomly signed up for a 10k this Saturday, I decided to do my longer run for the week today. Went out on the GS-Desert-Middleton run, legs were sore and the wind was against me for the uphill out, but after the first 4.5 at 8:00-8:50/mi pace, I started feeling good and cruised the rest of the way back at around 7:00-7:20/mi pace. When I got to the HS, I ran most of a big grass loop and a couple laps around the track to get to 10 miles. Total avg. 7:53/mi. Really great run with some wonderful scenery; felt nice to go out on my own and relax. (DS2 187.9)

Big grass loop warm up, then lifted weights - still just 2x11 easy. Next week I'm upping it to 3x11, big grass loop cool down. Will run more with the club this evening.

Ran the usual loop with the club, quite a few people out today, which was fun. In our group, only Fre, Austin and I did the 7-miler, 7:30/mi avg. and I was dying. Not really, but my legs felt really tired and heavy the whole run. Glad I resisted the urge to go donate blood at our school's blood drive. (DS2 196.4)

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)

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)

What an AMAZING day! I love wonderful days, they just make crappy ones (like yesterday) seem not so lame. After having an awesome day at school (or not, since I only went to about half my classes...hahahaha...), I had a pretty awesome workout. Since I ate Durangos for lunch, I wasn't sure how well that would sit, but it was ok. And I was a little nervous for our first track workout of the season, but mostly just excited! 

So, warmed up on the DI loop with Kenz and Ash, then we did 6x800m repeats on the track with gp 2:35 for first and last and 2:42 for middle 4 (goal mile race pace and current mile race pace) and full recovery between each. They went really well, times were 2:36 - 2:43, 2:40, 2:39, 2:40 - 2:35. First two mostly were easier and flew by, the middle ones were good but harder sticking on pace, then the last one was pretty hard. I need to be more consistent on my first lap/second lap times, since they were not very even (usually something like 1:18, 1:22). Great workout, though! Legs really tired, but in a good way. Then two backwards grass loops cooldown.

Knee is getting tight and sore again, and foot is bugging me more, esp. on uphills. So, I tried calling April and left a message for a massage, then talked to Mark about the foot and he's going to try some metatarsal pad and maybe a bit of taping tomorrow. (DS3 36.3)

Easy slow Summit-light 3 from my house in the AM. The metatarsal pad made the last half of the run less hurty, but the first half was worse. So, maybe we'll try something else. A bit sore and quite tired from yesterday. (Adrenaline 84.2)

Between some performances, I had some time, so I went and did our workout at around 4pm. Ran out to Foremaster and did hills. They were pretty pathetic. My legs were spent and I didn't have all that much confidence going into it, so my times at the start were really lame and they got better as I went. Times: 2:16, 2:11, 2:11, 2:05, 2:01. I really need to work on my first few. Then I ran back. Foot still lame, getting a massage tomorrow morning, so hopefully that'll help. (DS3 43.3)

Got the massage this morning, ouch ouch ouch. Now that the muscles are mostly back in place and not insanely knotted, my hip, knee and foot should be feeling better.

Slow slow slow easy Foremaster run this afternoon. Ran with Ashley for the first 4 miles. We were sick of the Foremaster hill from doing it lots yesterday, so we ran backwards up it. I wouldn't recommend it: it took us almost 5 minutes and made our calves, quads and glutes really tired. But it was fun to do (after the fact) and now we can say we did it! Foot felt lots better than yesterday, knee still a bit sore, but it was more of sore, not tight and painful like before. Yay for the massage! (Adrenaline 90.8)

After, I lifted. It was so hilarious, there were these guys in there that were so full of themselves - they'd lift a bit, then flex and admire themselves in the mirrors, then they'd flex at a different angle and prod at their muscles and make 'intense' faces in the mirror and admire themselves and each other some more and lift a little. I laughed at them a lot. And they thought they were cool. Ha ha ha... what idiots.... :) Then I ran a couple laps on the track barefoot for a cooldown.
 

AM Summit light run, legs feeling really sore, but oddly enough the running part felt way good. Ran watchless and just enjoyed it. Foot was sorer. Angry face. (Adrenaline 93.8)

Dogpound AT in the afternoon. Legs still feeling pretty beat up and dead, though weird and ok-ish for running. I think backwards up Foremaster and lifting made me even sorer. Plus getting my legs attacked in the massage. Miles were 6:31, 6:23, 6:44 and 6:22 pace; 21:15 total time for 3.25 mile AT part. Excited for the long run tomorrow! (DS3 47.8)

Ran with Marcie and Jamie this morning, we started out in Green Springs and ran across town on River Road to Little Valley, they were going 18 miles, so at that point, I split off and looped around S. Bloomington Hills and back home. Turned out almost perfectly 10. Legs dead, but the company was great and they made me run faster, so thanks Marcie for letting me come along! Nice to end the week on a reasonably good note and hopefully I'll have my legs back come Monday. Avg. 7:43/mi; total time 1:18:23. (Adrenaline 104)

Summit light from my house again. Some of the longest 3 miles I've ever run. Foot was pretty sore and I was just feeling off the whole time. But the stars were awesome! (DS3 50.8)

Went on a run out and around Shinob Kibe and back with the guys; it totaled about 7.4 miles. In the middle there was this crazy fun roller-coaster-type hill section for about a half mile on a skinny, dusty path and got nice and dirty for the way back. The wind on the way back was no fun and the run was tiring, but all in all it was lots of fun and I'm excited to do it again sometime! My legs are going to be sore tomorrow! (Adrenaline 111.9)

My prediction of sore legs I made yesterday was correct, and I'm tired. And cold! Long sleeves and shorts was definitely not enough to stay warm this morning, so I froze. I ran the Q-loop; I thought it was shorter than 4, but now I know it's 4.1. Avg. 7:54/mi. (Adrenaline 116)

Today's meet doesn't really count as a race, since we were just running relays and used it as more of a workout than anything. Warmed up with the team, then I ran the 1200m leg of the distance medley (400,800,1200,1600). Was aiming at 3:59 split and got a 3:57, so that was fun. And we won by almost a lap! Then I cooled down and helped run the meet, then warmed up and ran the 800m leg of the sprint medley (200, 200, 400, 800) which was what I actually cared about doing well in and my split in that was 2:26 (though our total time was bad because our 400 runner had to adjust her shorts and accidentally drop the baton in the process).

Then, I randomly ran in the 4x200. It felt really odd to run less than a lap and be done, but it was cool to run such a short race! Later on, I ran in the 4x400m - I ran the first leg and I actually was in first place when I handed off the baton! Sweet! I don't know my split, though. (Shucks.) Total workout today: 1/2wu, 3/4, 3/4cd, 1/2wu, 1/2, 1/8, 1/2wu, 1/4 - I'm rounding this to 4 miles total. Wanted to cool down a bit after, but had to finish putting in results and needed to go home and do my heaps of homework. And eat. (DS3 53.2) (V spike 2.6)

AC in the AM w/Austin and I am so sore! My entire legs and even my forearms and shoulders are dead. So, this morning's run was really slow. (DS3 56.7)

Afternoon bank/mall run with Ashley and Hayley. And it was faster than this morning's run! But my foot still is hurting me, dang it. It was really fun to run with the girls today and I'm way proud of Hay for staying with us the whole run - she's been working really well and I'm excited to see her improve lots! Avg. 8:01/mi. I'll probably be still way sore tomorrow at the meet...oh well! (Adrenaline 121.5)

Goals: Qualify for state in both 800m (< 2:24.85) and 1600m (< 5:22.3) and make it to my choir concert on time after I'm done. :)

WOO HOO! I qualified for state in both the events I ran today!

The 1600 went ok, warmed up way too early because the meet was going SO slow; I felt sore, tired and overall really crappy, my splits were all over the place (something like 1:14, 1:22, 1:24, 1:19 ?), but at least I'm qualified, won the race and broke 5:20 - my time was 5:19.87. So, another season's best but no PR yet. Only 3 seconds off though! 

The 800m was AMAZING! I have no idea how I felt so good with the wind, cold and after feeling so crappy during the 1600m, but this was the best-feeling race I've ever had in the 800m - and a PR! I took off and it just flowed the whole race, splits were 1:10 & 1:12 - sweet! So, I won and qualified in this one, too, plus a PR this early in the season, I'm so excited!

After, I cooled down - first running to get Holt and Mik'L some Reese's at the gas station - then I went off in the neighborhoods of Hurricane and kind of zoned out, so I ended up running 4 miles out there. Oh well! (V spike 4.1) (DS3 62.7)

AC in the AM with Holt. Tired. Didn't wear any watch. Felt slow and dead. Hot shower - woo! (Adrenaline 125)

Afternoon Green Springs 6 with the boys, again easy and good recovery for the sore and tired legs. Boys are weird. But funny! (DS3 69.2)

Ran the "Sprint to Finish" leg (probably 400m or less) of the Great Race at DSC and it hurt. Not only did it hurt my legs, it hurt my ego! The last 15-20m my quads cramped up and I hit a wall and some guy passed me up and beat me by 1 second. Dang it! So, we got 7th overall instead of 6th. Sorry team. (DD spike 43.4)

Met up with Jeff at the school for our long run. My legs were way dead, but I had this harebrained idea that we should go out on the GS/Desert/Middleton loop, so we went out that way. On the first half, it killed me dead(er). The second half was better, but it was still pretty slow tough going for a lot of the run. I had packed along some almonds to see how they were on the run and to test my stomach's ability to handle food while running, so at around 7 miles when I got hungry, I ate 2 of them and they were pretty good! Except they left lots of little bits in my mouth after. I'll keep experimenting! Tiring run, but I'm glad I got it done early and finished off a good week. Avg. 8:04/mi. (Adrenaline 135)

And Senior Ball was AWESOME! (Thanks Jeff!)

AC in the AM with Holt. Ran pretty fast for a Monday morning! Not quite so dead anymore. (DS3 72.7)

Afternoon 5 miler out in Washington to the end of the RV park and back. It was hotter out than I'm used to, I've gotten wimpy with all these balmy 60-70 degree days. I guess it had to come sooner or later... too bad it wasn't later. (Adrenaline 140.5)

400's! I was actually pretty excited for these today, which is kind of psycho! Warmed up on DI, then 10x400m with 1 min jog between (two sets of 4 and one of 2 w/5 min. breaks) GP 1:17 (on 1, 4, 8, 10) and CP 1:20 (the rest). And there was some insane wind attacking us during the repeats which hurt. This is how they went:

1:13 - fun and maybe a bit too fast
1:18 - settled into a pace
1:18 - cruisin'
1:15 - not quite as fast as #1, but still 2 sec under GP

1:16 - with spikes now and had to rein it in a bit
1:18 - still having to remind myself to go slower
1:15 - for fear of the #3 sag, I pushed it - oops - closer to GP
1:15 - dang. getting tired a bit, same as before

1:17 - aimed for 77 and 74 for these two and got better
1:12 - hard last one, the wind was strongest on this one. But done!

Surprisingly, these were easier than I thought they would be and all were at between 2 and 5 seconds under goal pace! Maybe I just am good at making it hurt without noticing it because the cooldown to Harts and back killed me dead. Ha. (DS3 78.2) (V spike 5.6)

AC in the AM at 6:30! Yay for no zero period class today! There were lots of people. I ran with Ashley and Haley and we went pretty fast. 7:53, 7:42, 6:45, so avg. 7:26/mi! I think the ice bath last night after the 400's helped me not be as sore today. (Adrenaline 144)

In the afternoon, we did Dogpound AT. Legs were pretty tired out, but the first couple miles (when we were with the wind) of the AT section felt great and were pretty fast - 6:12, 6:08. Then I hit the hill and the wind and died - 6:31 for the next mile and 6:51/mi pace for the last .33. So total time was 21:06 and average was 6:21/mi - not too bad. I'm actually kind of glad that last 1.3 miles weren't slower. They did not feel nice. Glad we're going easy tomorrow! (DS3 82.8)

Bank run with Austin this morning. Nice and easy! I got the speed sign to get (barely) up to 15 mph on my way down Mall Drive - sweet! Mostly, a nice relaxing run. Except that I had the "Dead Puppies" song stuck in my head the whole run. And my foot's killing me. Oh well! Avg. 8:01/mi. (Adrenaline 149.5)

Ran the Summit light 3 miler in after weeding all morning. Just took it easy and ran w/o the watch. The weather was completely perfect - just warm enough and a light breeze to cool off - I love the spring! (DS3 85.8)

Hills this morning. Last week's were pretty pathetic, so I was determined to make these lots better. And they were! I still think they could've been better, but a solid workout nonetheless. Times were 2:04, 2:03, 2:02, 1:59 and 1:57 (really good compared to last week's 2:16, 2:11, 2:11, 2:05 and 2:01). Pushed it well enough that I was going lots slower than I thought on the way back. Nice out. (DS3 92.1)

Right after that, I went on a 13-mile bike ride with the sprinters. It was really slow and not really much of a workout at all, but I had a fun time talking with people and goofing around. Took forever. Then IHOP!!!!! Yummo!

Afternoon/evening run - Summit light 3. The weather was good, but that was about all that was. Tired, headachy, dehydrated,  and drained. Glad I'm done! (Adrenaline  152.5)

Didn't really want to run when I first left for the run, but after a couple of miles I was really glad I went! Decided to keep all my miles under 8:00 and it felt great just cruising along. Ran the Man-O-War route from my house. Avg. 7:45/mi. (Adrenaline  160.5)

Ran to the Stake Center and back this morning. Kind of zoned out and went too long - 3.4 miles, but oh, well. Tired, took it nice and easy. (DS3 95.5)

Speed work this afternoon. I'm an idiot and I'd just assumed that we were doing a longer run today like we usually do on Mondays, so I brought my slow shoes. They turned out to be really heavy for speed work. Anyway, we did a DI loop warm up, then 2x1200m at mile goal pace - 3:51 (5:08). They ended up pretty lame.

1- 3:57, got a little thrown off by the lack of a split on lap 1, (blaming Holt is fun to do, fun to do, fun to do... ;) took it too easy on the second lap  and it would've been worse except Jeff really helped me push it - thanks! Not great.

2- 3:56, legs were wobbly and tired from the get-go on this one. I pushed really hard, but still didn't get the time down where it was supposed to be. Frustrating and tiring. Though passing Wet Willy was fun... tee hee.

Whiny time! (I put it in Wingdings so you don't have to read it!) My shoes were way too heavy and I felt like they slowed me down lots. The guts were hating me in a starving way and my foot is still hurting and has been for what seems like forever. Mostly I don't feel like I'm getting faster with the speedwork and I should be. Argh. Ok, now I'm done!

Then I did a slow slow backwards DI loop cooldown, tried doing some clapping pushups (failed), got to shoot the gun and scared Mik'L half to death! (Adrenaline 166.5)

AM Summit Light in my sleep. Felt ok, mostly just the same as usual. (Adrenaline 169.5)

Meet this afternoon. Originally I was supposed to do the 400m, 800m and 1600m, but I ended up doing the 100m, 1600m, 400m and pacing Ashley in the 3200m. Green taught me how to use starting blocks for the 100m (I've been begging the coaches to let me do one forever) and I won! But, I didn't beat anybody... :) I was hoping to get less than 15 and I was close, but didn't get it - 15.03. Fun, though!  

Then I did the 1600m. Mostly I wasn't feeling all that great from my gluttony at lunch (so much of Famous Dave's!) and from the hard workout yesterday. So, I was pleasantly surprised to pull off getting .25 slower than my PR, though I felt very very crappy, wobbly and slow. Still, I got a season's best! And I won!

Tried qualifying for BYU in the 400m - and missed by .13 - dang it! But I finally broke 1:05! My time was 1:04.7 and I PRed! I was pretty beat after this one, so I convinced Holt to let me pace Ashley in the 3200m instead of running the 800m.

So, then I ran the 3200m with Ashley. She got a PR by 2 or 3 seconds and did really awesome. My time was around 12:55. Now I'm dead and want to sleep. (DS3 99.3) (DD spike 45.2) (V spike 6.9)

Summit light, so tired and slow. No watch to make me depressed! Done and done! (DS3 102.3)

Another slow recovery run, Chuck-a-rama, first half with Ashley, then picked it up a little on the way back. Sore legs. (Adrenaline 174.1)

Exactly ONE MONTH until Graduation today!!!!!! 

AM Summit light 3 as usual. Freakishly tired as usual. Get more sleep, Ruth! Still sore, but not quite as awful as yesterday. (DS3 105.3)

Afternoon Green Springs 6. Everybody wanted to do Foremaster, but I rebelled. So, I went all by my lonesome! It was a great run. The way out wasn't the best, kinda tiring with all the uphill, but on the way back it was awesome! I just cruised at about 7:00/mi pace the whole way. And I visualized my State Championship 3200m race - it was sweet (I won)!  Glad I went out by myself. Avg. 7:38/mi. (Adrenaline  180.6)

Meet a SUU today; I ran the 400m, 3200m and 2000m steeplechase! First off was the 400m, it went really well - I got 14th overall and PRed with a 1:03.13! Now I'm qualified for BYU in it, so I'll probably get to run it next weekend at the BYU invite. Excited!

Then I ran the 3200m. Warmed up way too early (twice) and finally got to race. Overall it didn't feel very good. Splits (from memory, off in a few spots, but I can't remember) 1:20, 1:27, 1:29, 1:30, 1:28, 1:27, 1:25, 1:19? I dunno. Summat like that. Basically pretty pathetic. Felt sluggish the whole way, like it took all my effort to even go fast at all. Oh well. Glad it's over and glad I won!

And then, finally, the event I'd been waiting for all day: the steeplechase!! By then it was really cold and we had lost our minds almost completely. All us girls running it went crazy at the start line waiting before the race - we were yelling like insanity and playing "Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?" with a button I'd found. Lots of fun! And the race was crazy! We were all so tired from our other races, so it wasn't fast at all. And the water jump was FREEZING! By the end, my legs were totally numb and my arms were well on their way. Then all of us winners did a victory lap and cannon-balled into the water jump! It was SO cold! Sooooooo Gooooood! Oh, and I won this one, too! Lots and lots of fun! Time was 8:03.50 (DS3 107.6) (DD spike 48.5) (V spike 7.2)

Sad I had to miss the second half of the meet for State solo and ensemble festival, but it went well. Our duet got a I- and both our double quartet and Trilogy (madrigal choir) got I's! Sweet!  

Ugh. Out-and-back in Alpine, first half against this insane wind. Legs sore and guts very disagreeable for most of the run and just not into it. First half was pretty slow (8:12/mi avg), then lots quicker on the way back - because of the wind at my back (finally) and my excitement to be DONE. So, total average min/mi ended up 7:52. Not bad for how crappy it felt, I guess. (Adrenaline 190.6)

AM AC with Holt. We went fast. At least fast for the morning. Not too bad. 7:17/mi avg. (Adrenaline 194.1)

At afternoon practice I sucked. Don't want to write about it. My times for 12x400m: 1:19, 1:19, 1:19, 1:16; 1:16, 1:19, 1:22, 1:18; 1:18, 1:19, 1:19, 1:15. Right now I'm just really mad/depressed, but hopefully I can get something out of these later. (DS3 114) (V spike 8.4)

Ok, so I just really felt tired from the get go on these. I tried to keep a good attitude, but that soon went down the drain as well. Last time we did these, they turned out awesome and obviously these weren't so much. One odd thing was the feeling of my throat being really small when I was trying to breathe for most of this workout. And that made me panicky in a hyperventilating way, which probably didn't help matters. Hopefully that never happens again. So, this workout was not what I could've wished for, but I guess sucky workouts just happen. I think I might be starting to get sick, so that could've been a problem in trying to run fast. Whatever the reason, I probably shouldn't have gone so emo after them, but what's done is done and I am better now!

Dogpound AT this afternoon. Another sucky workout! First two miles went well, then I died. Total time was 22:03 (avg. 6:45/mi) with miles at 6:12, 6:21, 7:29 and .25 at 7:31/mi pace. Ouch. Wind was really temperamental and killed me on the last uphill parts. Dead and dead. I'm hoping that this sucking streak of mine runs out before this weekend! (DS3 118.5)

AC in the AM with Holt. Easy and slow. Feeling kinda tired out. (DS3 121.8)

In the afternoon, I first did some handoffs for the medley, then went on a crazy 4-miler with the boys. We ran out to the half-buried car past the Dogpound and back around through some neighborhood to the school and finished up on half a grass loop. Somebody must've paid Rob to sabotage me, since he took me out halfway into our run and I got a nice gouge down my shin for it. Battle wound! But later, I tripped again, so maybe I just have issues... oh well!  Fun run and nice and slow. (Adrenaline 198.6)

At track today, we had an odd day. First off, we held an unofficial "race" day today for those not competing at BYU on Saturday. Then I practiced using the starting blocks since I'm running the 400m at BYU! By the time I started my run, everybody was done. So, I went on an easy 4-miler out into Green Springs and back. I almost died on the way out, but the way back was much better. Excited for the trip tomorrow!!  (Adrenaline 203.2)

AC in the AM with Kimz and my brother Jon. I was slow and tired, my bro was crazy and Kimz tripped, same old, same old. Going to BYU!!!!!!! (Adrenaline 206.7)

Up in Lehi, warmed up, then did handoffs, starts and ran around the track for a while. (DS3 205.7)

Sick of sucking. Ran crappy three times. Good thing it's over. Writing these times down is really depressing.

400m went ok - 1:03.84.

800m sucked - 2:27.24.

800m leg of medley was a tad better, still sucked - 2:25 split, 4:31 total.

1600m was a complete disaster.

(V spike 9.6) (DS3 209.2)

4x400's today. They went ok, but not awesome. 1:11, 1:20, 1:15, 1:16. I will be feeling fast and fresh by Wednesday, I know it. (DS3 214.2)

AP tests suck. The statistics test today made me late for practice, too. But now I'm all done with them! Yes!

So, I warmed up and stretched and did some medley handoffs with Green (which were amazing, as they always are) for tomorrow. Then I ran a nice easy church 4-miler out in Washington. At the church, I caught a ladybug and carried it all the way back to the high school without killing it! I was so excited! Feeling fresher than yesterday, Region tomorrow (and Thursday...) is going to be AWESOME! (Adrenaline 211.2)

Goals: 1600m - win, PR, time < 5:10
           medley (800m leg) - win, PR, split 2:20, total < 4:20
           3200m - win, PR, time < 11:20
           800m - win, PR, time < 2:20

Woo hoo! I finally PRed in the 1600m! I was hoping for a bit faster, but oh well. There was a killer intense wind happening on the back stretch, so I think my time goal would've been met had it not been so windy. My splits were also questionable (1:16, 1:19, 1:21, 1:17), but not quite awful, so I'll keep working on those 2nd and 3rd laps. Still, I won by 15 seconds and got a PR, so it was a good race to start off my last Region meet EVER!

Then in the medley 800m, we adjusted our goals and decided not to kill me - go for the win, and not worry about time - so when Green handed off to me and we were in first place already, I ran kinda hard, but not very. Holt even told me to slow down on the last lap! We ran a 4:29-ish and my split was 2:30, but we qualified for state by place and won the race by a lot! YES! (V spike 11.1) (DS3 217.2)

Our team scores are really close so far - with SC at 20, us at 17 and Dixie at 15, but with some sweet wins and some awesome people stepping it up tomorrow, we can be Region Champs tomorrow!

Just so my time (and place) in the 800m tomorrow is stellar, I'm planning on taking it pretty easy in the 3200m. So I'm adjusting my goals to just win in the 3200m (kinda like we did in the medley) - I'll worry about my times in that one at state!

And I got some more scholarships today! I'm officially part of the USU track team now and they're giving me $500/year more and books! So total, I'll have 4 years full tuition and fees, books, $500/year housing, $2000/year stipend. Sweet!

Ran slow and easy in the 3200m and won, time was 12:11 or something. That was fun. 

PRed by .09 seconds in my 800m. Got 2 of my goals for that event -  I got a PR and won!

We lost. So, when we got back, I went angry running for a while. I'm guessing about 4 miles. (DS3 223.2) (V spike 11.6) (DD spike 50.5) 

Ouch. My pride is wounded. I ran 6 slow, tiring, icky and pathetic miles. Holt was nice enough to stick with me for the first 3 miles out into Green Springs. We talked and it was fun! My guts were hating me the whole way. And I think I have one of my perma-sideaches. At one point, I had 3 different sideaches. I think that's illegal... somehow. Avg. 8:07/mi. It felt lots slower, though. And harder. I'm sorer than is normal the day after a meet, probably from that crazy fast angry running I did at like, 11 pm last night. Ah, well. (Adrenaline 217.2)

Easy out-and-back AZ strip run. Jonny ran with me for the first bit, then I finished up by myself. The way out was pretty slow going, but on the way back I picked it up a bit. Avg. 7:54/mi. There's still sand in my shoes from the buried car run last week, dang it. (Adrenaline 223.2)

Fast and fun 4x400's today! Started off with a DI loop warmup, then ran the 400's, each with 400m jog recovery between. I ran them all in my spikes and it was awesome! Times were 1:12, 1:10, 1:10 and 1:09! YES WAY! Then we cooled down on a couple of backwards big grass loops as usual. I'm so excited! (V spike 13.6) (DS3 227.2)

Today Holt showed us the rankings for the 4A State Track Meet this weekend and it should go pretty well! I'm ranked 2nd in both the 1600m and 3200m - by 6 seconds in the 1600m and by .03 seconds in the 3200m. So, I should definitely own the 3200m and have pretty good chances to do so in the 1600m as well! Also, with the lineup we have for our medley relay, we have a good chance at that state title as well as our school record! Sweet!

Easy Bank/Mall run by myself during 8th period. Killer winds, dude! Then warmup and all that stuff at practice, but no handoffs because Greenie said so. (Adrenaline 228.7)

Afterwards I got a massage with April and it hurt. But now I feel awesome and ready to rock state! And later I got "Outstanding Athlete of the Year" at my school's Senior Honors Evening - with an engraved watch! 

Easy AC with lots of people. How are freshmen boys so awkward? Actually, I don't think I want to know. (DS3 230.7)

Went to Lehi's track and ran around for a bit to get the legs moving after the long bus ride. Did warmups, handoffs and ran a couple of miles on the track. Legs feeling fresh and ready! (DS3 233.2)

1600m STATE CHAMP!!!!! Yes way! It feels SO awesome to finally do it! I went into the race ranked 2nd (by 6 seconds), so for the first three laps, I stuck right on the girl ranked first and another girl was right behind us. As the last lap started, they both started to gap from me, and I almost let them, thinking "Man, this hurts and sucks, why do I even do this?!" Then the other half of me said, "Go GET them, you idiot, you want to win, not lose again!" So, I took off with 300m to go and ended up winning by 4 seconds! And I PR-ed by 5 seconds and got the school record! I literally couldn't stop smiling for the next couple of hours. Splits were 1:13, 1:19, 1:20, 1:16. Woo hoo!!!!!

Then we had a downer of an afternoon; our medley got DQ-ed because our 200 to 200 handoff went past their zone. So, I started my leg of the race, then Holt yelled at me to stop since we were already out of the race. So, I ran 100m of that, then walked back around to the start line and was frustrated for a (long) while. But it's done and I can't do anything about it and... I'm still 1600m State Champ! Yessssss! (DS3 235.7) (V spike 14.7)

The 3200m was not quite as AWESOME as yesterday, but it was pretty sweet anyway! I got ganged up on by the Orem and Timpview girls! My legs were a bit stiff and tired from yesterday from the get-go, but not awful. It was a crazy race, way tactical and lots of surging throughout. I came into the race with a time basically tied for 1st, but since I'd won the 1600m, it seemed like I was "the one to beat" or something. As a side note... at one point, the announcer said something like, "We have Hilton in the lead, she won the 1600m yesterday..." and I did a little dance... it was way fun. :) Anyway, I think I got passed about 20 times and passed them back about the same number, it was insane. The whole race was pretty up-in-the air until the last lap where Krystal Harper and I pulled away and I surged at the start of the lap and she got me on the last 300m and ended up beating me by 4 seconds. I really gave everything I had, though, so there aren't really any regrets about the race, which is all you can really ask for, I guess. Holt got my splits as 1:19, 1:25, 1:26, 1:25, 1:27, 1:29, 1:24, 1:18. The crazy thing is, Krystal must've run a 1:14 last lap, since mine was still a 1:18, and it was the fastest of all my splits! So, I just re-broke the school record and PR-ed by 9 seconds! And got 2nd place in the state, SWEET!

Then I had the 800m, ouch. My legs were totally sucked dry from the 3200m this morning, so it was rather questionable. Even with ample warmup, my legs still were stiff and sore for it. By the time I was 200m into the race, my legs were tired and I felt hammered. So, I gutted it out and got the place I was ranked to begin with - 8th - with a pretty slow time - 2:24 - and finished my last high school race EVER.

It feels odd; I think that it hasn't even really hit me yet (otherwise, I think I would've started crying) and I'm nervous for how different college is going to be. My years of high school track and XC have been awesome, my coaches are amazing (the best ever) and it's sad for it to be over. (DS3 237.7) (V spike 15.2) (DD spike 52.5)

When I got home, I found an awesome/hilarious message on our answering machine from Coach Patrick Shane of BYU. Click HERE to HEAR!
He apparently has forgotten that I attended his XC camp this summer. And I think he's a little late for recruiting, since I've already signed onto USU's team. Funny, though, and a definite confidence boost!

Getting sick sucks! Temperature of 99.9 degrees!

Still not feeling too hot today. I don't know exactly how long I'm going to take off, probably just go out when my legs start feeling like legs again. Maybe in a day or two. We'll see.

At about 1-2 am Jeff and I ran around barefoot on the not-track, played leapfrog on the field, did roundoffs and handstands and overall went insane! Then more Indiana Jones until 4 am!

Since I was already feeling somewhat sickly, my mom decided to compound the problem by taking me in to get immunizations for staying in American Samoa all summer. Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Meningitis, I don't know what all. No fun. So, now my arms both ache and so do my neck and back, in addition to an already upset stomach and a severe lack of sleep (only 2 hours = masochism).

I GRADUATE TODAY!

Had a weird urge to run Webb Hill today. So, I did! I ran up the road on one side (w/o stopping!), then down the trail on the other side and back home by way of Vermillion. Pretty crazy and fun! My downhill mile was actually slower than my uphill mile, not that either were anywhere near fast. Rolled my invincible ankle at one point, that's always enjoyable... or not. (DS3 241.2)
 

First legitimate "workout" type run since state and it was pretty good. Went out on an easy/fun 5 just to see how it was. Mostly the run was smooth and awesome, though it turns out that my invincible ankle isn't as invincible as I thought... it's a bit swollen and bruised-looking and is a bit unstable and sore esp. when the ground is sloped. Not the most fun, but not awful. The run went around on Brigham Road and back  along the freeway and on the Vermillion trail. And the weather was completely PERFECT! Avg. 7:41/mi. (Adrenaline 233.8)

Only 2 days and 12 hours left in St. George!!!!!

Around noon I ran to the Cox's house with Jon, then he had to drive the car home from there, so I ran back by myself. On the way back, I stopped at Green's house and we watched the state track video she made and it is AWESOME! So, I had a long break in the middle, then ran the rest of the way home.  Avg. 7:48/mi. (DS3 248.3)

Only 1 day and 4 hours left in St. George!!!!!

Ran Webb loop with Lauren Whelchel. We ran slow slow, but I had a fun time talking with her and running circles around her and cheering her on! It was kinda weird, my legs got really tired out running at that pace (no watch, but probably around 10:00/mi pace) for so long - it really got sore by the end. That wasn't all that fun, but I'm glad that I got to run with Lauren before I leave! (Adrenaline 238.8)