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

56 minutes today, feeling better. Congestion is almost all gone. Ran by that sign again like yesterday - got up to 16 mph this time! Ka-chow! Out of shape-ness is very much. But soon I'll be fast and furious again! (K2 83.8)

New year? New color! Maybe some goals too. Eventually.

So much out-of-shape-ness! Feeling somewhat sore from the last couple days of running, so today's run was tough. Plus, it's the most miles and minutes I've run since September! Super crazy. (91.8)

Ka-chow! Another 8 miler! This time it actually felt pretty good. Yay running and yay awesome St. George weather! (K2 99.8)

VT loop this morning, feeling good again. Similar foot twinges to the last week or so, but nothing major. (K2 106.3)

Parkway 8 miler with the PV team, some parts felt good, other parts I was definitely suffering from a lack of fitness. Blah. Fun to run with the guys and goof around a bit. (K2 114.3)

Club run with Clyde, Dustin and the Bull. Started off slow, but got going reasonably quick a couple miles in - for me at least. The last couple miles I was feeling so winded and tired, super pathetic.  (K2 120.8)

Last day in sunny SG! Went out and did an easy 6 out on river road. Nothing fancy, just feeling spent from yesterday. Lame, yes. (K2 126.8)

45 minutes easy in Logan. Icy and cold out. Didn't fall down though! (K2 132.3)

So, last week went super well, I got in over 40 miles and my foot pain has been staying at a constant minimum. This next week, school's starting and with that comes Indoor. Tomorrow I'll talk to Reeder about ramping up my speed training slowly, I'm hoping to be able to race  by the end of the indoor season. Copious amounts of soreness and frustration are certain to be present in the next few weeks, but I'm so ready to be back in racing shape and competing for the best university ever!

Nice 70 minute run around Logan, cold and icky as always. School sucks. (K2 141)

Red air day, went to the fieldhouse and did 7.5 miles on the sweatmill. Jessie came and ran on the mill next to me, so we chatted and enjoyed less monotony. (K2 148.5)

Ran around campus and by the dorms for 35 minutes, then ran 2.25 miles on the track and 1.5 on the treadmill. Feeling freakishly sore from weights yesterday. (K2 156.5)

Six miler with Vanessa! Fun to run and chat with her, I miss having her on the team. Took it easy, legs still freakishly sore. Weights after, arms got killed muchly. (K2 162.5)

Went to the fieldhouse and did 8 miles: 2 on the track (7:20 and 7:30), 2 on the treadmill (8:00 and 7:30), 2 on the track(7:50 and 7:50), 2 on the treadmill (7:30 and 7:30). Last bit on the treadmill I did 6:30 pace for a quarter mile, then 6:00 pace for another quarter mile. Felt pathetically out of shape. (K2 170.5) 

Longest run in a long time! Cold and dark, but it felt good to get in those miles. Great end to a great week of running! (K2 179.5)

Slept in, then headed out and actually did what coach assigned the team for the first time in forever. 60 minutes with 2x10 minute pushes at 30 minute effort w/ 5 minute jog recovery between. Ended up with 64 minutes. The  push sections killed me off pretty thoroughly, but I'm so excited to be back running fast! Or at least attempting to do so... (K2 187.8)

Snow. Eew. Did an out-and-back this morning and got drenched and frozen. Slipped much, but didn't fall down! Felt reasonably good, considering the rocky (snowy, whatever) terrain. (K2 195.3)

Hurdle practice at 2 pm (fail), then weights at 3:30. Back to class at 4:30. Tuesdays suck.

First speed workout back with the team! I died. Warmed up 2 miles out on the road with Kailey, then got ready and did the workout. Started off with 1.5 miles at 1:30, 1:45, 1:30, 1:30, 1:45, 1:30 per 400m (9:30 total). Ran with Justine and we hit it right on (killed me dead!). Walked 200m, jogged 200m, then started on our next 1.5 mile at the same pace as before. Finished at exactly the same time as previously (9:29.25), feeling pretty spent. On the last one, we started at the "B" level pace (1:40, 1:50, 1:40, 1:40, 1:50, 1:40). Halfway through the fifth lap, my foot started feeling more sore so I decided to stop and just cool down on the bike to finish off (elliptical and bike for 8 minutes each). Glad to get in a workout finally, just feeling freakishly out of shape!  Iced after. (K2 201.2)

Got up this morning and did 8 miles in the fieldhouse (no snow running for me today). First two miles on the track (7:45, 7:55), 3 miles on the treadmill (8:00x3), then 2 on the track (7:50, 7:40) and finally one more mile on the treadmill at 8:00 pace. (K2 209.2)

After morning classes, headed off to hurdle practice. Apparently I fail at proper hurdle form. Bruised and embarassed myself repeatedly, improving a little but for right now I look pretty handicapped. 

Right after hurdles, went over to weights and did a circuit with the teammates that aren't already in Washington to race this weekend.

Ran around outside in the snow for a few miles, then headed to the fieldhouse and ran two miles on the track and one on the treadmill  to finish it off. Then I did hurdle practice for a while and failed some more. (K2 216.2)

Headed out on a 10-miler in the snow and ice. Gross and long and tiring, but I did it! Winner. (K2 226.2)

Weight lifting at 6:30 am. Eew. Went back to bed after. 

Woo! First full workout back and it went pretty well!  Started off with a 6 minute warmup on my own, then a 10 minute jog out with the team. On the way back, we ran at 30 minute effort, not too bad. Then we did 8x400's together with a 400m (one lap walk, one jog) recovery w/ GP 1:12 - 1:20. Times were 1:15, 1:16, 1:14, 1:13, 1:12, 1:12, 1:13 and 1:13. Ow! Awesome, though my legs are thoroughly thrashed. Coaches say that I might even race the 3k this weekend at Boise if it all works out. :) Cooled down a half mile indoors, then outside for 9 minutes. (F spike 8.6) (K2 232)

Went early to the fieldhouse and did 2 treadmill, 2 track, 2 treadmill and 2 track miles. Whee. My legs hurt so much! I can't handle the soreness. (K2 240)

Hurdle practice at 2, then weights. Legs = death. And my abs are also freakishly sore.

School continues to ruin my life. Wednesdays from now on I have to work out by myself before practice because of my stupid 2:30 EE lab. Blah. So, today I warmed up for 20 minutes, then did a 1000 at 4:10 GP, then 4x800s at 2:52 GP w/200m walk/jog recovery. Times were 4:12, 2:55, 2:51, 2:51, 2:53. Died. Cooled down for another 20 minutes. Coach Reeder told me not to not be depressed by today's workout. Almost. (K2 245) (K spike  10.8)

Went out on a crazy run on the canal trail and Bonneville trail and didn't slip or die on the snow. I felt pretty hardcore for running in snow... on purpose! Win. (K2 254)

Race tomorrow!!!! At BSU ran around for 37 minutes outside, then a 3 minute push on the track and some quick bits in my spikes. (K2 259.3)

Goals for tomorrow: 10:30 and to not-hurt-too-much-in-an-injury-kind- of-way.

First race in almost 5 months! Before the race I was freaking out but it went reasonably well considering. Warmed up a couple miles outside, got race ready and hurried onto the track, started out on the outermost lane but got a good start. First lap was way too fast, went out in 2nd place at a 37s. I was aiming for 41s the whole way so that was not so smart. Next lap I calmed down a little but still I was at about 40s for the next few and at the 1 mile mark I was feeling a bit spent. My effort and thus, my splits dropped to about 42-43s and for the rest of the race, not great. I let a few girls pass me in those middle laps so I ended up pushing to pass on the last lap and only getting one place back.

I'm happy to have my inaugural race out of the way so now I can get back into race mode and kick some butts! Next race I'll do is UW in two weeks. Hoping to get some great training in between now and then and set a new PR! (K2 265.5) (F spike 12.7)

Warmed up outside for 20 minutes with Aimee, then threw on my spikes before starting on 4x800s @ 3:02 GP on 4:00, then 5x300s at 51-63 GP w/3:00 recovery. The 800s were super easy, we just cruised right through them at 3:05, 3:01, 3:01 and 3:02. The 300s were so fast! I started off aiming at the low end of GP, 51, but hit a 55 and was pushing pretty hard, so I decided to  adjust GP to 54. Ran with Justine and Alicia on those, did pretty well at 55, 54, 54, 54, 52  for the set. Booty lock was setting in by the end, but great workout! Cooled down for 20 minutes, then hurried back to class, whee. (K2 270.5) (F spike 15.6)  

Way too cold for my life this morning, so I headed to the fieldhouse and did 8 miles in there. 2 track, 1 treadmill, 2 track, 1 treadmill, 2 track. So sore! (K2 278.5)

Afternoon times, went to hurdles. I think I'm getting a miniscule amount better. Not great yet, but hopefully soon. Went over a hurdle too low and nailed my right knee on it, so I landed very strangely on my left. Hurts a bit just walking around now, so I'll baby it a little for the next few days. Weights after.

I have a lab during regular practice, so I got up freakishly early to go practice with Jessie and Kim. Warmed up for about a mile, then started on our workout: 6 sets of 2x600s w/1:00 recovery between 600s and 3:00 recovery between sets. GP started at 2:12 and gradually decreased to mile race pace. Ouch. 2:14, 2:11, then 2:10, 2:09, then 2:06, 2:05, then 2:03, 2:03, then 2:01. Coach let us drop the last one since we almost died attempting to hit a 1:54. Cooled down for a mile outside, but it was about 5 degrees so I stopped. (K2 280.5) (F spike 19.7) 

Awesome awesome run! Headed out from my house in the afternoon (wrote an essay during my usual run time, so I ran during hurdle practice) and the weather was so great. Sunny and relatively warm! (I just looked it up and it was 33 degrees. I have problems.) I was so warm, in fact, that I took off my gloves and tights and pushed up my sleeves! Nice. Did a perfectly timed loop around in River Heights and just enjoyed running. Yay for days like these. (K2 288.7)

Got up early and went to the fieldhouse for the run today. Warmed up for 10 minutes on the track, then did a 15 minute push at 60 minute effort, jogged a 5 minute break, then did another 15 minute push on the treadmill at 7:00 pace. Then another 5 minute jog break, then 10x20s sprints w/40s jogged recovery. Jogged 5 more minutes to cool down, then I was done. Done and done. And I did some abs. (K2 297.1) (F spike 20.3)

BIRTHDAY! Ran 20k for my 20th birthday. :) Pretty great, even though it was slushy and cold and wet and snowy and stuff. The sun was out for about 20 seconds and I saw blue sky for almost 2 minutes!  Cool stuff. And I'm excited to be not a teenager. :) (K2 309.6)

Speed workout, not the greatest. Warmed up for 2 miles, then did 2x1.5 miles at GP 1:26, 1:40, 2:52, 1:40, 3k race pace for 400, 400, 800, 400, 400 with 4:00 jog/walk recovery. Failed. Times were (approx.) 1:29, 1:40, 3:02, 1:41, 1:26 for the first and 1:31, 1:42, 3:04, 1:41, 1:28 for the second. Way off GP. Had a hard time focusing on my pace, legs felt heavy and my foot was feeling unhappy on the second rep. Meh. 8 minute break, then I did 3x35 second runs for time w/4:00 rec. Went pretty well, at least got in a 200 each time, a little over on the last two. Frustrated with today's workout. (K2 317.9) (F spike 20.7)

Ugh. Tired out this morning on the run, just did 6 miles: 2 track, 2 treadmill, 2 track. 8:05, 8:00, 8:10, 7:35, 7:45, 7:45. (K2 323.9)

Hurdles and weights later in the afternoon. 

Pretty great speed workout today! Warmed up for 20 minutes, then did 1600 @ 5:52-6:00 GP, 1200 @ 4:12 GP, 800 @ 2:46 GP, 400 @ 1:14 GP. Started off solid and just nailed the whole deal. Hard, but felt good. 5:56, 4:12, 2:46 and 1:12. Cooled down another 20 minutes after. Excited to race at Seattle this weekend!! (K2 329) (F spike 23.2)

Snowing this morning, so I headed to the fieldhouse and did 2 track, 1 treadmill, 2 track, 1 treadmill and 1 track miles. Boring, but fun to see Terra and Amber and John. (K2 336)

Weights in the afternoon.

Easy half hour with the team from out hotel in Seattle. Kinda hilly, but such great weather and sea level air. Mmmm. (K2 340)

I'm just too impatient. I keep forgetting that I've only been training for a month and that I'm not going to be as fast as I was last year. So I went into the race aiming for about a 10:00 3k, like I did last year, but obviously that wasn't really a reasonable expectation, considering. Anyway, the race started off on a good pace, but then I got boxed in pretty thoroughly and the pack started to slow down, so I tried to get around them quite a few times. Anyway, I guess I did ok with my 10:17, but I'm just sick of not being in shape.

Warmed up before for 20 minutes, and after I cooled down for 20 minutes. After Jessie ran her mile, Kaylee and Alex and I went with her for an hour long run. Great trails and good company. Less bugged after the run. (K2 152.5) (F spike 25.1)

Ran 89 minutes out on the roads today. Snowy and slippery, but I had a fun time running around on the Logan River trail out by the golf course and in the Rendezvous Park. (K2 363.5) 

Easy run around Logan again. By the temple and up the canyon and back home. (K2 370.8)

Speed workout! Warmed up for 2 miles to start off, then we did a 3 mile tempo section at GP 19:12 (6:24/mi). Started it off under pace - 6:06, then someone apparently had taken the 1.5 mile turnaround cone, so we all went extra so no idea on paces for this section. Probably was a bit under pace but not by as much as before. Ended up at 20:04 but I think we went a quarter mile or so extra, so it was a pretty good tempo overall. Then we went inside and did two sets of 4x4:00s, GP 1:22 and GP 1:15. Times were 1:22, 1:20, 1:21, and 1:21; 1:15, 1:14, 1:15, and 1:15. Feeling kinda crappy during the whole thing so I just stuck to the times. Finished off alright, hit GP pretty well. Cooled down for 2 miles. (K2 378) (F spike 27.1) 

Out across campus and along 16th east, then up 19th north. Made it about two steps into Green Canyon, then it was time to turn around. On the way back, the sun came out and it  was so warm! Took off my jacket and gloves and enjoyed the warmth. :) Please tell me spring is coming soon!! (K2 386)

Weights after, three rounds of a five station circuit. Yet again my attention has been drawn to how wimpy my arms are. 

Crappy crappy workout. Three mile warmup, then a strange 14:00, 16 lap thingy with at least 10 second breaks every 4 laps. It was easy and odd. Then we were supposed to do 400s at our mile goal pace, as many as we could do on pace up to 8 of them. I did 4. Goal pace was 1:15-1:16 and I failed miserably. 1:17, 1:16, 1:17, 1:18. Since I wasn't hitting pace, I just stopped at four and cooled down for 2 miles. Then home. (K2 391) (F spike 30.1)

Got out in the afternoon for a long-ish run of the week. Just did the medium length Providence loop, felt pretty good overall so I went kinda fast. Kinda cold, but not bad. (K2 401.2)

Mile and a half warmup, then 2 miles of tempo out on the road. GP was 7:00 out and 6:30 back. In reality we did a 6:30 out and a 6:08 back. A little under, hehe. Felt reasonably good though, so no biggie. Then we did 4x800s at GP 2:12 for 600 and 38 seconds for the last 200. 2:48, 2:50, 2:49, 2:44. Pretty great, felt fast and easy, foot was a little sore so I just did a barefoot mile and a half cooldown. (K2 404.7) (F spike 32.1)

Used my newly made screw shoes (from my old Kayanos) and ran up on the Bonneville trail and up Green Canyon. They worked great and I had an awesome time on some different terrain for my recovery run. 

Easiest workout ever today. Warmed up a mile and a half, then did a 1200 at GP 3000 race pace for 800 (2:46), then mile race pace for 400 (1:16). Ended up two seconds over total, with 2:47, 1:17 for a 4:04. Not bad, though. Felt good. Then I did 4x100 barefoot strides and cooled down for a half mile in the Laub. Afterwards, I went to the fieldhouse for 15:00 on the bike and another mile of cooldown on the track. Excited for the WAC Championships on Friday and Saturday! I'm running the 5k on Friday night and the 3k on Saturday. Whee! (K2 407) (F spike 32.8)

Two shakeout miles at the fieldhouse this morning before heading up to Boise on the bus. (K2 413)

After the bus ride up, we went to the track for the pre-meet. Ran around for a half hour, then stretched out. Hopefully ready for tomorrow! 

Goals: 5k - top 4, sub 18:00

Kinda disappointed with today's race. Missed both of my goals, if only just, and I didn't feel like I was able to give everything I wanted to in the race. Tomorrow I will do better in the 3000m.

The race started off with a lot of jostling for position - basically four laps were spent trying to stick in the front of the pack, not going down, and not getting to boxed in. Yuk. One Idaho girl went out crazy, but nobody gave chase and she died pretty quickly. Eventually I ended up in a good spot, just on the back of the lead pack of about seven runners. About 2k into the race, Kim started picking up the pace so the pack started spreading out. That was where I wimped out the first time - just didn't keep in good enough contact with the pack when they picked up the pace, so I ended up back by almost 50 meters after a couple laps, but just stayed there for the rest of the race basically. My resolve was further weakened when around 3k, my hamstring started cramping up and didn't really loosen up the rest of the race. Anyway, I just tried to stick to my pace and finish strong and I did ok. The last couple of laps were confusing with all the girls being lapped, so I didn't know to try and pass with authority for the finish. Turns out all the girls I passed in the last lap were being lapped. So I just got my 6th place finish and a pretty slow time. Kim won though, she's pretty great. (K2 416.5) (F spike 35.9)

Better race today. Glad that now it's time for outdoor and the steeple and actually being in shape and not feeling like a hamster!

The pack started off so so slow. It was great! I think our first 800 was at 6:00 pace, which felt awesome. I got into a pretty good position once the lead pack started to speed up, so I just hung in pretty well for the first 7 laps or so. Lost the pack for a few laps then, but on the last 800, I started accelerating and ended up passing two NM girls on the last lap. Sweet. Scored some good points with the team (we went 1, 3 and 4, Kim won it again)! Not amazing, but better than the 5k. Now I'm just glad to be moving on to a bigger track and better events. :) (K2 420) (F spike 37.9)

10 miles on the bike for fun. Some hurdle drills too. 

Outdoor track has now begun! Long workout today. Warmed up a mile on the track, then we ran a little over a mile to the starting point of our two mile loop up by Lundstrom park. Did the loop twice, first at 6:50 GP, then at "faster" GP on the second time around. Ended up doing 6:20/6:30 on the first one, then 5:55/5:50 on the second one. Course was a titch short, so that would explain the fastness of the tempo. Then we cooled down for a half hour around town. By the end, I was super tired out. (K2 430) 

Ok, I've been slacking off on blogging lately. I have been running, but it has been lame mostly and I just don't feel like writing about it. So I probably won't go back and fill in, I'll just go from here on out. Finally, after a lot of crappy running, I feel like I might be more where I was two years ago instead of four years ago! I've been supplementing my weekly running mileage with a four or five hours of biking and rejoicing in the refreshing lack of snow on the ground.

Anyway. Today we were going to do a hurdle workout, but Mike (Mike Spence, our new steeple coach - a professional steepler turned marathoner/coach) decided to give us a break on hurdles since we have a race at UCLA on Friday. So, after a 2 mile warmup, 20 minute hurdle ritual and two laps of jogged curves and strided straights, we did 8x400s at our sea-level mile race pace (75-76) with 80 second recovery. 

Times were 75, 76, 75, 75, 75, 75, 74, 73. Super awesome! Felt a little tired after the first 4, but just kept on crusing on the next few, pushed on the last two. Champion! Overall, the workout felt exceedingly great. Cooled down for 31 minutes, then did a few dry water barrier practice jumps on the grass. First couple weren't too great, then I fixed some stuff and Mike said they were good. :) Planning on a bike ride after FHE tonight. (K2 ~650) Wow I should get some new shoes. (L Spike 3)

Went out on a nice hour long run around on the short version of the Providence loop... with some timely additions and subtractions. Felt  alright, calves are freakishly sore though! (K2 657.5)

Should've run more, but after warming up and doing the 3000m at 3x(300@1:30, 300@1:06, 200@1:00, 200@44), my calves were killing me so much that I just did a lap cooldown and headed over to the training room to get them rubbed out. (K2 660) (L spike 5) 

Just an easy half hour in LA for our premeet. Calves still unfortunate feeling, so I didn't do any strides. Did some hurdle stretches and relaxed. Aiming for a 11:00 steeple tomorrow. (K2 664)

Not bad, not great on the race today. Obviously, compared to last year - definitely not good at all. Frustrating in that way, but for my first steeple back from injury and all that crap I guess it's not too awful. I guess. I felt like I could've gone faster though, so that's a good sign. I'll be running it next week at our home meet, and although that's at altitude, I'm hoping to run a similar time there. We'll see! Maybe someday I'll be fast again. (K2 668) (L spike 7)

Got up freakishly early in LA to get my run done before heading back to Logan at 6:30 am. Armed with my pepper spray, I ran out from our hotel in Marina del Rey to the beach and ran along it for a ways, then back to the hotel and a couple more miles on the treadmill. 90 minutes total. (K2 679)

Ouch, what a long and painful workout! Warmed up with the usual 2 mile out-and-back, then did two laps of strides before starting 5x1600m repeats. GP was 5:55 and 5:00 recovery.

1- 5:52 - we'd started off with 5:50 being or original GP, so this one was technically a litte slow, ran it in trainers so it was pretty tiring.

2- 5:59 - GP adjusted to 5:55 on this one, but relaxed a bit too much, wind was horrid on the back stretch and still in trainers.

3- 5:56 - put on the spikes, felt lots easier, drafted off Marissa for the middle laps, then led the last one to break that nasty wind.

4- 5:54 - Marissa and I decided to take turns breaking wind again, so I led the first and last lap, while she led 2 and 3. Not bad.

5- 5:52 - actually felt good on this last one, just let it cruise with alternating wind breaking laps to finish off the set.

So, the repeats started off pretty crappy, but ended up feeling pretty great. Kinda strange, but I'll take it. After our miles, coach had us do 4x200m fast-not-hard strides. Felt pretty dead after those. Then cooled down on the same warmup course and got a call from Coldstone - I'm getting interviewed on Wednesday, hopefully I'll get the job!!! (K2 686) (L spike 10)

What a great, cold, crazy, great run! Headed out right before the storm rolled in, but fortunately had dressed warmer than I thought I'd need. Ran up to the Bonneville trail and out to the Green Canyon entrance, then on the way back I took a little single track trail along the BST, which was super awesome. I liked it lots. Got totally drenched but it was pretty fun. Felt surprisingly good! (K2 694)

Weights and stretching later.

Warmed up on the usual, then did our steeple workout of the week. Two laps of strides, then we did 600, 800, 1000, 800, 1000, 600, partially over hurdles and the water barrier. GP was 87 per lap, I was pretty close on all of them I think... over on a few middle reps and under on the first and last couple. About half my water jumps were pretty awesome, so that was great. Legs were feeling freakishly sore from Bulgarian split squats at weights yesterday, but the workout was ok in general. Cooled down with Hazel after. (K2 698) (L spike 13)

Mother of all sideaches!!! Started this morning and got gradually worse until my run where I wanted to die from my painful aching, stabbing painful torso! Still hates me at 10 pm. Coby told me to take drugs and they aren't working all that well. Hopefully it starts feeling better by Saturday for my race! (K2 705.5)

At weights we just did abs and stretching/foam roller. 

Ran a lap and felt like death so I went to the doctor and he thinks I have a kidney infection. Woo! So I got an antibiotic prescription and some pain killers and hopefully I'll feel ok to race tomorrow. 

Well. My kidney still hates me, so I just warmed up and did some drills and found out that hurdling didn't feel super great. I decided to start off the race and see how I felt, so it started off alright neglecting the pain in my kidney. After a few laps of painful hurdling and water jumping (which were like death), I decided I should probably stop. Coach ok-ed it at the end of my 4th lap, so I dropped out. We talked and we decided it would be better to do well at Cal Berkeley next week than at the home meet today. Then I just went home and took more drugs and chilled with with John and my roommates. (K2 707) (L spike 14)

Warmed up for the workout today - two miles with Aimee - but my kidney still hates me to some extent. So, after the hurdle ritual, when everyone else started their 8x400s at 1500 race pace, coach had me go in and do 8x1:15 hard pushes on the bike. Almost puked after that. Then I biked for about 15 minutes to cool down. Today I didn't take any painkillers and I felt ok-ish, so I think that by this weekend I should be doing ok to race at Cal Berkeley! (K2 709)

Easy 30 minute run up on the only flat part of Logan. 'Twas alright, the last half of it my side was uncomfortable but not nearly as bad as last week. I'll probably try to do the workout tomorrow!! (K2 713)  

Warmed up a couple miles, then we did two laps of strides, then a 3000 of 300 on/300 off, 200 on/200 off. On pace was a little under steeple race pace, so it was a pretty easy workout. Then we did some water barrier practice, then I cooled down two more miles. Didn't hurt too much - yay! (K2 717) (L spike 16.5)

Ran a mile on campus before we left for Berkeley. 

Once we got to our hotel, the track was closed, so we just ran for a half hour around the hotel on a super pretty trail along the edge of the San Francisco bay. So nice out and so beautiful! Stretched out after. (K2 721)

Goals for tomorrow's race: Break 11:00. Good hurdles and water barriers. Feel awesome again!

Easy mile shakeout on the track in the morning. Race tonight is at 8:25 PM. Woo! 

Felt super great in the race! Warmed up and did the hurdle ritual and such, then got on the line and bang! Race go! First lap I got a little scared because we went out at a 84 and I was aiming for 87-88, so then I backed off. Probably shouldn't have at that point, since I had tons left at the end of the race. Anyway, with 2 laps to go I realized that I had a lot left so I started pushing but by then it was too late to make up the ground I'd lost in the middle laps. Lame! But still, my water barriers were great, my hurdles were great and I got a seasons best by a few seconds. So, even though I didn't push as hard as I should have, I was still super excited that I felt really great for the first time in for-freaking-ever and that I know I can do better! (K2 726) (L spike 18.5)

Such a great run around San Francisco! We rode the BART into town, then walked to Pier 1 of the port, then we ran from there to Pier 39 where we dropped our bags off at the Holiday Inn. From there, we ran along the piers and beach until we got to the Golden Gate bridge and ran all the way across it and then ran back to Pier 39. So pretty and so fun to run around the city and see the sights and run past the Armenian protesters on the bridge and take some great photos and have a great time in some awesome weather in a super awesome place! And we got free sandwiches from the March of Dimes on the way back. WIN! Oh what a great day. I feel like the champion of the world. Tired beyond belief after walking back to the track from the BART station, but with the free yarn and the best lemonade in the world, still pretty champion-esque. (K2 738)

Another great day of running! Warmed up for 2 miles, then we did 2 laps of strides w/hurdles and then a hurdle workout w/o water barriers. Then we did 800, 1200, 1000, 800, 1000, 600 of various combinations of flat and over hurdles laps. But we did a total of 7 laps over hurdles. Pretty awesome workout, felt dead to start off but got into a nice groove about halfway in and just kept cruising on in. Since my watch is still MIA, I don't really have times, but they were all near, on, or under GP of 88s/400. Then I cooled down for a half hour. Felt great for the whole cooldown too! So great! Excellent day. (K2 744) (L spike 22)

Started off feeling really great, ran up to the BST and ran on there until the time was up and then ran back to meet up with John for a few before he had to go to class. Then ran home. The second half of the run was no fun, my IT band and shins were hating me and I just lost my groove. Meh. Still, not a bad run overall (even though I did see coach on the BST O_o) and now I get to go eat free lunch at the Whitesides scholar-athlete luncheon! (K2 752)

Easy speed workout today, just a 3000 of 300 on/off, 200 on/off with on at steeple effort and off at a recovery jog. The weather wasn't super friendly, but the workout was pretty short so we got out of the pellet snow and rain and hail soon. Warmed up and cooled down for two miles each. Just chillin'. (K2 759)

Coach said I'm signed up for the open 3000 and the steeple this Saturday and that if I'm feeling good to go for the double just to get the feel of it for the WAC in a couple of weeks.

Intermittent run - did 20 minutes after starting load one of laundry, then did 5 waiting for it to finish, 5 more still waiting for it to finish, then moved load one over and started load two and did my last 30 minutes of my run. Kinda chilly and windy but not a bad run overall. (K2 766)

Easy half hour run from Boise's track, found a sweet trail, it was super pretty and nice. Again, cold-ish and windy but a nice run. (K2 770)

Started off the morning with a chilly warmup, followed by a chilly steeplechase. It actually went really well, went out a bit fast but got into a good fast-ish pace, dug deep and pushed hard to the finish. And I got about the same time I ran last week but that was at sea level! Pretty happy about this race! Afterwards, I cooled down for about a mile - we ran around the zoo that's really close to  the track and I saw two giraffes, a zebra and some cool birds (just from the outside since we didn't pay dollars to get in).

A few hours later, I warmed up again. This time it was with Amberber and for about 2 miles as usual. When I checked in, I apparently wasn't registered, so I just ran in place of Aimee Haertel who wasn't there. Then we got ready and barely made it to our start for the open 3000m. Just went out with the leaders and cruised at a pretty constant pace, not very hard, just pushing a little. Passed up the leaders and took control with two laps to go, as I did so, the announcers were very excited that Haertel had taken over the lead. With about 30 meters to go, someone told them that I was Ruth Hilton, so then they called me my correct name finally. Funny stuff. My time was pretty slow - a 10:38, but I was really just going for the win and some experience doing a double, so it was a lot of fun! Overall, a great day of track and field (even though it was chilly and pretty dismal for most of the day). (K2 781) (L spike 24)

Coach decided to give Erin, Amberber and me another recovery day today since we'd all done more than a 1500 on Saturday. We just did an easy paced (well, to Erin, easy paced) hour long run. I'd warmed up a couple miles before that too. Then John convinced me to come to the fieldhouse and work out with him for a while, so I did many abs and core exercises and then made him run a 100/200/400 pyramid with me. He died so it made me feel a little better about myself. :) (K2 791)

At 9AM or so John wanted me to go workout with him, so I went with him and while he lifted heavy things, I ran for a four miles on my flat loop. Then we did abs together and I made him run a mile with me. After the mile, I did 20 more minutes and called it quits. My abs and back are pretty sore. And I have my first day of work today! Woo! (K2 799)

My back and abs and shoulders and everything is so sore from working for 6 hours yesterday plus all the exercises John and I have been doing. Eh. So I got up this morning and did not want to do our assigned workout for today... especially since I had no stopwatch of any kind, so I had to go to WalMart and get a $10 before doing my workout. Anyway. After all that, biking for a few miles and such, I warmed up for 12 minutes, then got started on our workout.

First set was 2x1000 @ GP 3:20-3:30 with ~3:30 recovery. Times for these were 3:24 and 3:26. Not bad considering my sore/tired-ness, though I was hoping to hit the low end of GP. 

Second set was 4x600 @ GP 84 for 400, then 1500 race effort for 200 with ~4:00 recovery. These were really hard. I could hit the pace for the 400 no problem, but only ended up going a tiny bit faster when I tried picking it up for the last 200. Anyway, times were (400/total) 82/2:02, 83/2:02, 82/2:01, 83/2:00.

Finally, the 3x300 @ GP 48-51 with ~2:30 recovery. Oh the slowness! I felt like I was going all out for the whole thing and I barely managed to hit 52, 52 and 51 for the set. Ow. I don't know where my speed went, but I want it back.

Overall, it was a quality workout, though I didn't feel super great during most of the reps. Cooled down on my two mile course, really slow, then called it quits for the day. More work tonight and a final tomorrow! Whee. (K2 802) (L spike 27)

After my final final, but before lunch with Prof. Bornholdt, I ran around on a nice easy 50 minute loop. Felt good. (K2 808)

Worked this morning from 10am to 2pm, then hurried on my bike over to practice and barely made it! Then Kim and I warmed up for a mile, then coach had me do the 5k/10k workout with her, instead of the steeple workout.

2000m - 800m @ 3:00, then 400m @ 1:20, then 800m @ 3:00 again, felt  hard and tired, probably from having minimal sleep and being on my feet at work all morning. Bleh. Recovery was a 1000 walk/jog.

1600m - each lap was 300 @ 1:06, 100 @ 20 seconds. Felt better than the 2000, partially because I wore my spikes on this one. Still feeling pretty fatiuged though. Recovery was another 1000 walk/jog.

1000m - ran at 1:30/400m pace for the whole thing, except for two pushes, each of us took off for 10 seconds at random once during the rep. Felt better, kind of a cool race simulation.  

Cooled down with a mile afterwards. (K2 812) (L spike 29) 

So tired this morning. John's parents got into town pretty late but we went to dinner with them anyway, then John and I stayed up even later after dinner. Ugh. Anyway, I slept kinda late considering the lateness. And, since we were going to go to breakfast with the parents before his graduation, I only gave myself minimal time to run. So, I just did a little 45 minute run. Easy but exhausted. (K2 818)  

Got from coach the final decision on what I'm running at WAC this weekend: 3000m steeple on Friday, then the 10,000m later that day and if I'm not comatose by then, then 5,000m on Saturday. Sounds like death! Whee. 

Today's workout wasn't too bad. Warmed up a mile, then we did a 2000m of 300/200 on/off (on at 5000 race effort), then had a 800 walk/jog recovery, did 3x300s @ GP 51-54 (times were 50, 52, 51), then another 800 walk/jog and finished it off with two laps of stride-the-straights, jog-the-curves. Cooled down another mile. (K2 821) (L spike 31)

Chilly, fun, crazy run in the rain this morning. Just ran up to the BST for a minute then ran back home. Then I did some abs and such at the fieldhouse and then ate food and headed off to work! (K2 827)

Got up early and did our workout before we left to Louisiana. Pretty easy and all that stuff. Whee. After 12 hours of total travel time, we arrived in Ruston, Louisiana and did a 10 minute shakeout. (K2 831)

Easy run today from the LA Tech track with the team, then ran back to the hotel from the track with Caroline. (K2 835)

Goals for tomorrow: Not die. Top 5 in both the 3k steeple and 10,000m. Not have to do the 5k on Saturday due to my excellence tomorrow.

Geez. What an exhausting day! It was really hot and humid before and during the steeplechase, then it was a little cooler but even more humid for the 10k. Before we warmed up for the steeple, we just sat around in the shade with ice bags under our armpits and on the back of our necks, trying to keep our core temperature down. That was fun. Then, about 20 minutes before race time, we warmed up for a few mintues, stretched out and did a drill or two and got on the line to race!

Steeplechase race - started off the first 200+ about 2-3 seconds fast,  relaxed a bit and ended up with Steph and Marissa for the first couple laps. I was feeling good and I was racing my plan, so I decided to pick it up a little and started making up ground on the next couple girls ahead of me. With 3 laps to go, I passed a non-teammate, then with 2 to go, I passed Alicia. On the last lap, I could see a NM girl ahead, but I couldn't get her. Took 4th place, Erin took 2nd.  Cooled down a few minutes after, then went back to the hotel to rest up for the 10k.

Our 10,000m ended up getting postponed for 2 1/2 hours because of a thunderstorm, we raced at 10:30 pm. The men's race right before ours got cut short (9 laps early) because of the thunderstorm and the coaches and officials decided to take the places as they were at that point! Not great because our guys had a "start off super slow and catch everyone at the end" plan, so they ended up in 3&4 when they probably would've been 1&2 in another few laps. Bummer, but what can you do? NCAA regulations are strange. So, I'm guessing that outcome made strategy go differently in our race.

10k race - warmed up a few minutes for the race, then Kim and I got on the line. It was so humid, I was pretty wet from the get-go, but they had people out to spray us down and to give us water during the race. My only real hope in this race was having a nice big pack stay slow for the first half or more, then being able to pick it up later and make it come down to the last 2-3k. That failed, probably due, in part, to how the men's race got messed up earlier. First lap went out really slow, then Flores, Lee-Painter and Kim took off from the pack after about 300m. Veseth peeled away next, then a three others soon after - all within the first three laps. So, there went the whole pack idea. Having never done a track 10k before, I didn't know how fast I could/should go, so I just tried to stick to a 6:05-6:10 pace. By 8 laps in, I was completely by myself, with almost 100 meters between me the the next girl (ahead of me or behind). So after that, I just tried to stick on pace (which had sagged to 6:20's or so). Tried a couple pushes with 10, 8, 6, 4 and 2 laps to go but there was no catching the next girl ahead. So I took a wonderful 8th place and scored 1 measly point for all that misery. Time was around 39:11, so nothing spectacular. My calves are totally thrashed. Cooled down with 2 laps, then I went home.

My legs were so thrashed from yesterday's Steeplechase and 10,000m races that I warmed up for the 5k and felt like my calves were broken. Still, coach wanted me to do it, so I started the race and it was pretty painful from the get-go. It felt like I was running mile race pace but I was just going 5k pace. I was in a good position race-wise for the first 4 laps, then my over-tired legs decided they weren't going to run fast anymore. Over the next few laps, many people passed me and I wanted to die. So, I gave the coach the "I'm dead and I want to drop out" signal and he nodded. I'd finished 8 laps. Eew. This weekend I raced a total of 40 and a half laps on that track. I hope to never do that triple ever again.

Took a few days off, I've just been working and hanging out with John. Today my legs felt not-thrashed and I wanted to go run. So I did! Went a bit longer than I'd planned, but it was fun overall. I ran along the canal trail to 19th north. While running, I saw a total of 54 ducklings! They are so freaking cute! Most of them (41) were tiny little guys, I wanted to take them all home with me. Anyway, I looped it around to 16th east and back home through campus. Felt good, though I was a bit tired by the end. I need new shoes. Muchly.

Went on a fun, crazy run with no watch around Logan town. Headed out planning on going up the canyon on the river trail, but when I got to the BST, I just wanted to do that. So I did! Had lots of fun just running fast and fun and going on adventures up crazy little trails and along the canal up there and up the mountain for a while. Then I ran back home by way of the BST again and through campus. Fun times. No idea how far it was.

Another fun run today! Planned on doing 25 minutes or so but ended up doing more, oops. I headed out by the temple, then down on the Canyon road and then up on the canal trail back up to my house. Fun stuff. I just love running whenever, wherever I want. 

Just did an easy 20+ minutes with John up on part of the flat loop. Most of the time I can't get him to run with me, so I was excited he came! I did notice that his speed was inversely proportional to the distance from the fieldhouse. Funny. Still, it was fun and a comfy run. After the run, I did lots of abs and he made me lift some heavy stuff with him. 

Legs are tired today, no idea why. But, I got the first summer training e-mail from coach yesterday so I got out and did a run. Went out on the flat loop and near the end did 5x30 second pushes at 800 effort. Not the greatest, but I got it done. 

Went out on the canyon road run - 50 minute version. It was really pretty - the weather has been most excellent for the last couple weeks. Afterwards, I did the drill workout coach assigned in the email. Legs were pretty fatigued afterwards. 

Just ran the 30 minutes of the flat loop. Quads are feeling yesterday's workout, that's for sure. 

Did a 35 minutes with Grace, at about 2 effort, super easy. Then I ran 10 more minutes by myself at a more regular pace. 

Took today off! Coach told me not to run more than 5 days this week, so I just spent all day being a bridesmaid at Amber's wedding! 

Beautiful run today! Back up in Logan, I did 60 minutes - the short River Heights loop, with a return on the canal trail. Weather was perfect and I felt great. Yay running!

Nice easy run on the Canyon loop with the canal to end. Beautiful and relaxed. Strangely sore, but still 'twas a good run. 

Ran a half hour with Grace, a little better this time than last. Then I added on a couple miles afterwards out to the temple and back. Feeling good today. After work, I did the drill workout and circuit at the fieldhouse. Fun fun fun. 

What a great day! Ran early in the rain and I just felt so awesome! Ran fast just for the fun of it and then did my 5x30 second pushes at 800 effort. If running was like this every day, I would run hundreds of miles every week. So great. NL loooooop.

My mom came to visit and I worked lots, so I didn't run in the morning or afternoon. Just did an easy half hour in the evening, the last 20 minutes with Grace. My legs are a bit tight from yesterday's gallivanting. Tomorrow I will do the drill workout again and on Saturday I will do my 70 minute run.  

Wasatch Back on the St. George Running Center open women's team!! Super awesome and super exhausting. Did leg 9, so I had an easy first leg of 3.6 flat, then a difficult 9.6 of mostly flat with some rollers and ended on another difficult leg of 3.5 with almost 1500 feet in elevation gain. Eew. Ran pretty fast for my first leg, then ran ok-fast on the second and finished the third. I wanted to run the whole way up it, but a couple places it was faster to walk than to run, so I surrendered. Still, a fun experience overall with 45 point turns, near-death semi encounters, no sleep to speak of and protesting legs all around!

Since the WBR thrashed my legs, I took today off.

Canyon run again, this time I ran fast! Legs felt surprisingly good and I just cruised. Except for the hill up from first dam to campus. That felt like death. 

Sweet run today! I feared it would be pretty horrible since I donated blood yesterday, but it actually was quite awesome. Went out on the 6E/25N loop with an extension up on the canal trail at 15th north. Did my 5x30s pushes. A bit tired and lightheaded by the end, but overall I felt tons better than I expected.

In all honesty, I really don't remember what I ran today. It was either an easy 7, or a hard 8.5. I just don't remember which. So I'll just pretend it was the 7 and tomorrow was the 8.5! I really need to stay updated on this thing. 'Nuff said. 

Did my biggest speed workout of the summer so far today. Went down to the island and ran around there and in Providence for the speed work. Started with a 10 minute push at 60 min effort, a 5 min recovery jog, then another 10 minute push. After that, I took another few minutes of recovery jogging, then did 2x5:00 pushes at 30 min effort. Geez. It really took it out of me today. Still, I felt like I put in a good effort.

After working a 20-hour all-night shift at the Quiznos and needing to leave for SLC on a 7:30 shuttle, I didn't run in the morning. Then, as I was freakishly exhausted for the next forever, I also did not run during the rest of the day. I am a slacker, I know. But what's done is done and I want sleep.

Since I've slacked off on my long run of the week for the past few weeks, I decided to get my long run done right off the bat! So, today I ran out on the river trail for 45 minutes and back. Ran into Vanessa with about 35 minutes to go, so we ran together back to the trail head and to the base of the first dam hill, where she turned back to go to her car. It was so fun to run with her, she is one of my favorite former teammates. Probably my very favorite. The run was hard by the end, but I am glad I got the death run out of the way! 

Did a nice easy run with Kaylee, Kim, Justine and Vanessa. Went out by the temple and onto the canyon road for a ways, then back. Took it pretty easy, just talked and enjoyed the team. Did my 3x15s strides at the end, yesterday too! I am trying to to all of the stuff coach asked me this week. It is hard! 

In the afternoon, I ran up to the field house and did the drill and circuit workout. Haven't done that in a couple weeks and my legs are feeling it, big time.

Legs feeling pretty dang sore today. Didn't feel much like running, so I headed up to the BST to pep me up a bit. While I was up there, I did my 5x30s pushes.They were good for the most part! The weeds whipping my legs made them pretty itchy though. Hopefully my soreness will abate in the near future.

Ran to work, got my paycheck, ran to the bank, deposited it and ran home. It was like 4 in the afternoon and it was only like 85 degrees!! Logan in the summer is oh-so-nice. Ran in my new shoes for the first time, yay new shoes. (K3 4.5)

Warmed up a bit trying to get a way to the start line and in stashing my stuff in Justine's car. Felt pretty crappy, went to bed pretty late and got only 4 hours of sleep. Legs were overall just feeling stiff and lame, so I was quite certain, even before starting, that today's race was going to be long and pain-filled.

And I was absolutely right! Got my legs going with Justine for the first mile, then joined forces with Allie for the next couple miles. She dropped me like I was hot at mile 3 and I was on my own for that mile. Then I thought a friend of mine was about to pass me, so I didn't let him for most of that mile and then realized it was a total stranger. So we ran together for almost the rest of the race - we both had a similar, 1 hour goal in mind and it's nice to have somebody to push you. His name was John. We pushed alright through miles 4, 5 and 6, then 7 came with that freaking hill and he dropped back a bit. When I got to the top, I felt like I was doing 10:00 miles at 5:00 mile effort. It was pathetic. Even when my legs started to feel like legs again, they were pretty thoroughly out of juice, so the last descent into Hyrum was a welcome relief. I tried so freaking hard to push it in and get that 60 minute mark, but alas, my legs had done all they would. Sad day. Still, it was better in some ways to not finish way under the hour because then I would've had to add extra to finish my 60 minute RFD for the workout today.

Cooled down about a mile with Allie and Nan, my legs were pretty thoroughly worn out by then. After a panicked hour of trying to find a ride back up to Justine's car to get my keys to my car, I finally got on my way and barely managed to make it to work on time. Then I worked a 13 hour shift and wanted to die. Yay life!

Overall the run was... painful. I never really got into a comfortable groove, my legs just weren't recovered and ready for that kind of a beating yet, I don't think. I feel like I still have a long way to go to be back where I was last summer. Next week I'm hoping to hit 55-60 miles and do everything on coach's email checklist. (K3 15.8)

Went out on the short Providence loop and did my 5x30s pushes. Felt pretty darn horrible, it was about 4pm. I need to start eating food more. (K3 23.8)

Best run ever! Ran up to the BST and up to the trailhead at Green Canyon and back to my house. I just got into a great rhythm and felt super awesome the whole time. It was so super excellent. Yay running. :) (K3 32.6)

Later in the afternoon, I went with Cami and did the drill workout.

Ran the Jardine Juniper trail. It was hard! The climb felt pretty tough, but overall it was a very awesome run. I did have to stop a couple times on the way up because I'm a wimp. Or something. Hopefully I won't be sore tomorrow. Or super sore at least. And I want to do it again. So that next time I will be better and not stop as much. And then I'll do it again and again and maybe sometime I will do it without stopping. :) (K3 42.1)

My legs were pretty tired this morning as I headed out to do the "push" workout for the week. Warmed up for a few minutes as I headed down 6th east, then started on my 4x5:00 @ 60 effort, 4x2:00 @ 30 effort and 4x1:00 at 15 effort, all with 2:00 jog recovery between. Got all the way into Hyde Park before I turned around, then I just cooled down until I got home. My legs are pretty thoroughly shot! Whee. (K3 51)

Went out on a nice easy recovery run with Vanessa on my Canyon loop. Just took it easy, talked and ran how I felt. By the end I didn't feel quite as horrible as the beginning. (K3 55.7)

A surprisingly good run, especially for about the first 10 miles. Went on my extended Providence loop and I got into a super nice rhythm about 3 miles into it and felt good until the last two miles or so. Then my foot started hating me and I had to slow up and try to run on softer ground until I made it back home. I stretched and iced and hopefully calmed it down some. It had better not keep this up or I will have to... I dunno... punish it or something. I hate my foot, it is a stupid piece of crap that hates me right back. >:( That is my angry face. (K3 68)

Overall, a pretty good end to an exhausting but reasonable victorious week of running. I missed one of the drill workouts for the week and I didn't do strides after one of the runs either. But other than that, I did well doing the pushes and allotted time for my long run. Next week I will get in both of my drill workouts and hopefully actually make it to 60 miles like I was planning, even with going down to SG for a few days and seeing John for the first time in a month! 

Split the run up today, since I didn't plan enough time this morning for everything before worktimes. This morning I did 8 miles out to the end of the planet walk and back home. My right achilles and left foot were buggy for the middle section, but felt ok by the end. After work and some relaxing, I did another 2.25 miles and did my 5x30s pushes at 800 effort. Felt good. Wore my orthotics for this run, haven't done that in a while. No pain in the achilles, but still some non-sesamoid foot pain. Meh. (K3 78.3)

Just an easy run today. Got up before work and did 64 minutes, a nice easy 8 miler. Tonight I drive to SG! So. Freaking. Excited!! (81.8)

In St. George, ran a workout with 1x10:00 push at 60, 6x2:00 pushes at 30, then 6x1:00 pushes at 15. 2:00 Recovery between each. Slept in until 8 and the heat killed me dead. I know not how I handled it for so long. I am a wimp now. 

Later in the evening, John and I went with Tim to some soccer-playing times, then we ran back home. (K3 92.8)

Ran a little bit with PVXC in the morning, then did a few more with the club before Chelsea's run, then did Chelsea's run 5k with John - he did super great and got a PR of 23:45! It was freaking hot outside. (K3 103)

Easy run with John in the morning. It was nicely overcast, so we didn't die too much in the heat. We ran pretty slow. But it was fun to be with John, he is the best! :) (K3 109)

Ran super freaking early with Scott Hughes up on the SGM course. 'Twas one of those days that every step of the run wears you out. Scott was a total champion, doing a sweet 13 miler after 75 miles of biking the day before! He pushed it up the hills and I tagged along, trying to catch my breath on the downhills. So glad to finish of a tiring week, but basically made it to my mileage goal, so a victorious day, all in all. It took us 100 minutes, with some sweet negative split action. Ooh-hoo! (K3 112.2)

Did a slow, easy 78 minutes around SG at around 8:30. The heat, again, killed me dead. I ran with tunes for the first time in a while, which was a nice distraction from the death/hotness. (K3 121.7)

Great run this morning, back up in Logan. The weather is oh-so-nice. It was like 9:30 and I was just enjoying the coolness. :) Ran up Green Canyon a ways, then headed home. (K3 130.7)

Lots of running today! Got up to go run and felt exceedingly horrible, so I waited around until I felt better... didn't happen. So I just dragged myself out on a slow, horrid 5 miles.

After work, I felt lots better, so once it cooled off a bit, I headed up on the River trail and did my speed/push workout for the week - it felt pretty good, though the 10:00 section up the trail was a toughy. Total, did 6:00 wu, 3x10:00 at 60, 4x1:00 at 15, then cooled down for 10:00. Rec between pushes was 2:00 w/j. Overall, a hard, but excellent run. (K3 144)

70 minutes with Kim early early this morning. Felt pretty fatigued after the heavy mileage and effort of yesterday. (K3 153)

Six easy with Vanessa this morning, again felt super tired out. Hopefully tomorrow on the long run I'll feel like I have legs again! (K3 159)

I have not run this far in almost a whole year! It was pretty great. I ran via canal trail up the canyon for an hour, took some gu, then turned around and came home, barely in time for fireworks! I rolled my left ankle quite a few times, but it is doing ok now. The biggest problem was the twilight/darkness that descended upon me as I ran on the trail and the canal. I felt as though I would trip and fall any moment! But I survived! My left foot issue from last fall is still being buggy, hopefully I won't kill it too much in my travels and runs these next few weeks. (K3 173.5)

This week was mostly satisfactory - ran 60 miles, worked 35 hours and got all packed and ready to go to Europe on Monday! Next week, and the next 3 after that my goal will be to maintain and run as much as is possible with all the travel, I am hoping no less than 40 mpw. I will for sure run on Monday morning, then I'll be en-route to Germany until Tuesday afternoon, so I might get a run in that night, unless I am dead. After that I'll hopefully get in some sort of schedule of morning running.

Got up kinda early and did an nice 80 minute run up Green Canyon before heading down to SLC and the airport and EUROPE!!!!! Great run, hopefully running in Germany will not be too hard these next 2 weeks, and the next 2 in Slovenia...! (K3 183.5)

Traveled to Güstrow until about 8:30 pm, then ate and slept, so I opted out of the run today.

Very slow miles with Caro's boyfriend, Clemens. He plays soccer and is still in preseason, so his running was not so good. And we had just eaten before the run, so that also didn't help. We went on a cool little loop around Güstrow, Gütow and Bütow. Very slow, but slow is sometimes hard. Meh. (K3 191.5)

Did the whole loop today, just by myself. Turns out it is about 15k, and took me about 74 minutes. Felt pretty good, the calves are sore from life. Played tennis yesterday and my arm and back are sore, hehe. (K3 200.8)

Did an easy 50 minutes, this one was with Clemens again. He was feeling much better so we ran quite a bit faster than the one on Wednesday. Nice easy run, planning on a good 2 hour run tomorrow. (K3 206.8)

Ick. Slept in and had only time for 25 minutes of running before catching the train to Ahrensburg to stay with Anja and Roland and the baby for the rest of my stay in Germany. Oops. Should've run more later in the day, but just felt generally unmotivated. (K3 209.8)

Nice run from A&R's place here in Ahrensburg. Just went out on an very simple route so as not to get lost and found some pretty great places to run. I like it here. Did my 5x30s pushes near the end of the run. This week I am planning on being MUCH better than last week: I will get 60+ miles and I will do all the prescribed pushes and hopefully some strength training to some degree or another. Probably on Thursday. It is very laid back here, so I hope to run twice on at least one day. (K3 220)

Nice recovery run around Ahrensburg and the surrounding area again. Different route this time, but not super adventurous. Tomorrow I am going to try out a cool biking trail I found. There was this map with tons of different routes all measured out for different loops around the surrounding area, way freaking cool! Running here is super awesome. I wish I could take the road and trail system here back with me to the US. But on another, less whimsical note, I will do my speed work also tomorrow. Today I felt good and relaxed, the calves are a bit tight. (K3 229)

80 minute run today in the forest by Ahrensburg. Very awesome. Warmed up for 18 minutes, then started on my 3x10:00 pushes @ 60. They went very well, might have been a tad fast. Then I did 4x1:00 pushes @ 10, all pushes were with 2:00 walk/jog between. My legs were pretty tired out for the 1:00 pushes. Not so bad though. Then I cooled down all the way back to the house. It was a long time. But I found blackberries, yum! (K239.5)

Nice easy run today, my legs aren't super stiff from the speed workout, though they are a bit from wandering around Hamburg all day. Again today, I ran in the forest, went so far into it that I came back out on the other side! It was fun, the trails were pretty great. Love running! Also, I snagged a few blackberries again. Ah, so tasty. (K3 249.5)

Nice easy run again today. Tried to get to the forest a different way and ended up going in a completely opposite direction. Pretty crazy! But along the road I ended up on, I found a trail to run on, and it ended up intersecting with the trails I ran on yesterday! Woah. It was super awesome. Today's trail was probably the coolest one ever, a nice single track in a somewhat marshy forest place. It was so green and serene and just awesome, overall. Yay! It is a good thing the trails here are so great, it makes getting up to run so easy. (K3 257.3)

Oh man, this run totally kicked my butt! Yesterday I walked around Lübeck forever and saw some super cool stuff (like the Holstentor and some awesome churches and the Lübeck Rathaus). So, then I ran 2 hours pretty early this morning: an out-and-back that ended up going through 2 Ammersbecks, Hoisbuttel,Timmerhorn and all the way to the Kirche in Bargteheide. On the way back, with about 20 minutes to go, I was very done. The slightest uphills slowed me down lots and I am certain my eyes bore the 'look of death.' But, I conquered! And I actually ran back quite a bit faster than it took to run out. Champion. (K3 272.3)

This week, I say that I did pretty freaking awesome. I didn't do strength training, but there wasn't very much available... I did do some abs one evening, but these were minimal. Other than that though, my mileage was good, I got in all the pushes and my long run for the week. It was sweet. Also, I felt like most runs were in a very comforatable groove, so next week I will be kicking it up a notch hopefully. Unless Spela runs me into the ground with touring so many places! We will see.  

Easy 30 minutes on the trail with Žiga by Špela's house after another day of traveling. Hello Slovenia!! (K3 276)

88 minutes - to the track, then from there to a lake near Celje, then back to the track and back home. Not a bad run althogether, ran by some 60 year old guy who was running a titch slower than me and he showed me which trails to take. Felt pretty good until the last mile or so. (K3 287)

Ran to the track again, then warmed up with the distance team of Špela's club team. They were doing a minimal fartlek workout and I needed to do some longer pushes, so I headed out with one adventurous guy and did my 2x15:00 pushes @ 60, then 4x1:00 pushes @ 10, all with 2:00 walk/jog recovery. Felt ok, probably pushed a bit too much on the first couple pushes, as usual. Cooled down and was pretty dead by the time I got back home. Ugh. (K3 297.5)

Left at about 2 am from the train station, rode the train all "morning," then spent all day in Venice with Špela. It was pretty awesome and I am super exhausted! We left by train at about 10 pm and got back to Celje at around 3 am. It was a very long 24 hours, especially since the train was way overcrowded and sleeping was pretty minimal. Crazy stuff. And no, I didn't run. Hate me.

Easy run along the river on the trail by the house. I apparently suck at directions. I tried to do this loop but ended up going into a random field that dead-ended and I tried  to climb up a steep hill to escape, but it ended up going noplace useful. And, I was a genious and managed to touch some stinging nettle enroute. Whee. So little spots on my hand, leg and arm were burning the rest of the evening. I am a total idiot! They went away pretty fast, but it still wasn't enjoyable. (K3 305.5)

Two hours. I died. Partially, I think because I ran kinda late last night. So, I headed out on the river trail for 20 out-and-back, then ran to the lake and back. I felt ok until the turnaround at the lake - at 80 minutes. Yes, you can tell how long my body is used to running every day. It was not super horrible until about a half hour from home I felt super dehydrated and mostly wanted to die. Last week's long run was much much better. (K3 320.5)

Didn't do super well this week, due to my laziness on Monday and the all-day trip on Thursday. However, I feel like it was pretty good. This next week is my last of training on my own! I am planning on doing a very awesome job. And then the next week I am going to die from jetlag and busyness! Woo!

Out and back by the river, then the loop I'd attempted last week. Turned out to be 8k, not 12k. Ugh. So I went exploring to the other end of the river and toward Laško. Also did my 5x30s at 800 effort. Not great, not horrid, just an ok run with a bit of frustration due to having to extend. (K3 330.5)

Just a straight out-and-back on the river trail again. Once the trail goes single track - after about 2.5 miles, it gets really beautiful and I could've run out forever I think. Since it seemed to go on for a few more miles at least, I think I'll try it out for my long run this Saturday. And, best of all - no nettle incidents! (K3 340.5)

Whew. Hard workout today! Mostly was my fault though.... Headed out toward the lake via the track with a warmup of 20 minutes. Then I started on the workout: 20:00 @ 60, then 5x2:30 @ 30 with 2:00 walk/jog rec. Ended up running faster than the prescribed effort, but I felt good so I just wanted to throw down a sweet workout for my last week of solo training. Definitely wore me out, the cooling down sucked out the rest of my dwindling energy and I felt pretty wiped out the rest of the evening. (K3 352.5)

What a horrible run today! I was absolutely exhausted. It didn't help that I ran the crazy workout last night and I ran this morning too. I think I was dragging along at about 2 mph. I was going to run a bit farther, but I couldn't get it out of the legs. Ugh. And my legs really appreciated doing over 550 stairs to get to the Savica waterfall later that day. Yep. (K3 360.5)

Out to the lake again - last time for me. It is so beautiful, I couldn't resist! Stopped and waded in for a bit at the turnaround, then headed back home. Legs started off pretty tired out like yesterday, but felt pretty good by the end. Tomorrow's run is going to be awesome, I have decided. (K3 368.5)

Last long run before XC camp, done and done. My legs felt really fatigued and horrible for the first 30 minutes or so, then finally started to like me for the middle hour and were a bit tired out for the end. So, excepting the first hellish 3-4 miles, it was a pretty great run. And the trail by the river went on forever. It was great. And there were these carved logs that were crocodiles and fish and frogs and lizards. They were great too. I would've taken one home with me if they weren't 20 feet long. All in all, my last run in Europe was great! And so was Europe in general and now I am excited to go back to Logan and have an awesome semester and XC season! WOO! (K3 383.5)

Travel day. Flew for a total of 14 hours, and drove for 3, then went to xc meetings all night. Yuk. (K3 383.5)

Whew. Another tiring day. Slept hardly at all (yay jetlag, again) and woke up early with a sore throat! My favorite.

Met up with the team bright and early and we headed out to Willow Park for the annual time trial. We did it on ~2 mile loop, each lap we increased the pace. Started at GP 7:30/mi, but it was in actuality ~7:10/mi and we did that for the first two laps. Then we picked it up to GP 7:00/mi (actually ~6:50/mi) for the next lap. These first few laps, I felt pretty terrible. My legs felt fatigued and my throat was really raw.

As we started lap number 4, with 19 minutes left of the 60 minute time trial, coach gave us the ok to go as fast as we wanted. Jessie took off like she'd seen a pot of gold ahead and Kim made chase and I attempted to do something similar. I quickly realized that their pace was too much for me to take, so I made chase at a slightly more reasonable speed. A few minutes into this pace, I started feeling really good for the first time and kept pushing it (in hindsight, a bit too much) for the first 10 minutes or so. Then, my exhausted legs started doubting the 5:50/mi pace I'd been throwing down and pulled me back down to a really painful 6:10/mi pace as I prayed for the last 5 minutes to go by faster. Not so! That was possibly the longest 5 minutes of running I've ever done. But, I ended up running ~9 miles and came second to Jessie. It was hard, but fun in a strange way. I wish I'd chilled a bit for the first mile of the "fast as you want" section, but alas, it was still pretty great.

After a long day of unpacking, repacking and traveling, I tried to loosen up my legs with a shakeout at our lodge for camp at Altamont. = Failure. I felt really horrid, with a splitting headache, fatigued everyplace and muchos congestion.  (K3 395.5)

I don't remember how long this run was, I just remember that it was straight uphill near Moon Lake on the rockiest/sandiest thing I've ever seen called a trail. Ran with Hannah for the most part. (400.5)

Again, my memory fails ever-so-slightly. We did a morning workout at camp, still feeling pretty sick. Warmed up on the road and did 3x1 mile at 6:45? then 6:40? and 6:30? I think. Then we cooled down on the way back. I felt pretty horrid. Yay sick! (K3 408.5)

Easy run with the team in Logan. Still feeling sick, though not as bad as Wednesday and Thursday. Did an out-and-back on the canal trail out toward Hyde Park. Buddied up with Steph for the second half. (K3 414)

Long run up Logan Canyon on my own, 100 minutes. Took the river trail and up the single track, then I took a right fork in the trail up and over and it looked like it headed around to connect to the Crimson Trail. I'd like to do some more exploring there! Felt better than I have in few days. Still, not great. (K3 426)

Coach excitedly told us on Friday that this workout was "designed to take us to failure," so I'd planned on an all-out, nearly-pee-your-pants kind of a workout akin to this or this. So, I was actually pleasantly surprised by this one. Warmed up for 20 minutes with the team, then did 9x1k @GP 3:52 (6:08/mi) with 75s rest between. Times ranged from 3:48 to 3:54, mostly right on though. Felt really good for the first 4-5, then had to push for the last ones, the trainers and the huge puddles did make for a tougher workout. Still, I had some juice left after and just chilled with Kim on our 15 minute cooldown. No biggie. :) (K3 436)

Lots of drills with the team before an easy run with Hannah around on the temple/Canyon loop. Stopped by the ATM in the TSC to get dollars to pay for the package as we finished. (K3 442)

Ran our workout at the AWHC today. Warmed up for 15 minutes, then did a pyramid workout of 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1 minute pushes with equal jog recovery. On the first of the 4's my left hamstring pulled a bit and hurt, so I jogged between and started the next one hoping it would feel better. No such luck. So I decided to stop the workout then just to be safe. (K3 447.5)

Lotsa drills again, then super easy 80 minute run with Kaylee up Green Canyon. Legs felt pretty fatigued by the end of the run. (K3 457)

Easy run at the "farm" with the team. 36 minutes total with a 5:00 push at 60 in the middle. Legs feeling tired. (K3 461.5)

Ok race today, started off with the team, tried to stick together at 6:10 for the first 1.5, that failed. We did more like 5:55's. Felt heavy and fatigued for the most part. And we got creamed by BYU and Weber, woo hoo. Cooled down with Hannah. 

Later, I did an easy 4 miles. 'Twas freaky hot. 

Great long run today! Went out on the 25N loop to start off, then finished up with an extended Providence loop. The first 100 minutes were awesome, just cruised along at ~7:50-8:00/mi, then the last 15-20 minutes were tougher as I worked back up to 7E from Main. Still, it pretty awesome altogether. (K3 475) 

Drills with the team, then a solo 60 minutes on 8E into Hyde Park and back the time-trial way. Had to add on 4 minutes or so at the end though. Drills were pretty tough, but the run felt good. (K3 482.5)

Another 9x1000m workout w/75s recovery and GP at 3:45 this time! This time we did it on the Golf Course trail, which was great except for the bridge we had to abruptly change directions to enter and exit mid-repeat. Still, it was a great workout again! We nailed all of them, the slowest we had was a 3:46 and our last two were 3:43. Awesome workout today. (K3 492)

Drizzly morning run with Kaylee. Ran the temple/crockett/canyon loop with an extension up the canyon to get to 60 minutes for the run. Just chilled pace wise and got rained on pretty thoroughly for part of it. 

At practice, we did drills in the Fieldhouse. (K3 499.5) 

Champion of this workout!!! Warmed up with Alicia for about 20 minutes, then started on our tempo loop. 3.7 miles out like the time trial course, then up 23N up to 16E and back down 15N to the Laub. GP was 6:10/mi pace. First mile was 6:14, then finished at 23:17. Averaged ~6:15/mi total. Pretty good considering the uphill of 23N. After the tempo, strapped on the spikes and did 400, 600, 800 and 1000 at GP 88s/400m. Nailed all of them at 84s/400m or faster. Felt so great! Gotta love days like this. Forgot to cool down in my excitement and my hurry to get to class! (K3 505)

Nice morning long run in St. George! Just headed out into Washington Fields toward Washington Elementary the long way, then back. Had to add at the end as I was 4 minutes faster on the way back. Felt a little tired from yesterday, but still pretty decent. (K3 517)

Grass repeats at the Middle School. Pretty warm out today. Started with a 25 minute warmup with the team, then 2 sets of 5x400m @GP 90s with 200m in 52s to recover. We were really bad at hitting our recovery time. Mostly went under. Times for the 400s were~: 93, 88, 90, 90, 89. Then 90, 89, 88, 86, ?(watch malfunction). Legs felt really heavy throughout the workout, even though we did it in spikes. Kind of a lame day for me. Also, calves didn't like all the skipping we'd done right before the workout. Cooled down 12 minutes back to the track and called it quits for the day. (K3 522) 

Recovery run from the Hut up to the park canal and along until 15th north, then up to the BST until Green Canyon and up in the nature park to 35:00, then back the same way.

Drills with the team after school. Quads/hams and arms were pretty tired from all the squats and pushups. Calves feeling sore from yesterday I think. (K3 530.5)

Warmed up on the time trial course with 30:00 @GP 7:20-7:40 with the team to start off, we hit something closer to 7:05's, but it felt pretty relaxed. Then I put some spikes on for the 9x400's @GP 80-82s w/90s rest between. Times were: 81, 79, 80, 80, 79, 80, 78, 79, 79. Felt kinda ambivalent about these. My calves and hamstrings were really tight and tired throughout, but aerobically I felt great for the most part. On the last 3 or so I started to feel more fatigued, but still nothing too significant. Cooled down 1.75 on the big grass loop, by the end the legs were dead and the foot hated me. (K3 536.5)

Easy morning run with Kaylee. Headed out toward Green Canyon and back. Took it pretty easy, the calves are pretty sore from yesterday. (K3 543.5)

Easy 42 minutes, from the hotel to the course for tomorrow's race, then did the entirety of the race course at a comfortable but fast-ish pace. It was ridiculously chilly, blustery and damp out. Ick. (K3 549)

This race was a strange one, but all's well that ends well, so 'twas good I guess. At the get-go, I felt really great for about a quarter mile, then the hills started wearing on me and I felt pretty tired already, especially in the calves. I hit the first mile in ~5:50 and I kept thinking to myself, oops. But, i thought, just work this next mile you can do it! About a third into this mile, I felt absolutely drained. I got the glazed-over death face and felt I was doomed to survival shuffle the last mile. My second mile split was ~6:10. Ick. About 100 meters after the two-mile mark, I suddenly felt really great! I started to pick up the pace and started to pick off girls ahead of me, just cruising along. As I came to the final straightaway (which is horrible and filled with little roller hills) some coach yelled that the Weber girl ahead of me was in 10th (though it turned out she was 11th, I was sad to not get prizes), so I went HBL to catch her, even with all the nasty hills. I got her, then just tried to keep my spot to finish and was pretty exhausted as I stumbled through the chute. Overall, I think I had a pretty good effort in this race, although the smartness factor was a bit down (aka, my splits were pathetic). Also, I have no idea how I suddenly got so much energy with one mile to go, but I don't mind at all! (X 3)

After the race, I cooled down for a total of about 40 minutes, around the golf course, back to the hotel and around the hotel for a few more. (K3 356) 

90 minute run with 30 min @60 with the team out on the river trail. First half hour felt pretty horrid, then felt really good for the next bit of the "slow" portion (though I rolled my right ankle pretty thoroughly at one point), then felt pretty awesome for the first 25 minutes of our push. Last 5 minutes of the push, I was feeling pretty spent. Jumped in first dam once the push was over - 'twas freezing. And I gave myself a pretty huge goose egg on my right shin while getting out, ouch. Finished up with a slow jog back to the track with Kim. (K3 579.5)

Easy 62 minute run on the short Providence loop. Awesome temps. Felt pretty ok for most of it with just a little tightness throughout from yesterday's run. By the end though, I was starting to feel kinda pukey and tired. (K3 579.5)

9x1000s on the planet walk at GP 3:41-2. Felt really stinking crappy. Times were ~ 3:38, 3:38, 3:41, 3:41, 3:42, 3:42, 3:38, 3:42, 3:45. We weren't allowed to look at any of our intermediate splits during the workout today, so that's why the times are so sporadic. Whee!

Drills w/Gensel, then an easy run out on TT/8N loop with Hannah. Legs pretty fatigued and arm hurt from the flu shot. But it was perfect weather out and ended up being a mostly relaxing run.

Hills at Stewart Nature Park. Warmup was ok, but the stomach was horrible, upheavals and downheavals felt imminent for the entirety of the workout. 200m hillx8 - 52, 56, 57, 58, 59, 59, 61, 60. 100m hillx4 - 29, 28, 27, 25. Ran back with Hannah and barely made it, my guts were churning so horribly. Ugh.

Got to bed late again, so I slept in and didn't get my run done in the morning. Spent all day in Orem, when I finally got back to Logan, it was 10pm and I did 80 minutes on an extended Providence loop. Felt pretty good though. Random muscles are sore from the hills, but not too bad.

30 minute warmup, then grass repeats at Lundstrom park. 400, 1200, 600, 800, 1000, 800, 400 @ GP 88/400m w/equal rest between. Times were: 92, 4:17(80, 89, 88), 2:11, 2:56(85,91), 3:38, 2:54(87,87), 81. Calves felt like they had no gumption. Other than that I felt ok today. Nothing horrible, nothing spectacular. Cooled down 24 minutes with Kaylee.

Green Canyon, great temps, legs a bit fatigued from yesterday, and some weird leg twinges, but overall a good run this morning. Some tough drills in the PM with the team.

20 wu, 3000m of 300/200s @GP 88, then 15 cd. Nice and chill, though I was a bit tired out today. Felt a bit tight from yesterday's pushups and squats.

Such a great run! After traveling to Chicago, we ran as a team around a park in the city for a total of 40 minutes. I have no idea why or how, but my legs just felt so great, I just wanted to run fast forever.

18 minute warmup, race (see report) then lots of cooling down - first cheering on the boys, then on the search for my lost phone!

All in all, a good race today. I felt like my first two miles were really solid, but my last mile, I failed mentally. Overall, I think it was a quality race, but there are things I know I can improve upon - my finish, my attitude and the evenness of my splits. Still, 23 seconds faster than my freshman year on this course - so I am finally improving!! That feels the best of all.  

Felt pretty good for the first half of our freaking early 90-minute morning run in South Bend, but I think I should've chilled more at the start. The last half hour I was really tired out and my legs are really stiff and sore - esp. the hamstrings and calves.

My coach has started forcing us to use a Flotrackr blog, so I do run everyday, whether or not I update my runs on this one quite so regularly. 

Warmed up an easy 18 minutes to and around Lundstrom Park for grass repeats. To finish the warmup, we did 2 laps of strides on our 400m loop. The workout was 3x(800,600,400) @ per 400m GP (85,83,81),(83,81,79),(81,79,77) w/run time=rest time, and 4:30 between sets, then 4x200m @ GP 35-38s w/40s jog,1:20 walk between. Pretty quick and tough. Times were(as far as I recall) 2:51, 2:04, 1:21; 2:45, 2:02, 1:20; 2:42, 1:58, 1:15; 38, 36, 35, 35. My legs felt pretty tired for most of the workout, but I felt really mentally strong the whole time and I pushed myself a lot. Cooled down 28 minutes with Alex. Tonight, after the workout, I am feeling really tired and stiff already. Still, I felt like I was a champion at today's workout - totally worth it. 

Ran in-between laundry stuff this morning. 8 min, 16 min, 24 min and 12 min, all within an hour and a half. In the afternoon, we did lotsa drills, then I did an easy 24 minutes with Hannah, Lexie and Amy. Running wasn't too bad, but my body feels sore all over. Even random things like my neck and back and triceps.

It is weird how this week I have felt super sore every day but somehow I've managed to have some pretty sweet workouts. I'm not a huge fan of the soreness, but I'd take another couple weeks like this one just for how well all the speed workouts have been going! Today, we did a 15 minute warmup, then a 4 mile tempo on the TT course at GP 6:15/mi. On the way out, we stuck together really well and hit 6:09 and 6:08 for our miles. On the way back, we were together for most of the first mile (6:09), then Kim and I picked it up and hit a 6:01 for the last mile. It felt tough, but a few minutes after we'd finished I wanted to do more. Weird. After, we ran 4x30sec pushes up the 1200E hill. Again, it was tough, but I just wanted to do more! Cooled down for 17 minutes with Jake. After the cool down, I didn't want to do anymore, though. :)

Easy 60 minutes up Green Canyon on my own this morning. Drills at practice, then 20 more minutes with Julia and Hannah.

Hill workout! Eew. Warmed up for a half hour to the Stewart Nature Park, then we did 8xfullhill @ GP 60 w/90s rec then 4xhalfhill @ all out w/75s rec. Lots better than last time. Times were: 55, 56, 57, 57, 57, 57 56, 56; 28, 27, 27, 25. Hard, but a lot more do-able today. Possibly because my belly was hating me less. And because this week is the coolest. Then we cooled down for 24 minutes. Whee! Running!

First thing in the morning, we ran with the Red Ribbon Run 5k, super easy but fun to cheer everybody on while running with them.

Later, I had a great run with Vanessa. We went  out and back in Green Canyon. Tough going on the way out - it hurt to push up the canyon, but we were flying on the way back! Took us almost 10 minutes less back than it did out - so I had to do 5 minutes extra when we got back to the mouth of the canyon. Foot was bugging me more than usual today.

30 minute warmup on the canal trail, then we got down to business - 8x400m on the track @GP 76s (and not under 72) w/90s rest between. We pretty thoroughly nailed this workout. Times were 74, 74, 75, 74, 73, 71, 72, 72. I thought they would be a whole lot harder than they were, so it was nice to have them go by so smoothly! The last few were tough, but that probably had something to do with the fact that we pushed them muchly. Cooled down 15 minutes TT after.

Nice recovery run up Green Canyon with Hannah after drills this afternoon. Weather was perfect. Calves, hams and glutes are pretty sore after yesterday's 400's.

Drove up to the River trail with the team, then we did a fifty minute run with 6x90s pushes @60effort (or so), then 3x20s strides. Cool up in the canyon, beautiful run.

Surprisingly tired for today's run. Got up earlier to do my 40 minutes and just felt pretty blah for the most part.

Ran with the team at the Pre-nats course. Started off kinda stiff from all the travel yesterday, but ended up feeling pretty great by the time we did our 5 minute push. Picked out some good spots to push tomorrow and got the course figured out. Cool beans.

Goals for tomorrow:

-go out at around 5:40, with Jessie

-push the downs, keep consistent on the ups

-at 1k to go, start to pick it up

-on the last curve and straight, kick until the end

Warmed up 15 minutes with the team - too early - then got ready for the race.

Race times!! Took off too fast with the pack (3:19 at 1k and 5:29 at 1m) and was feeling pretty tired already by then. Attempted to keep up the pace, but ended up with a 5:52 on my second mile. By this time I was feeling really hot, dead and wanted to be done. But, I kept focusing on my race goals and stayed consistent on the long uphill, then pushed the little downhill onto the curvy part of the course. I'd pushed so much previous that I was pretty sure I couldn't keep it up for the rest of the race, but I just decided to push until I totally died. Turns out it was a good strategy! Third mile was a bit slower, but still sub 6! 5:58-ish, and heard a coach yell that the girl right in front of me was in 100th place. Excited, with 1k to go, I stuck with my plan and started my slow acceleration to the finish, and started passing lots of girls! As I kicked on the longest straightaway EVER, I was pretty sure that I was going to run out of gas. But I made it and got an awesome PR and place - I improved my finish from 2 years ago by 54 seconds and 96 places! 6k PR by  42 seconds too! So sweet! 

Cooled down for 18 minutes cheering on the guys and running on the course.

Ugh. Felt ok for about 10 minutes, then legs were super heavy and thrashed for the rest of the run. I think Hannah was bodily dragging me for some of it. Not a good one.

Wow. Today's workout was crazy stuff! 15 minute jog and 2 laps of strides to warm up. Unfortunately, in my guts there were hatred and downheavals. We did 1000m repeats on the track (in flat spikes). They were 9x1000m @ GP 3:38 (w/Jessie, we chased 5s back from Hannah, Alicia and Alex) with 80s rest recovery between. They ended up so fast - 3:36, 3:38, 3:37, 3:36, 3:36, 3:36, 3:36, 3:33, 3:28!! We kept them pretty consistent, though the last two went a bit crazy. Overall, a really solid workout, even with stomach anger. Legs are going to be sore from this one!

First off, here's a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Trev and PVXC for their domination at state today! Totally sweet. You guys rock!

Planned my time a little badly today, so I ended up going running at 9:30 tonight. I'd forgotten how much I love night running! It was so beautiful out and I just enjoyed the peaceful evening and a relaxing run out in Providence. Hopefully I won't be too tired out for tomorrow's workout.

Ok workout today. Ran the long way to the SNP hill, with what ended up being a 7 minute push (from the water lab to Crockett). Then we did 4xfull and 2xhalf hills. 53, 55, 54, 54 on the long one and 27, 26 on the short ones. Felt pretty hard, possibly due to the fact that I'm not fully recovered from Tuesday. Still, not horrible. Ran back the short way. Realized today that at Pre-Nats PR-ed for the first time in over a year! So awesome!

Did the a short loop, then drills with the team. The girls accidentally left without me, so I ran with Jake and Kyle up the canyon a bit. 'Twas a bit quicker than usual, but still a good run overall.

Not the greatest morning for me, to say the least. I managed to not bite anyone's face off (for the most part), and the run was ok overall. The first half felt fine, but by the end all the stops and random stuff made me really stiff and bleh.

Tempo run out on the TT route, out 25 minute at 8 minute pace, then back at 7:00 pace until the firestation, where we picked it up to 6-6:15 pace. In actuality, we did 6:50, 7:10 and 5:45 for the miles back. Oh well, it didn't feel too horrible. After, we ran 2 laps of strides and cooled down for 10 minutes. Easy peasy.

Drills in the Laub, then an easy 40 minutes with the team. Comfy and good, minus the snow.

Ick. Today my body hated me and the workout wasn't even hard! Just 1,2,3,3,2,1 minute pushes @50 with equal jog recovery between, then 2 laps of strides. My body hates tapering and I hate it.

Ok run today, just did the temple-canal loop. First 30 minutes I felt tired and icky, but the last 10 minutes I started feeling better. Travel today!

Ran on the course this afternoon, it is so cool! It's super muddy and twisty and in the woods and it is going to be an awesome adventure. I am wearing half inchers in my spikes!!! So hardcore.

Goals for tomorrow: Top 3 Individual, Win as a team, sub 18;00, Stay positive, Keep consistent on the first big lap, Push the last kilometer, Kick from the crest of the last hill.

Overall, today was a good day, I guess. We beat out NM and took 2nd as a team and I did pretty well individually. I was hoping to do a bit better, but still, the race went a lot better than it could've. First off, it was really cold and gusty and wet. I raced in long sleeves for the first time ever, and so did some northern Utah natives on the team - it was THAT cold. Ick. Ended up using 3/8" spikes since the ground froze a bit overnight. For background - the course was 4 laps, two times on a small 500m loop by the start/finish, then 2 bigger 2k loops that were hillier and out in the woods. Anyway, here's the race rundown:

Started off pretty badly. The starter was a little ADD and shot the gun out of nowhere, so I started a half second after everyone else, which took a lot of elbows and crowd weaving to get even close to the position I had planned on starting in. Our team was set up pretty well by the end of the first little loop, so I started trying to make up more ground on the leaders. That didn't work so well, so I decided to settle into a good fast rhythm and catch them later on. As we crested the first uphill of the long loop, I was pretty demoralized. The hill took a lot more out of me than I'd expected and I hadn't caught anyone. Finishing the first of the 2k loops, I finally got mentally stronger, started to pick up speed and pick off some competitors. The hills still ruined my rhythm to a large extent, but on the downhill after the 4k mark, I started picking it up and passed a few more girls. On the final uphills, I stayed in position and made up a tiny bit of ground on the two Idaho girls ahead of me. As I kicked for the finish, so did the Idahoans and I was about ready to not go for them. But I got a surge or adrenaline and managed to catch one of them at the line! Yay!

 So, after the ramblings, I guess the race had good parts and crappy parts, but I ran a pretty smart race considering my horrible start and pathetic 2nd mile. Next year though.... I will seriously kick some NM twins' butts. Also, I still have Regionals to surprise them with the awesome.