Sock tans

Tried to switch things up a bit. Went to Liberty and thought I'd try to run a faster mile. It didn't really work, at that effort I was at least expecting a 5:45 but got 6:03. Finished my run to 9.

Decided to switch to new shoes today. They feel great! We went up to park city on the trail by the stores. Bill gave us a lecture on positive thinking, I think it was mostly directed towards me but I needed it :) A positive attitude works wonders.

15 miles via Wasatch. I felt very run down and exhausted even by the 6 mile. It felt really long, but on the upside my legs feel tired. The good tired. On the radio they said that the weather is gonna be beautiful, especially as the inversion sets in. I laughed a little. Nice positive attitude guys!

Flagpole to Flagpole run, once we got to Presidents circle we zig-zagged up to the U track and did two laps, then up to 11th Avenue and a little past the fire station, then Shriners run back to the school. I felt so much better than I did on Saturday. It was relaxed at 7:58 average. Did my core (except instead of 3 sets of 20 push-ups like Bill wanted I shortened it to 3 sets of 15. At least I can do real push-ups now. But I did the rest right!)

Ran to Sugarhouse, workout was 6x800s. Each started with a downhill and ended uphill, going on the road from the top of Poker hill and ending at the top of the first hill at State. Then .25 recovery and back to the "finish" which was now the start and the next 800 was the opposite direction. My quads are kind of sore so the pounding on the downhill hurt a lot. I worked the flat and especially the uphills, effort wise it was a good workout. Times went 3:01, 2:58, 3:02, 3:00, 3:01, 2:57. Felt like I was gonna puke after the third one but worked through it. Maybe I shouldn't have had those barbecue chicken sandwiches for lunch, but why turn them down? Maybe I need to start watching what I'm eating. Now that I think of it I've had a lot of junk lately! Did my core!

I am SO. SORE. Like I could barely walk up and down the stairs at school without wincing. Oddly it's mostly my right quad, my left is still sore but doesn't hurt nearly as bad as my right. Ran down to Fairmont and did 10 strides, then to Liberty and did laps on the grass and back up 900 S. to the school. Then added to 11. It was relaxed, 7:57 average.

Ran to the school, then for the run we went to South Temple and down to T street, then Avenues run (stride up the hill to the next Avenue, turn left and recover down to the next street and zig zag up to 11th Avenue. Hills get steeper as you go.) Worked hard on those. Then we went up the hill to JCC and up the hill on the trail above JCC, took Legacy bridge way back to the school. Added to 12. I didn't realize how bad the inversion was until we got above it, you wouldn't know there are mountains across the valley cause they are completely covered by the polluted air. Gross. 

Ran to the track and did two laps then a mile speed changes, two laps then finished four more miles back to the school. First Track meet tomorrow!

Before we left for Utah State we did a 2 mile shakeout on VA Loop. Warmed up 2 miles with a few pick ups. Almost missed my race! So I didn't get to stretch like I wanted but oh well. Legs were a little tight to begin with. Race started quick, 800 was 2:35ish, felt fast but not like I was dying. I like died the last 400, should have worked it but I mentally crashed. It went by so fast. Time was 5:28. Half of the race I wasn't even thinking about what I was doing, I just sort of went out and ran it. Then when it got to the 5th and 6th laps I started to hurt and didn't want to. It's frustrating for me because I know I have to hurt. But for a first meet I'm happy with it, I know it's gonna be my slowest mile time of the year because I'm gonna keep improving. I'm going sub-5:20 at BYU in two weeks. Maybe even PR there!

After cheering on everyone else we went for a cool down, 2.25 miles. Then hung out and a while later warmed up a mile for the 3200. My knee had bothered me a bit in the mile and on the warmup so Bill massaged it. Then two strides. Ran in flats to make it easier on my legs. Bill had said to separate from the others fast so I did that. Ran a 79 first 400. First mile was 5:47. Then I knew I had a good gap and could back off a lot and still win. So that's kind of what I did. It was kind of a lonely 2 mile. I could have sworn I lapped everyone but somehow second place was 7 seconds behind me... Oh well. Time was like 12:20. Ha. That'll be my slowest of the year too. I'm not ever going above 12 in the 3200 again this year.

Cooled down a mile inside then went out with everyone for 2.25. Afterward we went to Maddox where we set the record for the most rolls eaten. The waiter said no one had made it past the 4th bowl. Challenge accepted! Most of the credit goes to Garek and Jakob, I'm impressed. Also congrats to Garek for 2nd in the 1600 and 1st in 3200.

2015 is gonna be a great year, I can feel it!

Well that was fun! Started out as a light rain, then turned into a light snow, then heavy snow, then HUGE snowflakes and it was really coming down, then finished with a light snow again. Ran to the school, then up Emigration canyon 6 miles and back. Added to 14. When it got really miserable I sort of just stopped thinking and sloshed along. 8:00 Average. Did my core.

Went to the oval today. Warmed up 8 laps, 4 laps speed changes then changed shoes. Then long way to the 1000 start. Workout was 5x1000s, almost 2 laps recovery between each. Times were 3:28, 3:29, 3:31, 3:36, 3:36. I was trying to hit 3:32-3:37 so it was a good workout. By the end my calves hurt and my legs were so heavy, I have to get used to working through heavy legs. One of Bill's friends happened to be there and he said I stayed relaxed throughout the workout so I think that's good. Cooled down to 12 and did my core when I got home.

Ran to the school, then we went up to Foothill and took it to the cemetery, then a lap and five hills, a lap and five more hills, then finished the lap and back the way we came. Added to 12. My knee started killing coming along Foothill the first time, it was weird cause it was my right knee instead of the left (which is the one I have had problems with). When we got to the bottom of the hill in the cemetery Bill massaged it and man it hurt but quickly felt much better. So just a tight muscle like my left knee. Focused on form on the hill strides, I guess I really swing my right elbow out. It felt weird bringing it back close to my side, took a lot of focus actually. Legs were beat coming down 900 S at the end. I'm going to bed early tonight.

Ran to Sugarhouse, to the tree by Highland (we all know which tree- THE tree. Haha so specific) and started our fartlek. 20 x 1 on / 1 off. My legs were tired today. Averaged 7:29 for 5.51 so not as good as I would have liked but I guess for how I was feeling it was okay. I felt like my ons were somewhat fast, I'd guess 6:30-6:40 pace then offs around 8:20-30. I did recover quickly breathing wise, I'd have like 30 seconds left when I was ready to go. I guess I could have pushed a little on the offs when I was feeling recovered to try to get back to Bill but eh. Ran back to East and added to 11. On the cool down my left knee hurt. Rolled out and did my core, maybe I'll ice later.

Ran to the school, then we went up to the zoo and along Wasatch to Thunderbird, to the fountain on foothill and along Foothill to 1300 S, down to 1900 E and over to 900 S back to the school. Added to 11. I was in the lazy-and-dont-want-to-run mood (AKA my nap was delightful and I hated waking up from it) until we got to the zoo then the run was actually quite enjoyable. Did my core. Looks like I'm doing the polar plunge tomorrow... Brrr.

We got very little warmup, maybe a mile. Then like .25 we figured for strides after waiting forever for them to open the gate... We ended up jumping the fence while everyone else waited. I think that's how I cut myself...

Well the race spread out pretty fast, I was definitely not warmed up enough. The first mile practically was the warm up. Once Bill gapped me it pretty much stayed the same until the turn onto the trail. That turn was so sharp, it kind of annoyed me. But what can you do. Mile was 6:10 on my garmin (where they had the mile marked it was totally wrong.) Once on the trail there were lots of turns, I was pretty much alone at this part. One guy came up around the two mile and I stayed with for a bit, then he passed me. Two mile was 12:47 (6:37). Finally the 3 mile came, was a little disheartened when I saw it was over 19. Down to the finish my garmin said I finished at 5:31 pace...yay. Now because my garmin is very unreliable when it comes to the hundredths of a mile my splits could very well be faster, my garmin read 3.04 when Michelle's read 3.1 (we ran the course as a cool down to get a second reading and both got the same thing.) regardless, my overall time should be correct.

Overall I pushed myself and that's really all that mattered. This took the place of our tempo run. Cooled down until I hit 10 for the day. Afterwards, we did the polar plunge! Definitely a one time thing. They cut a hole in the ice at Utah lake, inserted a shark tank so that it's safe, and we jumped in and froze.

Drove up to Cedar City today and went for a run with Angie and another recruit. Calves were really tight, 7:31 average. The girls on the team are really fun and super nice!  

Late night practice when I got home (Bill is awesome like that- he arranges practice so I can make it) out at the oval. 8 laps warmup, 4 laps speed changes then changed shoes, another lap and to the mile start. Workout was a mile (not 1600), then 3 sets of 4x300s with recovery back to the start between each, a lap between sets. I was supposed to hit 5:40 for the mile but hit 5:44, then 60s for the 300s and hit 1)  60, 60, 60, 61. 2) 62, 61, 57, 59. 3) 57, 56, 58, 58. I sort of ate muddy buddies in the car, maybe not the best thing to eat before a workout. Really made me sick, on literally every repeat I felt I was gonna puke. I hate puking so I was holding back a bit, mentally I think it was getting to me the second set, then Bill made a comment about needing to hit these to break 5:20 on Saturday and I decided I didn't care if I puked anymore. I'm kinda surprised I got myself to turn things around but happy about it. And bonus- I never did puke. Cooled down to 12. Did core at home.

Ran to the school, then did Shriners run and down to city creek , following the road up past the Capitol building. Then went to Victory Road and down it, then along some other road to South Temple, then up a bit until we missed a light so we went through Temple Square and zig zagged a bit downtown and eventually got to Liberty, going up 900 S and added in the teacher parking lot to 15. I had never run down Victory road before or past the Capitol, and I've never run through temple square before. Kind of fun to run right by the temple though! 2 hours 9 seconds for the run, 8:01 average pace. Did my core.

Ran to Sugarhouse, did strides at the start of State, then did cemetery run with a lap in the cemetery, but kept going up to a coffee shop when we exited the cemetery so I could stop for a quick bathroom break. We ended up getting bagels too :) I can say I know how to multi task, running and eating a bagel at the same time! But that bagel was good and satisfied my hunger. Then took that road a while until we got to the bridge part and went down and up the hill, getting to 2100 S and going down to 1900 E, taking it to Harrison and to 1700 E making me want to go home. Then took 1700 E over to 900 S and back to the school, adding to 13. Did my core.

Ran to the school then we did VA loop + Cemetery run with 2 laps and back to East, adding a bit. 

When we got there we warmed up on the track for 7 laps, then did strides and such while waiting for my heat (7/7). I felt like I ate a bit too much, I have a hard time judging how much I really need to eat before a race/workout. We were in the bullpen for forever, I was able to do a few strides but even then they made us wait for like 5 minutes while the heat before us ran. Annoying. Another annoying thing: they made the faster people go on the back row. It actually worked to my advantage on the mile, but I was annoyed for people like Garek. I went out at 5:00 pace the first lap, slowed down to a 2:40 at the 800. I was with Mary at this point I think, I don't remember when but I passed her. Then she passed me back and so did a few other girls and I think mentally it got to me. I should have stayed up there, as soon as I was alone it was so much worse. Ended up with 5:37 (full mile), not happy with that. But you know I just said "okay that was awful but now I'm gonna focus on the 800." Went on a 2 mile cool down then later a 2 mile cool down with the team.

Can't remember how much warmup I did for the 800, but I did tons of strides cause they made us wait forever at the line again, but at least this time I had a straightaway I could stride on. I was on the back line. I had to remind myself this was an 800 not a mile. I forgot how fast it actually is. With like 300 left my arms were burning and I think I backed off a bit, I should have stuck with it. The last 100 I should have kicked it in more too and I let up a bit at the line like Bill has always said not to do. So those are things to work on. Was 10th overall with 2:28, was hoping to PR but for it being my first 800 of the year it was alright.

Did 1.5 cool down with Tresa and 2 with the boys, got back and took my time, went to the bathroom, then went back to our stuff and they called boys 2 mile. I froze for a minute, thinking I missed my race. I didn't but I missed the seeding. That was a panicked 5 minutes. Got it all sorted out and I shoved my spikes on and slapped my stickers on. I joined the girls just as they walked onto the track.

Was towards the back of the pack to begin with, but picked girls off the first 2 laps. Aubrey took the lead and had a good gap on us, Sam Hedquist was in second. I worked my way up to her and followed right behind for a bit, then decided I felt good and thought what the heck? So I passed her. Later Bill said that was a really good move because some other girl was coming up from behind and would have boxed me in. I stayed in second until 800 to go. Then it felt like everyone passed me. If I would have stayed in control I would have had a much better race. I need to get myself to be ready at all times to match. I did match well when Sam tried to pass me back a few times but it was like with 800 left I no longer had the Umph. Some freshman tried to pass on the inside the last straight, I went to the line so she couldn't but she went inside the line and still passed. I think I freaked her out a bit when I told her that was cheating, she went out to lane 3. I should have beat her but I wasn't pushing it in my hardest again. I was annoyed that the officials didn't catch her, but oh well she beat me fair and square. 11:55 for the full 2 miles, 7th overall. Was hoping for closer to 11:40 but I guess the 3200 would be closer to 11:50 so I wasn't that far off, and huge improvement from 2 weeks ago. And for coming pretty close to dreading the 2 mile after the 800 I'd say it was pretty good.

Cooled down 2 miles then felt nice so I went with Garek to finish to 3.25 (same with Bill and Diwas.) yay for being 6.25 miles over what was planned for this week :)

Double core and a small walk with my family, beautiful weather today!

AM:

3 out on Shriners run and back. I wanted to get 8 in but it was a struggle to wake up. I forgot how much I love morning runs, the only thing about them is it's dark until 7 right now (the sun rises at 7:45, or so google says) and waking up early is not easy for me. But I want to start up the morning runs again, I just need to find a buddy. 7:57 average.

PM:

Hurried home and did VA loop, 4 miles. 7:15 average. First mile was slow (8:22) but the next 3 were fast (6:40, 6:58, 6:57.) Felt good.

Workout at the oval, 8 laps warmup and 4 laps speed changes. It was odd not having the boys there, but it was alright. Workout was originally 4x800s but I didn't hit my time on the third one. I finished the 4th and thought I was done but Bill made me do another one. I got mad and took it out fast. Yay. No I was actually glad he made me do another one even though I was mad about it at the time. Coach just wants whats best for me. I was supposed to hit 2:45-2:50, I hit 2:45, 2:46, 2:57 (yikes), 2:49, 2:47. I was tired.

On another note, went to UVU for an official visit. Now I'm stressed cause I really don't know how I'm gonna decide where I go. I was pleasantly surprised with UVU. I can really only compare it to SUU and I liked both. I'm gonna weigh out the pros and cons and perhaps go on more visits. Maybe then I'll have a better idea or another one will stick out more.

Good run, we went up to foothill and over by the freeway and took the trail over to Tanner Park, then went to Sugarhouse and along 1300 S to East. Mile splits were 9:17, 8:20, 8:03, 8:01, 7:34, 7:47, 7:24, 7:22, 7:09, 7:14, 7:30. So 7:48 average. I'll do core later. Knee was aggravated on all the uphills, felt fine on downhills. If I drove my knee up it wouldn't hurt, but going up the small hill on 13th no matter how I stepped it hurt. I'll also roll that out later.

Ran a mile towards the school then Olivia drove by so I got a ride for the next half mile :) we went Shriners run for 4 miles and turned back. 7:49 average for the part with the group, I sorta had to reset my garmin cause the memory was full. Bill took a look at my knee and massaged it, it's a little inflamed and there's a nice little knot. It warmed up after drills, it had hurt the mile to the school.

We got to the oval and I was worried I wouldn't have enough warm up but I was fine. I got in 3 or 4 laps, not sure. I did a lot of strides and jogged on the curve for a bit while we waited for the timers to be ready. Calling it 1.5. Finally they started the first heat. I was in the second, kind of glad I was.

I had a crappy start, I was literally in the worst spot all the way out in lane 4 and on the back row. So I was in lanes 2 and 3 the whole first lap. I slowly made my way up, I was at the back of the pack coming through the 400. It was a 76. So a bit quick, but I liked it. Then made my way up to like 5th, we were all right there. Coming through the 800 it was a 2:37, all I heard was Bill yell "perfect." Then I really started to get pumped, I knew I was gonna get a good time. And I felt good. Mary made a move at one point, I saw her and did not want to let her go. I felt like the group was slowing down too, so I swung out to lane 3. That was actually kind of hard to do, I had to slip through the tiny gap between girls. Once I got out I took the lead, and I thought "Well, I'm just gonna go for it." I had a gap on everyone with 400 to go, by now I was starting to lose steam. 100 meters left the first girl caught up and passed me. Then the next. Probably 5 girls out kicked me in the last 100. I wasn't giving it my all, kind of embarrassing but I was trying to focus on not peeing my pants (I sort of had 2 waterbottles full of water during my last period and 3 before that in my earlier classes). So yeah I guess I "gave up." Man.

Overall I'm happy with it, I was hoping to PR but it's still improvement and the best I have done in indoor. And it's still early, and I was only 1.5 seconds off. I think I could have worked a little harder the last 200 meters, I started to back off around there. I kind of feel like I made a fool of myself cause I had a good gap and got caught. But it felt good to be in front. Did about 2.5 cool down.

In the morning I ran the winter series SLC Track club 5k out at Saltaire. It was really windy, so coming back absolutely sucked. I probably could have worked the last mile a little harder but gave a good effort. Used it as tempo. 20:15, 6:32 average. I think everyone's times were slow because of the wind. 3 miles warmup and 4 miles cool down. 

Then realized I had to do 10 more miles! So I went over to the oval and hopped into the 3200 last minute. 4 miles warmup and half mile of strides. By then I was getting tired and all I really wanted to do was take a nap. I took a 5 minute one until 5 minutes before the race started.

I was towards the back of the pack coming onto the first curve. First 400 was an 80. Then settled a bit, first mile 5:40-5:41. When Mary passed me I should have gone with and settled into her pace instead. I wasn't thinking very positively that last mile, I thought I was dead last and barely hanging on. And another mile just seemed so long even though it's not. But I made myself work through it, I was determined not to completely die. I thought for sure I would be over 12 minutes but I wasn't! The last 100 I outkicked Sam (thinking I was last motivated me a bit). I had picked it up a bit with 300 left but I wouldn't call it a kick.

Then did a 2.5 mile cool down, unfortunately couldn't finish the last mile because I had to hurry to work. It was a lovely 5.5 hour shift. And it wasn't an ice skating competition like I had hoped. It was 2 college hockey games which meant we were super busy and also meant standing the whole time. Yaaaaaayyy. Okay we did get a 20 minute break. That was nice.