Sock tans

Yeah, you guessed it, that loop again and the 4 wheeler was following me the entire time!!! My charger went missing, so yet again no music. It sucks. But we went tubing and swimming afterward and it made up for it!!!

Yes the usual situation, no music, and only went 5 today. probably should've gone farther. But I water-skied and I was sore!

Yeah only 1 lap today.

I found my charger last night!!! So I had music to listen to. But the 4 wheeler still followed me and i still couldn't seem to get my music to drown out the noise it made. It's very annoying.

I've just about had it. Running up here sucks and I just wish I could run with the team. there's no one that will run with me so the pathetic four wheeler has to follow me and I am always so tempted to hop on and just ride around instead of run. My cousins make fun of me when I get tired and stop. Hypocrites. I want to run and do more mileage, but i just can't breathe and always crash. I want to say I hit my mileage but it's impossible for me to hit it now. If I did say I hit it I'd be lying. I  am going to have such a hard time when I get back home with the team.

My mom told me to quit the team if I didn't want to run anymore. It's not that I don't want to run, I just don't want to run up here. Luckily I'm going home tomorrow. But I'm going to have such a hard time. Yes I want to be on the team, but no I don't want to run on my own everyday. It was fun up here, but I'm quite glad I'm going home so that I don't dig this hole any bigger.

It's amazing how fast you can lose it all. I was gone for 2 weeks, and now I'm at the back of the pack. Finally when I was doing well, doing what I wanted to, I go on vacation and go back to zero. We met at sugarhouse and did the cemetery run. Bill had told me to do a lap in the cemetery. So I did. But the others, I could tell, were going faster than they normally do, and for me who was struggling to even keep up with the normal pace, this did not help me one bit. I crashed earlier, and the rest of the run sucked. I just felt like I should at least try to keep up for as long as I could. Thanks guys. Really didn't help. I'm upset that I went from the front (ish) of the pack to the back of the pack.

Met the team in a parking lot, I think it was off of 33rd or something like that. I don't know directions very well...ha. Anyway, we went a half mile on the road and aturned around, then went on a trail thing and followed it to the foothill drinking fountain and then went along foothill to thunderbird and went up thunderbird to Wasatch Dr.??? IDK. Then went along that to the hill by the zoo, then turned around and came back the same way, and then finishing with another half mile on the road and came back to the parking lot.

I felt goodish on the first half of it. I started up with the whole group, then it soon split into the different levels. It was: Tomy, Chris, and Ethan I think in the front, Kiley and her friend a little farther back, and then Bill, Abigail and I a little farther back. Then as the run went on it changed a bit. I tried to stay with Bill for as long as I could. Abigail soon fell off, and then I was dying soon after that. But I forced myself to try to stay with him. I felt like we were going fast, but that was probably just me because I haven't that intense of a workout for over 2 weeks now...:0 A little before the turn around point I fell off of Bill, but they had waited for me. Thanks guys! I felt like I was going to puke but I got some rest, but then we had to start up again. I really just wanted to be done at this point, but of course we had to go back. Amazing how fast the groups formed again. I tried to hang on Bill. He was telling me a story about having to accept the pain, but I asked myself if I could accept it, and at the time I didn't want to. Then What Hurts the Most by rascal flats got stuck in my head, I fell off Bill, and then I decided that I WOULD accept the pain but he was already so far ahead I never caught him. But when I got back to the parking lot, I thought I was done, but no I had to go a half mile out half mile back to get to 10. But Bill came with me. Thanks!! It made it so much easier!

AM:

July 11th. What does that mean? our annual slurpee run!!! We met at sunnyside. Rules: go to all of the 7/11s listed on the paper (they were all addresses). You can go any way you'd like. It doesn't matter what order they're in, as long as you go to all of them. There were 8 listed. You have to go inside the stores and get one of the free cups and fill it to the top with a slurpee flavor and eat it all gone, whether you chug it or take your time it's up to you. It's sort of a race, just a very different one at that. If you puke, you're disqualified. If you don't go to all of them or eat all of the slurpee you're also disqualified. We end back at the Liberty Park drinking fountain.  

So my plan was to follow everyone because I had honestly no idea where we were going. If I really thought about it I could figure out where they all where, but that wasted tons of time. So I followed the pack. but then it split 2 different ways on guardsman, and I decided to follow Bill since he knew where to go. We got to the first one just a bit before that other group :) that one though didn't have the cups out or anything and they wouldn't let us get any, so we moved on. Apparently they're not supposed to give them out "until 11". people. next one gave them to us though! It was weird though because after I ate that one, after a little while I felt better than before it. I guess eating on an empty stomach isn't that good after all. then we proceeded to the next. By now Bill was way far ahead, and I was losing sight of everyone. I tried to be fast enough to see where everyone went. Then when we got to one we all finished our slurpees  at around the same time, so we all went in a group. I just followed once again. Then Caden pointed out to me that we were going the wrong way, and so both of us turned around and went the RIGHT way. :) We, of course, got there first. Well of course Tomy and Bill and them got the before us, but before our little group I mean. Right as Caden and I were finishing our slurpees they all got there and were like "we went the wrong way!!" hehe. We went to the next. and the next. and so on. Then we finally got to the one by Liberty park, and Tomy came over. then we realized we had to go to the drinking fountain to finish.

We don't know who got 2nd and 3rd (me or Caden) because we weren't really paying attention. We beat Bill and them because they went a different way and probably hit tons of lights. So I got 2nd or 3rd!!! Oh and I was the first girl! :) It was fun!

PM:

4 miles around my neighborhood. 

Left for trek today, so I didn't run with the team. When we got there, we walked 8 miles pulling handcarts, then I went and ran 6 with Abigail, a couple out and backs because of some scary cows that were about to charge at us, or so it looked. A bit scary. :0

So we were on trek still. We walked 11 miles today, and so it was quite tiring. Abigail and I went running in our moment of opportunity, after the devotional, when it was pitch black outside. There was a hill by our camp, so we ran up and down that 24 times to get to 2 miles. I'm counting all of the walking miles of trek (26 to be exact) as 5 miles of running.

Finished the 26 mile loop for trek today, so we did 7 miles I think. Later that evening I realized I hadn't run yet, and Bill had told me to do at least 7, so I just did 8 to get to 50 miles this week. 5 miles over!!!! :)

So we did the cemetery run. I did 1 lap. Apparently you were supposed to do 2 laps if you need higher mileage. Bill said 1 lap, so I did 1 lap. I fell off of them right as we were entering the cemetery. I was really confused when Chris and Tomy passed me on the way back. Then I figured they did 2 laps. But I was tired and it was a really off day. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Went to pipeline this morning. I had assumed the normal 10 miler, so I was ready to go and all for pipeline. Just kidding. Bill said we would do the .7 on the road first and then go the normal way. So I was like "okay, just gotta hang on them for a little longer then it'll be downhill." Nope. When I heard someone's garmin beep, saying we'd gone a mile, I knew Bill had changed his mind. Me: "how far are we going?" Bill: "'till we turn around." Hahaha. so funny. So I had thought he must've changed his mind to going up the road 5 miles and back 5 miles. I wasn't feeling good, so I dropped off. Then, maybe it was my imagination, the hill seemed to keep getting steeper, and I was to the point where I had enough of it. I turned around, and then after what seemed like a mile, I came to Elbow's fork. That rang a bell. Then I remembered Bill saying, "To Elbow" or something as I fell off. the answer to my question. Although, I was so confused. At the time, I registered it as him talking to Natalie about elbows, odd enough. It all made sense, except for the fact that they never passed me on the way back, which meant they either went farther up, or they turned and went along another trail. Then I spotted a sign that said "pipe line trail" and a trail that went beside it. Yep I followed it, just hoping it was the right way. I soon recognized it as the trail we went on for the switchbacks a while ago. I knew it would take me back to the cars. So I wasn't worried anymore. Yeah, I was the first one back to the cars. Turns out I went the right way, but then they went the NORMAL way for however many miles and came back, then did a half mile to get to 13. I feel like such a loser. Everyone expects me to be in the top 3 at regions, and there is someone my age on another team that has me worried, who is a heck of a lot faster than me, so I'm questioning if I can do it. And then there's the people on MY team. And I've never been in the top 3 of any regular school race. We'll see how it goes.

AM:

Today we went to the cottonwood complex. We did the 3 mile loop for warmup, then we stretched and did strides. Then we did Bessie 4 times, Roller-coaster 4 times, and Miranda 4 times. On Bessie, I thought it was our normal go up the hill hard, recover on the way back. Nope, it was hard the entire time. So after completely dying on the first one, I thought maybe I could do the same thing, except this time when Natalie came up on me I would go with her. That was a fail, so on the 3rd one I thought I'd go slower at the beginning then pick it up at the end. Didn't work either. I couldn't get myself to start kicking. Then on the 4th I was so tired, it might've seemed like I was just jogging it, but I was pushing myself. Then we ran to roller-coaster. 1st one was okay, I tried to keep it up. On the downhill I actually had the most trouble. I was trying not to over-stride. 2nd, I just tried to keep up with the people near me. 3rd and 4th I just tried not to stop too soon. Then we ran Miranda. up and around the trees, then down. The easiest one!!! 1st one I was so tired, I didn't push myself like I should've. But then I realized how easy it was, and then I pushed on the 2nd. I did really good on that one! Then on the 3rd, I think Abigail noticed I was pushing, and the 3rd seemed like a race between us two. It was kinda fun! Same with the 4th. I won the 3rd, she won the 4th. :) Then we did 2 times around the baseball field thing this time, then our normal 3 mile loop, and 1 more time around the thing. Then to the drinking fountain to get to 10.

PM:

4.5 miles around my neighborhood, originally going for 5.5, but it was getting dark and my dad needed me home, so I cut it a mile short. 

Today felt really... long. We did a warmup to the gully thing and I was supposed to do 2 1/2 laps, but then I was right in front of Bill, up in the front, so he told me to do another lap. I had a hard time on the hill area that last lap, but Bill kept me going. then we ran back to sunnyside.

We did circuits and step-ups. Then we went for our run. The 3 groups were:

1) 2.5 out, 2.5 back

2) 3 out, 3 back

3) 5 out, 5 back

Which one to do? Well I needed more mileage than 6, so I was stuck with #3. We went up sunnyside, up Emigration Canyon, until we hit 5, then came back. I stuck with the group for a ways up the canyon, but then I fell off and I crashed. I just tried to keep going. Then on the way back, it was sooooo long!!! It felt nice to go downhill, but whenever i thought i was almost out, there would be another curve. It got very annoying. Finally I got out, and I was just ready to be done. I really just wished I could just catch a ride from someone to sunnyside. That of course wasn't going to happen. I just told myself, "2 miles, accept the pain."It worked, I was able to finish. I'm glad that's over. 

Met at Liberty park today. Usually that means tempo or 800s or fartlek type stuff, so I wasn't too excited to come. But I knew it was an important workout. We did a lap warmup, then we went to the start. We did a 2 mile tempo. I was, at first, supposed to hit 6:45 pace, but then not even a quarter mile into it Bill yelled back to me to do 6:30 pace with Caden, Dakota and Kiley. Great. So the first mile felt great! I thought I was doing pretty well. But we were a few seconds slow, so we sped it up on the 2nd mile. Kiley fell back, and so it was just me, Caden and Dakota. I was on the very edge, so going slightly faster than both of them, which didn't help me one bit. I started to fall of with a little over a half mile left, but I tried to keep up with them. I finished 6 seconds behind them, but my time was 12:47, 13 seconds faster than 6:30 pace, more like 6:24 pace. Now that I think about it that was pretty good considering that some of my races for the 3200 were right around there. :) Then we ran over to the start again, this time doing that same thing but a bit faster. Or a lot. 20 seconds faster. Half mile into it I quit on myself and fell off of Dakota and Caden. I was really considering stopping at the mile mark, but I figured if I had worked this hard, I could finish another mile. So I kept going, picking it up. I started passing Ethan, who fell off of that front group, but I told him to come with me because it would be easier on both of us. He came with, and it helped me keep going, but then of course he outkicked me at the very end. Oh well. I got 13:05ish. So still right around 6:30 pace. I feel like today was a good workout. Then we did 2 laps to get to 10. It felt so short, but maybe that's because we broke the 10 miles up into small parts, and 4 of it was tempo, and we hadn't done 4 right before it, like yesterday. :)

I did 7 miles around my neighborhood. I bought a GPS watch at salt lake running, which was on sale!!!! It was a good deal. Now I just have to figure out how to use it... still got confused on the run.

met at liberty, thinking it was going to be an easy workout because of the race tomorrow, and it sort of was. I ran to the potty with Grace, and then we joined the team as they were just starting the warmup. We already had a half mile done, actually more because I couldn't figure out how to start my watch again until about halfway to the potty. Then we did a lap, felt fast, but I wasn't completely dying. Then we did a lap of fireman. I looked at my watch and I thought it said we were going 7:30 pace, so I crashed mentally because I thought this was so slow for how much I was hurting. I fell off of the group about 3/4 of the way, and stopped for a minute because I was close to puking. I guess eating before running isn't a good idea. Then I ran to the drinking fountain and stopped for a minute, then looked at my watch and realized that 7:30 wasn't the pace, it was the time!!! I switched the screen hoping that it would show my pace, but I forgot it only shows you the current pace. Wow this has some getting used to. Then did another lap for cool down. and a little extra to get to 5. Then Bill told me that it was 6:30 pace. That makes so much more sense! I just have to work on the mental part. :)

So today was the 10k. I woke up really early to get there. We got our bib numbers and chips from Bill at a post office on sunnyside, and then we ran up sunnyside a bit and back to the post office, then we did strides while we waited for Natalie to get her East top. Then we ran over to the starting line, and we did more strides.

The race started out way fast. I looked at my watch and it said I was going 5:15-5:30 pace. That was a shocker, so I tried to slow down, but I felt like I should go fast on the downhill. The first mile was really fast of course, but I can't figure out how to go back and look at my splits on this watch. The 2nd mile wasn't quite as fast, but still faster than 6 minute pace, which I was supposed to hit. The 3rd mile I started crashing, and pretty soon tons of people were passing me. I completely lost it then and yes, gave up. The people passing me, not just a couple, but a ton, got to my mind and I completely crashed. Then I just had to finish the 3 miles left. At the 4th or 5th mile I thought I should start pushing again, so I tried to go with people. Although the 2 different ways had me really confused,  and some guy said something into his walkie-talkie about the last of "them" coming was on whatever street and whatever street (I didn't care), but looked back and there was only one other guy behind me. That confused me so much more because I knew for a fact that Olivia and Annie and Jesse and Grace had all not passed me. So then I worried that I was now in the wrong race, and my mind went a million miles an hour. It made it somewhat easier thought. And then there were all the people. The last part seemed so long, but at the same time it felt so short. At least I passed the point of stopping, and I'm happy to say that this is the first time in a while that when I have been that negative and that tempted to stop, I kept going :)

Then came the cool down. We did it part of the way backwards, the way we were supposed to go. I got a huge side ache and really felt the lactic. I didn't want to go as far as the others because my side was just killing me, so I took a shorter way to finish the day with 12.

As for my time, I saw the clock as I ran in, and I just remember 46:08, so I added 2 seconds to it. I don't know what the time was that they had for me, but it has got to be really close to that. 

I forgot to set my alarm back to the correct time to go off last night, so it went off at 4:45. Great. I least I was able to sleep in 2 more hours. That was a good feeling. But in the meantime, I forgot to set it again, so it didn't go off when I needed it to. What woke me up? Natalie calling me saying that she was waiting for me outside my house. So I was in such a hurry I forgot my watch and my water bottle. Great.

We met at sugarhouse park and we did a grass lap around. Then Abigail and I ran to the bathroom ( .5 ), and came out to find that the team had moved to a different spot. So we ran over there and we did core and stretches. Then we went for our run.

At first I was really negative about it, and I really didn't want to run. Then before we left the park I told myself to suck it up and catch up to the front group. That I did. then I just tried to keep up. I did a good job of that up until we turned onto alden. Then it was a mental struggle, and I was able to keep going. Then when we turned back onto imperial, I started to think negatively, but then Tomy told me to catch up. So I did. I made myself do it. Thanks Tomy! Then we got back to our spot, but we had to go to 8, or in my case 8.5, so we kept going. Then we turned around and came back.

Today we went along the shoreline trail by the zoo. We actually started out by doing a mile up Emigration Canyon, and turned around and came back. But not before Tomy and Natalie scared me... ;) Then we went along the trail to the drinking fountain. I fell off of them on a few of the steep hills, and then Bill and Dakota came up on me and Bill told me to try to catch up to Abigail so I tried to, then I noticed my shoe was untied and all I wanted to do was tie that thing, but as if Bill had read my mind, he said "My shoe's untied too but we won't stop!" Or something like that. I eventually caught Abigail. Then we got to the drinking fountain and Bill told everyone he untied his shoe to prove the point that you shouldn't stop when your shoe is untied. Haha. Then we got a drink and tied shoes and went up the road thing to the gate and back to the drinking fountain where we got a drink and Bill and I left a bit before the rest of them so that they had to catch us. It wasn't long. But then came the hills, and I fell off again. Then downhill finally came so I decided I would try to catch them. I leaned forward and I felt really fast :) but then I rolled my ankle and thought my season was over! Luckily it isn't, it's not hurt. Then came a really steep downhill and I nearly tripped and face-planted it with still quite a ways to go down the hill. WOW. I need to be more careful. Then I got back to the cars and just caught a glimpse of them running along the street right above the zoo and immediately knew that they were adding on to get higher mileage. So I went too. I stopped at that drinking fountain at the golf course for a bit, then kept going, and finally got to the turn around point. It felt amazing coming back! I felt good because I was going 7:40 pace by myself! probably not much of an accomplishment to most, but I was happy about it. Boy I feel good today! Maybe I'll do more tonight...???

PM:

I did 6 miles around my neighborhood. I was originally going for only 4 or 5, but I ran into Abigail down in the gully, so I ran with her for a while longer :) 

We drove to Lava Hot Springs today!!! It was fun! The first thing we did was run, this part sucked. Haha. The loop was super hilly. And I thought sugarhouse was bad. I didn't really know it was a loop, I assumed it was an out and back thing. I started out good, and for the first 2 or 3 miles I was doing great! But then I crashed on one of the hills. I turned around at 5 and went back. About a half mile later I found Abigail and a few others and Abigail came with me. We were going at a slow pace, but it was so hilly that I didn't even care. The only thing that kept me going was all the fun stuff that was waiting for us when we got back :)

Then, after the run, on my first time down the river I got off my tube at a calm-ish spot but got sucked into the rapids right after and banged my leg right into a rock and bruised it up pretty good. It didn't look too bad but it killed to bend it or touch it. It still kills. But I'm glad it's just scrapes and bruises.

It was an overall fun day!!! 

So, today I had to go for my own run, not with the team, because it was a saturday. I slept in way late by accident, and when I woke up it was super hot outside, so I decided I would go later that night. I went for my run, and it was the longest run I have ever done on my own, all at once!!!

Hill week. Change that I to an E and you get a glimpse of what it really is. We went to JCC and did that trail. It was my first time doing that and I have got to say it SUCKS. So we go up a huge hill right at the first, and what do we do after that? We pick up baseball size rocks and run with them for at least a mile and a half. You know what I thought? Screw this. I ran a mile with them and completely died, and I fell off of Bill, Dakota, and Caden. Then I tried to run again, and about a quarter mile later I gave up and chucked the rocks at the ground. After that, I felt so much better. it was so much easier. Then when I am finally feeling good, I get to the 3 mile mark, and everyone around me turns around and goes back, and I still had to do another mile out and back. It was really hard to keep going when everyone around me goes back and do less. It was so tempting to go back with them. Then I keep going and finally I get to turn around and then it's uphill again, when the only thing that kept me going was thinking that it would be all downhill from there. So that was hard as well. But I hadn't even gotten to the bad part. We did a huge, terribly long, steep hill that was nearly the death of me 10 FREAKING TIMES and when I got there everyone was already almost halfway done with theirs. So yeah, at the end i ended up doing 2 of them ALL BY MYSELF and you know how hard it is to get yourself to keep going when no one is there to keep you distracted and encourage you? VERY HARD. Then I ended up running by myself the rest of the way back, which was downhill thank goodness, but was forever long, way too long and it felt like it would never end. This year is the first time I will actually do all of hill week. And it was my first time on JCC. We're not friends. JCC makes pipeline look like my best friend. And those who actually read this blog might know how much I dislike pipeline, depending on what we do. I'm soooooo not excited for the rest of this week.

So today we went to pipeline. It actually wasn't too bad. We did the switchbacks. I tried to keep up with Tomy, and I was able to for the first few, but then I fell of him, and soon Bill was right behind me, right when I tried to walk a tiny bit. So I couldn't. He was saying "1 more minute and it's easy" and so that's what kept me going. Then there was another hill and he was like "it's only a bump and then it's easy, there are 2 parts to it: 60 meters of uphill, 20 meters of flat, then 20 meters of uphill again." I made it up the first part okay, but then I got to the 2nd and my mind got the best of me. I looked at that hill, and my first thought was "this is too much" and I slowed way down. Then about halfway I realized if I could make it up all of those switchbacks and the first part of that hill then this part should be easy, so I snapped back into it and continued on. And Bill was right. It was easier after that hill. Too bad I had let him pass me and get away, so I was running by myself. When I recovered I started to go a little faster in hopes of catching up again, but I never did. I got to the road, and I remember Bill saying go up a mile and then turn around and go back, so I did. Then I felt so much better coming back, so I picked it up a bit more. Then I got to the downhills and I felt like I was flying! Although I was slightly nervous that I would fall flat on my face :0 But then when I got to the normal trail I went 1.5 miles out and came back to get to 11.