Sock tans

AM:

We did the cemetery run. I didn't feel too good. 

Went up to my cabin last night, so I have to run on my own the rest of the week. I did the loop twice. Pleasant surprise, it's 2.25 around instead of 2 like the adults told me last year :) it wasn't as bad as I remember it being, I don't know why I thought it was so hard last year. I think it's just getting myself to do another lap that's hard.

2 more laps. Was going to go for a night run but didn't have time because we were water skiing.

The loop twice more. Once again planned on going for a night run but then it started raining, and those storms up there aren't just little rainstorms. Luckily this year trees didn't fall down.

No running today, I feel really bad about it, but I thought I'd go later at night, should've known better seeing how I wasn't able to the past couple days.

again no running, as I was getting ready to go I tripped on the 4 wheeler and hurt my knee, it swelled up and killed to move it. I once again thought I'd wait until night, again couldn't because of another rainstorm.

AM: 

I didn't realize that 3 days off running in a row could put you so far behind. Worst mistake ever. I went to practice today (finally, it's about time) and I sucked. I couldn't breathe, and I wonder if my asthma is part of it. My legs didn't feel tired, I didn't feel like it hurt to keep up, I just could not breathe. It was at Sugarhouse. We did a grass lap warmup, then went over to the hill by the white trees and did 10 continuous laps, then went over to the state hill and did 4 of those. It should not have been as hard as it was. My legs didn't hurt, again I just couldn't breathe. On the hills I was dying, a whole bunch of people were ahead of me that shouldn't be. I feel so out of shape, can 3 days really do that much damage? It's really discouraging, I want to do well. I just haven't felt the passion for it since track season. maybe the upcoming races will help.

PM:

I felt so much better! I could actually breathe :) We were going pretty fast right off the bat, started with 7:19 pace, then went sub 7 for the next mile and just above 7 the next one. The first 3 miles I kept up with the boys, then I crashed, but mentally I didn't feel like I was crashing. It felt like a great run, even though I slowed down. But then again it was uphill the way back. We started at Sunnyside and then started out like shriners run but then went to the flagpole and then to the other flagpole at westminister, then went up to 15th back to sunnyside and added to get 6.

AM:

Today we went to Wheeler Farm. We did 2.5 warmup then 10 strides. Then we did 4 800s, I was supposed to 2:45-2:50. I was so slow on all of them, and it was really discouraging. My first one was 3:04, then 3:07, 3:12, 3:28. It was so discouraging, I felt like I was going fast, my stride felt good, but then when I thought I was pushing hard enough I wasn't. Then when I tried it again, I knew I needed to go faster, but couldn't. I was so upset, I should be able to hit the right time! Maybe taking those couple days off was part of the problem, but I don't know. Then I cooled down to 8.

PM:

We went to Liberty. We did 1 lap warmup, then 1 lap fireman. I cooled down with Dakota and Chris to get to 6. 

AM:

We met at JCC. We started out some weird way, I just followed Dakota, and somehow got to Alta and went up to 11th Ave. Then we went to City Creek and went along the trail that turns into the JCC trail. I went to 10. The hills were hard for me. I am so sore. 

PM:

We went to Cottonwood Complex and warmed up 10 minutes, then did the hill from the triple trunk tree to the apple tree 4 times. Then we did the region course as a cool down. 5 miles. 

Today was our annual slurpee run! The rules are that you have to top off the cup and drink the whole slurpee, and if you throw up you're disqualified. You can go to the 7/11s in any order. At first I just tried to follow people, but that didn't really work because Tomy and Clayton were going much faster than me. So after the 2nd 7/11 I actually looked at the paper and tried to figure out where to go. I ran with Caden for a while, but after the one on 3rd Ave I was alone. But it was easier to find them when I actually tried than I thought. As you can tell I'm still not too familiar with the city, even though it's probably the easiest city tofind your way around in. The last couple slurpees were really hard to get down, I was starting to feel sick. We had to go to 9 of them, and the cups were bigger this year! When I finally finished I ran to work. That part sucked because it was all uphill. I was late, but they were pretty chill about it. I am still sore and I have blisters that don't feel good at all.  

AM:

We met at Liberty and did 2 laps then went to the sidewalk we usually come in on and then turned around to make it 4. I felt sluggish and tired. The first couple miles were actually faster than I thought they were, about 7:30s. Then I slowed down to about 8 minute pace for the last 2 miles. Now I'm gonna take a nap before I go to work. 

PM:

First leg of the Tour de Run. It was a 5k. I didn't get much of a warmup in because we couldn't find the place... I got about a half mile in before heading to the line and doing strides.

I wasn't ready for the fast pace, I didn't get out as fast as I should have. I wasn't anticipating the competition either. I raced hard, but felt sluggish again and when I tried to go faster I felt like I couldn't. Maybe it was my mind playing with me. It felt fast but I guess it wasn't. The hills killed me, I wish I was better at them and I need to work on it. 

We did 2 miles cool down. 

Today was the 2nd and 3rd legs of the Tour de Run. I was able to get in a good 2 mile warmup.

I got out good. I stayed at a faster pace knowing that I could handle it because I am used to the longer stuff now. I was doing well until we got to the trail, people started to pass me and I tried to match. Dakota and the girl who won pulled away from me before the trail ended and we got back on the road. After that there was a big hill that killed me, it was hard to keep myself pushing. My quads were burning. That was where a lot of girls made moves around me and I couldn't match them. They pulled away, and then finally when I pulled myself together I focused on the girl in front of me and tried to work my way up to her. I was glad when the downhill came, even though it was steep. I could hear the girl behind me breathing hard and I knew she was working to catch me, so I used the downhill to try to keep my gap on her and push up to that other girl. I was able to hold her off for probably a mile and a half. She was able to gap me but I kept close. I just used the downhill whenever possible. I think I'm getting better at it. With like .75 to go Bill was on his bike telling me to catch the 3 girls in front of me, all within a close distance. I tried but never was able to get myself moving fast enough and hold the pace.

It was a good race, and I definitely worked hard. We did another 2 miles cool down before heading over to Ihop for breakfast and Ross, I bought new spikes there!! Then went to the lake and iced, even though it really wasn't that cold. I felt so exhausted.

Next was leg 3. It was 4.36 miles, so in between a 5k and 10k. It felt much shorter than a 10k, but it was so stinking hot! The first mile was great, I stayed with Dakota until a girl came up on us and I didn't go with them even though I should have. I felt like I was dying when I got to the loop part, there was absolutely no shade and it was blazing hot, I completely crashed and people started passing me. When I finally got to the water station again this time I accepted the water and took a sip then poured the rest on me. That felt nice, and I was back in the shade, I was able to refocus. The hill honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, I was finally closing the gap. With a mile left I started to try to get myself moving, then finally at mile 4 I really started pushing, then Bill was yelling for me to catch the girl in front of me, and I did! It was hard and I felt like I was going to puke, but I'm glad I did. I took 5th overall girl in this leg.

My happy bubble popped though when I thought that I was 5th with the combined times of all 3 races, my name on the board for 5th place, when they said that I was 6th and the time between the 2 places was 1.2 seconds, and then they wiped my name off the board. That was disappointing.

A mile cool down. My achilles started hurting, I'll ice it tonight. My foot has been hurting the past couple days, but when I run it warms up so it should be fine. I'll ice that too. Wow that was a long entry.  

AM:

New shoes! I'm trying them out. So I kinda slept in a bit, missed the earlier group getting more mileage in, so I ran to sugarhouse and made it in time for them to come back and the second group to start. We did the cemetery run. I was able to stay with Tomy, Natalie and Clayton, probably because we were going slower than I expected. When we got to the cemetery, Natalie and I stopped and got a drink, then Natalie got a bloody nose! I did a lap, when I got back she was still there, her nose finally stopped bleeding. Her shirt looked like she slaughtered some animal on it! I ran back with Natalie and finished at 8.5.

PM:

We went to Tanner Park and went to the drinking fountain, then I turned around and finished to 5. 

AM:

I felt like crap and was really sluggish. We did a little over 2 miles warmup, then strides. On the strides I started to feel even worse. Then we did fartlek. It went 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1. The 1 and 2s had 1 minute off and 3s and 4 had 2 minutes off. After the first 2 I could tell this was not going to be a good workout. I'm really mad that I felt so crappy, but everyone has their off days. A couple of times I felt like I was going to pass out. It was just a really bad morning. I think the only plus with today was that my foot and achilles have stopped hurting. Maybe next time I'll actually eat something before I run. And get more sleep. Nap time here I come.

PM:

We met at the Jordan River Parkway and went out 2.5 and back. It felt fast and felt like a good run. 

AM:

Pipeline! I love it up there. I wasn't feeling too great though. I ran with Natalie for a while, but fell back after a couple miles. When I got to the turn around it took a lot of effort for me to start running again. It was a slower run for me, but I was tired and didn't feel good. 

PM:

I had to be somewhere, so I went for my own run. It was really hot and windy so it sucked. 4.5 miles 

AM:

Today we met at Fairmont. We did a lap around the park, then did 2 sets of Flannigan circuits. Then we did the penny run! My partner was Eleanor, we were going at a good pace, but we did a large G so we lost. Eleanor and I cooled down to 6. 

PM:

Met at Bill's house and did a 7 mile loop. 

Liberty today. Since we have the race tomorrow, I only did 2 laps.

AM:

Today was the Draper Days 5k! I warmed up with the girls for about 2.5 miles.

I got out good, but maybe a little too fast. When I started to settle into what I thought was a good race pace, people started to pass. I tried to match people whenever they came, but often I would let them go after about 10 seconds. Finally I decided I was going to actually stick with whoever came next, turns out it was Nate. So I stuck with him, and we started to catch up to people. When I started to fall off, Kiley soon started to pass. I matched her the best I could and I was doing well, but then I lost it mentally because I thought we were almost done but from what I could see it just kept going. Turns out we actually were almost done my eyes were playing tricks on me. When I tried to kick I felt like I couldn't, maybe I just wasn't trying hard enough. I got 20:29, so not that great. Afterward I felt really light headed, and I was blocking out what a lot of people were saying, and not really fully understanding people either, it was weird. Sorry guys. Once we started the cool down I felt better. It was at an easy pace, kinda slow but it felt nice. We did about 2.5.

When I got home I waited around for an hour, then did 6 more miles.

PM:

I did 3.5. It was way too hot outside. The arch of my foot has been hurting lately, and it started to hurt much worse than it has been on this run. When I got home I iced and rolled it out, but still hurts. I think I'm just going to take a break from running for a bit, I don't want to push it to a bigger injury, I don't want a repeat of last year.

So today we met at Sugarhouse. We went up 21st to 21st, then over to 13th, up to wasatch and got a drink at the tennis courts/golf course. Then we went along wasatch to thunderbird, went to the drinking fountain on Foothill, then went back to thunderbird and down to 21st, then back to the park. Finished at 7. I liked this run a lot more than the cemetery run, it's been getting old. I was able to stay with Natalie and Tomy, but then again we weren't going too fast. We averaged 8:03. My foot hurt, I think it could be the shoes I've been wearing, it's been in the back of my mind for a couple days now, I just hate to waste money on shoes that don't work. But I'll have my dad take me to the Nike outlet when he gets back from his trip. 

Today was at Liberty, we did 2 laps to get to 3.

Today was the Deseret News 10k. I did about 1.75 warmup including strides.

I got out good, although some guys almost pushed me over right off the bat, I nearly fell. I was in good position, but it kind of scared me to be up so far, I didn't like the thought of crashing and people passing me. But I just tried to keep up the pace. After a little while, around the first mile, people started passing me, and I was doing a good job of matching people. I would just try to match their stride and pace and most of the time it would work. The downhill helped me, I think I'm getting better at downhill running. When we were running along 13th, I crashed huge on the one uphill, I stopped matching people and probably 6 people passed me there. Going down South Temple I pulled myself together and started to go with people again. Mile 3 I remember thinking that I was only halfway done and that brought me down a lot. Took a minute before I tried picking it up once more. Still along South Temple, I started to focus on individuals and work up to them, some would come with me and some wouldn't. After a little while of that I settled again into my previous pace and people started passing again, but this time my legs were so tired, my quads were killing, I didn't match anyone. Not too many people passed me there, but with every person that did, it felt like another weight was put on my shoulders. When we got to the parade route, I saw people sleeping on blankets, and I'll admit I was jealous, I didn't want to finish, I wanted to lie down and take a nap. But I kept going as much as I wanted to stop. The energy from the crowd was great, for like a half mile I loved it and felt good, but then I got back into my setting where people were passing me, people pushing strollers were in front of me, and all of a sudden I didn't want people to look at me. I probably looked like crap but whatever. I got the pity clap, people were passing me again. Occasionally I matched people. When we finally rounded the last corner, I started to pick it up a little bit, but I couldn't help but think about how far away the finish was, so not that great of a kick for me.

My time was 40:42, way better than I had expected, with how much I thought I had crashed I remember thinking that I'd be lucky to break 44. Even then I thought of how awful it would be if I did worse today than I did on the flat winter series 10ks, or even the one at the Tour de Run with hills in it. Probably not a great mindset, but for having that bad of an attitude towards this race I am happy with it, even though I know I could have done better. I got 8th in my age group, and as for overall I guessed, I remember it being somewhere around 129ish.

I definitely think my arch problem was my shoes, I ran everything today in flats and it didn't hurt that bad. I barely noticed it. It's amazing how much shoes can affect you.

Did a lap cool down with Stormy and Eden, they seemed a bit reluctant but I'm glad they came. It felt nice after stiffening up. Later ran through the park with Emily and Bill on his bike. 

I went to bed really late last night due to a family thing, so i was super tired and totally slept in way too long, and when I finally woke up I had to get ready for work because that's how late in the day it already was. I felt like such a normal kid, with no running in the morning. Today I decided that I wanted to go up in the Avenues, I don't really know why. So I did our Avenues run, but I just ran the hills, not stride up them like we normally do. The hills were bigger than I thought, it's been a while since I've done that run. I took Shriners way back like we normally do. I stopped at the drinking fountain on 11th because it was HOT. When I was coming back to Alta, I noticed that the drinking fountain was back in place, so I checked it out, and to my surprise it was on!!! Going in the U campus I had a blonde moment, I thought, "where are all the people?" Then I remembered it was summer and most people go home. Also there is a lot of construction on the U campus, more than there was during track season. When I got to sunnyside I decided that I didn't want to be done so soon, a little odd but I felt good. So I went up to the zoo and took wasatch to 13th and went back home. It was a slower run, but I am so sore from yesterday and it was kind of hilly too. Now that I've stiffened up, I can barely move. If I hurt this bad, I can't imagine how the half marathon and marathoners are feeling.

AM:

I need to start waking up earlier. Without a team practice to make it to, I find myself hitting the snooze button five million times before I finally decide I need to go running. It got so hot so fast, my original plan to go for a 10 miler at least this morning was ruined. I stopped at 4, I'll go again tonight, it'll have to be a really long run.

PM:

Oh. My. Gosh. Worst cramp of my life. Finally I decided it wasn't going away and just went running anyway, and it sucked. Longest 3 miles ever. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I'm completely drained from work today. We took a field trip and the kids were out of control, might I say it was right in the middle of the day where it was hottest. Not a great day.

AM:

 I met Eleanor at Harmons, then we went up to Foothill and over to the drinking fountain/flag pole, where we saw Topher. So he joined us and we went up Thunderbird to Wasatch, then went over to the tennis courts drinking fountains, down to Foothill and went to Topher's house and I ran back home to get to 7.

AM:

Today was a good run, for the first 4 miles I felt great, we were going 7:40s and it didn't feel that fast. When we were a little ways in the cemetery I the pace started to feel faster, I backed off to 7:55 pace, then tried to catch Natalie and Tomy and picked it back up to 7:35-7:40, but it seemed like they were just picking it up. The last mile felt like death, I backed off to 8:15. Ankle started to bother me towards the end.

PM:

Met at Liberty and did 3 laps. 

AM:

Wheeler Farm. Nat and I were late (it was my fault, sorry!) so we got in about .9 of warmup including strides. We ran over to the start, and then did 400, three 800s, and a 400. I was supposed to hit 90s for the 400s and 3:00 for the 800s, which didn't seem that bad thinking back to track season, but it actually felt a lot harder than it should have. Natalie had the same pace so I tried to stick with her. My first 400 was 85, then the 800s were 2:53, 2:56, 2:56. The last 400 was a 92 I think, we went farther than we were supposed to. Overall, I did much better than the last time we came here. I cooled down with Natalie until we got to 8.

PM:

We met at sunnyside and did an easy 4, going around the neighborhood to people's house intending to pick them up and join us on our run, but only managed to get a friendly 7 or 8 year old to come with us for about a block or 2.

AM: Today we met at the zoo trail. We went out to the fence at red butte and back. The first mile was a stunning 10 minute pace because that's how we roll. Just kidding. As soon as I was able to get around people I ran with the boys and picked it up. After the big hill we all spread out a ton, and I was with Garek and Nate. I tried to stick with them for as long as I could, we now picked it up to 6:40 pace. When we got to the drinking fountain we stopped for a bit then kept going, this part was probably the hardest part for me, I don't like going all the way up to the fence. On the way back I passed Garek and Nate, but now I was on my own because only Tomy and Chris were ahead. I accidentally went the wrong way, I think it was a lot shorter. The way back was tough for me, I had a hard time getting myself moving again. When I got back, I was only at 6, so yeah I definitely went the wrong way. I went up Emigration canyon for a mile and came back to get to 8. Those last 2 miles were pretty slow because I was tired. My quads were sore when I woke up today, so they were burning through this whole run.