Sock tans

Started at the top of Emigration Canyon with uphill for 1.5 then downhill the rest of the way. Stopped at a porta potty and had to catch up, by then I was starting to get tired. I caught up just as we were exiting the canyon. Down sunnyside to the track where we finished. We were bombing 6:40s going down the canyon and averaged 7:10 pace. I'm surprised too because along sunnyside where it flattened out I was dead and we still went 7:13 and 7:00 for the last two miles. The downhill beat me up, my inner thighs are so sore. Right after the run we did our XC fundraiser raking leaves for people (that lasted 3.5 hours) and man am I exhausted. And that lovely blister I got a couple days ago decided to bleed on my sock and new shoe. At least I didn't notice it until we finished the run. Time to take a nap.

Easier run today, it was cold. We did the wasatch flagpole run. Added 1.5 miles at the track to get to 10. Still sore from Saturday, but slowly recovering. 

Speed today. Mile warmup and mile speed changes. Then another lap. Workout was 2000, 1600, 1200, 800, 800. I was supposed to hit 6:10 pace so 7:42, 6:10, 4:38, 3:05. I hit 7:35, 6:06, 4:31, 2:55, 2:41. I like speed on a track because I can make sure I'm on pace each lap. My breathing was awesome, felt very relaxed. Almost felt like tempo not speed. But it was at a slower pace because we are supposed to be 5k race pace, so I was holding back a bit. Paced with Dallas so that was nice! When we break it down like that it seems like racing at that pace should be easier. Sort of boosted my confidence a bit, I lost some after State but I know I am better than what I did at State. And this time I actually didn't feel super worn out towards the end. Sure as the lactic built up it made it a little harder but I felt like I could go faster. Then Toph challenged me the last 800 to try to beat him. I accepted. Was ahead with 100 left but didn't kick and he did so he beat me. Was fun though and it made me work. Did 2.25 cool down.

Ran up to the trail at This Is The Place and ran a different way to the zoo trail, then took it to JCC and did Shriners run back (first went to the fountain on 11th.) Added to 9 when we got back.Was one of the days where I didn't feel like I had enough lunch. Ah well. I've started college applications, now just gotta send in transcripts and ACT scores and finish a couple essays. Sort of scary.

Down to Liberty, 2 laps of fireman and back to the track. First lap was slower (everyone was together), then split into two groups for the next lap. I was in the faster group with the boys and we picked it up a lot. The last mile of that was a 6:47. For not expecting to go sub 7:00 on the fireman I'd say that's pretty good. It got me working. Ran back up to the track for cool down and added to 8.

Pre race workout: 2 miles warmup, 2 miles speed changes, 2 miles cool down.

Got to American Fork and warmed up a mile then about half mile of speed changes/strides. Wish I would have done a little more warmup but what can you do. 

When the race started I was already out of breath from a last minute stride (I was having a hard time breathing today) but tried to get my breathing even. Didn't have a great start but worked up. Bill said I was in like 12th the first mile. I was really having a hard time getting myself to work hard today, my breathing sucked and felt really tense, I tried to loosen up a little. When I came through the mile (where they had it measured) they called out 6:06 and that discouraged me cause I was hoping for sub 6. And I knew my track record of slowing down that second mile. Then the second lap/mile was where I really started to struggle. People started passing me and I couldn't match. I was able to pick it back up going along the backstretch but mentally I was already thinking "great another bad race." The third mile I slipped farther back but managed to match a few people and actually kick a little. According to my garmin it was 3.22 and the past 3 years that's what I've had for the distance, but Bill says it's a measured 5k. I really want it to be longer and do think it was but even so that means I went 6:24 average when at Nebo I was 6:10 or under. But that means it was about the same as BYU. I am going to start running with Toph in the mornings, I have very little time before Nike and only 4 weeks to Footlocker. I definitely do better when I'm at higher mileage. These next couple weeks I'm really gonna crack down on training because I really need a couple of good races. At least I'm heading in the right direction, was definitely better than State.

Workout was 30 x 1 minute on 1 minute off fartlek. On our way to Sugarhouse I asked Bill what it was and he told me, I honestly thought he was kidding. No way were we gonna do 30. We got to the Park and went to the entrance by Highland and told everyone else, which was when I figured out he wasn't kidding. My mood dropped a ton right then, I already was thinking there's no way I was gonna be able to finish 30. We did them around the perimeter of the park. I fell off Bill maybe 10 repeats in. It only took 20 repeats for me to stop thinking negatively. Ha :) At that point I had the thought "What if I caught back up to Bill?" He had a pretty large gap on me but I could still see him, probably 200 meters. I caught him with 3 repeats left. Finished 8.61 miles in the hour so 6:58 average pace, and that's with 30 minutes of running slow! Then ran back to the track and decided to add to 14 because I hate uneven numbers, especially ones starting with 13. :) Good workout, but now my legs hurt.

Cold and windy today, we went along guardsman to the cemetery, did a lap and to the hill and did 5 hills, a lap, 5 hills, and back to the track along 13th and added to 7.

It's freaking cold outside. Super windy and freezing or a few degrees over. Run today was to the park on 13th and south temple, 8 strides along the grass and up the hill, then up to the cemetery and ran death hill (it certainly lives up to its name) then Shriners run back. Dallen caught up to me along the alley, which was awesome! Added at the track to 8. Knee has been bothering me a bit, started back up on Monday. Warmed up after a half mile, it's the same knee but hurts in a different spot than earlier in the season. Earlier it felt like it was deeper in my knee and rolling out ITs helped fix that problem. This time it should be easy to fix cause I've pinpointed the spot that needs rolling out, I'll do ITs too in case they're adding to it.

It snowed today... I don't like winter. I say let it snow the week of Christmas then bring back the sun. Ran down to Liberty, 3 laps on the grass, then back up to the track and 2 grass laps to finish to 8. Didn't have my garmin today so I don't know what the pace was but I felt like we kept a good one. Good run.

4 miles going down 900 S, up the weird 5th street at the intersection to 1300 E, took it to 1700 S and down to 900 E and back to 900 S and back up and added in the teacher parking lot. Short today because of the 5k tomorrow. I'm ready to race, time to step up my game. 

Got to the race and warmed up 2 miles total. Stomach was a bit full but not too bad. Right before the race my knee started bothering me, but I wasn't gonna use that as an excuse. Probably should've had a little more warmup cause it was cold but oh well.

The start was a bit rushed and it was kind of like "oh we're supposed to go now." I was with just guys heading to the road we turned onto. Stuck with Bill until the turn onto the trail where he gapped me a bit. At that point I felt fine I was sort of just saving cause I didn't want to go out hard and crash bad. My legs were numb though because of the cold (the high today is 34) which may have helped a bit cause I just wanted to get done. Going along that path the girl Bill pointed out to me as an ex BYU runner passed me, I should have gone with her but I just let her go. I was good with the pace I was at and was worried I'd push too hard in the first half. Dropping to the pond and going around it I kept working but not necessarily surging. Going through the forest thing there were tons of sharp S turns and that slowed me down a ton, on the last one I was almost at a stop and had to surge real quick to pick it back up. Surged a bit coming out and up the hill, probably the first time I ever just told myself to attack the hill and not let it slow me down. At the top of the hill my core was just burning and had to take a few deep breaths and tell myself to keep pushing. I wasalmost done and could see the finish off in the distance. Took me a minute to recover and start pushing again, got to the final stretch and knew I was gonna get a good time, I had worked hard. Finally started kicking (after a few of Bills yells) and finished with 18:40, a PR for both a 5k and a 3 mile.

There were a few things I could have done better, I could have stuck on Bill and worked with him, he and Jakob weren't too far ahead of me. Might've been nice to work with someone instead of by myself. I could have gone with the girl (She ended up winning, I was second overall women). I'm not sure what her time was. I could have pushed myself through the top of that hill and worked through the pain better and kicked sooner and harder. I could have even started a bit faster. But I am very happy with how this race turned out, it's given me a huge confidence boost. Finally had a good race (and I needed one, especially after the past couple races - State included). This means Arizona is gonna be amazing.

Cooled down a little under 2 miles. 

Today we ran to Sugarhouse and did another hour long fartlek workout. This time instead of 1 on / 1 off we did 2 on / 1 off. I think this one was mentally easier because there weren't as many sets, but harder because it got difficult to keep going in the second minute of the ons, especially towards the end. It was cold and towards the end it got really hard for me to pick up the pace, but I did and I worked hard. I stayed on Bill for a little over half, still worked hard for the rest but when I tried to catch up to Bill it was like my legs couldn't do it. I screwed up one of the sets (or maybe more and I just don't know it) cause Garek lapped me and he was going fast and I slow. Then I realized I had done something to my Garmin. Great. It was still a good workout, getting pumped for Arizona!

Ran to the school, then we went up to Foothill and to Corner Bakery then Adventure run to Shriners and added along 11th to the fountain, then Shriners run back. I added to 10.5 in the parking lot.

Went to Fairmont and did 10 strides, then to Liberty, long way around and up to the school, added to 8.

2.5 shakeout in Flagstaff on a trail by the hotel. When we got to the course we did another 2.5 on the course in the dark, we cut it short and went across towards the start. It was pitch black and I didn't see the sand pit, could have ended badly. Luckily it just popped my back and gave me a good scare :) While we were walking around at packet pickup and getting out of the car at a gas station my knee had sharp pain when I stepped a certain way. It made me nervous because it's never been that sharp before. I was glad we did a second shakeout cause it calmed me down, after a half mile it warmed up and was fine. But I will be paying attention to it, I can't let it get out of hand.  

We got to the race and I did a mile warmup. Would have liked more, but I wasted time for no reason. I don't know why. I guess I just thought I had more time than I actually did.

Only got about 3 strides in at the line. We started then had to restart which worked out for me cause I wanted another stride :) Then we started for real. Our box was on the left side, I originally thought that it was a bad spot but it worked out great cause I was able to pass the huge group of people along the side. People start out races way too fast I've decided. I was in the middle of the pack 50 meter in, then with the front pack 100 meters in. Then I felt the group start to slow down and I was like "heck no." I had found my pace and was sticking to it. There were two girls a little farther ahead and I caught up to the second place girl. Then she faded and I went to the first place girl and sort of just stuck behind her. I wasn't completely sure of the course anyway so I followed her. Came through the mile at around 5:50. Apparently some people thought we went out too fast but I don't think so. I've always had a fast first mile in the races I do well at. Started struggling mentally at 1.5 like usual. I think at this point a couple girls were close behind or maybe one or two had passed me. Two mile was 12:15 so I had slowed down to a 6:25. But I told myself that was okay cause I could still get a good time, just a little off. Bill yelled for me to pick it up at what was apparently 800 left, so I did. Then he said to start kicking and I was like, "what? We still have a long ways to go." But I did anyway. It was a long steady kick. When I hit the ditch I was running out of gas but I wasn't gonna let myself crash when I was 300 from the finish. A couple more girls passed me somewhere with 800 left I don't know where really cause it's a blur now. I got to the final stretch, past the 3 mile mark and gave whatever I had left, maintaining my position. Ended up 9th in my heat. I kind of wish I was in the second heat cause those times were faster and I feel like it would have pulled me along better, I was gauging off of the others around me and how I felt. But running in the heat we did had its advantages, I was able to run freely and not get boxed in. 

Overall I think it was a decent race. Didn't turn out like I wanted, but I did work hard and actually ended up being my second fastest 5k. The 3 mile would have been around 18:50. I was disappointed with it because I have been comparing it to last weeks race, but effort wise this race was one of my better ones. It was actually harder than you'd expect from such a flat course. I think I could have worked harder in the second half to push through the pain, it frustrates me because I know I have to hurt in races but every time I just don't want to, and it's always the second half that suffers. I have been getting better at it, but lots of improvement can still be made. I didn't like the course much because of all the out and backs, last years course was much better.

Cooled down 3 miles on my own cause I thought we weren't gonna get much  from cheering the boys on, but I was wrong. Ended up getting 6 miles. As for my knee, on the warmup it hurt a little for the first .5 then was fine. I took ibuprofen before just to make sure it wouldn't be an issue in the race.

Went out to the oval later in the evening to do the workout. We warmed up 3 miles and then did 4x400s with a minute recovery between each. We alternated who led, Bill led the first, Angie the second, I the third, and Bill again for the last. Goal pace was 80-85, we hit 78, 77, 76, 77. It was harder than I remember it being but I haven't done fast speed in a really long time. And we went faster than anticipated :) 2 miles cool down

Went out to the oval again today, we did 3 miles warmup. Workout was 4x200s, a mile (not 1600), and 2x400s. The 200s were 37, 36, 35, 37. Was tight when we started but loosened up as we went on. For the mile I was supposed to hit 5:30, I hit 5:44. That wasn't what I wanted at all. It frustrated me a bit. I should have stuck with Bill, he hit 5:28. The 400s were 76, 77 but by then I was having a hard time focusing, Bill and Angie were faster. It was a good workout though and I hit good times for all except the mile. Grrrrrrrr. Cooled down to 8.

4 miles around Sugarhouse. Thought I was going to my cabin today, but my dad got sick so we're not going anymore. On the upside it means I don't have to do the rest of my runs this week in the snow and won't risk ending my season by sledding into a tree :)

Ran a 5k this morning, my time sucked but it was a tough course and was much better quality than the 21 minute tempo I was supposed to do in Island Park (I can almost guarantee I wouldn't have hit it with all the snow up there and being all by myself). I'm one who has to have a good first mile, my first mile was 6:30ish... Yikes. I lost focus in the middle, mostly mental because of all the hills. I didn't know when it would end. 6:50ish second mile and 6:35ish last mile plus whatever to the finish. Yeah not a great race but it served its purpose. I didn't prepare at all for it, usually when I have a good race I have some sort of plan. Today I just showed up and ran :) On a happier note I BEAT THE MAYOR! We did the course as a cool down even though I didn't want to. Final time: 20:21 yes I feel so accomplished HAPPY TURKEY DAY! Time to stuff my face with CHICKEN.

Jeremy ranch road. On some parts I was ice skating more than running. Was kind of tired and sluggish but it was nice to get the run in.

5x1000s at Wheeler Farm. It was windy but otherwise pretty nice out for it being a couple days away from December. Did our regular warmup lap after measuring out the 1000s with the roller thing and did 8 strides. My times went 3:44, 3:46, 3:52, 4:03, 4:06. The wind probably made us a couple seconds slower on each because we ran into it more than with it. I really didn't want to do this workout but I guess I got through it. My last two really sucked (I was hating life there, I think mentally I got down on myself because I didn't hit the 3rd and I still worked hard. Stupid really but it was very difficult and hurt more than I was expecting.) Between each we had equal recovery, a little over a minute of it was running to the start. Then did cool down to what got me 8.25.