Sock tans

Glute was bugging a little after the warmup, went into the training room and after the first bridge I felt a pop. That was nice, hip went back in quick. Glute was good after that, stinking hips. Mile warmup then straight into a 60% on farm run. Coach said the range for my group was 6:25-6:35 and he wanted us to try to stick together, with an emphasis on those in the back to push to keep up (me haha). At the beginning coach was like what’re your 60s like? Your guess is as good as mine haha. I didn’t know what I could hold so I just made it my goal to stay with the group for as long as possible. I made it 3 miles then slipped back maybe 10-20 meters the 4th mile and then kinda died the last one but Haley wasn’t actually that far ahead of me and had fallen off too, I started closing the gap she had on me just a tad in the last half mile. Splits went 6:23, 12:55 (6:32), 19:22 (6:27), 26:01 (6:39), 32:58 (6:57). Averages out at 6:36, so I was right there. Coach was happy, and I am too. Now I know where I’m at. The first 3 felt really relaxed then the last two got hard. My anterior lower leg was bugging a tiny bit on the warmup, then gradually got worse as the workout progressed. I’d wanted to stop to be cautious about 2ish miles into the 60 but I was far from the track and coach was picking us up.. so I ran through it. Ankle was bugging a bit at the end too. Then did a half mile of cool down, calves were burning. I could manage my leg and ankle. Then piled in coaches car, drove back to the track, and got maybe .1 on the rest of cool down before I called it quits because my leg was too tight. Stiffened up in the car. Got it treated, Drew looked at it. Did hip rehab. Then went to weights, released it some, I could feel the difference just by palpating it compared to my other leg. Super tight. Coach I helped me out, he showed me what to do on the roller. Afterwards it felt so much better, just fatigued and still a little tight but I could feel when it just gave out. I was so tired by the end of weights. We did 5 sets today of pretty much everything. Usually it’s 3. This is the hard week in weights, too. Got some nutritious snacks after as always and tried the ionized water, it was rejuvenating. Then rolled out and ice bathed. This week is 3-4 days of effort, here we go. Depending on how my leg feels tomorrow I may or may not just do a 50. 

Leg was still bugging a little. Went in early and heated, rolled out and stretched. After the warmups I was still iffy about whether or not I should be running. After 1.5 miles warmup it felt surprisingly good, enough that I was debating between doing a 50% or the workout. Decided on a 50% because I wanted to err on the side of caution. Asked Coach, he told me I should take 2 days off and do the injury prevention thing and bike, but idk, I felt like the bike wouldn’t be any different than running. It’s not impact that’s the issue. It’s just tight. After a few jokes lol he said I could either bike or go get my arch taped and do a 50, I opted for the 50. At first the tape was bugging my heel but then it was alright after a mile. Leg was perfectly fine on the run, either the tape worked or I warmed up or both. I’m super sore and heavy, I think today was a needed recovery day anyways. Hoping I can do the workout tomorrow! Did Main + Canyon, cut it short to 7 like Drew wanted me to. 7:31 average. Glute challenge for hip rehab, rolled out, gunned (this is the flipping best thing I’m getting one for myself when I can afford one lol), rolled out plantar fascia with golf ball, rehab for leg, then ice cupped. Longest time I’ve spent in the training room in a while. 

Workout today was a power run, coach said it would be a faster 50% but the range was 6:45-7:15, so not 50% pace... it’s like 55% haha because 60% pace is usually 6:15-6:45, except he bumped that up this week to 6:35... maybe he’s just raising the bar. Idk. It’s kind of fun to remember back to my freshman year when the majority of the team couldn’t hit 6:45 average on farm run... only like Angie and the Ashley’s, me (sometimes) and Brighton could. And maybe Sharlie. And now I’m the slowest and I averaged 6:36 earlier this week, crazy how much our team has improved. I remember 6:45 pace for 4 miles of 60% was good for me my freshman year, so I’ve improved too. 

Anyways, power run for technically 3 miles but our first mile of warmup was quick too. Coach is experimenting with workouts, today was an experiment haha. We’re cutting the 80% on effort weeks and changing it to something similar to what we did today. It’ll make the 4 days back to back easier to manage, it can be pretty rough sometimes. I’m happy that coach is so accommodating to our team and doesn’t actually want to kill us hahaha.

Power run: 7:15 (warmup mile), 6:48, 6:46, 7:18 (slower because we were doing laps to add mileage). Averages out to 7:02. Felt really good actually. Then a longer hill repeat that coach said was a quarter, definitely wasn’t. He wanted us to go to the stop sign. This is one of the steepest hills in Cedar, the girls that went the whole way said it was .42 miles to the stop sign. I stopped because everyone else did, or so I thought. Turns out some kept going. We ran .3, and that was still really hard. Yikes I felt slow as a turtle haha. Then 10x15 second hill sprints, those were nice actually. Felt good. Then longer repeat again at the end, Coach had Paul come down the hill a little ways so it would actually be a quarter. That one was really hard, but I wasn’t last because a couple girls stopped for a sec. Coach called us wimps hahaha then Sharlie was like well why don’t you try it and he changed the topic real quick! Haha it was pretty funny. Cooled down to 7.

Leg still felt a little tight/stiff during warmups, but then it warmed up on our mile of warmup and it wasn’t much of a bother. Was still a little nervous about it right before we started the hills because I didn’t know how it’d feel for repeats, but it was fine.

Weights after. Drew said today would be a recovery day for rehab so I just stretched, rolled out, rapid rebooted and gunned. Coach told me in weights that I looked good today in the workout and to keep up the good work. He also said I’ll be able to race at the next NAU meet which I’m excited about because I thought for sure I wouldn’t be traveling. Coach is more encouraging than I’ve expected him to be. And he’s seemed genuinely surprised and happy with what I’ve been hitting, so that’s kind of fun. It makes me more excited about what’s to come. 

It was soooo windy today! I had a hard time running in a straight line. Ran with Josie and Haley and ended up averaging 7:45 which is good considering. Then rolled out, did hip rehab, stretched out everything in lower legs, and rapid rebooted my hips. Knee was bothersome for the first 2 miles but then warmed up and was fine afterwards. 

Coach told me in the training room that I’m improving like crazy, which is true haha, and that I looked really strong on the hills yesterday. He said he can tell when someone’s ready to race and I’m getting there, he said Josie, Haley and I are making it difficult for him because he wants to travel us all haha. He said he thinks I can run fast this season like I used to, that I can get down to a 5:10 again. I was a little surprised to be honest, I think I’ve had this mental barrier and haven’t really believed I’ll improve off of my high school times. But I know it’s possible. He told me I need to have more confidence. That’s probably true :) he said I look more fit and I’m running really well right now, I’m excited because yeah compared to years past I am. I think I’m finally getting back into the groove I used to have. 

Windy again, this time the other direction. Did Cross Hollows from my house then came back up by Walmart and added a half mile on the Dikes trail to make it 10. Started out slowish because of my knee/leg, leg isn’t painful anymore it just makes my knee stiff and running doesn’t feel smooth for the first bit. 10 minutes in it felt good, warmed up. I was at 7:15 average pace when I hit the bottom of Walmart Canyon/Cross Hollows (5ish miles in), then felt good I guess and had the wind to my back going back up the hill past campus and towards Walmart/home. Ended up with 7:11 average for all 10, which was surprising. That hill always feels dreadful at the end of a run, plus the one up to Walmart, but it felt good today. Thank you wind :)

Did 3x10 pushups and 3x25 crunches, for whatever reason my abs are sore. I want to start doing core workouts every day, but I’m going to start small so I have a better chance of keeping up with it. Once I’ve been consistent for a couple weeks I’ll bump it up. Then glute challenge for hip rehab. It’s feeling a lot easier now than it did my first time, maybe next time I’ll increase the time for each exercise from 30 seconds to 45 seconds. It’s still hard at 30 seconds especially on my weaker/tighter leg, but I feel like I could handle more time.

HR 56

Dikes to Main + Canyon and back. Knee was stiff again for a little less than a mile then it warmed up. Warmed up quicker today, maybe because it was warmer out? (48 degrees). I’ve been hitting this point around 7 miles into the run where I just feel great and smooth. Second time in a row :) I feel pretty strong right now. 7:16 average

5x10 push-ups, 5x25 crunches. Glute challenge again for hip rehab, increased to 45 seconds each exercise (so 10.5 minutes straight hips, 5:15 each leg). It actually wasn’t even that bad. My weaker side felt it for sure, but I could’ve done a minute each exercise if I’m being honest. Crazy cause at the beginning of Cross 30 seconds felt really hard. I also remember when I couldn’t do more than 3 good form pushups in a row (high school). Now 10 at a time feels fairly easy (probably thanks to weights).

I’ve been terrible about sleep this week. I’m going to make an effort to get to bed earlier

HR 55