Sock tans

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.