Running is a means and never merely an end

Jonathan came home from Rabun Gap for his spring break! So we went to Western and did a nice long run - 9 miles easy. I thought my legs were going to be really worn out for some reason but I actually felt really, really good. First meet is coming up, next Thursday (weather permitting)!

1 mile warm up, just over 6 miles, gradually speeding up from about 8 minute pace during the first mile to about 6:50 pace by the last mile. It was a very hilly 6 miles. I took on every hill I saw within a 3 mile radius of campus, so my calves are really tight and tired. Other than that, I felt good!

Today was our 1st mile repeats day of the season (yay...?)! To be honest, I despise mile repeats more than any other workout. But we only did 3 today, and they weren't all that fast now that I think about it, so I didn't mind them so much today. My goal was to be sub-7 and get faster on each one. I hit 7:02, 6:42, 6:37, with 2 and half minutes of walking between each one. 1.3 mile warm up and 1.8ish mile cool down. Lifted afterwards, then stretched.

.8 mile warm up, 3 miles moderately paced, 8x100m strides, .5 mile cool down. Muscles were a little tight today. They really only started to feel loose during my cool down. Thank goodness I am missing my meet tomorrow, I am not at all mentally prepared for it!

Went to Greensboro to watch the 4th round of state playoffs today so I didn't get a run in, but I did a full body circuit before school. My arms are a little sore from that!

30 minute run + warm up and cool down. My mind is just totally not focused on running this week...all I can think about is basketball playoffs and how excited I am for the 5th round this weekend! If we win this we go to the state championship!! Hopefully I'll be a little more focused next week.

It was absolutely beautiful outside today!! Felt like summer! I did 2.2 mile warm up, strides and dynamics, then 6x400m at mile race pace, 1200m of sprint 200/jog 200, full body strength circuit, 1.5 mile cool down, & finished it off with an ice bath. I still wasn't quite all-in mentally...but it ended up alright. I got SO sunburnt though! Next time I spend like 3 hours on the track, suncreen it is.

.75 mile warm up, 30 minute easy pre-meet jog, and lots of stretching. First meet tomorrow, but its really more like a competitive practice because it is in GA and isn't sactioned. I think I am going to run the 800 and 3200.

My 2 mile was terrible. I ran a 12:13 at indoor states, and a 12:42 today. It wasn't even that it hurt so badly physically as mentally. I was just readyto stop by the end of the 3rd lap...I kept making mental excuses like the heat and the fact that its only the first meet. I just didn't have any motivation or love for the sport. My 800 was a lot better. I prayed a lot about it after the 2 mile and so that is totally thanks to God. I was shooting for sub-2:45 and ran a 2:42 and won pretty easily. There was barely any competition though so the win didn't mean much. Something needs to change...I'm not happy with today.

.9 mile warm up. We were supposed to fo 6x800 but I thought that was ridiculous the day after a meet and 2 days before another meet...so I had us do 5, and they were more like 775's because our track is too short. It was a stupid workout and I was really unhappy about having to do speedwork in a situation like this. The wind was blowing SO hard too and it was raining at times. 1 mile cool down. 

Easy pre-meet jog by myself, with 5x80m strides afterwards. I am running the mile and 800 tomorrow. I'm really just happy to have a little break from the 2 mile, which I have done in every single meet since the first meet my junior year. I'm trying to take tomorrow as more of a speed workout day and not get to mentally wrapped up in these early-season meets. I may even get a few extra miles in afterwards seeing as we haven't done crap for mileage this week. I've gotta start doing more on my own...

Second meet of the season (and week) today! I feel so, so good about today. I had the worst mentality after Tuesday's meet about my track career and running in general. I think part of what made today so much more successful was that this is the first time since the beginning of my junior year that I haven't ran the 2 mile in a meet. It felt really fun and gave me a break mentally to be able to enjoy some quicker races. So I won the 1600 in 5:44.7 (recorded at 5:45) and also the 800 in 2:37.8 (recorded at 2:38). Both of those met regional qualifying time. And to top off a fun meet, I was named female runner MVP of the meet. I feel super thankful that God just totally turned my mind around and helped restore my love for the sport. 

2.5 mile cool down jog around Franklin's campus after the meet. Probably about 2 miles total for warm up for my events.

Today sucked. I planned a long run, 8 miles or so, but I literally could barely walk 30 minutes in because my calves tightened up so badly. I don't know what happened. They felt like steel. I slowly made my way back to the track and rested and massaged them for a little while. After they started feeling a little better, I did 1 mile of sprint the straights/easy jog the curves (averaged out and finished at 7:31) just to get some sort of a workout in. 1.1 mile easy cool down and lots of stretching afterwards.

Easy pre-meet with the boys. Uneventful practice, which I guess is a good thing the day before a meet!

Ran the 2 mile and the 800 together for the first time ever today. They are only 1 event apart, the 200m nevertheless, so barely any rest time (with the 2 mile being the lattter). I figured it would make me tougher though, and the 2 mile may seem easier in the future when I am fresh! I won both of them but competition was easy. 2:41 and 12:36. I was tired but I felt really strong in my 2 mile (my 2nd mile was faster than my 1st?), and I know I could have done much better with competition. 

Long warm up and cool down because it was so cold.

.75 mile warm up, 30 minute fartlek run (1 minute hard/1 minute easy x 15), .8 mile cool down. I can feel myself falling back into love with running after the bad week I had last week. I love this feeling.

Coach had a long-speed workout for us today (3x2 miles) but my legs were just not feeling it after 3 meets in 7 days, so I went to Western and did a long, slow run. 72 minutes so I'm guessing a little over 9 miles, plus a .55 mile warm up. I felt wonderful today! I didn't have a very good day but long runs always make my day, and today was no exception. I'm so thankful to be able to run!!

.75 mile warm up, then we headed over to the cemetery for some hill sprints. 10 sprints, each progressively longer and steeper, starting at about 80 meters and ending around 120. These were really, really easy for me, and for most of the cross country runners. Everyone else thought it was awful (haha). 20 minute run afterwards. 

Big meet Tuesday...but I didn't really want to get another 5 or 6 miler in because I felt like I wanted to get a little bit of a speed workout in. 2.2 mile warm up, 3x1200m at 3200 race pace. I hit 4:41/4:41/4:45, which is a little slower than race pace, but I'm not too concerned because I know I could have done better, but I didn't want to kill myself with the meet in 2 days. I worked mainly on getting progressively faster with each lap during each rep, which worked out well. 2.2 mile cool down.

Fairly easy pre-meet today. 1 mile up-tempo (but not quite tempo pace) on the track - 7:15. Then 2(ish) miles on the grass down below. They were supposed to be easy...but for several reasons I won't really go into, they didn't actually feel very easy. Had to ice my tight calves afterwards.

Meet got cancelled today because it was pouring the snow. So I went to Western and did a little 6-miler. My watch actually stopped working (not sure if it basically froze or if the battery just died because it was still relatively new?) a few minutes in so I have no idea what pace I was at but I would guess maybe 8 flat on average, 7:50 average tops. Afterwards, 4x200m sprints on the track to loosen my legs back up, then short cool down and stretching. The snow didn't really bother me, it was actually really pretty at times because the sun would come out while it snowed and it looked like heaven! I'm kind of thankful to get to see God's handiwork like that today, there's no way I would hve noticed any of that if we had a meet.

Pisgah meet tomorrow, so practice was relatively easy today. We did an 800 and a 1600 on the track, supposedly "up-tempo," but honestly I knew I was taking it fairly easy (about 3:20 and 7:25). 20 minute jog afterwards, which felt really good. No tightness in my calves today!

I'm not sure what I want to run tomorrow...I have never ran the 3200, 1600, and 800 altogether, so I thought this might be a good time (before we get to our conference/regional/state meets) to try it and toughen up a little bit. If you can do it when you're tired, you can do it when you're fresh, right? I'll have to look into it a little more though. In any case, I'll be doing at least two of the three. 

Today I ran, for the first time, all 3 (800, 1600, 3200). I feel like a wimp saying this because I know some runners do that every meet...but it was so hard for me. I don't know... I was just absolutely exhausted - maybe mentally even more than physically - by the 2 mile. My 800 went fine, I placed 3rd with a 2:39 which is 2 seconds off of my PR. 1600 went fine also, I placed 2nd with a 5:49 which is 6 or 7 seconds off my PR. My 3200 was absolutely terrible though. I had an awful mindset going into it ("ehh, maybe I'll just tempo it?") and it showed. I ran a 12:48 or something, which is the second worst time I've ever ran the 2 mile in. I'd like to think that was just because I had never done it after already having ran the mile and 800...but honestly I think I just sucked and that's all there is to say. I'm so glad this meet is over. I'm a little pissed and ready to go get better tomorrow.

I had such a great recovery run today! I planned on doing a solid 5 miles at my usual 7:50-8 recovery pace, but it was sprinkling rain and just felt so good out that I ended up doing 6 miles before I even realized it, and at a 7:20-7:40 pace (depending on the hills in that mile). It didn't phase me at all, I felt so strong and capable the whole time. Best run I've had in a few weeks!

Lots of core work and a little bit of upper body afterwards. 

AM - 3 miles easy. It is really windy today but it was a beautiful little run! God is so good.

PM - Got some mile repeats in at the track at FHS after 4-wheeling for the afternoon with Harrison! He timed my splits for 4x1600. I wanted them between 6:15-6:30 but the wind was so bad that I wasn't gonna be too upset if I wasn't right on, but they went well enough. I hit 6:18/6:22/6:34/6:??...for that last one, I did continuous 200's (jog 200/fast 200) within the mile so Harrison was getting my 200 splits (39/39/39/38) which is why we didn't get a full time. 1.25 mile warm up and .55 mile cooldown.

Easy 7(ish) mile recovery run + 6x100m strides and an ice bath. Felt alright except my left leg/foot was hurting me really bad for the first few miles. I have no clue why. It is like a pain in the middle of my foot with every left stride that stretches up through my fibula - not my calf or achilles but it sort of feels like it hurts from the inside. I think I am gonna do a tempo run tomorrow so hopefully it will feel better after a night's rest.