Running is a means and never merely an end

2 mile warm up, 4x1000m repeats, 2 mile cool down. I was shooting for ever-so-slightly faster than race pace, so 3:56 (95 a lap). I hit 3:56, 3:57, 3:56, 3:59. Really had to fight for those last two...in fact I'd planned on doing 5, but I had slown down so much on #4 (6 seconds slow at the 800) and only managed to get sub-4 by bargaining with myself that it should be quality over quantity, and that if I kicked really hard the last 200 then I'd call it a day. I feel bad about that, but I think it was a good choice. Had I tried a 5th, first of all I wouldn't have kicked so I probably would have ran well over 4 minutes for the fourth, and second of all the fifth would have definitely been even slower. So that would have been a jab to the confidence. Oh well, ya win some ya lose some! 

7:52 average. Great run around Duncan Park!

.75 warm up, 6 miles tempo at Milliken at 7:12 avg. Happy with that given its so hilly!! .25 cool down.

AM- 1 mile warm up, 4x1 mile repeats, 1 mile cool down. 6:52, 6:52, 6:44, 6:48. Felt rough, I think I'm tired from that tempo for sure.

PM- 5 miles easy. First run in my new Ghosts!

Awesome long run on a trail off the parkway with the whole team! We had our cross country mountain weekend and all went up to stay at J-Rice's cabin for the weekend. "Hard Times Trail"...and the name doesn't lie. It went straight uphill for 15 minutes, then straight downhill for 15 minutes, then relatively flat for 15, and then we turned around and did the same thing coming back. Man those uphills were rough, and contrary to popular belief it was actually kind of difficult running downhill for so long too. But I worked hard on the uphill to just keep going no matter what (a lot of people were having to stop and take breaks), so I tried to stick with Anya. We killed it, and averaged 8:12, which is pretty insane considering the length of the uphill and the fact that downhill doesn't help as much as uphill hurts (just like how tailwind doesn't aid as much as headwind slows). Good run!

Also, 61 miles this week!!! I've only touched over 60 once before, but I feel fantastic. Sweet!

AM- 4 mile repeats with a mile warm up and cool down. They SUCKED. 6:44, 6:52, 7:02, 7:06....just sad. Not gonna dwell though, it's over.

PM- 4.25 mile shakeout.

Definitely feeling the lack of sleep I've had lately. My professors are just kicking my butt, I'm working as dilligently as I can but these are some late nights.

Fartlek at Milliken Park of 1/2/3/4/5/4/3/2/1 minutes hard, with equal easy time between each. The easy time definitely started getting easier and easier as we went on. Ran mostly with Rebeka, which was nice because we all got pretty spread out.

8:25 average. Duncan Park w/ Bekka P.

1 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down. 4 mile tempo onto rail trail with the gals. Stayed mostly with Alexandra and Allie for the first 3 miles, then headed out ahead both of them. Didn't feel very good, but the average wasn't awful (7:03). It should be sub-7 though for sure. I think I am just feeling a little bit tired this week!

Went down through Converse heights to Cottonwood trails behind the high school, out-and-back. Got a solid 2ish miles soft-surface on the trails. But man oh man I felt TERRIBLE. I was just trotting the whole time, legitimately considering walking at times. I'm not sore, or any more sleep deprived than usual, it's just that sucky all-encompassing-tired type feeling after a really long and often stressful week. TGIF for real.

On the upside, Josh let me have the pair of Glycerin's that a lady wore a few times and then brought back last month! 2nd pair of shoes he's given me in 2 weeks....I love my job & I have the best boss ever.

90 minute long run by myself at Milliken today! Felt pretty solid for the first 4 miles or so...then I started feeling a lot like yesterday, but a little worse. Started struggling really badly after about 9 miles. Felt like I was going 9-minute pace at fastest. Somehow though that must have all been my perception because my average was totally normal. 8:07. That was probably one of my harder long runs though. 

AM- warmed up to Rail Trail, then did a 4 mile tempo at 6:45 average. I had to pull off real quick at mile 3 to use the portapotty, which was annoying because that makes my average feel less valid, as though it was aided because I took a little break in there. But yeah I was definitely not about to be able to finish that sucker without stopping somewhere first, I hardly made it to the portapotty. Anyways! Cooled down back to campus.

PM - 3 mile shake out + weights.

2 mile warm up on Cottonwood trails, then onto the track! First Track Tuesday since the end of indoor a few weeks ago. Felt good! We did 2 sets of 1000/1000/600/400 with 60sec rest in between and 2:30 between sets. We were supposed to do these at 10k pace (~6:45), although we definitely didn't stay true to pace and ended up doing like 5k pace (~6:20). But it felt fine so whatevs! Beautiful, sunny day!

8 miles recovery. 8:36 average. I'm having a hard time running that slow, but that's the pace the other gals like to do their recovery runs and since pace doesn't really matter on recovery I don't feel like I should go off on my own. But I'm really just comfortable right around 8 flat for recovery 8:15 tops if I was sore. I don't know what to do about that :/

6 easy + 4x100m strides. 8:31 average... [see yesterday's post]

Easy pre-race. Did 3 with the girls, but that didn't quite feel like enough for my legs so I tacked on another mile. Abs afterwards.

Awesome meet!!! So fun!

The distance girls drove ourselves up so we could sleep in and not sit in the sun all day. Got there around 2, race was at 3:40. We warmed up a little less than 2 miles. We were ALL racing the 3k which I could not have been more excited about! It's like cross country again, but on a track! There were 2 heats, and Anya was int he 1st (and killed it), but the rest of us were all together in the second. We planned to try and pack up a bit, and we totally did! Got a little lost from eachother in the first 100 or so, but then found eachother again and settled in. Allie went out pretty fast, so we just let her go. Me, breck, and rebekah each led at one point or another and stayed together as we steadily moved up throughout the race. We picked off people together, one by one. With maybe a 600 to go I started hearing Shannon come up behind me. At that point, we were all together + Allie out front, and all had moved up and passed everyone else. Breck made a move and started going up with Allie. I wanted to go with her but I just didn't quite have it. Shannon passed me and I was in the back of our pack. We rounded the curve onto the final 100 stretch and I kicked like crazy, but we all did. I passed Shannon, but not quite rebekah.

We swept the heat!!! We went 1,2,3,4,5 in the second heat, I was #4. I ran an 11:25, which isn't a PR but I was pretty happy with considering that I'd ran an 11:38 in December and had a hamstring injury that put me out for a month in January/February! I'd call that a comeback. :)

Afterwards, we walked over to change our shoes and coach Bomar told us to hurry up and that we weren't done yet. He said to go run a 3 mile tempo at 7:00 pace. Some of the girls were not super thrilled but I was sooo excited. Pro's do that all the time! It felt cool to be treated like a serious runner, not like a delicate little thing that needs all this babying after a race or hard workout. We were still kind of catching our breath when we went into it, so that first mile definitely hurt. I settled in after about a mile and a half though and the rest felt suprisingly good. Finished with a 6:58 average. Then cooled down 10 minutes. I got my money's worth today!

Off day, but quick little shakeout with Allie and Anya for some active recovery. I was definitely sore (for the first time in a while!) so I needed it.

AM- warmed up to rail trail, then did a 4.25 mile tempo. 6:48 average. Splits went 6:46/6:41/6:55/6:47. That 3rd mile where it went way up, the wind had been at my back for the first 2 so when I turned around it was like a brick wall hit me and I just had a ton of resistance I was not prepared for haha. Got into a groove and started cutting it back down for mile 4.

For the last .75 or so my legs were just honestly having a really hard time working! They didn't feel tired, and I was doing okay cardiovascularly, I just felt this weird uncoordinated feeling like I couldn't make them (especially the left one) do what I wanted. Hopefully that was just a byproduct of running hard on sore legs or something, oh well. Cool down + abs after.

Also, first run in my latest kicks from my boss Josh! I've always hated Mizuno, but these actually rock. Snappy, but way more comfortable and cushioned than I expected for being so quick. Perfect tempo shoes.

PM- 3 mile shakeout. Weights with the team.

Track Tuesday! But first, 2 mile warm up on the trails. I tripped on a root and skinned my upper leg to blood. Luckily it is skinned in the shape of South Africa! Sweet! 

The workout was 2 sets of 1000/1000/800/600 with 80 sec between reps and 2:20 between sets. It was supposed to be 10k pace, but we did a bit faster than that. First set went great, I was feeling strong. 1000's were right around 4:00, 800 was 3:12, 600 was 2:21. Definitely started feeling it in my legs after the first 1000 in the 2nd set. Worked hard with my teammates though and tried to stay in the pack and compete, and even though it was hurting significantly more we all pushed through it and actually kept getting faster. After the 2nd 1000 (3:58), coach Bomar told us to change the last 800/600 to a 600/600/400 with the 400 fast. We did that, and did it well. 2:20/2:18/1:23. Good, productive workout. Only had time for a half mile cooldown though.

Kind of a sucky run today. It was supposed to be 8 but we got started late and I had a meeting in less than an hour so I had to cut it down a little. I ran with Anya and Alexandra, and I really wanted to stay with them but they were going like 7:35 pace and, while I'm capable of that, it would be like another workout and my legs were really tired and needing a little recovery. It took me till about mile 3 to realize that though, so then the rest of the run was just pretty miserable, essentially trying to recover from those first couple miles. Ended up averaging 8 flat. I wish I'd just gone 8 flat the whole time.

Weights/abs on my own.

2 mile warm up on the trails, then to the track. 3 sets of 4x300m at 5k goal pace with 100 jog in between each, and 400 jog between sets. We shot for 70 for the first 3 sets, but I was feeling a little too comfortable so I asked if everyone was good with cutting down to 68 or so. We hit 67, 69, 67, 66. After the first set, we started taking turns leading, which was really cool and made the reps past more quickly. 1 mile cool down afterwards.

Happy Good Friday! 

8 miles recovery at Milliken park. 8:13 avg. Our coach sent us a workout of a 5 mile tempo run, but my legs have been exhausted this week after 3 workouts in the past 4 days, and the only non-workout day being such a crappy run it felt like a workout. It's a long season...so I just listened to my body today and did a little recovery. Still felt pretty rough, but much better than a tempo would have. Stretched a lot afterwards. Also Milliken was BEAUTIFUL today! It's an arboretum, and all the trees were blooming flowers. Plus, I get to go home today for Easter this weekend!

12 mile long run at home! So so happy to be home. 8:20 average. I ran around campus at western for the first 9 miles or so, then to Cullowhee Valley, around the loop, and back to finish out the last 3. Did a couple 80 meter strides afterwards to shake out my legs. Felt good!

Fartlek. I was crammed for time but I did what I could between 3 and my meeting at 4. Ten minutes warm up, then 33 minute fartlek, then 9 minute cool down. I did 2 minutes tempo, then 1 minute easy recover pace for the 32 minutes, except the last one I just went ahead and made 3 minutes tempo. Felt good! I was on stopwatch so I am guestimating total mileage on the low end, if anything it would be higher but it's hard to guage. 

Weights later.

Track Tuesday!

1mi warm up, dynamics, hurdle mobility drills.

2 sets of [1200 / 800 / 1000 / 600] with the 1200 and 1000 at 10k pace and the 8 and 6 at 5k pace. 1:20 rest and 2:20 between sets.

2 mile barefoot cool down + abs.

I did't really get tired until the last 1000/600, and man did it hit me. My splits wound up fine but I felt like I was really having to fight for those last 2 to just be fine. Legs were definitely sore from weights, but that's part of the game!

8 miles recovery around Duncan Park. 8:09 average.

2 mile warm up

7x400 at 5k race pace. Shot for & hit 91-93, except for the last, which was 86.

1 mile cool down