Running is a means and never merely an end

Fun little trail run with Mell and Breck on the trails behind Milliken park. Today was BEAUTIFUL. 

60 minute out and back on rail trail. Last 15 minutes fast. My calves were killing me for the first 3 miles, but then all the sudden they loosened up and I felt amazing for the rest of the run. Another beautiful day!

Weights afterwards.

Workout day! Kind of a rough one but it was 70 and sunny so hey still a W in my book. 2 mile warm up to the lower fields. We did 3 sets of 1600/1200/800 with 45-60 seconds between each. The miles were at like 7 minute pace, the 1200's at 6:30 pace, and the 800 at 6 pace. Our second set was pretty rough, which is probably why coach Harris took the 1600 off of our 3rd set, so we just did 1200 & 800 for that one. I don't really know why the second set was so slow. My knee bugged me a bit but I don't think that slowed me down at all, I guess I was just tired. 

Cooled down for a while afterwards & then did core with Ciara in the locker room.

Recovery run - took it super easy, and needed that because my legs were killing me the whole time. Did a little exploring with Mell and ran through a really nice neighborhood she said she used to run in as a freshman. I'd like to come back on my own and explore all it's ins and outs. 8:33 avg pace.

Weights afterwards, and then core. Our Wednesday weight sessions are so much better than our Monday ones. I feel like I'm sore every week from the Monday sessions from the million squat variations we do.

AM - 45 minutes solo. Had a hard time getting comfortable but I enjoyed being by myself actually. 7:56 avg.

PM- 30 minutes easy shake-out. Legs felt much better than this morning, but then again it was slower and easier.

Today was freeeezing cold rainy. But our workout was pretty good! We were going to do it at Milliken but it would have been a mud hole so we just did lotsss of circles around the track instead. Warmed up, then did 6/3/5/2/4/1 minutes hard (like 5k race pace or a little above) with a 2 minute jog between each, and a 40 second surge at some point during each one (we just did surge pace for the whole last minute since we were almost done anyways). Even with 20 minutes jogging rest essentially, we still ended up 7:20 avg pace per mile. It felt too easy honestly, maybe I should have gone faster. I was never super tired at any point. Did a cool down and some core work afterwards.

My best friends from back home came and visited me this weekend! They didn't leave till about 8 though and I didn't to waste the time they were here by going off and running, so I just ran after they left. Henceforth...late night pre-meet run on the treadmill, cause how else is a runner gonna spend Saturday night? 

We race at JDL tomorrow, a track very familiar to me of course from my senior year in high school. I'm running the 3k, which I am really excited about. I like that distance. I'm not sure what my goals should be at this point in the year, so I'm just shooting to get better and beat my first (and only) 3k time from the App meet in December.