Running is a means and never merely an end

Well, I did better today than my last 3k, so technically a PR (but eh..). I'm not super happy with it though. I was hoping to drop to 11:25 or so today. I guess I don't understand why I'm not really getting much faster when I am doing more mileage than I've ever done and harder workouts. And I'm only a little better than I was in high school, doing like 20 miles less a week and my own made-up workouts. I was hng to drop to 11:25 or so today. Perhaps I need to work on the little things more. My workouts may be harder and I may be doing more mileage, but I think I was much more disciplined about the little things in high school - stretching after practice, eating healthy, proper post-race recovery, etc. Gotta get back to that.

Anyways, Breck and I ran the 3k, solely along with High Point's 4 long distance girls. So they went out in a pack pretty immediately, needless to say. 1 of them straggled a bit and I was able to stay within 20 or so meters of her the whole time. Breck pushed me well in the first mile, hanging on my shoulder. Came through at like 6:04 I think. After that she dropped off and I was sort of in no-mans-land for the next 1000 meters. I started catching up to that last High Point girl over the course of the last 400, and I caught her with 60 to go on the homestretch, but I don't think she realized I was that close because as soon as she noticed me she took off. I think that helped me run a little harder that last 400 though. Those girls were really sweet after the race.

Cooled down 15 minutes afterwards. My calves felt so much better today! A lot of times they hurt pretty badly after meets because I think my spikes are more mid-distance and encourage toe running. But I wore the spikes that Wofford gave me for the first time and I loved them! They were much more supportive and cushioned. Legs were still a little junky so I spent a little time on the elliptical whenever we got back home on campus, then stretched a good bit. That helped a lot. We have a workout tomorrow.

We drove up to Pauline for our little backroad workout today. 2 miles warm up. The workout is kind of hard to describe. We went out and back 2 miles, which contained several solid hills, and during those 4 miles we would surge up the hills and recover on the downhills. Then we rolled directly into a 2 mile "tempo" on the way back of the 2 miles we warmed up to. That was almost completely uphill, so tempo is a relative term...it was more like tempo effort, because it couldn't end up tempo pace. The hills were pretty tough on the out and back portion. Coach Harris said he thought I was probably struggling with those so much because I don't pick up my feet then I run - I have a very miniscule knee drive. So they definitly were killing my hamstrings and butt. Not muscles I'm used to using. In hindsight, I wish I would have gone a little bit faster on the "tempo" portion of it. I wasn't as tired as I should have been (like as I was during the hill surges) when I finished. 15 minute cool down and stretching afterwards.

Weights & core later. At dinner before weights, I talked to Hunter about my frustration on why I am not getting much better yet. He said it's a process and they're training me to be my best by junior/senior year, not really the end of each season. But he also said that "the girls" need to learn to be more mentally tough. Part of me wanted to be offended but then the bigger part of me realized that if I took any offense to that, it's probably true. Maybe its my mental game that's lacking most.

Recovery run. 7:53 avg pace.

AM- 30 minutes easy before class. 8:23 avg pace.

PM- 45 minutes moderate at 7:48 avg pace, then weights and core. Still working on this mental toughness thing, and I am feeling better about it. Excited to work hard.

Awesome workout today!! We went to Spartan High and actually did some track work for more or less the first time this season. 2 mile warm up, then we got into a 3 mile tempo. Since it was only 3 miles, and on the track, it was a pretty quick pace. Target 6:45, which I was intimidated by at first, but we ended up going 6:38 avg. I'm super happy with that. That's honestly not even that much slower than my actual race pace from that ETSU meet the other day. But I'm most happy with my attitude during it. Definitely working well with this whole gaining mental toughness deal. After a few minutes, we did 2 sets of 3x400 at 93sec target, but actually 88-90 in reality, with 30sec between each. Those were just fun. 2 mile cool down afterwards. Surprising my family and heading home this weekend!!! Might be good for me to get a few days of work in by myself anyways!

Recovery run at 7:56 average pace. I honestly don't know how it ended up being sub-8 pace...there were like 30mph winds (and of course when you're running loops, wind seems to defy the laws of nature and be againt you 90% of the time) that made me feel like I was barely breaking 9 almost the entire time. Really felt the tiredness in my legs. I probably could have taken it a little bit easier than I did, being that my legs are so worked from this week. Oh well, no meet this weekend!

100 minutes today all around Cullowhee! Averaged 8:11 pace. I probably got like 60 or so minutes of it on soft surface, so that was good. I felt really good. Passed Taylor on campus and Tori too, playing soccer with her friends, so that was cool. I'll see them later tonight though! I love being home. Abs and stretching afterwards.