You've got to want it to win it

1 mile shakeout this morning.  My legs feel great.  I'm gonna run a tougher race today.

About an hour before the race I went for my warmup.  I did 2 and a half miles and then went back to the track for my strides and drills.  I might have been a little early, but at least it meant I had plenty of time to stretch and make sure I was ready for my race.  I could feel my hamstrings on the warmup, but they weren't too bad.  That is one positive that came from a slow race last night.  When our race started it was fast!  I got to start next to Shalaya Kipp, nbd that she's an olympian or anything... But there were a lot of fast people in the heat!  I got stepped on on the inside of my shoe during the first straightaway and was worried my shoe was going to be torn right through like Abigail's when she ripped hers on a steeple barrier.  It was staying on my foot though so I figured it must be ok.  I came through the 400 at 74!  I could tell this was going to be a much better race.  The next lap I focused on staying with the girls I was with and making that my group.  The 800 was 2:32.  The 1200 was 3:50.  I didn't catch any splits after that.  I ended up in a pack that was just off of the lead pack, Carrie and Jennica from BYU were in the pack with me.  I tried to stay with them the best I could.  With a few laps to go I passed Carrie and was just behind Jennica, then on the second to last lap I got around Jennica, but she passed me back in the last lap since she was stuck behind another girl when I passed her but had finally made her way around.  Carrie passed me too in the last lap, but down the final straight into the finish I passed another girl and Carrie and finished just .06 behind Jennica.  I was a lot happier with this race than the one last night.  I am glad I was able to come so close to my PR on tired legs too.  It was also nice to be able to end the meet with a race I was happy about :)  These next few weeks I am looking forward to getting my miles up and then hopefully I'll see my times come down in outdoor track. Cooled down 2 miles on the trails with Bekah.

Today after the team meeting I went for a run with Nikki, Jessica, Lauren, Alyssa, and Dana.  We ran fruit loop and then through the golf course onto Wasatch.  By 1300s it was just me, Lauren, and Nikki left.  They were with me until 2100s and then turned.  I continued until I was up on the paved Shoreline trail by the freeway, not too far from the first bridge.  I took a few moments to stretch and enjoy the view before heading back to campus the same way I had come.  My goal these next few weeks is to get some mileage in.  

We had a threshold workout at Liberty today.  Some of the girls were having a negative attitude about the rain and the workout but I wasn't letting it rub off on me!  Plus when we went outside to catch the train the rain had settled down from earlier.  Also I saw my cousin on the train platform, she was just getting to campus to watch her team play in the state basketball tournament.  We warmed up to the park from 900e, then did our strides and drills from the track starting spot.  The workout for long distance was a 7 mile threshold, dropping 7 seconds per mile.  For me that meant starting at 6:32, then negative splitting 7 seconds a mile to finish at 5:50.  Kep told me I could wait and do this workout Saturday, but to be honest my legs don't feel sore or anything from racing, so I felt I could do it.  Bekah wasn't there today so I was on my own, but I was ok with that.  I started behind Jess and AuraLea, and Lauren and Alyssa.  I ran through the first mile in 6:36, a little too slow but I would have rather done that than start out too fast.  About a quarter mile into the second one I passed Lauren and Alyssa and everyone else who had joined them at the mile.  My second mile was a 6:22.  I could see AuraLea and Jess up ahead, so I was able to focus on them which really helped me.  Next I hit a 6:16, then a 6:10.  Still feeling great, though on the 5th one I overestimated how much I needed to pick it up by... coming through the half in 2:54.  But I finished that one in 6:03, bad splitting on that one.  But on the next one I ran a 5:57, and passed AuraLea and Jess during that one.  The last mile I felt like I was giving all that I had left.  From the second half of the 6th one I was starting to feel my calves, but not too bad.  My 7th split was 5:58.  Oops.  But if I wanted to make excuses I could say that one had the slight uphill in it.  I thought we had all done great, but Kep thought otherwise... He wasn't very happy with other practices that day and I think overreacted at some of the small mistakes a few of us had made, or small comments before starting...  We got our strides in and cooled down.  I ran to 1300s and then up to 900e and then to the Trax station to finish with 12 total.  I am exhausted.

Today I ran 7 miles on my own before going to the pool.  I started on fruit loop and then ran above the zoo and to 1300s, where I cut down to 1900e and took that back to campus.  Giselle was finishing on the bike just as I got back, and she was going to the pool too, so we pool ran together for 30 minutes :)

Today the long distance group had a fartlek workout up on the trails. We warmed up to there and then did a few more minutes on the trail before taking a stretching break. We didn't have to do the whole strides and drills warmup, so we just got right to work. The workout was four sets of 1:30 on with 1 minute recovery and then 2:30 on with 3 minutes off. I worked with Bekah, we got to choose our efforts for each rep so we did faster pace stuff for the 1:30 and longer race pace for the 2:30. We ran out and back on the trail behind the dorms for the first, on Red Butte up and down for the second, bythe new museum for the third, and on the Red Butte road again for the fourth. We cooled down over to north campus drive and back to the locker room to finish at 8 for the day. Then I did normatech for 20 minutes.

Got my run done early this morning because I was planning on going to watch ski nationals with Giselle and Nikki.  Turns out the meet was postponed because of snow :P  But it was still nice to get my run in.  I ran along 15th to 2100e and then up to 1700e.  I got stuck at the light, and on the other side of the street there was a runner jogging back and forth at the light, also waiting to go south... When it was our turn to go that runner was keeping up with me, and I was getting competitive... I slightly picked it up, but even going 6:40 pace that other runner was appearing in my peripheral vision...  I turned at Parkway and that was the end of that.  I ran the cemetery loop street route, and when I got to 3300s went east to 2000e to return home.  The wind on the way back wasn't fun.  Back at 2100s I ran up to 1900e and then home.  7:04 average pace.  

Today I started my run along 1300e towards campus.  I ran past campus and then up to 11th Avenue.  I ran to the last street before the canyon and then turn and ran down to 7th Avenue to head back east.  Then I ran along the cemetery until I was back at Virginia Street.  When I reached campus I went through and out onto Guardsman, and from there went home to finish with 9.

I missed practice today since I was doing first-aid certification with Giselle.  It was windy outside!  So I started my run into the wind with the intention of just doing an out and back.  I ran to 2100s then up to 1700e, then over the freeway to the next street and up to 20th east.  I didn't want to run into the wind anymore, so at 2700s I turned left and decided to do my over the freeway loop backwards.  After I was across the first bridge and down on the trail leading up to the second bridge, just before the hill steepens up to the other bridge I almost caught up to a male runner who, upon noticing I was about to pass him, pick up his pace.  Then he kept checking back to see how close I was.  SO ANNOYING!  And I could see him doing that from the point I almost passed him until I finally turned onto Thunderbird.  I am surprised he held me off for that long, but if it meant that he was doing his normal run too slow and needed to pick up his pace to get a decent run in then fine, whatever.  I was still kinda mad that I didn't get to pass him.  I let it go while I was on Wasatch and enjoyed being able to just run.  When I turned down 1300s, the light to cross Foothill had just changed and that same runner was crossing the street!  And he wasn't going as fast anymore, he must have slowed down when he looked back and realized I wasn't there anymore.  Vengeance is so sweet :)  I picked up my pace just to make sure I'd catch that light too, then flew past him, though he was on the other side of the street.  I thought I heard someone, probably him, yell "Hey", and maybe it was at me, but I ignored it since I had my iPod in and just kept going.  I was laughing on the inside. :)  But now I am going to let that laughter out on the blog so HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! :)  

This morning we had a workout at the track.  The long distance group decided to start our warmup at 9, which meant we had snow... But right when we got to the workout, the snow stopped! :)  The workout was between 15-20 laps of 200 at a quicker pace, with the recovery 200 being at threshold pace.  For Bekah and me, Kep put the times at 39 and 47, but said that within 2 or 3 seconds was fine.  We did one 200 at 39 to get a feel for the pace, and a 100 in 24, which really confused Kep since he thought we didn't understand the workout.  We got going, and decided to swith off on the inside every 4 laps to help us keep track of where we were at.  I didn't get all of the splits, but mostly the faster ones were 39s and 40s, so that was good.  Kep said it would be ok if we were around 90 for each 400, I was splitting mostly 87s and 88s.  I made it through miles 1 and 2 ok, but the second half of mile 3 it started to get tough.  Bekah started to cut the corner for the recovery since she didn't want to go over time.  For about 2 laps like that I stayed on the outside and pushed my pace to be able to be there when she cut back in.  By lap 13 I was on my own.  My goal then I decided was to make it to 16, these were getting hard!  The last fast 200 was about 42, so there was my confirmation that it was time to be done.  But I'm glad I got in 16 in a row!  And since I didn't do this workout my freshman or sophomore year.  Afterwards I cooled down with Lauren and Jessica for a bit, then added on some on my own to get to 10 total.

This morning I went running with Becky and Jessica before weights.  We started from the Smith and ran up 500s/Foothill and continued until 2300e, took that to 2100s and then went down to 1900e to return to campus.  I added on about a mile at Sunnyside since I was going to be just short of 7 going directly back to the Smith.

In the afternoon I ran to 2700s and back to get another 5 miles.

This morning I went to Liberty to meet Bekah for the workout.  I caught her and Becky during the warmup so I did the last part of the warmup with them, then the strides and drills.  Alyssa was there too but she had started later so we kinda just got going.  The workout was 15-10-5 minutes threshold, with 3 minutes rest after the 15, and 2 minutes rest after the 10.  Kep told us to try and go 6:00-6:05 pace for the 15, then that we could pick it up for the 10 and 5.  For the 800 split of the 15 minute, I was at 2:57.  I relaxed a bit, but Bekah kept going.  I still was hitting 2:59 and 2:58 for 800 splits though, and I felt great.  For the 10 minutes I started out fast, coming through the 800 in 2:50!  And was still at 5:40 through the mile.  But I had a bad ache in my right abdominal area (it was there on my second run yesterday too, I think just from eating too soon before running), but even with that only slowed down to 5:50 pace.  For the last 5 minutes I came through the 800 in 2:55.  The distances I covered in each set were 2.5 miles, 1.7 miles, and .82 miles.  Then we did four 30 second strides with 2 minute recovery.  I cooled down 3.25 miles to finish with 12 total.

This morning I went for a run around Provo in my Utah gear as part of enjoying spring break with my sister :)  I ran on 900e to campus, wove through campus, then kept heading north on University Avenue.  I kept going until about 2200 north and then headed east, making it back to 900e and passing the MTC and by campus again.  I was at 7.5 when I got back to my sister's place, so I added on a little more going towards 7 peaks and around the neighborhoods there.  Finished with 10 miles total and an average pace of 6:59.  My legs felt great!

This morning I went running on Drycreek with Katherine.  It was windy, but not that cold which was nice.  We ran up 3 miles and back.

In the afternoon I went to Liberty for another 5 miles.  

This morning I went ahead and did my run right after lifting since the forecast predicted it would only be getting colder and windier throughout the day.  So I started the fruit loop way, then went up above the zoo and onto Wasatch, and onto the paved bike trail to the first overpass.  I turned around and then when I got to 2100s I went down to 1500e to return to campus.

At practice time I went pool running with Giselle for 30 minutes.

Today I went to Liberty for the workout with Bekah, Alyssa, and Lauren.  We did the usual warmup from the 900e Trax station and then the strides and drills.  The choices for the workout were 4x6 minute threshold, of 3x7 minute threshold.  I would have rather done the 4x6, but the other girls wanted to do the 3x7.  I also wouldn't have minded staying at the track either, but that had already been decided against before I got to the lockerroom.  Whatever.  For the first 7 minutes, my mile split was 5:50.  I covered 1.18 miles for that one.  75 seconds recovery and then onto the next one.  I hit 5:49 through the mile on that one and covered 1.20 miles.  On the last set I came through the mile at 5:42 and covered 1.21 miles.  Then we had five 300 meter (55 second) strides with 3 minutes recovery.  After those were done I cooled down back to campus to finish with 11 for the day.  Still hoping for 70 miles this week even though my Thursday run is supposed to be a premeet...

This morning I ran 5 miles on my own, over to 2100s and to 1900e over to 900s and home. Then I went and picked up my lifting sheet and made up the lift I'm going to miss tomorrow.

In the afternoon I went running with Jessica and Becky. Sincr we run together a lot on recovery days, we decided we're going to start doing more trails, since some of the girls who don't like trails usually cross train or run on their own anyway. Today we just ran out on Foothill the start of the Albertson's loop, but on 2100s Jess and I kept going to 1500e. When we got back to 500s I decided to go up to the light at Mario Capechi to add on a little bit, and I caught up with Becky there. I finished with 8 miles for the afternoon. When I was done I got a massage from Tim. Everything felt great!

Today I went for a pre-meet with Lauren.  We started on Foothill.  Lauren turned at 2 miles, but since I am still going for high miles this week I did the Albertson's loop.  When I was done with that I ran up to the track for some strides and drills.  Everyone else was working out, it was nice to be there not working out for once. :)  When I was done I did normatech for 20 minutes.

2 mile shakeout around USC campus this morning.

With a little over an hour before the race, I stareted my warmup with Bekah. I was doing a longer warmup, so I ended up doing strides and drills with Lauren and AuraLea. I changed to my spikes and then did a few more strides as we waited to walk out onto the track. I was hip 2, right next to Bekah in 1 and Carrie from BYU in 3. When the race started the three of us ended up in a line at the lead. I stuck behind Carrie for a few laps and let her and Bekah do the work into the wind. After a few laps of that I felt bad for making Bekah do all of the work so I moved up and offered to lead, but she didn't want me to. So after a few more laps where I was awkwardly to the side of her and Carrie, I dropped back so I could be behind Carrie going into the wind again. I think that was a mistake because then I fell off of them and they got some distance on me. With a mile to go I started to pick it up again and could tell I was gaining ground back. So I kept my eyes on them. With about 700 to go I finally caught and passed Carrie, then just held on so she wouldn't pass me back before the finish. Strong last lap, I believe it was a 75. Some of the splits I remember are 82 for the first 400, then 2:43, 5:23ish for the mile. 10:50 at 2 miles. 15:30 with a lap to go. For cooldown I did 15 minutes with Lauren and AuraLea, then another 25 minutes on the track where it was brightly lit. 5.25 miles cooldown total. It feels good to be strong enough to be doing so many miles again :) As far as the race and strategy, I didn't quite get the dropping time the last few laps. I had slowed down a few laps leading into that, so when I picked the pace back up I really just was getting back up to the pace I had been going prior to the few laps I slipped off pace. On a positve note, I was 11 seconds off my 5k PR, so next time just 1 second a lap... :)

1 lap around campus to make a 2 mile shakeout.  I am racing the 1500 today.

I started my warmup long before my race time since I was still going for mileage.  And it took a while for my legs to get going.  After 3.5 miles of running I went to the warmup field to do my strides and drills.  I changed my shoes and did a few more strides before final checkin and being walked onto the track.  There were 6 BYU girls in my heat, 4 Purdue girls, and one other girl besides me.  I was hip 8.  There was a rabbit in the race who was supposed to do 70-70, so I just told myself to not worry about what the leaders were doing and go as I felt.  When the race started I went for the rail and stayed there.  The 200 split was 34, then it seemed that everyone who I had been in front of passed me.  I am pretty sure I was dead last, but it was early in the race so I was patient.  I came through the first 400 I thought in 72-73ish, Kep says 75.  At the 500 I realized some of the girls right in front of me were fading, but I had to wait until the end of the curve to go around them.  Going to the 2 laps to go I was wondering why no one was kicking, so I picked it up and passed a bunch of girls.  I kept that up and held on strong for the last lap, finishing in 3rd and setting a new PR!!!  All of that on tired legs, too! :) Kep went over my 500 splits and figured I must have been 1:30, 1:32, 1:28 (the first one fast just because of that first 200 meters).  My last 400 split was probably 69.  I do have speed afterall.  :)  After a 5.75 mile cooldown, I got my 70 miles for the week!  

Today I started my run with Nikki and Alyssa out on 11th Avenue.  I ran with down down City Creek until they turned down Memory Grove, then I decided to take the trails from City Creek back to Dry Creek :)  That was fun.  Lots of hills at first but it felt better than running on asphalt!  I got off the trail just past the JCC and then took the road above the track and finished back by the locker room with 11.5. When I got to the rock pile that is an East tradition for the trail, I was horrified to see that most of the rocks were gone! :( I died a little bit on the inside. We had a decent sized pile going, but it was reduced to one largish rock and about 4 the size that we always carried up. Might have to run that trail more to rebuild that pile.  Other than my calves burning on the hills, my legs feel great!  Stretched for a while afterwards.

Workout today at the track in the beautiful sunshine!  Too bad they are building just south of the track, we are losing our view of the mountains.  We did the usual warmup and then strides and drills at the track.  The workout for the long distance girls was three 800s at 10k pace with 90 seconds rest, then five 500s at 5k pace with 75 seconds rest, and then four 300s with 3 minute rest.  We got a lap recovery between the sets.  On the 800s I hit 2:40, 2:39, 2:40.  On the 500s the wind really started to pick up and they got really difficult towards the end, but I hit 1:37, 1:38, 1:38, 1:38, 1:40.  After surviving those I got my 300s done in 50, 51, 53, 52.  Did 2.5 mile cooldown afterwards to finish with 10 for the day.  

Today a group of us started out run in the rain!  From the distance group it was me, Nikki, Becky, and Dana, and we were joined by Rose, Alli, and Ali from sprints :)  That was fun.  But they were only with us to the light at Sunnyside and Foothill, where they turned since their runs are shorter for obvious reasons. Nikki, Becky, and I kept going up Sunnyside, we did zoo loop and ran on Wasatch for a bit.  After Becky turned I was on my own for the rest of the way.  I ran on the paved trail above the freeway, and then turned around and ran on Foothill and turned down 2100s, kind of the same loop I did last week.  I ran down to 1300e and back to campus.  Saw Tim for a massage afterwards.

3.5 miles on the treadmill this morning before weights.

In the afternoon Jessica, Lauren, Bekah, AuraLea, Alyssa, and I caught Trax down to Liberty to do our threshold workout.  We ran to the park for our warmup, and were in the middle of our strides and drills routine when the hail and lightning started.  It was sunny when we started our warmup!  But we know the rules.  The other girls had to go grab their shoes, so I went back to the Trolley Trax station with Lauren and Jessica.  The hail stung as it hit our faces.  We caught the train with 2 minutes to spare, then felt really bad for the other girls when we didn't see them running towards the station when the train was pulling up.  Back at campus, it was no longer snowing.  We ran back to the locker room and then headed back out to go down to the fieldhouse to get a run in.  Then we saw the other girls, Kep had gone to the park and picked them up.  Hanah had been calling him to make sure!  The protocol is that the athletic trainers cannot allow us to return to practice or play until it has been 30 minutes since lightning was last seen.  Down at the fieldhouse I did anther 5.25 miles to finish with 9 for the afternoon.  Our new inside joke is that we are survivors of the SLC 2014 hail storm!

Today I went to Liberty to do the workout that we didn't do yesterday. I warmed up a lap and a half around the perimeter of the park, then I did my strides and drills down the sidewalk in the middle. I did the 25 minute threshold on the pavement, getting just over 4 miles total, average pace 6:06. Then I did four 35 second strides, then a 4 mile cooldown to finish with 12 total.

This morning those of us that were in town met for a long run from campus.  Bekah, AuraLea, Lauren, Becky, Jessica, Alyssa, Dana, and Kenzie were all there.  We started our run down Foothill and then along 2300e to 2100s.  We ran down to 700e and over to Liberty Park where we did as many laps as we needed before catching Trax back up.  Right before getting to 2100s, Bekah and I picked up the pace and didn't see the others except for a brief moment at the park when they turned to go to the train station.  As we got to the Trolley trax station we could see that the train was close, so I did my last half mile on campus to finish with 12 total, 70 for the week.  Average pace 6:53.

Hilary is done student teaching so she came to practice today!!!  So I started my run with her and Dana.  We ran up to 11th, then at 15 minutes they turned around, so I was on my own.  I continued on down 11th and through City Creek, then behind the capitol to Main Street and down to North Temple.  Then I ran up and took 3rd Avenue back to Virginia Street.  From there I went to 500s and back up to the locker room to finish with 10 total.  Felt a bit sluggish, maybe from not running yesterday, but my legs feel awesome.  Average pace 7:21.