You've got to want it to win it

Today Natalie and I were the only girls who showed up for practice.  We ran with Bill to the cemetery on 500s, we started at the track and ran up to Guardsman and over to 500s and down and then a lap for warmup.  Then we did 10 sets of 1 minute on 1 minute off fartlek which took 3 laps, then we did another and went back to the track the same way we had come.

Today we did 3 laps at Sugarhouse.  I ran with Emily, Natalie, and Bill.  I was able to keep up most of the time :)

Today I biked for 45 minutes.

Today I went for a 6 mile run on the Shoreline Trail over to Red Butte.  I ran with my little sister because every time we do that run as a team she gets lost.  Hope I changed that today. 

Today I did a speed workout at the oval. I started with 4 laps warmup and then 4 laps speedchanges. Then I did a lap with Bill. I did 1 mile and I hit a 5:58, with an even pace for each lap. Then I got 2 laps recovery. Then I did four 400s each with a lap recovery with times of 1:19, 1:18, 1:19, 1:15. Then I did 7 laps cooldown. I'm very satisfied with this workout because I went slightly faster than all of the times Bill wanted me to hit :)

Today at the meet I started with a mile warmup and a mile of speedchanges with Bre and Abigail.  Then I changed shoes and went to the starting line of the 2 mile.  I was supposed to hit 1:30 splits each lap, but the first lap was 1:24 and my overall time was 12:10.  Then I changed shoes and did a mile after.  Then I did 2 more laps and 2 more laps speedchanges with Abigail before the mile.  Then I changed shoes and went to the start.  I was going to pace her to try and get her under a 6 minute mile.  Her previous PR was a 6:17.  She got out faster than me the first lap.  Then I ran with her the second lap and blocked the wind for her.  The third lap I told her that she would have to push really hard, we were about 5 seconds behind pace.  She seemed to be falling back but I still told her to stay with me.  The last lap I had told her I wanted her to outkick me, and she got me in the last stretch with a 6:06, placing third, and my time was 6:07.  Then I did a mile cooldown.

The weather was so nice today!  I ran to Sugarhouse Park, did 2 laps around the outside, and then ran back.  I didn't take a watch and just enjoyed it nice and easy.  It felt great :)

This morning I ran to Sunnyside Park, did a lap and added a little before I headed home because I wanted to hit 3 miles but was only a little bit after one and a half miles after a lap.  Then instead of taking 1500e home I went down the street by the gully since it was a longer route.  It was a nice day :)

I started with about a mile and a half warmup, and then I did some high knees, butt kicks, skips, and lunges with a few strides.  Then I changed shoes and headed over to the line.  I wasn't sure how I would be able to do, if I would be able to lead or if I should try to draft and then kick hard at the finish.  It turns out that I was ranked first for the race, and in the first three laps I drafted behind another girl.  After Bill yelled to me that the split for the third lap was a 1:33 I knew I would have to push because he had told me I could hit at least 1:27s.  So I put distance on her and I held the lead the rest of  the race, I'm not sure how far behind the other girls were.  Afterwards I did about a mile cooldown.

Speed workout today, it was windy throughout it but the wind got a lot worse and rain came after we finished.  We started with a mile warmup and then a mile of speedchanges and a lap recovery.  Then we did a 1200, my time was 4:42, not the target time I was supposed to hit.  Then a lap recovery.  Then we did an 800, my time was 2:59, I hit the split I was supposed to for the first lap but not the second.  Then a lap recovery.  Then we did four 400s with 100 recovery, but after the last 200 recovery.  My times were 1:25 (Abigail beat me on that one, I was proud of her), 1:24, 1:27, 1:24.  Then two 2o0s, I hit :39 and I don't know my time for the second one.  200 recovery for each of those.  Then 2 stadium laps and a track lap for cooldown. 

Today I ran from my house to the drinking fountain at Shriner's.  I stopped to stretch and get a drink and ran back the same way I had come.  My average pace was 8:06, when I reached the drinking fountain it was at 8:18 so I must have picked up the pace a bit on the way back.  Afterwards I did three sets of crunches, pushups, and armswings.

Today I started with 2 miles of warmup and then a mile of speedchanges.  Then I changed shoes and did strides and headed to the line.  Abigail and I were close to missing the start.  I had a good spot on the line and I took the lead in the first 100 meters.  Noone was with me the duration of the race.  I hit a 1:20 for the first lap, just what Bill wanted me to hit, and my second lap was at 2:46, third lap at 4:13.  Afterwards I did a half mile cooldown barefoot.

Today we started with 2 grass loops (1 mile) and a mile of speedchanges on the track for warmup.  Then we did three sets of the circuit.  We did three sets of high knee step ups also.  And there were 8 hurdles, doing 2 of each set we sprinted up to them, stepped over, sprinted to the halfway point of the soccerfield, and jogged back to the start to do another set.  We did sets of regular stepping over, and stepping sideways, each leg twice.  Then we did 5 hills by the soccer field.  Then 2 more stadium laps cooldown.

Today I ran to the track for warmup, did a mile of speechanges, and ran home for cooldown.

Today I started with about a mile warmup and then some stretching.  Then I did another mile and went and changed shoes.  Then Bill poured water on me to cool me off since it was hot.  Then I did some strides by the line.  On the line I was in starting position 2.  The first lap was a 1:20, and I held that again the second lap.  After that the pace slowed down a little.  I was able to get into third and keep it for a while, but I knew another girl was close behind me.  The first mile split was 5:37.  During I think the 5th lap the girl behind me passed me a little bit.  I knew I couldn't let her go so I stuck with her even though it was tough.  Then on the opposite side of the track I was able to pass her again.  We did that each lap up to lap 7.  Then I started kicking and got enough ahead that she wasn't catching me.  I really started kicking hard more in the last 200.  Bill said if I had started my kick the last 400 I could have caught the girl who was in second.  I qualified for state, which I have never done before with time so I was very happy with that :)  I ran so hard, I threw up after my race. 

Today we had a full 2 hour workout.  We started with sets of leg lifts, planks, standing on one knee with the other lifted at 90 degree angles, and wall sits.  Then we did 2 stadium laps.  Then we did some barefoot stuff on the grass.  We did 2 lengths of the football field for the sets of butt kicks, sprints, and back, and the same but replacing butt kicks with high knees, skips, lunges, and we even did one team wheelbarrow one.  Then we went for a run up on Guardsman and through the U campus the way we usually go to Shriner's.  Instead of going through the alley though we went down and ran to the park on South Temple.  We did 5 strides there and then stopped for a drink on the way back because the drinking fountains at the park were turned off :(  Back at the track we knew we had a 300 left.  But actually Bill had seen us stop for water so we had to do three, but it wasn't bad because he brought us Jamba Juice :)  Tough workout, but it feels great to be done and I know it will help in getting stronger. 

Today I started with a mile warmup and a mile of speedchanges with the other distance girls.  Our workout was twelve 400s.  I wasn't hitting the times Bill wanted me to, but there was a windy stretch which probably made a difference because I don't think I pushed myself to get back on pace after getting through that part.  Mostly I hit between 1:20 and 1:24, the first one I ran with Josephine who is a sprinter was my fastest, a 1:19.  There was a lap recovery after each.  For the last two the other girls did 200s and they were pushing me for the first 200, which really helped my time because I hit 1:21 and 1:20 which I had only managed to hit at the beginning for the most part.  Then we did our sets of crunches and pushups, and I did 2 stadium laps with Amanda afterwards for cooldown.  My legs are so sore from today and yesterday but I know it will all be for the better come regions and state.

Today it was very rainy and my sister and I could see lightning so us, Amanda, and Natalie decided to not go to the meet (it was cancelled later anyway).  At Steiner I did 4 mile on a treadmill, then 15 strides in by the ice rink.  I worked on going up to my toes and bringing my arms back.  Then I did another mile cooldown on the treadmill.  Afterwards I did my sets of pushups and crunches, and I took an ice bath for 15 minutes.  It felt so nice since I was still sore from Monday, and afterwards my legs felt great!

Today we started with 2 stadium laps and 4 laps of speedchanges warmup with a lap recovery.  Then we did ten 200s.  I hit between 35 and 37 for all of them.  We just had standing recovery.  Then for the last 2 we did a surprise 400 instead.  My split at the 200 was 37 and I finished at 1:16.  I was very happy with this time since the workout Tuesday wasn't in the best conditions.  The weather was nice today and my legs felt amazing from the ice bath.  Afterwards I did my crunches and pushups and an ice masssage.

Today we started with 2 grass laps for warmup.  I ran with Hannah because we were late to practice and Amanda and Natalie were already started.  Then we joined them for 15 strides.  Then we stretched and did another 2 grass laps cooldown with them.  At home I took an ice bath for 15 minutes.

I started with about a mile warmup just around the fields around the high school.  Then I changed shoes, took my Gu and some water.  Then I did some strides and drills.  I did lunges, high knees, skips, butt kicks, and grapevines.  I haven't raced the mile as much as the 2 mile so I don't know the best strategies, but Bill told me to be aggressive.  Going out a girl was about to cut in front of me, but I cut in front of her instead.  But I was forced into the outer lanes which probably is something I need to work on.  The first lap split was 1:19.  On the second lap I worked to the front of the pack so I could get into lane 1.  The split at the second lap was 2:42.  The third lap some girls started passing and I got elbowed and cut off and spiked above the knee.  Going into the fourth lap I was at 4:06.  I started my kick focusing to not get passed since I didn't think I was going to catch the girls ahead of me.  Going into the final stretch a girl was passing me but I kicked even harder and she lost contact, and I even caught 1 girl.  Afterwards I did 10 minutes cooldown.  I'm not sure if I'll race the mile again at an invite this season, but I definitely need to work on aggressiveness is what I learned today. 

Today we started with 2 big grass laps warmup.  Then a mile of speedchanges with a lap recovery.  The workout today was focused on keeping pace.  It was a ladder going down.  I was supposed to hit 40 second 200 splits throughout the workout.  We jogged over to the 200 and did a 1000.  I was supposed to hit 3:20, but I got a 3:28.  Then we got 2 laps recovery.  Then we did an 800.  I was supposed to hit 2:40 but got 2:45 instead.  Then we had 200 recovery over to the start of the 600.  I then hit my target time of 3:00.  Then 100 recovery before the 400, I hit target time again of 1:20.  Then we jogged to the 200 start for two 200s, my times were both 35 with a 200 back to the start line recovery between.  Then for cooldown we did 4 big grass laps.  I thought it was a nice workout.  Afterwards I took an ice bath for 15 minutes. 

Today I ran with Natalie and Hannah since the directions for the run were confusing.  We ran the same way we do to Shriners, but took a slightly different path at the roundabout after the alley and went outside a house Bill was working at so that he could give us gatorade.  Then we ran down to the park on 1300e and State Street and did 6 strides on one of the fields up the hill and halfway through the top hill.  Then we jogged back for recovery between each.  Then we ran back to the track along 1300e and finished right at 5 miles.

Today right off the bus Amanda, Natalie, and I ran a mile warmup and a mile of speedchanges with a lap recovery.  Bill wanted us to do some 400s before the meet started.  I was supposed to get as close to 1:15s as I could.  The first one I hit a 1:14, and we were running out of time so we did standing recovery, then the next I hit 1:17.  Then hurdles were put up so we only did two 200s after that, I hit 36 and 37 I think.  Later Natalie and I did a mile warmup for the 800.  Then we did drills over by the line.  I actually had a good start for once.  I almost got cut off and into the back of the pack, but I pushed out right before that happened to get into the place I needed to be.  I led the whole time, and during the first lap I could tell that there was someone close behind me.  I still didn't panic and just ran as well as I could.  The first lap split was 1:15.  Then I knew I would have to push hard since the other girl still was on me.  I didn't kick as hard at the 300 as maybe I should have, by then I was getting cold and feeling stiff and it was getting harder to move it seemed.  Going down the final stretch I still had the lead then with about 20 meters to go the other girl caught up to me.  Then I knew I had to give it everything I had, and I did, and I was glad.  The other girl wasn't very happy about it.  I was happy with all of my times today :)  Maybe I'll race well this weekend.

Today Natalie, Amanda, and I did an easy workout.  Half mile warmup, a mile speedchanges, and a half mile cooldown.  When I got home I took an ice bath for 15 minutes.

This morning when I started my warmup it was snowing a little bit and the field I was warmup up on was covered with a layer of snow.  But I had prepared for this race for a while and I wasn't going to let the weather tear my hopes for a better race than last year apart.  I got in about a mile and a half warmup, with a few strides at the end.  My toes were frozen and my socks and shoes were soaked but it was no big deal.  I did some of my usual drills and took my Gu and went into the bullpen to change my shoes.  My toes were frozen but it didn't really bother me since I was focused on what I needed to do in my race.  I kept on my hoodie when I left the rest of my stuff in the bull pen so I wouldn't lose my warmup waiting for my race to start.  It was a few minutes wait at the start line, so I did a couple strides.  I didn't take off my hoodie until right as my heat was being lined up.  I got to start first position in the second alley.  When the gun went off I didn't get out as fast as I should have and got boxed in behind the other girls.  When we reached the 100 meter line where we could cut over to lane 1 I was in the back of the pack.  I stayed there and relaxed and waited for the next straight to get around so I wouldn't have to run a wide curve.  This worked for me and I caught up to the top 2 girls.  The first lap split was a 1:17 and it felt just right.  Sticking on the other girls I decided would be the easiest way to take it, so I did for the next couple laps.  At mile 1 my split was 5:32.  By then one of the girls had dropped back a little and I was running neck and neck with the other girl.  Then someone came up from behind and started overtaking the lead.  I could hear Bill yelling at me to stay with her, and I knew I would have to or I would lose her right then.  I pushed ahead, but it wasn't enough to catch her, but still enough that I gapped the girl behind me.  As the race went into the final two laps I heard the announcer naming the positions of the girl, and I realized there was a pack of 5 girls behind me.  I knew they might catch me and I should have gone at the 600.  Starting the final lap I picked up the pace but I could hear another girl closing on me and then she overtook me with 300 to go.  I couldn't make myself push as hard as other times.  Then going into the final 100 stretch another girl passed me and I couldn't push to kick against her either.  I didn't want to get passed by another girl was my hopes for finishing that stretch.  I got a new outdoor PR, and my best race since coming back from being injured.  I was happy with my race :)  Afterwards I changed my shoes back (my shoes were soaked from before) and ran about a mile cooldown with Jamal.  Later I took a 15 minute ice bath.  Now I hope that things will go well tomorrow.