You've got to want it to win it

This morning I went up to Pipeline with Hilary to go for a trail run. We went out to the end of the trail and back, and I added on up the road and back to get a full 10. Back at campus I did my second lift of the week.

This morning Bekah and I had a workout at the track.  We did the usual warmup and strides and drills.  The workout was 20 by 200, same as several weeks ago. Kep told us to try and go 41 for the first ones and about 8 or 9 seconds more for the recovery, or about 90 for the 400s.  As the workout progressed then we could go 40 and 39s.  Bekah and I decided to trade the inside every 4 laps to help us keep track of how many we had done.  The first few we hit 40s, and they felt ok.  The next mile I picked it up and we were hitting about 89s for the laps.  As the workout went on we hit a few 88s and 87s for the lap splits.  I was having a harder time picking it up on the fast 200 part, staying around 39 and 40 for most of them, maybe one 38 in there.  I think Bekah had a harder time on the recovery part, and had to take a few laps cutting the corner.  After the 17th one she caught up to me and stayed with me on the 18th one, which really helped me finish the workout since I wasn't sure I could do all 20.  My goal was at least 2 more than last time.  I am amazed I finished the whole thing!  But I am in better shape than several weeks ago, so that was a huge factor.  For cooldown we did a loop off of the warmup route and ended with 9 total.  Then 15 minutes in the ice bath.

This morning I went for 11 miles to end my week at 60.  I ran past Sugarhouse and through the streets on the cemtery loop, on 3300s going up to 2000e and over to Keller Lane and up to 2300e for a minute before turning around.  I ran back mostly on 2000e until I cut back down to 1700e at the freeway.  My body definitely felt tired, that may be from yesterday's workout or jumping 20 miles from last week...  Also the wind was carrying lots of stuff around today and my eyes got hit a lot!  Not fun.  At least I have eyedrops at home :-P

This morning I went running with Hilary and Nikki.  We ran xarT, and took the capitol way and behind temple square and to the library trax station.  Got the last quarter mile running from the station on campus to the locker room.  Lifted afterwards.

This morning I had a workout at Liberty Park with Bekah, AuraLea, and Nikki.  We warmed up around the park for about 15 minutes, then did our usual strides and drills.  The LD threshold workout was 24 minutes, then five 30 second strides.  Kep told us to go easier the first 12 minutes, then make it about 100-200 meters farther the second 12 minutes.  Bekah and I started out too fast, at 2:50 for the half mile (just going off of the painted lines and dots, I didn't look on my Garmin to see if it was actually .5, but still...) We came through the mile line at about 5:50.  Bekah fell back at this point so I was on my own, but I kept the pace ok.  I was at 8:47 for the mile and a half.  Between here and the next mark, Bekah caught up and passed me, but I just focused on keeping my pace and not letting her pace distract me.  At 12 minutes my distance was 2.02.  On the next lap, after the 3 mile mark I started catching up to Bekah, and I did and ran with her for a bit.  After the 3.5 I could tell she wasn't feeling it so I continued on my own, finishing with 4.07 for the 24 minute total.  Bekah, Nikki, and I did strides the other way around the park back to our cars.  I cooled down half a lap with Nikki, then another 3 miles to get to 12 for the day. 

This morning I went running with Nikki in the rain!  We started on the fruit loop route and then took the zoo loop onto Wasatch.  Nikki was with me to 4 miles, then turned around.  I kept going along Wasatch and then on the paved Shoreline Trail just a little bit past the drinking fountain until I was almost to 6.  I ran back to campus along Foothill and finished with 10 total.  It stopped raining on the way back, and didn't ran again until several hours after we had finished :-P  We lifted afterwards, and then saw Tim.

This morning I went running with Hilary and Nikki.  We started out on Foothill and then took 2300e to 2100s.  They were with me until 1500e, then I was on my own for a lap around Sugarhouse and back to campus along 15th and Guardsman.  The team meeting afterwards was only 15 minutes long, which was lame because we had to cancel a distance runner brunch that we had planned during that time...  So looking forward to brunch after the workout tomorrow instead!

This morning I worked out with AuraLea and Bekah.  We did the usual warmup route and strides and drills on the track.  It was raining during our warmup, but settled down for our strides.  It picked up again just after that, but a few reps in it was sunny and awesome!  The workout was three 800s at 10k pace where for the third, second, and third 200 we were supposed to pick up the pace a few seconds and then settle back into the pace as before.  That was hard for me, I was able to start with 40s, get to a 39 for the "fast" 200, but came back in 42s...  I know it is something I need to work on if I want to be one of those racers that can breakaway like that.  My times were 2:43, 2:42, 2:42.  We had 90 seconds rest for those and 400 jog after the third one.  Next we had five 500s at 5k pace.  On the first one I hit 1:37, the rest of them were 1:38.  Recovery on those was 75 seconds, and we used that time to jog 100 meters back to the start.  I was having a hard time keeping up with Bekah on these ones, I think the few days of slower recovery runs as well as higher miles for two weeks again are taking their toll.  We finished with four 300s with 300 jog recovery.  We were supposed to hit around 52-53, but my body wasn't feeling it.  I ran 54, 55, 55, 57.  Took a full lap after the last one and then cooled down 2.5 to finish with 10 total.  After workout we finally got to have our pajamas and pancakes party!  Perfect activity for a rainy day :)

This morning I went running on Pipeline.  Right as I started my run, it started to hail.  I made it half mile before it was hurting my face, so I turned around and ran back to my car to get some sunglasses to protect my eyes.  I started back out again, and the weather got better.  But it was still cold.  I ran all the way to the overlook, then turned around.  With less than a mile to go, I rolled my right ankle... it hurt kinda bad, but I kept running on it.  Putting it in the river sounded really nice!  And I knew I'd get there quicker if I kept running.  It hurt for abou a quarter mile, then eased up.  When I got back to my car it was raining, so I skipped the river.  I'm just going to rest it up and hope it isn't that bad.

Went to the second anual Salt Lake Hunger Games this afternoon.  I was allied with Patrick and a few others, Patrick got 3.6 miles on his GPS watch!  Not logging it in the miles since it was stop and go, but it is important enough to blog about I think!  And because I wanted to brag about getting third. :) Because I'm awesome.  Jk.  But my ankle was fine on the running around, just on slanted ground it hurt a little bit.

This morning after class (short break, but only 3 semesters until graduation!) I went for a run.  I ran the fruit loop route to Sunnyside, and I would have liked to go up Emigration Canyon but the wind was too cold!  So I went above the zoo onto Wasatch instead.  I continuted until it ended and then took the paved Shoreline trail almost to the first freeway overpass.  Then I took Foothill back to campus to finish with 10 total.  Afterwards I got my first lift in for the week.

This morning I had a workout on my own since I'm racing Sunday and the other LD girls and the MD girls are racing Saturday.  I did the usual warmup and strides and drills, then the workout.  It was three 1k thresholds with 40 seconds recovery, then five 200s with 200 jog recovery, and a progressive 2400 starting at 98 and ending in 78.  On the 1ks I hit 3:40, 3:37, and 3:41.  On the 200s I went 36 for the first 4 and 35 on the fifth one.  For the progressive 2400, today was the best one I have ever ran!  My first lap was 1:37, about 3:11 at 800, don't remember the next one but the mile was 6:06 and the split was 90 like it was supposed to be (though I started fast on this one, for some reason in my mind I was thinking 88 was what I was supposed to hit) so I started the next one too fast as well thinking it was supposed to be an 84, but I recalculated and realized it was supposed to be an 86.  Came through at 7:28, 82 like it was supposed to be, for the next one, and finished in 8:46!  So the 78 I was supposed to hit!  What a great day :)  I cooled down 2 miles to finish with 9 total.

This morning I went running at Liberty Park so I could run where it was flat and not on pavement.  I think I did 5 laps and a little extra, I wasn't really counting, just running until my Garmin had 7.  

This morning I had my final workoout pre-conference!  I did the usual warmup and strides and drills at the track.  There were a few people running on the track when I was ready to get started...  I know people are angry with the gates that our coach put up to help preserve the track surface, it seems that some people think coming during track practice is the solution...  I didn't mind them being there, as long as they kept lane 1 clear.  The people working out when I started obliged when Kep politely asked them to move to 2.  My workout was four 500s and four 300s, 300 recovery on all.  My times on the 500s were 1:36, 1:35, 1:36, 1:37.  I think I started off too fast on the first one and couldn't pick a rhythm to go with.  But my times were still pretty close so each other so still consistent.  Onthe 300s I ran 54, 54, 53, 53.  On the third one there was another guy at the track running in 1...  I yelled "track" but he didn't move, so I just went around.  He was not happy when Kep asked him to move to the outer lanes, but left after one more lap so no longer our problem.  There was another situation a few weeks ago where someone was mad when the coaches asked them to move.  Most people probably wouldn't go play flag football in the middle of a college football practice, or go out on the rink during hockey practice, shoot hoops during basketball practice, the list could go on...  It is just irritating that some people don't hold the same regards for track.  For cooldown I did just over 2 to finish with 8 total.  I saw Tim afterwards, my hips/glutes are kinda tight.  Then I did normatech for about 20 minutes (it feels like it never stops, because after it hits the set time it still ends the cycle that it is on).  

After arriving in Pullman, I went for a run from the hotel.  I found a paved walking/biking trail which was nice to run on.  I did 7 miles total.

This morning I did my premeet along the trail I found yesterday.  I went out 2 miles and then did strides and drills part of the way back, and then ran the rest of the way back to the hotel.  Competition starts today, I'm excited to cheer on my teammates!

An hour before my race I went for my warmup.  I did about 2 and a half and then started my strides and drills in the warmup field by the tents.  We had to be on the track pretty early so I saved some of my strides and drills for down there.  There were originally 55 girls signed up for the 5k, but 22 of them scratched.  Prior to the race, Kep had told me that I should wait until at least 5 laps in before trying anything, and that with 5 to go I needed to be going.  He thought that maybe some people would go with 2 miles to go, and if they did I should go with that group since I am more of a strength runner than a kicker.  I was hip 2, so when the race started I got out well.  I sat behind a UW girl, a Colorado girl, and an Oregon State girl.  The first lap was 81, we were 2:40 through 800.  Nobody was trying to pick it up, so I was happy to be in the place I was and making the other girls do the leading.  Nothing happened during lap 3 either.  We were I think 5:24 through the mile.  Kep told me to be patient until lap 6 at least.  I went through another lap, and then on the home stretch I broke out and moved up.  Nobody came with me.  So I was by myself about 10 meters in front of the pack for the next 3 laps or so.  On the back stretch of 4 laps to go, everyone decided to move so I got passed a lot.  My split on that one was a 78, I was trying to respond to them coming up, but they were running 75 and I don't have that kind of speed change in me.  Something I need to work on, since I know I can run a sub-5 1600.  The next few laps were hard, I was trying to compete the girls who had caught up to me but couldn't quite pass me, but I couldn't hold on as long as they could since I tried to respond when the other girls came up.  With 1000 to go I was out of focus and just trying to fight through the pain, but that wasn't going so well.  With 1 lap to go I was able to pick it up again, and with 200 to go I pulled out a good kick and caught at least 3 girls.  My time was the best of any time I've run at conference in my career, which was hopeful.  Thankfully, Kep had also told me before the race that whether I scored or not, it wouldn't change our team position.  :)  He wasn't mad at me for the race.  It was a good practice experience for preparing for regionals.  I was able to learn a lot from this race.  For one, if I'm going to break away, I should actually make sure that I am keeping opening up on the chase pack rather than opening 10 meters and keeping that for a few laps.  I am disappointed that nobody else came with me when I broke away, the non-kickers gave this race to the kickers.  I am glad I did something about it, even though I needed a better follow through on the move I made.  I have to say I think conference is one of my least favorite meets to try and run a good race at since it very easily gets turned into tactical, kickers races for place rather than anyone trying to go for a good time.  For cooldown I ran to the horse track and ran a few laps on the grass and ran back to the stadium for 3 total. 

This morning after class I went for a run from campus.  I ran out on 11th and up City Creek.  I turned around at 4.5 and ran back to campus.  Lifted afterwards and then took a 15 minute ice bath.

This morning I met Bekah at Liberty Park for a workout.  We did the usual warmup and strides and drills, then Kep showed up on his bike to ride alongside as we did the workout.  The threshold was 3 x 1 lap with 2 minutes recovery, and then four 30 second strides.  Kep told us to make sure our first one was relaxed so we could pick it up on the last 2, since this will probably be what the 10k will be like at regionals next week.  On the first lap I hit 8:36, on the second I hit 8:31, and on the third I hit 8:26.  Bekah and I were together for most of them, but on the last half mile on the third lap she picked up the pace and I wasnt' feeling it so I just focused on mine and finishing.  Then we did our strides and a lap cooldown to finish with 9 total.  After that, I saw Tim for a massage and then did normatech.  My calves are the worst they have been all season, and my legs are just starting to hurt in general.  Just need to make sure to be taking care of myself these next few weeks and then I can take my break.

This morning after class I went for a run.  I did fruit loop, then zoo loop, then continued on Wasatch until Thunderbird and then ran back to campus along Foothill.  Finished with 9 total, then had a nice long stretch and got my second lift in for the week.

This morning I ran out on 1500e to Sugarhouse.  I did a lap and a half around the perimeter, then continued out on 1700e and down Parkway avenue, doing the first part of the cemetery loop.  When I got to Zenith, I ran up to Imperial Street and then headed back north towards home.  It is getting unpleasantly hot running at 9, I might have to start getting up early :-P  But I love summer, and getting up early each day means I have more time to enjoy everything about summer!!! :) Average pace was 7:16.

This morning I had a workout with Bekah at Liberty Park again.  I wanted to go sorta early since I figured Saturday morning might be kinda packed, but I didn't know it was going to be raining :-P  but it was nice to go early and be done early.  We warmed up around the park and a little extra, then did our strides and drills down the middle of the park.  When Kep arrived, he told us the changed workout from what he had told us yesterday.  The new workout was 3 laps, the first lap being a constant pace, then on the next half mile dropping 4 seconds and holding that pace through a mile, then dropping another 4 seconds for the next half mile and holding through the mile, and once more for the last mile.  We started the first mile and a half at about 3:09 for the half miles.  The next half mile was 3:04, we picked it up a bit too much.  During the second half  of this first mile, Bekah got a gap on me and I was pretty much on my own for the rest of the way.  I came through the mile in 6:08, so I had only picked up about 2 seconds more than I was supposed to.  I went too fast on the next half mile, I hit 2:56 when it should have been 3.  Then I relaxed too much on the second half of that one, and split a 6:03.  I don't remember the half split for my last mile, but the mile was 6:00.  Not a perfect workout, but maybe messing up the paces made it more like what that 10k will be like next Thursday! :-P  We then did four 25 second strides, and cooled down just under 2 miles to finish with 9.5 total.

This morning Bekah and I had our final workout before regionals!  We did the usual warmup and strides and drills, then Kep gave us the workout.  It was an 800 at 81-82 pace with 3 minutes recovery, then 6 or 7 400s with 90 seconds recovery, going down a second every 2 reps.  I hit the 800 in 2:42 with even splits, then we took a lap recovery before starting the 400s.  Kep wanted this to be a very relaxed workout and stay aerobic, so the 400s weren't supposed to be fast.  I hit 83, 81, 79, 80, 78, 77.  I alternated 200 and 100 jog recovery on those.  Then we finished with some fast 200s, I hit 35 on both of them.  We cooled down 2 miles and felt great!  I had to tell Bekah to relax since we were pushing sub 7 pace!  Afterwards we stretched and I did a 13 minute ice bath.  We leave for Arkansas tomorrow!

This morning after class I  went to Liberty Park for a nice flat run on the grass.  I did a little over 3 laps around the outer perimeter.  My average pace was 6:43!  I'm pretty sure that is a new record for me.  I'm excited to compete at regionals and to go into the race knowing I am ranked just a few spots away from the top 12. :)

In the evening after arriving at our hotel I went for a run with Bekah.  We ran to a paved trail by the railroad tracks and ran about a mile along that before turning around on it.  While we were heading out, a train car came and it honked SO LOUD!!!!!!!  And it kept honking.  My ears still hurt.  That was the scariest part of the trail.    

This morning, Bekah and I went for our premeet with Kep.  We ran down to the paved trail by the railroad, but this time we went the other way.  We ran out 2 miles and then turned around and ran back to the hotel.  Then we did strides and drills on the street.  Ice bath, coming soon.

This evening after watching the 800s, I started my warmup.  I just stayed near the track and ran around the parking lot area.  After about 20 minutes, I went up to the field for athlete warmup and did some strides and drills.  After those, I got my spikes and walked over to the final checkin with Kep.  The race plan was to settle in and not be moving around and up on the outsides and getting shuffled back, like what was going on last year.  Bekah and I got our hip numbers and then the officials walked us out onto the track.  We did a few strides on our way over to the line.  Bekah and I both got to start on the main waterfall line.  When the race went out I just went for an inside lane and ended up at the line between 1 and 2.  There was a lot of shoving going on, so I just had to be careful not to fall.  Our first lap was around an 87-88.  The next few laps still included a lot of shoving.  Someone was stepping on me and I almost fell, but fortunately I caught myself.  An Oregon girl elbowed me while cutting me off, so I elbowed her back and got back in front of her.  The next lap she cut in front of me and I was close enough to step on her ankles, so I might have punched her in the back.  We came through the mile in about 5:42 (I could be wrong, I wasn't really paying attention to time anyway).  There were a lot of splits around 83.  This was faster than what we had thought it would be, but we just went with it.  Between 2 and 3 miles into the race, some separation had started in the pack.  I was pretty far back, so I had to make a few moves on the straight parts to move up and work on being up to the lead group.  It was while doing this that I sorta realized I had let myself be too far back in the pack for too long.  Still, I just did my best to keep moving up one spot at a time.  I could hear the announcer naming Bekah in third for several laps, so I was really happy to hear that she was doing well at least.  During the next few laps, Kep was telling me not to press, and saying "cooldown" to me, meaning that I just needed to fade until the finish so I wouldn't wear myself out too much more and that I'd still be allowed to compete in the 5k on Saturday.  I really wanted to quit, so part of me was hoping that I could throw up so that I could drop out and have that as an excuse and still be elligible to compete Saturday.  But I also knew I wasn't racing hard enough to puke, so I just kept running.  With about 4 laps to go, I knew the leaders were behind me and about to lap me.  I was hoping to see Bekah, so I could encourage her on, but she never came.  With 2 laps to go I picked it up a little bit (not like crazy, there wasn't really anything to gain or lose) just for the practice of picking up pace.  I caught a few girls, and then going into the final lap I passed one more girl and then eased up, at least until the final 100 when I thought I could hear somebody coming.  Going down the final 100 I realized Bekah was just 2 places in front of me, I was sad to see that she had crashed and fallen back so much.  This was hard for both of us as we had been hoping to do so well.  I shouldn't have assumed it'd be just like last year.  This race was an honest race, and I didn't come ready to compete in one.  I let myself think it would be easier than it really was, and was careless going out and was not assertive with getting into a good position at all.  We are really glad we didn't scratch out of the 5k now, that is for sure!  We cooled down in the parking lots, I did 2.75 to finish at 12 total.    

This morning Bekah and I went for a run down on the trail we ran Wednesday morning.  Surprisingly, our legs didn't hurt that bad!  But our stomachs did.   We ran out to the 2 mile mark like Wednesday and then came back.  I wanted to go longer, so I continued on my own on the trail the direction we ran the first night we were here.  Hopefully with another day our stomachs will recover and we can make a good comeback in the 5k!  The place we ate dinner at on Wednesday is highly suspect for how we felt and performed last night...

About an hour before our race, Bekah and I started our warmup.  We did about 20 minutes before going back to the field for strides and drills.  I made sure to take my time and stretch out well, I had just a few tight areas.  I did a few strides after stretching and they felt much better than before!  We grabbed our spikes and headed to the final checkin 15 minutes before our race.  We were in heat 1, so we hoped that meant ours wouldn't go out crazy fast.  I was hip 4, so I was able get the second spot in lane 1 going out.  At the breakline, a bunch of girls from the waterfall start got ahead of my pack, but it was such a tight pack that I wasn't too worried, I just needed to focus on not falling or anything.  For about a mile I just stayed where I was at, then in the second mile I moved up and around on the outside.  For the next few laps I was in about 6th place.  The effort to be up here was hard, but I just let the pack pull me along.  I knew I needed to focus so I could stay up there.  To my left was Jessica from Stanford, coming up on 6 laps to go she tried to get out but I kept her in.  She did the same thing the next lap, but I wasn't able to keep her boxed in this time and she got out and picked up the pace.  This is when I fell off the pack.  From then I was determined to at least catch some of the girls who were also fallen off the pack.  I caught a few, and finished 15th in my heat.  Here is a link that has everyone's splits in my heat http://results.flashresults.com/2014_Meets/outdoor/05-29-NCAAWest/027-1-01.htm Not bad except when the pack dropped me...  For cooldown I did 3.5 miles, it took me exactly 30 minutes!  I am amazed I was able to run this race after doing a 10k only 2 days prior.  I hope that I can remember what the races felt like this year and be able to apply the knowledge that can be gained from them to future races, especially regionals next year.