You've got to want it to win it

This morning at lifting I was able to do most of the winter lifts that the other girls were doing.  I was dead tired afterwards.  In the afternoon I went and ran on a treadmill at Steiner because there was no way I was going to fight the winds we've had since last night.  Also I knew I'd have a better run on the treadmill if I did.  I kept it at about 8.2 the whole time and I think I averaged 7:30 pace.  I only had to stop once and that was when the treadmill automatically reset at an hour but I had less than a mile left at that point.  I didn't even get off to turn up the fan, which I had intended to when I started because I only put it at the first setting.  But I realized after I had gotten off that it had turned to the treadmill next to me the whole time, it wasn't a very good fan anyway.

Today at practice I was struggling to keep up with the team.  We ran to Sunnyside and then up above the zoo onto Wasatch.  We ran along there and people turned around as they needed but I kept going until Thunderbird and then on Foothill I went all the way to the drinking fountain though I didn't expect it to be working.  At first on the run I just thought I was struggling because I was sore from lifting but on the way back I was feeling really sick.  I ran back along Foothill and then I was on Mario Capecchi when I hit 8 miles so I just walked the rest of the way back to the locker room.

This morning I went to Liberty Park for a workout.  I did a lap warmup and wasn't feeling too great but decided to run through it and then by the time I had a full lap and was over at the starting line of the lines and 2 dots system I decided to do a few strides.  They didn't feel bad so I went ahead and did the workout I had decided I'd do: three 1 mile repeats with half mile recovery.  The first one I hit 5:58.  During part of it at about the half mile mark there was a water station for some jingle bell race that was going on so it was kind of awkward running past them every time because they'd cheer for me but I wasn't even doing their event... and on the other mile repeats I was passing people in the event... On the second one I hit 5:51 and felt pretty good about it, then finished with a 5:54.  For cooldown I finished the lap I was on and then had to add just a little bit to get to 8 for the day.

Today with the team most people needed around 8 or 9 miles so I wasn't alone with my higher miles!  We ran out on Foothill and then cut up Sunnyside to get to the golf course to go up to Wasatch.  We ran all the way to Thunderbird and then kept going up on Foothill onto the Bonneville Shoreline Trail for a little bit.  We turned before too far because we needed to leave mileage for the strides when we got back.  Hilary, Lauren, Nikki R., and I ran back along Wasatch so we wouldn't be by the traffic and breathing the exhaust of it.  It was windy going back so I tried to draft behind Nikki and Hilary and I think Lauren was doing the same (we were being subtle about it).  I led for some of the time but I was really cold!  When we got back to campus we did our strides between the Burb and the swimming pool so that the wind would be blocked.  We did 8 strides and then a few drills, then added one tenth of a mile to get to a full 9.

Today for workout we did somewhat of an adventure run.  We ran to Guardsman and then across and down to 1500e.  We took that to Harvard where we turned down and went to 1300e.  We ran along there and then some of the group crossed and went down to Liberty, but I kept going with Hilary and Nikki all the way to 2100s.  We took that down to 1100e and went to 1700s, then down to 900e and over to 1300s, then down to the park.  We did a lap, and then did our strides over to 900s to the 600e exit of the park and ran to the Trax station at Trolley.  I still needed a little less than half a mile so I ran up to the 900e station.  

Today we did another adventure-type run.  We ran down Guardsman and then to 1500e.  I saw my grandma, who celebrated her 90th birthday yesterday, on a walk with her friend so the team told her happy birthday as we ran by :)  We went up one of the streets to get to 1700e and took that to Emerson, then cut down to 1600e over to 1700s and back to 1700e again over to 2100s.  Then Hilary, Nikki R., Lauren, Andrea, and I ran a clockwise lap around Sugarhouse to the light at 1500e and ran 15th and Guardsman back to campus.  I ran around for a few more minutes until I was at 9.

This morning we had our final lift of the semester.  I didn't get to do the same stuff as the team but oh well.  I got a sheet to take home to do over the break.

This afternoon we ran up to 11th Avenue and then all the way down into City Creek and out by the Capitol.  We ran down the hill behind it; the grass on the curb was way bumpy so my ankles hurt after that :(.  We ran to the Trax station by the library and barely caught it coming into the station.  We were at about 7 miles.  I decided to be done because my ankles were hurting.  I went to the training room and got a bag of ice for each.

Today I didn't run with the team because I was helping my dad with stuff at work.  When I went running I misjudged how cold it really was so I didn't make it very far before I decided to turn around and go home.  I ran to Sugarhouse and did an outer lap until I was at 2 miles, then turned and ran back.  I had hoped to do a fartlek workout but I was just not very motivated or mentally strong or smart enough to dress well for the day.  I should have considered that it was getting colder anyway as the sun was setting.  In addition to all that, when I got to the grass at Sugarhouse my ankles were hurting.  I think its the shoes, but also all the times I've rolled my ankles are probably getting me.  I stopped at 3 miles and then just walked.  I considered stopping at Amanda and Sarah's house to use their phone to have Abigail come pick me up but I decided not to.  But then guess who ran by me?  Amanda and Sarah :)  I ran half mile with them, just until I got to my house.  I am glad they ran by when they did.  

Later in the evening, 2 hours after I ate dinner, I went to Steiner with the intention of making up my miles I gave up on.  I had wanted to go to 5 and a half on the treadmill but got off at 2 and a half.  My ankles hurt even on the treadmill.  my right one is worse.  I probably could have just sucked it up and did the other 3 miles but this was a very weak day for motivation.  Oh well. 

Today was a better day :)  After furniture shopping for 3 hours I was dreading going for a run.  But then I had a brilliant idea which was to go run on Pipeline!  I wanted 10 miles so Pipeline was perfect length (almost) and I would be above the inversion!  Good thing I thought of it when I did because if I waited any longer I wouldn't have had time because I wouldn't finish until after dark.  Just in case, I took a flashlight with though.  My mom did too.  The first part of the trail was a bit icy and snowy but not too bad.  The part further on was nice though and I felt overdressed a bit for how warm it was with the sun, but I needed what I had on especially as I was finishing!  When I got off the trail I still needed .6 so I went up the road and back.  When I got back in the car the thermometer said 23 degrees!  And gradually got warmer as we drove down the canyon.  We only had $2 in change that my dad has in his car for parking so my mom told the person at the booth she was a senior so we could get the discount and pay $2 instead of $3...  Overall good day and I'm happy that I was able to get a good run in :)

This morning I met up with Nikki R. and Andrea to go for a run.  We wanted 9 miles so we planned to go down 11th Ave. and Memory Grove and run back up South Temple, but as we were on 11th we could see a cloud of inversion hanging over downtown so decided it would be best not to run in it.  Also we forgot that Andrea's knees don't respond well to downhill, so instead or going down Memory Grove we ran up City Creek until we were at 4 and a half.  The drinking fountain and bathrooms were probably off so we didn't stop there.  We just ran back the same way we came.  We kept the pace easy the whole time and it felt really good.  And there was no wind today which was a plus.

This morning I went to the Smith and did my lifting workout.  My back was hurting during the warmup so I told Hanah afterwards and she told me to not lift for a few weeks and take a few days off running.  So I went to Steiner and did elliptical for 50 minutes.  When I got home I did some hip stuff Hanah showed me and then some core.

Today I went to Steiner and did a pool running workout.  I did 5 minutes warmup and then did a ladder of 1 minute on 1 minute off, 2 on 1 off, 3 on 1 off, 4 on 1 off, 4 on 1 off, 3 on 1 off, 2 on 1 off, 1 on 1 off, then a 5 minute cooldown.  Then I put on running clothes and went upstairs to elliptical for half hour.  I did the first 15 minutes going forward  and the last 15 going backwards.

This morning I was feeling great and was pretty set on running 5 miles, so when I got to the gym I started with 5 miles on the treadmill.  Then I biked for 20 minutes.  It wasn't too bad, I think for now I'm going to really try and focus on getting a variety of cross training in because I only ever cross train when I'm injured and I think if I did it more as part of regular training that would be really great.  After getting home and cleaning up my room a bit, my family and I went to the airport to pick up my brother Clayton who got home from his mission today!!!  After visiting other family members and then going home, Ben helped put together the new bed frame Abigail and I got, since we will again be sharing a room :P 

This morning I woke up when my sister did to get ready for school because we share a room now.  But my mom and I had planned on going to the gym right after dropping her off so it worked out fine.  I was pool running today and wanted to get my workout done before the water aerobics class came in which my mom thought started at 9.  I got in the water at about 7:45 but it turns out the class is at 8.  My workout was 5 minutes warmup, then 7 sets of 5 minutes hard with 1 minute recovery and a 5 minute cooldown.  During the second set I had to stop my watch so I could get out and move into a lane with a swimmer.  I liked this workout and really want to continue to make these pool workouts a regular part of my training.

This morning after sleeping in for a bit (I was awake at 1AM feeling like puking, fortunately I did not) I went to Steiner with Abigail.  I did elliptical for an hour, she did too but only for about 20 minutes...  When we got home it was back to cleaning our room :P

This morning I went out to the oval with Abigail since she has practice out there during the break.  We did 4 laps warmup, 4 laps speedchanges, and a lap recovery.  Then we did 2 sets of the circuit (I substitutes single leg rdls for the squats).  Then we did step ups before running over to the 200 start for ten 200s.  We were supposed to progressively get faster, and have it feel somewhat like a tempo pace but with recovery back over to the start.  I could almost keep up with Tomy and Natalie, but I am not in very good shape... Then we did 10 laps cooldown to get to a full 8 miles.

Since I only ran 14 miles last week I have to watch how much I get this week.  So today I was on the elliptical for 50 minutes.

This morning I went out to the oval with my sister again.  We did 4 laps warmup and then 4 laps of speedchanges before taking a stretching break.  Then we did a series of drills to take up 6 laps where we ran the curve, did a drill over half the straight-away and then did a stride on the last half so we did each drill twice in a lap.  Then I changed shoes and did a 40 minute tempo (really about 41; went for 21 laps to get even 6 miles).  I was in lane 3 most of the time.  We hit about 2 minutes a lap for the first 10 laps but gradually picked up a few seconds each lap.  I could tell the pace always got faster coming out of the curves.  The last few I decided I didn't want to push to make the crazy so I pulled back a bit to the same pace as before.  On the last lap I started to get a sideache really bad and I was very glad that it was just the last lap.  I focused on not letting my form go an I think I did alright; I just ran how I felt was strong.  When I got home I took an ice bath for 10 minutes.

This morning I went to the gym and did elliptical.  I did 45 minutes and then 5 minutes backwards for a cooldown.

This morning I went to the pool with Abigail to go pool running but all the lanes were full and everyone was already doubled up and when we asked the people who appeared to be the slowest because they weren't really swimming if we could join them they said no and laughed at us.  So we left the gym.  I hate Steiner.  After arriving back home it took me a while to finally motivate myself to get up and go for a run.  I reviewed some of last years workouts and decided that today I would do five 1000s and try to hit between 3:30 and 3:40 as I had last year.  I ran to the track at East for warmup and then did 4 laps of speedchanges.  Then I stretched for a few minutes before getting on the line.  I hit 3:31 for the first one and it gave me hope to be strong the rest of the workout :)  I ran 600 meters recovery for each and always started at the spot where I had finished to switch it up a bit.  My times for the other ones were 3:37, 3:34, 3:37, and 3:35.  Then I ran home for cooldown.

Today for my run I needed 4 miles and I had some presents in the neighborhood to deliver, so that was what my run was.  Abigail came with on my bike and carried the presents which was convenient.  We ran to Natalie's house, then Mckensie's, then went to the grocery store to buy a few other gifts.  Then we ran home down 1300s and walked the last 3 blocks because we hit 4 miles early.  This might become a tradition because last year Abigail and I ran to the grocery store for a run to buy gifts too :)

This morning I went out to the oval to do a workout.  I did a warmup of 4 laps and then 4 laps of speedchanges.  Then I talked to Tomy as I changed shoes because he forgot that they didn't have practice today.  I ran over to the 800 start.  I had hoped to do 6 and hit 2:40s but wasn't sure what times I'd be able to hit since I haven't run 800s in a while.  On the first one I hit 2:42 and then took a lap recovery.  On the second one I hit a 2:37 with the first lap being a 1:16.  I think that one was faster because over on the far curve on the first lap there was a wrestling team doing fireman in lane 3 and someone walking in lane 1 so I had to hurry and get past the fireman line.  Tomy joined me on the recovery lap and then on the next 800s.  He helped me bring the pace down a bit; its hard to evenly pace yourself since you can't feel off of other people and controlling the effort level on each one is hard when you're the only one.  I hit 2:47 and then 2:52 and decided to be done.  Then I changed shoes back and did 4 laps recovery.

This morning I got up and ran to Sugarhouse Park, then did part of an outer loop going counterclockwise, then left the park at 1700e.  I intended to so the cemetery route and needed 8 miles so instead of just going all the way on Imperial Street like I usually do (which is only 6.5 miles anyway), I ran down to Alden Street and then went the normal way for if I had started from Sugarhouse.  I went back along Melbourne Street and then 1800e like usual, and then I reached 8 miles when I was along 1500e about 3 blocks away from home so I just walked the rest of the way.  When I got home I did a set of countdown abs with crunches, leg lifts, and jackknives.

This morning I went out to the Oval to do a workout.  Patrick ran my warmup with me since he had gone there thinking they had practice.  We did 4 laps warmup and 4 laps speedchanges.  Then Patrick left.  I changed shoes and then went over to the 200 start.  I did two 200s and hit 36 and 37 with recovery over to the start again, then I did two 400s with a lap recovery each and my times were 1:16 and 1:18.  Then I did two 800s and hit 2:47 for both with a lap recovery after each (the first one I had to go all the way into lane 3 on one of the curves to go around some people :P)  then another two 400s in 1:21 for both, then finished off with two more 200s both at 38.  Then I just did 2 laps cooldown to get to 7.5 for the day.  My legs didn't feel tired at all during the workout so that was good.  I'm happy with my times too, especially for pacing myself.  :)

I got new shoes finally!  And today I got to go on my first run in them up by the cabin.  Since everything past the gate is covered in the snow, I got to run out 3 miles and back on the familiar road we ran on at girls camp.  To change it up I ran out west first and then back.

This afternoon I went running with Amanda and Natalie.  Again I did 6 miles, this time we went out going east.  Amanda turned around at 2 and Nat and I turned around at 3.  It was windy on the way back but at least this time we had the (slight) downhill.  We drafted during the last mile and then took turns riding in the sled behind the snowmobile before going back to the cabin :)

This afternoon (or almost evening) after returning home from the cabin, I grabbed my iPod and went for a run.  I ran along 1500e and then at 2100s went up to 2100e.  At 1300s I cut down to 1900e and kept going until 900s.  Then I went back down to 1500e and across to home.  I had to go out a few more blocks and back to get the full 6.