You've got to want it to win it

My left leg hurt, so I took a 10 minute ice bath.

Today my sister and I started the workout early since we had to be done by 4.  We ran along 1300e to Sugarhouse Park, then around the outside loop about to the sidewalk on 1700e where it was 3 miles and where we turned around.  We went back the same way and then did 10 strides in the field behind the school.  At the dentist we did our core and arm swings while we waited for our mom to be done.  The dentist and his assistant got a kick out of watching us do them haha.  

Later in the evening my leg was hurting again so I hopped in the tub filled with cold water again for 10 minutes.  

Today after doing the dumb track stuff we drove out to the oval for a real workout.  We started with 8 laps warmup and then 4 laps speed changes.  Then we changed shoes and headed to the 800 start.  We did six 800s with 1 lap recovery.  We each had a target pace and were told that if we didn't hit it for all six we would be racing the 1600 and 3200 at the meet Friday.  My goal was to hit between 2:45 and 2:50.  I ran most of them right by Bill.  I hit 2:46, 2:43, 2:42, 2:42, 2:42, 2:44.  Then after our last recovery lap we changed shoes and then did 5 more laps cooldown to bring us to 10 for the day.

Today after the track warmups we went for an uphill run to slow us down.  We ran along 1300e, then went up 200s to President's Circle, then up through the U campus past Legacy bridge and up to Arapeen and out to Foothill by the post office.  Then we ran down Sunnyside to the school and finished with a lap around the block and a little in the parking lot to bring us to 6.  Then we went inside and did our crunches and pushups.  

Today we did our easy 4 mile run again.  Over to 2100s, down to 1000e and towards the school, walking up the hill on 900s when we had reached 4.  On the roundabout on 10th east we tried to box Ben in to force him to run the roundabout but he escaped.  Oh well, better luck next time.

When we arrived at the oval I did a mile warmup with Natalie and Abigail.  Then we stopped for a few minutes to drop our sweats, then started speed changes.  We did 4 laps of those, then I took my Gu and us and Amanda all got our spikes and headed over to the bull pen.  Bill got us in heats while we did strides.  Natalie and I were in the first heat.  I got to have the first position in lane one because I had had the fastest time so far.  Avery started next to me.  Going out I almost got blocked in but then I pushed and put distance on the pack.  I set a PR in my 400 with a 1:12, and when I had passed the mirror on that first lap I tried to see how close the others were but too many people were standing in front of it.  I also set a new PR in my 800 at 2:31 (if that time were in the 800 race it would have took third).  By then I think I was losing speed a bit and I knew my legs probably didn't have much left in them.  I missed my third lap split because Bill was yelling too loud, but at that point I still had the lead.  I know I should have made myself push harder at the 300, and the 200, and the 100 down the final straightaway but it is hard not knowing where the next girl is.  Right before the finish Avery caught up to me, and she ended my winning streak.  It was close, her time was 5:13.7.  When I looked at the pictures on my mom's camera afterwards I found it interesting that I had been in the lead with a gap and Natalie was second and she also had a gap on the pack :)  she tool 5th in 5:26 which was a PR for her :)  Afterwards I did a lap with Macee to recover, then later I did a lap with Natalie to finish her cooldown.  After the 400s were all done I finished my cooldown with Amanda for 2 laps while she warmed up for the 3200, then I did the last 2 laps on my own.  

When we got out to Saltair and got our racing packets, Abigail, Natalie, Ben, Bill and I started our warmup.  We just did the course once, but since we had started from the parking lot our full warmup was 3.25.  Then we changed shoes and hurried over to the line for strides.  I started right on the front with Natalie and Abigail.  When the race started I was out fast, there were only 4 guys in front of me.  The pace was ok but I decided I didn't want to push that hard the whole time so I backed off a bit to a more reasonable pace (transitioning from track-pace races to road races is always weird for me).  Then about 6 or 7 guys passed me, Ben and Jamal were in that group (probably the only time I will start faster than either of them).  There was one guy who I stayed with and I drafted behind him sometimes but the wind wasn't that bad.  We just kind of passed each other back and forth.  I was glad to have someone to run with though because that way I was able to maintain a good pace.  Afterwards I asked him about what his splits were for each of the mile marks because I knew my times would be close and I didn't have my watch.  His were 5:44, 6:00, 5:44.  At the turnaround my plan was to see how close the next girl was and then see if I had enough of a lead to drop the pace.  But Tee was right there at the turn with Bill so I tried to pick up the pace a little to see if I could create a gap.  Eventually the guy I was with and I caught up to the guy who was in front of us, but closer to the finish I heard someone cheering for Tee so I knew she must still be close.  So I pushed harder and ended up passing the 2 guys I had been running with.  I didn't want to get outkicked again so the closer I got to the finish I kept going faster.  I was the first girl, and Natalie was 3rd.  We went and put on our sweats and then Natalie, Ben and I did a 2.75 mile cooldown on the course, we just turned around before the cones to cut it to the length we needed to finish off our mileage.  When I got home I took a 10 minute ice bath because with 2 races in 2 days I knew I really should do it for my legs, and since I'm going ice skating and to a dance later my legs are going to be tired!