You've got to want it to win it

Today we hosted Abigail and Jessica for a recruiting visit so they joined in on the run. Hilary, Nikki, Alyssa, Andrea, and I took them up to 11th Avenue and ran down City Creek. They continued on City Creek towards the capitol while Hilary and I ran up the canyon. It was so beautiful with all of the snow! And running on the road wasn't bad either. We went up to the same spot we turned at last time and then ran back down. The way back down was slippery but by running on the fresh powder we were fine. We ran down Memory Grove to South Temple. The plan when we were done running was to run to Zupa's so that was our destination. Hilary and I both stepped in a puddle while crossing South Temple and screamed so loud because of the cold! And that just about describes the rest of our run to Zupa's. Our socks were drenched by the end but it was super fun!

Today everyone was super sore from lifting yesterday!  I am sure it was the Bulgarian split squats :P  At the oval even Amanda warmed up inside!  I started with the group but was just so sore I couldn't keep up and had to stop after 4 laps to take a good long stretch break.  So I was on my own for the rest of the warmup, but it was more important to take care of my body and actually let my muscles warm up rather than just go through routine.  I did another 3 laps and then strides and drills.  I decided not to change shoes because I was sore everywhere.  My calves still from racing and my quads, hamstrings, and butt from lifting.  The first part of the workout Bekah and I did with the mid-distance girls; two 200s and two 400s, equal jog recovery.  My times on those were 33, 36, 76, 76.  Then we did the second half of the long-distance workout which was two 1000s, two 800s, and two more 400s.  My times were 3:20 (40 second splits for every 200!) and 3:22 (40, 40, 41, 41, 40).  I did long way around the track jog back to the start for recovery on those.  Then for the 800s I hit 2:45 and 2:45.  I was pretty exhausted by this point but just made myself keep going.  I ran backwards back to the start for those.  On the 400s I just tried to go with fast turnover and hit 78 and 78.  At least I finished!  It is hard moving up the number of reps now that I am transitioning out of the mid-distance workouts.  For cooldown I did 10 laps to get to 11 miles for the day.  And then when I got back to HPER, I took an ice bath for 15 minutes.  Couldn't have done it if I weren't planning on sticking around until my physics lab anyway :P  Looking forward to just an easy run tomorrow!

Today Hilary and I both knew we could count on each other to run outside :)  So it was us and Alyssa for the run today.  We ran up campus by the dorms and above research park to get to the post office, then up Sunnyside.  Then we ran above the zoo and onto Wasatch.  Alyssa turned at 3 but Hilary and I continued on Wasatch to Thunderbird, where we hit 5 so turned and ran back the same way.  It wasn't a bad run, just a lot of puddles everywhere but once we had warmed up they weren't so bad.  And it was a one long sleeve kind of day!  I love the snow because it is making it warmer than the past week has been and it is cleaning the air!  :)  Still sore from the past 2 days so I made sure to stretch for a while after finishing.

Today there was a little confusion as to what the workout plan was but we ended up going to the oval like most of us had been thinking originally.  Even though it was so nice outside, I stayed in for my warmup for my hip.  I did 7 laps opposite direction (there are actually signs up now at the oval, as of tomorrow there are specified days for going clockwise or counterclockwise...) and then stretched before doing drills and strides.  I did the long distance workout which was 15 minute threshold, 3 minute rest, 10 minute threshold, 2 minute rest, and then six 200s.  I actually wore my flats for this one so my calves got some work done too.  Mostly I was by myself on the threshold but I felt like I kept a good pace.  I was in lane 2 the whole time, and I wasn't really checking splits.  I got in 8.75 laps during the first set, then got in a lap during the 3 minutes, then another 6 laps during the second set.  Then I did my 200s in 36, 38, 36, 36, 36, 35.  For those I did jogging recovery back to the start.  Since I don't really know how much extra I ran in lane 2 I will count the 40 meters short of a lap on each of the 2s and their recoveries and pretend they are equal... that makes sense in my head but not when I type it.  Anyway, I figured I needed 4 laps cooldown to get to 36 laps total for 10 miles for the day.  Had a nice stretch afterwards before driving back to school.  It was an adventure trying to park in the lot by HPER when we got back... the car might be sorta stuck in a snow bank...

Today after the drive up to Boise I went for a premeet with the distance girls.  On the way back towards the track there was an emergency and I got to use my CNA skills outside of the workplace...  Ran to the hotel and back to save the day.  By then I was at 5 miles so didn't bother to do strides...  We had fun waiting to be seated when we went to Olive Garden for dinner, we went to Claire's and bought a pack of best friends bracelets :)  so a lot of the distance girls have them now :)  Tomorrow is gonna be a great day of racing! 

1 mile shakeout in the morning with Hilary on the track.  It was super foggy and ice outside, I thought we left that behind in Utah?  After our mile we stretched for a bit.   

With an hour before the race I started my warmup with Bekah.  She was going shorter warmup so was with me just the first mile.  I did 3 miles and then went inside to grab my shoes and do my strides and drills.  Already I have learned from my mistakes last week!  I had plenty of time and was able to do enough strides to get a feel for the right pace and not let the adrenaline get to me and have me end up starting way too fast.  I was top seed by 11 seconds but you never know how the competition will really be until the race starts.  Going out I took the lead and could tell there was a girl slightly behind me but I just stayed calm and kept running.  My splits were 39s and 40s so pretty good.  The girl tried to pass me twice but I matched her moves and maintained the lead.  She made another move during lap 7 or 8 and overtook the lead.  The mile split was 5:17.  I tried to stay with her but she was fighting hard and I tried but didn't want to push that hard in the middle of the race so let her go.  I shouldn't have, it would have helped me to stick with her and embrace the pain.  But I did keep my pace.  She picked it up a lot and just opened a gap.  When I heard the bell for her final lap I realized I had let her get a whole 100 meters on me.  I didn't kick as hard as I should have, it is mentally tricky with a 200 meter track.  And I have an irrational fear of falling off of the banked track.  Maybe because I saw it happen at the meet last weekend.  I finished in 10:08, a few 82s and the lack of kick added up.  I was thinking about it afterwards and I have really gotten better at getting a feel for paces, but mentally I am not as tough as I used to be.  You can practice pacing all you want but it means nothing without the will to run in pain and fight for it during the race.  No race will ever go as planned for sticking to a pace, you've got to go with the competition.  For cooldown I ran 5 miles with my iPod.  I realized when I turned around that the first 2.5 was slow and that I needed to pick it up on the way back so that my team wouldn't have to wait forever for me to get on the bus to go home...  Next week my goal will be to work towards preparing myself better mentally and getting back my racing mindset.  I am doing the 5k in Seattle on Friday night, maybe the 3k Saturday morning if I feel up to it.  But I need to actually race this time, not just run for even splits.