You've got to want it to win it

No back pain yesterday or this morning at weights meant I went running today!  Outside this time.  Tim worked on my back and quad and hip flexors this morning, I could tell that it made my run so much better :)  I ran on Foothill to 1300s and then back to campus along 1900e.  After that I went to the pool for a pool running workout.  I warmed up 5 minutes and then did a ladder of 1 minute on (1 off for everything), then 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1, followed by a 5 minute cooldown.  Ice bath for 15 minutes afterwards.  I am still planning on racing in Seattle this weekend, just one event.  I am going to see how tomorrow's workout feels before deciding which event.

I brought my own warm-up-in-the-microwave heat packs today so that I could heat up on the way out to the oval.  I warmed up inside and then stretched before joining the others for strides and drills.  My everything that was hurting was iffy during the warmup and I wasn't sure how the workout was going to go, but I knew the only way to find out would be to just go for it.  The workout was two 200s and then 7 800s, 1 and then three sets of 2 in which you drop 4 seconds a set.  On the 200s I hit 38 and 37.  Bekah and I were starting out 800s at 84 pace and then our end goal was 78 pace.  I hit 2:47, 2:44, 2:43, 2:41, 2:41, and 2:37.  On about the 4th one my hip flexor was hurting but it wasn't that bad.  Kep pulled me from the last one, not wanting to overdo anything today (not like one more 800 after 6 was going to be that bad, but the last one felt kinda hard so I agreed to stop and cool down 15 minutes on the bike.  The track was kinda crazy with the sprinters there taking up a lot of lanes.  I was entertained by Carole Mikita from KSL trying to film something, she kept standing in lane one and then had to keep moving every 10-20 seconds or so since we were coming by.  So if anyone saw her story in bits and pieces, that was courtesy of us!  I stretched and iced on the way back to campus, sorta skipped rehab since I was in a hurry.  I'm thinking tomorrow I will do a run and pool run combo again, depending how I feel.  

I heated up and stretched for a few minutes before going outside to run.  I was hoping between 4-6 miles.  I ran out on Foothill and then down 2300e ot 1700e, down to 2100e and back to campus.  Only a little bit of pain but it went away.  After I got back I went to the pool for a workout.  I warmed up 5 minutes and then did 7 reps of 1:30 on with 30 seconds off, then took 2 minutes rest before doing a set of 5 of the same.  Then 5 minute cooldown.  Next I went to the training room for rehab and stretching.  I had just gotten into the ice bath when Hanah realized she had forgotten to tell me I had a massage with Tim...  So after the ice bath Tim worked on my lower back.  My left piriformis/glutes were really tight, that probably has to do with the right hip flexors being weird too.  Gotta love track...

Today we got to do our workout on the track!!! And I think we caught the small window of sunshine, finishing just as it started getting windy and the storm came in.  We did our usual warmup and then strides and drills on the track.  The long distance threshold workout was two 2000s with 90 seconds rest, then a 1000, then four 200s.  On the first 2k I hit 7:18, hitting 1:28 for the first three splits and then just a bit faster for the last 2.  On the second one I went the other way (it felt weird to my hip flexor at first but it warmed up ok) and hit 7:23.  Then Kep wanted me to skip the last 1k so I could focus on the 200s instead, I hit 35, 36, 36, 35.  Afterwards I cooled down 2 miles with Nikki and then had a nice long stretch.  Leaving for Seattle tomorrow morning!

This morning I went running with Jesse up by the capitol. We ran City Creek to 11th Avenue and then finished down Memory Grove. We did a few strides at the end when the grove had flattened out a bit. The downhill irritated my hip but the pain eased when we were running more flat again. My race is tomorrow afternoon so I'm sure my hip will feel better by then.

A little before warmup time I decided I should heat my back and hip for a few minutes.  About an hour before the race Bekah and I started our warmup.  We ran out on the trails just to the neighborhood there and back for about 2 miles.  My hip was bothering me the first part of the warmup, so I took some ibuprofen when we got back to the track.  I stretched for a bit before doing my strides and drills, then went and changed shoes.  Bekah had told me that the pros were in our heat so that the faster college kids could be in their own, so I was expecting the race to go out fast and to probably be hanging on to the end.  Nope.  When we got to the end of the first straightaway I somehow was in the lead.  I didn't think I was pushing the pace or anything, so I was confused that first lap when I was still in the lead.  After coming around the first lap in 61 I knew I wasn't going crazy with pace, the race went out slow.  People picked it up and passed on the next bit, but I didn't worry about them then since it was early in the race.  The first 400 was a 78.  At the 800 I was at 2:35, still doing good.  The mile split was 5:08 and I remember thinking to myself that there was only 1400 left and I should start making some moves, but by now it was getting hard to hold on.  Somewhere around 4 or 3 laps to go I remember someone passing me and trying to break away, but I wouldn't let them.  I passed them and moved up, deciding then that I needed to gain a few positions.  In the last 2 laps I moved from 6th to 5th, then on the last lap I was challenged 3 times for 5th by a BYU girl but I always was able to pull out a little more kick, and secured 5th, and getting a PR by a second!  So did Bekah, it was awesome :)  For cooldown we ran 2 miles on the trails again, the light rain felt so nice after sweating buckets in the arena.  Afterwards Hanah massaged my calves for a few minutes, they hurt pretty bad.  My back and hip didn't bother me during the race or on the cooldown.