You've got to want it to win it

Today we had a group of 9 for the run!  We started out on Foothill and did the Albertson's loop.  Hilary, Macee, and Kate turned around before we got there but still the rest of us stayed in a group (well sort of, Lauren and I fell behind the others when they ran a light when there was a car that Lauren and I thought was too close!).  We caught the other girls after they had to stop at some lights though.  On the way back it started to snow a little bit, and when Lauren and I left the group to add mileage at Sunnyside Park it was hard to see when running north!  She ran a lap with me before going back, and then when I finished another lap it was sunny again!  So I decided to stay and do my strides there while the weather was good and where I could be on the grass.  After I finished those I did another lap and ran back to the lockerrooms.  I did my drills in the halls of HPER as I walked to the training room to roll out and stretch.  My right hip and hamstring and quads all hurt today :P  But they felt better after stretching.  I left the training room with a bag of ice wrapped to my hamstring.

We had yesterday's workout today because of the better weather :)  We started with the usual warmup up on the road above the track and then up North Campus to the road up there and back to the stadium.  Then we did our strides and drills.  The workout was three sets of four 400s at 10, 5k, then 1500 pace.  I was with Bekah and Nikki, and AuraLea was going to join us for her last 2 sets so we waited and did strides while she did her first set.  When all of us started we were supposed to hit 84s, we hit 87, 87, 86, 85 so slightly off what we were supposed to :P  After each in the first set we had 30 seconds recovery, then 3 minutes (a lap) between sets.  The second set was supposed to be 79, and I hit 78, 78, 79, 78 and this time we got 1 minute rest after each.  The third set I did by myself and was supposed to hit 75 for all of them.  Since I was by myself it was hard gauging how much I needed to pick it up so the first one was too fast in a 72.  Then I hit 76, 74, 73.  After taking a recovery lap I changed shoes and then ran 3 laps at the track with Nikki, and then went out on the road for cooldown same route as the warmup.  Afterwards I went to the training room and rolled out for a few minutes.  My right hamstring has a knot in it, I couldn't feel it during the workout but towards the end of the cooldown I could.  I'll just keep taking care of it and hopefully it will mellow out.

Today we had another workout at Liberty.  Good thing it was only threshold or it would have been a lot harder on our legs following yesterday's workout!  We started with the usual warmup from the 900e Trax station then part of a lap around the park.  Then we did our drills and strides and changed shoes.  The workout was 25 minutes threshold.  I started with AuraLea and we were supposed to hit about 6:20 pace and Bekah had gone ahead to the other side of the park to join us when we got to 5 minutes.  Then about halfway through, if Bekah and were feeling good we could pick it up a little bit.  I didn't really catch the mile splits but I think we had a 6:13 in there somewhere, and when Bekah and I picked it up we got down to 6:10 pace but I think we finished at 6:20 pace.  For the whole thing I probably got about 2 3/4 laps in, or just barely short of 4 miles said my Garmin.  Then I did the four 35 second strides with Bekah and changed shoes and ran back to Trax for cooldown.  When we got to Trolley I still needed a mile so I ran up to the 900e station and back.

Today we had a well deserved recovery run :)  We ran up on 11th Avenue all the way down into City Creek Canyon :)  The other girls took Trax back but I just turned around at 3.5 and ran back to campus the same way.  I did 2 strides on the way back as speed changes but they felt way too difficult so I just ran and enjoyed it much better :)  Traveling to Arizona tomorrow to race the 1500 on Saturday night!

I took a 10 minute ice bath before going to bed. 

This afternoon after arriving in Phoenix and going through the slow process of getting our rental cars and getting checked into the hotel, we finally got to go to the track for our premeet!  I went running with AuraLea, Amanda, and Andrea.  We went out to a path that runs alongside the river and it was really nice.  We crossed a bridge to run on the other side of the river, and about halfway through there were these 2 little boys probably 4 and 5 years old and they raced us to the end of the bridge and they won!  They were so cute :)  AuraLea and Andrea turned around then and the boys wanted to race them back haha :)  Amanda and I kept going until we were at 15 minutes and then turned around and went back the same way.  On the track I did 6 strides and a couple of drills.  Then I did another lap to get to 4.5 for the day.  After we left the track I went to dinner with Amanda, AuraLea, and Kep, where we waited almost an hour for our food :P  It was delicious though.  Back at the hotel I took a 10 minute ice bath, though it wasn't very cold since the tap water is a lot warmer here.  Still I had goosebumps on my legs so I figure it still counts!  Hoping for a great race tomorrow night!

This afternoon it was really weird warming up by myself... I ran out on the trail by the river that we did yesterday, I did 3 miles.  I still had a bit of time when I got back to the stadium so I decided to go for another half mile before starting strides and drills.  I went over to the far straightaway and just did strides and drills on the grass there.  When I saw the other girls in the 1500 walking out onto the track on the opposite side I hurried and changed into my spikes (I made the mistake of sitting on the grass... when I stood up there were sticker things stuck to my spandex! :P) and then got onto the track for strides.  I was in the second heat so I had time to do strides while the other race was going on.  It was really weird being the only Utah girl in the heat and being in it with schools that had 4 or 5 girls in it!  I was seed 4, and probably didn't get out as well as I could have but was with the pack the whole time.  The first 400 split was 74, then I had a 76, and 76.  With about 500 to go in the race I could tell the pack was picking it up and then I was dead last but right on the heels of another girl who had fallen off.  Probably not the most exciting race for my aunt and uncle who happened to be in Tempe to be there for... But I'm glad they were able to come :)  I pushed hard the last lap and especially the last 300.  I got ahead of the other girl who had fallen back and she never got into contact with me to worry me, but I was still running in fear of getting outkicked!  The last 300 was a 55, and looking at the splits for the race and what little training I actually did specifically for this event, I did a pretty good job!  After walking off the track, I went and changed back into my trainers and did 6 strides on the grass.  They felt really good after pushing so hard in that 1500!  For cooldown I ran with Andrea and Amanda for their warmup, then I added just a little bit to get to 7 for the day.  Then I enjoyed getting to cheer on my teammates in the 800 and the 5k :)  Utah swept the top 4 places in the 800 and AuraLea got a new PR in the 5k :)