You've got to want it to win it

Today for track practice we started with the usual team warmup of 2 laps and then stretching and drills.  Then we split into our groups.  For distance we did a mile warmup and then a mile of speedchanges.  Then I changed to my spikes and Bill gave us the workout.  It was a farlek ladder of 6 minutes on 6 minutes off, 5 minutes on 5 minutes off, 4 minutes on 4 minutes off, 3 minutes on 3 minutes off, 2 minutes on 2 minutes off, and then 1 minute on 1 minute off.  I didn't want to count laps so I wore my Garmin for that haha even though we were just on the track.  We did the recoveries in lane 2 though to be out of the way so that added some.  Then we did 5 strides to finish the running part.  We finished up the day with our core which included abs, pushups, and arm swings, and then with the bar we did lunges, squats, calf raises, and step ups.  

Today at track we started with the usual warmup of 2 laps and then stretching, followed by drills.  We did some calf raises and arm swings as part of the drills.  Then we split into our groups for our individual workouts.  For distance we started with a mile warmup and a mile of speedchanges.  Then Bill was starting us in groups where one person would be doing an 800 and two people would be doing 400s but they would switch between laps to help keep the 800 runner pushing.  We didn't have set times we were supposed to hit, we were just supposed to help push each other.  For some of them Bill would give one of the runners a head start.  For my 800 I did the first lap with Abigail and the second lap with Sarah.  I lost Abigail after the first 300 meters of the 800 and then couldn't catch Sarah during my second lap.  Then after some standing recovery I ran a 400 for Sarah and then later a 400 with Caden (or Chester, I can't remember).  Then we did 6 strides when we all had finished our 800 and two 400s.  For the first 2 strides we were supposed to focus on arms, then the next 2 we focused on running on our toes, and for the last 2 we focused on both and worked on progressively picking up the pace.  Then for a cooldown we ran up to Sunnyside, did a lap, and came back to the track.

Today I arrived at the meet just in time for the 400 which I was signed up for.  The meet was at Stansbury and Olympus and Woodscross were there.  The coaches put us in somewhat random events so I imagined that it was like JV regions.  I put on my spikes and did drills and strides for my warmup.  I was in the third heat in lane 4.  I didn't use blocks but that probably didn't matter.  Stephie was in lane 5 and Natalie was in lane 6.  For the first 200 meters I was slightly behind Natalie and I couldn't see the girls on my left.  Going into the last 200 meters and nearing 100 left there was a girl that came up but I pushed to stay with her and then in the final 100 I passed Natalie and passed the other girl and won the heat!  And it turns out I was second in the 400s overall haha!  My time was 1:05.08.  Afterwards I changed shoes and went and did a mile cooldown.  I barely made it back for the 800.  Going out I was up at the front with Josephine and another girl.  The lead kept switching between the 3 of us pretty much the entire time.  Coming down the last 100 I was able to pull ahead of Josephine before the final straightaway but then she passed me back so I took second in that event too, my time was 2:31.25.  Then I went over to the shot put area since I was signed up for that too.  I scratched on my first throw, got a 5' 11" on the second, and 5' 04" for the third.  I was 10th place out of 10 haha!  Then I ran the 3200, I kept my trainers on and Bill told me to try to run it at 7 minute pace and to try and finish with a 13:50.  Dakota wanted me to pace him but it was too fast for 2 days before BYU, but Bill told me to run the first lap fast to scare Dakota a little bit haha.  Laps 2 through 7 I relaxed but pushed enough to stay at the pace I needed to.  Then I was supposed to push the last lap so I did, my final time was 13:23.75.  Then I decided to stick around for the 4x400, I ran the first leg.  I wasn't very fast, I got us the baton in last but fortunately the other girls were able to catch some of the other teams.  After that I did another mile for cooldown.

When I got back to Salt Lake I went to Steiner with my mom where I biked for 20 minutes.  Then I did my abs, pushups, lunges, and calf raises out by the ice rinks and did my arm swings and squats in the weight room, using a bar for the squats.  Then I went and stretched for a few minutes before going home. 

Today at practice we started with the usual warmup of 2 laps and then stretching.  Then we had a meeting with the coaches, followed by Caroline reading the book "All My Friends Are Dead" to us before we went and did our drills.  Then we split into groups with our coaches.  For the distance workout we ran to the gully using the 1500 East entrance and did a full lap and then another half lap up to the entrance on 900 South.  Then we went to Sunnyside Park for arm swings and strides.  We did a minute and a half of arm swings and 4 strides, and did that 3 times.  Then we finished by running back down to the track, then I finished with a lap on the track to get up to 4 for the day.  I feel very rested and am ready to run a great race tomorrow and hopefully break that record!  

This morning after arriving at the stadium and getting the tent set up, I went for a run with Ben, Bill, and 3 other coaches as part of my warmup.  I didn't do the full run, Ben and Bill and I cut the run short so I had about 2 and a half miles warmup.  Then I got my spikes so I was ready to go to the bull pen and then I went and did drills and strides while I waited for them to call my race in.  Finally we went in and I took my Gu and changed into my spikes.  Then they walked us out onto a corner of the track while the other heat was still going so I did a few drills in there while I waited.  Then right before we walked down to the start Bill poured a whole bottle of cold water on my head and over my shoulders to cool me down for my race because even though it was early it was getting pretty hot.  I was the first seed so I got to start in the first position in the first alley.  Bill and I had talked about strategy before and decided I needed to go out hard and try to put forth the same effort to feel like I had when I raced at Arcadia and to stay pushing the whole time.  I don't remember the splits (if I find them later I will post them) but I know my 4th lap was the slowest of the whole race.  At the mile I was at 5:25 and I knew that wasn't on pace to be able to break the state record unless I would be able to really pick it up.  Still I maintained the lead but I knew from hearing the announcer and hearing people cheering that some of the girls were coming up on me.  I was able to stay ahead of them pretty well until the last 2 laps.  With 500 to go Summer was right with me and then when we got to the last lap she passed me and then 2 other girls passed me as well.  Why do there have to be so many good kickers in this state?  I was a second slower than my season best for outdoor in Utah but it wasn't a bad time.  Afterwards for a cooldown I went with Ben and Rebecca came on her bike and she showed us how to get to the MTC because Ben wanted to run there for fun because he has a friend there.  So we went to the MTC and were across the street from the Provo Temple when we turned around and the total for the cooldown was 2 and a half miles.  

Later in the day when I had returned from the meet I took a 10 minute ice bath.  Then after my legs had warmed up a while later I went for a mile run with my iPod along 1400e to 1700s and back.  

After cheering on Abigail and Amanda I went and warmed up with Ben.  We did a lap around the block that the stadium is on which is probably about a mile.  Then I stretched and relaxed under my team's tent and then cheered for Ben in his race.  My race wasn't for a few hours so for most of the day I just stayed under the tent in the shade.  Finally it was getting closer to golden hour so Natalie and I started to warm up.  We did 2 laps around the block and then went and got our spikes and water and I got my Gu and we went over by the bull pen to do strides and drills.  We decided it would be fun to do our cross country cheer, even there were only 2 of us, so we did haha!  It was just the 2 of us jumping in circles with our hands on each others shoulders, that was entertaining!  We miss cross country!  Finally it was our turn to go into the bull pen to put on our spikes and get our numbers.  When we walked out onto the track we each poured some water on us to cool us down since it was hot and sunny.  Right before our race started, some clouds came which was nice.  For the first lap I sat with the front of the pack and just went at their pace.  I don't remember the split, though I think it was a 77.  100 meters into the second lap Jamie started to push the pace so some of the pack, myself included, went with her.  With 150 left in that lap I got to where I needed to be but when we got to 2 laps left I wasn't able to break away.  The split then was 2:38.  I got passed a lot in the last 2 laps, I don't even remember what position I was in at 600 left, which is where I had planned on moving for my final kick.  All during the last lap I kept getting passed but couldn't make myself hold on enough to stick with any of the girls.  And Natalie outleaned me at the line and beat me by .04 seconds, close race.  I didn't cool down afterwards, I just went and relaxed under the tent again because there wasn't much time until I would need to start warming up for the medley.  I did 2 laps in the side field and then did some drills and strides when it was time to go to the bull pen for the medley.  Victoria and Josephine were on the 200s and Jasmine was the 400 leg.  We had the top seeded time going into it and were in lane 6.  Victoria and Josephine said they didn't have the best handoff but that was alright, Jasmine ran an amazing 400 and got us into the lead in the last 100.  When I started to run as she finished the lap she had to weave between some of the other girls because one of them stepped forward to where I had been standing before Jasmine had passed.  Still I had several meters lead and I pushed because I really wanted to do well for the team.  I could see how much of a lead I had on the big screen as I was on the first curve, and 300 meters in Tolbert yelled to me that I had 20 meters on the girl in second.  I made myself go to my toes and really pushed the last 500 meters of it.  On the big screen it looked like I had an even bigger lead this time but I wasn't going to relax my efforts.  I stayed pushing the whole time and again when I got to where Tolbert was he said I had 20 meters on the girl in second.  I kicked hard on the last 100 and as I was stopping after crossing the line the official gave me the shell of the bullet that had started the race.  Our time was 4:15.74, a new team best I believe :)  I think I ran a 2:23 or something around there for the 800, I remember the clock said 2:20 when I reached the 200 mark of my leg.  It was a great way to end the day and I really look forwards to running this event at state in 2 weeks, we are gonna win it!