You've got to want it to win it

This morning I ran laps around the perimeter at Liberty until I was at 9 miles.  The end!

This morning I did a hill workout at Sugarhouse.  I warmed up around the perimeter of the park and then into the park to the hill just past the pond.  I did that one 4 times, 200 meters of it, and then ran the one just before the pond 4 times.  Then I did the first one but this time went to what I estimated as 400 meters (going by the light poles), and I did this one twice.  Then I cooled down to finish at 9 for the day.  Later I went and lifted with Hilary.  I finished all the lifts in our summer packet, so I made up my own today!  I did a 15 minute ice bath afterwards.

Ran along 1300e to 500s, then up to Sunnyside and above the zoo.  I was disappointed to find that the little park across from the zoo no longer has a running drinking fountain :(  But I knew there was one at the tennis courts by the golf course, so I continued on.  I got water there, and then ran through the golf course back to Sunnyside and then down Foothill to Guardsman, and then back home.

This morning I went running with Katherine, a girl from my ward.  We ran on Shoreline Trail, starting across from the zoo.  We ran part of the trail I had never run before, you start east and then go around the round tower and up that bit, but instead of turning left and heading back out west we went north.  From there it was up and up and up!  Good calf workout.  We ran all the way to the top of a mound, that was at 1.3 miles.  We ran back down and then went west on a trail that if you go east on are the sawtooth hills.  There were I think 2 of those on the west.  I was super cautious on the downhill, but surprised at how well I handled the climbs back up.  After that we kept going above the trail I am usually on, and then behind the new museum we climbed and then went down and ended up on the road by Red Butte.  From there we ran back to the trail head the shortest route we could.  It was an awesome run and I think a great strength builder!  And definitely something I could not do alone, it was nice to have a new running buddy :)  For my birthday which is next week I got some Vibram 5 fingers, so I am going to use those next time we go on these steep trails!

This morning I warmed up to Liberty Park and then did strides for warmup before starting workout.  I did six half miles with a quarter mile recovery.  I was hoping to be in the 2:40s, but when I ran the first one in 2:59 that hope was gone.  The next one was 2:54, and the remaining 4 were 3:01, 3:03, 2:57, 3:02.  At least they were somewhat consistent (considering the inclines and declines of the part of the park I ran each of them on).  For cooldown I ran back home and finished with 9 miles total.

After I finished my workout yesterday my mom told me about this race she found up by the capitol.  The website said there were prizes for overall male and female, didn't specify what, and the female winning time for last year was 24 minutes, so we thought we'd go find out...  I warmed up out a mile on the course and back, then stretching and a few strides.  The race director talked to us on the line for a few minutes, then there was another few minutes for strides, and then the race started.  Next to me on the line there was a guy with a Garmin and racing flats, he was one of a few people who I thought would be competitors in this race (My goal was to beat all of the guys in this race too, since last year's winning time was 18:49).  Going out I was right, and this guy was at the front of the pack with me.  When setting the pace I found I was able to settle into a pace just faster than him, but I could still hear him in the first mile.  During the second mile he made a move and passed with me, but I surged and caught back up to him, and passed him again.  Then I thought I heard puking... and thought for sure I would have this race!  At the turnaround I was surprised that the next guys in the race weren't far behind either, so I surged again and hoped I wouldn't get caught on the downhill.  That always happens to me at the cold turkey run...  I made it to Memory Grove without getting passed, and then made another surge as I continued down.  Then the guy who I had been battling with caught up to me and passed me, and I let him go... Because I hate racing downhill.  But then I noticed him glance back, and knew I should not have let him pass me so easily.  So the rest of the race I focused on closing the gap on him.  Down the final stretch I could tell I was closing, but only a little bit and there was not enough distance left in the race for me to catch him.  I think the runnercards were a few seconds behind what the clock was showing, I am pretty sure I was 3 seconds faster than what printed on the card.  Afterwards I found out that the guy I had been battling with was Collin, and he is on the blog too.  I ran my cooldown with him, back up Memory Grove and then down by the capitol and to the bottom entrance of Memory Grove.  The food afterwards was great, plenty of fruit :)  and some creamies :)  My intention for this race as far as the training goes was to practice the mentality of racing before my half marathon next Wednesday...  And I think this race served it's purpose well.  When I got home I took a 15 minute ice bath.  And if hashtags worked on the blog, I would use one today since a biking store is giving away a Garmin for people using their hashtag on social media sites...