You've got to want it to win it

This morning I went on my final run of the summer before reporting for cross country cap tomorrow.  For warmup with the group we did a lap around Sunnyside and then continued down to the track at East.  There we did a mile and a mile of speedchanges, bringing total warmup to 3 and a half.  Then we did 12 400s.  I was able to hang with Natalie for most of them so it was nice to work together.  The first one was 1:25, we struggled getting out well with there being so many of us.  The next ones I hit 1:20, 1:20, 1:20, 1:21, 1:20, 1:20, 1:20, 1:20, 1:20, 1:20, 1:20.  Talk about consistency.  Definitely achievable, and great for not having done something like this for a while.  I hope during cross country I don't get held back during workouts like last year.  When we finished we cooled down back up to Sunnyside for water and then did the VA loop.  With Bill, Chris, and Tomy I did a lap in the cemetery and then went down to 1300e and over to Sunnyside to go back up to the park, where we finished with a lap around the tennis courts to get to a full 12 for the day.  

This morning we had to wait half hour after our compliance meeting before meeting for our run.  I did most of my PT during that time, so it wasn't a complete waste of time, but I didn't get to do all my miles like I had hoped.  With the group we ran out on Foothill and then over to the Bonneville gully to do laps.  The creek is all dried up at the bottom.  After doing 2 laps there, the other girls returned and Hilary and I kept going for our mileage.  We ran to Sunnyside Park next and did a lap there, and then went over to the cemetery for a loop there before running back up to HPER.  When we got there we did 8 strides up the hill by the Huntsman Center, and then finished to 8.  And I just remembered that I forgot to add on at the end what my Garmin missed at the beginning, so I guess I can take that part off of my second run tonight...  In Eden. :) 

In the evening we went up to the campgrounds by North Fork for a short run.  We ran the loops that go around a lot of the campgrounds.  By the end I was with Hilary so we finished when we reached 13 for the day. 

This morning we went for a run on the trail by Pineview Reservoir.  We started out on the trail and then half mile in ran into nowhere after running through some tall grasses and drenching our socks, and then we had to run back through it to find where the trail went.  We were supposed to turn on a bridge, but our photographer was there the first time so I didn't really think and just ran straight.  Back on the trail though it was a great run.  I was with Hilary and Kep until a little bit past 3 miles, and then Hilary and I turned around.  We added some at the end to get to the full 6.  Then we did a lot of strides for our camera man.  Did PT back at the condo.  We have a tempo run this afternoon.

This afternoon we did our workout starting from Eden Park.  We warmed up out a mile and back on the road, and then did our strides and drills and changed shoes.  We had 2 groups, one for 800s and one on 1200s.  I went with the 1200 group.  Hilary and I decided we'd tell ourselves we were doing 5.  The first one I stayed with Bekah and we ran 4:41 (1:33, 3:09), then on the second I hit 4:28 (1:29, 2:59, also most uphill out of all of them), and then I finished back with 4:36 (1:31, 3:04) and 4:34 (1:29, 3:03) for the last 2.  I was really tired during the last one so decided to be done.  I'm glad I broke out and went the pace I felt was better for me at this time.  I also liked that we ran the first two out and the last 2 back, it made it seem to go by quicker.  Then we changed shoes back and Hilary and I went on a 4.75 mile cooldown.  We ran down the road that the park is on first, but after that turned out to be a dead end we turned on the way back and ended up out on the road we had been doing the 1200s on.  We almost made it to the turn towards Huntsville before turning around.  On the way back when we were almost to the Valley Elementary we were really hot and there was an irrigation ditch (thanks Ben for the vocabulary) right there on the side of the road so we had to splash ourselves to cool off.  That made the rest of the cooldown go by much quicker :)   

This morning we slept in for a little bit before leaving at 9 to drive to Snow Basin to run.  Heading out on the trail a biker told us there was a black bear sighted there yesterday so we were alert of that.  I went out right behind Amanda and Kep, and couldn't keep up with them very long before I was by myself.  We went on the trail that goes towards green pond first, and then turned at about 2 miles where it goes steep down and then steep up so we could run on the trail that goes the other way.  It is actually a loop, but after Amanda and I were both startled by the sudden appearance of a lot of cattle on the trail (we both panicked that they were bears at first!) we were glad we were able to just turn around there and head back to the cars.  Then I needed another mile and a quarter to get to 6 so I ran up the road to a gate and then back.  Afterwards we enjoyed a nice swim in the lake over by Huntsville :)

We did a hill workout this afternoon.  We warmed up on the road at the North Fork campsites and then turned and ran on a trail.  It was pretty flat for a bit, and then went down and connected with one of the loops we had run on Tuesday.  We took the road back to the cars and then did modified drills with our strides.  The workout was sets of hills, first a 100 with walk back, then a 100 and back with a 200, and so on building up to a set ending with a 400.  My hips feel sore from the PT stuff I do only on hills, so I lagged behind the group most of the time.  Towards the end we sort of split up and Kep changed some of ours.  For the last set on mine he didn't want me to do the 400 after I finished the 200 of that set so we compromised and I did a 300 followed by a 100.  It felt so great to be done!  For cooldown we did backwards what we did for warmup, then Hilary, Amanda, and I decided we'd run down and meet the others at the gate so we wouldn't have to run back uphill for our cooldown.  It was only a half mile and we still needed another mile and a half, so we decided we would just run it all down the road and hope that they would have enough sense to drive down and find us after a while.  We finished, and then we waited, and waited, and waited.  Finally we started walking back up to see if we might see them coming.  They did, and it turns out they thought we'd have enough sense to finish at the gate like we said.  I guess we were all senseless today, but at least they were relieved to have finally found us and to finally be on the way back for dinner.   

This morning we got up early and ran on the trail by the reservoir again.  I started out quick, hoping to keep Amanda company for a little bit but that didn't last long.  At around 3 miles Hilary caught up to me so we kept going once the trail ended and crossed the highway to run up on Skyline.  We stopped at 4 to stretch for a minute before heading back the same way we had come.  On the way back I was really tired, I think I haven't been getting enough calories at camp.  Fruits and veggies are great, but I definitely miss fro-yo and ice cream...

In the evening I did my PT before going for a 4 mile run with Natalie.  We ran out on 1700e to 900s, up to Foothill until it turned to 2100e over to 2100s and back along 19th east.  It was kind of weird when we finished and realized it will be our last time running together for a while.  It has been wonderful having her as a training partner the past few years and I'm going to miss her when she goes down to the Y but I am excited to see how she does in college and hope to be able to keep up with her afterwards :) 15 minute ice bath when I got home. 

This morning we had a long run up on Pipeline.  I ran with Hilary the whole time, Giselle was with us on the way out and Nikki was with us on the way back.  We played 20 questions with Disney characters to make the time fly.  After getting back to the cars, Hil and I grabbed water and then ran up the road to get back on the trail and head back down the switchbacks.  We were at 14 right when we got to the bottom of the last one, then ran the rest of the way to not make our teammates wait any longer, then I just had to add that .1 to get to 4.25.  When we got back to campus I did a 1o minute ice bath with Kate and Giselle.  So glad this is my only run today!