You've got to want it to win it

Today I finally woke up headache-free! But as soon as I got started on my run, my lower back really started to bother me. I was hoping that it would warm up and the pain would go away, but that never happened. I partially wondered if just running on the turf/track was hurting it (it hurts my feet) but it persisted the rest of the run so I guess not. Except it didn't hurt going uphill. Yay for hills. It didn't hurt as bad when we picked up the pace towards the end. During cooldown strides it was ok, but slowing down to a stop was painful. I did heat and stem afterwards and then took some Tylenol before lifting.

Running with Becky, Andrea, and Shaylen today.

Workout at Sunnyside today. We warmed up to the park and then did our strides and drills. The workout was 3 sets of 4 400s. The first 3 were a slower pace, then the last one each set we were supposed to hammer. I was in a group with Hannah, Nikki, and Andrea. I have no sense of pace right now so I just sorta ran with them where I could. We were supposed to hit between 85-86. The first one was too slow, 88, but after that I think most of them were where they were supposed to be. On the hammer ones the best I could do was 84, but I'm sure my speed will come back with practice. We cooled down back to campus and then did our core work.

Running with Andrea, Shaylen, Becky, and Kenzie again today. We ran through upper campus and then through the golf course to Wasatch and back.

Today was another Sunnyside workout for those racing on Saturday. We warmed up to the park and did our strides and drills. Today's workout was three sets of 200-200-400 with equal distance jogging recovery. I was in a group with Nikki, Jocelyn, Dana, and Kenzie. We took turns leading. The times I clocked were mostly 42s for the 200s and 84 for the 400s. On the 400s I felt that the rest of the group was going really hard, and I was right when I saw 40 as the 200 split on those ones. I shouldn't have negative split so much, but I don't blame myself for going out too fast on those. But at least because I could tell it was fast I think means that I am getting back some of my feel for pace. Yay! I cooled down back to campus with Jocelyn. 

Today was a short pre-meet run for those of us racing tomorrow. We started on the track and then did laps on balliff the rest of the time before coming back up to the track for strides. I ran most of the time with Jocelyn again. When I was doing strides in between my drills I noticed that some of them just bothered my right lower back. This is more similar to the pain I've experienced before from running. So it is nice that it isn't something new that has been bothering me. But I wish I didn't have to deal with it. Fortunately, it seems to have been getting better throughout the week.

This morning I ran my last first cross country meet as a Ute! 50 minutes before the race we warmed up as a group around the course. There was some confusion as to how the course actually went, but after running some of the main part of the course and looking at the map, it made sense. The course was different from last year, which is typical for Utah State. We did our usual strides and drills and then got on the line. The race plan was to run the first mile as a group and then focus on racing. Sorta made sense but not really. Our team took the race out, leading the group for at least the first 800 meters. At about the 1k mark, two USU girls came around to take the lead, significantly changing the current pace, so I went with them. I knew it wasn't the mile like coach had asked for, but to really race I knew that I would have to go with them then or I wouldn't go at all. Nikki came with me :) so probably 300-400 meters later the two girls had settled into a rhythm, and Nikki and I just tucked behind them and let them do the work. It helped me so much to have Nikki there, especially since we do most of our workouts together. During the race to keep myself going, I kept thinking of a picture I found on USUs XC home page, of my sister in front of their pack of runners. Thinking about how awesome my sister was helped keep me going and focused. It seemed the USU girls were trying to make moves on the gradual hills (we heard their coach telling them to) but they never opened up or got far away. Coming around to the bridge the second time to cross back over to the main grass field was where the race changed. One of the USU girls faltered, so I passed her and tried to go for the other one. She still had a few meters on me, and I could hear someone still behind me. About 200 meters later, she caught me, and it was Nikki. I told her to go get the USU girl and she was gone, though by then we were in our finishing positions. At about the 3 mile mark I started to feel sick but I knew I was so close to being done. Kep said 1 more minute, but if that was a minute it was a very long minute... Anyway, the USU girl won, then Nikki, then me. Jocelyn was the next girl from the team :) It is so nice to have this race behind me! Although I haven't figured out a feel for pace in my workouts yet, I feel like I still know how to race, though there are still things I could have done better today. And the best part was getting a hug from my husband and baby at the finish line. :) Afterwards I cooled down 6.25 with Jocelyn and Dana to get to 12 for the day.