You've got to want it to win it

Today we had another workout at Sunnyside.  We warmed up there, and then I did a little extra with Hilary and Amanda before starting on the strides and drills.  After than we changed shoes and then did more strides after Kep explained the workout.  I was with Andrea and Giselle and it really helped to be able to work together.  First we had three sets of 3 minutes hard in which he expected us to get about 850 meters.  We did, 2 minutes rest between each.  Then we had three sets of a 600 with 1 minute rest and then a fast 400.  We hit 2:11, 1:24, 2:09, 1:26, 2:10 and then he had us do two 300s instead of the last 400 and for those we hit 55 and 56.  I'm not quite up to speed where I used to be but I am getting there.  And the paces we ran today are decent paces for Stanford this weekend!  For cool down I ran out on 1900e for a bit with Amanda and Megan and then cut up to Foothill to go back to the locker room.  Then I took a 15 minute ice bath with Nikki and Giselle.

Today I went for a run with Hilary and Kate.  We did the zoo loop and ran along Wasatch.  They turned before I did, but I went to 5.25 which was a little bit past the drinking fountain on the paved Shoreline Trail.  Before I ran back I had to stop and admire the beautiful mountains which are visible again :)  And which now have splashes of red from the changing leaves :)  When I got back to campus I added another half mile running over to the bailiff and changing my mind about strides since there was an event going on there... so I finished with 11 for the day.

This morning after getting home from class I took my iPod and went for a run.  I ran to Fairmont Park and was hoping to do a lap but everything was fenced off... there was one small grass patch in the middle of the park so I did a lap around there and then ran back home through Sugarhouse and then on 1500e...

This afternoon we had our final workout of the week at Liberty.  We took trax down to 900e and warmed up to the park as usual.  Hilary and I stayed on the perimeter on the park to make our warmup a little longer.  Then we did our strides and drills with the team.  I didn't feel like bringing my flats today so I stretched while everyone else changed their shoes.  After Kep explained the workout I did a few more strides before starting.  I was with Andrea and Giselle.  The workout was two sets of 11 minute threshold with 2:10 recovery, and then six 200s afterwards.  Kep told us to try and go 3:05s for the halves.  For the first one I was with Andrea and Giselle for the first half and then part of the second until they broke away.  My splits were 3:05, 3:01, 3:01 so at least I knew I wasn't dying completely trying to hit the pace.  For the second one it was just Andrea and me because we didn't know where Giselle went...  Our splits were 3:04, 3:02, 3:07.  Turns our Giselle was changing her shoes and ended up starting with Kep and Amanda.  After we all finished we ran back over to the car and did our strides.  Then for cooldown I ran to the 900e station with Hilary and Alyssa.  We barely missed the train as it pulled away after we ran onto the platform and were hoping to make it to the doors before it was too late.  But we guessed that everyone else had missed that one too because they were taking longer to get ready to run their cooldown... Hilary decided to run down to the Trolley station and Alyssa and I decided to hop on the train going down just for funsies to meet up with everyone.  After we got back to campus I did 15 minutes of stem on my back because the ice baths looked gross... 

Today I went for a run with Alyssa.  We ran down 11th Avenue and then Memory Grove.  I saw a snake on the ground and even though I am not scared of snakes this one terrified me for some reason!  I ran back up South Temple and then weaved my way around campus to add distance and then finished with strides on the bailiff to get to 10 for the day.  Then I did a 15 minute ice bath in the training room.

This afternoon after arriving in Palo Alto, Hilary and I started our run about 20 minutes before the others so we could get our extra time done sooner.  We did a loop over to the track and around the stadium, and then circled back to meet up with the team.  Then we did a longer loop around campus ending at the stadium so that we could do our strides there.  Hilary and I went until we hit 7 for the day.  We are all really excited to race tomorrow!!!

This morning we arrived at the race course to find very overcast conditions which brought the temperature down.  When we started our warmup an hour later, it was starting to get hot.  We did the usual strides and drills and then I ran a little more warmup since I still had time before changing my shoes.  After all of us had laced up our spikes with the chip and tied them tightly, we went over to the starting line to do our strides.  I forgot how narrow of a start this was; only two up front.  I felt honored to be the one getting to be next to Amanda up on the front!  Because they assign the boxes alphabetically, we were on the very end which turned out to be a great box!  We had plenty of room going out, and I was glad that the curse words and impacting the ground sounds weren't from my team.  The plan was for me, Andrea, and Giselle to go out together and try to stick together through the 2k, and then I was planning to go hard the last 4 and see how many people I could pass.  This definitely helped me relax the first k and not try to go out fast.  At some point in that first small loop I noticed that we were right behind a pack of 4 Stanford girls so I was determined that all three of us had to beat them.  Our first k was 3:20, which was fast because of the downhill.  The second k I think I got anxious because I didn't really see Giselle much.  The split at 2k was 6:54 but I figured that was because of the hill.  Finally when I knew I was past the 2k mark I was able to go and easily go past packs of girls and keep moving on.  I had several strong surges from conserving at the start and this really helped me to move past packs and have confidence that no one was trying to follow me and that I could do the same to the next pack.  At around k 3 or 4 I passed a pack and then found myself in no man's land as the next group was quite a way up ahead.  In the group right in front of me I counted 7 girls, but that didn't tell me anything about my position since I didn't know how many were in front of them.  On the last big loop I counted and was pretty sure I was 11th, then I heard Hanah tell me I was 10th.  Mentally I think I relaxed a little when I heard this but then I caught myself and had to think that I was in 11th so I would push with intent to move up a place.  I felt really strong the last k and I think I was even closing on the other girls during the last 400 meters, and I finished with a new PR by 7 seconds!!!  And it turns out I was 10th overall afterall :)  9th collegiate :)  Amanda was 3rd and Giselle was 18th :)  I was really happy because I didn't picture myself finishing up this far in the race!  I thought top 30 would have been nice, looks like I could have set the bar higher!  But this will give me hope and confidence for the remaining races this season :)  Our team took 4th overall again like last year, just shy of our top 3 goal but still good enough to defend.  Afterwards I did a 2 mile cooldown with Hilary to get to 8.5 for the day.  Then I enjoyed a tour of Stanford's campus with my cousin :)  Followed by a wonderful evening in San Fran with the team :)  It has been a wonderful day :)