Suzette's Running Blog.

Since we had no morning practice and my leg tends to start hurt after few miles and on Wednesday i ended up not running my race due to strong pain, i decided that it was best to not go for a shake-out run.

We were excused from school halfway through the day to begin our trip to Cedar City for our Invitational. Since i was pretty tired because i have not been getting as much sleep as i need, i ended up sleeping for about 30 minutes of the trip. Those 30 minutes may not seem like much, but it was and it felt reviving. The trip was about four hours long and by the time we arrived to Cedar High School for our Invitational, we had about 20 minutes before the start of our race. For warm-up, i took the girls around the school and ended up running around the inside of the school rather quickly while looking for bathrooms. The second the girls were done, I took them back outside. We did some strides inside the school whenever we saw a long hallway. Once we got outside, we ran back to our shady spot to get our name tags and ran to the starting line with five minutes to spare. During those five minutes, we did some strides so that we could stay warmed up and stretched whatever muscles needed to be stretched. Then this guy came forth and began explaining us the course (very badly). Then i noticed that he raised his arm and it had the gun ready to be fired. (I think most people were waiting for the regular routine of taking 'three steps back from the starting line,' and then waiting for the whistle to get up to the starting line.) I then focused on the course ahead of me and waited for the gun. The second the gun started, i went out as fast as i could without burning myself out for the rest of the race for the first 400 meters. I then began my duties of passing people and not letting anyone pass me. I strongly desired taking a good place in this race. After the first 800 meters of the race, most people began to die off so it began to become an easier task to pass people. Eventually i got myself all the way up to 11th place and then up to 10th!! I held up my 10th place for the last mile of the race until this one girl outkicked me in the last 300 meters of the race. I was not happy because the top ten get medals and i was eleventh... It felt like a mediocre spot to be in. Eventually, everyone got me to realize that it was not so bad to have gotten 11th place because to begin with it was out of roughly 120 girls and because i have been relatively injured for many weeks now. My time was 22:14. After my race i took the girls on a cool down and then took some of the varsity girls and give them tips about the course while they warmed up while i cooled down. Then we went out for a pizza dinner and i got congratulated by many people and many parents at that restaurant for my performance at the race! Team dinner at this restaurant was really fun along with the bus ride back! I loved this meet!  

Since i was not able to go to practice since i had a vital appointment scheduled then, I didn't do my workout with the team. Instead, my coach, Bill came to Brighton's track to give me my workout and he was kind enough to run it with me so it would feel easier. I started off by running from my apartment up to the track, which is about half a mile away and then continued on running on the track for two more laps for my warm-up. Then i started off my mile of speed changes! By the time i was half way done through my speed changes though, my legs began to kill. I finished my speed changes and then proceeded to stretch them. It felt much better after, but i was still in pain and thats something that is unavoidable considering my current physical condition. I then began to start on my two 400s and two 200s. My first 400m i finished it in 1:41 and then 1:42. My first 200m i did it in 42s and the last one i did it in 41s. Then, i went on to the field and did strides on the football field to the second 40 meter mark. I did five of those. To finish off my workout, i ran a mile on the track for cool down. Overall, it was a great speed workout!

Today we went to the Utah Food Bank to give back to our community for almost two hours! We sorted through strawberries and thew out the ones that were spoiled and crawling. Rotten food is disgusting. After, we went to the Murray River Park and ran two miles. It was great! I'm ready for tomorrow!!

REGIONS TOMORROW!

Today was REGIONS!!! We started off by warming up for about 15 minutes under the hard rain and then found a spot in between some trees and tried to keep our heart rates up by doing some core. Then, we quickly ran to the finish line and listened to instructions because there had been some course alterations. After that, we were instructed to take off our sweats and continue warming up. Two minutes later, we found ourselves at the start of the line, waiting for the gunshot to start off our race! I got off with a great start!! I managed to keep it until i hit the first hill since i have not done hills in a very long time. Every step of the way, i listened to Bill as best as i could. I do recall staggering on listening in two situations but then i just pushed hard and went for it and it worked! I loved every minute of this race! I managed to pass quite a few girls during my race and then i ended up behind Amanda. I tried to pass her in the last 400 meters of the race but i sadly ran out of ground and couldn't quite out kick her and definitely was not able to catch the girl in front of her. There was so much rain during the race and the grass was so slippery!! As soon as we crossed the line, we got the news. Then, Susannah and i went on our own cool down and later walked over to the Awards Ceremony. I also got a new P.R! It was 21:19.3!

WE ARE THE 2010 REGION CHAMPS!!!

Today our coach let us pick where we could run as long as it was an 8 mile long run! Susannah, Amanda, Abigail, Natalie and I ended up running to up to Legacy bridge and then we traversed through the U and reached a trail head. We then ran heading North on the trail and ended up by the JCC. We passed the JCC and later reached 11 Ave. We then ran close to the fire house and turned back taking the Shriner's way back to the school. Then, to complete our mileage we ended up running a lap around the track and an additional 100 meters.

Had a speed workout at liberty park! We started off by running 1.5 warm-up and then decided on running a one mile, two 800s and then another mile. My first mile i finished it in 6:58. My first 800m i finished it in 3:20. Then i had to leave for an MRI... I intend on finishing my speed workout tomorrow morning after Pipeline at the track here at Brighton High School, since my mom didn't let me finish my run because it was dark.

Went to run up at Pipeline trail!! We went out 5 miles to the overlook and then came back! Finally, another trail run! These runs are the best ones because they are more challenging in some ways. The only aspect that i do not like would have to be all of the rocks. In fact, my right hip is hurting right now due to a rock. I really hope it goes away within the weekend. 

The run went really well overall, except for further injuring myself... I managed to complete my run in 1:17!! The last two to three miles of my run i kept up with Rj and Scott until I eventually passed Rj and continued on by myself. However, before then while i was running with Abigail and Maggie, i encountered a TARANTULA. It was gross and we screamed and thats how Scott and Rj found us. I think Amanda was with them too but i can't remember. After, i finished the trail portion of the run, i continued running to complete my ten miles for the day. It felt great to be done! 

So, today i went to the doctor and found out that i have several stress reactions and that i really should not be running unless i really want to have a stress fracture develop in the next week or so. He also said that i could only cross train and run States, but only run minimal mileage. That afternoon i was told to go do a pool workout and so i did. I went for 5 minutes warm-up and then went for 3 minutes on, one minute off ten times. For a cool down, i went for another 5 minutes and then did some stretches while i was still in the pool. 

I made sure that when i was on, i ran as fast as i could. The closer i got to completing my workout for the day, the tougher it became to finish strong. (At least i know i got something out of my workout, since pool running has never really felt very effective.) 

Since i could not make it to practice due to the fact that i had to complete a project with others, I called my coach to see what he would like me to do for a workout. He told me to go on the Eliptical for approx. 40 minutes. When i first got on the machine, i entered all appropriate information and then began at a 3.5 mile per hour pace. Once i warmed up, i went faster and faster just to see how fast i could go. Then, the curiosity intensified even more to see if i could keep up an even faster pace of 6.5 miles per hour- which became difficult after six or seven minutes. I tried to keep my pace up there but i am pretty sure it ended up averaging out to about 6 miles per hour. I guess it is not bad for an Eliptical workout! I most definitely kept my heart rate up during the duration of my workout. I finished it off with a five minute cool down (even though i should have done ten) so i would not be too far up from the forty minutes i was supposed to do. By the time i got off, my tibia's affected area was throbbing considerably, but definitely not as much as after a long run for practice. Today did not feel like a waste!

Went on another pool workout/run but this time with Sarah and Rebecca! We did a started off with a five minute warm-up and then proceeded on to our ten sets of one minute on, one minute off. Too bad Swim practice was going on, forcing us to change lanes multiple times! After a while it got really annoying; we managed to change three lanes in a span of 10 minutes! Once we finished, i led the girls and myself to finish off with a five minute cool-down.

Had to drive all the way to the creepy International Peace Gardens on the west side of town. I really dislike this part of town because of the number of hobos around. I waited around for the team for almost an hour with my coach Emily and we talked. Once the team got back we all did core together and stretched. There were certain core positions that really did NOT feel pleasant on my injury. It hurt!!! Surprisingly, the step-ups we did were not as aggravating to my injured tibia as some of the other core.

This was my crucial workout. If i didn't run this well, i was not going to see myself running States. Not running States would feel like the end of the world for me considering the fact that i have been running on an injury for a month until i collected some courage to go see what was really wrong with me. My doctor cannot seem to see how i can run and disguise my pain so well. I guess its because i just choose to ignore and push through the pain as best i can.

Well for today we started off with a lap around Wheeler Farm while AVOIDING the horse cages and having to hop fences to get around. Then we started on our Fartlek!! We had to do a one minute on, one minute off- ten times. We had to do two sets of these and in between the sets we were allowed to have a five minute rest period. For almost the entire workout, i kept up with Abigail but then i lost it during the last three minutes. I am not proud of that and i feel like i should have pushed myself even harder and kept up with her until the end. Then we all did as a team a cool down and it happened to be another lap around Wheeler Farm. Oddly, by the time we were done i was feeling quite lightheaded but it could have been the high heat-80F. I can't believe that this was the last speed workout of the season. It went by so fast.. I wish i could relive it once more! I am very excited for State and determined to preform/run my best! I hope to P.R too!! =]