Thatcher's Running Blog

I ran 7.5 miles in the morning with Neal. My legs were still a little bit tired from Saturday.

I later did 4.5 by myself really easy. I felt less fatigued than this morning.

I did 400's with Neal and Pete today. I did six, they did eight. My times were 64, 64, 64,  64, 64, 60. I also did a 200 in 28. I was pretty sore and tired, but I was able to stay with them on the first five, and I was several seconds ahead on my last one. 

I went home to open my mission call today, so I worked out with Skyline. I warmed up with them and did four 1200s. I only did one hard though. I did the first one with Morgan in 3:45. I did the other three with other people and they were more like 4:45. I then cooled down with them.

By the way, I got my mission call today. I'm going to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I leave May 20th.

I did a fartlek with Neal and Pete today. We did 5 three minute pushes. I was a little bit back on the first, ahead of Pete on the second, a little bit back on the third, same on the fourth, and ahead of Pete and right with Neal on the last one. The last one was really hard. Neal and I both pushed it really hard. I think that's the fastest I've finished an interval, and the hardest I pushed at the end. We both wouldn't give up. I cooled down about four miles.

I didn't run today. It was snowing pretty hard and I just couldn't get myself to go out and run. 

I ran fourteen miles with Neal today. We did the same loop as last time, I just added some more on at the end. We kept a pretty good pace, but not very fast. We saw Mary Ann on the trail and ran a few miles with her. I didn't feel very good and was glad to be done. 

I did the same loop as Saturday without extra added on. I took it pretty easy, and I felt good. I enjoyed it and didn't feel any injuries. 

I did a workout today. We were doing a mile breakdown. I did the mile in 4:52, I didn't feel great. I was about ten seconds behind Neal and Pete. My 1200 was a lot better though, I did a 3:25. I was right behind Neal, I gained a lot on him over the last lap. I did my 800 in 2:19, four seconds behind Neal and Pete. While running the 1200 and 800, I developed a really bad blister, probably from the socks I was wearing. It was really bad, and I couldn't finish the other two intervals. I was able to cool down 3.5 miles though, and hopefully it is better tomorrow.  

I went out on the trail. I wasn't too sore, but my foot hurt a lot with the blister. 

I ran 7.5 with some strides. I felt a little tired today.

I just did an easy four miles today. I'm running a race tomorrow. 

I ran the Rex Lee 5k today. I didn't know if I was in good shape or not, but I decided to just go for a sub 16. I thought that was a pretty good goal. I warmed up about three miles and stretched. I didn't feel great, but I felt pretty good. I was a little sore. 

I started out in fourth place. One guy went out fast, and I was with Pete and another guy. About a half mile in, they pulled away a little bit. I wasn't too worried, because Pete starts out pretty fast. This was also where the 5k met up with the 10k, and we were dodging slower 10k runners for about 3/4 of a mile. (That's the only bad thing about an otherwise well put together race. They really need to fix that.) I tried to stay close, and the three guys in front were in a pack. I was about seven seconds back. I went through the miles in 5:13, and I felt pretty good.

At this point, Pete had pulled away from the other two guys. I decided I needed to catch them if I wanted to win. I pushed and caught them within a half mile. I stayed with them until the long downhill path and passed them on that. I came through two miles in 10:20, so a 5:07 second mile. I was about seven seconds behind Pete at that point.

Over the next half mile I was able to catch Pete. I could tell I was pushing it, but it was easier to catch him than I thought. He didn't really fight back, and I gapped him pretty quickly. This was at about 13:00, and I wasn't feeling great, but I managed to put enough space on him so that I didn't have to worry. I came through three miles at 15:15 (about), which means my third mile was a 4:55. My last 200 was 34-35. I was struggling a bit, but I had a big enough lead. The three other guys were all at about 16:04, with Pete in fourth.

This was one of my better races. I didn't think I was in very good shape, but I got a 15 second pr. I think that if we didn't have to dodge the 10k runners, I could have been 10 second faster. I was also very happy that I went 5:13, 5:07, and 4:55. Those are the best splits I've run in a 5k.

About an hour and a half later I did ten miles at a 6:45 pace. I felt pretty good.

I only did thirty minutes today. My legs were really tight and tired. 

Today we did 400's. We were supposed to do twenty. I did twenty with Andrew, Pete did twenty five, and Neal did thirty. Yes, thirty! The first ten were between 69 and 71 mostly. Then next five were 67. The next four were 64, and the last one was 62. The last four I was five I was right with Andrew. He barely outkicked me on the last one. This was a good workout and I felt good. 

I ran 6.25 with Neal in the morning.

I ran ten miles with Neal today. I was still pretty sore and really tired during the run. Once I got loosened up though, I felt pretty good. We went 6:30 pace or a little slower. 

I had some nagging injuries and was feeling sorta sick, so I took the day off. I just need to get better.

I got up pretty early and did 15 miles with Neal. I felt pretty good, my injuries are feeling better. (hip and heel) I'm pretty tired now though, because I went out and played frisbee after.

I ran with Neal this morning. I went eight miles. It was a little cold today, but not too bad. My right shin was hurting on the way back. We also ran into Jon Kotter and ran with him for a couple miles. 

 I went out later and did four miles. My shin was still hurting, I should ice it. It was really windy and pretty cold. I was glad to get done quick.

I did a workout with Neal today. It was cold and pretty windy, but we didn't feel like doing it on the indoor track. This made the times a bit slower. The workout was a mile breakdown.

The mile was at 4:52, Neal was at 4:46. I felt decent, but it was hard with the wind.

I was right with Neal at the 1200, at 3:27. It was hard staying with him on the second lap, but I knew that if I did, I could stay with him for the rest of the way. 

The next two were supposed to be eight hundreds, but I just did the first four hundred of each. My shin was hurting. I did 68 and 69. They felt a little harder than they should have, the wind really picked up on these two.

 The last interval we both did a four hundred together. I started out behind Neal and was going to pass him on the backstretch, but he pushed the pace. I stayed behind him until 200 meters left, and passed him. I picked it up and finished in 59. I was really surprised, and I figure it would have been worth a 57-58 without the wind. That's my fastest four hundred in a workout ever, and it felt easy.

I cooled down 3.5 miles. My shin hurts, but it's not too bad.

I did my normal ten mile loop today. I started out feeling pretty tight, but I loosened up. 

I went running with Neal today. I warmed up a mile, and we did five miles. We then went to the indoor track to do some four hundreds. We kept them really easy, just getting ready for the race Saturday. The first was 75, the second 71, and the third 71. They felt pretty easy. We then just did a couple strides to loosen up. I cooled down a half mile to my dorm. I felt good and am ready for a huge pr on Saturday. 

I ran with Neal in the morning. It was pretty cold, but I felt good.

Today I ran in the first annual Running with the Leopards 5k. I thought a good goal would be 15:15, but Bill Cobbler thought I could break 15:00. I decided 15:00 was a good goal. I warmed up two miles and drove up to the start where I did a little more warming up. I felt pretty good even though it was cold.

The race started, and four hundred in I was in sixth place. There was a pack of five in front of me, and I was by myself. I stayed close to them, and a pack of four guys came from behind and caught up to me. I stuck with them. I came through the mile at 4:45. 

Nick McCombs started pulling away at this point, and I tried to stay close to him. It payed off because I was able to use him to catch the guy in front of me. (I think it was James, or fiddy from the blog) I stayed with him for a while, and there were two guys with us. It was pretty hard and he stayed right with me for a while. I came through two miles at 9:40.

Just after two miles another guy came up alongside me. (I don't remember his name) We picked it up a lot and dropped the guys behind us. I stayed right with him until the track and we started kicking. I put in a really strong effort, but he pulled away from me the last 150. I think my kick would have been good enough to beat most people, but he had a really good kick as well. I finished in 14:52. I think my last mile was 4:40-4:42.

I finished in eighth place, first in my division. I think I was the youngest in the top ten by six or eight years, I can't remember for sure. I was happy about the race and got a 58 second pr, which I set two weeks ago. It was downhill, but I don't think it was a minute fast, so it was an improvement.

When I got home, I put in some more miles. I ran with my friends and took it easy. We went to Parley's Crossing and went on a trail up there. I was tired, but it wasn't too bad. We did seven and a half miles.

I ran 7.5 miles with Neal this morning. It was cold, snowy, and slick. We did five miles and a few more on the indoor track. I felt pretty good, but didn't like the weather.

I did four a four hundred workout today. We had me, Neal, Pete, and Andrew. We did eight four hundreds I warmed up four miles. My first one was 63 with Neal and Pete. My second was 63 with Neal and Pete again. My next two were 64, with Neal and two seconds back from Pete. The next one was 63 with Neal. The sixth was 63, a second back from Andrew and Neal. I was right with Neal on the seventh, at 62. The last one Neal barely beat me, we were both 61. I was pretty tired on the last one, but I was glad to be able to finish with a 61. 

My intervals were:

63

63

64

64

63

63

62

61