Thatcher's Running Blog

My heel was hurting a little bit today, so I took it pretty easy. I did 5.75 miles at about a 6:50 pace.

Before practice I lifted weights.

I ran with Neal today. We took it pretty easy, I'm not sure how fast we went because I forgot my watch. I would guess around 6:50 pace. I added on a little more after to make it eight miles. I've never lifted before I ran, but it turned out pretty good. My legs felt suprisingly strong and fresh.

I did three easy miles this morning. I felt tight when I started, but I felt good by the end. It wasn't nearly as cold as I thought it would be.

 Later, we did six eight hundreds. We did them on the indoor track. They were at 2:17, 2:17, 2:17, 2:18, 2:18, and 2:24. I wasn't feeling very good, and should have been faster. I started out in the front of the group, but was near the back at the last one.

I ran by myself today. I have class, so I had to run earlier. I didn't look at my watch too much, and tried to keep the pace pretty easy and controlled. I ended up averaging about 6:40 pace. I started around seven, and the second half was about 6:30 pace. I felt pretty good, and I wasn't very tired from yesterday. I'm going to lift weights later tonight.

We did ten one thousand meter repeats today. They were supposed to be more pace intervals, and we had a one minute rest between. We started out by warming up 2.5 miles. 

My first one was about 3:12, in the middle of the pack in the second group.(the first group was the top nine, the second group was everyone else) My second one was about 3:11, same place. I don't remember how I did on every interval, because there were so many, but I averaged 3:07 or 3:08 for the next 6 or 7. I was about in the same position, I was near the front one of them, but about in the middle. One of them was slower, about 3:10. On the last interval, I really pushed it and ended up with James, and pretty close to the other guys. This workout was a big improvement over Tuesday. I consistently beat 6-7 guys, and beat a few others on a couple intervals.  This is where I should be at, and hopefully I can improve by indoor.

I ran easy with Anthony today. He did seven miles, and I added a few more on. The total time was 64 minutes.

I was home today, and I ran with Gemachu. We did our usual run down to Sugarhouse and a loop, but we went back a different way. We ended up going up evergreen, to 2700, and up 3900 to skyline, and we both jogged home after that. It was a fun run, and our average pace was about 7:00. We were under 7:00 on some downhill miles, but over seven on some uphill miles. We kept the pace easy and didn't really push it. I felt good, but my heel was bothering me a little bit.

Today we did two 2 mile tempo runs. It was essentially a four mile tempo run, because we only had about 45-60 seconds between them. On the first one, I just stayed with the pack the whole time. We were all together within three seconds. I did a 10:07. It felt pretty good, and wasn't too hard. The top group of nine actually only did a 10:10, their first mile was really slow.

On the second one, I was feeling pretty good, so I started out near the front of the pack. (Maybe fifth out of thirteen or so) They started out really fast, and I should have hung back a little bit. I think I was at 2:22 at the half mile. I came through the mile in 4:47, but I think it was off a little bit. My garmin had the mile at 4:54, so it was probably around 4:50. Like I said, I should have started out slower, and I fell back a little bit. Trevor and Neal caught me, and I stayed with them for a while, but they pulled away a little but at the end. I ended up at 9:59, and Neal was 9:49, Trevor 9:51. The top guys in my group were in the 9:30's. It was an okay workout, but I could have run better if I didn't start out so fast. 

I did 8.5 miles today. Average pace was somewhere around 6:45. We started out pretty slow, but the last couple of miles were pretty fast. I felt pretty good, but my achilles tendon was sore. I lifted weights after. 

I was going to do 400's today with the team, but my achilles tendon was hurting a lot. It was okay at the start of the warm-up, but it hurt a lot after about a mile. I decided I shouldn't run on it today, so I just ran back to the school from Kiwanis Park. It hurts more now, than before I ran. I hope it gets better soon, but I will take off as much time as necessary. 

This is my first time running since Wednesday. My achilles was hurting a lot, but it's feeling better today. I'm going to take it easy until it feels totally better, just play it by ear. If it hurts at any time, I will stop running. On the run today, I could barely feel it, and it doesn't hurt more than it did before. I did 30 minutes today, about 4.25 miles.

My achilles was feeling pretty good, so I decided I would try doing the workout today. We only did five four hundreds today. It felt good during them, and it doesn't hurt anymore after doing them. I think it's almost better now. My times were 65, 62, 64, 65, 64. They felt pretty east and pretty controlled. I kept the first one relaxed, and was in the middle of my group. On the second one, me and Trevor lead it and pushed each other to finish in front. On the third one, I was a second or two behind the front. On the fourth one, I pushed it the last 100 and was just behind the leaders. On the last one, I kicked the last 100 to get up in front with Trevor. My legs were pretty tired, but I had a lot left in me.

I did 42 minutes today. I went out with everyone and me and Dylan turned back early. My achilles feels fine, a little sore, but getting better. I'm just going to increase my mileage slowly, doing a little more each day. We did 6.25 miles, and it felt pretty easy. We averaged about 6:30 on the way back, and it felt really easy and good.

Today I did a race. I originally thought it was a 5k, then 2.5 miles, then we were told it was 3000 meters, but it ended up being about 2.15 miles. I didn't decide to run it until this morning, so I didn't really care how I did. I was just going to see how I felt. All the guys who weren't running at nationals did it. I started out in the pack, and it felt a little fast. After a half mile, I settled in, and I felt pretty good. A mile in, I was behind the main pack about five-ten seconds. My garmin had the mile at 4:43, but I would guess I came through around 4:50. After an uphill, I started gaining on the pack. I got closer to them, but couldn't get up with them. After this, I didn't really push too hard. Trevor passed me, and I let him go. I didn't really kick much at the end, and one other guy passed me. My time was 10:34. The winning time was in the 9:50's. Most of the other guys were around 10:10-10:20.

I'm not too dissapointed about my time, because I didn't really try my hardest. I should have pushed myself harder mentally and tried to stay with the pack, but after I fell back, I backed off and didn't push my hardest. I think if I would have gone all out, I would have been at at least 10:20 if not faster. This was a good tune up for the the Thanksgiving Race I'm doing next week, and I'm going to push myself a lot harder there. I'm doing the four mile race by Mountain View. I felt my achilles a little bit still, but it felt better and I was able to get in some decent mileage today.

I ran with Trevor and Neal today. We started running on the Provo River trail, but it was closed, so we went out on the road. It was a fun, easy run. I did 8.5 or so. (My watch died)

I was back home to see a musical my sister was in, so I ran with Gemachu. We went from Skyline up to Wasatch Blvd. and to the street above Foothill. I think it was Wasatch Drive or something. We did about 12.5 miles. It felt good and the pace was around 7:10. 

I ran with Neal today. I felt pretty good, and we picked up the pace a little today. We averaged 6:27 pace. We started out in the 6:40's on the way out, and on the way back we averaged about 6:15. It felt pretty easy, and it felt good to get a faster paced longer run in. My achilles felt good, no pain. 

I was home and I ran with Morgan and Gemachu. They were doing six eight hundreds, and I decided to do it with them. I didn't push it too hard, but it was still a good workout. I did 2:24, 2:22, 2:22, 2:19, 2:25, 2:15. The first couple were pretty easy, and Gemachu was a couple seconds behind me, with Morgan a little bit back. On the third one, I pushed it a little harder, so it was a little faster. On the fifth one, I could have gone faster but I didn't push myself hard enough. I backed off a bit thinking I would take it easy, but I overcorrected and it ended up too slow. This caused Morgan and Gemachu to slow down, which was my fault. I was feeling pretty tired, but I wanted to hit a 2:10 on the last one. I went through the first lap at 65, and was feeling pretty good. With 200 to go, I seized up and couldn't go any faster. I just struggled to sprint in, but wasn't going very fast. I ended up at 2:15, Gemachu 2:17, Morgan 2:18. It was a good workout and it wasn't too hard. I should have been better prepared for it, because I think I was pretty dehydrated and got a really bad headache and blurry vision after. I cooled down about four miles with Gemachu after.

I ran at Sugarhouse Park with Gemachu and Ben. Our average was 7:00. I only did about 6.7 so I would be ready for my race tomorrow.

Today was the Earn Your Turkey four mile run by Mountain View High School. I wanted to get a good time, but most important, I wanted to feel like I put in a good effort and ran a good race. I warmed up for 15 minutes with Gemachu. I didn't get as much stretching in as  would have liked, but I felt pretty good.

I started out pretty fast, and was right up in the front. I stayed close to the front pack, but a little before the mile, the top six or so pulled away. My first mile was about 5:05. After this, I tucked in beside Aaron and another guy. I stayed with him for a while, but he started pulling away a little before two miles, and I let him and two other guys go. Looking back, I really wish I had pushed to stay with them, because I would have done much better. My second mile was 5:15. After this, I was by myself the rest of the race. This caused my third mile to be really slow. It was 5:30. I pushed myself to catch a guy in front of me, and I gained on him, but he was too far ahead. He pulled away in the last half mile. I finished fairly strong, but I discovered that Gemachu and Sasha were gaining fast on me. My last mile was about 5:20.

 This wasn't a great race, but it wasn't horrible. I felt better in the middle of the race than my last couple of races, and I didn't die at the end. I felt like I gave a better effort, but I should have stayed with the group in front of me, and I would have had a better race. I cooled down with Gemachu after.

I ran out by Churchill and on the trail by Wasatch Blvd. I was a little sore, and didn't go very fast. I did eight miles in about 57:00.

I added 5.25 on the treadmill later. I felt much better than this morning, and I did a mini-fartlek. I added in a few 400 meter pushes at 5:20 pace, and I ended with half a mile in 2:30. I felt great and averaged 6:39.

I did thirteen miles today. I ran to Skyline and did three miles around the school until Ben and Gemachu came. Gemachu wanted to run on the grass for his leg, so we did ten miles at sugarhouse park. It went by pretty quickly and it was a fun run. We averaged 7:12 pace. I was planning on doing a couple more miles, but my legs were too sore and tired.