Thatcher's Running Blog

Today the team did a tempo run. Coach told us we would be doing a five mile tempo run. We warmed up on the Provo River trail for about 2.5 miles. We then stretched and got our flats on to get ready. We did the tempo on a five mile loop on the road that goes by the lake or something.

I started out near the pack of the pack by some of the freshman and some guys who were turning around early (800 guys and others). The first mile felt pretty easy and controlled. It was about 5:17. During the next mile, I settled in with George and ran right with him. The second mile was about 5:21. The third mile felt good, and I stayed right with George. We caught a couple guys this mile, and it was at about 5:21. The fourth mile wasn't quite as easy, but it felt nice and controlled, at about 5:13 or so. I felt good there, but coach stopped us after four. It was pretty hot out, and he didn't want us doing to much after the race. I was disappointed that we didn't have another mile, because I had a lot left. We were gaining on a group of four or so in front of us, and I was pretty sure I could of caught them with another mile. I made sure to have some left for the last mile. But, it was still a good workout. My total time was 21:12, which is a 5:17 pace. It felt great, and I never exerted myself like it was a race, I just kept it controlled. I jogged the last mile back to the car with Neal.

I cooled down with Neal and Anthony. We accidently went back the wrong way, so we got in a little extra. It didn't matter though, because we couldn't lift with the other guys yet anyway. It was about a three mile cool down.

We did a recovery run today. I'm not sure on the distance (someone said eight miles), because my garmin didn't have a signal. I would guess the pace was in the 6:40's. We started out slower and got down to around 6:30 for the second half of the run. We went out on the road and eventually got back onto the provo river trail. My legs felt slow and tight the first little bit, but they got better about five minutes in. The run felt nice and easy, but I felt sick to my stomach. 

The guys who are traveling to the meet on Saturday did their hard workout today, and the rest of us went for an hour run. We are doing our hard workout tomorrow. We went on the Provo river trail, and ran as a nice group of eight. We had seven freshman and one sophomore, it was pretty cool. We started out at a pretty nice pace, but picked it up a little but. We had one mile at 6:08 which didn't even feel hard. I turned back at 31:30 or so with George and another freshman (I forgot his name). We were going about the same pace, but backed off a little for the last three or four miles. That felt much better. I think our average was around 6:40 for 9.6 miles.

Today the guys who weren't traveling to the meet went to Kiwanis Park for intervals. We warmed up about 2.25 miles to the park and around. My goal for the workout was to be near the front of the group. We did 1600, 1200, 800, 800, 400.

The mile started out pretty fast. I started out near the middle of the pack and slowly moved up. I finished third behind Spencer and Brandon. The crazy thing is that I did a 4:48 for the mile! Spencer was at 4:45. 

I started out the 1200 about the same. After 800 meters, I passed George and pushed it into third place again. I ended up about two seconds behind Spencer and Brandon at 3:37. 

The first 800 was uphill. I started out near the back of the pack for the first 400, but moved up after that. At about six hundred in I passed George and Trevor. After that, I sprinted to the finish and almost caught Brandon. I finished at 2:21.

On the second 800, we started out a lot faster. I was at about 67-68 at the 400, and I moved up a little bit after that. I finished at about 2:16, but the leaders were at 2:10.

On the 400, I started out fast, right behind Spencer. I just tried to hang on, and ended up at 68. Trevor and Brandon passed me, but I stayed right behind Spencer. It was mostly uphill.

I felt pretty tired afterward, but it was a good workout. We cooled down about 2 miles to the school.

Today I ran with Neal, Anthony, and Miles. We went out for four and back for four. We started out at 6:55, and got faster. I didn't really want to go that fast, but it wasn't too hard. I just stuck with them. Our splits were: 6:55, 6:48, 6:37, 6:41, 6:24, 6:22, 6:23, 5:40. Total was eight at 6:30 pace. It was weird though, I was carrying on a conversation at 5:40 pace. I've never done that before. It wasn't easy, but it felt moderately hard.

I ran with Neal today. We went out on the Provo River Trail. I wanted to keep it easier, and we kept it a little bit easier, but my legs were pretty tired. We averaged 6:47 pace.

We were going a little bit too fast on the way out, so we slowed down a little bit on the way back. We had several 7:00 miles on the way back. We pushed the last mile a little bit, and it was 6:19.

It was a good finish to a good week, but also a tiring week.