Well I didn't think I'd make it this far....

AM: I still wasn't sure this morning whether I should come down or go up in miles this week, so I just did ten miles on Eyestone loop from the locker room. I'll talk to the Stone tomorrow and see what he wants me to do. Hips were a little aggravated the second half, probably cause I didn't do any hip reps or core yesterday, which is definitely a good sign because that means the stuff I'm doing is working!

AM: Met up with a bunch of guys this morning to get our runs in. We did long Carterville, and for most of the run, the guys were talking about football, more specifically, Richard Sherman. Then of course there was more conversation which dissected almost every play of the Hawks/Niners game. The group was split pretty evenly with Niners and Seahawks fans, so there was some good, entertaining conversation going on between the guys, which actually made the run go by faster. 

I slipped into the 880 workout to talk to Easy about my mileage. He said since I was feeling good, that I should keep the mileage at 90, and wait until next week to go up or down. Sounds good to me!

PM: Kind of a weird day since we didn't have class. It felt like another Sunday. Spent the day doing some much needed cleaning, organizing, and doing homework. Went for a run from my apartment in the afternoon, and went 2 miles backwards on Carterville and back. I finished right as the run was starting to set. 

AM: Ran four miles on the treadmill this morning

PM: Workout today. After team lap and a ladder ceremony, we did our usual indoor warm up loop, then got back to the Annex and I changed shoes, went to the bathroom, then did some strides until everyone was ready. The workout was 8X400 at (goal) mile pace, starting at 62 and trying to work down to 60's. I stayed in the middle and back of the pack to try and hit them all in 62-63. The group was slow on the first one, 64, then my times went, 61, 63, 62, 62, 64. By this point I was struggling to hang on, and hit a 65 on the 7th one, and Easy told me that 7 was good for me. I know I could have finished the workout, but now I have to focus on staying with the group, which will come as I get into shape again. On a positive note, my hips no longer bother me! We cooled down 2.5 out and back on Carterville.

After I went into the weight room and did hip reps, sitting V w/ scissor kicks, and back extensions, and didn't have time to go into the training room to stretch because I was going to dinner with some recruits. 

AM: Got bored of running on the treadmill after a mile, so I went over to the indoor track and did another 3 miles there.

PM: I didn't have lunch, so I was starving but I decided to just go for my run and get it over with, then eat. JHarps, Joe, and I did medium Carterville, then added a mile and a half on the indoor track. After I did hip reps, sitting V scissor kicks, and back extensions in the weight room, then went into the training room and got some DMS on my hamstrings since they were a bit sore from the 400 yesterday, then stretched a little before heading back to the locker room.

AM: Had a really busy and crazy morning, and was really limited on time, but I managed to get in 3 miles on the treadmill before class.

PM: Workout today. I have been really tired all day and pretty much the whole week. I think it's just the winter/indoor track funk that gets me at this time of year. It's when school is hard, training is hard, and the days seem to mesh together into one big, blurry, exhausting time period that comes once a year. Everyone was late meeting up for practice today, but once the guys met up at the track office we put our shoes in the van and warmed up over to Lake Loop for the one and only Lake Loop Tempo! I was tired running over there, but once I was warmed up, I felt decent. The goal for my group was 5:05-5:10, like last week, but my goal was just to finish the tempo and not fall off the pack. We started and hit a 5:07 mile and 10:14 2 mile, so we were locked on a good pace. I was still feeling relatively good, but mile 3 and 4 is when it gets really tough. Once we made the turn heading East again, the group strung out and I was with the front of my group. By mile three (15:24), it was JHarps, Nick, and I running together with Doolin just ahead. Mile 4 is probably what hurt the most, but I just hung in there and hit 4 miles in 20:34, and once I made the turn onto the last stretch of road, I managed to keep my pace going pretty evenly and finished in 25:19, which is a 5:10 average for the Lake Loop.

I'd consider this the best workout I've had since I came back from my injury. I pushed myself and  more than anything this helped me build some of my confidence back. For as out of shape as I feel and have been considering myself, I'm pretty sure this is the fastest I've ever run this tempo, or really close to my PR. 

We changed our shoes at the van, then cooled down back to the SFH where I hit 10 almost exactly. Afterwards I did hip reps in the weight room, back extensions, and sitting v scissor kicks, then stretched in the locker room lounge since the training room had just closed. I wanted to ice bath, but didn't make it in time:( So probably tomorrow... Just one more day until the end of the week!

AM: Good old four miles on the treadmill. On a side note, I got like 12 hours of sleep last night, so I woke up fresh as a daisy :)

PM: I need to do more of these 12 hour sleep nights, because I was totally refreshed and not exhausted for the day. When it came time to run, I met a group of guys at 2. We did Eyestone loop, then I added a mile and a half with Sork and Michael on the track to get the full 10. After I did my usual hip reps, sitting v scissor kicks, and back extensions. 

AM: Yesterday on the run was the first time I felt like my shoes were getting old, so I switched to my new Pegasus's. I think thats a new record for the amount of distance I've been able to comfortable use a shoe, 625 :) Met up with a group meeting a bit later in the morning, and we went for our run. I like the group I went with, we didn't take the long run too fast, which is what some guys do, and I did not feel like going for a long, hard run. They were all going 15, and I only 11, so I turned at 5.5 and ran back by myself. In the last 1.5ish miles, I passed Bryn running, so I ran with her for like a mile just talking, then I finished the run back to the locker room. That's one more week in the books!