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

AM: Today we slept in quite a bit and finally Chris, Bill, and I went for a long run on the beach boardwalk. We parked about a half mile from the beach, and ran down to the boardwalk. After stretching some sore calves we headed south on the same trail for about 6.5 miles. We just ran along the coast the whole time. I know it sounds like a beautiful, relaxing run, but a number of factors kind of made the run unpleasant. First of all, there were soo many people. We were weaving and dodging every third step. It was incredibly annoying and the biggest upset about this run, but also the humid, salty sea air mixed with some hot sun makes for some uncomfortable sweating. Still, it was great scenery of the ocean and beach..... ehem. We went out a half mile from our starting point and back, then back to the car for 15. We held a good pace for the run, 7:06 avg.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/295454456

AM: I flew back to Salt Lake bright and early this morning. I went from sunshine and palm trees, to clouds and rain :( After getting back from the airport I spent a few hours at the doctor with my mom, and didn't get to do my morning run. I decided to not go to school.

PM: I got back from the doctors really late and couldn't make practice, so I went for my usual ten mile loop. It was raining the whole time, which sucked. Plus I was just down right tired and the run was not enjoyable. I was so happy to just get back and lounge around in my sweats the rest of the day. On a good note, I later found out that practice was canceled, so at least I didn't miss practice! .... but still overall a dreary, sucky day.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/295454446

AM: Went on an easy four on my own.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/296281566

PM: After our track warm up, we skipped straight to dynamic stretches and drills because it was way to cold and windy for static stretches. The wind was absolutely horrible. It was a strong, icy wind that made running in any direction a chore. Those of us that could meet at the Oval later did only a mile warm up and and speed changes, then planned on meeting at the Oval later.

Later PM: Once we finally got going at the Oval, we did 8 laps warm up, 4 laps speed changes, then I did a lap recovery. After putting on our flats we started our speed workout. 6X800 with one lap recovery in between. What sucks about PR'ing by as much as I did on Saturday, is that two mile pace is now considerably faster for these types of workouts. Now my goal pace was 2:17. I knew I would have to push myself, but I was confident that I could hit them. I wanted the first one to be right on, so I took it out a little bit slower, but then heard my split at 71 and realized I slowed way too much, so took off at 400 and hit 2:14. After this one I found my pace and went 2:16, 2:15, 2:15, 2:14. The fourth is when they started to hurt. I was on my recovery lap when I got the first speed workout 'surprise' of the season! Yay!! :) My goal for the last one was to go out in 62, then work on closing the last lap and moving when I should. I took off and hit a 62 first lap. I felt the pace by the 200, and thought I had slowed, but was right on at 400. I pushed hard the last lap and focused on bringing it in at 200. I gave it what I had and was surprised to see 2:05 on my watch.

       Overall a solid speed workout. I hit the times I needed and surprised myself with what I had left for the last rep. Then we did 11 laps cool down to be at 11.5 for the evening.My legs are SORE.     

AM: Slept in way too late, but finally went for an easy four on my own.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/296281553

PM: Today we had a trimeet out at Cyprus. We got out there and the usual group was given a workout. We did an 8 mile run and threw in 10X(30sec on/30sec off). The fartlek was at about a stride speed, mainly to loosen up and get a little faster turn over. We went out to 8400 W and then did the Magna Run with a detour on the dirt road I usually take. Once we hit , we turned and started the fartlek. Then we just run back to Cyprus. I felt good on the "on's" but after those I felt how sore I really was. I can't remember the last time I was this sore. And I usually don't get sore in the quad/thigh area, just the calves, but my entire thigh is quite sore.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/296281547

AM: Went on an easy 3 mile shakeout.

PM: We left the school late and I was worried I wouldn't have enough time to warm up since the 3200 was the first event of the day. I ended up having plenty of time. We got there and I got a quick two mile warm up before going over to the bullpen. They did three heats so I still had over twenty minutes for my race. I stayed hydrated, jogged around some more, and put on spikes when they took us over to the waiting area. Once they let us on the track I got in a few good strides and we lined up. I was second on the line next to Jake.

       The race went out and Jake sprang into the lead. I was a bit boxed in right off the line, and then they fired the gun and called us back. They would have timing problems the rest of the meet. On the second start Jake again sprang into the lead, but this time I was right on him. I was a bit disappointed when he told me he was pacing his team mate to qualify today, but either way there was a good field. He lead the first 200ish meters and I got right next to him on the straight. By 400 meters I took the lead and started to push the pace. I could hear that he hadn't come with me, but I thought that I would hear the chase pack trying to reel me in. Nope. Today was basically a repeat of UVU, except I was tired before the race even started. Tuesday was a brutal workout, and my legs still haven't totally recovered. Certainly not enough to race well, I thought. I raced on my own and hit the mile in 4:41, right where I wanted. I was feeling pretty tired when I hit that, and knew the next mile would suck. I continued to push the pace on my own, and then with 300 to go I moved as I best I could, which looking back at my split, wasn't very good. With about 150 to go I brought it in with what I had and finished about 5 seconds ahead of Jake. Apparently, he sat with the chase pack and then started to chase me with about 600 to go.

       This race was a PR at elevation, so I couldn't be disappointed with it, but I felt so crappy running it. Again, racing this by myself is what made it feel especially difficult. I know that I can run a lot faster than this, but on my legs today and with this field, 9:29 was as best I could. There was a lot of pro's and con's with this race. I was totally exhausted after this race, and more than anything am now nervous for the mile tomorrow.

      I cooled down to get to 8 for the afternoon.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/297408248

AM: Went for another 3 mile shakeout on my own.

PM: Day two of the Alpha Invite. After arriving I did the same routine for the mile as for my race yesterday. I was feeling about the same for this race as I was for yesterday. I could tell my legs were tired, but I did seem to have a bit more energy today. I got 2.5 miles warm up before going over to the bullpen and then while waiting there I jogged around a bit more and stayed hydrated. Once we were over in the waiting area, I spiked up and got in a few good strides before they lined us up. Jake wasn't racing the mile, but even without him, the field was still really tough. Talem, Kramer, and Andrew were all racing. I had hip two again next to Talem. 

      The gun went off and Talem took it out really hard. Like, really hard. I thought he would be 61-62 but he was 58-59. I was trailing him and came through at just under 61. I worked on closing on him for the next lap and we came through in 2:09, so I knew he felt the first lap. At this point, I couldn't hear any footsteps behind me, so I knew Talem and I broke away, but by how much I couldn't know. During the third lap I closed on Talem, and passed him a little before the gun lap. I surged away from him on the first curve and was trying to finish with a strong last lap, but I was feeling my legs at this point. I still couldn't hear anyone behind me, but knew that all three of those guys are strong kickers. I picked it up as best I could with 200 to go, and could hear the Alta team cheering on Kramer to catch me, so I knew he was coming. On the final stretch I gave it everything I had in the tank to finish. With 50 meters left, I heard Kramer's footsteps and then with 30 to go he was a half stride behind me. I sprinted that last little bit and we were pretty much dead even until the last 5 or so meters where he just barely got the edge on me and then also leaned. He finished like .15 ahead of me. It was so close, that everyone was unsure who really won until they announced us for medals.

      This race was a little better than yesterday, I think. I didn't feel as crappy, mainly because I didn't have time to feel crappy. I had people to run against and it actually felt like a race. I ran a PR at elevation, and nearly at sea level, and I was tired to begin with. It would have been cool to get the 3200/1600 double, but oh well. Kramer raced hard and pushed me as well. I know that I am going to shatter 4:20 at the next big invite. 

    I jogged around a little bit, about a mile, before I had to do the 800. I gave what I had for today in the mile, so I didn't have high hopes for this race. I would like to run an 800 on fresh legs and see what I can do, but this one just sucked. I got a terrible start since I had no energy left to sprint right off the line, and just hung on the back of the pack and passed like 3-4 guys on the second lap. Like a high 2:03 or something. Just absolutely exhausted. Still technically a PR though....

     Then I cooled down some, but not too much because, yep, I still had another race. I had one of the legs in the 4X400. Our team was Rich, Vuong, John, and I, so on fresher legs, we could do pretty well, but we were all exhausted. I was dreading it since I was so tired, but it actually ended up being pretty fun. I ran like a 55.2 or something like that. Then I cooled down more until I got 8 for the afternoon.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/297408227

AM: Today I met Bill and Chris for a medium long run earlier in the morning. We did the second half of the Salt Lake Marathon. Bill wanted to average somewhere close to 7 minute pace, but we ended up hitting about 7:20 pace. I don't know for sure because my Garmin dies at like 8 miles. This is getting really annoying. The time for a new garmin is approaching.....

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/297408213