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

AM: Went on my usual Sunday morning run. My Garmin is moody and decided to shut off three times in the first half mile, then stay on the rest of the run. A good run in 6:28 avg

PM: Before work I went out for another small run. Did my normal four mile loop. The day had become increasingly pretty, so I was actually hot by the end of my run, which I am totally fine with :)

AM: Went on an easy four.

PM: Got the usual track stuff done and then we did a speed workout with some of the 400 sprinters. It was 1000, 5X500, 1000, 4X200. This speed wasn't just at a set pace, it was to practice a kick. For the 1000, we were to go out like an 800 for the 200, then for 600 coast at about two mile pace, then hit the last 200 in 800 speed again. The 500's were the same idea. We did 400 at mile pace, then went hard the last 100. I hit the first 1000 right on and finished in 2:51.  The first 500 was too fast since some of the sprinters jumped in and threw me off pace. I hit the 400 in 61, then finished in 75. The rest were all right on. I would hit the 400 in 65, then finish in 1:19. Towards the end they were getting really hard. Finally the last 1000. I did my best to go out and finish hard like I should, but was really tired by this point. I believe I hit it in 2:55, so I lost 4 seconds from the first, but still in goal range. I thought I was done afterwards, but I got a nice surprise and got to do 4X200. I hit all of those in 29-30. By the end of this workout I was exhausted and my legs were tired, so I knew I worked. John, Chris, and I did 3.5 miles cool down and hit 12 for the day.

AM: Went on an easy four this morning.

PM: After the usual track stuff, we did three laps warm up and three laps speed changes, then went over to the paved hill and did that 12 times. We just worked on form and driving up the whole hill. After that we went back over to the stuff and Sarah was doing 400's, so I jumped in to help pace her. She was hitting between 76-80, so they were more of easy tempo laps for me. I remember not too long ago when this was my pace for 400's :P I pushed Sarah (I mean that quite literally) on her reps, and helped her hit her times. I paced 6 of them for her. Then we went for 4 miles cool down to be at 10 for the day.

Let's just say my garmin suffered some damage at practice today, so it is no longer functional at all. Oh well, 2.5 years with it was a good run.

AM: Slept in way too late and only had time for 2.5 miles. 

PM: Today was a trimeet, and I was running the 400 and 800 more for conditioning. I warmed up about two miles and then did some strides for the 400. I got on my spikes and jumped in the first heat. I have no idea what my time was since I didn't wear a watch or hear any splits, but I'm hoping that it was under 55. Then I jogged another mile and did some strides, and ran the open 800. I didn't really have a goal for this and didn't expect much since there was no competition, so I just planned on going out hard and seeing how long I could hold it. I took off and hit a :30 200, and a high 60 400. That was a little slower than I expected, but oh well. I pushed the next lap and came through at a ~1:32 600, then crossed the line in a high 2:01/low 2:02. Overall a decent 800 I'd say. For it just being tired and not having anyone to push with I think it was a solid effort. Then I jogged about another mile or so, and once John, Chris, and Sarah finished the events they were doing, we did our workout. I remember when I did this workout with Natalie last year after we had both raced on exhausted legs, it was painful. We did 10X (1 min on/1 min off) on the road in SHP. We finished in the Northeast corner of the park, so we just ran back to the track for 8.5.

Although it is slightly annoying not having my garmin, it is also kinda nice in a way. I hesitate to say the miles go by a little quicker. I still prefer actually having one though.

AM: Went for an easy four miles on my own. 

PM: After the usual track stuff, distance started our lighter workout. We did 6X stadium laps with the usual drills, then we did four barefoot 'X' stride laps on the field, followed by two progressive 300's. I hit 42 and 41 for those. I felt good on the barefoot 'X' strides and just focused on my arms and turnover. Then we did 4 grass laps and an outside track lap cool down to be at 5 for the day.

It's weird doing so little for practice two days before a race. Davis will be my first race at elevation, really this outdoor track season, that I am not going to be already tired for. It's gonna be intense! The blog will be well represented at the meet!

AM: Easy four on my own.

PM: After the usual track stuff, distance did our usual premeet workout. One mile warm up, two miles speed changes, one mile cool down. Natalie is in SL for a few days, so we got to talking after the workout. It's always nice to talk with her about running and stuff because I seem to be following the same path she did last year. Let's just hope that I can finish the way she did too :)

AM: Easy three mile shakeout. A little bit quicker pace. Feeling good!

PM: Race! After my shakeout, I took an ice bath, then had a good lunch, and just relaxed at home until I had to leave. I had the race on my mind all day, but I didn't let it overwhelm me. Got to Davis High with about an hour to my race. I set down my stuff, then went on a two mile shakeout. I came back, drank some water, and then did a mile of speed changes (20 sec on/40 sec off). I was feeling good by this point, but felt like I needed to do some good strides before my race. I then took my stuff into the field, put on my spikes, and did some strides. I did maybe 8-10 good strides and hydrated one last time before going over to the line. 

     The gun went off and I got a pretty crappy start. I was in the back of the guys in my waterfall, and at 400, which was a 62-63?, I think I might have been last, or close to it. Marcus moved past me and surged along the curve to the front pack, and I waited until I could swing around guys coming off the curve. I moved past a ton of guys, the majority of the guys in the race, and ran next to Marcus. We were on the heels of Ricky and Austin. From here I can't quite remember what happened. There was a lot of movement, and I had to fight to keep my spot. We were 2:07-:08 at 800, then 3:12ish at 1200. In this time I was ranging in the top  4 or 5. Kramer passed me with about 250 to go, and with 200 to go I surged past him on the inside, throwing a friendly elbow his way :D That gave me some adrenaline, and I moved past Marcus and Austin into 2nd. Coming off the curve I starting to kick as hard as I could, but someone came up on me and I didn't know who it was. It was Andrew from Bingham. He just barely pulled away from me, and I could hear Kramer right on my heels. That last 100 was a hell of a kick, and I could tell we were all going as hard as we could. Ricky stayed ahead of us, but we closed on him a ton in the last 300. We finished less than half a second behind him. Bill told me 4:15, but I am very pleased now that I saw my time on Runnercard as 4:14.61!

       Overall, a solid 1600. I actually had a bit of a taper for this race, and I knew that I'd crush 4:20. I focused on racing and fought well, now that I think of it. The only thing I would have done better was get a much better start, and kick just a little harder to hold off guys on my heels. I'm excited to race when I'm not at high miles!

      I jogged around some more after my race and then elevated my legs while Bill iced them. After getting my medal, I cool down some with Bill, Sarah, and Chris, then stayed loose and hung out for a little before my 3200. I knew I wouldn't be feeling too great for this race, but I ran it primarily to see what I could do after a hard mile, and to sort of get used to racing hard back to back.

      After a mile warm up, I did some strides and then they called us to the line. The gun went off and I got a much better start than my mile. I was first in my waterfall, then like third once the two alleys merged. Honestly, I don't even remember what happened from here. Conner broke away and eventually Mike passed me. I sat on Mike for a long time, and then tried to surge past him, but he just passed me back when I did that. At that point I knew I didn't have much fight left in my legs. Somewhere in lap 7 he surged and I couldn't go with him. Chuk was sitting right on me and went with Mike. They slowly broke away from me and I just couldn't get myself to go. I finished in 9:36.09, which was meh.

      The 3200 didn't go as spectacularly as it could have, but I'm not really disappointed. I went hard in the mile and I was able to hang on at least in the 3200. I'm really happy with the outcome in the mile, so overall I'm still content with this meet. More than anything, this meet gave me a confidence boost for next week. I'm going to get to race the two mile first, then have a day recovery before I have to race the mile! Which is a luxury compared to today. I got my medal, then went on a mile cool down before leaving.

      One more thing that this race made me realize, is how unbelievable Natalie was here last year. She won and set records in the mile and two, both of which went completely untouched this year by girls who didn't double in events. Wow.