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

AM: I am coming down in mileage this week, but it would honestly feel weird at this point if I didn't do 10 on a Sunday morning, so I went ahead and did it. I didn't realize it the entire run, but I was moving pretty well. I averaged 7:04 pace, and that was with a slower start to warm up from the race yesterday. Afterwards I stretched a little bit and did some barefoot drills on the lawn to stretch my hips.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/212620620 

AM: This morning was practice at Sugarhouse Park. There was a few new people so we took a while to start, but eventually we did our four mile loop for warm up, that actually ended up being 4.83 miles. Then we jogged over to the hills next to the North where Emily had set up some flags to outline the hill reps. We were doing 8 of the up-and-back hills. Then we did 8 short strides from shade to shade on the fields where we do circuits. After that everyone did as much cool down as they needed to hit their miles. Bill, Chris, and I did 1.5 miles to be at 10 for the day. I had to go so I couldn't go to 12 with them.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/212996162 

PM: Man, I promised myself that I wouldn't put off the summer homework until last minute again this summer like previous summers, but I failed. After doing Physics for five and a half hours, I was in desperate need of a break, so I went on my run earlier than I usually go. Mostly because it is cooler earlier now that it is the end of summer, but also just to take a break from homework. I got in my usual 6 mile loop. Now back to homework...

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/213111514

AM: Man, busy busy busy now that school started. Therefore, these shall be short and link-less entries for now. Practice was at Liberty Park today. We did a lap warm up, followed by some stretching and some strides. Then we went over to the start on the concrete and did a timed mile. I hit 5:11. Then we jogged back to the start and did one 800. I hit a 2:26, but had to dodge and run around a ton of people during the rep, so that in reality could have been 2 seconds faster. Then I cooled down to 8 and was off to breakfast for my birthday!

PM: Since I got little mileage this morning, I went for another 8 miles tonight. I want to get the big mileage days out of the way this week so the work load will be less on the school days.

PM: Since it's the first day of school, I didn't run in the morning because I don't have my established routine yet. I just got 10 at practice. We did a warm up in the gulley where I did 3 laps, then we did core and some strides on the soccer field, then three grass laps cool down. Afterwards I added the VA loop with a lap in the cemetery with Chris and Bill to get to ten today. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/214828873 

AM: This morning I went for a four mile loop, since this afternoon is our time trial. I will get at least 8 miles then for a solid day of mileage today. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/214828815

PM: There was no practice today since it is our Time Trial/Team BBQ. We met up at the normal pavilion at SHP at about 6. I did a lap on the road with a few others while we were waiting for people to arrive. Then as people were arriving I kept warming up. Eventually Bill got there and I warmed up some more as I put flags down and marked the course. Finally, I just did a few strides before we actually started. This was going to be a very controlled race, or rather more of a tempo, because tomorrow is the Highland Invite. Bill told me to go at about 80% so I thought 5:50's would be good. So 5:50's are just what I hit. Chris was with me for the whole thing, and finished right behind me. Afterwards I cooled down however much to get 7 miles for the afternoon. Then we had a lovely team meal and then Captains were announced! Congrats Sarah S, Olivia, and Sam!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/214828755 

AM: I got to bed way to late from the time trials last night to get up this morning and run, so I just ran during my free periods at school. Being a senior is the best:) I got four miles during school as a shake out. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/214828708

PM: The people who weren't racing today ran over to SHP for a workout and the rest who were racing drove over. Once there I started warming up with about an hour and 15 minutes to my race. I got 4.5 miles total warm up. During the warm up, I felt horrible. I kept getting thirsty really fast and would drink some water, but then get thirsty again. Eventually I could tell that if I had any more water my stomach would be upset during the race, but I was still really thirsty. I was also just plain tired. Maybe because of the time trial yesterday or maybe just because I'm not used to the new running schedule now that school has started. Either way I was definitely feeling sluggish and like I had no spring to my step. I had half a peach that Jesse bought, and I think that helped a little. Once we were going over to the line and I was in spikes, I started to push the negative feelings out of my mind and just focused entirely on my race. I knew I had to think positive and really focus on the task ahead if I was to do well. 

Well we started and I got out pretty badly. I just couldn't get myself to pick up speed fast enough in order to not get boxed in behind the crowds. I think going up that first hill, there were maybe 30-40 guys ahead of me. I had to work a little too hard to get up to where I needed to be to pass people during the race. Once I was finally in good position, we were going up the second hill around the Pines and practically at mile 1. Also by this point, I had pretty bad cotton mouth. Anyway, I stopped thinking about how thirsty I was and just focused on maintaining contact with the group that I knew would begin to pull away. After the group of leaders, there was the group I was in the back of, of about 8-10 guys. I hung on to them past mile 2 and knew that I could stay with the group until the finish. Coming down around the pond the second time I saw Bill and he motivated me enough to catch and pass a guy, then later I caught another. I was struggling to pass him, but when it got to the kick I was able to pull away. I kicked as hard as I could and finished in the last medaling spot, 15th:) 

Overall, a solid race. Like my last race, I made some mistakes, but still a respectable race. I need to focus on getting out better, as well as using the downhills more because there were always guys who'd catch me on the downhills. My kick was decent, just enough to hold off people, but it could be better. (There was another guy who I made it a point to beat closing on me fast and finished less than a second behind me)  Plus I need to drink more liquids during the day so that I am not so dehydrated at races, particularly now in the heat. It was cool to race against some of the others on the blog as well, now I can see where I am in relation to them. Now that I look at results from this and last year, the race this year was fast. Had this been a full course I would have been about 16:10, which is a huge PR. Looks like I will break 16 sooner than I expected:)

I finished off with another 2.5 miles cool down to get 10 for the afternoon. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/214828644 

AM: I needed 8 miles to finish out the week so I just got out the door and did that. Uneventful 10 miles although I definitely felt a little tired form yesterday.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/214828558