Getting back in shape!

I ran in the Aggie Invitational.

wellsville founders day run, 3rd place 36:20. Did it in my heavy training shoes.

Quick 4.

1 mile warm up. 3(1000+800) + 4(30 sec strides) + 1 mile cooldown

Four miles easy for the meet tomorrow.

Was still recovering from a week long flu that one of our cross country runners has been spreading throughout the team. I still wanted to do really good at this meet though considering that just about every high school runner in the state of Utah was running in it. Got in about of mile warm up, that consisted mostly of running around cheering on our teams runners. 

Once at the line my plan was to sprint as hard as I could so I wouldn't get boxed in. We were in a good spot that we just had to go straight to the funnel and not make any diagonals. The gun went off and I tried sprinting but was reminded of why I don't run anything less than the mile in track. I was horrible at sprinting and still ended up getting boxed in, bad. I one point I was running near almost walking speed as we all tried to squeeze in through the funnel just after the wide start. Kept going slow until about 600 meters into the race where I was able to go way to the side and kick up the pace, only I was not alone. Just about every other runner did what I did and I just got more clogged up. Finally at about 1 and half miles into the race I felt I was in the right pack with Zan and Sean, from MC and Nick from Sky view. Sean Faded but Zan got ahead of me but I kept him close. Nick than made a move following his team mate Steve. I kept about 10 meters from Zan but started feeling weak probably due to the sprint I did at the beginning. I faded those last 800 meter but so did most everyone around me. Hunter and Tanner from Box Elder both passed me pretty quick as they seemed to have a strong kick. I kinda just cruised to the finish not having lost most of my motivation.

I'm pretty happy with my time but I knew I could have been at a much better placing had I not died at the end. The two Box Elder Kids that passed me the last 600 meters got just 10 seconds faster than me but about 11 places lower. Oh well, this week we have a dual meet against Sky View and I'm really excited to race with fast team like them.

Today was a hard workout for once. We did a 1 mile warm up and than 2 800s at T-Pace (2:44.) Than followed by two 1 miles at T-Pace, I got 5:40 the first one and a 6 the last one. All with 1 minute rest in between.  Than 3, 200 meters strides which we pretty much did as races. All followed by a 1 mile cool down.

Easy Four Miles! Decided to give the GT 2160s a break and go with the Gel Kayanos.

Dual Meet against Sky View! Went great but took a wrong turn. Basically race ourselves since Sky View held off their Varsity!

Easy 4 with 4 200 meter strides at the end.

Hill Workout at Old Main Hill, 5 600 Meter Hill Climbs at R-Pace, a few I might have gone all out on. 2 miles there and back.

Missed Practice due to Homecoming Week activities. 

Missed Practice Again but did late night workout. 5 400 meters at race pace with 800 meter warm up and cool down. 

Tri-Meet with Box Elder and Bonneville's JV. Both us and BE swept Bonneville but BE had Hunter and Tanner stay up just ahead of our pack. Had I not been sick I would have followed my temptations of going up the extra 15 meters and break up their pack but my head was on fire the whole race with a fever. Don't how but managed a PR of 17:14 after a really sluggish start.

Missed practice again, man Homecoming week has it's up and downs! Did a hilly 4 miles on my own though on the Bonneville shoreline trail. Back to the 2160's again!

After a Long Drive to Boise, we ran the course at the Bob Firman Invitational. Later in the day we might or might not have tired ourselves out playing football and basketball at a middle school close by in Boise!

After a mile warm up, spent half an hour in line to buy spikes for my gel dirt dogs since I forgot mine at home I was still feeling sick but not as bad as the previous days. We were in the Division 1 Race.

At the starting line we got a starting spot via pulling a number from a basket and going to the spot with the number on the sign. The start was divided in two by a line of flags with a podium in the middle for a gun starter. We got the spot just to the right of the dividing flags. Did a few stride and got a team cheer in and waited for the last runner in the last race to finish.

The gun started and Mark and Jerrell had amazing starts at the cost of me, JD, and Sylvan getting boxed in, big time. At the funnel 200 meters from the start (according to a race official even though the starting line was huge, it was designed so that from any spot you start it was 200 meters to the funnel which was a hard right 200 meters from the start) we encountered heavy traffic. A runner slamed into a flag post and three more tripped over him with me getting push around but holding my own. At the funnel we had come to almost a complete stop. After wards the trail was small with not much room to pass but I saw a Davis kid Pushing people through so I followed the path he was making right behind him. There were tons of people so I was a little aggressive with arms moving or pushing some people a bit for both of our protections. The race was a two ordeal around a small lake. I kept making surges passing tons of people but there were still lots more ahead of me. My time seeded me about 40th in this race. Made more gains but soon I found out I had lit all my matches at around halfway through the second lap. Not much more left to go I kinda died but hung on. At the 3 mile marker I was done for I think due to all the surges in the middle. It was my quads that were tired the most. Zan from MC passed me at this point and he was cruising. I finished and just lost out in a kinda slow sprint finish with fellow teammate JD. Zan had surge so much and I died so much that in that last .1 of the race he got 30 seconds on me. 

Overall It was a great experience and Mark who usually runs in a pack with me and JD said that he got a bad start and can't imagine what the rest of us got. Overall it was a neat experience and I was pretty satisfied with the effort I put in. It was a fun bus ride and home and a unique birthday for me.

Felt better from being sick so decided to take the old Pinarello out for a spin in Logan Canyon. It was a neat ride with all the colors and I felt good, even did a few surges on the climbs.

We did 3 sets of 3 400s at race pace on a big hill at a park. Didn't really feel tired afterwards but sure did while I was doing them.

Very easy three miles in preparation for the Cache-Box Invitational.

First race in a while where I wasn't feeling sick. I got a good start and didn't go sprinting with all the leaders at the beginning of the race. Passed quite a bit of people during the 2nd mile and kept my place the whole third mile. I never really felt extremely tired because I was trying to save energy for the end, after past experiences. Still felt hard the last 200 meters where it goes from gravel to grass, that part always gets me. Got passed by a few people there, mainly my own teammates, which was good! Most of our team was really happy we beat Mountain Crest which is usually a very strong school in Cross Country. Overall it was a great race.

Today I missed practice and did 6 400s at r-pace instead of the short recovery run they did in practice today.