The Renegade

TOTAL TIME: 40:00 (R)

Nice "pleasent" heat run up to the riverwalk from home and back. Felt pretty sluggish. I think it was the heat and humidity, or my lunch I don't know. All I can say is the sun is an interesting and tricky thing, and you can't live with it but you can't live without it either.

TOTAL TIME: 5:00 (WU), 25:00 (R)

Moderate run at morning XC. I was feeling a little more tiredt than usual, and it might have been from those heat runs.  We went to the river trail, and on the way back the pace felt pushed even though it was just barely under 7, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. We played ultimate frisbee after the run.

TOTAL TIME: 44:00 (R), 6:00 (WO)

Evening run from the house to about halfway up canyon rd. and back. I felt okay, just a little tired and stiff, and a little bit after I started up the road my heart started beating really fast. In the middle of the run at the turnaround point I did 6x (15 sec @ 2 mile pace w/ 45 sec recov. jogs). That was the workout written by coach. It was pretty easy because of the shortness of the fast parts and the long rests. My stride loosened up a bit more on the way back, but I still felt tired. After the run I did aprx. 4x50 meter barefoot strides in my yard and then about 5 minutes of core.

I woke up for morning cross-country, not knowing if it was cancelled for the holiday or what, so I ran to the school. That way I could just keep going if nobody was there. I took it pretty slow; it was an 8:10 mile. Turns out there wasn't a soul who showed up, and I felt pretty stupid. So I continued after some extra stretches, at a faster pace than before. I basically just did a loop through most of river heights (river heights is pretty small), the one with all the hills that comes out through the nature park. From there I took a pretty direct route back home. After that I ran about 400m worth of accelorators. I was pretty bummed that practice got cancelled. Independence Day shoulden't be an excuse to put off training, so I figured at least a few of the more serious people would show up. Nothing even goes on that early anyway.

Friday night I made a plan to ride my bike up to Providence Canyon at 6 in the morning. That plan didn't really work out. I didn't get enough sleep that night and then slept in till about 10:30. But I decided I would still go and left around 11. Once I got up there I ran a mile up the canyon and decided that today was not my day for a long run and turned around. Probably dehydration. I didn't drink enough water friday and it was hot day for a bike ride with a lot of steep hills. This week was my lowest mileage of the summer, which proceeded my highest weekly mileage this summer, so I guess it adds up. Next week I'll make sure I go above forty since scout camp is the next, and then that will be my lowest mileage week all summer no doubt about it.

TOTAL TIME: 50:00 (run)         AVERAGE PACE ON RUN: 7:30 mile

Slept in and missed XC again so I ended up having to run at night. This was my first run in my new shoes that I got on Saturday, and I really like them, although there wasn't a huge difference compared to my last ones since they're just the latest version of the same shoe. I think they helped my form out better than the last ones. I basically ran up to the temple and back with a lot of weaving in and out to make it longer without getting too far away. I felt better then I expected to be feeling. I really like running at that time in the evening (8:30 - 9:30), but it sure does feel good to have your run over with early in the morning. 

Evening run up to the east side of logan and back home. I don't exactly remember how many minutes it was today, probably about 45. Maybe if I had gone a little later than it would've been more enjoyable, but I was not feeling it. The way I felt at the end of the run could be likened to how I would feel after racing a 5K at 100%. I still hope that I can go above 40 this week, and then next week I'll run maybe 26. (scout camp)

AM:          It felt good to be back at cross-country seeing that it's been a week since I've ran with another human being. We had a .4 mile which felt pretty good. Then on our run (the river trail loop backwards) coach had us do push segments after about the first mile or 5-10 minutes. We did 6 x (20 sec 2-mile pace w/ 1 min jogs), so basically the sam thing as last week but longer on both sides. After that portion I had a hard time keeping up with the group for the rest of the run. It almost felt like I was racing. Probably because I'm not used to just going on and running a long distance immediatley after doing something similar to a workout. 200 meter stride after (31 sec) and then we did 5 minutes of core. We did the run in 30 minutes and it was about 4.3 mile long. 

PM:              I got a new pair of shoes to race in this season and do some training in too. The run a little over 2 miles long (and it was really close to home). After that I did some practicing with my form for a little over 800m, and finally some barefoot strides in my yard. (.18) The shoes were great. They're zero drop shoes, and the other brooks I have have a 12mm drop, so they felt alot different, but they were so much lighter and connected with the ground really well. It put pressure on some muscle groups I'm not used to using, so I'll have to run in them more before I race with them, but overall  I think I'm really going to like them and I may even switch over to minimalist shoes for the most part after these.       

Nice evening up to the area by Old Maine and back. I took a road on the west side of mainstreet that I've never ran on before, just for a change. It's always nice to mix things up once in a while. It helps training not be as redundant. I felt really good and it pleased me to realize that I had better form right then than I ever have before.  Those shoes probably helped out alot. Although after going up Old Maine, going down too far and having to back-track and go up another hill, I got a little bit more tired. But I would definetely have to say that was the best run all week so far.

Wow, crazy practice today. First we did a mile warmup, and then Chazel had us run to Merlin Olsen Park, but we had to get in 20 minutes of running before we could do what we were doing. So me, Luke, Damon, and Jake did an indian run to the park, and we realized we had only been running for 3 minutes. So Damon took us on this wacky obstacle course that he just made up as we went (I mapped what would be close to it: course{Damon's Crazy XC Course} ). So we basically ran in circles for 1.5 miles (we had already done .5 getting there). Then the whole team played soccer for maybe 45 minutes, which was super fun.  

 After that I went on a good 6 mile run with Mark and Johnny up to first dam, and on the way back we took an extension of the canal trail that I didn't know about before. That was maybe 37 minutes, and I felt good, but it felt longer because of the shoes I was wearing, and I started to get blisters towards the end. I really shoulden't run that far in brand new shoes that are so minimal. Great run. We iced in the canal after and then I drank 2 big bottles of water before I went home.

Good run today. I was surprised at how good I felt with the long run yesterday but it was pretty enjoyable. I felt like I did on Thursday. All I did was go about 15 minutes out (which got me to the start of the rivertrail, and then came back, but the last half mile I staged a 5K finish, so pretended I was finishing a race. It was in between 3 and 3:10. Then I did a couple hundred meter strides and that was it. Break week nexxt week at scout camp (meaning lower mileage), but I'm still going to run every day. There is a 5K that I'm going to run, since I haven't timed it since May.

5K at 6 in the morning at scout camp. Got 19:41 but would have done alot better if I hadn't just woken up. Splits were 6:12, 6:48,  6:40. So not what I was hoping for. I think I am going to make it one of my goals this season to drop my times in each mile of the race, or at least the last one. I don't know if I've ever done that before.

I ran up a super steep mountain called Cardiac Hill to get a candy bar. It was a 4:15 800 and I was pooped so it was super steep.

67:00

Well, that caps off my impressive 12 mile week. I haven't had mileage that low since Febuary. But I can't wait to PR in mileage next week ( I'm gonna need to compensate as much as possible). I did a run similar to what I did last thursday, which goes up 500 S all the way to Old Maine Hill, and then I explored some of the small trails that run below the main highway by the university, and I found out there are alot of cool places up there. Then I came back on the road that we usually take back to the school in xc practice from usu then back home. I felt pretty much average. I didn't feel terrible, but I didn't have a ton of energy either. Probably from the break and the car trip home ffom camp. I didn't have alot of trouble with my form though. My average pace for the run was actually a 7:48 mile, but that was because I did alot slow running on the narrow paths so I wouldn't trip and fall to my death.

WU - 3:30,  .5 M          RUN - 1:03:00, 8.5 M

Pretty good run. We went through a park in Providence that I've only been to once. It was cool. I felt kind of tired, especially after going up a hill at the park, but it wasn't terrible. So glad to get the good mileage in today. After practice I slept until almost 1 PM. though.

6:30 P.M., 2 M,  15:00

It was pretty hot out, so I only planned to run a little. I felt kinda tired, but probably just from the heat.

9:00 P.M., 3.25 M, 24:40

I ran some more after young mens, and those miles felt much better than the last 2. The shoes felt better, too. I did a loop I've done before that went around the Fairgrounds and the Zoo and then came back by the elementary school. 

I slept in and missed cross-country, so I ran pretty late at night. My route was up to Old Maine and then I went a little bit up the canal trail before I turned around and went home on the road by the temple. I felt pretty crappy at first, but after I got onto the trail I started to feel okay. By the time I got home it was almost completely dark. I actually enjoyed running at night, I just had to make sure stay off the road as much as possible.

I got up today and ran to a park where I ran a 5K last Pioneer Day. It turns out it was earlier than I thought, so I just kept running. I did the River Heights loop that I run alot, the one with the hills. After I got to the highest point and started going down, I felt much better that when I had started back at home. Then I just took Center Street most of the way back. Good run.

I had a great run today in xc. Coach said to do a short run (really for the majority of the team) and none of my regular running buddies were there, but at least I got to run with Davis up until the end of the canal trail. When he turned around it really put an emphasis and realization on the difference between running alone and running with freinds. Immediatley I started to breathe harder and slow down but then I got used to it. I took a trail that goes from the water treatment center and up to cliffside then started my return path. I'd have to rate this run as #1 this week as far as how good my body felt, despite getting to practice too late to do any warming up or stretching. 

TIME - 1:20 (R)

Awesome trail run today, I just wish more people would have shown up. Todd, his wife, Chazel, two freshman on the team and me were the only ones there. We ran up to the Jardine Juniper in Logan Canyon, wich is apparently the oldest standing tree in rockies (1500 years old). So Todd and Kalin (a freshman who I already knew) ran together the whole way to the tree, except we had to wait for Kalin to catch up every so often, wich was fine. We went at a nice speed for the constant but gradual incline, averaging a bout 10 minute pace all the way up, except for where it drops down on some switchbacks at the very end to get to the tree. There were some pretty nice views up there, that's for sure, and early in the morning is the best time to see them. On the way back down I ran pretty much ran on my own since Todd hung back with his wife and Kalin was going slower. I averaged a 6 minute pace. It's crazy the difference a decline makes. That was way fun, I just want to get more people to come to these, since they are way better than regular practice. We soaked our legs at First Dam after, but it was pretty cold so I didn't stay in for long.

I lnow monday isn't the typical day for along run, but I jsut felt like getting past it this week, plus I want to PR in mileage yet again, probably low 50's. I slept in for cross-country (I've gotta stop doing that), so I ran at 4:15 maybe, and it was cool out, actually raining a little bit.. I got in a mile warmup, and then I did a half marathon time trial, wich made me pretty confident for Top of Utah. I finished what was pretty close to thirteen miles in 1:33, not counting rests. I'm gonna say it was about 1:40 if you add those in. This was on a very hilly course, which basically made a giant loop around the island area and cliffside, and TOU is downhill almost the whole way, plus I didn't have the maximum rest, hydration. and nutrition that I would have preparing for an actual racde event, so I'm gonna geuss I could go 1:30 on race day, which I will be ery, very pleased with for my first half.

As for how the run felt, I took it pretty conservativley for the first five miles. The hardest part of that was probably Old Maine Hill. The only hill that was bigger was the trail that leads up to Cliffside and then goes up  a little more to Gibbons Park. I think I kind of picked up the pace when I got to the bottom of the hill by first dam, and I defininetley increased the pace in the last mile. That was really the only hard part of the run. I am very excited for the 23'rd now.

Today I thought I would feel pretty tired but actually, I felt good enough to do some intervals. It was overcast and maybe about to rain, so perfect weather for a run. I ran for about a mile and half, and then started 16 minutes worth of 2 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy. That took me around the west side of the golf course and then through the river trail, ending at Willow Park. I took the hard parts pretty quick, about mile pace I would say. But I still felt pretty light on my feet and all, so that was good. then at the Park I did 800 meters worth of strides and took an indirect route home. I even felt good then, and I was going at a comfortable but not too slow pace wich picked up a  little involuntarily.

TIME: 3 min (WU), 30 min (RUN)

I was a little bummed today when coach had us run basically the same route I did during my workout yesterday, but it's all good. I ran with Damon and Ethan the whole time, and Ethan set a pretty quick pace that stuck, probably somewhere around 6:50. We had to do 8 x 20 sec @ 2 mile pace w/ 1 minute recoveries. I geuss that's when the regular running slowed down, because the intervals got us almost all the way back to the school. Ethan sort of led the pace the whole time, and on the fast parts I'm pretty sure we were all going faster than 2 mile pace. I'm almost certain that we were going faster than my 800 pace, so almost a full sprint. When we got back to the track Damon and I did some strides.

This evening I decided to run up to Old Maine hill and do some repeats, and I actually got in a pretty satisfying workout session. It took me 22 minutes to get there, so a nice little warmup. the course I planned is about 690 meters and It goes up the path on the side with the more subtle incline (270m), then I get a recovery jog (but I still have to go fast) down the path on the north side of the stairs (300m), and the finally, I kill myself on the stairs (150m) and end at the flag pole. Then I jog back down to the start. I did 5 sets of those with times of 3:09, 3:20, 3:10, and 2:58. I had about a     2 1/2 minute recovery after the first one, and after the second I ran into a freind and chatted, so that was a 5 minute recovery, then the next one was about 2:00, and finally I gave my self a full recovery because I was only planning on doing 4 to begin with and I was going to run it as fast as possible. I felt pretty good. I was good about using my upper body on the hills and lifting my knees to propel myself upward, and the lactic acid didn't fill up as fast as normal.. After that I did 500m of strides on the field, then took a nice route home right before it was completley dark.