The Renegade

Didn't get a chance to run today because I was traveling.

Good run today, I actually had an average pace of 7:40, so probably my quickest easy run that in a long time. A couple more weeks of training and I'll be back down to a 7:30 going easy. I ran the Park Avenue/River Trail/Willow Park loop. It was actually warm enough that I didn't have I where tights. (It's nice being back in Utah). There was a head wind coming from the west on my way back that made it a little chilly. I felt pretty tired by the end but it's good to know that it was because of a good pace, not just that it's an off day, and I geuss you can tell the difference between the two when you're running anyway. Tomorrow I'm going to try to run around ten miles, but at a slower pace though, maybe an 8 min average.

Wow that was a good run! I averaged a 7:40, do I'm pleased with that, and also I felt like I was flying right around miles 7, 8, and 9. I took a condensed version of the huge hilly road loop I would do on my 14 mile runs in August. I felt okay in the first half, and then my show came untied behind the Water Research Center. My hands were too cold to really tie it very tight, but I did the best I good. I had to stop and adjust a couple more times going up the hill between there and the intersection of Mtn. Roads and Quail Way, but after that I felt amazing pretty much until I got home. I wish all my runs could feel that way. Anyways, good way to end the week. It's too bad I didnt run on Thursday, because than I would have more miles this week, but I think it was appropriate to take a rest day after such a failed workout on Wednesday. ✌️

Good run out to Providence and back in a loop. I managed an average of 7:25, which shows great improvement in the last month. Of course, it did feel a little quick but in a week or too I'll be running that pace in all my easy runs. Tomorrow is a workout and I'm assuming it will be another 2 mile Tempo. I did some strides afterwards.

Solid training day as always, although I did have a tough time in the workout. We ran a little over a mile and a half for the warmup, and then 4x800 just like a few weeks ago. Aside from the usual people, we had Mark and Jake with us. I ran the workout alone since Keith got there late. My splits were 2:56, 2:57, 2:59, and 3:10. 😁 I started the first one a little too quick, with a 1:25 at the 400. So I purposely slowed myself down to about a 1:31 for the next 400. The first rest already seemed fast, and before I knew it I was back on the track. This one didn't feel too bad either, and I was pleased to see that I was consistent from the first one. The next one, as always, is where it started to get bad. After it I had to retie my shoe, which got in the way of me stretching out my diaphragm and getting lots of oxygen, so when I started #4, I was already feeling crappy. My main focus was just to get through this last one because I was hurting so bad, so I just had to think about enduring it to the end. So all I was doing was counting down the meters basically. When I finished that one I couldent stand for a couple of minutes, but when I did get up, I could actually jog pretty comfortably, unlike after some other workouts I've done. The main thing I learned today is to start my workouts slower, and that's what I'll do for this next time. I think that other than the last repeat this is showing an increase in my fitness levels from 3 weeks ago. After that we did a little over a two mile cool down, with some hip drills and 40m flys. Then we went in the weight room and did some satisfying lifting.

Recovery day. Keith, Vickie, and I jogged 800 on the track, did some warmup stretching, and then we ran 4.25 miles on the Park Avenue/River Trail loop. Pace was 7:17, and it felt quite delightful. It wasn't as good for Vickie and Keith because they lifted this morning, so I geuss I should have slowed the pace a little bit more, and it would have been beneficial to me, too, since I'll probably be more tired for the threshold tomorrow than I would be. But it is just training, but a race. After we got I did a 200m stride, jogged 100 and then did a 100m stride. Then I did some core.

I started my 800m jog on the track while we were waiting for more people to show up, and I was stiff like no other, and I thought today would be terrible. Mark, Zair, and I started our run out to my road for the Tempo run and I felt a little better. We then did our warmup drills and stretches and about 5 min later started the run, and I actually felt pretty dang good. It was the best tempo I've had yet out of the four. It was also the slowest (13:01) but I felt a lot better and ran just a little bit slower, so I think it was a matter of pushing myself more on it. It was just really fun running that and going fast. My 800 splits were 3:13, 3:15, 3:19, and 3:14 if I'm correct. Mark was doing a 4 mile tempo, so Zair and I ran back at not a bad pace. Then I broke out my new spikes with some 100m strides with a 300m jog, 1700m in all. (5 strides, 4 jogs) Strand told me to do them faster next time, so I'll remember that. My slowest one was maybe 18 so that's pretty intense for next time but it'll be good for me. The spikes felt great! They just felt weird when I was jogging but they're not exactly my Pegasus! After that we did some hip drills and a tiny bit of core, and then I had to leave for a piano lesson and had to skip lifting which made me pretty mad but oh well.

Good pre-meet run today that capitalized on the fact that I'm not going to take a small race as an excuse to slack off on training. It was way colder than I expected! But I was somewhat okay. I left the school with Mark and we ran to Merlin-Olsen to meet up with Louis Vidal (who graduated in 2013) Then we ran to first dam and back. The pace didnt feel super easy, but it wasn't that much harder than what I'm used to either. I think it was 7:20. It was kind of cool getting to know a past Logan runner for the first time. After that we ran back to the school and did some yoga with strand, which I'm not seeing any ways that it's helping, but maybe it could be good over the long term. When I got I found the shoes I orderedm waiting for me and I did some strides in those just because I wanted to try them out really bad.

Kind of a dissapointing day, but when I think about the fact that I'm still gaining my fitness post-injury, it's early in the season, we havent done alot of speed work, and I just finished my highest mileage week since cross-country including the longer and teh somewhat tiring run yesterday, I'm not that pooped. My goal is still to break five at Simplot. We got there and I jogged around a bit on the track in my trainers, and I wasnt feeling too good. I felt sluggish and my shins were trashed. Then I got them stretched out by coach and they actually felt alot better. We then did a two-mile warmup outside, where it was perttty cold and super foggy. I spent alot of time watiing around by the start line for all the heats. 

1600m 5:34

This race went by alot faster than I expected, probably because of the two mile tempos that we've been doing. I started in the front, but I got passed by alot of guys pretty quickly. I pretty much just held on for the whole race with fairly even splits, not feeling to bad. My first 7 200s alternated between two times in the low 40s, and then my last 200 was a 37. The kick felt great and I passed a guy. I was super bummed when I found out my time though. 800 cooldown outside after. 

800m 2:27   splits: 36, 37, 39, 34

After about 2 and half hours of waiting around I finally stepped up to the start line for the 800. I was pretty pumped because I had just watched Johnny pass about 6 guys in the last 150 meters in the fast heat to win the overall race. I was in the third and slowest heat and I started in the front. When the gun went off the same thing happened that happened in mile earlier, except I eventually passed all of those guys except one to place second in my heat. This time I tried even harder in the kick, and it felt AMAZING. My best geuss is that the lifting I've been doing helped alot for that. It also probably helped me to be able to make a move and pass people pretty dang easily, even on the turns, which is hard to do in indoor. That was such a fun race, and it didn't even hurt that much, at least not in the way that I'm used to doing 2 mile tempos and coming out of the cross season. I think the 800m will be my main event this season, and I'm probably going to drop my time down around twenty seconds or more. And that did'nt even feel as hard as I remember the 800 being, so when I really puch myself, it'll be great.

After that I did a half mile cooldown. As I'm writing this my legs are super, super sore and trashed, and I could barely even run if I tried, but we'll see on Monday how I'm doing.

Today I didn't run because I felt like my legs could take a break and would benefit an extra day of rest. Plus I had a dentist appointment and haircut and by the time I got home. It's too bad because Ive had a pretty crappy day and a run would have been good for my mood.

Pretty good workout today. It was 4x1000m with 2 min rest and a 200m jog. First Keith and I ran 800m on the track, and that felt pretty tight. Then Mark showed up so we did a lap around the school with coach. After that we did stretches inside then started the workout. My times for it were 4:03, 3:50, 3:49, 3:48. So I was pretty happy with that in that I had the same average as last time BUT I felt a lot better and I got progressively faster. Keith had a higher average though son I gotta get on that next time! It's weird because I didn't feel that different form the first one the second even though it was a big increase in speed. I felt pretty good and energetic until the last repeat. I kind of got caught off guard with the rest ending so maybe that's why. After that we did a two mile cooldown with Vickie and Chazel Campbell, who stopped by. Then we did strides on the track, which felt pretty good. Finally we did hop drills and some lifting, which was more intense than any of the other time that we did it.

Tough run today. I ran out to Providence and back with Coach Strand, Mark, and Vickie. I was feeling pretty dang tired by the end, but I'm happy to get the mileage in. (-:

Today was definetley tougher than I expected. First we ran an 800 on the track, and then Mark, Vickie, and Zair, went in the weight room to do mile repeats on the treadmills. I ran with Coach to the street next to the temple to do some 200m hill repeats. It's a pretty big and steep hill. The workout, katered more to the 800, was 8 x Temple Hill (200m) w/ 2:30 rest in between sets. At first it didn't seem too bad, but as the workout progressed, it turned into quite the grind. My times were as follows.

37.26,   35.55,   35.68,   34.99,   36.24,   37.1,   38.82,   38.86

By the end of these I was super pooped. After the last one I leaned against the fence for a while before I could even move. The run back, which was .82 miles, was pretty grueling and slow. I wouldent be surprised if I was going at a 9 minute pace. When I got back I did some weights and had to leave. This workout is very beneficial on the anaerobic side, especially for the 800. Good day, I jusy wish I had gotten more miles in. I went believing it was six until I mapped it out on here!

Today I woke up too late, my lower legs were feeling beat up and we're traveling so I don't think I can run today. It sucks to put a hole like that in my training. If I don't run tomorrow I'll have about 18 miles for the week.

Man, I geuss you could say I felt tired today. It wasn't that bad, but I was kinda struggling in the middle section of my run. I ran to the Aggie Bull across the street from Romney Stadium, then went to Old Maine and came back on Canyon Rd. and Center. I definetley felt better once the run hit it's elevation peak and and I started going downhill (at Old Maine). Average pace was 7:50. That's about as slow as I'll most likely go on an easy run for now on, unless it's the day after a super tough workout or meet, or if I'm cooling down after any workout. It was actually pretty nice weather, and I was sweating by the end. This week will definetley have more more volume than last week. It's kind of funny how my lower mileage weeks just happening to be when I'm not racing but I run alot more miles in the week of a race. That's fine though, it is preseason, but I'll have to make sure to get solid training in every week.Tomorrow the new semester starts and I've got a class that I can run in (or do strength training and lifting), so that will help.

Surprisingly solid day today. I ran two miles in seventh hour, and they were 110% grueling. It was 8:30 pace at the fastest and my legs felt so tight. Then I waited around for everyone else to show up (we had a surprising increase in numbers) and then we did our mile warmup. The workout was 8x400m w/ 2 min rests. The prescription was mile date pace, but I ended up pushing myself a bit harder than that. Here are my times:

1:17,  1:22.6,   1:19,  1:15.4,  1:15.6,  1:20.6,  1:19.1,  1:14.8              

Avg: 1:18 

2.5 mile cooldown after, followed by weights.

Good day today. I got a lot more miles than I planned on running but ath's okay because I feel fine. In 7'th hour I ran a half a mile on the infield and did some warmup stretches. Then when practice started we did another 800 and stretches. We ran up the Canal trail and by the time we got off that everybody had turned back except for Mark and I. So we went up teh trail to Cliff Side and made our way down to Providence did a big loop there and ran back to the school. Before I knew it we had gone 8.5 just on that run. Then we did a quarters worth of strides, then hurdle mobility drills and hip drills. Finally I ran an extra 400m just to finish off the 10 for the day. Great day of training as always. :) It wasn't as cold as I expected either. 

Wow, I think I am on a streak this week as far as training quality goes. The only thing I missed out on today was lifting, which kind of bummed me out, but oh well. 1 mile in 7th hour today with the same hurdle mobility drills as yesterday stuck in between, plus about 4 minutes of core. Then when practice started we jogged 800 on the track, loosened up a bit, and then ran to the usual spot by my house to do the tempo run.We did quite a bit of warmup drills and then started not long after that. I felt pretty good during it, almost as good as I felt on the last one. The difference was that it was a lot faster. I'm beginning to really like these runs. We had more people, too, maybe five or six, so it made it a bit easier. No one running next to me though. Here are my splits:

3:09,  3:09,  3:05,  3:14   

Total: 12:38      

Avg. 800m: 3:09      

Avg. 400m: 1:34

That was very amazing and surprising. I thought I was going to run my slowest time yet and coach even told me to expect it to be slow today because of the hard week this week. But that was faster than any other time in that workout. After that we ran back and did a set of strides which added another mile, and then after a small amount of hip excercises I had to go. All I can say is that if training goes on like it is this week, I think I'm going to have a breakthrough track season. Very big confidence booster. I'm going to go low 40s this week and then try and maintain that for a while before I step it up again.

Easy run with strides today. Ran the Icon trail with Mark and partly with Coach. I didn't feel as good as I did yesterday, but it's been a hard week. After the run I did 4x200m alternating mile pace and 800 pace.  I'm having some pain in my right shin and left hip, so if I still feel it tomorrow after the meet, I'll take it super easy on Monday. Tomorrow at the meet It's just Mark, maybe Zair and me going, so we'll see how that goes.

Great way to end the week today. I am very pleased\ about it. We got to the meet a long time before my race, so there was a lot of sitting around other than watching Mark's race, which he did well in. After that I warmed up about a mile and a half while he cooled down. Then when I got back I spent a nasty amount of time doing various warmup walks and strecthes and walking around, just staying loose. Finally my race started ( I was in heat three.) I was seeded based on 2:27 last time, and from how my warmup felt I didn't really know if I could do much better than that. But the gun went off and I felt pretty good and loose from the start, with the help of quite the adrenaline boost I might say right before we toed the line. My first lap was a 34 ( mind you I wasn't wearing a watch so I didn't really know.) That didn't feel bad at all, and I was surprised because yesterday I ran some pretty sluggish 200s after the run. I had okay position. The next two laps, because Coach forgot to get the second split, were an even 1:10, which was still right where I needed to be. (I imagine the third one was slower than the second). This was where I passed quite a few people. I started doing it after the first lap, and then I passed maybe three guys at once on the inside of straightaway, sorting of using my elbows, so it was kind of risky and I didn't have a lot of space, but I didn't get DQd.  On the bell lap I passed one or two more people, which put me in third with the leaders maybe 25m out of my reach. I really tried to go crazy and I ran a 32 for that one. After I finished I was still really hyped up, expecially after I found out it was an all-time PR, not a big one and not very impressive yet, but I that will definetley change throughout the track season. When I was passing people, it's funny because I would come up behind them and then next to them I would think "For sure their going to respond and not let me pass them"  but then none of them did respond. I think that's from the miles and the lifting. The speed has been helping me with running faster times. After the race I cooled down with Mark on a trail that led to Ogden's XC course, and we ran the rode loop and the park from the actually course then headed back up. It brought back some memories from my rookie XC days. That was a little over four miles, and it was pretty grueling by the end. That topped off my week. I'd say it's been a dang good training week, and I hope the best for the next few and maintaining my mileage.

I geuss this is a little far for a Monday, but it'll all balance out. At first I ran 40 min in 7th hour with Johnny, just a loop around River Heights. I didn't get a chance to stretch, but I still felt pretty good. Then I had to atlk to a teacher, and after I saw Mark and told him to hold up, so I went out 15 with him and then turned around. He was running ten miles too, so it feels weird to be running as much him in a day. On the way back I got pretty tired and was just muscling through it. Finally I did 2x200m with 200m jogs, both 32s.

Really fun/interesting workout today. In seventh hour I warmed up with Johnny for a mile. Then when teh rest of the people showed up we ran to teh canal trail to do some 800s. The trail was in terrible condition (mud, puddles, etc.) And pretty soon I just stopped trying to avoid it. It was fun though, and it was like I was running NXN. I felt pretty good during them. We did 5 with 90 second rests. I ran them in 3:02, 3:03, 3:09, 3:02, 3:03. So the average was less slower than normal but what we were running on slowed us down a ton compared to a track. And they were pretty consistent besides #3. Then I ended up tacking on some extra mileage because Layne I forgot to pick up the cones on the way back. After that we ran back down canyon road and did 4x100m on the old road by the dugway, and those were pretty tough. When we got back to the school we did hip drills and lifting, but I just wasn't feeling super into it. Finally I jogged 800m on the track while I waited for my ride. My hip flexors are pretty sore, so I hope I can get that out of the way soon.

Today we ran the river trail loop, and I wan't feeling super good, but I was able to go at a pace of my choice since I was basically leading everyone but Mark. It was rainy, but not really cold, so that was nice. When we got back I tried to do some strides but it brought out my hip flexor pain and I felt a twinge in my knee, so I had to stop that. We then did some hurdle mobility and hip drills, and that stretched it out just a little bit. Then we went into the training room to have my hip and Mark's calf looked at but the main trainer wasn't there, so I didn't get a good analysis.

Good day. I did the temple hill workout again with Zair, and I didn't feel any pain in my hips whatsoever. I did take an Ibuprofen, but I don't think it would have affected it as greatly as that. The workout felt better than it did last time too. My times (200m uphill w/ 2:30 rest):

39.56 

36.39 

35.68

36.25

35.2

36.19

35.04

36.03

It didn't feel as hard this time like I said, but it was still pretty intense and I was goin H.A.M. if you know what I'm sayin. I think on the first one I just wasn't completley warmed up. After that we did a little longer cooldown and then ran another mile on the infield. Then I did a tiny bit of weights. 

Good run today. I ran a mile and a half with Mark while we waited for Coach to come, and then we left. The pace felt pretty quick for me going up to Old Maine but then we went downhill and it felt nice. We ran a loop around the XC course and then headed back up and over Old Maine just the way we came. I felt pretty good. We then did 2x200m (~31, 31), and that was it for us. My hip didn't hirt really I just felt a slight ache after the strides.

Today I was in Bountiful, and Bountiful is really hilly, so I thought I might as well do a hilly run, so I ran up this road to another road which took me to the temple, which was a pretty run, but it was a tough climb. On the way back down I went pretty hard for a couple of miles or so, probably a sub-6 at one point. I just hope it didn't put to much stress on my body. Then I took a stop at the high school and did a couple of strides before I went back to my grandma's house.

Okay run today for coming on to my third week of consistent solid training. I went out about 2 with Mark near my house and then realised I was feeling to sluggish for that pace so I turned around and ran the river trail (I started feeling better there) before going back to the school. When I got to the track I did 2x200m in ~31.5 and 32. Then another half mile on the infield without shoes on.

6x600m today. We got in a half mile warmup, which wasn't quite enough, but oh well. After some drills we started. I pretty much ran the whole workout with Davis on my heels. There it is:        

6x600m w/ 200m jog in a 1:30 rest. 

2:13, 2:14, 2:06, 2:12, 2:13, 2:00

I didn't really feel like I was exerting myself. 1.5 miles after with a mile of strides, then weight room and another mile on the treadmill.

1 mile before our run. We started going up canyon road and then decided to run the Shoreline trail. That started a little over 3 miles in. It was pretty tough and slow going up the big hills and then when it started to level off my need for a restroom did the opposite. Luckily we found a port-a-potty and that made running feel a lot easier. We then ran through campus and on the road by the temple to get back to the school. 2x200m in 34 and 31, with another 400 after to round it off. That left me pretty exhausted and I have a 3 mile tempo tomorrow, so hopefully that goes okay.

One thing I can say is, today I learned my lesson. Half a mile wzarmup before practice, and then we ran to the tempo where I did a 3 miler. I ran it 20:24, which I know is way slower than it should be with the shape that I'm in. That really taught me not to go so long on recovery days, or else it isn't a recovery day anymore and it takes away from the quality of my workout. I would have felt alot better if I had just run about 8 miles the day before. We jogged back and I did a an extra miles worth of strides and jogging in between. Then hip drills.

Good recovery day. I didn't get to go as long as I would have since I had to do Driver's Ed stuff after school, but I think it was good that I didn't. I felt alot better than I expected after yesterday. I didn't feel amazing but good compared to what I expected to feel like based on how I felt all day at school. I just calculated the pace and it came out as a 7:53 but that's cool, it's been one of those weeks, and recovery runs are supposed to be slow anyways. I basically did the same loop as last Monday through River Heights, and the dirt road was in perfect condition compared to last time. I tried to hit as much grass and dirt as possible. Later I found out I could have got in 15 more minutes of running or at least strides before I had to go but oh well. Tomorrow 200m repeats in place of super long Saturday. I geuss i already had that on wednesday anyways.

I'd say today was an okay way to end my training week. Mark, Coach Strand and I met for 8x200m @ ~800m pace w/ a 200m jog in a 1:30 rest. That's what I did. They went another two. Here were my times:

35.6,     37.0,     34.1,     34.2,     32.7,     35.9,     34.9,     30.9

On numbers 4 and 6 I ran on the infield and just started a few feet back from the line because I was feeling slightly inflamed in the lower legs. That workout went by pretty fast. Definitley a more anaroebic workout, like the hills almost, but I think the hill workout is more fun to do. After that Mark and Coach ran a mile with me and left for a trail run (I would have joined them if I wasn't so close to my mileage goal) and then ran another mile and a half in a loop downtown. My breathing was really low and I felt like I could go farther, but I decided that I shouldn't increase my mileage yet just to be safe. The sun came out when I was coolibng down and it was pretty warm. Nice day other than the wind.

Today I didn't feel as jazzy as I expected to, which was kind of a dissapointment, but what can you do, you know what I'm sayin? I tried to hit as much dirt as possible, so I ran the whole canal trail, went halfway up the cliffside trail and ran down on Sumac Dr., and then I saw another trail that just led up to somome's backyard, so I ran up the hill a bit and ran down Canterbury Dr., and then ran a dirt trail through the nature park and nack on the dirt road in River Heights. It was a really nice day, and smelled exactly how it should after it rains. I wish I was feeling better though. My stomach was kind of bothering me and my lower legs were super tight to the extent where I felt some lactic acid seeping in, or I geuss it was still left from Saturday's workout. 2x200m strides after I got back.

Good workout we did 4x1000m w/ 200m jog in a 2 min rest. My times were 3:47, 3:46, 3:41, 3:37. I felt pretty good the whole time, and I started 100m behind Vickie at the beginning so it was good motivation to see how long it would take me to catch up. I just felt smooth the whole time so that was good. In the last stretch of my final repeat Mark and Coach Strand came up behind me and I just stayed with them for the last 50 meters and that gave me a quick finish. My average was 3:42 I think so that was about ten seconds lower than last time which was a 3:52, so I didn't go over my last average once. I'm glad training's coming along and I expect to keep improving alot based on the severity of my injury and what it did to my fitness, along with the fitness I was at right before it happened. (I forgot to say that my warmup was 3 miles in all). After that we ran 2 miles with a miles worth of strides which consisted of 4x100m w/ 300m jog. I felt better on those the more I did them and it was just fun to go all out. I ran those all around 14, but I was booking it. Some hip drills and lifting afterwards.

Today's run turned out to feel pretty good. Out usual small group drove up to Logan Canyon and ran the Logan River trail. The temps were in the 50s, and although we were in the shade the whole time, it felt just right. We started from 1st Dam and ran 4.5 miles to the 3rd Dam campsite. I felt pretty dang tight starting out, but it got better the further into the run we got. At 3rd Dam I stopped and waited for Mark and Coach Strand while they went out another half mile and came back. Not because I was tired, I just didn't want to run too many miles, since I'm already lopsided this week now. The trail was in pretty good condition, just a little mud here and there, and we took a way different from last time I ran it with Campbell brothers and Johnny and Thomas. We must have taken the steep route that time, because this was pretty easy in the last mile before turnaround. On the way back we were booking it, but I still felt pretty loose. When we got to the big hill we booked it up that too and I felt good. We skipped the strides this time around. Overall satisfying training run.

Great day today. We had an easier workout, but I think it was just to taper a little bit for Simplot. Jogged an 800 while waiting for practice to start, and then we did a 2-mile warmup to the fairgrounds and back. Our workout was

 3200m @ harder pace + 3x(400m @ 5K pace + 2x200m @ chosen pace)

The rest was full recovery after all sets, including the 2 mile tempo, with a 1 min recovery between the 400 and 200s. Harder pace for the 2 mile means still pretty chill. Coach wanted me to do it in 13:16, but I ran it in 13:08, and he wasn't too happy about that. Here are my times for the whole workout. (He said it was kind of a race simulation.) 

3200- 13:08 | 800 splits - 3:18, 3:17, 3:18, 3:11

Set 1- | 400- 1:28 | 200s- 36, 34

Set 2- | 400- 1:21 | 200s- 34, 32

Set 3- | 400- 1:25 | 200s- 33, 29

That workout was pretty dang easy in that I didn't have to dig deep or get motivated at any part, but it wasn't supposed be that way. On the 2 mile Vickie ran right behind me the whole time until I sped up in the last quarter or so, and she hit the right time, so I should have just stayed with her. The 400s were probably the hardest part of workout, and they weren't even bad. The second one hurt, but just because I took it too hard. All the 200s were simply just fun, because they were the only reps where we were aloud to go as hard as we wanted them. I felt super loose by the end, and as you can see I pretty much went H.A.M. on the last one. 2 mile cooldown after. I would've done more plus gone in the weight room but I had to leave at 4:35. (Dang piano) Looks like I have to go super low tomorrow if I wanna go longer on Saturday without going over on mileage this week. 😭 Now there's a struggle a freshman will never understand.

30 min. of running at just under 8 min pace,  tried to run on as much grass as possible (Willow Park and Woodruff). After that just a couple of strides. I felt better than I expected to, but I was dissapointed when I saw how slow I was running. Oh well I haven't had any lower mileage days until today. 

Well, we had a little miscommunication for our run today but it worked pretty much okay. I thought we were running in Green Canyon but we were actually running the Deer Fence. Long story. Anyways Mark and I ran for 2 miles and then we ran into Vickie who ran with us for 5 minutes until Mark had to turn around. So I just kept going until I hit Providence Canyon, and since I was dropped off, I ran home from there. The downhill was'nt kind to my shins though, and I could feel it the whole time in Providence, and I had to stop and stretch them every once in a while. I was alos noticing some stirrings in the metatarsal area of my left foot. Frustrating. The run felt pretty long, but only because I thought it was only going to be around 7, so I was quite pleased when I mapped this and saw how long it actually was. I geuss it woulden't have mattered anyway, as long as I'm within three miles either way of my weekly goal. Good week. I geuss the only thing is that I always feel injury looming over my head now. I just took an ice bath, so hopefully that helps my foot and my shins.

Workout in the late a.m. today. We warmed up 1.5 and then did our stretches and everything before the workout. On the track we did 8x400m w/ 400m jog in a 3 min rest. Felt pretty good, but it wasn't that hard of a workout. My times:

80,   79,   80,   78,   77,   75,   77,   70       Avg.- 77

Coach told us to run them around mile pace, and I geuss I'm okay with what I was running. Of course the last one was 4:40 pace, but the that doesn't count (last one fast one, right?). This definitley wasn't as hard as the last set of 400s we did, which had 2 min rests. I ran most of them with Keith and Vickie somewhere close behind me on all of them, and it was definitley nice to have that extra support. 3 mile cooldown, and then 4x100m strides in 13.89, 14.37, 13.53, and 14.12. They didn't feel too good. 400 more to round it off, with hip drills and lifts. 

Oh boy, I'd have to rate this in my top fives worst feeling runs ever. Mark and Vickie really wanted to go out toward Mendon, so I went with and we went out about 5 miles and turned around. In the first half we were going at a faster pace than I'm usually comfortable with, but luckily Mark took off when we turned so he wasn't dictating the pace. So we took the fastest possible way back which was 4 miles instead of five. It was slower, but still totally grueling the whole way. My form was broken so bad I'm sure, and my legs felt incredibly heavy and fatigued. I would much rather race a fast 5K and feel good than do that again. I geuss it was dehydration and soreness from our workout yesterday, plus I needed a restroom the entire time back. When we were finnally done we did some 100m strides on the turf barefooted, and they didn't feel too bad at all. Then some hurdle mobility which I missed most of in the bathroom, and some hip drills and core. Good day. I don't feel to bad as I'm writing this and my shin splints aren't really there, so hopefully it stays that way tomorrow. I'm planning on just an easy slow run tomorrow, around five miles. 

2 mile warmup and then a 400m race pace stride in 73, so like 4:42 pace. I geuss you could say that was quick seeing that my PR is 5:15 but I'm hoping to break that tomorrow, just probably not by that much. then 2x200 in 32 and 35. The first one I ran with Mark and that's why it was so quick. So both pretty fast but I was practicing going out aggressive on all of those. I literally pretended I was racing. Then I did another 2 miles and when I got back coach had me do some barefoot strides on the field and hip drills and core, along with practicing a couple starts, maybe 30-40 meters with Mark and Johnny. Those were good for getting used to aggressiveness because they were with someome significantly faster than I am. Well, I'm excited for tomorrow, and I like to see that I was naturally going out so quick, because I don't usually start races too fast. I think I'm ready for a PR!

 We left the school at 1 and got to Pocatello at around 3. Mile warmup and then we did some fast strides on the track, which was a really weird feeling. After that we do some stretches and a half mile cooldown. My shins sort of hurt. My race was at around 8:15, so it was 5 hours away. It seemed to go by pretty fast though. On my warmup I felt really good, and I was energised as heck by the time we lined up. 

The gun went off and I got boxed in on the first lap, which frustrated me because I fully expected to have a better start than anyone (who doesn't), but I worked my way out of it, it just took a little more energy. Quarter one was a 73, which made me glad because that's exactly what I ran for my stride yesterday, so I was ready to go out fast. The whole race felt like a frenzy, and I was pushing it pretty hard the whole time, and I had to, because I started feeling lactic acid in my legs after lap 1. Coming through the 800 I was going at a 5:04 pace, so that got me kind of excited, but of course the race slowed down. I never got passed though, and I'm still on a streak of not getting passed on a race once since indoor started. I feel like my kick could have been better since I was distracted trying to see what the clock said, which stops after the first person crosses the finish line (pretty irritating). 

Well, that was a PR which will definetley get dropped by a lot in the next few months. It's kind of funny to think that with all the countless miles that I've ran since I PR'd last April, I've never ran one of those as fast as I did today. 

I didn't get chance to cooldown before we left  to eat, but after we got to where we were staying we ran a couple of miles in the dark at some soccer fields nearby. 

7 miles on a dirt road outside of Pocatello. It was uphill for the first half, and I was feeling really tight in the shins, and dehydrated. So Mark and Coach dropped me and I pounded it out for the next half hour, shins hurting the whole way. It was easier in the breath in the way back but not on the legs. I was just not having a good time. I was tired and by then my whole body was tired. We stopped at the ISU outdoor track before we got back to the arena. Did some 100s with 300 jogs. Gosh those sucked. 

Didn't run today because my shins hurt to much and I was feeling groggy from sleeping in, plus the weather was really nasty. First snow since December. Really it was for my own good because I know that if I keep running through my shin pain, my season will be over before it's even started. I probably won't run on Monday either, just for extra measure.

One more day off to top off the small break, just for good measure. My shins feel a lot better though.

Tough run today. I jogged a half mile while I waited for coach to show up and he got there and we stretched, ran to the dump road, and then did a bunch of dynamic stretches. It was just me and coach, so he paced me. 3 mile today, just like a few weeks ago. I'll lay the splits down first. 

3 miles- 3:17, 3:02, 3:27, 3:11, 3:26, 3:21 / Avg. 800- 3:17 / Avg. Mile- 3:34  

Total: 19:45

So after that first mile, I fell hard because it really put me in the hole. I can't believe I ran a 3:02 in a tempo, because that's what I was averaging in 800 reps last month. So not a good idea. And I was the one wearing the GPS watch so I should've payed more attention. I really started to hit that wall halfway through, so most of it sucked really bad. I ended up way over my lactic threshold, seeing that my legs were completley filled with that nasty stuff by mile 3. It's just weird to think that that hurt worse than a race and I was racing 17:50 for the same distance last cross season. I geuss theres a difference between feeling good and going fast and feeling good because your going easy. Different kind of fitness too. At one point we were running at a 7:05 pace, and that's really demoralizing because I remember going sub-7 on easy runs in the summer with Mark and feeling good. I geuss the three day break could've done something to me also.

Anyways we ran back and did some 100m strides with 300m jogs in 14.7, 14.7, 14.76, and 14.6. Really slow and sluggish on the jogs, and the strides were basically all out. Then we did some hip drills and hit the weight room, where I did some more reps and sets than usual, mainly because I was angry about the workout. 

Close to an hour easy on the CT-CS-RH loop. (too lazy to write it all out,) I felt tired, but I ame into this week just knowing that it was going to be tougher, even with lower mileage. I started to feel okay once it turned doenhill, as always. 4x100m strides on the turf barefoot after.

Big workout today. 1.5 miels warming up, lots of stretching, and then the prescribed workout was as follows:

(2x1600m @ 6:30pace w/ 400m jog in 3 min rest) + full recovery +  (3x800m @ 3:00pace w/ previous rest) + full recovery + (3x200m @ chosen pace w/ 200m jog in a 90 sec rest) 

Data

Mile #1 400 splits- 92, 96, 98, 97 / Time- 6:23

Mile #2 (forgot split buttton) Time- 6:22

800s- 2:56, 2:53, 2:51

200s- 29.89, 31.36, 29.62

So I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, and it probably took from my workout a bit, but ti's fine. The miles were slower than I've done for some of the 2 mile tempos and they didn't feel as good, but I was tight. Then for the 800s it was nice to push it and go a little faster. I'm glad I was able to run them so fast, and they didn't feel too bad either. I could feel a big blister forming under my left foot, and it was kind of weird because I've been running on those shoes for every workout since january and never had a problem and they're not worn out because they only have 40 miles on them. I change into my spikes for the 200s. The first one actually felt pretty controlled so it surprised me that it was a sub-30 because I don't run a lot of those. I noticed that the spikes felt a little too big, something I didn't realise before even racing in them. There seems to be too much extra space in front of the toe, but it should be okay, they just don't feel as fast as they should. After that I realised I had to go so I did an extremely short cooldown. 

Good recovery run. I did some loops on grass fields in nearby parks so most of my running was on soft surfacces. Afterwards I did some short strides.

Ran the Deer Fence trail in the late afternoon. It was kind of windy but once you get running it isn't cold at all. I didn't feel too good until the last 2.5 miles maybe on the way back. I went further than I ever have before on it, and that's to the bottom of the huge downhill slope and then turning around. It was not fun going up that, since I was running 9:30 pace at best. Then after I crossed the road again and got up the hill over Providence, I felt pretty good. It seems like even when I'm having a sucky run on this trail, I always start to feel quicker on the way back, and it's more uphill than going south. My blister got worse throughout the run, and after being still for a while and getting my haircut, I could hardly walk on it. Also my right leg feels worse. I wish I would've iced it more this week, but I'll do that a lot more from now on. I'm just really worried I'll have to take a another break that's bigger this time and loose all of my momentum going into outdoor.

Today was the first official track practice, so it was a little different. I jogged an 800 before and then after the whole team meeting and segregation of the event groups, we did a mile warmup with a standing warmup and stretches. The workout I did was 4x400m @ 79 w/ 400m jogs + 6x200m @ 39 w/ 200m jogs. It was really supposed to be 8 200s but when I started the workout I thought it was 4 200s, so I did those and was already feeling like crap and when I found out there were four more I decided to cut it at six. 

Splits:

400s- 79, 82, 80, 77

200s- 37, 40, 38, 36, 40, 38

The whole thing was done continuously, so I was never not moving. It really started to get tough once the 200s came around, especially after I had ran the 4th one all out and found out I still had some more. Afterwards I did a mile cooldown on the infield, which felt super long. Then 4 100m strides on the turf barefoot, and then hip drills, then weights. I went heavier than I ever have on the bench, so as I'm writing this (the next day) I'm feeling kind of sore. The weather was nasty today. It was snowing and just got worse throughout practice. 

Recovery run on the river trail, all the way to the end and then around the golf course and the fairgrounds. A little while after turning around I started to feel like crap, but that's kind of to be expected. I just took the ACT and I didn't get very hydrated. Strides afterwards. 

Tempo day. I just did a two mile tempo just to keep this week a little easier still. We ran to the normal spot, and after doing the regular warmups we started. I ran it in 12:41, so that was actually a little too fast, but I didn't feel like I was going way over my lactic threshold, at least not as much as the 3 mile last week. Then we ran back, did strides, and a got in a solid weight session. 

Recovery run down to Woodruff and then Golf Course loop. I actually didn't feel too bad, despite getting 5 hours of sleep last night and forgetting my water bottle. But I did sleep 13 hours the night before, so that must have had a late effect, seeing that I didn't feel too good yesterday. The run was followed by some barefoot strides, which felt good. Fartlek tomorrow on the cross-country course, so i'm actually excited about that. 

Workout on the XC course today. It was a fartlek, so 3 x 3min hard w/ 2 min easy and then going right into 3 x 2min hard w/ 1 min easy. I really enjoyed this, and it was good to have a workout the really gives you a break mentally. My blister was only bothering me a little bit and like always I couldn't feel any shin pain. When we got backs to the school I did some hip drills and lifting, but not as much today. Later after my brother's musical I took the band-aid off my foot and the top of the bister was ripped, so we'll see if I can run tomorrow, but that was probably good for it.

1 hour easy in a loop through the island and river heights. I actually felt pretty good and relaxed. I thought it was going to suck. The weather was amazing, like a typical spring evening. I was planning on stopping by woodruff to do some strides on my way back, but my stomach was bothering me so I ran straight home. I did a few pickups in the last half mile to replace them.

Solid day. We did the 8 x temple hill workout again or at least a few of us. Basically just Johnny and Kristin and I and a few other girls. Before track I ran a mile barefoot on the turf and it felt pretty dang good. Then after the team meeting we jogged up there and did the workout. It didn't feel any harder than last time. Times were: 

31.47,     38.50,     38.00,     36.40,     35.93,     36.91,     36.77,     33.41.    Avg- 35.92

I ran the whole workout with Johnny, and that was nice to have somebody to run it with. I was super surprised when I ran that 31. I geuss I was ist excited to get going but I'm pretty sure it would have a lot harder he first time I did this workout. I brought my average down too, which is expected for a workout done every other week. We jogged back and then did 100s w/ 300 jogs in 14.51, 15.69, 14.66 and I missed the last one. Then 100s on the turf barefoot. (I did all the strides with Jack.) Then we did the usual hip drills and weights. The weather was really phenomenal today too, so I'd say it was the best track practice yet. 

Good day again today. It was beautiful weather and I felt okay too. Before practice I did a two mile loop abround Willow Park, and then for the main run I ran to First Dam w/ Jack. We took it at a real chill pace, but it was great because then I could get in the volume and still make it sort of a recovery day. After that I ran some 200s with Mark, the first one being part of his 400. Times were 34.42, 31.72, 28.86, 29.5. They a felt pretty good except for maybe the last one. The 34 felt really controlled, like I could have gone and done 3 more of those, which would be an 800 PR, and that was after a lot of miles. Makes me pretty confident for Thursday, even if I am racing the 2 mile also. Finally 4 100s on the turf, which felt good as always. We are doing starts tomorrow, and that should be fun.

Pre-meet day. Did some miles warming up and then a bunch of waterfall starts and strides. Then I did maybe a mile cooldown. 

Long day, but pretty satisfying overall. I started out by jogging 3 laps about 45 minutes before the two mile. I felt pretty tight in the shins, but I had Jack stretch them and they felt better, but they were still pretty sensitive in some parts up until I raced. I did some more warming up later, but I didn't really get a chance to do strides or stretches. 

3200m- 11:38 PR

This was pretty dang dissapointing. I started super fast with Keith in maybe a 73, so way quick. I told Keith we should slow down, but he didn't listen. He has the wrong race strategy for the two mile. Anyways I spent most of the race maybe 80 meters behind him, but then I started reeling him in the last 600m and finished it 2 seconds behind him. If he hadn't started his really late kick I would have caught him! Oh well, it just frustrates me that I've been running so many miles and I'm still not as fit as I was arobically during cross country. 

Did some more jogging after that. During the mile, Jack was in the lead and looking pretty good. I went into the rec center to fill my water bottle and when I came out he was nowhere in sight on the track. Turns out he collapsed at 1200m. He was out for five minutes and he ended up getting loaded on an ambulance. We'll how he's doing but I don't know if he'll run again. 

800m- 2:12 PR

Very satisfied with this race. My splits were approximately 30, 34, and then a 68 400m. The start was so fast. I don't know what I was doing! Maybe if I had made the 400 splits a little closer than I would have ran that faster. I was basically right behind the three Ogden guys that beat me up until 200m then I died off. I really started feeling the pull back as soon as I hit 400. It hurt but I learned from it, and I PR'd by six  seconds!

Some more jogging and strides. 

4x400m Split- 58.83 ​PR

This race got me so energetic! I started out on my leg and I felt really good, and it didn't really start to hurt until the last 100. My team was Johnny, Jake, me, and Mark. Splits were 52.19, 59.46, 58.83, and 58.13. I was inpressed with Johnny running a 52 seeing that he ran a 51 earlier. So that was automatic PR since I've never race it before. I could probably run like a 56 if didn't race before then, so that was a huge confidence booster.

2.5 mile cooldown with Mark and then strides.

Well I geuss today was my long run but it's okay to switch it up sometimes. I woke up this morning with a heck of a knot in both my calves. But with a little massaging they felt better. Half day today so we just met at first dam in the afternoon for a run up the canyon. I told myself I was going to go at my own pace strictly so that's what I did, trailing behind Coach Strand and Mark and Vickie. Then I caught up to Vickie and ran with her till we turned around. It got really muddy as we got higher up the canyon, and we ended up turning around, but not after going for 50 or so minutes. On the way back I went by feel and ran alone at a good pace all the way back. I felt pretty good the second half, but only because it was all downhill. Well tomorrow I'll run seven probably and hopefully I can get get the soreness out of my calves.

I woke up this morning and my calves were even more sore than yesterday. All that racing in spikes on Thursday must have really done a number on me. So I decided that if it was only going to get worse from running I should take two days off instead of one after this week. 

Rough day today and it was all my fault for not getting enough sleep last night. Th workout was 4x1000m w/ 400m jog in 3 min rest + 4x400m w/ same rest + 4x150m w/ 250m jog, full recovery in between segments. I had a fairly tough time, but then again Ks always suck. I'll lay down the times first.

1000s-    3:33,    3:36,    3:39,    3:45,

(9:25 recovery)

400s-    82,    85,    76,    74

(5:44 recovery) 

150s-    20.8,    23.1,    23.6,    24

The first two I ran with a good little pack of guys, but by the last 1000 it was just Davis running with me and he ran the whole workout by my side, which is nice but I was surprised with how fit he was on 1 week of track, the only running he's done since cross-country. If he trained solid he would go places. Anyways the 1000s sucked but the 400s and 150s were alot easier. Except that I'm pretty sure my form sucked on the sprints. After  I finished I was pretty delusional and couldent really walk straight or talk very well. I've learned my lesson about sleep that's for sure. I'll probably feel tired tomorrow too.

Premeet. I felt so tired at I could only jog less than three miles plus some strides in my spikes. I think I'm sick or something. But hopefully tomorrow I feel better.

Okay meet today. I didn't get a ton of warming up in before the mile, and I geuss I should have. I didn't feel to energetic but I felt better then yesterday. The mile felt okay actually. I led the race for te first 150 meters before I got overtaken by a pack of Sky View guys. Then there was one kid that I held on to for the whole race and that's how I ran it. I was still on his shoulder come the finishing chute and I was battling it out with him so I let out my ferocious scream and scared the crap out of this kid, plus let me kick it into high gear. The rest of the meet I just relaxed and ran the medley and the 4x4, which in both of them I sucked pretty bad. But oh well, I got a two second PR today. 

Post-meet run up the canal trail. I really just didn't feel jazzy, but hey it's an off week. When I got back I did some strides, iced, and maybe did some hip drills, too.

Amother premeet today. Felt better than the premeet on Tuesday but I was kind of tight. We did a short mile warmup before we did our strides because of the soccer game, and then got on the track and I busted out some 200s in 34, 28, 34, 30. The first one I did by myself and the next three were with Keith and Isaac. Then we all cooled down together, three miles for me.

So we left the school at 6:30 and and got to the meet on West Jordan at around 8. I waited in the restroom line for what felt like almost an hour and then chilled for a little bit longer, then jogged a mile to shake out some of tightness and that helped out. Then maybe two hours later the first call for the mile came so I got my stuff and then did my warmup with Mark and Coach. I had a good comfortable amount of time to stretch while the first two heats were going on, so that was great. Then my race finally came and I was stuck in the back for starting. So of course I had to start out pretty timidly so I didn't get spiked. The good thing is that I never got boxed in. I tried to run a smart race. There was a headwind in the homestretch, so I made sure to do most of my passing on the opposite side. I also tried to pull it off before the curves. My splits were 75,79,79,75, so that's not bad. I felt like I had a little more strength in the third lap, so that's why it wasn't the slowest. My finishing kick was weaker, and I'm kind of mad about that because if I really sorinted it in then I would have shaved at least a second off my time. That was my only race so after a grueling 3 mile cooldown plus strides and hip drills, I got to relax the whole seven hours after that.

I chose the absolute craziest time weather wise to get some extra miles in today, but I ran two miles during seventh, soaking wet by the end, and then after it had cleared up a bit another half mile with Johnny. I  felt better than I did any day last week, so I think this weeks going to be a lot better training wise and racing wise. After we had our little team meeting in the gym coach told us to stay inside and run, but that he "wasn't going to tell us any more and was leaving". So that gave a few of us the signal to go outside to do our planned workout anyways. Mine was the temple again, along with Johnny and Isaac, so we headed out there. This time it was nine reps, so that made it a little harder. The workout just didn't go as good as I thought it would, but I think that part of it is from racing on Saturday and only having a day to recover. I'll lay down my times:

38,    37.2,    37.5,    38.2,    36.4,    36.5,    37.7,    38.3,    38.3

It went pretty consinstently the same through all the reps until the last two, where close to the end I felt like I had no drive whatsoever and that there something pulling me back and downwards, stronger than just gravity. I just felt really really sllow on the last par tof those reps, and that's where Isaac got me. On the way back to the school I felt pretty crappy but once I composed myself I was able to run a couple more miles along with strides pretty easily. So I'm happy with my miles today. This will be my second longest day of the week and then hopefully I can put in 10-12 miles on saturday, because I feel like I'm neglecting my endurance. In the middle of the week I'll try to run sufficient miles too just not a ton because we have Cache-Box Wed-Thurs and I'm racing both days. After icing a bit I was able to go in the weight room and do the normal stuff, which I haven't gotten to do in two weeks. I'll try to do that more often, maybe on Friday, too. 

Premeet today I did lots of broken up jogging with a set of strides in between. They were two 200s at mile pace and then two at 800 pace. I felt pretty tight, but i really don't think that affects how I feel the next day ever.

I'd have to say today was successful. I jogged half a mile before we left the school and was feeling pretty tight. My race was at 5, and I'd say I did some warming up at around 4:15. Did some strides in my spikes and I didn't feel too good. But later when I was pretty much ready to race I felt pretty energetic and excited. Mark won the race so that got me even more pumped. So my race started and I was seeded pretty far on the outside, but I easily took a good position in front of most guys, and my first lap was a 70, so like way too fast (gotta work on that) but I didn't feel really in the hole. Kinda just tried to keep a good pace, obviously not as fast, and it was 78 for the next lap. After that I think the mile really flys by because you have the third lap you need to push and then the last one you need to kick. And it did. Third was about the same and my last lap was maybe a 74. I passed a couple of people on the last 200 and there was an MC kid that I caught up to but he just barely beat me by .02, despite my efforts at leaning. Right after I looked at my still running watch and I knew I had PRd, I just didn't know if I had broken 5 yet. I did a 1.5 mile cool down with Mark and Nick Allen from Mountain Crest, ate a little but, then got stretched out and ran another 2.5 on our XC course, which felt really good. So now I think I'm ready to get a 4-5 second PR tomorrow in the 800m, or at least I feel ready!

Day 2 I would have to say was pretty dang good also, it's just that I had to wait a lot longer for my race. I jogged a mile around the track before we left to USU which felt good, and then hung out for a while at the meet until I finally did my 1.5 mile warmup. I felt okay. Then I plugged in to my tunes at that REALLY got me pumped up and the adrenaline was rushing. The SUSPENSE was INTENSE while I waited for my race. Excuse me I had to. Anyways my race came and I felt ready as ever. I was seeded with a 2:20 for some stupid reason so I was kinda far out on the waterfall, but I had a good aggressive start as always and started in second, but then got passed by a few people. At the 200 mark I had to slow down a little so I wouldn't get spiked and that was annoying. Split was approximatley a 31. I ran the whole rest of the race without any tactical difficulties. I was at 64 at the 400, so right where I needed to be. I was hurtin pretty bad. At 600 Mark told me I was at 1:35, but I really don't know if that was accurate because I don't think I ran a 31 for that but who knows. Last 200 hurt but like always I didn't get passed and I passed one kid. I took Strand's advice and instead of trying to go hard I just lowered my shoulders and that helped a lot more than I expected. I didn't have the whole neck bending that I usually do. Well great meet I PR'd in both events, and as a matter of fact it was once my season goal to break 2:10 so I'm proud of that. That goal is out the window and I knew that, so for the past couple of months my goal has been sub 2:05. I was going to do the steeplechase but for some stupid reason Coach Line would only let two from each school go, so I ended up just watching. After the meet was over I ran 3 miles on our XC course and for some weird reason I felt AMAZING. I got to my families car after and ended up running two more while my brother got his haircut. I have no idea how I could feel so good on my cooldown today when on Saturday it felt like crap. I'd actually have to say I've never felt so energetic on a cooldown. I geuss it's just a sign of greater things to come. 

Today I felt surprisingly good for just having a hard meet and not a lot of sleep. I did my standard two-mile loop during seventh hour plus some lifting and then I ran 6 miles on the canal trail with Mark, and Johnny for part of the way. It just felt nice and relaxing. We picked it up a little on the way back and I did not mind; it felt good. We'll have to see how long this feel-good streak goes for. When we got back we did some 200s, three for me, the last two being 30s. They felt pretty hard, just because I was tired but they were quick. Closed it off with some barefoot action on thee turf, because I love how those strides feel.  

I didn't get a chance to run today because I slept in and we were traveling the whole day. Frustrating I know, but I don't think I'll lose any fitness because of it.

Tough workout today, but it was a great way to kick off my big spring break training week. It was a workout that we did for cross country this year, but I didn't finish it because I ws having a tough day. Definitley more af an aerobic stimulus than anything else, and I haven't really had that in while. It was 1 min hard, 1 min easy, 2 hard, 2 easy, 3 hard, 3 easy, and so on all the way up to five and then do the same thing backwards down to one again. I warmed up two miles to Merlin-Olsen Park and started there, and the workout took me all the way past the Stokes Nature Center before I had to turn around. It was pretty easy going up, and then my first 5 min segment was up the canyon into headwinds, so that was pretty slow, and then the next 5 min one after turning around I was sort of cruising, but it still felt hard. Coming back down canyon road was super tough, I'd have to say the second 4 and 3 were the toughest part of the workout. I just went in to oxygen debt. Probably because on the way down the rest is shorter than the previous tempo segment. I could hear the toilet calling me by the end, so that made it even worse. Where I started was right where Canyon Rd. starts but I ended up finishing past that in the park. And if the restrooms were not unlocked I think I would have died. Anyways after that I did some strides on the field. On the cool down I didn't feel bad at all and my form felt good. Overally great workout. I think I needed it and it will make the mile feel a bit shorter. I just calculated the pace the best I could and it was maybe 6:30-6:40 avg. for 8.5 miles. I was surprised and it makes me even more satisfied with the workout. Tomorrow  is and easy day, I'll probably run at least 7 miles (trying to make this a high volume week, as long as I don't get injured), and then wednesday I'll be in Salt Lake but I'll get on Highland's track and do the workout there, using sugar-house park for the tempo parts of it. It should be fun.

Recovery run today. I felt really tight and constricted with my stride when I started, just the opposite of loose. I was tired too because of the hard high volume workout yesterday. I ran the long way to Old Main, up 5th North, and then came back home the normal way by the temple. But not before I stopped off at the track to do some strides, 2 200s in 32 and 33, and then some 40m flys on the turf. I then just ran home. So today was pretty easy, but not so much that it didn't feel like somewhat of a grind. And that's fine because this week will be just that, a grind. I just better not get injured. Tomorrw I have the "Michigan" workout in Salt Lake. 

Well today was quite the KILLER workout. I'd can't say it didn't go my way. I went by feel and made it feel hard and that's what matters. I warmed up a mile around the loop that I was going to use for the tempos (North loop of the state course) and then did my warm ups and stuff. I geuss I'll lay down all the times. (Three minute recovery in between all sets) 

1200m- 4:17

Mile 1- 6:45

1200m- 4:15

Mile 2- 6:42

800m- 2:44

Mile 3- 6:39

400m- 70

After getting fully recovered I did some two 29 second 200s. I felt pretty powerful on those, at least in the first 150m. That workout went great everything on the track was just as fast as I intended or faster. The recoveries felt pretty long, especially after the tempos because I didn't have to jog anywhere. The tempos were slower than I predicted, but only because they were on grass and uphill for about 150m. They didn't feel to bad, I just tried to stay relaxed but go fast. The worst part was the second 1200m. I was in a world of hurt at that part. The 800 wasn't so bad because it was at the same pace as the 1200s. The last mile I was feeling a little bit of lactic acid seeping in, but I think I did a pretty good job staying below my thresh-hold. And the four hundred I just pretended I was finishing a race. I think I could havegone harder on it though. I did maybe a mile cooldown after my strides.

Ran for thirty minutes at Murray park to try and break in the new shoes I got today. I felt really crappy and tight and the shoes weren't super comfortable either, but they just need some more breaking in. I did a few strides, too, but I never really felt like I got warmed up. I geuss I didn't do any stretching. My left shin was really bothering me, too. I'll ice it when I get home tonight and it should be good. Tomorrow we're doing a workout in Mantua around the reservoir, a threshold so that should be good, as long as I don't feel like crap.

Good tempo around Mantua Reservoir. We warmed up a mile, and my shoes felt MUCH better today. They just needed a little breaking in. Then we did our dynamic warmups at the park across the street. It's four miles around the lake, and I was to do 3 miles tempo, wait three minutes, and then do one more tempo mile. I started out pretty relaxed from the start and made it a point not sprint out, and just ease into the pace. Opened with 6:40, just going at kind of a cruise pace, and hit three miles in 20:04, so I pretty maintained that pace. I never went over my aerobic threshold, and the time that I ran pretty much around that, my legs were burning like nothing else.  So I've improved there. I mainly just tried to stay relatively relaxed and it worked. The single mile was a 6:28, and I tried to go about the effort I did the tempos on Wednesday, and I think it was the same. The hard headwind slowed me down a lot, but that was the only part of thee workout where I was facing that direction. The thing that was frustrating was that there was only three of us there because most people were too lazy to show up, and even the kids who were out of town most likely didn't do the workout anyway. After that we cooled down two, road the bus back, jogged a half like around the track, and then did some strides. I runs an extra quarter when I got home to round it off. I'm at 41 now, so if I run 12 tomorrow I'll break my weekly mileage PR that I set in August. If it weren't for my injury I would have already crushed that!

This run was okay, it just took me a while to get warmed up. I ran a variation of the canal trail-cliffside-river heights loop. Felt okay but kind of tired up until the run starred going downhill, and then I felt better, which is expected. That was after about 45 minutes. I was planning on going 70 minutes but it ended up being 76. Picked it up in the last mile, even though I was tired. So good training week overall. Hopefully after such an aerobic week I can improve well.

Next week I have the hill workout on Monday, and that's becoming less of a novelty and more of grind, but it'll really help my 800. Then a good distance run on Tuesday at a good pace with solid strides. Moderate day Wednesday, dual meet Thursday where I'll battle it out with Keith in the two mile (if he runs it) and most definetley PR, super easy day Friday, and then Grizzly Invitational on Saturday where I'll be looking for a substantial mile PR from good spring break training and an effort at racing smarter, plus possibly an 800 PR, but I don't know.

Big workout it was 1000s and 400s. I ran my thousands with Keith but then he had to leave so I did the 400s alone. It was 4 of each with 400m jogs in 3 min rests. Full recovery in between the two distances. 

1000s- 3:24, 3:35, 3:29, 3:33

400s- 68, 79, 74, 69

The 1000s were tough, but they're thousands so they always are. The second one was weird because I thought we still had 200m left because I lost count. They hurt pretty bad after that. At first I thought the 400s were going to be hard after the first one but then I looked at my watch and saw how fast it was. The next were just cruising, and on the last one I tried to go pretty hard and feel lose. After that we got a good cool down and strides in, and then weights.

Sort of easy trail run in Logan Canyon today. The team took a bus but I went earlier with Vickie. We ran non-stop until I had to "retie my shoe' at the top of a big hill. Felt not to bad for having that tough workout yesterday. We got to exactly the place where I turned around with Thomas and Johnny in July. It got pretty steep at the end and I remember dying on it last time. On the way back down for the single-track part I let it rip and cruised, but as soon as I hit the wide trail I slowed down a ton adn I realised how tire I was. So after a couple of stops to keep my heart rate down, I didn't feel too bad. I went at an okay pace the last mile and a half. I could tell how little tread there was left on my old ones. I think they are done. With a few more day s of not completley running in my new shoes, I can make a smooth transition. When I got back, (I was going a lot faster than Vickie) Tere was literally noone there because everybody's run was less than 30 minutes. That was kind of dissapointing to hear about, but oh well, I wasn't there to get anyone to run farther. Hills tomorrow.

Light workout. We ran to the side path that goes up from canyon road to temple blvd. and did 8x100m up the hill, with 1:45 to 2:00. I averaged 17, with one that was 16. So pretty easy compared to the steeper 200s we've been doing. After that we did a longer cooldown and I felt pretty tired, but I was glad to get a couple extra miles in. Tomorrow I'm racing the two-mile and hopefully I'll pr but if I don't it's not a big deal.

Today was a pretty chill meet because of the Grizzly Invite on Saturday. I did a mile warmup with Davis and Paul and then did some good warmup drills. I just stayed pretty relaxed the whole meet and didn't take it too hard at all. This really just felt like it could have been one of those two mile tempos that I did earlier in the season. Davis tailed me until about two laps left and then he died off, and I just spent the whole race watching Keith who was about 50m in front of me. In the finish I still stayed pretty relaxed and it felt good. Didn't burn myself out on this one.  The next race I did was the 400 and I think I got something close to 55, so around a three second PR. Then I had to run the 800 in the medley and since MC didn't have a team I ran a 2:22, but it still kind of hurt. It was a good workout. I cooled down two miles with strides at the end of the meet. It felt good.

Premeet easy day. Jogged some and then did a few sets of strides in my spikes. Cooled down, then got some calves massaged and that was practice.

I got to the meet at about 9:30 after sleeping in (one of the luxurys of having and invitational at your own school). Watched the two  mile and then it was maybe a few hours after that the I was ready to warm up for the mile. I felt okay on my warmup but that doesn't predict your race anyways. I wasn't super pumped for the mile but I was stilol planning on PRing. I opened with a 72, so three seconds faster than where I wanted to do. I think I kind of slacked off in the second lap, so that was where my weakness was, and then the 3rd lap I tried to keep pushing it a little harder, and I  think lap 4 was was either my fastest lap or my second fastest, probably the later. I was pretty dissapointd in my time. After a little bit of recovery I felt good for the 800 and ran a 2:11, but it hurt a lot. Then I found out I had to run the 800 in the medley so I was bummed about that. I ran 2:15, which surprised me because I usually don't go under 2:20 in relays, but I had more people to race this time. Then after watching more meet, putting meet away, and a McDouble plus a slice of pizza I cooled down three miles partly with Mark who had to turn around because his knee was bothering him. I averaged about 7:12 pace, which was sort of pushing it after such a hard meet. Oh well, I didn't have the races I wanted but it's been a hard week and I never really got fully recovered for today. But after a few more good hard weeks of training and racing, I'll crush those PRs if I havn't done it already, probably at BYU and Region.

Today we had one of the toughest workouts we have had just based on plain difficulty not skewed by different outside variables. (Sorry, we're studying stats in math right now.) For me it was 12x400m w/ 400m jog in 3 min rest. So a huge workout, six miles on the track, three of them being hard running. First here's my splits: 

75, 79, 78, 75, 75, 75, 79, 73, 81, 76, 73, 65

So my suggested avg from Coach Strand was 77, and my final average was 75 (mile pace), so I'd say this was a good day for me. I really feel like I maintained good form for the vast majority of the workout. It was relatively hot today (high 60s) so that added to the pressure going into this. On my warmup my left shin was hurting but it was okay the rest of the time. The first half didn't really hurt at all but I was just thinking about how it was going to hurt later. After #6  I think that was the point where it started to hurt more. I took that 81 slow on purpose because I was bracing for some quick last ones. I skipped the recovery jog after #5 so I could change into my racers, and I felt a lot faster on the next one yet I was going at the same effort. The last rep I ran with Strand (like a few earlier ones) and I pretty much tried to hammer it out but stay controlled. So I was really surprised that it was a 65 with how controlled I felt. It hurt, but even at the end when I sort of kicked I wasn't muscling through it.

Two mile cooldown after (felt relaxing) and then strides with some weights but I was too tired to do much in there. A little bit after I got home the same shin started throbbing like heck but then I iced it and it was all good.

So today the weather wasn't nearly as good as yesterday. It was really windy and there was dust in the air so we couldn't even see the mountains. We went 5 miles on the river trail loop and coming back there was a strong headwind making it miserable so we averaged 7:58 pace. Strides after, diagonally across the field because that's was direction the wind was blowing. Then we did hurdle drills and core.

Tempo run today. It was snowing very heavily. We ran out to the dump road and stretched and then started. I ran with Vickie the whole time. I wore my glasses thinking it would block out some snow but they just got fogged up by the end. First mile was 6:32, the next one was around 6:40 something. We ran 19:51, avg. pace 6:36. So that's almost as fast as the second time I did this but it hurt a lot less. So we ran back and I felt okay, then I did some 200s, the last two were 31 and 32. They were not fun. Then we did hip drills and lifted.

Recovery run to the U and back. It kinda sucked. My shoes were hurting me I it back and did some 200s and 100s

I really slacked off today with my miles, but it's okay, I wanna be fresh for tomorrow. I warmed up a mile, did a 400 and two 200s, then cooled down a mile.

So today wasn't bad at all. It was better than the grizzly, that's for. In the mile I was seeded first in my heat, so that was kind of exciting. I got out pretty dang good in the first 150, leading the pack, and then I got passed up by some dudes as always. I spent most of the race in about fifth or sixth place. First lap was 60-61, so not super ideal, but it really just felt relaxed. I don't know what the next one was but the one after that, where I actually made an effort to push was 77, so I've really gotta work on that. And I don't know what I closed in but im guessing it was decent. I saw that I could PR if I pushed going through 1200m so that was motivating. The time was running on the score board so that's how I saw it so easily. Then on the final straightaway I saw that I was going to PR so I didn't really push it as hard as I could have, kinda just cruised it in, so I really regret that. 

I did some cooling down and warming up and then it was time for the 800m. I got myself pretty pumped for this one. I started in lane 3 this time, but I still managed to get out explosively and in front (I almost false started) and I led for the first 200 feeling pretty good. Then a pack of guys cut me off, so that kind of made me upset. My first quarter was a 63 or 64, so that was pretty good, but then I slowed off/got cut off in the next 200. My kick wasn't that bad, I wish I had known what the split was. Final time was 2:10, so not a PR, but I know that if I had pushed it harder and was fresh than I would have PRd by at least a second, so that was comforting.

Then I ran the medley. I got the baton with our team in 4th place with Mt. Crest in front and Preston behind me. I held that position until the 500m mark where Preston passed me and Spencer Nelson from Mtn Crest. I gained on Spencer and then outkicked him in the straightaway. I felt pretty good about that because I usually perform poorly in the medley but today I did okay, I just wish I went with Preston kid to put us in third, but we still scored 5 points. I just calculated my split and I think it was 2:06!

Two mile cooldown after on the back trail.

7x400m. Originally it was going to be 12, but coach moved it down to eight for me and I lost count. I didn't get the data saved on my watch so I don't have it. Pretty sure I averaged unde 75 though. First was an 80 because I was tight, by then I was running my normal times after that. It went okay, it was definetley better on me mentally knowing that  I had way less reps. On my seventh one which I thought was my eighth I ran 62 so I was pretty happy about it. Then because  I missed a rep I ran a couple 150s with Isaac and Johnny, and they were both around 19.5. 1 mile cooldown after barefoot and then I hit the weights.

So today I was planning on a mix of cross training and about three miles of running, but I got on the treadmill after 20 minutes on the elliptical and it hurt my calf te same way it did when I got injured in XC this year. So no more running for me this week. I did some more bike and elliptical and weights after that.

45 minutes of aerobic work and weights, focused more on upper body.

Today I did a speed/endurance  workout. On the elliptical, I did.....

4x (45 sec hard, 90 easy), 4x (30 sec hard, 60 easy), 4x (15 sec hard, 45 easy) (full recov. inbetween) 

My coach told me to get a minute to two minutes recovery between each surge, and I lowered that but it still wasn't that hard, so I got on the bike and did this:

4x (45 sec hard, 60 easy), 60 easy, 4x (30 sec hard, 45 easy), 45 easy, 4x (15 sec hard, 30 easy) 

This was actually challenging as I was tired after so I'm glad I did the workout again on the bike. I also did a lot of switching on the resistance. I would do 11 to 13 on the hard parts, and anywhere from 8 to 5 on the rests. My glutes and hamstrings were pretty sore after. So naturally, I did some squats with 45s on each side. Then I did a little bit of bench but realized I had to go.

Spent awhile just going at a steady pace on the cardio machines. Then I walked out to the track and tried to do some core but got distracted. So that was my work for the day. I feel like it was a good effort for an easy day. I jogged for a few seconds on field at one point and it actually didn't feel that bad. So I think I'm pretty much good to start running again on Monday, either a shorter version of the 1000s and 400s workout or just an easy run to get back into things. I kind of want to race the 400 fresh at least once this season, and my last chance to do that is Wednesday, so I hope I can get the workout in on Monday. And then Saturday is BYU, and that will hopefully be my best race ever (just the 800). So I guess I just need to cross train as much as possible next week still but still maintain neuromuscular ability with strudes and a few easy miles here and there. Taking the week off has made me realize how much I miss running and I'm just glad to get back to it on Monday.

It was nice getting back to running today. First I spent ten minutes on the bike just to kinda get in some extra work and to warmup. Then we jogged 2 laps and did our warmup drills. Mostly everyone had a workout, but I decided to ease back into things and have an easy day today. So I did some barefoot running on the field behind the stadium, which I'll get to know very well in the next two weeks since I'm staying off concrete for the rest of track. Then I did two 200s with Isaac on his 300s (it was weird ending on the curve) and then I did some accels on the turf and cooled down. Finally hip drills and and attempt to ice in the freezing canal.

Good solid workout. Smaller, but that was the point. 5 minutes on the elliptical and then the basic warmup routine, and then when the rest of the team left on their easy run I started my workout, which was during a soccer game so not good. The workout was 2x1000m and 6x200m with. Here are them times:

1000s- 3:23, 3:25

200s- 28.59, 31.62, 29.38, 29.99, 30.44, 27.64, 

So for the thousands it was 3 min partly active 400m recoveries. The 200s were 3 minute active 200m recoveries. I really didn't feel to energetic during the 1000s, and that made them kind of hard, but it's tough coming back after a week of not running. It was nice to run them relatively fast. The 200s went really well that's a 29.64 average. Is actually enjoyed them I mean they kind of hurt, but only in the short rep way, not the way a set of 1000s does. I felt powerful, and I just focused on keeping my shoulders low and staying relaxed and stuff. Love'em. The last one I planned to run 27.something so that was good. I was running it all out completely and I really really has to fight to keep my upper body relaxed, and I geuss it worked because my coach told me I looked really good. After that I did a variety of different strides ms a cooldown, and really I think I waisted a lot of time just trying to get rid of my tan lines. So after all that fun stuff I went in the weight and did the full set of what we would do in the winter. 

Little shakeout in Merlin-Oslen today. Just a shakeout.

We got to BYU today and then some of went over to Provo High for a little racing before tomorrow. I ran the 400 just to remember what fast running feels like before tomorrow's 800. It was a pretty dang small meet, mostly just kids who weren't fast enough for BYU. So I just ran the 400 like you normally would, sprinting the first 150, cruising, and then sprinting the last 200. It kinda hurt, but I PRd by two seconds. No big deal though cuz it wasn't that fast.

Great day! Waited about two and a half to three hours and then decided I should get warmed up.  While I was jogging they announced that the heats were getting rearranged and reseeded and I got moved from the 5th to the 4th heat. That was okay. So pretty soon I got called into the bull pen and I alsat down and I was hecka nervous and couldn't sit still in my seat. Then we walked out into the stadium and the sun was really bright, and I felt really cool. We were lined up and I was it the first guy in the second ally. The gun went off and I got out good. There was just one guy in front of me, and he pulled away and stayed away. (He ended up running 1:59) I stayed I front of the chase pack until 600 and then some guys passed me, and I had an okay kick, but another guy just barely got me on the line. I looked at the screen and saw 2:04 and I was so happy. 5 second PR. Then maybe an hour later I ran the medley and were in the second heat to golden hour, even Davis's Medley team was in our heat. We came on dead last by a lot but I'll take it. Then I went on a good cool down up to the MTC and back.

800 warmup in this sunny hour, and then some 400s at 66, 70, and 65. Then the lighting light came on and we got pushed inside. We then did some strudes in the hallway, and then cooled down inside.

Easy premeet strides today. The weather was terrible. I ran two quarters, one really slow 77, but it still sucked, and then a 70, which felt pretty pushed. That was about it, I did do some hundreds and got in the 12s though, so that felt good. (I had a tailwind)

So the weather was pretty bad today, but it wasn't windy and that's really the most important thing. Well, this was my last mile before next year so at least it was a small PR, I should be happy about that. Warmed up with Mark and Nick Allen indoors, and then we got out there and the meet was ahead of schedule. We were lucky we warned up in time. I was in the second heat so I ran pretty soon after. So as always I shot to the front of the pack explosively and held the lead to about 150 meters, and then by 400m I was somewhere in the second half. I was racing next to Tyger Riggs from MC and and some other guys I didn't know. I made sure to push it the whole way and not back off, and it hurt like heck. Came through 800 in 2:25, so on pace for 4:50. By the last lap I was hurting a ton, and I blew up in the last 100m. I just didn't have it and got passed by a Box Elder guy. Cooldown after with Stockton Grimaud and Conner Mantz indoors. Next event: 800m

Well, this was a real dissapointment, followed up by something good. I got warmed up and got myself super hyped like I try to do for the 800. I was in the second heat again, but I was seeded higher, that is second. The guy seeded over me was from Bonneville with a 2:03, and he had just taken second in the 3200. The gun went off and I flew to the front, and just held the lead for then first 500-600 meters. So I had no problems with jostling, I stayed out of trouble. Then the Bville guy passed me, and then a Box Elder guy passed me. In the finishing shoot I felt the same way as I did yesterday, that I couldentgo any faster at all. My first lap was 61; my second was 67. And I actually thought I could PR when I heard 61. So then about twenty minutes later I ran the good old 4x800. I was anchor. We started out with a pretty big lead for most of the race. Then in Damon's leg MC made up a lot of ground. So I got the baton and Joe Howel got it and he sprinted to cach up to me. I stayed ahead of him till 300m, and then he passed me, then I passed him at 400m, and stayed ahead of him till about 650 meters, and I was hurting really bad. So he started to make a move with 100 to go, and he started to pull ahead, and I responded and outkicked him, and it was sweet because everybody was watching and cheering and it was loud! So we won and got medals!

6 miles easy on a dirt road out in the mountains past Avon. Averaged 8:30 or something so it was super slow. I would have gone like 8 but it got too muddy. This will be a good place to do some work this summer. 

Decided to do some running with the 4x4 guys since I'm an alternate. All I did was jogged a lap, then two 200s then jogged another lap.

Jogged two laps, stretched, got on the elliptical for 15 minutes, then four 100s. 

After dinner at the mall in Orem, we ran to the bus because it was raining, so I guess I'll count it lol.

Jogged to the field house I watch pole vault (they were moved indoor cuz of the rain), and we jogged a lap just to check it out in there. Then after it was over Coach Strand and I ruol a detour to make it 2. 

AM- 4 miles easy on the Provo River trail with coach. I should've gone poopoo first. But the trail was cool.

PM- jogged to pole vault again to watch the girls and then everything else is running around at the meet.

First day of training for cross. Ran out to Providence with Mark for 2 miles but then it got really bad with the hail and rain, so we waited under a tree and then turned around and added on to make it 5.5 at Merlin Olsen. Then when we got back I did strides but Mark is never touch our track again so he couldent join me. Finally weights and Id say that was a pretty good first day. Twenty three weeks out from state!

Today was a little bit of a harder effort, but not to much harder. Six miles average pace was about 7:20, so that shouldn't be hard at all, but it's the second day of a 23 week program. Mark sped it up when we hit the river trail so I sort of did too, to about a 6:30 pace and it felt okay, then there were some other subtle gear changes throughout the rest of the run. I felt pretty good at the end.

I might as well just say this was a good run, it's just that I'm not that used to big hills anymore. I ran with Vickie up to her house, and then I just kept going up cliffside hill all the way to the church and that was tough, because it's a really long hill, ad it's only half of the way too. Sometime this summer ima have to go all the way to dry without stopping. Anyways I swung a left and picked up the pace a bit on the downhill, but I was super tight. So I went down the trail to canyon road and went back that way. Average pace ended up bein like 7:50 so that was a little dissapointing but whatevs.

Crappy run but okay. I took the river heights dirt road and then up into the neighborhoods and then back through the nature park, did a few loops at Merlin Olsen and steides, and ran back, and I felt pretty sluggish. Then I lifted. :)

Elementary fun run. Paced kids and there were twelve heats. The last one was quite the solid effort, like a six minute mile. It was rain really fun way to out in mileage, but I was like really tired by the end!

6 miles on a hilly dirt road in Idaho. It was definitely net uphill, and the slope was sort of exponential. I felt okay but not great. On the part that was really uphill it got really rugged so I had to turn around before mile three and add on later. On the way back it was down hill and I pushed it a little harder so hit the 6:40s in two of the miles. So good effort! Strides afterwards on sone hecka uneven footing, then core.

Had an okay run today. Hit some more hills in river heights and providence, about the same amount of climbing as yesterday (~300ft). The weather treated me well too. Tried to hit a strava segment but I got scared away by a dump truck. 7:35-7:45 avg. Then I did a couple of 200s on the track, both around 30-32 seconds and they didn't feel bad, so that's a good sign. Finished it off with some weights.

Good run today! I'm starting to remember what summer training is! Just lots of casual runs and no workouts, so you can push it more if you're feeling good. I did a loop that went by the golf course, then on the icon trail, and back on tenth west. I started to go faster when I hit the segments at icon and hit a couple 6:55s. Then I cruised back right around 7:20 pace feeling pretty good. 

We were going to run green canyon but because of the weather, we ran in town. Strand went out about 1.5 miles with me and then turned around, so I just looped through the university and then back on the canal trail, and picked it up there cause it was on a stravva segment. By the temple Coach Strand actually found me because I left my stuff in his car before we left , so he just ended up driving me home. I added on back there, and that was when it started to pour.

Easy morning run, but felt kinda tight. First nice day in a long time! Ran a loop through Willow park and back. Watch died so distance is approximate.

Good long run, first one of the season! Just with Isaac this time, but it sure was nice to have SOMEONE to run with. We ran the stokes nature trail. The weather was awesome, it was 7 Am and not chilly. Started out in the high 7s and then ran like a 9:30 on the big uphill part since Isaac hasn't run in a while. Then got into the low 7s and mid 6s for a few miles on the way back. I added on on Bonneville after.

Morning run from the school to providence with Isaac, and Coach Strand for part of the way. We went through Von Baer, and that was where I started feeling crumby. My heart rate sky rocketed and as soon as that happened the rest of the run sucked. We came back by Walmart and the river trail. Still managed to run low 7s in the last couple miles. We lifted after.

Good run I rode my bike to Merlin-Olsen and ran the canal trail. Was pretty hot but I was expecting it. I had to climb down around some construction on the trail so that was a pain but it was still a good run. Did part of it on the water treatment trail. After that I did some strides at the park. Good day!

Rode the cool park in river heights and ran to death hill/Von Baer from there and back, so I did some climbing. Didn't feel too bad, just slightly worse than yesterday. Kinda pushed it up the hill cuz its a strava segment but then I found out I'm ranked like 28th overall so that's was kind of  a dissapointment. On my way out of Von Baer I heard shouting and then i saw a big group of kids on some kind of platform yelling at cars and throwing things, so I was like oh crap they're gonna give me a hard time, and me having my shirt off didn't help so I sped up to like 5:30 pace going down past em. Ha so there's that. After the run I stoppes at the river heights hill and did a couple strides (to grab the segment there, only got ranked 5th) so good day.

AM: Ran a loop from the school to Old Main and back by the middle school with Isaac and partly Hayden Hoglund. Got that heart rate thing again after we circled back. So I was just struggling to stay with Isaac. It sucked. When we got back we did a couple strides and then spent some time in the weight room. I geuss we'll just do that like twice a week.

PM: Broke in my new shoes (the new versions of the ones I already had) They felt good it's just that my shin was really bothering me. Just gotta get used to it.

Easy three miles on the grass. Felt pretty good!

Solid run with Isaac up green canyon. I think we were averaging like 9:00 pace going up, and we were huffing all the way. But we were pretty quick going down. Isaac stayed with me going up but only because I was leading. Whenever he squeezed past me he would push the pace. Then he stayed about 20 yards ahead of me the whole time on the way back, and pushed it even further ahead at the end. I was dead after. Good thing I got two big Carl's Jr. burgers after!

Okay run to start off the week. I went out to the canal trail with Isaac then he turned around at the end of that and I headers up to Cliffside and came back by River Heights. 7:24 average. We lifted after. Jack showed up but he had to run really slow just starting out so we dropped him really fast.

Road my bike out to the canyon around lunch time. I started from the first gate, and just went three miles out on the nature trail. I felt pretty good, except my heart wouldn't let me go too fast in the last couple miles. 7:32 average. Beautiful day.

Pretty good run out to Providence with Isaac. When we turned around he picked up the pace a ton, from like 7:20 to 6:50, and that was the mile split. I was not feeling good at that point, but then after I took a bathroom break I felt fine. We took it steady until the last half mile and then picked it up again. I did some steides after that.

Not a good experence. Titled it Murphy's Law on Strava. That might have been an exaggeration but this run still sucked. Biked up to the deer fence which tired me out already. It was in the evening and it was really pretty, but it has rained a couple hours earlier so there were a bunched of puddles that I had to stop and go around, so it really messed with the natural flow of the run. Plus it got my shoes really dirty, which I got a week ago. By the time I turned around, I was just trashed, and I was a piano carrier on the back. It was really soothing to be able to cruise home after tho.

Nice little run to the Golf course and back to my house in the heat. Didn't feel that bad, compared to yesterday and lots of days. Felt like a cool guy, averaged 7:22.

Today I did my long run at 2 pm in 86 degree weather. I was going to do in Weber County in the morning but when I woke up o was not feeling it. Especially because I in more of an industrial area. But I did the same ten mile loop that I did on a Saturday in January, except I had to cut a little bit off because I was short on time. Good effort, somewhat progressive. I averaged 7:33. It was HOT so excuse me if you saw me running with my shirt off and disapproved.

First day of XC, met some freshmen. I went five miles with a kid named Angel who has run like four halfs and is going to run a marathon this fall, but he is still running this season and it sounds like he'll be pretty good. My foot started hurting pretty bad half way through. Averaged about 7:22.

Since my foot was hurting yesterday, I kept it to the grass and ran at woodruff park. It was super boring running in circles so I took a detour and did a couple big loops at Willow park, too. Felt like crap, but it was like 4:00 in the afternoon. Did its job, because my foot was pain free. I did some barefoot strides after and stepped on a twig or something so that hurt.

AM: Ran on grass again at like 10 in the morning at River hollow park, just for a change of scenery. Felt terrible so I only ran 4 miles, I also ran a little bit at Riverside elementary too. I was mostly in the high 7s.

PM: Did a short 3 miler out back west of my house, felt not too shabby so I averaged 7:10. This was at like 6 so it was still pretty hot.

7 mile loop up to old main (the 5th north way) and then back past the temple and Merlin Olsen Park. Didn't feel terrible. It was at 4 though so really hot. My pace would be a lot better if that wasn't so. I think I still managed 7:30.

Good run at practice today! Went up to first dam with Davis, Bryson, and Derek Darley (just got back from mish, Logan alum, trying to walk on at USU). Feels good to run with different people. We had the hard headwinds as always but we got to cheer on some of the back-of-the-pack Ragnar runners passing by us. We ran back at an okay pace. Strides of course after the run.

Well for it being my birthday this run sucked. But it was because we went to a thing the night before and didn't get back to 1:30, so I needed to get enough sleep, but it was really hot, and it was on the west side of Utah County so no shade. Tried to do a tempo fartlek  but failed really terribly because the heat got to me. So I just slogged it all the way back.

AM: practice went well I just wish more guys would run in the varsity group. We did core first and then ran out to the river trail. I ran with Angel up until we hit the Icon trail and then Jack caught up to us so we ran with him too. That slowed us down but then wee picked it up again to the original pace (7:20ish) in the last 2 miles. More strides when we got back.

PM: Ran 4 consisting of the fair grounds and willow park. Felt nice and smooth, got faster every mile. i was actually pretty amazed at that I went 7:48, 7:36, 7:32, 6:51, average was 7:26.

AM: 7 on the Bonneville trail and Green Canyon with the guys for the first part, then just Coach Strand. Felt pretty tough going up and coming down in the canyon.

PM: 3 miles of hell.

I'll be on trek until Saturday so that was it this week.

Ran to Black Hawk park through the river trail. I was feeling okay until my heartrate spiked a ton so I felt week for more then half the run. Ended up getting dropped bigtime by the guys. It's okay tho.

Well I got dropped again today for teh same reason but whatev. We went canal trail/canyon road. This time we actually had a pack going so its too bad I couldn't keep up. S/O to my little brother for actually showing up to practice today, it was fun doing strides with him. 

We did a tiny workout today it was fun. Basically a pseudo time trial, a mile tempo not all out. We warmed up to Willow and did it where we did reps last season. In the faster group was Damon, Keith, Collin and Me, I wish the whole varsity was there. Damon and I ran low 5:50, and I'll admit that felt like the opening of a 5K so faster than tempo, but I think  we were supposed to go faster anyways. I felt relaxed through all of it. Then I ran a 5 mile cooldown with Strand, along with a 400 when I got back to the school, ran it in 69 seconds, so fastest 400 since the 4x800 at region. 

Heat run today. I felt weird, like dehydrated but a weird type.... I dunno. Just wasn't on top of it. I was planning on going 7 but I decided not to. Ran to Canyon Rd. and back basically. Said this on my strava post to but man I'm glad some people were watering their lawns. In the last half mile I turned up to like sub-6 pace (finishing effort) for the 15K on saturday. It kind of hurt but it did bring my last mile to a 6:40. 7:27 avg tho so it was pretty polarized. 

Shake out run to willow park. 7:41 avg.

Great race today. Started off with Isaac and Angel, Angel fell back after like two miles, then I stuck with Isaac who was doing a good job at keeping the pace up, and at about mile 4 he started to drop me so I spent the next mile catching up. Miles 5 and 6 went by fast, and then we hit the hill. Isaac pushed it and started to drop me again, and then he started barfing. So I went on and still felt pretty good after that hill. Then I passed this ultra runner dude who we were chatting with earlier in the race, and Daniel Olsen. I saw Mandy Ashcroft up ahead and thought I could catch her but then my heartrate blew up and the last 1.3 was a real grind. Isaac caught up about 300m before the finish and we finished right next to each other, I only beat him by .02 or something. So I didn't get my sub-60 goal but that's alright, this was still a big confidence booster knowing I can push it as hard as I did for 9 miles. And Strava says I burned 1,111 calories lol, plus it says I have the fastest overall time for the Hydropark to Hollow road segment in 2015 (cuz they haven't held a race there yet this year and anyone who finished ahead of me hasn't uploaded their run) but it's cool.

Just adding this on for blog because it says I ran like 43.8 but I ran 46, strava said so. 

Good little run to shake out the legs from Saturday's race. Found out practice is cancelled for the rest of the week. 

Ran Avon pass with Jack. Love love love love that road, its beatiful, definetley running there again soon probably for a long run this time. Felt good today.

Sucky tempo today, but whatev. Warmed up 2 and then did the tempo up canyon road and back on the canal trail. 3 miles tempo, a rest and then another mile. the first two I ddint even break seven cuz today sucked and it was slightly uphill. The next mile was like 6:46 and then the last one after the break was a 6:20. I cooled down and actually saw Mark haha got to talk to him, and then on my way back homw I stopped at the track and did some strides.

Super chill run didnt even go under 8 the first two miles but it felt really easy. I'm going to do my long run tomorrow I think. 

If I didn't love running in the mountains before today I definitely is now. Ran the first 3 miles with Isaac then he turned back. It was so beautiful, especially in that area with all the rocks before it gets super steep. I felt like I was in another world almost. I had to like powerhike at some parts, but thats okay it was super steep and I still had another 6-7 miles. I felt like Sage Canaday out there all I need is a go pro and a pair of Hokas haha. Think I'm gonna try and hit a lot more trails this summer, especially once I get my license. I was super thirsty going back so maybe I'll invest in a hydration pack for these longer runs. Got back, jogged out the 12th mile, then sat in the reservoir. I rode my bike up but I was so exhausted after that I called my mom to come pick me up. Then I got a slurpee and a donut. :)

So, I didn't actually run six miles today. I hiked a six mile round Mt. Naomi in the middle of the day with some friends and I counted that whole thing as 3 miles of running. Then I ran 3 miles in the dark a few hours later, so yeah I think thats about six miles of effort.

Great run today :) Started off with a bunch of the guys, including JD and Johnny, (superseniors!). So we ran up through Denzil Stewart and into River Heights, those guys turned around, but Jack and I kept going down south to Death Hill and Von Park. So we went pretty hard up the hill cuz its a strave segment, but we stopped to soon so the clock was still ticking on the segment haha. I'll have to remember that for next time :/ So we ran down the trail in Von Baer and came back throught the dirt road in River Heights. Good run we averaged 7:29 and one of them was a sub-7. Iced with my bro after. My foot was still feeling weird so hopefully that'll fade away before the race on Saturday.  

AM: Slept in a bit and had doctors exam soon so I squeezed in four to Golf Course road and back. Felt really pushed. I just wasn't feeling good. 7:21 avg.

PM: Slogged through three miles on the grass in the heat at willow park. 7:40 avg. Then I tested out the new Saucony spikes I got in the mail today, just did some strides in em. It was hard to go that fast with my ankle so maybe I'll have to try again with those. They felt just like my victories, did (a little big) they're 11.5s so I shoud've gotten 11s (dang review said they run small. I'm sure its not worth returning them thoughm theyll be fine once I break them in. 

Ran to Willow to do 2x1 miles tempo with team. Felt pretty crappy, hit like 6:10-6:20s for em. I barely beat some of the JV kids. (still first though, that shows you how readily available our Varisty is to come to practice)It was mainloy just my ankle. Ran back to school and did a 400 and two 200s. Felt pretty crappy on those too. Talked to coach about the ankle and he just said to keep doing what I'm doing with stair calf raises implemented so sounds like a dandy plan.

Started the run off with Angel but he had to turn around early cuz of chaffing. Poor guy. Now that I think of I should have just told him to take his shirt off. I guess I just used to running with a shirt off tho lol. Ran the canal trail cuz they just repaired it wear it was broken from a land slide a few years ago. Killed three people actually. Anyways now its actually runable right there so the segment times on strava are gonna go way down right there. I actually pushed it going out, but only ran a 6:58 because I was feeling crappy. When I was on the gravel trail tho my ankle was not working the way it should've, but when I got onto the good old pavement it was fine. Finished off with a few close to 7 minute miles. 7:32 average. 

Lightning warning was red so we had to go inside for practice. Jogged half a mile and then they sent us away. I actually told my brother to take my stuff home with him so I could do my own run. Felt okay I geuss. I ran with Paul until I turned around (on the canal) but he was going way too fast for my liking so I LET him drop me lol. 7:27 avg. 

So Jack and I got to the starting line before anyone else and started getting our race kits ready and warming up. It wasn't long before it was ready to start. So we had gotten a mile in and some strides. the race started (no gun) and Jack got out quick. So did these two other kids who ended up finsihing in like the twenties. This course was a point to point, and net downhill. I was set up for a nice three mile PR. Sadly that didn't happen. Started with a 5:48, felt really good. Light and quick. I kept feeling good through the 2 mile mark. Split: 6:03. No wonder I was feeling good. Last mile was a 6:08. I didnt have a bad race it's just that I really didn't push it hard enough, and that's a dissapointment that I've experienced before. The whole thing felt like more of a tempo run. So I geuss not pushing the pace hard enough after the first mile can be disguised as "feeling good". I will definitely take note of that and put it to good use when the season starts. So all in all this was a great learning experience. And I was running alone the whole time so thats also part of it. I finished fourth overall (just missed a cool trophy) But I did get 1st in my age group because top 3 doesn't count for age groups, so I got a first place ribbon. The guy who finished behind me (around 18:10) was Jack's awesome friend from Africa who actually hadn't run in 8 months before a week ago so kudos to him. Apparantly last year he ran 16:10 on this course. Jack won with a 16:10. He got a a 15:38 here last year but he had a hiatus too if I havn't already talked about that. So we jogged back to Jack's car at the start, now desolate, and drove up to this natural spring where we filled up our water bottles, and then  I finished my cooldown (3 more miles) by myself on a the start of would be a really awesome trail run. (I guess Jack wanted to put in his exptra miles later) After that we had breakfast at Golden Corral in Orem (same place we ate at during state track, triggered some feels) so that was great shouout to Jack's mom for paying for it. 

Awsome run to start off the week. ran a nine mile loop that went up to Lundstrum's canal trail and back through the usual canal to the school, Good route really. My ankle was feeling a lot better, I guess I forgot to mention that my ankle felt good on saturday too, but I think that ailmetn is pretty much gone. &:32 avg. It was a nice overcast morning. Got back and the whole team was gone except my bro.. oops. He was fine with it though. 

Deer Fence today :) Happy I came because I've been a little discouraged since last time I ran it in June since it was wet, overgrown and I was feeling crappy. But this time it was great. I think it's the fastest I've ever done it, except for maybe 1 run in September last year with Mark, Keith and Vickie. We finished that pretty fast. But yeah 7:35 avg. it was like mid morning so not to hot but enough that I had an excuse to drop my shirt. So that's two good days so far heck ya. I felt pretty powerful going up some of those little hills, and the big ones, and I had to because I needed to close fast to make up for the slow opening miles. 

GREAT WORKOUT. Two weeks ago I attempted a four mile tempo (with a break between 3 and 4) and it went terribly. This is the opposite. We warmed up to Ryan's and did the tempo on the roads in Providence and River Heights (coach called it "River-Prov" on his STRAVA). So here are the splits: 6:36, 6:30, 6:10, 6:05 (last one after a rest) Woooh! I felt quite descent, almost great. Now I know that I'm at least at the fitness I was at during the 2014 XC season. And Paul actually ran the whole thing with me while the other guys started to string out. He's going to have improved a TON. Last year he didn't even break 22. This year he'll start in the low 18's at our course. So good for him. The course had some up and down, but it was gradual. The tag was an out and back where we started, so it ended uphill for the second half. I felt great. Didn't even have my flats lol. 4.5 mile cooldown after swinging onto the canal trail and back to the school and felt descent. Then I did some strides but wasn't able to do them that fast. 

Ran Green Canyon with Paul. I felt fitter than last time I ran this going up the constant climb that is this particular trail. Average was like 9:15 when we got to the turn around, so I pushed a lot going down actually. Last three miles were 7:17, 6:36, 6:12. I felt descent so that's why I didn I geuss. Dang I wish I Mark to do these runs with so we could pick it up at the end like he always did. *Sniff* (have a fun two years in Argentina bro) Avg. 8:01. I felt the ankle thing coming back so I guess I'll have to do some more calf raises. Rode my bike home on the Bonneville trail that was fun. 

So I was originally planning to go run the local 5K today (not hard at all) but I overslept so instead I chose to ride my bike to Logan Canyon and do my easy run there. Went well. Didn't run into any heart rate issues (guess I haven't talked about that) but my stride was still a little off from the calf problem. It's never brought me any pain so I guess as long as it doesn't linger too long than I'll be okay. Averaged 7:32. Closed with a 6:21. Tomorrow I going on a big trail run down in the South end of the valley so hopefully that goes well. it's on probably my favorite road in the valley, same road they do Ragnar on. 

AM: 10 miles on Avon Pass today with Johnny (and Mr. Strand, but he ran pretty hard). Great run. I might've said earlier in the summer that I love this road a lot. We started and I actually felt really good, probably smart hydration and rest. Johnny stopped at. 4.3 and waited for me to get back. That 5th mile really wasn't that steep but I was getting tired. Turned around and it felt a lot steeper than it looked because I just floated through 6:40 pace before I got to Johnny again. We ran down pretty fast and I made it a progression run basically. Probably 6:25 avg on the descent which made it a 7:05 avg, so I was pretty happy with that, but we were pushing it a lot by the end of the last mile. My leg felt a little weird but I could tell it was getting better.

PM: (Alright I'll admit, this was Sunday morning but on the rare occasion that I do a Sunday run I count Sunday as the last day of the week) I was going to run two miles last night but I fell asleep super early and missed it. Felt pretty relaxed, just getting in two more miles to make it over 50.

Another good starter to the week. Ran the alot of that long run loop I do when I have to do it in town, on the canal trail, through cliffside, and back through river heights.It was fast, just nice and relaxed 7:40 average pace. I was with Jack most of the time. I got the strava CR for Water Lab climb, and I wasn't even pushing it that much. Jack was having kind of a tough time, apparently he pulled an all-nighter last week. I felt really smooth and I still had a lot of energy when we got back, so I towed Jack through a couple 200s, both 29s or 30s for me, Jack ran like 33. I felt super smooth, pretended I was Nick Symmonds. Like I said, good run to start off the week. I'm planning on going 50 again before I move up 5 for next week.

Pretty good run today. I ran Logan Canyon with Isaac. He's still trying to come back from his ankle problems, said it was still bothering him, but it started to get better the further we got into the run. I told to just keep cross training. So glad I haven't had to resort to that yet. I felt decent, definetley not tired. We averaged 7:15, but that was from some fast miles on the way back. Miles 6 and 7 were a 6:23 and a 6:26. I finished off by running up the Bonneville Switchbacks and running out until I hit a mile on the golf course canal trail. Tried to attempt a CR on the switchbacks but I stopped too soon at the top. Probably would've gotten it if I had kept going another few yards. My foot felt worse after that coming back down. Didn't hurt though.

Tempo today. Same workout as last Wednesday (3 miles + break + 1 mile) but this time it went even better. We def didn't have as much of a pack this time, not even as many guys going 3. So I ran the whole thing alone rather than having Strand and Paul next to me the whole time (Paul is feeling problems in his knee). Felt great the whole time. Here's the splits: 6:33, 6:18, 6:04, (5:48 after the break). 3 mile time was 18:57, so I was pretty happy about that because during track I was running high 19s for tempos, on a flatter course. If I havn't mentioned this before I love this course for tempos, the dowhills let you go a lot faster and the uphills don't feel that noticeable. That's right it actually ends slightly higher up than where it starts (half a block up) and it feels like there's more dowhill than uphill. I think all those trails have benefitted me. SO the 5:48 was a bit quick; I broke my areobic threshold and started feeling the lactic acid big time with a quarter left, but thats okay. Good to get use to running at least that pace since my 5K race pace will be faster than that this season. I can blame it on Coach Strand if I want but I'm glad we went that fast. I felt good before then. 2 mile cooldown and then some strides. Good day! I even did a substantial amount of lifting after.

Solo trail run up Prov. I've actually never ran there before so I didn't know what to expect but it was pretty cool. After the first 2-3 miles it opened up and it looked like a rock quarry with these huge rock piles (prob limestone) on the sides, and really steep wider road.After I hit the three mile mark I really took my time and didn't worry about pace (which is okay because it was recovery , I actually spent a lot of time taking pictures and videos. Once the road ends it's this super rocky trail that looks like a dried up riverbed. Probably went like 15 minute pace at that part. So after a bunch of exploring up there I finally decided to head back and I almost missed the spot where I parked my bike. Average 9:08.

Easy run on the river trail with Keith and Austin. It was nice to recover foreal.

Jardine trail today. Great run I did it last summer once too. Ran up with Todd (and Keith for a little), saw the tree, did the loop then ran back down. Average was in the 10s on the way up but we were going pretty chill. On the way back down I was in the 6s and even ran a 6 minute mile. I was blazing down the trail I'm surprised I didn't get hurt. After that I added on another mile on the Bonneville switchbacks and the original canal trail. That's 51 for the week.

Ran the canal and then some with Coach Strand and Todd. Felt decent, but not super energetic, you know how it goes....... (I'm writing this entry and entries from the 3rd to to the 15th on the 17th actually so sorry if they lack detail)

Tempo today in Mantua! So same setup as the last two tempos I've done but I felt a little bit worse, but not completely terrible, just not on top of things. Mile warmup and then we got onto the workout right away. The varsity guys up there were Damon, Keith, Davis, Angel, and I, so we had the biggest combo of us so far. Started off with a 6:26, then had to stop and tie my shoe so I think that affected how I felt the rest of the time kind of because I had to sprint to catch up to the group. The rest of the time I was just running with Eric. So after mile 1 I ran 6:31 and 6:22 (which I kind of pushed to get), took a rest, then ran 6:17, which I didn't feel too good for. So good workout overall. 2 mile cooldown. Tehn when we got back to the school I did some more slow jogging and strides (a couiple 200s), and that finished off the day. 

Got up super early to run before I left to scout camp, like at 5 am. Ran from the school so I could check in for the beginning of practice before I left. I did the Death Hill loop, and again poorly judged where the strava segment started and ended, and went hard up the hill and didn't get credit for it. Next time... So yeah pretty good, but just like yesterday, (forgot to mention this) my ankle was being weirder than it usually is, just felt unnatural. we'll see though, because it's never caused me pain. 7:40 avg.

AM: I ran two super slow miles (10:29 avg.) on a rugged trail or no trail at all around a lake at 10.50K ft. elevation. So yeah. That was pretty cool. Felt tired though cuz we had already backbacked up there and I got some uncomfortable sleep that night. 

PM: Back at base camp, close to 9,000 ft. above sea level, did somewhat of a workout. Ran on a slightly inclined road (gained 260 ft) taht was weel developed that turned into an okay trail. Went 3 out, turned around and ran for a mile, then did .1 mile pickups for two miles on the way back, then ran .5 as a cooldown. Averaged 8:16,with the push segment miles being 7:35 and 7:40. That was actually pretty tough, I wish I had a heart monitor to analyze that. It was hot though, I definetley was justified in taking off my shirt. 

AM: This was definetley my favorite run at camp. we went to Mirror Lake (10,000 ft.) at like 11, and it was a pretty cold and overcast morning it had been raining earlier. Teh rest of teh troop fished (or tried to) while I ran. I circled the lake three times on a well developed path, and then ran up the steep paved road to the highway a half mile above the lake. i actually felt pertty dang good. Managed a 7:40 for my last mile of the 5 mile run and (the downhill helped a lot but the first half of the mile was uphill). averaged 8:07 so that was satisfying. 

PM: One junk mile at dusk before I hopped in the river. Buuuurrrrrr. 

Easy ten at night hours after I got back home. Did a loop through the Island and then some more. I made sure to keep it super slow and easy (averaged 7:50) and running into Hayden Nielson who was also out for a long run helped. (hes a bit slower) So I ran with him for a few miles before moving ahead. I had a stomache ache for like half the run and I was chafing in the inner thigh/groin area so that was pleasant. My ankle felt better though. Just an easy run. It was kind of scary running in the dark on the way back since I didn't have a light or anything. 

AM: Ran 5.5 on the river trail with Jack. He felt good and I didn't (wasn't too well prepared with sleep and hydration) Averaged 7:30 tho. Then .3 worth of strides.

PM: Tomorrow is the time trial so I just did an easy run to woodruff and did a set of strides in my spikes there. I guess they didn't have to be as intense as they were but oh well, I  was also just doing a series of tests to make sure they worked and fit right, like certain turns at highspeed, and starts. Theyre great. ran back home and that was it. This was at like 4 so it was hot out, and I didn't even bother bringing a shirt, lol.

Time Trial day! So we got to the course and we did a two mile warmup ( I did it in my spikes to make sure it would work here) , then we did our drills and lined up to go. I got out ahead of the pack right from the start and sperated from them right aaway. (would've been nice if Jack was there) So yeah glad I did that to get prepared for the real races this season. I think that being much more experienced witht the 800 now it will be easier to sprint out with the top guys and avoid getting trapped. My philosophy with that is that even if they will pass you within the first quarter and be gone really soon, its better to make people move around you than get stuck and have to get around other people. So the first half mile went by really fast, I think I was at 5:30 average through it. Obviously that would go down, because mile one was a 5:44. I should have set it for half mile splits, but it's all good. I felt really good and imagined I was in the lead at a big invitational and that made me go faster. Anyways looking at my pace on strava it looks like I was pretty up and down in the third half mile (probably because of the turns), so I better work on that. I felt like I had a pretty good finish. I felt pretty strong and powerful, and cruised it in at a decent speed. Would've had an even split if I had somone towing me through it though. This just gets me excited about what I can do with competition. This didn't feel extremely hard; I never went into the well like I have previously in two mile races, and I'm pretty sure I have felt the way I did before I started my kick at that distance into the race during a 5K. Basically I think that with some guts I can run that pace for another mile. Now I just gotta lower that pace so I can 7 seconds faster than that average on a hilly course cough*state*cough. 5:40s would get you 17:00 on the state course and that's been my goal for like half a year now, so with only less-tha-intense tempo work under my belt and lots of miles that will help me later in the season, I think that after hard workouts all season, staying healthy, and a big taper, that's very obtainable goal. :)

When we got back to the school I ran a couple more miles and did some strides on the track.  

Recovery run with Todd and Paul. I introduced them the water lab loop, which they had never un before, so that was fun. Did some strides after that and that's about it for today. I felt tired but I had a reason to. 

So, today I did my first 4 mile tempo ever, and it didn't gotoo well, but I'm not panicking. Warmed up about a mile to Ryan's Place Park and then started at the same place we've done all our other ones. So the group running the four miler (that was there) was me, Damon, Anna (new German exchange student) Kalin, and Davis. So me and Damon and Davis all ran together the whole time, although we were all in a group for the first mile which was kinda cool. I titled this 4 mile tempo fail for a reason. So I felt decent in the first mile but shortly after my shoelace came untied adn I had to stop and tie it the catch up. So I think that affected imy workout the same way it did at the lake, except worse. About a half mile after, my heart rate spiked and ended my chance at a good average. Then we got lost on the part of the course that we've already run like three times before. So we had to kind of back track and we couldn't really focus on the workout because we were trying to figure out where to go, Although I had my watch so at least we could still go off the right distance. By mile 4, I was hurting and well over my lactic threshold. But I just did my best to stay with the guys, which was tough. We decided to just go all the way to the park, which added on a little, but that's okay. They went all the way to where we started, but I just had to stop at the corner cuz i didn't wanna get TOO fatigued. At least I got a hard effort in. Then Damon and Anna and I went on a slightly longer cooldown, and then got our strides in. After practice the team iced in the canal, so that was fun to finally start up again. 

Easy run with Todd on the canal ((coach) Eric turned around early to do a track workout). Felt decent. Definitley better than yesterday. 7:36 average for that. Than I accompied Eric on his recovery jogs and part of his workout (just a 400 of his 2x2 miles) and did some 200s also. (76, 32,30) 

Ran Logan Canyon with Todd and Eric. Pretty good, we ran a part that I've never been on that was kind of cool. I'm happy to get sufficient mileage this week, because I thought I was going to end up dropping it but I'm feeling good. 7:45 average. 

AM: three miles with my bro riding his bike next to me. I gotta do that more often. 

PM: First heat practice. We did a four mile tempo at the usual place. We got started and I accidentally took the varsity squad through a wrong turn (too early). First mile was 6:21, that felt fine. Next three were 6:36, 6:36, and 6:21. I had to go way farther than where we were supposed to stop because of the early turn and me going off my watch, so I the only one on the team who actually went four. Oops. So that was 6:28 average, 20:12 5K split. Not bad at all seeing that its about 35 degrees hotter than it was for the last tempo. I'd say this was succesful, even if it hurt more, which it did. I think I was the only one who did have a good workout, everyone else had it pretty rough. Cooled down with Jack and then some strides. 

Easy run on canal that we had to cut short because of a scheduled meeting with the trainers. I added on after on the river trail with coach strand. It was pretty dang hot. Averaged 7:18, which felt pretty fast. 

Canal three mile tempo. I averaged 6:27, so I guess I'm happy with that. A few hours after practice I ran 4 miles at night slow, it felt pretty relaxing. 

AM: 2 miles, mostly on grass. Very tired legs.

PM: Ran the Icon trail with 4 of the guys for practice. The smokes getting even thicker, and it's sure not helping with running. 7:45 average, towards the end I felt terrible and weak, and just jogged back with Damon.

Ran 8 miles on Avond pass with the team. I didn't feel super great, but it was still cool. Fourth time I've run there. Coach brought a GoPro to film us running on his bike so that was cool. It was dang hot. Averaged 7:21 because I cruised it back at a decent sub-7 pace. I then ran two more miles around the school when we got back.

Fun run to finish off the biggest mileae week of my career. We met at the finish line of the TOU Half and then ran part of the course (this was around the time the race started up the canyon). We did a cool loop that took us on a road I never knew existed up east of Millville. That was like 7 miles and by the time we got back to the finish, the top runners were already coming in (shoutout to Riley Cook for winning). But most of all shoutout to Coach Strand for taking 9th overall with a 1:11! I actually missed his finish because I did a small looop with Paul. I ran with him on his cooldown, and then Paul and I ran up to Von Baer to get a little extra mileage and vertical. Felt surprising good today. 8:03 average. 

Tempo today at the usual spot. Felt tired from last week. I ran with Davis in front of me for a couple miles and then he died away big time, I kept it pretty much even. Still really hot.  I was 10 seconds slower per mile tahn laste Monday but that's okay. Added on on the River Trail with Strand once we got back to the school. Hoooot.  

Recovery run. I felt terrible. Tomorrow I'm gonna just run four miles in the morning and then not run until the meet on thursday.

AM: 4 miles at 8:06 average. I felt like crap for the first 3 and then after a bathroom break at willow park I felt great for the last mile, so I'm thankful for that.

Pretty good race! I had perfectly positive splits, but I'm working on it. The course had some hills, but nothing horrible. Enough to make it a little rougher though. I ran the same time for my first two miles as I did at the time trial. I moved up and passed 5-6 people throughout the course of the race. Started with a 5:46, and Jack was actually quite far behind me when I came through the mile mark. But then he moved up and ended up taking third overall. Next mile was 5:56, and that was with losing 52 feet of elevation, so I need to work on that. Last mile was 6:07, but that was with 46 ft of gain, and STRAVA GAP registers it as a 5:53, so not bad. I was hanging onfor dear life behind two Highland guys with 400m left, but then they dropped me and finished maybe 50 meters in front of me. This is with no speedwork under my belt so that's fine. As far as the team, we took third behind Highland and Preston, and beat Bear River by quite a bit. I don't know if it's the best thing to say this, but I think we have a Region 11 Championship in the bag. Cooled down about a mile after, then when we got back to the school, did a two mile loop in town. Felt good.

Super slow recovery with a few of the guys. We ran the canal trail up to cliffiside, so we got some good vert too.

11 miles easy up Green Canyon and down from the house of a girl on the team (the entire team ate breakfast there afterwards). Ran with Eric and Todd most of the time, met up with Paul going down. Felt okay, avg pace was 8:17, and overall time was 1:31, so that's definitley a good long run time wise, and I've heard time counts over distance when it comes to the long run, but I don't know for sure. 

Tempo at Mantua Lake today. Went pretty well, it was a beautiful afternoon in Mantua. After a good warmup and stretches, we started. My shins were hurting a bit the whole warmup, but once we started, I didn't feel too bad. First mile was 6:19, felt pretty good, and we had almost the whole varsity crew in one group, with Jack running with Coach up ahead. It was awesome. We slowed up after that one, that was a mistake. Next two miles were 6:40 and 6:37, and I still felt good, and we were still in a pack, then after 3 miles, I started to pull ahead for a half mile by quite a bit, then I totally blew up and I couldn't go any faster. Then Austin passed me up, and I kind of just floated to the finish. Last mile 6:44.  I think if I had just stayed in our pack I would have been fine, learned from that for sure. 6:36 average, so not bad at all. SLOW mile cooldown, and then got bussed back to the school. When we got to the track I (very willingly) humored Strand and "modeled" for an XC vid he is making, so basically it was like a 350 meter stride, than jogged some more with Jack around the track to make it two. 

Nice slow run with Jack, Paul, and Damon up to USU, and back on the canal trail. Felt pretty tired so I'm glad we went slow. Did some strides after. 

AM: 2 easy miles around the Woodruff neighborhood, felt good.

PM: Mile reps at Willow Park, same place we did'em last year. Went pretty well, I'll just put my splits out there first off: 6:09, 6:00, 6:04, 5:40. Started out pretty relaxed and used the same effort level for all of them. They really didn't feel too bad. The only one that really hurt was the last one, but I was prepared to go fast for it. I even changed into my flats, so I was ready to go H.A.M. They were done on a basis of one every ten minutes, so we had about 4 minutes of recovery between each, thought about just doing straight ten minute miles for (JK). 2 mile cooldown, and then about a half mile worth of strides. 

Getting ready for the Aggie Invite tommorrow by helping set up the course, with a little run-through too. Can't wait to race and see how much faster I can run this season. 

NOT a good day for me. I don't have a lot to say other than I felt really strong for the first half of the race and then my "heart problem" started acting up right at the top of the course (its still a flatter course), and I got passed for the rest of the race after that. Hopefully I can get to the bottom of this, and hopefully this won't happed in a race again, at least. Good job to everyone else who ran it and did well.

Met up with Jack, Damon, and Paul at Jack's house (near Old Maine) and then breakfast after. I ran with them for the first few miles up to Gibbons Park at a pretty slow pace, and I felt good so ditched them an looped through the River Heights park and eventually back to the house. 7:57 average, but I was probable 7:15 average once I started running alone. This definitley helped me take out my woes about yesterday and that not all hope is lost. I'm eager to give racing another shot next week at Pre-Region in Salt Lake and then redeem myself on the USU course on last time at Cache-Box.