Wage War On Slow Running

Quick post today. Ran to Stewart falls, which happens to be one of my favorite ones we do. American Fork cross country was there too, which was fun. The first couple miles were uphill and tough, but I finished just behind Riley and Brady, who is an alumni. I ran up to the falls with Patrick Parker, Mckay Johns, and Carson Clinger, among others. The falls were great and we ran under a few times for some insta-worthy pics. You can see one of them on my account @jared_slyedog. The run down was hecka fast. Highlight was when Riley zoomed down a really steep patch and hung on a tree for survival. We then partook of some otter pops. Mileage 5.54.

Felt great on my sixty minute capillary run today. North on the Murdock canal. I did the first twenty minutes of the run with Justin, who just got back from his mission and is running with the team again, but he had to turn around because he had to be somewhere. We were booking and I went out a bit too fast, so I couldn't keep it on the way back. Because the way back was a bit slower it turned into a 61:17 cap run and I got 9.2 miles. 6:39 was my average pace. Like always on Saturdays, donuts and O.J. courtesy of coach.

This morning Tyler and I woke up at 5 AM to go to the Freedom 10K in Provo for the Fourth. Longest official race I've ever run and it was a success! During about the third mile or so Asa caught up to me and I was able to stay with him for the rest of the race. They played some great tunes that motivated me, including The Final Countdown and Can't Stop The Feeling. At the end of the race Asa and I tried to out kick each other but the 5K "runners" wouldn't get out of our way and we had to weave in and out of some old ladies. His chip time was 37:28.4 and mine was 37:28.5 so props to him for getting the win. It was great to get to talk to so many other runners and enjoy the race adrenaline in the middle of summer.

Practice wasn't good today. Had a late night and my alarm didn't go off so I showed up to practice a half hour late. The speed workout was 6 1000's with a 600 slow lap in between each one. The full workout with warm up and cool down was 7.4 but since I came late I only got 6 miles. I was still sore and pretty tired but tomorrow I'll be ready to go.

I physically could not get out of bed today. Finally did and made it to practice on time but legs were so tired and sore so could barely move them. We decided to run Molly's and ran up the reaper but then the rest of my team decided to run dry canyon instead. I went to Molly's anyway, and I went slow. Not sure the pace because watch is out of memory and won't sync with my computer so I need to get a new watch. Anyway, it was about 6 miles plus strides so like 6.5.

Practice was great today, even though I had another late night. It's "moratorium" week, so we're not supposed to run at the high school so we did our buddy 400's at Anderson Park. Varsity boys did 16, and I'm still without a functioning watch. Afterwards we cooled down and stretched, and the dirty dawg brought his dog Oakley along. Fun times were had by all. With warm up and cool down we hit 7 miles.

PM- I finally got a new running watch! I got a Garmin Forerunner 230 from Runner's Corner because I'd heard good things about it and the price was in the right range. I did a four mile recovery run in the evening to try it out and so far I like it.

I had another tough practice but it's my own fault because I go to sleep too late. We did Molly's and I went slow again. I'm going to start going to bed earlier so I can have better runs. Distance was 6.08.

MEGA UPDATE. I haven't updated my blog in forever so I'm going to be adding a lot to it this evening. On Saturday I went boating with my ward so Tyler and I met at the high school at 6:30 and did our capillary run. We went 9.09 miles at 6:44 and we went just over an hour, my time was 61:10. It was nice to run together and push each other. Tyler has improved as a runner a lot this summer.

On Monday we ran the reaper, and I got my first PR of the summer. I led for most of the road but Riley caught up to me just as we were getting to Battle Creek. I was almost able to catch him but not quite. Riley got a 9:20 and I got a 9:21, which is a PR! My last PR was a 9:27 at the end of last summer. I just gotta say, there's nothing like that run down the reaper after having PR'd. You feel great. With my warm up and cool down I got 6.12 miles total.

Pleasant Grove's Cross Country camp also started on Monday for me, because the captains (Riley, Wade, Nicole, Haley, and I) went up a day early to set things up at Timpanooke. We didn't do a run, but our coach did take us off roading to set the distance markers for the gut run.

Cross Country camp continued on Tuesday. We did a run in the mountains and althought our coach said there wouldn't be many hills, there were many hills. I stubbed my left big toe super hard and it bruised over pretty bad but it was a fine trail run at 7 miles. Later before bed we did a recovery run with the entire team of 1.91 miles so 8.91 in all. 

Before bed I gave a little devotional about overcoming discourgament. It was nothing special but a few things I suggested were:

-Remember why you love running.

-Work with people, not against them. 

-Make running a part of your identity.

-Take satisfaction in each run.

Two more runs on Wednesday for camp. First the GUT RUN, which starts next to the resevior and goes up the mountain. I didn't do as well as I would have hoped and a few of my teammates passed me but I ran 8.54 miles at 8:41 pace with a time of 74:09. We did another recovery at night for 1.64 miles, so 10.18 total. Tyler, Mat, Brian and I had some plans to do a night run but it was freezing outside and we all fell asleep before it went down.

Thursday was the last day of Cross Country camp, and we did our yearly RELAYS. I always look forward to these. This year I was on a team with Brian Schulz, Tyler Barry, Ben, Paige, and Michaela. We did a .76 warm up and then we each did four laps during the relay. They were supposed to be 800's, but they were a bit short so total distance for the four laps was 1.33. Our team fought bravely but we took second to Tyler's team, who also had Harambe on it. I did a .75 cool down and before I knew it camp was over. I don't know if anyone actually reads this but if you are and you went to camp this year, thanks! It was great. Tyler and I went to El Azteca with his dad because it's a three year tradition, and because it's pretty good.

PM- Not really about running at all but I hung out with some of the LP guys and Connor at Josh Ericksen's party. Birthday shout out to Jeriksen, hope 16 treats you well.

On Friday it was back to running in PG. We did a field trip to Huggard's farm and drank from the spring. I was tired and it was tough, but I hit 8.83 miles at 6:48 pace so I'm still happy with the run. The time was 60:05.

Today was the first double digit workout of the summer! We did a 70 minute cap run and I  ran most of the run with Riley and Reed. Riley and I ran ahead near the end and eventually Riley passed me (common theme on this blog) but I ran 10.51 at a 6:41 pace over the 70:17 time.

PM- I wanted to hit 50 miles this week and so I did a 3.25 mile recovery run to hit it. I ran through my neighborhood and down to the start of AF's grinder, then looped back to my house. With 13.76 total today I hit 50.64 for the week. 

PG is doing a program this summer called the ham challenge, and mine is going well. The requirements are a) attend 22 of the 24 practices held over four weeks of the summer b) run four reapers c) run four cap runs d) set a goal with coach and make progress on that goal. Today was my 18th day and it doesn't look like I'll miss any of my days, except for the day I did Freedom Run but there was no practice on that day and my coach counts it.

On Monday we ran the reaper, as always. I did a 2.13 warm-up, then ran the 1.3 miles up the hill. I ran a 9:30, so not a personal record but still a solid time. I finished first on the team, only behind Brady who is an alumni. My run down the reaper and cool down totaled 2.66.

My coach is running a small clinic for young runners and I helped out with it, getting in a slow 1.75 miles. My total for the day was 7.84.

Not the best run today. I think I ate too much junk food much yesterday and I didn't sleep enough. I ran 8.78 miles at a pace of 7:09, with time 62:48. We did strides and that added .51, so total mileage 9.29.

PM- We had our first afternoon practice at 5. We did a mile warmup, and did six exercises with five fast 400s in between, then a mile coo down. We also did an ice bath after. I afternoon workout mileage including the excercises (200m each) was 3.99.

Today we did a speed workout. Mile warmup and then 5 800s with 3-minute rests in between, followed by a 1200 jog, and then 5 more 800s with 3-minute rests in between. With my cool down it was 8.03.

I also helped with the clinic again, which was honestly tough because only 4 people came and it was very slow. It was suppose to be 3 miles but I stuck in the back and made it 1.87 before my coach picked us up.

PM- I saw Casey and Carson Clinger doing a recovery in the evening, and then I saw Tyler doing one as well, so, not to be outdone, I ran four miles to Manila pond and back. I listened to the album Wilder Mind by Mumford & Sons, which is an incredible album by the way.

This morning we did a 65 minute and we went to Molly's, but passed the hill instead of going up it. It was tough honestly but I got 8.53 in 70:30. My run was a bit longer because I got lost on the way back and the way back was pretty slow. Pace was only 8:16 per mile.

Our second practice today was buddy 400's. It was blazing hot as usual but we still got several people to come. Mile warmup and then we each did 8 400's. Reed was my partner and we finished about the same as Riley and Matt. My distance was 2.1 miles and my pace was 5:08. We did a mile cooldown so 4.1 for afternoon practice.

Great speed workout today. 1.09 warmup, then we did 5 minutes of our 5K pace, 5 minute jog, all the way down to 1 minute of our 5K pace and 1 minute jog. It was good but my stomach felt gross again so I need to try to eat an earlier dinner and healthier food. Some of the guys passed me at the end. My watch got a little messed up because I think I stopped it accidentally but Tyler thinks we went 4.75. We did a cool down back to the high school which was 2.51 so total distance was 8.35.

75-minute capillary run today, the longest of the summer so far. I started out with Reed but he eventually got ahead of me. I went a little longer than 37:30 out so I could hit 5.5 miles, and I was worried I went out too fast, but I decided I had it in me to speed up on the last 3 miles and my run lasted 75:13, so just a tad over. I ran at an average pace of 6:49 per mile and hit 11.04 miles.

Today was the last day of my ham challenge. I went to every day of practice but one for 24 days, because we had no practice on that day and I did the freedom run. I'm proud of that, and also that I've been pushing the pace. Can't wait to keep pushing for the rest of the summer and into the season!

PM- Did a recovery run because you have to when you do a hard run like I did in the morning. 4.01 miles.

Monday was the Temple to Temple run. I drove up with Tyler, Nicole, Riley, Ali, and Jackson, and we warmed up 1.56. The first mile is completely downhill, so we hauled down. I ran a 4:54 first mile. The second mile I ran a 5:39 and then for the last .93 I ran a 5:17, so the course was 2.93. It was a really fun race and after the first mile I didn't push super hard, but I did try to go fast. We mingled for a while with other runners then did a longer cooldown, 3.56. Afterwards Tyler and I hit up McDonald's for some post race fuel.

AM- We did a 60 minute run south on the canal. Tyler, Ali, and I went out fast and initially we said we were only doing 8 because we had afternoon practice, but I got ahead of them on the way back and decided to do the full workout. I hit 9.22 miles in exactly 60 minutes. We did strides after so another .51

PM- We did 400's, 200 jog then 200 fast. 1.1 miles warmup and the workout was probably about 2.1 but I messed it up on my watch. I was able to take 1st on the team. 1.04 cooldown.

Speed workout. 1.12 warmup, then 8 1200's with 3-minute rests in between. It was hard but good. The sprinklers were going off on the grass by the rec and so the grass was all wet. I slipped twice on it and Brady, who I tried to stay with but passed at the end, slipped once as well. I may have let out a sketchy word or two. But, 1st on the team to finish the 5.19 mile workout, and at an average pace of 5:36. 1.04 cooldown. 

Distance run! Our coach couldn't be at practice so captains ran it. It was 60 minutes and we did the dry canyon run. Tyler, Ali, Texas, Preston, Jesiah and I ran up the reaper but a lot of the boys drove up it because they couldn't take the heat. I'm pretty sure I didn't make it to Dry Canyon and I got lost on the way back and took the wrong trail, but I extended the run a little past the high school and hit 7.04 in 62:31. We also did strides so .52.

PM- It was scorching outside for two a days. Mile warm up and the workout coach gave us was 5 400's with 200 meter excercises in between. I ran with Tyler and Matt on the track and Tyler and I did 6 of them to make the workout 2 miles. I was way tired but they were decently  fast, and Tyler and I both hit a 65-second for the last one, which was sweet. Mile cool down and called it a day. 

Butterfly speed workout this morning. After a mile warm up we hit 1200, 1000, 800, 400, 800, 1000, and 1200 with 3-minute standing rests in between. It was tough but only Tyler was ahead of me from the team so props to him. Avg. pace of 5:27 and distance 3.95. Mile cooldown. 

Crazy day! Short version: we were supposed to run an aid station for the Timp half, but Tyler, Riley, and I did our 80-minute run early instead. We went 11 miles in the 75 minutes we ran, and then a short .28 cooldown back to our cars. Our coach wasn't happy we didn't help with the aid station, but hey, what are you gonna do?We then treated ourselves to some chocolate milk from wal-Matt and daylight donuts, got Tyler's car jumped after it died, and had a swim at our coach's house.