Wage War On Slow Running

No Thursday morning run for me because I went to the Coldplay concert in Salt Lake Wednesday night, which was amazing. The afternoon workout was hard, because I was tired, and I went out to fast so I came back slow. I ran 8.58 miles and went over 60 minutes to 67:09. That's alright though, we all have a few off runs. I did four strides after. 

AM- 3.02 morning run.

PM- Chill run the day before a race. We ran with the girls to Macey's. Walked in without a shirt and nobody minded. 4.08 at 8:22 pace with three 200's on the track.

Today was race day at BYU! We got there and jogged the course. The weather was nice for a lot of the morning but there was a freak rainstorm and it rained super hard for a minute. We warmed up, drained our legs, and then the race began! I was nervous before because I felt tired and a little tight, but I was able to race pretty well. It was a harder course than Pre-Region and there were hills, which was tough but we made it through. Tyler started out fast and eventually I got a head. On my third lap I was running down the hill from the baseball diamond and I fell. I got back up as quick as I could and tried to stay at a good pace. While we were nearing the track Riley passed me and was able to beat me but I took 2nd for PG and 24th overall. I got a shirt which was sweet, and so did Riley and Tyler. PG Varsity boys took 6th overall so good day for the team. Next stop Soldier Hollow!

It was Labor Day on Monday so we had morning practice at 7:30 which was nice. We were supposed to go 30 minutes so we went towards Timp and went 4.23 miles at 6:45 pace. We went 28:31 for our time. We played ultimate frisbee after and my team got crushed but it was still a good time.

AM- 3-mile morning run.

PM- 60 minute run to Orem macey's. It was hot and it was a tough run, but I was still able to go pretty fast. 8.44 miles at 7:07 pace. 4 strides for another .56 after. 

AM- 2.9 morning run. We went south on the canal.

PM- Ed Eyestone speed workout. Mile warm-up, then race pace 1200, jog 1200, same for 1000, 800, 400. Mile cooldown. It was hard but we pushed through it. Varsity boys chatted after about racing and other stuff. 9.24 total for the day.

AM- 2.57 morning run.

PM- 5.01 miles. We ran towards Timp. 4 strides for another .5.

AM- 3.03 morning run.

PM- 3.15 run south on the canal. We ran in a big group which was fun. Slower pace because it was the day before a run. 3 200's after.

Race day at Soldier Hollow. It was a fun drive up and the scenery was incredible with fall colors. I love Soldier Hollow and it was a super fun environment. We did a mile warm-up. I wasn't sure what shoes to wear but I ended up going with a pair of Nike Rival XC's that were a bit small for me because I didn't want to ruin my Victory XC 3's. I didn't put spikes in them because of the pavement at the beginning. The race was tough because there were a ton of hills, but I did pretty well. At first Tyler was ahead on the team and after a while I passed him. Then Riley passed and towards the end of the race Tyler and I were neck and neck until he finally got ahead of me. I usually can surge at the end of a race pretty well but the end of the race was tough for me this time around, even with it being downhill. I got 22nd and barely missed getting a medal, but that's alright. I'm happy with the race and had a good time. Shoutout to Carson Clinger for getting 4th, and Mckay Johns for taking 1st. There are other friends who did really well but I'm not sure their placements. Next stop Viking Invite!

On Monday we did a 2.78 morning recovery run.

PM-5.02 miles. I decided to only go 5 miles because I was feeling sick to my stomach. Still an okay practice and had some good conversation afterwards.

Took a sick day on Tuesday and didn't go to morning or afternoon practice. On Wednesday morning we did a 2.58 morning run.

PM- For afternoon practice we ran out to the freeway entrance. It was a slower run to me and I got sick on the run. AF actually passed right after I got sick too so that was fun. 5.84 miles. 

AM-3.01 morning run.

PM- We did a speed workout in the afternoon, a butterfly. We did fast 1200, jog 1200, fast 1000, jog 1000, then the same with 800s, and back up to 1200s. It was reasonably fast for me but not the best because I was still in recovery. Still, felt good to have a pretty fast speed workout at some point in the week.

AM-2.76 Morning Run.

PM- Easier run because of the meet the following morning. I felt okay, but I was still recovering. 3.82 miles. We did 3 200's on the track, one slow, one medium, one sprint. 

Saturday was the Viking Invite! I got to the high school a little after 8. I shaved my legs the night before as a joke, and I got some pretty varied reactions. Mat and Tyler liked it, Ali and Riley didn't care for it as much, and there were a lot of suprised reactions. We warmed up, drained our legs, and got ready for the race. I hadn't had very good workouts in the week leading up to the race, and I was still fairly sick with a sore throat, but I still tried to approach the race with confidence. Unfortunatley, it wasn't the best race. I ran a 17:00 and got 36th place. I should have run a lot faster but after being sick I just had to accept how it went and move on. I still ran 41 seconds faster than last year's Viking Invite and 6 seconds faster than at Region last year, which was at Pleasant Grove as well, so that is something I can be happy about. Even though I didn't do as well in the race as I wanted, it was a fun day and I was able to see a lot of friends at the meet. Congrats to Casey for winning, and to Riley and Tyler for doing well for our team, and Zack and the rest of the Lone Peak guys for doing really well.

AM- Great morning run this morning. Had some frosted flakes after so that was nice.

PM- Had a solid afternoon workout. Ran a little farther than Oak Canyon Jr. and hit 6.03 miles at 6:30 average pace. At the end of the run I decided to speed up to catch up to Riley, and we made it back to the high school at the same time. He went farther though. Tyler, Brian, and I did strides on the track, then streched and did some weights in the weight room.

AM- Apple grove for the morning run. Maybe the most enjoyable morning run of he year so far. We played the alphabet game which is fun. 2.56.

PM- Speed workout was 8 800's. There was a freshman football game so we did the last two on the track because the crowds were getting kind of crazy. AP for the 800's was 5:17. We had 3 minutes standing rest in between. Also had a mile warm up and a little more than a mile cooldown. 

AM- Morning run south on the canal. It started as just Brian, Tyler and I but eventually more showed up. 2.94.

PM- Shorter run today but still went reasonably fast. We had 40 minutes and I got 5.58 miles in to discovery park and past. 7:12 Ap. 4 strides on the track after.

AM- Morning run, went north. It was raining so that was fun. 3 miles.

PM- 30 minutes run because of the race tomorrow. 3.84 at 7:49 pace. 3 200's after: slow, medium, fast. Tomorrow we race at Nebo! Excited for the race and hope that the team and myself can race to our highest potential.

AM- 2.43 morning recovery run. 

PM- Nebo Invite. The varsity boys team decided to wear white button down shirts, ties, and short shorts to school so that was really funny. In my first class I sat by Riley and Matt so at least I didn't have to wear that alone. It rained all day, and we left in the afternoon for Salem hills. It was cold and windy with on and off showers the entire time but it was a really fun time with the team. Finally we warmed up, drained our legs, and went to the start. We thought it was about to start so we took off our warmups but they didnt start it for a long time after we got down there.

It was a hard race to start because there were hundreds of runners and there was a massive clump. I wish I would have gone out faster and not gotten caught in the clump but that's just how it went and the first half mile or so was slower than I would have liked. A couple guys fell right in front of me but I was able to hop over them. I felt a lot better in this race than Viking Invite, but my throat was still a little sore and I know I can go a lot faster. I ran a 16:58 and measured it as 3.13. There was a lot of mud and some dips in the course but I actually enjoyed the course. I finished 3rd for PG, which I am happy about, but I know that at region I'm going to have to step it up and stay with my teammates Tyler and Riley. We had a fun cool down and stole a sign that says Sat. from 9:00-4:00 and Brian kept it. Later I got some Costa with some of my friends on the team so that was also a good time.

Saturday was a super fun practice. It was still super rainy and overcast, which I love. We gathered at coach's room and then we did a 3-mile slow recovery run to Kneaders. It was a super fun run and coach knows the owner of Kneaders so we all got french toast, which was awesome. I ate 5 slices. We had people get the vehicles and then we all got rides back because it was so cold. Even though it wasn't super challenging, one of my favorite practices in a while.

AM- 3.24 morning recovery run.

PM- Tyler and I both skipped fourth period and did our workout early because we were leaving early for the Mumford & Sons concert at Usana. We did a mile warmup, then we hit 8 400 meter hill repeats. One of Mr. Van Dijk's classes was wandering through the field and were watchin us, but we didn't care. I'm pretty happy with how fast they were, my splits for the eight were 1:21, 1:22, 1:28, 1:22, 1:27, 1:25, 1:31, 1:28. We jogged down the hill after each hill repeat as well. I finished a little farther to four miles and then we did a mile cooldown.

On a sidenote, the Mumford & Sons concert was awesome. Fun to be there with Tyler, Clain, Matt, Riley, Casey, Patch, and Mckay. I also heard Seth from LP was there so shoutout to him. They're one of the best bands out there my my opinion.

I didn't go to the morning run because I got back so late from the concert. Casey said he wasn't going to his, and if the national champion can skip one morning run, so can I.

PM- We had a 50 minute run but I only went 45:50. We ran past Lindon park out to home depot and it was a decent workout considering I didn't get enough sleep. 6:42 per mile for a 6.85 mile run. Strides after added another .5.

AM- 3 mile morning recovery run.

PM- Speed workout, 6 800's with a 200 meter kick. Mile warmup and cooldown. I forgot my watch so I didn't get any splits or pace information but they felt pretty fast and I was able to keep up with my teammates pretty well. 

Missed the morning run again because I needed more sleep. I need to work harder on my homework so I can go to bed earlier and be more commited to morning runs.

PM - 30 minute distance run because we ran the state course the next day. We ran to discovery park and as I was running down canyon road I was approaching an opening in a fence that was a driveway, and right as I crossed it a big white truck was driving out. I hadn't seen it and he hadn't seen me, and I almost got hit. It was a close call. Apparently Riley slammed into the side of his truck too. Anyway, no harm no foul. We stopped at discovery park and turned around and we ended up getting 4.42 miles at 6:47 pace. We did 3 200's after at slow, medium, and sprint pace, adding another .38.

AM- 3.04 morning recovery run, I believe to lindon park.

PM- After grabbing some Pizza with Ty and his dad we got on the bus and rode out to sugar house park to run the state course. We jogged it first, tried some strategies out to throw other runners off, threw some dingers, and then we put our spikes on and ran it. Our coach didn't want us to go full race pace, but he wanted us to hit about 6 minute miles. I didn't go all out and I was still going on less sleep than I needed, but I ran the 3.02 miles in 18:05, so 5:59 average pace per mile. It was a fun and challenging course to run. We went to chick-fil-a afterwards and then had a fun bus ride home with some good music provided by Matt and some others. Running the state course helped me get hyped, if I could get more hyped, to run super fast at region and place well. I know that I need to get more sleep this week so I'm going to make that a priority.