Life Liberty and the Pursuit of a Shiny Gold Medal

4x400 and 4x200 I flew and felt great.

400's

1. 69

2. 66

3. 64

4. 63

200's

1. 27

2. 28

3. 29

4. 29

8 mile adventure run.

Post region jazz. felt so loose. So free. So fast.

8x100 strides. I feel so fast.

Windy and hilly

50 mile relay. 24:30 for 4.1. 45:00 for 7.

Felt very strong.

8x100 m strides

still need to work on form.

6x400 felt sluggish and tired. Probably too much too hard lately tho endurance was good. Need to back off a bit.

1:10

1:10

1:08

1:09

1:07

1:03

Tight sore and sluggish. To much lately. Inside of lower left calf hurts more than it should. 

Lower inner left calf hurts. Ice helps.

Finally won my first high school race. 10:40 2 mine in heavy wind. Just drafted off of the guy in front of me for most of it.

8 easy. Got faster the more I ran. Inner left calf still hurts.

Drained cuz if what I are and how I've slept. Less injured. 6x400

1:07

1:08

1:10

1:09 (sugar spike wall)

1:11

1:06

8x kick workout hills. Leg's a bit better.

Would've done nine but I ripped the skin off my toe during strides. Blood was a everywhere.

Craziest day. Canyon View vs Cedar duel. Won the mile and the two mile, tho in really slow times. But still got 10 miles in. I'm so dead right now.

So much calf pain. So much exhaustion. It's been a long week.

3 mile tempo, slow and in to the wind. Lay mile well under 6 minute pace. Last quarter mile under 1:15 or maybe faster.

Calf is feeling better. 8x100 meter strides after. Slow but not painful.

8x400. Solid but it took awhile to get on pace. Goal was to start at 1:11-12 and drop a second of each rep. 200 m jog in between each. cold and windy today.

1:12 (37, 35)

1:12 (35, 37)

1:09

1:08

1:07

1:06

1:05

1:06 (31, 35)

On track for 8 but my legs dusky cramped during the cool down of the hill reps. 8x45 seconds. Well more like .15 cuz it was in the dark after solo n ensemble. So for .149

47

45

45

45

45

45

46

46

These are so much harder to run fast alone.

Mostly grass. Felt pretty good. Excited for tomorrow. 4x150m strides after.

2 mike warm up

Mile race 4:44 (struggled)

7 mike run/cool down

2 mile warm up

2 mile sub 11 (really struggled mentally)

2 mile cool down

3 miles when I got home

Cody drive plus 8 strides. Really trying to focus on form.

2.5 mile warm up

Kick workout (2 miles)

1 mile barefoot cool down

5 miles (2 on roads 3 on grass)

100-17.5

110-18.8

120-19.3

140-21.3 (accidentally skipped 130)

140-22.5

150-22.7

160-23.4

170-23.7

180-24.7

190-26.0

200-27.1

Solid times. Definitely will start doing more of my miles on grass. Warm bath and stretching after helped.

5x800 on wet grass so that's fun. First endurance workout of the season+constricting clothing=slow times. The last one was pretty awesome tho.

2:45

2:45

2:42 (Bryan dropped me cuz I slipped around the fence)

2:42 (route was a bit long. Maybe a second or two slow)

2:37 (same route)

Way prepared for tomorrow. Couldn't be more excited. A couple 150 strides at 800 pace.

Mile today. 4:36 huge breakthrough

Would've done ten but I tan out of time. State jazz today. Very hilly. In the cove mostly.

Very windy. 8x100m strides after. Felt pretty strong. Nothing incredible.

4x400 and 6x200 200m jog between each. very heavy wind. Probably why the 400s hurt so much.

400s (1:08 goal)

1:08.9

1:08.0

1:07.6

1:06.9

200s (30 goal)

31.1

30.7

31.1

30.1

29.6

28.2

Pace on the 200s was a little off. Felt like it should come easier than it was, but still a very sold workout.

6x800 at 6am this morning. Alone. Cold. Dark. So don't judge the times.

3:00

2:50

2:48

2:47

2:47

2:42

40 minutes. 4x150. A couple miles after. I am prepared.

Raced the mike. Huge mental breakthrough. Rough leak spots cuz the guys that were doused to be running sub 4:30 ran mid 4:30

4:38 total.

1:07 high 

1:07 high

1:10 high

1:12 mid

Solid 800 6 second pr

2:03 total

high 59

mid 1:03

Easy seven. Let's were a bit achy but my form feels incredible. I feel like a much more mature runner than even 3 months.

4x200s after at mile effort.

Pine view relays. 2x800 and a 400

2:05-6 (guy cut me off at 400 and I had to stop to go around him)

2:12 (relatively easy effort)

57.7 (without spikes and getting cut off with 100 to go) (felt easy)

Over all very strong races. And a solid 400

3 mile tempo nothing serious after yesterday.

40 minutes on grass

4x200 strides

3 mile route

Dixie Invitational

4:35

1:08

1:07

1:07

1:11 (odd mental probs)

3200: 10:11 

800: 2:05 (dead legs)

Solid. Pace was cooking. Bryan's way confident after his Arcadia race.

5 mile run

8x100m strides

2.5 after

1.5 mile warm up

2x800m (2:17-2:18 goal) 800m rest

2:20

2:19

2x400m (1:07 goal) 400m rest

1:06.5

1:05.5

4x200m (30 goal) 200m rest

29.6

29.6

29.4

28.5

2.5 miles additionally

1.5 cool down.

Overall a solid workout. This 800's were rough though. Even split but slow, couldn't get my legs to go faster. Excited for the mile on Wednesday.

On grass.

4x200m after

Snow canyon today. Felt terrible all morning. Warmed up for the mile I was supposed to state qualify in and my stomach hurt and my legs were heavy. Went out fast in the mile after getting a bad start. And had to kill myself the next two laps to even be close to pace and I was leading. I got passed by John and I knew I had to go with him to state qualify but I was dying. Last lap was poor. Race was pretty rough.

1600: 4:41

Warmed up for the 3200 and I didn't know if I was gonna run it after that tough mile. But I was spuriously excited for it cuz I expected nothing and my legs felt strangely awesome. So I any for it. Drafted behind Taylor and Nephi for the first 3-4 laps and then took the lead when the pace started to lag. Lead the race through the next 3 laps. And got out kicked by Nephi and kale and Taylor. But still ran a huge PR. Huge breakthrough in that 3200m.

3200: 10:02

7 very easy

3 easier

Right foot hurts more than it should. Lower inner left calf twinged a bit on the second run.

First 10 super slow cuz my right foot hurt, which is disturbing. 8:30's average for the mile. Then dropped the piece a ton the last 4. The last 2 was well under 6:30 pace with the last quarter mile at mile pace, or about there. Entire run ended up being well below 8 minute pace. Legs feel great a few hours after, just a little worried about my foot.

Felt good during the warm up.

3x600 @ 1:42 (200m rest)

1:39

1:44

1:45

10 minutes rest

2x300 @ 45 (100m rest)

44.4

45.7 (had to weave between prior for the last 50m or so)

Cool down

8x100 meters after. Split a 13 in one of them so that's fun.

Best workout of my season right here.

4x900ish meters on the xc course (goal sub-3 or about 5:20 pace)

2:53

2:44-2:45

2:43-2:44

2:41

Those paces range from 5:10ish on the first one to under 4:50 for the last. That's pretty ligit. And I was just cruising. It was awesome.

4x200

29.4

29.6

29.8

29.5

Hurt so good. And I'm hardly sore.

Meet canceled. Pumped for Orem.

4x200 meters

So sluggish. And 50 mile an hour winds.

Rough mile. My legs felt better in the warm up but still couldn't get my legs moving. 4:53 so rough

Paced Bryan for his 4:22 mile.

1x800

2:11

12x200 (200m rest, about 2 min)

33.?

34.5

32.7

32.3

32.2

32.6

32.4

31.3

31.0

31.0

29.7

29.4

Easy 6

6x100 meters

2x400 @ 2 mile pace

1:14

1:11

2x400 @ mile pace

1:09 (36, 33)

1:07 (35, 32)

2x200 @ 800 pace

29.5

30.2

Super windy on the back stretch. Felt tired.

Felt awesome

4x150ish later awesome

Two mile today. Slow heat in BYU invite. It was a great race for me. Ran well. Consistent splits. Needed a better kick though to get state qualifying.

10:00.17

Mile and medley relay today. The medley was in the golden hour so that's cool. I ran a great mile. Something like a 1:06 1:11 1:08 1:08. Or something like that.

4:31.54 

Huge race. Big pr excited for things to come.

2:05 relay split in the medley

I think I had more left then I realized. Could've done better. Huge goals for region next week.

Crazy good speed session today. Half kick workout. Starts at mile pace for 100 meters and drops to 400 pace for 200 meters.

100 16.1 (full second fast)

120 19.8 (slightly slow)

140 20.0 (full second fast)

160 22.3 (nearly a second fast)

180 24.0 (full second fast)

200 26.1 (nearly a second fast)

That's my best 200 time by a second and I felt so string and fluid. I'm ready to go for region.

4x100m strides

I feel so strong

Rough weather, low motivation, but an OK time.

4:36-37

2 mile and 800.

3200m: 10:07

Statred strong. In great position with 2 laps to go and died mentally. I lost the mental game. When I needed to go I gave up. I'm still getting to know that race so hopefully Ill do some big things next year.

800m:

2:02.53

I refocused and convinced myself that the 800 was gonna and I was gonna give it everything I had to try to state qualify. Again solid were solid through the first 600. About 28, high 1:00 and around a 1:29 through 600. Lost control of my form and broke down finishing at a 2:02. Exactly the same time off state qualifying in the 3200. Very frustrating cuz I wanted it so badly. But still a good PR.

Couple easy miles. Goin after that 4:30 barrier at state. I'm pumped.

3 mile tempo. The usual route down main street.

17:05

A minute faster than normal and a lot more comfortable. Tempo pace feels so much easier and it's faster.

4x400 @ mile pace

1:06.9

1:07.5

1:07.4

1:07.8

Felt tough. And rough. Probably cuz of all the work I did yesterday after the snow storm and the good I ate. So much sugar :P

5x200 stride felt weird but energy levels are pretty normal again. Pumped for state.

29.7

29.7

29.1

29.0

28.5

Solid times for me. Probably cuz I actually had someone pushing me today

Easy 4. Just went out and had a great time running. Haven't had such a fun time running in forever.

4x100ish meters after.

I feel incredible. Running has rarely felt this good. State is gonna be a ton of fun tomorrow.

Awesome race. New PR. Closed in a 1:05. Top sophomore in 3A. 10th place and 4 seconds out of 3rd.

4:30

I needed the endorphins so I went running.

I feel like heck today. Taking a break is so hard. Idk how long it's gonna be. I felt really drained after the main block of hard training but by the end of the taper I felt great. So we'll just wait and see.

Today was quite as bad. I still don't know what to do with my life for these next couple weeks

Ran with the 7th n 8th graders in their field. 

5:58 1600m & 2:26 800m

Hopefully these kids have a fast learning curve and we can get em prepped for track next year and possibly xc.

Little to no physical activity. I think I'm finally getting used to this.

I honestly think I'm more likely to get injured the less I run. Over all the major effects of running withdrawals.

So I think I may be developing plantar fasciitis. Spent too much acting like a teenager in bad shoes. It's been tho. I miss running a lot but I'm doing well. Don't know if this is gonna be a 2 weeker or a three. My legs don't feel ready for 5 months of pounding yet.

12 hours in a car going to San Diego. Everything hurt.

45 minutes on an elliptical today. Knee kinda hurt after the car ride yesterday and arch is feeling quite a bit better.

Ran across the San Diego zoo parking lot today. I felt incredible aside from the usual aches that go with not running for awhile.

Went to the beach and ran around a bit. Legs felt great.

Ride back from San Diego. Legs feel toasty dead.

Did a lot of sole searching and decided to end my break on Monday because my legs feel strong and I crave endorphins.

Finally back. To I don't think running wanted me back. That was less than enjoyable. And a stained niggle in my groin. #thestruggleisreal

The first 4 weren't incredibly enjoyable. Tight claves and it just felt awkward, but then running was comfortable again for the last 2. It was awesome. We even kicked it up the terrible. 3 hill we finished on. No niggling pain today.

Felt great. Started pretty comfortably with a solid group of 15-20 guys. Me and a few other brave soles went for it in the just half and started to drop the pace. Hitting the last mile off the dike trail at 6:45ish and then kicked it in. It felt so good to feel Smith and comfortable running fast. The Cedar team really has a lot of potential. #jointhemovement

Bike path narrows today. I hate that course. Slight pain on the outside of the ball of both feet.

Forgot my running shoes so I didn't run yesterday. Today was easy but I think I need new shoes my feet hurt. And my calves hurt.

Split the runs up cuz my feet so badly after the first and then did 3 in an even older pair of shoes. Surprisingly they worked. And my feet werent in half the pain they were in this morning, and that was a large step up from Saturday and Sunday. Calves are still tight. Stretched a bit. Might need a warm bath and a bit more stretching to ease the tension. This post just got long... The 3 miler in the afternoon was incredible. Besides the slight pain in my foot and slightly tight claves I've rarely felt so good. I kicked it in for fun in the last 200 meters of the hill up to my house and man, kicking's never felt so good or near as fast. Something clicked at state track.

Bridge run and then an extra 2. My feet hurt quite a bit the last 2 but the pain was nearly gone in the first 6. I'm gonna have to find another old pair of shoes for tomorrow's run. Calf tightness is pretty much gone. There's a tiny bit in my left calf. 

Tried for 7 but strained something in my foot because I was running in rather old shoes. The pain on the outside of the ball of my foot seems to be getting better. I think. But running in old shoes has caused other aches in the muscles of my feet that scare me. I really need new shoes.

P. M. Played fugitive and ran another mile.

Junkyard and then 1 mile after. My muscle strain feels more like a nerve issue than an actual muscle issue. It hardly hurt today tho my arch on my right foot seems to be displaying signs of an arch injury. The outside of the ball of my foot continues to be an issue. I really think I just need new shoes.

10k: 35:27

Utah Summer Games 10k today. First 10k. My foot killed. I could hardly run before I got to the starting line. The race was nice, very down hill with some rollers around 3-4 miles and then the canyon trail. Spent most of the first half catching guys that had started at a dead out sprint because I kinda limped my way throught the first half mile or so. By 3 miles the pain was gone. I passed the leader at mile 4. I wanted to sit back and relax more and then kick but he was dyin. Thus I took the lead and endured to the finish. Last mile hurt a ton, but that's normal. The canyon trail was crazy easy today. It's never felt that way before. So yeah, slowish time but good for second week of training.

5k: 17:08

Was shooting for 45 miles this week but I decided against it because of the double race weekend. I'm so sore. Slow race. Didn't go all out and felt fine after. So that was fun

My foot is really hurting otherwise I would've done 8. New shoes come tomorrow.

Felt great. Split into a 7 miler up home depot hill and a 3. Foot was in a lot of pain the last mile, but I get new shoes tomorrow!

In the morning I did 4 with the team. My foot wasn't agreeing with me again, but it was a solid 4 miles. Afternoon I got my new shoes. Altra instinct 2. It is the softest shoe I've ever worn. It stopped my feet from hurting but it's like my feet are eating sugar; it makes me want to run slow. They'll be good fit my feet and that's what matters right now.

Good run. I like the new shoes. We made a treaty half way through the run, and Mitchell (Germany) promptly broke it so WWII followed immediately. I (America) had to drop a nasty kick (nuke) to claim the victory for the allied troops so that was way fun. Tayson (Russia) and I might have to grind out a hard couple miles tomorrow ;) #xcisthebest #jointhemovement

Just a couple of easy miles. Small aches in the usual place at the end of both runs, although that is an improvement from last week.

I mean I think it was 10.... Idk I just ran a lot. Mostly in the trails in the cove. There aren't a ton of really good tails but it was still fun. Foot aching a little at the end of the 9.

Well that was intense. Background to the 2 runs. 5.5 hours of sleep kinda dehydrated and fried during the day today by the sun. No nap😛 

A.M. The team attempted a pace run. I was supposed to take the top group of guys out at 5:45 pace (5k pace or so for them) It really wasn't supposed to be fast, but Cole took it out at 5:30 pace and Luke kept the pace through about a mile and a bit. Coach told me I could kick it in at the mile so I went for it. Dropped a 2:20ish I think for the last half mile. 7:44 for the 1.46 course (5:18 pace). Luke was a 7:52. We had an incredible number of guys under 8:30.

P.M. Coach said I could do a 3 mile tempo on the afternoon if I was feeling up to it. I thought I was though my body had a hard time getting used to the pace. It was on the usual course and the paces for the miles were 6:17, 5:55 and hi 5:40's respectively. Didn't finish the full 3 because I was hurting too much at the end and figured a nasty kick would do more harm then good especially since it's only week 4.

Overall a solid training day. Feet just ached a little while running. No pain before or after. Dropped a 12 second 100 at the end of the cool down in the morning cuz me n Luke were screwing around.

Home depot hill today, 7 miles. Bryan came today, pushed me up the hills. 3 after. Foot still ached a bit for the first mile.

Easy 8. Was getting in the first 5 with the team so I dropped it down to 6:15. Yeah that was cool.

Easy 10. Junkyard with the team. Beasted the final 2 miles and kicked it way down. It was awesome, and hurt a lot. Foot still hurts for the first mile-ish nothing serious tho.

Easy miles. Little to no foot pain. Weights after the 5 miler in the morning. Rather sore.

Tired drained dehydrated hot hilly. All around slow and dreadful. Huge mental breakthrough at the end of it but it nearly cost me consciousness. 10.5 past Halsey's house. Probably drank a half gallon of water on the run. And that's what saved me.

Once my legs got moving this night run was incredible. I was stuck in a car for 10 of the past 24 hours and it was mostly me driving. Salt lake trip to the medical examiner (just for remembrance). Dropped below 7 minute pace for the last 2.5ish and below 6 for the last mile. And that was up main street. I was hardly breathing. Very very exciting run although my form might need improving. Foot strike and knee lift seem off. No residual effect from weights.

5 in the morning and lifting.

6 in the night. Right foot started acting up in the usual place.

6.7 easy. Cody drive. Didn't kill myself on the hill, but kicked from a mile out with Bryan and dropped a solid sub 6. Now that I think about it I probably didn't do a full mile in the 5's Monday. Another mental breakthrough and a solid run.

6.5 miles easy. Foot started to hurt the last mile.

5 in the morning 5.5 in the afternoon. Easy. Foot didn't hurt.

6.25 easy in the morning. New route on the new trail. They've killed bridge. It's so sad. Foot didn't ache and I sprinted at the end and felt good. 

7.25 first 4 was on a field while I was playing ultimate frisbee. Last 3 was up in the neighborhood around the campsite in mountain green. Finished with a 1.3 mile tempo (I think I did four of these tempo things this week) started out at 6 minute pace but the average dropped out to 5:50 by the end. 

Long run ending in a 1.6ish mile tempo. Slow pace for the first half and picked it up as the run went along. 5:34 pace for the tempo. Right foot hurt in the usual place, but the pain was gone by the end of the run. Over 70 miles this week. It was stupid jump up in mileage but it worked so I'm happy. Definitely gonna need an easy week next week and then a couple more 70's. 

Easy 10 with a 2 mile tempo with the team in the middle. No coaches so I was pretty much in charge. 6:15 average pace with Tayson.

6 miles easy with the team and then exercises and 8x100m strides. My form feels great. I can run soups fast comfortably.

3 easy

Easy 10. Slept through my alarm tho. Legs feel great.

Same as Tuesday.

Same route as last Monday. Felt awesome. Legs got tired running up the hill past canyon view and so I stopped at arctic circle for a drink. Sped up and cruised. It was awesome.

2.5 warm up. 3 mile tempo. 3 mile cool down. 2.5 after.

17:12

5:44 pace. So easy, so strong. It just so happens that's the most even split tempo run I've done. Wasn't winded at all after.

Achy from the weekend but still a great run. Hitting up to 75 this week tho I won't be going much further this year. Any more miles then this is excessive for a developing high school athlete. Spent all day with the Brysons trying to figure out the ways of the fastest.

Legs were feeling a little beaten up second of today's runs. Might of been the weight exercises we did.

Bridge run (6 miles w/ weights)

Typical Shakespeare 6 plus .5

Lots of abs

Basically the same as yesterday. Legs feel a bit beat up from work. 9 houses today. Knot in my shin at around mike 12. Running up main street at the end of the Shakespeare 6. Stretched and finished up the run without any pain.

5.5 with 6x200 at mile pace.

33

33

32 (Halsey started dead out sprinting)

33

32

29 low (Mitch sprinted all out, I ran comfortably fast)

7.25 later in Provo.

Legs are getting sluggish. The beginning of the second run was rough. End of the run was awesome. 7 flat just cruising.

11 with Jacob around Cedar Hills/Lone Peak area. 8 minute pace out and 8:30's back. Jake was hurting. Art dye run out through the canyon and back. It was really beautiful.

1 after. Legs loosened up by mile 5. Legs were tired by the end.

One day and I'll hit 75 without even really hurting. This is way cool.

Crazy day. Write more on this later.

4 Stewart falls with Rachel Jensen and Meg

14. It was only supposed to be ten but the Murdock canal trail plus the way I knew how to get to David and Carol's was 14. So I accidentally ran 80 this week. Fun.

Legs felt great. No sluggishness. I stopped thrice for water (3, 8.8, 10) cuz it was super hot. Walked up the big hill by the canyon so I could finish the run with one of my classic 1.x mile tempos. Dropped the average pace from 7:08 to 7 flat that last bit so if someone wants to do the math and tell me how fast I ran for the last 1.33 to do that I might pay them in monopoly money. Plus that pace was off because I accidentally kept my watch running during a water stop. Ran in some new running shoes tonight and my legs feel awesome. No hints of over training. No pain. This is huge.

Did the math. 5:45 average for last 1.33 closing in a 77 400 meter.

Figure I'll hit 70 and see how it feels and then decide my average for the rest of the year. So time trial and 8 with the team and then 4 after. Dike loop after.

17:06 rather slower than I could but I've had a bit of a serious cold all weekend so my legs weren't affected at all but my energy and digestive systems were all wacked up.

Still sick rough day.

Planning to do 4 more later. Independence run with sprints up the hills and 4x400 after.

6:20 up main street. A little over a mile and I was just cruising. No one was within 100 meters of me which is kinda sad.

1:07.5

1:08.0

1:07.4

1:06.2

400m jog in between. The other guys were generally about 10 seconds behind until the last one. None of these felt wonderful energy wise but my legs are feeling great.

Right foot, arch specifically stated aching on the last 4. I think it's from doing those 4's the wrong way on the track.

4 miles with the team

8x100m strides

3 miles solo.

4:25 mile in the main street mile.

2.5 miles home.

Awesome mile but the sudden mileage jump the last couple weeks and new shoes finely caught up with me. Left Achilles aches and right arch below the big toe aches as well. If it were later in the season Id push through but as it is, Im not willing to risk more serious injuries. So it's aqua jogging and barefoot grass miles for the rest of this week.

Achilles aches but its not the centralized pain it was last Thursday. I might do a few more miles today, depends on how my achilles feels.

2 miles. It hurts but I can run.

6 - dry lakes road run. 1600ft decent in three miles. It didn't hurry down the hills. Well I guess it ached a little but it seems to be getting better.

2 - extremely painful

Same achy-ness and hurt but it was getting better when I called the run.

Run to Brian Head peak. Almost pain free. Lots better. Solid run too, well until the 14 pancakes wanted out halfway up the final hill.

Rested all last weekend and I did three without pain. Things kinda started to hurt later in the day, but just a little.

1st mile pain free. Last 4, tight and painful. Met with a Chris Romney. I guess I'm out until the end of next week. No running. Taking a supplement that he gave me that helps with tendonitis. I'm getting ultrasound treatment to increase blood flow and icing and stretching after adding a bit of heat. I wish I would've had this available earlier in my career. The only problem with it is he's a chiropractor so no deep tissue massages or anything. I'm confident with the time off and rolling it out I should be good without paying the $40 and going to see Dutch Workman and having him working it out. I definitely will look into his treatment if I'm not good to go by the beginning of the week after next.

20 miles on the bike and the ultrasound treatment among other things. I'll be swimming later today.

5 miles on a bike before I blew my tire.

1 hour of swimming.

Patched the inner tube and popped out again in the first block so only 1 hour and 45 minutes of swimming. Triathlons are tempting.

Ultrasound treatment. Iced tons. 1 hour swimming 40 minutes aqua jogging. Heat and stretched.

1 hour aqua jogging, 1 hour swimming. Various and assorted things to make my injury go away and make me faster.

20 mile bike ride. Ride to canyon view. 1x800m canyon view hill sprint+1 mile fake flat hospital hill=1 rep. 4 reps. Rode home.

Easy 30. Well an intense 30. On a bike.

3 miles running. Pain somewhere between a three or a four. 20 miles after on a bike.

Tired and motivation is low. Pain between a 2 or a 3. Will do more biking later. Eccentric exercises.

Close to 15 miles. 1:03 minutes. Finally starting to get a hang of this biking thing.

Got new shoes. I figured that the altra zero drop thing was making it worse. First 3 felt pretty good. Pain was a 1-2. The last mile was a little sites tho. I would say a 3 or maybe a 4

Ran in the new New Balance Fresh Foam 980's today. I now realize that shoes wih drop CAN feel fast and awesome. Pain was a 0 to a 1. a 2.5 at worst after the workout when I was running on the grass timing the guys kick workout. No biking or swimming because of the homework load and how physically tired I am. I am in desperate need of a good nights sleep.

Paced group #2 for a three mike tempo at just under 7 minute pace. Felt relatively easy. 7:00 6:45 and 6:13 were the splits.

5 easy

4x200m @ 5k pace (37.5 average ooops)

pain mostly gone first three and then a 1-2 after

Carvel ran fast so I obviously had to best him. It felt incredible to run fast. So much happiness rn.

Pain worse. Maybe a three or a four today. Still gonna run tomorrow. Gonna have to be careful tho.

1.5 before SUU race 1.5 after

I was pretty stressed but got it under control before the race started. The first mile was great although I was hoping for more of a tight pack of 5 guys, not 5 guys in sight of each other but its improvement. At a mile I considered goin for it and latching on to that dhills group but Luke was still with me so I was just trying to drag him along. I lost contact with Luke at the bottom of the big loop and kinda kept cole the same distance away throughout the rest of the race. I just kept pushing through. Kinda kept things comfortable through the middle loop and then both Cole and I hit the last 1k hard. Passed the 2 cv kids and goggles I barely outkicked. I was pleased with the result for putting forth such a mediocre effort and not having run full distance for the past month. I think the guys can be closer for more of the race and I think I could get be up there with Nick and Nephi and them in the next couple weeks. My goals are still to get the team to a trophy finish at state and for me to learn to love xc racing. A state title would be cool too but I have to get healthy first.

No pain!!!!! Slight tinge at the very bottom of the last forever long hill but it didn't develop into anything and I felt freaking amazing.

The team did a shortened kick workout after but I cut it just in case. We were just supposed to kinda stay relaxed and together and then pick it up when we hit the hotels coming back from the left frontage road. I gradually picked up pace up the final climb and hit lap on my watch by holiday inn and timed myself back. Id already dropped everyone so it was just me cruising. 5:40 pace for the last 1.34. Completely relaxed. So easy. Proof that that race was really a cake walk for me. Ha!! I cruised a pr on that course. Big things coming if I can stay healthy.

A little over two mile warm up

6x800 course loop (actual distance about .52ish) 200 meters in between

2:42

2:37

2:35

2:33

2:32

2:26

Mile cool down

Probably pushed harder than I should've for my first workout back. The pace were awesome considering the weather (15mph with very very strong gusts). I wasn't even planning on running that fast. 2:50 to 2:40 was the goal. Slight ache in the Achilles between reps and a 2 during the cool down. Basically my whole calf was just a bit tight.

Achiness past mile 3. Felt incredible before running tho.

Blue water tank.

6x200 goal was just to stay relaxed. Achilles hurts and it scares me.

4 mile out and back tempo. I was supposed to sick with the team and do a little under 7's up and close to 6's back. I went 6:30's up (felt like a jog) and then spent the first .5 coming back with the team going 6's and then gradually dropped it down to 5:10 pace for the last quarter mile. Average about 5:30's on the way back. I feel incredibly relaxed running crazy fast. My endurance wasn't what it was before the injury and my speed isn't near what it was during track but with the cross training I was doing I can run remarkably fast relaxed. The 2+ hour bike rides helped a lot. I'm ready to go. Injury was better than yesterday.

Accidentally slept through my alarm and had to haul to get to Harris's house before the guys left. 6.25 in 40 some odd minutes. It was pretty easy and close to pain free which is good. 

2 after

7 way easy with the team

4x200m after

2 mile warm up

16:43 5kish on Dixie's course

2 mile cool down

Race started and I led the team in the good ole pìna colada (I can't spell alcoholic drinks) and started mid front pack. The first mile felt like a jog (5:40ish). The competition weeded down to Nephi and the two Dixie kids. The Dixie kids took off at the top of the first loop and Nephi went with them. I was still pretty unsure about how things were gonna play out. Thanks to a great cheering section (freshman girls and dhills runners) I decided to not let them get away from me even tho they were a pretty good distance off. Paul caught me at the bottom of the second loop and he drafted off of me as we caught the first Dixie kid to fall off pace. We made it to mile 2 in 11:30 and then coach Holt told Paul he could win it so I took that to heart and started chasing Nephi. I caught the other Dixie kid crossing in to the center of the course and I saw Nephi wasn't cresting the hills quite as quickly as he was earlier and that was a confidence booster. I caught him before the turn to the bottom of the course and got by him around the tree at the bottom. As I pushed past him before the tree, I had a flash back to the hurricane all-comers track meet and getting on Bryan for going to soon and I realized I was doing the same thing. I really had no choice. I could've attempted to slow and wait for the hills or the final straight away. It's just the fact I had the momentum then so I went for it. From then on it was a constant push to keep the lead for as long as possible. I got 400m left and realized I could win and so I sprinted and ended up winning. 5:14 last mile. That was huge.

Winning a race is a lot less elegant then I expected. I expected more careful planning and deciding when to go. It's all guts and subconscious decisions to fight through the pain.

Backwards junkyard. Legs felt pretty drained until three from the end and then things started clicking.

5x1k

2 mile warm up

3:28 (400m rest in between)
3:17
3:21
3:18
3:16
2 mile cool down

I couldn't get on to the BYU course becuase some team was on it and the track was packed. My dad and I ended up at a soccer field complex a block west of the stadium. There was a gradual uphill the last 400 meters of each repeat. The first one was pretty tiring and the second hurt a lot so I backed off and just kept things as comfortable as possible for the third and fourth and then allowed myself to feel a bit more pain on the last. I was never going close to all out. I tried to keep things as consistent and relaxed as possible. Solid workout for being on wet grass and no downhill to help out. It was way early too and it's usually hard for me to have a good early morning workout.

8.5 total

To the burgess's pool and back. 3.x tempo on the way out. Super easy. Stride felt better during the tempo than during the easy sections. Went 6:35 6:20 and 6:13 and a bit faster pace for the last half mile or so.

Harris took us on the razorback trail today. Tons of fun and that run is gorgeous. It takes all of the spring out of your stride so the way back up main street was rough. That and I had a little less than three hours of sleep last night.

I was tired and exhausted but first double digit run since July 24th. Haha kick workout. (100-200 by 20's starting at mile pace dropping to 400 pace)

27 second last 200, and I was boxed in the first 100 and had to weave through people and cones. Pretty solid.

Good warm up but I was struggling deciding on goals. I said a prayer right before that I could have the race I needed to and my my altra's came untied in the first turn. The shoes really weren't working out. They had no traction on the grass and slipped every time I took a tight turn. I gave up on Nephi cuz I simply couldn't run that today although my legs felt great. It's all good because I ended up pulling Luke to a 15:37.5 and our 1-5 split was 18 seconds. It was the race I needed to have.

7.5

8 strides

2

Started the day with what I affectionately call lead legs and finished with the lightest stride I've felt for a couple days. Good mileage day.

Warm up

4x1200m cruise intervals (tempo effort on the track)

4:24 (about 5:50 pace with the team)

4:13 (about 5:40 pace mostly by myself)

4:08 (about 5:30 pace completely solo)

4:02 (about 5:20 pace solo)

4x200m

31

30

29

27

Cool down

3 after

Fast never felt so easy. Both the 5:20 pace and the 27 was very relaxed. The 27 is especially impressive because I couldn't have gone under 29 last year without killing myself. 

7 miles

8 strides

17:30

Expected a great race. I was way confident before. I guess it's just proof that you can prepare as best as you can but its what you do in the race that counts. Struggled with the mental game around the hills. Should of preformed better.

Felt decent. Canyon view run.

Strides after

2.5ish warm up

5x4min @ 5k pace

2.5ish cool down

I was exhausted before this workout started, and I ran the warm up fast cuz Cole was chasing me. Needless to say I wasn't caught. First rep was about 5 minute pace comfortably. I wasn't using a GPS watch so I didn't know pace during. I hurt for the entire rest of the workout. Averaged a little under 5:20's for 2-5. I was frustrated but I have eaten a ton of sugar because of my birthday and I was tired and it was 20 minutes hard instead of under 16. I was just so drained.

10 miles easy. Warm up cool down etc

I've been lacking in motivation lately. Just no desire to run. It's all wrong. At least my stride felt smooth today.

Warm up

10x loose dirt hills @home depot (6x125 2x150 2x175)

Cool down

There is something off. There is something wrong. This workout was supposed to be hard, but I nearly died after. I would say 8 out of 10. 10 being hardest workout, 9 being Tuesday.

Here's the situation. Last Saturday I woke up at 5 to make it to BYU for my race. The race was pretty bad. I went to bed at around 12:30ish and woke up at 8. 7.5 hours of sleep is about average. My b-day was Sunday and I ate a ton of sugar and got to bed late (7-8 hours of sleep). Monday I was exceptionally not happy and unmotivated. Tuesday I was dead tired and killed myself during the workout. Wednesday was ok. Throughout these three days I've been unable to get myself to do homework, I've been going to bed late because of one reason or another (11pm-6am is about average), I've been sleeping through class more than normal, I haven't wanted to run, I've been a little stressed over a lot of things (band, lack of races before region, grades, etc.) and I ended Wednesday hardly being able to hold a conversation because of tiredness. So today I quit. I slept in until 11 and didn't leave the house until xc. I felt great. I was more energized than I have been in weeks, but then I could hardly finish today's workout.

From what I've gathered from listening to my body I have compound stress and compound fatigue. Each one fuels the other and I'm struggling to break the cycle because now I'm simply less tired with more unfinished homework. With homecoming this weekend and an overnighter next weekend I can't seem to find a way out of this. I need help and advice. Does anyone out there have advice because running hasn't taken so much out of me since my first attempts at high mileage before freshman year?

Got frustrated with school and skipped third and fourth. I ended up running to Kannaraville and back. So 14 then 3 on the CV xc course after.

3 mile tempo with cole and Luke to cv to watch the races. 4.5 before and after. Crazy day with homecoming and all.

Got a crazy week to catch up on. I was still feeling some residual depression at this point but things were going better.

Run 

Kick Workout

More Running

The kick workout was odd. All my paces were jacked up but I finished the full 11 reps and closed in a high 27 which is still pretty freaking fast.

Id personally like to think Garek B for todays workout. It hurt a ton and the right achilles started to flar up, but I think Im just getting over anxiety. Anxiety drains you.

Mile: 5:17 (<3:00 rest)

400: 1:08 (<2:00 rest)

400: 1:06 (5:00 rest)

Mile: 5:12 (<2:30 rest)

400: 1:07 (<2:00 rest)

400: 1:06

30 minutes aqua jogging for a cool down.

Easy day with a couple of hard hill sections. My legs were so clogged with lactic acid. 6:30 pace was honestly easier on my legs than 7 or 8 minute pace. Achilles was just weak. Didn't hurt.

I've honestly forgotten mileage for most of this week. We went running to bicentennial park and did 4x30 seconds at 5k pace or a bit faster. Did 2 after. Tiny hint of Achilles pain.

I was on edge, but excited. I ended up figuring out that I just needed to trust myself to pull through and I relaxed and tried to have fun. Race started well and I was in great position. Then I ate some grass. Foot caught on a flag fence, and I went down. I spent the rest of the race recovering from the crash and the rest cruising cuz I couldn't get myself to go after Id already thrown the race. Beat Tanner so cool. I out kicked a kid or two. It was alright.

My legs felt so incredible before. I was pumped. I was in a pack with a bumch of guys through 1.5 and then I lost the mental battle. A bunch of guys got by me and I sat between 4th and 6th most of the rest. Metal Effort=6. If I woulda been willing to hurt I probably coulda won. I just wanna hurt like I do in workouts. I WANNA RACE FASTER!!!!!!!! I know I have the potential. I talked to Coach Holt and he just basically told me to relax. I really like that guy. XC really brings out the best in people or the best people. I guess both.  My goal for this season is to learn to love xc racing. I wanna learn to push myself to the max.

Positives: I had to kick like nothing else to get a medal. I outkicked a Richfield kid for the second year straight. That one move put us in tying position with weber and we pulled out the win in total time. Congrats to the team. You guys desereve it. 

Easy 8 with the team and strides+extra miles

Ran junkyard except Logan and I connected to blue water tank in the middle. My legs have never felt so strong and fast. I was just a little tired but running fast was so easy.

2.5

3x1mile on Cedar XC course (5min rest w/ 600m jog)

5:13 (net uphill, full 1.00)

5:05 (slight net downhill, 0.98)

4:58 (slight net downhill, 0.98)

1.25 cool down

2 after

I've hit another wall of emotional drainage and depression. It was pretty bad Sunday, but I thought I was over it. I haven't had enough water and too much sugar and I was stressed about this workout. I'm not sure why I was. Overall I feel like it hurt too much for the pace, or the pace was too slow for how much it hurt. The first rep was managable, but 2 hurt and 3 killed.

8 mile run with warm up and cool down

5x1:00 fartleks with 2 minutes off at about 5k pace

4x30sec fartleks with 1 minute off at about mile pace

Legs felt good

Ran the course for awhile. Was gonna make it 8 but only ended up doing a half mile extra. My schizophrenic depression decided to kick in, made this night pretty rough.

After last night I was doubtful about my ability to preform. Warm up was normal. I felt the usual nervous legs before. I used get stressed about that but then I realized it's just a feeling and doesn't really matter. I did some of that anxiety release bilateral app thing before and it helped a ton.

Race started and I didn't get out terribly well, but my body new what pace it was capable of holding so I was a ways back. I stayed incredibly relaxed until the gate the first time and I hit a traffic jam. I managed to get to the outside and pass a bunch of people. Most of the race passed pretty easily after that. I hit 5:08 at the mile and it felt like I was jogging. 5:22 was the next .98 (probably could've worked harder there) and then about 5:00. Kick was awesome and focusing on form helped some. Considering how things have been going that was perfect. I'm right where I want to be and I'm ready to compete for those titles.

I think that the biggest achievement this race was my metality. I've taken a completely different perspective. I've gone from comparing myself to everyone else, being completely stressed out and attempting to predict who I could and couldn't beat based on times and training to being excited for racing, excited for the competion and ready to give my best and be statisfied with what I can run. I learned again that going out conservatively with an attitude of competition rather than pressure I preform better, and I actually enjoy it. 

4 mile warm up

3 mile tempo (17:00)

3 mile cool down

Tempo started rough. I was sore and tired but things loosened up half way through mile 2. Mile splits were 5:54 5:45 5:20. Proud of how relaxed I kept things and still ran fast.

Congrats to all those marathon finishers at St George today!

2.5 mile warm up

5x1k 400m jog rest

3:06 (short rep approx: 5:10 pace)

3:18 (long rep approx: 5:13 pace)

3:13 (about 1k under 5:10 pace)

3:10 (same distance approx 5:05 pace)

3:10 (same as above)

3 mile cool down

We did these on the inverted 1k course loop. The last 2 took some effort and hurt at the ends of each but nothing terrible. I feel more relaxed and a lot faster. It was an incredible workout considering it's the Monday after conference. #couchpotato #allsugardiet

Warm up

8 miles with team

4x200 @ mile pace

Cool down+extra miles+cool down strides

Ran the cross hollows loop. That run drains you no matter how slow you go so I started to hit it hard from about a half mile before Mr bubbles. I ran straight to 800 west and had to hit a crazy high gear to beat Tayson, who had turned at Mr bubbles. A solid physical and mental effort. Great confidence booster for future races and workouts.

I was exhausted from the end of quarter homework scramble but today's workout in the snow canyon area was one of the most fun workouts I've done in a while.

10 minute warm up

5x 3 min @ tempo pace + 1 min @ faster than 5k pace + 2-3 minutes recovery.

Cool down back to snow canyon high 

Region course

These fartleks were awesome. Harris let me hit the tempo slower and with the team because of the amount of fast running I've been doing and even when the guys were going 6:15 it just felt fast free and easy. I've never had so many usable gears before. Idk what the pace was like on the slightly faster than 5k section but it felt easy and I was going pretty fast if I do say so myself. Overall another solid run. I'm so excited to continue getting faster leading up to December. Its time to start competing and having the time of my life racing the best this region, state and hopefully nation has to offer.

Warm up

Easy 5.5

8 strides

Cool down w/extra miles

I've honestly never felt so fast in my entire life. After good mile or two I cruise anything from 6:15 to 10:15 without any extra effort.

Today was crazy busy. Went straight from xc to the football game to conduct the pep band. I have been seriously lacking in sleep. Thank goodness for a 100% completely free weekend.

Warm up

10x cresting Chevron hills (a little over a 200)

Cool down+extra mileage

I was so tired by 4th period I was *this* close to not going to xc today (imagine fingers held close together). The warm up was cus. I was a solid 400m behind the varsity guys. I was unmotivated and tired and I had a large mental block against running fast. I hit the first one in 44. After that things generally stayed between 36-39 depending on how ambitious I was feeling. I ended up going 36 and a low 34 (4:30 pace) on the final two. The hills gave me the kick I needed to get out of that mindset. Overall another solid workout. Interestingly enough I felt the best in the final half mile, I started really cruisin.

7.65 with team

All-american diner :D

3 after.... a long time after

Again I felt the best in the final 3. Legs were tired but I still felt incredible from 8-10.

5 easy with the team

8 strides

2 after

I prepared well in the 24hrs leading up to it but I was a basket case before then. I left less important things (Halsey) get in the way of running. I hardly slept or ate all weekend. I was pumped for region before then but Friday I crashed. I got out terribly and I was getting jostled pretty badly. I hit the bottom of the course and I knew the pace was either crazy fast or I was dying. I passed people the whole race but it hurt so much. I'm glad I'm mentally strong enough to not completely implode when the going gets rough. Oh and it was freaking hot and its been cold in cedar. Trying to get refocused for state. I'm doing the best I can.

It was crazy windy today so Harris picked us up at the Carl's junior. 6 miles with the wind at our backs. I was still pretty tired, but overall doing better. I don't remember if we did strides so it might be closer to 8 total.

2 after.

Seven mile run with the team. Legs felt ok but never great. I could still run fast but I had a mental block against pain. My body's still trying to protect itself after the mental stress and abuse from last weekend. 

Strides

1 after, maybe a bit more

Odd workout today, but it's peaking season.

1200: 3:49 (400m jog rest ≈ 5:00 rest)

400: 67 (2:00 rest)

400: 67 (600m full recovery + Harris speech)

1200: 3:42 (full recovery)

400: 67 (2:00 rest)

400: 63 

Long cool down

It was a pain in the butt to get my legs moving this morning. They were so cold and 5:20 felt way fast, but I forced them into gear and I started hitting it pretty well. The last 400 was probably too hard for the workouts purposes but I wanted to get my legs moving. Instead of hitting an extra set I'm doing my classic tempo tomorrow. Things are starting to get a lot better. For all of you young men out there attempting to do something with your life, forget girls for a nice long while and achieve your dreams. Remember your priorities people.

3 mile tempo: 17:41 

GPS free. I'm alright with it because I went completely off of feel. I felt great I'm getting over my girl issues. Pumped for state. I'm ready to fly.

I figure I'll wanna look back on the build up to state so I'm blogging today.

I felt the best I've felt mentally and emotionally since my birthday last night. I was so free and happy. I was pumped for state and life was of so good. It was like I was normal again. I haven't felt normal since before the crash.

I woke up with anxiety this morning. It was kind of inexplicable because I didn't have anything to be stressed about. Things still feel really good and the stress is pretty much give now. Body's primed and ready to rock. So pumped rn. 

Mile Warm-up

2x800@tempo pace (full recovery)

1x800@race pace

800m jog

4x200@mile pace(ish)

800m cool down

2 extra

From what I can remember the splits were pretty solid. I was dreaming of a good race. Still very excited. I spent too much time in front of a screen relaxing and got a little cranky, but overall the days I spent in prep for state were some of the best days of my life. No joke.

4 up around memory grove and the state capital. I worshiped the Indian so tradition lives on. Life was prime other than a minor distraction of Halsey. Just minor. Things may have become a wee bit too much focused on the finish and not so much on just enjoying the race, but overall life was prime.

So here is my narrative for the week.

Pre Race: I woke up with the guys at around seven. I was hoping for a little later, but the thermostat was broken and I could hardly sleep in the super bed all night. After eating my traditional canned fruit for breakfast (I had my peaches and toast the morning before), I realized the hotel did not carry the cereal that records are made of, frosted flakes. Thus I had to go on adventure to several gas stations around salt lake to find the breakfast that all pr's are fueled off of. I did find my frosted flakes, and paid a solid $2 for them. Pr's aren't cheap. Anyways, we partyed to some mariachi music (puerto rican gypsy), had an epic rubber band war, and made some coffee. The coffee was not drunk. I had a blast and life was prime. We got to the course, and I was set to make history. I watched a bit of the girls race, and warmed up (i.e. found a bathroom that didn't have a line, it took over 2 miles of running) and headed to the start. I was all the right kinds of nervous. I was set.

Mile 1: Gun goes off and things start out as usual. I get shoved to mid-pack, Luke's ahead of me and I make the first choice to move up.  I headed up the first hill and laughed at all the people wearing spikes because spikeless saucony's are so much more legit. I hit the top of the hill and realized I was in oxygen debt and I had a flash back to wasatch (not a good flash back). I quickly regained composure and focused on that allowing myself to relax at the mediocre pace in the pack. I passed a bunch of kids, elbowed a pv kid (sorry, well I mean you did kinda take out Luke at region so we're all good) and eventually found my way up to dhills. I tried really hard not to, but I kinda lost control of form down that first hill, plus weaving in and out of kids on that plateau was not really all that smart. I was still a ways back and I hit The Hill comfortably and passed a bunch of kids cuz hills are bae. I latched on to Josh and Kale and Spencer. (5:15 split?)

Mile 2: This is where I had the most fun I've ever had at a state race. I had a few moments coming off of The Hill that I was totally and completely focused. It was incredible. Again my tactics were weak because I was never content to just sit on Kale and Josh. I found myself going just enough faster or slower that I burned a lot of energy passing or being passed. I moved up well through The Exterminator but I could feel my arms go (not a good sign, bad races happen when I lose my arms). I lost the mental battle right before mile two. I remember the exact moment. Josh had already slipped by a second, and then Kale went by me and I lost my focus, my drive.

Mile 3: It became all about that finish line, counting down the meters. Mr. Mayonnaise, Sage and Mr. Bear passed me and I was just dying. In the perfect race (1600m state track, cedar xc, 2.5 in to dixie xc) I am blasted by the pain but I retain a curtain amount of mental focus to carry me, on pace, preferably past people, to the finish line. I just didn't have that perfect race. On the upside, at 2.5 miles Harris was at The Critical Junction as usual and he told me something ridiculous like to pass 3 people. It was then I regained enough mental composure to pull my race out of the depths of despair and into pure pain mode. I love pure pain mode. It turns my masochist side on. I caught Mr. Mayo and Sage and we battled it out once we entered the stadium. Unfortunately, my unbeatable kick was beatable that day and I went from a possible 16:07 and 7th to a 16:09 and 10th.

Negative Take Away: I didn't have my perfect race that I'd planned and prepared so hard for leading up to it. I believe that with that perfect race I could've gone 15:40's, maybe even faster. That's a little disappointing. I couldn't have prepared any better than I did. I did absolutely everything in my power leading up to that race to have the race I'd dreamed of all season and went it came to crunch time I slipped for 800m. Who knows what made the difference between me and my time vs Josh and his time or Mr. Stansbury and his time. 

Positive Take Away: In every respect this race was a miracle. Take a look at my logs in July, I had just hit my first 80 mile week and ran a 4:25 mile. An unprecedented injury occurred of surprising strength taking nearly a month of solid training out of what was shaping up to be a huge break out season (not that this year hasn't been). After recovering and getting back on track with a victory at Dixie I ran into even more difficulties. I struggled for a month with serious depression. I'm not trying to draw attention to myself, but to be perfectly honest, I hit lows that no one should ever be expected feel. The strange thing is, yet again, these struggles were basically uncalled for. There was no real reason to feel the way I did and yet I struggled. The point is, with the help of the Lord, I managed to pull off the fastest time in Cedar High history, a 10th place finish in the fastest 3A race ever,  and have one of the best weeks of my life after spending a month of my summer injured and another month depressed. I couldn't ask for more. I am as pleased as anyone with my performance.

Future: My workouts indicate that I'm in for a pretty solid jump in performance sometime here. I am planning on pushing the limits of what's possible through the next 3 weeks building up to NXR and then attempting the impossible and qualifying for nationals. I may be attending Footlocker 2 weeks after or maybe NXN or maybe just rest we'll see how these next 3 weeks of the purest form of pain go :D

Wonderful run. Legs loosened well. Good refelction time down past SUU and back.

It was a tad bit more than 8 but its whatevs. Legs took awhile to loosen but overall things are good.

Attempted a personal creation of a workout I've named The Shower Workout.

3x(1 mile@tempo+400@race pace) 3 minutes rest between sets.

So this was REALLY hard because I've eaten terribly and slept little since state. A man has to relax sometimes. Thus, I only did 2 sets :P

Set 1:

6:05

1:15

Set 2:

5:45

1:20

Clearly I was dying. 5:20 pace at the end of an interval is remarkably slow for me. I called it cuz my legs were toast and my coach was hesitant to let me workout so close after state. I'm trying to not be a stupid teenage runner.

5 with the team. Extended dikes. Pretty fast. Sub 7:10's. 

4.75 on my own.  Extended alleys. 8's. Not that I cared. I just don't enjoy hitting anything faster than 7:30's on an easy day. I mean I can and have been able to for years; I just don't think there's any reason to.

Probably the best workout thus far.

6xSUU grass loop @ goal 5k race pace (.6, .2 rest or about 3 minutes)

3:05

3:04

3:03

3:01

3:01

3:00

6x200 @ mile pace (1 minute rest)

35

33

33

33

33

33

It was absolutely incredible 3 minutes=5 minute pace so I was cooking. I hit between 2:30 and 2:33 at the half mile mark on all of these. I negative split the entire workout. The coolest part is I never felt like I was killing myself to hit a certain time, rather I felt like I was running a race. It legitimately felt like race pace. On top of that I did 3.6 miles and I felt pretty dang good all the way through. I wasn't struggling on the 5th or 6th. To make this workout literally perfect I hit 5 straight perfectly paced 200's after forcing my body into pace just once. The fast felt incredible. I would of kept going had I not had been having some minor cramping. The cool down was cut short because of diet mistakes during lunch (3 bananas). Never ran so fast so easily. I've come so far, I honestly believe I'm living my dream.

If you haven't seen my state recap you should go check it out. I would call it my fast running blog master piece. I'm rather proud of it. 

Extended new alleys (not a fan)

8 strides

Traditional 3

Wanted to run slowly but no one would so I hung in the back with Logan and Jensen. Quad cramped really badly climbing out of sheep tunnels. The run actually started out really fun and got really stupid. I was bored and tired. Hopefully the legs feel a bit better tomorrow. 

2 mile warm up

6x400 (lap jog rest) @ Mile Pace or a bit slow + 6x200 (half lap rest) @ Mile pace or a bit faster

400's

73.0

67.7

66.6

68.0

66.7

63.7

200's

32.6

33.2

32.5

30.7

31.4

28.6

3 Cool Down

I was a little concerned leading up to this workout. My legs haven't been feeling great. I'm feeling the higher miles. Seems ridiculous since I've done some really high stuff but after two months of barely 50, 60's hurts. In terms of this workout I'm incredibly impressed. The 73 is no joke. Harris told me to do the first one comfortable so I did, and I was mad so I sped up. I'm gonna be hitting a mile time trial in a week so this was some good pace work. The best part of this workout: I never went to my knees, even on the 1:03. I never hit that serious oxygen debt that I'm so acquainted with. The second best part: I never strained. I was never really comfortable running fast, but the 1:03 wasn't straining and kicking. It was one split. It was doable and reasonable. 

I don't know what it is, but I'm sitting here jamming out to some chill hip-hop and just enjoying life. Things are so great. XC banquet today. Things came off nearly perfectly. That with a cafe rio dinner is perfection. My legs feel great. I'm loving life. I'm living my dream.

7 with the team. We made it 1.7ish up the c trail before I got worried about the guys and decided to turn around. We made up past 7000ft. (Our track is 5900). It was way fun

3 after. Legs are doing better than expected after the climb. 

Embarrassing frankly. Saides and 60 mile an hour winds prevented me from doing literally anything. Not homework, not running, not eating, nothing. Saides was pretty alright but other than that it was one tough day. 

8 with the team round canyon view. 

2 solo. 

Freaking cold

2.75 Warm up

3x1 mile w/ 4minutes rest

5:18

5:13

5:09

3 miles

It was cold and my legs thought that 5:30 pace was 5k pace. I was just way tired and my stomach was unhappy. I need to get more sleep. I was gonna hit some mile pace stuff after but my body was so toasty dead. On the cool down, my form was absolutely incredible. Everything just felt so smooth.

7 mile with the up and around the hill/cove area

2, 3, 4, 3, 2 w/ 1 minutes rest

33

48

66

50

33

2 mile cool down

The 7 miles was waaaaay fun and the intervals were fast but not smooth enough. Things felt good, form was great on the cool down again.

7 easy with the team

3 easy plus strides in track spikes

Legs feel awesome. Achy but awesome. Pumped for tomorrow's time trial. 

1.5 mile warm up

4:35.9

6 for a cool down

Went 67, 69, 67, 71. Honestly I probably would have pr'd in a race but kicking is so hard solo. Impressed with the time considering it was solo at 6000 ft. Tempo/long run tomorrow. 

1.5 mile warm up

5.5 mile tempo

3.25 home

Rumor has it I ran 5:30 pace for the tempo, but my gps watch was toast so I can neither confirm not deny that fact. Whatever it was it was fast and I felt awesome. Calf cramped after I finished though. I'm gonna need to get it loosened up before Tuesday's workout. 

Jesse Falls today. Fun run, went all the way back in the cave lightless. That was cool. Calves kill. Massaged, did a warm jetted tub, and stretched. Hopefully things are feeling better tomorrow.

Postponing the East High workout until tomorrow, just to make sure the calves are full strength. 

6.5 with team (reverse dikes+shortened college)

3.5 on suu's grass field. 

2.75 workout

East High Workout (ran course continuously, started next rep where last trip left off)

5:13

1:09

1:09

5:19

1:15

1:05

3 mile cool down

The miles were both long and very much uphill. Like legit uphill. Ach. I had to kill myself on that second mile. Legs felt remarkably good, but the cold was terrible and made this workout very difficult, it being the first terribly cold day. Mitchell bet me in the last 400. Frustrating. 

Figure I'd keep it short today.

1 hour adventure run \ discovery park tag

8 strides

2 mile warm up

10:15 3200m time trial

6.25 after

Solo effort with wind and cold. Davidson paced me on a bike. Breathing got shallow and sporadic during 5 to 6. My breathing got back on for the last two laps and I closed on pace and kicked really well. Didn't hurt too much. I felt good. Legs are doing well. 

Miles for warm up

20 minute tempo

Miles later today

Ran around. Stopped for bathroom and after the tempo. Things ached pretty badly on the second run, but things loosened up later.

Ran bridge and threw snow balls. It was pretty chill.

8 strides

2.5

1.5 mile warm up

800 @ tempo pace

2:40

800 @ race pace

2:32

4x400 @ fast (mileish pace)

67

68

68

68

2 miles extra

I honestly can't remember which cool down I did. I can remember the workout. Things flowed incredibly well. Especially on that tempo section, I hit a very comfortable gear and cruised, really coasted, a time that would've killed me just a season ago. 

Made a new run. I call it sketch west. We ran through all the sketchy places on the west side of main street. It was legit. 

Mile extra+4 strides

Legs are starting to flow really well. I am absolutely stronger than I have ever been. Training has paid off big time. 

New dikes, slightly shortened

4x200

29 mid

29.5

29.0

29.1

2 extra

Didn't finish in a 27 like the other guys, but after strides or intervals every day my legs were tired of that speedy stuff. Things were pretty achy until the final .5 of the extra run and then things started to feel really good. Found out I actually got in to the championship race. So stoked. It's time to go race with the best the southwest has to offer. 

Well it's been a week since this run, but I have to stick with the blog. We ran the nxrsw course and the other guys started burning it. I hung back with Harris and we talked. The drive was fun. Oh, and Harris and I almost got nailed by a stray golf ball. Dang golfers can't keep it on the fairway. At the hotel I got some strides and drills in. The town was creepy, but I enjoyed it. No power, no food, no problem.

Ah. Here goes nothing. Not my best work, but this is more for personal rememberance than public enjoyment.

PreRace: I was excited. I prepared pretty well and the legs got feeling good on the course preview the previous day. Our hotel was in eloy and it was sketchyas it gets. A semi ran into one of the telephone polls. We had no wifi, or telephone, or even power. Slept well, ate well (frosted flakes), prepared mentally, it was a pretty normal pre-awesome race routine. Things were good. Legs felt solid on the warm up, execeptionally good for so early in the run, although I was a tad impatient and started a little too soon. The pre-race stuff for the race was pretty legit too. I got my name announced and I talked a little with the guys in my box. I was pretty seriously prepared.

Race: The race went out so crazy fast. I was in dead last after 10 steps. I tried to follow the race plan and stayed as relaxed as possible while ignoring the fact there was a solid 100 meters of guys in front of me already. I found Cubby and Josh and Sage a little before the mile, which was good. First mile was about 5:05 although results say a bit slower. That shouldn't hace been a problem considering I've hit that pace consistently since state without a problem. For whatever reason I hit the mile and I was hurting a bit and I got concerned. Josh pulled away around here and Cubby slipped back. I knew I was slowing down (or at least not running as fast as I needed to). I did everything I could to push it like I had planned to. I expeted to feel like I did at state, a desire to just fly or even just the ability to start pushing it, but it wasn't clicking. I stopped passing and Sage stayed a little ways ahead. I came through the 2 mile and I was exhausted. Pace had slipped to 5:20 or a little faster, which isn't bad for the average 3 mile at elevation and thick grass, but this was Nike. I was on short golf course grass with the best in the region at low elevation, and I didn't have what I had had in most workouts since state. I stayed focus because that was the one goal I could still achieve, and that was the one thing I failed at at state. With .5 to go things came back a little and I tried to pull things together. In the end I didn't get outkicked, finished 135 and ran 16:23. It wasn't what I had wanted, and based on what my coach thought I should've been sub 16 at least. On the upside I beat Cubby for the first time, but I feel bad that he ran poorly. Workouts had been going so well, and its sad to have a relatively mediocre performance to show for it.

The rest of my thoughts: The cool down was nice. I had a nice chat with some of my box buddies. The ride home was long, but enjoyable. Honestly, when I finished I was glad I didn't have to race again. I figure I've raced a least once a month (April was more like 15 times) since January and I'm drained. I've got big goals for track, and I'm pumped to start building mileage again and doing wights and such, but I'm so toasty dead right now. My legs are battered, my mind is exhauste. School has gone downhill lately. I need to finally replace all those friendsh I lost to graduation last year. It's time for running to take a back seat for a little while. 

Good bye, for now, Fast Running Blog world. I will be back when running calls to me again.

Let's go. Time to go. Time to fly. I'm ready to go compete. I'm so excited. Track is my favorite.

Logged about 30 miles over the break. Honestly, it was easier coming back than ever before. I noticed a pretty decent drop in endurance, but other than that the legs have been doing incredibly.

My memories going. I honestly don't remember anything about this run. I think I hit up some of my favorite trails again.

Bridge. Legs felt good. Sub-7 pace on the way back.

Did some pre-planning for my Christmas day run. Planned for a short tempo on Dikes. Fun run.

Christmas Day! Gorgeous day. Lots of snow. Ran dikes through a bunch of snow. 6 inches on the trail. Conquered king dike in the snow. Awesome run. Really fun. The snow makes every thing so beautiful.

Too cold. Too icy. I wanted six but 3.5 I did was dangerous enough. I wanna run in st. geezy. I need trails. I hate snowy roads, but love snowy trails.

Classic 6 through SUU and back. Legs were tired. It was icy. Dehdryated. 

Basically my life consists of cereal, Netflix, a few hours of sleep, and one run. I love it.

Goals for next week: Couple 8 milers, 40+ miles total, 1 tempo, run more comfortably

Got bored and ran a 5 flat mile on a bike path and then ran home.