Life Liberty and the Pursuit of a Shiny Gold Medal

It's been a year. It's been one year since I last blogged. I'll admit it. I'm not where I expected or wanted to be. No mission call. No scholarship. No state title. No girl friend. Ah... It's the life. 

Now, where to begin.

This run was pretty tough. It was hot, and I started out redlining it from the first step. It's okay though. I backed off and jogged Alley's Loop. 

8 min pace, not bad for day 1.

Jumping up and down after.

Life story part 1: After struggling through junior season of track on depression meds, I gradually went off of them. I got injured in the second week of xc because I jumped in too fast and tried working 10 hr days. I gave up on work and just tried to live happy. Sadly, I largely failed. I did better than I did the summer before junior year, but I still ended up unhappy and stressed out 90% of the time. I still managed to go into xc with more fitness than I'd ever had, but my lack of mental energy showed in races. When I was able to calm down and race, I did very well. That really only happened a time or two though. The rest of the time I either ran stupid or broke down mid-race.

Got up and went to practice today. It was awesome. I am human. It was hard, but I did it without busting a gut.

7:04 pace, very good for day 2

Weights after.

Life story part 2: Then things went up hill fast. Well state and region were super duper awful. My team only did as well as I did. There's no I in team, but the results don't lie; if I did well, the team did well. We were the best team in Cedar High School History, and we came up way short. We struggled so much. Then, I changed. I got my Faith in God back. I got my fire back. I got my thing going. Then, I ran the race of my life. I ran a 1:12 half marathon at Snow Canyon and took 5th. I averaged the same pace per mile at the half distance that I did at state. I struggled the last 2-3 miles, but my 5:15 average for the first 7 miles was very very legit. I even passed people the whole race. 

I got up early today because I was working for a guy in my ward. Big college. Jogged 8:35 pace for a little over the first mile and then dropped it to 6:40's for the final 3. I was feeling pretty legit. I am super fit, and it's week 1.

7:10 avergae pace, not bad for day 1.

Life story part 3: After falling for the wrong girl and getting my wisdom surgically removed from my upper face, I got my mojo back doing some intense track training. I started into hurdle training, plyos and weights. I was training 20 hrs a week. I wasn't running a massive amount of miles, and my tempos weren't jaw dropping at first like they were in xc, but my speed was fantastic. I was so ready, so pumped for track. I totally wrecked Sage in a 1200 and that was cool.

Independance loop. Started out slower and even cut a corner. Ah. Who am I? Then I took a long cut and my brother got way out ahead of me and so I started going very close to tempo pace. Then I went faster than tempo pace. Then I caught him. Brennon caught up too and we kind of jogged the next couple miles. Then as we approached Corry's house from North Main, we all started to go. I slayed. It was awesome.

7:05 average pace. Not even hard. Not even a gut buster. Week 1 and I'm as fit as I was in mid-July last year.

Life story part 4: Track started well. Then things started to go south. It was kind of like exponential decay. I gradually accelerated farther and farther from where I wanted to be. It got to the point I was running 5 min miles in a 1600. Then I relearned Faith in Christ and what it was to act in faith. I learned how to use my agency to put myself out there and run hard. Then I had three of the sweetest meets of my life. I won my heat in the 3200 at BYU. I won my heat in the medley at BYU. I won the 3200 at Region despite immense heat. I qualified in the 800 by time and place in the final meet. I took 3rd and pr'd in the 1600 at state. The race was awesome despite the lack of a jaw dropping result. Unfotrunately, I did not run the medley. I may've taken state because my buddy Luke was an idiot and went out in a 54 and only lost by .0something. The 3200 at state was heartbreaking, but it was the best effort, mentality and racing I'd ever done in a 32. It was perfect, but for some unknown reason I locked up and ran a 1:30 last lap. It just makes me sick to even think about it. I came so close. I came oh so close to a state title, a school record, a pr and at the very least a spot on a college team. It's not that I was too tired. I was never in serious oxygen debt, yet my arms and legs locked up and my brain shut off. Truly one of the most harrowing experiences of my lifes. I was defeated but still ran a very easy 800. Easiest 800 I've ever run and finished out my high school career beating my two favorite d-hills dudes ;) thanks for letting me win that time guys.

7:15 pace, not bad for working 5 hours before hand, being 90+ degrees and having already partaken of lunch.

Nellie's loop. It was hot, and I was feeling sick to my stomach but what's new.

5th and final story of my life: The moral of the story is God always has to come first. Actually, let me rephrase that. You always come first, and the most important part of "you" is your relationship with God. Then you need to concern yourself with finding the source of happiness in your life, and I guarantee it won't be found in being more self concerned. That sounds backwards, but those who know what it is to be truly joyful know that it can only reliably come through selflessness and true love. No joking guys, love saves lives. 

On a more tangible note, I was more fit last season than perhaps some of my results showed but that's often been the case for me. The important thing is that I raced happy, I lived happy, I worked happy. I ran stronger in those final weeks and had more fitness than I ever had. That is the only real battle, our personal improvement. Oh did I ever improve. Some of my track workouts, man, I had a hard time believing just how incredible they were. Big things came from it too. The best part is, God gave me one more season #BYUBound #onemoretime 

Harder-ish trail run. It was actually really nice to be back out in the world. It was slow, though. 8 min pace or there abouts.

I should lift later today.

Went on a date and hiked 4+ miles. It was beautiful. 

Thanks to all who appreciated my ramblings. I'm sure there will be more to come some day ;)