The Shadow Racer

Weights this morning. Did a little back but mostly biked to try to loosen the legs up. 6 (ish) around Webb Hill today. Still in a little pain but much better! My trainers are just absolutely no good anymore, so I ran in some old volleyball shoes. Not great but still better than my exhausted Mizunos. Ran with Gianna and Coach. 8:26/mile. A lot slower than I want but I gotta be patient and let myself heal. Had our "Wonderful Wednesday" today with Dallin, Taylor, Gianna, Brianna, Staci, and me. Dallin's sister made us Creme Brule and we picnicked in the back of the school. GOOD TIMES!

Two mile warm up followed by a one mile time trial. I was so excited to be only 2 seconds off my PR when we haven't done any speedwork yet and I wasn't going all out. Plus, I was wearing basketball shorts. I think I could be able to do the 2 mile at that pace in a real race. Gotta re-evaluate my goals now and keep working hard! 1 mile cool down bare foot on the turf. 

Woke up feeling really sick this morning. I stayed home all day Sunday being sick, and it hit me again today! I didn't go to weights, but they couldn't get into the weight room anyway, so I don't feel too bad :). Still went to practice. Ran to Yesco and back. 4 miles, Gary died again but the pace felt honest. I'm in desperate need of new shoes!!!! I'm still running in the volleyball ones. Coach said they look like shoes I should be painting or something in...not running in. They still suck but feel much better than my trainers! (They had over 700 miles on them...they were only supposed to last for 300 or 400!)

Still feeling kinda crappy. Thought I should rest today so that I don't drag this out another week. Hate missing runs, but this was probably best this time.

6 miles at 8:26. Out toward Bloomington on the dirt. Running by myself through the tunnel and everything is pretty sketchy sometimes!

Extension of Webb Hill plus a lap on the track to make it a full 6. 8:23/mile.

Bloomington Loop. 8:36/mile. The pattern I've noticed is that I lag a little bit after I hit 5, but these long runs will help fix that!

Trail run in Bloomington. Ran with Darian and had a lot of fun!

Easy 4. Brigham thought we'd be funny and turn around a little early to trick Darian, I love watching her get annoyed with us..well mostly with him! I got new shoes last night, they feel much better. Can't go wrong with Mizunos!

Debated running today since we had planned a long hike for our Preference Day Date, but I'm glad I did! I love running in the mornings, it gets me in the zone for some reason. 7 mile Church Loop (In front of Summit, past my Church, up River Road to 2450 and back home). 8:13/mile.  The hike went well, but I fell a lot because the trail was pretty icy in places! Darian did the same thing. We're pretty bruised! I've got a massive headache from one of my falls!

Today was kind of a weird day because our school schedule was messed up. For the most part, we all kinda did our own thing. I looped through Bloomington Hills, around Circle Park, Down Bloomington Hills Drive to Mr. D's, through Painted Desert, and back to the school. 8:32/mile. My shoes were driving me crazy, I had to stop in the middle and retie them because I did them way too tight and my feet got numb. It rained for the last half mile of my run, I love rain!!!

3 this morning with Coach and Darian. Right before we got back to the school, I wasn't watching where I was going and a tree branch totally ate my face. Good times.

 7 miles this afternoon.  Down to Webb Hill, 4x800 Hill repeats, and back to school. Felt good but definitely drained me. 5:52 to qualify for BYU in the 1600. I WILL do it, I'm not giving myself a choice. I need something cool like that to make up for the disappointing end to my XC Season with not making it to State and getting really sick at Nike.

Weights this morning. I was feeling pretty exhausted and couldn't lift much, so eventually I just ran the warm up route, did some dynamic stretches, and stretched a little more.

GREAT RUN THIS AFTERNOON!! I was surprised at how well I did after such a hard day yesterday.  Went down Bloomington Hills Drive onto River Road, across the bridge, then hooked onto the bike trail just before Riverside drive. Looped around Webb Hill, then did one lap on the track to get the full 8 in.  8:38/mile.  Probably the most mentally tough I've been since the season officially ended in October.  The rain always makes things feel more intense, too!  Me, Taylor, and Brianna went to Brianna's house to make sandwiches and cookies for wonderful Wednesday. Such a blast! All in all, it's been quite a great day.

Easy 3 in the morning with Darian, Coach, David, and Ginge.  I lagged behind a little for the last half, just trying to keep it easy. Felt pretty good.  It was super foggy this morning, I was surprised to drive to the school safely!  My right arch had been bugging me, but I rolled it out with a tennis ball last night and it felt fine today.

Afternoon Trail Run at the Bloomington BLM. 7 with Darian at 8:37/mile.  I felt pretty good and we had lots of fun! There was randomly a cow out there...

Weights got canceled this morning. I thought about going for an easy run by myself, but I think that a recovery morning was best for me! 4 this afternoon to YESCO and back.  Didn't bring Gary with me, but the pace felt pretty honest. I was really sore, which taught be a good lesson because last night was the only night this week that I didn't stretch or roll out my legs before bed.  Guess that what I'm doing is actually helping!

Went on a run after work today. Glad I saved it for the afternoon, because I really needed to unwind after a pretty crappy day of working. Ran from my house to the Chapel on 900 S. and back home for a total of 7 miles. Kept the first 6 nice and easy at 8:23/mile, then pushed the last mile and hit 6:48. Not quite what I was shooting for for the mile, but not bad considering the 6 mile warm-up and extreme pain in my calves! I'll just have to push a little harder next Saturday.

I'd been planning to begin a temporary job next week, but decided not to at the last minute.  For some reason I just felt sick about it! It would have required me to leave practice at 4:30 every day for three weeks, though, and now that I quit I'm realizing it wouldn't have been worth it! I'm getting enough hours at the Sno Shack to put gas in my car anyway. I'm making that 5:52 a priority!

Couldn't help but extend my morning run a little--the weather is BEAutiful!  Nice and easy run up to the farm fence on 2450 and back home.  When I was stretching in my room after, I was looking at a little stand in my room where I keep all of my medals and cards and bibs from my best races.  I noticed one with a 5K time of 23:27 and I was like why did I put that there?? And then I looked closer and saw that it was my State time Sophomore year. I was SO proud of that time back them. I almost got emotional thinking back to how far I've come. It's been worth every mile. 

Hiked around with my dad and little brother for awhile today, lots of fun! When we got back, I rode my bike to Little Valley Park for a change of scenery.  Total of 6 miles, random places for the first 3, then for the last 3 I ran the old Sophomore Year Region Course. Almost TOO many memories! Guess I'm just feeling sentimental today (big surprise). The run felt great, I just kinda got myself in a daze. 8:30/mile. Rode back home with the sun setting behind me. WONDERFUL DAY OFF!

No run or weights this morning...extra sleep felt good.

Track Season officially started this afternoon!!! I was honestly dreading it because I hate the chaos of boy-crazy freshman and the annoying sprinters. Warm ups took an hour!  But after that it wasn't bad! We did an easy 2 mile run to Hidden Valley, 5 200s with 200 recovery, 1 800 with an 800 recovery, and a 2 mile cool down. Hit the 200s at :43 and the 800 at 2:55 which actually really surprised me because it felt slower!

3 miles to the Spectrum. Ran with Josh McPhie and felt great!

Another variation on the Webb Hill extension. My hamstrings were a little tight, but I  felt pretty good! Not gonna lie though, there was one incline where I had to really fight the temptation to walk. Made it all the way, though! 8:27/mile. Weights after. 

First big speed workout of the season! 5x2 minutes hard with 2 minute recovery, 5x1 minute hard with 1 minute recovery, 5x30 seconds hard with 30 seconds recovery. One mile warm up and cool down.  It was hard to really get the legs moving like that again! Practically killed me, but I endured it pretty well.  I'll admit that it was slightly discouraging, though, because I'd be practically dying on some of the sprints and realize I was barely going at my mile pace if not slower.

Easy three along the Spectrum with Coach and Josh. I was pretty exhausted from staying out late last night at the Girl's Basketball game, so I just listened to them talk. Legs felt good, though!

 Easy 4 to YESCO and back. Yesterday I was driving down the freeway and saw a billboard that finally made me realize that YESCO is a sign company...I'd always wondered. I wasn't super tight, but very tired feeling! Probably a combination of lack of sleep and our first hard speed workout.  8:40/mile.

Ran up to Monica Olds's house and back. I really did not want to run tonight but am glad I brought myself to.  I ran without my Garmin and just kinda got in a daze. The sun set while I ran and it was just perfect! I need to do relaxed runs like this more often.  I've gotten so caught up in pacing, distance, mile times, and beating certain people that I've forgotten that I truly love running. Glad tonight helped remind me!

Easy three this morning. I was pretty far behind the main group, but they were going fast and I've got my easy morning pace and I just stuck with it! Felt really good. I could not fall asleep last night for some reason, but I don't feel too tired today..yet!

6 this afternoon on a Webb Hill Extension, plus a lap around the school to hit the full 6.  Ran with Coach and shared Special Ed stories, it's always easier to keep a good pace when you're a little distracted! 7:53/mile. Weights after.

No practice this morning, loved the extra rest!

Total of 7 this afternoon: 2 mile warm up, 3 thousands plus a 200 recovery, and a 3 mile cool down (supposed to be 2, but I wanted to hit 7 for the day since that's the mileage on the website!)  Hit the thousands at 3:57, 3:56, and 3:56. Coach had me shooting for 4:17, so I'm pretty dang proud of myself. He told me it looks like I might be "flirting" with a 5:40 5:45 mile time...I hope he's right!! But really, as long as it's under 5:52 so I qualify for BYU, I don't care too much, my focus is the 3200 m, I need to remember that!

Easy three with Darian this morning. Spectrum and back. I'm a little sore which surprises me because yesterday didn't feel too hard!

Seven out along the strip today.  Felt pretty good, but started to die off during the last two miles. I realized after the run that I didn't eat a 4th Period snack like usual, so maybe that explains it. 8:40/mile. Ran the first two with a few of the girls, then they turned around and Gianna stuck with me for another mile or so. Finished it off on my own. Weights after.