Well I didn't think I'd make it this far....

AM: No school on a Friday has got to be the best invention ever. I went on a nice 6 miles on my own.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/278982967

PM: I couldn't meet up with the group for a run, so I went for 8 on my own. I did the Magna run from my house.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/280607716

AM: This morning we met for a speed workout at the Oval. We warmed up 8 laps, then four speed changes, then Chris and I did a recovery lap, followed by another lap to not have to sit and wait for everyone. Our workout today was 5X1000. I was hitting two mile pace for these, so all of them just over 3:00, gauging off a 9:40 two mile. We had recovery back to the start of these, so about 350 meters. I hit 3:04, 3:05, 3:02, 3:03, 3:01. There was an ice skating race going on and consequently a ton of people in lane one on a good portion of the track, as well as these annoying bleacher things set up at opposite corners which took up three lanes, so with the tremendous amount of weaving and dodging we all had to do, Bill said at least a 2 second cushion for all of them. Overall a very solid workout with some good times. I didn't think I would be able to hit this workout too well since I'm super sick, but it ended up being a great workout. I was going to hit 100 this week, but I was too sick to run later in the day, so I left it at a measly 95 miles. Boo.

On the bright side, I had to leave work early cause I was coughing and sneezing so much :) Who knew people don't want sick people making their pizza?

AM: I was still a little too sick to meet up with Bill and Chris, who decided to run particularly early this morning, so I slept in and ran later in the morning. It was raining for the whole run, so I wore a waterproof jacket over everything, which made me uncomfortably hot during my run. I decided to take it super easy since my head was throbbing at the beginning of the run and just go at whatever pace felt easy and comfortable. I didn't look at my Garmin at all until I finished, and I averaged 6:40's for the run. A pleasant surprise to the pace I thought I was going, roughly a minute slower. I'm glad this 10 miler is starting to get faster, it means my XC endurance is coming back! Ah, brings me back to the warm, summer days :')

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/280607708

PM: I went for an easy 6 miles before work. About the same average as this morning.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/280607700

AM: Went for an easy four after first period. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/280607696

PM: Today was our first time running on our track this season! We ran to the track from the commons and did a mile warm up and speed changes, then Chris and I did another half mile cause we were so far ahead. Then we went over to the asphalt hill and did ten of those. Once we all finished that, we went up to 1900 E and across that to 2100 S. We turned into the road at the East end of the park, and went the opposite way around to the West exit, then went down to 1300 E and then back to the school for 11.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/280607692

AM: There was no school today because of all the juniors taking the ACT, and Natalie happened to be in SL today, so I met up with her for a run. We met at SHP and did the Cemetery Run with one lap in the cemetery, then a road lap back at SHP for almost exactly 8 to the cars. After we had some Noodles :)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/280890861

PM: We met at Liberty in the afternoon for workout, just as Ben was finishing his! We did a sidewalk lap warm up, then two sidewalk laps of 30 sec on/30 sec off, then we did two perimeter laps and added some to get to 8 for the afternoon. Easy-ish workout. Time trial tomorrow!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/280975342

AM: Went for an easy three mile shakeout on my own

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/281311947

PM: Today was our time trial! The events of the day were the 100, 400, and 1600. We were all required to do two each, so I obviously did the 1600 and the 400. After we got our team warm up, stretches, and drills done the milers started to warm up. Chris and I did two miles warm up, and a mile speed changes.After some waiting for the 100's to be over, we put on our spikes and went over to the line for the 1600. My original plan for this was to go out in around a 65, then keep the middle two lap consistent and under 70,  and then just finish with whatever I had left for what I figured to be around 4:35ish. But there was a nasty head wind today, and it became apparent to me that a 4:35 would be tough. So instead I just went for 4:40 or below. Also, I didn't start my watch when I thought I had, so I have no exact splits. I believe I took it out in 66, then hit a 2:15 800 (69), and I was surprisingly on pace for a good mile. I thought that I was holding my pace down well, but my 1200 was 3:30 (75, oops), and my overall time was 4:41 (71). I was feeling tired by the last lap, and the brutal wind right on the finishing straight wasn't helping. The third lap annoys me. It felt like I was holding my pace down well, but I slowed down a ton. Plus, I didn't kick as fast as I would have liked. Oh well. It's a good time for just running by myself, anyway. After that I did a little over 1.5 miles in my spikes before I did the 400. It felt slow, mainly because of the wind. I have no idea what my time was though. Then after we wrapped everything up, Bill and I went for a six mile run to get in the miles.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/281311935

AM: Went on an easy three on my own this morning. It's starting to warm up :)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/281637829

PM: Today has had it's ups and downs, but overall a good day. We did our usual City Creek run, and back along South Temple. Sarah stayed with Garek and I all the way to City Creek, where we stopped to wait for Bill, John, and Dakota to catch up. Then Sarah and Bill went up the canyon to get in some more miles, and the guys and I went back the usual route for 10. Sarah is staying with me longer every day! She kept up with me all the way to the fountain, which has a LOT of uphill on the way there. Somebody is following in the footsteps of a certain BYU runner.... ;)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/281637824

OH yeah, I was in the paper today :)

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/tribpreps/55947790-190/gutierrez-east-track-students.html.csp

AM: Went four on my own.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/282910424

PM: Today we met at the track for practice. After everyone split, distance did 8X K-Hill, and then we went for a run. We ran to Fairmont, where we did ten strides in the field, then staircased down to Liberty, and went around the park back up the school. That was 8.5 plus the 1.5 from warm up and hills for 10.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/282910370

AM: Today we met at the Oval for speed. We did four laps and stretched while everyone was arriving. Then we did another four laps warm up and then four laps of speed changes, afterwhich I did two laps recovery. Then we changed shoes and did another lap before starting the workout. Speed today was 6 X 800 at 2:20-2:22 with a lap recovery for Chris and I. When I heard my times, I thought I had this workout in the bad easily, but that wasn't the case. I took the first one out too slow(74), so I had to really pick it up the second lap(69) and still ran slow (2:23.9). The next one I made sure to run pretty even splits, and hit 2:21. After this one I was hurting a lot more than I expected to be. 2:20 didn't sound that fast, but running speed at the end of a 100 mile week has it's downfalls. After this one, I prepared for this workout to really suck, and just bit the bullet. The next four were 2:21, 2:19, 2:18, 2:18. Surprisingly, the third hurt the worst, and I decided to stop focusing on hitting splits after that because they were throwing me off, and I just started pushing the whole rep. Not only did they get a little faster, but they also started to hurt less. The second half felt a lot better than the first half. At least I learned something from this workout... After I did six laps cool down for 10.5 miles for the day. 100 miles this week! :)

AM: After forgetting about Daylight Saving Time this morning, and being severely thrown off my usual Sunday routine, I got around to running. It was a beautiful spring morning, still a little cold, but once I warmed up, and I had to take off my sweater and leave it on the lawn as I passed my house. It felt awesome to just run in a shirt and shorts again. Spring is here, which means that Summer is that much closer :) I did my usual 10 mile loop and as usual, didn't worry about pace or even look at my watch until I finished. 6:34 avg

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/282910318

PM: After work I went for an easy four miles in the dark.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/283449138

AM: Today was a late start so I was able to get in my run before I left for school, AND sleep in. It was a quarter too long.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/283449132

PM: It was a long time before we finally got going with practice. There was a lot of finalizing of paper work and setting up the rail around the track, then voting for captains. After what seemed like an eternity, we got on our workout. We did two miles warm up, then did 10X 1min on/.1 min off on the track, which made it seem longer than usual, then a mile cool down. After that Chris and I added grass laps until I was at 8.75 for the afternoon. I would have liked to get in another mile or two, but it was getting really late and my stomach was hurting cause I was so hungry. So I just left it at 13 for the day.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/283449118

AM: Went on an easy six on my own.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/284123062

PM: Today was our first meet of the season, despite it being just a practice meet. I didn't even know if I was running at all, seeing as neither Brighton or Judge has any guys for even some of our  mid Varsity to race. But, I ended up doing the mile and 800. After two miles warm up and a mile speed changes, I raced. It felt like our time trial last week. I just took it out in a 65, I believe, and then I think my third lap was a 71, and the rest were 70's. It was an okay time for me pushing myself, but it definitely didn't feel like an actual race. After that I ran around some more, helped run the meet a bit, then warmed up again for the 800. John took it out in a 60, and I hit 61. Then on the next lap I passed him with 300 to go and hit a 2:05. Technically, this is a PR. Even though I have despised the 800 as long as I have been a runner, I kind of would like to race it now, on fresh legs, just to see how fast I could run it, seeing as I only ever run the 800 on already beat-up legs. But, if I didn't, that'd be fine :) After that Chris and I ran around a lot more, then went on a short cool down outside the track, and then came back and finished some more mileage and helped put stuff away. I believe my afternoon total was 9.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/284123056

AM: Went on an easy four after first period. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/284123052

PM: After some barefoot 'X' strides on the field, distance went out for our run. We did the Red Butte run all the way to the fence, then back down and to the school the Legacy Bridge way. Once at the track we added a mile to get to 10.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/284123044

AM: Went for an easy six on my own.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/284453144

PM: After we got stretches and drills done, distance did a mile warm up, two miles speed changes, then we practiced hand-offs for the meet this Friday/Saturday. We did 4X400 at 75% of race pace, or about 80's. These were mainly just to open up stride and get in some good hand-offs. I was fast jogging the whole time, and I would throw in a little sprint towards the last 20ish meters, just to pick up speed and simulate the baton pass a little more closely. I was handing off to Chris. While he did his 400, I would recover, and vice versa. After that, he and I went to the gulley because there was shade and some cooler air for cool down, and added some more at the track for 8.5. It was actually hot today! I'm so glad winter is over :')

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/284453142

Later PM: I had some spare time later in the evening, and it was such a beautiful afternoon, that I went for another run. Plus, I need the miles! I did my four mile loop, just as the sun was setting. It felt amazing!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/284453136

AM: Since later today I would be at the Cougar Relays, I went for a longer run in the morning. I did 8 miles after first period. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/284765186

PM: Today was the first day of the Cougar Relays. Only Frosh/Sophs ran today, so I just tagged along to cheer/hang out. Once there, I did two miles with Chris and John to shake out. Then I watched some race, and did another two miles cool down with Dakota, Chris, John, and Garek. After that, I sat around some more and did some cheering, and then went for a small run to finish miles for the day. I was feeling pretty good during the short run. I did a little over 5 at about a 6:20 average, with hills. Then I got back and waited until everyone finished their races before the team left. I excited for tomorrow!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/284765182

After arriving, I got started with warm up and did 2 miles. Then I went to put the spikes in my shoes, and right then they called the 3200 boys to the bullpen. I hurried over there and got some more warm up and strides past the bullpen. It quickly became apparent to me that this was going to be a race against myself. I'm getting tired of having to push on my own :/ Anyway, Bill told me to hold 70's as long as I could. It was an okay race. A good time for just pushing myself and for being a such high miles, but I definitely feel like I'm ready to go a lot faster. I can't wait for the Davis Supermeet! I did two miles cool down with Chris and once I got back, found out I was placed in the 4X800. So I warmed up again and did that with Dakota, Mo, and John. I think I ran a 2:09-:10. I was definitely feeling the miles during that. Not long after that, I did the 4X1600 with Dakota, Chris, and John. I was excited for this one because there were a few sub 4:40 guys to face off against, but in the bullpen, they splits it into two heats, and as luck would have it, I was placed in one heat, and the sub 4:40 guys were all in the other heat.Great. I think I went like 4:43 in that, and I was exhausted after. On the bright side, that mile was my 100th mile! So I cooled down to my stuff, and headed home. I am really excited for this next week. I'm coming down in miles for the first time in a month!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/285172709

AM: This morning, Bill and Chris came over to my house so they could do my ten mile loop with me. We did the run at an easy pace. It was nice for a change to have someone with me on this run. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/285775606

PM: Went for an easy five after work. Warmer weather come back :(

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/285874055

AM: Went for an easy four on my own.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/286025912

PM: Today at practice the guys did something different from the girls. Tomorrow is the girls day of the Supermeet, so they all did some easy stuff, and the guys went for an hour run. We went four miles straight up Emigration, then back down. Chris and I kept the pace nice and relaxed.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/286228894

AM: Went for an easy six after first period this morning. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/286579818

PM: The girls were at the Supermeet today, so it was just guys at practice. It felt weird.... Plus, some of the guys went to the meet anyway, and so there wasn't very many guys at practice in the first place. Anyway, the sprinter guys did their workout, and the distance guys did our workout. We did two miles warm up, two miles of speed changes, and a mile cool down. Chris and I went out and back a mile on the Shriner run for warm up, and then did grass laps for our cool down. Tomorrow is the first REAL race of the season!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/286579810

AM: Went for a quick two mile shakeout. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/286937405

PM: We got to the meet and after some walking around and killing time, Chris and I went for a two mile shakeout. We had plenty of time before our race still, so I just relaxed by the stuff and watched races. It was raining off/on the whole meet, and the wind was really shifty. At times it would be pretty strong, and other times the air was perfectly still. When it came time, we went for a mile warm up, then did 20 sec on/40 sec off to simulate speed changes, and went in the field to do strides before the race. I got the new Nike Victory 2 spikes, and I am excited to try them out. We started and I didn't get the best position off the line. I was in lane two for the first three laps. We were hitting very consistent 70-71's though. On the fourth lap I made a tiny surge past one kid who was right in front of me and making me sit in lane 2. After that, I had a nice spot running in outer lane 1 right behind Brayden and Alex, and Preston was running next to me on the inside. I was relying on the Davis guys to push the pace and hit good splits, so that I would just have to keep contact, but they weren't running as fast as I expected. I wanted the mile to be really close to 4:40, but we hit a 4:46-47. The race remained unchanged for the next lap or so, and with about 1000 meters to go, there was movement. Preston had fallen off, Alex was slipping, and some kid from Riverton I've never seen before moved past me. With two laps to go, Riverton dude, whose name is Brady apparently, started to fight Brayden for the lead, and thus they picked it up. By this time, we had started lapping people too. With 650 I slipped off them a bit, and I just couldn't catch back up to them. They gapped me by a bit, probably about 20 meters or so, and I just finished the last lap with what I had. I ended up 4 seconds behind Brayden, and 8 seconds from Brady.

     I have mixed emotions about this race. I did really well until the last 650 meters, and I feel like I could have stuck on them the next lap if I just stayed focused. Also, this race didn't have the level of competition I was expecting. I figured there would be fast Davis guys as well as other fast individuals, but no dice. Still, it was a good field. I also didn't feel as fresh as I thought I would. I have tapered a tiny bit, but I've been at high miles a long time. The biggest disappointment was with my time. I really wanted a low 9:30 or even better. Oh well. I'll take a PR any day. I cooled down 2 miles after my race. Now, I have to recover, because we have Pineview on Friday!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/286937399

AM: It snowed all morning so I waited until the end of second period to see if I could catch the snow at it's mildest. With about 20 minutes left the snow stopped almost entirely and the sun even came out. I quickly seized me chance and changed into my running clothes. It took me probably four minutes to change and get outside. By the time I was outside, the snow had come back worse than ever - it was practically a whiteout. Lovely. I managed to not run in bad snow storm all winter and thought I was in the clear by now, but Utah thought otherwise. I got four miles in at a quick pace and was late to third. Fortunately, that class is also practically a free period :)

Boo. My garmin is being weird and not uploading new activities. 

PM: After the normal warm up, stretches, and drills, we all got started with what we had to do. The few of us going to PV tomorrow did 1.5 warm up, 1.5 speed changes, two progressive 300's which I hit in 42, and another mile cool down. Then I changed assuming we were done, and when I walked back out of the locker room, I was told to practice hand offs. So I did them barefoot in skinny jeans. PV tomorrow!!

AM: Went on a 2 mile shakeout run before heading down to St George for the race.

PM: We made a few bathroom stops on the way down, but we assumed we had time since the girls would all go first. Well we got to the race and found out that they were doing the seeded girls and then the seeded boys, followed by the rest of the heats of both. So I was very limited with warmup time. I hurried and changed, then got on the track for two quick miles. The weather was magnificent. Just the right amount of heat and a little windy, although I didn't notice the wind in my race. I finished the two miles, and brought my spikes and water to the inside of the field. They had just started the girls, so I spiked up and got going with strides and a few drills. They eventually lined us up and after some waiting at the line, they finally started us.

        I got an okay start. There was quite a bit of jostling and elbowing for the first whole lap, and I just stuck to the inside for the majority of it. I could tell we were going slow. When we hit the finishing straight of the first lap, a few guys moved around, and I scooted out to lane two, sitting right on the guy in front of me. There was probably 5-6 guys in front of me. I believe we hit the first lap in 71 or close to it. I actually don't remember any exact splits after that. Neither my coach or my team mates remembered them... That's how you know the race got intense :)

        Coming off the first curve of the second lap, Ben made a move, I'm guessing because he was boxed in where he was at, and moved into the lead. I saw him moving and moved with him. Once Ben got to the front, he slowed down again. The move I made carried me into the lead, right next to him. For a second I debated what to do next: run in the lead with him, or take the lead and push the pace. I knew the majority of the fast guys in the race were closers, and if I sat in the lead with Ben, the pace would have been slow and I would have just gotten out kicked by a ton of guys. So, I took the lead and didn't necessarily surge, as much as just increase the pace. I had taken the lead by the 600, and lead until 1200. The whole time Ben was a stride behind me, and everyone sat on him.

       I knew there was going to be at least Ben and Jake who would move at 400, but I was expecting 3-4 guys to move with them. On the gun lap, Ben, Jake, and a kid I've never seen before called Talem from Wasatch High, moved past me. I tried moving with them, and was more successful than I usually am at moving with guys passing me, but they were still slowly pulling away. A little before 200 meters to go, Kramer caught and passed me. I worked on closing on him on the curve, and on the final stretch manged to pull out a good kick and pass him back finishing fourth.

       Overall, a good race and a PR by 7 seconds :) I sort of just ended up in the lead, and making the bold move to lead it ended up being a smart choice. Especially against a field full of closers. This race gave the confidence I needed to not be afraid of leading, and to know that I am strong enough to set a fast pace. In short: be more aggressive. I was also surprised with my kick. I've already raced this week, and wasn't really feeling that fresh before the race.

       After I went for a cool down run with Ben through the surrounding neighborhoods. That was about four miles. We mainly talked about school and certain classes. We are practically the same person academically, so it was a nice conversation. We came back to the track for water, and I stayed to watch our guys race while he went off for more cool down. All four of us ended up PRing, which was awesome. Then after we all raced, we went out for our run. I remember the run from last year more than my race. This year was cold compared to last year. After six miles, we got some food and then headed back up to SL. Running of the Leopards tomorrow morning!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/287928469

AM: I woke up and saw that it was snowing. Such an unpleasant difference from the weather yesterday :( I was lagging all morning, and got to the race pretty late. By the time I got off the shuttle at the start line, I had about 6 minutes to find who ever had my bib number, and warm up. My entire warm up was probably 4-6 slow, icy strides. The entire course was icy. They started the race about five minutes late, but when they finally started us, I took it out hard like Bill said, just to see what other fast guys there were in the field. No one went with me, so I new I knew I'd be by myself for this 5k.

      I was not feeling as fresh for this race as I did last year. My legs felt heavy and my breathing was off. My watch has been stupid lately, so I had to reboot it, and I forgot to go in and have it lap me, so I don't know any of my splits. With the last stretch of flat, I'm guessing my first mile was somewhere just under 4:40. I hit the turn onto Arapeen, and held the most consistent pace I could up the hill. I believe the slowest I saw my pace go was about 5:08. Pretty soon I got to the flat and then the downhill, and brought my pace to under 4:50 again. I turned back onto Sunnyside and did my best to lean forward and use the downhill as efficiently as I could. This is the final stretch to the track, so I made it a point to push there. The sharp turn into the track was really icy and I had to slow down a lot to not slip. I got on the track and finished as strongly as I could. My watch said 15:03 but the timer next to the finish said 14:58. I was really hoping that my watch was off and the timer was right, but as usual my Garmin was right :/

       Overall a good race, I think. Considering the bad running conditions, and how tired I was, I had an okay race. I really would have liked to see my time under 15 flat, but oh well. Downhill isn't my strength, and I feel like I ran it well in the course. After sitting around forever for awards and freezing half to death, Bill, Sarah, Chris, and I went for a cool down to the cemetery, where we did 2 laps, and Chris and I went back to the track while Bill and Sarah added more.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/287928426

    Oh, one last thing. I've run this race all four years of high school now. I think it's interesting to reflect on past years and where I was then. My times from 9th to 12th grade have been 23:23, 18:54, 15:51, and 15:03. Those numbers speak for themselves.

AM: I met up with Bill and Chris at the river trail on 5300 S for a long run. Chris and I were going 15 and Bill was going 20, so we did 7.5 out and back and then Bill just continued on for another 2.5 miles and back on the south part of the trail after we got back to the cars. When we started, we warmed up for 2 miles and then started 30X(1 min on/1 min off). Every third rep, Chris and I would turn and recover the opposite direction to meet back up with Bill. I believe our turn around was at about the 18th or so rep. The on was supposed to be at around 80%, which ended being about 5:20's most of the time. We averaged 6:43 for the whole run, and I believe our average for just the fartlek portion was in the 6:15-6:20 range. The on's weren't really that hard to hit, and the fartlek made the 15 miles go by pretty fast. Still, I felt drained by the time we finished. Because of so much turning and running back, we hit 15 with a little over a quarter mile left before the parking lot, so Chris and I just walked back. I had my protein shake once I got home. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/288650049

AM: Went on an easy four this morning. Felt great, 6:25 avg.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/289013523

PM: After the usual track stuff, we did our Avenues hill run. We ran down 1300 E to South Temple, then regrouped at T street. They were pretty easy until we passed the cemetery, where they get a lot steeper. After we finished on 11th ave, we ran back to East the usual Shriner route. I was feeling pretty tired today. I felt amazing on my morning run, but at practice that energy was gone. It was the tired I can only best describe as my legs feeling hollow. I don't think I realized until now how hard the run yesterday really was. That was a lot of time running at a fast pace. When we got back, Chris, Sarah, and I did a grass lap while everyone else got back. Then we did our 2 progressive 300's. I had to chase down John. I nearly caught him on the first one and that made me move a lot faster, but I don't think he went as hard as he should have. My times were 41 and 43. Then we did one grass lap to get to 8.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/289013517

AM: Went on an easy four miles. These mornings runs have been at a quicker pace lately... 6:30 avg

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/289377968

PM: After the usual track stuff, we warmed up a mile and then a mile speed changes, and changes shoes for speed. 3X1200 with a lap recovery, and 6X200 fast, with a half lap recovery back to the start. My goal times for the 1200's was 3:30. I wanted to make sure I didn't go too hard on the first one, so I took it out in 70, and then came back with (69,69) for a 3:28. I recovered the lap and then jogged about another 150 meters out to the group and back. Next one was 3:30, in all 70's. Same recovery, then the last one, in 70, 70, 69 for 3:29. I tried to close with a faster lap, and for the most part was successful. To think of it positively, all I had to do was run one more 70 and I could have hit 4:40 miles! Another lap recovery and then we did the 200's. We were supposed to run these as if we were kicking in a race, so they would be quick. I hit 27, 28, 29, 29, 27, 27. John would pull away a bit right off the start, then with about 120 to go I would work to close on him and finish a half stride behind him. It was nice to be able to catch up to someone in workout. Then I did another lap in my flats, changed shoes and did some cool down to be at 9.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/289377966

AM: I decided to go for a longer run this morning to cushion my mile. I originally planned for 6, but went a little far when I added some of the Shriner run, so I hit 6.5

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/289725633

PM: After the usual track stuff, distance went over to the gulley and did three laps. The fence is closed off again >:( so we had to do figure eights in the gulley to substitute for a full lap. I think we ended up running a little more than three laps. Then we met over at the white tree at Sunnyside, were we did three sets of arm swings, then ten strides across the soccer fields, and then back to the track and we added a two mile loop down by East towards Judge, and back for 8.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/289725622

AM: Went for an easy four on my own.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/290080067

PM: After track stuff got done, distance went up to Sunnyside for a fartlek workout. We did a lap around the park and back to the white tree for warm up, then after some arm swings, did 10X(90sec on/90sec off) around our usual soccer field loop. Most of my on's were in the 4:50 range, just depending on how much hill I got in the rep. A lot of them were in the low 4:40's :) Afterwards, we did another lap around the park and went back to the track, where I added a grass lap to get to 8.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/290080056

AM: Went for an easy four on my own.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/291544596

PM: Today we had the usual day before race workout. We did two miles warm up, two miles speed changes, and two miles cool down. UVU Invite tomorrow!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/291544585

AM/PM: This was the longest I have ever been at a track meet in my life. We got to UVU at 8 am and didn't leave until 8:30 pm. What was worse was I was only running the 3200, which was the second to last event of the day, so I got to sit around in the hot sun for over ten hours until my race! At least I got to work on my tan while I waited ;) (except now I look like I'm a different ethnicity....)

      Anyway, the race. I went for a two mile shakeout in the morning part of the meet, and then sat around until my race came along. After a quick run to the store for some much needed food, we got back and Chris and I started warming up. We got two miles in, then another mile of speed changes we did in the parking lot. We got to the bullpen just in time to be seeded and then we had to wait for another 15 or so minutes once on the infield of the track to actually start. I got in a good amount of strides and then we all lined up. I was seeded #3, so I was in lane two. We started and I got out really well. I didn't have to sprint to get good position and just wound up in the front. They started us in two alleys, so after the first curve the other alley of guys merged with us. Two guys went out hard and settled right ahead of me, so I stuck on them. I honestly didn't feel like we were going that fast, but I could hear that we were gapping the group behind us. We came through in a 69 first lap, which was slow if anything. I passed the first guy ahead of me, and then by 600 meters had passed the guy in the lead. I knew those two guys would fall off, but I didn't think I would break away from the pack this early on.

      I took the lead and came through the 800 in 2:19, which was a perfect split. My goal for this race was just to hold 70's for as long as I could. At this point, I knew that I wasn't just going out too hard, so I started to push the pace and try to extend my lead. I forget what my third lap split was, but my mile was 4:40. Again, right on. So far, this race was going unusually well. I think it was in the fifth lap that I took a glance back, and saw that I had about 30 meters on the pack. I know I shouldn't look back, but I just couldn't help it! I looked back again during the seventh (I think) lap, and had extended my lead to about 40 or so meters. I just focused on keeping a solid pace the rest of the race, and finished with as fast of a last lap as I could. It's really hard to kick with no one around. I know that my last lap was a 70, so laps 5-7 were slower. I know I can push those laps a lot harder if there were people with or ahead of me. That was the only bummer with this race. I had to push the pace on my own again, but fortunately, I won't have this problem much longer... especially not at Arcadia :) But all in all, a good race. It's against the runner's code to be unhappy with a PR, you know!

      Afterwards, I did two miles cool down before we finally left the meet. By the time we got home I was absolutely exhausted, mainly from just being in the sun all day and not doing anything, and I passed out. I woke up the next morning and realized that I needed four more to hit my miles >:(   Boo. I hate not hitting my miles. 86 is such an uneven number :/

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/291544569

AM: Woke up to an unbelievably beautiful morning. Sunny and no wind! It was one of those mornings that you can't wait to get out there and run :) This was also the first time in awhile that I've done my 10 mile loop by myself. It went by quickly and I felt great! Just a great start to my day. 6:22 avg.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/291544529