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

AM: After my last class I went for an easy run on my own. I went out 2.5 miles and back on Carterville. Then after some lunch, and took my first exam!

PM: For workout today, we ran over to the Lake loop for our tempo. After regrouping at the usual spot, having some pretty interesting conversations about Breaking Bad on our way there, we went to the van and put on our flats and got some water. The workout for the traveling squad was a 6 mile tempo with 60 sec recovery at half way, so you could say it was 2X3 mile with little recovery. Those of us racing at SUU this Friday, as well as 880 guys, and fat camp, did the regular Lake Loop tempo. We had a governor of 5:15 for the first two miles, and then after that my goal was to run the loop faster than the first time I did it. 

     We came through the first mile in about 5:11, so a bit fast, but coach liked the rhythm we had going, then we hit 10:23 at two miles. Here we turned onto the little road, and the group split. I broke away with Doolin, Nick, Jon, JZ, and Trevor. We strung out a bit more over the next mile, and I hit 3 miles in 15:32. Here Doolin had some confusion and thought we were stopping for 60 sec rest, so Jon, Nick,and I passed him. Jon started to slowly pull away from me for a bit, then we stayed that much apart until we turned back onto the finishing stretch of road. Right around where the last little hill in the road comes, Doolin caught me, and finished maybe 4 seconds ahead of me, with Jon a little bit ahead of him. Finished in 25:41, or 5:16 pace. 

     Happy with the workout. I got my goal, I finished in 26:10 last time, so almost a 30 second improvement. My pace was also a lot better. I had a good pace going up until mile 3.5, though, and I would have liked to stay on it more than I did. I shouldn't have let Jon gap me, I don't know why I just let him go without trying to go with him. At least that's something to work on for next time!

     We went back over to the van, got some water, then Coach talked a bit, then we headed back to the locker room. I hit 11 when we got to the track offices. Then after that, we lifted and did DB bench, PVC squats, distance jumps, bar squats with the bar extended over our heads, and lat pulls. After that we went over to the training room and stretched, then I took a 15 minute ice bath. I'm almost not sore at all after weights now!

AM: I went over to the locker room after my last class for my usual short morning run, and I saw Tommy there. He was going ten, and I had plenty of time, so I hopped in on ten with him. We had some really good conversation going for the run, so it flew by! Long Carterville, then we added around the tennis courts and in the back door of the locker room. 6:34 avg

PM: I met up with the guys at practice for a run. I joined the 8 mile group and we did medium Cartervile for 8.5 miles. It's been awhile since I've had one of these higher mileage days! 6:37 avg

AM: Easy four in the moring right after my last class.

PM: There was a workout today, but those racing on Friday weren't doing it. I'm so sad I missed 5XMile at Kiwanis :) We ran to Kiwanis and I did two laps with the guys warming up for the workout. Then everyone not doing the workout ran the loop backwards during the first repeat and we cheered the guys on. After that Nick, Briggs, and I ran up to the North side of Kiwanis and then over by New Heritage, and then down the street to University Ave, then back to the locker room where we hit 6.6.

AM: The race isn't until the afternoon, so I went for a shakeout this morning. I saw a few guys in the locker room right as I was going to run, and they thought I was crazy for running the day of a race. Anyway, I went out a mile and a half on Carterville, then I came back to the locker room, grabbed my old matumbos, and went over to the indoor track for some strides. I did 4X80 meter strides, focusing on turnover and arms. I was felt really good on those. 

Early PM: We headed out to SUU, and stopped on this random road and took a bunch of pictures like half way. We stopped for some food, but I packed myself some raspberry jelly sandwiches, and some snack, so I just had that. It ended up really working for the race.

PM: We got to the course and made our racing jerseys. Fat Camp baby! They ended up being really cool. It was really insanely windy and sort of cold, augmented by the wind, so I wore a long sleeve, a running sweater, and my hoodie. We dropped off our stuff by the line, then did the course once. It was a loop around a golf course, full of rolling hills. The race was 6k, which was three loops. The worst part is that there is a steep, gravel uphill, that leads onto this downhill dirt road, that was almost like concrete, so that wasn't fun in spikes. After one lap around, we sat around some more, I spiked by spikes, then we went for another lap warm up, and after a potty break, I did a little more warm up, then put on my spikes, and did some drills and finally strides. Then we all went over to the line, did a few more strides, prayer and cheer, and lined up. I took off all my stuff right before toeing the line. 

My goal for this race was just to go out really conservatively, and move up during the race to where I should be. I went out too hard at the Autumn Classic, and that brought down my race. During the warm up, I was feeling pretty flat. Like I wasn't just about to race. The wind and cold I think just put me in that mentality. 

The gun went off, and there was a lot of jostling because the course narrows pretty fast. I just stayed out of trouble, and was maybe in the top 25. I stayed in the bulk of the pack, and drafted as best I could for that whole first lap. I wanted to make a move right around the steep uphill, but I told myself not to panic, and I stayed right around top 20 until the first lap passed. After the first lap, I made a move on the long, gradual uphill, which happens to be the longest stretch of the loop. I passed a bunch of guys there, and caught the chase pack, then moved past them and starting closing on the lead pack. I caught them when we turned and started heading over to the gravel uphill. I stuck on the tails of the lead pack for the rest of that lap, which consisted of two UVU guys, Nate Jewkes, and Nick. On the third lap. Nate pulled away, and a UVU guy fell back. I passed him, then went up the gravel hill for the last time, but he caught me on the downhill road part, and from there we just kicked it in to the finish. I finished 5th in 19:50.

Overall I'd say this was the first time I have been happy with a race this cross season. I stuck to my plan, executed it when I had to, and it payed off. I think this race gave me some confidence for my next goal, and I know what I have to do to keep improving. 

Our team also did really well. Had the BYU Unattached team been scored, we would have won the meet! So that was cool.

Afterwards Coached talked to us a bit, and then we took some pictures with our Fat Camp jerseys on, and we did some cool down. I did two laps and change for a total of 10.5 miles. I felt pretty good for just having raced hard!

AM: Met up with some guys at 7:30 to get in our long run. We went 7.5 up the canyon and back, at a nice, steady pace. Luckily, I was running with Lil Jon, Tracy, Trevor, and Alaska, so we kept the pace pretty relaxed, which is what I'm used to. We started slower, and picked it up as we went long, but never really past 6:20's or so. 6:40 average overall. It was cold when we started, but enjoyable cold, not miserable, why-am-I-running-outside cold. Tights weather is upon us!

AM: I'm back in SL this weekend, so I met up with Bill, Dakota, and Chris for a run at Cottonwood Complex. We ran the Region course, then we went over to nameless hill, did that four times, then went over to Bessie and ran that twice until the finish. Then we ran around the softball diamond two more times for 5.5 miles, and went to breakfast.

AM: I went for a run on my own after my last class. I went up to Kiwanis, did a lap around the loop, then ran up to Seven Peaks, past that to the next neighorhood where I hit 4 miles, then went back to the locker room the way I came. I felt really crappy for some reason. 

PM: At practice, we had a big group, and we were joined by Coach and Batty. Once we got to the light, some guys went medium Carterville, and I went with the group doing long Carterville. We ran into the grils doing their tempo, so they were actually moving a little bit faster than us. We finished 10 miles in 6:39 avg

AM: I went for a run after my last class. I just did 2 mile out and back on Carterville. I felt much better than on my morning run yesterday.

PM: We warmed up to Kiwanis, dropped our shoes at the tree, then did a lap warm up, and after a potty break, I came back to the tree, put on my spikes, and did some strides. The workout was 3X2 mile. I wasn't feeling particularly bad or good before the workout, which is normal. Our goal for the first one was 10:10, and from there just keeping them as close to that as possible. 

This is without a doubt my least favorite workout. The reps are long and they hurt, but more like a tiring hurt. I'm not super winded after them, but I just couldn't get myself moving quite like speed intervals, but I also never quite found a rythmn like in a tempo. Maybe it was just the day.

The first one, I just started out behind Nick and Doolin. I hit a 5:04 mile, and then finished in 10:15. My time was a little slow, but still good. I felt like for as hard as I pushed it should have been faster though. I was feeling heavy and clunky during this workout, maybe because of some fries I had with my lunch. I didn't feel full when I was warming up, but during the workout I felt insanely full. After good recovery, we started the next one. This one hurt even more. I hit the mile in 5:07, and then finished in 10:20. I was not feeling good at all, and tried making myself throwup to see if that would help me at all, but no luck, so my stomach wasn't upset at all. I pushed it pretty hard on that one and my time was even slower, so I asked Coach if I could do a mile on this last one. He said that was totally fine. So I did a mile and hit a 5:09, and still felt like I pushed way too hard for that time. After everyone finished, we did 4Xcorner strides focusing on arms, then we cooled down a lap and back to the locker room for 10.

I'm disappointed with this workout. My times weren't awful, and actually I was in the front of the group the whole time, but I still feel like I had so much more in me, and I just couldn't get it done during workout. I feel like hitting 10:10's would have been a tough, but manageable workout at Kiwanis. Obviously I'm mad at myself for, for lack of a better word, wussing out of the last rep, but I just felt so off. Another aspect that added to my overall disapointment, is the fact that I was allowed to wimp out. In high school, I would have been told to suck it up and push through it, or make myself puke and finish the workout, both of which I have done before. I think I was expecting Coach to respond the way Bill would and convince me that I had it in me to finish, instead of just forcing myself to push through. Hmm. Maybe this is just a sign that I'm maturing as a runner. When others stop telling you where your limit is, and you decided that for yourself. Well, that's one more workout done with, and I guess they can't all be gems. It wasn't quite what I wanted, but I wouldn't say it was a loss. I am just going to forget about this, and tackle Thursday with a fresh workout mentality. 

After practice, we had lifting. It was actually a really tiring day in lifting. We've moved up to six exercises, and one of them was paired with something else. We did kettle bell throws, front squats, lateral jumps, 3 types of ball reps paired with the band stretching exercise, row pulls, and shoulder press.

After that I went over to the training room and iced for 15 minutes.

AM: After my last class, I went for an easy 5 miles.

PM: I was planning on running with the group at 3, but my 30 minute power nap turned into a two hour sleep fest, so I missed them. But I did the same run as them. I went out miles and back on the Provo River Trail, except I was off in lala land on the way back, and missed where we cut through the field to get to the road, so I ran an extra .5 out and back on the trail, then as I was finishing, I found Natalie as she was adding a little bit to get to her mileage, so I went with her for a mile while we chatted. This is the first time I have ever run into Natalie while running!

AM: This morning I went for five easy miles.

PM: Since we had a really tough workout on Tuesday, and Coach is out of town, we did a fartlek today. We warmed up over to the lake loop start, and then changed into flats. It was raining for most of the time we were running, and pretty windy. We were all just running in one big pack, not dividing, and it was 10-5-3-2-1 with 5-5-3-2-1 recovery. It was supposed to be esier than Tuesday, but I pushed it pretty hard. I was running with the top guys on the 10 min interval. We hit 2.04 miles for that one. Then we regrouped, and I hit the mile in 4:54, then got a little over a mile in for the 5 min interval. Then I just stayed with the guys for the rest of the workout. Overall a solid, hard day. Afterwards, we changed shoes and ran back to to the locker rom where I hit 11.5

Then we went to lifting, and then after took a 15 minute ice bath.

AM: I slept in for too long, so only had time for 3 before my fiirst class. 

PM: I went for a run at 2 with Dylan and JZ. We did the famous Eyestone loop! It's a great run, I don't know why we never do it. That was a littie over 8 miles, so then I ran up towards Kiwanis again and ran around the park for a bit while the girls were finishing their workout. Then I ran back to the locker room where I hit 11.

AM: This morning I met up with Briggs, Nick, and Jon at 6:30 to get our run in. They were going 13, but I had to be at the Cougar Run to help at my station earlier than them, so I only did 10. ~6:30 avg

Later AM: After all the kids races and the 5k, I went for another run. I went out 3.5 on Carterville, then when I turned I met up with a group coming back on their long run, so I finished with them. 

AM: I'm back in SL this weekend to help my sister move into he new place, so I did 6 miles on my old neighborhood loops. Hopefully I can get out for a run later when I'm back in Provo.

Last week was the first week in forever that I hit the hundo!

AM: Since Wisco is this Saturday, we are going hard MW. Today we warmed up to the intramural fields for some mile repeats. I was worried how mile repeats would feel at the intramural fields, but it actually ended up being an awesome workout! We did a few more laps for warm up, then changed shoes and I did some strides and drills. We were doing 4XMile with fast starts to practice Wisco. 

The first one we hit a 66 first 400, then I hit a 4:52. I like these fast start miles because I just focus on going out hard, so then when we pass 400, it feels like we slow down and it allows me to focus and just stick with the guys. 4 minutes recovery beween each. Then the next one was a 65 400, then a 4:48 mile. Recovery, 66 and 4:50, recovery, 66 and 4:52. This was the first time in a while that I was feeling good. We hit some fast times and I was running with the traveling guys the whole time. The guy were doing a great job of running as a pack. Afterwards we did 4 strides and changed shoes. I did a three mile col down with Alaska, Farnsworth, and Briggs.

AM: After my last class I went for an easy five mile run with Trevor and Alaska.

PM: I met up with the guys at 3 and we did long Carterville at a relaxed pace. 

PM: Workout was an the intramural fields again today. We warmed up there and did a few laps, and Coach hadn't arrived yet so we kept warming up and got in a bit of a longer warm up. We changed shoes and I did a few strides before starting. We did a short workout. 1200, 800, 800, 400, 400. These were going to be faster since the workout is short and it's our last workout before Wisco. We were nearly 10 seconds slow on the 1200 for some reason, but I hit a 3:34. We had like 3-4 minutes recovery between all of the intervals. Next were the 800's, and we were supposed to hit them in the 2:13-2:15 range. I hit them in 2:15 and 2:13. Next we did the 400's, one uphill and the last downhill. I hit those in 64 and 62. I felt god again today, although defintely a little tired from the tough workout Monday. I was able to stay with the traveling guys for the whole workout, so that was good. After, we did 2 strides, and then cooled down two laps and then back to the locker room. 

Then we went over to lifting where we acutally had a pretty tough lifting sesh. Afterwards I stretched and ice bathed. 

PM: I had a ton of stuff to do today, so I went for my run at like 12 when no one was running. I just did long Carterville at a slow pace. I didn't mention it a few days ago since I am updating like two weeks of this now, but I have been having some lower back/hip issues, particularly one longer runs. So I decided to cut back the miles, and I am going into the training room before every workout to get stretched out. Judd told me it could be just a lack of stretching, since I don't stretch as much as I should,  but I think the real reason is the bed I'm sleeping on. I don't sleep as well as when I was at home, and I think it's because the mattress that I was given. I think I'm gonna bring one up from my house this weekend. My back has slowly, but steadily gotton more achy since I started sleeping on that mattress at the beginning of the semester. 

PM: Met the guys at 3 for our usual run. The group was al freshman! We did Eyestone loop backwards. That run is sllightly shy of 9 miles, so we went out about a mile and back on a random road, then came back and went back to campus on the railroad tracks. We hit 10.5 right around the tennis courts. 

AM: I'm in SL, again, this weekend, so I just went for a run to round out mileage. I dropped lower than I would have liked, but I have been trying different stuff with stretching and what not to see if I can get my hips/lower back to stop bugging me. We'll see how next week goes.

AM: Man, it's been a crazy weekend. My sister went into labor Saturday night, so I spent the night at the hospital, and didn't get home until Sunday afternoon. Then I zoomed down to Provo and got a run in. Since I haven't run since Saturday morning, I was feeling really good. I did medium Carterville from my apartment, plus a little extra to get 8 miles. Now I get to write two essays by tomorrow!

AM: I was going to try to get out for a run this morning, but today was quite a busy day. 

PM: The team met for a Team Lap, then some of the guys went for their runs. The group did Carterville, SHOCK. I felt decent. Afterwards I went home, had some dinner, then went to a yoga class with my friend. I've heard some great benefit of yoga for running, and I think it could help out my hip/lower back problem right now, plus it is a free class! So I went to that. It was more of a workout that I was expecting, particularly with core and upper body strenght, but I did feel really relaxed after. I got some good stretching done in my legs and hips as well, so lets hope that shows when I run tomorrow.

PM: I went over to the locker room and we got all of our sick winter gear, plus I got the Lunaracers I had ordered forever ago! We were doing Hobblecreek today. We hoped in the vans and drove over there. There was a lot of constuction going on around that trail, so we ran on the road until the trail crosses over the road to ther other side where we hopped on it there. We were supposed to take the run in 15 minute chunks. The first 15 like a faster run, the next 15 easier tempo, last 15 hard tempo. We hit the first 15 in about a 6:05 average, then the next 15 in around a 5:50 average. I made it to just past mile six, where my hips started to get really fatigued. I knew it was going to be bugging me on this workout, since it is a long, hard workout. It isn't really my hips that hurt, but the tail bone area that just seems to get really fatigued and tired, and that makes running fast for a long time a real pain. I stopped at just past 6 miles, then rode in the van to the finish, then ran 2.5 miles back down with the guys for cool down. I felt fine afterwards, not tired or anything, so I know that I could have kept pushing the pace, and finished probably in the low 48 high 47 minute range. This is the first time I've had tocut a workout short becaus of this issue. I'm really going to start focusing on this to fix this issue, and get in some really solid training before our track time trial. On the plus side, the new Lunaracers are probably my favorite flat ever! They don't give me hot spots or blisters like the old Lunaracers.

We got back pretty late, so very few guys went to lifting. I was starving and had a lot of homework to do, so I just didn't go. 

Oh and lastly, I'm super excited to be heading up to state tomorrow! Good luck to everyone running!

PM: After my last class, I drove up to SHP with Natalie for state! I was super excited to watch all the high schoolers run and to see some of the guys who are coming on recruitment trips. Natalie and I got there in time to see the 3A girls finishing, so we ran around until the 4a girls started, then ran from one end of the course to the next to get in some miles. Eventually the guys showed up and we all were running around the course and it was a ton of fun. There were some amazing performances this year! By the end of the 5A boys race, I had 3.5 miles. After that I headed back to Provo with the guys. We were starving and made a pit stop at Mickey D's on the way down, then Haven and I went for a run once we were back at the locker room. I actually didn't feel horrible from the crap food we had eaten. I did short Carterville for 6.5 miles to be at 10 for the day.

This week and probably next week will be off weeks for me. I'm going to bring down the mileage, and really focus on fixing this issue I've been having.

PM: Today we jogged over to Canyon Rock Elementary for a 5k/3k workout. We warmed up there and then did a few laps until we were at 2.5 miles warm up. We put on our spikes, and then we did some strides and drills. We were in our usual groups, and the goal for the second group today was to hit 73/83. I hit all the splits and was feeling pretty good for the first 2-2.5 miles. Then my hips starting hurting as ususal, but I pushed through it to the end of the 5k. I hit all the times and some a little faster, and finished in 16:16. I'd consider that a good improvement over the 16:42 from last time we did this workout. After some recovery, Coach told me to just do the first two intervals from the 3200, so I ran the first 400 and then the 800, in the same times as I was trying to hit in the 5k, and then put my normal shoes back on and ran back to the locker room with the guys when they finished their workout. I hit 9 miles back to the locker room. 

PM: I went for a run with the guys. We did Carterville, but I turned at 2.5 with a few guys and Coach. We ran back to the locker room to finish the easy run. 

Yesterday, Coach and I decided that I would take it really easy for a couple of week in order to get rid of this problem, and also to just take my break now, so I can be ready by indoor. I'm excited for a couple weeks of really low mileage and not workouts!

AM: Met this morning for a run with all the guys doing their long runs. Since I'm going to be taking it easy for a couple weeks, today I just did 9.5 to round out mileage for the week. I went out 4.75 up the canyon with the guys, then Conner turned with me and we headed back. There was some interesting conversation the whole run, so it went by pretty quickly. 

AM: Super lazy Sunday. Just what I have been wanting! I went out for an easy four miles on Carterville from my house.

PM: We have a group of Utah recruits in today and tomorrow! We all ran to Kiwanis for warm up, and I did all the warm up with the guys, then ran along the loop cheering guys during their workout, and I ran some of it with the recruits. I got to 6 at the park, so I rode with Jeun in the cart back to the fieldhouse. 

After the run, I didn't go to lifting cause I went to dinner with the recruits. Texas Roadhouse!

PM: I went with the group of guys and the recruits at 3. We did Carterville, but I was the only one that did 8, so I was by myself after we crossed the light. Once I got back, I got stretched out in the training room, and then stretched for 15 minutes on each leg. 

PM: I did an easy five miles while the guys did their workout at the practice fields at the track. I ran around with Josh Rohat, so that was fun. Once back at the locker room, I got stretched out again, then got some DMS on my upper hamstring.

After the run, I went in to get my lift done. For some reason it was only JZ and I in our usual group lifting. BRandon didn't like that one bit... Anyway, tough day in the weight room. I'm gonna be sore tomorrow!

PM: Today was our Halloween run! We had some pretty cool costumes! After we went for a run in our costumes. We ran Carterville, but then ran on University so tha more people could see what we were wearing. I turned aty 2.5 with Alaska, then headed back. Suuper sore.