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

This was my first official day back to cross country. I don't remember starting summer workouts with quite so much mileage... Of course the ten miles were not continuous but they were split up into six and four. Overall it was a pretty good day. I had minimal pain except for a pain just below my knees that has been bugging me for quite some time now... It isn't a sharp pain but it is a background pain that is always there and I really feel it once i stop running for a little, and then start again. Today the advanced group met early at sugarhouse park and we ran the cemetery loop for a total of 6 miles. Once we finished the rest of the team had arrived and we ran down to fairmont park and did eight strides on the grass with one minute recovery in between and ran back to sugarhouse. The combined workouts gave me ten miles. I look forward to this years season and I was surprised by the outcome we had this year. The East High Boys and Girls Cross Country teams will truly be ones for opponents to fear this year!

Today was a pretty easy day. I had little pain. I could barely feel my knee pain from before. We did 2.5 laps in the gulley then back to sunnyside where we did 5-1 minute on/off intervals. After we did one big loop around the park and finished the workout. 

Today we met at liberty park and got right into the workout. We started out with one lap around the park warm up, about a mile and a half. Then we moved over to the hill and ran six continuous hill loops. After we finished that the advanced group added on about four miles to get to seven for the day. I had no pain today, just super soar. I am going to take an ice bath later and hopefully that helps. I stretched whenever i got the chance during the workout.

The run for today was supposed to be 6 to 7 miles but if i did that then i would only five more miles for the rest of the week so I decided to spread it a little more evenly. I did the four miles in the late evening and I felt fantastic afterwards (even though i ran on a belly full of hot cheetos).

Just finished an easy four mile run, although it didn't feel to easy. I ran it in the dead heat of the day..... probably not such a good idea. I was pretty dizzy as soon as I finished and I felt better after drinking like a gallon of water. But other than that I feel great. Not soar or hurting in any way. I'm on track to finish my mileage for the week.

Did four miles this morning before heading off to Lagoon. Felt great afterwards and had a lot of energy. 

Today was a moderately tough day. We started with running a 5k course towards Tanner Park and back. On the way back, Ben and I picked it up to see who could beat the other [and yes Bill, I did win]. It was nice to have someone else there that I can push off of. When we hit the road at Sugarhouse Park we picked it up to a 5:40 pace and held it there until we finished. By the end of that run I had hit 6.75. I felt pretty good after that and I wasn't too soar. Then we started the rest of the workout. We did 2.25 around the park, then came back to the field behind the Highland track and did some dynamic stretching and a 45 sec circuit. Afterwards we did a road loop around the park and I finished it through until i hit 1.5 to make it an even 10.5 for the day.

Today the team met at Jordan Park. We started doing a warm up ten minutes on the trail followed by two sets of 3 minutes on 2 minutes off intervals. Taylor, Ben and I pushed it on those intervals. Scott was with us but fell back after the first set. Then we were supposed to continue the run until we hit four and turn back but the trail was flooded at one of the bridges so we basically had to run around in circles until my Garmin said four miles, then run the same circles backwards until we hit the flooded bridge and then return on the trail to the park. Once we got back we did three sets of one minute step ups and arm swings and then core. I feel fine except for my feet are kind of tired and my quads and calves are crazy soar. Maybe I will take an ice bath...

Today the advanced met at Fairmont park for six miles. We just went out 1.5 in one direction and then returned and then out 1.5 again and back. Once we got back the rest of the group had showed up and we did the scavenger hunt. Towards the end of the scavenger hunt my knee started killing me. That pain on the lower side of my knee. My quads are also incredibly soar. Other than that the scavenger hunt was really fun. I'm pretty sure my team won. The other guys team cheated and didn't get all the stuff. And the girls came in pretty far back. Overall it was a fun day. Bill, I figured out how to get the whole Garmin thing straightened out. It's pretty cool. There's the link to today's workout.

 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95725458 

We met at the Park and Ride today then carpooled up to Pipeline. It was the first continuous ten miles of the season (woot woot)! I started out doing an easy pace because my knee still bugged me from yesterday. I was running with Ben, Taylor, and Scott. After I got warm though it stopped bothering me so I picked it up and I hit about a seven minute pace with Ben right behind. I kept the pace under 7:15 even after we turned around. At about mile seven I let Ben take the lead because he said it would be a bit easier on me. I stayed with him until about 7.5 but he picked the pace up quite a bit and I didn't want to push that hard today. I think he was doing like a 6:40 pace. Slowly he pulled away and I maintained my pace as well as I could but my hips started bugging me a bit so I slowed to about a 7:25 pace. Then I came up to the very sharp hill right after the wooden bridge and that knock me off pace. After that I just went as fast as I could and finished the run to get ten for the day. Overall it was a nice day for a run like this and I felt surprisingly good afterwards, probably cause I didn't kill myself on the run. I got my Garmin to beep and do splits at every mile. I uploaded my workout to Garmin Connect and you can see the splits as well as graphs and such from my run. Here's the link for it:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95886934 

Today we met at Liberty at 8. We did a lap warm up, then jogged over to the start and did 2 eight hundreds. My first was 2:34. I would have run it faster but I rolled my ankle over the edge of the pavement and that hurt for about ten seconds. The second eight hundred was a 2:31. I felt pretty good overall except for my ankle, which isn't bugging me to awfully much but it does hurt a bit. Here's the link for my Garmin stats:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/96076463 

No team practice today. I was camping in Bear Lake this weekend and I really meant to get up and run in the morning but I was really tired:( And I just sort of forgot about running until about 10:30 at night when I was about to shower, so I quickly changed and ran my 1.5 miles to make my mileage even this week. I was really proud of myself for running that late despite my procrastination. But hey, at least I got it done. Here is my Garmin link to PROVE that I did my mileage:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/96646393 

Just did a shake out run for the race tomorrow. Went out about five minutes on the trail (I believe its called the Fox Trail). Then I came to a grassy clearing and did eight strides. I didn't count the strides on my mileage. Then after I was at like .6 so I decided to go to 2 miles. I got home, stretched, did my core, and ate. Here's my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/96690204 

Today was the Murray 5k. I really wasn't expecting much seeing as this is just a place marker to see where I'm at, but my ultimate goal for the race was just to beat Bill, and try and stick with Natalie. Well I was doing well up until about 2.5 miles in when Nat caught up to me. I tried to stick with her but she just kept picking up the pace and passing people. When Nat was about 20 feet ahead of me Taylor came up behind me and eventually caught up to Natalie, though I'm pretty sure she out kicked him. My goal at this point was just not to let Natalie and Taylor get any farther ahead of me, but then along comes Bill. In my mind I scream "Damn it," cause I know that now Bill has caught up to me and he expects me to kick with him, but he was going super fast and he kicked from far away and just kept going faster and faster and I lost him. I finished with a time of 19:18 and I did a cooldown with the team and hit nine for the day. I will try to get some more mileage in later, but I really doubt I will be able to. All my splits and stuff are on Garmin Connect. Here's the link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/96923693

My warm up and cooldown are on another page, but I'm lazy so wont post the link. Either way they really dont matter. 

AM: We met at Sunnyside Park today a bit later than usual, around 7:30. We did the firestation loop except that we need to go out four so we went up to Foothill and around back to Gaurdsman, then continue along the route for the firestation, but pass it a little to reach the four mile mark, and then back. I was feeling fine the entire run. Not soar, hurting, and the only reason I was a bit tired was because I got so little sleep last night because it was the fourth of July. Even after the run I felt good, just SUPER hungry. On the last mile though, Ben and Natalie decided to pick it up quite a bit and I am positive I could have stuck with them and even pushed the pace, but I really, really, really had to go to the bathroom and I had to slow down or the unthinkable would happen....... hehe. Here's my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97056163 

PM: I need to hit twelve most days this week to hit my mileage so I went out two and back two miles to give me four and put me at twelve for the day. I initially planned to run it pretty easy, about 7:30 pace, but it was about 6:30 in the afternoon and still hot out so I picked it up to finish faster. I think i averaged like a 7:05 pace or something like that. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97164233

AM: Well today I had a morning adventure. I was on time to arrive at practice but then I realized I left my phone on the bus and started chasing it. I chased it along 13th to 48th south, then all the way up tp holladay blvd. I stilll didn't catch it. So then a lot of stuff happened and I ended up at Fireclave ave trax were I talked to a UTA surpervisor and then I went to Millcreek trax and the bus that I left it on had changed routes and was now there. Then I walked over to the driver and asked her if she found a phone and she smiled and gave it to me. By this time it was about 8:30 and I decided to go to practice anyway. I showed up right as they were finishing hills and started the cooldown. We ran the region course as a cooldown.

PM: I still had six miles to do to get my mileage for the day so I went out at about 8:40 and did them. I was alone so planned to run it relatively slow. About a 7:30 pace. On the three miles out I felt good so I averaged about a 6:53 pace. On the way back I felt even better and not tired at all so I picked it up a bit to about a 6:45 pace. I ended up averaging like a 6:50 pace or something like that. Feel great and stretched and did core when I got home. Here's my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97386802 

Today we met at Pipeline. We ran the ten miler. I started out running with Taylor and Scott and Ben and we were going SUPER slow. At about mile 3 is where we really picked it up and then Ben and I broke off from the pack. You can see all my splits and shtuff on Garmin Connect. Here's the link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97487448

AM: I couldn't make the morning workout or run on my own in the morning because I was with my mom until like four or five yesterday doing several things.

PM: I did recovery speed similar to what the team did this morning. Warm up, twenty sec on forty sec off, then cooldown. I felt good and I took the workout pretty easily, using the 40s to recover well and then doing a fast tempo on the 20s on. I had already passed the five mile mark long before I got home so I just went to 5.5. Here is my Garmin link: 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97779084 

PM: Didn't run in the am, thought it would be better to run in the pm when I had my new shoes. When I got to the store I found the ones I wanted and also found some on sale so I got those too. I ran in my Nike's. It felt like I was running on plywood. By the end of the run my feet hurt and I felt tired even though I only ran 4.5. Of course they are new and are a different type of shoe than my old Asics. They are much lighter and also flatter on the bottom, although they don't necessarily have less padding, they have less of a rounded shape on the edges of the sole. That might have been the problem but no way to be sure other that to run in them more. I think I will go for a small run tomorrow...

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/98026628 

Woke up around eight and decided to go run. It would also give me a chance to try out my Mizunos. I went out two and came back the same way. The Mizunos definitely felt better than the Nike Lunarlites. They still felt weird, but that's because they are new and I just have to break them in. That's how I always feel when I get new shoes. The reason they felt better, I think, is because they have a more curved design along the sole of the foot, where as the Nikes have a straight, flat sole. I tend to land on the outer back edge of my foot and roll in and I think the Mizunos just help my feet move more naturally, rather than force me to land flatter like the Nikes. Still, I will run in the Nikes some more and see if I can get used to them.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/98146723 

Today was our annual 7-11 Slurpee run. My only goal for this was not to throw up. And I didn't:) I was running with a group of the fast guys at first, then Scott and I broke off. We were together for most of the run, good job pushing today Scott!! At about the third Sev Emily and Susannah started running with us even though they weren't drinking the slurpees.  Emily pushed me up until the run back from the Sev on 8th and West Temple, where I realized that Bill was a little ahead of me, and I didn't want to lose to him, seeing as he told me NEVER to let me beat him again, and I picked it up. I reached the Sev by Liberty while I was still ahead of Emily, and got my Slurpee. When I was walking out I saw her running towards the fountain, so she had caught up towards the end. I slowed down a lot, to about a 7:10 pace, towards the end of the long haul from the Sev on 8th and WT to Liberty, partially because I was a little tired of the fast pace, but mostly because at this point I had consumed 42 oz of Slurpee. As I was finishing my Slurpee and about to head to the drinking fountain I saw Bill running towards the Sev so I just ran over to the fountain. Pretty fun run, despite the Slurpees. After that a few advanced did two laps around Liberty and then ran back up to Sunnyside and I added about a half mile more to get 13 for the day. Did my core when I got home. Maybe I'll go for a stretch out run, my calves are a little tight. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/98531659

P.S: I ran in my Lunarlites today. They felt pretty comfortable. MUCH better than the other day. They are nice and light but I feel like they have enough padding to go longer distances in them. I'm starting to really like those shoes.... 

AM:Met at Wheeler Farm today. Did three miles warm up, then 10 1 min on/1 min off intervals. Right at the end of those I hit 3.2 and then I jogged over to the place where we were going to do relay strides. Four relay strides, I didn't start my Garmin for two of them, so it is .1 behind. Then about a 3.5 miles cooldown. I ran until I hit 9.9 and then we did leg lifts and arm swings at the tables and I did core at home. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/98718792 

Looking at my splits for the intervals, I was actually pretty consistent. I covered almost the exact same distance on the on every time. And you're right Bill, the map does look crazy. I looked at the player, and I did eight laps around the loop, when I thought I did like 5 or 6.

PM: Felt good and my legs were a bit stiff so I went for a small shake out run. 1.5 out and back. Ran it in my Nike, they were also kinda stiff at first, but I loosened up towards the end and now I feel a lot better. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/98795326 

AM: We met (haha... get it?) at JCC to run up Dry Creek trail, even though it wasn't dry at all. Yesterday I pushed it on the intervals so today was just a recovery run for me. We went four out and four back. Super easy. I didn't push the pace at all. I just let myself go at whatever pace felt good. For the first two miles or so Mike ran with me. Then he turned around and I was on my own until the four mile mark. When I got there I waited a bit and soon Bill showed up followed by Patrick (good job today!) and Chris. Then I ran with Bill on the way back. Like I said super easy. We were chit-chatting the entire four miles. Overall it was a nice run and an excellent way to start my day. Did core right after the run. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/98906791 

PM: Feeling lazy and had a busy day so no running for me:) Either way I'm still on track to hit my mileage this week.  

AM: Met at Sugarhouse Park today. Did on outside grass lap, then played 21 on the 400 meter state hill. I lost track of how many 400's we did but after Patrick won (Good job pushing today!), we started doing 200 meter hills and we did either five or six of the 200 meter hill. Taylor won that round because he was the first back that was under 21. After we did one big lap cool down and I hit eight. I will run some more later. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/99118970 

PM: Needed four miles so I just ran around the neighborhood. I wore the heart rate monitor just to try it out. Its pretty cool. It wasn't quite dark yet, but there was no sun, which was nice. It was also cool and there was as slight breeze. Perfect running conditions. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/99226405 

Ran one lap warm up, one lap fireman, then about two laps cooldown. My Garmin was being stupid today and not measuring very accurately so I probably did about .3 more than six, but whatever. Easy day and my legs feel pretty good, although I'm a bit tired cause I haven't been getting much sleep lately. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/99332557 

ONLY FOUR MORE MILES! 

I just needed four miles to hit 60 for the week. I felt really sluggish, even though I averaged a 7:16, although I would have averaged something even faster if I hadn't been forced to start and stop so much by traffic lights. Just about every single one was red. And I probably felt sluggish because I ran like twenty minutes after dinner. I know I should have waited more but I wanted to get it over with. And for the cherry on top they were home made burgers and fries! (lol) Anyway, yeah here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/99644636 

I wasn't originally planning on running today, but my day just felt weird without it... So I waited until it was a bit cooler and then went for a nice easy run. Didn't pay attention to pace or any of that, I just ran four miles. I felt really good, TONS better than yesterday, probably cause I ran like three hours after dinner. Anyways here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/99973776 

We met at Sugarhouse park today. We did the cemetery loop with two laps inside the cemetery. For the first two miles there was a group running, but once we got into the cemetery Emily and I broke off. Then we started hauling. Emily is a beast. Our splits are on my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/100091836

I also had this pain in my left foot right on the side and slightly behind my pinky toe. Bill said to ice it and take ibuprofen all day so that's what I will do. I did my core when I got home.

PM: I iced my the part of my foot that was hurting for about an hour right after practice and I have been taking Ibuprofen every four hours. I will ice my foot for another hour before I go to bed. I was proud of myself today for staying on Emily. She was hauling and I hit that point where I started talking myself out of pushing and giving myself a reason for slowing down right out of the cemetery running along Melbourne St but I just stayed on her, and I was able to lengthen my stride and start to push the pace along with Emily once we hit the small downhill along 2700 S. It was once we hit Sugarhouse park that my foot started killing me and she stopped because she had run four miles before practice that I slowed down. But today I was reminded of what I can do when I set my mind to it and how much I can really handle. I am super excited for this season and I can't wait to start kickin' some ass!! 

Today we met at Sunnyside Park and ran the flag pole/thunderbird run. My foot still hurt a little when I touched it, but felt a lot better. I wore my Mizunos today in hopes that the softer shoe would help my foot. It did help. My foot did hurt but very little, it was towards the end of the run. I will keep icing it all week and taking Ibuprofen like a Susannah (hehe). I started running with the advanced group and we were going at a pretty slow pace so about half way up to the zoo Bill and I picked it up and the group followed. Eventually everyone broke off and it was me and Ben running as usual. At mile three, I unknowingly picked up the pace, I guess it was the downhills. I was pretty confident that I wouldn't be able to hold that pace for the rest of the run, but what do you know I actually had negative splits. There were no breaks. If a light stopped us, we would pick it up fast. I averaged a 6:51 pace, and that was including the first mile and a half, I was surprised at the rest of my splits. Overall a good day for a run. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/100314965 

Today I am in Moab with the family so I get to workout on my on for the rest of the week. I did the exact same thing the group did. 2.25 warm up, 6 strides, the ladders, and then a cooldown. I got to 3.3 during my ladders and I'm confident that if I had someone to push me I could have covered more. Very solemn run, although the scenery is beautiful. I counted strides in my mileage, so by the time warm, strides, and the ladders had gone by I covered about 6.1 so I just ran to 6.5 and tomorrow I will do four and a half instead. I am blogging from my iPod so there won't be any Garmin links until I get back home.

Today I mountain biked like crazy. Eighteen miles on the bike has to count for at least four and a half miles running.

Bill told me not to run, so I guess no running:)

Small shakeout run before the Des News 10k. .5 miles warm up, then 6 strides, then 1.5 cooldown.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/101715656 

AM: Two-ish miles warm up. Did some strides and some stretching too. The race was over six so that brings my mileage pretty even. I went out super fast, just like Bill told me, and gradually slowed down over the whole race. The downhills make running this course a bit tricky. Next year I will dominate this course. I guess it wasn't bad for my first 10k ever. I wore my Nike's for the race, and that proved to be the wrong choice. I had a few blister on my feet, and the pain in my foot came back. I guess i just can't switch on and off shoes, because when I wore the Nike's for four days straight, they didn't hurt my feet. I will just wear the Mizuno's. Here is my race Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/101715638 

My hip also hurt just a bit. I couldn't stand for very long without feeling like a tight knot in my right hip. I massaged it and I will take a nap and see if it goes away. 

PM: I was still super sore. My hip pain went away and now my left "gluteus maximus" is way sore. I will foam roller it later. My foot pain also went away for the most part. I will ice and massage that as well as take some ibuprofen. This run felt really good. Just an easy three miles. It was also on/off raining and it was getting dark so they were good running conditions. Looks like my body is piecing back together from this morning. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/101811082 

AM: Super easy day today at fairmont. Just 1.7 warm up, then the group talked about their race while we all stretched, then ran a cooldown to get four. I will run another four later. A garmin link seems a bit relentless so no link.

PM: Utah is having some really weird weather, as usual. I went out for a run around five thirty just in the neighborhood and then it started raining and a huge thunder storm broke out so i ran back inside. I was at about 2.5 miles by now. It  broke around seven thirty, but Wipeout was on so I said I would run at eight. Then i saw that masterchef was on and postponed my run until nine. But anyway I FINALLY got my run in. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/102042326

(that's the link for my own run, not the one with the team)

AM: Met at Sunnyside today. Ran 2.8 warm up in the gulley, then some dynamic stretching and some drills, then a cool down to hit four miles. I will get another two in later.

PM: Ran two more miles in the afternoon.  Pretty easy pace, about a 8:20. Too lazy to post a Garmin link for a pointless run.

Today we ran the Dry Creek trail by JCC. I just went out three miles and back. The uphills were as tough as usual, although I stepped on a few rocks that threw me off balance sometimes and hurt the part of my foot that has been bugging me these past few weeks. I will ice it later. Bill said to do a long run this Saturday so no running in the afternoon today. 

Today we met at Liberty for some speed work. One lap warm up, then four 800's with equal recovery, then a cool down to get us to 7 miles for the day. I was as consistent as I could have hoped for today. 2:27, 2:29, 2:33, 2:32. I pushed to not fall too far off Ben, and I guess I managed. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/102579067 

Today a few elite met at some random Chevron in Magna to run what I thought would eventually turn into a trail run but it turned out to be entirely road:( I originally planned to run ten and be at an even fifty for the week, but once Nat, Ben, and I hit the five mile mark Natalie kept going because she needed to go out seven and I was just going to head back, but then Bill was passing by and whadda you know I ended up doing the fifteen miler. This was the longest continuous run I've ever done and I felt pretty good at the five mile turn around so I kept going. Overall good but boring run. Just fifteen miles of solitude. I don't feel too horribly wiped out and surprisingly a lot better than some of the times I have run a ten. Probably because I didn't push hard on this one. I ran it in a total of two hours exactly, and I averaged an 8:00 mile pace exactly. At the turn around I was averaging like an 8:30 pace, and I pushed and split at about 7:20-ish miles on the way back so my pace dropped. I wanted my pace to get under eight minute pace but whatever:/ I'm not really hurting, apart from the normal soreness and my foot is hurting a little. I will try and ice bath later and I did core when I got home. Here is my Garmin link;

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/102783097 

I was going to do a small run like I do every Sunday, but taking into consideration yesterday's run, I thought I deserved a break. So no running today. I took a fifteen minute ice bath because I didn't get the chance yesterday. It was semi-cold, although it was no where near as cold as the ice baths that we do at the track. I did core right after.

Today we met at Sugarhouse park. We did the cemetery run with two loops and then a big grass loop once we get back to Sugarhouse park. As always, this run seems like an eternity. When your just getting back to Sugarhouse park you feel like it was ten, but then you still need a big grass loop. Anyway I started out with Natalie and we were going at a pretty fast pace to try and catch Ben who was ahead of us. We weren't catching up so I surged to Ben and Nat fell behind. When I caught Ben I looked back and Nat had made up a lot of ground but she never caught us. From there Ben and I ran to the cemetery and we did the two loops. Ben got ahead of me close to the end of the second lap and I never caught him. From there I just tried to maintain a steady pace, which I guess I did. 6:51 average for ten miles is not bad, especially coming off of a fifteen miler on Saturday. It was sopping wet the entire run, which sucked. Terrible weather today. I will do my core right after I finish blogging. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/103394964 

AM: Today we met at Wheeler farm for a killer interval workout. Two miles warm up then  three sets of 1-2-3 with 1-2-2 recovery. Then a cool down to make it ten for the day. All my splits and stuff are on Garmin connect, but they are really confusing cause there are like forty of them. I counted thirteen laps around the loop thing. I hit 5.11 miles during the intervals. My right hip was killing me in the last mile in the cool down. I will do the massage stuff Bill told me to do. I did my core when I got home and I will massage my hip a little later. Here is my Garmin link: 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/103648169 

PM: So I needed some more mileage today in order to hit my 60 this week. I was planning on four but I was still about half a mile away from my house when I hit four so I went to 4.5. My hips had been hurting a bit and my foot has felt better so I decided to take a chance and run in my Nikes. Before I put them on, I slipped the soles from my Mizunos into the Nikes to see what that would do...... They felt amazing. Better than my Mizunos. I think they actually helped my foot feel better. I will do that and take them to the run tomorrow and see what happens. Anyway, nice run. I was doing a quick pace, but nothing that requires real pushing. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/103737120 

Today we met at Shoreline trail right across from the zoo. Today was more of a recovery day for me.  Easy seven miles, but on the way back Ben and I pushed it, especially on the uphills. To make it seven we went up the little trail by the surveillance gate until we hit 3.5, then back the same way. Did core, wall sits, step ups, and arm swings after we finished the run by the drinking fountain. My Nikes felt great today. Looks like it was the soles that were giving me trouble. Great run, I'm not tired at all. I really used it to recover. I will have to run later tonight as well. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/103868665 

PM: Needed some more miles for the day so i did 3.5 to put myself at an even 35. Easy, boring run. It was a bit too dark, but it was the earliest I had the chance. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/103927647 

Today was our annual bike and run. This year the Brighton team joined us. I was paired up with Maggie this year. We did really well! We were ahead up until the turn around, and we made a lot of ground on the people who were ahead of us. We were third overall, and second from East. Hooray for Chic-Fil-A gift cards! Next year if we are paired together, we are gonna win no doubt. Afterwards we had a group breakfast and I almost got Ben to puke! JUST A FEW MORE PUKING SOUNDS! It was a huge success and I had a blast. I can't wait until next year's Bike and Run. Here is my messed up Garmin link because I was unknowingly stopping it and forgetting to start it:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/104110843 

PM: Needed some more mileage for today so ran an easy three miles. Boring run, but really hot. I did it in the heat of the afternoon, but despite that I was going a good pace. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/104143759 

Today we met at Liberty for some easy speed. One lap warm up, then a lap fireman, then two laps cool down and a little extra to make six. Easy workout. Now to rest for the race tomorrow. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/104262755 

Well today was the Minuteman 5k. I went into the race not really having a goal. I honestly didn't know how fast... or slow... I could run, considering my previous races. But I was happy with my race today. I had planned to run a two mile warm up, but I had hit above 2.5 by the time I got back to the race area, so I ended up doing three. Then a few drills with the team and some light stretching and strides by myself. I had a nice, open spot at the line. Dakota warned me that they start the race without a countdown so I made sure to be ready for the cannon fire. That was a loud cannon. I not only heard the enormous boom, but I felt it. I got out really fast. Right before the first uphill onto State St I found myself among the elite men. I was worried that I had gone out way too fast and considered slowing down a bit, but I was in a good position and I just went with the pace. At this point in the race I just didn't want to die, like I had the past two races. I felt good at the one mile, so I continued on with the fast pace. When I had turned by the Forever 21, on the opposite side of the island I heard Bill scream something, I'm not sure what, and I saw where he was and I looked behind me and Ben was about 60 meters behind. The stretch from that point to the last big hill was where I should have picked it up and tried to pass some people, had I known it was the last stretch. Anyway, I held on along this part of the race well enough, there was one guy that passed me, but I passed him going up the last hill. About halfway up the hill Ben caught me and he was booking it. I hadn't quite pieced it together yet that this was practically the end of the race, or else I would have tried to match Ben's pace, so I kept along my pace and once I reached the top of the hill I saw the flags which meant the finish, so I sprinted until the end. Overall I did well, I could have run faster that's for sure, but over a one minute PR is good enough for today. Next year I will have more experience on this course and I will know exactly how to race it. Afterwards I cooled down to hit 9.5 for the day.......I guess pushing to stick with Ben on all those long runs did pay off.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/10453148

Today I slept in, which is sadly the first time I have slept in for over a week. So I went running in the late afternoon. More like night. I started at about nine and went out two and back. Boring run. I warmed up as I went along and my pace increased. My stomach felt weird at first and I felt a bit sluggish, but maybe that was the Panda Express talking. Anyway that went away and I felt great for the last three miles. I did my core when I got home and now I'm going to start arm swings with some light weights so I did those. AND I found super awesome spikes for less than what I paid for my food at Panda!! Today was a pretty awesome day. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/104845319 

Today we met at Sugarhouse Park for day one of Hill Week. We ran one grass loop warm up, then we jogged over to the middle of the grass and stretched while Bill put up the flags to mark our hill. Then after jogging the hill once we started them and ran six with a two minute recovery. I pushed the first two, then backed off the next two, then Bill told me to get up to Ben so I pushed the fifth pretty hard, then I gave it all I had the last one. Then we went over to a small hill by the pond that is on the end of the state course and ran that twice, mainly just to give everyone an idea of what the end of the state course is like. After that we got some water, then did two big grass loops to bring mileage to ten miles. On the end of the second one Ben and I needed more so we ran to the drinking fountain, then a little more around the playground to make it ten. I probably could have pushed the third and fourth hills harder now that I look back. On the cool down I started to feel a small pain in my right knee that just got worse throughout the cool down. Here is my Garmin link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/104981406 

Today was day two of Hill Week. We met at JCC to run the Dry Creek trail. We were supposed to run out to the small clearing before the downhill where the four mile mark is, then turn around and run the Big (capital B) hill ten times continuously, then just head back. But today when I woke up I still felt some pain in my knee from yesterday. I hoped that when I warmed up it would go away, but it just got worse the more I ran on it. When I got to the turn around point I stretched for a minute, but that just made matters worse. Heading back I had to start and stop a few times before I could tolerate the pain from my knee. I jogged back along the trail, running as fast as I could without bending my knee to the point where it hurt even more. Bill caught up by the time I got to the bottom of the big hill and he told me to only run the hill if it didn't make my knee feel worse. But it is particularly on down and uphills that it hurts more, so I decided not to push my luck and head back. Once I passed the rock pile, I had to walk down the big downhill leading to the bottom trail. I jogged whenever there was a flatter stretch of trail, but after a while even that began hurting too much so I just stopped jogging once I hit six miles I walked the rest of the way. Today was a pretty crappy day. After everyone had finished, Bill massaged my leg, and it seemed to help. I am going to take a 15 minute ice bath right after I finish blogging and I will do core after the ice bath. If my knee feels better towards the end of the day I will try to go on a small run.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/105225622 

Today was our team hike up to Lake Blanche. The way up took FOREVER. Once we got there we ate some snacks and then Bill was ice bathing in the lake so after a little bit I joined him. The water was surprisingly clean. Then a few others joined in. After that everyone wanted to go to the patches of snow to build a snow man. Supposedly it would take ten minutes to get there, but ten minutes into the hike up to the snow it seemed we had barely moved, so I stayed behind and Nels, Maclean, Maggie and I had a jamming sesh. That was super fun. After an eternity the group that went to the snow finally returned from their "ten minute" trip and we all headed back down. On the way down, Maclean noticed some spots along the trail where water flows down the mountain, and we took those as short cuts. That turned out to be super fun. On Garmin connect you can see where we cut out from the trail on the player. Anyway, we finally made it back to the cars and we all just carpooled back down to the park and ride. Going up my knee felt okay, but towards the end of the way up I could start to feel the agitation. Heading back down it killed. For almost the entire way down my knee felt really bad and by the end I couldn't bend it enough to get on the car. When I got home I got off my feet and that made it feel loads better. I am going to ice it later and I will take ibuprofen. The next few days of rest will hopefully be just what I need to recover from that annoying injury and get back to training hard. I'm going to try and stay off my feet as much as possible and I will take ibuprofen for the entire rest period.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/105545066 

Today was Camp Tuttle for Peer Court. My knee had just been getting worse and worse so I talked to Bill and we decided I should take the days I would be at Camp Tuttle off. So no running today. My knee felt better towards the end of the day, although I could feel it get aggravated when ever I walked from the main  lodge to my cabin because it was uphill. Had a fun day at Camp.

Today was the second day of Camp Tuttle so no running again. My knee felt even better than the day before and it felt immensely better than it had during the middle of the week. I hope that it fully recovers by Monday. 

Today I hit the pool in the morning. I had talked to Bill yesterday and he said to do ten minutes warm up, then 10 X 1min on/1 min off, and he didn't specify a cool down but I just did another easy ten minutes. When I got to the gym there was a triathlon going on so it took forever to find parking. I didn't know there was a West Valley City Triathlon. Once I finally got in I did some arm weights and some core exercises first then hit the pool. After my warm up I started the intervals and on the "offs" i would check my pulse. I never got my pulse higher than 90. No matter how hard I tried the "on" it never went much higher than that. I thought I could get my pulse to about 120 but obviously not. I cooled down afterwards and then headed home.

My knee felt good during the workout. It never felt more aggravated. I will massage and ice it later as well as take ibuprofen the rest of the day and hopefully tomorrow I can go on a small run. 

This morning I went for a small run to test my knee. I have iced, massaged, and taken ibuprofen for the past three days, I was hoping that it would at least not get worse. I started out feeling okay, just sluggish from not running for three days and having eaten a huge cereal two hours earlier. At mile one I stopped to stretch and sort of feel my knee and see how it was doing, and it felt good so I kept going. If my knee still felt okay, I was planning on going to two, then returning the same way, but at 1.47 I suddenly felt a jolt of pain go through right below the knee cap. It wasn't excruciating or anything like that, but none the less pain. So i turned at 1.5 and came back for three. The rest of the way was okay, although my knee did seem to get worse. Once I finished I stretched a bit and I could feel it more aggravated. I iced it right away but that didn't help, my knee felt the same. I gave it a quick massage and then took three ibuprofens because I had to shower and get ready to go to the mall. I am so sick of that annoying injury. I have done all I can these past few days and I'm getting frustrated that it won't go away. I hope it does go away in the next day or so, so that I can get back to training and be ready for the race on Saturday.

P.S: This was the longest, most difficult three miles of my life. I felt incredibly sluggish the entire way and I once I got home I came surprisingly close to throwing up. I felt better after the fifteen miler the other day. Here is my Garmin link, although I'd prefer you not click it and see my embarrassingly slow splits: 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106569097 

Today we met at Sugarhouse Park for practice. We started with running the state course as a warm up, then ten hill loops on the hill by the flower beds on the west side of the park, then we did two 45 sec circuits on the soccer field of the usual stuff, popcorns, jumping jacks, squats, and mountain climbers, and for a cool down we ran the state course backwards. I didn't start my Garmin for the jog from the hill to the soccer field where we were going to run the circuits, so it was about .25 off. But anywho when we got to the end of the cool down I was at 8.3 which give or take is close enough to 8.5. My knee was feeling okay up to this point and I don't want to push my luck so I stopped there. I noticed that on the mountain climbers, my knee felt fine if anything better. So maybe I will do some of those later to try and stretch out my IT. We'll see how it goes....

PM: I feel cool. I just figured out a way to do some awesome Garmin stuff. Check this out:

Although it is cool, the link is just better cause you can't see very much on the Garmin preview window. 

Today we met at Liberty Park for practice and our Dutch Oven Breakfast. We started with one lap warm up, then I put on my flats and we jogged over to the start. Then six strides and we started our workout. 800 with equal recovery, then a mile with 800 recovery, then another 800. After that we jogged to get some water and then began the cool down. I hit 2:29 for the first one, then 5:29 for the mile, then 2:27 for the final 800. I would have liked to run the mile in the lower twenties but oh well. I was a little passed 6 when I got to the drinking fountain and most were going to eight, but my knee felt really agitated and I just decided to go to seven. I'm glad I did because it started hurting more once I got home. I will ice and massage it as usual. Right after practice we had our Dutch Oven Breakfast and it was really good!! It was fun and a good experience for the team. I did my core when I got home. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107081600 

I had to miss practice today because of registration:( But the team was going to Pipeline for a long run today. I think it is the last time we go up there this summer. It wasn't a complete loss though because right now I think it would be better if I started doing medium runs both in the morning and at night. Long runs just hurt the knee too much. That way I can still get in some mileage but not aggravate the knee. Anyway I got back later than expected because of the TWO HOUR WAIT for a schedule change, and I didn't even end up being able to get it changed. I will have to change it once school starts. So I ended up starting my run around eleven thirty. I knew it would be really hot but I wanted to get at least a small run in this morning. I was feeling okay throughout the run, just the normal annoying background pain, but in the last quarter mile I did feel it get a bit worse. I ended up turning at two miles because of the blazing heat. It was too hot and I was really uncomfortable the entire run. I will run later tonight. I was able to push a bit harder on this run even in the heat, but still it is much slower than two weeks ago.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107306385

P.S: I did a lot of research yesterday online about the pain I have been having. After about an hour and a half of Wikipedia pages, blogs, articles, and Youtube videos, I learned that the most common solution for IT band pain is RICE. But, in many articles, I read that it really isn't necessary to take a break off running. To just stay away from hills, both the down and up can be a cause in the first place, and to stay off roads because of the banked surface. That bit really made sense to me because I tend to run on the right side of roads a lot more than the left, which puts my whole right leg under more stress than the left. Also, it said leg or foot rotation can contribute. I also have a problem with that. AND IT SAID HIKING IS ALSO REALLY BAD FOR AN INFLAMED IT. The best thing to do, in most articles anyway, is to keep running the smaller runs at a pace that feels the best for your particular pain, as well as Icing, Massaging, and Ibuprofen. And it said that a foam roller is vital.... hehe. I guess i better go get one. So that is what I will do, I froze some water in paper cups and I will ice every possible time I can. Although I am open to suggestions?

PM: As if this day's entry wasn't already long enough. I went out for another four tonight once it got cooler. Ben gave me some good advice about massaging not just my IT, but also my entire quad and hamstring, so I did that, and might I say quite vigorously. Apparently it worked because I didn't feel my knee for the first mile, which was great :) Since I was feeling really good after mile one, I decided to push the rest of the run, and see how fast I could get one of my mile splits. So I starting hauling. Mile two was a 6:05 split, which I thought would be sub-6 but whatever. The rest of my splits did slow down, but I was still well under seven minute pace, which is fine with me, especially since I haven't done a fast continuous run in a while. If I didn't have to stop at two lights and for a few incautious drivers pulling out of parking lots, my splits could have been faster. After I finished my knee felt pretty good considering how fast I pushed. It even hurt less than it did this morning, which was really good. After I shower I will give it another good massage, then ice it, and of course ibuprofen. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107406517 

Today for practice we met at Sunnyside Park. We did an easy 2.5 mile warm up in the Gulley from Sunnyside, then back to Sunnyside and we did ten strides from the white tree to the goal post. About 70-80 meter strides. Then two laps around the park and a little extra to get to six. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107556873

After that we voted for team captains and dispersed. My knee was feeling good before practice and it wasn't feeling much worse after. Iced and massaged like crazy when I got home. It seems like I'm getting better, slowly though. I will just keep on doing what I've been doing. Later today is the BBQ and Fun Run to determine our Varsity for the first meet. So consequently, I shall blog later.

PM: Today was the Alumni Fun Run and BBQ. I did just under 1 mile warm up. Then we jogged over to the start and we did 1 stride. Sad. Then we started. The course was unmarked this year, but Bill explained it to me so I was good. Not. I took two wrong turns and added a little over .2 of a mile to the course. Anyway good run, I didn't push it very much. This was the first run where I didn't have someone to catch up to so it sucked. Anyway I was first for varsity boys. Then we ate and they announced team Captains. They are Dylan, Scott, Natalie, Abigail, and Annie. Congrats guys! Sweats before the season ends this year?

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107817081

(this excludes the warm up) 

Today we met at Liberty for a small workout because of the Settlement Canyon Invite tomorrow. One lap warm up, one lap fireman, four strides, then one lap and a little more to get to 5 for the day. Easy workout. The usual reports for my knee. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/107817075 

Today was our first race of the season, the Settlement Canyon Premier Invite. I did a two mile shakeout run during the boys jv race to cheer them on, then took a long break until i had to warm up for my race. I did a one mile warm up, then some strides at the start. I got out well, and was in about twelfth place. Two guys dropped off behind me and one guy in front of me also fell behind. I realized I was in eleventh place so I decided to surge past two guys running close together, one of which a Bountiful guy, I think his name is Colby. He stuck with me for a while and got a few feet ahead of me at one point but I caught and passed him on the turn into the trail. This is what I love about this race, after the road, the course just flies by and you can really use it to your advantage. Then once on the trail I caught the next guy and passed him cause he was dying. Eventually I also caught the next guy, who was maybe forty meters ahead, and passed him. After about a minute I looked back and saw that the Bountiful guy was maybe fifty meters behind and trying to catch up, so I picked up the pace a little once I came up to the small clearing along the trail. After I picked it up, I realized I was comfortable at the pace I was doing, so I picked it up more. After two minutes or so I couldn't see any guys behind me. Anyway I got to the big puddle and kicked it in. The entire time I thought I was eighth but I was happily surprised to here I was seventh. Once I reached the line, I looked back and the next guy was maybe 60 or 70 meters behind. Overall good race and the entire team did really well. I'm excited for the season!!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108065710

Today is my birthday so..... no running :)

Today we met at Cottonwood Complex at 3 in the afternoon for workout in order to get used to running later in the day. We warmed up just a little over two miles, then stretched and did the longest strides ever. After those I was at exactly 3. Then I reset my watch and we started the half's on the course. My times were 2:45, 2:42, 2:55, 2:53, 3:07, 2:55. On the fourth one is where I sort of rolled my ankle in a little ditch on the downhill, and the fifth one is were I really felt it. On the last one I just fought through the pain. I was pretty consistent, except for the fifth one. Then I just cooled down to hit eight. My knee felt great, there was almost zero pain after the workout. Another week of massaging, icing, and ibuprofen and it will be completely better. As for the ankle, a few days tops. Just have to ice that as well. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/108713825

It was soooooo hot!! Definitely need to bring more water tomorrow.  

Today practice was at Sunnyside. I had twisted my ankle the day before so I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it through today. Anyway the run today was up to foothill, then down around to gaurdsman and then continue on the shriners run until you hit four, then turn. I got around foothill, but once i was by the parking lot my ankle just hurt too much. I hit like 2.3 ish miles for the day. I was landing really wierdly on my left foot in order to ease the pain and it was screwing up my form and I was in a sort of limp/run. So i decided to stop and not risk screwing something else up as a result of forcing my ankle and I just did core and waited for the group to be done. Bill told me to do the alphabet with my ankles, so I will do that as well as ice and ibuprofen. Hopefully its better by tomorrow. 

Not worth a Garmin link. 

Today was the first day of school so we met at the track for practice. We did one mile warm up, then, then 10 strides, then we started six laps of the circuits on the bleachers, then we ran to the gulley, were supposed to do two laps, but I only did one because my ankle was feeling a bit worse and my IT was starting to act up, and then run back to the track. Pretty easy day, just boiling hot. Thank heavens for that ice machine. I will ice and the usual tonight. Here is my link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/109192928 

Today was our xc "Tryouts." Some new people actually showed up, which surprised me. We did a mile warm up and a mile speed changes. Then changed shoes and started our 3 x 3min on/3 min off workout. I was consistent throughout. I got to about 930-ish meters on the first one, then just past 900 meters on the next two. Dakota caught me on the second one, which surprised me, and stuck with me on the third one. Good job Dakota, way to push! Now just push like that the rest of the season. Then we cooled down about two miles to put me at six. My ankle feels loads better. I'm pretty sure it will be completely healed by this weekend. I did my core when I got home. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/109405668 

My stomach felt really uneasy after the workout, and only got worse when I got home. Top It is not a good food to have for lunch and especially when you have second lunch. Anyway I don't feel hungry now but a little later I will make myself eat something before I go to bed.  

AM: Woke up early and went for a small run. Easy, two miles out and back. I didn't think I would say this, but it was actually a bit hot. Much hotter than I thought it would be at 5:30 in the morning anyway. My ankle feels a little better, although icing yesterday failed. I have been really busy since school started and am not putting as much attention as I should to my little injuries. I will make that my goal these upcoming days. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/109609499

(I forgot to turn off my Garmin after my morning run and the start button was hit at some point after school so that's why my average pace is 14:28 and why there is a huge, straight red line form my house to the East track)

PM: We met at the track and ran down to liberty for an easy workout. We ran along ninth down around liberty to the fountain, then we did four hill relays, then three strides on the grass, then ran back up to east and added two laps around to get five. After we finally did ice baths! Best ice baths on Earth. I will do my usual massaging and icing rituals in order for my long run tomorrow.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/109609488 

Today I had to go run by myself. Ugh I hate long runs by myself. Anyway I was out the door by 7:30. I ran from my house down to 8400 W and then south along the Magna run. I was feeling good up until about a mile and a half until the turn around point where I got to the steady incline. I was feeling wiped out before the turn around. It didn't help that my turn around was right at the top of the next hill either. So I got through the two biggest hills of that run. I average just under an eight minute pace at the turn. My ankle also felt really tired at the turn. It was necessarily hurting, but it just felt sore and kinda tired. I think it was because of the slant on the road I was running on for a while... probably should have run on the sidewalk. I caught my breath and headed back. I felt a lot better going down those hill than up and I started doing a low seven pace. I felt good overall on the way back, and once I finished my pace had dropped to 7:33. I hate long runs by myself. I did my core when I got back home.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/109721627 

PM: I gave my legs a good massage in the evening. They needed it. On both my IT's and my calves, hamstrings, quads, and hips. After I did some stretching, which felt great, and then I did the alphabet with my ankles twice, and exercised my left ankle ankle a bit. Then I took some ibuprofen and iced my ankle. I did some more core right before bed.

Today I decided to run in the evening. I was planning on four, but I procrastinated on homework, as usual, and I had to rush back home to finish it, so I ended up doing only three. I felt good, my ankle felt pretty good, only a very small glitch of pain is present. Very small. By the end of this week, hopefully, it will be 100% healed. But it is good enough where I can run on it pretty comfortably. I got back and did some core. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/110220514 

Today for practice we warmed up in the track, one big grass loop. Then we formed a circle and stretched on the field. There was three options for a run today, the beginning, intermediate, and advanced. I did the advanced run. From the track up to foothill, then left and along foothill until the cemetery, then one loop in the cemetery, and then out and along 1300 E until 800 S, then back up to the track. I was feeling good today, and it is the first day in a few weeks that I have been injury free, well almost anyway. So I decided to push this run. I began with the group, but caught up to bill after Gaurdsman. After a bit of chatting, I brought the spirit of Ben back to cross country, and picked up the pace. I was hoping that a few, or at least one, of the guys would try and push with me, but no one tried. As far as I could tell. By the time I turned left onto Foothill, I had pretty much lost all the guys. I hope that soon some of the guys will step it up and go for it. I was feeling pretty good, but by the time I passed Gaurdsman while on Foothill, my ankle started to feel tired, again. Not necessarily hurting, just tired. I felt an unusual stiffness/soreness in a place I have never felt anything before. The place about 2/3 of the way up the outside part of the shin. I forgot to ask Bill a way to stretch it, but I will just do the shin stretch and hopefully that does something. I averaged 6:51 by the time I was back in the track. While everyone got back, I decided to go to five. Just when I was finishing, a few guys and Bill were entering the track, and Bill said to get to the three hundred mark. We did a 300 chase. On the first one I was to catch Patrick, and we ended up crossing the finish line at the same time. On the second one I was to catch Natalie, and not let Vuong catch me. I did close the gap on Nat, but I was still about 15 meters behind here at the finish, and Vuong nearly caught up to me! Good job! After that I just went to six miles and headed home. I will go for a run later.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/110462555 

AM: This morning was our first morning practice of the season! We started a little past six a.m. and ran along 15th E until the fountain at Sugarhouse Park, and the varsity had to do one outside grass loop, and then back. I felt good, and I guess I pushed pretty well, because I averaged 6:44 for the whole run, including all the hills. That just means that I can push harder next time!! Anyway we got back, showered, then had some french toast, courtesy of Papa John. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/110731128

PM: Today for afternoon practice we warmed up a mile, then one mile speed changes, then we did 2 X 200, 2 X 400, 2 X 200, all with equal recovery. I was feeling this morning in my legs a bit, but was still very consistent. My times were in order: 33, 33, 70, 70 (stopped my watch a bit late), 33, 32. I would have liked to run those 400s under 70. After we cooled down one mile to put us at five. I felt okay, my ankle was a bit tired, but we took an ice bath at the track after the cool down and that helped greatly. After we had a captains meeting and then we had a team dinner at the Shields'. Yummy. 

Here is the speed minus the recoveries: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/110731115 

Today was Pre Region. I was feeling a bit tired from yesterdays workout, since I haven't been doing two-a-days ever since I twisted my ankle, but I guess it is now time to get back into condition. I warmed up two miles around the course, cheering on the girls. I put on my spikes and headed over to the line. We were standing there for probably close to ten minutes before the race started. I got out well, maybe a little too well. I was dehydrated before we even finished passing the softball field, and it just got worse. I have never been that dehydrated. I held on to third for about the first mile and change, and then two WX guys caught and passed me, but then one fell behind. I fell back about three more guys during the course of the race. I was trying to make a more, but I just didn't have it in me. After bessie, I just finished the race with whatever I had left. Pretty sucky race for me. I was like 8th or 9th. I know I could have been third, easy. I think it was a culmination of things that produced this race. I was tired from the day before, I didn't get a good nights sleep, I didn't warm up enough or hard enough, and I didn't hydrate enough. Oh well, today just wasn't my day. Friday will be better. It was definitely a learning experience though. My ankle feels alright, and apart from that, no injuries to report:) Now to jsut get back into shape.....

 Here is my race: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/110947356 

AM: Today we had morning practice. We ran up to Sunnyside and around the park once, then back to the white tree. Then we did 6 strides? I can't remember how many exactly. Then we did a fartlek workout. Each on/off was indefinite. We just had to speed up or slow down whenever Bill blew the whistle. After that we ran around the park and back along Sunnyside Ave to the track. Then we showered and had some breakfast courtesy of Mrs. Reid! I hit 5.7 total.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/111159735

PM: For our afternoon practice, we ran down to Liberty and around the park to the drinking fountain as a warm up. Then some light stretching and then six strides I believe it was. Then we did a 2 mile tempo run. I had to hit mine in 13:40, which means splitting at 6:50 miles. Absolute cake. After that we ran back up to the school and I hit 6.3 right in front of the locker room. Nothing is hurting, other than the usual mild pain from my ankle, which is good. I just feel a bit tired. Better than yesterday, but definitely not in tip top rest. I will give my legs a good massage today and get a good nights sleep.

This is just my tempo: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/111159716 

Today was the Utah County Invite. We arrived and I did a one mile shakeout around the course so that I could get to know it. Then I hung around and relaxed until it was time to warm up. I warmed up another two miles and then got some water, put on my spikes, and headed to the start line. I did strides at the line while we waited. I probably did eight or ten. I got a good start. Not too fast or slow. My goal for this meet was just to do as best as possible, and stay positive. I did well enough through the race. One place I thought I could have done better was along the fence in the last 300 of the race. I really could have stayed or even passed the group I was with. Anyway, I kicked it in with whatever I had left and I glanced at my Garmin and it said 17:08, give or take. So PR, by like forty seconds, which isn't half bad, but now I know for sure that I can break 16:00 by the end of the season. Overall I thought the team did well. Scott had an amazing race, and I hope that from now on it will be a battle for top varsity between us!! Great race, then back to East for the East vs West game. East won, of course, 27-6. Perfect day. Then I cooled down a mile before we left. Here is my race:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/111159716 

AM: At about seven thirty in the morning I went out for ten miles to get 55 for the week. I was feeling pretty good, despite the poor nights sleep. I ran out to 3500 S and then down to 8400 W and on the Magna run until I hit five, then turned around. I was doing just under a six pace until I got to the hills, where I slowed to about 7:40's. Then on the way back I was able to  use the hills and I was usually in the high 6:30's, and when I got back to the flat along 3500 S it stayed under 7:00 pace. I averaged 7:13 for the whole run, which means that I am getting back to where I was a month ago. Last week I averaged 7:33 for the 9.5 I did, and that run had one less big hill. I hope that for the rest of the season I won't be set back by anything else so I can keep improving. Hopefully I can average under seven for next weeks ten miler.

PS: Last week, I felt like the ten went on FOREVER. It really did suck. But now I have an IPod Touch arm band so I can listen to music:) Somehow, this one didn't seem as long...
Here is my link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/111492126

PM: I wasn't feeling very sore or tight from the run surprisingly, and I have been on my feet the whole day so that's great! Either way I did some nice stretching, and I massaged quads, hamstrings, ITs, calves, and hips. Then I did some core.  

Why is it harder to do 4 miles on Sunday then it is to do 10 on Saturday? Anyway I managed to drag myself out of bed and out the door, after much self dispute. Just a nice, easy run today. Averaged 7:00 flat pace. It would have been faster if it hadn't been for a 7:30 first mile, but I just warmed up the first mile, then let myself go at whatever pace felt good the rest of the run. It turns out that pace was about 6:50, so I know I'm back to where I was a few weeks ago. Well, from here on there is no where to go but up:)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/111781486 

AM: Today is Labor Day so no school. I got out the door later that I would have liked. It was nearing 8 am. I was going to do an LSD run this morning, but I thought about it, and I feel like a fast run now and an easy run later would be more beneficial than one big slow run. So I decided on eight this morning and four later. My goal for the eight was to finish in under 56 minutes, a 7:00 pace. I finished in 55:16, closer than I would have liked, but taking into consideration two miles of steady and steep incline, I think I did okay. I averaged a 6:54 pace, and I felt good. Not tired after the run, even though I definitely pushed. The last half of the run is where I really picked it up, letting the downhill take me at whatever speed, then pushing on the last straight from 8400 W to my house. Averaged 6:38 for those four miles, keeping pretty consistent mile splits even onto the flats. Here is my Garmin link: 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/112085598

I had some running buddies for about a mile on the way back on 3500 S. Two dogs followed me from 8400 W all the way to just past 7200 W, where they I guess they were too tired to keep going and stopped to sniff a trash can. There was a Beagle and a big Golden Retriever. I was contemplating stopping and looking at their tags or something, but I would have lost my pace so I just kept going. I hope those dogs find their way back home...

PM: Wanted twelve for the day so I went for an easy four in the late afternoon. It was supposed to be an easy run but I still averaged 6:54. That tends to happen on these small runs. Anyway, I am getting a bit of shin splint pain and my calves are really tight. I took me about three and a half miles to warm up.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/112264047 

AM: For morning practice today we ran two grass laps and then a mile speed changes. After I put on flats and we started our chases. We were doing four sets of 400-200 chases. I was with Teeples, RJ, and Taylor. Teeples and I started the first 400 and Taylor and RJ were at the two. Once the 400 runners hit a cone about 20 meters away from the 200 mark, the 200 runners had to catch up. My goal was to just be consistent, but it turns out I ran the fast and consistent:) My four hundred times were 71, 68, 67, 68. My 200 times were 33, 30, 31, 32. For some reason on the third set Teeples didn't run with me so I really thought I would slow down but it turns out it was the fastest. After we had some great breakfast courtesy of Mrs. Jackson. I hit 5.25 total, but I will call it five since I left my Garmin on for the standing recovery.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/112502122

PM: The workout for today's afternoon was just a nice easy run for tomorrow. Varsity ran up to This is the Place along the Running of the Leopards course, obviously just backwards. JV ran straight up Sunnyside to the park. Once Bill arrived we started figuring out a new course since the old one won't work anymore for some reason. After a lot of running around and confusion that I don't want to get into, we figured out a course. After all that business was over we all just ran back to East along Sunnyside. I hit 6.5. Hope I can reach my goal tomorrow...

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/112502099

(this is just the run back, not the entire workout. it is split into three garmin links that I don't want to post.) 

Today was our Bountiful dual meet. We rode the bus up to This is the Place and for a warm up Bill told me to go along the gravel and mark the course. So Nat, Abigail and I hit about 1.5 doing that and running around the course trying to get to know it better. Then the girls went off to start their race and I kept warming up. I hit 3.5 total by the end of the warm up, including six strides I did. Then I got over to the line and the race started. It was very obvious once the race started that the Bountiful guys were going to remain as a pack for at least part of the race, because Scott and I took the lead easily for the first half mile and we did not start very fast. Anyway, the race went on, and at some of the sharper turns I could see the Bountiful guys breaking up as some fell behind and some picked it up. It became apparent that the top Bountiful guys were going to chase me so my goal was just to hold them off as long as possible, well as long as this race is worth anyway. It sucks to be the front runner, because you are running in constant fear of being caught. I held the first guy off until 2.25 exactly, so 2/3 of the race. Then another guy came up behind and passed me. Those two broke away from me a bit, but maybe 100 meters before we hit the gravel again I began to close the gap on the second guy. Once on the gravel, I was going to sprint with all I had to try and catch the second Bountiful guy, who was now only about 40 meters ahead of me, but the gravel makes sprinting hard and I have BYU on Saturday so I just settled with kicking it in and not letting the Bountiful guy behind me catch me. I finished third, with about 80 meters on the next Bountiful kid. It was an okay race, the course turned out to be better than I thought, except for the gravel. My hamstrings and calves are kinda sore. I met the goal Bill set for me, which was only letting two Bountiful guys beat me. It is a good indicator for region. Here is my race:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/112710272 

AM: Today for morning practice we met at the track, as usual. It was really windy. Once Bill arrived we started. It was just a recovery run in the gulley. We ran there along 1500 E and then did three laps, before running back the same way. This run is always a blast, although I didn't scare anyone this time... Once we got back to the track we did 8 barefoot strides on the grass. They were the length of the football field and I just focused on form. Then we showered and had some delicious crepes provided by Olivia's mom.

PM: For afternoon practice we ran from the track up to Gaurdsman, then left onto Foothill and Varsity did one loop in the cemetery, then down to 1300 E and back to the track. Once we got back we got right into two 300's. My first was a 47.5 and I caught Javier. My second I asked Bill if I could chase Natalie, mwuahhaha. I caught her and I hit a 45 flat. Then I did another half mile to make my mileage for the day 8. After I iced with some cups and stretched a bit. Here is the link for the full day.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/112907224 

Today we had a super easy recovery day for BYU tomorrow. We just ran from the track up to Sunnyside, one lap around and then back to the white tree, then 10 strides, then we just cut across the field straight back to the track. Like I said, super easy recovery day. I hope I do well tomorrow.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113118082 

Once we arrived I did a half mile shakeout cheering the Frosh/Soph boys in their race. Once the Frosh/Spoh girls race started I went out for a 2.5 mile warm up around campus. I got back and put on my spikes and headed to the line once the girls race was ending. I probably did ten or twelve strides total while we were waiting for the start. I made sure to not lose my warm up. By the time I reset my watch for the race I had hit just a bit over three. Overall I'd say I got a very good warm up. Then the race started. Really, I was going into the race hoping for a top ten finish. I got out well, and after we were out of the baseball field on the first lap, the lead pack was starting to separate itself. There was three Davis guys, me, and some other kid. Anyway by the time we got on the track, one Davis kid and the other kid had dropped off so it was just me and two Davis guys. Going into the baseball field for the second time I took the lead and was going to try and separate myself from them, but they hung on and we stayed together until we were going into the baseball field for the third time. At this point, they pulled away from me. The second Davis guy was maybe 20 meters ahead of me and the first guy probably 20 meters ahead of him. I heard Bill screaming at me to get back up to them and not let them get away, which is usually what happens at this point in the race for me. Once we were out of the baseball field and onto the soccer field, I started closing the gap, which was about 40 meters from me to the second place guy. By the time we were going down the little hill that leads into the track, I passed him. I was kicking hard and the entire time I was just thinking about those 300's that Bill makes us do after our runs. I was ahead of him until about 40 meters before the finish, where he passed me and managed to stay ahead of me. So he finished like maybe ten feet ahead of me and like one second faster. That is my only complaint about this race, to just have a stronger finishing kick and not fall back any places. Other than that, I am proud of myself. I caught the guys even though they were pulling away from me on the last 800, which I consider to be my weakest spot in the race. I was fighting the whole race and stayed focused. Great race today and I am excited because I know that with some hard speed work, I can shatter this PR. I had planned to do a two mile cooldown, but my stomach was really hurting so I only got a mile. Here is my race:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113345065 

PM: I REALLY didn't want to go run. I was hungry, sleepy, and oh so tired. Since my stomach was killing on my cooldown I didn't get as much as I wanted at the race, so I had to do it all tonight. That was 6.5. I was debating whether I should go the full run, or go 1.5 and be at 55 for the week. I had almost convinced myself to make it 55, but as soon as I got out the door, my mind made the decision for me. So, I did 6.5 miles. Ugh. Despite my extremely negative attitude towards the run, it ended up being a good one. I felt fine, just tired. My shins are hurting a bit so I will ice those. Here is my link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113385433

(Bill, you better click it.) 

No running today. Was going to run in the evening but it was terribly windy.

AM: Had a late start today so I went for my own run. I was planning on 6, but I got out the door later than expected so I just did 5. It felt like the entire run I had not warmed up, which I'm guessing is attributed to the fact that I didn't run on Sunday, which I normally do. Anyway, here is my link for that:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113977430

PM: Today for practice we did two warm up grass laps then a mile of speed changes. Then, we started the speed workout. 8 X 800. Nuff said. I was put with Taylor and our goal was to hit 2:40's, but Taylor fell behind after the second 800 so I was by myself this workout. Here are my times: 2:39, 2:40, 2:37, 2:39, 2:38, 2:37, 2:39, 2:36. I was pleased with this workout. At first 2:40 seemed slow, but on the 5th and 6th ones I started feeling them. I was very consistent and I ran all but one of them under pace, and the only one I didn't run under pace I ran at exactly 2:40. And, to add to this workout's difficulty, I had to run all of them by myself, which sucks. But I did pretty good anyway. Finally, we are having some tough speed work, which is exactly what I need. Then I did two grass loops for a cooldown and a little extra for 9. I don't feel too horribly tired, which surprised me, but the real indicator will be tomorrow's morning practice. Other than being tired though, I feel great. Nothing hurts, just a bit of shin pain which I will dull with ice later. Here is my link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/113977420 

AM: For morning practice today we ran from the track along 1500 E to Sugarhouse Park, then varsity did a grass loop around the park, and then we headed back to the track along 1500 E, and went up the street by the gulley to add the little bit we would need to hit six. It was just recovery so there was no pushing, I just stayed in a group with Natalie, Taylor, Chris, and Dylan. It felt good, although it took me a while to warm up and I could definitely feel yesterdays workout in my legs.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/114199328

PM: We ran up to Shoreline trail by the zoo and did four sets of the first hill on the trail. We would stop once we got to the end of the flat part at the base of the second hill. We were to run them like we would a race and we did them with our groups from yesterdays workout. I was with Taylor, Nat, Dakota and Chris. They felt pretty good. My legs felt a bit heavy but I just focused on using my arms up the hill and powering through the hill and the flat after it. We would just jog back down after every hill and start once our group was ready. After those were finished, we just jogged back down to the track. I just went at whatever pace the dowhill took me. Then once I got back I added on about 3/4 miles to get to six while waiting for the ice bath to fill. Then I hopped in the ice bath for fifteen minutes and after we had some cake and we sang Annie Happy Birthday! My quads are a little sore and my calves are really tight so I will do some stretching before bed.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/114199316 

AM: Went out for an easy three miles. It took me a while to warm up and I did them slower than I expected, but I guess that was Monday talking. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/114430522

PM: For practice today we ran down to Liberty for a tempo run. Once we got there we were divided into groups and started. My group was supposed to hit 6:45's. On the first mile we ended up hitting like 6:30, and then on the second half of the second mile I picked it up and Dakota stuck with me. Good job today Dakota. After that we just ran back up to the school. I felt this workout a ton more than I expected. Not just the tempo, but the run back from Liberty. Dang that hill. I hope to have an awesome recovery day tomorrow to do well at Murray. I messed up my distance when I forgot to turn it on for some of the warm up, but we hit six on Natalie's Garmin just past the locker rooms. Here is the tempo and cooldown.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/114430499 

AM: Today for morning practice we ran from the track up to foothill and then down onto Gaurdsman and back to the track, then we did four laps around the track to get four. There was a bit of confusion about the run but either way four miles got done. I felt okay, a bit sore and tired but hopefully I can recover enough for tomorrow's race. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/114638907

PM: In the afternoon we just did a really easy workout. We warmed up one mile, then a mile speed changes, then a mile cooldown, all on the track, switching directions every mile. I felt ok after this workout, but my shins hurts and my calves are really tight. I will ice my legs and do some good stretching before bed. My ankles we feeling a bit tired so I will do my ankle stretches before bed as well. Can't wait for tomorrow's race!!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/114638896 

When we arrived at Murray, it started raining. I didn't let that affect me mentally as best I could, even though rain kind of makes me feel sad... After everyone got settled we went for a team warm up around the course. I hit 1.5 by the time I got back to the Pavilion, and around 4:45 I went out for my own warm up. I finished my warm up to a little past three miles, put on my flats, and headed to the line. I did probably six strides at the line. I should have worn my spikes in these conditions, because once I got to the trail, I had zero grip, and once I hit the hill on the trail, I kept slipping and slipping and I probably got passed by about four or five guys there. Anyway the race went okay. I got out mediocrely, I was boxed in around the fire hydrant and the baseball field, and as I said before I had no traction anywhere on the snake. After that part, when we got to the flat grass, I tried my best to stay with the group ahead of me, but I slipped like three of four guys. I had my usual finish. I kicked as hard as I could but I think two guys passed me. Once I finished, I hung around for a few minutes and then headed home with my mom and sister. 

I think there are several things that contributed to the outcome of this race. 1) My mind. I had been sweating this race since Thursday, and all of Friday during school in the back of my mind I was dreading this race. Being nervous is good, but I got a little too worked up about this race. 2) The conditions. It was pouring during my race, and it made the dirt hard to race on. Again, as I mentioned before, rain also makes me feel a bit gloomy. I have to work on staying positive despite weather conditions. 3) My shoes. It would have been a much better idea to run with my spikes on, and only two or three spikes actually in the shoes around the toe. That way I would have had the traction I needed, despite the asphalt parts of the race. Lastly, 4) I was definitely feeling this week on my legs today. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday really were all pushing days. And I am hitting semi-high mileage. I hope that with a taper, and a longer recovery period, I will have fresh legs for Bob Firman. 

But, oh well. I didn't do as well as I hoped or know that I could have done, but I did meet my goal competition-wise. This race passed already, and all I can do is prepare for Bob Firman.

 Since I left early, I didn't get a chance to cooldown there, but once I got home I did the two mile cooldown I was planning on. Hooray for ten tomorrow.

Race: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/114866490 

When I woke up this morning I was exhausted, hungry, and had a stomach ache. There was no way I could have done ten like that. This whole week has been tiring, not to mention yesterday. Anyway I decided to just do it in the afternoon. I started around 7:30. I ran from my house along 35 S to 84 W and onto the Magna Run, my usual ten miler, but it got dark sooner than I thought it would and it seemed like every car that passed got closer to hitting me, so I just went to four on 84 W and headed back, and decided that I would add on two once I got back. I ran back, past my house, and out a mile, then back to hit ten. Pretty uneventful ten. I was feeling ok going into the ten, and I was just tired once I was done. I averaged 7:05 pace, which, not including the last big hill on the Magna Run, is about what I did the last ten miler. Today was just not a pushing day for me. Here is my link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/115141354 

I rolled out of bed at 8:30 to go run. I was feeling super tight and stiff from yesterday. It's a good thing this run was just to loosen me out. I went out 1.5 and came back the same way. At my turn around I stretched a bit, which really helped. I feel like I didn't warm up that whole run. I got back, iced my shins, did the alphabet with my ankles, and massaged my legs a bit. Here is my link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/115297412 

AM: Went for my own run this morning. Easy four miles. Felt good but I didn't push at all. It took me a bit to warm up, but once I got going I felt okay. Here is my link for my morning run:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/115751117

PM: After a bit of a pep talk from Bill to both the boys and girls teams, we started our workout. Down to 1300 E from the track, then all the way to T street, then we did the hills, sprinting up one then left jogging along the flat, and again and again until we hit 11th ave. At 11th ave we assembled and headed back down, just striding out along the downhills. This workout was fine. It was tiring or anything, but my shins did hurt quite a bit on this run. Mainly because of all the starting and stopping we did, and the one big break we took on 11th ave. That's where I really started feeling my shins, and I felt them the rest of the way back. I iced them as soon as I got home and I will massage and ice them before bed, as well as begin taking my dear friend Ibuprofen again. Hopefully they get better. Here is my link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/115751109 

AM: For morning practice today we did a speed workout. One mile warm up, mile speed changes, then 200, 200, 400, 600, 800, 600, 400, 200, 200 all with equal recovery. I did well this workout, my goal was to be consistent on the first half, then from the 800 down to push and see how low I could get my times. The sprinklers turned on during the workout, and more would turn on as some shut off, so I had to swing wide on some of the intervals to avoid getting splashed. My times were, 34, 34, 74, and 1:50 for the first four intervals. Not fast times, but definitely repeatable. Then I started pushing the rest. 2:34, 1:48, 67, 32, and a 31 (I missed my watch so I am about two seconds off. my garmin says I ran a 33). I was happy that I got my times lower, although I would have liked the second 600 to be faster. And maybe even get my 800 to 2:30-ish. I felt good this workout. Nothing hurting except my shins a bit. There was no starting and stopping for long periods in this workout and it was on a soft track, therefore no shin pain. We hit seven.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/115948684

PM: For afternoon practice today we just ran to Sugarhouse along 1500 E, then a grass lap, then back along 1500 E to the track. I went maybe 100 meters further for six  I definitely felt my shins on this run. My Mizunos seem to offer less overall support than my Nikes, because not only were my shins hurting, but my ankles were tired and my hips were hurting a bit. Even though Monday's workout was harder and much more hilly than today's, I wore my Nikes and I didn't feel as bad as today. Maybe my feet are getting accustomed to my Nikes too much.... I will try and mix up shoes more. We finished much sooner than usual, so we got out the ice bath and since football players had no practice there was plenty of ice for an ice bath. I haven't had an ice bath that cold in a while! Anyway it really helped, my legs feel loads better. After Bill gave me a killer shin massage. I really needed it. I can tell that my shins will start feeling better. I will take some Ibuprofen later and also ice my legs. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/115948675 

AM: Went out for a small run this morning. Since I did three on Sunday, I have to shave off a mile here and there throughout the week so that I can hit my mileage. So I just did two. My shins felt great. Definitely hurting much less. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/116165405

PM: Today was our Tri-Meet against WX and Bountiful. Because of Bob Firman on Saturday, this race would just be a tempo race. Bill said to hit a 7:00 tempo since the course was a bit hilly. The goal of this race was to get a tempo into the Varsity, and to bring some of the borderline varsity up. I hit my first mile a bit fast, at 6:45 I think. Then my second right on at 6:56. A half mile left in the race means that at 2.25 we could pick it up a bit. My average pace until the last kick to the line was about 6:55, which is close enough to 7 flat. Once we passed the asphalt track we started to kick. Scott and I were kicking hard, but he beat me by about a second to the line. If only my kick in every race could be that fast! Anyway, it was a nice tempo. My pace once I finished had dropped from 6:55 to 6:42! Haha. 7 guys stuck with the group, which was more than I thought would make it. Good job all those who made it with the group! Afterwards I got about 1.4 cooldown which would put me right at 7 for the afternoon. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/116165381 

AM: Today for morning practice we just did a run up to the drinking fountain by Shriners. It was about 2.3 there and the same back. It felt good, but I definitely felt my shins on the way back down. Especially when the light stopped us for about a minute. Nice, easy run.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/116357505

PM: For afternoon practice we ran to Sunnyside for a Fartlek workout. We had to run up to the park, then a lap around and back to the white tree for warm up. I was at about 1.4 by then. Then we started our interval workout. 10 X 1on/1off around the soccer fields. On the first one Dylan pushed the pace, but died off after that one. Scott was with me for three of them but fell back on number four.  The majority of the workout I was by myself, so I just made it my goal to push the "on"s  and lap as many people as possible. I caught everyone up until to the group around Natalie. They were at most 100 meters ahead of me when I finished my last "on" by the white tree, but they finished out their last lap. I finished with nine laps around the soccer fields. In twenty minutes of intervals I hit about 3.3 miles. Right after I finished I could really feel my shins. After we just cut across the soccer fields and straight down to the track. My shins are hurting, so I will ice them and give them a good rubbing today before bed, as well as ibuprofen. Here is my link:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/116357487 

Super light run in the afternoon today. Just half mile warm up, mile speed changes, and half mile cooldown. Other than my shins hurting, I felt fine. Then took a fifteen minute ice bath at the track. Before I go to bed, which should be around 9ish today, I will really massage my shins and ice them some more, as well as ibuprofen. I'm excited for Boise tomorrow!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/116527937 

Had a wonderful time waking up at 2 am to get to the bus by 3. Once we loaded on the bus we headed out. Everyone fell asleep. I laid down in the isle. Upon arriving, we unloaded and set up our tent. It was 9:30 by then, and my race is at 10:30. I went to the bathroom and did about a mile shakeout around the course. I came back to the tent for some water and for my registration stuff, and then I left again to keep warming up. By about 10:25 I put on my spikes and headed to the line, only to be sent back by the official because we couldn't wear Garmins on this course. It was a good thing I brought my normal watch too. I ran back to the tent to put it on and hurried back to the line. While we waited at the line we did strides. I probably got in like 8 strides. 

The race started and I got out okay. I was boxed in for the first lap on the dirt though. I kept trying to fight my way out of the crowd, but there is only so much elbows can do. Not until I came to the sand did I get away from a slow group. I passed people until the beginning of the second lap, where I was caught by two or three guys. I managed to stay with that group until the hill/sand area where I fell back maybe 5 guys. The rest of the way is a bit of a blur, but along the last part of the lap right before you turn right and are on the final kick, I got passed by 2 guys and then one or two more on the kick, I think.

I think the thing I could have majorly improved on this race was just the mental part. Sticking with people and passing whenever the opportunity strikes. I think I would have done better if I was racing against some people I knew were at my level, but that's no excuse. I really look forward to Wednesday for that reason. I met my goal time-wise and I had a blast! Having my race in the morning was awesome because the rest of the day I could eat, cheer on people, and mess around. The day in Idaho was fun and the bus ride back was an absolute blast. I was crazy hyper on a ton of junk food so therefore I don't remember a lot of it. 

Also, my shins were hurting a good deal in the warm up and in the cooldown, but I didn't feel them during the race. I will do the usual shin stuff tonight. I look forward to Wednesday!! 

No running today :)

AM: I decided not to run this morning. I was still feeling a bit tired from Saturday and I would rather start off the week with a good night's sleep. I'm glad I did, because I still felt wiped out for the workout later today.

PM: Today for practice we carpooled down to Cottonwood Complex and did our workout there. We did the course as a warm up, then six 150 meter strides, then six Bessies, then a two mile cooldown on the course. My shins were hurting from the moment I started running until after I got home. They hurt the most probably on the strides, where I felt like my lower legs were throbbing. I couldn't feel them during the Bessies, but on the standing recovery I did. On the cooldown they were hurting a great deal too. It was on the cooldown where I started feeling pain not only in the normal place, but a bit lower almost into the ankle. Plus I forgot socks today so I had to deal with a squeaking the entire workout, and smelly feet after.

On the Bessies, I felt like I did ok. Not necessarily bad, but definitely not good. I feel like it was just mentally where I did bad. On the uphill I would do fine, but on the downhill turn and the flat part of the kick, I just couldn't bring myself to pick it up on the majority of them. My times where, 1:33, 1:32, 1:35, 1:37, 1:36, and 1:38. I know I could have brought my last three times down to where my first three were. It was just a mixture of things that led to this result. My shins killing me and my mind was in la la land. Oh well. I will redeem myself tomorrow morning.  

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/117381280 

AM: This morning for morning practice we were pressed for time so we only did a half mile warm up, and three laps of speed changes. Then we got right into the speed. We started with a one mile repeat. I ran that in 5:11, which is much faster than I thought this morning. After a half mile recovery, we got into 6 400s, all with standing recovery. My times were 68, 68, 68, 68, 69, 69. Pretty consistent times, as well as fast. I was very happy with this workout, as well as surprised that I did so well considering I felt like crap yesterday. Then we did a half mile recovery and hit the showers, and had some waffles for breakfast courtesy of the Sheffields. 

PS: My shins weren't hurting too horribly much, especially since we didn't sit around too long between repeats. I did feel them during the day though. I was limping a bit throughout the day. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/117586718

PM: In the afternoon we had our team picture. After that we got started on our recovery run. We ran down to the gulley along the usual route, did two laps, then came back. Once we got back, we were supposed to do two 300 chases, but my shins were hurting too much to do those, so Bill told me to just sit them out. I got the ice bath out and ready while everyone was waiting. Once everyone was done, Bill massaged my whole lower legs. Calves, shins, ankles, and feet. It really helped. My shins still hurt a bit, but I felt like I didn't have to limp like I had all day. There wasn't enough ice left for an ice bath worth while so I just decided to ice my legs at home. Then I just put the ice bath away and headed out. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/117586715 

I knew today was going to come eventually. I just couldn't ignore my shins anymore. They had been hurting all day, I was limping most of the day, and they didn't feel any better once I started running. Once we arrived at Sugarhouse Park, the guys went out for a warm up. My shins killed the entire time. I decided I would try some strides and see if I could handle them. I put on my spikes and headed to the line for some strides. Ouch. I couldn't bring myself to stride-speed because my shins would make me give out. They would only hurt more when I tried to run fast. So I decided not to run today. Hurting myself more would be terrible at this point, and that was the only thing I would get out of today. So while the guys were racing I sat in the creek for about ten minutes. Then after a team talk everyone went on a cooldown and we headed back to East.

I hope that there is just an inflamed muscle or something. I will ice it and rest. Tomorrow we will see what is wrong with my shin. 

I have worked WAY too hard this entire season to let this injury hold me back. Everyday I show up to workout with a positive attitude and I do my best. I will not let my Junior season of XC end like this. I will heal this injury and I will get back out there and compete.  

Here is my unimportant link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/117811157

Well today was the first day of no running. It feels weird. I thought I would like having a break but I just feel like my day is missing something. I really want to get back to running. My shins were feeling slightly better today. We are pretty sure it's not a stress fracture or reaction. Either way I will rest and hopefully my shins will feel well enough to race region.

Second day of no running. Went down to Cedar City with the team even though I wasn't racing. I just rested today. It feels a little better, but still hurts whenever I try to run. I think I want to get into a doctor or physical therapist. It is not a normal shin splint, and I need to know what it really is.

Still no running to give my legs more of a break, but pool workout today. I started by getting in the jacuzzi for five minutes, then I put on the belt and did a five minute warm up. After that I started my workout: 10 X 2min on/1min off. They went well, I got my heart rate much higher than the last time I did a pool workout. 120 was the highest I got it, and I averaged between 100 and 110. My shins didn't hurt at all, but the resistance in the water against my right ankle did make me feel a small twinge of pain every step on the inner part of the ankle. It felt great to actually get some sort of exercise in. 

My shins do feel better, but they still hurt going up stairs, not to the point of having to grab onto the hand rail like Thursday though. My ankles feel sore and they hurt whenever I make a movement the wrong way. I can't really explain when it is that they begin to hurt, but overall they are hurting much less than on Thursday. Before I went to bed I did some core and arm swings. 

Another day of rest today. My shins feel SO much better. They don't hurt while walking anymore, and only hurt a little while going up stairs. My ankles feel a lot better too, and my right ankle only hurts a little while walking, but I do feel it when I go up stairs, more-so than my shins. I am so happy that I am starting to recover, hopefully I an end up having the end to the season I want!

I will do core and arm swings later before I go to bed. 

AM: This morning I went out for a light 2 mile run, to see how I felt after my short break. I started out okay, but as expected, I started feeling my injuries. At the one mile I stopped to stretch a bit, which really helped. My right ankle was hurting quite a bit, and my shins were hurting also. At 1.5 I stopped to get in some just two strides to see how they felt. My ankle made it hard to get to stride speed, and once I was striding, my shins just hurt even more. After I finished I just stretched a bit more, then took a shower and got ready for school.

Overall, this run sucked. I felt extremely stiff and out of rhythm the entire time, but that was expected after a break like that. My ankle definitely feels better than last Wednesday, but it is a long ways away from healed. My shins also hurt, but not to the extent they did before. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/119020505

PM: Today was my first day back to running in five days. We did a half mile warm up, mile speed changes, then 800, and two sets of 400-300-200, with a mile cooldown. My times were 2:28, 74, 52, 36, 70, 50, 32. I ran the 800 comfortably fast, then the first set conservatively and the second I pushed a bit. Those times are okay for the state I am in. My ankle was the biggest problem here. But I was able to push through. Then after we did an ice bath. This time we put three buckets of ice into it. NOT A GOOD IDEA. That ice bath was soooooo cold. Never again. I only stayed in for 10 minutes. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/119020497 

Today we had our team service project at This Is the Place. After two hours of labor, we did a shakeout run around the park. Just over a mile for that. My ankle wasn't bothering me too much, but my shins were hurting pretty bad. It was probably all that running downhill around the park that made them feel worse. Then we went over to the wettest, most over-watered grass in existence and did strides there. Apart from all the mud flying everywhere and splashing all over everyone, the strides didn't feel too good. My shins were killing and I wasn't able to actually stride out on any of them. I hope they feel better for tomorrow. I did some light stretching and my core before I went to bed.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/119244426

Regions tomorrow!! I'm excited to see how the team will do. And how I will do. I just hope I can pull a good race off. Where did the season go.... 

Once we arrived at Cottonwood complex, we tried setting up the tents, but the wind was too strong so that failed. Anyway, we finally got going on a team warm up. Well, part of the team anyway. We did two miles right along the course, and we stopped right by our stuff along the course. After some cheering and jogging around the course, I did the 3X1min on/1min off Bill said to do before my race around the baseball field. I had those done around 3:30ish. After that I kept running around the course cheering on Varsity girls, and at about 3:50 I went back to my stuff, put on my spikes, used the bathroom really quick, and got to the line. After some strides to stay warm, we started. Right out of the gate, all the Clearfield guys went out crazy hard. SO ANNOYING. They were all together until past the sand, when all the leaders of the pack started to pass them. One Clearfield guy elbowed me and I saw at least two other Bountiful guys get elbowed as we were all passing the Clearfield guys. Despite those annoying hypocrites, I got out well. I was right where I needed to be and I stuck with the top four guys until a little past mile one. Then Kohle made a move and I didn't respond. That's where I started losing the leaders. Once we were around the finger, the freshmen from WX, Taylor I believe, passed me. Going along the slanted hill Scott caught me. That was a surprise, but it was the perfect opportunity for me to stick with him, and I didn't take it. I just couldn't get myself to surge up to him. Going up Bessie, one more guy passed me. I was in the same position until the baseball field where Kason caught me, I think. At this point I know I'm having a bad race, because I have beat Kason every time I have raced him. I tried to stick on him, but another kid, I'm not sure who, wedged himself between me and Kason, and they slowly pulled away. Past the finger and along the straight in the northernmost part of the course, Kason and the other kid picked it up some more I lost them. Past the triple trunk tree, Rob from Bountiful caught me. That hit me hard. Four guys from Bountiful were in front me of, when I know that only two are as good or better than me. Crap. And to cap it off, right before Bessie, the Highland kid caught up. I was with him going into Bessie, but lost him too once we were about 30 meters into the uphill. In my head I counted myself as nine, but I was actually tenth. It's a good thing I was able to hold off the rest of the pack of about 6 that was kicking about 40 meters behind me. Anyway, pretty sucky race. One of my worst performances this season. Only Pre Region was worse. Today was the day to step it up, and I didn't. Not a good way to go into state, but at least I get to go to state! Good job East boys! I am so proud of all of us! We had some amazing performances and a lot of guys stepped it up. Just what we needed. And congrats East girls as well! 2nd overall and places 1-2-3. Congrats to my fellow medalers, Natalie, Abigail, Sarah, and Scott!! We are going to rock at state!!

P.S. Today my shins weren't really hurting that much after I warmed up. My ankle was fine and my shins were bearable during the warm up. I did't feel them during the race, as expected.

(Race and then some) http://connect.garmin.com/activity/119438546 

Today there was no team practice so Bill just told us to run on our own. I decided to go to Steiner and run on the treadmills there. After about half a mile, I remembered that I hate running on treadmills, so I just put on my Garmin and went out for my run. I only made it to one mile, which was a little past Legacy Bridge, where I had to turn because my shins hurt so bad:(  I got back to Steiner and just did 30 minutes of eliptical. I'm not counting that towards mileage. After that I just went home. I'm starting to really hate my shins.

Here is the part I was out for:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/119627788 

Today for practice we met in the commons since it was so cold. We ran down from faculty parking lot to liberty for our workout. I didn't have full satellite when we started, so my whole warm up is off. Only like .15 though. Anyway we took the short way to the drinking fountain instead of finishing the lap around the park. After we reassembled we jogged over to where we were going to start our fartlek around the pond. The intervals were three sets of 3 min on, 2 off, 2 on, 2 off, 1 on, 1 off. On the first set I felt great, my breathing was in rhythm and I felt like I could push a bit more. On the second set, I noticed my breathing was faster than it usually is at this point in any workout. Probably because the is the first actual workout I have had in a while. The third set was the hardest. I had managed to get a hold of my breathing, but I was feeling the hills. My legs felt tired, but on the "2 on" I noticed I was about to lap Nelson and Abigail was maybe 50 or 60 meters ahead of him, so I pushed to catch Abigail. With 30 seconds left in the 1 "on" I caught her and made her sprint the rest of the "on" with me. Good job pushing through Abigail. After the intervals, we regrouped and ran from the pond back up to the school, but Bill said we could walk up the big hill right before the school, so once we got to the steep part of it we walked. My shins didn't hurt too much during the workout, I was worried that with the downhill going to Liberty and with the rolling hills around the pond, that my shins would hurt more, but the pain remained completely bearable during the workout. 

Here is my link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/120016006 

Later, at the football game against Bountiful, we ran the torch in during halftime to light the big "E." A certain someone who was supposed to be there before halftime showed up five minutes into halftime so we had to rush and make the torch really fast. Fortunately, we had our Skyline shirt handy so we weren't short on  kindling. When we got to the end of the straight, the fire nearly fell off the torch, but managed to stay on until the grass where it fell. Scott wrestled it with the torch until he got it on and was able to light the "E." Disaster avoided, sort of. That was a fun experience, just like last year. And of course, East creamed Bountiful. We are now 8-0! GO EAST!!

This morning I had planned to meet Natalie, Abigail, and Ben for 8 miles, but I woke up and my shins were hurting pretty bad, so I decided not to run and aggravate it more. Instead, a little later I went to the gym with my mom, and while she swam, I got on the elliptical for an hour at about a medium resistance. That was a cool machine. You could customize stride length on it. Plus, the handle bars on it were really ergonomically placed so it was a semi-close match to what my arms do when normally running. I actually felt like I was running for an hour. I got my heart rate pretty high, I think. It was at about 120ish for the better part of the hour. After that, I got in the pool with my mom and just swam a bit with her until she was ready to go. My shins didn't hurt at all during the workout, and they hurt less after the workout than they did before.

I was only able to get through the warm up and half way through our speed changes before I just couldn't take my shins anymore. They particularly hurt on the fast part of the speed changes. My right shins especially. Looks like I will cross train tomorrow.

Before bed I did 3 sets of 100 toe taps on each leg, then walked on my heels for 25 meters with 3 sets of those. After that I massaged with some icy hot and iced my legs.  

Whew! That was the hardest workout I have had in a long time. Today I was with Emily at Steiner for some cross training. I did a 1 min on/1 min off interval workout on the elliptical for 1 hour, increasing both my recovery and fast resistance every 20 min. I started at a decent amount of resistance, 8 recovery and 12 fast. By the end of the first twenty minutes, I felt okay, but my heart was definitely going. I averaged about a 140 heart rate. Then on the second twenty minute chunk I increased to 9 recovery and 13 fast. By the end of this, I was tired. I was averaging closer to a 150 heart rate for the on's. I was completely drenched in sweat and I was struggling to get my strides/min to the same level I had been getting it. Now, I was supposed to increase to 10 recovery and 14 resistance for the last twenty minutes, but I just could not handle that. I was struggling immensely with my current resistance. So I left it the same, but even that got too difficult after about five reps, so I lowered both down 1. I was able to handle 8 and 12 resistance much better and I finished the workout with that. 

This was the first time in a really long while that I feel like I got this much of a workout. I can usually fight through a tough workout, but I had to back off a bit today. I take that as a good sign. It means I am starting somewhere. I don't think I have lost much aerobic fitness, and with a few more of these workouts I feel like I will be close to where I was three weeks ago fitness-wise. After that, I tried doing a squat on one leg like Emily showed me, but it hurt too much to do it on my right leg. Then I foam rolled a bit, did a few arm weights, and headed home.

My shin had been hurting me all day. Now just a sliver of pain on the front-side part of my right shin. The elliptical didn't hurt, only if I pushed down harder on my legs to gain speed. Since yesterday, it did start hurting a bit worse, and has been progressively getting a little worse everyday since last Friday:( Looks like my junior season of cross country is over...

P.S I did the same small exercises before bed that I did yesterday. 3X100 toe taps each leg, 25 meter heel walks. And core. 

No cross training today. My quads are a bit sore from yesterday's intense workout. Before bed I did do some fast, hard arm swings. I did 3 X 2:00 arm swings, then my usual core, 3 X 100 toe raises, then heel walks.

Today, while everyone ran, I went to Steiner and got on the bike one hour for a steady workout. Every ten minutes I increased the resistance by one. I started at 6 and ended at 11. I got my heart rate semi-high, to the mid 120's by the last 20 minutes. After that I did a few arm weights and headed home. I did my core, arm swings, toe raises, and heel walks before bed.

Again, while everyone ran, I went to Steiner and had an interval workout on the elliptical. I got on a different elliptical though, which gave me a different interval workout. This one gave me a 2 min on/2 min off workout. Like Tuesday, every twenty minutes I increased my resistance by one. I started at resistance 6 and 9, and ended at 8 and 11. My heart rate was always around the 140's on the on's. It was a decent workout overall. After that I foam rolled a bit. The elliptical and bike get your quads more than running, it feels like. Since today was the East-Highland game, I know I would get home late, so I just did core and arm swings there. 

P.S: East won!! 22-0! YEAH LEOPARDS!! 

At about 9 this morning I headed over to the gym for my workout today. I got on the bike for one hour, set it to random, and put the resistance at 7. I just left the resistance the same the full hour, but the random setting did include some hills in it. The last twenty minutes I picked up the pace and got my heart rate decently high. Mid 140's. After that I did some arm weights, then went over to the mats and stretched a bit. It is so boring to workout by yourself. 

Before bed I did core and arm swings, as well as toe raises and heel walks.  

This morning I decided to head over to the gym for a small easy workout, mainly to just get loosened up because I was feeling a little sore from yesterday. I was planning on an easy 30 min even pace workout with no setting on it. I put it to 9 resistance and left it there. I was feeling great up until about 26 min when my shin started hurting a lot more than it usually does. So I stopped and went over to try the bike and see if that would hurt as well. It did, so I just did some arm weights and headed home. 

I don't know why it started hurting more. I wasn't pushing. Usually it hurts when I try and go faster, because I am pressing down on my shin more, but today was just an easy, even pace workout. Maybe I just need a little rest. Oh, I just realized that I didn't take Ibuprofen this morning. That could also have been the problem. 

Today Bill said I should try running and see if I could tolerate it to determine whether or not I would run at State. I started running and immediately felt my shin. I only made it to the light on Gaurdsman. It was just hurting too much. Oh well. Looks like state is a no for me:'(

Day of rest today. Did no exercise whatsoever. Before bed I did my core and arm swings.

State today! It's too bad I don't get to run this year, but this injury will only help me get stronger. The next six weeks of cross training will help me be a better athlete. But for those that did run, good job! Everyone did great! 

Another day of rest today. No running, except for once or twice I did sort of scuttle over to a different part of the course to catch people racing. Before bed I did my core and arm swings. 

No running. Did my core and arm swings before bed.

Another day of nothing. No running, just core and arm swings before bed.

No running again. Did core and arm swings before bed.

No running, did my core before bed.

No running again today. When I got home I got on the bike for 20 minutes at an even pace. Then I went "crazy on core work." I did crunches, push ups, medicine ball reps, wall sits, leg lifts, planks, toe taps, and then arm swings. 

No running. Did core and a bit of lifting with the team in the weight room. After I went up to Steiner and did a 30 minute hill workout on the elliptical. After that I went over to the mats and did some more core. Core, core, core, and more core. <--- Try saying that sentence five times:P 

Again no running, and I went up to Steiner. I wanted to get on the bike today, but my butt is just too sore. I am SO sore. So instead I did a 25 minutes of an even pace on the elliptical. Afterwards I went over to the mats and stretched a ton, as well as foam rolling everything. I got some of the soreness out. Then I did medicine ball reps, weighted lunges, wall sits with the big blue ball, crunches, push ups, planks, side planks, and leg lifts. I could barely do the planks. SOOOOOOO sore. 

My shin was hurting a bit after the workout, for about 15 minutes when I got home it was killing me. But it went away pretty fast, so that shouldn't be a problem. 

No running, did 1 hour on the elliptical. It was on a cross training program. After that I did a ton of core stuff. Weighted lunges, medicine ball reps, planks, side planks, arm swings, etc. My lower abs hurt so much. I could barely do crunches and the medicine ball. My shin was hurting quite a bit after my workout again. I felt it on my way home.

Even though today was an early out day, it took an eternity for the school day to end. To say the very least, I had a bad day. Struggling to find motivation for training today. Anyway, I managed 25 minutes on the elliptical, I started at 6 resistance, and increased one every five minutes. After that I did the usual core stuff. Still sore, but have been getting better. My shin hurts again today. I didn't feel it until I finished my workout and was on my way home. Ugh.

My shin has been hurting the past few days so I took today off from cardio. I did my usual core exercises though. Too lazy to list them. 

This morning my shin was feeling better so I went over to the gym and just swam. I didn't measure it or anything I just swam for however I felt like. It felt good. Afterwards I did my core stuff at the gym.

Today I went to Steiner and did 25 minutes of elliptical at an even pace. After I did my core stuff: lunges, medicine balls reps, wall sits, the whole lot of them. My shins feels good, not agitated. I think the lesser amounts of cardio have helped. 

Steiner again. My shin was hurting a little after I did a few exercises in the weight room with the team, but I dismissed it. Up at Steiner I did 20 minutes of elliptical, starting at 7 resistance and increasing 1 every five minutes. Then core stuff, as usual. My arms are sore!

Up at Steiner I did a 25 minute interval bike workout. It was 1 min on/1 min off, and at a 6 and 10 resistance. Right before I did the bike I did some core, and afterwards as well. I am getting back to being able to do all my push ups with good form. I am a little sore around the arms, and a little around the butt as well. Probably because of the bike. My shin feels good. Looks like lesser amounts of cardio works better for it. I can almost touch my toes too!! My goal by the end of cross training is to be able to touch my toes. (without bending the knee of course)

Today at Steiner I just got on the elliptical for 25 minutes at an even pace. Then after I did all my core.

I didn't have much time for a workout today, so when I got home I did 20 minutes on the bike and all my core, improvising my medicine ball reps with a large cantaloupe (hehe).

This morning I went to the gym with my mom. I did my core on the mats in the weight room, then my mom and I both swam. I got in about 40 minutes of continuous swimming. Pretty easy workout. 

Rest day. Not like I need it.

Today I had a training partner! Maggie and I got on the bike for 20-25 minutes (I can't remember how much we did -_-) and did a 1min on/1 min off interval. I was at 6 and 10 resistance. Then afterwards to the mats for core.

Today at Steiner I got on the elliptical for 25 minutes. I set it to hills, and it steadily increased resistance from 5 to 15, and for about three minutes back down to 9 at the very end. I held 15 for about a minute and a half. Man that got my heart rate really going. Afterwards I went to the mats to do core. My core has gotten so much stronger. I can actually do push ups with good form now. And, I can touch my toes :D (once I have stretched for about ten minutes).

Today after an intense AP Chem study sesh, I went up to Steiner. I did 20 minutes on the elliptical, starting at 6 and increasing every 4 minutes so I could end at ten. Afterwards I did my core and headed home.

Today was football semi finals, we I ended up not getting into Steiner. But I did all my core at home and got on the bike for 20 minutes. Good job East football! Headed to the Finals! 

Super long day today. Felt like I was at school on a Saturday. Anyway, I met up with the team in the commons and while they went on their run, Dakota and I went into the weight room and I did all my core. After that one thing led to another and I didn't get my cardio in:( I just procrastinated it too late. Oh well I will get into the gym tomorrow morning.

This morning I went over to the gym and got on the amazing elliptical there! Whenever I get on that particular machine, it actually feels like I'm sort of running again. Anyway, since it is a Saturday and I didn't get any cardio in on Friday, I decided to go for 45 minutes. After that I went down to the weight room and did all my core, and then some. I think I am going to increase reps now because my core doesn't make me sore anymore. After that I joined my mom in the pool  and just relaxed there until she was done.

Day of rest, did push ups and crunches in the evening.

Today after I did core work with the team in the weight room, I went up to Steiner and did a 25 minute 1:1 interval workout. 7 and 10 resistance for the first half, and then 8 and 11 resistance for the second half of the workout. While I was still warmed up I went over to the indoor track around the ice rink, which I believe is 200 meters long. I could hardly contain my excitement at the thought of getting to jog 200 meters. I jogged the lap at a steady pace, paying close attention to my shin/s. Absolutely ZERO pain!! :D YAY! I could neither feel the shin splints nor the fracture! I nearly had to force myself to not jog another lap. After that I went over to the mats and stretched my legs. I did a stretch that normally triggers a twinge of pain in my right shin, with no pain either! GAHH! I am so excited to see that I am nearly recovered and even more excited to get back to running next week! 

P.S: Proudest 200 meters of my LIFE! 

Cross training. Can't remember how much cardio. And of course core.

Can't remember how much cardio again, and after core I was going to try running again, but the figure skating sectionals were at Steiner so the indoor track was closed. 

I went up to Steiner and did 20 minutes starting at 6 and increasing every five minutes until 9 on the elliptical. Then core.

Today was the East State football game, so the entire schedule today was weird. Anyway, I did my core at home and then 20 minutes on the bike.

No cardio today, just core. 

Day of rest, juts push ups and crunches before bed. 

First day of running again! YAY! Now I have to get back into the rhythm of blogging everyday, uploading Garmin stats, and of course running. Ugh. Still, I am ecstatic to run again. Today was a track day. We were introduced to a new coach, Tim. After we got rolling, we did a some dynamic stretching, followed by a circuit he explained to us. The circuit consisted of fast squats, 100 meter strides, modified planks, then 4 reps around the stairs of the commons. We did this circuit twice, and the third time we did a slightly different circuit. After that the distance people divided into their groups for the run. I did twenty minutes, ten out and back on 1300 E. I was reminded today that the first day back is always the hardest. My shin didn't hurt, but just about everything else did. My hips, my knees, my ankles, my thighs, all aching. Just normal runner pains. Anyway, later that day I was going to do core, but I figured that the core we did during the day was more than enough.

Today we ran up to the track for warm up, then did one mile warm up and one mile speed changes. The workout was 8 X 400's, but Bill told me to only do the first and third ones in about 1:20. The first one I just laid back and ran with Bill. That was was a 1:17, a bit faster than I should have been running them. After a slow lap recovery, I just stretched while everyone did the second one. When the third one came around I got on the line again. I know I was supposed to hit 1:20, but I just decided to let go a little bit. I haven't run in so long and I just wanted see what opening up a bit would feel like. I am in better shape than I thought I would be just starting again. Again, today I was hurting in my knees and hips, but I feel loads better than yesterday, and I didn't get any cramps even though I was breathing much harder. My shin didn't hurt at all. The main thing today was just getting over the soreness in my hamstrings and hips. All in all good day for me.

First day of Thanksgiving Break! Man, I needed the break from school. Anyway, it was incredibly difficult to drag myself out of bed at 9:30 this morning to go run twenty minutes. I don't remember it being this hard to get up earlier in the year when I would do a twelve, much less for a run as small as this. I guess I just need to get back into the rhythm of running with and without the team again. As for the run, it was a nice twenty minutes to myself. The hardest part was just getting out the door. I had no pain in my "owie" spot, but my knee did hurt a bit, and my hips were a little sore. My run was about 2.3 ish miles but I just rounded.

Another thing I have to get back into is uploading my runs into Garmin Connect, but my cradle isn't where I thought I left it so I will just look for it tomorrow.  

Another day where I had to drag myself out of bed. Ugh. Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving! I still have to get back into the groove of running. It wasn't any easier to get out the door and run today than yesterday. When I finally managed to get out the door, I decided on 25 minutes. Again, easy run just to work my way back into consistent running. No "owie" pain but my knees, mostly my left one, are hurting. My hips are just a teensy bit sore too. I hit about 3.2 I believe by the time I was back at my house. 

I can't find my Garmin cradle! I NEVER lose things. I have no idea where it could possibly be and my Garmin only has about half charge left. I really need to find it... 

After try to talk myself out of it, I finally got out the door and ran. This morning, since we were going to do a bit of Black Friday shopping, I had to get my run in right before we were leaving, which was about 8 am. A nice twenty minutes alone with my thoughts. No shin pain, and only my left knee was hurting me today. I hit about 2.8 ish miles so I just rounded up. Still can't find my cradle!

Since today is Saturday I went out for 30 minutes today. Still struggled a bit to get out the door, but when I finally did I was glad I got out and ran. I sort of pushed this run, just to get my lungs going. By the time I got back to my house, I was at like 3.8 I think, so I am getting close to 7:45 pace. No pain in my "owie" spot, just in my left knee a bit. 

Still can't find my cradle. My Garmin is getting close to 25% battery. I really need to find it. 

No running, so called "Day of Rest," even though I did anything but rest. I was doing homework for about five hours seeing as I have to prepare for the school I am going to miss this week. But it's worth it!! FOOTLOCKER BABY! Beautiful California here I come!

Track day today. Ran up to the track as a warm up and then did three sets of Coach Tim's drills and sprints. Was at about 1.5 but apparently, ehem, that wouldn't count towards mileage. After those, the distance group went for a run. I just did a lap in the cemetery with Maggie, talking the little I could seeing as I was out of breath most of the 8:30 pace, 2.5 mile run.

Today was the first speed workout I have run since my injury. We did 1 mile warm up and I believe it was 1.5 miles speed changes. Then we started. Our workout was 4 X 400-200 with standing recovery. I hit 71, 72, 71, 72 for my 400's and 32, 34, 33, 34 for my 200's. Pretty good workout for running with only a week back. I felt great. On the last set of 400-200 though, I thought I was going to lose it. But, I managed to keep my lunch down. Then we did a 1.5 mile cool down to be at 5.5 for the day. Solid day for me. Hopefully I can feel this good on the race this Saturday.

Afterwards, we all helped Bill take down the discus net, which was an adventure.  

Today was a track day since the whole distance group would be gone on Thursday and Friday. We did two vertical laps warm up, then did dynamic stretching. Next we did 3 sets of Coach Tim's circuits and drills. After that, the distance group went for an easy run. Along 13th to the cemetery, one lap inside, and back the same way. Pretty easy day today. Super excited for Footlocker!

Today we departed for California at 6 am. We stopped in St. George for a run. I went out 10 minutes and came back, but since we started before Natalie's Garmin had satellite, I gave my Garmin to her for the rest of their run. They were going out 2 miles and back. So I am assuming I hit around 3 miles. 

This morning the team went over to the course for packet pick up. First, we walked the course up until the top of Reservoir Hill, and we jogged the rest which gave us about a half mile. Then we went over and stood in line for packet pick up. After everyone had their packets, we went over to the starting line and did 8 strides. Then we were off to the beach!

This morning we went over to the course and got settled. I was debating whether or not to race today because my shin had been hurting and since this course is very hilly, I was worried the downhill would hurt my shin. But, I did end up racing. After about a mile warm up, the junior boys got on the line. I couldn't do that many strides because the line was packed with guys, but I did manage to get in 4 or so strides. In  between strides I stretched and stayed loose waiting for the officials to start the race. 

 That whole race was a big blur. I knew I would do bad because of my lack of training over the past two months, but I didn't do as bad as I expected. This is the second year I have raced it with lack of training. Next year, hopefully I can actually race confidently, that is, in shape. No expectation really for this race, so not really disappointed. I was just glad to have the race over. I did about a mile cool down afterwards, waiting for the awards. After the long wait, we were off to Disneyland!

Day of rest. Spent all day on a bus back to Utah.

Absolutely exhausted today. I got to bed really late after we arrived in Salt Lake and still had to show up to school to fight through a tough day. I decided not to go to practice today since I was too tired, and I had a ton of make up homework to do. So no running.

Still tired today, although not as tired as Monday. Since we only have practice on Mondays and Thursdays until Christmas break, I was able to go to a BC Calc study session after school, which really helped me understand the stuff I missed while at Footlocker. I needed the break from practice this week, because I have so much work to make up for my absences last week. At night before I showered, I got on the bike and went for 20 minutes while watching The Big Bang Theory. Long Live Concrete! Haha

No practice again today, which gave me an excellent chance to chisel away at my make up work. Only 2 more classes left to make up!! I don't know why I felt super tired again today, probably because I have gotten so little sleep since last Monday. Anyway, I was dreading getting any physical activity today, so I just decided not to. I did some core before bed and that was it.

Today for track, we did some dynamic stretching with Coach Tim. After that, the distance group played Fox and the Hounds inside the school for practice today. On the second round, I was running down the hall to avoid getting tagged by Chris, when I slipped on the wet floor they had just mopped and literally, ran straight into a door. Lucky and unluckily for me, my right shin took the entire blow. Perfect. I slipped and skidded straight into the edge of a door so hard, that the edge bore a hole on the front of my shin. There is an indent on the edge of the hard wooden door where my shin hit it. Boy did that hurt. Apparently, the universe hates my right shin, because this would be the second time I injure it in the past two months. Anyway, it not only left the tremendous cut, but also a nasty bruise so that whenever I extend my foot or bring it to dorsal flex, the front of my sin hurts. Wonderful.

No running today as a result of yesterday. I took me forever to get my cut to stop bleeding, and whenever I walk around to much, it starts to gush blood. I went through two heavy duty bandages today. Plus, the bruise still makes moving my ankle and foot pretty painful. I will start running again as soon as I can get it to completely scar over and also as soon as the bruise heals a bit so that I can tolerate a lot of movement in my ankle. 

No running as a result of Thursday. I tried getting on the bike, but like three minutes in my cut started bleeding again so I stopped. I will take the rest of the weekend off and hope by Monday the cut has scarred over enough to withstand movement. 

No running today. My cut is almost completely scarred over. One more day of inactivity is just what I think it needs to start the healing process. 

Track day today. After some dynamic stretching and a few drills the two groups split up. Distance did some more core stuff and then we went on a small run. Down 13th to the cemetery, one lap, and then back. I had to add about .5 once I got back to be at three. On the way there we took it sort of easy, but on the way back Chris and I really picked it up. 

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/134262002 

Had a ton of homework to do. This whole week is finals so I doubt I will get much running in on my own. No running today. 

No practice so I just went home. I finished my immense load of homework with enough time to get on the bike for a little. 20 minutes increasing resistance by one every five minutes. Started at 6, ended at 9 resistance.

Track day today. We did dynamic stretching and drills as a group. After a lot of drills, the distance went on 6 miles, but I had to get home to do homework so I just did two. I have to study my butt off for a chem final tomorrow!

Today is Friday!! Finally it's winter break!! After school I was out having fun with friends and I didn't get home until really late so I didn't run!

I know I really should run, but....... meh.

Sunday, no running.

First day of winter break! Track met at the Oval today for a morning practice. Once all the distance arrived, we started. 4 laps warm up, 4 laps speed changes, then 1 recovery lap. Then once we reassembled we did two sets of Flanagan which were burpees, jumping jacks, power squats, and mountain climbers each with about a 55 meter stride in between each one and 4 minutes, I believe, between the sets. Then we did 10 J's which are basically continuous 200's. I ran them with Nat and we really pushed them. We gradually got faster on each 200 and I had to really fight to stay with her on the last 4. The last 2 were just brutal. Man I am out of shape. Time to get back running! We finished the workout with a gruesome 10 laps cool down to be at 8 for the day. 

This week is my, and the rest of the teams, return to consistent running. After my cross training, I began to run but not very consistently, partially because it was no big deal since it was the off season. But now it is time to buckle down and start running consistently again. 

Today we didn't have practice, and I meant to get in my run in the morning, but one thing led to another and I didn't get to it until the afternoon. Since I am only hitting 20-25 this week, I just went for two miles. About a 6:45 pace overall, so I was moving a bit. Now I just have to do my core.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/135597038 

Today practice was at the Oval. We did 4 laps warm up, 4 laps speed changes, and then did five laps of drills: high knees, butt kicks, A-skips, power skips, and grapevines (in that order). Then one more lap of basically speed changes again. Then we started the workout, which was a 40 minute tempo on the track. Ugh, longest 40 minutes of my life. The faster people ran on the outside and slower on the inside. I was stuck in lane 4 for the entire tempo, which was really annoying cause I had to dodge walkers and other runners as we went by. Since I ran in the outside lane, I got more than ten miles in, but whatever. I finished 21 laps in 40:50. Man, was I glad that was over. We pushed really hard, especially towards the end of the tempo. Nice job pushing today guys. Then everyone had to leave, so it was just Bill, Kiley, and I left to do the one lap cool down to be at 36 laps for the day, or ten miles. 

I would post my link for the tempo, but we were indoors so my Garmin didn't get satellite which makes it redundant to post my link. 

Spent the whole day Christmas shopping with my mom and did get a chance to run, so I biked for twenty minutes here at home. I got new running shoes!

Just two miles this morning to try out my new shoes. They felt great, I just hope they keep feeling great.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/136196312 

Today I decided to bike since I have already passed my mileage. I just biked for half an hour at a constant resistance. 

Day of rest because it's Christmas! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

I showed up to the oval because I assumed there was practice today. Apparently I was wrong. Kinda ticked off that I went to the oval on a day there wasn't even practice. Whatever. While I was there I saw Susannah and her mom there. Susannah was doing 6 X 800 and since I was already there I just jumped in on her workout. By the time I had warmed up two laps she had done two 800's already. While we were doing them, Susannah decided to do four  instead of 6 so I ended up doing only two. I hit 2:47 and 2:52 I think. Pretty slow, but then again I didn't really push that much. Then we did four laps cool down, which put me at 13 laps, or about 3.5 miles. At least I got my run in.

I went out for a small run in the morning. I was planning on getting another small run in later, but never got to it. 

In the afternoon  I went out for an easy 4 miles. The new shoes feel great.

After managing to drag myself out of bed, I went for a small run. Decided to turn at 1.5 miles.

Man this whole week I have had zero motivation to run. I just did 1.5 to be at an even number of miles this week.

Today is New Year's Eve, and I just decided to have today off. No running! But a fun night!!