Keep Calm and Run On

Big day- I ran my 2,000th mile for the year!!! And I forgot about it until I got home so I didn't do anything cool or exciting on my run. Ran 9 around town to finish mileage. Felt pretty tight and sore from tempo but half way through my run I was able to pick up the pace and finish strong.

Met with a few girls this morning to do our fartlek workout. We ran to the Provo River Trail and did 5-3-2 hard and 5-3 recovery and a cooldown. I have a cold now so it was not too great of a workout. My legs felt fine but my chest was really tight and I couldn't breathe well. I hope to get over my cold really soon so I can feel better and run better too.

4 miles in the morning. It took me about 2 miles before I finally could breathe while running a reasonable pace-still congested. In the afternoon I ran 8 and once I got in a even pace I felt pretty good. After I had to do a test for weights-jumping squats for a minute. That hurt and my quads will fell it tomorrow...

Interval workout by the track today. We ran a one mile loop around the fields and on the track 3 times. It was pretty hot and I am still not all the way better, but I did better than I was expecting. We were supposed to run an 85's for 400 pace. My miles were 5:47, 5:43 and 5:43. My quads were really sore and tight but I managed to keep contact with the group. I ran a long cool down for 10 before weights. In weights we did various tests- throwing the medicine ball, bench press, chin ups, and leg press. To sum it all up- I can handle running lotsa miles but I need some SERIOUS work on core, upper body strength and in the weight room. There is a lot of room for improvement throught the season there. Ran another 4 at night.

4 miles in the morning. 8 mile recovery run along Provo River Trail. My quads are really sore and tight from weights and did not loosen up very well.

Morning run I felt great! I could finally breathe and didn't have to push way hard to run an 8:15 pace. Afternoon I ran 7. My Garmin was dead so I don't know how hard I was running but I felt pretty good and glad I am getting better.

Long run/tempo to finish the week. I ran 2 miles warm up then ran a 40 minute tempo. I ran the same tempo route as last week. I wasn't as fast pushing by myself and my hips were really tight. But I averaged 6:47 and almost got 6 miles tempo in. I felt pretty good and feel like I am fully recovered from my cold-yeah!

I didn't mean to run this much today but less for later this week! I woke up to run before school and was really tired but ran 4 miles anyway. For practice we ran 5x1200's at the intramural fields. We were running 6 minute mile pace. But of course we did go faster.... I ran 4:31, 4:29, 4:27, 4:25 and 4:29. I felt really good the whole workout but the last one I finally felt tired and was glad we were done. We ran a couple laps on the fields in our spikes before heading back. I felt pretty good so I ran 4.5 cool down with two other girls for 12 miles. We had weights for an hour.... that was fun. I still fell great but I am sure I will feel it tomorrow...

Long recovery run. I miss running on trails and running at parks. So far I haven't found a good park like Sugarhouse or Liberty to run. I ran up to the Shoreline trail above the temple. It turned out to be more hilly than I expected and my quads were already pretty sore, so I got off the trail by the base of the Y. Running down to the main street was way downhill so my quads were super sore and tight by the end. I found a cemetery about 2 miles south of campus (which made me happy) and ran a lap in there before going home. I rolled out my quads with the stick and it killed.

A.M. lab rat workout- I did the blood lactate threshold test on the treadmill this morning at 7. It was a pretty cool test but hurt. I ran a 10 minute warm up then started. I started at 5.8 mph and each set would increase by .5 mph. I ran at each speed for 4 minutes, then they took by pulse and pricked my finger to get the lactate level. I had to keep going until I was over 4. I felt good starting out, but my legs were really tired towards the end. The last set was really hard and on the pain scale of 6 to 20 I was at the 19.5. I finally got to stop after 10.3 when my level jumped a lot and 11 finger pricks later I was done. (about 6 miles) Afternoon workout at Kiwanis Park. We ran 3 sets of 1200-800 at 6 minute pace again. I felt really tired today and did not feel as good as Monday's workout but running with the group of 12 girls really helped me to keep going. Ran a cool down to get 8. I am ready to lower mileage next week and race with my team!

Easy recovery run. My quads were really tight and sore but felt a little better by the end.

5 miles in the morning-I felt pretty good but it must be fall because it was cold! Another 7 miles in the afternoon before going to the BYU home meet! It made me nervous to be at the meet but SO excited to be in season and ready to race! I felt out of place taking dead runners tags at the finish instead of racing with everyone... weird. 6 days until my first race!

Long run with 40 minute tempo to finish the week. I felt a lot better today on the tempo. I was with one other girl and we were both pushing. I started slower and sped up- overall average 6:27 for the 40 minutes. I felt pretty good and was way excited to see the East team at the BYU meet! They did awesome and I miss running with them.

A.M. 4 mile run. I felt really good and ready for a new week. Afternoon we ran 5x1,000 repeats at the park. Serious deja vu of running that at the Oval and surprise 1,000's at the end of a workout. I felt tired overall but was able to push with the group. It took me a couple repeats to feel the pace and get where I wanted to be on the last one. I ran 3:33, 3:32, 3:35, 3:30 and 3:28. I ran a cool down then did my weights and core.

Easy 4 in the morning and recovery run in the afternoon. I took a 15 minute ice bath as well.

I love tapering. We ran to Kiwanis and because I was racing I only ran a 800 and 400 then finished my miles. Ice bath for 10 minutes. 

6 miler early in the morning before class. I am excited for my first meet!

First college race was awesome! We raced in the evening so I had all afternoon to relax and sleep. The course was a 4k on a golf course. It was pretty flat, just some loops with a downhill finish. I was really excited and it felt pretty mellow and low-key. I got 2 miles warm up and my legs felt great. I got my spikes on (remembering to loop my laces) had a pixi stick and did some good strides. There were 14 teams there. I got a really good start and was right in the front of the pack. I wasn't sure if I was going out too hard but I felt good and decided just to run my best and go for it. I stayed with the front pack to mile 1, which was 5:17. I was surprised because I set my goal for the race to run around 15.... But I kept going. The pain started to set in after the mile as the lead girl broke the group and I was in 6th chasing a group of 3 runners ahead. The last 1,000 I really felt like puking and mentally was struggling. I tried to pull myself together to finish strong. 1 girl passed me and I moved with her and we passed another girl. The downhill finish was crazy fast and I was just behind a group of 4. After recovering I realized I was the first BYU girl, 6th overall and ran a faster time than I was aiming for. I was really surprised! But I felt like it was an awesome race because I went out hard and stuck with it. I ran 5 miles cool down and my calves will be super sore tomorrow. 

Long recovery run. My calves were really tight but loosened up during the run. We went to this park with a lot of trails and it was awesome! It was like running through the middle of the forest- lotsa trees, shady and cool and it was gorgeous. I wish I could run there a lot.

Awesome workout. We ran an interval workout at the track (with music which meant a lot of singing along) This was a workout that I liked, not because it didn't hurt, but it was a workout that I had to work hard to finish. We ran 8x800's with 3 minutes recovery. We split in 2 groups and we ran 2 across the lane, rotating who led each repeat. That helped a lot to just settle into the pacefor some repeats and other times leading. I ran 2:37 for 6 of them and 2 were 2:35 (the ones I led). I felt good for the first 4 then it started to get harder. But it felt similar to all the speed workouts I did in high school so it felt so good to push through and finish well. I ran a long cool down to get 11 before weights.

4 in the morning. I felt really sore and tight when I rolled out of bed but felt ok by the afternoon. Ran another easy 7 with some of the girls.

Workout at Kiwanis today. The group not going to Kentucky this weekend ran 3x1600 on the grass. There was a lot of uphill on each repeat which made times slower but it was a good workout. I ran 5:47, 5:44 and 5:51. I felt super tired by the end can definitely tell workouts this week were harder. I ran a long cool down and got in the ice bath for 10 minutes before weights.

My morning run I felt awesome. Afternoon 8 miler I was more sore from yesterday's workout.

10 mile recovery run on my own. My legs felt tired so I didn't go to fast- just getting my miles in for the week.

Long run with a 40 minute tempo. I had a review session at 10 so I had to run by myself earlier than the team run. I wish I would've had someone to push with because my legs were really tired. I did the usual tempo run route and averaged 6:40 and ran back to my apartment for exactly 11 miles. Score.