It's a RUNderful life

Late start practice today. very slow wu and then it was tempo. Goal pace was below 6:45 and I only did 2 miles (versus 2.5) because im still trying to recover from being sick. First mile or so was pretty fast and felt okay, but once we hit the hill I slowed a little and never recovered the rest of the run. I wasn't very happy with my performance overall but I guess it could have been worse. After tempo I did three more snail-paced miles to finish. I'm seriously looking forward to tomorrow when I can take it a little easier. 

Well I woke up thinking this was going to be a torture run because I was exhausted, seriously unmotivated, and lonely, but it actually turned out to be a great run! I'm at Bear Lake this weekend so it's nice and cool for running which was extra nice too. I warmed up a mile down the road with my madre and sister then they headed back and I kept going for three more miles and then turned around and came back. Saw some pretty things like the lake and stuff AND I saw some not-so-pretty things like a dead deer and a dead skunk. But anyhow, I was pretty negative at first and wasn't even sure if I could do eight miles today but once I started running I felt a lot more positive especially bc it's a recovery day and I can go a little slower. Fun times. Shoutout to my grandma for giving me chocolate milk when I got back. 

5.7 miles this morning at the lake mostly bc of time constraints and then another 3.3ish tonight at about 9:00 to finish off my mileage. Not feeling too wonderful today. I'm so sick of being sick... -_-    apr. 8:00 (sorry Jamie)

Early run with Gups, Gan, and Mario. We ran from Gan's over to Timpanogos Highway and up that for a couple miles then into Alpine. Turned around at 3 miles bc Mario has less mileage and came back to Gan's for a water break. Guppy, Gan, and I then finished up our last three miles including one mile on the grass at Skyridge. Felt okay throughout the run, except the last couple miles my legs kinda felt like rocks being tumbled down a hill... After the run we went to Kneaders for some quality food and then to the SOLW for an ice bath. 

Today was just such a good run. It was the first time in like three weeks that I've felt decent on a run. Guppy, Gan, and I met at Highland Glen Park and warmed up a mile onto the MCT. We continued on the trail until we hit 4.5 and then turned and headed back. Saw some of the AF girls on the trail and like TONS of old people and bikers. Pace felt surprisingly easy and we ended up with a 7:31 average pace. Last mile was really fast but felt good and I hit about a 7:04. Finally I'm feeling good about our high mileage and easy pace and I think my body is adjusting and almost better so all around this is a super happy day for me :) 

Low mileage recovery has never felt so good hah. Ran up the Provo River Trail with some of the girls. Saw a gross dead snake named Jimmy apparently. After did abs and hips. 

Easy paced run with some of the girls today. mile wu loop and then ran on the rail trail to Rachel's house, got some agua, and ran back. Apr. 7:22. 

*Shoutout to Rachel for being the only one to remind me to do my abs later. #truefriend

**HUGE shoutout to Dallin cuz it's his birthday!!

Hm... well I don't actually remember this run super well cuz it was a few days ago. But i'm pretty sure it was seven miles at long run pace with gan. oh and we stopped for ice. and I was kinda more tired than normal. That's about all I remember but according to my watch we did stay on pace. 

First day of BYU xc camp was pretty great! 1.5 mile wu and then our run was a "threshold" run, which apparently is a fast tempo run that is borderline race. I was feeling pretty good except it was a little hotter than I am used to running in, but overall I feel good about the workout. They told us not to overdo it so we would feel good the rest of the week and while I did go hard and do my best, I didn't overdo it and I felt good about it. Megan was with me the whole time and she did awesome too! Afterward we cooled down a couple more miles and then learned some drills and fun(ny) core workouts. A little later we did one more mile on the BYU track to finish up mileage. Also we had Jared Ward (2016 Olympic marathoner) come and talk to us and I thought that was priiiiitty cool :)

Fun day. Did a fartlek workout on the grass in the morning. 5-3-2-1 pickups. Felt pretty good. Later ran on the Provo River trail a couple more miles then ice bathed. 

Today was fun but also exhausting. In the morning we ran about 2.5 miles on the "Y" trail. Pace was good and didn't trip #win. A few hours later we drove up to Stewart Falls trail and ran that (it was actually the horse trail). Had a few minor bumps in the road on that and my legs were quite done by the end, but it was pretty. Also logged a few "water miles" at 7 peaks later which a lil bit fun. 

Last day of camp today and while it's been fun, I'm pretty much beat. Today we had our mini meet thing and while it turned out a little different than I'd thought it would, it was good. My legs were really super tired but once I warmed up they were feeling a little better. The course was supposed to be two loops around the perimeter of Kawanii's Park (I think that's the name), but the leader went the wrong way the first lap so it turned out to only be about 1.65... I'm not gonna complain about that hah. Anyway I trailed Gan for like 95% of the race and we passed tons of people in the second half of the race. Near the end I realized I had a little too much energy so I kicked hard a little later than I should have and passed Gan barely. Overall place was 9 but I think I could have gotten about 7th if I had kicked earlier. Shoutout to my cool team (Course Crashers ;) because while we might not have been considered the speediest, we definitely had the most spirit. I will miss those guys. Did an easy cool down barefoot around the park. The rest of mileage was weirdly split up buuuut that's okay. We did two miles while waiting for Collin around BYU when it was like a million degrees, and then another two later after we got home. Them jumped in a pool and rolled out followed by a delicious dinner thanks to Gan's nice mother. 

longish recovery run today. mile wu and then ran up past freedom and onto the MCT for a bit and then came back the same way. My legs were really really tired but they sorta loosened up and we picked it up the last few miles. After did abs and hips and ice bathed.

Lonesome and early 11 miles today. I think I only ran with the team for like 5% of my run because of time constraints. But that's okay bcuz it was not a bad run and it was a new record for me for the longest I've run at one time :) I ran to the MCT and then did the rest of my run on that. My legs were feeling pretty tired/stiff for the first like 4 miles, but after that I was able to pick it up a bit. Miles 8-10 actually felt great and were my fastest ones. After 10 my ankles and feet started hurting a little but it wasn't too bad. Apr. pace was 8:09 I think...

Also... happy bday to my girl Brynlee. She is a stud. Check out her blog.

*As a sidenote I hit 50 miles this week so that's awesome. 

Low mileage today (finally) and also "the kicker" so it pretty much balanced out hah. Mile wu and a few strides and then started off to conquer the beast. First mile was pretty much right on pace with was a surprise tbh. After the hilly part of the run I kinda died and lost kaylee (she is amazing as heck). I think I just lost some motivation after that because I was a little bit alone. I need to work on that finish. Anyhow, I muddled on toward the finish after the hill and basically had a lousy kick, but right in the last 50m or so Gan caught up to me and somehow that gave me a LOT more motivation to move. So shoutout to Gan. Finished with a good PR and a time of 10:07. Goal next time is to stick with Kaylee and break 10 minutes. After we ran over to Skyridge and ran on top of the bowl and said hi to old potato (much love for potato). I also made some major leaps for runner kind by being the first one to roll (oh more appropriately tumble) down the bowl, with Gan being the only one to follow in my legendary path. After that I made my poor jello legs hobble back on down to the crick for an ice bath. Goodtimes. 

Easy recovery run down on old "backcountry" road. Shout-out to coach J for running with us and being awesome. 

Low mileage plus the "6-minute test" today. Ran up to the SHS track as our wu for our first real workout on it (holla). I felt like I did a good job on the 6min test but right after I finished it I knew I could have gone a lot harder the whole last lap and started my kick a lot earlier. So frustrating. but I got a mile and like 90m. Goal next time is a mile and 150m. After we did a couple grass laps and headed back down to the creek. did abs and hips. 

*shoutout to Ryan for joining us today. he killed. I would tell you to check out his blog buuuuuuut... #private

Recovery medium dist run today. Gups and I ran with Jamie as she marked the course for our steady state run tomorrow. Unfortunately part of it is on the "rail trail" (boo) but it will be good I suppose. I felt kinda tired today but pace was still good for a recovery run @ about 7:55. After did a strength workout and a little abs. 

Mile wu and then 3.5 mile steady state run. Felt really good the first mile and then started to feel it a little the second mile. Stayed on pace the whole time so that's a plus, but I definitely didn't have the best kick at the end. Kaylee did tho so good job to her! Apr. pace was like a 6:45-6:50 i think. I felt good about my effort level and overall it was a good workout. Finished up another 2.5 miles after. 

Today I took part in the Temple to Temple 5k down in Provo. Lots of the team was there and it was a good time. Did a mile or so for a warm up and then lined up for like 45 minutes (ugh). The beginning of the race was super crowded and we had to do some major people weaving, but it was kinda fun. Not sure I really pushed myself quite as hard as I should have but it was still okay. Techinally I PR'd but it wasn't a true 5k and of course it was all downhill. Talked to Kate a little (she's awesome) and enjoyed some animal crackers and water at the end. After we ran back up to the old temple. Fun race, solid morning.

Low recovery run today. Did the short "country road" loop. After came back and did abs and hips. Nothing too exciting...

Did the "Skyrim" workout today with Butters. It's basically a 600m where you start at the bottom of the bowl, run up and around it, and then back down onto the track and do a 200m. We did seven sets (2min rest inbetween) but apparently we were supposed to do 8... however our splits were all pretty good so I felt good about the workout. Afterward we just finished mileage. 

Nine long-run paced miles with Guppy early this morning on the MCT. Legs felt tired bc of the workout yesterday, but we still kept it on pace for the most part. The last couple miles my knees started hurting a bit. Hopefully that's gone next time.