Running is a means and never merely an end

Fartlek at Milliken! The course is kind of a muddy wreck... we'll see how that'll go at the meet Saturday. Anyways, 2 sets of 6 x 45 sec hard + 1:15 easy, with 2:30 easy between sets. Warmed up half a mile and then cooled down 1.3 to get to 5. We usually do 2 sects of 8 reps, so this felt pretty easy!

4 miles pre-race on the treadmill + stretching! Feeling good about tomorrow.

One of the most fun races of my life! Joaquin was moving in big ways this morning for sure - the course was absolutely flooded. Waterlogged. Shin-deep sections of water around every curve. Plus there was rain pouring as we ran! So all of those things sort of threw a PR out the window, but definitely made for a fun experience. Plus, considering the weather, I feel pretty good about my time! First mile was a 6:20, then 13:07 (6:47), then closed in 20:39. I was hoping, even in these conditions, to be closer to 20:20, but I'll take it right now because I am just really happy to have enjoyed a race WHILE running it (haven't done that since early last track season), not just after.

Special shoutout to LeAndrea for absolutely killing it today and dropping like 40 seconds?! Crazy.

11ish miles with Mell! Not actually sure about the exact distance seeing as my watch died 1.85 miles in -__- but we guestimated pretty well based on the mileage of roads we knew, so we should have been right around 11, give or take a quarter mile. I'd say, based on feel, we probably averaged around 8:20. Felt really easy and really relaxing.

AM- 1.1 mile warm up. Workout of 2x1000, 800, 2x600, 800, 2x1000. It was pretty challenging, not gonna lie. But I think it went much better than I expected, at least mentally. I felt strong & motivated. Although, my right hamstring was bothering me sooo badly. Also, that was 4 hours ago and it still hurts to even walk. I'm worried about that.

PM- 8 miles on the bike. I was gonna do a 4 mile shakeout but I decided that probably wouldn't be a good idea considering my hammy - which by the way continued to hurt all day :( hopefully some ice tonight will treat it well and tomorrow will be fine!

6 miles easy. Went and saw the trainer and he gave me a compression sleeve and some ie bags. It hurt so badly for the first few miles, but definitely got better as I went. It felt so much better afterwards than before the run. Iced and stretched as well. 

Treadmilled after work. I took the last 3 days off to let my hamstring heal. Hopefully it'll feel better this coming week. Kind of hurt during the run but nothing I couldn't deal with.

9 miles very easy (9:04 avg!) with Mell to/around Upstate and back. I could definitely feel my hamstring the whole time and was very aware of it not being totally healthy, but again it was nothing I couldn't deal with. Felt much better after stretching it out nice and well afterwards!

AM- 1.3 mile warm up, then 3 sets of 4x400 + 1x600 with a minute between reps and 2 between sets, then 1 minute after the last 400 and right into a 600 at the same pace to finish it up. It was 5k race pace (88-90) so it was just challenging enough but not too bad. My hamstring felt great for a little while, probably till the 3rd set, then started bugging me. I shouldn't have done the 600 in hindsight, that was maybe a little too much. I rolled it out afterwards and it hurt a lot, sort of a good hurt though like when you're sore. Feels decent now, not as good as after te easy run yesterday though. Bomar said we are done with workouts for the week so hopefully it'll continue to heal as I get some good easy runs in before Winthrop on Friday.

PM- 3 mile shakeout. Hammy still tight, I need to roll out for a lonnnng time tonight.

AM- 1 mile warm up into a 6 mile moderate tempo around Duncan Park & back. Hamstring was definitely tight so I tried to be careful about how hard I pushed it. Averaged 7:33 (targetting 7:30), so I feel fine about that. Cooled down the remaining .8 back to campus. Zach says I can come in tomorrow to do some strengthening exercises and possibly ultrasound.

Did some light upper body weights & abs afterwards.

PM- 15 minute (3.2 mile) bike sesh in leiu of a 3 mile shakeout to get some lactic acid out.

Six mile easy recovery run with the girls. 8:21 pace.

3 miles pre-race! Although, I didn't know this at the time that I was running or I probably would have ran a few more miles, but I am not racing tomorrow. Coach Wilson was saying if I felt it at all today while I ran, it would be best to take tomorrow off and not risk conference. It felt much, much better today but I mean I was still aware of it's presence and that it wasn't quite back to normal yet. So Bomar told me not to race. I'm not very upset about that because I just want more than anything to do well at conference. That being said, I feel like I've hardly raced at all this season (conference will be my 4th race and only 3rd 5k) and so I feel like there is a lot riding on conference to actually demonstrate improvement or get a PR. Not that anything literally depends on it, but more for my own sake psychologically. I just want to keep getting better.

Didn't run the meet today but I really did enjoy taking times and cheering everyone else on! I don't think I was in a very good mental state to race anyways and I feel really good about letting my leg rest up a tad bit more. I came back after the meet and went to Richardson and biked for 35 minutes (7 miles), then lifted for an hour or so. I love lifting when Richardson is nearly empty. 

Ran the Duncan Park loop with Breck & the recruit. Felt great, and she is sweet. 8:27 avg.

Duncan Park loop again because it was just such a beautiful day, but a bit faster. Watch died but I think it was about 7:30-7:40 average. 

AM- 1.1 mile warm up & cool down. Workout was 2 x (800, 600, 800, 600) at race pace. Hit mostly around 3:10 for 800's, 2:20 for 600's. My hamstring hurt a bit but I did okay, not great. Not sure the hammy had anything to do with that though. It was 33 out though, which felt great! Happy to have a little cold.

PM- 3 mile shakeout. 8:04 avg.

6 miles recovery run. Dropped down closer to 7 minute pace for the last mile and a half or so, oops. Felt good though. 7:57 avg.

Half mile warm up into a 4.5ish mile tempo on the treadmill at 7:28 avg on 1.5 incline. Brief cool down. Lifted afterwards.

5 miles recovery all around downtown with Anya and Allie for a breif mental break from my genetics studying. 8:02 average pace. Abs afterwards!

AM- 4x1000m targetting 6min mile pace (3:42) for the front group. I am just off the front group so I tried to stay close to 3:42 but of course I was a tad bit off that. I hit 3:48, 3:50, 3:49, 3:49. I feel good about it though, I stayed mentally awake throughout all of them, which is something I'm trying to work on. I get too comfortable too often.

PM- 3.7 mile easy shakeout between classes. Everyone always looks at me like I am an alien when I, the cross country runner, come to class sweaty in running clothes. Lol.

10 miles for a medium-long run with Mell at Milliken/Upstate! 8:24 average. Felt good, although I was just super hungry. Or as we refer to it - Rungry. 

We got the first and last 2-2.5 miles in on the course, so almost half of the run on grass, which was good. I want to practice on grass as much as we can this coming week to gear up for the course at conference!

Biked 6 miles before church, so I'll clock that as the equivalent of 3 miles of running. Lifted weights for a bit afterwards. 

AM- 4.5 mile tempo with half a mile warm up and cool down built in. Didn't feel very good, and I was in a rush so I was just stressing trying to get it done before class. No time to stretch afterwards and not a long enough cool down or warm up. Blah. It happens.

PM- 4 mile shake out

1.1 warm up and cool down. Workout was 2 sets of 5x300m at just over 6min mile pace (6 pace is 64sec). Bomar wanted us between 64-70, and I feel really good about where I fell in there. Hit 65-66 for all of them except the last one, which was 64. Happy I was consistent too. A much better workout than yesterday!

5 easy with Morgan before dinner. 8:11 average.

Kind of a sucky race. Honestly I really wasn't quite physically ready, this has just been a weird season of training. I thought a lot about the meet in the few days leading up to it, and I really thought I was mentally prepared. But I just didn't run smart and I think I gave up mentally about halfway in. 

We went out too fast for starters. 6:03, although I was sub-6 at conference last year and that worked out really well (19:31). But last year wasn't such a hilly course, and I don't think I anticipated how tired I would get later on in the race from the hills. Came through the 2 mile almost a minute slower, at 13 flat. Just kepts getting worse. I was cramping and just really fatigued. I knew I wasn't running well but had little motivation to change that. I don't know. :( finished in 20:52, 55th. I was 56th last year so I guess considering it was a really slow course for everyone, I didn't technically get worse competitively. 

I think the low mileage this season was really difficult for me. I thrive with higher mileage and if nothing else, I have a hard time mentally feeling strong while only doing 45-50 miles a week. I don't feel like I have an edge. Because I already know I'm not fast, but I usually have confidence in the fact that I may have more endurance than a lot of people because my mileage is probably higher than theirs (if it is like 60-65). I think I at least need mileage mentally, but I also think it would of course help me physically. I talked to Bomar about it today and I think he'll make some changes for me in my training schedule for indoor. I'm excited about a good winter of training!

On the upside, we beat some teams this year! 8th out of 10 is better than last, like last year. I'll take it. We have a lot of work to do but I'm excited about where we are going as a team.