New Years Resolution: Be more specific in what I write down for my workouts so I can be able to look back for future reference. Especially be more specific in my strength training workouts. Instead of just saying "did strength training," actually put what I did with detail.

Still in California. I ran 4 miles @ 6:30 pace the first two miles, about 7:00 pace the last two (I got kind of lost) to Rancho Cucamonga track. I did 5*80 yard sprints w/parachute, 2*up-down bleachers, because we were short on time and needed to start driving home before it got too late. I ran a cool down mile.

I am not very impressed with how the past two weeks of my training have gone. I just got back from a trip to California, and did not have very much time to run. So I did not do what I should be doing. So remember myself take this as a learning experience and make sure that I wake up early enough to get a sufficient workout in on vacation, because no matter what I tell myself, I will not have enough time to run in the evening!!!

Anyways today's workout was 5*1 mile @ 5:05 w/400m jog Rest.

I don't know if it was that fact that I have ate nothing but junk since Christmas or that I didn't eat breakfast or lunch today (other than two lindor chocolates :( ) or that I only slept 4 and a half hours. But I do know I wussed out, and I need to start being tougher if I expect to make it anywhere is this beautifully brutal sport. I ran my first one in 5:09 and my legs were on fire! They did not want to move!  As I jogged around the track gearing up for the second one my teammate was having a hard time as well, so he left. The second one was even worse and I slowed to a 5:16. My third one I put on my new spikes so I could hopefully move faster, but it didn't help much because I still struggled to a 5:15.  After that I started feeling quite light headed so I started to ADAPT the workout (AKA be a wuss) I still did the 5 mile repeats with 400m jog rest, but I decided to run at 5:30 pace and then sprint the last 200m as fast as possible (hoping that would make up for the slower pace) So I finished with 5:23 that mile and was not sure what my last 200m was but I assume it was around :31. Then my last mile was around the same time as my 4th but I reseted my watch for the last 200m sprint to get an accurate split. My last 200m on that one was :30.2

So I will give myself credit for at least doing the 5 mile repeats and not lengthening the rest, but I really should have just pushed it harder because I know physically I'm in shape to do it.

Strength Training:

7-7-7-7 squats on half-med ball (the thing that is super hard to balance on) (two leg-one leg-other leg-two legs) w/10 pound medicine ball for added resistance. Med ball pushups 10-10-10-10-1 (left hand on ball-both hands-right hand on ball-alternate hands plyo-both hands). 4*80 yard sprints with parachute. 10*up down bleachers. 15-15 One leg squats w/one arm shoulder press 10lb med ball. Hip flexor band workout 25-25-50-50-50-50 (latteral leg raises left leg-right leg- latteral leg raises using bottom leg to strengthen the inner thigh- other leg- lay down and lift knee to chest in fast motion, simulates the knee lift in running, using band for resistance.Other leg). 3x10-10-10 Rest :30 2x10-10-10 Rest :30 1*10-10-10 (*Crunches w/med ball and leg in air- mason twists w/med ball- *same as first ten.). 2*1:00 crunches.

Finally I learned from my mistakes! Ha, I am taking another trip to Salt Lake today. The workout was 4 miles in the morning, 4 miles in the afternoon. But I knew I should just do all 8 miles in the morning because when I get to the hotel there won't be enough time to go for a run. So I did it all in the morning, and was gratful because it turns out I was right and wouldn't have been able to run. :)

Workout: 8 miles easy.

Strength Training: None

I was way sore when I woke up, so I was a little bit worried about the workout today. I met up with Sean at the BYU indoor track again, and had to start with walking to warmup, ha! I couldn't even jog. I slowly got to where I could move at least 6:00 pace before Sean arrived. But I definitely was not ready to do intervals. The workout was 10*1 Lap (320m). He wanted me to hit 54's (4:30 mile pace) which shouldn't have been too difficult, but my first one was :58...It was kind of a shock to my body to try to get it to move faster. I then started hitting 54-55 seconds like I was supposed to after that, and then I'm not sure what he said my 9th on was but I'm guessing it was around 51-52. My tenth I picked it up and hit :49 (4:05 mile pace). So I was dragging a bit, but in that slow (I think it's super slow) indoor BYU track I'm pretty content. Afterwards he had me go out on the road for two miles at about 6:30 pace. It was funny I step outside of the indoor track, and immediately the BYU distance track team comes running by. Ha, so I just ran up to them and joined them, and saw Ryan Waite again. They were going nine miles so I just joined them for a mile then turned back. After that Sean had me do hill sprints 4*to the top (around 150m I assume). Then when I got back to the hotel I figured I did six miles altogether that morning, so I ran another easy four miles to make it 10 for the day, and then did some weights, just upper body though. My legs are beat!

Workout: 1.5 mile warmup,10*320m @ :54 average w/150m jog for rest, except 4th and 8th I had 320m jog rest. 2 miles @ 6:30 pace. 4*150m hill sprints. 4 miles easy.

Strength Training: 8-Rest-6-Rest-4 Barbell Shoulder Press. 1*25 Lay on bench on stomach butterflies. 1*25 Shrugs. 7-Rest-6-Rest-5 Bench Press. 7-7-7-Rest-6-6-6-Rest-5-5-5-Rest-4-4-4-Rest-3-3-3-Rest-2-2-2-Rest-1-1-1 Preacher curls (Start from bottom, go up halfway-Full-Start from halfway, go to top.). 5*To failure of Tricep Cable extensions. 10-7-5-3-2-1 Situp workout (A workout I made up a while ago...to hard to explain.). 3*:50 Planks.

I have two free class periods after 1 period (which is *racquets class *not sure if I spelt that right) So basically since it's a PE class I go to school in my running clothes play badminton for 1 hour and a half, then I went out on the track and ran 5 miles nice and easy which felt good! Technically I was not supposed to run this morning, but it's like why not! I mean I have 4 hours of nothing to do, I might as well go for a run.

After school I did an 8 mile Fartlek run with David, and it felt great! It was a very good workout, and me and David both were impressed with how it went. We did not have a GPS watch but we agreed that the workout was pretty fast and hard. We both took turns doing a surge as long and as fast as we wanted, and the other had to follow. After each surge we would go right back to around 7:00 pace until we decided to surge again. I felt super good today, and the most UNsore I've been in a while. Fun workout!

Workout: AM- 5 miles easy PM- 8 mile Fartlek, pace unknown

Strength Training- P90X Ab ripper. Not sure how I feel about this, because I have done it so many times, that I don't think it does me any good anymore :/

I probably made these runs a lot harder than I needed to, I ran my morning run on this dirt trail behind my house, that is pretty hilly and loose dirt, it made running the set 6:30 pace quite difficult. I can't remember each individual mile (I'm sure there's a way to find out, I just don't know how), but I averaged out 6:31 mile pace.

After school I ran with David and we started at the High School and ran to swig, turned right followed this trail that led up to Devils Throne which KILLED my legs, and then went to the elementary school and followed the road back to the track. First mile 6:23, second mile 6:38, third mile (Devils Throne hill on this mile) 7:11, and my last mile was mostly downhill 5:38. So it ended at about 6:28 mile pace average.

Workout: AM- 4 miles@ 6:31 pace w/.5mile warmup and cooldown

              PM- 4 miles@ 6:28 pace w/1 mile warmup and cooldown (including 4*100y strides)

Strength Training: None

My shin were starting to hurt a bit today so I decided not to go out for my usual morning "scenic viewing." (That's what I call the morning runs I've been doing...since technically I'm not supposed to run every morning.) I should make up some cross training workouts with the bike I can do instead, or go swimming in the mornings. So I guess I will start doing more of that, since it's non-impact it'll be good training as to not aggravate my shins. So today went a bit weird. I was with the people that I train with, and we were all just sitting around my phone to find out from Sean what the workout was today. As time went on, they started to complain that it was getting to late and that they had stuff to do, so let's just do our own wourkout today. So I agreed, and decided to do something on the track. I felt like doing something fun and fast on the track, since it's been SO LONG. I like to run...but I LOVE to run fast :) I decided quickly in my head that we would do a workout Coach Prince would have us do a lot of which are interval pyramids. 100m Sprint all out, (no stopping at all through whole workout) jog 200m, run 200m @ mile pace ( :36, too slow), jog 100m, 300m @ mile pace ( :51, right on :) ), jog 400m, 400m @ mile pace (1:07), jog 400m, 400m @mile pace (1:05), jog 100m, 300m @ mile pace (:50), jog 200m, 200m @ 800m pace (:30), right after the last 200 we just kept running slowed to maybe 7:00 mile pace for 300m, then ran all out for the final 100m. It was a very fun and good workout! It felt good to go fast again. It's been a while, and my body isn't used to the speed. We warmed up with a mile, and topped the workout of with a nice 3 easy miles. Well afterwards I finally had recieved the workout which was supposed to be mile repeats :( I should have just done them, because I had a feeling that would be what I was going to do today, since Sean informed me earlier that he wanted me to do them this week. So that was my bad on my part. :/

Workout: 1mile warmup, 100-200-300-400-400-300-200-100 @ paces explained earlier w/ jog to starting line of next interval for rest (Again. Explained earlier.), 3 miles easy.

Afterwards I played a good few hours pickleball where I reclaimed my title! Note: I love Pickleball, and am pretty sure I could go pro in it. Then I met up with Justin Gubler and my dad coached us with strength training drills focusing on core, back, and shoulders. Which the workout was cut short due to time restraints, because I was going to go time my Dad in his first mile TT I'm training him to run a marathon, and he trains me in strength. So we make a good team. :)

Strength Training:Warmed up with 2 minutes of jump roping, and 2 min of up-downs. supersets of 3* 25 situps on situp bench with 10lb med ball (left, middle, right) and 4*12 Lat pull downs. 4*12 (each arm) one arm dumbell press.

8 miles easy.

Strength Training: Core

8 miles easy 

Strength Training: None

Alright, so technically I was supposed to do this workout Thursday, but I was feeling sore and kind of sick. So my coach let me do my two easy days (Friday, Saturday) on Thursday and Friday instead, and do the mile repeats today. I knew I was going to need my full arsenal to complete this workout, I knew it would take everything I had. So I kind of had to set my self up mentally to think of each mile as a  race (by myself) to be able to hit the times. So I warmed up just as I would for a race, I ran a mile, did some strides, did my drills, used my inhaler, and even put on spikes. Which I probably shouldn't have used my spikes considering my calves are in some serious pain now, but I knew I needed them to be fast enough for the workout. My first mile was 5:10 which was too slow, but I wasn't worried because I still felt good. I immediately started jogging my shallow 400m rest, and then immediately began my second one, 5:12. Again I was too slow, so I started getting nervous thinking Oh great. I'm just going to keep getting slower. I was starting to feel the workout aerobically at this point, I was starting to struggle with my breathing a bit, but surprisingly I felt good neuromuscularly (not sure if I'm using that word in the right context?). My legs still felt strong, so after again completing my 400m jog of rest I began my next one. This time I focused on each individual lap, I said to myself alright I will hit each lap exactly at the pace I'm supposed to, and not even let myself think or worry about how much I have left, and if I will be able to finish. It worked! My third was a 5:00. Right on pace :) I started late, so by the time I finished my third it was pitch black, and so I couldn't see my splits for the next two miles until I finished. I had to rely solely on feel. Also suprisingly I started feeling super good I got in the "zone" or whatever you want to call it, where I decided, Well it's not going to get any harder than this so I might as well stop thinking about the pain, and start pushing the pace more instead. My 4th was a 4:58, and my fifth I got so excited I was doing so good, and almost done I closed with a pretty good 4:51 mile (1600m technically). So I averaged a 5:02 in the end, which means that with only having 400m jog for rest, I can probably say it was  one of the greatest workouts of my life :) I've done mile repeats before like during cross country, and have hit about the same splits, but in cross country we'll get around 5-7 minutes of rest between each mile. So I can definitely say this was definitely the most successful mile repeat workout I have ever done. Afterwards I went and met up with my Dad at the Washington rec center and jogged a nice little over 2 mile recovery run in my trainers. :)

Workout: 5*1 mile @ 5:02 average w/400m jog rest. Including 1 mile warmup, and 2 mile cooldown.

Strength Training: None

Note: Need to get more organized with my strength training, and do it more often.

8 miles light fartlek run on road behind walmart, my legs were hurting a bit and I struggled to get them to move very fast, but after a while I started feeling better and cruised the last couple of miles. I have to run alone at night (which I actually don't mind very much) now because I got this job that is right after school. It will just last a month though, so I can train with the team once track "officially" starts. I also figure that I could start running in the mornings, but a lot of times Sean has me do doubles, so I figure I'll either have to run in the mornings in the dark alone, or at night in the dark alone...or both. So I might as well make the most of it. As lame as it sounds I actually have grown wto enjoy running by myself, I get to focus more on how I feel, and it teaches me to become more self-dependent on hitting my splits when I run. Also I like the fact that I can take as many bathroom breaks as my body needs considering I won't have David complaining about how I have to go to the bathroom so much. Haha! ;) Just kidding David...but seriously :)

Workout: 8 mile Light Fartlek

Strength Training: Lunge switch plyo squats 1*1:00, Sled machine squats backwards (sorry myself, that's the best way I can explain it) 4*12, 4*10 Dumbell deadlifts on bosu ball. Core workout using body ball, I tried hard to imitate Galen Rupp's workout I saw on Flotrack (http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/249744-Workout-Wednesday-Season-7/video/684139-WOW-Rupp-in-the-Weightroom). However, it is much more difficult than it looks..

4 miles easy on grass, my shins are starting to hurt a bit, and I don't want to risk anything.

The workout was 8*400 @ 70 sec w/ 400m jog rest, and 3*200 @ :30. So I wasn't too worried about this workout, it was a nice brisk track workout but nothing killer, I started even later than usual, and it was pretty windy. I ran 1:12 (I always struggle with my first rep of an interval), 1:11, 1:08, 1:09, 1:08, 1:11, 1:08, 1:06. Not a bad workout, I felt good, but the wind made it tougher than it should have been. The 200's I used the wind to my advantage and coasted my first to in :28.7, and :28.3, my last one I let loose and ran as fast as I could :25.5, which isn't bad for the cold.

I know my mileage has been super sad this week, but I DO NOT want to repeat what happened last year so I am really taking this week easy (especially today and tomorrow) to rest and ice my shins, so that they don't act up on me anymore. I also want to make sure that they are feeling good, so the race at BYU won't hurt them even more.

1.5 easy miles on grass.

Another easy day 3 milles easy on grass.

BYU Indoor: MILE- This easy week has helped, because my shins didn't hurt at all :) So I think I'm ready to get working hard again. The first race was the mile, and my coach just wanted me to run it kind of like a hard tempo and stay relaxed and hit 4:50. Just to kind of get back  in swing of things. I ran 4:47 so exactly what I wanted to do basically, I felt good! I stayed relaxed the whole time, and ran pretty even splits, and ran 10 seconds faster than last year! Last year I went all out, so I know I've made some big improvements :)

800- The 800m he wanted me to go hard, so I was a bit worried at first because I got super tired, and wasn't feeling entirely up to the race. Also I soon found out I got put in the fastest heat where everyone had like mid 1:50 pr's. So I was afraid I would get last and suck. Ha! Last year I ran a 2:13... so I really wasn't expecting much in terms of a quick time, also I know that BYU indoor always runs pretty slow times. So I was thinking 2:06. The race started and my legs felt heavy right from the gun. But I just stayed with the pack anyways. After the first 200m I slowed A LOT! I dropped to last place, and they had a good 10 meters on me. I then started to say to myself Nephi, what are you doing? You don't even hurt that bad! (After you haven't raced in a while, it's hard to remember the pain you're supposed to be in.) So as I passed by sean with 350m left he told me to make my move, and go start passing, so I made my move, and I made a big one. I immediately caught a couple guys and moved to 4th place and actually started gaining on Isaac Faux in 3rd but ran out of time. I hit 2:04 and actually really surprised myself! Also I finished with a lot left in me so hopefully next time I can push harder, especially that second and third 200. I talked to Sean and he said that I am right where I need to be right now to reach my goals. We will just keep cutting off time as we prepare for 4:15 and 1:54 this season. NINE SECOND PR from last year!!!!

After the race I did lunges and bleachers with my brother, as well as using the sauna and weight room at BYU...which I really don't think we were allowed to do, but it felt nice anyways. :) 1 mile cooldown.

10 mile recovery run, It felt good. I felt pretty tight the first couple of miles...like always. My body is pretty slow to warm up most of the time. I think I need to get better at taking care of it after I run. I need to do better at stretching, and maybe icing some days after runs. Anyways, though, I felt good after 2 miles and picked up the pace quite a bit :)

Strength Training:2*10-10-5-5 XP (Cross Pushups), 50 situps-:50 Planks-50 situps, :50 planks- :50 planks- :50 planks- :50 planks-:50 planks (middle-side-middle-side-middle), 60 mason twists, 50 leg lifts.

8 mile run w/4 mile Tempo to begin. This run was pretty tough because it was pretty hilly, and half of it was on a dirt road which doesn't neccessarily qualify for fast times my first mile was downhill and I ran 5:12, my second mile was a pretty good uphill the whole mile I surprised myself with it still under 6, 5:50, my third mile was flat, but I never recovered from the hill of the third mile so I hit 5:50 again. My fourth was mostly downhill, but had a difficult little uphill at the end that made it quite challenging, 5:40. So I finished with a 5:38 average, which I am pretty proud of considering the hills. Good workout! I then finished it off with a 4 mile jog.

Workout- 4 mile Tempo w/hills @ 5:38 average, 4 mile jog.

Strength Training- 50- :30 rest-Failure- :15 rest-Failure Pushups, 15-:30 rest-Failure-:15 rest-Failure Pullups, 15-:30 Rest-Failure-:15 Rest-Failure Dips. Core Circuit workout.

Not a good day for me. I had a full day of high school, then had work immediately after school, then had my Political Science night class at DSU right after...I only managed to squeeze in 4 easy/worn out miles in at like 10:30pm. I should have woke up early before school...anyways at least I got in 4 miles, it's better than nothing.

The workout was 8*800m @ 2:18-2:20 w/300m jog rest. So I expected pain. I knew it was going to be VERY difficult, I got onto the track and warmed up as if I wsa going to race and felt pretty good. I started the workout and was hitting right at 2:20's and at first the wind was fine. But after the 3rd 800m the wind kicked up a TON! So everytime I hit the backstrectch I was basically crawling. I slowed down to hitting 2:24's and the rest just wasn't enough for me, and I ended up having to walk a lot of the rest. As I neared the last three, everything got really fuzzy and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't slow my heart rate. Everything just became a kind of blur. My seventh one was the worst because I couldn't even run in a straight line, I was zig zagging all over my lane and I hit by far my slowest one: 2:26. When I got to my last one I legitimately ran as fast as I could and had to fight the crazy wind for what felt like the entire time and only hit 2:20.12. When I finished I probably was a little more dramatic than I needed to be, but nobody was there at the track but me so I figured it was alright, and I just collapsed on the ground and laid there panting for probably a good 20-30 minutes, before it got too cold and I crawled over to grab my clothes and start my cooldown 2 miles. I can't remember exactly every single split, but I know I averaged 2:22.5 for all 8. Which isn't too bad...but not too great either. Considering the wind I am pretty content. I hate not completing a workout just right though, so I will ask Sean if I can give this same workout another shot next week. That's what I did with the mile repeats two weeks ago, and it worked out great the next time I did it.

Workout- 1.5 mile warmup, 8*800m @ 2:22.5 average w/300m jog or walk rest, 2.5 mile cooldown.

8 mile fartlek run, I didn't use my GPS watch for pace, I just went a familiar loop and ran how I felt. I pushed it pretty hard, and David was with me so we both got a pretty good workout in.

12 miles easy (7:00 mile pace) it felt good to finally run a long run without having to stop and go to work halfway through and finish later. I just went a good 11 miles straight. I did a mile earlier before work.

This workout felt really good! It wasn't a killer, but it was still satisfying :) I hit my paces right on, and felt pretty smooth. I really wanted to concentrate on my form and staying relaxed this workout. The last 1 minute I decided to cut loose a little bit because I was feeling really good, and hit the first 300m of the minute in :45. I just wanted to put a little speed into it. 

Workout- 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 minutes w/1:30 Jog Rest @ Aerobic Threshold Pace (which Sean told me was 5:05 mile pace) Along with a 2.5 mile warmup and 2.25 mile cooldown.

Strength Training- 4*25 Squat drop sets. 4*1:00 core circuit workout. 3*50 Plyo Squats. 50 pushups, 25 situps.

The strength training workout hurt A LOT...

8 miles easy...REALLY easy. I am very sore from yesterday's strength training session.

I was very worried about this workout today. I was..and am...still really sore from Monday's strength training. The workout was 13*400m @ 69-70 seconds w/200m jog rest. I warmed up just over 2 miles, and was able to kick the soreness out, and actually started feeling pretty good. I did a few strides and started. I ran with David, and he's great to do intervals with, because he likes to go out hard the first 200, so he usually paces me perfectly. My first one was 1:06. Then I started feeling really good after that and hit 1:10, 1:10, 1:09, 1:07, 1:07 1:09, 1:08, 1:09, 1:08, 1:07, after my 11th it started to kick in and hurt a bit, but I still felt good, and was in the "zone" :) my 12th was a 1:07, and the last one Sean usually has me push pretty hard the last interval. So I took off hard and came through :29 the first 200m, I wasn't expecting to go quite so fast (I had in mind more of a 1:02) but when I came through in 29 I had the urge to try to hit sub 60 seconds, so I pushed it hard the last 200m and came through 58.8. So I was very happy with how the workout went, and am excited for things to come. I did this workout during the peak of this cross country season and averaged 1:11's, and finished with a :59. So I have noted some improvements in terms of finishing speed and basic fitness from then. I finished with a 2.5 mile cooldown, plus a little extra when I got home on the treadmill to try out my new shoes. Sadly they are too big :(

Workout- 2.25 mile warmup, 13*400m @ 1:07 average w/200m jog Rest, 2.75 mile cooldown.

Strength Training- Plank/situp circuit workout.

8 miles easy/circuit training. We would run a few laps, and then do a workout, then repeat.

Strength Training: Biceps, Triceps, Back, Shoulders, core.

5 miles easy

I was very surprised at how easy the workout was today. Sean told me 8*200m @ :32, last one at :30. w/2:00 rest in between. When I asked him if I could shorten the rest, he told me to make them faster instead (he wanted more of an anaerobic workout). However, I was glad for it when me and David stepped onto the track with 30 mph wind gusts. It was WAY windy. So the first six we didn't even time (I didn't bring my watch) we just ran really fast, and went by feel. But the last two we timed each other on, :27.5 into the wind, :25.3 with the wind. We warmed up 2 miles and cooled down  about 3 miles, to finish with 6 total.

Strength Training- 3*15 close grip chinups, 3*10-10 dumbell curls w/squats, 3*25 Deep barbell squats, 3*10 Shoulder presses, 7-7-7 Barbell curls (half, half, full), 3*25 calves machine (AKA torture machine), 1:00-2:00-1:00 Leg lifts, 2*50 Plyo squats w/barbell.

I got really sick Sunday. :( And have been in bedrest since. It was probably from those 200's in the freezing wind Saturday. Anyways I managed to sneak in 2 miles that's it.

The workout was supposed to be a hard fartlek run alternating between 5 and 6:20 min miles. Which with little success I tried. But just couldn't do it. I hate being sick! So I switched it to a few mile repeats with a 400m walk rest in between. I did 5:43, 5:02, 4:54. Ha I know the times were random...felt alright, but I know I'm not fully better yet. I just felt...weak :(

I did too much yesterday, and now I don't feel too hot. Just ran 1.5 miles easy on treadmill.

A few easy miles and some quick 200's today to prepare for the race tomorrow. I'm feeling better, but my cough just won't go away. Excited for tomorrow!

UHSTCA 1600m- Woke up still feeling sick, I got warmed up and started feeling alright, but just struggled to breath without having a coughing fit. The race started and I had to go to the bathroom (not uncommon) but anyways it went alright, I didn't hit 4:35 like I was supposed to, however I am pleased with how the race went considering the circumstances. I hope I can redeem myself next week at Simplot and run a 4:29. I'm sure I can do it if I get feeling better soon. :)

UHSTCA 800m: I felt worse today than I have yet this week. I woke up with a headache and a sore throat. Also my cough was so bad I couldn't even warm up without using my inhaler. Race went alright but I felt tired and flat the entire time. I had a tough time breathing...sucks to be sick. But I can't complain about a PR, it's just upsetting knowing that I could have finally broken two minutes. I will just have to wait for outdoor track I guess :/

I warmed up a little and did 3*300's with our 200/400 guys and got my but kicked :) We ran :41, :41, and :44 (We decided to ease up a bit on the last one and hit the time we were supposed to). It was tough, I am not used to running and then taking a 15-20min break in between each interval. The sprinters would get done and then just lay on the turf and take a nap, haha I love 'em! Silly sprinters. Then finished up with a few easy miles. I'm still just trying to stay cautious and not do too much, because I am not entirely better yet. So after Simplot Games I will start putting back the intensity in my training. I just need to make sure that I am better as soon as possible. Workout felt good today, I just still am having a little bit of some problems with breathing. Easy 4 miles tomorrow.

4 miles easy. Feeling MUCH better. Excited for simplot!

1 mile warmup, 3*200m (Felt slow) I felt kind of flat today :/ 2.75 mile cooldown. Getting ready for simplot, It's been a tough couple of weeks, I haven't felt good in awhile. Just barely recovering from the flu, not sure how the meet will go, but I will do my best.

1600m Prelim: I felt really good! I ran 4:37 easy in my trainers. I just did the bare minimum to qualify so I would be better rested for the finals. I'm sure I could have ran 6-7 seconds faster. My goal is to run 4:29 in the finals.

Some easy jogging today. Then I played too much basketball. I ended up playing an intense 1 hour long ball game. Ha! I probably shouldn't have messed around so much today.

1600m Final: Strange.  I was warming up and (it was probably nerves, but I'm not entirely sure) my leg kept bothering me. It was my upper quad it would flare up weird. And when I tried to do strides I would start to throw up in my mouth, and gag. The race started, and immediately I couldn't seem to keep up with the pack. Bad race mentally, I gave up. At least I got my first bad race of the season over with and I can now look forward to Outdoors.

This has been a tough few weeks, as I have battled with the flu. I am feeling completely better now, and I look forward to getting back into some tough training and I will start upping my mileage to 50-60mpw now.

The coolest thing happened. Sunday night Clayson Shumway (Who just signed to run for BYU) texted me and told me he was in Hurricane and wanted to go for a run Monday. So I met up with him and we did a 12 miler up past the "H" and back. Awesome run, especially to have the honor to run with such an incredible athlete like Clayson. The run felt good, better than I've felt in a LONG time. I'm glad to have gotten these past few bad weeks over with and can finally look forward to outdoors. I did a few extra miles later with some friends.

I did more than I meant today, I was supposed to do a 8 mile fartlek, but my teammate I found out was doing 12*400's and wanted me to help him out with them so I did that with him @ 1:12's. However I would run a lap for rest to make it fartleky (not a word haha) so I guess it was like a fartlek 1 lap easy, 1 lap hard. The last one I told him to push it pretty hard like I usually do, so I told him I would pace him for a 1:00 last lap (he's got a lot of leg speed, so I knew he could do it) he kept close, but the last 100m started to fade a bit but he still came in 1:01! Way awesome workout for him! I was very impressed :) I came through 1:00 but slowed at the end to com through for him. I started with a 3 mile easy run, and finished with a 3 mile cooldown for 12 total miles today. It felt good, but I felt a bit flat.

Very good workout! The workout was 10*600m @ 1:48 w/200m rest. I did this on the flat 200m track at the Washington Rec Center, because of the wind...I wanted to hit the pace. I felt strong the entire time I hit 1:48, 1:46, 1:47, 1:48, 1:48, 1:46, 1:47, 1:48, 1:47, the last one I wanted to push it hard and I was able to muster a 1:39. I wanted to go a little faster the last one than I did, but I just couldn't move any quicker. My legs were pretty beat by the end.  Tough workout, but it wasn't too bad. It was fun :) My running form has been pretty terrible though lately, so I need to work on fixing that.

Workout: 2 mile warmup, 10*600m @ 1:46.7 average w/200m jog rest, 1 mile cooldown.

Strength Training: C (I have a key I made, so that I don't have to type down the entire workout.)

8.5 miles easy

12.5 mile night run :) Ha! I ended up getting lost and it kind of sucked...but good run nonetheless

Fun run, me and Jesse went out by the new highway and new bridge. We stopped at someone's house to get water, we were struggling pretty much the whole way, because we run close to 13 miles at midnight only to wake up 8 hours later and run another 12-13 miles. Our legs HURT! Surprisingly I wasn't too sore the next day. This has been the best solid week of training I've ever had I think. I've ran up to 80 miles a week in Cross Country this year doing doubles, but this is the most mileage I have ever done on only running once a day :)

First day of Track officially!!!! Awesome day. I cut my hair. Shaved my legs. Quit my job...I'm ready for track :) We did a 10 mile run up the cinder null and around on some trails, then hooked back onto the main road and finished up at the track with 4*100m strides. We pushed it hard up the cinder null (HUGE dirt hill) which killed us so a few slow miles followed after but when we got back on the road we picked up the pace and hit a couple of mid- 6 minute miles with one of them being a 5:55. So not a bad run at all.

Interval Pyramid: 800-600-400-200-400-800 @ mile pace. 2:16-1:44-1:09-:33-1:06-2:17. w/ warmup and cooldown. (Long cool down)

warmup. 3 mile fartlek (3:00 easy, :30 sprint). 1*1000m finishes @ 2:49, 2*800m finishes @ 2:23, 2:23. 4*100m accelarations (Finishes= run @ 3200m pace, and then sprint all out last 150m). 3 mile cooldown.

2.5 mile warmup. 4*200's (all out) :25.2, :25.4, :25.5, :26.2. 7 miles easy.

warmup. 6 miles easy. 2*200m relaxed sprints. cooldown.

Lake to Lake Relay: First leg- (mostly downhill, rolling hills on bike path) Distance 5.20 miles @ 5:30 pace. Splits were 5:34, 5:33, 5:24, 5:27, 5:32, .2 miles in :50. Somewhere in there my GPS watch claims I ran a 16:54 5k, so that was probably the best Tempo run I've had in a long time. Legs felt good. Total time- 28:21

Second leg- (Mostly uphill, mostly on dirt trail) Dirty Climber leg (the hardest). This one hurt REALLY bad. My legs were on fire. Distance 5.82 miles @ 6:10 pace. Splits were 6:08, 6:29, 6:14, 5:53, 6:09, .82 miles in 4:46. Total Time- 35:38

A lot of warming up and cooling down in between legs. As well as some easy jogging that afternoon for a 15 mile total.

11 miles from the high school to my house. I'm not sure what pace I went, because my watch died, but it was very easy. 4 more miles with my Dad easy after.

I have been really slacking on my strength training lately. I have been struggling as I have both high school and Dixie College night and online classes, I have been having I hard time getting my assignments in on time. So I have finally decided that I will just have to get up early and do my strength training in the morning :( Ha! It'll probably be good for me to not wake up 5 minutes before I need to head off for school.

Ha! Today I made the mistake of eating taco bell (first mistake) right before practice (second mistake)...let's just say it didn't go very well. We did pyramid intervals again like last week. (800-600-400-200-400-800). Afterwards we did a nice long cool down, and I could barely even shuffle through it, my stomach hurt really bad.

3 mile fartlek run (3:00 easy, :30 sprint), and then did finishes again. We did 1*1000 and 2*800. I did the 1000m a bit slower than last week (2:57) but the 800s were a lot faster: 2:18 and 2:15. Finishes are where you run at approximately 2 mile pace, and then sprint the last 150m. Afterwards we did a nice 2 mile cooldown. When I got home I ran a bit with my Dad as well. I paced him to a new mile PR!

So yesterday after practice I was talking to one of my teammates. I told him I wanted to break the school record this year in the 800m, and he didn't think I could (he told me I wasn't an 800 runner...ha! I had to prove him wrong.) So I asked him if I ran a 1:59 800m in practice the next day (today) if he would believe me, and he said he would. So I talked to coach about it and he set up a time trial for me to do and got the team to cheer me on. I also asked Truman if he would pace me for the first lap, and he agreed. I went out the first lap perfectly :58   seconds. Then the second lap went perfect as well, and I felt great right up to the end. I came through in a new PR of 1:59.5 ! Ha I was so happy, and David came up and hugged me afterwards and was like "okay I believe you now". Coach was super excited because he didn't really think I would do it either. Today is a good day :) School record...watch out :) After the time trial I did a 4 mile jog but my hamstring started to act a little funny so I turned back early.

So today I am embarked on a 10 day trip to Washington DC. Well I went with a friend and his family and lets just say they did not understand my running needs :) Ha! It was a fun trip, but I didn't have time to run. We would wake up very early and then get back very late everyday, and then we would eat dinner so I would have to run right after eating (which doesn't work well for me) Or else I had to just not eat dinner so I could get a good run in. I tried hard to stay into shape and ran and exercised when I could. After the time trial on Thursday I must have somewhat did something to my hamstring so I took the weekend off to heal it.

Resting hamstring, lots of walking though as we toured through DC

Hamstring still felt a little off so just did easy 2 miles

Easy 4 miles felt very sick (ran right after eating)

1.5 mile warmup,1 mile @ 5:00, .5 mile jog, 1 mile @ 5:00, .5 mile jog, .5 mile @ 2:30, .5 mile jog, .5 mile @ 2:30 .5 mile jog, .5 mile @ 2:30, .5 mile jog, 3*200m hill sprints @ 15 % incline on treadmill, 1 mile cooldown

Tough day wasn't able to do much :( This trip is exhausting!

8 mile progressive run, starting at 7 mph going to 12 mph

10 miles @ 6:45 pace. Which I am very proud of because it was the longest run I had ever done on a treadmill! I hate treadmills...

Long travel day woke up at 4 am and flew to Salt lake, plane got delayed, flew to cedar, drove home got home at 7:30, ate dinner, and mustered an easy mile and some fast sprints. I am very upset I didn't do more I was just very exhausted from the traveling, for me it was much later at night because of the time change. I am so very excited to get to start training with the team again! And not have to run on the treadmill everyday. Treadmills suck.

Well after a bad week of training on vacation and a bit of weight gain. I am back to training with the team. It feels good to be home! Today was not a very tough one. I started out with a 2.5 mile warmup, then got started on the 3*3*300's (three sets of three) It was kind of windy, but it didn't seem to affect the times too much. I ran :52, :49, :49, :49, :49, :51, :49, :49, :45. We had 100m jog between reps, and 400m jog between sets. Good workout. It was supposed to be at mile pace, but I was feeling really good so I went a tad faster. Afterwards we did 4*100m strides, and finished with a 5.5 mile cooldown.

Chest/Triceps strength training.

Today was another finishes workout. We did the team warmup, and then we started with a 3 mile progressive run. Then afterwards It said 6-8*400m finishes. Which means run somewhere between 1 and 2 mile pace and then start accelarating the last 150m until you hit the last 100m and full out sprint. So everytime I would go through around :36 seconds for the first 200m and then hit :30 the last 200m for a 1:06. We decided to be tough and do 8 400s which was a good decision. I ran 1:07, 1:06, 1:06, 1:06, 1:06, 1:24 (I was helping out a teammate), 1:05, :58.0 (the last one I wanted to go hard). Great workout, I felt good the entire time :) We finished with 4*100m strides, and a 2 mile cooldown.

1.5 miles easy with my dad.

Shoulder/Biceps strength training

Well me and coach decide to have me "run through" the meet tomorrow. Which means to not rest for it and just continue training as usual. So we are taking this first meet as more of a time trial. I am going to do all of the distance race as well as the medley (1600, medley 800, 3200, 800m) It will be a tough schedule on some pretty tired legs, but it will be good training for me as I prepare for the rest of the season. My goal is simply to just PR in every race from last year. I would like to run: 4:29, 1:59 split, 9:57 (or faster), 1:59. I think they are times that I am definitely physically fit to do, but that will be challenging. I will then use these times as a starting point to work off of for the rest of the season. Today we started with a 2 mile warmup, ran 4*200m with the first to relaxed :28, :28, and the last two all out :24 high, :25. My legs felt pretty heavy but that 3rd 200 was one of my fastest ever, so I guess I am still doing alright. Afterwards I finished with a 7 mile run. Legs felt heavy and tired, but I am still excited for tomorrow.

1600m- Jeez this meet did not go as well as I had hoped. It is alright though, it was good training and will set me up well for the 16 and 8 next week at Pine View. Race was okay. I was just so tired.

Medley- This was fun me and Truman (running the 400 and 800) helped qualify a couple of Freshmen for state for their first time. They were super excited when they found out :) Truman tore it up with a 51.9 split in his 400 right after his open 400 race! My split was a 2:03.

3200m- So I know I shouldn't make excuses, but...here it goes. So after a tough week of training, and two sub ideal races yesterday, I quickly rushed over to the DSU testing center to take my Political Science Exam. I studied really hard for it and expected to do well. Anyways I had until 10 to finish it. So when I arrived to the testing center just before nine I was confident I had plenty of time to complete it. Well I sat down at the computer and raised my hand for the test proctor to put in the password. Well as he was putting in the password the test automatically shut off. I guess I had to have started it before nine pm or else it does not allow me to take it. So then I had to e-mail my teacher and tell that I was irresponsible and blah, blah, blah, so that he would let me reschedule...not a good day. I got home late and immediately fell asleep. The next morning I refused to wake up, but my mom (knowing what's best) forced me to wake up and get to the meet. :) I was not in the mood to get my but kicked in another race. Anyways long story short not a very good race/meet/weekend. So there is my long stupid excuse for why I kind of did terrible.

800m- 2:08. :( However my teammates Jesse and David did awesome, and ran huge PR's!
)

2 mile warmup, 8.5 mile run (trail), 1.5 cooldown later in the day.

2 mile warmup, 6 mile hard fartlek, 17-16-15-14-14-15-16-17 second 100m repeats, 2 mile cooldown.

1.5 mile warmup, 4*200m, 2*1000m finishes w/stairs, 3.5 mile run.

1.5 mile warmup, 8:00 easy-4:00 hard-8:00 easy-1:00 hard-8:00 easy, 1 mile cooldown

1600m- Jeez my 1600 is just not seeming to click for me yet  this year. However I did run 16 seconds faster than I did here last year...so I can't complain about that! I just didn't have much fight in me :( I've been feeling kind of worn/burned/tired out lately, so hopefully that'll pass. I look forward to redemption at desert hills! :)

800m- I was really hoping to run a 1:57, but I guess today was just not the day to do it, which is definitely alright. I ran a PR so I can't complain right? I have much I can work on. First of all I definitely did not plan on negative splitting (usually not the best thing to do in an 800) Ha! I was actually hoping to go through my first lap in a high :57. Instead I caught up in the pack and came through right at 1:00. I had to spend the entire second lap running most of it in the 2nd or 3rd lane trying to make up for lost ground. I was definitely very pleased with how I ended up though. I just know I could have gotten that 1:57 without the tactical error. Just more room for improvement I guess. Fun race! I really enjoy running the 800m! 13 seconds faster than I ran the 800m last year at this race!

15 miles easy/moderate, 6*200m @ 800m pace w/light jogging in between.

Today I did the workout with the 400 team. We did 10*200m @ :28 w/1:30 rest. The last one was all out and I actually beat our best 400 guy and ran a :25 but he was close. It was a lot of fun running with them, and changing things up a bit. Afterwards I finished up with the girls mid distance team, they were doing 400's/ab workouts. I couldn't keep up with them (true story) they run REALLY fast! Good workout, it was fun to get some speed in.

Today I woke up with a pretty big headache and a stuffy nose hopefully it's just allergies. I just cant stop sneezing. I'm not really putting too much emphasis on the D-hills meet this week. I figured I would just train hard through it. I plan on being somewhat well rested for Dixie and blowing away FAST times at Dixie. I hope to run a 4:25 1600m and a 1:56 800m there. This week at D-hills I simply hope to run a PR. Workout today was MUCH tougher today than it should have been with the wind. We did 4*200m ALL OUT (I ran 26's or 27's) I just didn't have it in me to go any faster, also it was tough because the wind was just shoving me back for the first 70-80 meters. Afterwards it was 2*1000m finishes @ 3:10 and 2*800m finishes @ 2:28 with the last 150m all out. It was very tough because of the wind I wanted to go much faster but simply couldn't. The last 200m always averaged around 31 or 32 seconds which is alright I guess. Afterwards I did a nice bathroom cooldown along with a couple extra laps around the track.

Woke up with a really sore throat it was tough to swallow anything...which sucks. I'm worried that it is not allergies and that I am legitimately sick...again! I hate being sick :( However my school is having sickness floating around (I guess it's that time of the year again) I'm pretty suer like 1/3 of my school is sick. So that's probably how this happened. Ha! I wished parents wouldn't force their kids to go to school when they are not feeling good, this is how these things happen in my opinion. Coach is worried that I am overtraining and that I need to get more sleep and stuff. So I need to work on getting more sleep I guess. Which makes sense because I have not had a single race yet this year where I didn't feel like I could just fall asleep at the starting line. 

Today we did our team warmups and drills and our team core workout. Then we did a fartlek run which consisted of 8 min easy, 4 min hard, 8 min easy, 4 min hard, 12 minutes easy back to the school. We finished up with a quick 300m sprint (I just joined in with the 400 guys and had to beat them) and 4*100m accelarations as well as a light cooldown.

Hahaha! I am just simply going to laugh about this, because it was simply just a joke! Our bus arrived at the school not long before the girls fast heat started, I was in the bathroom when Taylor Abel told me I only had 10 minutes before our race started...thanks Abel (if he didn't tell me I probably would have missed my race. However I probably wouldn't have minded today though.) I got out, grabbed my sticker put my shoes on (feeling sick as well) and started the race, and that was basically it. I was super upset and negative about it at this point, and did not want to run. But I didn't want to let Coach down so I did anyway, and sucked. Afterwards my Dad told me we had to leave immediately to Salt Lake for General Conference. So I was only allowed to do a half mile cooldown. This was kind of a sucky day. Coach was worried that I did so terribly because I am overtraining so he told me I should take 2-3 days completely off of running. In my opinion I am not really training THAT hard, and it was just the poor conditions that caused the sub par race. However, I will not ignore my coaches advice. I can't not train Saturday because I am going up north for conference, but also to work with Sean on some racing/training stuff. So I figured I would take Sunday off (obviously) and Monday just go very, very easy.

So today I met up with Sean, and boy did he kill me :) Ha! I have been feeling better from the illness/allergyness (or whatever it is) but my nose was still very stuffy making it hard to breath very well. I got there and warmed up just over a mile and did some drills. Then started the workout. So to explain why it was so difficult (because it really should not have been) it was SUPER windy. He had me doing a workout that went 4*(400m w/100m jog rest-200m @ :29) w/ 3:30 between sets. So I ran my first 400m in 1:08 (I had to go :30 seconds the first 200m, and then fight the wind the last 200m) rested for about 30-45 seconds of jogging then :29 200m. afterwards I walked back to start the next set where I did the same thing (same times). On my my third he wanted me to go faster, he wanted me to go out :28  the first 200m and then coast in faster than 1:08. So I did that and came through 1:04. Jogged my 100m and did my 200m (:29 seconds again). On my fourth set I did the same thing but came through even faster (1:03) the first 400m. After this he had me  jog two laps then had me do two more 400m @ :61. This workout hurt VERY bad. I wouldn't be surprised I went through more pain doing this than any race I have done all year. Finished off with a 1.5 mile cooldown

PM:  Warmed up a mile and a half, and then I met up with Sean again for a legit speed workout. We did 13*100m w/100m jog rest starting at :14.0 and incrementally getting faster till my last 4 at around 12.2. I did these into a little headwind, but nothing like this morning. Afterwards we went over some strategy/psychology stuff. It was very helpful working with Sean again I now have a renewed sense of confidence and ideas as I prepare for the upcoming races. Sean does not want me to "run through" races any more. I will now put big emphasis on each individual race I do, and ensure that I run to my best capability. Finished with 1.5 miles easy.

Workout: AM: 4*400-200 (400m @ 1:05 ave w/100m jog rest-200m @ :29 w/3:30 rest between sets), 2*400m @ 1:01.

PM: 13*100m Progressive (starting at :14 and working down to :12) 

My Coach wants me to start tracking my workouts, I guess even though it's my senior year I still need to track my workouts so I can look back after my mission and kind of get an idea of what worked for me and what I was able to do now. Until today I've been doing mainly active rest lots of Cross Training and strength training. With not lots of running (5 miles a day about). I want to be in my best shape by mid november so I can go to nike nationals. Strength Training has been brutal though. weight sessions 4 times a week (2 upper body days, and 2 lower body days) and the other two days I swim and do deep water running. Along with core everyday. Starting today we start the running training.

8 mile Tempo run @ 6:05 ave

.5 mile warmup/cooldown

Strength Training: Upper Body

5 miles @ 6:30 pace w/ 1 mile warmup and cooldown.

Strength Training: Swimming/deep water running

7 miles w/ 10*50m hill sprints

Strength Training: Upper Body

8 miles easy

Strength Training: Swim/ deep water running

This morning I ran the Uncle Sam 5k I took it more as a Tempo Run, but I'll admit I am way too competitive to just tempo run a race, however I am not in very good "racing shape" I ran it in 16:42 :/ and took third to some BYU runner and I think it was Adam Haynes from Bingham. I'm not too worried though considering I just finished active rest for over a month. Easy cooldown/ warmup mileage

Strength Training: Lower Body

I really impressed myself with this workout, because at the 4th rep I didn't think I could finish so I just ran the rest of them like it was my last and ended up finishing. It hurt bad! I threw up like halfway through (I know I'm kind of out of shape), but my Dad was there and he is a sports psychologist so there was no way I was giving up.

The workout was 8*800m @ 2:27 w/200m jog for rest.

Strength Training: Lower Body

Today was 8 miles @ moderate pace with hills.

Strength Training: Upper Body

3 falls trail run

Strength Training: Swim/deep water running.

400m easy- 400m hard*4  usually about 1:15- 2:00. However, last 400m was 1:03 last 200m was :26.

2 mile warmup, 2 mile cooldown.

Strength Training: Upper Body

Today was grass repeats we did 11*1 minute at probably 2 mile pace w/ 1 minute rest between. 2 mile warmup, 2 mile cooldown.

Steeple Chase Thursday!!!!! Today we wanted to do something different than swim so we went to walmart bought a kiddie pool set out the hurdles on the track like a steeplechase and put the kiddie pool in front of the "water barrier" and we did a pyramid workout. It was sooo fun! We did 1 lap rest- 2 laps rest- 3 laps rest- 4 laps rest. Then finished with 3 *1 lap. It was really hard actually.

6 miles easy

Strength Training: Very very hard lower body day...ouch :)

Death Day. 2 mile warmup. Today was the day I have been nervous of all week. It was an 8 mile Tempo run @ 5:50 pace w/ Hills. I didn't really think it was possible. I started and my first mile was 6:20 (uphill) second mile 5:45 (uphill then downhill) 3rd mile 5:41 (uphill then downhill) 4th mile 5:37 (Downhill) 5th mile 5:41, 6th mile 6:13 (Uphill), 7th 6:05, 8th 6:02. (5:54 ave mile pace) I am very happy with how this went, and it hurt like crazy.

Strength Training: Lower Body

7.5 mile fartlek (3:00 @ 7:00 pace-:30 @ 5:00 pace) This workout felt great! The last 200m of the workout I ran a :27 200m. I also created a daily standard warmup routine (2 laps jog, 2*50y strides, 2  laps jog, drills, 2*50y strides) I decided I needed to up my warmups because I have been having trouble with warming up, and have spent half the workout still trying to get loose. Cooldown routine is (1 mile easy, 4*100y strides)

Strength Training: Upper Body

AM: XC Practice 5 miles @ 6:27 ave. with 1 mile warmup and cooldown.

PM: First day of scout camp up in Kolob. I will be kept pretty busy up there trying to finish all the merit badges I need for my Eagle. So I will try to workout and run AMAP (as much as possible).   

  Cinder Block Strength Training :)

 AM: I had to be ready for breakfast to help cook before 6 am, so that meant I had to wake up at 4:30 If I wanted to get in a good workout. I set my alarm for that time but I guess I slept through it because next thing I know I woke up and it was almost 6. So I just went out and ran 2.5 miles. I snuck in any extra running I could during my free time. However, I didn't want my scoutmaster to think I was using this campout for a personal little running camp so there was only so much I could do. Probably finished the day with 4.

PM: My Dad was in charge of putting the Aaronic Priesthood Encampment together. So he was there and was able to give me strength training workouts to do with cinderblocks. Ha! They were actually really hard workouts. The only problem is my strength training workouts always take me over 2 hours so when I had free time between classes I would do it, a lot of people would say like wow do you just workout all day long? Do you ever stop? And that made me nervous because again I didn't want to seem like I didn't care about the campout and just wanted to train. So hopefully that message didn't get sent out, I just love  to workout and stay fit.  

Strength Training: Total Body

Ha! This kid in my ward volunteered to wake me up at 4:30 in the morning since I've been having trouble waking up. He was like "I wake up at 4 am every single day." I wanted to say: and do what? But I just thought it was awesome he wanted to help. He woke me up and I woke up Jesse and Isaiah in their camp area and we actually got in a good 10 miles that morning. So that felt good especially because it was at 8000 ft altitude and one way was straight up, however coming back was straight down. We averaged 8 min miles going up, and 6 min miles coming back down for a 7:15 mile average I think. Which isn't bad for 4:30 in the morning at 8000ft altitude, with no real good sleep, and terribly unhealthy food :)  

Strength Training: Plyometrics, core

So I guess the kid in my ward did wake me up... but then I mumbled something and went back to sleep...however, I have no recolection of this happening. So that afternoon I ran with Jesse and it was probably a good 95 degrees or so. My Dad told me to take this trail up to the water tower and he said it would be about a mile. Well we started running up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up and up. Unti finally we decided to turn around because we had been running for 35 min and didn't bring water and we still had to turn back. Well on our way back about 2.5 miles or so later we see the water tower. Ha! We went WAY too far. Afterwards we did a little bit more of running and a bit faster paced around the campground.

I did not have time to do a strength training workout today. :(

Woke up at 4:30 am again (Last day of Camp!!!) and ran 10 miles up and down the trail again. Then packed my stuff went to flag ceremony and headed home.

Strength Training: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Core

9 miles easy (6 am, 3 pm) It's my birthday today and I just turned 17...too bad I'm not going to be a junior and have two more years :( Instead I am just a young senior.

5k Tempo run @ 5:50 mile pace. 3*1 mile Tempo Pace. (So 6 miles total @ 5:50 pace) I didn't feel to good, I ate too much junk food on my birthday.) With 2 mile warmup/ 2 mile cooldown.

Strength training: Upper Body

AM: 4 mile fartlek run 

PM: 4*2 miles at 6:20 pace (2 miles- core workout- 2 miles-core workout-etc.)      

Strength Training: Back/Arms/Core

Deseret News 10k: We started off FAST! I tried to stay with the ogden guys (Justin Sheets, Garret Barton) but they were basically sprinting at the start I fell behind the lead pack of the high school runners, but caught up by the 2nd mile. 1st mile was a 4:57! After that mile a bunch of kids started dropping off and it ended up being just me and Adam Haynes from Bingham...once again :) Ha! And once again he beat me. We were basically all alone side by side until the last mile and he pulled ahead. I felt great and was averaging around 5:10's or 5:20's until the last mile and my legs turned into concrete. I am not used to racing a 10k. I finished in 33:28 and averaged 5:21 mile pace. It was really downhill though but still a great race for me. I'm glad Adam was there to push me, and I learned a lot. :)

Strength Training: Shoulders/Swimming (Legs will be tomorrow and Saturday, I decided to give my legs a break today)

PM: 3.5 miles I will do this evening @ Long run pace (6:45-7:00). This is to get 13 miles again today. (I did an additional mile on accident to get 14 miles today)

9 miles of easy running/light fartlek mixed in there, as well as some strides.

Strength Training: Swimming

Today I had a revelation. I realized that I am not doing what it takes as an athlete to be where I want to be. I love running, and I definitely want to take it as far as I can. I am not pushing hard enough. I have let myself become to complacent. I will not say I haven't worked hard, because in my opinion I have worked pretty dang hard to get where I am. However, if I want to get further I need to start pressing more. I have let myself be content in the fact that when it starts to hurt I don't quit. However, I often stop pressing. I had a great 10k race last Thursday, and I know it was just a little summer road race, but when it started to hurt really bad I stopped pressing. I definitely did not quit, but I did not accept the pain that was neccessary to achieve the goal that I really wanted (32:59). I just need to take it one step at a time and it starts with my average training paces. I am not running them fast enough. My long run paces usually linger around 7:00 when they need to at least be 6:30-6:45 (If not 6:15's at some point), my tempo runs are usually close the right paces however I take to many breaks. I need to run more consistent mileage without constant stops. I should also drop my tempo runs down to 5:30-5:45 pace instead of 5:50's (depending on the distance). I think if I can intelligently take this one step at a time then I can start to see real improvement again. Maybe I can once again see a big PR that keeps me up at night excited about what I could do next. Maybe I'm not talented enough or whatever to do exactly what I want to do in this sport, but I at least know I can be much better than what I am now. I know it, because I can feel it. I know I can get better. So I would hope that I'm taking a step in the right direction, by pressing a little more each day, maybe being a little more welcoming to pain each day.

Today we traveled back home it felt like the longest drive ever. I took a shuttle and so we had to take a lot of stops along the way. I had lots of time to think (maybe too much time) which explains why I just got a little preachy earlier :) When I got home I hit a decent 8 mile run @ 6:45 pace on the trails behind my house, and finished with some legs and core work. Good week its been, and I look forward to next week where I start doubles with running.

Strength Training: Lower Body, Core

10 miles Trail w/mod fartlek at the end to get some turnover.

7 miles @ Long run pace (6:30-6:45)

Strength Training: Full Body (We did weights as a XC team...lets just say I didn't get much of a workout.)

AM: 2 miles @ Long run pace (6:30-6:45), Hill sprints 5*:30-5*:12, 2 miles easy. 10*800m@Tempo Pace (5:30-5:45) w/1 lap walk or jog rest. .5 miles cooldown.

PM: I will do 2 miles@Tempo Pace/Swim. 2miles easy cooldown

Strength Training: Swimming

PM

AM: Surprisingly my legs still don't hurt, and I felt pretty good today! I did 9 miles @ 6:30 ave and it felt like a jog :) I love seeing improvement :) I finished with a 1 mile cooldown to total 10 miles this morning.

PM: 9 mile recovery run (I was just going to do 6 miles...but I started feeling freakishly good) @ VERY SLOW pace (whatever feels good really)

Strength Training: Weights...with the XC team again :/ (I love my team but...we don't do much in the weight room, I like my weight training program that has helped me a lot to be stronger.)

I have been trying to be very cautious lately, because I am doing much more mileage than I have done in the past. However, I still find myself with no problems at all. I have never felt so strong or fit in my entire life. I feel as if I have gained more control over my body and my stride  throughout these past two weeks. Running has just become so fantastically natural and smooth. I remember running as a little kid, and having NO sense of control over my body. Haha! I flailed all over the place. As I have gotten older and ran more I have noticed I start to feel more control over myself physically as I have mentally. I can't imagine how the pros feel. AM: Had to my morning run short to meet with my school counselor to get my schedule for next year set (6 miles@ easy pace). So afterward I went to the rec center and ran another 6.5 miles (6:15 ave pace).

PM: I met up with Kody and Jesse and we ran 4 miles easy before we went to practice and swam. But then I made the mistake of going to subway after and eating a footlong only to know that we were going to do another 5.5 miles total before and after swimming...ouch! Good day today though, I felt really good, and I amd still able to hit the correct paces for my run even with the mileage bump, so all is well. :)

Strength Training: Swimming

AM: 4 miles trail (forgot GPS watch so I am educated guessing here). We ran for practice on the "roller coaster" trail at the fair grounds.It is the trail where a lot of four wheelers and dirt bikers ride because it is litterally up-down-up-down-up-down-etc. When I got home I ran another 4 miles on the trails next to my house.

PM: 6 miles@ Long run pace (6:30-6-45) on treadmill in salt lake hotel.

Strength Training: Core

2.5 mile warmup. 6*mile repeats @ 5:30 ave w/minimal rest. (Ran more like a fartlek because the rest was a pretty quick jog.) The mile repeat pace felt easy and I think Sean noticed I was doing it very easily so he let me go faster on the last few. Finished with 4*60m relaxed sprints, and 3 miles easy. This is the first 100 mile week I have ever ran, and I was surprised to realize that it wasn't very difficult. However, I understand I have only done it for one week, and  to consistently keep up 100 mile weeks is a whole different story.

So I will still play this very cautiously while having fun running and training and preparing for this upcoming XC season.

AM: Ran 5.5 miles w/ the team @ 6:53 ave pace which felt pretty pedestrian. But I was able to run with my teammates and have some pretty good conversation :) Afterwards I got back to the track and the middle school kids wanted me to help them win a 400m relay thing so that was fun.

PM: 4.5 miles with Jesse, weights with the team, 5 miles after.

Strength Training: Weights (Full body), core.

AM: 5 mile progressive run: 8 minute mile-7 minute mile- 6 minute mile- 5 minute mile.

PM: 11 miles easy  

Strength Training: Swimming

AM: 7 Miles Trail              

PM: 1 mile warmup, 9 mile HARD fartlek in 55:11 (6:07 ave pace): .4 miles@ 6:30 pace-.1 miles 5:00 pace-etc. (continuously no stopping) I was not planning on doing this workout today and i was going to do an easier one, but as I started warming up I felt VERY good. I enjoyed this workout tons. W/2 mile warmup and 1 mile cooldown.

Strength Training: Weights Full Body

AM: 8 miles@ 6:45 ave pace   

PM: 12 miles@6:30 ave pace on TM w/short pickups during run. 

Strength Training: Swimming

AM: Last night I was worried I pulled my calf at  the end of the run. So I iced it and this morning it felt better but it still didn't feel right so for the first time in my life I'm taking advice from Kamryn... :) I did 4 miles with the team including some 380ish meter repeats and some weird spartan playground course thing that my team won. Then after Kamryn told me to not run any more and just ice so that tomorrow it will be perfectly healed (hopefully) and then I can help my team 4 peat the Washington relay! The Washington Fair Half-Marathon relay is an important part of my history.

Freshman Year: Me and a bunch of other freshman (and one 7th grader at the time) made a relay team. Meanwhile all the seniors on the varsity XC team made a team. Everyone expected them to win. I was the last leg and I was running the 10k and I got the baton about a minute and a half after Josh Mccombs (Who was thought of as the fastest on the team at that time) I caught him at the halfway point and then he stuck with me. Long story short I beat him by .01 seconds.

Sophmore Year: Our same team went against Hurricane's local elite road runners. Once again I grabbed the "baton" about a minute behind. I caught up to him at the halfway point once againg except for this time the guy didn't stick with me and we ended up winning by over 2 minutes.

Junior Year: I grab the "baton" probably a minute ahead of Karl Wilcock (Hurricane High School's school record holder in the 800m-1:55, 1600m-4:12, and 3200m-9:22) Well I finished almost 2 minutes before hime, so today I still brag about the day I  beat Karl Wilcock! (Although I know he was not in his prime, and taking the race as a fun run with his family...I still like to brag :) ). And that is my history of the Washington Fair Half-Marathon Relay. :)

When I woke up this morning my calf was still hurting so I was worried about it throughout the whole race. But then halfway through it loosened up and started to feel much better so that is a good sign. Ha! I think this "minor inconvenience" is a way of humbling me, because I think if I had not hit this minor bump in the road I would have just kept trying to do more and more. It is already feeling MUCH better and I know that if I give it lots of good rest and more iceing Sunday, I'll be ready to go next week and hit my goal at Cedar. Today at  the relay my team won once again and we finished uncontested this year winning by probably like 5 minutes. I could not get my GPS watch to start but all I know is that I ran approx. 6 miles (5.95 I think) in approx. 35 minutes. I know I went not very fast the first half of the race, but coming back the last 2-3 miles I started moving. It was good fun. Hopefully my gut is right and I'll be ready to go again by Monday :)

I am still going to be extra cautious this week, especiall with my calf, so I will take this week relatively easy, until I am ABSOLUTELY sure I will not have reocurring problems. However today I felt great and had no issues at all. After school (today was the first day) which consisted of my 2 classes (PE and seminary) I have all year :) Ha! I am so glad I worked so hard my Junior year (full high school schedule, plus 10 college credits per semester) so that now I can just focus on running and excelling in that as well as planning the future. Anyways after school I found Ky Vorhees on the track and I decided to join him in some interval work, and WOW Ky is fit! I was doing 600's with him and me being a distance runner thought I could easily out run him in some 600 intervals. I was wrong. He was pulling off mid- 1:30's easily, meanwhile I was struggling to run 1:40. Afterwards we did some 300's and I got even more embarrassed. In my defense I haven't really done any speed work for over 3 months now, but still... afiter that XC practice started and we did some trail running. Anyways the first race of the season is tomorrow, however it is more a glorified time trial than a race. I am interested to see where I am at, at this point of the year and if the summer of MUCH hard work has truly paid off. I have heard that the weather tomorrow will be less than ideal so if that is the case then my time goal will have to go out the door and I'll have to purely base my fitness on my competitors. Of course the goal is always to win, however, if the race does not play out very favorably and I lose I will not put too much concern into it. I still have all season, and the first race does not make of break the season in any way.

1.5 miles after school with Ky Voorhees. Then we rode over to the meet and I warmed up for I would assume about 2 good solid miles. The race went pretty well I started off and my race plan was to stick with the pack for the 1st mile and then break away. Well I did just that ...kind of. The entire first mile felt like a jog, and the only kid with me was Spencer Neaville from Dixie and I saw no D-hills kids. I was thinking wow! I thought D-hills would give me more of a fight than this (I was honestly a little dissapointed at first) So the second mile I started to get a pretty good lead and I couldn't hear anyone behind me so I think I got a little over confident here. When I finished the second mile and was heading on my 3rd lap I looked behind my shoulder and saw a pack of like 6 desert hills kids right behind me, out of nowhere! I almost wet myself! (sorry TMI) Ha! I was so freaked out so when I hit the track with 300m left I booked it and I was able to hold the lead till the finish. Anyways great race! I am happy with the time I hoped to have won with a little more of a lead than I did, but this was the first time I have ever ran faster the first Cedar meet than I did the previous last years last cedar meet in my career so I am very happy about that. I also have put in much less speed work than I ever have during a summer, so I am very excited to watch my times drop as I progress through the season. Next stop is Highland Invitational! And I hope to dip under 15 minutes there so hopefully all goes well again. Afterwards I cooled down 2 miles. Then when I got back home I felt really good so I ran 3 miles easy tonight.

AM: 3 miles easy (around 7:00 pace I think)

PM: 2 miles before practice, 7 miles Recovery pace during practice.

Hamstrings felt a little tight, but other than that I felt okay.

Strength Training: Upper Body/Core
 (I was hoding a 35 lb plate and I dropped it on my foot, so then I tripped and banged my shin aagainst it and opened up an old scar...not fun.)

AM: My watch is broken so I have no idea how fast I was going...but it felt fast. 5 miles total.

PM: Hill sprints 6*medium (200m?), 3*short (80m?) wow I'm clueless without my watch. Finished with some extra mileage. 8 total.

AM: .5 mile w, 4*800m@5k pace w/100m walk rest,1.5 mile cooldown.   

PM: 1 mile warmup, 3 mile Tempo run doing the region course in 17:12 (stopping my watch at water stops.), 1 mile cooldown. The tempo run felt pretty terrible, my calves killed and I was really dehydrated. I stopped at mile 1.5 for about a minute, and at mile 2.5 for about another:30. I was hoping to not stop, but it was SO hot I needed water pretty bad. However my time was pretty quick. I ran this tempo faster than I raced during both my Freshman and Sophmore year.

4 miles easy later tonight.

Strength Training: Core

Well today I woke up and I stood out of bed and I was hit with an immediate wave of pain in my calves. So I have basically waddled like a penguin for the day. Then my mom saw me and she "grounded" me  from running for the day. She said that she cant let me go running when I can't even walk right. So we went to the lake and did some swimming and 60 minutes of deep water running. I am sad that I did not run today, and it upsets me to get zero miles like this, but if I have learned anything in the short 17 years of my life, it's that: I should always listen to my mom. Hopefully she is right, that by Monday I will be ready to get back in  the full swing of things, and be able to start working harrd again. I guess with the race on tuesday, the hill sprints on thursday, the 800's and the tempo run on friday, it was just to much for my calves to handle. Hopefully next week will be a better week, and my calves will be stronger and ready for more fire :)       Strength Training: Swimming

AM: My calves still hurt this morning so I went to my chiropractor and got some therapy on it, and it already feels better. He said the pain should go away soon and to just be cautious for the rest of the week. I will still race at Highland and on the plus side I'll be pretty rested so I am still going for a fast time. I have never raced highland before but looking back at other runners I think that a 15:15 will be my goal. However I think if the race goes just right a sub15 will not be out of the question. I believe it is wise to set more realistic goals, however I do not think a person should deny themselves the opportunity to do something great simply because they have set their standards too low. I just did1 mile of very slow jogging and a ton of core workouts.

PM: 1.5 miles before practice with Ky. .5 mile warmup at practice plus about 3 miles of slowish miles before coach made us stop because of the weather. The wind was really bad and the lightning was very close, and the rain turned into hail...not too fun. Elias claims that he legitimately got lifted off the ground for a few seconds... :) calves feel much better, the rest helped as well as the massage this morning. Although it still feels funny so I will stay cautious.

I talked once again to my chiropractor and my coach and we decided if I was to race at Highland to take  today completely off of running and do XT instead, and tomorrow just 1-2 easy miles and some strides, so that I am totally healed by Thursday and don't risk further injury. But I must make one thing clear...I HATE NOT RUNNING!!! I feel like every second I'm not running I'm falling behind.   I know I need to relax and just let myself heal, but it is SO hard. I hate not being able to work hard. Anyways, I just needed to vent for a bit, because I'm going crazy here. Also I feel fat. Ha! I think I am mentally freaking out here. Anyways, still excited for Thursday, I just need to remind myself I am just as fit as I was last week, yet I'm even more rested now.   I'm physically in good shape, I just need to remain mentally confident.

Biking- 30 minutes

Swimming- 30 minutes (Deep water running)

Core/Upper Body Strengthening

I went today and talked to Doctor Carr and got some more treatment done, and he gave me the okay to race tomorrow. He said I can resume training, but to stay cautious for the next 10 days or so before jumping back into my regular training intensity and mileage. I ran today and it felt good, so I have given myself the okay as well.

AM: Therapy treatment

PM: .5 miles before practice. .5 mile warmup, 1 mile to 800m repeat spot, 2*800's@ 5k pace, 1 mile back to the track, .5 mile cooldown. Water running after for around 30 minutes. As well as some drills in the water.

Strength Training: Swimming

Highland invite: This race in my opinion was the worst race I've ran since desert hills track meet la few months ago. I think I jumped into this race both physically and mentally unprepared. Right from the start I couldn't keep up with the leaders and fell near the back early in the race as the race progressed...I didn't. I simply couldn't get my legs to turnover, I felt very flat and slow. I have learned a good lesson from this though and I have found some weaknesses I need to work on as I progress through the season. Anyways now I have about 12 days or so to regain my strength and confidence so that I can redeem myself at Dixie.

Still trying to be cautious, especially after highland. Next week I'll put that hammer down again. I feel good!

30 minutes Running       

30 minutes Biking

Did not get in near as much running and exercise as I wanted today, I watched my team race at SUU (It turns out it's harder to watch a race and not be in it, than to actually race. As I was there watching them I was running the whole time and cheering them on as well as warming up everyone and cooling down and stuff. I planned on running more later and doing some weights but the day turned out to be pretty crazy busy and I didn't get home till midnight. It probably isn't the worst thing to take this day easy because of the small tear (strain) in my calf I had last week. But I feel entirely better and haven't had problems since Highland, so things are looking good for next week. I'm excited to start working hard again!

Strength Training: Upper Body/Core (1 mile easy after to cooldown muscles)

AM: 4 miles progressive (6:20ave)                  

   PM: Run to the H (.6 miles dirt hill) I did this HARD and it payed off this is the first time I got the top first on the team (hills are my weakness...but I love them anyway), then we had a team meeting and ran back down, and coach let us go up the trail a bit more to get more of a workout. Afterwards we got back to the track and Kody was doing 200's and a bleacher workout, so I joined him...200's are NOT as easy as they were in track. Ha! I don't quite have the same speed but it will come back easily. After practice me and Jesse did a couple more miles nice and easy. Felt good to be back with the team.

AM: 4 miles fartlek                

PM: We started practice and lightning got pretty close so we had to workout inside and we ran around this weird 10 laps to the mile track, which hurt my joints a bit because we were sprinting (it was NOT banked), we also did workouts then afterwards coach sent us on a 1.5 mile cooldown. After practice me and Jesse went out to the real track and ran 1*1000, 3*800 (these we did on the grass), 3*400, 3*200m @ 5k pace (except for 200's, they were faster) the  intervals were ridiculously easy. I had never been able to run 5:00 mile pace so comfortably. Great workout, today was the best I have felt maybe forever? Good day hopefully I can keep feeling like that.              

  Strength Training: Lower Body/Core

Noon: 3 miles before practice.            

PM: Around 9 miles fartlek (easy running with 2*.7 miles, and 1*1.3 mile @ 5k pace thrown into it.) .5 mile warmup/.5 mile cooldown.     

Strength Training: Core

AM: 4 miles easy with pickups             

PM: 1 mile before practice, .5 mile warmup, 7.5 mile Tempo Run on trail (My ave. pace was a 6:02 on the first half, and then I'm not sure the second half because my watch was dying. The trail was VERY difficult so I am very pleased with the pace. It hurt REALLY bad.) 2 mile cooldown.       

Strength Training: Lower Body

Today was supposed to be my easy day, but I was hoping to run at least 10 miles today. We traveled up north to Provo, right after school and got dinner, so I was not able to get much running in. Entirely my fault. However I made it pretty tough to make up for the lack of mileage. At the treadmill in the hotel I ran 3 miles in 18:10 with the last 2 miles under 6 minutes (my last mile was a 5:30).               Am: 2 miles easy total                                                                                                     PM: 3 miles progressive tempo.                                                                            Strength training: Core

Today I met up with Sean and he had me run 3*1 mile and 2*800m. I was supposed to hit 5:35, but I didn't have my watch and I ended up coming through at 5:08 my first mile. Again, it felt really easy and comfortable. My 2nd one was a 5:11 and it still felt really easy. My 3rd was a 5:17 because Sean wanted me to slow down more. On the 800s I was doing 2:18 and got a 200m jog for rest. (When you run XC for enough years you learn that rest and water is a delicacy. Do not take it for granted) Anyways I was feeling good until the last 800m and with 100m left I started to throw up. But on the plus side I was still staying pretty relaxed. When I finished I gagged for a bit but still felt good. Great workout! I warmed up with some strides and 2 miles easy and cooled down with about 1.5 to 2 miles (didn't have my watch so I'm not for sure).

Easy running and some strides I did some elongated strides at near 400m distance to get my legs moving and test to see if 5k pace still felt comfortable. It did. It felt VERY comfortable. That is something I have tried to work on this season, because in the past I have struggled being able to comfortably run my race paces. This season  I have put time into doing workouts where I run my race pace as smoothly as possible, and it has paid off. Anyways my coach only allowed me to do 2-3 miles today to ensure a great race tomorrow, which will bring my confidence back up. My goal will be to win but I know in our region you're up against top notch 3a competition always, so I can always expect a great challenge. My time goal will be a 16: 10 which will better my last year time by about 45 seconds, which will put me into a great position to reach my time goal for state.

Dixie Invitational: As I was prepping  for the race I saw the girls race go haywire, and girls were running in all sorts of random directions they weren't supposed to be running. So I said to myself: This race is a joke. (First mistake I made). I also quickly found out that D-hills best runners, and Nick Hill (who won SUU) from pine view wasn't racing, and I assumed it was going to be an easy win (Second BIG mistake I made). As the race got going the pace felt REALLY easy and I thought: Should I push hard now and cinch the win, or should I stay comfortable. I chose the latter. (Third mistake I made). As the race entered the last 3/4 of a mile or so I still felt good, and Eric Lambert from Cedar passed me and I had to make another decision (Should I go hard and beat him, or should I let of the pedal and be content with second. Well... lets just say I was a wuss and chose the second. Eric had an awesome race, and was a beast so he deserved to win. As for me, not so much. Two bad races in a row....great I'm turning into a head case. So what can I learn from this race? DON'T ever think a race will be easy!

Afterwards I went home and talked with my Dad (he has a PhD in psychology and is a sports psychologist) he told me that there are two kinds of runners: Trainers and Competitors. Long story short I'm the one that you want to be if you want to train really well, not win races. He said he can help me change my psychology and become a competitor. Hopefully this will work, because it is true I am not competitive enough. I have learned a lot from this race so now it is just about moving forward and putting a new plan to action.

7 miles easy total. Felt tired and unmotivated and a little down still.

AM: Finally got over myself last night and was ready to roll today. By the end I got around 5 miles at pretty comfortable pace, except for I had some chips I had for breakfast starting to sneak up.     PM: Wasn't feeling to good today, but as I got going it turned to be one of my greatest workouts ever. I concentrated on what my dad had taught me the other day about focus and race psychology and I noticed a difference. Coach wanted us to do a pretty tough workout today because she noticed that we weren't finishing well and races and wanted to address that. The workout was: 4*400m w/1-2:00 rest-3 mile Tempo-4*400m w/1-2:00 rest. The 400's started and I wasn't feeling it at first. She wanted us to go fast and we were doing it on a grass field that consisted of a 180 degree turn at one point (because there isn't a single stinking grass field in Hurricane) my splits were: 1:06, 1:07, 1:08, 1:06. Then we got about 5 to 10 minutes of rest and water and then we did a tempo run on the Hurricane XC Course. I was determined to work on what my dad said and focus as if it were a race and cut out all distractions and fears, and just focused on plugging my goal pace for the workout (5:30 pace) I finished the course in 16:13 (5:30 ave, the course is a bit short, 2.9 about, we are thinking of ways to maybe make it a bit longer.) So I ran the course at 5:30 pace. The same pace I raced at Dixie. Just proves the point that I have some work to do in the arena of racing and mentality. Afterwards I felt pretty beat, but not terrible. We started the next 4*400s we were supposed to push hard these ones to practice running fast tired. My first one was a 1:15...way too slow. My next one I was determined to get back to the same pace I ran before the tempo: 1:09 (almost), 3rd one 1:08 (perfect), 4th one I pushed HARD (1:03). Great workout, and I noticed how much a difference focus makes. I am excited for Vegas this Saturday, I heard Pine View was going to go to, so hopefully us region 9ers can show those Nevadans a real race ;)

AM: Only got in a mile because of stinking game day. 

PM: 5 miles easy w/6*200m@5k pace       

Strength Training: Core

Las Vegas Invitational: Overall finish-4th, 1st place small school division. Finally I was able to have a good race! I stayed focused the entire race and pushed HARD! Definitely the hardest I have ever pushed myself in XC. There was over  thousand racers total, and about 286 in the varsity race I think. As the race got started I focused on getting out into a good position because I heard it got hectic in the pack. I meant to get out hard, but I didn't mean to lead. 1st mile- 5:02. (Probably too fast but I felt good still.) Dajour Braxton caught me at the 1.5 mile mark and hung with me for a bit before taking off FAST into the lead. Second mile hurt BAD and I fell to 5th place. (5:20) It got REALLY hot at this point too. On the last mile I started to hurt really really bad but I focused on staying with the guys in front of me. With half a mile left coach told me to catch a kid in red that was a good 60-70m ahead, and I focused on reeling him in and caught him and passed him at the finish to take 4th.  Great race and a great place in such a big meet., I'm glad I'm not a head case anymore, I just have to remember to stay focused more. I came through 3 miles at 15:50 (which is pretty good considering the heat) and finished with a 16:44 because the race was long and about 3.2 miles instead of 3.1. Sadly Nick hill wasn't feeling too great because I was hoping to have a sweet battle with him, but he still had a good race considering, pv ended up winning the large school race. And my team won the Small school race!!!! So region 9 represented well!

AM: 5 miles easy.  

PM: I did a 2 mile light shakeout (school got out early so I had lots of time) before practice, did team warmups, then started the workout. Coach surprised me MAJOR. I expected like 3-4 miles easy, but then coach was like  alright we're doing intervals today. I was feeling exhausted from Saturday, and my legs were pretty sore. We ended up doing 1*1 mile-3*800m-3*400m @5k pace on the course. I was struggling major and Jesse must of been feeling good because he was kicking my butt. We finished and did a .5 mile cooldown. Tomorrow is Hurricane Invite! It might be my only chance to break 15 because I cannot race at cedar invite. I will be in pheonix for a family thing. But my parents said I can run a  race in arizona if I find one. So it turns out I'll probably be racing the Desert Twilight XC festival (which is on  the new Nike Southwest course).

Warmed up for 5.5 miles!!! Coach had me come out and help her out at the course starting at 1 pm all the way until 5:30. She wanted me to run some parts of the course to see if it worked and stuff, and between that and the marking/ribboning I ended up with a FAR too long warmup. Anyways my legs were dead from yesterdays intervals and Saturdays race. I didn't know what to think about today. As the the race started I didn't feel any zip to my stride and my first mile was slower than I wanted. 5:07 according to my GPS. I had two goals for this race: win and go sub 15 (because this is probably my only chance to do it.). On the second mile I started to feel better, but I guess it's because I slowed down 5:20. Spencer Neaville from Dixie was right on my back the entire race and on the last mile I heard somebody cheering for Eric and I thought: Great...Dixie Invite all over again. So I knew I had to make my move then. As I rounded the turn onto the field I looked to the left on saw Eric considerably behind (he did a tough workout yesterday and is prepping more for BYU invite saturday) so I knew I only had to worry about Spencer. I put in a surge and noticed him struggling to respond so I knew I had it if I stayed tough. With about 400-500m left I kicked hard and ended up winning by ten seconds I think with a 14:53 (accomplished both my goals) I saved my watch splits and I ended up getting 2.9 miles and an average pace of 5:08. Which means my last mile would have been around 5 flat. I wished I could figure out my last 400m because it felt FAST I think there is a way to look it up if I connect it to the computer, so I will see if I can find it. I don't feel like I pushed as hard as Vegas, but I was still pretty exhausted both mentally and physically so I don't think that could have been possible anyways. I am pretty glad with how the race went and I ran 50 seconds faster than last year!!! Last year the course was a teeny bit different but I got the same length so it shouldn't really change too much.

AM: 3 miles Recovery        

PM: 7 miles easy total        

Strength Training: Full Body/Core

AM: 4.3 miles easy (turned out to be more of a light fartlek)           

PM: I warmed up a mile and a half before practice along with 4*100m strides, to get my legs moving a bit. When practice started I warmed up with the team, and then we headed a mile to the baseball fields to do our intervals. The workout was 5*1200m@5:00mile pace w/around 3:00 rest between, although for the rest we did workouts with resistance bands or plyos (ended up being 6). The intervals were supposed to be 1200s but I got .66 miles with my watch so it ended up being 2/3 mile repeats (1067m). The first one I struggled major and right from the beginning my legs felt really heavy: 3:30 (5:15 pace). I was worried if I was going to be able to complete the workout because I pushed hard to hit 5:15 pace and my legs were dead. The second one I felt about the same but pushed more to run a 3:26 (5:09 pace). On numbers 3 and 4 I decided I would help the team work together and motivated the varsity guys to stick as a pack and push each other, and we all did very well, I was really impressed how the guys did: 3:31 (5:17 pace) and 3:33 (5:19 pace). On number four I all of sudden loosened up and started feeling pretty good, so I wanted to push number 5 hard. Coach told me to go sub 3:30, and I asked her what she would do if I broke 3 minutes...we both laughed, I had not intentions of breaking 3 minutes and my goal was to run 3:20. As I got going I pushed while making sure I stayed relaxed and surprised myself major with with a 3:06 (4:39 pace)! After that I was pretty beat, but still felt like I hadn't quite finished for the day yet, so I asked coach if I could do a 6th and she said it would be okay, and told me not to go as fast as the 5th one (i had no plans to) I wanted 3:30, but once again surprised myself with a 3:17 (4:55 pace). When I finished I gagged a bit but composed myself enough to not throw up, which was weird because I felt like I pushed hard but not that hard...anyways great workout! I jogged a mile back to the track and then finished up the day with a 2 mile cooldown with my mom and Ky Voorhees.                      

Strength Training: Full Body/Core

I planned on running the course a couple of times easy when I got to Provo but I ended up arriving there much later than expected (Around 10pm). When I got there we still hadn't eaten dinner so I just got in around 2.5 miles with some strides.

BYU XC Invitational- Well when I finished the race I wasn't super happy with how it went until I thought it through a little more. First off this was my 4th race in 11 days!!! I don't really think I could have expected much better than I did, secondly I ran almost 40 seconds faster than last year, and considering the previous comment that's really good improvement I think. So as the race started I wanted  to run a little more conservatively than I have been doing lately (lately I have just been jumping right to the lead or sticking with the leaders) however I still ended up slowing consideraably my second mile even though I still felt basically fresh. So I need to address that problem, but I think for me this season what works best is to simply just gut it out from the start because it seems as if no matter how fast my first mile is, I still slow down the same amount my second mile. Anyways I continued to get passed on the early part of the third mile to where I dropped to about 17 or 18th place. With 1000m to go I started pushing and caught up a bit more only to finish hard on the track in 12th. I felt WAY to fresh the entire time and didn't have a very gutsy race at all. However, when I thought about it, if I am racing 4 times in 11 days along with hard workouts in between, I can't expect much better. So after thinking it through I decided I was happy with the race especially because my legs felt stronger than ever, and I improved a lot from last year with not much effort.

Monday: Hahahaha funny day today. We were doing a long run day so I planned on doing my L pace (6:15). First mile I felt great and I ran 5:50. As I entered the second mile we climbed Arlington hill, and I don't know if it was the extreme heat, the lack of hydration on my part or the hill itself (probably a good mixture of all three.) But I felt absolutely terrible. I stopped at the top of the hill and got some water. This is where a bunch of the varsity guys caught me. We all started running again together and then we ran over to devils throne hill and got some water before we ascended. When I bent down to get a drink everything went black for a couple seconds, but I just shook it off and started running up the hill. About halfway up my legs just completely tightened and wouldn't move. Then Kamryn whizzed by me as I was standing on the hill trying to walk up it. This is also when coach drove by...embarrassing. I looked behind me and saw Ryan who also raced BYU and Kody and they seemed to be struggling just as much as I was so we grouped together and were determined to finish the run. By the time we finished everyone was worried  we died because we took so long but we finished the 8.5 mile hill run (we go up all of the biggest hills in Hurricane) in an excellent one and a half hours....probably the worst workout I have ever ran...but hey at least I finished and am still alive.

After yesterday's run and talking with Sean, we decided I needed a recovery week. Today I actually ended up doing intervals. 3:00 5k pace- 1:00 sprint*4 I think. I didn't worry aout paces I just focused on staying relaxed and helping out the other guys.

Today was more of a fun day, but still a great workout, we ran to different places and did different workouts and sprints around hurricane. Total of about 6-7 miles with warm up and cool down

7 miles trail run, pace wasn't anything great but the trail was pretty tough.

.5 mile warmup/.5 mile cooldown

AM: Game day... :( I just don't understand waking up at 5am to play a game.

PM: Got in maybe a half a mile of running :( Me and my family spent the whole day at the Bodybuilding expo in Las Vegas (my family is all really into bodybuilding). I got home and it was really late, and I would still run but I had just eaten dinner and I do not do well after eating (I often need 5-6 hours after I eat a meal before I can run, I don't know why but that's just how I have always been.) So today was not a very good day for me, but it was supposed to be a recovery week so I guess it's not the worst thing. Technically I was supposed to take Monday off anyways.

Today was fun. I warmed up for about three miles and then prepped the guys for the race. I wasn't supposed to race today but coach signed me up anyway so I just decided I would use it as a workout. We were supposed to stay as a pack the entire race, but right off the bat it didn't work. So me and Jesse were just like screw it. So I paced Jesse to have an awesome race. Meanwhile I felt great! We were averaging 5:30 miles and I felt like I was at a jog. When me and Jesse hit the track I wanted to time my last 300m and see how fast I could close off a decent pace. I took off and started my watch and caught up to this kid from D-hills fast when I went by him he went with me and ended up actually outkicking me! Haha! I closed in 40.5 seconds the last 300m and got outkicked! That kid has wheels! Anyways great workout and it was fun. .5 mile cooldown about was all, because my team has this weird thing where they are ALWAYS in a hurry. But when I got back home Jesse, Isaiah, and I went to the region course and did a light fartlek run of just over 4 miles.

I expected today to be a long run day, but it turned out to be intervals...and a lot of  them. Luckily I love intervals (no sarcasm at all, I really do love them.) We started out w/8*400m @ 5k pace my splits were (1:12, 1:13, 1:11, 1:14, 1:15, 1:13, 1:15, 1:05) The last one hurt because my asthma started to kick in and I was struggling to breath, but still ended up doing pretty well. Then we went and did 10*hill sprints (50m) w/bands exercises. Afterwards we finished with 6*100m (probably 150m) sprints. Great workout a lot of fun. Although today I got a little frustrated with my team, because they were all keeping right with me even though I was pushing hard, and I'm thinking then WHY on earth are they racing 2 minutes slower. I shouldn't get frustrated, but I just know they are all so much better than they race. If only they could realize that. We started with a 1.5 mile warmup and a 1.5 mile cooldown. Also I did a 1.5 mile warmup before practice started to get my legs moving.

We would run to different grass fields around hurricane and do intervals at each one at usually around 5k pace but some of them even as fast as all out. It actually ended up being a pretty tough workout, because the run between the intervals was between 6:00 and 6:30. I finished with some more intervals on the track afterwards and did a cool down later when I got home because I thought I had to hurry and get to young mens. Anyways good workout.

Long run day and it was hot! I think the heat got to me because I felt really sick when I finished, I also pushed really hard this run.

A few easy miles and some strides. Pre race workout.

Race went pretty well, but I finished with way too much left in me. I need to address that 2nd and early part of the third mile. Anyways my time goal was sub 16 so I got that, which makes me happy. But I didn't have a placement goal which explains why  I didn't do to well there, because I didn't have anything to reach for.  However I do know what I want to place at region and state so now I just have to hope that by state all my training comes together and I pull off what I want to accomplish there like I seem to always do at state. I don't think I've ever had a bad race at state championships in either xc or track that I can think of. Now I just have to ensure that I don't start this year :) Anyways no matter  what happens this year, I am proud to say that I have improved as a runner and a person a lot since I was a freshman and I am so greatful for running and for what it has done for me. I hope to always run. I look forward to running in college wherever that may be.

11 miles total today. (One mile was a 5:28 on grass). Nothing else was notable.

Today the workout was 13*400m@1:13 on 3:00 cycle (3:00-interval time=rest). I ran a 1 mile warmup. Then got started. It was tougher at first because I had to weave in out of the valley vista xc team (I'm in pheonix for the week). My times were: 1:11, 1:11, 1:12, 1:10, 1:10, 1:13, 1:08, 1:10, 1:09, 1:10, 1:08, 1:10, :57. My last one I let loose a little and ran a 57, but it was tough because the VV XC team got on the track again so I had to weave through them the last 200m. I was surprised with how comfortably I ran that fast, my 800m is going to be fast this year :) Good workout! Haha one of the Valley vista kids asked me if I was a professional runner. Cooled down 1 mile.               

PM: Didn't end up running, did a weight sessions instead due to dinner.

Strength Training: Swimming

5 miles tempo on grass@ 6:15

I warmed up with just over 1.5 miles then got started with the workout. I had to do it on the treadmill because it was getting late and I'm staying at a hotel. The workout was a fartlek/intervl type workout. It was

1 minute easy-1 minute hard-2easy-2hard-3easy-3hard-4easy-4hard-5easy-5hard. The easy was@8mph (7:30 pace) and the hard was at 12 mph ( 5:00 pace.) My last 5 minutes I went really hard and finished my last mile in 4:39! It was on a treadmill which makes it easier, but I was still impressed. I felt alright but my feet were hurting pretty bad after because of the pounding on the treadmill. 

1.5 mile cooldown

Strength Training: Water Jogging

Today I hurt everywhere. My workout was 3 miles easy w/strides, but I never loosened up the entire run, I'm pretty sure my average pace was like a 10 minute mile! Anyways hopefully I will be feeling better tomorrow for the race. I will be racing at the Desert Twilight XC Festival. It is a huge meet on the new Nike southwest course. I have no idea what to expect so I guess I will just...race :)

Strength Training: Water running.

Desert Twilight Sweepstakes Race- This race was CRAZY! There were 23 different races because the meet was so big. When I arrived I was a bit worried because I was really stiff and pretty sore. So I had a nice long warmup and started to feel pretty good. As I was warming up for my race I was watching the Boys chapionships race (the second most competitive) and the announcer was saying that all of the top guys were like state champions and stuff, and the kid who took second in that race was the Arizona 1600m state record holder. I'm just thinking oh shoot what did I get myself into, haha, I was legitimately worried I would get last! I stayed calm though and when my race started (the most competitive) it got wild. These kids start out a lot faster than Utah kids, because I was booking it and was in like 50th place. I came through my first mile at 4:50 even and I was probably still in 50th. The entire race was just crouded and hard to maneuver around. The entire race I felt like I was sprinting all out. On the last mile I had to go to the bathroom really bad, but I don't think it affected me much. As I was entering the dip with about 300m left I made a little bit of a wrong turn but got directed after  a few steps in the wrong direction so that was no big deal either. When I hit the dip with 200m left I took off hard and started to catch a group in front of me but I ran out of time. My time was a 15:57 which is a 5k pr for me so that was sweet! Also my last 200m was in :27 seconds! So I guess once again I must of had too much left but I sure felt like I was going fast the whole race. Fun race, and a nice pr. I'm glad I did it.

Ran 1.5 miles before practice. .5 mile warmup, 7.5 mile fartlek run (moderate intensity), .5 mile cooldown.

Ran a mile easy before practice. Warmed up, ran to baseball fields, did 4*800m@5:00 mile pace ave. ran back to track, cooled down, did core workout.

Strength Training: Core

AM: I went on a walk jog with my mom this morning to get my legs to loosen up for the day. 

PM: Snow Canyon- I was pacing Tyson and Jesse to run a quick time and I started in the back to let my guys go in front of me at the starting line since they were the ones really racing. I got out found Jesse and Tyson and we started to move up. Next thing I knew I was with the leaders and my competitive side of me kicked in.  I looked back and Jesse and Tyson weren't far behind me  so I hoped they would close the gap a bit so we could have an awesome Hurricane sweep. I stayed with the leaders for a bit and decided I didn't want to have to kick very hard at the finish and get myself crazy sore before region. So I made a surge with about 1000m left and was able to cruize into a nice finish of 16:15 about (not entirely sure I started my watch late). Not bad for a final tuneup workout for Region. I will be ready to go hard at region and go for the title we'll see how it goes, my region is so competitive it will probably end up going to who is feeling the best mentally and physically come Tuesday. It will be intense!

Ran some before practice. Warmed up, ran about 1.75 miles to intermediate school grass field. We started by doing 3-4 (I can't remember)*.21 miles@5:00 ave. Then we went on the grass and did 4*.23 miles on the grass@4:50 ave (my last one I went 3:59 pace). We then did 4*100m sprints. We then ran back to the high school easy cooldown.

7*200m@:36, :27, :27, :27, :27, :27, :24. Felt good.

Met up with Sean at BYU track and did: 4*400m-1*1600m-1*800m w|200m jog rest between the whole workout in trainers. The workout was tough but the cold made it harder, especially because my trainers got wet and heavy.

400s I ran: 72,73,70,66. 1600m: 5:01. 800m: 2:27.  2.5 mile warmup and 2.5 mile cooldown.

2.5 miles easy total warmup, 4*400m-4*100m, 2.5 miles total cooldown. (A little more than I wanted to do today but it will have me prepped for state and that's what really matters to me.

Somehow a month of my blog got deleted??? I guess it happened to everybody...

Region 9 Championships: Race started and immediately something wasn't right. I was struggling to keep up with the leaders and on the last mile I completely fell apart. Bad race. Hopefully state goes better.

4 miles easy w\4*200m@faster than 5k pace. Felt terrible

3 miles easy w\some strides my legs still hurt from region...weird.

I have been pretty low on confidence since region but today's workout totally pumped me up, it was just what I needed. The workout was hard enough to get me excited again, but not so hard I would be exhausted and sore. I started off with a 2 mile warmup and some drills at the BYU track.

The workout was 10*200m, 1*400m w\200m jog rest. For the first 9 200s Sean wanted me to keep it easy and run as if I were starting the first 200m of state. I averaged :32 (which was faster than I was supposed to do it in but it felt extremely easy). My last 200m he wanted me to go near all out speed about 90-95% and I ran 24.5 seconds. Immediately I kept on jogging (just 200m rest) and did a 400m (he wanted me to try to hit 65-66 seconds) when I started I thought I was going to slow so the last 200m I picked it up and finished in :59 seconds. Afterwards Sean talked to me and he said my 800m is going to be way fast this year, and he said with my speed he might even put me in the 400m, he thinks I can go sub 50 in the 400m. I am SO excited for track season! But I am trying to not think about track too much until XC season ends. I just want to make sure I am focused for state. I will not be racing footlocker or Nike like I originally planned. I will race my best at state take a two week break, and get ready for track season. I discussed my goals for track season with Sean and we decided it would be best for me to prepare early for track to ensure I accomplish my goals.

Super excited for state Wednesday! I have NO idea if it's possible but I will try my best to win...because it's my senior year so why not try! Anyways I look forward to racing some awesome competitors, it's going to be FAST this year!