Redemption

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!