How I became the best

First official day back. I have to run in the mornings this week because I have a piano competition on Friday and I have to practice right after school until 10 so yeah. 5.25 super easy, average was 8:15 I think? Fell pretty good.

Nice run today. Ran 4 miles at 7:57 average, then stoped and did some stuff at the junior high track. 1 stride uphill on the grass, then a sprint on the grass. Stride up the hill on the road, sprint up the hill. Stride on the track, sprint on the track. All these were about 100 meters. Felt really good, my form was pretty neat and I took off my shirt to show off to some junior high kids #swaggin. 

Was going to try to average sub 7 for this run but got really bad cramps and had to walk for a little. 7 miles total.

Slept in and had to run later in the day. 4 miles, 7:41-6:41-6:23-6:45. 3rd mile was a bit too fast but I felt good so I rolled with it. 3 strides and a sprint on the track bringing the total to 5.3

Easy 7 at the gym, didn't feel great.

Pretty good race, not fantastic. Got out hard the first 75 meters and slowed a bit and people passed me. I found Hayden Cooper and decided to stick on him. I was really lazy today, when people passed us I wouldn't do anything about it, and I didn't really try to race. 5:03 at the first mile, 5:19 second mile. I made a big surge with 800 to go but I couldn't shake Hayden. He passed me with a little over 400 and I tried to pass him on the track but couldn't. Someone else had a really great kick and passed me, Nate was about a second behind me. Not bad considering how I've felt this week and all the crap I ate yesterday. I'm not sure if I should count this as my pr or not, I was 16:14 at 5k and like 15:41 for 3 miles. 4 miles when I got home, 10 for the day.

6 miles ridiculously slow in the morning, 9:15 pace

First strength training session today. I forgot what we did, but all I know is my legs hurt. 6 miles later by myself at the gym in 7:58 pace.

Steady state run today. Super sore. 3 miles easy as a warm up, then 4 a bit quicker, averaged sub 7. Saw 4 deer which distracted me a bit and made me slow down, so one of them was 7:05, fastest was 6:45. One mile slow to cool down. Felt good, but tired.

2 miles before our strength training. Today we did arms and abs, and I realized I have virtually no upper body strength! Don't worry, that is soon to change. 6 miles later to get some easy mileage, average 7:48.

EZ six in the 6 solo. Felt sore, but I think I should be better by tomorrow. Average just over 7:30

First long run! Felt super good the whole time and wasn't really exhausted at the end. Splits were 8:09-7:39-7:35-7:05-6:53-7:01-6:56-7:20-7:17-7:18-7:29. Tried not to push too hard because I want to make sure I progress throughout the preseason and peak mileage and long run speed in January, I'm pretty confident I could have gone much faster and still been in my comfort zone. Average 7:22

Basketball for 3 hours and soccer for an hour and a half. I'll call it like 6.

9 miles at lunch. Warmed up 5 miles at 8 minute pace then a 3 mile tempo at 6 minute pace, 1 mile cool down. Later at practice we did jump ropes, squats, burpies, squats, jump squats, reverse elevated lunges etc. Fun stuff

Was going to take it easy but coach had us do 3 minutes at like 2 mile pace. It felt like I was sprinting, I'm not used to running that fast. Finished to 8 miles, averaged just under 7:30 pace.

2 miles befofre strength training. Didn't go well today, had a really bad headache. 6 miles later with 4x100 sprints. Soccer later, Probably 9 miles today.

5 miles really slow at 8:30 pace with Taya, really cold.

Long run! Went out to the sports park, then on the river trail up to the golf course, back home on canyon road then a few laps of the junior high. Averaged 6:59 pace for 13.18 miles. 7:30-7:16-7:18-6:51-6:27-6:35-6:35-6:43-6:35-6:40-7:01-7:40-7:32-1:18. I had to push a little on the middle miles but it wasn't that hard, honestly the last two miles were what was really tough about this run. Really happy with it though! I'll probably skip my long run next week because I have a race this thursday and footlocker west the week after. Had a cold bath when I got back, my knees were a little irritated today but felt better once I got in. 

Nive little workout today. Ran 1.9 miles to the cemetary and stretched. I did 3 tempo loops down the snake hill and up the other one or vice versa. Wasn't hard at all, I only did 3 even though I planned on doing six. I may do some more hill work on thursday or saturday. Did another mile tempo on flat ground then finished to six miles.

Strength training today. I tried to keep it at least a little bit easier than normal because of my race on thursday, but it was still pretty tough. 6 miles super slow later at like 8:20 pace. 

Really easy slow run today. Averaged 8:20 pace, it actually felt really nice to go slow. 8.15 miles.

Warmed up 2.5 miles with my mom and sister and Guts. When the race started I got trapped behind a bunch of little kids that went out fast. By the time I got passed them, the group I knew would be moving fast was already 30 to 40 meters ahead of me. I just focused on staying relaxed and moving up. The first and third miles had really bad headwinds, which probably costed a minute. First mile was 5:29. On the 2nd mile I really focused on catching people and I put in some surges but was only 5:17 for that one. I finally caught the guy I had been working on for quite a while and tucked in behind him in preparation for the wind on the third mile. I could tell he was going too slow, so I went next to him and surged a bit but was not entirely successful. 3rd mile was a 5:46. Then he took the lead as we turned the corner and started pressing hard. I had to really work to stay with him on this last mile. He opened a small gap a few times but I closed them. We turned the corner into the park, which marks 400 to go, and I took the lead. I was trying to get a gap on him but I heard him respond and he stayed right on my heels. I concentrated on ignoring the pain and just pumping my arms. Rounding the last turn I turned it on and he came flying past me. For a few seconds I thought I would be able to come back up on him but I faltered and he got too much ground on me. This race was really fun and I think I put in a good effort and got a good result considering all the wind. 1.5 mile cool down by myself. Oh I won a turkey which was sweet.

4 miles at the gym, 31 minutes.

8 miles later really easy. Kind of sore from yesterday which is a good sign, at least I know I went as hard as I could. 

8 miles at 2:00. It was soooo cold when I started so I just ran as fast I could to try to warm myself up. It worked and I was comfortable by 3 miles. I didn't realize how fast I went until the end when I actually looked at my watch. I'll just give the splits cause what the heck. 7:20-6:43-6:26-6;35-7:01-7:01-6:57-7:12. I felt nice the whole time though so its alright, 6:55 average. I'll do more later.

4 miles really slow and easy. Ran to the junior high and did a 3x(1 stride and 1 sprint). 2 sets were uphill on the grass, the third was on the track.

Woke up at 5:30 to go to the gym. When I got there the only treadmill open was one of those ones with a tv stuck on the front which I was bummed about. Warmed up 3 miles at about 7:50 pace I think. Workout was 4 mile tempo. First mile was 10 mph, 2nd was 10.1, 3rd was 10.2, then 10.3. It was tough, outside this workout wouldn't have been a problem. My hamstring started hurting around 20 minutes and I contemplated stopping because I really didn't want to get injured right before footlocker. I decided to finish and it feels fine but it had me worried for a little bit. I think it might have been because I subconsciously changed how I was running because if I ran normally the tv would bounce around like crazy. 1 mile cool down super slow, it felt so good. Might do more later but probably not.

5 miles later.