The King of Controversy

AM - Took morning off.

PM - 6.75 miles. Michigan today. I ran a 26:36 which was way slower than last tine so I'm super disappointed. My foot felt okay but still hurting a lot more than it should. I really need to get healthy and stay healthy and definitely need to stay strong mentally better and hopefully, I can push back up to Andrew and Jake. I think I'm going to take morning off again tommorrow.

AM - Morning off again.

PM - 5.5 miles. 2 mile warmup, 4x400 (1600 race pace) with equal recovery, 1 mile easy, and then 4 hill sprints (all out) and 4x100 (all out) both with walking recovery. I felt like I did really well today. My 400 times were 1:18, 1:16, 1:15, and 1:12. I decided to relax a little bit more than usual on these and focus on a faster finish than start. On the hill sprints and 100s, I did just the opposite, going as hard as I could because that was what we were supposed to do. I just felt really fast on these especially since I was quite a ways ahead of Andrew on these. I clocked the 100s all at about 13.

AM - Morning off again.

PM - 4.5 miles. Half mile warm, 3 miles easy, and 4x200s fast with equal walk recovery. Foot felt okay, better than earlier this week but still bothered me. Nice grass run with Level 2 guys down at 2450 park. Then on the 200s I was doing great but I really got tensed up on those last few and my form was all over the place. I'll need to work on staying relaxed even at those faster speeds.

AM - 1 mile. Finally ran a morning run again. Foot wasn't great so just 1 mile.

Race - 1.5 mile warm and then got to the start line. I got out a little slower today but I felt that it really helped me have a good race. I was with Preston for about the first mile but he pulled ahead after that. I kept working my way up on the second mile and towards the end of this is where I really started struggling. But, I just kept thinking of how bad I wanted to beat Desert Hills and that kept me going. My kick still was crappy but I'm still super satisfied with my race. Definately my best 3 mile race of the season. A course PR by about 40 seconds and we easily took down Desert Hills which added to the sweetness. Sadly, our Varsity boys still could not get Desert Hills so hopefully the can figure that out. Still not where I would like to be (running with Andrew and Jake) but I don't care that much anymore. I've been focused so much on beating my own team that I've lost sight of what is much more important: beating other teams. My main focus from now on is to beat other teams (specifically DH) and if that means running where I am now then great but if that means running with Jake and Andrew then even better. All I care about is that we win or do good as a team not just as an individual. 1.5 mile cool with Preston after. Foot wasn't too awesome today.

PM - 2 miles. I went out to do my workout and I did the first 2 minute fartlek but my foot wasn't feeling great so I didn't do the rest and turned back.

AM - No more morning runs for a while and a lot less mileage as we taper for Region. 

PM - 4.5 miles. 1.5 mile warm, 1600 meter all out, and 1.5 cool. Coach told us to go a twinge slower than all out so that threw me off since I wasn't sure what my all out mile was anymore. I still felt pretty good with my push. I PRed by 10 seconds in the mile with a 5:06. Good workout but I'm still working on getting my foot healthy. It didn't feel too great today.

AM - Still no morning as we taper.

PM - 5.5 miles. 4 miles easy with 4x200(normal pre-race). Run with the Level 2 guys to Sandbergs. Foot felt better than it did on Saturday but still not perfect. Water at Sandbergs is getting way chilly. I hung back on my 200s and worked more on my form instead of speed since they weren't supposed to be very fast. I felt like I did pretty well but it felt like I turned standing tall into more of a backwards lean (like Matt does a lot). I guess that is why we work on form though is to improve it.

Race - Warmed up about 1.75 miles, waited a little (because they were a little behind schedule) and then went and did some warm ups by the start line. When the race started I got out way slow and I got trapped behind a lot of people. When I saw that Tanner Sharp was clear back with me as well, I was able to relax a little more and I decided to stick right with him for a little bit because I knew he would pull me to where I wanted to be. But as we neared the end of he first lap I couldn't stand it anymore and I pushed a little ahead in hopes of breaking free from this big group. I caught up with Preston during the second lap and we stayed close to each other the rest of the way. We were both struggling but I felt so much stronger with him close by. I ended up catching Logan and barely beating Preston to be the fifth guy on our team so I scored which was pretty awesome but I still got a lot to work on. I didn't stay as focused or as strong mentally as I should have and I'm still struggling to figure out those starts so hopefully I can figure that stuff out before region. Still a great race as team as we not only beat DH again but we took 2nd overall against some Varsity squads so that was pretty legit. Cooled around 1.5ish (maybe) with Preston, Logan, and Josh Farish. Foot wasn't too great.

PM - 6.5 miles. 4 miles with 4x400 at around mile race pace with equal recovery. Foot actually felt really good today. I guess I just didn't think too much about it today but I don't remember any pain. It was just a great run today. I felt really great through out and I loved doing the 400s. My times were 1:14, 1:12, 1:09, and 1:05 so super satisfied with those. I did the ice bucket with Jake and Paul and it was super cold and I wanted to cry.

AM - 4.5 miles. 1.5 mile tempo and then 2xMasterBlasters with 1 warm/cool. The tempo was mostly a slight downhill so we just flew throught the tempo and did it in 8:17 (which is about a 5:30 pace). Then we did 2 sets of MasterBlasters which is just a 200 meter relay in groups of three and your recovery is how long it takes the other two teammates to each run a 200. Preston and Andrew were in my group so not a whole lot of recovery. Each set, each person would end up running 4 times. They were supposed to be all out which was super hard because it was very little recovery. I felt like I went all out on the first one of each set but the other ones felt really slow. A lot of people told me that I was going really fast though so I don't know. I really focused on when I got tired to try to stay relaxed and keep my form good because sometimes I let my form go all over the place on these sprint workouts. Good workout. Foot felt okay.

PM - No afternoon because of practice this morning.

AM - 3 miles. 3 miles with 3 Fartleks. Me and my brother met up with Preston and Andrew at Washington Elementary at 8 am. We decided to do a 30 sec, 1 min, and then a 30 sec fartlek with about 1 min 30 sec recovery to Maverik.  We started our first fartlek about half a mile in and we threw in quite a good push. It was a good contrast to our downhill tempo yesterday because this time we were pushing uphill. Foot wasn't too awesome but wasn't too bad either. Good run.

PM - 4.5 miles. 4 miles with 4x200 hard. Foot wasn't great, the foot pain has sort of spread to my arch and my lower Achilles which are both pretty sore so I'm going to take care of that. I felt pretty good otherwise and I know I'm ready for Region tomorrow. My 200s were pretty good and since they weren't quite all out, I really focused on staying relaxed and I did pretty well while still running fairly fast. The last one I timed to be 30 seconds so if that gives you an idea of how fast they actually were. Super excited for Region tomorrow. My goal is to race well enough to get our JV guys the Region title. Hopefully our Varsity guys can do the same.

Race - Warmed up about 1.5 and got to the line. The gun went off and I sat back with Preston because I really wanted to use my teammates today to strengthen me. But, something deep down told me I couldn't sit back today.  And when I saw that 4 Desert Hills guys were right at the front, I definitely knew I couldn't sit back. So I pushed ahead of Preston and caught up with Jake on the second lap and I threw in a strong push here and pulled closer to the leaders but there were still 4 DH guys in front of me and Jake and we were our 3rd and 4th guys at this point so I really had to focus and I give it all I had the last lap. And as we passed Coach  he yelled at us that our 5th guy was way back and we would need every point. Jake started to pull ahead at this point throwing in his signature last lap but I was throwing in a good push as well. I caught Scott of DH at the beginning of the third lap and passed him. I caught Tanner (DH) and Andrew (my team) on the last uphill push before the finish and I was gaining on Sage of Desert Hills. As we came around the basketball court and into the final stretch, I was getting very close to Sage and I started into that final kick but I just couldn't get myself to go get Sage. I finished just a couple seconds behind him which was a huge bummer but still my best race of the year. And it turns out that my gut feeling at the beginning of the race was right. My team really needed a race like this from me today because we had quite a few guys way back with very poor races today. Luckily we had some people step it up today (like me and Jason) and we pulled off the win in a very tight contest that came down to 8 points. This race today just showed how deep our team is and that we've got guys who can step it up when we need them too. This is going to be big going into next year as it is going to be another close contest for the Region and Statefor that matter (as most of us are going to be running Varsity). I'm very satisfied with my performance but I'm more thrilled to have helped my team win it because that was really my only goal. Cooled down about 1.5 with Jake and Andrew and a few others as we watched the Varsity girls run a very good race and the Varsity guys also with a good race but not enough to beat the very good Thunder (congrats to their team on the Region title). My foot was pretty good today, not enough to bother me too much but not perfect either. Talked with Coach and he said I should take the rest of the week off (maybe more) to get it healthy again. 

No mileage today or for the rest of the week, maybe even a little longer as I try to get my foot better. Still went to practice and took roll.

AM - No mileage still. I went to practice though and helped time the guys running their all out mile.

Still nothing. Foot still hurts a bit walking around. I'll probably start running again when I can walk around pain free which will hopefully be very soon.

0 miles. Still nothing.

Still nothing. My foot hasn't gotten much better.

Went up with the team to State today. I'm sharing a room with the Varsity guys so that is pretty legit. Still didn't run though and I just sat in my room chilling, rolling, blogging and stuff like that.

Still nothing, besides running like crazy around the state course cheering on our team. Really disappointing day except for Byron's second place finish. Foot hurt a lot running around which is discouraging since I haven't run in a week. I don't know what is wrong with it but I'm going to get it checked out soon, hopefully to rule out stress fracture and to get properly diagnosed. Super worried about it.

Didn't run, actually none of our team did and all we did today was play ultimate frisbee. I shouldn't have played but I couldn't resist. Foot wasn't Terrible but still not perfect either. I'm definitely sitting out of frisbee next time and stop being so dumb.

Foot was feeling a little bit better today but still no running. I just helped score the teams out on their scavenger hunt. I probably won't run until after I get my foot checked next week even if it is feeling better.

It has almost been two weeks with no running (I played frisbee and ran around the state course but that was the most I've done since region). Yet my foot is still not all the way better. Even though I hope that when I get it checked out it won't be too serious, I'm really worried that it might be. I think this has been the most I've prayed in forever.

Foot still not great. No running yet and I have an appointment for my foot on Thursday. I'm praying it isn't a stress fracture or anything.

Still nada. My foot is the same.

Still no running. Just helped time and record the Michigan. Foot feels the same. I'm really starting to get impatient. It was really hard to watch everybody running the Michigan and seeing Andrew hit A standard because that is where I really want to be. A lot of people say they hate that workout but I actually kind of like it. I was really disappointed I didn't get to run it or even run at all. I have an appointment tomorrow so that should be good (although very nerve racking). Banquet tonight was bueno.

Good News. No Stress Fracture!!! And I can start running on Monday. Although I won't be running much, I am so excited to be able to run again. Anyways, I finally got out and did some cross training today. I haven't done anything since I stopped running which is really bad, I know but I didn't plan on being out this long. I got in a quick bike ride of about 1 or 2 miles (not sure exactly). I rode down the hill past PVMS and then rode back up. It wasn't much but at least it I did something so that when I start running again, I'm not going to struggle as much. I plan on getting a little in tomorrow and Saturday so that should be good. Just happy to be able to run soon. I've still been going to practice and even morning practice but it isn't the same when you aren't running. There is some quote that says something like you never know how much you love something untill it is gone and that is what this break has been like for me. It just reminded me how much I love running.