The King of Controversy

PM - 4 miles. Felt good on our first run being back but I should not have missed so many runs over the break. I really only have a good excuse for three of the days (I was sick). But I should not have missed the other few. I was just plain lazy. Today we ran into Green Springs and had weights after.

PM - 5 miles. Did a vertical jump tests before run. I got one of the highest on the team (26"). I know I can jump high but I think it may be a little off, whatever. We ran into Middleton and felt okay for most of the run. I was pretty sore, mostly in my upper body, from lifting yesterday, but it didn't really bother me during the run at all except for a little at the beginning. I started to get really tired towards the end, probably from missing all those runs. I really can't miss any more runs.

6 miles from the 2450 park into Green Springs with some of the guys. Then we went to a breakfast at Megan's house. Got my run in and got breakfast (2 birds with 1 stone). 

PM - 4.25 miles. Coach put me in on the 800 workout today. We did 2x1000 with Harts warm and cool. We were supposed to run them at 85% of our mile a month ago plus 10 seconds. So I was supposed to run a 4:12 but we all went really fast and I easily hit 3:37 which was about what Abel, Paul, and Matt were supposed to be running. On the second one I was able to slow down and hit 4:02 which was pretty good. I felt really good today until about the cool down when my stomach started giving me fits but nothing to bad. We lifted after.

PM - 5 mile trail run. We went up to Green Springs and ran up Mustang Pass. I felt really good today. I was feeling a little sore from yesterday but it was the best trail run I've ever done. At some points I was getting tired and wanted to quit but thought about being State Champs and running Varsity and used that to pull me through. 

PM - 6 miles with 12 min at 6:50 tempo. I ran with Andrew, Jake T, and Jason H. My legs were pretty sore from yesterday's run but luckily it faded away before the tempo. But after we finished the tempo and slowed our pace, my achilles started bugging me. I was able to finish the run but my pace was a little slower than it should have been.

PM - 4 miles and then striders. I felt great but it was pretty windy and cold. My achilles didn't hurt at all today though it felt kinda sore just walking around. Weights afterwards.

PM - 4 miles (I think). Did Kosmin Test with Harts warm and cool. My legs felt sore and tired today (specifically my quads). I ran two 60 seconds and got 690 meters. I felt great at first but at about 200 meters I felt like I was going to collapse. The second one was much better and I was just glad not to half to run 4 of those like the 1600 people.

8 miles with 10 min LT pace (40 seconds added to mile time). I ran with my brother down to the river trail. I ran slower than I was supposed to but I really tried to push my brother. It got super cold and my legs were still sore and tired. Glad to get out and do my run.

PM - 4.75 miles. 3x1000's (85%) with 3 min. rec, and Harts warm and cool. My determined time for the 800 according to the Kosmin test was 2:16. So my time I was supposed to hit on the 1000's today was 3:44. My times were 3:56, 3:50, and 3:45 respectively. I ran with Andrew, Weston, and Dallin on them (mostly Andrew though since he was supposed to hit 3:40). It was really cold today and my left quad was really tight when I started running my 1000's. Luckily it faded out but was bothering me at first. Weights afterwards.

PM - 5 mile trail run on the Dino Trail. I felt pretty good today at first. My quad wasn't bothering me and the rest of my legs felt good but towards the end of the run the bottom of my foot was hurting again. Going to roll it with a golf ball and ice it.

PM - 8 miles with 18 min. tempo at 6:00 pace. My legs felt pretty good but my upper body felt really tired. I ran with Andrew but we were about 10-20 seconds too slow. Nice solid pace back.

PM - 6 miles. Old man hills (4x400). Legs were kinda tight. I didn't run my hills very well. I tried to keep up with Andrew but just couldn't get there.

PM - 4 miles and striders. Legs were tired but felt pretty good towards end of run. Striders felt great.

PM - 5 miles with 15 min tempo at 5:40 pace. I just couldn't get there today. I ran over Foremaster but couldn't get myself to go any faster than 5:50. Then once I reached the bottom of the hill, I was not feeling it at all and ran a 6:20 which as I came up Mall Drive dropped to a 7:00. Not a great run.

4 miles. I slept over at my grandma's house last night so I got up and went for a run with my brother past D-Hills and into some of the neighborhoods over there. I felt really good and our pace was pretty good.

PM - 6 miles. 4x1000 (85%) with 3 min. rec. and Harts warm and cool. My legs felt great but my triceps were really tired . Me and Andrew were supposed to be running 3:40. My times were pretty good on the first three but way too slow on the last one. I tried really hard to land more on my toes and less on my heels and felt like I did way better. Weights afterwards.

PM - 8 miles with 24 min tempo at 6:00 min pace. I was a little sick today and I was way off. I ran pretty good the first mile but the rest of the time I was running about 7:00 min pace. Need to get to bed earlier tonight.

PM - 7 miles. 6 miles with 1 - 2 min fartlek and 2 -1 min fartleks then striders. I've just felt really tired these last few days. I just couldn't bring myself to where I needed to be. Weights afterwards were much better.

PM - 5 mile trail run. I felt way better today even though I was still a little tired and sick. I fell off still but was doing much better than the last few days.

6 miles with 20 min. at 5:40 pace. I couldn't get to my pace again but was doing much better than last time. I ran at about a 6:40 pace for the first half but started to fall off again so I eased off for a couple of minutes like Coach said to do and then try again but couldn't do it so I cut the tempo a couple minutes early and finished my run.

PM - 6 miles. 4x1000 repeats (87%) and Harts warm and cool. I still felt a little sick and tired too.  I was supposed to hit 3:39 (though I've been trying to work with Andrew a bit more and hit his at 3:35). Sadly, I fell off again. I ran a 3:38, 3:43, 3:42, and then a sad 3:57. I just need to get more sleep. 

PM - 5 miles trail at old airport trail. Jake drove over there and almost killed Steve (from the running center). I felt extremely good today. Still not totally better but was able to stay with the group. There were some terrible hills and it reminded me of roller coasters but I didn't tire out like I've done in the past week. Great run.

PM - 8 miles with 24 min. tempo at 6:00 min pace. I felt way better today. My sickness was pretty gone and my legs were feeling good. I was running good and hit about 6 min in the first mile but started to fall off again. I realized it was my mind that was holding me back. I may be better physically but a lot worse mentally. Need to work harder on that because that is the only thing holding me back right now.

PM - 6 miles with old man hills (4x400). I was doing much better today getting to where I needed to be. I started to fall off on the way back but I remember what Mike told me on one of the summer afternoon runs when I started to fall off towards the end. He said,"If you can't finish off a run, you can't finish off a race." This quote helped me push that last little bit.

PM - 3 miles with striders. I felt really good and was just happy to have a nice short run. 

Not really a competitive race but it was for a good cause and helped me get closer to my LT pace (5:40 pace). This was a great race for me and a PR by over a minute. I was feeling great and even though I didn't hit my goal of  5:40, I did a lot better than I have been doing. Warm up of 2 miles and cool down of 1 mile. My mile times were 5:50, 6:25, 6:02, respectively. I think we may have cut some corners because my watch was only at about 3 miles, but whatever.

PM - 6 miles. Same old repeat Monday. 4x1000 (89% but I was supposed to do 87% again). I was feeling really tired today. I was supposed to be hitting 3:39. My times were 3:34, 3:37, 3:43, and 3:39. A lot better than last week getting around my times even though I ran a little fast at first.

PM - 5 miles (trail). The trail today was so hard. I still felt tired and that big hill and then the small little up hill after that didn't help. Need to get more sleep.

PM - 8 miles with 30 min. tempo AT pace (6:00). I ran really terrible again. I did exactly what I did last week. I was on pace for the first mile and fell off again. I was still feeling tired and my foot pain is starting to come back. Still need more sleep and need to stretch, roll, and ice better.

PM - 7 miles. Old Man Hills (1x800, 2x400, 4x200). I was still feeling tired so I decided to back off a little and try to run more consistently. I did really well and didn't fall off like I always do. I was even able to make the last 200 a little quicker. My foot felt better today but still tired. Weights after.

PM- 3 miles and striders. Little bit of a hectic run. We were handing out flyers for the 5k tommorow (a little late). I felt pretty good. I actually didn't feel as tired today which is good. My foot was fine but my right achilles/ankle hurt after the run.

Another fundraiser 5k to help with our LT tempo pace with 2 mile warm and 1 mile cool. It was a hard course and a bit long. I ran with some Desert Hills guys who are a lot faster than me but were taking it easy. My average pace was 6:20 which was a lot slower than what my tempo pace (5:40) was supposed to be but I probably would have run slower by myself.

AM - 3 miles. My first morning run since we started back up. Cold but legs felt good.

PM - 4.5 miles. 800 meter time trial with Harts warm/cool and striders. My legs were feeling really good today but as I started that race I was really tense and my upper body felt horrible during the race. I got 2:34 which is 18 seconds off my Kosmin test time but I've never run an 800 race so I didn't know what to expect. I loved this race because it was so short. Striders were good. 

PM - 8 miles with 30 min. AT tempo (6:40 pace about now because of yesterday's time trial). It was actually one of my better tempo runs even though I was going a slower pace and still fell off. I stayed at my pace for a lot longer than normal even if it was slower. My calfs were pretty tight today and just like everybody else is saying, I also need to do better at stretching, rolling, and icing. Weights after.

PM - 6 miles easy. It was a record setting day today when all of the boys running with us took off their shirts. My legs were feeling great today. I started to fall off just a little on the way back because of the strong pace that we had but nothing like I've been doing lately. Nice stretching session afterwards.

PM - 5.5 miles. 8x200 at race pace (38.5) with equal recovery and Harts warm and cool. It was actually pretty easy today, my legs were a little tight but nothing terrible. My times were 37.45, 39.04, 39.15, 38.33, 39.33, 39.58, 37.72, and my watch messed up on the other time. We also took our heart rates after every couple of 200s with the goal of getting below 120 after the recovery but I was hitting 130s so I need to lengthen my recovery a bit. Weights after.

PM - 5 miles (trail). Still a little tight today. I struggled today to keep up on this trail. There were a couple of times where I wanted to stop and take a break because of those hills but I just kept pushing.

6 miles with 15 min. LT tempo (6:20 pace now because of time trial) on the river trail. This was one of my better tempos lately even though my pace is slower now. My mile times were 6:18, 6:14, and then 2:34 for .37 miles or 6:56 pace which was a little slow but still a better tempo for me. Then a nice solid pace to end instead off my usual sloppy soccer jogs to end.

AM - 7 miles with Old Man Hills (4x400, 2x200). I ran by myself but saw a bunch of the guys as I finished my hills. I felt pretty good but didn't run my hills all that great. They were consistent but slower than I would have liked.

PM - 3 miles by myself.  

PM - 7.5 miles. 4x1000 with 3 min. recovery and 2x300 at F pace with full recovery. My 1000 times were bumped down quite a bit (4:02) but I haven't been running that great lately so it's good. My times today were 4:04, 4:01, 3:59, and 3:59 for the 1000s and :51 and :51 for my 200s respectively. A much better workout for me. My legs were feeling a bit tired again. I need to get more sleep.

PM - 4 miles easy. I am so glad that we had a recovery day today. I was feeling even more tired than yesterday and my legs were feeling pretty tight. Weights after.

AM - 3 miles. Got to bed earlier last night and was able to get up easier this morning. 

PM - 6 miles. 12x200 at race pace (38.5) with 120 beat recovery and Harts warm and cool. My times were 40.19, 40.39, 39.27, 36.91, 38.89, 38.74, 38.82, 39.28, 38.55, 38.02, 39.33, 38.62. I had a rocky start but was able to do pretty well towards the end. My legs were feeling much better today because I got to sleep earlier last night but not 100% yet.

AM - 3 miles to AC.

PM - 4 miles - 3 miles and striders. A fun run through Sandbergs. Legs were feeling great. Did vertical test after and I got 24 inches, one of the highest on the team. 

8 miles with 30 min. AT tempo (6:40). My legs were feeling great today but I just didn't get where I needed to be. I ran at more of a 7:00 min. pace. I really need to work on the mental side of things and quit running such terrible tempos especially at slower paces than I have done before.

AM - 3 cold miles to AC again.

PM - 4 miles - 3 miles with striders. Ran into Green Springs then tried out some other events to see if we had some weird hidden talent and to get ready for the decathalon on Wednesday and Thursday.

AM - 4 miles with 4xFartleks. I didn't do all that great on my fartleks. On my first two fartleks, I went out way two slow and soon the group was way ahead of me. I tried to go faster on the other two but was still way slow. 

PM - 3 miles. Tried some more events for the decathlon.  

AM - 4 miles. Kosmin #2 with Harts warm and cool. My hamstring was bothering me during the warm up but was able to run the Kosmin without problems. I let myself get trapped at the back of the pack at the beginning and tried to make up ground towards the end. I really need to get better at starting a bit quicker so I am not always playing catch up. I got to pretty much the same spot today as last time.

PM - 3 hectic miles. We did the decathlon today so we were just to get 3 miles in whenever we could. My shins are starting to hurt so I need to get on that. 

AM - Missed the morning today.

PM - 4 miles. 3 with striders. I didn't get to bed very early and my legs felt really tired today. 

PM - 4.5 miles. 4x400 at race pace (1:16) with Harts warm and cool. My times were 1:24, 1:17, 1:18, 1:17. The first one was way off but pretty close on the others. My legs were feeling pretty good and my shins didn't hurt too bad.

6 miles. I only went 6 because my shins have been bothering me this week. My shins didn't actually hurt today at all. I've been rolling and stretching pretty good so I was able to run without problems.

PM - 6.5 miles. 4x1000 (3:56) with 3 min. of recovery with Harts warm and cool. My times were 4:01, 3:58, 3:52, and 4:01. My times just were terrible today. I was a little slow on the first two and then I let myself go too fast on the third and thus killing me on the last one. I felt pretty good today but I just was terrible with my splits. I need to figure out my splits sooner so I don't have to do them all in my head while I'm running the first one and trying to remember on the others. Weights after.

PM - 8 miles with 20 min. tempo (6:40 pace). I ran with Jake T, Jason H, and Preston. We all started off pretty well but we all fell off beside Jake. My right shin didn't hurt as much as last week. The muscles around it had a burning sensation when I ran and hurt a bit after running until I stretched.

PM - 5 miles. 6x400 with 120 beat recovery and Harts warm and cool. I was supposed to hit 1:17 on the 400s today. My times were 1:17, 1:19, 1:15, 1:19, 1:18, 1:14. I did pretty well last week with my times but today I let them jump all over the place. At least I didn't let some of those quick times pull me down super low on some of the others like I've done before in workouts. My shin felt about the same today.

PM - 5 miles. 4 miles and 4x200. I didn't get to sleep very early last night and my shin hurt a bit more today. Glad it was a nice easy run.

PM - 6 miles with 8 fire station hills. I was a little bummed about the meet getting canceled but I don't think I was ready to race. I've been running terrible lately and I need to figure it out. Luckily, I got a chance to redeem myself today on the hills and had a pretty good workout. It was probably my best hill workouts ever and even though they were hard I had a lot of fun finally having a good workout. Shin still hurt a bit but was better.

5 miles with 2 mile hard finish. My hard finish was mostly uphill and even though it was a hard push, it was barely faster than normal pace. Coach told us we should be going close to LT pace so at the end when it was mostly flat with a slight downhill, I picked it up but only to AT pace. 

AM - 7 miles. 4x1000 (trying to hit 3:56) with 3 min. recovery and 2x300 (all out) with full recovery and Harts warm and cool. My 1000 times were 3:53, 3:57, 3:57, 3:57 and my 300 times were :48, :56. I did pretty well on my 1000 except for the first one but on that 300 I hit a wall barely 100 meters in and I couldn't sprint anymore. My shin was still about the same.

PM - 4 miles. Hot 3 miles and then striders by myself. My shin actually felt way better than this morning but still hurt a bit. 

AM - 6 miles with 20 min. AT tempo (6:40 pace). This was actually one of my better tempos. I was able to hold my pace for the first 10 min. and still held a pretty good pace (a bit slower but not much) the last 10 which is actually pretty good considering how bad I've run tempos before. I think it helped that it was only 6 miles because it helped me thing a bit more positive. We had plyos after. My shin actually didn't feel too bad on this run but my legs were pretty tired after doing plyos. 

 PM - 3 miles. It was nice to go a slow pace and just relax.  

AM - 7.75 miles. Old Man Hills 3x(400, 400, 200). Coach told us to back off a little bit but still have a hard push. I did pretty well and my shin didn't really hurt but I've been slacking off on getting to bed early over this break and I was feeling pretty tired. 

PM - 3 miles. I almost let myself skip this run because I was feeling so tired but it felt good to shake out the legs. 

AM - 5 miles. 4x600 (goal: 2:00) with 120 beat recovery and Harts warm and cool. My times were 2:05, 2:01, 1:59, and 1:57. My first one was a little slow and the last one maybe a little quick but pretty happy with how I did. My heart rate was even below 120 when we checked it one time. We had plyos after and it was so tiring.

PM - Hot 3 miles. 

AM - 5 miles. 4 easy miles and 4x200. I was still feeling pretty tired which isn't good considering I'm racing tommorow. Nice to just take it easy and relax.

PM - Another hot 3 miles. 

I came to this meet thinking I was only running the 3200 so I was pretty happy when it was the first race of the day but I also ended up running the last event which was the 4x400 with Casey, Nick, and Paul. 

I ran a 1.5 mile warm up shortly after we got there and then I threw on some spikes for the first race ever checked in for the race. Casey told me that my time should be at least 30 seconds faster than our 2 mile time trials from cross so I was shooting for under 12:00. I ended up getting it but according to my watch, I only got a 12:05. I felt like I ran pretty strong throughout the race but I had a terrible second half. At the halfway point when I checked my watch I was around 5:40 so my second half was almost around 6:20. I had a pretty good finish even if my kick was only around 200 meters. I was able to pass a couple of kids at the end which felt really good. I ran a cool down of about 1.5 miles after.

The 4x400 wasn't until the very end so I waited for like 6 hours before it started. I ran to Wendys and back to eat so I wasn't totally motion less during that time. I was going to run the third leg but I couldn't get down how to grab the baton so they ended up having me run first. I ran a 1:02 split which is pretty fast for me but compared to the actual sprinter teams running it, I looked super slow. I had a lot of fun with it though and we were able to qualify for 5A State Girls and even scored some points for the team.

PM - 6.5 miles. 4x1000 (goal - 3:48) with 3 min. recovery and 2x300 (goal - :50) with full recovery and Harts warm and cool. Probably my worst workout ever. My 1000 times were 3:44, 4:00, 4:01,  and 4:21 and my 300 times were :51 and :52. My right calf was super sore and tight and the shin still hurt a bit because I was too lazy to stretch and roll after the meet on Saturday and I let that pain drag me down. My head just wasn't in it today. Weight after.

PM - 5 miles. 4 miles and striders. My leg was feeling much better today and I was glad it was an easy run. 

PM - 5 miles. 4x600 (goal-2:00) with 120 beat recovery and Harts warm and cool. My times were 1:59, 2:02, 2:03, 2:12. Another terrible workout but a lot better than Monday. Shin about the same.

PM - 4 miles with 4x200. We went to Sandbergs and finally jumped in but it was super cold so I got out immediately after jumping in. 

PM - 5 miles. I almost didn't get my run into day because of the crazy meet. Shin was about the same.

PM - 6 miles. 4x800 (last lap 2-4 seconds faster than first lap) with 3 min. recovery,  2x300 with full recovery, and Harts warm and cool. Coach switched the workout today to help us get used to going faster the second half instead of slower. My goal time was 1:31 for the first lap and 1:27-1:29 the second lap (total time 2:58-3:00). My actual 800 times were 2:57, 3:02, 2:56, and 2:57 and my 300 times were :49 and :53. A much better workout for me but my 300 times were still really crappy. My shin was feeling better but still didn't feel great because I slacked off on water. Weights after. 

JV meet at PV. I ran the 1600, 800, and 4x400. Coach made us run one distance event and the 4x400 but Paul convinced a couple of us to run the 800 as well. I hit 5:33 again in the mile and was super disappointed in myself. I felt like crap because I didn't drink enough water today. My start was terrible and my finish was just as bad. I just wasn't in it.

The 800 gave me a chance to redeem myself and even though I was hydrated in this race I still didn't do as well as I hoped. I barely got a new PR with a 2:33 but was shooting for under 2:30.

The 4x400 felt like a much better race for me even though I didn't get my split. I ran third and was able to pass two other teams and had an awesome kick the last 100 meters. I felt super relaxed and just happy to have one good race. 

PM - 5 miles. 4 miles with 4x200. My legs were pretty sore (I need to get better at stretching and rolling after meets). It was super hot and my legs took a while to get moving but it turned out to be a pretty good run. I ran the 200 a lot slower than usual today and worked a lot harder on the form. The shin didn't really even bother me today.

Coach told us in the slow heat that 2:30 were unacceptable for how fast we were and told us to aim for low 2:20s. So I was shooting for low 2:20s. I decided to get out quicker today since I always let myself get trapped at the back and then have to work up which I'm not really good at doing. I got out so fast though that I took the lead at about 200 meters in and ran a 1:03ish first lap. I was feeling strong that first 400 and it was pretty exciting to be in first but I died out on the last lap and lost the lead with less than 200 meters to go. I'm pretty mad at myself for going out so fast but happy with my time.

AM - 8 miles with 20 min AT tempo (6:40). No school so we had our usual 8 am no school practice. I felt that my tempo was pretty good today. It was maybe a little slow but I stayed pretty strong at the same pace instead of my usual slow last half. Weights and plyos after.

5 miles with 10 min. LT Tempo (6:20 pace). My shin was hurting again so I didn't really hit my pace but still tried to get a hard push in.

PM - 7 miles. 4x1000 (goal: 3:48) with 3 min. recovery, 2x300 (goal: sub :50) with full recovery, and Harts warm and cool. I just wasn't in it today. I woke up sick, I wasn't super hydrated, and I just had that lazy attitude that I didn't want to run. My 1000 times were 3:48, 3:55, 3:57, 3:51 and my 300 times were :47 and :53. I felt like crap on the cool down and didn't do weights because I was just dead and felt sick. 

PM - 5 miles. 10x200 at 2 sec. faster than race pace (goal :36)  with 1 min. recovery and Harts warm and cool. This workout was really hard. I love doing 200s but with such little recovery I was constantly out of breath and to make things worse I was kinda sick. My times were :34, :36, :35, :34, :37, :37, :36, :39, :38, and watch messed up on the other. I'm so terrible at hitting times and paces at the end of workouts. I really need to work harder on that so I don't die out in races as well like last week in Hurricane. 

Today's race didn't even feel like a race. It honestly felt like a tempo run. I wasn't going very fast and I didn't get a PR or anything. I just didn't prepare mentally and that's all I can say.

I ran the 800 again. I got my warm up in and then waited forever for the race to start. I decided to cool it on the first lap this time but I cooled it a bit too much and ran a 1:16ish first lap which means I ran a negative split the second. I was pretty happy with my race because I got a nice little kick in at the end and passed a few people instead of a few people passing me. 

PM - 6 miles to Sandbergs. Coach gave us a break today so us 6 milers went to Sandbergs. It was pretty much just me and the freshman on this run. My brother and Reed were running with us early on but we lost them and Chandler before we ever got to Sandbergs. It was super hot today so going for swim felt great. Fun run with weights after.

AM - 7 miles with 20 min AT tempo (6:40 pace). I got my run in real quick before Conference so I wasn't able to get 8 miles. This was probably one of my better tempos. I was able to stay on pace for pretty much the whole tempo. I ran the first half really well like normal and when I started to fall off the second half I kept pushing and was able to stay pretty close to my pace. 

PM - 7 miles. 4x1000 (goal: 3:49) with 3 min. recovery and 2x300 with full recovery and Harts warm and cool. It was super cold because of the rain and wind but that didn't stop me and I had my best repeat workout My 1000 times were 3:47, 3:53, 3:50, and 3:49. My 300 times were :50 and :50. Weights after.

PM - 6 miles. Did two sets of this: 600 (race pace + 4 sec), 400 (race pace + 2 sec), 300 (race pace), 200 (race pace - 4 sec), 100 (race pace - 2 sec) with 100 recovery and Harts warm and cool. I started off pretty good and stuck with Andrew and Nick but got lazy in the middle and I was soon running by myself and way slow. Towards the end I started to pick it up again but only after Coach told me to run stronger and look up. I have a bad habit of looking at the ground and I noticed when I started to look up and quit running so crappy that I ran a lot better and stronger. Not the workout I wanted to have after running pretty well yesterday. I also biffed it on the warm up when both my legs got caught in a metal ring.

PM - 5 miles. 4 miles and striders. Nice short run but I hate how the turf was hot when we did striders. Shin was feeling pretty good.

PM - 5 miles. 4 miles and 4x200. It was super hot today but it was a pretty good run. I was feeling kinda tired which means I need to get to bed earlier. 

PM - 5 miles. I didn't go to the meet so I just did 5 by myself. Nice little run but shin hurt.

I wasn't racing at Desert Hills this weekend so I thought running this would be fun. There were only about 4 people who actually raced and tried to win (me, my brother, Wesley Plumb (used to run), and a guy in his 30s). It was a pretty tough course and it kinda reminded me of the race in January at Dixie State. It was super fun to win and see my brother take 2nd. My shin felt pretty good today.

PM - 4x1000 (goal: 3:49) with 3 min. recovery and 2x300 with full recovery and Harts warm and cool. My stomach was so jacked today. I felt pretty good on the warm up and the first two 1000s but I could barely run on the third. I skipped the fourth because of it and even though I was still feeling like crap, I forced myself to do the 300. My times for the 1000 were 3:41, 3:51, 4:21, and I skipped the 4th and my 300 times were :53 and :48. I've never felt like I did today when I was running. It was the first time I seriously thought I was going to puke while running. Weights after.

PM - Coe workout thing (100, 110, 120,...,200 with equal recovery) with Harts warm and cool. It was a pretty fun and good workout and the rain luckily stopped while we did it. I forced myself to go with Andrew today since his times were a bit faster on most of them and it really helped me get pretty close to my times. The stomach didn't bother me and the legs felt pretty good.

Panther Relays. It was super fun but pretty slow. I guess it was at least a good workout. I ran the distance medley, 4x800, and 4x400. I ran the 800 in the distance medley in 2:31 and then I ran a 2:35 in the 4x800 and a 1:04 in the 4x400. I had a lot of fun but kinda mad that I let myself slip back into the 2:30s on the 800 but it wasn't a super competive meet.

PM - 5 miles. 4 miles and 4x200. Hot run into Green Springs. My shin hurt a bit but it seems like it is getting better. 

PM - 5 miles. Coe #2  workout (200, 220, 240...etc, 300 with equal recovery). It was really similar to the Coe #1 but longer (duh). It started out easy again but by the end I really had to push. I ran with Jake T. and Preston. The shins hurt a lot today even though I didn't run on Friday or Saturday. I guess active recovery is actually better.

PM - 5 miles. 8x200 (3 seconds faster than Race. Goal : 32) with decreasing recovery and Harts Warm and cool. This was an insanely fast and hard workout. My 200 times were super fast but I found the decreasing recovery the hardest. I didn't stay as tough mentally as I should have and my times at the end were a few seconds slow. The shins were feeling better.

PM - 4 miles easy. It was a hot run but I was super happy to take it easy. Shins felt okay. Weights after.

PM - 5 miles. 4 miles with 4x200. Another easy run with all the people who did the Coe workout on Monday. We went and swam and Sandbergs. I tried really hard to work on my form today specifically my foot strike. I tried to stay off the heels and more on the toes especially on the 200s. I really felt like I did pretty good especially on the last 200 and it was a super fun run. My shins were about the same.

This was a pretty good race. We only went to half of school before going to Cedar and then waited all day for the 800 to start. I got my warm up in with all the 800 guys then went got checked in and down to the track. I was seeded 1st in my heat which was awesome since I started in lane 1. I started out pretty quick but controlled and ran about a 1:10 first lap but I didn't really try to pass anybody and just settled. The second lap I finally picked it up and caught up to the front pack in the first 200 but didn't really kick it in at all and they left me in the dust. Pretty good race and I tied my PR which was good. The legs felt pretty good but I just didn't feel really hydrated even though I thought I drank a ton of water. It was probably because I was sitting in the sun all day.

I felt really good with my race today. I only got a short warm up in because we warmed up too late but I was okay with that. I was seeded 1st in my heat again and I decided I wanted to win my heat. I started off quick and me and a kid from Millard took the lead right at the beginning. I stuck right on his tail as we soared to about a 1:10 first lap. We slowed down on the second lap and I could totally tell so towards the end of lap I tried to pass him. But as I came around him, he sped up and I backed off. We were around 2:30 on the second lap so we had slowed significantly. On the third lap, I started to fall off him and he had about a 10 meter lead. But, as we came into the final lap, I started pushing and was on his tail again with 200 meters to go. That is when I started doubting myself and had a major mental struggle. I was about to back off and let him take it but I knew I wanted to win and finally made my move with 100 meters to go and outkicked him. I am super happy with how I did and it was super fun. It was so fun leading the race because they have an announcer guy telling what is happening like it was a radio station. So the whole race, I heard him keep saying my name (at least my last name) along with the guy from Millard. I also crushed my time for a 17 second PR. 

PM - 4 miles. 3 miles and 4x200. I had to leave early so me and my brother ran our 200s first. My right calf was really tight today (I'm not really sure why but it just tightened up right after my race on Saturday) but I was feeling super zesty on those 200s ran pretty fast. Then after our core exercises, I went with all those racing tommorow and swam in the river which felt nice since it was like 90 degrees today. The shins didn't really bother me today so it was a pretty good run. 

It was an okay race. My right calf was still tight but my shins barely hurt so I was happy. I felt like I pushed really hard but my time which I couldn't remeber exactly was terrible. The wind was pretty bad but I wasn't totally focused mentally and let that wind drag me down. It always seems that the races I feel like I work the hardest are my worst races and the races I feel like I don't work that hard are my best ones. I also ran the 800 and got a 2:28 but I was pretty happy running that right after the mile. I finally beat Andrew in a race this track season in the 800. It was a good workout even if it wasn't the times I wanted to hit.

PM - 4 miles. Kosmin Test #3 with Harts warm and cool. I felt pretty good today and even with the wind I think I did better than last time with a distance of 713 ft. After running it, my legs were dead but I still felt pretty zesty and actually led the pack on the cool down. 

PM - 5.5 miles. 3x1000 (goal: 3:41). I felt really zesty today despite my legs feeling a bit sore and even though my goal time was increased I went way too fast. My times were 3:31, 3:35, and 3:31. I don't know what is my problem but some days I easily hit my times and other days I struggle to even touch my times. I just tried to stay close behind Andrew today because I knew he would pull me to my times but it was just too fast. I guess its not a huge deal because I at least stayed pretty consistent with my times.

PM - 4x400 (all out with full recovery) and Harts warm and cool. My times were 1:06, 1:06, 1:16, and 1:10. I felt pretty good on the first too but I just could find no push on the third one and very little on the fourth. Nice short workout.

PM - 800 (all out) with Harts warm and cool. My time was 2:24 which was 1 second slower than my PR which was kind of bummer since we were supposed to go all out. My first lap was about a 1:08 but even though it felt like I was going the same speed on the 2nd lap, I slowed down drastically. I felt pretty good but I could still kinda feel that donut I ate in advocacy. 

PM - 4 miles. 3 with 4x200. Nice easy run before race tommorow.

800 meters - Pretty good race for me. I tied my PR but I felt like I ran an all around better race. 1.5 mile warm up then some strides. I got out fairly quick but didn't let myself get to sucked into the front. I stayed relaxed the first lap not really moving up but not getting passed. I sped up the last lap and started to catch up to Jason and Andrew but I slowed down with 200 left and almost let them leave me in the dust. I was just about to give up but decided what the heck. I kicked it in hard and actually screamed when I came in and was able to pass Jason and got close to Andrew. Nice race with 1 mile barefoot cool down.

1600 - I once again tied my PR. 1.5 mile warm up. I once again got out fairly quick but let myself just sit back for the rest of the first 3 laps. I didn't push as hard as I could of during those 3 laps and I wasn't even breathing that hard. I finally sped up on the 4th lap and I could tell I left too much in the tank because I was able to almost do an all out 400 meter sprint. I felt like I was flying down the track on that last lap because I passed people so fast that I felt like I was sprinting and they were walking. Great race but need to work on pushing earlier on in the race. 

3200 - Time: 12:13. Terrible race. Not much to talk about except that I didn't even try. I gave up on myself and almost got lapped by the leaders.  

3 miles. First run since taking a break. It was a nice little run up in Bryce Canyon. The legs felt great and the altitude didn't really seem to bother me. I just tried to stay relaxed and it was great beautiful little run.

AM - 3 miles. I didn't go to practice and ran this by myself early because I went driving with the drivers ed teacher. My legs felt great but my lungs felt terrible. I felt worse than that trail run up at altitude. My form felt crappy and I ran pretty slow but I guess that's what you get from taking a break. 

AM - 3.5 miles. Did half mile barefoot warmup and then an easy 3. My first time at practice and actually my one year anniversary since I first started running. I still feel out of shape but I felt better. My left knee started bugging me towards the end of the run but my legs pretty much felt fine otherwise. I helped with the kids running club registration afterwards. 

AM - 3.5 miles - Half mile barefoot warmup and easy 3. My knee didn't bother me today and it was good to use the new shoes but my foot started hurting pretty bad towards the end of the run. I didn't feel as out of shape as yesterday so that was a plus.

AM - 3.5 miles. Normal half mile barefoot warm up and then a nice barefoot 3 mile grass run. My right foot didn't hurt today but my left arch was bugging me in the middle of the run. The pain faded out so it wasn't too bad. My knee didn't hurt much today so that was good. Great run.

AM - 3 miles. I got up early and went for a run with my brother before leaving for Youth Conference. It was a nice cool run and my knee and foot didn't really bother me but I still feel a little out of shape. I guess we have a couple of months till the season. 

AM - 3 miles. I ran from my host family's house in Middleton and went up Green Springs Drive. My legs felt pretty good but I felt pretty tired from all the activities at Youth Conference even though I got a lot of sleep. 

AM - 4.5 miles. 0.5 mile barefoot warmup and 4 miles easy. We ran under freeway and out into the desert today. I still feel out of shape and I had to use all I had to keep up with the team. My legs felt pretty good though with no pain in the foot and very little in the knee.

AM - 3.5 miles. Same warm up and then easy 3 up to Maverick. I felt way good today and didn't have that out of shape feeling. I was even able to lead the pack for a little bit of the run. My legs felt good, great run, and fun kids club.

AM - 4.5 miles. Same warm up and then 4 miles easy to Sandbergs. My legs were a little sore which is probably a reminder that I need to stretch/roll but I felt pretty good, it was a nice swim in the warm pond, and another fun run.

AM - 4.5 miles. Same warm up, 3 barefoot miles, and then striders. I love barefoot runs so I really loved the run today. I was still a little sore but I felt pretty good otherwise today.

AM - 3.5 miles. 0.5 mile warm up at the Region Course and then we ran the course. It was a pretty tough run but I just kept pushing and I led the pack a little bit. The soreness was still there but is fading and my knee hurt a bit before the run but I didn't feel it during or after the run. I'll ice it to make sure it doesn't get worse.

AM - 3 miles. I went out by myself at about 8:30 am and it was super hot. I've got to get up earlier and go when its cooler next time. My legs felt pretty good on the run and the soreness was almost all gone but for the first half mile my legs just wouldn't move. I felt like a rusty robot. Besides the hotness and robot legs, it was not a bad run.

AM - 4.5 miles. Same warm up and then a vV02 test with 2 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down. The test was 6 min. hard around a 400 meter grass loop. I went 1610 meters which I was pretty happy about. I pushed as hard as I could and I am satisfied with my first workout of XC. My legs felt good today and all the soreness was gone.

AM - 5 miles. Same warm up, 3.75 miles on run, and then some more running at kids club. We went up to the dirt mile and did two laps around it. We got going pretty fast up there and it got a little hard to stay up with the group becuase we were going sub 7 min. pace and started sneaking down towards 6 min. pace. It was still a good run and a fun kids club.

AM - 4.5 miles. Same warm up and 3 barefoot miles at park with 8xbarefoot striders. This was a great run and my legs felt great. 

AM - 7.25 miles. Same warm up and then 2xParkway Loops. I didn't do that great. I've never done great with hill workouts or even just running hills in general and today wasn't much different. I tried to stay with the group but I just couldn't find any push today. My legs felt pretty good but I just wasn't tough mentally today. 

AM - 4.5 miles. Same warm up at Coral Canyon Park and then 4 miles easy on rolling hills. This was a really hard run because of the hills and I fell behind at the end of the run. It was good to run more hills because that is pretty much my #1 weakness. I was feeling a bit tired because I haven't been getting a whole lot of sleep.

AM - 3 miles easy in the poop-smelling fields with my brother and Nate Jones. It was a nice cool run but the stench was deathly. My legs felt amazing and it was nice to get my run in early.

AM - 5.5 miles. Half mile barefoot warm up and then 15 min. V02 max test at dirt mile. I got 2 miles and 612 meters. I felt pretty happy with that distance and I felt like I pushed pretty hard. I probably could have pushed a little harder on few spots but I guess there is always room for improvement. My legs felt great and everything else felt great today so that helped me a lot today.

AM - 6.5 miles. 30/30 workout based on last week's vVO2. I got 30 repeats and then decided to stop. It was a little discouraging seeing some people about my level going almost 40 but I felt like I pushed it as hard as I could. I need to work on walking less on the recovery. Running club added some mileage as it was race day and I attempted to pace Jaron for the first half.

AM - 5.5 miles. Same barefoot warm up and then 4 miles barefoot with striders. I felt fairly good today. There was a little soreness from yesterday but it didn't bother me during the run and I was able to lead the pack for most of the run. Hopefully I feel this good tommorow. 

AM - 7.25 miles. Same warm and 2xparkway loops again. I felt like I pushed harder and did much better than last week. I did stop once on the 2nd hill but found a push again when the top guys came back to push us to the finish. My legs still felt great although my mouth felt pretty dry. I definately need to keep hydrated better. 

AM - 7 miles. I was late so I missed the warm up so it was just 7 miles from Green Springs Park into the desert. It was my first official Level 3 run and it was pretty hard. As I have said before, hills are my weaknesses so all those hills in the desert killed me. The heat was also bad even though it was 7 am. It was a fun run though and my legs felt good. They didn't really feel sore or tired but my foot pain did come back a little bit and then faded again. I really enjoyed just running with all the older guys.

AM - 4 miles easy. I went out at about 7 am and it wasn't too hot yet but my legs were feeling pretty tired from this week so it was nice to take it easy. My left achilles bothered me a bit but nothing too serious. I'm going to be in Park City all next week so hopefully I can get my runs in and at least do some similar workouts. 

AM - 4.5 miles. 3x1000 meter repeats (goal - 4:53). I ran my repeats around this park track in Park City. My knee was a little buggy but the temperature was great at 8 am so I was happy. My times were 5:00, 5:10, and 4:41. I didn't really know how to pace these so my times weren't great. I'll worry about hitting times once I'm off vacation. I was just happy to get my workout in.

AM - 5.5 miles. 0.5 mile warm up to park by my hotel and then 4 miles barefoot with striders. It was a lonely run. My legs felt pretty good. 

AM - 5 miles. It was supposed to be a 30/30 workout but I just did little 30 second fartleks with same recovery. I just did not feel like running today and I only did 7  pretty hard farleks. I was so unmotivated today that I walked a little bit. 

PM - 4 miles hilly. A super hilly run up in Park City. I think I chose the hardest hills I possibly could and add in my unmotivated attitude and I ended up walking a little bit again. It is hard to run on vacation especially by yourself. My legs felt a little sore but nothing too bad.

I am sad to say that I was too lazy to get a run in today.

No mileage today or yesterday. I just could not get myself to go for a run. I have been so unmotivated to run this week all alone. I am mad at myself for breaking my own goal already so early in the season. Even though I didn't run yesterday or today, I can say that at least I have improved since last summer. Last summer, I wouldn't run at all when I went on  vacation or missed practice. I usually didn't even do Saturday runs. I'm happy to at least say I've improved but I still need to work on getting runs in.

AM - 5.5 miles. Same barefoot warm up and then 4x1000 (goal - 4:56) with 3 min. recovery. My times were 4:45, 5:00, 5:00, and 4:55:98. I did lot better today at hitting my times. I almost even hit my time on the 4th repeat. I only missed it by 2 hundredths of a second and if you round to the nearest second then I did hit my pace. It was a great (not to mention easy) workout and my legs just felt great. 

PM - 3 miles. First double of the season and it brought back memories of last summer. It was a sweltering hot day and by the time the run was over every inch of my body was covered in sweat. Weights afterwards. 

AM - 6 miles. Same old warm up, 4 miles barefoot with striders, and then just a little running at Kids Club. I was feeling pretty sore from yesterday but didn't bother me much on the run. Kids club was fun but my group was very small. There were more leaders than kids.

AM - 6.5 miles. Same warm up and then 30/30 workout with 1 mile warm and about 0.5 mile cool. This was my second 30/30 workout and I found it so much easier than the first. My legs were still a little sore especially my quads which bothered me a bit early on but it soon faded. I came into this workout today very positive and with a goal in mind. My goal was to minimize walking on recovery (Coach wanted us to do this anyways) and try to get at least 30 repeats again. I nailed both of these goals and ended with 33 repeats which compared to two weeks ago felt way too easy. I hit my distance every time and actually overshot it most of the time and jogged way more than last time but it just seemed too easy today. I think that because I was more positive towards this workout, it didn't seem as hard but it could also be that I'm getting into better shape. Or maybe, it is a little mix of both. Whatever the reason, I'm just super happy with how I did today.

AM - 5.5 miles. 5x10 sec. bounders and 5x10 sec. hill sprints in Hell Hole with warm/cool to mileage. I felt pretty good with how I did today. I pushed it as hard as I could on the sprints and did the bounders the best I could but on the way back I barely could get up the hill and walked quite a bit. Hills are still my weakness so I still need to work on those. My legs were still sore especially the quads.

PM - 3 miles. Same old Arctic Circle run. It wasn't hot today but it was super humid so it was still bad. Weights afterwards. My right quad really bothered me at the beginning of the run.

AM - 7 miles. Practice at Vernon Worthen Park today. It was a hilly run today and I just could not get myself up that big hill. I walked a little and I am mad at myself for doing so. I am going have to work hard on that before the season starts. I flew back down the hill though. I signed up for the 5k on Monday yesterday so it should be good to see how I can do.

AM - 3 miles. A nice cool run up in Pine Valley with my bro. I felt good pretty much all soreness in the legs is gone. I had a pretty good week. I had some good workouts and I'm excited to see what I can do next week. I need to work on my hills and just stop walking. I can't believe, I'm walking on some runs at my level. 

AM - 6.5 miles. Same barefoot warm and 5x1000 (goal - 4:56) up at the dirt mile again. My times were 4:52, 4:57, 4:54, 4:54, and 4:55. Another great workout and I was able to almost nail my pace. Even though we bumbed our repeats up, this workout was still way easy. My legs felt good but my foot pain is coming back. 

PM - Just weights today because I'm running that 5k tonight. Super excited to see how I can do.

Race - 5.5 miles. 1 mile warm, the race, and 1.5 mile cool. I did okay today. I'm not super happy with the time but I felt like I pushed pretty hard. It wasn't an important race or anything so I can't be too mad. My stomach was jacked after the race and I walked a little on the cool down.

AM - 6.5 miles. Same warm and 4 miles barefoot with striders and some mileage at Kids Club. I just haven't felt great this week. Last night after the race, my stomach did not feel good. I didn't feel that great today either and I fell behind the pack a little bit. My legs are a little sore from the race but not too much. Hopefully, I feel better tommorow. 

AM - 4.5 miles. 30/30 workout again today. I was still feeling sluggish today and I was only able to get 18 repeats today. I shortened my cool down because my legs were feeling tired.

PM - I decided to skip this today to see if I could get feeling better and get rid of this sluggishness.  

AM - 6.5 miles. 6 miles with 2 mile tempo. This was a pretty good run for me, not great but good. The fatigue I've been experiencing was almost gone and my legs felt great. The tempo was slow but it was a good push coming off this sluggishness. 

PM - 3 miles. I really enjoyed this run today (I know it sounds weird). It was blazing hot and I sweated unbelieveable amounts but I actually felt pretty good on this run today. It felt like the fatigue was all the way gone and my legs still felt excellent. Weights after.  

AM - 8.5 miles. 3 miles on the region course and then 2 meat grinder hills. This was a super tiring run today. Running the course wasn't too bad but that hill is a monster. I have never really been good at pushing up hills and today was no different. I walked quite a bit up that beast and could barely get up it. I think I'm going to focus on working on hills this season as they are my weakness.

I was in California today and I just couldn't get myself to go run.

I was in Disneyland today. I think walking around that park all day was workout enough.

I was still in California and I still could not get myself to go run. 

AM - Driving home from California. No mileage

PM - 3 miles. First run since going to California. A hot run with the team and then a pool party at Coach's house.

AM - 6.25 miles. 4x1 min. hill bursts and 4x30 sec. hill bursts. First hard run since last week. I felt pretty good at first and the 1 min. hills weren't too bad but I started struggling once the 30 sec. hills started. I really had to force myself to push hard up those last hills. I maybe went a little fast up the last one but I have done so bad at hills lately, I had to sort of redeem myself.

PM - 3 miles. Fairly hot 3 miles and then weights. 

AM - 6 miles. 2.5 tempo miles at Pine View Park today. I felt pretty good at the beginning of the run and the beginning of the tempo. I was even leading the group on the tempo but I just didn't have that mental toughness to stick in there when it got hard and I fell off the pack. I just haven't been as tough these last 2 weeks.

PM - 3 miles. I through in this little run in the late evening just before the sun went down. I was supposed to go 5 miles but I just wasn't feeling it. Cross Country Camp is next week and that should be a good time to get refocused on running.

AM - 7 miles. 6x1000 (goal - 4:47) repeats at the dirt mile today. My times (I think) were 4:49, 4:45, 4:47, 4:45, 4:42, and 4:39. We amped up our times today a little bit and the number of repeats but it still was pretty easy. I started to feel tired on those last few but nothing that prevented me from finishing strong. Leaving for camp today.

PM - 4 miles. First run up at Cross Country Camp. It was a slight downhill for the first half and then a slight uphill on the way back. We cruised down the hill and even when we broke off from the level 3 boys, we flew back up the hill. 

AM - 8 miles. This was a fairly hard run because of the distance and the altitude but the hills were pretty mild. It was downhill for most of the first half of the run and then uphill most of the way back. I kept up pretty close to the team for the first half and then had a nice slow run back to camp with the rest of the Level 2 boys.

PM - 3 miles. Just 3 miles and then a dip in the cold lake. 

AM - 5 miles with a long hill. This run in my opinion was harder than the 8 miler yesterday. It was a hard up hill for the first half which for me was insanley hard because I hate hills. The way back was pretty easy but that was such a tiring run. 

PM - 3 miles. A nice hard trail run. Downhill at first and then uphill at the end. The downhill was awesome but I really had to focus and push myself up that hill.

AM - 4 miles. Last run at camp and even though it was supposed to be easy it had some legit hills. I guess it was okay since I really need some work on hills.

PM - 3 miles. I decided to do my afternoon run today instead of tommorow. It was super hot especially after being up in the mountains for a few days. 

AM - 5 miles with 2 miles tempo (goal - 6:40 to 7:00 min. pace). No team practice today but me and my brother met up with Preston and Andrew at normal time and place. Josh Farish also showed because he thought we were having team practice. We ran out towards Arctic Circle and started our tempo at about 1.5 miles. Josh led us out but me, Andrew, and Preston were close behind with my brother not too far behind that. This was one of my best tempos (that's not saying much) but it felt a lot easier. We hit our pace and even a little faster at the end but I just felt so strong (probably because of the altitude training this week). My legs felt a little tired from earlier this week but it didn't really bother me until after the tempo. Great workout.

PM - 3 miles. Just a quick easy three with my brother at about 8 pm. It was nice, cool run and I didn't sweat too much. My legs felt good but my foot bothered me a bit. It has been bothering a lot recently which is why I've just been wearing my Pegasus 29 on these last few runs becuase it doesn't bother me as much. This has been a good week. I've learned a lot about running and more about myself. It was a hard week and some hard runs but it is helping me become a better runner so I don't care. I compared my mileage from this year to last year's mileage. My mileage in June and July this year is about 127 more miles than last year in June and July. I'm so excited to see all this work pay off this season.

AM - 7.5 miles. Back to the same old barefoot warm up and then 6x1000 at 85% (goal: 4:36) up at the dirt mile (or should we call it the dirt kilometer). The times were bumped up today but compared to track, these are still really slow. My times were something like 4:23, 4:38, 4:34, 4:30, 4:29, and 4:36. I wasn't as consistent today but it was still some pretty good times and I'll probably be wishing for this speed come the end of the season. 

PM - 3.5 miles. Arctic Circle run today with the team and then I ran home after weights and plyos. It was hot today but I was able to lead the pack no problem even with a slight sideache. I think I got that fuel (and sideache) from that Moose Tracks Shake eariler at Arctic Circle (where I work now bytheway). Weights were pretty good but plyos were tiring. 

AM - 6.5 miles. 1/1 today instead of a 30/30. My distance was 268 meters (134 meters on recovery). I felt like I did pretty good today. I got to 15 repeats (which is where Coach stopped us). I missed my distance on the 12 and just barely hit it on the 13 but I picked it up and was able to hit it on the next one and kill it on the last one. Last day of Kids Club was pretty fun. 

PM - 3.5 miles. I ran over to the high school today and ran the course for tommorow's time trial to get a feel for it. I saw that Coach Holt was also running it. It was fairly hot (like normal) but the course was pretty tough and it wore me out. I think the most critical part of the race is the grass section between the baseball fields and tennis courts. The grass is very bad on this section and there is a slight uphill towards the tennis courts and a slight downhill towards the baseball field. There probabaly won't be people cheering for you or even watching on this section as well and it will be an easy place to slow down because of this. 

AM - 6.5 miles. Today was our first time trial and I was just really happy with how I did. I beat my old PR on this course by 28 seconds and almost 2 min. faster than my first one last year. I got out fairly quick and me and Andrew stayed pretty close to the leaders for the first lap. On the second lap, I started to take the lead on Andrew and pushed it a little harder trying to catch some of the guys in front of me. I finally passed Krenshaw just before the big hill and was fairly close to Dave, Reed, and Nick coming into the final lap. I caught up with Nick at the top of the big hill on this lap and told him to come with me but he ended up leaving me in the dust so it was kind of embarrassing. I caught up with Reed around the final turn (Nick was gone but Dave was pretty close) and told him to come with me as well but he to started to take off just like Nick. The start/finish line had been moved so it was farther from that turn and I really had to get refocused right here. My body wanted to give up so bad but my heart wanted to beat those guys even badder (I don't think that is a word). I finally sprinted (or at least tried to sprint) at the very end and I barely beat Dave and Reed. I took 6th on the team in this race (basically 8th since neither Abel or Byron raced) which is still way good for me and makes my goal of making Varsity this year a lot closer than I originally thought. I really hope I can continue these results throughout the season and see what I can accomplish.

PM - 1.5 miles. I went out for my afternoon and I just wasn't feeling it so just decided to cut it short today.  

Runner - Coach told us at camp to research a runner and I chose to do Alberto Salazar. Alberto's birthday is actually today and being born back in 1958 in Cuba that makes him 55 years old. He was a great marathoner in the early 1980's, winning the New York Marathon 3 years in a row from 1980 to 1982. He also won the Boston Marathon in 1982 in an epic battle and one of the closet in Boston Marathon history with Dick Beardsley. Salazar was also succesful in high school (trained with the Greater Boston Track Club) and college (University of Oregon) where he was a state cross country champ in 1975, was on a NCAA championship team in 1977, and was an Individual NCAA champion in 1978. Alberto did not win many more big races after his Marthons in 1982 and now he contiunes his love for the sport as a coach. He currently works for Nike on the Nike Oregon Project, a program where he trains a group of some of the best long distance runners in the world. Some of these runners include: Mo Farah (the 2012 5k and 10k Olympic Gold Medalist), Galen Rupp (Silver Medalist in the 10k in 2012 Olympics), and a more recently added Cam Levins (2012 NCAA 10k and 5k champion). He also coaches Mary Cain but not as part of the Oregeon Project. That is just some basic info about Alberto Salazar.

AM - 8.5 miles. Half mile warm up and then 8 miles with 3 miles tempo (goal - 6:40 to 7:00 min. pace) at the river trail. All of us level 2's started out together but eventually our group narrowed down to me, Nick, Andrew, Preston, and Jake T. It was a really good tempo and we were actually going a lot faster than our intended pace. I forgot to put it on auto lap but our total tempo time was 19:22 which is like an average of 6:27 per mile. Very good tempo and it was so much easier with a big group. The run back up 2450 was tough because I was so worn out after but I mangaged to make it back.

PM - 3 miles. Normal three with the team and then weights and plyos afterwards. Sad turnout today for this run. 

AM - 7.5 miles. Barefoot warm up at Little Valley Park and then 3 miles barefoot on grass and 5x1 min. hills and 3x30 sec. hills. Pretty sad turn out today, just like any park day. I felt like I did pretty good today on my hills. The grass run was pretty good but the grass was terrible at that park. On the hills, I pushed as hard as I could and I was able to get farther up the hill than last year when we did this hill. I even led all the boys (we just had one big group today) on the last minute hill for me. The 30 sec. hills were kind of crappy because I was feeling a little crappy after those minute hills. I felt light headed and my legs were tired from the previous hills but I still pushed pretty hard up those hills. My right achilles has bugged me a little bit the last two days and I felt a little shin pain a few days ago but my foot pain is starting to get better so that is good. This week has been great and I've really noticed how much I've improved this summer this week. I've gone from being the back to middle pack on workouts and races and now I'm starting to push up with that front group a little more. 

AM - 4 miles. I went and did laps around the Pine View Middle/Pamorama Elementary track at about 8 this morning. It was a nice slow run. My achilles is a little buggy still and my foot pain isn't all the way gone but it was a good run.

AM - 8 miles. 6x1000 (goal - 4:15) with Harts Warm and Cool. My times were 4:17, 4:15, 4:13, 4:13, 4:12, and 4:07. Even though the times were faster after the time trial this workout was fairly easy. It got harder towards the last few but I had no problem running good times. I started to get a nasty side ache on the last few and my foot pain was bugging me a bit but I was able to push through it. My achilles is feeling a lot better today.

PM - 3 miles. Normal AC route with the usual hot temps. Trevor finally showed up today and on the last little bit me, him, and a few other guys pushed the pace quite a lot. It was a good run though and weights and plyos afer were good. The foot pain is still a little buggy. I'll ice it again tonight. 

AM - 6.5 miles. Half mile warm and then 5 miles with 4x200. I was just feeling pretty tired on this run today. I was able to stay with the boys the whole time but I really struggled to do so. My 200's weren't very fast either. Hopefully I have more energy tonight at the race.

Race - 5.5 miles. Got in 1.5 warm just after the girls race started then did some agilities and got to the start line. The race took forever to start but finally the gun was fired and I got out pretty well. The first mile was really good and I was right where I wanted to be but as I hit mile two, I started to really struggle. I was able to still give a good push and I was still where I wanted to be but I wasn't passing very many people. When the third mile came around, I just couldn't get myself to move and Josh, Andrew, and Logan all passed me on this mile. My finish was really bad and I don't think I passed anyone. It was still a good race for me, nonetheless, and I was able to get a PR but I'm still kind of disappointed. I ran pretty much the same pace that I ran on the time trial but I wasn't able to beat or even come close to beating some of the people I beat at the time trial. New PR by about 7 seconds and a new course PR for myself by about 1 min. 30 sec. and almost a 3 min. PR from my first race on this course last year. So even though I will need to work on pushing that last half of the race, I still had a great race and great time and I've got a lot to look forward to this year. 

AM - First day of school so Coach let us have the day off.

 PM - 4.5 miles. Normal half mile warm up and then a 3 mile run with barefoot striders after. A run out into Washington which us level 2's turned into the Sandbergs 3 mile run. So happy we did that because that is my favorite run. Striders felt great.

AM - 3 miles. First morning run of the year. It was nice and cool and just a really good run. Plyos afterwards. 

PM - 7 miles. 5x1 min. and 7x30 sec. hills at  the Sunrise Tire Hill. This was a fairly good workout for me. I didn't drink nearly enough water today so my mouth and throat were pretty dry for this but Coach brought the cooler out for us so I was able to eat a bunch of ice during the workout. My minutes were kind of slow but I really picked it up on the 30 sec. and pushed myself pretty hard. The hardest things about these workouts in my opinion is the run back to the school after you killed the workout. Weights afterwards.

AM - 3 miles. Normal AC run. 

PM - 7 miles. 1/1 workout today. I was able to max out at 15 again but only just barely. I was able to easily reach 11 when I was pushing with Andrew and Logan but I made a quick stop after 11 to grab some ice from the cooler and I fell behind. I really had to focus on those last few and even though I really struggled, I was able to do it. Super excited for the race tomorrow.  

Race - 1.5 mile warm up and then some agilites and strides until the race started. I ran with my watch today and my watch had it short at about 2.9 miles so you really can't compare this to other races or count it as your PR. You can count it as your 2.9 mile PR though. I got out pretty fast today which may have been too fast but that is where I wanted to be. My legs were just feeling really tired today and after about mile 1 I started to really slow down and I started to get passed by a few people. I was able to still keep a good pace and I was still running up there with those top guys. I finished 10th in the end, winning my first medal which I was really happy about. Pine View ended up with a perfect score (we took the top 5 spots) and we had 7 guys in the top 10 so that was also cool. This week has been somewhat of an off week for me. I have felt pretty worn out and tired all week, not too much, but enough that I've been struggling this week. Hopefully I can feel better next week.

AM - 3 miles. Normal 3 miles. My foot pain was on fire today. Plyos after.

PM -  7.75 miles. 6x1000 (goal- 4:15). My times were 4:00, 4:12, 4:10, 4:10, 4:17, and 4:08. Pretty hard workout today. It was super hot and my legs weren't feeling great. I felt tired and my foot hurt pretty bad. I just haven't been taking care of my body like I should. Weights after. 

AM - 3 miles. Normal 3. My foot was feeling better today but it still hurt so I iced it.

PM - 7.5 miles. Super hot today. I was able to stay with the boys for most of it but just fell off at the end. I just haven't been as hydrated as I need to be. My foot is kind of weird. It barely hurts when I run but hurts quite a bit when I'm not. So I don't know if should be happy because I can run with no problems or sad because it still hurts.

AM - 3 miles. Normal AC run. Foot is feeling pretty good. It still mostly hurts when I'm not running.

PM - 7 miles. 1/1 workout today. I was able to max out to 15. It wasn't too hot today and we had the sprinkler out so that made it feel better but I was also pretty hydrated today. I felt really strong today but I didn't much sleep last nights so I need to work on that. Foot felt okay. 

AM - 7 miles. Old Man Hills - 3x800. I did my workout this morning (with my brother) because I have a Dentist Appointment this afternoon. I had a pretty good workout today. It was kind of hard because I had no one to push with but I still felt like I did good. My times respectively were 3:07, 3:05, and 2:52. My foot is still about the same (it doesn't really bother me when I run). 

PM - 2.5 miles. I ran with the boys for 1.5 miles then flipped it but I was already running late for my Dentist Appointment so my mom came and picked me up before I could finish. So I didn't get the full 3 miles in. My foot was about the same as this morning but my shin hurt a little at the beginning. I just haven't been taking care of my body like I should. 

AM - 3 miles. We did barefoot this morning around the baseball field. It was a pretty good run. 

PM - 6.5 miles. 5 miles with 4x200 after. It was a nice run to Sandbergs today. My foot still hurts but didn't really bother me today.

Race - Warmed up 1.5 miles and then waited forever for them to shoot the gun. I got out a little slower than I did at Hurricane and I ended up being like middle pack because everybody thought that we were actually running the 200 meter not the 3 mile. I worked my way up eventually (with a few little shoves, pushes, and elbows). I ran okay for the first half but I just did not stay mentally tough and I fell back. I know I can run faster than this, I've done it so many times before. I know I can run with Andrew, Jake, Preston, Jason, and Josh. I also know that I can beat all of them (I've beat all of them). I know that physically I can run fast times and run great races but what really holds me back is my mental toughness. I'll just have to get refocused next week and go kill the time trial.

AM - 3 miles. Normal AC run with a little rain.

PM - 4.5 miles. 6 min. vVO2 test again. I just told myself to go with Andrew (and beat him if I could). I got out right with Andrew but I soon took the lead and he never quite passed me again. I got 2 laps and 179 meters which is much better than the last time that we did this so at least I know I'm improving.

AM - 3 miles. Normal route. It stopped raining right as we started running so that was kind of bummer.

PM - 5.5 miles. Dog Pound Tempo today with striders after. We were going super fast today on the tempo. Even though it was down hill, we were still flying. For like the first time ever Coach had us to slow down instead of pick it up (that's how fast we were going). My foot is still hurting but it seems to be getting a little better. 

AM - 3 miles. Same old morning. Race - Had team pics at 5 pm and then ran a warm up of 1.5 miles. I put on my spikes and then did some strides before the race started. I didn't get out very fast at the beginning because I got trapped behind a bunch of guys. I weaved my way through some guys and I got right where I wanted to be with Andrew. I stuck with Andrew for most of the first lap before I started to push ahead just a little. I tried to push up with Reed on the second lap but I was just too tired to do it. I stayed right where I was for pretty much the rest of the race. I was too tired to push up to Reed on the last lap and I didn't have much of a kick but I still was able to keep my lead on Andrew for the rest of the race. Super happy with the results. I was pretty much in the same place I was at the last time trial and I was able to get a 14 second PR on this course. I really need to learn to carry these time trial results over to real races.

AM - 3 miles barefoot on baseball field. My foot is starting to feel a lot better but still not 100%.

AM - 4 miles. 3 miles and then 4x200. We did our 200s on the grass with hay bales to help the guys racing at AF get some practice. It was super fun.

PM -4.5 miles. Trevor had the ingenious idea of going on an ice cream run today. It proved to be  one of the best ideas ever since it was boiling hot today. There are perks to being a JV guy.

AM - 5 miles. I got my run in around 10ish but it was still pretty cool. Sadly it was humid and that made it terrible. My foot is still getting better which is good. My goal for this next week is to try and get it back to 100%.

AM - 8.5 miles. No school today so we just met up at 7 am. Workout was 6x1000 (goal - 4:06) with 1.5 warm/cool. Coach wanted it to be a progression workout because most of us have had slower second halves of races. My times were 3:57, 4:03, 4:10, 4:03, 4:00, and 3:54. I started out way too fast on this so I decided to hang back with Jake and that really helped me. Fairly good workout for me.  My foot didn't feel good today at all. Car wash after went pretty well.

PM - I decided not to do this today because of my foot.

AM - 3 miles. My foot wasn't feeling much better today. I hope it won't bother me to much in the race today.

Race - 6.5 miles. Warm up of about 2.5 miles. I felt like I did pretty good today. I felt that my start was way too slow and I spent the first half of the race trying to get where I needed to be and that really burned me out. By the the time I was where I wanted to be, I had pushed almost all I could. My second half was, as always, terrible but my first half was at least fast enough to help me get a decent time. I really need to keep working on stronger second halves in workouts and that hopefully will really help me. Cool of about 1 mile. My foot is still hurting and now my left foot is developing some pain in the same spot. Something is wrong with me.

AM - 3 miles. Just the usual. My right foot (one that bothers me most)  barely hurt but my left foot hurt a little bit more today. 

PM - 7.5 miles. 6 miles with striders. A run up foremaster today. I didn't feel too good today. My stomach was giving me some fits and I wasn't as hydrated as I needed to be. I stayed with the boys for most of the run, nonetheless. Striders were good as always. My foot (or feet really) felt about the same as this morning.

AM - 3 miles. Same old. Foot pain was mild and faded away throughout the run.

PM - 5.5 miles. 1/1 workout today. My distance was bumped up to 290 meters (because I improved on my 6 min. test). I ran with Andrew (and Krenny for a few) and I was feeling pretty good for the first five but The next few were really tough and so I stopped after 9. I didn't feel too great today. My foot was still hurting so I went to see Mark but he wasn't there. Luckily, his assistant was there to help me. She didn't really know what I had so she decided to tape my arches to see if that would help. She told me to walk around and stuff tonight and see if that works and report back tommorrow. So far it feels about the same,

AM - 3 barefoot miles around baseball field. My foot still hurt even though it was taped up.

PM - I got padding put around the painful part of my foot after school. Hopefully this helps.

Runathon - 2 miles. I showed up late because of work but it all worked out in the end (except I missed almost all my Race Walking events). I got in 2 miles during my first shift. I timed the second mile I did and it was a 5:34. The padding around my foot actually worked really well and there wasn't any pain while I ran.

Runathon - 2.25 miles. I also got two miles in during my second shift but only got one 400 in during the dash for cash. My foot progressively got worse throughout the night but that padding really helped which is good. Super fun but tiring night. I didn't get all the mileage in that I was supposed to but I'm not super concerned. It might just give my foot a little extra rest.

AM - 3 miles. My foot was feeling really good for the first half of the run (almost no pain) but it just went all downhill from there so I skipped plyos.

PM - 6.5 miles. 4x1000 (goal: 4:01). I wasn't able to get padding on my foot today so my foot didn't feel very good. My times were 4:03, 4:02, 3:55, 3:52. I was supposed to do 5 thousands but I decided not to because of my foot.  I only got about a half mile of cool down in because of the foot as well. Great workout today despite the foot. I'll get my foot padded tomorrow (and probably ask if I could get some to do it myself) and I hopefully will feel good enough to kill the time trialish thing tomorrow. 

AM - 2 miles. I put on the already used padding from Saturday on my foot but it still hurt so I turned back and ran 2 with Paul.

PM - 5.5 miles. 1/1 workout with a 1.5 mile time trial for the last Varsity spot to Herriman after 6 repeats. I got my foot padded today and even though it was iffy during the warm up, it really felt good today. I was feeling really good on the 1/1s and was hitting my distance really well. When the time trial started I started right next to Reed and stayed right behind him for the first lap but as I hit the second lap I realized I went out maybe a little fast (or uncontrolled). I was feeling really tired and I was using everything I had to keep pushing. I ended up finishing 5th which was  still really good despite my terrible finish. I still really need to work on second halves and I think I really need to work on more controlled (not slower but more relaxed and controlled) starts.

AM - 2 miles. My foot was feeling really good today, all nice and padded up but I decided to keep it at 2 miles today. I also finally did ploys again (cut a few of them short because they bothered my foot).

PM - 7.75 miles. Michigan workout for the first time this year. My goal was to hit B standard which was 28:10. I destroyed that time, finishing with about a 25:55 (almost A standard which is 25:10). My goal is to make A standard before the end of the season. My foot was feeling pretty good today. Still a little iffy on warm up but didn't bother me after that. I started out pretty slow on this today, hanging back with Jake Taylor but that is where I wanted to be. Me and Jake, quickly caught up to Andrew and we got a solid pack going. We caught up to Matt and our pack was really rolling. I fell off a little just before the end but I refocused and didn't let the distance between me and them grow too much. I didn't have a great kick at the end but my time was super solid and the way I ran was super solid so I can't be too mad.

AM - 2 miles. Barefoot grass day today. Foot felt pretty good but I decided to still keep mileage low. I've just kept thinking about that Michigan yesterday and the one thing that bothers me most is that we never have that good of grouping in races.

PM - 6.5 miles. 5 miles with 4x200 after. Nice run to Sandbergs but very few people got in the water today. My foot felt pretty good. Calfs are super tight from yesterday.

AM - 2 miles. Foot didn't feel great today so I kept it at 2 miles.

PM - 3.5 miles. Foot didn't feel good at all today. The foot was iffy during the warm up and as the run progressed it got really bad. I wanted to go 4 with everyone else and so I put off the pain  until the three mile turn around where it was super painful and I decided to head back. I should of turned back way earlier but I wasn't thinking right.

AM - 1 mile. I was supposed to 6 miles but my foot still wasn't feeling great so instead of pushing through the pain like yesterday, I just stopped. I really hope I get this completely soon. My goal is to get healthy by our overnight trip.

AM - 2.25 miles. Foot felt okay but I started to feel some pain so I didn't go quite three. I did a few ploys but it really bothered my foot so I stopped.

PM - 7 miles. 4x1000 at 93% (goal - 3:56). I don't know what is wrong with my foot. The padding was helping it at first and it was able to got rid of the pain in my left foot. My right foot, however, was sort of getting better with the padding but the past few days it has only sort of helped my foot. It felt good enough to do the workout but is still not feeling great. Anyways, my workout went pretty well today. My times were 3:53, 3:49, 3:40, 3:35. Started out a little fast but didn't want to get slower so kept getting faster. On the last one Coach wanted us to kill it so we all went pretty fast. I got out right with Jake on the last one but as we got up the hill, I was dying. I really had to refocus and once I did, I threw in a good push to the end and fell to my knees. I pushed that hard, I guess. Cool down was super tiring. 

AM - 1 mile. Foot didn't feel good this morning so I only went one.

PM - 5.77 miles. 4 miles with striders but it ended up being a little more than that. My foot felt way good this afternoon so I didn't have to cut mileage. It was a nice slow, really slow, run to Sandbergs. It felt really good to go slow for once and I really needed this recovery day.

AM - 2 miles. Foot was feeling pretty good and I did two today.

PM - 6 miles. Warmed up 1.5 miles, got my spikes on and my sticker, did some strides and got to the line.

Race - I made sure I got out quick with Andrew so I wouldn't have to play catch up the whole race. I stuck with him that first lap but as I pushed up the hill, I took the lead. The second lap, I just went crazy and pushed pretty freakin hard to catch Colton. I caught him pretty fast and I took the lead on him about a quarter through the lap. I held that lead on Andrew and Colton until just before the hill. By this time, I was dead and as Andrew passed me, I started to give up. Andrew gained a good size lead on me and Colton also put a nice gap on me by the finish. Still need to work on keeping the beginning under control so I can run a little better at the end. Super happy, nonetheless, with my time and place and everything. 15 second PR for me. Our Top 4 JV guys had a 7 to 8 second spread and 17 to 18 second including that fifth guy so that was pretty legit.

AM - 2 miles. Foot was okay but still only 2 miles.

PM - 6 miles. 5 miles and 4x200. The Varsity guys were gone for Bob Firman so Trevor took us on one of the most legit runs ever. It is called Neon Spider. It is a run out into Middleton and then we drop down into this big tunnel that runs under the freeway into the ravine behind Arctic Circle. It is pitch black except if you can see the end of the tunnel and there is water running through it and stuff. It is probably the scariest run ever, just ask everyone who was in the tunnel with me. I was screaming and crying like a baby. Super fun run, I soaked my shoes but luckily there were no neon spiders this time.

AM - 1 mile. Foot not feeling great so I only ran 1. Sad turnout this morning even with Varsity gone.

PM - 5 miles. 3/3 workout today with 4x30 sec. sprints after. Trevor had all us top guys group up today and he led us out. I had the farthest distance of everybody so I obviously was up there just behind Trevor. Krenshaw luckily ran up with me on the first two and that really helped. On the third one, I was all alone, Trevor got quite a ways in front of me and the boys were no where near me. I really had to focus and use everything I had to get the distance on this one. I barely got it and so knowing, I probably couldn't hit my distance, I stopped. So I was able to get three repeats. I watched a few of the guys who kept going, led by Jake T, get 5 repeats and then we got into our sprints. The first one was pretty slow for but when I realized that we had a long recovery after so on the next two I went all out and led all the boys on them. On the last one Preston came with me but in the end he beat me. Super good workout. 

AM - 3 miles with 1 mile hard finish. I was going to go run with Preston and a few others this morning but I overslept. I feel really bad because I was one of the ones who planned it. I was also supposed to do seven miles but I decided to keep it a little lower because of my foot even though it was feeling quite nice today. Anyways, my hard finish ended up being uphill so it was pretty tough and I really had to refocus quite a bit so that I didn't give up. It was like that point in the race that you are super tired and start slowing down but you get refocused and give another hard push. I ended up hitting that mile in 6:31 which is pretty decent for me up a hill so super happy about that. It's been a good week but my foot still not quite better so I'm going to work on that a little better and hopefully, it will just go away.

AM - 2 miles. Foot felt pretty good. Not perfect but it is getting there.

PM - 6.5 miles. 3x1000 at 95-97% (goal - 3:46 to 3:41). I just felt way good today. The foot felt pretty good and I felt like the times I was supposed to go for were slow. My times were 3:44, 3:38, and 3:38. I kind of felt that on the last one I was going way to fast so I backed off. I should have gone for it though because I didn't get any faster. Great workout though.

AM - I've decided that in the best interest of my foot, I am going to take a couple morning runs off a week. I think I have finally figured out what injury I have. It is called sesamoiditis which is basically a tendinitis in the spot where my foot hurts. Here is some more info about it: http://runnersworld.com/injury-treatment/owners-manual-big-toe-big-deal?page=1

Race - 6 miles. 1.5 mile warm, race, and 1.5 cool. I got out pretty fast today. I'm not sure why but some races, I just feel really antsy at the beginning and I can't help myself from going out way fast and at other races I just can't get myself to get out. I went straight to the front at the beginning and I led the race until halfway where Jake passed me and I was too tired and had lost focus that I didn't go with him. That first half I was in the zone and I was feeling great but as I started to get tired and realized that nobody was right with me, I lost focus and sort of panicked like I did last week during the 3/3s where I was quite a ways ahead of everybody. I dropped pretty fast and Jake's lead became very big in quite a short time. Andrew and Dave also caught me and passed me and I really had to refocus here. They also gained quite a lead on me and as we came to the bottom of the park and started back up towards the finish, I tried to refocus. I worked as hard as I could and forced myself to keep going and not let the gap grow between Andrew and me grow. I ended up about 40 seconds behind Jake and 10 behind Andrew and Dave which wasn't great for being in the lead for the first half but it was a lot better than lots of my other races where I was significantly behind these guys. I'm really happy with my race, it was a good time and one of my best races of the season but I would be lying if I wasn't disappointed. I just feel like I should be running with these guys and beating these guys once and a while but I've only been able to beat them in our time trials but now they are starting to beat me or getting closer to beating me in those too. But as I've been thinking about this, I realized that I may be killing it in workouts but I haven't been doing all the little things like staying healthy. One thing that I really haven't been doing very well is getting enough sleep. With school, work, running, and homework, on normal school nights this year I've only gotten on average about 5 hours of sleep. So I'm going to really work on wasting less time on TV and such things and be more productive in my homework so that I can get more sleep. I think this is the one thing that is holding me back a little. I also need to stay stronger mentally throught races but I know sleep is killing me or going to kill me eventually if I don't take care of that soon.

AM - 2 miles. Foot felt pretty good.

PM - 4.5 miles. Foot was hurting a bit but not enough to bother me too much and I did full mileage. Super excited for Nebo but I'm just super bummed that I'm not in the same race as Andrew and Jake and Preston. 

AM - Took another morning off. Foot is feeling pretty good.

PM - 5 miles. 4 miles with 4x200 hard with equal walking recovery. Foot felt pretty good despite the padding not wanting to stay in place. I didn't feel so great about halfway through the run but I was feeling pretty good on the 200s. I pushed them pretty hard and I feel like I'm finally getting some speed. 

AM - 2 miles. Not much to say.

Race - Not much to say for this either. A PR but defiantly not as fast I wanted it to be. I've just got to keep working at staying strong mentally but I also need to take care of my body better. 

AM - 7 miles at State Course. 3/3, 5xhill sprints, 5x100. First time ever running the state course. It's a pretty cool course but it was frosty so it was hard to get up the big hill and I slipped around one of the turns. I just wasn't feeling great today. The breakfast I ate came back to bite me on the 3/3s and I wasn't running where I was supposed to be. I was right where I needed to be for the first one but I slowed down a lot on the second and third. I picked it back upon the last one but it still wasn't where I needed it to be. I did pretty well on the hills and the sprints but I need to work on my form on the sprints. 

AM - 3 miles. I went three miles finally but it turned out not to be a super great idea because my foot really started hurting at about 2 miles.

PM - 4.5 miles. 2000 and 1000 at the average pace of our best set of thousands this season. My pace was about 7:20 for the 2000 and 3:40 for the 1000. My foot was still hurting a lot on the warm up so I didn't know if I was even going to run the workout. It felt good enough to run the whole workout but I cut the cool down short because I didn't want to push it too much more. My 2000 time was 7:00 which was way too fast so I relaxed a little bit more on the 1000 running a 3:36. Good workout but still need to get healthy.

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.

I tried out my new orthotics that the doc gave me. I just wore them around at school and I will try to run in them on Monday. They felt pretty good but we'll see if they work when I run. Anyways I went to practice today and watched everybody do their workout. Finally saw some of those Varstiy guys running like they should which was good. I also found out that if I had been healthy, I probably would have been able to run at Pre-Foot which was kind of a bummer to find out. It would really fun to go and would have been a great experience but whatever. I didn't take care of my body and I got to accept the consequences.

No running still but on Monday my time will come.

PM - 3 miles. I finally got to run again today which was awesome. Foot felt pretty good with the inserts I got and the padding I threw on it just in case. There was still pain but didn't bother me much on the run. I felt pretty rusty and definitely out of shape but I know it it will all together eventually.  I just warmed up with the boys (and also did the normal .5 mile warm) and I ran a little bit while everybody was doing their workout. It was good to be running again but I am just really anxious to jump right back in where I left off, running workouts and everything. It has been hard these last few weeks watching everyone especially Andrew (who is a freckin stud bytheway) killing it in their workouts and I really want to be working my butt off with them. I know I have to be patient but it is hard and is something I'm really going to have to be careful of in these next few weeks. I don't want to be dumb and think I'm ready to do everything right now when I'm not and all I do is hurt myself. Patience.

PM - 3.5 miles. My foot felt very good while I ran today despite some pain I felt throughout the day. Hopefully I can get to the point where there is no pain at all. I'm still feeling very rusty and even though my foot felt great a few other things did not. My knee and my Achilles hurt a bit but I think it is just because I'm out of shape because at the beginning of the summer it had similar knee pain but it slowly went away and I've had no problems since. So I'll do my best to take care of them and I'll have to be pretty patient and I think it will go away very soon. Otherwise it was a good run, I was running a very solid pace even after I turned around and was running alone.

PM - 4 miles. Me, Byron, and Reed (who were taking it easy for the day) ran with the Varsity girls. I feel pretty sore but my foot felt good again. I was pretty bummed when I found out that if I hadn't gotten injured I definintly would have gone to Pre-Foot because quite a few guys slow err than me (or at least who used to be slower than me) are going. I've promised myself that after I get rid of my injury totally I'm going to everything I can to stay healthy after that. I don't want to miss these oppurtunities again.

PM - 4.5 miles. Felt about same today. Foot felt good but the rest of my legs were sore. I think I'll back off a little tomorrow. As I've been reading the article Coach went us about recovery, I've really been thinking about why I got injured. The main reason was my shoes which is why I got inserts but I think sleep was also very big. I've gotten very little sleep this whole school year. I've been getting better but still not great. It is one thing that is going to make or break me. Sleep is going to be critical for me and I know it is not going to be easy but I'm going to do my best.

PM - 4.5 miles. 4 mile Dog Pound Tempo. Very few people at practice today with everybody leaving for Pre-Footlocker. I think there were more youngsters today than high schoolers so that was a little weird. Anyways the tempo was pretty good, I didn't really feel good enough to actually do the tempo. I just hung back with Pugs and tried to help push him. I ended up pushing my brother who felt so bad he started walking right in the middle tempo. The pace was no where near a tempo for me but that was what I wanted. I think I may jump into a workout next week but  we will see. I probably won't do the time trial next week either.

PM - 3 miles. Me and my brother got in a quick night run. We ran down past the middle school which is probably one of my favorite places to run because there almost never any cars and it is really peaceful. I felt pretty good. Good to get something in.

PM - 5.5 miles. 2x1200 with Harts warm and cool. I jumped into my first workout today. It turned out to be crap. After how good my foot felt last week, I thought I would be fine today but my foot started hurting a bit. Not too bad but it was riding that fine line between no pain and bad pain. It was just really iffy. I meant to only do one 1200 but I kind of got sucked into a second. Hopefully it doesn't feel bad later this week so I can throw in another workout. Anyways my first 1200 was a 4:01 and I fell off on the second one with about a 4:15. I just kind if wanted to jump right back into where I was but that didn't work great. 

AM - 3 miles. I had family pics in the afternoon so I ran my first morning run in forever. It was a lot colder than the last time I ran in the morning. My foot did not feel great. I'm really regretting doing the workout yesterday.

PM - 4.5 miles. My foot is just feeling all jacked up again. It isn't quite as bad as it got before I took time off but it is right on the edge on that bad. The rest of my body felt really good and that rusty feeling from last week is almost gone. 

AM - 2.5 miles. I ran this morning because I was going to see the foot doctor again so he could check up on me after school. It was good but I only did 2.5 miles because I woke up late. 

PM - The doctor just wanted to check up on me and make sure the inserts were working. My foot feels a little better since I stated wearing them but not much. The doctor basically said that my foot is going to take a while to be 100%. He told me to just be patient and just test things out to see what hurts it more. He told me to be smart with it and back off when I need to but he said that I can keep running so that was good. I got back to see the end of the time trial which I was kind of bummed to miss since we had invited DH and they would have been fun to race.

PM - 5.5 miles. 4x400 (hard) with equal recovery and Harts warm and cool. I jumped into the workout today and pushed myself pretty hard trying to run up with Sndrew and the lower Varsity guys that were there. My times were 1:11, 1:05, 1:07, and 1:08. I didn't do the last one because I was straining myself to much and starting to tighten up. I didn't want to finish the workout off with a crappy time and crappy form so I just said that was good. My foot really started hurting after I stopped so that was another good reason to stop. I did not feel good on the cool down. I was all light headed and felt like passing out but I forced myself not to turn back early because I know that it will most likely pay off in the end. It was a good workout and I was happy to push back up where I used to be.

Sadly, I didn't get a run in. I was going to go out with Preston and Andrew but we didn't set it up very well and I didn't go out on my own before Sadie's and there was no time after so I didn't get anything in. I'm really mad at myself for missing it.

PM - 3.5 miles. 3 miles with 5xShort Hill Sprints. Foot felt pretty good. Super excited for time trial mile tomorrow. I can't wait to see what kind of shape I'm in.

PM - 4.5 miles. Today we had our annual XC "Dream Mile". I came into this sort of still wanting to break 5 even with the shape I am in. I didn't get it which wasn't really surprising but I still ran a decent time. I started out pretty slow and I tried to stay relaxed but as almost always on these track races, my upper body started tightening up. I tried to speed up on the next three laps but I could tell that each one got slower and slower. I still struggle to find that final sprint and that is something I'm really going to try to work on heading into track. My time wasn't maybe as bad as I thought it might be and it shows that I'm not too out of shape. I think I could still put up a solid time at Nike this weekend so I'm really excited. The biggest reason why I was bummed today was because I'm still not running where I'd like to be. Andrew (who I really want to run with) threw down a 4:49 and that is where I really want to be. I'm going to do everything I can to catch back up with him by track.

PM - 5.5 miles. 4 miles with striders. Foot felt okay and the rest of me felt pretty good but I'm a little sore from yesterday. Not much else to say.

PM - 3 miles. Stopped in Kingman for the night before going rest of way to Phoenix. We did a quick little shakeout run down Route 66. Foot felt okay. A little pain but not much. Good run.

PM - 3.5 miles. We went and ran at the course today and then did a few quick striders by the start line. It had been raining all day and since the course had been run on all day, it was already beat up. Much like Footlocker last year. It was good to get the run through in. It's definitely not a difficult course. It's mostly just a bunch of long straight flat stretches. It shouldn't be too hard but the course is going to be a little crappy. Run felt good. Foot didn't bother me.

Race - 2 miles warm. When the gun went off, I got out pretty good but still got absorbed in the pack. I tried to stay relaxed as possible in that first mile but I could tell that my upper body was tightening up. I came by the first mile at 5:30 which was good but I started to die off in the second mile because I wasn't staying relaxed and I dropped to 12:00 (6:30 mile) at the 2 mile. I did my best to relax and fight back hard in the next mile and I finally had a decent kick but I finished with an 18:54 (about 18:15 at 3 mile which is about a 6:15 last mile). I just didn't come prepared mentally to race. That is the one thing I've struggled to do this season, is prepare mentally. It is something that I'm really going to need to work on. But, my season isn't over yet because Preston invited me to come to Footlocker with him. I won't get to take a two week break like the most of the rest of the team but I don't care. I already took a three week break this season for my injury and we still sort of get a two week break after that (no running but we are doing other stuff like yoga with the rest of the team). 

AM - 1 mile. I wanted to do the morning but I didn't want to add too much mileage so only did 1 mile.

PM - 7 miles. 0.5 mile warm and core exercises, 1.5 mile warm, 2x1600 with 400 meter recovery, 4x200 (hard) with equal walking recovery, and 1.5 mile cool. Pretty hard workout today. My times for the 1600s were 5:38 and 6:03. My 200s were okay but I was already dead from the 1600s so not the greatest. Foot didn't feel to bad. It really didn't start hurting until the 200s so that was good. 

PM - 6.25 miles. 0.5 mile warm and 4xSunrise Tire Hills. I think this was our first time this season doing our hills to the very top. I was actually really excited to do these today as wierd as it sounds. I felt like I did pretty well. My times for each one were: 1:46, 1:43, 1:56, 1:52. The distance was almost exactly a quarter mile if you wanted to know. I sat back at the beginning on all of these and tried to give a harder push at the end. I did just what I wanted on the first two but I may have overdone it because my third was junk. I felt like I was barely moving on that one. On the last one, the same thing started happening but I didn't let myself totally quit and gave one last strong push to end the workout. 

AM - 3 miles. I ran down past Pine View Middle to Fosdil Ridge because I knew it would be some good hill work to get prepared for Footlocker. 

AM - 5 miles. 1.5 mile warm, 4x400 with equal recovery, 1.5 mile cool. I met up with everybody this morning at the high school to do our workout. I was really happy with my workout today. It really gave me a lot a confidence and reminded me that I'm not out of shape. My times (I think) were somewhere around here: 1:10, 1:08, 1:06, 1:05. This workout gave me a lot of confidence heading into Footlocker. I'm expecting a very good race.

AM - 3 miles. I went and explored some neighborhoods over by 2450 park. I found a nice little hill that I pushed up. It was a nice run but my right foot didn't feel great.

AM - 5 miles. 5 miles with 2 miles tempo (goal - 6:00 min. pace). I met up with Preston, Andrew, and Jake at Jake's house and we did our tempo out there in the fields. We started 1 mile into the run and even though part of the first mile was downhill, our first mile was about 6:12. On the second mile, it was mostly flat and we really got rolling and finished with a 5:52 mile for a total time of 12:04. Super satisfied with this today. I've really gotten better at tempos since last year and I actually quite enjoy them now.