The King of Controversy

PM - 3.75 miles. 31 min easy. Average Pace: 8:10. Snowed last night so didn't go for my run till 2pm so my run would be a little bit warmer. Felt fine. Uneventful run.

AM - 5.25 miles. 40 min easy. Average Pace: 7:40. Another run by myself. I like running by myself but it can get pretty boring sometimes. Another cold run.

AM - 3.5 miles. 30 min easy. Average Pace: 8:08. Good last run before school starts on Monday. Felt kind of sick today. 

PM - 4 miles. 30ish min easy. First day back with the team! Good run but I am sick so it kind of sucks. Legs felt good though. 

PM - 3.25 miles. 41 min easy. Trail Run Tuesday. We went to this trail out by Quail Lake. It was a super cool trail but pretty tough at the end when we decided to run up to the top of the mountain. Super cool run and great view from on top. Legs felt good but I'm still sick. 

PM - 5.25 miles. 40 min easy. Still felt sick today. Being sick just sucks. Legs feel a bit sore right now.

PM - 6 miles. 45 min easy. I was still sick today and I felt really tired. I really had a tough time stickin with the group. 

PM - 5 miles. 38 min easy. Beast run but still sick. 

Decided to take today off and see if I could get over my sickness. 

PM - 7.25 miles. 50 min with 20 min steady state tempo. We went about 6 min pace for the steady state.This was really tough for me today. I don't know if it's just because I'm still a little sick or what. I managed to stick with the group but I really wanted to quit the whole time. 

AM - 3.75 miles. 35ish minutes. Trail Run Tuesday. Went and ran on the Middleton Trail. It was super fun even though we went pretty slow. I still felt sick today and I was super sore from yesterday. 

PM - 6.25 miles. Old Man Hills (4x800). Pretty chill workout which was nice since I'm still not quite over my sickness and I'm really sore. We hit around 2:55 on all of them. Nothing crazy, just tried to work on form and keeping the group strong. 

PM - 6.5 miles. 52 min easy. Really fun run today out into the desert but my back hurt a lot. Other than that though, I felt great. Most of the soreness from earlier in the week is gone.

PM - 4.5 miles. 800 meter Kosmin Test. This didn't turn out too well. The first 60 seconds, I barely got past 400 meters, hitting 400 in like 58 or 59 and that felt extremely killer. The second 60 seconds I was just so dead from the first that I ran absolutely terrible. Finished with 772 meters, just behind Skylar. Predicted 800 meter time: 2:05. Converted Mile: 4:42. Guess that was okay but not what I think I'm capable of right now. 

AM - 7 miles. St. George 5k. I came into this pretty sore from yesterday's Kosmin so I was a little nervous on how I would do but it all seemed to work out fine. I got out quick and into the lead with Nick but then the 2 guys who took 1st and 2nd last year came up on us as well as a runner for AF and I dropped off from that group pretty quickly. I came through the first mile in 5:12 and the 2 mile in 10:40ish and then obviously finished in 17:03 so slowed down quite a bit throughout the race. After I lost the lead pack, I was just focusing on keeping a good pace and holding off Dallen, Alex, and Preston who I knew weren't far behind. I had solidified a pretty good lead after the first mile so they weren't ever able to catch me and so I finished 2nd in my age division and got a dope Sandstone plaque among other prizes. Just a really fun race but I'm super sore now.

AM - 10 miles. 88 min easy. Average Pace: 8:48. Trail Run - Suicidal Tendencies. Really beast trail run today. It's a really fun and beautiful trail but it's so tough and it what made it worse was that I was still extremely sore from Friday and Saturday. I survived though and I didn't commit suicide so I say that it was a success. 

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. FIRST MORNING RUN OF TRACK!!! Super glad to be back to morning runs, they are so fun. I was still really sore this morning but definitely felt better.

PM - 6 miles. 3x1000 at 85% (goal: 3:23) with 3 min recovery. Times: 3:20, 3:18, 3:15. Good and pretty easy workout today. Still felt sore but that really didn't bother me during the workout. I just stuck right on Skylar the whole time. I like doing 1000s better than 1600s but it feels weird to only be running with Skylar and Paul.

PM - 8.5 miles. 60 min easy. Ran out on the Boardwalk trail. It was a fun run but my legs were absolutely exhausted. My legs just haven't had time to recover from last week.

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Still felt pretty tired this morning. I think part of it was I didn't get to bed on time because I went to Cedar for the game.

PM - 6.5 miles. 45 min with 15 min AT tempo (goal pace: 5:42). Not really a good workout. We decided to try doing the tempo on the track for the first time and I liked it but I just didn't run very well. I stuck with the group for the first mile and then just fell off from there. Tempos have never been my strongest thing so I got to work on that.

PM - 5.5 miles. 55 min easy. Trail Run - Ice House. Felt absolutely terrible today so this trail just made it worse. My legs were fried and the whole way up the hill my legs would tighten up and I had to stop a lot. I turned around early with Alex, Josie, and Macen because I knew I couldn't go any farther. 

PM - 5 miles. 40 min with 10 min LT tempo (goal pace - 5:22). Still didn't feel extremely great today so I cut my workout and run short today. I did my tempo down the nowhere trail. I hit about a 5:40 average for the tempo so way off where I was hoping to be even with the help of the downhill. This has been a rough week for me. Legs have felt like crap the whole week. Goal for next week is to get back to 100%. 

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Good run this morning. Legs felt a lot better than they did last week. 

PM - 6.5 miles. 4x1000 at 85% (goal - 3:25) with 3 min recovery and 2x300 all out with full recovery. Times: 3:18, 3:23, 3:25, 3:15, :46, :43. Decent workout today. Legs felt pretty good but I just felt weird on the third one. My chest hurt and I'm not sure why. Heart burn maybe. It went away but it screwed me up a bit on that third one. 300s went pretty well. First one was garbage but the second one I just never felt tired and I ran the fastest I ever have in a 300. Maybe I can dip under 40 this year. 

PM - 5 miles. Trail Run Tuesday - Temple Quarry. Girls started before us because we were waiting for Jason to show up and this trail sucks to get around people. I ended up slipping and getting scraped up a bit trying to get around them but it's whatever. The trail was okay. Not my favorite by any means but it was fun. Legs felt a bit tired but nothing even close to last week so I was fine. 

AM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. Decent morning run. Nothing to report.

PM - 6.75 miles. 50 min with 15 min tempo (goal pace: 5:42) on the track. I did a little bit better than last week I think but still not quite where it should be. I stuck with Nick for the first mile and hit right around 5:42 so right on pace but slipped off from there. I fell back from Nick and soon ended up in the group with Andrew, Jake, and Dallin. I stuck there for most of the second mile but just after we passed the girls I let them get away and I ran the last 5 mins or so by myself. Just got to work on sticking with those guys better.

PM - 5.5 miles. Old Man Hills (1x800, 3x400). Alright workout. The 800 was solid and the 1st 400 was pretty good too but the last two 400s weren't very good. I just felt so drained on the last two and I couldn't stick it in there. Times were something like: 2:45, 1:11, 1:18, and 1:22). Hills have always been tough for me so I guess I'll just have to keep working at it.

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Decent morning.

PM - 8.5 miles. ROOT BEER MILE!!! So today we did our annual Mr. PVHS Root Beer Mile. It was pretty crazy. Jason won again easily and I was basically last place and threw up. We hit up Prospector after and that was pretty fun even if it was all muddy from the rain today.

PM - 8 miles. 62 min with 15 min LT tempo (broken up into 10 and 5 min segments). Goal Pace: 5:22. Met up with Jake, Andrew, and Bryan and we did our tempo down Washington Fields Road. The first 10 min, I started out in front because I needed to hit a faster pace but I just couldn't do it and so I ended up just fading back with Andrew and Jake and ran the rest with them. On the 5 min part, Andrew took the lead and I just stuck right on him. We ended up hitting like 5:30 average for both of them which was what Jake and Andrew's time was supposed to be so that was good. I didn't hit my time but that still was a very good and actually pretty tough push for me so I think it was a great workout. 

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Average Morning Run. 

PM - 7 miles. 4x1000 at 85% (goal - 3:25) with 3 min recovery and 2x300 with full recovery. Times: 3:22, 3:21, 3:21, 3:23, 0:45, 0:42. Paul had to go fix his glasses so me and Skylar did these alone. These were pretty easy and I felt good not much else to say. 

PM - 8 miles. 60 min easy. Trail Run Tuesday - City Creek. Beast trail today. Really fun and a lot easier than I thought it would be. Legs felt pretty good today. 

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Great run. Last night we found out the heartbreaking news that Nick has a stress fracture and will be out for all of track season. I'm really sad that I won't be able to race with him at the high school level anymore. 

PM - 7 miles. 50 min with 15 tempo. Tempo went about the same as last week. Started off well but couldn't finish it. Just gotta keep working at it. 

PM - 9 miles. 60 min and striders. Great run today out into the Fields. We kept a really good pace and it although I was pretty tired after, it was a pretty easy run. 

AM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. Good run. It wasn't that cold today and my legs are feeling pretty good. 

PM - 6 miles. Old Man Hills (4x400, 2x200). Nothing really great today. I just couldn't get my legs moving up those hills like I should have. 

PM - 8.5 miles. 67 min with 10 min LT tempo. I ran by myself today because we never really got any run organized today. It really sucks running this by myself and I just ran so bad the first 10 min that I decided not to do the last 5 min. My head just hasn't been with it lately. Just got to get it screwed back on correctly. 

AM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. I felt really good this morning. The weather in the morning lately has been pretty nice. A bit chilly at first but you warm up nicely by the end. 

PM - 7.75 miles. 4x1000 at 87% (goal - 3:20) with 3 min recovery and 2x300 with full recovery. Times - 3:20, 3:18, 3:18, 3:18, :41, :43.  Decent workout today. I felt pretty good and the times still aren't crazy fast so it was a pretty chill workout. Need to work on my turnover the last half of those 300s though. 

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Just felt really tired this morning. I got to bed at a decent time last night so maybe it was from the workout and weights yesterday. 

PM - 6 miles. 50 min easy. Trail Run Tuesday - Chuckawalla. Still felt absolutely exhausted. Fun run but really tough for me. 

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Still felt exhausted again this morning but now I know why, I'm sick and it sucks. I'm not like super sick but enough to make me feel crappy on these runs. 

PM - 7 miles. 15 min of AT tempo (goal pace - 5:42). I didn't feel super great today but I made sure I stuck with the crew for as long as I could today. I stuck with them for 15 min and then decided to cut my tempo there because I wasn't feeling good. Pace was a little slow but I'm not too concerned about that. Just trying to keep improving every week. Definitely a better workout than last week but I felt absolutely terrible afterwards. Being sick really sucks.

AM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. Still a bit sick this morning but much better.

PM - 5.5 miles. 10x200 at 800 race pace (goal - 32.5) with 1-2 min recovery. My sickness especially felt cruddy this afternoon on this workout. My throat hurt which made it pretty tough but otherwise the pace on these were pretty chill and I hit my times pretty much every time.

AM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. I'm sicker today.

PM - 3 miles. It was supposed to be a medium distance run but my throat was on fire after only a couple of minutes and I just couldn't go any farther. I stopped at the park in Middleton to get a drink which helped with my throat and I ran back after that.

AM - 5 miles. Mr. PVHS 5k. Still felt super sick this morning so I decided I wasn't going to actually push it. I kept it at a pace that wouldn't make my throat hurt too much so I was really just jogging not racing. 

AM - 10 miles. 80 min easy. Trail Run: Warner Valley. Day off from school so we met up and drove out to Warner Valley. Super fun run. I'm still sick but a lot better. I've moved away from the sore throat phase and now I'm down to a little cough and lots of snot so I was able to go the full distance today.

AM - 2 miles. Felt about the same today. Still a bit sick and so I decided to just flip early. 

PM - 6 miles. 4x1000 at 87% (goal - 3:20) with 3 min recovery and 2x300 all out. Lingering sickness and my throat hurt a bit on these today but they turned out good. Skylar wasn't running so I was pretty much all alone on these since Paul is a good 10 seconds faster than me on these. I hit 3:18, 3:15, 3:18, 3:17. 300s were garabage today. 44 and 47. Just wasn't feeling it on either.

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. I still have some lingering sickness. Good run though.

PM - 7 miles. 47 min easy and 4x200. First ever run with the team to Dambergs. Really fun run but I just felt so drained of energy. Time Trial tomorrow. I'm excited to see what I can actually do not just what the Kosmin predicts.

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Still some stupid lingering sickness. It doesn't bother me too much when I run though so I should be fine for the Time Trial.

PM - 5 miles. Time Trial. Garbage is the only word to describe this race. Not much else you can say about how I raced.

AM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. Had to run by myself earlier this morning so I could make it to the Mr. PVHS assembly practice. Didn't feel extremely great.

PM - 7 miles. 45 min easy with striders. Pretty fun run all over the place in Sandbergs. Mr. PVHS went great today. I screwed up a bit on my talent but got my Fresh Prince act back together and it helped me finish 3rd in the competition. 

Dogtown Half - What a fun race! Got to the start line about 30 min before the race and did a quick warm up and we started soon after. I got out a little slow I guess. I came in with the same strategy I used last year to chill at the beginning and close hard. I probably got out a little slower than I probably should have and most of my teammates got way ahead right here. I started picking it up around mile 3 and tried to see if I could catch anyone. I was running with the top women for a while here before I picked it up again around mile 6 and caught Mitch. Mitch didn't stay with me for very long as I tried to go catch Jake and this other guy who was wearing blue. I think Jake was picking it up a lot here too so i didn't close the gap on him but I started catching the blue guy. At Majestic hill, I was just barely behind him and Coach yelled at me to go get him. I finally caught the blue guy just past mile 12 and I passed him. He came back though and we ran with each other very briefly before I gave one last push with about 800 meters to go and he didn't come with me and that's how I finished the race. Decent race. I don't feel like I ever pushed as hard as I could or ever really got into race mode. It was a very fun race though. I just really like half marathons for some reason. 

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. It actually snowed today in St. George. Really crazy to think that last week it was starting to feel like Spring and then it snowed this week. Really cool but it sucked to run in  

PM - 5 miles. We just ran laps on the track today. Not exactly sure why but probably because of the Decathalon crap we were doing. I didn't feel very good today. 

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Pretty chilly again this morning but at least it wasn't snowing and freezing my face off.

PM - 6 miles. Another recovery day today. More Decathalon stuff. All I know is I suck at hurdles and Javelin but good old Hell Raiser could probably be one of the best in the Region at any of the events he tried. 

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. I felt really tired this morning. Not really sure why. I'm getting 8 hours a sleep a night but I've just felt so drained lately. Probably just has to do with my sickness from last week. I guess it could also possibly be Iron issues. Just don't know. All I know is I just haven't been able to keep up with the crew as easily lately and my races have been garbage in my trousers. 

PM - 7 miles. 60 min easy. Another recovery day. Thank you Coach, I really need this right now. Everyone else seems to have recovered fine from the half but I still feel like I just finished the half an hour ago. I just ran on and off in between Decathalon events today. 200 meter, I ran a dope 25.6 but other than that nothing special. I can't jump high and I can't hurdle if my life depended on it. 

AM - 2 miles. Hamstring was really tight this morning so I cut my run short.

PM - 4 miles. My hamstring felt okay at first and I was able to do some of the decathalon events but couldn't do the workout. I rolled it out tonight and iced it. 

AM - 3 miles. Me, Paul, and Preston decided to go up to the State Basketball Tournament today so we did the Kosmin this morning. My hamstring was still pretty tight but I did it anyways. My hamstring suprisingly did not bother me on this and actually it helped loosen it up but I still ran so terrible. I only got like 750 meters which is like a 2:08 800 so that really sucked. I've really struggled lately with my running. I guess I'll just have to listen to Joe Dirt's wisdom and Keep on Keepin on.

PM - 4.25 miles. 30 min easy. Me, Paul, and Preston ran at lunch today right before we left for the tournament. It was actually really fun to run at lunch. The temperature was nice and I just felt great. The State Bball Tournament was really fun today. Pine View easily beat Richfield but the crazy game was the Desert Hills vs. Dixie game. It was right after the PV game so we stayed and watched it and it went into 4 overtimes before Dixie finally won. It was such a fun game to watch.

AM - 6.5 miles. 50 min with 10 min progression tempo AT to LT (goal - 5:45 to 5:25). Me, Preston, and Paul ran up in Salt Lake. We ran into some high school up there but I can't remember what it's called. None of us were feeling too great which is weird since it has technically been a recovery week so we cut our whole run short. My hamstring felt a lot better today which was good.

The Great News is Pine View won the State Championship in Basketball today!! It was such a great game and it was awesome to have been there when they won it.

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Good run. Hamstring feels a little tired but it is all the way better now. 

PM - 6 miles. 4x1000 at 87% (goal - 3:24) with 3 min recovery and 2x300 all out with full recovery. My Kosmin slowed down my repeats but it actually made them harder in a way since I'm leading a group instead of sitting with Skylar like I was before. I ran pretty good though hitting 3:23, 3:20, 3:19, and 3:18. I was feeling a little antsy to get back with Skylar, Paul, and Nick but I know that I have to be patient with it and soon I'll get back where I want to be. 300s were some of my best yet as I hit :43 for both and actually beat Nick on one for the first time ever even if he wasn't feeling too great. Legs felt like jello after.

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. This run was so freaking cold because it was raining. My face almost fell off. 

PM - 8 miles. 55 min and striders. I was so freakin cold today so I cut the last five minutes to get a long sleeve on. Okay run. Felt a bit tired but just mostly cold. 

AM - 4 miles. Felt a bit tired this morning. Not my legs so much but just overall it feels like I'm not getting enough sleep. 

PM - 4 miles. 4x300 at 400 race pace (goal - 43) with 120 beat recovery. Times - :44, :44, :49, :49. Tough workout today. I ran pretty good on my first two but that made me pretty tired for the last two. I also tightened up a bunch on the last two. I need to work on staying relaxed not just towards the ends of workouts but also the end of races. I know I always sucked at the 800 because my last 400 was garbage. 

AM - 4 miles. Felt pretty good this morning. 

PM - 7 miles. 45 min easy with 4x200. We did a reverse Foremaster run which absolutely sucks. It's just a really hard run but I at least had fun running with the team. Can't believe our first track meet is tomorrow. 

Controversial Topic of The Day - I hate all the bees in the world. Bees suck and they sting you sometimes. We should kill all the bees in the world. 

PM - 8 miles. 60 min with 15 min progression tempo AT to LT (5:45 to 5:25). Got out just after dark and it was such a nice temperature sadly my tempo wasn't nearly as nice. I was feeling pretty good, a couple aches here and there but still pretty dang good. I couldn't seem to hit the pace I was supposed to go though. I didn't worry too much about it and instead tried to focus on my form. My form used to be almost perfect but over the last year or so it's just deteriorated. I got to keep working on it. Anyways the tempo ended up being more like 6:00 pace down to 5:40 so still a nice speed up but not what I was looking for. Even though I didn't hit my pace, I felt like it was a good workout. 

Controversial Topic of The Day - After yesterday's meet, Pine View now has the top 3 - 800 runners, top 4 - 3200 runners, and top 2 - 4x400 teams in Region 9. Pine View is looking like the favorite to win Region this year. 

Hey Everyone, I have decided to spicen up the blog a bit by adding some Controversy. Feel free to comment and voice your opinion on any of the Controversies.

Controversial Topic of The Day - Black Licorice is the best kind of Licorice. Everyone who says it is the worst kind ever is clearly drunk and should go back to their trailer park. 

AM - 9 miles. 60 min easy with striders. Good run. Felt a bit tired but not too bad for a long run. Striders sucked cause the grass was all wet and cold. 

PM - 3.5 miles. 30 min easy. Trail Run Tuesday - Prospector. Well even though I only had 30 minutes I went and ran a trail because I was getting sick of all the runs by my house. It was fun and I did it a bit earlier in the day because I'm going to the BYU vs Gonzaga game tonight. I hope they win because they probably won't make the NCAA tourney if they don't. 

Controversial Topic of The Day - Who's the better Government Agent? Jack Bauer or James Bond? Personally I think James Bond is a much better agent. Jack Bauer is constantly breaking the rules and let's so many people die in the process of catching the bad guy. James Bond, first off is British and is very smooth and sophisticated but is also very clean and precise when it comes to catching the bad guy. If Jack Bauer and Bond got in a fight, Bauer would be dead in seconds. 

AM - 5 miles. 4x300 at 400 race pace (goal: 43-44ish) with 120 beat recovery (1-2 min). Times were 43, 44, 46, 47. I did a lot better than last week but this was still so tough. Probably one of the hardest workouts we do right now. 

PM - 3.25 miles. 30 min easy. Ran with Paul, Nick, and Sally in the desert behind Nick's house or at least what's left of it. 

Controversial Topic of The Day - Should high school athletes be allowed to accept money? The reason I chose this topic is cause my good friends Hell Raiser and The Warbeast weren't able to accept their prize money at the Dogtown Half Marathon about a month ago. I think High School athletes should be allowed to accept money or at least some money. It's stupid that my friends couldn't accept their money. I mean it was only $100 and $200. Why do we have to distinguish between pro and high school athletes by money. Age can already distinguish it. 

AM - 6.75 miles. 60 min easy. Trail Run Tuesday - Mustang Pass. Fun run this morning. I was feeling a bit tired and cruddy but so was a lot of other people so the pace was pretty chill. Mustang Pass is getting pretty overgrown though. I don't think it has been run on enough lately which makes me sad. It's one of my favorite trails in St. George. People need to start using it more. 

PM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. Didn't get out till super late cause I was hanging out with the bros all day and they were all being domos and didn't want to run. Fun run though. I felt really fresh.

Controversial Topic of The Day - If Jake K and Andrea had a baby what would it be named? Here are some ideas: Blake K, Gnork Krong (First name is last name backwards), Donkey Krong. If you have another idea, comment below. 

AM - 7 miles. Old Man Hills - 800, 400, 200 and 2x(400, 200). Tough but good workout. I tried to stay relaxed on these because it seems like I always tighten up on these. It worked pretty well and this was probably one of my better Old Man Hill days.

PM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. I came up to Salt Lake for the weekend so I ran up here around 5. I felt pretty good but nearly as fresh as yesterday. 

Controversial Topic of The Day - Who is the better American Runner, Steve Prefontaine or Galen Rupp (or who would win if they raced each other)? I think Galen Rupp is a much better runner. He has great form and a lot better than how they portray Prefontaine's form in the movies. Rupp is also a much smarter racer. He usually lets someone else lead for most of the race and then outkick them. Pre was a front runner and though it worked most of the time, he failed to medal in his only Olympic appearnace. Rupp would just have to sit on Pre for most of the race and then outkick him.

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Morning runs are really warm now which is nice. 

PM - 6.25 miles. 45 min easy with striders. I didn't feel too great today. Something was up with my stomach and I felt pretty tired too. 

Controversial Topic of The Day - Should Grant Fisher have been disqualified for his steps off the track at New Balance Indoor Nationals? I think it's ridiculous that Fisher didn't get a DQ for his steps off the track during the mile. I mean he took like five steps off the track. In any other race, even small local meets like the Hurricane Invite this weekend, he would have been DQ. It's ridiculous that he didn't. This wasn't some joke meet! It was Nationals! How stupid are those officials?

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Felt decent.

PM - 6 miles. 6x400 at goal 800 pace (goal - 1:00) with 120 beat recovery. Not a good day. Times were really slow. 1:04, 1:02, 1:10, 1:11, 1:06, 1:12. I just felt so exhausted today and could not get moving. The most disappointing thing about this workout is that I had some really solid workouts the last couple weeks or so until this one.

Controversial Topic of The Day - Is Kentucky really going to win the NCAA tournament? I really don't think Kentucky is going to win. I think they are overrated and will choke when it matters most. Arizona, Wisconsin, and Virgina should be the teams to look out for. They are really good teams that I think everyone has underrated. If anyone is going to win it will be those three not Kentucky or as a good friend once called them Kencucky. 

AM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. Ran by myself earlier this morning because I made Preference Royalty and had to practice for the assembly this morning. 

PM - 6.25 miles. 45 min easy and 4x200. Pre race run to Sandbergs. First time jumping in since winter. It was probably the coldest it has ever been when I have jumped in and it felt really good on my legs. I'm only running the 800 and the 4x400 at Hurricane so I'm not racing to Saturday which I think is good. My legs feel kind of tired right now.

Controversial Topic of The Day - Did King Chezerk let Peasant Jenkins win the Men's 3k at NCAA Indoor Nationals? I think Edward Chezerk let his teammate Eric Jenkins win so that he could get his first NCAA title.

AM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. Another run by myself because of Preference Assembly practice. I ended up winning Best Legs which is pretty cool.

PM - 6 miles. 45 min easy. Just got miles in at the track meet since I wasn't racing today. 

Controversial Topic of The Day - Do you wear socks with your spikes? I've always wore socks with my spikes but I've seen quite a few people go sockless in their spikes when they race. I'm not exactly sure why they do it because I would probabaly get some nasty blisters if I did that. Comment below which you do and why.

AM - 5.75 miles. Nice chill shakeout run this morning with Nick, Paul, and Bryan once we got to the meet. The weather was super nice and I felt good. 

PM - 3.5 miles. Hurricane Invite 800 meter and 4x400. The plan today was to stick right behind Nick and Paul. I was a little nervous to get out fast like I did in the 1600 at Hurricane All-Comers a couple weeks ago and so I lost them from the beginning. First lap was 61. Second lap was a lot better than most of the other 800s I have run before but that's not saying much. Not what I was looking to do today but a good starting point for the season. 2:08 is a much better starting point than the 2:19 I ran at this same meet last year. The 4x400 was just a little bit after the 800 and it went okay. I ran a 56 and our team ran a 3:44. We took barely took 3rd but Hurricane messed up the results (only one of the many times they messed up at this meet) and it says we took 4th. They messed up so much crap at this meet.

Controversial Topic of The Day - Nothing today. Sorry. 

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Hamstrings were still sore from Saturday.  

PM - 6.25 miles. 4x1000 at 91% (goal - 3:12) with 3 min recovery and 2x300 all-out with full recovery. I felt really good today and so times ended up being pretty good and I was able to be just a couple steps behind Paul and Nick everytime. Times: 3:05, 3:07, 3:12, 3:06 and then the 300s were 41, 44. I just really felt good today especially on all the 1000s and the first 300. The second 300 wasn't too great but I felt pretty good with this workout. I mostly worked on keeping it chill at the beginning and picking it up at the end since my finishes in races are always so crappy.

Controversial Topic of The Day - Are girls better than guys at sports? I think the answer to this is yes. Take a look at the running world and you'll see pretty clearly that girls are much better than guys. I mean you don't see any high school guys going pro like we have seen so many high school girls going pro lately. Mary Cain, Alexa Efraimson, and Kaylin Whitney are on the high school girls gone pro list. The question is who's on the guys list. No One. Girls are just plain better at sports and a lot tougher than most guys out there.

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Same old.

PM - 6.5 miles. 45 min easy with striders. Snow Canyon JV 200m. I decided to run the 200 at the JV meet today just for fun. I ran a 25.36 so that's pretty good I guess. Form was pretty bad though.

Contoversial Topic of The Day - Varsity athletes running in JV meets - good or bad? I think it is totally wrong for Varsity level athletes to be running in JV meets. I mean it's embarssing enough that the JV athletes suck but then to get thrown down on by Varsity athletes only adds insult to injury. I think that Varsity level athletes should be banned from participating in JV meets. They should create a cutoff time. Something like if you run faster than a 5 min mile you can't run in this meet.

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. It was pretty warm this morning and so I went shirtless for a bit. I wrote a limerick about myself in AP Lit the other day and here it is:

My name is Controversial Cam.

I'm all up in your face...KABLAM!

I bring the controversy

And give no mercy.

I am Controversial Cam.

PM - 5 miles. 4x400 and 4x200 at goal 800 pace (goal - 1:02) with 120 beat recovery. We were supposed to do 6x400 but after not hitting the first 4 we decided to do 200s so we could at least be hitting goal pace. Times were 1:03, 1:03, 1:05, 1:05, 29, 30, 31, 29. My legs were pretty tired today and it was pretty hot but my real problem was I just wasn't in the mindset to run fast today. I got a lot more work to do.

Controversial Topic of The Day - Do you like it better when the mornings are cold and the afternoons are cool or the mornings are warm and the afternoons are hot? Personally, I absolutely despise the cold so I like when the mornings are warm even if it means blazing hot afternoons.

AM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. Pretty sore this morning. Pine View Invite starts tomorrow and I'm so excited. It is such a fun and big meet. Today is the last day to sign up so everybody sign up.

PM - 6.5 miles. 45 min easy with 4x200. Beast Shoe Run today. Bryan broke a duck's legs and we left a dead fish on the doorstep of one of our former runners. I felt exhuasted and sore but I should be ready for this weekend.

Controversial Topic of The Day - Should deer crossing signs be moved to less trafficed areas? I think it is ridiculous that we put deer crossing signs on some of the highest traffic roads and places like freeways where it is almost impossible to stop on a dime. We should move deer crossing signs to places where there is less traffic so that the deer will be much safer when crossing.  

AM - 3.5 miles. 30 min easy. Still pretty sore so I just took it easy with Nick and Bryan. Good run. 

PM - 6 miles. PV Invite 400m. Time: 56.14. Nothing great. I just didn't have the guts to run fast on this. The meet was good though. Fun to watch some good runners. 

Controversial Topic of The Day - Nothing today. 

PM - 3 miles. PV Invite 800m. Time: 2:09. Absolutely garbage race today. I got out in 61 and closed very poorly. This has been a really frustrating start to the season. I have worked just as hard if not harder than all my teammates but I just don't have the guts that they do. I got to learn to race with more guts. Didn't end up cooling down or getting all my mileage today because I was so mad with how I raced that I didn't feel like running anymore. 

Controversial Topic of The Day - Speaking of guts, which Prefontaine Movie is your favorite - Without Limits, Prefontaine, or Fire on the Track? 

AM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. Pretty chill run this morning. 

PM - 7.75 miles. 60 min with 2x(2 min hard, 30 sec easy, 1 min hard, 30 sec easy, 30 sec hard, 30 sec easy). Well since all the Juniors got their ACT scores back, we ran by a lot of their houses so they could check them. Pretty good scores from the team. Jake the Snake got a 27, Warbreasts got a 30, and Slick reclaimed his spot as smartest on the team with a 31. Workout was good. My stomach was all jacked but I survived. We took a quick break between sets which I don't think we were supposed to do but we had to stop at Bryan's and check his score. Joke is on us though because his didn't come.

Controversial Topic of The Day - What is the worst Star Wars Movie? Personally, I like all the Star Wars movies but I do think some are better than others. I think the dumbest one is the original one - #4 A New Hope. It's just so old and has the shortest, boringest plot of all of them. A lot of people disagree though saying that #1 is the worst but all those people are just blind SOPs (son of parents) who are blinded by their hate for Jar Jar Binks. How could you hate Jar Jar?! He's a freaking beast war hero! Comment your least favorite Star Wars movie. Tomorrow will be fav. Star Wars movie.

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. I felt really good this morning. Legs felt really zesty and rolling out and doing yoga after made them feel even better.

PM - 6.5 miles. 40 min easy with 4x200. This was a good and bad run. My stomach was all jacked again but we took it nice and slow so that was a nice shakeout for my legs.

Controversy - What's your favorite Star Wars movie? This is one of my favorite sagas of all time. I'm not sure which movie is my favorite though. I want to say #6 but #2 and #3 are really cool too. I really can't decide because they all are really good. Comment your favorite one.

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Same old. 

PM - 4 miles. Ultraspire Distance Carnival 800m. I don't even really know what to say about this race. I got out in like 61 or 62 and then just gave up on myself. I've just struggled lately with my racing. I haven't had a solid race since XC which is kind of depressing. 

AM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. Very sad turnout this morning. No wonder our team has struggled a lot lately. Too many people aren't doing what they should be. 

PM - 5 miles. Ultraspire Distance Carnival 1600m. Finally a good race for me. I got out pretty quick and had the lead for a second which may have been a little dumb since it was kind of windy. I relaxed a lot after that though and a bunch of my teammates got around me. The second lap was really cool because it was just a long line of Pine View guys up front. I sat right on Alex this lap and was in about 6th place. The third lap, Coach yelled at us to attack this lap and so I moved around Alex and Andrew. The last lap was super crazy because Tanner Sharp from DH passed me right at the beginning of this lap. Normally, I would have just let him fly by me but I knew that was why I had been racing so bad because I gave up too easily. So I decided to go with him and I passed him again on the back stretch. I was super tired at this point though and he came back and passed me again with 200 to go and his teammate Bryson King came and passed me too. I almost gave up again at this point until I realized that to get a medal I had to beat one of them and so I gave one last push to our kick Bryson. I was really close to Tanner and I probably could have gotten him too but I was just focused on getting a medal. Great race for me though. First time breaking 4:40 and a great step in the right direction for me. 

AM - 10 miles. 80 min easy. Nice long run with Preston, Jake, Dallen, and Andrew on our day off from school. We ran out into the desert by Jake's house where it appears they are building some big highway or something. Super fun run and I felt really good.

PM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. Just a run by myself around 4ish. Legs felt really good for running 10 miles this morning.

PM - 7 miles. 55 min with 13 progression tempo (5:40 to 5:20). Not a great day for me. I was suppposed to do 20 min of tempo but I was just not in the mindset to run fast today. I ran or rather jogged the first 13 min and I pretty much was at 5:50 for that whole time and I couldn't get myself to speed up. It wasn't so much that I wasn't feeling good. I just wasn't in the right mind set to run fast. Tempos are one thing I need to work on.

AM - 6 miles. 4x1000 at 91% (goal - 3:12) for first 2 and 93% (goal - 3:08) on second 2 with 3 min recovery and 2x300 all-out with full recovery. Times: 3:14, 3:05, 3:07, 3:08. I had to lend my watch to the 1600 guys today becuase none of them had a watch so these times are just estimates based on what my teammates were running. All I know is I felt really good today and I was able to get rolling today. Nick wasn't feeling too good today so it was mostly just me and Paul up front on these today. 300s weren't very good. I hardly ever have enough energy to run fast on these after the 1000s. Great workout. Good confindence builder. I know I'm capable of running fast and State Qualifying. Just got to be brave when I race.

PM - 3.5 miles. 30 min easy. Just a slow boring run by myself. 

AM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. Kind of chilly this morning because of the storm.

PM - 6 miles. 50 min with 2 min hard, 1 min easy, 1 min hard, 30 sec easy, 30 sec hard. I felt absolutely terrible today. I was supposed to do 3 sets of these fartleks but my legs were fried from the last two days and my stomach was absolutely jacked up. I stopped at the Green Springs Golf Course Bathroom and so that helped with my stomach but I was still exteremely exhausted so I just ran back. 

Controversial Topic of The Day -Who shot first Han Solo or Greedo? If you have ever watched the 4th Star Wars, there is a scene where Han Solo shoots and kills Bounty Hunter Greedo. Greedo also shoots at Han Solo but misses. The question is did Han Solo shoot first and that caused Greedo to miss or did Greedo shoot first and just sucks at shooting. Tell me what you think.

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Feeling much better this morning but definitely still a bit tired. 

PM - 7 miles. 45 min easy with 4x200. Super fun run today. We did our classic pre race Shoe Run but when part of the Mosquito trail was closed down we took off our shoes and ran through the river. We found a dead beaver in the river which was epic. Still tired but I didn't really notice it that much because I was just having a fun time.

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Classic morning run.

PM - 6 miles. Desert Hills Invite 1600m. Time - 4:39. I was looking to State Qualify today which is 4:32 for 3A in the 1600. I got out solid and was on the back of the lead pack but I couldn't hold it and lost them about a lap and a half in. I made a few good moves around some people the last 2 laps but I didn't close as fast as I did last week. Good race and I think it was still a step in the right direction. It was much hotter than it was last week so I think I definitely pushed a lot harder today. I got some stuff to work on and I know I can hit State Qualifying. I ran the 400m a little bit later but I was already exhausted from the 1600 so I only ran a 58.

AM - 9 miles. Desert Hills Invite 2015 800m. Wow. I really have never run a very good 800. I got out in 62 or 63 today and I still couldn't close. On paper, I should be a very good 400/800 runner and in reality, I'm little more than JV quality. It takes guts to run solid in the 400 and 800 and I just haven't been able to use any guts when I do either one of these races. I know I am capable of State Qualifying but I'm just not there mentally. I need to work on getting out a little quicker in order to be able to State Qualify but the major thing I have to work on is that last lap. I really need to work on picking it up from 400 to 500 meters because that is usually where I lose it. I think that is my make or break point in the 800.

AM - 4 miles. 30 min easy. Same old.

PM - 5.5 miles. 600 at 800 goal pace (2:04 800 = 1:33 600), Full Recovery (about 15 min), 300s at current 800 pace (2:08 800 = :48 300) with 1-2 min recovery. We ended up doing 6x300 (I think). Coach didn't tell us how many we were doing, he just told us to keep doing 300s until he said we could be done. He also gave us a quick 5 min break after 4. Tough workout. It's getting really hot here in St. George and this was just overall a tough workout. The 600 was about 1:34 so that was pretty good but I started to tighten up a lot towards the end. That's my biggest problem with the 800 is I always tighten up. Got to work on staying relaxed.  300s were very good, hit my times good and got a few quicker ones in there. Great workout to show how much strength I have. 

Controversial Topic of The Day - What should be your pace on easy runs? I've always wondered how fast or how slow easy runs should be. I usually like to keep it a bit slower but since I run with my team most of the time, we go a bit faster. Comment how fast you think easy runs should be or what pace you go on easy runs.

AM - 5 miles. 5x400 at 800 goal pace (goal - 62) with 1-2 min recovery. Had to get up early to get this in before I had to go to Senior Ball Assembu practice. It was super windy and so I wasn't able to hit my times but I think effort wise, I gave a good push. Times were 67, 65, 65, 66, 71. I did a lot better job at staying relaxed on these even with the cruddy wind. Decent workout. 

PM - 4.5 miles. 30 min easy with striders. We ran right before the youngster meet but I didn't get time to get my striders in so I did them after the meet. I felt a bit sore this afternoon.  

Controversial Topic of The Day - Who's your favorite U.S. President? Personally I like Herbert Hoover and his laissez faire policy. The Great Depression started during his presidency and that was one of the greatest things that has ever happened in America's history. The Great Depression helped strengthen our country and was just an awesome experience for all. So who's your favorite president?

AM - 3.5 miles. 30 min easy. I had to get up early and run by myself because I had to be to the Senior Ball Assemby practice this morning. 

PM - 6.5 miles. 45 min easy with 4x200. Another epic pre-race shoe run. This is by far my favorite run ever. It may not be as scenic as a trail run but we always just have so much fun as a team.

Controversial Topic of The Day - Favorite Villan or bad guy of all time. Personally, I have fallen in love with the genius behind Darth Sidious from Star Wars. Just think about how elaborate his plan to take over the Galaxy was. He waited patiently for many years and slowly chipped away at the Jedi and even constructed a whole clone army without the Jedi's knowledge. What a genius. 

AM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. Good morning run but my right calf is a bit tight after waking up in the middle of the night with a charleyhorse. 

PM - 6 miles. Dixie Invite 1600. Time - 4:40. Okay race. Opened in 1:07. Fell off the rest: 1:09, 1:12, 1:12. Need to work on not being scared to go with the leaders because they were right where I needed to be to State Qualify.

Controversy - Favorite Superhero, hero, good guy, or even an anti-hero ever - real or fictional. This is kind of a tough one. Currently, my favorite would have to be The Arrow. I started watching CW's TV series, The Arrow and I fell in love with it. The Arrow is a mix between the darkness of Batman and the archery skills of Hawkeye. He's a crazy super hero.

PM - Dixie Invite 800m. Time: 2:06. I ended up missing the fast heat by 1 place which made me kind of mad at first but then I realized this might be good for me and help me run better. It turned out that it did help. I got out quick and right to the lead. Hit the first lap in 61. I made a nice surge from 400 to 500 like I was planning but slowed down a lot from 500 to 600 because I started to feel really tired. A Parowan and Snow Canyon kid passed me right here and I almost totally gave up but when I saw the Parowan kid slow down a lot from 600 to 700, I knew I could still win my heat. I got around the Parowan kid and came up on the Snow Canyon kid but I was hurting so much at this point. My legs were dead but I was so close and so I gave in one final surge with 50 to go and was able to beat the Snow Canyon kid. Good race. Still not where I'd like to be but another step in the right direction.

AM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. We took it a lot slower this morning but my left calf started acting up. 

PM - 7 miles. 3x1000 at 93% (goal - 3:08). I wasn't feeling too great today but I'm so used to running these well so I had no problem hitting my times. I did end up cutting out my 300s because I wasn't feeling well. Times were 3:03, 3:08, 2:59. I mostly just sat back for the first lap and then picking it up for the last lap and a half. 

AM - 3.75 miles. Okay morning run. 

PM - 6 miles. 10x200 at 3 to 4 seconds faster than 800 pace (goal - 27 or 28). This workout was much tougher than I thought it was going to be. First 6 were solid and I hit my times but last 4 I got tired really quick and was hitting low 30s.

Controversy - What's your favorite TV show? I watch so many different TV shows that it's hard to choose a favorite. I've watched a bunch of Parks and Recreation lately and I really like it but I'm also in love with action shows like Arrow. I would have to say though that my favorite TV show of all time is The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Will Smith is just so funny. 

AM - 5.5 miles. Coe #2. This workout wasn't very tough. The toughest thing was trying to know how fast to go. Most of the time I ended up going too fast. Good workout but my right calf was bugging.

PM - 4.25 miles. Fun run but my calf was still hurting so I skipped 200s.

PM - 6 miles. Snow Canyon Invite 800m. Pretty cruddy race. No one got out very fast and I was in the lead the first 200 for only running a 30 second 200. First lap was a 1:03. Second lap was cruddy. I tightened up so much the last 200. I need to work on staying more relaxed. I always seem to tighten up on that last lap. 

AM - 2.75 miles. 20 min easy. Cut down the length of our morning runs this week as we start our taper. Championship Season!

PM - 6 miles. 800m Kosmin Test and 300, 200, 100 finishes (all with spikes). Distance - 808. Predicted 800 time - 2:01. This was really tough. I got around about 420 meters the first 60 seconds. I was really tired the 2nd 60 seconds like I always have but I some how pulled something okay out of my butt and hit over 800 meters for the first time. I felt really smooth and strong on all the finish practice. 

AM - 2.75 miles. 20 min easy. Good run.

PM - 5 miles. 40 min with 4x60 sec fartleks. Coach had us go up to Canyon View to the JV meet and get our workout in up here to get some higher elevation training. Good workout. The fartleks were pretty strong but I was more focusing on keeping good form. Coach also had me do a 200 in the JV meet but I was pretty exhausted and ran like a 26 or 27. 

AM - 2.5 miles. 20 min easy. I showed up a little later than I normally do but the team left 1 minute early so I ran by myself for a little bit.

PM - 5.5 miles. 30 min easy with striders and a little extra running with the little kids at the little kid meet. Felt pretty good. Not much else to say. 

Controversy - BYU or Herriman? Well this controversy has already floated around the blog for the past week or so as some people are mad at their Coaches for not taking them to BYU. So if you have any more input on the subject, comment. I personally am only bummed about not going to BYU because it means our trip up north is only 1 night instead of 2.

AM  - 2.75 miles. 20 min easy. Felt really fresh this morning. 

PM - 6.5 miles. 45 min with 4x30 sec fartleks. Another swag pre-race run.

Controversy - Which definition of a vampire is actually right? Twilight? Vampire Diaries? Other? 

AM - 2.75 miles. 20 min easy. Felt good.

PM - 6 miles. Herriman Invite 1600 and 800. 4:58 and 2:19. Absolutely terrible meet for me today. 1600 started out good and pretty much right where I needed to be to State Qualify for the first two laps - 2:15. Everything fell apart again like last week. I just gave up. That's the simplest way to put it. 800 was super sad too and was slower than the first 2 laps of my 1600. I'm in a slump mentally right now. My workouts have been solid but these last two weeks of racing have been the worst of my life. I'll probably just be running JV next week at Region so next week will pretty much be my last week of my high school running career.

AM - 6.5 miles. 50 min easy. Fun run in Sandy this morning before we headed home. I felt really good. No soreness or nothing. I guess that's cause I didn't run very hard yesterday.

AM - 2.75 miles. 20 min easy. Felt pretty good this morning.

PM - 4 miles. 25 min easy with 4x200. Fun run but it was so hot today. I think I sweated more today then I have on some of our workouts. Final Youngster meet after was hectic but fun. 

AM - 2.75 miles. 20 min easy. Same old. 

PM - 5 miles. Region 9 Championships 800m. I'm a Region Champ!!! Well JV Region Champ that is. Coach bumped me down to JV for region since I've been running really cruddy lately. I was a bit disappointed at first because I wouldn't get another shot at State Qualifying but I forgot how much fun it is to be a JV guy. Plus, I'm glad that the younger guys can get some more experience heading into next year. The race went really well and pretty much just how I'd planned. I was just focused on winning and since I knew I had a lot more strength than everyone in the race, I used that to my advantage. I got out slower than I usually do and let the anxious JV guys lead. Coming around the corner to the home stretch on the first lap is where I decided to take the lead and I hit the first lap in 1:03ish. Then I made another little surge at 400 to go and moved strong down the back stretch. I could hear a bunch of people cheering on Caden from DH and they made it sound like he was right behind me so I made sure I ran hard the last 200. Ended up winning comfortably and suprisingly got a PR. I think my biggest weakness has always been that I always am worried about everyone else and don't have confidence in myself. In my mind I build up other runners to be much better than me and so I never have the courage to go with them. It has held me back from reaching my full potential and is the biggest reason that I failed to state qualify. Running JV today helped me to stay relaxed and run with more confidence. It's just a bummer that Region is the end of my high school career because I am just barely starting to figure myself out as a runner.

AM - 2.75 miles. 20 min easy. Last morning run of the year. 

PM - 5.5 miles. Region 9 Championships 1600, 4x100, and 400. I'm now a 3 time JV Region Champ! I was a bit worried for the 1600 today since Andrew actually had the fastest time coming in but I relaxed and reminded myself that I had beat Andrew before. Anyways, the race started and Boston Wood of DH took the lead but everyone else got out really slow so I got caught in between both those groups. Andrew and some other kid came up towards the end of the first lap and I went with them and we caught Boston on the 2nd lap. Coming around the corner to the home stretch of the 2nd lap, I felt like it was time to take the lead. My head said it was too early and I might die out but I could just feel in my heart that it was time to go for it. Andrew and Boston came with me and I could hear them right behind me for most of the 3rd lap but I made a surge coming off the corner coming into the home stretch again and I never heard those guys again. I felt really good the last lap and I cruised down the back stretch and flew down the home stretch. I'm pretty sure that's the fastest I've ever finished a 1600. My dad said I ran like a 1:05 last lap. I ended up winning by like 8 seconds and tied my PR. I realized after, that I ran my race just like I run my 1000m repeats in practice. All the places I made surges in my race were the places Coach had made us surge in practice. It was just another reminder that you race how you practice. I also ran my 800 yesterday a lot like practice too.

I ran the 4x100 just a little bit after the 1600 with Jake, Andrew, and Zach. We got fried by some actual sprinters and took 5th. The 400 was next and I felt really good and I ended up running a PR of 54.87. I was shocked to find out that I won the 400m too. They had run out of medals though so I didn't get a medal for the 400. Bummer.

PM - 5.75 miles. 45 min with fartleks. Well Coach invited me to go to State with them as an alternate for the 4x400 or medley or something. I'm not sure if I'll get to race but it should be fun to watch all the races up there. Anyways, the run today was fun. Not exactly sure how many fartleks we did. Coach just wanted us to throw in some whenever. I actually felt really good for most of it. Felt a bit tired towards the end but for racing yesterday, I felt pretty solid. 

AM - 5 miles. 45 min easy. Trail Run - Mustang Pass. Decided to hit up trail today. Mustang Pass is really overgrown. People need to go and run it more. Fun run. 

PM - 4 miles. 4x400 at 800 pace (goal - 1:02 to 1:03) with 2-3 min recovery. Times - 1:03, 1:03, 1:05, 1:03. Tough workout but I was able to do okay.  It definitely helped that we got to do the workout in our spikes. 

Controversy - State Qualifying Standards. Now that all the Region meets are over, I'm stunned by some of the people who qualified for State in 3A. In 3A, the top 4 from each of the 4 region meets qualify for State as well as those who have hit the qualifying standard throughout the year. Region 9 (my region) qualified 12 guys for State in the 3200. 11 of those hit the qualifying time of 9:59 and the 12th guy ran a 10:03. The other 3 regions combined only qualified 12 (though only 11 of those are signed up as of now) and only 2 of those actually hit the qualifying time. 2 of those qualifiers ran 10:40. It's ridiculous. Our top JV guy at Region would have qualified in the other regions. I think we need to revise the system to qualify for State because this is absolutely ridiculous. I'm not sure if this is a problem for all classifications but it definitely is for 3A. This isn't the first year it has happened. If you have any thoughts, opinions, questions, or possible revisions on this matter, please share. 

PM - 4 miles. 2xMaster Blasters. Felt really dehydrated today. My mouth was really dry especially on the second set and I just didn't run very fast.

Controversy - Is Matthew Maton actually a high school sub 4 guy? I'm not denying that Maton is a sub 4 guy or saying that it's not impressive that he broke the 4 minute barrier. I just wonder if we should count him as a high school sub 4 guy when rumor has it that he's already graduated and not attending high school anymore. He also isn't running for a high school, just unattached and he's also 19 years old. I mean who the heck turns 19 when they are in high school. I graduate in 1 week and I'm still 17. Where's the fairness in that. He's 2 years older than me. 

PM - 5,5 miles. 40 min easy with 300, 200, 100 finishes. Fun last run of my life (my Coach predicted I will probably die before I ever run again). 

Controversy - Valedictorians. I love my school so much but we have the most ridiculous system of choosing Valdedictorian or should I say Valdedictorians. They just let anyone who has a 4.0 non-weighted GPA be a Valdedictorian which is stupid because this year we have 14 Valedictorians! 14! It's the stupidest thing ever. Being a valedictorian is supposed to be a great honor but we've watered it down so that regardless of how hard or easy your classes are, you can get it. We need to revise it because this is just ridiculous. Does any of your schools do this too? And do you have a suggestion for fixing this garbage?

PM - 3 miles. Drove up north today for State Track.  Had practice on Provo High's track until lightning showed up. 

Controversy - Cross Country or Track? Well Track is nearing its end and Cross Country is right around the corner. So one of the biggest running debates of all time would have to be which one is better: Cross Country or Track? I've always loved Cross Country more but Track this year was so fun and I don't know which I like better now. What's your favorite and why?

AM - 5.5 miles. Ran with Coach over to BYU's track to get our team a good spot. Then ran some laps on BYU's track. I'm sad I never got to race on it this year because it such a nice track. 

AM - 4 miles. Ran a few laps on BYU's track again and then a bit more on their campus. We really need a track like BYU's in St. George because all the tracks in our region suck. 

AM - 3.75 miles. 30 min easy. It was the team's first day of practice. My sister who is going into 8th grade told me she wanted to commit to running a lot more this year and so I decided to take her to practice. I'm not sure what the future holds for me with running but for now, I guess I will go run with the team sometimes. 

AM - 5 miles. Went to practice again today and we ran out past Maverik and into the desert. Saw one of my best friends, Colton, along the way. He was at Maverik dressed up in his suit about to head to the MTC.

AM - 7 miles. Back with the team again. Longer run today and my stomach was jacked. Stayed with them for about 5.5 miles than I couldn't keep up any longer.

AM - 5 miles. Barefoot run with team. I would love to come run with the team more but work basically replaces practice because work is so tiring.

AM - 9.5 miles. Trail Run - Sand Hill. Boys had one of their first long runs today and I joined them since I love long runs. Turned out to be the run from hell. Two of my least favorite things to run on are hills and sand and this combined both of those. It was so tough and I fell way behind going up the Sand Hill. I luckily caught back up at the bottom of the hill because the boys were emptying all the sand out of their shoes.

AM - 5 miles. Barefoot with team. Not much to say bout this one.

AM - 9 miles. 60 min with 5.6ish miles progression tempo on Dirt Mile. I got out to run with the team for the first time in a week and I ran their progression with them. I stuck with the top guys and tried to help keep the group together. I was very impressed today with how they did. The pack stayed strong the whole time and honestly I barely had to do anything to make sure they stuck in there. They helped each other stay together. Not a single person fell off, they only cut off when they needed to. They were missing a few key pieces with Dallin and Skylar gone but 7 guys (not including me) finished all of the 5.6ish miles. Pace wasn't crazy but it was still a solid pace and I can already tell, great things are coming from them. Everyone better watch out for Region 9 this year. 

AM - 6.5 miles. 50ish minutes with Old Man Hills (4x800m). Wow. I am really out of shape. I went to run with the team today (which is only my like 10th time running the entire summer). It was a lot of fun and made me really miss being on the team. Probably not the smartest idea to try to run their workout in the shape I'm in but I didn't want to just sit and watch. I stuck with them the on the first 2 hills the whole way and helped them keep grouped up. The 3rd and 4th ones I fell off halway through then just jogged the rest of the way. The team on the surface is pretty much exactly the same as last year since I was the only Senior guy last year but it just feels so different. They are insanely good at grouping. We tried so hard last year at grouping and it always fell apart but this year, everyone has made sacrifices to keep the group together and I think it's going to pay off down the road.