The King of Controversy

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.