You've got to want it to win it

An hour before my race I went for my warmup.  I did about 2 and a half and then started my strides and drills in the warmup field by the tents.  We had to be on the track pretty early so I saved some of my strides and drills for down there.  There were originally 55 girls signed up for the 5k, but 22 of them scratched.  Prior to the race, Kep had told me that I should wait until at least 5 laps in before trying anything, and that with 5 to go I needed to be going.  He thought that maybe some people would go with 2 miles to go, and if they did I should go with that group since I am more of a strength runner than a kicker.  I was hip 2, so when the race started I got out well.  I sat behind a UW girl, a Colorado girl, and an Oregon State girl.  The first lap was 81, we were 2:40 through 800.  Nobody was trying to pick it up, so I was happy to be in the place I was and making the other girls do the leading.  Nothing happened during lap 3 either.  We were I think 5:24 through the mile.  Kep told me to be patient until lap 6 at least.  I went through another lap, and then on the home stretch I broke out and moved up.  Nobody came with me.  So I was by myself about 10 meters in front of the pack for the next 3 laps or so.  On the back stretch of 4 laps to go, everyone decided to move so I got passed a lot.  My split on that one was a 78, I was trying to respond to them coming up, but they were running 75 and I don't have that kind of speed change in me.  Something I need to work on, since I know I can run a sub-5 1600.  The next few laps were hard, I was trying to compete the girls who had caught up to me but couldn't quite pass me, but I couldn't hold on as long as they could since I tried to respond when the other girls came up.  With 1000 to go I was out of focus and just trying to fight through the pain, but that wasn't going so well.  With 1 lap to go I was able to pick it up again, and with 200 to go I pulled out a good kick and caught at least 3 girls.  My time was the best of any time I've run at conference in my career, which was hopeful.  Thankfully, Kep had also told me before the race that whether I scored or not, it wouldn't change our team position.  :)  He wasn't mad at me for the race.  It was a good practice experience for preparing for regionals.  I was able to learn a lot from this race.  For one, if I'm going to break away, I should actually make sure that I am keeping opening up on the chase pack rather than opening 10 meters and keeping that for a few laps.  I am disappointed that nobody else came with me when I broke away, the non-kickers gave this race to the kickers.  I am glad I did something about it, even though I needed a better follow through on the move I made.  I have to say I think conference is one of my least favorite meets to try and run a good race at since it very easily gets turned into tactical, kickers races for place rather than anyone trying to go for a good time.  For cooldown I ran to the horse track and ran a few laps on the grass and ran back to the stadium for 3 total. 

This morning after class I went for a run from campus.  I ran out on 11th and up City Creek.  I turned around at 4.5 and ran back to campus.  Lifted afterwards and then took a 15 minute ice bath.

This morning I met Bekah at Liberty Park for a workout.  We did the usual warmup and strides and drills, then Kep showed up on his bike to ride alongside as we did the workout.  The threshold was 3 x 1 lap with 2 minutes recovery, and then four 30 second strides.  Kep told us to make sure our first one was relaxed so we could pick it up on the last 2, since this will probably be what the 10k will be like at regionals next week.  On the first lap I hit 8:36, on the second I hit 8:31, and on the third I hit 8:26.  Bekah and I were together for most of them, but on the last half mile on the third lap she picked up the pace and I wasnt' feeling it so I just focused on mine and finishing.  Then we did our strides and a lap cooldown to finish with 9 total.  After that, I saw Tim for a massage and then did normatech.  My calves are the worst they have been all season, and my legs are just starting to hurt in general.  Just need to make sure to be taking care of myself these next few weeks and then I can take my break.

This morning after class I went for a run.  I did fruit loop, then zoo loop, then continued on Wasatch until Thunderbird and then ran back to campus along Foothill.  Finished with 9 total, then had a nice long stretch and got my second lift in for the week.

This morning I ran out on 1500e to Sugarhouse.  I did a lap and a half around the perimeter, then continued out on 1700e and down Parkway avenue, doing the first part of the cemetery loop.  When I got to Zenith, I ran up to Imperial Street and then headed back north towards home.  It is getting unpleasantly hot running at 9, I might have to start getting up early :-P  But I love summer, and getting up early each day means I have more time to enjoy everything about summer!!! :) Average pace was 7:16.

This morning I had a workout with Bekah at Liberty Park again.  I wanted to go sorta early since I figured Saturday morning might be kinda packed, but I didn't know it was going to be raining :-P  but it was nice to go early and be done early.  We warmed up around the park and a little extra, then did our strides and drills down the middle of the park.  When Kep arrived, he told us the changed workout from what he had told us yesterday.  The new workout was 3 laps, the first lap being a constant pace, then on the next half mile dropping 4 seconds and holding that pace through a mile, then dropping another 4 seconds for the next half mile and holding through the mile, and once more for the last mile.  We started the first mile and a half at about 3:09 for the half miles.  The next half mile was 3:04, we picked it up a bit too much.  During the second half  of this first mile, Bekah got a gap on me and I was pretty much on my own for the rest of the way.  I came through the mile in 6:08, so I had only picked up about 2 seconds more than I was supposed to.  I went too fast on the next half mile, I hit 2:56 when it should have been 3.  Then I relaxed too much on the second half of that one, and split a 6:03.  I don't remember the half split for my last mile, but the mile was 6:00.  Not a perfect workout, but maybe messing up the paces made it more like what that 10k will be like next Thursday! :-P  We then did four 25 second strides, and cooled down just under 2 miles to finish with 9.5 total.