You've got to want it to win it

This morning we met as a team for our run.  We ran along Foothill to Sunnyside, and then above the zoo.  AuraLea had to stop and tie her shoe when we were behind the elephant encounter, and it was when the elephants were going out for the day so we saw them!  On Wasatch everyone turned at the 4 mile mark, so I was on my own.  I continued to Thunderbird and then to Foothill, and over to the drinking fountain and on the trail.  I ran to the overpass for 215, just over 6 miles, and then ran back to campus on Foothill.  Then I went up to the track to do strides and drills. 

This afternoon we had our only workout of the week at Liberty Park.  The clouds came at just the right time!  And there was a cool breeze, couldn't complain about that :)  After the warmup, strides, and drills, we did a mile threshold ending by the drinking fountain.  I hit 5:55 for that.  Then we had five 800s, Kep had marked a loop around the pond.  The rest from the mile was 90 seconds, and for the 800s it was equal time but minus 5 seconds for each rep.  My times were 2:55, 2:54, 2:50, 2:52, 2:55.  The last one hurt.  Then we had another mile threshold... which I ran in 6:09, the first half being 3:09.  After I finished that I ran back up to the pond because I was going to get my shoes from the van, but I wasn't thinking and didn't realize that Kep would be bringing the van around soon anyway since everyone else was going to be finishing their mile...  We did three 25 second strides, and then I changed back to my trainers.  I cooled down with Hilary and Lauren the long way around the park and then to the 900e Trax station.  Hard workout, I guess it made up for having my classes cancelled today and just relaxing... I stretched for a few minutes in the training room afterwards.

This morning I ran 10 miles.  I ran along 1300e to campus, and then through the alley into the Avenues, and up to 11th.  I ran to City Creek Canyon, but turned on B Street.  I took the stairs down 4th Avenue and then did a lap around Temple Square before running back up South Temple to 1300e and then home.  My hamstrings are sore!!!  So I got them worked on, as well as my calves.  And my left piriformis was pretty bad too.  

In the afternoon we drove out to Murray to run on our course which we are racing at on FRIDAY!!!!  The men race at 3 and we race at 3:30, if you aren't doing anything else come cheer!!!  We did the course and then strides, then Hilary and I cooled down to 4.

This afternoon we did our premeet run for our home meet tomorrow!  We started on Foothill, and after everyone else turned, Hilary and I continued on by ourselves as usual.  We did the Albertson's loop, and then finished with strides on the bailiff.  My muscles hurt, not from any of the running we've been doing, but all the foam rolling and softball rolling at lifting... Hopefully resting and a shakeout run in the morning will help them feel better!

This morning I did a 2 mile shakeout run before going to school.

In the afternoon after getting to the race, we warmed up on the field a bit and then did the lower loop.  We did strides and drills up on the field while watching the men's race.  I changed shoes and then did more strides at the line.  Going out I went the same pace as the two Boise girls, and there were some Weber girls in the pack too.  Taylor fell off, and then I was with Kelsey and the two Boise girls.  The first 800 split was 2:54, but that is the only split I remember being told during the race.  Coming around the loop the second time, coming out of the final turn before going over to the pavement and running down there, Kelsey cut me off... so I might have kicked her in the achilles, to which she responded with an "Ow!" ...but I didn't feel bad at all.  Then I had the energy to surge and get even with the Boise girls.  Going down the pavement I stuck behind them again, and was just holding on up to the final turnaround.  I had really wanted to pick it up with 1k to go, but that is not my forte so when the other three girls did I fell back... and finished alone.  For cooldown I did some with Hilary, but only made it to 3 miles and felt awful, so I just stopped.  Kep wasn't too happy with the team about racing together (not me this time since Bekah wasn't racing).  But he was also kinda busy running the meet so I think he was very distracted.  I felt great the first 3k of the race but I need to get back mentally to be able to fight through the pain all the way to the end.  Also seeing as my average pace was 5:51, I really need to work on that...  I did finally beat Taylor in the first race of the season, that didn't happen last year or the year before, so that was nice.  I don't race again until Montanna I think, so I have two weeks of workouts to refocus.  Then it will be on to Stanford and bigger meets!  

This morning we went running in Park City.  The temperature was perfect!  The other girls wanted Hilary and I to start early... :(  But we waited for Becky, since she is awesome in that she does long runs with us!  We ran together for the first 4 miles, then Becky and I picked it up a bit.  We stopped at 6.5 to stretch, then ran back.  I felt great most of the time, and actually considered adding on another 3 miles on the end (I know some of my teammates would not have appreciated that...) but the last 2 miles I was ready to be done.  We stretched before heading back to campus.

This morning I ran 5 miles, up to Wasatch and then above the zoo and down Sunnyside back to my house.

In the afternoon we did the "Trax" run down 11th Avenue.  We stayed on City Creek all the way out to the capitol this time though.  Then I ran back up South Temple and finished on campus with 9.

Today was my least favorite workout... ever!  We warmed up the usual above the track route, then met on the bailiff for our strides and drills.  And then changed shoes for the workout, if you can really call it that... It was 12 sets of a 50 meter high knee skip up a hill, then 100 meter jog, then 200 meter threshold, then 100 meter jog, then 100 meter sprint, then 2 minute recovery before starting the next set.  To help keep it interesting, every 2 sets we traded one person from each group.  When Becky and I were in the same group we ran together, but other than that I was sorta on my own.  The 200s were all between 40 and 43.  For cooldown we dropped our shoes off at the lockerroom, then I ran up through the dorms and then onto Shoreline towards the museum.  I ran up to the fence over by This is the Place, then took the other trail back down and then another trail to make a loop finishing back at the museum, then back to the lockerroom.  Both times I passed the museum there were some people on the trail wanting me to stop and take a survey... Umm no, I'm running, goodbye...  Back at the training room I did a 15 minute ice bath.

This afternoon we started the run as a team.  Bekah, Amanda, Becky and I led for a while, but then they were going ridiculously fast... I was going 7:10s and didn't want to push any more to hang with them.  We ran down Foothill and then 2300e to 2100s, then down to 1500e.  At Bonneville gully I did 2 and a half laps, then stopped at Sunnyside for a drink before running back up to campus on Sunnyside and Foothill.  I finished at 10 for the day, and then stretched really well before getting a massage from Tim.

This morning at lifting my knee hurt, so afterwards I went and saw Hanah in the training room.  I did stem and ice on that.

In the afternoon I got taped before practice, we were doing hills and threshold up at Red Butte.  We warmed up there and then did strides and drills on the trail.  We were just south of the outdoor theater by some parking lot.  We did the thresholds from there.  We started with two sets of two 500s, with 10 seconds rest after the first in each set and then 40 seconds rest after the second one.  I was with Becky, and my times were 1:53, 1:55, 1:52, 1:52.  Then we crossed the river over towards Red Butte and did hills there.  Kep was nice enough not to make us do that first steep hill, but the rest was still challenging.  Here we had six 400s with 3 minutes recovery.  The 400 mark ended up being by the second green gate on the trail by the new museum.  Becky and I did the first two together, I hit 1:34 and 1:32, then AuraLea joined us for the rest of them.  My times on those were 1:32, 1:32, 1:31, 1:32.  I was so happy upon finishing the last one to realize that there was a drinking fountain right there at the finish!  (Hanah was by the start with water bottles the whole time).  We ran back down and then over to our thresholds spot.  My times on the last four were 2:00 (relaxed too much after the harder effort on the hills), then 1:52, 1:52, 1:56.  I felt like this was a good workout, and could feel very fatigued afterwards. For my cooldown I needed 3.5 to get to 12, so I ran south on the trail and past the museum.  Not to far after passing that, I saw a GOPHER SNAKE!!! On the trail!!  Good thing I was running to the side of the trail so I wouldn't step on it!  It was alive this time (I saw a dead one on campus during the summer...).  I kept running, and then did my loop same as the one I had done the other day for cooldown.  Afterwards in the training room I did some knee rehab and then a 14 minute ice bath.

This morning I ran a slow 9 miler...  I am so sore from doing Bulgarian Split Squats at lifting!  I couldn't go faster than 9:30s when I started, but eventually made it up to about 8 minute pace.  I ran along 1500e to Sugarhouse, then up to 1700e and then down Parkway to Alden.  I weaved through the streets until I made it to 3300s and then I turned and ran down to 900e.  I ran to 1700s and back up to 1400e, then home.  I am not counting this in my mileage, but after I finished I went to Highland Park Elementary to volunteer with Hilary at their jog-a-thon :)  

Today is Nikki's birthday!  So we ran her choice of route, which was TRAX!! :)  It was 6 miles down 11th Avenue and Memory Grove to the Library Trax station.  I was too sore to do strides when we got back to campus, but I did drills and stretched for a while.

This morning we went to the Rail Trail for our long run because there are mile markers and we were doing a 4 mile Kenyan run.  Becky and I were doing 12 miles, so we started ours at the 5 mile mark.  The way out was slightly uphill, so our first mile ended up being 7:58, but after turning around to the decline and picking up the pace, our next one was a 7:13!  A bit much, but we just went with it.  The next one was a 6:57, and then one after that a 6:43.  We took a few minutes to stretch after that before running the last 3 miles.

Today kinda sucked.  After lifting when I had a break between classes I went up to the training room to ice and stem my knee.  My quad has started hurting too.  For the afternoon workout I was really excited that we were doing 600s and 1000s, and Bekah and I were supposed to try and hit around 2:00 for the 600s and 3:32 for the 1000s.  It was going to be challenging, but I was really looking forward to a real workout!  But when we got to the park, on the warmup I had to pause for a moment because I had pain in the back of my knee :(  I ran back up to the pavilion without pain, so I decided I'd go by feel.  After strides and drills, I decided not to change shoes.  Kep talked for a while about the workout, so I feel like we sorta lost our warmup... and only Andrea would do a stride with me, and we only got one in and everyone was waiting on the line.  I'm surprised Kep didn't tell us all we needed to do more strides.  Bekah and I started the first one, and it felt ok, for the first 200... my final time was 2:07.  After two minutes recovery, we did our first 1000.  3:42.  Not looking so good...  After 3 minutes rest we did another 600, this time on the big loop, and I hit 2:11.  Not getting better.  The next 1000 was also on the big loop, this time I hit 3:55.  I know Kep says not to let B days turn into C, D, or F days, but this was never an A day... probably a C-, but I pretended it was a B day so that I would at least finish the workout.  This time Kep changed the rest to 4 minutes.  I hit 2:07 for the next 200.  Then 3:52 on the final 1000, and 2:14 on the last 600.  What a day... but I finished.  I want a do-over on Wednesday.  But we are going to Liberty Park for some 800s and then threshold.  I cooled down back to the locker room and then did my rehab.  I wanted to talk to Hanah about my quad hurting too and the pain in my knee spreading, but she was with the track girls for a while.  I'm talking to her tomorrow morning though.  I really wish today could have been a better day, and it is really hard to decide to stay positive right now. One day at a time I suppose.

This morning I got a massage from Tim, he worked on my quads and hamstrings and my knee for a bit.  In the afternoon I went running.  We started on Foothill, then I wanted to run through the golf course so Jessica and Becky came with me.  We ran up to Wasatch, then they were with me until they turned, and I kept going to the drinking fountain on Foothill.  I turned and ran back along Wasatch, and then up above the zoo and back down to Sunnyside.  Then I took the road by the post office back to campus, and did my 6 strides on the track, and then some drills.  The back of my knee hurt after I stopped, but when I stretched it felt so much better!

This morning we had lifting, and I ran 4 miles after I was done.

In the afternoon we had a workout at Liberty Park.  We warmed up there from the 900e station, and were waiting to start our strides and drills but didn't know where Nikki was... after several minutes we went ahead and started our strides and drills, but when we finished those and she still hadn't showed up we had Kep go look for her in the van.  After he had left, another van pulled up and said he had talked to a girl who had sat down crying after rolling her ankle... so we called Kep and he found her!  He took her back to campus so we were sorta on our own for the workout, but it was low maintenance anyway since we were doing mile repeats and the park has half mile marks.  I did 4, with 70 seconds rest, and my times were 6:04, 6:00, 5:55, 5:59.  So much better than Monday!!!  Then to make up for Monday I did 6 strides, alternating 35 seconds and 50 seconds.  For cooldown I ran a bit with Bekah until she left the park, then I did another lap before going back to the 900e station.  It was only during the last mile of my cooldown that I had forgotten to calculate in the 4 miles from this morning... But it just means less miles I am doing later this week!  Back at the training room I did my rehab, and at home I did a 10 minute ice bath.

This morning I ran 6 miles before going to class.  I ran over by Sugarhouse and then across the freeway and down Parkway Avenue to Alden, then over to 2700s and up to Imperial, then then back up to 1700e and home.  After my lab was done I got a massage from Tim.

In the afternoon I was able to convince the girls that to get to the golf course we should go through upper campus, and by doing so avoid Foothill!  Hilary and I do that route all the time, and the other girls really liked it.  After going through the golf course, we got water at the tennis place, then Hilary and I continued up Wasatch towards the zoo.  We went up Emigration a mile and then back down, and our distance was perfect when we got back to the post office, 6.2, because the way out had been 1.8!  After the team meeting I did my rehab in the training room and then iced my knee.

After the bus ride to Montana, we went to a little park to do our run since the course wasn't open until later.  Nikki and I started on the trails while the other girls ran around the lake.  We turned around and then did a lap around the lake when we got back.  The bus was still not back from an errand so I did another lap, and right as I finished the bus arrived.  We went to the course for strides, so we did them on the lower loop.  I went until I had 6 for the day.

1 mile shakeout this morning before breakfast.  Felt great!

With 50 minutes until race time we started our warmup.  We went on the lower part of the course, and then went back up to the starting field for our strides and drills.  I changed into my spikes and dropped my sweats and then we went to the line for a few more strides and our team prayer and cheer.  The race plan was to stay in our assigned groups for the first mile and a half, then go if it felt good.  Bekah and I quickly found our way to the front of the pack at the beginning of the race, and were in the top 4 for the first mile, which we hit at about 5:49.  Ahead of us not too far was a girl in blue, and then a bit farther up was a Montana girl.  I said to Bekah "Let's catch the next girl and work with her" but she didn't really come with me... so I spent the next mile trying to stay with the girl in second, but it was tough.  The 2 mile split was about 11:44.  Bekah came back with about a mile to go, and then her and the other girl were gone.  In the last 800 I felt like I was gaining ground, and on the final stretch I watched Bekah outkick the other girl, but the rolling hills were hard for me to make a kick on, and I felt like I had to puke, so I finished 4th.  I was 15 seconds faster than last year on this same course!  After a few pictures, I got started on my cooldown so I could get in the 3.5 I needed to finish off the week at 65.  

Today we had workout on the bailiff. We did the usual warmup above the track and across north campus, and then our strides and drills on bailiff. The workout was 4 sets of two 400s and a 600. Bekah and I ran together, we were supposed to hit 80 for the 400s and then for the 600 drop 1 second each 200 split. When we came through our first one in 1:30 we knew it was long... my Garmin said .28. We sorta cut our corners after that, and I don't remember all of the splits, but the second 400 in the first set was a 1:27, and the 600 was 2:11. The rest after the 400s was 70 seconds, and 3 minutes after the 600.  Our times kept coming down, 1:25, 1:24, 1:21, even a 1:20 on the last one I think.  The other times for the 600s were 2:08, 2:06, 2:05.  For cooldown I started with the group on the road above the track, then I added on up to 11th Avenue, then back to the training room to finish with 11.

3 exams this week... and 2 labs today because I will be missing Thursday, so I ran 10 miles on my own this morning.  I ran up on 11th Avenue and then down City Creek, got a drink at the fountain by the ranger station, then kept going to the capitol.  I ran behind it and then down Main Street to North Temple, up to State Street and then over to South Temple to go back to campus.

2 exams today.  So I skipped weights and did my workout at Liberty Park in the morning.  I warmed up and did my strides and drills on my own, then Kep joined me for the workout.  It was 2 sets of 11 minute threshold, with 2 minute recovery.  Then four 30 second strides.  Then I cooled down to hit 10 for the day.

Last exam this morning!  And then flew to Stanford!  There was some confusion about when were going to leave as a group, so I only ended up getting 6, and wasn't going to add on since I knew people were eager to go get dinner and come back and watch TV.  After dinner I went to bed early and didn't run again.

11 hours of sleep was awesome!  I went for a 3 mile run when I woke up to make sure I was really awake.  It was cold outside but felt so nice!  A few hours later I went running again with the team.  It had warmed up by then, but still not too hot :)  We ran around campus and then did some strides in a field.  Then we came back to the hotel to finish with 4.  

This morning at the course we started our warmup about an hour before our scheduled start time for the race.  After our strides and drills, we grabbed our spikes and went over to the line to check in.  We were in box 1... that was going to be tough since all of the other teams would be running angled towards us since the course goes to the left close to the start.  I decided to let Andrea go on the front line since I know she is a faster starter then me.  And I actually wasn't paying attention when the gun went off, one of the officials had just come by and told us to tuck our shirts in, and then Becky was telling the race was about to start, and then it did.  But for a 6k, I wasn't going to worry about a bad start affecting the outcome of the race.  And actually the start wasn't bad, and I went out just how I wanted to.  I think I was last on our team going out, but I know everyone starts fast at this race, so I wasn't worried.  I just sorta relaxed the firs 2k, moved around groups and kept moving up.  Bekah was with the pack ahead of me, and she passed them and kept going, then I passed that pack and kept going.  Right at about 3k I made a surge and passed a large pack of Stanford girls, who didn't try to stick with me, then Kep shouted to me that I was 13th.  Bekah was just a few spots up, and when she would pass someone I would pass them not to long after.  Going into the final loop, I passed Bekah, but she must have been close by the rest of the time.  I knew I was in 7th then, and could see two girls and then further up 2 girls.  I closed the gap on the nearest 2, and kept working towards the other two.  Coming out of the turn in the big loop I caught one, and then down the hill I worked towards the other and passed her.  I knew it would be tough holding on until the finish.  Then someone caught up to me, and it was Bekah!  The only girls left in front of us were two Stanford girls.  We both maintained our positions as we finished the race.  I don't know my official time yet, but I was really hoping to beat my time from last year.  I was sorta sad that I didn't.  But I did place higher, which was awesome.  And I can say that I have taken 4th at all of my races this season... I wouldn't complain about that at Pre-Nats or Conference or Regionals!  Afterwards we cooled down together, I was with Nikki most of the time.  I finished at 9 for the day.  Then Bekah and I did an interview with Flotrack, that was kinda neat.  Our next race isn't for 3 weeks, so it will be nice to take that time to recover and get some good workouts in.

http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/250894-Stanford-Cross-Country-Invitational-2013/video/721102-Utahs-Rebekah-Winterton-and-Susannah-Hurst-3rd-and-4th-lead-the-utes-at-2013

Rough flight home yesterday.  There was a lot of turbulence, and I might have thrown up... twice...  I am so sorry for everyone that had to sit by me.

I felt fine this morning but when I got to school I was feeling dizzy, so I skipped practice.  I went home, stopping by the store on the way to buy gatorade and soup, and then rested for a bit.  I decided to hit the treadmill to see how running felt, and so that I could stop if I needed.  5 was going to be my max.  I made it to 3.5 feeling great, then felt a little dizzy again, so I went to 4 and called it.  Hopefully with the chance to refuel some more I will be able to feel better for tomorrow's workout.