Running Blog

Shoe Run. Today, Stoner and I experienced something that we never thought would happen.. Kaylee told US to slow down. Craziest thing of my life. I will admit, we got a little carried away and probably went faster than we needed to. The group broke up into like 3 sub-groups. The weather was warm for the first half, but by the time we got to the pond it was chilly. The run felt really good. I'm loving that winter hasn't even really come and it's already February.

Trail Thursday. We went out to the airport trail today. It was way fun. The trail was great because it wasn't really all up or all down one way. It was both. And even though Stoner went a lil bit crazy and took off.. it felt really good. It was warm outside and I didn't feel dead like I usually do on trails. I would definitely do this run again willingly.

Hospital. I was really not looking forward to the hill.. but the run was feeling really really good up until we got there, so I was thinking positively. When we started up the hill, I was fine. Then we got almost to the top and my legs developed cancer or something. And I couldn't move them very well anymore. Then the water at the park didn't work.. and then we had to run up Industrial.. and after that, it just wasn't a very good day. So this run started out pretty well.. and then (in the words of my sister) "took a detour to heck."

River Trail. This was everyones first time doing this run except for Kaylee.. and she didn't really know what she was doing. We got a wee bit lost. But we found it again, mostly, and then started our 2 mile tempo. And we all separated. Which was fine- I really don't mind running alone. I wasn't feeling great and we were on Industrial which is my least favorite road of all time. But it was mostly okay. Some random man started singing at me as I passed, which was entertaining. So, I like this run. I just don't like tempo. Especially on Industrial. Then we had steps after. The end.

Green Springs. I really love this run a lot, even though a lot of people are haters. My leg was hurting pretty bad at the first of this run because I have no depth perception and rammed my quad into a drinking fountain. But after a little bit it stopped. The curse of Green Springs lives on, and it was cold and windy today. But it was fun. We dragged Kaylee's face along the sidewalk and against a wall. Then it started falling apart so we left it in a bush. Also, we saw my grandpa and uncle, which is always exciting. So, anyway. Good run. The end.

Green pole. It was a good run.. just me and Kaylee and Frida for most of it. My legs felt a little achy at first because we were speeding so Stoner could make 3 miles before she turned around. Then we slowed down a bit and it felt better. We talked pretty much the whole time, so my mind wasn't really on the running. We did striders and weights after.

Trail Thursday. The mileage up there is questionable.. it was only supposed to be five, but we went too far and went three miles before turning around. So we cut some off to get closer to five.. but then Stoner got us lost twice and Kaylee turned off her Garmin when we hit 5 so it was probably around six. It was a good trail.. pretty hilly and my legs ached at first. But by the time we turned around, I was feeling great. And contrary to popular belief, we did NOT walk. Well, we did stop when we had gone 5 miles and still weren't back to the cars, cause we didn't know what we were supposed to do. Then we just ran the rest of the thing.

Parkway. I sure hope Frida and Kaylee are happy. Cause that run was bleck. I just did NOT feel good. And my lower right calf and foot were killing me. I don't know what was up with that. It was just a yucky run. But the feeling after you've run 8 miles is amazing. So.. basically the run was crap while we were running.. then after we stopped it got a whole lot better.

Children of Hope 5k. Stoner, Mia and I ran together. It was a fun little course and it was a good time. Alli and Jake came and ran/walked it. Our time was like 22 something. So it was kinda like a tempo run I guess. And as we entered the track, Stoner said "Truce.. we're not racing this thing." And then we got to like 50 meters left and she took off and started laughing at our foolishness in believing her. That girl needs to be sat on. I'm gonna try to do the other 3 miles soon.. but I've got Alli and Jake til my parents get home and it's hard to leave them alone for an extended period of time without them whacking each other with Wii remotes. So.. we'll see.

AM: Arctic Circle, 3 miles. Had a super hard time waking myself up this morning. Well, actually.. I didn't wake myself up this morning. My mom came in and got me.. and I was already 2 minutes late. Luckily Mia was in the same boat as me or I'd have gotten left.

PM: Old Man Hills, 2x (200, 800, 200). Speed workout season has officially returned.. bringing with it all the joys of my erratic breathing issues, running warmups and cool downs, and hating every step I take. Today was chilly and we didn't get a lot of time to eat beforehand. So we were all feeling a little off. Stoner felt like she was going to throw up; I had a little bit of a headache; even Kaylee was having her own weird little issues. The first set felt all right, even though our last 200 was super fast cause we raced the boys. But then we started the second set and I started wheezing. We had to pause in between the 200 and 800 so Liz could help me slow my breathing down. Then we did the 800 and it got really bad. I fell farther behind than I wanted to (not that I wanted to fall behind at all, but it was really difficult). And then my head started pounding. It was bad. Every time my feet hit the ground, it was like a miniature bomb went off in my brain. So for the last 200, I just wanted to get it over with and I pushed super hard. On the way back, my breathing calmed down, slowly but surely. But we were all a little pooped out. So I was quite happy when we finished. We had step lifting after.

Log Lane Church. I really hate the Fields.. but today was actually a really fun run. It was cool outside and I felt great. I dubbed myself the OBW (Official Bird Whisperer) of the group, even though Stoner likes to think that she can compete with me. I was wearing my new shoes and I like them a lot.. they're less clunky than my other shoes. With my old ones, I kicked the inside of my calves a lot as I stepped. These ones I don't. So.. a lovely run. The end.

AM: Arctic Circle. Let it be known that even after writing the most psychotic reading guide ever last night and then getting only 4 hours of sleep, I was the first one to morning practice.

PM: Green Springs. Can it be true?! 5 miles? It was like I was dreaming or something. I felt really yucky before running because of the aforementioned lack of sleep issue.. but once we started running, I felt fabulous. It was kind of an awkward run, with the guys right behind us the whole time and Kaylee and Stoner trying to outdo us all. But it felt good. And then we had striders and weights, which went by really fast. It just felt really great.. if you didn't catch that already. And.. I just barely caught on that you add a mile for striders. I couldn't figure out why my mileage never matched up with the PVHS blog's mileage. I'm just an eensy bit slow. No worries.

Taleah course/Hot Nails. It was kinda a rough run for me today. The course was fine but I just really didn't want to add the extra three miles. :P But after we got going it was fine. 

AM: Arctic Circle.

PM: Last Trail Thursday (Friday..) EVER! Hallelujah! It was all right.. it felt like it went on forever. We kept awkwardly passing mountain bikers. Stoner likes to lead really fast up the hills.. then she goes super slow downhill. We saw three helicopters that flew right over us.. that was pretty cool.. we also found a water bottle on the ground.. and we drank all the water. It was quite yum. The end. 

Green Springs/Together for Taleah/Track. I ran from my house to the race today, which felt good.. it's pretty much all downhill and I like running by myself. Except I came SUPER close to getting pooped on by a bird while I was waiting for a light to change. I'm not even joking. If I'd been two inches to the right, it'd have it my shoulder. Anyway. Then the Taleah race. I don't even know what's going on with me right now. I'm just super frustrated with myself. Then we cooled down for a mile. And after awards, I added on two more miles around the track. Which was fine.. the Findlay guy thought I was just finishing the race though. After an hour and a half! I was super offended.

Sunrise. Well.. that was probably the worst run I've ever done. It was worse than the time I had to run all by myself with Coach right after freshman year.. and that was bad. (: But in all seriousness.. there is something wrong with me. I was wheezing so bad after the second 400 hill that I thought I was going to pass out. I'm pretty sure the cold has something to do with it. When we started the third 400, I had to stop halfway up. I absolutely could not breathe. Liz and Megan went with me into Sunrise tires and I got a drink.. but I could barely drink any because I couldn't hold my breath for that long. So I walked around for a little bit, hyperventilating. After that, I felt sick to my stomach. And all I really wanted to do was curl up and die.. because to do that would probably have hurt less than to keep feeling how I did. After a few minutes, it stopped hurting quite so bad, and I thought about going to finish the last few hills with the girls.. but the thought of doing that all over again made me stop. I guess you can call me a wimp. Maybe it is all mental. Either way.. I don't know what's going on.

AM: Arctic Circle

PM: Shoe Run. Every time I find out we only have 5 miles, I feel like getting up and dancing! And today was just a lovely run! We ran the first little bit with the Level 2's and Felicia. And I just felt quite amazing. I was a tad sore, but I don't know if it was from the few hills I did yesterday or because I went to Anti Gravity.. Prolly a little of both. Other than that, it was just a really fantastic run. Striders after.

AM: Surprise surprise.. Arctic Circle.

PM: Time trial. I don't know my time, or I'd list it as a race up there. I heard it was around 5:50, but I don't know if that's correct. Anywho, I was super nervous for this, which is kinda ridiculous, cause it's a time trial for goodness sake. But I've really been struggling mentally since the end of cross, cause my races were going nowhere but downhill. And since then, it's really been hard for me. So I was super scared. But once we got out, I was feeling okay-ish. I was sticking up with Kaylee and Stoner, which is where I wanted to be. When Kaylee made her move around the second lap, Frida went with her. And I guess I didn't really think about going with them. My goal was to stick with Stoner no matter what.. so it never crossed my mind to run up with Kaylee and Frida. But I think I might have been able to. Once we hit the final lap, my breathing was starting to go haywire again.. but it wasn't totally out of control. At the 200 meter mark, Stoner started to take off. And I kinda let her. But she said "come on" and I realized what I was doing and went up with her. I feel like I could have gone harder in the last 200, but I kinda had the wrong mindset about it. So it was more of a fast-paced coast. Afterward, my throat was super raw and I tasted blood. And my mouth had a TON of spit in it.. I had to keep spitting, which I find revolting. But there was just so much! Besides that and the fact that I got a terrible runner's cough and I'm sitting here coughing up a lung as I type, I felt great for having finished it. And I stuck with Stoner.. so I'm pretty happy about where I was, although I know I'm gonna have to work hard to get back in the 5:20's again.

Random House. I didn't go to morning practice today because SOMEONE's a terrible captain and didn't tell me about it. Anywho.. the fields run was quite lovely today. Taylor and Liz did really good at keeping up with us on the way out. We picked up the pace a little on the way back.. we had a pretty good pace going for most of it, actually. I felt really good.. I wasn't achy or sick (well, actually, Kaylee eternally scarred Stoner and I with a story, and I did feel pretty sick then) or hurt or anything! It was a tad windy though.

AM: Arctic Circle. I felt like I was going to die because I felt the need to be responsible and wear white.. and the only white I have is a hoodie.. and I was burning. The End.

PM: Hospital. A nice easy six before the race tomorrow.. augh! I feel kind of like throwing up right now. Because I never actually wanted to run this race.. but I felt like I had to because of Kaylee and Stoner. Now though, I'm actually almost kinda excited about it? I guess. I don't know. Whatever. The run was great. Nothing special. Liz and Taylor stayed with us on the way back. And we had striders after.

Well.. this was definitely an interesting experience. I wasn't exactly thrilled to be doing this race in the first place (All right, I was a LITTLE excited..) and I didn't really know what to expect. The lady at packet pick up yesterday said that we should take the first part really conservatively, or we'd feel trashed when we got to the uphill. I listened to her.. a little too well. I kept up with Kaylee and Stoner til about mile 6. Then I started to fall off, thinking our pace was a little too fast. It took them a long while to even realize I wasn't with them anymore. When Mia joined up with me, I decided to try and catch up, because physically, I was feeling fine. But mentally and emotionally, I was spent. So I just tried to hold on and make up some ground. By mile 10, I was starting to hurt physically too. My calves were tightening up and my hips felt all weird. So by then, the only thing I was trying to do was finish the dang thing. My finish was actually pretty good, considering. After the race, everything just kind of sunk in and I felt so stupid for letting Kaylee and Stoner get so far ahead. I got a medal for being second in my age group, but I didn't want to wear it, because if there had been anyone my age close to my level, they'd have beat me. But after several talks from my parents and Coach, I decided it wasn't that bad of a race, for having been the farthest I've ever run. So I guess I'm not really unhappy with my race anymore.. (I do wish I hadn't shown how mad I was after the race, because now my dad won't stop showing me articles and videos and books about how to control your mind and all this junk.. it's driving me crazy!)

AM: A really nice run out to Arctic Circle.. it felt really good.

PM: Shoe Run. We took it easier today to recover from the half/keep Liz and Taylor with us. But.. the second part didn't really work. We'll keep trying to get them to come up with us. It was a good run. I wasn't even sore. But I did get a humongous gash on my finger. It was caused by a car hitting me.. in the hand. As I was crossing the street. Or a water buffalo attacking my finger. You choose whichever sounds more exciting. Striders/steps/plyos after.

Green Pole. It was a really lovely run, no matter how much I dislike Green Pole. The weather was grand, if a bit chilly, and I felt great. I was a tad sore (don't tell Kaylee.. she thinks I'm immune to soreness) from plyos yesterday, but other than that, I felt fine.

AM: A lovely run to -you guessed it- Arctic Circle.

PM: Old Man Hills. 3x(2x200, 1x800). Today was actually one of the best runs I've had in a while. I kinda ate crappy today and wasn't feeling great by the time practice rolled around. Then I remembered we had hills and it made me feel ten times worse. But I was absolutely not going to have ANOTHER bad hill day. So on the way over to the hills, I kinda told myself that I felt fine and I was going to have a good attitude about these. And it worked. They felt great. I stuck in there with Kaylee and Stoner the whole time and felt really good about it. My only complaint was that my left shin is kinda hurting. I'm gonna ice it tonight and hope someone brings their roller tomorrow so I can use it.