Running Blog

We're going to pretend all of last week didn't happen, because I've been so busy I've forgotten to record anything and last week was nothing remarkable anyway. A short summary: I didn't race, and my shins are sort of killing me.

50 minutes easy, 6x100 m strides.

I didn't realize it was so warm when I was getting dressed for practice, so I ended up wearing long tights the whole run and it was very hot. I changed into a tank and spandex for the strides, which was better. My shins felt okay. 

Workout. I wasn't sure how my shins would hold up, but surprisingly, they were fine. There was a ton of confusion with the start of practice though (aka, our coach told us the wrong place to meet so we all were lost and confused), so we ended up starting the workout a half hour late. Oops. 

So basically, we had a 25 minute warm up, then 8x100 m strides, then the workout, then a 5 minute cool down, then 4x200, then 15 min cool down and legs. The workout was on the 900m loop of the cross country course. We did 4 loops of 40 sec hard, 60 sec easy. It wasn't too bad at all. By the fourth lap I was definitely feeling it, especially on the incline side. But my shins were fine and overall, the workout went well. Our target pace for the 200s was sub-40, and I hit :39, :39, :37, :36. We had to do them on the incline side, so by the last one, my hips and hamstrings were feeling the burn, but it was okay.

40 minute XT. Then I went to bowling and bowled a 125 (not a PR, but I beat my friends and that's the real goal). Then my car ran out of gas cause I'm an idiot, but we got that straightened out in time for Nate and I to go to ward volleyball and play for four hours straight (we weren't actually supposed to stay that long. Our scheduled time is an hour. But is that even close to enough? No). I'm exhausted and sore but it was a mostly good day.

25 minute warm up. 4x100 m strides. 3000 m workout/stride thingy. 10 minute cool down. Hips/lunges.

My shins didn't like me today, but it was a very light workout so I made it. We had 3x(300, 200) with equal recovery in between. But the times were ridiculously slow. Our target pace for the 300 was :72 and for the 200 was :45. We were 8-9 seconds fast on all the 300s, and our 200s were consistently a few seconds fast as well. The idea was that the 300s were to be at 3k pace and the 200s at mile pace, but it was really really hard to stay on that kind of pace. Too slow.

Later I went and played raquetball with Garrett and Nate and Tyler. So fun.

We're leaving for Boise (AGAIN. Someone shoot me in the face) at 1:00 tomorrow. I'm running the mile again. Yay.

25 minutes XT before we leave for Boise. It is absolutely gorgeous outside. It reminds me of morning track meets in St. George.

15 minute shakeout at the hotel. Then we went to Carinos (so classic) and I ate more food than I ever have before in my whole entire life.

15 minute shakeout in the morning. 

20 minute warm up at the track. Then we did drills (again. I hate drills more than anything ever). Then we got into the track area to watch the first heat. I was sorta nervous for this race, but not really. My only concern was that my shins have been KILLING me. The entire warm up I was dying. But that's how it was last week and then I dropped out of the race just before it started and then throughout the rest of the week, my shins were mostly fine. So I wasn't going to do all that again, especially since this is my last indoor meet and I have like a month before I race again. So I got out there and my shins felt fine. Actually, overall, this race felt better than any others I've run this season. I actually felt like I was out there racing, rather than just being on the track at the same time as a race. I got in there and fought for place and at the end I actually found my kick. I got tripped in the 2nd lap and cut off in the 6th, but I fought back and ended up beating the girl who cut me off so ha on her. The time is still crap and that's annoying, but it'll come. The race actually started out pretty fast at like a :36 first lap (1:18 400), which was scary and probably not great for my overall race plan (I actually had target splits written on my wrist, but after we went out so fast, that all flew out the window and I just focused on passing who I could). Anyway. Overall, I feel fine about that race. We did a 25 minute cool down afterward then elevated our legs.

Update: My shins want to murder me today. I have been limping around all day. And (surprise surprise) my mom forgot to bring the foam roller when she came up, so now I have to go to the trainer's and use hers. Ew. I'll be XT-ing tomorrow.

So after the race on Saturday, my shins = destroyed. So now I have to XT for 2 weeks (boo) and roll and ice a lot (boo again). But I did get the okay to go down to STG for Spring Break (yay) and I'm bringing all my frenz (yayayay).

Today I did the elliptical for 15 minutes (3 miles) and the bike for 35 (6 miles). The elliptical is more work than I anticipated. 

Bike 30 minutes, Elliptical 20 (15 hard, 5 easy).

Bike 30 minutes, elliptical 10 minutes, then I got sick of the elliptical and went back to the bike for the last 10. I did an 8 minute set of core, and also some lunges, single leg squats and a wall-sit. Also I finally went to the trainers to roll and get ice. Except I accidentally ate all the ice before I got to use it on my leg. Oh well.

Just 20 minutes on the bike because I made a last-minute decision to drive to STG for the weekend. 

11.5 miles on the bike this morning.

Blogging about cross training is boring.

BUT. I finally got to run again today! Hallelujah. I decided to go up Green Canyon because I haven't in a while and it's been pretty warm so I figured it wouldn't be too muddy or snowy. 

I have never been more wrong.

The first mile was okay, but the entire rest of it was completely covered in mud and snow. The way out was a slow, slippery, uphill trudge. These bikers and I kept passing each other and they cheered for me and gave me a high-five. So that was cool I guess. Then I turned around and the real trouble began. Green Canyon is all uphill one way and all downhill the other. So, on the way back, I was flying. It was sort of uncontrollable, really. I was just zooming. And every other step I took, I'd slip and slide (and ride that rhythm). I had a few close calls, but I was doing all right until I got just about to the bottom of the canyon and had to swing around a corner through a gate. Splat. I went sprawling on my hands, knees, and face. Mud everywhere. I sort of sat up, checking to make sure my body was still working properly, when I heard someone call out something. I looked up, and there was a biker and his dog on the lower trail, staring up at me and kind of laughing (both of them. That dog was annoyingly smug. He had four feet though, so staying upright isn't exactly a challenge for him). I got up in a flash and flew through the gate and the rest of the way down the trail. I had no interest in sticking around for sympathy/further humiliation. When I got back to my car, I then sat down and checked out my knees (skinned right through my new tights, but otherwise intact) and hands (surprisingly uninjured, despite how hard I fell on them. Just covered in mud). The rest of me was fine, just embarrassingly dirty.

And that's the story of the first time I went running after cross-training for two weeks.