Running Blog

Trying to keep track of my getting-back-into-shapeness so I can remember stuff.

It's weird because I don't even think PVHS uses this thing anymore, and I'm 99.9% sure USU doesn't.  My random comments will fall on deaf ears. Scratch that. They'll fall on no ears. Except my own.

Anyhow, today was my first day officially back into running. Coach Spence asked me exactly how out of shape I am and I told him I am extremely out of shape. But don't worry, he's super chill and didn't even yell at me or kick me off the team. He told me we'd start getting my body back into running 6 days a week and hopefully have me in shape in time for indoor, so basically I'm gonna be doing 30 minute runs for the next little bit, and then whatever other various activities the rest of the team is doing. So. Today's workout:

Full set of drills, 6 strides, 30 minute easy run, lifting (just arms). Felt fine except for the arms because as it turns out I have no arm muscle whatsoever. I have never played a sport or done any activity really that required arm muscle. I need new trainers (and flats. And running clothes. And a watch) so I'll be getting those this weekend.

Light drills and 30 minutes easy with the girls. Super quiet. I think they know I'm awkward.

Definitely need to stretch after.

Light drills and 25 minutes easy with Maggie while the other girls did core. Also met two girls both named Megan and ran with them a little bit. The names on this team are ridiculous. On Monday I met Kelsie and Karlie and Kenzie. I have no idea who is who, but I definitely met them.

Talked with Coach Spence about my training plan for the next little bit. We're basically building a foundation for now. He told me he's excited about my potential, because he has girls on the varsity team right now who had slower high school 800 times than mine. So.. that's cool.

Today was seriously the most hectic day of my life. On T/TH I have class from 10:30 to 2:45, practice from 3-4:30ish, then work from 5-11. On top of that, I have a paper due this weekend that I haven't even chosen a topic for. Needless to say, I was quite overwhelmed. After a call to my mom that didn't help at all and some resultant rash decision-making, I ended up skipping some classes I probably shouldn't have skipped in order to finish the homework due this weekend. SO. All that seemingly unnecessary information is relevant because it leads up to the fact that I was super stressed before I went on my run today. The girls had 20 minutes plus strides this afternoon so I went on my own run at like 2:15ish. And let me just tell you. It was exactly what I needed. It was 30 minutes that I got to spend by myself just thinking and prioritizing my life. Also, the weather was beyond perfect. The leaves are turning and the sky was the prettiest blue ever and it was like 65 degrees. I just let myself get lost in my thoughts and before I knew it I was back at my apartment. And then reality came crashing back down. But still. I feel a million times better.

So basically: 30 minutes easy. Static stretching afterward.

I only went 20 minutes today for various reasons. It felt good. My ankles/calves were kinda feeling weird yesterday so I stretched them while I was at work last night and today they felt fine. I focused on my form more- trying to get my knees up and land farther up on my feet. The weather was great. Tomorrow I'll probably go early in the morning so I can drive down to Bountiful and spend the day with my mom.

30 minutes at 7:00 this morning. I did a few light drills in an attempt to warm up before I went outside & did static stretches after. It was chilly so I wore my soccer pants and some gloves without fear of getting yelled at by Coach Holt. It felt good.. My calves were feeling sorta weird again- it's sort of just a soreness near my ankles but almost feels strained sometimes. I stretched them really well after and occasionally I steal some of Janz's deep blue rub stuff (don't tell her. It's her own fault for leaving it out) to put on them. It's not really a big deal; I'm just sort of hoping to figure it out before it gets to be a big deal. 

Today I went down to Bountiful and met up with my mom. She bought me some new Kinvaras (meaning I can finally retire the old ones)  and running pants. Also she brought me a bike from home so I can finally cross-train when I feel like it. Also my aunt Judy gave me a watch. Also I used the opportunity to do all my laundry at my aunt's house and get some yum food to take back. It's always good to see the family.

So obviously I realize that I'm running farther than 3 miles in 30 minutes but I don't have a distance watch (actually I have no watch because I still have to go get batteries for the one I have) so I'm just kinda making things up. Anyway. I did 30 minutes this morning in my new Kinvaras and it felt good. I did some good static stretching after.

Then at practice we did a full set of drills plus 6 strides in groups and a full set of core. Core was killer. But it was a seriously beautiful day, so Coach dropped the med. ball exercises and we got to do all our core outside, which was way nice. I'm 99% certain I got bitten by a fly though. Logan is weird. Tomorrow morning (at 6-freaking-30 AM) is equipment pick-up so I'll have another pair of trainers to switch off with, plus flats and spikes and a whole lot of other shiz that I'm stoked about.

I was super tired today because I make poor decisions regarding when to go to bed because I'm generally having too much fun at night to think about sleep (yesterday, for example, we had FHE where I schooled everyone in air hockey and foosball, then we came back and watched Pitch Perfect and did handstands in the hallway til midnight. Now do you understand that I have better things to do at night than get a healthy amount of sleep?). In all seriousness though, I really do need to be getting to bed earlier. I was exhausted today. We woke up at 6:30 for equipment pick-up. Then there were some serious issues with mine and Janzen's bags (aka they didn't even have ours in the equpiment room) and it took us an hour and a half to get it all straightened out. In the end, though, we got (almost) everything we needed (although we'll definitely be present on exchange day) and got back to the apartment by 8. They give us so much stuff it's unreal. Just for being on the team. Janz and I don't even have enough room in our dresser for all this stuff.

ANYWAY. I think I was supposed to do my run after getting our equipment, but, like I said, I was really tired and since Coach is super focused on the girls going to conference right now and since I'm just building a base for track, I'm pretty much the boss of myself when it comes to getting my runs in. So I went after Career & Life and it was beautiful outside. I went sorta slow today just cause I was so tired. I wore the Nikes the team gave me though and let me tell you. They are the cushioniest shoes in existence. They felt weird and I didn't like them. I don't think they gave me the right trainers anyway because they're a different color & design than everyone else on the team's. I'm gonna take them to exchange day and see what the heck is going on with my equipment. Other than my shoes though, it was a good run. Static stretching after.

Went up a trail in Green Canyon- super pretty. Ended up only being 20 minutes though because the way back down took less time than anticipated. 

Core later. Felt better than last time, although during the first set of sit ups I almost died because I was so sore. But I think this time was more of an ab workout than a neck workout, so that at least means I'm figuring out how to do all the exercises. Also the girls started calling me JP.. I think that name is going to follow me the rest of my life.

Went up Green Canyon again, except today I didn't have anywhere to be so I got the whole 30 in. My legs definitely felt the hills on the way out today. The way back was much easier. I wore my old Kinvaras because I do not want to wear my Nikes.

Pretty short run today (like 20 minutes maybe) cause I've been all over the place and we're about to leave for SLC. My guess is that I won't get a run in tomorrow cause of this trip and work but we'll see. Felt good today.

Ended up finding time to run today after work. I hadn't actually eaten anything all day though except like 8 ounces of smoothie at 9:30 and an apple at noon. My manager let me go a bit early today though so I had time before we lost daylight (& warmth) so I got out there and did 30 minutes while I still could. I just ran down around the cross country course, which is pretty much this gravel loop that twists and turns around some Ag fields. I got chased by some horses, which was new for me. I've been chased by dogs while running before, but never horses. They were on the other side of a piece of wire that I assume is supposed to serve as some kind of fence, but it was still kind of scary because the wire wasn't very high up and horses seem to be fairly agile creatures (have you seen Tangled? Maximus jumps off a freaking roof and survives). So I was a bit nervous they'd jump over it or something. Good news, though: they didn't. 

Easy 30 minutes up Green Canyon today on my own. My legs and lungs were feeling it today so I turned around at the 25ish mark and then ran down a different trail that I hadn't done yet for a bit. At practice Heather, Megan and I did 10 minutes warm-up then 6 floats. They felt fine but I was struggling to figure them out. Coach Spence helped me fix my arms during the max-out portion. I think once I get doing them some more I'll be more confident and be able to do them better. Then we did core. Heather and I had a good talk, and Jackie asked me about my DogTown shorts.. those are always good for starting conversation. Tomorrow I have a hill workout with Megan.. sorta nervous, sorta excited.

Today was.. an experience. First workout since senior year. I was sorta sore from yesterday.. I don't think it was the floats, even though Coach said they might make us sore. I think it was from my futsal game last night. Don't tell my coach though. I don't know how happy it would make him to know I'm playing in soccer games every week.

Anyway, today Sydney, Megan, and I had 4xgradual hills and 6xsteep hills up Old Main in our spikes. I liked wearing my spikes.. I've never had any like these before. They're super light and thin.

We had 20 min warm up on this neato trail that I never knew about before and that felt fantastic. Had some good get-to-know-you conversation with Sydney. Then the gradual hills were fine.. they're mostly a form drill. The steep hills were.. something. I only did four- not necessarily because I was tired (my breathing was fine) but because my muscles tightened up so badly on the fourth that I was barely moving by the end. I'm sure it looked pretty pathetic to anyone walking by. I'm not super bummed out about it though.. I'm very aware that I'm out of shape and it's gonna take a while to get back to where I was. But man, it's crazy to think that there was a time when six of those hills would have barely fazed me (they're honestly not that fast or long, just super super steep. Overall, easier than Sunrise). After I finished my legs were shaking like none other. I physically couldn't stand still- I looked like I was having some kind of seizure, I'm sure. So that was embarrassing.10 minute cool down after and then a chocolate milk. 

Not much running today except what I got in with Spencer while we were cheering at state. The girls did well. I'm proud of them and what they've accomplished this year. 

AM: 35 minutes on my own down the trail from Tuesday. Felt good and the weather was nice. It's getting easier and easier to run up the stupid hill to my apartment.

PM: Well, all the 800 girls thought we were supposed to run this morning so we all did 35-40 minutes. Turns out Coach wanted us to get our mileage in this afternoon. So instead of a long warm-up/cool-down, we just warmed up to the XC course and then had no cool down. Anyway, we had 2x2 laps strides on the 500 m loop. On the first set, we just did 100 m on, 100 m off. It felt good to get a little speed in there without going all out. The next set we threw a 200 in there. I started to get a bit tired here but not terrible at all. Afterward, Coach talked to us a bit about the plan for the indoor season, then the other girls started setting up for the fun run tomorrow while I ran (literally) all the way back to my apartment (with my backpack on) so as to avoid being late for work. So I guess I got some sort of cool down.

AM: 35 minutes on my own. Had a close call where I rolled my ankle and nearly biffed it but managed to catch myself just in time. My right arch/shin area kinda ached today.. might ice it at some point but I don't have time right now- I have a math quiz in half an hour (wish me all the luck you possibly can), then at that point I'll be lucky if I make it back home to shower before 10.

PM: Megan, Sydney, Heather and I had weights with the sprinters this afternoon. It was fine except that I am apparently not mentally competent enough to figure out snatches and power cleans. Physically I think I can do it, but I can't wrap my brain around the concept and so eventually the coach gave up trying to help me and told me to practice my form this weekend. I had to leave before core though so I could get up to my advisor's office for my spring registration appointment. Then I had to book it down to Jazmin's office to turn in my paper, then back home to grab food and change, then down to the XC course to help with the 5k. Lately my entire life has been one long power walk to my next destination. I feel like I'm never anywhere, I'm just always everywhere. I kinda like the busy-ness, except for the lack of nap time. Tomorrow is just a longish run with maybe some strides at the end, so I can get a nap in after that. Then I might hang out with the team. Also I need to clean. And meet with the registrar. Oy.

Well. This morning I couldn't make myself want to run so I figured I'd get some cross training in. I got my bike from the basement, stuck it in my car, ran (figuratively. I actually drove) to Wal Mart to buy a stopwatch & helmet, then headed up to Green Canyon. Now I'm not exactly the world's best biker, so you might wonder "why would she want to bike up a rocky canyon trail when she's not even good at riding a bike?" The answer to this is that because I am not very skilled on two wheels, I wanted as few people as possible to witness this endeavor. It's not that I don't know how to ride a bike or that I've forgotten how (supposedly that's hard to do). It's just that biking was never my favorite method of transportation/exercise, so I never did it much and my biking muscles/skills are probably pretty underdeveloped. Also the bike I have is weird and I have a hard time controlling it. It has those plastic foot holder thingys and sometimes my feet get stuck when I stop and then I panic and fall over. Anyway, I made it probably 20 minutes (that's an estimate. I accidentally stopped my watch after 5 minutes.) and decided that was the end of my biking adventure for the day. Except probably I should only count 15 of those minutes because the way back to the car consisted of the bike rocketing down the hill while I sat as still as possible and compulsively slammed on the brakes every ten seconds. So.. that's the end of that. I might practice biking more just to get better at it.. but probably not.

Today all the 800 girls had 35 minutes easy so we were all going to go together but Sydney had to leave early so Heather went with her and Megan and I went together. We had a full set of drills before. Then we just ran down 8th. It was very quiet because Megan and I are kinda the same type of person (we'll talk to you if you talk to us first). It felt way good though and I got into that zone where I was so wrapped up in my thoughts (does it surprise anyone that they were about uses of grammar in different circumstances?) that I forgot I was even running. It felt way good. Then strides were good except the grass was freezing cold. Core was just 7/8 with push ups and dips as supplementals. I think we were supposed to do med. ball too but we didn't. 

20 minute warm up then hills with Megan and Sydney. Coach came and watched us this time. We did 4x35m warm-up hills, 4x70m progression hills, and 4x60m acceleration hills. They felt good- much better than last week. The one thing I really need to work on is my arms. I've never paid attention to my arms before, but Coach says I really need to focus on driving them from hip to chin. He also said my turnover is sorta slow, so I'll be working on that too. It's good to get feedback on form, because I've never had any real instruction on form before- I was always getting yelled at for my breathing (okay, not really yelled at, but still). So now I'm super conscious about my breathing (especially around this team because they've never heard how out-of-whack it can get), but I hardly ever think about my form. So I thought it was a pretty productive practice; even though it wasn't particularly hard, it was really technical and I got a lot out of it. We cooled down 12 minutes back to the track and then did legs. I did a 15 minute ice bath in the training room with Janz after.

35 minutes easy on my own, since Coach and the girls on the conference roster left today. I have no idea if the 800 girls met today or not.. I just decided to head out down 8th by myself. Then a set of 7 min core. Probably should have done an 8 minute set too but I didn't. Felt good today.

Did not feel well at all today- I got a sore throat at some point during the night and then started feeling nauseous and sorta dizzy partway through the day. Also I fell off my bed (approximately 5 feet off the ground) while trying to close the window last night and smashed into my desk- pencils went flying. So to say I felt a bit off today is an understatement. I considered skipping the run and taking a fabulously long nap in hopes of feeling better, but decided against it.

I decided to meet at the track at a little bit after regular practice time in case the 800 girls decided to meet up today (they're always late). However, because of my irritating inability to be late for anything (although, I admit, it's not nearly as irritating as my mother's incredible ability to be late to EVERYTHING), I showed up at 3:03 (practice is at 3:10). After about four minutes, I got sick of waiting, so I left before finding out if anyone was meeting up.

I went down to the Island Trail and was having a grand old run until I hit a slight snag: I passed a nice old man standing on one of the bridges over the canal. He said "hi" and I said "hi" and then he said "have a nice run" and I said "thanks" and I kept running. But then I looked at my watch and realized I was 3 minutes away from the turnaround point, meaning I'd probably have to pass him again on the way back. And then my social anxiety started to set in. I hate passing someone twice on a run- mostly when I'm by myself. Not for any sensible reason, it just makes me feel super awkward and anxious. Generally I'd just turn down another road on the way back and avoid the situation altogether. But I was on the Island Trail, meaning I was stuck between a canal and a cliff with a friendly old man standing between me and the only way out. So the only feasible solution was to take extra long before turning around. So I ran an extra 2.5 minutes to make it an even 20, then stopped and stretched for a ridiculously long time. Then I got up and started running back- slowly. Then I hit my second snag: I passed two of the USU guys running the opposite direction. This didn't seem like a problem at first (except for the fact that they said "well, look who it is," thus implying that they know me, and I didn't recognize them at all) until I realized that at some point they would be turning around as well and with me going as slow as I was, they'd probably pass me again. This caused me even more anxiety than the old man, so I picked up the pace and tried to get off of that stupid trail as quickly as possible (good news: the old man had left and the guys never passed me again). I had a pretty good pace going the entire way back, so the run ended up being like 37ish minutes (my watch didn't restart after a stoplight at 34 minutes, so that's an estimate). Then I had 8xstrides on the practice field and a full set of legs. I didn't actually remember all the leg exercises though, so I just kinda did what I knew, plus some that I probably made up in my mind. I felt not so sick afterward though, so that's way good.

And that's the personal account of my 40 minute run by myself. My ability to turn a relatively uneventful run into a story as long as the run itself astounds me. It's a fairly useless skill, but hey. I'll take what I can get.