Running Blog

Timed mile today! I was actually kinda excited for it.. then we did the warm up and I wasn't excited anymore. But once we actually started racing or trialing or whatever you want to call it, I felt really good. I ran pretty much the entire thing with Danny. I struggled just a tad on the third lap, but I came back on the last one. Ended up running a 5:26, which is 3 seconds slower than my PR. It felt really good to have a good race on the track. Coach told me later that this year I'm gonna focus on the 800. I'll still run the 400 and the 1600 sometimes, but mostly the 8, for which I am so glad.

AM: Easy 3 to Arctic Circle. Chilly!!

PM: Easy 4! We mostly rode a bus around instead of running.. but then the bus turned into a train, and at the very end, motorcycles! That's right. We had our own motorcycle gang. Fun fun. Striders after.. I was kinda hungry during them.. I should probably eat more for lunch, but I'm never hungry then.

AM: easy three in and around the school.. I had fun.. But apparently Mia didn't.

PM: Ice cream run! Went four to Starbucks, then stopped at arctic circle for ice cream cones! 4x200 after.. Felt fine, even after the treats.

AM: Easy 3. Ran up the bank to the fence, as is now tradition on the last day of morning practice, apparently. Matt scared the spit out of us on the way back.

PM: Easy 3.. in CALIFORNIA! Super humid. And foggy. Felt good though.

Ran on the course(ish) at Mt. SAC. Super muddy out there, so we couldn't go on all of it cause they were laying hay and sawdust. Excited for the race tomorrow!

Didn't get a great warm up in.. but I still felt ready to go by the time we lined up.

RACE: The start was horrendous. I'm not very good with my elbows, and it seems that every other runner girl in the world is, so I was super squished and I was stepping on people everywhere. But when we hit the loops, I got out around the crowd and for the entire first mile I was passing girls all over the place. It made me a little nervous, cause I knew that the first mile is the easy part and I didn't want to start too fast then not have anything for the next two miles. But I remembered that last year the hills were where I passed everyone, and I figured it would be a good idea to get in a good position, then continue to pass people on the hills. And it worked out just greatly. On the switchbacks, everyone just suddenly died and I passed 6 or 7 girls right there. Then I knew I'd have to keep it up, because last year everyone I caught on the hills passed me back on the downhills. So I kept the pace over the top of the hill and down, even though my legs were dying. On the crossover, Coach told me that I was in 21st place, and to catch a few girls. So I did, on Poopout hill, getting into 17th or 18th place.. but then three girls caught me on the downhill. On the way up Reservoir hill, I passed a girl or two, but I was still in like 20th ish place. I really didn't think I'd have very much left for the finish, but when I hit the Gauntlet, I could hear all of our freshmen and sophomores cheering for me, and it helped a ton. I ended up finishing 17th.

Mia and I got a pretty excellent cool down in trying to catch up to Coach, and then cheering for Stoner and Michael. We were all over that course. Anyway, as for the race, I was happy with it, and it was a 42 second improvement over last year's time, so that's pretty good. Good way to end my XC career at PV.