XC Running

Today was my first day back from Lake Powell. It wasn't as hard as I expected but I did not really feel too good either. We ran the state course at sugar house for a warm up then ran over and did continuous hills. JV did 8 and varsity did 10. I did 10 and didn't feel too tired until the very last hill which was nice. After the hills we did two 45 second circuits. Those were hard. To finish we ran the state course backwards. I did the whole thing so I got 8.5 miles for the day. Hopefully I will be able to get back into running soon!

Speed work out at Liberty. We ran one lap as a warm up then did 6 strides. After the strides we ran an 800, my time was 3:33 on that. Then we did an 800 as a recovery. After that we ran a mile. My time on that was 7:44. I would have liked to be a bit faster on that but I am still happy about my time.  I'm not sure how long the recovery was after that but then we did another 800. My time on that was 3:30. To finish we ran a lap then added on to get an even 8. The breakfast in the park after was delicious! 

We ran one of my favorite trails today, pipeline. I like it because there aren't too many hills and it's nice and cool up there. It was my first time actually getting to the end. I haven't even made it to the snakehead before so I was happy. By the end I really had to push my self so I wouldn't stop or walk at all and my legs were really sore, especially my quads. I've found its easier to push with somebody than to try and do it yourself. At first there was always somebody ahead of my that I could try and keep up with or pass but on the way back I was by myself and it was much harder. We added just a bit onto the end to get 10 miles. I did my core when I got home and wasn't as sore.

In the morning today we met at sunnyside. Everyone did 2 1/2 laps in bonneville glen then we did 10 big strides and varsity did a 2 lap cool down. It was a fairly easy workout but for some reason I just wasn't feeling it. This was probably the worst I've felt all week.

At 6 it was the alumni run, BBQ, and XC race for placement. It was super hot but I just had to keep going. I wanted to make varsity and was happy that I came in 7th. 

We met today at Liberty for a pretty easy work out. We did a lap warm up then we did a fireman. I had a hard time on the fireman and was feeling horrible. I wish I could have done better on that. After the fireman we did some strides then a lap cooldown. I added some on at the end to get to 5. We had waffles for breakfast after which were delicious.

My first race! I feel like I did pretty well but want to defiantly improve for our next race. Our race didn't start until 10:30 so we had sometime before it started. We cheered people on and sort of looked at the course to know what it was like. I was nervous and wasn't sure what to expect. We started the Varsity warm up about a half hour before the race. It include a mile running, some stretches and some strides. We lined up at the line and the race started. I feel like I started pretty well at a pace that was pushing me out of my comfort zone but a pace I could keep. I passed people on the road but once we got on the trail I couldn't pass anyone and nobody passed me. There was a girl behind me who tried to pass me but I pushed so she wouldn't. I liked hearing all of the people cheering because it really encouraged me. I pushed it until the end and was OK with my time. I guess I need to work on arm swings to increase my speed. For our cool down we ran the course backwards. I have found that cool downs really do help and they aren't just there to drive you insane. I had a nice nap when I got home then took a 20 minute ice bath. The ice bath felt good and my muscles weren't nearly as sore as usual. I feel good about the race and I am excited for the next one! Oh and by the way my time isn't the exact time I don't think its just what my watch read. Once we get the actual times I will fix that.