A Very Deep Day

Today was a wonderful run! Total time added up to 60 minutes, which I'ma call 7 miles. I ran with Carlijn and we ran Waban in 53 minutes, then strides, and then I had to run to Washington Street to get mah car. Anyways, so we ran to Waban talking amount my life right now, mainly college. We checked my mailbox but nothing yet :)And thennnn we ran over to Waban and started talking about future life plans. Then we talked about fate, and whether there really is fate, or if there are a ton of different paths we could go down and whichever one we choose is completely random or even chosen for us. From there we got into talking about church and god and the general meaning of life. After much debate, we decided that the meaning of life is competition, and without competition, there would be no purpose. We also concluded that God is basically watching us all like on tv, thus, we have to create meaning for ourselves, namely our of competition. Most of the happiness we get is from competing, thus if we want to be happy, we must compete. Which explains why track makes us both so happy :)

Elm Bank

Saturday was Elm Bank - we had a 45-60 minute run with a 12 minute tempo at 5k pace with 3 1 minute pickups at mile pace (within the tempo). Needless to say this was difficult and I probably didn't keep up the paces. But I couldn't tell because I had no one to run with (ahemm Carlijn) so I just ran the woods loop at Elm Bank 3 times. I felt really really tired and my quads were killing. But I started in a bad mood and ended in a good mood so I guess that was good. I was in a bad mood because I am stressed about college, and I saw on college confidential that Bowdoin people were supposed to find out either yesterday or tomorrow, and I was worried it was going to be yesterdaybutthenthemailhadn'tcomeandihadtogotopracticesoahhhhhhhhh!!!!!! But now I'm feeling a bit better :) Anyways, I ran 60 minutes, most of which was pretty slow.

Circuits

Such fun. 17 warm up with Chris. Some new pics and so many comments from the sophomores- always so fun :)

anywayyyyssss, Rachel did circuits with us! They weren't as bad today - my arms felt strong on the arm circles and my legs were fine on all the squats, but the abs were really really rough. oh well.

Then we did two heavy sets of weights in the fitness center, which was also rough because my arms were like dead.

And then Chris and I did 16 cool down on Washington. Also, for anyone who was interested, Whole Foods does NOT carry Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownies. Such a disappointment.

Today was a good day

for once! The day itself was actually kind of crappy - I was really really tired, butttttt track was wonderful! We ran 3x400, 4x200 at current 1000 pace, so I decided a good goal for the first meet would be 3:20. Lo and behold, I ran 79,78,79 for the 400s, and that was with slowing down in the last hundred meters because I went out too fast (which, I know is a bad thing, but anyways...). And then the 800s went 38, 37,37,37, which is way UNDER pace, which was BEAUTIFUL because they felt so good! I ran 20 minutes warm up with Dana and we had a lovely conversation about skiing and how running is so much better :) And then I cooled down with Chris and we found Eve on the way and ran with her too! 15 minutes down.

Now my quads feel like rocks - I'm gonna have to roll them out tonight!

Some more runningggg

Tuesday:

3x{150, 5x40, 150, 5x40, 150}. This was a bit rough. The last 150's of each set went 27, 30, 27. And the fastest one was 26.

Wednesday:

45 minute run. I was really tired. And then there were weights. And I was really tired again. Probably a good day all around :)

Monday

Today was supposed to be 1200 @ 90 pace, 900 @85 pace, 600@80 pace and 300@75 pace. Unfortunately, I had to bail after the 900. I did the 120o pretty well - a 4:33 simply because all the change from my 45 second splits added up, but during the 900 I was exhausted and went 42-46-50-and down from there. It was really awful and felt like the end of a race. I don't know whats wrong with me. My first thought was iron levels, and thats what I told Coach Johnson. I think it might be part that because I've been bad and forgetting to take my iron pills. And then also I'm really tired from last week and especially from Cotillion. so idk. it better get better.

Indoor!

Now I'm for reals going to start this up again! :)

SO for Monday, the first day of indoor, we had a rapist running around town, and weren't allowed to go out for a run. We talked to the new coach for a while, and listened to all of Griff's rules. Its so weird being the oldest in Middle, and also weird without Chisum :( Anyways, not ones to be stopped by silly rapists in Wellesley, Betsy, Nina and I drove over to Waban and ran around there. It was a very pleasant, albeit creepy, run. It got dark like 5 minutes in, so there were a few almost tripping incidences but its fine, it all worked out and no one got hurt (or shot/raped). (40 minutes)

Tuesday we did new circuits. We warmed up for 15 and it was really nice to warm up with the whole team! The circuits were semi-awful - I was in pain in my abdomen, arms and legs basically until today, but I love being sore so its fine! Cooled down for 15 and went home! (4 miles)

Wednesday was our first track workout. We did 5x600 starting at 3:15 pace and running 15 seconds faster each rep. It started out super easy, but quickly got much much harder! Carlijn and I ran with Sabina, Ellen, Mimi, Anna, and Alana! Our paces went : 3:10, 2:54, 2:38, 2:22, 2:08. 15 cool down

Thursday was more circuits! This time leg-centered, and boy could I feel it! I still cannot walk down stairs :/ 15 up, 20 down.

Friday was hard. wayyyyy hard. 2(3x350) at 65 pace. Unfortunately that did not work out. It ended up being 65, 67, 69, 70, 72, 72. Oops. Whatever, I don't think I'm built for speed anyways! 15 up, 15 down

Saturday was FINALLY a long run! We met at Elm Bank and ran. We went out the back way and down Winding River, through the aqueduct, and back to Elm to run some trails! I got to talk to Dana and Julia a bit too, which was nice! And after they stopped, I ran with Betsy, Rachel and Katya, all of whom I dearly miss running with :( Then we all sunbathed and stretched in the parking lot. Cotillions tonight so I'm super excited to die in high heels!! (58 minutes)

should probs start this up again...

more running...

tuesday - 58 with eve - like almost 7 miles?

wednesday - 48 with eve - 5.5

thursday - 3 with eve in the morning, 5 at night in the marathon sports 5 miler - 420th place! whoop whoop! (8 total)

Friday - 3.5 miles in the morning, 2 at night - 5.5 total


total so far = 31.85, need like 7.15 today - ew

more recent runs...

friday: awful run on my own...i think like 54 minutes...

saturday...run with jessie- lasted roughly 35 minutes...7:20 minute pace..ouch

monday - fun run with eve! actually I wasn't going to run with eve but we met up on waban! It was a weird start...i felt like vertigo or something, like I was in a dream...?

recent runs

So Tuesday I ran with Nina in the blistering heat at 3:45 pm...worst possible time to run. I ran 19 minutes to her house, break, roughly 25 minutes with nina, water break, and 20 minutes home. Total of 66 minutes, but it was all very very slow and very very HOT.

Wednesday I ran with Carlijn. We met at the track and ran around Waban. Roughly 6.3 miles. It was quite fun and not as hot as the day before.

Thursday I ran with Priyanka. We ran to Nina's house from the highschool to pick up some stuff, and then back to my house. Another pleasant run! Apx. 52 minutes.

more hills...

Today I ran to Duck Pond and back for a 42 minute run. I started out too fast and DIED. I couldn't breathe and it was really starting to become an issue. Then I realized that because I was wearing a tank top with a built in sports bra plus my normal sports bra, I was too constricted, so I took off the tank top in the middle of the road. Probably quite the sight. But I finished my run more easily, so it was worth it! haha

that saturday run...

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/40958206/

that should be the link - the elevation GAIN was 151 ft, and thats AFTER subtracting all those downhills...haha it felt like more ;)

Saturday

We had friends over this weekend, so I had to get up early to complete my run before they got up... Unfortunately, they didn't get up until over an hour after I returned. But that's besides the point-

Anyways, I went for a run up to Ocean View Drive. A road which my mother had claimed was flat. Simply put, it was not. In fact, it had rather long, annoying hills. Oh, and did I mention the consistent wind blowing in my face? This went on for twoish miles, before turning back down Cahoon Hollow Road. Thinking this was downhill, I got all excited. Instead, it was down AND UPHILL. Legit, I think I climbed about twenty hills, big and small, on that 65 minute run. Ew. it hurt.

monday - 40 - 4.25

tuesday - rough day - but 6.55 miles

weds-38 min - 4.5 mi

thursday - 53 min - 6.3

friday - 38 min - 4.52

need 6.88 tomorrow

Thursday and Friday

Thursday I went for a long(er) run of 53 minutes. It felt great! I ran down to Duck Pond, and down King's Highway back home.

And this morning it was raining, but still a pretty good run. I explored Paine's Hollow for 19 minutes and then turned around - nothing much to see, so maybe I'll try again when I can go longer...

Wednesday

Today I wasn't going to run in the morning but did because my mom was going for a run in the morning, and I couldn't be upstaged by her...of course, I didn't run with her, but I couldn't wait at home waiting to go to the beach while she's out there getting exercise.

and surprisingly - the run went fine! There were a ton of hills (I went out King's Highway) but my legs didn't protest at all. I went 38 minutes total - probs a little over 4 miles. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as pleasurable...

Tuesday

Tuesday was bad. I almost got Matthew to run with me but he lasted about .2 miles before his "knees hurt really bad"...ya right.

Then I ran to Indian Neck and back (apx. 3 miles) and was going to do it again to get a long run, but just couldn't. I started running back down and had to turn around. I felt incredibly tired and unmotivated. ugh.

So I biked to Maguire Landing and back (6 miles) and when I got home, went for a second run - again to Indian Neck and back. and I saw Dr. King! weird running into him here - especially seeing him on a bike and in sunglasses, haha! This second run hurt too - none too fun. It was mostly the calves.

July 4th

Happy 4th of July! This morning I woke up and immediately went for a run. It was 38 minutes, and deathly. I ran down Route 6 (opposite way from Saturday) into town. What I did not realize about the center of town: a) it is also hilly and b) people were ALREADY lining up for the parade (which was still apx. 2 hours away). I also did not realize Wellfleet had THIS MANY HILLS! Anyways, I ran 2.16 miles out, and then back, up and down those ridiculous hills. I mapped my run - the run started out at 8.5 minute/mile, and ended with 9.7 minute/mile. Ouch. I was really feeling quite horrible. I'm not exactly sure what to do about it but here are the possible reasons:

a) I jumped up in mileage too fast (but my runs of the same length with Eve last week felt fine...)
b) I start my runs too fast
c) I am not adjusted to Wellfleet's humidity and it has been rather hot
d) I am not adjusted to Wellfleet's hills and they are killing my runs.

I'm not really sure what to do...decrease mileage, slow down, etc, but tomorrow I will search for flatter roads and see how I feel.

playing catch up - Saturday

On Saturday I went for a 55 minute run - it was roughly 6.3ish miles? I ran up to Maguire's landing and back. I felt great going up there, but coming back was PAINFUL. I have a new hatred for route 6, the glaring sun on Route 6, and Route 6's gradual hills.

Wellfleet

Today was not a good day. I went for 35 minutes, which I think is my current base. But it was hot and sunny and I reallllyyyy don't like running alone, nor do I really enjoy running on route 6, nor on sand. Hopefully this cape cod running situation will get better! Almost no soreness today. Pros: the BEACH! Swimming and laying on the sand. The Cons: running alone, running in the heat, obtaining a sun burn.

Thursday

Another 6:30 run with Eve! My legs were still sore, but otherwise it was very pleasant! We did blue arrow trail to the dump and back.

Run with Eve!

Today I got up at 6:06 to go for a run with Eve! Unfortunately, Eva felt sick and couldn't join us :( But I had a wonderful morning run down the aqueduct (scary) and through Wellesley College. It was extremely humid, but the run was pleasant and I enjoyed catching up with Eve!

Tuesday

Today my legs felt like crap - they were so so so so so sore from squats, and I didn't even do that many. I was also in a really bad mood and got more and more angry as the run went on. Since my legs were also in pain, it was not a pleasant run. I ran brook path down to the Wellesley Congregational Church, and back reverse brook path. All in all it was 42 minutes. Then I tried to do some ab work and arm stuff, but was in a really bad mood so it didn't work out too well. It also felt really hot out.

Monday

Yesterday I ran 4 miles to the highschool to get my transcript, and then like a mile home, so the total run was 5.26. This was a 45 minute run, run wayy too fast. Well, at least the first part, I slowed down a ton on the brook path home! It even got a bit painful. Then, I did my squat routine from the spring and am currently dealing with quite a lot of soreness. Ew.

the not quite off day...

So today I didn't run, but I had tons of activity!

This morning Rachel and I had a make-up hot yoga class, at 7:30, which is too early for normal humans. But its nice when you're done...the instructor today was very militant and annoying...not so fun.

Then, for lunch, Nina and I went on a 10 mile bike ride! We biked to the aqueduct, then down past the water well, then out winding river, into Needham, and to the Charles River Peninsula. Then we picnicked on a rock and watched nature...and some annoying boats that kept disturbing our nature. We then biked back via Grove Street, circle around in front of Jessie's house more than a few times, wishing she was home and contemplating sneaking into her pool, and then went to Trulys. Then we went to the library and picked up some quality running books. And then home. A pretty good day, I should say!

quite the morning...

So I woke up at 6:45 this morning to go to hot yoga with Rachel. I arrived at Rachel's house at 7:08 and waited for her to come out. And waited. And waited. I actually had a very nice time sitting in my car, listening to music and the rain and being stared at by random passerby. Like actually. Then I left at 7:27 assuming it was then too late to go to the 7:30 yoga class, and went home. I then had a lovely morning finishing Born To Run in bed. Afterwards, I was quite inspired and went for a run. Except I already had a ton of mileage for my first week back, so I only did 3 miles. I ran down the brookpath to Caroline path and back. I was feeling so good in the last mile, so I made it a progression run. I single-handedly beat all the people on the brook path running ahead of me, it was thrilling! Although I made sure I was polite and said "good morning" as I ran past! haha, I think I have a new favorite pastime :)

Total mileage this week - 30. (maybe a little high? we'll see how I feel next week!)

friday

last day of camp - HUZZAH!

and I didn't run until after camp - so at like 5. This was the first run that felt REALLY GOOD. It didn't at first, but then I met Raquel, and there was a lot of breaks and slowness involved, but when I dropped her back off at her house I felt phenomenal and basically sprinted the mile and a half home! It was great! The total run was 5.32 miles, a bit longer than expected/needed, but it just felt great!

thursday...rainy

Rainy and gross...ew

I also HATE getting up early, but there's no possible way I would ever run after camp, especially seeing as I usually take a nap for about 2-3 hours!

Anyways, I did a nice easy 30 minutes today. I could feel my hamstring a tad, but I don't feel anything right now, so that's a good sign. I ran down Weston road and back - exciting, I know!

3.64 miles, 8.2 minute pace, gotta remember to take that heartrate!

Mileage:

Saturday: 3.7 (8.6 minute mile)

Sunday: 4.2 (7.8 minute mile)

Monday: 3.7 (8.1 minute mile)

Tuesday: 5.52 (8.3 minute mile)

Wednesday: 4.8 (8.6 minute mile)

According to map my run, my runs have been significantly speedier than I thought they were...oops...

Total so far - roughly 23 miles in 5 days...remember when this used to be the total for like 2 and a half days?? :)

Waban...again

Today I woke up slightly later - 6:35, and went for a 41 minute run. Basically into town and down around Waban. I've been really tired lately - probably because of camp. But my hamstring felt better!

"long" run

Today I ran 46 minutes. It was awful, seeing as I had to go at 5:55 so I could be back in time for camp...

and then at camp I pulled my hamstring AGAIN sprinting while playing fishy fishy cross my ocean....wonderful. Hopefully its not too bad and I can still run tomorrow...we'll see.

Running with a cold

well, it sucks, first off. I was hoping that yesterday's yoga would clear my sinuses or at least "heal my body" so the dumb cold would go away, but it only worked yesterday. My cold came back with a vengeance last night at midnight - precisely when I was trying to fall asleep! Then this morning the people across the street had these lawn guys come to cut their grass and trim their bushes, etc, and their truck literally sat outside my window beeping for about 10 minutes...

Regardless, I got up at 8, ate, and went for another 30 minute jog. I was having some trouble breathing due to the cold, and my hamstrings were sore from yoga, but they weren't really tired. I ran down Grove and into the creepy street were all the houses look alike, and then to the path behind them. Running on trails, I have rediscovered, is tons of fun!

Also yesterday, I went for a 33 minute run around Waban before lunch. That one felt good, and I didn't start getting tired like on Saturday until 27 minutes. Again, I think most of it is the cold, because its mostly breathing issues and it feels like there's this rock in my chest. To medicate, I ate a lot of cough drops, which are very tasty :)

Reading "Born to Run"

What I love about summer is all the downtime I have to sit in my bed, with the window open next to me, and read. Its even better when the book's about running. This particular book, "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall, is about finding out why the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico can run so well and so long. The secret, he finds, is love of running. As I was reading, I came upon this passage about a Czech runner who apparently broke 3 Olympic records in the same year WITHOUT any coached training - apparently he did 100 meter repeats till he dropped, or 90x400s with 200 meter rest! Anyways, here's the passage - enjoy!


"Zatopek's inexperience quickly became obvious. It was a hot day, so England's Jim Peters, then the world-record holder, decided to use the heat to make Zatopek suffer. By the ten mile mark, Peters was already ten minutes under his own world record pace and pulling away from the field. Zatopek wasn't sure if anyone could really sustain such a blistering pace. "Excuse me," he said, pulling alongside Peters. "This is my first marathon. Are we going too fast?"

"No," Peters replied. "Too slow." If Zatopek was dumb enough to ask, he was dumb enough to deserve any answer he got.

Zatopek was surprised. "You say too slow," he asked again. "Are you sure the pace is too slow?"

"Yes" Peters said. Then he got a surprise of his own.

"Okay. Thanks.: Zatopek took Peters at his word, and took off.

When he burst out of the tunnel and into the stadium, he was met with a roar: not only from the fans but from athletes of every nation who thronged the track to cheer him in. Zatopek snapped the tape with his third Olympic record. "

Its been awhile..

sorry for the lag - There was never any very exciting news to post, so I didn't - the season end was disappointing, but I'm over it. The bigger issue now is that Coach Chisum is leaving...I will miss him a lot - I loved having him as a coach/ friend I could talk to at school. I will never forget these past two years with Chisum as my coach, they were exceptionally wonderful and fun! BUT he is not leaving town, so I will make sure to visit lots!

As for summer training, I just started yesterday (6/18). I went for a 32 minute run with Brennan coming for about 20 of it. It felt good, but weird, to be running after 12 days off. My legs felt like jello! Until like 22 minutes in I felt fine - and then I was all the sudden gasping for breath. I think I'm a bit out of shape - but I also have a cold and I think that contributed a lot.

This morning, I got up at 7 and went to a 7:30 hot yoga class with my father and Rachel! We had tons of fun! I did hot yoga for the first time last week, and it feels great after the class! (just not during the 90 minutes of soaking yourself with sweat!) I'm going to go for a run later today, probably before lunch so it doesn't get too hot!

B run

So it turns out my b run was supposed to be 58 minutes, so thats what I did! Jessie and I went right after school down leafy and back through linden and town. Then 6 flat strides. We had to finish early to get to the middle school meet, which we officiated! It was really fun!

thursday

workout today...4x400 with the first 200's at 800 pace, the second 200's at 2 mile pace. I was quite tired and my legs (especially calves!) felt kinda sore...We ran 34-42 first (a bit fast!), then 35-45, 35-45, and finished with 35-47. Warmed up 14 minutes and cooled down 40.

B run +10

Today was B +10 and I did 73 minutes, although I'm not really sure if that is B +10 or B+15. Anyways, I ran with carlijn, Caroline and Erika, which was fun! Although I miss Brennan and hope she continues to run with us (hint hint...). So we went around Waban and I got to listen to carlijn and Caroline converse in French! Then 5 flat strides at the end!

last dual meet

Alrighty, so things didn't go as planned...

I went out in a 34, not a 35. In my defense, I went through 100 in 17 mid, and since the wind was blowing in our faces down the final straightaway it might have been blowing at our backs in the back straightaway. Anyways, I came out with 2:32. rough go all around. Then Carlijn and I did 12x30x30 fartleks, and I did a total of 40 minutes cooldown (plus like 16 warm up). Gts

Monday

Only 39 minutes today...but quite an eventful run!!! hehehehe

anyways, I also did 5 downhill strides with Jessie (!) and then a few paced 100's on the track, which were 17.5 and 18, so I just need to do the 17.5 tomorrow and I'll be fine!!!

Sunday

30 minutes with Jessie!

Twilight Meet!

What a day! I was freakin' out all day, especially after SATs! It started pouring and hailing, and I thought for sure it would be canceled! And then I got there and warmed up with Eve. As soon as we finished the warm up, they stopped the meet temporarily...for an hour. Eve got fed up and ran, which was impressive! I would never be able to go out and run alone!

The meet finally started, and I ran my race! PR! I ran 5:35.33, which was slower than I had hoped, but also faster than ever ! I'll take it! Although I did get a tad lazy - that 89 in there was a bit of a problem...gotta work on that! I warmed up a total of 23 minutes and cooled down for 67 - I meant to do 60, but then Brennan (suprisingly!) wanted to run more around the pond, and Carlijn needed someone to run with too!

friday

Today was like nothing. I warmed up for 15 minutes, did light drills and cooled down for 10.

Thursday

4 x (4 x 200), with the first set at 2 mile pace, then mile, then 800, then the last set was 2 mile, mile, 800, 400. It all felt very good! Everything was also too fast, the 2 miles were 43/44, the miles were around 41 (and started with 39! oops!) and the 800s were 35/36, and the last 400 was 33. The middle schoolers were always in the way though, they need to stay out of lane 1! I warmed up for 17 minutes, and cooled down for like 37 i think...

long run

I ran in the morning today and ran around Waban 1 1/2 times, then turned around and did it in reverse, so it was really more like 3x around waban. Fun stuff, and it ended up being 78 minutes. Then I did 5 strides!

Later I ran to practice with Jessie and then ran back home with Kevin and crew, so that added on something like 20 minutes, but it was like 8 hours later so it felt fine!

rough go all around...

unfortunately, I did not break 2:30. Another stupid first two hundred kindly prevented me from doing so. As a result I ran 2:33. Again. My reaction: not happy.

yes, i am currently procrastinating on history...

but its ok if its to blog about running, right? Anyways, I am very very very nervous for tomorrow. 2:30 (well, 2:31 for that matter) has been a very big wall for me and I REALLY want to get over it! But I'm worried about pacing (especially after that horrific instance on Saturday) and I'm really quite worried! Still, I feel like I have to break 2:30 sometime, so Milton might as well be the meet! 2:28 here I come!!

And as for today - I went on a pleasant 53 minute run (B-10) with Brennan and Nina. Nina came for the first 5 minutes, which was nice and exciting and I miss running with her tons! Then Brennan did the first half hour with me, and I finished up on the brook path. fun stuff. also 6 down hill strides. coolio.

still procrastinating...for all who are interested, it took me five minutes to write this post because I REALLY don't want to study! :)

sunday

so since last night was such a long day, I accidentally fell asleep at 9:20 while studying history, and woke up at 6:45! So I went for about an hour run around waban - two loops since I live close - and it was very pleasant! I wasn't sore or anything from yesterday too, which was nice!!! People do strange things though, on Sunday mornings: I was running around waban and saw people camped out by the lake, and it was only 40 degrees! gah! I think I woke them up though, because as soon as I passed, the tents started moving! hahaha

Relay Meet

Today was the relay meet. It ended up being an 11 hour day leaving at 7:15 and returning at 6! Whew! It was fun though! I went out WAYYYY too hard for my 800 ( in the 4x8) and kinda died after that! My 200 split was 32. oof. Anyways, I came back in 2:33, which is faster than anything yet this season and hopefully means I can go sub 2:30 on Tuesday if I don't go out too fast again! I then cooled down for about an hour because I felt good and had nothing else to do!

Friday

another very short day - today I only went for 35:45!!! I arrived back at the highschool BEFORE 40 minutes, and decided to STOP! I think I'm making some progress!

Thursday

Strange. not a long run post meet day! I warmed up 25 minutes with Brennan and NINA!!!! And then we did 150xprogressing pace. They started out a little slow and finished a little fast. go figure. but the effort felt the same! Then I cooled down 35 minutes. Some more mileage!

the race

so i ran the mile yesterday and it was tons of fun! Pri paced me which helped a lot because I didn't really have to think about anything! Except we went out in an 80/81...oops. Then it slowed down, then picked back up, then slowed down. All in all, it was a 5:39. Same as last time Pri paced me. Except this time felt a lot easier. I felt really good the whole race. I just felt like I couldn't go fast. I was trying to sprint at the end and nothing was happening...hopefully speed phase will help with that!

Warm up was 15 minutes, cool down was 50. Good mileage :)

short run

39 minutes and 43 seconds. Solid run. 6 downhill strides.

back to school

unfortunately, we had school again today. Vacation was wonderful, but i suppose all nice things must end. Such as sleep. gahhhh...

anyways, today I warmed up 20 minutes keeping a close eye on Brennan to make sure she didn't collapse! Then we did 6x400 on the grass. They went 89.92, 91,91,91,94, 95. I'm not really sure what happened at the end there. Well, for the second to last one, i do, because we were starting when another group was ending and I basically had to stop dead because I almost ran into someone! The last one though...mehhhh, I suppose my legs were tired? they kind of hurt coming up that small hill by the fence!

Anyways, then I cooled down half an hour, so I'm estimating about 8 miles today? maybe? haha 45 minutes tomorrow, looking forward to it!

B run

Ouch. My legs are QUITE sore! I tried running slowly, but basically just ran what felt comfortable, which, according to mapmyrun, wasn't all that slow. Oh well, I fulfilled my mileage for the week! 58!

Anyways, as soon as I got outside, it started POURING and continued to do so for the remainder of the 78 minute run! I ran around Waban and then the Hardy-Sprague loop (RUNNING up the big hill of course!) and then around the brook path and such until 78 minutes was up. The I did 6 strides on my street, so they were probably pretty short, but my legs were dead!

felt like saturday?

I suppose because we had a workout...? Anyways, the workout was 12x200 with rest starting at 60 seconds, then 45, then 30, then 60, 45, 30, etc. After that we did 10xCorda Hill. Lots of hard running! I believe my splits went as follows:

36.98
37.?
36.55
36.65
37
37
37
37
38
38
40
38

at least, I think thats what they were...the middle kind of blurs! But if that is what happened (and I think it is) then the middle 800 was 2:28...which could be good...meaning I'm in that kind of shape...or bad...meaning I definitely DIDN'T run that on Wednesday...oh well...

(Brennan: as a disclaimer, yes, I do remember the decimals for the 36's because i was focusing on how far off my 37's I was...)

And then we did Corda Hill! I'm a rather strange person and hate the idea of hills but like them as a workout when we actually start them. So the hills didn't feel nearly as bad at the 200's. Especially with jog down rest!

Warm up was 17:30, cool down was about 15.

To get extra mileage, I did 3.75 miles around 5:30 this afternoon, that way I can just run a b run on Saturday and take Sunday completely off!

Thursday

longgggggg run! I had to run at night because we spent all day at middlebury and dartmouth. They were both nice schools, I definitely like middlebury better! Anyways, we got home at 6:20 and I still had a 98 minute run to do! So I did it! Ran down leafy and back, then down to elm bank and back - 12 miles! And I listened to music so as not to get bored, I ended up listening to the same two songs over and over and I think it helped the run go by faster!

Finished up with 6 "uphill" strides on my street - not sure how much of an uphill it really was!

wednesday

race v. NN. meh, bad time...2:35 but it felt like i couldnt go any faster...

22 warm up, 48 cool down, 4x400 after the race - not really sure where the 400 mark was, but they were all between 90 and 95.

Tuesday B-10

today was an ok day...I was REALLY tired, it was strange...

Anyways, Brennan and I did 68 minutes, and 8ish miles!

Marathon Monday!

Hopefully I will be racing the marathon someday! As it is, I did 86 minutes with 7 2 minute fartleks and 1 minute rest. It was awful because I didn't wait enough time after eating lunch, so I felt really nauseous the whole time. And then my legs were burning the rest of the way home. Ewwww.

saturday

Saturday was hills. We did straight up and down hills for once! I must say, it was quite a bit more boring! So 1/2 an hour on the hill, 15 minute warm up, 17 minute cool down. And then to finish up i did half an hour later on to get all the mileage for the week. 58!

Sorry!

As I know I have many fans (haha jokes) I would like to apologize for not posting! Here's what happened this week:

Monday:

B Run - 78 minutes plus uphill strides. Ran with Brennan and Rachel! Aqueduct and waban loop.

Tuesday:

Race day, but didn't race just to be safe. Instead I did 25 warm up, then 6x800, then 40 cool down. The 800's were awful - they were supposed to be 3:02, but it went 3:01, 3:07, 3:16, 3:20, 3:21, 3:19. And the rest was 1 minute for the first 4, then last two were getting painful so I stretched it to 1:30.

Wednesday:

Long Run - fun time with Brennan running in the rain! 98 minutes! 6 downhill strides.

Thursday:

Circuits! Actually they weren't too bad and it was nice and sunny out! Very enjoyable! The running in between was 800 (2:56), 600 (2:13), 400 (87), 800 (2:56). Fast. Oh well. I cooled down 36 minutes. (17 up)

Friday:

B run - 78 plus 6 flat strides. Two loops around waban.

hills!

So hills felt great today! Well, I didn't feel so great, but my knees did! I didn't feel a thing! I warmed up 15 minutes with Ashley and Caroline, then did 30 minutes on the hills doing the longer loop with James and Kevin. I felt really slow and basically exhausted - maybe the heat? I'm not sure, and I believe my form broke down a bit, but there was no pain! And I finished my first workout in a week and a half! Then I cooled down 15 minutes! Also, it was beautiful today! Shorts and t-shirt! yayyyy!!!!

45 minutes

I felt good again today! My right calf (the one with the knee) felt a tad tight, but not too bad. I "switched up terrain" by running 1/2 way around Waban and jumping over the rock wall onto Pond to try a hill. It felt fine! Although it was not a very relaxing run however, I couldn't stop paying attention to my knee. My obsessive tendencies aren't really helping me there. Anyways, I got the 45 done! Can I do the hills tomorrow please??? :)

I LOVE CHIROPRACTERS!

Now matter how strange the method, I suppose it worked! I ran for 30 minutes today with no pain! It was quite a boring run around the fields so Chisum could watch me - feedback: I was running tentatively at first, then more relaxed. Annoyingly, my legs were really sore and felt tight - fine after stretching -maybe from not being used for 2 days? Hopefully I can just run relaxed tomorrow, I'm gonna shoot for 45. Small steps, but getting better!!

Morning Heart Rate - 12

knee

currently on a haitus...not too happy about it...hopefully i'll be back tomorrow!





also - I've discovered that without running after school, I have absolutely NO motivation to do homework, i basically got zero done.....sweet.

.....

Although I have resolved my issues with my hamstring, I have moved onto a fight with my right knee. Which is surprising because my right side is usually very nice to me and doesn't get hurt. Anyways, I went for a 50 minute run today with Brennan, planning to talk to Chisum about the knee and then continue. It was bearable for those 50 minutes, although not completely pain free. Sometimes it would go away though. And I wonder if sometimes I was hyperfocusing on it. Anyways, Chisum wasn't around when I got to the highschool and I tried to run again but it hurt, so I stopped. Which really annoyed me because I didn't even get 1/2 my run in today. And I'm freakin' out.

So then I had a couple of break downs, called my mother, who told me to go see patty, and went to see patty. She thinks it might be an it band issue, but not really because its bothering me in my calf, so she doesn't really know...she told be to ice massage and elevate every hour, so I did that three times. I iced with two ice cubes each time, then elevated against the wall for 10 minutes. I also stretched and used the foam roller. Yet it hurts more now than before (as in, when I got home 4 hours ago). Great. Needless to say, I have not gotten much homework done, but tomorrow's a 1/2 day, so it doesn't really matter too much.

more issues

well, the good news is that my hamstring feels swell. The problem is that my other knee is acting up. It was this really weird feeling for most of the run (which was both indoors and outdoors thanks to the thunder, and 1/2 the time was spent looking for a nickel...) anyways, so I felt it a little then, and then as soon as I dropped Brennan off, it flared up I guess and was this like shooting pain and really hurt. I tried to run a few times and couldn't, and was about to give up, but tried one more time, and it felt like the pain turned into tightness and just travelled down my calf and out my foot, and didn't come back for the rest of teh 36 minutes. But then it did come back for hill strides, so I only did 1 1/2, and it kinda hurt to walk back to school. But I think its just extreme tightness manifesting itself in my knee/tendons, so I heated and rolled and iced and drugged it (ibuprofen!) and now it doesn't hurt. It better be better by tomorrow because i REALLY want to run the two mile tomorrow! Eve and I decided to go for 12:16. yayyyy!!!

grrrrr

I am currently in a fight with my hamstring. It got kinda strained yesterday and still isn't being nice. I iced a ton today and took advil and kept it wrapped, and it felt ok on the warm up (15 minutes). As soon as I started on the hill though, it pulled me back. I think it was the combo of speed and uphilledness. Anyways, I went for a 1/2 hour jog and came back to pick up Brennan. Then we cooled down for 23 minutes. I was very very annoyed (and still am) at my hamstring. And now I'm icing it, and I'm not allowed to run tomorrow. I got in 7.8 miles today (total of 68 minutes running) so i'm missing a little under 6 miles. Which is torturing me mentally, but I guess I'll have to deal.

morning heart rate: 13

so its been awhile...

i haven't really had much time to write, so I'll just go over the gist of what happened this week:

Wednesday:

Long run - 93 minutes. This ended up being 11ish miles. I spent 20 minutes of it waiting for Brennan to get finished talking to Chisum and thus running around the school circle a lot a lot of times. Then we went to Waban and found a fun new path. And then we did 6 downhill strides.

Thursday:

Race day - it was reallllyyyy cold out. I wore like 5 layers total! And then it started snowing...arghhhh, my first race in the snow! We warmed up too early and I had to run around a ton and do tons of strides to keep warm. I ended up doing like 35 minutes warm up. As for the race, it was freezing! I wore my gloves and earwarmers! I went out in 35 high and then 73/74, and finished in 2:34.9. It felt pretty good, although very very cold! And then after I did 4 400's on the aqueduct, which ended up being 87, 86,86low and 83. Then I cooled down for another 31 minutes. In total, it was probably about 8 miles ish.

Friday:

Drills. And Snow. And double. So I woke up this morning and ran 35 minutes - supposed to meet Brennan but she conveniently overslept! So that was like 4 miles. And then for drills we warmed up 15 and then did all the drills in the math hallway. During strides, I strained my hamstring, and it was a tad painful. Cooling down felt ok - we did 25 minutes and I could feel my hamstring, and it felt like it was shorter than usual, so it was pulling, but not like a sharp pain. I iced it a lot, so like 3 times, and wrapped it in an ace bandage, so its feeling a bit better, we'll see in the morning.

circuits

today was circuits yet again. Brennan and I got to wheel out the 400 on the grass, which was pretty exciting! Circuits, not so much. They were a bit more tiring than last week, probably because we "got right on the ground after strides to do abs!" I feel like I've been holding up pretty well though. The 400's, however, were a bit iffy. We were going for 80's, and would be on pace through the 300, but ended up with 85,83,85,82. I think the loop was a bit more than 400 meters when we actually ran around the cones (running around things makes larger arcs than sharp turns!) plus there was a lot of wind coming from one stretch, so while they were all 80 second effort, they were sadly not exactly 80 seconds. After circuits, I did a 30 minute cool down, bringing today's total to approximitely 7.5 miles. wohooo. Although I am exhausted, my legs feel pretty good and hopefully wont get sore tomorrow!

5x1000

These were harder, first off. They went 4:17, 4:09, 4:10, 4:12, 4:13. So all around pace! but my legs we definitely burning...

We warmed up with 31, I cooled down 25, so thats a total of 81 minutes, or approximately 9.5 miles!

also did arms and abs.

morning heart rate - 44 (surprising..)

sunday

9:58 minutes on the brook path to shake out my poor sore legs. They felt a lot better after! Also NOTE: I did not go all the way to 10 minutes...

and then I did abs and arms, good times...

hill drills at elm!

Today was hill drills at Elm Bank! I've missed those! Brennan and I warmed up 20 minutes, then hit the hills for 31. They felt really good, and I felt really powerful. Probably from those squats. The sprints/high knees felt especially good, although I always remember those being the worst part! It was also very very windy, making strides a tad hard, but otherwise it wasn't too bad! Can't wait till next week!

Then Brennan and I did our squat routine. For future reference, this KILLED right after hills. James and Kevin joined us for like 1/2 a set, then ditched, and Erica did the last set with us. Then we cooled down 20 and went home! Although it was already like 5:30 when I got home, which was so. weird.



morning heart rate: 13

candians

ahhh, canadians. so fun! Especially with power drills! And especially frog jumps! Gt's! No, but they weren't really that bad. I warmed up 15 and cooled down 15, and had run 30 minutes in the morning. It was actually quite pleasant being out when there's literally NO ONE around! Except then I got really tired during like 4th or 5th block! oh well! Total mileage for the day was 6.6.

I also did abs - need to do legs and arms this weekend.

62 + 5x1000

Today was 5x1000, and Nina and I did them at 4:25 pace. I would like to point out that my first 1000 was paced at exactly 4:25. The other ones were all around there - 4:21, 4:22, 4:22, 4:23. I think they were a tad fast because it was hard to pace for 53 second 400's because thats not even splits, so I would run like around 52's and thats where it got a bit faster. Overall I felt great though! I wasn't tired really at all, so I think I could have gone a little faster (!) but I enjoyed the accomplishment of finishing and not feeling dead! Especially with 30 seconds rest in between!


We also warmed up a TON before, so I got 47 minutes of warm up in. Then I just did 15 of cool down. That plus the 3 ish miles of the actual workout add up to about 10-10.5 miles for the day. That's even more than yesterday! My long run! Mileage is looking good for this week! I think I only have like 14/15 left to go!

Morning heart rate: 12

long run

so to clarify, yesterday's run was a total of apx. 5.5-6 miles warm up/cool down, 3.5 of circuits, so 9-9.5 miles total.

Anyways, today was 86 minutes ( I did b +16). I had a very pleasant first 1/2 hour running with Nina, Eve, Caroline, Megan, Alex and Ashley. We played the movie game! I then stopped off at Waban because I knew i was going longer than everyone and I didn't wanna do another out and back from the highschool after everyone left - I find that hard mentally, knowing I have to run an extra 20 minutes...so I decided to distract myself today by going around waban. Then I went back the aqueduct and did 6 strides on the hill next to the outdoor bathrooms. Fun stuff. It was also very cold today. rough.

about 10.2 miles...according to map my run

also my calves KILL.

morning heart rate: 12/13

Circuitsssss

Yet another strength phase = more circuits workouts. Only these ones (i thought) were much more pleasant. Although this is probably because I have been doing most of the exercises for three weeks already - well, nothing wrong with getting a head start! Still, I would like to provide a disclaimer that although I thought these circuits were BETTER than old circuits, they were still not EASY and I still got TIRED. Also, I have always been and will always be terrible at push-ups- I abhor push ups.

Well, it was very exciting getting to demonstrate some circuits exercises, and nice to see everyone stick around for two circuits. 4 circuits - not so much. Oh well, we had fun with our nice group of 6 or 7 until long distancers and Hayden joined in!

So now I'm feeling pretty beat - I got a lot of mileage in today. Warmed up with close to 2, and then circuits consists of 3 miles (4000 meters of strides, total of 1 mile in 400's, so thats roughly 3 miles) and then a 35 minute cool down. I'm gonna go ahead and say thats like 8.5 miles for the day. whew! The cool down was not so pleasant as I was very tired and Brennan wasn't there, so it was also lonely :(

First day of Outdoor!!!

As the title of this post suggests, today was the first day of outdoor spring track. Ironically, Outdoor track can also be termed "spring" track, and the weather was anything but "spring"ish. It snowed. And it was cold. And none of us were all that happy. I would like to point out that I have not worn gloves for 3 weeks, nor ear warmers for 4...I had to wear BOTH today...

Anyways, it was lovely seeing so many new (and old!) faces in the upper gym! Nina, Brennan and I went on a B run today. Brennan had already run in the morning, so she finished up with 39 minutes and I ran with her and Nina for that amount of time. Then I finished with 24 to get to 71 (I had been running at stoplights, etc to get more time) and ended with 5 uphill strides on Corda Hill. In total, it was 8.5/8.6 miles.

I then did some arms stuff - just the pulley thing and the arm-kick things, not running arms cuz I didn't have time. I'm gonna do those at home tonight. Along with abs...

Morning heart rate - 13

good news

I checked my heart rate while i was doing hw, and it was 51! Yayyyy!

Strange news - my left arm is swollen in the bicep - possibly from a shot but i had that a week ago...not really sure what thats all about, but since it is swollen, I did not do the arm workout as I had planned to today.

saturday

Saturday was another hilly fartlek run. I decided to do it friday so I wouldn't be sore or anything going into the start of the season. It felt pretty good, actually a lot better than last week! My calves are still very sore, but the bottoms of my feet are feeling better. Anyways, I did a 2 mile warm up to Pond again, and then started the hills. I also went faster than last time - last week I ran it in 17:30 and this week it was 16:50 - so hopefully that means I'm getting stronger! Unfortunately, I had to cool down for 4 miles to get enough mileage for the week, so I went around Waban...it was pretty slow because I was tired, but I got in 8.5 miles for the day. It took 71 minutes, so it wasn't even that much longer than a B run! I also did legs and abs - the legs hurt a lot during, but not now...

Another concern - yesterday morning my heart rate spiked - I got one reading of 13, but the others were 14/15. And this morning was also 14/15, and when I counted it for a full minute, it was 55/56. I have a couple theories:
a) My body is not liking this training and driving my heart rate up (this is the option i DON"T want!)
b) I have a load of homework this weekend
c) when I wake up on weekends, I either stress that I have slept too long or not enough (I know, I'm neurotic)
d) as soon as I get a high reading on my heart rate I panic and think it means something's wrong, therefore stressing myself out more and raising my heart rate?
e) technically, I just did 55ish miles straight, since I took last saturday off, so thats the most I've ever done straight...

I just really really hope its not anything bad! Other than my calves, everything's feeling really good!

drills

Today was very exciting because Brennan finally ran with me! It got me quite excited for track - I can't wait to start really training with her again!

We did drills today - again no power, so we did two sets of non-power. It all felt pretty good, but both of our calves were in pain. Not so much during the drills but while we were running. For this reason, we slowed down our cool down. Unfortunately, I didn't quite meet the mileage I wanted for today. I was aiming for 5, and we went 4.36. But then, if you include strides (which is legit running!) it could be rounded up to 4.5. So that means I need 8.5 tomorrow - or I could conceivably do less and some on Sunday. We shall seeee....

Also - I didn't do arm stuff cuz I wanted to walk home with Brennan and thus not be lonely in the fitness center, so I'll try to do those this weekend.

AND we saw Coach Kelley! It was a lovely surprise!

Morning Heart Rate - 13

85

A wonderful long run for a wonderful day! It was BEAUTIFUL today! Sunny, above 60, and shorts and a tshirt! lovely!

I left for the run with Nina, Rachel, and Eva. I then did waban loop with Eva as Nina fartleked ahead. We passed Brennan, Bo Julie, Allie and Eve on our way and met back up with Nina. Then Eva went to CVS and Nina and I ran back. Then I dropped Nina off at the highschool and went to pick up Raquel at her house. I then ran Raquel down and back on the brook path, and we met Eva coming back. Then Eva and I finished up 7 minutes for exactly 85! It was a nice run because it had so much activity! Plus it was lovely outside, in case i didn't make that clear!

My calves and feet were sore - I iced them at home, so hopefully that will go away!

Did abs with Eva in the fitness center, and we were like the only ones there!

Morning Heart Rate - 13




Also:


HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENNAN!

65 and fartleks

Wednesday was fartleks - more 4x5 minutes and 4 min rest...

These hurt a lot - esp. my quads from the squats workout yesterday - and my calves - and my feet. Gahhhh, it was kind of a miserable run...went down Weston road, then turned around. I think it ended up being about 8 miles.

When I got back, I did some abs with Nina, and then some arms. Things felt good, but not stellar - I was tired!


Morning Heart rate - 13

75

Today was a very lonely 75 minute run - my fault - I had a meeting after school that went on for AN HOUR and I didn't even get running till 3:50. Oh well...

I did get to wear shorts! SO fun! And I did my "waban inaugural run" except there was no one to share that excitement with...

Also - some niggles - my feet hurt? Its like the muscles in my feet are sore? And my big toe especially...also my calves are tired - not sure why...but they're definitely tired

BUT my heart rate is still low - 12 this morning, and yesterday at the doctors it was 60, but that was like 20 minutes after my run, and after walking around and such, which I thought was pretty good!

I also did leg strength today - no arms because I got a ton of shots yesterday, I'll do those tomorrow. Legs felt good and strong, abs ---not so much, but I did get to a 4:30 plank!

65

Today I did 65 in a rather interesting manner. I ran for 5 minutes in the lockerroom, waiting for Nina and Rachel! Then I had to run at every cross walk sign while waiting for the light. This was all because I had to be back for a doctor's appointment at 3:45 and had to somehow fit in a 65 minute run! Luckily I did it AND got in the car at 3:44! Early! Anyways, Nina, Rachel and I went down the aqueduct (!) and thru town. It was also snowing - which was quite annoying!

I'm not going to do abs today because I didn't get a chance and my doctor gave me a ton of shots and told me not to do anything that might exercise my arms (ie, planks) tonight because it might bruise - especially where they drew blood! Yay! So, in avoidance of a massive bruise, i shall let my abs rest tonight!

Morning heart rate: 13

hilly tempo

Today I did my hilly tempo run on Pond Road. I was a tad scared going into it because I always dislike tempos and this one had HILLS in it, but it wasn't too too bad! I ended up warming up 2 miles to Pond Road, then doing 2.4 miles going down Pond Road and the turning around and coming back. I got very tired on the coming-back part because that part has more hills! Lets just say the tempo got a lot slower than tempo! But I kept checking my breathing, etc, and it all seemed ok - I may have been going a little fast but I can never tell when I'm alone!

I'm going to do abs later today - yesterday I did abs and legs. I did the legs with 5 lbs weights again, and they weren't sore at all today! They're definitely getting stronger! And I got my plank up to 4:05! It was exciting! New record!

Morning heart rate - 13

40 + drills

Today was drills, but Nina went home and Rachel didn't want to do them and Kevin ditched, so I did them on the track by myself. I was really tired again (like last week) so I only did 1 set, minus the power drills! I also did 40 minutes (20 up, 20 down) which were boring and my calves/bottom of feet were sore (?) maybe from new shoes? Those 40 minutes supposedly added up to 4.8 miles.

Then I went into the fitness center and did arm work - too tired for the legs! I'll do those today!

80

Today was 80 minutes for my B+20. I was quite tired - probably because of the tempo yesterday and the leg workout on tues. I'm still sore from that! So my legs just felt tired, and my calves started getting tired too. I ran with RACHEL today! We did the Natick - Winding River loop, and then she stopped after 64 and I finished up by myself. When I mapped it, it was a total of 9.4 miles. I am, however, a bit skeptical, I will remap it later.

Also - today was the outdoor meeting. It was great to see so many people there! It was a bit chaotic!

And this morning's heart rate was 12.

60 plus 4x5 minute tempos

So, as my title says, I did 4 x 5 minute tempos in the middle of a B run. I warmed up for 15 minutes through town with Rachel, Nina, and Raquel (a nice surprise!) I then commenced my first tempo segment, which felt really good. Although I did look like a loon because I was constantly talking and singing to myself to test if I could "hold a conversation." After every 5 minute segment, I took 4 minutes rest - not the total five, but also not the optional two! I didn't want to get too tired and not be able to finish. I had already decided to do 4 fartleks before (instead of max five) but I was getting tired on the last one, so I'm glad I stopped myself! Then I did 13 minutes cool down back to school. It was really windy out today, so that was annoying...Otherwise it was a pretty nice run! The tempoing made it go by quickly! But I do miss my training partner! (Brennan come backkk!!!!)

In other news, I successfully completed a 4 minute plank today. I almost died. But I couldn't stop at 3:56, that would be lame. But after that my abs were kinda shot and really hurt, so everything else was a lot harder.

Also, my butt is really sore from the workout yesterday. Sitting down is painful.

Morning heart rate was 13.

70

Today was a B +10 run, so I did 70 minutes. It was 8.2 miles when I mapped it out. Nina and Rachel and I ran the Pond Road loop, which took 55 minutes, and then I did 15 after dropping them at the highschool. I ran down the brookpath, which was FINALLY clear of ice! Today was a beautiful day too! Perfect temperature! Plus I've been in a really good mood all day! Don't know why, but its been nice! I also felt really good at the end of it! I was a bit tired when we started out, but that went away really quickly and I could've kept going when it was time to stop!

In the fitness center, I taught Nina the arm and leg strength workouts. My arms were definitely feeling stronger! Same with my legs! I added 5 lbs onto the leg stuff, which made it quite a bit harder. Nina and I started with the jump squats to concentrate on form, and I thought it was easier to do them then than at the end of the workout. However, they made it a bit more difficult to do the rest of the workout! We basically did the workout backwards, so jump squats, then the stationary lunges, then lunges, then squats.

Also - about the heartrate thing, I looked back at last week and saw that it spiked a couple of different times to 14 (from 12 at the end of the season), and is usually around 13 now. Today, for example, was between 12 and 13.

60

Today's run was lovely! It was quite nice out and I felt like I was a comfortable temperature - minus the wind, which made my hands quite chilly! But overall, it was not too bad! I felt really good today! My mom took me to get new shoes yesterday (because the foot doctor guy last week said that my shoes were way too big and the wrong type for my foot) and Marathon Sports got a little miffed that this doctor was saying these things, and he was quite arrogant, but then they looked at my form and how I ran, etc, and said that it looked like I was over pronating, but I was actually under pronating? Not sure how that works. But they said my aasics were too much support, so they fitted me for some brooks, which are acutally quite nice, and a lot lighter! I could definitely notice the weight difference when I was running today! Also - they said I have been tying my laces too tight, so I'm supposed to not do that too!

So the run was with Nina and Rachel, and it all felt really good! They ran for 45 minutes, and then I finished up the last 60 on my own. After I dropped them off, my calves started feeling kinda sore, which was odd, but they weren't too bad. Also, I don't really know what to make my "B." So far, I think I'm gonna go with 60 minutes - I was "pleasantly tired" after today's run, so I guess thats accurate!

After the run, I did an ab workout in the fitness center with Nina and Rachel. I surpassed all my previous records! I held a plank for 3:30!!!!!! That got me very excited! The others were longer too! I think my abs are definitely getting a lot stronger!!!!

Morning heart rate was 13 today and yesterday.

55 again

about 6ish miles again to get to 39 for the week. I felt really tired again today - maybe from school? plus running for a week and a half straight? idk, but i fell asleep again for an hour - feeling better now!

Also - I did the leg stuff, my legs were kinda tired from the run, so it didn't feel too pleasant! I also felt very weak after the leg stuff, and couldn't do my abs. I'll try to do that soon :) (as in, before bed!)

and morning heart rate was 14, I don't know why it jumped, so hopefully nothings wrong!

55

Today was probs about 6 miles. I ran 30ish minutes with Nina and Rachel, then they returned to school and I finished out 20 more to get to 55. I felt pretty good - but tired. I also did the arm strength workout - I decided not to do legs today because I just did them on Weds and want another day of "rest" from that workout. The arms were very tiring as well, but I do feel stronger than when I started out! Plus, Mr. Johnson complimented me on my form! Of course, it being 4:15 on a Friday, the Fitness Center got very awkward very fast to the point where it was me and a sophomore and that was it...so I finished up and left. Lucky for me, my mother couldn't pick me up, so I had to walk all the way home. I was exhausted, and literally almost fell asleep while walking. I did take a nap when I got home though!

I probably need 6ish miles to get to 39 for the week tomorrow.

Morning heart rate - 12

60

About 6.5 miles. Fun run with Eva and Eve. Also with Bo Julie and Allie, but they had to leave early because Bo Julie's ankle was bothering her :( It all felt good, although my butt is a bit sore - I think from yesterday! But that is mostly in sitting, not running!

Morning heart rate - 12

57

Today I ran after I got home from school. I did that winding river road/ natick loop that we sometimes use for long runs, except since my house is closer, it was shorter. My quads were bothering me a bit, kinda sore, but I think that's cuz I didn't stretch enough yesterday. Also - I seem to have been running quite fast when I run on my own, and tiring myself out. Today was 6.6 miles, and done in 57 minutes, which was an 8.6 minute mile, and made me very tired. I think running with other people is better for me!

Then I did the leg strength stuff - not too too bad - I still feel a bit shaky on some of them, but I do think I'm getting stronger.

I also did ab strength, I got a bit stronger at that, though not too much, and ab exercies really bore me, and they hurt, so I feel like I should probably push myself a little more on that.

And morning heart rate was 14 (?)

60

total of 60 minutes today with Brennan, Bo Julie and Allie! It was really fun running with Bo Julie and Allie again! I miss running with them! (I love running with Brennan too! :) We did the Pond Road loop, which we thought would be hilly, but wasn't too too bad! In total, it was 6.72 miles (mapmyrun.com!) which was pretty good! I later did like 5 minutes on a treadmill at this running clinic my mom wanted me to go to - they talked about nutrition and analyzed gait and foot structure, etc. Apparently, the raw patch of skin on my ankles is a result of too big shoes. Also - I apparently need orthodics because my arch is too big? idk... but it was fun to go to!

I also did the arm stuff today. Its definitely getting easier! And I think I'm gonna do legs tomorrow - too tired today/ too lazy!!

morning heart rate today - 12
morning heart rate yesterday - 13

62

all day I was hoping it would not rain after school, and it didn't! I was very pleased! So, I ran for 35 minutes with Nina doing the sprague - hardy loop, and then when I got back, there was Kevin and I did another 30ish minutes with him! I also learned NEVER to press the button and cross without the cross light - very bad morals! In total, the run was 62 minutes, which I'm guesstimating to be about 7 miles! Good day!

And then I did some abs. My abs were really sore and feeling weak, but I got through the routine!

47

Today I waited out the snow until the afternoon. I then ran to Cosmic Bowling in Needham for a "Peru Reunion." It was 5.2 miles away, and very boring. I must have been really bored, and ended up running quite fast. I mapped it, and it was 5.2 miles, but I ran it in 42 minutes! A bit speedy. Then I was waiting for everyone to get there, and ran 5 more minutes. So it was probably more like 5.5 miles. Of course, only four other people showed up, so it was a failed "reunion," but I did get my run in!

And at home, I did the arm workout with 8 lb dumbbells. And the ab workout. My abs were really sore and I couldn't do anything, so I cut that one a bit short - I was literally falling over every time I tried to do a plank!

leg strength workout thing...

I mustered the strength to do the leg workout and....it felt a lot better! I felt pretty strong and not like I was about to cry like last time! Of course, this may have been helped by the fact that I was watching Toddlers and Tiaras while I was watching it, and wasn't really concentrating on my leg pain and more watching in disgust as mothers spent $1000s of dollars dressing up their spoiled children. Ew. even so, reality tv is addicting!

I'm going to try to do the arm stuff tomorrow!

50

a LONELY run today, since Brennan ditched me...its fine, I'm over it... (jk Brennannnnn!)

anyways,it was actually quite nice out, and I ran 25 minutes down Washington St. into Natick and back. I wasn't tired in the breathing sense, but my legs are STILL sore from Wednesday. For this reason, I am petrified of doing the leg workouts again, and have decided to put them off until later tonight... (more rest, ya know?!!?)

I will also try to get to a gym later today for the arm stuff. This may be difficult because I don't actually have a gym membership and I think my parents are getting tired of paying guest fees, but the only thing I would really need to do there are the pull down things on the big machine thing, so if I don't get them done this weekend, I will do extra on Monday in the fitness center!

Now I'm off to watch Jessie in her race!

56

Today was SUPER fun cuz it was raining! Actually, the rain was freezing and NOT so fun. oh well! But I did get to run with Jessie, which made it a ton better! My legs are still super sore from Weds. leg work, and my arms from yesterday and my abs. I'm basically sore all over, but i guess thats good. The soreness in my legs was pretty bad at first, but then subsided for the rest of the run. That may have been because I was so cold and wet I couldn't feel it! When I got back inside, my hands turned bright red from warmth! It was quite amusing!

I also did another ab set today. My abs were very sore, but I managed 2:15 plank, 1:30 each on side planks, 1:30 on 6 inches of fun and 20 reps of those leg up things, and various situps.

forgot my morning pulse - got to get on that!

51

Today I accompanied my mother to her gym to do the arm workout and some abs. I was VERY VERY VERY sore from the leg workout yesterday (and still am).

The arms weren't to bad. I did, however, discover that I have virtually no arm strength whatsoever! I did 100 running arms at 8lbs, 20 each pull down things at 30 or 35 lbs (can't remember), 10 lbs each arm at rowers, i think 30 reps (my arms were burning!) and then a lot of calf raisers with 15 lb dumbbells (I lost count!) I wasn't sure if I was supposed to do more than one set, so I just did one cuz I was a tad tired!

Then I did abs: 2 minute reg. plank, then 1:30 each side planks. Then 1:00 6 inches of fun (thats my weak spot!) and 20 of those hold onto someones feet and fall down and up, and then 10 each of those, but to the side! And then various other sit ups!

After this I was very tired and still very sore! I went for 51 minutes around town, but VERYYYYYY slowly. I didn't even feel that slow, at least, until I got home and used mapmyrun.com to map it and found out I ran just under 10 minute miles, whereas yesterday I was running about 9 minute miles!

so, yesterday, I ran 7 miles, and today I ran 5.5

And that is (so far) a total of 113 minutes, and 12.5 miles!

62

I swear I wasn't trying to copy brennan. Like you said, I was just running "how I felt." I only looked at my watch once (at 17 minutes) and after that I kept being like, "this is fun, I feel good, lets add on a bit more of a loop" and it just happened to be 62 minutes.

I also did the lunges/squats routine. wow. that hurt a lot when I got up to like 25!!!!

Also - the track is a beautiful thing! If only they would plow lane one!

anti-climatic

So I went into yesterday ready to run the fastest I had run this year...didn't happen.

I warmed up with 15 minutes, and felt really good going into the race. Carlijn and I were seeded 12, 13 (respectfully), so, lucky us, we were the last two in the fast heat. This got me a bit worried. Going out, I tried to stay on the back of everyone else, and just hang on. Of course, being in the fast heat, I got dragged out in a 36, and thats AFTER hanging back a tad because I felt like I was sprinting. The rest of the race just kinda fell apart. I caught back up to Carlijn on the 3rd lap and passed her so she would go faster, which she did and passed me back a lap later. I'm pretty sure i let it go well up into the 40's for the last few laps. I think the first 36 really killed me. Otherwise, I don't know much about my splits. I finished last (success!) and a second slower than a week previous. This really disappointed me, but I suppose thats track for ya!

Cooled down for 7 minutes, warmed up for 7 minutes.

After finishing that race, I had to prepare for the next one! I was SUPER tired, and not looking forward to the 4x800. I had my second GU of the day (2x caffiene this time) and part of a clif bar. We ended up running roughly an hour and a half after finishing the 1000. ew. We got to the line and they were like "oh, you all still need 8 minutes because the 2 mile just finished 22 minutes ago" so everyone was all happy and milling about on the track for like 2 minutes before they were like "PYSCH! Get on the line, just kiddingggggg" so that was quite annoying. There were way too many people in the 4x8 heat, so I got kinda boxed in, and the first lap went out slow - 37. And it got slower from there. I just had no energy left, and tried to run fast, it just didn't work out that way! I ran another 2:33. ugh.

Cooled down for 17:30, veryyyyyyyy slowlyyyyy.

When I got home, I literally crashed! Racing is exhausting!

20 minutes!

Today, so as to get in my running a full 24 hours before my race, I went for my run at 6:50. I had a 9:40 day, so I literally rolled out of bed, into my running stuff and went for a jog. Things felt...okay. Not like amazing or anything, but also not as bad as yesterday. I was also still waking up throughout the entire run, so that probably didn't help! I finished with 5 strides each about 15 seconds long.

Tomorrow, I hope to run a 3:10 in the 1000, and a 2:28 in the 800 for the 4x800. Just writing it down so I can't change those goals!

last "workout"

Well, of course I'm going to run tomorrow, but I don't really consider that a "workout." Today was 5x200's at 1000 pace. We warmed up for 15 minutes. I'm a tad worried because my legs felt really tired and slow for the warm up. The 200's, however, were all fast. I hate not having a hundred marker, because my pacing gets all messed up! The first 200 was 35, then 38, then 37, then 36, then 37. I think we went out too fast, because it still felt a lot slower than yesterday. Then I tried to hit the splits. And then I thought I would have to increase effort as I got further into the workout even though I didn't really have to, and thats why they were all fast. Horrible pacing, but at least all the efforts were similar, and felt good and ready for Saturday.

15 minute cool down, however, felt just as sluggish and slow as the warm up. My legs just felt tired. Hopefully that will be remedied by my 20 minute run tomorrow!

Indicator

Although the blog only said "600 TT followed by 30 seconds rest and then 200 TT," I know this was the indicator. I don't know if that was the intention, but the way it was written on the blog did make it a TAD less stressful!

Anyways, we drove into Reggie and got there in a semi-timely manner. We warmed up for 15 minutes on the track before starting. Reggie is really quite pleasurable when you don't have to race!

So starting the 600, Carlijn got a bit flustered about what we had to do, and kind of just started sprinting off, and I tried to jog into it, and then start my "race." I tried to stay a bit behind Carlijn because I knew she was going out way too fast for me! Still, I went through the 100 in 15 and the 200 in 32 (i think). When I saw that I was like "WOAH!!!" and kind of freaked out. I had been planning for a 34. I tried to keep pushing, but invariably slowed down. a lot. I finished in 1:49. Disappointing because a)I didn't pr and b) I couldn't catch up to Carlijn, which would have pulled me to a pr. Then we had a stressful 30 seconds rest, because I couldn't tell when Chisum was telling us to go, and it was just all around bad. The last 200 was a 37, which was admittedly slow, but painful, so I think it accomplished its purpose! In total, I ran 2:26, which was disappointing because I ran a 2:23 last year. Although I really think I screwed up the beginning of the 600 and could've gone faster for that. At least, thats what I tell myself!

After 5 minutes, I went back out for 4x200 at 800 goal pace. Now, I always get discombobulated after running hard, so for some reason I thought I should have been running 37's, when I should have been running 36's. My first was a 36 anyways, then 37, b/c I thought I had to slow down, then 36, then 37. Oh well, close enough. They felt pretty good though!

Cooled down for 15 minutes, and then back home!

Heart rate - 12

Gear-Changing 150's

Today was an "easy" day, although the workout itself was a tad difficult. We warmed up for 15 minutes - a very short warmup compared to the rest of this season!

We met Chisum and Coach Mark on Twitchell, where we did the gear-changing 150's. These were supposed to be mile pace/800 pace/ all out. That means 10 seconds, 9 seconds, all out. Chisum made fun of me for checking splits, but I figured I should because it was a "paced" workout, although I suppose it may have been more about effort! Anyways, the sprints felt ok, but my legs were kind of jelly-like, which felt strange. Also- we had jog back rest which was nice but made the workout last FOREVER, even though we only did 8 150s!

Then we cooled down for 15 minutes.

After cooling down, we did intense partner stretching (I forget what its called) and it made me a lot more flexible! It felt nice!

This morning, I didn't get to take my heart rate because I woke up all excited, i don't know why, and jumped out of bed, and then remembered to take it, so it wouldn't have been accurate anyways!

ps. 2 DAYS TILL JUNIOR THESIS IS DUE!!!! An update: I will try not to edit anymore. I will do my best to focus on the bibliography, and then be DONE.

shortest day of the season!

I think today was my shortest day of the season. We went for only 40 minutes, and 13 of those were fartleks! So Nina, Brennan and I warmed up 14 minutes, did 13 30x30 fartleks (the options were 12-14, so we decided...or they decided and I followed - to strike a happy medium) My legs were still pretty sore from Saturday. Hopefully that goes away. We cooled down 13 minutes so as not to go over 40, and met up with Rachel on the way back (she had warmed up with us too!)

Morning heart rate - 44

Procrastination

Procrastination is my new defining characteristic. Not only did I procrastinate writing this entry, but I am now using it to procrastinate editing my Junior Thesis. I am quite enjoying procrastination right now!

Anyways, to sum up yesterday: it was hard and I was not very happy with the results. We went to Elm Bank to do a 400 TT and then 5 200's at 1000 pace. (At least, thats what Sabina and I did, the milers did 8 200s at mile pace). We used the 400 stretch from the bridge to the stop sign on the road. We warmed up 18 minutes to the bridge, where we then did strides, drills, and such as if preparing for a race. However, this "race" kept getting postponed because either long distance would be running by, or some people couldn't control their dogs, or a car decided to drive by...it was quite annoying! Finally, we started, and I sprinted out to take advantage of that 8 seconds of speed. Except I think I forgot that it was only supposed to go for 8 seconds and just kept going. And then the path was somewhat uphill, which took more effort. Regardless, I was dying by the second 200 and ended up running a 70. This disappointed me greatly because I ran a 71 at the start of my 800, so I know I can run faster, I just didn't. Perhaps it was the conditions, I don't know.

Then we had 5ish minutes rest, and went into the 200s. These were a mess, as I was trying to run 38's, but had no way to pace myself to them. Plus there was that uphill thing. So they went 37, 36 (downhill), 38, 37 (downhill), 39 high. Those last two hurt a ton, and I could feel my form deteriorating. They were not fun. I'm also mad that I only hit my splits once. Oh well.

Cool down was 22 minutes, so the total for the week was 282, down 10% from last week.

morning heart rate saturday - 12
morning heart rate sunday - 12

Sunday: I'm feeling a bit sore in my hamstrings, but nothing much.

more 100s

Today we did 16x100 sprints with 100m recovery. We warmed up 17.5 minutes, cooled down 15. Total running time was 48 minutes.

I felt ok during these windsprints. It was a bit tough doing them on Twitchell because some random cars kept driving by and making it a tad harder to sprint. Anyways, my stomach was bothering me again, and I felt a bit nauseous. Gahh, I hope I'm not coming down with anything!

"long run" disguised as a base run!

So today, there was no practice so Brennan and I decided to use the one child-lab "skip" we get a term to go on our run during child lab and get it over with earlier/ get home earlier. When we asked Mrs. Doiron if we could go, she just laughed at us. I'm glad us runners are amusing! Then we got several skeptical looks and questions from fellow "big teachers" which were also amusing!

We ran out to Elm Bank and back for a total of 66 minutes. We then did 6 strides on Seaver St. The 400 stretch at Elm Bank is perfectly clear and looking ready for TT's on Saturday! The run was generally quite pleasant, the temperature was nice and I had on the perfect number of layers and didn't get very hot or cold - which is a rare accomplishment for me! My legs also felt quite phenomenal considering we raced only 20 hours before! The only downside was that I seemed to be having some stomach issues. I thought it might be from eating lunch only an hour and a half before running, but I'm still having them, and I'm hoping I'm not coming down with anything! We shall see!

Heart rate this morning was 12/13.

3:15.09

Well, I seem to have achieved my goal. Yesterday I set my sights high (fast?) for a pr of 3:15, and went out and got it! Of course, being at a .09 makes me wish I had gone a tad faster and gotten below my goal, but, oh well, I'm happy with the time!

Backing up, the meet was super late, so we basically sat around at Reggie for an hour before warming up. I ate a blueberry clif bar b/c I gave Brennan my White Chocolate Macadamia nut one, and it was quite yummy as my pre-race fuel. We warmed up for exactly 15 minutes outside, where it was actually quite chilly. We then came back in and had plenty of time to stretch, etc. We watched James and John and Kevin and Andrew all run the mile in very exciting races! Then we had a bit of excitement of our own when Brennan was not signed up for the 1000! Ahh! But we got it all fixed anyways! Before running, well, about 20/30 minutes before I had some GU, which I believed helped! And I gave some of that to Nina, who went on to QUALIFY IN THE MILE!!!!! I'm telling you, GU is magical!

So, the race...I was put in the barrel, which I was NOT happy about, because the barrel stresses me out. Regardless, I went thru the 100 a bit slow in 19 (I think) but promptly ran around the kids in front of me already slowing down (on the curve, I know, dumb move but it had to be done!). I ran another beautiful tangent (if I do say so myself!) and met up perfectly with Carlijn in a 37. A bit fast, but not too bad. I basically hung onto Carlijn for the next lap, well, until I realized that we were going thru the 400 in a 74, after which I dropped back a couple steps because I am afraid of going out too fast and dying. I hung back for a lap or so, and she started to slow down a bit, so I picked it up and caught up again. At one point ( I think on the 3rd or 4th lap?) she started slowing down, and I knew we had to speed up, so I passed her (again, on the curve, again, dumb move, but again, otherwise we would have slowed down even more). This seemed to have the desired effect because not only was I going faster, I motivated Carlijn to go faster (and beat me, but we'll get to that later!) So then the last lap was nice and speedy, and I ran a 37 apparently? Which is a pretty decent kick! So I was pleased with that! However, Carlijn passed me back and I did not have quite enough speed to kick past her again, and came in .5 seconds behind. Not a big deal, because I felt very good about my race! During the race, I also did not feel as tired as I usually did, leading me to believe I can run even faster next time! If I get that 41 lap a bit faster (fourth lap), I think I could get my time down even more! Even so, I'm pretty satisfied with an 8 second pr, so no complaining!

I cooled down for a total of 42 minutes, bringing the day's total to 60 minutes. They were very nice cool downs - 10 minutes inside with Betsy and Nina, and 30 outside with Carlijn and Sabina. A very exciting day all around!

Morning heart rate - 12

Drill day!

We have a meet tomorrow, so we did drills!

We only went for 15 minutes warm up (instead of 20, oh my gosh!) It was quite icy again on the brook path!

We then met in the basement hallway for drills. We did all the skipping and triple up sand high knees and butt kicks and drum majors etc. Since there were less people, it all went by a lot faster! It was actually quite tiring! My strides felt ok, but again, tired. I hope this is just from doing a lot of drills in a really short amount of time! My legs felt tired again on the cool down (15 minutes), but again, I'm hoping it was just from drills and won't "negatively affect my race!"

So tomorrow, the plan is to run sub 3:20. Closer to 3:15. Maybe even 3:15. You never know! And I am determined not to be pessimistic before this race. I'm really going to "race and race all out!" I can't wait!

Heart rate - 11/12

Icy icy icy!

Today was another very very icy day! The brook path is covered!

We warmed up 20 minutes down and back on the brook path, running very carefully so as not to slip!

Then we met on Twitchell for our progression 200s. These felt a little weird because we weren't on a track. I think we did our 2 mile and mile segments a bit fast each time, because we were consistently hitting 36's instead of 37/38. But we were consistent, so I guess that was good. We also did 45 seconds rest in between each one, because the rest wasn't on the blog and we were supposed to have 30 seconds rest for dong 6-8 last week, so we decided to give it a bit longer since we were doing more. Brennan and I cooled down another 20 minutes down the Brook Path, and we got back to the high school at 17 minutes and Brennan was very kind and even came with me to finish up the 20!

My legs felt good today, and my hip felt a bit sore during the progressions, which was weird, but I think I just tweaked it slipping on ice or something because I didn't notice it anymore on the cool down!

Morning heart rate - 12

sparkly snow!

Today was a very very beautiful day outside! It was nice and warm and snow was melting and it almost felt like spring! (almost as in, I was still surrounded by 3 feet of snow everywhere I looked) Unfortunately, because everything had started melting, the froze, then started melting again, there was quite a lot of ice all over. No worries! I wore my handy dandy yak trax! They worked perfectly and I was able to run without falling once!

So I met Brennan on Washington Street and we kept running down Washington street, fun, right? We were going to try to go to Babson/ Olin to do our fartleks, but decided that was too far away. Regardless, the fartleks worked out ok on Washington. There was a lot of nice down-hills, which felt wonderful! The only problem with Washington was that I had to stop in the middle of a fartlek twice to avoid getting hit by a car coming out of a sidestreet WITHOUT STOPPING AT THE STOP SIGN!!! And once when we were crossing the road, we went a few seconds over our rest. Not to worry, when we encountered these troubles, we added on extra fartleking time. The fartleks today were 6 sets of 1x1 and 30x30. They felt pretty good, and I wasn't really sore from Friday!

I also felt really intense because my mother bought me a really super awesome neon green jacket yesterday at Marathon because they are having a sale (30% off winter stuff! Plus our student 10% discount = 40% off!!!!) so I felt very visible!

I warmed up for a total of 18 minutes and cooled down for 38, so the day's total was 73, so this run acted as our long run of last week as well.

I also got started on some cookie dough selling today! ...Its not as easy as I thought!

Saturday

I took today off so I can do some fun fartleks with everyone tomorrow! Anyways, I wanted to document my post race heart rate, which was up a bit at 13.

Indoor Twilight Meet!

Although not nearly as exciting as the outdoor twilight meet, we had a nice indoor version yesterday! Because of all the postponements due to numerous snow days, they rescheduled the meet for 7:30 on a friday night! So I went home after school and ate a second lunch (more pb and j) and then a clif bar 3 hours before. I also introduced Brennan to the wonder of clif bars before a race!

So then we got on the bus at 5:45 but didn't leave til after 6. And it took FOREVERRRRR to get to Reggie. Us milers were freakin' out a bit, and literally jumped off the bus to warm up. Due to our nerves and fears of being late, our warm up was quite quick! We ran in to Reggie after 10 minutes and finished up the 15 around the track. It was very cool seeing reggie all done up for the meet today! Except they had pulled out all the bleachers and there was no where to stride. They got going really late, but we started our mile around 8.

In the mile, I think we went out a tad slow. I think I heard a 45 somewhere in there. Whoops! I picked it up finishing up the first 1/2, and I think ran something like a couple 41's (at least, thats what I heard!) I felt like I kept increasing effort and hopefully maintaining speed. I actually felt like I was racing the entire time, but never like i would die. And then I closed in a 39/40, which was a solid kick, I believe! I didn't get the time I wanted, but everything felt good, and I think if I go out fast enough, I could hold it!

Then I cooled down for 42 minutes. So the total for the day was 62.

Morning heart rate was 12.

Thursday

So since today was a before-meet day, Brennan and I decided to do sprint drills again even though we already did them this week. We wanted to be sure that we wouldn't jeopardize/ jinx anything tomorrow!

So we warmed up 21 minutes outside on the brook path. It was beautiful out there! The ice had all frozen to the trees and everything sparkled! We ran back to the highschool and met everyone in the math hallway, except they had already started. Since we didn't want to miss A and B skip, and knew that sprint drills with the entire crew take forever, we decided to go downstairs with all the other "late" people (even though we had only done a slightly longer warmup). We finished the drills in record time! I felt a bit sore on some of the skipping, but nothing too strong or persistent. Strides felt good too!

After the drills we went back out for a cool down. Brennan and I got 21 minutes, bringing today's total to 42. Everything felt good today, especially the warm up, during which I felt light and springy :) Although, that may have been just from being outside again! Plus I was in an especially good mood all day today! It was wonderful!

Morning Heart rate was 12 so 48.

And tomorrow's plan is for Brennan to pace the first two laps (42's) and I'll take the second two, and then we'll switch off from there!

Yet another snow day....

So we didn't have school AGAIN today. ugh. I really am tired of these weekly snow surprises. And it didn't even really snow today. It just rained a lot. I had to shovel in the rain and my winter jacket decided to stop being waterproof....cool.

Anyways, enough complaining, because I have just heard the news that Mr. Chisum's baby was born! Which is very very very exciting and I can't wait to see pictures!! Also, I really really really like the name Hadley. Its adorable! Congratulations!

And back to running - so Nina and I met up at BSC at 3. Since the race has now been postponed to Friday night, we were supposed to do 10-12 x 200 meter progressions. This proved very difficult on the treadmills! We warmed up with 15 minutes. We were then about to commence our workout when we saw that our treadmills only went up to 12.5 mph. Which was not fast enough because I figured out the speeds and amount of time per speed to cover roughly 50 meters at each appropriate pace. SO we had to hunt for a treadmill that went up to 14.1. Luckily, we found two that went up to 14, which was close enough! I started out at 10 mph for 11 seconds, then 11.3 for 10 seconds, then 12.5 for 9 seconds and 14 for 8 seconds. Or at least, thats what I planned to do. 14 mph, however, is very very fast on a treadmill and we felt like we were going to fall off, so we cut out that part. To make up for it, at the end of the run we did 12 sprints in the gym. Those were not far enough either, but we had to make do because there was no room! And I'm not so sure all the times/ rest times were correct because it was really really hard to keep changing levels. I think I sprained a wrist muscle. Like actually, my wrist is sore from pressing the button so much! We also must have been really annoying because the treadmills kept beep beep beeping and whirring a lot and we looked like loons running really fast for like 30 seconds, then jumping onto the side things to slow the belt down, and then doing all over again!

Anyways, we cooled down for 17 minutes after 12 sprints. That would be a total of like 40-45 minutes.

We also saw Jessie at the gym! I forgot! That was exciting too!

And my morning heart rate was 12.

I HATE SNOW!!!!!

So school got out early, at 1:30, so I ran home and got my mom to bring me to the gym. I went to BSC (all alone, couldn't get anyone to come!) I warmed up 21 minutes on the treadmill.

Then I went into the gym and did the light drills. It was nice an awkward because I was making a lot of noise and it was echoing all over. And then these people came in and were watching me, which just made it more awkward...fun times!

I then did 24 minutes on the treadmill again! So total 45 minutes for the day! Wohoo! I'll try to run again tomorrow! we'll see!!!!!

Fartleks!

Today was another round of fartleks! They were actually pretty good because Brennan, Nina and I went to Olin/Babson College campus, and since they have to plow everything for their college students, everything was perfectly clear!

We warmed up there for 22 minutes, and commenced our 16 30/30 fartleks. These felt good at first, then quickly felt bad when my soreness from Saturday kicked in. It hurt even more after the fartleks though...

We then cooled down 22 minutes back. Although near the end, we met a dog named Manny. He was roaming Forest Street by himself, and started following us back to the school, so we decided to be good samaritans and return him! So we turned around to get him to run home, and he promptly sat down and refused to budge. So Brennan and Nina went to go get the owner, which took forever and we were freezing and now we don't really like Manny anymore. (disclaimer: his name was manny, not danny, despite what you may hear otherwise)

morning heartrate: 44

SUNDAY OFF!

This is the first time in a while I haven't run for extra mileage on Sunday - its kinda nice!

Anyways, I wanted to document my heart rate, which was a really low 44 this morning...not sure if that's logical?

And my legs are a tad sore, but not too bad...just tired! So its good that I'm taking the day off!

Saturday workout

Today was 12x100 meter sprints with 100 meter rest in between. so fast!

We warmed up with 17 minutes, and the sidewalks are still not very well plowed and it was quite annoying to be slipping on all the snow! When we got to Washington Street, Nina, Brennan and I did 3 strides to get warm. Although it was pretty warm out today already, so we didn't need that much! Not like last year, I think we did this workout or something like it in 0 degree windchill and we did like 8 strides before we could even start!

Anyways, we had to sprint all out for 100 meters, then decelerate, then sprint again, etc. I think my inner sprinter really came out, and I felt like I was flying! (at least for the first few) The first few sprints felt really easy and relaxed. After about 4 I started really concentrating on form and trying to stay on my toes. I was tired by 8, which made it all the more important to concentrate on form! I think I did pretty well overall though...The total time for that was roughly 10 minutes (i think...I had running time on my watch, and I can't remember if I stopped it at the end when we were just talking, but I think 10 minutes sounds like a reasonable amount of time, i hope?)

Then Nina, James, Kevin, Brennan and I were fortunate enough to get to do ANOTHER workout on top of the sprinting! We didn't really want to repeat the sprinting workout again, so we did 4x200 at goal 800 pace. We jogged around for 5 more minutes, and then hit the road again! I think the 200 meter mark was a bit short because my first 200 was a 32, which is basically a sprint and I was most definitely NOT sprinting. We got 30 seconds rest and ran back, which was another 32. Then we completed the rest of the 200's, and I finished in two 34 highs. I could tell my form was deteriorating and I felt insanely slow in the last hundred meters of each one! But then (finally!) the workout was over!

We cooled down for 22 minutes (Brennan and I, I think the others may have gone a bit longer) to bring the total run for today to 56, and the total time this week to 360, which is down 10% from last week. (At least, I hope it was 56, its really bothering me about the stopwatch, but I'm pretty sure I stopped it! and anyways, those like 3 minutes wouldn't really do much even if I did miss them - this is me trying to rationalize with myself!)

And now my legs are quite sore, and stairs pose an enormous problem, and I can only hope they will feel better tomorrow, but they probably wont! Oh well!

Morning heart rate was 12.

An Actual Friday

Although it has felt like friday all week, today was actually Friday, and felt like a monday. These snow days are really messing me up!

Anyways, today was a long run, but since we are decreasing our mileage, it was "only" 81 minutes! We went down weston road (again...suprise suprise!) and made some nice loops around there. Then we ran back and did 6 strides in the parking lot.

Things felt good for most of the run today - I wasn't too tired until the very end, and my calves deceptively felt good for the first 75 minutes of the run. However, back on Washington street, all the sudden i felt something "crawl" up my calf, and it started hurting again! AGHHHH! I can't wait till the snow's gone!! But its not too painful, so I suppose I'll survive :)

Snow Day #3

Its getting a bit old now - all these snow days! And we've hardly had school for the past month, I feel like I've just been doing homework non-stop!

Anyways, when I woke up this morning, it was yet another snow day, which was quite annoying because we were supposed to have a meet today. I really truly wanted to run today because I really wanted to pr in the mile! Alas, mother nature had other plans, and decided to dump another 10 inches of snow. So instead of racing, I shoveled! Now there is no where to put the snow because we have already shoveled up these HUGE snow banks on the sides of our driveway, so it was like double the exercise trying to get it over the top of these 5 foot mounds! After an hour of shoveling, I saw that the meet was officially canceled, and went for a run with Brennan.

We did the B run with 15 minutes of tempo. My calf was still bothering me, but not as much with the yak trax. We went to Weston Road again, and struggled a bit getting over there. Once on the backroads, we commenced our tempo, which felt pretty good. I think we started out a bit too fast, but soon enough I was in a groove and running smoothly. After about 10 minutes my legs started feeling sore and wanted to stop, but i didn't! The snow didn't help either, because I was trying to go fast and would just slip. Anyways, after the tempo, we ran back to our houses via the weston road - sprague loop. This included a lot of hopping through the snow seeing as they only shoveled half the brook path. Oh well...

The total run ended up being a bit long - 71 minutes - because of all the snow.

Heart rate this morning was 12.

drills

Since today was make up day and we didn't have school, we decided to hold practice at 10 am both to get it out of the way and to avoid the snow that came later in the afternoon. So I warmed up 20 minutes to the highschool. My left calf was bothering me from yesterday. I felt it a lot more during the drills, especially skipping. It almost feels like a knot in the middle of my calf - kinda like what Brennan was describing a couple weeks ago. AGHHHH! Not good timing!

Anyways, we had a pretty good turnout, and did drills in the teacher parking lot. We did a, b, and c skips, then high knees, butt kicks, drum majors and triple ups. I worked hard to stay on my toes the entire time two! We did two sets and then 6 strides. Because there were less people and it was cold out, the entire thing only took us half an hour! WOW! Then Brennan and I cooled down, then split to go back to our houses. Total running time was 42 minutes. My calf was really bothering me on the cool down. I think its from all the snow. I iced right when I got back and it went away. I just iced again like 20 minutes ago, and its feeling okay!

Brennan and I's plan for tomorrow:

We're going to run 42's to get a 5:36 mile. I really want this time because it will be a pr and I have not pr'd yet this season. Anyways, she's going to take the first two laps, then I'll take the second two, and on from there. And I am not starting in the barrel. As fun as that was...


Morning pulse was 12/13.

Tuesday - feels like friday!

Today was only a tuesday, but since we don't have school tomorrow, the run felt like a friday run! Today was a B run plus 16 30:30 fartleks. We ran down to Weston Road and did the fartleks on the backroads there. They felt really good, minus the snow that came today and coated some hidden ice! The ice did make my calves a bit sore, as with everyone else's! Overall, it was a pretty good run! It totaled 66 minutes, which was great!

Morning heart rate: 12

RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE!

Today was freezing. Legit, SO. COLD. It was something like 6 degrees and felt like sub - zero. We warmed up inside, thank goodness! So fifteen minutes jogging the halls! Then we layered up! 5 shirts, 2 pairs of spandex, 2 pairs of socks and large fleece mittens. By the time we got outside, it felt almost warm. Almost. And not for long! We ran over to Washington Street, bringing warm up total to 21 minutes. Then we did 12x200 at 800 goal pace with 45 seconds rest. These times were all over the place, particularly because we had to run the sidewalk one way and the street back. We were aiming for 36's. We went out in 36, back on the street in 34, then 37, then 34, then 37, then 35, then 37, then 33, then 36, then 34, then 36, then 33. Yes, many of the street parts were really fast, but the effort always felt the same, and I think the sidewalk ones were slower because of ice. Even though they weren't actually that slow because we hit the times we were going for. The workout didn't feel too too bad, but i was definitely uncomfortable. I felt a tad nauseous and my face was so cold I couldn't feel it. I felt really tired for the last 6 repeats, but those were my fastest times. Which was interesting because I felt like I was going a whole lot slower but I guess my legs took over and kept propelling me forward! Hopefully this will be the case in my race this week!

We ran back in as fast as possible. Total cool down was 16.

Morning heart rate was 12-13