Shut Up Legs

First run of the new year, pretty exciting! Well not really just a low mileage run out the murdoc canal trail, but hey we got indoor track season starting up which is actually exciting, ready to kick some butt!

What goes better with a run than snowballs? Shout out to Mini Nugg for catching the snowball I threw... with her head. #aimingworksbetterwhenyoujustdont

Key phrases from today's run: "They aren't called deer they're called bambies" "Im gonna break my femur" "I dont have a femur" "Whose idea was this" "Is it considered poaching if you tackle a deer?" "Im gonna run in the back so no one see's it when I trip" "There's a bush back there you guys"

Definitely the best run of the year, which isn't really saying a whole lot since we aren't even a week into the year yet, but still. Started out on the jail trail, then we must have crossed into Narnia or something cause the run got really cool really fast. Discovered the bambi trail and then crossed back to the Timp highway intersecction by bush wacking through Scotland, well not really, there weren't any kilts, but it looked like it.

So just to sum up the run was dang sweet, I would hate to have been someone who ran on a road, or heaven forbid the Murdoc canal trail, oh wait... @girlsxcteam

Nothing too exciting from today's run, except at the end when Colin had to take an urgent call from... um... a friend of his
 

Hope BYU got a good insurance policy on its indoor track, cause its about to get torn up tomorrow. #orjustchuckedon

Shout out to the Peg 32's for hitting 200 miles today

We found another one. Who ever said there wasn't anywhere to run if you turn up towards imflash. Ok so half the guy's team did, but turns out that half of the team was wrong. We found some cool trails out behind the parking lot.  They were super wet and muddy but who ever said you need traction to have a good run anyway? Ok so I'm sure somebody did, but they were wrong too. Besides how can you not have an amazing run when it starts out with almost starting a stampede of elk. #Ipleathefifth
 

First speed workout of track season. Didn't know it was possible to kick up snow far enough that it falls down your own shirt. I guess I'm just skilled like that.

My knee started hurting part way through the rest of the mileage and the little Jamie inside my head kept telling me that finishing mileage wasn't a good idea no matter how much I might want to. So I turned back early and ended with 4.75 miles instead of 6, which is a trade I can live with to avoid an injury.

Ok so my work-out didn't take me anywhere courtesy of my knees that decided they wanted to hurt after speed yesterday. Track season, meet my knees, they don't like you very much aparently. Oh, you dont like them either? Well you'll have to come to terms with each other cause I've got races to run and records to set. Sooo GET ALONG GOSH DANG IT. Please :D

So another bike workout for me today, which means yes no miles to log. running today may not have been a good idea, but I'll tell you what was a good idea: the snowball fight before hand and the snowangels and penguin sliding contests afterward. Shout out to Austin, the mastermind behind our... extracurricular activities. And before you ask yes it was cold. #worthit

Tried running again today with the pickups since my knee was feeling ok (emphasis on was). It felt good for the mile warmup, but as soon as we started the first pickup it started hurting again, so I only ended up going 4.25 miles and only doing 4 of the pickups. And with that i ended my last run with furry legs for a while since I wont be running again till at least Tuesday and the cruel dictator of fate has decided that I must shave my legs... In other words I lost a bet. The funeral will be Monday evening. #wookielivesstillmatter #sendflowers

Shout out to Jamie for being the best coach of all time! #itsagirl

Did a run walk today 1 minute on 4 minutes off, 4 times. Not exactly the most interesting run in the world, but hey could be worse. I foresee lots of icing and rolling in my future... Bring it.

Bike speed followed by a a cool down... Honestly not much to say.

Another run walk for me today. Found a way to make things a little more interesting this time though. Short shorts (no tights) arm warmers gloves and... no shirt. Yes, I took my shirt off in the snow #goals.  Felt like a bit of a tool, but not enough to keep me from doing it again 100% worth it.

Note to the girls who waved from a passing car: Duck tape can't fix basic. It takes the right kind of tool for that.

ANOTHER run walk. Got farther this time, not a whole lot, but hopefully that means the knee is getting better. Also a pretty intense speed work out on the bikes.  Super pumped to tear up the track once I can get back out there. Get ready track season, I'm comin for ya. You arent gonna know what hit you.

Run walk round 5 or something like that. Glad it stopped snowing before we left. Took my shirt off again cause run walk is just kinda boring and if you cant run fast at least you can look fast. #gottakeepthingsinteresting
 

Run walk agian. Got a little excited on the way out and decided trying picking up my knees on the way back, but they didn't like that very much and started hurting again. Wish they'd stop being so darn tempermental. So in hopes of helping them feel better we're gonna take a full cross train day tomorrow. #gameplan

Cross train day. Not so bad when you've got a great team to spend it with. Then we had upper body workout #2. Don't skip arm day. Turns out the trick to lifting a lot isn't actuallly picking the heavy weights, its just getting the big set of 10's that look a lot heavier than they are. #lifehacks

Guys its a miracle! My knees didn't hurt during the run walk today! There was a tiny bit of tightness at the very end but other than that they felt great so HOPEFULLY (fingers crossed toes crossed eyes crossed) it'll be completely better soon. Real quick explanation about the weird number for mileage. Usually I don't log stuff that isn't at least a quarter of a mile, but on run walk you work hard just to get that .15, so Im gonna log it thank you very much

Did the bike workout after outside with the rest of my injured buddies. It was actually really fun which seems uncharacteristic cause its still a bike workout, but you'd be surprised how much fun we can have with snow even when we can't get off the bikes to pick it up. Didn't know you could have so much fun sitting on an uncomfortable bike seat. We also found out how to stop the bikes from squeaking at the same time we found out it was possible to hydroplane on a stationary bike. #skilled

Shout out to everyone racing tomorrow and on Saturday, yall gonna kick butt. If you don't get killed by a baby cow between now and then @collin_morrison

Run walk again. Didn't have many people left to do it with cause most everybody was racing. Also an upper body workout since me and mini nug missed the lower body one a couple days ago.

Another run walk, but I got bumped up to 3 on 2 off though so that's exciting. Still feeling pretty good, not 100% back yet but definitely getting there. Had to use one of Jamie's retro watches for the workout since mine died. Took me a while to figure out how it worked turns out that to reset the run you hold the button that has the word "reset" next to it. Who knew. Surprised it took so long to locate since it's basically like having a big satelite dish on your wrist. Still not sure how it can be the Forerunner 205 when the Forerunner 15 is more advanced. Maybe the people at Garmin just can't count I know I can't after a run.

no run walk today just a really long bike workout. and when I say really long I mean REALLY long. Like my watch hit 1 hour while timing it long. Sout out to Gan for sticking it out with me. It isn't so bad when you've got someone there suffering with you.

Run walk felt really good in shorts first mile had an average pace of 7:19 which is cool cause it means I've able to put more strain on it without it hurting a lot. It did feel like it was tightened up a little at the end, but it does that every time. So we'll just keep easing back into it. Hopefully I'll be able to do a few sets of the speed workout on Friday if all goes well. Run walk isn't so bad when your teammates help to keep things interesting by throwing snowballs at you. Pretty much the greatest team ever.

Another 2.5 miles for me from walk run almost exactly the same averages as last time. Shout out to the boys XC team for cheering me on and for their ever inaccurate aim with their snowballs.
 

Episode IV

A New Hope

It is a time of much preparation. As outdoor track season quickly approaches the resistance is desperatelly trying to overcome injusries and lay a foundation before the season begins in full. It is during this time of desperate struggle that one runner has tried tirelessly to overcome a knee injury. As the rebels ran bravely into battle once again agianst the many miles and the ever insistant stopwatch the runner stepped once again onto the track. The signal was given and he fell in behind his comrades once again for the first time in far too long. As he rounded the track he felt none of the usual pain or tightness. Could his injury finally be coming to an end?...

---

Just to sum up for those of you who didn't catch all that. we had a speed workout today and me and Gan finally made it off the bikes and went and ran the last two 400's with the rest of the team. The knee felt amazing it didn't hurt at all. just about everything else felt like trash though: I was breathing crazy hard, I felt like I was going to throw up on the last 100, and my form and pace were probably all over the place. But hey the knees felt good! #cuetheangelchorus

4 minutes on 1 minute off run walk

Full cross train day cause my knee was being tempermental with the 4 on 1 off yesterday. I probably took it harder than I should have yesterday... Got a little excited.

4 on 1 off again. Made sure to take it easier this time though.

Hey guys guess who made it off run walk! This guy! #miracleshappen Had to keep telling myself not to go crazy cause I didn't want a repeat of last week. We also had a speed workout on the bikes after which was pretty killer. You can do anything for 20 secounds right. Just do that 32 times, its easy.

Valentines day run down Love Lane with the girls xc team. Which sounds kinda sketchy when you say it like that, but there was a road called Love Lane we ran on and the girls team were the only ones left to run with by the time I was ready to go. Shout out to Watson for running late so I had people to run with. It wasn't the same as running with the guys team, but it was better than running alone, at least for the 9 minutes until they had to stretch. #onthewayback #justwishitdidnttakesolong

You know its gonna be a long workout when people start finnishing mileage before you've even left for your run. I spent probably about a half hour getting my leg loosened up and warmed up cause it was hurting a little after the lifting yesterday and I REALLY didn't want it to hurt on the run. So I did the usual warm up, but this time I added some stretching and a quick light roll out. I guess it worked cause it felt about the same as it always does on the run maybe even a little bit better. After that I still had 30 minutes on the bike, which actually didn't feel that long cause there were people to talk to. Shout out to all the peeps racing at Simplot over the next couple days, wish I was goin with ya. Y'all better kick butt. #longroadback #slowlybutsurely

In the spirit of not coming back to fast we took a full cross train day today. we had a pretty decent sized group all doing it together. Not super big, but not bad. I was in charge of calling out times, which went well until about the third set when I wasn't able to count by 20's anymore and messed up the transitions like 4 times. Looks like its back to first grade. #dotheystillhavenaptimeinfirstgrade

Ran a little faster today cause it was cold, so I got 2.75 miles out of my 20 minute run. Then I had 4x100 meter strides in the track to help the bounce back move faster.

The pace was a little quick, but it felt pretty good overall. The knee tightened up at the end again like it always does, but that's nothing new. Wish it would just stop being so tempermental, but I can live with the slow steady comback as long as it doesn't go backwards. #longroadback

Ran the infamous 20x400's workout today with Teapot and Big T since we all missed it last week. We only did three of the sets instead of all four but it was still pretty great. We didn't have any that were over pace, but we MAY have had a few that MAY have been a little fast, and I may have SLIGHTLY been leading on those laps. Shout out to the squad for showin up to help pace some of the last ones. Don't get much better than that. #awesomeweekplusaday

Cross train day today cause the knee was a little tempermental after the speed yesterday. I went and used the stationary bike at the Legacy Center... It was pretty boring not gonna lie. #needtofixmyrealbike

Pretty sweet speed workout today. Im running the mile at the invitational on Friday so I did the 800 workout instead of the 2 mile one. It was pretty dang quick, but that was how it was supposed to be. That and most of my dudes ran the 2 mile workout cause they're all running the 2 mile at the invite. Nothing against the guys who ran the 800 workout with me they're great. I just miss the other dudes. They're gonna wreck that 2 mile. #longroadback #Imcomin #watchyourtail

Up to 6 miles a day this week. Eventually we'll get up to 6-7-8 it wont be as high as I was once upon a time, but Im okay with that. We'll get back up for XC season but we decided it wasn't neccessary to get back up to 6-8-10 for track season. Pretty fun run today, went out behind imFlash and only had to move for a giant 6-wheeler truck once so that was good. Came back and had 20 minutes to finish up on the bike, we had a pretty good group all biking, and somehow somewhere someone found a tennis ball so that was pretty great. Shout out to Austin and Thom and cupcakes. #longroadback

Very VERY cold pre-meet run today, but who needs hands anyway? They can just freeze off right? All things considered though it wasn't too bad. Nothing is ever so bad when you're all suffering together. Also, make sure you know what your getting into when you try to splash people in puddles cause there is a good chance that you will end up just as wet as they are. But you can't get more wet than soaked right so whats there to lose?

First invite of the season today, it was, well, interesting. I ran the mile and here's pretty much how it went: I started out pretty fast  cause that's how I usually race, start out fast and then back off the pace a little. The only problem is that everyone else chose the opposite race strategy, starting off slow and then picking it up. Combined with the fact that my first lap was a little fast around a 67 lets just say it didn't go so well. After the first lap everyone took off and I kinda got spit out the back and was all over the place mentally with everybody flying past me. I tried to pull it back together a little bit at the end and I almost caught the guy in front of me with my kick, but someone in the stands told him I was coming and he sped up. In the end I just about tied my time from last week, it was only about a half a second slower this time which means at least I was consistant and I can't really be mad about that. #lessonlearned #we'llget'emnextweek #longroadsend

Medium mileage run today. I got to run a full 7 miles today! It was... what's the word?... oh right, SOAKING WET. Just the usual shananigans plenty of puddle splashing etc. Shout out to Mike for my sick new leopard print running shirt. No, of course those aren't mud splotches, why would you even think that? #longroadsend

Speed workout today. Very windy so we had to adjust the goal times a little bit, but it was good practice cause you never know what race day will look like. You know it was a good workout when you have a hard time calculating mileage afterwards. #IswearIcouldaddlike10minutesago

Pretty fun workout today. Jamie had me practice jumping some hurdles to get ready for the steeplechase on saturday. So I did a mile warm-up a steeple mile a regular mile another steeple mile and then finished up mileage. i hadn't jumped that many hurdles in a while, but it wasn't to hard to get back into it. On the first mile I was a little excited so I went out a little fast and was surprised at how tired jumping over just 5 hurdles will get you. I have no idea what my pace was for the first one because my watch went a little crazy and calculated it as way faster than it was. I appreciate the compliment Garmin, but next time just give it to me straight. On the second steeple mile Jamie timed it and it came out to be about a 6:00 which isn't bad considering I wasn't taking it that hard. Hoping to get a sub 7:00 on saturday since the actual race is 5 laps instead of 4 (weird distance I know). Hoping I dont biff it, at least not too hard, and hey if know one else knows what they're doing either who knows. In Mother Russia, you dont tip the hurdles the hurdles tip you. #firsttimesteeplechase #howhardcanitberight? #trippingwithstyle

That moment when you look out the window see it raining and realize you brought a jersey with arm sleeves for practice...

It actually wan't that bad nothing like Monday's run. Learned some interesting things on today's run: racing advice applies to relationships too, apparently if you do it right you can get 7 eagle projects out of one trail sign, Im gonna have to be a time management wizard next year. #mistakesweremade

Pre-meet with hurdles. Look out steeplechase here I come.

Ran the steeplechase today. It was super fun! Its such a cool race, too bad they only race it at the colleges. Snagged the toe of my trail leg on the water barrier one of the times and fell in. Although I didn't know at the tie thats what happened. I just planted my lead leg pushed off and then next thing I knew I was heading down into the water and I thought, well this is happening. Really it wasn't bad I landed on hands and knees and got back up really quick. I feel like I got the full steeplechase experience now. For the record I was the only one who fell into the water, guess everyone else just isnt as cool. Before you ask someone somewhere has it on video, but I don't. Finished 12th in my heat with a time of 7:02. I feel like I could have done better, but for the first tie running the race ever in my life not bad. #schoolrecord #firstoutofone #illtakeit

Weight workout and then high mileage. Tips for lifting, use the big discs for 10s so that if you cant be buff at least you can look buff well sorta. Also dont lift with Teapot if you're trying to not look like a whimp.

Jamie wouldn't give us a speed workout after lifting right? Wrong! Whistle hills today and then high mileage. Was I sore from yesterday's benching, yes, but who needs arms anyway right?

Just a high mileage day.

Well that hurt....

Ran a percentage run today, at least I think that's what it was called. Basically it means that you start out and then drop about 30 seconds each mile. We started out and we were a little over-zealous cause our watches dropped to around 4:40 pace before we realized we started out too fast. Split a 6:20 first mile which was very do-able then dropped to a 5:52 second mile which wasn't EASY but it wasn't crazy bad. The last mile though was a bit of a struggle I split a 5:35 which is a little slower than I was aiming, but not too bad. Im not sure how fast my last 800 was, but it probably wasn't spectacular. I do know that I took a breather after on some church's lawn, but had to convincemyself to get up after not too long before someone driving by thought I was dead. #finishonempty #ithoughtawesomeweekwasover

Third and final speed workout of the week. We went and ran it on the AF track cause ours was "closed" Workout was a 600-500-400-300 at mile pace two sets. Not crazy bad I thought but I think I did eat breakfast a little to close to when we started the workout. Luckily I didn't have to find out if it tasted better the second time around. Cool down after was one for the books. Accidentily found a toxic waste dump (not actually but pretty much), accidentily found a river, accidentily ran on a golf course, accidentily didn't get hit by a golf ball, accidentily ran on another golf course, accidentily almost got bombed by a bunch of birds, and made it back alive..... accidentily. #adventuresinaf #awesomeweek2.0

Me and Dylan ran 5 miles which was his medium and then went for a bike ride. It only took us about an hour to get our bikes in working condition but you know whats a little bike repair between bros. Once they were working we put em in his car drove to Skyridge and then biked to Highland Glen Park and back. Took it pretty slow but it was fun shout out to Brynlee and Hanah who we passed on the trail. #awesomeweek2.0 #Isurvived!

6x1 minute hill repeats at mile effort. Not super exciting. Or at least it wouldn't have been if nature hadn't thrown us a curve ball and snowed.... in April. Yes there were snowballs, but honestly what were you expecting? Shout out to all the peeps who raced at Arcadia last week. #dailygrind

Low mileage run today. We were talking about cars and then on the way back and passed a pretty cool dude going through a mid-life crisis. The dude was driving what used to be a Lamborgini but he couldn't pay for the fourth wheel, but you know it was still cool. #dontask #justtheusualshananigans

Raced the 800 at the tri-meet today. It was the first time I'd raced it since last year so it was interesting to see how it went. Jamie eyeballed my tie at about a 2:13, not sure what the official time was though. It was just about as fun as you could expect the 800 to be. No offense all you mid-distance peeps. The race went by really fast, but I think there were deffinitely a lot of good things learned from it. Shout out to T Fuller, Dylan, Eli, and Logan who all raced it with me. Also shout out to everyone else who raced today.

Pre-meet today. I had to run 3 of my miles at lunch today because I had to be back in time for the bus leaving for orchestra tour. Usually I don't like to do 3 of my miles at 6:30ish pace, only sorta eat lunch and then spend 5 hours in a tux the day before a race, but orchestra is going to state so that's cool. Shout out to my orchestra peeps. #tootiredtobeexcited #itllkickinlater

Raced the two mile today. I felt like it went pretty well it wasn't a super spectacular time, but it was the first time I'd run it this season so Im okay with the time I got. I finished with a time of 10:27. Andrew totally killed it though, he broke 10:00 and finished in first, so major props to him! Also shout out to everyone else who raced, grass kazoos, and Watson for letting me have a 2 mile long photo shoot with her phone on my cool down. I use the term "letting" very lightly. #1284pics

Speed... Yes it hurt... Didn't throw up so thats a plus... 3x400s starting at current mile pace and then progressively faster... And it was hot outside... #stillalive #gonnabesoretomorrow

We were tired of all the loops by the school so since a lot of peeps were off doing something the 4 of us who were left got in Chuck's car and drove into Alpine to do our run up there. It was pretty fun, the houses up there are insane, but it is Alpine so what were yuo expecting. One guy basically planted his own forest. Not sure if it would have been cheeper just to build his house in an actual forest, but he's probably so rich he doesn't even care. It was pretty dang fun though, better than doin one of the same old loops again. #adventuresinalpine

Another 7 miles today. Ran the berry loop. Tried working on fixing the head bobble for a few of the miles. It takes so much concentration though literally as soon as I stop thinking about it it starts bobbing again. Oh well, old habits die hard I guess. #runningproblems

Pre-meet today. It was, whats the word?.... Oh thats right...... COLD. Of course as soon as we finished pre-meet it stopped raining, cause you know this is Utah. Ready to go destroy this mile tomorrow. #redemption #embracethepain #trustinthetraining

Raced the mile and it was pretty dang sweet. Started out by NOT going out too fast, I know big shock there, I settled in kinda at the back of the front pack. The 800 came along and the guys in the front of my group were slowing down and I really needed to get out of the back, the group was pretty tight though and with the group three guys wide at the front I really didn't want to swing around the outside. In started getting a little frustrated and was about to start throwing some elbows but luckily people starting moving on there own so it didn't come to that. The race went pretty smoothly from then on, I focused mainly on my positioning within the group. Last 400 came around and people started moving around, at the 200 I ended up behind these two guys and I got a little annoyed again which probably help my kick a little bit cause I pushed past them and kicked it the rest of the way in. I ended up with a time of 4:48 which is a season PR and also ties my PR from last year which was run at sea-level so pretty stoked about that. Shout out to Satchel for breakin 5 today! #redemption #BYU?

Tough day of speed today. Nothing quite like those post speed headaches. Nice slow and easy cool down to finish mileage after.

High mileage run today, we went out towards AF and ran through this really sketchy tunnel, but we didn't get mugged so it was ok. Ran back with Satchel cause he had my same mileage. Then one the way back I jumped on top of Squirrel' s car, which I had a little too much fun with, but its fine. #whenlifegivesyouproblemsjustjumpoverthem #itllwork...maybe...ifthey'reshort

Ok so I thought this was the end of April. Turns out its actually the middle of winter. Who knew? Ran the 800 today and it actually went pretty well in spite of it being ridiculously cold. Finished somewhere around a 2:13, not as fast as we were hoping for, but we made some good stratigic moves and raced well so that was good. Shout out to Ben who came out of no where on the second lap and ended up winning the heat. #whataguy #trustinthetraining #whenwillitbesummer?

Things we did on todays run: covered our shoes in mud, harnessed or inner mountain goat, wound up on top of Everest or at least it felt like it, ended up in a blizzard in the middle of May stupid Utah, found out how fast you can go if you just shift into neutral, found out that shifting into neutral isn't always a good idea no matter how tempting, found a fridge yes an honest to goodness fridge, shifted into third on a downhill and got the pace down to a sub 4:30 not sure what the official pace was, didn't die, and reminded ourselves why we love XC.

Pretty much one of the greatest runs ever. Shout out to all the guys who ran it with us.

Last run of the season cause Im probably not gonna have time tomorrow. Hopefully I can survive cancer week next week without going too crazy. Shout out to the peeps goin to state. See ya around track, XC here I come.

So I ran the root beer mile today.

Full disclosure I don't like soda even on a good day, so you can guess how it went. honestly though I was expecting worse. Here's pretty much how it went:

Got the first two cans down... Threw up the first two cans. Got the third can down. Passed Teapot cause he was throwing up. Got the last can down. Didn't get beat by a girl. And survived.

Official time: *I have no idea, it was sub 10 though*

#justtrippledmyannualsodaintakeinlessthan10minutes #iremeberwhyihatesoda

Summer practice started today! Can't say I was super happy to wake up early, but it was so worth it. We didn't run any but we got some bench mark points for pushups squats pull-ups and stuff. Reminded myself why I don't like arm day, but at least we were doing something. Also talked goals with Jamie afterwards, 15:50 5k here I come. Shout out to my Aiden and his first day of XC. #stupidlysore #worthit

Day two of practice was a party. We actually ran a little today!! emphasis on "a little". Still stupidly sore from yesterday I wish they would turn the spring back on so we can ice. Still confused as to how you can turn a spring off. Anyone want to explain that to me? #summerXC

Is tabata a swear word in some language like egyptian or arabic or something? If its not then it should be. Great workout today even if it hurt... alot... #relentlesslypositive

We actually got to run today! It was only 2 miles but still. We played games after we ran the warm up and honestly I could have stayed there all day our team is the best. Came back and did abs after, then jamie gave us the talk. No not that one, the other one about rolling out and muscle flossing. Went and ice bathed at the rope swing after, well first we stood around delaying the inevitable but we eventually got in. It was cold... very cold... #you'llthankmelater #probably #atleastwe'resufferingtogetherright?