A run begins the moment you forget you are running

So my goal was to beat my PR (6:41). I raced really hard, but missed my goal. I know what I definitely need to work on for next time. I got a HUGE side cramp 1.5 laps into the race, but I tried my best to just keep going hard. 

I also ran the 400 and let's just say, I'm not a sprinter, or anything shorter than 800....I got left in the dust! But Taylor Hancock and I ended up in the same heat and we pushed each other so that was good. I stayed with her, then barely pulled ahead at the end.

So lately Carli has been faster than me in the workouts/races, and I now know what I need to work on. When we do workouts, I feel like if I'm up with Carli, I'm going out too strong and going to die. So I slow it down. I think this is what has really been keeping me back lately. I need to push up with her, and stay as long as I can in the workouts, and then I'll be more comfortable staying up with her in the races. So my game plan-Keep up with her for as long as I can, then eventually I'll increase the time I can keep up. 

As a side note, I'm kinda getting shin splints in my left shin.....so I'm trying really hard to take better care of it so it doesn't get really bad

4 miles with 4x200s

am-my best workout EVER! Pizza warm/cool. 4x1000s. These were my best set of times, and, they improved ever time, except for the last one. My times were 4 :43 :41 :33 :36. I felt very strong on this workout, and was able to push myself super hard. I stayed pretty strong and consistent. I'm really happy with how I felt and did.

pm-4 miles, 8xstriders, 2x300s. I DIED. Prolly cuz I did my workout this morning or something....but Carli and I went super easy on the 4 miles, because we were both dying. But the striders and 300s felt pretty nice.

Distance Medley- I ran it with all the speed demon youngsters: Addi (1200) Jacey (400) Ellie (800) and me (1600). It was sooo hot, but my time was......kinda bad. I got a 7:40, which is a whole minute slower than my PR, but it was really hot, and I feel like I pushed myself as hard as I could

4x200-Taylor H, me, Carli, Taylor B. I felt really strong, but it was weird because it seemed like I was done right when I started.

4x800-Nichole, Mia, me, Meskerem. I felt pretty good during this one. I feel like relays help me have more motivation to push harder because I have to hand off to someone. 

4x400-Irene, me, Carli, Taylor B. I started pretty far behind everyone, but was able to close most of the gap between me and the girl right in front of me.

3 miles to Arctic Cat, with 4x200s after

As it's been getting hotter this week, my body just is having trouble. My body is super sensitive to heat, and so I've been getting super bad headaches all week. I'm always really lightheaded and dizzy. I hope I adjust soon. I went 1 less mile because not only did I have a super bad headache, but my left hip has been causing me some greif lately. I've been all full of problems for a while, I still had some good workouts, but hopefully I'll be fully better and adjusted soon.

1 mile warmup/cooldown

4x1000s. I came into this workout expecting to do just awesome because last week was my best thousand workout ever, but it was quite the contrary. I felt not so good, and my times were super bad. They were ALL over the place....

2x300s These felt nice and strong

1.5 warmup/cooldown

Coe workout #1. As much as I hated this, it's one of my new favorite workouts. I started out too strong and had times up to 5 seconds too fast. But eventually I paced myself better and finished right on my time, or just 1 second ahead. I met all my times except for the 180 and 190. But the rest were right on

easy 3 with megan

I was feeling the PR, soooo feeling it. I was there mentallly. I started pretty strong, and as I came into the 3rd lap, Coach said to be brave and push hard. The 3rd lap is always the hardest, and I felt pretty good. I finished that lap with enough time to PR, and I was pumped to PR, but my first 150 of my last lap were way not fast enough, and set me back. So I missed my PR by 16 seconds (6 41), and I came in at a 7 05. I was super upset that I didn't get it, but I just need to keep pushing so that I can PR at DH next week.

1.5 warmup/cooldown. My breathing was really bad today because my inhaler was out of medicine....I should've realized sooner the counter was at 0.

600, 400, 300, 200, 100- I hit all my times except for the 4/600. The 100 was sooo fast for me, it felt fantastic.

1.5 warmup/cooldown

I hit all my times and felt like I was getting progressively faster

200-47
220-50
240-55
260-59
280-63
300-64

.75 during PE

6x400s. I could NOT break 1:40 for some reason. Usually I'm a lot faster, and I came into the 300 at a faster time each repeat, but everytime I hit 150 left, the wind was sooo bad. My times were 1: 40, 40, 40, 43, 46, 40. So, one good thing was that I was consistent, really consistent. It was so annoying that I couldn't get faster than 1:40, and that that's the time I kept hitting.

the 3 miles felt pretty good, and I ran some fartleks the last little bit since I had to leave before the 200s

1600-I missed my goal by 10 seconds. My time was 6:51. I thought I was right on track, but from the splits Megan told me, my 2nd lap was way too slow. 

4 with 8xstriders

The wind was really hard today, it felt like it was blowing against us the whole time. It was a nice run, and striders after felt fantastic

I was planning on getting up early for a 5 mile morning run, but I had one of the worst headaches ever. I was helping with a project this morning, and just jogging to the other side of the park put my head up to the moon. But I did get some good stretching in for my left shin that's been really hurting lately

am-easy 3 with 4x200s-I ran the 200s by myself after the easy 3, so they were super slow. I tried to keep myself going hard even though no one was with me, but I struggled. 46, 49, 50, 45. My goal time was about 42ish, so today wasn't that good for me.

I was super excited to race today. It was my last race of the whole season this year (I'll be out of town during Region). I feel like today was a perfect ending race to my season. 

It was super windy, so I was really nervous that it would slow me down, but kept a good attitude about it

1600-I started, and kept up with Carli for the first 250 meters, then lost her because I got boxed in pretty bad between all the girls. I closed some distance. Everytime that I got to the 300 meter mark, the wind would blow way hard against me, but I was able to keep my pace and just push against it. I'm really happy with this race, I didn't PR (missed by 6 seconds) but it was definately my best race because I felt really fast even when going against the wind. I'm super happy with how I did.

3200-This race was an open race-girls, boys, and youngsters. I was feeling super strong in this one. I started getting a super bad cramp at about halfway through. Usually this would keep me back, but today I was really motivated to go harder because it was my last race. So I went harder, and it went away after another couple laps. One thing that was weird was that on about lap 5 or 6, there was this girl that I was running with from Cedar. I'd just passed her, and her friends started shouting, "elbow tag Claire, go play elbow tag!" I was super confused, but before I knew it, she was up with me, and threw her elbow into mine, really hard. This made me even more determined to beat her. So I stayed ahead, then she caught up again and cut me off. Now I was really determined. So I had one more good push, knowing that if I could just push this one ahead of her, she'd fall back. So I went around, took off, and started my last lap. And I'm happy to say I beat her :)

So even though I didn't PR today, I'm super happy with myself and my races because these 2 races were definitely my fastest and smartest races.