Running From Finals

Sadly I fell asleep during the car ride and forgot to blog till we got to our site so I'm getting it I'm kind of late, but I'm still glad I at least get some time to do it. Today's run was so much fun. We did 97 minutes which was insane. When we got to practice the sky was really red and blue and we saw a couple rainbows that almost looked orange. It was very scenic and cool to see with the clouds. We ran tortoise to sand hill. Then we pretty much did a time trail sort of workout for sand hill. I started right behind coach when we began the hill. The very first part of the hill seems to be the hardest. The sand is so deep it goes up to your ankles and it feels like you make almost no progress at first. Eventually we got about 2/3 of the way up. This time I was doing a better job of moving quick even though my legs were burning pretty bad and I kept my breath under control which was good. By the time we hit the first peak I wasn't very far off the front guys. Unfortunately they really took off from there and I wasn't able to maintain pace with them. Eventually I got to the very top just behind Dylan. I'd been focused on trying to catch him a long ways up the hill, but the group he was with was a good ways a ahead. I got to the top in 12 minutes. From there I booked it down the hill. I really enjoy the downhill portion of sand hill. It's a lot of fun and you can move quick although it's a little tough considering how much you slide. About halfway down, I really picked up the pace and caught up to Dylan who was a little bit ahead of me. I was excited cause I was really focused on catching the group ahead of me. I think focusing on that helped me pick up the pace a bit. Next time I'd like to finish right with coach. I always struggle on sand, but I think I'm starting to get better after having done it a few eeeks In a row. I was Also excited I didn't stop at all. I saw a lot of improvement from last time. I think taking lighter steps up the hill helped as well as letting myself take advantage of the down hill really helped. My time on sand hill was 20 minutes. It was exciting doing something that was for time. I'm hoping it'll get me in the right mindset for the time trial. The rest of the run was fairly easy from there. We ran grapevine to Washington drive and looped around Washington a bit. It was a really good run. I felt like I pushed myself quite a bit.

I read the 4th chapter of my book today! It was interesting. The author talked about how he became a runner  and how it changed him. When he first started he wanted to test how it changed his perspective. He noticed that at first he was focused on running itself and worried about how long he was out and how difficult it was. He soon realized over time that he stopped focusing on that and began to wonder while his body went into autopilot. He also reported that the more he ran the more it became a part of him and the happier it made him. When he first started he felt that becoming a runner was like receiving a diplom. You do a lot of work and eventually you receive the title, but he soon decided he was wrong and that it was more like a skill set. The more you practiced it, the more joy that came from it, and the easier he found it. I remember experiencing this coming back from both of my injuries. It was very difficult coming back from them because I could barely last 15 minutes at my normal pace and was exhausted by the end of the run. It made it hard to focus on just enjoying the process and to be in the moment with my team. As time went on though, I found myself getting quicker and quicker and eventually after a few weeks I was able to last through long runs and really let myself enjoy it. Although I still enjoyed runs when i was just starting, I get a lot more from them now than I was getting in the beginning. This just goes to show the more you run the better the process becomes and the more rewarding the experience becomes. I've definitely seen it become even more enjoyable to me over time, even just over this summer, and I hope this will continue to happen for me throughout my life so I can continue to set and reach for new goals as a runner and never give up the sport. 

This morning was beautiful out. I started my run up at our camp and ran down the valley into town. As soon as I left i was surprised by a huge peacock sitting right outside our camp. That was really cool. There was also a thick layer of fog out this morning. It felt good being out running, but I missed being with the team. Still I got time to reflect on running a bit while I was out. I thought a lot about Thursday's workout. That'll be tough on my own, but I'd really like to push myself each repeat. I'm excited for that. 

I read another chapter of my book. This time the author talked about to types of runners: the runner and the jogger. The runner runs competitively and the jogger runs to be fit. He claimed there are those in running who run for the joy of winning races, this being a select few, while many others are challenge runners, runners who live to challenge themselves. He then talked about the downside to both the prize motivated runner which is that there is always a limit to the number of races you can dominate, and then he talked about the downside to being a challenge runner which was that failing to accomplish your goals can break you if you let it and that running can sometimes overtake your life if you let it. I reflected on this a bit and thought about dean carnases' book ultra marathon man. In he book he begins running for ultra marathons and other intensely long races through the night while working through the day. He had only 2 or so hours of sleep and spent minimal amounts of time with his family due to his intense training schedule. He claimed it enhanced his experiences with family and work even though it reduced he amount of time he spent doing either. Focusing on this, I believe that running does enhance your day to day experience by changing the way you view things, but also can be a hinderence to the rest of your life if you let it such as it did with dean carneses. Although this is true, it's very hard for me at least at this point in my life to delegate too much time to running considering what I'm training for. I think due to the additional responsibilities gained after high school it can be tough to delegate time to work a family school and running, but it's well worth it when done correctly, even if that means waking up at 5 to get your run in which can often time be even more enjoyable and rewarding. I think for most people it's very doable but always takes time and sacrifices. I'd like to keep this in mind after I finish up high school so I'm able to always enjoy the sport and let it enhance my life while still allowing myself to progress in other areas as well. One thing i somewhat disagreed with the author about was runners motivations. I think that most runners are motivated by both the challenge and prize aspects of the sport as well as becoming fit. I think becoming fit is almost part of the challenge portion of being motivated. Each of these things are part of almost all runners experiences although people tend to put more weight on one more than the others. For me I would claim to be mostly a challenge runner who obtains a new level of  fitness through each goal I am able to obtain. I feel like putting an emphasis on this will be able to help me run over the course of my life and not just throughout high school. To keep running throughout my life is a major goal of mine and one that I will continue to try and reflect on over this season. 

Total of 60 minutes today

I'm finally catching up on blogging sadly we've been pretty busy so I haven't read much from my book but I've been pushing myself mileage wise still. I ran 75 minutes today. We're in santa Paula so I ran down the canyon and into town. It was pretty far and I kept about 7:30 pace. Everyone was pretty friendly. My feet were killing me today and when we got back we went to magic mountain so I ended up walking another 10 miles after about ten miles of running. I was trashed by the end of the day but still enjoyed myself. The valley I ran down was beautiful and fairly green. There were a lot of vineyards and oranges where I was running so that was pretty cool. It's been hard not running with the team though. I've been running with earbuds and it's a lot less fun. 

Today was so cool. I did my workout in Malibu. I started my workout on the beach. It was really scenic out. After about ten minutes of running on sand I moved up off of the beach and onto the shoulder of he road. The road went along rolling hills and I had about 675 feet of elevation gain and still managed to move super quick for the intervals. Being at sea level helped though. I was moving pretty good for my first set I was a little slower than I wanted to be but then picked up the pace a lot. My tempo pace was around 5:40, my threshold was about 5:20 for most the run, and my cv pace was usually just under 5 minute pace which felt really good. I didn't feel very out of breath because of the low sea level but my legs were tight. I'm not sure how quick I was moving compared to everyone else back home, but I think I maintained pretty good speed for the intervals. I also kept about 7:10 pace when I wasn't doing my intervals and had about 4 miles that were under 7 minutes. I think the most positive thing about this workout was my form. It didn't break when I was going uphill, my back kick was good, I was driving my legs, and my arms were relaxed and moving good. My form felt really good. I also was happy I kept my regular pace pretty low between intervals. There were a few parts where I wished I had controles my breathing better. Next time I'll work on that. Afterwards I went and swam in the ocean. That felt amazing after running. Sadly I did my afternoon run Friday because we stayed up till almost one at magic mountain the night before so we woke up late. That meant I had to do my run in the afternoon which turned out better because I got to run at the beach. 

I got up early and did my twenty minutes in Santa Paula. It was my last run here and I felt a little slow at first. I kept about 7:30 pace. 

This afternoon was one of the coolest runs ever. My form felt fantastic and I was feeling so good I decided to push my pace a little more than usual. I did 8.3 miles in an hour and averaged 7:20 pace. I started up the road on a trail behind our hotel in Monterey. It was really cool there. It kind of looks like Seattle and parts of Oregon and is a fishing town. The trail ended pretty fast so I went on up the road off the side of it. I tried keeping up with a biker who was going kind of slow for a bit just to keep pace that was kind of fun. Then I went up a really big hill in a neighborhood and got a super cool view at the top. From there I flipped and extended a little at the end. I ended up finding another trail that went over some sand dunes and I got the coolest view of the ocean. I then went back to the hotel. Afterwards we went and had dinner on cannery row at a cool restaurant it was really cool there so I've decided to run over there tomorrow. My pain in my foot has stopped, and I'm feeling pretty good after this run. My form was really solid again today.

Today was the coolest run by far his trip. I ran the trail to cannery row. I was shocked by how many runners were out. Many of them were keeping close to my pace as well. I started down the trail and passed the naval academy which then led me to cannary row. That was about 3 miles out. I kept going and moved out onto an epic trail on the cliffs just above the ocean. I got some good photos. Today I kept really good pace as well. And my form felt very good again. I was moving my legs pretty well and kept long strides. About 3/4ths the way through my run I heard footsteps behind me and realized someone was passing me. It turned out to be one of the navy guys so I decided to stay right behind him and run with him for a while. It turned out he was doing some intervals or something similar for a speed workout so about a mile later he stopped, but it kept me maintAiming my pace in the sixes for about a mile so that felt good. I pushed myself pretty good this run and maintained 7:19 average pace. It was definitely the most scenic run yet and I felt pretty good about it. I kind of felt like I was moving in autopilot and just wasn't worried a whole lot about the run. I was still moving really good though and felt like I pushed myself. I'm trying to pick up my pace a bit for my longer runs as well to get ready for the time trial in a week. I'm feeling pretty prepared but am going to keep working my best so I can perform well for it. I feel like this week has been another good week for me to progress towards my goals I've set for the time trial. I've got one more week away from the team and can't wait to get back. I've been working on reading the scarlet letter for AP lit so I'm still a little behind on running and philosophy but will likely catch up tomorrow.