Week of 9/28-10/5
Monday: Pursuit around the athletic fields.
Tuesday: 30 Minute Tempo Run
Wednesday: Easy 40 Minutes
Thursday: Easy 30 Minutes, 6 strides
Friday: Meet at Lake Region
Saturday: Surprise off day
Sunday: 60 minute run
Last week was definitely interesting. Coming off of a pretty bad meet, I ran angry through all the work outs, but it all felt pretty good too. That Monday we had a pursuit around the athletic fields, where we paired everyone up by times, and sent the fastest off first, letting them get ahead a bit, then making the next group go. The coaches would decide upon a certain group that had to catch the faster group in front of them, before that interval was over, which made for a creative work out, but it could be frustrating when people are not trying hard to catch the group in front of them, which makes for a longer interval for all the other groups.
After that the week got pretty easy. We are starting to ease up on my workouts, trying to get the lead out of my legs. Every meet thus far my legs have felt heavy and sluggish, and don't seem to last very long. I think starting to taper will help out a lot, and this week at conferences I hope to be pretty fresh to see what I can really do.
It seems like I have not been getting many breaks this season. Some of them, have been admittingly my fault, while others have been straight up bad luck. My twisted ankle at Lake Region really set the tone early, and now I am trying to break out of that. I know I can run faster then I have this season, but it just has not come to me yet. In fact I haven't been able to break 18 yet! It has all gotten me a bit worried, as a few of you guys and gals know, but I still have a lot of hope that things are going to get better.
I'm not saying this is all the reason I have not ran a fast time yet, but I have not been on a fast course at all this season. I thought that chance was going to come on Saturday at Festival of Champions in Belfast. Well, about two hours before my school day ended at Poland we found out there had been a stupid mis-communication, and me competing at that meet didn't look to good. So instead I would be running later in the day at Lake Region. Awesome! For shoes I had nothing but my trainers, and for a little bit it looked as though I was going to have to use a middle school uniform, because I didn't have mine with me.
When it came time for the race, I'm not gonna' lie, I was pretty out of it. I didn't want to compete, and I didn't feel ready to compete. Part of being a good athlete is taking things as they come, and it seems as though I am not to good at that yet. Even after opening up in a sluggish first mile on that course (5:25) I felt as though I was hitting a wall. The hill slowed me down a lot, and soon after our number two runner passed me, and surged ahead a little bit. Over the next quarter mile I reeled him back in, but that didn't last for long. He passed me with about a half mile to go, and held it. He ended up running 18:00 I think, while I came in at 18:04. This was my worst race to date I think, and I was a bit upset afterwards as expected, but what ever. All I can say is that I have three more meets that mean anything to me left this season, and hopefully a bonus one will get thrown in there at the end. What ever happens, happens, no regrets about it.