step by step, mile by mile

4 miles at 6:32 pace, alone because I had to skip practice. First half mile I was sore, so I sped up and clocked a 5:32 first mile, then I remembered it was an easy day. Strides after. 

Everyone was gone today for a JV meet except the 9 guys and 5 girls who made the BYU mark, so practice today was coach free. Mile warm-up, then Yellow Hill repeats. It consists of a mile up-hill where you run up two light posts (spaced about 100m apart), then go back down one, then back up two, and so on. The first one I had about a full light post on Mason and Aaron, and they on everyone else, but in my lightning speed I missed the final light post, so I didn't turn back. I only noticed when Aaron shouted my name as he went back down the final post, so I turned back, adding an minute and like 300m on to my time and distance. 6:29 pace. Next one I went out ham and settled back, still leading by a large amount, about 15 seconds on Mason and Aaron. 6:39 pace. My calves started to ache pretty bad on the jog down, running just felt like a continual stumble. The next one Aaron was pretty close to me. 6:39 again. The next one I started a little late and couldn't go as hard because I didn't have the lead pressuring me with Mason and Aaron in front. Mason kicked hard at the final post, and I could hear Kedric's breathing behind me, so I kicked to Aaron, who in turn kicked. we fought, and he beat me. 6:34. Only one repeat I did with a good finish. That was the final repeat, but I, as per usual, was the only one who jogged back down the hill for active rest, so when I hit the bottom and saw that people were still just starting to walk down, I decided to run straight up the hill by myself. Thanks for everyone who cheered for me as we passed ways. 7:10 pace. Not sure if it should be slower or faster than the ones before? Anyway, I turn around to see Aaron and Christian running up as well, S/O to them for wanting to be the best. 7/11 Party afterwards (feat.) Team Slurpees and my Gatorade I bought instead. Strides after, then joined Austin and Aaron in the AUX cord battle of the century vs. Kyrie and Jacia. We were 'ight until I got the cord, where I then murdered the two. R.I.P., I'll miss the fun we had. Thanks to Jacia for not getting upset about the stealing of her car while her and Kyrie filled up their water bottles. But, she did leave it unlocked and running, with us 5 feet away. No surprise

Picked up my sister from her JV meet and dropped her off at church. Was going to head home, but then I remembered that I told Talon that I'd go to Nationals with him, so I ran another 2 miles to become stronger, Through the ghetto #Runninthroughthe6ixwitmywoes

Did some core before practice. Hit an easy 3 minute plank. Mile warm-up, followed by 30 minutes of lifting/jump ropes. Had a long meeting afterward, then an easy 5 mile run with Mason, Christian, Kedric, Aaron, and a couple sophomores who went too hard. Core after. Coach informed the team that Mason, Aaron, Christian, and I have been taken out of Varsity to be put into the "Elite" division. sick. Strides after.

Mile warm-up, then a two mile run at about 80%. I ran a 12:04, and it felt super easy. Strides after super quick but leisurely. Super stoked for BYU! Coach wants me to pace with Christian the first mile to take it easier, then move up to Aaron, then Mason for the third lap. I think I'll try it and see how it's going. Also going to take the next week a bit easier, with the home meet on Wednesday, and my first "Elite" race on Friday.

Went to bed at 8 since I had to wake up at 3 AM to get on the bus. Ran a lap with Mason when we got to the campus. The course consists of 3 mile loops. I had it as a 5k but they called it 3 miles. The plan was to get Aaron to pace us for 5:40, then kick the second two laps. Gun goes off, and we hit the mile mark at 5:02. Nice job, Aaron. After that I just felt awful. Ran 5:50's the next two laps. Got beaten by Kedric and Christian. Not a good day. I think I need to cut back on my mileage and stop with these 12< mile runs once a week, they aren't good for me. Going to take the next day or two off and see how it works at the home meet. Pretty discouraged from the race, but the team needs me. As a team we did well. Mason managed to take 24th with a 16:11, Aaron and Christian both broke 17 and Kedric got a huge PR. We would have gotten 8th, but we tied with Corner Canyon, and their 6th was about a minute faster than Austin, our 6th. We did however beat Springville, bringing us closer to a region 8 win.

A very much needed off day after a difficult week 3 months. First day with no miles since Ragnar. After church I have to move tree branches from one part of the property to the other, so that was somewhat of a workout #farmersonly.com I plan on doing around an hour workout after dinner consisting of squats and core. In other news, Mason finally updated his blog. Shoutout to him for that, and for him running a 16:11.

3 miles going 30 seconds race pace, 2 and a half minutes easy. Took the 30 seconds a bit hard, it felt like a sub-five pace. But then again, I wasn't feeling too hot so that might have been it. My right hamstring was annoying me towards the end. Strides after.

Lifted and did core that afternoon.

Mile warmup, followed by 30 minutes in the circuit room and a 3 mile run. Ran the first mie with the varsity squad, then a mile later Chrsitian, Mason, and I broke off and picked up the pace at the end. I was going 5:40 and it felt alright. Legs are still a little tired. Strides after, and watched girls tennis. Shoutout to Courtney and Mariah for winning the singles department. Strides after, then a sick spaghetti dinner at Mason's house. It was dope. Kyrie Austin Aaron and I had a sick jam sesh and Mason and I had a real moment with his horse #forbiddenlove. Home meet tomorrow. Pumped. Gonna finally win an invatational.

Mile warm up beforehand. Gun goes off. By the 400 mark I had about a 50m lead. It feels great. Running right behind the golf cart. Going good. By the 1600 I have a 30 second lead. Mile mark at 5:12. That wasn't the plan. I wanted to do a 5:40, then negative split. I slowed down pretty bad. Mason caught me at the second mile, then with an 800 to go Aaron, Christian, and Cody Layton from Altamont all catch me. By the finish I'm catching them again, but oh well. Another race to learn from. Took fifth overall, and had a full minute on number 6, so it wasn't awful? Asked Mckenna Sprouse to homecoming after #D8

Woke up today with a knot the size of a golfball in my calf, so after Kyrie rolled it out for about 10 minutes to my anguish coaches decided we should just do core instead. 40 minutes of that, then iced with Zach and Austin as well, then the four of us went to the soccer game and went to Zach's house for banana bread and trail mix after. About to ice again. Murray is tomorrow. With calf permitting, Coach wants me to run a bit slower, with Christian for the first mile, then once I push up the hill, speed up and try to get to Aaron. Beating Aaron would be dope, but I'd just like to get into the top three again. The thing is Aaron and Christian have been really close as of late. We'll see how it goes. My spots on the team have gone 3,3,4,5,4 #Pattern(?)

Never forget. Prayers out to the families of victims.

Anyway, got on the bus and got a pretty good nap. Also got answered by Mckenna to homecoming in the morning #D8D8 got to the course and did a mile warmup with Davis and then half a mile with my team. Decided against using spikes and wore flats instead. I decided, with coaches advising, to run the beginning of the race easy then kick it in. Gun goes off. Austin runs in front of me for some reason and cuts me off, so I run outside the pack to get Christian. By a quarter of a mile in Mason, Christian, Aaron, and I are separated by like ten yards altogether. Hit the mile mark at 5:19. Felt pretty easy. It was super hot and hilly though, but nothing major yet. Started passing people at 1.5, caught Christian with about 200m left on the second mile, and kept passing. Aaron was in my zone, but I was still taking it too easy. Finsihed alright. Left a lot in the tank. I got my bronze Uintah spot back though! Mason ran a 16:30, and Garek ran 15:03. Wowza. Will run harder at the rendevouz. 

4 miles after with Mason and the Varsity girls from Jackson. Talked to the UVU coaches after

Homecoming was today. Straight fire with McKenna #d8d8d8 

AM - Woke up and went on a nice shakeout. Went a little quicker since my mileage last week was sub-par. Ran the first mile just working on form, taking large strides on the downhill. Hit the first mile in 5:23. I'm sure running up was a bit slower, but my watch died halfway through the uphill so I can't say the second mile time. Strides after.

PM - Sick speed workout. The general idea I was able to think up was 6 800's in 3:10, 3:00, 2:50, 2:40, 2:30, then one all out. The idea sounded pretty good, but I had a better idea. Same paces, but the second lap I'd run ten seconds faster than the prior one, as to work on my non-existent kick. First one, 1:40 and 1:30 adding up to 3:10. Next one I hit 1:35 and 1:25, 3:00. Next one, I started thinking about races and stuff, rather than my form, and I think I hit the 400m mark at like 1:33. I hit the 600 at like 2:10. Picked it up and finished in 2:45, 5 seconds too speedy. Next one I hit the 100m at 18. Slowed down a bit but still hit the 400m at 83, a bit too fast. Finsihed the next 400 a second too quick and did a 2:37. My watch actually got these as barely over .5 miles because of having to swerve into the second lane a few times due to football team belongings. next one was supposed to be 2:30, and I got a little excited. Hit the 400m in 76-77. 3 seconds too quick. I decided I needed to punish myself and that if I ran the first lap 3 seconds too fast, I'd do the same for the second one. Did a 66-67 and hit the 800 in 2:22. After that I botched the all out 800m idea, instead aiming to break my 1000m record of 2:57. I ran this sophomore year going on a steep downhill. I still was doing the speed changes, however. Went out well, then realized my watch didn't even start. jogged back, and started again. Hit the 400m at 75, then sped up a bit. Felt quick, but didn't hurt. I actually felt good throughout this entire workout. Ran a 67 after to put me once again at a 2:22 800m, then finished hard with a 34 200m. I ran a 2:56 1000m, just barely breaking the prior record. It felt pretty maintainable, I think I could have kept going to run the 4:40 1600, but oh well. Good workout! The strides I did after felt amazing. I almost always feel like my form is crap or I'm sluggish ever since I came back from Team Prep USA, but this felt good. Really good. I was hauling and form was on point, and it didn't wind me or anything. My calves were pretty sore from 6 miles in spikes, so shoutout to my dad for not letting me ice bath because I was too busy updating my blog so he got mad and drained all the water I had just spent ten minutes waiting for it to run. Next stop, injury city

A little over a mile warmup, then an 8 mile distance run. The first two miles I ran with Mason, Austin, Christian, Kindon, and Kedric, but my calves hurt a ton from yesterday so I slowed down quite a bit. I hit just under 32 minutes for the 4 mile mark. The rest of the guys had 2 minutes on me at least. After that I sped up quite a bit. I caught the pack at 6, but didn't slow down. At this point it was raining pretty awful and was freezing, plus very heavy winds and a lengthy uphill to top it all off. Mason and I still managed to run the last .9 miles in 4:54, according to Mason's watch. Official splits;

7:44

7:39

7:47

8:27

7:08

6:50

6:47

5:47

Calves stopped being so sore 4 miles in but then I felt good, but afterwards they were hurting again. Did strides after, felt uncomfortable below the knees, above the feet. Nice workout. I think I could've fought Mason harder and pushed us harder, but also I went too hard anyway. Oh well. Looks like tomorrow's easy.

Mile warmup, then core. Iced after w/ kyrie bc my calfs and her tendinitis were killing while everyone else went on a 20 minute run. A few varsity boys who will be unnamed stuck back and didn't run because they're lazy pieces of trash who are going to get kicked off varsity by people who care about their training. Watched soccer after with austin, kyrie, and Mason. It rained super hard so Mason and I took shelter under the Walk umbrella. #12lookinfresh went to church after and got baptized. 

T

JV was at a smaller meet, so Varsity and a few others ran U hill. The pace was supposed to be quick. By half a mile in Aaron, Mason and I packed way ahead of everyone. After a couple minutes Aaron got a medium lead on me, with Mason in between. I caught Mason, but he kicked it in and blew past me and beat Aaron as well. While everyone recovered I  ran back down to the slower runners and ran up with them. After that it stormed bad and Aaron and I hauled down the mountain. Strides after.

4 easy miles. Good luck to everyone running at the rendevouz on saturday. Except you, Seth Freckleton. I'm gonna kill ya

2 miles on the treadmill while Aaron biked

Got to the meet pretty early, early enough for Mason and I to run the course. The rendevouz consists of 1 JV race and 7 Varsity races where all the #7 Varsity runners race, and so forth. The squad ranks were as follows; Jordan 7th, Austin 6th, Kedric 5th, Christian 4th, me 3rd, Aaron 2nd, and Mason 1rst. In the JV race of 388 people Clayton, a newer member of the team, managed to get 12th place and run a 17:44, so shoutout to him, and Kenny as well for having a good race. Jordan and Austin both got like 18:10's, and Kedric ran a 17:45, making Clayton at least #5 Varsity. When Kedric started I got Jacia, our girl #3, and went on a 10 minute warm-up, going hard the last minute. After that we stretched and ran to the starting line, where I forgot my bib, but Jacia was the coolest kid on twitter and went and got it for me while I went to the restroom for the final time. The gun went off, and everyone went out hard, despite it being a 20-something person race. At the first big hill about a third a mile in I passed a few people, getting into 10th place. After that I worked with Jake Graves from Stansbury for a while. He hit the mile mark at 5:25, I was at 5:28. After that I caught him and at the two mile mark he has some room on me again, and coach tells me I did a 6:00 mile so I speed up and catch him again. we got to the point where we had 1000m left and Mason yells at me that I'm tied for 7th. Jake moves up, and I do as well but as we work to pass this kid from Brighton, he keeps cutting me off as I try to pass. I ended up not passing the jerk because of it, and ran a 17:21. Splits were 5:28, 5:59, 5:55. Didn't even feel winded at the finish. It bugged me that I ran so cautiously, but ya win some ya lose some. Christian got 3rd in his race with a 16:59, Aaron 5th with a 16:39, and Mason 8th with a 16:27. Shoutout to Talon Hull for murdering the #1 race with a 15:12. Cooldown afterward with the team, and I did some strides after finishing Cafe Rio quickly. Ran a mile when I got home to add it up to 10 for the day.

I was going to take the day off, so I listened to some old recordings from team prep USA. There was one talk where the western coach told us that long easy sunday runs are essential, especially after a race. So I laced up and went for a 75 minute run in the desert in the early afternoon. Pace was slow, and it was super hilly. I think that coach was full of guano, but what's done is done.

Ran from the high school up to Docks Beach, a lengthy journey of a run. I let the rest of the faster guys get a lead on me until we hit the major hills, and then I sped up a ton and caught everyone. I think I sped up to quickly though, because after I passed Aaron, who was in front, I started to hurt. He passed me again and after that I trailed with him. Coaches drove up to us 4 miles in and told us we had gone too high, and that the stopping point was half a mile behind. Looking behind I saw Mason right behind us, but the next guys were like 200m behind. Mason and I lengthened our stride and got back to the stopping point rather speedily, where I rested a bit less than I probably should of because I felt good. I looked down the road and saw Kenny and Jordan had already left a little while ago. I caught and passed them, but Kenny picked the pace up major and I decided to take this part of the run easy since the difficult part had passed. Avg 7:03 pace. Strides after added to 9.5

2 miles of 3/1 pacing. Core after, and watched 4 hours of girls soccer after. in other words I think #12 is my least favorite number

Ran 4 miles throughout the hours before the race, and got on the starting line. Gun went off. I decided to take today easy because of Bob Firman being on saturday. Hit a 5:21 first mile. After that, I tripped and it sort of threw me off. It didn't even feel like a race, it just felt like a tempo run. Which is why I was shocked to find I dropped a PR of 16:39! Crazy. Now I just gotta drop a sub 16:30 on saturday. Mason won the race with a 15:46, And Christian managed to barely beat Aaron with a 16:22 to his 16:23. I need to work on my kick. With a 400m left, the two of them were just maybe three seconds ahead of me.

4 mile run. Paces were 7:20, 7:10, 7:04, and 5:40. Last mile felt easy. Half mile in the parking lot after.

Simple as that.

As soon as we got off the bus Mason and I jogged the course, bought gear, and napped for about an hour. After that we cheered for the Varsity teams, then stretched and warmed up for the Elite division of the race. Mason, Aaron, Christian, and I were the only ones from Uintah racing in it. I decided to race in my mid distance spikes to see how I'd do. It was alright. It was super hot and dirt was thick in the air during the race, so I wore sunglasses. Gun goes off. The four of us were pushed to the very back, but we were taking the first mile a bit easier. We hit the mile mark at 5:22. After that we started passing a lot of people. At about 2000m in I hit a wall, and had to stick with the people around me for about a minute, after that I kept moving up and passing people, including someone who I mistook for Connor Arnell, which made me speed up so I could beat him. Turns out the real Connor took 9th. Anyway I hit the mile mark at 11:10 which was super demoralizing, and after that I just kind of coasted. I was still passing a lot of people and speeding up, just not enough. I passed a couple people in my finish which was sick. Overall an alright race, not exactly what I wanted. I think I'm going to stop jogging like 3 miles before I even warmup, I think it just tires out my legs. 3 miles after with the other 3 guys, who did well. Apparently at dinner that night an athlete who wore a Pioneer jersey, that I assume to be Lehi, and had "Surfer dude hair" came up to some of sophomore and asked about me. Sick. In other news due to having to miss Park City my next race will be Region in 12 days, so 10 days to work my butt off to get a sick time. I'm hoping for top 5, but whatever will get Uintah a region championship.

Yellow hill repeats. The first repeat we just sprinted half a mile straight up. I got out ahead of everyone and kept a steady lead. Mason caught me towards the last pole but I managed to kick it in and blaze it. The second one we ran up two poles, down one, making it about 1000m. Kedric, rather than taking the downhills easy, hauled down them, messing up the workout, but I still managed to barely beat him. The next one we moved up a pole so you'd only have to go up 2 and down 1 three times. Kedric sprinted down again, and I took the downhill wayy easy, instead hauling uphill. Going into the final uphill he had about 20m on me. I caught him by the first pole and had blazed ahead of him by the second. On the next repeat we only had to go out twice, but I started to fade out pretty bad. Jogging back down after the repeat, I thought I was going to pass out. Pushed through the next repeat, but I had to get water after it so I wouldn't die. Kedric, me, and a few other runners missed the final repeat because of this, but I chose to do it. I took off with coaches watching me, and I was hauling. Way faster than any other repeat. Then I passed Jacia and rylie, and for some reason I started kicking way harder. Felt dead when I finished. But happy that I pushed myself hard in a workout for the first time since track.

Warm up, core, then a little over a 4 mile run with Mason. Ran by Brendon's house, shed a few tears. Then ran by Courtney's and Gena's and didn't. Took a three hour Calculus final at the library after. Almost dropped a toaster in the ice bath that night.

Mile warm-up, then 2 mile run. Afterwards coaches informed us we'd race a mile today, courtesy of Christian Graham. I had to run in the 2nd lane for basically a 200m stretch so I'd call it a mile. Coaches told us to hit a 75 first 400m. Race goes off a little quick. Hit the first 200m in 35. I slowed down a tiny bit. By the 400m I was in 5th behind Mason, Aaron, Austin, Kedric, and Christian right on me. But, I was the first one to hit 75 seconds, I heard Christian say "We're right on pace Nathan!", so I naturally sped up a bit. By the 600m Mason had about 5 seconds on me, and the rest of the varsity guys on my tail. Hit the 800m at 2:28. Good. By the time I hit 1000m I was within striking distance of Mason, and no one was with us. Unfortunatly Mason had an insane kick and ran a 63 last lap. I hit the 1200m at somewhere between 4:39 and 4:41, and my kick just wasn't there. I coasted. Settled for silver again, I should have kept with him. With 200m left I heard the breathing and heavy footing of Aaron behind me, so I sped up to a good pace and managed to beat him by a second, running a 4:53. Only it wasn't Aaron. It was Christian. He came in at 4:54. Ran my second fastest mile/1600 time ever, and got 2nd, which was pretty cool. Did a three mile cooldown on the track after with Jacia where we just talked trash on everyone on the team, except Cherokee Kenny, and it was super chill and fun. Except I ran in my spikes during the cooldown, sockless, and my feet were hurting #norisknoreward I shaved off a full 20 seconds from this same race from last year, and I got 7th last time, and only one of those people ahead of me weren't present today.