Runnning in a Winter Wonderland (Or Something Like That)

One of my best friends and old teammates returned from having amazing experiences running for Vanderbilt to spend Thanksgiving with her family this weekend, and I got the opportunity to run with her.  It's always great when friends come home from college because you have so much to talk about on your run, and it's wonderful to catch up again.  I did my first six miles today with her, and I don't think we stopped talking for two seconds.  Our old coach would have been horrified-he had to spend many long hours on the bus or in mini-vans on the way to meets listening to us, and I don't think he will ever fully recover.  I did the last three on my own, which wasn't as interesting, but it did give me an opportunity to think.  I've decided that my goal for the Nike nationals this year is to make the All-American cutoff.  The top 21 runners earn this distinction, and since I got 26th last year, and I've improved quite a bit since then, I believe I can make it.  No matter what, it will another amazing experience.

Portland Bound

This weekend was definitely a success. My team and I flew out to Mesa, Arizona Friday morning.  We booked all of our seats together in the back of the plane.  Being a very close group, we were fairly chatty.  The man next to me, who had the misfortune of being crammed into the very back, seated next to us, and being of a size that was impressive to say the least, had clearly had enough of this day already, as he started doing shots somewhere around 10 a.m.  It's five o'clock somewhere, right?
The adventure continued when we arrived at our hotel.  Our previously booked hotel called our coach about a week ago to inform him that the pipes had burst, and that it was now the home to many impressive specimens of black mold.  Since this meet is enormous, all other desirable hotels in the area had already been booked, and we ended up at a place called America's Best Value Inn, which my teammates suggested was probably a brothel at some point.  It was certainly interesting.
We did a course run-through Friday evening.  This involved me making my friend do my dirty work for me and steal one of the course flags, and another teammate getting a cactus stuck in his shoe.  The course itself was definitely nice.  It was very similar to the course this race has been at in previous years, and it was really beautiful.
Race day came, and I was strangely calm about the whole thing.  Going into the race, I was still expecting it to be nothing more than a run-through, practice for Footlocker.  I was hoping to run a good time, and make top 21, but nothing more than that.  At the gun, I tried to stay with the top pack and avoid getting boxed into the back.  By the end of the first mile, I was part of the group that made up the top ten.  Our first mile was much faster than I'm used to-low 5:20's-but being closer to sea level made it so much easier to recover from the effort.  The race itself didn't feel horribly difficult.  Essentially, I just tried to hang onto that top group, and I found myself racing for a top-7 position going down the home stretch.  I finished exactly seventh, and got a new PR in the 5k by 11 seconds.  It was an amazing feeling.  And, after one qualifier decided to go for Footlocker instead, and another's team qualified for nationals, I found myself in the qualifier's tent filling out the paperwork.  I was lucky enough to receive the opportunity to visit Portland again for a second shot at the Nike Nationals.  And this year, I'll have some Utah friends to keep me company.  It will be a fun group to compete with, and to spend that weekend with.  And this year, I'll know better than to show up with only one pair of tights and no base layers to wear under my uniform for the race.

Cue Tacky Pump-Up Music

Starting this post, I suddenly became acutely aware that I've mentioned NXR at least once the last two times I've written.  I should probably be ashamed, but I'm not.  I promise this will be the last post.  (That was a dirty lie.  I'll probably write another update tomorrow, and again after the race.  #dealwithit).
There are less than 48 hours now until I line up to compete at NXR.  And it's terribly exciting.  Yesterday, I did my final workout before the race, and it wasn't even horrible.  It didn't feel like I was drowning in a pool of my own adrenaline, but it also didn't feel like I was a slug struggling to crawl through the mud.  It was a fairly straightforward workout, just 4x1200 at race pace with 800 meter jog recovery, and I finished it feeling as if I could run several more, which is always the goal with workouts like this.

I'm actually looking forward to quite a few aspects of NXR.  First of all, it will be my first race in about a month.  I haven't competed since my state meet in October, which didn't go as well as I wanted it to as a result of stress and some illness.  It will also be my first chance to run with girls my age in quite awhile.  Since my teammates Sophie and Maddie graduated last year, I have had to do many of my workouts alone.  Though it does make racing that much more excited, training alone isn't quite as much fun.  Racing in Arizona will also be nice.  This week, it's average between 0 and 32 degrees where I live, so running in shorts weather again with be refreshing.  Plus it's a great chance to make my tan lines even deeper.  Finally, we get to spend the evening after the race having team shenanigans, and those are always the most fun on the Arizona and California trips.  Oh, and flying out to meets never gets old.  Knitting on the plane is always a good time.  And we get hats at NXR!  And sometimes lanyards or shoelaces!  And if you run fast they give you a shirt, too!  There's just so much to look forward to.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Today, as I was scrolling through some of my photos from NXN last year, I recaptured something I haven't felt before a race in quite awhile.  Pure, untainted excitement.  Going into many of my races, I've experienced great trepidation, whether it was because of the competitors who would be on the course with me, the difficulty of the race itself, or the expectations of my friends and leaders.  The last race I truly felt confident and excited for was probably Arcadia last spring, or Highland this fall.  I went into Arcadia confident of my abilities, happy to be in California with Maddie, one of my best friends and beloved teammates, and honored to be racing on the same track as many amazing athletes.  Highland did not hold any great pressures for me.  It was only meant to be a tune-up, and I was goofing around with teammates, laughing and enjoying myself beforehand.  I still got some pre-race jitters before both meets, but it was nowhere near the crushing anxiety and panic I felt leading up to Bob Firman and the state meet, and I didn't come out of either of them feeling the exhaustion, both mental and physical, that I experienced after Firman and state.
So here's my goal for every race from now on, whether it be a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot or my first college conference meet:  Enjoy it.  I started getting more serious about this sport in the first place because, despite the fact that I went home completely drained after hard workouts, I had killer tan lines, and I ate like a long haul trucker, I loved the way it made me feel.  I got excited to run before every race.  I was happy to be there in the moment, and when I had bad days, I had my coaches and friends to encourage me.  The moment that racing started to become more about winning or setting PR's, it started losing some of its enjoyment.  So, starting today, I am going to attempt to forget the competition, forget the setbacks, and recapture the joy one can only experience when they are running for the love of it, and running for themselves.

NXR Southwest

This weekend, I have the opportunity to race with some of the fastest high school girls in the country at the Nike Cross Southwest Regionals.  My team will be flying out to Arizona on Friday morning, and racing on Saturday.  This race is one of my personal favorites.  I had the amazing experience of qualifying for the Nike Cross Nationals by placing in the top five at this race last year, and I must say, it was a singular treat.  It'll be interesting to see how the course is this year.  The location was changed from the golf course it's been held at for the last few years to a sports complex.  Last year, it was incredibly rainy, so by the time the elite races were held, the course was completely torn up.  It was essentially a mud run.  So I can understand why the people who own the golf course would not want to invite us back.

It will also be interesting to see how my mentality affects my results.  Last year, I attended this race with the intention of qualifying for nationals.  This year, as I am hoping to qualify for the Footlocker nationals, and my regional race is on the same day as the Nike nationals, I am just going to the Southwest meet as a tune-up for Footlocker.  Normally, I would think that this might make my race slower than normal, but this season, I've observed that I seem to do better when I go into a race relaxed, expecting it to be nothing more than fun.  For example, at the Highland invitational, I was not expecting to do particularly well, merely to get a feel for cross country again.  So, instead of worrying about it for weeks on end, I had fun with my friends the days leading up to the race, did a hike/run up Mount Timpanogos two days before, and brought a spatula for luck the day of the race.  And for some reason, I ended up winning.  It was pretty neat.  To contrast, I was incredibly strung up before the Bob Firman invitational.  I wanted desperately to place well, and I knew that many big names would be there.  I worried constantly about how I would do, about what my team was doing the night before, and about whether I was really up for the challenge.  Though I didn't have a terrible race, I finished it feeling completely worn out and disappointed with how I had done.  I am hoping that I can stay relaxed and excited for these races, rather than worrying about things that are out of my control at this point.  You can't control which other runners will be there (well, unless you hire someone to kidnap them, but unfortunately, I don't have the budget for that), what the weather will be like, or how big the hills are.  You can, however, trust in your training and double knot your shoes before you start.  Definitely double knot the shoes.

National Signing Day

Today is the day that high school elite runners have been waiting for since they realized they were pretty decent at running freshman year.  It's the day that we all get to sign pieces of paper that essentially say the college of our choice is going to own us, body and soul, for the next 4-5 years, and that they'll pay for our education for the privilege to do so.
My college of choice is Montana State.  Out of the four colleges I visited, it was my favorite by far.
Here are some reasons why:
-Their mascot is a bobcat
-Their colors are blue and gold
-The team is incredibly cool
-The training program is exactly what I'm looking for
-Some of the girls on the team own a cat
-It's beautiful
-It's pretty similar to Park City
-The coach is also incredibly cool

I could not possibly be more excited to go to school here, and to continue my running career throughout college.  

Intervals Are Cool, I Guess

Ah, intervals.  A word that every run hears with a sense of great trepidation.  Will we be doing mile repeats today?  800's?  Or, should the coach have mercy on your soul, 200's?  Yesterday, my workout was one that use to fill my soul with great sorrow.  16 x 400m.  The first time I ever encountered this workout, I was a bright-eyed young freshman with dreams of what a long interval workout could be.  The realization of what it truly was hit me like a freight train about four 400's later.  "This can't be right."  I thought to myself, as I struggled to regain my composure before the next one.  "Runner's World makes this sound so fulfilling.  I don't feel fulfilled.  I just feel like death."
It was just me, my coach, and the track out in the cold that day, attempting to make it through four miles of pain.  The head coach joined us momentarily after the eighth, stopping by just long enough to tell us that I hardly looked winded, and that we ought to kick it up a notch.  I was utterly horrified.  How could I not look winded?  My lungs felt like they were shriveling in the March air, unable to grasp the frantic breaths that I was hurling at them.
Yesterday could not have been more different from that first workout.  After three years of effort, a summer of aerobic training and high mileage, and more protein shakes than I'd care to think about, I completed the same workout without feeling like death.  It still wasn't exactly a picnic, but running it with the knowledge that each interval was bringing me closer to my goals did help.  That, and the knowledge that I could justify eating as much as I wanted afterwards.  My lungs were still a little confused as to what was going on, but that was understandable, as most of my workouts this year have been aerobic in an attempt to keep my legs from getting overtired in the three months of competition between August and November, and the transition to anaerobic workouts to improve leg speed does tend to shock the system a wee bit.
The best part?  My legs don't even feel like curling up into the fetal position and sleeping for 12 centuries today.  They feel like little chariots of potential.  Well, until I try to walk up stairs, that is.

First Winter Run

Monday, we received our first winter snowstorm.  It was certainly not heavy or lasting, but it marked the first true winter run for me.  Since it was a long easy day, I did a seven-mile trail run with my boyfriend up behind his house.  Let me just tell you, I love running from his house.  He lives in the middle of nowhere (I thought he was taking me out to murder me on our first date, but it turns out he actually does live miles away from civilization.), so all of our runs there are only somewhat wild trails.  We typically see tons of wild animals on our runs there, and we are constantly surrounded by trees.  Basically, it's a trail runner's paradise.
The run we did Monday was no different.  It was somewhat wild, parts of it consisting of game trails that ran through brambles and trees, and a thin blanket of snow coated everything.  It was incredibly beautiful.  There's just something about running in the snow that makes everything seem better.  Snow could transform the most mundane run into something beautiful.

The most amazing thing about these runs is knowing that you are the only human beings out on the trails.  You are the first person to come in contact with this lovely new snow.  You are the first person to slip on this lovely new snow and fall directly on your behind.  It's a wonderful feeling.