Lucky 13.

Whenever I go out for a run I typically have a plan, whether it's going 30 minutes or 90. Today my plan was to keep things short and sweet; 30 minutes easy. As I got on my way, I instantly noticed that I had a little more "pep" in my step. Now this next part may seem silly, but it was only up until this year, while I was training with the college team, did I realize that speed is relative to how much force you apply to the ground during contact. I know... I have been running for how many years and the concept of that only clicked a few months ago. The weird thing is that I have never really noticed it. Whenever I would run fast 400's or any fast intervals, I just quickened my stride and pumped my arms. I think it worked pretty well considering I have a 52 second 400 PR.

I quickly check my watch as I am leaving my neighborhood, 4:30. Now I know that at 7:00min/mile pace, it takes 4:20 to run one kilometer. Being ten seconds slower than that meant that I was running somewhere between 7:15 and 7:20min/mile. I didn't really care; I just trotted along down 110th and made my way toward Sunrise BLVD.

Sunrise BLVD consists of a long gradual hill, (About one kilometer from the base before it levels out at the top) that head up to the neighborhood of Sunrise. The road heading to my high school is at the top of the hill as well. I push the pace up the hill, trying to lower my average due to my slow, first mile. Recently I have been trying to make my average pace quicker than 7:00min/mile because on the training schedule my coach gave me at the beginning of the summer, he has all our easy runs done at 7:00min/mile pace. To me it's more of a mental thing, knowing that I can run faster than 7:00min/mile pace for the duration of a run.

As I crest the top of the hill my watch reads 12:30. I decided to head past the stoplight because I know that I am not quite at two miles yet. After I pass a small neighborhood of condo's, I check my watch again. 13:58...13:59...14:00. I stop my watch, turn around, restart it, and head back down Sunrise BLVD. The downhill was a little tricky for me because I haven't done a lot of fast downhill running this summer. A little painful on my shins, but I managed.

I head back up 110th and turn back into my neighborhood, glancing at my watch in the process, 22:30. I am pretty sure that I could close in four minutes for my last kilometer, which would not only put me at 26:30 for my run, but would mean that I closed in 6:25pace/mile. As I am running through my neighborhood, I try and keep my shoulders relaxed and turnover smooth. During the course of this year, I have learned how to run "comfortably hard," especially during my tempo runs and I feel like during the last mile or so of my runs, I have been able to utilize it to learn how to close quickly.

At the start of my run, there were several kids playing in the street, riding their scooters and bikes around the cul-de-sac, yet as I turned onto my road at the end of my run, none of them were to be in sight. With my house in sight, I am just thinking about closing this run smooth and relaxed. Stepping onto the curb I click my watch, 26:30. If I had gone four miles, that would have been rather fast, so I thought that I was probably shy of four miles. It turns out that I went 3.8 miles in 26:30, (6:57min/mile average with my last kilometer at 6:22min/mile pace). The run went really well; the weather was nice and I was able to close like I wanted to, but my shins were a little tight when I got home. I guess the downhill was a little rougher than I thought. All and all, I got another solid run under my belt.

31 days till I head back to school for XC camp. Oh and also lucky 13 for me and my girlfriend (13 months).

Baseball.

I just got back from a baseball game (Seattle Mariners) and it was so much fun. There were plenty of laughs thrown around, along with a few surprise visits from old friends. Here is a little recap of my awesome evening.

My girlfriend picked me up from my house at around 5:20pm and we headed down to another guy's house (Scott), where we would meet up with him and Travis (who would end up driving all of us to the game). It is 5:35pm by the time we leave Scott's house and head on our way to the game. We had the windows open trying to bring in some of the fresh air, but after a few minutes, all of the windows simultaneously climbed upward. Turns out it was Travis locking all of us in. We all know that Travis likes his car to be "warm," but I thought that he would be a little more considerate towards the rest of us. Guess not. Travis also likes to have his music up, which is understandable when your speeding down the freeway by yourself. Not when you have other people in the car who are trying to talk to each other. Again, consideration issues.

We arrive at the stadium at around 6:50pm and park a few blocks away from the stadium. Fifteen bucks for parking?!?! Talk about a rip-off. After waiting five minutes to enter the park, we quickly settled into our seats and waited for the game to start. I saw one of my friends from high school (Thacker) and we exchanged greetings. Turns out, he was sitting next to us! I thought that was pretty cool. Another one of our friends was gonna meet up with us at the end of the first inning (he works at the venue) and sit with us for the remainder of the game.

Throughout the game we dined on the traditional baseball game fare: $6 hot dogs, $6 French Fries (A pound of fries, which was totally worth it), and $6.50 ice cream (Can't go wrong with Dippin' Dots). The game itself was a little boring because our team was getting their butts handed to them. Prior to Wednesday, they had a 16-game losing streak. They ended up losing 8-0. They are used to losing, so I am sure they can handle it.

On our walk back to the car, we pass a club. It must have been an 18-year old and over club because some of those girls did not look 21. Considering that some of them were wearing just a bra and a thong, they must be under 21 because they can't seem to find guys the normal way (like normal dating). They have to dress up like sluts and prance around a steamy nightclub. Just wait till they talk about high school; he'll soon realize that she is still in high school. Maybe at that time he'll think that's not his smartest choice, unless he is desperate and wants to fondle some A's.

Overall the night was a lot of fun. I got to spend quality time with my girlfriend and hang out with some of the bro's. I hope to have some more of those before I head back to school, which by the way, is only 1 month away.

Best I've Ever Had.

It was a typical night here in the Pacific Northwest; the sun was down, yet the heat still radiated the crisp air. There were some clouds out, but one could still see stars trying to shine through the night sky. As I walked outside to my car, I quickly realized that I didn't wanna run on the treadmill. After all, it's boring, plain, simple... did I mention boring? I turned back around, took off my shirt and sweat pants, turned on my sister's Ipod, and casually made my way to the end of my driveway. I didn't know it then, but in fifty short minutes, I would have one of the best runs I have ever done in my life.

I have recently been running for time (minutes) rather than distance; not exactly sure why I made the switch, but so far it's been paying its dividends. I made the decision to run for fifty minutes, knowing that I would run around seven miles if I kepy a good, solid pace. I start the run by heading out of my neighborhood (It's 1km from the entrance of my neighborhood to my house), and heading down 110th. I hit the first mile right at 7:15, feeling smooth and comfortable. As I make my way to the end of the street, I know that it is 1.78 from my house. I quickly glance at my watch, 12:39, still feeling good.

I turn onto our main road at 16:04, at which point I am not sure how many miles I have gone, but I was confident that it was more than two miles. I ran down the main road until I came up to a hill on my right side. I have ran up the hill before, a hill which nearly killed me back when I was a sophomore (and out of shape), but today I was confident that it wouldn't be a problem. I cruised up the hill and tried to maintain a quick cadence going up the hill. I quickly glanced my watch at the top, 21:54. I would find out after my run that at that point, I passed five kilometers. It's amazing that during my sophomore year of high school, my 5k pr was only a minute faster than that. I find it amazing how much I have progressed since then.

Coming up shortly on my left was a small neighborhood, which I knew had a few rolling hills hidden inside of it. I breezed through the neighborhood and end up taking a quick pit stop to use the bathroom; my watch reads 29:08. I head back through the neighborhood and down a backroad. On this road, there were no lights. I could not see the road, and only two cars drove while I was on the road. It was a little difficult to navigate, but as long as I ran in the middle of the road, I was sure to be fine.

I got back to the end of 110th, 1.78 miles away from my house and my watch reads 39:00. At that time I was thinking, "Okay, a ten minute 1.78 mile run would be like 5:40 pace. Maybe I'll try to get back in twelve minutes and try to maintain my seven minute pace." I ventured down the 1.15 mile stretch of road and with a mile to go I glanced at my watch, 44:07. If I push the last mile, I can try to finish under 51 minutes, meaning that my last mile would be a 6:53. Turning into my development, I know that I only have one kilometer left to go and I try to quickly glance at my watch, but I couldn't see anything because the sweat dripping down my face got in my eye. I ignored it and just continued to push the pace.

As I ran through the newer developments of my neighborhood, I started to feel lactic acid accumulate, which made me realize that I was going faster than 6:53 pace. As I rounded the corner onto my street, I just focused on my form and staying relaxed while powering home (no pun intended). I stopped my watch the moment I stepped over the curb, 50:29. I look again to make sure that I read my watch correctly. 50:29. That meant that my last mile was 6:22, only 22 seconds shy of my schedule "tempo" pace. My legs felt surprisingly great when I walked into my house and headed straight to my computer to map out the run I had just traversed. Turns out I went 7.5 miles in 50:29, which is 6:48 pace/mile. My last mile may have dropped my average pace, but I still would have been under 7:00min/pace for the duration of the run.

At the beginning of the summer, I was struggling to maintain 7:20min/pace, and yet eight weeks later, I ran 30 seconds per mile faster AND ran a farther distance. I can tell that I have already improved so much since I have started my training and I can't wait to train harder during August. It's funny because I was talking with an old high school teammate, and I specifically told him that August is the month (during XC training) that separates the "Men" from the "Boys". The "Men" will continue to put in the miles and strive for excellence, while the "Boys" will watch the "Men" run and ponder how the "Men" got so fast. So now I'll conclude this blog with a quote from Bob Knight, one of the most successful NCAA Basketball coaches in history because I believe that it sums up how my mentality will be until I head back to school.

"The will to win is important, but what's more important is the will to prepare" - Bob Knight

Sometimes I Wonder.

Today I went to my old high school's cross country practice and the practice made me realize how much they have changed. While the team dynamic is still there, it's weird to think that after this year, everyone will be "new" to me. And by "new" I mean that I didn't personally run with them during high school. While that's just a natural part of growing up, I just thought that it was interesting because now I can start a legacy of being an "alumni with lots of wisdom" haha.

So the original workout that the coach told me at the beginning of practice was five to six one-mile repeats. Without even thinking about it, I knew that he was going to cut the workout down because there was no way that they would have been able to complete five repeats. Anyways, after they did some dynamics and stretched for a little bit, we gradually made our way over to the starting line.

As we began the repeats, three guys on the team (Taigen, Alec, and Marcus) bolted ahead of the rest us. Fortunately for them, the repeats measured out to .90 miles instead of a full mile, one less tenth of a mile they would have to suffer. I finished the first repeat about 15 seconds behind Taigen, the top runner from last year (17:13 5k PR) and at the same time as Alec. Now I know that typically during repeats people tend to run the first reps too fast and today was no exception. After the first interval, neither Marcus nor Alec would be within 20 seconds of me for the remaining intervals. I didn't know, coming into this practice, that I was going to be running repeats that day, so when I ran the first one at 5:47/mile, I felt pretty good, considering my tempo pace is 6:00/mile.

My coach has never been a stickler for active recovery between repeats; he also allows too much recovery between reps and once again, today was no exception. I got about four to five minutes of recovery for each interval, which means that Taigen, (who ended up running ahead of me the entire workout) had even more. My second interval was ran a 5:43/mile pace, which felt hard, but a solid effort. My third effort started off easier because I was trying to help Marcus maintain pace throughout the workout. I stayed with him for the first 800-900 meters, but then I just slowly started to pull away.

Overall, I think that the workout went very well. I was able to average 5:52/mile pace for the three repeats, (wouldn't have minded doing a fourth repeat). Tomorrow I plan on doing an easy/longer run (50-55 minutes), which is between 7-8 miles. Then on Thursday I will be joining them again in some 1/4 mile tough hill repeats. Shooting for four repeats total, which along with a 2 mile WM + 2 mile CD, a six-mile day. I have just over a month till I start XC camp. Time to get serious...

UPDATE!!!

So a lot has happened since I have posted on here. First off, I got a job! I am currently a Footwear/Running Specialist at Dick's Sporting Goods. So far I have enjoyed the job very much, although it seems that some of the employees get shafted during scheduling. This upcoming week I have a grand total of *drumroll please* FIVE hours. Not gonna lie, it sucks. But its more money than I would be making sitting on my a** doing nothing. So I'll take it. Also, it surprises me how unorganized some people can be. There are clearance tables that are set up in the middle of the store and it seems like every single person who walks by them has to pick up something, inspect it for ten seconds, then place it in a different location (most of the time it ends up being the floor). If people were slightly more organized, then I wouldn't have to spend 45 minutes of my work time trying to clean up/reorganize all of the product.

I have been thinking a lot about the upcoming school year. In terms of academics, this will probably be my toughest year because I am finally branching into classes that are in my major (Such as Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Kinesiology). Although it may be difficult, I know that I will love it because it definitely beats the boring "Gen Ed" classes any day. In terms of athletics, I think that this year will be a turning point for me. Since school has ended, I have begun training for cross-country. This is the first time that I have been consistently training for either XC or Track since the winter of my junior year of high school. Cross-country has always been a struggle for me, for some reason. But I have determined that this year I will hope to make a difference for my team. I feel like all the knowledge that I have learned from my coaches and from some of the other guys, that my Track season will be a breakout for me. My goal of running sub-2 for the 800 has been in my head since senior year of high school and I think that breaking that barrier separates the "Oh your actually fast" guys from the "Oh I did track in high school" guys. I also believe that I will do well in the 1500m (the older brother of the 1600m), a distance that has never been my strong suit. But who knows, I think people should watch out because I am gonna bring everything I have to the table during the season.

That is just a quick update about my life at the moment. Oh and me and my gf are doing well :) (in case anyone was curious haha)