Hello all, back with an update with my running. On Monday, I went on a long distance run and for me, which meant eight miles. It was a relatively easy day with stride-outs after and a nice core workout. Tuesday, we had an IHSA official come to the high school to talk about the rules of track & field. It turns out, track & field is twenty times more complicated than soccer. 
The clinic lasted for over 90 minutes going over every detail you need to know about the sport. I learned a few things, like how you are allowed to run in the complete inside of your lane, from the left inside line and all the way to the right outer lane line (I created a drawing to illustrate the rule). Considering I run mid-distance, it’s not much of an issue except for in the 400m. Because of the length of the clinic, I logged only three miles that day.
On Wednesday, I finally ran on the track for a workout. The workout was not what I expected; three one mile repeats. I have never done a mile repeat before so it was interesting. Conditions were not ideal either. Winds gusted up to 25 mph and it was about 25 degrees outside. I was aiming to run an average of 5:15 a mile. For all the miles, I lead the whole time; I had to break the wind and set the pace. My first mile was just right, running a 5:17. I then had a four-minute break and went into the next one. The second mile was 5:19. Another four-minute break and right into the last one. During this mile, the winds kept shifting, and it felt as if I was always running into the wind. Nonetheless, I finished with a 5:22 mile. All in all, it was a pretty good workout.
We also had our first outdoor meet scheduled on Thursday, but the weather was not ideal so it was cancelled. Instead, coach decided to do a tempo run and I love tempo runs. It was relatively easy. The run was seven miles total and at around the 2 mile, 3.5 mile, and 5 mile mark I was to pick up my pace for one minute then pick it up even more for the following minute and then just about race pace on the third minute. This run felt good and gave me a break from the boring long distance runs. After the run, I did a quick ab workout.
Coach was feeling extra nice on Friday and said we worked hard all week so he gave us a short day and a classic run, the “Ross Run.” I’m not exactly sure how the story of this run goes, but I know back in the nineties there was a runner named Ross who made a completely random run on some Friday. And by random, I mean it's pretty random. We go through backyards, parking lots, woods, and baseball diamonds. It 's about 4 miles so not bad at all. I did form drills once I got back and did an ab workout. Saturday, I went on the Rock Island trail. This trail is pretty nice, it’s close to my house and it is a straight shot. It was a bit uneven also. I ran from Alta to Dunlap a total of 8 miles. Then rested the remainder of the day.
Now for everything else going on in my life. March Madness is here. My bracket is not doing so well but I do enjoy all these upsets. FGCU and Ole Miss, thanks for ruining two of my final four teams (Wisconsin and Georgetown). Mizzou did not win its first game but Illinois did and I will take that. Other than attending the school play on Friday, all I have been doing all weekend is watching basketball. I did not qualify for IPTT but I was really all right with that considering how early it is into the season. I am looking to peak by Charleston and that is the schedule Coach has me on. Other than running and watching basketball, I finished my ALEKS placement test for Mizzou and ended up where I had hoped, Calculus.
It has also been a crazy weekend in terms of weather. It snowed a lot. On this date in 2012, it was 71 degrees compared to these 30-degree temperatures. This week, we are supposed to have a meet on Tuesday but the snow will make that unlikely. That is all I have for this week's blog, I’ll be back with hopefully some good results next week. One final note, that really is a picture of the Rock Island Trail and a picture of me, but not a picture of me on the Rock Island Trail. I love playing around in Photoshop. Thanks for reading, especially two of my friends, Dan Wetzel and Melanie Dunkerley.
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