A Briefing on Friday's Long-Run!

Yesterday at practice we had a long run, and I felt amazing! I ran the first two miles easily and faster than my normal pace, and felt really good. I took a brief walk break with Sam so we could talk easier, then finished the third mile. Somehow I lost all my excess energy between mile two and three. It might have had something to do with eating ice cream for lunch (guilty as charged). I forced myself to finish the third mile though, so I went agonizingly slow while Sam happily walked off her cramp. At mile three we both returned for a water break, and my energy returned! We ran normally until mile four and cut it short so we could do sprints too (yes we are bad people, sprints on a LSD day!). Of course Sam beat me but I had a lot of fun trying!
All in all I had a really great run! Keep reading,

Bailey

 

Question:

What's the longest distance you've ran?

Comment below!

A Recap Of Our Timed Trials!

Thursday at practice (the first "official" one!), Sam and I ran a timed two miles. I can't say anything for Sam, but here is how it went for me:

I was exhausted all day but managed to regain some energy by lazing around the couch and eating yogurt-covered raisins. It had been overcast all day, but by the time I left for practice it was clear, gorgeous, and HOT. When I got to the park I talked to friends and turned in all my paperwork for the season. We went for a ten minute warm-up run, which Sam and I took easy and then cut short so I could pee. After stretching a little and doing sprints and doing frankensteins, we lined up to start running. I felt pretty good until .95 miles in, when I started slowing down due to an unwelcome cramp. I kept running the whole time, but at the last .3 miles I sprinted harder to keep from being last. That made me feel awful when I finished and I very nearly vomited. But I finished in good time (for me), about 9 minutes a mile! 

After that we were supposed to go for an easy run, but Sam and I set off with a group of friends and went on a hiking trail. I actually had a really good time after I recovered! I'm kicking myself for not bringing my phone to take photos, where I live has such pretty trails for runners, cyclists, and hikers. We went back and stretched before heading home. 

That's about it! And for some more shin splint help, when I got home I had awful shin splints, so I iced them for 2 1/2 hours, took an ibuprofen, and now I feel great!

Hope you enjoyed reading! 

Bailey

Cross country practice

Bailey & I went to cross country practice today! I thought it was a pretty good practice. We did fartleks which were fairly easy and a good way to pace yourself & build endurance. We ran at a 30, 60, 90 tempo (since we're beginners)  and we ran 30 seconds at a fast pace and then jogged 30 seconds at a slower pace. Then we did 60 seconds with that same pattern, then 90, and repeated that 9 times. Every 3 reps we walked 2-3 minutes. 

As you can see, the trail we chose was on concrete, straight, and flat. So it was easy, but we ended up having to run it back and forth 3 times. I ran the whole time except at the end where I tied my shoelaces too tight and for some reason it made my legs tense up and hurt. So as running advice, don't tie your laces too tight and then sprint the the finish line. 

We crossed the lake on this small bridge, it was really pretty. 

After we did fartleks we just did normal exercises; butt kicks, leg kicks, stretches, etc. It was a good practice. 

We will be posting more running tips and nutritional related blogs in the future! Thanks for reading!