Road To Nationals-Around the State

So this week is going to be a lot of fun and a lot of moving around the good ‘ole state of Iowa. Monday I work in Mount Vernon, then Tuesday through Friday I am going to be with my wonderful girlfriend, which will be a lot of fun. After Friday I am going back to Mount Vernon to work Saturday morning for an Admissions day. Then right after that I am going to my hometown of Winterset to spend a day with my family then coming back to Mount Vernon Sunday afternoon. So this week will be a lot of fun but exhausting. I will see how running fits in, as well as blogging, but I will do my best!

MONDAY

7:06 A.M. 3 Miles in 23:07

It has been AGES since I last doubled. And I am happy to say that I think I am back at this whole running thing 100% healthy again. My foot still hurts but I am okay with not doing much fast stuff until the school year starts and I can start to get into the training room more. But as for the run it was nice and relaxed and a good way to get me started in that rhythm again! Back with more mileage this afternoon.

6:17 P.M. 7 Miles in 49:29

I GOT A NEW GPS WATCH! I had some trouble with some of the mapping on the old one and it said I was running 1:55 mile pace a couple times. I need something a bit more consistant with that. My new watch also uploads directly to Strava, which is the app I put all my runs on. So that is more easy for me to do. The run was smooth, tomorrow I am going to do a workout on the track before Joanna comes and picks me up so hopefully that goes well. See y’all tomorrow!

TUESDAY

8:17 A.M.

2 Mile Warm Up

3xMile 4x400

1 Mile Cool Down

Not very happy with the workout today honestly, wanted the cruise miles all to be under 5:50 pace, they were but it was REALLY hard. I had to cut the last mile into 400s because I could barely stand up. I need to be better about getting good nutrients into my body so I can continue to train well. Another step in the right direction but nowhere close to where I want to be. Recovery tomorrow so that will be nice. I am doing things to get back into form. See y’all tomorrow!

WEDNESDAY

7:39 A.M. 4 Miles in 45:41

This morning was really good! I got to run with my best friend in the world. As I am writing this she is giving me a neck message and playing with my hair. I can not be a happier human being at the moment. But this morning I ran with Joanna. It was awesome. I am really glad that she is someone who wants to run. We ran on a trail that is pretty close to her trail. It was pretty cool to run with her. It was really slow for me, but it was cool to see Jo running. I LOVE YOU BABY!

7:04 P.M. 7 Miles in 48:42

This evening was a small bit faster than this morning. I ran the opposite way on the trail we ran this morning and I also started from her house. So the run was really chill the first half. But it was extremely hilly. I am not to thrilled with that but I know that it will make me a lot better. The second half of the run was a lot faster. I will leave the reasons unsaid but if I did not get back to a certain place in time I would have had some issues. Anyway. an eleven mile day is nothing to sneeze at. I am really happy with where my training is going. Tomorrow I get to go on a 17ish mile bike ride with a really pretty lady so I am really pumped for that. I will write about that experience tomorrow. See you tomorrow.

THURSDAY

6:54 A.M. 18 Miles on Bike with Joanna

This bike ride was an amazing event. But boy was it hard work. One of my friends on my team Cuyler bikes to do his cross training when it is warm out. And I have no idea how he does it. Granted Joanna and I were going on a relaxed ride to see the sights of Fairfield but holy crap it was hard. It was a good way to get some more endurance though, while staying off of my feet. Doing a workout tomorrow but my legs will be pretty heavy so we will see how this goes! See y’all tomorrow!

FRIDAY

8:58 A.M.

2 Mile Warm Up

6x800 @ Tempo pace

1 Mile Cool Down

Today was awesome! My workout that I did on Tuesday did not go very well. But this one was much better. I got to run on Fairfield’s high schoool track so that was a fun, different experience. My warm up was solid. Nothing to crazy to talk about in regards to it. The 800s couldn’t have gone better. They were pretty smooth for how fast they were. Another thing that helped the workout go smoothly was the weather was really good. Probably some of the best running conditions so far this summer. And shout out to my beautiful girlfriend Joanna for encouraging me during the whole course of the 800s that helped a lot! So thanks babe :) The cool down was nothing special either so nothing to write home about. I feel like I am starting to get into a bit better shape. Which is good because a month from now I will be running with the boys and I need to be in shape for them so I can play a part in us getting to Nationals. This is my last day at Joanna’s place and it was a real fun time. Now back to Mount Vernon to do some work! See y’all tomorrow :)

SATURDAY

8:10 7 Miles in 50:21

Good recovery in Winterset tonight. I like it when I run at home because it is a LOT more flat than the Vern. So it was nice to get some chill recovery in. I am super pumped for my first long run of the summer tomorrow!

SUNDAY

8:11 P.M. 8.8 in 61:50

Well it was something. Longest run of the summer. I am kinda upset because I thought I had to go to the bathroom at the end and that is why I didn’t finish the last mile and a quarter that I had to go. But all in all this week was a good week. Two decent workouts and got 50 miles ran so I am happy with the week. On to the next one with about a month until the boys get here! I’m HYPED!!!

See y’all next week

-Gabe