Road to Nationals-Gabe gets engaged?
So I am writing this before I leave for Colorado. But I am planning to Propose to Joanna Friday night. I am so excited and very, very nervous. I think I have been sneaky enough that she does not know that I am coming to propose but just to visit her. Hopefully she will be suprised! Training this week is going to be huge. I need this week to be one of the best weeks that I have had in my running carrer to set myself up well for running fast at Pre-Nationals! I know last week is not what I wanted running wise. But I know what I can improve upon this week with my mental toughness to make myself race better and faster. I am hoping to get a long run in at elevation while in Colorado so that will be hard, but a whole lot of fun. I am also hoping that with this trip I do not lose my focus in my training. I need to take each day as it comes, and do what I need to do to be better for the team in twelve days! So I hope that on Saturday when I post about the long run I have good news for y’all. Enjoy this weeks blog and thanks for reading it, I am happy that you read my writing and you are all incredible people! Enjoy!
MONDAY
6:31 A.M. 4 Miles in 31:56
This morning I had another chance to run with my boy Evan Mills. I like running with him in the mornings it gives us the chance to grow our friendship more and more. One thing I do not like about running at 6:30 is that it is so dark out so our first miles have been really, really slow. But that gives me a really great chance to recover from my seventy mile week last week! I was thinking in that first mile when we did not talk as much about how I can improve this week. I think my recovery days could be a bit slower and be content with not being the fastest on recovery days. This afternoon will be one of those days when I just don’t care how fast I run. But with that I need to run my workout tomorrow at the right paces that coach has for us! See you this afternoon for a EASY paced run!
3:43 P.M. 6 Miles in 46:48
When I said easy at the end of this mornings post I meant it. I was way off the back from the start of the run. But Cuyler was feeling that he needed to recover as well so it was awesome to talk with him about life for the entirety of the run. Did hill sprints, core, and hurdle step-overs after the run. Looking forward to a big workout tomorrow afternoon so hopefully I am up for the challenge! See you tomorrow!
TUESDAY
7:32 A.M. 4 Miles in 30:39
This morning I thought that the double was at 7:30, but everyone else had class so I was by myself. I had some good recovery and time to just think to myself. Which is very valuable for me mentally, I tend to get in my head a lot and running 4 miles by myself lets me be free a little bit. See you in the afternoon for a HUGE workout!
3:42 P.M.
2 Mile Warm Up
5x1600 @ 5:19 Average pace
3 Mile Cool Down
Today was daunting from the onset. As someone who has a chance to be in the varisty lineup for Regionals coach challenged us to do everything we could to be better in two weeks. This workout called for 5x1600, or about a mile, of hard running with two minutes rest in between. I was supposed to run 5:25 pace for these miles with Evan and Paul. And we executed the plan. We averaged about 5:23 for the first four miles then we got to the last one. Paul ran 5:02, Evan ran 5:04, and I ran 5:06! So it was really encouraging that we could close that fast. In eleven days we are going to be much better than we were this past weekend. See you tomorrow with two recovery runs!
WEDNESDAY
7:21 A.M. 4 Miles 32:45
Easy recovery running with the boys and Morgan this morning. I am feeling really confident in our team after yesterday’s workout! I know that I am in a better spot than I was last year at this time. This morning was nice and relaxed and we goofed around on the double talking about various things! See you all this afternoon for a hot, windy, recovery run.
3:41 8 Miles in 59:40
Today was a good day to run slow. But boy, the beginning of the run was something else. Brady, one of my teammates, was being hilarious and it made the first mile of the run feel like nothing. The run was at a good pace and I am glad that I am back up to running the mileage that I should be running. Some more recovery coming tomorrow so we can run a really fast workout on Friday before I fly out to see Joanna! Speaking of her, I thought a lot about proposing today on the run and am starting to get nervous about it but I know that she loves me and hopes she says yes.
THURSDAY
7:31 A.M. 4 Miles in 31:53
Today it was really chilly. And I started with Coach because the doublers are starting to go at 7:15, which is fine with me! I just wish I was given a little bit more heads up about that. Anyway, talked with the boys and coach today about a variety of things. One thing that came up was Friday and me flying out to propose to Joanna. I am very nervous about it, but I told the boys my plan and they seem to think that it is okay. Good recovery run this morning and I am planning on doing the same this afternoon.
3:44 P.M. 8 Miles in 59:05
Today was another good recovery run, I am feeling a bit tired through this week because of the amount of mileage that I am running. But I know that it will pay off for me at Conference. This week will probably my highest mileage week of the season so I know that I can get through this! Tomorrow we have a big workout and I also have a life changing event happening so hopefully both of those things go well! See y’all tomorrow!
FRIDAY
3:48 P.M.
Mile and a half Warm up
4 Mile Tempo 3x800
2 Mile Cool Down
Today was awesome! For a couple of reasons! One we had a really good chance to get some amazing work in on Ink road. Tempo felt really smooth and controlled and the 800s Were nice and easy and way faster than what we should have been at! The other thing that was amazing is that I am now engaged! Right after practice I flew out to Colorado to see my beautiful, now Fiancee, and propose to her. Babe, I love you and I am looking forward to the rest of our life together!
SATURDAY
6:31 A.M.
11 Miles in 1:20:20
Chilled today at altitude, not really much to say about the run. Running in altitude is a lot of hard work but I know that I will be better because of it. Not much time to write and I am going to be off tomorrow so I will see you next week!
-Gabe
