Road to Nationals-Wheaton Gil Dodds Invitational

This week I really would like to get back to normal mileage again. And with a race this Saturday that may mean I will be a little bit more tired than I want to be. That being said I want this week to be a good training week and hopefully I can run under 28 minutes for my first 8k of the year. And get faster each time I step on the line. This first race isn’t where I want to be my fastest but I do care about my performance enough to where I run quick. Enjoy the blog this week!

MONDAY

6:28 A.M. 6 Miles in 43:00

This morning was AWESOME! It was an easy morning run to Lisbon and back to campus. I really enjoy this run because it is very hilly. I ran with some of the underclassmen because I am still coming back from injury. But I felt really good today. I also ran a couple hill sprints so it is nice getting back into the regular groove of practice. Double to come later I will talk to you all then :)

3:17 P.M. 3 Miles in 23:06

First running double in a minute. It felt good to run very very easy with the squad again. The run had nothing really noteworthy about it. But after I was done with the run I went and talked with Coach for a bit. And let’s just say that I am motivated to help us run well this weekend! And I know I can do it and we have a huge workout tomorrow that will help my fitness in October. See y’all bright and early tomorrow :)

TUESDAY

6:12 A.M. 2 Mile Warm Up 4xMi 1 Mile Cool Down

Oof, I am aerobically out of shape. That was a lot harder than it should have been. I don’t know why but my stomach hurt a bit throughout the run as well. But all things considered I hit the paces and did how much coach wanted me to do. I took another good step forward this morning. This afternoon I am going to double to continue to catch up on mileage.

3:17 A.M. 3 Miles in 23:09

Today I got another quality double in with some of the higher mileage boys and my Coach Dan. It is awesome to know that I am part of a program that could do some big things this fall! With that being said I need to continue to improve in my fitness so that I can be a part of that. We don’t just need a good number five to make it to nationals. We need a strong 6, 7, and 8 to all push whoever is the fifth to be motivated and fast. See y’all tomorrow!

WEDNESDAY

6:34 A.M. 7 Miles in 48:36

Today was a steady run day! And I thought that it might be a bit tougher than normal while we started the run but as I ran the steady segments I got more comfortable as the run progressed. Hopefully I can do that this weekend when I race. I am starting to feel more and more confident and getting back into better shape!

3:14 P.M. 3 Miles in 23:27

This afternoon’s run was very chill, did not push the pace much and I feel like I am starting to come back to my old self. I feel very motivated for this weekend. On some personal news I am having some trouble with the fact that my Grandmother is not doing well at all.I am very close with her and losing her would be a tremendous loss for me. I am just hoping that she will pull through and fight really hard. This weekend I am going to be racing for her.

THURSDAY

6:30 A.M. 6.5 Miles in 49:29

This morning was rough, I did not get much sleep at all. So this mornings run was very difficult in the sense that I was not awake at all. But I got through it, did our hill sprints and strides, and am looking forward to Saturday!

3:14 A.M. 3 Miles in 23:39

This afternoon’s double was rough. I am feeling a bit sick, probably due to my lack of sleep. But I got it in and am going to be gaining fitness because of these runs. I love running with the boys on double runs though. It is always fun to see what we will talk about and grow more as teammates. I am going to run 4 miles tomorrow before we leave for the meet. See y’all tomorrow!

FRIDAY

1:35 P.M. 3 Miles in 21:35

Got to run with one of the freshman today for a shakeout run, Luke Murray, and he is one cool dude! Got to talk with him about a bunch of stuff and I am pumped to run the race tomorrow!

SATURDAY

9:10 A.M. 2 Mile Warm up

DNF

Very dissapointed with myself. Not happy at all that I did not finish. It makes me lose a lot of confidence. I have another 8k in two weeks. So for me that means a couple of things. Training smarter, I need to take my hard days hard and easy days easy. Recovering right, I need to be eating better and sleeping better in this next two week training cycle. And last of all having fun, I think I put a lot of uneeded pressure on myself this week. Next time I step on the line I need to be chill.

Thanks for reading, expect a good week of training next week

-Gabe