We are who we choose to be.

HEY GUESS WHO’S BACK!

I just got back from my mission in Fort Worth Texas a few weeks ago where I ran probably a combined total of less than 50 miles in 2 years. It was such a blast. Best experience of my life so far for sure. Since being home I’ve ran a little bit here and there just trying to get into it. I’m going to start being more consistent though starting today as I have some training goals in mind of running half marathons and possibly even marathons in the not so distant future :)

Today I ran at the PVXC non official team practice, as coaches are not aloud to be with the kids this week. Among the participants were Jose, Controversial Cam, and Carson Horsebra. The team is looking to be pretty solid this year but are lacking as far as numbers go and if there’s anything I learned on my mission, it’s that it’s all about the numbers lol ;) jk that’s not true. Anyways we ran up Chuckwalla out by the converging parkways and I ran all the way to the top thanks to motivation from my main man Cam. I’ve been struggling since I’ve been home with distance, but I’m able to keep up with the guys on pace pretty easily. So just an easy 4 today. I was sucking dirt and almost purposefully tripped a couple of times so I could just turn around but I made it haha. The view was just breathtaking, better than anything found in “only-one-national-park Texas” I’m pathetic now but just you wait! I have a goal to go to bed by 10:30 on weekdays from now on to be able to wake up early enough to get my runs in. Please everyone sustain me in this effort. God be with you til we meet again tomorrow.

Today I won a big mental battle. I woke up around 10am and Satan was hardcore in my head telling me it was too late to go running, that I could just wait until Monday and that just one day wouldn’t hurt. Well I kicked those thoughts to the curb and ran! Did a nice easy 3.5 on the dirt mile. It was fun reminiscing about our workouts in high school up there. Some of my best workouts have been there, including our long tempos during the summer. I was feeling good today until my side and shoulder started spazzing out. Thinking about eating more healthy and giving up (mostly not totally) soda. It was warm out there and I was dripping sweat despite it being a short run. I’m proud I decided to run beastly today.

Today I felt like a beast. Woke up, accidentally fell back asleep but woke up just in time to meet the team out at Washington Elementary. I ran up to the base of the Sand Hill with the LVL 3 guys and turned around at about 20 minutes (for about 40 minutes total). It is the farthest I’ve ran since being home (also the farthest in the last 2 years haha). On my way back I passed this lady who was out walking and she yelled “WOW so you’re the fastest one!” And I said “heck yeah lady you got that right” and it pumped me up and I ran pretty much a Tempo the rest of the time. I’m glad I have cheerleaders out there for me. Also I wish I had a camera or something cause I passed a street called Arrowweed Ln. You just can’t make this stuff up!

Okay I feel like I’m getting pretty comfortable running low distances (3-4 miles) at a medium (7:30) pace! This is exciting! Im about ready to start throwing in some workouts and putting an organization to my runs! Today I ran to the elementary school just to find out i was too late so I ran and caught up with the girls team. Ran and talked with Coach Robs for a bit. Vis is a beast. Then i ran barefoot on the grass for a few miles before I had to leave for work. Feeling good!

AM- 3 miles easy. Ran to the school and then to maverick with the team and I was feelin pretty gross so I turned back and ran home. These last few days I’ve been up in Logan for a school orientation and just hanging out with my bro and Hell Raiser. But while we were up there we watched a scary movie titled Lights Out. This is by far the freakiest movie I’ve ever seen. Do not watch it unless you want to heluscionate seeing a freaky tall scary woman anytime the lights go out. Needless to say I haven’t gotten much sleep.

AM- so I was planning on just getting an easy 30 in but I got back to the school where the guys were doing an endurance/speed workout and I jumped in with them. So I did 6x1minute pickups with the upper JV guys and it was fun running with them in such a tight group. I feel like that’s one thing that PVXC excels at is grouping up in workout and racing settings. I thought about it and game to the conclusion that I need to start running with those guys and try to work my way up instead of going with the fast guys for right now because I’ve been able to keep up with them but for shorter periods of time. Maybe that’ll help me build up more mileage.

AM- First run here in Logan. Just took it easy around campus and I learned very quickly that there is no way to run from my apartment and not have to climb a GIANT hill to finish every run haha so I should get pretty skilled with long hills. I'm living right by Old Main so I went down that hill to start, entered the Ted Bundy trail of Utah State and ran to the stadium, to the track, to the soccer field, just pretty much everywhere and it actually took me longer than anticipated. Finished by running up the hill by the stadium and gym. The weather was perfect like 60 degrees... Which means it will be awful here in a couple weeks lol. I felt fine today!

AM- 2 miles easy with Hell Raiser followed by hardcore weights at the ARC. I benched 30s which is the most I’ve ever done for just regular weights. There’s a lot of nice looking girls at the arc. Maybe I’ll talk to one sometime :) QUESTION OF THE DAY: anyone have any good ideas to talk to attractive females at the gym?

AM- Ran solo today. My goal was to find some run that I could do from my dorm that did not include some giant hill to do at the end and I found it! I went heading northeast past the cemetary (ooooo spookyyyyy) and went up 1100 N then turned on whenever that road ended. It was a nice 30 minute run, as I'm focusing on just building up mileage and becoming consistent at the moment. Its easier with Nick here to be accountable to, but I gotta truly want it to the point that if nobody was here, I would still go and do my best. I'm getting there.

Question of the day: are yo mama jokes still funny? If so, tell me one that just makes you guffaw!

Nice short run with Nicholas this morning through the cemetary and the quad. Felt pretty good, may do another run later.

AM- Nice epic run solo! Went and ran down Old Main Hill, to the Logan temple, down to main sttreet by the tabernacle and then back up towards the campus where I found a nice looking old church building. I will call this the Latter-Day Saints run cause it was like a church history tour lol. but yeah I felt great today. Threw in 6 fartleks ranging from 25m-100m and the whole way up was uphill and I didn't get too winded. Feels like I'm starting to get back to feeling alright! Finally flushed out that unhealthy Texas heaven I've been eating for 2 years.

AM- 3 miles easy before my Taco Bell interview haha.

AM- Nice easy 4 miles from my dorm. Found a route that is perfectly flat. Threw in some nice fartleks that pushed me a bit, but really it felt nice and cheese. Went to the arc and got swoll afterwards. Met a girl in one of my classes who runs on the Utah State team which is dope. She's from Montana I think. So today was the first day of class for me and it was fun! 

WOULD YOU RATHER- Get squeezed and eaten by a big anaconda or get your heart taken out by that guy in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and then lowered slowly into a pit of lava?

PM- easy four- tabernacle loop

PM- Did some nice running down on the presto trail. Easy 4 miles with a hard push up old main hill at the end. Nick and I have been getting back into it (he more than I) the last couple weeks tryna build up mileage. I had no idea how hard it would be to run while in college but I think I’m going to be able to do it if I keep my current schedule. Basically I wake up at 4:30am, work until class at 9, then run at usually 1 or 2 pm after/between all my classes depending on the day. Today I even had time afterwards to do Presto Abdominal Exercises and find shabasna (PLEASE someone tell me how to spell this).

PM- Easy 4 with Nicholas down on the trail again. I really like this route, as it is pretty chill and super pretty and it ends with a nice giant hill which I think is helping me get back into shape faster. We had some nice conversation about Hoodwinked the movie. Good times.

PM- Late evening run with Nick at the ARC (the gym over here on campus). They have a pretty sick indoor 200m track over there and we decided to check it out. Unfortunately we decided to check it out not even an hour after I downed some heavy chinese food so I was trying to hold it down most of the time. We averaged a 7:18 mile so we are doing pretty well with pace for such a short distance.

Also girls are weird. I went out with a girl a couple weeks ago (absolutely gorgeous, super nice, pretty athletic) and we had a great time. I've had lunch with her a couple times since, but we haven't really seen each other for the last week or so. While at the ARC, Nick and I saw her walking and on our next lap around I was gonna say hi. As we passed her, she quickly turned around as to avoid seeing us. That was quite the dagger in the manhood. In the words of froggy fresh: "hot girls ain't got no heart."

PM- Wow today’s run was a reminder as to why I love running. Since I’ve been feeling pretty good the last few weeks (except the super uphill run last Saturday and yesterday’s post-Chinese fiasco), I decided to extend a bit farther! Ran up my favorite trail here and then extended up Logan Canyon on the Shoreline Trail. I felt super good and the conditions were perfect: 57 degrees Fahrenheit, beautiful gray, brown and gold late-autumn colors, a practically barren trail. I was even able to open up on old main hill at the end and negative split an already pretty quick run. It felt good, and helped me gain confidence that my greatest running days are yet to come.

AM- Easy 4.25 (.25 because I made a wrong turn in a neighborhood that got me lost for a bit) at 9am on the flat, double churches of Logan route. It was pretty cold, 33 degrees fahrenheit when I left and 39 degrees fahrenheit at the end. My leg muscles felt pretty tight and the cold definitely didn't help, but I was able to easily keep around a 7:30 pace. But hey if muscle tightness is my biggest problem today, that is a win. Now to go do some yoga with Fiji McAlpine.

PM- 6 easy with Nick up the canyon. Felt really good legs-wise, but ran less than 2 hours after I had lunch so I had some gnarly intestinal explosions. Gotta hit it at least 3 or 4 hours after eating I guess.

PM- Nice easy 4 down on the trail. It was really cold! Like low 30s. There was a lot of nice wildlife on the trail which made it fun. I saw a black cat at the start and then what appeared to be either a mommy deer with 2 adolescent children OR 2 lesbian deer with an adopted adolescent. Almost immediately after the deer I saw a human girl running down the trail. Later, I saw about 50 pheasants scurrying around. Overall I felt really good and probably could have gone more, but I'm kind of wary about increasing too much in mileage all at once. I'll do a couple more 6 milers this week and move into 1 or 2 8 milers next week.

QUESTION TO ALL EXPERIENCED RUNNERS: My main goal is to become a marathoner and get down around the 2:40:00.00 range. I want to invest in a nice running watch. In high school I ran with a Nike+ that I still own, but because Nike is stupid and for some reason took away their software, my memory on it is full and I am unable to delete past history. This has resulted in me being unable to use the GPS on it (besides the fact that I'm not all that impressed with that watch anyways). I'm willing to spend up to $300-350 (would prefer lower of course). What watch would you recommend? Nick has the Forerunner 225 which seems pretty dope, but what recommendations do you have?

Easy 3 into a swag neighborhood with Nick. Had some good times, ran down the hill and then down another hill and down one more which made for a heck of a time on the way back. Nice weather. Saw Preston Avenue

PM- Went for an evening run with Nick over at the fieldhouse indoor 200m track cause it was so dang cold. It was pretty chill and we talked about our greatest races. It was fun getting excited about what we did in high school. As we were running, a guy on a giant unicycle came up next to us and challenged us to a 200m race. We accepted and I took an early lead. As we came with 50m left, Nick ran up next to me and the unicycle guy was close behind. As we crossed the finish line, we were all neck and neck but I won by a hair. 

PM- 4 easy this evening after a huge USU Basketball win over Hartford. These games are a lot more fun than the football games because our student section is so freakin loud it's insane. We absolutely destroy the morale of the other team's players as well. Nick and I ran when it was freaking cold and was my first time wearing gloves this year. It went pretty well. Presto abs and 2 episodes of 24 after.

AM- 6 easy on my own up Logan Canyon. Felt amazing lungs and stomach-wise, but didn't feel super energized and my shins started acting up a little bit. I averaged 7:54. I think it's because I ran not having eaten anything this morning.

Living with Nick has helped me put more priority on recovery. On to do some yoga and roll out those calves then a big recovery meal.

PM- Easy 8 past Pheasant Trail into the canyon trail. This is my farthest run since I’ve been home and I felt great. Did the first 2 with nick and then continued on up Logan Canyon. Great weather: low 40s. 7:35 average.

Update on the watch situation: decided to go with a Forerunner 225 and I won an intense 5day eBay bid battle for a slightly used one for $127. Should be here Friday!

PM- 5 Miles w/ 7x1min pickups every 5 minutes. Felt best at minute 25 and 30, just opened up a bit and for the last one I just pushed hard up Old Main.

PM- 5 Easy on Pheasant Trail solo. Felt a lot stronger today than yesterday and the easy run was actually easy. Afterwards I played about 1.5 hours of pickeball with Nick against Spencer and Austin from our ward. They destroyed us as they were the superior team. After that Nick and I played a game of singles to prepare ourselves for next time and I beat him 11-8.

PM- 4 miles easy with Nick in the early evening. It was super nice outside. We ran to the track and did a bunch of laps then ran back. 7:18 average and we finished semi-hard.

PM- Solo up the canyon. First run with my Forerunner 225 and I must say I am highly satisfied with my first ever EBay purchase. 6 miles, 7:21 ave pace, 157 ave hr, 167 spm ave cadence, 317 ft elevation gain, and 332 calories burned. Great run. Not to mention I saw about 5 girl runners out on the trail! Felt good overall.

AM- 6 miles easy up Green Canyon with Nick. It was the first day of snow here and it snowed about 2 inches. Fun running uphill in the snow! It was somewhat difficult on the way up but the way down was fun!

PM- 8 miles easy up Logan Canyon solo. Took it somewhat easy at 7:50 pace and there was a lot of snow as well and some icy patches I tried to be careful on haha. Really pretty up there. Feeling like high school sophomore Preston! Was planning on possibly doing a mile time trial sometime this week... maybe while I’m in st George!

PM- 4 miles easy, hard finish. Average 7:22. Felt pretty alright but my legs were a little heavy and tired. Did some good stretches and yoga after. Took a little bit less mileage today to prepare for my St George timed mile at some point this week.

AM- nice trail run on white knoll with Nick, Julien and Zach. It was pretty hilly and we lost Zach for a little bit, but overall was a great run!

AM- wow I forgot what it felt like to sweat profusely! Went 5 miles easy on lower grapevine by my house and wow it was like a scorching 55 degrees!

Thankful for my mom for pressuring me to join cross country 6 years ago

Alrighty so I did my first time trial since being home and it was mostly just to see what I could do. Honestly I felt like I could go a bit faster than 5:34, but it’s good to know where I am. Had Landon time me. Haven’t been doing speed workouts or anything and it was my first time actually pushing pretty hard since being home (except for up giant hills).

PM- 4 miles with the second mile quick (6:27). Felt good but it was very cold and my legs were radiating heat for about 30 minutes after haha. Last little bit was through the cemetery.

PM- 4 Easy, super cold, hands froze. Went down Pheasant trail it was beast. Starting to get really dark really early. Trying to qualify for the Winter Showdown and will try for a qualifying time tomorrow on the track.

In other news, been having success with the women lately, hopefully we see some progress there!

Don't worry! I've been running, but have neglected the blog for over a week. Therefore, I will not try to catch it up.

PM- So wow this was an eventful gym visit. Ran 5 miles on that tiny little track and was feeling good. Went to the leg machine and was getting checked out by a couple gals, when my buddy Tristan asked me to race him one time around the 200m track. I was like he*k yeah bro I'll race you. We start and about 3 steps into it, I pulled both of my vastus medialises. Wow it hurt really bad. I gently jogged to the finish in a solid 2nd place, but had to sit down and then almost passed out from pain. I then slowly limped home and iced, rolled (painfully) and stretched. I might be counted out for the Winter Showdown on the 22nd... Hopefully I get them back to 100% by then. 

PM- Starbucks with the PVXC state championship team. Pretty beast to be in the midst of such legends. Felt pretty good but sloppy

Prospector loop with Josie Bushar. Nice to catch up with a D1 Athlete and get her perspective on life. I felt really good today as opposed to yesterday. Really great to be out there on the red rocks for a change!

AM- 4.5 miles easy Mustang Pass. While running, I had an epic idea for a movie that takes place at the top of mustang pass about a Native American civil war. It would have love, war, betrayal, and love. Felt good, but I hate how much development is going on up there at the top of Green springs 

AM- 4 miles easy with Carson, Julien, Nick, Andrew, Jaron, Cathy, and Roger (and Sally). Kentucky Lucky Chicken Trail. It’s my first time doing this one and wow i was impressed. I felt really good until I biffed it and scratched up my knee and arms. But yeah it was a fun Christmas Eve run!