View Workout (Ashley Baker)

Return to Log

Gary Ward

October 1, 2009 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: cold!!!

Comments:
Sorry to whoever's trying to read this, it'll be a long one.

So I was really looking foward to Gary Ward, because it's just a fun, laid back course. And I was excited to see the ducks. AND I was soooo excited to be a scorer for this race. (I actually just figured out like 3 days ago how the races are scored and that only top 5 varsity score, after 2.5 seasons..sad.)

Goals: have fun, keep up with Chelsea for even a few seconds, sprint at the end

What I did well: I had a great time, worked the second and third miles, thought positive, tried to encourage the people around me, and I surged up hills

What I didn't: didn't get that yellow girl, didn't sprint at the end, ran the race feeling a little bit too good

Gun Goes Off: I really didn't have time to be nervous, I wasn't expecting it to go off so soon. I was behind Chelsea for what? Like 5..10 seconds? Ha. Then I fell very very far behind.

Mile 1: I felt awesome. It was crowded. I remember accelerating a lot, which I don't like to do, especially not in the first mile. And oh man, that mile 2 marker confused me so much. I couldn't decide if it was the start of the 2nd mile or if I was still on the first. So I just went faster to be safe.

Mile 2: I was thinking, 'Let's do this!' I started trying to catch up to this Boise girl and some blue girl..Weiser maybe? in front of me. I accelerated a lot, I surged up all the little hills, but didn't really work the downhill.

Mile 3: I was having so much fun. I just kind of went with the flow. I didn't slow down. I should have sped up a lot more than I did, but I'm always such a weenie and keep thinking, 'Oh I'll need this energy for later in the race.' But do I ever use it? NO.

Last 100: "Come on, sprint. Just do it. Just sprint. You wanted to sprint, come on. SPRINT. No..Yes. No..YES. No. Okay, fine. No." I really should have though. :(

All in all, I had a GREAT time in the race. I was just having fun. I finished feeling like I could run the race again and still feel great. This race reminded me how much I love running. Which is a lot!!

And I was disappointed with my time but then Rusty told everyone it was a slower course so I didn't mind.

I feel like I can take so much from this race. It's the kind of attitude/feeling I should have in all my races. Even though I ran last year and freshman year, I feel like now I'm figuring things out. It should have been last year that I figured things out, but I guess it's okay that it's now, especially since last season SUCKED. I thought I already did have it figured out, but now I know that I didn't. :)

And oh! I forgot to say, that I didn't do anything that I normally do. I didn't do yoga last night or drink anything funky or eat just carbs. And I ran just peachy. I realized that you can do whatever you want before a race, you can put weird stuff on your legs or chug a supplement, but overall, it really just depends on what YOU do in your race. So I'm done doing that stuff.

Thanks so much coaches and team. Today was fun! :)And I can't wait for Bend!!! I promise that I'll be more competitive!