Pumped Up Kicks

Back in Flagstaff again.

I'm sure I complained about this place last year and not much has changed. I still don't like this place. The trails for running are pretty nice, but sometimes they're hard to enjoy when there's a constant, unrelenting 25mph wind whistling through your ears causing non-stop, irritating noise.You literally can't even think properly sometimes. You just want to shout out some curse words at it; well, I do anyways. There's also the lack of sleeping ability due to the altitude, the constant hunger, the cold(er) weather and the added pain caused by workouts or trying to run at a faster pace up here.

It's safe to say I'm not a fan.

Penn Relays last weekend went relatively well. It wasn't a great race, but it wasn't horrible either. I ran a 2:54.00 negative splitting each lap. Something like 60, 58, 56. I allowed myself to get a little boxed in, so when they made their move at the front, I wasn't able to respond right away. I closed pretty well after that though. I just need to make sure I don't let myself get boxed in again. I need to be smarter than that...Overall, our team finished in 4th place with a time of 9:23.34, which was a little disappointing.

It's always a great feeling running at Penn Relays and this year was no different. The crowd was out in full force and although the weather was a bit chilly, it wasn't a bad day. It always feels good to put on the Canadian Uniform. Having the chance to do it at a meet such as Penn Relays is even better! You can't help but be pumped up. As coach Groves at Penn State used to say, "If you can't get excited for the Penn Relays, than damn it, you aint got no soul." It truly is an amazing meet.

Here's video of the race:

Even up at the altitude in Flag and Sedona this week we've had a couple of solid workouts. I'll get some more details up about them later.

    - Linc