Life of a College Runner: Roses & Thorns

Hello everyone! It’s another race week for us Rams as we go up to Waverly to run at Wartburg College on Saturday. I’m excited for this meet! There are a lot of things to look forward to, including having Erin back and Marissa recovering from sickness. It’s going to be a good one.

Monday

’Twas our first day of afternoon practice… Which means I had to get up early for the double. It was good, though, seeing as I got to sleep in more than normal, had it been a morning practice. And what a beautiful morning it was! It was really cool. I’m so glad we’ve finally reached this point in the fall.

This afternoon was not too bad either. It was a little warm but there was a nice breeze. We went out on Willow Creek to Henik. Marissa was doing seven with me so we were able to go out to the 3.5 mile mark and turn around. I haven’t done that before, so it was nice. The gravel was freshly grated, I think, because it was a little rough to run on. It kind of wreaked havoc on our calves. At the end, we did seven hill sprints and jogged back. During the sprints, Mason said I was actually using my arms for once. I feel so accomplished now (sarcasm)! We did abs and hurdles afterwards. Our total time for today was 57:04, 8:09 per mile.

Tuesday

And just as I say it, we are back to morning practice for the day. We did a workout at Elliot Park again. For the women, it was two laps per rep, which was around 1,068 meters. I was in a group with Emma and Zoe, and our goal pace was 4:46, which was 6:39 pace. Sounds easy, right? I averaged 6:39 per mile for the tempo run on Friday and that was longer. We were only going to do 5 reps and then 2 x 1 lap at a faster pace (faster than 2:18, our pace per lap). For whatever reason, I could not hit my times to save my life. I felt awful. My times were 4:31, 4:31, 4:42, 4:45, 4:54, 2:19, and 2:19. Not good at all. A turtle-pace cool-down followed. I was very downhearted after this workout because I know I can do better than this. Sometimes it is hard to put aside your failures and look on the bright side. All I can do is move forward.

We also had lifting this afternoon at 4:00.

Wednesday

Another morning double! I wore a long-sleeved shirt this morning because it was a little chilly. I ran with Caleb, Henry, and Brady this morning, who seemed to have the same thought as me: I want to go easy. Because of that, we talked a lot and had a really nice run. I really do enjoy mornings like this.

This afternoon was an easy run. We did the Lisbon to Gillette to Ink Road route, which is one of my favorites. We were even under 8:00 pace for most of the run. Marissa ran the last mile or so with me. our time was 55:39, 7:57 per mile. After, we did hurdles and core. I was feeling pretty sore today, but not too bad. We would usually do a steady run today, but the women’s team is running a workout tomorrow instead of an easy run. Coach says he thinks a shorter, faster workout would benefit us for the race on Saturday.

Thursday

So today was that workout on the track. We did 8 x 400 at a little faster than race pace. For me that was 90 seconds per lap. My times were 88, 89, 90, 90, 90, 90, 89, 89. I felt amazing!! I think I agree with Coach on this one; this was exactly what we needed to loosen up our legs and prepare us for Saturday. I was just cruising through the last half, feeling like it was easy. This was probably the easiest workout we’ve done this year. We did a 2 mile cool-down after, and then we went inside and did a short leg circuit. Today was such a good day!

Friday

OFF (But I did go on a dinner date with my wonderful boyfriend, which was amazing!)

Saturday

Today was the race!!! I was super nervous beforehand. My stomach felt awful. I tried to calm myself down during the warm-up to no avail. I greeted my mom and sister, who came to watch me run. It was great to have them there. Then, during drills and strides, they started playing Hamilton on the speakers. That made me feel better, as music so often does, and it made me excited for the race. (“Wait for It” was one of the songs and it happens to be one of my favorites, particularly the line that says “I am inimitable, I am an original!”)

Before I knew it, the gun went off and we were flying down a large straightaway. This course was so different from the one two weeks ago; we had plenty of time to settle into a position before the course narrowed, the footing was better, and it had a few small hills. I think slightly hilly courses are more fun than flat ones. Anyway, we stayed in a group for about the first mile, then I fell back while Emma, Marissa, and Zoe pulled away. My first mile was 6:41, which was behind pace (my goal pace was 6:35) but I wasn’t too worried. I knew I could work my way down. My second mile was slow, at 13:35, and so I started to move up. I was feeling pretty good, so I knew I had to start making a move. I came in for the third mile at 20:07, and I was on pace to be 25 flat. I flew down the last hill and turned onto the straightaway — the 600 meter-long straightaway that seemed to go on forever — and found myself unable to move any faster. Girls passed me left and right and I felt powerless. All I could do was hold on and try to will my legs to go faster.

As I got closer to the finish line, I could see the clock. It was at 24:40. It was agonizing to watch it tick towards the 25 minute mark, and I struggled to run fast enough. I finished in 25:03, one second off my PR and 4 seconds away from breaking that magical 25 minute barrier. It took me a while to regain my breath, and I was disappointed in myself. But I did improve 6 seconds from the last meet.

The men’s race was awesome to watch!! Mason took first with an incredible kick at the end, Austin, Caleb, and Cuyler were not far behind him, and a few of my other friends ran amazing races (like Paul, Evan Mills, and Evan Patton)!! I love cheering for them and running all over the course to try and see them in as many spots as possible.

After the meet, we went to HyVee to get lunch. It was nice to talk to my mom and sister for a while. Then, full of food, we headed back to campus, severely in need of a shower.

Sunday

Today was a drop-off run! We did the Bertram route, which winds through the country, across Mount Vernon Road, on part of the Roller Coaster route, and back on MVR to campus. We did not run that far, but the whole route is 15 miles, so our highest mileage guys did the whole thing.

The women all ran together, which was really nice. Even the lowest mileage runners got to run the entire thing with us. It felt so great to have the whole team together. We spent time going around and sharing one good thing and one bad thing about the meet, and then how we can fix the bad thing or do better next time. For me, looking forward, I know the main thing I have to do is keep working hard. The thing I need to work on is my speed. I think I have a really solid race strategy, I just need to make it more aggressive, which means building more speed throughout the race and continuing it through the end. I am confident that I have what it takes to be a great runner. I just need to work hard every single day and push myself even harder during the meets.

After we finished with that, we continued the conversation to share our roses, thorns, and buds for the week. This is a nice little thing that we started this year where a rose is one good thing that happened this week, a thorn is one bad thing, and a bud is what you’re looking forward to next week. The best thing about long runs is the conversations we have. Throughout the whole run, we talked about everything from our spirit animal to what our goals or ambitions are for the future. It’s times like these that I know I will miss when this is all over.

The route itself was difficult and a little hilly, but we alternated between running 8 flat pace and just under 8. It felt really good for the most part. My hip was hurting during miles 8–9, but we also went up a massive hill around that time, so that didn’t help. Dom decided to do ten with me, so I had someone to run with for the last mile. It was a great run, but I was grateful to stop all the same. Leg swings felt amazing afterward, as did the water and apple I was rewarded with once getting into the van.

I am really excited for the next meet, as Coach says it will be one of the fastest courses we will ever run on. But I know that equally important are the two full weeks of training we will get in before then. I’m going to push myself to go faster and work on that speed. I know I’ll need it. I’ve always been better at the endurance factor of running. My speed has always been lacking, which is why I’m so keen to fix it now. I have a lot of hope for the future, so I guess we’ll see how it goes.

Thanks for reading!

— Morgan