Week 2 Training Blog: Humphries Sisters Build Their Bases

Monday, August 22 -- 5 miles

I woke up 6:25 a.m. for 7 a.m. practice and started the week with an easy 5 miles doing "the loop," preceded by dynamic drills. We do this loop on Mondays, and we rotate loops daily that cover different directions of town. "The loop" is a route that takes us throughout the neighborhoods southwest of the school. Today's run featured a moderate rain shower, which brought some slightly cooler weather and made for a fun run. After we returned to the school, we did 6x100m strides on the wet track, followed up with hurdle drills for hip mobility. We then showered and got ready for school in the locker room quickly to maximize time for a study hall and breakfast. After school, I took an unexpectedly long nap and then designated some time to get my homework done. Today was a really chill day since we had a hard workout coming the next day.

Tuesday, August 23 -- 6 miles

Today was a workout day on the track. I woke up at 6:25 a.m. again for 7 a.m. practice and got ready by putting on my cow shorts. We did a 4 mile tempo straight instead of broken up since it was a little cooler out, along with a mile warm up and cool down. The decent temperature and a little drizzle combined for an enjoyable workout of 16 laps around the track. I felt pretty good today, as I was able to push myself to a solid pace while also staying smooth and controlled. After school, Nicole and I made a trip to the animal shelter to volunteer and went to the gym to cross train for 30 minutes afterwards. Following dinner and some homework, we had a solid strength training session that included plentiful squats and lunges, but also some much needed stretching. Afterwards, I ate a snack and headed to bed.

Wednesday, August 24 -- 5 miles

I continued the same morning schedule for 7 a.m. practice. Today was a nice and easy 5 miles running an out-and-back loop going north of the school. Coach Cook ran with us today and added some entertainment to the run. The post-run routine today included hurdle drills and a quick core workout. I didn't mess around much after the run since I had a math test to study for. Following the long school day, I came home for a nap, homework, and relaxing. I went to Chipotle with my friend for dinner to get my favorite burrito. With the extra time at night, I crashed in bed at an earlier time.

Thursday, August 25 -- 6 miles

At 7 a.m. practice, we did a fartlek workout at a local park for some running on the grass. We ran to the park to warm up for 2 miles and did our dynamic drills once we got there. The workout was 10x200m up a decent incline with about a 500m jog back to the bottom. I felt smooth and was able to envision myself tackling a hill in a race. Practice concluded with a mile cool down back to the school and some time to stretch. In chemistry, we had a stressful lab that was cut short by the bell. After school, we headed to the gym for some extra cardio by doing 30 minutes of cross training. This was followed with some studying for a vocab quiz, dinner, and strength training. 

Friday, August 26 -- 4 miles

I got to sleep in 30 extra minutes with practice being at 7:30 a.m. on Fridays. This was great because Thursday was a long, tiring day. Today was the easiest run of the week with 4 miles at a slow, conversational pace. Afterwards, we did 6x100m strides to keep the legs moving. During school, I surprised myself in a practice test in chemistry but kept counting down the minutes until the weekend. At night, we had a team "noodle night" for dinner where we had pasta and bonded in preparation for a race the next day. I went to bed pretty early to get a good amount of sleep before waking up early the next morning.

Saturday, August 27 -- 8 miles

I woke up at 5:15 a.m. to make the team bus at 5:45 a.m. The team had a race at the Greenhill Relays in Dallas, but varsity got a break this week in light of the long season ahead. Instead of racing, Nicole and I did an 8 mile long run at a moderate pace around a flat path outlining White Rock Lake. When we got back from the run, we cheered on our teammates. I ended up falling asleep on the long bus ride back, and we made it back near lunch time. I chilled out after the long morning and hung out with some friends. At the end of the night, I crashed in my bed at an unanticipated time and slept like a rock.

Sunday, August 28 -- Cross train/rest

I got really good sleep and ended up sleeping 11 hours to give my body some much needed rest. Once I woke up, I went to the gym to cross training with Nicole for 50 minutes for the goal of active recovery. During the rest of the day, I gave myself plenty of time to get homework done and to relax and reset for the next week ahead.