Heidi Nielson has been crushing cross country and distance running in the Lone Star State since she was a freshman in 2017. But this year the Texan seems to be headed toward much bigger success. A qualifier for Nike Cross Nationals in 2018 and a 2-time finisher at Foot Locker Nationals, Nielson made two USA U20 teams over the past calendar year -- wearing the nation's colors at the IAAF U20 Cross Country Championships and at the Pan American U20 Championships. As a junior, Nielson will challenge for her first Class 6A state title -- the state's toughest division, with talented runners like Brynn Brown, Natalie Cook, and Aubrey O'Connell -- and then will hope to clinch tickets to national meets like she did in 2018. Check out the Houston native's training this preseason.
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Week 1 - Week 2 - Week 3 - Week 4
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Week 2 (August 12th - August 18th)
Monday, August 12th: Workout day = 5 miles
Today we had a workout!! We did a ladder on the front field. It was a 1,600, 1,000, 800, 600, 400. I felt pretty good and the workout was pretty fast. I sometimes get a few extra easy miles in after a Monday workout, but my hamstring felt tight and was hurting a bit, and since it was only the eighth day of the season, I skipped the miles and did some extra rolling and stretching. Since school is starting later this week we had practice back to our normal time 5:50 a.m. -- honestly, I don't mind getting up early. Overall, a successful day. I got in around 5 miles when including the warm up and cool down.
Tuesday, August 13th: 8 miles
Today was the last day of summer vacation!! I ran with Sophie and Alan and it was a chill good run, about 8 miles. Sadly we had to say goodbye to Rich and Alan because they left for college today. :(
Other than that practice was good and we all got smoothies after practice, so it was pretty fun.
Wednesday, August 14th: Workout, Repeat 400s x10
Today was the first day of school! I started my junior year! We had practice before school and did continuous 400s, meaning it was a 400 fast, then 100 jog recovery x10. It's a really tough workout, but it's a good workout, too. It's more typical of what we do mid-to-late in track season, but it's over quick -- it takes me just over 20 min total -- and coach wanted to give extra time for everyone to get showered and ready since it's the first day.
I did get a recovery run in after school today, too. After school we had a team dinner and went over to a teammate's house. where we ate pasta and played games. We also painted watermelons for our meet this Friday. This is a very low key meet and at the race each team brings their decorated watermelons and they are used for awards after the race. The team dinner was so fun I love the team and I'm so grateful we get to do team stuff like this.
Thursday, August 15th: 7-8 miles at easy 7:15 pace
Today I ran with the boys team and it was really fun! It was an easy pace and we just talked during the run. It was a good way to start the day. We ran around 7:15-mile pace for 7-8 miles. It's Texas, so it was really hot and humid, but it was still a good run.
Friday, August 16th: Meet Day (glorified workout) = 9 miles
Meet day! Today was the watermelon relays; we got to skip school on only the third day haha. The meet is a little bit different as it's very similar to last week, though it's more of a glorified workout. The race is 2x2 400m with a 14-min timer, starting when the first two 400 starts and when the 14 minutes is over the second repeat starts. It's an interesting way to run a meet and its pretty fun. I won the girls race, so I got a really fun pink watermelon--the only problem was that the pink paint got on my jersey haha.
It was a really fun meet and the team had a lot of fun hanging out together. The meet was held at the same place where I used to run when I first started running, so that was kinda fun and brought back some good memories. After the meet the whole team went to this restaurant Clays that we go to every year, so that was fun, too! I did a recovery run in the afternoon. My total mileage for today was 9 miles.
Saturday, August 17th: An easy 8 miles
Today I had to run by myself :( It was still good I did about 8 miles at easy pace and it was a pretty good run!
Sunday, August 18th: Day off!!
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Weekly Total: 45+
Entire week: This week my mileage got up over 45. It was a really solid week and I'm getting more excited for this coming xc season!!