Summer Training Blog: Rawlins' Sydney Thorvaldson


Sydney Thorvaldson burst on the scene in 2017 as a freshman for Rawlins High School in Wyoming, making a grand statement at the national level with a ninth-place finish at Nike Cross Nationals. But that was only a fitting bow to her debut in high school, as she also placed third at NXR Northwest, won her first state title in Wyoming, and scored a personal best 5K time of 17:36.10. Thorvaldson trains at nearly 7,000 feet of elevation and has been a familiar face on the road racing scene in Wyoming, but until recently she's now making a name for herself on the national level in varsity athletics. This spring, she was seventh in the 5K at New Balance Nationals Outdoor and won three straight titles in the 800m, 1600m and 3200m in Wyoming. Read up on how Thorvaldson is preparing for the fall cross country season. 

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Week 1 Training Log (July 29-July 4)

Sunday, July 29I had a long run in the morning and went 12 miles at 6:32 pace.

My legs were fairly sore from the past week at a camp, but I was able to get a great run in on a pretty paved path. My long runs usually vary; sometimes I will go a shorter distance but faster, though they usually don't go over 12 miles.  This run was probably my 'best' long run of the whole summer! 

Monday, July 30: 

  • Morning: I had a 4 mile acceleration run

The first mile was 7:28, the second was 6:32, the third was 6:00, and the last mile was 5:50. I was very sore from yesterday's workout, but it did feel good to start out slow then stride and stretch out my legs on that last mile with a fast pace. I try to do acceleration runs in order to try to progress and train my body to run negative splits instead of slowing down the further I go.

  • Afternoon: Another 4 mile run, but it was at 6:05 pace

This run was faster than I originally planned. I wanted it to just be an easy run in order to recover and be ready for Track Tuesday, but it ended up being a pretty tough workout. It was really hot outside and I didn't have much shade, but I felt great for the conditions.

  • Evening: An hour of swimming and aqua jogging

I figured being in a cool pool might make my legs recover faster and it might feel good. I'm not much of a swimmer, so I just swam a lap or two slowly then aqua jogged in between those laps.  

Tuesday July 31 (Track Tuesday!):

  • Morning: Mile warm up, 10x400 meters, 4x200 meters, mile cool down

For this track workout I didn't even wear my running watch because I wanted to run by feel and not get too worked up about the splits, as I was sore going into the workout and I wanted to enjoy it as much as I could. I did the workout at Kelly Walsh High School in Casper where we had Wyoming's state track championships, so it brought back some great memories. The workout felt good and I felt like it was beneficial.

  • Afternoon: Easy 3 mil trail run at 6:30 pace.

Once again, this was supposed to be a recovery run but I ran it faster than my usual recovery pace, accidentally. The trail was dirt and it wasn't too rocky, it was a fun run and it felt good to have a change of scenery. Though I will say, the hot, dry summer weather isn't too enjoyable to run in.


  • Evening: I did some full-body weightlifting.

I try to get some weightlifting in each week, though this week it's been difficult to do that because I've been with out of town family.

Wednesday , August 1:

  • Morning: 1 mile warm up, 5k tempo at 6:20 pace, 1 mile cool down

For this run, I ran at the course my team runs on for our first meet on Casper Mountain (Elevation: 7,874 feet). I was a little upset how this run went because my legs felt tired and I didn't run a fast pace, which was discouraging. Through the course is a tough and hilly, I still wanted to run it faster than that.

  • Afternoon: 3 mile trail run at 6:09 pace

After my morning workout I really wanted to "redeem" myself apparently, so I went out on the same trail I ran on yesterday. I thought it was kind of ironic that I ran this run faster than my tempo run, but that sure isn't a bad thing. It was very hot outside but majority of the trail had shade so I felt really good. 

Thursday, August 2: 

  • Morning: 8 mile out and back run at 6:39 pace.

I had a graduated Kelly Walsh runner as my running buddy for this run (Thanks for running with me Josh, good luck at CCU!). Going into this my legs were sore, but once I started they seemed to feel better. The way back seemed easier than the way out. It was my only run for the day. I want to recover before my fartlek workout tomorrow.

Friday, August 3 (Fartlek Friday!):

  • Morning: Mile warm up, then I did a fartlek in which I went barely slower than 5k race pace for a min then 1 min steady for 22 min.

I ended up getting 3.60 miles in. Lastly, I did a mile cool down. I really like this workout and it surprisingly seems to go by really fast! I was on a paved path the whole time as I ran around a park with pretty scenery to distract myself :)

  • Afternoon: 400 warm up, 1 mile acceleration, 2x800 meter accelerations, 400 meter cool down.

It was super hot outside this afternoon, so since I was back home in Rawlins I decided to do this workout on my treadmill. I mainly wanted to get some quick mileage with a few acceleration type runs. Overall, this workout felt good even though running on a treadmill is extremely boring.

Saturday, August 4 (Rest day!):

  • Morning: I did a 25 min easy run and went about 3.50 miles.

I wanted to get my legs moving with this little shakeout run but nothing that was going to get me too tired.

  • Afternoon: 45 min-1 hour swim/aqua jogging

To help my legs recover for the next week of training!



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