AM - 12 miles with the JAKJAF crew. Back hurts today.
Here is an article with Julia Lucas, who ran 15:08.52 for 5000 meters at the recent Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford. A couple points she made which I thought were really good - I found that spark. It's hard to articulate exactly what it is. But
running all the miles and doing all the weights, and icing, and eating
right and sleeping right, it's just gathering dry material and at the
end you have a pile of sticks. And just remembering what it's like to
catch fire; I caught fire again.
How much has it meant to see Sally Kipyego at practice every day, and see the example she sets for the rest of you?
JL
: It's really easy to forget how good Sally is.
She's just there every day doing exactly what we do. In December, when
practices started back and I was looking better than I had, she grabbed
me by the shoulders and said "Julia, don't try to be great, just do
every day pretty good like you're supposed to, and then you'll be
great." That's really out of character of her to grab me and give me
this advice, but it's true and I know that she meant it.
And I think about that all the time. I don't need to blow any
workouts of the water. I take great pride. I hit my splits right. I'm
not trying to show off in any interval. I trust my coach. I do
everything he tells me. I don't do anything more, I don't do anything
less. And following orders, with a coach I really trust, really works.
It's great pressure off to have that kind of trust. | 
