Motivated to Succeed

"Passion is an overwhelming love for the experience of a favorite activity. Motivation is a drive to engage in an activity based on some reward the activity offers beyond the simple enjoyment of the experience itself. When you have great passion for running, or anything else, you don't need any extra motivation. But motivation without passion can only take you so far." - Dean Karnazes in 50/50 page 152

8:40 AM - Sunny and hot early. Already in the 70s this morning. After having coffee and talking with my dad for an hour I went to the track. Laced up my sneakers and said hi to a xc buddy's parents who were leaving the track, though I haven't seen them in a year and I don't think they've seen me with short hair and a beard so I don't know if they recognized me or not. Went for a warmup and did 1.5 miles in 14:36 (9:44 Pace). Today's workout was just to see what I could do with some 400s. I planned to do 4x400s with 400 meter recovery jogs in between each. I wanted to hit somewhere between 1:40 and 1:45. I was pleasantly surprised because my times for the intervals were:

• 1st 400: 1:31 (5:47/ mi)
• 2nd 400: 1:29 (5:42/ mi)
• 3rd 400: 1:23 (5:29/ mi)
• 4th 400: 1:21 (5:14/ mi)

Recovery 400s in order starting after the first 400 were: 2:08, 2:13, 2:21. After the 4th I grabbed a sip of water and hit the trails for a warm down. Ended up doing 1.8 miles in 18:02 (10:01). Felt really great! Stretched and headed for home. My mom just got home early this morning from Michigan where she went to my uncle's funeral and memorial service. She seems at peace and doing well.

Going to grab a shower, and then to work for day #9 in a row. Then packing up my car. I'm going to Emma's house tonight. She is over near Boston with her mom to visit her aunt, but I'm going to utilize her quiet house to study for my comprehensive exams on Saturday. I'm getting nervous! Hopefully if I get some studying done tonight I can go for a hike, bike ride and /or jog tomorrow with Emmy!

Total Time: 45:08  Total Distance: 5.10 mi  Average Pace: 8:52/ mi

 6:20 AM - Sunny with blue skies for the time being. Starting temperature was 59, ending temp was 62. Was by myself at Emma's house. Went there after work last night and watched after the two cats. Emma was at her aunts with her mom and Skyler. Woke up a little sore in the quads from the 400s yesterday. Felt good to get a good night's sleep though. Slept about eight hours last night and then drove to the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail. Ended up running just over 5 miles. Felt pretty good. Wore my new Brooks shoes. Had a great dream last night where I ran a super fast half marathon with my sister, Su. I don't know if this is an omen of good things to come! I still have to decide to do a half or full marathon this fall (leaning towards the half). Had so much fun on the run today though. Saw six or seven little Warrens (bunnies) - named that because Emma nicknamed the bunny that lives in her back yard Warren. Stretched after getting back to the car and then zipped back to Emma's to watch the Team Time Trial! Lance is back! Unbelievable! Cancellara is pooping his pants after Astana's sensational ride! Splits were:

• Mile 1: 9:14
• Mile 2: 8:57
• Mile 3: 8:55
• Mile 4: 8:41
• Mile 5: 8:09
  

Total Time: 44:11  Total Distance: 5.04 miles Average Pace: 8:46

Waiting for Emmy to grab a shower and for a nasty thunderstorm to pass us by, then we are going to look at two venues for the wedding and hopefully go for a hike afterwards! Today is my only day off this week from work. :(

8:00 PM - Had another downpour, but weather was great for our hike. We drove out to Bash Bish Falls. What an amazing place. We went on the blue trail until it got too hazy to go on. Doesn't look like anyone's done maintenance on it in years. Then we took a much more traveled trail over to the falls. We ended up with over two hours of hiking (about 4 miles). My legs are super tired! Afterwards Emmy and I went and looked at a possible wedding venue and then we went to a Malaysian Restaurant for dinner where everything is homemade. I got chicken and rice in a peanut sauce and Emmy got a tofu dish. For dessert I tried a wassabi creme brulee! My first experience with Wasabi. Had never tried it before tonight. MMm. Now time to relax and watch a movie with Emmy.

12:30 PM - Sunny and temps in the mid 70s. Went for a walk with Emmy before driving the hour and a half back to Saratoga to go to work. We went walking in a really nice development. There are so many houses for sale and so many open lots there! Some really great views! We walked about 3 miles in an hour. Worked up an appetite for lunch :D. I love going walking with Emmy. She's amazing!

7:45 PM - Sunset running today after work. It didn't rain for once! Went to the school and had to stick to the nature trail and behind the school. There was a softball game going on and I didn't want to distract them with my horrible form and bad biker's tan. It got really hard to see in the woods as the sun was fading. Made sure to stay aware of my left knee which has been bothering me. I am going to try to find some knee strengthening exercises to do. Splits were:

• Mile 1: 10:00
• Mile 2: 10:52
• Mile 3: 9:46
• .78: 7:24 (9:30)

Total Time: 38:03  Total Distance: 3.78 miles Average Pace: 10:04/ mi

7:40 PM - Long day at work. Sunny and blue skies and no rain again today! After having dinner with my mom, Jonny, and Aunt Mary I got Jonn to go with me to the school. We went running on the nature trails. Did circuits doing the big nature trail to the small one, and two laps on the track. Then cooled down afterwards around the baseball field up to the car. Jonn really pushed me hard. The splits don't reflect how fast we were running in the woods. The stupid Garmin loses its signal in the woods, wish they'd perfect it a little better. Splits according to the watch though, because I don't want to do injustice and guess, though I know we ran close to 4 miles were:

• Mile 1: 9:34
• Mile 2: 7:41
• Mile 3: 8:05
• .55: 4:59 (9:08)

Total Time: 30:21 Total Distance: 3.55 miles Average Pace: 8:33

Tomorrow I have my COMPREHENSIVE EXAMS for my Master's Degree!!! 8:30 AM. I am off to bed!!

3:00 PM - Overcast, windy. Temperature 76. Well it's done!! I showed up at St. Rose down in Albany this morning and didn't know what to expect. I had all my books and everything. Things went well. Exam started at 9am and I finished at 11:58am, two minutes before the cut off time. The questions weren't that bad. It was a lot of theoretical stuff. (e.g. using my knowledge of educational theory and instructional plans respond to your choice of four). I ended up writing 10 pages in the three hour limit, 3,000 words. I think I did fairly well. I was pretty happy with it. I talked about how I as a teacher can change the world and how I feel that one of the most important roles people can play in society is that of an effective communicator. After all, communication is key to one's success in the world - whether it be written, spoken, or nonverbal. We'll find out in two weeks our results. As for results, I found out I got an A in my summer research course!!! That means I'm still sporting a 4.0 GPA for grad school. WOOT! Got home and my dad had a surprise for me. He took me down to the "Arizona Room" which is the basement of the garage. My parents had it refinished to be like Arizona and it has a sauna and a lot of SW stuff in it. He surprised me with a beer! We've never shared a beer together. And it's something I've wanted for over two years. We finally had a beer together though today and talked about my test and the education system. Then we had a second one. Funny thing was when dad said: "Don't worry. You're not and trouble and no this isn't the birds and the bees talk." I laughed. Oh and my dad got his 5th tattoo yesterday! He got it on the front of his right shin. A big snake in some tropical leaves. He has a jungle theme going on now I told him. He started with a sun on his right outside calf, then got a Grateful Dead Head on the outside of the left leg, then a lion on the inside of the right calf, then a Griffin like our namesake on the inside of his left leg. I told him now he's unbalanced and has to get another tattoo on his left shin! He probably will. It's so great. With his long hair and tattoos who'd ever thing he's a principal, let alone the most awesome dad in the entire world and the most loved principal the school's ever had! After about an hour in the garage I decided it was time for a run before the storms came in and plus I wanted to watch the tour today! Went to the track and ran exclusively on the nature trails. Legs weren't sore from yesterday's tempo run, though halfway through they started to fade. Had my suspicions that it was because of all the beer and coffee today. Not exactly the best running fuel! Will go with GARMIN splits, though I know I ran farther. This was a high mileage week this week, probably around 30 miles if you include all the walking with Emmy! Feeling great! I hope I do well on my race on Monday! Splits were:

• Mile 1: 10:02
• Mile 2: 10:33
• Mile 3: 10:07
• Mile 4: 11:14
• .3: 3:04 (10:07)

Total Time: 45:03  Total Distance: 4.3 miles Average Pace: 10:28