Step by step, mile by mile

2 miles. My dad bought a house in Paris, Texas so I helped him move in all day and ran a couple miles around that evening. A little Achilles tightness in the middle from no running in a long while but I'm completely fine with that because at least my foot didn't hurt. Felt very good to run. I've missed it.

2 miles with a push for about a minute up a hill towards the end.

Driving from Texas to 'Bama.

Hung with liv all day. Will run tomorrow.

back to daily running! felt good.

3 miles pretty fast, no watch. found a cool cinder loop that’s probably about 300m long right next to hilton park. felt nice to not run loops around hilton or the soccer fields. felt very out of shape after.

3 miles in the snow. ended with some laps on the gravel loop a little faster. 6:33 pace for the not laps and ~5:20 pace on the laps. 5:20 felt hard-ish.

Farthest I've ran in almost two months! felt great!

Felt good. Pushed the hills, the road to the range is a tough run. Did a 90 second pick up after I turned around. Feels great out! I plan on running every day this week, my foot wasn't the cause of missing two days last week, I went to Birmingham w/ Olivia on Saturday and I don't remember Wednesday.

6:4x pace. Busy and couldn't run the past two days. Will try harder.

3 miles before Grammy awards party, 5 after.

5 on Sandy road.

6:20 pace until I turned my watch off with two miles to go. I need to start running with a watch regularly again, I think when I rarely use it I go too fast when it's on. Good run. Didn't think I had 6:20 pace in me yet.

Lots of sleeping today

Busy day, when I was finally free it was storming and I had a midterm the next morning, so no running

Easy running. Very cold.

5 miles easy with a few strides after. I think I'll try to keep the pace pretty honest on tomorrow's long run if I'm feeling up to it

Drove 20 minutes out to Sandy Rd, and it was completely flooded. Drove back and ran a few miles on the fields, which were drenched as well. Decided to do a kilometer faster just to see what I could do when I'm not fit and running in bad conditions. Managed to get under 3:00, but it about killed me. I was on 2:4x pace for the first half or so and because of that the last 200m were a death march. Still happy with it, and surprised I didn't fall during it. Time to study for 6 hours

Noon - 2.5 miles warmup, 2.5 miles @5:59 pace w/ a 5:21 mile in there, 1 mile CD. That 5:21 hurt. I really drove to see what I could run and my arms are currently super sore from lactic acid and such. Nice run. Not gonna do another workout for a couple weeks, this was just me hitting a 6:38 mile pretty easily and then seeing what I could do.

3 miles easy later. First double in a long time.

Straight engineering classes from 8AM-7PM including a midterm in materials, save a break from 3:30-5 in which I drove Olivia home, came home, changed, ran 8 miles with the last one in 5:55, changed again, and came back for my statics review. Very productive day but very draining as well so I'm happy I could go sub 6 today, didn't start putting in sub-6 minute effort until halfway through the mile, so more like a half mile in 3:15 and a half mile in 2:40.

7 miles working down from 6:50’s to 6:10’s. debating whether i should even bother tracking pace until i’m up to 120 miles a week. i think it’s better in respect to staying healthy to not try to push a pace AND increase mileage, so i’ll probably stop doing that for the next 7 weeks.

Studied all day for my statics midterm, did a LOT better than I thought I would. Ran afterward and a quarter of a mile in it felt like I'd been shot in the back. I almost fell onto the cement but caught myself, and hunched over for a couple minutes, but the pain didn't go away that much. Did something dumb and kept running to see how it faired but surprisingly it faded. Def still hurts to move/breathe too deeply now that I'm typing this though. Maybe I tweaked my back. Maybe it's from running on the pavement yesterday when I normally do soft surfaces only.

took a few days off to let a back spasm heal, ran for a couple days and spent 4 days in the hospital for a different thing. rather not get into it. felt good, but now that i’m typing this on tuesday my knee hurts a bit

3 miles. Knee felt okay.

3 miles. Knee didn't feel amazing.

haven't ran the past two days, but knee feels good today. Will likely run tomorrow.

3 miles! Didn't run all week because I was studying for just about all of my waking hours. Going to try to somehow study even more this weekend, but gonna make sure I get running in too.

AM - 3 miles

After a 4 month hiatus, I feel like I should explain myself. After all, this is essentially a glorified diary masquerading as a running log.

During the summer of 2017 I worked as an overnight stocker at Walmart. Almost immediately after working the night shift I began to feel discontent and somewhat miserable, but I waved it aside, assuming after the summer I'd feel normal again. However, I never did. I actually got steadily worse, until it culminated to something I attempted that I'm not proud of and don't think it's too appropriate to speak of on here. But, I'm still alive, and after I was kept in the hospital for a few days I was diagnosed with severe depression and released. It was embarrassing and admittedly scary, having to spend a few days in the psych ward section of the hospital with people very mentally disturbed while at my lowest was tough. But, by doing this I was given access to the medication I needed to get better. I spent the next few months really focusing on myself. I think I filled up my time with things like running and many other distractions to put off figuring out myself and developing as an individual, so I spent the past few months maturing and becoming someone I can look at in the mirror and be proud to be. What likely happened to cause the depression in the first place was by altering my circadian rhythms by working overnights, I created an imbalance of serotonin in my brain, causing depression. At least that's what my therapist said. Luckily as soon as I got released I was able to bounce back very quickly and I'm in a much better place now and truly believe life is worth living. I'd like to end this summary of the past few months by saying that while things, like running fast or excelling in school, are important, never underestimate being happy, or think it isn't important. Coming from someone who spent months thinking they'd never be happy again... I'd just suggest cherishing every moment you feel the feeling, even if it's for no reason. 

I don't really know what my drive for running is anymore. College running doesn't appeal to me anymore, I'd rather focus on enjoying the social aspects of college when I'm not too enveloped in school. However, my favorite aspect of running was always running fast and getting the feeling of accomplishment by setting a PR at some trivial distance. I've lost essentially any fitness I'd culminated since starting this blog in 2015, but I'm probably lighter than I was when running due to losing muscle and a college diet only consisting of rice, beans, and the "occasional" beer. So, I don't know why I'm running. I'd like to get to around 60 miles a week and stay there, so I'd only be spending about an hour a day committing and would still have time for everything else going on in my life, and just see how in shape I can make myself. No pressure to run fast, no races to stress about. Just me going out there to work to become the best Eugene I can be.

3 + lifting and core before classes. Tried the steam room after. I'm not sure how I felt about it.

3 +core and weights and steam room

3 +core and steam room. I purchased a new laptop today, not sure how I feel about it. Watched The Departed after, excellent film.

4 miles on the kilometer loops on the soccer fields with a fast kilometer towards the end. On Tuesday I did this too and ran 3:23 and it about killed me. Today I ran faster, but the time sounds too fast so I'm guessing I cut a corner or something

four + core. I ate maybe 700 calories yesterday because I was busy and I was somehow a full pound heavier on the post-run scale.

I've been running on and off, but never consistently so I didn't bother blogging. Nothing too interesting has been going on in my life. I moved to a new house with new roommates. I weighed at 164 lbs today, which is the lightest i've been in probably 20 months. my shorts, which I bought in december of 2016, were actually falling off towards the end. Overall nothing crazy here in Tuscaloosa. Hope all of you bloggers have been living your best lives, and if you aren't you're soon to be.

- Gene

ran 20 minutes out on Sandy, turned around and walked most of the way back because of stomach troubles. maybe 500 feet away from my car I stopped and the blessed bile cometh and I felt a lot better after. got some on my shoes, and they're probably close to 1000 miles so I just took them off and left them in the middle of the road

Second time i've ran in the past month, the first was after my phone died during a pregame so I ran home barefoot because my sneakers were hurting my feet. Barely felt all the beer I drank earlier in the day(yay for adult things!) so that was fun. I've been really busy with studying lately, I've been in the library or in class from 11AM to 2AM or so normally, but I finished up early so I decided to go for a run on the track by my house. I haven't ran there in almost a year but I have a lot of good memories from freshman year that I reminisced on during the run. I threw in two hard 400's to see what I could do, 64 and 59, with 800m's of jogging in between. I missed running.

Another 4. Feels nice to exercise. The lightest I've been in about 23 months is 163 pounds, which I weighed in at about two weeks ago, probably 180 on average since the crimson classic. I think weighing what I did two years ago(137 lbf) is a bit overkill for a guy over 6'0, but I'm curious what my weight will be when I'm running often AND eating over 1000 calories a day.

So, an update on me. After a long downward spiral the past year and a half or so, I think things are finally looking up. The only blog friendly detail I can share is I've been homeless the past 5 weeks or so, but things are better now. I lived in the school library so I was able to stay in school and keep my scholarships and got my weight down enough that I'm about 30 pounds lighter than last semester. I'd like to start running daily again, I think everyone needs some kind of vice and in my experience runner's high is one of the better ones.

Hope everyone on the blog has been well.

Eugene's tip of the day: exfoliation wash and vitamin C serum for a softer face and clearer complexion

Eugene's tip of the day: vitamin b3 helps combat depression

AM - 3. Wanted to go longer, but I've been congested the past few days and the harsh morning air wasn't doing my lungs any favors. Bought some salmon after. Might go run later today.

4 in the pm, with 4 400's thrown in for fun, nothing hard. Ran 79, 75, 64 going 34 for the first 200m and speeding up, then 74. It's sort of fun not being in shape. On the last 200m of the 64 it felt like I sped up as much as I could, but it didn't hurt.

Eugene's fact of the week: Protein phosphorylases use free-floating inorganic phosphate in place of adenosine triphosphate(ATP)

3 in the rainy afternoon

5 in the windy afternoon

5 in the rainy afternoon

4 in the beautiful morning. Right knee was a little tight.

4 in the morning. Had a side stitch.

6x400m w/ 200m jogging rest. Originally wanted to do 3x4x400 in 80, 75, 70 but I think that's getting ahead of myself. I took essentially a year w/ no running and have been running for a week. Anyway, did 76, 79, 76, 76, 70, 68. Felt like I could have done one or two more, and the 70 and 68 felt controlled, legs were definitely tight though. Barefoot cooldown and strides. I think I pulled a muscle in my tongue hanging out with a girl last night

Ran for 50 minutes on Sandy Rd this pretty AM. Surprised the pace was 7:0x because Sandy is one of the hardest places I've ever run, and I was jogging it. Hills helped loosen up the legs.

6:19 pace for a brisk run on a brisk south fall afternoon. Quads cramped up towards the end.

eugene tip of the week: watch out for laced weed if you’re about that, and the best fashion designers are obscure. big-name companies like YSL and Gucci really think it’s fashionable just to go against the grain bc they’re rich and don’t realize creativity and innovation aren’t the same thing. your models look mentally perturbed and are wearing garbage bags on the runway

7 easy on a fall afternoon. 

7 easy miles on a cold Thanksgiving morning, I guess this should be a post of inflection.

Wow. Life isn't a lazy river of feelings, it's a rollercoaster of emotions. Sometimes it feels like you'd rather just have that stagnant flow instead of the wild ride that living truly is because everyone wants the good parts in life, but no one likes rougher parts. It's crazy to think objectively this was the hardest year of my life, easily. I won't reiterate information I've put in prior posts or would like to keep to myself, but this last year my life went a way I'd never imagine it'd go. I also met some amazing people and had without a doubt some of the best times I've ever had, times I feel bad that others may never live life enough to experience. But, maybe the bad times I've gone through this year are why I got to experience the amazing ones. Maybe you need to have nothing to appreciate everything. Everyone wants to love somebody, nobody wants to lose someone. Everyone wants sex, no one wants unplanned pregnancies or AIDS. Everyone wants the highs of life, no one wants the lows that can follow or preclude it. But, once you realize life is really just a game of risks, you become precautious and thrive.

Feels like these runs are over in seconds!! Feels amazing for running to not be a painful hassle and to really lose myself in thought on the beautiful scenery

lil hungover

didn't run for a few days bc of academics. Legs felt good but had a side stitch I couldn't just breathe through

sub 6 pace. Ate a lot of buffalo pretzel thins today so I'm surprised it went that well

7 in the afternoon. No watch but the last 5.5 were about tempo effort. Felt like I was flying, but could go forever

8. Ran a little farther than usual to the overlook

9 miles before class, cold out. 6:42 pace

20's out for a cold early morning run. Brrrr