A.M. Kids did not run in anticipation of the cross-country race tonight except Benjamin who ran 3 miles. I did a 6 mile tempo run out and back on my usual Provo Canyon course. I felt like I usually do in such workouts, but I think finally have found the right words to describe it. I felt like a captive bird that has never been free but yet somehow knows freedom and yearns for it. More than that. It is more than just I wish I could be free. The bird knows that it does belong in that cage. I would compare it to a feeling I had while living in the Soviet Union. I had never been free, but somehow I knew the leash was too short and I should not have been on it. Most of my friends did not seem to be aware of the leash, and if they were they did not seem to mind. At least perhaps they thought that it was not practical to think about breaking away from the leash because it was next to impossible. Now it seems I am going through this theme again trying to break away or break through what is impossible to break through - defective vertebrae. With every step it screams at me. No, there is no physical pain. But it is like a broken musical instrument. If I could just believe this instrument is not a musical instrument and was never supposed to be one I would treat it like the noise of a car engine - it is OK that it is not musical because it was never supposed to be. But something deep inside is telling me I am not dealing with some odd noisy mechanism, but a musical instrument of fine work that is out of tune due to a relatively small but difficult to fix problem. So I spent 34 minutes 29.4 seconds fighting the trap today. Better said, shaking my fist at it and keeping the body and the spirit from giving up the fight. Mile splits: first three uphill 5:49, 5:58, 6:09 (17:55), then turnaround and then downhill 5:37, 5:34, 5:23 (16:34). P.M. Cross-country race for kids at Kiwani's park. The distance was 4 K. Benjamin won in 14:54 with his patented long kick. The race turned tactical. Benjamin was running with Casey Clinger, Grant Gardner, and another kid, I think his name was Madison, at a pedestrian pace for the first 1.5 miles which they covered in around 9:22. Then Benjamin and Casey turned up the heat, which dropped Madison. With more heat Grant dropped back. And once Benjamin turned it on he was left alone and ended up beating Casey by 5 seconds. After the 6:15 pedestrian jog for the first 1.5 his last mile was 5:32. Joseph ran a solid race winning the Sub-Bantams in 19:01. Jacob was second in the Sub-Bantams with 20:35. Both of them did better than in the last two races. We took the spikes off Joseph's shoes, and Jacob ran in Crocs. For Jacob I think it was a very solid time. This is 8:17 per mile average on grass with hills over the longest distance he's ever run, and he just recently turned 6. Jenny struggled today and finished 4th in the Midget girls with 21:08. Julia also struggled with 21:44, but other Bantam girls struggled more so she ended up winning her division. I ran 0.5 with William later in the evening.
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