Turn your rut into a groove.

pm--5 Back to running. I looped down onto the River Trail and back around by Maverick. I felt decent. My breathing was a bit heavy, but that is to be expected after some time off. RHR--54. 

pm--4 Ran around during the Root-Beer mile. Feeling. . . better? 

pm--5.25 Green Springs. I haven't run this in a while. It was good. There are a lot of girls who could do great things this track season. RHR--57. 

pm--7 Pace work w/ The Future. Good stuff from them today. We hit more CV pace than we have in past workouts. My lungs feel better other than the dip in fitness from being sick. 

pm--6.25 Ran around the neighborhood w/ some hill circuits in the run. I only jumped in on one of those because I'm nursing pretty much everything. Girls have a pretty positive group right now. 

pm—2.5 A “run” to finish the week. After the sickness, i’m Starting to bounce back, but the pace work and hill circuit from the last 2 days have triggered the behind-the-knee tendonitis. I’ve rolled with the foam roller and a softball. Healing.

I also finished Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. This book is on a lot of end-of-year lists. It was an interesting read about how we court problems when we seek to create perfection.

pm—9.5 Sugar Loaf+ out-and-back w/ some progressing tempo mixed in. This is the longest run for me in 3-4 months. It hurt so good. Good group of girls. 

pm—4.5 Beautiful run by the turtle road. Perfect temps and fun conversation. Plus, we saw a chihuahua disappear. RHR—51.

pm--6.5 Warmed and cooled w/ the girls and ran around w/ Sylvia while the others were running the workout. I'm feeling more and more on the mend each day. Also, I ate 2 live earthworms in the assembly today. RHR--53. 

pm--7.5 Loop through Washington and down to Sullivan before hitting 3x hill circuits. It's fun to see such ambitious freshmen, and the rest of the girls are working hard, as well. 

am—Reverse loop through Santa Clara. I love this run. The slight decline in the second half really encourages a negative split. This is a variation of the Saturday runs I was doing when things were really rolling. I’m slowly coming back.

I finished King Lear for The Who knows how manyth time. It’s a terrible and awesome play.

am—8 Hurricane Rim Trail. Nice run in the snowy weather with a tight group. Daring the elements as a runner is extremely rewarding. RHR—52.

am--Weights. RHR--51.

pm--5.25 Green Springs. Good run w/ a nice push to finish. When we crested the big hill, Jacey and I looked back, and the crew had disappeared. Not sure what happened with them. We had a nice chat. She's a great runner and a great person. 

am--2.5 The bank and back. I felt peppy this morning. It's good to gradually work my way into doubles again. Light group. 

pm--4 Warm and cool w/ the girls. I got some quicker running on the light tempo before the workout and after w/ Jacey, Rylee, and Jenessa after. The kids look solid today. 

am—Some weights. RHR—53.

pm—5.5 Target out-and-back. It’s chilly down here right now. Good run w/good folks.

am--2.5 Bank and back. Always fun. RHR--53. 

pm--4.5 Semi-annual hallway run due to lightning in the vicinity. My favorite part about these runs is the sing-along nature of the thing and the looks that everyone gives us. Did some defacto hill circuits on the choir ramp. 

pm—7.25 Good run w/ 3x 4 min. @ 7:30, 10 min. @ 7:15, and 5 min. @ 7:00-6:55 w/ 2-min. recovery between everything. The run was a bit tougher but felt great.

I also finished Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Caroline the Great recommended it to me. I enjoyed it. Action + Adventure + Nostalgia = a good read. Now, I’m a third of the way through Bob Schul’s book.

am--7.5 We looped around the turf farm for a nice run. The group was solid the whole time. Plus, I realized that I've missed these longer morning runs. RHR--51. 

pm—3.5 Easy 30. These runs are always rough on the dad bod, but it’s fun to hit a double-digit day. 

am--Weights. RHR--50.

pm--5.5 Looped over by the mall and finished with some hill circuits. OK day.

While proctoring the ACT, I finished Bob Schul's In The Long Run. I was most interested in the training he did with Mihaly Igloi, and, while the book didn't go into great detail about the training, it is apparent that Schul feels like he owes a lot of his success to the training Igloi introduced to him. On another note, there were a few quotes I enjoyed.

"Many things could have stopped me if I had looked on the downside of circumstances and perpetuated the negative. I would never have gotten to this point of running with the greatest athletes in the world. It is important, of course, for healthy thinking to feel and discuss injustices and disappointments, but the mind takes in as many thoughts as it is given and we must let the negatives go as quickly as possible.

"This includes, most importantly, self-esteem. All those disappointments in life are just that--disappointments. They are not because 'I am a bad person and deserve bad things to happen,' but because that is the way life is." (103)

"I now fully believed in myself. It was a long, gradual process that came one small step at a time. It wasn't enough that I just mouthed the words. I had to believe, deep within my soul, completely. I dispersed all doubts and replaced them with the knowledge that what I had done to prepare myself had placed me in a position where I knew I could overcome any obstacle. I found ways to build a solid wall of knowledge, confidence, and self-esteem; and if that wall should become cracked within the final months of preparation, I could repair it quickly with my strongest block. That block, the one that I mention so often in this writing: the resurgence of positive thinking and its domination over self-doubt." (110)

"There is a big difference in the pain levels among athletes and while some are able to continue driving even when their bodies are hurting, others will succumb to the pain and slow down. In my training I brought my body to the pain threshold and forced it through time after time. In the process I conditioned my mind to handle more and more pain." (162).

am--2.5 Bank and back. Small pack broke a bit. :( RHR--51.

pm--4.5 Sandberg's w/ a little extension. Not my favorite. Prefer to play after all of the work is done.