Turn your rut into a groove.

am--9.25 Hospital Loop w/ a quicker pace towards the end. The weather was wonderful, and I saw people really pushing to get better today. RHR--51. 

pm--2.25 Grass loops on a drier field. Decent convo and good spirits. It's cool to see the team buckle down w/ the commitment contract. 

am--3.5 DI/Weights/Harts. Decent morning run. I woke up tired. RHR--51.

pm--4.5 Truncated Green Valley Loop. We had a meet. Thought I had band practice after, but that was cancelled, so I went for a short run. I didn't feel great. Oh well. 

am--5 Lutheran Reverse/Bank. Good jaunt this morning. J. Rog. was feeling good, so it turned into a tempo because we're all trying to keep the pack tight. RHR--49. 

pm--6.5 Dirty miles at the Dirt Mile. The varsity kids had a workout, and I was coaching them up. Both groups looked great on some longer intervals. 

am--3.5 DI/Weights/Harts. Really nice mornings right now. Other than that, my body is tired. For some reason, I feel like I need just a little more sleep. RHR--49. 

pm--5 Green Springs/Grass. We went up towards Green Springs and then did a little less than half the run on the grass around the school, basically our old 1200 loop that has become a "sports facility."

am--6 Lutheran Loop/Bank+/Costco Loop. Beautifully, chilly fall morning. My legs are starting to get some pep back. I love that. We grouped together nicely this morning. RHR--52. 

pm--3.25 The warm and cool w/ the girls. They looked great on the workout today. Erged for 10 minutes w/ Floyd in the ears. 

am--6.75 Nice run on the path adjacent to SC Parkway. After, PVXC had a great day volunteering at mile 22 of the marathon. Good week. RHR--52. 

am--5.75 Green Springs and 4x striders. Fall is here, and it brought the chilly weather. Good group this morning. RHR--49. 

pm--3 Barefoot grass run. Nice weather, nice company. 

am--6.5 Lutheran/Bank+/DI Reverse. Colder morning, warmer pace. Region is today. Here's to kids exploring the 25%. RHR--46. 

am--5.25 Lutheran Loop/Arby's. Fast run this morning. Perhaps, we were blowing off some residual steam from Region. RHR--49. 

pm--5.25 Middleton Loop. Nice run w/ some fun folks. No matter what, I appreciate the time I get to run w/ such great kids. 

am--5.75 A variation of the old morning run near The Canyons. Ran in short sleeves and saw winter breath. There was a calm build to the pace throughout the run. RHR--50. 

pm—5 Chuckwalla Lookout Out-and-back. We had a good group w/ good times.

am--9 BHNP Workout. The workout was a mixture of tempo, 8k, 5k, and 3k paces. The girls packed really well and chipped away at the 25%. On a personal note, it was fun to see that I could stick in there and run a workout w/ this crew. I love working w/ these kids and wouldn't want to be anywhere else. RHR--50. 

pm--7 Hit the BHNP again for the guys' workout. I jumped in on the warm and cool and got some miles while they were rocking it. Both groups looked strong today. Building confidence. On another note, I'm spent. 

am—7.5 most of the way into the campgrounds and back. It was cold, and my body had real trouble getting started. I was able to hit a nice pace on the way back. Big week for me. RHR—56.

am--6.5 DI/Pizza+/Bank+ w/ some running around the track. Nice little pre-state workout for the kiddos. RHR--48. 

pm--3 Ran after dinner. Really nice feel to the air right now. I never feel great, though, when I run an hour or two after dinner. 

am--5 Truncated morning run in my neighborhood. Felt good the run. RHR--48. 

pm—3 Pre-state run at the middle school in Sandy. Striders after.

am—8.5 Good, chilly run in Sandy w/ Holt, Decker, and then the kids. PVXC ran really well at state—girls-1st and boys-2nd. 

pm--7 River Trail. Peppy run for quite a few. Others felt the late night more. It was fun to hear girls talk about ways to improve the day after winning state. RHR--56. 

pm--7.25 River Trail past Sullivan and back. We had nice group, even if it was a bit smaller. It's fun to see people pushing themselves. I love this group. I also had a nice chat w/ Addi. She's great. RHR--52. 

am--7.75 Anasazi Trail from trailhead to trailhead w/ Tom and Andy, the Cosmic Bros. It was a nice jaunt and beautiful out. The dirt is a nice reprieve every once in a while. RHR--51. 

I finished a couple books the last few days—Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. Like someone said this week, the first was “a lot better than I expected.” I wasn’t drawn to Austen’s book before I first read it but have learned to love the satiric voice. Card’s book has become an October tradition. Its insight into leadership is magnificent. If I could’ve talked my wife into it when we had our son in May, I would be one of those nerds with a son named Andrew, nicknamed Ender. So sci-fi.

am--9.5 Sugar Loaf out-and-back w/ some predatory pace at the end. It was dark and awesome, and I felt great. Good group of girls that are working hard. RHR--48. 

pm--2.25 Ran around the school grounds at a leisurely pace. I'm seeing some belief. 

am--3.75 DI/Weights/Harts+. Decent run. My heel is sore after I jumped to try and touch the rim on a basketball hoop. Old, I am. RHR--48. 

pm--6.5 Green Springs. Decent run on tired legs. Ellie and Add were pushing today. Kids still seem to love running. Erged 1k after. 

am--4 Harts/Bank. We had a small crew this morning. ): Hope everything is ok for everybody. The body is bouncing back. RHR--53. 

pm--3 Warm and cool w/ the kids, sandwiched around the workout. Some improvement, but we still have work to do. 

I finished a bio today--Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd by Mark Blake. I've always been a sucker for music bios, and this didn't disappoint. At over 400 pages, It's a real tome. Nonetheless, it read fairly quickly. Creative tension is a subject that has dominated my interests recently, so the relationship of the big dogs--Roger Waters and David Gilmour--provided a good case study. Two egos can amaze and thoroughly underwhelm. It depends on their symbiosis. My favorite quote from the book comes from Roger Waters: "You can't give up. You have to keep bashing away or else you're finished as a human being" (340). 

am--3.75 DI/Weights/Harts+. Decent morning. For some reason, I'm still trying to catch up w/ everything, especially sleep, this week. RHR--49. 

pm—6.75 Telegraph out-and-back. We actually had a decent group for the run. 6x barefoot striders after.

am--2.5 Nice, chill run to the bank. RHR--49.

pm--10.5 Turkey Farm Rd. The climb is roughly 700ft. to the turnaround, but it's pretty gradual. On the way back, the legs get going enough to really move the last flat mile or so. I love runs like this, such confidence-builders. Lots of good things today. I had some kiln-fired pizza, as well. What a treat. 

am--5.5 Herky Jerky Trail(?) w/ Tom. This is a trail that skirts around Webb Hill. It's a pretty sweet trail. Reminds me a lot of the Rim Trails on the SCRR. Runs w/ Tom are always great, too. He's full of knowledge about psychology, astrology, music, etc. There's never a dull moment. RHR--54. 

am--10 Progressive Parkway w/ a few extensions. I liked the fight I saw in the varsity girls this morning. RHR--51

pm--4 DI/Grass Loops. Chill afternoon run after a reminder of our purpose and commitments. 

I finished Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink. It's a quick read w/ many great ideas and even a reading list. The premise is that once we get past our base necessities--thirst, hunger, and the need to procreate--humans are motivated by autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Most of the book resonates w/ my worldview. 

am--3.5 DI/Harts. Decent morning. I did have trouble waking up, though. RHR--46. 

pm—3 Annual AC Halloween run. Not nearly as punishing as last year.