Turn your rut into a groove.

am--4.5 DI/Bank. Smaller crew, overall, today. It was good to have Jacey back. Felt good to get going. RHR--49. 

pm--7 Middleton w/ a barbwire mishap. Hopefully, all is well. There was blood and carnage and heart, lots of heart. Luckily, we had J. Rog. the injury psychic. I really enjoy this group of girls. They're working hard. 

am--3.5 DI/Weights/Harts+. I'm feeling beat in the legs, but after a few minutes, things loosen up. RHR--46. 

pm--4.5 Grass Loops before the Autumn Classic. Nice running from all the kids tonight. 

am--4 DI/Bank. Chiller run today. Maybe the small crew was flushing the race out. RHR--49. 

am--7.5 Igloi-style fartleks at Washington Elementary. We had a little smaller group this morning, but the workout went well. What a beautiful day to live in Southern Utah. 2k on the erg after (8:42). RHR--50. 

am--9 Sugar Loaf Progressive run. Nice group this morning. The freshmen are stepping up. I love it. On the way back, I could feel some tightness in my upper calf/lower hamstring. I need to make sure to roll. RHR--54. 

pm--2.25 Grass loops on the softball field. What a great group of kids we have at PVXC. My body felt better this afternoon. 

am--4 DI/Harts and beyond. Some weights thrown in there, as well. RHR--49. 

pm--7 Green Springs w/ the loop around the eastside of the golf course. We had a nice push today. Nonetheless, I felt a little flat. Jada rocked it. 

am--4.5 DI/Bank. Good run w/ some rants from the crew. RHR--53. 

pm--3.25 Warm and cool w/ the girls, sandwiched around their workout. People are stepping up, and it's fun to watch. 

am--3.5 DI reverse and Harts+. Chilly morn w/ some running. The back of my knee is a bit creaky. RHR--52. 

I also finished another book--Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. One of our teachers is teaching this graphic novel and is getting some pushback. So the principal asked us to read it and contribute our two cents. It's an interesting look at the Iran of the late '70s-early '80s. As far as graphic novels go, they're a nice change of pace but not something I would read constantly. 

am--4.5 DI/Bank. Good morning, good chat. 

pm--7.5 Turkey Farm Progression. I love this run. It's a chance to do some good climbing and then let the legs loose a little on the way back, culminating in a good push through the neighborhood. Erged 10 minutes (2.2k) after I got home.

am--7 An improvised version of the morning route at a stout pace. My body felt surprisingly good after aching all week long. RHR--52. 

am--7.5 Parkway w/ the loop back through Dogtown. Nice, chilly morning w/ a hot pace at the end. RHR--49. 

pm--3 Late evening run on the hand-me-down tready. Dece work. 

am--4 Pizza Hut/Harts/Stg. Running Center Loop. Kind of a hodge-podge of a run, but it was good. RHR--48. 

pm--3 Warm and cool w/ the girls, sandwiched around their workout. Great group effort today. It's fun to watch a team grow together. 

am--4 Pizza/Neighborhood/Stg. RC Loop. Chilly morn w/ good folks. RHR--52.

pm--4.5 Chill Green Springs run w/ pretty much the whole crew. Jacey signed for SUU today. That's pretty cool. 

am--5 Nice early morning run around my neighborhood. I felt really fast and smooth this morning. I didn't have the watch going, or I might go home devastated by my actual pace. RHR--52. 

pm—3.5 Short jaunt along Route 66 in Flagstaff. I love this place.

am—6 Good run w/ Holt and then the kids in Flagstaff. We’re off to Big House, AZ.

pm—3 NXR course run through. Kids are in good spirits. 

am—5 Gnarly miles through Eloy, hoping to avoid tangling with a Javalina.

am--4 Harts/Bank. Nice morning, and I got to chat w/ some girls about their races on Saturday. It's fun to pick their brains. RHR--50.

pm--7.25 Telegraph w/ 2x hills, up and down push, and 10-min. tempo. Nice group w/ a little push from some underclassmen. 

am--3.75 Harts(2x)/Mini-Costco Loop. Good running this morning. RHR--50. 

pm--3.5 Warm and cool, sanwiched around the dream mile. We had some cool things happen today that tell me our training has really paid dividends. But that only comes when kids are willing to work hard and work for each other. Also got to run w/ Jos. That's always a treat. 

I finished In Search of the Old Ones: Exploring the Anasazi World of the Southwest by David Roberts. The topic is fascinating and fairly localized, and Roberts' style is engaging. It was a real treat to read this on the bus as we travelled through Northern and Central Arizona over the weekend. Fortunately, we were able to stop by Montezuma Castle on the trip. 

am--5.75 Barrel Roll in the traditional manner w/ Adam. Decent chat about plant-based living. RHR--50.

pm--5.75 Out-and-back to the Canyons. With a little downhill on the way back, I picked up the pace a bit. It felt good. Ran in some Hoka Cliftons tonight. I actually like the cushion, and they still encourage some get-up-and-go. 

am—7 Rim Circuit w/ Tom. Beautiful day w/ some intriguing chatter about mnemonics and native canting/dancing rituals. Happy Thanksgiving. RHR—51.

pm--8.5 Kidney Loop w/ Lava Cove extension w/ 4x 4-min. intervals at 6:00-6:15 pace w/ equal recovery. This was on the road, so there was some up and down during the intervals. By the time I hit the fourth, my legs were loving the turnover. RHR--57. 

am--5 Easy, easy running w/ 5:00 on the erg after. The legs are still feeling yesterday's solid effort. I'm in a Dire Straits mood. Go figure. RHR--47. 

am--6.25 Green Springs in a pretty chill manner. We had a real skeleton crew this morning. It's been a long, awesome season. Most are taking a well-deserved break. RHR--50. 

I finished 2 more books--Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and To Pray & to Love: Conversations on Prayer with the Early Church by Roberta C. Bondi. Maybe, I shouldn't count Dickens since I read it earlier this year, but I don't subscribe to the I-only-read-a-book-once school of thought. The satire came through a bit more this time around. 

The Bondi book is quite fascinating. It is really a treatise on prayer and all that should accompany it. She speaks of prayer being more than the few minutes one might spend with their eyes deliberately closed, calling on God. It includes reflection and a real intent to harmonize our lives with the honest thoughts of our prayers. It's a real process. I will probably be reading this one again soon. Prayer is an area in which I could really improve. 

pm--4.25 Middleton w/ the crew. We started slow--I'm feeling pretty sluggish--but we got going towards the end. RHR--52. 

am--5.25 Tuweap via Serenity. OK morning, but I'm feeling flat. RHR--49. 

pm—3.75 Some running while the kids did a short quick workout.

pm—4.5 As we started on our run, some yahoos yelled, “35 minutes on the track!” So, we did 35 minutes of track loops. The plus is the pace gets solid without much hindrance.