Turn your rut into a groove.

pm--4 Cholla and partway up the hill w/ Tom. Nice chat about life and his family.

pm--5 Heights w/ 5x hill sprints. Better turnout than the past few weeks. 
 

I finished a book about teaching composition by Steven T. Nelson, Teaching the Way: Using the Principles of The Art of War to Teach Composition.

pm--5 Anasazi to the creosote. Learned about Tolstoy and realized that consistency is more important than starting off with a bang.

pm--5.25 Halfway Wash w/ a good crew. I also finished Cultivating Communities of Practice by Etienne Wenger, Richard McDermott, and William M. Snyder. 

am--2 Lava Flow double w/ out the afternoon run because of a meeting.

pm--3.75 Warmup and cooldown w/ the cool kids. I need to find some consistency in a few areas of my life.

am--3 New morning loop w/ James and Tyler. Not quite as cold as yesterday.

pm--6 Measured the tempo loop and then ran through Dixie Downs w/ the dudes. Not bad after we got going.

pm--5 Anasazi to the creosote. I've missed the trails.

am--7.5 Met up and ran w/ Maura in Green Valley. The intention was Zen, but the darkness led to a hybrid run. It was nice catching up.

pm--6.5 Anasazi w/ lower graveyard. Felt heavy after a weekend of chowing down. I also, finished Running Up the Mountain by Matt Baxter and Ron Mann. It was a great, quick read.

am--3 The usual morning route w/ Tyler and James. Felt good.

pm--6 Threshold Intervals 7x 2:00 w/ :60 jog recovery. Felt good but was hard towards the end. I was trying to hang w/ Aspen who is fitter than I am.

am--3 Slow double this morning is all I got in today.

am--3 Morning loop w/ James and Tyler. Felt decent.

pm--4.5 Easy Heights run w/ 5x hill sprints. Good vibes w/ the group.

am--4 Sunbrook w/ my neighbor.

pm--5 Crosby Loops in the dark. I get the draw of turning off the mind and running. I also finished a book by Yukari Mitsuhashi called Ikigai. It's about the Japanese concept of everyday purpose. 

pm--6 Paradise w/ a 10-minute push up the hill and 10-minutes uptempo when we got back to flat ground. Slower and harder than expected on the way up. Aspen rocked it.

pm--5 Harmon's Trail w/ a few different groups. Got to hear Andee's opinions for a while. That was fun.

pm--6 Threshold work--6x 3:00 w/ 1:00 recovery. Felt decent, so it was pretty fun. It's fun to see some of these kids really excelling. 

am--3 Usual morning route w/ Tyler and Aspen.

pm--4.5 Canyons and back w/ Aspen and Emmy. Fun chat on dead legs. Running was hard this afternoon.

pm--7 Anasazi w/ the Lower Graveyard lead and some Radiohead analysis in the air. Felt heavy at the beginning but lightened up as I went.

pm--8.5 Anasazi and Chipmunk w/ Lower Graveyard intro and outro. More Radiohead analysis of In Rainbows. Really felt good today.

am--3 Usual morning loop w/ James and Tyler at a brisky pace.

pm--4.5 SC Drive and Sycamore Crossing. Maybe, a bit too close to dinner, but the pace was okay.

am--5 Usual morning route w/ a jog to and from the school. Nice running w/ Raymond and James.

am--6 Sunbrook in a light rain before my aunt's funeral. Nice day w/ family.

am--6.75 Muddy trail run w/ Lower Graveyard on Anasazi. Learned about Lowell Bennion.

pm--7.5 Some tempo work on the tempo loop. It was windy, and I was sluggish. All ended well.

am--3 Morning route w/ James and Emmy. Kind of struggled.

pm--5.25 Harmon's trail w/ mostly Aspen. Still struggling a bit. Aspen is in better shape than I am.

am--3 Usual morning route w/ James.

pm--3 A leisurely run w/ my neighbor on the high school grounds. 
 

I'll finish Anna Karenina in a few minutes. It's fun to live w/ big Russian tomes once in a while. This novel is interesting because every character has notable flaws but is presented in a way that paints them in a sympathetic light. Kudos, Tolstoy.

pm--5.5 Anasazi in some weather. Mostly just overcast and dreary on the way out. It started to pour more consistently on the way back.

pm--6.25 Anasazi w/ Lower Graveyard on the way out. Beautiful day after some dreary days. Lots of people hiking today. 
 

I also finished 2 churchy books--Original Grace by Adam S. Miller and Not My Will, But Thine by Neal A. Maxwell. I'm often drawn to the spiritual.

pm--4.5 Tready run. I was late getting ready for practice and didn't run w/ the kids. They seemed to have a great time. I also finished Understanding the Scriptures by Lowell L. Bennion. Quick and insightful read. ThriftBooks.com is great for picking niche books at low prices. And often the books have thoughtful inscriptions in the inside cover or handwritten notes tucked in the pages.

am--3 Morning loop w/ Austin, James, and Tyler. Good run. Good company.

pm--6 Vineyard w/ a mixed group. I was a little hyper and, also, need to get over being the pace police.

am--3 Nice and easy recovery loop.

pm--7 Threshold ladder reps w/ Aspen, Katie, Emmy, April, and Andee. Lots of good stuff this afternoon.

am--3 Nice morning loop w/ James.

pm--6.25 Anasazi and Lower Graveyard w/ Abigail. It was nice catching up even if we raised the ire of some biker because we just ran on the shoulder of the trail as we passed.

am--5 Anasazi w/ Tom. Nice to hear about his family and his sweat lodge experience.

am--10.75 Annual Suicidal Tendencies Prez Dayz run even though it ended up being only me and Aspen. I love that trail, but the climb is no joke. I also finished 2 books: On Mental Toughness from HBR's 10 Must Reads and The Things That Matter Most by Lowell L. Bennion.

pm--5.25 Hills and strides w/ a warm and cool.

am--3 Usual morning route w/ James. Didn't make it on the run this afternoon.

am--3 James and the morning loop.

pm--4 New bridge run w/ my neighbor. Nice chat about PEDs.

pm--7.25 Anasazi w/ Lower Graveyard and Chipmunk. Nice day but tired.

pm--5.25 Anasazi w/ Lower Graveyard w/ my neighbor. Nice weather.

pm--7 Paradise w/ some tempo and strides. Stetson and Boston rocked it.

am--3 Usual morning w/ James, Jonathan, and Tyler. I also finished The Quality of Mercy by Eugene England. He pushes the reader to be bold in his application of mercy.

am--3 Usual morning route w/ James. Rough week for running.

pm--7 Anasazi w/ Lower Graveyard. I listened to an interesting podcast about dolorology, the study of pain.

am--9 Run-a-thon. The miles came in 2 runs separated by about an hour. Nice catching up w/ some people.

am--3 Usual w/ James.

am--3 Usual w/ James.

am--3 Usual w/ James.

am--5 Heights at a decent clip.

am--4 Serenity loop at a decent clip.

am--6.5 Jacob Hamblin loop w/ 5x strides at the track. Beautiful morning. I also finished The Second Mountain by David Brooks. It's a good rumination on how to find greater purpose in life.

am--6 Threshold--20 minutes--in 3-minute intervals w/ :60 jog recovery and a 2 minute to finish. 

pm--5 Double threshold--10x :60 w/ equal recovery and a barefoot cooldown. Kids looked good.
 

am--5 Recovery run that turned into a progression run thanks to Aspen. Feeling pretty beat.

pm--7.5 Anasazi w/ Lower Graveyard out and back. Draggy but good. It's nice to be in the dirt again.

am--6 Hill Circuits x 2. Felt hard. Must be getting old or weak or both. Still fun to get after it a bit. 

pm--7 Anasazi w/ LG and partial Chipmunk. Slow but nice.

pm--7.5 Anasazi w/ some LG. Tired but good.

am--3 Morning loop w/ James.

pm--6 Anasazi w/ LG on the way out. Learned more about Andrew Hickey and finished The Finnish Way by Katja Pantzar. The Finns seem to have life figured out.

pm--5 Golf course and Vineyard. Good run w/ a mixed group.

am--6 To and from w/ the usual morning route. Also had some great things happen at the JV meet. I finished Jesus, The Master Teacher by Lowell L. Bennion. Quick, insightful read.

am--3 Morning route w/ James and Raymond. 
 

pm--5 Anasazi in a funky fatigue. 

pm--7 Anasazi w/ Lower Graveyard. Life and track meets are getting to me, zapping the will and fitness out of me. 
 

On another note, I finished Lila by Marilynne Robinson. This is part of the group of Gilead books. I really enjoy Robinson's writing and perspective.

am--6.25 Anasazi w/ LG on the way out. I pushed it a bit today and felt okay.

pm--8.5 Anasazi and LG w/ Chipmunk. 'Twas good to cruise in the dirt. I also finished a wacky book called Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor. True southern gothic.

am--3 Morning route w/ James. Now, all I hear about is how low his heart rate was on the run.

am--3 Usual morning route w/ James and Raymond.

pm--5 Harmon's Trail w/ the boys until I flipped. Finished w/ Aspen and Emmy.

am--5 Usual morning route w/ James and Raymond. Added a bit before w/ James.

pm--6.25 Anasazi and LG w/ some 90's hip hop after suffering the chilly winds of Hurricane.

pm--6 SC Parkway rhythm run w/ Renstrom and Neri. Felt good to do something progressive. I also finished Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata.

am--3 Morning run.

am--4.25 Morning run w/ James.

pm--4 Sone running while kids did their workout.

am--3 Morning run.

pm--5 Heights run.

am--3 Morning run w/ James and Raymond.

pm--4.25 Warm and cool w/ some running while kids did pace work.

pm--5.5 Anasazi w/ LG on the way out.

am--5.5 Ran to the school for the usual w/ James and Raymond. Good stuff at the JV meet.

am--6.75 Anasazi w/ LG. Stopped to chat w/ a retiree near the turnaround. Felt flat until I was nearly done.

pm--6 Anasazi w/ LG both ways. Got some nuggets from Leonard Cohen.

am--5.5 Usual morning w/ James w/ the to and from. 

pm--6 Anasazi w/ LG both ways while listening to Rick Rubin chat w/ Golden Harper. 
 

I finished a book recommended by a colleague--The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. More spiritual memoir than Holocaust book, but that's not a bad thing.

am--3 Usual morning route w/ James and Raymond. 
 

pm--4.5 Towards Halfway Wash w/ a nice group. I also finished The Old Man and the Sea w/ my classes again.

am--5 Heights w/ a sluggish start. Ended up quicker than expected. I'm feeling pretty beat lately.