Turn your rut into a groove.

am--7 Lower Zen w/ Andy. Deep discussion. At times, I was lost in concepts. Nonetheless, a good run. I wondered why so many people were running this morning, and then it dawned on me that it is a new year. Here's to making the resolution a lifestyle. RHR--50. 

Finished Gold in the Water by P. H. Mullen. It's about swimmers from Santa Clara Swimming Club and the pursuit of their 2000 Olympic dreams. Here are a couple great quotes: 

"It is a myth that greeat athletes outperform themselves under pressure. They access and unleash the potential they already possess. Wilkens was improvising his race, but he was accessing a lifetime of preparation. The best champions become the sum total of their parts" (315). 

"To make this team is going to be sweet, to fail is going to be very painful. Either way, the sun will come up the next day and life will go on. But those who strive, those who leave nothing on the table, those who will take the risk, will all be winners. Life is truly sweeter for those who truly live it. The world belongs, and will always belong, to the people who participate. Those who stand on the outside, who never risk, who never fail, cannot now, or will they ever, understand the beauty of each breath of life. So don't feel sorry for those who fail, feel sorry for the majority that never participate. They'll just never understand, let alone feel, all that life can and should be" (216). 

pm--10 Fit Farm out-and-back w/ 4x 1-min. pick-ups. I feel strong and beat. I don't consciously push the pace, but my body seems to crave a stout effort. Having no one to talk to surely adds to things. RHR--53.

I was reading 3 books the last few days. Finished the 2 today--Hamlet  and a book about Neutral Milk Hotel's last album, "The Aeroplane Over the Sea" from the 33 1/3 series. Over the last few days, I have immersed myself in the album. It is the height of vulnerability, beautiful and grotesque. If you have 40 minutes, take a listen. Books this year--3. 

am--4 Truncated morning run. Start work again today. It's been good to spend time w/ the family, but the routine always treats me well. RHR--54. 

pm--4 A few miles, w/ 8x striders, after a mostly unproductive day on the job. A teacher needs students. Plus, I'm just feeling ornery lately. 

pm--6.25 Green Springs via Quail Ridge. We had a nice group and a stout pace on the first official day back. The run felt great. RHR--54. 

am--5.75 Morning run w/ duck pond hill. It was cold this morning but not frozen at home. Near PVHS, it is a frozen tundra. RHR--53. 

pm--5 Some miles w/ the girls on the warm and cool of their 6-min. test. 6x striders after. It was sunny but cold this afternoon. The long-sleeve shirt and gloves were a good decision. 

am--9 Cemetery Loop via Harmons. Cosmic run w/ a gradual drop in the pace to make it a negative split. Good to get back to school and run w/ the kids again. Nice first week of the year. RHR--53.

Finished a couple books today: the inspiration for Blade Runner, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and If This Isn't Nice, What Is? by Kurt Vonnegut. Both were enjoyable. A quote from Vonnegut's book--it's a collection of graduation speeches: 

"And only well-informed, warm-hearted people can teach others things they'll always remember and love. Computers and TV don't do that. 

A computer teaches a child what a computer can become.

An educated human being teaches a child what a child can become" (28-29). 

5 books this year. 

pm--9.75 Long run in the Fields w/ 4x 1-min. pick-ups around halfway. It was a beautiful afternoon. We had a nice run w/ some girls stepping up a bit. Fun stuff. RHR--53. 

am--4.25 Morning run on the Serenity/Tuweap Loop. Rusty and rachety, at first. RHR--53. 

pm--3.5 Temple Quarry. With the big rocks through the middle, the trail runs slow. We took things at a chatty pace. 

pm--7 Some intervals today. Been reading up on some Igloi-style training, so we decided to run some time-based intervals to work on pace recognition and form. 6x 1-min. @ tempo and threshold pace (7:00-6:40), 2x (5x 30-sec. @ CV (6:20)), and 6x 1-min. @ threshold and tempo. The intervals never felt hard--often the equal recovery was when I noticed heavier breathing--but I felt fairly tired by the end. The kids did great. We have some girls pushing for better things. RHR--53. 

am--4.5 Westside Baptist out-and-back via Serenity. It wasn't raining, but it was moist out. The legs felt better this morning. RHR--53. 

pm--7 Target out-and-back w/ 4x striders after. The legs felt a little tired. My feet are tight but loosening up. The girls are running really well, right now. On another note, when it's overcast and windy 50 degrees feels a bit colder.

am--7 Light Track Tempo (7:15-7:30). I can feel the week in my legs, but the tempo was great, nonetheless. We were hovering right about 7:15 for the entire 20 minutes of the tempo. The group was nice and big today. I love the newfound belief that some girls are getting. We also had a few new kids come out today. That's always cool. RHR--52. 

am--7 Rim Circuit in reverse w/ Andy. We had some nice chatter today while the rain sprinkled. I'm thankful for the Santa Clara River Reserve and its trails. RHR--53. 

I also finished my 6th book of the year--When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. I had checked this out from the school library--our librarian is probably the best high school librarian in the world--before the Christmas break, intending to read it. I didn't, so I took it back to school with the intention of returning it. But my conscience got the best of me, and I thought I better give it one chapter before I severed ties. Well, once I started, I couldn't put it down. That coupled with the fact that it's a quick read made for a couple days of profound thoughts on mortality. Two quotes that I loved:

"Years ago, it had occurred to me that Darwin and Nietzsche agreed on one thing: the defining characteristic of the organism is striving" (143). 

"I woke up in pain, facing another day--no project beyond breakfast seemed tenable. I can't go on, I thought, and immediately, its antiphon responded, completing Samuel Beckett's seven words, words I had learned long ago as an undergraduate: I'll go on. I got out of bed and took a step forward, repeating the phrase over and over: 'I can't go on. I'll go on'" (149). 

am--7.5 A good chunk of the way up Suicidal Tendencies and back w/ the PV kids. It was a beautiful morning that ended w/ doughnuts and chocolate milk for my birthday. What a thoughtful group of awesome kids. RHR--52. 

pm--4.5 Some miles w/ 10 minutes on the erg and some kettle bell deadlifts.

am--4 Lutheran sign/Weights/Neighborhood. Cold but good morning. I only did bench, runners, and curls during weights, hoping that rowing most nights will strengthen my legs in a fashion similar to deadlifts/squats while engaging the core muscles that will keep my SI in place. RHR--50. 

pm--7.25 Pace and Form work. 3x 1 min. at tempo pace (7:00), 3x 1 min. at threshold pace (6:40), 2x (5x 30 sec. at CV (6:20)), 3x 1 min. at threshold, and 3x 1 min. at tempo. This work isn't hard but is tiring. We'll see how it works the system. We had a nice warm and a short cool. I'll have to remember that. 

pm--5.75 Telegraph out-and-back. Good run w/ some great singing. It was good to get an easy day. I feel sufficiently beat down. Erged 1k after. RHR--51. 

am--4 Lutheran sign/light weights/Harts+. Same thing as Tuesday--Bench and runners. The drizzle this morning was more welcoming than I would've imagined. Perhaps, I was more focused on loosening up the right heel. It took a few minutes this morning. RHR--50.

pm--7.25 Tempo in the rain. The pace was 7:20 down to 7:00 for 25 minutes. We had a great group. I've said this a few times since the new year, some girls are really stepping up. Good hard fun this afternoon. 

am--7 Canyons Kidney Loop w/ return via Tuweap. Lovely drizzly morning. I probably overdressed, but, oh well. All told, I finished in just under an hour (55 minutes). RHR--53. 

am--6.75 Cemetery Loop w/ out the Lava Ridge detour. We decided not to fight the weather up North, so I was home this morning. I set out through Santa Clara for a run around 8:00 am. Once I got up the cemetery hill--that was a bear, climbing into a cold headwind--the pace naturally picked up. I finished w/ a nice negative split. Erged 2k after. I felt spent in a good way after the work this morning. RHR--53. 

Finished my 7th and 8th books of the year--Shakespeare's King Lear and Chop Wood Carry Water by Joshua Medcalf. Lear is my favorite Shakspearean tragedy. Full of flattery, power, money, and suffering, it acts as a nice guide to navigating life. I love that the villains have some of the truest lines in some of the vilest times. A favorite line comes from Lear's madness: 

Gloucester: The trick of that voice I do well remember. Is 't not the King? 

Lear: Ay, every inch a king. When I do stare, see how the subject quakes. 

One lesson from the book is that we learn many of the greatest lessons when we're down and out, and we're down and out because of our pride. 

The other book is a fictitious analogy of a young man, who aspires to be a samurai archer, and the relationship w/ his sensei. It's a simple read and a great book on the power of process. This book clarified and confirmed many of the powerful concepts I've learned the last few years. 

pm--11 Long run w/ pick-ups (1-, 1-, 2-, 1-, 2-min. @ 6:50-7:00). I didn't get to run w/ the kiddos today because of department meetings--we solve all the world's problems in these meetings--so I ran when I got home. The run was nice. It left the legs sufficiently spent. RHR--52. 

am--Lutheran sign/Weights/Harts +. Chilly morning, but it was probably good for the lungs. I did some squats and dead lifts w/ the bar today, trying to ease back into things. RHR--49. 

pm--4.75 Dino Tracks. I felt beat today. Don't know what gives. Maybe it's the sickness that is knocking on my door. 

pm--7 Timed Fartlek Pace and Form work. I wasn't sure how I would do today w/ the approaching gamboo. But, as is usually the case, I jumped in and felt good. We're starting to get a handle on the feel of the different paces. RHR--52. 

am--4 Same as usual w/ squats and dead lifts, using the bar, getting back into it. Felt, if not better, the same as I have been this morning. RHR--54. 

pm--6.25 Green Springs hilly run w/ 6x striders on the track after. Good run w/ good pace and good people. 

pm--7.25 Track Tempo (28 min.) Another nice tempo w/ a good group. I love seeing kids keep fighting when the running becomes more difficult. Lots are answering the call. RHR--56. 

pm--7.25 Negative-split run. Nothing fancy. Felt good the whole run. A bit tight in the calves after. 

I finished another book--The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. My buddy gifted me the book for Christmas. It's award-winning fiction, meant to rattle the reader and make him "uncomfortable in a good way," according to the author. The book read slower than I would've thought but provided perspective of the conflict in Vietnam and events in the aftermath. Here's a quote from the book:

"We remain that most hopeful of creatures, a revolutionary in search of a revoution, although we will not dispute being called a dreamer doped by an illusion" (382). 

pm--9.5 Parkway Loop w/ extension to Turtle Rd. w/ pick-ups. Good run w/ a dwindling group. The climes were perfect. RHR--56. 

am--4 Lutheran sign/Weights/Harts +. Tired morning. Cold morning. RHR--52. 

pm--4 Mustang Pass. Dragging this afternoon. I erged 1k after.