Turn your rut into a groove.

am--10.25 A big improvised loop through Green Springs and Washington w/ 5x 1-min. pickups. The run felt pretty good. I'm not sure if it's the duration of exposure to the sun or the compounding effects of the heat that make runs like this a little tougher. We had a bigger pack today because most everybody is back. After, my heel junk has been pretty tight. I'm trying to be vigilant and not seeing much improvement, but I'll wake up in the morning, and it will feel runnable. Repeat struggles and suffering. RHR--54.

I also finished another book--Peak Performance by Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness. I enjoyed the book and found that it is a good synthesis of other books I have read over the last year or so--Start With Why, Give and Take, Running Within, The Talent Code, Ego is the Enemy, and Mindset. This is a book for anyone interested in performance, athletic or otherwise. The authors have made it a user-friendly tool for frequent reference. And it was a quick read. 

am--5 Grass loops w/ barefoot striders. Kids' races were fun today. I love seeing people get after it. Oh, and Alli P. came, hopefully, not for the last time. RHR--52. 

pm--1.75 Weights/Heat Acclimation/Erg. The heat really wasn't too bad. (I've been diligent about hydrating this summer.) Erged 2k in 8:34. It's a bit pedestrian, but I started easy. 

am--6.75 Hilly run in north desert. It's fun to do some dirt running w/ silly hills and daring folks. We had some folks pushing themselves today. I always love that. RHR--52. 

am--7.75 Dirt-Mile Progressive Tempo. We had a nice group of athletes today. I wasn't sure how I was going to run because I was tossing and turning all through the night. But, I've found that good things happen when you say "yes" to life. We started about 1:20 off  5k pace and dropped 5-10 seconds each mile, ending in the 6:40s. Great work from the girls and the boys in the group. A day like today is a lot of fun. Maybe, I'm old, but working hard feels good. RHR--54. 

pm--1.5 Weights and a shakeout run. Erged for 15 minutes after (3.4k). Today was a good day. (I think Ice Cube said that.)

am--7 Nice run from Coral Canyon towards Quail Creek. We had a nice group for the first part of the run. Then girls flipped for their minutes. 6x striders after. RHR--51. 

am--6.5 A version of the old Swiss Days course w/ a negative split. I find when I try to chill and focus on running naturally I go a bit faster. Saw Coach Bentley on the run. It sounds like SC has a nice turn-out again. RHR--53. 

I also finished another book--The Gunslinger by Stephen King. I haven't read much King because horror isn't my thing. This book, however, is more sci-fi, fantasy, western, etc. It's the first book in The Dark Tower series. I intend on reading the whole series but not sure if it will be one book after the other.