A bit heavy....Jan 17 - Jan 23

SUN
9 miles around UNR in AM; 20 min. bike PM
*happy that sixty-four minutes of running seemed to pass quickly

MON
12.5 miles along Extended BLC w/ Sean
*by four miles we were already rolling 6:20's, but that pace felt chill in terms of turnover
*tired by the end, but put in 36 miles in past three days

TUES
10 miles on Fat Kid w/ Ron
*route sits at base of Sierra-Nevada Mountains which means today I ran aiming my body to the left so that with the wind I'd actually run straight and stay on the shoulder of the Mt. Rose Highway as opposed to playing chicken with the traffic

WED
5 miles w/ Steve-O
*wind/snow continue to hit Reno, and health down a notch so kept the run low-key
*I FOUND CHEESE!!! Literally! A box of mozzarella bricks must have gone for freedom off the back of a truck and tumbled off the highway and into the fence we ran past. Carried one brick for a while planning to bring it back home (and after that not sure what), but it got heavy so it was eventually tossed

THUR
12 miles along new BLC route solo
*snowing out - provided cushion on the city streets
*love it when ten miles turns into twelve

FRI
13 miles on Orgasmic Donut w/ Ron
*planned an easy day of eight, legs felt like they wanted to only do six, and made the mistake of trying to create a new loop which ended up being thirteen
*if you want the story behind the route's name let me know

SAT
9 miles along Truckee River solo
*sun finally makes an appearance!!!

WEEK
70.5 miles!!! Build back: 50-55-59-64-64-68-71-70.5
1-I can feel the body slimming down a bit. "You look a bit skinny" = I must be getting fitter.
2-Accomplished abs/stretching/extras much better this week.
3-Didn't sleep well for most of the week: didn't fall asleep right away, woke up during the night. Really annoying. Then the mind freaks out ("Aaahhhh! I need sleep! Go to sleep!") which doesn't lend any solution.
*I think, as opposed to training for fun and really enjoying the experience, my body/mindset are beginning to shift back to serious mode. Example: "Cool, I get to run ten miles today" vs. "If I don't get ten miles today that sets my week back and I have to make it up." Example: "Gotta' get to bed and sleep right away to get my rest or else I won't be as recovered tomorrow" vs. "Long day - good run - time to chill and fall asleep."
4-Body/mind starting to tire.
*The "honeymoon" period of once again running 70/week is wearing off. Reality now begins to take hold: this is a lot of work and stress does mount on the body....I do tire. Up to this point I felt absolutely jacked about each and every run. Towards the end of Saturday's miles I had to pep talk the body a bit - this was cool and fun and just needed to be enjoyed. Thankfully it all finished with that mindset. Yet it was a big change from the trend of the past few weeks. Gotta' find ways to stay so fresh and so clean clean (eat right and A LOT, sleep well.....any other tricks you know of?).
5-The right ack-illes is making noise again.
*The tendon injury put a premature stop to the first fall of training (2008). Praise God, a great P.T. healed everything. Each run I keep a closer eye on things and have started the main exercise from the P.T. again. I also wear a compression sock at night to help with blood flow.
6-The age old question once again arises: How much does a runner push out of their life in the pursuit of dreams?
*A few outside-of-running activities presented themselves over the past few months. And I'm not sure where to draw the line. This is especially true with the opportunities related to church. I feel like saying "No" to church is saying "No" to God, which for me personally is for some reason a big no-no. I see the Lord's work as very important and thus why would I say no to something important? Yet an issue in all this is that I've never intertwined faith/running. Running has always been my thing, almost seperate of God. Thus doing running makes me feel like I need to do church "stuff" in order to balance out my pursuits with God's pursuits. This all screams of works righteousness (aka to appease God we must DO something). All wrong. Out of a contrite spirit, the Lord wants our time/talent/treasure as a "thank you" for what He did for us.
*Life = black & white. Do it 100% or leave it. Hence the decision to move to Reno to pursue training and leave teaching. And this spills over into these other areas of life. Being involved in a new church is really, really cool. And thinking about helping a non-profit educate people about homelessness in Reno is also appealing. Both of these avenues are worthy of hard work; the kind of work a person does as their career path. So I guess I see these opportunities and see that I'm not delving in 100% and that does produce feelings of sandbagging. One way to relieve said feelings: ditch the whole shabang all together. Hence, the original question: how much does a runner push out of their life? More appropriate response (which I think will take adjustment): I've chosen to be a B.A. runner right now and I need to recognize using gifts/abilities of any kind (when done correctly) praises God. In the mean time I can be okay with dipping a finger into other areas. While other praiseworthy opportunities exist it does not mean they are the correct choice. In another word: focus. God is giving me choices in life! A lot of sweet choices! I get to pick! How 'bout them apples! I'm choosing running and my dreams to mix it up at the Olympic Trials in two and a half years. In the mean time I can dabble and BE OKAY with just dabbling in other areas.

Guest lecture finished. Thanks for reading.

Props to a few WSU runners: Jono, Chelsea, and Dan. Jono and Dan both ran the mile at this past weekend's WSU Indoor Invite with the first hitting 4:14 and the second 4:19. Chelsea ran the 3K, and while not so happy with her time she did finish the week with 93 miles. Dang girl! Please let me know if you have any results/accomplishments (even unrelated to running) you want broadcasted here!

Patience and miles.
-tim

Wyatt f-ing Earp!

The facial hair has officially (and thus dramatically) changed.

I've always wanted to be a cowboy.

About time: Jan 10 - Jan 16

This past week marked the highest mileage week since early August of LAST YEAR. Boo-ya Grandma. The patience of starting this build back at 50 miles is finally paying off. The climb followed 50-55-59-64-64-68 and now 71.

SUN
8.5 miles on Rancho trails in PM - really sloppy. Tons of people walking dogs, but thankfully no one decided I was worth the effort for a bite.

MON
11 miles out and back along Truckee River

TUES
10.5 miles along BLC route - takes me under the famous Reno arch. Ran in shorts and a t-shirt. How 'bout them apples, Midwest runners!!!

WED
8 miles on Woodchuck. Trail sloppy, but this kept pace slower which is what the legs needed after the past few days.

THUR
12 miles along Truckee in AM; workout with P.T. in PM. Morning run was awesome!!! Blue sky returned to Northern Nevada, and it was really chilly. The vagrants were very friendly as well. P.T. workout designed to strengthen hips/glutes/quads/hammies. The overall strength gains help with turnover.

FRI
1/4 mile swim in AM; 6 miles + strides = 6.5 total in PM. Run of the week: garnered two car honks/hoots as well as a bum, who upon passing, without missing a beat said, "I've been doing lots of walking and weight training myself." What?! Its like I stopped and said, "I'm running lots of miles to stay healthy, how about you good sir?" He totally caught me off guard - just offered a fist pump and "Keep it up."

SAT
14.5 miles from Mira Loma along Truckee in AM.

WEEK
71 miles (8:15:51)!!! I am absolutely ecstatic to be back at the seventy-mile mark. Positive areas: stretched regularly, incorporated drills for a second week in a row. Areas for improvement: abs, Non-Required Essentials (aka balancing on boccie balls, foot rolling on pvc, foam rolling, eccentrics for achilles, upper body stretches, push-ups).

Thanks to the former college roommate I've begun taking GU on anything twelve miles or longer. As mental as this may be, it seems to improve the last few miles of those medium-long/long runs. And if nothing else, its like having a treat while you run! However, I'm still working on not sputtering and choking during consumption.

Now that the miles are finally back to a higher level, the focus on recovery and diet become that much more important. This past week a few former Cal runners visited for a few days, and it was great fun hanging with them. It also meant I bumped normal sleep hours. Plus the church meetings added a few later nights. The sleep was short a few days, as well as inconsistent with bedtime and rise time. Last night at the grocery store I picked up some red and yellow peppers, as well as kiwi fruit. Cassidy said, "If the furnace is hot enough it will burn anything." I totally agree (and have found that I am once again a REAL consumer), but I still want quality octane.

This also brings up another interesting point: in the name of training I cut off a lot of possible choices which would lead to higher highs and lower lows. As of late I feel very steady, very even keel, very "drama" free. And a lot of this probably has to do with the fact I don't let "drama" (NOT used in the same context as high school teenager....bleck!) situations into life. And at times I greatly miss the normal life. However, I still believe that in the name of this journey it is a requirement. I would like to ask for YOUR thoughts on this issue. Train and be chill? Add a lax factor so as to not be so serious? Full steam ahead after these dreams as it is once in a lifetime?

Prayers of thanksgiving as earlier in the week one of my little brothers fell on a cement floor, bashing his face and chipping a tooth. Unsure of possible facial bone breaks it turned out to be "just" a root canal (and new tooth - hopefully he blings it out) and a bashed nose.


"The world needs extreme examples to shake it out of apathy."

Thanks for reading,
tim

Jan 3 - Jan 9

SUNDAY, JAN 3
10 miles

MONDAY, JAN 4
10 miles on Fat Kid loop w/ Ron

TUESDAY, JAN 5
11 miles out and back along Truckee River

WEDNESDAY, JAN 6
1/4 mile swim AM; 7.5 miles + strides in PM = 8 total

THURSDAY, JAN 7
10 miles through Arrowcreek with Ron and Sean AM; workout w/ P.T. PM

FRIDAY, JAN 8
6 miles with Pottey in AM; chiro work in PM

SATURDAY, JAN 9
13 miles from Mira Loma to Truckee with Ron

WEEK: 68 miles! Highest weekly total in nearly three months. Ten mile runs are slowly becoming the norm, and I am enjoying running much more overall.

COMING WEEK: Hit 70 mark. H2O, H2O, H2O!!!