Got Harassed on the UVA Lawn

 Finished my run and was walking back home barefoot. I cut through the Lawn because that's the fastest way back and a large group of guys were standing on the steps of the Rotunda having their picture taken. I don't know what group they were a part of. As I soon as I stepped into their view they started yelling, "EW! EW! PUT SOME SHOES ON! YOUR FEET ARE GROSS! EW!"

That continued as I walked away from them. I didn't react or respond. I think the woman who was taking their picture said something like, "c'mon now, you're seniors." or something. It was pretty half-hearted.

That's embarrassing on so many levels. I haven't been heckled in a while and I've really stopped caring but I just think that's such a bad look. I can see how people would think it's funny or harmless to call someone out. And I think I just take it as a reminder that if I'm ever in a position to say something or do something about it, I should.

I think the samsung internet logo is cute

look at it! And I can imagine someone who is new to technology using it and it looks very safe and simple.

like, who would know what CHROME is? If you were new to smartphones. I just want internet.

I liked the last episode of euphoria

And you know what else? Maybe I'm also gonna write a play. About the climbing gym. And instead of a play it will be comics about the people at the gym. And I already do that. So, I don't know I just think everyone had great performances and emotionally it wrapped things up pretty well. It wasn't perfect but I felt like it did its job. 

The trees in the middle of JPA are budding. It makes me so happy to see. How can you not feel hopeful and renewed when you see trees awakening? 

Had a good talk with Erin today. And a good talk with Mom and Dad. I got to say a lot of stuff I've been meaning to write down and think about but it's much easier to talk to them about it.

This week should be good.

rest days are nice

it's nice to take a day and truly do nothing. I think it's very important. Doing nothing is essential to doing anything well. I don't trust people who are always doing something. They're hiding from things. Doing nothing helps me work towards things. 

I love the sun

I love my friends. 

I love to run. 

I love to send.

good tempo today

Woke up feeling really tired. I can tell I'm running a lot more again because that bones-tired feeling is back. I find it kind of annoying and also welcome it. Anyway, there was a better than 50% chance of rain during my run and I was really dreading getting caught in 30 degree rain but it held off!

I wore my tracksmith pants and socks and mom was the first one to give me kudos on my workout and that felt good :)

If I can keep this going I might get really fit. 

my fingers are so stiff

worked really hard on a crimpy climb today. I'm happy that I'm able to work on hard climbs for a long time. My climbing endurance has come a long way. 

Ran a decent track workout today. Some 800s with a lot of rest. I've run much better workouts but I think with Strava my easy days have become longer and higher quality because I care more about how my training looks. That potentially sounds like a bad thing but I think I've run really well when I've cared about my training and have been extremely competitive with myself and others. Anyway, I felt good but I'd be surprised if my body wasn't a little tired from the extra training I've been doing. So I think in a couple weeks when I've made that adjustment then things will be good. 

I think the drive to be like "hey look at me" is one of my strongest motivations. 

Running Seasons

6 days a week. Harder effort every 2 days. 

March-May: accumulate time at mile pace and faster. 50-60 miles per week

June-August: fast. shorter max speed efforts. 30-40 miles per week 

Sep-Nov: time under 6 minutes. hard long runs. 50-60 miles per week. 

Dec-Feb: ACCUMULATE VOLUME. long runs and longer runs. 70-80 miles per week

RipRap Hike

 I took a well-deserved rest day today and did a hike with some camp boys and Todd. It was cold and windy from the top of the hike and I woke up 20 minutes before the van left from the meeting spot in town so I didn't feel like I was fully  awake or prepared to meet the day when we started. The wind was buffeting us and my thin hiking shoes were doing little to protect my tender toes from the rocks on the descent. Climbing that night before had done my feet and body no favors. As we got going though we found some spots that shielded us from the wind and the sun began to warm us. 

It was nice. RipRap is a small swimming hole on the western side of the Blue Ridge and it's the first hike I ever lead with a group of older kids when I started working at Field Camp. We used to go a different way that was much flatter and shorter but that secret back entrance has since been closed off. It was fun to do a new hike and see the parkway and see the people of camp again. A nice thing about going in February is that you could see all of the rocks and crags and exposed rock walls that are normally covered in the summer. There were a couple of massive faces that looked really fun to climb if you could set up some rope anchors. I even brought my climbing shoes along as I was frantically packing this morning thinking that maybe we would come across something on the side of the trail. It wasn't until later that I remembered that my finger tips were completely raw from three days of climbing in a row. 

For all of my frustrations with running about accomplishing things and meeting people, climbing is the complete opposite. I feel like I'm making a lot of improvement in a short amount of time and I feel more connected than ever to that gym. So really I'm just being greedy that I can't have it all all the time. 

Running Update

 My roommate ran an awesome half marathon this morning. I believe it was a PR for him. I had signed up but had an injury a few weeks ago and a hike with camp created a schedule conflict and I also realized that I'm really not a fan of waking up early to run hard in the cold. But anyway, it made me aware of the fact that it's been a long time since I've felt like I really accomplished something with my running. I want to achieve something and do something I'm proud of. 

My goal is to run a sub 4:40 mile by my birthday which is in approximately 10 weeks. 

The things I did to help reach that goal this week were:

-running 60 miles

-getting on strava to hold myself more accountable

-running 3 workouts: tempo miles, surges, speed work on the track

-stretching and mobility balance work

The things I will do this week to help reach that goal are:

-running 60+ miles

-running 3 workouts: a long run with pick ups, 6x800 w/ 3 min rest, 5 mile tempo run with strides

-stretching, mobility, and balance work

If I can put together 10 weeks of quality work then I am confident I can reach my goal.

At some point along the way, maybe every 2 or 3 weeks or so I should also include things like an 800, 1k, and 1600 time trial. 

On March 26th I'll run the Charlottesville 10 miler and I think I can do well but that won't be my main focus.

I think getting on Strava has helped me because I'm keeping track of my mileage and seeing what other people are running and on Friday my legs were really dead from the track workout the day before and I looked at my weekly mileage and realized I probably needed to run about 10 miles if I wanted to run more than 60 miles for the week. Previously I wouldn't have thought much about it and would've done a very slow hour and called it a day. But I think it was some positive pressure that got me to go for 85 minutes and do a lot of uphill running. I've said this before but I think I swung too far back the other way in terms of challenging myself. 

I feel good. I feel motivated. I don't feel satisfied but I think that's a productive place to be in.

I was trying to search Matthew McConaughey

And obviously I didn't know how to spell the last name so I just put in MC and the first suggestion was mcnuggets.

and the name matthew mcnuggets made me full on nose laugh

They just played I need a life by Born Ruffians on the radio

I sang along and it reminded me of Chris and my junior year of college and one of the happiest times of my life :)

Me Upon Losing Dutch Blitz

Me: It's not like I missed any opportunities, they just never existed.

Emmy: Now you know what it's like to be a woman. 

I grind my teeth sometimes

In my sleep. I rarely catch myself doing it but sometimes I wake up and I feel like I can tell from my jaw and teeth that I was doing it. This pro runner Geordie Beamish sleeps with something called "mouth tape" where he puts duct tape over his mouth. I guess so he only breathes through his nose. But I wonder if it could also be a cue to relax my jaw. 

Haha maybe I'll try out mouth tape.

I feel good

I think part of being a good person is being able to communicate a clear idea of who you are and what your about. One thing that's challenging about coaching once a week, especially club, is that not a lot of things are clear. But I think I'm slowly figuring it out. 

I don't know. I keep having these small but messy moments where it's like, oh we haven't figured out each other yet. 

I want to be someone who keeps the kids safe, someone who enjoys climbing, someone who can help them. And then I'd also like to be fun to be around. It takes time and I think reminding myself what I can do and what is valuable to the kids in the program is helpful. Sometimes it's messy. Sometimes it feels like nothing is really happening. But if you stay open to small good moments of connection then that really goes a long way. 

amazing climbing session

I sent 3 v5's and a v4 I hadn't sent. It felt like a breakthrough session and I'm really happy about it.

Had a decent workout and joined Strava for the first time. Some tempo miles with short rest on the ten mile course in the snow. Deleted instagram off my phone but I still can access my account through my laptop. I just don't use my laptop nearly as much. I hope through Strava I can become aware of other runners in the area.

Had a fun time at a super bowl party that wasn't a super bowl party.

Tomorrow I need to get groceries.

The world is too full for empty words. I live in the world of things.

music always sounds better in paw paw's truck

drove the truck this week and felt good.

tomorrow I think I'll go get a new battery for his watch.

I need to renew my registration for both vehicles.

I get the impala inspected in March. I also have a dentist appointment on 3/21.

I made my roth ira contribution today. 

Played Disc Golf with some folks from Rocky Top. That was fun. My legs are very sore so it was good to be outside but not running. I had a good round for not playing in like 4 years!

I ordered a new watch band for my Garmin because I realized that's a thing I can do. I own too many watches now. I have like 7? I should give some away. 

I'm going to eat a grapefruit and then some soup. 

The yard is full of holes from squirrels. Things really look their bleakest in February. Old and dead. Maybe Spring will come this year. I feel full of life. But also tired. The most awesome thing is the thrill of seeing something that was very far away from up close. 

proud of this

had a good track workout today

finished a comic

had a good climb

only got the wordle in 4 though

‐-------‐‐---

quote of the day:

My mom sent me an article about how a study found that pre-K programs run through public schools had negative outcomes and that too much structure and instruction was harmful compared to open ended play. 

also

"They covered the bolt hole!"

day thoughts

Sometimes I'll have thoughts throughout the day that I think would make good blog posts and I think I'll remember them and then at the end of the day I never do. Kind of like dreams. 

But life is good. I work a little bit every day at getting better at the things I love doing.

this is from a date I went on right before the pandemic

I miss the old normal 😢

good day today

Had a good climb with Andrea.

Coached 2 sessions of climbing club. 2 90 min practices from 3 to 6.

Slow 60 minute run after in the occasional light freezing rain. I was tired. 

I did a little bit of drawing in the morning. 

Watched Chris stream some animal crossing. 

My GPS watch band fell apart :( It old. I ordered a new one. 

It's always a good day when you meet some new kids who are sikes to climb. 

do you ever think about

how if you do your laundry on Sunday and then put on a pair of socks on Monday and those socks end up in the hamper, they're basically spending the whole week being dirty and they only get like one day of being clean. sorry socks. I could do laundry more often but no I won't. 

things I'm thankful for: 

-my sister going to the climbing gym in richmond to get the harness I left there yesterday

- finding my watch in my other pair of climbing shoes. I thought I'd lost my watch the day before losing my harness

- getting a lot of drawing done

- having a great workout! it wasn't much but my legs are fully back! range of motion is back and no soreness

- my roommate taking my laundry out of the dryer and folding it 

- my friend Jules

- watching Euphoria with folks and eating great cake

- sleeping lots

he was a miler

I'm gonna make my own path as best I can. 

Today was a good day. I had a good run in the warm rain. Legs were very tired but I felt good. Really good climb in the evening. I sent the orange V5 I'd been working on in the steep room. I made some decent progress on some other climbs and tried some things I thought I would have no chance on and actually did really okay. Momentum is coming back slowly after the leg setback last week. 

waiting for spring to arrive

and when it is warm again I will be strong 

I will be fast

and I'll rise when I please and sleep when I like

People who don't improve bore me

I turn myself once more to my goal

a vision is clear

I possess power

saw this on Instagram. Someone was reminiscing about it being the best Christmas present. One time my dad brought home one of these because he said he and his friends found it in a dumpster. Amazing.

I love you dumpster bot.

Memories like that make me really happy. 

ran 5 miles today

I also worked on a comic and a flyer design and climbed. I'm happy that I was able to run without pain. I'm trying hard to not feel like I'm back to square one and that I've done a lot of good work. I'll need to adjust expectations for Colonial Half but the 10 miler could still be really good. 

It feels like doing that super hard run in the cold and then coming back and doing another hard cold morning run was what really aggravated my hamstring and legs. I've had good success running on my own schedule. It's hard to say no to friends to run with but injuries and setbacks are really frustrating. What I would really like are friends to work out with in the afternoon and evening. It's when my body feels good and when the weather is usually nicer. I have some plans to work towards that. In the mean time, I'm going to be looking towards running some faster times in the Spring and doing more of the workouts I find fun.