quote appreciation

 in 6th grade I was a really small self-conscious kid who tended to be very quiet and would get pretty upset at home over the fact that I was short and quiet. It's not who I wanted to be and it was pretty obvious from spending any amount of time at school that it wasn't exactly a good thing to be. But I remember one time my mom came home and she'd clearly been thinking about this and she told me a quote from Abraham Lincoln, who was notably soft-spoken,  "better to remain silent and be a thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

And it made me feel better. It didn't fix everything but it was just like a small bit of support and a reminder that the way I was wasn't completely wrong. I'm grateful that she said that.

Here's another good Lincoln quote that I found while looking up the previous one

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present."

ate salad and spaghetti for breakfast

 but gosh darn it if I didn't have a good day

days like today are what you do it for

 really happy with my long run today. I had a really restful weekend leading up to it and the weather was great and I drove out to the fastest place to run in the area and crushed it. If I had really pushed I could have definitely beaten my 10 mile time from the 10 miler race last year. I ended up getting in a really hard 7 miles and then the really interesting thing was that I pushed myself to nearly all out at the end of the 7 miles, averaging around 5:30 pace and then after a really short jog rest I was able to go back to low 6 minute pace and sub-6 minute pace and feel pretty comfortable. 

Back in early October I did a similar run but at the end of 7 miles I was fully stopped and standing around for a few minutes before jogging again. So that's a pretty significant improvement in endurance and recovery. I think it's all the hilly 8 and 10 mile runs I've been doing. But yeah for about 6 to 7 miles I was able to hold near goal race pace and feel pretty comfortable. That was also at the end of a 3 week block where I was running high mileage and feeling pretty tired from day to day. When I'm fresh and rested I think my pace could easily drop 5 to 10 seconds per mile. That would be really good.

It's also just nice and reassuring that I am still improving and that my training is working. I know I can keep doing it and keep getting stronger and that's the biggest motivator for me. That there is still potential and I can keep seeing returns for the work I put in.

it's all good baby

 drink water and sleep

be a smart person pretending to be an idiot pretending to be a smart person

that's the secret to comedy 

learned about 18 of shaq's nicknames

-did a WICKED shoulder pump workout

-had a good run on a warm day

-coaching was good

-made myself a good dinner

I want to get strong and fast

nba legend shaquille o' neal has or has had at least 34 nicknames

 

• The Big Aristotle
• The Big Shamrock
• Shaq
• Mayor McShaq
• Diesel
• Wilt Chamberneezy
• The Big Cactus
• The Big Shaqtus
• Manny Shaq-iaou
• The Big Leprechaun
• Shaq Fu
• The Big Felon
• The Big Baryshnikov
• The Big Conductor
• The Big Field General
• Shaqovic
• Superman
• The Big Maravich
• The Big Banana
• Dr. Shaq
• The Big Cordially
• The Big Galactus
• The Big Agave
• L.C.L.
• MDE
• The Big Twitterer
• The Big IPO
• The Big Equotatious
• The Real Deal
• Osama Bin Shaq
• Witness Protection
• Shaq Daddy
• The Big Daddy
• Hobomaster

It is my intention to memorize all of these names in this order.

 when I am well rested, well hydrated, and well fed and I am virtually unstoppable

what's the stickiest kind of crow?

 THE VELCRO!

when you've got it good you've got it good

 you've got to recognize when you've got it good

when your plants are freshly potted and pruned and green on the windowsill

when you drive around the parkway on a sunny warm day and explore and eat lunch on a good rock

when you get ready to go on a long run that you thought you would dread but now are going to enjoy

when your laundry is freshly done

when you made the rooms smell like tea tree oil and lavender

you've got to know when you've got it good and say "yes this is it right here"

saw my mom and my sister :)

yay!!!

everyone's doing pretty good!

I'm gonna be completely honest, it's Wednesday and that's the day I run myself into oblivion and I'm gonna try my best but I'm operating at 60% capacity 

what a team can do

it was kind of a small moment today but we were doing this workout where two climbers take turns alternating on climbs, so while one climber climbs the other one rests and vice versa and these two climbers in particular got into a great rhythm where each of them were doing climbs that definitely were not easy climbs and probably each of them sent their respective climb over 10 times with only 30 seconds of rest or so. The details aren't as important as the fact that you could feel there was a sense of working together and feeding off each other's energy. That was really cool. Sometimes you can feel like it's harder to focus and work hard with a group of people but this was definitely a time where working together benefited both climbers and they did more than they normally would have been capable of and felt better doing it.

a volume poem

 (whispers softy) the quiet part of the poem goes like this

AND THE LOUD PART OF THE POEM GOES LIKE THIS!

the quiet part of the poem blows you a little kiss (blow a little kiss)

AND THE LOUD PART OF THE POEM DEMANDS YOUR ALLEGIANCE AND FEALTY!

the quiet part of the poem hopes you're having a good time

AND NEVER AGAIN WAS THE QUIET PART OF THE POEM ALLOWED TO SPEAK FOR THE LOUD PART OF THE POEM SPREAD ITS MASSIVE WINGS ACROSS THE SKY AND BLOTTED OUT THE SUN AND USHERED IN THE REIGN OF A THOUSAND YEARS OF DARKNESS AND THE RIVERS OF THE LAND WERE CHOKED WITH THORNS AND BEANS

hey, it's me, the quiet part of the poem. don't worry. I'm still here. just very quiet.

a poem called big words

look at my big words

ha ha ha

everyone smiles and claps

my big words march down the street like a parade

they crash into a bank and eat all the money

but I don't even say sorry

I would never apologize to a bank

thoughts on my mind

 -the 10 miler is coming up. I'm confident it's going to go better than last year. I was looking at my old training and it was kind of a mess. I wasn't doing much to really prepare myself to race 10 miles. Not enough volume and the workouts were like short intervals with lots of rest at 5 min pace. No wonder I ran a huge positive split. Anyway, this year I'm coming in with some of best volume I've ever run and workouts that are very specific to 10 mile racing. I've been doing lots of long tempos and recently ran 8 miles at very close, like 98-99% of goal race pace with only a short 2 min rest in the middle. That's really promising

-my other main concern has been climbing and I've been working on two hard climbs for a little over a week now and making lots of progress on them. It's to the point where I've done all the moves and can now send them both comfortably in two parts. I can get to the half way point on each, and then I fall off, and then I rest for a little bit and get back on and finish them. Hopefully at some point in the next two weeks I'll have a day where I feel really fresh and can do them.

-Today I was medium-fresh. I pushed myself pretty hard on Friday with both climbing and running and then yesterday, Saturday, I did a total rest day. Didn't really leave the house or do anything. Took a nap. Got lots and lots of sleep. Completely relaxed. So coming into today I felt pretty recovered but I think there was still some lingering tiredness from Friday. 

-Seems like the weather will be good again this week and then I have a busy weekend coming up. Friday I'll drive to Richmond to see Erin and then also go coach at a practice in Richmond on Saturday. Sunday I have a hike with Todd and then Monday it's a teacher work day. I'll have to sneak in as much rest and recovery as I can. On the weekend it's not too hard but the Monday work day is a long one. At least it's not a back-to-back workday like in January. That was pretty brutal and left me with a cold for the next week and some. 

-I really feel joy in what I'm doing. I love moving my body and seeing what it can do and seeing how good I can get at something. I love the sense of place I have at the climbing gym and I love being outside in the world when I'm running. 

the feeling of having done a good job

 I slept a lot, I drew a little, I wrote some things, I had a great run, I coached and then I climbed until the gym closed. My body feels a little destroyed but in a good way. In a way where I know I used my precious time to be the best person I could be today. And that feels really really good

Bamboozle Day

 A new camp holiday held at some point on the 2nd week of camp. A cut of bamboo known as Macklewood Bistersnouch, the all-looking, all-thinking, all-guessing sage of sages and seer of seers and reader of readers will predict whether or not there will be 8 more weeks of summer. The bamboo is cut and then shaken about vigorously so that it is made confused and then tossed in the deep end of the pool. If the bamboo floats then there will be 8 more weeks of summer. If it sinks then it will immediately become Fall.

This is the invocation that is to be said before the ceremonial tossing:

On this day, the day of bamboozlement day aka Bamboo Day aka Bamboozle Day aka the Feast of Macklewood Bistersnouch, we will learn the fate that is to befall us. Macklewood Bistersnouch, the all-looking, all-thinking, all-guessing sage of sages and seer of seers and reader of readers, the incorruptible monocot, the prognosticator extraordinaire, the scion of summer, the harbinger of dog days will peer DEEPLY into the fog of the future and grace us with the knowledge of what is to come. For although the visions of tomorrow remain opaque to our untrained and puny eyes, for Macklewood Bistersnouch they are legible like the lines of text in a cool science book with a picture of, you know, like a rocket ship in space or a stylized cell, or perhaps a colorful lizard of sorts. 

We gather here as a community in appreciation of this powerful piece of bamboo. It was not so long ago that we lacked the foresight of Macklewood Bistersnouch and oftentimes the weather of summer was unpredictable. We can never forget the blizzard of 2018 when the relay race was called off due to the pool being frozen completely solid. We also gather together because it is well-known far and wide that Macklewood Bistersnouch, the all-looking, all-thinking, all-guessing sage of sages and seer of seers and reader of readers, the incorruptible monocot, the prognosticator extraordinaire, the scion of summer, the harbinger of dog days DOES NOT WORK FOR FREE. From each age group a sacrifice is required and they will be pushed into the pool and this will please our prophet. 

one by one a kid is pushed into the pool

Macklewood Bistersnouch if you accept this sacrifice will you please say nothing.

everyone waits in silence

Very well then, on with it!

the bamboo is thrown as high as possible and hopefully lands in the pool

it's groundhog day every day

made a collage with a friend

rolling on

 I had a really good workout yesterday. 2x4 miles averaging 5:37 and 5:32 with 2 min rest between. That's a big step forward in fitness from last year at the same time and from earlier in the Fall. It's really exciting and encouraging. In the Fall I wasn't doing as much weekly volume and so it was easier to run more workouts and see improvement. Now that I'm running about 75 miles a week it's hard to do much else but regular steady running. I was pretty sure it was helping but it wasn't sure. Last week was a drop in mileage and that workout yesterday told me that, yes indeed, the fitness is growing.

I would love to get to the point where I could run 5-8 miles all under 5:30 pace. That would really be some good fitness. I think I can get there somewhat soon too. I'm going to do 3 more weeks of higher mileage and then take another down week. At some point when I'm feeling good I'd like to attempt to run 5 miles in under 5:30 pace and then during the next down week I'll repeat the 2x4 miles and try to average under 5:30 for the 2nd 4 miles. 

Continuing to strengthen my calves although today I'm definitely feeling the fatigue in my quads and hamstrings so maybe I should focus on those as well.

a dylan thomas stanza

 I see you boys of summer in your ruin.

Man in his maggot's barren.

And boys are full and foreign to the pouch.

I am the man your father was.

We are the sons of flint and pitch.

O see the poles are kissing as they cross.

I don't really know what any of that means but I really like the sound of the lines.

I am the man your father was. We are the sons of flint and pitch.

be unstoppably kind

be violently healthy

be ruthlessly thoughtful

blindingly alive

the dull dreary drag down drains and drains

but and so rinsed rendered righteous refusing retreat--retaliated elated

never lose the hum of a body possessed of purpose