the news is weird

 Google recommended a story about a family squatting in a woman's home in Houston. Apparently they lived there for at least a month and had changed the locks and claimed to have a fake lease for the home. And then they were kicked out when the owner found out about it. 

The thing that was weird to me was the tone of the story. It mostly gave matter-of-fact statements about the details but I felt like it suggested a lot in what it chose to include and leave out. 

The big issue that I felt like wasn't touched on at all is that we know that there is a massive housing crisis across the country. Home price and rent increases have outpaced wages for a long time and it's hardly slowing down. If people need homes to live in and there are other people who own homes that they aren't living in, what do you think is going to happen? 

Is it a crime for someone to own more than one home? No. But I also don't think you can dismiss someone's attempts to have shelter, a fundamental human need, when there's a housing crisis. Right? Like, to me, laws work under the assumption that basic human needs are being met. A law helps us regulate ourselves when we have what we need and want to maintain a balance. A law shouldn't be in place as a barrier to keep someone from meeting their needs in a just society. 

It feels to me like this story is an invitation to talk about the effects of disparity. Nobody wants to be a squatter. Nobody wants to break into a home and pretend to live there. Yet, the closest the story I read comes to editorializing is concluding with an interview from a home security expert who advocates for cameras and locks and bars and things. Which just seems to be escalating things.

I really don't understand how you can view increasing the security of a home that is not your primary residence as anything other than class warfare. You have to assume that owning a second home or multiple homes is an investment or something like a vacation home. To one person it's a source of wealth and to another person the same home is a fundamental need. What do you say to that? Get a job? We know that necessary, important jobs don't pay enough to provide housing. To suggest that the answer to a housing crisis is to become more militant is another one of many examples of the ways we value property and wealth more than people. 

Should it be illegal to own multiple homes? Maybe! Remember when covid started and people started hoarding hand sanitizer and price gouging like crazy? And collectively, people and companies said, "stop!"

“No one should be allowed to reap a windfall from fear and human suffering,” writes Senator Markey in his letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. “Internet-based retailers such as Amazon.com have a particular responsibility to guard against price gouging in current circumstances as consumers — who are finding the shelves of local brick-and-mortar stores bare, and who may wish to avoid venturing into crowded stores and shopping malls — turn to the internet.”

How is it that we are willing to step in and protect the right to a fair price of hand sanitizer and toilet paper and not view housing the same way?

ikigai

 

I'm about it

race pics

in which I interview myself about the 10 mile race this morning

 up top, how do you feel about people questioning your sanity as they read you talk to yourself?

people are allowed to think whatever they want

how does it feel knowing that your mom placed higher in the race than you based on an age graded percentage?

I'm really happy for my mom and I knew she would run well and I think it's awesome that she gets to see what a great athlete she is. She's one of my biggest inspirations.

2016- 5th in 54:54

2017- 2nd in 53:38

2018- injured

2019-7th in 55:06

2020 and 21- COVID

2022- 10th in 56:30

2023- 11th in 56:20

Why are you going backwards and are you washed up?

From 2015 to 2017 I had the best training of my life. Years of consistent running and high volume and really high quality workouts. Then I had some injury years and years where I was working more and trying to figure out training on my own. 

I think I was actually in really really good shape in 2020 and never got to show it. Then in 2021 I started to get into climbing and lifting more and played around with low mileage and speed. That sort of carried into 2022 and then I got on Strava and started restructuring things. 

But I think it's easy to look at those results and be like, yeah I'm washed up but I really don't feel that way. Today was not a fast day and pretty much the whole field ahead of me ran positive splits for the race. My first two years I ran negative or even splits so it can be done. Today I positive split worse than most but there was some serious rain in the second half and I think even more than that, today the pack I wanted to run with was better on the day. I want to race the people I know and today the people I want to race with pulled me out on a pace that I couldn't sustain. 

I attempted to run the race I wanted to run and I couldn't which I'm okay with. I'm happy with myself for trying. I don't think my finish time is reflective of my best possible time on the day, it's a reflection of trying to run with a faster pack, recognizing when I was getting in over my head, and then hanging on to the finish.

You seemed confident that you could break 56 minutes and you had a "modest" goal of improving your time by a minute every year. You only improved by 10 seconds.

I think there's a couple things there. One is that it's a slightly different course and I think a bit harder now. Two it was not an ideal day with the rain. And three, I'm still confident I'm in 55 minute shape but I recognized the morning of the race that I'm not running the race to break 56 minutes no matter what, I'm running the race to race people. 

I want to be in that pack and feel competitive and I know the fitness I need to do that. For the most part, if you run high 54 or low 55 minutes on that course you'll be squarely in the top 10 and have people to run with. I can get there.

Do you have any other takeaways?

Even though I ran a less than ideal race, I still felt good out on the course. And a large part of that is friends and people in the community were out cheering me on and other than a later start time and warmer weather you really can't ask for anything more in a race. It's truly a community event and when I heard people cheering for me it meant so much. I feel more and more connected to where I live and the people here and more than ever this race felt like a reflection of that. 

My number two takeaway is that my new residence is 5:30 pace. That's where my training has been building towards and that's where it lives now. In the past I've done well when I've focused on simple round numbers and for the next year it's all about accumulating miles at 5:30 pace. 

82.5, 2:45, 3:24, 5:30, 11:00, 17:30. These are the paces. 

Let's go get it.

 

DENTIST SIMULATOR

 ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, tomorrow I'm going to the dentist and I was sitting here thinking about that and also thinking about camp and fun, new things to do at camp and the greatest camp activity ever invented sprouted in my brain like an invasive species and completely took over the local ecosystem.

DENTIST SIMULATOR!

It works like this. Me and my crew of morally dubious campers prepare an examination room that looks remarkably similar to a patch of dirt. You lie down on the dirt and then we cover you in grass and sticks like that little bib thing they put on you. Then you open your mouth really wide and we just kinda look around in there while we ask you questions about your life and how your day is going. You have to keep your mouth open while you answer. 

Then we say: how often do you brush?

And you say: twice a day

And we say: that's not enough. double it.

Then we say: how often do you floss?

And you say: every day

And we say: we know that's a dirty lie. liar.

Then you put some water in your mouth and spit it straight up into the air while everyone else stands at a safe distance.

Then we look around some more and say: OH MY GOSH! 17 CAVITIES! You'll need a total mouth replacement. That'll be 20,000 smackaroonis! And then you won't be able to pay that so you have to come work for the dentist and pull more people into the trap. 

other options include:

-I explain what teeth are and how they work with an extremely limited pool of knowledge to draw from

-while you're lying there we just put a bunch of rocks in your pockets

-we make weird drill noises in your ear for a bit

-you try to see how long you can go without laughing. if you laugh, that equals a cavity

-we say we're gonna brush your teeth but really we just carefully apply sunscreen to your face because sunscreen is important

-this game is really just a con to get you to wear sunscreen

dog sauce

resting is hard

 I feel a little uneasy about how little training I'm doing in the lead up to the race but I also know logically that's normal and good. I know I've pushed myself really hard since September and that my body needs some extended recovery. 

Most months I've followed the pattern of taking a rest week every 4th week. I'll run about 60% of my normal weekly mileage. I've noticed that some people take the approach of keeping their mileage high for 10 or 12 weeks and then taking a more intensive rest. Maybe I'll experiment with this at some point. I like dividing my training into 3 week blocks and I think the more frequent rest weeks allow me to do a long 6 month push like I did from September to March. 

I can tell that the usual feelings of fatigue are being replaced with a kind of anxious energy and not quite knowing what to do with myself. I can also feel myself getting excited about training again after I get back from Spring Break. That's a good thing. 

There's a climbing youtube channel I really like called the Wide Boyz and a while back they had a documentary made where these two guys, the wide boyz, did this crazy long crack climb that had never been done before. The film was uploaded by the creator to youtube last week and it's free to watch. It follows their training and documents their experience doing the climb. Both of the guys were already longtime climbers but they trained specifically for this one climb in a cellar for two years. 

It got me thinking about wanting to train towards the 10 miler year round. Initially my spring plan was to drop my focus down to the mile and try to get fast for the summer. I think I'll still do those races because they're fun but I really like the idea of mastering 5:30 mile pace all year. The other focus that will complement this goal very well is running hard at the long run spots around town. If you can run 5:30 pace for 7 to 8 miles you can do very well on the long run segments. It's a pretty minor shift in terms of what the training will actually be but it was nice to really cement in my mind what I wanted to do.

The last "true" off week I had was back in the end of July when I had covid and it's debatable how much of a rest that actually was so for the next three weeks I'm really making it my job to rest up and absorb all of the fitness I worked hard for.

Also, I don't plan on taking a week completely off at any point. I've tried this in the past and it's had mixed results. I'd prefer to just bring my mileage way down, to 3 to 5 miles a day for longer than a week rather than not run at all.

Interval Training for Climbers

Last Friday I played around with an interval style workout for climbing. I made a little circuit where I linked two climbs together and went up and down each and had a rest of about 2 minutes. It felt good and I think it would be a good way to improve my fitness. 

My climbing training tends to be pretty unstructured and I mostly just go by feel. The equivalent of going out for a run and running whatever pace and route feels good on the day. It's definitely not a bad way to train. In fact, for most people I think it could be the best way to improve and enjoy something while avoiding injury. It can get you pretty far for a pretty long time. But, I think if you reach a point where you've plateaued (in climbing or running) and want to make some more aggressive changes, then interval workouts can be effective. I also suspect it might be a certain personality type that finds a type of "fun" in doing these workouts. I know I've got it but I can see how it would be miserable for others. 

Yesterday I wrote this note out and I'm leaving this here as a starting point for trying to structure a training plan around intervals for climbing. All of this is gleamed from other sources and none of this is new and very well needs adjusting and experimenting. But, it's my first attempt at creating a kind of structured training plan for myself or if I were to directly write the training of someone else. 

SAMPLE TRAINING WEEK: POWER ENDURANCE FOCUS (grades based on my current climbing fitness)

Sat & Sun: rest. auxiliary strength training on one day.

Mon: warm-up, do some projecting, 

3 sets of 20 min on power endurance climbs. so every 4 to 5 minutes, climb a v4/v5 boulder for 20 minutes then rest for 7 to 10 minutes.

Tues: rest. shoulder strength

Wed: warm-up, try new stuff

4 sets of 15 minutes on endurance climbs. every 1 to 2 minutes, climb a long v2 boulder or multiple easier climbs for 15 then rest 7 to 10 minutes

Thursday: rest, shoulder strength

Friday: repeat of Monday

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You could also throw in some grip strength training before or after the workouts on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. probably before for higher quality. 

Obviously there's a ton of variability within how to execute these workouts. Who could play with the length of the sets, the rest between climbs, the rest between sets, the difficulty of the climbs. The golden rule for workouts, especially power endurance, is that you want to feel like you could have done one more rep in the set and one more set in the workout. But that doing that one more would've have pushed you to the absolute limit. Another way of saying that is that you were operating at about 80 to 90% of max effort. 

The magic isn't in any one workout or the starting point. The magic is in keeping some variables the same while progressing the difficulty of others. So, keeping the same time constraints but increasing the difficulty of the climbs. Or, keeping the climbs the same but giving yourself less rest time between climbs. 

If you're training to compete, then knowing which variables to change depends on the nature of your competition. In climbing competitions, it's a messy estimate but depending on your experience category or your age and gender category, you can have a rough idea of the range of V grade of the climbs you'll encounter. Like I know roughly that at the gym I coach at, climbers in the Male Youth A category who consistently climb at the v6/v7 range tend to do well at competitions. Climbers in the Female Youth B category who consistently climb in the v4 range tend to do well at competitions (a top 10 result at a local competition for example). It's a really rough estimate and there's a ton of skill and expertise and knowledge that also comes into play but from a strictly climbing fitness standpoint (to the degree that this can be quantified), these are fairly accurate indicators. 

Anyway, if a climber is starting this program, and they are not yet at the V grade that they can expect to compete at, the main priority should be improving the climb difficulty until it meets that range. Then, you would look to add more reps at that range and reduce rest time to improve mastery at that range. 

Just like in running, it's not always better to train faster than your race pace if it means you are training for less time. 

Alright, that's my that on that. This is mostly just for me to organize the thoughts I had yesterday. 

Winter Training Block Reflection

 Next Saturday is the 10 miler which has been my goal race since a year ago when I had a performance I was not entirely satisfied with. I think the ten miler will always be my goal race. It was before I even moved here 7 years ago. Anyway, before that happens I want to reflect on the training block from December until now because, regardless of how the race turns out, I'm really happy with the work I've put in. The race will be a reflection of that training but it doesn't define how I feel about what I've done and my fitness. I think I enjoy being competitive with my training more than I enjoy being competitive in races. 

Anyway, it was a tough block. The bump in mileage from 10 miles a day to 12 miles a day seems pretty small but I could definitely feel the extra fatigue. There were times when I was not excited about running and struggled to get out the door and do workouts. That said, I'm really proud of how consistently I was able to push through those feelings and tough days and still get in 75 mile weeks. Sometimes life happens and I would be really tired but the more times I forced myself to get out the door, the easier it became to do it again. Will I recreate this block next winter? Absolutely. 

The goal was to run a lot of miles and improve my aerobic fitness. I did that. I'm pretty sure I've already made a post that went over a lot of these points so I'll just talk about the race coming up.

My race plan is to stay between 5:32 and 5:36 pace for as long as possible. I'll have to be conservative in the opening miles as they are very hilly but once I'm heading down Alderman towards McCormick I think I'll be able to start rolling. 5:36 pace would put me at 28 minutes for 5 miles and 56 minute pace for the full race. I'm pretty confident that I can break 56 minutes and be somewhere in the 55s depending on how much energy I have for the second half of the race. I like setting 'easy' goals that I'm fairly sure I can beat rather than setting more ambitious goals. I tend to feel better and be able to push myself harder if I know I can reach my goal. 

I was also thinking today that since I ran 56:30 a year ago and am fairly sure I can run 55 something this year, it would probably be a good long term goal to aim for a minute of improvement per year. 

When I start my spring training back up I'll be thinking about 5:30 pace and accumulating mileage in that range to get ready for 2024. 

In conclusion, my big takeaways from this block are that I returned to some high mileage that I hadn't touched in years and felt good (since like 2019?). I'm excited to see what that will lead to in the spring. And, maybe more importantly, I made it work and I didn't give up even when I had doubts and my head wasn't in it. I want to thank my past self for doing that and putting me in the spot I am now. 

teammates

happy 3 years of covid

 It was Friday, March 13th 2020 when I was told at my afterschool job that schools would be closed on Monday so that administrators could meet to decide on a plan to deal with the growing plague. And then we just didn't go back for almost a year. Bonkers.

I woke up early to run!

 the threat of snow in the afternoon and the promise of a run starting at the super reasonable hour of 9am was enough of an incentive to cause me to break my vow of never doing a morning run again and I'M SUPER GLAD I DID. It wasn't a difficult run but I did manage to go 19 miles which is the longest I've done in a good many years and for most of it I felt completely relaxed. Sometimes at the climbing gym I complain that running doesn't have the same community that climbing does but that's really a lie and with only a little bit of effort I was able to run with folks and have a great time. Something to keep in mind for the future. 

And I did it all on the start of daylight savings no less! So it was really an 8AM start for all practical purposes. And still not even bad. 

the human wheel!

 we gotta get the two person forward roll competition going

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3XlfnXqdsDY

I had a great climbing session yesterday evening. Maybe the best climbing session I've ever had. I felt really strong and controlled. I think my shoulder work has been helping a lot and being more consistent and increasing the amount I climb per session. At the same time I was having one of those moody days before my run where I felt tired and a little down on myself and then, as always, I actually went on the run and realized I was being silly and felt good.

I started thinking about the different attitudes towards each. With climbing I still see myself as relatively new and I haven't done anything that I would consider impressive but I know I have a lot of room for improvement and that improvement is relatively steady and fast. With running I often compare myself to past versions of myself and I spend a decent amount of time wondering if I will run a PR again. I guess the thing that prevented me from seeing myself as a new runner the way I see myself as a newer climber is that there are things I'm proud of and there is a sense of 'I'm Good at This' that I want to preserve. 

Thinking through it though, it's obvious that my approach to climbing is much more enjoyable and in many ways a lot more satisfying. Why not just apply the same approach to both? Another barrier to not thinking about running the same way is that you can really only break barriers once. The excitement and momentum from doing something for the first time doesn't keep happening every time you do the same thing again. The farther you progress in a sport or activity, the harder it is to reach those milestones. I don't think it's impossible to get that back, I think you just need to be a little more creative and intentional with how you frame things. Since getting on Strava I have given myself permission to sort of reset my accomplishments and be excited about training. 

I was excited when I ran 10 miles in under an hour in practice. I was excited when I ran 30 sub-6 minute miles in a week. I'm really proud of myself for finishing up this winter block where I averaged about 75 miles per week in 6 days for 12 weeks. 

Often the moments I remember the most from my past are when I ran X time at X race and it's really easy to want to compare the present to then. Those thoughts though are usually a quick trip to thinking about being washed up or I'm never going to get back to there or it takes so much work to be able to do that again blah blah blah. It's not helpful.

The things I do know and the things I have to keep reminding myself are that for the past year or so, everything I've done can be repeated and improved. I know I can have a better spring than I did last year. I know I can have a better Summer, Fall, Winter and I don't have to compare it to anything else. And if I do that then I can be excited and motivated.

update: feeling better. the suit and tie challenge

 I got some good sleep the other night and my congestion cleared and it wasn't windy and had a pretty great run. 

The Suit and Tie Challenge. Wear a full suit and tie for the entirety of a week of camp. You're not allowed to take it off for any reason. All activities and the entirety of the camp day must be spent in full suit and tie.

patches

 I think I might have allergies? I'm not sure. This cold has stuck around for a long time but it hasn't developed into anything like a real sickness. Maybe it's allergies? Either way my sleep has not been great for a bit because I'm congested and I'm kinda dragging a little. On top of that I've been doing a lot of physical activity between running, climbing, and a little bit of lifting and then I got roped into helping out at the gym last night which I was happy to do but still. I'm tired. I feel not great. But that's okay. That happens all the time. 

Overall it's been a great start to the year. I really can't complain. Stay the course.

listen Andy, it's past Andy: The Numbers Game

 Future Andy, it's me, Past Andy. If you're reading this then that means it's the summer and you're doing camp and you've been tasked with coming up with some sort of activity for the kids. This is it. I've got the activity. I'm currently sitting at my table drinking coffee and looking out the window. It's March 8th, 12:11 pm. I've just come up with this idea in the time it took to open this blog post and go get another cup of coffee.

The Numbers Game

Load up a random number generator that contains the numbers of people in camp--campers and counselors. Ritualistically assign everyone in camp a random number. Their job is to know their number and its properties and discover the numbers of others and their relationship to that person based on their respective numbers relationships to each other.

Strings of consecutive numbers: This is your tribe. Your clan. Your wolfpack. Your crew. Your entourage. So, 13-14-15-16...etc that's a group and a team. The numbers must be consecutive though. If you've got a group that's 24 through 30, you can't let 32 join until you've found 31. The highest number is nominally the leader of the group. Whatever that means

Evens and Odds: Even and Odd numbers generally dislike each other until they are part of the same number string. At the risk of stereotype:

    even numbers tend to like things like jello, haikus, dismantling existing power structures, listening to music, looking at moving water, and wheels

    odd numbers tend to be a little more idiosyncratic and like chlorophyll, iridescence, logic puzzles, pungent aromas, reform, what St. John of the Cross referred to as the Dark Night of the Soul, looking at cloth, bread, butter, and monster truck shows

Prime Numbers:  prime numbers are notoriously elitist. They really don't like to talk to other people who aren't prime numbers. Even in the same consecutive number string they will really only want to hang out with other prime numbers.

Perfect Double/ Perfect Half: If someone's number is the perfect double of your number then they are your parental unit. If someone's number is the perfect half of your number they are your child unit. Odd numbers have parents but don't have children. Do with this what you may.

Same Number/Evil Twin: Assuming the random number generator allows repeats, if someone gets the same number as you, you are considered evil twins. 

Soul Linked:  If you and another set of numbers are able to form a sum together, that means you are soul linked. So if you are 5 and you find 13 and 18 then the three of you are soul linked because 5+13=18. You can make the equation as large as you want as long as every number is used and part of the equation. So you could 6+11+25=whatever that equals, 42? Whatever. If you're soul linked with someone that means you all share a special soul link secret of your choosing and you say hi to each other and you give high fives and good jobs.

Destiny Bonded: If you are in the same consecutive number string together AND soul linked then you form a destiny bond with one another. This is like a super important group. So, for example if there was a string of numbers like 4 through 11 then 4,7 and 11 AND 5,6 and 11 would each have a destiny bond with 11 being part of both destiny bonds. If you are in a destiny bond then you do the macarena AND say the pledge of allegiance AND sing the national anthem. Also you have a secret token that you all share AND an additional destiny bond secret AND you give double high fives and double say hi's. With like three i's. hiii.

The Freedom of Information Act aka FOIA aka FOIA request: If you are a two digit number then two single digit numbers OR two two digit numbers that each contain one of your digits can form together to file a FOIA request and ask you one (appropriate) question that you must answer truthfully. So if 3 and 7 join up then they can ask a one-time question of 37. Or, if 64 and 51 team up then they can ask a question of 56, 41, 65, etc...

Products: This is like soul-linked but with multiplication instead of addition. So if you are in a group that forms a product then you are um... A SECRET CABAL. So like 3 and 7 and 21 could all be in a secret cabal and they would form a secret plot that they try to enact secretly. do with that what you will.

Digit Brethren:  If you and another number share exactly the same digits, just either rearranged like 63 and 36 or doubled like 5 and 55 then you are digit brethren to each other. This means you do that gladiator handshake with each other and say "BRETHREN!"

That's all I can think of right now. The idea is to make it ridiculously elaborate and whatever other number relationships you can think of you can make up another name for. And then the goal is to give people a reason to interact with each other and have a connection based on a completely arbitrary distinction. You know, that feels nice. When people have a reason to talk to you and say hi and give high fives and all that. 

let's see let's see let's see

last week was a down week in mileage but what I did was take that extra energy and climb more and it left me feeling about the same amount of tired than if I was still running a 75 mile week

I did a hard run last Sunday and didn't feel recovered in time to do another workout on Wednesday. Then I got a little bit of a cold on Friday but it was such a baby cold. 

I like training and I really enjoy doing workouts but I realized that now that it's the month of the 10 miler I've been putting a lot of pressure on each workout to really show that I'm ready to accomplish my goals. I think I've fallen into a bit of a mental trap where I'm afraid of the workouts because if they don't go great and tell me I'm absolutely ready then I'll feel like I've failed. Which is not what a workout is for. A workout is just a stimulus to increase fitness. It can provide information on how a race would go but that's a much more anxiety inducing way of looking at it. Anyway, yesterday I did 8 steady miles at Keene and I did a good job of focusing on getting a good effort and not worrying too much about what it means. 

I'm enjoying doing 6 to 8 mile tempo/threshold runs at a moderately hard effort. It's how I did a lot of my training in college and it's funny how things repeat because back then I thought it wasn't very serious training and it was just what our team did when we met up and wanted to push the pace and that real runners were doing formal workouts and things. Recently though the running world has become infatuated with the idea of threshold training and accumulating a high volume of moderately hard running. And so here I am once again doing the same thing. 

Anyway, since September of 2022 I've built back up to the point where I'm doing these runs about as well as I ever did them in college. Yesterday on a loop with rolling hills I managed to average 5:50 pace and feel fairly in control. I'm confident I can get that down to 5:40 pace and maybe in a year feel that way at 5:30 pace. If I could do that then I would be extremely confident in races. That would be 'best shape of my life' conditions. And I don't think I'm too far off.

Anyway, last Fall I averaged about 65 miles per week with 3 workouts of threshold/sub-6 miles per week. Then from December until now I bumped my weekly mileage up to 75 and focused on 2 workouts with one of them being a longer run of 15 to 17 miles. March will be one more week of 75 miles then two weeks of lower mileage leading into the 10 miler on the 25th. The last week of March will basically be a total rest week with very little running and then another rest week when I go to Costa Rica for the first week of April. I'm looking forward to that rest. 

April and May will be focused on getting ready for the downhill mile at the start of June and then the summer track meets in July. I'll go back to running 60 to 65 miles per week and run a VO2max workout on the track about every 10 days. something like

Mon: 10 miles easy

Tuesday: 10 miles easy

Wednesday: 6x800 fast with equal rest OR 5 to 6 miles at Riverview steady--aiming to run 5:40 pace or better

Thursday: 10 miles easy

Friday: 8x200 or 8x300 on the track 

Saturday: off

Sunday: 8x1000 fast with equal rest OR a hard long run (14-15 miles) at a fun hard long run spot

And that brings me up to the summer when camp starts. And we'll figure that out from there.

just ate a pommelo

I just crushed some dinner

 rules for living

-crush some dinner

-do a run in the woods and look at the pretty yellow flowers popping up and say 'hello'

    -did you know that flowers come up early in the spring so the plants can take advantage of all the sunlight freely available because the trees haven't turned green yet? then they go back underground and stuff

-this isn't in a specific order

-love your family

-go to the climbing gym and climb stuff and try hard and have positive interactions

-make dinner

-sleep a restful sleep

-maybe draw something

-draw something that you like

It's not that hard. You spend the first 30 years of your life just clearing away obstacles and then you just stack good days. Stack em to the heavens. Stack em to the heavens. I can write a song called stack em to the heavens.