Big Hard Run

I love doing stuff that normal people don’t do. Especially stuff that seems crazy but is actually really good for you. Let’s add another one to the list - long-distance-mountain running. Two or three months with a weekly long, easy run of about 1h30 and 2 other aerobic runs should set you up with nice base.

Once you have a good base, you may want to whip yourself into shape with some specialized training.

As for whipping the running into shape, I believe hill repeats is the best way to build strength and incorporate quality. Actually, I thought was “crazy” the first few times I did it, but I learned to love it and now know its probably my most important workout of the week. Its hard to part with this gem…
Warm up and find a nice hill. Dirt or grass is good. Dirt or grass in the shade is best.
Run 6×2minute hills at AT, jog down.
Run 5minutes at AT on the flat
Run 6×1minute hills at AT, jog down
Run 5minutes at AT on the flat
Limp home.
Despite the scant looks of it, this run will be 1h20 or more, so bring our A game.

Preach on...

One of my big goals in life is to be the same person to everyone. Some people are huge jerks online or in emails, but really nice in real life. Others are the other way around. I want to be the same in every setting with any person from friend to stranger, celebrity to janitor.

But I’m not. I think in real life I’m a lot warmer, friendlier, and a bit more empathetic (although no one has ever called me that…).

When I take the attitude of “hey look at this great thing I’m doing”, it’s not to separate me from other people, but rather to show other people something great that they could try too. Maybe that doesn’t always come through.

At the same time, I’m arrogant by nature. I don’t think I have the most potential or that I’m the best at any single skill. I know people who are better than me at pretty much everything I do, including things I pride myself on being good at.

But I DO think that I make better decisions than pretty much everyone else, and that snobbery will probably continue to come through to some extent.

Its going

My life is fantastic. Every day I laugh because I’m so lucky to have such an awesome life. The best part is that it seems to keep getting better. Good things happen to me, good people come into my life, and “bad” events end up being good in the long run. The other day a friend was explaining this exercise where you think of something negative that happened to you. I couldn’t. I really tried, and couldn’t. I’ll try right now again.