Bears and Wolves and Yetis, oh my!

It's funny, sometimes, how people can really not know what's going on.

I'm in Michigan for the holidays. I grew up in West Michigan--Muskegon and Grand Haven area, and went to Fruitport High School. Today I traveled north, a few hours, to a cabin with a couple uncles and extended family, but I hadn't run yet by the time we got there. I should have run in the morning, but I knew there would be some nice dirt roads to run on. Upon arrival, it was already dark, but I had carefully studied the road in the headlights, on the way in, and although they were a little icy, the roads looked smooth and very runnable. I mentioned that I was going to go out for a 10 mile run and they thought I was crazy. "You're going to get lost!" they proclaimed, "Just wait til tomorrow..." I was told to run a loop around a little lake, that was about 1 mile around. I assured them that I would not get lost and that there was no way I was about to run 10 loops around a lake...Boring! And how do you get lost? I'll just run out-and-back and that's it. I'm thinking, 'I've run tens of thousands of miles in my life, do they really think I don't know how to go out for a run without getting lost?' (Picture of Hedy, telling me not to get lost, with a heavy German accent)

So I got dressed up in my gear and started stretching, still receiving warnings that I was going to get lost, so I assured them that I was going to be fine and showed them the map and the GPS I had on my phone. I pointed out the direction I was going to run, just in case I was attacked by a bear or fell asleep and ran off the road. I was not going to get lost!

I stepped outside and it was a bit colder than I was hoping for, but I got my satellite connection and started off. I only made it a hundred meters before I thought about going back. The gravel from the road was just a little too rough for the minimal shoes I was wearing and that would make for a miserable 10 miles. I turned around and took a few steps, but then thought, 'No', it will be fine. I passed a few houses and checked out the Christmas lights, but then I realized that I had already missed my first turn--and it was pretty dark. I looked at my phone and found the next turn to take and proceeded.

Did I mention there was no moon? Well, they also warned me of that before I left the house, too. After I made the next turn, I had to check my phone again to be sure it was correct. The road got pretty narrow and felt more like a driveway. It was REALLY dark, in fact I almost ran off the road. I thought I was right in the middle . It became apparent that I really had NO idea what was going on. There are very few houses, no street lights, and now I am actually wondering if there is a real chance of being attacked by a bear, or wolves, or Harry Henderson himself. There were tall trees closing in on each side of the road and I couldn't believe how dark it was. I was only 3 minutes into my run. (There are a couple pictures of me on my run, and one of me with my cousin Stefan)

So, change of direction, the road had actually smoothed out quite well, a bit icy, but not bad, and I headed to the exit of the 'area', back to the way we drove in. There was a paved road out there somewhere, and I figured it would be the best place to get my workout in.

Now I'm heading in the complete opposite direction of where I said I was going, but I felt confident I'd be alright. I set out with the idea of running 8-10 x 3min ON, 1min OFF, but that changed into a 6-8 mile threshold run. I checked my GPS and at 2 miles I picked up the pace. The main dirt road, albeit very dark, was fun to run even if I couldn't see the details of the surface. The road was a little wider, so, for the most part, the trees weren't tunneling the road with blackness, but only a half mile or so later, all the barely visible contrast started to blend. I trusted that the road was still there, moving beneath me at about 5:20 a mile, but I couldn't tell. In fact, I was startled, to feel pavement under my feet, when I realized I had made it out to the state road. I couldn't even see it!!! Oh well, it was too late to turn back now, and I wasn't about to admit my defeat. I made a turn to the north and proceeded, amazed by how dark it was. If only someone had warned me, right?

The white painted line on the side of the road was a little icy compared to the asphalt, so I used that as a marker to make sure I stayed on the road. It came in handy, especially when a car came by. Their brights would blind me and then I could, ironically, see even less. I checked my Heart rate, and it was still in the low 160s, so I picked up the pace. I didn't feel great, and I still haven't had that workout that says 'you're getting there, don't worry', so I decided to modify the workout one more time. 3x2miles with short rest between. 10:56 for the first 2 miles. Ehn, just so-so. I jogged .3 miles and took off again. I reached 5 miles from my starting point and turned back, still in the middle of the 2nd rep. The turnaround hurt more than I wanted it to. Before the change of direction, I figured I had been on a downhill slope, but I didn't realize how long it was until a car came up from behind me and lit up the entire, long, never-ending, hill that lay in front of me. Blah!

I kind of laughed each time a car passed, they had to have been thinking, 'What the hell is this guy doing out here, RUNNING, in the middle of nowhere?' Seriously, there was NOTHING around; still no lights, luckily no bears, or wolves, or yetis, 'Oh my'. I made it up the hill, and luckily on the other side, it went down. I checked my heart rate again, 171-172, that's good. I clicked my lap button, 10:22, that's more like it. Jogged .3 miles again, but this time I was hurting a little more. Minimal shoes, 2.5 miles of slightly slippery roads to start the run, and now 2x2miles, my legs were a bit sore. One more...

I reached the dirt road again, glad that I had checked the distance so I knew where to turn, and tried to speed off into the last mile. The road was much slipperier than it was on the way out, but just as dark. I had Frou Frou, "Details", playing on my phone's speaker, no headphones, this whole time, and laughed again, when I imagined what it would have been like if I had passed someone. The music was louder than my steps, and kept me company, and probably scared off the yetis. My legs really started to get tired and I checked my heart rate again, 173, I backed off a bit, thinking I should keep it around 172. Lap button, 10:36. I'll take that, too. I jogged back to the house in the darkness, and did some light drills before heading inside. My legs were wrecked, but the drills definitely help to start recovery.

I stepped in side and told them how dark it was out there... I didn't get lost! Food was waiting!

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Just for reference, at my best, on a clear and flat bike path in Eugene, OR, I ran 4x2miles, 2min rest, in 9:42, 9:48, 9:52, and 9:59. I'm not there, yet, but I'm hoping that I'm only a couple weeks away from having that workout where I feel like it's finally coming around. This will be my 3rd week in a row around 50 miles, and I've been doing workouts for the last month.

I've been thinking about what it will take to make the Olympic Team, so I'll talk about that in my next blog. Look for it in the near future. I've got some big announcements coming up in the next month, so look on the right side of the screen here to subscribe/follow my blog. Thanks for reading. Merry Christmas! Go run!

French Lick 10K

ChornyRuns! - One word summaries!

Life: Scattered
Coaching: Exciting
Training: Conservative
Racing: Overdue
Nutrition: Vitamin-D

Life

A Blog entry... there's an idea. So, what have I been doing since the 8tuff miles in February? That's a good question. I've loved. I've lost. I'm loving some more. I've worked hard. I've been lazy. I've traveled a lot with the track team and enjoyed some great performances from my steeplers this past outdoor track season. I didn't race because of an Achilles tendon injury, took some time off from running, traveled a bit on my own to Salt Lake City, Park City (my favorite) and even zipped through Teton and Yellowstone National parks. Training is back on and ready for some more intensity. I feel like I've been all over the place for the last 2 months, so I'm looking forward to getting into a groove with life again.

Coaching

Just to recap. The outdoor season was fantastic. DeSean Turner and Andrew Poore went 1,2 at the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships and gave us an amazing performance in front of a home crowd. They both ran fast enough to qualify for the U.S. Championships in June where they got a taste of their first big time championship race. Their season and personal bests (8:43.44 and 8:44.10) were the 22nd and 26th fastest by an American in 2010 and climbed to 5th and 6th on Indiana University's All-Time Records list.

On the Women's side, Sarah Pease was the Big Ten Runner-up and went on to place 4th in the Steeple Chase at both the NCAA Championships and the U.S. Championships. Her season and personal best 9:56.91 was the 6th fastest by an American this year and is the New IU School Record. Sarah's fellow steeplers also had a very successful year with 5 others running times that now populate the All-time IU top ten performance list. 4). Caitlin Engel 10:31.27 5.) Breanne Ehrman 10:40.46 6.) Erica Ridderman 10:45.40 7.) Samantha Ginther 10:46.53 and 8.) Kelsey Duerksen 10:46.98.

BUTTTT, now it's Cross Country Season and the Hoosiers are Amazing. Last week was our first big competition of the year at the Adidas Wisconsin Invitational. On the men's side, we have a very impressive top 5 followed by a solid 6, 7, 8, and 9. Going into the meet they were ranked 26th in the NCAA and there were about 7 teams in the race that were ranked in front of them, including #6 Wisconsin. Well, well, well... Patience was the key, and in the end, the Hoosiers won the meet and beat Wisconsin by over 30 points (for those of you who don't know... in cross country, your top 5 runners are scored based on their finishing place, therefore the low score wins. i.e. 1,2,3,4,5=15 points and a perfect score.) Here are the results... The next week, the men were ranked #7 in the NCAA.

For the Hoosier Women, going in the the race, they were not ranked in the top 30, but were very close. With a solid 5th place team finish, the young team, led by Sarah Pease's 7th place individual finish, managed to bump a couple of ranked teams, and are now ranked 24th in the NCAA. Results

Next up, Chili Pepper invite this Saturday at Arkansas.

Training

I've dealt with many small and not so small injuries over the past decade and I'm trying to be nice to my body. I've only climbed up to 60 miles a week at the most, but have primarily stayed between 50 and 60. I'll admit, I've become afraid of the pain that I used to simply deal with and I might need to readjust my feelings about that as I increase my intensity. I've been running workouts and some have been pretty solid, but no stand out workouts that have been overly impressive. This past Saturday I ran my first race since the spring and going into it, I had no idea what to expect...

Racing

French Lick 10K. Very pleased with my performance and fitness, but not with the outcome. I didn't know the course very well, but was told that the first 2 miles climbed up hill and then the last half was 'rolling'. I found out that 'rolling' means something completely different to people from Indianapolis than it does to people from Bloomington. I was planning to hang back for the first 2 miles and then race hard and wear people out on the 'rolling' hills. We were out at a very conservative pace, 5:27 for the first mile, 5:46 for the second, on a steady and solid incline. I let a few guys get a lead, about 80-100m and then started to slowly close the gap. The problem was... the rolling hills never showed up to help me. I spent the last few miles catching back to within about 40m of the top three, only to watch them start kicking in to the finish. I have to say, I was very pleased with my last 4 mile splits. 4:52, 4:42, 4:45, 4:53 and I think I'm ready to start training more. :)

Nutrition

Vitamin D has been studied more than anything this past year. "Vit D affects virtually all aspects of our health." Watch this video

ChornyRuns! the 8 Tuff Miles on St. John

Most photos courtesy of Don Hebert Photography and my half naked body.

What an amazing time it is down in the Virgin Islands. The sun shines, the Islands float and the water's not frozen. Last year I was in the Islands for 3 weeks and learned about a race on St. John called the 8Tuff miles. I heard that it was a very tough course that climbed 1400ft and ended with a couple downhill miles. I also heard that there was a $3000 cash prize for the first person to break a 5:45 per mile average; 48:02. The course record was 49:20 and was run by Jeremy Zuber who had won for something like 5 or 6 years in a row. What a great challenge! I did not know the exact course, but I had driven some of the roads when I was there last year, so I had seen some of the hills. My impression was that I would have a good shot at that time-bonus, but it is so hard to tell on those hills... especially in a car.

Going into this years race, I knew that it would be suicide to skip the hill training, but I have to say, I was not in great 'hill' shape. I added about 3 hill workouts in the 4 weeks leading up to the race, and I think that helped me to get in hill climbing mode. The hills here in Indiana aren't as long as those hills on St. John, but it did the trick.

Strategy for the race was based completely on speculation... I had no idea how fast I could expect to run downhill, so I didn't really know what pace I would have to hold going up. My thoughts were to aim for about 6:15 avg up the hill (first 5 miles), and that would leave a 4:55 avg down (last 3 miles).

Before the race, I had heard about a couple of other contenders that were showing up to go after the big prize, so I was a little nervous. One guy was a supposed 2:20 marathoner, and then a 1:06 half marathoner. At top shape, both would have been great competitors. The marathoner thought it would be a good idea to run the last 4 miles of the course 4 days before the race, and I think his legs were still shot on race day. The other was dealing with a hip issue that was not sure to be a hindrance or not. With his hip vs. my Achilles Tendon, it was a toss up.

My Achilles somehow felt great for the race. The gun sounded and off we went. The first hill starts about 600m into the race and lasts through mile 2. First split, 5:51. Felt good about that, but then we ran 6:29. At this point, I wasn't sure if we were going to run fast enough. The 3rd mile was quite flat, and we actually ran 5:21, and here I knew that one of us was going to get the time. The marathoner had fallen off the pace early, and Chris (half marathoner) and I were leading the pack up the hill. Miles 4 and 5 have a few hills that are steeper than the first long hill, and slowed us down to a 6:41 mile. Mile 5-6=11:02 and this brought me into the down hill. As we crested the highest point, Chris was leading me by about 40-50 meters, and I was thinking that if he was fast on the downhill, I might have trouble catching him. I started to open up and ran 4:42 for the first mile downhill and caught Chris pretty quickly. I was hoping I hadn't gone too hard too soon, because this was a solid constant downhill, and I didn't want to blow out my Quads. But, I threw in a 4:19 8th mile and cruised in to the victory.
Final time was 46:26 and I was quite happy with that. I got the time bonus and the $300 in Beer Money from the Tap Room, a local bar. I tried to spend all the Beer money, but I still have over half of it left. I guess I'll have to take another trip to the Islands soon. I hope to make it back next year to defend my title, but we'll have to see what the calender looks like. I was so sore for the next 4 days...everywhere. Next time I'll do a lot more hills before the race.

The race was very well run, and it looked like a lot of people had a great time. My cousin Kendall ran the race and was still on her feet at the end, and I think my Uncle may have been motivated to run next year. It was very much a party atmosphere after the race and I think some people started to celebrate right after the race, at 8:30 in the morning.

Indiana University Track and Field School Records... and my new haircut.

The current IU athletes are starting to populate the lists. Check them out here.
Also, this just in, I cut my hair... I wanted to be like Andrew Poore and Jeff Coover.

ChornyRuns! like a rabbit!

This past weekend turned into a great and historical meet for IU. Complete Results here.

IU Men:
Andy Bayer, a redshirt Freshman ran sub 4 in the mile, clocking in at 3:58.89. DeSean Turner, although he was last (9th) in the race, clocked in at 4:02.68... as a season opener in the mile, not too bad. Look for some great results in the future from Turner. (Yoshi Shimizu 4:21, Dan Kinn 4:21)

On Saturday, Andy Bayer and DeSean Turner were gracious enough to pace Andrew Poore in the 5K. Clocking 4:28 at the mile and 8:57 at two miles, Poore closed with a 4:17 and finished in a 13:48.88, only 1.88 seconds away from an Automatic qualifier to the NCAA finals. Tim McLeod 14:18, Zach Mayhew 14:20.

The 3K was pretty solid too. Cole Hardacher 8:16, Andy Weatherford 8:16, Jacob Laird 8:19, Nate Morrow 8:21 (Andrew Ramos 8:40)

Danny Stockberger won the men's 800m in 1:51.96, while Freshman Joe Holohan was 2nd in 1:52.16.

IU Women:
The women's mile didn't disappoint. The IU women had the top three spots and all were an NCAA Provisional time. Molly Beckwith 4:43.44 , Chelsea Blanchard 4:45.87, and Wendi Robinson 4:45.88.

Sarah Pease won the women's 3K clocking 9:32.44 only a couple seconds away from a provisional mark.

And Helene Delone won the 5K in 17:41, and Jenny Kulow was 3rd in 17:51

Lindsay Hartman won the 800m in 2:10.68 with Ashley Baker 4th in 2:11.81
THE BEST
Perhaps the highlight of the meet was ME rabbiting the 3K, and you can watch that here: Video
It is interesting for me to watch this because it seems like I'm running a lot different than I have in the past. ( Anybody else think it looks different?) I've really focused on shortening my stride and increasing my stride rate this past 6 months and it seems to have taken. In theory, this should help me be more efficient... we'll see what the outdoor season brings.

ChornyRuns! Races! Training! Coaching! Nutrition! Jan. 26th, 2010

ChornyRuns! - One word summaries!

Life: Promising
Racing: Next
Training: Appropriate
Coaching: Impressed
Nutrition: Essential

LIFE

I like what I have going on right now. I see the great potential that the future may hold. It is up to me to be a co-creator, to shape it how I would like. "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve" (Napolean Hill) The future is already there waiting, you just have to start shaping it.

RACING

Ran my first double in a long time at the Gladstein Invitational here at Indiana University. Mile Friday night, and the 800m on Saturday. I've only run one other open 800m in my life and that was in 1999.

Back on 1/9/2010, I raced my first mile in a few years and, if you read my earlier post, you'll see that I was satisfied with my 4:14.60. It was a conservative opener and so I figured with a couple more weeks of training, I could expect a good shot at sub 4:10 and possibly a PR of 4:07 (listed to the right). I figured that I could go out in about 2:04 for the first half, and then hope to close strong, so I was 2:04-2:05 at the half, but at that point I knew it was going to be an uphill battle to the finish. My legs were already burning at 600m.

When something like this happens in a race, and you KNOW that you're not going to be able to finish strong, dropping out of the race always seems to present itself as a possibility. It's amazing what ideas your mind will try to feed you when you are in pain. Sometimes, that's where the real battle takes place. I think it's hard-wired into your brain to think thoughts that might lead to actions that will protect yourself from feeling the burn or even from feeling the potential embarrassment or disappointment. It must be a natural reaction to oxygen deprivation. If you can only decide before hand that IT IS NOT an option, it makes it easier to have those ideas, and just let them pass.

So, I smiled inwardly, and said "this is going to hurt a little bit". I held my form together as best as I could, and finished far behind the others in 4:23.02. I cooled down and started to prepare for the 800m which I would run the next day.

Feeling tired and a little nervous on Saturday, I warmed up for the race by running 3 miles, stretching and doing a few solid pickups around Assembly Hall. I knew that this race would only hurt for about a minute and I knew I could handle that. After what happened in the mile, I just didn't want to blow up and risk running slower than 2min. I was so tired and sore from a great week of workouts (see below) that I didn't know what was going to happen. With luck, I was thinking I could run close to my PR, 1:55. Again, didn't happen. I think I was 58sec at the quarter, and thought that I might have a chance to run a 1:56. I actually started to move (from the very back) but with about 300m to go, some guys got mixed up and someone might have gone down. I managed to zig zag through the mess and break through to the other side. It killed my momentum, but I got going again and finished 4th in my heat, running 1:58.04.

Although I didn't run the times I wanted, I did run two of the fastest 800s I've run in a long time, so I know it was good for training. Onward!

This Friday 1/29/2010, I am running the 3K at the Indiana Relays. Actually, it is my job to pace some of my IU guys at 8:10 pace. This means that I will be coming through the mile at 4:20-4:22 and if I feel good I'll keep going. I know what you're thinking... if you only ran 4:23, how can you expect to be the pace maker at 4:20? Stay tuned... I'll let you know how it goes.

TRAINING

Since I wrote last, my Achilles Tendon is still inflamed. I'm changing shoes, so let's hope this will help. Going to try the Mizuno Inspire.

Weekly mileage since July: (*signifies a day off.)

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July: 53, 50, 50, 60
August: 62, 61, 50, 52, 60
Sept: 60, 60, 63, 60
Oct: 70, 55*, 67, 70, 72
Nov: 70, 53*, 70, 60*
Dec: 45*, 30***, 48*, 50*, 51*
Jan: 56, 60, 61
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WORKOUTS

Three great workouts during the last couple weeks.

1) Tuesday's (1/12) 2x3200m on the indoor track... alternating each quarter in 65/75.

66.5/72.8/64.9/76.4/66.3/78.7/66.8/81.6 = 9:34 (full rest)
68.0/77.4/66.5/76.9/66.8/77.9/66.8/75.9 = 9:36

As you can see, the last couple '75s' were a little tough and not '75'. Coach Helmer bumped me down to the next group who were trying to run 67.5/77.5. The splits were not that much different, but this second rep was quite easy. Overall, I only ran 2 seconds slower, but I had no difficulty staying on this pace.

2) Friday 1/15 Road run, 12min LT, 10min tempo, 2x5min faster than tempo, 6x30/30. 4min rest between each. Very solid, ~5:16 LT, ~5:00 Tempo, ~4:52 interval, felt great on the 30/30.

3) Tuesday (1/19) 5xmile on indoor track, (4min) cutdowns 4:56 to 4:40
Ran: 4:51, 4:52, 4:46, 4:44, 4:29 The last one felt great, but I was pretty tired from this workout which is probably why I didn't do too well in the mile this weekend.

COACHING

IU currently has 8 guys that have run 4:10 or faster in the mile. I don't know if there's another college in the country that has that potential. There might be, I just don't know. Our fastest guy has run 4:03. Two IU runners just ran 7:55.25 and 7:57 for the 3K this weekend. They are getting fast.

My steeplers are impressive. I am going to try to find a camera to video tape one of our steeple sessions. Maybe I can put a video together and start some Steeple Clinics.

NUTRITION

It is important to get antioxidant protection from a multi-Vitamin. Vitamin C is great, so is Vitamin E, but don't forget about the B vitamins, CoEnzyme Q10, alpha Lipoic Acid and many, many more. A 'Potency-Guaranteed' multi should be your first choice when supplementing your diet. I recommend Usana's 'Essentials' for many reasons. e-mail to ask what makes them different, or watch this video.

Video of the Indiana Open Mile, 1/9/2010

I didn't realize that Flotrack was there to record, but I'm in this race. It was my first one in a while, so I'm not out to win it, just getting one under my belt. I'm in the all black uniform. VIDEO

ChornyRuns! the mile in 4:14.60

Well, that's out of the way. This was my first race on the track since May 31st, 2008, before the Olympic Trials. After many nagging pains and a couple injuries, I've gotten myself back to a point where I feel like I'm ready to start training again.

Here's what I was thinking going into the race. If I run faster than 4:12 I'll be pleasantly surprised, but if I run slower than 4:16, I'll be disappointed and maybe a little worried that things are coming around. I know that's a small window, but I just needed to make sure I didn't blow up and run stupid.

200m Indoor Banked Track at Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse, Indiana University.

I wanted to be 2:06-2:08 at the half way point, so after a 62 second split, I needed to let up a bit, and that pace felt pretty decent. I think I came through right at 2:08 high, and was about 3:12 at 1200m; right where I wanted to be. I started to push the pace thining that a 58 could get me 4:10, but going into the last lap, I really started to feel the booty-lock (Chapman's official term). I smiled the whole last 100m because I knew I couldn't go any faster but I was going to be just fine. I haven't felt that pain for a long time. I love it!

So, this race basically says... 'OK Thomas, time to get out there and train.' My PR is 4:07, and I think I have a good shot at taking that down this season. Still taking care of my Achilles Tendon, but I should be back out on the track in two weeks, and again in 3 weeks.

Why Do I Run

I wrote this many years ago...
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Why Do I Run?

I feel like I should write some words of motivation, so I'll do my best, but I don't claim to be effective all the time: (I'm going to steal this idea from the Bill Bowerman in ""Without Limits"" because I feel that it is 100% true...).

Running is an absurd past time...some might say…… We get shouts from everyone..."nice shorts fag" "run, Forrest, run" etc. Is there a point to running? I run from here to here! I end where I begin so in fact I get nowhere. I run up a hill...hard, jog back down, and then do it over and over again. To someone who doesn't run, this is torture, it's insanity.

I run until my stomach feels like it is bleeding. I run until I feel like I'm literally going to die because I just can't get enough oxygen to compensate for the speed that my legs just carried me over the track or to the top of a hill. If you're not a runner, you will never...and I mean NEVER feel the satisfaction of pushing the limits of your body so much. There's power in finishing a long run. There's power in running quarters on the track or doing 1000m repeats. It's a power that lifts you up to the top of YOUR world so you can take a deep breath in and look out over your kingdom with open arms to say...IF I CAN DO THIS, THERE'S NOTHING I CAN'T DO. To finish a workout...that's a victory. To push beyond that pain threshold just a bit further, that's a victory. SUCCESS lies just beyond your comfort zone...

SUCCESS lies just beyond your comfort zone...so step over that line. I know...I know...this is gonna hurt a little, you say with a concerned look, but it's ok...no need to worry....you'll be fine in a few minutes. Awwww coach, one more hill, one more thousand, one more mile...one more, one more, one more. If you occasionally keep on adding one more...you'll eventually find yourself a new person, and there truly will be nothing that you can't do. Awww...this is going to hurt a little....but now you say it with a little smile, cause you know...you just know!

Running takes time, and it takes dedication to be on a team, so, "Running, one might say, is an absurd past-time. But, if you can find meaning in the kind of running it takes to be on this team...chances are, you can find meaning in this other absurd past-time........life!"

Life is not about winning or losing, it's about learning HOW to win and lose. It's about taking every lesson along the way and on ONE DAY, putting it all together for that perfect performance. Some of us will never win a race. Some of us will strive day in and day out, and never get on the podium. It does not matter! What matters is the journey. There are lessons to be learned from every situation. Running will teach you who you are if you let it.....just remember...that "perfect performance" may not come in a race...maybe it will just be life.

I would say good luck with your season or your race (or your life), but that really won't matter without the workout you do today...whether it's repeats, a long run, or just a recovery run, so, good luck with your run today. LIVE and LOVE LIFE!!!

TC

Reborn Chorny Runs!

Thanks to Joe Jasinski for putting this together.