Lucky 13.

Whenever I go out for a run I typically have a plan, whether it's going 30 minutes or 90. Today my plan was to keep things short and sweet; 30 minutes easy. As I got on my way, I instantly noticed that I had a little more "pep" in my step. Now this next part may seem silly, but it was only up until this year, while I was training with the college team, did I realize that speed is relative to how much force you apply to the ground during contact. I know... I have been running for how many years and the concept of that only clicked a few months ago. The weird thing is that I have never really noticed it. Whenever I would run fast 400's or any fast intervals, I just quickened my stride and pumped my arms. I think it worked pretty well considering I have a 52 second 400 PR.

I quickly check my watch as I am leaving my neighborhood, 4:30. Now I know that at 7:00min/mile pace, it takes 4:20 to run one kilometer. Being ten seconds slower than that meant that I was running somewhere between 7:15 and 7:20min/mile. I didn't really care; I just trotted along down 110th and made my way toward Sunrise BLVD.

Sunrise BLVD consists of a long gradual hill, (About one kilometer from the base before it levels out at the top) that head up to the neighborhood of Sunrise. The road heading to my high school is at the top of the hill as well. I push the pace up the hill, trying to lower my average due to my slow, first mile. Recently I have been trying to make my average pace quicker than 7:00min/mile because on the training schedule my coach gave me at the beginning of the summer, he has all our easy runs done at 7:00min/mile pace. To me it's more of a mental thing, knowing that I can run faster than 7:00min/mile pace for the duration of a run.

As I crest the top of the hill my watch reads 12:30. I decided to head past the stoplight because I know that I am not quite at two miles yet. After I pass a small neighborhood of condo's, I check my watch again. 13:58...13:59...14:00. I stop my watch, turn around, restart it, and head back down Sunrise BLVD. The downhill was a little tricky for me because I haven't done a lot of fast downhill running this summer. A little painful on my shins, but I managed.

I head back up 110th and turn back into my neighborhood, glancing at my watch in the process, 22:30. I am pretty sure that I could close in four minutes for my last kilometer, which would not only put me at 26:30 for my run, but would mean that I closed in 6:25pace/mile. As I am running through my neighborhood, I try and keep my shoulders relaxed and turnover smooth. During the course of this year, I have learned how to run "comfortably hard," especially during my tempo runs and I feel like during the last mile or so of my runs, I have been able to utilize it to learn how to close quickly.

At the start of my run, there were several kids playing in the street, riding their scooters and bikes around the cul-de-sac, yet as I turned onto my road at the end of my run, none of them were to be in sight. With my house in sight, I am just thinking about closing this run smooth and relaxed. Stepping onto the curb I click my watch, 26:30. If I had gone four miles, that would have been rather fast, so I thought that I was probably shy of four miles. It turns out that I went 3.8 miles in 26:30, (6:57min/mile average with my last kilometer at 6:22min/mile pace). The run went really well; the weather was nice and I was able to close like I wanted to, but my shins were a little tight when I got home. I guess the downhill was a little rougher than I thought. All and all, I got another solid run under my belt.

31 days till I head back to school for XC camp. Oh and also lucky 13 for me and my girlfriend (13 months).

Baseball.

I just got back from a baseball game (Seattle Mariners) and it was so much fun. There were plenty of laughs thrown around, along with a few surprise visits from old friends. Here is a little recap of my awesome evening.

My girlfriend picked me up from my house at around 5:20pm and we headed down to another guy's house (Scott), where we would meet up with him and Travis (who would end up driving all of us to the game). It is 5:35pm by the time we leave Scott's house and head on our way to the game. We had the windows open trying to bring in some of the fresh air, but after a few minutes, all of the windows simultaneously climbed upward. Turns out it was Travis locking all of us in. We all know that Travis likes his car to be "warm," but I thought that he would be a little more considerate towards the rest of us. Guess not. Travis also likes to have his music up, which is understandable when your speeding down the freeway by yourself. Not when you have other people in the car who are trying to talk to each other. Again, consideration issues.

We arrive at the stadium at around 6:50pm and park a few blocks away from the stadium. Fifteen bucks for parking?!?! Talk about a rip-off. After waiting five minutes to enter the park, we quickly settled into our seats and waited for the game to start. I saw one of my friends from high school (Thacker) and we exchanged greetings. Turns out, he was sitting next to us! I thought that was pretty cool. Another one of our friends was gonna meet up with us at the end of the first inning (he works at the venue) and sit with us for the remainder of the game.

Throughout the game we dined on the traditional baseball game fare: $6 hot dogs, $6 French Fries (A pound of fries, which was totally worth it), and $6.50 ice cream (Can't go wrong with Dippin' Dots). The game itself was a little boring because our team was getting their butts handed to them. Prior to Wednesday, they had a 16-game losing streak. They ended up losing 8-0. They are used to losing, so I am sure they can handle it.

On our walk back to the car, we pass a club. It must have been an 18-year old and over club because some of those girls did not look 21. Considering that some of them were wearing just a bra and a thong, they must be under 21 because they can't seem to find guys the normal way (like normal dating). They have to dress up like sluts and prance around a steamy nightclub. Just wait till they talk about high school; he'll soon realize that she is still in high school. Maybe at that time he'll think that's not his smartest choice, unless he is desperate and wants to fondle some A's.

Overall the night was a lot of fun. I got to spend quality time with my girlfriend and hang out with some of the bro's. I hope to have some more of those before I head back to school, which by the way, is only 1 month away.

Best I've Ever Had.

It was a typical night here in the Pacific Northwest; the sun was down, yet the heat still radiated the crisp air. There were some clouds out, but one could still see stars trying to shine through the night sky. As I walked outside to my car, I quickly realized that I didn't wanna run on the treadmill. After all, it's boring, plain, simple... did I mention boring? I turned back around, took off my shirt and sweat pants, turned on my sister's Ipod, and casually made my way to the end of my driveway. I didn't know it then, but in fifty short minutes, I would have one of the best runs I have ever done in my life.

I have recently been running for time (minutes) rather than distance; not exactly sure why I made the switch, but so far it's been paying its dividends. I made the decision to run for fifty minutes, knowing that I would run around seven miles if I kepy a good, solid pace. I start the run by heading out of my neighborhood (It's 1km from the entrance of my neighborhood to my house), and heading down 110th. I hit the first mile right at 7:15, feeling smooth and comfortable. As I make my way to the end of the street, I know that it is 1.78 from my house. I quickly glance at my watch, 12:39, still feeling good.

I turn onto our main road at 16:04, at which point I am not sure how many miles I have gone, but I was confident that it was more than two miles. I ran down the main road until I came up to a hill on my right side. I have ran up the hill before, a hill which nearly killed me back when I was a sophomore (and out of shape), but today I was confident that it wouldn't be a problem. I cruised up the hill and tried to maintain a quick cadence going up the hill. I quickly glanced my watch at the top, 21:54. I would find out after my run that at that point, I passed five kilometers. It's amazing that during my sophomore year of high school, my 5k pr was only a minute faster than that. I find it amazing how much I have progressed since then.

Coming up shortly on my left was a small neighborhood, which I knew had a few rolling hills hidden inside of it. I breezed through the neighborhood and end up taking a quick pit stop to use the bathroom; my watch reads 29:08. I head back through the neighborhood and down a backroad. On this road, there were no lights. I could not see the road, and only two cars drove while I was on the road. It was a little difficult to navigate, but as long as I ran in the middle of the road, I was sure to be fine.

I got back to the end of 110th, 1.78 miles away from my house and my watch reads 39:00. At that time I was thinking, "Okay, a ten minute 1.78 mile run would be like 5:40 pace. Maybe I'll try to get back in twelve minutes and try to maintain my seven minute pace." I ventured down the 1.15 mile stretch of road and with a mile to go I glanced at my watch, 44:07. If I push the last mile, I can try to finish under 51 minutes, meaning that my last mile would be a 6:53. Turning into my development, I know that I only have one kilometer left to go and I try to quickly glance at my watch, but I couldn't see anything because the sweat dripping down my face got in my eye. I ignored it and just continued to push the pace.

As I ran through the newer developments of my neighborhood, I started to feel lactic acid accumulate, which made me realize that I was going faster than 6:53 pace. As I rounded the corner onto my street, I just focused on my form and staying relaxed while powering home (no pun intended). I stopped my watch the moment I stepped over the curb, 50:29. I look again to make sure that I read my watch correctly. 50:29. That meant that my last mile was 6:22, only 22 seconds shy of my schedule "tempo" pace. My legs felt surprisingly great when I walked into my house and headed straight to my computer to map out the run I had just traversed. Turns out I went 7.5 miles in 50:29, which is 6:48 pace/mile. My last mile may have dropped my average pace, but I still would have been under 7:00min/pace for the duration of the run.

At the beginning of the summer, I was struggling to maintain 7:20min/pace, and yet eight weeks later, I ran 30 seconds per mile faster AND ran a farther distance. I can tell that I have already improved so much since I have started my training and I can't wait to train harder during August. It's funny because I was talking with an old high school teammate, and I specifically told him that August is the month (during XC training) that separates the "Men" from the "Boys". The "Men" will continue to put in the miles and strive for excellence, while the "Boys" will watch the "Men" run and ponder how the "Men" got so fast. So now I'll conclude this blog with a quote from Bob Knight, one of the most successful NCAA Basketball coaches in history because I believe that it sums up how my mentality will be until I head back to school.

"The will to win is important, but what's more important is the will to prepare" - Bob Knight

Sometimes I Wonder.

Today I went to my old high school's cross country practice and the practice made me realize how much they have changed. While the team dynamic is still there, it's weird to think that after this year, everyone will be "new" to me. And by "new" I mean that I didn't personally run with them during high school. While that's just a natural part of growing up, I just thought that it was interesting because now I can start a legacy of being an "alumni with lots of wisdom" haha.

So the original workout that the coach told me at the beginning of practice was five to six one-mile repeats. Without even thinking about it, I knew that he was going to cut the workout down because there was no way that they would have been able to complete five repeats. Anyways, after they did some dynamics and stretched for a little bit, we gradually made our way over to the starting line.

As we began the repeats, three guys on the team (Taigen, Alec, and Marcus) bolted ahead of the rest us. Fortunately for them, the repeats measured out to .90 miles instead of a full mile, one less tenth of a mile they would have to suffer. I finished the first repeat about 15 seconds behind Taigen, the top runner from last year (17:13 5k PR) and at the same time as Alec. Now I know that typically during repeats people tend to run the first reps too fast and today was no exception. After the first interval, neither Marcus nor Alec would be within 20 seconds of me for the remaining intervals. I didn't know, coming into this practice, that I was going to be running repeats that day, so when I ran the first one at 5:47/mile, I felt pretty good, considering my tempo pace is 6:00/mile.

My coach has never been a stickler for active recovery between repeats; he also allows too much recovery between reps and once again, today was no exception. I got about four to five minutes of recovery for each interval, which means that Taigen, (who ended up running ahead of me the entire workout) had even more. My second interval was ran a 5:43/mile pace, which felt hard, but a solid effort. My third effort started off easier because I was trying to help Marcus maintain pace throughout the workout. I stayed with him for the first 800-900 meters, but then I just slowly started to pull away.

Overall, I think that the workout went very well. I was able to average 5:52/mile pace for the three repeats, (wouldn't have minded doing a fourth repeat). Tomorrow I plan on doing an easy/longer run (50-55 minutes), which is between 7-8 miles. Then on Thursday I will be joining them again in some 1/4 mile tough hill repeats. Shooting for four repeats total, which along with a 2 mile WM + 2 mile CD, a six-mile day. I have just over a month till I start XC camp. Time to get serious...

UPDATE!!!

So a lot has happened since I have posted on here. First off, I got a job! I am currently a Footwear/Running Specialist at Dick's Sporting Goods. So far I have enjoyed the job very much, although it seems that some of the employees get shafted during scheduling. This upcoming week I have a grand total of *drumroll please* FIVE hours. Not gonna lie, it sucks. But its more money than I would be making sitting on my a** doing nothing. So I'll take it. Also, it surprises me how unorganized some people can be. There are clearance tables that are set up in the middle of the store and it seems like every single person who walks by them has to pick up something, inspect it for ten seconds, then place it in a different location (most of the time it ends up being the floor). If people were slightly more organized, then I wouldn't have to spend 45 minutes of my work time trying to clean up/reorganize all of the product.

I have been thinking a lot about the upcoming school year. In terms of academics, this will probably be my toughest year because I am finally branching into classes that are in my major (Such as Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Kinesiology). Although it may be difficult, I know that I will love it because it definitely beats the boring "Gen Ed" classes any day. In terms of athletics, I think that this year will be a turning point for me. Since school has ended, I have begun training for cross-country. This is the first time that I have been consistently training for either XC or Track since the winter of my junior year of high school. Cross-country has always been a struggle for me, for some reason. But I have determined that this year I will hope to make a difference for my team. I feel like all the knowledge that I have learned from my coaches and from some of the other guys, that my Track season will be a breakout for me. My goal of running sub-2 for the 800 has been in my head since senior year of high school and I think that breaking that barrier separates the "Oh your actually fast" guys from the "Oh I did track in high school" guys. I also believe that I will do well in the 1500m (the older brother of the 1600m), a distance that has never been my strong suit. But who knows, I think people should watch out because I am gonna bring everything I have to the table during the season.

That is just a quick update about my life at the moment. Oh and me and my gf are doing well :) (in case anyone was curious haha)

Solitary Confinement

It has only been ten days since I traveled back to Puyallup for summer vacation, yet I feel like I have been home much longer than that. Don't get me wrong I enjoy being home; spending time with my family and sleeping in my comfortable bed. I still have a little more than two months before I venture back to school, but I wish that I went back this week. Without a job, I spend my days refreshing my Facebook page, eating, and working out. Those are the three things I do all day haha. I have been looking for a job for the ten days, but I have not had any luck. Is there something wrong with me? Obviously because no one wants to hire me.

Summer.

Going into summer, I have a lot of things that I want to accomplish. The first is having a job. At the age of nineteen, almost twenty, I have yet to be hired by an employer. It rather sucks because I want to make my own money, instead of having to rely on my parents for income. The second is getting a consistent base for my upcoming XC season. There are currently ten returning runners from the XC team already, with at least one committed incoming freshman, and myself. The competing squad is anywhere from ten to twelve, so I need to work my butt off in order to get a spot on the roster. Not to mention I get to go back to school three weeks before everyone else does, not a bad perk lol. Lastly, I want to have an enjoyable summer. Every year my summer's have been getting better and better, and I can only imagine that this summer is going to take the cake.

Trey Tucker.

I started off my second day in the wonderful city of Phoenix, Arizona with a quick, morning run. It was only about three miles, yet because of several, deliberating factors (the heat, my fitness, etc), the run seemed much longer. After that, I met up with my family for some breakfast, continental of course. Breakfast ended at around nine thirty and because we did not have to leave for part two of commencement till noon, I was able to fit in some relaxing time at the pool.

When we (my brother, sister, mom and I) arrived, there were only two other people in the area: two older women who were doing their early-morning gossip. I put my stuff on the nearby table and proceeded to head into the hot tub. Although I was only in there for five minutes, it felt soothing on my muscles after my "easy" run. A few minutes later a family consisting of: four daughters, a wife, and a husband, entered the pool area. I can only hope and pray that I do NOT have four children, let alone four daughters. Those parents will have fun during their pubescent years. Just saying.

Shortly after that family arrived, more little kids made their way into the pool area; two little boys equipped with water-wings and life vests. It was pretty interesting to see the interaction between the older boy, Trey (who was five), and the young girls (the eldest was nine years old). They acted as if they were brother and sister, playing around in the water as if they had been friends for years. At this point in time I was laying on a lawn chair trying to get a tan. The suns rays hadn't hit the pool, which meant that the temperature of the pool was "frigid." Nonetheless, I ventured into the pool and soon found myself a pool time buddy.

Trey, one of the little boys with the water-wings, was "swimming" with his mom towards the shallow end of the pool. His little brother, Ethan, was also in the pool, yet quickly left because he was scared. Therefore, Trey was left in the pool, yet still being supervised by his mother. He began swimming towards my sister, who was relaxing on the side of the pool, because she was trying to help him learn how to swim. If one did not know my sister's future career as a teacher, one could easily spot her motherly-instinctiveness towards little kids. I was watching him learn to swim and when he got to me, I gave him some additional pointers.

Trey then proceeded to give me "races" where I would have to swim down to different lengths of the pool. My rewards for those challenges ranged from a few splashes, to a kick or two (mind you, he is five). After doing this for about thirty minutes, I got out of the pool and went to dry myself off. As I sat down, Trey walked over to his area, grabbed a chair, put his right across from me. We then proceeded to play air tic-tac-toe (I won), thumb wars (I won), and the alphabet game. I am shocked at how well developed his vocabulary was. For a five year old, who hasn't even started kindergarten, he was pretty smart. I learned that he was from Chicago, great city.

What made the whole mid-morning fun was how I was interacting with Trey. Its crazy that the most fun I have had over the past few days, has been with this five year old. It's time like those where I missed working with little kids, either elementary or even younger because they always have a simple outlook on the world. They don't worry about the War on Terror, or the terrible economic status that our country is in, their biggest worry is what's going to happen when their shoes become untied because they haven't learned how to tie them yet. It's time like those where being an Elementary teacher would be a great career for me, and while my mind is set on high school, I wouldn't mind giving another stab at the youngsters. Trey's final words to me were, "Bye, see ya later." Will I ever see him again? Probably not. Will I remember him? Absolutely.

Phoenix.

My mom has been acquiring her Master's degree, in Nursing Education, for the past eighteen months and today, as well as tomorrow, will be the conclusion of her journey. She has compiled hundreds of work hours, whether it is doing papers or making presentations. She has been getting her degree online through Grand Canyon University, which is in Phoenix, Arizona. So as I am typing this blog, I am sitting in my hotel room in the midst of Phoenix.

My mom and my stepdad left for Phoenix on Sunday morning, while my brother and I flew out this morning. Today has been an incredibly long day. It started at 4am. Yes, I said four in the morning. After getting myself upright and taking a shower, my brother and I left his Seattle home at around five. We arrived at the airport at around 5:30. Security was annoying as usual, but our plane did not leave until 7:20 and we were in no rush. After we got through security, we both grabbed some food. Who would have thought that Qdoba would have delicious breakfast burritos? I kept mine simple with scrambled eggs, potatoes, some chicken, and some queso cheese sauce. DELICIOUS!. As we headed up to the gate, I saw two of my teammates standing in front of me. Turns out, they were heading down to San Diego.

The plane ride was essentially smooth, considering that I slept through the majority of it. I didn't mind. We arrived in Phoenix just shy of nine and were immediately reunited with my mom and sister (she flew down from Pullman on Wednesday morning). We then drove to the hotel, where we dropped off our luggage, and then drove right to the church where the ceremony was being held.

The church was not only beautiful on the outside, it was massive on the inside as well. It looked like a church that one would find on early-morning televised church services. Anyways, we got there at around 11:40 and the ceremony did not start till one, so my sister and I decided to take a walk around the church, letting our bodies radiate in the 95+ degree temperatures. The ceremony was similar to any commencement ceremony: the deans gave speeches, the graduates were presented with their "degrees" and everyone was tearing up. I will be the first to admit that my eyes were tearing up throughout the WHOLE ceremony. I don't know why, but I was very emotional. It could be because I have seen my Mom work so hard for the past year and a half, that I was genuinely proud of her. It was moments like those where I am glad to be her son. I just hope that one day, she is the one saying that about me.

304.368 Days

It's astonishing yet amazing that I have found this one person, this one girl, that always makes me smile. I have only known this girl since the end of my junior year of high school, yet I feel like I have been her friend since elementary school. There are a lot of things one can do in 304.368 days: Learn a new language through Rosetta Stone, train for a sport, have a baby haha. While I am not thinking about having a baby at this point in time, in the future, distant future, I think it'll be a possibility.

There are so many different characteristics that I like about this girl. She always makes me smile, no matter if I am upset, or if I already happy. She always has this upbeat, sort of spunky, personality, that while is spontaneous, can be a little "cray cray." Her hair is kind of........CRAZY!!!! Its blonde and curly, which makes it really fun to play with, even though she gets annoyed with it sometimes.

I hope that I get to spend another 304.368 days with this lovely, beautiful, exquisite, pretty much perfect girl who has changed me for the better. I wonder if she realizes how of an impact that she has made on my life. Hopefully, I have made the same impact on her.

881 The Burg.

So 88.1 the Burg is our school's (Central Washington University) radio station. Over the past few months, I have been doing "training" and yesterday I completed my final audition. As a result, I get to have a radio show!!! I actually get the chance to work with another guy; its his show, I am his new co-host. I think i'll be really fun. I am not sure how he will take a new person in the studio, but I hope that it'll be fun. Doing Video Productions during high school made me appreciate mass media/broadcasting. We had always had a radio station, yet we had never used it. This'll give me a new opportunity to try something new in my life, and who knows, I could eventually get a full-time job. So if your in the area, hit up 88.1 FM Monday Nights @ 6pm!!!

High School Drama.

Its amazing how drama in college is so similar to drama found in high school. Granted in high school, we are restricted to acting upon it after school hours, or during lunch. Yet in college, one could act upon it twenty-four hours a day. It's stupid and pointless. Drama is stupid and pointless. People who enjoy causing/hearing about drama are stupid and pointless.

Bad Case of the Mondays.

For the first time in two and a half weeks, I actually went to Track practice today. I have been failing to attend, not because I have been overloaded with homework, but because I have become severely unmotivated. Why should I train six (sometimes seven) days of the week when I am not competing? I don't understand how people have that self-motivation; that internal drive that I so badly wish I could have.

I went to practice, getting there at our usual meeting time, and listened to Coach talk about the previous meet and discuss how successful everyone was. He listed off the names of everyone who PR'd and as a team, we congratulate them. The aspect of the team meeting that made it more significant was the fact that after every name was called, the whole team clapped and cheered for each other. It made me feel that we are a legitimate team, not just a bunch of athletes.

The workout for the mid-distance guys was a three mile easy run, followed by a short interval workout consisting of (200-300-200-100) at faster than 800m pace. Knowing my current fitness level, I decided that I would do the three mile run, but then instead of the intervals, I would do an easy field loop (3/4 of a mile) plus a lap (1/4 mile) so that my total for the day would be four miles. With about a 1/2 mile left to go in the three mile run, my legs were beginning to feel a little heavy. Pretty pathetic considering I am suppose to be in decent shape, yet a three mile run is feeling worse than 400m repeats do. Nonetheless, I cruised through it, breathing more heavily than I would have liked, and proceeded to do my additional mile on the grass. I chose to do it barefoot because my shoes had been bugging me during my run. They seem to be getting really loose, not sure why though. Afterwords, I went and iced my shins for a brief amount of time, changed, and headed out the door.

Unattached.

It is like snow, accumulating on the side of a mountain, yet in an instant it can come crashing down like an avalanche. For the past two weeks, my motivation for Track has been declining. Our team's roster, for the men, is full and therefore every other guy who wants to run in meets would have to compete unattached. I had mentioned in my previous blog entry the "benefits" of competing unattached. It is at this point in time where I find myself lost in a never-ending vortex of laziness. I haven't been motivated to go to practice because even if I do practice, I won't be running for the team; I'll just be the "Unattached" runner.

The Gift.

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift" --- Steve Prefontaine.

That quote has been plastered on sweatshirts, t-shirts, pretty much any running apparel that one could imagine. If you don't know who Pre is, open a new window in your internet browser and do a quick Google search, or rent the movie "Without Limits." Back on track (no pun intended), there are a variety of things that "the gift" could be. One would have to bring back Pre from the dead to get the exact definition, but for the rest of us mortals, we are left to ponder and speculate.

The first time I ever started Track was in fifth grade. Everyone knows those years when the 800m was the shortest "distance" race because they did not want to make kids run the mile. Ironically during my elementary years, I was focused on sprint type events. I competed in both the long jump and was part of the 4x1 relay. Guess back then I was fast. I did Track in seventh grade, but by that time I was more heavy set, meaning I was not fast enough to do any of the events I actually wanted to do. Therefore I was placed doing the 800m and 1600m. My pr's that year were 3:35 and 7:40. Those are extremely slow, and looking back, I feel pretty embarrassed that I ever ran that slow for those distances. I was always in next-to-last place. I was the kid that people cheered for at the end of a race because he was bringing up the rear. I was the kid who got lapped during the mile and I was the kid who would always sprint the last fifty meters, just make sure the guy behind me wouldn't pass me. After that year I decided that Track wasn't my thing. I was out of shape, fat, and frankly sucked. I stopped running and didn't start again till the summer before my sophomore year of high school.

Towards the end of my freshman year, I was noticebly leaner. I grew five inches and lost about twenty pounds. That year one of my friends, Aaron, ran cross-country at one of the high school's (eventually my rival high school). He told me that he loved it because of the high school team atmosphere. Plus he got to wear a high school sport's sweatshirt, which made him seem like a better athlete than everyone else. He would always tell me stories about his races and how it was racing against high school kids. I was interested his stories, but at the same time I didn't believe that I could do the same. At the time another one of my friends Carly, currently a senior in high school, had run cross-country at the junior high level for the past three year and told me how she loved to run (weird... who runs for fun?). Their stories, as well as their influences, convinced me to try-out for the high school cross country team. At the time I didn't know that their races were 3.1 miles long, if I had I probably wouldn't have joined the team. Maybe Aaron should have told me that little detail.

At the end of my senior year, with three years of high school track and cross-country under my belt, I thought that maybe I would try and compete at the collegiate level. I contacted the coach, talking about cross-country, and about a week later he had replied with an e-mail saying, in short, "Your too slow." I know I am no state qualifier or national champion, but I didn't even get a chance to prove myself. I took that as a chance to try improve my fitness and decided to work with the 400m runners, starting in october and ending in early february. Working with those guys made me realize that I was a distance runner. Whenever we did longer intervals (500m or greater), I recovered the quickest, yet when we did sprinting type repetitions (300m or less), I lacked the fast-twitch muscles to keep up with Scott or Kyle (two of our best 400m runners). From time to time, I would see the distance runners doing their typical base-building runs, easy, aerobic runs of five to seven miles. Later would I realize how important a solid base is when training with the mid-distance runners.

Often called the toughest runners in track and field, mid-distance runners are very similar to hybrid cars. They utilize different types of energy in order to produce a quality product. Mid-distance runners require a solid, aerobic base in combination with sprinting speed, which make become a deadly threat over a variety of distances, not just limiting to their standard 800m or 1500m distances. I started training with them from about mid February till mid April. Their aerobic base, which they probably started at the conclusion of their cross-country season, was demonstrated during the workouts that we would do. A typical tuesday workout would be (300-500-400-300) at 1500m pace, followed by 400m at 800m pace, then (4 x 200) at 800m pace. The 1500m set wasn't challenging, but when it came to the second half of the workout, any of the 800m paced intervals, that was where myself and the other mid-distance runners would separate. I would often be in the back of the pack, sometimes 5-10m behind the guys, who would be running in a tight group.

When meets would come around, coach had informed me that I would have to compete "Unattached" because all of the roster spots were already full. The benefits of competing on the team include: a free ride to the venue, free food, free food money, see the pattern here? When one competes unattached they have to provide their own transportation, their own food, they can't eat the "team's" food, etc. After two indoor meets of competing unattached, having to have my girlfriend drive me to Pullman, WA and Seattle, WA, I felt bad that I am not good enough to compete on the actual team. We'll see how the rest of the season goes, but at this moment, it's looking like my hybrid car is running out of gas.

Wheel of Fortune.

I was hanging out with my girlfriend (Amanda) last night, around 9:00pm, and our friend Ariel came in and asked us if we wanted to join her and some of her friends on a trip to the casino. I had never been to a casino, let alone been presented the chance to gamble, so I immediately accepted the invitation. So myself, Amanda, Ariel, and three other friends (Spencer, Lucas, and Jacob) departed from Ellensburg and drove through Yakima, through Wapato (which is the smallest town I have ever driven through), and eventually wound up in Toppenish (another random town). The drive was a little sketchy because we were driving on a variety of backroads, one of which was called "N. Track Rd." Jacob and I are determined to "borrow" one of the road signs sometime before we graduate. On the way to the casino we drove past a drug deal in-action, which was interesting and ironic because the road where it went down was the same road that Spencer lives on. Spencer is from Yakima, so he was familiar with the area, so we just followed him during the drive.

The drive took about 50 min, not horrible. Once we got to the casino, it was pretty surreal. There were no parking spots except for this section that was covered in loose gravel, but we took what we could get and parked there. Walking into the casino, my nose was immediately attacked by the smells of cigarette smoke. It was tolerable, but not pleasant to say the least. I started with eleven dollars, the only cash I had in my wallet, and thought that it wasn't going to last me very long. I quickly went through my first five dollars in a matter of minutes and surely thought that I was going to make the drive back to Ellensburg with an empty wallet. There were some instances where I would win, nothing more than two dollars, but it was enough to keep my "gambling spirit" alive.

As the night progressed and my cash supply slowly dwindling down, I became more cautious. My strategy was to only play one cent slots, but play with a large amount of lines to increase my payout if I had won anything. Towards the back corner of the casino I noticed a "Wheel of Fortune" section, a game-show that I am very familiar with considering I would watch it with my mom on tv almost every night. I decided to press my luck and by that time I only had about four dollars left. I put it all in the machine and prayed that I would win something because I was betting forty cents per spin. After my fifth spin, I saw my machine light up (I had gotten the Bonus game). I was trying to listen to what the game was telling me, but I later found out that the machine was muted. The bonus game was fairly simple, you picked letters which corresponded with the puzzles shown and the more letters you found, the greater multiplier you received. After the puzzles were "solved", a large wheel on top of the machine would spin. On it were a variety of multipliers, ranging from 10x to 500x. Just like on the show, whatever the wheel lands on is the amount you get. The game decided to be very generous to me and decided to land on the 500x multiplier. I ended up turning my four dollars into nineteen after that one round. After cashing out, I proceeded to take five of those dollars and continued playing, ending up winning an additional twenty-six dollars.

I entered the casino with eleven dollars and left with forty. For my first time gambling, I thought that I did quite well. Ariel left the casino with twenty-five dollars (she was the only other person who won any money that night). Jacob, Spencer, and Lucas all lost money (Spencer and Lucas each losing thirty dollars, with Jacob losing forty). Amanda didn't gamble, but enjoyed watching Ariel and I win, as well as watching everyone else lose. On the drive back home (about 2am) we stopped at Miner's in Yakima. I celebrated my win with a large curly fry and then we all drove back to quaint, little Ellensburg.