~10 miles @ ~12 min/mi

A soccer ball rolls toward me but I hesitate to try to kick it back, lest I trip and fall on the track. I'm exhausting myself on a "ladder" at the old Blair High School, 1+2+3+4+3+2+1 laps with two minutes of walking and drinking to recover between each set. Warmth and humidity this morning make me contemplate quitting at several points along the way. My ladder pace averages a hair under 9 minutes/mile, not including walk breaks. I survive, thanks to thick clouds and an intermittent light breeze. Bob Dylan's "The Times, They Are a Changing" plays in my mind, from a Kaiser Permanente Thrive public-service announcement on TV at the laundromat last Sunday. (cf. BeYourOwnCause)

I've just started reading Kenny Moore's biography Bowerman and the Men of Oregon and as I run I contemplate a Bowermanism from the introduction, a speech the legendary coach gave to an incoming class of erstwhile athletes: "Take a primitive organism ... any weak, pitiful organism. Say a freshman. Make it lift, or jump or run. Let it rest. What happens? A little miracle. It gets a little better. It gets a little stronger or faster or more enduring. That's all training is. Stress. Recover. Improve."

(cf. BillBowerman and WithoutLimits; today's route: home to Dale Drive to Wayne to Blair HS, ~2.5 miles; return via Sligo Creek Trail and Forest Glen Road, ~3.5 miles; ladder splits: 2:04 + 4:08 + 6:37 + 9:00 + 7:16 + 4:42 + 2:07) - ^z