I have found out one thing this past week and that is coaching cross country does NOT fit well into a person's half-marathon taper! Even though the mileage is not much and the intensity is pretty low, I am not used to running four days in a row during the week. I did not run the hill repeats with them Thursday (I sat on my bike watching them work up the hill, which I am sure they just loved) and I took yesterday and today off which will give me three days of pretty much complete rest before the Clinton Half. It's been a long couple of days until the race, though. I am getting restless and I can already feel the pre-race adrenaline flowing. On the other hand I have gotten more done around the house this morning than in the last month combined. Taper energy pays off I guess!

 Physically, I am actually feeling pretty good besides my knee still bothering me a bit. After taking a close look at the course description for my half Sunday I am now shooting for under 1:50, I think the last three miles are tailor-made for a downhiller like me. I just need to make sure I get to that last 5k in under 1:25. Essentially I am going to go for it and risk blowing up. I am holding nothing back for next week. I will see how I am feeling around the middle of next week. The HOBO 25K is not going to happen if my knee and I do not feel real close to 100%  by then. 25k on rough, rocky, rooty trail is probably not a good idea if a part of me is not feeling stable. I can say "I will take it easy" all I want but I know I wouldn't. It will make me a little sad if I don't run it, I have done it two years in a row and the HOBO runs are the one event I could see doing every year for a long time.

Been pretty busy with the cross country team, holding four practices a week, brainstorming with the other coach about scheduling, fundraising, etc. The kids are coming along well. Though they all did some running over the summer only two of the seven had ever run a meet before our first one at Winnebago the day after Labor Day. There is a lot of inexperience there but we have some kids who are young that have high ceilings. I think it takes a couple of years of pretty consistent training before you can really get an accurate idea of how good a runner can be. They are all working hard, though, and I think they will be very suprised how much their times improve by the end of this season, let alone what they could be doing by the end of the NEXT season! I really think all four freshman and sophomore runners could advance to a sectional as individuals before they are done.

Lately, I have been really debating with myself what to do with my daughter Claire. She just started 7th grade and shows quite a bit of running potential in my opinion. She ran a sub-26 minute 5k this summer and broke the Eastland Jr. High girls P.E. mile record last year as a 6th grader. I am sort of resisting the urge to drag her out to run all the time. I sometimes ask her if she wants to join me. Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't. I don't really want to push. I also feel a bit goofy about it (ok, guilty actually) because when Coop was that age I never really encouraged his running. He was in track but was basically a basketball and baseball player. Plus, and it seems weird saying this now, I didn't feel he showed much running talent. In fact, when he ran the mile in Jr. High track he was almost always last or next-to-last. So I basically considered track to be something he would quit doing in High School when it clashed with baseball. Shows how much I know!

Have been watching quite a few running documentaries lately. Netflix is a godsend if you like docs! Some of the better ones: Terry Fox: Into The Wind 30 for 30, My Run, and Running The Sahara. I personally think that Fox's story is pretty much the most motivational and inspirational journey I have ever heard of. Definitely something everybody should check out. If you can't find the doc anywhere here is a link to a great article about him.