Think/act: Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Mary Oliver, "Wild Geese"

Look/hear: Neil Young

Neil Young is awesome. I grew up listening to him and CSNY, thanks to my dad, and have always loved him.

I've been listening to this song a lot lately. His music is perfect for cool autumn nights.

Move/make: Week 3, Take 2

Today's weight: 175.0.

Workouts:
Monday: Hill sprints (11)
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Tempo run (2 miles in 22 minutes)
Thursday: Ran 30 minutes
Friday: Hill sprints (10)
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Ran 35 minutes

Thoughts on food:
My original goal was to go out to eat twice. I went out to eat four times, but two of those times were Indian food, which is healthy and delicious. The other two times were beer and bread-based snacks -- not so healthy, but good cold-weather comfort food.

I spent tonight making quinoa, oatmeal and hard-boiled eggs. I've got a rough idea of meal plans for the week. I've been drinking kombucha and kefir, which has made my stomach feel much better. And I've been eating a lot of chia seeds, and taking vitamins. I'm still feeling good, despite my new addiction to dark chocolate bars with cayenne pepper and cinnamon in them (amazing).

I had a Diet Coke today -- my first since last Sunday. It tasted OK, but I don't need another one for a while.

Overall reflections:
Had a rough run today (don't know what it is about Sundays), but I am getting faster overall. An 11-minute mile is probably nothing to write home about, but it's a minute faster than my previous average. I want to get down to a consistent 10-minute mile, or I'm going to be miserable running longer races. I'm happy to see the speed training is making a difference, even after only doing it for a couple of weeks.
I've always thought I was a slow runner (and I am), so it's been nice to chip away at my times.

I'm also happy that I worked out five days last week.

Goals:
I met two out of my three goals from last week. I'm traveling at the end of this week, and the next couple of days are shaping up to be very busy. Because of that, I want to:

• Work out only three (but ideally four) days this week.
• Keep taking my vitamins, especially since I'll be traveling and run down.
• Eat healthy, home-made meals for all meals but one.