Track.

At 6pm this time of year our track is only illuminated by the moon and the diffuse light of the nearby buildings. The darkness helps with the introspection.

The Squids run track practices every Monday night . We start in October and we go until the end of the season. Our coach, Angry Kevin, programs the entire thing - we do not know what we are going to do until he tells us during the practice.The workouts change but in general, the intensity builds. Every A team member comes and we typically have 3 to 5 B teamers.

The elements throughout the year are:
3 mile hilly campus loop, 1 mile, 800s, 400s, 200s, 100s, 40s, 25s, Stadiums (50m height) (big steps, little steps, big step hops), hill sprints (about 100m), standing jumps, and agility latter drills. All of these have numerous modification potential. Everything is times, that it, if we do 400s they will start every X minutes until we are done and each of are times for each 400 are announced.

Yesterday's workout was :

• 800 warmup
• Stretch
• 3x Build 100s
• Stretch
• 6x400s on 3 minutes
• 1x Broken 400 (Run a 50 & turn around, run a 50 & turn around x4)
• rest
• 5x200s on 2 minutes
• rest
• 10x 40s on 1 minute
• rest
• 10x 25s on 45 seconds
• 8 staduims with 10 standing jumps at the top
• Cool down 400
• Stretch

Sometimes I cannot wait to get there, sometimes I dread it. Sometimes I run great, sometimes I feel like shit. Some times I come joyful and leave destroyed, sometimes i'll be having a horrible day and leave on top of the world. No matter what though, I always go.


So why do I write about this now?
Last night I had this really awesome experience: I just killed the 200s; pushed myself hard on each one. When I was finally able to think again, it hit me:

"I feel invincible. I can do anything, I can beat anyone."

At 6pm, our track is only illuminated by the moon and the diffuse light of the nearby buildings. The darkness helps with the introspection and I was overpowered with this realization.



Colorado, I'm coming for you.

Pres Day 2010

The UCSD Air Squids win Pres Day 2010 in a great final against Cal, 15-13. For sure one of the top 3 games I've ever played.

We take a 1 break lead at half, they tie it up at 10-10 and then advance to 13-11 Cal before we score out O point and then rattle off 3 straight breaks to win! Great plays by every player on each roster. The sportsmanship was very high and the observers, full fields, scoreboards, and perfect weather combined to make an absolutely great game.

Thank you to the many many people that helped make Pres Day happen.

Obviously, more to come.

In The Zone

"In the Zone"...is heightened awareness...is meditation......is Flow...is "Blink"ing...

It can be attained during all of these things...

• playing sports
• rock climbing
• weight lifting
• having sex
• drinking coffee
• drinking alcohol
• listening to music
• being at a concert or dance
• playing music
• cooking
• gardening
• making art
• doing hard homework
• watching tv
• reading a book
• hiking
• running
• people watching
• blog writing
• driving
• teaching
• writing code
• sudoku
• prayer
• running a gel, titrating a buffer, western blotting
  
• just sitting

Or you could totally miss the opportunity... its really just up to you. Just pay attention and try a little bit; its worth it. To get "in the zone" you must focus on the moment, you must figure out how to get the past and future out of your head. You must pay attention to the task at hand. Sometimes we think we are paying attention when really we are thinking about something else. You'll be in the middle of a lecture class and suddenly you'll realize you are thinking about what you are having for dinner; you be guarding a cutter and you'll tune out for a second and think about the last miss break opportunity. The key is to be good at realizing these lapses in focus and be able to return to your intended focus.