Another day.

Brrr, it's freezing out today...After last couple of days of sunshine, I underestimated the weather and underdressed. But I was set out to go for a track workout at 5 am, and that is what I did. After warming up for a couple of miles, I did 3x1 mile repeats at high school track, and surprisingly for me, it felt pretty good. 7:32, 7:22, 7:21. No complains. I expected much worse. Cool down took another 3 miles, and by the time I got home I was bot feeling my naked legs or hands. Point taken.

Yesterday I went for my first unofficial (yet) coaching thing. It's pre-season, and there were about 15 kids out there. Head coach Gabe gave them to work on different drills, some I never even thought of. The way they run is also differs from what I was thought for a marathon - they drive their knees up high and their arms go straight forward (I use somewhat have them across the center of the body as I run). Then they moved to a stadium for stairs, and did every step, every other, every third 3 sets. I tried to go every third and couldn't even reach! Granted, only tallest boys were able to do that. You could see how some boys are serious, and are good, but some are just trying themselves out, what is great too. One of them was on the track this morning repeating drills at 5 am!

Then there was a coaching meeting. There are so many rules and regulations, and I have no idea about any of it! The athletic director pointed a very important thing about coaching: when you teach somebody something, there is an art, and there is science. Some kids come only to learn new technique and drills and regime. Some need the encouragement and a kind word and a "go for it, you can do it" type of training. What makes a great coach (vs a good one) is a combination of both. What do you remember from your first coach, or first teacher, or first mentor? Not the 8x400m or "keep your head up and back straight", but "you are doing fantastic, you've got so much potential, dig deep and find it". I was thinking about Lisa. She believes in me, in all her clients, even when we don't believe in our selves. I know for me it's very important as I never had enough confidence in myself. Whether or not I really CAN do it is a whole another story, but at least someone thinks I am capable of it and so I am trying my best.

Hope you didn't take me wrong on a family stuff. I tend to overreact when in fact life is not all bad. It's just I get sucked into a moment, and that was a moment when we were quite (obviously) depressed. We went for a dinner last night, and I even wore a skirt:) Considering the fact that you can only see me in running shorts or cargo pants, that was a huge improvement. We talked and outlined some of the changes we need to make. We plan some runs together (though I am scared of it unless it's a 30 miler - Oleg is much faster, but we've done it before)and some movies and nights out, time with Stephen and how to plan Alex when he comes back. The night turned into a date with nice ending...Thanks for all your concern, the candle does have flame or flicker depending on circumstances (like Lady Lurker said). We're OK, how can we not be?