Week 1. Thursday

April 27, 2006

Activities/Actions:

• Biked to lab
• Ran alone today on 8K Jackson Park (No.1) trail (a new route of the week).
  
• Hydration: Pretty good today, but that consumed before the run was less than that of yesterday.
• Weights & Stretching: 15 mins
• Squash for 3 games; the last game to Kou for his time in Chicago. He was happy by beating me 9-4. Hahaha.. I will take the title back. :)
  

Stat:
Started 6.10p
5 miles, 40:00 mins (8:00/mile); actually a bit short of 5 miles.

Course condition: 50F (even 45F with wind guts). The run passing through a nice area of Jackson Park, especially Wooded Island and Osaka Garden.

How I felt:
(the 5-point scale)

• Physically 5
• Mentally 5
• About my nutrition 4
• About my sleep 3

How hard did I work? 5
(the 10-point scale)

Note and reflections:
One of the concern for today is sleep. I don't think that I got a good sleep last night. Anyway, I better get a good one tonight.

The run today reminded me of a famous poem by Robert Frost. I first learned this piece in English class at St. George's (the first year I came to America). The poem begins..

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Today, I took the south path to Jackson Park. "And that has made all the difference." I have found another favorite path. The section going through Wooded Island is the section I haven't taken before. The trees are denser and more birds than other parts of the park. No wonder that Yeong-Shin had found many species of birds while he kept an eye for them. Even though this evening temperature was a bit cold and there was some wind guts, the scenery along this part warmed me up. I already planed to run to a meadow (the east side of Wooded Island) for the next time. Tomorrow, we are going to Madison for the race. This will be my second race. Pam has invited me to join her for a run so I will go with other four friends. This will be fun! We all are excited. Tomorrow will be rest day without a run. I might not be able to write a journal entry but will try to.