There are folks on this planet who feel the need to opine about any little thing, whether people want to hear it or not.  Acting like a bee out collecting pollen, people in this category flit from idea to idea, reaction to reaction not caring at all if people wish to discuss and solely focused on the job at hand.

There are also folks who are more reserved.  They speak when spoken too, they prefer to observe or merely wait until something comes along that they feel compelled to talk about, as opposed to the constant movement of the “bee people”.  I tend to gravitate towards this category of folks.  It is a drawback in my teaching/coaching (I was definitely not blessed with the gift of gab) and in maintaining the freshness of this site.  The upside though is that when I do get around to speaking, I make every effort to make it count.  So as I sit here on a Sunday morning with a coffee in hand, getting ready to meet some old friends for a run, rest assured that my posts are something I try to put some thought into and not blather on everyday.  It has been almost exactly four weeks since the last time I was on here. . . In that time, I grew and shaved a mini-beard.  But wait, there is more.

I have had the privilege these last few years of coaching two of the best runners a coach could hope to come across,  Mo Hamdan and Jeralyn Poe.  You also couldn’t have two more different athletes to work with.  Mo is a senior, low-mileage speed demon on the track.  J-Poe is a sophomore and a cross country coach’s dream. Both had solid fall campaigns

Jeralyn put some serious work in over the summer exceeding 500 miles in her training.  This allowed her to find a finishing kick that had eluded her during her freshman season last year. So you now have a runner who is ridiculously fit, has the type of form designed for hilly running, and can out sprint you at the finish.  Hard to beat that.  For all of the 2012 XC season, only one runner did beat her.  So congrats to Jeralyn, fun to see the hard work pay off.

Now, to paraphrase Mr. Toby Keith, let’s talk about me.  I have had three races since the M2M 50k.  I ran the governor’s cup in Lincoln one week later, running 18:05 a time I have not seen since high school in a non-snow race.  I raced in Sioux Falls at the Nike Cross Heartland Regional.  17:04 there in a single-digit wind chill.  Yesterday I made it out to Des Moines for the annual Living History Farms race.  Finishing top 30 there is always a goal, I earned 27th.  More on that later.  A few more races this season and then on to winter training.

Hopefully with it being post-season it frees up my time a bit, but just because I have more time doesn’t mean I am going to fill it in with my thoughts.  Just means I have more space for miles.