Every spring I get a burst of unexpected energy and start egging myself on to be more thoughtful about my training for once. Summer and fall races feel closer, the sun is still out when I get home from work, and excuses to not run are harder to make. This year is no different. I'm ready to really, truly train, with cross country race #1 (Santa Rosa?) in my sights.

One of my immediate inspirations was watching video of Shannon Rowbury running the Minneapolis Medtronic Mile, winning against Sara Hall in 4.33.4. Her form is so smooth and she just flies through it. Knowing how hard she works for that, I can at least try to give a little more.

Step one: hilly run tonight with some fellow RDLS teammates to prep for the Reno Tahoe Odyssey. We're a few weeks out, and while we can't approximate the elevation we can get a feel for some of the neverendingly steep uphill legs we'll run during the relay. Tom suggested a route called "Twin Peaks and Mt. Sutro Assault" which, if I didn't regularly run at least the Twin Peaks portion of it, I would not touch. Knowing what the relay will feel like, though, this is cake.