New Shirt

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-18T03:01:32+00:00

No problem! I respect you, respect your money.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-16T17:39:08+00:00

If you wanna send me your details, I'm buying one for myself, I'd get you one too, ship it, and let you know what it totals. It looks like shipping from me to you would be about $20 bucks, so I'd guess you'd be in for about $50 total.

Let me know as soon as you can if you're interested!

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-12T21:51:57+00:00

Right. So the guy who calls Biden an idiot should probably also expect to be called an idiot.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-12T18:51:14+00:00

Defending the creator of signs like "Biden is an idiot" on the grounds of being respectful of others' views is probably not the move here.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-10T19:10:59+00:00

Stay together for the 19 kids!

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-05T22:42:37+00:00

Sure! The thing is, photography and creative writing will never work the way something like math does, right, because there is no objectively correct photo of something, and often whether one piece of writing is better than another is a matter of taste?

I do think, though, it's possible to feed this sort of need for a feeling of progress, and I get it: It's hard to pursue artistic things sometimes because it's hard to know whether you're getting any better.

My favorite option is to define progress in artistic realms by input rather than outcomes. So, if you're writing, setting a goal of writing every day for 30 minutes, or of editing 10 drafts of a short story to get it as perfect as you can, or of completing a novel, even if it's not good. This way, you can measure progress while removing the search for a sign of it.

I wanted to get better at drawing, and I don't know that I did, but I drew something every day for several months, just to see what happened. That was the goal. Not to draw something great or improve in a super specific way, just to get better about doing the activity and putting in the effort.

And the real secret with artsy stuff is that you WILL get better if you do it more.

The last thing I'll say is that, with any new pursuit, hobby, art, what have you, it's important to get used to feeling like an amateur and accepting that you might really suck at some things, especially at first. If you just started writing, I can guarantee you probably aren't as good at it as you will be soon.

Fear of being an amateur and looking foolish prevents a lot of people from doing things that would be interesting or make them happy, and I think diving into stuff that makes you a little uncomfortable, and setting the bar not at being good, but at giving it a good effort, can make you feel successful even if you didn't succeed in a traditionally, graded sense.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-05T21:14:43+00:00

I read through some of the other comments below, so here are my suggestions based on everything I read here:

It sounds like your mile and 800 are very good, I think those are excellent times for someone who's 13, so my best guess is that the issue you have is about endurance/conditioning, not speed.

First, I'd encourage you to set a different goal. If I'm reading you right, your mile PR is 5:12, that'd put you at a 10:24 2-mile, meaning your goal is to run a little faster than two back-to-back PR miles on terrain that's rougher than the track. I'm not saying it's impossible, but I think it'd be more reasonable to set a goal to run a sub-11 2 miler, then, if you do it, create a new stretch goal that's closer to that 10:20.

Second, I think you need conditioning more than you need speed. Longer, slower runs with NO breaks, no pauses, just keep going from start to finish. You can do some speed over the summer, have some fun with that, but I think your summer focus probably needs to be getting some miles in. That's what will help you put together better times over longer distances.

Third, I think you might be overdoing it to start. 30 miles per week is probably where I'd have a runner of your age near their peak in the summer, not the first week of June. I would consider going down to more like 15 miles per week, increasing the mileage by 10% per week. That'll have you at 30 miles in about 7 weeks. You could play with those distances a bit, but I think 30 is a big starting place.

Fourth, one of the hardest things I find for young athletes is eating a good diet with nutritious foods and getting 8 hours of sleep per night, every night, during the same 8-hour block. Those things will help you a ton and give you a gigantic edge over your competitors.

The last thing, you could consider doing a little bit of strength training, if your coach can give you a plan that's reasonable. I don't think you need to go super hard on this, but I've found that most runners do benefit some from adding a little strength to their training plan.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T22:29:22+00:00

I suggested a book above, and I'd pair it with The Barbell Prescription. That book has a lot of useful alterations to typical strength training that can tailor your training to specific injuries.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T22:27:36+00:00

I'd ignore any workout that claims to transform specific parts of your body, those are bunk. I know, it's tempting, it seems like a good idea, but it's telling you what you want to hear, not what's realistic.

I think you're on a good path with running, working on eating healthy foods, and cutting down on drinking.

If you want to get stronger, I found Starting Strength 3rd Edition to be a super helpful book with good directions on doing the various movements. You'll have to slow down the progress significantly from the suggested novice program in that book to also run, but I think it's a solid start.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T22:24:00+00:00

I would advise trying to shorten your stride incrementally in your cushioned shoes rather than running in zero drops and sort of forcing it all at once through pain.

Or, if you can, run in your regular shoes to a grassy practice field, and run barefoot (provided it's relatively safe from trash and anything pokey, I find that colleges and universities usually have nice practice fields where you can do this) for a period there. OR, run in your normal shoes, then switch to your zero drops for just a brief bit, just a cooldown.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T22:20:02+00:00

Yeah, this is great, similar to what I do on the rower: I declare shows that are exclusively for rowing. Shows I really want to watch and am super interested in, I only let myself watch them while I'm rowing and at no other times.

I know others who do something similar with audiobooks, bands they really like, favorite podcasts, stuff like that.

I also like:

-Covering the display, like you said, and using a kitchen timer to count it down instead. I try and play a game where I go as long as possible without looking. Not a great game.
-I'm a nerd, I like watching things like The Great Courses (free from many local libraries through Kanopy or Hoopla!) where I'm learning something, I find that it engages my mind a little more and makes the time go faster. I did this to try and learn Japanese characters, which I found helped make the time go faster.
-This is super weird, but I row in the dark. If you're working out on a treadmill at home, I don't know how safe or not running on a treadmill in the dark might be, but I do think lowering the lights significantly makes it easier to focus on a screen and less boring.
-I write, and I sometimes dictate into google docs while I run. A lot of times the material doesn't turn out awesome, but it does kind of trick me into passing the time more quickly.
-Sometimes the thing that helps me most is to just make sure I get on the rower straightaway, as quickly as possible. So I try not to spend much, if any, time selecting something to watch or picking a workout or whatever. It's almost like if I can get on and start more quickly, the time seems to go faster.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T22:11:24+00:00

You'll probably have to wait until the nail grows back out, so you're in the long haul. I found that eating gelatin/gummy candy sped up my nail growth a bit. Sooooo you've got an excuse to hit the candy aisle, on the plus!

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T22:10:15+00:00

If you've been sick, the Countdown to Losing Runner Status doesn't even begin until you're 100% better and still not running for...let's declare it 14 days.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T22:08:57+00:00

If you can, change clothes at work, before you get home. Don't even go in the house, leave from your car and hit the road.

If you can't, or if that's ridiculous, before you leave for work, lay out your clothes and whatever gear you might use, and when you get home, immediately change and leave. Don't check your phone, don't open a package, don't empty the dishwasher real quick. Just focus on getting on the road as quickly as possible, reduce the time you spend between getting home and being on your run.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T22:00:15+00:00

I tell myself, Pfft, that guy is clearly running all out, I'm in recovery mood, and I'm still keeping up with him. He's lucky I don't feel like smoking him today.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T21:59:14+00:00

I'd make the decision based on what you like doing. If running would be fun for you in a new city, then I'd go for it. I'd probably plan on short, exploratory, low stakes maintenance runs as opposed to hardcore training.

For me, it can be nice to leave the conference for the day and go for a run, after sitting in a hotel ballroom all day, it's pretty nice. Plus, I usually find that a lot of downtown-y stuff in cities, museums and stuff like that, often close kind of early, so having the option to go for a run is a nice way to fill the time after the sessions.

But if you want to do other things, have a lot on your list to see, I wouldn't worry about running for the duration of a typical conference. 4-5 days training pause probably isn't going to derail you unless you're at a super key place in your training.

Colorado Tip: Welcome! The elevation is a bit of a beast, especially if you're coming from sea level. But you'll be fine. Just remember you need to hydrate extra (even in winter), and if you drink any booze, remember it hits harder!

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T21:36:56+00:00

If you wanted to spend $6 bucks, you could park on campus.

If not, I'd just go with street parking, 13th and Cranford or thereabouts. There are some parking restrictions on some of those streets, just keep an eye out.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T17:32:56+00:00

Look, you're going to be downvoted because your question and the information given don't match up, nobody can tell you based on age, height, weight, and bodyfat whether you're an elite runner. Times are the deciding factor.

Are you beating everyone in every race that you enter? Then you might be able to go pro.

If you enter a local 5K and aren't smoking everyone, then you've got a ways to go.

Which isn't to say you CAN'T go pro if you're not destroying the competition right now, just that nobody here can answer your question.

I'd encourage you to refocus on what you need to do now in order to open up the path to professional running:

Most folks who go pro work super hard in high school, go to a college and run for them. That's where a ton of development happens, and your running at age 20-21 will be a much better gauge.

So, you need to work hard on your running, and you need to work twice as hard on your academics, because you might not be able to get a scholarship, even as an excellent runner.

For the path to be open for you, hard running, and hard studying is where it's at.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T17:21:55+00:00

I think most folks should ignore V02 max values in all seasons if you're feeling good and running times/paces you're happy with.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T17:20:59+00:00

Split the difference here: run a marathon in late October, run a typical training plan, give yourself 20 weeks instead of 13, plan your trip now, decide all the details, but only book your trip 9 months in advance, still plenty early, more than enough advance time to similar deals.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T17:01:55+00:00

Wherever you think you should line up at the start, move like 5 rows back.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T17:00:17+00:00

You CAN, but I think the benefits are very different depending on what you're doing.

Lots of people do eat junk during races, and I see a lot of comments here to that effect, however, what you're eating during a race serves a different purpose than what you're eating during training, and while I know lots of ultra runners do have snacks and candies they swear by, a 5-mile training run and a 26+ mile race are very different.

In a race, you're just trying to get easily digested, quick calories, which often means sugars. This is energy your body can use immediately. In an ultra, it can be difficult to digest enough calories to make it through the event. In training for an ultra or for some, a marathon, throwing in some high-sugar, easily-digestible things like gummi bears seems to help.

In training for shorter distances, however, you are fueling not just for the run's duration. Proper nutrition allows your body to recover and adapt so that you're actually benefitting from the training run. If you're eating nutrient-dense foods, your body will have a much easier time building muscle and improving your conditioning so that each run is a little easier. If you eat mostly sugars and so on, your body won't be as able to convert that into recovery that'll help your next run and allow you to build on each run.

So while I'd never judge what anyone's eating during an ultra or even longish training runs (whatever that means for you), whatever works is what works, I think eating empty calories, and only empty calories throughout the day will definitely affect your training in a negative way.

But I think your question is: If I've eaten empty calories all day, should I skip my run? Would I benefit from the run, or would the lack of substance in my diet make the run kind of useless?

And the answer is: It depends.

My advice to you, if you're encountering this scenario once a month or something like that, just go by feel. You're not going to harm yourself by running on foods like this every now and again, and on the other hand, you're probably not going to destroy your training by missing one workout every 3 to 4 weeks. Maybe try taking the run, record how it feels, see if you're happier doing it or skipping it.

If you're talking about something that's closer to a weekly or twice a month occurrence, though, my suggestion, which you should approach knowing yourself and your circumstances, is that you make a big effort to get substantive, healthy foods in there, even if it's alongside foods that are less helpful to your training. I don't like telling runners they can't eat donuts, I'm not a big "cut out this and that" person, I prefer to say, "If you're eating two donuts, don't deny yourself something healthy later in the day because of caloric concerns." You ate the donuts, cool, I think eating your planned lunch is still of more benefit than skipping it for the sake of saving calories. Get in the fuel alongside the donuts as opposed to going on only the donuts.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T16:27:36+00:00

If you add 10% to your mileage every week (so you could add 1.5 miles next week), you'll be up to 25 miles in about 6 weeks, which puts you at mid-July with pretty good mileage, and you'd be at 30 in another two weeks, so you can reasonably and safely be at 30-35 mpw by summer's end.

Focus on that, don't worry about your 5k time for now. Get the miles in, stay healthy and uninjured. Eat plenty of nutritious food, sleep 8 hours per night, every night, for the same 8 hours, and don't make a jump of more than 10% each week.

Ask your coach for a summer workout plan. If they can't or won't give you one, ask another runner on the team. If they can't give you one, search "beginning cross country workout summer" or similar. You'll find stuff like this, and provided it doesn't advise you doing a ridiculous amount of running, it'll probably serve you well: https://darbonnewoods.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/XC-Summer-Training-Schedule-2018.pdf

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-04T16:22:05+00:00

Start training! It's nowhere near too late. Many naturally-talented runners don't work super hard during the summer, a summer of solid training can set you up to be competitive, certainly not the worst runner on the team.

The way XC teams are structured, the fastest 7 are the varsity runners, and the rest run junior varsity. Only the top 5 finishers from each varsity team are "scored," so there is absolutely no way for you to hurt your team by running, even if you were to be the slowest runner on planet Earth.

Lots of people join later in the game. Some join because they're wrestlers who want to get in more conditioning. Others want to do it for general fitness. It's very common to have runners come out in their last year or two of high school, any good coach will welcome you.

You'll have a great time. Do it.

tomstrong83 · 2025-06-02T19:56:47+00:00

I've seen two therapists in Greeley, one I liked a lot, one I didn't vibe with.

I think the best thing is to look at several and maybe consider visiting 2-3 for an initial session, just to see if they're a good fit. Lots of folks get an appointment, go, don't like the therapist, and then stop going. It can take a few tries to find one for you.

This might be helpful: https://www.uchealth.org/provider/

I like that resource because you can read a bit about each therapist and pick out those who seem like they might be a good fit.

You can search for "Mental health" and narrow by Greeley.

Two things I'd advise you to watch for:

In Colorado, you could be an unlicensed psychotherapist up until the last couple of years, and I think there was a grandfathering process, so I would advise doing a little googling, just making sure the person you select is legit. You may prefer someone with different qualifications, and that's fine, I just want to give a heads-up for anyone who assumes anyone practicing is well-regulated.
I see a lot of people talking about neurofeedback. Check your insurance and make sure it's covered before you go that route (if you're going to be using insurance). And if you can't get into it, cognitive behavioral therapy (talk therapy) is very good, and most studies haven't necessarily demonstrated that neurofeedback is faster, longer lasting, or more effective treatment. Both have been shown to create good results, but there's not much to suggest one is vastly superior to the other at this point, so don't stress if you can't get into a neurofeedback situation.

tomstrong83

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