Work on Your Game

Last night was Selection Sunday, and I think Michigan is in the toughest bracket. By that I mean I could see any of the top 5 seeds in their region making the Final Four. They ended up with a 4th seed and face S. Dakota State in round 1, then most likely VCU if they make it to round 2. After that they would be looking at either Kansas or UNC, and then either Florida, G'town or UCLA (unlikely). Not that I expect them to get that far. I'm hoping they make it to the Sweet 16 but I'm not optimistic.

Well, I ran my 10k early Sunday morning. I took off with the first wave (under 10 minute mile pace) at 8am, and it was quite chilly (mainly due to the wind). My goal was to average an 8:30 mile pace for the full 6.2 miles, which would put me at around 52:45 for the whole race. I clocked the first mile at 8:47, the next 1.5 miles I ran about 8:19 pace, and then I slowed to somewhere between 8:30 & 8:40 for the rest of the race, until I got to the last 3/4 mile. I picked it up & ran something like an 8:00 pace to the finish. 

All told I ran a total time of 53:44 officially, which breaks down to an 8:40 average pace. Not bad. The GPS racing watch I'm borrowing put the distance at 6.27 mi instead of 6.2. If the watch is correct and the course is long, then I ran an 8:34 pace, which is pretty sweet. Either way I'm happy with the result. I ended up in the middle of the pack for my age group, and in the top 10% overall.

I didn't see any skunks, but on the way to Plymouth a rabbit crossed the road in front of our car. I told Gina it's not the same thing as seeing a skunk. She concurred, bringing to mind the Mitch Hedberg bit about Smokey the Bear. To paraphrase: nobody ever said "here comes that bunny rabbit" in a horrifying manner. It's always positive, like, "hey! Here comes that bunny rabbit. Alright! Maybe he will settle near me, and I can pet him"... I digress...

Anyway, after doing fairly well in the 10k, I was feeling all big & bad for my run this morning. Never mind my calves were still sore, that it was even colder & windier, and my usual route is more hilly - I was going to crush this! Well, I ran the first mile at a speedy 7:17, the next at about 8:50, and the next at 8:55. The lesson - don't try to crush your run the day after a 10k, just get it done.

I've been watching a few of this guy's tutorial videos for different basketball drills & exercises. His name is Dre Baldwin, he's played pro ball in Europe & is trying to get on a D league team. I'm just trying to get good for the Saturday pickup game. Anyway, people always ask him stuff like "I'm a PG, what's the best shoe for me", "is it better to use the glass with the floater", and stuff like that. His response is usually something like "you're thinking too much", "it doesn't matter if your game is good" and "work on your game".

I'm kinda running with that philosophy right now (literally & figuratively). Basically, put in the work, be strong mentally, and don't sweat the details so much. I think our tendency as humans is to look for the easy way to accomplish something or to look for an excuse as to why we couldn't do it. Usually the answer is as simple as "work harder". So, WORK ON YOUR GAME.