Going nowhere (relatively) fast

I love the track.  I know:  what kind of masochistic streak is inside me?  Stay with me here.  I love the track, because you can't fool it, can't lie about it, can't trick it.  If you run a 400, it's a 400, not 395 and not 405.  And if you run mile repeats, they're a mile (well, okay 1600m), and your splits don't lie.  Just like the clock (or watch) doesn't lie.  And I know the track.  I've been running around one for the better part of 3 decades.  I can run faster on the track than on the road.  I cannot run as fast if I run clockwise around the track instead of counterclockwise (left turns).  Now, I've never been really fast, so it's all a relative thing, and my times from my youth are definitely faded memories.  Nothing short of a miracle is going to make my times on a track go backwards.  But I still love the track.  Today was a track workout if you haven't guessed by now.  It was REALLY windy, and I was running 600's.  The first turn was crazy hard into a cross-headwind, then a tailwind down the backstretch, back into a headwind down the home stretch, back into the cross-headwind, and then a finish with a tailwind.  I finished my 5 x 600's just as the first drops of rain started.  Tomorrow is a cross-training day with my lonely bike and trainer (I say lonely, because I have not ridden it in several weeks).  I might have to brush off the cobwebs before I start!

There's one more thing:  I was driving home and was listening to sports radio as I usually do.  A mention was made of the 1993 NC State NCAA National Championship basketball team.  The conversation turned to Jim Valvano, as it invariably does.  I remember hearing his "Don't Give Up" ESPY speech and being particularly moved by it.  Here is one of his quotes, by which I think we should all live:  "To me, there are three things we all should do every day.  We should do this every day of our lives.  Number one is laugh.  You should laugh every day.  Number two is think.  You should spend some time in thought.  And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy.  But think about it.  If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day.  That's a heck of a day.  You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special."