For those without little kids, it may come as a surprise to learn that much has changed when it comes to school choice. With a current 7th grader and 5th grader, among others, I have learned that going to middle school is no longer “just go the middle school.” Instead, students in our district mayContinue reading “Chilling Out About Middle School”
Author Archives: Chris Smith
Colorado Bend
One can live for decades in the same place and yet be ignorant of awesome things near home. For me one of those things is Colorado Bend State Park, which is now my favorite Texas State Park. Colorado Bend is located a little over two hours from Austin and San Antonio; just far enough toContinue reading “Colorado Bend”
Last-Minute Training
Last week I signed up for the Bandera 100k as insurance in case my main race set for August is cancelled. By waiting until late October to enter a January race, I left myself only eleven weeks to prepare. Not very long. My preference is to leave plenty of time to train. Pushing to runContinue reading “Last-Minute Training”
2021 Race Picture
For most of us COVID scratched the 2020 race season. There were a few early races that went off, as well as a handful later in the year in states that opened up or never closed (Way to go Bear 100!). But many of us haven’t raced since 2019 and are itching to get somethingContinue reading “2021 Race Picture”
Urban Treasures
On a trip to visit family I found myself with an hour to kill in downtown Baltimore. Wanting to stretch my legs I consulted the map and saw a big square of green labeled Patterson Park. I was born in Baltimore and spent much of my life in the area but had never heard ofContinue reading “Urban Treasures”
The Hard Way
Modernity has created comfortable pitfalls that prevent most of us from reaching our potential. Most of us train in the expensive, complex, and easy way. Only a minority really trains the simple, hard way. What do I mean? I mean in every discipline only a small proportion of amateur athletes, usually the highest performers, trainContinue reading “The Hard Way”
Old shoes never die, they just fade away
Recently a friend new to running asked how often I replace my shoes. She had heard that they should be replaced every 250 miles and was surprised when I told her that some of my shoes last over 700 miles even though I do lots of running on rough rocky trails. Throw out any “replaceContinue reading “Old shoes never die, they just fade away”
Time for Real School
As a follow-up to my recent COVID post, this weekend I came across a survey database of infection rates at schools in the US. It strongly suggests that schools are not impacting the spread of COVID and that in-person schools are not an elevated risk for teachers. These data were collected by a company calledContinue reading “Time for Real School”
Its Time
Like everything else these days, reopening schools has become just another issue for political cultists to fight about. The lack of nuanced leadership based on an objective view of what we know and what we don’t is, and I say this with extreme understatement, disappointing. My family is re-engaging with most of the pre-COVID activitiesContinue reading “Its Time”
Patience
For something that is supposedly good for us, running can do a lot of damage. Our injuries rarely announce themselves with the “pop” of a tendon rupturing or the sight of a bone sticking out of the skin. Instead, running injuries are sneaky bastards. One day we are fine, the next a little stiff. ThenContinue reading “Patience”
Vamonos Baby! 