When Being Jewish Means Being Afraid

The Jewish quarter in Baghdad in 1925.Credit...Marion O'Connor/Royal Geographical Society, via Getty Images

With the election coming up this coming November, I wanted to share this very well written opinion piece from the New York Times.  We as Jews need to pay close attention to who we vote for to ensure that the increasing anti-Semitism in this country is not given another boost if we re-elect a President who won’t come out and say that anti-Semitism is bad and should not be tolerated.

When Being Jewish Means Being Afraid
The recent uptick in anti-Semitic crimes has made me appreciate my mother’s concerns in unexpected ways.

By Jordan Salama

Growing up, my brothers and I often teased my mom for having what we thought was an irrational fear of being identified as a Jew.

She painted over the Star of David on a duffle bag because when we were traveling, she didn’t want people “to know.” She warned my dad not to drive fast to my aunt’s house on Yom Kippur because she thought more speed traps were set during the Jewish holidays.

If we said a word like “Shabbat” in a department store, she seemed to hear it from aisles away. We were not to say Jewish things too loudly in public, she taught us. Better to be safe.

These things did not make sense to us, three brothers extraordinarily lucky to have grown up in a New York suburb where safety was hardly a worry at all, where any kind of violent crime — let alone violence against Jews — was so rare it was almost unfathomable. But my mother had her own reasons, and they were valid, for she grew up not in the United States but in Baghdad — watching, through the wide and curious eyes of a 6-year-old in the early 1970s, as 2,000 years of peaceful Jewish life there came crashing down around her.

She doesn’t like to talk about Iraq much, but my grandmother Fortunée and my aunt Cynthia do. Some of the most memorable moments of my childhood were spent in Long Island living rooms, sitting beside them as they told me, in a spellbinding mix of English and Arabic, stories of life in a country that ultimately rejected them after such a long and rich history of coexistence.

They shared tales of my great-great-great-grandfather, a trader who famously owned a caravan of more than 1,000 camels and traveled the Silk Road from Baghdad to Aleppo and Isfahan and beyond; of my great-grandfather, who built Iraq’s first cinema and movie studio; of the family house, with courtyard gardens so luscious they attracted wedding parties from all over the city.

In the summertime the children flew kites and slept peacefully on the cool roof. Jews were jurists and government officials; one was even the first minister of finance. They lived side-by-side with Christians and Muslims; they were business partners, neighbors, close friends who supported one another.

But these stories were always set up as the beginning of the end. Sprinkled throughout paradise were the warning signs, each worse than the next, until there was no choice but to leave. In the 1930s it was mainly political rhetoric; then in June 1941 it was the “Farhud,” a pogrom that killed nearly 200 Jews and injured hundreds more. By the 1950s more than three-quarters of Iraq’s Jews had fled the country; just over a decade later, around the time my mother was born, the few remaining Jews saw their assets frozen and their passports revoked.

My mother remembers when they imprisoned her father along with other Jews, remembers her mother going every day to the jail where he was being held, remembers the emptiness the family felt the morning after her cousins escaped over the border to Iran. When she was 3 years old, in January 1969, nine Jews were hanged in the main city square. By 1972, my mother’s family was among some of the last to leave, bound for the United States. Today, the number of Jews remaining in Iraq is reported to be in the single digits.

This is the story my mother remembers, the story she has always feared would repeat itself. That no matter how comfortable we as Jews may feel today, it only takes a small group of people (and a large group of people to sit idly by) to turn everything on its head. I remember watching with her in our living room as Donald Trump assumed the presidency in 2017. It was on her mind. As he approached the podium for his oath she asked me, with tears welling in her eyes, “Are we going to have to leave?”

At that point I didn’t think the answer was yes; I’m not sure I do now, either. But with each incident that has followed, family conversations have become more frequently wrapped up in those kinds of questions. First there was “Jews will not replace us” in Charlottesville, Va. Then the attack in Pittsburgh, on a synagogue that looked an awful lot like ours. Then San Diego, Jersey City and other smaller but significant incidents in between.

Jewish students’ experiences on college campuses are becoming increasingly uncomfortable. This fall, swastikas were drawn in a school in our district, and in another one nearby. And in December, there were several anti-Semitic attacks in a little over a week in New York — arguably the Jewish capital of this country — ending with the Hanukkah stabbings in Monsey.

Now is the first time that I have truly felt, in my (admittedly few) 23 years of life, such an overwhelming fear of impending doom. It seems to be all anyone talks about anymore, perpetually swirling around us, and for good reason. If war won’t destroy the world, climate change will. And now to add to it, the wave of anti-Semitic attacks over the past year are instilling the seeds of fear into many millennial American Jews for perhaps the first time. Not even, perhaps, because we fear for ourselves — but because we fear for the future of our children and our grandchildren. I can’t help but think this is unnatural: We are so young! Many of us have yet to figure things out for ourselves, have yet to hold our own in the world.

And yet we wonder and worry for those who will follow us because we are so palpably and devastatingly confronted with hints of what they will face if we do not act.

My mother, I now understand, has carried that very same fear with her all along. Well before any of the warning signs of the past few years, before anyone else seemed to be concerned, she was, because she had lived it. She was part of a community that had once felt exceptionally durable and perfectly coexistent, but instead fell apart before her eyes.

The answer, of course, is to act. (We are all guilty of not acting.) To push back on our suffocating culture of complacency — that if we’re not directly in harm’s way, right now, we do nothing — and be the ones to go against the grain until the grain goes in the right direction. Make people uncomfortable when they say or do something they shouldn’t, no matter how innocuous it may seem, so that we may look back upon these decades not as the moment when more could have been done, but as a mere malignant spike in a generally positive direction.

Our children will thank us for looking out for them. For understanding all that is at risk. I now thank my mom every chance I get.

Jan 2 – 10.20 miles (1:19:48, 8:48 pace) – Tempo Run
Jan 3 – 5.20 miles (45:56, 8:50 pace)
Jan 4 – 8.50 miles (1:17:42, 9:09 pace)
Jan 5 – 8.30 miles (1:18:00, 9:24 pace)
Jan 6 – 4.50 miles (49:05, 10:55 pace) – Hill Repeats
Jan 7 – 3.50 miles (26:54, 7:41 pace) – Speed Work
Jan 9 – 10.40 miles (1:29:24, 8:36 pace) – Tempo Run
Jan 10 – 4.20 miles (37:30, 8:56 pace)
Jan 11 – 10.10 miles (1:30:30, 8:58 pace)
Jan 12 – 8.30 miles (1:17:36, 9:21 pace)
Jan 13 – 4.60 miles (48:55, 10:38 pace) – Hill Repeats
Jan 14 – 7.30 miles (01:02:25, 8:33 pace) – Speed Work
Jan 17 – 5.20 miles (45:47, 8:49 pace)
Jan 18 – 9.20 miles (1:23:26, 9:04 pace)
Jan 19 – 8.30 miles (1:17:07, 9:17 pace)

Total Miles:  107.80 miles
2020 Total Miles:  107.80 miles

Another Year of Running is in the Books

It is hard to believe another year has passed.  It seems like only yesterday when I was flying to Orlando to run the Dopey Challenge.  I remember sitting on the plane wondering how it would go and would I be able to complete all four races.  I was nervous and excited at the same time.  In the end it was one of the best running experiences I have had in my running life.  I was so euphoric as I crossed the finish line of the marathon having run 48.6 miles over four days.  It was at that exact moment I realized what running had become for me – freedom.  Running gives me enough freedom from life’s burdens to keep wanting to do it more and often.  It frees me from my dark thoughts and stresses minimizing them until they disappear entirely.  As I finish each run, I am free from all the darkness and stress thankful to be able to simply focus on the run itself and every unconscious breath I take each time I head out.

Running is my healthy addiction.  To say that I am obsessed with running does not truly capture how much it is a part of my life.  Running has allowed me to see parts of the world I would never see from a car or plane.  I get to see new places on foot and really experience them on a micro-level.  Each training run or race is a singular adventure that only I can experience.  It allows me to be fully in tune with my body and marvel at what it can do.  I constantly challenge myself to see if there is a limit to what I can do or how far I can push my body.  Running has taught me that I can accomplish anything if I put in the work and push myself to the limit.  So it is not just an obsession but a passion.

Running has shown me that it is a huge community of giving people.  I have found some of my closest friends through running.  All of the adventure relay races I have run have shown me who my true supporters are.  They are the crazy runner friends that wake up at 4:30 AM on race day to head to the starting line to cheer the first runner on. They are the ones that stand out on a desolate road in the middle of the night, cold and tired just to cheer me on.  To me this is the definition of friendship and love.  Our love for each other is now greater than our love for running.  And these are the people that I would do anything for and will hold them in my heart until I reach my final finish line.

As a Jew and a runner, I believe that every single person is put on this earth and at this time, with a mission of tikkun olam – repairing the world.  That repair must come through human actions. It is our responsibility to change, improve, and fix our world in any way we can.  As a runner, I have run 4 different marathons for charity where I raised money to fund research in finding cures for cancer.  I do this because as a Jew, I know that I must have a hand in working towards the betterment of our own existence as well as the lives of future generations.  Running allows me to do this.  It is individuals like me, not God, who will bring the world back to its original state of holiness.  Runners know this truth even if they are not Jewish.  Runners take care of each other and are there to lift each other up when they are down because we have all been there.  We runners do this because we know we are not only skin, bones and blood but heart and soul.

Of course I have learned perseverance and resilience over my running life.  But that flash of insight I received as I crossed the WDW Marathon finish line last January was the clarity that we are all in this together.  As runners, we push and strive to reach great heights in our sport.  When we achieve those heights, we understand the deepest parts of our soul.  We know that there is an unlimited reserve of potential deep within us, we just need to dig into the most hidden parts of our hearts and souls to release it.  And most importantly, runners know that we need each other to reach that finish line.  When we model good and caring behaviors, we are the individuals helping to repair our world.  When the rest of the world understands that and lives it like we runners do, then we finally bring our world back to holiness.

Happy New Year!

Dec 2 – 6.20 miles (1:05:00, 10:29 pace) – Hill Repeats
Dec 3 – 7.30 miles (1:00:47, 8:20 pace) – Speed Work
Dec 5 – 9.40 miles (1:22:34, 8:37 pace) – Tempo Run
Dec 6 – 4.20 miles (40:11, 9:34 pace)
Dec 7 – 7.10 miles (1:08:59, 9:43 pace)
Dec 8 – 8.10 miles (1:17:00, 9:30 pace)
Dec 9 – 5.20 miles (54:29, 10:29 pace) – Hill Repeats
Dec 13 – 4.50 miles (41:47, 9:17 pace)
Dec 14 – 8.10 miles (1:14:36, 9:13 pace)
Dec 15 – 8.30 miles (1:19:08, 9:32 pace)
Dec 16 – 5.80 miles (1:01:10, 10:33 pace) – Hill Repeats
Dec 17– 6.90 miles (59:53, 8:41 pace) – Speed Work
Dec 19 – 9.10 miles (1:21:38, 8:58 pace) – Tempo Run
Dec 20 – 4.50 miles (41:37, 9:15 pace)
Dec 21 – 8.10 miles (1:16:54, 9:29 pace)
Dec 22 – 7.30 miles (1:08:39, 9:24 pace)
Dec 23 – 5.20 miles (54:31, 10:29 pace) – Hill Repeats
Dec 24 – 7.70 miles (01:06:15, 8:36 pace) – Speed Work
Dec 26 – 10.40 miles (1:32:34, 8:54 pace) – Tempo Run
Dec 27 – 4.10 miles (37:02, 9:02 pace)
Dec 28 – 8.20 miles (1:17:19, 9:26 pace)
Dec 30 – 6.10 miles (1:04:34, 10:35 pace) – Hill Repeats
Dec 31 – 6.70 miles (56:03, 8:22 pace) – Speed Work

Total Miles:  158.50 miles
2019 Total Miles:  1,695.80 miles

I am thankful for what running provides

As I sat at my Thanksgiving table surrounded by my family, I knew I had so much to be thankful for.  Since this is a blog about my running life, I wanted to reflect on what I am thankful for about running.  The one thing that has remained consistent in my life is my running.  No matter where my life takes me, the people, places and circumstances vary.  The through line of my life is running and training.  As you know, I run in different cities and climates.  I run short and long distances.  I train hard at times and take time off when I need to let my body recover.  I always have different goals with each running adventure I embark on.  But every time I head out – I know that I am doing something I love.

Throughout the 34 years I have been running, I see that this sport changes, pushes and challenges me.  No matter the outcome of a training run or race, I know that running also rewards me. Best of all, running allows me to be healthy and to live my life to its fullest.  I like to say this Jewish blessing each day when I get done with my training:

Blessed are You, our God, Spirit of the World, who wisely formed the human body. You created it with openings here and vessels there. You know well that should even one of these stay opened, or one of those stay closed, we could not long survive. Blessed are You, Healer of all flesh, who makes the wonders of creation.

Here are the things running provides me and that makes me thankful that it is an intricate part of my life:

• Running forces me to push myself beyond my limits.  To grow, I must embrace discomfort.  My training runs and schedules put me in uncomfortable situations.  As I push myself, I am a bit uncomfortable and scared.  I still wonder at times whether or not I will be able to complete my training run or race distance. But running has proved to me that I can push further than I ever imagined.  I now know that when I am in a state of discomfort I am growing and ultimately can achieve my greatest potential.  My life is better because it is led with a healthy balance of comfort and adventure.
• Running allows me to always feel like myself no matter where I am.  I have run in all 50 states, Italy, Poland, The Czech Republic, Germany, Canada and Puerto Rico.  Running has helped me feel like myself with each change in my life because of the consistency it brings.  Running is my anchor.  I wake up most days and regardless of the pressure and pain in my life I know that when I am out on the road running, I feel happy, free, and like me.
• Running allows me to be out in nature.  Even though I run on the treadmill to get in specific training goals, I am much happier when I am outside.  No matter where I run, when I am in the outdoors, I can observe the wonderful and beautiful world I live in.  I find that I get excited when I am running in a different environment.  While I am running, I enjoy the trees, animals, the stars, sun, clouds or the rare rain shower.  I use this time to contemplate and become one with nature.  I feel lucky to have the opportunity to get to know all of this because of running.  I have vowed to never take the world’s beauty for granted.
• Running provides me strong connections with others.  I have found that my running bonds me with so many people. Running provides a connection with other runners that feels unbreakable.  I have shared many experiences with family and friends finding that it helps to develop a deep connection with each of them.  It is a time and place that only we know and have experienced together.  When I am out on the road or in a race, I find  that just sharing a smile or wave from a fellow runner is all the encouragement I need to keep going.  
• Running helps me solve problems at work and in my life.  I am not sure how many problems I have solved on a run but there are many.  I have come up with ideas for my blog, discovered a compromise for a seemingly unsolvable problem, ways to rework my schedule to fit in both work and personal commitments, or simply deciding how to handle a difficult situation.  Running gives me the quiet time I need to be able to gather my thoughts.  Some of my best ideas have come during my runs.
• Running helps me reduce stress and anger.  Running has been the healthiest stress reliever I have ever found.  When I find myself so stressed or angry, I know the best option to eliminate the feeling is to stop and go for a run.  Those runs give me the time to de-stress and calm down.  I have never returned from a run not feeling calmer and more focused.  My friends and family can tell when I have not had a chance to get in a run.  My mood is visibly different.  Running has simply made me generally calmer.
• Running has allowed me to see new places from the ground level.  I travel a lot for my job meaning that I have the chance to run wherever I am.  All I need is my pair of running shoes and a run mapping app.  The app allows me to find a route that matches my training schedule.  I have discovered unique places on a run that I never would have had the chance to experience like the John Lennon Wall in Prague.  Running in new or familiar places is my favorite way to get a feel for the local area and culture.  I also travel to races to experience new adventures with my running team.  It is just a great excuse to get out and see the world on foot.
• Finally and importantly, running helps me maintain my health and get stronger.  Of course, running provides me with endorphins.  But more importantly it helps make my body stronger and protects me from illness.  Running makes my legs and immune system stronger.  I can see that my muscles gain strength during speed/tempo workouts and long runs.  My mind benefits as well.  My running provides me with a way to build myself both physically and mentally.  As I get older this aspect becomes more and more important.

I am sure if I thought about it a little longer there would be many more reasons that I am thankful to have found this lifelong passion.  After 34 years on the road, running and I are inseparable.  Running has helped to shape me into a better person.  I have found that I am more thoughtful.  I strive to be more considerate, compassionate and accepting of others and their points of view.  It forces me to face my worst characteristics head on.  It feeds my obsessive-compulsive disorder allowing me to not be as obsessive in other parts of my life.  Meeting so many other runners who share my passion has taught me gratitude for being a part of the running community.  The fact that I am alive, healthy and loved each and every day make my life rich beyond compare.

Run on my friends.

Oct 21 – 8.30 miles (1:13:11, 8:49 pace) – Tempo Run
Oct 22 – 5.10 miles (55:42, 10:56 pace) – Hill Repeats
Oct 24 – 3.13 miles (26:05, 8:20 pace)
Oct 25 – 5.10 miles (43:44, 8:33 pace)
Oct 26 – 7.10 miles (1:03:27, 8:56 pace)
Oct 27 – 3.10 miles (26:25, 8:31 pace)
Oct 28 – 6.30 miles (53:34, 8:30 pace) – Speed Work
Oct 29 – 5.10 miles (56:03, 11:00 pace) – Hill Repeats
Oct 31 – 5.10 miles (46:30, 9:07 pace)
Nov 1 – 8.30 miles (1:13:08, 8:49 pace) – Tempo Run
Nov 2 – 8.10 miles (1:14:33, 9:12 pace)
Nov 3 – 8.30 miles (1:18:11, 9:25 pace)
Nov 4 – 5.20 miles (1:00:35, 11:39 pace) – Hill Repeats
Nov 5 – 6.30 miles (53:26, 8:29 pace) – Speed Work
Nov 7 – 8.30 miles (1:12:33, 8:44 pace) – Tempo Run
Nov 8 – 4.10 miles (38:02, 9:17 pace)
Nov 9 – 7.10 miles (1:05:55, 9:17 pace)
Nov 10 – 8.40 miles (1:16:14, 9:05 pace)
Nov 11 – 5.10 miles (56:40, 11:05 pace) – Hill Repeats
Nov 12 – 6.30 miles (53:19, 8:27 pace) – Speed Work
Nov 16 – 8.10 miles (1:16:21, 9:26 pace)
Nov 17– 8.30 miles (1:17:34, 9:21 pace)
Nov 18 – 6.30 miles (1:03:59, 10:30 pace) – Hill Repeats
Nov 19 – 6.30 miles (53:07, 8:26 pace) – Speed Work
Nov 21 – 8.50 miles (1:14:56, 8:49 pace) – Tempo Run
Nov 22 – 5.20 miles (47:54, 9:13 pace)
Nov 23 – 7.50 miles (1:13:39, 9:49 pace)
Nov 24 – 8.30 miles (1:18:28, 9:27 pace)
Nov 25– 5.20 miles (56:30, 10:52 pace) – Hill Repeats
Nov 26 – 7.30 miles (1:03:12, 8:39 pace) – Speed Work
Nov 28 – 7.50 miles (1:10:44, 9:26 pace)
Nov 29 – 9.50 miles (1:24:43, 8:55 pace) – Tempo Run
Nov 30 – 7.50 miles (1:10:43, 9:26 pace)
Dec 1 – 7.50 miles (1:09:50, 9:19 pace)

Total Miles:  226.83 miles
2019 Total Miles:  1,537.30 miles

Time, Holiness and Leading an Extraordinary Life

I was reminded by my father that I had not posted a blog in over a month.  I have had numerous thoughts about what to write.  I just couldn’t seem to find the time to sit down and write.  I have had some major changes at work, the Jewish High Holidays and I am taking a class at my Temple most Sundays.  Regardless, I enjoy the writing process.  I just need to set aside the time and be more disciplined.  It dawned on me that I have been having to submit journal entries as part of my class assignments.  I decided to share one with you.

Since it was recently the High Holidays where Jews focus on the process of teshuvah (repentance), whereby a Jew admits to sins, asks for forgiveness, and resolves not to repeat the sins in the future, I wanted to share my journal from this week. Recognizing the psychological difficulty of self-examination and personal change, our rabbis instituted a 40-day period whose intensity increases toward its culmination on Yom Kippur, a day devoted entirely to fasting and repentance.   Our assignment for our journal was to write about how we mark time, define holiness and what is ordinary and extraordinary in our lives.  It was a tough assignment but what better way to reflect on where we have come up short this past year.

During the 40 days leading up to Yom Kippur, I reflect on the year I have lived.  I imagine that each year moves along in a predictable, linear fashion.  But that is not true when it comes to being Jewish.  If I look at the secular calendar, months and days are the same each year.  But in my Jewish life, the calendar is always changing.  All our holidays seem to come at unexpected moments and places on the calendar.  I sometimes find myself forgetting that a holiday is coming as they move around on the secular calendar.  They are seemingly out-of-sync with my secular life.

But in truth time is fluid.  So, I mark time in two ways.  First, I mark time using the marriage of the secular and Jewish calendars.  I focus on the secular calendar for work and my everyday life to know what is coming next.  The secular calendar allows me to schedule my training runs and other events in my life.  At the same time, I track my time based on the Jewish calendar.  As each holiday approaches and I look at the Jewish calendar, I am reminded that I am part of something bigger – the Jewish people.  And the holidays bring back a lot of memories and hopes in an accordioned knot of the past, present, and future.

Second, I see time in my children.  If I were to wake up and never look in a mirror, I would never feel like I am any older or different than I was at 17.  Sure, I have had a lot of experiences over the years.  But they seem to all compress into one continuous timeline.  It is only when I see my kids that I truly see how much time has passed.  My son’s 10th High School Reunion is next year, and he is getting married.  My daughter is now a professional tenant rep broker in the same real estate business I am in.  Yet it seems like only yesterday when I started my real estate career at Taco Bell. 

When I think about marking time, I always go back to one of my favorite quotes, ““Time is relative. In human life, time is experience. The faster you archive a significant experience to your memory, the more you live in the same clock time. In physics, experience is represented by the distance traveled, and this entire thing is called the Relativity of Time. I want to age and die through archiving my experiences, not watching my biological clock. Please don't waste my clock time with mediocrity and egotism, let me use it towards service to others.” (Alper Mazun).  The only thing I would change in this quote is to say that I want to age and die after living my life experiences to their fullest and leaving the world in a better condition than when I came into it.

If I am going to leave this world better than I found it, I should strive to lead a holy life.  During my conversion classes, I was taught that the Hebrew word kadosh translates to “holy” and comes from a term meaning “separate.”  Perhaps that is the way the Jews in the past viewed being holy.  A holy Jew kept himself separate from the profane or sins of others.  I would like to think that what holy really means is connection with others.  Leading a life focused on social ethics.  Finding ways to help those who are less fortunate than me.  The Torah tells us to befriend others.  “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you yourselves were strangers in the land of Egypt" and “You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt”.  Living an ethical life is one step on the path to holiness.  If we are truly created in God’s image, then I believe we should strive to reach higher in our daily lives.  We should strive to always do right when faced with dilemmas.  When we are intentional in acknowledging the depth of beauty in the world we live in and truly connect to others in a meaningful and helpful way then maybe we are more like the God that resides within us.  That is what being holy means to me.

If I am a holy person, I must be able to separate the ordinary and extraordinary in my life.  After much contemplation, I have come to the realization that I must find the extraordinary in the ordinary yet seemingly mundane things in my life.  What do I mean?  It’s simple.  When things are not necessarily going the way I want them to go, I try to find something in the process that is going well.  In this way I can be gratified and be more present in the moment.  Thus, truly experiencing the world around me.  I want to be fully engaged in what I am experiencing and try to find something awesome about it.  If I go out for a training run in the morning and can’t seem to get into the pace or head space I need to be in to complete the scheduled effort, I simply look around me and enjoy the fact that I can still run outside in a beautiful place.  I can enjoy the fact that my body is allowing me to be on the road running.

When I was younger, I always felt that I was just leading an ordinary life.   I would work hard, spend time with my family, watch TV, maybe go to the movies, etc.  I believed that I was not going to leave a mark on this world.  As I have aged, I realized that everyone lives extraordinary lives.  I just had to change my point of view.  I must pay attention to the good things in life and simply be grateful for what I have, rather than wish for more money or a nicer car or six pack abs.  Once I started to practice gratitude in my daily life, I started to see that I am leading an extraordinary life and that I am leaving my mark on the world through all the family and friends who I share my life with.

Sept 9 – 5.10 miles (1:02:51, 12:21 pace) – Hill Repeats
Sept 13 – 3.10 miles (28:14, 9:06 pace)
Sept 14 – 5.10 miles (49:56, 9:47 pace)
Sept 15 – 7.30 miles (1:09:36, 9:32 pace)
Sept 16 – 4.10 miles (51:08, 12:29 pace) – Hill Repeats
Sept 19 – 4.10 miles (38:59, 9:30 pace)
Sept 20 – 3.40 miles (32:01, 9:01 pace)
Sept 22 – 4.50 miles (42:00, 9:20 pace)
Sept 23 – 4.50 miles (55:34, 12:21 pace) – Hill Repeats
Sept 24 – 4.10 miles (39:23, 9:37 pace)
Sept 26 – 3.10 miles (27:10, 8:46 pace)
Sept 28 – 7.10 miles (1:07:41, 9:32 pace)
Sept 29 – 7.40 miles (1:10:18, 9:30 pace)
Sept 30 – 5.20 miles (1:00:14, 11:35 pace) – Hill Repeats
Oct 1 – 6.30 miles (53:35, 8:30 pace) – Speed Work
Oct 3 – 3.50 miles (32:00, 9:07 pace)
Oct 4 – 4.20 miles (39:46, 9:28 pace)
Oct 6 – 10.40 miles (1:35:48, 9:13 pace)
Oct 7 – 6.10 miles (1:07:28, 11:04 pace) – Hill Repeats
Oct 8 – 6.20 miles (53:20, 8:36 pace) – Speed Work
Oct 10 – 7.70 miles (1:08:11, 8:51 pace) – Tempo Run
Oct 11 – 4.20 miles (33:18, 9:09 pace)
Oct 12 – 7.10 miles (1:06:29, 9:22 pace)
Oct 13 – 7.50 miles (1:08:43, 9:10 pace)
Oct 14 – 5.10 miles (56:45, 11:08 pace) – Hill Repeats
Oct 15 – 6.30 miles (53:19, 8:27 pace) – Speed Work
Oct 17 – 8.30 miles (1:13:14, 8:49 pace) – Tempo Run
Oct 18 – 4.10 miles (37:03, 9:02 pace)
Oct 19 – 6.20 miles (54:36, 8:48 pace)
Oct 20 – 7.10 miles (1:04:52, 9:08 pace)

Total Miles:  168.40 miles
2019 Total Miles:  1,310.47 miles