October 10, 1979 (Wednesday)

From running log:
Cross country practice. 1 mile warmup jog, 3.5 mile workout (4.5 miles total), on the roads (Ninth Ave and Seventh Ave). Another cool, drizzly day, 50F. We also ran some stairs inside the high school. Easy day before tomorrow's race. Tomorrow, I want to work for a strong race throughout, I have to run the 2nd mile stronger, while still going out fast in the first mile. Gotta beat Boehm again.

30 years later:
After an easy run on the roads of Baraboo, we were a bit damp and chilled, so partly to warm ourselves up, we ran up and down some stairs in the BHS gym. Yes, on a day following a race and with a race the next day. What can I say, we weren't exactly well-coached! Our strength was in a shared sense of determination and motivation, not in our scientific training regimen.

On the next day we'd get our first good look at the course that would be used for the conference championship. I would have given just about anything to have that race hosted on our hilly and difficult home course, but the race host was determined by some kind of rotation and we had no control over that. I wanted to go into the conference meet with the best time in the conference, as added intimidation for my rivals.