The Workshop
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Personal Briefing

🌅Personal Briefing - Monday, April 27, 2026

Good morning. Here's your personal read.

🏃Training

🏃Today's Plan

🎯 5K - 2026-05-02 (4 days out) Phase: taper → race week starts 2026-04-30 (3 days) This week: Cut volume, one short race-pace pickup early in the week, then easy only the final 3 days. Next week: Finish taper and race-week shakeouts. Why today: Work is done - short pickups keep the legs sharp without digging in before the 5K. After this: 10K on 2026-06-20 (53 days out)

🏃 Today (Monday): 5-min pickup at race pace · skip · 8-min stretch Target pace: race pace - short pickups, controlled not all-out Taper sharpening - short pickup at race pace to keep the legs primed for 5K. 3 days since last hard effort.

Best window: Lunch - 58°F, sunny, wind 10 mph

📊This Week

Tue: 10-min easy run · 10-min abs · 5-min stretch · pace 9:30–10:00/mi - final 3 days - easy only Wed: 15-min easy shakeout · skip · 10-min stretch + dynamic warmup · pace 9:45–10:15/mi - shakeout before 5K

This week: 0 runs · 0.0 mi · 0 min Zone check: 38% easy - ⚠️ concern (taper target ≥80%). Easy days are still too fast, RT. Slow to 9:30+/mi on easy days.

Recent runs:

  • Mon 04-20 · 1.1 mi · 10 min · 8:34/mi (Z3)
  • Tue 04-21 · 1 mi · 7 min · 6:47/mi (Z6)
  • Wed 04-22 · 1.1 mi · 9 min · 8:16/mi (Z3)
  • Thu 04-23 · 1.1 mi · 9 min · 8:19/mi (Z3)
  • Sat 04-25 · 3.2 mi · 32 min · 10:11/mi (easy)

✓ 0 family walks this week - keep it up, those matter too.

☘️Notre Dame Sports

🏈Football

Notre Dame landed a four-star 2027 safety on Saturday in Zayden Gamble, who chose the Irish over Miami, Florida, and Ohio State. The Fort Lauderdale (St. Thomas Aquinas) prospect is the No. 13 safety nationally and the No. 177 overall recruit in the 2027 Rivals industry rankings. He pulled the trigger after just one campus visit (March 21), bypassing what was supposed to be a four-school official visit slate that would have stretched to a July 16 commitment date. He's the program's 10th 2027 commit and fourth defensive back pledge - Marcus Freeman's defensive back room is starting to look like a recruiting strength again. Gamble's father David was an undrafted free agent with the Eagles in 1994 and a member of Denver's 1998 Super Bowl roster.

The TE pipeline lives. Eli Raridon's third-round selection by the Patriots last weekend kept Notre Dame's tight end draft streak alive - every TE1 from the program over the last 20 years has now been drafted. It's the kind of credential that shows up on living-room visits, and it doesn't really get old.

Undrafted free agent fallout: safety Jalen Stroman signed with the 49ers as a UDFA, joining the post-draft scramble. Aamil Wagner, the offensive lineman who went undrafted, is expected to find a UDFA home this week.

Upcoming:

  • 2026 season opener (Week 1) - coming into focus through summer

Last Result: Blue-Gold Game - Blue 41, Gold 40 (Sat Apr 25)

🏀Women's Basketball

The portal class is now official: Niele Ivey added Louisville sophomore Anaya Hardy (signed April 17 - 4.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 66.6% FG in 27 starts) and Princeton's Natasha St. Rose (signed April 21 - 13.2 ppg, 1.3 spg over 92 games and 83 starts). Combined with the No. 1 high school class - Jacy Abii (No. 9 nationally), Jenica Lewis (No. 24), Bella Ragone (No. 30), and Amari Byles (No. 37) - the roster work for next year is essentially done. The next news beat is summer practice.

Upcoming: Summer workouts begin in late May.

🥍Lacrosse

Men's lacrosse is four days from its ACC Tournament semifinal with No. 4 Virginia in Charlotte. The Irish (10-1, 3-1 ACC) are the No. 1 seed for a third straight year and ride a 16-11 win over Syracuse Saturday into the bracket. Top seed plus a defense that held Syracuse to 2 third-quarter goals plus the ACC's most balanced offense - the path to a third national title is opening up.

Women's lacrosse is now in the waiting room. The Irish (12-5, 6-4 ACC) are out of the ACC Tournament after the 12-9 quarterfinal loss to Clemson last Wednesday and now wait on the NCAA selection show next Sunday. USA Lacrosse bracketology had them in before the loss; the question is whether the body of work survives a quarterfinal exit without leading scorer Kate Timarky.

Upcoming:

  • Men: Fri May 1 - vs. No. 4 Virginia, ACC Tournament Semifinal, 5:00 p.m. ET (ACC Network), Charlotte
  • Women: Sun May 3 - NCAA Selection Show, 9:00 p.m. ET (ESPNU)

Last Result:

  • Men: Beat Syracuse 16-11 (Sat Apr 25)
  • Women: Lost to Clemson 12-9 in ACC Quarterfinals (Wed Apr 23)

📋Around the Program

  • Softball swept Boston College yesterday with a 10-2 run-rule win in five innings at Melissa Cook - the team's first sweep of the season. Notre Dame is now 23-27 (11-13 ACC) and finishes the regular season with midweek games against UIC (Tuesday, 5:00 p.m., Taylor Swift Night with free admission) and one more home tilt before the ACC Tournament (May 6-9 at Virginia).
  • Baseball lost a heartbreaker yesterday - Boston College's Kyle Wolff hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to flip a 7-6 series finale at Frank Eck. The Irish dropped the series 2-1 and now head into the final stretch before the ACC Tournament (May 19, Charlotte).

🔴Utah Utes

🏈Football

Spring camp is done with no spring game, and the question hanging over the offseason is how cleanly Devon Dampier translates his 2025 production (2,490 passing yards, 24 TDs, 835 rushing yards, 10 rushing TDs) into Kevin McGiven's installed offense. Dampier wasn't at 100% when camp opened but practiced through it, and McGiven's recent assessment - "the command he's developed of the offense, especially over the last couple of practices, has been really impressive to see" - is the most positive reading you'll get this time of year. Backup Byrd Ficklin reportedly looked sharp in the same window. The completely rebuilt offensive line under first-year line coach Jordan Gross remains the variable that defines Utah's 2026 ceiling.

The receiver room got the depth boost it needed in Braeden Pegan, the Utah State transfer (926 yards, 5 TDs, 60 catches in 2025), who's reportedly been helping younger Utes pick up the system in addition to learning it himself.

Upcoming:

  • Aug 30 - season opener (Week 1, opponent TBD on schedule)

🤸Gymnastics

The 2027 outlook is squarely the focus after Utah's 2026 NCAA Championships miss - the Red Rocks return three All-Americans (Makenna Smith, Avery Neff, Ella Zirbes) plus regular-season All-American Camie Winger. The 2026 freshman class arrives with five-star Bailey Stroud (Indiana, multi-time national champion expected to immediately push for bars/beam/floor rotation spots) headlining four newcomers. The 2027 commit class continues to fill in around them - four-star Emma Howells (a future Ute) just put up a personal best 9.750 floor and an all-around title at her elite meet. College Gym News had a "Way Too Early Predictions for the 2027 Season" piece run last week - Utah is squarely back in the top-tier conversation.

Upcoming: 2027 season begins in January.

📋Around the Program

  • Men's golf opens the Big 12 Championship today at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas - a consensus top-25 layout with strong winds and gnarly rough in the forecast. All 16 teams play 36 holes today, then 18 each Tuesday and Wednesday for a 72-hole event. Live on ESPN+. This is Utah's second crack at the conference title under the Big 12 banner.
  • Men's basketball roster sits at 13 after recent commits - guards TJ Burch and Taison Chatman, plus 6-8 forward Alec Anigbata and Israeli guard Noam Yaacov are the headline additions; Obomate Abbey and Colin McHaney are off the 2026-27 roster. Two roster spots remain.

🌰Ohio State Buckeyes

🏈Football

Spring practice ended with a Gray (defense) 35-26 win in the April 18 spring game, and the standouts were exactly the names you'd expect. Julian Sayin had a short, controlled day capped by a 4-yard touchdown run on the opening drive - he's still QB1, but his rep count was managed. The bigger story was redshirt freshman Tavien St. Clair connecting with freshman wideout Chris Henry Jr. for two deep shots in the first quarter, including a 40-yard touchdown. Henry finished with nearly 100 receiving yards in the scrimmage and looks like he'll force his way onto the field in 2026 even with the depth chart in front of him. Behind St. Clair and Henry, freshman defensive playmaker Jay Timmons earned reps that suggest a real role.

The historic 2026 NFL Draft haul is fully in the books at 11 picks - four selections in the first 11 (Tate No. 4 Tennessee, Reese No. 5 NYG, Styles No. 7 Washington, Downs No. 11 Dallas) made it the program's first such draft in 59 years and just the third school ever to do it. Combined with 14 picks in 2025, the 25-pick two-year total tied the all-time record (with Georgia). Two tight ends drafted in the same year for the first time ever - Kacmarek (No. 87, Miami) joined Will Howard's group on Day 2.

Recruiting note for Notre Dame fans: Zayden Gamble's commitment to ND on Saturday is a Buckeyes loss - Ohio State was one of the four finalists.

Upcoming:

  • Aug 30 - season opener (Week 1, opponent TBD on schedule)

📋Around the Program

  • Basketball portal watch: the Buckeyes' backcourt is set with Justin Pippen, Jimmie Williams, and Curtis Givens III, plus forward Andrija Jelavić and former Alabama five-star DL James Smith on the football side. The Jalen Haralson (formerly committed to Notre Dame) recruitment is still a three-team chase among Ohio State, North Carolina, and Tennessee - no decision yet.

🏔️Treasure Valley

🍽️Food & Drink

No new openings or closures to flag this morning. The 2026 pipeline still in motion in the background:

  • The Boise Post (rooftop atop the AC/Element on Grove) tracking for spring.
  • Boise Thai Noodle House at 908 W. Main targeting spring.
  • Hemlock steakhouse moving into the old Richard's space.
  • Coa Cantina in Barber Valley, Cán Coctelería speakeasy above Amano, and Idaho Burrito all opening this spring.
  • Handel's Ice Cream first Idaho location, late spring/early summer at 1581 E. State Street, Eagle.

🎉Events & Things to Do

  • Tonight (Mon Apr 27): Twen at the Basement at Shrine Social Club, 7 p.m.
  • Tue Apr 28: Vincent Neil Emerson and Kade Hoffman at Shrine Social Club. Notre Dame softball Taylor Swift Night (free admission) - TV-appropriate from afar.
  • Wed Apr 29: August Burns Red at Revolution Concert House, Garden City.
  • Thu Apr 30: Built to Spill at Shrine Social Club. Griffin House at the Sapphire Room (Riverside Hotel). Drunk Shakespeare at the Morrison Center, 5 p.m.
  • Sat May 2: Capital City Public Market resumes its full season - every Saturday now through December at The Grove, 9:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.

📰Local Headlines

  • Apple is coming to The Village at Meridian. Building permits were filed last week with the City of Meridian for "Apple Store – The Village at Meridian," sited in a new building under construction. Nothing on the official opening date yet, but the permit step is a real signal. The Treasure Valley would finally get a full Apple retail presence outside of resellers.
  • Boise State spring game drew a big Saturday crowd at Albertsons Stadium. Spencer Danielson formatted the scrimmage as a fan event with live tackling, trick plays, and (per coverage) defensive linemen scoring touchdowns - entertainment over evaluation. Fans got to walk through the in-progress North End Zone Project ahead of its September completion deadline. Blue beat Orange 33-25. Season opener: Sept. 5 at Oregon, the program's first Pac-12 game.
  • The Junior League of Boise's annual history walk went off Saturday morning - a near-century retrospective on women's contributions to Idaho. Quietly one of the better local civic-life rituals.
  • Carryover reminders: former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne's passing on Friday - flags remain at half-staff. Memorial details still pending.

🔗Worth Reading

Generated on Monday, April 27, 2026

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