ose skills. After a win against France in March this year, Lloy

Graham MacIndoe has a routine. Every day before work, he runs six miles. He doesnt listen to music because it distracts him from his thoughts.?Its a spiritual thing for me, MacIndoe said. I get in a zone and reflect on my life -- where Ive been, what Ive done and whats important.The 53-year-old is reminded of where hes been and what hes done whenever he glances at his left forearm, which is peppered with tattoos. The words mum and dad are inked above his wrist, just below a 7-inch protruding track mark on his inner forearm. The faded purple mark is the byproduct of a vein darkening from scarring. Its associated with long-term heroin use.Im never allowed to forget, said MacIndoe, who struggled with addiction for a decade. Sometimes its startling, but [the mark] grounds me and reminds me of somewhere I dont want to return to.In 2000, MacIndoe entered a black hole of addiction and lost nearly everything. He pushed away his family and his friends. Time spent in prison was the wake-up call he needed. Its what helped free him from his addiction. And when he emerged from it all, he rediscovered his passion for running.MacIndoe started running at age 18 in his hometown of Broxburn, Scotland, located on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Mostly it was social -- he often ran with friends in baggy soccer shorts and cheap sneakers in rural fields, until he decided to get more serious and joined a local running club. He and his younger brother Fraser trained and raced together.He was absolutely committed to running, Fraser said. His life was totally clean. He was pretty much a vegetarian and never really drank. It seemed like he was addicted to running.MacIndoe sometimes trained twice a day alongside local elite Scottish runners. When he wasnt engaged in interval sessions on a grass track, he joined the group for long runs of up to 16 miles around the countryside on weekends.Running was my first love. It was something I was at one with, said MacIndoe, who chronicles his experiences in his first book, Chancers: Addiction, Prison, Recovery, Love: One Couples Memoir, co-authored by his partner, Susan Stellin.But he pushed the sport away after he graduated from college and moved to New York City -- a place he had always wanted to live -- in 1992. At the time, he worked at a photography gallery to support his then-wife and his son, who was less than 2 years old. They divorced, then he remarried. But the deeper he got into his career, which transitioned to commercial photography, the more he started to drink and fall into a certain lifestyle.His second wife left a couple of years later. He replaced alcohol with drugs. Cocaine at first, then crack and eventually heroin, a habit that was easier to hide while he was going through another divorce and attempting to climb out of depression. ?As addicts, were selfish, MacIndoe said. The damage to other people in your life is phenomenal. When you start to realize that, thats when you realize your recovery is not just about you.MacIndoe and Stellins relationship developed during the height of his addiction in 2006. He would hide a syringe in his eyeglass case, but his desire to use trumped any efforts to shield his habit. Stellin, who had never had a drug problem, once found MacIndoe passed out on his couch with a crack pipe in his fist.When Fraser would visit New York, he said he would encourage his brother to get back into running so it could be a positive focus in his life again, something to look forward to every day. But, he said: The drugs had such a hold on him. It was a downward spiral for many years.MacIndoe was arrested for heroin possession in 2010 after he was caught by an undercover cop at a coffee shop in Brooklyn. He had hidden a crack pipe in his sock. MacIndoe was locked away at Rikers Island, where he spent the first few days of his four-month stay dope sick.Theres nothing I can do to avoid what I know is coming, he writes in the book. When people ask what its like to go through heroin withdrawal, I tell them to imagine the worst flu theyve ever had, add a bad case of food poisoning, mix in a deep depression, and top it off with a good kicking. Now multiply everything by ten.MacIndoe has been clean since he was sent to Rikers Island six years ago. After Rikers he was moved to York County Prison in Pennsylvania, where he was held in immigration detention. He took part in the Freedom Program, intense rehab that included cognitive behavioral therapy, along with other individual and group counseling throughout the day, every day. This, he says, is what really helped him kick his addiction.It took me a long time to understand that addiction is a really complex problem that theres no one size fits all solution to, Stellin said.MacIndoe was close to being deported, but a judge ultimately ruled to let him stay in the U.S. because he participated in a rehab program, remained clean and stayed out of trouble. He was released from immigration detention in 2011 and moved back to Brooklyn.When I was in my addiction, I made a lot of promises that I never followed through with, he said.Those promises included telling people he was trying to quit, that it was his last time using, that he wasnt going to hang around the wrong influences. One also included getting back into running. He wasnt physically capable during what he describes as the most debilitating period of his life.After prison, running became a more important part of my recovery, he writes in the book. It was a way for me to put what I learned in the Freedom Program into practice: stepping back, thinking more rationally, not overreacting. Its hard to explain, but running gave me that release.At first, 400 yards felt painful. His heart would beat uncomfortably fast, though he was far from a 5:30-minute mile pace that he used to maintain with ease as a young adult.It was a real eye-opener, MacIndoe says. I was blown away that I couldnt really run. It was like an out-of-body experience, both discouraging and motivating. But as painful as it was, it brought back memories of when I was a teenager and gave me a feeling of that thing I loved.The transition back into running took several months before he started to feel comfortable. Twice weekly runs of two miles increased to three days, four miles. He eventually worked his way to running about six days a week for six miles at a time, and usually more on weekends.He didnt just want to run though. MacIndoe says it was a need. He used running as a way to purge doubt and cultivate confidence, which he credits for helping get his career back on track. As an adjunct photography professor at Parsons School of Design, MacIndoe is also a freelance commercial photographer.Hes the best version of himself now, Fraser said. He realizes how bad of a place he was in and is grateful that hes been given a second chance to live his life again, which for many years he thought hed never get. Hes making the most of it. Ashley Williams Wales Jersey . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Joe Ledley Wales Jersey . LOUIS -- St. http://www.soccerwalesstore.com/aaron-ramsey-wales-UEFA-EURO-jersey/ . Francis told several hundred members of the European Olympic Committees that when sport "is considered only in economic terms and consequently for victory at every cost . Aaron Ramsey Jersey . Olli Jokinen, Mark Scheifele, and Bryan Little each had a goal and an assist as Winnipeg won 5-2, handing Calgary its record-setting seventh consecutive loss on home ice. Gareth Bale Jersey . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. BRASILIA, Brazil -- There was annoyance. Maybe a touch of frustration. But in the aftermath of a surprising draw against Colombia in Tuesdays Group G finale, there was no worry in the words or faces of American players. If such feelings lurked beneath, they hid them masterfully.U.S. womens national team co-captain Becky Sauerbrunn said only a loss would have been reason to worry because only a loss would have changed the calculus on a quarterfinal opponent and destination.As in, where do we go from here?Logistically, the answer didnt change after the draw against Colombia. All the United States needed to clinch first place in the group was a draw, and it got that point -- while at the same time getting plenty of rest for players who needed it and minutes for players who hadnt had many of those to this point in the tournament. It was a surprising result but not calamitous.The Americans still woke up the next day and headed to Brasilia, the preferred plan all along.But where do they go from here?Less literally, after the charter flight to Brazils capital, its the question still to be answered as the United States prepares to face Sweden in Fridays Olympic quarterfinal (noon ET). Will the unsatisfying result in Manaus versus Colombia end up a footnote, like the scoreless draw against Sweden in last years World Cup group stage? Or was it a harbinger of something more, a team not peaking at the right moment or short some necessary ingredient?It is often the captains to whom we turn for answers.I wouldnt want a perfect journey to the top, said co-captain Carli Lloyd. Theres really no such thing. ... The [Golden State] Warriors, take for example, who were on a perfect run and then ended up not winning -- thats happened over and over with teams. And I think everyone just needs to take a deep breath and relax. We tied against Colombia, but its all good.The captains a year ago were givens; the limited minutes Abby Wambach and Christie Rampone played in the World Cup were less important than their résumés. Their very presence pushed the team to a World Cup title that had become an almost Ahab-like quest.That team was a reflection of them. New to the role, Sauerbrunn and Lloyd are reflections of the team they lead. A quietly confident team that believes it understands what is required to win a tournament like this, a team that wasnt going to sweat a draw on a sweltering night in Manaus.The culture of the team is so entrenched that probably as they came through it, they took on qualities of the program, U.S. coach Jill Ellis said of her two co-captains (although Lloyd wears the armband). They were selected because they represent those traits so well.Sweden coach Pia Sundhage -- who is familiar to American fans after leading the national team to two Olympic gold medals and nearly ending its World Cup drought -- said Thursday she was not surprised to see either Lloyd or Sauerbrunn as a captain. She affirmed this despite bumps in the road in her relationships with both players, including a frank assessment of Lloyds temperament as recently as the eve of last years World Cup (the coach chose only to praise Lloyds skills this time around) and the long wait Sauerbrunn endured to crack Sundhages roster.Sauerbrunn is quietly contemplative, while Lloyd so often plays with what seems a silent fury. Both paid their dues to get where they are in ways that some of their younger teammates will never experience but need to understand.We [still] have a certain culture thats ingrained within our team, defender Meghan Klingenberg said. Thats to be fighters, to have an awesome mentality, to never give up. Its to practice when were ... not together. So we have a really great culture to begin with. But I think that the captains that we have do a good job of bringing everybody together, making sure were on the same page when were playing, making sure that we have everything we need to be the best team we can be.When asked where the teams ability to finish challenges comes, Megan Rapinoe suggests its an identity learned through older players providing, shall we say, pointedly worded encouragement to never relent.It is by design and necessity a cutthroat environment, like almost anyy that produces the best in the world at something.dddddddddddd. Yet it is different now, different because of the youth on the roster and the peace of mind a World Cup title gives the veterans -- not just the captains, but players in leadership roles like Tobin Heath, Alex Morgan and Hope Solo.I think even from last year, the World Cup, I feel like we were way more tense, Heath said. Not to say that we dont have the same focus and the same intentions that we did last World Cup, but I think there was just so much built around ... winning that because we hadnt won [in 16 years], that there was this great pressure that not only I felt like we put on ourselves, but we had from the outside world as well.When we accomplished what we set out to do in the World Cup, I feel like that almost took the pressure off of us and allowed us to then grow as a team this year and push and progress in the ways that we want to and in our style. Now come the Olympics; we still have the same intentions and the same goals, but the feeling is a little more free in that way.Which is why we wait to see how this team will respond.The United States has plenty of tangible challenges ahead, first on Friday but also beyond if the team advances. That begins with a field in Brasilia that looked Thursday much the worse for wear on the eve of its ninth game in nine days. Olympic organizers didnt immediately respond to queries on who oversees the playing surface, but one end of the field had sizable swaths that were barren of grass.Conditions that could keep the ball from playing true will affect another of the challenges awaiting the Americans, a Swedish team that isnt likely to let itself be drawn into an end-to-end game, just as it measured its steps in the scoreless draw a year ago in Winnipeg.They will park the bus, Ellis said of Sweden. They will play as low as they possibly can, sit as low as they possibly can, and then look to transition. Theyre going to try and kill the game that way and make it very, very hard, not give up space.That makes a U.S. midfield that has produced goals, directly from the foot of Lloyd or off a pair of Morgan Brian assists, all the more important in finding space. Tangibly and tactically, the United States needs the midfield, particularly Brian, to play to its full potential and with greater abandon.Theres going to be 6 yards between their back line and their midfield line, Ellis said. So for our midfield, its going to be really important about how we find spaces to play. ... As we start to get to this point, it is more about letting them express themselves. I think were going to have a lot of the ball in our opponents half, and weve got to play. Morgan Brian is one of our most creative players; Im really excited to see her. ...Theyve got to feel the game and read the game, and I think Mo, especially, does that exceptionally well.That has everything to do with talent and tactics, but it comes from players in the right mindset to make use of those skills. After a win against France in March this year, Lloyd voiced frustration with a lack of service sent her way. The sentiments were honest and not even particularly damning, even if they conflicted with her coachs assessment minutes earlier of a team beginning to understand a new style. Perhaps a few words were spoken between coach and player, a reminder of how a captains words carry. But whatever the source, Lloyd has been a consistent voice of calm belief ever since. If she leads, others will follow.Thats the beauty about leadership, I think, is you get something different with Abby and Pearcie [Rampone] than you do with Becky and Carli, Brian said. Ive always looked up to Becky as a leader on this team, from day one since Ive been here. Shes a quiet leader. She does everything correctly, on the field and off the field. She leads in that way. And Carli has always been someone, especially me playing in the midfield with her when I first got on the team, she leads by playing on the field. She brings it every single day.Friday well find out where their team goes from here. ' ' '